Growing Hoyas in Singapore

Hoyas belong to the Asclepiadaceae family, native to eastern Asia and Australia. It is also called the "wax plant" and is a succulent, storing water in its fleshy leaves for very long periods of time. The flowers have a succulent look as well, as they are thick and fleshy although tiny within an inflorescence rich in detail.

Hoyas flower very well in Singapore, and it is surprising that this is not found in more Singapore homes. It is easily propagated by stem cuttings. Note that it flowers from new spurs and it can re-flower from an old peduncle - so never cut away the penduncle after the flowers wither!

Florence's Gate of Paradise

I remember going to Italy right after I finished my MBBS exams with Johnathon. One of the places I went to was Florence. The beautiful Duomo (cathedral) in Florence was a place I will always remember, as I had climbed up its double dome to the top, where a fantastic view of Florence lay before us.

CNN reported 28 Apr that the conservation effort of 3 panels on the doors of the Baptistery of the Duomo (now known as the "Gates of Paradise") is coming to a close after 25 years -- just two years less than it took to make the work itself. The doors, with 10 gilt panels are twenty feet tall and weigh three tons. This single work is considered the gateway to the Italian Renaissance, an upheaval so fundamental to how we see our world and think of ourselves that centuries later no Western culture is left untouched by it.

Legend has it that Michelangelo himself is the one who dubbed these doors the "Gates of Paradise." The 3 panels -- depicting the biblical stories of "Adam and Eve", "Jacob and Esau", and "David and Goliath" -- will be moved back to Florence to be reassembled in the original doorway for permanent, hermetically sealed display at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo after completing a tour at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta Georgia, the Chicago Institute of Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Exhibition curator Gary Radke of Syracuse University says that the special alloy of bronze developed in the 15th-century workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti for the doors had resulted in a corrosion that had dulled the dull surfaces of the square relief-sculptures and other gilt ornaments on the doors. The danger in trying to reclaim such works, of course, is that chemical treatments can damage the bond between the gold and bronze and take away more priceless, irreplaceable material.

So it's thanks to a specially developed laser-and-distilled-water technique that what you now can see on display is not a restoration -- not new gold leaf added, or reconstructed bronze modeling -- but the same metals Ghiberti worked with himself.

Ghiberti is, in a way, the artist behind the masters. Born in 1378, he won a competition to create the north doors of the Baptistery at a time when Radke says Florence was spending more money on its cultural expansion than its military endeavors. By the time that commission had led to the "Gates of Paradise" job, Ghiberti's workshop had become the place in which Donatello, Masolino, Uccello and other key artists of the era would be trained. Ghiberti died in 1455 -- 20 years before the birth of Michelangelo.

What Makes Plants Flower?

Science Daily reported 23 Apr that scientists have unlocked the secret of what makes plants flower. A protein acting as a long-distance signal from leaf to shoot-tip tells plants when to flower.

The study reveals the likely mechanism by which the Arabidopsis plant flowers in response to changes in day length. Earlier research had shown that plants' leaves perceived seasonal changes in day length, which triggers a long-distance signal to travel through the plant's vascular system from the leaf to the shoot apex, where flowering is induced. However, the identity of the long-distance signal remained unclear.

This new research has led to the proposal that this signal is a protein known as Flowering Locus T Protein (FT protein), which is produced in leaves by the Flowering Locus T gene (FT gene). It travels through the plant's vascular system to the shoot apex, where it activates other genes, causing the plant to flower. The research team were able to track the progress of the protein through the plant by tagging it with a green fluorescent protein originally isolated from jellyfish, allowing it to be detected in living tissues using highly sensitive microscope systems.

The team then grafted two plants together, only one of which contained the gene for the fluorescent version of FT. This allowed them to show conclusively that FT protein moved from where it was produced in the leaves of one plant, across into the other plant.

The FT protein is produced when the FT gene is switched on by another gene known as CONSTANS. This is a key gene expressed in leaves which reacts to changes in day length.
Dr Colin Turnbull from Imperial College London's Division of Biology, who carried out the research, said: "This could be a really important breakthrough in plant science. Since the 1930s when it first became clear that something was communicating the perception of changes in day length in leaves to the shoot apex, and causing flowering, scientists have been trying to work out exactly how this mechanism works.

"Over the past couple of years several labs made exciting discoveries all pointing to the FT gene being central to controlling flowering time. Now that we have been able to track FT protein moving from its source in leaves to its destination in the shoot tip, we have a plausible explanation for how plants respond to day length. Parallel work in Japan shows very similar mechanisms operating in rice, so there is immediate potential to translate research into practical benefits for food crops. The ability to control flowering is of enormous commercial significance across food and non-food species, for example extending production seasons or designing plants better adapted to changing climate."

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Imperial College London.

How Plants Make Vitamin C

Science Daily reported 27 Apr that scientists have found the missing link to understanding how plants make Vitamin C, possibly the most important small molecule whose biosynthetic pathway remained a mystery until now.

A group of UCLA and Dartmouth researchers uncovered the last unknown enzyme in the synthesis of vitamin C in plants. An essential vitamin for people, vitamin C is well known as an antioxidant and enzyme cofactor. Humans lost the ability to make vitamin C and need to take it up from dietary sources, particularly from plants.

In 1998 a biosynthetic pathway was proposed to explain how plants make vitamin C, although the gene responsible for the seventh step of the proposed 10-step pathway from glucose to vitamin C remained unknown. The gene coded for a VTC2 enzyme that is responsible for the long sought seventh step in vitamin C synthesis. The researchers hope their discovery may lead to new strategies for increasing vitamin C levels in food crops, which could mean more nutritious foods as well as potentially higher crop yields.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Dartmouth Medical School.

Nanotechnology to fight Cancer

Straits Times reported on 20 Apr that NUS researchers have developed a better cancer drug delivery method, with fewer side effects. Professor Feng Si-Shen said that by dressing anti-cancer drug Pacitaxel in ultrafine nanoparticles, which are derived from vitamin E, the problems commonly associated with chemotherapy can be significantly reduced.

Pacitaxel is usually dissolved into an agent called Cremphor EL, which often triggers severe reactions in patients, including weakened immune systems and complete hair loss. Although Prof Feng and his team have yet to conduct clinical trials, laboratory tests on rats injected with colon cancer cells have yielded impressive results. Currently, the only nanoparticle cancer treatment available is Abraxine, which is confined largely to the US market. It costs more than $6,000 for a single dose - more than three times that of the current Pacitaxel formulation.

Plants that are NOT green?

The March issue of the journal, Astrobiology, reported a study by NASA scientists that plants on planets in other solar systems might not be green.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers have created a method to predict the color of plants by identifying the strongest candidate wavelengths of light for the dominant color of photosynthesis on another planet. They calculated what the stellar light would look like at the surface of Earth-like planets whose atmospheric chemistry is consistent with the types of stars they orbit. By looking at the changes in that light through different atmospheres, researchers identified the colors most favorable for photosynthesis on other planets.

The scientists said each planet would have different dominant colors for photosynthesis, based on its atmosphere where the most light reaches the planet's surface. The dominant photosynthesis might even be in the infrared!

Oldest tree had fronds like palms

Reuters reported 18 Apr 07 that the branches of Earth's oldest tree probably waved in the breeze like a modern palm, based on two intact 385 million year old tree fossils that help explain the evolution of forests and their influence on climate.

Scientists believe these early forests absorbed carbon dioxide, cooling the Earth's surface. The forests were flourishing at an important juncture in the history of life of Earth, coming shortly before the appearance of the first vertebrates -- four-legged amphibians -- that could live on dry land.

The stumps in Gilboa were unearthed in 1870 when workers were blasting a quarry. Until now, scientists had never seen the tops of those trees. An intact crown and part of a tree trunk was discovered in 2004 followed by a 28-foot trunk portion of the same species a year later. Pieced together, they represent Wattieza, a tree that looked like modern-day palm with a crown of fronds that grew up to 30 feet high and reproduced through spores.

Take a "Liver Holiday"?

Reuters reported 17 Apr 07 that taking a break from alcohol for a couple days each week (for men who drink regularly and heavily) may benefit their health, according to Japanese researchers.

The study included 89,000 middle-aged men and women who were followed for up to 13 years. The analysis was confided to the men because the number of female drinkers was so small. These findings gave some credibility to the widespread social belief in Japan that a "liver holiday" – a few days off from drinking each week – would help counter the ill effects of alcohol. One of the researchers commented that one possibility was that those who drunk everyday, might be more exposed to acetaldehyde, a byproduct of alcohol metabolism that was thought to promote cancer.

However, the findings don't suggest that a few binges each week will do no harm, the study's lead author cautioned. "This does not mean you can drink a lot as long as you have a 'liver holiday", said Dr. Tomomi Marugame, of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, April 2007.

Fake Medicines on the rise

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the counterfeit drug trade is an increasing problem throughout the world, especially in developing countries, claiming thousands of lives every year. It was noted that in China, counterfeit medicines are rampant especially on the Internet. It noted that Malaysia also faced the same problem. Therefore, the Malaysian health ministry announced recently that it will introduce a new holographic label with enhanced security features on each registered medicine next month. Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said this was among the measures taken to ensure the public do not buy fake medicines.

Caterpillar & Flu vaccine

Journal of the American Medical Association reported 11 Apr in a study that a new influenza vaccine churned out by caterpillar cells prevents the flu! The advance might eventually revolutionize the manufacture of flu vaccine, now produced in chicken eggs in a long, cumbersome process prone to contamination and other failures.

During the 2004–2005 flu season, none of 151 recipients of a high dose of the new vaccine caught the bug. The study "absolutely showed protection".

The new vaccine is produced by caterpillar cells infected with a genetically modified baculovirus. In its normal form, this virus prolifically produces a protein called polyhedron, which coats and protects the virus particles as they rest on leaves before being eaten by a caterpillar. The vaccine developers replaced the polyhedron gene with the gene for hemagglutinin, an influenza protein. Lab-grown insect cells infected with the modified baculovirus then churned out large amounts of hemagglutinin, which elicited flu-fighting antibodies when injected into people, according to the new findings.

Each strain of influenza carries a slightly different hemagglutinin gene, and each year public health officials make an educated guess as to which strains will emerge around the globe. Vaccine makers then target the predicted strains. If the officials guess wrong, as they did in 2003, the vaccine produced offers little protection. But with the new method, the appropriate hemagglutinin gene could be quickly inserted into baculovirus, speeding production of effective vaccines.

It takes 6 months from identification of emerging strains in Asia to putting the vaccine in vials. The new process could cut production time to 2 months. Such an acceleration could save lives. However, researchers haven't yet demonstrated large-scale vaccine production from insect cells.

Gary Nabel, director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., agrees. "Overall, I'd say it's encouraging. [But] is it ready to swoop in tomorrow and replace conventional vaccines? No."

New fat gene found!

CNN reported on 12 Apr that researchers have found another gene that may make you fat! The gene is named FTO, and British scientists discovered that people who carry two copies of a variation of the FTO gene weighed, on average, 7 pounds more than people who lack it. Unlike other genes thought to be involved with appetite or calorie burning, scientists have no idea yet what FTO is supposed to do.

But research published in the journal Science shows strong evidence of a link. Using blood samples provided by more than 38,000 people, scientists found that those who had one copy of the gene variation had a 30 percent increased risk of obesity, and carriers of two copies had almost a 70 percent increased risk. The study included mostly white Europeans, and about one in six of them are thought to carry two copies of the gene variant.

About a third of American adults are obese, and millions more are overweight. Bad diets and too little exercise are the chief factors. But innate biology plays some role, and researchers are exploring a variety of genes and hormones that seem involved in the balancing act of weight gain and loss.

Magnolias face extinction

CNN reported on 10 Apr that up to half of the world's magnolia species are in danger of extinction, according to a new study by conservationists.

Magnolias are one of the oldest species of flowering plants. They have survived all sorts of geological and climactic upheavals in the past, and thus provide a good indicator to the overall health of the wider forest. Plants tend to be taken for granted; it's a little green blindness. There's always the emphasis on saving animals, but if you don't save the plants then everything will go extinct.

The Red List of the Magnoliaceae, produced jointly by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) following a global mapping project by researchers at the UK's Bournemouth University, identifies 131 endangered species from a worldwide total of 245. Some two-thirds of magnolias are found in Asia but the subtropical plant also thrives in the parts of the U.S. and South America.

Widespread deforestation posed the biggest risk to magnolias in the wild. Exploitation of certain species for medicine, timber and food places an extra strain on the species. Many of the most critically affected species are found in China, including Magnolia phanerophlebia, of which only around 200 trees are estimated to exist in the wild and Magnolia sinica, believed to have a single population of fewer than 10 mature trees. Both species grow exclusively in Yunnan province -- now the focus of an extensive re-planting campaign organized by FFI.

Growing Plumeria in Singapore

Plumeria is a plant commonly associated with lifestyle living, most often featured in balconies or courtyards of spas and colony houses in Singapore. It is also the national flower of Hawaii, being used commonly in the Lei (string of flowers in Hawaiian dance).

It is an extremely easy plant to grow if you know how to. Get a clean cutting from a mature plant at least 8-10 inches in length. Cut off all existing leaves and leave it in a cool dry place for 1-2 weeks till callus formation has occured. Plant it in soil with good drainage and water as per normal. Place it in a spot with good sunlight. Your patience will be paid off when new leaves appear after another 1-2 weeks.

Water it only after the soil dries out - think of your plumeria almost like a cactus. Use a small amount of balanced fertilizer every time you water. After you get quite a few leaves, switch to a high-phosphorous fertilizer. This will encourage your plumeria to bloom - and also to branch more.

Viola - your very own lifestyle plant at a fraction of the cost in the nurseries!

Wrinkles... time for painless Botox...

Yeeks! Wrinkles on my forehead are returning. I have had them since young, so this has nothing to do with aging. Look at the number of lines on my forehead! Wrinkles are generally formed in areas with strong muscle activity, like the glabella, forehead & crows feet.

Its time I went back for more painless Botox. Simply Aesthetic clinic has lots of pain relief options, from EMLA cream to laughing gas. After injection, the lines miraculously disappears in 3 days! A natural look is achieved as only minimal but sufficient amounts of Botox is used. Gone are the days of large amounts of Botox use to achieve a 'mask-like' face where you cannot even smile!

Getaway Shopping in Bangkok

A few places for great deals:

1. Pratunam - Baiyoke 2

There are a few shopping centres in the area. Baiyoke 2 is known for its fashionable clothes on Levels 4 and B1. Great clothes for guys and gals. Wholesale prices for 3 pieces or more. Also the place to go for cheap towels, sheets etc.




2. Platinum Mall

The airconditioned version of the weekend market. Lots of stall owners from the weekend market have small stalls here. 5 floors of leisurely shopping in comfort. Many of the stalls have wholesale prices, so do ask. Cafes at the basement.




3. Chatuchak Weekend Market

Find everything you want at the best prices in Bangkok. Huge but all shops have a lane number. Clothes and accessories, souvenirs, tableware, handicraft, life animals, plants, art just to name some. There are a few small restaurants and bars between the shops, plus banks for currency exchange in the middle.



4. Suan Lum Night Bazaar

This market is opens every evening. Things are pricier then the weekend market, but less crowded and definitely cleaner. There are food stalls in the middle, with a nightly show consisting of song and dance for free. A good place to sit down after shopping. *Scheduled to close somewhere in 2007, so check before you go.

5. Mah Boon Krong (MBK)

Reasonably cheap (but fashionable) and medium expensive clothes, shoes, watches, mobile phones and accessories, DVD's, VCD's and sunglasses in huge quantities. BOOTS here as well, so top up your toiletries supplies.



6. Siam Square

Opposite MBK. Lots of trendy clothing stalls, shoes and accessories (sunglasses, watches) for reasonable prices. Local upcoming designers keep shop here. Remember to stop by Centre Point, where Thai teenagers parade the latest fashions. Dunkin'Donuts here!




7. Khao San

This is the backpackers "paradise". Cheap Tees, trousers, souvenirs, tapes, CDs and second-hand books and travel guides. Also a sellers market (camping gear, watches, camera's) for travellers desperate for money. Very happening during Songkran (Water Festival). Remember to bring your super soakers.







8. Chinatown (Sampeng market)

Chinese foods, fabric, tools, household wares, artificial flowers, all lined up on both sides of this narrow lane. Lots of people, pushcarts everywhere, very hectic but good shopping. Chinatown is also famous for birds nest and sharksfin.








9. Panthip Plaza

For electronic goods like computers, hardware and software, legal and illegal, music CDs, digital cameras. 7% VAT refund possible. Remember to ask them to fill up the yellow VAT refund form once you buy beyond 2000 baht. At the airport, refund only if total more than 5000 baht. Verify forms before check-in, then cash refund near boarding gates at both ends.


10. Pinky Tailors

Behind Mahatun Building at Phloenchit BTS. Good worksmanship on tailored clothes. They can deliver to your hotel.

Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi)

Experience at Taxi stand

Having been to Bangkok several times, I have recently realised on my last trip (5-8 Apr 07) that there are two different public taxi queues. They are managed by different companies (as evidenced by the different forms at the counters). The one on the left go by the meter and you should expect to pay between 300-400 baht for your taxi fare.

The one on the right however is rather dishonest. The taxi drivers tell you that they go by the meter, but when you get into the taxi, they will say that the meter is spoiled and ask for at least 500 baht. Does anyone else have this experience?

Update on Doctor's Fees

Turning to CASE may be only option if you think your Doctor has overcharged you

Straits Times and 早报 reported on 5 April that the withdrawal of the SMA guidelines means patients can no longer approach the SMA with complaints about overcharging. Now such patients can only turn to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE). CASE received 59 complaints about pricing by medical practitioners between January 2005 and December last year, but until now it has referred complaints of overcharging to the SMA. It is not clear if CASE will now handle these complaints. SMA receives an average of about 25 complaints of overpayment a year. Of these, an average of four to five patients get reimbursed by the doctors after SMA intervention. But the amounts are usually small - not above $100. There was also a separate article on how SMA made the decision with ‘great reluctance’, and a column on ‘How to avoid being overcharged’, which included tips like shopping around for a doctor and checking surveys of bill sizes for an idea of what reasonable rates are.

Today (TDY) and Berita Harian added that the results of SMA’s survey on primary care clinics, conducted last year, were being analysed and details would be published on the SMA website within a year. The association would also conduct a similar survey among medical specialists this year. TDY also noted that the SMA was open to exploring a new feedback channel for consumers, in collaboration with the MOH and CASE if doing so did not compromise the association's legal position. TV news noted that CASE may not have the relevant medical knowledge to handle complaints on overcharging by doctors.

Researchers find way to ease shortage of Type O blood

Danish researchers have perfected an inexpensive and efficient way to convert types A, B and AB blood into type O, the universal-donor blood that can be given to anyone – an achievement that promises to make transfusions safer and relieve shortages of type O blood.

The team reported Sunday in the journal Nature Biotechnology that they isolated bacterial enzymes that safely remove from red blood cells the sugar molecules that provoke an immune reaction in the recipient. Previous studies of type O blood produced from type B by a different method have shown it to be both safe and effective, and the researchers are now conducting clinical trials with the new product.

Mismatching of blood causes at least half of all transfusion-related deaths. And the need for precisely matched blood drives the costly and inefficient process of shuttling blood units between regional blood banks and hospitals to match daily requirements.

The problem involves sugar molecules on the surface of red blood cells. Type A blood has one set of sugars and type B has another, while type O has none. People with type A blood have antibodies against the type B sugars, people with type B have antibodies against type A, and people with type O have antibodies against both. If a person receives mismatched blood, the antibodies attack red blood cells, producing a potentially fatal breakdown of red cells.

In the 1980s, the late Jack Goldstein of the New York Blood Center isolated an enzyme from coffee beans that could convert type B to type O. Clinical trials of the enzyme-produced blood showed it behaved no differently from normal blood in hospitalized patients. But the enzymes involved were expensive and had to be used under highly acidic conditions that damaged the red cells. Goldstein's team also was not able to find an enzyme that would convert type A to type O. As a consequence, the development was halted.

ZymeQuest commissioned cellular biologist Henrik Clausen of the University of Copenhagen to search for new enzymes to carry out the conversion. Clausen and his team sifted through more than 2,500 bacteria and fungi before identifying the two candidates cited in the Nature Biotechnology report.

The discovery could be a major breakthrough in improving the blood supply, wrote Geoff Daniels of England's Bristol Institute for Transfusion Sciences in an editorial accompanying the article.
The new enzymes are more potent than previously used ones and, more important, they work at room temperature and neutral pH, which is very good for blood cells, said Dr. Martin L. Olsson of Lund University in Sweden. In an hour, they remove all the sugar molecules from the surface of red blood cells, after which they can be easily washed away.

Private doctors can set own fees as SMA drops guidelines

Straits Times (p1) reported yesterday that private doctors here are free to set their own fees from now, instead of referring to guidelines drawn up by the Singapore Medical Association (SMA). The SMA agreed to withdraw the guidelines during its annual general meeting on Sunday after receiving word that the guide could be in contravention of the recently- enacted competition code. Since the Competition Act was enacted last year, the SMA has been grappling with the legality of the guidelines. It consulted its lawyers and was told the guidelines could be illegal. The SMA had several misgivings about withdrawing them. But the commission reiterated a section of the Act stating that 'recommendations of a trade association in relation to price...may be considered to be price-fixing, regardless of the form it takes'. The chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health Halimah Yacob expressed dismay at the change and said: 'Health care is an important public good that should be exempted from the competition code.' The 'greatest casualty', she said, will be transparency.

The Health Ministry told The Straits Times yesterday that under its guidelines for private hospitals and medical clinics, doctors are encouraged to publish their consultation charges before seeing patients. A separate law under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Regulations also requires hospital managers to inform patients before or on admission the estimated total charges for their stay. It said it will continue to publish pricing data and historical price trends on its website. CNA and 早报 (p3) carried similar reports. CNA added that the SMA will be conducting a survey later this year to find out the prices of the various charges in primary care clinics.