An international team of scientists believe they may have found a molecular mechanism behind the extremely rare blood clots linked to adenovirus COVID-19 vaccines. Scientists led by a team from Arizona State University, Cardiff University and others worked with AstraZeneca to investigate vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), also known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a life-threatening condition seen in a very small number of people after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

During pandemic-induced isolation, researchers from the University of Minnesota surveyed older adults with vision loss, with hearing loss, or without either condition, asking the participants about their worries, well-being, and social isolation at six-week intervals. All three groups scored lower on a patient health questionnaire after the pandemic began; however, people with vision or hearing loss faced unique problems in lockdown. Disruptions to mobility systems affected people with low vision, and masks made conversations especially difficult for adults with hearing loss.

With the help of an advanced machine learning technique, researchers from Brown University suggest strategies for improving the performance of epidemiological models used to predict the course of pandemics.

A new strategy to reduce the spread of COVID-19 employs a mobile robot that detects people in crowds who are not observing social-distancing rules, navigates to them, and encourages them to move apart. Adarsh Jagan Sathyamoorthy of the University of Maryland, College Park, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on December 1, 2021.

A new analysis highlights the prevalence of HIV among transgender individuals worldwide, and shows the need for continued prevention efforts for this population. Sarah Stutterheim and colleagues of Maastricht University in the Netherlands present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on December 1, 2021.

Things that are freeze-dried: Astronaut food. Emergency rations. And, just maybe, some future COVID-19 vaccines. In a new study, scientists report that they have successfully freeze-dried a liposome-based liquid vaccine formula that could be developed for potential use in COVID-19 vaccines. A vaccine that employs the freeze-dried liposomes is still a long way off. But if developed successfully, dehydrated doses could be shipped and stored at room temperature, eliminating logistical problems associated with some of the most popular existing vaccines for the disease.

ORNL story tips: For the birds, fresh twist on heat, upcycling plastics and probing for COVID particles

Researchers observed a professional soprano singing with and without six types of masks and found masks effectively block aerosols, forcing the breath to exit at the sides. From there, the aerosols travel upward, rising with the upward flow of body heat from the singer. At low frequencies, masks reduced volume but did not have other effects on the singing. However, masks did reduce the power of higher frequencies, which made the enunciation of words less clear and altered the timbre. Masks had no effect on the pitch.