Data hiding techniques in steganography using fibonacci sequence and knight tour algorithm

The foremost priority in the information and communication technology era, is achieving an efficient and accurate steganography system for hiding information. The developed system of hiding the secret message must capable of not giving any clue to the adversaries about the hidden data. In this regard, enhancing the security and capacity by maintaining the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) of the steganography system is the main issue to be addressed. This study proposed an improved for embedding secret message into an image. This newly developed method is demonstrated to increase the security and capacity to resolve the existing problems. A binary text image is used to represent the secret message instead of normal text. Three stages implementations are used to select the pixel before random embedding to select block of (64 × 64) pixels, follows by the Knight Tour algorithm to select sub-block of (8 × 8) pixels, and finally by the random pixels selection. For secret embedding, Fibonacci sequence is implemented to decomposition pixel from 8 bitplane to 12 bitplane. The proposed method is distributed over the entire image to maintain high level of security against any kind of attack. Gray images from the standard dataset (USC-SIPI) including Lena, Peppers, Baboon, and Cameraman are implemented for benchmarking. The results show good PSNR value with high capacity and these findings verified the worthiness of the proposed method. High complexities of pixels distribution and replacement of bits will ensure better security and robust imperceptibility compared to the existing systems in the literature

A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Study Of An Airflow In A Single Storey Building Integrated With A Combined System Of Wind Catcher And Solar Chimney

The biggest challenge in the 21st century is global warming,which seriously threatens humanity.The Building sector,which accounts for 40 % of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions,plays a key role in this threat. In this regard,the effects of cooling systems can not be ignored if,together with ventilation and heating systems, they account for 60 % of the energy consumed in buildings.Passive cooling systems (natural ventilation) can be a promising alternative to reduce energy consumption,especially when using two natural ventilation systems combined together.However,there are little studies that look into the combined system between two types or more of natural ventilation systems.Therefore, this study looks into the design of the combined system of windcatcher and solarchimney for natural ventilation system with ground cooling system for a single storey building as a concept for natural ventilation system and evaluate the airflow of the system by using simulation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).The simulation models were run for different wind speeds (0.5,1,and 1.5 m/s) and 303.15 K outdoor temperature.The simulation results obtained for the temperature distributions and the airflow patterns inside the room were presented with and without windcatcher,solarchimney and corrugate heat exchanger at different outdoor wind speed.The results shows that the temperature distribution in the room decreased by using catcher,solarchimney and corrugate heat exchanger.In addition,a greater temperature reduction was obtained by using the corrugated heat exchanger.The results obtained that the corrugated heat exchanger was able to reduce the temperature of the induced air stream while ensuring that the space was adequately ventilated.Moreover the results indicates that the air velocity distribution for the room increase with the increase of wind speed

SIZE EFFECT ON THE OPTICAL RESPONSE OF CYLINDRICAL PALLADIUM NANOPARTICLES

In this work, a computational study is carried out to investigate the optical response of palladium nano-cylinders. The Finite Element Method (FEM) is employed using the COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS simulation program to calculate the scattering, absorption, and extinction cross-sections. The influence of the size of the cylindrical nanoparticles on their optical properties is discussed. The results are plotted for a broad spectral range of wavelengths from ultra-violet to infra-red of the incident electromagnetic wave on the cylindrical nanoparticles

Legal framework for protecting computer programs in the ambit of intellectual property : a comparative study between Iraqi law (civil law) and English law (common law)

PhD ThesisThe purpose of this thesis is to test the ability of Iraqi law to protect right holders of computer programs and the programs themselves. Comparison is made between Iraq’s Author’s Right Act 1971, as amended in 2004, and English law- especially Copyright, Designs, and Patent Act 1988, as amended. Examining the effectiveness of the rules in both laws for protecting CPs entails four main areas: the nature and legal status of computer programs, the scope of copyright protection guaranteed for computer programs by the legislation, other legal ways of protecting programs and harmonisation between European Union copyright laws and Iraqi author right law. The methodology is mainly doctrinal /comparative. Accordingly, this study has been divided into six chapters. Chapter One contains the general introduction and covers the main features for Iraq as a developing country and the study’s background; its importance, aims and goals, and methodology. Chapter Two examines the nature and legal status of computer programs. Many questions are raised in relation to their nature: are computer programs tangible or intangible things? goods, services, or something else? Should property subsist and if so which kind of property, if programs do not fit recognised kinds of private property, can they be deemed a sui generis? Finally, evaluation the ability of “property” as a way to protect the investment of CPs in Iraq. Chapter Three, test the provisions of copyright and author’s right in English law, Iraqi law and references other laws - US, French, and Egyptian. Iraqi law and the UK law deem computer programs to be a literary works, protected by author’s right/copyright. Iraqi law has started to be consistent with the WTO and TRIPs Agreement. Questions arise regarding the sufficiency of copyright/author’s right to protect computer programs. If not adequate, would other methods provide preferable protection? Chapter Four examines other techniques for protection: patents, contractual terms, trade secret law and trade marks. Chapter Five aims to make harmony between Iraqi laws, international laws and European Directives, to link Iraq with the communities which preceded it in the area of intellectual property. As well as legislation, there is scope for judicial harmonisation using s1 (3) of Iraqi Civil Code. Finally, Chapter Six presents the main results and conclusions and makes recommendations as to for improving the current legal situation.Iraqi Governmen

Improving crop varieties of spring barley for drought and heat tolerance with AB-QTL-analysis

In the years 2002-2003, 323 BC2DH individuals of double haploid (DH) spring barley population were genotyped with SSRs markers. The BC2DH lines were evaluated in greenhouse trials for drought and heat tolerance. Altogether 13 parameters for the determination of drought tolerance and 12 parameters for the investigation of heat tolerance were examined. There were two treatments for the drought experiment, 50% field capacity (FC) level for drought stress and at 100% FC level for the control. We used two treatments for the heat experiment (normal climate and in greenhouse). The traits measured were: relative leaf water content, osmotic adjustment, heading date, number of spikes per plant, number of kernels per spike, number of leaves per main tiller, flag leaf area, first leaf area, second leaf area, carbon isotope discrimination (for the drought experiment), yield, biomass and harvest index. The traits were compared to determine the presence of alleles from the wild barley parent by means of the AB-QTL-analysis. The 97 mapped SSRs covered 1013 cM of the barley genome; the mean SSR density is equal to 11.1 cM. Polymorphic SSRs revealed 54 putative QTLs in two groups. The first had 20 putative QTLs for the drought experiment and the second 34 putative QTLs for the heat experiment. Altogether, 30 (55.5%) favorable allele effects of the Hsp alleles were detected for both drought and heat experiment. 14 (70.0%) favorable effects were detected for drought tolerance. These traits, osmotic adjustment, yield, biomass, relative leaf water content, carbon isotope discrimination, number of leaves per main tiller and flag leaf area were controlled by 7, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1 and 1 QTL respectively, in the drought experiment. Most of the favorable Hsp alleles were located on chromosomes 1H, 5H and 7H (2, 8 and 3 respectively). Under drought stress first leaf area was positively and strongly correlated with flag leaf area. Positive correlations were expressed by second leaf area with flag leaf area and first leaf area. Yield was positively correlated with harvest index, number of spikes per plant and number of kernels per spike. Biomass showed correlations with number of spikes per plant, number of leaves per main tiller, flag leaf area, first leaf area, second leaf area and yield. 16 (47.0%) favorable effects of the Hsp alleles were detected for heat tolerance. Flag leaf area, osmotic adjustment, yield, harvest index, biomass, first leaf area, relative leaf water content, number of spikes per plant and heading date were controlled by 8, 7, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2 and 1 QTL respectively, in heat experiment. Most of the QTLs were located on chromosomes 3H and 4H (3, and 5 respectively). Correlations of heading date with osmotic adjustment, and number of leaves per main tiller were strongly positive. Strong positive correlations were expressed by second leaf area with flag leaf area and first leaf area. Yield was positively and strongly correlated with harvest index.Verbesserung der Trockenheits- und Hitzetoleranz von Sommergersten-Linien mit Hilfe der AB-QTL-Analyse Während eines Versuches in den Jahren 2002 und 2003 wurde eine Sommergersten- BC2DH- Population, die 323 BC2DH- Einzellinien umfasste, mit 97 polymorphen SSR-Markern genotypisiert. Parallel wurden die BC2DH-Linien in Gewächshausversuchen auf ihre Trockenheits- und Hitzetoleranz hin phänotypisch untersucht. Hierzu wurden im Trockenstressversuch 13 Merkmale und im Hitzestressversuch 12 Merkmale erhoben. Im Trockenstressversuch wurden zwei Behandlungen unterschieden: (1) Boden mit 50% Feldkapazität (FC) (zur Erzeugung von Trockenstress), (2) Boden mit 100% Feldkapazität (FC). Auch im Hitzestressversuch gab es zwei unterschiedliche Behandlungen: (1) Normales Klima, (2) Gewächshausklima. Die Linien wurden auf folgende Merkmale phänotypisch untersucht: relativer Wassergehalt des Blattes, osmotischer Druck, Zeitpunkt des Ährenschiebens, Anzahl der Ähren pro Pflanze, Anzahl der Körner pro Ähre, Anzahl der Blätter pro Trieb, Blattflächenindex des Fahnenblattes, Blattflächenindex des ersten Blattes, Blattflächenindex des zweiten Blattes, Ertrag, Biomasse und Harvest Index. Im Trockenstressversuch wurde zusätzlich das Merkmal Karbonisotopunterscheidung erhoben. Die Merkmalsdaten wurden mit dem Vorhandensein der Allele des Wildgerstenelternteils mittels der AB-QTL-Analyse verglichen. Die 97 genotypisierten SSRs decken 1013 cM des Gerstengenoms ab, wobei die mittlere SSR-Dichte 11,1 cM betrug. Die Karte Scarlett*ISR42-8 enthält vier Lücken mit einem Markerabstand von mehr als 30 cM, wobei die Lücken auf den Chromosomen 3H, 5H und 6H lokalisiert sind. Ingesamt wurden 54 putative QTLs detektiert, wobei 20 putative QTLs im Trockenstressversuch und 34 putative QTLs im Hitzestressversuch gefunden wurden. Insgesamt wurden 30 (55,5%) vorteilhafte QTL-Effekte des Wildformallels (Hsp-Allel) in beiden Versuch ermittelt. Für Trockentoleranz wurden 14 (70,0%) vorteilhaften QTL-Effekte des Hsp-Allels festgestellt. Hierbei wurden für die Merkmale Ertrag, Biomasse und relativer Wassergehalt jeweils drei QTLs, für die Merkmale Anzahl der Blätter pro Trieb und Blattflächenindex des Fahnenblattes je ein QTL und für das Merkmal osmotischer Druck sieben QTLs gefunden. Für das Merkmal Karbonisotopunterscheidung wurden zwei QTLs lokalisiert. Die meisten der vorteilhaften QTLs waren auf den Chromosomen 1H, 5H und 7H lokalisiert (2, 8 bzw. 3 QTLs). Unter Trockenstress war der Blattflächenindex des ersten Blattes positiv mit dem Blattflächenindex des Fahnenblattes und dem Blattflächenindex des zweiten Blattes korreliert. Das Merkmal Ertrag zeigte positive Korrelationen mit dem Harvest Index, der Anzahl der Ähren pro Pflanze und der Anzahl der Körner pro Ähre. Die Biomasse korrelierte mit der Anzahl der Ähren pro Pflanze, der Anzahl der Blätter pro Trieb, dem Blattflächenindex des Fahnenblattes, dem Blattflächenindex des ersten Blattes, dem Blattflächenindex des zweiten Blattes und dem Ertrag. Für Hitzetoleranz wurden 16 (47,0%) vorteilhafte QTL-Effekte des Hsp-Allels ermittelt. Dabei wurden für die Merkmale Blattflächenindex des ersten Blattes, relativer Wassergehalt des Blattes und Anzahl der Ähren pro Pflanze jeweils zwei QTLs lokalisiert. Für den Harvest Index und die Biomasse wurden je drei QTLs gefunden, wohingegen für das Merkmal Zeitpunkt des Ährenschiebens nur ein QTL ermittelt wurde. Für die drei Merkmale Blattflächenindex des Fahnenblattes, osmotischer Druck und Ertrag wurden acht, sieben bzw. vier QTLs gefunden. Die meisten der vorteilhaften QTLs waren auf den Chromosomen 3H und 4H lokalisiert (je 3 QTLs). Eine Korrelation konnte zwischen dem Zeitpunkt des Ährenschiebens und den Merkmalen osmotischer Druck und Anzahl der Blätter pro Trieb gemessen werden. Positiv korreliert waren außerdem der Blattflächenindex des zweiten Blattes mit Blattflächenindex des Fahnenblattes und des ersten Blattes. Der Ertrag zeigte einen positiven Zusammenhang mit dem Harvest Index

Digital Marketing's Influence on Consumer Purchasing Decision: A Case Study in Iraq

Examining the effects of digital marketing on customer purchase decisions was the main goal of this study.Specific objectives guided the study, including the evaluation of digital marketing platforms in Iraq with the ability to impact purchasing decisions and the identification of product categories that customers purchased on digital media platforms. Although the corporation is not completely responsible for the purchase choice process of consumers, It is a comprehensive procedure that takes into account psychological aspects, social influence, word-of-mouth, cultural values, and financial level. A total of 250 questionnaires were delivered, with the exclusion of the unfinished surveys, and 220 usable samples were obtained, yielding an overall response rate of 88%. Multiple regressions, reliability tests, correlation tests, and descriptive analysis were all employed in this study. The findings of this study also demonstrated the major effect of digital marketing on customer purchase decisions, including social media marketing and mobile marketing. Hypothesis testing, however, showed that various well-known digital marketing platforms in Iraq had an impact on students' behavior. Through digital media platforms, students in Iraq make purchases across a wide range of product categories, and digital marketing has an impact. In the end, firms need to implement plans to harness the digital world and technology as well as raise brand recognition through online media in order to compete in today's business climate

Modelling traffic accidents using duration analysis techniques: a case study of Abu Dhabi

PhD ThesisOne of the main aims of Traffic Incident Management (TIM) is to reduce the duration of the disruption to traffic caused by an accident. Several approaches have been applied in the past in order to analyse and predict this. Incident duration can be broken down into four time intervals: reporting, response, clearance and recovery. Accurate models of each interval allow traffic controllers to deploy resources efficiently, thereby minimising an accident’s effect on traffic flow and congestion. This may, in turn, lead to a reduction in other adverse impacts of traffic accidents such as air pollution, fuel consumption and secondary crashes. A new approach to this problem, based on the accidents’ characteristics, was developed using a fully parametric hazard based modelling technique to predict accident durations. The road network around Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, was used as a case study. Data was obtained from the UAE Federal Traffic Statistics System (FTSS) and the Abu Dhabi Serious Collision Investigation Section (ASCIS). These data included the start and end of each time interval, the total accident duration, temporal, geographical, environmental and other accident characteristics. To analyse the total duration, the analysis was conducted using three time intervals. Accordingly, fully parametric Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) models were created for the purpose of reporting time, response time, and clearance time (all urban roads) and response time (rural freeways), depending on the data available. Analysis showed that the time intervals had different distributions. In addition, there was no similarity in the variable that affected each interval. The results also revealed that weaknesses exist in the current practices of TIM in Abu Dhabi. The results of the analysis were used to create decision trees to aid traffic controllers with decisions regarding traffic diversion and disseminating traffic information to travellers

Design of optimised linear quadratic regulator for capsule endoscopes based on artificial bee colony tuning algorithm

Wireless Capsule Endoscope (WCE) is a new medical device that can be used for examining the whole digestive tract if effectively actuated. In this paper, a new three-coil actuator is proposed for the capsule endoscope navigation system. The proposed system, which is based on the currentcontrolled magnetic levitation concept, utilises a small permanent magnet within the capsule body and an arrangement of controlled electromagnet actuator placed on a movable frame. The dynamics of the proposed control system is modelled mathematically and then formulated in state space form. In this research, the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) technique is used for designing a 3DOF controller for the capsule actuation system. Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) tuning algorithm is used for obtaining optimum values for controller gain parameters. The optimised LQR controller is simulated by using the Matlab/Simulink tool, and its performance is then evaluated based on the stability and control effort parameters to validate the proposed system. Finally, the simulation results suggest that the LQR controller based on the ABC optimisation method can be adopted to synthesise an effective capsule actuation system

Verification and comparison of MIT-BIH arrhythmia database based on number of beats

The ECG signal processing methods are tested and evaluated based on many databases. The most ECG database used for many researchers is the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. The QRS-detection algorithms are essential for ECG analyses to detect the beats for the ECG signal. There is no standard number of beats for this database that are used from numerous researches. Different beat numbers are calculated for the researchers depending on the difference in understanding the annotation file. In this paper, the beat numbers for existing methods are studied and compared to find the correct beat number that should be used. We propose a simple function to standardize the beats number for any ECG PhysioNet database to improve the waveform database toolbox (WFDB) for the MATLAB program. This function is based on the annotation's description from the databases and can be added to the Toolbox. The function is removed the non-beats annotation without any errors. The results show a high percentage of 71% from the reviewed methods used an incorrect number of beats for this database