Efficiently Supporting Hierarchy and Data Updates in DNA Storage

We propose a novel and flexible DNA-storage architecture that provides the notion of hierarchy among the objects tagged with the same primer pair and enables efficient data updates. In contrast to prior work, in our architecture a pair of PCR primers of length 20 does not define a single object, but an independent storage partition, which is internally managed in an independent way with its own index structure. We make the observation that, while the number of mutually compatible primer pairs is limited, the internal address space available to any pair of primers (i.e., partition) is virtually unlimited. We expose and leverage the flexibility with which this address space can be managed to provide rich and functional storage semantics, such as hierarchical data organization and efficient and flexible implementations of data updates. Furthermore, to leverage the full power of the prefix-based nature of PCR addressing, we define a methodology for transforming an arbitrary indexing scheme into a PCR-compatible equivalent. This allows us to run PCR with primers that can be variably extended to include a desired part of the index, and thus narrow down the scope of the reaction to retrieve a specific object (e.g., file or directory) within the partition with high precision. Our wetlab evaluation demonstrates the practicality of the proposed ideas and shows 140x reduction in sequencing cost retrieval of smaller objects within the partition

Growth performance of brown-golden marine microalga, Isochrysis sp., cultivated in alternative algal culture media

The present study aimed to evaluate the suitability of introduced algal culture media as an alternative to the general enriched seawater media in the laboratory cultivation of Isochrysis sp., a marine microalga commonly cultivated for aquaculture purposes. Isochrysis sp. was established into culture in three replications using three experimental algal culture media (Walne’s medium as a control, China-contributed culture medium (CCM) and CCM supplemented with vitamins (CCM + Vit)). The experiment was performed with a continuous illumination for a period of seven days at 25±1°C. The effect of introduced algal culture media (CCM and CCM + Vit) on the growth performance of Isochrysis sp. was highlighted. CCM demonstrated promising results for the cultivation of Isochrysis sp. A maximum cell density of 9.16×106 ± 5.40×105 cells mL-1, which corresponded to an instantaneous growth rate (r) of 0.21 cell day-1 and a doubling time (T2) of 3.29 days, was observed in Isochrysis sp. cultivated in CCM. In view of its potential and reduced preparation labour, CCM may be recommended as an alternative to the general enriched seawater media in the cultivation of Isochrysis sp. in laboratories with basic facility as well as small- and medium-scale aquaculture hatcheries

Length-weight relationship and relative condition factor of pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii, cultured in the Tieshangang Bay of the Beibu Gulf, Guangxi Province, China

Tieshangang Bay in the Beibu Gulf, Guangxi of China, is a strategic location for pearl farming. Although water pollution has been reported in this bay but the general health of the pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii,farmed there has never been assessed. The present study examined the condition of P. fucata martensii farmed in the Tieshangang Bay by analyzing its length-weight relationship (LWR) and relative condition factor (RCF). A total of 111 specimens were sampled for measuring their shell height and total weight for determining the LWR and RCF. The coefficient of correlation of the LWR was high (R2= 0.93), significant at 0.01 level. Negative allometric growth (b= 2.7048) was observed. However, P.fucata martensiiachieved the expected growth in terms of weight, as determined through the RCF (mean 1.13). Negative allometric growth is commonly reported on the wild Pinctadaspp. collected from different regions. Apparently, the water pollution in the Tieshangang Bay did not compromise the general health of the pearl oyster cultured there. Nevertheless, further study on the farm’s surrounding water quality and plankton availability is necessary to investigate the interaction between the growth of the oyster and its culture environment. In conclusion, the P. fucata martensiifarmed in the Tieshangang Bay was considered healthy and the bay is still suitable for pearl oyster farming

Measuring the likeliness among young adults to green their homes

It requires a team effort to reduce our overall impact on the planet earth. If each of us would do our parts, we could preserve the environment well and give our future generations a clean and comfortable place to live. Sustainability starts at home. Ways to green our homes have been suggested by people from all walks of life and are easily available as well. However, very little attention has been paid to the extent to which the people would take the initiative to green their homes. With the intention to explore the topic of home greening, this research aims to measure the likeliness among young adults to green their homes. Young adults are targeted because they are future leaders and their actions today will have an effect on the quality of the environment for the next fifty to one hundred years. The data needed are collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Eighty-eight young adults living in the Klang Valley of Malaysia have responded to the survey form but only eighty-five sets of it are analysable after detecting outliers. Mean ranking analysis is performed to rank the home greening efforts made by the respondents. The results show that the respondents have highest tendency to use energy-efficient appliances and water-saving devices, fixtures, and technologies for their homes to save the environment. On the contrary, the respondents have lowest tendency to find creative ways to recycle household goods at their homes to save the environment. In general, there is no significant difference in the home greening tendency levels of males and females

Factors influencing attitude toward organ and tissue donation among patients in primary clinic, Sabah, Malaysia

Introduction Worldwide, the gap between organ supply and demand has widened over the years. Malaysia has one of the lowest deceased organ donation rates. Success rate of organ or tissue procurement depends on not only the approach rate by health care providers but also the awareness among the public, whereby it can be a platform for family initiation of organ donation. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge of and determine the factors influencing attitude toward organ and tissue donation among patients in a primary clinic. Methods A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out. Self-administered questionnaires were given to 400 patients who registered at an outpatient clinic in April 2018. Convenience sampling was applied. Results Monthly income, education level, occupation, and knowledge level are significantly associated with attitude of the respondents toward organ and tissue donation. Occupation influenced attitude toward organ donation. Knowledge of organ donation and brain death both significantly affected attitude toward organ donation. Conclusion The greater the knowledge of organ donation and brain death, the more positive impression or attitude toward organ donation. Education level and income are the main predictors that influence attitude toward organ donation. Hence, it is important for public health units to promote and deliver public education on organ donation, change public misconceptions, and work parallel with hospitals to increase organ donation rates in Sabah. Previous articleNext article Worldwide, the gap between organ supply and demand has widened over the years. Malaysia has one of the lowest deceased organ donation rates (0.7 donations per million population) compared with countries such as Spain, which had the highest with a donation rate of 36 per million population in 2014. Other Asian countries are not far off from Malaysia, such as Myanmar (0.02) and Thailand (1.26) [1]. The World Health Organization defines transplantation as the transfer of human cells, tissues, or organs from a donor to a recipient with the aim of restoring functions in the body [2]. In Sabah, the Sabah Regional Transplant Procurement Management Unit has made effort for all government hospitals in Sabah to have a Tissue Organ Procurement team for identification and referral of eligible cases. Sabah is a Malaysian state with a high number of potential cadaveric or deceased donors for referral, but the consent for organ donation is still low. Transplantation is the only hope and definitive treatment for patients with organ failure. Donors can be either living or deceased. Unlike a deceased donor or cadaveric donor, a living donor can only donate part of the liver, 1 kidney, and bone marrow. A cadaveric donor can donate more organs and tissues without giving risk to the donor. Thus, a cadaveric donor is a preferable type of donor; however, cadaveric donation is very low in Malaysia. In 2015, Malaysia had its highest number of cadaveric donors, but Sabah only contributed 1 donor. The whole Malaysia had 35 cadaveric donors in 2017. Among them only 1 donor was from Sabah state. The demand and supply cannot meet up due to the lack of organs. Since 1998, the Malaysia Ministry of Health has initiated a number of activities to promote the development of organ donation and transplantation. Many countries have faced a similar problem of organ shortage for transplantation in patients with end-stage organ failure. Organ transplantation is the only hope for patients with end-stage organ failure to improve their quality of life. If a cadaveric organ donation program is not supported by the community, this may end up in organ trafficking. If the family of the deceased has a lack of knowledge of organ donation and the procurement process, this will lead to refusal in donating the organs and tissues. The deceased’s family’s consent is the last step in organ harvesting. Hence, it is important for public health units to promote and deliver public education on organ donation, change public misconceptions, and work together with hospitals to increase organ donation rates in Sabah. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors influencing attitude toward organ and tissue donation among patients, and to assess the knowledge of organ donation and brain death among patients. Methods A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at primary health clinic Kota Kinabalu, from October 2017 to July 2018 with a total of 10 months’ duration. It is located in Sabah state in Malaysia and is under the lead of 1 family medicine specialist with 15 medical officers. Monthly patients in outpatient clinic range from 4000 to 6000. The study population targeted is registered patients more than 18 years old who visited an outpatient clinic during the study period. Data collection was done during working hours until the preferable sample size was obtained. Nonprobability convenience sampling was used. Respondents who were selected followed the Queue Management Server (QMS) numbering system from number 1 to the end of the day. Those respondents who agreed to participate were given a self-administered questionnaire. The entire questionnaire was placed at the registration counter and distributed together with the QMS number before seeing the doctor. A sample size of 383 patients was taken by calculating the pilot study samples using the Sample Size Calculator for Prevalence Studies (SSCPS version 1.0.03). All the registered patients who agreed to participate and were above 18 years old were included in the study. Patients who were not registered or had no document or refused or were less than 18 years old were excluded from the study. Respondents could choose to withdraw at any time. The items in the questionnaire for the knowledge part were mainly modified from the study by Ozturk Emiral et al [3]. This was to ensure the items were appropriate and able to be answered by respondents. The Malay version of the questionnaire was pilot tested by the patients from the Emergency and Trauma Department 1 month before data collection. Thirty respondents were obtained by using patients grouped in the green zone at the Emergency and Trauma Department for reliability test. These 30 samples were not included in the study. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the scale on 12 knowledge and exposure questions in Part B and 11 questions on attitude toward organ and tissue donation in Part C of the questionnaires. A total of 23 items were tested for reliability. Cronbach’s alpha for the overall scale was 0.870. There are a total of 36 questions in the questionnaires, which can be divided into the following 3 parts: Part A: Sociodemographic characteristics; Part B: Exposure and knowledge in organ donation and brain death; and Part C: Acceptance or attitudes toward organ donation. After the questionnaire was pilot tested and obtained acceptable reliability testing, the questionnaires were distributed to the study population. The questionnaire was validated before the main study was done. Descriptive analysis was done by using frequencies, and the χ2 test was used to determine association between sociodemographic characteristics and attitude toward organ donation, and to study the association between knowledge levels of the respondents toward attitude for organ donation. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 22 (IBM, Armonk, NY, United States) throughout the study. Results A total of 400 self-administered questionnaires were distributed, of which 383 (95.75%) were successfully completed. Most of the respondents had secondary educations, which consisted of 337 respondents (88%) compared with primary education of 46 (12%). A total of 313 (81.7%) were aged less than 40 years, and 70 (18.3%) of the total respondents were aged over 40 years. The mean age for the sample was 32.69 ± 9.239. Most of the respondents, 193 (50.4%), had monthly income of at least RM2000. A total of 151 (39.4%) of the respondents were government servants. Most were married 251 (65.5%). Respondents consisted of 155 (40.5%) men and 228 (59.5%) women. Knowledge of Organ Donation A total of 339 (88.8%) respondents answered the first question correctly, which asked about the organ donation definition. For the second question, which is the age limit for organ donation, only 178 (46.5%) respondents answered correctly that there was no age limit for organ donation. Most of the respondents, 292 (76.2%), answered correctly for causes of organ transplant. Respondents correctly answered for organ transplant causes with the statement, “High blood pressure and diabetes are common causes for people to require a kidney transplant.” A total of 307 (80.2%) respondents answered correctly what organs can be donated in Malaysia (kidneys, liver, heart, and lung), whereas 211 (55.1%) respondents answered correctly what tissues can be donated in Malaysia (bone, skin, heart valves, and cornea) (Table 1). Based on organ donation knowledge questions, responses were further categorized into good and poor knowledge of organ donation. One correct answer for 1 question was considered 1 mark, thus the maximum mark for this section was 5 marks and the lowest was 0 marks, with none of the questions answered correctly. We considered respondents with ood knowledge of organ donation to be those who answered correctly for 4 questions and above (4 and 5 marks), whereas those poor knowledge answered correctly for 3 questions and below. A total of 213 (55.6%) had good knowledge of organ donation, whereas the other 170 (44.4%) respondents had poor knowledge of organ donation (Table 2)

Stem cell decisions:A twist of fate or a niche market?

AbstractEstablishing and maintaining cell fate in the right place at the right time is a key requirement for normal tissue maintenance. Stem cells are at the core of this process. Understanding how stem cells balance self-renewal and production of differentiating cells is key for understanding the defects that underpin many diseases. Both, external cues from the environment and cell intrinsic mechanisms can control the outcome of stem cell division. The role of the orientation of stem cell division has emerged as an important mechanism for specifying cell fate decisions. Although, the alignment of cell divisions can dependent on spatial cues from the environment, maintaining stemness is not always linked to positioning of stem cells in a particular microenvironment or `niche'. Alternate mechanisms that could contribute to cellular memory include differential segregation of centrosomes in asymmetrically dividing cells

Developing Concerns: Colorectal Cancer Trends and Human Development Index in South-East Asia

Background: From 2008 to 2020, colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality increased by approximately 50% and 47%, respectively, in South-East Asia (SEA). The human development index (HDI) influences various lifestyle choices (including physical activity), which may contribute to the prevalence of CRC in this region, distinct from factors related to medical or hereditary history. This study aims to evaluate and demonstrate the impacts and association of HDI with age-standardized rates (ASR) of CRC incidence and mortality in SEA.Methods: Utilizing data from the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) 2020, this study analyzed ASR for CRC incidence and mortality in each SEA country. Concurrently, the HDI for 2021 in these nations was gathered from the Human Development Reports. Using Spearman correlation analysis, we investigated the link between CRC ASR (incidence and mortality) and HDI indicators, including life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and Gross National Income per Capita (2017 Purchasing power parity [PPP$]). The statistical significance threshold was set at P<0.05.Results: The statistical analysis revealed noteworthy positive correlations between HDI and its components (life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and Gross National Income per Capita) with the ASR for incidence. Specifically, Spearman’s rho values were 0.834, 0.755, 0.827, and 0.882, respectively. Similarly, significant correlations were observed between HDI and its constituents with ASR for mortality, with corresponding values of 0.720, 0.755, 0.718, and 0.782 at a 5% significance level.Conclusion: Countries with a high HDI exhibit a dual impact influence by fostering economic growth while potentially posing challenges to public health. Despite very high HDI nations demonstrating successful CRC screening programs that lower both incidence and mortality rates, various SEA countries face impediments in implementing such screenings

The Yuan-Tseh Lee Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy

The Yuan-Tseh Lee Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) is the first interferometer dedicated to studying the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation at 3mm wavelength. The choice of 3mm was made to minimize the contributions from foreground synchrotron radiation and Galactic dust emission. The initial configuration of seven 0.6m telescopes mounted on a 6-m hexapod platform was dedicated in October 2006 on Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Scientific operations began with the detection of a number of clusters of galaxies via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. We compare our data with Subaru weak lensing data in order to study the structure of dark matter. We also compare our data with X-ray data in order to derive the Hubble constant.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ (13 pages, 7 figures); a version with high resolution figures available at http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/~keiichi/upfiles/AMiBA7/pho_highreso.pd

Novel intronic microRNA represses zebrafish myf5 promoter activity through silencing dickkopf-3 gene

A strong, negative cis-element located at the first intron +502/+835 (I300) of zebrafish myf5 has been reported. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying this repression network, we microinjected zebrafish single-cell embryos with I300 RNA, resulting in the dramatic reduction of luciferase activity driven by the myf5 promoter. Within this I300 segment, we identified an intronic microRNA (miR-In300) located at +609/+632 and found that it was more highly expressed in the older mature somites than those newly formed, which negatively correlated with the distribution of zebrafish myf5 transcripts. We proved that miR-In300 suppressed the transcription of myf5 through abolishing myf5 promoter activity, and we subsequently identified the long isoform of the Dickkopf-3 gene (dkk3) as the target gene of miR-In300. We further found that injection of the dkk3-morpholinos (MOs) resulted in downregulation of myf5 transcripts in somites, whereas co-injection of myf5 mRNA with dkk3-MO1 enabled rescue of the defects induced by dkk3-MO1 alone. Finally, injection of miR-In300-MO enhanced both myf5 transcripts in somites and the level of Dkk3 protein in zebrafish embryos. Based on these findings, we concluded that miR-In300 binds to its target gene dkk3, which inhibits the translation of dkk3 mRNA and, in turn, suppresses zebrafish myf5 promoter activity