Browse Articles

Population Forecasting by Population Growth Models based on MATLAB Simulation

Li et al. | Aug 31, 2020

Population Forecasting by Population Growth Models based on MATLAB Simulation

In this work, the authors investigate the accuracy with which two different population growth models can predict population growth over time. They apply the Malthusian law or Logistic law to US population from 1951 until 2019. To assess how closely the growth model fits actual population data, a least-squared curve fit was applied and revealed that the Logistic law of population growth resulted in smaller sum of squared residuals. These findings are important for ensuring optimal population growth models are implemented to data as population forecasting affects a country's economic and social structure.

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Color photometry and light curve modeling of apparent transient 2023jri

Favretto et al. | Aug 13, 2024

Color photometry and light curve modeling of apparent transient 2023jri

Observing transients like supernovae, which have short-lived brightness variations, helps astronomers understand cosmic phenomena. This study analyzed transient 2023jri, hypothesizing it was a Type IIb supernova. By collecting and analyzing data over four weeks, including light and color curves, they confirmed its classification and provided additional insights into this less-studied supernova type.

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Photometric analysis and light curve modeling of apparent transient 2020pni

Arora et al. | Oct 07, 2022

Photometric analysis and light curve modeling of apparent transient 2020pni

Supernovas are powerful explosions that result from gravitational collapse of a massive star. Using photometric analysis Arora et al. set out to investigate whether 2020pni (located in galaxy UGC 9684) was a supernova. They were ultimately able to identify 2020pni as a Type II-L supernova and determine it's distance from earth.

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Effects of Coolant Temperature on the Characteristics of Soil Cooling Curve

Wang et al. | Jan 16, 2020

Effects of Coolant Temperature on the Characteristics of Soil Cooling Curve

In this article, the authors investigate whether coolant temperature affects soil cooling curves of soil with otherwise identical properties. The coolant temperature is representative of environmental temperature, and the authors hypothesized that differences in this temperature would not affect the freezing temperature of soil. Their findings validated their hypothesis providing helpful information relevant to understanding how frost heaves happen and how to predict their occurrence more accurately.

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Predicting smoking status based on RNA sequencing data

Yang et al. | Aug 30, 2024

Predicting smoking status based on RNA sequencing data
Image credit: Yang and Stanley 2024

Given an association between nicotine addiction and gene expression, we hypothesized that expression of genes commonly associated with smoking status would have variable expression between smokers and non-smokers. To test whether gene expression varies between smokers and non-smokers, we analyzed two publicly-available datasets that profiled RNA gene expression from brain (nucleus accumbens) and lung tissue taken from patients identified as smokers or non-smokers. We discovered statistically significant differences in expression of dozens of genes between smokers and non-smokers. To test whether gene expression can be used to predict whether a patient is a smoker or non-smoker, we used gene expression as the training data for a logistic regression or random forest classification model. The random forest classifier trained on lung tissue data showed the most robust results, with area under curve (AUC) values consistently between 0.82 and 0.93. Both models trained on nucleus accumbens data had poorer performance, with AUC values consistently between 0.65 and 0.7 when using random forest. These results suggest gene expression can be used to predict smoking status using traditional machine learning models. Additionally, based on our random forest model, we proposed KCNJ3 and TXLNGY as two candidate markers of smoking status. These findings, coupled with other genes identified in this study, present promising avenues for advancing applications related to the genetic foundation of smoking-related characteristics.

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pH-dependent drug interactions with acid reducing agents

Lin et al. | Nov 12, 2024

pH-dependent drug interactions with acid reducing agents
Image credit: The authors

Some cancer treatments lose efficacy when combined with treatments for excessive stomach acid, due to the changes in the stomach environment caused by the stomach acid treatments. Lin and Lin investigate information on oral cancer drugs to see what information is available on interactions of these drugs.

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