While black carbon has a large effect on snow darkening and resultant melting of snow, dust particles transported from as far as Saudi Arabia that gets deposited in the Western Himalayan Region has a large role to play in melting of snow, particularly at higher elevations.
journals
Scientists alert Lancet to ‘data inconsistencies’ in the Russian vaccine trial paper
A group of 16 scientists has written an open letter to Dr Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet and authors of the Russia's Sputnik V novel coronavirus vaccine trial paper, raising questions about the integrity of the data published in The Lancet on September 4. Just four days after the results of the Phase-1/2 trials … Continue reading Scientists alert Lancet to ‘data inconsistencies’ in the Russian vaccine trial paper
Remdesivir trial results: NEJM, NIAID and Gilead provide conflicting information
Information shared by the three stakeholders — NEJM, NIAID and Gilead — on critical issues about whether the drug's ability to reduce mortality is statistically significant and which category of patients benefit and who don't stand to gain is both confusing and conflicting. The results of the much awaited randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled trial using remdesivir … Continue reading Remdesivir trial results: NEJM, NIAID and Gilead provide conflicting information
Wait for trial results before using BCG vaccine for COVID-19, Tedros writes
Tedros and others caution that using BCG vaccine on health-care workers for COVID-19 should be only after safety and efficacy are tested through randomised controlled trials. BCG vaccine, which ramps up the immune system, can exacerbate COVID-19 in a small population of patients with severe disease, they warn. In a letter published in The Lancet … Continue reading Wait for trial results before using BCG vaccine for COVID-19, Tedros writes
Coronavirus testing in India needs to be expanded exponentially, strategically, Lancet says
While acknowledging that India was “quick to close its international borders and enforce an immediate lockdown”, the editorial published in The Lancet today (April 25) says that the lockdown is already having the “desired effect of flattening the epidemic curve”. It is also critical of the low testing rates, the hasty manner in which shutdown … Continue reading Coronavirus testing in India needs to be expanded exponentially, strategically, Lancet says
Lancet retracts letter on plight of nurses treating COVID-19 patients
The Lancet Global Health retracts a letter about the plight of nurses treating COVID-19 patients in Wuhan published on February 26. Can editors of peer-reviewed journals take a moral high-ground and make disparaging comments about preprints? On February 26, The Lancet Global Health retracted a letter by two nurses from Guangzhou province just two days … Continue reading Lancet retracts letter on plight of nurses treating COVID-19 patients
NEJM study claiming novel coronavirus can be transmitted during incubation period flawed
Contrary to claims made in NEJM, the Chinese woman did not transmit the novel coronavirus to the German during the incubation period. She had symptoms during her stay in Germany but was tested for the virus only on her return to China. A Correspondence published on January 30 in the medical journal The New England Journal of … Continue reading NEJM study claiming novel coronavirus can be transmitted during incubation period flawed
NEJM retracts Chandigarh doctors’ image for plagiarism, case concoction
Indian doctors at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh have their 'Image in Clinical Medicine' photo published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) retracted. It is not only a case of image plagiarism, but concoction of a medical case they never came across. If by now researchers in India have become aware … Continue reading NEJM retracts Chandigarh doctors’ image for plagiarism, case concoction
Kashmir editorial: Hey IMA, Lancet has commented on other countries too
How could the Indian Medical Association with over 500,000 doctors, which is supposed to be reading the journal regularly, be blissfully unaware of what The Lancet has always stood for. It is not an act of commission by the journal, as the IMA calls it, but what The Lancet considers as its beholden duty to speak up … Continue reading Kashmir editorial: Hey IMA, Lancet has commented on other countries too
In letter in BMJ, doctors urge government to allow patients in Kashmir to access health care
The prevailing situation in Jammu & Kashmir is preventing people from accessing health care, say 18 doctors in a letter published in BMJ. The letter urges the government to “ease restrictions on communication and travel at the earliest... to allow patients to access health care without hindrance”. In a letter published on August 16 in … Continue reading In letter in BMJ, doctors urge government to allow patients in Kashmir to access health care
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