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Dietary calcium intake and lead body burden in U.S. adolescents

Lin et al. | Oct 16, 2026

Dietary calcium intake and lead body burden in U.S. adolescents

We investigated whether dietary calcium intake affects how adolescents handle lead internally. Using paired blood and urinary lead data, we assessed whether calcium status is associated with differences in lead clearance. The results point to subgroups of adolescents—particularly those with lower calcium intake—who may carry a higher internal lead burden than their blood levels alone would suggest.

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Simulating single versus cocktail antibiotic effects on the human gut microbiome

Patel et al. | Jul 19, 2026

Simulating single versus cocktail antibiotic effects on the human gut microbiome
Image credit: Volodymyr Hryshchenko

This study, uses SimulATe to model changes in microbial diversity and community structure upon administering a cocktail of antibiotics versus a single antibiotic. The authors hypothesized that antibiotic cocktails, particularly those combining broad-spectrum drugs like tetracyclines and trimethoprims, would cause a more significant reduction in gut microbial diversity compared to single-drug treatments. The findings confirmed a greater loss of microbial diversity with combinatorial treatments compared to single-drug treatments. While individual antibiotics dynamically reshaped the surviving species of the microbiome, antibiotic cocktails frequently cleared all species of the gut microbiome.

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Investigating the effects of glucose reintroduction on acutely starved HeLa cells

Puduru et al. | Jul 05, 2026

Investigating the effects of glucose reintroduction on acutely starved HeLa cells

Cancer cells rely heavily on glycolysis, but how they respond when glucose is reintroduced after acute starvation is not well understood. Using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, students tracked metabolic changes in HeLa cells and found a rapid shift toward glycolysis within 20 minutes of glucose reintroduction, followed by heterogeneous recovery toward oxidative phosphorylation. These results highlight metabolic flexibility and variability in cancer cells, offering insights relevant to treatment resistance and therapeutic design.

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Using satellite surface temperature data to monitor urban heat island

Meister et al. | Feb 13, 2026

Using satellite surface temperature data to monitor urban heat island
Image credit: Meister, Horvath, and Brown de Colstoun

This manuscript investigates the urban heat island (UHI) effect by utilizing two satellite datasets: Landsat (high spatial resolution, lower temporal resolution) and MODIS (lower spatial resolution, high temporal resolution). The authors hypothesized that Landsat would provide better spatial detail, while MODIS would better capture temporal variations. Their analysis in the Washington D.C.–Baltimore region supports these hypotheses, demonstrating that Landsat offers finer spatial details, whereas MODIS provides more consistent seasonal patterns and better detects heatwave frequencies.

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