More than 'minority': Social tolerance and youth wellbeing at the intersection of ethnicity and neighbourhood segregation.

Social tolerance is an indicator of healthy diverse societies, and is associated with individual well-being. However, previous studies have found that social tolerance varies between groups and is experienced differently through one's immediate social context. This lends to the plausibility of ethnicity and neighbourhood ethnic composition altering one's experience of living in their neighbourhood and the impact of well-being. Relying on 6 waves of nationally-representative panel data from young adults in Singapore, we investigate how ethnicity and neighbourhood ethnic composition influences the relationship between social tolerance and well-being. We find that this relationship is moderated by both factors in ways that deviates from the conventional majority-minority dichotomy found in literature. This indicates that efforts made to improve social tolerance may lead to varying outcomes, depending on one's ethnicity and social context.

SFPQ promotes RAS-mutant cancer cell growth by modulating 5'-UTR mediated translational control of CK1α.

Oncogenic mutations in the RAS family of small GTPases are commonly found in human cancers and they promote tumorigenesis by altering gene expression networks. We previously demonstrated that Casein Kinase 1α (CK1α), a member of the CK1 family of serine/threonine kinases, is post-transcriptionally upregulated by oncogenic RAS signaling. Here, we report that the CK1α mRNA contains an exceptionally long 5'-untranslated region (UTR) harbouring several translational control elements, implicating its involvement in translational regulation. We demonstrate that the CK1α 5'-UTR functions as an IRES element in HCT-116 colon cancer cells to promote cap-independent translation. Using tobramycin-affinity RNA-pulldown assays coupled with identification via mass spectrometry, we identified several CK1α 5'-UTR-binding proteins, including SFPQ. We show that RNA interference targeting SFPQ reduced CK1α protein abundance and partially blocked RAS-mutant colon cancer cell growth. Importantly, transcript and protein levels of SFPQ and other CK1α 5'-UTR-associated RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are found to be elevated in early stages of RAS-mutant cancers, including colorectal and lung adenocarcinoma. Taken together, our study uncovers a previously unappreciated role of RBPs in promoting RAS-mutant cancer cell growth and their potential to serve as promising biomarkers as well as tractable therapeutic targets in cancers driven by oncogenic RAS.

Changes in neighborhood environments and the increasing socioeconomic gap in child obesity risks: Evidence from Singapore.

Most empirical research studying the link between neighborhood environments and child obesity risks are conducted in contexts such as the U.S., with pronounced patterns of residential segregation, making it difficult to extrapolate how far built environment characteristics contribute to socioeconomic disparities in obesity risks in less segregated contexts. Using a large national dataset of almost 625,000 students' height and weight data collected at ages 7, 11 and 14, between 2004 and 2015, this paper explores whether differences in eight neighborhood characteristics measuring access to different type of food outlets, parks and other active spaces, and public transport infrastructure might be responsible for socioeconomic differences in child obesity risks in Singapore, a city-state with relatively low levels of residential segregation. Through descriptive analyses we find that socioeconomic disparities in child BMIz in Singapore widened from 2004 onwards. However, while longitudinal regression models with individual and time fixed effects suggest that family socioeconomic status modified the relationship between environmental exposures and BMIz, there does not seem to be a clear, unequivocal relationship between built environment changes and the observed widening of the socioeconomic obesity gap.

Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis.

Substantial health disparities exist across race/ethnicity in the USA, with Black Americans often most affected. The current COVID-19 pandemic is no different. While there have been ample studies describing racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, relatively few have established an empirical link between these disparities and structural racism. Such empirical analyses are critically important to help defuse "victim-blaming" narratives about why minority communities have been badly hit by COVID-19. In this paper, we explore the empirical link between structural racism and disparities in county-level COVID-19 outcomes by county racial composition. Using negative binomial regression models, we examine how five measures of county-level residential segregation and racial disparities in socioeconomic outcomes as well as incarceration rates are associated with county-level COVID-19 outcomes. We find significant associations between higher levels of measured structural racism and higher rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths, even after adjusting for county-level population sociodemographic characteristics, measures of population health, access to healthcare, population density, and duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. One percentage point more Black residents predicted a 1.1% increase in county case rate. This association decreased to 0.4% when structural racism indicators were included in our model. Similarly, one percentage point more Black residents predicted a 1.8% increase in county death rates, which became non-significant after adjustment for structural racism. Our findings lend empirical support to the hypothesis that structural racism is an important driver of racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, and reinforce existing calls for action to address structural racism as a fundamental cause of health disparities.

From SARS to COVID-19: Digital infrastructures of surveillance and segregation in exceptional times.

The COVID-19 pandemic, an exceptional crisis, sparked the introduction of new digital infrastructure to halt the novel coronavirus's spread. This paper explores how such digital infrastructure's impact might reverberate over the long term, by comparing Singapore, Hong Kong, and mainland China's utilization of digital technology in response to the 2003 SARS outbreak, and their responses to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. We find that advancements in digital technology since 2003 have boosted governments' surveillance and segregation abilities substantially-most dramatically so in China. Even though some of these new digital interventions are ostensibly designed to be temporary ones to address the needs of the immediate crisis, we argue that the resultant extensions of state power experienced during COVID-19 are likely to have profound long-term effects because they fundamentally affect sociopolitical contexts, institutional capabilities, and digital cultures. We also find that the extent to which governments can extend digital surveillance and segregation abilities during the pandemic is contingent on their respective sociopolitical, institutional, and digital cultural contexts.

Where we eat is who we are: a survey of food-related travel patterns to Singapore's hawker centers, food courts and coffee shops.

BACKGROUND: The development of empirically-grounded policies to change the obesogenic nature of urban environment has been impeded by limited, inconclusive evidence of the link between food environments, dietary behaviors, and health-related outcomes, in part due to inconsistent methods of classifying and analyzing food environments. This study explores how individual and built environment characteristics may be associated with how far and long people travel to food venues,that can serve as a starting point for further policy-oriented research to develop a more nuanced, context-specific delineations of 'food environments' in an urban Asian context. METHODS: Five hundred twenty nine diners in eight different neighborhoods in Singapore were surveyed about how far and long they travelled to their meal venues, and by what mode. We then examined how respondents' food-related travel differed by socioeconomic characteristics, as well as objectively-measured built environment characteristics at travel origin and destination, using linear regression models. RESULTS: Low-income individuals expended more time traveling to meal destinations than high-income individuals, largely because they utilized slower modes like walking rather than driving. Those travelling from areas with high food outlet density travelled shorter distances and times than those from food-sparse areas, while those seeking meals away from their home and work anchor points had lower thresholds for travel. Respondents also travelled longer distances to food-dense locations, compared to food-sparse locations. CONCLUSION: Those seeking to improve food environments of poor individuals should consider studying an intervention radius pegged to typical walking distances, or ways to improve their transport options as a starting point. Policy-focused research on food environments should also be sensitive to locational characteristics, such as food outlet densities and land use.

Electrochemical Long Period Fiber Grating Sensing for Electroactive Species.

We present an electrochemical long period fiber grating (LPFG) sensor for electroactive species with an optically transparent electrode. The sensor was fabricated by coating indium tin oxide onto the surface of LPFG using a polygonal barrel-sputtering method. LPFG was produced by an electric arc-induced technique. The sensing is based on change in the detection of electron density on the electrode surface during potential application and its reduction by electrochemical redox of analytes. Four typical electroactive species of methylene blue, hexaammineruthenium(III), ferrocyanide, and ferrocenedimethanol were used to investigate the sensor performance. The concentrations of analytes were determined by the modulation of the potential as the change in transmittance around the resonance band of LPFG. The sensitivity of the sensor, particularly to methylene blue, was high, and the sensor responded to a wide concentration range of 0.001 mM to 1 mM.

Early childhood respiratory morbidity and antibiotic use in ex-preterm infants: a primary care population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Globally, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) continues to increase in preterm infants. Recent studies exploring subsequent early childhood respiratory morbidity have been small or focused on hospital admissions. AIMS: To examine early childhood rates of primary care consultations for respiratory tract infections (RTI), lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), wheeze and antibiotic prescriptions in ex-preterm and term children. A secondary aim was to examine differences between preterm infants discharged home with or without oxygen. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using linked electronic primary care and hospital databases of children born between 1997 and 2014. We included 253 277 eligible children, with 1666 born preterm at <32 weeks' gestation, followed-up from primary care registration to age 5 years. Adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs) were calculated. RESULTS: Ex-preterm infants had higher rates of morbidity across all respiratory outcomes. After adjusting for confounders, aIRRs for RTI (1.37, 95% CI 1.33-1.42), LRTI (2.79, 95% CI 2.59-3.01), wheeze (3.05, 95% CI 2.64-3.52) and antibiotic prescriptions (1.49, 95% CI 1.44-1.55) were higher for ex-preterm infants. Ex-preterm infants discharged home on oxygen had significantly greater morbidity across all respiratory diagnoses and antibiotic prescriptions compared to those without home oxygen. The highest rates of respiratory morbidity were observed in children from the most deprived socioeconomic groups. CONCLUSION: Ex-preterm infants, particularly those with BPD requiring home oxygen, have significant respiratory morbidity and antibiotic prescriptions in early childhood. With the increasing prevalence of BPD, further research should focus on strategies to reduce the burden of respiratory morbidity in these high-risk infants after hospital discharge.

Hospital-Acquired Viral Respiratory Tract Infections in the Neonatal Unit: A Comparison with Other Inpatient Groups.

BACKGROUND: Hospital-acquired viral respiratory tract infections (VRTIs) cause significant morbidity and mortality in neonatal patients. This includes escalation of respiratory support, increased length of hospital stay, and need for home oxygen, as well as higher healthcare costs. To date, no studies have compared population rates of VRTIs across age groups. AIM: Quantify the rates of hospital-acquired VRTIs in our neonatal population compared with other inpatient age groups in Nottinghamshire, UK. METHODS: We compared all hospital inpatient PCR-positive viral respiratory samples between 2007 and 2013 and calculated age-stratified rates based on population estimates. RESULTS: From a population of 4,707,217, we identified a previously unrecognised burden of VRTI in neonatal patients, only second to the 0-1-year-old group. Although only accounting for 1.3% of the population, half of the infections were in infants <1 year old and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients. Human rhinovirus was the most dominant virus across the inpatient group, particularly in neonatal patients. Despite a two- to three-fold increase in the rate of positive samples in all groups during the colder months (1.1/1,000 October-March vs. 0.4/1,000 April-September), rates in the NICU did not change throughout the year at 4.3/1,000. Pandemic H1N1 influenza rates were 20 times higher in neonatal patients and infants <1 year old. CONCLUSION: Good epidemiological and interventional data are needed to help inform visiting and infection control policies to reduce transmission of hospital-acquired viral infections to this vulnerable population, particularly during pandemic seasons.

Mapping patterns of abiotic and biotic stress resilience uncovers conservation gaps and breeding potential of Vigna wild relatives.

This study provides insights in patterns of distribution of abiotic and biotic stress resilience across Vigna gene pools to enhance the use and conservation of these genetic resources for legume breeding. Vigna is a pantropical genus with more than 88 taxa including important crops such as V. radiata (mung bean) and V. unguiculata (cowpea). Our results show that sources of pest and disease resistance occur in at least 75 percent of the Vigna taxa, which were part of screening assessments, while sources of abiotic stress resilience occur in less than 30 percent of screened taxa. This difference in levels of resilience suggests that Vigna taxa co-evolve with pests and diseases while taxa are more conservative to adapt to climatic changes and salinization. Twenty-two Vigna taxa are poorly conserved in genebanks or not at all. This germplasm is not available for legume breeding and requires urgent germplasm collecting before these taxa extirpate on farm and in the wild. Vigna taxa, which tolerate heat and drought stress are rare compared with taxa, which escape these stresses because of short growing seasons or with taxa, which tolerate salinity. We recommend prioritizing these rare Vigna taxa for conservation and screening for combined abiotic and biotic stress resilience resulting from stacked or multifunctional traits. The high presence of salinity tolerance compared with drought stress tolerance, suggests that Vigna taxa are good at developing salt-tolerant traits. Vigna taxa are therefore of high value for legume production in areas that will suffer from salinization under global climate change.

Early Life Incidence of Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Infections in Children With Gastroschisis: A Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: Survival in infants with gastroschisis is increasing although little is known about early childhood morbidity. In the context of a hypothesized link between the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and immune function, this study explores rates of GI and respiratory infections in children with gastroschisis. METHODS: We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study using data from the Health Improvement Network, a large database of UK primary care medical records. We identified children born from 1990 to 2013, and extracted follow-up data to their fifth birthday. We calculate incidence rates (IR) of GI and respiratory tract infections, overall and stratified by age, sex, socioeconomic status, and gestational age at birth, and compared these between children with and without gastroschisis by calculating adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR). RESULTS: Children with gastroschisis had a 65% higher IR of GI infection compared to children without (aIRR 1.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.37-1.99, P < 0.001). Children with gastroschisis had a 27% higher IR of all respiratory tract infections (aIRR 1.27, 95% CI 1.12-1.44, P < 0.001) and more than 2-fold increase in lower respiratory tract infections compared to children without the condition (aIRR 2.15, 95% CI 1.69-2.74, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Children born with gastroschisis have a significantly higher incidence of GI and respiratory tract infections compared to children without gastroschisis. This association requires further investigations but could be related to the neonatal care they receive such as delayed enteral feeding or frequent antibiotic courses altering the gut microbiome and developing immune system.

Variation in Visiting and Isolation Policies in Neonatal Units: A U.K. Nationwide Survey.

Global pandemics, such as H1N1, are a major risk for neonatal patients. We surveyed U.K. tertiary and district neonatal units about visiting and infection control policies relating to viral respiratory infections. There was marked variation with visiting policies, tertiary units being more restrictive. Isolation, screening, and outbreak management of infected babies was highly variable posing a risk in future pandemics.

Outcomes of Nosocomial Viral Respiratory Infections in High-Risk Neonates.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Neonatal respiratory disease, particularly bronchopulmonary dysplasia, remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in newborn infants. Recent evidence suggests nosocomially acquired viral respiratory tract infections (VRTIs) are not uncommon in the NICU. The goal of this study was to assess the association between nosocomial VRTIs, neonatal respiratory disease, and the health care related costs. METHODS: A matched case-control study was conducted in 2 tertiary NICUs during a 6-year period in Nottingham, United Kingdom. Case subjects were symptomatic neonatal patients with a confirmed real-time polymerase chain reaction diagnosis of a VRTI. Matched controls had never tested positive for a VRTI. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test for associations with key respiratory outcomes. RESULTS: There were 7995 admissions during the study period, with 92 case subjects matched to 183 control subjects. Baseline characteristics were similar, with a median gestation of 29 weeks. Rhinovirus was found in 74% of VRTIs. During VRTIs, 51% of infants needed escalation of respiratory support, and case subjects required significantly more respiratory pressure support overall (25 vs 7 days; P < .001). Case subjects spent longer in the hospital (76 vs 41 days; P < .001), twice as many required home oxygen (37%; odds ratio: 3.94 [95% confidence interval: 1.92-8.06]; P < .001), and in-hospital care costs were significantly higher (£49 664 [$71 861] vs £22 155 [$32 057]; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Nosocomial VRTIs in neonatal patients are associated with significant greater respiratory morbidity and health care costs. Prevention efforts must be explored.

Fundamental study on the development of fiber optic sensor for real-time sensing of CaCO3 scale formation in geothermal water.

This study proposes an optical fiber sensor for calcium carbonate (CaCO3) scale formation in water. The sensor is easily fabricated by removing the cladding of a multimode fiber to expose the core towards the surrounding medium in order to detect refractive index change. A variation of the transmittance response from the high refractive index of CaCO3 which precipitated on the fiber core surface was observed. The proposed setup can be used to analyze the transmittance response over wide range of wavelength using white light as a source and also a spectroscopy detector. The curve of the transmittance percentage over time showed that a fiber core with 200 µm has higher sensitivity as compared to a fiber core with 400 µm. The findings from this study showed that the sensor detection region at near infrared (NIR) wavelengths showed better sensitivity than visible light (VIS) wavelengths. Field tests were conducted using natural geothermal water at Matsushiro, Japan in order to verify the performance of the proposed sensor. The optical response was successfully evaluated and the analytical results confirmed the capability of monitoring scale formation in a geothermal water environment.

Oxidized derivatives of macroline, sarpagine, and pleiocarpamine alkaloids from Alstonia angustifolia.

A total of 20 new indole alkaloids comprising mainly oxidized derivatives of macroline- (including alstofonidine, a macroline indole incorporating a butyrolactone ring-F), pleiocarpamine-, and sarpagine-type alkaloids were isolated from the bark and leaf extracts of Alstonia angustifolia. The structures and relative configurations of these alkaloids were determined using NMR and MS analyses and in some instances confirmed by X-ray diffraction analyses. Alkaloids 3, 7, 35, and 41 showed moderate to weak activity, while 21 showed strong activity in reversing multidrug resistance in vincristine-resistant KB cells.

Macroline-sarpagine and macroline-pleiocarpamine bisindole alkaloids from Alstonia angustifolia.

Nine bisindole alkaloids, comprising four belonging to the macroline-sarpagine group, and five belonging to the macroline-pleiocarpamine group, were isolated from the stem-bark extracts of Alstonia angustifolia (Apocynacea). Their structures were established using NMR and MS analyses.

Unusual nitrogenous derivatives from Alstonia.

Five new nitrogenous compounds were isolated from the Malayan Alstonia angustifolia and their structures determined based on interpretation of spectroscopic data.

Perhentidines A-C: macroline-macroline bisindoles from Alstonia and the absolute configuration of perhentinine and macralstonine.

Three new bisindole alkaloids of the macroline-macroline type, perhentidines A-C (1-3), were isolated from the stem-bark extract of Alstonia macrophylla and Alstonia angustifolia. The structures of these alkaloids were established on the basis of NMR and MS analyses. The absolute configurations of perhentinine (4) and macralstonine (5) were established by X-ray diffraction analyses, which facilitated assignment of the configuration at C-20 in the regioisomeric bisindole alkaloids perhentidines A-C (1-3). A potentially useful method for the determination of the configuration at C-20 based on comparison of the NMR chemical shifts of the bisindoles and their acetate derivatives, in these and related bisindoles with similar constitution and branching of the monomeric units, is also presented.

Lumutinines A-D, linearly fused macroline-macroline and macroline-sarpagine bisindoles from Alstonia macrophylla.

Four new linearly fused bisindole alkaloids, lumutinines A-D (1-4), were isolated from the stem-bark extract of Alstonia macrophylla. Lumutinines A (1) and B (2) represent the first examples of linear, ring A/F-fused macroline-macroline-type bisindoles, while lumutinines C (3) and D (4) were constituted from the union of macroline and sarpagine moieties. A reinvestigation of the stereochemical assignment of alstoumerine (8) by NMR and X-ray diffraction analyses indicated that the configuration at C-16 and C-19 required revision.