Understanding the structure and role of academics' ego-networks on social networking sites

Academic social networking sites (SNS) seek to bring the benefits of online networking to an academic audience. Currently, the two largest sites are Academia.edu and ResearchGate. The ability to make connections to others is a defining affordance of SNS, but what are the characteristics of the network structures being facilitated by academic SNS, and how does this relate to their professional use by academics? This study addressed this question through mixed methods social network analysis. First, an online survey was conducted to gain contextual data and recruit participants (n = 528). Second, ego-networks were drawn up for a sub-sample of 55 academics (reflecting a range of job positions and disciplines). Ego-networks were sampled from an academic SNS and Twitter for each participant. Third, co-interpretive interviews were held with 18 participants, to understand the significance of the structures and how the networks were constructed. Academic SNS networks were smaller and more highly clustered; Twitter networks were larger and more diffuse. Communities within networks are more frequently defined by institutions and research interests on academic SNS, compared to research topics and personal interests on Twitter. Emerging themes link network structure to differences in how academics conceptualise and use the sites. Academic SNS are regarded as a more formal academic identity, akin to a business card, or used as a personal repository. Twitter is viewed as a space where personal and professional are mixed, similar to a conference coffee break. Academic SNS replicate existing professional connections, Twitter reinforces existing professional relationships and fosters novel connections. Several strategies underpinning academics’ use of the sites were identified, including: circumventing institutional constraints; extending academic space; finding a niche; promotion and impact; and academic freedom. These themes also provide a bridge between academic identity development online and formal academic identity and institutional roles

Geometrically-exact time-integration mesh-free schemes for advection-diffusion problems derived from optimal transportation theory and their connection with particle methods

We develop an Optimal Transportation Meshfree (OTM) particle method for advection-diffusion in which the concentration or density of the diffusive species is approximated by Dirac measures. We resort to an incremental variational principle for purposes of time discretization of the diffusive step. This principle characterizes the evolution of the density as a competition between the Wasserstein distance between two consecutive densities and entropy. Exploiting the structure of the Euler-Lagrange equations, we approximate the density as a collection of Diracs. The interpolation of the incremental transport map is effected through mesh-free max-ent interpolation. Remarkably, the resulting update is geometrically exact with respect to advection and volume. We present three-dimensional examples of application that illustrate the scope and robustness of the method.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Symmetrical and asymmetrical outcomes of leader anger expression: a qualitative study of army personnel

Recent studies have highlighted the utility of anger at work, suggesting that anger can have positive outcomes. Using the Dual Threshold Model, we assess the positive and negative consequences of anger expressions at work and focus on the conditions under which expressions of anger crossing the impropriety threshold are perceived as productive or counterproductive by observers or targets of that anger. To explore this phenomenon, we conducted a phenomenological study (n = 20) to probe the lived experiences of followers (as observers and targets) associated with anger expressions by military leaders. The nature of task (e.g. the display rules prescribed for combat situations) emerged as one condition under which the crossing of the impropriety threshold leads to positive outcomes of anger expressions. Our data reveal tensions between emotional display rules and emotional display norms in the military, thereby fostering paradoxical attitudes toward anger expression and its consequences among followers. Within this paradoxical space, anger expressions have both positive (asymmetrical) and negative (symmetrical) consequences. We place our findings in the context of the Dual Threshold Model, discuss the practical implications of our research and offer avenues for future studies

Galaxy Zoo: Morphological Classification and Citizen Science

We provide a brief overview of the Galaxy Zoo and Zooniverse projects, including a short discussion of the history of, and motivation for, these projects as well as reviewing the science these innovative internet-based citizen science projects have produced so far. We briefly describe the method of applying en-masse human pattern recognition capabilities to complex data in data-intensive research. We also provide a discussion of the lessons learned from developing and running these community--based projects including thoughts on future applications of this methodology. This review is intended to give the reader a quick and simple introduction to the Zooniverse.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; to be published in Advances in Machine Learning and Data Mining for Astronom

Fee Hunting Opportunities on Private Land in Utah: An Economic and Policy Analysis

Objectives of this research were (1) to describe fee hunting as it is currently practiced in Utah and (2) to assess the adequacy of fee hunting efforts in addressing the problems of wildlife habitat and hunter access on private land. To collect information, Utah landowners who charged for deer (Odocoileus hemionus) or elk (Cervus elaphus) hunting in 1986 were surveyed by telephone and mail. Compared to the average Utah livestock rancher, those involved in fee hunting have larger livestock operations and have owned their property longer. They are Utah natives. Fee hunting is concentrated in northern Utah where foothill and mountain rangelands are privately owned. There is great diversity in the way fee hunting is organized and managed. Hunting opportunities sold by lease usually include few services and require hunters to post and patrol the property. Hunts sold by permit may include more services and be personally managed by the rancher. In general, fee hunting in Utah is differentiated from public land hunting by the availability of more acres per hunter rather than by special services or trophy animals. Fee hunting serves mostly resident hunters. Average net annual cash income is $6587, or$0.66 per acre. The most common expenses incurred are for road and facility (fence, campsite) maintenance and vehicle costs. Highest expenses are those associated with providing services. Landowners initiated fee hunting in order to gain control over trespassing and cover the costs of having hunters on their property. Most do not buy liability insurance. Fee hunting is expanding the number and types of hunting opportunities and is meeting the needs of landowners to minimize costs of trespassing and hunters. However, fee hunting is not stimulating investments in wildlife habitat improvement. Because of intermingling landownerships and the migratory nature of deer and elk in Utah, investments in wildlife habitat or management have an uncertain return. It is unlikely that fee hunting can provide adequate incentives for improving wildlife habitat without substantial policy changes to enhance the ability of landowners to capture a return on such investments

Risky behaviour: a new framework for understanding why young people take risks

Theories of youth risk taking range from the realist to the sociocultural. Much of this theorising, particularly in the field of epidemiology, has been strongly influenced by the Health Belief Framework. More recently, attention has shifted to understanding how young people perceive risk and what makes some of them resilient to risk taking. In this article we develop a framework that brings together diverse theoretical perspectives on youth risk taking. We draw on lessons from across the social science disciplines to inform a conceptual framework incorporating the broad context and internal processes of young people’s decisions to take risks. Our Youth Risk Interpretation Framework (Y-RIF) has been developed from insights gained during an ethnographic study conducted in South Africa (REMOVED FOR BLIND REVIEW). We argue that our framework is useful, as it offers new ways of understanding why some young people take risks while others are more cautious. It could be used to inform youth behaviour surveillance research and interventions. However, it will need to be rigorously tested

Tanzanian men’s gender attitudes, HIV knowledge, and risk behaviours

This study uses data from the 2004-05 Tanzanian Demographic and Health Survey to examine whether men’s traditional gender role attitudes contribute to their sexual risk behaviours for HIV.   Logistic regression with random effects were used to analyze effects on risk behaviours at last sex (partners being drunk and condom use) with the three most recent sexual relationships.  Men’s traditional gender attitudes increased risky sexual behaviours (e.g., not using a condom) even when they had accurate knowledge regarding HIV risks.  The impact of men’s gender attitudes and HIV knowledge on risky sexual behaviours did not vary by relationship type.  Unexpectedly, condom use was more likely when either partner was drunk compared to neither being drunk, though the protective impact of HIV knowledge remained.  Overall, these findings suggest that traditional gender attitudes present barriers to preventing HIV/AIDS that even increased knowledge about HIV risks may not overcome. 

Remittances and the Transnational Family in South-East Asia

ABSTRACT There is a substantial body of literature on the impact of remittances on household, community and national development in the global south. Prior research provides inconsistent support for the effects of migrant remittances on those left behind, and in particular, there has been very little systematic investigation of the incidence and use of parental remittances within left-behind families with dependent children. The current study uses recent data from the CHAMPSEA survey collected in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam in 2008 to investigate remittances in the transnational family. Taking into account possible selection effect bias, multivariate binary probit models predicting the likelihood of remittance receipt and variation in self-reported use of remittances among mother-and father-migrant transnational households for basic survival, short-term and long-term investment are examined. After accounting for individual and household characteristics including variables such as duration of migration, parent occupation and education, household composition and wealth, findings indicate that there are some significant differences: mother migrant households are less likely to report recent remittance receipt, and more likely to report use of remittances for short-term investments such as education and durable good purchase. There are also significant differences in specific use of remittances according to household wealth and duration of migration, providing some evidence of a relationship between inequality and migration

Protective indigenous collective value of Ubuntu and child neglect: Implications for rural child protection practice

Theories on collective efficacy and social support suggest that indigenous values that support collective practices and sanction community obligations to childcare would be protective against child neglect. Likewise, new qualitative findings show that collective values are stronger in rural areas than in urban. This study tested the claims that the value of Ubuntu, which is a symbolic cultural value of ‘being for others’, will be protective against the likelihood of neglect; this relationship will be stronger in rural compared with urban communities in Ghana. Using data obtained from a nationally representative sample of 1100 mothers (from 22 communities) in Ghana, we tested the claims using fixed effects logistic regression. The Ubuntu norms were significantly endorsed in rural communities compared with the urban. The overall model showed that higher levels of Ubuntu are associated with lower odds of child neglect (OR.47, [.29,.76] p \u3c 0.05), and the relationship remained significant only in the rural sample (OR.13, [.06,.31] p \u3c 0.001). Similar evidence was recorded for the Ubuntu norms of community care and compassion. The results suggest that child protection in rural Ghana can be fruitful when interventions are developed to boost the value of Ubuntu and the norms of collective childcare

Mapping the cultural identities of youths in Hong Kong from a social capital perspective

Abstract: With its unique geopolitical status and multicultural setting, Hong Kong has harbored different youth groups generated from cross-border migration with mainland China who are tied to different cultural values and identifications. This study aims to investigate how social capital embedded in the family, school, and community influences the cultural identities across three groups of Chinese youths in the educational system: local students; cross-border students (born in Hong Kong, living in the neighbor city of mainland China but attending schools in Hong Kong on daily commute); and new immigrant students (born in mainland China but living in Hong Kong for less than seven years). Using data from a cross-sectional survey with 2180 fourth- to ninth-grade students in Hong Kong, the logistic regression results suggest that family and community social capital play significant roles in shaping the cultural identity of youths. Implications of the research findings are discussed