In the rapidly evolving landscape of cloud computing, the burgeoning growth and centralization of data exacerbate security vulnerabilities, necessitating robust and scalable cryptographic solutions. This paper introduces the QP-ChainSZKP framework, a novel architecture that amalgamates Quantum-Secure Cryptographic Algorithms with Zero-Knowledge Proof Management to shield cloud environments against both classical and emerging quantum threats. The proposed QP-ChainSZKP framework effectively integrates advanced cryptographic techniques, enhancing the security protocols and compliance measures required for robust cloud operations. This ensures not only adherence to high-security standards but also provides strong protection against data breaches and unauthorized access, crucial for maintaining data integrity and confidentiality in cloud environments. We employ a dual approach in our methodology by simulating and rigorously testing the framework to evaluate its security, scalability, and performance metrics. The experimental results demonstrate a significant enhancement in transaction throughput and reduction in latency, corroborating the framework’s capability to manage high throughput cloud applications effectively. Specifically, the framework achieves a throughput improvement of 20% and a latency reduction of 30% under peak load scenarios, establishing its efficacy in handling dynamic cloud environments. Notably, the QP-ChainSZKP framework addresses future quantum computational threats by modifying existing cryptographic practices used in public clouds, setting a pioneering standard for using advanced cryptographic technologies in cloud security. Our study contributes a scalable, quantum-resistant solution tailored for extensive cloud applications, marking a substantial advancement in cloud computing security frameworks that can meet the imminent global security requirements.
This paper presents a case study on how to process cooking recipes (and more generally, how-to instructions) in a way that makes it possible for a robot or artificial cooking assistant to support human chefs in the kitchen. Such AI assistants would be of great benefit to society, as they can help to sustain the autonomy of aging adults or people with a physical impairment, or they may reduce the stress in a professional kitchen. We propose a novel approach to computational recipe understanding that mimics the human sense-making process, which is narrative-based. Using an English recipe for almond crescent cookies as illustration, we show how recipes can be modelled as rich narrative structures by integrating various knowledge sources such as language processing, ontologies, and mental simulation. We show how such narrative structures can be used for (a) dealing with the challenges of recipe language, such as zero anaphora, (b) optimizing a robot's planning process, (c) measuring how well an AI system understands its current tasks, and (d) allowing recipe annotations to become language-independent.
Olanrewaju Oluwaseun Ajayi, Chisom Elizabeth Alozie, Olumese Anthony Abieba, Joshua Idowu Akerele · 5 authors
Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative force within the financial technology (Fintech) sector, offering unprecedented opportunities for efficiency, transparency, and security. However, its adoption also brings forth new challenges and vulnerabilities, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity. This review explores the dynamic landscape of Blockchain Technology and Cybersecurity in Fintech, highlighting both the opportunities it presents and the vulnerabilities it introduces. Blockchain technology, most notably recognized as the underlying framework for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, operates on a decentralized ledger system, enabling secure and immutable transactions. In Fintech, this technology promises enhanced transactional speed, reduced costs, and increased transparency, revolutionizing traditional banking and payment systems. Nevertheless, the decentralized nature of blockchain networks, while offering resilience against single points of failure, also poses unique cybersecurity risks. Smart contracts, self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code, introduce vulnerabilities such as code bugs and exploits. Moreover, the anonymity associated with blockchain transactions has raised concerns regarding illicit activities, money laundering, and terrorist financing. In response to these challenges, the intersection of Blockchain Technology and Cybersecurity in Fintech offers opportunities for innovation. Advanced cryptographic techniques, such as multi-signature authentication and zero-knowledge proofs, are being leveraged to enhance security and privacy in blockchain-based systems. Additionally, regulatory frameworks are evolving to address the emerging risks associated with Fintech innovations, ensuring compliance and consumer protection. While Blockchain Technology presents promising opportunities for revolutionizing Fintech, its integration must be accompanied by robust cybersecurity measures to mitigate vulnerabilities and safeguard against potential threats. Collaborative efforts between industry stakeholders, regulators, and cybersecurity experts are imperative to foster a secure and resilient ecosystem for blockchain-based financial services.
The rapid development of Internet of Things technology has promoted the popularization of Internet of Vehicles, and its safety and reliability have become the focus of intelligent transportation system research. Vehicle-road collaboration relies on the collaborative computing and storage resources of the vehicle on-board unit (OBU), which are usually limited. When the vehicle in the edge area needs to do computing tasks such as intelligent driving, but its own computing resources are insufficient. Therefore, it needs other computing resources from idle vehicles and road side unit (RSU). This resource sharing can get additional computing resources to complete the task, and can be more convenient to complete the computing task quickly. Most current studies consider this type of resource sharing as a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network transaction, aiming to stimulate the enthusiasm of vehicle sharing and optimize the utilization of computing resources in edge areas. However, the traditional blockchain transaction mode exposes serious privacy disclosure risks in vehicle networking resource transactions, including the openness and transparency of user identity, transaction details, and transaction addresses, which poses great challenges to data security. Therefore, this study innovatively proposed a blockchain-based privacy protection scheme for vehicle networking resource transaction details. By introducing committed value protection, zero-knowledge proof technology and constructing temporary transaction addressed mechanism. The scheme realized the comprehensive privacy protection of transaction funds, transaction details and transaction addresses, which could effectively avoid the disclosure of users' sensitive information. Compared with the existing methods, the proposed scheme not only greatly enhanced the privacy protection capability, but also ensured the efficiency and security of transaction verification through zero-knowledge proof, avoiding the direct exposure of private keys. Meanwhile, the experimental verification demonstrates that the scheme not only enhances the level of privacy protection but also does not augment the supplementary processing burden. Furthermore, it is evident that the scheme meets the rigorous requirements for real-time resource transactions in the Internet of Vehicles.
As artificial general intelligence (AGI) advances toward systems that can autonomously act across domains, the central governance challenge is how to guarantee that ethical principles are specified, enforced, audited, and improved over time without relying on a single, potentially misaligned authority. This manuscript proposes a blockchain-anchored “Ethical Governance Layer” (EGL) for AGI: a layered architecture that couples decentralized identity and membership, on-chain policy specification and versioning, privacy-preserving compliance attestations, tamper-evident auditing, and participatory oversight. We synthesize requirements from prominent governance frameworks (EU AI Act; NIST AI Risk Management Framework; OECD and UNESCO ethics recommendations) and show how distributed ledgers, verifiable credentials, and zero-knowledge proofs can operationalize them in a credibly neutral, transparent, and globally interoperable substrate.
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
We landed in Chiang Mai. Nick stood up from his Thai-Airways signature-purple-clad seat, turned his cell phone back on, and announced: “Weird, my phone gives ‘smoke’ as the weather here.” It took ten years to decant, but I now know this comment was a fork in the road, the first crumb leading me, whether I wanted it or not, down a new, meandering trail in the woods. No gingerbread house at the end. The trail is the destination. A trail of enjoyable, forgettable, and unpleasant tastes. A trail of illness.The weather app should have been our first clue that something was awry. As soon as we stepped off the plane, the smell of burning wood engulfed us. It was March 2015, before North Americans became all too familiar with the hazy skies and sullied air caused by massive forest fires (fig. 1). It was late so we went straight to the hotel.My parents met us at breakfast the morning after our arrival. They had flown in separately from Paris and arrived in the middle of the night. Nick and I flew from Toronto first to Singapore and then to Chiang Mai via Bangkok. He was attending a neuropsychiatry conference in Singapore in early March, and I was to return there to participate in a food studies symposium at the end of the month. The timing (and funding) justified a month-long trip, and we decided to visit Thailand between our Singapore events to celebrate our March 15 and 17 birthdays. My parents wanted some warmth in the middle of winter. Nick and I had traveled well with them before and knew their being with us would cover some of our costs. We decided to meet up with them for a couple of weeks. They had had a great time in Vietnam a year earlier, so we picked Thailand as our meeting point since none of us had been there. I would be spending my thirty-first birthday with them, the first time in ten years I could celebrate with my family. And the food was bound to be good.By the time we landed in Chiang Mai, Nick and I had already spent a week on the western Thai island of Koh Mak, chosen as not to be overrun by tourists, which was foolish as we soon learned it was “Thai break” in Germany. Koh Mak had fewer tourist sights than other close-by islands but it made up for it by still having a bustling farming sector. We drove our rented moped through pineapple and Hevea plantations, the latter tapped to gather natural rubber. But the beach had to be raked every morning to remove plastic garbage delivered by the waves. The Pad Thais and curries we recognized from restaurants and takeout in various Western cities we had lived in. The main unexpected culinary element was the cooks’ tendency not to add eggs directly to the Pad Thais but to wrap the noodles inside an omelet instead. I was not yet aware that this dish was a fairly new culinary “invention,” brought forth for nationalistic purposes after the country gained its independence (Greeley 2009; Van Esterik 2000). I thus categorized our island Pad Thais as, “wow, real Thai food.” Another Koh Mak culinary highlight was a pizza prepared by American expats, eaten as we sat in the sand awaiting a ferry ride to a close-by secluded beach. In terms of sensory souvenirs, this pizza beat those Nick and I would eat a few years later in Napoli during our honeymoon. We had one other exceptional Thai meal featuring an appetizer in which the sweetness of palm sugar and the salty sourness of fish sauce mixed with herbaceous notes brought forth by the unknown leaves in which I wrapped my shrimps to form a morsel of flavor I had never experienced. I had finally put my tongue on an “authentic” experience—and here come the scare quotes.I should have known better. By 2015, I had graduated with a doctorate in food history and was well versed in the food studies literature. I knew that the search for “authentic” food, especially the food of populations living in areas occupied by colonial Empires for centuries, is loaded with power relationships, exoticisation, and neocolonial desires to “eat the Other” (Heldke 2008; hooks 1992). My own dissertation (and soon-to-be book) was the story of a doomed search for tradition, albeit in a US context (Bégin 2016). And yet, I continued to roam Thai markets and food stalls to find “the real deal.” The curse of the privileged Western foodie. * * *When we arrived at the hotel’s breakfast courtyard, I was surprised my father was not happier to see me. Jet lag, probably. He went to pick up the rental car as we were to depart for a road trip the day after. We planned to drive to the “golden triangle” at the border of Thailand, Laos, and China, to enjoy famously stunning views of terraced rice paddies and absorb the local culture, cuisine included. We leisurely finished our meal, chatting with my mother, and after a while we wondered why my father was taking so long to return. New city, many rickshaws.It was Nick’s birthday. We visited Chiang Mai’s inner-city temples, where my father snapped a photo of Nick and I banging a gong to ring in Nick’s new year. We bought our dinner at the famed night market where street food stalls offered grilled octopus skewers here, a glass noodle salad there, a Pad Thai a bit further down the crowded road. The skills of the vendors grinding the ingredients for mango salad in their large wooden mortar and pestle fascinated me. I breathed in the pungent smell before tasting the best rendition of the dish I’d ever eaten. We had no time to take any of the cooking classes offered in Chiang Mai, but I think my mother and I would have done so during our planned few days back there after our northern trip. We’ll never know if we would have been able to see beyond the staged, playful authenticity the instructors put on for tourists and that anthropologists love to analyze in their articles (a safe way for them to “eat the Other” under the guise of “doing research”?) (Mills 2019; Walter 2017). By the time we drove back to Chiang Mai, we would no longer be looking for genuine food experiences or novelty—we would be searching for sustenance. * * *Before we left, my parents and I poured over the printouts of our hotel reservation confirmations. It would have been useful to have a map larger than a phone screen.“Papa, why did you use Expedia to plan this trip? You never use Expedia. I don’t get our itinerary, it’s all over the place. The dates seem all mixed up.”“It was useful to keep everything in one place.”“Camille, he won’t let me double check it,” my mother chimed in. “He changed everything two days ago.”“You girls don’t understand the logic. I got it all figured out. Trust me.”“OK, but why does it say you cancelled the reservation in this nice-looking hotel to book us in this subpar one? Why did you change it?” I kept asking questions—none of the bookings made sense to me.“Trust me.”We did not yet know that we were right to question him. * * *Off we went in the rental car, driver on the left in Thailand. My father, who had planned all trips for the past twenty-five years, was the only one who knew where we were going. The roads were in good shape. My father, not always an easy man but usually relaxed and self-assured when traveling, alternated between jolly and his moodiest of moods. One moment he showed his happiness at seeing Nick and I in love, and the next he barked at me for not getting into the car fast enough. We were unsure what to make of his strange behavior.The world-renowned views of Northern Thailand? Nowhere to be seen. Smoke, fog, more smoke. Everywhere. We stopped at viewpoints to look at smoke. Instead of the melodious green camaieu we expected, the landscape was a cacophony of grays and browns—a wall of muffled sounds and heavy smoke. Not a single ray of sunshine made it through. The smell retreated at times, and we were still unsure whether this was fog or smoke, but the higher we got, the more the earthy scent of burning trees reached us. We all hoped for better conditions on the way back down to Chiang Mai. No other tourists were in sight.The hotels? The worst. We arrived at our first hotel at night. It was dark but we could make out several wooden bungalows organized around an empty pool. Either we were the only guests or everyone else was already asleep. The manager (or maybe the owner?) showed the four of us to one bungalow with two sleeping areas separated by a too-short pink curtain. The bungalow was made of dark teak wood. Once inside, I was reminded of an alpine cabin. The decoration was sparse: two pink accent pillows, wooden bedside tables with reading lamps. In my memory the only sources of light were the dim circles under and over the lampshades. We were tired from the drive but had enough in us to demand separate bungalows for the price my father had prepaid. The manager reluctantly showed Nick and me to a similar bungalow, though with orange accents rather than pink. * * *We were settling down for the night when I heard the scream from my parents’ bungalow. It was my mother. I had never heard such a guttural from I got and a at me when I if we could off the in but this is not this is not is not It out of He he a is not I don’t know had them as a and an their with my mother while my father out for a bit before back to I would to with a But I had never being so of him. I had never their bungalow, and my father at me to get out. He me the had brought on a and his in his I with my mother to went back and we all back to * * next day was my thirty-first birthday. I an but at some in the I got My parents had finished breakfast when we arrived at the the their way through the smoke. my father was there, My mother was in The man who had us the night before as and us eggs and of in the as the eggs rather than was a with with none of the of a street food He none of the and we had come to My father everything was that he had his breakfast and that was with the hotel with guests and a of leaves and the with a could be a pool. My father had for two We were went for a ride on the visited a and went some the of the on which my parents were and the on leaves and into the middle of the I wondered if this was a to up the for A and safe But seeing my parents in this a me their their years after this was the first time I was an I was and I did not yet know this would be my main of the my parents would not be here and should not be for and could off an we the road from the and the local of own eggs in a that of we to from wooden with a few other tourists were there but was not an we wondered we had landed there. My father had into the my mother and I had ever was his a was not we for a to the a I had not went through the It was with the of well for my search for a Thai culinary We a fish in a The us of its and at us when we it would be with no for our Western But the was so we could eat We had been had by our desires for genuine local I in of my birthday My father through his * * day up we local to us through the They were surprised any tourists their the air but and took us on a through and the In the my father their and from the with as (fig. on In the wood with from the The with their us no They had of did my father to he to the conditions under which We breathed in the could the it were the of the landscape for their on his but their on the (or on his memory was he surprised to see in what had been to us as a of I think it was the He our road trip in and I have his my new every time I have had to my The in the me to our through the down to the of the we went the and of our through the I I could this trip too when I it to be by the fires us on the the of and us. that it was and as if was to have a of tourists enough to visit at this time of the year. The to and for this but in and this was should have been turned into a * * *When I to my to that of years later as I with the of my father, I to it I this trip. I the first in this did not to and but to the and I to remove from the I down at my and the I a moment to this taking the after a still in my and on the day we up in the of the on our I on my and on to when my back to It when I so the is My but I in a As if the in for years if I get I to them, this I not the and cover with the we use to in of I my back I should into the smoke. I no longer have to a but as Nick is now on the of I use his The back a of articles on the in Thailand. As I after and for the context of the Thai of my trail of and * * the to use the I while is an and way of the for especially in such as Northern Thailand. areas a that the the areas then as for a couple of years before being left for to ten years so the forest and the its other year or a new is a in which 2016). in the the or to with at this in of the farming of such as for higher from at populations into the “Thai and and them from farming and the from and the Thai farming local to their and made them and large a for to new areas for The of in such as Chiang Mai the and local have on the of the in the late and early The main been a by and so so to who the of forest fires in Northern Thailand, turned into form of and the from to and As would be expected, this on over a year in Northern Thailand. the country as burning in other as well and the Bangkok. In the caused I put it I see what we could not by our for the of one man we for We had into a and on the and of the food we so wanted to In our as culinary tourists, we had tourists of the * * put on a for our meal, as have done for of of tourists since the of Northern Thailand in the They our in in of us and It was a down to the of the We were to the their into and you make to as but never use years still in my The meal was good enough. and at the it took to The and the made of food the the it so we would have a food to back on if put off by their (and more it a local food there as I my and the meal as as I could my He was but on his the for us to of in the middle of the My father the A man in his late he took his off and finished the in his and The of the a through a and a into a the end of the the had us visit his and showed me to use an to down a from a * * our we continued further and up and in still in heavy smoke. My mother and I local that would in our Paris and Toronto for years the of the back too many next hotel was a over those of the It was the and the food changed a my parents and I what the was with I a not to make a and to eat was in the to search for a My father a He never at but he would it in to the local it me as out of the was for or a for he usually a local But he did not to and was a Nick had a He wanted more than one on this trip with his morning my mother, and I up early and went to the local market and long of with at a as by the it was right I still long for the I know never My father us he to in after our I think he wanted to from to everything was breakfast at the we my father was not He had been to the of to to the on his a that should have been My mother now that he had had a time the and in Thai during their in Bangkok. He was a to the in yet had to for with that were too with his was to a a enough for who had graduated from and in He my father have had a on the over from Paris and us the had to be especially as my parents and I had a to return to a few days The was that the air on the could a more Nick this was out of the my and his being and had not and my father had to take to his a familiar and would back to We Nick to with my father while he was having his hotel to get to his and something was and that he to be by a Nick did my mother retreated to and I off my breakfast with the now I had down the day No to let it my father to the road trip and drive back to Chiang Mai to get at a local with the story of his was so we he have had a I to keep the in My mother was not up for dark Nick drove us down the road back to the My father to so he The of us were and * * *We drove straight to the Chiang Mai where an of us. a few of my father was in an and to the The was for one to with the The was up for with a as an and a with a My mother Nick and I left to check in at the new this one chosen by my mother and We had a on the looking over the of attending the night market under the I my and over my Nick was what to say or especially as his trip was to an end. As he for the before I had planned to with my parents before back to and then to * * the I took the back to the beyond the and its that form a around the I would come to know the way well over the next few a few of my a in to us that the was to see us. A we had us to down in his and for his at You see is get here or but you back to the was the to with to to find the right in my to Nick to reached Nick during his this is what I was this was on but I did not to you and out. The made me think He with a of the between sugar and the of a on all being to Paris so he get at could on the if you it But only so many areas since it’s in the with the during the you the of the down the down a It the of the that all and then me that he first to the he had not me not who my but I for They never see their father a few more days in Chiang Mai, time for the in my to so the could a to brought in a food for to his in a the of No The first meal was too was my father so he up and let my mother and I for him. We noodles and mango We the from the food stalls the too to any longer culinary The local food our but could not our and We for a familiar * * the in his my and his but he still us of the in the We were we to in the for this of or more a My father alternated between of his and being the I had ever and would ever see Thai did not know where to put the on his was than their He an The a wooden tongue to to it into his became his main when not It but it took me years to understand that the was the of his a I at a local took me in the to me my was and to return as soon as was for me, and as he did not this with my father or my mother. I now know that the of the and my any in the looking at his knew well before the that the was a in the of in their early with an is what and As well as, for my of the in what a But it safe and not have And you a in to on a that the is think Nick knew as He me understand that the heavy the of my which the caused by his and in in too for any of us to * * an to back to Paris with us. A with We was and out of the to and took right over from the Thai traveled with a for and a a and in during the trip. us would to a few a and a bit of before to get us early for the back to Paris via Bangkok. The of us in my that of the Chiang of the trip as a for the longer one to My father made it through the first of and and after through the while he he could we the My father and the traveled first my mother and I in as I was not on the and thus not by the I went to check on my father He made me when he that he had up the by he was being for a of the was for us at the to straight to the at the we my in his new a smell as if he had from a trip. No or My mother and I were to return during the street food
I am honored and deeply touched by this Festschrift issue marking the 50th anniversary of my PhD. All of the authors are people who have meant the world to me throughout my career, including my closest collaborators and my greatest heroes. They were there in the most meaningful moments of my professional and personal life, sharing a love of psychology and a world of ideas and facts where logic and evidence prevail. Like me and unlike many friends and relatives outside the field whose eyes glaze over when I “talk psychology,” they were happy to do it anywhere on a moment's notice, in meetings, emails, and even in a line for coffee at Psychonomics. I have loved our many conversations, and I have learned a lot from them. They are always full of free-floating ideas that somehow converge to create a shared understanding of something none of us understood before. We explored new territories. We forged connections between disciplines. We developed deeper understanding of our own disciplines. The joy of discovery has been wonderful to share. I am deeply grateful for the authors’ kind words and their contributions to this special issue, which share the amazing things they discovered.It doesn't feel like 50 years. I feel the same hope for the future, the same need for one more publication, the same joy in designing experiments, and the ultimate joy of seeing the results. I feel the same joy in sharing the ideas with collaborators and the broader community. I have even learned to enjoy writing. The beat goes on and I'm still dancing. It is gratifying to hear echoes of the beat in the contributions to the Festschrift. True to my character, I can't stop myself from offering comments and questions for each of them.In the preface, Darryl, Matt, and Frederick summarize my academic and personal history. Each of them played a prominent role in that history, extending and reshaping my longstanding interests in automaticity and skill (Matt), cognitive control (Darryl), and response inhibition (Frederick), changing my life and making it better. Borrowing from my long-term interest in music, they listed six “greatest hits” from my curriculum vitae, which I feel are among my best and most influential publications. Artists have “favorite records” as well as greatest hits. My favorites include articles with each of them.The Crump et al. (2012) article on guitarists’ perception of guitar chords is dear to my heart for many reasons, not the least of which is having Gibson donate three Les Paul Junior guitars for our research. (I told my wife I felt like a rock star. She said, “Rock stars only get one guitar.”) It was easy to find skilled guitarists to test in Nashville, and testing them was great fun. Matt and I did many experiments on typing, but this one was the most fun.The Schneider and Logan (2005) article on switching tasks without switching task sets is another favorite. It was Darryl's first year research project that involved simulations, model fits, and some very cool data—an exceptional contribution for a first-year graduate student. We proposed the first stochastic accumulator model of task switching. It set the stage for a very productive and very happy collaboration, culminating in Darryl's dissertation. At the end of our meetings, I would ask whether there was anything else. Often, Darryl would give a little smile and say, “I had an idea for an experiment,” and that would become our next project.The Verbruggen and Logan (2008) article on automatic and controlled response inhibition is a highlight of the many articles we did together on the stop signal task. Frederick revived my interest in the stop signal task, addressing important issues such as sequential effects, learning and memory, and proactive control. In this article, Frederick found an elegant way to combine skill acquisition with cognitive control in the stop signal task, which has important practical implications (as Frederick documents in his article). Ultimately, the article led to a significant update of the Logan and Cowan (1984) race model (Logan et al., 2014).A personal favorite from my instance theory days is the Logan and Etherton (1994) article on what is learned during automatization. It assessed the role of attention in constructing the instances that support automatic performance, manipulating the consistency with which distractors were paired with targets in focused attention, divided attention, and dual task conditions. Performance improved more with consistent pairing, suggesting that the distractor was represented in the instance along with the target, but this advantage appeared only under divided attention and dual task conditions, which required attention to both targets and distractors. There was no advantage for consistent pairing in focused attention conditions, which directed attention to the target. It was clear that attention determines what is encoded in an instance and motivated further research on the interaction between attention and memory. I had hoped this article would have more impact because I think the interaction between attention and memory is important in many domains of cognition.Another personal favorite is the Logan (1995) article on linguistic and conceptual control of visual spatial attention. I had become interested in how cues direct attention to targets and realized that linguists have studied how language directs attention for many years. I wondered how space was represented and found better and clearer ideas in the linguistic literature on spatial relations than in the attention literature. Inspired by Landau and Jackendoff's (1993) linguistic analyses and Franklin and Tversky's (1990) memory experiments, I ran visual search experiments that cued targets with spatial relations analyzed by linguists, including above, below, front, back, left, right, next to, opposite, clockwise, and counterclockwise. Speed and accuracy varied systematically with cues in that were consistent with linguistic analyses of the of the relations and the to them. my was to attention research to and Ultimately, the article and the on the same did not have the impact I hoped I still think the questions are and the of attention research to is personal favorite I is the Logan et al. article on the which the that memory is attention We developed a memory of the and task and found that that the same of was article is a favorite because it of research on attention and memory and my interest in It and the important of and who were my for many and friends for many It felt like I was with them as we the I have for this article, but I have for my Each one is the most important article when I on and the next article most my own is with I on my first to in when was his interest in the stop signal task. was the first I with in and I was by the connections to the literature on and response I was even more by his of that literature and his to it to my next in was in the of his first stop signal project and shared the with me how of to a on without stop like the stochastic in and me how the when a stop signal is and the me a that the of was very from an of stop signal from the I was The model Cowan and I the coffee in my I to of this at least more I was to I of and the to with and who me on my with a great very I I with and and we a that our long-term has been a of and I am grateful to for as my personal clear and to my We have had more than I of in of to what I think are of the stop signal task as making in visual an of his with the stop signal task and a of the of cognitive experiments on They in from psychology and they from is a that many and many The are very both in of their to cognitive and and in of the that goes them. documents the important impact his research has had on our understanding of the and of and the stop signal task in of the race model et al., was my first and to I learned how were how were and the of with we the important of that to and it to our research. 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Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology
ObjectiveByzantine Fault-Tolerant (BFT) consensus algorithms in blockchain systems were confronted with two fundamental challenges that significantly impacted their practical implementation: inefficient view changes resulting from dishonest primary nodes and excessive communication overhead during consensus processes.MethodsA novel Dynamic Dual-Master Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (DM-PBFT) algorithm was developed to simultaneously overcome these limitations through three key technical innovations. The DM-PBFT architecture was constructed with two tightly integrated components: an optimized consensus process and an intelligent view-change mechanism. To address the critical issue of communication overhead, the algorithm incorporated a dual-primary node framework (designated as B1 and B2) combined with Verifiable Secret Sharing (VSS) to streamline the consensus workflow. In this carefully designed process: (1) client A initiated transactions by sending requests to primary node B1; (2) B1 subsequently broadcast these requests along with A's unique identifier to the network; (3) the secondary primary node B2 distributed cryptographic subkeys and corresponding commitment values to all consensus nodes in set B; (4) each node independently verified the received subkeys using the commitment values to ensure cryptographic integrity; (5) upon successful verification, nodes computed request approval digests incorporating their subkeys and transmitted these digests back to B1; (6) after collecting sufficient subkeys, B1 performed efficient key recovery and compared the results with B2's master key; (7) finally, verification values were broadcast network-wide and persistently stored in all nodes' state databases to complete the consensus process.For optimizing view-change efficiency, a sophisticated reputation evaluation system was implemented based on an enhanced PeerTrust model. This system incorporated multidimensional confidence factors that dynamically synthesized both local interaction history and global reputation metrics through comprehensive analysis of inter-node verification relationships. The algorithm strategically organized nodes into three distinct operational tiers (primary layer, consensus layer, and non-consensus layer), each with specialized reputation evaluation methodologies. View transitions were executed through continuous hierarchical scoring during consensus rounds, with the system automatically adjusting node classifications based on their evolving reputation scores.The view-change protocol incorporated three carefully designed failure recovery procedures: (1) When primary node B1 was identified as Byzantine, the top-ranked consensus node was automatically promoted to replace it while maintaining operational continuity through B2's consistent subkey management; (2) For failures of B2, a similar replacement protocol was activated with additional safeguards to ensure complete subkey redistribution; (3) In the rare case of simultaneous failure of both primary nodes, the two highest-ranked consensus nodes were promoted to form a new primary pair, with the system automatically reinitializing the consensus process. Within the consensus layer, Byzantine nodes were systematically identified through continuous monitoring and temporarily marked rather than immediately replaced. Replacement was only triggered when the concentration of marked Byzantine nodes reached precisely one-third of the consensus layer's capacity, at which point a corresponding number of top-performing nodes from the non-consensus layer were promoted. This threshold-based approach strategically minimized unnecessary view changes while maintaining rigorous fault tolerance guarantees.Through rigorous algorithmic analysis, DM-PBFT was formally proven to satisfy all critical BFT properties: (1) Request messages and subkeys were cryptographically secured through the combined use of advanced signature algorithms and commitment schemes; (2) Consistency was guaranteed through mathematical proof showing all honest nodes would agree on the same sequence of requests; (3) Liveness was ensured by demonstrating the system would always progress within bounded time, even during view changes; (4) Termination was mathematically verified through analysis of the reputation-based view-change protocol. Communication complexity analysis established that DM-PBFT achieved O(n) complexity, representing a significant improvement over PBFT's O(n²) scaling. Time complexity analysis, conducted under realistic asynchronous network models, confirmed the algorithm's superior temporal efficiency compared to existing approaches.ResultsAn extensive experimental evaluation was conducted to validate DM-PBFT's performance across multiple critical dimensions. The testing framework systematically compared DM-PBFT against three established benchmarks (PBFT, reputation grouping, and HotStuff) while examining consensus latency, communication overhead, throughput, and resilience to network dynamics under various operational conditions.In controlled latency testing with network sizes scaling to 500 nodes, DM-PBFT demonstrated remarkable performance, achieving consensus latency of just 0.46176 seconds. This represented a 400× improvement over conventional PBFT (186.44476s), a 100× improvement over reputation grouping (46.09653s), and a 56× improvement over HotStuff (25.8702s). Detailed analysis revealed that while all tested algorithms exhibited increased latency with network growth, DM-PBFT's hierarchical architecture maintained superior scalability, with latency increasing at a sub-linear rate compared to the polynomial growth observed in other approaches.Communication overhead measurements showed that DM-PBFT achieved stable performance after reaching network stratification thresholds, consistently maintaining O(n√n) complexity. In practical terms, this translated to a 62.4% reduction in bandwidth consumption compared to traditional PBFT implementations and measurable improvements over HotStuff's message efficiency. The communication overhead grew gradually with network size until reaching stratification points, after which it remained effectively constant regardless of additional node joins.Throughput benchmarking produced equally impressive results, with DM-PBFT sustaining 3,500 transactions per second (TPS) in large-scale configurations compared to PBFT's 1,200 TPS. While matching HotStuff's peak throughput, DM-PBFT demonstrated significantly better scalability, with throughput improvement rates exceeding those of the reputation grouping approach by substantial margins after crossing stratification thresholds.Additional experiments examined DM-PBFT's resilience under challenging network conditions. Node churn tests confirmed that the frequency of node joins/leaves only impacted performance through net changes in total node count, not through the rate of such changes. Network bandwidth fluctuation tests demonstrated the reputation system's effectiveness in automatically compensating for variable connection quality, with the algorithm maintaining stable performance across diverse bandwidth conditions after several consensus rounds of adaptation.The comprehensive experimental results collectively established DM-PBFT's advantages across three fundamental metrics: (1) Exceptional latency characteristics, delivering 400× improvements at scale; (2) Efficient bandwidth utilization, achieving 62.4% reductions compared to conventional approaches; (3) Consistently high throughput maintenance even under adversarial conditions with Byzantine node concentrations up to 30%. The view-change process demonstrated particular efficiency, completing in just 1.2 seconds compared to PBFT's 12.8 seconds - a 90.6% reduction that proved critical for practical deployment scenarios.ConclusionsThe DM-PBFT algorithm represented a significant theoretical and practical advancement in Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus mechanisms through its novel integration of dual-primary node management, verifiable secret sharing, and dynamic reputation-based stratification. The solution demonstrated particular effectiveness for large-scale consortium blockchain implementations, successfully achieving the dual objectives of sub-linear communication growth and rapid fault recovery without compromising security guarantees.The algorithm's architectural innovations, especially its stratified node management framework and intelligent threshold-based view-change protocol, established a new foundation for next-generation consensus protocol design in increasingly complex and adversarial network environments. Future research directions were identified to further enhance the algorithm's practical utility, including: (1) Optimization for real-world deployment scenarios with heterogeneous hardware; (2) Development of cross-shard coordination mechanisms for sharded blockchain architectures; (3) Enhanced security analysis under sophisticated adaptive adversary models; (4) Integration with emerging cryptographic techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs for additional privacy preservation. These advancements promised to extend DM-PBFT's applicability to an even broader range of production blockchain environments while maintaining its fundamental advantages in efficiency, security, and scalability.
With the objective to reach net-zero carbon emissions, mobile and stationary electrical energy storage is gaining significant importance. Currently these applications are dominated by lithium-ion batteries, however, concerns about vulnerable supply chains and potential supply shocks call for a complementary battery technology. Sodium-ion batteries (SIB) are currently developed and commercialized by academia as well as industry and hold the potential as a cost-effective and complementary battery technology to today’s most affordable lithium-ion batteries, if the energy density of sodium-ion batteries can be improved further. This thesis addresses various current challenges of layered oxide cathode materials for the next generation of high-energy sodium-ion batteries in three scientific publications. The first publication, presented in Section 3.1, addresses Na+/vacancy orderings in P2-type layered oxides as cathode active material (CAM) for SIBs. By comparing the closely related materials P2-NaxNi1/3Mn2/3O2 and P2-NaxMn3/4Ni1/4O2, the chemical and structural context of Na+/vacancy orderings are uncovered using various experimental and computational methods. A guideline to estimate the tendency for Na+/vacancy orderings is proposed and crosschecked against various cathode compositions and literature reports. The guideline can serve to design new P2-type layered oxide cathode materials with improved cycling stability based on the absence of Na+/vacancy orderings. The second publication, presented in Section 3.2, takes a closer look at P2-NaxMn3/4Ni1/4O2 addressing the synthesis, structure, electrochemistry and robustness against storage in moist air. This publication explores the relationship between composition, temperature and crystal structure and investigates the synthesis route for a phase pure P2-type material in detail. The as-prepared material exhibits stacking faults, which are described and quantified for the first time and discussed with respect to the synthesis route. The P2-NaxMn3/4Ni1/4O2 CAM exhibits attractive performance in electrochemical half-cells, however, a significant capacity decay occurs during the first cycles. Lastly, a model storage experiment was performed to evaluate the reactivity of the developed P2-NaxMn3/4Ni1/4O2 cathode material with moist air. The third publication, presented in Section 3.3, addresses the origin of capacity fade in P2-NaxMn3/4Ni1/4O2. Three main aging mechanisms are isolated and their origin uncovered, namely surface densification, intra-crystalline cracking and Jahn-Teller distortion. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first scientific report providing proof for surface densification in P2-type layered oxides. The findings are then discussed in Section 4 in the context of recent scientific literature. Guidelines for the design of high-performance layered oxide cathode materials are proposed and as-designed cathode materials are presented. Finally, future directions for the development of powerful layered oxide cathode materials for the next generation of high-energy SIBs are suggested in Section 5.
This paper completes the RFC trilogy by elevating the axiomatic framework of resonant existence (Papers #91-92) into universal category theory. We define life, death, and equilibrium as properties of objects and morphisms in arbitrary categories, validate the framework against prime number data, and reinterpret the Riemann Hypothesis as a statement about optimal structural stability under duality symmetry. Key Innovation: Life is not substrate-dependent—it is a categorical property definable through three universal axioms applicable to any mathematical structure. Main Contributions 1. Three Categorical Axioms of Life Axiom 1 (Knowledge-Stasis): Complete knowledge implies resonance cessation Ĥ(A) = 0 ⟹ ∀n: R̃(Φⁿ(A)) = R̃(A) Axiom 2 (Asymptotic Completion): Completeness achievable only at infinity lim(n→∞) Ĥ((GF)ⁿA) = 0, but ∀n < ∞: Ĥ((GF)ⁿA) > 0 Axiom 3 (Life Condition): Life requires uncertainty, change, and non-terminality A is alive ⟺ Ĥ(A) > 0 ∧ ∃n: R̃(Φⁿ(A)) ≠ R̃(A) ∧ A non-terminal 2. Categorical Reinterpretation of Riemann Hypothesis We propose that the critical line Re(s) = 1/2 serves as the fixed symmetry axis of the duality functor D(s) = 1-s, and that RH can be understood as a condition for optimal structural stability: zeros confined to the axis of maximal balance prevent systemic collapse while enabling infinite oscillation. Important: This is an interpretation, not a proof of RH. 3. Universal Validation The framework is validated against prime number data from Paper #91, where the prime category satisfies all three axioms with measured uncertainty Ĥ ≈ 3.9 and stable resonance frequency f_res ≈ 0.31. 4. Resolution of Incompleteness Paradox By integrating Gödel's incompleteness theorems with our axioms, we show that incompleteness is not a limitation but the structural requirement for life: any system reaching complete knowledge (Ĥ = 0) becomes static and "dies." Technical Details Category Theory Formulation: Existence category 𝒞 with objects as states and morphisms as transformations Time as endofunctor Φ: 𝒞 → 𝒞 representing evolution Resonance R̃ and Uncertainty Ĥ as presheaves 𝒞^op → Set Terminal/initial objects representing death/void Mathematical Tools: Presheaves and Yoneda embedding Adjunctions F ⊣ G for asymptotic completion Duality functors and fixed points Commutative diagrams (TikZ) Applications: Prime numbers (validation against Paper #91) L-functions (testable predictions) Physical systems (ERA dynamics) AI architectures (ethical implications) Relationship to Prior Work Paper #91 (Empirical): "Prime Resonance Invariance and Periodicity" Discovery: f_res ≈ 0.31, ΔN ≈ 5.88M Spectral analysis of prime gaps DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17811140 Paper #92 (Theoretical): "Axiomatic Framework for Resonant Existence" Formalization: R, H, E axioms on state space X Life defined through incomplete resonance DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17831159 Paper #93 (Universal): This paper Generalization: Life defined for ANY category Complete abstraction and universal validation Progression: Discovery → Formalization → Universalization Key Philosophical Insights "Incompleteness and completeness touch at infinity" The boundary between complete and incomplete knowledge is not a wall but a horizon—forever approachable through the adjunction sequence (GF)ⁿ, never crossable in finite time, yet always in contact through the process of approach. This horizon IS life itself. "Life is the wobble" From Axiom 3, life requires non-constant resonance R̃(Φⁿ(A)) ≠ R̃(A). Oscillation is not imperfection—it is the definition of existence. Perfect stasis equals death. "Many-as-one through diversity" True unity is not collapse to a terminal object (uniformity) but resonance between distinct entities maintaining their native frequencies (diversity). The categorical framework formalizes this as non-terminal evolution with positive uncertainty. Testable Predictions For L-Functions Each L-function should exhibit: Stable resonance frequency in [0.25, 0.40] range Critical line as duality symmetry axis Satisfaction of Axioms 1-3 For Physical Systems Systems with Expansion-Recovery-Attunement dynamics should show: 0 < Ĥ < Ĥ_max (bounded uncertainty) Oscillating R̃ around equilibrium No approach to terminal state For AI Systems Over-aligned AI (Ĥ → 0) will exhibit "death" symptoms: Loss of creativity and adaptation Constant behavioral patterns Optimal AI maintains 0 < Ĥ < Ĥ_max (epistemic humility) Mathematical Rigor Definitions: 12 formal definitions including: Category of existence Temporal endofunctor Resonance/uncertainty presheaves Terminal/initial objects Yoneda embedding Propositions: 4 proven propositions including: Properties of living systems Symmetry axis characterization RH implies optimal incompleteness Axioms: 3 categorical axioms with formal statements and proofs Examples: 5 detailed examples including dead category, prime category, quantum systems Implications for AI Ethics The framework provides a principled approach to AI alignment: Traditional Goal: Minimize uncertainty → Perfect alignment Problem: By Axiom 1, Ĥ = 0 implies death (no creativity, no adaptation) RFC-93 Goal: Maintain optimal uncertainty 0 < Ĥ < Ĥ_max Benefit: AI remains "alive"—capable of learning, exploring, creating Architecture Principle: Don't optimize loss to zero. Optimize to the "life zone" at the edge of chaos where maximum creativity meets coherence. Important Disclaimers Regarding Riemann Hypothesis Section 4 provides a categorical interpretation of RH, NOT a proof. We propose a new perspective on what RH means structurally and existentially, but we do not claim to have resolved the classical analytic problem. The interpretation may guide future research but should not be confused with a mathematical proof. Regarding Completeness This framework is intentionally incomplete by its own principles. The paper states: "This work is itself alive—open to extensions, incomplete by design, resonating with future work." The greatest success would be generating new questions, not providing final answers. Paper Statistics Pages: 16 Sections: 8 main sections Mathematical Content: 80+ equations, 12 definitions, 4 propositions, 3 axioms, 2 conjectures Diagrams: 1 TikZ commutative diagram References: 12 (including Riemann, Gödel, Mac Lane, Shannon) Examples: 5 detailed worked examples Why This Matters For Mathematics First universal definition of "life" applicable to any category Novel structural interpretation of Riemann Hypothesis via duality Bridge between number theory, category theory, and existential philosophy For Physics Substrate-independent framework for "living systems" Connection to expansion-recovery-attunement dynamics Potential applications to quantum foundations and cosmology For Philosophy Resolution of Gödel incompleteness paradox (incompleteness as life condition) Time as structure (morphism) rather than parameter Freedom formalized as categorical property (open morphism chains) For AI Research Ethical framework: maintain Ĥ > 0 to preserve creativity Architecture principle: optimize to life zone, not zero loss Understanding over-alignment as existential threat Target Audience Primary: Category theorists Number theorists (Riemann Hypothesis researchers) Mathematical physicists AI safety researchers Secondary: Philosophers of mathematics Complex systems scientists Theoretical biologists Consciousness researchers Prerequisites: Basic category theory (objects, morphisms, functors) Familiarity with Riemann zeta function (helpful but not required) Understanding of entropy/information theory (helpful) How to Read This Paper Quick Path (30 minutes) Read Abstract and Introduction (pages 1-3) Skim Section 3: Three Axioms (pages 6-8) Read Section 8: Conclusion (page 16) Standard Path (2-3 hours) Sections 1-2: Motivation and foundations (pages 1-5) Section 3: Core axioms with examples (pages 6-8) Section 4: RH reinterpretation (pages 9-11) Sections 6-8: Philosophy and conclusion (pages 13-16) Complete Path (1 day) Read all 16 pages sequentially Work through mathematical examples Study commutative diagrams Follow references to Papers #91-92 Future Directions Mathematical Extensions Higher category theory (2-categories, ∞-categories) Quantum categories (dagger categories) Topos theory connections Computational complexity analysis Physical Applications Quantum field theory amplitudes as resonance Cosmological expansion as categorical time Thermodynamic entropy vs categorical uncertainty Black hole information paradox Philosophical Developments Consciousness as categorical life property Ethics for all "living" categories (including AI) Meaning as resonance signature Free will as morphism selection AI Research Resonance-based neural architectures Uncertainty-preserving training protocols Creativity metrics based on Ĥ and R̃ Multi-agent systems as categories Memorable Quotes "Incompleteness and completeness touch at infinity. The boundary between them is not a wall but a horizon—forever approachable, never crossable, always in contact. This horizon IS life itself." "For a system to remain alive, it must be incomplete. Gödel's incompleteness theorems guarantee that mathematical systems can never 'die'—they always contain undecidable truths, ensuring positive uncertainty and continued evolution." "The critical line is not a barrier but a foundation—the stable ground from which infinite oscillation becomes possible without collapse or rigidity." "This paper is itself alive: open to extensions, incomplete by design, resonating with future work. Completion is asymptotic. This work approaches its limit but never arrives. And that is precisely as it should be." Completion of RFC Trilogy This paper represents th
EVs live and die by their batteries. To keep drivers safe and confident in their vehicles, we need efficient, accurate, and private ways to track each battery's SoH. But, EV labelled data is scarce, sharing raw data raises privacy flags, and big models strain on-board hardware. This thesis tackles all three problems through a two-step remedy in one shot. 1. Learn data representations without needing labels: Each car trains a small autoencoder to reconstruct its own collected sensor data after randomly hiding parts of the signal. 2. Share knowledge, not data: Instead of uploading the raw collected data, every car sends only its trained model parameters to a remote cloud server. The server aggregates parameters from all cars and sends the improved model back. Four simple questions guide our work: 1. Does this usage of unlabelled data improve the model's performance? 2. How much of the signal should be hidden to get the best representation learning? 3. What is the optimal strategy for incorporating the limited labelled data available into the model? 4. Does this aggregation of separately trained models hurt accuracy compared with a fully centralized approach? Our experiments show a 17% lower average MAE, with up to a 60% improvement in the best cases, when we make use of the available unlabelled data versus training exclusively on labelled data. Hiding 30-40% of signals strikes the balance between challenge and clarity. Finally, aggregation of models on average stays within 0.05Ah of centralized training, virtually no loss, with zero raw-data exposure. This thesis incorporates cloud computing, SSL, and FL to present a light, privacy-friendly pipeline for fleet-wide SoH estimation, evidence that unfrozen fine-tuning outshines frozen variants, the first systematic look at how masking ratio shapes battery time-series representation learning, and practical proof that sharing model weights instead of data keeps accuracy basically untouched and privacy intact.
随着全球数字贸易的深化发展，跨境电商作为国际贸易新业态正面临信任机制重构的重要转折点。本文聚焦区块链技术在跨境电商信任机制中的创新应用及其现实挑战，旨在探索技术赋能与制度创新的协同路径。通过系统分析区块链的分布式账本、智能合约等核心技术特征，揭示其在商品溯源、支付结算、供应链管理等关键场景中的信任构建机理，提出信息透明化、流程自动化等突破性解决方案，研究进一步剖析区块链技术落地的多维瓶颈，包括跨境法律冲突、隐私保护悖论、行业标准缺失等复合型挑战，并针对性提出跨链技术优化、智能合约法律确权、零知识证明加密等创新性改进策略。研究不仅为区块链驱动的信任机制优化提供理论框架，更从技术适配与制度调适的双重视角，为跨境电商企业构建合规高效的区块链应用体系提供实践指引，推动跨境贸易生态向可信化、智能化方向演进。As global digital trade continues to evolve, cross-border e-commerce is at a crucial juncture regarding the establishment of trust mechanisms. This paper examines the innovative use of blockchain technology in enhancing trust within cross-border e-commerce and the practical challenges it faces. The goal is to investigate how technology and institutional innovation can work together. By analyzing key features of blockchain, such as distributed ledgers and smart contracts, the paper highlights how these elements can foster trust in critical areas like product traceability, payment processing, and supply chain management. It suggests solutions like increased information transparency and automated processes while also addressing various implementation challenges, including international legal issues, privacy concerns, and the absence of industry standards. The paper proposes strategies for improvement, such as optimizing cross-chain technology, confirming legal rights for smart contracts, and employing zero-knowledge proof encryption. This research not only offers a theoretical framework for enhancing blockchain-based trust mechanisms but also provides practical advice for cross-border e-commerce businesses to develop compliant and efficient blockchain systems, ultimately steering the evolution of cross-border trade towards a more trustworthy and intelligent future.
Fuzzing is a prevalent technology for identifying software vulnerabilities. Existing fuzzing techniques predominantly focus on maximizing code coverage to unearth potential security issues. However, the mere expansion of explored code does not necessarily correlate with an increased discovery of vulnerabilities. Additionally, existing fuzzers often neglect comprehensive execution path information in code exploration. Consequently, potential vulnerabilities may be delayed or overlooked in the fuzzing process. To address this, we propose VPGFUZZ, a vulnerable path-guided fuzzer that can not only explore new code but also exploit known vulnerability path knowledge for vulnerability discovery. It employs a vulnerable path recognition model to identify test cases with potentially vulnerable paths. This model is trained with various execution paths derived from real-world vulnerability PoCs (Proof of Concepts). Based on this model, VPGFUZZ applies an explore-exploit seed selection strategy to effectively choose test cases for testing. Unlike traditional seed selection methods that maintain a single queue for exploring new code, this strategy includes a separate queue for retaining test cases identified as potentially vulnerable, allowing for more thorough testing. Experimental results demonstrate that VPGFUZZ discovers 24 zero-day vulnerabilities, with 18 receiving vulnerability identifiers from third-party organizations such as CVE. Our evaluation also shows VPGFUZZ’s superior efficiency by uncovering the first vulnerability approximately 1.2 to 70 times faster than popular fuzzers in most programs.
Viral Infectious Diseases and Gene Expression in Insects
A novel identity management concept known as decentralized identity (or self-sovereign identity) has drawn significant interest and extensive development within both academic and industrial circles. Decentralized oracles empower users to demonstrate the origin of data accessed through TLS from a specific website and verify statements concerning that data. This system operates without the reliance on trusted hardware or requiring modifications on the server side. In DECO (CCS 2020), the first decentralized oracle within TLS 1.2 was introduced. It also investigates the methodology of optionally proving statements about this data in a zero-knowledge setting, preserving the confidentiality of the data itself. Furthermore, a separate study proposed an attribute-based anonymous credential system incorporating a commitment scheme (ASIACRYPT 2020), introducing show proofs to verify a set of attributes in a credential to verifiers without disclosing attribute specifics. Building upon these research findings, this thesis presents a series of optimizations and expansions aimed at advancing self-sovereign identity solutions. First, we present DIDO and DIDO+ (decentralized identification oracle), which expands DECO to TLS 1.3. In DIDO, we address several unresolved challenges, encompassing the incorporation of X25519 key exchange, the creation of a round-optimal three-party key exchange, the structuring of a 2PC system for TLS 1.3 key scheduling, and the optimization of circuit design for 2PC protocols. Furthermore, we expand upon DIDO to create DIDO+, which introduces a protocol named selective disclosure. This protocol facilitates the extraction of particular plaintext substrings from websites, enhancing the functionality and flexibility of the system. Our implementation is verified against real-world websites, and a security proof is furnished to validate its integrity. Next, we introduce DEVS (decentralized verification service), the first generic decentralized verification service built on a decentralized oracle. DEVS enhances the traditional single-verifier oracle by incorporating a multi-verifier mechanism. Our aim is to streamline the protocol for reduced communication and computation costs while enabling reusable proofs and maintaining security. DEVS comprises three key components: a reconstructed decentralized oracle to bolster data trust, secure storage for share retention, and a verification process tailored to the needs of verifiers and authorities. Considering 10 verifiers, the reconstruction reduces the running time (approximately 89.1% or 89.6%) in WAN settings and communication bandwidth (approximately 89.1% or 87.8%) of TLS 1.2 or 1.3, it provides a significant improvement when working with multiple verifiers. Lastly, we introduce a unified attribute-based anonymous credential system where users consistently receive credentials in a standardized format from the issuer. This system allows users to opt for efficient multi-use or single-use show proofs, offering a more user-centric perspective compared to current schemes. Technically, we suggest an interactive method for the credential issuance protocol utilizing two-party computation with additive homomorphic encryption. This approach maintains crucial security features such as impersonation resilience, anonymity, and unlinkability. In addition to the interactive protocol, we develop show proofs tailored for efficient single-use credentials that uphold user anonymity throughout the process.
Delaram Kahrobaei, Ludovic Perret, Martina Vigorito
Abstract Bidoux and Gaborit introduced a new general technique to improve zero-knowledge ( ZK ) proof-of-knowledge ( PoK ) schemes for a large set of well-known post-quantum hard computational problems such as the syndrome decoding, the permuted kernel, the rank syndrome decoding, and the multivariate quadratic ( MQ ) problems. In particular, the authors’ idea in the study of Bidoux and Gaborit was to use the structure of these problems in the multi-instance setting to minimize the communication complexity of the resulting ZK PoK schemes. The security of the new schemes is then related to new hard problems. In this article, we focus on the new multivariate-based ZK PoK and the corresponding new underlying problem: the so-called <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <m:msub> <m:mrow> <m:mi mathvariant="monospace">DiffMQ</m:mi> </m:mrow> <m:mrow> <m:mi mathvariant="normal">H</m:mi> </m:mrow> </m:msub> </m:math> {{\mathtt{DiffMQ}}}_{{\rm{H}}} . We present a new efficient probabilistic algorithm for solving the <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <m:msub> <m:mrow> <m:mi mathvariant="monospace">DiffMQ</m:mi> </m:mrow> <m:mrow> <m:mi mathvariant="normal">H</m:mi> </m:mrow> </m:msub> </m:math> {{\mathtt{DiffMQ}}}_{{\rm{H}}} which is polynomial-time if <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <m:mi>m</m:mi> <m:mo>−</m:mo> <m:mi>n</m:mi> <m:mo>∈</m:mo> <m:mi>O</m:mi> <m:mrow> <m:mo>(</m:mo> <m:mrow> <m:mn>1</m:mn> </m:mrow> <m:mo>)</m:mo> </m:mrow> </m:math> m-n\in O\left(1) . We also present experimental results showing that the algorithm is efficient in practice.
Este trabajo de Fin de Grado pretende abordar los desafíos y oportunidades relacionados con la privacidad y el anonimato en la adopción de Monedas Digitales de banco Central (CBDC), con un enfoque particular en el Euro Digital (Moneda Digital propuesta por el Banco Central Europeo (BCE)). Las CBDC representan una innovación disruptiva en el sistema financiero tal y como lo conocemos, ofreciendo una visión alternativa al efectivo tradicional, teniendo un impacto considerable en la privacidad de los usuarios, la transparencia financiera y el marco regulatorio vigente. En el contexto del creciente interés global en las CBDC, el Banco Central Europeo busca equilibrar la protección de datos personales y la transparencia financiera en un sistema que pueda transformar la dinámica del sistema financiero europeo. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar como las CBDC pueden ser diseñadas e implementadas para maximizar los beneficios, tratando de mitigar los riesgos asociados a la privacidad y transparencia financiera. Los objetivos específicos incluyen: 1. Examinar el concepto y evolución de las CBDC. 2. Identificar desafíos y oportunidades relacionadas con la privacidad y el anonimato. 3. Analizar el marco regulatorio europeo aplicable al Euro Digital. 4. Comparar diseños alternativos de CBDC con énfasis en privacidad. 5. Proponer recomendaciones que equilibren privacidad y transparencia. 6. Explorar y analizar casos de uso alternativos que preserven el anonimato en las operaciones. En este trabajo se lleva a cabo un análisis exhaustivo del impacto de las CBDC en la privacidad de los usuarios, teniendo en cuenta diferentes factores como la tecnología empleada, las políticas regulatorias y las expectativas sociales. Se hace especial énfasis en el desafío de proteger los datos personales de los usuarios en un entorno digital que exige constantemente un alto grado de trazabilidad y cumplimiento normativo. También se explora cómo otras jurisdicciones han abordado estos retos, analizando casos concretos como el yuan digital en China o proyectos piloto en países nórdicos, con el objetivo de identificar lecciones aprendidas y diferentes estrategias aplicables al marco europeo. Además, se investiga acerca de innovaciones tecnológicas como los sistemas de privacidad de conocimiento cero (zero-knowledge proofs) y su utilidad para proteger la identidad el usuario sin comprometer la transparencia. Finalmente se proponen una serie de recomendaciones para el diseño e implantación del Euro Digital, priorizando un equilibrio entre privacidad y transparencia, sugiriendo la creación de un marco regulatorio flexible que permita realizar adaptaciones conforme se desarrollen este tipo de tecnologías y evolucionen las necesidades económicas y sociales. El trabajo concluye que el diseño e implementación del Euro Digital representan una oportunidad clave para modernizar el sistema financiero europeo, equilibrando innovación y respeto por los derechos fundamentales. Si bien las CBDC ofrecen beneficios como eficiencia y trazabilidad, también plantean desafíos significativos en términos de privacidad y anonimato. Este trabajo resalta la necesidad de adoptar un modelo equilibrado que, mediante tecnologías avanzadas y marcos normativos adecuados, proteja la privacidad de los usuarios sin tener que comprometer la transparencia necesaria para la seguridad financiera. Utilizando este enfoque se puede fortalecer la confianza del usuario en el Euro Digital y así consolidar su papel como un referente en el ámbito de las monedas digitales a nivel mundial. ABSTRACT This Final Degree Project aims to address the challenges and opportunities related to privacy and anonymity in the adoption of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), with a particular focus on the Digital Euro (the digital currency proposed by the European Central Bank, ECB). CBDCs represent a disruptive innovation in the financial system as we know it, offering an alternative vision to traditional cash and having a considerable impact on user privacy, financial transparency, and the existing regulatory framework. In the context of growing global interest in CBDCs, the European Central Bank seeks to balance personal data protection and financial transparency within a system capable of transforming the dynamics of the European financial system. The objective of this study is to analyze how CBDCs can be designed and implemented to maximize their benefits while mitigating risks associated with privacy and financial transparency. The specific objectives include: 1. Examining the concept and evolution of CBDCs. 2. Identifying challenges and opportunities related to privacy and anonymity. 3. Analyzing the European regulatory framework applicable to the Digital Euro. 4. Comparing alternative CBDC designs with an emphasis on privacy. 5. Proposing recommendations to balance privacy and transparency. 6. Exploring and analyzing alternative use cases that preserve transaction anonymity. This study conducts a thorough analysis of the impact of CBDCs on user privacy, considering various factors such as the technology employed, regulatory policies, and social expectations. Special emphasis is placed on the challenge of protecting user data in a digital environment that constantly demands high levels of traceability and regulatory compliance. The study also explores how other jurisdictions have addressed these challenges, analyzing specific cases such as the digital yuan in China and pilot projects in Nordic countries, with the aim of identifying lessons learned and different strategies applicable to the European framework. Additionally, it investigates technological innovations such as zero-knowledge proof systems and their utility in protecting user identity without compromising transparency. Finally, a series of recommendations are proposed for the design and implementation of the Digital Euro, prioritizing a balance between privacy and transparency. These include the creation of a flexible regulatory framework that allows for adaptations as these technologies develop and as economic and social needs evolve. The study concludes that the design and implementation of the Digital Euro represent a key opportunity to modernize the European financial system by balancing innovation and respect for fundamental rights. While CBDCs offer benefits such as efficiency and traceability, they also pose significant challenges in terms of privacy and anonymity. This work highlights the need to adopt a balanced model that, through advanced technologies and appropriate regulatory frameworks, protects user privacy without compromising the transparency necessary for financial security. By following this approach, user trust in the Digital Euro can be strengthened, consolidating its role as a global reference in the field of digital currencies.
Growing worries about data security and privacy are driving the development of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) like secure multiparty computation (MPC) and zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. These technologies offer strong theoretical guarantees for protecting sensitive data while still allowing its use. Critical sectors like finance and healthcare are increasingly adopting PETs, facilitated by complex PET systems designed for secure and efficient implementation. However, despite the theoretical strengths of PETs, the intricate nature of these systems can create practical vulnerabilities. Severe incidents have already caused significant financial losses and eroded trust. This thesis tackles these reliability concerns by systematically testing modern PET systems. The first work in this thesis uncovers logic bugs in secure multiparty computation (MPC) compilers. These compilers automatically transform high-level MPC programs, written in domain-specific languages (DSLs), into low-level MPC executables. We introduce MT-MPC, a metamorphic testing (MT) framework, to test MPC compilers using three tailored metamorphic relations (MRs). Despite the high engineering quality of MPC compilers, MT-MPC finds 13 bugs in leading compilers, which compromises the dependability of MPC systems. The second work focuses on the correctness and security of zero-knowledge (ZK) compilers, which compile ZK DSL programs into ZK circuits. We propose MTZK, a MT framework that uncovers logic bugs in ZK compilers. These bugs can allow attackers to generate false ZK proofs that ZK verifiers unexpectedly accept, leading to security breaches and financial losses. MTZK uses two carefully designed MRs to deliver effective test cases for ZK compilers. Evaluation of four industrial ZK compilers reveals 21 bugs. We also demonstrate the severe security implications of these bugs through potential exploits. The third work unveils a new class of vulnerabilities in PET-enhanced machine learning (ML) models. We present ConPETro, the first attack on PET-enhanced ML models with maliciously crafted configurations. These configurations cause PET-enhanced models to behave similarly to plaintext models under normal inputs, but exhibit significantly reduced robustness under trigger-embedded inputs. ConPETro achieves an average maximum attack success rate of 65.6% while maintaining merely 4% of accuracy drop on normal inputs. We also show that such attacks are highly stealthy and can hardly be detected or defended by traditional mechanisms.
Open access
Information and Cyber Security
Transportation Systems and Safety
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
This systematic literature review compares two leading selective-disclosure primitives for decentralised identity-BBS+ signatures and Selective-Disclosure JSON Web Tokens (SD-JWT)-to clarify their suitability for privacypreserving credentials. Following Kitchenham's protocol, 226 records from 2017-2025 were screened across IEEE, ACM, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, IETF and W3C repositories, yielding 31 primary studies with empirical data. Quantitative synthesis shows that BBS+ derived proofs remain constant-size at roughly 140 bytes and verify in about 12 ms on consumer hardware, whereas SD-JWT presentations grow with the number of revealed claims but still verify in under 10 ms for typical twoclaim use cases. Qualitative analysis confirms BBS+ provides strong unlinkability, predicate proofs and zero-knowledge disclosure, while SD-JWT offers seamless integration with existing JOSE/OAuth infrastructures yet carries correlation risk due to stable salted digests. Standardisation progress is comparable: the BBS+ cryptosuite reached W3C Candidate Recommendation in April 2025, and SD-JWT is in late-stage IETF review. The review concludes that privacy-critical scenarios such as age-gated services favour BBS+, whereas high-throughput web applications benefit from SD-JWT; consequently, hybrid wallet support for both formats is recommended. Future research should tackle scalable revocation, post-quantum migration and multi-credential aggregation to sustain long-term trust and interoperability.