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Temporal variability and climatology of hydrodynamic, water property and water quality parameters in the West Johor Strait of Singapore

Behera MR, Chun C, Palani S, Tkalich P

Mar Pollut Bull, 2013 Dec 15;77(1-2):380-95.
PMID: 24139643 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.09.043

The study presents a baseline variability and climatology study of measured hydrodynamic, water properties and some water quality parameters of West Johor Strait, Singapore at hourly-to-seasonal scales to uncover their dependency and correlation to one or more drivers. The considered parameters include, but not limited by sea surface elevation, current magnitude and direction, solar radiation and air temperature, water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a and turbidity. FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) analysis is carried out for the parameters to delineate relative effect of tidal and weather drivers. The group and individual correlations between the parameters are obtained by principal component analysis (PCA) and cross-correlation (CC) technique, respectively. The CC technique also identifies the dependency and time lag between driving natural forces and dependent water property and water quality parameters. The temporal variability and climatology of the driving forces and the dependent parameters are established at the hourly, daily, fortnightly and seasonal scales.
Fulltext The Role of Alternative Medicine in Managing Type 2 Diabetes: A Comprehensive Review

McBenedict B, Orfao AL, Goh KS, Yau RCC, Alphonse B, Machado Lima J, et al.

Cureus, 2024 Jun;16(6):e61965.
PMID: 38978922 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.61965

Diabetes, a chronic metabolic disorder marked by elevated blood glucose levels, is increasingly prevalent globally, significantly impacting health-related quality of life. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), characterized by insulin resistance and inadequate insulin production, presents a substantial public health challenge, necessitating comprehensive management strategies. Conventional treatments, including lifestyle modifications and pharmacotherapy, are essential for glycemic control and preventing complications. However, adherence to these treatments is often limited, highlighting the need for alternative strategies. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) offers potential cost-effective and accessible approaches for managing T2DM. Key herbal remedies like cinnamon, fenugreek, and bitter melon, along with dietary supplements like chromium, magnesium, and vanadium, have shown promise in glycemic control. Mind-body therapies, including yoga, tai chi, and meditation, contribute to improved hemoglobin A1c and fasting blood glucose levels. Research supports the integration of CAM with conventional therapies, demonstrating enhanced clinical efficacy and reduced economic burden. However, challenges such as standardization, quality control, and potential risks of herbal medicines need careful consideration. Regulatory frameworks and ethical considerations are essential to ensure patient safety and informed decision-making. Patient education and effective communication between healthcare providers and patients are crucial for integrating CAM into diabetes management. Empowerment-based interventions and collaborative approaches can enhance self-management skills and clinical outcomes. Overall, integrating CAM with conventional treatments offers a holistic approach to managing T2DM, potentially improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.
The effect of the molecular weight of blackberry polysaccharides on gut microbiota modulation and hypoglycemic effect in vivo

Xi L, Weibing X, Shuyong F, Sheng-Hua L, Xiong F, Chin-Ping T, et al.

Food Funct, 2024 Jul 30.
PMID: 39078268 DOI: 10.1039/d4fo01989j

Blackberry polysaccharides with certain molecular weight distribution have good bioactivity. In this research, type 2 diabetes mice were used to investigate the hypoglycemic effect of blackberry polysaccharides with three different molecular weights, BBP (603.59 kDa), BBP-8 (408.13 kDa) and BBP-24 (247.62 kDa), through gut microbiota modulation. Blackberry polysaccharides exhibited stronger hypoglycemic activity after degradation, and the FBG of BBP, BBP-8 and BBP-24 was reduced to 20.21 ± 4.17 mmol L-1, 20.6 ± 7.23 mmol L-1 and 17.32 ± 6.59 mmol L-1 and OGTT-AUC was reduced by 14.76%, 19.80% and 25.04%, respectively, after 8-week intervention. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis indicated that BBP, BBP-8 and BBP-24 could reshape the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota. From 0 to 4 weeks, the F/B of BBP, BBP-8 and BBP-24 reduced by 56.44%, 47.19% and 62.04%, reaching 3.39, 6.54, and 3.11 in the 8th week, respectively, which suggested the faster utilization of BBP-24. Moreover, the intervention the three blackberry polysaccharides increased the relative abundance of the targeted beneficial bacteria Oscillospira and Bacteroidaceae Bacteroides and decreased the relative abundance of the pathogenic bacterium Allobaculum. In general, the result demonstrated that blackberry polysaccharides with a lower molecular weight are more easily fermented, making the theoretical basis for the development of blackberry polysaccharides as a probiotic food to rapidly regulate intestinal flora for type 2 diabetes.
Fulltext Additional SNPs improve risk stratification of a polygenic hazard score for prostate cancer

Karunamuni RA, Huynh-Le MP, Fan CC, Thompson W, Eeles RA, Kote-Jarai Z, et al.

Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis, 2021 Jun;24(2):532-541.
PMID: 33420416 DOI: 10.1038/s41391-020-00311-2

BACKGROUND: Polygenic hazard scores (PHS) can identify individuals with increased risk of prostate cancer. We estimated the benefit of additional SNPs on performance of a previously validated PHS (PHS46).
MATERIALS AND METHOD: 180 SNPs, shown to be previously associated with prostate cancer, were used to develop a PHS model in men with European ancestry. A machine-learning approach, LASSO-regularized Cox regression, was used to select SNPs and to estimate their coefficients in the training set (75,596 men). Performance of the resulting model was evaluated in the testing/validation set (6,411 men) with two metrics: (1) hazard ratios (HRs) and (2) positive predictive value (PPV) of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. HRs were estimated between individuals with PHS in the top 5% to those in the middle 40% (HR95/50), top 20% to bottom 20% (HR80/20), and bottom 20% to middle 40% (HR20/50). PPV was calculated for the top 20% (PPV80) and top 5% (PPV95) of PHS as the fraction of individuals with elevated PSA that were diagnosed with clinically significant prostate cancer on biopsy.
RESULTS: 166 SNPs had non-zero coefficients in the Cox model (PHS166). All HR metrics showed significant improvements for PHS166 compared to PHS46: HR95/50 increased from 3.72 to 5.09, HR80/20 increased from 6.12 to 9.45, and HR20/50 decreased from 0.41 to 0.34. By contrast, no significant differences were observed in PPV of PSA testing for clinically significant prostate cancer.
CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating 120 additional SNPs (PHS166 vs PHS46) significantly improved HRs for prostate cancer, while PPV of PSA testing remained the same.
Fulltext The Scales Project, a cross-national dataset on the interpretation of thermal perception scales

Schweiker M, Abdul-Zahra A, André M, Al-Atrash F, Al-Khatri H, Alprianti RR, et al.

Sci Data, 2019 11 26;6(1):289.
PMID: 31772199 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-019-0272-6

Thermal discomfort is one of the main triggers for occupants' interactions with components of the built environment such as adjustments of thermostats and/or opening windows and strongly related to the energy use in buildings. Understanding causes for thermal (dis-)comfort is crucial for design and operation of any type of building. The assessment of human thermal perception through rating scales, for example in post-occupancy studies, has been applied for several decades; however, long-existing assumptions related to these rating scales had been questioned by several researchers. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledge on contextual influences on the interpretation of thermal perception scales and their verbal anchors by survey participants. A questionnaire was designed and consequently applied in 21 language versions. These surveys were conducted in 57 cities in 30 countries resulting in a dataset containing responses from 8225 participants. The database offers potential for further analysis in the areas of building design and operation, psycho-physical relationships between human perception and the built environment, and linguistic analyses.
Fulltext Publisher Correction: The Scales Project, a cross-national dataset on the interpretation of thermal perception scales

Schweiker M, Abdul-Zahra A, André M, Al-Atrash F, Al-Khatri H, Alprianti RR, et al.

Sci Data, 2020 01 06;7(1):11.
PMID: 31907360 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-019-0348-3

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.