Many common respiratory illnesses like bronchitis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) lead to bronchial inflammation and, subsequently, a blockage. However, there are many difficulties in measuring the severity of the blockage. A numeric metric to determine the degree of the blockage severity is necessary. To tackle this demand, we aimed to develop a novel human respiratory model and design a deep-learning program that can constantly monitor and report bronchial blockage by recording breath sounds in a non-intrusive way.
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Which fruit peel helps retain the most soil moisture?
Here, the authors investigated the ability to use fruit peels to help soil retain moisture, a property that is essential to agriculture. Across a 96-hour observation period, orange, banana, and kiwi peel water emulsions were evaluated for their effects on soil moisture. They found that orange peels retained the most moisture, but banana and kiwi peels also offered improvements over their control sample.
Read More...Seed priming with melatonin improves drought tolerance in maize
The authors test whether soaking maize seeds in a solution of melatonin improves seed germination and drought tolerance.
Read More...What is the optimal fuel for space flight? Efficiency, cost, and environmental impact
Here, the authors sought to investigate the efficiency, cost, and environmental impact of several possible propellants that are or could be used for space flight. By deriving three novel equations, they identified harm, energy, and cost scores for each fuel, suggesting that considering each factor will be essential to the ongoing growth of the space industry.
Read More...Blue light blocking glasses: do they do what they promise?
With increased screen time and exposure to blue light, an increasing number of people have sleep deprivation. Blue light suppresses the release of melatonin and hinders sleep at night. We hypothesized that people could get a greater amount of sleep by controlling the blue light exposure from screen time before bedtime. BBG’s effect on reducing time to fall asleep was significant within the teenage group, but not significant in the adult group. This indicated that BBG could improve the time taken to sleep for young teenagers post screen time in the evening.
Read More...A comparison of the water quality between Chinatown and Bayside: two demographically different regions
The authors looked at differences in water quality between Chinatown and Bayside. They wanted to look at the racial and economic demographics of each region and how that correlated to access to clean drinking water. Ultimately they did not find any significant differences in water quality, but identified important future directions for this work.
Read More...Investigating the impact of electrocardiography biofeedback on POTS symptom management
The authors test electrocardiography biofeedback as a treatment for individuals with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
Read More...Are Asian foods healthier than Western foods: Evidence collected from St. Louis area grocery stores
The authors compare nutritional content of foods found in Western versus Asian grocery stores to determine whether one cultural diet is healthier than the other.
Read More...Therapy dogs effectively reduce stress in college preparatory students
In this article the authors looked at the effect of spending time with a therapy dog before and after stressful events. They found that interacting with a therapy before a stressful event showed more significant reduction in signs of stress compared to interacting with a therapy dog after stressful events have already occurred.
Read More...Understanding investors behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak using Twitter sentiment analysis
The authors examine a relationship between tweet sentiment and stock market behavior during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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