Asians with lung cancer have tumours that are genetically more complex than previously thought and this could make these patients more challenging to treat, a study by the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and the National Cancer Centre Singapore has found.

The study, which was published in scientific journal Nature Communications on Jan 15, used genome sequencing to analyse 79 tumour sections from 16 lung tumours of patients from Asian countries, including Singapore.

This was one of the largest cohorts examined using this method, said the researchers at a media conference on Monday (Feb 12).

The study began in 2013 and was funded by the National Medical Research Council.

Dr Tam Wai Leong, a principal investigator at GIS who contributed to the study, said: “We like to think that tumours contain cancer cells that are all the same. But surprisingly enough, cancer cells within a tumour may bear different genetic mutations to varying extents.”

The study revealed that cancer cells in lung tumours of Asian patients appeared to have more varied genetic mutations than lung tumours of Caucasian patients.

Additional mutations

“Additional genetic mutations can make Asian lung tumours harder to treat, as they tend to adapt and resist the drugs that are administered,” said Dr Tam. All the tumours studied had mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene. The mutations occur in more than 50 per cent of tumours in Singaporean lung cancer patients.They cause cancer cells to grow uncontrollably and form tumours. They mainly afflict non-smokers and are more common in women.

In the cancer’s advanced stages, drugs targeting the EGFR gene mutation are only initially effective in controlling the disease, with the majority of patients developing a resistance to the medication within 10 to 12 months.

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the world and claims twice as many lives as any other cancer, according to the World Health Organisation. In Singapore, it is the leading cause of cancer death and kills more than 1,100 people each year.

Dr Choo Bok Ai, senior consultant at the department of radiation oncology at the National University Cancer Institute, said the study provides an understanding of the complexity of cancers, which will help in treatment in the future. He was not involved in the study.

“We can now focus on multi-agent treatment rather than single-agent ones, as the cancer may not be driven by a single mutation,” added Dr Choo who is also an assistant professor in medicine at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at National University of Singapore.

From a self-navigating cleaner bot vaguely resembling Star Wars’ R2-D2 to autonomous drink-serving robots and robotic fish swimming inside water tanks, South Korea’s service robots have been capturing the attention of Olympic guests from around the world.

South Korea has deployed 85 robots across 11 types at the Pyeongchang Winter Games, aiming to give a high-tech spin to the international event and to flaunt the country’s robotic technologies to the world. At the Main Press Centre at Pyeongchang, two large-sized cleaning robots can be seen whirring around the halls, sucking up dust from the carpet throughout the day. If you get too close, they warn you to move out of the way, though it’s hard to hear them over the noise.

Amused visitors have been stopping by to take videos, with some deliberately getting in the way of the self-driving robots to see what they would do, while others snapped selfies with the bots.

“Foreign guests in particular have been showing a keen interest in the cleaning robots, taking pictures and asking questions,” a staff member running a corporate promotion kiosk located next to the whirring robots, told The Korea Herald.

“Because they aren’t used to seeing robots being used in their daily surroundings, many of the international visitors have been asking us whether this is typical in South Korea.”

This doesn’t necessarily mean South Korea has passed on integral service jobs like cleaning over to machines. Ironically, several cleaning staff were seen vacuuming at the halls alongside the bots — which move quite slowly to avoid collisions, and can cover only select portions of the hall.

Next to the robot cleaners, two drink-serving robots can be found making rounds at the MPC every day. Shaped like mini refrigerators, the bots self-navigate themselves to designated points. Upon arrival, they open their flaps, revealing free bottles of water for guests to take.

After taking a bottle, a person can press the “O” button to send the robot back on its path toward the next serving point. After finishing its run, the robot automatically returns to its charging port in the corner.

According to their developer, these drink-serving bots are operated via a visual navigation technology called three-dimensional simultaneous localisation and mapping, also known as 3-D SLAM.

“The robot uses its camera to scan its surroundings and chart out a map. Using this spatial data, it self-navigates itself to its three designated locations,” said the drink-carrying bot’s developer who was present at the scene. He declined to be identified as the robots are considered a property of the International Olympic Committee.

At the indoor Olympic stadiums, visitors can run into conversational guide bots that look like the Pyeongchang Olympics mascot Soohorang. The Soohorang bots were often seen surrounded by crowds of curious kids.

While not offering much practical assistance, robotic fish swimming inside real water tanks have also become a major spectacle among Olympic visitors. They are located at the MPC and the Super Store in Gangneung that sells Pyeongchang Olympics merchandise, among other places.

Modelled on the koi and sea bream, the robotic fish can recognise obstacles and swim in water up to 5 meters deep for up to 30 hours on a single charge. Though their purpose now stops short of entertaining people, the robotic fish will assume more practical roles in the future.

That includes installing cameras and sensors inside the fish to check for water quality, as well as other real-time underwater tasks best suited for machines with fish-like qualities.

Other robots in use at the Olympics include moving bots that project the day’s news and weather onto the floor as well as wall-painting robots able to create complex murals on-demand based on certain inputted topics.

The robots at the Pyeongchang Olympics were all developed by South Korean tech companies and research institutes. However, information about their origins are not revealed in accordance with IOC policies that protect the rights of Olympic sponsors and partners.

In an extension of its robotics push, South Korea also hosted last week a humanoid robot ski tournament in a local ski resort in Hoengseong on the sidelines of the Olympics.

Eight self-driving humanoid robot skiers, each developed by local universities and tech firms, competed for the gold in the giant slalom alpine skiing discipline, drawing attention from local and international media.

The firm’s Pollen Robo is a spherical device 15 centimeters in diameter and roughly designed to resemble a human face.

The robot measures pollen levels by ingesting air through its “mouth.” Its “eyes” then change color to indicate the amount of pollen present.

The devices will be placed under the eaves of monitoring sites, with collected data used for airborne pollen level forecasts and research on hay fever.

According to Weathernews, which is based in Mihama Ward, Chiba, cedar pollen is predicted to soon begin spreading in parts of the Kanto and Tokai regions, as well as in southern Kyushu.

It is expected to reach peak levels in early March.

This year’s airborne pollen level is expected to be about 65 per cent of the yearly average.

The company will expand the number of mobile base stations around the country to more than 6,000, of which 125 will be 4.5G, with the aim of achieving its target of Lao Digital Life in the next three years, director general of Lao Telecom, Thavone Somsakoun said at the company’s annual meeting in Vientiane. It also planned to list Lao Telecom Public Company in an initial public offering (IPO) this year, he said.

The company will try to increase its customer base to 3.4 million subscribers in order to earn revenues of about 1,985 billion kip, an increase of 7.7 per cent compared to 2017, Thavone said.

The company expects its net profit to increase by 7.5 per cent or 408.7 billion kip and it will present 568 billion kip in obligations to the government, which will cover 30 per cent of the company’s total income in 2018, he added.

Last year, the company invested US$82.8 million to expand its telecommunications system, especially Internet mobile broadband and fixed broadband, he noted.

The company currently has 5,711 2G, 3G, 4G and 4.5G mobile base stations with signal coverage extending to 8,500 villages in 148 districts of 18 provinces.

Signal coverages

The 2G signals cover 59 per cent of total villages, 3G signals 38 per cent and 4G signals 10 per cent, while 4.5G covers five per cent of all capitals.

The company’s growth has become the driving factor to further expand its customer base and better serve its existing customers, Thavone said.

Currently, there are 1.6 million mobile subscribers, 40,000 landline phone users, 430,000 2G customers and 1.5 million Internet card users, he said.

In 2017, the company earned around 1,843 billion kip, an increase of 1.8 per cent compared to 2016. The net profit touched 381 billion kip and it paid 535 billion kip as its obligation to the government, or 34.7 per cent of total income.

The company also improved its regulations and social insurance policy in order to improve the lives of its staff and provided more than 1.2 billion in social assistance.

On the occasion, Minister of Post and Telecommunications, Thansamay Kommasith congratulated the company for its continued growth through the first-rate leadership and cooperation of all the staff.

He advised management and staff to continue efforts in formulating detailed plans and clearly implementing its programmes.

He also stressed for the company to strive for continuing improved to ensure the telecom sector contributes to socio-economic development.

The 28th and 29th satellites in the domestically developed Beidou Navigation Satellite System, one of the nation’s largest space programmes, were lifted atop a Long March 3B carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.

They are the fifth and sixth in the third-generation of Beidou satellite. They will conduct in-orbit tests and then be connected with the previous four third-generation Beidou satellites, said a statement from the China Satellite Navigation Office.

In November, the first two third-generation Beidou satellites were launched at the Xichang centre. In January, another two were lifted at the same centre.

Beidou is the world’s fourth space-based navigation system, following GPS by the United States, GLONASS by Russia and Galileo by the European Union.

Since 2000, when the first Beidou satellite was placed in space, 33 satellites have been launched for the network. The Beidou system began providing positioning, navigation, timing and message services to civilian users in China and parts of the Asia-Pacific region in December 2012.

By the end of this year, 18 third-generation Beidou satellites will have been placed into orbit and they will work with the earlier generations to cover all nations involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, the satellite office said.

The Belt and Road initiative, a development plan proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt, which will link China with Europe through Central and Western Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which stretches from southern China to Southeast Asia and farther to Africa. The initiative is estimated to benefit about 4.4 billion people in 65 nations, according to the government.

By now, Beidou has covered nearly 30 countries involved in the initiative, including Pakistan, Egypt and Indonesia, the office noted.

In 2019 and 2020, China will send six third-generation Beidou satellites into medium Earth orbits, three to inclined geosynchronous satellite orbits and two to geostationary orbits.

According to plans from the satellite office, the network will be made up of 35 satellites before the end of 2020-several now in orbit will be decommissioned by then-to give Beidou global coverage.

The suspects, farmers from the island of Borneo, admitted killing the animal, saying it ruined their crops at a pineapple and palm oil plantation, according to authorities.

“They meant to shoo away (the orangutan) but their actions instead killed the orangutan,” East Kutai district police chief Teddy Ristiawan told AFP.

The suspects, who were arrested last week, will be charged with killing a protected animal and face up to five years’ jail and a maximum fine of about $7,400.

Ristiawan said a fifth suspect, a 13-year-old boy, was arrested but later released because he was a minor.

Villagers in Borneo’s East Kutai district discovered the male orangutan’s corpse riddled with pellets two weeks ago. Its mutilated body also showed signs of a machete wounds.

The gruesome killing came about a week after Borneo police arrested two rubber plantation workers and accused them of shooting an orangutan multiple times and then decapitating it.

The orangutan’s headless body had been found floating in a river on the island, which is shared with Malaysia. The Indonesian portion of Borneo is called Kalimantan.

Bornean and Sumatran orangutans are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Sumatran orangutan population is estimated to be just under 15,000, while about 54,000 orangutans are thought to live in Borneo, according to the IUCN.

The population of orangutans in Borneo has plummeted by more than half since 1999 — nearly 150,000 of the apes have been lost in that time — largely due to chopping down forests for logging, paper, palm oil and mining, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology last week.

Plantation workers and villagers are sometimes known to attack an animal that they see as a pest, while poachers also capture them to sell as pets.