Employees’ information security policy (ISP) related behaviors have been paid attention by previous studies in the past decades. Among different factors that are influential on employees’ ISP behaviors, different leadership styles have been tested under the information security context; however, as one leadership style that is highly related to employees’ positive organization behaviors, the role of ethical leadership has been largely overlooked under the information security context. In addition, most research in the past decades overly focused on employees’ performance on ISP in-role behaviors, including ISP compliance and violation behaviors, where extra-role behaviors – security behaviors that are beneficial to an organization’s information security protection but not required by the organization – have long been overlooked as well. Therefore, this primary focus of this research is to test the role of ethical leadership in influencing employees’ ISP-related behaviors, including both in-role and extra-role behaviors through the mediation mechanism of the theory of planned behavior. To test the 11 hypotheses in this research model, I conducted two studies using different methods following McGrath (1982)’s suggestion, including a survey-based experiment and a cross-sectional survey. Both studies were conducted using a two-phase study design, including a preliminary investigation and main investigation. The findings of this research showed positive influences of ethical leadership on both ISP in-role and extra-role behaviors directly and indirectly through three mediators, including subjective norm about security behavior, behavioral control over security behavior, and attitude toward security behavior. Furthermore, the findings suggested attitude toward security behavior did not significantly influence ISP extra-role behavior. This research contributed to research streams of information security, ethical leadership, and theory of planned behavior, and provided managerial suggestions to organizations by showing how the ethical leadership influences employees’ two information security behaviors and the paths of improving employees’ information security performances in the organization.

Denna studie handlar om diagnosens betydelse för att få ta del av stödinsatser i skolans verksamhet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur lärare, specialpedagoger och rektorer uppfattar diagnosens betydelse för att få tillgång till skolverksamhetens stödinsatser. Problemformuleringen som studien utgick ifrån var att alla elever har rätt till utbildning utifrån sina egna förutsättningar enligt skollagen, vilket innebär att skolpersonal bör bemöta elever genom att skapa relationer och få en förståelse utifrån deras behov av anpassningar och stöd (SFS:2010:800). Den diskrepans som föreligger i dagens skolverksamheter är att elever riskerar att inte få rätt stöd i sin undervisning och utveckling såvida inte en diagnos ligger till grund för det givna stödet (Isaksson 2009). Problemet har utretts genom en kvalitativ forskningsansats där lärare, specialpedagoger och rektorer har intervjuats med semistrukturerade frågor. Resultatet har analyserats utifrån de tre specialpedagogiska perspektiven: det kategoriska perspektivet, det relationella perspektivet och dilemmaperspektivet, samt även utifrån den snäva och vida verksamheten (Persson, 2019; Nilholm, 2021; Karlsudd, 2021). Studiens resultat visar att samtliga respondenter upplever att skolverksamheten strävar efter att ge det stöd som eleven behöver och att elevens stödinsatser inte behöver vara kopplade till en diagnos, utan att det är elevens behov som styr. Dock är upplevelsen att diagnosen kan ge bättre möjlighet för eleven att uppnå styrdokumentens intentioner med tanke på vetskapen om vilka stödbehov eleven har. Lärare, specialpedagoger och rektorer uppfattar diagnosen och dess betydelse som ett dilemma då normen för det normala tycks ha smalnat av och leder till en ökning av diagnoser.

From the very outset of the EU data protection legislation, and hence from the 1995 Directive, international data transfer has been subject to strict requirements aimed at ensuring that protection travels with data. Although these rules have been widely criticized for their inability to deal with the complexity of modern international transactions, the GDPR has essentially inherited the same architecture of the Directive together with its structural limitations. This research aims to highlight the main weaknesses of the EU data export restrictions and identify what steps should be taken to enable a free, yet safe, data flow. This research first places EU data transfer rules in the broader debate about the challenges that the un-territorial cyberspace poses to States’ capabilities to exert their control over data. It then delves into the territorial scope of the GDPR to understand how far it goes in protecting data beyond the EU borders. The objectives underpinning data export restrictions (i.e., avoiding the circumvention of EU standards and protecting data from foreign public authorities) and their limitations in achieving such objectives are then identified. Lastly, three possible “solutions” for enabling data flow are tested. Firstly, it is shown that the adoption by an increasing number of non-EEA countries of GDPR-like laws and the implementation by many companies of GDPR-compliant policies is more likely to boost international data flow than internationally agreed standards. Secondly, the role that Article 3 GDPR may play in making data transfer rules “superfluous” is analysed, as well as the need to complement the direct applicability of the GDPR with cross-border cooperation between EU and non-EU regulators. Thirdly, the study finds that the principle of accountability, as an instrument of data governance, may boost international data flow by pushing most of the burden for ensuring GDPR compliance on organizations and away from resource-constrained regulators.

The aim of this study was to examine how teachers work with subject-specific concepts in fourth grade social science classes, what challenges they meet, what methods they use and what additional adjustments they make for students with language difficulties. We conducted semi-structured interviews with four primary school teachers and observed twelve lessons in total. Results show that the teachers in general pay attention to subject-specific concepts in the lesson planning. However, also discrepancies were shown between teachers’ acknowledgement of the importance of subject-specific concepts and the actual work with it. Overall, teachers made use of a variety of methods, such as reading aloud, pair and group work, visualisations and pictures as well as feedback and repetition. Main challenges were the substantial differences in pupils’ background knowledge and reading skills as well as an increased subject knowledge and skill expectations in grade 4 – all in relation to experienced time pressure. Additional adjustments for pupils with language difficulties took place on a general level, i.e. were rather carried out as routinised teaching methods for all pupils than adjustments for individual ones. These were e.g. clear visualisations of lesson plans and goals, using a smart board, group and pair work and modelling. The results suggest that teachers are aware of the importance of subject-specific concepts, and that these can be an obstacle to learning, particularly for pupils with language difficulties. However, more knowledge and professional support in form of specialist teacher consultation are needed to be able to cope with the multiple subject- and language-related challenges in the classroom, and in order to offer best support for every pupil.

The purposes of this study are: (1) to determine the popularity of extra-curricular organizations existing in the school as a means of indicating the successful and the unsuccessful groups in the school, (2) to establish the relationships of certain factors to the popularity of the activities so that efforts may be made to improve less successful activities, (3) to discover the extent and the popularity of social activities provided by the city of Cleburne, Texas, for the high school students in order that administrators of the school may have more insight into the extent of the need of high school students for social activities sponsored by the school.

In 1995, Ghana’s education policymakers imposed a ban on all extra classes initiated and organized on school premises and public buildings, by individual teachers or groups of teachers, for which students were charged extra fees. The ban is referred to as the “policy on extra classes.” This study examined the genesis and justification of the said policy, including the current phenomenon of extra classes in Ghana. The study analyzed the policy’s impact on secondary education in the country, particularly Northern Ghana, using the lens of education stratification in a qualitative interpretive policy analysis approach. Interviews of leading Ghana education officials conducted in 2010 were the predominant source of data in this research, with corroboration from analysis of policy texts and review of the media. The conclusions and recommendations that emerged from this study included: accountability, the responsible use of school time and instructional time, and education equity and adequacy. Other issues concerned social justice, teacher remuneration and motivation, and the need for equitable national education policies that reckon with the disparities in the country. In particular, this study took issue with the culture of nonimplementation of education policies in Ghana, with particular reference to the policy on extra classes. The study contended that the partial or non-implementation of education policies deepens education stratification in the country.

Yes / Cell behavior in terms of adhesion, orientation and guidance, on extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules including collagen, fibronectin and laminin can be examined using micro contact printing (MCP). These cell adhesion proteins can direct cellular adhesion, migration, differentiation and network formation in-vitro. This study investigates the effect of microcontact printed ECM protein, namely fibronectin, on alignment and morphology of HeLa cells cultured in-vitro. Fibronectin was stamped on plain glass cover slips to create patterns of 25μm, 50μm and 100μm width. However, HeLa cells seeded on 50μm induced the best alignment on fibronectin pattern (7.66° ±1.55SD). As a consequence of this, 50μm wide fibronectin pattern was used to see how fibronectin induced cell guidance of HeLa cells was influenced by 100μs and single pulse electric fields (PEF) of 1kV/cm. The results indicates that cells aligned more under pulse electric field exposure (2.33° ±1.52SD) on fibronectin pattern substrate. Thus, PEF usage on biological cells would appear to enhance cell surface attachment and cell guidance. Understanding this further may have applications in enhancing tissue graft generation and potentially wound repair. / Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and UTHM Tier 1 Research Grant (U865)

Yes / Objective: To better understand the pathogenesis of DISH, identifying early or pre-DISH lesions in the spine and investigating the relationship between spinal and extra-spinal manifestations of DISH. Material: 44 skeletonized individuals with DISH from the WM Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. Methods: For each vertebra, location, extension, point of origin and appearance of vertebral outgrowths were recorded. The size of the enthesophytes at the olecranon process, patella and calcaneal tuberosity was measured with digital callipers. Results: At either end of the DISH-ankylosed segment, isolated vertical outgrowths arising from the central third of the anterior aspect of the vertebral body can usually be observed. These bone outgrowths show a well-organized external cortical layer, an internal structure of trabecular bone and usually are unaccompanied by or show minimal associated endplate degeneration. Analysis of the relationship between spinal and extra-spinal manifestations (ESM) suggests great inter-individual variability. No correlation between any ESM and the stage of spinal DISH was found. Conclusions: Small isolated outgrowths represent the earliest stages of the spinal manifestations of DISH. The use of ESM as an indicator of DISH should be undertaken with great caution until the relationship between these two features is understood. Significance: Improved accuracy of paleopathological diagnostic criteria of DISH. Limitations: Small sample comprised of only individuals with DISH. Future research: micro-CT analysis to investigate the internal structure of the spinal lesions. Analysis of extra-spinal enthesophytes in individuals with and without DISH to understand their pathogenesis and association with the spinal lesions in individuals with DISH. / Institute of Life Sciences Research Studentship awarded by the University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes a wide range of diseases in chickens called colibacillosis, resulting a substantial economic loss to the poultry industry. This dissertation aims at addressing this disease by exploring key virulence-associated genes (VAGs), swarming motility (SM), and multi-locus sequence types (MLST) of E. coli isolates obtained from colibacillosis-infected or asymptomatic commercial hens. Secondly, by classifying the E. coli isolates into different virulence categories based on the presence of five key VAGs [iroN, ompT, hlyF, iutA, and iss]. Finally, by performing embryo lethality assays and experimental infection studies to establish the effect of these VAGs. Our findings showed a significantly higher proportion of E. coli isolates obtained from colibacillosis lesions possessed the ompT gene compared to the isolates of asymptomatic commercial hens. A trend of a higher occurrence of the iutA gene was also observed in the isolates of colibacillosis cases. Based on the presence of all five VAGs, we categorized 87.5% of the isolates obtained from colibacillosis lesions into the virulent category and 64.71% of the isolates obtained from asymptomatic commercial hens into the avirulent category. During the embryo lethality assay, we found an interaction effect of virulence categories and SM on embryo mortality. Motile and hyper-motile isolates of virulent and moderately virulent categories caused significantly higher embryo mortality than the non-motile isolates of the same categories. Isolates of the avirulent category significantly reduced the relative embryo weight of the remaining live embryos. The MLST of the isolates did not have any influence on embryo lethality, or relative embryo weight. Yolk sac retention of the remaining live embryo was unaffected by virulence category, MLST, and SM of the isolates. During the experimental infection studies, we observed higher mortality and lesion scores in layer chicks inoculated intratracheally by virulent isolates compared to avirulent isolates. These two classes of isolates also had a different colonization pattern in the extra-intestinal tissues. The avirulent isolates preferably colonized deeper respiratory tracts such as airsacs whereas, the virulent isolates colonized systemic organs such as the liver. Overall, we expect this dissertation will establish the contribution of five key VAGs on embryo and chick mortality, lesion development, and colonization pattern of E. coli isolates. These findings will facilitate the selection of VAGs for field diagnosis of APEC.

No / Several bridges failed because of scouring and erosion around the bridge elements. Hence, precise prediction of abutment scour is necessary for the safe design of bridges. In this research, experimental and computational investigations have been devoted based on 45 flume experiments carried out at the NIT Warangal, India. Three innovative ensemblebased data intelligence paradigms, namely categorical boosting (CatBoost) in conjunction with extra tree regression (ETR) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN), are used to accurately predict the scour depth around the bridge abutment. A total of 308 series of laboratory data (a wide range of existing abutment scour depth datasets (263 datasets) and 45 flume data) in various sediment and hydraulic conditions were used to develop the models. Four dimensionless variables were used to calculate scour depth: approach densimetric Froude number (Fd50), the upstream depth (y) to abutment transverse length ratio (y/L), the abutment transverse length to the sediment mean diameter (L/d50), and the mean velocity to the critical velocity ratio (V/Vcr). The Gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) method selected features with higher importance. Based on the feature selection results, two combinations of input variables (comb1 (all variables as model input) and comb2 (all variables except Fd50)) were used. The CatBoost model with Comb1 data input (RMSE = 0.1784, R = 0.9685, MAPE = 10.4724) provided better accuracy when compared to other machine learning models.