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Cyber attacks and ransomware are incidents that are happening more and more often. They are threatening America’s energy supply, food chain and critical infrastructure. Recently, two Georgia hospitals were victims of a recent attack. Media from across the country asked experts like Frank Katz, director of Georgia Southern University's Center for Applied Cyber Education, who is vulnerable and why. Katz, who directs the Center for Applied Cyber Education at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus in Savannah, said hospitals can be targets for extortion as well as sources of personal identifying information that can aid in further fraud. “They are more likely to pay than another type of business because it’s a life and death situation,” Katz told WSAV-TV. “It really has become a situation of money, pure and simple. These are thieves that know they can extort the money and often get it.” June 21 – Associated Press Frank Katz, director of the Center for Applied Cyber Education at Georgia Southern University, says hospitals are often easy targets. Having so many employees, he says user IDs and passwords can be easy to figure out. Plus, they’re dealing with emergency medical care. “They are more likely to pay than another type of business because it’s a life and death situation,” Katz said. June 21 – NBC News If you are a reporter looking to cover this subject and speak with Frank Katz, Georgia Southern’s Director of the Center for Applied Cyber Education – then let our experts help. Frank Katz, director of the Center for Applied Cyber Education is available, simply click on his icon or reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu and she’ll assist with connecting you for an interview today.
Aston University – inspiring more women into engineering careers
• Aston University is celebrating International Women in Engineering Day • College of Engineering and Physical Sciences photography campaign of females as #EngineeringHeroes • Campaign aims to encourage girls into engineering careers A team of female engineering heroes from Aston University’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences has banded together to encourage girls into STEM careers. As part of International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), the world’s largest initiative to celebrate the achievements of women in engineering, Aston University’s very own team of engineers have shown themselves to be the very best STEM superheroes. Aston University Mechanical Engineering Student and STEM Ambassador Olamide Olabode Dressed in capes and taking selfies for the event on Wednesday 23 June, female ambassadors from the College, in collaboration with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology, have also put together video content to show off their engineering skills and become ‘heroes’ for girls wanting to do the same. Also launching on the day will be a competition for participating schools linked to Aston University. Girls are being challenged to come up with their own superhero gadget / gizmo idea. Professor Sarah Hainsworth OBE FREng, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Aston University, said they were proud to be a part of INWED2021. “It is so important to us to encourage more girls into STEM subjects. Our hope is that through our teaching, and our partnership with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology with its focus on technical skills for advanced manufacturing and giving students a clear route to technical employment, many will follow in the footsteps of our incredible team and be the STEM leaders of the future. “At Aston University, we work on sustainability for the environment, bioengineering, robotics, machine learning, sensors, communications, artificial intelligence, technologies for future vehicles and the issues that shape our future. On International Women in Engineering Day (INWED 2021), our College of Engineering and Physical Sciences celebrates the amazing contribution of our women colleagues who represent the cutting edge of engineering who are making vital contributions to our health and wellbeing, our society and our planet,” she added. Katy Lewis, marketing manager, said schools invited to take part were from the Aspire to Aston progressive programme, which works with 10 schools in and around Birmingham from areas of high deprivation. “At each of these schools there are up to 40 pupils per year group who have the academic ability to aim for university but lack the knowledge and confidence to do so and are selected for the programme. Our aim is to raise aspirations and normalise the idea of going into higher education, which is why us doing challenges like this one is so vitally important, so we can’t wait to help find the STEM female stars of the future,” she said. Currently the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences has 25% female academic staff (the UK STEM staff benchmark being 17 – 19%). The amount of female students studying the engineering subjects at Aston University has also grown over the past five years from 22% - 27%, above the UK STEM benchmark of 17% – 19%. To find out more about engineering at Aston University, visit ww.aston.ac.uk/eps For more details about the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology, visit this link: http://gbsiot.ac.uk/
Detecting deepfakes: MSU expert can discuss Facebook research collaboration
Deepfakes, they’re interesting, entertaining and also deeply concerning for security officials. And as the technology behind deepfakes continues to refine and improve its delivery – researchers and social media giants are reacting quickly and trying to keep pace with the potentially troublesome technology. Recently, CNBC featured the work of MSU’s Xiaoming Liu and researchers from Facebook, who developed a model that pulls back the curtain of who is creating deepfakes. Artificial intelligence researchers at Facebook and Michigan State University say they have developed a new piece of software that can reveal where so-called deepfakes have come from. Deepfakes are videos that have been digitally altered in some way with AI. They’ve become increasingly realistic in recent years, making it harder for humans to determine what’s real on the internet, and indeed Facebook, and what’s not. The Facebook researchers claim that their AI software — announced on Wednesday — can be trained to establish if a piece of media is a deepfake or not from a still image or a single video frame. Not only that, they say the software can also identify the AI that was used to create the deepfake in the first place, no matter how novel the technique. Tal Hassner, an applied research lead at Facebook, told CNBC that it’s possible to train AI software “to look at the photo and tell you with a reasonable degree of accuracy what is the design of the AI model that generated that photo.” The research comes after MSU realized last year that it’s possible to determine what model of camera was used to take a specific photo — Hassner said that Facebook’s work with MSU builds on this. June 16 – CNBC There’s a lot to learn about deepfakes, the concerns about the technology and what can be done to ensure the technology doesn’t create havoc or confusion in elections or any other form of communications – and if you are a journalist looking to know more, our experts are here to help. Xiaoming Liu a MSU Foundation Professor and is an expert when it comes on computer vision, machine learning, and biometrics, especially on face related analysis. Dr. Liu is available to speak to media about deep-fake technology – simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Emily Baum: Chilling academic exchanges between China and the U.S. Emily Baum is an associate professor of modern Chinese history and director of the Long U.S.-China Institute, which aims to bridge the gaps between academia, journalism and the public sector. Baum says the pandemic will likely affect study abroad for years to come, in both directions, with negative impacts on both sides. There was already a significant disparity with roughly 370,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S. and only 11,000 Americans studying in China annually. “A drop in Chinese enrollments will have major consequences for the future of higher education in the U.S., where many schools rely on the full tuition paid by international students to stay afloat,” Baum says. But equally worrisome: “The educational decoupling that had already begun before COVID-19 — and will be greatly exacerbated by it — means that there will be far fewer opportunities for each country’s students to gain firsthand knowledge of, and mutual understanding about, the other.” Reach Baum at: emily.baum@uci.edu Wang Feng: China has passed its peak Wang Feng is a professor of sociology and an adjunct professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He is an expert on global social and demographic changes and social inequality. He has served on expert panels for the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, as well as he served as a senior fellow and director at the Brookings Institution Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy. Wang sees the ascendance of China in the last 40 years as the result of a unique confluence of circumstances: a dynamic leader in Deng Xiaoping, plus a significant rural population that moved to cities and provided a huge labor force. In the last 20 years, China has produced 600 billionaires — and gaping wealth disparities. “When China was poor, people thought it would be poor forever. Now that China is rich, people think it will be rich forever. But China has passed its peak,” he says. “The headwinds of an aging population, the legacy of the one-child policy, and tremendous social inequality will present enormous internal challenges in the years ahead.” Reach Wang at fwang@uci.edu. Jeffrey Wasserstrom: China’s box office changes Hollywood portrayals Jeffrey Wasserstrom is a Chancellor’s professor of history. A specialist in modern Chinese history, he has testified before a Congressional-Executive commission on China, conducted a State Department briefing on contemporary Chinese politics, and worked with the Hong Kong International Literary Festival. His articles have been published by TIME, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times and others. Wasserstrom notes that Hollywood films and TV often negatively present whichever East Asian country is most feared at the time. However, the power of China’s box office is changing that. “Due to concern with the massive market for movies in the People’s Republic of China, you do not often see negative portrayals of that country on American screens,” says Wasserstrom. “A telling example of our living in a new era is that when filmmakers were setting out to make a new version of ‘Red Dawn,’ a film that originally portrayed a Russian invasion of the U.S., the plan was to have Chinese soldiers serve as the enemies. Concern about PRC box office receipts led to a change in nationality — the enemies became North Korean soldiers.” Reach Wasserstrom at: jwassers@uci.edu. Yong Chen: Chinese food in the U.S. and China Yong Chen is the author of several books including "Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America" (Columbia University Press, 2014). He also co-curated “‘Have You Eaten Yet?’: The Chinese Restaurant in America” in Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia (2006), and the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, New York City (2004–05). He is professor of history. He points out that the COVID-19 pandemic hastened changes to culinary habits that were already underway in China, including less consumption of wild animals, greater demand for fast food, and a shift away from communal or “family style” meals. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Chinese restaurants have been hit hard by anti-Asian sentiments, while also showing signs of resilience thanks to the popularity of Chinese takeout. “If the seriously strained relationship between China and the US continues to deteriorate, it is possible that more people in America will lose their appetite for Chinese food, to say the least,” Chen says. Reach Chen at: y3chen@uci.edu.
Ask the Expert: What is critical race theory and why is it under attack in our schools?
Michigan joins other states that have introduced legislation that would sharply limit classroom discussions on how race and racism have shaped American history. Dorinda Carter Andrews, professor and chairperson, Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University’s College of Education, said this is an ill-formed conflation, and answers other questions about critical race theory. What is critical race theory? Critical race theory, or CRT, is a framework developed in the 1970s by legal scholars that argues white supremacy maintains power through the law and other legal systems. CRT dismisses the idea that racism stems from acts of individuals but rather rooted in a system of oppression based on socially constructed racial hierarchy where white people reap material benefits over people of color resulting from misuse of power. Teaching young people about race and racism is not synonymous with teaching them critical race theory. Critical race theory is not an ideology or a political orientation that assumes white people are bad; it assumes white supremacy is bad in all of its forms. It’s a practice or approach that provides language and a lens for examining racism at institutional and structural levels. Underlying this is the premise that racism is endemic to American society and that white supremacist ideals and practices should be dismantled. Why are there proposals to ban critical race theory in schools? As of mid-May, legislation to outlaw CRT in schools has passed in Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma and Tennessee and have been proposed in various other statehouses. Since the onset of teaching about American history, teachers have been teaching about forms of systemic racial discrimination and oppression, including slavery. This is not new to schools. However, traditionally school curriculums have taken a Eurocentric approach. Now we are living in a time where the voices of people of color are being lifted up, and tragic events like George Floyd's death one year ago and violence against members of the Asian panethnic community prove that problems remain. The narrative of U.S. history is being diversified, and that is creating fear, particularly among white people. Teaching young people how to be antiracist should not be seen as an attack on American values. It’s actually working in support of American ideals like inclusion and valuing diverse perspectives. Why is it important for students to learn about systemic racism in schools? It’s important to try to help youth understand how bias and oppression are institutional, structural and systemic, and not simply interpersonal. Young people are not colorblind or color mute. They see color and they talk race and racism in their own social circles and peer groups. Research indicates that as early as age 3, children have negative associations about some racial groups. By the time they enter elementary school, children already have a level of racial literacy that evidences their awareness that some individuals and groups are treated differently in their schools and society based on skin color. This is particularly apparent for elementary-aged children of color. If children of color are old enough to experience racial discrimination and injustice, then all children, especially white children, are old enough to learn about racism in ways that enhance their cross-cultural competency, racial literacy skills and skill set for improving our democracy. What is proposed in the Michigan legislation? A new bill introduced to the Michigan Legislature would sharply limit Michigan classroom discussions of how race and racism have shaped American history. Under the legislation introduced, K-12 school districts would lose 5% of their funding if educators teach critical race theory, “anti-American” ideas about race in America, or material from The 1619 Project, a New York Times initiative that puts Black history and the consequences of slavery at the center of the U.S. national narrative. School funding penalties tied to implementing antiracist curriculum is actually a racist move that furthers systemic racial oppression in education, disadvantages all children, and upholds white supremacist ideals. What are the possible consequences of this legislation? The bills are so vaguely written that it’s unclear what they will affirmatively cover. Could a teacher who wants to talk about a factual instance of state-sponsored racism — like the establishment of Jim Crow, the series of laws that prevented Black Americans from voting or holding office and separated them from white people in public spaces — be considered in violation of these laws? It’s also unclear whether these new bills are constitutional, or whether they impermissibly restrict free speech. It would be extremely difficult, in any case, to police what goes on inside hundreds of thousands of classrooms. But social studies educators fear that such laws could have a chilling effect on teachers who might self-censor their own lessons out of concern for parent or administrator complaints. Additionally, such bills can actually work to undermine educational goals of diversifying the teaching workforce. Students of color may be less likely to pursue a teaching career if there is censorship around race talk across subject areas. Are you a journalist looking to cover this topic or learn more about critical race theory - then let us help. Dorinda Carter Andrews, professor and chairperson, Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University’s College of Education. She's available to speak with media - simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
The odd couple – Can Biden and Putin find a way to thaw relations between America and Russia?
It was a meeting of two world powers that came with low expectations but much anticipation. The face-to-face meeting between American President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin may not have accomplished much, but it did allow Biden to set a tone on his approach to foreign relations. President Joe Biden's meeting Wednesday with his Russian counterpart came after months of diplomatic wrangling over the details, days of preparation with reams of research and the elaborate construction of two separate lakeside venues for the leaders to appear afterward. But after the summit had concluded, the ornate French style manor home was locked up and the leaders were jetting in opposite directions home, the state of relations between the United States and Russia seemed about the same as before. That is not necessarily a surprise, least of all for Biden, who entered the summit with the vague and modest goal of establishing a "predictable and rational" relationship with Vladimir Putin. Putin's performance afterward was certainly predictable, if not entirely rational. Ultimately, Biden set expectations so low for his first face-to-face encounter with Putin that anything more than someone not showing up at all amounted to breaking even. June 16 - CNN What comes next is up to both leaders – but the world will be watching. Is there a chance to find common ground between the two countries? Will Russia continue to interfere in U.S. elections and hack American agencies - and how will American respond? What happens if Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison? And, did this meeting give Putin the elevated push he needs internationally? If you are a journalist looking to cover this subject – then let us help. Dr. Stephen Farnsworth is a sought-after political commentator on presidential politics. He has been widely featured in national media, including The Washington Post, Reuters, The Chicago Tribune and MSNBC. Dr. Farnsworth is available to speak with media any time. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
Without Trump – Is Late Night Television Struggling for New Jokes?
For four years, just about every talk show host and comedy show had a fresh supply of almost daily content. The unfiltered comments, gaffes and chaotic ongoings in the White House offered up a steady stream of material for jokes, monologues and coverage. But those days are over. Does Joe Biden's calm presidency and his capable administration mean a deficit of humor for the country’s comedians? UMW’s Dr. Stephen Farnsworth was recently featured in Variety Magazine about his perspective on the current state of late-night political content. Viewers are likely to continue to expect a robust political discussion. “In Washington, the political divisions are as intense as ever, and so it seems that there would be a ready audience for a continuing focus on political humor in late night,” said Stephen Farnsworth, co-author of the 2019 book “Late Night With Trump: Political Humor and the American Presidency” and director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington. “The environment may not look all that different post-pandemic.” June 14 - Variety Magazine Dr. Stephen Farnsworth is a sought-after political commentator on presidential politics. He has been widely featured in national media, including The Washington Post, Reuters, The Chicago Tribune and MSNBC. Dr. Farnsworth is available to speak with media any time. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
New research published in BMJ Open shows that community pharmacy could play a ‘key clinical role’ in the future role of COVID-19 vaccination programmes, according to a study led by Aston University in Birmingham, UK, in collaboration with UK and international researchers. The team found that community pharmacists, as a ‘skilled clinical workforce’, could positively contribute, supporting the community in which they serve - by playing a critical role in ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. The researchers working on the PERISCOPE study found that community pharmacy is uniquely placed to support individuals, because it is seen by the public as a credible, trustworthy service, which could be key to any future clinical role it might play, especially where addressing vaccine hesitancy in ‘seldom heard’ communities. They are therefore calling on decision-makers to endorse and provide their support for a public health role for community pharmacy. Across the UK, community pharmacy is a critical part of primary care. According to the Kings Fund, as of the end of March 2019, there were more than 11,500 community pharmacies in England alone. It is viewed as one of the four pillars of the primary care system, along with general practice, optical services and dentistry. It has also, in areas of the UK, helped to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations. The study included partners from the Universities of Sheffield, Oxford, Hull and Bradford in the UK, as well as internationally, the University of British Columbia and University of Tasmania. The group reviewed more than a hundred documents including peer reviewed articles, blogs and websites on the role of community pharmacy during COVID-19 and other previous pandemics. Their findings were discussed with more than 30 health professionals and members of the public, to ensure that the findings made sense in the real world. Health professionals included pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensers, counter assistants, and GPs, together with members of the public from a range of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Several recommendations were made by the researchers from the findings of the study. Most significantly the group found it was imperative that policy and practice should focus on the clinical role of community pharmacy. Dr Ian Maidment, reader in clinical pharmacy at Aston University and former community pharmacist leading PERSICOPE, said: “We need to use community pharmacy to a much greater extent for COVID-19 vaccination, particularly for boosters against new variants such as the Delta (Indian) variant. The current model (for example, the large hubs) may not be sustainable in the longer term, particularly if annual COVID-19 vaccination is required. “Our work found some key ways to make this happen. The easy access and local convenience of high street pharmacies makes them an ideal location for vaccinating at-risk populations.” The study includes guidance for policy makers: • Have a clear role for community pharmacy in response to the public health agenda, with that role championed by decision-makers • Involve frontline community pharmacists in the development of policy and service specification in relation to vaccination • Provide prompt, clear, consistent guidelines with adequate detail and enough flexibility to allow community pharmacies to adapt the guidelines to meet the needs of their local population • Provide adequate funding and reimbursement for the delivery and necessary adaptations of any new services community pharmacies are asked to deliver • Provide pharmacy teams with adequate systems to deliver this new role and then trust them to deliver. Hadar Zaman, head of pharmacy and medical sciences at University of Bradford and a community pharmacist, said: “Our research has highlighted the important role community pharmacy has played in overcoming vaccine hesitancy, particularly in ethnic minority communities who have been disproportionately affected by COVID and subsequent mortality. “What comes out very strongly, especially in areas of high social deprivation, is that community pharmacists have worked very closely with their local communities addressing concerns around vaccine safety. “It is through these strongly rooted relationships in local communities that we will ensure vaccine uptake rates in ethnic minority and the wider population can be further improved. Therefore, community pharmacy needs to be seen as an essential delivery partner if the Government is to achieve its national vaccination coverage in the short and long term”. PERISCOPE searched for the best evidence across the world and the team included international collaborators. The findings therefore have international relevance. Maura MacPhee, professor of nursing, University of British Columbia and member of the research team, said: “Our review findings and recommendations for decision-makers, community pharmacists and pharmacy users are adaptable and relevant internationally, including my country, Canada, where community pharmacy has a major role to play in COVID-19 vaccination programmes.” Juanita Breen, also a member of the PERISCOPE team and associate professor of dementia studies at Wicking Dementia Centre, School of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, added: "This study demonstrates how pharmacists can contribute towards this important public health initiative and enhance the uptake of the vaccine. “It provides important learnings for other countries on how best to utilise the skills of our most accessible health professional - the community pharmacist." Professor Claire Anderson, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s English Board said: “This research clearly demonstrates the vital role community pharmacy has played during the pandemic, providing essential advice to communities and tackling health inequalities in areas of high social deprivation. “Policy makers and commissioners need to take forward the recommendations of this research and ensure the strengths of the community pharmacy network are maximised for the benefits of patients.” Alastair Buxton, director of NHS Services at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, said: “This research provides a timely examination of the role community pharmacy teams have played in supporting their communities to fight back against COVID-19. “By keeping their doors open throughout, pharmacies have maintained day-to-day activities, and managed increased demand for many services - including advice on the management of minor illness. They have also substantially increased the number of flu vaccinations administered and played a key part in the COVID-19 vaccination programme. “These findings will help guide policy in the later stages of the pandemic and guide practice in any future pandemics.” Tony Kelly, a diabetes ambassador, Diabetes Strategic Patient Partner - NHS Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group and member of PERISCOPE, said: "Community pharmacists are ideally placed at the forefront of the vaccination agenda as they are the nucleus of ethnically diverse communities and are often the first point of contact for most people." PERISCOPE was jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
America in the 1950’s was all about building highways to pump up the post-war economy and make sure everyone could criss-cross a connected America by car. Urban planners didn’t hesitate to bulldoze neighborhoods that were in the way of this progress. However, history shows that most of those communities that were destroyed housed Black and lower income residents. The result left areas with hot pavement, few green spaces and little tree canopy to provide shade. Recently, UMW’s Pamela Grothe joined the host of With Good Reason to talk about how America needs to undo these past mistakes and make better choices. Grothe recently worked with Jeremy Hoffman, chief scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia, who also appears on the episode, and UMW 2021 graduate Allison Grant on research that explores how redlined communities in Richmond, Virginia, designed to keep Black residents in less desirable neighborhoods, show records of being significantly hotter over the last 30 years than white neighborhoods, which has resulted in more heat-related health issues for Black and lower income residents. Aside from jumping in a pool, trees are our best bet to cool summer heat. Pamela Grothe says we have to be intentional about putting trees in the right places. If you’re a journalist looking to learn more about this topic, then our experts are here to help. Dr. Pamela Grothe is an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences as the University of Mary Washington, who earned a Ph.D. in the Paleoclimatology Lab at the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department at Georgia Institute of Technology. She’s an #expert in climate change and is available to speak with media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
UK inflation rate jumps to 2.1%: University of Warwick experts comment
The Office of National Statistics reports that the inflation rate in the UK has risen to 2.1%, passing the Bank of England target of 2%. Professor Abhinay Muthoo of the University of Warwick Department of Economics and Professor Nigel Driffield of Warwick Business School comment here on what factors could have caused this jump. Professor Abhinay Muthoo of the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick said: "Figures released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) show UK inflation has jumped to 2.1% in the year to May. This means inflation is now above the Bank of England target of 2%. There is concern amongst some economists that inflation will rise further, and more importantly, that these higher levels of inflation are permanent. Hence, for example a call by some that the Bank of England should quickly raise interest rates. "I believe this higher than target inflation is very likely to be temporary. This current increase is driven by a few factors. One being a sudden and sharp increase in consumer spending as consumers are rushing to spend their savings from the past year of lockdown, and supply cannot, at the moment, keep up with that strong demand. I expect inflation to return to under Bank of England’s 2% target by around early next year." Professor Nigel Driffield of Warwick Business School said: “Supply of various goods and services is or has been constrained by Covid, and while many people have suffered financially because of Covid there is also a high level of pent up demand. This pertains not only to goods and services made here, but also imported. So for a while we are going to see pressure on inflation as the economy opens up.”
