Diffusion in small worlds with homophily and social reinforcement:A theoretical model

We introduce homophily in a percolation model of word-of-mouth diffusion in social networks by reorganizing the nodes according to similarity in preferences for adoption of an innovation. Such preferences are described by a “minimum utility requirement” for an agent to adopt. We show that homophily removes the non-linear relation between preferences and diffusion in the standard percolation model with a high diffusion regime (“hit”) and a low diffusion regime (“flop”). Instead, in a model with perfect homophily, the final diffusion scales linearly with individual preferences: all agents who are willing to adopt, do adopt the innovation. We also investigate the combined effect of homophily and social reinforcement in diffusion. Results indicate that social reinforcement renders clustered networks more efficient in terms of diffusion size for network with strong homophily, while the opposite is true for networks without homophily. The simple structure of our model allows to disentangle the effect of social influence, homophily and the network structure on diffusion. However, the controllability of the theoretical structure comes at the expenses of the realism of the model. For this, we discuss possible extensions and empirical applications.</p

From concentration to quantiative regularity:a short survey of recent developments for the Navier-Stokes equations

In this short survey paper, we focus on some new developments in the study of the regularity or potential singularity formation for solutions of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations. Some of the motivating questions are: Are certain norms accumulating/concentrating on small scales near potential blow-up times? At what speed do certain scale-invariant norms blow-up? Can one prove explicit quantitative regularity estimates? Can one break the criticality barrier, even slightly? We emphasize that these questions are closely linked together. Many recent advances for the Navier-Stokes equations are directly inspired by results and methods from the field of nonlinear dispersive equations

Zoti’s Social Toolkit:Developing and piloting novel animated tasks to assess emotional understanding and conflict resolution skills in childhood

Current methods used to investigate emotional inference and conflict resolution knowledge are limited in their suitability for use with children with language disorders due to a reliance on language processing. This is problematic, as nearly 8% of the population are estimated to have developmental language disorder (DLD). In this paper, we present ‘Zoti's Social Toolkit’, a set of animated scenarios that can be used to assess emotion inferencing and conflict resolution knowledge. All animated scenarios contain interpersonal situations centred around a gender-neutral alien named Zoti. Four studies investigated the face and construct validity of the stimuli. The final stimulus set can be used with children, who may or may not have language difficulties and is openly available for use in research

Selection of proposal distributions for multiple importance sampling

In general, the naive importance sampling (IS) estimator does not work well in examples involving simultaneous inference on several targets, because the importance weights can take arbitrarily large values, making the estimator highly unstable. In such situations, researchers prefer alternative multiple IS estimators involving samples from multiple proposal distributions. Just like the naive IS, the success of these multiple IS estimators depends crucially on the choice of the proposal distributions, which is the focus of this study. We propose three methods: (i) a geometric space-filling approach, (ii) a minimax variance approach, and (iii) a maximum entropy approach. The first two methods apply to any IS estimator, whereas the third approach is described in the context of a two-stage IS estimator. For the first method, we propose a suitable measure of "closeness" based on the symmetric Kullback-Leibler divergence and the second and third approaches use estimates of asymptotic variances of an IS estimator and the reverse logistic regression estimator, respectively. Thus, when samples from the proposal distributions are obtained by running Markov chains, we provide consistent spectral variance estimators for these asymptotic variances. Lastly, we demonstrate the proposed methods for selecting proposal densities using various detailed examples.<br/

Libyan deportees on the Italian island of Ustica:Remembering colonial deportations in the (peripheral) metropole

In 1911, the Italian liberal government launched the colonial occupation of what is now known as Libya, which was met with unexpected local resistance. The government resorted to mass deportations to the metropole to sedate the resistance, which continued for more than two decades under both the liberal and Fascist regimes. This chapter of Europe’s and Italy’s colonial history has been almost entirely removed from collective memory. The article explores the extent to which colonial deportations are remembered on the Sicilian Island of Ustica, which witnessed the deportation from Libya of more than two thousand people. Currently, the island is home to the only cemetery in Italy that is entirely dedicated to Libyan deportees. I argue that the visits of Libyan delegations, which took place from the late 1980s to 2010, succeeded in challenging colonial aphasia at the local level. Yet, as a result of Ustica’s peripheral position within the national space, the memory work developed through the encounter between local and Libyan actors remained marginal, despite its potential to redefine the Mediterranean as a symbolic space where colonial histories are articulated and remembered. Italy’s outsourcing of the memory work in relation to colonial deportations implies a missed opportunity to interrogate the postcolonial present and thus question persistent dynamics of power in Europe that exclude the constructed Other

Dataset for, "Modelling of longitudinally cut carrot curling induced by the vascular cylinder-cortex interference pressure"

This dataset is a part of 'Modelling of longitudinally cut carrot curling induced by the vascular cylinder-cortex interference pressure' research article. The root pressures profiles were obtained by measuring the radii of carrot curls experimentally. The proposed finite element single-curvature model is verified against the experimental images. The results, both from experiments and simulations were outlined in the excel sheet as attached

Songs of the Self:The Importance of Authentic Leadership and Core Self Evaluations for LGBT Managers

Purpose: Based on authentic leadership (AL) theory and research on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workplace experiences, this study proposes that AL explains variance beyond transformational leadership (TL) in attitudinal outcomes for LGBT managers compared to non-LGBT managers. It is further predicted that core self-evaluations (CSEs) bound relationships between AL, LGBT status and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: A time-lagged survey of 193 LGBT and 218 non-LGBT (i.e. heterosexual and cisgender) managers was conducted. The first survey assessed respondents' evaluations of their leadership behavior and CSEs whereas the second survey, conducted one month later, assessed role engagement and career satisfaction. Findings: Regression and moderation analyses revealed support for the hypotheses. AL seems especially relevant for LGBT leaders, particularly at low levels of CSEs. Practical implications: Leadership development programmes emphasizing AL could be particularly beneficial for LGBT managers, especially those low in CSEs. Harnessing a leader’s sense of identity could help those who have been marginalized. Originality/value: The current study proposes, explains and demonstrates that relationships between AL and leader outcomes will likely be different between managers with and without stigmatized identities, in this case those who are (not) LGBT.</p

Strain rate and temperature dependence of short/unidirectional carbon fibre PEEK hybrid composites

Short fibre and hybrid carbon fibre PEEK composite materials were tested in tension and compression under quasi-static and high strain rate conditions to observe the strain rate dependence. Multiple temperatures including room temperature, ＋85 and −50 °C were used to investigate the temperature dependence of the materials. The hybrid laminate comprised a consolidated short fibre core reinforced with outer UD plies in the 0°orientation to provide maximum reinforcement whilst minimising the quantity of expensive UD composite used. Under compression, the beneficial effect of the hybridisation strategy was observed for all high-strain rate testing conditions, where the hybrid laminate outperformed the response of the individual constituents in terms of strength and strain rate dependency. The outer unidirectional (UD) layers contributed to confining the short fibre core, providing superior structural integrity. Under tension, the response was dominated by the UD layers with a 288% increase in strength at room temperature over the short fibre material. However, in the high temperature quasi-static case, the strength was dramatically reduced, by 64%, due to the debonding of the UD reinforcement. This study shows the suitability of hybrid composites for impulsive applications and provides material parameters for the future design of composite structures subjected to impact events.<br/