scholarly journals Exploring factors that mitigate the continued influence of misinformation

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene P. Kan ◽  
Kendra L. Pizzonia ◽  
Anna B. Drummey ◽  
Eli J. V. Mikkelsen
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Influence Effect ◽  
Component Processes ◽  
Direct Targeting

Abstract Background The term “continued influence effect” (CIE) refers to the phenomenon that discredited and obsolete information continues to affect behavior and beliefs. The practical relevance of this work is particularly apparent as we confront fake news everyday. Thus, an important question becomes, how can we mitigate the continued influence of misinformation? Decades of research have identified several factors that contribute to the CIE reduction, but few have reported successful elimination. Across three studies, we evaluated the relative contribution of three factors (i.e., targeting the misinformation, providing an alternative explanation, and relative importance of the misinformation content) to the reduction of the CIE. Results Across three studies and two different CIE measures, we found that alternative provision consistently resulted in CIE reduction. Furthermore, under certain conditions, the combination of alternative inclusion and direct targeting of misinformation in the correction statement resulted in successful elimination of the CIE, such that individuals who encountered that type of correction behaved similarly to baseline participants who never encountered the (mis)information. In contrast, under one CIE measure, participants who received correction statements that failed to include those elements referenced the (mis)information as frequently as baseline participants who never encountered a correction. Finally, we delineated several component processes involved in misinformation outdating and found that the extent of outdating success varied as a function of the causality of misinformation. Conclusions The damaging effects of fake news are undeniable, and the negative consequences are exacerbated in the digital age. Our results contribute to our understanding of how fake news persists and how we may begin to mitigate their effects.

scholarly journals The Relative Importance of Scavenging, Oxidation, and Ice-Phase Processes in the Production and Wet Deposition of Sulfate

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 2118-2135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlado Spiridonov ◽  
Mladjen Curic
Keyword(s):  
Wet Deposition ◽  
Lower Percentage ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Total Sulfur ◽  
Sulfate Production ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Cloud Resolving Model ◽  
Cloud Scavenging ◽  
Nucleation Scavenging ◽  
Ice Phase

Abstract The relative importance of various processes to sulfate production and wet deposition is examined by using a cloud-resolving model coupled with a sulfate chemistry submodel. Results using different versions of the model are then compared and principal differences with respect to their dynamics, microphysics, and chemistry are carefully discussed. The results imply that the dominant microphysical and chemical conversions of sulfate in the 3D run are nucleation, scavenging, and oxidation. Due to the lower cloud water and rainwater pH, oxidation does not contribute as significantly to the sulfate mass in the 2D run as the 3D. Sensitivity tests have revealed that in-cloud scavenging in the 2D run for continental nonpolluted and continental polluted clouds accounted for 29.4% and 31.5% of the total sulfur deposited, respectively. The 3D run shows a lower percentage contribution to sulfur deposition for about 28.2% and 29.6%. In addition, subcloud scavenging for the 2D run contributed about 32.7% and 38.2%. In-cloud oxidation in the 2D run accounted for about 24.5% to 30.4% of the total sulfur mass deposited. Subcloud oxidation contributed from 21.0% to 20.6% of the total sulfur mass removed by wet deposition. In-cloud oxidation for the 3D run shows slightly lower percentage values when compared to those from the 2D run. The relative contribution of subcloud oxidation for continental nonpolluted and polluted clouds exceeds those values in the 2D run by approximately 7% and 10%, respectively. Ignoring the ice phase and considering those types of convective clouds in the 2D run may lead to a higher value of the total sulfur mass removed by the wet deposition of about 33.9% to 39.2% for the continental nonpolluted and 36.2% to 45.6% for the continental polluted distributions relative to the base runs.

Demography of Xenosaurus platyceps (Squamata: Xenosauridae): a comparison between tropical and temperate populations

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carissa Jones ◽  
Isaac Rojas-González ◽  
Julio Lemos-Espinal ◽  
Jaime Zúñiga-Vega
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Adult Mortality ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Population Growth Rates ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Two Populations ◽  
Average Fitness

Abstract There appears to be variation in life-history strategies even between populations of the same species. For ectothermic organisms such as lizards, it has been predicted that demographic and life-history traits should differ consistently between temperate and tropical populations. This study compares the demographic strategies of a temperate and a tropical population of the lizard Xenosaurus platyceps. Population growth rates in both types of environments indicated populations in numerical equilibrium. Of the two populations, we found that the temperate population experiences lower adult mortality. The relative importance (estimated as the relative contribution to population growth rate) of permanence and of the adult/reproductive size classes is higher in the temperate population. In contrast, the relative importance for average fitness of fecundity and growth is higher in the tropical population. These results are consistent with the theoretical frameworks about life-historical differences among tropical and temperate lizard populations.

A Dynamic Structural Model of Education and Skills Requirements for Careers in Information Systems

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn R. Lowry ◽  
Rodney L. Turner ◽  
Julie Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Dynamic Structural Model ◽  
Is Professionals ◽  
Career Progress

This chapter presents a dynamic structural model of the relative contribution and importance of education and skills required of information systems (IS) professionals. Model development took into account the technical skills found in many tertiary IS programs, other business-oriented academic studies, and soft skills sought by employers in new graduates. The model also includes features of the working environment which influence the career progress of IS graduates. Acknowledging the importance of these four areas, the authors present a second-order structural model that links these areas and compares the application of this model to IS students and decision makers who employ graduates. The model fits the data for the two groups and exhibits some unexpected outcomes in the area of soft skills, with students attributing more importance to soft skills than IS managers. The model was employed to identify gender differences in perceptions of the relative contribution and importance of education and skills required of IS professionals. The model also includes features of the working environment which influence the career progress of IS graduates. The model was used to describe how attitudes and perceptions of IS professionals change across career stages as measured by age groupings. Changes in perceptions across four major age groupings show significant differences with respect to these factors according to age groups and by inference, career stage. The model allows, with some confidence, a quantitative interpretation of the relative importance of the respective variables from the perspectives of the student and employer stakeholder groups toward the education and professional development of IS professionals. The model also suggests the presence of contrasting, gender-based quantitative views of the relative importance of the respective variables to the education and professional development of IS professionals.

scholarly journals Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake News

2020 ◽  
pp. 019685992097715
Author(s):  
James Morris
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Online Technology ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Mass Reproduction

“Fake News” has been a frequent topic in the last couple of years. The phenomenon has particularly been cited with regards to the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. The creation of “post truth” reports that are disseminated via the Web and social media has been treated as something new, a product of the digital age, and a reason to be concerned about the effects of online technology. However, this paper argues that fake news should be considered as part of a continuum with forms of media that went before in the 20th Century, and the general trend of postmodernity detailed by Baudrillard. The simulation of communications media and mass reproduction was already evident and has merely progressed in the digital age rather than the latter providing a wholly new context. The paper concludes by asking whether the political havoc caused by fake news has an antidote, when it appears to be a by-product of media simulacra’s inherent lack of connection to the real. In a communications landscape where the misrepresentations of the so-called “Mainstream Media” are decried using even more questionable “memes” on social media, is there any possibility for truth?

Above-ground biomass estimation for a shrubby mistletoe in an Amazonian savanna

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Rosane M. C. Fadini ◽  
Reinaldo I. Barbosa ◽  
Rafael Rode ◽  
Viviane Corrêa ◽  
Rodrigo F. Fadini
Keyword(s):  
Life Form ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Host Size ◽  
Biomass Estimation ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Poor Predictor

AbstractMistletoes are considered keystone species on woodlands and savannas worldwide, providing a food resource for a diversified fauna, as well as a nutrient-enriched litter. Infections can be large (∼1–3 m) and, in some parts of the Amazonian savannas, parasitize up to 70% of hosts locally. Despite these facts, biomass of mistletoes is rarely investigated. Here we constructed allometric models to predict the biomass stock of the shrubby mistletoe Psittacanthus plagiophyllus in an Amazonian savanna. In addition, we determined whether host size could be used as a proxy for mistletoe biomass. Finally, we compared the biomass of mistletoes with that of trees, to evaluate their relative importance. We have shown that: (1) biomass of leaves (46.1% ± 13.5%) are as important as of stems (47.8% ± 13.5%), and relative contribution of stems increases as plant grows; (2) the model including width, breadth and vertical depth was the best (SE = 0.39, R2 = 0.9) for predicting individual mistletoe biomass; (3) mistletoe load and biomass per host had a positive, but weak (R2 = 0.11 and 0.09, respectively), relationship with host size, and thus such host information is a poor predictor of mistletoe biomass; and (4) in comparison with trees, mistletoes constituted less than 0.15% (0.5–22 kg ha−1) of the total above-ground biomass, suggesting that this life-form is irrelevant to the local biomass stock despite its unequivocal biological importance.

scholarly journals Nitrate retention and removal in Mediterranean streams bordered by contrasting land uses: a <sup>15</sup>N tracer study

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. von Schiller ◽  
E. Martí ◽  
J. L. Riera
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
N Cycling ◽  
Urban Stream ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Transfer Velocity ◽  
Nitrate Retention ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Uptake Length ◽  
Agricultural Stream ◽  
Forested Stream

Abstract. We used 15N-labelled nitrate (NO3−) additions to investigate pathways of nitrogen (N) cycling at the whole-reach scale in three stream reaches with adjacent forested, urban and agricultural land areas. Our aim was to explore among-stream differences in: (i) the magnitude and relative importance of NO3− retention (i.e. assimilatory uptake) and removal (i.e. denitrification), (ii) the relative contribution of the different primary uptake compartments to NO3− retention, and (iii) the regeneration, transformation and export pathways of the retained N. Streams varied strongly in NO3− concentration, which was highest in the agricultural stream and lowest in the forested stream. The agricultural stream also showed the lowest dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and discharge. Standing stocks of primary uptake compartments were similar among streams and dominated by detritus compartments (i.e. fine and coarse benthic organic matter). Metabolism was net heterotrophic in all streams, although the degree of heterotrophy was highest in the agricultural stream. The NO3− uptake length was shortest in the agricultural stream, intermediate in the urban stream, and longest in the forested stream. Conversely, the NO3− mass-transfer velocity and the areal NO3− uptake rate were highest in the urban stream. Denitrification was not detectable in the forested stream, but accounted for 9% and 68% of total NO3− uptake in the urban and the agricultural stream, respectively. The relative contribution of detritus compartments to NO3− assimilatory uptake was greatest in the forested and lowest in the agricultural stream. In all streams, the retained N was rapidly regenerated back to the water column. Due to a strong coupling between regeneration and nitrification, most retained N was exported from the experimental reaches in the form of NO3−. This study provides evidence of fast in-stream N cycling, although the relative importance of N retention and removal varied considerably among streams. Results suggest that permanent NO3− removal via denitrification may be enhanced over temporary NO3− retention via assimilatory uptake in heterotrophic human-altered streams characterized by high NO3− and low DO concentrations.

scholarly journals Selection of criteria for multi-criteria decision making of reservoir flood control operation

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feilin Zhu ◽  
Ping-an Zhong ◽  
Yimeng Sun ◽  
Bin Xu
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Bp Neural Network ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Contribution Ratio ◽  
Control Operation ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Flood Control Operation ◽  
Reservoir Flood Control Operation ◽  
Selection Of

In reservoir flood control operation, selection of criteria is an important part of the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) procedure. This paper proposes a method to select criteria for MCDM of reservoir flood control operation based on the back-propagation (BP) neural network. According to the concept of ideal and anti-ideal points, we propose a method to generate training samples of the BP neural network via stochastic simulation. The topological structure of a three-layer BP neural network used for criteria selection is established. The relative importance of criteria is derived via the learned connection weights of a trained BP neural network, and its calculation method is proposed. The sensitivity curve method is employed to conduct sensitivity analysis, and the relative contribution ratio is defined to quantify the relative sensitivity strength of each criterion. We present the principle and threshold value of criteria selection based on the comprehensive discrimination index defined by the combination of the relative importance and relative contribution ratio. The Pubugou reservoir is selected as the case study. The results show that the proposed method can provide an effective tool for decision makers to select criteria before MCDM modeling of reservoir flood control operation.

scholarly journals Philosophy of Education in the Digital Era

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-66
Author(s):  
Boris V. Markov ◽  
Svetlana V. Volkova
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Education ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Educational Practices ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Contemporary Education

The article presents philosophical and critical exploration of education in the framework of intensive informatization of modern society. The use of digital technology is nowadays a key feature of educational practices in the world. Yet despite its prominence, digital technologies in education continue to be an issue that rarely receives sustained critical attention and thought. Tackling the wider picture, addressing philosophical, cultural, economic aspects of education in digital age, the study offers to make sense what happens and what doesn’t happen, when the digital and educational come together. Both positive and negative consequences of the spread of e-learning systems and technologies are analyzed. Examining contemporary education in terms of social justice, equality and meaningfulness the authors formulate the key tasks facing the philosophy of education in the modern digital era. The authors conclude that it is necessary to supplement electronic educational technologies with traditional educational practices. In particular they examine the trends and prospects of cognitive research and biotechnologies in the light of their influence on the human ideal that characterizes contemporary education. The authors argue that a serious and fruitful comprehension of education in the digital age requires a revision of the classic opposition of the subject and object, spirit and body, man and animal.

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