Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the U.S., responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths in 2021, and is marked by artery clogging that can lead to heart attacks. Traditional prediction methods require expensive clinical tests, but a new study explores using machine learning on demographic, clinical, and behavioral survey data to predict CHD.
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Quantitative analysis and development of alopecia areata classification frameworks
This article discusses Alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder causing sudden hair loss due to the immune system mistakenly attacking hair follicles. The article introduces the use of deep learning (DL) techniques, particularly convolutional neural networks (CNN), for classifying images of healthy and alopecia-affected hair. The study presents a comparative analysis of newly optimized CNN models with existing ones, trained on datasets containing images of healthy and alopecia-affected hair. The Inception-Resnet-v2 model emerged as the most effective for classifying Alopecia Areata.
Read More...High school students’ attitudes towards diverse cultures and ethnicities
The authors looked at how a student's own background influence their attitude towards integration of diverse cultures and ethnicities. While overall students viewed other groups positively, the authors found that groups still indicated they felt judged by their peers.
Read More...Comparing the reducing sugars in avocados, soybeans, and cinnamon: A Benedict’s test experiment
The authors test the levels of reducing sugars in avocados, soybeans, and cinnamon as part of a diet for individuals managing Type II diabetes.
Read More...Failure of colony growth in probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota as result of preservative sorbic acid
This study tested the proficiency of different concentrations of the antimicrobial sorbic acid to inhibit the probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota. It was hypothesized that sorbic acid’s use as a bacterial deterrent would also target this bacterial strain of Lactobacillus. The results supported the hypothesis, with the colony count of L. casei Shirota having significant decreases at all concentrations of sorbic acid. These results additionally suggest that even under the FDA sorbic acid restrictions of 0.03% concentration, damaging effects could be seen in L. casei Shirota.
Read More...A land use regression model to predict emissions from oil and gas production using machine learning
Emissions from oil and natural gas (O&G) wells such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and ozone (O3) can severely impact the health of communities located near wells. In this study, we used O&G activity and wind-carried emissions to quantify the extent to which O&G wells affect the air quality of nearby communities, revealing that NO2, NOx, and NO are correlated to O&G activity. We then developed a novel land use regression (LUR) model using machine learning based on O&G prevalence to predict emissions.
Read More...Linearity of piezoelectric response of electrospun polymer-based (PVDF) fibers with barium titanate nanoparticles
Here, seeking to develop an understanding of the properties that determine the viability of piezoelectric flexible materials for applications in electro-mechanical sensors, the authors investigated the effects of the inclusion BaTiO3 nanoparticles in electrospun Polyvinyledene Fluoride. They found the voltage generated had a piecewise linear dependence on the applied force at a few temperatures.
Read More...Comparing the performance of lateral control algorithms on long rigid vehicles in urban environments
Here, seeking to better understand the control algorithms used in autonomous vehicles, the authors compared the Stanley and pure pursuit control algorithms along with a new version of each. Unexpectedly, they found that no control algorithm offered optimal performance, but rather resulted in tradeoffs between the various ideal results.
Read More...The effects of COVID-19 pandemic social isolation on the mental and physical health of the general population
Here, seeking to better understand on the effects of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors used a survey during April and May of 2020 of participants primarily in Long Island, NY to assess the physical and mental health of the general population. They found negative impacts to physical health and increases in depressive symptoms and feelings of loneliness across all groups. More significant increases in negative mental health symptoms were observed in younger age groups and amongst women.
Read More...Friend or foe: Using DNA barcoding to identify arthropods found at home
Here the authors used morphological characters and DNA barcoding to identify arthropods found within a residential house. With this method they identified their species and compared them against pests lists provided by the US government. They found that none of their identified species were considered to be pests providing evidence against the misconception that arthropods found at home are harmful to humans. They suggest that these methods could be used at larger scales to better understand and aid in mapping ecosystems.
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