Association of University Student Gatherings With Community COVID-19 Infections Before and After the NCAA March Madness Tournament
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: O’Donoghue A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8546495 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:March Mammal Madness is a science outreach project that, over the course of several weeks in March, reaches hundreds of thousands of people in the United States every year. We combine four approaches to science outreach - gamification, social media platforms, community event(s), and creative products - to run a simulated tournament in which 64 animals compete to become the tournament champion. While the encounters between the animals are hypothetical, the outcomes rely on empirical evidence from the scientific literature. Players select their favored combatants beforehand, and during the tournament scientists translate the academic literature into gripping "play-by-play" narration on social media. To date ~1100 scholarly works, covering almost 400 taxa, have been transformed into science stories. March Mammal Madness is most typically used by high-school educators teaching life sciences, and we estimate that our materials reached ~1% of high-school students in the United States in 2019. Here we document the intentional design, public engagement, and magnitude of reach of the project. We further explain how human psychological and cognitive adaptations for shared experiences, social learning, narrative, and imagery contribute to the widespread use of March Mammal Madness.
| S-EPMC7899649 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate dietary supplement information needs among collegiate athletes.MethodsThree hundred seven (n = 154 male; n = 153 female) student athletes participating in a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I team completed a dietary supplement survey. Qualitative coding addressed open-ended responses, and chi-square test of independence explored differences among athlete subgroups.ResultsFive themes representing athletes' information needs included quality/composition (53.5%; n = 77), general information (31.9%; n = 46), nutrition information (30.6%; n = 44), performance (18.8%; n = 27), and body composition (13.2%; n = 19). Athletes with "no" or "minimal" (n = 63), vs "moderate" or "strong" (n = 195), perceived knowledge of supplement safety were more likely to list a question about supplement quality or composition (34.9% [n = 22/63] vs 21.5% [n= 42/195]; P = .03; chi-square = 4.6).Conclusions and implicationsFurther research is needed to corroborate findings to inform educational efforts and promote safe and effective use of dietary supplements by student athletes.
| S-EPMC7735714 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionThe majority of large public universities have exclusive pouring rights contracts with beverage companies that produce and market sugar-sweetened beverages. Pouring rights contracts contain provisions that conflict with recommendations from major public health organizations that institutions reduce sugar-sweetened beverage availability, marketing, and consumption. This study assessed the following among students at 3 public universities: student perception of pouring rights contracts (the extent to which they favored or opposed pouring rights contracts), the association between student socioeconomic characteristics and perception of pouring rights contracts, student estimates of pouring rights contract revenue, and the association between student pouring rights contract revenue estimates and perception of pouring rights contracts. To contextualize results, actual pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total revenues was estimated.MethodsA cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted among a convenience sample of 1,311 undergraduate sugar-sweetened beverages-consuming students recruited from 3 large and diverse public universities in Northern California. On an online questionnaire, undergraduate students indicated the extent to which they favored or opposed pouring rights contracts on a 10-point scale (oppose=1-5, favor=6-10) and provided a numeric estimate of the percentage of total university revenue they thought their university's pouring rights contract generated. Regression models were used to analyze differences in perception of pouring rights contracts by student socioeconomic characteristics and estimates of university revenues generated by pouring rights contracts. In addition, pouring rights contracts and financial reports were obtained from the 3 universities to estimate actual pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total revenues. Survey data were collected between August and November 2018 and analyzed in August 2022.ResultsA large majority of students (81%) opposed pouring rights contracts, and the opposition did not significantly differ by student socioeconomic characteristics, including by levels of food security, need-based financial aid, participation in federal food assistance or healthcare programs, parental education, or parental income (all ps>0.14). The median student estimate for pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total university revenue was 10%. In contrast, the estimated actual annual revenue generated from the pouring rights contracts ranged from 0.01% to 0.04% at these schools. Revenue estimates were not significantly associated with participants' opposition or favoring of pouring rights contracts (p=0.65).ConclusionsA large majority of students opposed pouring rights contracts, and this opposition was similar regardless of student socioeconomic characteristics or student estimates of pouring rights contract revenues. Students markedly overestimated (by >100-1,000-fold) the percentage of university revenue that came from pouring rights contracts. University administration should consider student views on pouring rights contracts when deciding whether to exit or continue with pouring rights contracts.
| S-EPMC10864850 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Dietary supplements, sports foods, and ergogenic supplements are consumed to increase performance, recovery, and health, but risk contamination with illegal substances. Third-party testing programs may assist in regulating the purity and safety of supplements, yet athletes' attitudes and use of such programs are not widely reported. This study examined nutritional supplement knowledge, attitudes, and use, as well as the purchase of third-party tested supplements among university student-athletes (N = 138). Knowledge of nutritional supplements yielded a median and (IQR) score of 25% (17 to 42%). Sixteen percent of student-athletes said they were knowledgeable about supplements and their effects, p < 0.001. All athletes stated they used a dietary supplement or sports food at least once within the last 12 months, and 77% consumed at least one "claimed to be" ergogenic supplement. Sixty-six percent of student-athletes purchased nutritional supplements not provided by the athletic department. Females athletes were more likely to consume a combination of vitamins and single minerals, a larger variety of sports foods, exotic berries, herbs, maca root powder, ribose, ephedra, colostrum, and hydroxy-methyl-buterate (HMB) than males. Over 90% believed it was essential to know if a supplement was third-party tested. However, only 57% stated the supplements bought were third-party tested. No sex differences were found for nutritional supplement knowledge, attitudes, and use of third-party testing programs. Our results indicate a need to improve student-athletes' attitudes toward and knowledge of nutritional supplements, and the initiation of programs to assist in the choosing and consuming of third-party tested supplements.
| S-EPMC7739801 | biostudies-literature
Project description:During July 2021, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) B.1.617.2 variant infections, including vaccine breakthrough infections, occurred after large public gatherings in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA, prompting a multistate investigation. Public health departments identified primary and secondary cases by using coronavirus disease surveillance data, case investigations, and contact tracing. A primary case was defined as SARS-CoV-2 detected <14 days after travel to or residence in Provincetown during July 3-17. A secondary case was defined as SARS-CoV-2 detected <14 days after close contact with a person who had a primary case but without travel to or residence in Provincetown during July 3-August 10. We identified 1,098 primary cases and 30 secondary cases associated with 26 primary cases among fully and non-fully vaccinated persons. Large gatherings can have widespread effects on SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and fully vaccinated persons should take precautions, such as masking, to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, particularly during substantial or high transmission.
| S-EPMC8714214 | biostudies-literature
Project description:International university students are a growing section of the workforce and are thought to be at greater risk of injury. Qualitative studies have highlighted vulnerabilities, but there is a shortage of quantitative research exploring the injury experience and associated risk factors of this emerging issue. In this study, a total of 466 university student workers across a range of study programs in a single Australian university completed an online survey, with questions relating to their background, working experience, training and injury experience. Risk factors for injury were explored in a multivariate statistical model. More than half had not received any safety training before they started work, and 10% reported having had a work injury. About half of these injuries occurred after training. Statistically significant risk factors for injury included working more than 20 h per week (adjusted odds ratio 2.20 (95% CI 1.03-4.71) and lack of confidence in discussing safety issues (AOR 2.17; 95% CI 1.13-4.16). The findings suggest the need for a more engaging and effective approach to safety education and a limit on working hours. This situation is a moral challenge for universities, in that they are effectively sponsoring young workers in the community. It is recommended that longitudinal studies of international student workers be conducted.
| S-EPMC5877001 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PURPOSE:The first SARS-CoV-2 cases in Europe were reported in January 2020. Recently, concern arose on unrecognized infections before this date. For a better understanding of the pandemic, we retrospectively analyzed patient samples for SARS-CoV-2 from the prospective CAPNETZ study cohort. METHODS:We used nasopharyngeal swab samples from a cohort of well characterized patients with community acquired pneumonia of the CAPNETZ study group, recruited from different geographic regions across Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Switzerland between 02nd December 2019 and 28th April 2020. Multiplex real-time RT-PCR for a broad range of respiratory pathogens and SARS-CoV-2 real-time RT-PCR were performed on all samples. RESULTS:In our cohort, respiratory pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 21.5% (42/195) of patients with rhinovirus as the most frequently detected pathogen. The detection rate increased to 29.7% (58/195) when SARS-CoV-2 was included. No SARS-CoV-2 positive sample was detected before end of March 2020. CONCLUSIONS:Respiratory viral pathogens accounted for a considerable number of positive results but no SARS-CoV-2 case was identified before the end of March 2020.
| S-EPMC7332473 | biostudies-literature
Project description:It is currently commonplace for institutions of higher education to proclaim to embrace diversity and inclusion. Though there are numerous rationales available for doing so, US Supreme Court decisions have consistently favored rationales which assert that diversity provides compelling educational benefits and is thus instrumentally useful. Our research is a quantitative/experimental effort to examine how such instrumental rationales comport with the preferences of White and Black Americans, specifically contrasting them with previously dominant moral rationales that embrace diversity as a matter of intrinsic values (e.g., justice). Furthermore, we investigate the prevalence of instrumental diversity rationales in the American higher education landscape and the degree to which they correspond with educational outcomes. Across six experiments, we showed that instrumental rationales correspond to the preferences of White (but not Black) Americans, and both parents and admissions staff expect Black students to fare worse at universities that endorse them. We coded university websites and surveyed admissions staff to determine that, nevertheless, instrumental diversity rationales are more prevalent than moral ones are and that they are indeed associated with increasing White-Black graduation disparities, particularly among universities with low levels of moral rationale use. These findings indicate that the most common rationale for supporting diversity in American higher education accords with the preferences of, and better relative outcomes for, White Americans over low-status racial minorities. The rationales behind universities' embrace of diversity have nonlegal consequences that should be considered in institutional decision making.
| S-EPMC8072243 | biostudies-literature
Project description:During COVID-19 restrictions in spring 2020, college students experienced closed dormitories and increased unemployment and many students moved in with their families. College students were vulnerable to food insecurity pre-pandemic and this study examined how the living situations and food security status changed for Midwestern university students due to COVID-19 restrictions. An email survey administered to Iowa State University students between the ages of 18 and 30 who physically attended campus prior to its closure produced 1434 responses. Students living with a parent or guardian increased by 44% and were less likely to experience food insecurity or less likely to work. They had lower stress and ate more home-cooked meals. Students living on their own had higher rates of food insecurity, greater stress, poorer health status, higher cooking self-efficacy, and worked more hours. Seventeen percent of all students were food insecure; related factors were non-White ethnicity, lower cooking self-efficacy, undergraduate status, receipt of financial aid, employment, stress, living in the same situation as before the campus closure, and consumption of more take-out or fast food. These individuals had more barriers to food access. Knowledge of these factors provide useful information to inform future support services for this population in similar conditions.
| S-EPMC8229979 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This study examined student-teachers' diversity and attitudes toward classroom participation in a Tanzanian university. A mixed research approach was used to answer three research questions: student-teachers' attitudes toward classroom participation, attitude differences based on their diversity, and the reasons for their attitudes toward classroom participation. The study involved 701 student-teachers in their second and third years of study. Data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions and were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science and MAXQDA software. Results indicated that student-teachers cooperated with colleagues in groups rather than the whole classroom. The results also indicated diversity in classroom participation by gender, programme, and year of study. Further, it was revealed that student-teachers' attitudes toward classroom participation were based on prior experiences, cultural aspects, linguistic barriers, lecturer pedagogical practices, and teaching context. It is concluded that the student-teachers' attitudes toward classroom participation were variably associated with their diversity, and the reasons for the attitudes were mediated internally and externally. Therefore, it is recommended that lectures be conducted by employing apt techniques for fostering active participation to enrich the classroom with student-teachers and lecturers' voices in knowledge construction and sharing. The techniques should be gender, programme, and year of study sensitive while integrating students-teachers' internal and external mediating factors to create interactive classroom moments that encourage knowledge creation and sharing among the classroom members.
| S-EPMC10238682 | biostudies-literature