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On the eve of summer holidays, a study conducted by researchers of the KU Leuven and ULB and published in the journal Nature, assesses how newly introduced viral lineages contributed to COVID-19 resurgence after last summer in Europe. The researchers show that in the majority of European countries under investigation, more than half of the lineages circulating at the end of summer 2020 resulted from new introductions since June 15.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, medical experts have stressed the importance of having a plan in the event of a positive test result. A new study by University of Houston psychologists reveals 96% of healthy, educated adults did not have a comprehensive plan in mind.

In a 34-year global analysis, researchers found that photosynthesis -- an important process for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in soil -- was controlled by extreme wet events nearly as often as droughts in certain locations.

Unagi kabayaki -- grilled freshwater eel in soy sauce -- can be found in many Japanese restaurants, Asian shops and supermarkets. But new research tracing the DNA of eel fillets used for this dish has found that fraudulent food labelling is rife, with a third of the products violating EU regulations on the provision of food information. With certain species of eels now endangered, the researchers say that accurate labelling on these products is vital if the global eel trade is to be sustainable.

A new Finnish study shows that 180 health care workers who had received two doses of the Pfizer and Biontech vaccine have very good antibody responses against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The immune response was as strong against the alpha variant (formerly the UK variant) but was somewhat decreased against the beta variant (formerly the South Africa variant).

Increasing our understanding of cellular processes requires information about the types of biomolecules involved, their locations, and their interactions. This requires the molecules to be labeled without affecting physiological processes (bioorthogonality). This works when the markers are very quickly and selectively coupled using small molecules and 'click chemistry.' In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a team of researchers has now introduced a novel type of click reaction that is also suitable for living cells and organisms.

A McGill-led study has shown that the size of the Maya population in the lowland city of Itzan (in present-day Guatemala) varied over time in response to climate change. The findings, published recently in Quaternary Science Reviews, show that both droughts and very wet periods led to important population declines.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have upgraded their laser frequency-comb instrument to simultaneously measure three airborne greenhouse gases -- nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and water vapor -- plus the major air pollutants ozone and carbon monoxide.

Significantly higher rates of child intensive care admissions for unintentional cannabis poisonings have been seen following legalization of the drug in Canada.

Using high-performance computation systems, a Universitat Rovira i Virgili research team (Tarragona-Spain) has simulated the flow of air produced by coughing and sneezing in unprecedented detail. The results give greater insight into the characteristics of the flow produced by breathing and the capacity of infectious aerosols to disperse in the environment and remain suspended, which spreads COVID-19 and other airborne diseases.

Predicting the potential effects of coral loss on fish communities globally is a fundamental task, especially considering that reef fishes provide protein to millions of people. A new study led by the University of Helsinki predicts how fish diversity will respond to declines in coral diversity and shows that future coral loss might cause a more than 40% reduction in reef fish diversity globally.

Malaria still kills millions. Researchers are excited by a new intervention: giving people a drug which kills mosquitoes that bite them. Incredibly, this is a reality, as the drug ivermectin, widely used for the control of parasite infections such as lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis, appears to do this. With some mosquitoes now resistant to the insecticides used in treated bed nets, this is a potentially important new control measure.

This review highlights the genesis of ROS within cells by various routes and their role in cancer therapies.

Domestic burning of wood and dung fuels in Neolithic homes would have exceeded modern internationally agreed standards for indoor air quality, exposing inhabitants to unsafe levels of particulates, research led by Newcastle University, UK, has shown.

Politicians use emotional resources in their speeches in parliament depending on the type of debate and use emotive rhetoric strategically and selectively, mainly to attract voters. This is one of the main conclusions of a study published in the journal American Political Science Review (APSR) involving Toni Rodon, a professor with the UPF Department of Political, together with Moritz Osnabrügge (Durham University) and Sara B. Hobolt (London School of Economics and Political Science).

One of the many challenges for grape growers posed by climate change is the accelerated rate at which grapes ripen in warmer climates, which can result in poor colour and aroma development.

Japanese and Zambian scientists have shown that environmental lead poisoning in children affects not only their own health and wellbeing, but the vitality and mental health of their mothers, as well.

Researchers from The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science and Fudan University experimentally confirmed three previously unknown phase transition phenomena in soft colloidal crystals. Knowledge of such phenomena will be useful for imparting new properties to materials without altering their chemical composition.

The new technology, enabling the storage of information in the thinnest unit known to science, is expected to improve future electronic devices in terms of density, speed, and efficiency.The allowed quantum-mechanical electron tunneling through the atomically thin film may boost the information reading process much beyond current technologies.The technology involves laterally sliding one-atom-thick layers of boron and nitrogen one over the other -- a new way to switch electric polarization on/off.

A study analyzing the association between a wide variety of prenatal and childhood exposures and neuropsychological development in school-age children has found that organic food intake is associated with better scores on tests of fluid intelligence (ability to solve novel reasoning problems) and working memory (ability of the brain to retain new information while it is needed in the short term).