Daily Archives: January 12, 2014

New bioinformatics tool for complex genome analysis

Posted: January 12, 2014 at 3:49 am

Scientists from The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) in Norwich UK have developed a new bioinformatics tool to boost complex genome analysis.

The tool supports Illuminas recently released Nextera LMP kit, which enables the production of jumping libraries of up to 12kb. These Long Mate Pair libraries are an invaluable resource for analysing large areas of the genome, carrying out complex assemblies and other downstream bioinformatics analytics.

However, LMP libraries are intrinsically noisy and to maximise their value, post-sequencing data analysis is required.

Richard Leggett, at TGAC, said: Regulating laboratory protocols and selection of sequenced data for downstream analysis are vital in making effective use of mate pair libraries.

However, quality control of the libraries can require significant bioinformatics analysis. Further processing is also required to extract true mate pair reads, remove fragment junction adaptors and clip reads.

For this reason we developed NextClip, a tool for comprehensive quality analysis of Nextera LMP libraries and preparation of reads for scaffolding.

Mate pair libraries are formed by making large fragments of DNA (5-12 kb in length for Nextera) and are sequenced from either end of the fragment to produce two sequences of DNA that are separated by a known distance.

Sequence reads from Long Mate Pair libraries are an important tool in the construction of complex genome assemblies because they connect large repeat regions.

Grouping the data generated from mate pair library sequencing with shorter insert paired-end reads provide a powerful combination, allowing the joining together of longer DNA sequences, with higher certainty.

The Genome Analysis Centre is a research institute focused on the development of genomics and computational biology. Based at Norwich Research Park, it receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council - 9.2 million in 2012-2013 - as well as support from other research funders.

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With more living to 100 and beyond, scientific puzzles and actuarial challenges

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Published: Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 9:29 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 9:29 p.m.

Even now, one prominent scientist says the life expectancy revolution is giving us roughly a 10-year postponement of death.

Mortality is being shifted outward, said James Vaupel, director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany. All you have to do is look at the historical change in the start of old age, the point when your chance of death rises above 1 percent. For Swedish women in 1950 this happened at age 57; in 1960 it was age 63, and in 1970 it was 68.

The prospect of living to 100 stirs up lots of emotions, but it is especially daunting for actuaries the folks who juggle sophisticated math equations to set the prices and payouts for pensions, annuities, life insurance and long-term care policies.

If they bet wrong on when baby boomers will die, the insurance and financial services industries could be in turmoil.

Lately, their normally quiet and careful profession has experienced a dramatic upheaval: In the last 10 years, according to best estimates, the number of people over the age of 110 appears to have doubled.

Longer lives have sharpened the problem of underfunded pension systems, and indirectly threatened the retirement security of many Americans.

So in 2002, as it was becoming apparent that standard life expectancy tables were being undermined by a huge longevity risk, members of a professional group, the Society of Actuaries, assembled leading demographers and scientists to help them answer a pressing question: Just how long will a normal lifespan get?

We thought we would meet and we would have an answer, and that would be that, said Anna Rappaport, an actuarial consultant and one of the founders of the societys Living to 100 Symposium.

Were now meeting for the seventh time, and were still asking the same questions.

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With more living to 100 and beyond, scientific puzzles and actuarial challenges

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Top 5 Beauty Products for Sensitive Skin and Eczema – Video

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Top 5 Beauty Products for Sensitive Skin and Eczema
Hi Guys! Here are some products I swear by for my sensitive skin. I also have mild eczema and these products help me out so much with the sensitivity! Dont forget to comment and subscribe for...

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Top 5 Beauty Products for Sensitive Skin and Eczema - Video

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Eczema anti itch cream – Video

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Eczema anti itch cream
A review about Neosporin eczema anti itch cream.

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Eczema anti itch cream - Video

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3. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism – Video

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3. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism by Kevin D. Williamson: 03 The Price of Being Wrong.

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3. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism - Video

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6. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism – Video

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6. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism by Kevin D. Williamson: 6 Other People #39;s Money - Socialist Education and the Problem of Incentives.

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6. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism - Video

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13. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism – Video

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13. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism by Kevin D. Williamson: 13 Eugene V. Debs and Woodrow Wilson - Socialist Words, Socialist Actions.

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13. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism - Video

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10. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism – Video

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10. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism by Kevin D. Williamson: 10 Venezuela - Anatomy of a Crackdown.

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16. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism – Video

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16. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism by Kevin D. Williamson: 16 Epilogue.

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Parenting guru Latta ice-bound

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Parenting guru bound for Antarctica DEIDRE MUSSEN

CAMERON BURNELL

Psychologist Nigel Latta

Television personality Nigel Latta is renowned for his politically incorrect TV series and criminal psychology but Antarctica is his first love.

The 46-year-old Aucklander is due to fly to the icy continent on Tuesday on Antarctica New Zealand's media programme to film science documentaries.

"It's one of those places I've always thought I'm going to get to before I die. If I had to pick one place in the world to go to and I could go nowhere else, I would pick Antarctica, hands down."

While Latta's dreams of visiting Antarctica began as a child, a lecture about penguins during his zoology studies at Otago University in the late 1980s sealed it.

"I thought it sounded the most amazing thing."

He enrolled in a Masters in marine science because it included a field trip to Antarctica but was unaware he had to sign up for the trip when the two-year course began.

When he discovered his mistake a year later, it was too late and he missed out. "Yeah, typical me, I had an idea and didn't plan it out well," he says.

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Parenting guru Latta ice-bound

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