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Polylactic acid (PLA) is a bio-based, compostable plastic that is comparable in cost to petroleum-based plastics. This study aims to evaluate the effects of UV treatment and mechanical chopping on the degradation of PLA. Based on their findings, the authors propose an alternative PLA degradation process that may be more time and energy efficient than current processes.

The authors tested environmentally-friendly alternatives to wastewater treatment chemicals, including activated charcoal for filtration and citrus peels for preventing bacterial growth.

PDE8, a type of phosphodiesterase (PDE), is proven to be crucial in various cellular activities and physiological activities by influencing second messenger systems. It is involved in a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and various heart diseases. However, there is limited information about PDE8 selective inhibitors. This work aimed to improve the solubility and yield of PDE8 in the supernatant by exploring suitable culture conditions, including temperatures and different additives.

This experiment assessed the effectiveness of a virtual environment as a method of exposure in the treatment of high school students’ public speaking anxiety. The results show that participants’ heartbeat was higher when they wore a VR headset than when they did not.

With an increasing older adult population and rapid advancements in technology, it is important that senior citizens learn to use new technologies to remain active in society. A variety of factors on learning were investigated through surveys of senior citizens. Older adults preferred an interactive lesson style, which also seemed to help them retain more course material.

The printing-related expenditure that is budgeted in 2014 for U.S. Federal agencies is $1.8 billion. A sample of five publically available documents produced by various federal agencies is analyzed and the cost savings arising from a change in font type are estimated. The analysis predicts that the Government’s annual savings by switching to Garamond are likely to be about $234 million with worst-case savings of $62 million and best-case savings of $394 million. Indirect benefits arising from a less detrimental impact on the environment due to lower ink production and disposal volumes are not included in these estimates. Times New Roman is not as efficient as Garamond, and the third federally-recommended font, Century Gothic, is actually worse on average than the fonts used in the sample documents.

In this study, the authors investigate the disinfectant potential of many household spices and minerals. More specifically, they test whether these compounds can be used to disinfect mobile phones after daily use with the hope of identifying environmentally-friendly cleaning options.

The authors investigated prophages present in Streptococcus bacteria that may increase their survival in different environments.

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.

Here the authors sought to find a more ethical and efficient way to temporary paralyze a cockroach by comparing the results of two methods. By comparing immobilization through immersion in cold water and exposure to a 100 % CO₂ environment, they found that cockroaches could be immobilized and recovered significantly faster when exposed to CO₂.