Personality and Social Framing in Privacy Decision-Making: A Study on Cookie Acceptance

Despite their best intentions, people struggle with the realities of privacy protection and will often sacrifice privacy for convenience in their online activities. Individuals show systematic, personality dependent differences in their privacy decision making, which makes it interesting for those who seek to design ‘nudges’ designed to manipulate privacy behaviors. We explore such effects in a cookie decision task. Two hundred and ninety participants were given an incidental website review task that masked the true aim of the study. At the task outset, they were asked whether they wanted to accept a cookie in a message that either contained a social framing ’nudge’ (they were told that either a majority or a minority of users like themselves had accepted the cookie) or contained no information about social norms (control). At the end of the task, participants were asked to complete a range of personality assessments (impulsivity, risk-taking, willingness to self-disclose and sociability). We found social framing to be an effective behavioral nudge, reducing cookie acceptance in the minority social norm condition. Further, we found personality effects such that those scoring highly on risk taking and impulsivity were significantly more likely to accept the cookie. Finally, we found that the application of a social nudge could attenuate the personality effects of impulsivity and risk-taking. We explore the implications for those working in the privacy by-design space

Scaling of the Anomalous Boost in Relativistic Jet Boundary Layer

We investigate the one-dimensional interaction of a relativistic jet and an external medium. Relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations show an anomalous boost of the jet fluid in the boundary layer, as previously reported. We describe the boost mechanism using an ideal relativistic fluid and magnetohydrodynamic theory. The kinetic model is also examined for further understanding. Simple scaling laws for the maximum Lorentz factor are derived, and verified by the simulations.Comment: typos corrected; fortran 77/90 codes are attached; see ancillary files in the "Other formats" lin

The effect of poloidal velocity shear on the local development of current-driven instabilities

We perform a local (short-wavelength) linear stability analysis of an axisymmetric column of magnetized plasma with a nearly toroidal magnetic field and a smooth poloidal velocity shear by perturbing the equations of relativistic magnetohydrodynamics. We identify two types of unstable modes, which we call 'exponential' and 'overstable', respectively. The exponential modes are present in the static equilibria and their growth rates decrease with increasing velocity shear. The overstable modes are driven by the effects of velocity shear and dominate the exponential modes for sufficiently high shear values. We argue that these local instabilities can provide an important energy dissipation mechanism in astrophysical relativistic jets. Strong co-moving velocity shear arises naturally in the magnetic acceleration mechanism, therefore it may play a crucial role in converting Poynting-flux-dominated jets into matter-dominated jets, regulating the global acceleration and collimation processes, and producing the observed emission of blazars and gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRA

Resonant Kelvin-Helmholtz modes in sheared relativistic flows

Qualitatively new aspects of the (linear and non-linear) stability of sheared relativistic (slab) jets are analyzed. The linear problem has been solved for a wide range of jet models well inside the ultrarelativistic domain (flow Lorentz factors up to 20; specific internal energies $\approx 60c^2$). As a distinct feature of our work, we have combined the analytical linear approach with high-resolution relativistic hydrodynamical simulations, which has allowed us i) to identify, in the linear regime, resonant modes specific to the relativistic shear layer ii) to confirm the result of the linear analysis with numerical simulations and, iii) more interestingly, to follow the instability development through the non-linear regime. We find that very high-order reflection modes with dominant growth rates can modify the global, long-term stability of the relativistic flow. We discuss the dependence of these resonant modes on the jet flow Lorentz factor and specific internal energy, and on the shear layer thickness. The results could have potential applications in the field of extragalactic relativistic jets.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review E. For better quality images, please check http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/mperucho/Research.htm

Boundary Shear Acceleration in the Jet of MKN501

The high resolution image of the jet of the BL Lac object MKN501 in radio, show a limb-brightened feature. An explanation of this feature as an outcome of differential Doppler boosting of jet spine and jet boundary due to transverse velocity structure of the jet requires large viewing angle. However this inference contradicts with the constraints derived from the high energy $\gamma$-ray studies unless the jets bends over a large angle immediately after the $\gamma$-ray zone (close to the central engine). In this letter we propose an alternate explanation to the limb-brightened feature of MKN501 by considering the diffusion of electrons accelerated at the boundary shear layer into the jet medium and this consideration does not require large viewing angle. Also the observed difference in the spectral index at the jet boundary and jet spine can be understood within the frame work of shear acceleration.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

From the Shenzhen Code to the Madrid Code: New rules and recommendations for naming algae, fungi, and plants

Premise A universally understood, precise, and stable system of naming organisms is essential for effective scientific communication. The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, of which the most recently published edition is the Shenzhen Code of 2018, provides this system for algae, fungi, and plants. This Code is regularly revised at an International Botanical Congress (IBC), usually held every 6 years, most recently in Madrid, Spain, in July 2024. The Madrid IBC amended the Shenzhen Code, and the changes took effect on 27 July 2024, when the closing plenary session of the IBC approved the decisions of the Nomenclature Section. It is important to promptly publicize this information because the new edition of the Code resulting from these amendments, the Madrid Code, will not be published until mid-2025. Methods I selected some of the more important of the 433 published proposals to amend the Code at the Madrid IBC. I sourced details from the proposals themselves, the “Synopsis of Proposals” and the “Report of Congress Action” (all published in the journal Taxon) and from the records made during the Nomenclature Section in Madrid. Results For a general botanical audience, I discuss the background, outcomes (acceptance or rejection), and consequences of acceptance of the proposals. Conclusions This commentary supplements the technical reports already published and provides an overview of some of the new or amended rules and recommendations in the upcoming Madrid Code

Tamarix minoa (Tamaricaceae), a new species from the island of Crete (Greece) based on morphological and plastid molecular sequence data

Tamarix minoa is described from material collected on the S Aegean island of Crete (Kriti), Greece. A morphological comparison with the species considered to be closest, T. africana and T. hampeana, is provided. An original illustration showing the main morphological characters of the new species is also given, as are photographs of the new species in its habitat. The isolated phylogenetic position of T. minoa is shown to be strongly supported by plastid molecular sequence data (trnS-trnG, trnQ-rps16 and ndhF-rpl32), thus warranting its recognition at specific rank.National Geographic Society, research project “Human recreation versus plant diversity on maritime sands in Crete” (NGS grant no. 8573-08). The FPU programme (Mº de Educación, Spain), the I+D+I project CGL2008-05056 (Mº de Educación y Ciencia, Spanish Government), the project OAPN 354-2011 (Mº de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Spanish Government) and complementary supporting funds ACIE10-01, ACIE11-05 and ACIE13-08 (University of Alicante, Spain)

Farmers’ willingness to participate in a big data sharing program: A study of Saskatchewan grain farmers

Big data in crop agriculture is information collected by sophisticated machinery at the farm level, as well as externally generated data, such as field satellite imagery. Although some of this data is useful to individual farmers, much of it has little value to the farmer that collects it. Capturing the true value of big data comes when it is aggregated over many farms, allowing researchers to find underlying bio-physical and economical relationships. We conduct a hypothetical choice experiment to analyze farmers’ willingness to share data by asking farmers in Saskatchewan whether they would participate in a big data sharing program. The choice tasks varied the type of organization that operated the big data program and included financial and non-financial incentives. Heteroscedastic and random effects probit models are presented using the data from the survey. The results are consistent across models and find that farmers are most willing to share their data with university researchers, followed by crop input suppliers or grower associations, and financial institutions or equipment manufacturers. Farmers are least willing to share their data with government. Farmers are more willing to share data in the presence of a financial incentive or non-financial incentive such as comparative benchmark statistics or prescription maps generated from the data submitted. Checks for robustness and heterogeneity indicate there is no self-selection bias into the survey, and no heterogeneity in the results for financial incentive and farm revenue. A latent class logit model determines the farmer population may be heterogenous in their willingness to participate in a big data sharing program, but homogenous in their ordering of preferences for organization, financial incentive, and non-financial incentive. In addition, demographic variables are not related to class membership