Next-Gen GWAS: full 2D epistatic interaction maps retrieve part of missing heritability and improve phenotypic prediction.

The problem of missing heritability requires the consideration of genetic interactions among different loci, called epistasis. Current GWAS statistical models require years to assess the entire combinatorial epistatic space for a single phenotype. We propose Next-Gen GWAS (NGG) that evaluates over 60 billion single nucleotide polymorphism combinatorial first-order interactions within hours.

Impact of bariatric surgery on periodontal status in an obese cohort at one year of follow-up.

The effect of weight loss on the periodontal condition remains unclear. The present prospective study thus aimed to evaluate the effect of weight loss on the periodontal status of 57 obese patients (BMI ≥30 kg/m) with ages ranging from 18 to 60 years, at 12 months following bariatric surgery. Demographic, biological and behavioral variables were analyzed.

Challenges in the decomposition of 2D NMR spectra of mixtures of small molecules.

Analytical methods for mixtures of small molecules require specificity (is a certain molecule present in the mix?) and speciation capabilities. NMR spectroscopy has been a tool of choice for both of these issues since its early days, due to its quantitative (linear) response, sufficiently high resolving power and capabilities of inferring molecular structures from spectral features (even in the absence of a reference database). However, the analytical performances of NMR spectroscopy are being stretched by the increased complexity of the samples, the dynamic range of the components, and the need for a reasonable turnover time.

Parallel proximal algorithm for image restoration using hybrid regularization.

Regularization approaches have demonstrated their effectiveness for solving ill-posed problems. However, in the context of variational restoration methods, a challenging question remains, namely how to find a good regularizer. While total variation introduces staircase effects, wavelet-domain regularization brings other artefacts, e.

Satellite image restoration in the context of a spatially varying point spread function.

In this paper, we consider a deconvolution problem where the point spread function (PSF) of the optical imaging system varies between different spatial locations, thus leading to a spatially varying blur. This problem arises, for example, in synthetic aperture instruments and in wide-field optical systems. Unlike the classical deconvolution context where the PSF is assumed to be spatially invariant, the problem cannot be easily solved in the Fourier domain.

Endoscopic treatment of gastrocutaneous fistula following gastric bypass for obesity.

Bariatric surgery, mainly laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, is widely considered to be the best operation for the treatment of morbid obesity. Leak or fistula of the gastrojejunostomy is a feared complication of this procedure. A patient who developed a gastrocutaneous fistula and was successfully managed endoscopically is reported.

Image analysis using a dual-tree M-band wavelet transform.

We propose a two-dimensional generalization to the M-band case of the dual-tree decomposition structure (initially proposed by Kingsbury and further investigated by Selesnick) based on a Hilbert pair of wavelets. We particularly address: 1) the construction of the dual basis and 2) the resulting directional analysis. We also revisit the necessary pre-processing stage in the M-band case.

The use of treadmill ergometers for extensive calculation of external work and leg stiffness during running.

Recently, new treadmill ergometers have been designed to measure the ground reaction forces during numerous successive steps. From ground reaction forces measured in track running, it has been shown to be possible to compute external mechanical work ( W(ext)) and leg stiffness ( k) of a bouncing spring-mass system. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is still no study reporting the inter-stride coefficient of variation (CoV) of W(ext) or k parameters calculated from many successive steps.

Comparison of three chromogenic agar plates for isolation and identification of urinary tract pathogens.

Objective: To comparatively assess the performance of three chromogenic agar plates, CPS ID2, Chromogenic UTI, and USA, for the detection and enumeration of all urinary tract pathogens and the direct identification of Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Enterococcus spp.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-three urine specimens prospectively collected from hospitalized patients were randomly inoculated in parallel on the three media.

Results: Of the 243 urine specimens, 235 yielded positive cultures, of which 151 were pure cultures and 84 were mixed cultures.