Methane is a naturally-occurring gas that could be utilized as a renewable source of energy. In this study, authors isolated microorganisms from the Puget Sound region that could produce methane biofuel from composted waste.
Read More...Biowaste to Biofuel: Using Methane-Producing Microorganisms Found in Soil Samples from Local Wetlands
Methane is a naturally-occurring gas that could be utilized as a renewable source of energy. In this study, authors isolated microorganisms from the Puget Sound region that could produce methane biofuel from composted waste.
Read More...Comparative Gamma Radiation Analysis by Geographic Region
Gamma radiation can be produced by both natural and man-made sources and abnormally high exposure levels could lead to an increase in cell damage. In this study, gamma radiation was measured at different locations and any correlation with various geographic factors, such as distance from a city center, elevation and proximity to the nearest nuclear reactor, was determined.
Read More...Functional Network Connectivity: Possible Biomarker for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder and is difficult to diagnose in young children. Here magnetoencephalography was used to compare the brain activity in patients with ASD to patients in a control group. The results show that patients with ASD have a high level of activity in different areas of the brain than those in the control group.
Read More...Durability of the Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (CSII) Patch Adhesive
Insulin infusion patches are a common way for diabetics to receive medication. The durability of two different patch adhesives was compared on artificial skin with and without artificial sweat.
Read More...Mutation of the Catalytic Cysteine in Anopheles gambiae Transglutaminase 3 (AgTG3) Abolishes Plugin Crosslinking Activity without Disrupting Protein Folding Properties
Malaria is a major public health issue, especially in developing countries, and vector control is a major facet of malaria eradication efforts. Recently, sterile insect technique (SIT), or the release of sterile mosquitoes into the wild, has shown significant promise as a method of keeping vector populations under control. In this study, the authors investigate the Anopheles gambiae transglutaminase 3 protein (AgT3), which is essential to the mating of the Anopheles mosquito. They show that an active site mutation is able to abolish the activity of the AgT3 enzyme and propose it as a potential target for chemosterilant inhibitors.
Read More...The Effect of UV Treatment on the Degradation of Compostable Polylactic Acid
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a bio-based, compostable plastic that is comparable in cost to petroleum-based plastics. This study aims to evaluate the effects of UV treatment and mechanical chopping on the degradation of PLA. Based on their findings, the authors propose an alternative PLA degradation process that may be more time and energy efficient than current processes.
Read More...Mining social media posts: An alternative approach to understanding home health care workers’ experiences
This study developed an effective method for extracting valuable information from social media data and employed computer-assisted human coding alongside the AI-powered tool to analyze social media posts. The findings provide a deep understanding of the major challenges that home health care workers are experiencing and offer important implications regarding how to improve home healthcare workers' well-being, and provide suggestions on optimizing the home health care service experience.
Read More...Large-scale brain network connectivity under anxiety induced by naturalistic story listening
This study found that anxiety induced by a suspenseful story increased communication between the brain’s salience, default mode, and central executive networks, with the central executive network acting as a bridge during peak tension. These findings suggest that anxiety alters large-scale brain connectivity patterns and may help inform future diagnostic tools and personalized treatments for anxiety disorders.
Read More...The effects of potassium bromate on the apoptosis and survivability of human cell lines
The authors studied the effect of potassium bromate, a common food additive, to cell viability.
Read More...Impact of contamination variability on convolutional neural network accuracy in recycling classification
The authors looked at the ability of a convolutional neural network (CNN) to sort contaminated recycling, with varying levels of contamination. They found as contamination levels increased, the CNN faced more difficulty correctly classifying items.
Read More...