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Defendroid: real-time Android code vulnerability detection via blockchain federated neural network with XAI
Get PDFEnsuring strict adherence to security during the phases of Android app development is essential, primarily due to the prevalent issue of apps being released without adequate security measures in place. While a few automated tools are employed to reduce potential vulnerabilities during development, their effectiveness in detecting vulnerabilities may fall short. To address this, “Defendroid”, a blockchain-based federated neural network enhanced with Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is introduced in this work. Trained on the LVDAndro dataset, the vanilla neural network model achieves a 96% accuracy and 0.96 F1-Score in binary classification for vulnerability detection. Additionally, in multi-class classification, the model accurately identifies Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) categories with a 93% accuracy and 0.91 F1-Score. In a move to foster collaboration and model improvement, the model has been deployed within a blockchain-based federated environment. This environment enables community-driven collaborative training and enhancements in partnership with other clients. The extended model demonstrates improved accuracy of 96% and F1-Score of 0.96 in both binary and multi-class classifications. The use of XAI plays a pivotal role in presenting vulnerability detection results to developers, offering prediction probabilities for each word within the code. This model has been integrated into an Application Programming Interface (API) as the backend and further incorporated into Android Studio as a plugin, facilitating real-time vulnerability detection. Notably, Defendroid exhibits high efficiency, delivering prediction probabilities for a single code line in an average processing time of a mere 300 ms. The weight-sharing transparency in the blockchain-driven federated model enhances trust and traceability, fostering community engagement while preserving source code privacy and contributing to accuracy improvement
Will social media celebrities drive me crazy? Exploring the effects of celebrity endorsement on impulsive buying behavior in social commerce
Get PDFThis study evaluates the influence of social media celebrity endorsements on consumers' impulsive buying behavior in social commerce by extending the signaling theory and commitment-trust theory. A self-managed online questionnaire is designed to collect the data from 295 valid respondents and analyze it using a multi-analytical hybrid structural equation modeling-artificial neural network (ANN). The results reveal that relational switching alternatives and relationship benefits directly contribute to relationship commitment to social media celebrity, whereas shared value and parasocial interaction positively lead to social commerce trust; both relationship commitment and social commerce trust induce consumers' impulsive buying behavior in social commerce. From a theoretical perspective, this study enriches the components of signaling theory and commitment-trust theory, expanding their applicability and transferability in social commerce. Moreover, this study consolidates the theoretical integration, indicating that signaling theory can be considered as an antecedent of commitment-trust theory for triggering consumers' impulsive buying. Methodologically, adopting second-order constructs benefits, this study captures the multidimensionality and complexity of social commerce trust and impulsive buying from the partial least squares-ANN perspectives. In practice, this research provides valuable insights into how to better invite celebrity endorsements and build long-term relationships with customers, as well as offers insights into countries where social commerce is lacking today. That being said, this study is constrained by its cross-sectional research design, conducted in Malaysia. Future research endeavors should consider launching longitudinal, multicountry studies to broaden the applicability of the findings
Ground reaction forces, asymmetries and performance of change of direction tasks in youth elite female basketball players
Get PDFThe magnitude and direction of inter-limb asymmetries in a change of direction (COD) have increased interest in scientific research in recent years. This present study aimed to investigate the magnitude of asymmetries in an elite youth female basketball sample (n = 18, age = 17.79 ± 0.67 y) and determine its directionality using force platform technology. Participants performed 70◦ and 180◦ COD tests analyzing the following variables: time, ground contact time (GCT) and ground reaction forces (GRF) along the anterior–posterior, mediolateral, and vertical axes. Inter-limb asymmetries were evident in both COD tests, with substantial differences observed between limbs (p < 0.01). The asymmetry values ranged from 3.02% to 24.31% in COD 180◦ and from 1.99% to 21.70% in COD 70◦, with anterior–posterior GRF consistently exhibiting the highest asymmetry magnitude. Additionally, the directionality exhibited variability between the tests, indicating poor agreement and suggesting the independent directionality of asymmetries across tasks. Moreover, players required more time to complete the COD 180◦, the GCT was noticeably longer for the COD 180◦ than for the COD 70◦, and GRF varied across the axis, suggesting that players adapt uniquely to the specific demands of each task. The utilization of force platforms presents a comprehensive approach to assess asymmetries and COD variables performance variables which are “angle-dependent”, which could have important implications for COD screening and effective training interventions
The SHARMED project: the promotion of dialogic intercultural learning in the classroom
No full textThis chapter discusses findings from the SHARMED (Shared Memories and Dialogue) project. SHARMED was a project to implement pedagogical innovation funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, designed and delivered by the University of Suffolk (UK), the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy) and Universität Jena (Germany) between 2016 and 2018.
SHARMED aims were: 1) promoting new experiences of education, with specific consideration for respect of promotion of intercultural dialogue; 2) fostering equity in participants’ contributions to classroom interaction; 3) enhancement of new experiences of education in European schools and settings, responding to the need to innovate traditional ways of dealing with different perspectives, which is particularly felt in some contexts (Farini, 2019).
The SHARMED project was based on the use of workshops to facilitate children aged 8-13 years in producing and sharing narratives related to personal memories. SHARMED involved 48 classes in Germany, Italy and UK. In SHARMED workshops, children were invited to bring photographs related to their memories and shared narratives of those memories. The promotion of children’s authorship of narratives was based on facilitation as a methodology to enhance empowerment and recognition of children’s contribution
CAGE: Consensus Algorithm Genetically Enhanced
No full textBlockchain is a disruptive technology and relies on the development of consensus algorithms, CA. Currently, there are many CAs proposed and this paper explores a new avenue of nature-inspired CAs. In particular, emphasis is on selection techniques used in canonical genetic algorithms, GAs, and fatiguing.
The premise is that selection techniques used in GAs could be adapted and used to select nodes responsible for adding blocks in permissioned blockchain networks. This was then tested on a blockchain network and executed many times and compared to another CA for permission blockchain networks, Proof-of-Elapsed-Time, PoET.
The results are interesting and show an improvement in transaction throughput and block creation. Our initial results, however, had a biased node selection and could be vulnerable to take-over attacks. Therefore, a fatiguing element was introduced and the experiments were repeated with the results showing a less biased node selection.
The overall contribution is the exploration of nature as a solution to CAs. The initial results are comparable and places better than existing CAs
Recruitment and retention of seafarers: a maritime industry insight from Myanmar
No full textThis thesis explores the challenges and opportunities of seafarer recruitment and retention in the maritime industry, with a focus on Myanmar seafarers and Uniteam Marine, a ship management company. The study examines macro-level factors like globalization, technological advancements and geopolitical dynamics that influence the maritime labour market. Concurrently, it explores meso-level and micro-level concerns specific to my employing organization – Uniteam Marine. This approach provides a broad view of both external influences and internal practices affecting recruitment and retention of seafarers.
The research endeavours to navigate the complexities facing Myanmar seafarers, an emerging seafaring nation, at a crucial time of technological and regulatory change. These challenges are explored through a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data from seafarers and interviews with industry stakeholders. The findings reveal a significant gap in the maritime industry’s preparedness for technological changes and a disparity between existing seafarer skills and those required by modern operations. It also identifies specific challenges faced by Myanmar seafarers, including educational and infrastructural limitations. The study also highlights that the maritime industry often overlooks seafarers' needs and concerns, indicating a common tendency to neglect these essential workers.
The study proposes a set of recommendations aimed at modernizing maritime education and training, enhancing industry-education collaboration, promoting seafaring as a viable and attractive career path and adopting international best practices to improve the recruitment and retention of seafarers. These recommendations are designed to improve the recruitment and retention of seafarers, tailored to the unique needs of Myanmar's maritime sector.
In conclusion, my research highlights the urgent need for a strategic overhaul of recruitment and retention practices within the maritime industry. Drawing from my experience and professional insights, I am supportive of a forward-looking approach that aligns with the evolving technological, operational and regulatory landscapes of modern seafaring. By embracing these changes, we can ensure the sustainability of the maritime workforce and, by extension, enhance the resilience of the global maritime sector. The thesis concludes by offering recommendation for the industry and academia, aiming to influence future practices and policies in seafarer recruitment and retention, particularly within the Myanmar perspective
Bibliotherapy in existential psychotherapy: a hermeneutic phenomenological exploration
Get PDFBackground:
Bibliotherapy uses literature to facilitate the psychotherapeutic process, and therapeutic reading is often used as an adjunct to various psychotherapy modalities. The utilisation of books in psychotherapeutic treatment for the benefit and promotion of psychological well-being is well-established.
Aims:
This study aims to explore the use of bibliotherapy by existential psychotherapists who consider therapeutic reading an essential adjunct to their way of working. Specifically, I am interested in how existential psychotherapists experience the use of therapeutic reading with clients.
Method:
In-depth, face-to-face, open-ended/semi-structured interviewing via an online video platform was used to conduct the research. Recorded data was thematically analysed using van Manen's (2016a, 2016b) hermeneutic phenomenological approach.
Findings:
The literature review revealed bibliotherapy as successful in treating fluency disorder, anxiety-related disorders, and depression. The research highlighted that bibliotherapy is most efficacious when therapists deeply understand their client's problem and choose literature accordingly (Gerlach & Subramanian, 2016) and when used as a supplemental tool rather than an individual therapy approach (Heath et al., 2005). Participants of this study actively used bibliotherapy with their clients. Half of the participants identified with the term bibliotherapy, and half did not. Literature recommended to clients was based on the therapist's cultural context, background, training, and lifeworld. Recommendations were both spontaneous and targeted based on considered client therapeutic need, idiographic features, and symptomatology (Menninger, 1978).
Discussion:
This thesis contributes to the knowledge by bringing bibliotherapy in existential-phenomenological practice into focus for the psychotherapeutic and counselling psychology community. It demonstrates that with or without using the term, therapists are drawn to using literature in their work. Importantly, this thesis demonstrates through lived experience descriptions the contextual nature of how books enable the existential-phenomenological practitioner to co-explore, co-create, and co-construct meaning with their clients
Psychiatric comorbidities in functional neurological disorders and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: a systematic review and policy recommendations for improving assessment and treatment
Get PDFPsychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) and Functional Neurological Disorders (FND) are progressively attracting the attention of healthcare professionals both in the medical or surgical specialties and in psychiatric ones. Due to FND and PNES complex presentation, often comorbid with other neurological, medical, and psychiatric conditions, starting from our experience with patients presenting with both conditions, we conducted a systematic review of articles that address the comorbidity of PNES and FND with other psychiatric conditions. Our review supports the point that PNES and FND are not autonomous conditions but develop on the grounds of other psychiatric comorbidities including autism, borderline personality disorder (BPD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and alexithymia. Persons with PNES and FND have often a history of child abuse, neglect, and trauma, and these conditions can also trigger the two conditions if appearing later in life. We also propose policies to endorse the comorbidity theory and improve assessment and treatment. The scrutinized studies confirm that PNES and FND might be comorbid or represent manifestations of what we hypothesize as an integrated biopsychosocial model where early trauma, abuse, and neglect lead to a progressive neuro sensitivity that can present in the same person, usually young female patients, as a combination of dysthymia, alexithymia, autism, PTSD, BPD, FND, and PNES. [Abstract copyright: © 2024 Lazzari et al.
Entwicklung eines Erhebungsmodells für branchenübliche prosoziale Verhaltensformen sowie organisationale Einflussfaktoren in der beruflichen Interaktion während eines Teamentwicklungsprozesses am Beispiel des Berliner Stromnetzes
No full textAfter 20 years, the national energy grids for electricity and district heating in Berlin are back in the hands of the state of Berlin. The government wants to enable co-determination and drive the energy transition forward. However, the changes are accompanied by various uncertainties and fears for the future among the affected company employees. Their hesitancy is reflected at the behavioural level and how they work together, which impacts staff turnover. Indeed, prosocial cooperation is a decisive factor in employee loyalty to an employer. As an example, the grid operator now must realign itself to orient employees and explain the changes in a structured manner while looking at teams in their development processes and the behaviours and relationships between employees, managers, and the company overall. Explaining changes using team development models is still in vogue but must be expanded to include behavioural patterns and influencing factors. Then, a relevant contribution to clarification can be achieved, as well as approaches for the further development of cultural work.
This work aims to develop a survey model for industry-standard of forms of behaviour as well as organizational influencing factors in professional interaction during a team development process. The study also seeks to model interaction behavioural patterns focusing on prosocial behaviours and organizational influencing factors using the example of the current challenges in Berlin. This investigation uses an explorative case study, with empirical data collected using guideline-based expert interviews. The results show that a model of forms of behaviour and organizational influencing factors can reveal dependencies between the forms and characteristics of prosocial behaviour, interaction patterns, and influencing factors and measures conducive to prosocial cooperation. This model also leads to new systematizations that result in an implementation proposal and evaluation of structural and process-related measures for the energy supply industry by primarily adhering to the laws of change and development processes to mitigate the associated emotional resistance and break barriers when changes are applied throughout the company
Perceptual filters: exploring disability and ableism's cognitive framework
Get PDFAbleism, akin to other forms of discrimination such as sexism and racism, is increasingly recognized as a pervasive societal concern directed towards individuals with disabilities. This scholarly inquiry delineates the operational definition, manifestations, and ramifications of ableism, with a specific focus on its manifestations within healthcare settings. It underscores the critical need for targeted interventions aimed at mitigating biases among healthcare professionals and promoting inclusivity within healthcare delivery systems. Utilizing insights from cognitive psychology, the study conceptualizes ableism as a cognitive distortion, explicating the mechanisms through which biases shape perceptions and recommending Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a promising intervention modality. The paper advocates for exploration of intersectional analyses, utilization of qualitative research methodologies, and cultivation of collaborative partnerships with disability advocacy organizations to develop more comprehensive intervention approaches. Noteworthy limitations of the current discourse include the potential for tokenistic representations and the imperative for genuine and substantive engagement with the voices and experiences of individuals with disabilities