From Somewhere to Nowhere and Back Again: Emplaced abstraction in science communication

Science and environmental communication often relies on place-based narrative elements to explore relationships between particularity and abstraction. By combining Hayakawa’s abstraction ladder with Sack\u27s relational geographic framework, a useful tool emerges for identifying narrative dimensions for creating compelling place-based nonfiction. This tool may be particularly useful in science communication teaching and learning. Hayakawa’s ladder of abstraction extends from particularity low on the ladder to higher-order abstractions up top. Sack\u27s relational geographic framework explores the role of place in creating knowledge, stretching from a focal point of emplaced ontological forces – materiality, meaning, and social relations – through increasingly abstract knowledge and value dimensions

The Landscape of Bioenergy Information in Southwest Wisconsin: Sources, Trust, Uncertainty, and Risk

Trusted and untrusted sources of information related to bioenergy and potential land use change are evaluated

Exploring the Potential of the Web-Based Virtual World of Second Life to Improve Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes

Provides an overview of Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world, and summarizes discussions among addiction recovery experts about integrating virtual reality into behavioral treatment as a way to teach patients new responses to real environments

Promoting Economic Development with Tourism in Rural Communities: Destination Image and Motivation to Return or Recommend

Improving tourism is one means Extension professionals and other community stakeholders can use to build rural economic resiliency. The research reported in this article evaluates what motivates tourists to visit and how they perceive of Wisconsin\u27s Kickapoo Valley as a destination. Data are drawn from surveys collected from out-of-town visitors. Results show the motivation to find excitement and adventure, the perception that the area is clean and hospitable, and whether visitors have been to the area more than once significantly affect their likelihood of returning to or recommending the area. Recommendations for how Extension professionals might use these findings are discussed

On the Pursuit of Good Living in Highland Ecuador: Critical Indigenous Discourses of Sumak Kawsay

'Sumak' kawsay, a vision of good living originating in the thought of indigenous intellectuals, has attracted many commentators since its incorporation into Ecuador’s 2008 constitution. But it remains unclear in much of the secondary literature how the discourse of sumak kawsay and its Spanish derivative 'buen' 'vivir' relate to the day-to-day experiences of indigenous people. We address this lack of clarity through a three-part exploration of Kichwa perspectives on the good life. First, we describe how day-to-day discussions are more likely to revolve around the actually existing life of struggle. Then we analyze an artistic genre that illustrates how decolonized indigenous lives might look. Finally, we examine how the decolonial political philosophy of sumak kawsay has emerged out of concerted collective efforts to overcome the life of struggle. We consider how these three instances of discourse relate to a long Andean history of looking to the past for an alternative to the hardships of the present, and conclude with a call to take indigenous perspectives more fully into account when concepts such as sumak kawsay are invoked by nonindigenous actors.   Resumen   Sumak kawsay, una visión de la buena vida que origina en el pensamiento de los intelectuales indígenas, ha sido el objeto de muchos comentarios desde su inclusión en la constitución ecuatoriana de 2008. Sin embargo no queda claro en gran parte de la literatura secundaria cómo el discurso de sumak kawsay y su derivado español buen vivir se relacionan con las experiencias cotidianas de los pueblos indígenas. Acercamos a esta falta de claridad a través de una exploración en tres partes de las perspectivas Kichwas sobre la buena vida. En primer lugar, describimos cómo es más común en las discusiones cotidianas hablar de las dificultades de la vida actual. Luego analizamos un género artístico que ilustra cómo las vidas indígenas descolonizadas podrían verse. Finalmente, examinamos cómo la filosofía política decolonial de sumak kawsay ha surgido de esfuerzos colectivos para superar la mala vida. Consideramos cómo estas tres instancias de discurso se refieren a una larga historia andina de buscar en el pasado una alternativa a las dificultades del presente y concluimos con una llamada a tomar más en cuenta las perspectivas indígenas

YouTube, Social Norms and Perceived Salience of Climate Change in the American Mind

This online experiment explored how contextual information embedded in new media channels such as YouTube may serve as normative social cues to users. Specifically, we examined whether the number of views listed under a YouTube video about climate change would elicit inferences regarding how “others” feel about the climate issue and, consequently, might influence perceptions of issue salience. Participants in this experiment were exposed to a YouTube video about climate change using two experimental conditions, one providing a small number of views under the video and the second listing a large number of views. Results suggest that the “number of views” cue did, indeed, influence participant perceptions of the importance assigned by other Americans to the issue of climate change. Further, compared to low self-monitoring participants, high self-monitoring participants registered an increase in their own judgment of issue importance

Co-regulation of alternative splicing by diverse splicing factors in Caenorhabditis elegans

Regulation of alternative splicing is controlled by pre-mRNA sequences (cis-elements) and trans-acting protein factors that bind them. The combinatorial interactions of multiple protein factors with the cis-elements surrounding a given alternative splicing event lead to an integrated splicing decision. The mechanism of multifactorial splicing regulation is poorly understood. Using a splicing-sensitive DNA microarray, we assayed 352 Caenorhabditis elegans alternative cassette exons for changes in embryonic splicing patterns between wild-type and 12 different strains carrying mutations in a splicing factor. We identified many alternative splicing events that are regulated by multiple splicing factors. Many splicing factors have the ability to behave as splicing repressors for some alternative cassette exons and as splicing activators for others. Unexpectedly, we found that the ability of a given alternative splicing factor to behave as an enhancer or repressor of a specific splicing event can change during development. Our observations that splicing factors can change their effects on a substrate during development support a model in which combinatorial effects of multiple factors, both constitutive and developmentally regulated ones, contribute to the overall splicing decision

From Somewhere to Nowhere and Back Again: Emplaced abstraction in science communication

Science and environmental communication often relies on place-based narrative elements to explore relationships between particularity and abstraction. By combining Hayakawa’s abstraction ladder with Sack's relational geographic framework, a useful tool emerges for identifying narrative dimensions for creating compelling place-based nonfiction. This tool may be particularly useful in science communication teaching and learning. Hayakawa’s ladder of abstraction extends from particularity low on the ladder to higher-order abstractions up top. Sack's relational geographic framework explores the role of place in creating knowledge, stretching from a focal point of emplaced ontological forces – materiality, meaning, and social relations – through increasingly abstract knowledge and value dimensions.</p

The Landscape of Bioenergy Information in Southwest Wisconsin: Sources, Trust, Uncertainty, and Risk

Trusted and untrusted sources of information related to bioenergy and potential land use change are evaluated.</p