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Many lighter smokers can be addicted to cigarettes

Even people who consider themselves to be casual cigarette smokers may be addicted, according to current diagnostic criteria.

23 Dec 2020

Health disparities in cancer and COVID-19 are caused by similar factors

Income level, employment, housing location, medical insurance, education, tobacco and alcohol use, diet and obesity, access to medical care. These are some of the factors causing worse cancer outcomes in people who are Black.

23 Dec 2020

New study evaluates how different face masks affect the acoustics of speech

Researcher Ryan Corey recently heard from a friend who teaches at a school where some of the students have hearing loss.

23 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infection shown to reduce the expression of vitamin D pathway components

A recent computational study from India implicated a dysregulated vitamin D pathway in the pathobiology of the infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – and opened the door for experimental validation of these observations.

23 Dec 2020

Frequent and rapid testing may reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in carehomes

A team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States, recently conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of serial testing and isolation of healthcare personnel in nursing homes in preventing the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Dec 2020

Study finds treatment disparities for men and women with chest pain

The use of a standardized tool for assessing the risk of serious outcomes in patients with chest pain was associated with women at high risk receiving comparable care to men, according to new research published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

23 Dec 2020

Public adherence to COVID-19 guidelines in Norway: a case study

To evaluate and understand the adherence to public health actions recommended by the government, a team in Norway undertook a study funded in part by the Norwegian Research Council’s Centres of Excellence Funding Scheme and by the project: A realtime analytical pipeline for preparedness, planning, and response during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway.

23 Dec 2020

Genetic analysis reveals novel traits associated with COVID-19 severity

Researchers in the United States have conducted genetic correlation studies revealing novel traits associated with the development of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Dec 2020

E-cigarettes, as consumer products, are not associated with smoking cessation

E-cigarette use has risen steeply and mostly without regulation over the past decade. The devices have diversified into a dizzying array of vape pens, tank systems, "mods," and more, mass-marketed and sold to the public.

23 Dec 2020

First UK lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted dementia care

Researchers in the United Kingdom have conducted an extensive survey exploring the impact that lockdown had on people living with low prevalence and young-onset dementias during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

23 Dec 2020

Giving antimalarial medicines to children during the rainy season reduces malaria deaths

Giving antimalarial medicines to children monthly during the rainy season cut malaria deaths in children by 42 per cent, making a case for wide implementation in malaria-endemic African regions, a study found.

23 Dec 2020

Modeling the phases of quarantine reveals two-phase route is always better than one

New research into this question shows that the second wave of an epidemic is very different if a population has a homogenous distribution of contacts, compared to the scenario of subpopulations with diverse number of contacts.

23 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 mutations may evade T cell immunity

A potentially disturbing new study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 may be undergoing strategic mutations that affect the host immune capacity to recognize and combat the pathogen via T effector cells.

23 Dec 2020

COVID-19 severity could be linked to genetic variance

A new study describes some potentially important genetic factors in the host that may shape the clinical symptoms and signs of the disease.

23 Dec 2020

Cell-mediated immunity may be more important than neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 outcome

A new study sheds light on some important differences between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Dec 2020

Researchers use fruit fly model to understand COVID-19-related neurological complications

Researchers claim to have reproduced disease mechanisms due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the fruit fly, Drosophila, while also providing proof of the efficacy of one drug against these disease processes. If validated, these findings represent a new understanding of how the virus causes neurological symptoms that could help develop more effective therapies.

23 Dec 2020

Study assesses link between secondary bloodstream infection and severe COVID-19

People with severe COVID-19 and a secondary blood infection were significantly sicker upon hospital admission, had longer hospital stays and poorer outcomes, according to a Rutgers study.

23 Dec 2020

Novel computational tool can systematically analyze cell images in C. elegans

A joint research team co-led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has developed a novel computational tool that can reconstruct and visualise three-dimensional (3D) shapes and temporal changes of cells, speeding up the analysing process from hundreds of hours by hand to a few hours by the computer.

23 Dec 2020

Changes in consciousness linked to the same brain network for sleep and anesthesia

The loss and return of consciousness is linked to the same network of brain regions for both sleep and anesthesia, according to new research published in JNeurosci.

23 Dec 2020

Common ophthalmic devices measure corneal parameters using different technologies

As the recently published article in the journal Open Ophthalmology Journal shows, there are significant differences among the measures of corneal parameters obtained by the three most commonly used ophthalmic devices, called topographers.

23 Dec 2020