73 research outputs found
ANPL: Compiling Natural Programs with Interactive Decomposition
The advents of Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown promise in augmenting
programming using natural interactions. However, while LLMs are proficient in
compiling common usage patterns into a programming language, e.g., Python, it
remains a challenge how to edit and debug an LLM-generated program. We
introduce ANPL, a programming system that allows users to decompose
user-specific tasks. In an ANPL program, a user can directly manipulate sketch,
which specifies the data flow of the generated program. The user annotates the
modules, or hole with natural language descriptions offloading the expensive
task of generating functionalities to the LLM. Given an ANPL program, the ANPL
compiler generates a cohesive Python program that implements the
functionalities in hole, while respecting the dataflows specified in sketch. We
deploy ANPL on the Abstraction and Reasoning Corpus (ARC), a set of unique
tasks that are challenging for state-of-the-art AI systems, showing it
outperforms baseline programming systems that (a) without the ability to
decompose tasks interactively and (b) without the guarantee that the modules
can be correctly composed together. We obtain a dataset consisting of 300/400
ARC tasks that were successfully decomposed and grounded in Python, providing
valuable insights into how humans decompose programmatic tasks. See the dataset
at https://iprc-dip.github.io/DARC
AB-SIFA: SIFA with Adjacent-Byte Model
Statistical Ineffective Fault Attack (SIFA) has been a threat for implementa-tions of symmetric cryptographic primitives. Unlike Differential Fault At-tacks (DFA) which takes both correct and faulty ciphertexts, SIFA can re-cover the secret key with only correct ciphertexts. The classic SIFA is only effective on fault models with non-uniform distribution of intermediate val-ue. In this paper, we present a new fault model named adjacent-byte model, which describes a non-uniform distribution of relationship between two bytes (i.e. exclusive-or). To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that this fault model has been proposed. We also show that the adjacent-byte faults can be induced by different fault sources and easy to reproduce. Then a new SIFA attack method called AB-SIFA on symmetric cryptography is proposed. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this new attack by simulating the attack. Finally, our attacks are applied to a software implementations of AES-128 with redundant countermeasure and a hardware AES co-processor, utilizing voltage glitches and clock glitches
Pushing the Limits of Machine Design: Automated CPU Design with AI
Design activity -- constructing an artifact description satisfying given
goals and constraints -- distinguishes humanity from other animals and
traditional machines, and endowing machines with design abilities at the human
level or beyond has been a long-term pursuit. Though machines have already
demonstrated their abilities in designing new materials, proteins, and computer
programs with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, the search
space for designing such objects is relatively small, and thus, "Can machines
design like humans?" remains an open question. To explore the boundary of
machine design, here we present a new AI approach to automatically design a
central processing unit (CPU), the brain of a computer, and one of the world's
most intricate devices humanity have ever designed. This approach generates the
circuit logic, which is represented by a graph structure called Binary
Speculation Diagram (BSD), of the CPU design from only external input-output
observations instead of formal program code. During the generation of BSD,
Monte Carlo-based expansion and the distance of Boolean functions are used to
guarantee accuracy and efficiency, respectively. By efficiently exploring a
search space of unprecedented size 10^{10^{540}}, which is the largest one of
all machine-designed objects to our best knowledge, and thus pushing the limits
of machine design, our approach generates an industrial-scale RISC-V CPU within
only 5 hours. The taped-out CPU successfully runs the Linux operating system
and performs comparably against the human-designed Intel 80486SX CPU. In
addition to learning the world's first CPU only from input-output observations,
which may reform the semiconductor industry by significantly reducing the
design cycle, our approach even autonomously discovers human knowledge of the
von Neumann architecture.Comment: 28 page
Boosting with an aerosolized Ad5-nCoV elicited robust immune responses in inactivated COVID-19 vaccines recipients
IntroductionThe SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant and exhibits immune escape to current COVID-19 vaccines, the further boosting strategies are required.MethodsWe have conducted a non-randomized, open-label and parallel-controlled phase 4 trial to evaluate the magnitude and longevity of immune responses to booster vaccination with intramuscular adenovirus vectored vaccine (Ad5-nCoV), aerosolized Ad5-nCoV, a recombinant protein subunit vaccine (ZF2001) or homologous inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac) in those who received two doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines. ResultsThe aerosolized Ad5-nCoV induced the most robust and long-lasting neutralizing activity against Omicron variant and IFNg T-cell response among all the boosters, with a distinct mucosal immune response. SARS-CoV-2-specific mucosal IgA response was substantially generated in subjects boosted with the aerosolized Ad5-nCoV at day 14 post-vaccination. At month 6, participants boosted with the aerosolized Ad5-nCoV had remarkably higher median titer and seroconversion of the Omicron BA.4/5-specific neutralizing antibody than those who received other boosters. DiscussionOur findings suggest that aerosolized Ad5-nCoV may provide an efficient alternative in response to the spread of the Omicron BA.4/5 variant.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=152729, identifier ChiCTR2200057278
Potential of Core-Collapse Supernova Neutrino Detection at JUNO
JUNO is an underground neutrino observatory under construction in Jiangmen, China. It uses 20kton liquid scintillator as target, which enables it to detect supernova burst neutrinos of a large statistics for the next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) and also pre-supernova neutrinos from the nearby CCSN progenitors. All flavors of supernova burst neutrinos can be detected by JUNO via several interaction channels, including inverse beta decay, elastic scattering on electron and proton, interactions on C12 nuclei, etc. This retains the possibility for JUNO to reconstruct the energy spectra of supernova burst neutrinos of all flavors. The real time monitoring systems based on FPGA and DAQ are under development in JUNO, which allow prompt alert and trigger-less data acquisition of CCSN events. The alert performances of both monitoring systems have been thoroughly studied using simulations. Moreover, once a CCSN is tagged, the system can give fast characterizations, such as directionality and light curve
Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with JUNO
As an underground multi-purpose neutrino detector with 20 kton liquid scintillator, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is competitive with and complementary to the water-Cherenkov detectors on the search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). Typical supernova models predict 2-4 events per year within the optimal observation window in the JUNO detector. The dominant background is from the neutral-current (NC) interaction of atmospheric neutrinos with 12C nuclei, which surpasses the DSNB by more than one order of magnitude. We evaluated the systematic uncertainty of NC background from the spread of a variety of data-driven models and further developed a method to determine NC background within 15\% with {\it{in}} {\it{situ}} measurements after ten years of running. Besides, the NC-like backgrounds can be effectively suppressed by the intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities of liquid scintillators. In this talk, I will present in detail the improvements on NC background uncertainty evaluation, PSD discriminator development, and finally, the potential of DSNB sensitivity in JUNO
Parabolic Viscosity Behavior of NaCl-Thickened Surfactant Systems upon Temperature Change
The viscosity of household care products plays an important
role
in pleasant delivery using consumer experience at home. A novel solution
to mitigate the sharp rising of viscosities at low temperatures of
detergents was proposed. By designing the formulation of the surfactant
blend, formulators can achieve acceptable viscosity profiles in the
temperature range encountered in daily life. The verification and
modulation of formulas bearing parabolic viscosity–temperature
behavior were systematically studied, including in single, binary,
and ternary systems, based on the modulation of sodium ethoxylated
alkyl sulfate (AES) by other anions, zwitterions, and nonions. The R ratio theory was used to have a better understanding of
the molecular assembly of surfactants behind the parabolic behavior
exhibited in rheology analyses. One of the key findings is that the
parabolic viscosity–temperature phenomenon could be easily
observed in the highly hydrated ethoxylated anionic systems like AES-based
systems. For those anions lacking ethoxylation, especially sodium
linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), the monotonic variation of hydration
affinity with temperature led to the disappearance of parabola in
the observed temperature window (>0 °C). Moreover, salinity
played
an important role in the hydration affinity of the polar group and
the interaction between the hydrophilic headgroups. A balanced salinity
should be optimized to modulate the hydration affinity in a desired
range so that the parabola could be easily tuned within the target
temperature region. These findings provide opportunities for the formulators
in the household care industry to design products with better pourability
through carefully selecting a combination of surfactants and fine-tuning
their ratios to improve consumer use experience, especially in winter
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