Giants

In this episode, we will talk about a treatment to prevent covid-19 vaccine-induced blood-clotting, the mechanism of sense of smell loss in covid-19 patients, the effect of plastics on IQ, a new blood glucose monitoring system that uses sweat instead of blood and how the body differentiates between good bacteria in the gut from the bad ones.

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The papers reviewed in this podcast:

1- Johannes Thaler, Cihan Ay, Karoline V. Gleixner, Alexander W. Hauswirth, Filippo Cacioppo, Jürgen Grafeneder, Peter Quehenberger, Ingrid Pabinger, Paul Knöbl. Successful treatment of vaccine‐induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT). Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 2021; DOI: 10.1111/jth.15346

2- Guilherme Dias de Melo, Françoise Lazarini, Sylvain Levallois, Charlotte Hautefort, Vincent Michel, Florence Larrous, Benjamin Verillaud, Caroline Aparicio, Sebastien Wagner, Gilles Gheusi, Lauriane Kergoat, Etienne Kornobis, Flora Donati, Thomas Cokelaer, Rémi Hervochon, Yoann Madec, Emmanuel Roze, Dominique Salmon, Hervé Bourhy, Marc Lecuit, Pierre-Marie Lledo. COVID-19-related anosmia is associated with viral persistence and inflammation in human olfactory epithelium and brain infection in hamsters. Science Translational Medicine, 2021; eabf8396 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abf8396

3- Elin Engdahl, Katherine Svensson, Ping-I Daniel Lin, Ali Alavian-Ghavanini, Christian Lindh, Joëlle Rüegg, Carl-Gustaf Bornehag. DNA methylation at GRIN2B partially mediates the association between prenatal bisphenol F exposure and cognitive functions in 7-year-old children in the SELMA study. Environment International, 2021; 156: 106617 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106617

4- Juliane R. Sempionatto, Jong-Min Moon, Joseph Wang. Touch-Based Fingertip Blood-Free Reliable Glucose Monitoring: Personalized Data Processing for Predicting Blood Glucose Concentrations. ACS Sensors, 2021; DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.1c00139

5- Daniel F. Zegarra-Ruiz, Dasom V. Kim, Kendra Norwood, Myunghoo Kim, Wan-Jung H. Wu, Fatima B. Saldana-Morales, Andrea A. Hill, Shubhabrata Majumdar, Stephanie Orozco, Rickesha Bell, June L. Round, Randy S. Longman, Takeshi Egawa, Matthew L. Bettini, Gretchen E. Diehl. Thymic development of gut-microbiota-specific T cells. Nature, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03531-1

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In this episode, we will talk about the benefit of mushroom in preventing cancer, the effect of shift-work on health and the role of public toilets in spreading the COVID-19 virus. The large-scale analysis of COVID-19 vaccine receivers and the relationship between financial problem and physical pain will be discussed here.

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The papers reviewed in this podcast:

1- Djibril M Ba, Paddy Ssentongo, Robert B Beelman, Joshua Muscat, Xiang Gao, John P Richie. Higher Mushroom Consumption Is Associated with Lower Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Advances in Nutrition, 2021; DOI: 10.1093/advances/nmab015

2- Stéphanie M.C. Abo, Anita T. Layton. Modeling the circadian regulation of the immune system: sexually dimorphic effects of shift work. PLOS Computational Biology (submitted), 2021 

3- Jesse H. Schreck, Masoud Jahandar Lashaki, Javad Hashemi, Manhar Dhanak, Siddhartha Verma. Aerosol generation in public restrooms. Physics of Fluids, 2021; 33 (3): 033320 DOI: 10.1063/5.0040310

4- Cristina Menni, Kerstin Klaser, Anna May, Lorenzo Polidori, Joan Capdevila, Panayiotis Louca, Carole H Sudre, Long H Nguyen, David A Drew, Jordi Merino, Christina Hu, Somesh Selvachandran, Michela Antonelli, Benjamin Murray, Liane S Canas, Erika Molteni, Mark S Graham, Marc Modat, Amit D Joshi, Massimo Mangino, Alexander Hammers, Anna L Goodman, Andrew T Chan, Jonathan Wolf, Claire J Steves, Ana M Valdes, Sebastien Ourselin, Tim D Spector. Vaccine side-effects and SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination in users of the COVID Symptom Study app in the UK: a prospective observational study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2021; DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00224-3

5- Kandauda A. S. Wickrama, Eric T. Klopack, Catherine Walker O'Neal. Midlife family financial strain, sense of control and pain in later years: An investigation of rural husbands and wives. Stress and Health, 2021; DOI: 10.1002/smi.3038

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Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

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Listen to a short overview of the scientific discoveries reported in the past fortnight.

In today’s episode, we will talk about how plants can remember the drought, the dogs can feel jealous, the molecule considered as the origin of life, smart glasses capable of considerable reduction of energy consumption, female mental capability vs males, turning wood into plastic and the benefit of drinking cocoa.

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The papers reviewed in this podcast:

1- Bo Xu, Yu Long, Xueying Feng, Xujun Zhu, Na Sai, Larissa Chirkova, Annette Betts, Johannes Herrmann, Everard J. Edwards, Mamoru Okamoto, Rainer Hedrich, Matthew Gilliham. GABA signalling modulates stomatal opening to enhance plant water use efficiency and drought resilience. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21694-3

2- Amalia P. M. Bastos, Patrick D. Neilands, Rebecca S. Hassall, Byung C. Lim, Alex H. Taylor. Dogs Mentally Represent Jealousy-Inducing Social Interactions. Psychological Science, 2021; 095679762097914 DOI: 10.1177/0956797620979149

3- Keiji Murayama, Hikari Okita, Takumi Kuriki, Hiroyuki Asanuma. Nonenzymatic polymerase-like template-directed synthesis of acyclic l-threoninol nucleic acid. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21128-0

4- Harmut H. Hillmer, Mustaqim Siddi Que Iskhandar, Muhammad Kamrul Hasan, Sapida Akhundzada, Basim Al-Qargholi, Andreas Tatzel. MOEMS micromirror arrays in smart windows for daylight steering. Journal of Optical Microsystems, 2021; 1 (01) DOI: 10.1117/1.JOM.1.1.014502

5- Lise Eliot, Adnan Ahmed, Hiba Khan, Julie Patel. Dump the 'dimorphism': Comprehensive synthesis of human brain studies reveals few male-female differences beyond size. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2021; 125: 667 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.026

6- Xia, Q., Chen, C., Yao, Y. et al. A strong, biodegradable and recyclable lignocellulosic bioplastic. Nat Sustain, 2021 DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00702-w

7- Rosalind Baynham, Jet J.C.S. Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Paul W. Johns, Quang S. Pham, Catarina Rendeiro. Cocoa Flavanols Improve Vascular Responses to Acute Mental Stress in Young Healthy Adults. Nutrients, 2021; 13 (4): 1103 DOI: 10.3390/nu13041103

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In this episode, we will talk about the reason SARS-COV2 has appeared to be deadlier than its predecessor SARS-COV1 and the lower risk of COVID-19 disease in asthma patients. Next, the effect of wildfires on the intensity of storms and magnetic pole shifting 42000 years ago will be described. Finally, the mechanism of improved immunity as a result of exercise, a new compound to treat ALS and the negative effect of fructose will be overviewed. 

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The papers reviewed in this podcast: 

1. Anthony P Sunjaya, Sabine M Allida, Gian Luca Di Tanna, Christine Jenkins. Asthma and risk of infection, hospitalisation, ICU admission and mortality from COVID-19: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Asthma, 2021; 1 DOI: 10.1080/02770903.2021.1888116 

2. Lydia G. Jahl, Thomas A. Brubaker, Michael J. Polen, Leif G. Jahn, Kerrigan P. Cain, Bailey B. Bowers, William D. Fahy, Sara Graves, Ryan C. Sullivan. Atmospheric aging enhances the ice nucleation ability of biomass-burning aerosol. Science Advances, 2021; 7 (9): eabd3440 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd3440 

3. Alan Cooper, Chris S. M. Turney, Jonathan Palmer, Alan Hogg, Matt Mcglone, Janet Wilmshurst, Andrew M. Lorrey, Timothy J. Heaton, James M. Russell, Ken Mccracken, Julien G. Anet, Eugene Rozanov, Marina Friedel, Ivo Suter, Thomas Peter, Raimund Muscheler, Florian Adolphi, Anthony Dosseto, J. Tyler Faith, Pavla Fenwick, Christopher J. Fogwill, Konrad Hughen, Mathew Lipson, Jiabo Liu, Norbert Nowaczyk, Eleanor Rainsley, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Paolo Sebastianelli, Yassine Souilmi, Janelle Stevenson, Zoë Thomas, Raymond Tobler, Roland Zech. A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago. Science, 2021 DOI: 10.1126/science.abb8677 

4. Bo Shen, Alpaslan Tasdogan, Jessalyn M. Ubellacker, Jingzhu Zhang, Elena D. Nosyreva, Liming Du, Malea M. Murphy, Shuiqing Hu, Yating Yi, Nergis Kara, Xin Liu, Shay Guela, Yuemeng Jia, Vijayashree Ramesh, Claire Embree, Evann C. Mitchell, Yunduo C. Zhao, Lining A. Ju, Zhao Hu, Genevieve M. Crane, Zhiyu Zhao, Ruhma Syeda, Sean J. Morrison. A mechanosensitive peri-arteriolar niche for osteogenesis and lymphopoiesis. Nature, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03298-5 

5. Barış Genç, Mukesh Gautam, Öge Gözütok, Ina Dervishi, Santana Sanchez, Gashaw M. Goshu, Nuran Koçak, Edward Xie, Richard B. Silverman, P. Hande Özdinler. Improving mitochondria and ER stability helps eliminate upper motor neuron degeneration that occurs due to mSOD1 toxicity and TDP‐43 pathology. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 2021; 11 (2) DOI: 10.1002/ctm2.336 

6. Nicholas Jones, Julianna Blagih, Fabio Zani, April Rees, David G. Hill, Benjamin J. Jenkins, Caroline J. Bull, Diana Moreira, Azari I. M. Bantan, James G. Cronin, Daniele Avancini, Gareth W. Jones, David K. Finlay, Karen H. Vousden, Emma E. Vincent, Catherine A. Thornton. Fructose reprogrammes glutamine-dependent oxidative metabolism to support LPS-induced inflammation. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21461-4

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Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

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In this episode, we will talk about the relationship between climate change and COVID- 19. The increased chance of death from cardiac arrest in COVID-19 patients and the benefit of humidity trapped behind the face mask to combat this disease. We will also talk about how some sperms poison other sperms to win the egg and the new technology to convert waste heat to electricity. We finish this podcast with answering two questions that why the food sticks to the non-sticking pan and is it safe to keep tooth brushes in the toilet or not.

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The papers reviewed in this podcast:

1- Robert M. Beyer, Andrea Manica, Camilo Mora. Shifts in global bat diversity suggest a possible role of climate change in the emergence of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. Science of The Total Environment, 2021; 145413 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145413

2- Pedram Sultanian, Peter Lundgren, Anneli Strömsöe, Solveig Aune, Göran Bergström, Eva Hagberg, Jacob Hollenberg, Jonny Lindqvist, Therese Djärv, Albert Castelheim, Anna Thorén, Fredrik Hessulf, Leif Svensson, Andreas Claesson, Hans Friberg, Per Nordberg, Elmir Omerovic, Annika Rosengren, Johan Herlitz, Araz Rawshani. Cardiac arrest in COVID-19: characteristics and outcomes of in- and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. A report from the Swedish Registry for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. European Heart Journal, 2021; DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa1067

3- Joseph M. Courtney, Ad Bax. Hydrating the Respiratory Tract: An Alternative Explanation Why Masks Lower Severity of COVID-19. Biophysical Journal, 2021; DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.02.002

4- Alexandra Amaral, Bernhard G. Herrmann. RAC1 controls progressive movement and competitiveness of mammalian spermatozoa. PLOS Genetics, 2021; 17 (2): e1009308 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009308

5- Joel Joseph, Makoto Ohtsuka, Hiroyuki Miki, Manfred Kohl. Upscaling of Thermomagnetic Generators Based on Heusler Alloy Films. Joule, 2020; 4 (12): 2718 DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.10.019

6- A. I. Fedorchenko, J. Hruby. On formation of dry spots in heated liquid films. Physics of Fluids, 2021; 33 (2): 023601 DOI: 10.1063/5.0035547

7- Ryan A. Blaustein, Lisa-Marie Michelitsch, Adam J. Glawe, Hansung Lee, Stefanie Huttelmaier, Nancy Hellgeth, Sarah Ben Maamar, Erica M. Hartmann. Toothbrush microbiomes feature a meeting ground for human oral and environmental microbiota. Microbiome, 2021; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s40168-020-00983-x

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Music:

https://www.purple-planet.com

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In this episode, we will talk about the Covid-19 and its danger not only to the elderly but also to the middle-aged adults. We will also talk about its effect on the brain which was not fully studied before. Next, we will talk about the disadvantages of the vegan diet for children, the production of wood, meat and bone in the lab and the discovery of giant worms. Finally, we will talk about the defence mechanism of snakes against other venomous snakes and the reason Saturn has a tilted axis.  

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The papers reviewed in this podcast: 

1. Andrew T. Levin, William P. Hanage, Nana Owusu-Boaitey, Kensington B. Cochran, Seamus P. Walsh, Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz. Assessing the age specificity of infection fatality rates for COVID-19: systematic review, meta-analysis, and public policy implications. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2020; 35 (12): 1123 DOI: 10.1007/s10654-020-00698-1 

2. Pratima Kumari, Hussin A. Rothan, Janhavi P. Natekar, Shannon Stone, Heather Pathak, Philip G. Strate, Komal Arora, Margo A. Brinton, Mukesh Kumar. Neuroinvasion and Encephalitis Following Intranasal Inoculation of SARS-CoV-2 in K18-hACE2 Mice. Viruses, 2021; 13 (1): 132 DOI: 10.3390/v13010132 

3. Topi Hovinen, Liisa Korkalo, Riitta Freese, Essi Skaffari, Pirjo Isohanni, Mikko Niemi, Jaakko Nevalainen, Helena Gylling, Nicola Zamboni, Maijaliisa Erkkola, Anu Suomalainen. Vegan diet in young children remodels metabolism and challenges the statuses of essential nutrients. EMBO Molecular Medicine, 2021; DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202013492 

4. Ashley L. Beckwith, Jeffrey T. Borenstein, Luis F. Velásquez-García. Tunable plant-based materials via in vitro cell culture using a Zinnia elegans model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2021; 288: 125571 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125571 

5. Alireza Shahin-Shamsabadi, P. Ravi Selvaganapathy. Engineering Murine Adipocytes and Skeletal Muscle Cells in Meat-like Constructs Using Self-Assembled Layer-by-Layer Biofabrication: A Platform for Development of Cultivated Meat. Cells Tissues Organs, 2021; 1 DOI: 10.1159/000511764 

6. Sara Romanazzo, Thomas Gregory Molley, Stephanie Nemec, Kang Lin, Rakib Sheikh, John Justin Gooding, Boyang Wan, Qing Li, Kristopher Alan Kilian, Iman Roohani. Synthetic Bone‐Like Structures Through Omnidirectional Ceramic Bioprinting in Cell Suspensions. Advanced Functional Materials, 2021; 2008216 DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202008216 

7. Yu-Yen Pan, Masakazu Nara, Ludvig Löwemark, Olmo Miguez-Salas, Björn Gunnarson, Yoshiyuki Iizuka, Tzu-Tung Chen, Shahin E. Dashtgard. The 20-million-year old lair of an ambush-predatory worm preserved in northeast Taiwan. Scientific Reports, 2021; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79311-0 

8. Richard J. Harris, Bryan G. Fry. Electrostatic resistance to alpha-neurotoxins conferred by charge reversal mutations in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2021; 288 (1942): 20202703 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2703 

9. Melaine Saillenfest, Giacomo Lari, Gwenaël Boué. The large obliquity of Saturn explained by the fast migration of Titan. Nature Astronomy, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-01284-x 

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In this episode, we will talk about how long COVID-19 patients will be immune from the second infection and why some of them still feel unwell months after their treatment. We then talk about cancer cells and bacteria hibernation when are under harsh environment and the circadian rhythm in bacteria. Finally, we talk about the new information about Megalodon reproduction and the relationship between the size of crocodiles and global warming.  

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The papers reviewed in this podcast: 

1-Raul Sanchez-Vazquez, Ana Guío-Carrión, Antonio Zapatero-Gaviria, Paula Martínez, Maria A. Blasco. Shorter telomere lengths in patients with severe COVID-19 disease. Aging, 2021; DOI: 10.18632/aging.202463 

2-Jennifer M. Dan, Jose Mateus, Yu Kato, Kathryn M. Hastie, Esther Dawen Yu, Caterina E. Faliti, Alba Grifoni, Sydney I. Ramirez, Sonya Haupt, April Frazier, Catherine Nakao, Vamseedhar Rayaprolu, Stephen A. Rawlings, Bjoern Peters, Florian Krammer, Viviana Simon, Erica Ollmann Saphire, Davey M. Smith, Daniela Weiskopf, Alessandro Sette, Shane Crotty. Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 assessed for up to 8 months after infection. Science, 2021; eabf4063 DOI: 10.1126/science.abf4063 

3-Sumaiyah K. Rehman et al. Colorectal Cancer Cells Enter a Diapause-like DTP State to Survive Chemotherapy. Cell, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.11.018 

4-Pauline Bleichert, Lucy Bütof, Christian Rückert, Martin Herzberg, Romeu Francisco, Paula V. Morais, Gregor Grass, Jörn Kalinowski, Dietrich H. Nies. Mutant Strains of Escherichia coli and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Obtained by Laboratory Selection To Survive on Metallic Copper Surfaces. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2020; 87 (1) DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01788-20 

5-Zheng Eelderink-Chen, Jasper Bosman, Francesca Sartor, Antony N. Dodd, Ákos T. Kovács, Martha Merrow. A circadian clock in a nonphotosynthetic prokaryote. Science Advances, 2021; 7 (2): eabe2086 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe2086 

6-Kenshu Shimada , Matthew F. Bonnan , Martin A. Becker & Michael L. Griffiths. Ontogenetic growth pattern of the extinct megatooth shark Otodus megalodon—implications for its reproductive biology, development, and life expectancy. Historical Biology, 2021 DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2020.1861608 

7-Maximilian T. Stockdale, Michael J. Benton. Environmental drivers of body size evolution in crocodile-line archosaurs. Communications Biology, 2021; 4 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01561-5 

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In this episode, we will talk about a new planet that can give a clue about the planet nine, the new evidence to support MOND theory of dark matter and the successful measurement of primordial gravitational waves. Next, the new finding that stem cells are not tumorigenic and the effect of Neanderthal genes in COVID-19 patients will be reviewed. We also talk about that Neanderthals were burying their deceased ones, the self-amputation in crocodiles and the production of safer antiperspirants.  

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The papers reviewed in this podcast: 

1-Meiji M. Nguyen, Robert J. De Rosa, Paul Kalas. First Detection of Orbital Motion for HD 106906 b: A Wide-separation Exoplanet on a Planet Nine–like Orbit. The Astronomical Journal, 2020; 161 (1): 22 DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/abc012 

2-Kyu-Hyun Chae, Federico Lelli, Harry Desmond, Stacy S. McGaugh, Pengfei Li, James M. Schombert. Testing the Strong Equivalence Principle: Detection of the External Field Effect in Rotationally Supported Galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal, 2020; 904 (1): 51 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abbb96 

3-Biscoveanu, Colm Talbot, Eric Thrane, Rory Smith. Measuring the Primordial Gravitational-Wave Background in the Presence of Astrophysical Foregrounds. Physical Review Letters, 2020; 125 (24) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.241101 

4-Giuliano Giuseppe Stirparo, Austin Smith, Ge Guo. Cancer-Related Mutations Are Not Enriched in Naive Human Pluripotent Stem Cells. Cell Stem Cell, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2020.11.014 

5-Antoine Balzeau, Alain Turq, Sahra Talamo, Camille Daujeard, Guillaume Guérin, Frido Welker, Isabelle Crevecoeur, Helen Fewlass, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Christelle Lahaye, Bruno Maureille, Matthias Meyer, Catherine Schwab, Asier Gómez-Olivencia. Pluridisciplinary evidence for burial for the La Ferrassie 8 Neandertal child. Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77611-z 

6-https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.11.422139v1

7-Cindy Xu, Joanna Palade, Rebecca E. Fisher, Cameron I. Smith, Andrew R. Clark, Samuel Sampson, Russell Bourgeois, Alan Rawls, Ruth M. Elsey, Jeanne Wilson-Rawls, Kenro Kusumi. Anatomical and histological analyses reveal that tail repair is coupled with regrowth in wild-caught, juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77052-8 

8-Alan G. McElligott, Kristine H. O'Keeffe, Alexandra C. Green. Kangaroos display gazing and gaze alternations during an unsolvable problem task. Biology Letters, 2020; 16 (12): 20200607 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0607 

9-Venkata Yashasvi Lolla, Pranav Shukla, Stevan D. Jones, Jonathan B. Boreyko. Evaporation-Induced Clogging of an Artificial Sweat Duct. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020; 12 (47): 53403 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c13493 

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