Towards a Security Competence of Software Developers

Software growth has been explosive as people depend heavily on software on daily basis. Software development is a human-intensive effort, and developers' competence in software security is essential for secure software development. In addition, ubiquitous computing provides an added complexity to software security. Studies have treated security competences of software developers as a subsidiary of security engineers' competence instead of software engineers' competence, limiting the full knowledge of the security competences of software developers. This presents a crucial challenge for developers, educators, and users to maintain developers' competences in security. As a first step in pushing for the developers' security competence studies, this chapter utilises a literature review to identify the security competences of software developers. Thirteen security competences of software developers were identified and mapped to the common body of knowledge for information security professional framework. Lastly, the implications for, with, and without the competences are analysed and presented.

THE EXPRESSION OF PLATO’S PHILOSOPHICAL POSITION THROUGH THE DIALOGUE FORM: CHANCE OR NECESSITY?

The importance of the dialogue form for understanding Plato’s philosophy was not recognized by researchers for a long time. The situation, however, has changed drastically in our time. In Plato’s studies, a group of researchers has emerged who build their argumentation on the basis of the dialogue form itself. According to this position, Plato’s philosophy cannot be found in his dialogues because of the “opacity” of the dialogue form. The situation can change only when we get a “document” where Plato speaks directly about which character expresses his own views. The author of the article offers to consider some arguments against this position: 1) Aristotle refers to some dialogues as the source of Plato’s philosophy; 2) the dialogues constantly repeat consideration of the same topics; 3) Plato’s direct voice is in his Letters. The dialogues are our only and primary source of Plato’s philosophy. On this basis, the author defends the thesis that Plato’s use of the dialogue form was not an accident, but an internal necessity. This was based on Plato’s own cognitive situation and some pedagogical reflections. He transferred the relation “truth-Plato” to the level “Plato-reader”. This relationship implies the impossibility of full knowledge of the truth and the limitation of its expression as long as one stays in the mortal modus of existence, with the need for constant inquiry. The dialogue form, enhanced by anonymity, irony and other artistic techniques, makes it possible to realize this relationship at the level of “Plato-reader”. Plato is present in the dialogues, but is completely elusive.

Novel LTBP3 mutations associated with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections

Background Thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) is a hidden-onset but life-threatening disorder with high clinical variability and genetic heterogeneity. In recent years, an increasing number of genes have been identified to be related to TAAD. However, some genes remain uncertain because of limited case reports and/or functional studies. LTBP3 was such an ambiguous gene that was previously known for dental and skeletal dysplasia and then noted to be associated with TAAD. More research on individuals or families harboring variants in this gene would be helpful to obtain full knowledge of the disease and clarify its association with TAAD. Methods A total of 266 TAAD probands with no causative mutations in known genes had been performed wholeexome sequencing (WES) to identify potentially pathogenic variants. In this study, rare LTBP3 variants were the focus of analysis. Results Two compound heterozygous mutations, c.625dup (p.Leu209fs) and c.1965del (p.Arg656fs), in LTBP3 were identified in a TAAD patient along with short stature and dental problems, which was the first TAAD case with biallelic LTBP3 null mutations in an Asian population. Additionally, several rare heterozygous LTBP3 variants were also detected in other sporadic TAAD patients. Conclusion The identification of LTBP3 mutations in TAAD patients in our study provided more clinical evidence to support its association with TAAD, which broadens the gene spectrum of LTBP3. LTBP3 should be considered to be incorporated into the routine genetic analysis of heritable aortopathy, which might help to fully understand its phenotypic spectrum and improve the diagnostic rate of TAAD.

Estimating Activity Coefficients of Target Components in Poorly Specified Mixtures with NMR Spectroscopy and COSMO-RS

Poorly specified mixtures are common in process engineering, especially in bioprocess engineering. The properties of such mixtures of unknown composition cannot be described using conventional thermodynamic models. The NEAT method, which has recently been developed in our group, enables the calculation of activity coefficients of known target components in such poorly specified mixtures. In NEAT, the group composition of the mixture is determined by NMR spectroscopy and a thermodynamic group contribution method is used for calculating the activity coefficients. In all previous studies with NEAT, the UNIFAC group contribution method was used. In the present work, we demonstrate that NEAT can also be applied with another important method for predicting activity coefficients: COSMO-RS. COSMO-RS (OL) developed in Oldenburg together with its group contribution version GC-COSMO-RS (OL) is used here. The new version of NEAT was successfully tested. For a variety of aqueous mixtures excellent agreement of the NEAT predictions, for which only information on the target component was used, with results that were obtained using the full knowledge on the composition of the mixture was found. The results demonstrate the generic nature of the idea of NEAT and the broad applicability of the method.

Learning World Religions and Belief Systems in the Context of Senior High School Students in a Philippine Schools Division

Utilizing a quantitative approach in research with descriptive-correlational design and through a survey and test instruments, this study determined the attitudes of Grade 12 students of selected senior high schools in Nueva Vizcaya toward religion and the level of their knowledge about the basic tenets, historical contexts, and core teachings of the eight (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Shintoism) world major religions. Findings showed that the Grade 12 students had positive and favorable attitudes toward religion. However, the students generally lacked full knowledge or mastery of the basic tenets, historical contexts and core teachings of the eight world major religions. Finally, the study found out that the attitudes of students toward religion did not affect or influence students’ academic performance in the Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems subject.

Recovering multiple fractional orders in time-fractional diffusion in an unknown medium

In this work, we investigate an inverse problem of recovering multiple orders in a time-fractional diffusion model from the data observed at one single point on the boundary. We prove the unique recovery of the orders together with their weights, which does not require a full knowledge of the domain or medium properties, e.g. diffusion and potential coefficients, initial condition and source in the model. The proof is based on Laplace transform and asymptotic expansion. Furthermore, inspired by the analysis, we propose a numerical procedure for recovering these parameters based on a nonlinear least-squares fitting with either fractional polynomials or rational approximations as the model function, and provide numerical experiments to illustrate the approach for small time t .

Rhabdomyolysis Following Administration of Comirnaty®

Introduction: Vaccination against COVID-19 is essential to control the pandemic. The vaccines developed so far have good safety profiles but full knowledge of adverse effects will only be acquired with time and through case reports. Case Description: We present the case of a man admitted with rhabdomyolysis 3 days after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine Comirnaty® Other traumatic, infectious, endocrine, electrolyte disturbance and autoimmune causes of rhabdomyolysis were excluded. The temporal relationship between vaccine administration and disease onset indicated possible causality. The patient had a favourable evolution after receiving fluids and completely recovered. To our knowledge, there have been only 69 reports of rhabdomyolysis following Comirnaty® administration in Europe, as stated by the European Medicines Agency, and this is the first case report in Portugal. Discussion: When a patient presents with rhabdomyolysis without an obvious traumatic or exertional cause, other aetiologies need to be excluded. Drug use is one of the most common causes of rhabdomyolysis in adults. Conclusion: We present a case compatible with an adverse effect of Comirnaty® in order to raise awareness of this condition in vaccinated patients.

Meaning as Motivator to Address Distancing in the Food System

Distancing in the food system prevents people from having full knowledge and making informed choices about what and how they produce, exchange, prepare, and eat food. This becomes problematic when the dominant industrial food system contributes to myriad negative human health, ecological, and social outcomes. This paper reports on findings from a study that aimed to better understand distancing from the perspectives of people engaged in resisting it, focusing on their motivations for action to inform policy approaches to improve food system health. The research, conducted in India and Canada, comprised participant observation with organizations working to connect the production and consumption of food, as well as interviews with activists, consumers, and farmers involved with those organizations. These food system actors were motivated primarily by a conviction that food is important, which was illustrated by meaningful relationships built and maintained through food, by soulful connections with food, and by a sense that everything – including food – is interconnected. The findings identify connection around food as a source of meaning in life. From meaning comes awareness of broader issues, a sense of value and care, and ultimately motivation for action or change. This could have implications for healthy food system governance if frameworks such as determinants of health and healthy food environments are used to inform healthy public policies that cultivate a sense of meaning and awareness of the intrinsic value embedded in food.

Analysis methods and quality criteria for investigating muscle physiology using x-ray diffraction

X-ray diffraction studies of muscle have been tremendously powerful in providing fundamental insights into the structures of, for example, the myosin and actin filaments in a variety of muscles and the physiology of the cross-bridge mechanism during the contractile cycle. However, interpretation of x-ray diffraction patterns is far from trivial, and if modeling of the observed diffraction intensities is required it needs to be performed carefully with full knowledge of the possible pitfalls. Here, we discuss (1) how x-ray diffraction can be used as a tool to monitor various specific muscle properties and (2) how to get the most out of the rest of the observed muscle x-ray diffraction patterns by modeling where the reliability of the modeling conclusions can be objectively tested. In other x-ray diffraction methods, such as protein crystallography, the reliability of every step of the process is estimated and quoted in published papers. In this way, the quality of the structure determination can be properly assessed. To be honest with ourselves in the muscle field, we need to do as near to the same as we can, within the limitations of the techniques that we are using. We discuss how this can be done. We also use test cases to reveal the dos and don’ts of using x-ray diffraction to study muscle physiology.

An Opuscule on Method, or how Philosophers Mark out Textually their Methodological Stance (a Text Following up a Text)

The present paper is a practical supplement to an earlier theoretical work by the author, published in a preceding issue, on methodological foundations of the European philosophizing in the aspect of sophical synthesis. Building upon understanding of general philosophical methodologies (methodological attitudes) and their ‘epochal’ implementations as presented there, the author makes use of a cross-cutting example, to show ‘zones of responsibility’ and onto-gnoseo-epistemological limits for every mentioned ‘way towards the thing.’ Six marker packages (by the number of methodologies and variants of sophical viz. life-knowledge synthesis) should be of special professional interest as proposed by the author to identify methodological attitudes and ‘edge’ cases ranging from Antiquity to nowadays. Validity of each and all of these packages has been illustrated with proper textual material, i. e. fragments from essays by renowned European philosophers.In § 1, the naturalistic methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the proper vital aspect of sophical synthesis; its characteristic reliance on experience, fact, belief, opinion, and authority, and thereby on the rhetorical aspect of philosophizing, is explained.In § 2, the phenomenological methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the proper knowledge aspect of sophical synthesis; its characteristic reliance on knowledge and sense beyond any non-essential per se factual ways things are given, is explained.In § 3, the transcendental methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life by means of knowledge in the aspect of logos of the logos per se; its characteristic reliance on sense being a sense in the making, and on fact as the bearer of a sense, with their integration in a common logical-conceptual thing structure, is explained.In § 4, the dialectic methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life by means of knowledge in the aspect of logos of the eidos; its characteristic reliance on intelligent thing as a unit of sense and a product of senseful self-development wherein not only the thing is posited, but the entire otherness as defined by it as well, is explained.In § 5, the mythological methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life in the aspect of their integral arrangement as vivid mind; its characteristic reliance on intelligent thing as a real and self-evident in its unicity live being, is explained.In § 6, the hermeneutical (= onomatological and overall symbolic) methodological attitude, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life in the aspect of its naming as an intelligent expression of thing for the other; its characteristic reliance on the name and text as a full expression of sense and a full knowledge of fact being revealed in the truth of thing, is explained.