Asian multiculturalism in communication: Impact of culture in the practice of public relations in Singapore

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier

Are Primetime Diets Congruent With Dietary Recommendations? Content Analyses of Food Advertisements in the United States, China, and Singapore

Despite public programs to promote healthy eating among populations in developed and developing countries, the increase in obesity as a result of poor dietary patterns continues to persist. As food advertising has been implicated for contributing to this global health challenge, this study aims to provide empirical evidence on food advertising in a broader global context, across economically and culturally different nations. We conducted a large scale content analysis of the types of food advertised on primetime television in the United States, China, and Singapore, which resulted in the collection of 1,008 television hours. Using the dietary blue2376s proposed by the health authorities as the applied framework, the study compared the types of food advertised against the dietary parameters. Findings showed that despite differences in economic development and cultures, food advertised on primetime television across three countries are incongruent with dietary recommendations. The study offers insights on how misaligned and out of sync food advertising and commercial interests are from government health policies. Implications of findings to encourage healthy eating among populations worldwide are discussed

Unconditional and conditional standards for fetal abdominal circumference and estimated fetal weight in an ethnic Chinese population: a birth cohort study

10.1186/s12884-015-0569-1BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth151411-11GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

Multiplatform genome-wide identification and modeling of functional human estrogen receptor binding sites

BACKGROUND: Transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) impart specificity to cellular transcriptional responses and have largely been defined by consensus motifs derived from a handful of validated sites. The low specificity of the computational predictions of TFBSs has been attributed to ubiquity of the motifs and the relaxed sequence requirements for binding. We posited that the inadequacy is due to limited input of empirically verified sites, and demonstrated a multiplatform approach to constructing a robust model. RESULTS: Using the TFBS for the estrogen receptor (ER)α (estrogen response element [ERE]) as a model system, we extracted EREs from multiple molecular and genomic platforms whose binding to ERα has been experimentally confirmed or rejected. In silico analyses revealed significant sequence information flanking the standard binding consensus, discriminating ERE-like sequences that bind ERα from those that are nonbinders. We extended the ERE consensus by three bases, bearing a terminal G at the third position 3' and an initiator C at the third position 5', which were further validated using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Our functional human ERE prediction algorithm (h-ERE) outperformed existing predictive algorithms and produced fewer than 5% false negatives upon experimental validation. CONCLUSION: Building upon a larger experimentally validated ERE set, the h-ERE algorithm is able to demarcate better the universe of ERE-like sequences that are potential ER binders. Only 14% of the predicted optimal binding sites were utilized under the experimental conditions employed, pointing to other selective criteria not related to EREs. Other factors, in addition to primary nucleotide sequence, will ultimately determine binding site selection

Associations of maternal retinal vasculature with subsequent fetal growth and birth size

10.1371/journal.pone.0118250PLoS ONE104e0118250GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

Unconditional and conditional standards for fetal abdominal circumference and estimated fetal weight in an ethnic Chinese population: a birth cohort study

Background Diagnosis of intrauterine fetal growth restriction and prediction of small-for-gestation age are often based on fetal abdominal circumference or estimated fetal weight (EFW). The present study aims to create unconditional (cross-sectional) and conditional (longitudinal) standards of fetal abdominal circumference and EFW for use in an ethnic Chinese population. Methods In the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcome (GUSTO) birth cohort study in Singapore, fetal biometric measurements were obtained at enrolment to antenatal care (11-12 weeks) and up to three more time points during pregnancy. Singleton pregnancies with a healthy profile defined by maternal, pregnancy and fetal characteristics and birth outcomes were selected for this analysis. The Hadlock algorithm was used to calculate EFW. Mixed effects model was used to establish unconditional and conditional standards in z-scores and percentiles for both genders pooled and for each gender separately. Results A total of 313 women were included, of whom 294 had 3 and 19 had 2 ultrasound scans other than the gestational age dating scan. Fetal abdominal circumference showed a roughly linear trajectory from 18 to 36 weeks of gestation, while EFW showed an accelerating trajectory. Gender differences were more pronounced in the 10 th percentile than the 50 th or 90 th percentiles. As compared to other published charts, this population showed growth trajectories that started low but caught up at later gestations. Conclusions Unconditional and conditional standards for monitoring fetal size and fetal growth in terms of abdominal circumference and EFW are available for this ethnic-Chinese population. Electronic spreadsheets are provided for their implementation.BioMed Central open acces

Association of maternal Vitamin D status with glucose tolerance and caesarean section in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort: the growing up in Singapore towards healthy outcomes study

10.1371/journal.pone.0142239PLoS ONE10111-16GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes