Strategic mating effort in a simultaneous hermaphrodite : the role of the partner's feeding status

Sexual selection theory for simultaneously hermaphroditic animals predicts an overall preference for inseminating partners that have a relatively higher female fecundity. Previous work on the link between male mating decisions and female fecundity has primarily focused on the effect of the partners’ body size using existing variation in this trait within a study population. On the assumption that the body size is positively correlated with female fecundity, sperm donors should preferentially inseminate relatively larger individuals to obtain a higher fitness gain through their male sex function. However, empirical evidence for such size-dependent mate choice in simultaneous hermaphrodites is equivocal, possibly because of confounding variables. We studied the mating behavior of the simultaneously hermaphroditic flatworm Macrostomum lignano and tested for a strategic mating effort in response to the feeding status of the partner. We experimentally manipulated the feeding status of potential mating partners in order to generate variation in female fecundity among them and tested whether this affected the copulation number and the number of sperm that the focal worm managed to store in the partner’s sperm storage organ. We found that the manipulation of the feeding status had a strong effect on the body size of the potential mating partners and that focal worms copulated more frequently with, and stored more sperm in well-fed partners compared to unfed partners. Our results suggest that M. lignano adjusts its mating effort in response to the feeding status of the mating partner

Dying of a hundred good symptoms: why good security can still fail - a literature review and analysis

Many organizations suffer serious information security incidents, despite having taken positive steps towards achieving good security standards. The authors hypothesize that these issues are often as a result of security arrangements not being sufficiently integrated with businesses. We believe that adopting an enterprise architecture (EA) approach to implementing information security – commonly referred to as an ‘Enterprise Information Security Architecture’ (EISA) – will deliver substantial benefits. Our paper has reviewed and analyzed literature concerning the root causes of information security incidents and describes a novel approach with 8 domains for ensuring critical factors are considered when building an EISA framework

Hvordan kan pedagoger tilrettelegge for, - og ivareta barns uttrykk i planlagte aktiviteter med materialer i barnehagen?

Problemstilling: Hvordan kan pedagoger tilrettelegge for, og ivareta barns uttrykk i planlagte kunstfaglige aktiviteter med materialer i barnehagen?bachelor-v201

AI Potentiality and Awareness: A Position Paper from the Perspective of Human-AI Teaming in Cybersecurity

This position paper explores the broad landscape of AI potentiality in the context of cybersecurity, with a particular emphasis on its possible risk factors with awareness, which can be managed by incorporating human experts in the loop, i.e., "Human-AI" teaming. As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies advance, they will provide unparalleled opportunities for attack identification, incident response, and recovery. However, the successful deployment of AI into cybersecurity measures necessitates an in-depth understanding of its capabilities, challenges, and ethical and legal implications to handle associated risk factors in real-world application areas. Towards this, we emphasize the importance of a balanced approach that incorporates AI's computational power with human expertise. AI systems may proactively discover vulnerabilities and detect anomalies through pattern recognition, and predictive modeling, significantly enhancing speed and accuracy. Human experts can explain AI-generated decisions to stakeholders, regulators, and end-users in critical situations, ensuring responsibility and accountability, which helps establish trust in AI-driven security solutions. Therefore, in this position paper, we argue that human-AI teaming is worthwhile in cybersecurity, in which human expertise such as intuition, critical thinking, or contextual understanding is combined with AI's computational power to improve overall cyber defenses.Comment: 10 pages, Springe

Positive Digital Communication Among Youth: The Development and Validation of the Digital Flourishing Scale for Adolescents

Research has extensively studied the negative effects of digital communication on adolescents’ well-being. However, positive digital experiences and behavior in adolescence are still poorly understood. The recently developed Digital Flourishing Scale addresses this gap and focuses on the positive perceptions of a user’s experiences and behaviors in digital communication among adults. In this paper, we developed an adolescent version of this scale. Study 1 demonstrated the internal consistency of the scale and the same factor structure for adolescence as for adulthood: connectedness, civil participation, positive social comparison, authentic self-presentation, and self-control. Study 2 confirmed the identified factor structure with a second sample of adolescents and established measurement invariance across genders. The construct validity of the scale was confirmed by investigating associations with related constructs, including the basic psychological needs from self-determination theory (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), secure attachment to a close friend, Internet aggression, social media-induced inspiration, authenticity of posted positive content, and social media self-control failure. The results indicated that not all adolescents flourish equally online. Differences occurred depending on the adolescents’ gender and socioeconomic status. The paper concludes that the newly developed scale is a valid and reliable measure for assessing adolescents’ perceptions of digital thriving and digital empowerment

Digital Flourishing: Conceptualizing and Assessing Positive Perceptions of Mediated Social Interactions

Recent research started to apply concepts of well-being to the context of computer mediated communication (e.g., social media, instant messaging). While much research investigates negative perceptions of mediated social interactions (e.g., “problematic” or “addictive” social media use), a multi-dimensional measure that taps into users? positive perceptions is sorely lacking. The present research therefore develops the first comprehensive measure of digital flourishing, defined as positive perceptions of mediated social interactions. Building on a qualitative pre-study that aided the construction of the Digital Flourishing Scale (DFS), Study 1 (N = 474) employed exploratory factor analysis to reveal five subdimensions of digital flourishing. The preregistered Study 2 (N = 438) confirmed these five dimensions, yielding five reliable items per subscale and initial construct validity with three psychological needs from self-determination theory (SDT; competence, autonomy, relatedness) which were used as an underlying well-being framework for the development of the DFS. The preregistered Study 3 generated further construct validity by directly relating DFS to well-being. The scale is relevant for researchers and practitioners alike to better understand how users perceive their mediated interactions to impact mental health and well-being

Stronger net selection on males across animals

Sexual selection is considered the major driver for the evolution of sex differences. However, the eco-evolutionary dynamics of sexual selection and their role for a population’s adaptive potential to respond to environmental change have only recently been explored. Theory predicts that sexual selection promotes adaptation at a low demographic cost only if sexual selection is aligned with natural selection and if net selection is stronger on males compared to females. We used a comparative approach to show that net selection is indeed stronger in males and provide preliminary support that this sex bias is associated with sexual selection. Given that both sexes share the vast majority of their genes, our findings corroborate the notion that the genome is often confronted with a more stressful environment when expressed in males. Collectively, our study supports one of the long-standing key assumptions required for sexual selection to bolster adaptation, and sexual selection may therefore enable some species to track environmental change more efficiently

Exploring the role of work identity and work locus of control in information security awareness

A growing body of research evidence has been focused on exploring aspects of individual differences in the context of human factors and adherence to organisational information security. The present study aimed to extend this research by exploring three individual variables related directly to the individual's perceived control within the workplace, their commitment to current work identity, and the extent to which they are reconsidering commitment to work. A total 1003 participants aged between 18–65 (Mean = 40.29; SD = 12.28), who were in full or part-time employment took part in the study. The results demonstrated that work locus of control acted as a significant predictor for total scores on a measure of information security awareness. Those individuals who demonstrated more externality had weaker engagement in accepted information security within the workplace. The findings from the current study are discussed in the context of potential links to counterproductive work behaviours, as well as presenting possible practical routes for intervention strategies to help mitigate poor engagement in information security awareness

Developing a state of the art methodology and toolkit for ICS SCADA forensics

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are used in different Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), including Electric Power, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Utility, Transportation services and others. The underpinning control systems have unique characteristics such as being real-time and safety critical. Therefore interference and disruption of the services from cyber attack poses a significant risk to; the environment, properties, economies and human lives. Responding to such events in not trivial, and recovering the required forensic evidence to understand the cause and consequence of such an event is key. Further, developing a suitable incident response methodology to identify evidential artefacts of the causes of disruption is crucial, should security mechanisms fail. In this paper we present the state of the art methodology forensic toolkit for cyber incident response on Industrial Control System (ICS) environment of SCADA plus evaluate the applicability of current IT forensic tools and the requirements of an 'ICS forensic toolbag'. The research work presents an experimental case study of a malware USB device based attack, a man in the middle attack and a remote access attack

Sexual selection predicts species richness across the animal kingdom

Funding: Swiss National Science Foundation to T. J. (PA00P3-145375/1) and to L.M.-O. (P2BSP3_158842 and P300PA_171516).Our improving knowledge of the animal tree of life consistently demonstrates that some taxa diversify more rapidly than others, but what contributes to this variation remains poorly understood. An influential hypothesis proposes that selection arising from competition for mating partners plays a key role in promoting speciation. However, empirical evidence showing a link between proxies of this sexual selection and species richness is equivocal. Here, we collected standardized metrics of sexual selection for a broad range of animal taxa, and found that taxonomic families characterized by stronger sexual selection on males show relatively higher species richness. Thus, our data support the hypothesis that sexual selection elevates species richness. This could occur either by promoting speciation and/or by protecting species against extinction.PostprintPeer reviewe