Culture
Wear a mask, keep your distance, avoid crowds - these are the common recommendations to contain the COVID-19 epidemic. However, the scientific foundations on which these recommendations are based are decades old and no longer reflect the current state of knowledge. To change this, several research groups from the field of fluid dynamics have now joined forces and developed a new, improved model of the propagation of infectious droplets. It has been shown that it makes sense to wear masks and maintain distances, but that this should not lull you into a false sense of security.
"For 30 weeks already, our study has been documenting how people assess what is happening around the coronavirus," says BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. "This enables us to observe how people react to changes in the pandemic."
https://www.bfr.bund.de/cm/349/201013-bfr-corona-monitor-en.pdf
Further trends in the overview:
Classification of possible sources of infection
Washington, October 20, 2020--A study of 33 public community college promise programs, or free-college programs, across the United States found that they are associated with large enrollment increases of first-time, full-time students--with the biggest boost in enrollment among Black, Hispanic, and female students.
In birds and other species alike, pairs can face considerable difficulties with reproduction. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen have now shown in an extensive analysis of 23,000 zebra finch eggs that infertility is mainly due to males, while high embryo mortality is more a problem of the females. Inbreeding, age of the parents and conditions experienced when growing up had surprisingly little influence on reproductive failures.
Lack of sleep significantly impairs our ability to stop unwanted and unpleasant thoughts from entering our mind, a new study reveals.
The authors of the study say the findings could have implications for people suffering from psychiatric conditions associated with unwanted thoughts - such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and schizophrenia.
NUST MISIS material scientists have presented antibacterial nano-coatings based on boron nitride, which are highly effective against microbial pathogens (up to 99.99%). They can become a safe alternative to the usual antibiotics in implantology since they do not have typical negative side effects. The results of the work are published in the international scientific journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
For the first time, scientists have introduced minuscule tracking devices directly into the interior of mammalian cells, giving an unprecedented peek into the processes that govern the beginning of development.
This work on one-cell embryos is set to shift our understanding of the mechanisms that underpin cellular behaviour in general, and may ultimately provide insights into what goes wrong in ageing and disease.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) report a breakthrough in developing a next-generation thermochromic window that not only reduces the need for air conditioning but simultaneously generates electricity.
A model that can calculate a person's risk of becoming infected and then seriously ill due to COVID-19 has been shown to accurately estimate risk during the first wave of the pandemic in England, in new research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
The model, developed using routine anonymised data from more than 8 million adults in 1205 general practices across England, uses a number of factors such as a person's age, ethnicity and existing medical conditions to predict their risk of catching COVID-19 and then dying or being admitted to hospital.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have identified new clues into ways tobacco use impacts patients with kidney cancer.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provides the first steps in developing personalized treatments for patients with this type of cancer.
Expanding on previous work that identified the mutations of kidney cancer cells, this study reveals metabolic fingerprints that distinguish cancers from nonsmokers compared to smokers.
A cutting-edge technique that allows scientists to zoom into tiny details in a 3D image of a whole animal heart may lead to new insights on congenital heart disease.
About 30 years ago, Dr. Richard Sifers set out on a journey to discover why people with a rare condition known as alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency present with high variation in the severity of liver disease. His journey led him to the discovery of fundamental underpinnings of this condition and, unexpectedly, to uncovering a novel cellular mechanism for disposing of misfolded proteins.
Weather forecasters can more accurately predict when a tornado is likely to hit the UK thanks to a new tool devised in a partnership between the University of Leeds and the Met Office.
Around 30 tornadoes occur in the UK each year, 40% of which develop on cold fronts - but a lack of forecasting methods for these conditions means they strike without warning.
ITHACA, N.Y. - If an initial COVID-19 vaccine is about as effective as a flu shot, uptake by the American public may fall far short of the 70% level needed to achieve herd immunity, new Cornell research suggests.
In surveys of nearly 2,000 American adults, barely half said they would be willing to take a hypothetical vaccine with an efficacy, or effectiveness, of 50% - the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's minimum threshold for a COVID-19 vaccine, and comparable to flu vaccines.
A promising new biomarker that appears in patients before stomach cancer develops may help with early detection of the disease and improve patient response to therapy, according to findings in a study led by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers.
The biomarker can be detected through a simple blood test, saving time and lowering costs. Currently, stomach cancer diagnosis requires endoscopic collection of stomach tissue through a biopsy procedure, and then analysis by pathology.