Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD): Understanding, Requirements, Challenges, and Existing Techniques for Data Security and Privacy.

The evolution of Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD) represents a major shift in healthcare, fueled by technological progress. The advent of PGHD, with technologies such as wearable devices and home monitoring systems, extends data collection beyond clinical environments, enabling continuous monitoring and patient engagement in their health management. Despite the growing prevalence of PGHD, there is a lack of clear understanding among stakeholders about its meaning, along with concerns about data security, privacy, and accuracy. This article aims to thoroughly review and clarify PGHD by examining its origins, types, technological foundations, and the challenges it faces, especially in terms of privacy and security regulations. The review emphasizes the role of PGHD in transforming healthcare through patient-centric approaches, their understanding, and personalized care, while also exploring emerging technologies and addressing data privacy and security issues, offering a comprehensive perspective on the current state and future directions of PGHD. The methodology employed for this review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and Rayyan, AI-Powered Tool for Systematic Literature Reviews. This approach ensures a systematic and comprehensive coverage of the available literature on PGHD, focusing on the various aspects outlined in the objective. The review encompassed 36 peer-reviewed articles from various esteemed publishers and databases, reflecting a diverse range of methodologies, including interviews, regular articles, review articles, and empirical studies to address three RQs exploratory, impact assessment, and solution-oriented questions related to PGHD. Additionally, to address the future-oriented fourth RQ for PGHD not covered in the above review, we have incorporated existing domain knowledge articles. This inclusion aims to provide answers encompassing both basic and advanced security measures for PGHD, thereby enhancing the depth and scope of our analysis.

New Anti-Prelog Stereospecific Whole-Cell Biocatalyst for Asymmetric Reduction of Prochiral Ketones.

The biocatalytic asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones for the production of enantiopure alcohols is highly desirable due to its inherent advantages over chemical methods. In this study, a new bacterial strain capable of transforming ketones to corresponding alcohols with high activity and excellent enantioselectivity was discovered in a soil sample. The strain was subsequently identified as Bacillus cereus TQ-2 based on its physiological characteristics and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Under optimized reaction conditions, the resting cells of B. cereus TQ-2 converted acetophenone to enantioenriched (R)-1-phenylethanol with 99% enantiometric excess following anti-Prelog's rule, which is scarce in biocatalytic ketone reduction. The optimum temperature for the cells was 30 °C, and considerable catalytic activity was observed over a broad pH range from 5.0 to 9.0. The cells showed enhanced catalytic activity in the presence of 15% (v/v) glycerol as a co-substrate. The catalytic activity can also be substantially improved by adding Ca2+ or K+ ions. Moreover, the B. cereus TQ-2 cell was highly active in reducing several structurally diverse ketones and aldehydes to form corresponding alcohols with good to excellent conversion. Our study provides a versatile whole-cell biocatalyst that can be used in the asymmetric reduction of ketones for the production of chiral alcohol, thereby expanding the biocatalytic toolbox for potential practical applications.

Water quality variation during a strong El Niño event in 2016: a case study in Kampar River, Malaysia.

El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a natural forcing that affects global climate patterns, thereon influencing freshwater quality and security. In the advent of a strong El Niño warming event in 2016 which induced an extreme dry weather in Malaysia, water quality variation was investigated in Kampar River which supplies potable water to a population of 92,850. Sampling points were stratified into four ecohydrological units and 144 water samples were examined from October 2015 to March 2017. The Malaysian Water Quality Index (WQI) and some supplementary parameters were analysed in the context of reduced precipitation. Data shows that prolonged dry weather, episodic and sporadic pollution incidents have caused some anomalies in dissolved oxygen (DO), total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity and ammoniacal nitrogen (AN) values recorded and the possible factors are discussed. The month of March and August 2016 recorded the lowest precipitation, but the overall resultant WQI remained acceptable. Since the occurrence of a strong El Niño event is infrequent and far between in decadal time scale, this paper gives some rare insights that may be central to monitoring and managing freshwater resource that has a crucial impact to the mass population in the region of Southeast Asia.