News by Subject Mathematics

In efforts to automatically capture important data from scientific papers, computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a method that can accurately detect small, geometric objects such as triangles within dense, low-quality plots contained in image data. Employing a neural network approach designed to detect patterns, the NIST model has many possible applications in modern life.

The mechanism unveiled triggers a mutation fog, causing hundreds of mutations in each tumor, which spread through the genome of lung, head-and-neck and breast cancers. Researchers from the Genome Data Science Lab have identified the antiviral APOBEC3A enzyme as the major cause of this new type of hypermutation. Published in Nature Genetics, the study shows how the mutation fog process generates many oncogenic "cancer driver" mutations, thus accelerating tumour development.

A new iron intervention study has determined which of the world's low-and-middle income countries would benefit from using iron-containing micronutrient powders to tackle childhood anaemia.

If aerosol transmission of COVID-19 is confirmed to be significant, we will need to reconsider guidelines on social distancing, ventilation systems and shared spaces. Researchers in the U.K. believe a better understanding of droplet behaviors and their different dispersion mechanisms is also needed. In Physics of Fluids, the group presents a model that demarcates differently sized droplets. This has implications for understanding airborne diseases, because the dispersion tests revealed the absence of intermediate-sized droplets.