Narrow Results

We examine and model dynamics in three areas of social cognition: (1) political transformations within Russia, (2) evaluation of political trends in other countries by Russians, and (3) evaluation of Russian stereotypes concerning women. We try to represent consciousness as vectorfields and trajectories in a cognitive state space. We use psychosemantic techniques that allow definition of the state space and the systematic construction of these vectorfields and trajectories and their portrait from research data. Then we construct models to fit them, using multiple regression methods to obtain linear differential equations. These dynamical models of social cognition fit the data quite well. (1) The political transformations were modeled by a spiral repellor in a two-dimensional space of a democratic–totalitarian factor and social depression–optimism factor. (2) The evaluation of alien political trends included a flow away from a saddle toward more stable and moderate political regimes in a 2D space, of democratic–totalitarian and unstable–stable cognitive dimensions. (3) The gender study showed expectations (attractors) for more liberated, emancipated roles for women in the future.

We propose a model that extends the binary "united we stand, divided we fall" opinion dynamics of Sznajd-Weron to handle continuous and multi-state discrete opinions on a linear chain. Disagreement dynamics are often ignored in continuous extensions of the binary rules, so we make the most symmetric continuum extension of the binary model that can treat the consequences of agreement (debate) and disagreement (confrontation) within a population of agents. We use the continuum extension as an opportunity to develop rules for persistence of opinion (memory). Rules governing the propagation of centrist views are also examined. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out. We find that both memory effects and the type of centrist significantly modify the variance of average opinions in the large timescale limits of the models. Finally, we describe the limit of applicability for Sznajd-Weron's model of binary opinions as the continuum limit is approached. By comparing Monte Carlo results and long time-step limits, we find that the opinion dynamics of binary models are significantly different to those where agents are permitted more than 3 opinions.

Current location-based services (LBS) continuously generate a massive amount of geo-message streams. The cluster-based subscription matching method is an effective means to feed subscribers with related geo-messages from geo-message streaming. However, current cluster-based subscription matching methods only consider the spatial relationship and textual relationship and ignore users’ social relationship. As a result, the matching results may not completely satisfy the requirements of users. In this paper, we proposed a social-aware subscription matching method by taking spatial, textual, and social factors into consideration. Then, we used a cache strategy and a Flink-based acceleration process to reduce the extra time overhead caused by computing the social relationships. A set of extensive experiments have been conducted on a real dataset. The experimental results indicate that our method improves the recall of matching results. Besides, the Flink-based acceleration process with caching can speed up the subscription matching process by a ratio of up to 3.299 compared with the state-of-the-art.

When involved in entrepreneurship activities, the competencies of entrepreneurs are made tangible as entrepreneurs interact with their environment. This study focuses on a framework for entrepreneurial competencies. The entrepreneurial competencies held by entrepreneurs are explored from the perspectives of conative, social, and cognitive competencies. The multidimensional construct of entrepreneurial competencies is extended based on these perspectives, past studies, and an empirical study that uses data concerning entrepreneurs in China. This study contributes to science by developing a three-component construct of entrepreneurial competencies that has four elements (cognitive–education, cognitive–experience, conative, and social).

Ideology plays a vital role in politics, but not only so. Also in consumer life, ideologically based attitudes and stances are immanent. Building on four different business models within the fashion industry, a model with two axes is presented. The two axes are conceptual recursion and consumption as social ideology. Fashion easily contains a progressive attitude; the social environment creates a milieu where consumers and businesses operate, and in this ambiance of ideas they will be able to (inside-out or outside-in) foot themselves in ideology. Hence, fashion can be said to uphold ideological attitudes, whether explicit or not. The model captures these ideological mindsets. It makes clear how the business models in themselves are ridden by ideology and the expression of brands, as well as bringing an overall understanding of the role ideology plays in entrepreneurship and enterprise development in the fashion industry.

Hospitals' Community Benefits.

The Question of Fair Benefits in International Research.

Access to Medicines and Corporate Social Responsibilities of the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Corporate Social Responsibility of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Solidaristic Terms.

Strategic Partnerships – an important tool for social engagement at Science Centre Singapore.

Healthcare IT India Summit kicks off on a high note: Revolutionizing the future of Healthcare IT.

In this paper we deal with the structural properties of weighted networks. Starting from an empirical analysis of a linguistic network, we analyze the differences between the statistical properties of a real and a shuffled network. We show that the scale-free degree distribution and the scale-free weight distribution are induced by the scale-free strength distribution, that is Zipf's law. We test the result on a scientific collaboration network, that is a social network, and we define a measure – the vertex selectivity – that can distinguish a real network from a shuffled network. We prove, via an ad hoc stochastic growing network with second order correlations, that this measure can effectively capture the correlations within the topology of the network.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a form of anxiety disorder that is often under-diagnosed. Commonly masked as shyness or introversion, many who are suffering from symptoms of SAD do not receive treatment. The onset of SAD is in childhood and/or early adolescence, and often accompanied by a wide range of comorbidities, including anxiety and depression. As a result, those who suffer from SAD are functionally impaired, likely under-achieve in work and school, and may possibly have unfulfilling relationships. The paper, firstly, reviews various available literature on SAD, its clinical symptoms, prevalence, onset, comorbidities and possible etiologies. Secondly, a case study, constructed based on the authors’ counselling experiences and observations, highlights the common behavioural patterns, cognitive distortions and emotional distress of clients undergoing SAD. Possible perpetuating factors and circumstances further provide a relevant and realistic perspective of the disorder within the Singapore context. Finally, through a review of the unique cultures of three countries, namely Singapore, India and Indonesia, the paper highlights the effects of social competitiveness, social appearance, social hierarchy, shame, technology and social media on the development and perpetuation of SAD amongst children, adolescents and females.

In the post 9/11 era, there is growing interest in the complex relationship between religion, economics, finance, politics, law, and social behavior. This has brought with it a disagreement on how to investigate the impact of religiosity, whether religion affects the economic, political, and social outlook of countries or whether these factors affect religiosity? In other words, should religion be viewed as a dependent or an independent variable? In this paper we ask what we believe to be the precursor question to such linkages, namely, do self-declared Islamic countries, as attested by membership in the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference), embrace policies that are founded on Islamic teachings? We believe that only once this question is addressed can one begin to estimate how Islam adherence to Islam may affect economic, political and social behavior. In the first part of the paper we present what we believe should be the characteristics and scaffolding of an “Islamic" country. We base our depiction on the Quran, and the life, practices and sayings of the Prophet Mohammad -- the two principal channels that provide Muslims with the road map. In the second part, we develop an index to measure the “Islamicity" of Islamic and non-Islamic countries. This IslamicityIndex (or I2) measures 208 countries adherence to Islamic principles using four sub-indices related to economics, legal and governance, human and political rights, and international relations.

The motto that motivates people to form cooperatives is all for one and one for all. It is primarily dependent on the ownership and control of the cooperative’s members, with each person having one vote. A cooperative society is a memberowned business formed for the economic and social growth of any sector in a country. Considering their competency and practical utility, cooperatives are constitutionally recognised as an important economic sector in emerging and developing countries. As a result, every year, on 6 November, Bangladesh commemorates National Cooperative Day. This chapter illustrates that despite the ups and downs in Bangladesh’s, India’s, and Pakistan’s economies, cooperatives are continuously growing and contributing to these nation’s socio-economic growth. Through this study, academic scholars, students, cooperative members, administrators, government officials, and other stakeholders can learn about the socio-economic impact of cooperative societies by witnessing those in South Asia’s standouts: Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The authors acquired all of the data for this study from secondary sources, including government websites, journal publications, newspapers, research community groups, blogs, and social media. After collecting data, the authors narrowed them down and combined them in a usable format to deliver the most relevant data and knowledge for the subject area.

Firm shareholders are becoming more conscious and compliant with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues as the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is growing. For some firms, the ESG footprint serves as a tool to gain a competitive strategic advantage within an existing legal framework. Still, other firms simply perceive ESG activities as philanthropic activities. Hence, to what extent each firm will engage in ESG activities is largely determined by the collective and structural arrangements of the country or society. In this regard, several reviews have raised the importance of legal frameworks to boost ESG performance. Despite the considerable literature, they only recommend the enhancement of governance to assure firm accountability and information disclosure on ESG. However, most of these assumptions are based on high-income countries where social hardship is less of a challenge. Moreover, only limited research discusses the concept of creating shared value (CSV) within the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The object of this chapter is to explore the required conditions to motivate more firms to engage in ESG affairs in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region. As our study points out, environmental issues are not a core objective for SSA Governments as of now. This shows that social hardship and regulation gaps are influential factors for business competitiveness and government policy adjustment toward ESG arrangements.