Fundamental structures of dynamic social networks

Social systems are in a constant state of flux with dynamics spanning from minute-by-minute changes to patterns present on the timescale of years. Accurate models of social dynamics are important for understanding spreading of influence or diseases, formation of friendships, and the productivity of teams. While there has been much progress on understanding complex networks over the past decade, little is known about the regularities governing the micro-dynamics of social networks. Here we explore the dynamic social network of a densely-connected population of approximately 1000 individuals and their interactions in the network of real-world person-to-person proximity measured via Bluetooth, as well as their telecommunication networks, online social media contacts, geo-location, and demographic data. These high-resolution data allow us to observe social groups directly, rendering community detection unnecessary. Starting from 5-minute time slices we uncover dynamic social structures expressed on multiple timescales. On the hourly timescale, we find that gatherings are fluid, with members coming and going, but organized via a stable core of individuals. Each core represents a social context. Cores exhibit a pattern of recurring meetings across weeks and months, each with varying degrees of regularity. Taken together, these findings provide a powerful simplification of the social network, where cores represent fundamental structures expressed with strong temporal and spatial regularity. Using this framework, we explore the complex interplay between social and geospatial behavior, documenting how the formation of cores are preceded by coordination behavior in the communication networks, and demonstrating that social behavior can be predicted with high precision.Comment: Main Manuscript: 16 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary Information: 39 pages, 34 figure

Social media influence and occurrence of injury from extreme sport participation in UVM undergraduates

Extreme sports have become increasingly popular in the age of social media as individuals have more access and awareness of these activities and may cater them to their specific interests. There is an established idea among social media users and consumers that extreme sports can be experienced by anyone. However, the rise in extreme sports engagement may lead to unforeseen consequences. These sports have inherent risks that may not be explicitly understood by novice athletes. The state of Vermont has high rates of outdoor recreation participation due to its landscape. Young students at the University of Vermont may be targeted to get involved in these sports through clubs, advertising, and social influences. The researcher is interested in studying why UVM students were influenced to ski, snowboard, hike, and/or rock climb in the state of Vermont, and if this participation caused any injuries

Tracking Human Mobility using WiFi signals

We study six months of human mobility data, including WiFi and GPS traces recorded with high temporal resolution, and find that time series of WiFi scans contain a strong latent location signal. In fact, due to inherent stability and low entropy of human mobility, it is possible to assign location to WiFi access points based on a very small number of GPS samples and then use these access points as location beacons. Using just one GPS observation per day per person allows us to estimate the location of, and subsequently use, WiFi access points to account for 80\% of mobility across a population. These results reveal a great opportunity for using ubiquitous WiFi routers for high-resolution outdoor positioning, but also significant privacy implications of such side-channel location tracking

Temporal Fidelity in Dynamic Social Networks

It has recently become possible to record detailed social interactions in large social systems with high resolution. As we study these datasets, human social interactions display patterns that emerge at multiple time scales, from minutes to months. On a fundamental level, understanding of the network dynamics can be used to inform the process of measuring social networks. The details of measurement are of particular importance when considering dynamic processes where minute-to-minute details are important, because collection of physical proximity interactions with high temporal resolution is difficult and expensive. Here, we consider the dynamic network of proximity-interactions between approximately 500 individuals participating in the Copenhagen Networks Study. We show that in order to accurately model spreading processes in the network, the dynamic processes that occur on the order of minutes are essential and must be included in the analysis

The Arab Spring – Implications for the Russian Federation

The Arab Spring led to a major transformation of political systems of the region’s most countries; an increase in the significance of radical Islam in the political life; a degradation of the security environment. In addition, changes in the region’s economy cannot be overlooked. The events connected with the Arab Spring gave the Russian Federation completely new challenges. The country has to yet again define the character of its relations with Muslim countries and adapt its foreign policy to the new post-revolutionary reality. The Arab Spring also represents a challenge for Russia in its internal affairs

The Effects of Parental Stress on Perception of Child Health

This study is to examine parents that are also completing coursework at The College at Brockport and the impact of parental stress on their perception of their child’s health. This study will evaluate the influence of parental stress on parenting style, the child’s actual health, the misperception of their child’s health, and the impact of more permissive parenting on the relationship between parental stress and poor child health. The study included four participants whose children attend the Brockport Child Development Center at The College at Brockport. Participants took an anonymous survey that contained modified versions of the Parental Stress Scale and Parenting Style Questionnaire and provided information about their child’s health habits. Results indicate that all four participants believe their children to have a ‘healthy’ diet quality, though only one of the four children received the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day made by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Recommendations for future research are offered