572 research outputs found

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    Asymmetries in global scientific knowledge production: regional representations in climate change research

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    This study examines regional representations in scientific climate change research. More specifically, the aim of this thesis is to map the geographical distribution of case studies in adaptation and mitigation related research, as well as to determine whether certain economy, education, research, and development related factors correlate with said distribution. As a starting point for this endeavour, three central factors can be highlighted: the social organisation of knowledge, spatial or geographical contexts, and resources. These factors emerge from the theoretical discussion about structural power and inequalities in the global knowledge economy, and underlying them is the idea that knowledge production has social, spatial, and economic importance, which is all tied to structural power. The data of this study comprises 10 000 scientific articles about climate adaptation and mitigation, published between the years 2018 and 2022 and collected from Scopus -database. In this sample, there are 6 844 case studies that form the final dataset. The first part of the analysis examines the geographical distribution of these case studies, whereas the second part looks into the existence and strength of possible correlations between the recurrence of case study locations and the following indicators: Research and Development expenditure (as a percentage of GDP), GDP per capita (PPP), government expenditure on tertiary education (as a percentage of GDP), the number of researchers per million people, Human Development Index, and Global Innovation Index. One of the main conclusions of the analysis is that there is clear variation in the spatial distribution of case study locations: certain countries and regions are much more studied than others, and there are some regional “clusters” that stand out due to a very large or a very small number of conducted case studies. In the original dataset, population sizes clearly influence the observed regional representations, considering that countries with particularly large populations stand out: for example USA, China, Brazil, India, Ethiopia, South-Africa, and Australia. When the number of case studies per country has been population-adjusted, the highest proportions of case studies can be found from Oceania, Northern Europe (especially from the Nordic countries), Northern America, and Southern Africa. It is clear that in the dataset of this thesis, case study locations are not evenly distributed across the globe. Another important conclusion is that, as the correlation analysis shows, there is a positive, albeit only weak to moderate, association between the recurrence of case studies and all of the chosen indicators. The strongest correlation can be found between the number of case studies and the number of researchers, but R&D expenditures and the Global Innovation Index demonstrate moderate correlations to the recurrence of case study locations as well. These variables are, therefore, likely related to the levels of regional representation observed in the dataset. GDP per capita (PPP), tertiary education expenditures, and the Human Development Index, on the other hand, only show weak correlations, which would indicate a rather unsubstantial relationship between said variables and the number of case studies

    Next-Generation Industrial Control System (ICS) Security:Towards ICS Honeypots for Defence-in-Depth Security

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    The advent of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing has led to an increased convergence of traditional manufacturing and production technologies with IP communications. Legacy Industrial Control System (ICS) devices are now exposed to a wide range of previously unconsidered threats, which must be considered to ensure the safe operation of industrial processes. Especially as cyberspace is presenting itself as a popular domain for nation-state operations, including against critical infrastructure. Honeypots are a well-known concept within traditional IT security, and they can enable a more proactive approach to security, unlike traditional systems. More work needs to be done to understand their usefulness within OT and critical infrastructure. This thesis advances beyond current honeypot implementations and furthers the current state-of-the-art by delivering novel ways of deploying ICS honeypots and delivering concrete answers to key research questions within the area. This is done by answering the question previously raised from a multitude of perspectives. We discuss relevant legislation, such as the UK Cyber Assessment Framework, the US NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, and associated industry-based standards and guidelines supporting operator compliance. Standards and guidance are used to frame a discussion on our survey of existing ICS honeypot implementations in the literature and their role in supporting regulatory objectives. However, these deployments are not always correctly configured and might differ from a real ICS. Based on these insights, we propose a novel framework towards the classification and implementation of ICS honeypots. This is underpinned by a study into the passive identification of ICS honeypots using Internet scanner data to identify honeypot characteristics. We also present how honeypots can be leveraged to identify when bespoke ICS vulnerabilities are exploited within the organisational network—further strengthening the case for honeypot usage within critical infrastructure environments. Additionally, we demonstrate a fundamentally different approach to the deployment of honeypots. By deploying it as a deterrent, to reduce the likelihood that an adversary interacts with a real system. This is important as skilled attackers are now adept at fingerprinting and avoiding honeypots. The results presented in this thesis demonstrate that honeypots can provide several benefits to the cyber security of and alignment to regulations within the critical infrastructure environment

    Connecting to make a difference : social learning and radical collective change in prefigurative online communities

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    In view of the current global social and ecological predicament, what might constitute relevant forms of radical collective change? What role can processes of social learning play in facilitating such change? And to what extent are online networks able to support the unfolding of such processes? This thesis addresses these questions. I first present the results of two participatory action research projects, taking place in two different prefigurative online communities attempting to bring about very different forms of collective change. The first focuses on building a transnational, decentralised grassroots economic system as an alternative to global capitalism, but struggles to shake free from the toxic influence of global financial markets, and from unhelpful ways of relating and organising. The second aims to foster self-organisation and new forms of relationality between humans and with the rest of the living world, but struggles to address the heritage of historical violence and injustice, or to bring about visible political change. With the help of the Wenger-Trayner social learning theory and evaluation framework, I consider what processes of social learning have been taking place (or not) in these networks, and their outcomes; and what other social change efforts may learn from these experiments and their limitations. Finally, I present a reflexive account of my own process of learning and unlearning through my involvement with these projects and others, with regards to the question of what may constitute radical collective change. This critical assessment of my own thinking and aspirations leads me to argue in favour of decolonial approaches to social change as potentially relevant responses to the global predicament. This thesis contributes to the understanding of social learning processes within prefigurative online communities, and to the practice of social change efforts in such contexts

    Development and implementation of in silico molecule fragmentation algorithms for the cheminformatics analysis of natural product spaces

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    Computational methodologies extracting specific substructures like functional groups or molecular scaffolds from input molecules can be grouped under the term “in silico molecule fragmentation”. They can be used to investigate what specifically characterises a heterogeneous compound class, like pharmaceuticals or Natural Products (NP) and in which aspects they are similar or dissimilar. The aim is to determine what specifically characterises NP structures to transfer patterns favourable for bioactivity to drug development. As part of this thesis, the first algorithmic approach to in silico deglycosylation, the removal of glycosidic moieties for the study of aglycones, was developed with the Sugar Removal Utility (SRU) (Publication A). The SRU has also proven useful for investigating NP glycoside space. It was applied to one of the largest open NP databases, COCONUT (COlleCtion of Open Natural prodUcTs), for this purpose (Publication B). A contribution was made to the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) by developing the open Scaffold Generator Java library (Publication C). Scaffold Generator can extract different scaffold types and dissect them into smaller parent scaffolds following the scaffold tree or scaffold network approach. Publication D describes the OngLai algorithm, the first automated method to identify homologous series in input datasets, group the member structures of each group, and extract their common core. To support the development of new fragmentation algorithms, the open Java rich client graphical user interface application MORTAR (MOlecule fRagmenTAtion fRamework) was developed as part of this thesis (Publication E). MORTAR allows users to quickly execute the steps of importing a structural dataset, applying a fragmentation algorithm, and visually inspecting the results in different ways. All software developed as part of this thesis is freely and openly available (see https://github.com/JonasSchaub)

    Chain Reactions: Nuclear Colonialism in South Australia

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    During South Australia's short settler history, it has hosted almost every aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle. The state's nuclear past is an internationally pertinent and illustrative example of how the nuclear order has been historically entwined with colonialism. Nevertheless, historians have been slow to take up and adequately investigate 'nuclear colonialism' in an Australian context. In applying international scholarship on nuclear colonialism to Australia for the first time, this thesis explores the relationships inherent to nuclear colonialism in South Australia by focusing on the interactions between nuclear processes - radium and uranium extraction, nuclear weapons testing and radioactive waste disposal - and South Australia's Aboriginal peoples. It addresses the question: in what ways has the nuclear order interacted with, co-opted, or facilitated colonialism in South Australia? In answering this question, this thesis uses a wide range of state and national government archival material, manuscript collections, printed sources, and oral history interviews with both Aboriginal nuclear survivors and non-Indigenous people to argue that Australia's nuclear order has been historically influenced by the pursuit of national development and geopolitical power. These are pursuits fundamentally underpinned by the imperial and colonial ambitions of both Australia and Britain, and which have been facilitated through a variety of colonial mechanisms. Demonstrating the varied manifestations and developments of nuclear colonialism across the twentieth century, the chapters within this thesis present seven unique but entwined case studies. The thesis begins by placing early radioactive mineral exploration in the Flinders Ranges in its colonial and geopolitical contexts before examining the paternalistic Aboriginal welfare policies that enabled Britain's in-land nuclear tests in the 1950s. It then investigates Australia's anti-imperial responses to France's first Pacific nuclear tests, the intersection between uranium mining at Olympic Dam and the burgeoning land rights movement, and the multi-faceted politics of the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia (1984-85). Finally, the thesis considers the relationships forged among Indigenous nuclear survivors in Australia and beyond during the 1980s and 90s, and Aboriginal resistance to a proposed nuclear waste dump near Coober Pedy from 1998. The case studies examined in this thesis demonstrate that nuclear colonialism has developed in response to various historical influences and challenges, from Cold War nuclear ambitions to the development of the land rights movement. So too do they highlight the centrality of Aboriginal political mobilisation to the history of nuclear colonialism in South Australia, a history that necessarily flows between local, state, national and international scales. By charting a history of nuclear colonialism in South Australia through the course of the twentieth century, this thesis takes up one of environmental humanities scholarship's contemporary challenges: considering and accounting for the interactions between the nuclear order and those upon whom it impacts, namely Indigenous peoples. Addressing this challenge offers insight into the historical persistence of colonial structures and ambitions, places Australia firmly into international conversations about the disproportionate - and decidedly colonial - nature of the nuclear order and demonstrates how nuclear colonialism is not just imposed, but also experienced and resisted

    In Their Words: Student Reflections on Information-Seeking Behaviors

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    Academic librarians try to facilitate student information seeking by providing classroom instruction, creating tutorials and guides, and selecting and modifying search tools to best meet student needs and preferences. These efforts are often informed by interactions with students, and can be even better informed through analysis of student descriptions of their searching practices. In this case study, 50 upper-division students from the Social and Behavioral Sciences major completed searching tasks in a few library search tools and were then interviewed about their search behaviors, both in the experimental setting and in general. Their responses illuminate some of their tendencies, including considerations when choosing sources, strategies employed when searches fail, and adoption of their instructors\u27 priorities

    Specificity of the innate immune responses to different classes of non-tuberculous mycobacteria

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    Mycobacterium avium is the most common nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) species causing infectious disease. Here, we characterized a M. avium infection model in zebrafish larvae, and compared it to M. marinum infection, a model of tuberculosis. M. avium bacteria are efficiently phagocytosed and frequently induce granuloma-like structures in zebrafish larvae. Although macrophages can respond to both mycobacterial infections, their migration speed is faster in infections caused by M. marinum. Tlr2 is conservatively involved in most aspects of the defense against both mycobacterial infections. However, Tlr2 has a function in the migration speed of macrophages and neutrophils to infection sites with M. marinum that is not observed with M. avium. Using RNAseq analysis, we found a distinct transcriptome response in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction for M. avium and M. marinum infection. In addition, we found differences in gene expression in metabolic pathways, phagosome formation, matrix remodeling, and apoptosis in response to these mycobacterial infections. In conclusion, we characterized a new M. avium infection model in zebrafish that can be further used in studying pathological mechanisms for NTM-caused diseases
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