Almost 60% of frontline health and social care workers (HSCWs) experienced a mental health disorder during the first COVID-19 lockdown, with many suffering "very high rates of distress", suggests a new study led by researchers at UCL and the University of Haifa, Israel. Given the significantly high levels of mental health disorders across all HSCWs, the researchers (part of the UCL-led COVID Trauma Response Working Group*), are now calling for long-term planning to meet the needs of staff from across health and social care, including specialist trauma services to be set up for healthcare workers, similar to the specialist commissioned NHS psychological trauma services for military veterans. The 'Frontline-COVID study', published ...

Stormier weather will increasingly force fishers to choose between their safety and income, researchers say. Climate change is causing more extreme weather in many locations. Storms will likely increase around the UK in the future, while many fishers in the UK also face economic insecurity. The new study - led by the University of Exeter - worked with fishers in Cornwall to understand how they balance the risks and rewards of fishing in varying conditions. Factors that made skippers more likely to risk fishing in high wind or waves included: being the main earner in their household, poor recent fishing success, and having a crew to support. "Climate ...

Parents of children with food allergies face significant worry, severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress - according to new research from the University of East Anglia. Between six and eight per cent of children suffer a food allergy - with eggs, milk, and peanuts being the most common causes. They can cause vomiting, cramps, hives, swelling, eczema, breathing problems and in severe cases anaphylactic shock, which can lead to hospitalisation or death. A new study published today finds that more than 80 per cent of parents face 'significant worry' about their child's food allergy, while ...

SPOKANE, Wash. - Harm reduction treatment helped people experiencing homelessness and alcohol use disorder reduce their drinking and improve their health-even if they didn't quit drinking alcohol. In a randomized clinical trial, a research team led by Washington State University psychology professor Susan Collins studied more than 300 people from three Seattle homeless shelters and programs. Participants were randomly assigned to four groups receiving different services: the first group received behavioral harm reduction treatment, which is a form of collaborative counseling ...

There were no significant differences in health outcomes for pregnant women who were diagnosed with gestational diabetes or their babies using two different clinically recommended screening methods, according to results from a large-scale clinical trial conducted by Kaiser Permanente researchers and published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Although there is evidence that treating pregnant women for gestational diabetes leads to improved health outcomes for mothers and their infants, there is no scientific consensus on how best to screen ...

Boston, MA - People who eat diets with higher amounts of healthy plant-based foods and lower amounts of less-healthy plant-based foods may reduce their risk of stroke compared to people with lower-quality diets, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They found that healthy plant-based diets--defined as rich in foods such as leafy greens, whole grains, and beans, and including lower levels of foods like refined grains, potatoes, and added sugars--may lower overall stroke risk by up to 10%. "Our findings have important public health implications, suggesting that future nutrition policies to lower stroke risk should ...

University of Texas at Dallas chemist Dr. Jie Zheng has spent much of his career investigating gold nanoparticles for their potential impact in the field of nanomedicine. In new research, he and his colleagues show how these nanoparticles could play a key role in a simple blood test to detect acute liver damage earlier than current methods. The study, published online Feb. 19 in the journal Science Advances, expands on corresponding author Zheng's work, which has previously demonstrated the use of nanoparticles for targeted delivery of cancer drugs and better understanding of kidney disease. "Our goal is to make it simple for family ...

One of the most classic algorithmic problems deals with calculating the shortest path between two points. A more complicated variant of the problem is when the route traverses a changing network--whether this be a road network or the internet. For 40 years, an algorithm has been sought to provide an optimal solution to this problem. Now, computer scientist Christian Wulff-Nilsen of the University of Copenhagen and two research colleagues have come up with a recipe. When heading somewhere new, most of us leave it to computer algorithms to help us find the best route, whether by using a car's GPS, or public transport and map apps on their phone. Still, there are times when a proposed route doesn't quite align with reality. This is because road networks, ...

A team of pediatricians at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) was the first in the nation to enroll patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a rare but life-threatening complication of COVID-19, in a trial of remestemcel-L. This investigational cell therapy, developed and manufactured by Mesoblast, New York, New York, had previously been shown safe and effective for other inflammatory conditions. The MUSC team reports in Pediatrics that the two children enrolled thus far showed significant improvement within 24 hours of remestemcel-L administration. "While it appears to many people that COVID is no big deal ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people who recognize the connections they share with others are more likely to wear a mask, follow health guidelines and help people, even at a potential cost to themselves, a new University of Washington study shows. Indeed, an identification with all humanity, as opposed to identification with a geographic area like a country or town, predicts whether someone will engage in "prosocial" behaviors particular to the pandemic, such as donating their own masks to a hospital or coming to the aid of a sick person. The study, published March 10 in PLOS ONE, is drawn from about 2,500 responses, from more than 80 countries, to an online, international ...

Images As far back as the Greek historian Herodotus, a group of people called the Scythians were considered highly mobile warrior nomads. Scythian-era people lived across Eurasia from about 700 BCE to 200 BCE, and have long been considered highly mobile warriors who ranged widely across the steppe grasslands. Herodotus describes Scythian populations as living in wagons and engaging in raiding and warfare, and this view has persisted throughout history--supported by archeologists' observations of similar styles of horse harnesses, weapons, burial mounds and animal style motifs throughout ...

A study conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil shows that competition for nutrients and lack of cooperation among bacteria of the species Escherichia coli in the same population and in situations of food scarcity prevent mutants that are better adapted to the environment from flourishing, except those that organize in small groups. The phenomenon masks the emergence of novel bacterial variants, making the mutation rate seem lower than it is in fact. Mutants constantly emerge and accumulate from one generation to the next. Mutation frequency determines the evolution of a given species. Understanding ...

The legalization of cannabis and the arrival of nonmedical fentanyl are fundamentally changing drug markets in North America. A large part of these changes relates to the ability to produce large quantities of the drugs at low costs, which has slashed wholesale prices for both drugs and retail prices for cannabis. A new analysis explores the effects of these changes on use. The analysis concludes that sharp declines in production costs for cannabis and opioids could dramatically reduce the price per dose for consumers in ways that alter patterns of use and dependence. The analysis, by a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), is published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. "Historical analogies suggest that very large ...

On December 6, 2016, a high-energy particle called an electron antineutrino was hurtling through space at nearly the speed of light. Normally, the ghostly particle would zip right through the Earth as if it weren't even there. But this particle just so happened to smash into an electron deep inside the South Pole's glacial ice. The collision created a new particle, known as the W- boson. That boson quickly decayed, creating a shower of secondary particles. The whole thing played out in front of the watchful detectors of a massive telescope buried in the Antarctic ice, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. This enabled IceCube ...

MAYWOOD, IL - A recent Loyola Medicine study found that reducing the standard dose of IV-administered ketamine in half is as effective as the larger, standard dose in reducing pain in adults. Ketamine is known to provide pain relief comparable to opioid medications, which are highly addictive. In the recent study, appearing in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, researchers studied 98 patients, ages 18 to 59, who presented to the emergency department with acute, moderate to severe pain. The patients were randomized prospectively to receive either 0.15 mg/kg of ketamine (low dose) or 0.30 mg/kg (high dose). Patients ...

Drug developed by Northwestern scientists Fatal brain cancer has no current cure Drug is revolutionary new class of drugs applicable to other neurological diseases CHICAGO --- An early clinical trial in individuals with the deadly brain cancer, glioblastoma, showed an experimental spherical nucleic acid (SNA) drug developed by Northwestern University scientists was able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and trigger the death of tumor cells. This is the first time a nanotherapeutic has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier when given through intravenous infusion and alter the genetic machinery of a tumor to cause cell death. The drug crossed the blood-brain barrier, ...

By analyzing more than a decade's worth of information on 55 crops, all dependent on pollinators, scientists have revealed that developed countries are particularly reliant on imported pollinator-dependent crops, while countries that export the majority of these crop types are major drivers of pollinator declines. Their assessment of the "virtual" exchange of pollinator services in the global food trade could help governments and agencies form new policies to preserve crop diversity and tackle biodiversity loss. In today's globalized world, human food consumption largely depends on the trade of crops and the intense use of resources such as water and land. Pollinators such as bees, ...

OSAKA, Japan - The hippocampus is the part of the brain that deals with information associated with spatial navigation and memory. For example, you are driving and despite the changing environment of different cars going at varying speeds, on and off ramps, distracting billboards, etc., you adjust your speed, glance only momentarily at the billboards, and navigate the roads in a smooth and timely manner. This is your hippocampus at work. It takes the input - a continuously changing environment - and helps turn it into the output - using memory of a road map to safely navigate your way. However, little is known about how information is distributed from the hippocampus to other brain regions that results in the output behaviour. A research team led by Lecturer Takuma Kitanishi and Professor ...

Social distancing not only helped slow the spread of COVID-19 -- it also may have prevented the transmission of an outbreak of a rare polio-like syndrome, according to Princeton University researchers. Though uncommon, acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a critical spinal condition that causes weakness in the limbs, seriously diminishes motor function, and can lead to lifelong disabilities. The syndrome was first reported in the United States in 2012 and has been coming back every two years, hinting it could strike again in 2020. Using epidemiological surveillance tools, the researchers showed that an AFM outbreak was ...

Harnessing a predictive algorithm, Sang Woo Park and colleagues have mapped out new trends in the incidence of the respiratory virus enterovirus D68 in the U.S. since 2014. Their epidemiological study supports research that has linked enterovirus D68 to acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a rare and mysterious paralyzing disease, and addresses critical gaps in knowledge of how enterovirus D68 has been spreading in the U.S. The analysis also suggests that social distancing interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic likely lowered the prevalence of AFM in 2020. Cases of the polio-like illness AFM, which rapidly results in ...

Adolescents and young adults may be more susceptible to COVID-19 than previously believed, according to analysis of cases in six U.S. states experiencing surges. INFORMATION: Article Title: Prevalence of COVID-19 in adolescents and youth compared with older adults in states experiencing surges Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. Competing Interests: The authors have declared no competing interests exist. Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0242587 ...

Individuals' willingness to engage in COVID-19 control measures is associated with their trust in the government, other citizens, and in particular science, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Stefano Pagliaro of University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, and colleagues. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 since December 2019 has posed a severe public health threat to people around the world. As vaccines are being rolled out, behavioral changes are also necessary to counter the spread of the virus. These actions include both prescribed behaviors such as wearing masks, social distancing, and quarantining, as well as discretionary prosocial behaviors like donating to charities ...

New research conducted at the UNESCO World Heritage listed 'Plain of Jars' in Laos has established the stone jars were likely placed in their final resting position from as early as 1240 to 660 BCE. Sediment samples from beneath stone jars from two of the more than 120 recorded megalithic sites were obtained by a team led Dr Louise Shewan from the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor Dougald O'Reilly from the Australian National University (ANU) and Dr Thonglith Luangkoth from the Lao Department of Heritage. The samples were analysed using a technique called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to determine when sediment grains were ...

A new study, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that nitrogen-fixing trees play an underrecognized role in recovering tropical forests by enriching nutrient-poor soils with scarce elements such as phosphorus and molybdenum. Coauthor Sarah Batterman, a tropical forest ecologist at END ...

In previous research, ancient massacre sites found men who died while pitted in battle or discovered executions of targeted families. At other sites, evidence showed killing of members of a migrant community in conflict with previously established communities, and even murders of those who were part of religious rituals. But a more recent discovery by a research team -- that includes two University of Wyoming faculty members -- reveals the oldest documented site of an indiscriminate mass killing 6,200 years ago in what is now Potocani, Croatia. "The DNA, combined with the archaeological and skeletal evidence -- especially that ...