Saturday, April 20

Tag: latest

An Epidemiologist Scoured The Latest Research And Has Some Answers To The Question – Do You Need A Second Booster Shot?
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, IN OTHER NEWS

An Epidemiologist Scoured The Latest Research And Has Some Answers To The Question – Do You Need A Second Booster Shot?

In late March 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a second booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines for vulnerable populations in the U.S., a move that was soon after endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People ages 50 years and older and certain immunocompromised individuals who are at higher risk for severe disease, hospitalization and death are eligible four months after receiving the initial booster shot. A second booster shot is equivalent to a fourth dose for people who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA series or a third dose for those who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. In Israel, people in these same vulnerable categories began receiving fourth doses in January 2022. The U.K. recently started administering a four...
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Gun Sales And Gun Violence In Pandemic America – An Expert Weighs In On The Latest Trends
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IMPACT, VIDEO REELS

Gun Sales And Gun Violence In Pandemic America – An Expert Weighs In On The Latest Trends

Gun sales have risen in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Feb. 28, 2022, SciLine interviewed Garen Wintemute – an emergency medicine physician at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center and director of the California Firearm Violence Research Center – about what’s driving this change and what gun usage and culture looks like in America two years into the pandemic. The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion, which have been edited for brevity and clarity. What does the research tell us about who owns guns in the United States and why? Garen Wintemute: The traditional population of gun owners are white, non-Hispanic men. But for several years, the demographic profile of gun owners in the United States ha...
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A Cybersecurity Expert Explains The Latest Internet Vulnerability (Log4j) How Bad It Is And What’s At Stake
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TECHNOLOGY

A Cybersecurity Expert Explains The Latest Internet Vulnerability (Log4j) How Bad It Is And What’s At Stake

Log4Shell, an internet vulnerability that affects millions of computers, involves an obscure but nearly ubiquitous piece of software, Log4j. The software is used to record all manner of activities that go on under the hood in a wide range of computer systems. Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, called Log4Shell the most serious vulnerability she’s seen in her career. There have already been hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of attempts to exploit the vulnerability. So what is this humble piece of internet infrastructure, how can hackers exploit it and what kind of mayhem could ensue? What does Log4j do? Log4j records events – errors and routine system operations – and communicates diagnostic messages about them to system administr...
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3 Takeaways From The Latest Jobs Report – Wages Up And Americans Are Encouraged Back To Work And Into The Office
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WORK

3 Takeaways From The Latest Jobs Report – Wages Up And Americans Are Encouraged Back To Work And Into The Office

Christopher Decker, University of Nebraska Omaha After a lackluster jobs report in September 2021, the latest news on employment gives Americans plenty of cheer about ahead of the holiday season. In total, 531,000 jobs were added in October – outstripping the already optimistic predictions of economists. This caused the unemployment rate to fall 0.2 percentage points to 4.6%. Even with those gains, the U.S. is still below pre-pandemic employment levels. But as an economist, I see details in the latest jobs report that suggest the workforce is emerging from 18 months of what has been the “new normal” and getting back to, well, the “normal normal.” Remote working in the rear-view mirror? Americans are returning to offices after a year-and-a-half of Zoom meetings and digital water cooler m...
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The Latest Jobs Data May Look Disappointing, But Leisure And Transportation Sectors Give Reason For Cheer
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BUSINESS

The Latest Jobs Data May Look Disappointing, But Leisure And Transportation Sectors Give Reason For Cheer

Edouard Wemy, Clark University On first glance, October’s jobs report may not be anything to cheer about. Released on Oct. 8, 2021, it shows that just 194,000 jobs were added in the month – well short of the 400,000-plus figure that many economists had predicted. But when you delve deeper, the latest employment data shows encouraging signs for the future of the U.S. economy. Yes, job creation does appear to be slowing down. And this could be a result of ongoing concerns over the COVID-19 delta variant, with companies unsure of where the pandemic will head next. But with the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a booster shot and figures showing that cases for delta have begun to fall, the forecasts from companies may be turning rosier in the coming months. And even with job creat...
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Putin’s United Russia Latest Parliamentary Win Has Been Years In The Making
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IN OTHER NEWS, POLITICS

Putin’s United Russia Latest Parliamentary Win Has Been Years In The Making

Regina Smyth, Indiana University President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party defied economic concerns and a recent slump in support to retain a parliamentary majority – to the surprise of almost no one. The official tally announced by Russia’s Central Election Commission on Sept. 20, 2021, was met with immediate skepticism. The three-day vote has been plagued with allegations of poll violations, the exclusion of opposition leaders and delays in the announcement of online voting results that strongly favored regime candidates. The outcome means United Russia retains a constitutional majority in parliament. The other big winners in the national election were smaller, pro-Kremlin parties. If taken on face value, the results would suggest a turnaround in approval rates for United...
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TikTok Is The Latest Battleground – There’s A Long History Of Dances Being Pilfered For Profit
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CULTURE, VIDEO REELS

TikTok Is The Latest Battleground – There’s A Long History Of Dances Being Pilfered For Profit

Jill Vasbinder, University of Maryland, Baltimore County In January 2020, 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon created what would become one of the biggest viral dance sensations on TikTok. But few users knew that Harmon, who is Black, invented the dance, which she dubbed the Renegade – at least not until a month later, when The New York Times drew attention to her case. That’s because a TikTok user had copied the dance, and it was that TikToker’s rendition that went viral. Because Harmon didn’t get credit, she wasn’t able to reap the benefits of more views and followers, which, in turn, could have led to collaborations and sponsorships. Harmon is only the latest in a long list of women and people of color whose choreography and dance work have been pilfered for profit – a story that dates back ...
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The Latest Electric Entry In The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series
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BOOKS

The Latest Electric Entry In The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

Don Bentley - Tom Clancy Target Acquired (Unabridged) Jack Ryan, Jr., will do anything for a friend, but this favor will be paid for in blood in the latest electric entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Jack Ryan, Jr. would do anything for Ding Chavez. That's why Jack is currently sitting in an open-air market in Israel, helping a CIA team with a simple job. The man running the mission, Peter Beltz, is an old friend from Ding's Army days. Ding hadn't seen his friend since Peter's transfer to the CIA eighteen months prior, and intended to use the assignment to reconnect. Unfortunately, Ding had to cancel at the last minute and asked Jack to take his place. It's a cushy assignment--a trip to Israel in exchange for a couple hours of easy work, but Jack could use the downtime af...
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Latest Version Of Conservatives’ Longtime Strategy To Rally Their Base: Anti-Transgender Bills
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LGBTQ

Latest Version Of Conservatives’ Longtime Strategy To Rally Their Base: Anti-Transgender Bills

On April 6, 2021, despite Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto, Arkansas became the first state to prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming medical care like hormone treatments designed to delay puberty in transgender youth. So-called “puberty blockers” are used to delay the physical changes associated with puberty and provide time for transgender young people to consider their options. Arkansas physicians now face criminal penalties if they prescribe puberty blockers or other forms of cross-gender health care to transgender youth. Twenty other states are considering similar bills. Some would classify puberty blockers and other gender-affirming medical treatments as child abuse or would revoke the medical licenses of physicians prescribing these therapies. These anti-transgen...
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The Latest Country To Struggle Against Foreign Influence On Journalism, Australia Fighting Facebook
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IN OTHER NEWS

The Latest Country To Struggle Against Foreign Influence On Journalism, Australia Fighting Facebook

Facebook has barred Australians from finding or sharing news on its platform, in response to an Australian government proposal to require social media networks to pay journalism organizations for their content. The move is already reducing online readership of Australian news sites. Similar to what happened when Facebook suspended Donald Trump’s account in January, the fight with Australia is again raising debate around social media networks’ enormous control over people’s access to information. Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, says his country “will not be intimidated” by an American tech company. My research in the history of international media politics has shown that a handful of rich countries have long exerted undue influence over how the rest of the world gets its news....
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