Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

D Y S O N Y E A R I N R E V I E W 2 0 2 0 – 2 0 2 1 16 Relevant Research That Matters From cha ing the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns to uncovering a forgo en chapter of history, Dyson faculty provided new insights on a variety of research topics. COVID-19 Lockdowns and PSY Health The psychological toll of COVID-19 lockdowns has been widely discussed in the media, and now a new analysis from Associate Professor of Psychology Anthony Mancini, PhD, and Gabriele Prati, a researcher at the Università di Bologna, provides groundbreaking insight that indicates we might be more resilient than we thought. "We found that, in the early stages at least, the effect [of lockdown] was quite small," Mancini said. For the study, published in Psychological Medicine, he and Prati analyzed 25 studies involving more than 72,000 pa icipants, and findings showed no statistically significant negative impact on social suppo , loneliness, general distress, negative affect, and suicide risk among the general population. Mancini also notes that the data was extremely varied, which suggests that the psychological effect of lockdowns may differ depending on factors such as social group or geographical location, or the disparate health impact of the pandemic. Unlocking the Secrets of Bee Propolis Propolis, a sticky residue produced by bees and used in the construction of hives, has been recognized for its medicinal prope ies since ancient times. Today, Associate Professor of Chemistry Elmer-Rico E. Mojica, PhD, and his students are working to gain a be er understanding of the material. "Propolis doesn't have exact composition since its chemical makeup is dependent on many factors like location, bee species, and season," said Mojica. "What we are trying to do is to find out if we can have some so of a chemical marker that can identify that one propolis sample comes from a pa icular place." Mojica recently published new findings, with Lyric O. Wyan '19, Forensic Science, and Jozlyn M. Charland '20, Forensic Science, in the LSUA Undergraduate Journal of Teaching and Research that demonstrate the efficacy of using ultrasonification (ultrasonic sound waves) as an extraction method. The Impact of Online Dating Service Advertising In the world of online dating services (ODS), adve ising may be the third wheel, according to new research from Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Aditi Paul, PhD. Her findings showed that adve ising messages for ODS are standardized globally, not aligning with the values of different cultures. "Consistent exposure to such standardized adve isements can transform people's dating practices," Since 2018, Paul has worked on this project with Saifuddin Ahmed, a researcher at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Their paper, "Does Online Dating Promotion Vary Across Cultures? Analyzing the Homepage Adve isements of

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