Bitcoin is a decentralized blockchain-based cryptocurrency that has taken the world by storm. Since its introduction in 2009, it has grown tremendously in terms of popularity and market cap. The idea of having a decentralized public ledger while maintaining anonymity and security attracted the attention of developers and customers alike. Special nodes in the bitcoin network, called miners, are responsible for making the network secure by using a concept called proof-of-work. A certain degree of anonymity is also maintained as no personally identifiable information of a person, like name, address, etc., is linked to the bitcoin wallet. In terms of bitcoin, a user is anonymous if different interactions of the user cannot be linked to each other or the user. Recent research shows that bitcoin is not as anonymous as it appears to be. The inherently public nature of blockchain technology makes it difficult to achieve privacy. The purpose of this paper is to review how varying degrees of user privacy is maintained in bitcoin cryptocurrency. This paper is divided into two main segments. The first segment explores privacy-enhancing techniques adopted in bitcoin. The second segment critically analyzes these techniques.
Malaysia's growing population and industrialisation have increased solid waste accumulation in landfills, leading to a rise in leachate production. Leachate, a highly contaminated liquid from landfills, poses environmental risks and affects water quality. Conventional leachate treatments are costly and time-consuming due to the need for additional chemicals. Therefore, the Electrocoagulation process could be used as an alternative method. Electrocoagulation is an electrochemical method of treating water by eliminating impurities by applying an electric current. In the present study, the optimisation of contaminant removal was investigated using Response Surface Methodology. Three parameters were considered for optimisation: the curr
... Show MoreThis paper is devoted to investigate the effect of internal curing technique on the properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC). In this study, SCC is produced by using silica fume (SF) as partial replacement by weight of cement with percentage of (5%), sand is partially replaced by volume with saturated fine lightweight aggregate (LWA) which is thermostone chips as internal curing material in three percentages of (5%, 10% and 15%) for SCC, two external curing conditions water and air. The experimental work was divided into three parts: in the first part, the workability tests of fresh SCC were conducted. The second part included conducting compressive strength test and modulus of rupture test at ages of (7, 28 and 90). The third part i
... Show MoreThis work investigates a simulation model of an underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) system. Several water scenarios are considered: Harbor I (HA-I), Harbor II (HA-II), Coastal Ocean (CO), Clear Ocean (CL), and Pure Sea (PU). A laser diode (LD) with modulation schemes (NRZ-OOK) transmits data at various speeds of 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, and 10 Gbps. To identify the optical signal, a single-photon detection (SPD), APD and PIN photodiodes are utilized. The analytical evaluation of the performance is executed using Q-factor, received power and bit error rate (BER). According to the results, the PU achieved an underwater distance of 35.5 m, 35 m, 34.5 m, for data tran
Nowadays power systems are huge networks that consist of electrical energy sources, static and lumped load components, connected over long distances by A.C. transmission lines. Voltage improvement is an important aspect of the power system. If the issue is not dealt with properly, may lead to voltage collapse. In this paper, HVDC links/bipolar connections were inserted in a power system in order to improve the voltage profile. The load flow was simulated by Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP.16) program in which Newton- Raphson method is used. The load flow simulation studies show a significant enhancement of the power system performance after applying HVDC links on Kurdistan power systems. Th
... Show MoreCatalytic reforming of naphtha occupies an important issue in refineries for obtaining high octane gasoline and aromatic compounds, which are the basic materials of petrochemical industries. In this study, a novel of design parameters for industrial continuous catalytic reforming reactors of naphtha is proposed to increase the aromatics and hydrogen productions. Improving a rigorous mathematical model for industrial catalytic reactors of naphtha is studied here based on industrial data applying a new kinetic and deactivation model. The optimal design variables are obtained utilizing the optimization process in order to build the model with high accuracy and such design parameters are then applied to get the best configuration of this pro
... Show MoreThe use of credit cards for online purchases has significantly increased in recent years, but it has also led to an increase in fraudulent activities that cost businesses and consumers billions of dollars annually. Detecting fraudulent transactions is crucial for protecting customers and maintaining the financial system's integrity. However, the number of fraudulent transactions is less than legitimate transactions, which can result in a data imbalance that affects classification performance and bias in the model evaluation results. This paper focuses on processing imbalanced data by proposing a new weighted oversampling method, wADASMO, to generate minor-class data (i.e., fraudulent transactions). The proposed method is based on th
... Show MoreRandom throwing of industrial waste has a significant impact on the environment unless it takes into account the conditions of engineered destroying and/or re-used. Taking the advantage of re-using waste materials in engineering projects represents a well-planned project in order to resolve a lot of engineering problems for some difficult soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate the capability and effects of Rubber Shreds (RS) from scrap torn belts towards improving the shear strength of soft clay. A direct shear tests were conducted on soft clay-RS mixture. The following parameters were investigated to study the influence of RS content, water content, normal stress, and dilation ratio. From experimental test results it was fou
... Show MoreThe invention relates to a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) for determining a measuring position of a probe. The AACMM isdepends on the robotkinematics (forward and reverse) in their measurementprinciple, i.e., using the AACMM links and joint angles todetermine the exact workspace or part coordinates. Hence, themeasurements are obtained using an AACMM will be extremely accurate and precise since that ismerely dependent on rigid structural parameters and the only source of measurement error is due to human operators. In this paper, a new AACMM design was proposed. The new AACMM design addresses common issues such as solving the complex kinematics, overcoming the workspace limitation, avoiding singularity, and eliminating the effects of
... Show MoreIn this paper two axis sun tracking method is used to absorb maximum power from the sun's rays on the solar panel via calculating the sun’s altitude and azimuth angles, which describe the solar position on the Iraqi capital Baghdad for the hours 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 12:00, 15:00 and 17:00 per day. The angles were calculated in an average approach within one month, so certain values were determined for each month. The daily energy achieved was calculated for the solar tracking method compared with the fixed tracking method. Designed, modeled and simulated a control circuit consisting of reference position truth table, PI Controller and two servomotors that tracked the sun position to adjust the PV panel perpendicular
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