Understanding phishing awareness among students in tertiary institutions and setting-up defensive mechanisms against the attackers

The average loss by companies to phishing in 2021 is $14.8 million, more than triple what it was in 2015. That translates to hundreds of billions of dollars in total losses from phishing attacks on global businesses, and the vulnerability of these attacks is every day increasing, particularly among the younger generation less than 40 years of age. This paper begins with a background exposition on phishing trends and highlights previous findings concerning users' susceptibility to phishing attacks. It however explores the term Phishing itself, its kinds, types and some basic measures necessary for defense against phishing activities. The research was employed with a major focus on the email aspect of phishing. Alongside the website aspect of phishing, the certificate of a website was also considered. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of student awareness related to specific phishing tactics. Findings revealed that while students are unlikely to provide personal information in response to an email/SMS request, they can be easily tricked by numerous other tactics. This paper reports the findings of the study in addition to listing suggested points to employ for creating phishing awareness

Ionospheric Effects on GPS Signal in Low-Latitude Region: A Case Study Review of South East Asia and Africa

The ionosphere is a significant source of errors affecting L-Band (1-2 GHz) signal propagation using Global Position System (GPS). The propagated GPS signals that passes through the Earth’s atmosphere where affected by ionosphere and troposphere irregularities and caused the signal propagation delay. However, the velocity of signals that propagate within the atmosphere deviates from vacuum line of sight (LOS), while the refractivity of ionosphere and troposphere influence the signal propagation delay causing atmospheric effects due to high electrons density.  Both affect the signal in different ways due to their particular refractive properties. The review focuses of some of the previous research studies conducted on empirical modeling of the ionospheric effect in low latitude region. The tabulated findings of such models presented in this article.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i3.1

ΔNp63α suppresses cells invasion by downregulating PKCγ/Rac1 signaling through miR-320a

ΔNp63α, a member of the p53 family of transcription factors, is overexpressed in a number of cancers and plays a role in proliferation, differentiation, migration, and invasion. ΔNp63α has been shown to regulate several microRNAs that are involved in development and cancer. We identified miRNA miR-320a as a positively regulated target of ΔNp63α. Previous studies have shown that miR-320a is downregulated in colorectal cancer and targets the small GTPase Rac1, leading to a reduction in noncanonical WNT signaling and EMT, thereby inhibiting tumor metastasis and invasion. We showed that miR-320a is a direct target of ΔNp63α. Knockdown of ΔNp63α in HaCaT and A431 cells downregulates miR-320a levels and leads to a corresponding elevation in PKCγ transcript and protein levels. Rac1 phosphorylation at Ser71 was increased in the absence of ΔNp63α, whereas overexpression of ΔNp63α reversed S71 phosphorylation of Rac1. Moreover, increased PKCγ levels, Rac1 phosphorylation and cell invasion observed upon knockdown of ΔNp63α was reversed by either overexpressing miR-320a mimic or Rac1 silencing. Finally, silencing PKCγ or treatment with the PKC inhibitor Gö6976 reversed increased Rac1 phosphorylation and cell invasion observed upon silencing ΔNp63α. Taken together, our data suggest that ΔNp63α positively regulates miR-320a, thereby inhibiting PKCγ expression, Rac1 phosphorylation, and cancer invasion.Fil: Aljagthmi, Amjad A.. Wright State University; Estados UnidosFil: Hill, Natasha T.. Wright State University; Estados UnidosFil: Cooke, Mariana. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Kazanietz, Marcelo Gabriel. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Abba, Martín Carlos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Centro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Long, Weiwen. Wright State University; Estados UnidosFil: Kadakia, Madhavi P.. Wright State University; Estados Unido

Testbeam studies of pre-prototype silicon strip sensors for the LHCb UT upgrade project

The LHCb experiment is preparing for a major upgrade in 2018-2019. One of the key components in the upgrade is a new silicon tracker situated upstream of the analysis magnet of the experiment. The Upstream Tracker (UT) will consist of four planes of silicon strip detectors, with each plane covering an area of about 2 m$^2$. An important consideration of these detectors is their performance after they have been exposed to a large radiation dose. In this article we present test beam results of pre-prototype n-in-p and p-in-n sensors that have been irradiated with fluences up to $4.0\times10^{14}$ $n_{\rm eq}$ cm$^{-2}$.Comment: 25 pages, 20 figure

An outbreak of Glasser’s disease from two farms in Malaysia

Haemophilus parasuis is an endemic bacterial pathogen in pig farms worldwide. In this report, we investigated a suspected case of Glasser’s disease in 3-9 weeks old Landrace cross Duroc piglets from two pig farms. The farmers reported the case to the Veterinary Hospital of University Malaysia Kelantan, with the complaint of anorexia, depression and weakness. On physical examination, the piglets were found to be smaller in size and had rough hair coat. Clinical signs included swollen hock joint, labored abdominal breathing and tremors. Post-mortem evaluation of culled moribund piglets showed pneumonic lesions in the lung, polyarthritis of the hock joint, cerebral congestion, meningitis, renal cortical heamorrhage and polyserositis. Histo-pathological examination showed interstitial pneumonia with emphysema, encephalitis, encephalomalacia with gliosis and vacuolar degeneration of the hepatocytes. Bacteriological culture of swab samples from infected organs revealed the growth of satellitic small colonies on blood culture suggestive of H. parasuis. Ceftiofur injection (HIPRA, Malaysia, 3mg kg-1i.m), phenoxymethyl penicillin (Norvatis Animal Health, Australia at 200g T-1 of feed) and amoxicillin (Norvatis Animal Health at 15-30g 100L-1 of water) were effective in reducing morbidity and reversing clinical signs. Prompt diagnosis and treatment of Glasser’s disease in pig farms is paramount in order to curtail its menace and prevent serious economic losses

Biologically active phenolic acids produced by Aspergillus sp., an endophyte of Moringa oleifera

This study investigates the secondary metabolites of an endophytic Aspergillus sp. isolated from leaves of M. oleifera growing in Anambra State, South-Eastern Nigeria. Antimicrobial and antioxidant screening of the fungal extract and isolated compounds, as well as cytotoxicity assay of the extract against cisplatin-sensitive A2780 (sens) and cisplatin-resistant A2780 (cisR) ovarian cancer cell lines were carried out using standard methods. Chemical investigations of the fungal extract involving a combination of different chromato-graphic methods and spectroscopic techniques were carried out to isolate and characterize the constituents of the extract. At a concentration range of 1-4 mg/ml, the crude extract of Aspergillus sp. showed mild antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Candida albicans. The fungal extract showed good antioxidant activity at 500 µg/ml, with an inhibition of 72.1%. Also, at 100 µg/ml, the extract showed excellent cytotoxic activity against A2780 (sens) and A2780 (cisR), with growth inhibitions of 105.1% and 105.5% respectively. Two known pharmacologically active phenolic compounds (p-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid and ferulic acid) were isolated from the fermentation extract of the endophytic fungus. At 250 µg/ml, ferulic acid exhibited an excellent antioxidant activity with an inhibition of 90.4%, while an inhibition of 35.4% was recorded for p-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid. Ferulic acid also showed a mild antifungal activity at 500 µg/ml against A. niger with an IZD of 2 mm. p-Hydroxyphenyl acetic acid showed no antimicrobial activity. These results further confirm the potentials of endophytic fungi associated with Nigerian plants as source of bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical or industrial applications. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.140498

Aflatoxin Total and Microbial Contamination of Grains, Oil Seeds, Yam Chips and Fish Sold in Maiduguri Market

Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of fungus Aspergillus flavus and closely related species that infects severalagricultural commodities. The consumption of contaminated commodities adversely affects the health of humansand animals and also a cause of significant economic losses to producers. This study surveyed the aflatoxincontamination level of cowpea, maize, melon, groundnut, yam chips and fish sold in Maiduguri metropolis.Samples from each product (250 g) were bulked and thoroughly mixed using coning and quartering method to geta representative sample for analysis. Laboratory observations were carried out regarding microbial analysis,proximate composition and aflatoxin content. Samples for aflatoxin detection were classified into three; unsortedsamples, sorted samples and sorted/washed dried samples. Fish had the highest bacterial load 2.48 x 106 cfu/ml andAspergillus species were found to be the predominant fungi identified. Maize and groundnut with moisture contentof 5.63 and 5.62 had the highest total aflatoxin contamination (320.51 μg/kg and 236.3 μg/kg respectively) both inthe unsorted group. Total aflatoxin reduction of (58.82 - 99.99%) was observed in all the sorted samples andsorted/washed dried samples. It can be concluded that commonly sold food in Maiduguri had fungal and Aflatoxincontamination. Food should undergo several rounds of sorting to remove discoloured grains and grains that showsevidence(s) of deterioration to reduce the ingestion of food contaminated with aflatoxin