Since the discovery that thousands of different bacteria colonize our gut, many of which are important for human wellbeing, understanding the significance of balancing the different species on the human body has been intensely researched. Untangling the complexity of the gut microbiome and establishing the effect of the various strains on human health is a challenge in many circumstances, and the need for simpler systems to improve our basic understanding of microbe-host interactions seems necessary. C. elegans are a well-established laboratory animal that feed on bacteria and can thus serve as a less complex system for studying microbe-host interactions. Here the authors investigate how the choice of bacterial diet affects worm fertility. The same approach could be applied to many different outcomes, and facilitate our understanding of how the microbes colonizing our guts affect various bodily functions.

Berberine is a natural quaternary alkaloid that has anti-microbial and anti-cancer effects. This compound can bind to Guanine Quadruplex (G4) DNA secondary complexes to help inhibit cancer cell proliferation. In this study, the authors investigate whether incorporating large aromatic rings helps to stabilize berberine-G4 interactions.

In this study, the authors developed a model named DNA Sequence Embedding Network (DNA-SEnet) to classify DNA-asthma associations using their genomic patterns.

Middle school math forms the basis for advanced mathematical courses leading up to the university level. Large language models (LLMs) have the potential to power next-generation educational technologies, acting as digital tutors to students. The main objective of this study was to determine whether LLMs like ChatGPT, Bard, and Llama 2 can serve as reliable middle school math tutoring assistants on three tutoring tasks: hint generation, comprehensive solution, and exercise creation.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are a great tool to model and study complex biological systems. In this paper, the authors use MD simulations to construct and simulate a model of the periplasmic space, the peptidoglycan layer and its associated proteins, in an Escherichia coli cell.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention. The authors hypothesized that people with ADHD would display more inattentional blindness in perceptually simple tasks and less inattentional blindness in perceptually complex tasks. The results indicate that there is no significant correlation between ADHD and inattentional blindness in either type of task.

While some believe that ride-hailing services offer reduced CO₂ emissions compared to individual driving, studies have found that driving without passengers on ride-hailing trips or "deadheading" prevents this. Here, with a mathematical model, the authors investigated if the use of electric vehicles as ride-hailing vehicles could offer reduced CO₂ emissions. They found that the improved vehicle efficiency and cleaner generation could in fact lower emissions compared to the use of personal gas vehicles.

There are complex interactions between water and outside forces such as magnetic fields. This study aims to examine the effects of magnetic forces on the flow rate of water. The alteration of flow rate by magnets could have exciting applications in many fields.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder and is difficult to diagnose in young children. Here magnetoencephalography was used to compare the brain activity in patients with ASD to patients in a control group. The results show that patients with ASD have a high level of activity in different areas of the brain than those in the control group.

The authors use the Lanczos algorithm to computationally solve the Schrodinger equation for 2D potentials with a Python program