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The authors looked at alternative production processes for PHB plastic in an effort to reduce environmental impact. They found that no alternative process was able to significantly decrease the environmental impact of PHB production, but that optimizing dewatering steps during production could lead to the largest improvement on environmental impact.

Default opt-ins and social proof tags effect on decision making in an e-commerce context

The authors describe the design and testing of new guide RNAs targeting the DMPK gene, which is responsible for myotonic dystrophy.

There is a need for safe and effective therapies to prevent platelet aggregation associated with cardiovascular diseases. Prabhakar and Prabhakar test to see whether dietary supplements claiming to reduce cardiovascular disease risk will affect aggregation of human platelets.

Here the authors examined the relationship between education levels and the gender wage gap (GWG) in the US and Puerto Rico from 2010 to 2022, hypothesizing that higher education would correlate with a lower GWG. Their analysis of income data revealed an inverse correlation, where higher education levels were associated with reduced gender wage disparities, suggesting that policies aimed at closing the gender gap in higher education could promote socioeconomic equality.

This study explored the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) methods to detect native Hawaiian decapod species (‘opae), which are difficult to observe manually due to their low density.

Pediatric asthma remains a significant health issue for Dallas students. This study examined the relationship between microclimatic parameters, vegetation, and pediatric asthma vulnerability (PAV) in urban schools.

Current horticulture practices often rely on pesticides, causing environmental harm. To address this, authors explore the use of ultrasonic sound emissions to detect plant stress at an individual level.

The causal set theory (CST) is a theory of the small-scale structure of spacetime, which provides a discrete approach to describing quantum gravity. Studying the properties of causal sets requires methods for constructing appropriate causal sets. The most commonly used approach is to perform a random sprinkling. However, there are different methods for sprinkling, and it is not clear how each commonly used method affects the results. We hypothesized that the methods would be statistically equivalent, but that some noticeable differences might occur, such as a more uniform distribution for the sub-interval sprinkling method compared to the direct sprinkling and edge bias compensation methods. We aimed to assess this hypothesis by analyzing the results of three different methods of sprinkling. For our analysis, we calculated distributions of the longest path length, interval size, and paths of various lengths for each sprinkling method. We found that the methods were statistically similar. However, one of the methods, sub-interval sprinkling, showed some slight advantages over the other two. These findings can serve as a point of reference for active researchers in the field of causal set theory, and is applicable to other research fields working with similar graphs.

Global reliance on extractive energy sources has many downsides, among which are inconsistent supply and consequent price volatility that distress companies and consumers. It is unclear if renewable energy offers stable and affordable solutions to extractive energy sources. The cost of solar energy generation has decreased sharply in recent years, prompting a surge of installations with a range of financing options. Even so, most existing options require upfront payment, making installation inaccessible for towns with limited financial resources. The primary objective of our research is to examine the use of green bonds to finance solar energy systems, as they eliminate the need for upfront capital and enable repayment through revenue generated over time. We hypothesized that if we modeled the usage of green bonds to finance the installation of a solar energy system in New Jersey, then the revenue generated over the system’s lifetime would be enough to repay the bond. After modeling the financial performance of a proposed solar energy-producing carport in Madison, New Jersey, financed with green bonds, we found that revenue from solar energy systems successfully covered the annual green bond payments and enabled the installers to obtain over 50% of the income for themselves. Our research demonstrated green bonds as a promising option for New Jersey towns with limited financial resources seeking to install solar energy systems, thereby breaking down a financial barrier.