Fake news and COVID-19: modelling the predictors of fake news sharing among social media users

Fake news dissemination on COVID-19 has increased in recent months, and the factors that lead to the sharing of this misinformation is less well studied. Therefore, this paper describes the result of a Nigerian sample (n = 385) regarding the proliferation of fake news on COVID-19. The fake news phenomenon was studied using the Uses and Gratification framework, which was extended by an “altruism” motivation. The data were analysed with Partial Least Squares (PLS) to determine the effects of six variables on the outcome of fake news sharing. Our results showed that altruism was the most significant factor that predicted fake news sharing of COVID-19. We also found that social media users’ motivations for information sharing, socialisation, information seeking and pass time predicted the sharing of false information about COVID-19. In contrast, no significant association was found for entertainment motivation. We concluded with some theoretical and practical implications.     

It doesn’t take a village to fall for misinformation: Social media use,discussion heterogeneity preference,worry of the virus,faith in scientists,and COVID-19-related misinformation beliefs

With the circulation of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization has raised concerns about an “infodemic,” which exacerbates people’s misperceptions and deters preventive measures. Against this backdrop, this study examined the conditional indirect effect of social media use and discussion heterogeneity preference on COVID-19-related misinformation beliefs in the United States, using a national survey. Findings suggested that social media use was positively associated with misinformation beliefs, while discussion heterogeneity preference was negatively associated with misinformation beliefs. Furthermore, worry of COVID-19 was found to be a significant mediator as both associations became more significant when mediated through worry. In addition, faith in scientists served as a moderator that mitigated the indirect effect of discussion heterogeneity preference on misinformation beliefs. That is, among those who had stronger faiths in scientists, the indirect effect of discussion heterogeneity preference on misinformation belief became more negative. The findings revealed communication and psychological factors associated with COVID-19-related misinformation beliefs and provided insights into coping strategies during the pandemic.     

Chemical Bonding by the Chemical Orthogonal Space of Reactivity

The fashionable Parr–Pearson (PP) atoms-in-molecule/bonding (AIM/AIB) approach for determining the exchanged charge necessary for acquiring an equalized electronegativity within a chemical bond is refined and generalized here by introducing the concepts of chemical power within the chemical orthogonal space (COS) in terms of electronegativity and chemical hardness. Electronegativity and chemical hardness are conceptually orthogonal, since there are opposite tendencies in bonding, i.e., reactivity vs. stability or the HOMO-LUMO middy level vs. the HOMO-LUMO interval (gap). Thus, atoms-in-molecule/bond electronegativity and chemical hardness are provided for in orthogonal space (COS), along with a generalized analytical expression of the exchanged electrons in bonding. Moreover, the present formalism surpasses the earlier Parr–Pearson limitation to the context of hetero-bonding molecules so as to also include the important case of covalent homo-bonding. The connections of the present COS analysis with PP formalism is analytically revealed, while a numerical illustration regarding the patterning and fragmentation of chemical benchmarking bondings is also presented and fundamental open questions are critically discussed.     

养老机构公共空间需求及影响因素研究——基于Kano模型分析

运用细分后的Kano模型甄别养老机构中老年人对公共空间需求的优先度排序及其影响因素的主次排序。首先通过规范、文献研究与访谈研究获取南京市养老机构中老年群体公共空间需求要素，并将得到的需求项进行层次归属划分。接着测算SI与DI系数量化各项需求对空间满意度的影响，得出公共空间需求优先度排序。最后利用多元线性回归对需求项的影响因素进行分析，探讨“自我”和“家庭”维度下影响因素的主次排序。得出养老机构公共空间的设计应首先满足老年人医疗保健空间层面的需求且空间需求受老年人“自我”维度下失能等级的影响程度最深。通过对需求重要度的排序，可以得出设计的优先满足策略，提升空间的利用效率及老年群体的满意度，为养老机构公共空间的投入侧重点提供理论依据。     

‘I am not a number’: Conceptualising identity in digital surveillance

Surveillance, now a commonplace phenomenon in everyday life, has been explored from various disciplines over three decades. Today's surveillance practices depend primarily upon many software technologies that collect, store and process personal data for the purposes of influence, management, protection or detection. The identification and categorisation of data have thus emerged as the technical signature of surveillance. An individual has many identities belonging to different contexts of his/her life, but in this paper, we explore the relationship between surveillance and identity in virtual contexts only. We argue that an understanding of identity purely as data is fundamental to understanding surveillance. We propose abstract general definitions of surveillance and identity that together create a conceptual framework, capturing key features common to many disparate surveillance situations. Our work concludes that the essence of surveillance is that of a surveillance context, which is precisely and solely defined by the availability of data about the behaviour and identity of its entities. The data that distinguishes the entities of the context we call identifiers; we explore the creation, provenance, comparison and transformation of identifiers. Abstractly, surveillance is a process that tests for properties of data, and sorts identifiers into categories.     

Purchase intention for hydrogen automobile among Chinese citizens: The influence of environmental concern and perceived social value

Although hydrogen automobile has attracted increasing attention in recent years, previous studies did not extensively investigate customers' purchase intention for hydrogen automobile, as well as the factors that might affect their purchase intention. The present study therefore investigated whether customers' environmental concern and perceived social value of green buying would affect their purchase intention for hydrogen automobile. Customers' green buying behavior was included as a mediator, and their monthly income and gender were included as moderators. Data from 300 adults in China were collected. Results from structural equation modeling showed that customers’ green buying behavior fully mediated the positive association between perceived social value and purchase intention for hydrogen automobile. Further multi-group analysis found that monthly income and gender had moderating effects on the associations between some of the study variables. Based on these findings, possible explanation and practical implications were discussed.     

The role of peers,siblings and social media for children’s healthy eating socialization: a mixed methods study

Growing rates of childhood obesity constitute a worldwide public health crisis. Consumption of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables could help to prevent obesity and related non-communicable illness. A prominent role in children’s food-related consumer socialization is played by social agents such as peers, siblings and social media. This study aims to explore the importance of peers, siblings and social media for children’s food-related consumer socialization. Using a parallel, mixed-methods approach, the study finds that peers’ influence on children’s eating behavior is more prominent for children’s healthy eating behavior than the influence of siblings. Siblings’ influence becomes important in the context of eating together with the whole family. Social media contributes to children's consumer socialization by exposing children to food and drink products shown on social media platforms that are frequently used by children to interact with peers and share experiences. Peer, sibling and social media influence can be used in creating marketing strategies to promote healthy eating behavior among children.     

Developing social impact assessment guidelines in a pre-existing policy context

Few jurisdictions have translated internationally agreed social impact assessment (SIA) principles into statutory provisions. Governments and regulatory bodies tend to provide developers with high-level frameworks, or require that social impacts be ‘considered’, without specifying how this is to be done. In Australia, this lack of clarity leaves all parties uncertain about requirements for SIA. The New South Wales (NSW) Government’s 2017 release of the SIA guideline for State-significant mining, petroleum and extractive industry development represents an attempt to clarify requirements and provide guidance. In this paper, we describe the process of bringing this guideline to fruition from the perspective of being directly involved in its development, and highlight the challenges involved in integrating leading-practice principles into the state’s pre-existing policy framework. While the guideline represents a significant advance in policy-based SIA guidance, some aspects leave room for improvement. The real test of the guideline’s impact will lie in its influence on SIA practice in NSW, and ultimately in social outcomes for communities affected by resources projects.     

镁质熔剂性球团矿相的多重分形谱

 球团矿相微观结构决定其冶金物理化学性能，为透视球团矿微观结构与其宏观冶金物理化学性能之间的依赖关系，需要解决的首要关键问题是矿相微观视觉特征的提取与定量表征。以镁质熔剂性球团微观矿相为研究对象，在直观分析矿相视觉特征的基础上，采用多重分形谱分析方法，提取矿相的微观多重分形谱定量表征值f（α），并分别深度挖掘由f（α）衍生出的对称度特征值Δf、谱宽特征值Δα、容量维特征值D（0）随碱度变化的迁移规律和随矿相检测位置变化的迁移规律。研究结果表明，矿相微观视觉特征在HSV颜色空间上呈现的颜色特征未在碱度变化和位置变化上存在显著差异性；矿相微观多重分形谱分析中，Δf、Δα、D（0） 3个特征值在碱度变化和位置变化上有显著的差异性，可以很好地表征碱度迁移规律和位置迁移规律。     

变分自编码器模型综述

变分自编码器（VAE）作为深度隐空间生成模型的一种，近年来其表现性能取得了极大的成功，尤其是在图像生成方面。变分自编码器模型作为无监督式特征学习的重要工具之一，可以通过学习隐编码空间与数据生成空间的特征映射，进而在输出端重构生成输入数据。梳理了传统变分自编码器模型及其衍生变体模型的发展与研究现状，并就此做了总结和对比，最后分析了变分自编码器模型存在的问题与挑战，并就可能的发展趋势做了展望。