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Sean Nash

Low-dose radiation from A-bombs elongated lifespan and reduced cancer mortality relativ... - 1 views

genesenvironment.biomedcentral.com/...s41021-018-0114-3

radiation cancer genes environment fulltext research paper SCI-I potential research idea biology chemistry physics statistical analysis questions HSR HSR-2023 environmental

shared by Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • individuals
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      These "individuals" could just as easily be plants of lower invertebrates (as model organisms at this level). This is fascinating to me. There is no doubt that we would be limited in our ability to work with ionizing radiation, but that's not to say a project couldn't be developed along these lines. I never cease to be amazed at what a motivated student can resourcefully come up with when their passion for a particular line of research is so high.
katherine-medina

Marine Drugs | Free Full-Text | Microalgae Photo-Protectants and Related Bio-Carriers L... - 0 views

www.mdpi.com/487

shared by katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • This review focuses on the use of these microalgae compounds obtained by UV stimulation and takes advantage of their natural UV-resistant characteristics to potentially apply them as an alternative for UV protection products.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
       
      Can I put this on a plant in order to mitigate heat damage?
  • pproximately 90–99% of the solar UV radiation energy that reaches the Earth’s surface is UV-A
  • whereas only 1–10% is UV-B [4]. Both UV-A and UV-B are responsible for one of the biggest concerns related to UV radiation, which is skin cancer
  • ...28 more annotations...
  • The mechanisms leading to skin damage are not fully understood and may derive from the generation of ROS and subsequent lipid peroxidation
  • To prevent photodamage, organisms have evolved to provide biochemical and physical defenses to UV by synthesizing robust bioactive compounds
  • Some algae species synthesize substances with chemical structures that can absorb UV radiation as well as inhibit actions on melanin synthesis
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
       
      Which algaes
  • Microalgae can produce organic metabolites, such as sporopollenin, scytonemin, and MAAs to mention a few, and these metabolites have the purpose to protect the microalgae from UV radiation while allowing visible radiation involved in photosynthesis to pass through
  • two marine microalgae Pavlova lutheri, currently known as Diacronema lutheri, and Odontella aurita
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
       
      After I get through the other ones I will get to you my pretty
  • UV-Resistant Microalgae
  • Marine organisms, including eukaryotic microalgae and cyanobacteria, during evolution, have developed physiological and biochemical traits for defense and/or tolerance to UV rays
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
       
      Come back to this part
  • This research also mentioned the Antarctic microalgae Chaetoceros dichaeta, Phaeocystis antarctica, and Polarella glacialis, these were subjected to acclimation to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and showed resistance to UV-B rays.
  • It was found that the tolerant species contained substantial amounts of acetolysis-resistant residue
  • They are abundant in various aquatic and terrestrial environments and are known for being eco-sustainable compounds since they are the outcome of the evolution of algae. Unlike their synthetic counterparts used unconventional sunscreens, there are no possibilities for pollution caused by them [22]. Thus, algal metabolites shape the safety and sustainability profiles of commercial sunscreens [22].
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
       
      How long can the algae last on the skin or leaf of a plant
  • So far, several species, e.g., Coelastrella rubescens, Coelastrella terestris, Enallax coelastroides, Scotiella chlorelloidea, Ankistrodesmus spiralis, Chlorella minutissima, Chlorella sorokiniana, and Pseudococcomyxa sp. have been reported as rich sources of MAAs
  • The results obtained point out different resistance and defense mechanisms of the four microalgae in response to UV-B irradiance and suggest that the strain of Nostoc sp. tested is the most suitable for surviving under the high UV irradiation [33]
  • Scytonemin is a yellow-brown lipid soluble sheath pigment that absorbs maximally in the UV-A and UV-C regions, but with some absorbance in the UV-B region. It has an in vivo absorption maximum of 370 nm.
  • The best known photoprotective response in marine organisms is the production or accumulation of UV-absorbing compounds, including MAAs as the most common compounds with such properties, but there are also others, such as scytonemin, carotenoids, alganean, and various secondary metabolites
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
       
      photoprootective means protecting the skin
  • f low molecular weight, commonly found in marine environments. These compounds have absorption maxima in the UV region between 310 and 360 nm, they can dissipate radiation as heat without producing ROS. Under fixed light, MAA biosynthesis seems the most effective photoprotective mechanism
  • For these reasons, they potentially can prevent UV-induced skin damage
  • It was reported that species of microalgae that were highly tolerant to UV radiation had substantial amounts of sporopollenin. This compound functions as an antimicrobial agent, confers rigidness to the cell wall, and may further protect from UV rays by increasing the optical density, whereas species containing little or no sporopollenin were highly UV radiation susceptible
  • However, the potential of microalgae as topical photoprotectants has not been fully exploited, since there are not a lot of studies regarding this application.
  • Other reports determine that scytonemin is suspected to be synthesized from metabolites of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
       
      No set decision on how it is created
  • Alginate is a
  • ydration
  • However, some microalgae have a great ability to overcome or counteract different stresses such as intense solar UV radiation, this has been happening over the years and with the evolution of microalgae, some examples of defense and/or tolerance mechanisms are: DNA repair, synthesis of antioxidants, and enzymatic/non-enzymatic compounds, such as MAAs and scytonemin to counteract the harmful effects of UV radiation
  • Certain microalgae produce organic metabolites, such as sporopollenin, scytonemin, and MAAs as well as other UV-absorbing substances to counteract the harmful effects of UV radiation and protect themselves while allowing visible radiation involved in photosynthesis to pass through
  • tigate UV damage induced.
  • photosensitizers, their antioxidant
  • V
  • ed.
  • t
  • katherine-medina on 14 Sep 23
     
    A recent article showing the potential use of microalgae as a sunscreen.
  • Sean Nash on 14 Sep 23
     
    Yes..... let's chat this one out!
Sean Nash

Airplane Noise Exposure May Increase Risk of Chronic Disease | SPH - 0 views

www.bu.edu/...crease-risk-of-chronic-disease

HSR HSR-2025 airplane noise disease environmental science questions statistical analysis mathematics computer science potential research idea behavioralscience

shared by Sean Nash on 06 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • “Prior research has shown that aircraft noise can elevate stress responses and disturb sleep, but there has been mixed evidence of any links with body mass index,” says study lead and corresponding author Matthew Bozigar, assistant professor of epidemiology at OSU and a former postdoctoral associate at SPH. “We were surprised to see a fairly robust link between aircraft noise and higher body mass index among women across the US.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 06 Jun 24
       
      Again, this reminds me of the UCSD juncos and the increased stressors they must endure to live in an urban environment. However, we must remember that just because their emerging population in and around the UCSD campus is successful, it comes with a cost of shorter lifespans, increased mortality, etc. Very interesting stuff.
  • These new findings underscore the role of the environment on one’s risk of chronic disease.
  • Junenette Peters, associate professor of environmental health, and colleagues examined airplane noise exposure and self-reported BMI and other individual characteristics among nearly 75,000 participants living around 90 of the major US airports
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The team examined aircraft noise levels every five years from 1995 to 2010, using a day-night estimate (DNL) that captures the average noise level over a 24-hour period and applies a 10 dB adjustment for aircraft noise occurring at night, when background noise is low.
  • Although the team acknowledges that BMI is a suboptimal metric, the independent and strong association between more aircraft noise exposure and higher BMI that they observed is notable.
  • “We can only hypothesize about why we saw these regional variations, but one reason may relate to the era of regional development, building characteristics, and climate which may affect factors such as housing age, design, and level of insulation,” says Peters. “Regional differences in temperature and humidity may influence behaviors such as window opening, so perhaps study participants living in the West were more exposed to aircraft noise due to open windows or housing type, which allowed more noise to penetrate.”
  • Previous data suggest that Black, Hispanic, and low-income populations are disproportionately exposed to aircraft noise. The participants in the NHS study groups were primarily White and of mid-level socioeconomic status. 
  • “We need to study the potential health impacts of environmental injustices in transportation noise exposures alongside other environmental drivers of poor health outcomes” Bozigar says. “There is a lot more to figure out, but this study adds evidence to a growing body of literature that noise negatively impacts health.”
Sean Nash

Mysterious Underwater Acoustic World of British Ponds Revealed in New Study | Current S... - 3 views

currentsciencedaily.com/...sh-ponds-revealed-in-new-study

hydrophone sound survey pond potential research idea biology physics computer science environmental science HSR HSR-2023

shared by Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • The previously hidden and diverse underwater acoustic world in British ponds has been revealed by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      So... my immediate thought is: How cool would it be to do this here? One thing we DO have: PONDS. See if this *sounds* interesting. Get it? ;)
  • Acoustic monitoring has been shown to effectively survey birds and monkeys in rainforests, and marine mammals in the oceans. However, freshwater environments have remained largely unexplored despite their diverse soundscapes.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      BOOM. Again, "relatively unexplored" is super exciting verbiage to me. Acoustics. Hydrophones. Is this feasible? Is the equipment affordable? If not, could we borrow one? Dig into it. What are the possibilities?
  • analysis of the audio files revealed clear daily acoustic activity cycles in each pond
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      Aside from the exploratory surveys you would do just to see "what's out there" and assess what we CAN learn from listening to a pond, you could make it experimental by comparing ponds you've assessed the health of by other means. In other words, do acoustic comparisons between two ponds correlate with what you find by doing a macroinvertebrate sampling? I really LIKE the possibilities in this one!
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Typically, a nocturnal chorus is made by aquatic insects that compete to attract mates by producing strange scratching sounds as they rub their genitals against their abdomens. During the daytime, however, aquatic plants dominate the underwater orchestra with rhythmic whining and ticking sounds produced as tiny oxygen bubbles are released by plants respiring in the hot sun.
  • Using this acoustic method, the presence of species, and a determination of ecological health, can be inferred simply by listening to the natural world without disturbing the environment or harming the plants and animals within it.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      Here is the obvious value proposition if you could work this out.
  • Publication: Jack A. Greenhalgh, et al., Diel variation in insect-dominated temperate pond soundscapes and guidelines for survey design, Freshwater Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/fwb.14092.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      BEST THING YET: Here is the FULL TEXT of the actual research paper!
Sean Nash

Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology - 3 views

www.sciencedaily.com

science news technology research magazine sciencedaily SCII

shared by Sean Nash on 26 May 23 - No Cached
  • Your source for the latest research news
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 26 May 23
       
      You'll want this resource...
ryleighnyp

Electrical grounding technique may improve health outcomes of NICU babies -- ScienceDaily - 2 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...170803120627.htm

HSR HSR-2023 potential research idea

shared by ryleighnyp on 07 Jun 23 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • "What we can conclude is that a baby's autonomic nervous system is able to sense the electrical environment and it seems as though a baby is more relaxed when grounded,"
  • redesigning incubators to ground babies and cancel out the electrical field
  • ryleighnyp on 07 Jun 23
     
    I think a possible research idea could be redesigning NICU incubators to allow for less electromagnet interference with the babies with the use of grounding.
  • Sean Nash on 07 Jun 23
     
    Interesting, for sure. Two things... the actual measurements they made on children (skin tests, etc.) are a no-go for us. I'm not sure what our model system could be for checking the electrical outputs of whatever design changes were made. We would need to know a lot more about the current setup in NICUs. There is no doubt a lot of design in how things are currently set up. Essentially: why things are set up the way they are right now? You would have to know every variable currently considered, and then look for spots where simple changes can be made. Second thing: go back to the ISEF categories in Engineering and check out how those projects look at the national level. Just go get a feel. Engineering is a bit different from typical "hypothesis testing" seen in most natural sciences. Very cool, but different. Give it a look.
Sean Nash

Satellite Monitoring of Biodiversity Moves Within Reach | Current Science Daily - 2 views

currentsciencedaily.com/...iodiversity-moves-within-reach

HSR-2023 HSR statistical analysis mathematics computer science botany environmental science biology satellite monitoring biodiversity current potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 15 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • Data for the study came from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The network uses standardized methods to collect biodiversity and Earth observation data across the United States which are then made publicly available. NEON imaging spectrometer data collected from research flights have a pixel size of 1x1 meter.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 15 Jun 23
       
      I wonder if any of the imagery they have is: 1. Accessible by us, and 2. Available for our area. If so, it might be as simple as doing plant diversity surveys to look for ground truth in our area (young forests & grasslands) between what is REALLY on the ground here, vs. what the satellite imagery shows.
  • Biodiversity monitoring from space possible via satellite
  • The reflectance of plants is determined by their chemical, anatomical and morphological characteristics, which are important for interactions among plants and with their environment. “Plants with similar traits, as well as closely related species, therefore tend to have similar reflectance spectra,” explains Schweiger.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Spectral diversity calculated in forests with closed canopies and large individual trees matched plant diversity determined on the ground better than spectral diversity calculated in open landscapes dominated by small herbaceous plants and grasses.
katherine-medina

Nowcasting lightning occurrence from commonly available meteorological parameters using... - 0 views

www.nature.com/...s41612-019-0098-0

weather lightning AI-prediction HSR-2023 meteorology environmental

shared by katherine-medina on 03 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • They hypothesized that the mesoscale environment indirectly influences CG lightning polarity by directly controlling the storm structure, dynamics, and microphysics, which in turn control storm electrification and ground flash polarity.
  • he lightning forecast is made 30–45 min before rainfall occurs
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 03 Jun 23
       
      I guess that would make sense considering the fact that the electricity in the air before a storm is active.
  • katherine-medina on 03 Jun 23
     
    An article about how AI can now predict where lightning will occur
Isabella Tungjaroenkul

Anténor Firmin challenged anthropology's racist roots 150 years ago - 1 views

www.sciencenews.org/...rmin-anthropology-racism-haiti

HSR HSR-2023 statistical analysis biology anthropology

shared by Isabella Tungjaroenkul on 13 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • “This is hardly surprising since most of the early [Black] pioneers of anthropology have only recently been brought to light.”
    • Isabella Tungjaroenkul
      Isabella Tungjaroenkul on 13 Jun 23
       
      Sadly not surprising. There are many amazing discoveries that are overlooked and even forgotten because they were performed or written by women or non-white people.
  • It did not take long for Firmin to question his membership in a group openly hostile to people who looked like him. Faced with such a tough environment, Firmin remained silent at meetings.
Sean Nash

Microwaving an insecticide restores its mosquito-killing power - 2 views

www.sciencenews.org/...to-microwave-insecticide-spray

deltamethrin pesticide mosquito insecticide DDT crystals crystalline structure biochemistry environment evolution ecology chemistry heat potential research idea biology engineering environmental science HSR HSR-2023 HSR-2025

shared by Sean Nash on 25 May 23 - No Cached
  • Heating an insecticide can give it new life.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Wait, what? Do say more.....
  • Microwaving the insecticide deltamethrin rearranges its crystal structure but doesn’t change its chemical composition. The rearrangement renews deltamethrin’s ability to kill mosquitoes that have become resistant to the insecticide, researchers report April 21 in Malaria Journal.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Hmmmm... something similar to this smells like: feasibility.
  • The microwave worked just as well, but Kahr cautions that people shouldn’t use the same microwave for heating food and insecticides.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Ha! No kidding??
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • insecticide resistance is a growing problem
  • It is encouraging that heated insecticide killed highly resistant mosquitoes, says Hemingway, who directs the Infection Innovation Consortium, a public-private effort to find new ways to combat infectious diseases. But, she says, “this is not something we can take and use that tomorrow.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      OK.... this is how you can find an opening (not saying THIS ONE is necessarily, but, when you see language like: "we can't really do it just yet," that is a screaming opportunity to see what we MIGHT be able to add to that.
  • It’s not certain that the heat-treated deltamethrin would retain its more potent crystal structure through the net-making process.
  • Kahr’s team is working on incorporating the heat-treated crystal into nets.
  • “There are all kinds of social and cultural things that you could propose from a scientific perspective that wouldn’t be welcomed by a community of homeowners.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Again... this reads: "potential research opportunity."
  • Kahr and colleagues previously discovered that heating deltamethrin changed its crystal structure, which let it work faster
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