A Systematic Literature Review of the Use of Technology as an Emergency Preparedness Tool to Control and Contain the COVID-19 Pandemic

Various tools and strategies have been utilized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to preexisting measures, novel mechanisms and methods have also been developed since the COVID-19 pandemic began to address several different needs worldwide. Technology, for example, has served as a unique and multifunctional tool to aid with controlling and containing the pandemic. While studies and reviews have been conducted to analyze specific types of technology, such as digital applications, a gap in the literature currently exists that fails to comprehensively understand and compare how multiple types of technology were implemented to address the COVID-19 pandemic. This systematic literature review examined how several types of technology were utilized worldwide to help control and contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Articles were pulled from multiple databases, including CINAHL, Embase, ERIC, and PubMed. The findings from this systematic literature review contribute to understanding the multifaceted capabilities that digital and mobile applications, artificial intelligence, and geographic information systems have in addressing widespread infectious disease outbreaks and aiding with the future development of emergency preparedness plans and procedures

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

Listening to Revise: Mainstream Uses of Text-to-Speech Software in the Writing Center

This presentation from the 2008 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) offers results from an a study of text-to-speech software in a writing center and explores the effect that writing centers and tutors have on students’ use of and attitudes toward technology and writing. Initial results confirm our hypothesis that Kurzweil’s text-to-speech features provides considerable benefit to students, and that students identified additional errors during the revision and editing stages of writing than during revision done independently

Maternal Immune Activation Causes Behavioral Impairments and Altered Cerebellar Cytokine and Synaptic Protein Expression

Emerging epidemiology studies indicate that maternal immune activation (MIA) resulting from inflammatory stimuli such as viral or bacterial infections during pregnancy serves as a risk factor for multiple neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Although alterations in the cortex and hippocampus of MIA offspring have been described, less evidence exists on the impact on the cerebellum. Here, we report altered expression of cytokines and chemokines in the cerebellum of MIA offspring, including increase in the neuroinflammatory cytokine TNFα and its receptor TNFR1. We also report reduced expression of the synaptic organizing proteins cerebellin-1 and GluRδ2. These synaptic protein alterations are associated with a deficit in the ability of cerebellar neurons to form synapses and an increased number of dendritic spines that are not in contact with a presynaptic terminal. These impairments are likely contributing to the behavioral deficits in the MIA exposed offspring

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

Maternal Immune Activation Causes Behavioral Impairments and Altered Cerebellar Cytokine and Synaptic Protein Expression

Emerging epidemiology studies indicate that maternal immune activation (MIA) resulting from inflammatory stimuli such as viral or bacterial infections during pregnancy serves as a risk factor for multiple neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Although alterations in the cortex and hippocampus of MIA offspring have been described, less evidence exists on the impact on the cerebellum. Here, we report altered expression of cytokines and chemokines in the cerebellum of MIA offspring, including increase in the neuroinflammatory cytokine TNFα and its receptor TNFR1. We also report reduced expression of the synaptic organizing proteins cerebellin-1 and GluRδ2. These synaptic protein alterations are associated with a deficit in the ability of cerebellar neurons to form synapses and an increased number of dendritic spines that are not in contact with a presynaptic terminal. These impairments are likely contributing to the behavioral deficits in the MIA exposed offspring