Culture
Population-wide use of facemasks keeps the coronavirus 'reproduction number' under 1.0, and prevents further waves of the virus when combined with lockdowns, a modelling study from the universities of Cambridge and Greenwich suggests.
The research suggests that lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of SARS-CoV-2, and that even homemade masks with limited effectiveness can dramatically reduce transmission rates if worn by enough people, regardless of whether they show symptoms.
The first confirmed heartbeat of a supermassive black hole is still going strong more than ten years after first being observed.
X-ray satellite observations spotted the repeated beat after its signal had been blocked by our Sun for a number of years.
Astronomers say this is the most long lived heartbeat ever seen in a black hole and tells us more about the size and structure close to its event horizon - the space around a black hole from which nothing, including light, can escape.
A simple and low-cost method of 'listening' to chicks may allow welfare issues to be picked up at the earliest possible opportunity, according to new research.
In commercial chicken farming, thousands of newly-hatched chicks are reared in batches. A team of animal welfare and behaviour scientists from across the UK collected acoustic recordings in 12 typical such flocks of 25,000 chicks.
In nature, when uncomfortable or uncertain of their surroundings, chicks would attract the hen with a loud and distinctive distress call.
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.
When the Dust Settles: Preventing a Mental Health Crisis in COVID-19 Clinicians
Kaitlin (Katie) Gold is an assistant professor within the Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology section of the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University. At her lab, the Grape Sensing, Pathology, and Extension Lab at Cornell AgriTech (GrapeSPEC), she studies the fundamental and applied science of plant disease sensing. The GrapeSPEC Lab uses proximal and remote spectroscopy, data science, and fundamental plant pathology to improve the three pillars of integrated grape disease management: understanding pathogen biology, host susceptibility, and fungicide efficacy.
The formation of our solar system was a messy affair. Most of the material that existed before its formation -- material formed around other, long-dead stars -- was vaporized, then recondensed into new materials. But some grains of that material, formed before the sun's birth, still persist.
Knowing when to fight and when to flee is a big part of many animal societies, including our own.
University of Cincinnati biologist Elizabeth Hobson says some animals make the call based on a sophisticated understanding of social standing and their place in it.
"We have a phrase: Choose your battles wisely. Animals do that. People do that," said Hobson, an assistant professor in UC's College of Arts and Sciences.
"We know that without a vaccine we're going to be dealing with this virus for a while," said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health, in an interview with Johannes Czernin. "We have to learn how to continue to provide health care as a health system with the presence of this emerging infectious disease." The interview is one of 5 new COVID-related articles and commentaries published in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM).
Local governments are often innovators of public health policymaking--the first smoke-free air acts, menu labeling laws, and soda taxes were all implemented locally. However, states are increasingly limiting local control over public health issues by passing laws that overrule local regulations, a practice known as preemption.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 10, 2020)--Sex hormones influence the structure and function of the brain, but little is known about the effect of hormone therapies (HT) on changes in the brain during menopause. A new study shows smaller increases in structural brain changes related to aging were associated with hormone-level changes from transdermal estradiol or oral conjugated equine estrogen. Study results are published online in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
Chicken is the most consumed protein in the United States. According to the National Chicken Council, the U.S. produced more than 9.2 billion broiler chickens in 2019. US consumers spent more than 95 billion dollars on chicken products.
All these broilers - chickens raised for meat - need millions of tons of litter, or bedding material. Reusing chicken litter can save costs. There exists some health and safety concerns though.
A new study shows that the environment in reused poultry litter can deter growth of pathogens like Salmonella.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - For children and young adults with Crohn's disease, steroid-sparing therapies may help reduce the risk of developing a severe and common complication of the inflammatory bowel condition, a new study suggests.
About one in three people with Crohn's disease develop what's known as a perianal fistula, which can be painful, difficult to treat and may become debilitating - and they're much more common in children.
Scientists have expanded our understanding of potentially habitable planets orbiting distant stars by including a critical climate component - the presence of airborne dust.
The researchers suggest that planets with significant airborne dust - similar to the world portrayed in the classic sci-fi Dune - could be habitable over a greater range of distances from their parent star, therefore increasing the window for planets capable of sustaining life.
Inside our cells, DNA is tightly packed and spooled around proteins called histones. Packaging DNA in this way allows large amounts of genetic material to exist inside the cell in a final form called chromatin. Tiny enzymes modify the histones to make sure the genes that are part of the DNA can be accessed and precisely regulated. The result of this is proper gene expression and the production of proteins important for cell function and human health. When this process goes awry, the result can be diseases such as cancers.
Never before have we experienced social isolation on a massive scale as we have during the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. A new paper published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences explores the wide-ranging, negative consequences that social isolation has on our psychological well-being and physical health, including decreased life span. The paper was co-authored by Associate Professor Danilo Bzdok (McGill University and Mila Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute) and Emeritus Professor Robin Dunbar (University of Oxford).