Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Impact Of Blockchain Revolution On The Healthcare Ecosystem: A Critical Review, Maad M. Mijwil, Mohammad Aljanabi, Mostafa Abotaleb, Ban Salman Shukur, Ban Salman Shukur, Indu Bala, Kamal Kant Hiran, Ruchi Doshi, Klodian Dhoska

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Blockchain technology is a type of distributed ledger that provides secure and efficient storage, management, and transmission of data over a decentralized network. With its ability to ensure transparency and immutability, blockchain is increasingly adopted across various sectors ranging from finance, healthcare, and logistics to education. In healthcare, blockchain technology is attracting attention because of its potential to fundamentally transform health ecosystems. The healthcare sector has significantly benefited from blockchain technology by enhancing data security and interoperability and reducing medical errors. In this context, a set of studies highlighted the importance of blockchain in the field of healthcare, enhancing trust …

Learning Techniques-Based Malware Detection: A Comprehensive Review, Sarah Fouad Ali, Musaab Riyadh Abdulrazzaq, Methaq Talib Gaata

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

The rapid proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has significantly increased the threat landscape, with malwares arising as a critical concern. Advanced learning methods such as machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and federated learning (FL) are essential for handling complex IoT data. ML provides tools for pattern identification and detecting anomalies. DL boosts malware detection by automatically extracting features and identifying patterns. FL enables collaborative model training across decentralized devices, ensuring data privacy, which is crucial for diverse IoT systems. This comprehensive review specifically synthesizes ML, DL and FL for malware detection in the IoT environment, highlighting key …

Enhancing Traffic Data Security In Smart Cities Using Optimized Quantum-Based Digital Signatures And Privacy-Preserving Techniques, Tuqa Ghani Tregi, Mishall Al-Zubaidie

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Securing big data in power plants is an important and fundamental step in the infrastructure of smart cities. In addition, it becomes a barrier if it is not controlled from the beginning. Security must be a combination of fast and robust properties. This research presents a traffic security system (TSS) in a smart city (SC). It is a novel paradigm meant to improve data security and integrity by means of a multilayered method. Advanced fault analysis, dual-stage pseudonymizing, quantum key distribution via the BB84 protocol, and Falcon signatures (FS) are combined in the proposed system. TSS enhances data security by …

Whose Decolonization? Prospects For Decolonizing African Art Music, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Although they date back to the 1960s—the decade of African independence—decolonization discourses have gained a new visibility in today’s academies and social media. Targets of decolonization include universities (and numerous practices within), archives, museums, political and economic systems, and individuals from previously colonized nations. Questions remain, however, about what, why, and how to decolonize. This article explores the prospects for decolonizing African art music, a repertoire formed from the twin forces of missionization and colonization. Eschewing a big-picture approach, the author focuses on samples of African choralism, African pianism, African opera, and African symphonism to show that the dividing lines …

Women On Boards Annual Monitoring Report 2024, Center For Entrepreneurship And Innovation

Faculty Books

The AUC Egypt women on boards monitoring report is issued annually to track and monitor the presence and representation of women on boards towards meeting the goal of having 30% women on boards by 2030. The importance of improving representation of women on boards stems from the fact that it is one of the good governance pillars, in addition to the positive impact on firm performance and profitability. The National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 has accordingly promoted for increasing the leadership roles of women and holding key positions in public institutions and companies, setting the target …

Schistosomiasis Interventions In Africa: Assessment And Systematic Review, Christopher Yaw Dumevi, George Boateng Kyei, Patience B Tetteh-Quarcoo, James-Paul Kretchy, Irene Ayi, Patrick F Ayeh-Kumi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis Of A Novel Dental Health Education Program To Improve Dental Care Utilization By Bhutanese-, Burmese-, And Swahili-Speaking Refugees In A Midwestern United States City, Chandra Swanson, Katherine Gordon, Kelly Kreisler, Elizabeth Montgomery Collins

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Estimating Preclinical Amyloid Positivity: A Case Study Transporting Adni To Aric, Emma K Stapp, Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, Elizabeth A Stuart, Rebecca F Gottesman, Scott C Zimmerman, Dean F Wong, Thomas H Mosley, Michael E Griswold, M Maria Glymour, Melinda C Power, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias researchers have benefited from deeply phenotyped clinical samples; however, there is a critical need for estimates that generalize to diverse, representative populations. Use of a statistical approach from causal inference, "transport," may allow generalization of findings from clinical samples to other target populations. Here we explore the feasibility and validity of extending results from a clinical sample, the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), to a community-based target sample, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study Positron Emission Tomography Amyloid Imaging Study (ARIC-PET) using transport estimation and a standard approach, direct standardization, which itself can be …

Proceedings Of The 12th Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Cutting Edge Technology Meets Novel Applications, Alfonso Enrique Martinez-Nunez, Nico U F Dosenbach, Evan M Gordon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Think Tank XII was held on August 21st to 23rd. This year we showcased groundbreaking advancements in neuromodulation technology, focusing heavily on the novel uses of existing technology as well as next-generation technology. Our keynote speaker shared the vision of using neuro artificial intelligence to predict depression using brain electrophysiology. Innovative applications are currently being explored in stroke, disorders of consciousness, and sleep, while established treatments for movement disorders like Parkinson's disease are being refined with adaptive stimulation. Neuromodulation is solidifying its role in treating psychiatric disorders such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, particularly for …

Early Alzheimer's Disease Patient Care Pathway And Health System Readiness: A Framework For Integrated Care, Ilya M Nasrallah, Erik S Musiek, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

UNLABELLED: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is often underdiagnosed, especially at early stages when symptoms are mild, and patients may benefit from new and recently approved anti-amyloid therapies. An updated patient care pathway may facilitate timely diagnosis and intervention. We conducted a scan of published information and convened an expert panel of health care professionals to gain insights on early AD care pathways. We developed an Early AD Patient Care Pathway as an implementation guide that includes new diagnostic and treatment modalities and addresses needs and opportunities. The Early AD Patient Care Pathway focuses on patient identification, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management …

Case Report: Molecular Characterization Of Adult Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor And Review Of The Literature, Miguel A Hernandez-Rovira, Michelle Connor, Robert C Osorio, Emilie Russler-Germain, Robert Schmidt, Gabrielle W Johnson, Julie Silverstein, Sonika Dahiya, Nyssa Fox Farrell, Mia C Weiss, Gregory J Zipfel, Jiayi Huang, Dimitrios Mathios

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs) are typically aggressive pediatric tumors with a median survival of 11 months. Due to the paucity of cases in adults, the clinical behavior of these pathologies is not well understood. Here we present the case of a 41-year-old female patient with postoperative hyperprogression of a sellar ATRT and provide a detailed description of the molecular composition of this tumor, the protocol used to treat this patient, and the ultimate outcome of this patient.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION: The patient is a 41-year-old woman who presented with headaches and double vision. MRI revealed a sellar/suprasellar …

Use Of Telehealth For Measurement Of Anthropometrics In Toddlers And Their Parents, Sarah S Farabi, Cindy Schwarz, Bria Lee-Robinson, Lauren G Fiechtner, Victor Davila-Roman, Rachel G Tabak, Debra Haire-Joshu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: The use of telehealth (e.g., live video calling) to collect anthropometric data in toddlers and their parents to increase participation in lifestyle interventions holds promise. But, there is limited evidence to support reliability of telehealth for the collection of these measures. This study aimed to determine the reliability of use of telehealth with parents to collect anthropometric and blood pressure measures on themselves and anthropometric measures on their toddler and determine the acceptability of instruction.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted as part of the developmental phase of a larger study. Research staff instructed parents via video call to …

Identification Of Candidate Cardiomyopathy Modifier Genes Through Genome Sequencing And Rna Profiling, Malene E Lindholm, Gerald W Dorn, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Phenotypic heterogeneity is apparent among individuals with putative monogenic disease, such as familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Genome sequencing (GS) allows interrogation of the full spectrum of inborn genetic variation in an individual and RNA profiling provides a snapshot of the cardiac-specific pathogenic effects on gene expression.

OBJECTIVES: Identify candidate genetic modifiers of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenotype.

METHODS: We performed GS of 48 individuals with variants in

RESULTS: GS identified the

CONCLUSION: Evaluation of the whole genome, even in the case of alleged monogenic disease, leads to important new insights. The identified variants, regions, and genes are candidates to modify disease presentation …

Th9 Cells Provide Protective Tb Immunity, Mei Xia, Azra Blazevic, Huan Ning, Christopher S Eickhoff, Chad E Storer, Richard D Head, Jianguo Liu, Jessica Jarvela, David Stoeckel, Erin Rakey, Jan Tennant, Daniel L Miller, Kathleen R Holloway, Richard F Silver, Daniel F Hoft

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: CD4+ Th9 cells have been associated with inflammatory and allergic diseases. IL-9/Th9 can function as both positive and negative immune regulators, but their protective effects against

METHODS: To study TB-specific Th9 protective effects, we generated Th9 cells from ESAT6-specific TCR transgenic mice and healthy human donors.

RESULTS: Both murine and human Th9 cells significantly inhibited intracellular mycobacterial growth. In both

DISCUSSION: Th9 cells can provide important protection against Mtb infection, and should be targeted with future TB vaccine strategies. Furthermore, Th9 cells appear to utilize a novel protective mechanism independent from Th1-mediated protective responses.

The Perfect Storm: Unraveling The Interplay Of Genetic Predisposition And Viral Triggers In Type 1 Diabetes Pathogenesis, Daniel A Veronese-Paniagua, Jeffrey R Millman

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by the T cell-mediated destruction of insulin-secreting pancreatic β cells, leaving patients reliant on exogenous insulin to establish normoglycemia. Despite advancements in glucose management, the precise pathological mechanisms linking genetic predisposition and environmental triggers to the loss of immune tolerance remain incompletely understood, hindering the development of preventative therapies. This comprehensive review synthesizes clinical, experimental, and epidemiological data to detail the intricate pathogenesis of T1D, focusing on the convergence of autoimmunity, high-risk genetics, and enteroviral infection. We discuss how T1D is fundamentally a disease caused by failures in central and …

Annual Diversity Of Honey Bee Pollen Sources In Two Pumpkin Growing Landscapes, Machakos County, Kenya, Marystella W. Nang’Oni, Muo Kasina, Rebecca Karanja, Mary M. Guantai, Rahab N. Kinyanjui, Evanson R. Omuse, Michael H.G. Lattorff, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Marian Adan, Samira A. Mohamed, Thomas Dubois

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Multi-floral foraging sources for honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) have been threatened by landscape changes and unsustainable farming practices. In East Africa, the biodiversity of forage resources that could support honey bees, especially in agricultural lands, remains least explored. This study investigated pollen diversity for honey bees in Yatta and Masinga Sub-counties in Machakos County, Kenya. Honey bee hives were installed on eight pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne ex Lam) farms (one hive per farm) in two varying landscape vegetation classes (low and medium) based on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Pollen traps were installed at the hive entrance and pollen …

The Effectiveness Of Tech Support Fraud In Damaging Older Individual’S Financial Security, Vanessa Perera

Theses : Honours

This study discovers the tactics employed to create detrimental effects upon older people impacted from fraudulent tech-support incidents. It examines social engineering, and financial confusion of older people. This is significant considering adaptations towards digital banking and payment management. This research looked at online and active over 65s. Using largely qualitative approaches over 65s were interviewed and responses validated against cyber-professionals’ responses. This identified three key findings: older adults feel confused and misunderstand tech support scams; threat actors build trust by pretending to offer technical help but use this to deceive their victims; and older adults face serious social and …

Nuclear Intron Sequence Variation Of The Bulinus Globosus Complex (Mollusca: Planorbidae): Implications For Molecular Systematic Analyses, Chairat Tantrawatpan, Kotchaphon Vaisusuk, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Warayutt Pilap, Naruemon Bunchom, Ross H. Andrews, Tongjit Thanchomnang, Wanchai Maleewong, Weerachai Saijuntha

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Urinary schistosomiasis is caused by the blood fluke Schistosoma haematobium, which is predominantly found in Africa. The freshwater snail Bulinus globosus is its main intermediate host. The species that make up the B. globosus group are genetically complex, and their taxonomic status remains controversial. Genetic variation, heterozygosity, and DNA recombination in B. globosus were examined using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and the intron 3 region of the arginine kinase gene (AkInt3). A total of 81 B. globosus snails were collected from three different localities in Kwale County, Kenya. Genomic diversity, heterozygosity, DNA recombination, and haplotype network …

Exodus. Teacher's Edition: Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Jiri Moskala

All Books

No abstract provided.

Challenging Behaviour In The Early Years: Investigating Teacher Perceptions, Gillian Anne Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

An upward national trend in challenging behaviour amongst young children in Australian schools has prompted widespread concern and garnered frequent media scrutiny. Scholars have established that child-teacher relationships are central to understanding and mitigating challenging behaviour; however, exploration of teacher perceptions of children’s challenging behaviour in the early years has been limited. This study aimed to address this gap by investigating how early childhood teachers perceive and respond to young children’s challenging behaviour in Western Australia’s Kindergarten to Year 2 settings. The research was grounded in Attachment Theory and Ecological Systems Theory, highlighting the relational and environmental factors influencing teacher …

Applications Of Reservoir Simulation And Machine Learning In Subsurface Energy Systems For Decarbonization, Seyedmohammadmehdi Nassabeh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The transition to a low-carbon future necessitates innovative approaches to carbon management and hydrogen storage, particularly in the context of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from hydrocarbon reservoirs. This study employs advanced analytics and machine learning techniques to optimize carbon management strategies. One key focus of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of flue gas and CO2 in Water Alternating Gas (WAG) injection within a homogeneous fractured carbonate reservoir characterized by low porosity and permeability. A computational model was developed to depict the flow regime in the reservoir and simulate reservoir fluid behavior using Eclipse (E300) software, various hybrid EOR …

Return Serve: Exploring The Dialogism Of The Australia-China Relationship In Media Coverage Between 2020-2022, Jordan Hogan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Australia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have a dynamic bilateral relationship that is defined by interdependency and mutual political scepticism. This thesis provides an analysis of Australian and Chinese news media perspectives on this relationship. Via an in-depth examination of opinion pieces from national press, I map the significant developments of a period of deteriorating relations between 2020 and 2022. My study captures the more prominent, parochial and vitriolic media coverage of the unravelling relationship, and investigates the motivations, developments, differences, and similarities in the online publications of Australia’s national daily newspaper The Australian, and China’s Global Times. …

Ai Characterisations And Their Legal Implications, Jerrold Tsin Howe Soh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter examines the difficult legal characterisation problems that artificially intelligent systems raise and explores how different characterisations of artificial intelligence (AI) shape practical legal outcomes. Three reasons are offered for the legal difficulty with characterising AI. First, answers to characterisation problems are inherently subjective and perspective-driven, particularly when the subject is an intangible technological system. Second, AI technology is especially difficult to define since the field typically proceeds on inexact anthropomorphic metaphors. Third, AI characterisation problems raise difficult sub-problems, particularly in determining how autonomous an AI system is. The chapter thus argues that a range of plausible AI characterisations …

Gnnsynergy: A Multi-View Graph Neural Network For Predicting Anti-Cancer Drug Synergy, Zhifeng Hao, Jianming Zhan, Yuan Fang, Min Wu, Ruichu Cai

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Drug combinations play very important roles in cancer therapy, as they can enhance curative efficacy and overcome drug resistance. Due to the increasing size of combinatorial space, experimental screening for all the drug combinations becomes infeasible in practice. Therefore, there is a great need to develop accurate computational approaches that can predict potential drug combinations to direct the experimental screening. In this paper, we propose a novel method called GNNSynergy to learn drug embeddings for drug synergy prediction. Given a specific cancer cell line, we propose a multi-view graph neural network framework which considers the current cell line as main …

An End-To-End Bi-Objective Approach To Deep Graph Partitioning, Pengcheng Wei, Yuan Fang, Zhihao Wen, Zheng Xiao, Binbin Chen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Graphs are ubiquitous in real-world applications, such as computation graphs and social networks. Partitioning large graphs into smaller, balanced partitions is often essential, with the biobjective graph partitioning problem aiming to minimize both the“cut” across partitions and the imbalance in partition sizes. However, existing heuristic methods face scalability challenges or overlook partition balance, leading to suboptimal results. Recent deep learning approaches, while promising, typically focus only on node-level features and lack a truly end-to-end framework, resulting in limited performance. In this paper, we introduce a novel method based on graph neural networks (GNNs) that leverages multilevel graph features and addresses …

A Novel Catalyst Featuring Highly Stable Cobalt And Manganese Nitride Nanoclusters Dispersed On Single Atom-Anchored Carbon Nanotubes For Hydrolytic Release Of Hydrogen From Ammonia Borane, Dawson Wai Shun Suen, Xiaoying Lu, Chi Wing, Alex Tsang

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

This study investigated the long-term stability of cobalt (Co) and manganese nitride (Mn4N) nanoclusters in the catalytic hydrolysis of a promising hydrogen (H2) storage material, ammonia borane (H3NBH3; AB), to release H2. It was previously found that Co nanoparticle/Co single-atom catalysts (Co NP/Co SACs) anchored on carbon nanotubes (CNT) exhibited excellent reactivity and stability towards AB hydrolysis and high performance in the H2 evolution reaction in alkaline media. Therefore, the current study synthesised CoMn4N/Co-Mn-Nx-CNT- 200–800, a CoMn-based catalyst with Co and Mn4N nanocluster active sites, and examined its performance in AB hydrolysis. CoMn4N/Co-Mn-Nx-CNT-200–800 generated three equivalents of H2 from AB …

Therapeutic Potential Of Brassica Carinata Microgreens Extract In Alleviating Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes In Wistar Rats, Lilian Nakakaawa, Ifeoluwa D. Gbala, Joel L. Bargul, Xavier Cheseto, John M. Wesonga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Microgreens of Brassica plants have attracted increasing research interest in the management of the prevailing epidemic of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) because of their high nutritional value. This study evaluated the antidiabetic effects of Brassica carinata Microgreens Ethanolic Extract (BMEE) in type-2 diabetic rats. For the normoglycemic assay, rats were divided into five groups and received a single oral dose of 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg of BMEE while the control groups received distilled water and Glibenclamide. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were determined on a weekly basis for 28 days in diabetic rats after treatment with BMEE at …

Governing Intelligence: Singapore’S Evolving Ai Governance Framework, Jason G. Allen, Jane Loo, Jose Luna

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper provides an outline analysis of the evolving governance framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Singapore. Across the Singapore government, AI solutions are being adopted in line with Singapore’s “Smart Nation Initiative” to leverage technology to make impactful changes to the nation and the economy. In tandem, Singaporean authorities have been assiduous to release a growing number of governance documents, which we analyse together to chart the city-state’s approach to AI governance in international comparison. Characteristics of Singapore’s AI governance approach include an emphasis on consensusbuilding between stakeholders (particularly government and industry but also citizens) andvoluntary or “quasi” regulation, …

She Speaks: Amplifying Women's Voices For Wellbeing, Narelle Lemon

Reports accepted as research outputs

Executive Summary

The SheSpeaks project successfully transformed how 223 Western Australian women understand and practice self-care, demonstrating  that targeted wellbeing literacy interventions can create lasting change  in women’s relationship with their own wellbeing. Funded by the Women’s Grants for a Stronger Future program, this innovative initiative combined evidence-based workshops with authentic podcasting to challenge the pervasive cultural narrative that positions women’s self-care as selfish  or impossible.

Automated Methods For Estimating Blood Alcohol Concentration Level From Facial Cues, Ensiyeh Keshtkaran

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates different approaches for detecting alcohol intoxication in drivers by analysing facial video data. Tackling this issue necessitates the creation of a novel dataset to overcome the limitations of existing datasets. The dataset constructed in this study is the first to include RGB video recordings of individual faces at varying levels of alcohol intoxication during simulated driving, featuring 60 participants with BAC levels ranging from 0 to 0.165 g/100ml. The constructed dataset not only supports this thesis, but also offers the broader scientific community a valuable resource for further study and development.

Building on this, this thesis presents …