Across the country, academics, journalists and researchers are mapping their state's news and knowledge ecosystems.

Their methods vary, but such initiatives aim to grasp the fragmented reality of where people get their local news and knowledge. Often this isn't only a legacy news organization comparable to a community newspaper, television station or radio station.

Local news mapping in communities goes back greater than a decade. But since then, researchers at Montclair State University's Center for Cooperative Media have created something recent New Jersey interactive news map In 2020, similar projects exploded.

As an instructor at Colorado College, where I manage this Institute of JournalismI'm obsessive about the way in which people get their local news and knowledge. For a course called “The Future and Sustainability of Local News,” students and I interviewed and surveyed Coloradans on the subject. We has created an interactive map that shows Here, Coloradans can learn what's occurring of their communities across all 64 counties within the state.

We published this primary Colorado News Mapping Project in 2022 in collaboration with the University of Denver and others. It features a growing list of over 600 news and knowledge sources. The map, which we update recurrently, includes all the things from podcasts and Facebook groups, TikTok and Instagram accounts to Substack newsletters and more.

In one in every of our state's least populous counties, San Juan, a student learned of “a single community member who went door to door telling people about certain events or occurrences.” Yes, this contemporary town crier appears on our map.

A have a look at the graphic shows which counties have abundant news and knowledge sources and which don’t. It also comprises census data on population and demographics.

Local news mapping projects are gaining momentum

Colorado is one in every of several states with such projects.

Last 12 months, universities mapped local news ecologies Nebraska, Maryland And Minnesota. Around the identical time, projects began for New Mexico, Montana, Wisconsin and Wyoming. They followed the maps Oregon and elsewhere.

Washington State University is Creating a map with funding from a legislative initiative to support local news. It could even make clear how lawmakers there shape public policy.

Researchers have also attempted to evaluate the local news environments in specific regions, e.g New England, in southern New MexicoCalifornia Domestic Empireand the cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore And Detroit.

A framework for mapping local news

Those of us who do that labor-intensive research profit from organizations that help make it easier.

Last 12 months, the firm Impact Architects released one News and Information Ecosystem Playbook and accompanying Workbook This helps researchers compare one community's news and knowledge ecosystem to others. Resources include the best way to set baselines and collect data.

These mapping and rating initiatives come at a time when local newspapers are increasingly shrinking or disappearing from communities. have papers disappeared after about two seconds per week, in accordance with a study by Northwestern University's State of Local News Project. Combined with broader cuts in funding and staffing, the event has led to what researchers call ““Ghost newspapers” and “news deserts”..”

A 2023 landscape study of Georgia found this troubling 17 of its counties have none a single source of skilled local news ever.

Colorado's methodology

To understand the Colorado landscape, we used a loose methodology.

We select to not be judge and jury on the legitimacy of a source. We added something to our map if residents told us they relied on it or if it had one other demonstrable impact on the community. In this fashion we desired to reflect the fact of where people in a county are on the lookout for news and knowledge and what is accessible.

On our map, we noted whether a source was a member of knowledgeable journalism organization and what its ownership structure was. For context, now we have included a transient description of every source.

University of Denver researchers Kareem Raouf El Damanhoury And David Coppini First, two public databases were compiled to acquire a baseline list of branches in each Colorado county. They also analyzed coverage in each county on a single weekday in 2021 and determined the variety of original and native stories produced.

Colorado College students then interviewed people within the counties to discover additional sources. We sent surveys to local news organizations to distribute of their communities.

Calvin University Journalism professor Jesse Holcomb has worked on news mapping projects and researched. He noted that a “major conflict” exists between scale and precision.

Scaling, he said, allows researchers to make broad, generalizable statements concerning the health of a landscape. However, this will come on the expense of granular detail through “laborious, bespoke groundwork” on the community level.

“In contrast, research that emphasizes precision and accuracy is often limited to case studies, and therefore it is more difficult to generate generalizable insights,” he said.

Those who zoom in on a news map could also be on the lookout for more efficient decision-making, comparable to: B. identifying a news outlet based on stationary location reasonably than coverage area.

“The former is easy to measure but has limited significance,” Holcomb said. “The latter is difficult to measure, but brings more insight in the form of insights.”

An evolution in news mapping

This recent generation of local news and knowledge cartographers are sometimes situated in senior journalism departments and have rapidly evolving technology Tech tools.

They are conducting state-level news ecology research at a time when national and native charities are raising and spending money to assist revitalize the country's local news scenes.

“It is important for funders in our network to understand not only which geographic communities different newsrooms reach, but also which specific audiences they are intended to serve – and how,” said Melissa Milios Davis, network manager for Press Forwarda nationwide non-profit initiative. “Having all of this useful information in one place – even with layers of socioeconomic and civic engagement data – helps target philanthropic resources in the communities and contexts that need them most.”

As these different state maps take more shape, Sarah Stonbely from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism is constructing a national project local news registry. It is geared toward all providers of citizen information. Think community centers, chambers of commerce, local governments, and even small businesses.

Other initiatives, comparable to the Civic Information Index and the Local News Roadmaphave advocated similar approaches.

“As the local news landscape has evolved, so has local news mapping,” Stonbely said. “It has become clear that journalists are no longer the gatekeepers; There are now so many ways people get news, especially in local journalism deserts. Our efforts to provide actionable data about the local news landscape have had to evolve accordingly.”

A neighborhood news map near you

As researchers map their very own communities, they receive support from those that have traversed similar terrain.

A bunch of scientists from several universities has been formed Local News Impact Consortiumthat works with researchers and practitioners to assist develop standards and protocols. Its goal is to “expand the in-depth investigation” of local information ecosystems across the country.

A panel on “Mapping Local News Ecosystems and Closing the Gaps” is scheduled to happen later this 12 months on the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

I plan to represent Colorado's project on the jury. Who knows how various things could look by then.

Blood samples from patients infected with a parasitic worm that causes schistosomiasis contain hidden information that characterizes different stages of the disease. In ours recently published research resultsOur team used machine learning to uncover this hidden information and improve early detection and diagnosis of infections.

The parasite that causes schistosomiasis completes its life cycle in two hosts – first in snails after which in mammals equivalent to humans, dogs and mice. Freshwater worm eggs enter the human host through the skin and flow into throughout the body. Damage to multiple organsincluding liver, intestines, bladder and urethra. When these larvae reach the blood vessels that connect the intestines to the liver, they mature into adult worms. They then release eggs, that are excreted throughout the infected person's bowel movements. Continuation of the transmission cycle.

Current since diagnosis is predicated on the detection of eggs in fecesDoctors often miss the early stages of infection. By the time eggs are discovered, the disease is already at a complicated stage. Because diagnosis rates are poor, public health officials typically turn to diagnosis Mass administration of the drug praziquantel for the population within the affected regions. However, praziquantel cannot eliminate young worms in early stages of infection and forestall reinfection.

Our study provides a transparent path to improving early detection and diagnosis Identifying the hidden information within the blood This signals an energetic infection within the early stages.

Your body responds to a schistosomiasis infection by mounting an immune response involving multiple varieties of immune cells in addition to antibodies that specifically goal molecules secreted or present by the worm and eggs. Our study presents two ways to screen for specific features of antibodies that indicate early infection.

The first is an assay that detects a quantitative and qualitative profile of the immune responseThese include different classes of antibodies and properties that determine how they impart with other immune cells. This allowed us to discover specific facets of the immune response that distinguish uninfected patients from those with early and late stages of the disease.

Second, we developed a brand new one Machine learning approach that analyzes antibodies to discover latent features of the immune response which are related to disease stage and disease severity. We trained the model on immune profile data from infected and uninfected patients and tested the model on data not used for training and on data from a unique geographic location. We have identified not only biomarkers for the disease, but in addition the potential mechanism underlying the infection.

Why it matters

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease It affects over 200 million people worldwide and 280,000 people die from it yearly. Early diagnosis can improve the effectiveness of treatment and forestall serious illness.

Furthermore, unlike many machine learning methods, that are black boxes, our approach can be black boxes interpretable. This means it will possibly provide insights into why and the way the disease develops that transcend simply identifying disease markers and may guide future strategies for early diagnosis and treatment.

What shouldn’t be yet known

The schistosomiasis infection signatures we identified remain stable in two geographic regions on two continents. Future research could examine how applicable these biomarkers are to additional populations.

Furthermore, our work identifies a possible mechanism behind disease progression. We found that a selected immune response against a selected protein on the surface of the worm signals an intermediate stage of infection. Understanding how the immune system responds to this little-understood antigen could improve diagnosis and treatment.

What's next?

Our results not only improve our understanding of how the immune system responds to different stages of infection, but in addition discover key antigens that would pave the way in which for the event of cost-effective and efficient diagnostic and treatment approaches. Our next steps include actually implementing these strategies into practice for early detection and treatment of disease.

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, AP business journalist

On a hot summer day in Oak Ridge, TennesseeDozens of men removed pipes, asbestos and unsafe waste as they worked to decontaminate a nuclear facility and prepare it for demolition.

Dressed from head to toe in overalls and equipped with respiration masks, the crew members, who toiled in a constructing without electricity, had no discernible respite from the warmthInstead, they wore bracelets that recorded their heart rate, movement and exertion levels to detect signs of warmth stress.

Stephanie Miller, a security and health manager for a U.S. contractor doing cleanup work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, watched a close-by computer screen. A color-coding system with small bubbles showing each employee's physiological data alerted her when any of them were in peril of overheating.

“Heat is one of the biggest risks we face in this work, even though we work with high levels of radiation, dangerous chemicals and heavy metals,” Miller said.

While the world experiences more Record temperaturesExplore employers wearable technologies To ensure the protection of employeesNew devices collect biometric data to find out core body temperature – an elevated temperature is a symptom of warmth exhaustion – and prompt employees to take cooling-down breaks.

The devices, originally developed for athletes, firefighters and military personnel, are being introduced at a time when the Atlantic Council is reducing heat-related losses in Labor productivity could cost the United States about $100 billion annually.

However, there are concerns in regards to the security of medical data collected on employees, with some employees' associations fearing that managers could use this data to penalize employees for taking needed breaks.

“Any time you put a device on a worker, they're very concerned about tracking, privacy and how can you use this against me,” said Travis Parsons, director of occupational health and safety on the Laborers' Health and Safety Fund of North America. “There are a lot of exciting things out there, but there are no guardrails for it.”

HEAT DANGEROUS

The employees on the Tennessee cleanup site wearing heat stress monitors made by Atlanta-based SlateSafety are employed by United Cleanup Oak Ridge, a contractor with the U.S. Department of Energy, which has regulations to stop overheating within the workplace.

But most U.S. employees lack protection from extreme heat because no federal regulations they require, and plenty of vulnerable employees Do not speak or seek medical help. In July, the Biden administration proposed a rule to guard 36 million employees from heat-related illnesses.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 986 employees died from heat exposure within the United States between 1992 and 2022. Experts suspect the number is even higher because a coroner may not list heat because the reason behind death if a roofer suffers a fatal fall in sweltering heat.

Attitude Occupational safety standards could be difficult because every body reacts otherwise to heat. This is where the manufacturers of portable devices want to begin.

HOW PORTABLE HEATING TECHNOLOGY WORKS

Employers have identified heat-related symptoms in employees by taking their temperatures with thermometers, sometimes rectally. More recently, firefighters and military personnel have swallowed thermometer capsules.

“This simply could not have worked in our work environment,” said Rob Somers, Global Environment, Health and Safety Director at Consumer Product Perrigo Companysaid.

Instead, over 100 employees in the corporate's infant formula factories were equipped with SlateSafety wristbands. The devices measure the wearer's core body temperature and trigger an alarm when the reading reaches 38.5 degrees.

Another SlateSafety customer is a Cardinal Glass factory in Wisconsin, where 4 masons maintain a furnace that reaches 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

“They're right up against the wall. So it's them and the fire,” said Jeff Bechel, the corporate's safety manager.

Cardinal Glass paid $5,000 for five wristbands, software and air monitoring devices. Bechel believes the investment can pay off; one worker's two heat-related emergency room visits cost the corporate $15,000.

Another portable device, made by Massachusetts-based Epicore Biosystems, analyzes sweat to find out when employees are susceptible to dehydration or overheating.

“Until a few years ago, you would just wipe off the sweat with a towel,” said CEO Rooz Ghaffari. “It turns out that all this information that we were missing is hidden there.”

Research has shown that some devices can successfully predict core body temperature in controlled environments, but their accuracy in dynamic workplaces shouldn’t be yet proven, experts say. A 2022 research review found that aspects corresponding to age, gender and ambient humidity make it difficult to reliably measure body temperature with the technology.

Clad in protective gear, United Cleanup Oak Ridge employees can begin to sweat even before demolition begins. Managers see dozens of sensor alerts day-after-day.

Worker Xavier Allison, 33, recently removed heavy parts of the pipes Heatwave when his device vibrated. Since he was working with radioactive materials and asbestos, he couldn't go outside to rest without going through a decontamination process, so he spent about quarter-hour in a close-by room that was just as hot.

“Just sit by yourself and try to cool down,” Allison said.

The bracelet notifies the employee when she or he has cooled down sufficiently and may resume work.

“Since we introduced the system, the number of people needing medical attention has dropped significantly,” Miller said.

Collection of non-public data

United Cleanup Oak Ridge uses the Sensor data and an annual medical exam to find out work assignments, Miller said. When the corporate noticed patterns, it sent some employees to their primary care doctors, who discovered heart problems the workers hadn't known about, she said.

At Perrigo, managers analyze the info to seek out individuals with multiple alerts and confer with them to seek out out if there’s “a reason why they can't work in that environment,” Somers said. The information is sorted by identification numbers, not names, when entered into the corporate's software system, he said.

Companies that retain medical data for years increase Privacy concerns and whether bosses can use the knowledge to kick an worker off medical health insurance or fire them, says Adam Schwartz, director of privacy litigation on the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“Honestly, the device might hurt because you could raise your hand and say, 'I need a break,' and the boss might say, 'No, your heart rate is not elevated, go back to work,'” Schwartz said.

To minimize such risks, employers should give their employees the selection of whether or to not wear monitoring devices, process only absolutely needed data and delete the knowledge inside 24 hours, he said.

Wearing such devices may expose employees to unwanted promoting, says Ikusei Misaka, a professor at Musashino University in Tokyo.

A partial solution

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health advises employers to develop a plan to assist employees adapt to hot conditions and train them to acknowledge signs of heat-related illness and supply first aid. Wearable devices could be a part of efforts to scale back heat stress, but their accuracy needs more study, says Doug Trout, the agency's medical officer.

The technology must even be paired with access to breaks, shade and funky water, as many employees, especially in agriculturefear retaliation in the event that they take a break to chill off or drink.

“If they don't have water to drink and don't have time to drink it, it doesn't mean much,” said Juanita Constible, senior attorney on the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It's just something extra they have to carry around when they're in the hot fields.”

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Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Originally published: August 28, 2024 at 11:30 am

Here is the newest information on the 49ers’ injuries throughout the 2024 season:

9 August

Defensive end Austin Bryant was placed on the injured list after apparently injuring his right ankle during practice.

8 August

The 49ers have placed defensive end Drake Jackson on the injured list and he is predicted to miss the season with a knee injury.

7 August

All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner missed practice due to a foot problem, but said it was “nothing serious at all.”

6 August

Star running back Christian McCaffrey will miss several weeks of coaching attributable to a strained calf. He won’t play in any preseason games, said coach Kyle Shanahan. His running back colleague Elijah Mitchell can be out attributable to a strained thigh.

Rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall left practice with a shoulder injury he has been battling because the offseason, and punter Mitch Wishnowsky also continues to miss time with knee irritation.

2 August

Veteran tight end Logan Thomas missed practice attributable to a hamstring injury.

July 27

Spencer Burford broke his right hand and might have surgery, in response to coach Kyle Shanahan. His injury and a knee problem for Jon Feliciano could give rookie Dominick Puni a spot within the starting lineup.

July 25

Rookie running back Isaac Guerendo suffers a hamstring strain on the primary day of coaching.

July 24

Linebacker Dre Greenlaw (Achilles tendon), safety Talanoa Hufanga (torn ACL) and defensive lineman Drake Jackson (knee) open training camp on the physically unable to perform list.

July 16

The 49ers are placing wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, their first-round pick, on the non-football injured list when the rookies report back to training camp. He is reportedly coping with a shoulder injury.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) welcomes the July 1 arrest of a San Pablo man who allegedly fired shots at one other automobile during a DUI incident. This is the primary arrest aided by a brand new network of a whole lot of cameras around Oakland and the East Bay.

“The CHP is excited to see this new technology deployed on Bay Area highways,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “Our investigators will use this technology to identify and apprehend those who commit criminal activity and endanger California's motorists.”

Governor Gavin Newsom announced In April that the CHP had hired Flock Safety, a Georgia-based crime safety technology company, to put in a network of the corporate's 480 cameras in Oakland and the East Bay, with about 290 of them to be placed on Oakland streets and 190 along East Bay state roads.

Detectives with the Highway Patrol's Special Investigations Unit reviewed the camera data and issued an alert to other law enforcement agencies to be looking out for the suspected shooter's vehicle – a 2016 Honda Accord – and its license plate. By 10:20 a.m., Contra Costa County Sheriff's officers had positioned the vehicle in Richmond and stopped the motive force. Inside the vehicle, they found a handgun believed to have been utilized in the shooting, and the motive force was later booked into the San Francisco County Jail. Charges included attempted murder, assault with a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.

“By leveraging cutting-edge technology and deploying new officers, California is doubling down on efforts to keep our communities safe,” Newsom said.

The cameras not only discover license plates, but also can track vehicle type, make, color, license plate status, missing or obscured license plates, and other features comparable to bumper stickers, roof racks, or decals. The camera network may be set as much as alert authorities if considered one of the cameras captures footage of a vehicle suspected of being involved in a criminal offense. The data is stored for 28 days and made available only to California law enforcement, so Newsom's office.