Trust-Based Service Selection

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an architectural style that builds enterprise solutions based on services. In SOA, the lack of trust between different parties affects the adoption of such architecture. Trust is as significant a factor for successful online interactions as it is in real life communities, and consequently, it is an important factor that is used as a criterion for service selection. In the context of online services and SOA, the literature shows that the field of trust is not mature. Trust definition and the consideration of the essentials of trust aspects do not reflect the true nature of trust online. This thesis proposes a trust-based service selection solution, which requires establishing trust for services and supporting service selection based on trust. This work considers building trust for service providers besides rating services, an area that is neglected in the literature. This work follows progressive steps to arrive at a solution. First, this work develops a trust definition and identifies trust principles, which cover different aspects of trust. Next, SOA is extended to build a trust-based SOA that supports trust-based service selection. In particular, a new component, the trust mediator, which is responsible for trust establishment is added to the architecture. Accordingly, a trust mediator framework is built according to the trust definition and principles to identify its main components. Subsequently, this work identifies the trust information, or metrics, for services and service providers. Accordingly, trust models are built to evaluate trust rates for the applicable metrics, services, and service providers. Moreover, this work addresses the trust bootstrapping challenge. The proposed trust bootstrapping approach addresses different challenges in the literature such as whitewashing and cold start. This approach is implemented through experiments, evaluations, and scenarios

An Exploratory Study Of Malaysian Online Newspapers’ Representation Of Risks From Lynas Rare Earth Project

We propose a hybrid of the Social Amplification of Risk Framework and the Social Semiotic Theory of Multimodality to explore how discourses on risks from Lynas rare earth project in Malaysia are represented by Malaysian online newspapers. Evidence suggests that re-contextualizing voices in environmental reporting and framing reflect changes in relationship between stakeholders in Malaysia. There is also evidence of neglect of the plights of affected people and communities in environmental reporting in Malaysia’s mainstream print media. However, there is a dearth of evidence on how discourses by social actors on risks, especially on emerging technologies like rare earth in Malaysia are represented in Malaysian online newspapers. Yet the Malaysian online audience are active and enormous. In addition, Lynas’ rare earth project in Malaysia generated controversial discourses on the Internet, but not much is known about how these discourses were represented. Meanwhile, the Lynas plant in Kuantan got a two-year full operating license in 2014, already gulped over three billion Malaysian Ringgit, and stirred protests and heated debates at the highest levels amid allegations of inadequate long term plans for disposing radioactive toxic wastes which can have diverse risks. Supposedly, the fears draw from previous experiences from the Asian Rare Earth plant in Bukit Merah, Perak, which left radioactive wastes that caused workers and residents to suffer from leukemia, congenital diseases, lead poisoning and deaths. Statistically, the Kuantan plant produced 1,089 tonnes of rare earth oxides in the first quarter of 2014 and targets 11,000 tonnes yearly. This is 10 percent of global production in 2012. Therefore, this study proposes to explore types of risks represented, how the risks are defined and the relationship between the risks (if any). It also seeks to explore social actors who define, amplify or attenuate these risks; identify the modes used to convey meanings of the risks; and how the modes convey meanings of specific risks as represented in mainstream and alternative Malaysian online English language newspapers

Judges’ Gender and Judging in China

After women began entering the judiciary in appreciable numbers, scholars worldwide started asking whether their gender would influence their decision-making processes. Although empirical findings are mixed, the research literature reveals that judges’ gender is a predictive factor in gender-related cases—especially those involving employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and reproductive rights. These findings not only advance feminists’ aspirations that female judges can translate symbolic representation into substantive representation of women, but contribute to the long-standing observations about how judges of different backgrounds actually decide cases. This PhD dissertation follows this research tradition and examines the effect of gender in the process of judging within the context of Chinese criminal justice system. Chapters two and three, which used quantitative research methods, examine whether female judges decide cases differently from their male colleagues, and whether the presence of a female judge on a three-member panel causes male judges to vote in favour of plaintiffs in rape cases. In chapter two, I discuss my analysis of 11,006 court judgments from 2016 to 2018 across 11 crime types in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. The results revealed negligible differences between the sorts of decisions made by male and female district court judges. Nevertheless, the similarities in the decision to incarcerate can be explained by a harmonious ‘Iron Triangle’ relationship among the police, the procuratorate, and the court. The Sentencing Guidelines and the Adjudication Committees of the courts are mechanisms that align judicial behaviours in the same direction. The initial findings in chapter three, based on 6,100 judgements of rape cases from 2010 to 2018 in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, also suggested that there is no ‘panel effect’. However, when certain stimuli, such as the social network relationship between victims and offenders, are introduced, panels with different combinations of male and female judges exhibit different sentencing preferences: When a female judge decided the outcome of a case together with two male judges, the panel often issued a shorter sentence length, compared to the sentence length issued by an all-female panel. Chapters four and five, which used qualitative research methods, uncover the behavioural differences at work between male and female judges. In chapter four, it is shown that female judges are accustomed to employ mediation as a preferred dispute resolution method when facilitating reconciliation between two parties and are more likely to seek civil compensation for victims. This study reveals that in the Chinese criminal justice system, behavioural differences between male and female judges exist in the process, as well as in the outcomes of judgments. Chapter five explores male and female judges’ attitudes in criminal cases related to domestic violence. I found that senior male judges tended to minimise or excuse male offenders’ assaults on their female partners in domestic violence cases, arguably because those male offenders were brought up in a masculine culture at an early age, or because they often experience work and family pressures at the same time, and those are feelings that some junior male judges can relate to. Female judges, on the other hand, tended to blame female victims for the improper behaviours that they engaged in with their husbands, or for failing to cut ties with their husbands quickly and resolutely. These negative attitudes from female judges towards female victims demonstrate the impossibility that the latter could fit the image of ‘ideal victims’. This study demonstrates that both male and female judges, regardless of age differences, possess unconscious biases and prejudices during criminal trials for domestic violence cases. The findings in this PhD dissertation compel us to reflect on the benefits and drawbacks of pursuing ‘gender differences in judging’ put forward by feminist legal scholars

Town of Middleton annual report.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

Income Information Content in Companies That Express Corporate Social Responsibility

The relevance of information about corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly believed to be superior information compared to historical information derived from reporting accounting earnings. This study aims to determine the quality of earnings information in companies that make CSR disclosures in annual reports . This research is important to analyze the benefits of CSR disclosure as a source of relevant information for investment decision making compared to accounting earnings information. This study also adds company size and price to book value as control variables . This research sample uses manufactur-ing data listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2010 and 2011 were 156 observations . The data processing method used is a multiple linear regression analysis. The results of this study prove that information about CSR in financial reports is superior to company earnings information. The more extensive disclosure of CSR conducted by companies in this study is proven to reduce market response to earnings information. This proves that CSR information is proven to be more important and more considered by investors as material for decision making than company profit information. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility , Earnings Response Coefficien

Emerging Threats of Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology

Synthetic biology is a field of biotechnology that is rapidly growing in various applications, such as in medicine, environmental sustainability, and energy production. However these technologies also have unforeseen risks and applications to humans and the environment. This open access book presents discussions on risks and mitigation strategies for these technologies including biosecurity, or the potential of synthetic biology technologies and processes to be deliberately misused for nefarious purposes. The book presents strategies to prevent, mitigate, and recover from ‘dual-use concern’ biosecurity challenges that may be raised by individuals, rogue states, or non-state actors. Several key topics are explored including opportunities to develop more coherent and scalable approaches to govern biosecurity from a laboratory perspective up to the international scale and strategies to prevent potential health and environmental hazards posed by deliberate misuse of synthetic biology without stifling innovation. The book brings together the expertise of top scholars in synthetic biology and biotechnology risk assessment, management, and communication to discuss potential biosecurity governing strategies and offer perspectives for collaboration in oversight and future regulatory guidance

Transitions in teacher education and professional identities: proceedings

The University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, was the host for the 2014 Annual Conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), which took place in August, from the 25th to the 27th. The Conference focused on Transitions in Teacher Education and Professional Identities looked at the transitions in teacher education and analysed different experiences in professional identity of (student) teachers from an international perspective. Three keywords may be identified: challenges in teaching, dilemmas in teacher education and in teacher educators’ role and current trends that are shaping teacher education in different contexts. Similar dilemmas and even contradictions have been identified in different settings with different modes of government intervention in teacher education in which content, structure and duration are also diverse but with similar features. Another key theme discussed at the Conference was the complexity of the concept of identity and also the contested nature of the transitions: transitions for what? How? Why? These transitions and shifts in teacher education and professional identities need to be examined within the context of current policies but also in the light of the complexities and contradictions of teaching as a profession. Teacher educators are also facing transitions in teacher education curricula but also regarding their own identities. These are complex processes that may include resistance and turbulence because transitions may be troublesome for many reasons. In this regard context and language matter but also the kinds of policies and practices that exist within teacher education. There are questions that remain unanswered. However, despite the differences, the dilemmas, and even the contradictions, teacher education can make a difference in professional identity development as was the case of successful experiences that have been described in the Conference

Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) 2019 Annual Report

Prepared for: Dr. Brian Bingham, CRUSER DirectorThe Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) provides a collaborative environment and community of interest for the advancement of unmanned systems (UxS) education and research endeavors across the Navy (USN), Marine Corps (USMC) and Department of Defense (DoD). CRUSER is a Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) initiative to build an inclusive community of interest on the application of unmanned systems (UxS) in military and naval operations. This 2019 annual report summarizes CRUSER activities in its eighth year of operations and highlights future plans.Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy PPOIOffice of Naval Research (ONR)Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) 2019 Annual Report

Prepared for: Dr. Brian Bingham, CRUSER DirectorThe Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research (CRUSER) provides a collaborative environment and community of interest for the advancement of unmanned systems (UxS) education and research endeavors across the Navy (USN), Marine Corps (USMC) and Department of Defense (DoD). CRUSER is a Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) initiative to build an inclusive community of interest on the application of unmanned systems (UxS) in military and naval operations. This 2019 annual report summarizes CRUSER activities in its eighth year of operations and highlights future plans.Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy PPOIOffice of Naval Research (ONR)Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited