IoT Protection Against Cyber Threats Based on Blockchain and Access Control: A Comprehensive Review

The Internet of Things (IoT) has undeniably transformed the way we interact with the world around us. As a revolutionary technology, it seamlessly integrates into our daily routines, offering unparalleled convenience and efficiency. By embedding connectivity into everyday objects, IoT has made it possible for devices to communicate, making our lives significantly easier. This constant communication and data exchange occur everywhere, from our homes to workplaces, and even in public spaces. Unfortunately, whenever connections increase, the threat of attacks increases too. Therefore, there is a critical need for systems that provide robustness at the service level. In this paper, a basic interface to IoT devices’ security architecture along with blockchain is introduced to provide scalability and authentication. This survey differs from the majority of existing reviews in that it presents a more comprehensive review of emerging research to help researchers and readers understand the state-of-the-art IoT protection against cyber threats. Additionally, different types of IoT protection against cyber threats based on blockchain and access control techniques are described in this paper. The findings demonstrate that blockchain technology offers IoT devices security along with scalability

Catchment model regionalization approach based on spatial proximity: Does a neighbor catchment-based rainfall input strengthen the method?

AbstractStudy regionThe Upper Rhine-Meuse catchment (French part).Study focusA rainfall input-related sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess if, with a neighbor catchment-based knowledge of optimal rainfall input, rainfall-runoff modeling becomes more competitive for estimating streamflow at ungauged catchments.New hydrological insights for the regionResults show that when streamflow is known at the outlet of a catchment, optimal rainfall input for a lumped catchment model is mostly computed with a subset of raingages. When streamflow is unkown at the outlet of a catchment, a regionalisation approach of model parameter values based on spatial proximity is not able to take advantage of a neighbor-catchment based knowledge of optimal rainfall input. This report encourages to search for a catchment model regionalization approach based on spatial proximity which makes no explicit use of measured rainfall to estimate streamflow at an ungauged location

An optimal clustering algorithm based distance-aware routing protocol for wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensors Networks (WSN) consist of low power devices that are deployed at different geographical isolated areas to monitor physical event. Sensors are arranged in clusters. Each cluster assigns a specific and vital node which is known as a cluster head (CH). Each CH collects the useful information from its sensor member to be transmitted to a sink or Base Station (BS). Sensor have implemented with limited batteries (1.5V) that cannot have replaced. To resolve this issue and improve network stability, the proposed scheme adjust the transmission range between CHs and their members. The proposed approach is evaluated via simulation experiments and compared with some references existing algorithms. Our protocol seemed improved performance in terms of extended lifetime and achieved more than 35% improvements in terms of energy consumptio

Efficacy of Diosmectite (Smecta)® in the Treatment of Acute Watery Diarrhoea in Adults: A Multicentre, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Group Study

Background. Although diosmectite has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of acute watery diarrhoea in children, its efficacy in adults still needs to be assessed. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the efficacy of diosmectite on the time to recovery in adults with acute diarrhoea. Methods. A total of 346 adults with at least three watery stools per day over a period of less than 48 hours were prospectively randomized to diosmectite (6 g tid) or placebo during four days. The primary endpoint was time to diarrhoea recovery. Results. In the intention-to-treat population, median time to recovery was 53.8 hours (range [3.7–167.3]) with diosmectite (n = 166) versus 69.0 hours [2.2–165.2] with placebo, (n = 163; P = .029), which corresponds to a difference of 15.2 hours. Diosmectite was well tolerated. Conclusion. Diosmectite at 6 g tid was well tolerated and reduced the time to recovery of acute watery diarrhoea episode in a clinically relevant manner

Time-varying efficiency of developed and emerging bond markets : evidence from long-spans of historical data

Bonds have become an important part of investment portfolios for individuals as well as for institutions, particularly after the recent financial crisis. This paper empirically investigates the Adaptive Market Hypothesis (AMH) in two of the most established bond markets in the world: the US and UK and two emerging markets: South Africa and India, using monthly data series spanning very long time periods. We examine the long memory properties of the series using several long memory estimations methods and multiple structural breaks techniques to examine the possibility of time varying market efficiency. We then examine the weak-form efficiency of government bond markets, using a time varying approaches namely the state-space generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity in mean (GARCH-M) to date the time varying behavior of bond market efficiency. Results show that efficiency of these markets has been changing over time, depending on the prevailing economic, political and market conditions. Further, we observe that the degree of the weak-form efficiency of these markets has been gradually improving recently. In particular, the US government bond market has been highly efficient, showing the highest degree of market efficiency among the four bond markets. Overall, our results suggest that the AMH provides a better description of the behavior of government bond returns than the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/physa2019-09-01hj2018Economic

Cytokine and immunoglobulin production by PWM-stimulated peripheral and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients

BACKGROUND: Undifferentiated Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) patients show a characteristic pattern of antibody responses to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) which is regularly associated with this tumor. However, no EBV-specific cytotoxic activity is detectable by the standard chromium-release assay at both peripheral and intratumoral levels. The mechanisms underlying this discrepancy between the humoral and cellular immune responses in NPC are still unknown, but might be related to an imbalance in immunoregulatory interleukin production. In this report, we investigated the ability of peripheral (PBL) and tumor- infiltrating (TIL) lymphocytes of undifferentiated NPC patients to produce in vitro three interleukins (IL-2, IL-6, IL-10) and three immunoglobulin isotypes (IgM, IgG, IgA). METHODS: Lymphocytes from 17 patients and 17 controls were cultured in the presence of Pokeweed mitogen (PWM) for 12 days and their culture supernatants were tested for interleukins and immunoglobulins by specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Data were analysed using Student's t-test and probability values below 5% were considered significant. RESULTS: The data obtained indicated that TIL of NPC patients produced significantly more IL-2 (p = 0,0002), IL-10 (p = 0,020), IgM (p= 0,0003) and IgG (p < 0,0001) than their PBL. On the other hand, patients PBL produced significantly higher levels of IL-2 (p = 0,022), IL-10 (p = 0,016) and IgM (p = 0,004) than those of controls. No significant differences for IL-6 and IgA were observed. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our data reinforce the possibility of an imbalance in immunoregulatory interleukin production in NPC patients. An increased ability to produce cytokines such as IL-10 may underlie the discrepancy between humoral and cellular immune responses characteristic of NPC

THE PERFORMANCE OF BANKS IN THE MENA REGION DURING THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

This paper examines the impact of the global financial crisis on the banking sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as well as the main determinants of the profitability of both domestic and foreign banks. The empirical findings suggest that during the crisis the former outperformed the latter in that region. As for the determinants of profitability, size does not appear to play a role, whilst the liquidity ratio and net interest revenues seem to have a negative and positive effect respectively; GDP has a positive effect in the case of domestic banks