Twotier -- A Layered Analysis of Backbone Members in a Moderate Sized Community Sports Organization

Backbone members are recognized as essential parts of an organization, yet their role and mechanisms of functioning in networks are not fully understood. In this paper, we propose a new framework called Twotier to analyze the evolution of community sports organizations (CSOs) and the role of backbone members. Tier-one establishes a dynamic user interaction network based on grouping relationships, and weighted k-shell decomposition is used to select backbone members. We perform community detection and capture the evolution of two separate sub-networks: one formed by backbone members and the other formed by other members. In Tier-two, the sub-networks are abstracted, revealing a core-periphery structure in the organization where backbone members serve as bridges connecting all parts of the network. Our findings suggest that relying on backbone members can keep newcomers actively involved in rewarding activities, while non-rewarding activities solidify relations between backbone members

A multipopulation parallel genetic simulated annealing based QoS routing and wavelength assignment integration algorithm for multicast in optical networks

Copyright @ 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.In this paper, we propose an integrated Quality of Service (QoS) routing algorithm for optical networks. Given a QoS multicast request and the delay interval specified by users, the proposed algorithm can find a flexible-QoS-based cost suboptimal routing tree. The algorithm first constructs the multicast tree based on the multipopulation parallel genetic simulated annealing algorithm, and then assigns wavelengths to the tree based on the wavelength graph. In the algorithm, routing and wavelength assignment are integrated into a single process. For routing, the objective is to find a cost suboptimal multicast tree. For wavelength assignment, the objective is to minimize the delay of the multicast tree, which is achieved by minimizing the number of wavelength conversion. Thus both the cost of multicast tree and the user QoS satisfaction degree can approach the optimal. Our algorithm also considers load balance. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and effective. We also discuss the practical realization mechanisms of the algorithm.This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of UK under Grant EP/E060722/1, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant nos. 60673159 and 70671020, the National High-Tech Research and Development Plan of China under Grant no. 2006AA01Z214, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, and the Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education under Grant no. 108040

Understanding the power-law nature of participation in community sports organizations

The improvement of living standards and awareness of chronic diseases have increased the importance of community sports organizations in promoting the physical activity levels of the public. However, limited understanding of human behavior in this context often leads to suboptimal resource utilization. In this study, we analyzed the participation behavior of 2,956 members with a time span of 6 years in a community sports organization. Our study reveals that, at the population level, the participation frequency in activities adheres to a power-law distribution. To understand the underlying mechanisms driving crowd participation, we introduce a novel behavioral model called HFBI (Habit-Formation and Behavioral Inertia), demonstrating a robust fit to the observed power-law distribution. The habit formation mechanism indicates that individuals who are more engaged are more likely to maintain participation, while the behavioral inertia mechanism suggests that individuals' willingness to participate in activities diminishes with their absences from activities. At the individual level, our analysis reveals a burst-quiet participation pattern, with bursts often commencing with incentive activities. We also find a power-law distribution in the intervals between individual participations. Our research offers valuable insights into the complex dynamics of human participation in community sports activity and provides a theoretical foundation to inform intervention design. Furthermore, the flexibility of our model enables its application to other data exhibiting power-law properties, broadening its potential impact beyond the realm of community sports