84 research outputs found
A customisable pipeline for continuously harvesting socially-minded Twitter users
On social media platforms and Twitter in particular, specific classes of
users such as influencers have been given satisfactory operational definitions
in terms of network and content metrics.
Others, for instance online activists, are not less important but their
characterisation still requires experimenting.
We make the hypothesis that such interesting users can be found within
temporally and spatially localised contexts, i.e., small but topical fragments
of the network containing interactions about social events or campaigns with a
significant footprint on Twitter.
To explore this hypothesis, we have designed a continuous user profile
discovery pipeline that produces an ever-growing dataset of user profiles by
harvesting and analysing contexts from the Twitter stream.
The profiles dataset includes key network and content-based users metrics,
enabling experimentation with user-defined score functions that characterise
specific classes of online users.
The paper describes the design and implementation of the pipeline and its
empirical evaluation on a case study consisting of healthcare-related campaigns
in the UK, showing how it supports the operational definitions of online
activism, by comparing three experimental ranking functions. The code is
publicly available.Comment: Procs. ICWE 2019, June 2019, Kore
Vortex phase diagram for mesoscopic superconducting disks
Solving numerically the 3D non linear Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations, we
study equilibrium and nonequilibrium phase transitions between different
superconducting states of mesoscopic disks which are thinner than the coherence
length and the penetration depth. We have found a smooth transition from a
multi-vortex superconducting state to a giant vortex state with increasing both
the disk thickness and the magnetic field. A vortex phase diagram is obtained
which shows, as function of the magnetic field, a re-entrant behavior between
the multi-vortex and the giant vortex state.Comment: 5 figures (post script files) include
Cutting Through the Discussion on Caesarean Delivery: Birth Practices as Social Practices
Women are finding appeal in (or, at minimum, a lower level of resistance to) caesarean delivery despite the health risks that it poses, and I investigate how this decision figures into a broader pattern of women\u27s gender socialisation within a culture that is deeply anxious about women\u27s bodies. I review scholarship on caesarean delivery, and use social practice theory to map possible contact points between theories of embodiment, a sociology of gender, and the specific practice of caesarean section. I consider caesarean delivery as a component of a social practice, and adopt a practice framework to analyze women\u27s motivation for selecting (or consenting to) caesarean delivery. I detail the materiality of the hospital, the medicalisation of women\u27s bodies, and women\u27s antagonistic body relationship to reveal some of the less immediately apparent reasons why caesarean delivery has been normalised and rendered invisible as part of the pattern of modern childbirth. Interventions to address the further escalation of caesarean delivery might consider how this decision aligns with other social practices. I conclude that activism addressing the social conditions that make caesarean delivery so attractive may radiate out to other aspects of women\u27s lives where the practices of normative femininity have proven equally restrictive
âA good little tool to get to know yourself a bit betterâ: a qualitative study on usersâ experiences of app-supported menstrual tracking in Europe
Background: Menstrual apps facilitate observation and analysis of menstrual cycles and associated factors through
the collection and interpretation of data entered by users. As a subgroup of health-related apps, menstrual apps
form part of one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing developments in biomedicine and health care.
However, despite their popularity, qualitative research on how people engaging in period-tracking use and
experience these apps remains scarce. Results: An inductive content analysis was performed and eight characteristics of app-supported menstrual
tracking were identified: 1) tracking menstrual cycle dates and regularities, 2) preparing for upcoming periods, 3)
getting to know menstrual cycles and bodies, 4) verifying menstrual experiences and sensations, 5) informing
healthcare professionals, 6) tracking health, 7) contraception and seeking pregnancy, and 8) changes in tracking.
Our study finds that period-tracking via apps has the potential to be an empowering practice as it helps users to be
more aware of their menstrual cycles and health and to gain new knowledge. However, we also show that
menstrual tracking can have negative consequences as it leads to distress in some cases, to privacy issues, and the
work it requires can result in cessation. Finally, we present practical implications for healthcare providers and app
developers.
Conclusions: This qualitative study gives insight into usersâ practices and experiences of app-supported menstrual
tracking. The results provide information for researchers, health care providers and app designers about the
implications of app-supported period-tracking and describe opportunities for patient-doctor interactions as well as
for further development of menstrual apps.This research has received funding from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020
research and innovation program under the Marie SkĆodowska-Curie grant
agreement No 675378
Surreptitious symbiosis: engagement between activists and NGOs
Based on research conducted in Athens, Cairo, London and Yerevan the article analyses the relationship between activists engaged in street protests or direct action since 2011 and NGOs. It examines how activists relate to NGOs and whether it is possible to do sustained activism to bring about social change without becoming part of a âcivil society industryâ. The article argues that while at first glance NGOs seem disconnected from recent street activism, and activists distance themselves from NGOs, the situation is more complicated than meets the eye. It contends that the boundaries between the formal NGOs and informal groups of activists is blurred and there is much cross-over and collaboration. The article demonstrates and seeks to explain this phenomenon, which we call surreptitious symbiosis, from the micro- perspective of individual activists and NGO staff. Finally, we discuss whether this surreptitious symbiosis can be sustained and sketch three scenarios for the future
Density Distribution in the Liquid Hg-Sapphire Interface
We present the results of a computer simulation study of the liquid density
distribution normal to the interface between liquid Hg and the reconstructed
(0001) face of sapphire. The simulations are based on an extension of the
self-consistent quantum Monte Carlo scheme previously used to study the
structure of the liquid metal-vapor interface. The calculated density
distribution is in very good agreement with that inferred from the recent
experimental data of Tamam et al (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 1, 1041-1045 (2010)). We
conclude that, to account for the difference in structure between the liquid
Hg-vapor and liquid-Hg-reconstructed (0001) Al2O3 interfaces, it is not
necessary assume there is charge transfer from the Hg to the Al2O3. Rather, the
available experimental data are adequately reproduced when the van der Waals
interactions of the Al and O atoms with Hg atoms and the exclusion of electron
density from Al2O3 via repulsion of the electrons from the closed shells of the
ions in the solid are accounted for.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure
Groups and individuals: conformity and diversity in the performance of gendered identities
The nature and role of social groups is a central tension in sociology. On the one hand, the idea of a group enables sociologists to locate and describe individuals in terms of characteristics that are shared with others. On the other, emphasizing the fluidity of categories such as gender or ethnicity undermines their legitimacy as ways of classifying people and, by extension, the legitimacy of categorization as a goal of sociological research. In this paper, we use a new research method known as the Imitation Game to defend the social group as a sociological concept. We show that, despite the diversity of practices that may be consistent with selfâidentified membership of a group, there are also shared normative expectations â typically narrower in nature than the diversity displayed by individual group members â that shape the ways in which category membership can be discussed with, and performed to, others. Two claims follow from this. First, the Imitation Game provides a way of simultaneously revealing both the diversity and âgroupishnessâ of social groups. Second, that the social group, in the quasiâDurkheimian sense of something that transcends the individual, remains an important concept for sociology
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