Performance Comparison of Hyper-V and KVM for Cryptographic Tasks in Cloud Computing

As the extensive use of cloud computing raises questions about the security of any personal data stored there,cryptography is being used more frequently as a security tool to protect data confidentiality and privacy in the cloud environment.A hypervisor is a virtualization software used in cloud hosting to divide and allocate resources on various pieces of hardware.The choice of hypervisor can significantly impact the performance of cryptographic operations in the cloud environment.An important issue that must be carefully examined is that no hypervisor is completely superior in terms of performance;Each hypervisor should be examined to meet specific needs.The main objective of this study is to provide accurate results to compare the performance of Hyper-V and Kernel-based Virtual Machine(KVM)while implementing different cryptographic algorithms to guide cloud service providers and end users in choosing the most suitable hypervisor for their cryptographic needs.This study evaluated the efficiency of two hypervisors,Hyper-V and KVM,in implementing six cryptographic algorithms:Rivest,Shamir,Adleman(RSA),Advanced Encryption Standard(AES),Triple Data Encryption Standard(TripleDES),Carlisle Adams and Stafford Tavares(CAST-128),BLOWFISH,and TwoFish.The study’s findings show that KVM outperforms Hyper-V,with 12.2%less Central Processing Unit(CPU)use and 12.95%less time overall for encryption and decryption operations with various file sizes.The study’s findings emphasize how crucial it is to pick a hypervisor that is appropriate for cryptographic needs in a cloud environment,which could assist both cloud service providers and end users.Future research may focus more on how various hypervisors perform while handling cryptographic workloads.

Enhancing Bandwidth Utilization of IP Telephony Over IPv6 Networks

The demand for the telecommunication services,such as IP telephony,has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.IP tele-phony should be enhanced to provide the expected quality.One of the issues that should be investigated in IP telephony is bandwidth utilization.IP telephony pro-duces very small speech samples attached to a large packet header.The header of the IP telephony consumes a considerable share of the bandwidth allotted to the IP telephony.This wastes the network's bandwidth and influences the IP telephony quality.This paper proposes a mechanism(called Smallerize)that reduces the bandwidth consumed by both the speech sample and the header.This is achieved by assembling numerous IP telephony packets in one header and use the header'sfields to carry the speech sample.Several metrics have been used to measure the achievement Smallerize mechanism.The number of calls has been increased by 245.1%compared to the typical mechanism.The bandwidth saving has also reached 68%with the G.28 codec.Therefore,Smallerize is a possible mechanism to enhance bandwidth utilization of the IP telephony.

A Multilayer Network Constructed for Herb and Prescription Efficacy Analysis

Chinese Medicine(CM)has been widely used as an important avenue for disease prevention and treatment in China especially in the form of CM prescriptions combining sets of herbs to address patients’symptoms and syndromes.However,the selection and compatibility of herbs are complex and abstract due to intrinsic relationships between herbal properties and their overall functions.Network analysis is applied to demonstrate the complex relationships between individual herbal efficacy and the overall function of CM prescriptions.To illustrate their connections and correlations,prescription function(PF),prescription herb(PH),and herbal efficacy(HE)intranetworks are proposed based on CM theory to identify relationships between herbs and prescriptions.These three networks are then connected by PF-PH and PH-HE interlayer networks adopting herb dosage to form a multidimensional heterogeneous network,a Prescription-Herb-Function Network(PHFN).The network is applied to 112 classic prescriptions from Treatise on Exogenous Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases to illustrate the application of PHFN.The PHFN is constructed including 146 functions in PF intra network,89 herbs in the PH intra network,and 163 herbal efficacies in the HE intra network.The results show that herb pairs with synergistic actions have stronger relevance,such as licorice-cassia twig,licorice-Chinese date,fresh ginger-Chinese date,etc.The integration of dosage to the network helps to indicate the main herbs for cluster analysis and automatic formulation.PHFN also reveals the internal relationships between the functions of prescriptions and composed herbal efficacies.

Improving the OCR of Low Contrast, Small Fonts, Dark Background Forms Using Correlated Zoom and Resolution Technique (CZRT)

Many formal institutions, companies, hospitals, laboratories need some time to exchange hand signed reports through modern communication means such as Fax, E-mails, and others. A problem is faced due to the quality of both scanned documents and originally used paper, which results in problems in converting such images to text. In addition, font type and size, contrast and background darkness have an adverse effect on the accuracy of the resulted text. Thus, an investigation into the relationship between scanned document zoom and scanning resolution in Dots per Inch (DPI) for a special case and type of scanned forms is carried out to enable design of an algorithm that takes into account such cases. It is found that a much higher level of zooming and resolution is needed to achieve acceptable recognition for the special case of dark, low contrast, small font forms. It is also found that the optimum zooming level is set by the number of recognized words as they are more difficult to learn and analyze.

Effect of Hall Currents and Variable Fluid Properties on MHD Flow past Stretching Vertical Plate by the Presence of Radiation

This paper investigates the effects of Hall currents and radiation on free-convective steady laminar boundary-layer flow past a semi-infinite vertical plate for large temperature differences. A uniform magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the plate. The fluid density is assumed to vary exponentially and the thermal conducting linearly with temperature. The fluid viscosity is assumed to vary as a reciprocal of a linear function of temperature. The usual Boussinesq approximation is neglected. The nonlinear boundary layer equations governing the problem under consideration are solved numerically by applying an efficient numerical technique based on the shooting method. The effects of the magnetic parameter , the Hall parameter m, the density/temperature parameter n, the radiation parameter N , the thermal conductivity parameter S, the viscosity temperature , and the temperature ratio parameter are examined on the velocity and temperature distribution as well as the coefficient of heat flux and shearing stress at the plate.

Early fault prediction and detection of hydrocephalus shunting system

Trends of various intracranial pressure (ICP) parameters for high pressure hydrocephalus patients are utilized to detect various shunt faults in their early stages, as well as, to monitor the effect of such faults on shunt performance. A method was proposed to predict the time required for ICP to be abnormal and for the valve to reach full blockage condition. Furthermore, an auto valve schedule updating method is proposed and used to temporarily deal with detected faults until the patient is checked up by his/her physician. The proposed algorithms were evaluated using numerical simulation.

Application of Hyperspectral Band Elimination Technique to PVT Images of Composite Structures

A new approach to NDT of composite structures using Band Elimination of the analyzed image index by Hyperspectral image analysis approach is presented and discussed. The matrix Band Elimination technique allows the monitoring and analysis of a components structure based on Filtering of bands and correlation between sequentially pulsed thermal images and their indices. The technique produces several matrices resulting from frame deviation and pixel redistribution calculations for intelligent classification and property prediction. The obtained results proved the technique to be capable of identifying damaged components with ability to model various types of damage under different conditions.

Patient Reported Frequency of Lupus Flare: Associations with Foundation Makeup and Sunscreen Use

Objective: To test the hypothesis that usage of foundation makeup (FM) and sunscreen lotion (SS), used individually or in combination, is associated with significant changes in the likelihood of lupus symptom exacerbation. Methods: Self-reported flare days (SRF) and use of FM and SS products, were retrospectively examined in 80 Caucasian Australian women with ACR classified SLE for a year. Negative binomial regression modelled SRF days (outcome) against independent FMSS variable and covariates: age;diagnosis years;outdoor hours;BMI;stress;immune therapy medication (ITM) use. Results: Statistically significant inverse associations between SRF days and FMSS use were found. Protective effects were statistically significant (p < 0.05) for combined FMSS exposure days (OR 0.998, CI 0.997 - 1.0) and FM alone (OR 0.603, CI 0.363 - 1.0). Significant associations consistent with increased SRF risk were seen in sub-analysis models for participants taking ITM: univariate model (OR 1.968, p = 0.03);multivariate model for FMSS (OR 2.11, CI 1.161 - 3.835);FM days (OR 1.855, CI 1.023 - 3.364). Results show SRF day reduction of 0.15% for each day of product exposure. Conclusion: Study results highlight protective effects of wearing FM with or without SS. This reduction in flare days ultimately has potential to improve quality of life in SLE patients.

Joule Heating and Viscous Dissipation on Effects on MHD Flow over a Stretching Porous Sheet Subjected to Power Law Heat Flux in Presence of Heat Source

In the present work we investigate the effects of Joule heating and viscous dissipation on MHD fluid flow. The viscous incompressible fluid flows over a stretching porous horizontal sheet subjected to power law heat flux in presence of heat source. The equations of momentum and heat transfer governing the problem are transformed into a system of dimensionless differential equations, which in turn solved numerically using shooting technique. The effects of the Joule heating parameter, permeability parameter, heat source parameter, Eckert number and Prandtl number are discussed and tabulated.

A New System for Road Traffic Optimisation Using the Virtual Traffic Light Technology

Large cities suffer from traffic congestion,particularly at intersections,due to a large number of vehicles,which leads to the loss of time by increasing carbon emissions,including fuel consumption.Therefore,the need for optimising the flow of vehicles at different intersections and reducing the waiting time is a critical challenge.Conventional traffic lights have been used to control traffic flow at different intersections and have been improved to become more efficient by using different algorithms,sensors and cameras.However,they also face some challenges,such as high-cost installation,operation,and maintenance issues.This paper develops a new system based on the Virtual Traffic Light(VTL)technology to improve traffic flow at different intersections and reduce the encountered loss of time and vehicles’travel time.Additionally,it reduces the costs of installation,maintenance and operation over various conventional traffic light systems.Consequently,the system proposes algorithms for traffic scheduling and lane identification by using vehicle ID,priority and time of arrival.To evaluate the system,four scenarios were presented where each scenario uses a different number of vehicles consisting of three types(emergency vehicles,public buses and private vehicles),each given a different priority.The proposed system is evaluated by integrating two simulators,namely,(OMNeT++)and(SUMO),and two frameworks,namely,(VEINS)and(INET)to prepare an appropriate working environment.the results prove that an improvement in the average travel time for several vehicles reaches 44.43%–49.76%compared with conventional traffic lights.Further,it is proven from the obtained results that the average waiting time for emergency vehicles is enhanced by 96.63%–97.63%,while the average waiting time for public buses is improved by 94.81%–97.23%.On the other hand,the waiting time for private vehicles‘improved by 87.14%to 89.71%’.

High-Bandwidth,Low-Power CMOS Transistor Based CAB for Field Programmable Analog Array

This article presents an integrated current mode configurable analog block(CAB)system for field-programmable analog array(FPAA).The proposed architecture is based on the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS)transistor level design where MOSFET transistors operating in the saturation region are adopted.The proposed CAB architecture is designed to implement six of thewidely used current mode operations in analog processing systems:addition,subtraction,integration,multiplication,division,and pass operation.The functionality of the proposed CAB is demonstrated through these six operations,where each operation is chosen based on the user’s selection in the CAB interface system.The architecture of the CAB system proposes an optimized way of designing and integrating only three functional cells with the interface circuitry to achieve the six operations.Furthermore,optimized programming and digital tuning circuitry are implemented in the architecture to control and interface with the functional cells.Moreover,these designed programming and tuning circuitries play an essential role in optimizing the performance of the proposed design.Simulation of the proposed CMOS Transistor Based CAB system is carried out using Tanner EDA Tools in 0.35μm standard CMOS technology.The design uses a±1.5 V power supply and results in maximum 3 dB bandwidth of 34.9 MHz and an approximate size of 0.0537 mm2.This demonstrates the advantages of the design over the current state-of-the-art designs presented for comparison in this article.Consequently,the proposed design has a clear aspect of simplicity,low power consumption,and high bandwidth operation,which makes it a suitable candidate for mobile telecommunications applications.

Frilled Lizard Optimization: A Novel Bio-Inspired Optimizer for Solving Engineering Applications

This research presents a novel nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm called Frilled Lizard Optimization(FLO),which emulates the unique hunting behavior of frilled lizards in their natural habitat.FLO draws its inspiration from the sit-and-wait hunting strategy of these lizards.The algorithm’s core principles are meticulously detailed and mathematically structured into two distinct phases:(i)an exploration phase,which mimics the lizard’s sudden attack on its prey,and(ii)an exploitation phase,which simulates the lizard’s retreat to the treetops after feeding.To assess FLO’s efficacy in addressing optimization problems,its performance is rigorously tested on fifty-two standard benchmark functions.These functions include unimodal,high-dimensional multimodal,and fixed-dimensional multimodal functions,as well as the challenging CEC 2017 test suite.FLO’s performance is benchmarked against twelve established metaheuristic algorithms,providing a comprehensive comparative analysis.The simulation results demonstrate that FLO excels in both exploration and exploitation,effectively balancing these two critical aspects throughout the search process.This balanced approach enables FLO to outperform several competing algorithms in numerous test cases.Additionally,FLO is applied to twenty-two constrained optimization problems from the CEC 2011 test suite and four complex engineering design problems,further validating its robustness and versatility in solving real-world optimization challenges.Overall,the study highlights FLO’s superior performance and its potential as a powerful tool for tackling a wide range of optimization problems.

Adaptive Segmentation for Unconstrained Iris Recognition

In standard iris recognition systems,a cooperative imaging framework is employed that includes a light source with a near-infrared wavelength to reveal iris texture,look-and-stare constraints,and a close distance requirement to the capture device.When these conditions are relaxed,the system’s performance significantly deteriorates due to segmentation and feature extraction problems.Herein,a novel segmentation algorithm is proposed to correctly detect the pupil and limbus boundaries of iris images captured in unconstrained environments.First,the algorithm scans the whole iris image in the Hue Saturation Value(HSV)color space for local maxima to detect the sclera region.The image quality is then assessed by computing global features in red,green and blue(RGB)space,as noisy images have heterogeneous characteristics.The iris images are accordingly classified into seven categories based on their global RGB intensities.After the classification process,the images are filtered,and adaptive thresholding is applied to enhance the global contrast and detect the outer iris ring.Finally,to characterize the pupil area,the algorithm scans the cropped outer ring region for local minima values to identify the darkest area in the iris ring.The experimental results show that our method outperforms existing segmentation techniques using the UBIRIS.v1 and v2 databases and achieved a segmentation accuracy of 99.32 on UBIRIS.v1 and an error rate of 1.59 on UBIRIS.v2.

Erratum to:Recent Advances of Chimp Optimization Algorithm:Variants and Applications

Erratum to:J Bionic Eng https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-023-00414-1.In this article the statement in the Funding information section was incorrectly given as‘22UQU4361183DSR03’and should have read‘23UQU4361183DSR03’.

An Acceptance Model of Using Mobile-Government Services(AMGS)

In recent years,the telecommunications sector is no longer limited to traditional communications,but has become the backbone for the use of data,content and digital applications by individuals,governments and companies to ensure the continuation of economic and social activity in light of social distancing and total closure inmost countries in the world.Therefore,electronic government(e-Government)andmobile government(m-Government)are the results of technological evolution and innovation.Hence,it is important to investigate the factors that influence the intention to use m-Government services among Jordan’s society.This paper proposed a new m-Government acceptance model in Jordan(AMGS);this model combines the Information System(IS)Success Factor Model and Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Theory.The study was conducted by surveying different groups of the Jordanian community.Astructured questionnaire was used to collect data from203 respondents.Multiple regression analysis has been conducted to analyze the data.The results indicate that the significant predictors of citizen intention to use m-Government services in Jordan are Information Quality,Service Quality,Uncertainty Avoidance,and Indulgence vs.restraint.While,the results also suggest that Power Distance is not a significant predictor of citizen intention to use m-Government services.

Unconstrained Hand Dorsal Veins Image Database and Recognition System

Hand veins can be used effectively in biometric recognition since they are internal organs that,in contrast to fingerprints,are robust under external environment effects such as dirt and paper cuts.Moreover,they form a complex rich shape that is unique,even in identical twins,and allows a high degree of freedom.However,most currently employed hand-based biometric systems rely on hand-touch devices to capture images with the desired quality.Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,most handbased biometric systems have become undesirable due to their possible impact on the spread of the pandemic.Consequently,new contactless hand-based biometric recognition systems and databases are desired to keep up with the rising hygiene awareness.One contribution of this research is the creation of a database for hand dorsal veins images obtained contact-free with a variation in capturing distance and rotation angle.This database consists of 1548 images collected from 86 participants whose ages ranged from 19 to 84 years.For the other research contribution,a novel geometrical feature extraction method has been developed based on the Curvelet Transform.This method is useful for extracting robust rotation invariance features from vein images.The database attributes and the veins recognition results are analyzed to demonstrate their efficacy.

Trends in major and minor meteorological variables and their influence on reference evapotranspiration for mid Himalayan region at east Sikkim, India

Abstract： Estimation of evapotranspiration （ET） for mountain ecosystem is of absolute importance since it serves as an important component in balancing the hydrologic cycle. The present study evaluates the performance of original and location specific calibrated Hargreaves equation （HARG） with the estimates of Food and Agricultural Organization （FAO） Penman Monteith （PM） method for higher altitudes in East Sikkim, India. The results show that the uncalibrated HARG model underestimates ET0 by 0.35 mm day^-1 whereas the results are significantly improved by regional calibration of the model. In addition, this paper also presents the variability in the trajectory associated with the climatic variables with the changing climate in the study site. Non- parametric Mann-Kendall （MK） test was used to investigate and understand the mean monthly trend of eight climatic parameters including reference evapotranspiration （ET0） for the period of 1985 - 2009. Trend of ET0 was estimated for the calculations done by FAO PM equation. The outcomes of the trend analysis show significant increasing （p ≤ 0.05） trend represented by higher Z-values, through MK test, for net radiation （Rn）, maximum temperature （Tmax） and minimum temperature （Train）, especially in the first months of the year. Whereas, significant （0.01 ≥ p ≤0.05） decreasing trend in vapor pressure deficit （VPD） and precipitation （P） is observed throughout the year. Declining trend in sunshine duration, VPD and ET0 is found in spring （March - May） and monsoon （June - November） season. The result displays significant （0.01≤ p ≤0.05） decreasing ET0 trend between （June - December） except in July, exhibiting the positive relation with VPD followed by sunshine duration at the station. Overall, the study emphasizes the importance of trend analysis of ET0 and other climatic variables for efficient planning and managing the agricultural practices, in identifying the changes in the meteorological parameters and to accurately assess the hydrologic water balance of the hilly regions.

Wearable UWB Antenna-Based Bending and Wet Performances for Breast Cancer Detection

This paper proposed integrating the communication system on the garment,which can be utilized to detect breast cancer at an early stage by using an ultra-wideband(UWB)wearable antenna.Breast cancer is an abnormal cell that is located in the breast tissue.Early detection of breast cancer plays an important role,and it helps in the long term for all women.The proposed UWB wearable antenna successfully operates at 3.1-10.6 GHz under an acceptable reflection coefficient of−10 dB.The fabricated wearable antenna was made from Shieldit Super and felt both conductive and nonconductive wearable materials.Few measurement studies of bending angles have been carried out that covered 2°,4°,6°,8°,and 10°.In addition,the performance of UWB antennas in wet environments is studied in four stages:in water,instantly wet,nearly dry,and entirely dry.There is good agreement between the measured and simulated outcomes.Based on the experimental results,the proposed antenna could be helpful for a home breast cancer detection system.

A Fault-Handling Method for the Hamiltonian Cycle in the Hypercube Topology

Many routing protocols,such as distance vector and link-state protocols are used for nding the best paths in a network.To nd the path between the source and destination nodes where every node is visited once with no repeats,Hamiltonian and Hypercube routing protocols are often used.Nonetheless,these algorithms are not designed to solve the problem of a node failure,where one or more nodes become faulty.This paper proposes an efcient modied Fault-free Hamiltonian Cycle based on the Hypercube Topology(FHCHT)to perform a connection between nodes when one or more nodes become faulty.FHCHT can be applied in a different environment to transmit data with a high-reliability connection by nding an alternative path between the source and destination nodes when some nodes fail.Moreover,a proposed Hamiltonian Near Cycle(HNC)scheme has been developed and implemented.HNC implementation results indicated that FHCHT produces alternative cycles relatively similar to a Hamiltonian Cycle for the Hypercube,complete,and random graphs.The implementation of the proposed algorithm in a Hypercube achieved a 31%and 76%reduction in cost compared to the complete and random graphs,respectively.