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In this study the authors looked at the ability to navigate planes in space between randomly placed planets. They used machine and reinforcement learning to run simulations and found that they were able to identify optimal paths for travel. In the future these techniques may allow for safer travel in unknown spaces.

India accounts for over 2.4 million recorded cases of tuberculosis, about 26% of the world’s cases. This research ascertained the bearing of both the population density and the average elevation above mean sea level (MSL) on the number of cases of TB recorded by the districts in Maharashtra, India. The results found a strong positive correlation between the number of TB cases per thousand people and the population density and a strong negative correlation between the number of TB cases per thousand people and the average elevation above MSL.

How accurate are DNA parentage tests? In this study, the authors hypothesized that current parentage tests are reliable if the analysis involves only one or a few families of yellow perch fish Perca flavescens. Their results suggest that DNA parentage tests are reliable as long as the right methods are used, since these tests involve only one family in most cases, and that the results from parentage analyses of large populations can only be used as a reference.

Cancer is often caused by improper function of a few proteins, and sometimes it takes only a few proteins to malfunction to cause drastic changes in cells. Here the authors look at the genes that were mutated in patients with a type of pancreatic cancer to identify proteins that are important in causing cancer. They also determined which proteins currently lack effective treatment, and suggest that certain proteins (named KRAS, CDKN2A, and RBBP8) are the most important candidates for developing drugs to treat pancreatic cancer.

In this study, the authors use quantitative digit ratio measurements and a survey of personality traits to evaluate the potential relationship between sex and levels of conscientiousness.

This study investigates the presence of alkaloids in a variety of medicinal plants using the Marquis reagent. They reveal some surprising results and how useful the Marquis reagent is.

This article explored the question of when do people decide to stop gambling and further tries to extrapolate why people stop gambling at that point. Their study showed that people tend to quit gambling after 4 consecutive losses, significantly more than 1-3 consecutive losses or a win previous to quitting. They also found that participants commonly quit at a point value approximately 5 points greater than or less than their starting balance. The authors concluded that these results may be important in understanding how to cut down on excessive gambling or in creating policies that make it easier for people to disengage from gambling.

The authors looked at the ability of berberine in combination with melatonin to have anticancer effects when tested in an in vitro cell model.

Here, recognizing the potential harmful effects of algal blooms, the authors used satellite images to detect algal blooms in water bodies in Wyoming based on their reflectance of near infrared light. They found that remote monitoring in this way may provide a useful tool in providing early warning and advisories to people who may live in close proximity.

In this article the authors look at the ability of spices to reduce microbial load on a cutting surface by comparing growth of bacteria cultured before and after cleaning with various spice mixtures.