Virtual organization and blockchain are two newly emerging technologies that researchers are exploring their potentials to solve many information and communication technology unaddressed problems and challenges. Health care is one of the sectors that are very dynamic and it is in need of constant improvement in the quest to better the quality of cares and reduce cost. One of the hotline of research in the sector is the use of information and communication technology to provide health care and this is where the concept of virtual healthcare is relevant. In virtual healthcare patients and care providers are collaborating in virtual settings where two of the most difficult challenges are verifying and validating the identity of the communicating parties and the information exchanged. In this paper we propose a conceptual framework using blochchain technology to address the health care provider and record verification and validation issue. The framework is specific to healthcare systems developed based on Virtual Breeding Environment and Virtual Organization. We outline and explain each step in the framework and demonstrate its applicability in a simple healthcare scenario. This paper contributes towards the continuing effort to address user identity and information verification and validation issues in virtual settings in general and in healthcare in specific.

Recently the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has experienced an explosion in exposure to new technologies in different sectors especially in media and telecommunication. Internet is one of those technologies that have opened a way for information proliferation amongst a previously censored region. Developing web sites to deliver news and other information is a relatively new phenomenon in Kurdistan; this means that the design and development of web pages may lack the quality standard required. In this paper the quality of webpage interface design and usability in the field of news journalism in the KRI is examined against a set of web interface design and usability criterion. For the purpose of data collection 9 available popular news websites are chosen and 900 questionnaires are sent to 100 random users. The result is analyzed and we have found that the majority of users are satisfied with the interface design and usability of the news WebPages, however the result points out some weakness that can be improved. The outcome of this research can be used to enhance website design and usability in the field of journalism in the KRI.

Epileptic seizure is a neurological disease that is common around the world and there are many types (e.g. Focal aware seizures and atonic seizure) that are caused by synchronous or abnormal neuronal activity in the brain. A number of techniques are available to detect the brain activities that lead to Epileptic seizures; one of the most common one is Electroencephalogram (EEG) that uses visual scanning to measure brain activities generated by nerve cells in the cerebral cortex. The techniques make use of different features detected by EEG to decide on the occurrence and type of seizures. In this paper we review EEG features proposed by different researches for the purpose of Epileptic seizure detection, also analyze, and compare the performance of the proposed features.

In this paper the outcome of a project is presented that aims to modify and improve one of the most widely used Augmented Reality tools. Augmented reality (AR), is a fast growing area of virtual reality research. Augmented Reality (AR) is a newly emerging technology by which user’s view of the real world is augmented with additional information from a computer model. ARToolKit is one of the most widely used toolkits for Augmented Reality applications. The toolkit tracks optical markers and overlays virtual objects on the markers. In the current version of the toolkit the overlaid object is stationary or loops regardless of the optical target position, this means that the overlaid object cannot be animated or changed based on the movement of the optical target. The aim is to improve the toolkit, therefore a design solution to modify it were designed and implement so that users can manipulate the position of the overlaid virtual object, through movements of the optical target. The design solution focuses on developing a mathematically based links between the position of the optical target and the overlaid virtual object. To test the solution test cases were developed and the results show that the design solution is effective and the principal idea can be used to develop many applications in different sectors such as education and health.