Adopting a consensus on the dose of antenatal steroids used by obstetric and neonatal services in Singapore in anticipation of imminent preterm birth.

In Singapore, glucocorticoids are administered to pregnant women at risk of imminent preterm delivery. The primary desired benefit is maturation of the preterm fetal lung. The commonly used antenatal steroid regimen in Singapore, two doses of 12 mg dexamethasone phosphate at a 12-h interval, is not widely used in other jurisdictions.

Shaping Adoption and Sustained Use Across the Maternal Journey: Qualitative Study on Perceived Usability and Credibility in Digital Health Tools.

Background: Maternal and child health outcomes are positively influenced by early intervention, and digital health (DH) tools provide the potential for a low-cost and scalable solution such as informational platforms or digital tracking tools. Despite the wide availability of DH tools out there for women from before to after pregnancy, user engagement remains low.

Objective: This study aims to explore the factors that shape women's DH adoption and sustained use across the maternal journey from preconception to postbirth, to improve user engagement with DH tools.

Preconception maternal retinal venular widening and steeper resistance increments in the utero-fetoplacental circulation in pregnancy.

We investigated the relationship of preconception maternal retinal vasculature and utero-fetoplacental circulation in ensuing pregnancy. Embedded in a hospital-based, prospective preconception cohort, 396 women with a singleton live birth were included for analysis. We assessed retinal vascular caliber during preconception phase and retrieved ultrasonogram results documenting utero-fetoplacental circulatory indices using Doppler ultrasonography and documented them at 18-21 weeks, 24-28 weeks, and 32-34 weeks where available.

Chorioamnionitis: An Update on Diagnostic Evaluation.

Chorioamnionitis remains a major cause of preterm birth and maternal and neonatal morbidity. We reviewed the current evidence for the diagnostic tests of chorioamnionitis and how this relates to clinical practice today. A comprehensive literature search and review was conducted on chorioamnionitis and intra-uterine inflammation.

Personalization and localization as key expectations of digital health intervention in women pre- to post-pregnancy.

Health behaviors before, during and after pregnancy can have lasting effects on maternal and infant health outcomes. Although digital health interventions (DHIs) have potential as a pertinent avenue to deliver mechanisms for a healthy behavior change, its success is reliant on addressing the user needs. Accordingly, the current study aimed to understand DHI needs and expectations of women before, during and after pregnancy to inform and optimize future DHI developments.

Tunable couplings between location-insensitive emitters mediated by an epsilon-near-zero plasmonic waveguide.

This work demonstrates the efficient tuning of incoherent and coherent coupling between emitters embedded in an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) waveguide coated with a multilayer graphene. As a result, a tunable two-qubit quantum phase gate based on the ENZ waveguide is realized at the cutoff frequency. Furthermore, due to the vanishingly small permittivity of the ENZ waveguide, all incoherent coupling between any two identical emitters located in the central area of the slit approaches a maximum, enabling near-ideal bipartite and multipartite entanglement.

Preconception maternal retinal arteriolar narrowing and fetal growth throughout pregnancy: A prospective cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the association between preconception maternal retinal arteriolar calibre and fetal growth.

Design, Setting And Population: A hospital-based, prospective preconception cohort including 369 women with a singleton live birth.

Methods: We collected detailed information on sociodemographic status, pregnancy history and lifestyle, and performed retinal imaging at the preconception visit.

The silicon active sites driven by oxygen vacancies in iron silicate for activating peroxymonosulfate.

Most metal sites and some non-metallic sites such as carbon and nitrogen are usually considered to be traditional active sites during peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. However, as an important non-metallic element, the actual role of silicon (Si) in PMS activation still remains unclear. In this work, taking iron silicate (FeSi) as an example, the role of the Si region in PMS activation was clearly revealed.

A reasoned approach towards administering COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women.

There are over 50 SARS-CoV-2 candidate vaccines undergoing Phase II and III clinical trials. Several vaccines have been approved by regulatory authorities and rolled out for use in different countries. Due to concerns of potential teratogenicity or adverse effect on maternal physiology, pregnancy has been a specific exclusion criterion for most vaccine trials with only two trials not excluding pregnant women.

Pregnancy Outcomes in COVID-19: A Prospective Cohort Study in Singapore.

Introduction: Pregnant women are reported to be at increased risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to underlying immunosuppression during pregnancy. However, the clinical course of COVID-19 in pregnancy and risk of vertical and horizontal transmission remain relatively unknown. We aim to describe and evaluate outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 in Singapore.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and pregnancy.

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading globally at an accelerated rate, with a basic reproduction number (R0) of 2-2.5, indicating that 2-3 persons will be infected from an index patient. A serious public health emergency, it is particularly deadly in vulnerable populations and communities in which healthcare providers are insufficiently prepared to manage the infection.

[Corrigendum] Hypoxia drives the transition of human dermal fibroblasts to a myofibroblast‑like phenotype via the TGF‑β1/Smad3 pathway.

Following the publication of this article, the authors noticed that the published versions of Figs. 2, 7 and 8 contained incorrect western bands. In examining their raw data, the authors realized that they had used the fibroblasts of keloids [high expression of alpha‑smooth muscle actin (α‑SMA)] instead of adult dermal fibroblasts (low expression of α‑SMA) in certain experiments.