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Utilizing meteorological data and machine learning to predict and reduce the spread of California wildfires

Bilwar et al. | Jan 15, 2024

Utilizing meteorological data and machine learning to predict and reduce the spread of California wildfires
Image credit: Pixabay

This study hypothesized that a machine learning model could accurately predict the severity of California wildfires and determine the most influential meteorological factors. It utilized a custom dataset with information from the World Weather Online API and a Kaggle dataset of wildfires in California from 2013-2020. The developed algorithms classified fires into seven categories with promising accuracy (around 55 percent). They found that higher temperatures, lower humidity, lower dew point, higher wind gusts, and higher wind speeds are the most significant contributors to the spread of a wildfire. This tool could vastly improve the efficiency and preparedness of firefighters as they deal with wildfires.

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Associations between substance misuse, social factors, depression, and anxiety among college students

Kouser et al. | Jun 12, 2023

Associations between substance misuse, social factors, depression, and anxiety among college students
Image credit: Jordan Encarnacao

Here, the authors considered the effects of relationship status and substance use on the mental health of colleges students, where they specifically examined their correlation with depression, anxiety, and the fear of missing out (FoMO). Through a survey of college students they found that those with higher substance misuse had higher levels of anxiety, depression, and FoMO, while those involved in longer-term relationships had lower levels of FoMo and alcohol use.

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Impact of salinity and phosphorus on growth of Phaseolus Vulgaris inoculated with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Matanachai et al. | Jun 16, 2022

Impact of salinity and phosphorus on growth of <em>Phaseolus Vulgaris</em> inoculated with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Here, recognizing a declining supply of rock phosphate, as well as its role in crop fertilization, the authors investigated a fungus that forms a symbiotic relationship with many crops. They found that symbiosis between the fungus and common bean plant increased the affinity of the plant towards absorbing nutrients as evidenced by lower root-to-shoot ratios in beans planted in soil with various concentrations of phosphorous and salinity.

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Exploring Political Discourse Among High School Journalists with Web Scraping and AI Technology

Gong et al. | Jun 10, 2025

Exploring Political Discourse Among High School Journalists with Web Scraping and AI Technology

Here the authors provided greater coverage of adolescent stances by investigating the political perspectives and trends of high school journalists, utilizing web scraping methods and artificial intelligence (ChatGPT-4o) to analyze over 153,000 articles. They found that high school publications exhibit lower levels of political polarization compared to mainstream media and that journalists' views, while tending to lean moderately liberal, showed no significant correlation with local voting patterns.

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Implication of education levels on gender wage gap across states in the United States and Puerto Rico

Dash et al. | Apr 16, 2025

Implication of education levels on gender wage gap across states in the United States and Puerto Rico

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.

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Association of agenesis of the corpus callosum with epilepsy and anticonvulsant drug treatment

Steger et al. | Feb 21, 2023

Association of agenesis of the corpus callosum with epilepsy and anticonvulsant drug treatment
Image credit: Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (ACC) is a birth defect where an infant’s corpus callosum, the structure linking the brain’s two hemispheres to allow interhemispheric communication, fails to develop in a typical manner during pregnancy. Existing research on the connection between ACC and epilepsy leaves significant gaps, due to the lack of focused investigation. One important gap is the degree to which ACC may impact the course of epilepsy treatment and outcomes. The present study was conducted to test the hypotheses that epilepsy is highly prevalent among individuals with ACC, and that those with both ACC and epilepsy have a lower response rate to anticonvulsant drugs than other patients treated with anticonvulsant drugs. A weighted average of epilepsy rates was calculated from a review of existing literature, which supported the hypothesis that epilepsy was more common among individuals with ACC (25.11%) than in the general population (1.2%). An empirical survey administered to 57 subjects or parents of subjects showed that rate of intractable epilepsy among study subjects with both ACC and epilepsy was substantially higher than the rate found in the general population, indicating that individuals with both conditions had a lower response rate to the anticonvulsant drugs. This study contributes novel results regarding the potential for concurrence of ACC and epilepsy to interfere with anticonvulsant drug treatment. We also discuss implications for how medical professionals may use the findings of this study to add depth to their treatment decisions.

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Evaluation of platelet-rich plasma vs. platelet lysate: VEGF and PDGF concentration, stability, and shelf life

Prasad et al. | Mar 30, 2022

Evaluation of platelet-rich plasma vs. platelet lysate: VEGF and PDGF concentration, stability, and shelf life

Cell-free biologicals are a novel method of treating clinical conditions which involve chronic inflammation such as tendonitis and osteoarthritis. This study compared platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in platelet-rich plasma (PRP), activated PRP (aPRP), and platelet lysate (PL). It was hypothesized that PL would contain higher concentrations of growth factors than PRP and that different storage temperatures for PL would diminish cytokine expression. Results demonstrated PL had the highest concentrations of both cytokines, with concentrations slightly diminishing at-80C. aPRP and PRP demonstrated lower concentrations of PDGF and VEGF than PL.

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