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

Identification of Candida spp. isolated from vaginal swab by phenotypic methods and multiplex PCR in Duhok, Iraq

Background: Candida species are the second most common cause of vulvovaginitis worldwide. The purpose of this study was to identify the species of vaginal Candida isolates by using phenotypic and Multiplex PCR techniques.  Methods: 91 isolates from patients admitted to Azadi hospital and Maternity hospital in Duhok city were collected. The vaginal swab specimens were inoculated on Sabouraud dextrose agar. Colonies were then sub cultured on Chromogenic Candida agar. Genomic DNA extraction was performed using a Genomic DNA Extraction kit. For rapid identification of Candida spp., specific primers based on the genomic sequence of DNA topoisomerase 11 of C. albicans, C. parapsilosis I, C. parapsilosis II, C. guilliermondi, C. dubliniensis, C. krusei, C. kefyr and C. glabrata, C. tropicalis I, C. tropicalis II, C. lusitaniae were used. The multiplex PCR products were separated by electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose gel, visualized by staining with ethidium bromide, and photographed.  Results: 4 Candida species, namely C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei and C. tropicalis were distinguished by Chromogenic Candida agar on the basis of colony colour and morphology. PCR with the primer mixes yielded 7 different sized of PCR products corresponding to C. albicans, C. guilliermondii, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata, C. kefyr, C. krusei and C. tropicalis II. The analysis revealed C. glabrata and C. albicans were the most common species isolated with the percentage 40% and 30% respectively.Conclusions: This study concluded that phenotypic characteristics on selective agar medium such as chromogenic candida agar are useful for presumptive identification of Candiada spp. with the support of molecular method such as multiplex PCR.  

Multiplex polymerase chain reaction identification of Candida species colonized sputum of patients suffering from various respiratory tract disorders in Duhok, Iraq

Background: Candida species are part of the body normal flora. Under certain conditions, these opportunistic microorganisms may lead to infection. The purpose of this study was to identify Candida species isolated from sputum from patients suffering from respiratory tract disorders.Methods: A total of 59 sputum samples taken from patients attending Azadi hospital at Duhok province, Kurdistan Region/Iraq. For primary isolation, sputum samples were cultured on sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA). Suspected colonies of Candida isolates were then sub cultured on chromogenic Candida agar for presumptive identification. Genomic DNA extraction was performed using a genomic DNA extraction kit. For rapid identification of Candida spp, specific primers based on the genomic sequence of DNA topoisomerase 11 of C. albicans, C. parapsilosis I, C. parapsilosis II, C. guilliermondi, C. dubliniensis, C. krusei, C. kefyr and C. glabrata, C. tropicalis I, C. tropicalis II, C. lusitaniae were used. The Multiplex PCR products were separated by electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose gel, visualized by staining with ethidium bromide, and photographed.Results: Three Candida species namely C. albicans, C. glabrata and C. tropicalis were differentiated by their colour produced on Chromogenic Candida agar. PCR with the primer mixes yielded 4 different sized of PCR products corresponding to C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. Keyfer and C. tropicalis II, C. glabrata was the most common species (33.33%), followed by C. albicans (16.66%). The highest rate of isolation of Candida species was between the ages of 36 to 45.Conclusion: This study concluded that phenotypic characteristics on selective agar medium such as chromogenic Candida agar are useful for presumptive identification of Candiada spp with the support of molecular method such as multiplex PCR.

Evaluation of safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of Eltrombopag in patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The present meta-analysis is to evaluate the safety and efficiency of Eltrombopag in the prevention and therapy of Immune thrombocytopeni

The atom bond connectivity index of some trees and bicyclic graphs

The atom bond connectivity (ABC) index is one of the recently most investigated degree-based molecular structure descriptors that have applications in chemistry. For a graph G, the ABC index is defined as ABC(G)=∑uv∈E(G)√dv+du−2/dv⋅du, where d u denotes the degree of a vertex u in G. In this paper, we obtain the general formula for ABC index of some special, chemical trees, and bicyclic graphs

COVID-19 Data Warehouse: A Systematic Literature Review

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) affects the whole world and led clinicians to use the available knowledge to diagnose or predict the infection. Data Warehouse is one of the most crucial tools that may enhance decision-making (DW).In this paper, three main questions will be investigated according to using DW in the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of using DW in the field of diagnosing and prediction will be investigated, besides, the most used architecture of DW will be explored. The sectors that faced a lot of researchers' attention such as diagnosing, predicting, and finding the correlations among features will be examined. The selected studies are explored where the papers that have been published between 2019-2022 in the digital libraries (ACM, IEEE, Springer, Science Direct, and Elsevier) in the field of DW that handle the COVID-19 are selected. During the research, many limitations have been detected, while some future works are presented. Enterprise DW is the most used architecture for COVID-19 DW while finding correlation among features and prediction are the sectors that had taken the researchers' attentio

Selected Indicators of Al-Najaf Road Network: Public Transportation Noise and Pollution

It is urgently necessary to improve the state of transportation and related infrastructure, especially given that the most important indicators of urban development gauge a city's progress. One of the most influential of these indicators is what is known as "smart transport, " which refers to transportation that utilizes modern communication and information technology technologies to address various challenges in various transportation sectors. The holy city of Najaf smart transportation strategy seeks to reduce dangerous levels of traffic-related noise and air pollution while enhancing various aspects of mobility and traffic flow indicators. This study aims to evaluate the performance of the existing traffic network and public transport in Najaf City and its interference with noise and air pollution at selected points for data gathering by using field measurements using cameras, noise meters, and pollution measurement devices. The study states that the public transport sector in Al-Najaf city is significantly poor as private cars are dominant by about 65% of traffic mix with values of pollution and noise above the standards. One of the most effective solutions to traffic problems is the implementation of intelligent transportation systems. Part of these strategies is establishing a tram network and raising road classes’ strategies by proposing some geometric design editing, U-turns reducing, and raised ramps additions

On the atom bond connectivity index of certain trees and unicyclic graphs

The atom-bond connectivity (ABC) index is one of the recently most investigated degree based molecular structure descriptors that have applications in chemistry. For a graph G, the ABC index is defined as ABC(G) = Σuvϵ √(du + dv-2) /du/dv, where du denotes the degree of a vertex u in G. In this paper, we obtain the general formula of the ABC index for certain trees and unicyclic graphs with their representing by Alkanes and Cycloalkanes

Wireless Sensor Network Optimization Using Genetic Algorithm

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a high potential technology used in many fields (agriculture, earth, environmental monitoring, resources union, health, security, military, and transport, IoT technology). The band width of each cluster head is specific, thus, the number of sensors connected to each cluster head is restricted to a maximum limit and exceeding it will weaken the connection service between each sensor and its corresponding cluster head. This will achieve the research objective which refers to reaching the state where the proposed system energy is stable and not consuming further more cost. The main challenge is how to distribute the cluster heads regularly on a specified area, that’s why a solution was supposed in this research implies finding the best distribution of the cluster heads using a genetic algorithm. Where using an optimization algorithm, keeping in mind the cluster heads positions restrictions, is an important scientific contribution in the research field of interest. The novel idea in this paper is the crossover of two-dimensional integer encoded individuals that replacing an opposite region in the parents to produce the children of new generation. The mutation occurs with probability of 0.001, it changes the type of 0.05 sensors found in handled individual. After producing more than 1000 generations, the achieved results showed lower value of fitness function with stable behavior. This indicates the correct path of computations and the accuracy of the obtained results. The genetic algorithm operated well and directed the process towards improving the genes to be the best possible at the last generation. The behavior of the objective function started to be regular gradually throughout the produced generations until reaching the best product in the last generation where it is shown that all the sensors are connected to the nearest cluster head. As a conclusion, the genetic algorithm developed the sensors’ distribution in the WSN model, which confirms the validity of applying of genetic algorithms and the accuracy of the results

Bone Substitutes in Management of Benign Bone Tumors, Review of Literature

Intralesional excision or curettage is commonly used to treat benign and low-grade malignant bone tumors. The resulting defect can be treated with a variety of materials, such as autologous bone grafts, allografts, or synthetic materials like polymethylmethacrylate or composite alternatives. Because it is osteogenic, osteoinductive, and osteoconductive, autologous cancellous bone is often considered the gold standard of transplant material. However, issues including transplant size limitations, wound-related complications, and prolonged donor site pain have limited its usage in clinical practice. Concerns about immunogenicity and infection have also hampered the use of demineralized freeze-dried allografts and xenografts.  As a result, synthetic materials have sparked substantial interest in orthopedics, and a variety of bone graft alternatives are now commercially accessible