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Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million

We conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment (EA) in a sample of ~3 million individuals and identify 3,952 approximately uncorrelated genome-wide-significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A genome-wide polygenic predictor, or polygenic index (PGI), explains 12–16%...
Source: nature.com

House passes $35-a-month insulin cap as Dems seek wider bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday passed a bill capping the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for insured patients, part of an election-year push by Democrats for price curbs on prescription drugs at a time of rising inflation.
Source: apnews.com

How the War in Ukraine Could Get Much Worse

The West and Russia may be entering into the terminal stages of an insecurity spiral, which could produce a larger European war even if it doesn’t go nuclear.
Source: foreignaffairs.com

For the first time in generations, this tribe in Washington has land

The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe has purchased thousands of acres of ancestral forestlands in East King County.
Source: opb.org

Morgan Stanley: Global oil supply likely to peak earlier than demand

"Global oil supply is likely to peak even earlier than demand, Morgan Stanley said in a research note, based on its analysis on current trends." What does this mean? Investment in new oil and gas is falling because of policies to phase it out. This means the supply of fossil fuels will peak (or has peaked)...

Beyond Omicron: what’s next for COVID’s viral evolution Callaway, Ewen. Nature 2021 600:7888.

The rapid spread of new variants offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 is adapting and how the pandemic will play out over the next several months. The rapid spread of new variants offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 is adapting and how the pandemic will play out over the next several months.
Source: nature.com

Omicron-variant border bans ignore the evidence, say scientists Mallapaty, Smriti. Nature 2021.

Researchers say travel restrictions in response to the newly detected coronavirus variant come too late and could even slow studies of Omicron. Researchers say travel restrictions in response to the newly detected coronavirus variant come too late and could even slow studies of Omicron.
Source: nature.com

Quantum computing: The next big thing in healthcare?

IEEE newsletter on Quantum computing "quantum computers will give us a new understanding of the functioning of the human body based on their ability to process large amounts of data in a short time and identify new information and connections. At the same time, by obtaining and making more and more...
Source: ieee.org

Factors affecting the uptake of new medicines: a systematic literature review - BMC Health Services Research Lublóy, Ágnes.

"This systematic literature review has provided insights into the factors that affect new drug uptake—primarily, doctors’ scientific orientation, prescribing habits, exposure to pharmaceutical marketing, and interpersonal communication." "Background The successful diffusion of new drugs is crucial...
Source: biomedcentral.com

Early warnings and emerging accountability: Total's responses to global warming, 1971-2021 Global Environmental Change.

Building upon recent work on other major fossil fuel companies, we report new archival research and primary source interviews describing how Total responded to evolving climate science and policy in the last 50 years. We show that Total personnel received warnings of the potential for catastrophic global...
Source: sciencedirect.com

Psychology of panic buying

I've been fascinated by the psychology of panic buying and it is clearly an area for future research. It has an enormous impact on delivery infrastructure and I wonder if anyone has been tracking the data of the causes and the impact in the current fuel 'crisis'. A systematic review from last year identified...
Source: nih.gov

A Simple Approach to Relieve Teens’ Anxiety and Depression JAMA.

An intervention known as Shamiri helped relieve Kenyan adolescents’ depression and anxiety symptoms more effectively than a program aimed at improving their secondary school study skills, researchers reported in JAMA Psychiatry.
Source: jamanetwork.com

Development and validation of teacher and student questionnaires measuring inhibitors of curriculum viability - BMC Medical

Background Curriculum viability is determined by the degree to which quality standards have or have not been met, and by the inhibitors that affect attainment of those standards. The literature reports many ways to evaluate whether a curriculum reaches its quality standards, but less attention is paid...
Source: biomedcentral.com

Who is the we in 'We are causing climate change'?

Everyone is not equally complicit here.
Source: grist.org

Covid Disguises Chronic Scarcity of Workers for U.K. Recovery

“The acute labor shortage because of self isolation is masking the systemic challenge for businesses struggling to recruit after Brexit.”
Source: bloomberg.com

Clinically contextualised ECG interpretation: the impact of prior clinical exposure and case vignettes on ECG diagnostic

Does teaching ECGs with a clinical vignette improve training? Not greatly ... but having seen a condition previously (and presumably the ECG that went with it) is probably best. The researchers concluded that "ECG training should therefore not rely on experiential learning alone, but instead be supplemented...
Source: biomedcentral.com

Covid-19 news: England sees rise in cases for first time in 5 weeks

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic
Source: newscientist.com

Why Did It Take So Long to Accept the Facts About Covid?

"The importance of airborne transmission in the pandemic was clear long before the World Health Organization finally began to acknowledge it." "If the importance of aerosol transmission had been accepted early, we would have been told from the beginning that it was much safer outdoors, where these small...
Source: nytimes.com

UK should set tougher air pollution limits, says Kissi-Debrah coroner

The UK government should impose tougher limits on air pollution, in line with World Health Organization recommendations, to prevent more deaths like those of 9-year old Ella Kissi-Debrah, a coroner has urged.
Source: newscientist.com

World's wealthiest (and 'business as usual') 'at heart of climate problem'

"These [polluter elite] are people who fly most, drive the biggest cars most and live in the biggest homes which they can easily afford to heat, so they tend not to worry if they’re well insulated or not. … They’re also the sort of people who could really afford good insulation and solar panels...
Source: bbc.com