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The Effects of Varying Kaolin Clay Concentrations on the Internal Temperature of Organic Gala Apples (Malus domestica) Exposed to Incandescent Light
No full textRefrigeration is the most common postharvest storage method for apples because it slows ripening and extends shelf life and transportation distance. However, refrigeration has limitations, including high energy use, negative environmental impacts, and the risk of storage disorders in fruit. The purpose of this study was to test whether kaolin clay could serve as a more sustainable and affordable alternative by reducing apple temperature through its reflective properties, which scatter light and limit heat absorption. It was hypothesized that increasing kaolin concentration would result in lower surface and core temperatures. Apples were treated with four kaolin concentrations (0, 1, 3, and 5 g/100 mL) and placed under an incandescent lamp. Surface temperatures were measured using an infrared thermometer, while core temperatures were measured using a temperature probe. Overall, higher kaolin concentrations produced lower apple temperatures, supporting the hypothesis. Statistical analysis showed significant differences in surface temperatures among treatments, F(3,116) = 118.24, p \u3c 0.001, and significant differences in core temperatures, F(3,116) = 2.92, p = 0.010. Box plots and post hoc Fisher tests indicated no significant difference between the 3 g/100 mL and 5 g/100 mL treatments. Across multiple analyses, these two groups showed nearly identical mean temperatures and data values, suggesting that increasing kaolin concentration beyond 3 g/100 mL did not improve cooling performance. Because the higher concentration provided no added benefit, 3 g/100 mL was identified as the most effective treatment, balancing temperature reduction with material efficiency
The Implementation of Mind Maps and Virtual Story Telling to Enhance Case Understanding
No full textLegal jargon creates a systemic barrier to justice, but empirical evidence for visual remedies is lacking. Charrow & Charrow (1979), present the idea that conceptual complexity, not just vocabulary, prevents comprehension. While the visual “visual law” movement proposes access structures like mind maps and diagrams, their efficacy for non-experts remains untested. Mind maps and virtual storytelling have shown promise when implemented in educational settings. Both visual aids implement an access structure,” combining visual cues and text. This facilitates higher retention and understanding. These aides have not been tested for effectiveness and retention in the legal setting, addressing a gap. The current study investigated which visual aid —an interactive mind map of a virtual storytelling video—best enhances legal understanding for lay people compared to text alone. It was hypothesized that the multisensory video would optimize retention. To test this, the case Leonard v. Pepsico was presented to 90 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers with no legal background, verified with a pre-survey. The case was presented in 3 formats: text-only, text-with-mindmap, or text-with-video. Comprehension was measured using a 15-question mixed-methods survey. A one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant effect of format, F(2,86)=128.10, p\u3c .001. Post-hoc Tukey HSD tests confirmed all pairwise differences with p\u3c0.001. The video group achieved the highest group mean score, showing that an overlay of visuals, text, and auditory components facilitated the highest overall retention rate. This provides an evidence-based framework for implementing visual tools in jury instructions and public legal education
The Effect of Commercial Cannabidiol (CBD) Tinctures on Fusarium oxysporum
No full textFusarium oxysporum is a globally destructive plant pathogen that causes wilt disease and significant agricultural losses. As resistance to chemical fungicides continues to rise, natural plant-derived antimicrobials, such as cannabidiol (CBD), have emerged as promising alternatives due to their reported antifungal properties (Cárdenas-Laverde et al., 2021). The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether two commercially available CBD tinctures (50 mg/mL and 300 mg/mL) could inhibit the growth of F. oxysporum. It was hypothesized that CBD would inhibit fungal growth in a concentration-dependent manner, with the 300 mg/mL tincture producing the largest zone of inhibition (ZOI). Using an agar diffusion assay, sterile PDA (potato dextrose agar) plates were inoculated with F. oxysporum and treated with disks soaked in lab-grade water, 50 mg/mL CBD, or 300 mg/mL CBD. Plates were incubated, and ZOIs were measured over four days. The 50 mg/mL CBD treatment produced some antifungal activity across all four days, while the 300 mg/mL CBD tincture showed little antifungal activity on the first day and none afterwards. A one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences among treatment groups (Day 1: F(2, 87) =5.88, p=0.004) driven almost entirely by the inhibitory activity in the 50 mg/mL plates. Tukey post-hoc tests showed that the 50 mg/mL group differed from the others, while the 300 mg/mL tincture barely differed from the sterile control. These findings indicate that CBD can inhibit F. oxysporum, but higher concentrations or flavored tinctures may lose antifungal activity, likely due to added carrier ingredients or the nature of the concentration. CBD, therefore, shows potential as a natural antifungal agent, but formulation plays a critical role in determining its effectiveness
The Effect of Anti-Inflammatory Herbs on Heat-Stress Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster
No full textAs temperatures rise, heat stress poses a significant threat to many organisms, including humans. This danger can be lessened by anti-inflammatory compounds in the diet, which help improve heat tolerance. This study aimed to observe whether the food additives of turmeric powder and pure peppermint extract would increase the heat tolerance of Drosophila melanogaster. Flies were cultured in groups of 35 each, with a group fed unaltered food (control), a group fed food with additional 5% turmeric powder, and a group fed with additional 5% pure peppermint extract. After seven days, flies were exposed to 35 °C for 20 minutes and monitored for recovery time for three trials, and recorded for survival after the final trial. Flies fed turmeric powder recovered substantially faster (mean = 46.67 s) and had the lowest mortality rate (11%). The control flies did not recover as fast (mean = 257.33 s) and had a moderate amount die (37%). Flies fed peppermint recovered the slowest during the first trial (1143 s) and experienced 100% mortality, which meant no further data could be collected. The results confirmed that the surviva rates were statistically significant with a p value less than 0.001. These results supported the hypothesis for turmeric powder but remained inconclusive for peppermint extract due to unforeseen effects with the viscosity and strength. Overall, turmeric consumption improved both recovery time and survival under heat stress, suggesting that anti-inflammatory dietary compounds increase organisms\u27 heat tolerance and could warrant further studies and application in humans
AI in Kinesiology and Biometric Analysis
No full textThis research investigated whether artificial intelligence could provide hobbyists and professionals in sports with an accessible and inexpensive method for receiving personalized movement analysis and coaching without requiring in-person instruction or extensive self-research. As AI has been increasingly developed to assist in the humanities, STEM, and household tasks, the question arises on how sports performance analysis through intelligent systems could bridge the gap between amateur and professional-level feedback. The project began with the goal of creating and launching a market-ready mobile application. The first steps were to research video parsing techniques and how datasets like MotionBERT (Motion Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) could mathematically analyze movement points, angles, and biomechanical patterns. Afterwards, professional athlete movement data was integrated and sorted based on specific movements, sports, and the visuals themselves to give optimal performance benchmarks for comparison analysis. Vision Language Models (VLM) with Google Gemini API calls were utilized to shift the focus of the research toward practical product design and comprehensive app development for eventual App Store deployment. Results included a fully functional AI coaching system capable of parsing video input, extracting precise biomechanical patterns, and generating personalized feedback recommendations for golfing and can be expanded to other sports later on. This work establishes a foundation for revolutionary advancements in accessible athletic enhancement tools while demonstrating AI\u27s transformative potential in understanding human kinesiology, ultimately advancing both athletic performance optimization and longevity research through deeper comprehension of human movement mechanics
Emotional Content in Study Methods for High Schoolers
No full textCopious amounts of research support that emotional content is remembered more descriptively than neutral content. Emotional stimuli is encoded in the brain using a different process than neutral stimuli, forming a network of information that is easier to recall, as well as being recalled more accurately. The method of loci is a study method that takes advantage of the human brain’s function through visualization, and has been shown to increase accuracy on recalled information. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the effects of emotional valence in the method of loci on test accuracy. Participants (n=11, high school students), were trained in the method of loci, applied the method to the passage, and took an eight question test two days later. Results did not show significant evidence that emotional content improves test accuracy, however the mean test score for each test group displays a difference in test scores
Permanent Hair Dye and Cancer Cell Growth
No full textRecently, research has shown that some chemicals in hair dye can be considered carcinogenic. There are three different types of hair dye, permanent, semi-permanant, and temporary. The chemical para-phenylenediamine is used in hair dye to give it a long lasting color. Primarily used in permanent hair dye, but lower concentrations can also be found in semi-permanent hair dye. Many people are unaware of the risks that are associated with hair dye. These prominent and harmful issues help conduct the research question: To what extent do the bleaching agents in hair dye (para-phenylenediamine) -if it comes in contact with your skin- increase the risk of potential growth of cancer cells? This study investigates a potential casual relationship between a bleach agent in permanent hair dye (para-phenylenediamine) and cancer cell growth. Many high school students use permanent hair dye and are unaware of potential risks hair dye can cause. This study will contain a mixed methodology which will include quantitative and qualitative data. For the qualitative part of this study, a correlational relationship between high school students, generally ages 14-18, and their awareness of the potential risk that hair dye can pose will be researched. A quantitative experimentation will be conducted to measure the amount of cancer cells that have grown when the compound is applied, compared to the unaltered cancer cells. There will also be a comparison between the para-phenylenediamine and another chemical to see how harmful the compound is
The Hydration of Trifluoroacetic Acid from 0 K to 298 K
No full textTrifluoroacetic acid (TFA), the most atmospherically abundant perfluorocarbocylic acid, is a molecule of increasing environmental and biological significance. In this paper, we examine TFA’s role in new particle formation (NPF), a critical yet lesser-understood step in cloud formation in which aerosols that act as cloud condensation nuclei are formed. We used conformational sampling to find low-energy structures for TFA-nH2O (n =1−8) clusters and determined accurate DLPNO−CCSD(T)/haug-cc-pV5Z//ωB97X-D/6−31++G** enthalpies at 0 K and Gibbs free energies at 216.65, 273.15, and 298.15 K. Then, atmospheric concentrations were determined at relevant atmospheric temperatures. Rotational constants for the lowest energy n = 1−3 structures corroborate existing microwave spectroscopic data, validating our methodology. Additionally, spectroscopic properties for n = 4−8 structures were identified for comparison with future experimental findings. All lowest energy structures were found to have neutral, rather than ion-pair monomers. Near Earth\u27s surface, we predict significant concentrations of n = 1−2 clusters (2.06 Å~ 105 molecules cm−3 and 1.13 Å~ 104, respectively); however, the absence of larger clusters indicates that TFA likely serves a negligible role in NPF
Evaluating the Synergistic Antibacterial Effects of Rosa damascena and Hibiscus sabdariffa Extracts on E. coli
No full textThe emerging global issue of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli has prompted increased interest in plant-based antimicrobials and potential synergistic combinations as an alternative to traditional and synthetic antibiotics. The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether the combined extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa and Rosa damascena exhibit stronger antimicrobial properties than each extract alone against E. coli. It was hypothesized that the combined extracts of Rosa damascena and Hibiscus sabdariffa would produce a greater zone of inhibition against E. coli K-12 than either extract alone because of synergistic interactions between their bioactive compounds. Three solutions of Hibiscus sabdariffa (roselle) extract, Rosa damascena (damask rose) extract, and a mixture of 50 mL of R. damascena extract and 50 mL of H. sabdariffa extract (1:1 ratio) were prepared. The control group consisted of bacteria with no extract applied. Thirty sterile diffusion discs were soaked in each of the commercial alcohol-free liquid plant extracts, which were placed in the center of each section on the Mueller–Hinton agar plates inoculated with E. coli K-12 and incubated at 37 °C for 18 hours. Following incubation, no observable zone of inhibition was formed in any of the trials. It was determined that the most likely cause of error arose from using commercial alcohol-free extracts, which may have reduced potency, suggesting that freshly prepared extracts in organic solvents have the potential to produce more accurate antibacterial results
Showcasing the Doyleana Collection at the Newberry
No full textJoin librarian Jill Gage, Bibliographer of British Literature and History at the Newberry Library, for a showcase of materials from the Frederick C. Kittle Collection of Doyleana. The collection contains written correspondence, photographs, and ephemera related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s life and work