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Are Teens Willing to Pay More for Their Preferred Goods?

Johnson et al. | Sep 28, 2019

Are Teens Willing to Pay More for Their Preferred Goods?
Image credit: Blake Wisz

Each day we are flooded with new items that promise us a better experience at a better price. This forces buyers to continuously chose between sticking to what they know, or trying something new. In turn, companies need to be aware of the factors affecting consumer choices, that too within the different fractions of society. In this study the authors investigate the effect of survey-based price setting on profits made based on African American teen purchases, and how African-American teen loyalty to a particular brand affects their willingness to pay a higher price than the market average for their preferred brand items.

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The Effects of Antioxidants on the Climbing Abilities of Drosophila melanogaster Exposed to Dental Resin

Prashanth et al. | Jan 17, 2019

The Effects of Antioxidants on the Climbing Abilities of <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em> Exposed to Dental Resin

Dental resins can be a source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which in unruly amounts can be toxic to cellular and overall health. In this report, the authors test whether the consumption of antioxidant rich foods like avocado and asparagus can protect against the effect of dental resin-derived ROS. However, rather than testing humans, they use fruit flies and their climbing abilities as an experimental readout.

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Optimizing AI-generated image detection using a Convolutional Neural Network model with Fast Fourier Transform

Gupta et al. | Oct 24, 2025

Optimizing AI-generated image detection using a Convolutional Neural Network model with Fast Fourier Transform

Recent advances in generative AI have made it increasingly hard to distinguish real images from AI-generated ones. Traditional detection models using CNNs or U-net architectures lack precision because they overlook key spatial and frequency domain details. This study introduced a hybrid model combining Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to better capture subtle edge and texture patterns.

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An exploration of western mosquitofish as the animal component in an aquaponic farming system

Medina et al. | Dec 03, 2024

An exploration of western mosquitofish as the animal component in an aquaponic farming system
Image credit: The authors

Aquaponics (the combination of aquatic plant farming with fish production) is an innovative farming practice, but the fish that are typically used, like tilapia, are expensive and space-consuming to cultivate. Medina and Alvarez explore other options test if mosquitofish are a viable option in the aquaponic cultivation of herbs and microgreens.

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How are genetically modified foods discussed on TikTok? An analysis of #GMOFOODS

Basch et al. | Nov 20, 2023

How are genetically modified foods discussed on TikTok? An analysis of #GMOFOODS
Image credit: Camilo Jimenez

Here, the authors investigated engagement with #GMOFOODS, a hashtag on TikTok. They hypothesized that content focused on the negative effects of genetically modified organisms would receive more interaction driven by consumers. They found that the most common cateogry focused on the disadvantages of GMOs related to nutrition and health with the number of views determining if the video would be provided to users.

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Open Source RNN designed for text generation is capable of composing music similar to Baroque composers

Goel et al. | May 05, 2021

Open Source RNN designed for text generation is capable of composing music similar to Baroque composers

Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are useful for text generation since they can generate outputs in the context of previous ones. Baroque music and language are similar, as every word or note exists in context with others, and they both follow strict rules. The authors hypothesized that if we represent music in a text format, an RNN designed to generate language could train on it and create music structurally similar to Bach’s. They found that the music generated by our RNN shared a similar structure with Bach’s music in the input dataset, while Bachbot’s outputs are significantly different from this experiment’s outputs and thus are less similar to Bach’s repertoire compared to our algorithm.

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Nintendo Da Vinci: A Novel Control System to Improve Performance in Robotic-Assisted Surgery

Al-Akash et al. | Oct 26, 2019

Nintendo Da Vinci: A Novel Control System to Improve Performance in Robotic-Assisted Surgery

Complications of robotic-assisted surgery are on the rise, partly due to surgeons not receiving proper training. Al-Akash and Al-Akash hypothesized Nintendo JoyCon controls would improve surgical performance compared to the FDA-approved Da Vinci Surgical System with two user groups (doctor and gamer). Their results show that implementing a Nintendo JoyCon control system is associated with improved surgical performance and learning rate compared to the Da Vinci Surgical System.

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Genetic Bioaugmentation of Oryza sativa to Facilitate Self-Detoxification of Arsenic In-Situ

Bhat et al. | Dec 03, 2024

Genetic Bioaugmentation of Oryza sativa to Facilitate Self-Detoxification of Arsenic In-Situ

Arsenic contamination in rice, caused by the use of arsenic-laden groundwater for irrigation, is a growing global concern, affecting over 150 million people. To address this, researchers hypothesized that genetically modifying rice plants with arsenic-resistant genes could reduce arsenic uptake and allow the plants to detoxify arsenic, making them safer to consume.

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