Reviewing the effectiveness of artificial intelligence techniques against cyber security risks

The rapid increase in malicious cyber-criminal activities has made the field of cybersecurity a crucial research discipline. Over the areas, the advancement in information technology has enabled cybercriminals to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks that can endanger cybersecurity. Due to this, traditional cybersecurity solutions have become ineffective against emerging cyberattacks. However, the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – particularly Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) – and cryptographic techniques have shown promising results in countering the evolving cyber threats caused by adversaries. Therefore, in this study, AI's potential in enhancing cybersecurity solutions is discussed. Additionally, the study has provided an in-depth analysis of different AI-based techniques that can detect, analyse, and prevent cyber threats. In the end, the present study has also discussed future research opportunities that are linked with the development of AI systems in the field of cybersecurity

Digital Forensics in Cyber Security—Recent Trends, Threats, and Opportunities

The rapid technological advancement has led the entire world to shift towards digital domain. However, this transition has also result in the emergence of cybercrimes and security breach incidents that threatens the privacy and security of the users. Therefore, this chapter aimed at examining the use of digital forensics in countering cybercrimes, which has been a critical breakthrough in cybersecurity. The chapter has analyzed the most recent trends in digital forensics, which include cloud forensics, social media forensics, and IoT forensics. These technologies are helping the cybersecurity professionals to use the digital traces left by the data storage and processing to keep data safe, while identifying the cybercriminals. However, the research has also observed specific threats to digital forensics, which include technical, operational and personnel-related challenges. The high complexity of these systems, large volume of data, chain of custody, the integrity of personnel, and the validity and accuracy of digital forensics are major threats to its large-scale use. Nevertheless, the chapter has also observed the use of USB forensics, intrusion detection and artificial intelligence as major opportunities for digital forensics that can make the processes easier, efficient, and safe

Improving write performance by enhancing internal parallelism of Solid State Drives

Abstract—Most researches of Solid State Drives (SSDs) archi-tectures rely on Flash Translation Layer (FTL) algorithms and wear-leveling; however, internal parallelism in Solid State Drives has not been well explored. In this research, we proposed a new strategy to improve SSD write performance by enhancing internal parallelism inside SSDs. A SDRAM buffer is added in the design for buffering and scheduling write requests. Because the same logical block numbers may be translated to different physical numbers at different times in FTL, the on-board SDRAM buffer is used to buffer requests at the lower level of FTL. When the buffer is full, same amount of data will be assigned to each storage package in SSDs to enhance internal parallelism. To accurately evaluate performance, we use both synthetic workloads and real-world applications in experiments. We compare the enhanced internal parallelism scheme with the traditional LRU strategy since it is unfair to compare an SSD having buffer with an SSD without a buffer. The simulation results demonstrate that the writing performance of our design is significantly improved compared with the LRU-cache strategy with the same amount of buffer sizes. I

Highly efficient GaN Doherty power amplifier for N78 sub-6 GHz band 5G applications

In this paper, a high-efficiency GaN Doherty power amplifier (DPA) for 5G applications in the N78 sub-6 GHz band is introduced. The theoretical analysis of the matching networks for the peak and carrier transistors is presented, with a focus on the impact of unequal power splitting for both transistors and the recommendation of a post-harmonic suppression network. The proposed design features an unequal Wilkinson power divider at the input and a post-harmonic suppression network at the output, both of which are crucial for achieving high efficiency. The Doherty power amplifier comprises two GaN 10 W HEMTs, measured across the 3.3 GHz to 3.8 GHz band (the N78 band), and the results reveal significant improvements in gain, output power, drain efficiency, and power-added efficiency. Specifically, the proposed design achieved a power gain of over 12 dB and 42 dBm saturated output power. It also achieved a drain efficiency of 80% at saturation and a power-added efficiency of 75.2%. Furthermore, the proposed harmonic suppression network effectively attenuated the harmonics at the output of the amplifier from the second to the fourth order to more than −50 dB, thus enhancing the device’s linearity

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6 months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30 days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, p = 0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, p = 0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, p < 0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, p < 0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112