Reviewerly/exHarmony huggingface dataset:
You Call This Archaeology? Evaluating Web Archives for Reproducible Web Security Measurements

Given the dynamic nature of the Web, security measurements on it suffer from reproducibility issues. In this paper we take a systematic look into the potential of using web archives for web security measurements. We first evaluate an extensive set of web archives as potential sources of archival data, showing the superiority of the Internet Archive with respect to its competitors. We then assess the appropriateness of the Internet Archive for historical web security measurements, detecting subtleties and possible pitfalls in its adoption. Finally, we investigate the feasibility of using the Internet Archive to simulate live security measurements, using recent archival data in place of live data. Our analysis shows that archive-based security measurements are a promising alternative to traditional live security measurements, which is reproducible by design; nevertheless, it also shows potential pitfalls and shortcomings of archive-based measurements. As an important contribution, we use the collected knowledge to identify insights and best practices for future archive-based security measurements.
AdCPG: Classifying JavaScript Code Property Graphs with Explanations for Ad and Tracker Blocking

Advertising and tracking service (ATS) blocking has been safeguarding the privacy of millions of Internet users from privacy-invasive tracking behaviors. Previous research has proposed using a graph representation that models the structural relationships in loading web resources and then conducting ATS node classification based on this graph representation. However, these context-based ATS classification methods suffer from (1) inconsistent classification due to the varying context in which ATS resources are loaded and (2) a lack of explainability of the classification results, making it difficult to identify the code-level causes for ATS classification.
Level Up: Private Non-Interactive Decision Tree Evaluation using Levelled Homomorphic Encryption

As machine learning as a service continues gaining popularity, concerns about privacy and intellectual property arise. Users often hesitate to disclose their private information to obtain a service, while service providers aim to protect their proprietary models. Decision trees, a widely used machine learning model, are favoured for their simplicity, interpretability, and ease of training. In this context, Private Decision Tree Evaluation (PDTE) enables a server holding a private decision tree to provide predictions based on a client's private attributes. The protocol is such that the server learns nothing about the client's private attributes. Similarly, the client learns nothing about the server's model besides the prediction and some hyperparameters.
LeakyOhm: Secret Bits Extraction using Impedance Analysis

The threats of physical side-channel attacks and their countermeasures have been widely researched. Most physical side-channel attacks rely on the unavoidable influence of computation or storage on current consumption or voltage drop on a chip. Such data-dependent influence can be exploited by, for instance, power or electromagnetic analysis. In this work, we introduce a novel non-invasive physical side-channel attack, which exploits the data-dependent changes in the impedance of the chip. Our attack relies on the fact that the temporarily stored contents in registers alter the physical characteristics of the circuit, which results in changes in the die's impedance. To sense such impedance variations, we deploy a well-known RF/microwave method called scattering parameter analysis, in which we inject sine wave signals with high frequencies into the system's power distribution network (PDN) and measure the echo of the signals. We demonstrate that according to the content bits and physical location of a register, the reflected signal is modulated differently at various frequency points enabling the simultaneous and independent probing of individual registers. Such side-channel leakage challenges the t-probing security model assumption used in masking, which is a prominent side-channel countermeasure. To validate our claims, we mount non-profiled and profiled impedance analysis attacks on hardware implementations of unprotected and high-order masked AES. We show that in the case of the profiled attack, only a single trace is required to recover the secret key. Finally, we discuss how a specific class of hiding countermeasures might be effective against impedance leakage.
Accio: Variable-Amount, Optimized-Unlinkable and NIZK-Free Off-Chain Payments via Hubs

Payment channel hubs (PCHs) serve as a promising solution to achieving quick off-chain payments between pairs of users. They work by using an untrusted tumbler to relay the payments between the payer and payee and enjoy the advantages of low cost and high scalability. However, the most recent privacy-preserving payment channel hub solution that supports variable payment amounts suffers from limited unlinkability, e.g., being vulnerable to the abort attack. Moreover, this solution utilizes zero-knowledge proofs, which bring huge costs on both computation time and communication overhead. Therefore, how to design PCHs that support variable amount payments and unlinkability, but reduce the use of huge-cost cryptographic tools as much as possible, is significant for the large-scale practical applications of off-chain payments.
Fast Local Laplacian Filter Based on Modified Laplacian through Bilateral Filter for Coronary Angiography Medical Imaging Enhancement

Contrast enhancement techniques serve the purpose of diminishing image noise and increasing the contrast of relevant structures. In the context of medical images, where the differentiation between normal and abnormal tissues can be quite subtle, precise interpretation might become challenging when noise levels are relatively elevated. The Fast Local Laplacian Filter (FLLF) is proposed to deliver a more precise interpretation and present a clearer image to the observer; this is achieved through the reduction of noise levels. In this study, the FLLF strengthened images through its unique contrast enhancement capabilities while preserving important image details. It achieved this by adapting to the image’s characteristics and selectively enhancing areas with low contrast, thereby improving the overall visual quality. Additionally, the FLLF excels in edge preservation, ensuring that fine details are retained and that edges remain sharp. Several performance metrics were employed to assess the effectiveness of the proposed technique. These metrics included Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Mean Squared Error (MSE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Normalization Coefficient (NC), and Correlation Coefficient. The results indicated that the proposed technique achieved a PSNR of 40.12, an MSE of 8.6982, an RMSE of 2.9492, an NC of 1.0893, and a Correlation Coefficient of 0.9999. The analysis highlights the superior performance of the proposed method when contrast enhancement is applied, especially when compared to existing techniques. This approach results in high-quality images with minimal information loss, ultimately aiding medical experts in making more accurate diagnoses.
Process Predictive Monitoring Based on Federated Learning: Challenges and Architecture Proposal

Process predictive monitoring refers to prediction the future activities, execution time, resources and other attribute in the ongoing business process. Aiming at the problem that the data scale of a single enterprise or organization is limited in business process, the learning model is difficult to further improve the prediction ability. This paper proposes a novel process predictive monitoring architecture proposal based on federated learning, and applies federated learning in process predictive monitoring to avoid the original data transmission and protect the privacy of data. Through aggregation training, the diversity of data is increased and the generalization ability and prediction performance of the model are improved.
A Novel Cross-organization Privacy Protection Method Based on Federated Learning

With the continuous development of science and technology, the degree of information in today's world is deepening, and the value of data information is becoming more and more important. At the same time, with the advancement of economic globalization, more and more users or business needs go beyond the traditional organizational boundaries, requiring multiple organizations to cooperate, and cross-organizational business management comes into being. Under the scenario of cross-organizational cooperation, protecting the business and data privacy of each organization has become a challenging task. Federated learning, as a new technology in the field of artificial intelligence, deals with both "data islands" and privacy protection. It can combine scattered data for training while maintaining the data privacy of each participating organization, and to a great extent, it protects sensitive data that needs to be fused. It has gradually become an effective means to solve the data and business privacy in cross-organizational business processes. This paper will combine federated learning to propose a cross-organizational privacy protection method based on federated learning to realize the privacy protection in cross-organizational business processes, and discuss the current challenges and future development direction to promote the further development of cross-organizational privacy protection methods.
Optimizing Foreign Language Learning in Virtual Reality: A Comprehensive Theoretical Framework Based on Constructivism and Cognitive Load Theory (VR-CCL)

With the widespread application of virtual reality (VR) in education, optimizing foreign language learning in VR has become a focal point of research. This paper introduces a comprehensive theoretical framework (VR-CCL) based on constructivism and cognitive load theory to enhance foreign language learning in VR. Through a literature review, we explore the applications of VR in education, foreign language learning theories, and prior works on technology-assisted language learning. We further detail the three main components of the VR-CCL framework and validate its effectiveness through two case studies: Duolingo VR and Rosetta Stone VR. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limitations of the framework and its implications for educators and developers.
Advanced Meteorological Hazard Defense Capability Assessment: Addressing Sample Imbalance with Deep Learning Approaches

With the rise in meteorological disasters, improving evaluation strategies for disaster response agencies is critical. This shift from expert scoring to data-driven approaches is challenged by sample imbalance in the data, affecting accurate capability assessments. This study proposes a solution integrating adaptive focal loss into the cross-entropy loss function to address sample distribution imbalances, facilitating nuanced evaluations. A key aspect of this solution is the Encoder-Adaptive-Focal deep learning model coupled with a custom training algorithm, adept at handling the data complexities of meteorological disaster response agencies. The model proficiently extracts and optimizes capability features from time series data, directing the evaluative focus toward more complex samples, thus mitigating sample imbalance issues. Comparative analysis with existing methods like UAE-NaiveBayes, UAE-SVM, and UAE-RandomForest illustrates the superior performance of our model in ability evaluation, positioning it as a robust tool for dynamic capability evaluation. This work aims to enhance disaster management strategies, contributing to mitigating the impacts of meteorological disasters.
CommuSpotter: Scene Text Spotting with Multi-Task Communication

Scene text spotting is a challenging multi-task modulation for locating and recognizing texts in complex scenes. Existing end-to-end text spotters generally adopt sequentially decoupled multi-tasks, consisting of text detection and text recognition modules. Although customized modules are designed to connect the tasks closely, there is no interaction among multiple tasks, resulting in compatible information loss for the overall text spotting. Moreover, the independent and sequential modulation is unidirectional, accumulating errors from early to later tasks. In this paper, we propose CommuSpotter, which enhances multi-task communication by explicitly and concurrently sharing compatible information in overall scene text spotting. To address task-specific inconsistencies, we propose a Conversation Mechanism (CM) to extract and exchange expertise in each specific task with others. Specifically, the detection task is rectified by the text recognition task to filter out duplicated results and false positives, while the text recognition task is corrected by the rectified text detection task to replenish missing characters and decrease non-text interruptions. Consequently, the communication compensates for interaction information and breaks the sequential pipeline of error propagation. In addition, we adopt text semantic segmentation in the text recognition task, which reduces the complex design of customized modules and corresponding extra annotations. Compared with state-of-the-art methods, experimental results show that our method achieves competitive results with computation efficiency.
Research on the Cleaning Method of Unmanned Sweeper Based on Target Distribution Situation Analysis

Replacing traditional manual sweeping with unmanned sweepers in closed parks can not only greatly reduce labor costs, but also improve sweeping efficiency. Efficient path planning is the key technology for unmanned sweepers to complete the sweeping task. Existing unmanned sweepers are often based on fixed path sweeping or completely traversing the sweeping mode, this mode does not have the environmental adaptability, in the actual sweeping is often high energy cost, and sweeping is not complete. In this paper, an environment-adaptive sweeping path planning method is proposed to improve the sweeping intelligence and environmental adaptability of unmanned sweepers, reduce the energy consumption of sweeping and improve the efficiency of sweeping. Specifically, in this paper, we first use YOLOv5 to complete the accurate identification of individual garbage and obstacles in the road, and then work with LIDAR and Gaussian Mixture Model(GMM) to remove redundant targets. We also propose a Permutation Entropy(PE) value-based discrimination method to complete the target distribution posture analysis of each complex garbage pile. Finally, the traditional path planning problem is transformed into a combinatorial optimization problem of garbage areas, and a sweeping path accurate method based on Simulated Annealing(SA) algorithm is proposed. Through comprehensive theoretical analysis and simulation study, the optimality and effectiveness of the proposed method are proved by comparing A star and Coverage Path Planning(CPP) algorithms in a variety of experimental scenarios.
Three-Dimensional Coordinate Calibration Models for Augmented Reality Applications in Indoor Industrial Environments

The calibration of three-dimensional (3D) coordinates in augmented reality systems is a complex activity. It involves the recognition of environmental characteristics and technology that models the 3D space of the device, determining its position and orientation. Single markers suffer from numerical instability, particularly when they are small within the camera image. In the industrial environment, it is common for augmented reality applications to cover large spaces, making it difficult to maintain attributes such as precision and accuracy. To address this issue, our study proposes a two-step calibration model that leverages multiple markers for accurate localization in a larger indoor environment. We developed the calibration model using Unity3D, Mixed Reality ToolKit, and Vuforia and evaluated it in terms of precision and accuracy in a proof of concept using the MS Hololens device. Our findings reveal that employing two markers significantly reduces angular discrepancies between points in the real and augmented environments. Moreover, our results underscore that registration accuracy improves as the number of calibration points increases. The results show improvements in determining the axes that define the 3D space, with a direct influence on the position of the points observed in the experiment.
Unsupervised domain adaptation with local structure preservation for colon histopathological image classification

The histopathological image classification method, based on deep learning, can be used to assist pathologists in cancer recognition in colon histopathology. The popularization of automatic and accurate histopathological image classification methods in this way is of great significance. However, smaller medical institutions with limited medical resources may lack colon histopathology image training sets with reliable labeled information; thus they may be unable to meet the needs of deep learning for many labeled training samples. Therefore, in this paper, the colon histopathological image set with rich label information from a certain medical institution is taken as the source domain; the colon histopathological image set from a smaller medical institution with limited medical resources is taken as the target domain. Considering the potential differences between histopathological images obtained by different institutions, this paper proposes a classification learning framework, namely unsupervised domain adaptation with local structure preservation for colon histopathological image classification, which can learn an adaptive classifier by performing distribution alignment and preserving intra-domain local structure to predict the labels of the colon histopathological images from institutions with lower medical resources. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed framework shows significant improvement in accuracy and specificity of colon histopathological images without reliable labeled information compared to models without unsupervised domain adaptation. Specifically, in an affiliated hospital in Fuyang City, Anhui Province, the classification accuracy of benign and malignant colon histopathological images reaches 96.21% . The results of comparative experiments also show promising classification performance of our method in comparison with other unsupervised domain adaptation methods.
Assessing the Prospects and Challenges of Online Learning in Kenyan Public Universities: A Case Study of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology

The increase in the number of internet users, the demand for education, and the widespread use of electronic devices among scholars have created a potential in online learning as an alternative to traditional education. This can be linked proper planning, clear online learning policies and trained personnel to facilitate the online learning process. Recent studies point to the possibility of African public universities adopting online learning more aggressively in the future than ever before. This study therefore outlines the opinions of lecturers, students and the management of Masinde Mulari University of Science and Technology regarding the prospects and challenges of online pedagogical infrastructure and how it affects learning in public universities. The study used a descriptive survey. Data was collected from a sample size of 682 which included students, members of faculty, and technical staff. The sample was selected using a stratified sampling technique. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Analysis was done using frequencies, means, standard deviations, and regression analysis. The findings showed that mobile learning is the solution to online learning problems given its accessibility and availability amongst most learners. It also shows that online learning provides customized learning experiences in which learning is student-centered. The results from ordered logistic regression, (Wald = 0.673,) showed that indeed challenges of use of online pedagogical infrastructure affects learning in public universities. This was confirmed by the analysis of interval data using simple linear regression in which the outcome for both faculty and students also were in line with the findings of logistic ordered regression,
Table structure recognition using black widow based mutual exclusion and RESNET attention model

Tables are commonly used for effective and compact representation of relational information across the data in diverse document classes like scientific papers, financial statements, newspaper articles, invoices, or product descriptions. However, table structure detection is a relatively simple process for humans, but recognizing precise table structure is still a computer vision challenge. Further, innumerable possible table layouts increase the risk of automatic topic modeling and understanding the capability of each table from the generic document. This paper develops the framework to recognize the table structure from the Compound Document Image(CDI). Initially, the bilateral filter is designed for image transformation, enhancing CDI quality. An improved binarization-Sauvola algorithm (IBSA) is proposed to degrade the tables with uneven illumination, low contrast, and uniform background. The morphological Thinning method extracts the line from the table. The masking approach extracts the row and column from the table. Finally, the ResNet Attention model optimized over Black Widow optimization-based mutual exclusion (BWME) is developed to recognize the table structure from the document images. The UNLV, TableBank, and ICDAR-2013 table competition datasets are used to evaluate the proposed framework’s performance. Precision and accuracy are the metrics considered for evaluating the proposed framework performance. From the experimental results, the proposed framework achieved a precision value of 96.62 and the accuracy value of 94.34, which shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach’s performance.
BVMHA: Text classification model with variable multihead hybrid attention based on BERT

Text classification is an important tasks in natural language processing. Multilayer attention networks have achieved excellent performance in text classification tasks, but they also face challenges such as high temporal and spatial complexity levels and low-rank bottleneck problems. This paper incorporates spatial attention into a neural network architecture that utilizes fewer encoder layers. The proposed model aims to enhance the spatial information of semantic features while addressing the high temporal and spatial demands of traditional multilayer attention networks. This approach utilizes spatial attention to selectively weigh the relevance of the spatial locations in the input feature maps, thereby enabling the model to focus on the most informative regions while ignoring the less important regions. By incorporating spatial attention into a shallower encoder network, the proposed model achieves improved performance on spatially oriented tasks while reducing the computational overhead associated with deeper attention-based models. To alleviate the low-rank bottleneck problem of multihead attention, this paper proposes a variable multihead attention mechanism, which changes the number of attention heads in a layer-by-layer manner with the encoder, achieving a balance between expression power and computational efficiency. We use two Chinese text classification datasets and an English sentiment classification dataset to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model.