Major Organizations Research Articles

839 A Retrospective, Multi-National, Longitudinal Study for Quantitative Analysis of Gender Distribution of Speakers at Major Neurosurgical Conferences

Abstract Aim To explore gender distribution of invited lecturers and panel speakers at major international neurosurgical conferences and investigate this as a potential contributor to lack of female representation in neurosurgery, known as a significant workforce problem, worldwide. Method We retrospectively analysed annual meetings organised by 4 major neurosurgical organisations between January 2016 and December 2021. Male and female faculty were academically stratified according to mean publications, citations, and H-index. A manel was defined as a session with 2 or more speakers, all of whom are men. Sex was determined by specific speaker title in conference program, online autobiography, or Gender Balance Assessment Tool (GBAT). Results Of the 21 conferences hosted by 4 major international neurosurgical societies/organisations analysed there were 5883 speakers, of which 10.93% (n = 643) were female. Of 885 panel sessions, 534 (60.34%) were manels. There were statistically significant changes between online and in-person conferences (45.45% (n = 60) manels online vs 62.95% (n = 474) manels in-person; p<0.05). Male invited lecturers had significantly higher mean H-index than female invited lecturers (male = 34.88, female = 18.95; p<0.05). There was a significant reduction in the proportion of manels over time (67.35% in 2016 vs 39.83% in 2021; p<0.05). Conclusions Despite encouraging findings that manels are becoming less prevalent in major neurosurgical meetings, they continue to comprise the majority, while female representation remains poor. This study hopes to highlight the need for greater gender diversity and female representation in neurosurgery.

Recommendations for SARS-CoV-2 testing and organ procurement from deceased donors in the Republic of Korea.

We present a summary of the evidence on testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and organ procurement from deceased donors and provide recommendations based on current clinical data and the guidelines from major transplant organizations. Because of the limited historical experience with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), certain recommendations in this document are based on theoretical rationales rather than clinical data. The recommendations in this manuscript may be subject to revision as subsequent clinical studies provide definitive evidence regarding COVID-19 in organ procurement.

Comparative Analysis of the European Centralised Public Procurement

Abstract When analysing centralised public procurement models and solutions from the public administration point of view, attention needs to be paid to the specific features of public procurement as well as the institutional characteristics of the major central procurement organisations. In this paper, central procurement organisations in 11 European countries were compared based on interviews according to their activities, market positions and institutional characteristics. We shall address the issue of efficiency and stability of organisational structures by comparing the practice of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) and non-CEE European Countries. This comparison analyses the differences of the countries’ centralised public procurement structures and reveals the diversity of analytic criteria, underlining that the legal regulatory background to public procurement is not necessarily predominant in determining specific features and characteristics. The stability and market-oriented characteristics of a centralised public procurement system have an impact on the innovativeness of central purchasing bodies (CPBs) and on the development of their service provider nature, which should be taken into account by the CEE countries with a less-developed public procurement culture.

UTI in Primary Care: Are we Prescribing Too Much?

Objectives: The aim of this article were to review usefulness of early clinical detection of UTI without lab tests as diagnostic tool for UTI in primary care and to describe when to start antibiotic treatment for management of UTI according to international guidelines. The emphasis of this review is uncomplicated UTI. Methods: A search was conducted on PubMed and official webpages of major urological, infectious diseases and general practice organisations to identify peer reviewed original articles and reviews, using the search terms ‘UTI’. I considered only papers written in English, with emphasis on more recent articles published up to July 2023. Results: There is a variation in recommendations between guidelines can be a source of confusion and controversy for clinicians in primary care. However, early detection and treatment, education of patients and removal of risk factors may reduce the number of symptomatic episodes, antibiotics usage and antimicrobial resistance in primary care. Conclusion: The diagnosis of acute uncomplicated cystitis in healthy women can be made with reasonable certainty by evaluation of symptoms and signs without a doctor’s visit or urine tests. Individualised assessment of risk factors and previous clinical history is needed to choose the most suitable antimicrobial treatment. Immediate antimicrobial therapy with Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (160/800 mg twice daily for 3 days), Nitrofurantoin (100 mg twice daily for 5-7 days), or Fosfomycin (3g in a single dose) is indicated for acute cystitis in adult women. However, local guidelines advice that immediate antibiotic treatment was not considered necessary for women with uncomplicated lower UTI. Antimicrobial resistance have complicated treatment of UTI worldwide.

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF SLOVAKIA IN THE CONDITIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

In this article author deals with the respective periods of foreign policy upon direction changes. This covers three main streams, the establishment period of the independent Slovak foreign policy and the inclusion of the Slovak Republic among untrustworthy partners, then later the period of gaining credibility abroad and progress that led to Slovakia's accession to Euro-Atlantic structures. The primary purpose was to analyze the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic under the influence of globalization processes since its establishment until the forming of the second government of Robert Fico. Author has firstly defined the concept of globalization based on the scientific literature. Consequently, author raises an issue whether this process has a further impact on the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic. It is an undisputable that Slovakia has become a part of the globalized world, since it became part of the international structures and hence globalization affects all aspects of life in the country and even in the foreign policy. Not only the work of foreign service and politicians but the country's foreign policy priorities have adjusted to this fact as well. This stemmed in creation of readable, value-based, active and responsible foreign policy that has strengthened the position of the Slovak Republic on the world stage. Despite the initial failure of foreign policy until the year 1998, the negative trend was reversed after the change of government by Mikulas Dzurinda and since then Slovak foreign service is continuously successful. He significantly influenced and created an environment of world politics. Author presents current global threats and challenges that should play crucial role within the foreign policy. This includes questions of international terrorism, failing nations, global poverty, global epidemics and climate changes. Slovak Republic as a mature democracy and a member country of major international organizations must be involved in solving these problems, because in today's globalized world it is not enough just to maintain the nation’s position but each nation must have an interest and intention to further strengthen its position.

PARADIGM CHANGE OF "MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS" DUE TO THE REMOTE WORKING CONDITIONS CAUSED BY THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC

Paata Aroshidze 
 E-mail: aroshidze.paata@bsu.edu.ge
 Associate Professor, Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University 
 Batumi, Georgia
 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5723-8261
 Abstract. The main challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis was the perfection of remote work, which lasted not a few days, but several months and even a year in some organizations. In this research, the main focus is not on legal entities under public law and the impact that remote work has brought, but on private structures as legal entities independently performing management functions.
 During the pandemic, the functioning of organizations underwent significant changes. Some organizations have remained on the market with limited functions, some have changed their profile, and some have completely disappeared from the business arena. Despite the fact that on May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization declared the end of the global health emergency related to the Covid-19 pandemic, obviously, the changes caused by the pandemic in the new understanding of paradigms of "management functions" have not yet been analyzed.
 The paper examines the impact of forced remote work on "management functions". Organizations of various directions, which were forced to switch to remote work during the pandemic, were included in the research.
 The in-depth interview method was adopted as the research methodology. The majority of organizations have more or less preserved their organizational structure and managerial hierarchy, although it was not uncommon to optimize stuff. The goal of structural optimization was mainly to reduce costs, not to improve the communication process and to better perform the duties assigned to a small number of employees. According to Geostat (National Statistical Service of Georgia), the number of employees during the pandemic period (2020-2022) decreased the most in the industry sector (141.3 thousand - 137.2 thousand), in the field of accommodation and food supply (36 thousand - 33.4 thousand), arts, entertainment and recreation field. These are the areas that suffered the most from the so-called "Lockdown" process. The first period of remote work for the Horeca sector turned out to be relatively easy because, due to seasonality, the number of employees was already reduced to a minimum. As a result of analyzing the data, it was determined that in the conditions of remote work, the function of leadership and control decreased the most. Also, the motivation of remotely working employees decreased, which resulted from the reduction of the control function. It turned out to be quite difficult to maintain the leadership function and implement it perfectly. The number of employees involved in the planning and decision-making process has also decreased.
 As can be seen from the table, remote work had less impact on the planning function since most of the research organizations make their planning only involving upper management levels, and lower management levels are less involved in this process. In many cases, employees in non-managerial positions do not know the overall plan of their company and do not understand the mission and vision. Such an approach contributed to the fact that the work performed outside the place of employment has affected lees on the management function of planning.

Seek and Ye Shall Find: An Empirical Examination of the Effects of Seeking Real-Time Feedback on Employee Performance Evaluations

This research delves into the impact of real-time feedback applications on the engagement of employees with performance evaluation programs. The study focuses on feedback-seeking behavior and rating, which have been neglected in previous literature. The research analyzes nearly 11,000 feedback instances from employees at four major organizations to examine how seeking and rating feedback affects in-kind evaluations. The results indicate that seeking feedback can enhance constructive communication among colleagues. Feedback seekers receive lower feedback scores but are more likely to receive longer and more subjective comments. Feedback givers who choose to remain anonymous provide shorter comments or no comments to feedback seekers. The study also reveals that feedback seekers prioritize longer comments over high feedback scores when rating feedback. The study recommends that managers and organizations encourage feedback-seeking behavior to promote a culture of constructive feedback. When implementing feedback applications, it is important to prioritize creating an environment that fosters constructive feedback.

Even one voice: Teaching legislative advocacy as a core competency in family medicine.

Credentialing bodies increasingly focus on advocacy as a competency to be developed by physicians during residency. The skills of advocacy are especially important with the increased attention on social determinants of health, as restrictive state and federal health policy decisions gain widespread attention in the national news media. This movement is reflected in the ACGME's recently revised statement on the training mission of family medicine residencies with the most recent update of milestones, which identifies advocacy as a core competency. Additionally, the major family medicine organizations and governing bodies all similarly identify advocacy as an important professional responsibility for family physicians. Advocacy is a broad term that can be applied across a range of settings and scenarios. For the purposes of this paper we focus primarily on legislative advocacy as a specific area for growing curricular emphasis in family medicine residency programs.

DrByron J. Bailey: The Life and Legacy of an Educator, Humanitarian, and Leader.

DrByron J. Bailey, a preeminent figure in the field of Otolaryngology, exemplified an unwavering commitment to patient care, resident education, research excellence, and humanitarian endeavors throughout his illustrious career. Born in 1934, DrBailey played a pivotal role in the growth and success of the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. A dedicated educator and researcher, he authored groundbreaking research and the seminal textbook, Bailey's Head and Neck Surgery-Otolaryngology. His leadership in major organizations and commitment to research integrity and quality are hallmarks of his career. DrBailey's philanthropic pursuits include improving Otolaryngology care and access in Vietnam and Cuba, and local community efforts in Galveston, Texas. His enduring legacy continues to inspire future generations of Otolaryngologists, serving as a testament to the power of perseverance and dedication to excellence in the pursuit of medical education.

Corporate Governance on Financial Performance: Evidence from Listed Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka

Corporate governance is a widely accepted governing mechanism that is followed by a majority of organizations believing that it would help to improve the financial performance of the organization. Based on this scenario, this study examines the impact of corporate governance on the financial performance of listed commercial banks in Sri Lanka. Financial performance has been considered as the dependent variable while return on assets and return on equity have been considered as the proxies for the dependent variable. Corporate governance has been considered as the independent variable while board size, board balance, female directors, board meetings, and board ownership have been considered as the proxies to measure the independent variable. A deductive approach has been employed using secondary data which is obtained from listed commercial banks in Sri Lanka. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation and panel data regression have been used for the analysis purpose. The results of the Pearson correlation revealed that board size has a positive correlation with banks’ financial performance while female directors show a negative relationship with banks’ financial performance. Panel data analysis recommended the random effect model as the best-fitted model for ROA and ROE. The result of the Robust specification test at a 95% significant level confirmed that, in panel A for ROA, only the number of executive directors shows a significant relationship while in panel B for ROE, both independent variables of a number of executive directors and board ownership show a significant relationship. The empirical findings of this study are helpful for any individual, institutional decision-makers, managers, academics, and any other parties who are interested in corporate governance.

A Proactive Approach to Addressing Security Challenges in Cloud Migration

In today's digital landscape, organizations are increasingly migrating their operations to the cloud. However, during this shift comes the crucial need for robust security measures. This paper explores the major security challenges organizations face during cloud migration and proposes an effective strategy to mitigate these risks. By building upon existing research, the paper identifies key security challenges and focuses on a proactive approach to address them. The paper delves into the fundamental principles of cloud security, emphasizing the shared responsibility model and the importance of encryption, access controls, identity management, and cloud governance. It highlights the specific security issues encountered during cloud migration. To address these challenges, it advocates for the application of threat modeling—a systematic approach to identify and evaluate potential threats, vulnerabilities, and risks. The benefits of threat modeling include early risk identification, risk prioritization, a security-by-design approach, alignment with standards and best practices, and ongoing security assurance. Practical guidance on implementing threat modeling for a secure cloud migration is provided particularly based on the Microsoft threat modelling approach by identifying and prioritizing potential security threats, implementing effective controls, and validating their effectiveness. Keyword: Proactive Approach, Security Challenges, Cloud Migration, Security, Risks, Models Proceedings Citation Format Njoku, J. (2023): A Proactive Approach to Addressing Security Challenges in Cloud Migration. Proceedings of the Cyber Secure Nigeria Conference. Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) Abuja, Nigeria. 11-12th July, 2023. Pp 89-96. https://www.csean.org.ng/. dx.doi.org/10.22624/AIMS/CSEAN-SMART2023P11

Paradigm Shift in Medicine: Integrating Naturopathic Care in the Treatment of Chronic Disease: Want to follow best practices in chronic disease treatment? Look to naturopathic physicians.

The current healthcare system too often relies on prescription drugs, leading to increased opioid use and addiction, despite major medical organizations recommending non-drug approaches as the primary treatment in many conditions. The importance of lifestyle changes to achieving whole-person health is increasingly recognized. Nature-based medicine, as routinely practiced by naturopathic physicians provide a valuable and noteworthy alternative approach featuring lifestyle intervention to chronic pain and disease management. These physicians undergo extensive training in holistic models of care and apply a systematic approach called the Therapeutic Order, which focuses on addressing the underlying cause of symptoms and using the least force necessary for treatment. Improved outcomes are realized with multifactorial personalized treatment plans including lifestyle, nutrition, stress management, and physical activity. Integrative medicine is on the rise and we support the shift to the inclusion of a patient-centered approach in the management of chronic pain and disease. Nothing in the practice of natural, holistic medicine precludes respect for science, and the reliance on evidence. Rather, medicine is at its best when practice can draw from the best offerings of all pertinent fields.

Global Salvation Inc.: Sir Michael Barber’s education for the apocalypse and the church of Deliverology®

ABSTRACT Drawing on insights from philosophy and theology, we explore the relationship between religion, data and global education policy through an analysis of the career of Sir Michael Barber, widely regarded as an authority on the reform of public services and an influential policy entrepreneur. The analysis provides a novel perspective which illuminates how secularised salvation narratives and apocalyptic symbolism have become more prominent in his work as he rose to become a global actor. The story is entwined with the turn towards New Public Management (NPM) in education, the rise of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs), and the transition from speculative faith to salvation through the ‘science of delivery’. We follow Barber's role in formalising the faith as a secular political theology, and promoting it globally through Delivery Units and the management doctrine of Deliverology®. The analysis closes by reflecting on the practical implications of the movement, which is now woven into the institutional ideologies and reform strategies of major international organisations, agencies and corporations as part of a wider shift towards New Global Management (NGM) in global education governance.

A narrative review of methods for the identification of ALK fusions in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma.

This narrative review is intended to provide pragmatic knowledge of current methods for the search of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusions in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). This information is very timely, because a recent survey has identified that almost 50% of patients with advanced NSCLC were not candidates for targeted therapies because of biomarker testing issues. PubMed was searched from January 1st, 2012 to February 28th, 2023 using the following keywords: "ALK" and "lung", including reviews and our own work. Testing rates have not reached 85% among patients' candidates to ALK inhibition. The advantages and disadvantages of the different analytical options [immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), real-time polymerase chain reaction and next-generation sequencing (NGS)] are discussed. The key factor for success in ALK testing is a deep understanding of the concept of "molecular redundancy". This notion has been recommended and endorsed by all the major professional organizations in the field and can be summarized as follows: "laboratories should ensure that test results that are unexpected, discordant, equivocal, or otherwise of low confidence are confirmed or resolved using an alternative method or sample". In-depth knowledge of the different ALK testing methodologies can help clinical and molecular tumor boards implement and maintain sensible algorithms for a rapid and effective detection of predictive biomarkers in patients with NSCLC. Multimodality testing has the potential to increase both the testing rate and the accuracy of ALK fusion identification.

High-throughput screening of multi-pesticide residues in animal-derived foods by QuEChERS-online gel permeation chromatography-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Improvements in living standards have led to an increase in the consumption of animal-derived foods. Pesticides may be used illegally during animal breeding as well as meat production and processing for pest control and preservation. Pesticides applied to crops may also be enriched in animal tissues through the food chain, thereby increasing the risk of pesticide residue accumulation in muscles and visceral tissues and endangering human health. China has stipulated maximum residue limits for pesticide residues in livestock and poultry meat and their viscera. Many other major developed countries and organizations, including the European Union, Codex Alimentarius Commission, and Japan, have also set maximum residue limits for these residues (0.005-10, 0.004-10, and 0.001-10 mg/kg, respectively). Research on pretreatment technologies for pesticide residue detection in plant-derived foods is widely available, but insufficient attention has been paid to animal-derived foods. Thus, high-throughput detection technologies for pesticide residues in animal-derived foods are limited. The impurities that can interfere with the detection process for plant-derived foods mainly include organic acids, polar pigments, and other small molecular compounds; by contrast, the matrix of animal-derived foods is much more complex. Macromolecular proteins, fats, small molecular amino acids, organic acids, and phospholipids can interfere with the detection of pesticide residues in animal-derived foods. Thus, selecting the appropriate pretreatment and purification technology is of great importance. In this study, the QuEChERS technique was combined with online gel permeation chromatography-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GPC-GC-MS/MS) to determine 196 pesticide residues in animal-derived foods. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile, purified using the QuEChERS technique coupled with online GPC, detected by GC-MS/MS, determined in multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM), and quantified using the external standard method. The effects of the extraction solvent and purification agent type on the extraction efficiency and matrix removal of the method were optimized. The purification effect of online GPC on the sample solution was investigated. The optimal distillate receiving time was obtained by studying the recoveries of the target substances and matrix effects over different distillate receiving periods to achieve the effective introduction of target substances and efficient matrix removal. Further, the advantages of the QuEChERS technique combined with online GPC were evaluated. The matrix effects of 196 pesticides were assessed; ten pesticide residues showed moderate matrix effects, while four pesticide residues showed strong matrix effects. A matrix-matched standard solution was used for quantification. The 196 pesticides showed good linearity in the range of 0.005-0.2 mg/L, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.996. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.002 and 0.005 mg/kg, respectively. The recoveries of 196 pesticides at spiked levels of 0.01, 0.05, and 0.20 mg/kg were 65.3%-126.2%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 0.7%-5.7%. The proposed method is rapid, accurate, and sensitive; thus, it is suitable for the high-throughput screening and detection of multiple pesticide residues in animal-derived foods.

Characterization of continuous experimentation in software engineering: Expressions, models, and strategies

Continuous Experimentation (CE) has become increasingly popular across industry and academic communities. Major software organizations use CE to increase their revenue by adding value to end-users, and researchers are investigating the CE adoption process and usage to expand its success. Given this rapid evolution, observing a shared understanding of CE definitions, processes, and experiment strategies is difficult, potentially jeopardizing new implementations and focused research efforts. To characterize CE from the perspective of its definitions, processes, and strategies for experimentation available in the technical literature and to evolve the understanding perspectives for “continuous experimentation” and “data-driven development” definitions. To select and analyze sources of information in the technical literature dealing with different aspects of continuous experimentation through a Literature Study using an ad hoc search improved with snowballing (backward and forward). Organize the findings into new perspectives for CE definitions, processes, and experiment strategies. It was possible to identify many different definitions, processes, and experimental strategies used to describe CE in the 72 analyzed empirical papers, making it difficult to decide on their combination to be applied in a real software development project. Therefore, it has been proposed to evolve the CE understanding perspective, to categorize its experiment strategies, and to offer a combined development process for CE combining parts of other processes. Besides, conjectural requirements have been identified, which can contribute to better differentiating requirements and hypotheses in the CE context. Likely, a better understanding of CE is still missing. It can contribute towards organizing a common taxonomy to facilitate the possible choices for the experiment strategies. Therefore, there is space for more investigations on its applicability and value in different categories of software systems, despite all the advancements of CE and its promotion in developing modern software systems.

Driving factors and decoupling analysis of natural gas consumption in major Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries.

Natural gas is regarded as the main transition energy under the carbon-neutral strategy and its main consumers are Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, accounting for 44.5% of world consumption in 2021. In order to investigate the effects of technology, industry, and regions on natural gas consumption, 12 major Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries from three different country groups were selected in this paper to explore the consumption change. Firstly, the Logarithmetic Mean Divisia Index model is adopted to find out the driving factors. Then, the Tapio model is used to consider the decoupling state between natural gas consumption and economic growth. The results can be concluded as follows: (a) From 2000 to 2020, the technological progress effect has the biggest values of -148.86, followed by the industrial structure effect and the regional scale effect, with values of - 37.04 and 29.42, respectively. (b) From the perspective of industry view, these three effects have the largest impact on the secondary industry, followed by the tertiary industry and primary industry; (c) the regional scale effect has a positive effect on most countries, and the industrial structure effect and the regional scale effect have a negative effect on most countries; (d) the decoupling state vary differently in countries with different groups. Therefore, we concluded two policy recommendations for nature gas reduction: (a) Technological innovation is the most effective way for reducing natural gas consumption; (b) Industrial structure optimization can help save natural gas consumption.

MiTFed: A Privacy Preserving Collaborative Network Attack Mitigation Framework Based on Federated Learning Using SDN and Blockchain

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks continue to grow at a rapid rate plaguing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and individuals in a stealthy way. Thus, intrusion detection systems (IDSs) must evolve to cope with these increasingly sophisticated and challenging security threats. Traditional IDSs are prone to zero-day attacks since they are usually signature-based detection systems. The recent advent of machine learning and deep learning (ML/DL) techniques can help strengthen these IDSs. However, the lack of up-to-date labeled training datasets makes these ML/DL based IDSs inefficient. The privacy nature of these datasets and widespread emergence of adversarial attacks make it difficult for major organizations to share their sensitive data. Federated Learning (FL) is gaining momentum from both academia and industry as a new sub-field of ML that aims to train a global statistical model across multiple distributed users, referred to as collaborators, without sharing their private data. Due to its privacy-preserving nature, FL has the potential to enable privacy-aware learning between a large number of collaborators. This paper presents a novel framework, called MiTFed, that allows multiple software defined networks (SDN) domains ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i.e.,$</tex-math></inline-formula> collaborators) to collaboratively build a global intrusion detection model without sharing their sensitive datasets. In particular, MiTFed consists of: (1) a novel distributed architecture that allows multiple SDN based domains to securely collaborate in order to cope with sophisticated security threats while preserving the privacy of each SDN domain; (2) a novel Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC) scheme to securely aggregate local model updates; and (3) a blockchain based scheme that uses Ethereum smart contracts to maintain the collaboration in a fully decentralized, trustworthy, flexible, and efficient manner. To the best of our knowledge, MiTFed is the first framework that leverages FL, blockchain and SDN technologies to mitigate the new emerging security threats in large scale. To evaluate MiTFed, we conduct several experiments using real-world network attacks; the experimental results using the well-known public network security dataset NSL-KDD show that MiTFed achieves efficiency and high accuracy in detecting the new emerging security threats in both binary and multi-class classification while preserving the privacy of collaborators, making it a promising framework to cope with the new emerging security threats in SDN.

Institutional Provision of Tariff and Non-Tariff Regulation of Cross-Border Trade

Introduction. The study is devoted to a comprehensive study of the global trade system in conditions of global economic instability, in particular, to the identification and analysis of the determinants of deepening its asymmetries in the regional perspective. The study contains a description of the peculiarities of the modern global trade system and regulatory regime, including tariff and non-tariff methods of regulating cross-border trade and key trends in its development.&#x0D; Aim and tasks. The purpose of the study is to diagnose the institutional provision of tariff and non-tariff regulation of cross-border trade in order to determine the presence or absence of asymmetries in the global trade system in the regional context.&#x0D; Results. The study identifies and systematizes fundamental features of the modern global trade system whose development has been directly or indirectly influenced by regional asymmetries. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of the major international economic organizations as the main regulators of the cross-border trade process, and to the study of the impact of the use of tariff and non-tariff import and export regulatory tools on cross-border trade asymmetries. The world trading system is divided by country and individual customs territory, depending on whether it belongs to a certain geographical area or to a group of countries with a certain level of economic development.&#x0D; Conclusions. Although the expansion of global trade has visually slowed down, the integration of world trade is not over, on the contrary, there are clear signs of the beginning of a completely new phase of globalization. The presence of asymmetry in the world trading system in a geographical context, regardless of the size of the region, has been theoretically proven. According to the criterion of the asymmetry of the trading system depending on the level of economic development of the countries, in general, there is a tendency to increase the level of liberalization of trade regimes by the increase in the level of development. At the same time, it has been proven that belonging to the group of least developed countries does not necessarily mean closed access to national markets, and categorization as a developed country does not indicate the application of the least number of non-tariff measures to regulate trade volumes. At the same time, Ukraine remains a country that has undertaken the most liberal obligations regarding providing access to markets for both goods and services. As one of the world's leading exporters of agricultural products in 2020, Ukraine has set the customs tariff level at 11%, the lowest among group members.

A STUDY OF COMMON UNETHICAL PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES TO COMPLYING WITH A CODE OF CONDUCT AMONG PROFESSIONALS IN THE MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The construction industry is a complex and demanding commercial area. As in other disciplines, ethical practices in the construction industry are crucial. The quality of the project, customers' trust, and investors' confidence in the construction business are all negatively impacted by unethical acts and the practices themselves. Hence, the goal of this study is to identify the most prevalent types of unethical practices among professionals in the construction industry and to evaluate the obstacles that prevent them from upholding the code of ethics. A quantitative approach was used to collect empirical data by sending the questionnaire survey amongst professionals in the construction industry, such as contractors, consultants, and project managers. The collected data was analysed using a descriptive version of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows Version (SPSS) 29 software, such as mean score, percentage, and frequency. The study found that unethical practises like rate overpricing, bid cutting, delay, and short payments; bribes for projects; nepotism; use of lower-grade materials than specified; tender manipulation; and contractors' personnel failing to dispose of waste in an appropriate, safe, and environmentally acceptable manner are still common and persistent. This is true even though the majority of organisations have their own standards of conduct and professional bodies that encourage good ethics. The main obstacles to eliminating the unethical conduct mentioned above are greed, acceptance as standard procedure, ignorance of laws and regulations, lack of authorization for the compliance department, cognitive biases and psychological tendencies, and insufficient support from the government. It is hoped that the study's findings will significantly help regulatory agencies and legislators recognize and prevent unethical practices, and the study also suggests that there may be fewer unethical practices in the construction industry if there are adequate punishments for unethical practices at different stages of a project's life cycle and more people know about the ideals of ethical practices at different stages.