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Adolescent Cyberviolence in South Korea:A Multi-Year, National Population-Based Study of Cyberviolence Prevalence (2017–2024)
Full text linkWith the rise of digital technology, adolescent cyberviolence has become a growing global concern in public health and criminal justice. This study used nationally representative data from South Korea (2017–2024) to examine the prevalence of eight types of cyberviolence (i.e., verbal abuse, defamation, stalking, sexual abuse, personal information leakage, bullying, extortion and coercion) among adolescents aged 10–18 years. It also analysed differences between sexes, age groups and time periods (i.e., before, during and after COVID-19). The findings showed that male adolescents were generally more likely than females to be both victims and perpetrators of cyberviolence, except in the case of cyberstalking victimisation. The adolescents aged 13–15 reported higher rates of both victimisation and perpetration than their younger (aged 10–12) and older (aged 16–18) peers, except in the context of cyberbullying victimisation. Notably, cyberviolence rates were lower during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022) than the pre-pandemic (2017–2019) and post-pandemic (2023–2024) periods. This is arguably the first study to track cyberviolence among South Korean adolescents over an eight-year period using data from over 56,000 participants. The results offer critical insights into patterns of online aggression among adolescents across sexes and age groups and through significant societal disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic
What-App? App Usage Detection Using Encrypted LTE/5G Traffic
Full text linkCellular traffic fingerprinting attacks, in which an unprivileged adversary passively monitors encrypted wireless channels to infer user activities, introduce significant privacy risks by giving attackers the ability to track user behaviors, infer sensitive activities, and profile victims without authorization. Although such attacks have been discussed for LTE and 5G, many existing studies rely on idealized assumptions that fall short when faced with the complexities of real-world practical scenarios.In this paper, we present the first practical traffic fingerprinting attack leveraging a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Relay in an operational cellular network. Implemented with open-source software, our attack allows a passive adversary to identify user applications with up to 99.02% accuracy, even under noisy conditions. We evaluate our method using 40 applications across five categories on multiple COTS user equipment (UE). Our approach further demonstrates the ability to infer fine-grained user activities such as browsing, messaging, and video streaming under practical constraints, including partial traffic knowledge and app version drift. The attack also achieves cross-device and cross-network transferability, and it remains robust in open-world scenarios where only a subset of application traffic is known to the adversary.We additionally propose a novel traffic regularization-based defense tailored specifically for cellular networks. This defense operates as an optional, backward-compatible security layer integrated seamlessly into the existing cellular protocol stack, effectively balancing security strength with practical considerations such as latency and bandwidth overhead
WEIRD but Also Inconsistent:An Analysis of the Reporting Practices of Participant Samples Across Five Areas of Psychology
Full text linkIn this study, we systematically investigate the Methods sections of five journals covering core areas of Psychology: Social, health, clinical, developmental, and general psychological science. Journals were published by the British Psychology Society between January 2021 and December 2023 (Narticles = 661; Nsamples = 1293). As expected, we found an over‐reliance on Western perspectives: Participants from Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa made up 8.7% of samples combined. However, we also found substantial variation in whether and where participants' gender, race, SES indicators, and education were reported across different areas of Psychology, as well as different norms in the use of students and crowd‐sourcing platforms. Given the challenges of representation in Psychology and the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives, we make a case for a unified standard of reporting that allows readers to more readily access how findings generalise to populations beyond those sampled
Towards a Developmental Retribution and Reciprocity Model (RRM):Implications for Youth Justice
Full text linkYouth justice systems are frequently justified by reference to developmental change, yet chronological age is often treated as a proxy for underlying psychological processes. This paper develops a Developmental Retribution and Reciprocity Model (RRM), integrating evolutionary criminology with contemporary developmental neuroscience to clarify how reciprocity, retribution, and cooperation are expressed across development. Behavioural economic tasks and hypothetical crime scenarios from an adult sample (N = 300), spanning late adolescence and early adulthood, are used to examine whether age is associated with positive reciprocity, negative reciprocity, retaliatory punishment, and offending-related tendencies. Developmental theory would predict age-related differences across this period; however, no meaningful associations with age (from the age of 16 onward) were observed. The absence of age-graded variation in reciprocity and retributive responding within adulthood is consistent with the possibility that the underlying motivational structures captured by RRM stabilise earlier in development, whilst their behavioural expression continues to be shaped by regulation and context. The paper therefore emphasises the importance of focussing youth justice interventions and future research on these earlier developmental periods, where socialisation, legitimacy, and cooperative norms may be most effectively shaped.</p
The distribution of school-aged adolescents’ free sugar intake across the day:A cross-sectional study
Full text linkObjective: We aimed to explore how free sugar intake varies across the day in secondary school pupils. Methods: Pupils aged 11-15 years were recruited between December 2019-April 2022 from English secondary schools. Pupils completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and recorded all foods and drinks consumed in the previous day. We undertook mixed-effects regression modelling to explore patterns of sugar consumption across different eating occasions, and in and out of school, accounting for school clustering and adjusting for energy intake and participant sociodemographic variables. 2575 pupils were invited to participate, with 2273 participants ultimately included in the study. Results: After adjustment for mealtime energy intake, compared to breakfast, free sugar intake was lower at lunch (mean difference: -7.86 g; 95% CI = -8.87 g, -6.84 g; p = <0.001) and dinner (mean difference: -11.82 g; 95% CI -12.85 g, -10.80 g; p = <0.001). Free sugar intake from snacks was higher than breakfast (mean difference: 7.70 g; 95% CI 6.68 g, 8.72 g; p = <0.001). Snacks on average comprised 28.5% of total energy intake and 43.1% of free sugar intake for the day. Free sugar intake outside of school was higher than intake during school time (mean difference: 3.18 g; 95% CI = 1.67 g, 4.69 g; p = <0.001). Conclusion: Breakfast and snacks made the largest contribution to free sugar intake among adolescents in the study after accounting for variation in energy intake across mealtimes. Free sugar intake was higher outside than inside school. Efforts to reduce free sugar intake in adolescents should focus on breakfast and snack food and drink items, and high sugar items available outside of school.</p
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research:Case Study Vol. 5
No full textThis collection celebrates the extraordinary breadth and ambition of research powered by the University of Birmingham’s Environment for Academic Research (BEAR), which is led by the Advanced Research Computing team within IT Services. Across every College, researchers are accelerating discoveries, tackling complex challenges, and expanding the boundaries of knowledge thanks to BEAR’s cutting‑edge digital infrastructure.From high‑performance computing on BlueBEAR to secure research data storage and specialist software, BEAR empowers staff and students to work at a scale and speed that transforms what is possible. These case studies showcase not only the diversity of research undertaken at the University, but also the unique value that BEAR brings in enabling innovative, impactful, and world‑leading work.Together, they highlight how BEAR continues to be a driving force behind research excellence and an essential catalyst for future breakthroughs. <br/
Winning over the sceptics:How end-consumers view the motives and authenticity of customer-entrepreneurs over time
Full text linkCustomer-entrepreneurs are an emerging sales force in online retailing, combining the traditional roles of customers and entrepreneurs by using digital platforms to advertise and sell products. A handful of researchers have begun exploring the phenomenon from different perspectives. We build on this emergent literature stream by investigating the perspective of end-consumers. Integrating attribution theory and the elaboration likelihood model, we develop a conceptual model and hypotheses to explore the pathways between end-consumers’ perceptions of the motives and authenticity of customer-entrepreneurs, the mediating role of consumer scepticism in this relationship and the outcomes for three customer mindset metrics (customer satisfaction, loyalty intention and perceived service quality) and resilience to negative information. Finally, we measure the moderating effect of consumers’ previous experience with a customer-entrepreneur on the relationship between perceived motives and scepticism. Our time-lapse study uses structural equation modelling and longitudinal analysis of data gathered from 539 consumers in the first wave of data collection and 476 consumers in the second wave. The findings indicate that perceived intrinsic motives support perceived authenticity, perceived extrinsic motives fuel scepticism, and scepticism partially mediates the link between perceived motives and perceived authenticity. Moreover, we find that perceived authenticity significantly impacts all four studied outcomes, and that previous experience moderates the relationship between perceived intrinsic motives and scepticism. Our findings guide customer-entrepreneurs, managers, and policymakers in harnessing this new phenomenon effectively.</p
Durability of pultruded fibre-polymer composite structures under various environmental conditions over a period up to 25 years
Full text linkThe durability of two different types of structures and deck units composed of glass fibre-polymer composites exposed to various environmental conditions were investigated. The Pontresina Bridge and Eyecatcher Building were exposed to an alpine and urban climate for 25 years, respectively, and a pultruded deck unit was immersed in water for 8 years. The assessment included visual inspection of adhesively bonded and bolted joints, and fibre blooming, full-scale static loading, and investigations of coupons specimens taken from the Pontresina Bridge and the deck units. Adhesively bonded joints did not show any visual damage. The stiffness of the Pontresina Bridge remained unchanged over 25 years. The elastic modulus of the coupons from both showed no significant decrease. However, the tensile strength in the coupons exposed to Alpine climate decreased to approximately 70% of its initial value after 25 years of service and reduced to 64% after 8 years of water immersion. A logarithmic model was developed to predict the reduction in strength over 50 years of service, however long-term data is still required to validate these predictions
Effect of behavioural sleep interventions on blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability in adults with poor sleep health:a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression analysis
Full text linkBackground: Poor sleep health is known to negatively impact cardiovascular risk factors, including systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV). Consequently, there is interest in determining the impact of improving sleep on cardiovascular risk. We reviewed studies aimed at improving sleep using (1) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) and/or sleep hygiene and (2) sleep extension on these risk factors. Methods: Literature searches were performed on MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library. Studies featuring adults ≥ 18years, a sleep intervention and pre and postrisk factor measurements available were included. Studies of obstructive sleep apnoea were excluded. Results: From 21 studies (n = 1222), meta-analyses of 12 RCTs (n = 688), demonstrated a significant reduction in SBP averaging 4.91 mmHg [2.38, 7.43, P < 0.00001, heterogeneity (I2) = 74%], compared to control. When 15 RCTs and non-RCTs were combined (n = 860), reductions in SBP and DBP averaged 5.02 mmHg (95% CI 2.80, 7.23, P < 0.00001, I2 67%) and 2.90 mmHg (0.30, 5.49; P = 0.03, I2 88%), respectively. In eight CBT-I and/or sleep hygiene interventions (n = 618), the SBP decrease averaged 3.44 mmHg (1.07, 5.80, P = 0.004). In sleep extension interventions (n = 242; 7 studies), reductions in SBP averaged 7.59 mmHg (4.74, 10.44; P < 0.00001), DBP 4.83 mmHg (0.73, 8.92; P = 0.02), and HR (n = 164, 4 studies) 1.24 beats/minute (0.44, 2.44; P = 0.04). No significant changes in HRV were observed. Seven studies were of low concern in the quality assessment. Conclusions: Using behavioural sleep interventions led to clinically significant reductions in blood pressure, suggesting addressing poor sleep health could feature in blood pressure management. Future randomized controlled trials are still required. PROSPERO Identification number: CRD4202562829
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