Search

We present a comprehensive study using dissipative particle dynamics simulations to investigate phase separation kinetics (PSK) in three-dimensional (3d) polymeric fluids under random photo-illumination. We consider two scenarios: polymer blends with active radicals at one end of each immiscible chain and block copolymer (BCP) melts with photosensitive bonds linking incompatible blocks. The phase separation (PS) is induced by temperature quench of the initial homogeneously mixed system. Simultaneously, the system experiences random photo-illumination, simulated by two concurrent random events: (a) the recombination of active radicals in polymer blends and (b) the breaking of photosensitive bonds in BCP chains. Variations in the bond-breaking probability, Pb, mimic the change in light intensity. The length scale follows power law growth, R(t) ∼ tϕ, where ϕ represents the growth exponent. Increasing Pb results in a gradual transition in growth kinetics from micro-PS to macro-PS, accompanied by corresponding transition probabilities for both systems. Micro-PSK dominates the evolution process at low Pb values. The scaling functions exhibit data overlap for most scaled distances, indicating the statistical self-similarity of evolving patterns. Our study enhances the understanding of PSK in polymeric fluids, revealing the impact of photosensitive bonds and active radicals. Furthermore, it suggests the potential for designing novel polymeric materials with desired properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on phase and aggregation behavior for linear chains composed of blocks of hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments. Phase and conformational transitions of patterned chains are relevant for understanding liquid–liquid separation of biomolecular condensates, which play a prominent role in cellular biophysics and for surfactant and polymer applications. Previous studies of simple models for multiblock chains have shown that, depending on the sequence pattern and chain length, such systems can fall into one of two categories: displaying either phase separation or aggregation into finite-size clusters. The key new result of this paper is that both formation of finite-size aggregates and phase separation can be observed for certain chain architectures at appropriate conditions of temperature and concentration. For such systems, a bulk dense liquid condenses from a dilute phase that already contains multi-chain finite-size aggregates. The computational approach used in this study involves several distinct steps using histogram-reweighting grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, which are described in some level of detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metaverse network economy is built on the blockchain protocol network and occurs in the metaverse virtual space by the virtual digital avatar. This is a series of economic activities that produce, exchange, distribute and consume digital products, and interact, integrate and promote with the real economy in real space. The network economic system of the metaverse is gradually formed in the process of adapting to the development of digital economy. While these products and services bring convenience, they are accompanied by more complex and diverse economic risks. Based on transformer serialization analysis, this paper proposes an analytical method of economic risk mechanism of metacosmic network to complete the evaluation of economic risk. First, this work proposes an improved transformer (ITransformer). The probabilistic sparse self-attention (PSSA) and self-attention distillation (SAD) are proposed to improve the performance. This can mine more discriminative temporal features. Secondly, this work designed a dual-stream ITransformer (DSIT) to evaluate the economic risks of the metaverse network via ITransformer. This can process the global and local features in the metaverse economic data with high performance. Finally, this work has performed massive experiments on dual-stream ITransformer pipeline. Experimental results verify the effectiveness and feasibility of DSIT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identity management (IM) solutions are designed for facilitating and managing in digital field that identifies to perform the authentication operation which has been widely used for the real-world applications. The blockchain-based IM solutions are provided which allows the user to take the control of his or her identity. The existing blockchain-based IM models and based identified the research gap and other opportunities that will improve the present research work. Also, the information for owners who are trustworthy, traceable, secure ownership for the medical data that created seriousness in the security issues. The techniques and systems were centralized made difficult for sharing the medical data that have increased the single point of failure. The blockchain technology enabled the transparent, dependable, and auditable computing in various industries that used the decentralized network in the public ledger. The main objective is to exchange data in a safe and secure manner by using unalterable logs. To achieve and to improve the transparency, security and privacy, the verifiable digital signature with controlled blockchain enabled data records (DVS-CBDR) is introduced. Performance study of the proposed system has been assessed by a number of studies, examining throughput (170 tx/s), transaction response time (21 s), latency (5 s), memory usage (200 MB), and CPU utilization (98 Hz) which is better than patient-controlled blockchain enabled electronic health records for healthcare (PcBEHR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the factors influencing the implementation of blockchain in logistics in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including security, privacy, end-user benefits, quality control, technology infrastructure, and lack of general awareness. A mixed-methods approach was used, with data collected through survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The research targeted logisticians in the UAE's supply chain department, using random probability sampling and a sample size of 151 for surveys and using purposive sampling for recruiting 10 experts. Using SPSS 24.0, the Pearson Correlation analysis revealed a strong association between blockchain in logistics and IT infrastructure and awareness of blockchain in the UAE logistics sector. Exploratory factor analysis showed a significant difference towards the security of data in the implementation of blockchain in the logistics sector in the UAE. This research suggests that implementing blockchain technology in UAE logistics companies can enhance data security and quality control, influencing managers' decisions positively and recommends prioritizing data security and quality control. The study's geographical context emphasizes its contribution in the research area showing the importance of considering cost, benefits, security, IT infrastructure ownership, and awareness aspects in the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selfish mining is a sneaky way that some people cheat in blockchain networks or distributed digital ledger systems. They do it by mining a block in secret and keeping it hidden. Then, when the secret chain of these miners' are longer than the real one, they show it to everyone, and the blockchain system selects the longest chain as the valid chain. This leads to the network adopting the longest chain as the valid one, resulting in the effort put into mining by other miners becoming futile. By doing this, selfish miners in the blockchain network have a high potential to get more rewards. This behavior goes against the rules of blockchain networks, where everyone is supposed to play by the same rules and have an equal chance of getting rewards. This prejudiced action of selfish miners have motivated us to investigate systematically the existing methods that are being used to address the selfish mining attacks. Therefore, we conducted a SLR (systematic literature review) of 29 papers using the Kitchenham methodology and put that into PRISMA framework. This study aims to investigate methods for detecting and mitigating selfish mining attacks, their limitations, and future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, blockchain-based data auditing protocols have emerged as a cutting-edge area of study. Nevertheless, a conspicuous dearth of a generic framework upon which to ground such protocols is evident. This study introduces a pioneering and all-encompassing framework, designated as "Blockchain-assisted On-chain Auditing for Off-chain Storage" (BA2OC). The BA2OC framework operates without the reliance on a predefined auditor for the auditing process or a centralized verifier for the verification of on-chain auditing. It is conceivable that BA2OC forms the cornerstone of public data auditing protocols underpinned by blockchain technology. This framework bestows evidence of data ownership, ensures data integrity, facilitates public verification, supports batch verification, and bolsters the security against cyber threats through the utilization of cryptographic tools. The analysis underscores the comprehensive nature of the BA2OC framework, which positions it as the linchpin of blockchain-based public auditing protocols. Following a parametric evaluation of the BA2OC framework, this study takes into account real-world considerations, such as the utilization of the RSA cryptosystem and Android-based smartphones, to proffer a concrete protocol. The investigation further demonstrates that the BA2OC framework minimizes communication overhead while maintaining operational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase of IoT devices generating large amounts of user-sensitive data, improper firmware harms users' security and privacy. Latest home appliances are integrated with features to assure compatibility with smart home IoT. However, applying complex security mechanisms to IoT is limited by device hardware capabilities, making them vulnerable to attacks. Such attacks have recently become frequent. To address this issue, we developed a secure verification mechanism for firmware released by the device's manufacturer. We proposed an IoT gateway for secure firmware verification and updating for smart home IoT devices utilizing the IOTA MAM (Masked Authenticated Messaging) protocol and a distributed file system with IPFS (Inter-Planetary File System) protocol. These two communication protocols ensure decentralized communication and firmware file distribution between the IoT device vendor and the IoT end device. The proposed scheme securely shares latest firmware content over IOTA and IPFS networks, performs a secure firmware update on IoT end devices and ensures authenticity and integrity of the firmware. Two types of validation methods were proposed for firmware updating and validation. We implemented the proposed scheme using three entities, Vendor, IoT gateway, and IoT end device. Our system yielded promising results in performing secure automated firmware updates on IoT end devices with very low computational power. The system's functionality was implemented using IOTA's MAM run on Raspberry Pi as an IoT gateway along with an ESP8266 Wi-Fi microcontroller, demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach. Our proposed methodology can be used for secure firmware distribution on home IoT applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic contract signing requires the design of protocols that guarantee that the exchange is fair. In the past 5 years, we have observed that trusted third parties (TTPs) can be replaced by blockchain. However, none of the analyzed blockchain-based solutions meets the abuse-freeness requirement (established by Garay et al. in 1999), i.e., that neither party has the power to decide whether the protocol terminates or aborts. In this article, we present the first blockchain-based contract signing protocol that meets the abuse-freeness requirement. We analyze the economic impact that the use of blockchain has on the participants of a contract signing, concluding that the solution is both technically feasible and cost effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart contracts function like specialized computer programs on the blockchain. Many of these contracts are on Ethereum, but sometimes these contracts have problems with security. These problems caused big money losses and made the blockchain less stable. Smart contracts are self-executing with predefined rules and are at the core of many blockchain applications. However, they are susceptible to various vulnerabilities and security risks. Automated vulnerability detection helps identify and mitigate these issues efficiently. Smart Contracts (SC) have become really popular lately. People think they are the future for making deals on blockchains. Smart contracts are like automatic agreements. They work by themselves using special computer programs. They follow the rules of the deal and keep track of everything. The main idea with smart contracts is to get rid of the need for traditional trusted middlemen-like authorities or organizations. Instead, we use code that runs on a secure and unchangeable system. In this manuscript, pioneering automated vulnerability detection for smart contracts in blockchain using KEVM: Guardian ADRGAN (ADRGAN-SCB-KEVM) is proposed. Here, K framework's Ethereum virtual machine (KEVM) is a computation engine used in this research. From this KEVM, smart contracts data are provided to feature extraction phase. Feature extraction is done using Nested patch-based feature extraction. Then the extracted features are fed to attentive dual residual generative adversarial network (ADRGAN), identifying KEVM smart contracts vulnerabilities. Finally, by using ADRGAN, it is classified as Vulnerable and Non-Vulnerable in smart contracts. The proposed ADRGAN-SCB-KEVM method employed on Python and efficiency of proposed method evaluated with different metrics like Accuracy, Computation Time, Precision, Recall, F1 Score, Specificity, RoC are evaluated. The simulation outcomes prove that the proposed ADRGAN-SCB-KEVM technique attains 41.34%, 31.28%, and 36.38% higher Accuracy for Vulnerable; 32.44%, 38.45%, and 29.47% higher Accuracy for Non-Vulnerable while compared with the existing methods such as Utilizing fault injection to evaluate blockchain systems in the presence of faulty smart contracts (UFI-BS-ESVD), State-of-the-Art Blockchain-Enabled Smart Contract Applications in the University (SA-BESC-ESVD), enhancing Ethereum smart contracts static analysis by computing precise Control-Flow Graph of Ethereum bytecode (EESC-CPC-EBD), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cybersecurity is an essential part of IoT device functionality. Malicious acts cause the disclosure of private data, putting device performance at risk. As a result, creating efficient security solutions for authentication and confidentiality of both IoT devices and data exchange and integrity of data exchange networks has become a significant challenge. Furthermore, the traditional security mechanisms' high computation demands are not suitable for resource-constrained specific IoT devices. Therefore, we have proposed a security system for IoT applications using blockchain called BLISS, which ensures robust identification, authentication, confidentiality, and integrity of IoT devices and data exchange. Using smart contracts, the BLISS creates trustful clusters of IoT devices through an authentication process for data exchange. The BLISS is implemented on the Raspberry Pi 4 and the desktop PC, considering the Raspberry Pi 4 as an IoT device and the desktop as a cluster head. The performance analysis of the BLISS demonstrates the enhanced performance in the context of computation and energy consumption, which is 62–65% reduced. The storage and communication overhead is reduced by up to 70% compared with state-of-the-art schemes. The security analysis showed that the proposed scheme withstands many IoT-specific cyber threads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last half-century, consumer research has often depicted scarcity as a dominant factor increasing price. But should we assume that scarcity's upward pressure on price remains intact, in a world where novel forms of digital products proliferate? In this article, we propose that blockchain-encrypted digital goods, in particular, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), offer good reason to revisit this assumption. In this context, we argue and find that social value can outweigh intrinsic value as a determinant of willingness-to-pay. As a result, when scarcity threatens access to high levels of social value, its effect on price can be negative rather than positive—an inversion of a pattern typically observed for offline collectibles. Secondary data taken from the NFT platform Opensea and a set of experimental studies support this social value-based lens. Given these findings, we propose a research agenda to ground future work in this area. We also suggest that NFTs offer a laboratory in which past theories related to social value, scarcity, and price can be reconsidered and future theories developed, hopefully allowing consumer researchers to lead knowledge development in these domains over the next 50 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research shows that although the used and unused versions of a digital good (e.g. virtual apparel) are identical in every pixel and functionality, consumers tend to prefer the unused version. This "genesis effect" occurs because consumers tend to perceive used (vs. unused) digital goods as virtually contaminated and because being permanently listed as the first (vs. subsequent) owner in the ownership record can confer a greater sense of status. Specifically, in study 1, analyses of large-scale field data on purchases of digital goods in the metaverse showed that consumers paid substantially more to acquire the unused (vs. used) version of the same good. Studies 2–4 causally demonstrated the genesis effect and its underlying mechanism across metaverse product categories—participants were less likely to purchase digital goods described as used (vs. unused). Virtual contamination and virtual status jointly mediated the effect. Furthermore, being the first—at the genesis of a digital product's usage history—was particularly special, such that participants were less sensitive to increases in the number of prior owners after the first one. Finally, showing participants that a used good had been digitally reconstituted attenuated the genesis effect. These findings add to the literature on consumer behavior in the metaverse and offer managerial insights on digital goods marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We study whether distributed ledger technology (DLT) can disintermediate banks. • Early modern economies developed effective peer-to-peer lending based on notaries. • We compare cryptolending and notarial loans: actors, uses, rates, risks, guarantees. • Smart contracts cannot substitute trust intrinsically involved in financial relations. • Cryptolending is a complement rather than an alternative to banks. The application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial sector has fostered the development of new services that are frequently referred to collectively as 'decentralized finance', or DeFi. In the wake of these recent developments many observers and practitioners regard DLT as a major technological disruption to the financial system, possibly leading to the complete disintermediation of banks and to their substitution with a network of bilateral relations between borrowers and lenders recorded in a common ledger. Recent historiography has shown that a potentially analogous system existed in Ancien Régime societies whereby finance was provided not only by specialized intermediaries, but also by an 'informal' credit network where debtors and creditors entered directly into relationship through notaries. In this paper, we carry out a systematic comparison between cryptolending, an extreme form of DeFi at the technological frontier, and the early system of peer-to-peer lending represented by notarized loans in the early modern period. Our aim is to assess the true novelty of current practices and to understand if, and in what sense, the technological innovation represented by DLT can effectively produce a structural change in the functioning of the financial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing popularity and adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem in various domains has brought attention to the security breaches linked with this paradigm. As the number of IoT devices continues to grow, it is essential to ensure that they are secured to protect against potential threats and attacks. IoT network proliferation of interconnected devices has significantly raised security concerns making them attractive targets for cyber attackers seeking to gain unauthorized access to systems and cause disruptions. As IoT networks collect and transmit sensitive data using centralized architecture, ensuring security and integrity of these networks becomes paramount. Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has emerged as a promising solution for enhancing IoT security. Two prominent DLT platforms: Blockchain and Internet of Things Application (IOTA) technologies can provide a more secure and resilient foundation for IoT ecosystems, and also help to mitigate risks associated with central node vulnerabilities. DLT-based IoT systems can also enable the creation of decentralized marketplaces and autonomous agents that can operate without human intervention. The objective of this research is to offer a comprehensive as well as fundamental study of IoT ecosystems and its associated security risks. Moreover, this paper provides a holistic study of the DLT platform and bibliometric inspection using VoS viewer tool on generic DLT platform technologies i.e., Blockchain and IOTA for securing data in IoT ecosystem. By leveraging bibliometric insights resulting from both DLT technologies, this study identities the most promising areas for further investigation and contribute to advancing security in IoT ecosystems. This survey contributes to the ongoing discourse on IoT security by providing a thorough comprehensive comparison of DLT solutions i.e., Blockchain and IOTA technologies on various key metrics, revealing that IOTA technology is projected to offer significant improvements over blockchain in securing sustainable IoT ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed hyper ledger technology are both at the height of their hype cycles, which means they have the potential to be disruptive. This raises issues about new technologies' influence on future business structures, particularly in service‐based industries like finance. Even though numerous assumptions in reality point to the complementary use of these two technologies to produce new value creation potentials, there is little contemporary literature and study on the subject. Different perspectives on any of the two technologies mentioned above are insufficient for understanding potential synergies in financial services. Similarly, the internet of things (IoT) assistance for FinTech solutions has risen its significance in the upcoming transaction world. Therefore, this research proposes a distributed hyper ledger technology and AI for IoT‐based FinTech platform (DHLT‐AI‐FTP), which incorporates the benefits of each technology for secured and energy‐efficient financial transactions and communication. The AI technology and distributed hyper ledger technology handle the security part, and the communication part holds the efficient design of IoT implementation. The simulation evaluation of the proposed model ensures the improved security and efficiency of FinTech management and processing for real‐time business scenarios. The experimental analysis shows the significant performance of the proposed DHLT‐AI‐FTP with a better adaptability ratio of 98.56% compared to other existing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain, essentially a distributed and immutable database, has emerged as a potential solution to governance problems of accountability, transparency, and trust in the construction industry. In terms of construction quality management (CQM) applications, previous works mainly took a technical perspective, and little is known about the potential of blockchain-based governance for quality opportunism. Moreover, we have seen very few successful blockchain implementations in construction practices. Stakeholders meet the trade-off between potential benefits and risks in blockchain adoption decisions. Previous works mainly focused on barrier analysis, neglecting the dynamic interactions of stakeholders' strategic behaviors on adopting blockchains. Against this backdrop, this research aims to systematically analyze blockchain impacts on CQM from a governance perspective and then investigate the owner and the main contractors' strategic behaviors (e.g., adopting blockchains in CQM or not). The agency theory was used as the theoretical lens to examine how blockchain curbs contractors' quality opportunistic behaviors as a governance mechanism. An evolutionary game theory model was developed to simulate adoption decision interactions between the owner and the main contractor. Finally, policy suggestions were highlighted for policymakers. This research could be one of the first studies examining blockchain potential to CQM from an opportunism governance perspective. Such discussions could inspire more discussions on blockchain-based governance and broaden researchers' and practitioners' understandings of blockchain impacts. The proposed policy suggestions from the equilibrium analysis could facilitate blockchain diffusion in the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, blockchain technology has developed rapidly and has been widely used in medical, financial, energy and other fields. However, in the process of practical application, each blockchain is a small independent ecosystem, with all transactions and operations limited to the chain, resulting in a large number of mutually heterogeneous to independent blockchains. It presents challenges for cross-chain interactions, cross-organization data sharing, and cross-blockchain expansion, and hinders the wider application of blockchain technology. In addition, the traditional digital signature method based on elliptic curve cipher faces the threat of being cracked by quantum computing attacks. To solve the aforementioned problems, this paper proposed a blockchain smart contract technique based on quantum computing attack resistance(BSCTQCAT). The technique first introduces the digital signature of the lattice cipher into the blockchain to resist the quantum search algorithm attack. Then, based on the smart contract authentication scheme, the nodes on multiple heterogeneous chains are organized into an identity agent layer P2P network, through which transactions on the chain will establish a credible identity management and message authentication mechanism between different chains, solving the current problem that each chain is difficult to communicate with each other. In this paper, the performance of the algorithm is evaluated by simulating the Bitcoin transaction scenario and analyzing the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to increasingly complex social emergencies, this study realizes the optimization of logistics information flow and resource allocation by constructing the Emergency logistics information Traceability model (ELITM-CBT) based on alliance blockchain technology. Using the decentralized, data immutable and transparent characteristics of alliance blockchain technology, this research breaks through the limitations of traditional emergency logistics models and improves the accuracy and efficiency of information management. Combined with the hybrid genetic simulated Annealing algorithm (HGASA), the improved model shows significant advantages in emergency logistics scenarios, especially in terms of total transportation time, total cost, and fairness of resource allocation. The simulation results verify the high efficiency of the model in terms of timeliness of emergency response and accuracy of resource allocation, and provide innovative theoretical support and practical scheme for the field of emergency logistics. Future research will explore more efficient consensus mechanisms, and combine big data and artificial intelligence technology to further improve the performance and adaptability of emergency logistics systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the application of robotics in security monitoring, medical care, image analysis, and other high-privacy fields, vision sensor data in robotic operating systems (ROS) faces the challenge of enhancing secure storage and transmission. Recently, it has been proposed that the distributed advantages of blockchain be taken advantage of to improve the security of data in ROS. Still, it has limitations such as high latency and large resource consumption. To address these issues, this paper introduces PrivShieldROS, an extended robotic operating system developed by InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), blockchain, and HybridABEnc to enhance the confidentiality and security of vision sensor data in ROS. The system takes advantage of the decentralized nature of IPFS to enhance data availability and robustness while combining HybridABEnc for fine-grained access control. In addition, it ensures the security and confidentiality of the data distribution mechanism by using blockchain technology to store data content identifiers (CID) persistently. Finally, the effectiveness of this system is verified by three experiments. Compared with the state-of-the-art blockchain-extended ROS, PrivShieldROS shows improvements in key metrics. This paper has been partly submitted to IROS 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the implementation of blockchain technology in cybersecurity in Internet of Things (IoT) networks, presenting a comprehensive framework that integrates blockchain technology with intrusion detection systems (IDS) to enhance IDS performance. This paper reviews articles from various domains, including AI, blockchain, IDS, IoT, and Industrial IoT (IIoT), to identify emerging trends and challenges in this field. An analysis of various approaches incorporating AI and blockchain demonstrates the potentiality of integrating AI and blockchain to transform IDS. This paper's structure establishes the foundation for further investigation and provides a blueprint for the development of IDS that is accessible, scalable, transparent, immutable, and decentralized. A demonstration from case studies integrating AI and blockchain shows the viability of combining the duo to enhance performance. Despite the challenges posed by resource constraints and privacy concerns, it is notable that blockchain is the key to securing IoT networks and that continued innovation in this area is necessary. Further research into lightweight cryptography, efficient consensus mechanisms, and privacy-preserving techniques is needed to realize all of the potential of blockchain-powered cybersecurity in IoT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain are emerging technologies that have attracted attention in many industries, including healthcare, automotive, and supply chain. IoT networks and devices are typically low-powered and susceptible to cyber intrusions. However, blockchains hold considerable potential for securing low-power IoT networks. Blockchain networks provide security features such as encryption, decentralisation, time stamps, and ledger functions. The integration of blockchain and IoT technologies may address many of the security concerns. However, integrating blockchain with IoT raises several issues, including the security vulnerabilities and anomalies of blockchain-based IoT networks. In this paper, we report on our experiments using our blockchain test bed to demonstrate that blockchains on IoT platforms are vulnerable to DDoS attacks, which can also potentially lead to device hardware failures. We show that a number of anomalies are visible during either a DDoS attack or IoT device failure. In particular, the temperature of IoT hardware devices can exceed 90 °C during a DDoS attack, which could lead to hardware failure and potential fire hazards. We also found that the Block Transaction Rate (BTR) and network block loss percentage can increase due to corrupted hardware, with the BTR dropping to nearly zero blocks/sec and a block loss percentage of over 50 percent for all evaluated blockchains, and as high as 81.3 percent in one case. Our experiments demonstrate that anomalous temperature, latency, bandwidth, BTR, and network block loss percentage can potentially be used to identify DDoS attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the textile and apparel (T&A) industry has led to an increasing focus on recycling used products. Remanufactured product quality raises consumer concerns, and blockchain can effectively solve this problem. We establish a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) in which a manufacturer, a retailer, or a third-party recycler collects used T&A products to examine the most efficient recycling mode with and without blockchain and the impact of blockchain on CLSC decisions. The results show that (1) if the manufacturer's recycling cost coefficient is relatively low, used T&A products are collected directly by the manufacturer. Otherwise, the responsibility for recycling used T&A products falls to the retailer or the third-party recycler. It is noteworthy that the manufacturer's choice of recycling mode remains unchanged whether a blockchain is implemented or not. (2) The implementation of blockchain by the manufacturer and the retailer can increase profits and consumers also benefit when the cost of validating blockchain units remains below a certain threshold. (3) When the recycling cost coefficient exceeds a certain threshold, the implementation of blockchain increases prices and recycling rates. These findings offer CLSC members' management insights into how to select the optimal recycling mode and the consequences of implementing blockchain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a distributed computing setting wherein a central entity seeks power from computational providers by offering a certain reward in return. The computational providers are classified into long-term stakeholders that invest a constant amount of power over time and players that can strategize on their computational investment. In this paper, we model and analyze a stochastic game in such a distributed computing setting, wherein players arrive and depart over time. While our model is formulated with a focus on volunteer computing, it equally applies to certain other distributed computing applications such as mining in blockchain. We prove that, in Markov perfect equilibrium, only players with cost parameters in a relatively low range which collectively satisfy a certain constraint in a given state, invest. We infer that players need not have knowledge about the system state and other players' parameters, if the total power that is being received by the central entity is communicated to the players as part of the system's protocol. If players are homogeneous and the system consists of a reasonably large number of players, we observe that the total power received by the central entity is proportional to the offered reward and does not vary significantly despite the players' arrivals and departures, thus resulting in a robust and reliable system. We then study by way of simulations and mean field approximation, how the players' utilities are influenced by their arrival and departure rates as well as the system parameters such as the reward's amount and dispensing rate. We observe that the players' expected utilities are maximized when their arrival and departure rates are such that the average number of players present in the system is typically between 1 and 2, since this leads to the system being in the condition of least competition with high probability. Further, their expected utilities increase almost linearly with the offered reward and converge to a constant value with respect to its dispensing rate. We conclude by studying a Stackelberg game, where the central entity decides the amount of reward to offer, and the computational providers decide how much power to invest based on the offered reward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key issue of medical data is patient information sensitivity and dataset finiteness, which need to guarantee high-efficient training. Besides, the current convolutional neural network has a low image classification and poor robustness concerning antagonistic samples. A lack of scalability in healthcare federated learning and incentive mechanism hinders the attraction of ample high-quality datasets. This paper proposes a Federated Learning Incentive Mechanism for Medical Data Classification (FedIn-MC). It realizes a collaborative model training of multi-party medical institutions through the combination of federated learning and blockchain. There is a marked improvement to the model's robustness through a combination of the distance loss function and the prototype loss regulation. In addition, this incentive mechanism of blockchain in the project is applied to calculate client contribution values and encourage healthcare institutions to active training model participation. Simulation results verify an accomplishment of a multi-party training. With regard to image classifications, this framework also has a higher classification accuracy and stronger robustness concerning invisible class samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in aerial robotics and wireless transceivers have generated an enormous interest in networks constituted by multiple compact unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV adhoc networks, i.e., aerial networks with dynamic topology and no centralized control, are found suitable for a unique set of applications, yet their operation is vulnerable to cyberattacks. In many applications, such as IoT networks or emergency failover networks, UAVs augment and provide support to the sensor nodes or mobile nodes in the ground network in data acquisition and also improve the overall network performance. In this situation, ensuring the security of the adhoc UAV network and the integrity of data is paramount to accomplishing network mission objectives. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to secure UAV adhoc networks, referred to as the blockchain-assisted security framework (BCSF). We demonstrate that the proposed system provides security without sacrificing the performance of the network through blockchain technology adopted to the priority of the message to be communicated over the adhoc UAV network. Theoretical analysis for computing average latency is performed based on queuing theory models followed by an evaluation of the proposed BCSF approach through simulations that establish the superior performance of the proposed methodology in terms of transaction delay, data secrecy, data recovery, and energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The discovery of malevolent users in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) is done by using blockchain‐based technique. For diagnosing the availability of frequency resources, the spectrum sensing (SS) plays an essential role in CRN. It is critical to enable cognitive radio (CR) technology in wireless communication systems for the next generation. Due to the increasing demand of the users, some bands are overloaded and others become underutilized. The CR applied models for vigorously assigning unlicensed users. The missed detection problem occurs in the conventional spectrum sensing schemes, which hampers the proper utilization of the spectrum. These motivated the development of a newly devised passive reputation method with an optimized deep model for spectrum sensing in CRN‐based blockchain. The sensing spectrum in CRN is designed using the cooperative spectrum sensing algorithm. The spectrum sensing is done with the decision made using AlexNet where the weights of AlexNet are trained with a hybrid optimization algorithm, named Honey Badger Remora Optimization (HBRO) algorithm. Thus, the output attained from the Alexnet_HBRO algorithm is considered. Meanwhile, the data are recorded in the blockchain, and then, the passive reputation is performed, and the determined output is considered. At last, the spectrum sensing is carried out by fusing AlexNet and passive reputation output where weights are optimally generated using the proposed Snake Honey Badger Remora Optimization (SHBRO) algorithm. The proposed SHBRO offered a high detection probability of 1, false alarm probability of 0.003, sensing time of 551.567s, and computation time of 210.102s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology have emerged as increasingly prevalent and influential elements shaping global trends in Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Namely, the synergistic combination of blockchain and AI introduces beneficial, unique features with the potential to enhance the performance and efficiency of existing ICT systems. However, presently, the confluence of these two disruptive technologies remains in a rather nascent stage, undergoing continuous exploration and study. In this context, the work at hand offers insight regarding the most significant features of the AI and blockchain intersection. Sixteen outstanding, recent articles exploring the combination of AI and blockchain technology have been systematically selected and thoroughly investigated. From them, fourteen key features have been extracted, including data security and privacy, data encryption, data sharing, decentralized intelligent systems, efficiency, automated decision systems, collective decision making, scalability, system security, transparency, sustainability, device cooperation, and mining hardware design. Moreover, drawing upon the related literature stemming from major digital databases, we constructed a timeline of this technological convergence comprising three eras: emerging, convergence, and application. For the convergence era, we categorized the pertinent features into three primary groups: data manipulation, potential applicability to legacy systems, and hardware issues. For the application era, we elaborate on the impact of this technology fusion from the perspective of five distinct focus areas, from Internet of Things applications and cybersecurity, to finance, energy, and smart cities. This multifaceted, but succinct analysis is instrumental in delineating the timeline of AI and blockchain convergence and pinpointing the unique characteristics inherent in their integration. The paper culminates by highlighting the prevailing challenges and unresolved questions in blockchain and AI-based systems, thereby charting potential avenues for future scholarly inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous advancement of information technology, a growing number of works, including articles, paintings, and music, are being digitized. Digital content can be swiftly shared and disseminated via the Internet. However, it is also vulnerable to malicious plagiarism, which can seriously infringe upon the rights of creators and dampen their enthusiasm. To protect creators' rights and interests, a sophisticated method is necessary to authenticate digital intellectual property rights. Traditional authentication methods rely on centralized, trustworthy organizations that are susceptible to single points of failure. Additionally, these methods are prone to network attacks that can lead to data loss, tampering, or leakage. Moreover, the circulation of copyright information often lacks transparency and traceability in traditional systems, which leads to information asymmetry and prevents creators from controlling the use and protection of their personal information during the authentication process. Blockchain technology, with its decentralized, tamper-proof, and traceable attributes, addresses these issues perfectly. In blockchain technology, each node is a peer, ensuring the symmetry of information. However, the transparent feature of blockchains can lead to the leakage of user privacy data. Therefore, this study designs and implements an Ethereum blockchain-based intellectual property authentication scheme with privacy protection. Firstly, we propose a method that combines elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) encryption with digital signatures to achieve selective encryption of user personal information. Subsequently, an authentication algorithm based on Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) is adopted to complete the authentication of intellectual property ownership while encrypting personal privacy data. Finally, we adopt the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to store large files, solving the problem of blockchain storage space limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In decentralized systems, the quest for heightened security and integrity within blockchain networks becomes an issue. This survey investigates anomaly detection techniques in blockchain ecosystems through the lens of unsupervised learning, delving into the intricacies and going through the complex tapestry of abnormal behaviors by examining avant-garde algorithms to discern deviations from normal patterns. By seamlessly blending technological acumen with a discerning gaze, this survey offers a perspective on the symbiotic relationship between unsupervised learning and anomaly detection by reviewing this problem with a categorization of algorithms that are applied to a variety of problems in this field. We propose that the use of unsupervised algorithms in blockchain anomaly detection should be viewed not only as an implementation procedure but also as an integration procedure, where the merits of these algorithms can effectively be combined in ways determined by the problem at hand. In that sense, the main contribution of this paper is a thorough study of the interplay between various unsupervised learning algorithms and how this can be used in facing malicious activities and behaviors within public and private blockchain networks. The result is the definition of three categories, the characteristics of which are recognized in terms of the way the respective integration takes place. When implementing unsupervised learning, the structure of the data plays a pivotal role. Therefore, this paper also provides an in-depth presentation of the data structures commonly used in unsupervised learning-based blockchain anomaly detection. The above analysis is encircled by a presentation of the typical anomalies that have occurred so far along with a description of the general machine learning frameworks developed to deal with them. Finally, the paper spotlights challenges and directions that can serve as a comprehensive compendium for future research efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) in the past decade has challenged our imagination to discover new, innovative and disruptive solutions to problems in domains ranging from finance and healthcare to supply chain and Smart Cities. However, the enormous energy consumption that has been observed in some of the most successful DLT applications raises the question of their long term sustainability. This article reviews the standardization efforts of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to provide guidelines to regulators and policy makers for making informed decisions on the applicability and sustainability of DLT architectures from the point of view of energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading has attracted a lot of attention and the number of electric vehicles (EVs) has increased in the past couple of years. Toward sustainable mobility, EVs meet the standard development goals (SDGs) for attaining a sustainable future in the transport sector. This development and increasing number of EVs creates an opportunity for prosumers to trade electricity. Considering this opportunity, this review article aims to provide an in-depth analysis of P2P energy trading of EVs using blockchain in centralized and decentralized networks, which enables prosumers to exchange energy directly with one another. The paper is aimed to provide the reader with a state-of-the-art review on the P2P energy trading for EVs, considering different blockchain algorithms that are practically implemented or still in the research phase. Moreover, the paper presents blockchain applications, current trends, and future challenges of EVs' energy trading. P2P energy trading for EVs using blockchain algorithms can be successfully implemented considering real-time scenarios and economically benefits smart sustainable societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have garnered significant attention in scholarship and beyond. Geographical work on cryptocurrencies has focussed on how their energy demand interacts with local communities and economies. Less is said about the organization of cryptoasset firms and their associated demands. This paper illuminates the complex geographies of one such firm, Bitfury Group, to investigate the global and national forms and structures such companies take and the factors encouraging them to concentrate operations in certain areas. To investigate the latter, we adopt the case study of Bitfury's operations in Georgia, a South-Caucasian country where its presence is significant. We adapt Haberly et al.'s analytical framework to explore Bitfury's geographical dimensions. We highlight how cheap electricity, regulatory and taxation regimes, personal encounters and personalities, and the materialities of hardware and energy-saving technology define these geographies and illuminate how Bitfury actively curates advantageous regulatory spaces. We encourage future work exploring Blockchain and Bitcoin technologies to understand the companies involved as simultaneously material and virtual, and as centrepieces in global networks interweaving production and finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of green development and increasing green demand, consumers' perception of greenness and freshness in agri-food product will affect their purchasing decisions. Blockchain is being looked at as a technology that can build trust between consumers and the greenness and freshness of product. To stimulate the development and application of blockchain technology, the Chinese government has put forward some subsidy strategies, this will have what effect on enterprises' blockchain investment decisions, and what are the investment rules? To study these issues, we chose a green agri-food supply chain (GAFSC) with one producer, one blockchain-based traceability service provider (BBTSP), and one retailer as the research object. Assume that the government offers a tax subsidy strategy to the organizations of blockchain usage and R&D. Then, considering the perceived credibility of consumers on product greenness and freshness after using the blockchain technology, the demand function was revised. Furthermore, we proposed and analyzed three subsidy models. Findings: 1) When the blockchain technology investment cost of the BBTSP can meet a certain range, the benefits of supply chain stakeholders in the tax subsidy conditions will be higher than those in the no-tax subsidy model. In addition, the BBTSP's blockchain technology investment cost has a negative relationship with the tax discount coefficients of the BBTSP and the producer. 2) All supply chain members getting tax subsidies from the government cannot always increase their incomes, and this is in contact with the tax subsidy rates and the blockchain technology investment cost of the BBTSP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of blockchain technologies is reflected in the various ways in which social actors operate with crypto transactions, and this is seen in the wide range of discourses and practices adopted on the crypto market. Using social constructivism, this study highlights the fact that social practices in the crypto area respect certain thematic ideologies, through which individual discourses reflect different pragmatic expectations in relation to virtually encrypted transactions. Drawing on inductive thematic analysis based on 38 semi-structured interviews with Romanian investors, four major themes emerge: (1) unbreakable power of code encompasses rather libertarian discourses on potential state policies, (2) key role of peers explains the investments in the crypto market as a form of community membership, (3) assuming plenty of risks highlights the discourses focused on substantial and unpredictable gains, and (4) preferring safety above all encompasses discourses on financial stability through rather conservative behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a blockchain-based data capture and transmission system that will collect real-time power consumption data from a household electrical appliance and transfer it securely to a local server for energy analytics such as forecasting. Design/methodology/approach: The data capture system is composed of two current transformer (CT) sensors connected to two different electrical appliances. The CT sensors send the power readings to two Arduino microcontrollers which in turn connect to a Raspberry-Pi for aggregating the data. Blockchain is then enabled onto the Raspberry-Pi through a Java API so that the data are transmitted securely to a server. The server provides real-time visualization of the data as well as prediction using the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and long short term memory (LSTM) algorithms. Findings: The results for the blockchain analysis demonstrate that when the data readings are transmitted in smaller blocks, the security is much greater as compared with blocks of larger size. To assess the accuracy of the prediction algorithms data were collected for a 20 min interval to train the model and the algorithms were evaluated using the sliding window approach. The mean average percentage error (MAPE) was used to assess the accuracy of the algorithms and a MAPE of 1.62% and 1.99% was obtained for the LSTM and MLP algorithms, respectively. Originality/value: A detailed performance analysis of the blockchain-based transmission model using time complexity, throughput and latency as well as energy forecasting has been performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain applications are gradually receiving wide acceptance as a transformative technology that could potentially bring a reformation in the industry. Blockchain handles sensitive data through cryptography, consensus mechanism, transaction immutability, and peer‐to‐peer network to manage decentralized data features. In addition to ensuring operational efficiency, blockchain development is a complex and challenging process, which warrants further exploration. In an attempt to reduce the complexity of the development, various software methodologies have been introduced to support the development of blockchain applications systematically. It has been found that those methodologies introduced structured processes that are not suitable for software models. Moreover, all models are generic and do not take into blockchain concept as first‐class entities. Hence, there is a gap in extending and transforming the current blockchain modeling and practices when developing a blockchain application. This paper introduces a new insight and innovative methodology for blockchain‐based application development through extended agent‐oriented modeling (eAOM) to discover blockchain opportunities and contribute to the growth of the technology. With eAOM, the blockchain modeling processes start with requirement elicitation, computation independent modeling, early identification of blockchain use case, platform independent modeling, and platform specific model. A walkthrough example of a blockchain application, "win a fortune games" has showcased the feasibility of eAOM in modeling blockchain enabling application development in a systematic manner. A usability analysis is conducted among novice students to test the usability of eAOM versus original AOM in modeling blockchain application development. From the findings, 44% of the students managed to capture more than 80% of blockchain requirements through eAOM. On the other hand, 51% of the students scored between 20% and 60% of the blockchain requirement, and only 5% of the students failed to model blockchain requirements through eAOM. The results reveal the usage of the eAOM to model blockchain‐enabled application comprehensively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide applications of the Internet of Drones (IoD), ranging from package delivery to surveillance, attract the attention of industrialists and academicians. Drones are given the task of obtaining sensitive field information within the flying zone in real‐time. Hence, it is important to tackle the privacy and security issues associated with drones that are employed in these kinds of situations. Also, when the drones move to the new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operator coverage area, the drones are required to execute the authentication process again, which affects the performance of IoD. To overcome the above‐said shortcomings, a physically secure and privacy‐preserving blockchain enabled authentication method is proposed in this paper. The blockchain network permits drones to perform quick re‐authentication by transferring drone authentication codes to the following UAV operators. In the proposed work, the drone does not need to store the secret keys to perform anonymous authentication, and it provides physical security for the drones. When compared to competing techniques, the proposed scheme delivers the needed security features while incurring lower storage, computational, and communication costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, the harmful effects of industrial activity and consumer society have resulted in global warming. Governments and international organizations are looking for ways to monitor activities of individuals and companies to assess their ecological impact. Unfortunately, such an approach would easily be seen as a mass surveillance tool. This is why we are proposing in this paper a novel privacy-aware global infrastructure for ecological footprint calculator based on the Internet of things and blockchain. Indeed, we take advantage of the data collection capacity of the Internet of things, the anonymization provided by public key identification and encryption, and the immutability of blockchain to implement this global system. A three-stage approach was used to validate our architecture: modeling in Petri nets to verify that the infrastructure fulfills all the required missions, implementing the three central authorities with python to record parameters such as durations, and finally modeling in queuing networks to demonstrate stability. The blockchain and Internet of things parts are used in a purely abstract manner relying on standard concepts; therefore, we have not implemented them. The experiments have produced very promising results. We have shown that for the simplest form of queue modeling, the involved servers have a utilization rate that is close to 50 % and that the overall waiting time remains below one minute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access control systems have become integral to every organization's defensive arsenal to protect sensitive information and ensure that businesses comply with data privacy regulations. The goal is to block out anyone who shouldn't be able to get their hands on sensitive information. Authorization solutions like access control help keep sensitive information safe by enforcing strict rules against unauthorized users. This study investigates the difficulties of pushback request response management in P2P electronic health records (EHRs) and suggests a blockchain-enabled EHR for a decentralized P2P healthcare facility. To prevent privacy breaches in the blockchain network and to make information more easily accessible, a new method of authentic access control has been created and implemented. The PRR is an innovative method proposed where security-based mathematical representation and modelling on EHR datasets create a proven security aspect of data privacy. We tested on-chain and off-chain computing modalities by implementing them. Simulations with our implementation show that our suggested pushback request response to medical data significantly lowers the overall peak request. The off-chain computing method offers lower delay time and overhead than the on-chain mode while maintaining the same level of system integrity. In addition, we evaluated the suggested method in terms of its performance and security, and we compared it to an existing hybrid method while taking into account data from the New York State Department of Health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the reliability of Tibetan Thangka sales channels, this paper combines blockchain technology to construct an intelligent model that can be used for Tibetan Thangka sales. This paper uses cryptographic encryption technology to encrypt the uploaded data to prevent Thangka producers or logistics turnover parties from tampering with Thangka‐related information, and uses the timestamp in blockchain technology to realize the traceability of Thangka‐related information. In addition, this paper uses the timestamp technology in the blockchain system to generate a traceable, query and supervised blockchain, which runs through the whole process of thangka from planting to selling. Finally, a sales model of Tibet Thangka based on blockchain technology is designed, and system performance analysis is carried out through simulation experiments. The experimental research results verify that the designed sales model has a certain effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the benefits and pitfalls associated with integrating a common blockchain model within a distinct administrative environment, focusing particularly on its effects on decision-making processes. The study is grounded in the doctrine of procedural due process, a holistic concept encompassing intertwined administrative rules and principles, designed to promote fairness and justice in decision-making, which can be succinctly distilled into three core principles: accuracy, integrity, and transparency. On initial examination, these principles seem to correspond with the fundamental characteristics of blockchain technology, which are identified as authenticity, integrity, and transparency. In our analysis, we measure the extent to which the attributes of blockchain technology align with the principles of the due process doctrine. An essential component of this assessment includes a meticulous examination of the practical merging of each characteristic within the decision-making procedure. The approach and practical applications explored in this study highlight the potential of blockchain technology to enhance adherence to due process, especially in areas where traditional trust-based systems have faltered in maintaining basic procedural safeguards. However, given the intricate complexity tied to its implementation, this technology should be regarded as a fallback option, strictly reserved for situations where the benefits of its utilisation unmistakably outweigh the numerous inherent risks. In the ensuing sections of this paper, we will delve deeper into these risks and propose actionable mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A blockchain can be described as a distributed ledger database where, under a consensus mechanism, data are permanently stored in records, called blocks, linked together with cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash function of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data, which are permanently stored in thousands of nodes and never altered. This provides a potential real-world application for generating a permanent, decentralized record of scientific data, taking advantage of blockchain features such as timestamping and immutability. Implementation: Here, we propose INNBC DApp, a Web3 decentralized application providing a simple front-end user interface connected with a smart contract for recording scientific data on a modern, proof-of-stake (POS) blockchain such as BNB Smart Chain. Unlike previously proposed blockchain tools that only store a hash of the data on-chain, here the data are stored fully on-chain within the transaction itself as "transaction input data", with a true decentralized storage solution. In addition to plain text, the DApp can record various types of files, such as documents, images, audio, and video, by using Base64 encoding. In this study, we describe how to use the DApp and perform real-world transactions storing different kinds of data from previously published research articles, describing the advantages and limitations of using such a technology, analyzing the cost in terms of transaction fees, and discussing possible use cases. Results: We have been able to store several different types of data on the BNB Smart Chain: raw text, documents, images, audio, and video. Notably, we stored several complete research articles at a reasonable cost. We found a limit of 95KB for each single file upload. Considering that Base64 encoding increases file size by approximately 33%, this provides us with a theoretical limit of 126KB. We successfully overcome this limitation by splitting larger files into smaller chunks and uploading them as multi-volume archives. Additionally, we propose AES encryption to protect sensitive data. Accordingly, we show that it is possible to include enough data to be useful for storing and sharing scientific documents and images on the blockchain at a reasonable cost for the users. Conclusion: INNBC DApp represents a real use case for blockchain technology in decentralizing biomedical data storage and sharing, providing us with features such as immutability, timestamp, and identity that can be used to ensure permanent availability of the data and to provide proof-of-existence as well as to protect authorship, a freely available decentralized science (DeSci) tool aiming to help bring mass adoption of blockchain technology among the scientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the rapid development and application of blockchain technology, this paper considers a secondary supply chain system consisting of a single upstream supplier and a downstream e-tailer that implements blockchain technology and a traditional e-tailer that does not implement blockchain technology. We establish the demand function of two channels based on consumers' sensitivity to the blockchain and use the Stackelberg game model to compare and analyse the e-tailers' profits from the two channels. For the basic properties, interestingly, we find that there exists a critical threshold on the cost sensitivity to effort that helps each e-tailer decide whether to implement effort. If the cost sensitivity to effort is high, the two-sided e-tailers will reduce their effort as much as possible to obtain greater profits. Conversely, if the cost sensitivity to effort is low, they will increase their effort to obtain more benefits. We also discuss the role of blockchain technology in competition between e-tailers and analyse the impact of the product brand effect brought by the traceability characteristic of blockchain on the competition between e-tailers. To check the robustness of the core results and to investigate different forms of supply chain configurations, this paper further develops the analysis of the supplier entering agency agreements with two-sided e-tailers. Under this scenario, the supplier sells their products directly to consumers through two-sided e-platforms and shares revenue with e-tailers as platform agency fees. These core ideas remain valid in the extended model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, blockchain technology has attracted substantial interest for its capability to transform supply chain management and finance. This paper employs evolutionary game theory to investigate the application of blockchain in mitigating financial risks within supply chains, taking into account the technology's maturity and the risk preferences of financial institutions. By modeling interactions among financial institutions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and core enterprises within the accounts receivable financing framework, this study evaluates blockchain's impact on their decision-making and its efficacy in risk reduction. Our findings suggest the transformative potential of blockchain in mitigating financial risks, solving information asymmetry, and enhancing collaboration between financial entities and SMEs. Additionally, we integrate smart contracts into supply chain finance, proposing pragmatic procedures for their deployment in real-world contexts. Via a detailed examination of blockchain's maturity and financial institutions' risk preferences, this research demonstrates the primary determinants of strategic decisions in supply chain finance and underscores how blockchain technology fosters system stability using risk mitigation. Our innovative contribution lies in the design of smart contracts for the ARF process, rooted in blockchain's core attributes of security, transparency, and immutability, thereby ensuring efficient operation and cost reduction in supply chain finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of communication systems is undergoing a transformative shift towards intelligence, efficiency, and flexibility. Presently, the amalgamation of blockchain technology and the sixth-generation mobile communication network (6G) has garnered significant attention, as their fusion is poised to profoundly impact the digital economy and society at large. However, the convergence of blockchain and 6G networks poses challenges pertaining to security and performance. In this article, we propose an approach based on the design of secure mechanisms and performance optimization to delve into the key issues surrounding the integration of blockchain and 6G networks from both security and performance perspectives. Specifically, we first introduce the application scenarios of 6G networks and blockchain's empowerment of them to highlight the necessity of combining blockchain technology with 6G. Subsequently, in order to ensure the security of communication and data transmission between blockchain and 6G networks, we have investigated the design requirements for security mechanisms. Furthermore, we discuss the efficient realization of the amalgamation between blockchain and 6G networks by proposing a solution based on Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) for blockchain's asynchronous consensus protocol, alongside optimization strategies for storage and communication to meet the desired characteristics and requirements of 6G networks. Lastly, we provide valuable research directions that serve as references and guidance for the future development of the integration between blockchain and 6G networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]