International Consensus Statement on Rhinology and Allergy: Rhinosinusitis

Background: The 5 years since the publication of the first International Consensus Statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Rhinosinusitis (ICAR‐RS) has witnessed foundational progress in our understanding and treatment of rhinologic disease. These advances are reflected within the more than 40 new topics covered within the ICAR‐RS‐2021 as well as updates to the original 140 topics. This executive summary consolidates the evidence‐based findings of the document. Methods: ICAR‐RS presents over 180 topics in the forms of evidence‐based reviews with recommendations (EBRRs), evidence‐based reviews, and literature reviews. The highest grade structured recommendations of the EBRR sections are summarized in this executive summary. Results: ICAR‐RS‐2021 covers 22 topics regarding the medical management of RS, which are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Additionally, 4 topics regarding the surgical management of RS are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Finally, a comprehensive evidence‐based management algorithm is provided. Conclusion: This ICAR‐RS‐2021 executive summary provides a compilation of the evidence‐based recommendations for medical and surgical treatment of the most common forms of RS

Provision of CPF and retirement.

This project focuses on the retirement needs of Singaporeans and the adequate provision of retirement funds from CPF. Projections were done to estimate the amount of money Singaporeans will have upon retirement and results were compared to benchmarks. Recommendations on improving the retirement fund of Singaporeans are then given

CRISPR/dCas9-Based Systems: Mechanisms and Applications in Plant Sciences

RNA-guided genomic transcriptional regulation tools, namely clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPR-mediated gene activation (CRISPRa), are a powerful technology for gene functional studies. Deriving from the CRISPR/Cas9 system, both systems consist of a catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9), a transcriptional effector and a single guide RNA (sgRNA). This type of dCas9 is incapable to cleave DNA but retains its ability to specifically bind to DNA. The binding of the dCas9/sgRNA complex to a target gene results in transcriptional interference. The CRISPR/dCas9 system has been explored as a tool for transcriptional modulation and genome imaging. Despite its potential applications and benefits, the challenges and limitations faced by the CRISPR/dCas9 system include the off-target effects, protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequence requirements, efficient delivery methods and the CRISPR/dCas9-interfered crops being labeled as genetically modified organisms in several countries. This review highlights the progression of CRISPR/dCas9 technology as well as its applications and potential challenges in crop improvement

Study on Lead-Free SAC305 Solder with different Particle Sizes generated with Laser Ablation Method

The demand for lightweight and high functionality devices is always a driving force in development of smaller, lighter and compact electronics circuit. However, as components shrink, the connection points between them and printed circuit boards (PCBs) will be narrowed as well. A smaller solder particle is required to cope with this trend of miniaturization. In our study, a standard Type-4 solder were used as our sample target to produce solder with smaller particle size. A 266nm UV Laser source was utilized to carry out the laser ablation process. The particles generated from the UV Laser with different laser energy were collected. To study the effect of different energy used, the size of the particles was characterized with Nanoparticle Sizer, followed by DSC to determine the changes in melting point

Genome Editing for Sustainable Crop Improvement and Mitigation of Biotic and Abiotic Stresses

Climate change poses a serious threat to global agricultural activity and food production. Plant genome editing technologies have been widely used to develop crop varieties with superior qualities or can tolerate adverse environmental conditions. Unlike conventional breeding techniques (e.g., selective breeding and mutation breeding), modern genome editing tools offer more targeted and specific alterations of the plant genome and could significantly speed up the progress of developing crops with desired traits, such as higher yield and/or stronger resilience to the changing environment. In this review, we discuss the current development and future applications of genome editing technologies in mitigating the impacts of biotic and abiotic stresses on agriculture. We focus specifically on the CRISPR/Cas system, which has been the center of attention in the last few years as a revolutionary genome-editing tool in various species. We also conducted a bibliographic analysis on CRISPR-related papers published from 2012 to 2021 (10 years) to identify trends and potential in the CRISPR/Cas-related plant research. In addition, this review article outlines the current shortcomings and challenges of employing genome editing technologies in agriculture with notes on future prospective. We believe combining conventional and more innovative technologies in agriculture would be the key to optimizing crop improvement beyond the limitations of traditional agricultural practices

Molecular subtyping of paediatric medulloblastoma by immunohistochemistry

Four core molecular subgroups of medulloblastomas have recently been introduced disparate by their transcriptional profile, all of which have different prognostic value. We aimed to determine the histological variants and molecular subtypes of medulloblastomas by immunohistochemistry in our population, and to correlate that with clinicopathological parameters. Seventeen patients aged four-month to 14.3 years diagnosed with medulloblastoma were recruited from year 2002 to 2017. All medulloblastomas were assigned to various histological variants and molecular subgroups by immunohistochemistry surrogate markers (YAP-1 and beta catenin). They were then correlated with clinicopathological parameters and outcomes. Classic histology (76.5%) was the commonest, followed by large cell/anaplastic (LCA) (17.6%) and desmoplastic/nodular (DN) variants (59%). The most frequent molecular subgroup was non-SHH/WNT tumours (64.7%), seconded by SHH tumours (35.3%). Among the SHH tumours, 66.7% was classic histology and the remaining 33.3% was LCA variant. Interestingly, one DN histology demonstrated YAP-1 and beta catenin immunonegativity, denoting non-SHH/WNT molecular subgroup. Majority (88.2%) medulloblastomas were at midline 4th ventricle location, including DN variant. Estimated three-year disease�free-survival (DFS) and overall-survival (OS) was 60% and 86.7%, respectively. Age 5 cm, LCA histology and high risk group were inversely correlated with DFS, with early relapse. Infant <3-year-old had worse OS. Other factors had no significant impact on DFS and OS. We had demonstrated the feasibility of simple immunohistochemistry-based surrogate markers (YAP-1 and beta catenin) to stratify medulloblastomas into distinct molecular subtypes. Prognostic and predictive values of YAP-1 immunomarker in medulloblastomas however await further investigations

Warpage Studies of Printed Circuit Boards with Shadow Moiré and Simulations

The demand for lightweight and high functionality devices is always a driving force in development of smaller, lighter and compact electronics circuit. Printed circuit board (PCB) is the most important structure that provides interconnection and supports the components; hence its flatness is always the main concern in SMT manufacturing. In order to ensure product reliability, the monitoring of thermally induced warpage of PCB during high temperature reflow is essential. PCB deformation occurs when there is mismatch of coefficients of thermal expansion between the materials. Thermally induced warpage in PCB can be obtained from the Shadow Moiré measurement, which is a non-contact full-field optical method integrated with a high temperature oven. In this study, a single-sided, small PCB (105 mm X 100 mm X 1.5 mm) and a large, multi-layer PCB (300 mm X 180 mm X 1.6 mm) are measured and analyzed. To reduce the temperature difference between the top and bottom of the PCBs, a heating profile is designed with the use of multiple thermocouples at various positions on the PCB. In addition, finite element analysis is carried out to determine the z-axis deformation of the PCBs. The finite-element simulation is setup to mimic the heating profile in the experiment. The results of simulation are compared to the experimental measurement