1.Prevalence of impostor phenomenon and burnout in a Singapore health system.
Jun Hui TAN ; Ke Xin EH ; Zheng Jye LING
Singapore medical journal 2025;66(10):540-544
INTRODUCTION:
Impostor phenomenon (IP) is a set of feelings encountered by individuals of being incompetent, despite experiencing successes. IP affects not only individuals on a personal level, but also organisations where the leadership diversity decreases due to employees' self-doubt. We aim to investigate the prevalence of IP and burnout among employees in the National University Health System (NUHS).
METHODS:
All permanently employed full-time NUHS employees aged 21 years and above were invited to participate in this self-administered cross-sectional study between April 2021 and August 2021. Mass emails with the embedded study link were sent every 2-3 weeks to the employees' corporate email accounts.
RESULTS:
In our study, 61% of our study respondents reported having IP experiences and 97% reported having burnout. The associations of IP with ethnicity and age group were significant. Post hoc tests, however, showed that the association was statistically significant only in the 21-29 years age group.
CONCLUSION
We found that there was no statistical significance between gender and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) profile types. However, we found that IP was significantly associated with individuals in the 21-29 years age group. This could be because younger individuals who just entered workforce may feel uncomfortable with their newfound independence and responsibility. Workplace support, such as workshops, and emotional support were found to be useful in helping individuals cope with IP. Future studies could be done post coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among healthcare workers to have a larger sample size to determine true IP and burnout prevalence.
Humans
;
Singapore/epidemiology*
;
Adult
;
Male
;
Female
;
Burnout, Professional/psychology*
;
Cross-Sectional Studies
;
Prevalence
;
Middle Aged
;
Young Adult
;
Surveys and Questionnaires
;
COVID-19/epidemiology*
;
Workplace/psychology*
2.Singapore clinical guideline on parenteral nutrition in adult patients in the acute hospital setting.
Johnathan Huey Ming LUM ; Hazel Ee Ling YEONG ; Pauleon Enjiu TAN ; Ennaliza SALAZAR ; Tingfeng LEE ; Yunn Cheng NG ; Janet Ngian Choo CHONG ; Pay Wen YONG ; Jeannie Peng Lan ONG ; Siao Ching GOOI ; Kristie Huirong FAN ; Weihao CHEN ; Mei Yoke LIM ; Kon Voi TAY ; Doris Hui Lan NG
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore 2025;54(6):350-369
INTRODUCTION:
The primary objective of this guideline is to establish evidence-based recommendations for the clinical use of parenteral nutrition (PN) in adult patients within the acute hospital setting in Singapore.
METHOD:
An expert workgroup, consisting of healthcare practitioners actively involved in clinical nutrition support across all public health institutions, systematically evaluated existing evidence and addressed clinical questions relating to PN therapy.
RESULTS:
This clinical practice guideline developed 30 recommendations for PN therapy, which cover these key aspects related to PN use: indications, patient assess-ment, titration and formulation of PN bags, access routes and devices, and monitoring and management of PN-related complications.
CONCLUSION
This guideline provides recommendations to ensure appropriate and safe clinical practice of PN therapy in adult patients within the acute hospital setting.
Humans
;
Singapore
;
Parenteral Nutrition/adverse effects*
;
Adult
3.A Study of Flow Sorting Lymphocyte Subsets to Detect Epstein-Barr Virus Reactivation in Patients with Hematological Malignancies.
Hui-Ying LI ; Shen-Hao LIU ; Fang-Tong LIU ; Kai-Wen TAN ; Zi-Hao WANG ; Han-Yu CAO ; Si-Man HUANG ; Chao-Ling WAN ; Hai-Ping DAI ; Sheng-Li XUE ; Lian BAI
Journal of Experimental Hematology 2025;33(5):1468-1475
OBJECTIVE:
To analyze the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) load in different lymphocyte subsets, as well as clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies experiencing EBV reactivation.
METHODS:
Peripheral blood samples from patients were collected. B, T, and NK cells were isolated sorting with magnetic beads by flow cytometry. The EBV load in each subset was quantitated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Clinical data were colleted from electronic medical records. Survival status was followed up through outpatient visits and telephone calls. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0.
RESULTS:
A total of 39 patients with hematologic malignancies were included, among whom 35 patients had undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The median time to EBV reactivation was 4.8 months (range: 1.7-57.1 months) after allo-HSCT. EBV was detected in B, T, and NK cells in 20 patients, in B and T cells in 11 patients, and only in B cells in 4 patients. In the 35 patients, the median EBV load in B cells was 2.19×104 copies/ml, significantly higher than that in T cells (4.00×103 copies/ml, P <0.01) and NK cells (2.85×102 copies/ml, P <0.01). Rituximab (RTX) was administered for 32 patients, resulting in EBV negativity in 32 patients with a median time of 8 days (range: 2-39 days). Post-treatment analysis of 13 patients showed EBV were all negative in B, T, and NK cells. In the four non-transplant patients, the median time to EBV reactivation was 35 days (range: 1-328 days) after diagnosis of the primary disease. EBV was detected in one or two subsets of B, T, or NK cells, but not simultaneously in all three subsets. These patients received a combination chemotherapy targeting at the primary disease, with 3 patients achieving EBV negativity, and the median time to be negative was 40 days (range: 13-75 days).
CONCLUSION
In hematologic malignancy patients after allo-HSCT, EBV reactivation commonly involves B, T, and NK cells, with a significantly higher viral load in B cells compared to T and NK cells. Rituximab is effective for EBV clearance. In non-transplant patients, EBV reactivation is restricted to one or two lymphocyte subsets, and clearance is slower, highlighting the need for prompt anti-tumor therapy.
Humans
;
Hematologic Neoplasms/virology*
;
Herpesvirus 4, Human/physiology*
;
Epstein-Barr Virus Infections
;
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
;
Virus Activation
;
Lymphocyte Subsets/virology*
;
Flow Cytometry
;
Killer Cells, Natural/virology*
;
Male
;
Female
;
B-Lymphocytes/virology*
;
Viral Load
;
Adult
;
T-Lymphocytes/virology*
;
Middle Aged
4.Csde1 Mediates Neurogenesis via Post-transcriptional Regulation of the Cell Cycle.
Xiangbin JIA ; Wenqi XIE ; Bing DU ; Mei HE ; Jia CHEN ; Meilin CHEN ; Ge ZHANG ; Ke WANG ; Wanjing XU ; Yuxin LIAO ; Senwei TAN ; Yongqing LYU ; Bin YU ; Zihang ZHENG ; Xiaoyue SUN ; Yang LIAO ; Zhengmao HU ; Ling YUAN ; Jieqiong TAN ; Kun XIA ; Hui GUO
Neuroscience Bulletin 2025;41(11):1977-1990
Loss-of-function variants in CSDE1 have been strongly linked to neuropsychiatric disorders, yet the precise role of CSDE1 in neurogenesis remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that knockout of Csde1 during cortical development in mice results in impaired neural progenitor proliferation, leading to abnormal cortical lamination and embryonic lethality. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that Csde1 upregulates the transcription of genes involved in the cell cycle network. Applying a dual thymidine-labelling approach, we further revealed prolonged cell cycle durations of neuronal progenitors in Csde1-knockout mice, with a notable extension of the G1 phase. Intersection with CLIP-seq data demonstrated that Csde1 binds to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of mRNA transcripts encoding cell cycle genes. Particularly, we uncovered that Csde1 directly binds to the 3' UTR of mRNA transcripts encoding Cdk6, a pivotal gene in regulating the transition from the G1 to S phases of the cell cycle, thereby maintaining its stability. Collectively, this study elucidates Csde1 as a novel regulator of Cdk6, sheds new light on its critical roles in orchestrating brain development, and underscores how mutations in Csde1 may contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Animals
;
Neurogenesis/genetics*
;
Cell Cycle/genetics*
;
Mice, Knockout
;
Mice
;
Neural Stem Cells/metabolism*
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DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism*
;
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6/genetics*
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Cell Proliferation
;
3' Untranslated Regions
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Cerebral Cortex/embryology*
;
RNA-Binding Proteins
;
Mice, Inbred C57BL
5.Efficiency of different large language models in China in response to consultations about PCa-related perioperative nursing and health education
Xiao-Wen TAN ; Wen-Fang CHEN ; Na-Na WANG ; Hui-Yu LI ; Juan LI ; Yu-Mei CAO ; Meng-Qi ZHU ; Kun LI ; Ting-Ling ZHANG ; Dian FU
National Journal of Andrology 2024;30(2):151-156
Objective:To evaluate the efficiency of the four domestic language models,ERNIE Bot,ChatGLM2,Spark Desk and Qwen-14B-Chat,all with a massive user base and significant social attention,in response to consultations about PCa-related perio-perative nursing and health education.Methods:We designed a questionnaire that includes 15 questions commonly concerned by patients undergoing radical prostatectomy and 2 common nursing cases,and inputted the questions into each of the four language models for simulation consultation.Three nursing experts assessed the model responses based on a pre-designed Likert 5-point scale in terms of accuracy,comprehensiveness,understandability,humanistic care,and case analysis.We evaluated and compared the performance of the four models using visualization tools and statistical analyses.Results:All the models generated high-quality texts with no mis-leading information and exhibited satisfactory performance.Qwen-14B-Chat scored the highest in all aspects and showed relatively sta-ble outputs in multiple tests compared with ChatGLM2.Spark Desk performed well in terms of understandability but lacked comprehen-siveness and humanistic care.Both Qwen-14B-Chat and ChatGLM2 demonstrated excellent performance in case analysis.The overall performance of ERNIE Bot was slightly inferior.All things considered,Qwen-14B-Chat was superior to the other three models in con-sultations about PCa-related perioperative nursing and health education.Conclusion:In PCa-related perioperative nursing,large language models represented by Qwen-14B-Chat are expected to become powerful auxiliary tools to provide patients with more medical expertise and information support,so as to improve the patient compliance and the quality of clinical treatment and nursing.
6.A summary of the Malaysian Clinical Practice Guidelines on the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis, 2022
Terence Ing WEI ONG ; Lee Ling LIM ; Siew Pheng CHAN ; Winnie Siew SWEE CHEE ; Alan Swee HOCK CH’NG ; Elizabeth GAR MIT CHONG ; Premitha DAMODARAN ; Fen Lee HEW ; Luqman bin IBRAHIM ; Hui Min KHOR ; Pauline Siew MEI LAI ; Joon Kiong LEE ; Ai Lee LIM ; Boon Ping LIM ; Sharmila Sunita PARAMASIVAM ; Jeyakantha RATNASINGAM ; Yew Siong SIOW ; Alexander Tong BOON TAN ; Nagammai THIAGARAJAN ; Swan Sim YEAP
Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia 2023;9(2):60-69
Objectives:
The aim of these Clinical Practice Guidelines is to provide evidence-based recommendations to assist healthcare providers in the screening, diagnosis and management of patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis (OP).
Methods:
A list of key clinical questions on the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of OP was formulated. A literature search using the PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Databases of Systematic Reviews, and OVID electronic databases identified all relevant articles on OP based on the key clinical questions, from 2014 onwards, to update from the 2015 edition. The articles were graded using the SIGN50 format. For each statement, studies with the highest level of evidence were used to frame the recommendation.
Results:
This article summarizes the diagnostic and treatment pathways for postmenopausal OP. Risk stratification of patients with OP encompasses clinical risk factors, bone mineral density measurements and FRAX risk estimates. Non-pharmacological measures including adequate calcium and vitamin D, regular exercise and falls prevention are recommended. Pharmacological measures depend on patients’ fracture risk status. Very high-risk individuals are recommended for treatment with an anabolic agent, if available, followed by an anti-resorptive agent. Alternatively, parenteral anti-resorptive agents can be used. High-risk individuals should be treated with anti-resorptive agents. In low-risk individuals, menopausal hormone replacement or selective estrogen receptor modulators can be used, if indicated. Patients should be assessed regularly to monitor treatment response and treatment adjusted, as appropriate.
Conclusions
The pathways for the management of postmenopausal OP in Malaysia have been updated. Incorporation of fracture risk stratification can guide appropriate treatment.
7.Construction and application of a fluorescent expression cell model of botulinum toxin type B light chain
Ling TAN ; Chensi ZHU ; Baogang WANG ; Tao LI ; Hui WANG
Military Medical Sciences 2023;47(12):907-912
Objective To construct a fluorescent expression cell model of botulinum toxin type B light chain(BoNT/B,BLC),and evaluate the effect of small molecule compounds with this model.Methods The BLC gene was inserted into the fluorescent expression vector pEGFP-N1 to construct a recombinant plasmid before being transfected into the neural cell line Neuro-2a cells for expression.The fluorescence expression level of BLC-EGFP protein in the cells was observed under a fluorescence microscope,and the enzyme digestion activity and stability of BLC-EGFP in the cells were detected by Western blotting.Furthermore,the model was used to evaluate the effect of SRC kinase inhibitor KX2-391 on the intracellular stability of BLC-EGFP protein.Results The recombinant expression plasmid pEGFP-N1-BLC was constructed.It was found that the expression level of BCL-EGFP protein in Neuro-2a cells gradually increased over time,and that the intracellular substrate vesicle-associated membrane protein-2(VAMP-2)was cleaved after plasmid transfection.CHX was added to terminate protein synthesis after the plasmid was transfected for 12 h,and the intracellular level of BLC-EGFP did not change significantly within 72 h.Twenty-four hours of treatment with KX2-391 could significantly promote the intracellular degradation of BLC-EGFP protein.Conclusions A cell model of fluorescent expression of botulinum toxin type B light chain has been established,which provides a technical reserve for the subsequent study onthe intracellular persistence mechanism and intracellular antidote screening of botulinum toxin type B light chain.
8.Value of postoperative radiotherapy and analysis of prognostic factors in early-stage neuroendocrine carcinoma of cervix.
Xiao Chen SONG ; Hui ZHANG ; Sen ZHONG ; Xian Jie TAN ; Shui Qing MA ; Ying JIN ; Ling Ya PAN ; Ming WU ; Dong Yan CAO ; Jia Xin YANG ; Yang XIANG
Chinese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2023;58(9):680-690
Objective: To evaluate the effect of postoperative radiotherapy and high-risk pathological factors on the prognosis of early-stage neuroendocrine carcinoma of cervix (NECC). Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort study of early-stage NECC in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2011 to April 2022 were enrolled. The patients were treated with radical hysterectomy±adjuvant treatment. They were divided into postoperative non-radiation group and postoperative radiation group. The possible postoperative recurrence risk factors identified by univariate analysis were assessed using multivariate logistic regression. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), recurrence rate, and mortality rate. Results: (1) Sixty-two cases were included in the study, including 33 cases in postoperative non-radiation group and 29 cases in postoperative radiation group. (2) The median follow-up time was 37 months (ranged 12-116 months), with 23 cases (37%) experienced recurrences. There were 7 cases (11%) pelvic recurrences and 20 cases (32%) distant recurrences, in which including 4 cases (6%) both pelvic and distant recurrences. Compared with postoperative non-radiation group, the postoperative radiation group had a lower pelvic recurrence rate (18% vs 3%; P=0.074) but without statistic difference, a slightly elevated distant recurrence rate (24% vs 41%; P=0.150) and overall recurrence rate (33% vs 41%; P=0.513) without statistically significances. Univariate analysis showed that lymph-vascular space invasion and the depth of cervical stromal invasion≥1/2 were risk factors for postoperative recurrence (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed lymph-vascular space invasion was an independent predictor for postoperative recurrence (OR=23.03, 95%CI: 3.55-149.39, P=0.001). (3) During the follow-up period, 18 cases (29%, 18/62) died with tumor, with 10 cases (30%, 10/33) in postoperative non-radiation group and 8 cases (28%, 8/29) in postoperative radiation group, without significant difference (P=0.814). The postoperative 3-year and 5-year survival rate was 79.2%, 60.8%. The depth of cervical stromal invasion≥1/2 was more common in postoperative radiation group (27% vs 64%; P=0.011), and postoperative radiation in such patients showed an extended trend in PFS (32.3 vs 53.9 months) and OS (39.4 vs 73.4 months) but without statistic differences (P=0.704, P=0.371). Compared with postoperative non-radiation group, the postoperative radiation did not improve PFS (54.5 vs 37.3 months; P=0.860) and OS (56.2 vs 62.4 months; P=0.550) in patients with lymph-vascular space invasion. Conclusions: Postoperative radiation in early-stage NECC patients has a trend to reduce pelvic recurrence but not appear to decrease distant recurrence and overall recurrence, and has not improved mortality. For patients with the depth of cervical stromal invasion≥1/2, postoperative radiation has a trend of prolonging OS and PFS but without statistic difference. Lymph-vascular space invasion is an independent predictor for postoperative recurrence, but postoperative radiation in such patients does not seem to have any survival benefits.
Female
;
Humans
;
Cervix Uteri/surgery*
;
Prognosis
;
Retrospective Studies
;
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/surgery*
;
Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine/surgery*
;
Recurrence
9.Research progress of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of vascular cognitive impairment
Ya-Fang TAN ; Si-Qi GUAN ; Wen-Jie ZHANG ; Hui YANG ; Xu-Ling LI
Chinese Journal of cardiovascular Rehabilitation Medicine 2023;32(6):641-644
With aging of Chinese population,prevalence of vascular cognitive impairment(VCI)is increasing year by year.At present,drugs for VCI treatment at home and abroad still lack large samples of evidence-based medicine evidence.Compared with western medicine,Chinese medicine has characteristics of multi-component and multi-target.The present article makes a review on research progress of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of VCI,aiming at providing new thinking for VCI treatment.
10.Concordance of self-reporting of diabetes compared with medical records: A comparative study using polyclinic data in Singapore.
Khai Wei TAN ; Jeremy Kaiwei LEW ; Poay Sian Sabrina LEE ; Sin Kee ONG ; Hui Li KOH ; Doris Yee Ling YOUNG ; Eng Sing LEE
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore 2023;52(2):62-70
INTRODUCTION:
Studies of concordance between patients' self-report of diseases and a criterion standard (e.g. chart review) are usually conducted in epidemiological studies to evaluate the agreement of self-reported data for use in public health research. To our knowledge, there are no published studies on concordance for highly prevalent chronic diseases such as diabetes and pre-diabetes. The aims of this study were to evaluate the concordance between patients' self-report and their medical records of diabetes and pre-diabetes diagnoses, and to identify factors associated with diabetes concordance.
METHOD:
A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey was conducted on patients with chronic diseases after obtaining written consent to assess their medical notes. Interviewers were blinded to the participants' profiles. Concordance was evaluated using Cohen's kappa (κ). A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with diabetes concordance.
RESULTS:
There was substantial agreement between self-reported and medical records of diabetes diagnoses (κ=0.76) and fair agreement for pre-diabetes diagnoses (κ=0.36). The logistic regression model suggested that non-Chinese patients had higher odds of diabetes concordance than Chinese patients (odds ratio [OR]=4.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.19-14.13, P=0.03). Patients with 3 or more chronic diseases (i.e. multimorbidity) had lower odds of diabetes concordance than patients without multimorbidity (OR=0.21, 95% CI 0.09-0.48, P<0.001).
CONCLUSION
Diabetes concordance was substantial, supporting the use of self-report of diabetes by patients with chronic diseases in the primary care setting for future research. Pre-diabetes concordance was fair and may have important clinical implications. Further studies to explore and improve health literacy and patient-physician communication are needed.
Humans
;
Prediabetic State
;
Singapore/epidemiology*
;
Cross-Sectional Studies
;
Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology*
;
Medical Records
;
Self Report

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