bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparing the effects of electronic cigarette smoke and conventional cigarette smoke on lung cancer viability
Authors: Choe Jana , Lee Woo Rin
Published: September 2023

The popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has been noted to be increasing in recent years — for multiple reasons, including the fact that e-cigarettes are often cheaper, available in a variety of “flavors,” and easily accessible, to both adolescents and young adults find e-cigarettes to be a more appealing option than traditional cigarettes. Even though levels of carcinogens are reduced in e-cigarettes in comparison with tobacco cigarettes, there is increasing concern that vaping e-cigarettes may also increase the risk of lung cancer. Instead of burning tobacco, e-cigarettes contain liquid solutions of three main components: solvents, flavors, and, mainly, nicotine. We hypothesized that the chemicals from e-cigarettes and cigarette smoke might affect lung cancer cell viability. To test this hypothesis, we collected smoke extracts from different types of cigarettes: regular tobacco, cigar-like e-cigarette, and vape-type e-cigarette. By exposing A549 cells, human lung cancer cells, to the different types of smoke extracts, we wanted to see how cell viability would be affected. Among the three different cigarette extracts, vape-type e-cigarette smoke extract significantly increased the A549 cell viability. Since vape-type e-cigarettes contain the highest concentration of nicotine compared to the other types of cigarettes, we hypothesized that nicotine might be the cause of increased lung cancer viability. When different concentrations of nicotine were tested on the A549 cell line, the results showed that up to 2% nicotine concentration increased the A549 cell viability significantly, but more than 5% nicotine concentration induced cell death due to its high toxicity. In conclusion, contrary to conventional thought, e-cigarettes, or vapes, may be more dangerous than tobacco cigarettes in terms of lung cancer viability.
Copper nanoparticle synthesis using Picea glauca ‘Conica’
Authors: Joshi Annika , Padhye Anuradha , Joshi Anu
Published: September 2023

Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) are frequently used as catalysts, antibacterial agents, electromagnetic interference shielding, and more, and are relatively inexpensive. Typically, synthesizing CuNPs requires toxic chemicals. Additionally, millions of Picea glauca ‘Conica’, or spruce, trees and plants are sold at Christmas every year, enjoyed in-season, and then discarded. There is great potential to keep these trees and plants out of landfills by using their leaves in alternate applications. We hypothesized that P. glauca leaves could be used as a non-toxic reducing agent to synthesize CuNPs due to their high antioxidant content. We synthesized CuNPs by adding an extract of P. glauca to copper sulfate, using starch as a capping agent. We obtained transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of the CuNPs and analyzed their morphologies using ImageJ software. The particles were predominantly spherical in shape, with an average diameter of 18.79 ± 5.99 nm. Energy-dispersive (EDS) showed absorption peaks of copper (Cu). We conclude that P. glauca leaf extract acts as an excellent reducing agent. Furthermore, biosynthesis using P. glauca is environmentally friendly, does not use toxic chemicals, and takes advantage of copper as an abundant resource. Ultimately, the CuNPs produced will be beneficial, as CuNPs are integral to medicine, electronics, and a variety of industries.
Combinatorial treatment by siNOTCH and retinoic acid decreases A172 brain cancer cell growth
Authors: Richardson Katherine Sim , Lee Woo Rin
Published: September 2023

Treatments inhibiting Notch signaling pathways have been explored by researchers as a new approach for the treatment of glioblastoma tumors, which is a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor. Recently, retinoic acid (RA) therapy, which inhibits Notch signaling, has shown a promising effect on inhibiting glioblastoma progression. RA, which is a metabolite of vitamin A, is very important in embryonic cellular development, which includes the regulation of multiple developmental processes, such as brain neurogenesis. However, high doses of RA treatment caused many side effects such as headaches, nausea, redness around the injection site, or allergic reactions. Therefore, we hypothesized that a combination treatment of RA and siRNA targeting NOTCH1 (siNOTCH1), the essential gene that activates Notch signaling, would effectively inhibit brain cancer cell proliferation. The aim of the study was to determine whether inhibiting NOTCH1 would inhibit the growth of brain cancer cells by cell viability assay. We found that the combination treatment of siNOTCH1 and RA in low concentration effectively decreased the NOTCH1 expression level compared to the individual treatments. However, the combination treatment condition significantly decreased the number of live brain cancer cells only at a low concentration of RA. We anticipate that this novel combination treatment can provide a solution to the side effects of chemotherapy.
Linear and non-linear summation of responses to visual and olfactory cues in male Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Chen Gaoxin , Hu Weilong , Chen Xiangling , Xu Yihua , Feng Yike , Ren Yan
Published: September 2023

The decision-making and navigating abilities of animals assist them in surviving in an environment with multimodal stimuli, but how the nervous system integrates multisensory information remains unknown. Thus, we chose to study summation, a main mode of integration in Drosophila melanogaster. We investigated whether summation of the responses to visual and olfactory cues was linear or non-linear and explored the significance of both patterns. By a population assay, we quantitatively characterized male Drosophila’s spatial steering behavior in response to visual and olfactory cues. Based on a pioneer study from previous research, we hypothesized that the response to concurrent presentation of visual and olfactory cues would be a simple linear summation of cues presented separately. The visual stimulus in our study was 250 lux white light, and the five attractive odorants were 1-hexanol, acetoin, ethyl acetate, 2,3-butanedione, and isopentyl acetate. The results showed that the performance of 1-hexanol, ethyl acetate, and isopentyl acetate supported the hypothesis. These phenomena indicate that visual and olfactory information are relayed to descending neurons in the ventral nerve cord to direct behavior separately, suggesting independent sensorimotor pathways between these odorants and light. However, acetoin demonstrated inhibition, and 2,3-butanedione demonstrated synergy with light. These phenomena indicate that information first be relayed to some higher site in brain for multisensory integration and computation then be relayed to descending neurons in the ventral nerve cord to direct behavior. Therefore, the results indicate that the integration pattern of phototaxis and odortaxis may depend on the specific odorant. In addition, our data suggest that the integration pattern may not depend on odorant representation by glomeruli in the antennal lobes. Instead, integration pattern may depend on some higher order of odorant processing center, where information could be more efficiently and accurately processed. Our experiment contributes to understanding neural circuits and information processing in insects and more complex species.
Societal awareness regarding viral Hepatitis in developed and developing countries
Authors: Srivastava Shreya , Thumati Shravan
Published: September 2023

Acute viral hepatitis is a condition in which healthy liver tissue gets inflamed, whereas chronic viral hepatitis can reach the point of cirrhosis and sometimes end-stage liver cancer. The disease, in its chronic form, causes detrimental amounts of scar tissue that stifle the liver's functionality and leads to organ failure. Many cases of viral hepatitis are easily preventable if caught early; however, a lack of public awareness regarding often leads to diagnoses near the final stages of disease when it is most lethal. Thus, we wanted to understand to what extent an individual's sex, age, education and country of residence (India or Singapore) impacts disease identification. We sent out a survey and quiz to residents in India (n = 239) and Singapore (n = 130) with questions that test their knowledge and awareness of the disease. We hypothesized that older and more educated individuals would score higher because they are more experienced, but that the Indian population will not be as knowledgeable as the Singaporean population because they do not have as many resources, such as socioeconomic access to schools and accessibility to healthcare, available to them. Additionally, we predicted that there would not be any notable differences between make and females. The results revealed that the accuracy for all groups we looked at was primarily below 50%, demonstrating a severe knowledge gap. Therefore, we concluded that if more medical professionals discussed viral hepatitis during hospital visits and in schools, patients can avoid the end stages of the disease in notable cases.
The impact of COVID-19 quarantine on physical activities in Basra, Iraq: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Al Saeedi Ahmed M , Al Saeedi Sara M , Mahmoud Janaen Y
Published: September 2023

The COVID-19 epidemic spread to almost all countries of the world in 2020 and 2021. The physical behavior of many people was affected during this period. Sedentary behavior and low levels of physical activity during the COVID-19 epidemic had negative effects on people’s health, well-being, and quality of life. This study aimed to determine the level of physical activity of the residents of Basra (the second-largest province in Iraq) during the COVID-19 quarantine according to sex, age, educational level, marital status, occupational/educational status, and health status. We hypothesized that the quarantine negatively affected the physical activities in terms of the number of days of physical activity and the type of physical activity practiced. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 150 participants from the province of Basra. We used an online questionnaire to get information about the quantity and types of physical activity that participants did before and during the quarantine. In general, the results showed a decrease in the number of days of physical activity for participants during the quarantine among those who engaged in physical activity for four days or more per week. Additionally, the results indicated that a high percentage of participants practiced home exercises and walking/jogging during the quarantine, with decreases in the other activities (swimming and those done inside sports clubs). The study indicated that there is an urgent need to develop a complete strategy to encourage people to engage in physical activities during any quarantine that may occur in the future.
Developing a wearable, skin-based triboelectric nanogenerator
Authors: Srireddy Armaan , Srireddy Satyamohan
Published: September 2023

The widespread adoption of alternative energy sources is increasingly important as we try to create a more sustainable future. The wearable electronics field is growing at a rapid rate. In addition to smart devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers, biosensors are becoming progressively more popular to track critical health data. Summer temperatures in Texas regularly rise over 100°F, often coinciding with summer activities and camps. Left unchecked, this can lead to serious consequences, including heatstroke. A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) embedded in one’s shirt can be used to sustainably power a temperature sensor to prevent heat emergencies. We hypothesized that the triboelectricity generated from the friction between one’s skin and a negatively charged material placed on the inside of a shirt would produce enough voltage to power these biosensors. We tested numerous negatively charged materials and conductors to determine the optimal design of the generator. Our results revealed that silicone was the superior negatively charged material, producing nearly twice as much voltage as Teflon and five times more than cellophane. We tested the conductors and found that copper produced over 50% more voltage than aluminum. The wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (W-TENG) utilized silicone and copper, the superior negatively charged material and conductor, respectively. The W-TENG produced an average of 3.6 volts while running, enough to power the temperature sensor. Our project is novel due to its usage of skin as the positively charged material in a hybrid contact-separation/sliding mode TENG. The W-TENG created and tested in this experiment shows promise for tracking body temperature and preventing impending heat emergencies.
A novel encoding technique to improve non-weather-based models for solar photovoltaic forecasting
Authors: Ahmed Khondoker Farihah , Hernandez Mauricio , Satre-Meloy Aven
Published: September 2023

Several studies have applied different machine learning (ML) techniques to the area of forecasting solar photovoltaic power production. Most of these studies use weather data as inputs to predict power production; however, there are numerous practical issues with the procurement of this data. This includes the high costs of procurement and lack of backup techniques if communication with weather data services fail. These practical issues are not widely considered yet in the current literature. This study proposes models that do not use weather data as inputs, but rather use past power production data as a more practical substitute to weather-based models. Similar studies have shown satisfactory accuracies, but this study proposes a novel data preprocessing technique—cyclical features encoding—that we hypothesized would boost model accuracy significantly. We used ML techniques to predict power production in a 24-hour time horizon, using input data of the past 48 hours of power production. The Random Forest model offered the best results, with a Pearson Correlation Coefficient of 0.97 (11% higher than previous studies), Mean Absolute Error of 0.0266 (60% better than previous studies), and Root Mean Squared Error of 0.0773 (38% better than previous studies). These results are comparable to state-of-the-art weather models in the field. Our proposed models demonstrate a better, cheaper, and more reliable alternatives to current weather models.
Effects of different synthetic training data on real test data for semantic segmentation
Authors: Zhang William , Lemmer Stephan
Published: September 2023

Semantic segmentation - labelling each pixel in an image to a specific class- models require large amounts of manually labeled and collected data to train. These huge datasets often are lacking in many fields such as specific weather events and climates. They also lack variety as most datasets are of city and street scenes as opposed to more rural scenes. Synthetic-to-real domain adaptation can be used to fill those gaps. Although there has been prior work on how to generate virtual data, in this paper we present insight on how features of the training data can affect the model and ultimately, the outcome. They can also provide insight on the dataset selection process. We hypothesized that different synthetic training data on real test data will affect the outcome of semantic segmentation. By testing real-world data on two iterations of a model trained by two separate virtual datasets using Python and deep learning models, we compared the results and analyzed the differences and similarities the datasets yielded for semantic segmentation. We unearthed critical insights that shed light on the dataset selection process, enabling researchers and practitioners to make more informed decisions when choosing the appropriate dataset type for semantic segmentation tasks. We contributed valuable findings, unveiling the limitations of substituting real datasets with virtual counterparts and offering guidance for dataset selection.
Racial and gender disparities in the portrayal of lawyers and physicians on television
Authors: Asadi Zane K , Milani Fatemeh
Published: September 2023

Mass media’s portrayal of minorities and women in society has the potential to shape perception and affect behavior. Our objective was to examine minority and gender representation in professional roles as lawyers and physicians on television. We hypothesized that minorities and women are less likely to be represented in these roles on television compared to White men. In addition, we hypothesized that the lower fictional representations of minorities and women as professionals would be mirrored by lower rates of minorities and women in actual legal and medical practice. We analyzed medical and legal primetime dramas featuring lawyers and physicians to determine the race and gender of the lead character(s). The distribution of fictional minority and female professionals was compared to a racial distribution obtained from the 2020 US census, as well as data on the race and gender of lawyers and physicians in practice. Our findings showed fictional lawyers and physicians on television were predominantly White and male. The next most common groups represented were Black lawyers and physicians. There were no major Hispanic or Asian lawyers and only one Hispanic and Asian male physician represented. Women were underrepresented as both lawyers and physicians. When compared to the expected population demographic data from the 2020 census, both racial and gender disparity were noted, with significantly fewer than expected fictional representations of minority and female lawyers and physicians. The racial and gender disparity found with fictional lawyers and physicians mirrored lower numbers of minority and female lawyers and physicians in actual practice.
Differential MERS-CoV response in different cell types
Authors: Symonds Rafe , Thuppul Shreeya , Lee Inhan , Li Chi-Chiang
Published: September 2023

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic piqued our interest in coronaviruses and prompted us to study MERS-CoV. While MERS-CoV has a low infection rate, it exhibits the highest mortality rate among the three known lethal coronaviruses. Thus, the potential for MERS-CoV to initiate a catastrophic pandemic remains a real threat. We decided to study MERS-CoV using online databases and analytical tools. We hypothesized that MERS-CoV infection elicits different responses in different types of host cells. We chose three data sets from Gene Omnibus Expression - GSE100504, GSE100509, and GSE86528, which represent MERS-CoV infection on human airway epithelial cells, primary human microvascular endothelial cells, and primary human fibroblasts, respectively. We performed RNA expression analysis on data collected 48 hours post-infection. Results indicated that human airway epithelial cells exhibited the most potent immune system response, suggesting that they are susceptible to pathogen infection, perhaps due to their location and exposure to the outside environment. We saw NRP1 and VEGFA upregulation in microvascular endothelial cells along with differential expression of angiogenesis and neural development processes. Given that NRP1 mediates SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells, the infection mechanism for MERS-CoV on microvascular endothelial cells may be like that of SARS-CoV-2. In fibroblasts, we observed a positive regulation of the apoptotic process and negative regulation of cell proliferation. Together, our data supports our hypothesis and sheds light on the types of responses host cells elicit from MERS-CoV infection.
The relationship between income inequality and maternal mortality for black and white mothers
Authors: Felix LNia , Scott Jason
Published: September 2023

Previous research has suggested that Black mothers die more often than White mothers during childbirth, and this may be due to income inequality and structural racism. The purpose of our study is to measure the relationship between the Gini coefficient, a common measure of income inequality, and Black and White maternal mortality rates by state and year. Data were obtained from the American Community Survey and the CDC; we then examined the relationships between the Gini coefficients and the maternal mortality rates for Black and White mothers. We found that overall, Black women's maternal mortality rate was higher each year between 2003 and 2019. Our first hypothesis was that there would be a positive relationship between the Gini coefficient and the maternal mortality rate by state; this was not supported, and neither White nor Black women’s maternal mortality rates had a significant relationship with the state’s Gini coefficient. Our second hypothesis was that there would be a positive relationship between the race-specific Gini coefficient and Black and White maternal mortality rates by year. This was partially supported; a positive relationship was found for the White maternal mortality rate but not for the Black maternal mortality rate. Therefore, we concluded that income inequality might affect White women more, but race and income matter overall for Black women, considering the clear disparity between Black and White mortality rates.
Prediction of preclinical Aβ deposit in Alzheimer’s disease mice using EEG and machine learning
Authors: Igarashi Mari , Jun Heechul
Published: September 2023

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common disease affecting 6 million people in the U.S., but no cure exists. To create therapy for AD, it is critical to detect amyloid-β protein in the brain at the early stage of AD because the accumulation of amyloid-β over 20 years is believed to cause memory impairment. However, it is difficult to examine amyloid-β in patients’ brains. The development of a simple method to predict the presence of amyloid-β without harming patients would be helpful for clinical applications. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a testing method that records brain activity using electrodes attached to the scalp without harming the brain. In this study, we hypothesized that we could accurately predict the presence of amyloid-β using EEG data and machine learning. To test this, we analyzed published EEG data recorded from healthy mice and AD mice. Machine classifiers were trained using EEGs of old mice with and without amyloid-β. We then tested if the best trained machine classifier (Gaussian Naïve Bayes (GNB) classifier) could predict amyloid-β in young mice from their EEG data. Results showed that GNB classifier can predict if a given mouse has amyloid-β or not at 81% accuracy when theta waves were used for classifier training. The accuracy of the classifier was at chance level when beta or gamma waves were used. These results indicate that amyloid-β presence can be predicted at high accuracy using EEG and machine learning and suggest that this method may be useful for early diagnosis of AD patients.
Comparing model-centric and data-centric approaches to determine the efficiency of data-centric AI
Authors: La Hoa , La Kinh
Published: September 2023

In current machine learning approaches, data is crucial, yet it is often overlooked and mishandled in artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, many hours are wasted fine-tuning a model based on faulty data. Hence, there exists a new trend in AI, which is data-centric AI. We hypothesized that data-centric AI would improve the performance of a machine learning model. To test this hypothesis, three models (two model-centric approaches and one data-centric approach) were used. The model-centric approaches included basic data cleaning techniques and focused on the model, while the data-centric approach featured advanced data preparation techniques and basic model-training. We found that the data-centric approach gave a higher accuracy than the model-centric approaches. The model-centric approaches achieved 91% and 90% accuracy, respectively, whereas the data-centric approach achieved 97% accuracy.
Enhancing activity of antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus with Shuang-Huang-Lian
Authors: Liu Ye , Ng Pui Ki , Ng Yin To , Wang Xiaoming
Published: September 2023

Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen in both hospitals and the community and can cause systemic infections such as pneumonia. Multi-drug resistant strains, such as Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are particularly worrisome. Bacterial antibiotic resistance can be attributed to various mechanisms including antibiotic inactivation. In order to reduce the development of bacterial resistance, we hypothesized that two selected traditional Chinese medicines, Shuang-Huang-Lian (SHL) and Lan-Qin, would be effective against S. aureus. In this study, we carried out the zone of inhibition determination of five antibiotics including amoxicillin, gentamicin, penicillin, clarithromycin, cefazolin and the traditional Chinese medicines SHL and Lan-Qin. The preliminary screening results showed that all the drugs except Lan-Qin exhibited antibacterial effects. Then, we conducted quantitative determination experiments to further explore the bacteriostasis of different drugs. The results of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) determination indicated that penicillin had the best inhibitory effect on bacterial growth, and clarithromycin killed all the bacteria at the lowest concentration. Also, we tested the combined effect of SHL with different antibiotics against S. aureus and calculated the fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) of the antibiotics. The results showed that SHL had a synergistic effect with gentamicin as well as additive effects with penicillin and cefazolin against S. aureus by decreasing MICs of antibiotics compared with using antibiotics alone. Our study provides a reference for the clinical treatment of S. aureus infection in combination with traditional Chinese medicines.
The anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects of polyherbal drug AS20 on HeLa cells resistant to 5-Fluorouracil
Authors: Malik Anmol , Kasture Pooja Vijaykumar , N V Bhavana , Rao Jyothsna , Rao Gururaj
Published: September 2023

Cancer treatment that involves chemotherapy often results in developed drug resistance which can be a major deterrent for the success of a treatment protocol. Increased inflammation, due to the drug's presence, contributes to disease progression and increased Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) expression (inflammatory marker). Integrative oncology is a field that focuses on combining natural herbal formulations with standard care to provide optimal clinical outcomes in a holistic manner, to minimize side effects, and to overcome drug resistance, including inflammation. 5-Flurouracil (5-FU) is a chemotherapeutic medication used to treat cancers. We studied drug resistance by deriving 5-FU-resistant HeLa cells (HeLa R) and evaluating the efficacy of AS20 in in vitro experiments. AS20 is an herbal formulation derived from the plant Amaranthus spinosus, an indigenous plant found in India. It contains different types of secondary metabolites such as saponins, polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, and flavonoids. We hypothesized that AS20 has anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties on HeLa R. We investigated if AS20 could downregulate increased inflammatory markers such as COX2 in HeLa R. Also, we studied anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic genes in AS20 treated HeLa R cells. Our results demonstrated that the inhibitory concentration at 50% (IC50) values of HeLa wild type cells with AS20 treatment was significantly less than HeLa R cells. Also, AS20 brought down induced COX2 expression in HeLa R cells. AS20 treatment on HeLa R cells showed upregulation of BAX (pro-apoptotic) but no significant change in BAD (pro-apoptotic) and downregulation of BCL2 and BCL2L1 (anti-apoptotic genes) in HeLa R cells. Our results showed that AS20 has anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic properties when treated on HeLa R cells.
Ramifications of natural and artificial sweeteners on the gastrointestinal system
Authors: Cowen Nora , Schafer Marie , Rasmus Joseph
Published: September 2023

As the clamor for healthier diets increases, many alternatives to glucose, the standard sugar, are coming into focus. We aimed to determine whether artificial sweeteners are harmful to the human microbiome by investigating two different bacteria found to be advantageous to the human gut, Escherichia coli and Bacillus coagulans. To measure the variation in bacterial growth relating to each sweetener, we mixed different sweeteners – glucose and stevia as natural sweeteners, and sucralose and acesulfame potassium as artificial sweeteners – with agar on which the bacteria would be growing. Then, both E. coli and B. coagulans were placed on separate agar plates and allowed to incubate for 24 hours and 96 hours, respectively. A dramatic reduction in bacterial growth was observed for the agar plates containing the two artificial sweeteners in comparison to the two natural sweeteners. Using an ANOVA test, we were able to demonstrate that when comparing each of the four combinations of artificial sweeteners to natural sweeteners, there was a significant difference in perceived growth. This led to the conclusion that both artificial sweeteners inhibit the growth of the two bacteria and warrants further study to determine if zero-sugar sweeteners may be worse for the human gut than natural sugar itself.
Relating socioeconomic position (SEP) and vaccination with Covid-19 rates in select populations
Authors: Bhatnagar Sweekrit , Cao Yue , Hasteer Diya , Li Joshua , McMahan Larry
Published: September 2023

In the COVID-19 pandemic, the world saw countless communities negatively impacted, and low-income communities were the most affected by the disease (29). In this study, we aimed to investigate and identify the relationship between key socioeconomic factors, COVID-19 infection rate, and vaccination, with hopes to apply this research to support low-income communities that are at a higher risk of infection. We hypothesized that there is a negative correlation between COVID-19 infection rate and positive economic factors such as per-capita GDP, and that there is a positive correlation between vaccination rates and similar factors. In our model for both infection rate and vaccination, we observed that although a negative relationship for some factors did exist, not all economic values had an observable correlation between the two. These findings could be used to further identify socioeconomic factors with the highest impact on disease infection rate, and therefore redirect public and private funding to solve underlying issues that allow the spread of disease.
Evaluation of in vitro anti-inflammatory effect of PLAY® on UC-MSCs: A COX-2 expression study
Authors: Singh Agustya , N V Bhavana , Vedula Maruti , S Archana , Thomas Teena Mary , Jennis Pramod Mercy , Gao Jyothsna , Rao Gururaj
Published: September 2023

Wound healing is an intricate process consisting of multiple phases, each of which is indispensable for requisite tissue repair. Timely initiation and resolution of each overlapping phase is critical in aiding the wound healing cascade. A prolonged inflammatory phase causes overexpression of proteolytic mediators, resulting in extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and increased oxidative stress. This imbalance in inflammatory mediators, ECM degradation, and upregulated levels of reactive oxygen species retards cell proliferation and migration, resulting in delayed tissue repair and the development of chronic wounds. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a potent inflammatory mediator that plays a pivotal role in the wound healing process at different stages of the tissue repair cascade. Overexpression of COX-2 during the tissue repair process impairs the wound healing cascade and contributes to the formation of chronic wounds. PLAY® is an in-house product of International Stem Cell Services Limited (iCREST) that is a human blood-platelet cocktail of natural growth factors and bioactive modulators. In our study, we hypothesized that PLAY® decreases inflammation in phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)- and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)- stimulated umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) by downregulating COX-2 expression to its basal levels. We used an experimentally induced inflammatory in vitro model to produce enhanced COX-2 expression in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and PLAY® showed a significant decrease in COX-2 levels in PMA induced UC-MSCs, providing evidence for an innate anti-inflammatory effect of PLAY® and a potential role in accelerated wound healing.
Developing novel plant waste-based hydrogels for skin regeneration and infection detection in diabetic wounds
Authors: Mathew Calvin Thomas , Caulkins Juliana , Joykutty Leya
Published: September 2023

More than 70,000 diabetic patients have amputations annually due to wound care complications. Poor circulation and hyperglycemia-related nerve damage, which are complications of diabetes, prevent natural wound-healing processes. 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. We 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. All five assays indicated that potato peel starch and citrus pectin were capable of mimicking natural skin, with a relevant pore diameter and stiffness. Both groups were able to absorb 40 times their weight before naturally degrading and supported upwards of 500% NIH 3T3 fibroblast proliferation. Additionally, anthocyanin, a pigmented flavonoid, was encapsulated in hydrogels and used as an infection biomarker and preventative agent. We conducted a pH responsivity test and time-to-kill antibacterial assay, validating the ability of anthocyanin to noticeably change colors in hydrogels and assert bactericidal effects even at low concentrations. A concentration of 200 milligrams could prevent bacteria growth and showed no effect on fibroblast growth. 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.
Modeling and optimization of epidemiological control policies through reinforcement learning
Authors: Rao Ishir , Rao Achuth
Published: September 2023

Pandemics involve the high transmission of a disease that impacts global and local health and economic patterns. The impact of a pandemic can be minimized by enforcing certain restrictions on a community. However, while minimizing infection and death rates, these restrictions can also lead to economic crises. Epidemiological models help propose pandemic control strategies based on non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, curfews, and lockdowns, reducing the economic impact of these restrictions. However, designing manual control strategies while considering disease spread and economic status is non-trivial. Optimal strategies can be designed through multi-objective reinforcement learning (MORL) models, which demonstrate how restrictions can be used to optimize the outcome of a pandemic. In this research, we utilized an epidemiological Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Recovered, Deceased (SEIRD) model – a compartmental model for virtually simulating a pandemic day by day. We combined the SEIRD model with a deep double recurrent Q-network to train a reinforcement learning agent to enforce the optimal restriction on the SEIRD simulation based on a reward function. We tested two agents with unique reward functions and pandemic goals to obtain two strategies. The first agent placed long lockdowns to reduce the initial spread of the disease, followed by cyclical and shorter lockdowns to mitigate the resurgence of the disease. The second agent provided similar infection rates but an improved economy by implementing a 10-day lockdown and 20-day no-restriction cycle. This use of reinforcement learning and epidemiological modeling allowed for both economic and infection mitigation in multiple pandemic scenarios.
COVID 19 and the perceived impacts on adolescents’ and young adults’ mental health: A quantitative survey
Authors: Kumar Aarush , Kelman Charlotte Rose , Russell Abigail
Published: September 2023

The COVID 19 pandemic has led to more than 6.5 million deaths worldwide at present. Social restrictions focused on reducing the spread of the virus among the public, coupled with the pandemic itself before have had continuous detrimental impacts on mental health. The radical changes that young people had to go through due to this pandemic are likely a contributing factor to the potential changes in their mental health and wellbeing. The aim of this study was to explore to what extent the COVID 19 pandemic has affected young people’s mental health and wellbeing. We hypothesized that the COVID 19 pandemic would overall have a negative perceived impact on young adults’ mental health. We conducted an online survey which included the short General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and received 102 valid responses. We found that overall young adults perceived the pandemic to be detrimental to many areas of their wellbeing, with females and those aged 18–19 and 22–23 years old being most significantly impacted.
Developing anticholinergic drugs for the treatment of asthma with improved efficacy
Authors: Wong Bryant , Sai Pushpa Datla Sriya , Li Cindy , Joyce Christine , Alzagatiti Joseph
Published: September 2023

Anticholinergics are used in treating asthma, a chronic inflammation of the airways. These drugs block human M1 and M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, inhibiting bronchoconstriction. However, studies have reported complications of anticholinergic usage, such as exacerbated eosinophil production and worsened urinary retention. Modification of known anticholinergics using bioisosteric replacements to increase efficacy could potentially minimize these complications. The present study focuses on identifying viable analogs of anticholinergics to improve binding energy to the receptors compared to current treatment options. Glycopyrrolate (G), ipratropium (IB), and tiotropium bromide (TB) were chosen as parent drugs of interest, due to the presence of common functional groups within the molecules, specifically esters and alcohols. Docking score analysis via AutoDock Vina was used to evaluate the binding energy between drug analogs and the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. The final results suggest that G-A3, IB-A3, and TB-A1 are the most viable analogs, as binding energy was improved when compared to the parent drug. G-A4, IB-A4, IB-A5, TB-A3, and TB-A4 are also potential candidates, although there were slight regressions in binding energy to both muscarinic receptors for these analogs. By researching the effects of bioisosteric replacements of current anticholinergics, it is evident that there is a potential to provide asthmatics with more effective treatment options.
Impact of gadodiamide (Omniscan) on a beef liver catalase ex vivo model
Authors: Hirsch Melany , Carvalho Tito
Published: September 2023

Gadolinium is used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans to enhance image quality and allow doctors to more effectively diagnose patients. It is administered to patients through intravenous injection of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). Although most of the injected gadolinium is excreted from the body soon after it is administered, studies have shown that some gadolinium remains in the body for extended periods of time. In patients with renal dysfunction, gadolinium retention has been associated with Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis, and even in patients with normal kidney function, long-term gadolinium deposits have been observed in the brain following exposure to GBCAs. The specific biochemical effects of gadolinium retention remain largely unknown, but it is possible that gadolinium may impact enzymatic activity. The present experiment investigated the effects of gadodiamide (brand name Omniscan), a common GBCA, on the function of catalase, a crucial biological enzyme that converts hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. We exposed beef liver to various concentrations of hydrogen peroxide both with and without gadodiamide, and we determined the Vmax and Km values of the catalase. We found that the presence of gadodiamide did not significantly inhibit catalase, which we hypothesize is due to the chelating agent present in gadodiamide. This work has important implications for understanding the biochemical effects of GBCAs and their potential impact on patient health.
A comparison of use of the mobile electronic health record by medical providers based on clinical setting
Authors: Stover Aoife , Hayes Ashley , Barrera Leonardo , Golbeck Emily , Malloy Colleen
Published: September 2023

Technology can help streamline processes and improve communication between healthcare providers and patients. The electronic health record (EHR), along with its mobile application, have demonstrated the ability to improve the efficiency and accuracy of health care delivery. Given these capabilities, further research in technology adoption and utilization is warranted to determine best strategies for usage and deployment. By usage analysis one can ascertain if certain groups find mobile EHR (mEHR) tools more usable and useful than other groups. To determine if medical providers in different work settings at an academic pediatric hospital have similar or dissimilar frequencies of mEHR use, we categorized providers as inpatient, ambulatory, critical care, or emergency medicine according to their EHR profile departments. This study included data from 874 health care providers over a 12-month period regarding their usage of mobile phone (EPIC® Haiku) and tablet (EPIC® Canto) mEHR. Tablet mEHR use was relatively low compared to mobile phone EHR access, accounting for only 8% of total mEHR logins. Furthermore, ambulatory and inpatient care providers had the greatest usage levels over the 12-month period. Critical care providers do not utilize mEHR tools nearly as much as ambulatory or inpatient providers, likely due to workflow differences. Since clinical setting does affect usage levels of the mEHR, understanding of provider workflow can be helpful in maximizing the potential of these digital tools. Awareness of workflow allows for optimization of mEHR design and implementation, which should increase mEHR adoption and usage, leading to better health outcomes for patients.
Do elders care about eHealth? A correlational study between eHealth consumption and literacy
Authors: Liang Derek , Sposa Erica
Published: September 2023

As digital tools become more prevalent in medicine, the ability for individuals to understand and take actions based on what they read on the internet is crucial. eHealth literacy is defined as as the ability to seek, find, understand, and evaluate health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge gained to addressing or solving a health problem. In general, Americans have low eHealth literacy rates. However, limited research has been conducted to understand the eHealth literacy level among older Chinese adult immigrants in the U.S. To determine the eHealth literacy of elderly Chinese immigrants, we sent out an eHealth survey and relevant computer skills survey using a modified version of the eHEALS (eHealth Literacy Scale) health literacy test. We hypothesized that elders who consumed more electronic health content would have a higher eHealth literacy score. The results of this survey showed that there was a positive correlation between the frequency of electronic health information consumption and the participant's eHealth literacy rate. In addition, the results of our computer literacy test show that the frequency of consumption and computer literacy are positively correlated as well. There is a strong positive correlation between the level of computer skills and eHealth literacy of participants. These results reveal possible steps individuals can take to reduce health misinformation and improve their own health by attaining, understanding, and taking action on health material on the internet.
Use of yogurt bacteria as a model surrogate to compare household cleaning solutions
Authors: Shukla Ari , Duchimaza Heredia Juan
Published: September 2023

With the growing number of pathogens that are responsible for human disease, there is an urgent need to compare the relative efficacy of various household cleaning chemicals. These chemicals play an important role in preventing the spread of disease in the home setting, but there is no uniform way of comparing these cleaning products. In addition, there is no readily available guidance for the consumer while purchasing household cleaning products in terms of their efficacy in destroying bacteria. This research addresses this need by studying the inactivation of yogurt bacteria in the presence of a variety of cleaning products. We found that several of the cleaning products (Citrus II Hospital Germicidal Deodorizing Cleaner, Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner, and Earth Essentials Multipurpose Cleaner) were very effective at rapidly destroying bacteria. On the other hand, several other cleaning products including soap and alcohol-based hand sanitizer were only partially efficacious. Water as a control and one other cleaner were not at all effective at destroying bacteria. We compared the efficacy of cleaning products on bacteria isolated from common public surfaces and found good correlation with the results from the yogurt model. The effective concentration of isopropyl alcohol in hand sanitizer was studied using this model system. The results support our hypothesis that yogurt bacteria are a safe and readily available model system that can be used to rank the relative efficacy of several commonly used household cleaning products, as well as potentially for other studies on bacterial inactivation.
Estimating the liquid jet breakdown height using dimensional analysis with experimental evidence
Authors: Paisie Rusu , Crlig Sergiu
Published: September 2023

When opening a sink or pouring water from a bottle an interesting and unintuitive physical phenomenon occurs: the regular cylindrical jet breaks into droplets at a certain height, which changes once the initial conditions of the falling jet change , thus two distinct regions are observable: a steady stream of water at high flow and separate droplets at low flow . In this paper, we found and experimentally tested a model that correlates the parameters of the phenomenon mentioned above. We analyzed how the breakdown height of the jet changes with three initial parameters: jet radius, liquid density, and surface tension. We propose a mathematical model for the relationship between the diameter of the liquid stream and the height at which it breaks into droplets , consisting of a quadratic dependency . There was a good fit between experimental data and the model with a correlation coefficient exceeding 0.95. Finding and exploring this way to analyze fluid mechanics might help understand the fundamental correlation between the parameters involved and design more lucrative industrial techniques in fields such as oil extraction or printing.