Improving Feature Representation Based on a Neural Network for Author Profiling in Social Media Texts

We introduce a lexical resource for preprocessing social media data. We show that a neural network-based feature representation is enhanced by using this resource. We conducted experiments on the PAN 2015 and PAN 2016 author profiling corpora and obtained better results when performing the data preprocessing using the developed lexical resource. The resource includes dictionaries of slang words, contractions, abbreviations, and emoticons commonly used in social media. Each of the dictionaries was built for the English, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian languages. The resource is freely available

CLASSIFYING AND RESPONDING TO NETWORK INTRUSIONS

Intrusion detection systems (IDS) have been widely adopted within the IT community, as passive monitoring tools that report security related problems to system administrators. However, the increasing number and evolving complexity of attacks, along with the growth and complexity of networking infrastructures, has led to overwhelming numbers of IDS alerts, which allow significantly smaller timeframe for a human to respond. The need for automated response is therefore very much evident. However, the adoption of such approaches has been constrained by practical limitations and administrators' consequent mistrust of systems' abilities to issue appropriate responses. The thesis presents a thorough analysis of the problem of intrusions, and identifies false alarms as the main obstacle to the adoption of automated response. A critical examination of existing automated response systems is provided, along with a discussion of why a new solution is needed. The thesis determines that, while the detection capabilities remain imperfect, the problem of false alarms cannot be eliminated. Automated response technology must take this into account, and instead focus upon avoiding the disruption of legitimate users and services in such scenarios. The overall aim of the research has therefore been to enhance the automated response process, by considering the context of an attack, and investigate and evaluate a means of making intelligent response decisions. The realisation of this objective has included the formulation of a response-oriented taxonomy of intrusions, which is used as a basis to systematically study intrusions and understand the threats detected by an IDS. From this foundation, a novel Flexible Automated and Intelligent Responder (FAIR) architecture has been designed, as the basis from which flexible and escalating levels of response are offered, according to the context of an attack. The thesis describes the design and operation of the architecture, focusing upon the contextual factors influencing the response process, and the way they are measured and assessed to formulate response decisions. The architecture is underpinned by the use of response policies which provide a means to reflect the changing needs and characteristics of organisations. The main concepts of the new architecture were validated via a proof-of-concept prototype system. A series of test scenarios were used to demonstrate how the context of an attack can influence the response decisions, and how the response policies can be customised and used to enable intelligent decisions. This helped to prove that the concept of flexible automated response is indeed viable, and that the research has provided a suitable contribution to knowledge in this important domain

Diaspora entrepreneurship: a study of Nigerian entrepreneurs in London

The dynamic evolution of Diaspora Entrepreneurship reflects broad range of vistas; profoundly tensing up ‘conventional wisdom’, pressing knowledge boundaries and simultaneously exposing fundamental paradoxes in the characterisation of ethnic-minority groups in the context of their entrepreneurship. Prior efforts at researching and advancing knowledge in this sphere have been hugely complicated, not less by the ‘problematic of subjectivity’. Against this background, this thesis explores inter-subjective discourses and situated practices with a view to unravelling the temporal and spatial dimensions of entrepreneurship among Nigerians, the most populous Black-Africans in the UK. Thus, from contextual lenses of Nigerian entrepreneurs in London, the thesis unpacks the dialectics of diaspora entrepreneurship to allow the formulation and stabilisation of a diagnostic schema. Leaning on the philosophical axioms of interpretive discourse analysis, data are extracted from first-generation Nigerian entrepreneurs principally through the use of narrative interviews. The study finds taxonomical fluidity in the schematisation of contemporary ethnic entrepreneurship as well as its trajectories of growth. Whilst increasingly enmeshed in the evolving phenomenon of diaspora entrepreneurship, ‘home’/‘host’ country dualisms are revealed and found to impact entrepreneurial values and identities. Essentially, the duality of entrepreneurial spaces reveals ambivalent positions, constraining the representation of ethnic entrepreneurship whilst at the same time pointing to new subject position. In both spaces, the study recognises unique trends, opportunity structures and spatial arrangements impacting business development and strategies. The study demonstrates that ethnic entrepreneurship is a plethora of competing and negotiated value systems and meaning structures from which it is possible to assert that diaspora entrepreneurship is a product of persistent interface between multitude of social forces, attributes, states of being, actions, networks, attitudes, emotions, values, and beliefs. Therefore, by revealing entrepreneurship encounters as acts of empowerment, resistance and expression for newly immigrant ethnic groups in Britain, new sites of knowledge are evidenced

Animals in Our Midst: The Challenges of Co-existing with Animals in the Anthropocene

This Open Access book brings together authoritative voices in animal and environmental ethics, who address the many different facets of changing human-animal relationships in the Anthropocene. As we are living in complex times, the issue of how to establish meaningful relationships with other animals under Anthropocene conditions needs to be approached from a multitude of angles. This book offers the reader insight into the different discussions that exist around the topics of how we should understand animal agency, how we could take animal agency seriously in farms, urban areas and the wild, and what technologies are appropriate and morally desirable to use regarding animals. This book is of interest to both animal studies scholars and environmental ethics scholars, as well as to practitioners working with animals, such as wildlife managers, zookeepers, and conservation biologists

Why Congress has not Passed Facial Recognition Technology Legislation for Public Spaces

AbstractFacial recognition technology (FRT) in public spaces has been a political and social concern for more than 30 years. Conflict exists between the use of FRT for safety and security measures and its possible violation of the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Additional controversial issues surrounding the use of FRT in public spaces include technological development without standardization or regulations; biometric algorithms developed with bias; and the social issues of privacy intrusion, gender and racial bias, data security, accuracy, and privacy concerns. Researchers have concurred a national policy is needed to address FRT issues but have not explained why Congress has been unsuccessful. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the factors explaining this phenomenon. The narrative policy framework was used as the theoretical paradigm for this inquiry. Using Saldana’s method of coding, categorizing and theming descriptive narratives, transcripts from hearings conducted by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform tasked with formulating FRT legislation were analyzed. The result of the analysis was the emergence of 10 factors identifying why FRT legislation was stalemated in Congress. The summative assertion from the factors revealed members of the committee were overwhelmed with the complexities of FRT. Several strategies were recommended which may advance the passage of a national FRT policy. If Congress employed these strategies and passed a national policy that alleviated FRT issues to the extent possible, positive social change regarding FRT usage in public spaces may occur

From meritocracy to seniority : shifting masculine aesthetics among blue-collar workers in Montréal Lachine

This thesis examines the workplace culture of young blue-collar males employed by the Department of Green Spaces in the Public Works of the City of Lachine. 2004 marked the beginning of a structural shift that profoundly impacted upon local ideations of work ethics and masculinity. Through extensive participant-observation based field research, I was able to explore how workers interacted with and made sense of their changing world. Following a series of media exposés criticizing the productivity of public workers, les cols bleus are often pre-conceived by citizens and politicians as being "lazy." This stereotype fails to take into consideration the diversity that exists. By focusing on current aspects of the workplace experience as well as how the organization of labour was configured in the past, I was able to explore an adjustment in masculine aesthetics that prioritized mental labour over manual labour, a product of the current hegemonic regime. Through the position of the raconteur , a model I have developed by drawing upon anthropological analyses of working-class masculinity and symbolic performances, attention is brought to the local importance of discursive language. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates, through the contested discourses of col bleu members surrounding the complex issues of workplace participation, that if we want to improve our understanding of working-class culture and masculinity, neither can be treated monolithically. The way in which work, life and change are negotiated must be investigated if popular notions of gender and class are to be challenged

Scientific dissemination and professional practices through digital media: The study of pragmatic strategies in the communication of international research projects

La investigación científica hoy en día está ligada a los procesos de globalización y a la búsqueda de la innovación y la excelencia, lo cual favorece una creciente colaboración, internacionalización y multidisciplinariedad. Para llevar a cabo estas iniciativas ambiciosas y de gran escala, los investigadores necesitan la financiación externa que distintas organizaciones, instituciones y programas pueden proporcionar. Esta reconfiguración del trabajo académico va de la mano de la ubiquidad y popularidad de Internet. Un extenso abanico de géneros, plataformas y medios digitales permiten a los científicos y académicos difundir sus investigaciones a una audiencia amplia y heterogénea. La inversión de esfuerzo en la comunicación mediada digitalmente permite a los investigadores contribuir a una diseminación más efectiva del conocimiento generado, así como cumplir con su compromiso social. Por otra parte, este esfuerzo les puede permitir reforzar su reputación como investigadores y conseguir un mayor impacto. Un ejemplo destacado de este escenario académico cambiante donde se maximiza el discurso digital para propósitos investigadores es el de los proyectos de investigación internacionales. Se trata de consorcios compuestos de miembros provenientes de entornos socioculturales y profesionales distintos que hacen uso de sitios web y redes sociales para la diseminación de sus proyectos conjuntos y utilizan las características tecnológicas y comunicativas de estos espacios digitales para ofrecer actualizaciones periódicas de su trabajo e información sobre hallazgos en progreso y resultados de investigación. De este modo, rinden cuentas a los organismos que los financian y aumentan su visibilidad entre los lectores digitales. Las intenciones comunicativas de estos equipos de investigación para cumplir dichos objetivos se codifican y transmiten discursivamente a través de diversas estrategias pragmáticas, que se encuadran en determinados parámetros contextuales y que responden a las especificidades del medio y se ven constreñidas por estas. Estas estrategias revelan cómo los investigadores comparten la información, cómo publicitan sus hallazgos y cómo se dirigen a sus potenciales lectores.Así, esta tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo investigar las estrategias pragmáticas prominentes en lengua inglesa empleadas por grupos de investigación internacionales en sus prácticas digitales discursivas, que normalmente se materializan en sitios webs y redes sociales para sus proyectos. Con este propósito, se compiló y analizó el corpus digital EUROPRO, que contiene 30 sitios web de proyectos de investigación que recibieron financiación en el marco del programa Horizonte2020 (subcorpus EUROPROwebs) y las correspondientes cuentas de Twitter de aquellos proyectos (subcorpus EUROPROtweets). Dichos subcorpus han sido extraídos de la base de datos digital EUROPRO recopilada por el grupo de investigación InterGedi. En mi tesis doctoral propongo una taxonomía derivada de los datos como resultado del análisis del corpus, que comprende 27 estrategias organizadas en torno a tres macrocategorías: informativas, promocionales e interaccionales. Incido teórica y metodológicamente en el proceso de diseñar y revisar esta herramienta analítica para así demonstrar su solidez y viabilidad. Además, analizo el rango de ocurrencia, la frecuencia y el uso específico de estas estrategias en las secciones que aparecen de manera sistemática en los sitios web incluidos en el corpus y en las páginas web donde se aloja la mayor parte de la información sobre el proyecto (Homepage, About, Partners, News & Events), en las cuentas de Twitter y, de forma comparativa, entre las secciones web y los tuits, con el fin de observar tendencias significativas y en cuanto a similitudes y diferencias en su funcionamiento en estos medios digitales. Además, adopto un enfoque etnográfico mediante la inclusión de evidencias contextuales conseguidas a través de entrevistas semi-estructuradas con investigadores de los proyectos Horizonte2020, cuyos resultados ayudan a sustentar los hallazgos procedentes del análisis textual. También tomo una perspectiva multimodal sobre cómo se emplean las estrategias pragmáticas en los sitios web de proyectos de investigación en relación a la sección Homepages. Este análisis, en concreto, permite reconocer el potencial de los recursos verbales y visuales para la construcción de significado desde una perspectiva pragmática. En general, el presente estudio busca ahondar en nuestro entendimiento de prácticas académicas digitales que están evolucionando rápidamente y que tienen gran alcance, en particular adoptadas por grupos de investigación, que pueden beneficiarse de los resultados y las implicaciones de esta investigación para la futura comunicación y diseminación de sus proyectos científicos.<br /

Criminality, consumption and the counterfeiting of fashion goods : a consumer perspective

The past decade has seen heightened attention towards the potentially harmful consequences of intellectual property crime. In particular, there are concerns about the damage to industry and the global economy, alongside increasing recognition of links with organised crime and terrorism. As a result, a plethora of policy initiatives have sought to reduce the problem of counterfeiting and piracy, of which the underlying principle is consumer responsibility. However, this thesis argues that this approach is based on a number of assumptions. These are prominent when the specific example of fashion counterfeiting is examined. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore consumers' perceptions about fashion counterfeiting and how they relate to their fashion purchasing and assumptions underpinning anti-counterfeiting policy. The research seeks to contextualise fashion counterfeiting within the broader literature about consumption and fashion and add to criminological literature. This is achieved by taking an interdisciplinary consumer-based approach which involved the completion of 801 questionnaires and conducting 27 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups. The findings support recent existing research findings that consumers of counterfeit fashion goods cannot be distinguished by their demographic characteristics. Instead, consumers' preferences about fashion, as well as the situation, context and availability are major factors related to the propensity to purchase fashion counterfeits. Techniques of neutralisation and notably the denial of harm can be clearly identified in consumer justifications for purchasing counterfeits. This has clear consequences for consumer perceptions about whether counterfeiting is a 'real crime' and inevitably, responses to counterfeiting. In particular, the notion that consumers will change their behaviour through being educated about the 'dangers of buying fakes' is problematic, as is the suggestion that criminalising the consumption of counterfeits could be a solution. Therefore, these findings demonstrate fundamental concerns about current assumptions underpinning anti-counterfeiting policy

Making Space for Capital: The Production of Global Landscapes in Contemporary India

This study investigates the construction of globally familiar landscapes of malls, office towers, and high-rise housing complexes in Indian cities. Across the country, firms eager to produce these elite landscapes are snatching up industrial estates, inner-city slums, and peri-urban agricultural land, displacing the poor and forcing up land prices in the process. This study draws on interviews with foreign and Indian investors, developers, and consultants, as well as participant observation with a European real estate fund in India, in order to examine the decisions and practices of the industry members who are constructing these landscapes; it argues that they are transforming Indian land and buildings into new, international routes of capital accumulation. This dissertation examines the ways in which real estate industry members use representations of a prosperous globally integrated Indian future to fuel the expansion of global finance capital into Indian real estate. It highlights the creative role that stories about the future play in shaping investors’ actions, thus contributing to our understanding of the productive power of speculation. This study also examines the image-work and politics that marks collaborations between Indian developers and their foreign investor-partners, who differ on how to conduct business, value land, and define construction quality. By examining how industry members struggle to overcome differences in order to close deals and construct buildings, this research demonstrates that the expansion of capitalism and the transformation of space are cultural projects, dependent on the reproduction of social ideologies, business cultures, and figures of personhood