Social virtual world continuance among teens: uncovering the moderating role of perceived aggregate network exposure

Engagement in virtual worlds has become pervasive, particularly among the young. At the same time, the number of virtual environments has increased rapidly. Due to intensifying competition, promoting sustained usage, i.e. continuance, has become a top priority for virtual world operators. Prior research has shown that network externalities play a key role in the adoption of communication technologies. However, a small amount of research has examined the role of network externalities in continued IT usage in general or with respect to the virtual world participation in particular. To fill in this gap, we examine how perceived network externalities affect the continuance of social virtual worlds. To this end, we introduce the concept of perceived aggregate network exposure (PANE). We extend the original information systems (IS) continuance model with perceived enjoyment and position PANE as a moderator. We test the model with data collected from 2134 Finnish Habbo Hotel users and employ structural equation modelling in the analysis. The results demonstrate that PANE moderates the influence of motivational factors on continued use intention and satisfaction.     

Continuous Levels‐of‐Detail and Visual Abstraction for Seamless Molecular Visualization

Molecular visualization is often challenged with rendering of large molecular structures in real time. We introduce a novel approach that enables us to show even large protein complexes. Our method is based on the level‐of‐detail concept, where we exploit three different abstractions combined in one visualization. Firstly, molecular surface abstraction exploits three different surfaces, solvent‐excluded surface (SES), Gaussian kernels and van der Waals spheres, combined as one surface by linear interpolation. Secondly, we introduce three shading abstraction levels and a method for creating seamless transitions between these representations. The SES representation with full shading and added contours stands in focus while on the other side a sphere representation of a cluster of atoms with constant shading and without contours provide the context. Thirdly, we propose a hierarchical abstraction based on a set of clusters formed on molecular atoms. All three abstraction models are driven by one importance function classifying the scene into the near‐, mid‐ and far‐field. Moreover, we introduce a methodology to render the entire molecule directly using the A‐buffer technique, which further improves the performance. The rendering performance is evaluated on series of molecules of varying atom counts.     

促进三峡库区和谐稳定发展评价方法研究

三峡库区已完成了百万移民的搬迁安置,进入了移民安稳致富的新阶段,库区社会和谐稳定对促进库区经济社会健康发展和实现全面建成小康社会的目标具有重要作用。本研究重点关注和谐库区建设思路及评价指标体系构建:一方面,从理论层面,重点论述与库区和谐社会相关的理论认识成果;另一方面,从实际管理运用层面,构建了库区和谐评价指标体系,可为移民动态管理提供有力的技术支撑。     

Analysing interactive devices based on information resource constraints

Analysis of the usability of an interactive system requires both an understanding of how the system is to be used and a means of assessing the system against that understanding. Such analytic assessments are particularly important in safety-critical systems as latent vulnerabilities may exist which have negative consequences only in certain circumstances. Many existing approaches to assessment use tasks or scenarios to provide explicit representation of their understanding of use. These normative user behaviours have the advantage that they clarify assumptions about how the system will be used but have the disadvantage that they may exclude many plausible deviations from these norms. Assessments of how a design fails to support these user behaviours can be a matter of judgement based on individual experience rather than evidence. We present a systematic formal method for analysing interactive systems that is based on constraints rather than prescribed behaviour. These constraints capture precise assumptions about what information resources are used to perform action. These resources may either reside in the system itself or be external to the system. The approach is applied to two different medical device designs, comparing two infusion pumps currently in common use in hospitals. Comparison of the two devices is based on these resource assumptions to assess consistency of interaction within the design of each device.     

Expectations and Experiences With MyLabourParty: From Right to Know to Right to Participate?

Social media are often argued to change political communication, decreasing the distance between politicians and citizens, and increasing citizens' influence on policymaking. This paper presents findings from a study of how the Norwegian Labour Party uses social media, focusing on the community platform MyLabourParty. Interviews with politicians and a survey with citizens as respondents were conducted to examine the experiences of online political discussions. Findings show that citizens and politicians expect MyLabourParty to strengthen citizen participation. Yet, citizens still experience communication asymmetry and politicians may find it challenging to participate to the extent citizens expect. Means for bridging the gap between expectations and experiences are called for, in particular redefinition of the offering, changes of user‐practices, and system improvements.     

Tele‐Cocooning: Mobile Texting and Social Scope

The present study examines the tele‐cocooning hypothesis in the context of general trust using a nationally representative survey of Japanese youth. We find that although frequency of texting is positively correlated with general trust, this correlation is spuriously caused by how heavy mobile texters interpret the words “most people” in the general trust measurement. Heavy users assume that “most people” only refers to friends, family, and others going to the same school. When the effect of the “most people” assumption is controlled, the positive association between texting and general trust disappears. Further exploration of the data shows that heavy texting nevertheless has negative implications for social tolerance and social caution, both of which are theoretically proximate to general trust.     

Investigating Modern‐Day Talaria: Mobile Phones and the Mobility‐Impaired in Singapore

Revisiting the medical and social models of disability, this study adopted the integrated biopsychosocial approach to examine experiences of 25 mobility‐impaired respondents in Singapore with using mobile phones. We found that mobile phones provided respondents a greater degree of mobility, a sense of control, and opportunities to escape the stigma of disability, thus challenging the boundaries between the able‐bodied and the disabled. Mobile phone appropriation allowed the management of personal identities and social networks, leading to a sense of empowerment. However, mobile phone usage might act as a double‐edged sword for disabled people, creating mobile dependencies and a spatial narrowing of social connections. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

智慧社保服务体系建设思考与实践

建立智慧型社会保障服务体系,是政府惠民工程的重要组成部分之一。以精确的人员基本信息库建设、经办业务下延、银行自助服务、网上自主经办等方面为依托,充分利用信息化手段打造一体化的社保经办体系,将业务经办突破时间、空间限制,构建完整的智慧社保服务体系。经信息系统上线近二年的实时运行,证明运用现代信息技术建立多层次、多渠道、差异化的服务体系,极大地提高了服务效率,产生了良好的社会效益。     

大数据系统和分析技术综述

首先根据处理形式的不同,介绍了不同形式数据的特征和各自的典型应用场景以及相应的代表性处理系统,总结了大数据处理系统的三大发展趋势;随后,对系统支撑下的大数据分析技术和应用(包括深度学习、知识计算、社会计算与可视化等)进行了简要综述,总结了各种技术在大数据分析理解过程中的关键作用;最后梳理了大数据处理和分析面临的数据复杂性、计算复杂性和系统复杂性挑战,并逐一提出了可能的应对之策.