Alternative polyadenylation determines the functional landscape of inverted Alu repeats.

Inverted Alu repeats (IRAlus) are abundantly found in the transcriptome, especially in introns and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs). Yet, the biological significance of IRAlus embedded in 3' UTRs remains largely unknown. Here, we find that 3' UTR IRAlus silences genes involved in essential signaling pathways. We utilize J2 antibody to directly capture and map the double-stranded RNA structure of 3' UTR IRAlus in the transcriptome. Bioinformatic analysis reveals alternative polyadenylation as a major axis of IRAlus-mediated gene regulation. Notably, the expression of mouse double minute 2 (MDM2), an inhibitor of p53, is upregulated by the exclusion of IRAlus during UTR shortening, which is exploited to silence p53 during tumorigenesis. Moreover, the transcriptome-wide UTR lengthening in neural progenitor cells results in the global downregulation of genes associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, via IRAlus inclusion. Our study establishes the functional landscape of 3' UTR IRAlus and its role in human pathophysiology.

Design and Evaluation of Smart Glasses for Food Intake and Physical Activity Classification.

This study presents a series of protocols of designing and manufacturing a glasses-type wearable device that detects the patterns of temporalis muscle activities during food intake and other physical activities. We fabricated a 3D-printed frame of the glasses and a load cell-integrated printed circuit board (PCB) module inserted in both hinges of the frame. The module was used to acquire the force signals, and transmit them wirelessly. These procedures provide the system with higher mobility, which can be evaluated in practical wearing conditions such as walking and waggling. A performance of the classification is also evaluated by distinguishing the patterns of food intake from those physical activities. A series of algorithms were used to preprocess the signals, generate feature vectors, and recognize the patterns of several featured activities (chewing and winking), and other physical activities (sedentary rest, talking, and walking). The results showed that the average F1 score of the classification among the featured activities was 91.4%. We believe this approach can be potentially useful for automatic and objective monitoring of ingestive behaviors with higher accuracy as practical means to treat ingestive problems.

On-chip erythrocyte deformability test under optical pressure.

This paper presents a novel method for an on-chip erythrocyte deformability test under optical pressure, especially to enhance the level of sensitivity with respect to the detection of cancerous diseases. To demonstrate the performance and sensitivity of the combined method, we introduce the concept of transit velocity, a modified elongation index, and shape recovery time of individual erythrocytes in a strictly confined region (2 microm deep, 4 microm wide, and 100 microm long). Finally, we investigate a synergy or convergence effect due to the combination of these parameters for in situ detection of cancerous diseases under optical pressure.