Bamboo fibre composites: Potential and challenges

This chapter discusses the possible use of bamboo fibre composites in structural applications, highlighting how the performance of the composite can be modified by the bamboo species, fibre extraction process, and composite fabrication method. Bamboo fibre composites are affected by parameters such as species, age, and extraction processes. Apart from that, the performance of bamboo fibre composites is influenced by the matrix, which consists of thermosetting and thermoplastic resins

Predicting potential Alzheimer medical condition in elderly using IOT sensors - Case study

National Development and National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2NIC

Dependency of NELF-E-SLUG-KAT2B epigenetic axis in breast cancer carcinogenesis.

Cancer cells undergo transcriptional reprogramming to drive tumor progression and metastasis. Using cancer cell lines and patient-derived tumor organoids, we demonstrate that loss of the negative elongation factor (NELF) complex inhibits breast cancer development through downregulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness-associated genes. Quantitative multiplexed Rapid Immunoprecipitation Mass spectrometry of Endogenous proteins (qPLEX-RIME) further reveals a significant rewiring of NELF-E-associated chromatin partners as a function of EMT and a co-option of NELF-E with the key EMT transcription factor SLUG. Accordingly, loss of NELF-E leads to impaired SLUG binding on chromatin. Through integrative transcriptomic and genomic analyses, we identify the histone acetyltransferase, KAT2B, as a key functional target of NELF-E-SLUG. Genetic and pharmacological inactivation of KAT2B ameliorate the expression of EMT markers, phenocopying NELF ablation. Elevated expression of NELF-E and KAT2B is associated with poorer prognosis in breast cancer patients, highlighting the clinical relevance of our findings. Taken together, we uncover a crucial role of the NELF-E-SLUG-KAT2B epigenetic axis in breast cancer carcinogenesis

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

The Full-Length Protein Encoded by Human Cytomegalovirus Gene UL117 Is Required for the Proper Maturation of Viral Replication Compartments▿

Previously, two large-scale mutagenic analyses showed that mutations in the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) gene UL117 resulted in a defect in virus growth in fibroblasts. Early transcriptional analyses have revealed several mRNAs from the UL119-UL115 region; however, specific transcripts encoding UL117-related proteins have not been identified. In this study, we identified two novel transcripts arising from the UL117 gene locus, and we reported that the UL117 open reading frame encoded the full-length protein pUL117 (45 kDa) and the shorter isoform pUL117.5 (35 kDa) as the result of translation initiation at alternative in-frame ATGs. Both proteins were expressed with early kinetics, but pUL117 accumulated at a lower abundance relative to that of pUL117.5. During HCMV infection, both proteins localized predominantly to the nucleus, and the major fraction of pUL117 localized in viral nuclear replication compartments. We constructed mutant HCMV viruses in which the entire UL117 coding sequence was deleted or the expression of pUL117 was specifically abrogated. The growth of mutant viruses was significantly attenuated, indicating that pUL117 was required for efficient virus infection in fibroblasts. Cells infected with the pUL117-deficient mutant virus accumulated representative viral immediate-early proteins and early proteins normally. In the absence of pUL117, the accumulation of replicating viral DNA was reduced by no more than twofold at early times and was indistinguishable from that of the wild type at 72 h postinfection. Strikingly, there was a 12- to 24-h delay in the development of nuclear replication compartments and a marked delay in the expression of late viral proteins. We conclude that pUL117 acts to promote the development of nuclear replication compartments to facilitate viral growth

Evaluation of a practical expert defined approach to patient population segmentation: a case study in Singapore

Abstract Background Segmenting the population into groups that are relatively homogeneous in healthcare characteristics or needs is crucial to facilitate integrated care and resource planning. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of segmenting the population into discrete, non-overlapping groups using a practical expert and literature driven approach. We hypothesized that this approach is feasible utilizing the electronic health record (EHR) in SingHealth. Methods In addition to well-defined segments of “Mostly healthy”, “Serious acute illness but curable” and “End of life” segments that are also present in the Ministry of Health Singapore framework, patients with chronic diseases were segmented into “Stable chronic disease”, “Complex chronic diseases without frequent hospital admissions”, and “Complex chronic diseases with frequent hospital admissions”. Using the electronic health record (EHR), we applied this framework to all adult patients who had a healthcare encounter in the Singapore Health Services Regional Health System in 2012. ICD-9, 10 and polyclinic codes were used to define chronic diseases with a comprehensive look-back period of 5 years. Outcomes (hospital admissions, emergency attendances, specialist outpatient clinic attendances and mortality) were analyzed for years 2012 to 2015. Results Eight hundred twenty five thousand eight hundred seventy four patients were included in this study with the majority being healthy without chronic diseases. The most common chronic disease was hypertension. Patients with “complex chronic disease” with frequent hospital admissions segment represented 0.6% of the eligible population, but accounted for the highest hospital admissions (4.33 ± 2.12 admissions; p < 0.001) and emergency attendances (ED) (3.21 ± 3.16 ED visits; p < 0.001) per patient, and a high mortality rate (16%). Patients with metastatic disease accounted for the highest specialist outpatient clinic attendances (27.48 ± 23.68 visits; p < 0.001) per patient despite their relatively shorter course of illness and high one-year mortality rate (33%). Conclusion This practical segmentation framework can potentially distinguish among groups of patients, and highlighted the high disease burden of patients with chronic diseases. Further research to validate this approach of population segmentation is needed