5,548 research outputs found
Configuration Management of Distributed Systems over Unreliable and Hostile Networks
Economic incentives of large criminal profits and the threat of legal consequences have pushed criminals to continuously improve their malware, especially command and control channels. This thesis applied concepts from successful malware command and control to explore the survivability and resilience of benign configuration management systems.
This work expands on existing stage models of malware life cycle to contribute a new model for identifying malware concepts applicable to benign configuration management. The Hidden Master architecture is a contribution to master-agent network communication. In the Hidden Master architecture, communication between master and agent is asynchronous and can operate trough intermediate nodes. This protects the master secret key, which gives full control of all computers participating in configuration management. Multiple improvements to idempotent configuration were proposed, including the definition of the minimal base resource dependency model, simplified resource revalidation and the use of imperative general purpose language for defining idempotent configuration.
Following the constructive research approach, the improvements to configuration management were designed into two prototypes. This allowed validation in laboratory testing, in two case studies and in expert interviews. In laboratory testing, the Hidden Master prototype was more resilient than leading configuration management tools in high load and low memory conditions, and against packet loss and corruption. Only the research prototype was adaptable to a network without stable topology due to the asynchronous nature of the Hidden Master architecture.
The main case study used the research prototype in a complex environment to deploy a multi-room, authenticated audiovisual system for a client of an organization deploying the configuration. The case studies indicated that imperative general purpose language can be used for idempotent configuration in real life, for defining new configurations in unexpected situations using the base resources, and abstracting those using standard language features; and that such a system seems easy to learn.
Potential business benefits were identified and evaluated using individual semistructured expert interviews. Respondents agreed that the models and the Hidden Master architecture could reduce costs and risks, improve developer productivity and allow faster time-to-market. Protection of master secret keys and the reduced need for incident response were seen as key drivers for improved security. Low-cost geographic scaling and leveraging file serving capabilities of commodity servers were seen to improve scaling and resiliency. Respondents identified jurisdictional legal limitations to encryption and requirements for cloud operator auditing as factors potentially limiting the full use of some concepts
Christian Global Citizenship Education in Korea
This practice-based research thesis employs theological action research as a methodology to explore the intersection of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and public theology, with a specific focus on the contributions of Protestant Christianity. The research objectives are to investigate the relevance of Christianity in public life, its potential influence on GCED within the context of South Korea, and to develop practical tools for promoting the application of Christian values in global citizenship education.GCED is widely promoted by international and national governments, but its implementation faces challenges due to diverse perspectives, historicity, and varying economic and political statuses worldwide. Bridging these differences requires dialogue among different groups to determine the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values necessary for effective engagement. Within this context, Protestant Christianity offers unique insights and contributions.Through key informant interviews with experienced practitioners in educational settings in South Korea, this practice-based research thesis gathers perspectives on integrating Protestant Christian values in GCED and the role of public theology. Employing theological action research practices, the study develops a refined study guide for Christian Global Citizenship Education, incorporating feedback from key informants to ensure its relevance and alignment with the needs of engaged faith communities. The study guide serves as a practical tool for promoting the application of Christian values in global citizenship education.Overall, this practice-based research underscores the importance of integrating biblical values drawn from reflection on scripture and perspectives from Christianity into global education efforts and encourages active participation in discussions on global citizenship. The research aims to make an original contribution to scholarship in this area by contribute by creating a nuanced approach to GCED rooted in the teachings of Protestant Christianity to bridge gaps between different regions and communities, fostering a more inclusive and nuanced approach to GCED rooted in the teachings of Protestant Christianity. The findings of this research have practical implications for educators, policymakers, and faith communities seeking to incorporate spiritual values into the global citizenship education discourse.<br/
Information about cancer on the internet : comparative analysis of the institutional website of AECC, GEPAC and FEFOC
La búsqueda de información sobre salud en internet está asociada fundamentalmente al diagnóstico de una enfermedad del usuario o de un familiar y puede considerarse la primera fuente a la que acuden tras una consulta médica (Marín-Torres et al., isanidad.com, 2015; 2012; III Barómetro PIC, 2019; INE, 2019;). Las principales barreras para el acceso y uso de la eSalud (eHealth en su terminología inglesa) tienen que ver con la legibilidad del contenido y con una pobre usabilidad de los sitios (Cline y Haynes, 2001; Kim y Xie, 2017). A esto se suma en el contexto actual el enorme volumen de datos disponible en la red que hace imprescindible desarrollar protocolos de análisis que permitan a los usuarios identificar de un modo comprensible los sitios que ofrecen información de calidad tanto en sus contenidos como en su presentación. Esta investigación plantea un análisis de las páginas web corporativas de tres instituciones españolas de reconocido prestigio —y naturaleza diversa— en el ámbito de la divulgación y prevención del cáncer: la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, el Grupo Español de Pacientes con Cáncer y la Fundación para la Educación Pública y la Formación en Cáncer; abordando tanto la usabilidad como el tipo de información ofrecida, con el objetivo de conocer el estado de la información en la red sobre el cáncer en España y de identificar buenas prácticas en la comunicación sobre la enfermedad.The search for health information on the Internet is fundamentally associated with the diagnosis of a disease of the user or a relative and it can be considered the first source to which they come after a medical consultation(Marín-Torres et al., isanidad.com, 2015; 2012; III Barómetro PIC, 2019; INE, 2019;).The main barriers to the access and use of eHealth have to do with the readability of the content and with a poor usability of the sites (Cline and Haynes, 2001; Kim and Xie, 2017). Added to this, the enormous volume of data available on the network in the current context is what makes it essential to develop analysis protocols that allow users to identify in a comprehensible way the sites that offer quality information both in their content and in their presentation.This research proposes an analysis of the corporate sites of three Spanish institutions of recognized prestige -and diverse nature- in the field of cancer promotion and prevention: Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, Grupo Español de Pacientes con Cáncer and Fundación para la Educación Pública y la Formación en Cáncer; addressing both the usability and the type of information offered, in order to know the status of online information on cancer in Spain and to identify good practices in comvbmunication about the disease
Breaking Virtual Barriers : Investigating Virtual Reality for Enhanced Educational Engagement
Virtual reality (VR) is an innovative technology that has regained popularity in recent years. In the field of education, VR has been introduced as a tool to enhance learning experiences. This thesis presents an exploration of how VR is used from the context of educators and learners. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, including surveying and interviewing educators, and conducting empirical studies to examine engagement, usability, and user behaviour within VR. The results revealed educators are interested in using VR for a wide range of scenarios, including thought exercises, virtual field trips, and simulations. However, they face several barriers to incorporating VR into their practice, such as cost, lack of training, and technical challenges. A subsequent study found that virtual reality can no longer be assumed to be more engaging than desktop equivalents. This empirical study showed that engagement levels were similar in both VR and non-VR environments, suggesting that the novelty effect of VR may be less pronounced than previously assumed. A study against a VR mind mapping artifact, VERITAS, demonstrated that complex interactions are possible on low-cost VR devices, making VR accessible to educators and students. The analysis of user behaviour within this VR artifact showed that quantifiable strategies emerge, contributing to the understanding of how to design for collaborative VR experiences. This thesis provides insights into how the end-users in the education space perceive and use VR. The findings suggest that while educators are interested in using VR, they face barriers to adoption. The research highlights the need to design VR experiences, with understanding of existing pedagogy, that are engaging with careful thought applied to complex interactions, particularly for collaborative experiences. This research contributes to the understanding of the potential of VR in education and provides recommendations for educators and designers to enhance learning experiences using VR
Cultures of Citizenship in the Twenty-First Century: Literary and Cultural Perspectives on a Legal Concept
In the early twenty-first century, the concept of citizenship is more contested than ever. As refugees set out to cross the Mediterranean, European nation-states refer to "cultural integrity" and "immigrant inassimilability," revealing citizenship to be much more than a legal concept. The contributors to this volume take an interdisciplinary approach to considering how cultures of citizenship are being envisioned and interrogated in literary and cultural (con)texts. Through this framework, they attend to the tension between the citizen and its spectral others - a tension determined by how a country defines difference at a given moment
Communicating a Pandemic
This edited volume compares experiences of how the Covid-19 pandemic was communicated in the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The Nordic countries are often discussed in terms of similarities concerning an extensive welfare system, economic policies, media systems, and high levels of trust in societal actors. However, in the wake of a global pandemic, the countries’ coping strategies varied, creating certain question marks on the existence of a “Nordic model”.
The chapters give a broad overview of crisis communication in the Nordic countries during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic by combining organisational and societal theoretical perspectives and encompassing crisis response from governments, public health authorities, lobbyists, corporations, news media, and citizens. The results show several similarities, such as political and governmental responses highlighting solidarity and the need for exceptional measures, as expressed in press conferences, social media posts, information campaigns, and speeches. The media coverage relied on experts and was mainly informative, with few critical investigations during the initial phases. Moreover, surveys and interviews show the importance of news media for citizens’ coping strategies, but also that citizens mostly trusted both politicians and health authorities during the crisis.
This book is of interest to all who are looking to understand societal crisis management on a comprehensive level. The volume contains chapters from leading experts from all the Nordic countries and is edited by a team with complementary expertise on crisis communication, political communication, and journalism, consisting of Bengt Johansson, Øyvind Ihlen, Jenny Lindholm, and Mark Blach-Ørsten. Publishe
Mapping the Focal Points of WordPress: A Software and Critical Code Analysis
Programming languages or code can be examined through numerous analytical lenses. This project is a critical analysis of WordPress, a prevalent web content management system, applying four modes of inquiry. The project draws on theoretical perspectives and areas of study in media, software, platforms, code, language, and power structures. The applied research is based on Critical Code Studies, an interdisciplinary field of study that holds the potential as a theoretical lens and methodological toolkit to understand computational code beyond its function. The project begins with a critical code analysis of WordPress, examining its origins and source code and mapping selected vulnerabilities. An examination of the influence of digital and computational thinking follows this. The work also explores the intersection of code patching and vulnerability management and how code shapes our sense of control, trust, and empathy, ultimately arguing that a rhetorical-cultural lens can be used to better understand code\u27s controlling influence. Recurring themes throughout these analyses and observations are the connections to power and vulnerability in WordPress\u27 code and how cultural, processual, rhetorical, and ethical implications can be expressed through its code, creating a particular worldview. Code\u27s emergent properties help illustrate how human values and practices (e.g., empathy, aesthetics, language, and trust) become encoded in software design and how people perceive the software through its worldview. These connected analyses reveal cultural, processual, and vulnerability focal points and the influence these entanglements have concerning WordPress as code, software, and platform. WordPress is a complex sociotechnical platform worthy of further study, as is the interdisciplinary merging of theoretical perspectives and disciplines to critically examine code. Ultimately, this project helps further enrich the field by introducing focal points in code, examining sociocultural phenomena within the code, and offering techniques to apply critical code methods
Design and Implementation of a Portable Framework for Application Decomposition and Deployment in Edge-Cloud Systems
The emergence of cyber-physical systems has brought about a significant increase in complexity and heterogeneity in the infrastructure on which these systems are deployed. One particular example of this complexity is the interplay between cloud, fog, and edge computing. However, the complexity of these systems can pose challenges when it comes to implementing self-organizing mechanisms, which are often designed to work on flat networks. Therefore, it is essential to separate the application logic from the specific deployment aspects to promote reusability and flexibility in infrastructure exploitation.
To address this issue, a novel approach called "pulverization" has been proposed. This approach involves breaking down the system into smaller computational units, which can then be deployed on the available infrastructure.
In this thesis, the design and implementation of a portable framework that enables the "pulverization" of cyber-physical systems are presented.
The main objective of the framework is to pave the way for the deployment of cyber-physical systems in the edge-cloud continuum by reducing the complexity of the infrastructure and exploit opportunistically the heterogeneous resources available on it. Different scenarios are presented to highlight the effectiveness of the framework in different heterogeneous infrastructures and devices.
Current limitations and future work are examined to identify improvement areas for the framework
A BIM - GIS Integrated Information Model Using Semantic Web and RDF Graph Databases
In recent years, 3D virtual indoor and outdoor urban modelling has become an essential geospatial information framework for civil and engineering applications such as emergency response, evacuation planning, and facility management. Building multi-sourced and multi-scale 3D urban models are in high demand among architects, engineers, and construction professionals to achieve these tasks and provide relevant information to decision support systems. Spatial modelling technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are frequently used to meet such high demands. However, sharing data and information between these two domains is still challenging. At the same time, the semantic or syntactic strategies for inter-communication between BIM and GIS do not fully provide rich semantic and geometric information exchange of BIM into GIS or vice-versa. This research study proposes a novel approach for integrating BIM and GIS using semantic web technologies and Resources Description Framework (RDF) graph databases. The suggested solution's originality and novelty come from combining the advantages of integrating BIM and GIS models into a semantically unified data model using a semantic framework and ontology engineering approaches. The new model will be named Integrated Geospatial Information Model (IGIM). It is constructed through three stages. The first stage requires BIMRDF and GISRDF graphs generation from BIM and GIS datasets. Then graph integration from BIM and GIS semantic models creates IGIMRDF. Lastly, the information from IGIMRDF unified graph is filtered using a graph query language and graph data analytics tools. The linkage between BIMRDF and GISRDF is completed through SPARQL endpoints defined by queries using elements and entity classes with similar or complementary information from properties, relationships, and geometries from an ontology-matching process during model construction. The resulting model (or sub-model) can be managed in a graph database system and used in the backend as a data-tier serving web services feeding a front-tier domain-oriented application. A case study was designed, developed, and tested using the semantic integrated information model for validating the newly proposed solution, architecture, and performance
“So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy
Transformative artificially intelligent tools, such as ChatGPT, designed to generate sophisticated text indistinguishable from that produced by a human, are applicable across a wide range of contexts. The technology presents opportunities as well as, often ethical and legal, challenges, and has the potential for both positive and negative impacts for organisations, society, and individuals. Offering multi-disciplinary insight into some of these, this article brings together 43 contributions from experts in fields such as computer science, marketing, information systems, education, policy, hospitality and tourism, management, publishing, and nursing. The contributors acknowledge ChatGPT’s capabilities to enhance productivity and suggest that it is likely to offer significant gains in the banking, hospitality and tourism, and information technology industries, and enhance business activities, such as management and marketing. Nevertheless, they also consider its limitations, disruptions to practices, threats to privacy and security, and consequences of biases, misuse, and misinformation. However, opinion is split on whether ChatGPT’s use should be restricted or legislated. Drawing on these contributions, the article identifies questions requiring further research across three thematic areas: knowledge, transparency, and ethics; digital transformation of organisations and societies; and teaching, learning, and scholarly research. The avenues for further research include: identifying skills, resources, and capabilities needed to handle generative AI; examining biases of generative AI attributable to training datasets and processes; exploring business and societal contexts best suited for generative AI implementation; determining optimal combinations of human and generative AI for various tasks; identifying ways to assess accuracy of text produced by generative AI; and uncovering the ethical and legal issues in using generative AI across different contexts
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