ITS NOT THE VIEW ITS THE PROPERTY VALUES

Renewable energies: No wind turbine disturbing the scenery

KIT researchers quantify energy system costs for stopping further expansion of wind energy use in beautiful landscapes

KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FÜR TECHNOLOGIE (KIT)

Research News

 

IMAGE: THIS IS WHERE A WIND TURBINE MIGHT BE LOCATED. IN BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES, SUCH AS IN THE ALPINE FOOTHILLS, REJECTION OF WIND POWER OFTEN IS VERY HIGH. (PHOTO: MARKUS BREIG, KIT) view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO: MARKUS BREIG, KIT

Wind energy is of outstanding importance to the energy transition in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, its share in total gross electricity production of about 24% is far higher than those of all other renewable energy sources. "To reach our climate goals, it is important to further expand these capacities and to replace as much coal-based power as possible," says Professor Wolf Fichtner from KIT's Institute for Industrial Production (IIP). "However, there is considerable resistance, especially in beautiful landscapes." A team of researchers from KIT, the University of Aberdeen, and the Technical University of Denmark has now calculated what this means for the costs of the energy transition and for the CO2 balance of municipalities in Germany.

Quantifying Wind Power Rejection

The calculations are based on evaluations of the beauty of German landscapes according to standardized criteria by thousands of respondents. "It was confirmed for Great Britain that rejection of wind energy expansion is much higher in municipalities located in beautiful sceneries than in less beautiful regions," says Max Kleinebrahm, IIP. "When transferring this finding to Germany and replacing the qualitative factor of rejection by a development scenario without wind power, the additional costs expected when using no wind turbines can be projected precisely." As a reference, the researchers used another techno-economically optimized scenario for the transformation of the energy system with the use of local wind power.

The comparison was made for 11,131 municipalities in Germany and projected until 2050. It was found that stopping the expansion of wind energy use in the most beautiful landscapes might increase power generation costs in some municipalities by up to 7 cents per kilowatt hour and CO2 emissions might rise by up to 200 g per kilowatt hour. "Instead of wind energy, it would then be necessary to expand use of other types of renewable energy sources, such as solar energy or bioenergy," says Jann Michael Weinand (IIP), one of the main authors of the study. "Solar energy, however, is associated with higher system integration costs causing most of the surcharge." Only in very few cases can wind energy for local electricity production be replaced completely. In many cases, power imports would be needed, which would result in comparably high CO2 emissions.

Participation for a Solution

The researchers cannot offer a quick solution for the conflict between nature protection and climate-friendly power production with wind turbines. Still, they would like their study to contribute to a reconciliation. "We provide the necessary data so that those responsible on the ground can make knowledge-based decisions," Fichtner says. Further analyses are planned to obtain in-depth understanding of the interrelations between local rejection of wind power, landscape beauty, and impacts on the energy system. (mhe)

CAPTION

This map shows beautiful landscapes in Germany and the costs of a stop of wind power expansion. In the red areas, this stop would be particularly expensive. (Graphics: Jann Michael Weinand et al.)

CREDIT

Graphics: Jann Michael Weinand et al.

Original Publication

Jann Michael Weinand, Russell McKenna, Max Kleinebrahm, Fabian Scheller, and Wolf Fichtner: The Impact of Public Acceptance on Cost Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Decentralized Energy Systems. Patterns, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100301

More about the KIT Energy Center: https://www.energy.kit.edu/

Further Information: https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000134325

Contact for This Press Release

Dr. Martin Heidelberger, Press Officer, phone: +49 721 608-41169, Email: martin.heidelberger@kit.edu

Being "The Research University in the Helmholtz-Association," KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility and information. For this, about 9,600 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 23,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.

Belarus opposition leader calls for increased pressure on government in U.S. visit



The United States committed to pressuring Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to cooperate in an investigation into the arrest of an exiled journalist in meetings with opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskya. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

July 20 (UPI) -- Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskya called for the United States to increase pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko's government during a trip to Washington, D.C.

Tsikhanouskya met with national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday who pledged the Biden administration will continue to push for an investigation into the hijacking of a civilian plane by the Belarusian government to arrest an opposition journalist.

Sullivan expressed U.S. support for "the struggle for democracy and human rights" in Belarus and commitment to hold Lukashenko accountable for his government's actions.

"Mr. Sullivan reiterated the Biden administration's demand that the Lukashenka regime allow a credible international investigation into the events of May 23, immediately release all political prisoners, and enter into a comprehensive genuine political dialogue with the leaders of the democratic opposition and civil society groups that leads to the conduct of free and fair presidential elections under [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] observation," NSC representative Emily Horne said.

Tsikhanouskaya tweeted after the meeting that she was thankful for the United States' "principled position on the crisis in Belarus."

"I called for enhancing civil society aid and supporting the demand of Belarusians for a new free and fair presidential election," she wrote.


Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department froze the U.S. assets of 16 individuals and five entities in response to the Lukashenko regime's "escalating violence and repression" after exiled journalist Roman Protasevich was detained after Lukashenko gave the order for his Ryanair flight, which was en route from Athens to Vilnius, to land at Minsk.

Tsikhanouskya also met with a group of U.S. senators where she tweeted that she "raised the issue of denial of financial support to the regime in Belarus" and concern about the regime's "assault on freedom of religion."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland also met with Tsikhanouskaya on Monday.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said they discussed "the need for the ongoing Lukashenka regime crackdown to end."

"They discussed the ongoing repression, the crackdown by the Lukashenko regime, and the steps that we have said and much of the international community has said that the Lukashenko regime must take," Price said in a press briefing Monday.

A PUPPET THEY PROPPED UP
U.S. blacklists former Honduran president, first lady over 'significant corruption'


Former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa was blacklisted from entering the United States on Tuesday. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License Photo

July 21 (UPI) -- The Biden administration on Tuesday designated former Honduran President Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo Sosa and his wife, former first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla Avila, for their involvement in "significant corruption" while in office, barring them from entry to the United States.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the designations in a statement, also naming for entry bans their son, Fabio Porfirio Lobo; their daughter, Ambar Naydee Lobo Bonilla; and a third child of the Lobos family identified only as a minor.

"These designations reaffirm U.S. commitment to combating the corruption and disregard for the rule of law that hinders progress in Honduras," Blinken said. "The Department will continue to use all available tools to promote accountability for corrupt actors and combat impunity in the region and globally."

The department accused the former president of accepting bribes from Los Cachiros, a narco-trafficking gang, in exchange for political favors, and Rosa Lobo for being engaged in significat corruption through fraud and the misappropriation of public funds for personal gain.

"While their corrupt acts undermined the stability of Hondura's democratic institutions former President Lobo has not yet been convicted and Rosa Lobo has been released from prison awaiting a retrial," Blinken said.


In 2016, the Organization of American States-backed Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras was created to prevent, investigate and punish acts of corruption having by December 2019 prosecuted 112 people, including 80 government officials, the Congressional Research Service said in a document.

Rosa Lobo, who was the first person MACCIH brought to trial, was sentenced to 58 years in prison for misusing nearly $800,000 earmarked for social assistance, but she was released last year.

Lobo Sosa, who was president from 2010 to 2014, was under investigation by MACCIH since May 2019 over allegations of laundering drug money, according to Human Rights Watch.

The MACCIH, however, was allowed to expire in January of last year by President Juan Orlando Hernandez as it was looking into more than 20 additional investigations.

The United States has also been examining the political connections to drugs from Honduras entering the United States and have convicted several people close to both administrations.

In 2017, Justice Department sentenced Fabio Lobo to 24 years in prison after he pleaded guilty the year before to using the power of his father's office to conspire to import cocaine into the United States.


President Hernandez's brother, Tony Hernandez, was convicted in a U.S. court in October 2019 for conspiring to import cocaine with Geovanny Daniel Fuentes Ramirez, a man who was also convicted on similar charges in March.

U.S. Prosecutors accused Ramirez in the complaint of paying President Hernandez tens of thousands of dollars in bribes as part of the drug conspiracy.

The designations on Tuesday came weeks after the State Department named Lobo Sosa and Rosa Lobo among a list of 55 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras accused of corruption and other acts that undermine the rule of law and democracy in the Central America.

 

Hundreds of chemicals, many in consumer products, could increase breast cancer risk

List includes potential carcinogens that act by stimulating production of hormones that fuel breast tumors

SILENT SPRING INSTITUTE

Research News

Every day, people are exposed to a variety of synthetic chemicals through the products they use or the food they eat. For many of these chemicals, the health effects are unknown. Now a new study shows that several hundred common chemicals, including pesticides, ingredients in consumer products, food additives, and drinking water contaminants, could increase the risk of breast cancer by causing cells in breast tissue to produce more of the hormones estrogen or progesterone.

"The connection between estrogen and progesterone and breast cancer is well established," says co-author Ruthann Rudel, a toxicologist and research director at Silent Spring Institute. "So, we should be extremely cautious about chemicals in products that increase levels of these hormones in the body."

For instance, in 2002, when the Women's Health Initiative study found combination hormone replacement therapy to be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, women stopped taking the drugs and incidence rates went down. "Not surprisingly, one of the most common therapies for treating breast cancer is a class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors that lower levels of estrogen in the body, depriving breast cancer cells of the hormones they need to grow," adds Rudel.

To identify these chemical risk factors, Rudel and Silent Spring scientist Bethsaida Cardona combed through data on more than 2000 chemicals generated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s ToxCast program. The goal of ToxCast is to improve the ability of scientists to predict whether a chemical will be harmful or not. The program uses automated chemical screening technologies to expose living cells to chemicals and then examine the different biological changes they cause.

Reporting in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, Rudel and Cardona identified 296 chemicals that were found to increase estradiol (a form of estrogen) or progesterone in cells in the laboratory. Seventy-one chemicals were found to increase levels of both hormones. The chemicals included ingredients in personal care products such as hair dye, chemical flame retardants in building materials and furnishings, and a number of pesticides.

The researchers don't yet know how these chemicals are causing cells to produce more hormones. It could be the chemicals are acting as aromatase activators, for instance, which would lead to higher levels of estrogen, says Cardona. "What we do know is that women are exposed to multiple chemicals from multiple sources on a daily basis, and that these exposures add up."

The Silent Spring researchers hope this study will be a wakeup call for regulators and manufacturers in how they test chemicals for safety. For instance, current safety tests in animals fail to look at changes in hormone levels in the animal's mammary glands in response to a chemical exposure. And, although high throughput testing in cells has been used to identify chemicals that activate the estrogen receptor, mimicking estrogen, the testing has not been used to identify chemicals that increase estrogen or progesterone synthesis.

"This study shows that a number of chemicals currently in use have the ability to manipulate hormones known to adversely affect breast cancer risk," says Dr. Sue Fenton, associate editor for the study and an expert in mammary gland development at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "Especially concerning is the number of chemicals that alter progesterone, the potential bad actor in hormone replacement therapy. Chemicals that elevate progesterone levels in the breast should be minimized."

The researchers outlined a number of recommendations in their study for improving chemical safety testing to help identify potential breast carcinogens before they end up in products, and suggest finding ways to reduce people's exposures, particularly during critical periods of development, such as during puberty or pregnancy when the breast undergoes important changes.

The project is part of Silent Spring Institute's Safer Chemicals Program which is developing new cost-effective ways of screening chemicals for their effects on the breast. Knowledge generated by this effort will help government agencies regulate chemicals more effectively and assist companies in developing safer products.

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Funding for this project was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (award number U01ES026130), the California Breast Cancer Research Program, Cedar Tree Foundation, and charitable gifts to Silent Spring Institute.

Reference: Cardona, B. and R.A. Rudel. 2021. Application of an in vitro assay to identify chemicals that increase estradiol and progesterone synthesis and are potential breast cancer risk factors. Environmental Health Perspectives. DOI: 10.1289/EHP8608

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M DOES NOT PAY

Firms connected to the Mafia have lower profitability and more likely to go bust

New research unveils that firms connected to organized crime have lower return on assets, higher debt, lower cash holdings and are more likely to default

BOCCONI UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: NEW RESEARCH UNVEILS THAT FIRMS CONNECTED TO ORGANIZED CRIME HAVE LOWER RETURN ON ASSETS, HIGHER DEBT, LOWER CASH HOLDINGS AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO DEFAULT. view more 

CREDIT: PAOLO TONATO

New research from Bocconi University in Milan highlights that, contrary to received wisdom, connections to organized crime harm a company's financial performance and increase by 25.5% its likelihood to go bust.

Using a novel dataset from AISI, the Italian Internal Intelligence and Security agency, Bocconi professors Antonio Marra, Donato Masciandaro, and Nicola Pecchiari in a paper co-authored with Pietro Bianchi (Florida International University) published online in The Accounting Review, identify 1,840 criminally connected firms headquartered in Italy's Lombardy region.

Lombardy, the Northern Italian region around Milan, is not one of the regions where organized crime traditionally emerged. However, it accounts for 25% of the Italian GDP and it has recently become a central target of organized crime's economic activities.

The authors identify directors and shareholders undergoing investigations for crimes attributable to criminal organizations (eg. mafia-type associations, false invoices, usury and smuggling) from 2006 - 2013. A firm with a director undergoing investigation is deemed connected from the time of the director's appointment.

With this data, they provide the first large-scale evidence of the effects of mafia connections on company performance and show that contrary to popular belief, such connections drain firm resources. As the authors noted in an interview, "if the unintentional effect of the literature on the Mafia entrepreneurship has been to create a sort of mystique around the concept of the criminal businessmen, our results are definitely against such a mystique."

Notably, they find that while connected firms may report higher sales and have lower labor costs, they exhibit 15.6% lower return on assets than unconnected firms. The authors attribute this surprisingly lower profitability to money laundering, where funds are moved in and out of cash-intensive businesses and among company headquarters in different jurisdictions, to make the funds' criminal origins harder to trace. This can be done through false invoices which inflate costs, thus lowering profitability.

They also find that connected firms have 8.4% higher levels of debt. The firms suspiciously used more bank loans at far lower interest rates despite being less profitable, indicating the presence of fictitious loans. And with 5.9% lower cash holdings, these firms face liquidity constraints due to their resource-draining criminal connections. Being connected also allows firms to sell their inventory faster through coercion, bribery, and converting their sales to cash. Quantitatively this implies a 4.02% shorter operating cycle (ie. firms convert current assets to cash and pay current liabilities faster). Strikingly, being connected increases the firm's probability of default - filing for bankruptcy, insolvency or liquidation - by 25.5%.

The authors validate their findings by using a 2011 amendment to Italy's Anti-Money Laundering regulation, which lowered the limit for cash-based transactions and improved auditing. Limitations on cash transactions and ability to use false invoices made connected firms more similar to their unconnected counterparts in terms of sale revenues and costs of goods sold, thus corroborating their findings on the negative effects of Mafia connections.

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CHECK THOSE THAT MAY APPLY 😄

Study uncovers factors linked to radical attitudes and intentions

WILEY

Research News

A systematic review and meta-analysis published in Campbell Systematic Reviews identified and examined more than 100 risk and protective factors for radical attitudes, intentions, and behaviors (including terrorism) in democratic countries.

The factors can be grouped into five domains:

• socio-demographic and background factors,

• psychological and personality trait factors,

• attitudinal and subjective belief related factors,

• experiential factors, and

• traditional criminogenic factors

While there is great variation, the most significant factors are traditional criminogenic and social-psychological factors.

"Our results suggest that some of the factors most commonly targeted by counter violent extremism interventions, such as social integration, have only small relationships with radicalization. On the other hand, traditional criminogenic factors, such as low self-control, have far more robust relationships," said lead author Michael Wolfowicz, PhD, of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He noted that the findings suggest that interventions commonly used to combat criminological outcomes may also be useful for fighting radicalization.

"Additionally, our results suggest a need to revamp the way that risk assessment tools are constructed, as not all factors included in such tools should be given the same weight," said Dr. Wolfowicz. "We hope that our results will contribute to the development of more evidence-based practice in this field."

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New study shows transcendental meditation reduces emotional stress and improves academics

CENTER FOR WELLNESS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN EDUCATION

Research News

IMAGE: DURING A FOUR-MONTH PERIOD, STUDENTS PRACTICING THE TM TECHNIQUE EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN MEASURES OF EMOTIONAL HEALTH AS COMPARED TO STUDENTS WHO ENGAGED IN SUSTAINED SILENT READING. view more 

CREDIT: CWAE

Students who participated in a meditation-based Quiet Time program utilizing the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique for four months had significant improvements in overall emotional stress symptoms, quality of sleep, and English Language Arts (ELA) academic achievement according to a new randomized controlled trial published last month in Education. The study was conducted by researchers from the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education and Stanford University. This was the first randomized control trial to investigate the effects of TM on standardized academic tests.

"Students have been experiencing increased levels of stress and it's impacting their academic performance," said Laurent Valosek, lead author of the study and Executive Director of the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education. "This research shows the impact of meditation on the mental and physical health of high school students, and shows that meditation plays a vital role in promoting improved academic outcomes, even when compared to more time spent reading."

Student emotional well-being and its impact on academic outcomes

According to the American Psychological Association, teens report stress well above what they believe to be healthy. 31% of teens report feeling overwhelmed and 36% report feeling fatigued as a result of stress. Over a third of teens report that their stress level has increased in the past year, while around half of teens don't feel they are doing enough to manage their stress.

This increased stress is linked to poor academics, as well as a number of other measures including lower attendance, and unhealthy behaviors around sleep, eating, and substance use. Stress also increases negative affect, resulting in strained relationships with classmates and teachers, as well as rule infractions and suspensions.

Transcendental Meditation improves emotional balance and academic performance

A new randomized control study published in Education involved 98 ninth grade students at a West Coast public high school. The study found that during a four-month period, the students practicing the TM technique experienced significant improvements in measures of health and academics as compared to students who engaged in sustained silent reading.

These findings are consistent with past research on TM showing benefits related to emotional health and intelligence. This was the first randomized control trial to investigate the effects of a meditation-based school program on standardized tests.

"As a former high school administrator, I have seen first-hand the effects of stress, anxiety, and fatigue on students' mental and physical well-being. High levels of psychological distress not only lead to lower academic performance, but cause serious consequences for the whole child," said Margaret Peterson, co-author of the study and Executive Director of the California World Language Project at Stanford Graduate School of Education. "In my 30 years as an educator, Transcendental Meditation is the single, most effective tool to help reduce stress and improve performance in students."

Within students who were below proficiency at baseline, 69% of the meditation students improved at least one performance level at posttest compared to 33% of the control students. This is particularly noteworthy because the control group was doing sustained silent reading, suggesting that introducing meditation to the school day may be more effective in improving academic outcomes than additional time spent reading.

CAPTION

During a four-month period, students practicing the TM technique experienced significant improvements in academic outcomes as compared to students who engaged in sustained silent reading.

CREDIT

CWAE

Valosek, L., Nidich, S., Grant, J., Peterson, M., Nidich, R. Effect of Meditation on Psychological Stress and Academic Achievement in High School Students: A Randomized Controlled Study. Education, Volume 141, Number 4, 15 June 2021, pp. 192-200(9).

Available from: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/prin/ed/2021/00000141/00000004/art00005

About the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education

The Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education (CWAE) is a San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profit organization. CWAE's mission is to optimize educational performance, reduce violence, stress, and substance abuse, and improve the psychological wellness of students, faculty, and administrators by strengthening the underlying neurophysiology of perception, learning and behavior. CWAE has served more than 15,000 youth, teachers and administrators in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among the youth served, 98% are students of color and 62% live in low-income homes.

 

Smartphone gaming can be harmful for some seeking relief from boredom

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

Research News

Smartphone gaming can be harmful to players who game to escape their negative mood and feelings of boredom, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo found that bored "escape players"--those who have difficulty engaging with the real environment and sustaining attention--may seek "flow," which is a deep and effortless state of concentration in an activity linked to loss of awareness of time and space.

"We found that people who experience intense boredom frequently in everyday life reported playing smartphone games to escape or alleviate these feelings of boredom," said Chanel Larche, study lead author and a PhD candidate in cognitive neuroscience at Waterloo. "The problem with this boredom 'fix' is that they end up playing whenever they are bored, and end up experiencing problems tied to excessive game play.

"During gameplay, players may achieve optimal arousal, engaged focus and attention and a reduction in feelings of monotony, but this heightened urge-to-play among escape players can have negative consequences and lead to excessive time gaming."

Larche conducted this study with Waterloo's cognitive neuroscience professor Michael Dixon.

Using the popular smartphone game Candy Crush, Larche and Dixon had 60 participants with current level standings in the game between 77 and 3307 play at various difficulty levels from too easy--which meant there was a lack of skill-challenge balance, low flow and low arousal--to balanced, which was more challenging and that caused greater flow, arousal, less boredom and a stronger urge to continue gameplay. This was done to determine whether players would choose to continue playing a game where there was a balance of challenge and skill conducive to flow, rather than an easier game that would generate less flow.

Their results confirmed that individuals who game to escape boredom by using smartphone games such as Candy Crush become more immersed in gameplay than non-escape players. However, when escape players find these games more rewarding as a relief from boredom, they may play more frequently and for longer periods.

"Those who play to escape experience greater flow and positive affect than other players, which sets up a cycle of playing video games to elevate a depressed mood," Dixon said. "This is maladaptive because, although it elevates your mood, it also increases your urge to keep playing. Playing too long may lead to addiction and means less time is available for other healthier pursuits. This can actually increase your depression."

Larche says these findings might encourage game developers to consider implementing responsible video gaming tools directly within their games. For example, having a time-limit option to allow players to specify how long they wish to play could be helpful for players susceptible to problematic escape play.

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Co-authored by Dixon, the study, Winning isn't everything: The impact of optimally challenging smartphone games on flow, game preference and individuals gaming to escape aversive bored states, appears in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

 

How readily does COVID-19 spread on school buses?

WILEY

Research News

Although in-school transmission of COVID-19 among K-12 students is low when safeguards are in place, the risk of acquiring COVID-19 during school bus transportation is unclear. A study published in the Journal of School Health reports on the bus transport experience of an independent school in Virginia.

For the study, the school monitored 1,154 students with asymptomatic PCR testing every 2 weeks initially and later every week from August 28, 2020-March 19, 2021, during highest community transmission. Fifteen buses served 462 students while operating at near capacity of 2 students in every seat, using a physical distancing minimum of 2.5 feet, universal masking, and simple ventilation techniques.

There were 39 infectious COVID-19 cases who were present on buses during the study period, which resulted in the quarantine of 52 students. Universal testing and contact tracing revealed no transmission linked to bus transportation.

"The pandemic has made it very difficult for public schools to meet the transportation needs of students. Many districts simply do not have enough buses and drivers to allow distancing of 3-6 feet or skipping of bus rows while still providing rides to all children," said corresponding author Dana Ramirez, MD, of Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters. "With more students returning to face-to-face instruction, safe transportation to school is an equity issue, as many families are unable to drive their children to school each day. As members of the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics School Re-Opening Task Force, we recognize that schools are under pressure to make data-driven operational decisions. We hope the model we describe and our data can be of assistance in demonstrating that school buses can safely operate at normal capacity even at high community COVID-19 case loads."

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How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected our dreams?

WILEY

Research News

The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted our sleep and dream activity. In a recent study published in the Journal of Sleep Research, people had a higher number of awakenings, a harder time falling asleep, higher dream recall, and more lucid dreams during lockdown than after lockdown.

People also reported more dreams related to "being in crowded places" during post-lockdown than lockdown.

For the study, 90 adults in Italy recorded their dream experiences and completed a sleep-dream diary each morning.

"Our results... confirmed that both sleep and dream measures showed critical differences between lockdown and post-lockdown periods," the authors wrote.

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