SciPod

Every year, the combined effects of corrosion and wear cause a huge amount of damage to coastal and offshore machinery, incurring huge costs for repair and maintenance. While there are various types of coating that offer protection from wear and corrosion, the way in which that they are applied can massively impact their effectiveness. Dr Tai-Cheng Chen and his team at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taiwan, have been analysing these methods, in order to determine the best way to protect maritime infrastructure.

随着COVID-19新冠病毒疫情对医疗保健行业产生的影响，远程医疗的用途和需求愈发明显。基于以上考虑，Intan Sabrina 博士（隶属马来西亚的 Sabrina (卫生部 同善医院 医院）与 Irma Ruslina Defi 博士（隶属印度尼西亚的 Hasan Sadikin 综合医院）合作发表了一篇针对目前东南亚远程医疗指导方针的发展建议

細菌の増殖は多くの化学成分の複雑な相互作用に依存しています。微生物学者たちは長い間培地成分に基づく細菌の増殖予測を試み、そのためにさまざまな数学的および計算モデルを使用してきました。筑波大学（日本）の應(イン) 蓓(ベイ)文(ウェン)博士と同僚は、機械学習の適用により細菌の増殖に対する培地成分の影響を理解することに成功しました。應(イン) 蓓(ベイ)文(ウェン)博士らの研究は細菌増殖の予測に大きく貢献するものであり、生体システムを制御する複雑な動態の探索に機械学習が応用できることを示唆しています。

The potentially fatal impact of tetanus on mothers and infants is a serious issue in developing countries. Dr Syed Ahsan Raza at Baylor College of Medicine and Dr Bilal Avan at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have recently published their perspectives and insights into this important issue.

The Hershey Company, one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world, produces and distributes millions of sweet treats every year. In 2019, an article on the Washington Post accused the company of failing to uproot child labour from its cocoa supply chain. Dr Bertrand Guillotin, an Associate Professor at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, recently published a case study that closely explores these child labour allegations against the Hershey Company.

Although nuclear power is a clean alternative to fossil fuel combustion, this industry often causes uranium pollution in the local environment. The generation of metatorbernite, a solid material containing uranium, is one promising way to remove dissolved uranium atoms from industrial wastewater. However, before this remediation technology can be widely applied, we need a deeper understanding of the properties of metatorbernite, such as its long-term stability, to ensure that uranium will not be re-released from its structure. Dr Caroline Kirk, Ms Fi MacIver-Jones and their colleagues at the University of Edinburgh have been working to establish the structure and stability of this material, so that it can be applied for uranium remediation in the near future.

The molecules within plant tissues can tell us about how they can withstand harsh environmental conditions. The Agave [ah-gah-vay] tequilana [tuh-keel-AH-nah] plant, native to Mexico, has a high concentration of fructan molecules throughout its tissues. Alongside his colleagues, Dr José Ordaz-Ortiz [hoe-ZAY or-dass or-teece] at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico, combines several powerful analytical techniques to better understand the role that these fructans play in plant biology.

Measurement of CD4 T cell-mediated immunity requires functional tests to be conducted with viable peripheral blood mononuclear cells, PBMC. Recently, scientists at CTL successfully developed a positive control that not only verifies the functionality of CD4 T cells in PBMC, but also that the antigen-presenting cell compartment is unimpaired in the test sample as well.

Led by Dr. Eric Buckland, Translational Imaging Innovations, Inc. (TII) provides purpose-driven software systems that drive such ophthalmic research forward. The TII image management platform provides researchers with the tools to manage multifaceted imaging workflows and efficiently organize and analyse complex sets of images and data to accelerate the development of new diagnoses and treatments for eye diseases. By unleashing the power of the eye, TII aims to transform medicine.

Rapid-fire rallies of short, fast shots are a defining feature of professional table tennis – but for many audiences, the excitement of these matches isn’t easily conveyed on the TV screen. Using a combination of computer simulations and statistical analysis, Professor Ralf Schneider and his colleagues at the Institute of Physics of the University of Greifswald, Germany, explore how slight changes to the game’s equipment could slow matches down, and make them more interesting to viewers. Karl Lüskow, Marc Marschall and Stefan Kemnitz produced and optimised the simulation code, while Lars Lewerentz performed statistical analysis of the data.