Riverine sustainment 2012

Student Integrated ProjectIncludes supplementary materialThis technical report analyzed the Navy's proposed Riverine Force (RF) structure and capabilities for 2012. The Riverine Sustainment 2012 Team (RST) examined the cost and performance of systems of systems which increased RF sustainment in logistically barren environments. RF sustainment was decomposed into its functional areas of supply, repair, and force protection. The functional and physical architectures were developed in parallel and were used to construct an operational architecture for the RF. The RST used mathematical, agent-based and queuing models to analyze various supply, repair and force protection system alternatives. Extraction of modeling data revealed several key insights. Waterborne heavy lift connectors such as the LCU-2000 are vital in the re-supply of the RF when it is operating up river in a non-permissive environment. Airborne heavy lift connectors such as the MV-22 were ineffective and dominated by the waterborne variants in the same environment. Increase in manpower and facilities did appreciable add to the operational availability of the RF. Mean supply response time was the biggest factor effecting operational availability and should be kept below 24 hours to maintain operational availability rates above 80%. Current mortar defenses proposed by the RF are insufficient.N

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies novel loci that influence cupping and the glaucomatous process

Glaucoma is characterized by irreversible optic nerve degeneration and is the most frequent cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Here, the International Glaucoma Genetics Consortium conducts a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of vertical cup-disc ratio (VCDR), an important disease-related optic nerve parameter. In 21,094 individuals of European ancestry and 6,784 individuals of Asian ancestry, we identify 10 new loci associated with variation in VCDR. In a separate risk-score analysis of five case-control studies, Caucasians in the highest quintile have a 2.5-fold increased risk of primary open-angle glaucoma as compared with those in the lowest quintile. This study has more than doubled the known loci associated with optic disc cupping and will allow greater understanding of mechanisms involved in this common blinding condition

Solitary mastocytoma arising from a tight infant identification bracelet

Mastocytosis is characterized by a proliferation of mast cells in the skin and extracutaneous organs. Cutaneous mastocytoma is the second most common presentation of mastocytosis in children and has been reported to arise post-trauma. We report herein the second case of solitary mastocytoma resulting from application of an excessively tight infant identification bracelet and the first in the English literature

On-orbit spatial characterization based on satellite image structure

One practical way to characterize the spatial performance of an in-flight satellite optical imaging system is to determine the modulation transfer function (MTF) from its remotely sensed images on the ground. Currently, there are many MTF measurement techniques designed to provide accurate measurements for high-resolution imaging systems. However, these existing techniques usually rely on the presence and manual identification of a well-separated characteristics target. We introduce an insight to effectively estimate a degradation function based on the MTF by analyzing the nonlocal self-similarity characteristics, namely the structural component, in the observed image. To this end, this paper presents several strategies to realize the aim of this work. First, we propose a segmentation method to select the ideal candidates for MTF estimation. Second, we develop an adaptive structure selection method that removes detrimental structures and selects useful information for point spread function (PSF) estimation. Finally, we put forward a robust estimation method by introducing a spatial prior that is able to simultaneously suppress noises while preserving the sparsity and continuity of the PSF kernels. For the experiments, datasets used in the analyses are synthetically blurred images simulated from level 2A product of IKONOS and real remotely sensed images from level 0 product of RazakSAT. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is practical and effective, with <2.3% of relative error at the Nyquist frequency as compared to the well-established edge method. This indicates that the proposed method can warrant a reliable result for on-orbit spatial characterization. © 2019 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Inline coagulation-ultrafiltration as the pretreatment for reverse osmosis brine treatment and recovery

10.1016/j.desal.2015.03.018Desalination365242-24

Singapore Genome Variation Project: A haplotype map of three Southeast Asian populations

The Singapore Genome Variation Project (SGVP) provides a publicly available resource of 1.6 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 268 individuals from the Chinese, Malay, and Indian population groups in Southeast Asia. This online database catalogs information and summaries on genotype and phased haplotype data, including allele frequencies, assessment of linkage disequilibrium (LD), and recombination rates in a format similar to the International HapMap Project. Here, we introduce this resource and describe the analysis of human genomic variation upon agglomerating data from the HapMap and the Human Genome Diversity Project, providing useful insights into the population structure of the three major population groups in Asia. In addition, this resource also surveyed across the genome for variation in regional patterns of LD between the HapMap and SGVP populations, and for signatures of positive natural selection using two well-established metrics: iHS and XP-EHH. The raw and processed genetic data, together with all population genetic summaries, are publicly available for download and browsing through a web browser modeled with the Generic Genome Browser

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived small extracellular vesicles ameliorated insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus rats

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived small extracellular vesicle (hUC-MSCs-sEVs) therapy has shown promising results to treat diabetes mellitus in preclinical studies. However, the dosage of MSCs-sEVs in animal studies, up to 10 mg/kg, was considered high and may be impractical for future clinical application. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of low-dose hUC-MSCs-sEVs treatment on human skeletal muscle cells (HSkMCs) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats. Treatment with hUC-MSCs-sEVs up to 100 μg/mL for 48 h showed no significant cytotoxicity. Interestingly, 20 μg/mL of hUC-MSCs-sEVs-treated HSkMCs increased glucose uptake by 80–90% compared to untreated cells. The hUC-MSCs-sEVs treatment at 1 mg/kg improved glucose tolerance in T2DM rats and showed a protective effect on complete blood count. Moreover, an improvement in serum HbA1c was observed in diabetic rats treated with 0.5 and 1 mg/kg of hUC-MSCs-sEVs, and hUC-MSCs. The biochemical tests of hUC-MSCs-sEVs treatment groups showed no significant creatinine changes, elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels compared to the normal group. Histological analysis revealed that hUC-MSCs-sEVs relieved the structural damage to the pancreas, kidney and liver. The findings suggest that hUC-MSCs-sEVs could ameliorate insulin resistance and exert protective effects on T2DM rats. Therefore, hUC-MSCs-sEVs could serve as a potential therapy for diabetes mellitus

Assessing the efficacy of male Wolbachia-infected mosquito deployments to reduce dengue incidence in Singapore: study protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Dengue is a severe environmental public health challenge in tropical and subtropical regions. In Singapore, decreasing seroprevalence and herd immunity due to successful vector control has paradoxically led to increased transmission potential of the dengue virus. We have previously demonstrated that incompatible insect technique coupled with sterile insect technique (IIT-SIT), which involves the release of X-ray-irradiated male Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, reduced the Aedes aegypti population by 98% and dengue incidence by 88%. This novel vector control tool is expected to be able to complement current vector control to mitigate the increasing threat of dengue on a larger scale. We propose a multi-site protocol to study the efficacy of IIT-SIT at reducing dengue incidence. Methods/design The study is designed as a parallel, two-arm, non-blinded cluster-randomized (CR) controlled trial to be conducted in high-rise public housing estates in Singapore, an equatorial city-state. The aim is to determine whether large-scale deployment of male Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti mosquitoes can significantly reduce dengue incidence in intervention clusters. We will use the CR design, with the study area comprising 15 clusters with a total area of 10.9 km2, covering approximately 722,204 residents in 1713 apartment blocks. Eight clusters will be randomly selected to receive the intervention, while the other seven will serve as non-intervention clusters. Intervention efficacy will be estimated through two primary endpoints: (1) odds ratio of Wolbachia exposure distribution (i.e., probability of living in an intervention cluster) among laboratory-confirmed reported dengue cases compared to test-negative controls and (2) laboratory-confirmed reported dengue counts normalized by population size in intervention versus non-intervention clusters. Discussion This study will provide evidence from a multi-site, randomized controlled trial for the efficacy of IIT-SIT in reducing dengue incidence. The trial will provide valuable information to estimate intervention efficacy for this novel vector control approach and guide plans for integration into national vector control programs in dengue-endemic settings. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT05505682 . Registered on 16 August 2022. Retrospectively registered

Ethnicity-specific skeletal muscle transcriptional signatures and their relevance to insulin resistance in Singapore.

Context Insulin resistance (IR) and obesity differ among ethnic groups in Singapore, with the Malays more obese yet less IR than Asian-Indians. However, the molecular basis underlying these differences is not clear. Objective As the skeletal muscle (SM) is metabolically relevant to IR, we investigated molecular pathways in SM that are associated with ethnic differences in IR, obesity, and related traits. Design, Setting, and Main Outcome Measures We integrated transcriptomic, genomic, and phenotypic analyses in 156 healthy subjects representing three major ethnicities in the Singapore Adult Metabolism Study. Patients This study contains Chinese (n = 63), Malay (n = 51), and Asian-Indian (n = 42) men, aged 21 to 40 years, without systemic diseases. Results We found remarkable diversity in the SM transcriptome among the three ethnicities, with >8000 differentially expressed genes (40% of all genes expressed in SM). Comparison with blood transcriptome from a separate Singaporean cohort showed that >95% of SM expression differences among ethnicities were unique to SM. We identified a network of 46 genes that were specifically downregulated in Malays, suggesting dysregulation of components of cellular respiration in SM of Malay individuals. We also report 28 differentially expressed gene clusters, four of which were also enriched for genes that were found in genome-wide association studies of metabolic traits and disease and correlated with variation in IR, obesity, and related traits. Conclusion We identified extensive gene-expression changes in SM among the three Singaporean ethnicities and report specific genes and molecular pathways that might underpin and explain the differences in IR among these ethnic groups

Ethnicity-Specific Skeletal Muscle Transcriptional Signatures and Their Relevance to Insulin Resistance in Singapore

International audienceContext: Insulin resistance (IR) and obesity differ among ethnic groups in Singapore, with the Malays more obese yet less IR than Asian-Indians. However, the molecular basis underlying these differences is not clear.Objective: As the skeletal muscle (SM) is metabolically relevant to IR, we investigated molecular pathways in SM that are associated with ethnic differences in IR, obesity, and related traits.Design, setting, and main outcome measures: We integrated transcriptomic, genomic, and phenotypic analyses in 156 healthy subjects representing three major ethnicities in the Singapore Adult Metabolism Study.Patients: This study contains Chinese (n = 63), Malay (n = 51), and Asian-Indian (n = 42) men, aged 21 to 40 years, without systemic diseases.Results: We found remarkable diversity in the SM transcriptome among the three ethnicities, with >8000 differentially expressed genes (40% of all genes expressed in SM). Comparison with blood transcriptome from a separate Singaporean cohort showed that >95% of SM expression differences among ethnicities were unique to SM. We identified a network of 46 genes that were specifically downregulated in Malays, suggesting dysregulation of components of cellular respiration in SM of Malay individuals. We also report 28 differentially expressed gene clusters, four of which were also enriched for genes that were found in genome-wide association studies of metabolic traits and disease and correlated with variation in IR, obesity, and related traits.Conclusion: We identified extensive gene-expression changes in SM among the three Singaporean ethnicities and report specific genes and molecular pathways that might underpin and explain the differences in IR among these ethnic groups.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00988819