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The ratio of |$\ell _{1}$| and |$\ell _{2}$| norms, denoted as |$\ell _{1}/\ell _{2}$|⁠ , has presented prominent performance in promoting sparsity. By adding partial support information to the standard |$\ell _{1}/\ell _{2}$| minimization, in this paper, we introduce a novel model, i.e. the weighted |$\ell _{1}/\ell _{2}$| minimization, to recover sparse signals from the linear measurements. The restricted isometry property based conditions for sparse signal recovery in both noiseless and noisy cases through the weighted |$\ell _{1}/\ell _{2}$| minimization are established. And we show that the proposed conditions are weaker than the analogous conditions for standard |$\ell _{1}/\ell _{2}$| minimization when the accuracy of the partial support information is at least |$50\%$|⁠. Moreover, we develop effective algorithms and illustrate our results via extensive numerical experiments on synthetic data in both noiseless and noisy cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Clinical manifestation and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were unclear in Wuhan, China. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical characteristics of pregnant and nonpregnant women with COVID-19 aged from 20 to 40, admitted between January 15 and March 15, 2020 at Union Hospital, Wuhan, and symptoms of pregnant women with COVID-19 and compared the clinical characteristics and symptoms to historic data previously reported for H1N1. Results Among 64 patients, 34 (53.13%) were pregnant, with higher proportion of exposure history (29.41% vs 6.67%) and more pulmonary infiltration on computed tomography test (50% vs 10%) compared to nonpregnant women. Of pregnant patients, 27 (79.41%) completed pregnancy, 5 (14.71%) had natural delivery, 18 (52.94%) had cesarean section, and 4 (11.76%) had abortion; 5 (14.71%) patients were asymptomatic. All 23 newborns had negative reverse-transcription polymerase chain results, and an average 1-minute Apgar score was 8–9 points. Pregnant and nonpregnant patients show differences in symptoms such as fever, expectoration, and fatigue and on laboratory tests such as neurophils, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Pregnant patients with COVID-19 tend to have more milder symptoms than those with H1N1. Conclusions Clinical characteristics of pregnant patients with COVID-19 are less serious than nonpregnant. No evidence indicated that pregnant women may have fetal infection through vertical transmission of COVID-19. Pregnant patients with H1N1 had more serious condition than those with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninety per cent of the human population has been right-handed since the Paleolithic, yet the brain signature and genetic basis of handedness remain poorly characterized. Here, we correlated brain imaging phenotypes from ∼9000 UK Biobank participants with handedness, and with loci found significantly associated with handedness after we performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in ∼400 000 of these participants. Our imaging-handedness analysis revealed an increase in functional connectivity between left and right language networks in left-handers. GWAS of handedness uncovered four significant loci (rs199512, rs45608532, rs13017199, and rs3094128), three of which are in-or expression quantitative trait loci of-genes encoding proteins involved in brain development and patterning. These included microtubule-related MAP2 and MAPT, as well as WNT3 and MICB, all implicated in the pathogenesis of diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. In particular, with rs199512, we identified a common genetic influence on handedness, psychiatric phenotypes, Parkinson's disease, and the integrity of white matter tracts connecting the same language-related regions identified in the handedness-imaging analysis. This study has identified in the general population genome-wide significant loci for human handedness in, and expression quantitative trait loci of, genes associated with brain development, microtubules and patterning. We suggest that these genetic variants contribute to neurodevelopmental lateralization of brain organization, which in turn influences both the handedness phenotype and the predisposition to develop certain neurological and psychiatric diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is a collection of genetic diseases, with large phenotypic differences and genetic heterogeneity between different types of cancers and even within the same cancer type. Recent advances in genome-wide profiling provide an opportunity to investigate global molecular changes during the development and progression of cancer. Meanwhile, numerous statistical and machine learning algorithms have been designed for the processing and interpretation of high-throughput molecular data. Molecular subtyping studies have allowed the allocation of cancer into homogeneous groups that are considered to harbor similar molecular and clinical characteristics. Furthermore, this has helped researchers to identify both actionable targets for drug design as well as biomarkers for response prediction. In this review, we introduce five frequently applied techniques for generating molecular data, which are microarray, RNA sequencing, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, NanoString and tissue microarray. Commonly used molecular data for cancer subtyping and clinical applications are discussed. Next, we summarize a workflow for molecular subtyping of cancer, including data preprocessing, cluster analysis, supervised classification and subtype characterizations. Finally, we identify and describe four major challenges in the molecular subtyping of cancer that may preclude clinical implementation. We suggest that standardized methods should be established to help identify intrinsic subgroup signatures and build robust classifiers that pave the way toward stratified treatment of cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linitis plastica refers to the diffuse submucosal spread of scirrhous carcinoma in a hollow organ, resulting in constriction and inelasticity of the organ. It is best known to occur in the stomach. Linitis plastica of the colon is rare, and more commonly occurs in the rectum and sigmoid colon from metastatic gastric or breast cancer. We report a case of linitis plastica of the ascending colon in a 69-year-old female as the initial presentation of ovarian carcinoma. Luminal narrowing, poor distension, and rigidity at colonoscopy, in the absence of other causes, should alert the clinician to the potential for an underlying submucosal process, and prompt biopsy techniques that enable submucosal tissue sampling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]