Research Library

Social distancing and stay-at-home measures provided scientists with a natural experiment to study social phenomena that hinge precisely on human mobility and contact — including criminal activity. A study by Center for the U.S. and Mexico experts and co-authors explores the relationship between COVID-19 and criminal activity in Mexico.

It now seems technically feasible to culture human embryos beyond the “fourteen‐day limit,” which has the potential to increase scientific understanding of human development and perhaps improve infertility treatments. Robust stakeholder engagement preceded adoption of the fourteen‐day limit and should arguably be part of efforts to reassess it, write the authors.

The authors' combined statistical and economic models on specific aspects and properties of biochar will be useful for future field experiment proposals, farmers purchasing biochar, and decision-makers working to incentivize agricultural advances. In GCB-Bioenergy, October 8, 2020, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcbb.12765

The authors examine the role that government policy can play in accelerating production and use of biochar at commercial scale, such as providing commercial financial incentives, nonfinancial policy support and research and development funding. The article also includes broad recommendations for the development of policy that maximizes the net benefits of biochar adoption.

The connection between Texas H.B. 810, which allows clinics to provide investigational stem cell treatments to certain patients, and a deregulation movement to increase patient access to unproven stem cell treatments is described in this report.

Private cord blood banking is more widespread than public banking in Jordan, contributing to misinformation and unequal access to resources. The authors conducted surveys with women in Jordan to examine perspectives toward cord banking in the country in order to inform policymaking, ethics and education about the practice.

Regional air quality and health cost models are used to assess how reductions in soil nitric oxide (NO) emissions from the use of biochar could influence U.S. air quality and health costs.

This study affirms that employing strategies to maintain soil organic carbon stock early within a biofuel program supports climate change mitigation. Such strategies can guide farmers to best manage soil carbon within the biofuel production life cycle.

In addition to their therapeutic potential, cord blood banks raise ethical and regulatory questions, especially in emerging markets in the Arab world. In this article, the authors review cord blood banking in five countries in the region (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) that were selected for their different CB banking policies and initiatives.