scholarly journals Disease implications of animal social network structure: a synthesis across social systems

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pratha Sah ◽  
Janet Mann ◽  
Shweta Bansal
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
List Type ◽  
Network Organization ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Disease Costs ◽  
New Perspective

SummaryThe disease costs of sociality have largely been understood through the link between group size and transmission. However, infectious disease spread is driven primarily by the social organization of interactions in a group and not its size.We used statistical models to review the social network organization of 47 species, including mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects by categorizing each species into one of three social systems,relatively solitary,gregariousandsocially hierarchical. Additionally, using computational experiments of infection spread, we determined the disease costs of each social system.We find that relatively solitary species have large variation in number of social partners, that socially hierarchical species are the least clustered in their interactions, and that social networks of gregarious species tend to be the most fragmented. However, these structural differences are primarily driven by weak connections, which suggests that different social systems have evolved unique strategies to organize weak ties.Our synthetic disease experiments reveal that social network organization can mitigate the disease costs of group living for socially hierarchical species when the pathogen is highly transmissible. In contrast, highly transmissible pathogens cause frequent and prolonged epidemic outbreaks in gregarious species.We evaluate the implications of network organization across social systems despite methodological challenges, and our findings offer new perspective on the debate about the disease costs of group living. Additionally, our study demonstrates the potential of meta-analytic methods in social network analysis to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses on cooperation, group living, communication, and resilience to extrinsic pressures.

Lost trust and dissolved guanxi circles: A case study of a collective resignation event at Tianyuan Tea Company

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-406
Author(s):  
Man Shuai
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Employee Turnover ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Effect Factor ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Perspective

The mainstream explanation for employee turnover is either cause–effect factor analysis or interaction analysis. The former is effective in identifying causal relations between factors and the latter in revealing the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Combining the benefits of both methods, this study applies guanxi circle theory to studying employee turnover. It places various turnover factors under the framework of interpersonal interactions and uses the social network structure as an analytic point from which to examine the dynamic evolution of trust within the organization. The study finds that in the case of the Tianyuan Tea Company, the collective resignation was largely caused by the collapse of trust within the guanxi circles that informally operated within the company social network centered on the management authority who had the power of hiring, firing, and promotion. Five conclusions are proposed: (a) the formal hierarchical structure of power can either coincide with or be separate from the informal guanxi circles – when the two are in accordance, resignations rarely happen, while discordance between the two is often an indicator of potential resignations; (b) organizational changes are most likely to cause guanxi circles outsiders to resign; (c) members of the inner guanxi circle in the organization do not resign because of discordant relationships with lower level managers, but rather, they get relocated with promotion; (d) the collapse of ‘bridges’ between guanxi circles can cause collective resignations; (e) those who survive organizational shakeups are members of the inner guanxi circle in the organization and the ‘bridges’ of guanxi circles. This study contributes to the research on employee turnover by introducing a new perspective of guanxi circle theory as well as drawing attention to the important function of the ‘bridge’ in coordinating between circles, and by offering theoretical understanding and practical guidance for social governance.

scholarly journals Social inheritance can explain the structure of animal social networks

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amiyaal Ilany ◽  
Erol Akcay
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Specific Factors

AbstractThe social network structure of animal populations has major implications for survival, reproductive success, sexual selection, and pathogen transmission of individuals. But as of yet, no general theory of social network structure exists that can explain the diversity of social networks observed in nature, and serve as a null model for detecting species and population-specific factors. Here we propose a simple and generally applicable model of social network structure. We consider the emergence of network structure as a result of social inheritance, in which newborns are likely to bond with maternal contacts, and via forming bonds randomly. We compare model output to data from several species, showing that it can generate networks with properties such as those observed in real social systems. Our model demonstrates that important observed properties of social networks, including heritability of network position or assortative associations, can be understood as consequences of social inheritance.

scholarly journals How social network structure affects decision-making in Drosophila melanogaster

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1826) ◽  
pp. 20152954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Pasquaretta ◽  
Marine Battesti ◽  
Elizabeth Klenschi ◽  
Christophe A. H. Bousquet ◽  
Cedric Sueur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Crucial Information ◽  
Social Encounters ◽  
Selective Information

Animals use a number of different mechanisms to acquire crucial information. During social encounters, animals can pass information from one to another but, ideally, they would only use information that benefits survival and reproduction. Therefore, individuals need to be able to determine the value of the information they receive. One cue can come from the behaviour of other individuals that are already using the information. Using a previous extended dataset, we studied how individual decision-making is influenced by the behaviour of conspecifics in Drosophila melanogaster . We analysed how uninformed flies acquire and later use information about oviposition site choice they learn from informed flies. Our results suggest that uninformed flies adjust their future choices based on how coordinated the behaviours of the informed individuals they encounter are. Following social interaction, uninformed flies tended either to collectively follow the choice of the informed flies or to avoid it. Using social network analysis, we show that this selective information use seems to be based on the level of homogeneity of the social network. In particular, we found that the variance of individual centrality parameters among informed flies was lower in the case of a ‘follow’ outcome compared with the case of an ‘avoid’ outcome.

scholarly journals Formation of raiding parties for intergroup violence is mediated by social network structure

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (43) ◽  
pp. 12114-12119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Glowacki ◽  
Alexander Isakov ◽  
Richard W. Wrangham ◽  
Rose McDermott ◽  
James H. Fowler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
East African ◽  
Nomadic Pastoralists ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Total Impact ◽  
Social Network Position

Intergroup violence is common among humans worldwide. To assess how within-group social dynamics contribute to risky, between-group conflict, we conducted a 3-y longitudinal study of the formation of raiding parties among the Nyangatom, a group of East African nomadic pastoralists currently engaged in small-scale warfare. We also mapped the social network structure of potential male raiders. Here, we show that the initiation of raids depends on the presence of specific leaders who tend to participate in many raids, to have more friends, and to occupy more central positions in the network. However, despite the different structural position of raid leaders, raid participants are recruited from the whole population, not just from the direct friends of leaders. An individual’s decision to participate in a raid is strongly associated with the individual’s social network position in relation to other participants. Moreover, nonleaders have a larger total impact on raid participation than leaders, despite leaders’ greater connectivity. Thus, we find that leaders matter more for raid initiation than participant mobilization. Social networks may play a role in supporting risky collective action, amplify the emergence of raiding parties, and hence facilitate intergroup violence in small-scale societies.

The social network structure of a semi-free roaming European bison herd (Bison bonasus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amandine Ramos ◽  
Lola Manizan ◽  
Esther Rodriguez ◽  
Yvonne J.M. Kemp ◽  
Cédric Sueur
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
European Bison ◽  
Bison Bonasus ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals Infectious disease and sickness behaviour: tumour progression affects interaction patterns and social network structure in wild Tasmanian devils

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1940) ◽  
pp. 20202454
Author(s):  
David G. Hamilton ◽  
Menna E. Jones ◽  
Elissa Z. Cameron ◽  
Douglas H. Kerlin ◽  
Hamish McCallum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Tumour Progression ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
Devil Facial Tumour Disease ◽  
The Social ◽  
Transmissible Cancer ◽  
Host Behaviour

Infectious diseases, including transmissible cancers, can have a broad range of impacts on host behaviour, particularly in the latter stages of disease progression. However, the difficulty of early diagnoses makes the study of behavioural influences of disease in wild animals a challenging task. Tasmanian devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) are affected by a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), in which tumours are externally visible as they progress. Using telemetry and mark–recapture datasets, we quantify the impacts of cancer progression on the behaviour of wild devils by assessing how interaction patterns within the social network of a population change with increasing tumour load. The progression of DFTD negatively influences devils' likelihood of interaction within their network. Infected devils were more active within their network late in the mating season, a pattern with repercussions for DFTD transmission. Our study provides a rare opportunity to quantify and understand the behavioural feedbacks of disease in wildlife and how they may affect transmission and population dynamics in general.

Social Network: A New Perspective on Independence and Illiterate Adults

1983 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene Fingeret
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Literacy Programs ◽  
Interdependent Networks ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Illiterate Adults

This study explores the social structures illiterate adults create, and their relationship to notions of dependence and independence. In-depth unstructured interviews and participant-observation were used with 43 adults in a medium-sized northeastern urban setting. Analysis shows that illiterate adults create social networks that include readers and are characterized by mutuality. Illiterate adults contribute a range of skills to their networks and see themselves as interdependent. Networks are related to the extent to which illiterate adults are involved in the larger society; this ranges from extensive, for cosmopolitans, to minimal for local adults. Dependent adults have networks that are characterized by asymmetrical relationships. Literacy programs must learn to respond to adults-in-networks.

scholarly journals Construction of Regional Logistics Weighted Network Model and Its Robust optimization: Evidence from China

Complexity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Lizhao Yan ◽  
Yi Wen ◽  
Kok Lay Teo ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Fei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Logistics Network ◽  
Regional Logistics ◽  
Logistics Networks ◽  
The Social ◽  
Weighted Model ◽  
New Perspective

In this paper, we construct a regional logistics model from a macroperspective. First, based on the gravity model, the index of logistics attraction between cities is established as the weight of the model, and hence the regional logistics weighted model is constructed. Next, we use the social network analysis method to analyze its structure and make specific recommendations for the construction of logistics networks. Finally, we analyze the model’s response to random attacks and deliberate attacks. From our study, it is found that when the failure nodes or edges reach a certain percentage, the regional logistics network will collapse on a large scale. Therefore, it is important to optimization the threshold of the regional logistics network. This clearly provides a new perspective for the study of the regional logistics networks.

scholarly journals Offspring social network structure predicts fitness in families

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1749) ◽  
pp. 4914-4922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick J. Royle ◽  
Thomas W. Pike ◽  
Philipp Heeb ◽  
Heinz Richner ◽  
Mathias Kölliker
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

Social structures such as families emerge as outcomes of behavioural interactions among individuals, and can evolve over time if families with particular types of social structures tend to leave more individuals in subsequent generations. The social behaviour of interacting individuals is typically analysed as a series of multiple dyadic (pair-wise) interactions, rather than a network of interactions among multiple individuals. However, in species where parents feed dependant young, interactions within families nearly always involve more than two individuals simultaneously. Such social networks of interactions at least partly reflect conflicts of interest over the provision of costly parental investment. Consequently, variation in family network structure reflects variation in how conflicts of interest are resolved among family members. Despite its importance in understanding the evolution of emergent properties of social organization such as family life and cooperation, nothing is currently known about how selection acts on the structure of social networks. Here, we show that the social network structure of broods of begging nestling great tits Parus major predicts fitness in families. Although selection at the level of the individual favours large nestlings, selection at the level of the kin-group primarily favours families that resolve conflicts most effectively.

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