A new spreading model in the environment of epidemic-related online rumors

This paper takes COVID-19-related online rumors as the research object, and explores the law of spreading public opinion in social networks. The paper also conducts empirical research on the relationship between rumor spreading, user characteristics and subject interest differences, and analyzes the common influence of individual factors and social environment. In the process of public opinion dissemination, measures that can effectively regulate the dissemination of public opinion are proposed. Based on the susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered (SEIR) model, this paper analyzes the influence of individual differentiation characteristics, friend factors, and time-dependent decline on user status changes. The study found that the user’s environment can affect the spread and popularity of public opinion information, and prolong the survival time of public Controlling the propagation threshold and exit threshold of the platform helps to control the large-scale dissemination of online public opinion. The extinction of public opinion is affected by the decline of time and heat rather than certain probability.

Brief segments of neurophysiological activity enable individual differentiation

Large, openly available datasets and current analytic tools promise the emergence of population neuroscience. The considerable diversity in personality traits and behaviour between individuals is reflected in the statistical variability of neural data collected in such repositories. Recent studies with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have concluded that patterns of resting-state functional connectivity can both successfully distinguish individual participants within a cohort and predict some individual traits, yielding the notion of an individual’s neural fingerprint. Here, we aim to clarify the neurophysiological foundations of individual differentiation from features of the rich and complex dynamics of resting-state brain activity using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in 158 participants. We show that akin to fMRI approaches, neurophysiological functional connectomes enable the differentiation of individuals, with rates similar to those seen with fMRI. We also show that individual differentiation is equally successful from simpler measures of the spatial distribution of neurophysiological spectral signal power. Our data further indicate that differentiation can be achieved from brain recordings as short as 30 seconds, and that it is robust over time: the neural fingerprint is present in recordings performed weeks after their baseline reference data was collected. This work, thus, extends the notion of a neural or brain fingerprint to fast and large-scale resting-state electrophysiological dynamics.

Structural and Inter-individual Differentiation in Personality across the Adult Lifespan

The concept of differentiation describes increasing or decreasing similarities between inter-individual differences on psychological constructs, reflecting processes of specialization or adaptation. In this study, we studied age-differentiation in personality traits in 1) the association between trait domains, facets and nuances, 2) the correlations between trait domains, and 3) inter-individual differences at all trait levels. We used three large cross-sectional samples (Ns > 3,000) covering 16 to 90 years of age, and broad measures of the Big Five, Five-Factor and HEXACO models. We examined age effects on the model parameters using local structural equation modeling. We found a high stability of facet rank-ordering within trait domains, suggesting relatively stable trait domain compositions across age. Age-associated differences in the facet loadings were unsystematic and differed in direction across the three measures used. Extraversion-Openness correlations increased across age for all three measures, whereas an increase in Extraversion-Agreeableness and decrease in absolute Neuroticism-Extraversion correlations only replicated across the five-dimensional models. Inter-individual differences in personality varied most at the item or nuance level. In summary, personality differentiation is particularly evident at the lowest level and some trait domain correlations, but studies into this topic need to account for the heterogeneity of personality taxonomies and measures.

The effects of individual differentiation on newcomer group identification

PurposeWith organizations hiring from increasingly diverse labor markets, this study aims to examine the implications of newcomers’ individual differentiation for their group identification. The paper proposes and tests a self-verification process in which individual differentiation predicts group identification through role innovation under positive social feedback on innovation (moderated mediation). Simultaneously, a self-categorization pathway is examined of the indirect negative influence of individual differentiation on group identification through role modeling (mediation).Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected at three time points from 161 UK university alumni.FindingsThe analyses support a self-verification pathway: newcomers with high individual differentiation report higher group identification via role innovation only when they receive positive feedback on their innovative actions. However, there was no support for a self-categorization pathway, with no indirect relationship found between individual differentiation and group identification via role modeling.Practical implicationsHR practitioners and managers who are responsible for helping newcomers adjust should consider newcomers’ individual differentiation. Specifically, newcomers with high individual differentiation may more successfully navigate their transition and identify with their workgroup when given appropriate support, such as positive social feedback on their innovative actions.Originality/valueThe study extends organizational socialization research by focusing on when newcomers with high individual differentiation may experience group identification. The findings highlight the important role of positive social feedback on group identification; this suggests a potential means by which newcomers with high individual differentiation can settle successfully.

An allergy of society: on the question of how a societal “lockdown” becomes possible

Purpose Given the form of functional differentiation of modern society, a far-reaching coordination of functional systems as a dissolution of their heterarchical relationship to each other, as was apparently possible in the social “lockdown” during the corona pandemic, should have been extremely unlikely. The purpose of this study is to explain how this was nevertheless achieved. Design/methodology/approach From the perspective of systems theory, social action in principle does not present itself as a problem but as a solution to (latent) social problems. In the sociological analysis presented here, it is therefore precisely a matter of uncovering or pointing out those (changed) social structures in which a social “lockdown” appears as a solution. Findings The paper explains that with the emergence of social media through applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, a new force is establishing itself at the level of society as a system. It is one that is characterized by being highly vulnerable to moral communication. A susceptibility to morality manifests, on the one hand, through an individual differentiation of society made possible by social media – for example, in the emerging Chinese social credit system – and, on the other hand, through the specific communicative structures of the social media themselves. It is argued that social media, in the form of a moral authority with a lasting effect on society as a whole, make a significant contribution to realizing the social “lockdown.” Originality/value The originality of the paper results from the fact that the emergence of a new social phenomenon (“lockdown”) is explained.

MEG, myself, and I: individual identification from neurophysiological brain activity

Large, openly available datasets and current analytic tools promise the emergence of population neuroscience. The considerable diversity in personality traits and behaviour between individuals is reflected in the statistical variability of neural data collected in such repositories. This variability challenges the sensitivity and specificity of analysis methods. Yet, recent studies with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have concluded that patterns of resting-state functional connectivity can both successfully identify individuals within a cohort and predict their individual traits, yielding the notion of a neural fingerprint. Here, we aimed to clarify the neurophysiological foundations of individual differentiation from features of the rich and complex dynamics of magnetoencephalography (MEG) resting-state brain activity in 158 participants. The resulting neurophysiological functional connectomes enabled the identification of individuals with similar identifiability rates to fMRI. We also show that individual identification was equally successful from simpler measures of the spatial distribution of neurophysiological spectral signal power. Our data indicate that identifiability can be achieved from brain recordings as short as 30 seconds, and that it is robust over time: individuals remain identifiable from recordings performed weeks after their baseline reference data was collected. We can anticipate a vast range of diverse applications in personalized, clinical and basic neuroscience of individual differentiation from large-scale neural electrophysiology, in future longitudinal and cross-section studies.

Reimagining Inclusive Spaces for Mathematics Learning

We challenge traditional models of individual differentiation and share design principles that broaden competence and participation for all students, including those with disabilities.

Development of Microsatellite Markers for a Soricid Water Shrew Chimarrogale platycephalus, and the Success of Individual Identification Using It

The soricid water shrew, Chimarrogale platycephalus, is a mammal species endemic to the Japanese Islands. They inhabit the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, and are considered to be extinct in Shikoku. Information on this water shrew from Honshu and Kyushu is also scarce, and C. platycephalus is registered on the Japanese Government’s red list as an endangered species. Almost all study areas such as regarding their ethology, ecology, also their phylogenetics are lacking. The delay in these foundational studies is due to difficulties related to them being both nocturnal and aquatic. In order to study of C. platycephalus, it is essential to conduct field research in mountain streams at night under such circumstances. In response to such difficult circumstances, we established a genetic analysis method using the feces of C. platycephalus, and as a result the accumulation of data on their phylogenetic evolution and phylogeography has increased which has improved our understanding of this species. Furthermore in this study, development of microsatellite markers was carried out, and a total of 21 loci marker analyses were performed. In addition, in order to confirm the credibility of these 21 microsatellite markers, as being able to validly differentiate individuals, all markers were examined using the fecal and tissues specimens from verified separately reared individuals (12 individuals) with the known history of having been reared in an aquarium. As a result, it was revealed that if analyses of the 12 loci were possible, individual differentiation with 100% accuracy was possible. The development of microsatellite markers in this study, and the establishment of individual identification methods by means of this will be expected to greatly contribute to future ecological and ethological research, population genetics and biogeographical research of the water shrew, C. platycephalus.