Rumour Veracity Estimation with Deep Learning for Twitter

Part 4: Security, Privacy, Ethics and MisinformationInternational audienceTwitter has become a fertile ground for rumours as information can propagate to too many people in very short time. Rumours can create panic in public and hence timely detection and blocking of rumour information is urgently required. We proposed and compare machine learning classifiers with a deep learning model using Recurrent Neural Networks for classification of tweets into rumour and non-rumour classes. A total thirteen features based on tweet text and user characteristics were given as input to machine learning classifiers. Deep learning model was trained and tested with textual features and five user characteristic features. The findings indicate that our models perform much better than machine learning based models

Climate change and COP26: Are digital technologies and information management part of the problem or the solution? An editorial reflection and call to action

The UN COP26 2021 conference on climate change offers the chance for world leaders to take action and make urgent and meaningful commitments to reducing emissions and limit global temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Whilst the political aspects and subsequent ramifications of these fundamental and critical decisions cannot be underestimated, there exists a technical perspective where digital and IS technology has a role to play in the monitoring of potential solutions, but also an integral element of climate change solutions. We explore these aspects in this editorial article, offering a comprehensive opinion based insight to a multitude of diverse viewpoints that look at the many challenges through a technology lens. It is widely recognized that technology in all its forms, is an important and integral element of the solution, but industry and wider society also view technology as being part of the problem. Increasingly, researchers are referencing the importance of responsible digitalization to eliminate the significant levels of e-waste. The reality is that technology is an integral component of the global efforts to get to net zero, however, its adoption requires pragmatic tradeoffs as we transition from current behaviors to a more climate friendly society

Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy

The metaverse has the potential to extend the physical world using augmented and virtual reality technologies allowing users to seamlessly interact within real and simulated environments using avatars and holograms. Virtual environments and immersive games (such as, Second Life, Fortnite, Roblox and VRChat) have been described as antecedents of the metaverse and offer some insight to the potential socio-economic impact of a fully functional persistent cross platform metaverse. Separating the hype and “meta…” rebranding from current reality is difficult, as “big tech” paints a picture of the transformative nature of the metaverse and how it will positively impact people in their work, leisure, and social interaction. The potential impact on the way we conduct business, interact with brands and others, and develop shared experiences is likely to be transformational as the distinct lines between physical and digital are likely to be somewhat blurred from current perceptions. However, although the technology and infrastructure does not yet exist to allow the development of new immersive virtual worlds at scale - one that our avatars could transcend across platforms, researchers are increasingly examining the transformative impact of the metaverse. Impacted sectors include marketing, education, healthcare as well as societal effects relating to social interaction factors from widespread adoption, and issues relating to trust, privacy, bias, disinformation, application of law as well as psychological aspects linked to addiction and impact on vulnerable people. This study examines these topics in detail by combining the informed narrative and multi-perspective approach from experts with varied disciplinary backgrounds on many aspects of the metaverse and its transformational impact. The paper concludes by proposing a future research agenda that is valuable for researchers, professionals and policy makers alike

Parental perceptions of dental health and need for treatment in children with epilepsy: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Ahmed Hussein Subki,1 Abdel Moniem Mukhtar,2 Omar M Saggaf,1 Ragaa A Ali,3 Khalid A Khalifa,3 Dalia M Al-Lulu,3 Mohammed Saad Alsallum,1 Diyaa H Bokhary,1 Ayman M Baabdullah,1 Sulaiman M Kassar,1 Basil M Jan,4 Muhab M Hindi,1 Mohammed M Jan1 1Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 4Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Background: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder in childhood. However, there have been limited studies on its impact on the oral health of affected children. Our study aimed to assess the oral health of children with epilepsy in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as perceived by their mothers. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in three hospitals. We included children 2–18 years old with physician-confirmed epilepsy diagnosis. We assessed parental perception of dental status and need for dental care using a standardized questionnaire that was completed by the mothers. To adjust for potential confounding variables, we used univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: We included 96 children with epilepsy in our study. Their mean age was 6.4±3.4 years. In 55.2% (n=53), dental status was rated as bad, and in 84.4% (n=81) a need for dental care was expressed. Cerebral palsy (OR 5.06, 95% CI 1.28–19.99; P=0.021), motor disability (OR 6.41, 95% CI 1.12–36.73; P=0.037), referral from a pediatric neurology clinic to a dentist (OR 10.755, 95% CI 3.290–35.151; P<0.001), and irregular brushing of teeth (OR 5.397, 95% CI 1.536–18.961; P=0.009) were significantly associated with increased risk of perceived bad dental status. Perception of the child as being overweight (OR 0.117, 95% CI 0.034–0.400; P=0.001) was significantly associated with decreased risk of perceived bad dental status. Motor disability (OR 5.73, 95% CI 1.64–20.04; P=0.006) was significantly associated with increased parental expression of need for dental care. Conclusion: In most children with epilepsy, perceived dental status was bad and there was a high expressed need for dental care. Interventions to improve the dental health of children with epilepsy should focus on those with cerebral palsy and motor disability. Keywords: oral, dental, teeth, hygiene, health, epilepsy, chil

A Meta-analysis of Social Commerce Adoption Research

Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce that utilises social media to facilitate interaction between sellers and consumers. Over the last number of years, the subject of social commerce has attracted significant attention from many researchers as they attempt to understand the factors affecting its adoption by consumers. A review of results from existing studies suggests inconsistent results for many relationships. Hence, this research has conducted a meta-analysis of 65 studies and synthesized the findings from existing studies in order to estimate the cumulative correlation coefficient (β) and significance (p). The investigation found that behavioural intention, trust, perceived usefulness, and social support are frequently examined dependent variables, that are strongly influenced by a number of independent variables. The findings in this study suggests that perceived usefulness, hedonic value, social commerce constructs, subjective norms, informational and emotional support are important for encouraging social commerce adoption. This research highlights various antecedents that have been theoretically examined in different social commerce studies that explore the effect size through meta-analysis

Investigating the Impact of Social Media Commerce Constructs on Social Trust and Customer Value Co-creation: A Theoretical Analysis

Social media commerce has been one of the fastest-growing areas over recent years. However, only a limited number of studies have addressed the related issues of social media commerce. It was also noticed that extant literature did not explore or link the impact of social commerce constructs on social trust and how this could impact the customer value co-creation. Hence, the current research aims to identify this gap and to propose a conceptual framework that highlights the linkage between social commerce constructs, social trust, and customer value co-creation. In line with this, a number of exploratory interviews were conducted to gain further understanding about how the customer’s perception of customer value co-creation and social trust could be affected by the role of social commerce. Accordingly, the current model proposes that social commerce constructs (second-order; ratings and reviews, recommendations and referrals, and forums and communities) impact social trust, which in turn affects customer value co-creation dimensions (functional value, hedonic value, and social value) in social network sites (SNSs). Theoretical and practical implications are provided