Toward the understanding of national culture in the success of non-pharmaceutical technological interventions in mitigating COVID-19 pandemic.

This study conceptually explores the relationship between a nation's culture and the success of utilizing various digital technologies to mitigate the spread of a pandemic, such as novel coronavirus (COVID-19). In the absence of a cure or vaccine of COVID-19, the national governments and public health authorities have been aggressively utilizing digital technologies to mitigate the pandemic spread. Given the urgency caused by COVID-19, this study highlights the importance of considering a country's national culture in evaluating the efficacy of a given digital technology, despite how promising or groundbreaking it may sound, in combating the spread of an infectious disease. Relying on the two critical dimensions of national culture, power distance and individualism/collectivism, this study proposes a framework that describes how people from different countries, depending on their prevalent national cultural values, would be receptive (or intolerant) to using government-run technology solutions meant for curbing the pandemic spread.

Questioning Racial and Gender Bias in AI-based Recommendations: Do Espoused National Cultural Values Matter?

One realm of AI, recommender systems have attracted significant research attention due to concerns about its devastating effects to society's most vulnerable and marginalised communities. Both media press and academic literature provide compelling evidence that AI-based recommendations help to perpetuate and exacerbate racial and gender biases. Yet, there is limited knowledge about the extent to which individuals might question AI-based recommendations when perceived as biased. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigate the effects of espoused national cultural values on AI questionability, by examining how individuals might question AI-based recommendations due to perceived racial or gender bias. Data collected from 387 survey respondents in the United States indicate that individuals with espoused national cultural values associated to collectivism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance are more likely to question biased AI-based recommendations. This study advances understanding of how cultural values affect AI questionability due to perceived bias and it contributes to current academic discourse about the need to hold AI accountable.

Health System Approaches Are Needed To Expand Telemedicine Use Across Nine Latin American Nations.

Doctors are unequally distributed across different regions in virtually all Latin American countries, which results in limited access to consistent health services. Telemedicine may address such challenges. This study profiles current levels of telemedicine use and assesses forces driving that use for nine Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay). Specifically, we examined current national policy and legislation, health organization characteristics, and national culture as driving forces in telemedicine expansion. Action by Latin American policy makers, health care leaders, and funders requires the recognition of telemedicine services as an interconnected system to comprehensively address commonly acknowledged domains of telemedicine barriers (regulatory, legal, financial, technological, organizational, and human factors). Although the specific issues within each of these domains may differ across countries, it is very difficult to maximize the potential impact of telemedicine in any country without comprehensive approaches to addressing these interrelated areas of concern.

Mapping of arsenic pollution with reference to paddy cultivation in the middle Indo-Gangetic Plains.

A detailed field study was carried out to monitor (i) the arsenic contents in irrigation groundwater and paddy soil and (ii) the accumulation of arsenic in the roots and grains of different paddy varieties grown in the arsenic-contaminated middle Indo-Gangetic Plains of Northern India. Results showed the highest arsenic contamination in the irrigation groundwater (312 µg l(-1)) and in paddy soil (35 mg kg(-1)) values that were significantly exceeded the recommended threshold values of 100 µg l(-1) (EU) and 20 mg kg(-1) (FAO), respectively. The paddy soil arsenic content ranged from 3 to 35 mg kg(-1) with a mean value of 15 mg kg(-1). The soil arsenic content was found to be influenced by the soil texture, carbon, macronutrients, phosphorus, sulfur, hydrolases, and oxidoreductases properties of the paddy soils as revealed in the principal component analyses. Higher root accumulation (>10 mg kg(-1)) of arsenic was observed in 6 of the 17 paddy varieties grown in the study area. The range of arsenic content accumulated in the paddy roots was 4.1 to 16.2 mg kg(-1) dry weight (dw) and in the grains 0.179 to 0.932 mg kg(-1) dw. Out of 17 paddy varieties, eight had 0 > .55 mg kg(-1) grain arsenic content and were found unsafe for subsistence maximum daily tolerable dietary intake (MTDI) by human beings according to the regulatory standards.

Stimulatory effects of arsenic-tolerant soil fungi on plant growth promotion and soil properties.

Fifteen fungi were obtained from arsenic-contaminated agricultural fields in West Bengal, India and examined for their arsenic tolerance and removal ability in our previous study. Of these, the four best arsenic-remediating isolates were tested for plant growth promotion effects on rice and pea in the present study. A greenhouse-based pot experiment was conducted using soil inocula of individual fungi. The results indicated a significant (P<0.05) increase in plant growth and improvement of soil properties in inoculated soils compared to the control. A significant increase in plant growth was recorded in treated soils and varied from 16-293%. Soil chemical and enzymatic properties varied from 20-222% and 34-760%, respectively, in inoculated soil. Plants inoculated with inocula of Westerdykella and Trichoderma showed better stimulatory effects on plant growth and soil nutrient availability than Rhizopus and Lasiodiplodia. These fungi improved soil nutrient content and enhanced plant growth. These fungi may be used as bioinoculants for plant growth promotion and improved soil properties in arsenic-contaminated agricultural soils.