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Sean Nash

E-learning courses - GrowNextGen - 2 views

grownextgen.org/elearning

agriculture food foodscience courses SCI-I topicselection resources learning research ideas environmental science botany biology HSR HSR-2023

shared by Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • These self-guided digital resources allow students to work independently. Pre- and posttests can be used to check knowledge gains.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      An interesting set of open online courses to take your learning to the next level in some area... These might be interesting early on in the problem-finding phase, but also once a topic is chosen... you need to get up to speed in an area of science much more quickly than in traditional teacher-led courses. Perhaps one of these can help you build early background expertise in some area?
Sean Nash

Health Effects from Swimming Training in Chlorinated Pools and the Corresponding Metabo... - 4 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC4351252

swimming chlorine mice-experimenting HSR2023 blood liver pools

shared by Sean Nash on 13 Jul 23 - No Cached
  • Numerous epidemiological publications have associated the chlorination of pools with dysfunctions of the respiratory system and with some other diseases
  • Therefore, the health effects from swimming in chlorinated pools and the corresponding stress reactions in organisms are unclear. In this study, we show that although the growth and behaviors of experimental rats were not affected, their health, training effects and metabolic profiles were significantly affected by a 12-week swimming training program in chlorinated water identical to that of public pools.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      This may prove to be a concerning fact that myself and others on the swim team swim rather consistently.
  • The epidemiological evidence for adverse health effects from swimming in chlorinated water primarily originate from studies concerning respiratory function and asthma, althoughVillanueva et al. reported a significant increased risk of bladder cancer for swimmers compared with nonswimmers [5].
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      Kinda scary to think about the fact that swimming could be hurting my lungs.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 13 Jul 23
       
      OK... this is all a very rare and interesting topic to me. I've never considered it. Of course, in thinking a bout this as a HS research topic, the fact that it centers around humans... is a feasibility issue. However, what sort of invertebrate models could we use in place? Would we be able to detect DBPs?
  • ...24 more annotations...
  • Interestingly, the eyes and skin are the organs that are more directly affected than the lungs by the irritants in chlorinated water; instead of chlorination, training intensity, training frequency and choking on water may be the primary factors for lung damage induced by swimming.
  • he water for the EG was purified using a water purifier and then disinfected using calcium hypochlorite, similar to public swimming pools, whereas the water for the CG was only purified, not chlorinate
  • Therefore, the health effects from swimming in chlorinated pools and the corresponding stress reactions occurring in our bodies are unclear
  • In fact, similar symptoms, red and swollen eyes, dried skin and nasal mucosal congestion, always appear after humans swim in a chlorinated pool; however, the long-term (12 weeks) and high-frequency (5 days a week) of the experimental swimming training caused even worse symptoms in these experimental rats.
  • however, some unusual appearance changes appeared in the EG rats.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      EG rats had the exposure of a public level of chlorine.
  • First, the skin around their eyes became increasingly red with the development of the experiment, and in the ending period of the experiment, bloodstains could be observed in the rims of most rats’ eyes.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      Wow.
  • Third, their fur became increasingly dry and lackluster, and significant signs of hair loss were observed during the last month.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      This doesn't sound good.
  • These results indicated that the fur, respiratory tracts and eyes of the EG rats were severely affected by chlorinated water, although their growth was essentially unaffected. According to our observations, the daily behaviors and sizes of the EG rats were normal, and their final body weights were even slightly heavier than those weights of the control group. Nevertheless, dried and lackluster fur, hair removal, bloody noses and eyes did occur in the EG rats and not to the CG rats.
  • A meta-analysis performed by Goodman et al. demonstrated that the association between asthma and swimming could only be confirmed among competitive swimmers and could not be confirmed among non-competitive swimmers
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      SO competitive swimmers are the ones with an association of asthma and pool water.
  • Additionally, an interesting phenomenon was observed by comparing the development of the bloody noses and bloody eyes. The bloody noses commonly appeared in the third and in the fourth week; however, approximately two weeks later, this symptom gradually disappeared. The significantly bloody eyes commonly appeared in the ending period of the experiment; however, this problem was becoming worse during the study, and no signs of improvement appeared. The bloody noses appeared first, suggesting that respiratory tracts may be more vulnerable to the irritants from the chlorinated water than eyes; the gradually disappearing symptom suggests that respiratory tracts may have some adaptability to chlorinated water possibly because of the protection from nasal mucous. In contrast, without the mucosal protection, the bloody eyes were becoming increasingly significant during the entire experiment, although this symptom appeared later than the bloody noses.
  • Hippurate is an inhibitor of glucose utilization in the muscle and in the kidneys, an inhibitor of glucose utilization in the kidneys and in the liver, a modulator of fatty acid metabolism, and a stimulator of ammoniagenesis
  • Three rats from the EG were found liver damage, indicating that the positive rate reached 18 percen
  • or instance, Tumasonis et al. reported that a significantly increased incidence of hepatic neoplastic nodules in female rats and a significantly increased incidence of hepatic adenofibrosis in both male and female rats were induced by the chronic ingestion of chloroform [15].
  • Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E, 400×) of liver sections.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      The liver literally changed between the two groups.
  • . We suppose that the primary differences between the competitive swimmers and non-competitive swimmers are training intensity and frequency, not the pool water.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      An interesting theory, but I wonder if it has been proved.
  • The first three principal components (PCs) explain 57.3% of the total variance of the raw data and are sufficient to present the differences between the EG and the CG
  • In Fig. 3, we can see that the majority of the differences between the EG and the CG are explained by PC 1 and PC 3.
  • which suggests that the 12-week swimming training in chlorinated water induced a significant change in the metabolic profiles of the experimental group rats.
  • As an antioxidant, taurine can directly scavenge hypochlorous acid (HClO) and prevents changes in membrane permeability due to oxidative impairment
  • The duration period from the entry into water until the rats reached exhaustion was significantly shorter for the EG rats compared with the CG rats (29.74±11.50 vs. 39.15±9.85 minutes, p<0.05)
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      Rats in chlorine swam ten minutes less on average.
  • Chlorine is a necessary element for our bodies, and nontoxic.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
       
      I did not know that.
  • In summary, the 12-week swimming training in chlorinated pool water did induce some disease symptoms, an impairment of training effects and a significant change in the metabolic profiles, although the growth and behaviors of the experimental animals were not affected
  • Thus, the eyes and skin might be the organs that require greater attention for permanent damage.
  • Symptoms found in the liver and lung sections indicate that the liver is most likely the most possible target organ of DBPs, and training intensity, training frequency and water choking may be the primary factors for lung damage induced by swimming, instead of chlorination. The result of the swimming capacity test showed that training effects were significant affected by chlorinated water through perturbing the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation.
  • katherine-medina on 13 Jul 23
     
    A really cool article about how chlorine can affect the bodies of mice. (An article I will never be able to forget about due to it being similar to my situation.)
  • Sean Nash on 13 Jul 23
     
    A really cool article about how chlorine can affect the bodies of mice. (An article I will never be able to forget about due to it being similar to my situation.)
katherine-medina

Placebo-Controlled Clomipramine Trial for the Treatment of Feather Picking Disorder in ... - 0 views

jcore-reference.highwire.org/...261

birds plumage feathers clomipramime HSR2023 feather-plucking-treatment

shared by katherine-medina on 12 Jul 23 - No Cached
  • Three of the 11 birds improved, and side effects were rare
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 12 Jul 23
       
      Why only three birds?
  • 7 A Congo African grey parrot (Psittacus erythacus) was also treated for feather picking and self-mutilation with clomipramine (4 mg/kg PO q 12 hours), which resulted in an increase in appetite and paradoxical anxiety.28 The dose was ultimately increased (9.5 mg/kg PO q 12 hours), and buspirone (0.5 mg/kg PO q 24 hours) was eventually added. Feather regrowth occurred, and feather picking was adequately controlled 3 months after the final dosage adjustment.
  • Eight of 11 birds treated with clomipramine were considered improved by 6 weeks
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 12 Jul 23
       
      Cool
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • There was no significant correlation between duration of feather picking and reduction in time spent preening from baseline to 6 weeks for the clomipraminetreated birds (r=0.314; P=0.174
  • Clomipramine-treated birds had significantly greater improvement at 6 weeks than at 3 weeks (z= −1.897; P=0.029). Of the eight clomipramine-treated birds that were improved at 6 weeks, seven of them began to improve at 3 weeks.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 12 Jul 23
       
      I do find the results of this experiment interesting as far as the variability of the experiment. It does make me think that clomipramine does not work as well as one might think.
  • One bird that received clomipramine (case no. 11) was worse at 6 weeks, according to both the caregiver and the clinician
  • Approximately 64% of birds treated with clomipramine improved, but only 36% were judged to have substantial improvement.
  • However, the shortest duration of feather picking for birds in this study was 2 months (case no. 10), and this bird’s signs were the only ones to completely resolve during the trial.
  • Self-injurious behaviors in humans, including such varied conditions as trichotillomania, skin picking,
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 12 Jul 23
       
      Maybe one of the reasons for the bird's self mutilation is due to some outside factor.
  • However, results of this trial suggest that clomipramine, at doses higher than those typically used in mammals, may be useful in the treatment regime for feather picking disease in some species of psittacine birds.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 12 Jul 23
       
      I wonder if there is any course of treatment that is similar to clomipramine, but has a higher solution rate.
  • katherine-medina on 12 Jul 23
     
    An article showing that clomipramime can help birds with feather plucking problems. (the results were a little bit over 50% of birds responded to the treatment.)
Xander Kleiber

Energy-efficient computing | MIT Energy Initiative - 2 views

energy.mit.edu/...energy-efficient-computing

potential research idea computer science engineering HSR HSR-2023

shared by Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • 1’s are literally thrown away, and that wasted energy is dissipated as heat.
    • Xander Kleiber
      Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
       
      In logic gates specifically, because there are cases where a 1 goes in and a 0 can come out, that 1 (directly represented by electrical voltage) gets wasted in the computation and is released as heat.
  • the inputs are 1-0 and 0-1, and the output is 1-0. That setup is wasteful: An incoming 1 is lost during the computation. The researchers solve that problem by retaining the extra inputs as “garbage bits” that carry useless information (see the bottom example). The 1-0 order doesn’t matter, but now the number of 1’s is preserved after the computation.
    • Xander Kleiber
      Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
       
      Seems like a great way to solve the issue. However, I don't see anywhere else in the article any sort of actual circuit design/implementation of said solution...
  • On the energy front, the goal is to conserve all information—not just the 1’s but the 0’s as well. Their approach is based on “reversible computing,” an idea first proposed in the 1970s.
    • Xander Kleiber
      Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
       
      Expanded upon later.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • “If you can play everything backwards, then no energy has escaped during your computation,” says Demaine.
    • Xander Kleiber
      Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
       
      So in reversible computing, if an algorithm can be reversed, that means no information (and therefore no 1's, or measures of voltage) are wasted, resulting in an even lower production of waste.
  • Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
     
    Overall, this seems like a decent course of study. After all, mentioned throughout the article is something called "Landauer's limit," which is a limit to the efficiency of computing devices using the current, wasteful methods. Also mentioned briefly in the article is that we are continually getting much closer to this limit. This makes it a timely issue, along with the fact that not many people have elaborated on its implications or tried implementing it.
  • Sean Nash on 06 Jun 23
     
    This is really interesting... though I'm sure I would benefit from a back-and-forth conversation to make sure I'm understanding what I think I am.
Sean Nash

Race car drivers tend to blink at the same places in each lap - 4 views

www.sciencenews.org/...ula-one-race-car-drivers-blink

ArduinoScienceJournal app driving blinking vision research potential research idea biology engineering HSR HSR-2023 science statistical analysis car auto safety civilengineering blink

shared by Sean Nash on 25 May 23 - No Cached
izzy kelly liked it
  • The world goes dark for about one-fifth of a second every time you blink, a fraction of an instant that’s hardly noticeable to most people. But for a Formula One race car driver traveling up to 354 kilometers per hour, that one-fifth means almost 20 meters of lost vision
  • People are often thought to blink at random intervals, but researchers found that wasn’t the case for three Formula drivers.
  • the drivers tended to blink at the same parts of the course during each lap, cognitive neuroscientist Ryota Nishizono and colleagues report in the May 19 iScience
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Interesting. So, do we do the same thing while driving around town? Could you design a method to record eye blinks as people drive known routes around town? We could simultaneously use the Arduino Science Journal app on the iPhone to also correlate physical data in a moving car like acceleration/deceleration, motion in X, Y, Z directions, etc. I wonder if we could find a correlation in everyday driving that could help from a safety perspective?
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • He was surprised to find almost no literature on blinking behavior in active humans even though under extreme conditions like motor racing or cycling
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      OK, now this SCREAMS: "potential research idea."
  • Nishizono and colleagues mounted eye trackers on the helmets of three drivers and had them drive three Formula circuits
  • Where the drivers blinked was surprisingly predictable, the team found. The drivers had a shared pattern of blinking that had a strong connection with acceleration, such that drivers tended not to blink while changing speed or direction — like while on a curve in the track — but did blink while on relatively safer straightaways.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      What sort of implications does this have for driving in key, known, busy interchanges in KC? Could we potentially provide data to show certain stretches of highway need more signage, etc? That could have civil engineering implications.
  • “We think of blinking as this nothing behavior,” he says, “but it’s not just wiping the eyes. Blinking is a part of our visual system.”
  • Nishizono next wants to explore what processes in the brain allow or inhibit blinking in a given moment, he says, and is also interested in how blinking behavior varies among the general population.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      While the "brain" part might move beyond our feasibility, the potential of finding real correlations to driving patterns or routes is a completely different spin-off and one that could have really practical suggestive applications for city planners, etc.
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