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In this study, the authors use quantitative digit ratio measurements and a survey of personality traits to evaluate the potential relationship between sex and levels of conscientiousness.

Previously established data indicate that cemeteries have contributed to groundwater and soil pollution, as embalming fluids can impact the microbiomes that exist in decomposing remains. In this study, Caputo et al hypothesized that microbial variation would be high between cemeteries from different eras due to dissimilarities between embalming techniques employed, and furthermore, that specific microbes would act as an indication for certain contaminants. Overall, they found that there is a variation in the microbiomes of the different eras’ cemeteries according to the concentrations of the phyla and their more specific taxa.

As humans, not all our body organs can adequately regenerate after injury, an ability that declines with age. In some species, however, regeneration is a hallmark response that can occur limitless numbers of time throughout the life of an organism. Understanding how such species can regenerate so efficiently is of central importance to regenerative medicine. Sea urchins, unlike humans, can regenerate their spinal tissue after injury. Here the authors study the effect of a growth factor, FGF2, on sea urchin regeneration but find no conclusive evidence for a pro-regenerative effect after spinal tissue injury.

While the genetic basis of hip fracture risk has been studied extensively in adults, it is not known whether parental history of bone fractures affects their children's fracture risk. In this article, the authors investigated whether a parental history of bone fractures influences the rate of fractures in their children. They found that adolescent children whose parents had a more extensive history of fractures were more likely to have a history of fractures themselves, suggesting that parents' medical histories may be an important consideration in future pediatric health research.

Music can affect the behavior of humans and other animals. In this study, the authors studied five types of music with different tempos and demonstrated how each one affected dogs' heart rates.

Environment affects the progression of life, especially at the cellular level. This study investigates multiple 3-dimensional growth environments, also known as scaffolds or hydrogels, and their effect on the growth of a type of cells called fibroblasts. These results suggest that a scaffold made of collagen and polyethylene glycol are favorable for cell growth. This research is useful for developing implantable devices to aid wound healing.

The authors looked at different combinations of risk-adjusted return measures to determine which combination would provide an optimal return for investors. They found that different combinations performed better dependent on investment timeframe.

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) allows users, especially those with paralysis, to control devices through brain activity. This study explored using a custom transformer model to decode neural signals into handwritten text for individuals with limited motor skills, comparing its performance to a traditional RNN-based BCI.

Pulmonary diseases like lung cancer and valley fever pose serious health challenges, making accurate and rapid diagnostics essential. This study developed a MATLAB-based software tool that uses computer vision techniques to differentiate between these diseases by analyzing features of lung nodules in CT scans, achieving higher precision than traditional methods.

Here, seeking to explore new antimicrobial therapies, the authors investigated the antimicrobial activity of Maitake mushroom extract against Staphylococcus epidermidis, a common cause of antibiotic resistant hospital-acquired infections. They found that Maitake extract showed potent antimicrobial activity, with higher concentrations showing inhibition comparable to tetracycline.