Distributed Protocols at the Rescue for Trustworthy Online Voting

While online services emerge in all areas of life, the voting procedure in many democracies remains paper-based as the security of current online voting technology is highly disputed. We address the issue of trustworthy online voting protocols and recall therefore their security concepts with its trust assumptions. Inspired by the Bitcoin protocol, the prospects of distributed online voting protocols are analysed. No trusted authority is assumed to ensure ballot secrecy. Further, the integrity of the voting is enforced by all voters themselves and without a weakest link, the protocol becomes more robust. We introduce a taxonomy of notions of distribution in online voting protocols that we apply on selected online voting protocols. Accordingly, blockchain-based protocols seem to be promising for online voting due to their similarity with paper-based protocols

General parameterised refinement and recursion for the M-net calculus

AbstractThe algebra of M-nets, a high-level class of labelled Petri nets, was introduced in order to cope with the size problem of the low-level Petri box calculus, especially when applied as semantical domain for parallel programming languages. General, unrestricted and parameterised refinement and recursion operators, allowing to represent the (possibly recursive and concurrent) procedure call mechanism, are introduced into the M-net calculus

Evaluation of nitrogen- and silicon-vacancy defect centres as single photon sources in quantum key distribution

We demonstrate a quantum key distribution (QKD) testbed for room temperature single photon sources based on defect centres in diamond. A BB84 protocol over a short free-space transmission line is implemented. The performance of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) as well as silicon-vacancy defect (SiV) centres is evaluated and an extrapolation for next-generation sources with enhanced efficiency is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Personality traits below facets: The consensual validity, longitudinal stability, heritability, and utility of personality nuances

It has been argued that facets do not represent the bottom of the personality hierarchy-even more specific personality characteristics, nuances, could be useful for describing and understanding individuals and their differences. Combining 2 samples of German twins, we assessed the consensual validity (correlations across different observers), rank-order stability, and heritability of nuances. Personality nuances were operationalized as the 240 items of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Their attributes were examined by analyzing item residuals, controlling for the variance of the facet the item had been assigned to and all other facets. Most nuances demonstrated significant (p < .0002) cross-method agreement and rank-order stability. A substantial proportion of them (48% in self-reports, 20% in informant ratings, and 50% in combined ratings) demonstrated a significant (p < .0002) component of additive genetic variance, whereas evidence for environmental influences shared by twins was modest. Applying a procedure to estimate stability and heritability of true scores of item residuals yielded estimates comparable with those of higher-order personality traits, with median estimates of rank-order stability and heritability being .77 and .52, respectively. Few nuances demonstrated robust associations with age and gender, but many showed incremental, conceptually meaningful, and replicable (across methods and/or samples) predictive validity for a range of interest domains and body mass index. We argue that these narrow personality characteristics constitute a valid level of the personality hierarchy. They may be especially useful for providing a deep and contextualized description of the individual, but also for the prediction of specific outcomes

Lumped Parameter Model for Silicon Crystal Growth from Granulate Crucible

In the present paper, a lumped parameter model for the novel Silicon Granulate Crucible (SiGC) method is proposed, which is the basis for a future model-based control system for the process. The model is analytically deduced based on the hydromechanical, geometrical, and thermal conditions of the process. Experiments are conducted to identify unknown model parameters and to validate the model. The physical consistency of the model is verified using simulation studies and a prediction error of below 2% is reached. © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei

Outcomes of 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy in combined scleral buckling and vitrectomy for complex rhegmatogenous retinal detachments

Rhegmatogenous retinal detachments associated with proliferative vitreoretinopathy, giant retinal tears, ocular trauma, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or necrotizing retinitis are considered more complex than those without these factors. The aim of the current review is to address the surgical outcomes and complications of 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy with scleral buckling (23GPPV/SB) for repair of these complex retinal detachments. This retrospective study involved 54 eyes of 53 patients who underwent 23GPPV/SB between July 2007 and September 2009. Preoperative diagnosis, surgical technique, preoperative and postoperative visual acuities, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and anatomic reattachment rates were examined. Fifty-four eyes of 53 patients were reviewed in this study and indications for surgery varied. Mean logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution (logMAR) pre- and post-operative visual acuities were 1.166 (20/293) and 0.780 (20/120), respectively, which led to a statistically significant improvement in logMAR (P=0.0165). Single operation and final reattachment rates were 87% (47 of 54 eyes) and 100%, respectively. Postoperative complications included choroidal effusion/hemorrhage (14.8%, 8 of 54 eyes) and vitreous hemorrhage (11.1%, 6 of 54 eyes). Other more infrequent complications included hyphema (9.3%, 5 of 54 eyes), hypotony (5.6%, 3 of 54 eyes) and ocular hypertension &gt; 35 mmHg (3.7%, 2 of 54 eyes). A total of 31.5% (17 of 54 eyes) of patients had a complication in the postoperative time period, but 58.8% of these resolved spontaneously without requiring an intervention. 23GPPV/SB may be considered for complex retinal detachment repair with good anatomic reattachment rates, but with relatively high complication rates

The relationship between self-reported borderline personality features and prospective illness course in bipolar disorder

Abstract Background Although bipolar disorder (BD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) share clinical characteristics and frequently co-occur, their interrelationship is controversial. Especially, the differentiation of rapid cycling BD and BPD can be troublesome. This study investigates the relationship between borderline personality features (BPF) and prospective illness course in patients with BD, and explores the effects of current mood state on self-reported BPF profiles. Methods The study included 375 patients who participated in the former Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network. All patients met DSM-IV criteria for bipolar-I disorder (n = 294), bipolar-II disorder (n = 72) or bipolar disorder NOS (n = 9). BPF were assessed with the self-rated Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire. Illness course was based on 1-year clinician rated prospective daily mood ratings with the life chart methodology. Regression analyses were used to estimate the relationships among these variables. Results Although correlations were weak, results showed that having more BPF at baseline is associated with a higher episode frequency during subsequent 1-year follow-up. Of the nine BPF, affective instability, impulsivity, and self-mutilation/suicidality showed a relationship to full-duration as well as brief episode frequency. In contrast all other BPF were not related to episode frequency. Conclusions Having more BPF was associated with an unfavorable illness course of BD. Affective instability, impulsivity, and self-mutilation/suicidality are associated with both rapid cycling BD and BPD. Still, many core features of BPD show no relationship to rapid cycling BD and can help in the differential diagnosis