It is in our DNA : Athlete Activism and Social Media Discourse During the 2020 WNBA Season

This dissertation analyzes the athlete activism in the WNBA, the use of social media for activism, and the social media discourse during the 2020 basketball season. I applied Critical Discourse Analysis to a defined set of texts including social media posts from Instagram and Twitter, user comments on social media, news articles from sports and non-sports publications, and a documentary, all related to the activism of the WNBA athletes. I chose the 2020 season because it is an exceptional case study of athlete activism and the use of social media for activism because the season was played in a single site location due to the global pandemic. Other cultural and political factors made the season unique such as the increasingly apparent systemic racism in the United States and the impending elections in 2020. Throughout the season, the WNBA athletes devoted their activism to Breonna Taylor, the #SayHerName campaign, Black women victims of police violence, Jacob Blake, Black Lives Matter, and the Georgia Senate race between Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler and Rev. Raphael Warnock. The athletes used their platform and social media to immerse themselves in the political, social, and cultural events happening at the time, fought for social justice issues, and became a voice for the voiceless during the 2020 season. Through the social media discourse, I found there was a backlash towards the activism throughout the season, including consistent themes of racism, white supremacy, misogyny, and patriotism. Even though the athletes\u27 activism contributed to Warnock winning the Senate race and becoming the first Black Senator in Georgia, there have been significant impacts of their activism seen in the changes to social media platforms that may make it more difficult for athletes\u27 voices to be heard and for social media to be a place for activism

The importance of livestock demography and infrastructure in driving Foot and Mouth disease dynamics

Transboundary animal diseases, such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) pose a significant and ongoing threat to global food security. Such diseases can produce large, spatially complex outbreaks. Mathematical models are often used to understand the spatio-temporal dynamics and create response plans for possible disease introductions. Model assumptions regarding transmission behavior of premises and movement patterns of livestock directly impact our understanding of the ecological drivers of outbreaks and how to best control them. Here, we investigate the impact that these assumptions have on model predictions of FMD outbreaks in the U.S. using models of livestock shipment networks and disease spread. We explore the impact of changing assumptions about premises transmission behavior, both by including within-herd dynamics, and by accounting for premises type and increasing the accuracy of shipment predictions. We find that the impact these assumptions have on outbreak predictions is less than the impact of the underlying livestock demography, but that they are important for investigating some response objectives, such as the impact on trade. These results suggest that demography is a key ecological driver of outbreaks and is critical for making robust predictions but that understanding management objectives is also important when making choices about model assumptions

Geo-temporal patterns to design cost-effective interventions for zoonotic diseases -the case of brucellosis in the country of Georgia

IntroductionControl of zoonosis can benefit from geo-referenced procedures. Focusing on brucellosis, here the ability of two methods to distinguish disease dissemination patterns and promote cost-effective interventions was compared.MethodGeographical data on bovine, ovine and human brucellosis reported in the country of Georgia between 2014 and 2019 were investigated with (i) the Hot Spot (HS) analysis and (ii) a bio-geographical (BG) alternative.ResultsMore than one fourth of all sites reported cases affecting two or more species. While ruminant cases displayed different patterns over time, most human cases described similar geo-temporal features, which were associated with the route used by migrant shepherds. Other human cases showed heterogeneous patterns. The BG approach identified small areas with a case density twice as high as the HS method. The BG method also identified, in 2018, a 2.6–2.99 higher case density in zoonotic (human and non-human) sites than in non-zoonotic sites (which only reported cases affecting a single species) –a finding that, if corroborated, could support cost-effective policy-making.DiscussionThree dissemination hypotheses were supported by the data: (i) human cases induced by sheep-related contacts; (ii) human cases probably mediated by contaminated milk or meat; and (iii) cattle and sheep that infected one another. This proof-of-concept provided a preliminary validation for a method that may support cost-effective interventions oriented to control zoonoses. To expand these findings, additional studies on zoonosis-related decision-making are recommended

Athlete Activism in the WNBA through #SayHerName

The 2020 WNBA season was on track to go down as a historic season due to being played in the middle of a global pandemic, but the athletes of the WNBA made it even more memorable. Amid the racial turmoil that was sweeping the nation due to many Black Americans being killed by law enforcement agents, the athletes pulled off one of the biggest acts of athlete activism to date. The entire 2020 WNBA season was dedicated to the Say Her Name campaign, which brings awareness to the often forgotten names of the Black women who are victims of racist police violence, and Breonna Taylor (West). Social media sites, like Twitter, provide an opportunity for activism, especially through the use of the hashtag. There are many examples of hashtag activism and hashtag feminism campaigns on Twitter that allow participants to take personal experiences and make them public with a collective group to illuminate and raise awareness for social justice issues (Clark; Clark-Parsons). By examining the #SayHerName hashtag on Twitter within the context of the WNBA, I explore how the #SayHerName hashtag, which already has a long history on Twitter (Jackson et al.), was repurposed for the 2020 WNBA season. I also explore how the athletes used the 2020 WNBA basketball season as a platform, both on the court and off the court through Twitter, to amplify their voices in the fight for Black women, like Breonna Taylor, who are victims of police brutality. 243/250 Works Cited Clark, Rosemary. “‘Hope in a Hashtag’: The Discursive Activism of #WhyIStayed.” Feminist Media Studies, vol. 16, no. 5, Sept. 2016, pp. 788–804. Taylor and Francis+NEJM, https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2016.1138235. Clark-Parsons, Rosemary. “‘I See You, I Believe You, I Stand With You’: #MeToo and the Performance of Networked Feminist Visibility.” Feminist Media Studies, vol. 21, no. 3, June 2019, pp. 362–80. Taylor and Francis+NEJM, https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2019.1628797. Jackson, Sarah J., et al. #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice. The MIT Press, 2020. West, Jenna. “WNBA Dedicates Season to Breonna Taylor, Holds Moment of Silence.” Sports Illustrated, 25 July 2020, https://www.si.com/wnba/2020/07/25/wnba-dedicates-season-breonna-taylor-moment-of-silence

Process evaluation of health fairs promoting cancer screenings

Abstract Background Low income and uninsured individuals often have lower adherence to cancer screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. Health fairs are a common community outreach strategy used to provide cancer-related health education and services. Methods This study was a process evaluation of seven health fairs focused on cancer screening across the U.S. We conducted key-informant interviews with the fair coordinator and conducted baseline and follow-up surveys with fair participants to describe characteristics of participants as well as their experiences. We collected baseline data with participants at the health fairs and telephone follow-up surveys 6 months following the fair. Results Attendance across the seven health fairs ranged from 41 to 212 participants. Most fairs provided group or individual education, print materials and cancer screening during the event. Overall, participants rated health fairs as very good and participants reported that the staff was knowledgeable and that they liked the materials distributed. After the fairs, about 60% of participants, who were reached at follow-up, had read the materials provided and had conversations with others about cancer screening, and 41% talked to their doctors about screening. Based on findings from evaluation including participant data and coordinator interviews, we describe 6 areas in planning for health fairs that may increase their effectiveness. These include: 1) use of a theoretical framework for health promotion to guide educational content and activities provided, 2) considering the community characteristics, 3) choosing a relevant setting, 4) promotion of the event, 5) considerations of the types of services to deliver, and 6) evaluation of the health fair. Conclusions The events reported varied in reach and the participants represented diverse races and lower income populations overall. Most health fairs offered education, print materials and onsite cancer screening. Participants reported general satisfaction with these events and were motivated through their participation to read educational materials or discuss screening with providers. Public health professionals can benefit from this process evaluation and recommendations for designing and evaluating health fairs

Cross-species genomics reveals oncogenic dependencies in ZFTA/C11orf95 fusion-positive supratentorial ependymomas.

International audienceMolecular groups of supratentorial ependymomas comprise tumors with ZFTA-RELA or YAP1-involving fusions and fusion-negative subependymoma. However, occasionally supratentorial ependymomas cannot be readily assigned to any of these groups due to lack of detection of a typical fusion and/or ambiguous DNA methylation-based classification. An unbiased approach with a cohort of unprecedented size revealed distinct methylation clusters composed of tumors with ependymal but also various other histological features containing alternative translocations that shared ZFTA as a partner gene. Somatic overexpression of ZFTA-associated fusion genes in the developing cerebral cortex is capable of inducing tumor formation in vivo, and cross-species comparative analyses identified GLI2 as a key downstream regulator of tumorigenesis in all tumors. Targeting GLI2 with arsenic trioxide caused extended survival of tumor-bearing animals, indicating a potential therapeutic vulnerability in ZFTA fusion-positive tumors