Traditional meditation, mindfulness and psychodynamic approach: An integrative perspective

The purpose of this article is to consolidate the inter-theoretical bridge between psychodynamic approach and TM, beyond the apparent incompatibility. Our impression is that even if some authors have already worked in order to fill the gap between TM and psychodynamic psychotherapy at theoretical level, this integration could be underrated and these efforts remain isolated. This could be due mainly to ambiguities in the translation of those terms with respect to the fundaments of core concepts of both perspectives, and a lack of empirical research on psychodynamic and meditation. Psychodynamic approach could embrace those aspects of TM that have been less developed in MBIs\u2019 theory and practice. Moreover, an integration of modern mindfulness practices into a psychodynamic framework should be explored. Further empirical studies and theoretical considerations are needed to corroborate testable hypotheses and comparing classical and combine

K-Trek: A Peer-to-Peer Approach To Distribute Knowledge In Large Environments

In this paper, we explore an architecture, called K-Trek, that enables mobile users to travel across knowledge distributed over a large geographical area (ranging from large public buildings to a national park). Our aim is providing, dis-tributing, and enriching the environment with location-sensitive information for use by agents on board of mobile and static devices. Local interactions among K-Trek devices and the distribution of information in the larger environment adopt some typical peer-to-peer patterns and techniques. We introduce the architecture, discuss some of its potential knowledge management applications, and present a few experimental results obtained with simulation

Anonymity networks and access to information during conflicts: towards a distributed network organisation

Access to information is crucial during conflicts and other critical events such as population uprisings. An increasing number of social interactions happen in the cyberspace, while information exchanges at the infrastructural level (monitoring systems, sensor networks, etc.) are now also based on Internet and wireless links rather than ad hoc, isolated wired networks. However, the nature of the Internet allows powerful hostile actors to block, censor, or redirect communication to and from specific Internet services, through a number of available techniques. Anonymity networks such as Tor provide a way to circumvent traditional strategies for restricting access to online resources, and make communication harder to trace and identify. Tor, in particular, has been successfully used in past crises to evade censorship and Internet blockades (Egypt in 2011, and Iran in 2012). Anonymity networks can provide essential communication tools during conflicts, allowing information exchanges to be concealed from external observers, anonymised, and made resilient to imposed traffic controls and geographical restrictions. However, the design of networks such as Tor makes them vulnerable to large-scale denial of service attacks, as shown by the DDoS targeted at Tor hidden services in March 2015. In this paper, we analyse the structural weaknesses of Tor with regard to denial of service attacks, and propose a number of modifications to the structure of the Tor network aimed at improving its resilience to a large coordinated offensive run by a hostile actor in a conflict scenario. In particular, we introduce novel mechanisms that allow relay information to be propagated in a distributed and peer-to-peer manner. This eliminates the need for directory services, and allows the deployment of Tor-like networks in hostile environments, where centralised control is impossible. The proposed improvements concern the network organisation, but preserve the underlying onion routing mechanism that is at the base of Tor's anonymity

Private inter-network routing for wireless sensor networks and the Internet of Things

As computing becomes increasingly pervasive, different heterogeneous networks are connected and integrated. This is especially true in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) settings. However, as different networks managed by different parties and with different security requirements are integrated, security becomes a primary concern. WSN nodes, in particular, are often deployed "in the open", where a potential attacker can gain physical access to the device. As nodes can be deployed in hostile or difficult scenarios, such as military battlefields or disaster recovery settings, it is crucial to avoid escalation from successful attacks on a single node to the whole network, and from there to other connected networks. It is therefore crucial to secure the communication within the WSN, and in particular, maintain context information, such as the network topology and the location and identity of base stations (which collect data gathered by the sensors) private. In this paper, we propose a protocol achieving anonymous routing between different interconnected IoT or WSN networks, based on the Spatial Bloom Filter (SBF) data structure. The protocol enables communications between the nodes through the use of anonymous identifiers, thus hiding the location and identity of the nodes within the network. The proposed routing strategy preserves context privacy, and prevents adversaries from learning the network structure and topology, as routing information is encrypted using a homomorphic encryption scheme, and computed only in the encrypted domain. Preserving context privacy is crucial in preventing adversaries from gaining valuable network information from a successful attacks on a single node of the network, and reduces the potential for attack escalation

Experimental History of Science: Galileo's Experiments with Pendulums

To explore Galileo’s innovative methodology, I have repeated most of his path-breaking experiments with pendulums; I have investigated the robustness of pendulum effects, otherwise difficult to capture, with computer simulations; and I have repeated crucial calculations done by Galileo. In this paper, I will relate the discoveries that I made, and emphasize their significance for our understanding of Galileo’s innovative methodology

Rorschach assessment in suicide survivors: Focus on suicidal ideation

Background: The study of Suicidal ideation (SI) in people bereaved through suicide (Suicide Survivors, SSs) could be hampered by the person's willingness to admit it, or by their limited awareness of it. Our main hypothesis is that SI is common in these people, especially if they are parents or children of the victim. For its potential in shedding light on specific unconscious processes, Rorschach test was chosen for our investigation, for the first time in SSs literature. Rorschach suicide ideation and selected variables were further analyzed to better delineate their psychological profile. Method: Rorschach according to Exner's Comprehensive System was administered to 21 people bereaved through suicide presenting as outpatients at SOPROXI Project Service-Padova Mental Health Center- and 23 healthy controls. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was routinely administered to SSs and considered in the study. Results: T-tests showed significantly higher mean SI score (S-Con) as it emerged from the Rorschach test S-Con scores in SSs compared to control participants. SI found only weak correlation with the BDI item in which SSs can explicitly state the desire for their death. Within-group analysis revealed higher S-Con mean scores in bereaved children and parents of the victim compared to other kind of kinships. Morbid content (MOR) has been fund as the most characterizing variable in SSs' S-Con in terms of effect size, followed by a low number of responses with an ordinary form (X +%). Human movements (M), Special Scores related to thought slippage (ALOG, FABCOM2, INCOM2, and CONTAM) and poor human representations (PHR) have been shown to be more significantly present in SSs compared controls. Discussion: Psychodynamic interpretations of our results are provided. Clinical practice should consider Rorschach as one of eligible tools of investigation on this field

Location-aware Mobile Services for a Smart City: Design, Implementation and Deployment

A smart city is a high-performance urban context, where citizens are more aware of, and more integrated into the city life, thanks to an intelligent city information system. In this paper we design, implement and deploy a smart application that retrieves and conveys to the user relevant information on the user's surroundings. This case study application let us discuss the challenges involved in creating a location-aware mobile service based on live information coming from the city IT infrastructure. The service, that is currently being deployed in the Italian city of Cesena, has been designed with the goal of being a general model for future applications. In particular, we discuss location-aware and mobile development, cloud and cluster based geographical data storage, and spatial data computation. For each of these topics we provide implementation and deployment solutions based on currently available technology. In particular we propose an architecture based on a complex On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) infrastructure. Furthermore, this paper represents the first comprehensive, scientific study on the subject

An anonymous inter-network routing protocol for the Internet of Things

With the diffusion of the Internet of Things (IoT), computing is becoming increasingly pervasive, and different heterogeneous networks are integrated into larger systems. However, as different networks managed by different parties and with different security requirements are interconnected, security becomes a primary concern. IoT nodes, in particular, are often deployed “in the open”, where an attacker can gain physical access to the device. As nodes can be deployed in unsurveilled or even hostile settings, it is crucial to avoid escalation from successful attacks on a single node to the whole network, and from there to other connected networks. It is therefore necessary to secure the communication within IoT networks, and in particular, maintain context information private, including the network topology and the location and identity of the nodes. In this paper, we propose a protocol achieving anonymous routing between different interconnected networks, designed for the Internet of Things and based on the spatial Bloom filter (SBF) data structure. The protocol enables private communication between the nodes through the use of anonymous identifiers, which hide their location and identity within the network. As routing information is encrypted using a homomorphic encryption scheme, and computed only in the encrypted domain, the proposed routing strategy preserves context privacy, preventing adversaries from learning the network structure and topology. This, in turn, significantly reduces their ability to gain valuable network information from a successful attacks on a single node of the network, and reduces the potential for attack escalation

Bloom filter variants for multiple sets: a comparative assessment

In this paper we compare two probabilistic data structures for association queries derived from the well-known Bloom filter: the shifting Bloom filter (ShBF), and the spatial Bloom filter (SBF). With respect to the original data structure, both variants add the ability to store multiple subsets in the same filter, using different strategies. We analyse the performance of the two data structures with respect to false positive probability, and the inter-set error probability (the probability for an element in the set of being recognised as belonging to the wrong subset). As part of our analysis, we extended the functionality of the shifting Bloom filter, optimising the filter for any non-trivial number of subsets. We propose a new generalised ShBF definition with applications outside of our specific domain, and present new probability formulas. Results of the comparison show that the ShBF provides better space efficiency, but at a significantly higher computational cost than the SBF