Finding gene copy number variation in a species is the cornerstone of genomic research. Most CNV finding tools and methods rely on comparing samples to the reference genome and on detecting certain signatures in the alignment data. These methods are robust and are significantly accurate, however they are not perfect. Different tools have various levels…

The rapid advancements in our ability to store, extract, and analyze data in the 20th and 21st century is overwhelming care providers.  Large, diverse, complex and/or longitudinal datasets are continuously generated from a variety of instruments, sensors and/or computer-based transactions.  Considering increased use of electronic medical records (EMRs) as a result of the American Recovery…

Mediterranean river buffalo have recently undergone strong selection for increased quality and quantity of milk for mozzarella cheese production. Strong selection for traits such as milk production are often associated with increased inbreeding, leading to decreased genetic diversity and an increase in genetic disease prevalence. Transverse hemimelia (TH) is a congenital developmental abnormality characterized by…

Abstract:  mHealth provides unprecedented medium to collect valuable information on patients, which was otherwise hard to collect and incorporate into management decision making. Several interventions conducted by a leading university school of medicine to measure the health outcome of its population showed significant positive impact on improving population health outcomes.  Caroline et al., (2013) conducted…

Operational Taxonomic Units (or OTUs) are useful approximations for taxonomic species in groups where classification is difficult. As such, OTU classifications based on DNA sequences are commonly used in metagenomics studies to describe sample diversity. Since there are no a priori definitions of what constitutes an OTU, a number of different methods have been applied…

Online communities are virtual social structures that promote communication among Internet users on various discussion subjects.  Research has found that online communities make communication possible for every person and are highly active with almost every Web user being a member of a forum.  Online health communities connect people facing health concerns, exchange health information, and…

Biomedical imaging informatics involves the analysis, manipulation, and computational calculation of digitally acquired biomedical images to gain knowledge and insights. Informatics technologies are being developed to assist biomedical researchers to identify meaningful objects from raw images, extract content, process information, discover relationships, and share knowledge. However, as the ‘Big Data’ era arrives, the ever-exploding image…

The US National Center for Health Statistics estimated that more than 19 million adults in the US have ever been diagnosed with cancer. Chemotherapy is one of the important modality of cancer treatments. Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) are the two most dreadful and unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy. CINV substantially degrades the patients’ life…

From the discovery of penicillin and x-rays to the development of many of today’s chemotherapy agents, serendipitous findings tangential to the researcher’s intended purpose, the “That’s funny…” moments, have greatly impacted the health and well-being of society. As an information behavior, these unexpected findings are an example of the Opportunistic Discovery of Information (ODI). ODI…