Athi Kapiti landscape game count report conducted on 4th June 2023

The Athi Kapiti conservancies and ranches wildlife game count was conducted on 4th June 2023. The count aimed at establishing the current wildlife population and spatial distribution in the Athi Kapiti landscape following concerns raised by landowners of declined wildlife populations in the area after a severe drought and increased human activities. Subsequent counts will help in identifying wildlife trends and possible impacts of the expanding and continuous anthropogenic activities that peril wildlife existence in the landscape. The game count was conducted in eight conservancies. Each conservancy established blocks to guide in data collection totaling to 43 blocks. The participants were divided into groups with each block having at least 3 participants; a driver, an observer and a recorder. For each block data were recorded in a data sheet and on a mobile phone in the CyberTracker app. The highest number among herbivores were respectively recorded for common zebra (N=3787), Thomson’s gazelle (N=3022), Grant’s gazelle (N=1531) and impala (N=1167). Lower numbers were recorded for Masai giraffe (N=374), eland (N=214), warthog (N=226), wildebeest (N=171), Coke’s hartebeest (N= 17), gerenuk (N=44), lesser kudu (N=10) and stein buck (N=1). The Coke’s hartebeest and wildebeest recorded a low number compared to the usual numbers that have been observed before the severe drought. Among birds, a select number of birds were recorded. Ostriches recorded the highest on the count among birds (N=530). Other birds observed were grey crowned crane (endangered), Kori bustard (near threatened), martial eagle (endangered), tawny eagle (vulnerable), grey heron (least concern) and Ruppel’s vulture (critically endangered). Five species of carnivores were recorded: bat eared fox (N=3), black backed jackal (N=42), hyena (N=166), cheetah (N=2) and lion (N=1). One python was recorded. Baboons (N=209), Sykes monkey (N=93) and vervet monkey (N=92) were also observed. Small mammals such as rock hyrax, mongoose, ground squirrel, African hare and porcupine were recorded as well as ad hoc observations during the game count. Maanzoni, Lukenya wildlife conservancy (Malinda ranch) and Kasanga ranch conducted a game count on 7th May 2023 which is a month prior to the joint game count. The three conservancies used the same methodology used during the 4th July game count. The data of the three conservancies’ game count is summarized separately and well stipulated in this report

The Grant Negotiation and Authorization Protocol: Attacking, Fixing, and Verifying an Emerging Standard

The Grant Negotiation and Authorization Protocol (GNAP) is an emerging authorization and authentication protocol which aims to consolidate and unify several use-cases of OAuth 2.0 and many of its common extensions while providing a higher degree of security. OAuth 2.0 is an essential cornerstone of the security of authorization and authentication for the Web, IoT, and beyond, and is used, among others, by many global players, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. Because of historically grown limitations and issues of OAuth 2.0 and its various extensions, prominent members of the OAuth community decided to create GNAP, a new and completely resigned authorization and authentication protocol. Given GNAP\u27s advantages over OAuth 2.0 and its support within the OAuth community, GNAP is expected to become at least as important as OAuth 2.0. In this paper, we present the first formal security analysis of GNAP. We build a detailed formal model of GNAP, based on the Web Infrastructure Model (WIM) of Fett, Küsters, and Schmitz. Based on this model, we provide formal statements of the key security properties of GNAP, namely, authorization, authentication, and session integrity for both authorization and authentication. In the process of trying to prove these properties, we have discovered several attacks on GNAP. We present these attacks as well as modifications to the protocol that prevent them. These modifications have been incorporated into the GNAP specification after discussion with the GNAP working group. We give the first formal security guarantees for GNAP, by proving that GNAP, with our modifications applied, satisfies the mentioned security properties. GNAP was still an early draft when we started our analysis, but is now on track to be adopted as an IETF standard. Hence, our analysis is just in time to help ensure the security of this important emerging standard

Layered Symbolic Security Analysis in DY⋆^\star

While cryptographic protocols are often analyzed in isolation, they are typically deployed within a stack of protocols, where each layer relies on the security guarantees provided by the protocol layer below it, and in turn provides its own security functionality to the layer above. Formally analyzing the whole stack in one go is infeasible even for semi-automated verification tools, and impossible for pen-and-paper proofs. The DY$^\star$ protocol verification framework offers a modular and scalable technique that can reason about large protocols, specified as a set of F$^\star$ modules. However, it does not support the compositional verification of layered protocols since it treats the global security invariants monolithically. In this paper, we extend DY$^\star$ with a new methodology that allows analysts to modularly analyze each layer in a way that compose to provide security for a protocol stack. Importantly, our technique allows a layer to be replaced by another implementation, without affecting the proofs of other layers. We demonstrate this methodology on two case studies. We also present a verified library of generic authenticated and confidential communication patterns that can be used in future protocol analyses and is of independent interest

Resource Sharing via Capability-Based Multiparty Session Types

Multiparty Session Types (MPST) are a type formalism used to model communication protocols among components in distributed systems, by specifying type and direction of data transmitted. It is standard for multiparty session type systems to use access control based on linear or affine types. While useful in offering strong guarantees of communication safety and session fidelity, linearity and affinity run into the well-known problem of inflexible programming, excluding scenarios that make use of shared channels or need to store channels in shared data structures. In this paper, we develop capability-based resource sharing for multiparty session types. In this setting, channels are split into two entities, the channel itself and the capability of using it. This gives rise to a more flexible session type system, which allows channel references to be shared and stored in persistent data structures. We illustrate our type system through a producer-consumer case study. Finally, we prove that the resulting language satisfies type safety

Aerobic exercise improves sleep in U. S. active duty service members following brief treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

IntroductionPhysical exercise is a lifestyle intervention that can positively impact aspects of physical and psychological health. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that physical exercise, sleep, and PTSD are interrelated. This study investigated possible relationships. Three research questions were posed: (1) Did randomization to an aerobic exercise intervention reduce insomnia more than being randomized to an intervention without exercise, (2) Did change in sleep predict change in PTSD symptoms, and (3) Did change in sleep impact the relationship between exercise and PTSD symptom reductions?MethodsData were collected from 69 treatment-seeking active duty service members with PTSD symptoms randomized into one of four conditions; two conditions included aerobic exercise, and two conditions did not include exercise. Participants in the exercise groups exercised five times per week keeping their heart rate > 60% of their heart rate reserve for 20–25 min.ResultsAt baseline, 58% of participants reported moderate or severe insomnia. PTSD symptom severity decreased following treatment for all groups (p < 0.001). Participants randomized to exercise reported greater reductions in insomnia compared to those in the no exercise group (p = 0.47). However, change in insomnia did not predict change in PTSD symptoms nor did it significantly impact the relationship between exercise and PTSD symptom reductions.DiscussionAdding exercise to evidence-based treatments for PTSD could reduce sleep disturbance, a characteristic of PTSD not directly addressed with behavioral therapies. A better understanding of exercise as a lifestyle intervention that can reduce PTSD symptoms and insomnia is warranted

Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy. Theory of the Feedback Mode

The steady-state current that flows between the scanning tlp (a disk ultramicroelectrode imbedded in an Insulating sheath) and a planar sample substrate in a scannlng electrochemical microscope (SECM) operating in the feedback mode is calculated by the finite element method with an exponentlaily expandlng grld, for both conductlve and Insulating samples. For conductlve substrates the tip current, representing, for example, the oxidatkn reactlon of R to 0, is enhanced by flow of R generated at the substrate to the tlp and is a functlon of tiphubstrate distance, d , but not the radius of the lnsuiatlng sheath. For insulating substrates, the tlp current Is decreased by blockage of the diffusion of R to the tip by the substrate and depends upon d and the Insulating sheath radius. The theoretical results are compared to experimental studies