A Proposed hash algorithm to use for blockchain base transaction flow system

Blockchain technology introduces a new approach to storing information, implementing tasks and functions, and building trust between participating nodes. Although blockchain technology has received extensive attention in various application contexts in recent years, the issue of privacy and security remains the primary focus of discussions of the blockchain. The use of hash algorithms can provide secure blockchain integration, and many hash algorithms offer solutions to data integrity and security problems within the context of blockchain technology. However, they are also subject to problems related to time, lack of resources, and memory usage. In this research, an algorithm is proposed to generate a hash based on chaos theory (1D and 2D) logistic maps and the new Merkle-Damgård construction. Hash outputs are tested in terms of time, complexity, and collision. The proposed algorithm is evaluated according to Jaccard similarity and various coefficient measurements, and it was found that the similarity between the inputs and the outputs does not exceed 0.1932 percent. All outcomes indicated successful performance. The proposed algorithm was implemented on a blockchain-based transaction flow system, consumed fewer resources than other hash algorithms (such as SHA1, SHA2, and MD5), and requires mere milliseconds to implement

E-government based on the blockchain technology, and the evaluation of its transaction through the number of transactions completed per second

Blockchain technology is one of the basic technologies for securing data sharing and storage across peer-to-peer systems in a distributed and untrusted network. Information is stored in electronic governance, which is considered sensitive data about citizens and companies and is the focus of external attacks. E-government has one point of failure and depends on centralization, and the decision is in the hands of one party or one official. Therefore, a secure and distributed electronic system for e-governance based on blockchain technology has been proposed. The system consists of several entities, organizations or nodes responsible for consensus to make decisions. Users are given the right to raise a transaction or send a request. The transaction is evaluated by auditors, and the citizen acquires a smart contract as a way out. The proposed system was compared with electronic governance systems without the use of blockchain technology. The proposed system was tested and compared with the previous systems, and it was found that the proposed system was superior in terms of security, the speed of processing the transaction and the time of filing the transaction

Data retrieval based on the smart contract within the blockchain

Blockchain technology appears to be the ideal solution for storing data in a transparent and decentralized manner. It also allows open access to data and enhances its immutable nature. This technology has helped prove its usefulness in several industries so far, however, distributed ledger technology does not work as a pure database. Therefore, some problems occur in accessing data. Querying data in the blockchain leads to performance and bandwidth problems. This primarily occurs because the blockchain does not have a primary query language, unlike regular databases. The distributed nature of the blockchain is in this case an obstacle. In this paper, a safe and fast method will be proposed to retrieve consistent data from the blockchain-based on the smart contract that will be opened after completing the transaction procedures. All nodes will sign the proposed transaction (by adding a special hash to each node resulting from the transaction information and node data). Upon completion of Transaction procedures, A smart contract will be opened (in which a QR is placed) resulting from converting the signatures in the transaction to QR When the smart contract data is retrieved, the QR for each transaction will be used All node signatures and transaction data will be extracted. The data will be retrieved by the QR generated for each transaction after it is stored in all nodes servers participating in the system. A new method was proposed to generate a hash for each node present in the system. The proposed method was tested in terms of time and complexity, and the algorithm was statistically analyzed, and all the results proved successful

Evaluate the Climatic Conditions for the Al-Najaf –Ain-Al-Tamur Area (Middle of Iraq)

تضمنت هذه الدراسة تحديد الظروف المناخية وطبيعة الخزانات في المنطقة مع تحديد اتجاه الجريان للخزان الجوفي . بيانات الارصاد الجوية لمحطة كربلاء للفترة من (1976-2016) تبين ان قيم المعدلات الشهرية لدرجة الحرارة والامطار والتبخر والرطوبة النسبية وسرعة الرياح ومدة السطوع الشمسي هي(24.19 C◦), (95.5 mm), (2828.6mm), (46.75%), (2.76 m/sec), و(8.61h )على التوالي. تم حساب قيم التبخر- نتح الكامن (PE) بحسب طريقة ثورنثويت ثم تحديد قيمة الزيادة المائية السنوية (WS) وهي(28.11mm), والنقصان المائي السنوي (WD) وهي 941.94mm) ) سجل المعدل الشهري للزيادة المائية في منطقة الدراسة في الفترة )1976(2016- بحوالي (9.36 mm) و (13.11mm) و (5.64mm) في الاشهر كانون الاول وكانون الثاني وشباط على التوالي والتي تساوي29.34) ) من المجموع الكلي للامطار. وان خارطة شبكة الجريان تبين وبشكل رئيسي ان اتجاه جريان المياه الجوفية هي من الاجزاء الشمالية الغربية باتجاه الاجزاء الشرقيه والجنوبيه الشرقيه    This study includes determining the climatic conditions of the study area and the nature of the reservoirs in the region with the determination of the flow direction of the aquifer. The meteorological data for the Karbala station for the period 1976-2016 showed that the values of the monthly rates of temperature, precipitation, evaporation, relative humidity, wind speed and Sunshine duration are (24.19 C◦), (95.5 mm), (2828.6mm), (46.75%), (2.76 m/sec), and (8.61 h/day) respectively. Thorenthwait method was used to calculate the values of Potential Evapotranspiration (PE) then determine the annual value of Water Surplus( WS) and  Water Deficit (WD) which equal( 28.11mm) and (941.94mm) respectively. Mean monthly water surplus for the period (1976-2016) was recorded about (9.36mm) in December, (13.11mm) in January and (5.64mm) in February of the whole amount of Rainfall and Equal to (29.34mm) of the total rainfall. The flow net map is shown by mainly that the groundwater flow in the area, it is from the northwestern parts towards the Eastern and southeastern parts

USING 18O, 2H ISOTOPES TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF FISH LAKE ON SURFACE WATER IN AL-AZEZEYIA, KUT GOVERNORATE, IRAQ

The interaction between surface water represented by Tigers River, Fish Lake, drainage and groundwater was examined in this study. Samples were collected from Al-Azezeyia city for stable isotope (2H and18O). Samplings of water were taken during January – September 2016 during the period of breeding fish. Two samples were taken from a fish lake, three samples from Tigers River and one sample from water drainage. The aim of this research is to assess the interaction of a fish lake on surface water by using isotopic techniques. The values of stable isotopes of 18O range-7.78 – 8.10‰, -7.43 – -8.11‰, -3.2 – 3.3‰ and -6.0 – 6.2‰. The values of Deuterium range -45 – 45.56‰, -46.7 – -45.72‰, -37.87 – 37.98‰ and -28.4 – -29.7‰ in the fish lake, Tigris river, groundwater and water drainage, respectively. The results show there is no effect of interaction between the fish lake and Tigers River due to a short distance between the river and the lakes, lack evaporation effects and high flow rate

The burden of stroke and transient ischemic attack in Pakistan: a community-based prevalence study.

BACKGROUND: The burden of cerebrovascular disease in developing countries is rising sharply. The prevalence of established risk factors of stroke is exceptionally high in Pakistan. However, there is limited data on the burden of stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) in South Asia. We report the first such study conducted in an urban slum of Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: Individuals 35 years of age or older were invited for participation in this investigation through simple random sampling. A structured face-to-face interview was conducted using a pre-tested stroke symptom questionnaire in each participant to screen for past stroke or TIA followed by neurological examination of suspected cases. Anthropometric measurements and random blood glucose levels were recorded. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association of vascular risk factors with prevalence of stroke. RESULTS: Five hundred and forty five individuals (49.4% females) participated in the study with a response rate of 90.8%. One hundred and four individuals (19.1%) were observed to have a prior stroke while TIA was found in 53 individuals (9.7%). Overall, 119 individuals (21.8% with 66.4% females) had stroke and/or TIA. Female gender, old age, raised random blood glucose level and use of chewable tobacco were significantly associated with the prevalence of cerebrovascular disease. CONCLUSION: This is the first study demonstrating an alarmingly high life-time prevalence of cerebrovascular disease in Pakistan. Individual and public health interventions in Pakistan to increase awareness about stroke, its prevention and therapy are warranted.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake