A critical analysis of the status and rights of non-combatants under Islamic International Law

Islam being the religion of prohibits violence and unnecessary aggression. However, it also recognizes the importance of protecting oneself, property, territory and family, and in this circumstances, it is allowed for Muslims to pick up arms and defend themselves. But there are warfare principles and rules to be followed by Muslims, and Islam particularly emphasizes the importance of adhering to those principles and rules. Particularly, the rights of non-combatants are guaranteed and protected under the Islamic international law. This paper aims to analyse the rights of non-combatants, while also discussing the concept of terrorism being carried out by Muslim extremists and its incidence as they relate to combat and warfare principles (jihad) under Islamic international law.Keywords: Jihad, Terrorism, War, Status and Rights, Islamic International Law, Non-combatant

Making a case against modern terrorism: critical analysis of the warfare principles under Islamic International Law

The word ‘jihad’ means ‘struggle’ or ‘striving’ (in the way of God) or to work for a noble cause with determination, but the word has been conceptualised to include ‘warfare principles’ as one of the forms of jihad. Since the event of 9/11, the term jihad and even the religion of Islam have been associated with fanaticism, intolerance, violence and wars of aggression. As such, jihad is perhaps the most misrepresented of ideas in the West’s understanding of Islam. Jihad has been used by terror groups as a defence for their acts of terror as evidenced by the ‘Declaration of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders’ by Osama bin Laden. This article seeks to analyse the concept of jihad (warfare principles) under Islamic international law, the relationship between jihad and modern terrorism being carried out by Muslim extremists or if it is merely a misappropriation and distortion by Muslim extremists as part of their violent campaign against the West and their own governments, and the foremost religious terror group known as al Qaeda so as to have insight into the emergence of religious terror groups, their beliefs, operations and structure.Keywords: Jihad, Terrorism, Modern Terrorism, al-Qaed

Detection of rotavirus VP7 gene in helmeted guinea fowls and Japanese quails in Ogun state, Nigeria

Rotaviruses classified into groups A through H are important etiological agents of gastroenteritis in man and animal. In Nigeria vaccination of infants has continuously been carried out, however the disease is still a burden to the nation which remains one of the countries with the highest cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis. There are several evidence of interspecies cross transmission and reassortment among group A rotaviruses. However, few studies have focused on rotavirus in the avian species, thus the virus has only been reported in chickens from southwest Nigeria. Guinea fowls (Numidea meleagris) and Japanese quails (Coturnix corturnix japonica) serve as source of income to the rural house-hold where they are raised in backyards. A total of 100 fecal samples from Guinea fowls (50) and Japanese quails (50) from different locations in Ogun state were collected and analyzed using group A specific RT-PCR. Fecal samples were screened for rotavirus using VP7 primers. The virus was detected in pooled diarrheic fecal samples of both Guinea fowls and Japanese quails and also in non-diarrheic feces of Guinea fowls. Due to the close proximity at which different breeds of birds are raised in backyard poultry in Nigeria and the reassortment ability of the virus, there will continuously be an increase in the diversity of the virus. This is not leaving out a zoonotic transmission with subsequent contribution to vaccine failure in man. It is thus important to continually survey for the virus in man and animal. This study provides the first report of rotavirus in helmeted Guinea fowls and Japanese quails in Nigeria.Keywords: Guinea fowl, Japanese quail, Feces, Detection, Rotavirus, VP7 gen

In vitro assessment of the potency of some Newcastle disease vaccine brands in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: Newcastle disease (ND) is a very common and economically important disease of poultry. There is no drug for treatment of the disease during an outbreak in poultry flocks, and prevention by vaccination is one of the recommended control measures. However, post vaccination outbreaks have been observed on many occasions in chicken flocks and one of the causes has been attributed to possible failure of vaccine to confer immunity. This study was designed to evaluate the potency of ND vaccines available in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methodology: Haemagglutination (HA) technique and elution phenomenon were employed to evaluate the potency of ND vaccines randomly selected in Ibadan. A total of 45 vaccines comprising 9 brands and 5 different strains were selected for potency test. The vaccine brands included ‘Vireo 116’ (n=10), ‘ABIC’ (n=5), ‘Biovac’(n=9), ‘Nobilis’(n=3), ‘NVRI’(n=12), ‘R2B’ (n=2), ‘BAL-ND’ (n=2), ‘Forte dodge’(n=1) and ‘Jovac’ (n=1), while the vaccine strains in the brands included Lasota, B1, Clone, Komarov, Hitcher, and an unknown strain. Results: Thirty-five of the 45 (77.8%) ND vaccines tested had more than 4 HA titer (>64) and were therefore regarded as potent. All the 15 (100%) ND Lasota vaccine strain, 7 out of 10 (70%) ND Komarov strain, 4 out of 5 (80%) ND clone and 5 out of 8 (62.5%) ND B1 strains were potent. None of the ND brand ‘R2B’ vaccine as well as Hitchner strain from ‘Nobilis’ brand was potent, but all 5, 2, 1 and 1 vaccines tested from brands ‘ABIC’, ‘BAL-ND’, ‘Fort dodge’ and ‘Jovac’ respectively were potent. Similarly, 9 of 10, 6 of 9, 2 of 3 and 9 of 12 vaccine strains tested from brands ‘Vireo 116’, ‘Biovac’, ‘Nobilis’ and ‘NVRI’ were respectively potent Conclusion: The occurrence of ND vaccines that are not potent in this study may be contributing to post vaccination failure. It is advisable to subject vaccines to potency test before use. Key words: in vitro, assessment, potency, Newcastle disease, vaccine brands, vaccine strains   French Title; Évaluation in vitro de la puissance de certaines marques de vaccins contre la maladie de Newcastle à Ibadan, Nigéria Contexte: La maladie de Newcastle (ND) est une maladie très courante et économiquement importante des volailles. Il n'existe aucun médicament pour le traitement de la maladie lors d'une épidémie dans des troupeaux de volailles, et la prévention par vaccination est l'une des mesures de contrôle recommandées. Cependant, des flambées post-vaccination ont été observées à de nombreuses reprises dans des troupeaux de poulets et l'une des causes a été attribuée à un éventuel échec du vaccin à conférer l'immunité. Cette étude a été conçue pour évaluer la puissance des vaccins contre la MN disponibles à Ibadan, au Nigéria. Méthodologie: La technique d'hémagglutination (HA) et le phénomène d'élution ont été utilisés pour évaluer la puissance des vaccins contre la MN sélectionnés au hasard à Ibadan. Un total de 45 vaccins comprenant 9 marques et 5 souches différentes ont été sélectionnés pour le test d'activité. Les marques de vaccins comprenaient 'Vireo 116' (n=10), 'ABIC' (n=5), 'Biovac' (n=9), 'Nobilis' (n=3), 'NVRI' (n=12), 'R2B' (n=2), 'BAL-ND' (n=2), 'Forte dodge' (n=1) et 'Jovac' (n=1), tandis que les souches vaccinales des marques comprenaient Lasota, B1, Clone, Komarov, Hitcher et une souche inconnue. Résultats: Trente-cinq des 45 vaccins contre la MN testés (77,8%) avaient plus de 4 titres en HA (>64) et étaient donc considérés comme puissants. Toutes les 15 (100%) souches de vaccin ND Lasota, 7 souches sur 10 (70%) ND Komarov, 4 sur 5 (80%) clones ND et 5 sur 8 (62,5%) souches ND B1 étaient puissantes. Aucun des vaccins ’R2B’ de marque ND ni la souche Hitchner de la marque ’Nobilis’ n'étaient puissants, mais tous les vaccins 5, 2, 1 et 1 testés des marques ‘ABIC’, ‘BAL-ND’, ‘Fort dodge’ et ‘Jovac’ respectivement était puissant. De même, 9 des 10, 6 des 9, 2 des 3 et 9 des 12 souches vaccinales testées des marques ’Vireo 116’, ‘Biovac’, ‘Nobilis’ et ‘NVRI’ étaient respectivement puissantes Conclusion: La présence de vaccins contre la MN qui ne sont pas puissants dans cette étude peut contribuer à l'échec post-vaccinal. Il est conseillé de soumettre les vaccins à un test de puissance avant utilisation. Mots-clés: in vitro, évaluation, puissance, maladie de Newcastle, marques de vaccin, souches vaccinale

A proactive approach of measuring the impacts of information security awareness on social networks

Nowadays, many measurement techniques are being implemented to determine the effectiveness of security awareness on social networks (SN).While these techniques are inexpensive, they are all incident-driven as they are based on the occurrence of incidence or success of attack(s). Additionally, they do not present a true reflection of awareness since cyber-incidents are hardly reported. The techniques are therefore adjudged to be post-mortem and risk permissive, the limitations that are inacceptable in industries where incident tolerance level is very low. This study deploys a password cracker technology, as a non-incident statistics approach, to proactively measure the impacts of awareness on SNs.Keywords: Security awareness; measurement techniques; non-incident statistics approach; password cracker; social networks; Socialist Onlin

Cross Reactivities of Rabbit Anti-Chicken Horse Radish Peroxidase Conjugate with Sera of Some other Avian Species in ELISA System

The cross reactivities of rabbit anti chicken horse radish peroxidase (conjugate) was tested with sera of Chicken, Ducks, Geese, Guinea fowl, Hawks, Pigeons and Turkeys in indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Sera from mammalian species (Bat, Equine and swine) were used as negative controls. The conjugate was coated on wells of ELISA micro titer plate and sera from the avian and mammalian species added. Reactivity was detected with OPD. There were losses of reactivities when sera were diluted as from 1\\78125. Chicken and Turkey sera reacted with the conjugate without loss of reactivities when either normal rabbit serum (NRS) or bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as blocking agent. Sera of other avian species and mammals did not react with the conjugate. It is concluded that rabbit anti chicken Horse radish peroxidase could be used to detect antibodies in chickens as well as Turkey and that BSA and NRS could be used as blocking agent without loss of reactivities

Cross reactivities of rabbit anti-chicken horse radish peroxidase conjugate with sera of some other avian species in elisa system

The cross reactivities of rabbit anti chicken horse radish peroxidase (conjugate) was tested with sera of Chicken, Ducks, Geese, Guinea fowl, Hawks, Pigeons and Turkeys in indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Sera from mammalian species (Bat, Equine and swine) were used as negative controls. The conjugate was coated on wells of ELISA micro titer plate and sera from the avian and mammalian species added. Reactivity was detected with OPD. There were losses of reactivities when sera were diluted as from 1\\78125. Chicken and Turkey sera reacted with the conjugate without loss of reactivities when either normal rabbit serum (NRS) or bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as blocking agent. Sera of other avian species and mammals did not react with the conjugate. It is concluded that rabbit anti chicken Horse radish peroxidase could be used to detect antibodies in chickens as well as Turkey and that BSA and NRS could be used as blocking agent without loss of reactivities

Linear discriminant analysis based hidden Markov model for detection of Mysticetes’ vocalisations

Mysticetes’ produce distinctive vocalisations which are used for echolocation, communication, and other marine functions. These cryptic vocalisations are studied by marine scientist to determine the behavioural patterns and movement of this suborder of cetaceans within their ecosystem. In practice, these vocalisations are gathered using passive acoustic monitoring over days, weeks, months, and even years. Therefore, it is complex to study these sounds using traditional visual inspection techniques because the gathered datasets are huge. Machine learning (ML) tools such as Gaussian mixture models (GMMs), support vector machines (SVMs), and hidden Markov models (HMMs) have been adopted in recent times to proffer analytic solutions to automatically detect and study these cryptic vocalisations. Notwithstanding, the feature extraction techniques employed play a vital role in determining the performance of these ML tools. In most cases, the performance of the feature extraction technique is directly proportional to the performance of the ML tools. Thus, the method of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is introduced in this article as a feature extraction technique that can be adapted with the HMMs (LDA-HMM) to seamlessly detect the vocalisations of Mysticetes. The performance of the proposed LDA-HMM detector is compared with other recent detectors for Mysticetes’ vocalisations in the literature using two different species: Humpback whale songs and Bryde’s whale pulses. Experimental results show that the developed LDA-HMM detector is a performance-efficient alternative in comparison to the recent detection techniques studied in this article. Besides, the LDA-HMM detector offers less computational time complexity; as such, it is more suitable for real-time applications

Impacts of security dimensions on awareness measurement in social networking

A big challenge facing Social Networks (SNs) and other organisations has been what to measure when determining the adequacy and effectiveness of awareness programmes. This study defines security dimension as Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour, and identifies them as the main influencing factors to consider in awareness measurement. Web quiz was developed for data gathering and risk scores were calculated to validate the research findings by investigating the impacts of these factors on awareness in SNs.Keywords: Information security awareness, non-incident statistics, password cracker, risk score, social network