INTRODUCTION: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a critical global health threat, with millions of deaths attributed to it annually. Antibiotic stewardship to combat AMR is the responsibility of all healthcare professionals. Despite evidence suggesting that it is unnecessary, dentists routinely prescribe prophylactic antibiotics following third molar (3M) surgeries. METHOD: This mixed-methods study examined the behavioural barriers influencing antibiotic prescribing practices within the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the National University Centre for Oral Health Singapore. This study used the capability, opportunity and motivation for behavioural change or COM-B framework to implement interventions targeting the behavioural barriers. RESULTS: Pre- and post-intervention data over 6 months showed a significant reduction in antibiotic prescriptions from 84.45% to 20.89%, following the implementation of COM-B strategies (P<0.001). Qualitative feedback from focus group discussions highlighted a positive shift in clinicians' attitudes towards antibiotic reduction, acknowledging the minimal infection risk associated with non-prescribing practices. Notably, complication rates remained stable throughout the study period, indicating no adverse effects from reduced antibiotic usage. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrated that the COM-B model can be successfully applied to modify deeply ingrained prescription habits, and underscored the effectiveness of a structured behavioural change intervention in enhancing compliance with antibiotic stewardship guidelines. The study advocates continuation of initiatives to sustain this positive trend and mitigate AMR in clinical practice.
Humans ; Molar, Third/surgery* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Singapore ; Antimicrobial Stewardship/methods* ; Practice Patterns, Dentists'/statistics & numerical data* ; Antibiotic Prophylaxis ; Female ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Male ; Tooth Extraction ; Adult ; Focus Groups ; Practice Patterns, Physicians'

INTRODUCTION: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is common in Singapore, with moderate to severe OSA affecting around 30% of residents. These consensus statements aim to provide scientifically grounded recommendations for the management of OSA, standar-dise the management of OSA in Singapore and promote multidisciplinary collaboration. METHOD: An expert panel, which was convened in 2024, identified several areas of OSA management that require guidance. The expert panel reviewed the current literature and developed consensus statements, which were later independently voted on using a 3-point Likert scale (agree, neutral or disagree). Consensus (total ratings of agree and neutral) was set a priori at ≥80% agreement. Any statement not reaching consensus was excluded. RESULTS: The final consensus included 49 statements that provide guidance on the screening, diagnosis and management of adults with OSA. Additionally, 23 statements on the screening, diagnosis and management of paediatric OSA achieved consensus. These 72 consensus statements considered not only the latest clinical evidence but also the benefits and harms, resource implications, feasibility, acceptability and equity impact of the recommendations. CONCLUSION The statements presented in this paper aim to guide clinicians based on the most updated evidence and collective expert opinion from sleep specialists in Singapore. These recommendations should augment clinical judgement rather than replace it. Management decisions should be individualised, taking into account the patient's clinical characteristics, as well as patient and caregiver concerns and preferences.
Humans ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/diagnosis* ; Singapore ; Consensus ; Adult

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Objective:To explore the effect of family empowerment model on the improvement of swallowing care ability and care preparedness of primary caregivers of first-episode stroke dysphagia patients, further to explore its impact on patients′s wallowing function and life quality.Methods:This study was a randomized controlled study. From January 2021 to December 2022, 80 main caregivers of patients with dysphagia caused by manual stroke admitted to the Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shenzhen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were selected as the research objects, and 40 cases in the control group and 40 cases in the observation group were selected by random number table method. The control group were treated with conventional nursing care of first-episode stroke dysphagia patients in the acupuncture and moxibustion Department. On the basis of the conventional care in the control group, the observation group were treated with family empowerment model intervention for 14 days and was followed up for 28 days. Primary caregivers′ swallowing care ability, Caregiver Preparedness Scale (CPS), patients′ swallowing function rate, Swallowing Related Quality of Life (SWALQOL) were used to evaluate the effects before intervention and at the end of intervention.Results:There were 18 males and 19 females primary caregivers in the control group, aged (55.61 ± 7.43) years old. There were 18 males and 21 females primary caregivers in the observation group, aged (58.23 ± 8.22) years old. The swallowing care ability score showed a statistically significant difference between the observation group (143.47 ± 3.96) and the control group (107.74 ± 1.43) ( t=-26.76, P<0.05). After intervention, the caregiver preparedness scale was (26.11 ± 3.81) in the observation group, and (18.35 ± 4.54) in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=-4.11, P<0.05).The patients′ swallowing function rate and SWALQOL score were respectively 97.44% (38/39) and (91.41 ± 8.08) points in the observation group, and 72.97% (27/37) and (80.33 ± 4.21) points in the control group, and the difference was both statistically significant ( χ2=10.76, t=-2.54, both P<0.05). Conclusions:The implementation of family empowerment model could enhance the swallowing care ability and care preparedness of primary caregivers of the first-episode stroke dysphagia patients, which could further improve patients′ swallowing function and life quality.

Objective To explore the material basis and mechanism of the Chinese medicine Dingqing tablets in the treatment of leukemia.Methods The potential active ingredients of Dingqing tablets were retrieved through TCMSP and HERB Database and the targets of herbs were screened by Swiss TargetPrediction databases.The treatment targets of leukemia were searched from the GeneCards,OMIM and Disgenet databases.The protein-protein interaction network was used to construct the interactive target regulation function of Dingqing tablets and leukemia by STRING software,and the core subnetworks were filtered by the MCODE plug-in.A component-target pathway network was constructed by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of the highest scoring Gene cluster 1 gene in the DAVID database.Molecular docking of the active components and core targets of Dingqing tablets was performed by AutoDock and the results were visualized.Results A total of 82 active ingredients and 439 targets of action of Dingqing tablets,and 1 878 leukemia-related targets were obtained through database retrieval,in which 169 common targets of active ingredients and diseases were mapped.Based on the degree values,the main active ingredients were determined as quercetin,luteolin,kaempferol,etc.The PPI core network indicated that the key targets for treating leukemia included TP53,MMP9,TNF,AKT1,CASP3,etc.The gene enrichment analysis of sub-networks and the component-target pathway network diagram showed that Dingqing tablets might exert therapeutic effects on leukemia by regulating signaling pathways such as TNF and IL-17.The molecular docking results showed fairly strong binding activity between the active ingredients and the targets.Conclusion The active ingredients of Dingqing tablets may participate in TNF,IL-17,and other signaling pathways by regulating genes such as TP53,AKT1,and CASP3,thereby exerting therapeutic effects on leukemia.

Objective To analyze the causal relationship between statins and type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus by using Mendelian randomization(MR).Methods Based on the collected data of genome-wide association studies(GWAS),single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP),which were independent of each other and highly correlated with statins and diabetes mellitus,were selected as tool variables.MR-Egger regression,weighted median,inverse variance weighting(IVW),simple mode and weighted mode were used for two-sample MR analyses to evaluate the causal relationship between statins and type 1 or type 2 diabetes respectively,and heterogeneity tests,multiplicity analyses,and sensitivity analysis to evaluate the reliability of the study.Results A total of 78 SNPs independently associated with statins were included as tool variables in this study at the genome-wide significance level(P＜5×10-8).The results of IVW analysis showed that statins were causally associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus(OR=1.524,95％CI 1.077 to 2.157,P=0.017),and there was also a causal relationship between statins and the increased risk of type 2 diabetes(OR=1.261,95％CI 1.165 to 1.366,P＜0.001).The results were not affected by multiplicity and heterogeneity,and the reliability of the results was verified by sensitivity analysis.Conclusion Statins may be a risk factor for increasing the risk of type 1 or type 2 diabetes.However,further studies with larger sample sizes of GWAS data are still needed to verify the causal association.

Objective To investigate the role of PSMA4 in the prognosis,diagnosis and immune infiltration of lung adenocarcinoma(LUAD),and explore its underlying mechanism.Methods The expression profiles and clinical data of LUAD patients were sourced from the Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database.The expression level of PSMA4 in LUAD tissues(n=539)and normal tissues(n=59)were compared using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test.The expression levels of PSMA4 in LUAD tissues and normal tissues were validated by analyzing the GSE40791 and GSE10072 LUAD datasets obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database.In addition,tumor and adjacent non-cancerous tissues were collected from 10 LU AD undergoing lung biopsy by fiberoptic bronchoscopy in Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from January to December 2023.The PSMA4 expression in above samples was further verified using RT-qPCR.RT-qPCR was performed to detect the expression of PSMA4 in lung cancer cells and normal lung epithelial cells.Functional enrichment analysis and immune cell infiltration analysis were conducted on the cells with high and low expression of PSMA4.Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier(KM)survival analysis were used to determine the diagnostic and prognostic value of PSMA4 for LUAD,and a nomogram was constructed to predict the overall survival rate at different time points.Results The analysis of TCGA datasets,GSE40791,and GSE10072 LUAD data revealed that PSMA4 expression was significantly higher in LUAD tissues than in normal tissues(P＜0.01).RT-qPCR further confirmed that the expression of PSMA4 was obviously elevated in LUAD tissues and lung cancer cells than adjacent non-cancerous tissues and normal lung epithelial cells(P＜0.01).High PSMA4 expression could be regarded as a marker for LUAD diagnosis and poor prognosis,and was associated with reduced proportions of Tem cells,TFH cells,B cells,NK cells,Tcm cells,and mast cells in the tumor microenvironment.Conclusion PSMA4 presents significant diagnostic performance for LUAD,and is closely associated with the prognosis and immune infiltration of this malignancy.

Objective To explore the efficacy of vaginal lesion resection combined with uterine wall repair in the treatment of cesarean scar pregnancy(CSP)after cesarean section.Methods A total of 122 patients with CSP admitted to our hospital were selected and randomly divided into the control group(61 cases)and the observation group(61 cases).Patients in the control group were treated with uterine artery chemoembolization(UACE)combined with ultrasound-guided curettage,while patients in the observation group were treated with vaginal lesion resection combined with uterine wall repair.The perioperative index,serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin(β-hCG)levels before surgery and 3 days,5 days,and 7 days after surgery,clinical efficacy,and complications of patients between the groups were compared.Results The operation time of patients in the observation group was significantly longer than that in the control group(P<0.05),and the amount of intraoperative blood loss,hospitalization cost,vaginal bleeding time,time to menstruation recovery,mass disappearance time,β-hCG normalizing time,and hospitalization time of patients in the observation group were significantly less/shorter than those in the control group(P<0.05).The serum β-hCG levels of patients 3 days,5 days and 7 days after surgery in both groups were lower compared with those before surgery,and the observation group was lower than the control group,with statistically significant differences(P<0.05).The total effective rate in the observation group was 96.72%,significantly higher than that of 85.25%in the control group(P<0.05).The incidence of vaginal bleeding and surrounding tissue injury in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion The combination of vaginal lesion resection and uterine wall repair for the treatment of CSP can reduce the amount of intraoperative blood loss,reduce the serum β-hCG levels and the incidence of complications,improve clinical treatment efficacy,and promote recovery of patients.

Objective To explore the value of deep learning(DL)models semi-automatic training system for automatic optimization of clinical image quality control of transthoracic echocardiography(TTE).Methods Totally 1 250 TTE videos from 402 patients were retrospectively collected,including 490 apical four chamber(A4C),310 parasternal long axis view of left ventricle(PLAX)and 450 parasternal short axis view of great vessel(PSAXGv).The videos were divided into development set(245 A4C,155 PLAX,225 PSAXGV),semi-automated training set(98 A4C,62 PLAX,90 PSAXGV)and test set(147 A4C,93 PLAX,135 PSAXGV)at the ratio of 5:2:3.Based on development set and semi-automatic training set,DL model of quality control was semi-automatically iteratively optimized,and a semi-automatic training system was constructed,then the efficacy of DL models for recognizing TTE views and assessing imaging quality of TTE were verified in test set.Results After optimization,the overall accuracy,precision,recall,and F1 score of DL models for recognizing TTE views in test set improved from 97.33％,97.26％,97.26％and 97.26％to 99.73％,99.65％,99.77％and 99.71％,respectively,while the overall accuracy for assessing A4C,PLAX and PSAXGV TTE as standard views in test set improved from 89.12％,83.87％and 90.37％to 93.20％,90.32％and 93.33％,respectively.Conclusion The developed DL models semi-automatic training system could improve the efficiency of clinical imaging quality control of TTE and increase iteration speed.

Objective:To investigate the factors contributing to frailty in very elderly patients with multimorbidity.Methods:This cross-sectional study enrolled 119 very elderly patients with multimorbidity who were hospitalized in the Department of Geriatrics of Huadong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University from August 2022 to March 2023.The study aimed to understand the basic status of multimorbidity by collecting general information, the number and types of diseases, and frailty status.The subjects were divided into frail and non-frail groups through comprehensive geriatric assessment.Various factors including gender, age, Tinetti balance gait score, risk of sarcopenia, dementia, depression, risk of deep vein thrombosis, dysphagia, comorbidity index, medication count, Basic Activities of Daily Living(BADL)score, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(IADL)score, Nutritional Risk Screening 2002(NRS-2002)score, Norton pressure injury risk assessment score, and Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS)score were compared.The correlation between each factor and the occurrence of frailty was analyzed using univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression analysis.Results:A total of 119 elderly inpatients with multimorbidity, with an average age of 90.8±5.9 years old, were included in the study.The incidence of frailty was 68.9%(82 cases).Univariate analysis revealed significant statistical differences between the frail group and the non-frail group in various factors including age( t=-3.131, P=0.002), Tinetti score( Z=-5.544, P<0.001), risk of sarcopenia( χ2=39.205, P<0.001), dysphagia( χ2=5.937, P=0.015), Charlson comorbidity index( Z=-2.565, P=0.010), medication count( Z=-3.325, P<0.001), BADL( Z=-5.871, P<0.001), IADL( Z=-5.062, P<0.001), Norton score( Z=-5.922, P<0.001), and SSRS social support( Z=-2.637, P=0.008).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the Tinetti score( OR=0.843, 95% CI: 0.737-0.966, P=0.014), decreased muscle strength( OR=11.226, 95% CI: 2.157-58.432, P=0.004), sarcopenia( OR=18.084, 95% CI: 2.041-106.211, P=0.009), Norton score( OR=0.462, 95% CI: 0.254-0.838, P=0.011), and medication count( OR=1.153, 95% CI: 1.000-1.329, P=0.049)were independently associated with frailty. Conclusions:In very elderly patients with multimorbidities, the occurrence of frailty is notably increased.Frailty is linked to multiple risks including falls, muscle weakness/sarcopenia, pressure ulcer risk, and polypharmacy, and these risks are independent of other factors.