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News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
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Yale: Terror Under Lockdown - Pandemic Restrictions Reduce ISIS Violence
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, Jan. 31 (TNSjou) -- Yale University issued the following news:
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A Yale study shows that public health measures in Syria, Iraq, and Egypt to slow the spread of COVID-19 reduced attacks by the terror group ISIS.
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Lockdown measures aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 had the unintended benefit of curtailing violence by the insurgent group ISIS, according to a new study led by Yale political scientist Dawn Brancati.
The study, published on Jan. 30 in the journal American Political Science Review, found that government-imposed curfews and travel bans instituted
... Show Full Article
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, Jan. 31 (TNSjou) -- Yale University issued the following news:
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A Yale study shows that public health measures in Syria, Iraq, and Egypt to slow the spread of COVID-19 reduced attacks by the terror group ISIS.
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Lockdown measures aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 had the unintended benefit of curtailing violence by the insurgent group ISIS, according to a new study led by Yale political scientist Dawn Brancati.
The study, published on Jan. 30 in the journal American Political Science Review, found that government-imposed curfews and travel bans institutedto protect public health in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt were significantly associated with a reduction in ISIS attacks, especially in urban areas and locations outside the militant organization's base of operations.
"Although ISIS leaders vowed to ramp up attacks during the pandemic, our analysis found that pandemic lockdown measures likely reduced the group's attacks by depleting its financial resources, reducing high-value civilian targets, and making it logistically more difficult for ISIS to conduct attacks by reducing its cover," said Brancati, a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. "Our findings provide important insights into the effects of public health measures on violence by non-state actors like ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram, as well as the general effectiveness of curfews and travel restrictions as counterinsurgency tools."
In examining the effects of the lockdown measures on violence by non-state actors, Brancati - along with coauthors Johanna Birnir of the University of Maryland-College Park and Qutaiba Idlbi of the Atlantic Council - focused on ISIS due to the group's explicit pledge to accelerate violence during the pandemic and because its large financial reserves, rural base, and preference for targeting government installations over civilians make it less vulnerable to the effects of curfews and travel restrictions.
The researchers analyzed data on more than 1,500 ISIS-initiated violent events in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt - the countries where the group launches most of its attacks - compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project covering a 78-week period between Dec. 31, 2018, and June 28, 2020. In March 2020, pandemic-related curfews and travel bans were imposed in all three countries and were in place for three to four months. The researchers also mapped the number and location of ISIS attacks within and across Iraq's governorates using geographic information system (GIS).
The public health measures significantly reduced violence, especially in cities and areas outside of the militant group's rural bases, the study showed. For example, the number of violent events was about 30% lower in Iraq and 15% lower in Syria when COVID-19 related curfews were in place in these countries.
The researchers found that the higher a governorate's population, the more effective curfews were in reducing violence. For example, the number of ISIS-initiated violent events in the governorate of Baghdad, which has a population of 8.1 million, was 11% lower when the curfews were in place. There was no change in the Iraqi governorate of Najaf (a center of Muslim pilgrimage, surpassed by only Mecca and Medina), which has a population of 1.5 million people.
Based on interviews with government officials, military leaders, policy experts, and residents of places covered in the study, the researchers concluded that the curfews and travel restrictions reduced the number of high-value civilian targets and made it more difficult for ISIS militants to move about without being noticed. While there is evidence that the public health measures also strained the group's financial resources - for instance, by limiting its ability to collect money from locals or operate its commercial businesses - the group's financial reserves, which amount to hundreds of millions of dollars by most estimates, likely allowed it to keep funding its cells, the researchers concluded.
Given that pandemic lockdown measures seem to have hindered ISIS's ability to initiate violence, they likely have similar or greater effects on other violent non-state organizations, the researchers said.
"Most non-state actors lack ISIS's financial resources, tend to target civilians more heavily, and operate in urban areas, which suggests they would be more vulnerable to the effects of lockdown measures than ISIS is," Brancati said. "This does not suggest that lockdown measures are a magic bullet in fighting insurgencies since they have harsh side effects on society, especially in developing countries where militant groups operate."
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Journal: American Political Science Review https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/locking-down-violence-the-covid19-pandemics-impact-on-nonstate-actor-violence/19073EF1BC0873E1D614A34F6BD1365C
Original text here: https://news.yale.edu/2023/01/30/terror-under-lockdown-pandemic-restrictions-reduce-isis-violence
Westminster College: Environmental Science Major Explores Bat Populations
NEW WILMINGTON, Pennsylvania, Jan. 31 (TNSres) -- Westminster College issued the following news:
With the help of a grant from the Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research, a Westminster College senior environmental science major was able to carry out her research exploring bats in New Wilmington, Pa.
Pittsburgh native KayLee Hankins conducted a population survey of bats in agricultural areas versus residential areas exploring the impact man-made structures have on bat populations using acoustic monitoring--a method used by ecologists and conservation researchers to survey wildlife populations
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NEW WILMINGTON, Pennsylvania, Jan. 31 (TNSres) -- Westminster College issued the following news:
With the help of a grant from the Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research, a Westminster College senior environmental science major was able to carry out her research exploring bats in New Wilmington, Pa.
Pittsburgh native KayLee Hankins conducted a population survey of bats in agricultural areas versus residential areas exploring the impact man-made structures have on bat populations using acoustic monitoring--a method used by ecologists and conservation researchers to survey wildlife populationsby tracking their soundwaves.
Westminster's Drinko Center was able to provide Hankins with the funds to purchase the KaleidoscopePro software from Wildlife Acoustics in order to conduct her research.
Hankins used the KaleidoscopePro to analyze pre-recorded bat calls and then used the EchoMeter Touch 2 application to ensure that bat numbers were being accurately counted. Her data was then analyzed using the Simpson's Diversity Index, the Shannon Diversity Index, species richness and count of bats surveyed at a given site.
Throughout her research process, Hankins was able to determine that even though a species may be threatened or endangered, they may still be abundant in the area, with the expectation that more bats will be found in locations with fewer man-made structures in comparison to those with many.
"During my research I learned the importance of bats in the ecosystem and the importance of wildlife education," said Hankins.
Hankins post-graduation plans are to work in wildlife conservation within a Pennsylvania State Park system or a local wildlife organization in the Pittsburgh area.
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Original text here: https://www.westminster.edu/about/news/release.cfm?id=10528
Stockton University: Center to Preserve Jewish Farming History Receives Grant
GALLOWAY, New Jersey, Jan. 31 (TNSfund) -- Stockton University issued the following news:
The Alliance Heritage Center will use a new grant to create a public digital database of its collection documenting the history of Jewish farming in southern New Jersey.
The New Jersey Historical Commission recently awarded more than $300,000 to 14 organizations to explore under-represented history in the state, including $24,500 to the Alliance Heritage Center at Stockton University.
The goal of the Alliance Heritage Center is to preserve the history of the first successful Jewish farming village in the
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GALLOWAY, New Jersey, Jan. 31 (TNSfund) -- Stockton University issued the following news:
The Alliance Heritage Center will use a new grant to create a public digital database of its collection documenting the history of Jewish farming in southern New Jersey.
The New Jersey Historical Commission recently awarded more than $300,000 to 14 organizations to explore under-represented history in the state, including $24,500 to the Alliance Heritage Center at Stockton University.
The goal of the Alliance Heritage Center is to preserve the history of the first successful Jewish farming village in theUnited States, the Alliance Colony in Pittsgrove Township, Salem County.
The center will use the grant to support a one-year project to create a public digital database to house its collections, said Patricia Chappine, adjunct professor of History.
"We're very excited to start this project," said Chappine, who works with the center and its director, Thomas Kinsella. "Adding our collections to Stockton's online archives will make our holdings more accessible, expand our community connections and help us preserve the stories of Alliance and Jewish agriculture in the area."
The Alliance Colony was established in 1882 by 43 original Jewish families fleeing persecution from Russia and Eastern Europe. Chappine said the center's archives include several physical and digital collections, including manuscripts, naturalization papers, newspapers, deeds, maps, land surveys, synagogue records, photographs and oral history interviews. It also includes the bound writings of Rabbi Moses Bayuk, one of the founding members of the Alliance Colony.
"Telling complex, diverse and nuanced histories will continue to be a priority of the New Jersey History Commission, and this funding is an important next step to achieving that essential goal," said N.J. Secretary of State Tahesha Way.
The funds are part of New Jersey's Inclusive History Grant Program (IHGP), which was created to help commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
Chappine said the grants will help create a searchable online database and digital museum using the Preservica archival management software that will be open to the public.
"By expanding access to these collections, we will open these holdings to researchers who can make broad and important connections between our resources and the history of immigration and refugee communities in New Jersey," she said. "This will ultimately alleviate the shortage of secondary sources available on the subject."
The center also plans to use a portion of the grant to create interactive virtual exhibits with the help of Stockton students.
Two major gifts to the Stockton University Foundation helped establish the center in 2019. A $500,000 gift from an anonymous donor established a fund for the Elizabeth and Samuel Levin Director of the Alliance Heritage Center. A $200,000 gift from Bernard and Shirlee Greenblatt Brown and their children created a research endowment. Learn more about the Alliance Heritage Center.
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Original text here: https://stockton.edu/news/2023/alliance-heritage-center-grant.html
Post University Associates Donate Record-Breaking $169K For United Way Of Greater Waterbury
WATERBURY, Connecticut, Jan. 31 (TNSfund) -- Post University issued the following news release:
Post University associates have collectively raised $169,183.22 to the United Way of Greater Waterbury's "Have a Direct Effect" annual campaign. Since the University implemented the matching contribution campaign, the record-breaking sum is the largest donation in the University's history supporting the United Way of Greater Waterbury.
Celebrating 80 years serving the Waterbury and its surrounding community, the United Way of Greater Waterbury's "Have a Direct Effect" raised valuable funding for programs
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WATERBURY, Connecticut, Jan. 31 (TNSfund) -- Post University issued the following news release:
Post University associates have collectively raised $169,183.22 to the United Way of Greater Waterbury's "Have a Direct Effect" annual campaign. Since the University implemented the matching contribution campaign, the record-breaking sum is the largest donation in the University's history supporting the United Way of Greater Waterbury.
Celebrating 80 years serving the Waterbury and its surrounding community, the United Way of Greater Waterbury's "Have a Direct Effect" raised valuable funding for programsthat address the region's biggest challenges, including homelessness, access to education and financial stability.
"Waterbury is not just the town where Post University is located, it's our home. We care deeply about our neighbors," said Post University campaign captain Marya DiPerna, assistant director of events at Post University. "I am humbled by the outpouring of generosity from my colleagues and am thrilled we could provide such an impactful gift to the United Way of Greater Waterbury."
More than 125 associates and faculty participated in Post's campaign, in addition to local donors and university partners and vendors.
Post University is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the United Way of Greater Waterbury. For more information on the United Way of Greater Waterbury and the 2022-2023 campaign, please visit https://www.unitedwaygw.org/campaign.
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Original text here: https://post.edu/blog/post-university-associates-donate-to-united-way/
Hudson Named Assistant Dean For Health Services Research For UAMS College Of Medicine
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, Jan. 31 (TNSper) -- The University of Arkansas's School of Medical Sciences issued the following news release:
The University of Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine named Teresa Hudson, Pharm.D., Ph.D., as assistant dean for health services research.
She joins Vice Dean Jessica Snowden, M.D., and Assistant Dean Paul Drew, Ph.D., on the college's research leadership team.
"We are excited to add Dr. Hudson to our research leadership team in College of Medicine," said Snowden. "Health services researchers examine the access to care, health care costs and processes,
... Show Full Article
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, Jan. 31 (TNSper) -- The University of Arkansas's School of Medical Sciences issued the following news release:
The University of Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine named Teresa Hudson, Pharm.D., Ph.D., as assistant dean for health services research.
She joins Vice Dean Jessica Snowden, M.D., and Assistant Dean Paul Drew, Ph.D., on the college's research leadership team.
"We are excited to add Dr. Hudson to our research leadership team in College of Medicine," said Snowden. "Health services researchers examine the access to care, health care costs and processes,and the outcomes of health services for individuals and populations. As such, this part of our research portfolio is critical to improving the health of all Arkansans and we're looking forward to having Dr. Hudson's expertise to help us build programs and research capacity across our college."
Hudson is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and co-director of UAMS AR ConnectNOW in the Psychiatric Research Institute. She is also associate director of the VA Health Services Research and Development Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS).
A pharmacist with a doctorate in health systems and services research, Hudson's work focuses on the delivery of, and access to, health services. Her earlier work examined access to safe, high-quality medications, disparities in access to behavioral health and substance abuse care, suicide prevention, and development and validation of quality indicators for treatment of persons with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. More recently, Hudson's work has expanded to examining how medical marijuana affects use of traditional health care.
Hudson received her Bachelor of Science and Doctorate of Pharmacy from St. Louis College of Pharmacy. After completing her pharmacy residency in adult internal medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, she joined the UAMS College of Pharmacy as an assistant professor of pharmacy practice in 1991.
As she assumed roles with the CAVHS and shifted her focus to health services research, Hudson joined the College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, initially as an instructor. She rose through the academic ranks and became a professor in 2019. Hudson received her doctorate in health systems and services research in the UAMS Graduate School in 2015. She was named director of the Center for Health Services Research that year and held the position for seven years.
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Original text here: https://news.uams.edu/2023/01/30/teresa-hudson-pharm-d-ph-d-named-assistant-dean-for-health-services-research-for-uams-college-of-medicine/
ETSU Center for Rural Health Research Publishes Results Of Mask Study
JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, Jan. 31 (TNSjou) -- East Tennessee State University issued the following news on Jan. 30, 2023:
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Study focused on ETSU campus and the Johnson City community
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of graduate-level researchers at East Tennessee State University's College of Public Health conducted a study to assess mask-wearing behaviors on the ETSU campus and the surrounding community.
The results of that study, "Mask Adherence to Mask Mandate: College Campus Versus the Surrounding Community," were published online today in the Journal of Community Health.
The
... Show Full Article
JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, Jan. 31 (TNSjou) -- East Tennessee State University issued the following news on Jan. 30, 2023:
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Study focused on ETSU campus and the Johnson City community
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of graduate-level researchers at East Tennessee State University's College of Public Health conducted a study to assess mask-wearing behaviors on the ETSU campus and the surrounding community.
The results of that study, "Mask Adherence to Mask Mandate: College Campus Versus the Surrounding Community," were published online today in the Journal of Community Health.
Thepaper is a student-conducted research project overseen by research assistant professor Dr. Samuel Pettyjohn of the ETSU Center for Rural Health Research, located in the College of Public Health.
"We were able to take a national project from the CDC and make it relevant to what was happening in our region during the pandemic," Pettyjohn said. "We allowed students to take the lead on this project to learn valuable research skills and get firsthand experience with publishing in a highly reputable academic journal."
Eight ETSU graduate public health students conducted an observational study at five on-campus sites and five off-campus sites in Johnson City from Feb. 8, 2021, to April 30, 2021.
When the observations began, mask mandates were in place both on campus and in Washington County, Tenn. On Feb. 20, 2021, the county-wide mask mandate in Washington County was lifted, but the campus mask mandate remained in effect. Data recorded included if individuals wore a mask, the type of mask and if the mask was worn correctly.
Some findings include:
* There was no significant difference between mask-wearing when the mask mandate was in place compared to when it was not in place (86% vs. 82%).
* Individuals observed at on-campus sites were more likely to wear masks than at off-campus observations (92% vs 75%).
* Most of the on-campus locations had at least 85% mask-wearing observed across all observation days, with the exception of one outdoor location.
* All off-campus locations had less than 85% mask-wearing observed across all observation days, with the lowest reported rate at an off-campus coffee shop (57%).
* The full report can be found online in the Journal of Community Health.
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JOURNAL: Journal of Community Health https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10900-023-01187-8
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Original text here: https://www.etsu.edu/etsu-news/2023/01-january/etsu-center-for-rural-health-research-publishes-results-of-mask-study.php
Annenberg Public Policy Center Receives Support to Expand Model to Combat Deceptive Claims About Health
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Jan. 31 -- The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania issued the following news release:
The Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), will expand a new public health media model for blunting the impact of deceptive claims about health by using a preemptive, protective approach that aims to minimize the public's susceptibility to them.
The 18-month, $1.2 million grant enables APPC and its partner, Critica, a nonprofit organization seeking to center the role of science in making rational
... Show Full Article
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Jan. 31 -- The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania issued the following news release:
The Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), will expand a new public health media model for blunting the impact of deceptive claims about health by using a preemptive, protective approach that aims to minimize the public's susceptibility to them.
The 18-month, $1.2 million grant enables APPC and its partner, Critica, a nonprofit organization seeking to center the role of science in making rationalhealth decisions, to expand their model for a nationwide health knowledge assessment and response system beyond Covid-19 deceptions to other consequential knowledge about topics that include vaccination and maternal and reproductive health.
Under a previous RWJF grant, APPC and Critica developed a reliable way to track Covid-19 deceptions and organize them under a taxonomy that identifies recurrent patterns of deception about infectious diseases and ways to minimize susceptibility to them. APPC researchers reliably fit more than 4,000 Covid-related deceptions into one of seven categories - one of them, for example, being the origins of the virus.
After identifying prevalent ones, APPC's FactCheck.org responds in Spanish and English through SciCheck, its science-focused fact-checking initiative. FactCheck.org publishes these corrective pieces on its website and disseminates them to news organizations and fact-checking websites. In addition, Critica's "infodemiologists" correct them online in dialogues with commenters.
"Because deceptions fall into recognizable patterns, the scholarly community can identify and the public health community preemptively deploy knowledge that minimizes susceptibility to it," said APPC Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the cofounder of FactCheck.org.
Under the model, journalists and fact-checkers can preempt or "pre-bunk" deceptions before they occur, while also "gistifying" corrective messages, simplifying them into short, memorable representations that capture the bottom-line meaning.
The grant project focuses on ways to create or improve existing structures that disseminate protective knowledge and corrective information. As part of the earlier grant, for example, Jamieson presented the following model for federal government reform to a meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Read more about this presentation.
Like its predecessor, this grant is focused in particular on increasing communication about consequential health behaviors within disadvantaged communities that have been more affected by these health issues. For much of the pandemic, Black and Hispanic individuals were less likely to be vaccinated than white individuals, though by one measure the likelihood that a Hispanic individual is vaccinated now exceeds the likelihood of vaccination for a white individual. The Black community also faces greater infection and negative health outcomes in the areas of maternal and reproductive health.
APPC's work has been reported in scholarly journals and presented to government health agencies, notably in a keynote address Jamieson delivered in October 2021 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Charles C. Shepard Science Awards Ceremony and in the March 2024 presentation to PCAST. The work has also been presented at convenings of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and at major medical conventions and conferences.
As part of the first RWJF grant, FactCheck.org translated its Covid-related work into Spanish and developed partnerships to disseminate protective knowledge and corrections through Univision, MSN Latino, and regional news publications affiliated with networks of Hispanic and Black news publishers.
The APPC team is led by its director, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Ph.D., and Patrick E. Jamieson, Ph.D., director of the policy center's Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute. The Critica team is led by its chief medical officer, David Scales, M.D., Ph.D., and its president and chair, Jack Gorman, M.D.
Read more about this work:
* Conspiratorial thinking as a precursor to opposition to COVID-19 vaccination in the US: a multi-year study from 2018-2021 (Scientific Reports)
* Misinformation about vaccine safety and update of COVID-19 vaccines among adults and 5-11-year-olds in the United States (Vaccine)
* The role of non-COVID-specific and COVID-specific factors in predicting a shift in willingness to vaccinate: A panel study (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
* Marshaling the gist of and gists in messages to protect science and counter misinformation (Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition)
* How conspiracists exploited COVID-19 science (Nature Human Behaviour)
* Conspiratorial thinking, selective exposure to conservative media, and response to COVID-19 in the US (Social Science & Medicine)
* The Covid-19 Infodemic - Applying the Epidemiologic Model to Counter Misinformation (New England Journal of Medicine)
* Patterns of media use, strength of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and the prevention of COVID-19 from March to July 2020 in the United States: Survey study (Journal of Medical Internet Research)
* How to debunk misinformation about COVID, vaccines and masks (Scientific American)
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Original text here: https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/appc-receives-support-to-expand-model-to-combat-deceptive-claims-about-health/
