Culture
Strategies for the safe reopening of low and middle-income countries (LMICs) from months of strict social distancing in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic must recognise that preserving people's health is as important as reviving the economy, argue an international team of researchers.
The team also say that strategies need to be based on local epidemic growth rate at the time, social and economic costs, existing health systems capabilities and detailed plans to implement and sustain the strategy.
As the number of young adults infected with the coronavirus surges throughout the nation, a new study by researchers at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals indicates that youth may not shield people from serious disease.
Nuclear physicists affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) played a leading role in analyzing data for a demonstration experiment that has achieved record precision for a specialized detector material.
The CUPID-Mo experiment is among a field of experiments that are using a variety of approaches to detect a theorized particle process, called neutrinoless double-beta decay, that could revise our understanding of ghostly particles called neutrinos, and of their role in the formation of the universe.
Ever wonder how some leaders in business or politics who appear selfish, manipulative and domineering still manage to amass a following? A recent study in the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies by San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Management Dayna Herbert Walker found a connection between a person's childhood family environment and the types of leaders they're drawn to as grown-ups.
Marked racial disparities exist in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, investigators say, and highlight urgent needs to ensure adequate testing and treatment are available to African Americans and safer working and living conditions are in place so they can better protect themselves.
The ability to recognize faces is a complex neurocognitive skill with important social implications. The disorder, which, according to some estimates, affects more than 2 percent of the population, can lead to isolation and anxiety and impair personal and work relationships.
A groundbreaking study using molecular genetic techniques and field studies brings together decades of research into the complex relationships among beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) that spans 10 locations across the Arctic from Alaska to Canada and Russia to Norway. The behavior of these highly gregarious whales, which include sophisticated vocal repertoires, suggest that this marine mammal lives in complex societies.
Medical University of South Carolina researchers report in Current Biology that the brain uses similar visual areas for mental imagery and vision, but it uses low-level visual areas less precisely with mental imagery than with vision.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Whether you decided to engage in social distancing in the early stages of COVID-19 depended on how much information your working memory could hold.
Venus flytraps catch spiders and insects by snapping their trap leaves. This mechanism is activated when unsuspecting prey touch highly sensitive trigger hairs twice within 30 seconds. A study led by researchers at the University of Zurich has now shown that a single slow touch also triggers trap closure - probably to catch slow-moving larvae and snails.
A new single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of more than 59,000 cells from three different patient cohorts provides a detailed look at patients' immune responses to severe cases of COVID-19. The results suggest that patients with severe COVID-19 experience increased regulation of the type I interferon (IFN-I) inflammation-triggering pathway - a signature that the researchers also observed in patients hospitalized with severe cases of influenza.
Rape and sexual trauma may have long-lasting consequences for physical health as well as mental health, University of Otago researchers have found.
The team of researchers, led by respiratory specialist Professor Bob Hancox and sexual health specialist Dr Jane Morgan from Waikato DHB, found a history of rape is associated with "dysfunctional breathing" in both women and men, and with late-onset asthma diagnosis in women.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an estimated global consumption loss of $3.8 trillion, as well as significant job and income loss. However, these socioeconomic effects are accompanied by notable estimated reductions in air pollution. Manfred Lenzen of the University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on July 9, 2020.
Oil spill disasters on land cause long-term damage for communities and the natural environment, polluting soils and sediments and contaminating groundwater.
Current methods using synthetic sorbent materials can be effective for cleaning up oil spills, but these materials are often expensive and generate large volumes of non-biodegradable plastic wastes. Now the first comparison of natural-origin sorbent materials for land-based oil spills, including peat moss, recycled human hair, and dog fur, shows that sustainable, cheaper and biodegradable options can be developed.
Advanced herbicides and treatments for infection may result from the unravelling of a 50-year-old mystery by University of Queensland researchers.
The research team, led by UQ's Professor Luke Guddat, revealed the complete three-dimensional structure of an enzyme, providing the first step in the biosynthesis of three essential amino acids - leucine, valine and isoleucine.
"This is a major scientific advance, which has been pursued globally by chemists for half a century," Professor Guddat said.