Teams as boundaries: How intra‐team and inter‐team brokerage influence network changes in knowledge‐seeking networks

What role does an ego's brokerage location—within a team (intra‐team) or outside the team (inter‐team)—play in the evolution of an instrumental knowledge‐seeking network in terms of both proximal (i.e., within the team) and distal (i.e., outside the team) tie formation and tie decay? We address this question by drawing on literature about social networks, brokerage, and teams. We use temporally separated data from 302 students embedded in 97 teams to test our hypotheses about the impacts of intra‐team and inter‐team brokerage on proximal and distal network evolution, specifically on four network changes in knowledge‐seeking networks: proximal tie formation, proximal tie decay, distal tie formation, and distal tie decay. We find that these four changes depend on individual network brokerage location even after controlling for personality and task characteristics. Specifically, inter‐team brokers change their networks both within and outside their teams, whereas intra‐team brokers curtail their network changes. We argue that these opposite effects occur because inter‐team brokers have greater autonomy than intra‐team brokers. This study adds to the ongoing dialog about network evolution in social network literature and to the conversations about brokerage and its location in the context of team‐based work.     

基于BP神经网络算法的密云水库水质参数反演研究

密云水库是北京市重要的地表饮用水源地,在保障首都水源安全方面起着重要作用,而密云水库水质参数的区域监测已成为当前亟待解决的问题。为了实现密云水库水质参数大范围、实时获取,该文基于遥感和GIS技术,采用BP神经网络算法,结合地面监测数据和Landsat 8遥感影像,分别建立了反演总磷、总氮、氨氮和COD(化学需氧量)4个水质参数的BP神经网络模型,并反演了密云水库2013-2018年非结冰期主要水质参数,分析了密云水库主要水质参数的年际变化特征、季节变化特征和空间分异特征。结果表明,(1)水质参数的Landsat 8敏感波段分别为:总氮为1、4波段,氨氮为1-7波段,总磷为1、3-7波段,COD为2-5波段。(2)密云水库主要水质参数在2013-2018年总体呈下降趋势,氨氮和COD为Ⅰ类水质,总磷为Ⅱ类水质,总氮为Ⅲ类水质。(3)4个水质参数指标春季最高、秋季次之、夏季最低,总氮、总磷、氨氮和COD的春季值分别是夏季值的1.08、1.36、1.6、1.45倍。(4)密云水库不同水质参数的空间差异性较大,总体来看,水库北部和东部的4个水质参数含量相对较高,这种分布与北部和东部村庄密集以及密云水库两大入库河流有关。综上所述,基于BP神经网络算法的密云水库水质反演研究是可行的,且得到了较为可信的研究结果,该研究可为密云水库水质管理与政策制定提供重要的科学依据。     

Artificial neural network modeling of caste odor discrimination based on cuticular hydrocarbons in termites

Summary. Individuals in an insect colony need to identify one another according to caste. Nothing is known about the sensory process allowing nestmates to discriminate minute variations in the cuticular hydrocarbon mixture. The purpose of this study was to attempt to model caste odors discrimination in four species of Reticulitermes termites for the first time by a non-linear mathematical approach using an "artificial neural network" (ANN). Several rounds of testing were carried out using 1 – the whole hydrocarbon mixtures 2 – mixtures containing the hydrocarbons selected by principal component analysis (PCA) as the most implicated in caste discrimination. Discrimination between worker and soldier castes was tested in all four species. For two species we tested discrimination of four castes (workers, soldiers, nymphs, neotenics). To test cuticular pattern similarity in two sibling species (R. santonensis and R. flavipes), we performed two experiments using one species for training and the other for query. Using whole hydrocarbons mixtures, worker/soldier discrimination was always successful in all species. Network performance decreased with the number of hydrocarbons used as inputs. Four-caste discrimination was less successful. In the experiment with the sibling species, the ANN was able to distinguish soldiers but not workers. The results of this study suggest that non-linear mathematical analysis is a good tool for classification of castes based on cuticular hydrocarbon mixture. In addition this study confirms that hydrocarbon mixtures observed are real chemical entities and constitute a true chemical signature or odor. Whole mixtures are not always necessary for discrimination. Received 23 July 1998; accepted 9 October 1998.     

Spatial modeling and prediction under stationary non-geometric range anisotropy

For modeling spatial processes, we propose a rich parametric class of stationary range anisotropic covariance structures that, when applied in R², greatly increases the scope of variogram contors. Geometric anisotropy, which provides the most common generalization of isotropy within stationarity, is a special case. Our class is built from monotonic isotropic correlation functions and special cases include the Matérn and the general exponential functions. As a result, our range anisotropic correlation specification can be attached to a second order stationary spatial process model, unlike ad hoc approaches to range anisotropy in the literature. We adopt a Bayesian perspective to obtain full inference and demonstrate how to fit the resulting model using sampling-based methods. In the presence of measurement error/microscale effect, we can obtain both the usual predictive as well as the noiseless predictive distribution. We analyze a data set of scallop catches under the general exponential range anisotropic model, withholding ten sites to compare the accuracy and precision of the standard and noiseless predictive distributions.     

On the latent state estimation of nonlinear population dynamics using Bayesian and non-Bayesian state-space models

Nonlinear state-space models have been increasingly applied to study population dynamics and data assimilation in environmental sciences. State-space models can account for process error and measurement error simultaneously to correct for the bias in the estimates of system state and model parameters. However, few studies have compared the performance of different nonlinear state-space models for reconstructing the state of population dynamics from noisy time series. This study compared the performance of the extended Kalman filter (EKF), unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and Bayesian nonlinear state-space models (BNSSM) through simulations. Synthetic population time series were generated using the theta logistic model with known parameters, and normally distributed process and measurement errors were introduced using the Monte Carlo simulations. At higher levels of nonlinearity, the UKF and BNSSM had lower root mean square error (RMSE) than the EKF. The BNSSM performed reliably across all levels of nonlinearity, whereas increased levels of nonlinearity resulted in higher RMSE of the EKF. The Metropolis–Hastings algorithm within the Gibbs algorithm was used to fit the theta logistic model to synthetic time series to estimate model parameters. The estimated posterior distribution of the parameter θ indicated that the 95% credible intervals included the true values of θ (=0.5 and 1.5), but did not include 1.0 and 0.0. Future studies need to incorporate the adaptive Metropolis algorithm to estimate unknown model parameters for broad applications of Bayesian nonlinear state-space models in ecological studies.     

A Bayesian strategy for combining predictions from empirical and process-based models

We present a strategy for using an empirical forest growth model to reduce uncertainty in predictions made with a physiological process-based forest ecosystem model. The uncertainty reduction is carried out via Bayesian melding, in which information from prior knowledge and a deterministic computer model is conditioned on a likelihood function. We used predictions from an empirical forest growth model G-HAT in place of field observations of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) in a deciduous temperate forest ecosystem. Using Bayesian melding, priors for the inputs of the process-based forest ecosystem PnET-II were propagated through the model, and likelihoods for the PnET-II output ANPP were calculated using the G-HAT predictions. Posterior distributions for ANPP and many PnET-II inputs obtained using the G-HAT predictions largely matched posteriors obtained using field data. Since empirical growth models are often more readily available than extensive field data sets, the method represents a potential gain in efficiency for reducing the uncertainty of process-based model predictions when reliable empirical models are available but high-quality data are not.     

Active Adaptive Management for Conservation

Abstract:  Active adaptive management balances the requirements of management with the need to learn about the system being managed, which leads to better decisions. It is difficult to judge the benefit of management actions that accelerate information gain, relative to the benefit of making the best management decision given what is known at the time. We present a first step in developing methods to optimize management decisions that incorporate both uncertainty and learning via adaptive management. We assumed a manager can allocate effort to discrete units (e.g., areas for revegetation or animals for reintroduction), the outcome can be measured as success or failure (e.g., the revegetation in an area is successful or the animal survives and breeds), and the manager has two possible management options from which to choose. We further assumed that there is an annual budget that may be allocated to one or both of the two options and that the manager must decide on the allocation. We used Bayesian updating of the probability of success of the two options and stochastic dynamic programming to determine the optimal strategy over a specified number of years. The costs, level of certainty about the success of the two options, and the timeframe of management all influenced the optimal allocation of the annual budget. In addition, the choice of management objective had a large influence on the optimal decision. In a case study of Merri Creek, Melbourne, Australia, we applied the approach to determining revegetation strategies. Our approach can be used to determine how best to manage ecological systems in the face of uncertainty.     

Neighborhood Level Spatial Analysis of the Relationship Between Alcohol Outlet Density and Criminal Violence

Misuse of alcohol is a significant public health problem, potentially resulting in unintentional injuries, motor vehicle crashes, drownings, and, perhaps of greatest concern, serious acts of violence, including assaults, rapes, suicides, and homicides. Although previous research establishes a link between alcohol consumption increased levels of violence, studies relating the density of alcohol outlets (e.g., restaurants, bars, liquor stores) and the likelihood of violent crime have been less common. In this paper we test for such a relationship at the small area level, using data from 79 neighborhoods in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. We adopt a fully Bayesian point of view using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) computational methods as available in the popular and freely available WinBUGS language. Our models control for important covariates (e.g., neighborhood racial heterogeneity, age heterogeneity) and also account for spatial association in unexplained variability using conditionally autoregressive (CAR) random effects. Our results indicate a significant positive relationship between alcohol outlet density and violent crime, while also permitting easy mapping of neighborhood-level predicted and residual values, the former useful for intervention in the most at-risk neighborhoods and the latter potentially useful in identifying covariates still missing from the fixed effects portion of the model.     

江苏规划高速公路网生态环境影响研究

以RS和GIS为基础，运用遥感信息提取、编制自然保护专题系列图、系列图与规划高速公路网叠加、缓冲分析、统计分析等方法，对江苏省规划高速公路网生态环境影响进行分析。规划的5纵9横6联线路中的9条，对127个不同类型保护区中的9个有影响。11个过江通道中的5个对沿江饮用水源保护地有影响。规划高速公路占用的土地中76．74％是基本农田。跨越太湖的沪宁复线将加重梅梁湾、五里湖的水质富营养化。针对上述问题，从保护生态环境的角度提出6大对策：避绕生态保护对象，修改跨太湖线路方案，合理规划穿越山地丘陵区的线路，减少平原区生态破坏，调整过江通道与饮用水源地的交叉关系，保护白鳍豚生存环境安全。     

基于人工神经网络模型预测ABR反应器处理效率

ABR反应器的处理效率受多方面的因素影响，本文通过BP人工神经网络，利用ABR反应器进水CODcr浓度、容积负荷、温度、稳定运行时间四个参数对其反应器处理效率进行预测。结果表明，BP人工神经网络可较好的用于ABR反应器处理效率的预测，具有较高的精度，在实际生产中，可以运用人工神经网络，对ABR反应器的运行参数进行调整，使之达到最优化的运行状态。