23th September 2013: BioBusiness Revolution: Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences( Past,Present,Future )

Hello!

Brief Overview/Summary:

• This lesson really caused me to become excited for the future! Especially the video that Prof showed us, the possibilities are endless! I felt that this lesson was very applicable to Singapore's ageing population, the demand for doctors will be an increasing function, and we can make consultations more efficient by engaging in tele-consultations!
• BioBusiness constitutes up to 25% of the global GDP and employs around 40% of the world's labor force, these numbers will continue to rise and is probably underestimated currently.

Interesting Observations and Ideas:

• One interesting observation that i observed would be the dramatic change in Global leading causes of death and disability. Back in 1990, top cause would be lower respiratory infections and subsequently, diarrhea diseases. Fast forward into the future 2020, top cause would be Ischaemic heart disease [ reduced blood supply to the heart ] and subsequently Major depressions. These changes are due to humans becoming wealthier, our diet and lifestyle has changed for the worst, obesity which was once considered a rich country problem has invaded middle/lower income country. I think this could be due to the proliferation of 'fast food' which is readily available,cheap and most often packed with obese amounts of calories. Obesity could be considered as a pandemic, the spread of a disease that is not localized and contained. What are the implications to us, humans? Going along lines of evolution, have we evolved, or are we actually moving backwards? I think there is a maxim called 'use it or lose it', if we allow ourselves to plunge into this abyss of fatness and sedentary lifestyles, will we eventually lose our ability to run? To procreate? In particular, obesity rate has risen from 6.9% in 2004 to 10.8% in 2013 ( data collected from Raffles Medical Group ), that is a shocking 56% increment! This disease could eventually paralyze our entire nation and reduce the productivity of Singaporeans! The shocking thought of being the first generation that might live shorter than our parents really rang a bell to me in class.

• Another observation that Prof came up with would be that, in the past, you could create a generic drug and cure fever / flu. However, nowadays, you have to create specific drugs to treat specific people. While we think that we are evolving beyond common illnesses, these viruses are actually evolving alongside and doing a quick search on the 1918 flu influenza really spooked me! The flu came in two waves, the second wave was deadlier than the first. Soldiers with a mild strain stayed where they were, while the severely ill were sent on crowded trains to crowded field hospitals, spreading the deadlier virus. Could a supervirus be in the midst of evolution and will a worldwide pandemic occur again? Furthermore, with the advent of transport technology, the spread of these viruses will occur at an even faster rate. Looking at the recent H1N1 and SARS outbreaks, I can say that Singapore is properly equipped to deal with such disasters, but we should never let our guard down and keep vigilance at all times.

Key takeaways:

• Back in 2001, United States being only 5% of global population used over 52% of healthcare resources in the world. Demand for healthcare resources will continue to soar with the emerging middle class from BRICs. Instead of cures, they might demand wellness instead, focusing on the positive of an individual and try to make him/her resistant to diseases at first. Case in point would be the supplement industry which has been experiencing a constant growth over the last 5 years. Producing about $32 billion in revenue for just nutritional supplements alone in 2012, it is projected to double that by topping $60 billion in 2021 according to the Nutritional Business Journal (information taken from www.forbes.com ).
• I feel that, in an ideal world, humans will work towards creating a better environment for everyone to live in, there will be no vested economic interest, just intrinsic interests for the betterment of humanity. But who am i kidding! We are living in a fragmented world, one which drives economic interests above that of social. Patents and Intellectual Property Rights prevent others from benefiting at a low cost and developing of your products. Others may argue that without such rights in place to protect economic interests, there might be no incentive to conduct research and developments. Oh well, this utopian place that i hope my children will be able to grow up in may never come true.

Issues for further discussion:

• My classmates presented the idea of Gene mapping, i found this particularly interesting and maybe the Prof could facilitate a discussion on this topic, mainly where could we be going with this technology, the social/ethical/legal implication of this technology.

Ratings for the lesson:

• Personally, i felt this lesson to be a little dry, while it was very informative with market data, i felt there could have been more real-life scenarios/examples, similar to the video that Prof showed us. Hence, i would give this lesson a 7/10!

Renewed Individual Topical Review Paper: Performance Enhancing Drugs

Topic: Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) – How has it evolved over time and allowed humans to continually break records (draft)

Executive Summary:

This paper will seek to understand and evaluate how performance enhancing drugs has changed and evolved over time and how athletes are breaking records faster than they can set them. Understanding these issues, what are the ethical and social issues that come with such drugs, and where do we draw the line? In my opinion, Performance Enhancing Drugs can be defined as substances used by athletes to improve their performance in the sports which they engage.

Why I chose this topic?

Ever since the dawn of mankind, men has been trying to establish who the most alpha male is, primitive tests would include who’s the best hunter or fighter. However, after becoming civilized, we could no longer use these tests and instead, we compete through sports. In the pursuit of excellence, athletes turn to performance enhancing drugs to stretch the capabilities of a human being. Every Olympics, we witness athletes breaking world records set by their predecessors. However, that being said, there are some records that remain unbroken for decades even with the improvement of PEDs, why is that so?

Background:

• Natural stimulants from nature, e.g. wine, caffeine.
• Invention of Steroids
• Invention of designer steroids
• Invention of human growth hormones as well as insulin peptides

Historical Perspective:

• 779-393BC: Ancient Greek athletes drank wine potions, used hallucinogens and ate animal hearts
• 100AD: Gladiators ingest hallucinogens and stimulants such as strychnine to stave off fatigue and injury.
• 1904-1920: PEDs used in Modern Olympic Games
• 1928: First rule against doping in sports
• 1940-1945: Nazis test steroids on prisoners and Hitler
• 1940-1945: Solders use amphetamines during WW2
• 1958: FDA approves first Anabolic Steroid for sale in US
• 1968: First drug testing in Olympic Games
• 1990: Congress passes anabolic steroid act
• 2002: Anti-doping pioneer identifies first designer steroids
• 2009: Winner of Kentucky Derby is tested for steroids for the first time ( even horses get injected with steroids now )
• 2012: Lance Armstrong stripped of seven Tour De France titles after declining to fight doping charges (news that shocked the world!)
• Timeline acquired from :
• http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000017

Current Perspective:

• 1977: Mr Olympia Frank Zane (crowned for being the best bodybuilder) weighed on 185lbs! 2012: Mr Olympia Phil Heath weighed in at 250lbs! A whooping 65lbs more muscles!
• 1968: 100m fastest runner, Jim Hines, ran a 9.95s!                                                                 2012: 100m fastest runner, Usain Bolt, 9.63s! [From 1968->1996 (28 years), 100m improved 0.11s. Over the last 10 years, 9.78->9.63s which is 0.15s. What we used 28 years to achieve has been condensed to only 10 years.]

Future Consideration:

• What will humans be able to achieve in the next 10 years with better PEDs?
• Will there be specific steroids catered to specific individuals?
• Will there be different categories for 'enhanced' athletes? Different categories such as: Enhanced / Natural? Or maybe even a category for those who has robotic-prosthetic !

Evaluation:

• How do we measure true athletic capabilities throughout time? Do we just accept the records as they come?
• Does better PEDs equate better performance? What are some records that stood the test of time? Why? What can we learn from those individuals

Conclusion:

In summary, I will look into how PEDs have evolved (the technology behind them) and how athletes have been breaking records. While we celebrate new world records and more barriers being broken, there are issues to be address such as ethical usage of such drugs. If an athlete can only compete at international level when they take such PEDs, what message are we sending out to our athletes? 

16th September 2013: Information, Communication and Technology

Hello!

Brief Overview/Summary:

• Our concept as to who we are changes with technology. There is a global community uprising, that means we are no longer bounded by our geographical locations and people are increasingly connected to the digital world.
• Definition of mass media: The mass media are diversified media technologies that are intended to reach large audience by mass communication. Examples of mass media could be newspapers, radio, television and the internet.
• Prof introduced to us, internet 3.0. The internet of things and services. The basic idea is that we are going to move from interactive to invisible. Its ongoing all the time, and changing your life without you even knowing.

Interesting Observations and Ideas:

• What implications of the internet 3.0 mean for us? I remember Prof saying in class that before we had the smart phones,we thought we did not need it, and now, everyone thinks of the smart phone as a need. Having Internet 3.0 will inevitably simplify our lives and make us more efficient, the time we spend on the web trying to create itineraries for our days could be saved and spent with our family members. There will be greater communication between devices, that would make really improve our standard of living. For instance, we may no longer need to wait for buses because our homes are smart enough to collect the bus arrival times and prompt us to leave our houses (cannot wait for this to be possible!). This invisible form of internet 3.0 will make our life more seamless.
• I found crowd sourcing interesting. Crowd sourcing is the process of obtaining needed services,ideas or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially the online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers. This would not have been possible 10-20 years ago! What does this mean for us? I believe there would be "wisdom of the crowd" and eventually, with the internet 3.0, the internet will be able to answer most of our questions and connect us with information much faster. With this, there has to be knowledge management, where information will be filtered for us and we would be able to skip the 'knowledge' part and just skip to wisdom! The mistakes committed by humans will be lowered due to the advent of crowd sourcing and internet 3.0

Key Takeaways:

• We are in between Internet 2.0 -> 3.0 . There will be greater synchronization between devices.
• In the past people were rewarded with work they do with their hands, but now rewarded with work done with brains. Therefore, there is a real challenge to keep re-educating people to bring them up to par with new technologies, if not they will be left behind.

Issues for further discussions:

• 
• After listening to the presentation about how ICT is being used in education. Most of us will agree that while the government has a grand scheme of incorporating it into education, the ground level is not very receptive about it. Therefore, how can we ensure students that receive such devices(such as an ipad), do not use it for gaming and instead for education purposes.
• Cloud computing is the future. Enterprise clouding will be the future. Everyone will be on the cloud. Computers and mobile devices will require less power to access these applications and be able to view these documents that are on the cloud. Will this create the next burst of efficiency for companies?

Rating for lesson:

• I give this lesson a 8/10! Informative and easy to follow!

9th September 2013: Drivers of World Change and Change Management and Change Leadership

Hello!

Brief Overview/Summary:

• Prof began the class by clearing up some of the mistakes that were committed by us, gullible and naive students who readily accept information as facts without considering it's credibility and reliability of the source.
• We discussed about the fact that being more globalized, developing countries will be able to adopt technologies better, have greater talent pool from the world and that will help in their development as a country
• The 1st follower is the most important turning point for a leader. You cannot be a leader without followers, that's just being a lone nut

Interesting Observations and Ideas:

• Prof discussed how developed countries are exporting their businesses to developing countries and claim that the latter's carbon footprints are much higher than theirs. While i found this ridiculous, the fact is, people dont know what they dont know! Statistics could be easily manipulated and point fingers at the culprit saying they are destroying the environment. Moreover, America claims that China has been producing too much carbon footprint while focusing on economic development. However, most of us don't realize that much of the damage that has been done were not contributed by China, in fact, China's carbon footprint per capita has been kept below 5 for most years while Singapore is averaging at 15! An astounding fact that prof brought up was that if everyone consumed as much energy as the average Singaporean and the U.S resident,the world's oil reserve will be depleted in 9 years! :O!
•  “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” ― Charles Darwin . Prof went to explain that it is the specie that can best adapt to its surrounding that will be able to survive! Humans have been on earth for a relatively brief period as compared to cockroach, cockroaches are able to live in the harshest environment. Cockroaches have been around for 250 million years! Even longer than dinosaurs! They would eat almost anything including paper, wood or even glue!! They are proven to be quite intelligent and can learn to adapt to changes in the surroundings, which allowed them to survive till now. They have been bred for use in traditional medicine, and recently over 1 million cockroaches escaped a farm in China (Jiangsu). One freaking million :O!!! Thank God i'm not staying there. http://news.yahoo.com/one-million-cockroaches-flee-china-farm-report-071618130.html
• We made clear the distinction between leaders and managers in class. Manager is one that works well within a paradigm, someone who operates within conditions, while a leader creates the paradigm, he creates the vision and provide the direction for everyone. To my understanding, manager is more mid-management style while leaders are normally CEOs who decide the direction for the company.

Key Takeaways:

• While there has been a big debate on environment issues going on and we constantly look offshore to point our fingers to, there is much to be done in Singapore who has been industrializing and polluting the environment
• There is a tectonic change in how business models are run these days due to the increase in globalization. Traditional models may not work anymore and we cannot afford to 'freeze' our organization, we have to keep vigilant to changes on the ground and respond to it effectively.
• Change is the new constant.

Issues for further discussions: 

• How can developing country continue to pursue their economic interest without polluting our environment? Is it possible?
• A person who is charismatic and driven may not necessarily be a good leader. Example would be Reverend Jim Jones who persuaded 900+ people to commit 'revolutionary suicide'. Therefore how do we select the correct leader to lead us? What are the limitations of existing guidelines?

Presentation:

• I enjoyed the presentation on how social media will affect China. With the explosion of social media, there used to be a voice that the government could silence previously. However, nowadays, China citizens could post online and immediately evoke actions by 3rd parties and thus keeping the government in check. While pursuing the race for economic development, i believe the Chinese governments have a very delicate social environment to handle in order for greater progress to happen.

Personal rating:

• I would give this lesson a 8.5/10 because it was very informative and cleared some of my misunderstandings!

Individual Topical Review Draft

Topic: Human Genome Project:

Executive Summary:

This paper will seek to understand and evaluate how the human genome project has developed over time and being applied to the field of medicine. Understanding that there are certain advantages of genetic medicine, what are some of the ethical, social issues that comes with genetic medicine?

Why I chose this topic?

Men has been trying to live forever and procrastinate death, I believe understanding our gene pool will be the closest we will get to that goal. There has been case studies where they conducted gene therapy and successfully cured type-1 diabetes in dogs. However, I believe that when we begin to celebrate gene medicine, we are exposed to a plethora of ethical issues which intrigues me. I wish to understand the implications if men were able to live forever. Mark Twain once quoted “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die anytime”. If death is no longer in the equation, will men be able to enjoy the moments of living?

Background:

1. Introduction of the human genome project
2. Innovation of genetic medicine

Historical Perspective:

• 1988: International Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) established. US congress funds Human Genome Project
• 1990: First attempts at gene therapy in immunodeficiency.
• 2003: Complete sequence of Human Genome achieved.

Current Perspective:

• Personalized medicine, how each of us is different individually, and the understanding of our gene will enable us to have greater accuracy in dispensing medicine.
• Singapore context: How Singapore is gradually adopting genetic medicine

Future Consideration:

• What are the possibilities for humans? Disease-free humans?
• What are some limitations of genetic medicine? Will there be lack of distribution? Will there be equality in medicine treatment for everyone?

Evaluation:

What are the advantages of genetic medicine? What are some socioeconomic problems that surface with it?

With the longer life expectancy, will Earth be able to sustain us?

Conclusion:

In summary, genetic medicine is the future and humans will be able to benefit greatly from it. However, while we celebrate the advantages and benefits, there are inherent issues that we have to address. 

2nd September 2013: Technology and Industrial Development: Toward Sustainability , Technology and Innovation Managements ( Session 3 )

Hello!

Brief Overview / Summary:

• We began the class by discussing how humans are stressing the earth's homeostasis mechanism, Prof Shahi provided statistics such as the United States currently is only left with 4% of their forest. 
• We also discussed about how developing countries have the 'latecomer' advantage, that they do not have to spend so much money on innovating and through technology spillover they could also enjoy the benefits.
• 90% of great ideas never gets implemented, and how sometimes a product can create the market.

Interesting Observations and Ideas:

• In order to achieve greater sustainability, pollution can no longer be regarded as an externality. Pollution are generally regarded as an externality (such as toxic gas and hazard chemicals output). However, nowadays, people are beginning to quantify pollution, such as total carbon output and as such internalizing the cost.
• Companies are required to use "BAT" (Best Available Technology), such that they are using more efficient technologies, in hope that they produce less waste. However, taking into account that companies are profit-driven  and investment in new technologies may erode their profits, they may not readily accept such costs. Moreover, monitoring of such technologies and whether companies are using them incurs another cost, which could be better directed at managing the company
• The idea that the amount of energy the sun shines on earth for 1 hour is enough to sustain us for 1 year is amazing. After a fast google search, i found that the developments on solar energy is progressing, they are able to better capture solar energy by absorbing the rays through their individual wavelengths as such becoming more efficient. http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513671/ultra-efficient-solar-power/
• How 90% of great ideas never get implemented, and Prof Shahi described Successful Innovation builds on the confluence of 4 smarts: Smart People with Smart Ideas having access to Smart Money and Smart Partnership. That your sponsors must be able to see value in your idea and be patient enough to see it come through. Linking back to Singapore, how Singapore encourages innovation, how you can apply for funding and invest into your idea.
• Watched a video that my classmate shared on facebook regarding how education is limiting creativity really sparked my interest. I posted a comment regarding the topic on facebook about how Singapore has always placed economic interests as priority and unless we can quantify creativity, conventional education will continue to have its place in Singapore.

Key Takeaways:

• Innovation in itself may not necessarily be the engine of growth. In this day and age, there is however, a clear benefit towards innovation. Such as patents and intellectual rights.
• Cloud opportunities can become summit opportunities once you know how to monetize it. However, the only way to stay at the summit is through constant innovation.

Issues for further discussions:

• In particular, I think the Masdar city could provide great insights to sustainable development and we should really discuss about this pilot study, identify its limitation and maybe address it
• Acknowledging that solar energy might be our future source of energy, will we witness an acceleration of "Energy Race", and how will our world be different with a renewable never ending source of energy

Personal Rating:

• I would give this lesson a 9!