How do natural disasters shape the behavior and social networks of rhesus macaques? A team of researchers from Penn, the University of Exeter, and elsewhere found that after Hurricane Maria monkeys on the devastated island of Cayo Santiago formed more friendships and became more tolerant of each other, despite fewer resources. A team of researchers led by Penn neuroscientist Michael Platt had been studying a colony of rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, a small Puerto Rican island, for a decade when Hurricane Maria hit. The island had been devastated. A massive effort by the team on the ground allowed the work to get back up and running, putting the researchers in a unique position to study how the monkeys’ behavior may have changed in response to an acute natural disaster. (Image: Lauren Brent)
mass rapid antigen testing in Slovakia
Abstract
Mass antigen testing in Slovakia conducted in October and November 2020 is a source of important data. We perform its statistical analysis and study epidemic geographical patterns. We observe exponentially distributed test positivity and exponential trends in its geographical distribution, and its approximately 10 km spatial characteristic correlation length.
A small correlation between positivity in two consecutive testing rounds appeared on the municipalities level but it significantly increased on the counties level. Recent 7-day PCR tests incidence per capita served as a good proxy for antigen test positivity. Positivity of non-residents was higher than of residents when mass testing was offered only in municipalities with the highest positivity in previous rounds. Reduction in positivity in repeated testing increased with the positivity in the earlier round. Our results contribute to better understanding of pandemic data, an