With low-temperature transportation being critical for the progress of research and medical services by preserving biological samples and vaccines, the optimization of cold storage materials is more critical now than ever. The exclusive use of dry ice has its limitations. Notably, it proves insufficient for cold storage during long-range transportation necessary for the delivery of specimens to rural areas. In this article, the authors have proposed a new means of cold storage through the combination of dry ice and ethanol. Upon thorough analysis, the authors have determined their new method as considerably better than the use of pure dry ice across many characteristics, including cold storage capacity, longevity of material, and financial and environmental feasibility.
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Impact of study partner status and group membership on commitment device effectiveness among college students
Here seeking to identify a possible solution to procrastination among college students, the authors used an online experiment that involved the random assignment of study partners that they shared their study time goal with. These partners were classified by status and group membership. The authors found that status and group membership did not significantly affect the likelihood of college students achieving their committed goals, and also suggest the potential of soft commitment devices that take advantage of social relationships to reduce procrastination.
Read More...A comparison study in the expansion of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
In this study, the effects of different sources of serum on growing mesenchymal stem cells are compared with the goal of identifying one more suitable for clinical use.
Read More...Impacts of COVID-19 on daily water use: Have people started using more water?
In this study, the authors investigated whether water usage changed in São Paulo during the COVID-19 quarantine and explored reasons why.
Read More...Modulation of VEGF and TGF beta in 5-FU induced inflammation in MCF-7 using an herbal formulation
Acquired drug resistance is an increasing challenge in treating cancer with chemotherapy. One mechanism
behind this resistance is the increased inflammation that supports the progression and development of
cancer that arises because of the drug’s presence. Integrative oncology is the field that focuses on including natural products alongside traditional therapy to create a treatment that focuses on holistic patient well-being.
In this study, the authors demonstrate that the use of an herbal formulation, consisting of turmeric and green tea, alongside a traditional chemotherapeutic drug, 5-fluorouracil (FU) significantly decreases the level of cytokines produced in breast cancer cells when compared to the levels produced when exposed solely to the chemo drug. The authors conclude that this combination of treatment, based on the principle of integrative oncology, shows potential for reducing the resistance against treatment conferred through increased inflammation. Consequently, this suggests a prospective way forward in improving the efficacy of cancer treatment.
Influence of socioeconomic status on academic performance in virtual classroom settings
In this study, the authors conduct a survey to evaluate the impact of household socioeconomic status on effectiveness of distance learning for students.
Read More...A potentially underestimated source of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in agriculture
Here the authors investigated the role of agricultural fertilizers as potential contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast to the typical investigations that consider microbiological processes, the authors considered purely chemical processes. Based on their results they found that as much as 20.41% of all CO2 emission from land-based activities could be a result of mineral nitrogen fertilizers.
Read More...Antimicrobial properties of common household spices on microbes cultured from two kitchen locations
The number of bacterial infections in humans is rising, and a major contributor is foodborne illnesses, which affect a large portion of the population and result in many hospitalizations and deaths. Common household cleaners are an effective strategy to combat foodborne illness, but they are often costly and contain harmful chemicals. Thus, the authors sought to test the antimicrobial effectiveness of spices (clove, nutmeg, astragalus, cinnamon, turmeric, and garlic) on microbes cultured from refrigerator handles and cutting boards. Results from this study demonstrate long-lasting, antimicrobial effects of multiple spices that support their use as alternatives to common household cleaners.
Read More...Estimating the Young’s Modulus of spaghetti with a buckling experiment
The Young's Modulus of a structural material is a measure of its elasticity and is defined as the ratio of the tensile stress to tensile strain. This study aims to investigate the Young's Modulus of pasta with different diameters.
Read More...Effects of Temperature on Hand Sanitizer Efficiency
Here, recognizing the widespread use of hand sanitizers, the authors investigated their effectiveness in relation to storage temperature. They applied hand sanitizer before and after touching a cell phone and used LB-agar plates to monitor the growth of bacteria following this process. They found that 70% ethyl-alcohol-based sanitizers are least effective at temperatures above 107.27 °F and most effective at 96.17 °F.
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