Workplace violence is associated with negative consequences for workers, organizations, and society. Experiencing violence at work has consistently been associated with an increased risk of symptoms of depression and anxiety, diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicide (1–3). Further, workplace violence has been found to increase the risk of physical health outcomes such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (4, 5). Workplace violence can also lead to higher rates of turnover and sick leave (1, 6), translating into a societal economic burden (7). Longitudinal studies indicate that repeated exposure to workplace violence, compared with single episodes of violence, increases the risk of PTSD and sick leave further (8–10). Moreover, a recent study shows synergistic interaction effects for simultaneous exposure to workplace violence and other psychosocial working conditions, such as high emotional demands and high quantitative demands—conditions that are typically present in the same sectors (such as healthcare and education) where violence is frequently reported (11). Prevalence of workplace violence – the problem persists In a 2022 global survey, the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that more than one-fifth of the workforce experienced violence and harassment at work during their working life (12). While this gives an idea of the magnitude of the problem, it covers large differences between countries and sectors, as well as among types of violence and harassment. Effective prevention requires a more precise understanding of all these aspects, but in many countries, comprehensive data to identify the most exposed groups are not available. For Europe, however, it is possible to describe the main characteristics of workplace violence – which may be quite different from other parts of the world (12). Estimates from Europe indicate that 2–5% of the general workforce is affected by work-related violence, with substantially higher rates—ranging from 5–30%—reported in high-risk sectors (13–16). Despite these overall trends, comparing the prevalence of workplace violence remains challenging due to variations in definitions and measurements; in addition, widespread underreporting makes it difficult to obtain accurate figures (17). In this issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, a longitudinal study by Gash & Blom (15) addresses some of these issues. Using nationally representative data from the UK, the authors show that workplace violence is prevalent in a wide variety of sectors, but with elevated numbers in public administration (eg, benefits administration), followed by health- and residential care and social work. Because the study by Gash & Blom uses the same set of questions to assess violence across sectors, patterns can be identified, making it possible to compare them with results from similar studies. Two relevant cohorts to compare their results with are the Work Environment and Health in Denmark study (WEHD) (18) and the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) conducted by Eurofound (13, 14). The WEHD study comprises identical measures of violence at work in four surveys of national samples of the Danish working population conducted between 2012 and 2018. The three sectors persistently reporting the highest levels of violence are healthcare, social work, and education (16, 19). The same trend is seen in the ESENER survey, where health and social work, education, and public administration were the top three most exposed sectors in both 2015 and 2021 (13, 14). Together, data reveal a persistent and concerning pattern for European countries, showing that workplace violence remains particularly high in specific sectors. As evidence of both the prevalence and consequences of the problem continues to grow, the need for decisive action becomes increasingly urgent. From problem to strategy: making the case for systemic solutions Workplace violence can be categorized into three types, each guiding tailored prevention efforts (20). Type I involves perpetrators with no legitimate connection to the workplace—typically criminal acts such as robberies. Type II arises from interactions with clients, patients, or service users, where violence occurs without criminal intent. Type III refers to violence from current or former colleagues, supervisors, or acquaintances within the organization (20). Cross-national patterns in the sectors most affected by workplace violence (healthcare, social work, and education) suggest that violent incidents are associated with a high degree of contact with clients, patients, or service users, characteristic of Type II violence. Type II violence typically arises in situations where the “perpetrator” experiences emotional stress caused by pain or frustration due to, eg, rejection of requests perceived as legitimate (21, 22). While the term violence is meaningful from an occupational safety and health (OSH) perspective, it connotes an overly intentional act from the perpetrator that is often not the case. For example, a care worker in a residential facility may frequently encounter violent episodes involving elderly residents with severe behavioral symptoms of dementia. Preventive measures in these sectors must therefore include a deeper understanding of how to improve the well-being of the affected individual—both to protect the care worker and to enhance the quality of life for the resident (23). Consequently, it is important to recognize that the prevention of Type II violence should be approached from a dual perspective—one that reflects a shared interest between the worker and the potential “perpetrator” in preventing conflict situations that normally precede the violent incident. This applies whether the source of the violent incident is a patient, a child in kindergarten, or a citizen who needs support from social services (23–25). As such, the prevention of violence is closely linked to professional practices within a given sector that aim to strengthen relational work with patients, clients, or service users. As mentioned above, the patterns and characteristics of workplace violence may be different in other parts of the world, where Type I and Type III violence are more prevalent, and investigating these patterns would be important for tailored prevention. Policy measures and workplace interventions While national and transnational legislation in the area has evolved with violence as a highly regulated psychosocial hazard (19, 26), that in itself does not seem to be enough to solve the problem (27, 28). Recent research indicates that both external pressure from legislation and internal pressure on actors within organizations through OSH systems and procedures are needed to change practices to prevent psychosocial risks (29). Therefore, local intervention still carries significant importance. Despite a rise in the number of intervention studies on workplace violence, only a few have succeeded in reducing workplace violence. Numerous reviews show that the majority of studies focus on de-escalation training, which seems to improve workers’ knowledge and self-efficacy, but has only limited or no impact on reducing violent incidents at work (17, 30–32). The lack of effective preventive interventions might be explained by the multicausal nature of violent episodes, where risk factors on different levels interact to create the specific risk (33–35). Some studies have examined comprehensive multi-stranded interventions addressing this complexity, and the limited evidence available suggests these interventions can be effective (36–40). However, these complex interventions can be especially challenging to conduct in workplaces that need them most. The high prevalence of workplace violence can considerably strain organizational resources, as such incidents are closely linked to increased rates of sickness absence and staff turnover (1, 6, 21, 41–43). The most vulnerable workplaces are therefore often caught in a downward spiral of resource depletion. A complex challenge demanding a systemic response This situation calls for addressing broader systemic factors that support workplaces and sectors with the highest risks and the fewest resources—factors that currently hinder their ability to comply with regulatory requirements or successfully conduct workplace interventions. Inspired by systems thinking (44), we propose a systemic approach to workplace violence prevention, as represented in figure 1. Such a systemic approach enables the identification of gaps across organizational preventive practices and research knowledge and supports the recognition of key leverage points within the system that influence multiple interrelated challenges (44). The approach aligns with system-oriented approaches such as AcciMap analysis (45), which emphasize the importance of identifying the broader organizational and systemic factors that contribute to incidents of workplace violence. Rather than focusing solely on the safety behavior of frontline staff, such approaches highlight how decisions and interactions across multiple system levels—from policy to management to task execution—shape the conditions in which violence occurs. The application of a systemic approach to workplace violence prevention is informed by studies from Australia in two high-risk sectors: healthcare and social work (32, 35), and violence-prevention research from Denmark in the high-risk sectors of eldercare, psychiatry, prison and probation services, and the education sector (23, 38, 46). The figure illustrates how violent episodes arise in the inner circle at the task execution level. However, task execution is nested within a broader context, affecting the situational risk. On the task execution level, the figure highlights the importance of adopting a dual perspective on conflict reduction—addressing both the employees’ work environment and the well-being of individuals who may pose a risk of violent situations. In healthcare, social work, and educational settings, violent episodes can create emotional and cognitive dilemmas—especially when acts are unintentional or where incrimination, eg, of an adolescent, may hinder the pedagogical relationship. Therefore, a dual perspective is needed, integrating conflict prevention and client well-being into occupational safety and health efforts (23, 34, 37). At the department level, preventive work should focus on strong collaboration between employees and managers to foster a safe and supportive psychosocial work environment (38). Psychosocial factors such as trust are essential for encouraging reporting and facilitating crucial knowledge sharing (24). At the organizational level, the focus should be on systematic, data-driven OSH efforts and policies, as typically advocated in the safety climate literature (36, 38). The two outer circles emphasize the significance of sector-specific resources and regulations, as well as (trans-)national legislation, in providing a solid framework for violence prevention (35, 47). The systemic approach to violence prevention provides a valuable framework for organizing and critically assessing existing knowledge in the field. Applying this perspective reveals a notable gap in the literature: few studies address sector-level dynamics, despite their potential as key leverage points for systemic change. Decisions related to well-known implementation barriers—such as staffing and resource allocation—can be influenced at this level. A recent study from the Australian social work sector demonstrated how systemic risk factors can be mapped effectively through active engagement of stakeholders across all levels, bridging silos of OSH, visitation processes, and quality improvement (47). This type of sector-level intervention that engages stakeholders beyond the OSH domain holds promise as an impactful strategy, given that decision-making authority over systemic factors often resides at this level. Such interventions offer a strategic opportunity to support the workplaces most in need. Adopting a systems perspective on workplace violence, therefore, requires coordinated action from multiple actors such as sector-specific interest organizations, employer organizations, and politicians. References 1. Nyberg A, Kecklund G, Hanson LM, Rajaleid K. Workplace violence and health in human service industries: a systematic review of prospective and longitudinal studies. 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The importance of work environment regulation, inspection and organisational conditions. The Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise, 2025. 30. Aust B, Møller JL, Nordentoft M, Frydendall KB, Bengtsen E, Jensen AB, et al. How effective are organizational-level interventions in improving the psychosocial work environment, health, and retention of workers? A systematic overview of systematic reviews. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2023;49(5):315 https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.4097 31. Somani R, Muntaner C, Hillan E, Velonis AJ, Smith P. A Systematic Review: Effectiveness of Interventions to De-escalate Workplace Violence against Nurses in Healthcare Settings. Safety Health Work. 2021;12(3):289-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2021.04.004 32. Miller O, Dobson O, Casey T, Newnam S. Work-related violence interventions in the disability sector: A systematic review and systems mapping exercise. Safety Sci. 2025;184:106765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106765 33. 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Mahdi Tavassoli, Fatemeh Mohammadi, , Fatemeh Abdolazimbeig
et al.
IntroductionEconomic enterprises, by engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR), aim to contribute positively to society and demonstrate accountability toward their surroundings—from employees to the global community and the environment (Janowski, 2020). This type of CSR is often associated with monetary donations to charitable organizations (Lajevardi & Karimi, 2022); however, CSR is not limited to financial contributions to charities (Silva et al., 2023).In Iran, social issues such as poverty, educational inequality, unemployment, and environmental pollution require the active participation of all institutions, including economic enterprises and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (Hajibabaei & Rezaei, 2022). Global experiences indicate that NGOs can serve as intermediaries between companies and society, fostering effective social engagement. The priorities and scope of social issues in Iran differ from those in other countries, which can influence the cooperation model (Memar, 2024). In the Iranian context, philanthropic activities are deeply rooted in the nation’s culture and religion, particularly as many benefactors, in contrast to the typical CSR approach, prefer to operate anonymously (Masoodipoor & Vahidpour, 2024).Given the importance of CSR in sustainable development and the role of civil society organizations in its realization, this qualitative study seeks to explore the role of NGOs in facilitating CSR implementation in Iran. The central research question is: How can NGOs act as intermediaries between companies and society, and what strategies and outcomes are associated with this phenomenon?Research MethodThe present study is classified as fundamental research and, in terms of data collection, falls under the category of non-experimental studies. Since addressing the research problem requires process analysis and examination of interactions among factors influencing the central phenomenon, a qualitative research method was adopted. Specifically, the paradigm model of grounded theory was employed for theory construction. This approach is a precise and systematic method designed to investigate individuals and their experiences in relation to a particular issue (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). In the paradigm model, concepts are categorized into five components: prerequisites, phenomenon, intervening conditions, contextual conditions, strategies, and outcomes (Seyedi, 2023).The statistical population of this study comprised experts in the fields of charities, NGOs, and corporate social responsibility. In this research, experts are defined as individuals with practical experience in cooperation between NGOs and commercial enterprises, based on their professional background.A purposive sampling method was used to select participants, with no specific geographical limitations. For data analysis, theoretical sampling was applied, as it is considered the most effective approach for theory development (Butler et al., 2018). Interviews were coded sequentially as they were conducted, and the extracted codes were used to plan the focus areas for subsequent interviews. This process continued until theoretical saturation was reached. In total, 12 interviews were conducted, followed by 2 additional interviews to confirm theoretical sufficiency, resulting in 14 interviews overall.FindingsThis study examines the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including charities, in the realization of corporate social responsibility (CSR). These institutions, through their understanding of local social issues and the potential impacts of business activities, can facilitate advocacy and the enforcement of companies’ legal and social obligations. Effective cooperation between NGOs and companies requires adherence to two key principles: government oversight and the preservation of NGO independence from commercial enterprises. The establishment of such collaboration necessitates planning, goal-setting, and trust-building, founded on financial and operational transparency as well as accountability. The enactment of appropriate legislation can provide a foundation for the growth of such cooperation, while networking among NGOs, based on thematic or geographical commonalities, enhances their bargaining power.Fostering a spirit of altruism, increasing awareness of citizens’ rights, and cultivating public sensitivity toward societal well-being are among the most important factors in developing NGOs and enhancing advocacy efforts. The collaborative capacities of the parties include the volunteer and specialized human resources of NGOs, alongside the financial resources, equipment, and technical expertise of companies. One particularly effective area of cooperation is the empowerment of beneficiaries to serve as social workers in relevant fields.Awareness-raising and training are considered two essential pillars for the success of such collaborations. Awareness alone is insufficient; stakeholders must also possess a proper understanding and the necessary skills related to CSR. Proper implementation of these strategies can lead to outcomes such as the quantitative and qualitative development of NGO services, improved efficiency and effectiveness of CSR initiatives, increased public satisfaction, and the promotion of a culture of philanthropy within society.Discussion and ConclusionThe findings indicate that charities can play three roles: advocacy, joint collaboration, and service provision to companies. This classification aligns with the studies of Faroque et al. (2022) and Winston (2002). Perhaps the most important foundation for the emergence of this phenomenon is the goodwill and altruism present within society. Another key context is the establishment of appropriate, mandatory, and incentivizing regulations for the development of CSR, a factor highlighted by Skouloudis et al. (2015), Winston (2002), and Doh & Guay (2006). An additional contextual element is the growth of NGOs and the creation of cooperative relationships between the two sectors of the economy, as noted by Brakhasy et al. (2025).Awareness-raising and education - through joint meetings, exhibitions, and conferences - are among the most significant strategies for fostering a shared commitment to CSR, similar to the approaches proposed by Skouloudis et al. (2015). As Jamali and Keshishian (2009) emphasize, such interactions should lead to joint projects aimed at achieving shared goals.Alongside collaboration, maintaining the independence of NGOs from commercial enterprises and avoiding intellectual dependence resulting from financial reliance on companies is of critical importance. Finally, experts believe that public trust is primarily rooted in trust toward individual philanthropists rather than institutional trust, whereas Faroque et al. (2022) argue that trust is more often built upon organizational transparency and accountability. Therefore, the active presence and agency of social actors play a crucial role in advancing corporate social responsibility.
Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
The concept of the content of the right to defence of subjective rights and freedoms of an individual from domestic violence is studied. It is noted that universality is a qualitative feature of the legal category of the right to defence ion. The legal nature of the right to defence is considered, the concepts of “right to defence ion” and “protection of rights” are analysed, which will allow better understanding and ensuring the protection and safeguarding of human rights and freedoms. The features that characterise the right to defence ion of victims of domestic violence are presented, and their role in its implementation is determined.
In the conditions of legislative transformation and legal rethinking of modernity, great importance is attached to understanding of law, its nature, content, functions, and directions of influence on social relations. Therefore, there are grounds and a need to define the right to defence as a universal principle which forms a qualitatively new level of legislation not only at the federal but also at the regional level. It is indicated that the right to defence is a category in the theory of law which is an indicator of universality and preservation of its axiological significance for building a new system of legislation of Ukraine with a view to its development and compliance with international standards. The role of functions of law in the legal system cannot be underestimated. They, along with the principles of law, have become the starting structural components of this system.
There are a lot of regulations developed to ensure a comprehensive approach to combating domestic violence and to promote the rights of victims of domestic violence through preventive measures, as well as to respond in a timely manner to the facts of domestic violence. Unfortunately, the problems remain and there are many of them.
The starting point, the vector that will guide family policy, is the Strategy on Children’s Rights (2022–2027) “Children’s Rights in Action: from Stable Implementation to Joint Innovation”. It is determined that the primary task of the Strategy is to protect the interests of the child.
Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
Current cross-platform social media analyses primarily focus on the textual features of posts, often lacking multimodal analysis due to past technical limitations. This study addresses this gap by examining how U.S. legislators in the 118th Congress strategically use social media platforms to adapt their public personas by emphasizing different topics and stances. Leveraging the Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) for fine-grained text and image analysis, we examine 540 legislators personal website and social media, including Facebook, X (Twitter), TikTok. We find that legislators tailor their topics and stances to project distinct public personas on different platforms. Democrats tend to prioritize TikTok, which has a younger user base, while Republicans are more likely to express stronger stances on established platforms such as Facebook and X (Twitter), which offer broader audience reach. Topic analysis reveals alignment with constituents' key concerns, while stances and polarization vary by platform and topic. Large-scale image analysis shows Republicans employing more formal visuals to project authority, whereas Democrats favor campaign-oriented imagery. These findings highlight the potential interplay between platform features, audience demographics, and partisan goals in shaping political communication. By providing insights into multimodal strategies, this study contributes to understanding the role of social media in modern political discourse and communications.
Loris Belcastro, Riccardo Cantini, Fabrizio Marozzo
et al.
In the digital era, the prevalence of depressive symptoms expressed on social media has raised serious concerns, necessitating advanced methodologies for timely detection. This paper addresses the challenge of interpretable depression detection by proposing a novel methodology that effectively combines Large Language Models (LLMs) with eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) and conversational agents like ChatGPT. In our methodology, explanations are achieved by integrating BERTweet, a Twitter-specific variant of BERT, into a novel self-explanatory model, namely BERT-XDD, capable of providing both classification and explanations via masked attention. The interpretability is further enhanced using ChatGPT to transform technical explanations into human-readable commentaries. By introducing an effective and modular approach for interpretable depression detection, our methodology can contribute to the development of socially responsible digital platforms, fostering early intervention and support for mental health challenges under the guidance of qualified healthcare professionals.
[Purpose/Significance] ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chat robot based on transformer neural network that was developed by OpenAI, has now leveled up to GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo. solves the problem of peer-to-peer response in human-computer interaction with its powerful natural language processing ability. Its abilities of information retrieval, language organization, logical reasoning and text induction meet the needs of library users, which makes the transition from a traditional library to a smart library with a return to knowledge service possible. The paper focuses on the development trends in the library field in the era of artificial general intelligence. [Method/Process] Based on the background of the library development in the computer age, the paper reveals the dilemma of library knowledge service through retrospective and comparative methods, pointing out the endogenous growth value of ChatGPT's high-quality analysis, demonstration and generation ability with multi-modal and full-scene deep interaction for smart library services. Library service presents a new mirror image from the perspective of ChatGPT: intelligent retrieval covers all traditional service, while the focus of information consultation, subject service and reading promotion shifts and the service margin becomes blurred. Information consultation retains the necessary share of traditional consultation, and becomes professional and focused; subject service moves forward to the frontier of all-disciplinary field; reading promotion realizes the accurate docking between the collection and the target population. The potential risks and challenges posed by ChatGPT include copyright risk and secondary institutional copyright risk with plagiarism, simulated viewpoint and the exposure of data. This urges the society to regulate the development behavior of technology companies through legislation, and requires third-party supervision and local area networks to ensure security. [Results/Conclusions] On the basis of saving human resources and management costs, ChatGPT accelerates the optimization of traditional library services, improving service quality and efficiency. It may facilitate the transfer and reorganization of traditional library services, but this does not necessarily lead to the end of the library industry. On the contrary, it makes possible for the library industry to return to the knowledge service with the blessing of new technologies. It is inevitable to consolidate divisions, streamline personnel and rebuild teams, but the process may not be perceptible or even dramatic. The service standards and evaluation system of the library industry change from borrowing and returning books, click rate and pageview to the depth and efficiency of teaching and scientific research participation. Knowledge service becomes clear and conscious. The threat of digital books and electronic reading has been greatly reduced, making it easier for the library industry to confirm its position in the social and historical development.
Bibliography. Library science. Information resources, Agriculture
This text introduces the monograph “Critical Theories and Social Injustice: Human Rights in Times of Weak Democracies and Neo-Capitalisms”. It presents a large part of the debates that took place at the workshop of the same name held at the Oñati Institute for the Sociology of Law in September 2020. The workshop originated from the work of the Seminar on Critical Theories organized by the Gregorio Peces-Barba Human Rights Institute of the Carlos III University of Madrid. It presents and contextualizes the 14 contributions included here, which aim to contribute to the collective construction of responses and approaches to social injustices from contemporary critical theories. All this is from the interdisciplinary and committed viewpoints of researchers in different parts of the world.
Maciej Ciepiela, Oksana Nagorniuk, Wiktoria Sobczyk
In this article, the authors outline the problems faced by environmental education in relation to adults of different generational generations and discuss methods of developing social sensitivity. The authors emphasize the importance of legislation and the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure lifelong learning for all. Additionally, the results of a survey on the environmental awareness of the Polish population conducted by the Ministry of Climate and Environment along with the educational initiatives of the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental
Protection were cited.
Social media (i.e., Reddit) users are overloaded with people's opinions when viewing discourses about divisive topics. Traditional user interfaces in such media present those opinions in a linear structure, which can limit users in viewing diverse social opinions at scale. Prior work has recognized this limitation, that the linear structure can reinforce biases, where a certain point of view becomes widespread simply because many viewers seem to believe it. This limitation can make it difficult for users to have a truly conversational mode of mediated discussion. Thus, when designing a user interface for viewing people's opinions, we should consider ways to mitigate selective exposure to information and polarization of opinions. We conducted a needs-finding study with 11 Reddit users, who follow climate change threads and make posts and comments regularly. In the study, we aimed to understand key limitations in people viewing online controversial discourses and to extract design implications to address these problems. Our findings discuss potential future directions to address these problems.
Abstract India has recently mandated corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure under section 135 of the Indian Companies Act 2013 – the first national jurisdiction to do so. In line with the “shareholder value maximization” concept, we document the positive impacts of CSR expenditure on firm performance measured by return on asset and cash flow from operations. Additionally, we find that, despite the regulatory requirement, mandated CSR legislation is a significant but not the sole determinant of actual CSR spending by firms; rather, firm-specific economic factors such as size, level of cash balance and cash flow from operations have a moderating effect. We also observe that CSR expenditure contributes to firm performance irrespective of the level of actual CSR expenditure relative to the level of mandatory CSR expenditure. Our findings potentially reconcile conflicting results presented in the literature and provide valuable information for governments and regulatory authorities that are considering the mandatory implementation of CSR expenditure.
The article is devoted to the study of the process of development of methodological
approaches to legal regulation in the field of information and informatization in the EU, with emphasis
on the provision of human rights in the conditions of the information society and the definition of
vectors of democratic development. The focus is on the content of the newest document in this area,
the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, signed by the leadership of the European
Union in December 2022. On the basis of the analysis of the "digitized" legislative framework of the
EU, it was found that the idea of balancing technological development with respect for ethical
principles and the promotion of human rights is held as a fundamental one. Already with the beginning
of the spread of information and communication technologies, the original methodological guideline
for the EU leadership became the thesis that the person, his needs and interests are at the center of
social transformations that accompany the construction of an information society. The human rights
approach to digitization processes was demonstrated in a number of documents of the so-called
European digital agenda. The conceptual principles of the general approach to building the legal
framework of the information society in the EU include three areas of action: 1) technologies that work
for people, 2) a fair and competitive digital economy, 3) an open, democratic and sustainable society.
Within the third strand, it is defined: it aims to ensure that EU values and ethical rules are applied both
online and offline. The human-centered approach formed in the EU should be taken into account in
Ukraine on the way to European integration when creating national legislation on the legal regulation
of the Internet environment and the development of social policy in the conditions of the dominance
of information technologies.
Johannes Jakubik, Michael Vössing, Dominik Bär
et al.
The storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 has led to the killing of 5 people and is widely regarded as an attack on democracy. The storming was largely coordinated through social media networks such as Parler. Yet little is known regarding how users interacted on Parler during the storming of the Capitol. In this work, we examine the emotion dynamics on Parler during the storming with regard to heterogeneity across time and users. For this, we segment the user base into different groups (e.g., Trump supporters and QAnon supporters). We use affective computing (Kratzwald et al. 2018) to infer the emotions in the contents, thereby allowing us to provide a comprehensive assessment of online emotions. Our evaluation is based on a large-scale dataset from Parler, comprising of 717,300 posts from 144,003 users. We find that the user base responded to the storming of the Capitol with an overall negative sentiment. Akin to this, Trump supporters also expressed a negative sentiment and high levels of unbelief. In contrast to that, QAnon supporters did not express a more negative sentiment during the storming. We further provide a cross-platform analysis and compare the emotion dynamics on Parler and Twitter. Our findings point at a comparatively less negative response to the incidents on Parler compared to Twitter accompanied by higher levels of disapproval and outrage. Our contribution to research is three-fold: (1) We identify online emotions that were characteristic of the storming; (2) we assess emotion dynamics across different user groups on Parler; (3) we compare the emotion dynamics on Parler and Twitter. Thereby, our work offers important implications for actively managing online emotions to prevent similar incidents in the future.
R. I. M. Dunbar, Valerio Arnaboldi, Marco Conti
et al.
We use data on frequencies of bi-directional posts to define edges (or relationships) in two Facebook datasets and a Twitter dataset and use these to create ego-centric social networks. We explore the internal structure of these networks to determine whether they have the same kind of layered structure as has been found in offline face-to-face networks (which have a distinctively scaled structure with successively inclusive layers at 5, 15, 50 and 150 alters). The two Facebook datasets are best described by a four-layer structure and the Twitter dataset by a five-layer structure. The absolute sizes of these layers and the mean frequencies of contact with alters within each layer match very closely the observed values from offline networks. In addition, all three datasets reveal the existence of an innermost network layer at ~1.5 alters. Our analyses thus confirm the existence of the layered structure of ego-centric social networks with a very much larger sample (in total, >185,000 egos) than those previously used to describe them, as well as identifying the existence of an additional network layer whose existence was only hypothesised in offline social networks. In addition, our analyses indicate that online communities have very similar structural characteristics to offline face-to-face networks.
Nouamane Arhachoui, Esteban Bautista, Maximilien Danisch
et al.
Measuring the influence of users in social networks is key for numerous applications. A recently proposed influence metric, coined as $ψ$-score, allows to go beyond traditional centrality metrics, which only assess structural graph importance, by further incorporating the rich information provided by the posting and re-posting activity of users. The $ψ$-score is shown in fact to generalize PageRank for non-homogeneous node activity. Despite its significance, it scales poorly to large datasets; for a network of $N$ users, it requires to solve $N$ linear systems of equations of size $N$. To address this problem, this work introduces a novel scalable algorithm for the fast approximation of $ψ$-score, named \textit{Power}-$ψ$. The proposed algorithm is based on a novel equation indicating that it suffices to solve one system of equations of size $N$ to compute the $ψ$-score. Then, our algorithm exploits the fact that such a system can be recursively and distributedly approximated to any desired error. This permits the $ψ$-score, summarizing both structural and behavioral information for the nodes, to run as fast as PageRank. We validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, which we release as an open source Python library, on several real-world datasets.
Alisson Nohelia Lanza Duarte, Jackeline Alger, César Augusto Durán López
Antecedentes: Las autopsias son esenciales para investigar las enfermedades emergentes ya que contribuyen a comprender su fisiopatología y fundamentar el tratamiento. Objetivo: Describir las publicaciones sobre autopsias de casos COVID-19 en el marco de la pandemia, 2019-2020. Metodología: Revisión de alcance. Periodo: publicaciones de noviembre 2019 a diciembre 2020. Términos utilizados: autopsia, cambios post mortem, hallazgos incidentales, infecciones por coronavirus, en sujetos humanos, en español e inglés; en bases de datos Research4Life, PubMed, LILACS, Researchgate. Se utilizó el estándar PRISMA. El protocolo fue aprobado por Unidad de Investigación Científica (UIC) de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas (FCM), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH). Resultados: De un total de 320 artículos identificados, se seleccionaron 42, correspondientes a 582 autopsias, todos en el idioma inglés. De los 42 artículos, los dos países con más publicaciones fueron de Estados Unidos 16 y Alemania 5. En 27 el rango de autopsias reportadas fue 1-10. En 17 las medidas de bioseguridad implementadas no fueron consignadas y en 13 no fueron especificadas. En 19, no se describe si las autopsias fueron completas o parciales. Las autopsias completas se reportaron en 14 publicaciones, parciales en cinco y autopsias completas y parciales en cuatro. En 11 publicaciones no se describieron los hallazgos macroscópicos; en los 42 trabajos se examinaron los tejidos con microscopio óptico, en 28 se utilizaron marcadores inmunohistoquímicos y en 7 microscopio electrónico. El órgano descrito principalmente fue pulmón en 40 estudios. Conclusiones e implicaciones: Son necesarias más publicaciones reportando series de autopsias completas, retomar la importancia del estudio de todos los órganos y la determinación de las causas de muerte por COVID-19. A diciembre de 2020, en América Latina no se había publicado estudios sobre autopsias. Las implicaciones para el manejo de casos y políticas públicas demuestran que se debe invertir en la realización de autopsias incluyendo los estudios histopatológicos que se requieran.
This study uses an innovative measure, the Semantic Brand Score, to assess the interest of stakeholders in different company core values. Among others, we focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR) core value statements, and on the attention they receive from five categories of stakeholders (customers, company communication teams, employees, associations and media). Combining big data methods and tools of Social Network Analysis and Text Mining, we analyzed about 58,000 Italian tweets and found that different stakeholders have different prevailing interests. CSR gets much less attention than expected. Core values related to customers and employees are in the foreground.