Asian People ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Stereotyping

No abstract available.
Breast* ; Fasciitis, Necrotizing* ; Transplants*

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus is a major public health issue in Singapore. To shape healthcare policies for the primary prevention of diabetes, it is crucial to understand Singaporeans' knowledge, attitudes and practices related to diabetes and its prevention. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and lifestyles of individuals without diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional household survey was performed between 31 January to 3 February 2019 to examine knowledge, attitudes and practices related to diabetes. Inclusion criteria of the participants included: 1) Singaporeans/permanent residents, 2) between 30 to 64 years old, and 3) who did not have a diagnosis of diabetes. Logistic and linear regression models were used to analyse the association of knowledge and attitudes with physical activity and diet habits, respectively. RESULTS: Among 806 participants, 72.2% did not meet the Health Promotion Board's physical activity recommendation. Physical activity was associated with better diabetes knowledge (odds ratio [OR] 5.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.65-17.53, = 0.049), stronger beliefs in diabetes prevention (OR 3.36, 95% CI = 1.02-11.12, = 0.047) and lower levels of worry about diabetes (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.17-1.00, = 0.049). Neither knowledge nor beliefs or worries about diabetes was associated with diet. CONCLUSION There is a need to reinforce the importance of physical activity and healthy diet in preventing diabetes. Although improving the knowledge level of diabetes may increase physical activity of the population, it is unlikely to improve dietary choices without effective behavior change interventions.

Aims: Researchers are focusing more on the isolation of new probiotic bacteria to increase varieties for the growing market demand. This study aimed to isolate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains from sugarcane waste materials and evaluate its characteristic. Methodology and results: In the present study, two strains of LAB (Isolates A and B) were isolated from sugarcane waste and investigated in vitro for their characteristics as potential probiotics. These isolates were evaluated on their characteristics based on four biochemical tests (acid tolerance, bile tolerance, microbial adhesion, and phenol resistance), with the commercial strain Lactobacillus isolated from Yakult ® served as a positive control. Both isolated strains (>8 log10 CFU/mL) displayed higher survivability than control (>6 log10 CFU/mL) in simulated gastrointestinal conditions at pH 2.0 and pH 6.9 after 24 h. Furthermore, both isolated LABs were resistant to inhibitory substances which are 0.05-0.3% bile and 0.4% phenol. For bile tolerance, isolate A (OD 6.83) had a higher absorbance at 0.3% bile concentration as compared to isolate B (OD 2.20). However, isolate B (7.49 log10 CFU/mL) showed higher resistance towards 0.4% phenol than isolate A (7.11 log10 CFU/mL) after 24 h. Both isolate A and isolate B displayed low cell surface hydrophobicity, strong electron donor, and basic characteristic. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Both isolates were able to survive under gastrointestinal stress conditions, implying their potential as probiotics. This study demonstrated that valuable products such as probiotic strain could be isolated from sugarcane wastes to use in food production or medical treatment.
Lactobacillales ; Waste Management