Reports and Proceedings

Nearly nine out of ten doctors in primary care think a decision on sickness absence is improved if they are in touch with the patient's employer — but only four out of ten are. A University of Gothenburg thesis highlights several challenges for doctors when certifying sickness for patients with common mental disorders.

Up to 90% of patients who undergo open abdominal or pelvic surgery develop postoperative adhesions, or scar tissue. Minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical approaches can reduce the severity of the adhesions, but the scar tissue still forms. Researchers developed an injectable hydrogel that can plug up wounds without sticking to off target tissue, effectively preventing postoperative adhesions.

Unemployment moved downward for people with disabilities after stalling in October, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) COVID Update. For the first time, their unemployment levels dipped below pre-pandemic lows, in contrast with their peers without disabilities, November’s dip in unemployment occurred in the context of rises in the employment-to-population ratio and labor force participation rate. "These are signs that some people with disabilities are returning to the labor market," said nTIDE co-author Andrew Houtenville, PhD. “They are making headway despite the ‘new normal’ of today’s labor market.”

Eight substances have been added to the Report on Carcinogens, bringing the total list to 256 substances that are known, or reasonably anticipated, to cause cancer in humans. This is the 15th Report on Carcinogens, which is a cumulative report, mandated by Congress and prepared by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) for the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A year later, a large majority of Republican voters still refuses to acknowledge President Biden's 2020 victory, which bodes ill for US democracy. The most recent Bright Line Watch survey finds that just 27 percent of Republicans believe Biden is the rightful winner, compared to 94 percent of Democrats.

When Comet Leonard, a mass of space dust, rock and ice about a half-mile (1 kilometer) wide, makes its closest pass of the Sun on Jan. 3, 2022, it will be a journey 40,000 years in the making. Ahead of its close pass, two Sun-observing spacecraft captured these views of the comet. The animated image at right was captured by NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory-A spacecraft, SECCHI/HI-2 telescope, which has watched the comet since early November. This animated “difference image” was created by subtracting the current frame from the previous frame to highlight differences between them. Difference images are useful for seeing subtle changes in Leonard’s ion tail (the trail of ionized gases streaming from the comet’s body, or nucleus), which becomes longer and brighter toward the end of the clip. The video below, captured between Dec. 17-19, 2021 by the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) aboard the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft, shows Comet Leonard streaking diagonally across the field of view with the Milky Way in the background. Venus and Mercury are also visible in the top right, Venus appearing brighter and moving from left to right. During this sequence, Solar Orbiter moves toward a sidelong view of the comet, revealing more of its tail. SoloHI will continue observing the comet until it leaves its field of view on Dec. 22, 2021. Comet Leonard was discovered in January 2021 by Gregory Leonard, who spotted it in images taken from the Mt. Lemmon Observatory in Arizona. Its closest pass on Jan. 3, 2022 will take it within 56 million miles (90 million kilometers) of the Sun, slightly more than half Earth’s distance. If it doesn’t disintegrate, its trajectory will fling it into interstellar space, never to return. Read more about SoloHI's view of Comet Leonard in ESA's story. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Solar_Orbiter/A_Christmas_comet_for_Solar_Orbiter

Despite important advances in the understanding and treatment of oral diseases and conditions, many people in the U.S. still have chronic oral health problems and lack of access to care, according to a report by the National Institutes of Health. The new report, which draws on information from public research and evidence-based practices, is intended to provide a road map on how to improve the nation’s oral health.