The coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K. does not appear to cause more severe illness or death, or to increase the risk of “long COVID,” compared with other strains, according to two new studies.

The findings contradict some early research from U.K. health officials that suggested the variant was more deadly.

However, the studies still found that the variant, called B.1.1.7 , is more transmissible than the original strain, which agrees with previous research.

“Reassuringly, our findings suggest that, despite being more easily spread, the variant does not alter the type or duration of symptoms experienced, and we believe current vaccines and public health measures are likely to remain effective against it,” Mark Graham, a research fellow at King’s College London and co-lead author of one of the studies, said in a statement.

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B.1.1.7 first emerged in the U.K. in September 2020 and has since spread around the world. (It is now the dominant variant in the United States, according to The New York Times .) Many studies found that the variant was more transmissible; and in January, U.K. officials said there was some early evidence that the variant was also more deadly, Live Science previously reported . However, at that time, officials stressed that their data was limited and still uncertain.

In Graham’s new study, published Monday (April 12) in journal The Lancet Public Health , he and colleagues analyzed information from nearly 37,000 people in the U.K. who tested positive for COVID-19 between September and December 2020 and reported symptoms via a mobile app called the COVID Symptom Study app. Then, the researchers combined this information with genetic sequencing data from the COVID-19 UK Genetics Consortium and Public Health England, which showed how many COVID-19 cases in a given area were due to B.1.1.7 or other strains.

The researchers found there was no link between the proportion of B.1.1.7 cases in a region and the symptoms people experienced, even in places that saw the greatest increase in B.1.1.7 cases during the study period, such as London and South East England. There was also no link between the proportion of infections with B.1.1.7 in an area and the proportion of people who experienced long COVID , which the study defined as symptoms that persisted for more than 28 days.

But the study researchers found that B.1.1.7 increased the basic reproduction number, or the average number of people who catch the virus from a single infected person, by 1.35 times, compared with that of the original strain, which is similar to previous estimates.

In the second study, published Monday in journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases , researchers analyzed information from 341 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to University College London Hospital and North Middlesex University Hospital in the U.K., between November and December 2020. Of these patients, 58% were infected with the B.1.1.7 variant and 42% were infected with another strain.

There was no link between the strain and disease severity — in the B.1.1.7 group, about 20% of all patients became severely ill and 16% of all patients died; and in the non-B.1.1.7 group, 20% of all patients became severely ill and 17% of all patients died.

The findings held after the researchers took into account factors that could affect disease severity, including age, sex and underlying health conditions. The study researchers did find that patients with B.1.1.7 tended to have higher viral loads, or levels of virus in their nose and throats, compared with people infected with other strains, which could play a role in the greater transmissibility of B.1.1.7.

“[The authors’] observation that B.1.1.7 infections were associated with increased viral loads corroborates findings from two other studies and provides a mechanistic hypothesis that increased transmissibility is via increased respiratory shedding,” Dr. Sean Wei Xiang Ong, of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore, and colleagues, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Both of the studies have limitations. Although The Lancet Public Health study was large, it is based on people’s self-reported symptoms and the researchers could not determine which users were definitely infected with B.1.1.7. For the Lancet Infectious Diseases study, the researchers were able to look at detailed information such as which strain patients were infected with, but the study was relatively small and “requires further confirmation in larger studies,” Ong and colleagues wrote. In addition, because the study only included hospitalized patients, it cannot determine whether people with B.1.1.7 are more likely to be hospitalized compared with other strains.

Originally published on Live Science.

Oracle on Monday announced a new platform to help HR teams deliver personalized digital experiences for employees. The platform, called Journeys, is part of the Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) suite.

Journeys provides a platform on which HR managers can create “journeys” or choose from  pre-built templates. It provides a space from which employees can start AI-recommended journeys or those assigned by an HR manager.

Oracle is one of many SaaS vendors aiming to help organizations improve their employees’ digital experiences amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As workplaces embrace hybrid work arrangements and new safety protocols, HR functions need to change as well.

Last year, for instance, Workday introduced Workday Help, Workday Journeys and Workday People Analytics. Salesforce, meanwhile, launched Work.com products for post-coronavirus planning. Oracle itself has already updated its SaaS tools with improvements geared towards post-pandemic work.

“As offices reopen, providing consistent and positive experiences across physical and virtual environments will be critical – but it doesn’t stop there,” Chris Leone, SVP of development for Oracle Cloud HCM, said in a statement. “Organizations need to provide guidance throughout the entire work life cycle from career development, to finding a mentor, returning to the workplace and eventually traveling safely. Oracle Journeys will help HR teams provide value beyond traditional HR processes to uniquely tailor the experiences for their workforce.”

Employees access journeys via the Journeys LaunchPad. The platform will automatically recommend journeys based on previous actions, events or career progressions. For example, newly-promoted employee may see a New Manager Journey, or those planning to return to the office see a Return to Work Safely Journey.

The Journeys Creator lets HR teams create, modify and assign journeys. The pre-built journeys include Onboarding, Return to the Workplace, Parental Leave, Relocation, Illness or Injury, and Return from Leave. They can be tailored to meet an organization’s needs.

Meanwhile, the Journeys Booster helps integrate other business functions into journeys, such as finance or facilities management functions that may be managed by third-party or external applications.

It was a machine that not only went on to win races itself, but it defined the sport as we know it now and featured technology that has also helped save countless lives over the decades.

The car being talked about is the McLaren MP4/1, the first to employ a full carbon composite monocoque, which made its race debut on April 12 1981 in the Argentine GP.

Carbon fibre cars are now ubiquitous and it’s hard to imagine a world in which they did not exist. However, what is perhaps most incredible is that many doubted it was a material suited to racing cars when it first appeared.

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• The fascinating story behind McLaren’s most iconic F1 car

That’s primarily due to the fact that some teams had already dabbled with carbon fibre, but it was generally in non-structural areas and was used solely as a method of saving weight.

Many didn’t know how to use it correctly, treating the process in a similar manner to how they did with fibreglass construction.

John Watson, McLaren Ford, with team boss Ron Dennis and chief designer John Barnard

Photo by: Motorsport Images

But it was McLaren technical director John Barnard who changed history.

Barnard began work on a skunkworks project for Ron Dennis’ Project 4 team late in 1979, with the carbon fibre monocoque the centrepiece around which the entire car’s design revolved.

He knew that to get an advantage over rivals he needed to design a car that had a very narrow monocoque, enabling the car to have wider Venturi tunnels than anyone else, maximizing the ground effect available.

The stumbling block was materials, with aluminium, the go-to material of the time, far too flexible for the monocoque dimensions he had in mind. Steel would give a comparatively better torsional stiffness but would add far too much weight.

Carbon fibre was his answer but, with no-one using the material in motorsport the way he envisaged, he needed to look for outside expertise.

He met with British Aerospace engineering but, whilst initially enthused by the project, it indicated it didn’t have the resources to help.

But having given him impetus to believe in the project, British Aerospace also kindled a relationship between Barnard and Arthur Webb, one of its aeronautical engineers and someone who had huge experience within the carbon fibre field.

The pair worked tirelessly on the drawings for the carbon monocoque, which would consist of an aluminium honeycomb sandwiched between layers of unidirectional carbon fibre.

This meticulous planning would not only improve torsional rigidity and reduce weight, it would allow for that light bulb moment – placing inserts within the structure that allowed for the various components, such as the engine, to be mounted to it, without compromising its integrity.

Once they had designed the structure, they needed someone to manufacture it as Project 4 neither had the facilities nor funds to do so. Ron Dennis enquired with various specialists in the UK but came up short.

Herculean effort

Enter Steve Nichols, an American who had worked with Barnard during his previous tenure at McLaren and would later join him again…

The pair got to talking over a beer about Barnard’s latest quandary, not wanting Nichols to know the whole truth he just told him of his plans to build a lighter, stiffer, narrower chassis.

Nichols had worked with carbon fibre before, so it did not take him long to divine Barnard’s intentions. He suggested that he should contact Hercules Aerospace, the American company for which he had worked.

Hercules Aerospace was quick to see the commercial benefits of working with McLaren and so it took little to convince the firm it should be involved.

It would help accurately lay up the carbon fibre over the aluminium honeycomb using the male mould that Project 4 had provided, and place the monocoque in its autoclave. This would then be shipped back to the UK for the team to construct.

This period of innovation was all happening during a particularly difficult time for Project 4, with the financial burden of its F1 project weighing heavy on Dennis and his team.

Dennis had previously been rebuffed by Marlboro, as he looked to spark sponsorship interest in his entry to the premier single-seater category. But, the winds of change were blowing and Marlboro’s commitment to McLaren was on shaky ground.

A merger seemed the most obvious solution for Marlboro as it wanted to help turn the tide for the sleeping giant, with Dennis, Barnard and the carbon fibre concept being ushered in to help McLaren return to winning ways.

Carbon Copies

McLaren MP4/1 male mould

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

The MP4’s entire monocoque comprised the shell, three bulkheads and the reinforcing structure – just five parts. By comparison, an aluminium chassis of the time would have consisted of at least 50 components.

Not everyone was convinced of this new ‘magical’ concept though, as some of the other teams questioned the practicality of using carbon fibre so extensively in the car’s construction.

But when John Watson won the British Grand Prix later that year, rival teams began to realise that the concept was something they too needed to follow.

The turning point in convincing the world that McLaren had made the right decision regarding its carbon fibre monocoque was the 1981 Italian GP.

John Watson’s massive shunt in his MP4 literally tore the rear end of the car off and would have likely been considerably worse had he been aboard a car with an aluminium tub.

McLaren MP4/1 Ford Cosworth

Photo by: Motorsport Images

This was to be a watershed moment and made the rest of the grid sit up and take note. No longer could they scoff at McLaren’s use of this material.

As with everything in F1, the move was swift, as sticking with previous construction methods would only lead to them bleeding lap time compared to their rivals.

Barnard was a pioneer, introducing not just F1 but motorsport in general to a material that was stronger, lighter and safer than those that had gone before it.

The sport would never be the same again. Barnard not only raised the bar, he changed the game.