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The AutoCarto 2022 symposium centered around the theme of "Ethics in Mapping: Integrity, Inclusion, and Empathy." The conference brought together experts in cartography and geographic information science (GIScience) to explore the ethical responsibilities in these fields. The conference featured sessions on topics such as the power of maps for equity and social justice, uncertainty in geospatial data, and diversity, ethics, and equality. A special issue of the conference included papers on societal impacts and ethical issues, cartographic design and map production, and technical advancements in cartography. The document also discusses the future of the conference series and potential research directions in the field. [Extracted from the article]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact worldwide and continues to spread due to various mutations of the virus. Many governmental and nonprofit agencies at different levels have quickly developed COVID-19 dashboards to disseminate information on the pandemic to the public. However, most of these systems have mainly distributed "plain" information (e.g. cases, death counts, vaccination), and rarely provided insights that can be gained from spatiotemporal analyses, such as the detection of emerging clusters. The results from these analyses hold tremendous potential for health policymakers as they try to identify ways to slow down transmission. We present a web-based geographic framework to detect and visualize space-time clusters of COVID-19. Our tightly coupled framework integrates the prospective space-time scan statistics and local indicators of spatial association (LISA) with novel 2D and 3D interactive visuals in a cyber environment (). We illustrate the applicability of our approach using COVID-19 data for the continental US. Our framework is portable to other regions that may experience infectious diseases but is also flexible to handle data of different spatial and temporal granularities. This paper fits within an effort to integrate space-time analytics for the monitoring of infectious diseases in web environment, ultimately improving health surveillance systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue fever is a vector-borne disease transmitted by the Aedes (Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus) mosquito, with a presence in more than 100 countries and a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in the Americas. As an alternative to mosquito habitat control, international health organizations propose community empowerment methodologies shaped by recommendations resulting from the understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of communities toward the disease. This study focuses on the Ladera region of the city of Cali, Colombia, a community identified as high risk for dengue fever in a dengue-endemic city. The objective is to understand KAP toward dengue fever of the people in the region after the 2010 dengue epidemic, when extensive educational campaigns were conducted to fight the disease. One hundred forty-six people were surveyed in four health facilities, each located in a different comuna (commune) of the study area. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents were female, 83 percent were between the age of 18 and 65, and almost half of the sample only completed elementary education. Indices were calculated for each dimension of the survey. Results are compared by comuna within the region and to a recent similar study conducted in Cali. The $${{\rm{X}}^{\rm{2}}}$$ X 2 statistic was used to test for the significance of socio-demographic variables (that is sex, age, and education) on the responses to the survey questions and the indices values. A multinomial regression model was run using as a dependent variable each KAP index and as independent variables the socio-demographic variables. Results show individuals exhibit medium to high levels of knowledge, positive attitudes, and medium to low levels of practicing preventive measures. Spatial patterns on the indices and responses to questions in the sample were not identified. Socio-demographic variables do not show strong relationships with the knowledge, attitudes, and practices indexes. Results are comparable to those obtained in a more recent KAP study conducted in the city. These findings can help determine differences between communities to design and improve initiatives targeted to the needs of populations at risk and identify behavioral changes through time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Using geographic information systems (GIS), we examined travel time and distance to access hospital care for infants with spina bifida (SB). Methods This study was a statewide, population-based analysis of Florida-born children with SB, 1998-2007, identified by the Florida Birth Defects Registry and linked to hospitalizations. We geocoded maternal residence at delivery and identified hospital locations for infants (30 min/miles (reference)], including presence of hydrocephalus and SB type [isolated (no other major birth defect) versus non-isolated SB]. Results For 612 infants, one-way mean (median) travel time was 45.1 (25.9) min. Infants with both non-isolated SB and hydrocephalus traveled longest to access hospitals (mean 60.8 min/48.5 miles; median 34.2 min/26.9 miles). In adjusted results, infants with non-isolated SB and whose mothers had a rural residence were less likely to travel [less than or equal to]30 min to hospitals. Infants born to mothers in minority racial/ethnic groups were more likely to travel [less than or equal to]30 min. Conclusions Birth defects registry data and GIS-based methods can be used to evaluate geographic accessibility to hospital care for infants with birth defects. Results can help to identify geographic barriers to accessing hospital care, such as travel time and distance, and inform opportunities to improve access to care for infants with SB or other special needs., Author(s): Elizabeth Radcliff[sup.1] , Eric Delmelle[sup.2] , Russell S. Kirby[sup.3] , Sarah B. Laditka[sup.4] , Jane Correia[sup.5] , Cynthia H. Cassell[sup.6] Author Affiliations: (1) South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, [...]