Natural selection shapes the evolution of all organisms, and one question of interest is whether natural selection will reach a "stopping point": a stable, ideal, value for any particular trait. Madhan and Kanagavel tackle this question by building a computer simulation of trait evolution in organisms.

While increased access to Wi-Fi has been a great advancement, we have a limited understanding if there are any health effects on animals. In this study, Anand and Anand exposed fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to different concentrations of Wi-Fi electromagnetic fields, and observed effects on their reproduction and survivability.

Here the authors sought to better understand glioma, cancer that occurs in the glial cells of the brain with gene expression profile analysis. They considered the expression of complement system genes across the transcriptional and IDH-mutational subtypes of low-grade glioma and glioblastoma. Based on their results of their differential gene expression analysis, they found that outcomes vary across different glioma subtypes, with evidence suggesting that categorization of the transcriptional subtypes could help inform treatment by providing an expectation for treatment responses.

The authors looked at differences in water quality between Chinatown and Bayside. They wanted to look at the racial and economic demographics of each region and how that correlated to access to clean drinking water. Ultimately they did not find any significant differences in water quality, but identified important future directions for this work.

Here, recognizing the difficulty that visually impaired people may have differentiating United States currency, the authors sought to use artificial intelligence (AI) models to identify US currencies. With a one-stage AI they reported a test accuracy of 89%, finding that multi-level deep learning models did not provide any significant advantage over a single-level AI.

Gamma radiation can be produced by both natural and man-made sources and abnormally high exposure levels could lead to an increase in cell damage. In this study, gamma radiation was measured at different locations and any correlation with various geographic factors, such as distance from a city center, elevation and proximity to the nearest nuclear reactor, was determined.

This study aimed to determine whether artificial sweeteners are harmful to the human microbiome by investigating two different bacteria found to be advantageous to the human gut, Escherichia coli and Bacillus coagulans. Results showed dramatic reduction in bacterial growth for agar plates containing two artificial sweeteners in comparison to two natural sweeteners. This led to the conclusion that both artificial sweeteners inhibit the growth of the two bacteria and warrants further study to determine if zero-sugar sweeteners may be worse for the human gut than natural sugar itself.

In this study, the authors investigate a potential case of cross antibiotic-resistance. Using swabs from an individual who received long-term treatments of azithromycin, they addressed the question of whether any bacteria in this individual might develop resistance to not only azithromycin, but also other antibiotics with similar structures. This study cleverly addresses the important issue of antibiotic resistance from a new and thoughtful approach.

Zeolithic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is a specific metal-organic framework that has favorable qualities for use in an air filter and is known to be capable of adsorbing particulate matter. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to determine the effectiveness of ZIF-8 in adsorbing polar, gaseous air pollutants, specifically nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. In order to determine effectiveness, the percent change in concentration for various gases after the application of ZIF-8 crystals was measured via Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The work highlights crystals as a potentially promising alternative or addition to current filter materials to reduce atmospheric pollution.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a type of dementia that affects more than 5.5 million Americans, and there are no approved treatments that can delay the advancement of the disease. In this work, Xu and Mitchell test the effects of various herbal extracts (bugleweed, hops, sassafras, and white camphor) on Aβ_1-40 peptide levels in human neuroblastoma cells. Their results suggest that bugleweed may have the potential to reduce Aβ_1-40 levels through its anti-inflammatory properties.