Browse Articles

Banana-based Biofuels for Combating Climate Change: How the Composition of Enzyme Catalyzed Solutions Affects Biofuel Yield

Klein-Hessling Barrientos et al. | May 27, 2020

Banana-based Biofuels for Combating Climate Change: How the Composition of Enzyme Catalyzed Solutions Affects Biofuel Yield

The authors investigate whether amylase or yeast had a more prominent role in determining the bioethanol concentration and bioethanol yield of banana samples. They hypothesized that amylase would have the most significant impact on the bioethanol yield and concentration of the samples. They found that while yeast is an essential component for producing bioethanol, the proportion of amylase supplied through a joint amylase-yeast mixture has a more significant impact on the bioethanol yield. This study provides a greater understanding of the mechanisms and implications involved in enzyme-based biofuel production, specifically of those pertaining to amylase and yeast.

Read More...

Implications of various pure tones on Phaseolus vulgaris and Gaultheria shallon

Judit et al. | Jul 13, 2026

Implications of various pure tones on <i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i> and <i>Gaultheria shallon<i>

This study investigated how different sound frequencies (0, 1,000, 5,000, and 15,000 Hz) affect the growth of Phaseolus vulgaris and the transpiration rates of Gaultheria shallon. Although some differences in plant growth were observed, the authors found no consistent evidence that sound frequency enhanced overall growth or transpiration, highlighting the need for further research.

Read More...

Measuring effects of caffeine and melatonin on learning trends of Zebrafish juveniles

Wei et al. | Jun 28, 2026

Measuring effects of caffeine and melatonin on learning trends of Zebrafish juveniles

This study investigates how caffeine and melatonin affect learning in adolescent zebrafish, serving as a model for human teens. Using an automated system to track behavior, we found that melatonin slowed learning while caffeine caused erratic, inconsistent responses, suggesting both substances can negatively impact adolescent learning patterns. These findings highlight the need for further research into their physiological effects and potential implications for human adolescents.

Read More...

Mitigating skin color bias in dermatology AI using CycleGAN-based data augmentation

Kannan et al. | Jun 24, 2026

Mitigating skin color bias in dermatology AI using CycleGAN-based data augmentation
Image credit: Kannan and Ramasamy

This study investigates skin tone bias in artificial intelligence models used for dermatological disease classification and evaluates a CycleGAN-based data augmentation approach to improve diagnostic performance on darker skin types. We generated synthetic dark-skinned images to enhance dataset diversity and compared model performance before and after augmentation. The results demonstrate that augmentation with synthetic dermatological images can help reduce disparities in diagnostic performance across skin tones, highlighting a practical strategy for improving fairness in dermatology AI systems.

Read More...

Exploring Interactions between PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) and proteins

Lu-Yang et al. | May 16, 2026

Exploring Interactions between PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) and proteins
Image credit: Authors

Here the authors investigated how the "forever chemical" perfluorooctanoic acid binds to bovine serum albumin (BSA) using computational software to simulate its potential impact on essential human plasma proteins. They identify a possible, high-energy binding configuration that could persistently impair protein functions, underscoring the critical need for further research into the long-term health risks of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances exposure.

Read More...

Influence of induction heating on static recrystallization kinetics of AISI 4130 steel

Chen et al. | Apr 30, 2026

Influence of induction heating on static recrystallization kinetics of AISI 4130 steel

This article investigates whether induction heating can speed up static recrystallization in AISI 4130 steel compared with traditional radiant heating. It was found that induction-heated samples recrystallized faster, softened more quickly, and showed earlier microstructural changes like grain nucleation and pearlite spheroidization, suggesting induction heating could be a more efficient alternative for industrial metal heat treatments.

Read More...