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The energy cost of water independence: the case of Singapore

Vincent L, Michel L, Catherine C, Pauline R

Water Sci Technol, 2014;70(5):787-94.
PMID: 25225924 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2014.290

Finding alternative resources to secure or increase water availability is a key issue in most urban areas. This makes the research of alternative and local water resources of increasing importance. In the context of political tension with its main water provider (Malaysia), Singapore has been implementing a comprehensive water policy for some decades, which relies on water demand management and local water resource mobilisation in order to reach water self-sufficiency by 2060. The production of water from alternative resources through seawater desalination or water reclamation implies energy consumptive technologies such as reverse osmosis. In the context of increasing energy costs and high primary energy dependency, this water self-sufficiency objective is likely to be an important challenge for Singapore. The aim of this paper is to quantify the long-term impact of Singapore's water policy on the national electricity bill and to investigate the impact of Singapore's projects to reduce its water energy footprint. We estimate that 2.0% of the Singaporean electricity demand is already dedicated to water and wastewater treatment processes. If its water-energy footprint dramatically increases in the coming decades, ambitious research projects may buffer the energy cost of water self-sufficiency.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Fulltext Predicting survival of de novo metastatic breast cancer in Asian women: systematic review and validation study

Miao H, Hartman M, Bhoo-Pathy N, Lee SC, Taib NA, Tan EY, et al.

PLoS One, 2014;9(4):e93755.
PMID: 24695692 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093755

BACKGROUND: In Asia, up to 25% of breast cancer patients present with distant metastases at diagnosis. Given the heterogeneous survival probabilities of de novo metastatic breast cancer, individual outcome prediction is challenging. The aim of the study is to identify existing prognostic models for patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer and validate them in Asia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a systematic review to identify prediction models for metastatic breast cancer. Models were validated in 642 women with de novo metastatic breast cancer registered between 2000 and 2010 in the Singapore Malaysia Hospital Based Breast Cancer Registry. Survival curves for low, intermediate and high-risk groups according to each prognostic score were compared by log-rank test and discrimination of the models was assessed by concordance statistic (C-statistic).
RESULTS: We identified 16 prediction models, seven of which were for patients with brain metastases only. Performance status, estrogen receptor status, metastatic site(s) and disease-free interval were the most common predictors. We were able to validate nine prediction models. The capacity of the models to discriminate between poor and good survivors varied from poor to fair with C-statistics ranging from 0.50 (95% CI, 0.48-0.53) to 0.63 (95% CI, 0.60-0.66).
CONCLUSION: The discriminatory performance of existing prediction models for de novo metastatic breast cancer in Asia is modest. Development of an Asian-specific prediction model is needed to improve prognostication and guide decision making.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Silver lining of Singapore's haze

Carrasco LR

Science, 2013 Jul 26;341(6144):342-3.
PMID: 23888020 DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6144.342-b
Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Fulltext Recruitment constraints in Singapore's fluted giant clam (Tridacna squamosa) population--a dispersal model approach

Neo ML, Erftemeijer PL, van Beek JK, van Maren DS, Teo SL, Todd PA

PLoS One, 2013;8(3):e58819.
PMID: 23555597 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058819

Recruitment constraints on Singapore's dwindling fluted giant clam, Tridacna squamosa, population were studied by modelling fertilisation, larval transport, and settlement using real-time hydrodynamic forcing combined with knowledge of spawning characteristics, larval development, behaviour, and settlement cues. Larval transport was simulated using a finite-volume advection-diffusion model coupled to a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model. Three recruitment constraint hypotheses were tested: 1) there is limited connectivity between Singapore's reefs and other reefs in the region, 2) there is limited exchange within Singapore's Southern Islands, and 3) there exist low-density constraints to fertilisation efficacy (component Allee effects). Results showed that connectivity among giant clam populations was primarily determined by residual hydrodynamic flows and spawning time, with greatest chances of successful settlement occurring when spawning and subsequent larval dispersal coincided with the period of lowest residual flow. Simulations suggested poor larval transport from reefs located along the Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore, probably due to strong surface currents between the Andaman Sea and South China Sea combined with a major land barrier disrupting larval movement among reefs. The model, however, predicted offshore coral reefs to the southeast of Singapore (Bintan and Batam) may represent a significant source of larvae. Larval exchange within Singapore's Southern Islands varied substantially depending on the locations of source and sink reefs as well as spawning time; but all simulations resulted in low settler densities (2.1-68.6 settled individuals per 10,000 m(2)). Poor fertilisation rates predicted by the model indicate that the low density and scattered distribution of the remaining T. squamosa in Singapore are likely to significantly inhibit any natural recovery of local stocks.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Occupational rehabilitation in Singapore and Malaysia

Chan KF, Tan CW, Yeo DS, Tan HS, Tan FL, Tan EW, et al.

J Occup Rehabil, 2011 Mar;21 Suppl 1:S69-76.
PMID: 21328063 DOI: 10.1007/s10926-011-9289-1

INTRODUCTION: Asia is the new and favored magnet of economic attention and foreign investments after it made an almost uneventful rebound from the depths of financial crisis of 2008/2009. Not many Western observers fully understand the diversity that is Asia other than perhaps its 2 growing economic giants of China and India. Indeed many smaller countries like Singapore and Malaysia in South East Asia along with Australia and Hong Kong (a Special Administrative Region within China) look to symbiotic relationships with these two economic giants. The purpose of this discussion paper is to examine the current issues related to the development and provision of occupational rehabilitation services in Singapore and Malaysia with a forward-looking view of how Asia's different developing societies could potentially benefit from better alignment of occupational rehabilitation practices and sharing of expertise through international collaboration and dialogue platforms.
METHODS: Seven therapists and one physician who are frequently involved in occupational rehabilitation services in their home countries critically reviewed the current issues in Singapore and Malaysia which included analysis of the prevalence and cost of occupational injury; overview of workers' compensation system; current practices, obstacles, and challenges in providing occupational rehabilitation and return to work practices. They also offered opinions about how to improve the occupational rehabilitation programs of their two home countries.
CONCLUSION: Even though Malaysia and Singapore are two different countries, in many ways their current provision of occupational rehabilitation services and the problems they face with are very similar. There is a lot of room for systemic improvements that require government support and action. Most prominently, the training of more healthcare professionals in the assessment and rehabilitation of the injured worker should be encouraged. There could be better liaison between the many stakeholders and more funding made available to develop resources and to jump start strategic programs. As these two countries are witnessing rapid economic growth, more resources should be allocated to establish holistic care of the injured workers emphasizing early interventions and prevention of chronic disabilities.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Re-emergence of Chikungunya virus in South-east Asia: virological evidence from Sri Lanka and Singapore

Hapuarachchi HC, Bandara KB, Sumanadasa SD, Hapugoda MD, Lai YL, Lee KS, et al.

J Gen Virol, 2010 Apr;91(Pt 4):1067-76.
PMID: 19955565 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.015743-0

Chikungunya fever swept across many South and South-east Asian countries, following extensive outbreaks in the Indian Ocean Islands in 2005. However, molecular epidemiological data to explain the recent spread and evolution of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in the Asian region are still limited. This study describes the genetic Characteristics and evolutionary relationships of CHIKV strains that emerged in Sri Lanka and Singapore during 2006-2008. The viruses isolated in Singapore also included those imported from the Maldives (n=1), India (n=2) and Malaysia (n=31). All analysed strains belonged to the East, Central and South African (ECSA) lineage and were evolutionarily more related to Indian than to Indian Ocean Islands strains. Unique genetic characteristics revealed five genetically distinct subpopulations of CHIKV in Sri Lanka and Singapore, which were likely to have emerged through multiple, independent introductions. The evolutionary network based on E1 gene sequences indicated the acquisition of an alanine to valine 226 substitution (E1-A226V) by virus strains of the Indian sublineage as a key evolutionary event that contributed to the transmission and spatial distribution of CHIKV in the region. The E1-A226V substitution was found in 95.7 % (133/139) of analysed isolates in 2008, highlighting the widespread establishment of mutated CHIKV strains in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. As the E1-A226V substitution is known to enhance the transmissibility of CHIKV by Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, this observation has important implications for the design of vector control strategies to fight the virus in regions at risk of chikungunya fever.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Fulltext Wandering humeral head mimicking a breast mass

Tan GJS, Tan AGS, Peh WCG

Med J Malaysia, 2008 Jun;63(2):164-5.
PMID: 18942311

A 74-year-old woman was incidentally found to have a left breast mass. The mass could not be adequately compressed to be visualized on mammography. Ultrasonography showed a heavily-calcified rounded mass in the left axillary tail of the left breast. Chest radiograph confirmed that the mass was a migrated humeral head. Remotely-displaced fracture-dislocations of the humeral head are very rare and to our knowledge, displacement into the breast, clinically mimicking a breast mass, has not been previously described.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Fulltext The South East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP): Its history and role in the ASEAN countries

Ng Kh, Wong J

Biomed Imaging Interv J, 2008 Apr;4(2):e21.
PMID: 21614324 DOI: 10.2349/biij.4.2.21

Informal discussion started in 1996 and the South East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP) was officially accepted as a regional chapter of the IOMP at the Chicago World Congress in 2000 with five member countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Professor Kwan-Hoong Ng served as the founding president until 2006. Brunei (2002) and Vietnam (2005) joined subsequently. We are very grateful to the founding members of SEAFOMP: Anchali Krisanachinda, Kwan-Hoong Ng, Agnette Peralta, Ratana Pirabul, Djarwani S Soejoko and Toh-Jui Wong.The objectives of SEAFOMP are to promote (i) co-operation and communication between medical physics organizations in the region; (ii) medical physics and related activities in the region; (iii) the advancement in status and standard of practice of the medical physics profession; (iv) to organize and/or sponsor international and regional conferences, meetings or courses; (v) to collaborate or affiliate with other scientific organizations.SEAFOMP has been organizing a series of congresses to promote scientific exchange and mutual support. The South East Asian Congress of Medical Physics (SEACOMP) series was held respectively in Kuala Lumpur (2001), Bangkok (2003), Kuala Lumpur (2004) and Jakarta (2006). The respective congress themes indicated the emphasis and status of development. The number of participants (countries in parentheses) was encouraging: 110 (17), 150 (16), 220 (23) and 126 (7).In honour of the late Professor John Cameron, an eponymous lecture was established. The inaugural John Cameron Lecture was delivered by Professor Willi Kalender in 2004. His lecture was titled "Recent Developments in Volume CT Scanning".

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Distribution of heavy metals in the dissolved and suspended phase of the sea-surface microlayer, seawater column and in sediments of Singapore's coastal environment

Cuong DT, Karuppiah S, Obbard JP

Environ Monit Assess, 2008 Mar;138(1-3):255-72.
PMID: 17562200

Concentrations of heavy metals were determined in the water column (including the sea-surface microlayer, subsurface, mid-depth and bottom water) and sediments from Singapore's coastal environment. The concentration ranges for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the seawater dissolved phase (DP) were 0.34-2.04, 0.013-0.109, 0.07-0.35, 0.23-1.16, 0.28-0.78, 0.009-0.062 and 0.97-3.66 microg L(-1) respectively. The ranges for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the suspended particulate matter (SPM) were 0.16-0.73, 6.72-53.93, 12.87-118.29, 4.34-60.71, 1.10-6.08 and 43.09-370.49 microg g(-1), respectively. Heavy metal concentrations in sediments ranged between 0.054-0.217, 37.48-50.52, 6.30-21.01, 13.27-26.59, 24.14-37.28 and 48.20-62.36 microg g(-1) for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, respectively. The lowest concentrations of metals in the DP and SPM were most frequently found in the subsurface water while the highest concentrations were mostly observed in the SML and bottom water. Overall, heavy metals in both the dissolved and particulate fractions have depth profiles that show a decreasing trend of concentrations from the subsurface to the bottom water, indicating that the prevalence of metals is linked to the marine biological cycle. In comparison to data from Greece, Malaysia and USA, the levels of metals in the DP are considered to be low in Singapore. Higher concentrations of particulate metals were reported for the Northern Adriatic Sea and the Rhine/Meuse estuary in the Netherlands compared to values reported in this study. The marine sediments in Singapore are not heavily contaminated when compared to metal levels in marine sediments from other countries such as Thailand, Japan, Korea, Spain and China.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Tale of two tigers

Nature, 2005 Aug 11;436(7052):754.
PMID: 16094324
Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Research on basal stem rot (BSR) of ornamental palms caused by basidiospores from Ganoderma boninense

Lim HP, Fong YK

Mycopathologia, 2005 Jan;159(1):171-9.
PMID: 15750750

Basidiospores were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma infecting oil palms from an estate in Johor and from ornamental palms (including oil palms) from Singapore. The spores were then germinated to obtain homokaryotic mycelia. Based on clamp connection formation in paired hyphal fusions, tester strains were identified from the homokaryons isolated. Compatibility tests were then carried out using these testers to determine the relatedness of the homokaryotic Ganoderma isolates, both from Johor and from Singapore. Results from the compatibility tests showed that Ganoderma from both locations belong to the same species, while the Ganoderma isolates from Singapore share some common alleles. The pathogenicity tests carried out on Chrysalidocarpus lutescens seedlings using inoculum growing on rubber wood blocks showed that dikaryotic mycelia can cause basal stem rot infection.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
SARS: current overview, aetiology and epidemiology

Cavaljuga S, Faulde M, Scharninghausen JJ

Bosn J Basic Med Sci, 2003 May;3(2):46-55.
PMID: 16223373

At this moment, public health authorities, physicians and scientists around the world are struggling to cope with a severe and rapidly spreading new disease in humans called severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) this appears to be the first severe and easily transmissible new disease to emerge in the 21st century. Though much about the disease remains poorly understood, including the details of the causative virus, we do know that it has features that allow it to spread rapidly along international air travel routes. As of 10 May 2003, a cumulative 7296 probable SARS cases with 526 deaths have been reported from 30 countries on three continents (WHO, ProMED). In the past week, more than 1000 new probable cases and 96 deaths were reported globally. This represents an increase of 119 new cases and 8 new deaths compared with 9 May 2003 (China (85), Taiwan (23), and Hong Kong (7) represented the overwhelming majority, with one additional case each reported from France, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States). Only in China, as of 10 May 2003 (WHO) total of 4884 with 235 deaths have been reported. Some outbreaks have reassuring features.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Virology--11th international congress. 9-13 August 1999, Sydney, Australia

Fooks A

IDrugs, 1999 Nov;2(11):1136-8.
PMID: 16113984

The main theme of this conference was understanding the complex biology of viruses in order to design appropriate vaccines for human use. The use of both plant and animal viruses as vectors for delivery vehicles was widely discussed. These engineered viruses could be delivered in oral formulations or, in the case of plant viruses, grown in the plant host and used as edible vaccines. New technologies for producing highly attenuated vaccines through the use of 'molecular clone technologies' were shown to be highly efficacious in animal models. While new vaccine candidates are being generated against many established viral diseases, there remains a threat from HIV, virulent strains of influenza and newly emerging viruses for which no vaccines are currently available. Emerging viruses, such as the Hendra-like virus called Nipah, which emerged in pig herds in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998, has posed a severe economic threat to the region. The subsequent spread of Nipah virus to humans and the threat of epidemic spread was evidence that virologists should not become complacent.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Rheumatology News and Views from APLAR Region

Mok TM

Int J Rheum Dis, 2015 Jun;18(5):583-6.
PMID: 26082351 DOI: 10.1111/1756-185X.12676
Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Fulltext An unusual case of metformin associated lactic acidosis

Poulose V

Med J Malaysia, 2002 Jun;57(2):209-10.
PMID: 24326653

Metformin Associated Lactic Acidosis (MALA) is a rare, but serious complications of Type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment with a mortality rate of around 50%. It most commonly occurs in the setting of hepatic, cardiac or renal insufficiency. We report the case of an elderly female with MALA and concomitant starvation ketosis in the absence of any known risk factor, who went undiagnosed for a period of at least a month and made a complete recovery in the hospital.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Fulltext After-hour home care service provided by a hospice in Singapore

Tay MH, Koo WH, Huang DT

Med J Malaysia, 2002 Mar;57(1):51-5.
PMID: 14569717

A home care Hospice programme was set up to provide care to the patients with advanced diseases and their families in Singapore. After office-hour, the service is managed by a doctor on weekdays, with the assistance of a nurse during daytime on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The doctor on-call made an average of 3.1 phone calls and 1.3 visits each weekday evening. Over the weekends and public holidays, there were a mean of 16.7 phone calls and 6 visits each day. More than half of the visits (50.3%) were made for certification of death. The commonest symptoms that prompted visits were dyspnoea (20%) and pain (12.2%). The busiest period during weekdays was between 6.00 pm and 11.00 pm, when our doctors did most of their visits. The workload of the hospice home care service is likely to increase and resources such as family health physicians can be explored to help to meet this increasing demand. This can be achieved through the provision of comprehensive training and easy accessibility to medical records which are kept with patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
2beta-Hydroxy-4'-demethyldesoxy-podophyllotoxin

Du Boulay D, Shaari K, Skelton BW, Waterman PG, White AH

Acta Crystallogr C, 2000 Feb;56 ( Pt 2):199-200.
PMID: 10777886
Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
The Singapore state's response to migration

Yap MT

Sojourn, 1999 Apr;14(1):198-211.
PMID: 12295146
Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Financing old age in Southeast Asia: an overview

Asher MG

Nanyang Wenti Yenchiu, 1996.
PMID: 12348604

"The main purpose here is to provide an overview of the social security arrangements in selected Southeast Asian countries. Given the significant differences in these countries in the underlying philosophy, design and detailed provisions concerning social security arrangements, a country-by-country rather than a comparative approach is adopted." The countries analyzed are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore
Temperature drop in normal term newborn infants born at the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur

Raman S, Shahla A

Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol, 1992 May;32(2):117-9.
PMID: 1520194

A prospective study of temperature drop in 141 normal term newborn infants delivered vaginally at the labour ward, University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur were studied. The effect of various manoeuvres on the temperature drop were also studied. They were randomized into 3 study groups, 63 cases where the babies were wiped with dry cloth alone, 37 cases where the babies were put into a plastic bag immediately after birth and lastly 41 cases where the babies were wiped with dry cloth and then inserted into a plastic bag. There was significant temperature drop in all the 3 groups maximum in the first 15 minutes and the fall continued for 1 hour after delivery (p less than 0.001). This shows that in an air-conditioned labour ward in a tropical country the temperature fall in newborn infants can be significant. This study also showed that plastic is a poor insulator against significant temperature drop.

Matched MeSH terms: Singapore

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