Smart object-oriented access control: Distributed access control for the Internet of Things

Ensuring that data and devices are secure is of critical importance to information technology. While access control has held a key role in traditional computer security, its role in the evolving Internet of Things is less clear. In particular, the access control literature has suggested that new challenges, such as multi-user controls, fine-grained controls, and dynamic controls, prompt a foundational re-thinking of access control. We analyse these challenges, finding instead that the main foundational challenge posed by the Internet of Things involves decentralization: accurately describing access control in Internet of Things environments (e.g., the Smart Home) requires a new model of multiple, independent access control systems. To address this challenge, we propose a meta-model (i.e., a model of models): Smart Object-Oriented Access Control (SOOAC). This model is an extension of the XACML framework, built from principles relating to modularity adapted from object-oriented programming and design. SOOAC draws attention to a new class of problem involving the resolution of policy conflicts that emerge from the interaction of smart devices in the home. Contrary to traditional (local) policy conflicts, these global policy conflicts emerge when contradictory policies exist across multiple access control systems. We give a running example of a global policy conflict involving transitive access. To automatically avoid global policy conflicts before they arise, we extend SOOAC with a recursive algorithm through which devices communicate access requests before allowing or denying access themselves. This algorithm ensures that both individual devices and the collective smart home are secure. We implement SOOAC within a prototype smart home and assess its validity in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Our analysis shows that SOOAC is successful at avoiding policy conflicts before they emerge, in real time. Finally, we explore improvements that can be made to SOOAC and suggest directions for future work

LearnFCA: A Fuzzy FCA and Probability Based Approach for Learning and Classification

Formal concept analysis(FCA) is a mathematical theory based on lattice and order theory used for data analysis and knowledge representation. Over the past several years, many of its extensions have been proposed and applied in several domains including data mining, machine learning, knowledge management, semantic web, software development, chemistry ,biology, medicine, data analytics, biology and ontology engineering. This thesis reviews the state-of-the-art of theory of Formal Concept Analysis(FCA) and its various extensions that have been developed and well-studied in the past several years. We discuss their historical roots, reproduce the original definitions and derivations with illustrative examples. Further, we provide a literature review of it’s applications and various approaches adopted by researchers in the areas of dataanalysis, knowledge management with emphasis to data-learning and classification problems. We propose LearnFCA, a novel approach based on FuzzyFCA and probability theory for learning and classification problems. LearnFCA uses an enhanced version of FuzzyLattice which has been developed to store class labels and probability vectors and has the capability to be used for classifying instances with encoded and unlabelled features. We evaluate LearnFCA on encodings from three datasets - mnist, omniglot and cancer images with interesting results and varying degrees of success. Adviser: Dr Jitender Deogu

Re-conceptualising how teacher agency/ies are becoming : Thinking with new materialism

In this thesis, I explore the significance of thinking with new materialism to re-conceptualise how teacher agency is becoming. Teacher agency is considered to be one of the most important factors in education reform, because teachers have the strongest influence on students, and their decision-making practices can determine whether they remain in the profession (Buchanan, 2015; Crandall, 2020; Datnow, 2012). The significance of teachers and their influence on students has been particularly salient during the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic period (Campbell, 2020; Ehren et al., 2021; OECD, 2023). The novelty of the spatial and temporal re-configurations caused by the pandemic has prompted new materialist discussions on developing novel ways of thinking, including a consideration of how nonhuman matter is also significant to the teaching profession (Heikkilä & Mankki, 2021). As such, I think with Karen Barad’s agential realism, a new materialist framework, to explore: how teacher agency is becoming through human-nonhuman intra-actions; the significance of the intertwined re-configuration of space, time, and matter when teacher agency is becoming; and implications for power dynamics in the teaching profession. In addition, I explain throughout the thesis how my doctoral journey has been becoming in a nonlinear manner, which was imperative to describe because thinking with new materialism entails acknowledging the nonrepresentational nature of research (Barad, 2007). I explore how teacher agency is becoming through three boundaries: 1. Exploring how teacher agency is becoming in public school; 2. Exploring how primary teacher agency is becoming; and 3. Exploring how primary teacher agency is becoming in Canada, Australia, and the United States (US). With respect to these bounded areas of inquiry, I employed a qualitative case study approach and generated semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation data with 10 primary school teachers during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2021. I identified each teacher participant as a case-entanglement which denotes that teachers are not predefined entities because they emerge through their relations with human-nonhuman phenomena. Next, I share the insights that emerged from the interview and photo-elicitation data including: how the COVID-19 pandemic significantly re-configured common temporal, spatial, and material aspects of teaching; how these re-configurations were produced by multicausal human-nonhuman intra-actions and elicited multidirectional effects; and how the research process itself is intra-acting in the entanglement where teacher agency is becoming. Next, I discuss that the interview and photo-elicitation data, along with insights from the rest of the thesis, illuminate how thinking with new materialism and the usage of teacher agency as a term are incommensurable. I address this incompatibility by re-conceptualising teacher agency into teacher agencies. Teacher agencies diverges from teacher agency, because this notion focuses on the causes AND effects on the outcome of whether possibilities emerge for teachers to shape their practice. Lastly, I explain how thinking with teacher agencies, as an apparatus and other material-discursive practices, has significant implications for understanding and addressing the power dynamics of the teaching profession, including in-justices teachers experience. I detail key implications for policy and practice in addressing such in-justices in the teaching profession including: emphasising relationality, not individuality; acknowledging the significance of space, time, and nonhuman matter; and re-configuring key elements of public school teaching such as teacher accountability practices and curriculum development. Through this thesis, I make significant theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions to knowledge. Theoretically, I think with new materialism and agential realism, which is seldom done to explore teacher agency, and provide a novel re-conceptualisation of teacher agency through the notion of teacher agencies. Methodologically, I re-configure the process of doing research by sharing a nonrepresentational account of writing this thesis. Empirically, I provide novel insights on the temporal, spatial, and material aspects of teaching to re-work teacher policies, practices, and power dynamics

The Convergence of Engagement Leadership and Leader-Driven Retrenchment Business Strategies: A Phenomenological Approach

Scholars and practitioners have studied employee engagement extensively since the late 1990s. Because engaged employees can create a competitive advantage for business enterprises, academics and practitioners have emphasized the need for further research into the relationship between leadership, context, and engagement. There is a gap between knowledge of employee engagement and leaders’ ability to directly engage employees through decisions, actions, and behaviors. Researchers have suggested that employees’ situational assessment also influences their engagement. The purpose of this study was to explore how leader-driven retrenchment strategies during a severe and protracted economic downturn interacted with business leaders’ ability to engage their workforce. The rationale of this study was to investigate how an economically challenging environment influenced employee engagement through business leaders’ substantive insights and perspectives and to add to the extant leadership and engagement literature. Data were gathered from senior leaders at organizations that had recently experienced a severe and protracted economic downturn. A qualitative phenomenological research approach with a central question was employed to understand how execution of retrenchment business strategies during a recession interacted with leaders’ ability to engage their workforce. Purposive sampling was employed. The main study sample consisted of 10 senior leaders at various oilfield services and equipment firms who were responsible for developing and implementing retrenchment business strategies to offset the significant reduction in activity, revenue, and profitability during the 2014–16 recession. The primary data source was the participants’ transcribed responses. Data analysis included manual analysis in Microsoft Excel and programmatic analysis in Dedoose 8.1.8. The phenomenological research findings indicated that senior leaders assessed and responded to an adverse economic climate and their employees’ reactions during the recession. The results illuminated the interactions between leading engagement practices and executing retrenchment business strategies during an economic downturn. The findings suggested that the economic contractions impacted business leaders and employees and that leaders adapted their leadership to encourage and sustain employee engagement. Keywords: employee engagement, work engagement, disengagement, engagement leadership, leading engagement, retrenchment business strategie

A Work-Pattern Centric Approach to Building a Personal Knowledge Advantage Machine

A work pattern, also known as a usage pattern, can be broadly defined as the methods by which a user typically utilizes a particular system. Data mining has been applied to web usage patterns for a variety of purposes. This thesis presents a framework by which data mining techniques could be used to extract patterns from an individual\u27s work flow data in order facilitate a new type of architecture known as a knowledge advantage machine. This knowledge advantage machine is a type of semantic desktop and semantic web application that would assist people in constructing their own personal knowledge networks, as well as sharing that information in an efficient manner with colleagues using the same system. A knowledge advantage machine would be capable of automatically discovering new knowledge which is relevant to the user\u27s personal ontology.;Through experimentation, we demonstrate that a user\u27s file usage patterns can be utilized by software in order to automatically and seamlessly learn what is important as defined by the user. Further research is necessary to apply this principle to a more realized knowledge advantage machine such that decisions can be fueled by work patterns as well as semantic or contextual information

Research candidates' multilingual capabilities as potential resources for original contributions to knowledge : creating a common intellectual space in Anglophone universities

The key issue investigated through this research concerns the casting of Multilingual Higher Degree Research candidates (MHDRs) as deficient English learners in monolingualismdominant doctoral education in Australian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This research presents a ‘postmonolingual condition’ (Yildiz, 2012) where doctoral MHDRs’ ‘translanguaging’ (Garcia & Li, 2014) practices during their educational research must grapple with monolingual governance. Considering this incongruity, supervision pedagogies and policy implications are provided to refashion a more inclusive and democratic intellectual space where multilingualism is valued and legitimised. The research reported in this thesis adopted a case study method (Yin, 2009). The case under this study is a ‘postmonolingual condition’ in doctoral education at Anglophone universities (Yildiz, 2012). This case study juxtaposes 42 Australian HEIs’ doctoral education policies and practices of a postmonolingual doctoral education cohort in School of Education, Western Sydney University. Through collecting and analysing doctoral education policy documents from 42 Australian HEIs, observations of MHDR’s language use, interviews with three cohorts of participants (MHDRs, educators and administrators) and self-reflective diaries, this research project specifically addressed this research question: how could Anglophone universities engage with HDRs’ multilingual capabilities and practices in order to open up a common intellectual space to promote original contributions to knowledge? The significance of this research is its exploration of the possibilities for creating space in multilingual doctoral education to test and verify pedagogical and policy alternatives that are more likely to recognise and deepen MHDRs’ multilingual capabilities. The purpose is to further challenge English monolingualism in academia and a Eurocentric knowledge production system. The originality of this research lies in its juxtaposition of institutionalised ‘monolingual habitus’ (Gogolin, 1994; 2009; 2013) and MHDRs’ activation of their multilingual capabilities to conduct research and make original contributions to knowledge. By joining the scholarly debates around ‘multilingual turn’ (May, 2014), this research pushes the linguistic and epistemological boundaries that have been determined by imagining multilinguals as accumulations of monolinguals and a monolingual perspective on knowledge production in doctoral education in the Anglophone context. In effect, this study shifts away from a monolingual view of doctoral education toward more inclusive pedagogies that are underpinned by a holistic, fluid and dynamic understanding of the rich cultural, linguistic and intellectual resources that MHDRs bring to their educational research and research education

μGIM - Microgrid intelligent management system based on a multi-agent approach and the active participation of end-users

[ES] Los sistemas de potencia y energía están cambiando su paradigma tradicional, de sistemas centralizados a sistemas descentralizados. La aparición de redes inteligentes permite la integración de recursos energéticos descentralizados y promueve la gestión inclusiva que involucra a los usuarios finales, impulsada por la gestión del lado de la demanda, la energía transactiva y la respuesta a la demanda. Garantizar la escalabilidad y la estabilidad del servicio proporcionado por la red, en este nuevo paradigma de redes inteligentes, es más difícil porque no hay una única sala de operaciones centralizada donde se tomen todas las decisiones. Para implementar con éxito redes inteligentes, es necesario combinar esfuerzos entre la ingeniería eléctrica y la ingeniería informática. La ingeniería eléctrica debe garantizar el correcto funcionamiento físico de las redes inteligentes y de sus componentes, estableciendo las bases para un adecuado monitoreo, control, gestión, y métodos de operación. La ingeniería informática desempeña un papel importante al proporcionar los modelos y herramientas computacionales adecuados para administrar y operar la red inteligente y sus partes constituyentes, representando adecuadamente a todos los diferentes actores involucrados. Estos modelos deben considerar los objetivos individuales y comunes de los actores que proporcionan las bases para garantizar interacciones competitivas y cooperativas capaces de satisfacer a los actores individuales, así como cumplir con los requisitos comunes con respecto a la sostenibilidad técnica, ambiental y económica del Sistema. La naturaleza distribuida de las redes inteligentes permite, incentiva y beneficia enormemente la participación activa de los usuarios finales, desde actores grandes hasta actores más pequeños, como los consumidores residenciales. Uno de los principales problemas en la planificación y operación de redes eléctricas es la variación de la demanda de energía, que a menudo se duplica más que durante las horas pico en comparación con la demanda fuera de pico. Tradicionalmente, esta variación dio como resultado la construcción de plantas de generación de energía y grandes inversiones en líneas de red y subestaciones. El uso masivo de fuentes de energía renovables implica mayor volatilidad en lo relativo a la generación, lo que hace que sea más difícil equilibrar el consumo y la generación. La participación de los actores de la red inteligente, habilitada por la energía transactiva y la respuesta a la demanda, puede proporcionar flexibilidad en desde el punto de vista de la demanda, facilitando la operación del sistema y haciendo frente a la creciente participación de las energías renovables. En el ámbito de las redes inteligentes, es posible construir y operar redes más pequeñas, llamadas microrredes. Esas son redes geográficamente limitadas con gestión y operación local. Pueden verse como áreas geográficas restringidas para las cuales la red eléctrica generalmente opera físicamente conectada a la red principal, pero también puede operar en modo isla, lo que proporciona independencia de la red principal. Esta investigación de doctorado, realizada bajo el Programa de Doctorado en Ingeniería Informática de la Universidad de Salamanca, aborda el estudio y el análisis de la gestión de microrredes, considerando la participación activa de los usuarios finales y la gestión energética de lascarga eléctrica y los recursos energéticos de los usuarios finales. En este trabajo de investigación se ha analizado el uso de conceptos de ingeniería informática, particularmente del campo de la inteligencia artificial, para apoyar la gestión de las microrredes, proponiendo un sistema de gestión inteligente de microrredes (μGIM) basado en un enfoque de múltiples agentes y en la participación activa de usuarios. Esta solución se compone de tres sistemas que combinan hardware y software: el emulador de virtual a realidad (V2R), el enchufe inteligente de conciencia ambiental de Internet de las cosas (EnAPlug), y la computadora de placa única para energía basada en el agente (S4E) para permitir la gestión del lado de la demanda y la energía transactiva. Estos sistemas fueron concebidos, desarrollados y probados para permitir la validación de metodologías de gestión de microrredes, es decir, para la participación de los usuarios finales y para la optimización inteligente de los recursos. Este documento presenta todos los principales modelos y resultados obtenidos durante esta investigación de doctorado, con respecto a análisis de vanguardia, concepción de sistemas, desarrollo de sistemas, resultados de experimentación y descubrimientos principales. Los sistemas se han evaluado en escenarios reales, desde laboratorios hasta sitios piloto. En total, se han publicado veinte artículos científicos, de los cuales nueve se han hecho en revistas especializadas. Esta investigación de doctorado realizó contribuciones a dos proyectos H2020 (DOMINOES y DREAM-GO), dos proyectos ITEA (M2MGrids y SPEAR), tres proyectos portugueses (SIMOCE, NetEffiCity y AVIGAE) y un proyecto con financiación en cascada H2020 (Eco-Rural -IoT)

Saving temporary exhibitions in virtual environments: The Digital Renaissance of Ulisse Aldrovandi – Acquisition and digitisation of cultural heritage objects

As per the objectives of Project CHANGES, particularly its thematic sub-project on the use of virtual technologies for museums and art collections, our goal was to obtain a digital twin of the temporary exhibition on Ulisse Aldrovandi called “The Other Renaissance”, and make it accessible to users online. After a preliminary study of the exhibition, focusing on acquisition constraints and related solutions, we proceeded with the digital twin creation by acquiring, processing, modelling, optimising, exporting, and metadating the exhibition. We made hybrid use of two acquisition techniques to create new digital cultural heritage objects and environments, and we used open technologies, formats, and protocols to make available the final digital product. Here, we describe the process of collecting and curating bibliographical exhibition (meta) data and the beginning of the digital twin creation to foster its findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. The creation of the digital twin is currently ongoing

Assisted Interaction for Improving Web Accessibility: An Approach Driven and Tested by Userswith Disabilities

148 p.Un porcentaje cada vez mayor de la población mundial depende de la Web para trabajar, socializar, opara informarse entre otras muchas actividades. Los beneficios de la Web son todavía más cruciales paralas personas con discapacidades ya que les permite realizar un sinfín de tareas que en el mundo físico lesestán restringidas debido distintas barreras de accesibilidad. A pesar de sus ventajas, la mayoría depáginas web suelen ignoran las necesidades especiales de las personas con discapacidad, e incluyen undiseño único para todos los usuarios. Existen diversos métodos para combatir este problema, como porejemplo los sistemas de ¿transcoding¿, que transforman automáticamente páginas web inaccesibles enaccesibles. Para mejorar la accesibilidad web a grupos específicos de personas, estos métodos requiereninformación sobre las técnicas de adaptación más adecuadas que deben aplicarse.En esta tesis se han realizado una serie de estudios sobre la idoneidad de diversas técnicas de adaptaciónpara mejorar la navegación web para dos grupos diferentes de personas con discapacidad: personas conmovilidad reducida en miembros superiores y personas con baja visión. Basado en revisionesbibliográficas y estudios observacionales, se han desarrollado diferentes adaptaciones de interfaces web ytécnicas alternativas de interacción, que posteriormente han sido evaluadas a lo largo de varios estudioscon usuarios con necesidades especiales. Mediante análisis cualitativos y cuantitativos del rendimiento yla satisfacción de los participantes, se han evaluado diversas adaptaciones de interfaz y métodosalternativos de interacción. Los resultados han demostrado que las técnicas probadas mejoran el acceso ala Web y que los beneficios varían según la tecnología asistiva usada para acceder al ordenador