Recent Articles
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Reform paves path for emergency mass prisoner release
Michelle R. Matisons Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityBecause of U.S. prison conditions before the pandemic, federal, state and county prison and jail facilities were considering or enacting various early and mass release, or facility shutdown, plans. These pre-pandemic release plans are the very COVID-19 infection and death mitigation plans required now, but not enough officials are enacting emergency protocols to release inmates from this contagion danger. A recent article in The Intercept describes Rikers Island's jail infection rate as eight times higher than New York City's rate per 1,000 people.
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5 ways all marketers should pivot during the COVID-19 crisis
Lisa Mulcahy MarketingWhen it comes to the shifting sands beneath your business model due to the coronavirus pandemic, the most important tool you need to employ as a digital/social media marketer is flexibility. It's crucial to read current conditions on a constant basis and be proactive in adapting your strategy to those conditions. You need to base your strategy on one word: pivot. The importance of a wise pivot is crucial to how well your marketing strategy will fare over the coming weeks and months.
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Interior design employment growth highest in 5 years, per most recent data
Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesSince 2015, when the industry rebounded from the Great Recession, the number of employed interior designers has been gradually increasing each year. In the 12-month period from May 2018 to May 2019, however, the number of interior designers added to the employment rolls grew by nearly 6% — the largest increase since 2015. Employment for interior designers in 2019 was the highest it has ever been, with more of them working in A&D firms rather than in other industry-related positions.
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Americans are concerned they can’t afford coronavirus care
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareDuring the coronavirus crisis, Americans have plenty of fears about the virus and their health and well-being, a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey says. In it, 39% of those who responded also said they are facing financial strife and that they had either lost a job or some income because of the virus. While there are efforts in place to protect citizens financially, patients' fears about being able to afford care because of a lack of financial means may not be unfounded.
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The hidden social impact of crime-stopping AI
Brian Wallace Science & TechnologyOne major way that artificial intelligence is purported to help society is with its crime-fighting capabilities. For example, crime prediction software can adapt existing AI models to historical crime data. However, this type of AI’s data feedback loop can lead to problems with bias, self-fulfilling predictions, and may ignore crimes that go unreported. Learn more about this tech and its possible problems with this infographic.
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Urine tests can predict transplanted kidney rejection
Chelsea Adams Medical & Allied HealthcareTwo new methodologies offer promise in predicting kidney failure using a simple urine test instead of a biopsy. University of California, San Francisco researchers say a urine test they have developed would eliminate the need for an invasive biopsy to determine the chances of organ rejection. What's more, monitoring kidney health with a urine sample makes it much easier to identify a problem before the organ suffers irreparable damage. The findings appeared in the March 18 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
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COVID-19 continues to be good for the planet — for now
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalWith the coronavirus raging, there's little that's not connected to the topic. The environment continues to be a bright spot among the bad news. It's a topic we've covered here before, but social distancing and the near-shutdown of the world's economy are having overwhelmingly positive impacts on the health of the planet. Manufacturing and most pollution-producing industries have ground to a halt due to the spread of the virus. Paul Monks, professor of air pollution at the University of Leicester, called it the "largest-scale experiment ever" regarding the reduction of industrial emissions.
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Will your church be ready when the crisis ends?
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityThe language of COVID-19 is here and probably won't vanish when the last case ends. Social distancing, elbow-bumping, and cough-cringing are all going to live in our collective psyche for years to come. A few days ago, I approached a neighbor who was washing his car. We awkwardly walked close, half-extended hands in greeting, before laughing and backing away. It's difficult to express Christian love or even friendliness in light of COVID-19. Even after the crisis has ended, we'll be different people. That goes for our houses of worship, too.
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Will Airbnb guests want to stay in chain hotels instead after COVID-19?
Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementCOVID-19 has hit the economy so hard that it could take three years for the U.S. to recover. Right now, nobody goes out, and nobody travels. The travel and hospitality industry has been hit the hardest, with mass layoffs and record-low key performance indicators (KPIs). According to STR's lodging report for the week ending on March 28, the industry's KPIs hit "unprecedented lows." For example, revenue per available room (RevPAR) was $18.05, an 80.3% drop from the same week in 2019.
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Study: Sweet tooth gene related to lower body fat, with some caveats
Amanda Ghosh Medical & Allied HealthcareFGF21, or fibroblast growth factor 21, is a hormone secreted by the liver. It suppresses sugar and alcohol intake, stimulates the uptake of glucose by fat cells, and acts as an insulin sensitizer. At least one variant of the FGF21 gene, rs838133, is associated with higher consumption of sugar and alcohol and lower consumption of fat and protein. Approximately 20% of Europeans are homozygous for the rs838133 variant, and they consume more sugar and alcohol as a result. But, to what effect? A study published in Cell Reports investigates.