Federated learning (FL) enables distributed model training across edge devices while preserving data locality. This decentralized approach has emerged as a promising solution for collaborative learning on sensitive user data, effectively addressing the longstanding privacy concerns inherent in centralized systems. However, the decentralized nature of FL exposes new security vulnerabilities, especially backdoor attacks that threaten model integrity. To investigate this critical concern, this paper presents the Layer Smoothing Attack (LSA), a novel backdoor attack that exploits layer-specific vulnerabilities […]

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With the growing reliance on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks for digital transactions, traditional electronic payment systems require enhancements to ensure security, efficiency, and trust. This study introduces an innovative digital payment framework enabling currency-based exchanges between consumers and vendors within a peer-to-peer environment. The outlined approach is inspired by Millicent’s scrip methodology and leverages digital envelope encryption to bolster protection. Unlike conventional payment methods that heavily rely on financial institutions, the protocol minimizes their involvement, restricting their role to […]

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arXiv:2601.22355v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: We study the problem of quantifying how far an empirical distribution deviates from Gaussianity under the framework of optimal transport. By exploiting the cone geometry of the relative translation invariant quadratic Wasserstein space, we introduce two novel geometric quantities, the relative Wasserstein angle and the orthogonal projection distance, which provide meaningful measures of non-Gaussianity. We prove that the filling cone generated by any two rays in this space is flat, ensuring that angles, […]

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OREM, Utah, Feb. 24, 2026 — SecurityMetrics, a leading innovator in compliance and cybersecurity, has officially announced their security framework platform for CMMC compliance and validation. CMMC is a standardized set of cybersecurity requirements designed to ensure that controlled government information (like designs or contract details) stays protected from hackers and foreign threats. With SecurityMetrics’ new CMMC solutions, defense contractors of all levels can get innovative tools designed specifically for their unique compliance needs, including: A new Self-Assessment […]

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Table of Links Abstract and 1. Introduction Related Work Preliminaries and Notations Differentiable Structural Information 4.1. A New Formulation 4.2. Properties 4.3. Differentiability & Deep Graph Clustering LSEnet 5.1. Embedding Leaf Nodes 5.2. Learning Parent Nodes 5.3. Hyperbolic Partitioning Tree Experiments 6.1. Graph Clustering 6.2. Discussion on Structural Entropy Conclusion, Broader Impact, and References Appendix A. Proofs B. Hyperbolic Space C. Technical Details D. Additional Results 5. LSEnet We propose a novel Lorentz Structural Entropy neural Net (LSEnet), […]

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arXiv:2603.05653v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Adolescents spend an increasing amount of their time in digital environments where their still-developing cognitive capacities leave them unable to recognize or resist commercial persuasion. Article 28(2) of the Digital Service Act (DSA) responds to this vulnerability by prohibiting profiling-based advertising to minors. However, the regulation’s narrow definition of “advertisement” excludes current advertising practices including influencer marketing and promotional content that serve functionally equivalent commercial purposes. We provide the first empirical evidence of […]

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arXiv:2601.12296v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: An interesting phenomenon arises: Empirical Risk Minimization (ERM) sometimes outperforms methods specifically designed for out-of-distribution tasks. This motivates an investigation into the reasons behind such behavior beyond algorithmic design. In this study, we find that one such reason lies in the distribution shift across training domains. A large degree of distribution shift can lead to better performance even under ERM. Specifically, we derive several theoretical and empirical findings demonstrating that distribution shift plays […]

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Six years ago, as covid-19 was rapidly spreading through the US, my sister was working as a medical resident. One day she was handed an N95 and told to “guard it with her life”, because there weren’t any more coming. N95s are made from meltblown polypropylene, produced from plastic pellets manufactured in a small number of chemical plants. Two of these plants were operated by Braskem America in Marcus Hook PA and Neal WV. If there were infections […]

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arXiv:2601.07984v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Vision-Language Models (VLMs) excel at visual perception, yet their ability to interpret cultural meaning in art remains under-validated. We present a tri-tier evaluation framework for cross-cultural art-critique assessment: Tier I computes automated coverage and risk indicators offline; Tier II applies rubric-based scoring using a single primary judge across five dimensions; and Tier III calibrates the Tier II aggregate score to human ratings via isotonic regression, yielding a 5.2% reduction in MAE on a […]

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