Hwa Chong Institution

The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) has become one of the most promising alternative protein sources in the feed and food industry. The aim of this work was to utilize microbial fermentation to enhance the nutritional properties of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as a food ingredient for human consumption by optimizing the amino acid profile and small peptide content. Free amino acids (FAA) have a critical role in human nutrition and bioavailability. Unlike whole proteins that require enzymatic breakdown in the digestive tract, FAA are directly absorbable by the small intestine, allowing for rapid utilization in protein synthesis and metabolic functions. BSFL pastes were fermented using Lacticaseibacillus paracasei (PCB 030) or a mixed starter culture preparation, and results were compared to pea protein and BSFL pastes that were enzymatically hydrolyzed. The resultant hydrolyzed BSFL pastes were analyzed for free amino acids and small peptides. The L. paracasei PCB 030 fermented BSFL pastes yielded significantly higher amounts of free amino acids than the control or pastes fermented using a commercial starter culture (named F-LC). The increased FAA availability in fermented BSFL makes it a more efficient protein source for human consumption. The L. paracasei PCB 030 fermented pastes showed an increase in small peptides after three days fermentation; nearly 80% of normalized abundances of small peptides increased by over 100 times compared to day zero (before the fermentation started). Over 90% of these small peptides consisted of more than 50% hydrophobic amino acids, which may contribute to their antioxidant and antibacterial properties. This study provides a promising and industrially practical process for hydrolyzing BSFL protein to yield a functional protein hydrolysate with an enhanced nutritional profile.

Stem cell-based therapies are emerging as promising adjuncts to conventional cancer treatments, offering innovative strategies to target cancer cells and enhance patient recovery. This paper explores the potential of stem cells, particularly mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUCMCs), to improve cancer treatment outcomes through their regenerative and differentiation capabilities. MSCs exhibit significant promise due to their ability to inhibit tumor growth, support tissue regeneration, and modulate immune responses. Their unique features, including targeted homing to tumor sites and the secretion of bioactive molecules, present novel approaches to overcoming the limitations of traditional therapies. Despite these advancements, challenges such as immune rejection and tumorigenicity must be addressed. Current strategies to mitigate these issues involve immunosuppressive drugs, genetic engineering, and advanced technologies like CRISPR-Cas9. However, the reviewed studies often involve small sample sizes or remain in the laboratory phase, limiting the generalizability of findings. Future research should focus on larger-scale clinical trials to validate the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapies, aiming to refine these treatments and integrate them into clinical practice.

Inactive Cas13 orthologs have been fused to a mutant human ADAR2 deaminase domain at the C terminus to enable programmable adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing in selected transcripts. Although promising, existing RNA-editing tools generally suffer from a trade-off between efficacy and specificity, and off-target editing remains an unsolved problem. Here we describe the development of an optimized RNA-editing platform by rational protein engineering, CasRx-based Programmable Editing of RNA Technology (xPERT). We demonstrate that the topological rearrangement of a CasRx K940L mutant by circular permutation results in a robust scaffold for the tethering of a deaminase domain. We benchmark our tool against the REPAIR system and show that xPERT exhibits strong on-target activity like REPAIRv1 but low off-target editing like REPAIRv2. Our xPERT platform can be used to alter RNA sequence information without risking genome damage, effect temporary cellular changes and customize protein function.

BackgroundAssisting young children when a parent faces a life-limiting illness presents significant challenges. Healthcare professionals play a crucial role in engaging them, and yet the impact of such interactions on the professionals themselves and their perceived ability to offer support remains unclear. The impact on home hospice professionals is even less understood, and yet they are more likely to interact with these children during their visits. They recognize the need to communicate with these children and address their needs, despite the delicacy of broaching the topic and potential challenges. Understanding the home hospice professionals’ concerns is essential to enhance their capacity to provide effective support.ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine the experience of home hospice professionals when supporting the young children of terminally ill patients. We sought to understand the emotional and psychological impact of doing this work, and describe sources of strength and coping strategies.MethodsSemi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 home hospice professionals who had supported patients with young children at home: 4 Doctors, 6 Nurses and 6 Psychosocial Support Professionals. The latter group consisted of 3 Medical Social Workers, 2 Art Therapists and 1 Spiritual Care Counsellor. Verbatim transcripts of recorded interviews were analyzed thematically.ResultsThree themes emerged. First, the multidisciplinary team was a pillar of support, with members performing distinct roles. Art therapists and Medical Social Workers primarily attended to the children, with doctors and nurses tending more to the patient. Members supported each other, and more experienced colleagues provided supervision/advice. Collaboration with other institutions such as schools was also useful.Secondly, understanding family dynamics and children’s needs, including knowledge of how children grieve and process information, was important in order to support the child at home. Professionals advocated for the children’s need to know what was occurring with their parent. However, time constraints and limited resources affected their ability to engage children. There was little formal training on communicating with children, with professionals largely drawing on prior experience or doing their own research.Thirdly, professionals embraced their own vulnerability. They experienced countertransference, and most were intentional about self-care. While there was fear of making things worse for children, there was a sense of fulfillment and comfort in being of assistance.DiscussionProfessionals showed awareness of the emotional toll, and vicarious post-traumatic growth was also evident in some. There was significant countertransference, mostly in for those who were themselves parents of young children. Parentified children who were caregivers causes significant distress to the Professionals.SignificanceThere is a need for better organizational support to manage emotional toll and time constraints. More specialized training and resources are required, as well as enhanced partnerships with external agencies to better support affected children. Findings can contribute to the development of an interdisciplinary project aiming to address these issues.

This paper investigates the application of the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model to predict future trends in Chinese housing prices. The Chinese real estate market, characterized by its volatility, especially during the post-COVID-19 period, presents a complex environment for buyers and investors. The paper investigates how the ARIMA model is employed to make informed predictions in this uncertain market. Although it has some limitations, such as a heavy reliance on historical data and insensitivity to unexpected macroeconomic shifts, the ARIMA model offers a structure for understanding and anticipating housing price trends. The paper integrates various data sources, including long-term housing price statistics, to build a comprehensive ARIMA model tailored to the nuances of China’s housing market. This essay demonstrates the ARIMA model's utility in aiding stakeholders to make more confident and informed decisions in an increasingly complex and unpredictable market. The analysis further suggests refinements to the ARIMA model, considering the multifaceted nature of the housing market, influenced by macroeconomic factors and public perception. The final goal is to enhance the model's accuracy and reliability, making it an indispensable tool in economic and policy decision-making in China's evolving real estate landscape.

The nurturing of top young science talents remains vital in helping to mitigate current and future global challenges. Written in the form of a letter, this paper chronicles the major activities of the International Science Youth Forum, an annual event held in Singapore where top young science talents from across the world have the opportunity to interact with Nobel Laureates and other eminent scientists. Reflections of the student and educators who participated in this event are also documented, and it is hoped that their experiences can pave the way for other similar activities to be organized worldwide.

Humans engage in learning and reviewing processes with curricula when acquiring new skills or knowledge. This human learning behavior has inspired the integration of curricula with replay methods in continual learning agents. The goal is to emulate the human learning process, thereby improving knowledge retention and facilitating learning transfer. Existing replay methods in continual learning agents involve the random selection and ordering of data from previous tasks, which has shown to be effective. However, limited research has explored the integration of different curricula with replay methods to enhance continual learning. Our study takes initial steps in examining the impact of integrating curricula with replay methods on continual learning in three specific aspects: the interleaved frequency of replayed exemplars with training data, the sequence in which exemplars are replayed, and the strategy for selecting exemplars into the replay buffer. These aspects of curricula design align with cognitive psychology principles and leverage the benefits of interleaved practice during replays, easy-to-hard rehearsal, and exemplar selection strategy involving exemplars from a uniform distribution of difficulties. Based on our results, these three curricula effectively mitigated catastrophic forgetting and enhanced positive knowledge transfer, demonstrating the potential of curricula in advancing continual learning methodologies. Our code and data are available: https://github.com/ZhangLab-DeepNeuroCogLab/Integrating-Curricula-with-Replays

Initially stationed in Oakland, the Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982, then back to Oakland in 1995, before relocating to Las Vegas in time for the 2020 season. Raider's departure has had a different economic impact on both Oakland and Las Vegas. This article analyzes the relocation behavior of the Raider's Department from the perspective of two cities and concludes that the Raider's Department has an economic impact on both Oakland and Las Vegas, the context and timing of which will depend on how the government regulations it.