9,296 research outputs found

    Serving to secure "Global Korea": Gender, mobility, and flight attendant labor migrants

    Get PDF
    This dissertation is an ethnography of mobility and modernity in contemporary South Korea (the Republic of Korea) following neoliberal restructuring precipitated by the Asian Financial Crisis (1997). It focuses on how comparative “service,” “security,” and “safety” fashioned “Global Korea”: an ongoing state-sponsored project aimed at promoting the economic, political, and cultural maturation of South Korea from a once notoriously inhospitable, “backward” country (hujin’guk) to a now welcoming, “advanced country” (sƏnjin’guk). Through physical embodiments of the culturally-specific idiom of “superior” service (sƏbisƭ), I argue that aspiring, current, and former Korean flight attendants have driven the production and maintenance of this national project. More broadly, as a driver of this national project, this occupation has emerged out of the country’s own aspirational flights from an earlier history of authoritarian rule, labor violence, and xenophobia. Against the backdrop of the Korean state’s aggressive neoliberal restructuring, globalization efforts, and current “Hell Chosun” (HelchosƏn) economy, a group of largely academically and/or class disadvantaged young women have been able secure individualized modes of pleasure, self-fulfillment, and class advancement via what I deem “service mobilities.” Service mobilities refers to the participation of mostly women in a traditionally devalued but growing sector of the global labor market, the “pink collar” economy centered around “feminine” care labor. Korean female flight attendants share labor skills resembling those of other foreign labor migrants (chiefly from the “Global South”), who perform care work deemed less desirable. Yet, Korean female flight attendants elude the stigmatizing, classed, and racialized category of “labor migrant.” Moreover, within the context of South Korea’s unique history of rapid modernization, the flight attendant occupation also commands considerable social prestige. Based on ethnographic and archival research on aspiring, current, and former Korean flight attendants, this dissertation asks how these unique care laborers negotiate a metaphorical and literal series of sustained border crossings and inspections between Korean flight attendants’ contingent status as lowly care-laboring migrants, on the one hand, and ostensibly glamorous, globetrotting elites, on the other. This study contends the following: first, the flight attendant occupation in South Korea represents new politics of pleasure and pain in contemporary East Asia. Second, Korean female flight attendants’ enactments of soft, sanitized, and glamorous (hwaryƏhada) service help to purify South Korea’s less savory past. In so doing, Korean flight attendants reconstitute the historical role of female laborers as burden bearers and caretakers of the Korean state.U of I OnlyAuthor submitted a 2-year U of I restriction extension request

    The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions

    Full text link
    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

    Countermeasures for the majority attack in blockchain distributed systems

    Get PDF
    La tecnologĂ­a Blockchain es considerada como uno de los paradigmas informĂĄticos mĂĄs importantes posterior al Internet; en funciĂłn a sus caracterĂ­sticas Ășnicas que la hacen ideal para registrar, verificar y administrar informaciĂłn de diferentes transacciones. A pesar de esto, Blockchain se enfrenta a diferentes problemas de seguridad, siendo el ataque del 51% o ataque mayoritario uno de los mĂĄs importantes. Este consiste en que uno o mĂĄs mineros tomen el control de al menos el 51% del Hash extraĂ­do o del cĂłmputo en una red; de modo que un minero puede manipular y modificar arbitrariamente la informaciĂłn registrada en esta tecnologĂ­a. Este trabajo se enfocĂł en diseñar e implementar estrategias de detecciĂłn y mitigaciĂłn de ataques mayoritarios (51% de ataque) en un sistema distribuido Blockchain, a partir de la caracterizaciĂłn del comportamiento de los mineros. Para lograr esto, se analizĂł y evaluĂł el Hash Rate / Share de los mineros de Bitcoin y Crypto Ethereum, seguido del diseño e implementaciĂłn de un protocolo de consenso para controlar el poder de cĂłmputo de los mineros. Posteriormente, se realizĂł la exploraciĂłn y evaluaciĂłn de modelos de Machine Learning para detectar software malicioso de tipo Cryptojacking.DoctoradoDoctor en IngenierĂ­a de Sistemas y ComputaciĂł

    Deep Transfer Learning Applications in Intrusion Detection Systems: A Comprehensive Review

    Full text link
    Globally, the external Internet is increasingly being connected to the contemporary industrial control system. As a result, there is an immediate need to protect the network from several threats. The key infrastructure of industrial activity may be protected from harm by using an intrusion detection system (IDS), a preventive measure mechanism, to recognize new kinds of dangerous threats and hostile activities. The most recent artificial intelligence (AI) techniques used to create IDS in many kinds of industrial control networks are examined in this study, with a particular emphasis on IDS-based deep transfer learning (DTL). This latter can be seen as a type of information fusion that merge, and/or adapt knowledge from multiple domains to enhance the performance of the target task, particularly when the labeled data in the target domain is scarce. Publications issued after 2015 were taken into account. These selected publications were divided into three categories: DTL-only and IDS-only are involved in the introduction and background, and DTL-based IDS papers are involved in the core papers of this review. Researchers will be able to have a better grasp of the current state of DTL approaches used in IDS in many different types of networks by reading this review paper. Other useful information, such as the datasets used, the sort of DTL employed, the pre-trained network, IDS techniques, the evaluation metrics including accuracy/F-score and false alarm rate (FAR), and the improvement gained, were also covered. The algorithms, and methods used in several studies, or illustrate deeply and clearly the principle in any DTL-based IDS subcategory are presented to the reader

    A Decision Support System for Economic Viability and Environmental Impact Assessment of Vertical Farms

    Get PDF
    Vertical farming (VF) is the practice of growing crops or animals using the vertical dimension via multi-tier racks or vertically inclined surfaces. In this thesis, I focus on the emerging industry of plant-specific VF. Vertical plant farming (VPF) is a promising and relatively novel practice that can be conducted in buildings with environmental control and artificial lighting. However, the nascent sector has experienced challenges in economic viability, standardisation, and environmental sustainability. Practitioners and academics call for a comprehensive financial analysis of VPF, but efforts are stifled by a lack of valid and available data. A review of economic estimation and horticultural software identifies a need for a decision support system (DSS) that facilitates risk-empowered business planning for vertical farmers. This thesis proposes an open-source DSS framework to evaluate business sustainability through financial risk and environmental impact assessments. Data from the literature, alongside lessons learned from industry practitioners, would be centralised in the proposed DSS using imprecise data techniques. These techniques have been applied in engineering but are seldom used in financial forecasting. This could benefit complex sectors which only have scarce data to predict business viability. To begin the execution of the DSS framework, VPF practitioners were interviewed using a mixed-methods approach. Learnings from over 19 shuttered and operational VPF projects provide insights into the barriers inhibiting scalability and identifying risks to form a risk taxonomy. Labour was the most commonly reported top challenge. Therefore, research was conducted to explore lean principles to improve productivity. A probabilistic model representing a spectrum of variables and their associated uncertainty was built according to the DSS framework to evaluate the financial risk for VF projects. This enabled flexible computation without precise production or financial data to improve economic estimation accuracy. The model assessed two VPF cases (one in the UK and another in Japan), demonstrating the first risk and uncertainty quantification of VPF business models in the literature. The results highlighted measures to improve economic viability and the viability of the UK and Japan case. The environmental impact assessment model was developed, allowing VPF operators to evaluate their carbon footprint compared to traditional agriculture using life-cycle assessment. I explore strategies for net-zero carbon production through sensitivity analysis. Renewable energies, especially solar, geothermal, and tidal power, show promise for reducing the carbon emissions of indoor VPF. Results show that renewably-powered VPF can reduce carbon emissions compared to field-based agriculture when considering the land-use change. The drivers for DSS adoption have been researched, showing a pathway of compliance and design thinking to overcome the ‘problem of implementation’ and enable commercialisation. Further work is suggested to standardise VF equipment, collect benchmarking data, and characterise risks. This work will reduce risk and uncertainty and accelerate the sector’s emergence

    ENHANCING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY, AND PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS THROUGH MORNING MEETING IN AN ONLINE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

    Get PDF
    This study examined the experiences of educators in a small, rural elementary school who provided live instruction in an online setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scholarly practitioner collaborated with inquiry partners to enhance student engagement, teacher self-efficacy, and principal leadership skills by implementing Morning Meeting, a social and emotional learning program from Responsive Classroom¼, when students participated in remote online learning. The scholarly practitioner used over four decades of research about efficacy and identified leadership strategies and approaches that assisted in building individual and collective teacher efficacy so that teachers could effectively engage students. Behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement were identified in research and used by teachers to determine the quality of participation in Morning Meeting. Teachers took daily and weekly attendance to measure engagement, and the scholarly practitioner facilitated team meetings with groups of teachers to compile comments and statements regarding student engagement. These statements were coded using pre-selected codes based on research about types of student engagement. The scholarly practitioner facilitated the administration of a pre-study and post-study Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale so that individual, grade-span, and full-school efficacy data could be compiled. In addition, the scholarly practitioner held team meetings with the teachers to compile comments and categorize those statements into four areas: job accomplishment, skill development, social interaction, and coping with job stress. These four areas were also coded using the four categories described on the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. The scholarly practitioner also maintained a journal using a self-reflection tool about the lived experiences before, during, and after the study. The emphasis on this journal was about the development and growth of leadership skills, and the categories were pre-coded using Bernard Bassñ€ℱs categories of transformational leadership: individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and intellectual stimulation. Student engagement increased throughout the study, and 77 percent of students were fully engaged during the study. Teachers expressed an increase in collective efficacy at the conclusion of the study, and six of the eight teachers reported individual increases in efficacy. The scholarly practitionerñ€ℱs use of differentiation within the context of transformational leadership was observed most frequently in the study

    On the Mechanism of Building Core Competencies: a Study of Chinese Multinational Port Enterprises

    Get PDF
    This study aims to explore how Chinese multinational port enterprises (MNPEs) build their core competencies. Core competencies are firms’special capabilities and sources to gain sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in marketplace, and the concept led to extensive research and debates. However, few studies include inquiries about the mechanisms of building core competencies in the context of Chinese MNPEs. Accordingly, answers were sought to three research questions: 1. What are the core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs? 2. What are the mechanisms that the Chinese MNPEs use to build their core competencies? 3. What are the paths that the Chinese MNPEs pursue to build their resources bases? The study adopted a multiple-case study design, focusing on building mechanism of core competencies with RBV. It selected purposively five Chinese leading MNPEs and three industry associations as Case Companies. The study revealed three main findings. First, it identified three generic core competencies possessed by Case Companies, i.e., innovation in business models and operations, utilisation of technologies, and acquisition of strategic resources. Second, it developed the conceptual framework of the Mechanism of Building Core Competencies (MBCC), which is a process of change of collective learning in effective and efficient utilization of resources of a firm in response to critical events. Third, it proposed three paths to build core competencies, i.e., enhancing collective learning, selecting sustainable processes, and building resource base. The study contributes to the knowledge of core competencies and RBV in three ways: (1) presenting three generic core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs, (2) proposing a new conceptual framework to explain how Chinese MNPEs build their core competencies, (3) suggesting a solid anchor point (MBCC) to explain the links among resources, core competencies, and SCA. The findings set benchmarks for Chinese logistics industry and provide guidelines to build core competencies

    Towards a sociology of conspiracy theories: An investigation into conspiratorial thinking on Dönmes

    Get PDF
    This thesis investigates the social and political significance of conspiracy theories, which has been an academically neglected topic despite its historical relevance. The academic literature focuses on the methodology, social significance and political impacts of these theories in a secluded manner and lacks empirical analyses. In response, this research provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for conspiracy theories by considering their methodology, political impacts and social significance in the light of empirical data. Theoretically, the thesis uses Adorno's semi-erudition theory along with Girardian approach. It proposes that conspiracy theories are methodologically semi-erudite narratives, i.e. they are biased in favour of a belief and use reason only to prove it. It suggests that conspiracy theories appear in times of power vacuum and provide semi-erudite cognitive maps that relieve alienation and ontological insecurities of people and groups. In so doing, they enforce social control over their audience due to their essentialist, closed-to-interpretation narratives. In order to verify the theory, the study analyses empirically the social and political significance of conspiracy theories about the Dönme community in Turkey. The analysis comprises interviews with conspiracy theorists, conspiracy theory readers and political parties, alongside a frame analysis of the popular conspiracy theory books on Dönmes. These confirm the theoretical framework by showing that the conspiracy theories are fed by the ontological insecurities of Turkish society. Hence, conspiracy theorists, most readers and some political parties respond to their own ontological insecurities and political frustrations through scapegoating Dönmes. Consequently, this work shows that conspiracy theories are important symptoms of society, which, while relieving ontological insecurities, do not provide politically prolific narratives
    • 

    corecore