Phish Finders: Improving Cybersecurity Training Tools Using Citizen Science

Malicious web content includes phishing emails, social media posts, and websites that imitate legitimate sites. Phishing attacks are rising, and human-centered phishing risk mitigation is often an afterthought eclipsed by technical system-centric efforts like firewalls. Training tools can be deployed for combating phishing but often lack sufficient labeled training content. Using signal detection theory, this paper assesses the feasibility of using citizen science and crowdsourcing volunteers to label images for use in cybersecurity training tools. Crowd volunteer performance was compared to gold standard content and prior studies of Fortune 500 company employees. Findings show no significant statistical differences between crowd volunteers and corporate employees\u27 performance on gold standard content in identifying phishing. Based on these findings, citizen scientists can be valuable for generating annotated images for cybersecurity training tools

Uptake of dissolved free amino acids by four cold-water coral species from the Mediterranean Sea

Dissolved organic matter, which contains many compounds such as lipids, sugars and amino acids, is an important source of carbon and nitrogen for several symbiotic and asymbiotic tropical coral species. However, there is still no information on its possible uptake by cold-water coral species. In this study, we demonstrated that dissolved organic matter, in the form of dissolved free amino acids (DFAA), is actively absorbed by four cold-water coral species from the Mediterranean Sea. Although the uptake rates observed with 3mM DFAA concentration were one order of magnitude lower than those observed in tropical species, they corresponded to 12–50% of the daily excreted-nitrogen, and 16–89% of the daily respired-carbon of the cold-water corals. Consequently, DFAA, even at in situ concentrations lower than those tested in this study, can supply a significant amount of carbon and nitrogen to the corals, especially during periods when particulate food is scarce. Versión del editor

Breaking Organizational Eggs to Make an Innovation Cake: One Library\u27s Experience with Reorganization

This poster describes a major service realignment that integrated Instructional Designers, Media Specialists, Librarians, and Digital Scholarship Specialists into a new unit oriented around providing cutting edge technologies and services to students, faculty and staff. Highlighted is the digital assignment lifecycle, which serves as the philosophical underpinning to the structure of the unit, as well as illustration of new makerspace oriented facilities

Measuring single cell mass, volume, and density with dual suspended microchannel resonators

Cell size, measured as either volume or mass, is a fundamental indicator of cell state. Far more tightly regulated than size is density, the ratio between mass and volume, which can be used to distinguish between cell populations even when volume and mass appear to remain constant. Here we expand upon a previous method for measuring cell density involving a suspended microchannel resonator (SMR). We introduce a new device, the dual SMR, as a high-precision instrument for measuring single-cell mass, volume, and density using two resonators connected by a serpentine fluidic channel. The dual SMR designs considered herein demonstrate the critical role of channel geometry in ensuring proper mixing and damping of pressure fluctuations in microfluidic systems designed for precision measurement. We use the dual SMR to compare the physical properties of two well-known cancer cell lines: human lung cancer cell H1650 and mouse lymphoblastic leukemia cell line L1210.National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Koch Institute Support (Core) Grant P30-CA14051)National Cancer Institute (U.S.). Physical Sciences Oncology Center (U54CA143874)National Cancer Institute (U.S.). Cell Decision Process Center (P50GM68762)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Contract R01GM085457

Hiding in Plain Sight: Secondary Analysis of Data Records as a Method for Learning about Citizen Science Projects and Volunteers’ Skills

This paper is the culmination of several facilitated exercises and meetings between external researchers and five citizen science (CS) project teams who analyzed existing data records to understand CS volunteers’ accuracy and skills. CS teams identified a wide range of skill variables that were “hiding in plain sight” in their data records, and that could be explored as part of a secondary analysis, which we define here as analyses based on data already possessed by the project. Each team identified a small number of evaluation questions to explore with their existing data. Analyses focused on accurate data collection and all teams chose to add complementary records that documented volunteers’ project engagement or the data collection context to their analysis. Most analyses were conducted as planned, and included a range of approaches from correlation analyses to general additive models. Importantly, the results from these analyses were then used to inform the design of both existing and new CS projects, and to inform the field more broadly through a range of dissemination strategies. We conclude by sharing ways that others might consider pursuing their own secondary analysis to help fill gaps in our current understanding related to volunteer skills

The N-component Ginzburg-Landau Hamiltonian with cubic anisotropy: a six-loop study

We consider the Ginzburg-Landau Hamiltonian with a cubic-symmetric quartic interaction and compute the renormalization-group functions to six-loop order in d=3. We analyze the stability of the fixed points using a Borel transformation and a conformal mapping that takes into account the singularities of the Borel transform. We find that the cubic fixed point is stable for N>N_c, N_c = 2.89(4). Therefore, the critical properties of cubic ferromagnets are not described by the Heisenberg isotropic Hamiltonian, but instead by the cubic model at the cubic fixed point. For N=3, the critical exponents at the cubic and symmetric fixed points differ very little (less than the precision of our results, which is $\lesssim 1$ in the case of $\gamma$ and $\nu$). Moreover, the irrelevant interaction bringing from the symmetric to the cubic fixed point gives rise to slowly-decaying scaling corrections with exponent $\omega_2=0.010(4)$. For N=2, the isotropic fixed point is stable and the cubic interaction induces scaling corrections with exponent $\omega_2 = 0.103(8)$. These conclusions are confirmed by a similar analysis of the five-loop $\epsilon$-expansion. A constrained analysis which takes into account that $N_c = 2$ in two dimensions gives $N_c = 2.87(5)$.Comment: 29 pages, RevTex, new refs added, Phys. Rev. B in pres

The glycosaminoglycan-binding domain of PRELP acts as a cell type–specific NF-κB inhibitor that impairs osteoclastogenesis

The PRELP heparin sulfate–binding protein translocates to the nucleus, where it impairs NF-κB transcriptional activity, which in turn regulates bone homeostasis

A draft physical map of a D-genome cotton species (Gossypium raimondii)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetically anchored physical maps of large eukaryotic genomes have proven useful both for their intrinsic merit and as an adjunct to genome sequencing. Cultivated tetraploid cottons, <it>Gossypium hirsutum </it>and <it>G. barbadense</it>, share a common ancestor formed by a merger of the A and D genomes about 1-2 million years ago. Toward the long-term goal of characterizing the spectrum of diversity among cotton genomes, the worldwide cotton community has prioritized the D genome progenitor <it>Gossypium raimondii </it>for complete sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A whole genome physical map of <it>G. raimondii</it>, the putative D genome ancestral species of tetraploid cottons was assembled, integrating genetically-anchored overgo hybridization probes, agarose based fingerprints and 'high information content fingerprinting' (HICF). A total of 13,662 BAC-end sequences and 2,828 DNA probes were used in genetically anchoring 1585 contigs to a cotton consensus genetic map, and 370 and 438 contigs, respectively to <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>(AT) and <it>Vitis vinifera </it>(VV) whole genome sequences.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Several lines of evidence suggest that the <it>G. raimondii </it>genome is comprised of two qualitatively different components. Much of the gene rich component is aligned to the <it>Arabidopsis </it>and <it>Vitis vinifera </it>genomes and shows promise for utilizing translational genomic approaches in understanding this important genome and its resident genes. The integrated genetic-physical map is of value both in assembling and validating a planned reference sequence.</p