Phishing Training: A Preliminary Look at the Effects of Different Types of Training

In this paper, we present the preliminary results of an experiment conducted to observe the impact of the different training techniques to increase the likelihood of participants identifying and reporting phishing messages. Three different training approaches were used – general video/quiz training, just-in-time training with simulated phishing emails, and a leaderboard, which awarded users points for forwarding correct phishing messages and penalized them for incorrect ones. The experiment emulated a normal working day of an executive assistant of a manager in an organization. Each participant was expected to accomplish work tasks and respond to work-related emails while watching for and reporting phishing messages. We observed that both general training and the presence of a leaderboard decreased the propensity to click on a phishing message, while we found no effect for different types of just-in-time training

Reduced Levels of Membrane-Bound Alkaline Phosphatase Are Common to Lepidopteran Strains Resistant to Cry Toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis

Development of insect resistance is one of the main concerns with the use of transgenic crops expressing Cry toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. Identification of biomarkers would assist in the development of sensitive DNA-based methods to monitor evolution of resistance to Bt toxins in natural populations. We report on the proteomic and genomic detection of reduced levels of midgut membrane-bound alkaline phosphatase (mALP) as a common feature in strains of Cry-resistant Heliothis virescens, Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera frugiperda when compared to susceptible larvae. Reduced levels of H. virescens mALP protein (HvmALP) were detected by two dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) analysis in Cry-resistant compared to susceptible larvae, further supported by alkaline phosphatase activity assays and Western blotting. Through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) we demonstrate that the reduction in HvmALP protein levels in resistant larvae are the result of reduced transcript amounts. Similar reductions in ALP activity and mALP transcript levels were also detected for a Cry1Ac-resistant strain of H. armigera and field-derived strains of S. frugiperda resistant to Cry1Fa. Considering the unique resistance and cross-resistance phenotypes of the insect strains used in this work, our data suggest that reduced mALP expression should be targeted for development of effective biomarkers for resistance to Cry toxins in lepidopteran pests

Chondroitin sulfates and their binding molecules in the central nervous system

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is the most abundant glycosaminoglycan (GAG) in the central nervous system (CNS) matrix. Its sulfation and epimerization patterns give rise to different forms of CS, which enables it to interact specifically and with a significant affinity with various signalling molecules in the matrix including growth factors, receptors and guidance molecules. These interactions control numerous biological and pathological processes, during development and in adulthood. In this review, we describe the specific interactions of different families of proteins involved in various physiological and cognitive mechanisms with CSs in CNS matrix. A better understanding of these interactions could promote a development of inhibitors to treat neurodegenerative diseases

Scoping the Emerging Field of Quantitative Ethnography: Opportunities, Challenges and Future Directions

Quantitative Ethnography (QE) is an emerging methodological approach that combines ethnographic and statistical tools to analyze both Big Data and smaller data to study human behavior and interactions. This paper presents a methodological scoping review of 60 studies employing QE approaches with an intention to characterize and establish where the boundaries of QE might and should be in order to establish the identity of the field. The key finding is that QE researchers have enough commonality in their approach to the analysis of human behavior with a strong focus on grounded analysis, the validity of codes and consistency between quantitative models and qualitative analysis. Nonetheless, in order to reach a larger audience, the QE community should attend to a number of conceptual and methodological issues (e.g. interpretability). We believe that the strength of work from individual researchers reported in this review and initiatives such as the recently established International Society for Quantitative Ethnography (ISQE) can present a powerful force to shape the identity of the QE communit