Culture

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - New battery technology involving microwaves may provide an avenue for renewable energy conversion and storage.

Purdue University researchers created a technique to turn waste polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most recyclable polymers, into components of batteries.

The 7.3 million people in the UK aged between 60 and 69 are at increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. Although the government's age threshold for isolation is 70 years and over, data from countries such as China and Italy show that people aged 60-69 years are also at high risk of complications and death from COVID-19.

Philadelphia, April 21, 2020 - In parallel to their current work on a potential coronavirus vaccine, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have developed a new vaccine delivery system for vaccines using live or attenuated viral vectors: a finger-tip sized patch that contains 400 tiny needles, each just half of one millimeter.

In these days of social distancing, as millions cloister at home to binge-watch TV over the internet, Stanford researchers have unveiled an algorithm that demonstrates a significant improvement in streaming video technology.

This new algorithm, called Fugu, was developed with the help of volunteer viewers who watched a stream of video, served up by computer scientists who used machine learning to scrutinize this data flow in real time, looking for ways to reduce glitches and stalls.

What makes SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, such a threat? A new study, led by Jose Ordovas-Montanes, PhD at Boston Children's Hospital and Alex K. Shalek, PhD at MIT, pinpoints the likely cell types the virus infects. Unexpectedly, it also shows that one of the body's main defenses against viral infections may actually help the virus infect those very cells.

New Rochelle, NY, April 21, 2020--A new article discusses the psychological stresses imposed by the coronavirus pandemic and suggests that virtual reality can help alleviate the psychological impact of the need for social isolation. The article, which provides a link to a free 3-dimensional 360 video and suggestions for how to use it, is published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Astrophysical observations have shown that Neptune-like water-rich exoplanets
are common in our galaxy. These "water worlds" are believed to be covered with a thick layer of water, hundreds to thousands of miles deep, above a rocky mantle.

While water-rich exoplanets are common, their composition is very different from Earth, so there are many unknowns in terms of these planets' structure, composition and geochemical cycles.

GALVESTON, Texas - A detailed study of the monoclonal antibodies from a person who survived a Marburg infection led researchers to identify novel mechanisms that contribute protection against the disease, according to the latest findings of a collaborative team led by The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The findings are now available in Cell Host & Microbe.

April 21, 2020 - In "Mobilization and Preparation of a Large Urban Academic Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic,"- published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society - experts from Philadelphia's Temple University Hospital share their contingency plans for meeting an increased demand for hospitalization, as well as their protocols and training plans to minimize health care staff exposure to COVID-19 and ensure proper active and reserve staffing.

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A recent study found that LGBTQ service members face an elevated risk of sexual victimization including harassment, assault and stalking while in the military than their non-LGBTQ counterparts.

The study, one of the first funded by the Department of Defense to look specifically at LGBTQ victimization in the military, aims to inform future polices that will identify vulnerable populations and appropriate interventions to help prevent such experiences going forward.

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.

Preparing for Battle: How Hospitalists Can Manage the Stress of COVID-19

WASHINGTON (April 21, 2020)--The percentage of women and girls in Nicaragua's second-largest city who reported experiencing physical violence by their partners during their lifetimes decreased from 55% in 1995 to 28% in 2016, according to a new study published in the journal BMJ Global Health.

WASHINGTON - The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), along with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) have released a consensus statement that provides recommendations for a systematic approach for the care of patients with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Philadelphia, April 21, 2020--Monitoring blood oxygen levels with continuous pulse oximetry is being overused in infants with bronchiolitis who do not require supplemental oxygen, according to a study by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The researchers found the use of continuous pulse oximetry occurred frequently and varied widely among hospitals in their sample, despite national recommendations advising against the practice.

The findings were published today in JAMA.

CABI has led a team of scientists on new research which reveals that a humble bug can help relieve more than 2 million sufferers of allergies in Europe while also saving more than Euro 1 billion in health costs.

Dr Urs Schaffner, lead author of the study published in Nature Communications, says the leaf beetle Ophraella communa can significantly reduce pollen – which causes a range of symptoms from sneezing to itchy eyes and aggravates conditions such as asthma and eczema – from common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia).