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Balancing COVID-19 risk with educational benefits in school reopening decisions

Now a new study by researchers at the Institute for Disease Modeling and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in September 2020 focuses on modeling the potential risk of COVID-19 for school students and staff if schools are re-opened in a range of scenarios. This could guide further research on the health and educational outcomes of school reopenings.

14 Sep 2020

Susceptibility of domestic pigs to SARS-CoV-2

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv sought to determine the susceptibility of domestic swine to SARS-CoV-2. Domestic swine is one of the most highly produced agricultural species that has the potential to impact public health significantly.

14 Sep 2020

International trial of blood thinners for COVID-19 treatment begins

These trials, known as ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics, are part of the three planned adaptive trials in this area of clinical research, included in the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) initiative. They are expected to yield new data on the safety and efficacy of these drugs in the treatment of active and convalescent COVID-19 treatment.

13 Sep 2020

Potential sea animal reservoirs for coronaviruses?

The COVID-19 pandemic has focused, yet again, intense research interest on coronaviruses, due to the high toll the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has taken on human life, health, economic well-being, and social activity. A recent paper published on the server Preprints in September 2020 reviews what is known about this viral infection in water life.

13 Sep 2020

Climatic changes may potentially impact COVID-19 pandemic

A recent epidemiological study by Princeton University researchers suggests that the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak during the winter season depends on the susceptibility of the population to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced infection as well as the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical control measures applied to control the virus spread.

13 Sep 2020

New insights into structural stability of SARS-CoV-2 main protease

In a recent bioRxiv preprint paper, researchers from the US and Italy utilized molecular dynamics simulations and revealed that the conformational stability of the SARS-CoV-2 binding site, bound inhibitors, and the hydrogen bond networks of the viral main protease (Mpro) are highly sensitive to protonation assignments.

13 Sep 2020

A map of SARS-CoV-2 escape mutations enables the development of therapeutic antibody cocktails

A recent tour-de-force study by the US researchers describes a comprehensive approach to completely map mutations to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) that escape antibody binding – enabling, in turn, rational design of antibody therapeutics and appraisal of the antigenic consequences of viral evolution. The results are currently available in a bioRxiv preprint paper.

13 Sep 2020

Shedding light on altered blood cell traits involved in severe COVID-19

Researchers at the University of Georgia in the United States have shed light on the pathological mechanisms underlying the association between the genetic locus 3p21.31 and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

13 Sep 2020

India's whole-virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine shows promise

Researchers in India have conducted a preclinical study demonstrating the safety and efficacy of a new candidate vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

13 Sep 2020

Electroconvulsive therapy can reduce suicide risk by 84% in bipolar patients

One of the largest ever studies of patients with untreatable bipolar disorder has shown that ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) was able to reduce suicide risk by 84% in high-risk patients, as well as giving effective treatment to around 72% of sufferers.

12 Sep 2020

Mozart's piano music can reduce the frequency of epilepsy attacks

A new comprehensive analysis on the effect of Mozart's music on epilepsy has confirmed that listening to his piano music can reduce the frequency of epilepsy attacks.

12 Sep 2020

Cardiac MRI effective in identifying inflammation of the heart muscle in athletes

A cardiac MRI is effective in identifying inflammation of the heart muscle in athletes and can help determine when those who have recovered from COVID-19 can safely return to play in competitive sports, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

12 Sep 2020

New research reverses the understanding of kidney tumor growth

Newly published research has reversed our understanding of an aspect of kidney tumor growth. Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (U of U) discovered that two key proteins have opposite roles than what was previously believed.

12 Sep 2020