A*STAR PATENTS

Anti-CTLA-4 antibodies are disclosed. Also disclosed are compositions comprising such antibodies, and uses and methods using the same.

The present disclosure refers to an endonuclease-based gene editing construct, wherein the construct comprises a CRISPR-associated endonuclease (such as Cas9 or Cpf1) or a derivative thereof and at least one or more hormone binding domains of the estrogen receptor (ERT2) or derivatives thereof. The present disclosure also describes a method of editing a genome of a host cell using the construct as disclosed herein, the method comprising transfecting the host cell with the nucleic acid sequence as defined herein and incubating the cell with an inducing agent.

Embodiments of the invention relate to low-cost and low-complexity mesh routing method to provide connectivity within a channel-diverse mesh network in which there is no common channel available for the whole network and in which a single transceiver is provided in each node. The mesh routing method includes a procedure for flooding radio resource maps (RRMs), a procedure for determining the operating channel for each mesh node device, a routing procedure for establishing a route for a pair of source device and destination device, and a maintenance procedure for repairing routes and optimize selection of operating channel.

A sputtering system and a sputtering method are provided. The sputtering system includes a first electrode, a magnet and a second electrode. The first electrode is an elongated tube having a first end and a second end downstream of the first end. The first end is configured to receive a gas flow and the second end is placed next to a substrate. The magnet surrounds at least a portion of the elongated tube and is configured to generate a magnetic field in a space within the elongated tube. The second electrode is disposed within the elongated tube. A voltage is configured to be applied between the first and second electrodes to generate an electric field between the first and second electrodes.

A method and system for predicting liver injury in vivo due to hepatocyte damage by a test compound are provided. The method includes acquiring images of fluorescently stained cells obtained from a cell culture in which the cells have been treated with a dose-range of at least the test compound and its vehicle. The cells may be hepatic cells including primary or immortalized hepatocytes, hepatoma cells or induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells. The acquired images are segmented. The method further includes extracting and analyzing one or more phenotypic features from the segmented images, wherein the one or more phenotypic features are selected from the group of intensity, textural, morphological, or ratiometric features consisting of (a) features of DNA, (b) features of RELA (NF-KB p65), and (c) features of actin filaments at different subcellular regions and d) features of cellular organelles and their substructures in the segmented images. Finally, the method includes normalizing results from the treated samples to vehicle controls and predicting the probability of liver injury by the test compound based on test compound-induced normalized changes of the extracted and selected phenotypic features using machine learning methods.

There is provided a method for geometrical reconstruction of an internal anatomical structure using at least one processor based on a set of contours derived from the internal anatomical structure, the set of contours including a first subset of long-axis contours obtained based on a first set of long-axis images of the internal anatomical structure. The method includes: adjusting the set of contours, comprising adjusting the first subset of long-axis contours to correct for motion artefacts in the first set of long-axis images; and deforming a template three-dimensional (3D) surface mesh preconfigured for the internal anatomical structure's type into a deformed 3D surface mesh based on the adjusted set of contours to obtain the geometrical reconstruction of the internal anatomical structure. In particular, the internal anatomical structure is a heart. There is also provided a corresponding system for geometrical reconstruction of an internal anatomical structure.

Biomarkers for the detection and identification of a precursor of conventional dendritic cell (cDC) (pre-DC) and its cell subsets (pre-cDC1 or pre-cDC2), are defined, which include CD169, CD327, AXL, CD271, CD324 and combinations thereof for detecting pre-DCs. Methods for detecting a disease or condition, prognosis of an existing disease or condition comprising determining the number of pre-DC cells in sample from a subject as compared to control, as well as methods of treating a patient comprising administration of antibodies against CD169, CD327, AXL, CD271, CD324 and combinations thereof are also disclosed. In addition, an immunogenic composition comprising one or more binding molecules specific for one or more biomarkers or antigen of a target disease and/or one or more cells selected from the group consisting of early pre-DC, pre-cDC1 and pre-cDC2 are also disclosed for eliciting an immune response against an infectious disease or cancer.

According to the present disclosure, a method of forming an exfoliated or intercalated filler material is provided, wherein the said method comprises the steps of mixing particles of filler material such as montmorillonite (MMT), mica, layered double hydroxide (LDH), and attapulgite (AT) dispersed in an aqueous medium with cationic acrylate monomers to form modified particles comprising positively charged ions, dispersing the modified particles in organic medium to form a dispersion, contacting said dispersion with an organo-silicate such as tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and a functionalizing agent comprising an organo-silane such as aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS), in the presence of a basic catalyst to form a layer of silica on the modified particles. The present disclosure also relates to an exfoliated or intercalated filler material obtained by the said method as well as a method of forming a resin/clay nanocomposite.

The present invention relates to a hybrid nanodot made by a process comprising a step of reacting a mixture of an amino acid and a polymer selected from polycationic polymers or any copolymers or derivatives of these polymers under hydrothermal reaction conditions. The present invention also relates to a process for synthesizing said hybrid nanodots.

An in vitro method of determining the type of a fibroepithelial tumour of the breast in a biological sample is provided. The method comprises the steps of obtaining an expression profile of one or more genes selected from the group consisting of PRAME, ADH1 B, CTHRC1, NPTX2, NEFL, ABCA8, DAPL1, TP63_v2, COL17A1, GCNT2, CCL19, MMP3, FN1, TRERF1, TRIM29, TESC, KIF20A, UHRF1, HEPACAM2, APOD, SERHL2. KIF15, HOXD13, GAGE2B, CALML5, C2orf40, ADH1C, CYP1B1, SPAG11B, GRB7, UBE2C, SYNGAP1, TP63_v1, LAMB1, OR5P3, SPC25, SHISA2, SCARA5, LHX2, RORC, DPYSL4, CH25H, and CHST1 in a sample and determining the differential activity of the one or more genes relative to a control; correlating the differential activity of the one or more genes relative to the control to obtain a p-score; and determining the type of fibroepithelial tumour based on the p-score, wherein a p-score of less than 0.5 is indicative of a fibroadenoma and a p-score of 0.5 and above is indicative of phyllodes tumour. Particularly, the said method is exemplified using an expression profile of five genes comprising of PRAME, FN1, CCL19, ABCA8 and APOD. A method for managing the treatment of a subject with a fibroepithelial tumour of the breast is also provided as well as a kit when used in the methods of the present invention.