Suchergebnisse

Studies of identity and location-based social networks (LBSN) have tended to focus on the performative aspects associated with marking one's location. Yet these studies often present this practice as being an
a priori
aspect of locative media. What is missing from this research is a more granular understanding of how this process develops over time. Accordingly, we focus on the first 6 weeks of 42 users beginning to use an LBSN we designed and named
GeoMoments
. Through our analysis of our users' activities, we contribute to understanding identity and LBSN in two distinct ways. First, we show how LBSN users develop and perform self-identity over time. Second, we highlight the extent these temporal processes reshape the behaviors of users. Overall, our results illustrate that although a performative use of GeoMoments does evolve, this development does not occur in a vacuum. Rather, it occurs within the dynamic context of everyday life, which is prompted, conditioned, and mediated by the way the affordances of GeoMoments digitally organize and archive past locational traces.

OBJECTIVE: The emergence of a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and its subsequent spread outside of Wuhan, China, led to the human society experiencing a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While the development of vaccines and pharmaceutical treatments are ongoing, government authorities in China have implemented unprecedented non-pharmaceutical interventions as primary barriers to curb the spread of the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus. Although the decline of COVID-19 cases coincided with the implementation of such interventions, we searched for evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of these interventions, since artifactual factors, such as the environment, the pathogen itself, and the phases of epidemic, may also alter the patterns of case development. METHODS: We surveyed common viral respiratory infections that have a similar pattern of transmission, tropism, and clinical manifestation, as COVID-19 under a series of non-pharmaceutical interventions during the current pandemic season. We then compared this data with historical data from previous seasons without such interventions. RESULTS: Our survey showed that the rates of common respiratory infections, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus infections, decreased dramatically from 13.7% (95% CI, 10.82–16.58) and 4.64% (95% CI, 2.88–7.64) in previous years to 0.73% (95% CI, 0.02–1.44) and 0.0%, respectively, in the current season. CONCLSUONS: Our surveillance provides compelling evidence that non-pharmaceutical interventions are cost-effective ways to curb the spread of contagious agents, and may represent the only practical approach to limit the evolving epidemic until specific vaccines and pharmaceutical treatments are available.