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Heat impact to food’s shelf life - An example of milk

Xu et al. | Dec 13, 2022

Heat impact to food’s shelf life - An example of milk

Food spoilage happens when food is not kept in a good storage condition. Qualitatively estimating the shortened shelf life of food could reduce food waste. In this study, we tested the impact of heat on milk shelf life. Our results showed that an exposure at room temperature (25°C) for 3.2 hours will decrease the shelf life of milk by one day.

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How has California’s Shelter-in-Place Order due to COVID-19 and the Resulting Reduction in Human Activity Affected Air and Water Quality?

Everitt et al. | Feb 15, 2021

How has California’s Shelter-in-Place Order due to COVID-19 and the Resulting Reduction in Human Activity Affected Air and Water Quality?

As the world struggled to grapple with the emerging COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many countries instated policies to help minimize the spread of the virus among residents. This inadvertently led to a decrease in travel, and in some cases, industrial output, two major sources of pollutants in today's world. Here, the authors investigate whether California's shelter-in-place policy was associated with a measurable decrease in water and air pollution in that state between June and July of 2020, compared to the preceeding five years. Their findings suggest that, by some metrics, air quality improved within certain areas while water quality was relatively unchanged. Overall, these findings suggest that changing human behavior can, indeed, help reduce the level of air pollutants that compromise air quality.

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Improving measurement of reducing sugar content in carbonated beverages using Fehling’s reagent

Zhang et al. | Jul 21, 2020

Improving measurement of reducing sugar content in carbonated beverages using Fehling’s reagent

The sugar-rich modern diet underlies a suite of metabolic disorders, most common of which is diabetes. Accurately reporting the sugar content of pre-packaged food and drink items can help consumers track their sugar intake better, facilitating more cognisant and, eventually, moderate consumption of high-sugar items. In this article, the authors examine the effect of several variables on the accuracy of Fehling's reaction, a colorimetric reaction used to estimate sugar content.

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Analyzing the effects of multiple adhesives on elastic collisions and energy loss in a Newton’s Cradle

Isham et al. | Feb 02, 2024

Analyzing the effects of multiple adhesives on elastic collisions and energy loss in a Newton’s Cradle

The energy conservation in a system of objects in collision depends on the elasticity of the objects and environmental factors such as air resistance. One system that relies heavily on elasticity is the Newton’s Cradle. We aimed to determine the extent to which these adhesives serve to mitigate or worsen the chaotic movements and elastic collisions.

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Sri Lankan Americans’ views on U.S. racial issues are influenced by pre-migrant ethnic prejudice and identity

Gunawardena et al. | Apr 18, 2022

Sri Lankan Americans’ views on U.S. racial issues are influenced by pre-migrant ethnic prejudice and identity

In this study, the authors examined how Sri Lankan Americans (SLAs) view racial issues in the U.S. The main hypothesis is that SLAs, as a minority in the U.S., are supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement and its political goal, challenging the common notion that SLAs are anti-Black. The study found that a majority of SLAs believe the U.S. has systemic racism, favor BLM, and favor affirmative action. IT also found that Tamil SLAs have more favorable views of BLM and affirmative action than Sinhalese SLAs.

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In silico modeling of emodin’s interactions with serine/threonine kinases and chitosan derivatives

Suresh et al. | Jan 10, 2022

<i>In silico</i> modeling of emodin’s interactions with serine/threonine kinases and chitosan derivatives

Here, through protein-ligand docking, the authors investigated the effect of the interaction of emodin with serine/threonine kinases, a subclass of kinases that is overexpressed in many cancers, which is implicated in phosphorylation cascades. Through molecular dynamics theyfound that emodin forms favorable interactions with chitosan and chitosan PEG (polyethylene glycol) copolymers, which could aid in loading drugs into nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted delivery to cancerous tissue. Both polymers demonstrated reasonable entrapment efficiencies, which encourages experimental exploration of emodin through targeted drug delivery vehicles and their anticancer activity.

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Effect of Different Growth Media on Algae’s Ability for Carbon Dioxide Biofixation

Chaudhuri et al. | Oct 12, 2020

Effect of Different Growth Media on Algae’s Ability for Carbon Dioxide Biofixation

In this study, the authors investigate the effects of different algal growth media on algae's ability to perform carbon dioxide biofixation, or utilize carbon dioxide by fixing it into fatty acids within the cells. More specifically, carbon dioxide biofixation of Chlorella vulgaris was cultured in one of four media options and carbon dioxide was measured and compared to controls. The study results demonstrated that the use of media can enhance algae's capacity for biofixation and this has important implications for developing methods to reduce carbon dioxide in the environment.

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