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Currently, the most sensitive test for COVID-19 involves using a long swab to collect a specimen from deep inside a patient’s nose, and then using a method called reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA. But if the viral load is low, which can occur early in the course of infection, the swab might not pick up enough virus to be detectable. Jingwei Xie and colleagues wanted to develop a nanofiber swab that could absorb and then release more viruses and other biological specimens, improving the sensitivity of diagnostic tests....

In light of COVID-19, an MIT study looks at tradeoffs between economic value and public health, across different types of retail. Banks and bookstores. Gyms and juice bars. Dental offices and department stores. The COVID-19 crisis has shuttered some kinds of businesses, while others have stayed open. But which places represent the best and worst tradeoffs, in terms of the economic benefits and health risks? A new study by MIT researchers uses a variety of data on consumer and business activity to tackle that question, measuring 26 types of businesses by both their usefulness and risk....

“To date, USF Health has printed more than 100,000 3D NP swabs, and hospitals around the world have used our 3D files to print tens of millions more swabs for point-of-care use,” said Summer Decker, Ph.D., associate professor, vice chair for research, and director of the 3D Clinical Applications for the Department of Radiology in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Tampa General Hospital. The 3D swab has received national and international recognition as an example of the power of medical 3D printing and quick innovation to provide clinical solutions....

A team from the UNIGE demonstrates that certain soft incentive techniques, known as “nudges,” are effective in getting people to change their behavior. Developed by the American economist Richard Thaler in the late 2000s, the theory behind “nudging” theory is based on the principle that our choices are not only determined by our ability to reason, but are also influenced by certain biases such as our emotions, our memories, the opinions of others or the configuration of our environment....

The technology, which features a unique graphene and gold-based platform and high-tech imaging, monitors the fate of stem cells by detecting genetic material (RNA) involved in turning such cells into brain cells (neurons), according to a study in the journal Nano Letters. Stem cells can become many different types of cells. As a result, stem cell therapy shows promise for regenerative treatment of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, and spinal cord injury, with diseased cells needing replacement or repair....

Tissue nanotransfection is a nanochip device that is minimally invasive and able to reprogram tissue function by delivering specific genes in a short amount of time through the use of a harmless electric spark. A new study, published in Nature Partner Journals Regenerative Medicine, tested tissue nanotransfection-based gene therapy as a treatment, with the goal of delivering a gene known to be a major driver of muscle repair and regeneration....

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Göttingen and Hannover Medical School (MHH) has detected significant changes in the heart muscle tissue of people who died from COVID-19. Damage to lung tissue has been the research focus in this area for some time and has now been thoroughly investigated. The current study underpins the involvement of the heart in COVID-19 at the microscopic level for the first time by imaging and analyzing the affected tissue in the three dimensions....

People who suffer from insomnia were 69% more likely to have a heart attack compared to those who didn’t have the sleep disorder during an average nine years of follow-up, according to new research being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together With the World Congress of Cardiology. In addition, when looking at sleep duration as an objective measure of insomnia, researchers found that people who clocked five or fewer hours of sleep a night had the greatest risk of experiencing a heart attack....

Over nearly seven years researching 3D printing systems in MIT’s Media Lab, Jifei Ou SM ’14, PhD ’19 began to suspect the work could lead to better products. He never could have imagined it would help address supply shortages caused by a global pandemic. Since March of last year, Ou’s company, OPT Industries, has been working with hospitals to deliver a new type of nasal swab for COVID-19 testing. The swabs make use of thin, hairlike structures Ou developed while at MIT....

It divided into many species, with distinct types in Japan, Central Asia, and Europe — even some dwarf forms as large as a small donkey on some Mediterranean islands. In a new study by scientists in Spain, Italy, and the UK, including University of Bristol Ph.D. student Hanwen Zhang, published in the journal, Quaternary Science Reviews, some order has been brought into our understanding of all these species. The most intriguing feature of the straight-tusked elephant, apart from its absolutely enormous size, is the massive, headband-like crest on the skull roof which projects down the forehead....

If you download music online, you can get accompanying information embedded into the digital file that might tell you the name of the song, its genre, the featured artists on a given track, the composer, and the producer. Similarly, if you download a digital photo, you can obtain information that may include the time, date, and location at which the picture was taken. That led Mustafa Doga Dogan to wonder whether engineers could do something similar for physical objects....

In experiments in mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have developed a way to successfully transplant certain protective brain cells without the need for lifelong anti-rejection drugs. A report on the research, published today (September 16, 2019) in the journal Brain, details the new approach, which selectively circumvents the immune response against foreign cells, allowing transplanted cells to survive, thrive, and protect brain tissue long after stopping immune-suppressing drugs....

In a tour de force analysis of the Kepler data sets spanning 201,250 target stars, CfA astronomers Andrew Vanderburg, Dave Latham, and Allyson Bieryla joined eight of their colleagues in discovering and modeling a likely set of six transiting comets around one star, with another comet possible around a second star. The physical characteristic that made these detections possible was unexpected: the comets have large, extended dust tails that can block enough starlight to make themselves recognizable via unique, asymmetrically shaped absorption dips in their transit lightcurves....

Most autism spectrum disorders have a complex, multifactorial genetic component, making it difficult to find specific treatments. Rett syndrome is an exception. Babies born with this form of the disorder have mutations specifically in the MECP2 gene, causing a severe impairment in brain development that primarily affects females. Yet there is still no treatment — current therapies are aimed at alleviating symptoms, but don’t address the root cause. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine recently used stem cell-derived brain organoids — also called “mini-brains” — that lack the functional MECP2 gene to better study the disease....

Comprehensive clinical testing led Children’s Hospital Colorado researchers to connect enterovirus A71, which causes Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, to outbreak of neurological illness. The Lancet Infectious Diseases recently published the results of an observational study led by researchers on Children’s Hospital Colorado Infectious Disease and Neurology teams, along with counterparts at the Centers for Disease Control and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The study was conducted from March 1 to November 30, 2018, and led to the discovery of the largest outbreak of enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) in the United States....

“The power of this study is that it’s one of the first times we’ve been able to see a full eruptive cycle in this detail at almost any volcano,” said Peter La Femina, associate professor of geosciences at Penn State. “We’ve monitored Sierra Negra from when it last erupted in 2005 through the 2018 eruption and beyond, and we have this beautiful record that’s a rarity in itself.” For nearly two months in 2018, lava erupted from the volcano, covering about 19 square miles of Isabela Island, the largest island in the Galápagos and home to about 2,000 people and endangered animal species like the Galápagos giant tortoise....

NASA research indicates hunks of frozen carbon dioxide — dry ice — may glide down some Martian sand dunes on cushions of gas similar to miniature hovercraft, plowing furrows as they go. Researchers deduced this process could explain one enigmatic class of gullies seen on Martian sand dunes by examining images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and performing experiments on sand dunes in Utah and California. “I have always dreamed of going to Mars,” said Serina Diniega, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and lead author of a report published online by the journal Icarus....

Rocky exoplanets that are around Earth size are comparatively small, which makes them incredibly difficult to detect and characterize using telescopes. What are the optimal conditions to find such small planets that linger in the darkness? “A rocky planet that is hot, molten, and possibly harboring large outgassed atmosphere ticks all the boxes,” says Dan Bower, an astrophysicist at the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Bern....

New research has shown that a longer interval between primary COVID-19 vaccine doses can boost antibody production up to nine-fold. The study will be presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Lisbon, Portugal, (April 23-26, 2022). Understanding the immunological response to vaccination against COVID-19 is critical to controlling the virus and minimizing the number of deaths. To find out factors affecting antibody responses following Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccination, Dr....

Storm Filomena hit Spain over the weekend, blanketing parts of the country in thick snow and leaving half of the country on red alert. Madrid, one of the worst affected areas, was brought to a standstill with the airport having to be closed, trains canceled and roads blocked. Although this satellite image was taken after the storm had passed, it is clear to see that much snow still remains, especially in the outskirts of the city....