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This study aimed to determine COVID-19-related awareness, knowledge, impact and preparedness among elderly Asians; and to evaluate their acceptance towards digital health services amidst the pandemic. 523 participants (177 Malays, 171 Indians, 175 Chinese) were recruited and underwent standardised phone interview during Singapore's lockdown period (07 April till 01 June 2020). Multivariable logistic regression models were performed to evaluate the associations between demographic, socio-economic, lifestyle, and systemic factors, with COVID-19 awareness, knowledge, preparedness, well-being and digital health service acceptance. The average perception score on the seriousness of COVID-19 was 7.6 ± 2.4 (out of 10). 75.5% of participants were aware that COVID-19 carriers can be asymptomatic. Nearly all (≥ 90%) were aware of major prevention methods for COVID-19 (i.e. wearing of mask, social distancing). 66.2% felt prepared for the pandemic, and 86.8% felt confident with government's handling and measures. 78.4% felt their daily routine was impacted. 98.1% reported no prior experience in using digital health services, but 52.2% felt these services would be helpful to reduce non-essential contact. 77.8% were uncomfortable with artificial intelligence software interpreting their medical results. In multivariable analyses, Chinese participants felt less prepared, and more likely felt impacted by COVID-19. Older and lower income participants were less likely to use digital health services. In conclusion, we observed a high level of awareness and knowledge on COVID-19. However, acceptance towards digital health service was low. These findings are valuable for examining the effectiveness of COVID-19 communication in Singapore, and the remaining gaps in digital health adoption among elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the association of HSD17B1 and HSD17B2 gene polymorphisms with uterine leiomyoma in Chinese women. Methods: 121 Chinese women with clinically diagnosed uterine leiomyoma and 217 healthy normal Chinese women were investigated to compare three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs605059 and rs676387 of HSD17B1 gene and rs8191246 of HSD17B2 gene) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing method. Results: All the SNPs were polymorphisms in Chinese women. Frequencies of rs605059 AA genotype and A allele were significantly increased in patients with uterine leiomyoma compared to healthy controls (GG vs. AA, OR 0.40, 95 % CI 0.20-0.82; G vs. A, OR 0.68, 95 % CI 0.50-0.94). Conclusion: The results suggest that the genotype of HSD17B1 rs605059 may play a role in the tumourgenesis of uterine leiomyoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactions of natural helicid with a number of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds or β-ketoester in the presence of ammonium acetate or 1-naphthylamine gave a series of helicid derivatives containing a 1,4-dihydropyridine fragment ( 2a-2h). Eight novel helicid derivatives were structurally confirmed by IR, H NMR, C NMR, and HR-MS spectroscopy and evaluated for their sedative-hypnotic activities on mice. The results demonstrated that two compounds had higher sedative-hypnotic activity compared with helicid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the agreements in foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and vessel density (VD) parameters (within the superficial capillary plexus region), between two widely used optical coherence tomography angiography machines. Participants who attended the Singapore Malay Eye Study III between 29th March and 6th August 2018, were enrolled in this study. Participants underwent fovea-centered 6×6-mm macular cube scan, using both AngioVue and Cirrus HDOCT machines. Scans were analyzed automatically using built-in review software of each machine. 177 eyes (95 participants) without retinal diseases were included for final analysis. Mean FAZ area was 0.38 ± 0.11 mm2 and 0.30 ± 0.10 mm2, based on AngioVue and Cirrus HDOCT, respectively. Mean parafoveal VD was 0.50 ± 0.04 in Angiovue, and 0.43 ± 0.04 in Cirrus HDOCT. Cirrus HDOCT measurements were consistently lower than those by AngioVue, with a mean difference of −0.08 (95% limits of agreement [LOA], −0.30–0.13) mm2 for FAZ area, and −0.07 (95% LOA, −0.17–0.03) for parafoveal VD. Intraclass correlation coefficients for FAZ area and parafoveal VD were 0.33 and 0.07, respectively. Our data suggest that agreements between AngioVue and Cirrus HDOCT machines were poor to fair, thus alternating use between these two machines may not be recommended especially for follow up evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]