Although commonly associated with cryptocurrency, blockchains offer security that other databases could benefit from. These student authors tested a blockchain database framework, and by tracking runtime of four independent variables, they prove this framework is feasible for application.

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is a master regulator of mitosis, initiating key steps of cell cycle regulation, and its overexpression is associated with certain types of cancer. In this study, the authors carefully designed peptides that were able to bind to Plk1 at a location that is important for its proper localization and function. Future studies could further develop these peptides to selectively target Plk1 in cancer cells and induce mitotic arrest.

The authors use the Lanczos algorithm to computationally solve the Schrodinger equation for 2D potentials with a Python program

This manuscript was retracted on March 22, 2021 as it did not adhere to JEI's submission requirements with respect to author permissions. All authors on the manuscript agreed to its removal.

Here the authors sought to understand the effects of different variables that may be tied to pollution and climate change on genetic variation of Pacific white-sided dolphins, a species that is currently threatened by water pollution. Based on environmental data collected alongside a genetic distance matrix, they found that ocean currents had the most significant impact on the genetic diversity of Pacific white-sided dolphins along the Japanese coast.

In this article, the authors propose an effective, environmentally-friendly method of producing conductive ink using expired waste oil, polystyrene, and graphene.

In this study, the authors utilize an infrared camera to visualize and investigate the exothermic reaction of polyurethane foam, which has many everyday uses including automotive seats, bedding, and insulation.

Cancer is often caused by improper function of a few proteins, and sometimes it takes only a few proteins to malfunction to cause drastic changes in cells. Here the authors look at the genes that were mutated in patients with a type of pancreatic cancer to identify proteins that are important in causing cancer. They also determined which proteins currently lack effective treatment, and suggest that certain proteins (named KRAS, CDKN2A, and RBBP8) are the most important candidates for developing drugs to treat pancreatic cancer.

The authors looked at the effects of commonly used anesthetics in rodents on brain activity (specifically quasi-periodic patterns). Understanding effects on brain activity is important for researchers to understand when choosing rodent models for disease.

Cosmic rays are high-energy astronomical particles originating from various sources across the universe. Here, The authors sought to understand how surface-level cosmic-ray muon flux is affected by atmospheric attenuation by measuring the variation in relative muon-flux rate relative to zenith angle, testing the hypothesis that muons follow an exponential attenuation model. The attenuation model predicts an attenuation length of 6.3 km. This result implies that only a maximum of 24% of muons can reach the Earth’s surface, due to both decay and atmospheric interactions.