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Does language familiarity affect typing speed?

Shin et al. | Aug 23, 2024

Does language familiarity affect typing speed?

In cognitive psychology, typed responses are used to assess thinking skills and creativity, but research on factors influencing typing speed is limited. This study examined how language familiarity affects typing speed, hypothesizing that familiarity with a language would correlate with faster typing. Participants typed faster in English than Latin, with those unfamiliar with Latin showing a larger discrepancy between the two languages, though Latin education level did not significantly impact typing speed, highlighting the role of language familiarity in typing performance.

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Fire and dry grass: Effects of Pennisetum villosum on a California native, Nassella pulchra, in drought times

Chang et al. | Jan 23, 2022

Fire and dry grass: Effects of <i>Pennisetum villosum</i> on a California native, <i>Nassella pulchra</i>, in drought times

Invasive species pose a significant threat to many ecosystems, whether by outcompeting native species and disturbing food webs, or through increasing risks of natural disasters like flooding and wildfires. The ornamental grass species Pennisetum villosum R. Br. was previously identified by the California Invasive Plant Council as being potentially invasive; this experiment was conducted to determine if P. villosum displays characteristics of an invasive species when grown in a California chaparral environment. Reults found that in both conditions, the two species had similar germination rates, and that P. villosum grew significantly larger than N. pulchra for around 95 days.

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Honey Bee Pollen in Allergic Rhinitis Healing

Bjelajac et al. | Jun 24, 2020

Honey Bee Pollen in Allergic Rhinitis Healing

The most common atopic disease of the upper respiratory tract is allergic rhinitis. It is defined as a chronic inflammatory condition of nasal mucosa due to the effects of one or more allergens and is usually a long-term problem. The purpose of our study was to test the efficiency of apitherapy in allergic rhinitis healing by the application of honey bee pollen. Apitherapy is a branch of alternative medicine that uses honey bee products. Honey bee pollen can act as an allergen and cause new allergy attacks for those who suffer from allergic rhinitis. Conversely, we hoped to prove that smaller ingestion of honey bee pollen on a daily basis would desensitize participants to pollen and thus reduce the severity of allergic rhinitis.

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Using Artificial Intelligence to Forecast Continuous Glucose Monitor(CGM) readings for Type One Diabetes

Jalla et al. | Aug 07, 2024

Using Artificial Intelligence to Forecast Continuous Glucose Monitor(CGM) readings for Type One Diabetes
Image credit: The authors

People with Type One diabetes often rely on Continuous Blood Glucose Monitors (CGMs) to track their blood glucose and manage their condition. Researchers are now working to help people with Type One diabetes more easily monitor their health by developing models that will future blood glucose levels based on CGM readings. Jalla and Ghanta tackle this issue by exploring the use of AI models to forecast blood glucose levels with CGM data.

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Utilizing a novel T1rho method to detect spinal degeneration via magnetic resonance imaging

Wang et al. | Oct 04, 2023

Utilizing a novel T1rho method to detect spinal degeneration via magnetic resonance imaging

Spinal degeneration has been linked to critical conditions such as osteoarthritis in adults aged 40+; while this condition is considered to be irreversible, we took interest in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for early detection of the condition. Ultimately, our purpose was to determine the effectiveness of a relatively novel T1rho method in the early detection of spinal degeneration, and we hypothesized that the early to mild progression of spinal degeneration would affect T1rho values following an MRI scan.

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Can Green Tea Alleviate the Effects of Stress Related to Learning and Long-Term Memory in the Great Pond Snail (Lymnaea stagnalis)?

Elias et al. | Jan 30, 2021

Can Green Tea Alleviate the Effects of Stress Related to Learning and Long-Term Memory in the Great Pond Snail (<em>Lymnaea stagnalis</em>)?

Stress and anxiety have become more prevalent issues in recent years with teenagers especially at risk. Recent studies show that experiencing stress while learning can impair brain-cell communication thus negatively impacting learning. Green tea is believed to have the opposite effect, aiding in learning and memory retention. In this study, the authors used Lymnaea stagnalis , a pond snail, to explore the relationship between green tea and a stressor that impairs memory formation to determine the effects of both green tea and stress on the snails’ ability to learn, form, and retain memories. Using a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) assay, where snails are exposed to a sweet substance followed by a bitter taste with the number of biting responses being recorded, the authors found that stress was shown to be harmful to snail learning and memory for short-term, intermediate, and long-term memory.

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The Effects of Ezetimibe on Triglyceride and Alanine Transaminase Reduction in Drosophila Melanogaster Model of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

Dania et al. | Apr 30, 2020

The Effects of Ezetimibe on Triglyceride and Alanine Transaminase Reduction in <i>Drosophila Melanogaster</i> Model of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is a condition where a surplus of triglycerides or fat are present in the liver. In this study, ezetimibe, a cholesterol lowering drug, was used to treat flies modeling NAFLD. Compared to the coconut oil fed flies that were transferred to the control medium, the flies transferred to the control medium treated with ezetimibe showed a decrease in their triglyceride and alanine transaminase level.

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