ABSTRACT
In this study, we extend the literature on the rally ‘round the flag phenomenon, that is, that international crises tend to cause an increase in citizens' approval of political institutions. We advance this literature and highlight its relevance for political communication research in three ways: 1) by theorizing and empirically testing two arguments for why rally effects should extend to trust in the news media on the institutional level, 2) by providing empirical evidence on how rally effects on trust in the media develop over time during an international crisis, and 3) by theorizing and testing the conditions under which rally effects on media trust are more likely to occur by studying heterogeneous effects. Through a panel design with a pre-crisis baseline of Norwegian citizens' trust in news media, we find evidence to suggest that the compound effect of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis caused a long-lasting increase in trust in the news media in Norway, and that the degree of increase varied by citizens' education and whether they belonged to a "high-risk” group. We also provide evidence to suggest that rally effects on news media trust are contingent on how important the news media is as a source of information about the crisis and the "trust nexus” between media trust and political trust. These insights extend our current understanding of how times of crisis affect trust in the news media. © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
ABSTRACT
Background. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) T-cell therapy is a novel immunotherapy for cancer treatment in which patients are treated with targeted, genetically-modified T-cells. Common side effects include cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, hypogammaglobulinemia, and increased susceptibility to infections. Long-term infectious outcomes are poorly characterized. Methods. We retrospectively examined patients who received CAR-T therapy at BIDMC & MGH from July 2016 to March 2020 and evaluated bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections at 3 months intervals to 1 year following cell infusion. The incidence, timing, and outcomes of the infectious complications were evaluated. Results. In total, there were 47 patients;averaging 61.4 years of age (±12 years). Primary indications for CAR-T therapy included diffuse large b-cell lymphoma (65%) and multiple myeloma (25%), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (2%) and mantle cell lymphoma (2%). Patients had received an average 4 ± 2.9 lines of chemotherapy prior to CAR-T infusion;19 subjects (40%) had a history of prior autologous stem cell transplant. All patients received acyclovir for antiviral prophylaxis and most received either trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (24/47;51%) or atovaquone (16/47;34%) for pneumocystis prophylaxis. In the first year, 35/47 (74.5%) of subjects experienced at least one infection with an infection rate of 84.4/10,000 person days. Median time to first infection was 59 days (range 1-338 patient days). 31/47 (66.0%) subjects had at least one bacterial infection, with pulmonary (42/113;37.2%) sources being the most common site of infection. 13/47 (27.7%) of patients had a viral infection (predominantly respiratory viral infections) and 6/47 (12.8%) had a proven or probable fungal infection. Death attributed to infection was noted in 2 subjects (4.3%), both related to COVID-19. Baseline IgG levels were significantly lower in the group with infections (p=0.028), while white blood cell count and absolute neutrophil counts were comparable. Conclusion. Infectious complications, particularly of bacterial etiology, are common in the first year following CAR-T therapy. These data may inform future prophylactic strategies in this patient population.
ABSTRACT
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic George Mason University (Mason), similar to many institutions, had to suddenly switch to online delivery of all courses in March 2020. As the director of senior projects (first author) for the mechanical engineering program, this forced me into an unexpected situation. As many other engineering professors can attest, teaching laboratory intensive classes and design courses adds additional layers of complexity within the online delivery mode. The co-author who taught two other sections of senior design and the first author had to immediately devise a plan on how to continue to deliver a meaningful design experience to students online in the middle of the semester. While most programs in the country adjusted their capstone programs to face the unexpected pandemic, our program had its own set of challenges to overcome. The first concern for the authors was how to continue to provide a meaningful design experience to the students and the second one was how to complete the projects to meet the sponsors' expectations. That is why we decided to share our experience so we can generate more thoughts and discussions during the conference. Our first effort was to use our extensive engineering experience to challenge the senior students. Access to the machine shop was not allowed beginning halfway through the spring 2020 semester. During a normal academic year, student teams perform much of the fabrication and testing of their prototypes during the spring semester. Since access to the machine shop was not allowed, the focus of the program shifted towards a greater emphasis on analysis and technical writing. Another challenge is due to the model used for capstone projects at Mason in which 100% of the projects are externally sponsored by industry and government partners. In order to prepare the projects for the fall 2019 semester, authors worked side-by-side with the sponsors to agree on deliverables and top-level requirements in the preceding summer. Satisfying the needs of the sponsor, for nearly all projects, requires a significant 'hands on' component in terms of fabrication and subsequent testing. In prior iterations of the capstone course sequence, teams were expected to interface with the sponsors frequently, but the pandemic made sponsor-to-student interaction more difficult. We had to think of creative ways in which the student teams can meet the expectations of the sponsors who provided financial support. With the assistance and approval of the department leadership, we adjusted the course learning outcomes to suit the “unforeseen design conditions” of the capstone projects and provided a real-life learning experience in project management to the 59 senior students enrolled in the class. Although the modality of instruction changed and the access to campus was prohibited after the campus closure, the student teams were remarkable in coordinating the teamwork virtually. Because the students have worked together in teams before pandemic and knew their teammates, the aspect of teamwork progressed smoothly during the crucial early days of online learning in March 2020. Via extensive planning and adjustments to the course content and delivery, we successfully completed the two-semester long capstone program which concluded with a virtual capstone day in May 2020. This paper provides details on how the capstone program adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic at Mason while maintaining a rich learning experience. We share our experiences from the 2020 spring semester, discuss how we continued to adjust and manage the capstone program for the current academic year (AY) 2020-21 with uncertainties and create a stimulating dialogue. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021