Technologically mediated listening has changed the way in which music is heard as well as the way in which musical communities are constructed. Communities are no longer necessarily tied to place, and in the case of virtual communities, musicians can create a sense of community and a sense of place through their interactions. Some virtual communities of musicians - specifically those that specialize in electronic music - are ideally situated in cyberspace; what a producer of electronic music hears in his or her headphones when composing music is exactly what the audience hears after downloading or streaming it. The music remains in a digital format from its conception to its reception.In a Brazilian virtual community of electronic musicians called EnergyBR.net, fans, DJs, and producers exchange ideas about music, creating a feedback loop. In EnergyBR.net, this cyber-feedback loop shapes musical creation as well as a sense of place and community.

Little is known about the communication principles necessary for the design and implementation of health information technology (HIT) that supports the needs of healthcare providers from multiple professions. The purpose of this descriptive, exploratory research was to examine the patterns and methods of communication used by nurses, physicians, social workers, respiratory therapists, and pharmacists to share patient information during a patient handoff between units. The principles of complexity science were used as a theoretical framework and an original model of the healthcare organization consisting of embedded complex adaptive systems is presented.Five patient handoffs from the emergency department to participating inpatient units were included in the study. Providers responsible for the care of patients during the designated handoffs were identified through observation and snowball sampling and asked to complete a survey asking whom they communicated with and how. Social Network Analysis was used to map, analyze, and compare the communication patterns used by healthcare providers. Inferential statistics and thematic content analysis were used to examine provider characteristics and satisfaction with the quality of information available.The multi-professional collaborative patterns that emerged revealed the simultaneous use of both synchronous and asynchronous communication methods. HIT was shown to play a major role in the coordination process. Centrality and centralization measures identified that there is no one particular professional group dominating communication and hierarchy metrics indicate a unidirectional communication flow with tiers of dominant providers filtering information to providers on the lower tiers. These patterns suggest that the coordination of patient care during a handoff is a complex process that is the domain of more than one professional group.Satisfaction with the quality of available information was higher for providers working in the ED compared to the admitting units. Verbal communication was preferred by most participants despite difficulties identifying or contacting providers in other units. This study provides a foundation for future research that examines how communication principles that reflect the needs of multiple providers can be incorporated into healthcare provider workflow and HIT design.

Cultural evolutionary models that relate spatial and temporal patterning in artifact sequences to human social learning processes and history have made many recent advances. Specifically, these models connect evolutionary forces and social leaning mechanisms along cultural pathways with expectations that can be assessed using material culture. In this dissertation, I use an historical archaeology case study of carved New England gravestones to evaluate three different aspects of cultural transmission and artifact patterns. First, I study the role of social network structure in the transmission of cultural information among carvers organized in workshops that were principally comprised of a carver and his apprentices. The results of this study suggest that the motifs reflect widespread similarity that transcends workshop organization. However, the finer grained decorative elements that make up these motifs correspond with cultural lineages of gravestone carvers. Second, I examine the relationship between the diffusion of innovations and cultural transmission mechanisms that result in spatiotemporal patterning. The spatial patterning suggests that social contagion among consumers created brief instances of wave-like diffusion from a distinct workshop, highlighting the role of consumer choice. A review of probate payments shows that gravestones were rarely purchased from distance sources, as transport costs could be prohibitive. The spatial patterning and historic record suggest that carvers also learned from other carvers creating a hierarchical diffusion process. These two populations created a feedback mechanism that leads to complex emergent phenomena, as illustrated by the rapid and widespread adoption of the cherub motif. Third, the neutral model of stylistic variation is applied to gravestone data to examine the ways that increased consumption and an expanding carving industry led to dominant decorative motifs. This study shows that neutrality can be a fleeting and transitional state between the dominance of single decorative styles. These three studies use New England gravestones to illustrate the evolutionary forces and cultural transmission mechanisms among artifact producers and consumers, which generated the stylistic patterning we observe in the archaeological record.

No description available.

Šiandieninėje visuomenėje nykstant tradicinei šeimai ir tradiciniams bendruomeniškiems santykiams, nyksta bendruomeniniai ryšiai, socialinis solidarumas, bendruomeniškumas – visa tai, kas sudaro vadinamaji socialini kapitala. Socialinio kapitalo paieška tampa užduotimi socialiniui darbuotojui pagalbos šeimai procese. Literaturinė analizė ir atliktas tyrimas atskleidžia šeimos ir bendruomenės poreiki solidarizuotis, neformalios pagalbos šeimai svarba, socialinio darbuotojo vaidmenis bendruomenėje planuojant pagalba šeimai, jaunosios kartos perspektyvas tapti pavyzdine bendruomene, kurioje bus palaikomi bendradarbiaujantys šeimos ir bendruomenės santykiai. Tyrimo objektu pasirinktas socialinės paramos tinklo ieškojimas seniunijoje. Darbo tiksle užsibrėžta išryškinti formalios ir neformalios socialinės paramos tinklus atskleidžiant socialinės pagalbos šeimai galimybes seniunijoje. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1) išnagrinėti aplinkos veiksniu ir ju saveikos poveiki žmogaus elgesiui, šeimai ir bendruomenei, 2) apžvelgti socialinio darbuotojo vaidmenis bendruomenėje, kuriant neformalios paramos tinklus šeimai, 3) atskleisti jaunuoliu ryšius su šeima ir bendruomeniškumo raiška seniunijoje atliekant tyrima Vilijampolės seniunijos mokyklose. Dėmesys šiame darbe yra sutelktas ties problemine literaturine analize tyrimo ivykdymui yra pasirinktas žvalgybinio tipo tyrimo metodas. Buvo atlikta respondentu anketinė apklausa su Kauno miesto Vilijampolės 10 – tos klasės moksleiviais. Tyrime dalyvavo 22... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the modern society we experience family transformations. The number of risk families is increasing in the society. Vanishing the traditional family and the traditional sociality relations, the community relations, sociality, social solidarity are vanishing – everything that makes so-called capital is vanishing. The search of the social capital is becoming the task in the process for the workers of the family help. The literary analysis and performed research open the need of the family and the society to solidarize in helping the family casualness, planning the roles of the social worker in the society and helping the youth generation to become the exemplified community in which the communicating families and socialites will be supported. The investigation object is chosen in searching of the monitored institution of social net help. The purpose tasks are the following: 1. To examine the influence of the environment processes and their interaction for the man’s behavior, for the family and society, to overlook the roles of the social workers in the society, creating the net casualness in helping the family and opening youth relations with the family and the sociality expressing the monitor institutions, performing the investigation in the schools of Viliampole monitor institution. The attention of this work concentrated in the problematic literary analysis. The investigative method is chosen for the reconnaissance. The questionnaire was performed by respondents of the 10th... [to full text]

This project looked at two different sets of data to further understand the relationship between surveillance discourse and the Internet, how surveillance discourse around navigating the Internet has developed, and how children use social technology and digital media for positive communication as well as an alternative space for social engagement. This project argues that there is a disconnect between the way children use social technology, and the approach authoritative websites take in aiming to educate parents, educators, and children on using the Internet safely. This study performs a thematic content analysis on websites that aim to educate on Internet Safety. Additionally, this qualitative study focuses on semi-structured interviews with grade 4-6 students in a French language school in Western Ontario and their reaction to the question, “how do you use technology”. This project is a stepping-stone into many conversations around the possibilities present for the Internet, children, and communication.

This project looked at two different sets of data to further understand the relationship between surveillance discourse and the Internet, how surveillance discourse around navigating the Internet has developed, and how children use social technology and digital media for positive communication as well as an alternative space for social engagement. This project argues that there is a disconnect between the way children use social technology, and the approach authoritative websites take in aiming to educate parents, educators, and children on using the Internet safely. This study performs a thematic content analysis on websites that aim to educate on Internet Safety. Additionally, this qualitative study focuses on semi-structured interviews with grade 4-6 students in a French language school in Western Ontario and their reaction to the question, “how do you use technology”. This project is a stepping-stone into many conversations around the possibilities present for the Internet, children, and communication.

Šiomis dienomis, sparčiai augant tinklaraščių skaičiui, pateiktos informacijos kiekis internete taip pat auga. Tampa sudėtingiau atsirinkti, kurie pateikti straipsniai ir informacija juose yra naudinga, o kurią galima praleisti. Pateiktą didelį kiekį straipsnių būtų lengviau atrinkti, jeigu jie būtų kategorizuojami, įvertintinami ir kaupiami vertinimo sistemose. Kita sparčiai auganti ir populiarėjanti sritis yra socialiniai tinklai. Žmonės buriasi į virtualias bendruomenes, dalijasi savo patirtimi, sukaupta ir įvertinta informacija. Socialiniai tinklai, kol kas egzistuojančiose tinklaraščių sistemose yra nenaudojami, tačiau taikant šią sritį, būtų galima papildomai išnaudoti socialiniaime tinkle sukauptą informaciją, tokią kaip vartotojų tarpusavio pasitkėjimas. Darbe analizuojama pasitikėjimo sąvoka socialiniame tinkle, aptariamos pasitikėjimo savybės. Kuriama tinklaraščių sistema remsis socialiniu tinklu, dėl to iš čia išplaukia pagrindinė ploblema, kaip vartotojas turėtų pasitikėti nepažįstamu kitu vartotoju, remdamasis savo socialinio tinklo ryšiais. Šios problemos sprendimui yra detaliau išnagrinėjami galimi vartotojų tarpusavio skaičiavimo algoritmai. Remiantis išnagrinėtais algoritmas yra parenkamas tinkamiausias metodas – vartotojų pasitikėjimo skaičiavimui galima naudoti Jenifer Ann Golbeck [7] pasiūlytą algoritmą TidalTrust. Tačiau tinklaraščių vertinimo relizacijoje šis algoritmas turi ilgo laiko skaičiavimo problemą, detaliau problema aprašoma 3.1 skyriuje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The main aim of this work is to create the system of weblog trust. The system will offer to user subjective evaluation about the article. To calculate the subjective evaluation there is used social network. There are users, who evaluates articles according the system of evaluation. The same time they form network of trust. Estimators doesn‘t know each other directly. There comes main question, how to calculate trust of unfamiliar users. In this study there will be elaborating algorithms of users intertrust and right selection. To TidalTrust algorithm, there will be offered extention, which solves the main problem of time counting. Using calculated algorithm of users intertrust there will be offered approach of calculation, which gives us the recomendationt of article trust.

Individuals, communities, non-government organizations and governments are in constant pursuit of intelligent responses to the complex socio-environmental challenges they encounter. The capacity to respond effectively to these contemporary challenges is deeply dependent on the presence of effective governance processes. Governance scholarship has typically been limited to individual elements such as frameworks (hierarchical or market or network), tools (e.g., regulation) or actors (e.g., government). The goal of this thesis is to characterize and explain transformations in water governance in order to offer insight into how more effective governance processes can be created. Transformations in governance speak to the dynamic nature of governing, and highlight the consistent push and pull between, and amongst, the various components at play. Components include actors, formal and informal structures, and the social, economic and environmental contexts in which governance is embedded. Critically each of these components also exists and has influence at multiple levels, adding to the complex and dynamic nature of governance. This research argues that the core elements (frameworks, tools, actors) should be examined individually, as well as collectively, and within context of the various components in order to obtain a holistic perspective on governance process. This holistic perspective is necessary if we are to garner a true understanding of how governance is ultimately designed, contested and transformed. The research focuses on a large-scale water governance case in southern Ontario that is governed by its own provincial legislation ??? the first of its kind in Canada. The research examines governance frameworks as situated within the broader architecture, tools, and actor dynamics in the Lake Simcoe watershed and how they evolved over a 30-year period. Interviews, archival research, surveys and social network analyses were utilized in a mixed methods approach. The first governance element examined in this thesis is the architecture of the entire system over the 30 year time period. Rather than conduct a narrow analysis of an individual governance framework in a select period of time, the research takes a high level perspective to identify the transitions between governance frameworks, and the social, economic, and environmental tensions and drivers that initiated change. Particular value is offered by the use of social network analysis to visually identify the structure and statistically evaluate the governance framework at multiple phases in the research period. The second element of governance, tools, is then assessed. Specifically, the utility of a watershed boundary for water governance is examined. The thesis argues that the watershed boundary has value, but should be applied in limited and focus ways, and greater attention should be given to governance processes that transcend the watershed boundary. The final element examined is actors. Early in the thesis, focus is given to the role of government, but in the final section particular attention is given to the role of non-government actors. The research describes how the role and activities of non-government actors has advanced beyond late 20th century approaches, where recent trends display more innovative and entrepreneurial characteristics. The research offers nine important insights for theory and practice in water governance. (1) Governance processes have the potential to be flexible, adaptive and responsive. (2) A reduced presence of government does not always hold back processes of governance. (3) Existing tools can be re-imagined for new processes. (4) Non-government actors have agency (5) Give attention to individual knowledge and capacity through a distributed governance approach (6) Give attention to time and the building of scientific knowledge (7) Give attention to need for effectively facilitated processes (8) Give attention to emerging opportunity (9) Permits space for creative destruction. Collectively, the findings from this research further develop scholarship on the individual elements of governance, as well as speak to the transformations in water governance as a whole.

Thesis (M.Com. (Business Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.