COREnet: the fusion of social network analysis and target audience analysis

The purpose of this capstone is to highlight and explain how the target audience analysis (TAA) process can be enhanced by incorporating aspects of influence theory, social movement theory (SMT) and social network analysis (SNA). While a large body of literature addresses influence theory, SMT and SNA, little has been written within military information support operations (MISO) doctrine recognizing SNA in the analytical process. This capstone creates a method to apply SNA, SMT, and influence theory to existing MISO doctrine while also developing a scalable web-based application that assists with visualizing and analyzing open source data to draw meaningful conclusions and assist decision making on given operational problem sets. The web-based interface, COREnet, is a high fidelity prototype derived completely from open- source technology. The examples utilized are from a 2006 data set of an Indonesian terrorist network to demonstrate how SNA can be fully integrated into the TAA process.http://archive.org/details/corenetfusionofs1094544638Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Termination of pregnancy due to Thalassemia major, Hemophilia, and Down's Syndrome: the views of Iranian physicians

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetic disorders due to <b>kindred </b>marriages are common medical conditions in Iran; however, the legal aspects of abortion remain controversial. This study was undertaken to determine physicians' opinions regarding the termination of pregnancy for three genetic diseases: thalassemia major, hemophilia, and Down's syndrome.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A questionnaire was administered to selected physicians by stratified random sampling to determine the following: age, gender, knowledge about prenatal diagnosis of diseases in high risk pregnancies, agreement with abortion, recommended gestational age for abortion, and, if opposed to abortion, the reason.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 323 physicians, who participated in the study, 91.3(295), 40.6(131), and 78.6%(254) were in agreement and 8.7(28), 59.4(192), and 21.4%(69) were opposed to abortion for thalassemia major, hemophilia, and Down's syndrome, respectively. Among 289 physicians opposed to abortion in respect of each of all three conditions, the following reasons were cited: religion, 18; emotional, 10; quality of care, 23; hope to find a new treatment option in the future, 103; miscellaneous reasons, 6; and a combination of these reasons, 129. Among 680 physicians in agreement with abortion in relation to all of the diseases, 4.6%(31) were agreed with abortion in less than 12 weeks gestation, 79.2%(538) in less than 16 weeks gestation, 5.6%(38) in less than 20 weeks gestation, 2.2%(15) in less than 24 weeks gestation, and 8.4%(58) were agreed with beyond the 24 weeks of gestational age.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The majority of physicians were in agreement with abortion for thalassemia major and Down's syndrome because of the overall prognosis, but opposed to abortion for hemophilia.</p