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Impact of Kindles4Covid Virtual Reading Buddies Program on reading frequency and social connections

Pandey et al. | Jun 25, 2022

Impact of Kindles4Covid Virtual Reading Buddies Program on reading frequency and social connections

With the COVID-19 pandemic necessitating the transition to remote learning, disruption to daily school routine has impacted educational experiences on a global scale. As a result, it has potentially worsened reading achievement gaps typically exacerbated by long summer months. To address literacy skill retention and pandemic-induced social isolation, the non-profit organization ByKids4Kids has created a reading program, “Kindles4Covid Virtual Reading Buddies Program,” to instill a structure for youth to read together and connect with the convenience of Amazon Kindle devices. In this article, the authors determine the efficacy of their invaluable program by assessing changes in reading frequency and self-reported connectedness among program participants.

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The Clinical Accuracy of Non-Invasive Glucose Monitoring for ex vivo Artificial Pancreas

Levy et al. | Jul 10, 2016

The Clinical Accuracy of Non-Invasive Glucose Monitoring for <i>ex vivo</i> Artificial Pancreas

Diabetes is a serious worldwide epidemic that affects a growing portion of the population. While the most common method for testing blood glucose levels involves finger pricking, it is painful and inconvenient for patients. The authors test a non-invasive method to measure glucose levels from diabetic patients, and investigate whether the method is clinically accurate and universally applicable.

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Exploring differences in men’s marijuana consumption and cigarette smoking by race and citizenship status

Miriyala et al. | Sep 04, 2024

Exploring differences in men’s marijuana consumption and cigarette smoking by race and citizenship status

This study examined the relationship between citizenship status, racial background, and the use of marijuana and cigarettes among males in California using data from the 2017–2018 California Health Interview Survey. Findings indicated that non-citizens and naturalized citizens were less likely to use marijuana compared to US-born citizens, while Asian and Latino males were less likely to consume marijuana than White males. Additionally, various racial groups were more likely to smoke cigarettes compared to White males, suggesting that targeted health interventions based on citizenship status and race could be beneficial.

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Predicting baseball pitcher efficacy using physical pitch characteristics

Oberoi et al. | Jan 11, 2024

Predicting baseball pitcher efficacy using physical pitch characteristics
Image credit: Antoine Schibler

Here, the authors sought to develop a new metric to evaluate the efficacy of baseball pitchers using machine learning models. They found that the frequency of balls, was the most predictive feature for their walks/hits allowed per inning (WHIP) metric. While their machine learning models did not identify a defining trait, such as high velocity, spin rate, or types of pitches, they found that consistently pitching within the strike zone resulted in significantly lower WHIPs.

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Identifying shark species using an AlexNet CNN model

Sarwal et al. | Sep 23, 2024

Identifying shark species using an AlexNet CNN model

The challenge of accurately identifying shark species is crucial for biodiversity monitoring but is often hindered by time-consuming and labor-intensive manual methods. To address this, SharkNet, a CNN model based on AlexNet, achieved 93% accuracy in classifying shark species using a limited dataset of 1,400 images across 14 species. SharkNet offers a more efficient and reliable solution for marine biologists and conservationists in species identification and environmental monitoring.

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Developing anticholinergic drugs for the treatment of asthma with improved efficacy

Wong et al. | Jul 05, 2023

Developing anticholinergic drugs for the treatment of asthma with improved efficacy
Image credit: Wong et al.

Anticholinergics are used in treating asthma, a chronic inflammation of the airways. These drugs block human M1 and M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, inhibiting bronchoconstriction. However, studies have reported complications of anticholinergic usage, such as exacerbated eosinophil production and worsened urinary retention. Modification of known anticholinergics using bioisosteric replacements to increase efficacy could potentially minimize these complications. The present study focuses on identifying viable analogs of anticholinergics to improve binding energy to the receptors compared to current treatment options. Glycopyrrolate (G), ipratropium (IB), and tiotropium bromide (TB) were chosen as parent drugs of interest, due to the presence of common functional groups within the molecules, specifically esters and alcohols. Docking score analysis via AutoDock Vina was used to evaluate the binding energy between drug analogs and the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. The final results suggest that G-A3, IB-A3, and TB-A1 are the most viable analogs, as binding energy was improved when compared to the parent drug. G-A4, IB-A4, IB-A5, TB-A3, and TB-A4 are also potential candidates, although there were slight regressions in binding energy to both muscarinic receptors for these analogs. By researching the effects of bioisosteric replacements of current anticholinergics, it is evident that there is a potential to provide asthmatics with more effective treatment options.

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