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New Report Examines Challenges and Implications of False-Negative COVID-19 Tests
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New Report Examines Challenges and Implications of False-Negative COVID-19 Tests

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...

New Tool Employs Air Travel Data to Predict Global Spread of COVID-19
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New Tool Employs Air Travel Data to Predict Global Spread of COVID-19

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...

Psychological Science and COVID-19: Conspiracy Theories
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Psychological Science and COVID-19: Conspiracy Theories

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...

Staying Healthy Mentally and Physically While Protesting During a Pandemic
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Staying Healthy Mentally and Physically While Protesting During a Pandemic

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...

Promoting Advantages of Product Category, Such as E-Cigarettes, Can Backfire
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Promoting Advantages of Product Category, Such as E-Cigarettes, Can Backfire

Industries often position products to tout the benefits of one category over another — such as the higher-quality, traditional ingredients of a microbrew over mass-produced brewery beer. Researchers suggest that during the past decade, efforts to promote e-cigarettes as a healthier alternative to combustible cigarettes instead backfired, resulting in a product with a reputation as...

Sensors Woven into a Shirt Can Monitor Vital Signs
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Sensors Woven into a Shirt Can Monitor Vital Signs

MIT researchers have developed a way to incorporate electronic sensors into stretchy fabrics, allowing them to create shirts or other garments that could be used to monitor vital signs such as temperature, respiration, and heart rate. The sensor-embedded garments, which are machine washable, can be customized to fit close to the body of the person...

Conservative and Social Media Usage Associated with Misinformation About COVID-19
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Conservative and Social Media Usage Associated with Misinformation About COVID-19

People who relied on conservative media or social media in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak were more likely to be misinformed about how to prevent the virus and believe conspiracy theories about it, a study of media use and public knowledge has found. Based on an Annenberg Science Knowledge survey fielded in early...

Holistic Approach Best for Tackling NonMedical Drug Use, Study Finds
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Holistic Approach Best for Tackling NonMedical Drug Use, Study Finds

Health practitioners are constantly developing new ways to help those with drug and alcohol addictions wean themselves from their substance of choice. Most such programs have limited success, however. A new study finds that interventions that take a multidimensional approach – tackling the biological, social, environmental and mental health obstacles to overcome while also addressing...

Could Suicide Risk Be Predicted from a Patient’s Records?
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Could Suicide Risk Be Predicted from a Patient’s Records?

Suicide is now the second most common cause of death among American youth. Fatal suicides rose 30 percent between 2000 and 2016, and 2016 alone saw 1.3 million nonfatal suicide attempts. Now, a study led by Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital demonstrates that a predictive computer model can identify patients at risk for...