Zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge (zk-SNARK) serves as a powerful technique for proving the correctness of computations and has attracted significant interest from researchers. Numerous concrete schemes and implementations have been proposed in academia and industry. Unfortunately, the inherent complexity of zk-SNARK has created gaps between researchers, developers and users, as they focus differently on this technique. For example, researchers are dedicated to constructing new efficient proving systems with stronger security and new properties. At the same time, developers and users care more about the implementation's toolchains, usability and compatibility. This gap has hindered the development of zk-SNARK field.
In this work, we provide a comprehensive study of zk-SNARK, from theory to practice, pinpointing gaps and limitations. We first present a master recipe that unifies the main steps in converting a program into a zk-SNARK. We then classify existing zk-SNARKs according to their key techniques. Our classification addresses the main difference in practically valuable properties between existing zk-SNARK schemes. We survey over 40 zk-SNARKs since 2013 and provide a reference table listing their categories and properties. Following the steps in master recipe, we then survey 11 general-purpose popular used libraries. We elaborate on these libraries' usability, compatibility, efficiency and limitations. Since installing and executing these zk-SNARK systems is challenging, we also provide a completely virtual environment in which to run the compiler for each of them. We identify that the proving system is the primary focus in cryptography academia. In contrast, the constraint system presents a bottleneck in industry. To bridge this gap, we offer recommendations and advocate for the open-source community to enhance documentation, standardization and compatibility.
With the rapid development of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), spatial audio recording and reproductionhave gained increasing research interest. Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) stands out for its adaptabilityto various playback devices and its ability to integrate head orientation. However, current HOA recordings oftenrely on bulky spherical microphone arrays (SMA), and portable devices like smartphones are limited by arrayconfiguration and number of microphones. We propose SHB-AE, a spherical harmonic beamforming based methodfor Ambisonics encoding using a smartphone microphone array (SPMA). By designing beamformers for eachorder of spherical harmonic functions based on the array manifold, the method enables Ambisonics encoding andup-scaling. Validation on a real SPMA and its simulated free-field counterpart in noisy and reverberant conditionsshowed that the method successfully encodes and up-scales Ambisonics up to the fourth order with just fourirregularly arranged microphones.
This paper investigates whether a location's growth benefits or suffers from proximity to a big city and explores the underlying mechanisms. Using county-level data from China for 1990–2020, we find that an area's being close to a big city (in the 150–250 km range) reduces its decadal population growth rate by 2.9–3.6 percentage points relative to areas beyond 250 km, which we call the urban growth shadow effect. Initial agricultural employment share has the strongest power to explain whether the negative effect exists. The mechanism is consistent with lower opportunity costs of migration for people employed in agriculture, yet contrasts with core–periphery models that give transport costs a central role. Notably, this effect exhibits a temporal trend. Over time, being proximate to a big city becomes increasingly beneficial.
In response to the growing prevalence of online second language learning and the burgeoning field of international Chinese language education, this study examines the impact of multimodal inputs (MMI) on vocabulary acquisition within online environments among learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL). A teaching intervention was conducted with 90 Mongolian CSL learners, who were grouped into audiovisual, audio, and visual groups. The findings indicate that the audiovisual condition significantly improved vocabulary retention compared to the single-modality conditions in a delayed post-test. Nevertheless, the efficacy of the MMI treatment was observed to vary with learners’ proficiency levels, with beginner-level CSL learners deriving greater benefit from MMI than intermediate-level learners. Furthermore, participants expressed both favorable and critical perspectives regarding the application of MMI in vocabulary instruction. These results highlight the potential of MMI interventions to enhance vocabulary learning in online second-language education, while also underscoring the necessity of considering learners’ target language proficiency and their attitudes when developing MMI-based instructional approaches.
Awe, a self-transcendent emotion, has been theoretically posited as a precursor to wise reasoning. However, direct empirical evidence supporting this relationship and the underlying mechanism has been limited. In four studies (N = 3700), we examined the relationship between awe and wise reasoning, as well as the mediating effect of self-transcendence, employing cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs. We consistently found that awe had a lagged effect on (Study 1), enhanced (Studies 2 & 3), and was associated with (Study 4) wise reasoning. Furthermore, self-transcendence mediated this relationship (Studies 3 & 4). The impact of awe on wise reasoning and mediating effect of self-transcendence could not solely be attributed to awe’s predominantly positive nature, and the mediation model was established beyond the influence of self-smallness (Studies 3–4). These findings contribute to understanding the emotional trigger of wise reasoning, the cognitive implications of awe, and its role in promoting wise conflict resolution.
As artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) continues to evolve, video-to-audio (V2A) generation has emerged as a key area with promising applications in multimedia editing, augmented reality, and automated content creation. While Transformer and Diffusion models have advanced audio generation, a significant challenge persists in extracting precise semantic information from videos, as current models often lose sequential context by relying solely on frame-based features. To address this, we present TA-V2A, a method that integrates language, audio, and video features to improve semantic representation in latent space. By incorporating large language models for enhanced video comprehension, our approach leverages text guidance to enrich semantic expression. Our diffusion model-based system utilizes automated text modulation to enhance inference quality and efficiency, providing personalized control through text-guided interfaces. This integration enhances semantic expression while ensuring temporal alignment, leading to more accurate and coherent video-to-audio generation.
The asymmetrical global higher education and knowledge systems ordered by Euro–American hegemony have been increasingly interrogated, especially by scholars in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). With gathering awareness, growing HSS scholars from non-Western backgrounds have called for global intellectual pluriversality. Responding to such a trend, this article sheds new light on the status quo of East Asian and other non-Euro–American intellectual traditions by taking Chinese intellectual traditions as a case. Since the nineteenth century, generations of Chinese intellectuals have strived to transform their intellectual traditions into modern resources. This historical mission has been carried on by contemporary scholars and become even more complex in the current global era. By unpacking the real perceptions and recent experiences of Chinese HSS scholars, this study demonstrates that Chinese intellectual traditions deeply influence today’s knowledge production and have been transformed into three kinds of academic resources: approaches, methodologies/paradigms, and theories. However, the transformation process has never been smooth. Domestically, the great endeavours of Chinese HSS scholars are often impeded by the dominant intellectual extraversion and coercive audit culture; internationally, they feel constrained by epistemic injustice. This article proposes an empirical approach to examining and presenting intellectual traditions in the individual experiences of scholars. It reveals the high complexities of navigating through asymmetrical globalisation to achieve intellectual pluriversality.
This paper develops a unified theory integrating the three pillars of the pension system—public, occupational, and private pensions—within a heterogeneous-agent overlapping generations (OLG) model. By incorporating income heterogeneity and institutional features unique to each pillar, the model captures how individuals across the income distribution participate in the pension system and derive utility. We characterize the distinct yet interactive roles of each pillar in providing risk sharing and retirement security and identify fundamental trade-offs in pension design. Our model provides a laboratory for analyzing the coordination of the three pillars that aims at enhancing equity and fiscal sustainability.