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Who is at Risk for a Spinal Fracture? – A Comparative Study of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data

He et al. | Mar 01, 2018

Who is at Risk for a Spinal Fracture? – A Comparative Study of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data

One common age-related health problem is the loss of bone mineral density (BMD), which can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes, including increased risk of spinal fracture. In this study, the authors investigate risk factors that may be predictive of an individual's risk of spinal fracture. Their findings provide valuable information that clinicians can use in patient evaluations.

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Low female employment rates in South Korea are linked to the gender-specific burden of childrearing

Lee et al. | Aug 07, 2024

Low female employment rates in South Korea are linked to the gender-specific burden of childrearing
Image credit: Karolina Kaboompics

Female employment rates in South Korea are far below those of other countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. We assessed job satisfaction, job retention, and the underlying factors that impact these variables for both genders and various ages through a survey. Among 291 adult participants (161 women, 130 men) aged 20 to 59, working in various fields, 95% of responders were college graduates. These results suggest that even highly educated women feel more pressure from an innate sense of responsibility and societal perception to care for children than men.

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Can the nucleotide content of a DNA sequence predict the sequence accessibility?

Balachandran et al. | Mar 10, 2023

Can the nucleotide content of a DNA sequence predict the sequence accessibility?
Image credit: Warren Umoh

Sequence accessibility is an important factor affecting gene expression. Sequence accessibility or openness impacts the likelihood that a gene is transcribed and translated into a protein and performs functions and manifests traits. There are many potential factors that affect the accessibility of a gene. In this study, our hypothesis was that the content of nucleotides in a genetic sequence predicts its accessibility. Using a machine learning linear regression model, we studied the relationship between nucleotide content and accessibility.

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The Effect of Delivery Method, Speaker Demographics, and Physical Environment on the Engagement Level of Older Adults

Seides et al. | May 24, 2015

The Effect of Delivery Method, Speaker Demographics, and Physical Environment on the Engagement Level of Older Adults

With an increasing older adult population and rapid advancements in technology, it is important that senior citizens learn to use new technologies to remain active in society. A variety of factors on learning were investigated through surveys of senior citizens. Older adults preferred an interactive lesson style, which also seemed to help them retain more course material.

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Anonymity Reduces Generosity in High School Students

Vargas-Guerrero et al. | Nov 25, 2019

Anonymity Reduces Generosity in High School Students

The disinterested willingness a person has for helping others is known as altruism. But is this willingness to help others dependent on external factors that make you more or less inclined to be generous? We hypothesized that generosity in adolescents would depend on external factors and that these factors would change the amount of help given. To evaluate altruism and generosity, we conducted non-anonymous and anonymous variations of the dictator game and ultimatum game experiments and explored the role of anonymity, fairness, and reciprocity in high school students.

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Does technology help or hurt learning? Evidence from middle school and high school students

Lu et al. | Oct 02, 2022

Does technology help or hurt learning? Evidence from middle school and high school students

Here, recognizing the vastly different opinion held regarding device usage, the authors considered the effects of technology use on middle and high school students' learning effectiveness. Using an anonymous online survey they found partial support that device use at school increases learning effectiveness, but found strong support for a negative effect of technology use at home on learning effectiveness. Based on their findings they suggest that the efficacy of technology depends on environmental context along with other important factors that need consideration.

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Conversion of Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in a Tumor Microenvironment: An in vitro Study

Ramesh et al. | Feb 18, 2020

Conversion of Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in a Tumor Microenvironment: An <em>in vitro</em> Study

Mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) play a role in tumor formation by differentiating into cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) which enable metastasis of tumors. The process of conversion of MSCs into CAFs is not clear. In this study, authors tested the hypothesis that cancers cells secrete soluble factors that induce differentiation by culturing bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in media conditioned by a breast cancer cell line.

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