OBJECTIVE:To promote the development of Contract Research Organization (CRO) in China. METHODS: The definition and function of CRO and the reason why CRO grows so quickly in recent years were introduced. Then a systematic analysis on the development and trend of CRO in China and abroad were conducted, and the problems in the developments were pointed out. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Based on the condition in China, the following strategies for the development of CRO in China were put forward: firstly, the government should tighten control on the standardization and monitoring of domestic CRO; secondly, the pharmaceutical companies in China should get a better understanding and make full use of CRO; thirdly, the cooperation between CRO in China and CRO abroad should be emphasized; fourthly, it is advisable to cultivate more talents on outsourcing.

INTRODUCTIONPain is a common symptom in cancer patients, but very little information about the prevalence, severity, and treatment of pain in cancer patients in Singapore is available. Therefore, our prospective survey in the National Cancer Centre (NCC) outpatients is incorporated in this report. In addition, a review concerning the recent advances on non-interventional pain management in cancer treatment, which is relevant in the context, is discussed.

MATERIALS AND METHODSFor the prospective survey, a questionnaire was distributed for self-administration by patients while waiting for consultation at the NCC outpatient departments. Literature searches on advances in pain management were conducted, reviewed and discussed.

RESULTSIn the last decade, there have been advances in pain pharmacology ranging from wider therapeutic options and management approaches to novel delivery techniques. Acupuncture and massage therapy became increasingly popular among cancer patients. Some clinical trials of acupuncture show benefits in palliation of cancer pain. From the prospective survey, 41.2% of the responders reported pain in the past week, and only 70.8% talked to their doctors about their pain. One third of the patients received analgesics. Of these, 86.5% said that they were taking the prescribed medications, however, 37.4% admitted to having difficulties taking them. Non-drug methods were used by 25.4% of the patients. Medicated oil, cream or gel was used by 49.3%; only 2.6% reported use of Chinese herbs.

CONCLUSIONPain is a significant symptom in outpatients attending a cancer centre, affecting 41.2% of the patients. Although majority of patients who suffered from pain reported this to doctors, much more medical effort is needed to help patients to relieve their pain and proper complementary therapy could be considered.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Analgesics ; therapeutic use ; Complementary Therapies ; Female ; Health Care Surveys ; Humans ; Male ; Massage ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms ; complications ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; Outpatients ; Pain ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Pain Measurement ; Phytotherapy ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Time Factors

Purpose: Spatial perception is an essential skill for professional dentists. The objective of this study was to observe the spatial ability, as well as anatomy module grades, of dental students at a dental education center in Indonesia and relate these to gender and cohort. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out where dental students in years (cohorts) 1, 2, 4–6 were invited to take the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (PSVT-R) and the redrawn Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation Test (MRT) in order to assess spatial ability. In addition, the 1st- and 2nd-year dental students carried out gross anatomy assessments. Spatial ability test results were compared using an independent t-test to detect gender differences, one-way analysis of variance to inspect cohort differences, and correlation relative to anatomy module scores. Results: A total of 326 dental students voluntarily participated. Statistically significant gender differences were found in both spatial ability tests in the overall sample (PSVT-R: p<0.001; MRT: p=0.001). When the 1st- and 2nd-year dental students were pooled, significant gender differences were detected, in which males scored higher than females in both spatial ability tests (PSVT-R: p<0.001; MRT: p=0.003). In anatomy, however, females scored higher than the males (p=0.005). In addition, there were weak to moderate, but significant correlations between spatial ability tests and anatomy scores. Conclusion This study indicated that spatial ability may not be the only factor predicting the academic performance of dental students. However, dental students with low spatial ability scores may need supplementary educational techniques when learning specific spatial tasks.

Purpose: Disc displacement can cause resorption of the head of the condyle and affect its volume. This study analysed the volume of normal condyles and those with disc displacement with reduction (DDR) in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans from the Indonesian population. Materials and Methods: This study analysed 56 condyles (26 normal and 30 with DDR) from patients who visited the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Unit after being referred from the Prosthodontics Unit at Dental Hospital Universitas Padjadjaran from December 2020 to February 2021. Samples were divided into 2 groups (normal and DDR left and right-side condyles) based on the DC/TMD Axis 1 form through the clinical examination results. Both sample groups were exposed to CBCT radiation. The CBCT imaging results in the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine format were exported to the open-source ITK-SNAP format to determine condyle volume. Volumetric data from the cortical and trabecular areas of the right or left side condyles were arranged by sex. The independent t-test was used to determine the significance of differences with IBM SPSS version 21.0. Intra- and inter-observer reliability and validity were tested before determining the volume of the condyles. Results: Normal condyles and DDR condyles showed significant differences in volume (P<0.05). Significant differences were also seen in cortical (P=0.0007) and trabecular (P=0.0045) volumes. There was a significant difference in condylar volume based on sex. Conclusion The normal condyle volume was significantly different from the DDR condyle volume in both sexes.

The aim of this study is to investigate the volumetric measurements of the maxillary sinus among Indonesian population through computed tomography (CT) scan semi-automated segmentation. This project collected 802 retrospective head CT scan archives from Department of Radiology, Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia between 2019–2020. Patients with craniofacial anomalies/pathology fracture in proximity of the maxillary sinuses, and mediocre image quality were excluded from this study resulting only 97 CT scan archives (194 maxillary sinuses; 52 males; 45 females; age range 0–25 years old). Three-dimensional craniofacial structures were reconstructed and volumetric measurements of the maxillary sinus were computed through semi-automated segmentation using ITK-SNAP. This study recorded the initial phase of maxillary sinus pneumatization during infancy. The maxillary sinus developed until reaching the maximum of average maxillary sinus volume at 13,278.73 mm 3 in 16 to 20 years old group in which afterwards fell to 12,325.21 mm 3 . There was no difference found between right and left maxillary sinus volume. This study revealed that the pneumatization of maxillary sinus begin during infancy and climb until reaching the second decade of life, in which after that slowly decrease. Moreover, no difference between right and left maxillary sinus volume was detected. The volumetric dimension of maxillary sinus presented in this study may serve as the basis knowledge surgical intervention of maxillary sinus and its related structures.

Congenital anomalies have been in the top ten causes of infant mortality in the Philippines for the past 50 years. Since there is no synthetic surveillance for the congenital anomalies in our country, there are no specific programs directed toward better understanding of this group of patients. The birth defects surveillance project was convinced in 008 to develop a system of reporting of newborns with birth defects at the hospital and community setting. The lead agencies for this project are the University of the Philippines Manila-National Institutes of Health and the department of Health (DOH). This paper describes the establishment of the Philippine Birth Defects Surveillance.
Human ; Male ; Female ; CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES ; CONGENITAL, HEREDITARY, AND NEONATAL DISEASES AND ABNORMALITIES ; EPIDEMIOLOGY

Diabetes in pregnancy is associated with risks to the woman and her developing fetus. Management of the condition at the primary care level includes pre-conception care, screening, diagnosis, as well as antenatal and postpartum care. A multidisciplinary approach is essential in ensuring its holistic management.

Introduction: Stichopus hermanii (SH), which contains various antioxidant agents, tends to protect oxidative stress caused by chronic cigarette smoking (CCS). This study, therefore, aims to investigate the protective effect of SH supplementation against CCS-induced oxidative stress in rat salivary glands. Methods: A total of 30 male Wistar rats, which were equally divided into the control (C), cigarette smoke (CS), and treatment (T) groups, were used to carry out this research. In T group, 17 mg/kg BW of SH was administered for 90 days. Their salivary glands were removed for oxidative stress marker analyses ie malondialdehyde (MDA) level, total antioxidant status (TAS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity, with the data analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s multiple comparison test to obtain a p-value of less than 0.05, which were considered statistically significant. Results: The results showed that in the CS group oxidative stress occurred which was characterized by significantly increased MDA levels, reduced TAS, SOD and CAT activity. While the T group significantly decreased MDA levels, enhanced TAS, SOD and CAT activity. Conclusion: In conclusion, SH supplementation tends to prevent oxidative stress produced by CCS in rat salivary glands.

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is a rare cause of adrenal mass. We present a 44-year-old woman who has thalassaemia intermedia, referred to Endocrinology clinic for huge adrenal mass. Along with a paraspinal lesion discovered in this patient, the leading diagnosis was EMH. The patient was treated with hypertransfusion and hydroxyurea, which led to a reduction in the size of the right adrenal mass and paraspinal mass. This case highlights the challenges in managing this rare condition. Although EMH is a rare cause of adrenal mass, the diagnosis must be considered in any patient with a history of a congenital hemolytic disorder, to avoid unnecessary surgical procedures.
Hematopoiesis, Extramedullary

ABSTRACT Salmon skin extract contains high proline and hydroxyproline, and has been suggested as a potential topical agent for traumatic oral ulcer healing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of salmon skin extract as traumatic oral ulcer healing. A total of 32 Wistar rats (200 g to 250 g) were distributed into four groups. Group 1 served as the control group (no treatment), Group 2 was topically treated with salmon skin extract agent 4%, Group 3 was topically treated with salmon skin extract agent 5%, and Group 4 was topically treated with salmon skin extract agent 6%. Traumatic ulcers at lip mucosa were performed in all rats and 0.1 ml salmon skin extract was applied on the ulcer twice daily for seven days. The animals were euthanised on the last day of treatment. Biopsy specimens were taken from the lip mucosa in all rats for epithelial thickness evaluation and the study for number of fibroblasts by histological analysis. Significant increase in epithelial thickness and the number of fibroblasts (p > 0.05) was observed in salmon skin extract treatment groups as compared to the control group. Salmon skin extract 6% treatment group had the highest epithelial thickness and the number of fibroblasts amongst the study groups. Salmon skin extract promises an innovative topical application treatment for traumatic oral ulcer healing. Salmon skin extract 6% was the most effective concentration for traumatic oral ulcer healing.
Epithelial Cells ; Fibroblasts ; Oral Ulcer--therapy