Phishing: message appraisal and the exploration of fear and self-confidence

Phishing attacks have threatened the security of both home users and organizations in recent years. Phishing uses social engineering to fraudulently obtain information that is confidential or sensitive. Individuals are targeted to take action by clicking on a link and providing information. This research explores fear arousal and self-confidence in subjects confronted by phishing attacks. The study collected data from multiple sources (including an attempted phishing attack). The survey results indicated that when individuals had a high level of fear arousal related to providing login credentials they had a decreased intention to respond to a phishing attack. Self-confidence did not significantly moderate the relationship between fear arousal and intention to respond to a phishing attack but it did have a significant direct positive influence on intention. The results from the experiment indicated that 18% of individuals overall clicked on the link. The combined data indicated that higher level of fear arousal resulted in a decreased intention to respond to a phishing attack and a decreased actual click behaviour. The research explores how fear of providing login credentials influences both intention to respond and actual response to a phishing attack. When fear arousal is high, individuals are less likely to respond

Lipopolysaccharide and toll-like receptor 4 in dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts

Surgical attenuation of a congenital portosystemic shunt (CPSS) results in increased portal vein perfusion, liver growth and clinical improvement. Portal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is implicated in liver regeneration via toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 mediated cytokine activation. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with LPS in dogs with CPSS. Plasma LPS concentrations were measured in the peripheral and portal blood using a limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. LPS concentration was significantly greater in the portal blood compared to peripheral blood in dogs with CPSS (P = 0.046) and control dogs (P = 0.002). LPS concentrations in the peripheral (P = 0.012) and portal (P = 0.005) blood of dogs with CPSS were significantly greater than those of control dogs. The relative mRNA expression of cytokines and TLRs was measured in liver biopsies from dogs with CPSS using quantitative PCR. TLR4 expression significantly increased following partial CPSS attenuation (P = 0.020). TLR4 expression was significantly greater in dogs that tolerated complete CPSS attenuation (P = 0.011) and those with good portal blood flow on pre-attenuation (P = 0.004) and post-attenuation (P = 0.015) portovenography. Serum interleukin (IL)-6 concentration was measured using a canine specific ELISA and significantly increased 24 h following CPSS attenuation (P < 0.001). Portal LPS was increased in dogs with CPSS, consistent with decreased hepatic clearance. TLR4 mRNA expression was significantly associated with portal blood flow and increased following surgery. These findings support the concept that portal LPS delivery is important in the hepatic response to surgical attenuation. Serum IL-6 significantly increased following surgery, consistent with LPS stimulation via TLR4, although this increase might be non-specific

The stellar metallicity distribution of disc galaxies and bulges in cosmological simulations

By means of high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-like disc galaxies, we conduct an analysis of the associated stellar metallicity distribution functions (MDFs). After undertaking a kinematic decomposition of each simulation into spheroid and disc sub-components, we compare the predicted MDFs to those observed in the solar neighbourhood and the Galactic bulge. The effects of the star formation density threshold are visible in the star formation histories, which show a modulation in their behaviour driven by the threshold. The derived MDFs show median metallicities lower by 0.2-0.3 dex than the MDF observed locally in the disc and in the Galactic bulge. Possible reasons for this apparent discrepancy include the use of low stellar yields and/or centrally-concentrated star formation. The dispersions are larger than the one of the observed MDF; this could be due to simulated discs being kinematically hotter relative to the Milky Way. The fraction of low metallicity stars is largely overestimated, visible from the more negatively skewed MDF with respect to the observational sample. For our fiducial Milky Way analog, we study the metallicity distribution of the stars born "in situ" relative to those formed via accretion (from disrupted satellites), and demonstrate that this low-metallicity tail to the MDF is populated primarily by accreted stars. Enhanced supernova and stellar radiation energy feedback to the surrounding interstellar media of these pre-disrupted satellites is suggested as an important regulator of the MDF skewness.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, MNRAS, accepte

The Transfer of Male Cuticular Hydrocarbons Provides a Reliable Cue of the Risk and Intensity of Sperm Competition in Decorated Crickets

Theoretically, males should increase their ejaculate expenditure when the probability of sperm competition occurring (or risk) is high but decrease ejaculate expenditure as the number of competing ejaculates (or intensity) increases. Here we examine whether male decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) use cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) transferred to females by rival males at mating to assess the risk and intensity of sperm competition and adjust their ejaculate accordingly. Unmated females and those perfumed with CHCs extracted from one, three, or five males could be distinguished chemically, providing a reliable cue of the risk and intensity of sperm competition. In agreement with theory, males mating with these females increased sperm number with the risk of sperm competition and decreased sperm number with the intensity of sperm competition. Similarly, as the risk of sperm competition increased, males produced a larger and more attractive spermatophylax (an important non-sperm component of the ejaculate) but these traits did not vary with the intensity of sperm competition. Our results therefore demonstrate that both sperm and non-sperm components of the male ejaculate respond to the risk and intensity of sperm competition in different ways and that CHCs provide males with an important cue to strategically tailor their ejaculate

Edge-Based Compartmental Modeling for Infectious Disease Spread Part III: Disease and Population Structure

We consider the edge-based compartmental models for infectious disease spread introduced in Part I. These models allow us to consider standard SIR diseases spreading in random populations. In this paper we show how to handle deviations of the disease or population from the simplistic assumptions of Part I. We allow the population to have structure due to effects such as demographic detail or multiple types of risk behavior the disease to have more complicated natural history. We introduce these modifications in the static network context, though it is straightforward to incorporate them into dynamic networks. We also consider serosorting, which requires using the dynamic network models. The basic methods we use to derive these generalizations are widely applicable, and so it is straightforward to introduce many other generalizations not considered here

G_2 Domain Walls in M-theory

M-theory is considered in its low-energy limit on a G_2 manifold with non-vanishing flux. Using the Killing spinor equations for linear flux, an explicit set of first-order bosonic equations for supersymmetric solutions is found. These solutions describe a warped product of a domain wall in four-dimensional space-time and a deformed G_2 manifold. It is shown how these domain walls arise from the perspective of the associated four-dimensional N=1 effective supergravity theories. We also discuss the inclusion of membrane and M5-brane sources.Comment: 30 pages, Late

Polyandry and fitness in female horned flour beetles, Gnatocerus cornutus

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Although polyandry is common, it is often unclear why females mate with multiple males, because although polyandry may provide females with direct or indirect fitness benefits, it can also be costly. Our understanding of polyandry is also restricted by the relative paucity of studies that disentangle the fitness effects of mating more than once with a single male and mating with multiple males. Here we investigated potential benefits and costs of polyandry in the horned beetle, Gnatocerus cornutus, while controlling for the number of matings. We found that female life span was independent of mating frequency, indicating that mating itself is not very costly. However, females that mated more than once laid more eggs and had greater lifetime reproductive success than singly mated females. Because the magnitude of these effects was similar in monandrous and polyandrous females, this improved fertility was due to multiple mating itself, rather than mating with multiple males. However, although polyandrous females produced more attractive sons, these males tended to have smaller mandibles and so may fare less well in male-male competition. The se results indicate that polyandry is relatively cost free, at least in the laboratory, and has direct and indirect benefits to female fitness. However, because the attractive sons produced by polyandrous females may fight less well, the indirect benefits of polyandry will depend on the intensity of male-male competition and how free females are to exert mate choice. Where competition between males is intense, polyandry benefits via son attractiveness may be reduced and perhaps even carry costs to female fitness.This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI 25840157) from Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. We thank the Editor and referees for helpful comments which greatly improved the manuscript

M-theory Compactifications on Manifolds with G2 Structure

In this paper we study M-theory compactifications on manifolds of G2 structure. By computing the gravitino mass term in four dimensions we derive the general form for the superpotential which appears in such compactifications and show that beside the normal flux term there is a term which appears only for non-minimal G2 structure. We further apply these results to compactifications on manifolds with weak G2 holonomy and make a couple of statements regarding the deformation space of such manifolds. Finally we show that the superpotential derived from fermionic terms leads to the potential that can be derived from the explicit compactification, thus strengthening the conjectures we make about the space of deformations of manifolds with weak G2 holonomy.Comment: 34 pages. Minor changes: typos corrected, references added. Version to appear in Class. Quantum Gra

National British Orthodontic Society (BOS) Orthognathic Audit 2017-2018

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a UK national clinical audit of orthognathic acceptance criteria and information provided to orthognathic patients before treatment. DESIGN: National clinical audit. SETTING: Data collected using Bristol Online Surveys. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-nine UK hospital orthodontic departments submitted data. METHODS: Data were collected at two time points using Bristol Online Surveys over a period of 12 months. These were before treatment at the first multidisciplinary clinic (MDT) and immediately after surgery. The data collected included: Index of Orthognathic Functional Treatment Need (IOFTN); Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN); age; previous orthodontic treatment; attendance at an MDT; treatment times; and information provision. RESULTS: Eighty-five units agreed to take part in the audit with 69 submitting data, giving a response rate of 81%. The data from 3404 patients were uploaded, 2263 before treatment and 1141 immediately after surgery. Of patients, 91.07% had an IOFTN score of 4 or 5 and 88.73% had an IOTN score of 4 or 5. The mean age at the first MDT was 22 years in the first cohort and 21 years and 4 months in the second immediate post-surgery cohort. Of patients, 37.93% had undergone some form of previous orthodontic treatment, but only 0.28% had undergone previous orthognathic treatment; 96.93% had an MDT confirm that orthodontic treatment by itself was insufficient to adequately correct their functional symptoms. The average treatment time from bond up to surgery was 2 years and 6 months. With respect to information provision, patients received information from a number of sources, principally the British Orthodontic Society (BOS) patient information leaflets and the BOS website Your Jaw Surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In the UK, the majority of orthognathic cases fulfil the criteria for acceptance for NHS-funded orthognathic treatment, as outlined by the Chief Dental Officer's interim guidance on orthognathic treatment. This suggests any prior approval process would not be a good use of NHS resources in the commissioning of orthognathic treatment

National BOS Orthognathic Audit 2017-2018

Objective; To carry out a UK national clinical audit of orthognathic acceptance criteria and information provided to orthognathic patients prior to treatment. / Design; National clinical audit. / Setting; Data collected using Bristol Online Surveys (BOS). / Participants; 69 UK hospital orthodontic departments submitted data. / Methods; Data was collected at two time points using BOS over a period of 12 months. These were prior to treatment at the first multidisciplinary clinic (MDT), and immediately post-surgery. The data collected included: IOFTN, IOTN, age, previous orthodontic treatment, attendance at an MDT, treatment times and information provision. / Results; 85 units agreed to take part in the audit with 69 submitting data, giving a response rate of 81%. The data from 3404 patients were uploaded, 2263 prior to treatment and 1141 immediately post-surgery. 91.07% of patients had an IOFTN score of 4 or 5 and 88.73% had an IOTN score of 4 or 5. The mean age at the first MDT was 22yr in the first cohort, and 21yr and 4mo in the second immediate post-surgery cohort. 37.93% of patients had undergone some form of previous orthodontic treatment, but only 0.28% had undergone previous orthognathic treatment. 96.93% had a multidisciplinary team confirm that orthodontic treatment by itself was insufficient to adequately correct their functional symptoms. The average treatment time from bond up to surgery was 2yr and 6mo. With respect to information provision, patients received information from a number of sources, principally the BOS patient information leaflets and the BOS website Your Jaw Surgery. / Conclusions; In the UK, the majority of orthognathic cases fulfil the criteria for acceptance for NHS funded orthognathic treatment, as outlined by the Chief Dental Officer’s interim guidance on orthognathic treatment. This suggests any prior approval process would not be a good use of NHS resources in the commissioning of orthognathic treatment