Stevens Creek, which flows through Santa Clara County in California, provides a crucial habitat for federally designated threatened steelhead trout, with a portion of the trout’s diet being dependent on the presence and abundance of macroinvertebrates that inhabit the creek. In this article, the authors investigate how the water chemistry within the creek was associated with the abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates, and subsequently the creek’s health. They conduct qualitative analysis of macroinvertebrates and water quality to obtain a general understanding of the health of Stevens Creek.
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Impact of dams in Santa Clara County on the nitrification of the surrounding ecosystem
Two dams in Santa Clara County were evaluated for water and soil nitrate levels in order to determine whether nitrification rates were higher upstream than downstream of the dam. This could indicate a detrimental effect of dams on the nitration cycle in the environment.
Read More...Significance of Tumor Growth Modeling in the Behavior of Homogeneous Cancer Cell Populations: Are Tumor Growth Models Applicable to Both Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Populations?
This study follows the process of single-cloning and the growth of a homogeneous cell population in a superficial environment over the course of six weeks with the end goal of showing which of five tumor growth models commonly used to predict heterogeneous cancer cell population growth (Exponential, Logistic, Gompertz, Linear, and Bertalanffy) would also best exemplify that of homogeneous cell populations.
Read More...Use of drone with sodium hydroxide carriers to absorb carbon dioxide from ambient air
In this study, the authors address the current climate concern of high CO2 levels by testing solid forms of hydroxide for CO2 reduction and designing a drone to fly it in ambient air!
Read More...The relationship between digit ratio and personality: 4D:5D digit ratio, sex, and the trait of conscientiousness
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.
Read More...The impact of timing and magnitude of the El Niño- Southern Oscillation on local precipitation levels and temperatures in the Bay Area
Understanding the relationships between temperature, MEI, SPI, and CO2 concentration is important as they measure the major influencers of California’s regional climate: temperature, ENSO, precipitation, and atmospheric CO2. In this article, the authors analyzed temperature, Multivariate El Niño-Southern Oscillation Index (MEI), and Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) data from the San Francisco Bay Area from 1971 to 2016. They also analyzed CO2 records from Mauna Loa, HI for the same time period, along with the annual temperature anomalies for the Bay Area.
Read More...The analysis of the viral transmission and structural interactions between the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein and the lymphocyte receptor integrin α4β7
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infects approximately 40 million people globally, and one million people die every year from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-related illnesses. This study examined the interactions between the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120 and the human lymphocyte receptor integrin α4β7, the putative first long-range receptor for the envelope glycoprotein of the virus in mucosal tissues. Presented data support the claim that the V1 loop is involved in the binding between α4β7 and the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein through molecular dockings.
Read More...The Effect of Poverty on Mosquito-borne Illness Across the United States
Mosquito-borne diseases are a major issue across the world, and the objective for this project was to determine the characteristics that make some communities more susceptible to these diseases than others. The authors identified and studied characteristics that make communities susceptible to mosquito-borne diseases, including water in square miles, average temperature, population, population density, and poverty rates per county. They found that the population of a county is the best indicator of the prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases.
Read More...Effects of Various Environmental Factors on Stomatal Density, Area, and Potential Conductance Index
In this study, the authors investigate the combinatorial effects of CO2 plus other environmental factors including salinity, temperature, acidity, and drought on how effectively plants can transport water and carbon through their stomata.
Read More...Long Range Radio Communication for Urban Sensor Networks
This study investigates the feasibility of using long-range radio communication in a busy city environment in order to begin better understanding how the Internet of Things might be implemented into smart cities.
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