PRESS Journals, a peer-reviewed journal for high school researchers and scholars

Author: Jiwon Moon

Oral cancer, often caused by tobacco and alcohol use, HPV infection, or traditional practices, remains a significant health challenge. Current treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy lack specificity and often result in incomplete removal or recurrence. This study proposes two approaches: CRISPR-Cas9 to target HPV oncogenes (E6 and E7), restoring normal cell function, and CAR-T cell therapy to target proteins like EGFR for enhanced immune response. Both methods aim to improve treatment specificity and effectiveness. Proposed experiments include in vitro and in vivo models to evaluate efficacy and minimize off-target effects, offering a potential breakthrough in oral cancer therapy.

Author: Yoojoo Cha

Prosopagnosia or facial blindness is a condition characterized by difficulty recognizing faces and facial expressions. While there is general consensus that prosopagnosics process faces differently from unaffected individuals, debate surrounds the exact mechanisms driving it. This paper reviews the existing literature on facial processing in prosopagnosia including neurological differences, gaze behavior, and holistic recognition while discussing current assistive methods and technological advances to aid facial recognition.

Author: Sakibur Rahman

This paper presents a mathematical derivation of a formula to determine the balancing number within a given range . A balancing number is a unique integer in the range that equally partitions the sum of integers on both sides. The method relies solely on the starting number and the ending number , eliminating the need for an external balancer. This paper also presents charts for large nth balancing numbers, revealing that certain starting points are more productive than . This efficient approach is validated with examples and visualizations, showcasing its accuracy and potential applications in resource allocation and optimization.

Author: D. Khosla

Music is an integral part of our everyday lives, and is seen to have a profound impact on humankind. The human brain has an unique ability to process components of music, such as rhythm, despite the fact that many animal species are capable of sound production and perception. The discovery of ancient musical instruments, more than tens of thousands of years old, underscores the long and impactful relationship humans share with music. This review discusses the impact of music on the human brain, by looking at the evolution of sound production and recognition among different species and the ways their brains process diverse auditory cues. This investigation suggests a mechanism for the striking ability of music, dance, song and more to have a positive effect on humans worldwide.

Author: R. Jacobson

The project will take the form of a historical literature review paper, covering the period 1948 to 1994. We will move through the major academic texts and journal articles on education in South Africa during the Apartheid era. We will have a strong focus on the negative effects on the Black population due to Apartheid policy, as well as its connections to labor and economic issues. We will gather our research to the sum of 10 to 15 pages, which will guide the formation of our hypothesis and eventual conclusion. Our analysis will be based on a summarized, yet detailed, overview of the available secondary academic sources.

Author: A. Bei

Cancer is currently a leading cause of death, killing millions of people worldwide, but has yet to have a definitive cure. Although therapies such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation therapy are commonly used, such therapies incur numerous downsides, especially for the health of the patients themselves. Because of this, theranostics were invented to combine the most precise imaging with the most targeted treatment methods. However, theranostics still fail to treat many cancers, its use being limited by the rapid evolution of cancer cells. This paper proposes a novel theranostic that involves conjugating nanoparticles with immune-enhancing agents. The therapy consists of iron-oxide nanoparticles conjugated to natural killer (NK) cell engagers and STING agonists. This allows for the ability to target a variety of distinct cancer cells through the adaptive and innate immune systems. If successful, this treatment could impact the lives of countless patients, potentially saving the lives of those with advanced and aggressive cancer.

Author: Kwan Ding Wai

Millions of people suffer from skin cancer every year. Many of these people develop this disease due to self-inflicted damage through tanning, sunburn, or exposure to carcinogens. There is a clear need for products that provide an additional layer of protection or repair lesions after damage occurs. This review proposes a novel solution by examining the capabilities of organisms that are highly resistant to sun damage. Carotenoids are antioxidants which protect cells from UV damage and photolyase is a protein which directly reverses DNA damage. Overexpression of both can be induced in yeast, a simple organism that is easy to grow at home. Distribution of at-home sun kits containing this modified microorganism would strengthen currently available skincare products such as sunscreen or aloe vera. If effective, it could greatly benefit society by decreasing the rates of skin cancer in an affordable and accessible manner.

Author: A. Kapoor

In this paper, we address a continuous variant of the Secretary Problem, where one must extract a fraction, 1/p, of a flowing liquid to optimize a characteristic of the extracted portion, such as purity. The characteristic of the immediately extractable liquid is assumed to be known, the extraction decision is irrevocable, and only a single extraction can be made. Initially, some amount must be rejected to gauge the random distribution of the characteristic, then an interval with the most desired trait is selected. The problem involves determining the optimal rejection strategy to maximize the likelihood of selecting the interval with the optimal characteristic. Excessive initial rejection risks bypassing the optimal interval, while insufficient rejection may result in settling for a sub-optimal interval. We derive the optimal rejection strategy, expressed as a function of p, that maximizes the probability of selecting the interval with the optimal characteristic. Specifically, we provide a precise formula for the rejection threshold and the associated maximum success probability. Our results generalize the classical discrete theory to a continuous domain, offering new insights into optimal stopping rules for real-time decision-making in various continuous contexts.

Author: C. Park

Description goes hereParkinson's Disease is an incurable disease that affects millions of people’s everyday lives. This disease prevents them from performing critical tasks like eating and sleeping due to the associated motor impairment disorder, significantly impacting their quality of life. Unfortunately, development of management solutions for tremors has been limited. This is a critical issue because resting tremors can cause patients to be deprived of proper rest. Developing an effective assistive wearable device that could help PD patients manage their tremors while at rest would improve their quality of life significantly. As an extension, the sensor-equipped device and its artificial intelligence model can provide insights on the disease’s progression, which can help doctors make more informed decisions when administering conventional therapies.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common psychiatric disorder, affecting one in six adults. Early-life experiences and environment shape the genome through epigenetic modifications, making individuals who experienced child maltreatment (CM) be more predisposed to develop MDD later on in life. This happens through the deregulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis as a result of the continuous stress response. Increased methylation levels in the promoter regions of NR3C1, SLC6A4 and BDNF genes, three genes which have been shown to have key functions in the regulation of the HPA axis, were found in cases of patients with CM and MDD. The downregulation of these genes leads to a decrease in glucocorticoid receptors, lower rates of serotonin uptake and neuroplasticity, all of which affect HPA axis activity and work in concert to form the well-known MDD symptoms. We propose the use of the catalytically inactive dCas9 protein fused with the Tet1 demethylating domain to selectively demethylate the promoter regions of the previously presented genes. Afterwards, using the Herpes simplex virus as a vector, we will transfect patients with the modified plasmid in order to increase the respective protein concentrations. In order to assess the methylation levels, we will use a combination of qRT-PCR, bisulfite pyrosequencing and other NGS techniques. We believe that this therapy will work better than current antidepressants, decreasing the number of anxious and depressive behaviours, as well as stopping future depressive episodes over a long term period of time. Our proposal has tremendous potential and the findings can be extended to other minority groups, as well as it could be used to study the traumatic effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on us all.

Author: Tomona Aria

Sports remain affected by gender disparities that are a collective consequence of biological, social, and institutional factors. Such differences manifest in participation rates, injury risks, non-availability of role models, and inequalities in funding. This paper investigates the historical foundation of gender inequality in sports, biological distinctions that lead to diverse athletic experiences, and social norms that block the pathway for female participation. It then looks at governmental policies in place and funding allocations to highlight the systemic problems facing female athletes. The paper ends with a discussion on antidotes to promote gender equality in sports, such as better policies, increased representation of female coaches, and enhanced media visibility.

Author: Audrey Chin

Access to clean, effective menstrual pads is necessary for all who menstruate. However, many women in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are limited by cost, social stigma, and cultural taboos. Further, menstrual pads are expensive and harmful to the environment. This project designed and tested biodegradable and affordable menstrual pads made from natural materials and alginate powder, a polymer used to increase absorption. Banana fiber yarn, blended bamboo and cotton batting, and BioBag compose the layers of the various products. Each type of pad was tested both with and without alginate powder. Pig blood was used to assess the effectiveness and absorbency of the pads in three rounds of experimentation. After dripping blood onto the pads, leakage was tested by tilting each pad at an angle using binder clips attached to a string, and measuring the volume of blood that leaked out. Data including weight measurements, were analyzed through statistical tests such as T-tests and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The bamboo pad absorbed significantly more than the Always pad (p = 0.002). The Always pad with alginate powder retained significantly more blood than the unmodified Always pad (p = 0.0003). Alginate powder improved he absorbency of every pad tested. These findings indicate that alginate powder is useful in the construction of menstrual pads and that bamboo should be considered as an optimal alternative to commercial pads. This breakthrough provides an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective solution to accessibility in LMIC countries. With this product, more women can obtain hygienic sanitary pads without creating long-lasting pollution.

Author: Mahika Ralhin

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a groundbreaking immunotherapy technique, primarily effective in hematologic cancers. This study statistically analyzes the relationship between therapy efficacy and Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) severity in prostate cancer patients. Using an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test, we determined a statistical ly significant correlation between higher CRS levels and improved therapeutic outcomes, as measured by PSA (prostate -specific antigen) reduction. These findings suggest that CRS may be a marker for treatment efficacy, though further research is needed to optimize patient outcomes without severe adverse effects.