365 research outputs found

    The Design and Evaluation of an Interactive Social Engineering Training Programme

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    Social engineering is a major issue affecting organisational security. Educating employees on how to avoid social engineering attacks is important because social engineering tries to penetrate an organisation by using employees to grant authorized access to sensitive information. While there are a number of theoretical studies about social engineering, a few practical studies have moved towards educating and training employees on how to spot such attacks. In this research, we emphasise the importance of educating employees to make them more resilient to these kinds of attacks. We developed an educational video encapsulated within a Social Engineering Training Programme. This is essentially an interactive training video during which the learner interacts with three different scenarios; educational content, a knowledge-check, and a web page containing the latest news about current social engineering attacks. The training programme was evaluated in a Saudi trading company with 24 employees. The evaluation showed that the programme delivered a positive impact in terms of awareness, as tested by a post-training qui

    Application of Species Distribution Modeling for Avian Influenza surveillance in the United States considering the North America Migratory Flyways.

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    Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has recently (2014-2015) re-emerged in the United States (US) causing the largest outbreak in US history with 232 outbreaks and an estimated economic impact of $950 million. This study proposes to use suitability maps for Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) to identify areas at high risk for HPAI outbreaks. LPAI suitability maps were based on wild bird demographics, LPAI surveillance, and poultry density in combination with environmental, climatic, and socio-economic risk factors. Species distribution modeling was used to produce high-resolution (cell size: 500m x 500m) maps for Avian Influenza (AI) suitability in each of the four North American migratory flyways (NAMF). Results reveal that AI suitability is heterogeneously distributed throughout the US with higher suitability in specific zones of the Midwest and coastal areas. The resultant suitability maps adequately predicted most of the HPAI outbreak areas during the 2014-2015 epidemic in the US (i.e. 89% of HPAI outbreaks were located in areas identified as highly suitable for LPAI). Results are potentially useful for poultry producers and stakeholders in designing risk-based surveillance, outreach and intervention strategies to better prevent and control future HPAI outbreaks in the US

    Phylodynamics of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Europe, 2005-2010: Potential for Molecular Surveillance of New Outbreaks.

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    Previous Bayesian phylogeographic studies of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) explored the origin and spread of the epidemic from China into Russia, indicating that HPAIV circulated in Russia prior to its detection there in 2005. In this study, we extend this research to explore the evolution and spread of HPAIV within Europe during the 2005-2010 epidemic, using all available sequences of the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) gene regions that were collected in Europe and Russia during the outbreak. We use discrete-trait phylodynamic models within a Bayesian statistical framework to explore the evolution of HPAIV. Our results indicate that the genetic diversity and effective population size of HPAIV peaked between mid-2005 and early 2006, followed by drastic decline in 2007, which coincides with the end of the epidemic in Europe. Our results also suggest that domestic birds were the most likely source of the spread of the virus from Russia into Europe. Additionally, estimates of viral dispersal routes indicate that Russia, Romania, and Germany were key epicenters of these outbreaks. Our study quantifies the dynamics of a major European HPAIV pandemic and substantiates the ability of phylodynamic models to improve molecular surveillance of novel AIVs

    Implementing iPad apps for elementary language arts students

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    This study was to examine the effectiveness of the implementation of iPads with elementary schools students for learning and teaching of language Arts. This study contains a survey which was emailed to teachers of grades K-6 in Washington State. The survey included teachers\u27 perceptions about the impact of iPads on student learning. Specifically, teachers responded to questions and statements around the content areas of reading and writing. Also, examined were perceptions about the classroom environment when iPads were used --Document

    Evaluation of robust epoxy resin sealants for wellbore integrity applications

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    During the drilling and completion phases of oil and gas wells, cement is placed in the wellbore as a barrier between the casing and the formation. All casing strings must be cemented to protect and support the casing, and to isolate production zones. The primary cement must prevent the wellbore fluids from migrating in an annular flow path so as to allow the wells to be utilized without any control problems. The primary cement may fail to deliver full zonal isolation due to several reasons such as insufficient mud removal before the cementing, casing expansion, and contraction, high fluid losses, cement free fluids, inadequate hydrostatic pressure, high-pressure tests and temperature variations across the cement causing micro-annuli and cracks that may allow fluids to migrate. In addition, if the cement is placed in zones where corrosive fluids are presented, chemical degradation could compromise the cement integrity. If any of these failures occurred during the life of the well, remedial job must be performed to restore the well integrity. Failing to restore the cement integrity may lead to unwanted severe consequences to the environment, the equipment, and personnel. This work presents the results of evaluating several epoxy resin sealants that have the potential to replace the conventional Portland cement used in remedial jobs. This study includes the rheological behavior, curing kinetics, injectivity, plugging performance against water and CO2, chemical resistance, and the mechanical properties of epoxy resin sealants. This work compares the results of epoxy resin sealants to that of the conventional Portland cement. The findings obtained from this work can be utilized in optimizing the cement remedial operations --Abstract, page iv

    The School's Healthy Role in Facing Epidemics in Karak Region from the Students' Point of View

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    The school can play a crucial role in promoting the health of its students and teachers as well, and provides the best opportunities to achieve health education and quality for the life of the entire community, and thus it is considered one of the most important institutions that serve to achieve the goals of “Health for All”.The school itself is an integrated community in which many segments of society live or interact; (Children, teachers, administrative staff, workers and parents). And because health education always looks forward to targeting broad groups in order to spread awareness, attitudes and behaviors that are beneficial to health and life, the school provides a suitable place that delivers the message faithfully to a large segment of society if it is better communicated in a scientific manner. In this study, the researcher distributed (120) questionnaires to students in various government schools for the year (2022-2021) in Karak Region, randomly. The five-point Likert scale was relied upon to correct the study tools, by giving each of its paragraphs one score out of its five degrees (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree), and they are represented numerically (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) Respectively, the following scale has been adopted for the purposes of analyzing the results: From) 1.00 to 2.33 Low( ،From )2.34 to 3.67 average) ،From )3.68 to 5.00 large(.The scale was calculated by using the following equation: The upper limit of the scale (5) - the lower limit of the scale (1) / The number of required categories (3 =5-1)/3) (1.33) .And then add the answer (1.33) to the end of each category. Keywords: health services, healthy school environment, health education, Karak region DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-19-01 Publication date:June 30th 202

    New wellbore-integrity classification for gas migration problems and new cement formulations using Graphene Nano Platelets to prevent gas migration through cement

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    Gas migration, one of the primary problems related to the integrity of oil wells, is caused by cement failures. Gas migration can result in costly well repairs and may endanger personal, equipment, and result in severe operational difficulties and environmental issues. The ultimate objectives of this research were to provide a comprehensive review of the problem and to provide a solution to the problem using Graphene Nano Platelets (GNPs). An intensive review was performed to understand the cement failures. The reasons behind these failures were analyzed and classified with respect to their locations in the wellbore. Recommendations and potential solutions for these problems were also suggested. A new classification was established and would work as a roadmap to understand the oil well cement failures and would help prevent their occurrence. An intensive laboratory work was conducted to better understand the cement and the cement testing methodologies. In addition, GNPs were added to the cement to enhance its properties. The evaluation of the neat cement and the new cement formulations included testing their mineralogy by implementing X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, testing the mechanical properties of the set cement, testing the stability and rheology of the liquid slurry, and evaluating the chemical shrinkage of the cement. In addition, the effects of adding GNPs on the hydration process of the cement was studied using isothermal calorimeter. The findings of this investigation showed that GNPs played a key role in regulating the microstructure of the hydration products of the cement, which enhanced the toughness of the cement without affecting its stability and flow-ability. The GNPs also aided in controlling the propagation of micro cracks within the cement matrix --Abstract, page iv

    Design and evaluation of graphical authentication systems for Arab children

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    The increasing use of digital technologies by all ages means the number of online accounts used by children is also increasing. The COVID-19 pandemic further increased this situation with children staying at home to do schooling and communicate with friends online. It is thus urgent to investigate authentication systems for this age group. Text passwords are still the most used authentication systems, however children have a range of problems with them. Unfortunately, little research has investigated suitable authentication systems for children. The aim of this programme of research is to bridge this gap by investigating the usability of graphical authentication systems for children. The research is divided into three phases, each consisting of one or more studies that provide insight for the next phase. Phase 1 focuses on understanding and exploring password knowledge and practices of children who are native speakers of Arabic. This phase revealed a number of challenges for Arabic children with text passwords, due to their level of cognitive development and lack of literacy in the English language. In Phase 2 two graphical authentication systems, DoodlePass and ObjectPass, were designed and evaluated based on three usability aspects: effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. The findings showed that both these systems are effective, efficient, and satisfying for Arab children aged 6 to 12 years, and promising alternatives for text passwords. Phase 3 compared the DoodlePass and ObjectPass authentication systems. The findings showed that ObjectPass is significantly more effective, efficient, and satisfying compared with DoodlePass. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data were undertaken at all stages of the research. Overall, the findings suggest that graphical authentication systems are usable and promising alternatives for text passwords to overcome literacy and memorability challenges for children in the 6 to 12 years age group

    Symmetric Conditions for Strain Analysis in a Long Thick Cylinder under Internal Pressure Using NASIR Unstructured GFVM Solver

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    Utilization of symmetric condition in NASIR Galerkin Finite Volume Method for linear triangular element unstructured meshes is introduced for numerical solution of two dimensional strain and stress fields in a long thick cylinder section. The developed shape function free Galerkin Finite Volume structural solver explicitly computes stresses and displacements in Cartesian coordinate directions for the two- dimensional solid mechanic problems under either static or dynamic loads. The accuracy of the introduced algorithm is assessed by comparison of computed results of a thick cylinder under internal fluid pressure load with analytical solutions. The performance of the solver for taking advantage of symmetric conditions is presented by computation of stress and strain contours on a half and a quarter of the cylinder section

    Preliminary mortality and eclosion: dose-determining factors of aqueous extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa in Drosophila melanogaster

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    Background: This study investigated the toxicity of Hibiscus sabdariffa extract using simple end point assays (mortality and eclosion assay) in Drosophila melanogaster (Harwich strain) flies. Methods: The study was carried out in two phases (phases I and II) and in an array of concentrations of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/ml in phase I; 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1000mg/ml in phase II for the period of 168 hours. Thirty (30) 4-day old flies were used in each concentration and mortality was recorded every 24 hours for the period of the study. Eclosion was scored after emergence of the adult flies. Results: There was no significant difference (p<0.05) in mortality and eclosion between the (experimental) concentrations and the control in the first phase of this study, indicating low/zero toxicity to the parent and the emerged flies. However, higher concentrations of 250 through 1000mg/ml of the second phase showed significant (p<0.05) increased mortality and decreased eclosion scores, indicating high acute toxicity to D. melanogaster. Conclusion: The LC50 of Hibiscus sabdariffa after 168 hours was 427.1mg/10g diet in Drosophila melanogaster and much eclosion was recorded at doses between 10 - 100mg/10g diet as compared with doses between 250 - 1000mg/10g diet. Eclosion can be considered a factor in the determination of LC50 in Drosophila melanogaster. Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster, Hibiscus sabdariffa, mortality, eclosion, concentratio
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