Using Control Frameworks to Map Risks in Web 2.0 Applications

Web 2.0 applications are continuously moving into the corporate mainstream. Each new development brings its own threats or new ways to deliver old attacks. The objective of this study is to develop a framework to identify the security issues an organisation is exposed to through Web 2.0 applications, with specific focus on unauthorised access. An extensive literature review was performed to obtain an understanding of the technologies driving Web 2.0 applications. Thereafter, the technologies were mapped against Control Objectives for Information and related Technology and Trust Service Principles and Criteria and associated control objectives relating to security risks. These objectives were used to develop a framework which can be used to identify risks and formulate appropriate internal control measures in any organisation using Web 2.0 applications. Every organisation, technology and application is unique and the safeguards depend on the nature of the organisation, information at stake, degree of vulnerability and risks. A comprehensive security program should include a multi-layer approach comprising of a control framework, combined with a control model considering the control processes in order to identify the appropriate control techniques.Web 2.0, Security risks, Control framework, Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (CobiT), Trust Service Principles and Criteria

Parallel changes in gut microbiome composition and function in parallel local adaptation and speciation

The processes of local adaptation and ecological speciation are often strongly shaped by biotic interactions such as competition and predation. One of the strongest lines of evidence that biotic interactions drive evolution comes from repeated divergence of lineages in association with repeated changes in the community of interacting species. Yet, relatively little is known about the repeatability of changes in gut microbial communities and their role in adaptation and divergence of host populations in nature. Here we utilize three cases of rapid, parallel adaptation and speciation in freshwater threespine stickleback to test for parallel changes in associated gut microbiomes. We find that features of the gut microbial communities have shifted repeatedly in the same direction in association with parallel divergence and speciation of stickleback hosts. These results suggest that changes to gut microbiomes can occur rapidly and predictably in conjunction with host evolution, and that host-microbe interactions might play an important role in host adaptation and diversification

Genetics of adaptation: Experimental test of a biotic mechanism driving divergence in traits and genes.

The genes underlying adaptations are becoming known, yet the causes of selection on genes-a key step in the study of the genetics of adaptation-remains uncertain. We address this issue experimentally in a threespine stickleback species pair showing exaggerated divergence in bony defensive armor in association with competition-driven character displacement. We used semi-natural ponds to test the role of a native predator in causing divergent evolution of armor and two known underlying genes. Predator presence/absence altered selection on dorsal spines and allele frequencies at the Msx2a gene across a generation. Evolutionary trajectories of alleles at a second gene, Pitx1, and the pelvic spine trait it controls, were more variable. Our experiment demonstrates how manipulation of putative selective agents helps to identify causes of evolutionary divergence at key genes, rule out phenotypic plasticity as a sole determinant of phenotypic differences, and eliminate reliance on fitness surrogates. Divergence of predation regimes in sympatric stickleback is associated with coevolution in response to resource competition, implying a cascade of biotic interactions driving species divergence. We suggest that as divergence proceeds, an increasing number of biotic interactions generate divergent selection, causing more evolution in turn. In this way, biotic adaptation perpetuates species divergence through time during adaptive radiation in an expanding number of traits and genes

Second thoughts on development accounting

We estimate the relative roles of factor inputs and productivity in explaining the level of economic development, which is measured as output per worker. For a large sample of countries, we show that alternative identifying productivity assumptions and alternative measures of human capital have a large impact on the relative weights of factor inputs and productivity in a decomposition of output per worker. For a sample of OECD countries, we find that productivity has almost no role in explaining cross-country differences in output per worker. This result supports the reasoning of a traditional neoclassical growth model.

Substance Use Disorder Co-Occurring with Anxiety and/or Depression: Evidence-Based CBT

The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in lieu of current treatment as usual or the siloed system for treating Substance Use Disorder (SUD) or mental health diagnosis independently. The review examines clients who have been diagnosed with co-occurring SUD and anxiety and/or depression and are receiving treatment to help reduce substance use and anxiety and/or depression symptomology. The present research study endeavored to distinguish individual aspects that may lead to more successful treatment outcomes using CBT to treat SUD with anxiety and/or depression co- currently in one integrated treatment program. Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria for the present study. The findings demonstrated that CBT is effective in co-currently reducing SUD with anxiety and/or depression symptomology for clients seeking treatment. Of the nineteen studies, thirteen were found to be as or more effective than treatment without CBT. Many of the studies found elements that may influence outcomes with CBT treatment for SUD with anxiety and/or depression including: sample size, age, gender, race and ethnicity, severity of alcohol use and anxiety and/or depression, location of treatment center, training of staff/therapists. More research is needed on CBT treatment with SUD with anxiety and/or depression disorders looking at variables such as, cross training of staff and therapists in CBT and SUD, co-occurring treatment-based implementation programs and the hiring of more staff. The research would help to highlight evidence based research in the effectiveness of CBT treatment for SUD with anxiety and/or depression. Future research may increase funding from policy makers, stake holders, and influence decision-making at the program level with program managers and supervisors when considering a CBT co-occurring treatment program

A reduced-order model of three-dimensional unsteady flow in a cavity based on the resolvent operator

A novel reduced-order model for nonlinear flows is presented. The model arises from a resolvent decomposition in which the nonlinear advection terms of the Navier-Stokes equation are considered as the input to a linear system in Fourier space. Results show that Taylor-G\"ortler-like vortices can be represented from a low-order resolvent decomposition of a nonlinear lid-driven cavity flow. The present approach provides an approximation of the fluctuating velocity given the time-mean and the time history of a single velocity probe

Engaging the occupational imagination: Meeting in diversity

This article provides a reflection on the 2017 Occupational Science Europe conference through a critical occupational science lens. I first provide a key synopsis of lines of arguments forwarded in a keynote talk I delivered at this conference, titled ‘Embracing a critical turn in occupational science: Contributions and future possibilities’. I then draw upon one of the key directions forwarded in this talk as a means to further enact a transformative agenda through critical occupational science to reflect on how ‘meeting in diversity’ fostered critical alertness. In particular, the strategy of ‘meeting in diversity’ with occupation as a common ground fostered critical dialogue regarding the situated, political and relational nature of occupation and the root causes of occupational injustices through providing opportunities to be exposed to diverse perspectives on occupation from across Europe and beyond. Occupational scientists, in diverse contexts and in diverse ways, are engaging a critical occupational imagination as a means to make a difference in the world, and embracing diversity appears to be an especially productive way forward in enacting a transformative agenda