Early computational detection of potential high-risk SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is leading to the discovery of hundreds of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants daily. While most variants do not impact the course of the pandemic, some variants pose an increased risk when the acquired mutations allow better evasion of antibody neutralisation or increased transmissibility. Early detection of such high-risk variants (HRVs) is paramount for the proper management of the pandemic.

A Hybrid Water Balance Machine Learning Model to Estimate Inter-Annual Rainfall-Runoff.

Watershed climatic diversity poses a hard problem when it comes to finding suitable models to estimate inter-annual rainfall runoff (IARR). In this work, a hybrid model (dubbed MR-CART) is proposed, based on a combination of MR (multiple regression) and CART (classification and regression tree) machine-learning methods, applied to an IARR predicted data series obtained from a set of non-parametric and empirical water balance models in five climatic floors of northern Algeria between 1960 and 2020. A comparative analysis showed that the Yang, Sharif, and Zhang's models were reliable for estimating input data of the hybrid model in all climatic classes.

Epidemiological and genetic characterization of measles virus circulating strains at Marseille, France during 2017-2019 measles outbreak.

Objectives: We attempted to establish a molecular investigation by Next Generation sequencing of the measles virus (MeV) strains circulating in Marseille-France during the last outbreak that occurred between 2017 and 2019.

Methods: The circulating MeV were isolated from clinical samples using cell culture method and whole genomes were sequenced by Illumina Miseq Next Generation. Genotyping and comparative analyses were assessed by phylogenetic reconstructions.

Effect of personality traits on adherence with positive airway pressure therapy in obstructive sleep apnea patients.

Purpose: Patient adherence with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is a significant clinical problem in obstructive sleep apnea treatment. Personality traits may be a factor for non-adherence. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between PAP therapy adherence and patient personality traits.

Urodynamic verification of noninvasive back-pressure recordings from the urinary bladder.

Obstructive voiding is best evaluated with urodynamics, especially simultaneous measurement of bladder-pressure and urine flow rates. As an alternative to catheterization for urodynamics, noninvasive back-pressure methods using an external condom system have been introduced. This device uses one side tube in the condom for pressure recording and an outlet tube that is clamped for short periods of time during voiding.