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As time progresses, the need for more secure applications grows exponentially. The different types of sensitive information that is being transferred virtually has sparked a rise in systems that leverage blockchain. Different sectors are beginning to use this disruptive technology to evaluate the risks and benefits. Sectors like finance, medicine, higher education, and wireless communication have research regarding blockchain. Futhermore, the need for security standards in this area of research is pivotal. In recent past, several attacks on blockchain infrastructures have resulted in hundreds of millions dollars lost and sensitive information compromised. Some of these attacks include DAO attacks, bZx attacks, and Parity Multisignature Wallet Double Attacks which targeted vulnerabilities within smart contracts on the Ethereum network. These attacks exposed the weaknesses of current smart contract development practices which has led to the increase in distrust and adoption of systems that leverage blockchain for its functionality. In this paper, I identify common software vulnerabilities and attacks on blockchain infrastructures, thoroughly detail the smart contract development process and propose a model for ensuring a stronger security standard for future systems leveraging smart contracts. The purpose for proposing a model is to promote trust among end users in the system which is a foundational element for blockchain adoption in the future., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures more...

Static electric dipole moments of nondegenerate systems probe mass scales for physics beyond the Standard Model well beyond those reached directly at high energy colliders. Discrimination between different physics models, however, requires complementary searches in atomic-molecular-and-optical, nuclear and particle physics. In this report, we discuss the current status and prospects in the near future for a compelling suite of such experiments, along with developments needed in the encompassing theoretical framework., Comment: Contribution to Snowmass 2021; updated with community edits and endorsements more...

The past decade has seen great advancements in speech recognition for control of interactive devices, personal assistants, and computer interfaces. However, Deaf and hard-ofhearing (HoH) individuals, whose primary mode of communication is sign language, cannot use voice-controlled interfaces. Although there has been significant work in video-based sign language recognition, video is not effective in the dark and has raised privacy concerns in the Deaf community when used in the context of human ambient intelligence. RF sensors have been recently proposed as a new modality that can be effective under the circumstances where video is not. This paper considers the problem of recognizing a trigger sign (wake word) in the context of daily living, where gross motor activities are interwoven with signing sequences. The proposed approach exploits multiple RF data domain representations (time-frequency, range-Doppler, and range-angle) for sequential classification of mixed motion data streams. The recognition accuracy of signs with varying kinematic properties is compared and used to make recommendations on appropriate trigger sign selection for RFsensor based user interfaces. The proposed approach achieves a trigger sign detection rate of 98.9% and a classification accuracy of 92% for 15 ASL words and 3 gross motor activities., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures more...

Many technologies for human-computer interaction have been designed for hearing individuals and depend upon vocalized speech, precluding users of American Sign Language (ASL) in the Deaf community from benefiting from these advancements. While great strides have been made in ASL recognition with video or wearable gloves, the use of video in homes has raised privacy concerns, while wearable gloves severely restrict movement and infringe on daily life. Methods: This paper proposes the use of RF sensors for HCI applications serving the Deaf community. A multi-frequency RF sensor network is used to acquire non-invasive, non-contact measurements of ASL signing irrespective of lighting conditions. The unique patterns of motion present in the RF data due to the micro-Doppler effect are revealed using time-frequency analysis with the Short-Time Fourier Transform. Linguistic properties of RF ASL data are investigated using machine learning (ML). Results: The information content, measured by fractal complexity, of ASL signing is shown to be greater than that of other upper body activities encountered in daily living. This can be used to differentiate daily activities from signing, while features from RF data show that imitation signing by non-signers is 99\% differentiable from native ASL signing. Feature-level fusion of RF sensor network data is used to achieve 72.5\% accuracy in classification of 20 native ASL signs. Implications: RF sensing can be used to study dynamic linguistic properties of ASL and design Deaf-centric smart environments for non-invasive, remote recognition of ASL. ML algorithms should be benchmarked on native, not imitation, ASL data., Comment: submitted more...

There is no dearth of new robots that provide both generalized and customized platforms for learning and research. Unfortunately as we attempt to adapt existing software components, we are faced with an explosion of device drivers that interface each hardware platform with existing frameworks. We certainly gain the efficiencies of reusing algorithms and tools developed across platforms but only once the device driver is created. We propose a domain specific language that describes the development and runtime interface of a robot and defines its link to existing frameworks. The Robot Device Interface Specification (RDIS) takes advantage of the internal firmware present on many existing devices by defining the communication mechanism, syntax and semantics in such a way to enable the generation of automatic interface links and resource discovery. We present the current domain model as it relates to differential drive robots as a mechanism to use the RDIS to link described robots to HTML5 via web sockets and ROS (Robot Operating System)., Comment: Presented at DSLRob 2011 (arXiv:cs/1212.3308) more...

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SnowEx is a multi-year airborne snow campaign with the primary goal of addressing the question: How much water is stored in Earths terrestrial snow-covered regions? Year 1 (2016-17) focused on the distribution of snow-water equivalent (SWE) and the snow energy balance in a forested environment. The year 1 primary site was Grand Mesa and the secondary site was the Senator Beck Basin, both in western, Colorado, USA. Nine sensors on five aircraft made observations using a broad range of sensing techniques, active and passive microwave, and active and passive optical infrared to determine the sensitivity and accuracy of these potential satellite remote sensing techniques, along with models, to measure snow under a range of forest conditions. SnowEx also included an extensive range of ground truth measurements in-situ manual samples, snow pits, ground based remote sensing measurements, and sophisticated new techniques. A detailed description of the data collected will be given and some preliminary results will be presented. more...

SnowEx is a multi-year airborne snow campaign with the primary goal of addressing the question: How much water is stored in Earth's terrestrial snow-covered regions? Year 1(2016-17) focused on the distribution of snow-water equivalent (SWE) and the snow energy balance in a forested environment. The year 1 primary site was Grand Mesa and the secondary site was the Senator Beck Basin, both in western Colorado, USA. Nine sensors on five aircraft made observations using a broad range of sensing techniques - active and passive microwave, and active and passive optical/infrared - to determine the sensitivity and accuracy of these potential satellite remote sensing techniques, along with models, to measure snow under a range of forest conditions. SnowEx also included an extensive range of ground truth measurements - in-situ manual samples, snow pits, ground based remote sensing measurements, and sophisticated new techniques. A detailed description of the data collected will be given and some preliminary results will be presented. more...