A systematic literature review of blockchain cyber security

Since the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper on Bitcoin in 2008, blockchain has (slowly) become one of the most frequently discussed methods for securing data storage and transfer through decentralized, trustless, peer-to-peer systems. This research identifies peer-reviewed literature that seeks to utilize blockchain for cyber security purposes and presents a systematic analysis of the most frequently adopted blockchain security applications. Our findings show that the Internet of Things (IoT) lends itself well to novel blockchain applications, as do networks and machine visualization, public key cryptography, web applications, certification schemes and the secure storage of Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This timely systematic review also sheds light on future directions of research, education and practices in the blockchain and cyber security space, such as security of blockchain in IoT, security of blockchain for AI data, and sidechain security,etc

Dynamic Role-Based Access Control for Decentralized Applications

Access control management is an integral part of maintaining the security of an application. Although there has been significant work in the field of cloud access control mechanisms, however, with the advent of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), on-chain access control management frameworks hardly exist. Existing access control management mechanisms are tightly coupled with the business logic, resulting in governance issues, non-coherent with existing Identity Management Solutions, low security, and compromised usability. We propose a novel framework to implement dynamic role-based access control for decentralized applications (dApps). The framework allows for managing access control on a dApp, which is completely decoupled from the business application and integrates seamlessly with any dApps. The smart contract architecture allows for the independent management of business logic and execution of access control policies. It also facilitates secure, low cost, and a high degree of flexibility of access control management. The proposed framework promotes decentralized governance of access control policies and efficient smart contract upgrades. We also provide quantitative and qualitative metrics for the efficacy and efficiency of the framework. Any Turing complete smart contract programming language is an excellent fit to implement the framework. We expect this framework to benefit enterprise and non-enterprise dApps and provide greater access control flexibility and effective integration with traditional and state of the art identity management solutions.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Innovation, technology and user experience in museums: insights from scientific literature

Museums play an important role in preserving the heritage and cultural legacy of humanity, however, one of their main weaknesses in regards the user is their static nature. At present, and in the face of the development of diverse technologies and the ease of access to information, museums have upgraded their implementation of technologies aimed at improving the user experience, trying more and more to access younger audiences with a sensitivity and natural capacity for the management of new technologies. This work identifies trends in the use of technological tools by museums worldwide and the effect of these on the user or visitor experience through a review of scientific literature. To complete the work, we performed a search of the publications in the Scopus® referencing database, and downloaded, processed, and visualized the data using the VOSviewer® tool. The main trends identified in this context of analysis are related to the role of museums with the development and improvement of the user experience; orientation to young audiences and innovation driven by the user through Interactive Systems, digital games, QR Codes, apps, augmented reality, virtual reality and gamification, among others. The objective of the implementation of new technologies in the context of museums is to satisfy the needs of contemporary communication, for all types of content and aimed at an increasingly digital audience, in order to ensure positive interaction and feedback from ideas with social and cultural changes

A Secured Certificateless Sign-encrypted Blockchain Communication for Intelligent Transport System

Data communication in the intelligent transport system suffers from many security vulnerabilities. It is essential to protect the vehicles from the distribution of fake messages and concurrently preserve the privacy of those vehicles against tracking attacks. Conventional security methods are not sufficient to provide well-needed security support. In this paper, an efficient technique called Gentle Boost Clustered Diffie-Hellman Certificateless Signcryption-based Blockchain Security Frame-work (GeBlock) is proposed to improve communication security. Initially, the vehicle's information is collected from the dataset. Then, the collected vehicle data are grouped and given to the data block in the underlying Blockchain. The Gaussian expected maximization clustering is a weak learner for grouping each vehicle's data. This process minimizes the processing time for secure data-sharing in the intelligent transport system. After that, the Diffie-Hellman Certificateless Signcryption is performed to protect the data from unauthorized entities. Diffie-Hellman Certificateless Signcryption performs the encryption and digital signature verification process where only an authorized entity can access the vehicle data. In the encryption process, the clustered vehicle data is converted into ciphertext. The digital signature verification is performed on the receiver side to decrypt the ciphertext into the plain text. The confidentiality rate is improved in data communication based on signature verification. Experimental evaluation is performed using Warrigal Dataset, and the different parameters such as clustering accuracy, data confidentiality rate, and processing time are measured

Association between Helicobacter pylori concentration and the combining frequency of histopathological findings in gastric biopsies specimens Associação entre a concentração de Helicobacter pylori e a freqüência de combinação de alterações histopatológicas em biopsias gástricas

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori is the most prevalent infectious agent worldwide. About 90% of patients with chronic gastritis are infected with this bacterium. Some studies have shown a association between the H. pylori concentration and the scores of gastritis activity and severity. AIM: To evaluate the association between H. pylori concentration and the combining frequency of findings on histopathological examination. METHODS: Two hundred consecutive gastric endoscopic biopsies diagnosed as chronic gastritis were retrospectively investigated. The Warthin-Starry silver stain was used to study H. pylori and the following parameters were assessed (according to the Sydney system): 1. infiltration by polymorphonuclear cells in chorio and epithelium (activity) graded as mild, moderate and marked; 2. presence of lymphoid follicles; 3. presence of intestinal metaplasia; 4. presence of regenerative cell atypias, graded as mild, moderate and marked; and 5. H. pylori concentration on the mucous covering the foveolar epithelium. RESULTS: The most frequent association was chronic gastritis and activity, regardless of H. pylori concentration. The association of five histopathological findings in the same biopsy has not occurred in the cases of higher concentration of H. pylori. CONCLUSION: Our study has not revealed any association between H. pylori concentration and an increasing in the number of histopathological findings found in the gastric mucosa. Since referring to its presence is much more important than to its concentration.<br>RACIONAL: O Helicobacter pylori é o agente infeccioso com maior prevalência em todo o mundo. Cerca de 90% dos pacientes com gastrite crônica têm infecção por esta bactéria. Alguns estudos demonstram correlação entre a concentração de H. pylori e o grau de severidade e atividade da gastrite. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a associação entre a concentração de H. pylori e a freqüência de combinações de alterações no exame histopatológico. MÉTODOS: Foram analisadas, retrospectivamente, 200 biopsias gástricas endoscópicas consecutivas com o diagnóstico de gastrite crônica. A pesquisa de H. pylori foi realizada através da coloração de Warthin-Starry e foram analisados os seguintes parâmetros (segundo o sistema de Sydney): 1. infiltração de polimorfonucleares no cório e no epitélio (atividade), graduada em leve, moderada e acentuada; 2. presença de folículos linfóides; 3. presença de metaplasia intestinal; 4. presença de atipias celulares regenerativas, graduadas em leve, moderada e acentuada; e 5. concentração de H. pylori no muco que recobre o epitélio foveolar. RESULTADOS: A associação mais freqüente foi de gastrite crônica e atividade, independente da concentração de H. pylori. Associação de cinco achados histopatológicos numa mesma biopsia não ocorreu nos casos com maior concentração de H. pylori. CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo não demonstrou associação entre a concentração de H. pylori e aumento no número de alterações histopatológicas encontradas na mucosa gástrica, mostrando ser importante referir sua presença e não sua concentração

Scientific understanding and clinical management of Dupuytren disease

Dupuytren disease (DD) is a fibroproliferative disorder of unknown etiology that often results in shortening and thickening of the palmar fascia, leading to permanent and irreversible flexion contracture of the digits. This Review provides a detailed update of the scientific understanding of DD and its clinical management, with perspectives on emerging research and therapy. Established risk factors include genetic predisposition and ethnicity, as well as sex and age. Several environmental risk factors (some considered controversial) include smoking, alcohol intake, trauma, diabetes, epilepsy and use of anticonvulsant drugs, and exposure to vibration. DD has been variously attributed to the presence of oxygen free radicals, trauma to the palmar fascia, or aberrant immune responses with altered antigen presentation, or to interactions between these proposed mechanisms. The presence of immune cells and related phenomena in DD-affected tissue suggests that DD is possibly immune-related. Mechanically, digital contracture is caused by myofibroblasts in the DD palmar fascia; however, the exact origin of this cell type remains unknown. The mainstay of treatment is surgical release or excision of the affected palmodigital tissue, but symptoms often recur. Nonsurgical correction of DD contractures can be achieved by Clostridium histolyticum collagenase injection, although the long-term safety and recurrence rate of this procedure requires further assessment