ABSTRACT:
Academic departments seeking to reach students via distance education course offerings find that some on-line curricula require a traditional hands-on lab model for student evaluation and assessment. The authors solve the problem of providing distance education curriculum and supporting instruction lab components by using a low-cost remote lab. The remote lab is used to evaluate student performance in managing web services and website development, solving security problems, patch management, scripting and web server management. In addition, the authors discuss assessment and evaluation techniques that will be used to determine instructional quality and student performance. Discussed are the remote lab architecture, use of disk images and utilization of Windows 2003 Internet Information Service, and Linux Red Hat 9.0 platforms.

ABSTRACT:
In order to improve the bandwidth allocation considering feedback of operational environment, adaptable bandwidth planning based on reinforcement learning is proposed. The approach is based on new constrained scheduling algorithms controlled by reinforcement learning techniques. Different constrained scheduling algorithms,, such as “conflict free scheduling with minimum duration”, “partial displacement” and “pattern oriented scheduling” are defined and implemented. The scheduling algorithms are integrated into reinforcement learning strategies. These strategies include: - Q-learning for selection of optimal planning schedule using Q-values; - Informed Q-learning for exploitation and handling of prior-knowledge (patterns) of network behaviour; - Relational Q-learning for improving of bandwidth allocation policies dynamically in operational networks considering actual network performance data. Scenarios based on integration of the scheduling algorithms and reinforcement learning techniques in the experimental monitoring and bandwidth planning system called QORE (QoS and resource optimisation) are given. The proposed adaptable bandwidth planning is required for more efficient usage of network resources.

ABSTRACT:
CdTe and (CdZn)Te bulk single crystals have been widely used as substrates for MBE and LPE epitaxy of infrared (HgCd)Te as well as gamma- and X-ray detectors. The Cd1-xZnxTe (x = 0.04-0.1) single crystals with diameter up to 100 mm and height at most 40 mm were prepared in our laboratory in a vertical arrangement by gradual cooling of the melt (the Vertical Gradient Freezing method). Achievement of excellent crystal quality required full control of Cd pressure during the growth process and application of high Cd pressures (up to 4 bar) at growth temperature. An electronic control system was designed to control both temperature and internal pressure of two zones CZT crystal growth furnace by using two high performance PID controllers/setpoint programmers. Two wire current loop serial communication bus was used for the data exchange and computer control of the furnace electronics setup. Control software was written to supervise the crystal growth process and to collect all important data and parameters.

ABSTRACT:
The Design of TCP/IP protocol makes it difficult to reliably traceback to the original attackers if they obscure their identities by logging through a chain of multiple hosts. A thumbprint method based on connection content was proposed in 1995 to traceback attackers, but this method is limited to non-encrypted sessions. In this paper, we propose a thumbprint based on time intervals, T-thumbprint, to identify a connection. T-thumbprint is a sequence of time gaps between adjacent TCP ‘Send’ packets of an interactive terminal session. An algorithm is presented to correlate two T-thumbprints to see if they belong to the same connection chain. We also discuss how to use T-thumbprints to traceback an attacker on the Internet, and how to defeat at-tacker’s manipulation. T-thumbprint has advantages of: (1) It can be applied to encrypt sessions; (2) It does not require tightly synchronized clocks; (3) It can defeat attacker’s manipulation to some extent; and (4) It is efficient, can be used to trace attackers in real time.

ABSTRACT:
The creation of digital simulations through the use of computers improved physical education of pre-service teachers. The method which was based on up-to-date studies focuses on the visualization of the body’s movements in space. The main program of the research concentrated on building curriculum for teaching physical education through computerized presentations. The pre-service teachers reported about their progress in a variety of physical skills and their motivation in both kinds of learning was enhanced.

ABSTRACT:
A new Digital Reactor Protection System (DRPS) based on VME bus Single Board Computer has been developed by KOPEC to prevent software Common Mode Failure(CMF) inside digital system. The new DRPS has been proved to be an effective digital safety system to prevent CMF by Defense-in-Depth and Diversity (DID&D) analysis. However, for practical use in Nuclear Power Plants, the performance test and the reliability test are essential for the digital system qualification. In this study, a single channel of DRPS prototype has been manufactured for the evaluation of DRPS capabilities. The integrated functional tests are performed and the system reliability is analyzed and tested. The results of reliability test show that the application software of DRPS has a very high reliability compared with the analog reactor protection systems.

ABSTRACT:
The extensive use of energy generation processes presents a severe challenge to the environment and makes indispensable to focus the research on the maximization of the energy efficiency and minimization of environmental impact like NOx and CO emissions. The proposed idea describes an approach, based on an artificial life environment, for on-line optimization of complex processes for energy production. Such an approach is based on the evolutionary control methodology which, by emulating the mechanism of the biological evolution, composes the capability of sophisticated models with the continuous learning. In order to work with MSWC (Municipal Solid Waste Combustion) it was necessary to improve the stability of the optimizer to obtain a good compromise between stability and reactivity. In this way, a specific MSWI performance function has been properly defined in order to quantitatively characterize the current status of the process. The evolutionary control approach has been successfully tested on a MSWC simulator and subsequently installed on a real MWSC plant which produce electricity and heat for a small Italian town (Ferrara). The paper reports the first promising experimental tests on the real plant for optimization of energetic efficiency and pollutant emission reduction.

ABSTRACT:
Studies have shown that visualization can be an effective methodology in analyzing a large amount of data rapidly by exploiting the user’s perceptual cognition. Especially, where the information space is filled by considerable amount of noise. This paper introduces a visualization method that presents online message boards through an intuitive graphical illustration. The improved system achieves higher visual abstraction by applying color coding to symbolize multiple attributes – activities, time-related factors, and turbulence – of threads together. The magnitude of each thread is projected as the dimension of a graphical shape. In addition, the system provides the significance of threads with the positional attribute on the viewing window. Preliminary analysis reiterates the efficiency of the visual interface for search activities and also suggests further agendas for future study.

ABSTRACT:
Robotic vision has become a very popular field in recent years due to the numerous promising applications it may enhance. However, errors within the cameras and in their perception of their environment can cause applications in robotics to fail. To help correct these internal and external imperfections, stereo camera calibrations are performed. There are currently many accurate methods of camera calibration available; however, most or all of them are time consuming and labor intensive. This research seeks to automate the most labor intensive aspects of a popular calibration technique developed by Jean-Yves Bouguet. His process requires manual selection of the extreme corners of a checkerboard pattern. The modified process uses embedded LEDs in the checkerboard pattern to act as active fiducials. Images are captured of the checkerboard with the LEDs on and off in rapid succession. The difference of the two images automatically highlights the location of the four extreme corners, and these corner locations take the place of the manual selections. With this modification to the calibration routine, upwards of eighty mouse clicks are eliminated per stereo calibration. Preliminary test results indicate that accuracy is not substantially affected by the modified procedure. Improved automation to camera calibration procedures may finally penetrate the barriers to the use of calibration in practice.

ABSTRACT:
This paper presents a global framework which enables the end- user to design, enrich and maintain an ontology from an existing database. These functionalities facilitate the development and maintenance of Semantic Web applications from frequently updated and domain- concerned databases. The efficiency of this framework is evaluated through the study of a medicine - oriented Semantic Web application which benefits from all the features of the DBOM framework.

ABSTRACT:
In recent years, World Wide Web usage for teaching and learning has increased rapidly. At the same time, the traditional paper based grading of home works have also not changed. Recently there have been many researches on automated and intelligent grading. Clearly an online grading system would be a highly desirable addition to the educational tool-kit, particularly if it can provide less costly and more effective outcome. To facilitate the student and faculties in submitting and grading their home works, a new, interactive and adaptable approach has been implemented. The unique feature of this research is to allow the grader to mark over the assignment submitted and to add comments to it. Common errors committed are recorded and is used to recommend the instructor to review certain topics which corresponds to the high error percentage. The system has been developed by making use of free distribution of software products available for the public. Based upon our experience we offer suggestions for improving the system to make it an adaptive system

ABSTRACT:
The Census Interaction Data Service (CIDS) is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK to provide access for social science researchers and students to the detailed migration and journey-to-work statistics that are collected by the national statistical agencies. These interaction data sets are known collectively as the Special Migration Statistics (SMS) and the Special Workplace Statistics (SWS). This paper outlines how problems of user access to these data have been tackled through the development of a web-based system known as WICID (Web-based Interface to Census Interaction Data). The paper illustrates various interface features including some of the query building facilities that enable users to extract counts of flows of particular groups of individuals between selected origin and destination areas. New tools are outlined for assisting area selection using digital maps of census geographies, for planning output and for adding value to the data through analysis. Mapping of flows of migrants between London boroughs and the rest of the UK demonstrates the value of the data. The paper begins with a summary of the data sets that are contained within the system and an outline of the system architecture.

ABSTRACT:
A general framework is developed to treat optimal control problems for a generalized Black-Scholes model, which is used for option pricing. The volatility function is retrieved from a set of market observations. The optimal volatility function is found by minimizing the cost functional measuring the discrepancy between the model solution (pricing) and the observed market price, via the unconstrained minimization algorithm of the quasi-Newton limited memory type. The gradient is computed via the adjoint method. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated on an European call option.

ABSTRACT:
Since the beginning of optical telecommunications, the most simple modulation format has been employed in optical links. This format is called OOK (On Off Keying). With the increases in bit rates, number of optical channels in Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) configuration, and the augmentation of power in each channel, new modulation formats have been studied in the last years. Today, in order to increase the quality of optical links, tendency is to modify the modulation scheme used to encode information in light signals. Particularly, the Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) format presents an increased tolerance to non-linear effects in optical fibers, justifying the interest for using this format in optical communications links. In the past two years, some studies investigated the possibilities to transmit 40 Gbps data rates on the deployed 10 Gbps links. An interesting solution consists in using the Phase Shaped Binary Transmission (PSBT) modulation format. With this technique, the system upgrade costs from 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps are reduced, justifying the use of PSBT. In this paper, we present two applications of Mach-Zehnder Inteferometers (MZIs), used in optical communication links. We first review the principles of the Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK), a phase modulation scheme, and its interest in optical communications. After that, we also focus on a recently introduced modulation format: the all-optical Phase Shaped Binary Transmission (PSBT).