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Coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death worldwide, results from cholesterol build-up in coronary arteries, limiting blood and oxygen flow to the heart. This study investigated the use of gold and silver nanoparticles coated with aspirin and activated by near-infrared light to improve blood flow in a clogged artery model. The nanoparticles increased simulated blood flow rates, demonstrating potential as a less invasive and more targeted treatment for cardiovascular disease.

Here, the authors characterize how silver ions nucleate a star-block copolymer to generate nano-sized silver particles.

In a 10-year period in the early 2000’s, hospital-based (nosocomial) infections increased by 123%, and this number is increasing as time goes on. The purpose of this experiment was to use hyaluronic acid, silver nanoparticles, and a bacteriophage cocktail to create a hydrogel that promotes wound healing by increasing cell proliferation while simultaneously disrupting biofilm formation and breaking down Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are two strains of bacteria that attribute to nosocomial infections and are increasing in antibiotic resistance.

Unprocessed water from hand-pressed wells is still commonly used as a source of drinking water in Chenzhou, the “Nonferrous Metal Village” of China. Long et al. conducted a study to measure the heavy metal contamination levels and potential health effects in this area. Water samples were analyzed through Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICPOES) and the concentrations of 20 metal elements. Results showed that although none of the samples had dangerous levels of heavy metals, the concentrations of Al, Fe, and Mn in many locations substantially exceeded those suggested in the Chinese Drinking Water Standard and the maximum contaminant levels of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The authors have made an important discovery regarding the water safety in HuNan and their suggestions to install water treatment systems would greatly benefit the community.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common form of pancreatic cancer, with early diagnosis and treatment challenges. When any of the genes KRAS, SMAD4, TP53, and BRCA2 are heavily mutated, they correlate with PDAC progression. Cellular stress, partly regulated by the gene SERPINA6, also correlates with PDAC progression. When SERPINA6 is highly expressed, corticosteroid-binding globulin inhibits the effect of the stress hormone cortisol. In this study, the authors explored whether there is an inverse correlation between the expression of SERPINA6 and PDAC-linked genes.

In this study, the authors assess the factors that allow some speedcubers to solve Rubik's Cubes faster than others.

Here, beginning from an initial interest in the possibility to use a computer to automatically solve a geometry diagram parser, the authors developed their own Fast Geometry Diagram Parser (FastGDP) that uses clustering and corner information. They compared their own methods to a more widely available, method, GeoSolver, finding their own to be an order of magnitude faster in most cases that they considered.

This study follows the process of single-cloning and the growth of a homogeneous cell population in a superficial environment over the course of six weeks with the end goal of showing which of five tumor growth models commonly used to predict heterogeneous cancer cell population growth (Exponential, Logistic, Gompertz, Linear, and Bertalanffy) would also best exemplify that of homogeneous cell populations.