@article{zahan_shohan_harris_williams_2023, title={Do Software Security Practices Yield Fewer Vulnerabilities?}, ISSN={["2832-7640"]}, DOI={10.1109/ICSE-SEIP58684.2023.00032}, abstractNote={Due to the ever-increasing number of security breaches, practitioners are motivated to produce more secure software. In the United States, the White House Office released a memorandum on Executive Order (EO) 14028 that mandates organizations provide self-attestation of the use of secure software development practices. The OpenSSF Scorecard project allows practitioners to measure the use of software security practices automatically. However, little research has been done to determine whether the use of security practices improves package security, particularly which security practices have the biggest impact on security outcomes. The goal of this study is to assist practitioners and researchers in making informed decisions on which security practices to adopt through the development of models between software security practice scores and security vulnerability counts.To that end, we developed five supervised machine learning models for npm and PyPI packages using the OpenSSF Scorecard security practices scores and aggregate security scores as predictors and the number of externally-reported vulnerabilities as a target variable. Our models found that four security practices (Maintained, Code Review, Branch Protection, and Security Policy) were the most important practices influencing vulnerability count. However, we had low R2 (ranging from 9% to 12%) when we tested the models to predict vulnerability counts. Additionally, we observed that the number of reported vulnerabilities increased rather than reduced as the aggregate security score of the packages increased. Both findings indicate that additional factors may influence the package vulnerability count. Other factors, such as the scarcity of vulnerability data, time to implicate security practices vs. time to detect vulnerabilities, and the need for more adequate scripts to detect security practices, may impede the data-driven studies to indicate that a practice can aid in the reduction of externally-reported vulnerabilities. We suggest that vulnerability count and security score data be refined such that these measures may be used to provide actionable guidance on security practices.}, journal={2023 IEEE/ACM 45TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING: SOFTWARE ENGINEERING IN PRACTICE, ICSE-SEIP}, author={Zahan, Nusrat and Shohan, Shohanuzzaman and Harris, Dan and Williams, Laurie}, year={2023}, pages={292–303} }
 @article{akter_liu_cheng_classen_oviedo_harris_wang-li_2022, title={Impacts of Air Velocity Treatments under Summer Conditions: Part II—Heavy Broiler’s Behavioral Response}, volume={12}, ISSN={2076-2615}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12091050}, DOI={10.3390/ani12091050}, abstractNote={Broiler chickens exposed to heat stress adapt to various behavioral changes to regulate their comfortable body temperature, which is critical to ensure their performance and welfare. Hence, assessing various behavioral responses in birds when they are subjected to environmental changes can be essential for assessing their welfare under heat-stressed conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of two air velocity (AV) treatments on heavy broilers’ behavioral changes from 43 to 54 days under summer conditions. Two AV treatments (high and low) were applied in six poultry growth chambers with three chambers per treatment and 44 COBB broilers per chamber from 28 to 61 days in the summer of 2019. Three video cameras placed inside each chamber (2.44 m × 2.44 m × 2.44 m in dimension) were used to record the behavior of different undisturbed birds, such as feeding, drinking, resting, standing, walking, panting, etc. The results indicate that the number of chickens feeding, drinking, standing, walking, sitting, wing flapping, and leg stretching changed under AV treatments. High AV increased the number of chickens feeding, standing, and walking. Moreover, a two-way interaction with age and the time of day can affect drinking and panting. This study provides insights into heavy broilers’ behavioral changes under heat-stressed conditions and AV treatments, which will help guide management practices to improve birds’ performance and welfare under commercial conditions in the future.}, number={9}, journal={Animals}, publisher={MDPI AG}, author={Akter, Suraiya and Liu, Yingying and Cheng, Bin and Classen, John and Oviedo, Edgar and Harris, Dan and Wang-Li, Lingjuan}, year={2022}, month={Apr}, pages={1050} }