cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Can Querying for Bias Leak Protected Attributes? Achieving Privacy With Smooth Sensitivity
Creators: name: Hamman, Faisal
name: Chen, Jiahao
name: Dutta, Sanghamitra
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: algorithmic fairness
compliance
compressed sensing
differential privacy
machine learning

description: Existing regulations often prohibit model developers from accessing protected attributes (gender, race, etc.) during training. This leads to scenarios where fairness assessments might need to be done on populations without knowing their memberships in protected groups. In such scenarios, institutions often adopt a separation between the model developers (who train their models with no access to the protected attributes) and a compliance team (who may have access to the entire dataset solely for auditing purposes). However, the model developers might be allowed to test their models for disparity by querying the compliance team for group fairness metrics. In this paper, we first demonstrate that simply querying for fairness metrics, such as, statistical parity and equalized odds can leak the protected attributes of individuals to the model developers. We demonstrate that there always exist strategies by which the model developers can identify the protected attribute of a targeted individual in the test dataset from just a single query. Furthermore, we show that one can reconstruct the protected attributes of all the individuals from O (𝑁𝑘log(𝑛/𝑁𝑘)) queries when 𝑁𝑘 ≪ 𝑛 using techniques from compressed sensing (𝑛 is the size of the test dataset and 𝑁𝑘 is the size of smallest group therein). Our results pose an interesting debate in algorithmic fairness: Should querying for fairness metrics be viewed as a neutral-valued solution to ensure compliance with regulations? Or, does it constitute a violation of regulations and privacy if the number of queries answered is enough for the model developers to identify the protected attributes of specific individuals? To address this supposed violation of regulations and privacy, we also propose Attribute-Conceal, a novel technique that achieves differential privacy by calibrating noise to the smooth sensitivity of our bias query function, outperforming naive techniques such as the Laplace mechanism. We also include experimental results on the Adult dataset and synthetic dataset (broad range of parameters).
Human vs. Computer Go: Review and Prospect
Creators: name: Lee, Chang-Shing
name: Wang, Mei-Hui
name: Yen, Shi-Jim
name: Wei, Ting-Han
name: Wu, I-Chen
name: Chou, Ping-Chiang
name: Chou, Chun-Hsun
name: Wang, Ming-Wan
name: Yang, Tai-Hsiung
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: The Google DeepMind challenge match in March 2016 was a historic achievement for computer Go development. This article discusses the development of computational intelligence (CI) and its relative strength in comparison with human intelligence for the game of Go. We first summarize the milestones achieved for computer Go from 1998 to 2016. Then, the computer Go programs that have participated in previous IEEE CIS competitions as well as methods and techniques used in AlphaGo are briefly introduced. Commentaries from three high-level professional Go players on the five AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol games are also included. We conclude that AlphaGo beating Lee Sedol is a huge achievement in artificial intelligence (AI) based largely on CI methods. In the future, powerful computer Go programs such as AlphaGo are expected to be instrumental in promoting Go education and AI real-world applications.
description: This article is with 6 pages and 3 figures. And, it is accepted and will be published in IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine in August, 2016
Responsible & Inclusive Cards
Creators: name: Elsayed-Ali, Salma
name: Berger, Sara E.
name: Figueredo De Santana, Vagner
name: Sandoval, Juana Catalina Becerra
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: card tools
responsible innovation
reflection-in-action
critical reflection
ethics
research through design

description: Societal implications of technology are often considered after public deployment. However, broader impacts ought to be considered during the onset and throughout development to reduce potential for harmful uses, biases, and exclusions. There is a need for tools and frameworks that help technologists become more aware of broader contexts of their work and engage in more responsible and inclusive practices. In this paper, we introduce an online card tool containing questions to scaffold critical reflection about projects’ impacts on society, business, and research. We present the iterative design of the Responsible & Inclusive Cards and findings from five workshops (n=21 participants) with teams distributed across a multinational technology corporation, as well as interviews with people with disabilities to assess gameplay and mental models. We found the tool promoted discussions about challenging topics, reduced power gaps through democratized turn-taking, and enabled participants to identify concrete areas to improve their practice.
Exploring Challenges to Inclusion in Participatory Design From the Perspectives of Global North Practitioners
Creators: name: Elsayed-Ali, Salma
name: Bonsignore, Elizabeth
name: Chan, Joel
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: participatory design
inclusion
marginalization
design worlds
third space

description: Participatory Design (PD) aims to promote inclusivity by involving users throughout the design process. However, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and social computing research have pointed to instances where PD as practiced can, paradoxically, be exclusive. We aim to understand some of the challenges that could lead to exclusivity in order to design more inclusive PD practices. To investigate this, we conducted interviews with ten expert PD practitioners based in the Global North whose focus is on inclusion. Synthesizing practitioners’ accounts, we advance understandings of challenges surrounding: 1) instantiating shared spaces that empower partners; 2) developing common ground among stakeholders; and 3) balancing funding needs with open-ended PD. We contribute theoretical and empirical insights into these challenges and close by articulating potential implications for addressing these challenges to inclusion in PD.
Uniqueness of Embeddings of the Affine Line into Algebraic Groups
Creators: name: Feller, Peter
name: Stampfli, Immanuel van Santen né
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Algebraic Geometry (math.AG)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 14R10, 20G20, 14J50, 14R25, 14M15

description: Let $Y$ be the underlying variety of a connected affine algebraic group. We prove that two embeddings of the affine line $\mathbb{C}$ into $Y$ are the same up to an automorphism of $Y$ provided that $Y$ is not isomorphic to a product of a torus $(\mathbb{C}^\ast)^k$ and one of the three varieties $\mathbb{C}^3$, $\operatorname{SL}_2$, and $\operatorname{PSL}_2$.
description: 37 pages, comments welcome
Lattice QCD simulation of the Berry curvature
Creators: name: Yamamoto, Arata
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Berry curvature is a fundamental concept describing topological order of quantum systems. While it can be analytically tractable in non-interacting systems, numerical simulations are necessary in interacting systems. We present a formulation to calculate the Berry curvature in lattice QCD.
description: Talk given at 34th annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE2016)
Non-local dispersion and the reassessment of Richardson's t3-scaling law
Creators: name: Elsinga, Gerrit E.
name: Ishihara, Takashi
name: Hunt, J. C. R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Richardson scaling law states that the mean square separation of a fluid particle pair grows according to t3 within the inertial range and at intermediate times. The theories predicting this scaling regime assume that the pair separation is within the inertial range and that the dispersion is local, meaning that only eddies at the scale of the separation contribute. These assumptions ignore the structural organization of the turbulent flow into large-scale shear layers, where the intense small-scale motions are bounded by the large-scale energetic motions. Therefore, the large scales contribute to the velocity difference across the small-scale structures. It is shown that, indeed, the pair dispersion inside these layers is highly non-local and approaches Taylor dispersion in a way that is fundamentally different from the Richardson scaling law. Also, the layer's contribution to the overall mean square separation remains significant as the Reynolds number increases. This calls into question the validity of the theoretical assumptions. Moreover, a literature survey reveals that, so far, t3 scaling is not observed for initial separations within the inertial range. We propose that the intermediate pair dispersion regime is a transition region that connects the initial Batchelor- with the final Taylor-dispersion regime. Such a simple interpretation is shown to be consistent with observations, and is able to explain why t3 scaling is found only for one specific initial separation outside the inertial range. Moreover, the model incorporates the observed non-local contribution to the dispersion, because it requires only small-time-scale properties and large-scale properties.
Perceptual Pat: A Virtual Human Visual System for Iterative Visualization Design
Creators: name: Shin, Sungbok
name: Hong, Sanghyun
name: Elmqvist, Niklas
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: virtual human
virtual human visual system
simulation
machine learning
computer vision
visualization
iterative design

description: Designing a visualization is often a process of iterative refinement where the designer improves a chart over time by adding features, improving encodings, and fixing mistakes. However, effective design requires external critique and evaluation. Unfortunately, such critique is not always available on short notice and evaluation can be costly. To address this need, we present Perceptual Pat, an extensible suite of AI and computer vision techniques that forms a virtual human visual system for supporting iterative visualization design. The system analyzes snapshots of a visualization using an extensible set of filters—including gaze maps, text recognition, color analysis, etc—and generates a report summarizing the findings. The web-based Pat Design Lab provides a version tracking system that enables the designer to track improvements over time. We validate Perceptual Pat using a longitudinal qualitative study involving 4 professional visualization designers that used the tool over a few days to design a new visualization.
Intrinsic defects and conduction characteristics of $Sc_2O_3$ in thermionic cathode systems
Creators: name: Jacobs, Ryan M.
name: Booske, John H.
name: Morgan, Dane
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Recent experimental observations indicate that bulk $Sc_2O_3$ (~200 nm thick), an insulator at room temperature and pressure, must act as a good electronic conductor during thermionic cathode operation, leading to the observed high emitted current densities and overall superior emission properties over conventional thermionic emitters which do not contain $Sc_2O_3$. Here, we employ ab initio methods using both semilocal and hybrid functionals to calculate the intrinsic defect energetics of Sc and O vacancies and interstitials and their effects on the electronic properties of $Sc_2O_3$ in an effort to explain the good conduction of $Sc_2O_3$ observed in experiment. The defect energetics were used in an equilibrium defect model to calculate the concentrations of defects and their compensating electron and hole concentrations at equilibrium. Overall, our results indicate that the conductivity of $Sc_2O_3$ solely due to the presence of intrinsic defects in the cathode operating environment is unlikely to be high enough to maintain the magnitude of emitted current densities obtained from experiment, and that presence of impurities are necessary to raise the conductivity of $Sc_2O_3$ to a high enough value to explain the current densities observed in experiment. The necessary minimum impurity concentration to impart sufficient electronic conduction is very small (approximately $7.5x10^{-3}$ ppm) and is probably present in all experiments.
A magnetically-induced Coulomb gap in graphene due to electron-electron interactions
Creators: name: Vdovin, E. E.
name: Greenaway, M. T.
name: Khanin, Yu. N.
name: Morozov, S. V.
name: Makarovsky, O.
name: Patanè, A.
name: Mishchenko, A.
name: Slizovskiy, S.
name: Fal'ko, V. I.
name: Geim, A. K.
name: Novoselov, K. S.
name: Eaves, L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Insights into the fundamental properties of graphene's Dirac-Weyl fermions have emerged from studies of electron tunnelling transistors in which an atomically thin layer of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is sandwiched between two layers of high purity graphene. Here, we show that when a single defect is present within the hBN tunnel barrier, it can inject electrons into the graphene layers and its sharply defined energy level acts as a high resolution spectroscopic probe of electron-electron interactions in graphene. We report a magnetic field dependent suppression of the tunnel current flowing through a single defect below temperatures of $\sim$ 2 K. This is attributed to the formation of a magnetically-induced Coulomb gap in the spectral density of electrons tunnelling into graphene due to electron-electron interactions.
Contributing to Accessibility Datasets: Reflections on Sharing Study Data by Blind People
Creators: name: Kamikubo, Rie
name: Lee, Kyungjun
name: Kacorri, Hernisa
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: datasets
privacy
human-centered AI
disability
data ownership

description: To ensure that AI-infused systems work for disabled people, we need to bring accessibility datasets sourced from this community in the development lifecycle. However, there are many ethical and privacy concerns limiting greater data inclusion, making such datasets not readily available. We present a pair of studies where 13 blind participants engage in data capturing activities and refect with and without probing on various factors that infuence their decision to share their data via an AI dataset. We see how diferent factors infuence blind participants’ willingness to share study data as they assess risk-beneft tradeofs. The majority support sharing of their data to improve technology but also express concerns over commercial use, associated metadata, and the lack of transparency about the impact of their data. These insights have implications for the development of responsible practices for stewarding accessibility datasets, and can contribute to broader discussions in this area.
title: Transparente PC/PMMA Blends : Einfluss der Funktionalisierung auf optische, morphologische und mechanische Eigenschaften
Creators: name: Bubmann, Tobias
Publisher: name: University of Bayreuth
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Polymerblend
subject: Reaktivextrusion
subject: Polycarbonat
subject: Polymethylmethacrylat
subject: Transparenz
subject: Kompatibilisierung
subject: Mechanische Eigenschaften
subject: 500
subject: 540
subject: 600
subject: 620

description: Polycarbonat (PC) ist eines der meisteingesetzten Polymere (hohen Transparenz, Wärmeform-beständigkeit und hervorragenden Zähigkeit). Als Blend wird PC hauptsächlich mit strukturähn-lichen (aromatischen) Kondensations- oder Copolymeren (wie z. B. ABS, ASA, PET oder PBT) eingesetzt, da diese eine bessere Mischbarkeit aufweisen als aliphatische Olefin/Acrylat-Polymere (wie z. B. PE, PP oder auch Polymethylmethacrylat (PMMA). PMMA ist aufgrund des Eigenschaftsprofils ein sehr guter Blendpartner zum Ausgleich der negativen Eigenschaften von PC (geringere Zugfestigkeit, schlechtere Kratzfestigkeit und leichteres Vergilben als PMMA). Transparente Thermoplaste kommen wegen ihrer Nachteile an anwendungstechnische Grenzen, vor allem aufgrund steigender Anforderungen, besonders im Automobilbereich (In-strumententafelträge oder in automobilen Karosserieanwendungen). Jedoch verliert das PC/PMMA-Blend durch die geringe Teilmischbarkeit die Transparenz, die Schlüsseleigenschaft beider Polymere. Ziel der Arbeit war es deshalb transparente PC/PMMA-Blends mittels konti-nuierlicher Reaktivextrusion unter Verbesserung technisch relevanter (mechanischer und opti-scher) Eigenschaften herzustellen. Anhand von Modelluntersuchungen wurde zu Beginn der Einfluss von verschiedenen reaktiven Gruppen sowie Katalysatoren auf die Zielreaktion zwi-schen PC und PMMA sowie mögliche Nebenreaktionen untersucht, um im anschließenden Blendsystem optimale Bedingungen für eine erfolgreiche Kompatibilisierung und Transparenz zu ermöglichen. Diese konnte durch die Modifizierung von PC mit phenolischen Hydro-xylgruppen (pOH) und einer Glycidylmethacrylat (GMA)-Modifizierung im PMMA erzielt werden. Der passende Katalysator konnte die Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit zudem deutlich be-schleunigen. Die Transparenz ist stark abhängig von Umsatz und Menge des gebildeten Copo-lymers, was durch den GMA-Gehalt gesteuert wird. Zu hohen Mengen an Copolymer und eine mögliche Vernetzung können zu einer Reduktion der Transmission führen. Die erzielte Transpa-renz war Resultat einer verbesserten Mischbarkeit und somit feineren tröpfchenförmigen Pha-senstruktur einerseits und der Ausbildung eines Brechungsindexgradienten an der Grenzfläche beider Polymere andererseits. Der so entstandene diffuse Phasenübergang führt dazu, dass an der Phasengrenzfläche keine Lichtbrechung stattfindet (Mottenaugeneffekt). Es konnte eine ho-he Lichttransmission des PC/PMMA-Blends erreicht werden. Zudem wurden verbesserte me-chanische Eigenschaften insbesondere bei der Biege und Kratzfestigkeit erzielt. Die industriere-levanten Eigenschaften dieser Blends lagen hierbei über denen des unmodifizierten opaken Blends als auch teils oberhalb der Ausgangsmaterialien.
Circular polarizations of gravitational waves from core-collapse supernovae: a clear indication of rapid rotation
Creators: name: Hayama, Kazuhiro
name: Kuroda, Takami
name: Nakamura, Ko
name: Yamada, Shoichi
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We propose to employ the circular polarization of gravitational waves emitted by core-collapse supernovae as an unequivocal indication of rapid rotation deep in their cores. It has been demonstrated by three dimensional simulations that non-axisymmetric accretion flows may develop spontaneously via hydrodynamical instabilities in the post-bounce cores. It is not surprising then that the gravitational waves emitted by such fluid motions are circularly polarized. We show in this letter that a network of the second generation detectors of gravitational waves worldwide may be able to detect such polarizations up to the opposite side of Galaxy as long as the rotation period is shorter than a few seconds prior to collapse.
description: 5 pages, 3 figures
Studying Exploration & Long-Term Use of Voice Assistants by Older Adults
Creators: name: Upadhyay, Pooja
name: Heung, Sharon
name: Azenkot, Shiri
name: Brewer, Robin
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: older adults
aging
voice assistants
speech interfaces
utility
learning
exploration

description: While past research has examined older adults’ voice assistant (VA) use, it is unclear whether VAs provide enough value to sustain use when compared to technologies such as smartphones. Research also suggests that barriers around structured command input may limit use. In order to investigate these gaps in adoption, we conducted interviews with ten older adults in a long-term care community who have adopted Alexa devices for at least one year. Participants learned to use Alexa through a training program that encouraged exploration. They used Alexa to complement their daily routines, improve their mood, engage in cognitively stimulating activities, and support socialization with others. We discuss our findings in the context of prior work, describe strategies to promote VA learning and adoption, and present design recommendations to support aging.
Counting Exceptional Points for Rational Numbers Associated to the Fibonacci Sequence
Creators: name: Samuels, Charles L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Number Theory (math.NT)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 11G50, 11R04, 11R09, 11B39

description: If $α$ is a non-zero algebraic number, we let $m(α)$ denote the Mahler measure of the minimal polynomial of $α$ over $\mathbb Z$. A series of articles by Dubickas and Smyth, and later by the author, develop a modified version of the Mahler measure called the $t$-metric Mahler measure, denoted $m_t(α)$. For fixed $α\in \bar{\mathbb Q}$, the map $t\mapsto m_t(α)$ is continuous, and moreover, is infinitely differentiable at all but finitely many points, called {\it exceptional points} for $α$. It remains open to determine whether there is a sequence of elements $α_n\in \bar{\mathbb Q}$ such that the number of exceptional points for $α_n$ tends to $\infty$ as $n\to \infty$. We utilize a connection with the Fibonacci sequence to formulate a conjecture on the $t$-metric Mahler measures. If the conjecture is true, we prove that it is best possible and that it implies the the existence of rational numbers with as many exceptional points as we like. Finally, with some computational assistance, we resolve various special cases of the conjecture that constitute improvements to earlier results.
On the Capacity of Private Nonlinear Computation for Replicated Databases
Creators: name: Obead, Sarah A.
name: Lin, Hsuan-Yin
name: Rosnes, Eirik
name: Kliewer, Jörg
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Information Theory (cs.IT)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: We consider the problem of private computation (PC) in a distributed storage system. In such a setting a user wishes to compute a function of $f$ messages replicated across $n$ noncolluding databases, while revealing no information about the desired function to the databases. We provide an information-theoretically accurate achievable PC rate, which is the ratio of the smallest desired amount of information and the total amount of downloaded information, for the scenario of nonlinear computation. For a large message size the rate equals the PC capacity, i.e., the maximum achievable PC rate, when the candidate functions are the $f$ independent messages and one arbitrary nonlinear function of these. When the number of messages grows, the PC rate approaches an outer bound on the PC capacity. As a special case, we consider private monomial computation (PMC) and numerically compare the achievable PMC rate to the outer bound for a finite number of messages.
description: 5 pages, 1 figure, 1 table. Presented at the 2019 IEEE Information Theory Workshop (ITW). Figure 1 is updated as it contained incorrect data-points for $f=2$ and $g=3$. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2003.10007
Formation and Evolution of Blue Stragglers in 47 Tucanae
Creators: name: Parada, Javiera
name: Richer, Harvey
name: Heyl, Jeremy
name: Kalirai, Jason
name: Goldsbury, Ryan
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Blue stragglers (BSS) are stars whose position in the Color-Magnitude Diagram (CMD) places them above the main sequence turn-off (TO) point of a star cluster. Using data from the core of 47 Tuc in the ultraviolet (UV), we have identified various stellar populations in the CMD, and used their radial distributions to study the evolution and origin of BSS, and obtain a dynamical estimate of the mass of BSS systems. When we separate the BSS into two samples by their magnitude, we find that the bright BSS show a much more centrally concentrated radial distribution and thus higher mass estimate (over twice the TO mass for these BSS systems), suggesting an origin involving triple or multiple stellar systems. In contrast, the faint BSS are less concentrated, with a radial distribution similar to the main sequence (MS) binaries, pointing to the MS binaries as the likely progenitors of these BSS. Putting our data together with available photometric data in the visible and using MESA evolutionary models, we calculate the expected number of stars in each evolutionary stage for the normal evolution of stars and the number of stars coming from the evolution of BSS. The results indicate that BSS have a post-MS evolution comparable to that of a normal star of the same mass and a MS BSS lifetime of about 200-300 Myr. We also find that the excess population of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in 47 Tuc is due to evolved BSS.
description: 11 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables, accepted in ApJ
Ultrarelativistic bound states in the shallow spherical well
Creators: name: Zaba, Mariusz
name: Garbaczewski, Piotr
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: Spectral Theory (math.SP)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: We determine approximate eigenvalues and eigenfunctions shapes for bound states in the $3D$ shallow spherical ultrarelativistic well. Existence thresholds for the ground state and first excited states are identified, both in the purely radial and orbitally nontrivial cases. This contributes to an understanding of how energy may be stored or accumulated in the form of bound states of Schrödinger - type quantum systems that are devoid of any mass.
description: 15 pp. 6 figures, VI Tables
Accessible Data Representation with Natural Sound
Creators: name: Hoque, Md Naimul
name: Ehtesham-Ul-Haque, Md
name: Elmqvist, Niklas
name: Billah, Syed Masum
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: sonification
accessibility
data visualization
natural sound

description: Sonification translates data into non-speech audio. Such auditory representations can make data visualization accessible to people who are blind or have low vision (BLV). This paper presents a sonification method for translating common data visualization into a blend of natural sounds. We hypothesize that people’s familiarity with sounds drawn from nature, such as birds singing in a forest, and their ability to listen to these sounds in parallel, will enable BLV users to perceive multiple data points being sonified at the same time. Informed by an extensive literature review and a preliminary study with 5 BLV participants, we designed an accessible data representation tool, Susurrus, that combines our sonification method with other accessibility features, such as keyboard interaction and text-to-speech feedback. Finally, we conducted a user study with 12 BLV participants and report the potential and application of natural sounds for sonification compared to existing sonification tools.
Through Their Eyes and In Their Shoes: Providing Group Awareness During Collaboration Across Virtual Reality and Desktop Platforms
Creators: name: Saffo, David
name: Batch, Andrea
name: Dunne, Cody
name: Elmqvist, Niklas
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: asymmetric collaboration
virtual reality
immersive analytics
ubiquitous analysis

description: Many collaborative data analysis situations benefit from collaborators utilizing different platforms. However, maintaining group awareness between team members using diverging devices is difficult, not least because common ground diminishes. A person using head-mounted VR cannot physically see a user on a desktop computer even while co-located, and the desktop user cannot easily relate to the VR user’s 3D workspace. To address this, we propose the “eyes-and-shoes” principles for group awareness and abstract them into four levels of techniques. Furthermore, we evaluate these principles with a qualitative user study of 6 participant pairs synchronously collaborating across distributed desktop and VR head-mounted devices. In this study, we vary the group awareness techniques between participants and explore two visualization contexts within participants. The results of this study indicate that the more visual metaphors and views of participants diverge, the greater the level of group awareness is needed.
Resonance Damping of the THz-frequency Transverse Acoustic Phonon in the Relaxor Ferroelectric KTa1-xNbxO3
Creators: name: Toulouse, J.
name: Iolin, E.
name: Hennion, B.
name: Petitgrand, D.
name: Erwin, R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The damping ($Γ_a$) of the transverse acoustic (TA) phonon in single crystals of the relaxor $KTa_{1-x}Nb_xO_3$ with x=0.15-0.17 was studied by means of high resolution inelastic cold neutron scattering near the (200) B.Z. point where diffuse scattering is absent, although it is present near (110). In a wide range of temperatures centered on the phase transition, T=195K-108K, the TA phonon width (damping) exhibits a step increase around momentum q=0.07, goes through a shallow maximum at q=0.09-0.12 and remains high up to the highest momentum studied of q=0.16. These experimental results are explained in terms of a resonant interaction between the TA phonon and the collective or correlated reorientation through tunneling of the off-center Nb+5 ions. The observed TA damping is successfully reproduced in a simple model that includes an interaction between the TA phonon and a dispersionless localized mode (LM) with frequency $ω_L$ and damping $Γ_L$ ($Γ_L < ω_L$), itself coupled to the transverse optic (TO) mode. Maximum damping of the TA phonon occurs when its frequency $ω_a \approx{ω_L}$. $ω_L$ and $Γ_L$ are moderately dependent on temperature but the oscillator strength, $M_2$, of the resonant damping exhibits a strong maximum in the range $T\sim{150 K-120 K}$ in which neutron diffuse scattering near the (110) B.Z. point is also maximum and the dielectric susceptibility exhibits the relaxor behavior. The maximum value of M appears to be due to the increasing number of polar nanodomains. In support of the proposed model, the observed value of $ω_L$ is found to be similar to the estimate previously obtained by Girshberg and Yacoby. Alternatively, the TA phonon damping can be successfully fitted in the framework of an empirical Havriliak - Negami (HN) relaxation model that includes a strong resonance-like transient contribution.
TimingCamouflage+ Decamouflaged
Creators: name: Mittu, Priya
name: Liu, Yuntao
name: Srivastava, Ankur
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: camouflaging
wave-pipelining
false paths
timingSAT

description: In today’s world, sending a chip design to a third party foundry for fabrication poses a serious threat to one’s intellectual property. To keep designs safe from adversaries, design obfuscation techniques have been developed to protect the IP details of the design. This paper explains how the previously considered secure algorithm, TimingCamouflage+, can be thwarted and the original circuit can be recovered [15]. By removing wave-pipelining false paths, the TimingCamouflage+ algorithm is reduced to the insecure TimingCamouflage algorithm [16]. Since the TimingCamouflage algorithm is vulnerable to the TimingSAT attack, this reduction proves that TimingCamouflage+ is also vulnerable to TimingSAT and not a secure camouflaging technique [7]. This paper describes how wave-pipelining paths can be removed, and this method of handling false paths is tested on various benchmarks and shown to be both functionally correct and feasible in complexity.
Decorative, Evocative, and Uncanny: Reactions on Ambient-to-Disruptive Health Notifications via Plant-Mimicking Shape-Changing Interfaces
Creators: name: Lee, Jarrett G.W.
name: Lee, Bongshin
name: Choe, Eun Kyoung
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: shape-changing interface
ambient information system
self-tracking
notification
personal data
research through design
human-plant interaction

description: Ambient Information Systems (AIS) have shown some success when used as a notification towards users’ health-related activities. But in the actual busy lives of users, ambient notifications might be forgotten or even missed, nullifying the original notification. Could a system use multiple levels of noticeability to ensure its message is received, and how could this concept be effectively portrayed? To examine these questions, we took a Research through Design approach and created plant-mimicking Shape-Changing Interface (S-CI) artifacts, then conducted interviews with 10 participants who currently used a reminder system for health-related activities. We report findings on acceptable scenarios to disrupting people for health-related activities, and participants’ reactions to our design choices, including how using naturalistic aesthetics led to interpretations of the uncanny and morose, and which ways system physicality affected imagined uses. We offer design suggestions in health-related notification systems and S-CIs, and discuss future work in ambient-to-disruptive technology.
Digital Sovereignty Strategies for Every Nation
Creators: name: Shoker, Ali
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR)
subject: Computers and Society (cs.CY)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Digital Sovereignty must be on the agenda of every modern nation. Digital technology is becoming part of our life details, from the vital essentials, like food and water management, to transcendence in the Metaverse and Space. Protecting these digital assets will, therefore, be inevitable for a modern country to live, excel and lead. Digital Sovereignty is a strategic necessity to protect these digital assets from the monopoly of friendly rational states, and the threats of unfriendly Malicious states and behaviors. In this work, we revisit the definition and scope of digital sovereignty through extending it to cover the entire value chain of using, owning, and producing digital assets. We emphasize the importance of protecting the operational resources, both raw materials and human expertise, in addition to research and innovation necessary to achieve sustainable sovereignty. We also show that digital sovereignty by autonomy is often impossible, and by mutual cooperation is not always sustainable. To this end, we propose implementing digital sovereignty using Nash Equilibrium, often studied in Game Theory, to govern the relation with Rational states. Finally, we propose a digital sovereignty agenda for different country's digital profiles, based on their status quo, priorities, and capabilities. We survey state-of-the-art digital technology that is useful to make the current digital assets sovereign. Additionally, we propose a roadmap that aims to develop a sovereign digital nation, as close as possible to autonomy. Finally, we draw attention to the need of more research to better understand and implement digital sovereignty from different perspectives: technological, economic, and geopolitical.
On reducible monodromy representations of some generalized Lamé equation
Creators: name: Chen, Zhijie
name: Kuo, Ting-Jung
name: Lin, Chang-Shou
name: Takemura, Kouichi
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Classical Analysis and ODEs (math.CA)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: In this note, we compute the explicit formula of the monodromy data for a generalized Lamé equation when its monodromy is reducible but not completely reducible. We also solve the corresponding Riemman-Hilbert problem.
description: 11 pages
Detock: High Performance Multi-region Transactions at Scale
Creators: name: Nguyen, Cuong D.T.
name: Miller, Johann K.
name: Abadi, Daniel J.
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: multi-region database
deterministic database
deadlock resolution

description: Many globally distributed data stores need to replicate data across large geographic distances. Since synchronously replicating data across such distances is slow, those systems with high consistency requirements often geo-partition data and direct all linearizable requests to the primary region of the accessed data. This significantly improves performance for workloads where most transactions access data close to where they originate from. However, supporting serializable multi-geo-partition transactions is a challenge, and they often degrade the performance of the whole system. This becomes even more challenging when they conflict with single-partition requests, where optimistic protocols lead to high numbers of aborts, and pessimistic protocols lead to high numbers of distributed deadlocks. In this paper, we describe the design of concurrency control and deadlock resolution protocols, built within a practical, complete implementation of a geographically replicated database system called Detock, that enables processing strictly-serializable multi-region transactions with near-zero performance degradation at extremely high conflict and order of magnitude higher throughput relative to state-of-the art geo-replication approaches, while improving latency by up to a factor of 5.
“Is this my president speaking?” Tamper-proofing Speech in Live Recordings
Creators: name: Shahid, Irtaza
name: Roy, Nirupam
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: deepfake
speech verification
voice features
QR code

description: Malicious editing of audiovisual content has emerged as a popular tool for targeted defamation, spreading disinformation, and triggering political unrest. Public speeches and statements of political leaders, public figures, or celebrities are particularly at target due to their effectiveness in influencing the masses. Ubiquitous audiovisual recording of live speeches with smart devices and unrestricted content sharing and redistributing on social media make it difficult to address this threat using existing authentication techniques. Given public recordings of live events lack source control over the media, standard solutions falter. This paper presents TalkLock, a speech integrity verification system that can enable live speakers to protect their speeches from malicious alterations even when the speech is recorded by any member of the audience. The core idea is to generate meta-information from the speech signal in real-time and disseminate it through a secure QR code-based screen-camera communication. The QR code when recorded along with the speech embeds the meta-information in the content and it can be used later for independent verification in stand-alone applications or online platforms. A user study with live speech and real-world experiments with different types of voices, languages, environments, and distances show that TalkLock can verify fake content with 94.4% accuracy.
Testing the running coupling $k_{T}$-factorization formula for the inclusive gluon production
Creators: name: Durães, F. O.
name: Giannini, A. V.
name: Goncalves, V. P.
name: Navarra, F. S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The inclusive gluon production at midrapidities is described in the Color Glass Condensate formalism using the $k_T$ - factorization formula, which was derived at fixed coupling constant considering the scattering of a dilute system of partons with a dense one. Recent analysis demonstrated that this approach provides a satisfactory description of the experimental data for the inclusive hadron production in $pp/pA/AA$ collisions. However, these studies are based on the fixed coupling $k_T$ - factorization formula, which does not take into account the running coupling corrections, which are important to set the scales present in the cross section. In this paper we consider the running coupling corrected $k_T$ - factorization formula conjectured some years ago and investigate the impact of the running coupling corrections on the observables. In particular, the pseudorapidity distributions and charged hadrons multiplicity are calculated considering $pp$, $dAu/pPb$ and $AuAu/PbPb$ collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. We compare the corrected running coupling predictions with those obtained using the original $k_T$ - factorization assuming a fixed coupling or a prescription for the inclusion of the running of the coupling. Considering the Kharzeev - Levin - Nardi unintegrated gluon distribution and a simplified model for the nuclear geometry, we demonstrate that the distinct predictions are similar for the pseudorapidity distributions in $pp/pA/AA$ collisions and for the charged hadrons multiplicity in $pp/pA$ collisions. On the other hand, the running coupling corrected $k_T$ - factorization formula predicts a smoother energy dependence for $dN/dη$ in $AA$ collisions.
description: 9 pages and 4 figures
Fluid Transformers and Creative Analogies: Exploring Large Language Models’ Capacity for Augmenting Cross-Domain Analogical Creativity
Creators: name: Ding, Zijian
name: Srinivasan, Arvind
name: MacNeil, Stephen
name: Chan, Joel
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: large language models
analogy
creativity support tools

description: Cross-domain analogical reasoning is a core creative ability that can be challenging for humans. Recent work has shown some proofsof-concept of Large language Models’ (LLMs) ability to generate cross-domain analogies. However, the reliability and potential usefulness of this capacity for augmenting human creative work has received little systematic exploration. In this paper, we systematically explore LLMs capacity to augment cross-domain analogical reasoning. Across three studies, we found: 1) LLM-generated crossdomain analogies were frequently judged as helpful in the context of a problem reformulation task (median 4 out of 5 helpfulness rating), and frequently (∼80% of cases) led to observable changes in problem formulations, and 2) there was an upper bound of ∼25% of outputs being rated as potentially harmful, with a majority due to potentially upsetting content, rather than biased or toxic content. These results demonstrate the potential utility — and risks — of LLMs for augmenting cross-domain analogical creativity.
Incidental Incremental In-Band Fingerprint Verification: a Novel Authentication Ceremony for End-to-End Encrypted Messaging
Creators: name: Malkin, Nathan
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2022

description: End-to-end encryption in popular messaging applications relies on centralized key servers. To keep these honest, users are supposed to meet in person and compare “fingerprints” of their public keys. Very few people do this, despite attempts to make this process more usable, making trust in the systems tenuous. To encourage broader adoption of verification behaviors, this paper proposes a new type of authentication ceremony, incidental incremental in-band fingerprint verification (I3FV), in which users periodically share with their friends photos or videos of themselves responding to simple visual or behavioral prompts (“challenges”). This strategy allows verification to be performed incidentally to normal user activities, incrementally over time, and in-band within the messaging application. By replacing a dedicated security task with a fun, alreadywidespread activity, I3FV has the potential to vastly increase the number of people verifying keys and therefore strengthen trust in encrypted messaging.
Heating mechanisms in the low solar atmosphere through magnetic reconnection in current sheets
Creators: name: Ni, Lei
name: Lin, Jun
name: Roussev, Ilia I.
name: Schmieder, Brigitte
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We simulate several magnetic reconnection processes in the low solar chromosphere/photosphere, the radiation cooling, heat conduction and ambipolar diffusion are all included. Our numerical results indicate that both the high temperature($ \gtrsim 8\times10^4$~K) and low temperature($\sim 10^4$~K) magnetic reconnection events can happen in the low solar atmosphere ($100\sim600$~km above the solar surface). The plasma $β$ controlled by plasma density and magnetic fields is one important factor to decide how much the plasma can be heated up. The low temperature event is formed in a high $β$ magnetic reconnection process, Joule heating is the main mechanism to heat plasma and the maximum temperature increase is only several thousand Kelvin. The high temperature explosions can be generated in a low $β$ magnetic reconnection process, slow and fast-mode shocks attached at the edges of the well developed plasmoids are the main physical mechanisms to heat the plasma from several thousand Kelvin to over $8\times10^4$~K. Gravity in the low chromosphere can strongly hinder the plasmoind instability and the formation of slow-mode shocks in a vertical current sheet. Only small secondary islands are formed; these islands, however, are not well developed as those in the horizontal current sheets. This work can be applied for understanding the heating mechanism in the low solar atmosphere and could possibly be extended to explain the formation of common low temperature EBs ($\sim10^4$~K) and the high tenperature IRIS bombs ($\gtrsim 8\times10^4$) in the future.
description: 26 pages, 8 fugures
The Tools Being Used to Introduce Youth to Data Science
Creators: name: Moon, Peter F.
name: Israel-Fishelson, Rotem
name: Tabak, Rachel
name: Weintrop, David
Publisher: name: Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)
Year: 2023
Subjects: data science education
data analysis tools
youth

description: Data is increasingly shaping the way people interact with each other and the world more broadly. For youth growing up in an increasingly data-driven society, it is critical they have foundational data literacy skills. A central component of data literacy is the ability to collect, analyze, visualize, and make meaning from data. All of these activities are mediated and shaped by the tools that youth use to carry out these data practices. Given the essential role tools play in enabling and supporting youth in engaging with and interpreting data, understanding what tools are used and how they are used in educational contexts will help us understand how youth are being prepared to be data-literate citizens. In this paper, we present the analysis of the data collection and analysis tools used in 4 widely adopted high school data science curricula. The analysis attends to both what tools are used as well as what datasets they are used to analyze. This work contributes to our understanding of the way youth are being introduced to concepts and practices from the field of data science and the role the tools play in shaping those experiences.