Changes in sexual behaviors of young women and men during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak (44% of participants reported a decrease in the number of sexual partners and about 37% of participants reported a decrease in sexual frequency)
The effect of facial hair and sex on the dispersal of bacteria below a masked subject (mask wiggling has been reported to increase dermabrasion and bacterial contamination of surfaces immediately below the face ... Bearded males may also consider removing their beards)
Apple consumption is related to better sexual quality of life in young women
Oral sex: A new, and possibly the most dangerous, route of toxoplasmosis transmission. -- This route of toxoplasmosis transmission could be experimentally verified by force-feeding laboratory mice with the ejaculate of infected men.
Unhappiness is hill-shaped in age and the average age where the maximum occurs is 49
Can people be attracted to darker versions of themselves?
We report a rare case of fatal intoxication in a 40-year-old man caused by injection of a fluid containing organic mercury, allegedly in an attack with a syringe fixed to the tip of an umbrella. After several days to weeks the man showed increasingly reduced general health with fatigue and was finally hospitalized with severe neurological dysfunctions in somnolent status and died 10 months later in refractory status epilepticus. [...] Police learned of the case after the mercury intoxication was diagnosed, and the investigation revealed a small syringe (typically used for subcutaneous injections, e.g. insulin) containing a fluid with a mercury-thallium bond as well as several beads of metallic mercury bonds at the dashboard (e.g. non-organic mercury, mercury sulphate) of the victim’s car. Furthermore, it turned out that the victim had access to mercury compounds due to his occupation. [Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology]
According to numerous research studies, adults who hear a statement twice are more likely to think that it is true compared to when they have only heard it once. Our results suggest that the illusory truth effect is a universal effect learned at a young age.
Blomstedt tells the story of a technique called "cerebral impaludation," which literally means "putting malaria into the brain." In this operation, which was performed on over 1,000 people in the 1930s, blood from a malaria-infected person was injected straight into the frontal lobes of the unfortunate patient. The story goes back to 1918, when an Austrian doctor, Julius Wagner-Jauregg, discovered that a bout of malaria could produce improvement in patients with advanced syphilis infection of the brain. [Discover]
In possible medical first, breast implants deflect bullet, save Toronto woman's life, doctors say
An introduction to the mechanics of the lasso
Chimpanzees Prefer African and Indian Music Over Silence
how much COVID-19 related thinking is too much
Researchers say people can catch mild, cold-causing coronaviruses twice in the same year. The research included four coronaviruses, HKU1, NL63, OC42, and C229E, which circulate widely every year but don’t get much attention because they only cause common colds. [study]
COVID-19 study shows that men have over double the death rate of women
In summary, COVID-19 might be associated with hypercoagulability
Remdesivir, which must be given intravenously, is likely to remain a treatment for patients who are hospitalized. But it is also likely that it will be most effective in patients who have been infected more recently, said Nahid Bhadelia, medical director of the special pathogens unit at Boston Medical Center. “We know that with most antiviral medications the earlier you give it the better it is.” That means that better diagnostic testing will be essential to identifying patients who could benefit. [STAT]
Sewage may be key to tracking covid-19 outbreaks, researchers find. Researchers have detected genetic traces of the coronavirus in the wastewater in the Bay Area in California and in Massachusetts, as well as in European cities including Rome, Paris and Amsterdam.
Current antibody surveys are revealing, furthermore, that immunity to COVID-19 can vary widely from location to location. The pandemic may be global but, as Yonatan Grad, an immunologist at Harvard University, told me, “it is made up of hyperlocal epidemics that are differentially impacting communities.”
Eight Labrador retrievers are being trained to sniff out coronavirus cases. It would not be surprising if the dogs prove adept at detecting SARS-CoV-2. In addition to drugs, explosives and contraband food items, dogs are able to sniff out malaria, cancers and even a bacterium ravaging Florida’s citrus groves. Research has found viruses have specific odors.
Ultraviolet lights that promise to destroy viruses without hurting humans are being tested by Columbia University scientists, who say the lights would be effective in airplane cabins, airports, hospitals and schools. “As we speak, there are 100 hairless mice being exposed for 15 months,” said David J. Brenner, director of Columbia’s Center for Radiological Research. The mice live under the lights eight hours a day and get eye and skin tests every couple of weeks, and after eight months the researchers have found no damage, “which is encouraging.” The lamps could have helped prevent the spread of covid-19, Brenner said, but “it’s come a little too soon for us. If it had come at this time next year, we’d be in a good position to fight it.” [...] Boeing is experimenting with lavatories that can sanitize themselves in less than three seconds. Engineers at the U.S. manufacturer and its top competitor, Airbus, have explored changing the way air moves around passengers to reduce infections. [Washington Post]
The US already has the technology to test millions of people a day
Five things we need to do to make contact tracing really work (It won't be easy)
Coronavirus: 'I'm tattooing myself every day in lockdown, but I'm running out of space'
Drink Camel Urine To Cure Coronavirus, Prophetic Medicine Man Says (w/ video)