A new sinkhole attack detection algorithm for RPL in wireless sensor networks (WSN)

With the continuous improvement of science and technology, wireless sensor network technology has gradually been widely used, and provides great convenience for people's living, but with the continuous improvement of the degree of application, wireless sensor network security issues also enter people's field of vision. Sensor nodes can be used for continuous sensing, event recognition and event identification. 6LoWPAN plays an important role in this convergence of heterogeneous technologies, which allows sensors to transmit information using IPv6 stack. Sensors perform critical tasks and become targets of attacks. Sinkhole attack is one of the most common attacks to sensor networks, threatening the network availability by dropping data or disturbing routing paths. RPL is a standard routing protocol commonly used in sensor networks. Therefore, this research presents the works in designing and developing Secured-RPL using the eave-listening concept (overhearing) to treating sinkhole attack. The suggested mechanism method could determine transmitted packages then overhear to the received packet, meaning that the node can overhearing to the neighbor node. Furthermore, three different simulation scenarios were applied, which are the scenario without attacker nodes, scenario with attacker nodes and the scenario with attacker and security by using Cooja simulator to Measurement and analysis performance of RPL in terms of packet delivery ratio (PDR) and power consumption over different packet transmission rate. The experimental results show that the proposed recognition method can identify sinkholes attack effectively and with less storage cost under various wireless sensor networks. Where the optimization ratio of the PDR in scenario with attacker node with the security was close to the scenario with a normal node

Iraq : a deeply divided polity and challenges to democracy-building

In the post-2003 Iraq, democratization and state building have contradictorily overlapped with dramatic consequences. The major constraint to Iraq’s statebuilding project is the misfit between identity and sovereignty of the state in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country where the construction of a new national identity (i.e. Iraqi) is sought at the expense of eradicating other existing identities (i.e. Kurd, Assyrian). The Iraqi state is seeming foisting the identity of the ruling majority Shiite-Arabs composing 65% of the population, thus marginalizing the identity of minorities such as the Kurds who constitute 20% of the population. Further, Iraq’s religious diversity and, precisely, the sectarian cleavage between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, impose serious challenges to the notion of democracy and democratic transition. This paper shows that in Iraq, democracy and nation-building have resulted in majority rule in a way that marginalizes minorities and dissenting voices. The processes of state building and democratization, it is argued, are intertwined and their challenges overlap and interlinked, making democracy a contested subject in the Iraqi context

THE USE OF BLOCKCHAIN IN THE MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 VACCINE DATA

ABSTRACT - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every sector of the world economy. The recently discovered vaccine has promised a return to normalcy. Since traditional database storage systems can be tampered with quickly, the incorporation of blockchain would preclude the limitations of conventional database systems. This paper thus discusses the use of blockchain technology in managing the COVID-19 vaccine data to ensure credibility, safety, security, and transparency. Keywords - Blockchain technology, COVID-19 vaccine data, and vaccine supply chain

Performance Evaluation of Mannasim Framework for Wireless Sensor Network in Network Simulator 2

Optimizing sensor networks involves addressing a wide range of issues steaming from limited energy reserves, computation power, communication capabilities, and self-managing sensor nodes. The high cost and difficulties in deploying wireless sensor networks are the main challenges that motivate investigating the performance of a sensor network in a simulated environment. The Network Simulator 2 (ns-2) is one of the flexible tools available for network engineers to study how various protocols perform under different configurations and topologies. ns-2 lacks of modules for studying the sensor networks. However, many researchers have developed several modules for ns-2, which help exploring wireless sensor network before real deployment. This project concerns the reliability of Mannasim module for studying the performance of wireless sensor networks in ns-2. This project supports the analysis of different sensor network configurations under the demands of specific sensor applications. The project showed that Mannasim module reliable and it is able to meet the requirements of different layers that are involved in sensor networks

THE FUTURE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

This paper looks at the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the evolving global financial system from the perspective of developing country interests. It finds that on certain issues, such as the scope and purposes of its lending operations, a consensus has been reached that IMF should continue to serve all its members, including the poorest, and that its resources should be available for supporting macro-relevant structural reforms as well as for dealing with financial crises. On a number of other issues, there remain differences between industrial and developing country views, including on the extension of IMF surveillance to cover the observance of international standards and codes. Largely unsettled are the modalities of the involvement of the private sector in crisis resolution, with special reference to the development of arrangements in the international sphere that would be analogous to domestic bankruptcy procedures, including the declaration of standstills and principles for orderly and equitable debt workouts. The liberalization of the capital account and the choice of exchange regimes are two interconnected areas in which international prescriptions conflict with developing country insistence on the preservation of national autonomy and in favour of intermediate regimes, as opposed to corner solutions. The scope and content of IMF conditionality raises the issue of how to reconcile it with the importance of assuring country ownership. Finally, the governance of IMF poses questions about the exercise of decision-making powers in the institution. Developing country positions are evolving in all these areas, especially on the subject of private-sector involvement in financial crisis prevention and resolution. However, there appears to be a general preference for a more rules-based framework, rather than one derived on a “case-by-case” basis. There are four areas of great interest to developing countries where the international debate has remained muted or has been largely absent in the recent literature: these relate to the surveillance over, and coordination of, the macroeconomic policies of the three principal international currency issuers; the relationship of international and regional arrangements; the distribution of voting power in both IMF and the international system generally, and the future evolution of the international reserve system.

BURDEN SHARING AT THE IMF

In the context of the financial governance of the International Monetary Fund, what are the equity implications of the way in which the IMF distributes the cost of running its regular (non-concessionary) lending operations as well as how it funds its concessionary lending and debt relief operations? While the IMF charges borrowers roughly what it pays its creditor members for the resources used in its regular lending operations, its overhead costs (administrative budget plus addition to reserves) are shared between the two groups of members in a less equitable manner. With overhead costs rising inexorably to meet the increasing number and range of responsibilities being placed on the institution – largely at the instance of the IMF‘s principal creditors by virtue of their dominant majority of voting power – the under-representation of the IMF’s debtors undermines the legitimacy of its decision making. With regard to the concessionary lending and debt relief operations, some of the IMF’s funding modalities have involved a substantial contribution by IMF debtors, sometimes under pressure. While this has been accepted as part of an intra-developing-country burden-sharing exercise, it has also significantly reduced the cost to developed countries of meeting their responsibilities to the poorest members of the international community.

Computer Software Development (Galal-M-RP) for Concrete Pavement Analysis and Design

A computer expert system has been developed for structural design of rigid pavements entitled Galal-Muram Rigid Pavement (Galal-M-RP). The developed software program is a design package as well as educational and training tool. The user is assisted to select design inputs by a systematic rule-based expert. These rules are intended to determine AASHTO recommended values. These values are shown on the screen along with a brief explanation during the design process. Screens and various group boxes assist the user in selecting the design inputs. A sensitivity analysis option allows the user to confirm the required precision of the design inputs. The results obtained from this software were evaluated and compared to the manual design case study of Omdurman ring road, as well as with other design examples. They include examples by Huang; AASHO 1993 Guide and Kici, A. and Tigdemir, M. in 2017 applying user friendly software, in addition to lecture notes by Drakos in 2009 at University of Florida. Comparisons were found excellent with differences in pavement thickness ranging between 0.1 and 0.9 cm. Concrete pavement design software Galal-M-RP supersedes conventional design methods regarding errors and difficulties in addition to saving significant time. Keywords: Visua

Modelling dynamics of victims' stress during natural disaster

Natural disaster is one of the inescapable phenomenon through which numerous number of individuals are being affected via developing psychological problems. Stress is one of the essential psychological effects of natural disaster; it is a reality of nature where forces from the outside world affect individuals exposed to such phenomenon. In computational psychology domains, computational models were used as tools for understanding human cognitive functions and behavioural patterns. Meanwhile, psychological and cognitive theories as well as empirical studies have provided convergent evidence to identify important factors and psychological attributes that affect the stress level of victims during natural disaster. Therefore, this study implements a formal model (computational model) to understand the current state of victims' stress during natural disaster. From related theories, 22 of basic factors have been established and grouped into 7 main categories that include predisposed factors, resources, individual attributes, appraisal, resilience, coping, and stress. Those factors provide the fundamental knowledge of the behaviours of victims after disaster occurrence. A formal model was developed by using a set of differential equations. Later, this model was simulated by applying related scenarios based on three different cases, namely; 1) a good victim with low level of stress, 2) victim with high level of stress, and 3) victim with moderate level of stress) through the use of Matlab as a programming language. This computational model was then verified using two techniques; 1) logical verification (Temporal Trace Language) and 2) mathematical verification (stability analysis). The experimental results have approximately predicted why victims develop stress differently when facing natural disasters