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A blockchain based privacy-preserving system for electric vehicles through local communication

- Yahaya, Adamu, Javaid, Nadeem, Khalid, Rabiya, Imran, Muhammad, Naseer, Nidal

Viral load monitoring for people living with HIV in the era of test and treat: progress made and challenges ahead – a systematic review

- Pham, Minh, Nguyen, Huy, Anderson, David, Crowe, Suzanne, Luchters, Stanley

  • Authors: Pham, Minh , Nguyen, Huy , Anderson, David , Crowe, Suzanne , Luchters, Stanley
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: BMC public health Vol. 22, no. 1 (2022), p. 1-1203
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  • Description: Abstract Background In 2016, we conducted a systematic review to assess the feasibility of treatment monitoring for people living with HIV (PLHIV) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), in line with the 90-90-90 treatment target. By 2020, global estimates suggest the 90-90-90 target, particularly the last 90, remains unattainable in many LMICs. This study aims to review the progress and identify needs for public health interventions to improve viral load monitoring and viral suppression for PLHIV in LMICs. Methods A literature search was conducted using an update of the initial search strategy developed for the 2016 review. Electronic databases (Medline and PubMed) were searched to identify relevant literature published in English between Dec 2015 and August 2021. The primary outcome was initial viral load (VL) monitoring (the proportion of PLHIV on ART and eligible for VL monitoring who received a VL test). Secondary outcomes included follow-up VL monitoring (the proportion of PLHIV who received a follow-up VL after an initial elevated VL test), confirmation of treatment failure (the proportion of PLHIV who had two consecutive elevated VL results) and switching treatment regimen rates (the proportion of PLHIV who switched treatment regimen after confirmation of treatment failure). Results The search strategy identified 1984 non-duplicate records, of which 34 studies were included in the review. Marked variations in initial VL monitoring coverage were reported across study settings/countries (range: 12–93% median: 74% IQR: 46–82%) and study populations (adults (range: 25–96%, median: 67% IQR: 50–84%), children, adolescents/young people (range: 2–94%, median: 72% IQR: 47–85%), and pregnant women (range: 32–82%, median: 57% IQR: 43–71%)). Community-based models reported higher VL monitoring (median: 85%, IQR: 82-88%) compared to decentralised care at primary health facility (median: 64%, IRQ: 48-82%). Suboptimal uptake of follow-up VL monitoring and low regimen switching rates were observed. Conclusions Substantial gaps in VL coverage across study settings and study populations were evident, with limited data availability outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Further research is needed to fill the data gaps. Development and implementation of innovative, community-based interventions are required to improve VL monitoring and address the “failure cascade” in PLHIV on ART who fail to achieve viral suppression.

An overview on smart contracts : challenges, advances and platforms

- Zheng, Zibin, Xie, Shaoan, Dai, Hong-Ning, Chen, Weili, Imran, Muhammad

  • Authors: Zheng, Zibin , Xie, Shaoan , Dai, Hong-Ning , Chen, Weili , Imran, Muhammad
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Future Generation Computer Systems Vol. 105, no. (2020), p. 475-491
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  • Description: Smart contract technology is reshaping conventional industry and business processes. Being embedded in blockchains, smart contracts enable the contractual terms of an agreement to be enforced automatically without the intervention of a trusted third party. As a result, smart contracts can cut down administration and save services costs, improve the efficiency of business processes and reduce the risks. Although smart contracts are promising to drive the new wave of innovation in business processes, there are a number of challenges to be tackled. This paper presents a survey on smart contracts. We first introduce blockchains and smart contracts. We then present the challenges in smart contracts as well as recent technical advances. We also compare typical smart contract platforms and give a categorization of smart contract applications along with some representative examples. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Blockchain for cloud exchange : a survey

- Xie, Shaoan, Zheng, Zibin, Chen, Weili, Wu, Jiajing, Dai, Hong-Ning, Imran, Muhammad

  • Authors: Xie, Shaoan , Zheng, Zibin , Chen, Weili , Wu, Jiajing , Dai, Hong-Ning , Imran, Muhammad
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Computers and Electrical Engineering Vol. 81, no. (2020), p.
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  • Description: Compared with single cloud service providers, cloud exchange provides users with lower price and flexible options. However, conventional cloud exchange markets are suffering from a number of challenges such as central architecture being vulnerable to malicious attacks and cheating behaviours of third-party auctioneers. The recent advances in blockchain technologies bring the opportunities to overcome the limitations of cloud exchange. However, the integration of blockchain with cloud exchange is still in infancy and extensive research efforts are needed to tackle a number of research challenges. To bridge this gap, this paper presents an overview on using blockchain for cloud exchange. In particular, we first give an overview on cloud exchange. We then briefly survey blockchain technology and discuss the issues on using blockchain for cloud exchange in aspects of security, privacy, reputation systems and transaction management. Finally, we present the open research issues in this promising area. © 2019
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