2022 News & Careers
January
Can physics really answer our questions that we have around sports? The fascination we have for certain athletes and their incredible talent can lead us to ponder around how they score or win specific games. Nevertheless, the hard link of physics and sports allows us to obtain answers for those curiosities. Delving more into the research, we can understand and learn about what the future could hold with new advancements for the industry of sports and why we can appreciate the study of physics.
Since its inception, the Journal of Young Investigators (JYI) has strived to offer undergraduate researchers a voice in the scientific world and extend the undergraduate experience to encompass academic publishing. Through enabling undergraduate researchers to both submit novel research articles and take part in every step of the Journal’s everyday operations, JYI staff, Board of Directors, and university mentors across the world have provided undergraduates access to the research process.
Tremors can be described as an involuntary and uncontrollable movement of parts of the body. They are classified based on characteristics like frequency, amplitude, activation, among others. Such parameters are essential to identify so that better treatment can be provided to patients suffering from tremor conditions. Electromyography (EMG) is a diagnostic procedure to assess the health of muscles and motor neurons. Though used in the past, EMG is expensive, invasive, and potentially painful. Therefore, there is the need to create a painless, affordable, fast, and effective apparatus that can gather, quantify, and classify tremor parameters from patients, resulting in a short list of possible diagnoses which can be narrowed down by a physician. This research aims to create a Tremor Diagnosis Device (TDD) using an accelerometer, Raspberry Pi 4, and Python code.
The Journal of Young Investigators, established in 1997, is doubling down its support in undergraduate scientific experience by diversifying the content with in Editorial articles as the latest addition. This move is followed by the first published JYI editorial written by Brian Lee, Alexis Gkantiragas, Yi Ting Loo, and Brittany Pugh outlining the fundamental aspects of editorials.
February
What do we know about tremors and ultimately how serious can they be? We often experience mild tremors; however, there are cases that are more prominent that disrupt our activation mode and parts of our body through involuntary movement. Nevertheless, are we able to either find a cure or expedite the process of knowing if we have them? Researchers have discovered a way through a specific device that would allow physicians to diagnosis tremors in a faster manner.
When Cy-bug—a robotic, buglike virus—got stranded in the Sugar Rush world, the protagonists faced some serious difficulty finding it. The thick sugar particles in the atmosphere jammed their sensors making it impossible to spot this evil creature. While that can happen in a Wreck-It Ralph universe, the opposites are true in the real world. A recent paper published in ACS Central Science showed a successful development of SARS-CoV-2 detection kit with the help of sugar mixtures.
We have heard an awful lot about viruses since the Coronavirus pandemic has swept the nation, creating uncertainty and shaking families by the unexpected loss of loved ones. But, what are viruses? And more importantly, what do they want?
Lung cancer is the cancer that has claimed the most lives worldwide for decades. Specifically, small cell lung cancer has been difficult to treat due to its ability to rapidly adapt and resist to treatment. In this study, public datasets of small cell lung cancer cells that became resistant after treatment with talazoparib or prexasertib were analyzed using bioinformatic tools to elucidate common processes that allow for treatment refraction. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) pathway and TGF-beta signaling pathway were prominent in the tissues treated with both treatment types. Shared genes contributing to these pathways in both treatments were studied for their role in the development of resistance. Seven genes were identified that should be further tested as potential targets to reverse treatment resistance.
March
Nanotechnology is a new and growing area of science and engineering concerned with the use of small scale materials. A fascinating application of such tools have been in the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours. As such, Qiaojing and colleagues have published a paper examining the use of nanotechnological tools in the prognosis of brain tumours. Although there are obstacles yet to be overcome in the use of nanomaterials to diagnose and treat brain tumours such as neurotoxicity, the future of this treatment looks promising.
Brain tumours are challenging to treat, partly because the blood-brain barrier (BBB) hinders targeted drug treatment. Patients diagnosed with aggressive brain tumours like glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) present low median survival of 15 months despite surgery with concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The poor prognosis and limited therapeutic effect have led to the exploration for an alternative intervention: nanotechnology. This paper focuses on nanotechnology-based diagnostic tools and drug delivery systems, such as multifunctioning nanoparticles that comprise an anti-cancer drug, an imaging agent and tumour specific ligands, which enhances diagnostic sensitivity and therapeutic efficacy against the malignant cells.
Green fluorescent protein (GFP), a fluorescent marker extracted from Aequorea victoria, has been a prominent tool for protein visualisation in modern biomedical research. When properly folded, it emits green fluorescence upon UV illumination. Increased understanding regarding GFP’s structure, maturation, and spectrochemical properties allows its optimisation, development of variants such as split-GFP, and protein research applications. Understanding protein localisations and protein-protein interactions can provide insights into the functions of the proteome.
April
The properties of magnetism, protein structure analysis, stress and strain in jet engines, explosive materials, energy and matter are all essential domains for the development of our society that require research efforts and in-depth studies using neutron optics. The neutron chopper, invented in 1935, is a device that filters beams of neutrons at different energy levels using a rotating chopper blade. Neutron absorbing disks in the chopper rotate at high speeds to chop neutron beams, resulting in neutron beams at uniform energy levels. As you can imagine, with this high level of functionality, it is indisputable that an immense amount of heat and stress is generated. Extensive heat and stress can reduce the functionality of the neutron chopper and increase its risk of structural failure. Improving the design of the neutron chopper to accommodate the high heat and stress created can enable scientists to continue studying fundamental topics of human interest.
This paper focuses on processes of formation and weighing of supermassive black holes, and how they can be located via the Citizen Science Project ‘RADIO GALAXY ZOO: LOFAR’ presented by Zooniverse. Thousands of jets and galaxies have been seen by the Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR) survey, and an automatic "source finder" computer programme has identified them. This programme is not without flaws, and it occasionally separates a single radio source into numerous components. Through this project, radio astronomers require assistance in reassembling the components that the source finder programme mistakenly separated. This will allow the recreation of the entire radio source from its constituent parts.
Genetic counselors are the masters of interpreting and, more importantly, communicating uncertainty. They are trained to communicate complex and difficult information to families and patients about the risk of genetic disease based on an evaluation of family history, available testing options, and provide counseling services to understand results. Their training includes a blend of psychosocial counseling, critical thinking, problem-solving, and scientific knowledge, meaning they have a well-rounded skill set desirable to many fields. In fact, although many genetic counselors go on to interface with patients in a traditional clinical setting, there are opportunities to creatively apply genetic counseling to many different fields ranging from politics to tech, to nonprofits and more.
May
COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged in late 2019 into a global pandemic. Although governments worldwide imposed lockdown restrictions, the number of COVID-19 cases was not well-controlled as evidenced by the recurrence of waves. Realising that it is not feasible to suspend all activities indefinitely, infectious disease experts have been investigating policies to minimise disease transmission.
Many are familiar with supermassive black holes, but few have heard of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). A black hole is a region of space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. Supermassive black holes are the largest of black holes and are believed to lie at the center of all large galaxies including our Milky Way. An active galactic nucleus only occurs when a supermassive black hole is actively feeding on material. When dust and gas orbit just beyond the edge — known as an event horizon — of a supermassive black hole, the particles collide and release energy in the form of heat and light, forming a bright halo called an accretion disc. These particles heat up to millions of degrees and some are ejected along strong magnetic fields into two jets that shoot along the axis of the supermassive black hole for hundreds of thousands of lightyears. The central region of the galaxy can be more luminous than all the stars in the galaxy combined and this is an AGN. The most luminous AGN to date shines as brightly as 600 trillion suns.
As COVID-19 uproots millions of lives globally, it is crucial to understand the virus’s transmission routes. One such route, aerosol transmission, has been largely ignored by global health leaders until recently, despite surmounting evidence supporting its prevalence. Aerosols (droplet nuclei <5 in diameter) are produced during routine respiratory functions, can remain suspended in the air over prolonged and distances and can carry infectious SARS-CoV-2 particles. Thus, it is imperative that universities implement solutions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 aerosol transmission in spaces at risk for infectious aerosol buildup, namely enclosed, high-occupancy spaces. This paper investigates the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 aerosol transmission and identifies the best practices that institutions should follow to minimize classroom aerosol transmission.
June
Sports have always been a part of humans’ lives, with the most talked about event this summer being the Olympics, originally dating back roughly 3000 years ago. Physics on the other hand, has also been studied since the times of Aristotle. Both disciplines were rather disjoint and uncorrelated, however, fast forward to modern day physics and the increasingly competitive nature in sports, the two disciplines have found a way to merge into a new field of sports sciences. With current fast-paced development in science and technology, research within the field of sport sciences has mushroomed, which has led to some controversy due to beliefs that physics has overstayed its welcome in sports, causing athletes to overachieve unfairly. The main question in hand is to where the line should be drawn at the application of physics in sports to still be considered a “fair” game?
The abundance of protein has long intrigued researchers. With more than 20,000 protein molecules currently identified, researchers are racing to unravel their roles in human health and disease. To do this, researchers monitor protein activities inside a cell using a tag that produces light in nature. However, who would have thought that this light-producing tag is also a protein molecule termed as a bioluminescent? In a scoping review published in the March issue of the Journal of Young Investigators, Kwing Yeung Chan, Hugo Yat Hei Kwong, and Dei Men Szeto from the University of Hong Kong recount the chronicle of a specific bioluminescent from its discovery to its application.
Immune cells are important cells that play many functions in the body: defending against pathogens and repairing tissue after injury. Perhaps the most well-known function of the immune cells is its protection against pathogens. Each day, we breathe in about a million microorganisms into our lungs, including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, and this number can be much higher depending on the environment we are in. As such, immune cells are vital in promoting rapid clearance and removal of these pathogens before they can cause an infection.
July
Rodent body weight data from National Toxicology Program studies is an important end point used to determine if a toxicant causes adverse effects. Statistical tests for differences between body weights of control and treated groups often assume that the data are normally distributed (i.e., are bell-shaped curves). This study evaluated the importance of the normality assumption in statistical testing of rodent body weight measurements. It was found that the normality test used in this project, Shapiro-Wilk’s test for normality, has 6-56% power to detect skew normal distributions with samples sizes of 50 animals or less. However, statistical tests that compare body weights in a control group to a treated group were able to detect 10% differences in body weight with at least 80% power for sample sizes of 10, 20, and 50 rodents for both normally distributed data and data with a skew normal distribution while keeping False Positive Rates at an acceptable level of approximately 5%.
In a study done by Alyssa M. Taylor-LaPole, Helen C. Funny, and Keith R. Shockley from Virginia Wesleyan University and published by the Journal of Young Investigators, these questions were put to the test by analyzing the body weights of rodents among normal and non-normal populations, testing the power of our trusty parametric testing system against the statistical assumption of normality.
From Tanner’s perspective, effective communication with children firstly involves jumping out of the “white coat” image of doctors. In the wards, Tanner is not only a doctor who corrects children’s electrolyte disturbances or dehydration, but also a big sister who jokes along with sick children. It is essential for children to realise that doctors do not only approach them for physical examination or blood-taking, but also treat them as friends. While this is a soft skill that can be easily acquired, the technique of describing medical conditions to the paediatric population requires even more practice.
In a paper published in this issue of the Journal of Young Investigators, Sie and coworkers analyzed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) datasets from Stewart et al. Using bioinformatics tools, Sie et al. aim to shed insights on the possible therapeutic targets for resistant SCLC — a condition defined as SCLC relapse that occurs within 60 days after first-line treatment.
Transposable Elements (TEs) have been well investigated in tumorigenesis, yet their role as developmental regulators has only recently been recognized, thus stirring the interest towards a likely link between TEs expressed in early development and those expressed in tumorigenesis, since both states exhibit functional and molecular similarities.
August
On the African continent, Amaranth is one of the most widely grown and consumed indigenous crops. The genus Amaranth is one of the most grown leaf vegetables, cereals or decorative plants. Weather factors, the environment, genotype and production practice all influence Amaranth’s vegetative development. Most farmed Amaranth cultivars have low leaf and grain yields, owing to a paucity of good variations. Grain Amaranth growth can be enhanced with the use of suitable cultivars.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged in late 2019 and has become a pandemic. Although SARS-CoV-2 primarily attacks host respiratory tracts, as suggested by its name, the virus can also cause inflammation-mediated multi-organ injury upon binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in other host cell types. This condition is described as multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) or adults (MIS-A).
Jeanne McDonald, a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, is currently working at the Reed lab. She is researching the developmental genes behind the intricacies of such butterfly patterns in addition to how they have evolved and diverged over centuries to create the multitude of color patterns we see in nature today.
September
In the United States, safety-net clinic services aim at providing these individuals with accessible and affordable healthcare, along with transport and legal services. Personally, what do clinic users think about these services? To answer this question, Howard et al from the University of Washington Tacoma carried out an open-ended single-question survey. Their findings have been published in the September issue of the Journal of Young Investigators.
A part of the United States’ healthcare system, safety-net systems deliver a significant amount of care to members of vulnerable populations. These populations often face unique challenges in accessing healthcare due to lack of insurance, limited income and marginalization by their race, ethnicity and gender identity. This study aims to understand how these individuals perceive their healthcare support within the current safety-net framework. A qualitative analysis was performed on a single questionnaire item that asked participants to openly state a belief or opinion regarding how safety-net systems in Washington, D.C. and Washington State could better support their healthcare needs. Our findings imply that even with access to healthcare through the safety-net system, patients from low-resourced populations, particularly those who identify as transgender, continue to face significant barriers to achieving adequate healthcare resources and support that could impact health outcomes.
Caffeine has reached the hearts (and perhaps brains) of many, yet as ubiquitous as caffeine is in our daily lives, research into caffeine as a chemical has barely begun to scratch the surface. Recently, a 2021 study analyzed potential pharmaceutical uses of caffeine as a pain reliever and prevention for neurodegenerative diseases including dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
October
From negotiating property prices to blind-guessing the result of a long multiplication, the previous exposure to certain data can greatly influence our choices and decisions. This phenomenon, first theorized by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, is called anchoring: a cognitive bias where a particular reference point or 'anchor' influences an individual's decisions. This exposure to a value and its influence in decision making plays a big role in both the scientific community where anchoring could introduce a human bias into research, as well as in day-to-day life where the existence of anchors could be a powerful tool in marketing, economic decisions, or negotiations.
The battle with finding a cure for cancer has been long and arduous, given that it is a unique disease arising from a random change in genetic material. However, in recent years we have come to realize that our body has all the machinery needed to fight cancer on its own, but a few key players, monocytes and macrocytes, prevent our body from eradicating cancer cells. The review paper published in the October issue of the Journal of Young Investigators analyzes how the immune cells monocytes and macrophages affect tumor cell growth as well as how we are combating this issue.
Monocytes and macrophages are two developmentally related immune cell types that can infiltrate tumors of cancer patients. These cells critically impact cancer progression due to their abilities to both induce and suppress the body’s natural anti-cancer immune response. Since these cell types can directly hinder the efficacy of immunotherapy treatments, identifying strategies to inactivate and inhibit their functions is of great therapeutic interest. In this review, we discuss how monocyte and macrophage populations contribute to the cancer immunity cycle, a cycle which specifically targets cancer cells while keeping healthy cells unharmed. Specifically, our review focuses on the roles of these cells in the blood (circulating monocytes), tumor tissue (tumor-resident macrophages and monocyte-derived dendritic cells), as well as lymph nodes (lymph node-resident macrophages). We discuss how these cells can promote cancer growth and can participate in the immune attack against cancer through the secretion of cytokines, thereby aiding or harming the immune response. We highlight how certain migrating macrophage populations can take up tumor antigens and travel to the lymph node to activate T cells to begin the killing of tumor cells—a role that is usually thought to be fulfilled by only dendritic cells. Lastly, this review highlights why monocytes and macrophages are promising targets for treating cancer, and how these cells can be reprogrammed to improve patient responses to existing therapies, termed immunotherapies, that act to enhance the body’s natural anti-cancer defenses.
November
Robert A. Raguso, researcher and full-time professor for the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University, has explored the intersection between the chemistry of scents and the behavioral biology of pollinators for roughly a decade, yielding several publications, inspired students, and the most surprising of results to this burgeoning field. He continues to teach students about the mechanistic, evolutionary, developmental, and functional aspects of animal behavior, as well as lead a research laboratory focusing on plant-pollinator communication, specifically by investigating the hawk moth species.
Al Refaei, Shewaikani, and colleagues from the University of Jordan, University of Baghdad, and University of Damascus gathered the experiences of university students across three Middle Eastern countries to gauge the psychological impacts of home quarantine and associated risk factors in the latest issue of the Journal of Young Investigators.
In a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Young Investigators, Abiola Samson Olaniyi of Osun State University sheds light on the genetic potential of Amaranth by analyzing and comparing the vegetative characteristics and growth of four different Grain Amaranth varieties.
The Journal of Young Investigators had the pleasure to interview Professor Ting Fan Leung and understand his career as a university-affiliated pediatrician.
Previous investigations have indicated potential associations between dedicated quarantine and depression. However, a literature gap exists regarding the impact of home quarantine on mental status. Accordingly, our study aims to estimate the psychological effect of home quarantine on university students in Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Our study was conducted via an online survey of 4955 randomly selected university students from 123 universities in Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Our survey included questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics along with the validated Arabic version of the CES-D (The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) to assess the risk and prevalence of depressive symptoms. Among respondents, 73.2% were women, 89.9% were aged between 17 and 24 years and 65.5% were studying medical specialties. The mean CES-D score was 25.57 ± 12.6. The CES-D score was greater than 16 for 75.8% of quarantined persons, a typically recommended cut-off to identify patients at risk of clinical depression. Risk factors for depression were studying in Iraq, being female, being of a younger age, smoking, having a low and middle income, partial adherence to home quarantine rules and living alone or with a person taking immunosuppressants (p < .05). A high prevalence of clinical depression was observed among university students during the COVID-19 home quarantine. The evidence from this study suggests that post-quarantine psychological interventions are needed; governments should focus on providing psychological services to those in need in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing psychological aspects while preparing for future pandemics.
December
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, various Automated Exposure Notification (AEN) systems have been proposed to help quickly identify potential contacts of infected individuals. All these systems try to leverage the current understanding of the following factors: transmission risk, technology to address risk modeling, system policies and privacy considerations. While AEN holds promise for mitigating the spread of COVID-19, using short-range communication channels (Bluetooth) in smartphones to detect close individual contacts may be inaccurate for modeling and informing transmission risk. This work finds that the current close contact definitions may be inadequate to reduce viral spread using AEN technology. Consequently, relying on distance measurements from Bluetooth Low-Energy may not be optimal for determining risks of exposure and protecting privacy. This paper’s literature analysis suggests that AEN may perform better by using broadly accessible technologies to sense the respiratory activity, mask status, or environment of participants. Moreover, the paper remains cognizant that smartphone sensors can leak private information and thus recommends additional objectives for maintaining user privacy without compromising utility for population health. This literature review and analysis will simultaneously interest (i) health professionals who desire a fundamental understanding of the design and utility of AEN systems and (ii) technologists interested in understanding their epidemiological basis in the light of recent research. Ultimately, the two disparate communities need to understand each other to assess the value of AEN systems in mitigating viral spread, whether for the COVID-19 pandemic or for future ones.
In research published in the Journal of Young Investigators, the authors U. Bhetuwal, A. Chavez and I. Dobes in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, SUAMI and Dr. Wigner define the concept of the Zero Risk strategy. The Zero Risk strategy aims to depict a series of requirements that a conservative player needs to follow to obtain a favorable outcome in the game.