Thursday 19 November 2020
Study evaluates new World Health Organization Labor Care Guide for maternity care providers
The World Health Organization developed the new Labour Care Guide to support clinicians in providing good quality, women-centred care during labour and childbirth. In a study published in Birth, researchers evaluated the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of the new Labour Care Guide for maternity care providers in six countries.
WHO Guideline Development Group advises against use of remdesivir for COVID-19
The antiviral drug remdesivir is not suggested for patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, regardless of how severely ill they are, because there is currently no evidence that it improves survival or the need for ventilation, say a WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) panel of international experts in The BMJ today.
December vaccine rollout possible, BioNTech CEO says
BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin said on Thursday the frontrunner COVID-19 vaccine his German firm is developing with Pfizer could be rolled out before the year is over in the United States or Europe.
What are clinical trials and how do they work?
To find out whether experimental COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, researchers design clinical trials involving thousands of volunteers, divided into groups that receive either the drug under investigation or a placebo.
Virus-drained nurses hang up uniforms for other jobs
One is a pastry-cook. Another dreams of becoming a bookseller. All have slammed the door on the hospitals where they used to work, exhausted by wave after wave of COVID-19 patients.
US virus death toll passes 250,000, New York closes schools
US coronavirus deaths passed a quarter of a million people Wednesday as New York announced it would close schools to battle a rise in infections and anti-restriction protests in Europe turned violent.
Los Angeles and Google partner on 'Tree Canopy' project
Los Angeles and Google have struck a partnership to track canopy density in the huge metropolis to determine which neighborhoods need more trees as a means of fighting extreme temperatures.
Pacific's Samoa records first case of coronavirus
Samoa announced its first case of COVID-19 on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread to previously untouched Pacific island nations.
Storm Iota leaves over 30 dead in Central America
Iota's death toll rose to over 30 on Wednesday after the storm unleashed mudslides, smashed infrastructure and left thousands homeless in its wake across Central America, revisiting areas devastated by Hurricane Eta just two weeks ago.
Robot reminds Japan shoppers to wear masks
Asking someone to put on a mask is a touchy subject, so one shop in Japan has enlisted a robot to make sure its customers wear them during the pandemic.
African continent hits 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases
The African continent has surpassed 2 million confirmed cases as health officials warn of infections starting to creep up again into a second surge.
Not just COVID: Nursing home neglect deaths surge in shadows
As more than 90,000 of the nation's long-term care residents have died in the coronavirus pandemic, advocates for the elderly say a tandem wave of fatalities is quietly claiming tens of thousands more who are succumbing not to the virus but to neglect by overwhelmed staffs and slow declines from isolation.
Japan's daily virus cases surge past previous record high
Japan's new coronavirus infections hit a record high Thursday, and the prime minister urged maximum caution but stopped short of calling for restrictions on travel or business.
Phase 2 trial of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in healthy older adults finds it is safe and provokes immune response
The UK's vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 shows similar safety and immunogenicity results in healthy older adults (aged 56 years and over) to those seen in adults aged 18-55 years. The promising early stage results are published in The Lancet.
Cellular pathway of genetic heart disease similar to neurodegenerative disease
Research on a genetic heart disease has uncovered a new and unexpected mechanism for heart failure. This landmark discovery found a correlation between the clumping of RNA-binding proteins—long linked to neurodegenerative disease—and the aggregates of protein found in the heart tissue of patients with RBM20 dilated cardiomyopathy.
Drug eases recovery for those with severe alcohol withdrawal
A drug once used to treat high blood pressure can help alcoholics with withdrawal symptoms reduce or eliminate their drinking, Yale University researchers report Nov. 19 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Tau protein changes correlate with Alzheimer's disease dementia stage
Research into Alzheimer's disease has long focused on understanding the role of two key proteins, beta amyloid and the tau protein. Found in tangles in patients' brain tissue, a pathological form of the tau protein contributes to propagating the disease in the brain.
Air pollution costs Utahns billions annually and shortens life expectancy by two years
Air pollution has been a problem in Utah since before the territory was officially recognized as a state. The mountain valleys of this high elevation region are particularly vulnerable to the buildup of air pollution from vehicles, household heating and power production. Together with high per-capita energy use, this has resulted in periods of poor air quality. However, with so many types of pollution and regional conditions, determining the overall effects of air pollution on Utah's health and economy has been a major challenge. A new study from 23 Utah-based researchers, including five from the University of Utah, sought to do just that.
Missing the radiological forest for the trees
There's a classic video demonstrating how our brains process information and allocate attention in which people bounce and pass basketballs and the viewer is asked to count the passes.
Synthesis study demonstrates phytoplankton can bloom below Arctic sea ice
Small photosynthetic marine algae are a key component of the Arctic marine ecosystem but their role for the ecology of the Arctic Ocean have been underestimated for decades. That's the conclusion of a team of scientists who synthesized more than half a century of research about the occurrence, magnitude and composition of phytoplankton blooms under Arctic sea ice. The results were published in a special issue of Frontiers in Marine Science devoted to Arctic Ocean research.
Scientists identify possible COVID-19 treatment
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant illness and death while treatment options remain limited. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered a potential strategy to prevent life-threatening inflammation, lung damage and organ failure in patients with COVID-19. The research appeared online in the journal Cell.
Mining and megaprojects emerge as alarming threat to tropical forests and biodiversity
A new study assessing progress on global efforts to end forest loss worldwide offers the most comprehensive overview to date of the large role that infrastructure and mining play in tropical deforestation, now and in the future. The study finds that an increasing number of megaprojects—massive and complex development projects that may combine transportation, energy and other infrastructure—planned for tropical forests are on track to destroy forests and open remote forested areas to even more development. In particular, this new infrastructure is on track to increase mining activity deeper in the remote forests of South America, Southeast Asia and Central Africa.
Controversy continues over '13 Reasons Why' and adolescent suicide
After its release in 2017, the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why" spurred controversy over concerns that its portrayal of a teenage girl's suicide could increase suicide contagion among adolescents.
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