Browse Articles

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron Growth Numbers Are Unchanged in the Presence of Yogurt

Phan et al. | Dec 29, 2016

<i>Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron</i> Growth Numbers Are Unchanged in the Presence of Yogurt

Disruptions to the microbiome, specifically the imbalance in the two major phyla, the Firmicutes and the Bacteroidetes, have been linked to the development of obesity. This study explored whether or not Fage plain total 0% Greek yogurt, which contains live and active bacterial cultures belonging to the Firmicute phylum, could decrease the numbers of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, an organism found in the human gut that belongs to the Bacteroidetes phylum.

Read More...

Risk factors contributing to Pennsylvania childhood asthma

Li et al. | Oct 30, 2024

Risk factors contributing to Pennsylvania childhood asthma
Image credit: The authors

Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions in the United States. But not all people experience asthma equally, with factors like healthcare access and environmental pollution impacting whether children are likely to be hospitalized for asthma's effects. Li, Li, and Ruffolo investigate what demographic and environmental factors are predictive of childhood asthma hospitalization rates across Pennsylvania.

Read More...

Researching the research enthusiasts: examining their motivation and the impact of a successful role model

Jubair et al. | Sep 18, 2024

Researching the research enthusiasts: examining their motivation and the impact of a successful role model
Image credit: The authors

High school and university students have various motivations for participating in research, ranging from strengthening their applications for university to building skills for a research career. Jubair and Islam survey Bangladeshi high school and university students to uncover their motivations and inspirations for participating in research.

Read More...

A HOG feature extraction and CNN approach to Parkinson’s spiral drawing diagnosis

Tripathi et al. | Aug 09, 2024

A HOG feature extraction and CNN approach to Parkinson’s spiral drawing diagnosis

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in the U.S., second only to Alzheimer’s disease. Current diagnostic methods are often inefficient and dependent on clinical exams. This study explored using machine and deep learning to enhance PD diagnosis by analyzing spiral drawings affected by hand tremors, a common PD symptom.

Read More...

The gender gap in STEM at top U.S. Universities: change over time and relationship with ranking

Kruus et al. | Jun 25, 2024

The gender gap in STEM at top U.S. Universities: change over time and relationship with ranking

Authors address the gender disparity in STEM fields, examining changes in gender diversity across male-dominated undergraduate programs over 19 years at 24 top universities. Analyzing data from NCES IPEDS, it identifies STEM as persistently male-dominated but notes increasing gender diversity in many disciplines, particularly in recent years. Results indicate that higher-ranked universities in disciplines like computer science and mechanical engineering show a weak correlation with improved gender diversity, suggesting effective initiatives can mitigate the gender gap in STEM, despite ongoing challenges.

Read More...

Identification of potential therapeutic targets for multiple myeloma by gene expression analysis

Kochenderfer et al. | Apr 26, 2024

Identification of potential therapeutic targets for multiple myeloma by gene expression analysis
Image credit: The authors

A central challenge of cancer therapy is identifying treatments that will effectively target cancer cells while minimizing effects on healthy cells. To identify potential targets for treating a multiple myeloma, a frequently incurable cancer, Kochenderfer and Kochenderfer analyze RNA sequencing data from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia to find genes with high expression in multiple myeloma cells and low expression in normal tissues

Read More...

Which fruit peel helps retain the most soil moisture?

Parashar et al. | Jan 09, 2024

Which fruit peel helps retain the most soil moisture?
Image credit: Anshu A

Here, the authors investigated the ability to use fruit peels to help soil retain moisture, a property that is essential to agriculture. Across a 96-hour observation period, orange, banana, and kiwi peel water emulsions were evaluated for their effects on soil moisture. They found that orange peels retained the most moisture, but banana and kiwi peels also offered improvements over their control sample.

Read More...