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Fluorescein or Green Fluorescent Protein: Is It Possible to Create a Sensor for Dehydration?

Joshi et al. | Dec 09, 2019

Fluorescein or Green Fluorescent Protein: Is It Possible to Create a Sensor for Dehydration?

Currently there is no early dehydration detection system using temperature and pH as indicators. A sensor could alert the wearer and others of low hydration levels, which would normally be difficult to catch prior to more serious complications resulting from dehydration. In this study, a protein fluorophore, green fluorescent protein (GFP), and a chemical fluorophore, fluorescein, were tested for a change in fluorescence in response to increased temperature or decreased pH. Reversing the pH change did not restore GFP fluorescence, but that of fluorescein was re-established. This finding suggests that fluorescein could be used as a reusable sensor for a dehydration-related pH change.

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Fractal dimensions of crumpled paper

Zhou et al. | Aug 10, 2023

Fractal dimensions of crumpled paper
Image credit: Richard Dykes

Here, beginning from an interest in fractals, infinitely complex shapes. The authors investigated the fractal object that results from crumpling a sheet of paper. They determined its fractal dimension using continuous Chi-squared analysis, thereby testing and validating their model against the more conventional least squares analysis.

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Can the attributes of an app predict its rating?

Feng et al. | Jul 03, 2024

Can the attributes of an app predict its rating?
Image credit: Mika Baumeister

In this article the authors looked at different attributes of apps within the Google Play store to determine how those may impact the overall app rating out of five stars. They found that review count, amount of storage needed and when the app was last updated to be the most influential factors on an app's rating.

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The most efficient position of magnets

Shin et al. | Mar 28, 2024

The most efficient position of magnets
Image credit: immo RENOVATION

Here, the authors investigated the most efficient way to position magnets to hold the most pieces of paper on the surface of a refrigerator. They used a regression model along with an artificial neural network to identify the most efficient positions of four magnets to be at the vertices of a rectangle.

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Linearity of piezoelectric response of electrospun polymer-based (PVDF) fibers with barium titanate nanoparticles

Nichitiu et al. | Feb 13, 2023

Linearity of piezoelectric response of electrospun polymer-based (PVDF) fibers with barium titanate nanoparticles

Here, seeking to develop an understanding of the properties that determine the viability of piezoelectric flexible materials for applications in electro-mechanical sensors, the authors investigated the effects of the inclusion BaTiO3 nanoparticles in electrospun Polyvinyledene Fluoride. They found the voltage generated had a piecewise linear dependence on the applied force at a few temperatures.

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Expression of Anti-Neurodegeneration Genes in Mutant Caenorhabditis elegans Using CRISPR-Cas9 Improves Behavior Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease

Mishra et al. | Sep 14, 2019

Expression of Anti-Neurodegeneration Genes in Mutant <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em> Using CRISPR-Cas9 Improves Behavior Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and is characterized by neurodegeneration. Mishra et al. wanted to understand the role of two transport proteins, LRP1 and AQP4, in the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease. They used a model organism for Alzheimer's disease, the nematode C. elegans, and genetic engineering to look at whether they would see a decrease in neurodegeneration if they increased the amount of these two transport proteins. They found that the best improvements were caused by increased expression of both transport proteins, with smaller improvements when just one of the proteins is overly expressed. Their work has important implications for how we understand neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease and what we can do to slow or prevent the progression of the disease.

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The Role of a Mask - Understanding the Performance of Deep Neural Networks to Detect, Segment, and Extract Cellular Nuclei from Microscopy Images

Dasgupta et al. | Jul 06, 2021

The Role of a Mask - Understanding the Performance of Deep Neural Networks to Detect, Segment, and Extract Cellular Nuclei from Microscopy Images

Cell segmentation is the task of identifying cell nuclei instances in fluorescence microscopy images. The goal of this paper is to benchmark the performance of representative deep learning techniques for cell nuclei segmentation using standard datasets and common evaluation criteria. This research establishes an important baseline for cell nuclei segmentation, enabling researchers to continually refine and deploy neural models for real-world clinical applications.

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Predicting college retention rates from Google Street View images of campuses

Dileep et al. | Jan 02, 2024

Predicting college retention rates from Google Street View images of campuses
Image credit: Dileep et al. 2024

Every year, around 40% of undergraduate students in the United States discontinue their studies, resulting in a loss of valuable education for students and a loss of money for colleges. Even so, colleges across the nation struggle to discover the underlying causes of these high dropout rates. In this paper, the authors discuss the use of machine learning to find correlations between the built environment factors and the retention rates of colleges. They hypothesized that one way for colleges to improve their retention rates could be to improve the physical characteristics of their campus to be more pleasing. The authors used image classification techniques to look at images of colleges and correlate certain features like colors, cars, and people to higher or lower retention rates. With three possible options of high, medium, and low retention rates, the probability that their models reached the right conclusion if they simply chose randomly was 33%. After finding that this 33%, or 0.33 mark, always fell outside of the 99% confidence intervals built around their models’ accuracies, the authors concluded that their machine learning techniques can be used to find correlations between certain environmental factors and retention rates.

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