Does the Delta Variants higher viral load have an effect on the accuracy of quick swab antigen testing? | AskScience Blog

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Thursday, August 12, 2021

Does the Delta Variants higher viral load have an effect on the accuracy of quick swab antigen testing?

Does the Delta Variants higher viral load have an effect on the accuracy of quick swab antigen testing?


Does the Delta Variants higher viral load have an effect on the accuracy of quick swab antigen testing?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 05:09 PM PDT

AskScience AMA Series: I am Dr. Claire McLintock, a clinical and laboratory hematologist specializing in obstetric medicine. I currently serve as Vice Chair of World Thrombosis Day and and I am passionate about all areas of women's health, from pregnancy to hormone replacement therapy. AMA!

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 04:00 AM PDT

I am Claire McLintock, M.D., a clinical and laboratory hematologist based in Auckland, New Zealand. I work at National Women's Health, Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand and my clinical and research areas of interest are thrombotic and hemostatic disorders in women. I formerly served as President of the ISTH and led a working group of the ISTH that is developing an international core curriculum in clinical thrombosis and hemostasis. I am also a Founding Member and Vice Chair of the World Thrombosis Day Steering Committee. Join me on Twitter @DoctorMcLintock. I'll be on at 3:00 p.m. EDT (19 UT), AMA!

Username: /u/WorldThrombosisDay

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What is gravitational potential always negative except when it is 0 at infinity?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 08:18 AM PDT

So I understand that gravitational potential at infinity is 0 because the intensity of a gravitational field is 0 at infinity. What I do not understand is why does the gravitational potential not increase when an object approaches the source mass. The gravitational potential energy increases but the gravitational potential decreases. So, I think what my question really is about how gravitational potential is defined. ( i know the book definition,But I don't understand how ....it works exactly)

Edit:

so as far as I understand now, it is that using 0 potential for infinite distance from the source mass is just a matter of convention as gravitational potential at any point is in reference to the gravitational potential at another point( its comparative) and hence it can be negative. If I am still not right, please help me improve my understanding

Edit 2:

I think I have understood this concept as well as I could hope to. I'm just going to write what I understood and people can point out any mistakes I made, if they want to.

(GPE=Gravitational Potential Energy , r=distance from earth)

If we lift an object from the earth, it's GPE increases in magnitude compared to when the object was touching the ground. If we continue to lift it, it's GPE continues to increase until r=infinity. At r=infinity, the influence of the gravitational field of the earth can no longer be felt. Therefore, When r=infinity, GPE is theoretically at its maximum. This maximum can be denoted by a positive infinity but it is better to denote this maximum with a solid value like 0. Therefore, at all distances less than infinity, GPE is less than 0 or negative.

I think this is as good as my understanding of this concept will be at the level I am currently studying(I am a highschool senior). Thankyou r/askscience for helping me.🤗

submitted by /u/The-eff
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Do rockets have to account for the gravitational pull of the Sun?

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 05:12 AM PDT

Is there a temperature where nuclei themselves decompose?

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 06:33 AM PDT

All chemical compounds have a temperature where they eventually break down their chemical bonds and separate into their constituent atoms or ions. Is there some absurdly high temperature where nuclei decompose into their constituent protons and neutrons? Beyond that, is there a temperature where those themselves decompose into their constituent quarks?

submitted by /u/Alephbetae
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How does waste water testing identify specific viruses based on protein fragments, especially after hours or days of degradation?

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 03:20 AM PDT

I'm having a very hard time establishing exactly what technology is used for waste water testing for viral fragments, most fact sheets just say things like

The samples are analysed for viral fragments

Which while perfectly fine as a public service announcement, leaves me craving a jucier explanation.

What tests are actually performed and how accurate are they? Is the same technology used elsewhere or for other reasons? (eg: could it detect proteins that could, for example, indicate areas with relatively good or poor nutrition?)

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How much of the population is affected by herpes?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 02:27 PM PDT

(Disclaimer: I don't know if this is the write subreddit for this question, but it felt the most appropriate. If there is somewhere else I can post this feel free to let me know.)

So my question is quite clear, but I have had trouble finding a definite answer. I was doing a bit of digging into the subject of STI's and how they are able to be transmitted and the likelihood of someone having it. Most of them were clear cut except herpes. Herpes, regardless of where I looked, had a different statistic. WHO (world health organizations) states that in one article about 14% of the world has herpes, yet in another says that 7 billion people have herpes. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and prevention) states that only half the world has herpes.

I would like to know if these statistics are true or not as it seems weird to me that if any of them are true that no one would see this as a pandemic. ( I am also lumping all forms of herpes together, seeing as if it truly is this bad we should look at it like we view cancer.)

submitted by /u/Smerf_Jr
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What was the region of the brain that allows us to read used for in cultures without a written language?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 03:54 PM PDT

And for that matter, how do we already have an entire brain region dedicated to the use of a specific tool that's still a recent innovation, evolutionarily speaking?

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In evolutionary theory, how do we distinguish adaptation within a species from evolving/diverting into new species?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 04:09 PM PDT

Let me make this clear: I'm not a creationist in a way, shape or form, and actually a huge fan of Darwin's and Dawkin's work. I am just interested in the subject but came across this discussion on one of Veratasium's latest video, The Longest-Running Evolution Experiment, which I found very interesting.

The experiment is presented as evolution, but to my layman eyes it just appears to be adaptation within the species of the bacteria. Now I know evolution is a slow process, (and I'm by no means condemning anything said in the video!!) but I would love some explanation that distinguishes these ideas. Is the only difference the timeframe at which the mutations take place?

When looking up other videos on evolution, Minute Earth for example, you often come across the example of the polar bear: where a black or brown species of bear migrated to colder climates, where mutated offspring with lighter or white fur had a better chance of survival (survival of the fittest). But this also seems like adaptation within a species

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With popular meteor showers diminishing in intensity: Are new sources created - and how often?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 01:08 PM PDT

Is it possible for sighted people to learn to read Braille visually, not by touch? Like visually reading the symbols?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 05:57 PM PDT

I've been curious about this and can't really find anything online about it. Has it actually been done? I would assume there's no practical application for it but, I don't think it would be too difficult to learn.

submitted by /u/Bigtank35
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Is the recent decline in UK COVID deaths due to a lowered population of vulnerable people?

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 05:48 AM PDT

I have heard arguments that the drop in daily deaths compared to the surging daily cases in the UK could be caused by a decreasing population of older and more vulnerable people due to previous surges in Covid deaths. That basically there are now fewer vulnerable people.

Is there any truth to this and what does the data suggest?

submitted by /u/ocean_93
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Can the COVID virus affect animals?

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 04:25 AM PDT

I've seen some news about animals getting COVID around the beginning of the pandemic: a tiger in a zoo, a pug giving it to his family, etc. I've also read articles where it says COVID originated from bats.

Given that, I wish to know if animals can get Covid. Especially since I have two wonderful cats who like to go outside, one on walks.

submitted by /u/EpicWinterWolf
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Why do numbers have special properties instead of just repeating the same properties after a certain point?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 11:00 AM PDT

Non mathematician here trying to formulate a very abstract mathematical question.

While whatching the Veritasium video on 3x+1 problem I started wondering: why would some seemingly arbitrary number have a different property than the billions of numbers before it. In the 3x+1 case it would be that a single number doesn't converge to zero.

To a lay person it seems like a large number is essentially just made up of many smaller numbers and has thus the same (non unique) properties as it's parts. Since we use a 10 digit system it would seem as though the same properties of numbers would have to repeat after a while (much like how an odd number follows an even number again and again ad infinitum) but this doesn't seem to be the case. After all if this was the case why would mathematicians be trying to find very large numbers that contradict for example the 3x+1 problem, twin primes conjecture or Goldbach's conjecture.

Is there a reason or a theory as to why numbers have unique as opposed to repeating properties?

submitted by /u/oldwesternsandfolk
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When someone suffers from Acute Radiation Sickness they go through a "latent" stage where they feel well and healthy, despite potentiay lethal physiological damage. How is this?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 05:03 PM PDT

How effective are masks against the Delta variant specifically?

Posted: 12 Aug 2021 12:10 AM PDT

Due to Delta's higher viral load, are masks not as effective as they were with other previous variants? Is there any data out yet about this?

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How are pseudoviruses manufactured, and how did we discover that technique?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 02:35 PM PDT

Apologies if that looks like clickbaity title, this is a valid scientific term! Pseudovirus neutralizing antibody levels are apparently a thing, as I found out Here. When did we discover that viruses can engulf other viruses and borrow their coatings? How have we harnessed that process to our advantage for such vaccine antibody efficacy tests?

submitted by /u/nickoskal024
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Why is it some people even after recovering from covid-19 have symptoms like fever even after a week or so?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 04:54 PM PDT

Why do we presribe prednisone instead of prednisolone?

Posted: 11 Aug 2021 03:43 AM PDT

Why does prednisone exist? Why would you prescribe it?

Prednisone is converted by your body to prednisolone (active form). This conversion is so efficient that a 25mg tablet of prednisone is equivalent to 25mg prednisolone in a healthy individual.

In people with hepatic insuffiency, the conversion is less effiecent and prednisolone is a preferred drug.

Why do we still bother with prednisone? Are their any benefits for prescribing prednisone?

submitted by /u/Smug--Life
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