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Boston, MA - Strengthening U.S. air quality standards for fine particulate pollution to be in compliance with current World Health Association (WHO) guidelines could save more than 140,000 lives over the course of a decade, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study, published June 26, 2020 in Sciences Advances, provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of the causal link between long-term exposure to fine particulate (PM2.5) air pollution and premature death, according to the authors.
Patients suffering from severe respiratory symptoms as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection can rapidly generate virus-attacking T cells, and can increase this production over time, suggests a new study of T cells from 10 COVID-19 patients under intensive care treatment. In addition, 2 out of 10 healthy individuals without prior exposure to the virus harbored SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells, the researchers found, possibly indicating that these T cells can cross-react to the novel coronavirus due to past infection with related coronaviruses that cause common cold symptoms.
Reservoirs in the heart of an ancient Maya city were so polluted with mercury and algae that the water likely was undrinkable.
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati found toxic levels of pollution in two central reservoirs in Tikal, an ancient Maya city that dates back to the third century B.C. in what is now northern Guatemala.
UC's findings suggest droughts in the ninth century likely contributed to the depopulation and eventual abandonment of the city.
Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary below is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.
Incidence and Severity of COVID-19 in HIV-Positive Persons Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy
An innovative, interactive cloud-based data portal debuted this week that lets academic researchers mine the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of scientific resources for studying pediatric solid tumors and their related biology. The Childhood Solid Tumor Network (CSTN) data portal on St. Jude Cloud was created to improve access to the detailed data available through the network, stimulating the research and development of novel, lifesaving therapies.
In a system with self-replicating molecules -previously shown to have the capability to grow, divide and evolve - chemists from the University of Groningen have now discovered catalytic capabilities that result in a basic metabolism. Furthermore, they linked a light-sensitive dye to the molecules, which enabled them to use light energy to power growth. These findings, which bring artificial life one step closer, were published simultaneously in the journals Nature Chemistry and Nature Catalysis on 26 June.
WASHINGTON, DC (June 26, 2020) - When work requirements for a federal food safety-net program start again, many low-income Americans will lose benefits - and Black adults will be hardest hit, according to a study published today. In addition, some disabled people will lose these crucial food assistance benefits.
The authors point out that the loss of food assistance would damage the health of low-income people, who suffer from high rates of COVID-19 and other serious health conditions.
What The Study Did: This study examined the worldwide trends of thyroid cancer from 1990 to 2017 according to geographic location, sex, age and socioeconomic factors.
Authors: Jun Lyu, Ph.D., of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in Guangzhou, China, and ZhiJun Dai, Ph.D., of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, are the corresponding authors.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
What The Study Did: The clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients with multiple sclerosis who contract COVID-19 are described in this observational study, which identifies factors associated with COVID-19 severity.
Authors: Celine Louapre, M.D., of the Sorbonne Universite in Paris, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2581)
Indium nitride is a promising material for use in electronics, but difficult to manufacture. Scientists at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a new molecule that can be used to create high-quality indium nitride, making it possible to use it in, for example, high-frequency electronics. The results have been published in Chemistry of Materials.
More than ten years ago, large geometric earthworks found in the southwestern parts of the Amazon, called geoglyphs, were reported in the global scientific news. A pre-colonial civilization unknown to scholars that built geometric ceremonial centers and sophisticated road systems. This civilization flourished in the rainforest area 2,000 years ago. The discovery radically altered the prevailing notion of the pristine Amazon rainforest. The research of an interdisciplinary Finnish-Brazilian team continues in the region with the support of the Academy of Finland.
The blood circulatory system serves as critical infrastructure for mass transportation of nutrients and facilitates the exchange of gaseous and waste products from organs in the human body. These blood vessels are subjected to constant exposure to the hydrodynamic pressure of blood flow, as well as the contracting and relaxing rhythm exerted by tissues surrounding it. The exposure to these stimuli can trigger a cascade of cellular responses that may give rise to adverse conditions such as thrombosis and inflammation in blood vessels.
It's not often that scientists are able to find tuff in continental sedimentation, but this was accomplished in the PreUrals region by Kazan Federal University, Borisyak Institute of Paleontology, and Institute of Geology (the latter two are parts of the Russian Academy of Sciences). This was a first such finding on the territory of European Russia. Radioisotopic analysis was conducted by Boise State University.
As the "king of beasts," majestic lions have been used as a symbol of courage, nobility and strength by rulers for over 6000 years. A lion became the symbol of a Norwegian king at least as early as 1280. It still stands proudly on Norway's Coat of Arms.
Wild lions have likely never made their way to Norway, but European cave lions were once found as far north as Denmark.
According to senior researcher at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya's Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) Gender and ICT (GenTIC) research group, Milagros Sáinz, "In those cases where families have very sexist attitudes in relation to education and life, their opinions in terms of academic and other skills which boys and girls are ideally supposed to have may hold even more weight."