Educational influencers on Twitter. Analysis of hashtags and relationship structure

In this article we research Spanish educational influencers with major presence on Twitter: what are the most common topics or hashtags used by them, whether there are groups based on the topics of their interventions or what type of social network they configure. To meet these goals, we selected 54 educational influencers with a high number of followers. We analyzed and classified the "hashtags" included in a total of 106,130 tweets. The analysis of hashtags has shown us that the most labelled topics correspond to educational content in different areas of the curriculum, collaboration, exchange and dissemination of digital materials, documents or resources, as well as activities related to training or discussion about innovative teaching methodologies. Using the Gephi software, we carried out a Social Network Analysis, determining the degree of centrality and betweenness centrality of the 54 influencers, which allowed us to identify influencers with greater recognition by the rest. Through a modularity analysis, we were able to identify five groups of influencers that do not work as closed groups but maintain frequent interactions with other influencers in other groups. This research highlights the need to better understand the contents and procedures that may promote informal learning by teachers. En este artículo indagamos acerca de los influencers educativos españoles con mayor presencia en Twitter: cuáles son los temas o hashtags más difundidos por ellos, las temáticas de sus intervenciones o qué tipo de red social configuran. Para dar respuesta a estos objetivos, en primer lugar, seleccionamos 54 docentes con alto nivel de seguidores. Analizamos y clasificamos los «hashtags» incluidos en un total de 106.130 tuits. El análisis de los hashtags nos ha mostrado que los temas más etiquetados corresponden a contenidos educativos en diferentes áreas del currículum, la colaboración, el intercambio y la difusión de materiales, documentos o recursos digitales, así como de acciones de formación o de debate sobre metodologías docentes innovadoras. Utilizando el programa Gephi hemos realizado un análisis de redes sociales, determinando el grado de centralidad y centralidad de intermediación de los 54 docentes, lo que nos ha permitido identificar influencers con mayor reconocimiento por parte del resto. A través del análisis de modularidad, hemos podido identificar cinco grupos de influencers que no funcionan como grupos cerrados, sino que mantienen frecuentes interacciones con el resto de influencers de otros grupos. A través de este estudio se pone de manifiesto la necesidad de conocer mejor los contenidos y procedimientos que pueden estar favoreciendo aprendizajes informales por parte de los docentes.

A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

Background In a recent work I transformed a complex and integrated text like the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature into a network of interconnected parts of text. This new approach allowed understanding that a continuous body of text cannot accurately reflect the true structure of the Code, and provided a scientific methodology to identify a priori parts that could be affected by future revisions. In this next step, I investigate further the structure of the Code, seeking to use the network in order to identify the various conceptual communities grouping the various articles and other text items of the Code. Methods Using the first version of the network of the Code, I perform a comprehensive modularity analysis in two rounds: the first round aims to identify the fewest and largest communities or modules for the entire network, whereas the second round identifies the sub-modules within each larger module. The potential conflicts between the current structure of the Code and the module composition are evaluated with a parcellation analysis. Results The optimal modularity search identified 10 different modules in the entire network of varying size (ranging from 75 to 200 nodes). Each module can be further divided into smaller modules, that all-together allow describing the 65 conceptual groups of text items in the Code. Parcellation analysis revealed that two-thirds of the current chapters of the Code are in excellent or good accordance with the recovered conceptual modules, whereas the current composition of six chapters is in serious conflict with the conceptual structure of the Code. Discussion Judging only the composition and not the order of appearance of the Articles in the Chapters of the Code, I show that in many cases the current structure of the Code is found to correspond quite well to the concepts presented therein. The most important conflict is found on the provisions related to the various groups of names governed by the Code: family-, genus-, and species-group names. Currently, these provisions are spread out in different Articles in different Chapters, along the entire length of the Code. The modularity analysis suggests that re-organizing the Code in chapters that will deal with all aspects related to a given group (e.g., chapters including information on name formation, availability, typification, and validity for a given group), could potentially improve reader experience and, consequently, the applicability of the Code.

Trophic relationships within the genus Carollia (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) in a premontane forest of central Peru

Assemblages of Neotropical frugivorous bats are structured as a function of the fruit diets of species; however, ecological relationships among closely related species largely remain unknown. This study evaluated the trophic relations among three species of Carollia in a premontane forest of central Peru. To accomplish this, we first determined the diet composition of frugivorous bats to build a bat–fruit interaction network. We then assessed the trophic structure of the bat assemblage using a modularity analysis in the network. Carollia brevicauda and Carollia perspicillata were grouped apart from Carollia benkeithi. This partition occurred because the diet of C. benkeithi was more specialized, characterized by two Piper species, a Cyclanthaceae species, and Banara guianensis. Moreover, C. benkeithi, in contrast to its congeners, did not consume fruits of Ficus or Cecropia (canopy resources). This result and available information on the ecology of Carollia species suggest that small species of Carollia are more likely to carry out most of their feeding activities in the understory than are large species of the genus.

Hierarchical social modularity in gorillas

Modern human societies show hierarchical social modularity (HSM) in which lower-order social units like nuclear families are nested inside increasingly larger units. It has been argued that this HSM evolved independently and after the chimpanzee–human split due to greater recognition of, and bonding between, dispersed kin. We used network modularity analysis and hierarchical clustering to quantify community structure within two western lowland gorilla populations. In both communities, we detected two hierarchically nested tiers of social structure which have not been previously quantified. Both tiers map closely to human social tiers. Genetic data from one population suggested that, as in humans, social unit membership was kin structured. The sizes of gorilla social units also showed the kind of consistent scaling ratio between social tiers observed in humans, baboons, toothed whales, and elephants. These results indicate that the hierarchical social organization observed in humans may have evolved far earlier than previously asserted and may not be a product of the social brain evolution unique to the hominin lineage.

A network approach to identify bioregions in the distribution of Mediterranean amphipods associated with Posidonia oceanica meadows

Although amphipods are key components of the macro-fauna associated with Posidonia oceanica meadows, to date no studies focused on the structure and diversity of their assemblages across the whole Mediterranean Sea. Here, we applied a network approach based on modularity on a dataset mined from literature to identify biogeographic modules and to assess the biogeographic roles of associated localities. We also correlated the patterns evidenced with the biogeographic distribution of amphipod groups by means of a multivariate analysis. Modularity analysis highlighted four biogeographic modules bounded by the main Mediterranean biogeographic divides and evidenced a decrease in species diversity along a NW-SE gradient. Assemblages associated with Central-Western Mediterranean and, to a lesser extent, Tunisian modules showed the highest species richness and were identified as hubs, characterized by species with regional distributions that behave as source in a biogeographic context. The paleogeographic history of the host seagrass and the ecology of associated amphipods, both suggest the joint effect of species persistence and post-Last Glacial Maximum expansion in explaining the pattern of amphipod distribution in the Mediterranean Sea.