Tag: Tsinghua University

Second COVID-19 Wave in Europe Less Lethal Than First Wave

sarah JonasResearch Results

As Europe experienced its enormous second wave of the COVID-19 disease, researchers noticed the mortality rate was much lower than during the first wave. This inspired some to study and quantify the mortality rate on a country-by-country basis to determine how much the rate decreased. In Chaos, they introduce methods to study the progression of COVID-19 cases to deaths during the pandemic’s different waves; their methods involve applied mathematics, specifically nonlinear dynamics, and time series analysis.

COVID-19: Second Wave for Some; Others Remain in First Wave

sarah JonasResearch Results

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, some locations have experienced decreasing numbers of cases followed by an increase. In the journal Chaos, mathematicians report a method to analyze these numbers for evidence of a first or second wave. The authors studied data from all 50 U.S. states plus D.C. for the seven-month period from Jan. 21 to July 31. They found 31 states and D.C. were experiencing a second wave as of the end of July.

Countries Group into Clusters as COVID-19 Outbreak Spreads

sarah JonasResearch Results

Mathematicians based in Australia and China have developed a method to analyze the large amount of data accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The technique, described in the journal Chaos, can identify anomalous countries — those that are more successful than expected at responding to the pandemic and those that are particularly unsuccessful. The investigators analyzed the data with a variation of a statistical technique known as a cluster analysis.

Robotic Gripping Mechanism Mimics How Sea Anemones Catch Prey

sarah JonasResearch Results

Researchers in China demonstrated a robotic gripping mechanism that mimics how a sea anemone catches its prey. The bionic torus captures and releases objects by crimping its skin. The grasper not only is relatively cheap and easy to produce but also can grab a variety of objects of different sizes, shapes, weights and materials. They discuss their work in this week’s Applied Physics Letters.