Month: February 2024

Harnessing deep learning for forecasting fire-burning locations and unveiling $$PM_{2.5}$$ emissions

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Abstract

Climate change and human activity have increased fires in India. Fine particulate matter ( \(\hbox {PM}_{2.5}\) ) is released into the atmosphere by stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana and forest fires in the north-eastern and central areas of the country. Accurate short-term \(\hbox {PM}_{2.5}\) estimates are essential to protect human health and reduce acute air pollution. However, global air quality forecasting methods grapple with a persistent assumption of fire emissions. They use near-real-time fire emissions throughout the prediction cycle. Air quality forecasts are prone to inaccuracies and biases due to fire emissions’ dynamic nature. We employ spatiotemporal deep learning techniques, specifically ConvLSTM and ConvGRU, to forecast fire emission locations up to three days in advance. Through our evaluation, we find that ConvLSTM outperforms ConvGRU in terms of prediction accuracy and performance. The chosen model provides a very good correlation coefficient ( \(\approx 0.8\) ) for the 1st day forecast and a moderate value (0.5 \(-\) 0.55) for subsequent 2nd and 3rd days forecasts. The predictors NDVI, temperature, wind, surface pressure, and total cloud cover are included to our model training to improve these correlations. In Punjab-Haryana, wind input improves results. This fire burning location prediction method could improve air quality forecasting. Our deep learning model can improve forecasts by revealing the complex interactions of components and reflecting fire emissions’ dynamic nature. This research may help improve air quality forecasts in the face of rising fire events, protecting communities across the Indian subcontinent.

“That’s just like, your opinion, man”: the illusory truth effect on opinions

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Abstract

With the expanse of technology, people are constantly exposed to an abundance of information. Of vital importance is to understand how people assess the truthfulness of such information. One indicator of perceived truthfulness seems to be whether it is repeated. That is, people tend to perceive repeated information, regardless of its veracity, as more truthful than new information, also known as the illusory truth effect. In the present study, we examined whether such effect is also observed for opinions and whether the manner in which the information is encoded influenced the illusory truth effect. Across three experiments, participants (n = 552) were presented with a list of true information, misinformation, general opinion, and/or social–political opinion statements. First, participants were either instructed to indicate whether the presented statement was a fact or opinion based on its syntax structure (Exp. 1 & 2) or assign each statement to a topic category (Exp. 3). Subsequently, participants rated the truthfulness of various new and repeated statements. Results showed that repeated information, regardless of the type of information, received higher subjective truth ratings when participants simply encoded them by assigning each statement to a topic. However, when general and social–political opinions were encoded as an opinion, we found no evidence of such effect. Moreover, we found a reversed illusory truth effect for general opinion statements when only considering information that was encoded as an opinion. These findings suggest that how information is encoded plays a crucial role in evaluating truth.

Genomic surveillance for antimicrobial resistance — a One Health perspective

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Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) — the ability of microorganisms to adapt and survive under diverse chemical selection pressures — is influenced by complex interactions between humans, companion and food-producing animals, wildlife, insects and the environment. To understand and manage the threat posed to health (human, animal, plant and environmental) and security (food and water security and biosecurity), a multifaceted ‘One Health’ approach to AMR surveillance is required. Genomic technologies have enabled monitoring of the mobilization, persistence and abundance of AMR genes and mutations within and between microbial populations. Their adoption has also allowed source-tracing of AMR pathogens and modelling of AMR evolution and transmission. Here, we highlight recent advances in genomic AMR surveillance and the relative strengths of different technologies for AMR surveillance and research. We showcase recent insights derived from One Health genomic surveillance and consider the challenges to broader adoption both in developed and in lower- and middle-income countries.

Hesitancy or Resistance? Differential Changes in COVID-19 Vaccination Intention Between Black and White Americans

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Abstract

The literature on COVID-19 vaccination has rarely taken a macro and longitudinal approach to investigate the nuanced racial and ethnic differences in vaccine hesitancy and refusal. To fill this gap, this study examines the relationships between race, time, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal using state-level data from the US Census Household Pulse Survey, 2020 US Decennial Census, and other sources (i.e., American Community Survey, Human Development Index database, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Four longitudinal Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs) were estimated to analyze how time-variant and time-invariant measures, and time itself influenced COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal rates, controlling for the effect of other relevant covariates. The results provide descriptive evidence that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy had decreased in the USA, but vaccine refusal remained stable between January and October 2021. The GEEs further indicated that the proportion of the Black population was positively associated with both vaccine hesitancy and refusal rates, while the proportion of the White population was positively associated with the vaccine refusal rate but not associated with the vaccine hesitancy rate. In addition, over the 10-month period, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal in the Black population declined rapidly, but vaccine refusal in the White population stayed fairly stable. More research and practical efforts are needed to understand and inform the public about these important but overlooked trends.

Very few scientific publications and newspaper articles focus on catastrophic events and their effects on urban wildlife

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life and disrupted human activity in urban centers all over the world. Stay-at-home orders emptied urban spaces, removing or decreasing stressors on urban wildlife associated with human presence. Anecdotal observations of unusual urban wildlife behavior spread virally across social media, but some of these reports were proven false or fabricated. Here we examined both scientific publications and local newspapers to understand how extensively urban catastrophes are covered with respect to their effects on wildlife. We read all article titles from January 1980–June 2023 in 100 high impact journals in biology to determine if prior research exists that could inform our understanding of this phenomenon. Additionally, we used a keyword search to find scientific journal articles about wildlife responses during events in which large-scale evacuations of urban environments occurred. We found 37 scientific articles on this topic, with 13 of those published in the highest impact biology journals. The majority of publications identified (70%) were about wildlife responses to the COVID-19 public health response. Finally, we searched local newspapers in areas where hurricanes struck urban centers. We found 25 newspaper articles reporting on wildlife in relation to urban natural disasters. These were typically anecdotes, but nearly always consulted a credible, expert source. Ultimately, more research focused on urban areas before and after catastrophic or sudden changes will allow biologists to develop a baseline expectation for urban wildlife behavior in the absence of humans.

Guiding Principles for Writing About Immigrants and Immigrant Health

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Abstract

This perspective identifies harmful phrasing and frames in current clinician and researcher work relating to immigrant health and provides equity-centered alternatives. Recommendations are organized within two broad categories, one focused on shifting terminology toward more humanizing language and the second focused on changing frames around immigration discourse. With regards to shifting terminology, this includes: 1) avoiding language that conflates immigrants with criminality (i.e., “illegal”); 2) using person-first language (i.e., “person applying for asylum” or “detained person” rather than “asylum-seeker” or “detainee”); 3) avoiding comparisons to “native” populations to mean non-foreign-born populations, as this contributes to the erasure of Native Americans and indigenous people; 4) avoiding hyperbolic and stigmatizing “crisis” language about immigrants; and 5) understanding inherent limitations of terms like “refugee,” “asylum seeker,” “undocumented” that are legal not clinical terms. With regards to challenging dominant frames, recommendations include: 6) avoiding problematization of certain borders compared to others (i.e., U.S.-Mexico versus U.S.- Canada border) that contributes to selectively subjecting people to heightened surveillance; 7) recognizing the heterogeneity among immigrants, such as varying reasons for migration along a continuum of agency, ranging from voluntary to involuntary; 8) avoiding setting up a refugee vs. migrant dichotomy, such that only the former is worthy of sympathy; and 9) representing mistrust among immigrants as justified, instead shifting focus to clinicians, researchers, and healthcare systems who must build or rebuild trustworthiness. Ensuring inclusive and humanizing language use and frames is one critical dimension of striving for immigrant health equity.

Tourism development potential and obstacle factors of cultural heritage: Evidence from traditional music in Xiangxi

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Abstract

Traditional music is an important component of cultural heritage. However, studies have scarcely explored the tourism development potential and the obstacle factors of traditional music. This study takes Xiangxi as the research site, constructs an evaluation index system, and utilizes survey and geographical methods. The major research results are as follows: First, the average potential of resource endowment, tourism industry development, and socio-economic conditions are 0.28, 0.36, and 0.24, respectively. The potential of resource endowment is higher in the west and lower in the east, that of tourism industry development is higher in the north and south and lower in the center, and that of socio-economic conditions is higher in the south and lower in the north. Second, the comprehensive potential is 0.29, which is higher in the northwest and southwest regions. Coordination in most administrative units is at a medium level, and most regions have obvious advantages in resource endowment. Third, the primary obstacle factor is socio-economic conditions (39.21%), followed by resource endowment (30.73%) and tourism industry development (30.06%). The administrative units can be classified into four groups: socio-economic condition obstacle, resource endowment and tourism industry development obstacles, resource endowment and socio-economic condition obstacles, and tourism industry development and socio-economic condition obstacles. The highest priority goals for Xiangxi involve economic development and the integration of modern technologies to stimulate passenger flow. For regions with limited traditional music items (eastern area of Xiangxi), tourism development should be restrained and other resources with stronger inherent advantages should be exploited. This study explored the quantification of traditional music tourism potential, representing a novel breakthrough in this field of research. The indicator system and research methods used in this study can provide guidance and methodological references for cultural heritage research. The suggestions proposed in this article contribute to the rational development and effective protection of cultural heritage resources and the healthy development of the tourism industry.

Mapping the research about organisations in the latin american context: a bibliometric analysis

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Abstract

The Latin American region has attracted a great amount of interest among management and organizational scholars in recent years. The distinctive economic, social, and institutional features of the region represent a unique opportunity for theory building and testing in management and business research. This research answers the following overarching question: How the research about organizations in the Latin American context has evolved and how could it move forward? We perform an in-depth analysis consisting of a systematic review and bibliometric techniques (i.e., co-occurrence, co-citation, and co-authorship network analysis) of 1940 peer-reviewed articles published in the field during the 2004–2021 period. We examine the most influential publications, authors, journals, and research organizations. Building on our analysis and results, we describe current research hotspots and suggest avenues for future research. Our results contribute to a broad discussion relative to the relevance of context in the organizational research community, providing the first holistic analysis of it.

Examining Biology Curricular Resources’ Scientific Depictions of Evolution, Race, Sexuality, and Identity

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Abstract

Teaching and learning relies on age-appropriate, credible formal (e.g., textbooks, textbook supplements) and informal (e.g., trade-books) curricular texts. Previous research traced American publishers’ self-censorship about human evolution within twentieth-century textbooks. This study, informed by the latest scientific understandings, engaged in content analysis of scientific depictions of evolution, race, (homo)sexuality, and intersex identity. The data pool contained American biology textbooks, trade-books, and curricular supplements published after 1990 (n = 153). Findings revealed age-appropriate, comprehensive evolutionary depictions, yet stark omissions of scientific evidence and arguments challenging white supremacy, cisheteronormativity, and pathologization of racialized, queer, and intersex identities. Most modern biology curricular texts, in other words, disregard scientific examination of the tenets grounding racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Why do most biology curricular resources omit the science controverting prominent pseudoscientific fears? Who determines what is taught? The consequences of curricular omissions are particularly alarming considering the violence and violent threats targeting already-marginalized people.

Equity in mathematics education

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Abstract

This paper reviews research on equity in mathematics education (excluding gender equity) for the period 2017–2022. From the publications identified, five themes were distilled: conceptualizations and framing of equity in mathematics education; research methodologies and researcher positionalities; equity-focused practices, pedagogies and teacher education; equitable mathematics curriculum content, access and pathways; and equity in mathematics education at system levels, nationally and internationally. The review concludes by engaging some of the critique and suggests future directions for research. The research demonstrates that there is growing voice and visibility of equity-focused studies in mathematics education and that conceptualizations of equity have broadened and deepened through an increasing diversity of studies in this area. At the same time, the review also shows the dominance of the Global North in shaping equity discourses and the paucity of research on equity in mathematics education from the Global South.