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A better way to evaluate health interventions

10/31/18

There’s a better way to evaluate the effectiveness of health interventions. It can help make health interventions not only effective, but scalable, affordable and reduce complexity. When testing an intervention that is trying to modify health attitudes or behaviors — like a smoking cessation program — the Multiphase Optimization Strategy, or MOST, approaches the research process from a vantage point borrowed from the engineering world.

Commonwealth Campuses Research Collaboration Development Program

Partnership announced between Commonwealth Campuses and shared facilities

10/31/18

The Office of the Vice President for Research has announced the launch of a new program to support increased usage of shared core facilities and services by faculty at the Commonwealth Campuses. The Commonwealth Campuses Research Collaboration Development Program expects to provide 20 awards of up to $10,000 in 2018.

Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence puts IST research to the test

10/30/18

In the days surrounding the landfall of Hurricane Florence, which pummeled the Carolinas in September, a team of Penn State researchers was called upon to turn their knowledge into action. The team had previously partnered with Charleston County Consolidated 911 Center in South Carolina to develop a tool that would integrate social media posts into its emergency response operations.

Concussion-gene-study-football-2018

Dyslexia gene may predict concussion susceptibility among football players

10/29/18

A gene associated with the learning disorder dyslexia may play a role in athletes’ susceptibility to concussions, according to a study by Penn State and Northwestern University. The pilot study included 87 Division I Penn State football players from 2015 to 2017. Researchers aimed to determine whether a genotype in nine candidate genes predicted the number of previously diagnosed concussions in this group of football players.

map showing states' legislative influence in 2008

States that heavily invest in legislature more influential in public policy

10/29/18

Using more than 100 years of public policy data to pinpoint patterns between any states adopting similar policies, Bruce Desmarais, associate professor of political science and an Institute for CyberScience co-hired faculty member, found that sizable states, such as California, New York or Florida with the income to invest in creating full-time legislative positions, are generally the starting points for any new legislation today.

students testing concrete cylinders

Penn State Harrisburg researcher, students test new use for incinerator waste

10/29/18

Trash incinerators produce massive amounts of ash, which ends up in landfills. In the United States, available land space for landfills is decreasing, and the construction industry is looking for ways to utilize more sustainable materials. Grady Mathews, assistant professor of civil engineering in the Penn State Harrisburg School of Science, Engineering, and Technology, and his students are testing a process that could provide solutions to both problems.

AI job recruiting

IST researchers to examine bias in AI recruiting, hiring tools

10/25/18

Chances are that artificial intelligence played a role in your last job search — and possibly even determined whether or not you got an offer — without you even knowing. According to Lynette Yarger, associate professor of information sciences and technology, nearly all Fortune 500 companies use some form of automation to support the hiring process. But are these tools biased?

Illustration of data entering a digital mock-up of a human head

Developing digital design data

10/24/18

Researchers at Penn State have received a $424,743 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate how the size and quality of datasets created by digital models relate to machine learning and how this impacts the support provided to engineering designers.

Patrick McDaniel

NSF selects Penn State to create, lead Center for Trustworthy Machine Learning

10/24/18

Patrick McDaniel, distinguished professor of computer science and engineering and the William L. Weiss Chair in Information and Communications Technology in the Penn State College of Engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Frontier grant to establish and lead the Center for Trustworthy Machine Learning.

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