In this work, the authors investigate the accuracy with which two different population growth models can predict population growth over time. They apply the Malthusian law or Logistic law to US population from 1951 until 2019. To assess how closely the growth model fits actual population data, a least-squared curve fit was applied and revealed that the Logistic law of population growth resulted in smaller sum of squared residuals. These findings are important for ensuring optimal population growth models are implemented to data as population forecasting affects a country's economic and social structure.

In this study, the authors develop an architecture to implement in a cloud-based database used by law firms to ensure confidentiality, availability, and integrity of attorney documents while maintaining greater efficiency than traditional encryption algorithms. They assessed whether the architecture satisfies necessary criteria and tested the overall file sizes the architecture could process. The authors found that their system was able to handle larger file sizes and fit engineering criteria. This study presents a valuable new tool that can be used to ensure law firms have adequate security as they shift to using cloud-based storage systems for their files.

Here, recognizing the potential harmful effects of algal blooms, the authors used satellite images to detect algal blooms in water bodies in Wyoming based on their reflectance of near infrared light. They found that remote monitoring in this way may provide a useful tool in providing early warning and advisories to people who may live in close proximity.

Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen in both hospitals and the community and can cause systemic infections such as pneumonia. Multi-drug resistant strains, such as Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are particularly worrisome. In order to reduce the development of bacterial resistance, we hypothesized that two selected traditional Chinese medicines, Shuang-Huang-Lian (SHL) and Lan-Qin, would be effective against S. aureus. The results showed that SHL had a synergistic effect with gentamicin as well as additive effects with penicillin and cefazolin against S. aureus compared with using antibiotics alone.