On the role of fine-sand dune dynamics in controlling water depth changes in Rio Parapeti, Serrania Borebigua (Southern sub-Andean zone of Bolivia)

The role of the fine-dune sand dynamics in controlling the natural regeneration of the upper layer of a riverbed used for filtration is studied at the Choreti test reach of Rio Parapeti, in the Southern sub-Andean zone of Bolivia. Local production of drinking water relies on Riverbed Filtration, the delivery of which depends on the river water depth and the riverbed permeability. There is a strong, natural, declamation process of the upper layer maintained by dune bed-forms migrating downstream. It is thus essential to understand and represent local water depth changes as a function of the incoming discharge. We show the vortex-drag model can be used to correctly calculate the stream velocity in natural environment. Then we study the sand dunes characteristic (wavelength and celerity) in the Rio Parapeti. Because of the shallow-flow configuration the dominant dune length can be easily extracted from satellite images taken at various dates. We also show that it is more than likely that dune movement can be followed by the simple deployment of a pressure probe into the water under stable discharge condition, even if further data and investigation are necessary to confirm this

Genetic analyses of diverse populations improves discovery for complex traits

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have laid the foundation for investigations into the biology of complex traits, drug development and clinical guidelines. However, the majority of discovery efforts are based on data from populations of European ancestry1–3. In light of the differential genetic architecture that is known to exist between populations, bias in representation can exacerbate existing disease and healthcare disparities. Critical variants may be missed if they have a low frequency or are completely absent in European populations, especially as the field shifts its attention towards rare variants, which are more likely to be population-specific4–10. Additionally, effect sizes and their derived risk prediction scores derived in one population may not accurately extrapolate to other populations11,12. Here we demonstrate the value of diverse, multi-ethnic participants in large-scale genomic studies. The Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study conducted a GWAS of 26 clinical and behavioural phenotypes in 49,839 non-European individuals. Using strategies tailored for analysis of multi-ethnic and admixed populations, we describe a framework for analysing diverse populations, identify 27 novel loci and 38 secondary signals at known loci, as well as replicate 1,444 GWAS catalogue associations across these traits. Our data show evidence of effect-size heterogeneity across ancestries for published GWAS associations, substantial benefits for fine-mapping using diverse cohorts and insights into clinical implications. In the United States—where minority populations have a disproportionately higher burden of chronic conditions13—the lack of representation of diverse populations in genetic research will result in inequitable access to precision medicine for those with the highest burden of disease. We strongly advocate for continued, large genome-wide efforts in diverse populations to maximize genetic discovery and reduce health disparities. © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited