Trust Evolution Game in Blockchain

One of the main concepts behind Blockchain is trustlessness, where trust is shifted to a new paradigm through Cryptoeconomics. But how can people trust a trustless system? Blockchain protocols employ incentive structures predicated on game theory mechanisms in order to encourage the players (users and miners) in the system to act honestly. Users don\u27t need to trust any single entity and there is no single point of failure that the system relies on(trustless system). In this paper, we developed an abstract game model for blockchain. The game model was for a repeated matrix game to be played by blockchain users. We studied how the game design enforces players to cooperate with each other to benefit the whole players in the network, which increase trust and make the system more trustworthy. Also, we applied two basic learning algorithms to see how the players of the game will evolve over time. We found that the players learn to cooperate in the game to get better payoffs

A meter band rate mechanism to improve the native QoS capability of OpenFlow and OpenDaylight

The exponential growth of mobile connected devices with advanced multimedia features imposes a requirement to enhance quality of service (QoS) from heterogeneous systems and networks. In order to satisfy mission-critical multimedia QoS requirements new generation mobile networks must present content-optimized mechanisms in order to use valuable network resources efficiently and provide QoS requirements for each application. This research explores a novel solution for quality of service performance for streaming mission-critical video data in OpenFlow SDN networks. A Meter Band Rate Evaluator (MBE) Mechanism is proposed based on a new band rate description language to improve the native QoS capability of OpenFlow and OpenDaylight. Its design and development are presented and the mechanism is verified through a simulated experiment in an SDN testbed. The results revealed a significant percentage increase in QoS performance when the MBE was enabled. These findings provide support and validation for the effectiveness of the MBE to enhance the native capability of OpenFlow and OpenDaylight for efficient QoS provision

Artificial Intelligence Applications in Cybersecurity

For the past decades, cyber threats have been increasing significantly and are designed in a sophisticated way that is tough to detect using traditional protection tools. As a result, privacy and sensitive personal information such as credit card numbers are being continuously compromised. Therefore, it is time to find a solution that can stand against the spreading of such threats. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning could be among the top methods of detecting cyber threats. These methods could help to improve the detection technologies and engines for computer network defense. This chapter mainly focuses on artificial intelligence in cybersecurity. The main goal of this chapter is to highlight the drawbacks of the traditional security protection tools and discuss the improvements that has been made so far by applying artificial intelligence to solve the current cybersecurity problems

NFT Certificates and Proof of Delivery for Fine Jewelry and Gemstones

Fine jewelry is a unique class of ornaments composed of precious metals and gemstones. Premium-grade metals such as gold, platinum, and sliver, and gemstones such as pearls, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds are used use to make fine jewelry. Paper-based certificates are typically issued by retailers and producers for fine jewelry and gemstones as a proof of origin, sale, ownership, history, and quality. However, paper certificates are subject to counterfeiting, loss, or theft. In this paper, we show how non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Ethereum blockchain can be used for digital certification, proof of ownership, sale history, and quality, as well as proof of delivery for fine jewelry and gemstones.We present the proposed system design and architecture with sequence diagrams covering key interactions for jewelry production, purchase, and sale, along with algorithms related to NFT minting, auctioning, ownership management, and physical delivery. We demonstrate that our proposed NFT and blockchain-based solution can provide superior alternative in terms of verifiability, traceability, immutability, and security when compared with paper-based certification and traditional auctioning, delivery and ownership management. We make our developed smart contracts and testing scripts publicly available on GitHub

A meter band rate mechanism to improve the native QoS capability of OpenFlow and OpenDaylight

The exponential growth of mobile connected devices with advanced multimedia features imposes a requirement to enhance quality of service (QoS) from heterogeneous systems and networks. In order to satisfy mission-critical multimedia QoS requirements new generation mobile networks must present content-optimized mechanisms in order to use valuable network resources efficiently and provide QoS requirements for each application. This research explores a novel solution for quality of service performance for streaming mission-critical video data in OpenFlow SDN networks. A Meter Band Rate Evaluator (MBE) Mechanism is proposed based on a new band rate description language to improve the native QoS capability of OpenFlow and OpenDaylight. Its design and development are presented and the mechanism is verified through a simulated experiment in an SDN testbed. The results revealed a significant percentage increase in QoS performance when the MBE was enabled. These findings provide support and validation for the effectiveness of the MBE to enhance the native capability of OpenFlow and OpenDaylight for efficient QoS provision

Parental Attitude towards the Prescription of Psychotropic Medications for Mental Disorders in Children in a Tertiary Care University Hospital in Oman

Objectives: This study investigated parental attitudes towards psychotropic drugs for children's mental disorders. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to parents of children attending a child psychiatry clinic at a tertiary hospital in Muscat, Oman. Similarly, in a small proportion, other caregivers filled out the questionnaire in case the child attended with them. The questionnaire comprised questions regarding parents' opinions, and attitudes about psychotropic medications use. The logistic regression model was used to identify the risk factors associated with parents who prefer to consult a folk healer (FH) for children with mental disorders. Results: A total of 299 parents agreed to participate in the study. The majority of them (81.6%, n=244) agreed that they would give their child psychotropic medications if necessary, but 25.4% of them (n=76) would consult a FH before consulting a psychiatrist if their child experienced psychiatric symptoms. Married parents were 14 times (OR=14.5, p=0.011) more likely to consult a FH than were separated or divorced parents. Caregivers with a monthly income below 500 OMR and between 500-1,000 OMR were two times (OR=2.5, p=0.016) and three times (OR=3.2, p<.001), respectively, more likely to consult a FH than those with a monthly income of more than 1,000 OMR. Parents who disagreed with giving psychotropic medications to their children were three times (OR=3.7, p<.001) more likely to consult a FH than were parents who agreed to give psychotropic medications to their children if necessary. Conclusion: Most parents agreed to give their children psychotropic medications if it were deemed necessary. However, a sizeable proportion of parents and caregivers preferred to consult a FH before accessing mental health services. Keywords: Parents; Children; Attitudes; Psychotropic Drugs; Oma

Potential Solutions for the Short to Medium-Term Natural Gas Shortage Issues of Europe: What Can Qatar Do?

European countries are required to look for alternative gas suppliers to deliver energy security for Europe. Qatar has been proposed to be an alternative gas supplier; however, there are problems that limit Qatar from exporting more gas to Europe, namely: the limited LNG quantities available for export, the long-term fixed contracting strategy, and the lack of room to receive additional gas in European LNG terminals. As these problems are critical and limit Qatar from exporting more gas to Europe, this research aims to propose potential solutions to overcome them. The results show that to solve the issue of the limited LNG quantities available for export, Qatar can produce electricity from renewable sources and export the gas consumed for power production, and can produce renewable natural gas (RNG) from green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide. Two BCM of natural gas can be exported if 15% of the electricity required is produced from renewables in Qatar. In addition, 0.45 BCM of RNG can be exported if Qatar uses its natural resources to produce 5000 MW of renewable power. Redirecting contracts coming to an end and increasing dependence on spot markets can resolve the issue of a long-term fixed contracting strategy. Finally, using floating import terminals may alleviate the problem of European LNG terminals running out of room to receive more gas

Digital Signal Processing Extra-tropical Cyclones Warning System using WiMAX

This research project proposed a unique solution to make use of these base stations to keep all subscribers alerted with warning of possible disaster should that be required. As the current, network does not provide a provision for such a noble approach, a new network model has been developed and simulated to interface a sensor (weather station, WeS), with WiMAX weather station. The weather station is based on DSP processor to receive a digitised sensor values, process these values, analyse them and if they fall within the alert zones, packet them according to WiMAX protocol and send them to subscribers. The developed standard bypasses any commercial network to offer free transmission to subscribers. This setup is also able to extract information on weather condition or react on uncertainty, i.e. disaster scenarios. Natural disasters, such as torrent, tornado/ hurricane, volcano eruption, earthquake, Tsunamis or landslide are increasing. Unfortunately they bring with them human tragedies, environment catastrophes, villages, cities and counties are subject to endless devastation during and after the destructive forces. Water, electricity and gas supply are most disrupted and difficult to restore in short time. However, communication is another item that can be affected adversely but WLAN with specific considerations, should be excluded from the effect. This project presents a solution, albeit minor relative to the maximum effect of the disaster, but will keep the telecommunication/communication in operation. Our novel technique, a “Clone Wireless Wide Area Network (CloneWAN)” is a clone wireless network to the wired Network. In the event of natural calamities, it gives continuity of network operation. It is based on WiMAX. The realization of CloneWAN has been formed and simulated to set the national network of the UAE at its correct form. CloneWAN model has been simulated with Opnet platform. All results revealed that the model is complete. The interface to Alerting System is discussed. Results show that the dynamic behavior of the parameters delay and Throughput of CloneWAN model is stable over various and different load scenarios. WiMAX is a de-facto standard in the current and future network requirement standards. Its main component is the Base Station which is normally stationed in the air, high enough to couple signals from other base stations. It is purpose is merely focused on networking signals for commercial purposes. The suggested hardware interface for the Weather Station is based on DSP SHARC processor. The model has been written in C and simulated under Opnet package. A number of scenarios have been set to represent different disasters worldwide. All results are listed and discussed later in the thesis

The Extended Technology Acceptance Model (ETAM): Examining Students’ Acceptance of Online Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic

This study contributes to the existing literature on online learning during COVID-19 pandemic in higher education by investigating the relationships between the cognitive variables and students' adoption of online learning. Based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), some hypotheses we formulated to test the links between TAM constructs and online learning anxiety as an antecedent. This study adopted structural equation modeling (SEM) to scrutinize technology adoption for a sample of 569 students in Oman. The results indicated that attitude towards online learning is a strong predictor of technology adoption during COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, both the perceived usefulness of online learning and perceived ease of online use yielded a significant contribution of attitude. Besides, online learning anxiety affected both the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of online use negatively where perceived ease of use is predicted largely while perceived usefulness is predicted modestly. In the light of the previous findings, some recommendations and implications are provided