1,720,994 research outputs found
Investigating male factors and their relationships with reproductive health outcomes: a case-control study protocol for Towards Optimal Fertility, Fathering, and Fatherhood studY (TOFFY) in Singapore
No full textIntroduction: despite the global prevalence of low fertility rates, male contributions to fertility and reproductive health outcomes have been understudied. This study aims to investigate the male contribution to fertility and explore the underlying biological mechanisms. Specifically, we aim to (1) identify male factors associated with successful pregnancy; (2) develop a fertility index incorporating modifiable factors for both males and females to predict pregnancy rate; and (3) explore the relationship of male modifiable factors with semen parameters and molecular characteristics.Methods and analysis: we will conduct an unmatched case-control study involving 240 couples with impaired male fertility (cases) and 240 couples with normal male fertility (controls). Between July 2024 and June 2026, we will recruit the 480 eligible couples from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore. Male and female participants will complete questionnaires on socio-demographics, general health and lifestyle factors, and their anthropometry and body fat composition will be measured. Blood and semen samples from the male participants will be collected for biochemical, molecular, and semen analyses. Predictive male factors will be identified using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method, accounting for female factors. We will construct a logistic regression model incorporating both male and female factors to derive a fertility index, which will be evaluated using cross-validation on subsets of the study population. Multivariable linear regression will be used to explore relationships between male modifiable exposures and semen parameters.Ethics and dissemination: the study protocol has received approval from the Centralised Institutional Review Board of SingHealth (2024/2120), Singapore. Participants will provide written informed consent. Study results will be disseminated through conferences and peer-reviewed scientific journals.<br/
A Golden Thread approach to transforming Maternal and Child Health in Singapore
No full textMaternal and child health (MCH) in Singapore is entering a new phase, with challenges different to those faced 50 years ago. The advancement of medical technologies and access to MCH resources have led to a dramatic fall in maternal and infant mortality rates. However, there has been a steep rise in the rates of obesity and related metabolic diseases. Alongside this is an emerging mental wellness challenge, with one in ten women experience depression across pre-, during and post-pregnancy. Maternal obesity and mental disorders before and during pregnancy not only increase a woman’s risk of pregnancy complications, but also result in increased risks in the offspring of childhood obesity, behavioral disorders and later life metabolic disease, catalyzing vicious cycles of disease. Thus, there is a pressing need to transform the current MCH system to address a burgeoning metabolic and mental health challenge for Singapore. Initiating interventions during preconception and continuing into the postpartum has the potential to confer long-term maternal-child benefits, promoting virtuous cycles of health. However, the current MCH system emphasizes antenatal care and lacks focus on the equally, if not more important, preconception, postpartum and inter-pregnancy stages. We describe a new model-of-care framework that integrates a life-course approach to health across preconception, pregnancy and postpartum phases, with the social-ecological model comprising individual, interpersonal, institutional, community and policy as the major targets for health promotion interventions. This “golden thread” approach is being established at the Singapore KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), to address both metabolic and mental health challenges to achieve the goal of a thriving, healthy nation. This new model-of-care is set up in KKH as a pilot program known as Healthy Early Life Moments in Singapore (HELMS). HELMS will reach out to women planning to conceive through coordinated interventions across preconception, pregnancy and postpartum periods. A mobile health platform is being developed to facilitate interventions and engage participants in the program through a digital, personalized and interactive approach. This new model-of-care is designed to secure a population with healthy life cycles, by influencing each life-course, early-in-life, to provide the best start for generations to com
Effects of an integrated mobile health lifestyle intervention among overweight and obese women planning for pregnancy in Singapore: protocol for the single-arm healthy early life moments in Singapore (HELMS) study
No full textIntroduction Changes in social and lifestyle factors have led to increasing rates of metabolic and mental health problems. We hypothesise that a transformation of the current maternal and child health system is required to deliver interventions that effectively promote a good start to life in populations at risk of metabolic and mental health problems. We describe a single-arm implementation study ‘Healthy Early Life Moments in Singapore’, which aims to examine whether an integrated lifestyle intervention initiated at preconception and continuing throughout pregnancy and postpartum periods can improve the metabolic and mental health of overweight and obese women, and improve early child growth.Methods and analysis This single-centre implementation trial is conducted at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore. The trial aims to recruit 500 women, aged 21–40 years with a body mass index of 25–40 kg/m2 who plan to get pregnant, with interventions delivered before conception, until 18 months postdelivery. Primary outcomes comprise pregnancy rate, maternal metabolic and mental health status. Secondary outcomes include maternal reproductive health, pregnancy outcomes and offspring growth. The intervention will be delivered using a mobile health application, to provide anticipatory guidance, raise awareness and guide goal-setting on lifestyle behaviours that include diet, physical activity, mental wellness and sleep hygiene from preconception to postpartum. Women who conceive within 1 year of recruitment will be followed through pregnancy and studied with their infants at six-time points during the first 18 months of life. Questionnaires, anthropometric measurements and multiple biosamples will be collected at each visit.Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by the Centralised Institutional Review Board of SingHealth (2021/2247). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated to national and international policy makers.Trial registration number NCT05207059
Paracrine regulation of epidermal growth via Smad3
No full textSkin is the largest organ in the body and it serves as a protective barrier. It is made up of an outermost epidermal layer and an underlying dermal layer. The formation and maintenance of the epidermis depend on the precise regulation of keratinocyte proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. This homeostasis relies on a network of cytokines and growth factors, one of the most important being transforming growth factor β (TGFβ). TGFβ regulates cell growth, apoptosis, differentiation, migration and extracellular matrix production. TGFβ signals via Smad proteins in the canonical signaling pathway (Figure 1). TGFβ is an important growth inhibitor of epithelial cells, but it is also one of the most pro-fibrotic cytokine in vivo. However, the role of TGFβ signaling in fibroblasts in the dermis and the paracrine regulation of keratinocytes in the epidermis remain unclear. [1st Award
Phenotype of human epidermis with sIL-1ra deficiency
No full textSkin is the largest organ in the body and it serves as a protective barrier. It is made up of an outermost
epidermal layer and an underlying dermal layer (Fig 1). The formation and maintenance of the epidermis depend
on the precise regulation of keratinocyte proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. This homeostasis relies on
the network of cytokines and growth factors. Perturbation of this homeostasis leads to inflammatory skin
diseases and cancer development. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is constitutively
produced by keratinocytes. It is also involved in the proliferation and
differentiation of keratinocytes. IL-1 binds to its cognate receptor and
can trigger downstream pathways with different outcomes. sIL-1ra
binds to IL-1 receptor and prevents the transmission of intracellular
response. However, the phenotype of human epidermis when the
underlying fibroblast cells is deficient of sIL-1ra remains unclear. [3rd Award
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
HEALTHY EARLY LIFE MOMENTS IN SINGAPORE (HELMS): DEVELOPMENT AND PILOT EVALUATION OF A MOBILE HEALTH LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION FOR WOMEN WITH OVERWEIGHT OR OBESITY TO IMPROVE METABOLIC HEALTH AND FERTILITY DURING PRECONCEPTION
No full textPh.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (DUKE
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