(2020-03-29). Livestream: The Science of Happiness during COVID-19. indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2020-03-29). Darvaza Crater: How Soviet Geologists Discovered Gates of Hell. sputniknews.com Turkmenistan has one of the most interesting tourist attractions in the world, and it was discovered by Soviet engineers by accident.
(2020-03-28). Coronavirus testing to begin for some NHS staff. thecanary.co 
Coronavirus (COVID-19) tests for NHS frontline staff are to be trialled this weekend. These are part of a wider roll-out to help those given the all-clear from the disease to return to work. The move comes after prime minister Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus and has gone into self-isolation.Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the government was working in a "new alliance" with universities, businesses and researchers to boost testing capacity. A total of 759 people have already died in UK hospitals after being diagnosed with coronavirus. Meanwhile, 113,777 have tested positive and hundreds of thousan…
(2020-03-28). World boxing champ Billy Joe Saunders apologizes after video shows him 'teaching men how to hit women during lockdown'. rt.com 
British world boxing champion Billy Joe Saunders has apologized after footage emerged appearing to show him teaching men how to hit their female partners if tensions flare in lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. | WBO world super-middleweight champ Saunders, 30, is seen in the footage training with a punchbag in his barn. | Talking to the camera, the boxer begins by saying: "I just want to make a little video for all you dads, husbands, if you've got girlfriends etc. | "Obviously this Covid-19 thing is getting quite serious and we are isolated in tight spaces. | "If your old woman is giving you mouth and you…
(2020-03-28). From layoffs to COVID DANCE-OFFs, richest US universities drag their heels on virus response. rt.com 
When art school students at one of America's top universities asked their dean for tuition refunds, she turned them down in a most peculiar way: through interpretive dance. The elite, it seems, are different from you and me. | With their school closed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, students at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts got in touch with college officials to ask for their tuition back. Given that a year's tuition at the art school costs upwards of $60,000, they were anxious to get the money returned. | Dean Allyson Green emailed the students back last week, denying their request. Att…
(2020-03-28). University of California graduate students need a socialist political strategy. wsws.org Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, striking University of California graduate students must turn out to the working class in a political struggle for trillions for public health, decent living standards, and public education for all.
(2020-03-28). US teachers speak out on the coronavirus epidemic. wsws.org Teachers across the country spoke on the impact the epidemic is having on education and the way forward.
(2020-03-28). Thanks to the coronavirus, the poorest people in the UK are sitting on a financial time bomb. thecanary.co The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic could potentially unleash financial chaos for some of the poorest people in the UK. A new study has found that many of us have no financial safety net in the event of a crisis. But what the research doesn't say is that it's some of those at the bottom of society who'll be hit hardest. And thanks to Universal Credit, that group is about to get a whole lot larger. | Coronavirus: people are not prepared: | The financial advice company OpenMoney
(2020-03-28). [Comment] Offline: COVID-19 and the NHS—"a national scandal" thelancet.com "When this is all over, the NHS England board should resign in their entirety." So wrote one National Health Service (NHS) health worker last weekend. The scale of anger and frustration is unprecedented, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the cause. The UK Government's Contain—Delay—Mitigate—Research strategy failed. It failed, in part, because ministers didn't follow WHO's advice to "test, test, test" every suspected case. They didn't isolate and quarantine. They didn't contact trace. These basic principles of public health and infectious disease control were ignored, for reasons that r…
(2020-03-28). Gilead Sciences asks FDA to rescind 'orphan' status for possible coronavirus treatment drug in rare move. nationofchange.org "We are committed to making the medicine both accessible and affordable to governments and patients around the world."
(2020-03-28). COVID-19 Crisis Reveals Broadband Inequity. commondreams.org Eight-year-old Indi Pineau, a 3rd grader in Jeffco Public Schools, works on doing her first day of online learning in her room at her family's home on March 17, 2020 in Lakewood, Colorado. Jeffco Public Schools implemented a remote learning and work plan where teachers, students, and staff will educate and learn from home with online programs for an unknown period due to COVID-19. (Photo: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-03-28). On Strike Now for Three Years, Spectrum Workers Are Demanding Public Ownership. truthout.org Cable technician Troy Walcott, along with 1,800 of his fellow members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, has been striking for three years, and there's still no end in sight. | Local 3 first walked off the job in March 2017 when their employer, Spectrum/Charter Communications — the
(2020-03-28). Education Cannot Solve Poverty and Inequality. dissidentvoice.org 
One of the long-standing stubborn myths about education in American culture is that education is "the great equalizer" and that education is the way to overcome poverty and inequality at the individual and societal levels. The facts show, however, that poverty and inequality are generally increasing every year despite the fact that there are more …
(2020-03-28). Coronavirus brings out the worst in criminals as they target families on free school meals. thecanary.co 
Not to let a global pandemic go to waste, criminals have been Coronavirus: criminals making the most of it: | In an email seen by The Canary, one south London school sent this message to families on free school meals: The DfE [Department for Education] have warned that fraudsters are targeting parents of children eligible for f…
(2020-03-28). 800,000 Doctors to Trump: Heed Expert Warnings and End Dangerous Campaign Against Social Distancing. commondreams.org "We need your leadership in supporting science-based recommendations on social distancing that can slow the virus." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-03-27). "Total System Failure": Congress Pushes $2 Trillion Pandemic Bill. Will Dems Allow "Corporate Coup"? democracynow.org 
We continue our look at the massive $2 trillion coronavirus relief package — the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history — with author Matt Stoller, who argues the country will be unrecognizable after this pandemic if big corporations walk away with trillions of dollars and no strings attached. Stoller is research director at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of the book "Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy." His recent column for The Guardian is headlined "The coronavirus relief bill could turn into a corporate coup if we aren't careful."
(2020-03-27). The Italian war-like measures to fight coronavirus spreading: Re-open closed hospitals now. thelancet.com As recently highlighted by The Lancet, the Covid-19 outbreak started in Northern Italy has shocked Europe, while it has been questioned if China benefits from an authoritarian advantage in disease response [1,2]. In Italy, after the shutdown of the educational system (schools and Universities will remain closed at least for one month) and the collapse of the touristic sector (90% of travels and reservations cancelled), the Government officially locked down residents of all the region of Milan (Lombardia) and other 11 provinces.
(2020-03-27). Could the Death of the National Security State be a Silver Lining of COVID-19? counterpunch.org Could something good come from the catastrophe of COVID-19? Might the epic insecurity of a plague teach us something about national security? Political scientist Micah Zenko calls the current pandemic "the worst intelligence failure in U.S. history." Former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman sees "the urgent need to redefine national security." Ilan Goldenberg, a former defense
(2020-03-26). 'Models don't match reality': White House coronavirus chief rejects doomsday predictions as US tops Covid-19 case count. rt.com 
Even as the US overtook China in the official number of Covid-19 cases, the top physician leading the White House effort urged Americans not to panic, as models predicting the death of millions keep being proven wrong everywhere. | "The predictions of the models don't match the reality on the ground in neither China, South Korea nor Italy," Dr. Deborah Birx told reporters on Thursday. She noted that the alarmist statistics about the spread of the virus said Italy would reach 400,000 deaths by now, but the actual death toll was nowhere near that. | Italy, which has been the hardest-hit in terms of deaths from C…
(2020-03-24). King David's Ancient Road: How Israeli Archaeologists Are Aiding the Theft of Silwan. mintpressnews.com 
Claiming "science" as their reason and in total disregard for the wellbeing of the population, tunnels are dug under Palestinian homes in Silwan, destroying foundations and forcing residents to flee.
(2020-03-23). Goes to show the level of hubris and profound BS of Western produced statistics. iranian.com …
(2020-03-23). Presenting Trump and Science as Equals Isn't Balanced, It's Dangerous. fair.org 
With more than
(2020-03-22). Coronavirus hits US prisons: "thousands face death sentence" thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Dr. Amanda Klonsky, the chief program officer at a prison education organization, about…
(2020-03-18). [Correspondence] Future of Chernobyl research: the urgency for consolidated action. thelancet.com The Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986, continues to create fears and myths about its health consequences, as shown by the large response to a top-rated HBO miniseries devoted to the tragic event. Risk assessments range from recognising an increase in thyroid cancer incidence in exposed children and adolescents (becoming one of the single most established long-term health effects of the Chernobyl disaster on the general population), to claims of hundreds of thousands of deaths due to the accident.
(2020-03-18). [Research Paper] A phase 1b randomized study of the safety and immunological responses to vaccination with H4:IC31, H56:IC31, and BCG revaccination in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-uninfected adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa. thelancet.com BCG revaccination administered as a single dose ID and both H4: IC31 and H56: IC31 administered as 2 doses IM had acceptable safety profiles in healthy, QFT-negative, previously BCG-vaccinated adolescents. Characterization of the assays and the immunogenicity of these vaccines may help to identify valuable markers of protection for upcoming immune correlates analyses of C-040-404 and future TB vaccine efficacy trials.
(2020-03-16). [Research Paper] Results from the first English stool bank using faecal microbiota transplant as a medicinal product for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection. thelancet.com The methodology developed here enabled successful licencing of FMT by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as a medicinal product. This has widened the availability of FMT in the National Health Service via a stool bank and can be applied in other centres across the world to improve access to safe and quality assured treatments.
(2020-03-10). [Research Paper] Association of characteristics of tampon use with menstrual toxic shock syndrome in France. thelancet.com Our study suggests that the risk of MTSS was associated with using tampons for more than 6 h, overnight tampon use during sleep, and neither read nor followed tampon insertion instructions in case of reading.
(2020-03-09). [Comment] Patchy progress on the ICPD: are we asking the right questions? thelancet.com The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agenda, set in 1994 in Cairo and revisited 25 years later in Nairobi in 2019, included goals for equitable education of women, reduction of infant and child mortality, reduction of maternal mortality, and access to reproductive and sexual health services, including family planning, through its well known Programme of Action.1 The ICPD was ground-breaking in recognising the benefits that empowerment of women and girls would have for themselves, their families, and, ultimately, their countries.
(2020-03-07). TEXAS 2020 DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY. tdmsresearch.com Exit Poll Versus Reported Vote Count By Theodore de Macedo Soares The 2020 Texas Democratic Party presidential primary was held on March 3, 2020. Election results from the computerized vote counts differed significantly from the results projected by the exit poll conducted by Edison Research and published by CNN at poll's closing. According to the exit poll Sanders was tied with Biden but lost in the unobservable computer counts by 4.5%. In this election candidate Sanders saw the largest
(2020-03-05). [Research Paper] Gender parity at scale: Examining correlations of country-level female participation in education and work with measures of men's and women's survival. thelancet.com This study extends past research by examining actionable areas of gender equality and their impact on both male and female survival. While longitudinal research is needed to examine both causality and mechanisms, our findings suggest longevity gains for both women and men, and for all children through reduced maternal mortality, where greater parity in school and work is exhibited.
(2020-03-05). [Research Paper] Access to women physicians and uptake of reproductive, maternal and child health services in India. thelancet.com Higher district availability of women physicians is associated with higher maternal health care utilization but not child health care utilization. Improving gender parity in the physician workforce and rural women physician access may improve maternal health care use in India.
(2020-03-04). [Research Paper] Sport as a vehicle of change for livelihoods, social participation and marital health for the youth: Findings from a prospective cohort in Bihar, India. thelancet.com Evidence from India shows that sport can be an instrument supporting pro-social engagement for boys and girls. Further understanding of the gendered nature of sport and the mechanisms linking sport to agency among youth is needed.
(2020-03-04). [Research Paper] Effects of sexual harassment on advancement of women in academic medicine: A multi-institutional longitudinal study. thelancet.com Contrary to our hypothesis, women reporting severe workplace harassment in 1995 were more rather than less likely to advance to full professor. Women seeking advancement may be more vulnerable to sexual harassment in academic medicine vis a vis greater exposure to those who abuse their position of authority.
(2020-03-04). [Research Paper] Gender discrimination and depressive symptoms among child-bearing women: ELSPAC-CZ cohort study. thelancet.com The findings provide the first evidence that perceived gender discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms among child-bearing women. Social intervention programs aimed at reducing gender discrimination can potentially contribute to better mental health of women.
(2020-03-04). [Commentary] Gender equality: Framing a special collection of evidence for all. thelancet.com In this issue of EClinicalMedicine, the editors have assembled a special collection of papers which reinforce and extend concepts advanced recently in other Lancet family journals on Gender Equality, Norms and Health [1] and Advancing Gender Equity in Science, Medicine and Global Health [2]. These works in turn, build on decades of scholarship in the study of gender inequalities which to this day have disproportionately impacted women and girls, and even more so women who are poor or from racial or religious minorities or other intersecting aspects of identify which impart social disadvantage.
(2020-03-03). [Research Paper] Violence-related knife injuries in a UK city; epidemiology and impact on secondary care resources. thelancet.com Knife injuries constitute 12 ∑9% of trauma team workload. Violence recidivism and intoxication are common, and females are predominantly injured in a domestic setting, presenting opportunities for targeted violence reduction interventions. 13 ∑9% of injuries involved machetes, with implications for law enforcement strategies.
(2020-02-27). [Comment] Challenges in evidence-based therapy for systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease. thelancet.com The excellent Review of systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) by Apostolos Perelas and colleagues1 in this issue is testament to the large body of work over several decades that has helped to better define the frequency, effects, and management of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Translational research has also elucidated key aspects of aetiopathogenesis. The progression of ILD in SSc is highly variable, and we are now able to identify the patients most at risk for severe ILD and determine who is more likely to have an indolent course on the basis of clinica…
(2020-02-24). [Newsdesk] The 7th London Centre for NTDs conference. thelancet.com The London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research conference was held in London, United Kingdom, on Jan 30. Alexandra York reports.
(2020-02-19). [Research Paper] Long-term clinical prognosis of human infections with avian influenza A(H7N9) viruses in China after hospitalization. thelancet.com Patients who survived severe illness from A(H7N9) virus infection had evidence of persistent lung damage and long-term pulmonary dysfunction.
(2020-02-19). [Research Paper] Loss-of-function polymorphism in IL6R reduces risk of JAK2V617F somatic mutation and myeloproliferative neoplasm: A Mendelian randomization study. thelancet.com A loss-of-function polymorphism in IL6R reduces risk of JAK2V617F mutation and myeloproliferative neoplasm. This finding supports inflammation as an independent risk factor for JAK2V617F mutation and myeloproliferative neoplasm and indicates that therapeutics designed to block interleukin-6 receptor signaling might prevent or retard progression of myeloproliferative neoplasm.
(2020-02-18). [Research Paper] Predicting death by suicide following an emergency department visit for parasuicide with administrative health care system data and machine learning. thelancet.com The combination of predictors from multiple administrative data systems and the combination of personal and ecologic predictors resulted in promising prediction performance. Further research is needed to develop prediction models optimized for implementation in clinical settings.
(2020-02-17). [Research Paper] Global variation in the prevalence of bullying victimisation amongst adolescents: Role of peer and parental supports. thelancet.com Bullying victimisation is a global public health problem that has been predominantly studied in high income countries. This study aimed to estimate the population level prevalence of bullying victimisation and its association with peer and parental supports amongst adolescents across low and middle income to high income countries (LMICHICs).
(2020-02-14). [Commentary] Women empowerment is central to addressing the double burden of malnutrition. thelancet.com Women play a critical role in ensuring that their nutritional needs and those of their children and families are met. Women are also an integral part of delivering nutrition-sensitive interventions, and optimizing food systems to address the double burden of malnutrition characterized by the co-existence of nutritional deficiencies, underweight, and overweight and obesity in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this commentary, we highlight how women empowerment affects nutrition with a focus on nutrition-sensitive interventions, and identify research and implementation gaps that warrant greater attention.
(2020-02-11). [Corrections] Correction to Lancet Glob Health 2020; 8: e76—91. thelancet.com Hines LA, Trickey A, Leung J, et al. Associations between national development indicators and the age profile of people who inject drugs: results from a global systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health 2020; 8: e76—91—In the Acknowledgments of this Article, the second and third sentences should read "LAH is supported by a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust. LD is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellowship." This correction has been made as of Feb 11, 2020.
(2020-02-10). [Research Paper] Outcomes of a nine-month regimen for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis up to 24 months after treatment completion in nine African countries. thelancet.com The close to 80% relapse-free success indicates the good outcome of the regimen in low-and middle-income settings. Results confirm the lesser effectiveness of the regimen in patients with initial resistance to fluoroquinolones and support the use of high-dose isoniazid, but do not support exclusion of patients for resistance to drugs other than fluoroquinolones.
(2020-01-13). [Spotlight] Information overload and unsustainable workloads in the era of electronic health records. thelancet.com Electronic health records (EHRs) were supposed to usher in a golden age of improved care, efficiency, and safety in the USA, increasing patient engagement and even reducing health-care disparities. But these systems have complicated interdisciplinary communication and worsened clinician workloads, contributing to clinician burnout, and opportunities for error, researchers told The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. "Manufacturers told us EHRs would make our lives easier but when we counted the number of tasks and the time required, we found that a frighteningly large fraction of physicians' available time was consumed…
(2020-01-07). [Comment] Relaunching human bornavirus research from encephalitis cases with unclear cause. thelancet.com Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1), the first bornavirus to be discovered, was identified as a causative agent of Borna disease, a fatal encephalitis occurring in horses and sheep. BoDV-1 is highly neurotropic and can cause both fatal immune-mediated encephalitis and behavioural disturbances in a broad range of infected animals.1 These observations prompted researchers to investigate the presence of BoDV-1 in patients with psychiatric disorders on the basis of the hypothesis that BoDV-1 might also cause behavioural abnormalities in humans.
(2019-12-17). [Spotlight] Organising international research in critical care medicine: current challenges and potential solutions. thelancet.com During the first years of intensive care medicine, many of its treatments were introduced because they were thought to be beneficial to patients, despite there being a lack of evidence from high-quality research to support these premises. However, in the last 20 years intensive care medicine research has picked up the pace and countless randomised controlled trials have been performed, supplying clinical care with the much needed scientific foundation, discarding obsolete treatments, and saving lives.