scholarly journals Differences in social activity increase efficiency of contact tracing

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarke Frost Nielsen ◽  
Kim Sneppen ◽  
Lone Simonsen ◽  
Joachim Mathiesen
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Minimum Duration ◽  
Activity Increase ◽  
Proximity Data ◽  
Personal Mobility ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
Social Heterogeneity

Abstract Digital contact tracing has been suggested as an effective strategy for controlling an epidemic without severely limiting personal mobility. Here, we use smartphone proximity data to explore how social structure affects contact tracing of COVID-19. We model the spread of COVID-19 and find that the effectiveness of contact tracing depends strongly on social network structure and heterogeneous social activity. Contact tracing is shown to be remarkably effective in a workplace environment and the effectiveness depends strongly on the minimum duration of contact required to initiate quarantine. In a realistic social network, we find that forward contact tracing with immediate isolation can reduce an epidemic by more than 70%. In perspective, our findings highlight the necessity of incorporating social heterogeneity into models of mitigation strategies. Graphic abstract

scholarly journals Social network heterogeneity is essential for contact tracing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarke Frost Nielsen ◽  
Kim Sneppen ◽  
Lone Simonsen ◽  
Joachim Mathiesen
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Mitigation Strategy ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Proximity Data ◽  
Personal Mobility ◽  
Network Heterogeneity ◽  
The Social

Contact tracing is suggested as an effective strategy for controlling an epidemic without severely limiting personal mobility. Here, we explore how social structure affects contact tracing of COVID-19. Using smartphone proximity data, we simulate the spread of COVID-19 and find that heterogeneity in the social network and activity levels of individuals decreases the severity of an epidemic and improves the effectiveness of contact tracing. As a mitigation strategy, contact tracing depends strongly on social structure and can be remarkably effective, even if only frequent contacts are traced. In perspective, this highlights the necessity of incorporating social heterogeneity into models of mitigation strategies.

Evolutionary dynamics modeling of symbolic social network structure equilibrium

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 229-240
Author(s):  
Weijin Jiang ◽  
Sijian Lv ◽  
Yirong Jiang ◽  
Jiahui Chen ◽  
Fang Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Dynamics Modeling ◽  
Social Network Structure

Online Communities and Social Network Structure

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhao Wei ◽  
Wensi Zhang ◽  
Sha Yang ◽  
Xi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Social Network Structure

scholarly journals An Egocentric Network Contact Tracing Experiment: Testing Different Procedures to Elicit Contacts and Places

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1466
Author(s):  
Andrew Pilny ◽  
C. Joseph Huber
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Physiological Variables ◽  
Medium Effect Size ◽  
Egocentric Network ◽  
Survey Instruments

Contact tracing is one of the oldest social network health interventions used to reduce the diffusion of various infectious diseases. However, some infectious diseases like COVID-19 amass at such a great scope that traditional methods of conducting contact tracing (e.g., face-to-face interviews) remain difficult to implement, pointing to the need to develop reliable and valid survey approaches. The purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of three different egocentric survey methods for extracting contact tracing data: (1) a baseline approach, (2) a retrieval cue approach, and (3) a context-based approach. A sample of 397 college students were randomized into one condition each. They were prompted to anonymously provide contacts and populated places visited from the past four days depending on what condition they were given. After controlling for various demographic, social identity, psychological, and physiological variables, participants in the context-based condition were significantly more likely to recall more contacts (medium effect size) and places (large effect size) than the other two conditions. Theoretically, the research supports suggestions by field theory that assume network recall can be significantly improved by activating relevant activity foci. Practically, the research contributes to the development of innovative social network data collection methods for contract tracing survey instruments.

scholarly journals Inequality is rising where social network segregation interacts with urban topology

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergő Tóth ◽  
Johannes Wachs ◽  
Riccardo Di Clemente ◽  
Ákos Jakobi ◽  
Bence Ságvári ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Urban Geography ◽  
Online Social Network ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Social Segregation ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
Physical Barriers

AbstractSocial networks amplify inequalities by fundamental mechanisms of social tie formation such as homophily and triadic closure. These forces sharpen social segregation, which is reflected in fragmented social network structure. Geographical impediments such as distance and physical or administrative boundaries also reinforce social segregation. Yet, less is known about the joint relationships between social network structure, urban geography, and inequality. In this paper we analyze an online social network and find that the fragmentation of social networks is significantly higher in towns in which residential neighborhoods are divided by physical barriers such as rivers and railroads. Towns in which neighborhoods are relatively distant from the center of town and amenities are spatially concentrated are also more socially segregated. Using a two-stage model, we show that these urban geography features have significant relationships with income inequality via social network fragmentation. In other words, the geographic features of a place can compound economic inequalities via social networks.

scholarly journals Spanish communication academia: Scientific productivity vs. Social activity

Comunicar ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (41) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristóbal Casanueva-Rocha ◽  
Francisco-Javier Caro-González
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Scientific Productivity ◽  
Scientific Activity ◽  
Redes Sociales ◽  
International Scope ◽  
The Social ◽  
La Red ◽  
The Impact

At a time when academic activity in the area of communication is principally assessed by the impact of scientific journals, the scientific media and the scientific productivity of researchers, the question arises as to whether social factors condition scientific activity as much as these objective elements. This investigation analyzes the influence of scientific productivity and social activity in the area of communication. We identify a social network of researchers from a compilation of doctoral theses in communication and calculate the scientific production of 180 of the most active researchers who sit on doctoral committees. Social network analysis is then used to study the relations that are formed on these doctoral thesis committees. The results suggest that social factors, rather than individual scientific productivity, positively influence such a key academic and scientific activity as the award of doctoral degrees. Our conclusions point to a disconnection between scientific productivity and the international scope of researchers and their role in the social network. Nevertheless, the consequences of this situation are tempered by the nonhierarchical structure of relations between communication scientists. En un momento en que la actividad académica en el ámbito de la comunicación se valora principalmente por el impacto de las revistas y los medios de comunicación científica y por la productividad de los investigadores, surge la cuestión de si los factores sociales pueden condicionar la actividad científica con la misma fuerza que estos elementos objetivos. Esta investigación analiza la influencia de la productividad científica y de la actividad social en el ámbito de la comunicación. Se ha identificado la red social de los investigadores de comunicación a partir de las tesis doctorales. Para los 180 investigadores más activos en los tribunales de tesis se ha calculado su producción científica. Se utiliza el análisis de redes sociales para estudiar las relaciones que se producen en los tribunales de tesis doctorales. Los resultados muestran que los factores sociales influyen positivamente en una actividad académica y científica tan relevante como la obtención del grado de doctor, mientras que la productividad científica individual no lo hace. Como conclusiones cabe señalar que existe una desconexión entre la productividad científica y la proyección internacional de los investigadores y su papel en la red social. Las implicaciones de este hecho están matizadas por una estructura no jerarquizada de las relaciones entre los científicos de comunicación.

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.

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