ADDRESSING SELFISHNESS IN THE DESIGN OF COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS

I sistemi distribuiti cooperativi, tra cui in particolare i sistemi peer-to-peer, sono oggi alla base di applicazioni Internet di larga diffusione come file-sharing e media streaming, nonch\ue9 di tecnologie emergenti quali Blockchain e l'Internet of Things. Uno dei fattori chiave per il successo di un sistema cooperativo \ue8 che i nodi che vi partecipano mettano a disposizione della comunit\ue0 una parte delle proprie risorse (es. capacit\ue0 di calcolo, banda, spazio disco). Alcuni nodi, poich\ue9 controllati da agenti autonomi e indipendenti, potrebbero tuttavia agire egoisticamente e scegliere di non condividere alcuna risorsa, spinti dall'obiettivo di massimizzare la propria utilit\ue0 anche se a danno delle prestazioni dell'intero sistema. Affrontare l'egoismo dei nodi rappresenta dunque un'attivit\ue0 imprescindibile per lo sviluppo di un sistema cooperativo affidabile e performante. Nonostante il grande numero di tecniche ed approcci presenti in letteratura, tale attivit\ue0 richiede elaborazioni complesse, manuali e laboriose, nonch\ue9 conoscenze approfondite in vari domini di applicazione. Obiettivo di questa tesi \ue8 di fornire strumenti sia pratici che teorici per semplificare lo studio e il contrasto dei comportamenti egoistici nei sistemi cooperativi. Il primo contributo, basato su un'analisi esaustiva dello stato dell'arte sull'egoismo in sistemi distribuiti, presenta un framework di classificazione finalizzato all'identificazione e comprensione dei comportamenti egoistici pi\uf9 importanti su cui concentrarsi durante la progettazione di un sistema cooperativo. Come secondo contributo, presentiamo RACOON, un framework per la progettazione e configurazione di sistemi cooperativi resilienti all'egoismo dei nodi. L'obiettivo di RACOON \ue8 di semplificare tali attivit\ue0 fornendo una metodologia generale e semi-automatica, capace di integrare in un dato sistema pratici meccanismi di incentivo alla cooperazione, attentamente calibrati in modo da raggiungere gli obiettivi di resilienza e performance desiderati. A tal fine, RACOON impiega sia strumenti analitici appartenenti alla teoria dei giochi che metodi simulativi, che vengono utilizzati per fare previsioni sul comportamento del sistema in presenza di nodi egoisti. In questa tesi presentiamo inoltre una versione estesa del framework, chiamata RACOON++, sviluppata per migliorare l'accuratezza, flessibilit\ue0 e usabilit\ue0 del framework originale. Infine, come ultimo contributo del lavoro di tesi, presentiamo SEINE, un framework per la rapida modellazione e analisi sperimentale di vari tipi di comportamenti egoistici in un dato sistema cooperativo. Il framework \ue8 basato su un nuovo linguaggio specifico di dominio (SEINE-L) sviluppato per la descrizione degli scenari di egoismo da analizzare. SEINE fornisce inoltre supporto semi-automatico per l'implementazione e lo studio di tali scenari in un simulatore di sistemi distribuiti selezionato dallo stato dell'arte.Cooperative distributed systems, particularly peer-to-peer systems, are the basis of several mainstream Internet applications (e.g., file-sharing, media streaming) and the key enablers of new and emerging technologies, including blockchain and the Internet of Things. Essential to the success of cooperative systems is that nodes are willing to cooperate with each other by sharing part of their resources, e.g., network bandwidth, CPU capability, storage space. However, as nodes are autonomous entities, they may be tempted to behave in a selfish manner by not contributing their fair share, potentially causing system performance degradation and instability. Addressing selfish nodes is, therefore, key to building efficient and reliable cooperative systems. Yet, it is a challenging task, as current techniques for analysing selfishness and designing effective countermeasures remain manual and time-consuming, requiring multi-domain expertise. In this thesis, we aim to provide practical and conceptual tools to help system designers in dealing with selfish nodes. First, based on a comprehensive survey of existing work on selfishness, we develop a classification framework to identify and understand the most important selfish behaviours to focus on when designing a cooperative system. Second, we propose RACOON, a unifying framework for the selfishness-aware design and configuration of cooperative systems. RACOON provides a semi-automatic methodology to integrate a given system with practical and finely tuned mechanisms to meet specified resilience and performance objectives, using game theory and simulations to predict the behaviour of the system when subjected to selfish nodes. An extension of the framework (RACOON++) is also proposed to improve the accuracy, flexibility, and usability of RACOON. Finally, we propose SEINE, a framework for fast modelling and evaluation of various types of selfish behaviour in a given cooperative system. SEINE relies on a domain-specific language for describing the selfishness scenario to evaluate and provides semi-automatic support for its implementation and study in a state-of-the-art simulator.Les syst\ue8mes distribu\ue9s collaboratifs, en particulier les syst\ue8mes pair-\ue0-pair, forment l\u2019infrastructure sous-jacente de nombreuses applications Internet, certaines parmi les plus populaires (ex\ua0: partage de fichiers, streaming multim\ue9dia). Ils se situent \ue9galement \ue0 la base d\u2019un ensemble de technologies \ue9mergentes telles que la blockchain et l\u2019Internet des Objets. Le succ\ue8s de ces syst\ue8mes repose sur la contribution volontaire, de la part des n\u153uds participants, aux ressources partag\ue9es (ex : bande passante r\ue9seau, puissance de calcul, stockage de donn\ue9es). Or ces n\u153uds sont des entit\ue9s autonomes qui peuvent consid\ue9rer comme plus avantageux de se comporter de mani\ue8re \ue9go\uefste, c\u2019est-\ue0- dire de refuser de collaborer. De tels comportements peuvent fortement impacter les performances et la stabilit\ue9 op\ue9rationnelles du syst\ue8me cible. Prendre en compte et pr\ue9venir les comportements \ue9go\uefstes des n\u153uds est donc essentiel pour garantir l\u2019efficacit\ue9 et la fiabilit\ue9 des syst\ue8mes coop\ue9ratifs. Cependant, cela exige du d\ue9veloppeur, en d\ue9pit de la grande quantit\ue9 de techniques et d\u2019approches propos\ue9es dans la litt\ue9rature, des connaissances multisectorielles approfondies. L'objectif de cette th\ue8se est de concevoir et \ue9tudier de nouveaux outils th\ue9oriques et pratiques pour aider les concepteurs de syst\ue8mes distribu\ue9s collaboratifs \ue0 faire face \ue0 des n\u153uds \ue9go\uefstes. La premi\ue8re contribution, bas\ue9e sur une analyse exhaustive de la litt\ue9rature sur les comportements \ue9go\uefstes dans les syst\ue8mes distribu\ue9s, propose un mod\ue8le de classification pour identifier et analyser les comportements \ue9go\uefstes les plus importants sur lesquels il est important de se concentrer lors de la conception d'un syst\ue8me coop\ue9ratif. Dans la deuxi\ue8me contribution, nous proposons RACOON, un framework pour la conception et la configuration de syst\ue8mes coop\ue9ratifs r\ue9silients aux comportements \ue9go\uefstes. Outre un ensemble de m\ue9canismes d'incitation \ue0 la coop\ue9ration, RACOON fournit une m\ue9thodologie semi-automatique d\u2019int\ue9gration et de calibration de ces m\ue9canismes de mani\ue8re \ue0 garantir le niveau de performance souhait\ue9. RACOON s\u2019appuie sur une analyse du syst\ue8me cible fond\ue9e sur la th\ue9orie des jeux et sur des simulations pour pr\ue9dire l\u2019existence de n\u153uds \ue9go\uefstes dans le syst\ue8me. RACOON a \ue9t\ue9 \ue9tendu en un deuxi\ue8me framework, RACOON++. Plus pr\ue9cis, plus flexible, RACOON++ offre \ue9galement une plus grande facilit\ue9 d'utilisation. Une derni\ue8re contribution, SEINE, propose un framework pour la mod\ue9lisation et l'analyse des diff\ue9rents types de comportements \ue9go\uefstes dans un syst\ue8me coop\ue9ratif. Bas\ue9 sur un langage d\ue9di\ue9, d\ue9velopp\ue9 pour d\ue9crire les sc\ue9narios de comportement \ue9go\uefstes, SEINE fournit un support semi-automatique pour la mise en \u153uvre et l'\ue9tude de ces sc\ue9narios dans un simulateur choisi sur la base de l\u2019\ue9tat de l\u2019art (PeerSim)

Reducing the harm from alcohol by regulating cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotion: a technical report

At its 146th session in 2020, the WHO Executive Board asked the Organization to develop an action plan for the period 2022–2030 to boost implementation of the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol (referred to below as the “Global alcohol strategy”) as a public health priority. To contribute to the development of the action plan, the Executive Board’s Decision 146 (14) requested the WHO Director-General to develop “a technical report on the harmful use of alcohol related to cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotional activities, including those targeting youth and adolescents” (WHO, 2020). In order to produce the technical report requested by Decision EB146 (14), the WHO Secretariat commissioned a scoping review of cross-border marketing and a series of background papers to inform the process of developing the technical report; summaries of these commissioned papers are included as Annexes 1–4 to this report. The objective of the scoping review was to inform the development of the technical report by critically reviewing the key concepts underpinning the harmful use of alcohol in relation to cross-border alcohol marketing, summarizing the relevant research literature and research methodologies, and describing the main types and sources of information available. The Secretariat also convened several meetings with experts to discuss and elaborate on cross-border marketing of alcohol. A detailed outline of the report was also discussed at the third Forum on Alcohol, Drugs and Addictive Behaviours in June 2021, and elements of cross-border marketing were discussed with economic operators in dialogue meetings in 2020 and 2021

Multimedia

The nowadays ubiquitous and effortless digital data capture and processing capabilities offered by the majority of devices, lead to an unprecedented penetration of multimedia content in our everyday life. To make the most of this phenomenon, the rapidly increasing volume and usage of digitised content requires constant re-evaluation and adaptation of multimedia methodologies, in order to meet the relentless change of requirements from both the user and system perspectives. Advances in Multimedia provides readers with an overview of the ever-growing field of multimedia by bringing together various research studies and surveys from different subfields that point out such important aspects. Some of the main topics that this book deals with include: multimedia management in peer-to-peer structures & wireless networks, security characteristics in multimedia, semantic gap bridging for multimedia content and novel multimedia applications

The Distance from Necessity: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Gathering Practices in Vermont

This study examines why contemporary Americans continue to gather wild plants and fungi. Vermont, a state with a rich history of gathering, serves as a study site. I interviewed twenty-four gatherers using ethnographic methods. I applied a Bourdieusian framework to analyze the differences between gathering practices as they related to gathering knowledge, views of nature, and uses of gathered products. The interviews indicated that gathering is important to the physical and mental well-being of its practitioners and instills a connection to nature as well as to place. Interviewees cited spending time in nature and enjoyment of engaging the senses as the primary reasons for gathering. Other reasons identified included strengthening social bonds, obtaining food, medicine or income, and enjoying the “treasure hunt” aspect of gathering. Differences in gathering practices are attributable to habitus and background. Interviewees from agrarian backgrounds primarily learned their gathering skills from friends or relatives, rarely used scientific names of plants or fungi, often equated gathering with work, and tended to view gathered products as economic capital. By contrast, interviewees from suburban and urban backgrounds mostly learned their gathering skills through classes or books, exhibited greater familiarity with scientific names of species, saw gathering as a leisure activity, and were more apt to use gathered products as social and symbolic capital. Vermont is transitioning from an agrarian-based economy to a mixed-economy, and in the process, the working landscape is being replaced by a landscape of leisure. Gathering as an agrarian practice is being supplanted by gathering as an epicurean-oriented practice, and heralds a subtle shift in human-nature interactions. Policy makers need to account for such shifts and demonstrate greater nuance in regulating gathering, particularly non-commercial gathering. My research also suggests that trends to professionalize gathering are on the rise, a finding that could result in the exclusion of gatherers from resources or markets

Data and the city – accessibility and openness. a cybersalon paper on open data

This paper showcases examples of bottom–up open data and smart city applications and identifies lessons for future such efforts. Examples include Changify, a neighbourhood-based platform for residents, businesses, and companies; Open Sensors, which provides APIs to help businesses, startups, and individuals develop applications for the Internet of Things; and Cybersalon’s Hackney Treasures. a location-based mobile app that uses Wikipedia entries geolocated in Hackney borough to map notable local residents. Other experiments with sensors and open data by Cybersalon members include Ilze Black and Nanda Khaorapapong's The Breather, a "breathing" balloon that uses high-end, sophisticated sensors to make air quality visible; and James Moulding's AirPublic, which measures pollution levels. Based on Cybersalon's experience to date, getting data to the people is difficult, circuitous, and slow, requiring an intricate process of leadership, public relations, and perseverance. Although there are myriad tools and initiatives, there is no one solution for the actual transfer of that data

Integrated media in change

Media is a concept as mobile and flexible as media themselves. Media are global, but at the same time local. They are used by individuals, but also by the masses. They are shared, as well as private. The media landscape is moving and changing. Traditional journalism is being integrated into social media. Once created merely to inform us, media today have chosen to entertain us as well. It is to illuminate this movement and diversity that Integrated Media in Change was written. The publication owes its inspiration to the project “Integrated Media”, which brought together Nordic researchers who shared a curiosity about the topic and opened up new co-operation between the media in Finland, Sweden and Norway. The work featured in the present volume embraces two aims: to present the information structures underlying design and visual communication and to outline the relationship between traditional and social media. The contributing authors are professors, lecturers and scholars in of media, visual communication, the social sciences and media technology.publishedVersio

ECLAP 2012 Conference on Information Technologies for Performing Arts, Media Access and Entertainment

It has been a long history of Information Technology innovations within the Cultural Heritage areas. The Performing arts has also been enforced with a number of new innovations which unveil a range of synergies and possibilities. Most of the technologies and innovations produced for digital libraries, media entertainment and education can be exploited in the field of performing arts, with adaptation and repurposing. Performing arts offer many interesting challenges and opportunities for research and innovations and exploitation of cutting edge research results from interdisciplinary areas. For these reasons, the ECLAP 2012 can be regarded as a continuation of past conferences such as AXMEDIS and WEDELMUSIC (both pressed by IEEE and FUP). ECLAP is an European Commission project to create a social network and media access service for performing arts institutions in Europe, to create the e-library of performing arts, exploiting innovative solutions coming from the ICT

HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH IN GLOBAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REGIME: WITH CASE STUDIES ON THE US-KOREA FTA AND THE EUKOREA FTA

PhDFrom its emergence to its expansion, intellectual property (IP) has not been isolated from trade. However, in the late 1970s, business interests in the United States (US) exerted powerful pressure, leading to IP norms becoming increasingly trade-centric. Hypothesis of this thesis is that such trade-centric IP norms, encouraged and formed by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), and subsequent TRIPS-plus rules pursued by the two most active actors, the US and the European Union (EU), fail to achieve the intended purposes of IP protection. This normalization of tradecentric regulation also creates conflict with a range of economic, social and cultural values that have significant human rights implications. The goal of this thesis is to: (a) critically examine this predominance of trade in contemporary IP norms; and (b) provide a counter framework for IP policy reform. It seeks to do this by juxtaposing the theoretical and empirical aspects of IP norms against human rights. This study will pursue to prove the hypothesis by conducting case studies on two free trade agreements (FTAs) enacted by South Korea with the US and the EU. The thesis concludes that, on the whole, the context of human rights provides a just counter framework that can unify the diverse range of issues. This is more so given that human rights are strengthened by international consensual norms institutionalised by intergovernmental organisations and supported by transnational advocacy networks. Nevertheless, this thesis advocates that an overemphasis on state and individuals in the human rights discourse needs to be challenged by taking into account the dominance of global economic regulations, the prevailing role of non-state actors, and the culturally relative nature of IP.Herchel Smith Foundation and the Selection Committe