A Multi-Algorithm, High Reliability Steganalyzer Based on Services Oriented Architecture

In this prospectus we are proposing to develop a unified Steganalyzer that can not only work with different media types such as images and audio, but further is capable of providing improved accuracy in stego detection through the use of multiple algorithms running in parallel. Our proposed system integrates different steganalysis techniques in a reliable Steganalyzer with distributed and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA). The distributed architecture not only allows for concurrent processing to speed up the system, but also provides higher reliability than reported in the existing literature. The extendable nature of the SOA implementation allows for easy addition of new Steganalysis algorithms to the system in terms of services. The universal steganalysis technique proposed in this prospectus involves two processes; feature extraction and feature classification. Three methods are used for feature extraction; Mel-Cepstrum and Markov (for audio), and Intra-blocks for (JPEG images). The feature classification process is implemented using neural network classifier. The unified steganalyzer is tested for JPEG images and WAV audio files. The accuracy of classification ranges from 96.8% to 99.8% depending on the object type and the feature extraction method. In particular, an enhancement of Mel-Cepstrum technique is proposed that achieves an accuracy of 99.8%. This is significantly better than detection accuracy of 89.9% to 98.6% [Liu 2011] where even a much larger training dataset was used than ours

Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP): Robust and Efficient for Data Centre Applications

Due to rapid advancement in modern technology, as one of the major concerns is the stability of business. The organizations depend on their systems to provide robust and faster processing of information for their operations. Efficient data centers are key sources to handle these operations. If the organizational system is not fully functional, the performance of organization may be impaired or clogged completely. With the developments of real-time applications into data centers for data communications, there is a need to use an alternative of the standard TCP protocol to provide reliable data transfer. Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) consists of several well built-in characteristics that make it capable to work efficiently with real-time applications. In this paper, we evaluate an optimized version of STCP. The optimized version of SCTP is tested against a non optimized version of STCP and TCP in a data center environment. Simulations of the protocols are carried using NS2 simulator.http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.062

A Simulation Model for Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

One of the critical issues in wireless sensor network is power saving scheme as network should be considered to operate more efficiently. The sensor nodes are usually operated by a finite number of batteries and it should have a certain lifetime for gathering, processing, and transmitting information. Since some sensor nodes may fail due to lack of power, this consideration has led to give more interest about routing protocols. Depending on the network structure, a sensor network can be hierarchical or cluster-based hierarchical model, where the nodes will play different roles in the networks. We present three different types of routing protocols: LEACH, PEGASIS, and VGA, several simulations are conducted to analyze the performance of these protocols including the power consumption and overall network performance. On the average, VGA has the worst power consumption when the sensing range is limited, while VGA is the best when the sensing range is increased

Synthesis and efficiency of new pyridine, chromene and thiazole containing compounds as antimicrobial and antioxidant agents

ABSTRACT. The versatile scaffold, N'-(2-cyanoacetyl)-2-hydroxybenzohydrazide (3) was utilized in the production of new pyridine, chromene and thiazole derivatives as antimicrobial and antioxidant agents. The synthetic strategy involves the treatment of precursor 3 with various arylidene-malononitrile and 3-aryl-2-cyanoacrylate compounds to furnish substituted pyridines 5 and 7. The interaction of 3 with salicylaldehyde and/or phenyl isothiocyanate followed by cyclization with chloroacetone produced the corresponding 2-imino-2H-chromene-3-carbohydrazide and (thiazol-2-ylidene-acetyl)-salicylic acid hydrazide compounds 8 and 9, respectively. The structural features of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by using spectroscopic methods such as (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS). The new pyridine, chromene and thiazole products showed potent antioxidants and antimicrobial activities. The thiazole derivative 9 exhibited the highest anti-bacterial and antifungal activities against S. aureus (75.0%) and B. subtilis (73.9%) and C. albicans (66.6%). The combination between salicylic acid hydrazide and thiazole moieties in the hybrid 9 indicated the best antioxidant activity (87.9%).                 KEY WORDS: Salicylic hydrazide, Arylidene-malononitrile, Pyridine, Thiazole, Antioxidant   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2022, 36(1), 137-148.                                                            DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v36i1.12                                                      &nbsp

Association of Angiopoietin-Like Protein-8 Gene Variant (Rs2278426 (C/T)) in a Cohort of Egyptian Patients with Metabolic Syndrome: A Case-Control Study

Objective: This study was conducted to reveal the association of ANGPTL8 gene variant (Rs2278426 (C/T)) withmetabolic syndrome in a cohort of Egyptian patients. Materials and methods: This study is a case control study that included 150 patients with metabolic syndrome and 150 healthy control subjects. All subjects were submitted to history taking and thorough physical examination and laboratory analysis. Genomic DNA was extracted and ANGPTL8 gene SNP (rs2278426) was detected by 5’ nuclease assay. The tested genotypes included homozygous genotypes for C allele (CC), homozygous genotypes for T allele (TT) and heterozygous genotypes (CT). Results: A total of 300 subjects were included in the study; group 1 included 150 patients with metabolic syndrome. 21.3% were males and 78.7% were females, and group 2 had 150 healthy subjects. 17.3% were males, and 82.7% were females. In the current study, the metabolic syndrome group showed dysregulation of lipids and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) with a statistically significant increase in body anthropometric measures. There was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of the heterozygous genotype (C/T) relative to the wild-type genotype (C/C) in each of the two tested groups (p = 0.287 and 0.245 in the metabolic syndrome and control groups, respectively). Conclusions: There was no statistically significant difference in the genotype distribution of ANGPTL8 gene variant (Rs2278426) genotypes between the metabolic syndrome and control groups. The homozygous recessive genotype for T allele (TT) was not detected in both tested groups

Impact of a service provider incentive payment scheme on quality of reproductive and child-health services in Egypt

A case-control, quasi-experimental study was designed (post-test only) to investigate the effect of a per-formance-based incentive payment scheme on behaviours of public-sector service providers in delivering a basic package of maternal and child-health services in Egyptian primary healthcare units. The results showed significant improvements in the quality of family-planning, antenatal care, and child-care services as reported by women seen in clinics where the incentive payment scheme was in operation as measured by various indicators, including both technical and inter-personal communication content. An analysis of characteristics of the service providers and clients found no significant or meaningful differences between the study groups, and the facilities of both the study groups were essentially the same. Some findings are suggestive of other influences on behaviours of the service providers not captured by the data-collection instruments of the study. Subsequent to this study, the payment scheme has been rolled out to other dis-tricts in Egypt

Empowering Women Between Justice and Equality Between Islamic Law and International Covenants (Reference Study)

This study aims to explain the concepts of equality in Islamic Sharia, clarify them, and ensure that women find their full rights within a just law legislated by God Almighty. In the past, women in Western countries suffered from injustice under man-made legislation, which led to demands for their rights resulting in narrow equality between them and men, which was not fair. The study concluded that the term empowerment was closest to the aspect of equality but neglected the role and function of men in society, which is not permitted by Islamic law. Islamic law provides equal rights and duties to both genders, guided by the balance of justice that God Almighty has prescribed. The researchers recommend discussing the concept of empowerment in Islamic law compared to what is stated in international agreements and womens rights organizations through conferences and modern means of communication

DIVERSITY OF BACILLUS GENOTYPES IN SOIL SAMPLES FROM EL-OMAYED BIOSPHERE RESERVE IN EGYPT

Sequencing of the 16S rDNA hypervariant region was applied to determine the presence and composition of Bacillus species in 40 soil samples randomly collected from different habitats in El-Omayed biosphere reserve, Egypt. Although purified cultures showed 18 different phenotypes that were morphologically distinct on a sporulation medium plate, only 4 different nucleotide sequences designated Seq A, B, C and D were revealed. Computational analysis of DNA sequence data suggested that 17 of these isolates are closely related members of the Bacillus cereus/thuringiensis group (Seq B, C and D) and one isolate is belonging to the Bacillus subtilis group (Seq A). Further phenotypic investigations confirmed the diversity of the 17 novel Bacillus cereus/thuringiensis isolates and indicated that the new Bacillus subtilis group isolate is a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain. A simple phenotypic discrimination key that can be applied for distinguishing between such closely related Bacillus cereus/thuringiensis members is presented

The Palestinian Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Preserved at the Biology Exhibitions of the Universities of the Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip (365 km2 ) of Palestine (27,000 km2 ) is home to a wealth of terrestrial vertebrate fauna. Some of these faunistic species find their ways to preservation at the local universities. Hence, the current study comes to document the Palestinian terrestrial vertebrate fauna acquired by the biology exhibitions (BEs) of Al-Azhar University, Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Aqsa University that are located at the Gaza City of the Gaza Strip. The amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals preserved at BEs of the universities in question were surveyed and scientifically classified during a three-month period extending from January to March, 2012. The study showed that all BEs of local universities are underdeveloped, lacking attention and suffer from specimen scarcity and good preservation. The BE at Al-Azhar University is the best in the arrangement and preservation of bird specimens. A total number of 200 specimens belonging to 54 terrestrial vertebrate fauna species, 39 families and 17 orders was recorded at BEs. Reptiles constituted 40.7% of the total species recorded, followed by birds (38.9%), mammals (14.8%) and amphibians (5.6%). The Islamic University of Gaza was considered the best in terms of the number of preserved species (39.8%), followed by Al-Azhar University (36.3%) and Al-Aqsa University (23.9%). The Common Toad (Bufo viridis) was the most preserved among the amphibian species recorded. Squamata was the biggest reptilian order, comprising 20 species (8 lizards and 12 snakes), with the Syrian Black Snake (Coluber jugularis asianus) was the commonest. The Palestine Viper (Vipera palaestinae) is endemic to Palestine and most venomous and dangerous to human health. The Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) was the largest Palestinian bird preserved at BE of Al-Azhar University. The Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) and the Common Badger (Meles meles) were the biggest mammalian specimens preserved, while the Palestine Mole-rat (Spalax leucodon ehrenbergi) was the only Palestine endemic species encountered among the preserved mammals. Finally, the improvement of BEs of local universities and the construction of a Central Museum of Natural History is highly recommended in order to change the Palestinians’ attitudes toward a sustainable ecological conservation in the Gaza Strip