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Developing novel plant waste-based hydrogels for skin regeneration and infection detection in diabetic wounds

Mathew et al. | Aug 10, 2023

Developing novel plant waste-based hydrogels for skin regeneration and infection detection in diabetic wounds

The purpose of this investigation is to develop a hydrogel to aid skin regeneration by creating an extracellular matrix for fibroblast growth with antibacterial and infection-detection properties. Authors developed two natural hydrogels based on pectin and potato peels and characterized the gels for fibroblast compatibility through rheology, scanning electron microscopy, swelling, degradation, and cell cytotoxicity assays. Overall, this experiment fabricated various hydrogels capable of acting as skin substitutes and counteracting infections to facilitate wound healing. Following further testing and validation, these hydrogels could help alleviate the 13-billion-dollar financial burden of foot ulcer treatment.

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Suppress that algae: Mitigating the effects of harmful algal blooms through preemptive detection & suppression

Natarajan et al. | Jul 17, 2023

Suppress that algae: Mitigating the effects of harmful algal blooms through preemptive detection & suppression
Image credit: Sharanya Natarajan

A bottleneck in deleting algal blooms is that current data section is manual and is reactionary to an existing algal bloom. These authors made a custom-designed Seek and Destroy Algal Mitigation System (SDAMS) that detects harmful algal blooms at earlier time points with astonishing accuracy, and can instantaneously suppress the pre-bloom algal population.

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Spectrophotometric comparison of 4-Nitrophenyl carbonates & carbamates as base-labile protecting groups

Kocalar et al. | Dec 12, 2022

Spectrophotometric comparison of 4-Nitrophenyl carbonates & carbamates as base-labile protecting groups

In organic synthesis, protecting groups are derivatives of reactive functionalities that play a key role in ensuring chemoselectivity of chemical transformations. To protect alcohols and amines, acid-labile tert-butyloxycarbonyl protecting groups are often employed but are avoided when the substrate is acid-sensitive. Thus, orthogonal base-labile protecting groups have been in demand to enable selective deprotection and to preserve the reactivity of acid-sensitive substrates. To meet this demand, we present 4-nitrophenyl carbonates and carbamates as orthogonal base-labile protecting group strategies.

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Quantitatively evaluating changes in art critique journals’ use of moral language across time

Chang et al. | Oct 23, 2026

Quantitatively evaluating changes in art critique journals’ use of moral language across time
Image credit: Chang and Mahmoud

The authors use MoralBERT, a BERT-based machine learning model, to analyze the prevalence and evolution of moral language in art critique journals from 1960 to 2015. They draw on Moral Foundations Theory to examine changes in five virtue and five vice foundations over time. They discover slight increases in degradation and care and a decrease in purity among otherwise stable patterns. The study is a novel application of computational moral analysis in a domain not typically associated with such tools. Although the moral signals were relatively faint, the study offers insights into shifting art world discourses and models an exciting method for future inquiry.

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Investigating the effects of PVC microplastics on the growth of Chlorella vulgaris

Beaubien et al. | Oct 13, 2026

Investigating the effects of PVC microplastics on the growth of <i>Chlorella vulgaris</i>

This study examined the effect of varying PVC microplastic concentrations on the growth of Chlorella vulgaris in freshwater, utilizing six PVC levels and identical culture conditions. Cell counts revealed that higher PVC concentrations consistently reduced algal growth, and a Spearman correlation test detected a significant negative monotonic association between PVC concentration and viable cell density. These results support the hypothesis that PVC microplastics impair algal growth, underscoring their ecological risk in freshwater environments.

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Integrated expression, mutation, and survival analysis of 17 key genes in breast cancer using TCGA-BRCA data

Wang et al. | Aug 06, 2026

Integrated expression, mutation, and survival analysis of 17 key genes in breast cancer using TCGA-BRCA data

This study combines gene expression, mutation profiling, and survival analysis of 17 clinically important genes in breast cancer, utilizing the TCGA-BRCA dataset. Our results show that there are different patterns of oncogene upregulation, different levels of tumor suppressor activity, and complicated survival associations. TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene in this cohort. The results underscore the significance of multidimensional genomic analyses for a comprehensive understanding of breast cancer biology and its therapeutic ramifications.

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