Browse Articles

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, and 81% of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) patients in the renal fibrosis stage later develop CAD. In this study, Mathew and Joykutty aimed to create a cost-effective strategy to treat AKI and thus prevent CAD using a model of the zebrafish, Danio rerio. They first tested whether AKI is induced in Danio rerio upon exposure to environmental toxins, then evaluated nitrotyrosine as an early biomarker for toxin-induced AKI. Finally, they evaluated 4 treatments of renal fibrosis, the last stage of AKI, and found that the compound SB431542 was the most effective treatment (reduced fibrosis by 99.97%). Their approach to treating AKI patients, and potentially prevent CAD, is economically feasible for translation into the clinic in both developing and developed countries.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical systems that utilize bacteria and are promising forms of alternative energy. Similar to chemical fuel cells, MFCs employ both an anode (accepts electrons) and a cathode (donates electrons), but in these devices the live bacteria donate the electrons necessary for current. In this study, the authors assess the functionality of a photosynthetic MFC that utilizes a purple non-sulfur bacterium. The MFC prototype they constructed was found to function over a range of environmental conditions, suggesting its potential use in industrial models.

Investigation of the potential of waxworm saliva, the secretion of Galleria mellonella, for plastic degradation.

Energy efficiency is becoming more important as we struggle to find better, more sustainable energy sources to power our planet; the car industry is no exception. In this article, the authors examine the effect of shape on automobile aerodynamics By finding the shape that makes cars less resistant to wind, and therefore more energy efficient, can help the automobile industry make better, more eco-friendly cars that are also cheaper to operate.

Here the authors propose integrating magnetic iron (II) oxide nanoparticles into the high-density polyethylene linings of disposable paper cups to create a waterproof, magnetically responsive composite liner. Their findings demonstrate that these nanoparticles successfully bond with the plastic layer without disrupting its structural integrity, offering a viable method to improve plastic recovery through magnetic recycling and mitigate global microplastic pollution.

The authors compare air quality in the presence and absence of a living wall in a high school hallway in Brooklyn, NY.

The authors looked at soil quality of former military sites where chemical disposal was known to have occurred. Along with testing for heavy metals, the authors also looked for the presence (and number) of earthworms present in topsoil samples as a marker of soil health.

The authors looked at the ability of eggshells to slow ice melting. They found that eggshells were able to increase ice melting time when crushed showing that they were an effective thermal barrier.

A key barrier to adoption of solar energy technology is the low efficiency of solar cells converting solar energy into electricity. Sims and Sims tackle this problem by coding a Raspberry Pi as a multimeter to determine which wavelength of light generates the most voltage and current from a solar panel.

This study hypothesized that a machine learning model could accurately predict the severity of California wildfires and determine the most influential meteorological factors. It utilized a custom dataset with information from the World Weather Online API and a Kaggle dataset of wildfires in California from 2013-2020. The developed algorithms classified fires into seven categories with promising accuracy (around 55 percent). They found that higher temperatures, lower humidity, lower dew point, higher wind gusts, and higher wind speeds are the most significant contributors to the spread of a wildfire. This tool could vastly improve the efficiency and preparedness of firefighters as they deal with wildfires.