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A mathematical study of how infectious diseases spread has demonstrated a surprising link between the progress of an outbreak and the way that outbreak is portrayed in the media.

The study suggests that when public health officials are speaking to reporters about an outbreak, they should include information about the rate at which a disease is spreading and not just the total number of cases in a population. The studys authors say that in a real-world situation, effective media communication could delay the peak of an outbreak by days or weeks, buying crucial time for health agencies to respond.

Its a really interesting result, said Abba Gumel, a professor of mathematical biology at Arizona State University who was not involved in the study. It shows that the quality of media coverage, especially during the early stages of an outbreak, is really important.

To quantify that importance, researchers led by Jianhong Wu, director of York Universitys Centre for Disease Modelling in Toronto, built a mathematical model based on a 2009 flu outbreak with data on case numbers from the Shaanxi province of China. In the model, the influence of the media has an effect on the number of individual contacts, which can spread the infection from one person to another.

We know intuitively that the media can change population behaviour, Dr. Wu said. What were trying to do is find the functional relationship between the media and that change.

When the media influence was removed or altered in the model, the team was able to study the difference in the way the outbreak proceeded. They found that the medias impact was not uniform across the duration of the outbreak but was strongest during the initial stages, when the rate of new infections is changing most rapidly.

In contrast to previous studies, they found that media impact seems to switch off as an outbreak nears its peak, despite the fact that this is when the probability of getting infected is at its highest. In a discussion of their results, published Friday in the journal Scientific Reports, the team said that the way media influence switches on and off as a disease spreads through a population may account for why some outbreaks feature multiple peaks.

A key finding of the study is that by emphasizing the rate of change of case numbers rather than simply the total number of cases, officials may be able to significantly slow the growth of an outbreak. In the case of a deadly flu pandemic, that would increase the opportunity for health agencies to develop and produce antiviral medications.

Every week you can delay, youre one week closer to getting a vaccine. You want to drag [the peak] out, otherwise by the time you get your act together, everybodys infected already, said Michael Gardam, director of infection prevention and control at the University Health Network in Toronto.

He added that the York study should encourage health officials to think more strategically about the role of the media as an agent of disease control.

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Media can help slow spread of disease, study finds

Piece of cake follow these tips to master how your brand engages fans and followers on social media. Photograph: Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters

Working for a digital agency, I know how much money clients will spend on the important things such as branding and websites, but they fail to recognise the importance of social media: leaving social accounts dormant, letting just anyone control them and posting tired, self-promoting posts. Where is the relationship building, the fun, the passion? Just as your company needs a strategy for success, so does your social media presence. Here are some basics.

It doesnt matter how much money you spend on branding, marketing and advertising; it all comes down to how well your products are perceived. These days the internet makes these perceptions accessible to anyone who wants to listen. Thats why we use Google before we buy anything. To me, word of mouth or should I say, word of tweet, status, Vine, video, Pinterest and Tumblr are gospel.

A quick way to demonstrate how great your company is and to fight off competitors in a web search is to use a star rating through Googles My Business. I will always pick a business or service that has a star rating next to it over one that hasnt. These ratings, even an average one, show people that your customers are happy with the service they receive. But dont panic about getting five out of five stars; a perfect rating can look suspicious and besides, seeing true ratings and testimonials can tell you areas that you need to improve on, so get some honest feedback. Plus, a star rating helps you to rank higher on Google search results pages.

Every company understands that the way you run your online accounts reflects your business. But people will be expecting more than a professional-sounding tweet. Companies that just tweet business updates via business-speak dont let their personality shine through, which is a shame. They need to have a think about their values and how they can get this across. Are you a caring company? Then adopt a more soothing tone of voice.

Demonstrate who you are, not just what you do. Being slightly tongue-in-cheek gets you noticed. Have some banter with a celebrity and watch your retweets go mad. Even if you manage to get followers, subscribers and likes, you wont retain them by being boring. Use a mix of media: tweet videos, infographics, Vines, gifs and links. Interesting content gets shared, commented on and liked.

By providing a relevant service, companies may immediately attract a fair amount of followers, but gaining followers isnt everything; you need to retain them. People are picky about who they follow and need an incentive to interact with your brand. A good way to keep your followers happy is to play games and competitions with them, and reward them for getting involved. Helpful hints and tips are a great way to keep people checking your page. Ill be honest here, I buy a lot of clothes, but I dont follow every clothing store online just the ones that post outfit ideas I adore. Give people a reason to check your posts.

Having plenty of followers on Facebook and Twitter is all well and good, but you shouldnt stop there. Each social media platform has its own unique audience: for example, Generation Z those born after the millennial generation (so those born around the early and mid 2000s) prefer quick blasts of communication, such as a six-second Vine. Millennials, meanwhile, will turn to Tumblr. As a brand, your aim is to reach everybody, so sticking to the same channels with the same limited audience is redundant. Research other methods on social that could boost your company. Time is money, so spend the time online.

Once you are on these channels, keep using them. If you stop posting, your followers and customers will assume you are missing in action and wont actively follow you. If they have a problem and are ignored, they will become frustrated and are more likely to tweet angrily about the situation. Relationship ruined.

Make friends and spend time interacting, chatting and laughing with them. Retweet, favourite and compliment them. Remember that its not all about you. Traditionally, if a person liked a shopkeeper they would continue to shop, despite competition, because of the friendship. Build lasting, meaningful relationships with happy, satisfied clients.

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Where your brand is going wrong with social media

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is closing in on Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, Multi Screen Media (MSM), a division of Sony Entertainment, and World Sports Group (WSG) in the Rs 425-crore facilitation fee scam.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is closing in on Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, Multi Screen Media (MSM), a division of Sony Entertainment, and World Sports Group (WSG) in the Rs 425-crore facilitation fee scam.

The scam revolves around the 10-year media rights of IPL matches awarded to WSG, starting 2009. The total contract value was Rs 4,792 crore.

An interim investigation report shows that Lalit Modi, BCCI and WSG fraudulently created an asset of Rs 425 crore outside India under the guise of a facilitation fee.

dna has accessed the interim report of ED.

The report said that there was no agreement at all, and it was all meant to put pressure on MSM to fork out a huge amount as consideration over and above the fee that was to be paid under media rights agreement. "We have done our interim investigation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). On its basis, we will send show-cause notice to all four," a top ED official told dna.

When contacted, Ratnakar Shetty, head of operation, BCCI, replied, "no reaction". An e-mail sent to MSM went unanswered.

Despite repeated summons, Modi has not presented himself at the ED, said one of the officials.

What exactly is the scam? At first, BCCI said it had awarded IPL media rights to WSG. Later, when the rights were awarded to MSM was made to pay Rs 425 crore to WSG for relinquishing its rights. In reality, there was no agreement between BCCI and WSG and WSG had no rights to relinquish either. Lalit Modi might be a beneficiary of the Rs 125 crore already paid by MSM to World Sports Group, Mauritius (WSGM), the ED report said.

How did the scam play out? A new firm called WSG Mauritius was brought into play just to park rights with them. Then, Modi sent certain e-mails to various broadcasters and sponsors, including MSM, saying that BCCI was was barred from signing any new agreement till a certain court verdict was pronounced. Later, in another mail, he said the verdict was been pronounced and BCCI was free to enter into any agreement for media rights. The e-mail also said BCCI just signed a new agreement with WSG.

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Enforcement Directorate closes in on Lalit Modi, BCCI in Rs 450-crore IPL scam

Hackers claiming allegiance to the Islamic State took control of the social media accounts of the U.S. militarys Central Command on Monday, posting threatening messages and propaganda videos, along with some military documents.

The commands Twitter and YouTube accounts were eventually taken offline, but not before a string of tweets and the release of military documents, some of which listed contact information for senior military personnel. A Centcom spokesman confirmed their accounts were compromised, and said later that the accounts have been taken offline while the incident is investigated more.

CENTCOMs operation military networks were not compromised and there was no operational impact to U.S. Central Command, a military statement said. CENTCOM will restore service to its Twitter and YouTube accounts as quickly as possible. We are viewing this purely as a case of cybervandalism.

Military officials added in the statement that their initial assessment is that no classified information was posted, and that none of what was released came from Centcoms server or social media sites. The command will notify Defense Department and law enforcement authorities about the release of personally identifiable information and make sure that those affected are notified as quickly as possible, Centcom said.

Virtually all of the documents posted appear to already have been publicly available online, but the incident is nevertheless embarrassing to the U.S. military. Centcom oversees the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and frequently posts videos of airstrikes on the same accounts attacked Monday.

The United States and the Islamic State have waged a propaganda battle online for the better part of a year, after the militants rose to prominence and seized broad swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. Twitter accounts sympathetic to the militants have distributed graphic images of beheadings and other violence along with threats, while the Defense Department and State Department have sought to expose the Islamic State as an oppressive group willing to slaughter innocent men, women and children.

The first rogue tweet Monday was posted about 12:30 p.m. and the account was not suspended for about another 40 minutes. The background and profile photo of the Twitter account were both changed to show an apparent militant and the phrases CyberCaliphate and i love you isis, using one of the acronyms for the militant group.

AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK, one tweet said.

The YouTube and Twitter accounts of U.S. Central Command were suspended after apparent hacking by Islamic State sympathizers. (Reuters)

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration is examining and investigating the extent of the incident.

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U.S. military social media accounts apparently hacked by Islamic State sympathizers

An ISIS sympathizer going by the name CyberCaliphate took control of US Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts on Monday.

A hacker with a nearly identical signature hijacked the social-media accounts of the Albuquerque Journal and a local TV station in Maryland last week, a possible test run for Monday's far more ambitious act of internet vandalism.

The CENTCOM breach was an asymmetrical attack in the purest sense. It closed the gap between a weak and very limited actor and a much more powerful and numerous opponent.

As The Denver Post recounted after last week's breach of the Albuquerque Journal and a Salisbury, Maryland, TV station, CyberCaliphate couldn't even hack his way past the paywall of New Mexico's Mountain View Telegraph. But single hacker of apparently modest ability was still able to spread propaganda from social-media accounts associated with the commanders of the world's most powerful military.

The optics of it are terrible for the US and the broader effort against ISIS. And in the social-media sphere, optics can mutate into strategic gain. Indeed, the breach was a demonstration of what ISIS and its sympathizers are capable of, and a means of spreading their message even further.

"Nothing released was classified," Robert Caruso, a former Department of Defense special security officer, told Business Insider of documents that CyberCaliphate tweeted from CENTCOM's account: "Which is irrelevant, because they communicated threats to retired generals and admirals. It is a big deal."

Importantly, the attack was not aimed at government computer systems or against CENTCOM. CyberCaliphate chose a much easier target: social-media websites with fewer protections than official networks that are nevertheless used by significant components of the US national-security apparatus.

Twitter

"It's important to draw the distinction between what's called USCENTCOM being hacked and someone compromising the @CENTCOM Twitter account," said Caruso. "Whoever is responsible for this chose an asymmetric approach because they know the United States is still playing catchup in that arena."

Going after social media might show that while official networks are quite secure against anonymous, amateur hackers like CyberCaliphate, there will always be soft targets vulnerable to troublemakers.

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The CENTCOM Twitter Hack On Monday Is A Sign Of Things To Come