14,614 research outputs found
The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions
The Metaverse offers a second world beyond reality, where boundaries are
non-existent, and possibilities are endless through engagement and immersive
experiences using the virtual reality (VR) technology. Many disciplines can
benefit from the advancement of the Metaverse when accurately developed,
including the fields of technology, gaming, education, art, and culture.
Nevertheless, developing the Metaverse environment to its full potential is an
ambiguous task that needs proper guidance and directions. Existing surveys on
the Metaverse focus only on a specific aspect and discipline of the Metaverse
and lack a holistic view of the entire process. To this end, a more holistic,
multi-disciplinary, in-depth, and academic and industry-oriented review is
required to provide a thorough study of the Metaverse development pipeline. To
address these issues, we present in this survey a novel multi-layered pipeline
ecosystem composed of (1) the Metaverse computing, networking, communications
and hardware infrastructure, (2) environment digitization, and (3) user
interactions. For every layer, we discuss the components that detail the steps
of its development. Also, for each of these components, we examine the impact
of a set of enabling technologies and empowering domains (e.g., Artificial
Intelligence, Security & Privacy, Blockchain, Business, Ethics, and Social) on
its advancement. In addition, we explain the importance of these technologies
to support decentralization, interoperability, user experiences, interactions,
and monetization. Our presented study highlights the existing challenges for
each component, followed by research directions and potential solutions. To the
best of our knowledge, this survey is the most comprehensive and allows users,
scholars, and entrepreneurs to get an in-depth understanding of the Metaverse
ecosystem to find their opportunities and potentials for contribution
The Viability and Potential Consequences of IoT-Based Ransomware
With the increased threat of ransomware and the substantial growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) market, there is significant motivation for attackers to carry out IoT-based ransomware campaigns. In this thesis, the viability of such malware is tested.
As part of this work, various techniques that could be used by ransomware developers to attack commercial IoT devices were explored. First, methods that attackers could use to communicate with the victim were examined, such that a ransom note was able to be reliably sent to a victim. Next, the viability of using "bricking" as a method of ransom was evaluated, such that devices could be remotely disabled unless the victim makes a payment to the attacker. Research was then performed to ascertain whether it was possible to remotely gain persistence on IoT devices, which would improve the efficacy of existing ransomware methods, and provide opportunities for more advanced ransomware to be created. Finally, after successfully identifying a number of persistence techniques, the viability of privacy-invasion based ransomware was analysed.
For each assessed technique, proofs of concept were developed. A range of devices -- with various intended purposes, such as routers, cameras and phones -- were used to test the viability of these proofs of concept. To test communication hijacking, devices' "channels of communication" -- such as web services and embedded screens -- were identified, then hijacked to display custom ransom notes. During the analysis of bricking-based ransomware, a working proof of concept was created, which was then able to remotely brick five IoT devices. After analysing the storage design of an assortment of IoT devices, six different persistence techniques were identified, which were then successfully tested on four devices, such that malicious filesystem modifications would be retained after the device was rebooted. When researching privacy-invasion based ransomware, several methods were created to extract information from data sources that can be commonly found on IoT devices, such as nearby WiFi signals, images from cameras, or audio from microphones. These were successfully implemented in a test environment such that ransomable data could be extracted, processed, and stored for later use to blackmail the victim.
Overall, IoT-based ransomware has not only been shown to be viable but also highly damaging to both IoT devices and their users. While the use of IoT-ransomware is still very uncommon "in the wild", the techniques demonstrated within this work highlight an urgent need to improve the security of IoT devices to avoid the risk of IoT-based ransomware causing havoc in our society. Finally, during the development of these proofs of concept, a number of potential countermeasures were identified, which can be used to limit the effectiveness of the attacking techniques discovered in this PhD research
One Small Step for Generative AI, One Giant Leap for AGI: A Complete Survey on ChatGPT in AIGC Era
OpenAI has recently released GPT-4 (a.k.a. ChatGPT plus), which is
demonstrated to be one small step for generative AI (GAI), but one giant leap
for artificial general intelligence (AGI). Since its official release in
November 2022, ChatGPT has quickly attracted numerous users with extensive
media coverage. Such unprecedented attention has also motivated numerous
researchers to investigate ChatGPT from various aspects. According to Google
scholar, there are more than 500 articles with ChatGPT in their titles or
mentioning it in their abstracts. Considering this, a review is urgently
needed, and our work fills this gap. Overall, this work is the first to survey
ChatGPT with a comprehensive review of its underlying technology, applications,
and challenges. Moreover, we present an outlook on how ChatGPT might evolve to
realize general-purpose AIGC (a.k.a. AI-generated content), which will be a
significant milestone for the development of AGI.Comment: A Survey on ChatGPT and GPT-4, 29 pages. Feedback is appreciated
([email protected]
A Design Science Research Approach to Smart and Collaborative Urban Supply Networks
Urban supply networks are facing increasing demands and challenges and thus constitute a relevant field for research and practical development. Supply chain management holds enormous potential and relevance for society and everyday life as the flow of goods and information are important economic functions. Being a heterogeneous field, the literature base of supply chain management research is difficult to manage and navigate. Disruptive digital technologies and the implementation of cross-network information analysis and sharing drive the need for new organisational and technological approaches. Practical issues are manifold and include mega trends such as digital transformation, urbanisation, and environmental awareness.
A promising approach to solving these problems is the realisation of smart and collaborative supply networks. The growth of artificial intelligence applications in recent years has led to a wide range of applications in a variety of domains. However, the potential of artificial intelligence utilisation in supply chain management has not yet been fully exploited. Similarly, value creation increasingly takes place in networked value creation cycles that have become continuously more collaborative, complex, and dynamic as interactions in business processes involving information technologies have become more intense.
Following a design science research approach this cumulative thesis comprises the development and discussion of four artefacts for the analysis and advancement of smart and collaborative urban supply networks. This thesis aims to highlight the potential of artificial intelligence-based supply networks, to advance data-driven inter-organisational collaboration, and to improve last mile supply network sustainability. Based on thorough machine learning and systematic literature reviews, reference and system dynamics modelling, simulation, and qualitative empirical research, the artefacts provide a valuable contribution to research and practice
On the Robustness of ChatGPT: An Adversarial and Out-of-distribution Perspective
ChatGPT is a recent chatbot service released by OpenAI and is receiving
increasing attention over the past few months. While evaluations of various
aspects of ChatGPT have been done, its robustness, i.e., the performance to
unexpected inputs, is still unclear to the public. Robustness is of particular
concern in responsible AI, especially for safety-critical applications. In this
paper, we conduct a thorough evaluation of the robustness of ChatGPT from the
adversarial and out-of-distribution (OOD) perspective. To do so, we employ the
AdvGLUE and ANLI benchmarks to assess adversarial robustness and the Flipkart
review and DDXPlus medical diagnosis datasets for OOD evaluation. We select
several popular foundation models as baselines. Results show that ChatGPT shows
consistent advantages on most adversarial and OOD classification and
translation tasks. However, the absolute performance is far from perfection,
which suggests that adversarial and OOD robustness remains a significant threat
to foundation models. Moreover, ChatGPT shows astounding performance in
understanding dialogue-related texts and we find that it tends to provide
informal suggestions for medical tasks instead of definitive answers. Finally,
we present in-depth discussions of possible research directions.Comment: Technical report; code is at:
https://github.com/microsoft/robustlear
A Phenomenological Study of How Active Engagement in Black Greek Letter Sororities Influences Christian Members\u27 Spiritual Growth
This phenomenological study explored how being part of a Black Greek Letter. Organization (BGLO) sorority impacts the spiritual growth of its Christian members. One of the issues explored was the influence relationships within these sororities have on members striving to be like Christ. There is a dichotomy of perspectives regarding Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). They have a significant role in the Black community as organizations that foster leadership, philanthropy, and sisterhood and promote education. They are admired on and off college campuses and in the broader community in graduate chapters. The objective of phenomenology is to describe phenomena of spiritual growth among Christian sorority members from the life experiences of those who live them; that premise guided the interviews conducted for this study. The results found that active engagement in a BGLO sorority positively impacts its members\u27 spiritual growth. From the emotional stories of sisterhood, service, and devotion to prayer, their experiences evidenced strengthened walks of faith. This study contrasts the Anti-BGLO narrative as a testament to these organizations\u27 legacy and practices deeply grounded in the church
Redefining Community in the Age of the Internet: Will the Internet of Things (IoT) generate sustainable and equitable community development?
There is a problem so immense in our built world that it is often not fully realized. This problem is the disconnection between humanity and the physical world. In an era of limitless data and information at our fingertips, buildings, public spaces, and landscapes are divided from us due to their physical nature. Compared with the intense flow of information from our online world driven by the beating engine of the internet, our physical world is silent. This lack of connection not only has consequences for sustainability but also for how we perceive and communicate with our built environment in the modern age. A possible solution to bridge the gap between our physical and online worlds is a technology known as the Internet of Things (IoT). What is IoT? How does it work? Will IoT change the concept of the built environment for a participant within it, and in doing so enhance the dynamic link between humans and place? And what are the implications of IoT for privacy, security, and data for the public good? Lastly, we will identify the most pressing issues existing in the built environment by conducting and analyzing case studies from Pomona College and California State University, Northridge. By analyzing IoT in the context of case studies we can assess its viability and value as a tool for sustainability and equality in communities across the world
Bridging technology and educational psychology: an exploration of individual differences in technology-assisted language learning within an Algerian EFL setting
The implementation of technology in language learning and teaching has a great influence onthe teaching and learning process as a whole and its impact on the learners’ psychological state seems of paramount significance, since it could be either an aid or a barrier to students’ academic performance. This thesis therefore explores individual learner differences in technology-assisted language learning (TALL) and when using educational technologies in
higher education within an Algerian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting.
Although I initially intended to investigate the relationship between TALL and certain affective variables mainly motivation, anxiety, self-confidence, and learning styles inside the classroom, the collection and analysis of data shifted my focus to a holistic view of individual learner
differences in TALL environments and when using educational technologies within and beyond the classroom. In an attempt to bridge technology and educational psychology, this
ethnographic case study considers the nature of the impact of technology integration in language teaching and learning on the psychology of individual language learners inside and
outside the classroom. The study considers the reality constructed by participants and reveals multiple and distinctive views about the relationship between the use of educational technologies in higher education and individual learner differences. It took place in a university
in the north-west of Algeria and involved 27 main and secondary student and teacher participants. It consisted of focus-group discussions, follow-up discussions, teachers’
interviews, learners’ diaries, observation, and field notes. It was initially conducted within the classroom but gradually expanded to other settings outside the classroom depending on the availability of participants, their actions, and activities.
The study indicates that the impact of technology integration in EFL learning on individual learner differences is both complex and dynamic. It is complex in the sense that it is shown in multiple aspects and reflected on the students and their differences. In addition to various positive and different negative influences of different technology uses and the different psychological reactions among students to the same technology scenario, the study reveals the
unrecognised different manifestations of similar psychological traits in the same ELT technology scenario. It is also dynamic since it is characterised by constant change according to contextual approaches to and practical realities of technology integration in language teaching and learning in the setting, including discrepancies between students’ attitudes and teacher’ actions, mismatches between technological experiences inside and outside the classroom, local concerns and generalised beliefs about TALL in the context, and the rapid and unplanned shift to online educational delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
The study may therefore be of interest, not only to Algerian teachers and students, but also to academics and institutions in other contexts through considering the complex and dynamic
impact of TALL and technology integration at higher education on individual differences, and to academics in similar low-resource contexts by undertaking a context approach to technology integration
EVALUACIÓN ANALGÉSICA PERIOPERATORIA DEL ACETAMINOFÉN EN PERRAS SOMETIDAS A OVARIOHISTERECTOMÍA ELECTIVA
Tesis de doctorado que evalúa el efecto analgésico del acetaminofén en perras ovarihisterectomizadas.La administración de analgésicos antiinflamatorios no esteroidales (AINES) para el control del
dolor post-quirúrgico en perros es una práctica común, debido a sus efectos analgésicos,
antiinflamatorios y antipiréticos. En el presente trabajo se realizaron dos estudios. En el
experimento 1, el objetivo fue evaluar la analgesia post-operatoria del acetaminofén
(paracetamol) a través de la utilización de las escalas de reconocimiento clínico del dolor
DIVAS (Escala Dinámica e Interactiva Analógica Visual) y UMPS (Escala de la Universidad
de Melbourne), en perras sometidas a ovariohisterectomía electiva. Además de valorar la
seguridad y eficacia clínica del uso del acetaminofén en perros mediante pruebas de
funcionamiento hepático y renal en el post-operatorio inmediato. Para ello, se utilizaron 30
perras de diferentes razas que fueron asignadas aleatoriamente a uno de los tres grupos de
tratamiento: acetaminofén [GACET; n=10, 15 mg kg-1 intravenoso (IV)], carprofeno (GCARP;
n=10, 4 mg kg-1 IV) y meloxicam (GMELOX; n=10, 0.2 mg kg-1 IV). Todos los tratamientos se
administraron 30 minutos antes de la cirugía y posterior a esta durante 48 horas. En este período
el acetaminofén se administró por vía oral cada 8 horas (15 mg kg-1); el carprofeno (4 mg kg-1)
y el meloxicam (0.1 mg kg-1) se administraron por vía IV cada 24 horas. Durante el
postoperatorio, los sistemas de puntuación del dolor DIVAS y UMPS fueron medidos a las 1,
2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 36 y 48 horas post-cirugía. Para evaluar la seguridad clínica de los
tratamientos, se recolectaron muestras de sangre de la vena yugular para realizar la medición de
enzimas ALT, AST, ALP, y los metabolitos bilirrubina directa, bilirrubina indirecta, bilirrubina
total, creatinina, urea, albúmina y glucosa. Esto fue realizado en T0 (pre-anestesia; TBASAL), 48
y 96 horas después de la cirugía (T48, T96). Los resultados indican que en la evaluación clínica
del dolor de todos los grupos de estudio, hubo una reducción gradual en la percepción del mismo
durante el postoperatorio en ambos sistemas de puntuación; no obstante, también fue observado
que ninguna escala difirió significativamente entre los tres grupos de tratamiento (P>0.05) en
cada momento de evaluación durante las 48 horas post-cirugía. En cuanto a los parámetros
bioquímico séricos, sólo la ALT aumentó significativamente en T96 en el GACET y GCARP con
respecto a los valores basales (P<0.01). El resto de los analitos séricos evaluados se mantuvo
en rangos normales. En el experimento 2 bajo el mismo diseño experimental de tratamientos
administrados, el objetivo fue evaluar el efecto analgésico perioperatorio del acetaminofén
2
administrado pre y post-quirúrgicamente en perras sometidas a ovariohisterectomía electiva a
través de la medición del índice de la actividad del tono parasimpático (PTA). Este parámetro
hemodinámico fue medido 60 minutos antes de la cirugía (TBASAL) y durante el transquirúrgico
en la aplicación de estímulos nociceptivos: colocación de las pinzas de campo backhouse
(TPINZ), incisión de piel y abordaje quirúrgico primario (TINC), ligadura y extracción de pedículo
ovárico izquierdo (TOVI) y derecho (TOVD), ligadura y transfixión del cuello uterino (TLIGUT),
sección quirúrgica del cuello uterino (TCUT), reconstrucción de peritoneo y planos anatómicos
musculares (TMUSC) y sutura de piel (TSUT). Durante el postoperatorio, el índice PTA fue
valorado a las 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 36 y 48 horas, en los mismos tiempos en que fueron
evaluadas las escalas de reconocimiento de dolor DIVAS y UMPS. Los resultados obtenidos en
la medición del índice PTA basal para GACET fue 65 ± 8, para GCARP 65 ± 7 y para GMELOX 62 ±
5. Durante los diferentes tiempos transquirúrgicos, los valores promedio de índice PTA indican
que GACET (76 ± 14) y GMELOX (72 ± 18) muestran tendencia a manifestar mayores niveles en
comparación con GCARP (62 ± 13) desde el inicio del procedimiento quirúrgico sin que esto
pudiera comprobarse estadísticamente, ya que no hubo diferencias significativas entre grupos
de tratamiento ni entre los tiempos quirúrgicos evaluados (P>0.05). En el postoperatorio, el
índice PTA fue de 65 ± 9 en el GACET, 63 ± 8 en el GCARP y 65 ± 8 en el GMELOX. Los resultados
tampoco mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas con los valores basales o entre
los tratamientos (P>0.05). El índice PTA postoperatorio mostró una sensibilidad del 40%,
especificidad del 98.46% y valor predictivo negativo del 99.07% con respecto a la escala
validada de UMPS. En conclusión, el acetaminofén puede considerarse una herramienta para el
tratamiento efectivo del dolor perioperatorio agudo en perros, ya que mostró la misma eficacia
clínica que el meloxicam y el carprofeno para la analgesia postquirúrgica en perras sometidas a
ovariohisterectomía electiva. Además, la evidencia del uso de este medicamento no condujo a
reacciones adversas o cambios en los parámetros evaluados, lo que indica su seguridad clínica.
Finalmente, destacar que el índice PTA representa una medición objetiva del comfort y
analgesia postoperatoria, por lo que es una herramienta que podría ayudar a predecir las
respuestas hemodinámicas asociadas con el dolor
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