Refining Technology Threat Avoidance Theory

Understanding individual threat avoidance motivation and behavior is a critical component in designing effective cyber security solutions for both users and organizations. Technology threat avoidance theory (TTAT) asserts that individuals’ perceptions regarding their susceptibility to and the resulting severity of technology threats influence their awareness of the threats, which, in turn, influences their motivation and behavior to avoid them. While TTAT provides cogently and logically explains individuals’ technology threat motivations and behaviors, empirical tests have produced equivocal results particularly in terms of the influence of susceptibility and severity on threat perceptions. Due to these inconsistencies in the threat calculus involving susceptibility, severity, and threat, we need more work to improve and understand individual threat motivations. Additionally, TTAT does not account for individual differences such as risk propensity, distrust propensity, and impulsivity that have been shown to affect cyber security behavior. To address these gaps, we present an empirical assessment of a refined TTAT model, which includes individual differences and models the influence of susceptibility on threat perceptions as partially mediated by severity. Results indicate that, while perceived susceptibility is a significant predictor of threat perceptions, severity perceptions partially mediates its effect. Our results also support the inclusion of risk propensity and distrust propensity in the TTAT model as personal characteristics that significantly affect overall threat perceptions

Measuring Success in Interorganizational Information Systems: A Case Study

We report results of a longitudinal case study in which an emergency medical service replaced a paper-based medical record with an electronic medical record system. The new systems electronically transmitted patient information to various other agencies for reporting, medical quality control, and billing purposes. As expected, the time required for the paramedics to document the medical record increased immediately after system implementation. As a result, operational performance of the paramedics declined. An unexpected consequence of system implementation was that operational performance never reached the level achieved prior to system implementation. However, the benefits attained by all organizations involved outweighed the prolonged decrease in operational performance of the paramedics. Therefore, we advise organizations implementing technology crossing organizational boundaries to consider both the direct and indirect benefits of a system implementation and to evaluate both operational and organizational performance

Model for quantitative tip-enhanced spectroscopy and the extraction of nanoscale-resolved optical constants

Near-field infrared spectroscopy by elastic scattering of light from a probe tip resolves optical contrasts in materials at dramatically sub-wavelength scales across a broad energy range, with the demonstrated capacity for chemical identification at the nanoscale. However, current models of probe-sample near-field interactions still cannot provide a sufficiently quantitatively interpretation of measured near-field contrasts, especially in the case of materials supporting strong surface phonons. We present a model of near-field spectroscopy derived from basic principles and verified by finite-element simulations, demonstrating superb predictive agreement both with tunable quantum cascade laser near-field spectroscopy of SiO$_2$ thin films and with newly presented nanoscale Fourier transform infrared (nanoFTIR) spectroscopy of crystalline SiC. We discuss the role of probe geometry, field retardation, and surface mode dispersion in shaping the measured near-field response. This treatment enables a route to quantitatively determine nano-resolved optical constants, as we demonstrate by inverting newly presented nanoFTIR spectra of an SiO$_2$ thin film into the frequency dependent dielectric function of its mid-infrared optical phonon. Our formalism further enables tip-enhanced spectroscopy as a potent diagnostic tool for quantitative nano-scale spectroscopy.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

The Impact of Information Systems on End User Performance: Examining the Effects of Cognitive Style Using Learning Curves in an Electronic Medical Record Implementation

This study examines the relationship between cognitive style (adaptors versus innovators) and the learning curve when implementing new information technology. Kirton’s proposition that adaptors and innovators find equally creative ways of solving problems based on cognitive preferences was tested using a longitudinal case study. Test subjects were paramedics from a large metropolitan area. Cognitive style of the paramedics was determined, along with their individual learning curve when transitioning from a paper medical record to an electronic medical record. Results indicate Kirton’s proposition of equal performance between adaptors and innovators was only supported during stable periods. There was no statistically significant difference between adaptors and innovators either before implementation of the new system or post-stabilization. However, following system implementation, adaptors and innovators differed significantly with regard to their initial change in task completion times, pattern of learning, and the number of days required to reach stabilization

Challenging Social Cognition Models of Adherence:Cycles of Discourse, Historical Bodies, and Interactional Order

Attempts to model individual beliefs as a means of predicting how people follow clinical advice have dominated adherence research, but with limited success. In this article, we challenge assumptions underlying this individualistic philosophy and propose an alternative formulation of context and its relationship with individual actions related to illness. Borrowing from Scollon and Scollon’s three elements of social action – “historical body,” “interaction order,” and “discourses in place” – we construct an alternative set of research methods and demonstrate their application with an example of a person talking about asthma management. We argue that talk- or illness-related behavior, both viewed as forms of social action, manifest themselves as an intersection of cycles of discourse, shifting as individuals move through these cycles across time and space. We finish by discussing how these dynamics of social action can be studied and how clinicians might use this understanding when negotiating treatment with patients

Fast and Facile Synthesis Route to Epitaxial Oxide Membrane Using a Sacrificial Layer

The advancement in thin-film exfoliation for synthesizing oxide membranes has opened up new possibilities for creating artificially-assembled heterostructures with structurally and chemically incompatible materials. The sacrificial layer method is a promising approach to exfoliate as-grown films from a compatible material system, allowing their integration with dissimilar materials. Nonetheless, the conventional sacrificial layers often possess intricate stoichiometry, thereby constraining their practicality and adaptability, particularly when considering techniques like Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). This is where easy-to-grow binary alkaline earth metal oxides with a rock salt crystal structure are useful. These oxides, which include (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba)O, can be used as a sacrificial layer covering a much broader range of lattice parameters compared to conventional sacrificial layers and are easily dissolvable in deionized water. In this study, we show the epitaxial growth of single-crystalline perovskite SrTiO3 (STO) on sacrificial layers consisting of crystalline SrO, BaO, and Ba1-xCaxO films, employing a hybrid MBE method. Our results highlight the rapid (< 5 minutes) dissolution of the sacrificial layer when immersed in deionized water, facilitating the fabrication of millimeter-sized STO membranes. Using high-resolution x-ray diffraction, atomic-force microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, impedance spectroscopy, and scattering-type near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), we demonstrate epitaxial STO membranes with bulk-like intrinsic dielectric properties. The employment of alkaline earth metal oxides as sacrificial layers is likely to simplify membrane synthesis, particularly with MBE, thus expanding research possibilities.Comment: 36 pages, 4 figure

Horizontal rotation signals detected by "G-Pisa" ring laser for the Mw=9.0, March 2011, Japan earthquake

We report the observation of the ground rotation induced by the Mw=9.0, 11th of March 2011, Japan earthquake. The rotation measurements have been conducted with a ring laser gyroscope operating in a vertical plane, thus detecting rotations around the horizontal axis. Comparison of ground rotations with vertical accelerations from a co-located force-balance accelerometer shows excellent ring laser coupling at periods longer than 100s. Under the plane wave assumption, we derive a theoretical relationship between horizontal rotation and vertical acceleration for Rayleigh waves. Due to the oblique mounting of the gyroscope with respect to the wave direction-of-arrival, apparent velocities derived from the acceleration / rotation rate ratio are expected to be always larger than, or equal to the true wave propagation velocity. This hypothesis is confirmed through comparison with fundamental-mode, Rayleigh wave phase velocities predicted for a standard Earth model.Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Seismolog

Genetic characterization of outbred Sprague Dawley rats and utility for genome-wide association studies

Sprague Dawley (SD) rats are among the most widely used outbred laboratory rat populations. Despite this, the genetic characteristics of SD rats have not been clearly described, and SD rats are rarely used for experiments aimed at exploring genotype-phenotype relationships. In order to use SD rats to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS), we collected behavioral data from 4,625 SD rats that were predominantly obtained from two commercial vendors, Charles River Laboratories and Harlan Sprague Dawley Inc. Using double-digest genotyping-by-sequencing (ddGBS), we obtained dense, high-quality genotypes at 291,438 SNPs across 4,061 rats. This genetic data allowed us to characterize the variation present in Charles River vs. Harlan SD rats. We found that the two populations are highly diverged (FST > 0.4). Furthermore, even for rats obtained from the same vendor, there was strong population structure across breeding facilities and even between rooms at the same facility. We performed multiple separate GWAS by fitting a linear mixed model that accounted for population structure and using meta-analysis to jointly analyze all cohorts. Our study examined Pavlovian conditioned approach (PavCA) behavior, which assesses the propensity for rats to attribute incentive salience to reward-associated cues. We identified 46 significant associations for the various metrics used to define PavCA. The surprising degree of population structure among SD rats from different sources has important implications for their use in both genetic and non-genetic studies

Infrared nanoscopy of Dirac plasmons at the graphene-SiO2 interface

We report on infrared (IR) nanoscopy of 2D plasmon excitations of Dirac fermions in graphene. This is achieved by confining mid-IR radiation at the apex of a nanoscale tip: an approach yielding two orders of magnitude increase in the value of in-plane component of incident wavevector q compared to free space propagation. At these high wavevectors, the Dirac plasmon is found to dramatically enhance the near-field interaction with mid-IR surface phonons of SiO2 substrate. Our data augmented by detailed modeling establish graphene as a new medium supporting plasmonic effects that can be controlled by gate voltage.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure