The Evolution of Embedding Metadata in Blockchain Transactions

The use of blockchains is growing every day, and their utility has greatly expanded from sending and receiving crypto-coins to smart-contracts and decentralized autonomous organizations. Modern blockchains underpin a variety of applications: from designing a global identity to improving satellite connectivity. In our research we look at the ability of blockchains to store metadata in an increasing volume of transactions and with evolving focus of utilization. We further show that basic approaches to improving blockchain privacy also rely on embedding metadata. This paper identifies and classifies real-life blockchain transactions embedding metadata of a number of major protocols running essentially over the bitcoin blockchain. The empirical analysis here presents the evolution of metadata utilization in the recent years, and the discussion suggests steps towards preventing criminal use. Metadata are relevant to any blockchain, and our analysis considers primarily bitcoin as a case study. The paper concludes that simultaneously with both expanding legitimate utilization of embedded metadata and expanding blockchain functionality, the applied research on improving anonymity and security must also attempt to protect against blockchain abuse.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, 2018 International Joint Conference on Neural Network

Changes of Testicular Histogenesis during Prenatal and Early Postnatal Life in Bisphenol A Exposed Rats by Ascorbic Acid

Objectives: In this study we aimed to investigate the conservation of testicular histogenesis in bisphenol A exposed rats by ascorbic acid during prenatal and early postnatal life. Material and Methods: Eight weeks old 15 pregnant rats were divided into 3 groups, each containing 5 rats. Pups were delivered by spontaneous vaginal delivery. Group A had 15 male rat pups, from 5 pregnant female rats, which were fed on standard diet during pregnancy and lactation till day 21. Group B had 15 male rat pups from 5 pregnant female rats which were given 250μg/kg/day Bisphenol A subcutaneously during pregnancy and lactation till day 21. Group C had 15 male rat pups from 5 pregnant female rats which were given 250μg/kg/day Bisphenol A subcutaneously and 150mg/kg/day ascorbic acid orally during pregnancy and lactation till day 21. Results: There was significant deterioration of seminiferous tubule and basement membrane regularity with BPA along with detachment of germinal epithelium and cell debris in group B. These parameters were conserved significantly with ascorbic acid in group C. Conclusion: Biphenol A adversely affects histogenesis of testes by causing oxidative stress when given during pregnancy and lactation and ascorbic acid conserves BPA exposed developing testes and may preserve spermatogenesis and male fertility. Key words: Bisphenol A, ascorbic acid, histogenesis, rat, developing testes, prenatal, early postnatal

Changes of Testicular Histogenesis during Prenatal and Early Postnatal Life in Bisphenol A Exposed Rats by Ascorbic Acid

Objectives: In this study we aimed to investigate the conservation of testicular histogenesis in bisphenol A exposed rats by ascorbic acid during prenatal and early postnatal life. Material and Methods: Eight weeks old 15 pregnant rats were divided into 3 groups, each containing 5 rats. Pups were delivered by spontaneous vaginal delivery. Group A had 15 male rat pups, from 5 pregnant female rats, which were fed on standard diet during pregnancy and lactation till day 21. Group B had 15 male rat pups from 5 pregnant female rats which were given 250μg/kg/day Bisphenol A subcutaneously during pregnancy and lactation till day 21. Group C had 15 male rat pups from 5 pregnant female rats which were given 250μg/kg/day Bisphenol A subcutaneously and 150mg/kg/day ascorbic acid orally during pregnancy and lactation till day 21. Results: There was significant deterioration of seminiferous tubule and basement membrane regularity with BPA along with detachment of germinal epithelium and cell debris in group B. These parameters were conserved significantly with ascorbic acid in group C. Conclusion: Biphenol A adversely affects histogenesis of testes by causing oxidative stress when given during pregnancy and lactation and ascorbic acid conserves BPA exposed developing testes and may preserve spermatogenesis and male fertility. Key words: Bisphenol A, ascorbic acid, histogenesis, rat, developing testes, prenatal, early postnatal

BEAT: Blockchain-Enabled Accountable and Transparent Infrastructure Sharing in 6G and Beyond

It is widely expected that future networks of 6G and beyond will deliver on the unachieved goals set by 5G. Technologies such as Internet of Skills and Industry 4.0 will become stable and viable, as a direct consequence of networks that offer sustained and reliable mobile performance levels. The primary challenges for future technologies are not just low-latency and high-bandwidth. The more critical problem Mobile Service Providers (MSPs) will face will be in balancing the inflated demands of network connections and customers' trust in the network service, that is, being able to interconnect billions of unique devices while adhering to the agreed terms of Service Level Agreements (SLAs). To meet these targets, it is self-evident that MSPs cannot operate in a solitary environment. They must enable cooperation among themselves in a manner that ensures trust, both between themselves as well as with customers. In this study, we present the BEAT (Blockchain-Enabled Accountable and Transparent) Infrastructure Sharing architecture. BEAT exploits the inherent properties of permissioned type of distributed ledger technology (i.e., permissioned distributed ledgers) to deliver on accountability and transparency metrics whenever infrastructure needs to be shared between providers. We also propose a lightweight method that enables device-level accountability. BEAT has been designed to be deployable directly as only minor software upgrades to network devices such as routers. Our simulations on a resource-limited device show that BEAT adds only a few seconds of overhead processing time -- with the latest state-of-the-art network devices, we can reasonably anticipate much lower overheads.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2107.0432