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Concerns regarding the rapid spread of Sars-CoV2 in early 2020 led company and local governmental officials in many states to ask people to work from home and avoid leaving their homes; measures commonly referred to as shutdowns. Here, the authors investigate how shutdowns affected carbon monoxide (CO) levels in 15 US states using publicly available data. Their results suggest that CO levels decreased as a result of these measures over the course of 2020, a trend which started to reverse after shutdowns ended.

This study explores the link between fingerprints and genetics by analyzing familial fingerprints to show how the fingerprints between family members, and in particular siblings, could be very similar. The hypothesis was that the fingerprints between siblings would be very similar and the dominant fingerprint features within the family would be the same throughout the generations. Fingerprints between the siblings showed a trend of similarity, with only very small differences which makes these fingerprints unique. This work helps to support the link between fingerprints and genetics while providing a modern technological application.

Plastic debris can disrupt marine ecosystems, spread contaminants, and take years to naturally degrade. In this study, Wu et al aim to establish an understanding of the scope of Williamston, Michigan’s microplastics problem, as well as to attempt to find the source of these plastics. Initially, the authors hypothesize that the Williamston Wastewater Treatment Plant was the primary contributor to Williamston’s microplastics pollution. Although they find a general trend of increasing concentrations of microplastics from upstream to downstream, they do not pinpoint the source of Williamston’s microplastics pollution in the present research.

Increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide is slowly acidifying our oceans. Here the authors test the effects of ocean acidification on the ability of hermit crabs (P. longicarpus) to find food. Though no statistically significant changes in food finding were observed, the data suggest a trend toward different activity.

This study analyzed patient demographics in the ophthalmology department at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) to assess relationships between age, sex, and eye conditions. While the overall sex distribution was equal, individual conditions varied, with cataracts and retinal disorders more common in males and conjunctival conditions slightly more prevalent in females, though none were statistically significant (p > 0.05) except for cataract patients aged 50–89 (p < 0.001). Understanding these trends can help medical facilities allocate resources more effectively for improved patient care.

Current drug discovery processes can cost billions of dollars and usually take five to ten years. People have been researching and implementing various computational approaches to search for molecules and compounds from the chemical space, which can be on the order of 1060 molecules. One solution involves deep generative models, which are artificial intelligence models that learn from nonlinear data by modeling the probability distribution of chemical structures and creating similar data points from the trends it identifies. Aiming for faster runtime and greater robustness when analyzing high-dimensional data, we designed and implemented a Hybrid Quantum-Classical Generative Adversarial Network (QGAN) to synthesize molecules.

This study aimed to determine whether the life cycle stages, or phenophases, of some plants in the urban environment of Central Park, New York, differ from the typical phenophases of the same plant species. The authors hypothesized that the phenophases of the thirteen plants we studied would differ from their typical phenophases due to the urban heat island effect. Although the phenophases of five plants matched up with typical trends, there were distinct changes in the phenophases of the other eight, possibly resulting from the urban heat island effect.

The author looked at how dance styles can vary by individuals, even between a student and their teacher.

Greenspaces (urban and wetland areas that contain vegetation) are beneficial to reducing pollution, while airplanes are a highly-polluting method of transportation. The authors examine the intersection of these two environmental factors by processing satellite images to reveal what percentage of flight paths go over greenspaces at major US airports.

The authors assessed the correlation between the stock, commodity, and consumer markets with the housing market.