GenEpi: gene-based epistasis discovery using machine learning.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide a powerful means to identify associations between genetic variants and phenotypes. However, GWAS techniques for detecting epistasis, the interactions between genetic variants associated with phenotypes, are still limited. We believe that developing an efficient and effective GWAS method to detect epistasis will be a key for discovering sophisticated pathogenesis, which is especially important for complex diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Crowdsourced estimation of cognitive decline and resilience in Alzheimer's disease.

Identifying accurate biomarkers of cognitive decline is essential for advancing early diagnosis and prevention therapies in Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's disease DREAM Challenge was designed as a computational crowdsourced project to benchmark the current state-of-the-art in predicting cognitive outcomes in Alzheimer's disease based on high dimensional, publicly available genetic and structural imaging data. This meta-analysis failed to identify a meaningful predictor developed from either data modality, suggesting that alternate approaches should be considered for prediction of cognitive performance.

Integrating RNA-seq and ChIP-seq data to characterize long non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster.

Background: Recent advances in sequencing technology have opened a new era in RNA studies. Novel types of RNAs such as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been discovered by transcriptomic sequencing and some lncRNAs have been found to play essential roles in biological processes. However, only limited information is available for lncRNAs in Drosophila melanogaster, an important model organism.

Pd(II)-catalyzed C(sp2)-H hydroxylation with R2(O)P-coordinating group.

A novel R2(O)P-directed Pd(II)-catalyzed C-H hydroxylation to synthesize various substituted 2'-phosphorylbiphenyl-2-ol compounds is described. Notably, the reaction operates under mild conditions and shows good functional group tolerance, high selectivity, and yield.