A new study published in Economic Modelling by researchers at Ca’ Foscari University and CMCC shows that owning and using an Air Conditioner greatly increases the electricity bills of households, with important implications for the energy poverty of the less well-off. Previous studies, mainly focused on the US, estimated an increase of household spendings for electricity bills...
Long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are a major driver of total COVID-19 deaths. Reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) geriatricians Rossana Lau-Ng, Lisa Caruso and Thomas Perls studied the past month’s case and death data reported by the Massachusetts Department of Health’s...
A study of electronic medical records from US Veterans Health Administration medical centers has found that hydroxychloroquine–with or without azithromycin–did not reduce the risk of ventilation or death and was associated with longer length of hospital stay. This analysis, published June 5 in the journal Med, is the first in the US to report data on...
As communities across the U.S. have struggled to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have focused on the lack of widespread testing as a major barrier to safely reopening the country. As progress has been made on this front, concern has shifted to testing accuracy, predominantly with antibody tests, which are designed...
As the COVID-19 pandemic enters a new phase, punctuated by emerging hot spots and continuing global spread, a new analytical tool developed by RAND Corporation researchers allows policymakers to predict regional risks of importing cases of COVID-19. The tool, which melds information on infection rates with global air traffic data, has already produced a number...
Expert commentary from Karen Douglas, professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, UK, whose research focuses on beliefs in conspiracy theories. Why are conspiracy theories so popular? Who believes them? Why do people believe them? What are some of the consequences of conspiracy theories and can such theories be harmful? What are the principal...
As people take to the streets in protest during the COVID-19 pandemic, Keck Medicine of USC experts share advice on how the public can protect both their mental well-being and physical health during this time. The importance of acknowledging the trauma many Americans experience “During this time when the American public is already mentally stretched...
After a particularly long week of computer based work on my PhD, all I wanted was to hike somewhere exciting with a rich wildlife. A friend commiserated with me – I was based at Newcastle University at the time, and this particular friend wasn’t keen on the UK’s wilderness, its moorlands and bare uplands, compared...
High-profile police shootings and deaths of black men in custody – or even while out jogging – bring cries of racism across the country. The May 25 death of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis and the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia on Feb. 23, 2020 by a white...
In June 1348, people in England began reporting mysterious symptoms. They started off as mild and vague: headaches, aches, and nausea. This was followed by painful black lumps, or buboes, growing in the armpits and groin, which gave the disease its name: bubonic plague. The last stage was a high fever, and then death. Originating...
