Delegation constraint management

The paper addresses the issue of providing access control via delegation and constraint management across multiple security domains. Specifically, this paper proposes a novel Delegation Constraint Management model to manage and enforce delegation constraints across security domains. An algorithm to trace the authority of delegation constraints is introduced as well as an algorithm to form a delegation constraint set and detect/prevent potential conflicts. The algorithms and the management model are built upon a set of formal definitions of delegation constraints. In addition, a constraint profile based on XACML is proposed as a means to express the delegation constraint. The paper also includes a protocol to exchange delegation constraints (in the form of user commitments) between the involved entities in the delegation process.

Engineering an Ecosystem : Taking Cues from Nature’s Paradigm to Build Tissue in the Lab and the Body

This manuscript took a 'top down' approach to understanding survival of inhabitant cells in the ecosystem bone, working from higher to lower length and time scales through the hierarchical ecosystem of bone. Our working hypothesis is that nature “engineered” the skeleton using a 'bottom up' approach,where mechanical properties of cells emerge from their adaptation to their local me-chanical milieu. Cell aggregation and formation of higher order anisotropic struc- ture results in emergent architectures through cell differentiation and extracellular matrix secretion. These emergent properties, including mechanical properties and architecture, result in mechanical adaptation at length scales and longer time scales which are most relevant for the survival of the vertebrate organism [Knothe Tate and von Recum 2009]. We are currently using insights from this approach to har-ness nature’s regeneration potential and to engineer novel mechanoactive materials [Knothe Tate et al. 2007, Knothe Tate et al. 2009]. In addition to potential applications of these exciting insights, these studies may provide important clues to evolution and development of vertebrate animals. For instance, one might ask why mesenchymal stem cells condense at all? There is a putative advantage to self-assembly and cooperation, but this advantage is somewhat outweighed by the need for infrastructural complexity (e.g., circulatory systems comprised of specific differentiated cell types which in turn form conduits and pumps to overcome limitations of mass transport via diffusion, for example; dif-fusion is untenable for multicellular organisms larger than 250 microns in diameter. A better question might be: Why do cells build skeletal tissue? Once cooperatingcells in tissues begin to deplete local sources of food in their aquatic environment, those that have evolved a means to locomote likely have an evolutionary advantage. Once the environment becomes less aquarian and more terrestrial, self-assembled organisms with the ability to move on land might have conferred evolutionary ad-vantages as well. So did the cytoskeleton evolve several length scales, enabling the emergence of skeletal architecture for vertebrate animals? Did the evolutionary advantage of motility over noncompliant terrestrial substrates (walking on land) favor adaptations including emergence of intracellular architecture (changes in the cytoskeleton and upregulation of structural protein manufacture), inter-cellular con- densation, mineralization of tissues, and emergence of higher order architectures?How far does evolutionary Darwinism extend and how can we exploit this knowl- edge to engineer smart materials and architectures on Earth and new, exploratory environments?[Knothe Tate et al. 2008]. We are limited only by our ability to imagine. Ultimately, we aim to understand nature, mimic nature, guide nature and/or exploit nature’s engineering paradigms without engineer-ing ourselves out of existence.

An analysis of parliamentary questions raised by Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh (India) State Legislative Assembly

The use of parliamentary questions is the most popular and visible tool in the hands of the Opposition as a means to make government accountable. Their main purpose is to seek information or press for action. Contemporary parliamentary literature from the UK, Canada, and Australia, however, suggests that parliamentary questions have lost their effectiveness. The literature points out that Question Time in parliaments has become a battle ground between Ruling and Opposition parties in their fight to gain maximum political advantage. In this context, the effectiveness of parliamentary questions in the Indian state legislatures has not been investigated. The aim of this study, therefore, is to analyse the use, purpose and effectiveness of parliamentary questions in the State Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (India) to explore differences, if any, between Ruling and Opposition parties. In this study, 4023 parliamentary questions asked in the Uttar Pradesh State Legislative Assembly were analysed. The effectiveness of answers was also analysed qualitatively. The results show that half of the total members of the Assembly used this device, out of which 60% of the questions were asked by the Opposition party members. 31% of the questions from the Opposition were seeking information and 69% were pressing for action. The government provided the required information in 96% of the questions in the former category and took action in only 35% of the latter category. Furthermore, 60% of the questions raised by the Opposition were related to constituency matters and the remaining 40% were related to policy issues or public welfare. Comparing the data with the ruling party, the results indicate that the use,purpose and effectiveness of parliamentary questions were similar to that of the Opposition except some minor differences. Surprisingly, there was no evidence of any ‘Dorothy Dix’ questions. The study concludes parliamentary question is an effective device in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

A synthesizable hardware evolutionary algorithm design for unmanned aerial system real-time path planning

The main objective of this paper is to detail the development of a feasible hardware design based on Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) to determine flight path planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) navigating terrain with obstacle boundaries. The design architecture includes the hardware implementation of Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) terrain and EA population memories within the hardware, as well as the EA search and evaluation algorithms used in the optimizing stage of path planning. A synthesisable Very-high-speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) implementation of the design was developed, for realisation on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platform. Simulation results show significant speedup compared with an equivalent software implementation written in C++, suggesting that the present approach is well suited for UAV real-time path planning applications.

QoS-oriented resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite Web services in a hybrid cloud using a random-key genetic algorithm

In cloud computing resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite web services is an important challenge. This is especially so in a hybrid cloud where there may be some free resources available from private clouds but some fee-paying resources from public clouds. Meeting this challenge involves two classical computational problems. One is assigning resources to each of the tasks in the composite web service. The other is scheduling the allocated resources when each resource may be used by more than one task and may be needed at different points of time. In addition, we must consider Quality-of-Service issues, such as execution time and running costs. Existing approaches to resource allocation and scheduling in public clouds and grid computing are not applicable to this new problem. This paper presents a random-key genetic algorithm that solves new resource allocation and scheduling problem. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and scalability of the algorithm.

A coupled meshless technique/molecular dynamics approach for deformation characterization of monocrystalline metal

This paper presents a multiscale study using the coupled Meshless technique/Molecular Dynamics (M2) for exploring the deformation mechanism of mono-crystalline metal (focus on copper) under uniaxial tension. In M2, an advanced transition algorithm using transition particles is employed to ensure the compatibility of both displacements and their gradients, and an effective local quasi-continuum approach is also applied to obtain the equivalent continuum strain energy density based on the atomistic poentials and Cauchy-Born rule. The key parameters used in M2 are firstly investigated using a benchmark problem. Then M2 is applied to the multiscale simulation for a mono-crystalline copper bar. It has found that the mono-crystalline copper has very good elongation property, and the ultimate strength and Young's modulus are much higher than those obtained in macro-scale.

Increasing underwater vehicle autonomy by reducing energy consumption

In this paper, we concern ourselves with finding a control strategy that minimizes energy consumption along a trajectory connecting two given configurations. We develop an algorithm, based on our previous work with the time optimal problem, which provides implementable control strategies that are energy efficient. We find an interesting correlation between the duration of these trajectories and the optimal duration. We present the algorithm, control strategy and experimental results from our test-bed vehicle.

Design and implementation of time efficient trajectories for an underwater vehicle

This paper discusses control strategies adapted for practical implementation and efficient motion of underwater vehicles. These trajectories are piecewise constant thrust arcs with few actuator switchings. We provide the numerical algorithm which computes the time efficient trajectories parameterized by the switching times. We discuss both the theoretical analysis and experimental implementation results.

Implementation results of efficient trajectories on a testbed AUV

In this paper we consider the implementation of time and energy efficient trajectories onto a test-bed autonomous underwater vehicle. The trajectories are losely connected to the results of the application of the maximum principle to the controlled mechanical system. We use a numerical algorithm to compute efficient trajectories designed using geometric control theory to optimize a given cost function. Experimental results are shown for the time minimization problem.

A Taxonomy of image matching techniques for stereo vision

Stereo vision is a method of depth perception, in which depth information is inferred from two (or more) images of a scene, taken from different perspectives. Applications of stereo vision include aerial photogrammetry, autonomous vehicle guidance, robotics, industrial automation and stereomicroscopy. A key issue in stereo vision is that of image matching, or identifying corresponding points in a stereo pair. The difference in the positions of corresponding points in image coordinates is termed the parallax or disparity. When the orientation of the two cameras is known, corresponding points may be projected back to find the location of the original object point in world coordinates. Matching techniques are typically categorised according to the nature of the matching primitives they use and the matching strategy they employ. This report provides a detailed taxonomy of image matching techniques, including area based, transform based, feature based, phase based, hybrid, relaxation based, dynamic programming and object space methods. A number of area based matching metrics as well as the rank and census transforms were implemented, in order to investigate their suitability for a real-time stereo sensor for mining automation applications. The requirements of this sensor were speed, robustness, and the ability to produce a dense depth map. The Sum of Absolute Differences matching metric was the least computationally expensive; however, this metric was the most sensitive to radiometric distortion. Metrics such as the Zero Mean Sum of Absolute Differences and Normalised Cross Correlation were the most robust to this type of distortion but introduced additional computational complexity. The rank and census transforms were found to be robust to radiometric distortion, in addition to having low computational complexity. They are therefore prime candidates for a matching algorithm for a stereo sensor for real-time mining applications. A number of issues came to light during this investigation which may merit further work. These include devising a means to evaluate and compare disparity results of different matching algorithms, and finding a method of assigning a level of confidence to a match. Another issue of interest is the possibility of statistically combining the results of different matching algorithms, in order to improve robustness.

Geometric and force relationships for the development of a scaled model hydraulic excavator

Hydraulic excavators in the mining industry are widely used owing to the large payload capabilities these machines can achieve. However, there are very few optimisation studies for producing efficient hydraulic excavator backets. An efficient bucket can avoid unnecessary weight; greatly influence the payload and optimise the efficiency of hydraulic mining excavators. This paper presents a framework for the development of a scaled hydraulic excavator by examining the geometry and force relationships. A small hydraulic excavator was purchased and fitted with a broom scaled to a factor. Geometric and force relationships of the model were derived to assist computer instrumentation to retrieve necessary variable input for bucket design.

Diffusion of business improvement processes in manufacturing companies in India

Manufacturing organisations spend more on Business Process Improvement initiatives to make them more competitive in growing global market. This paper presents a Rapid Improvement Workshop (RIW) framework which companies can used to identify the critical factors regulating the diffusion of business process improvement in their company. The framework can then be used address how process improvement can be efficiently implemented. We use the results from case studies at Caterpillar India. The paper identifies the critical factors that contribute to the successful implementation of process improvement programs in manufacturing organisations. We further identify certain technological and cultural barriers to the implementation of process improvement programs and how Indian manufacturing companies can overcome these barriers to attain competitive advantage in the global markets.

Clone detection in repositories of business process models

As organizations reach to higher levels of business process management maturity, they often find themselves maintaining repositories of hundreds or even thousands of process models, representing valuable knowledge about their operations. Over time, process model repositories tend to accumulate duplicate fragments (also called clones) as new process models are created or extended by copying and merging fragments from other models. This calls for methods to detect clones in process models, so that these clones can be refactored as separate subprocesses in order to improve maintainability. This paper presents an indexing structure to support the fast detection of clones in large process model repositories. The proposed index is based on a novel combination of a method for process model decomposition (specifically the Refined Process Structure Tree), with established graph canonization and string matching techniques. Experiments show that the algorithm scales to repositories with hundreds of models. The experimental results also show that a significant number of non-trivial clones can be found in process model repositories taken from industrial practice.

In-depth analysis of the J.A.C.K. model

The Texas Transportation Commission (“the Commission”) is responsible for planning and making policies for the location, construction, and maintenance of a comprehensive system of highways and public roads in Texas. In order for the Commission to carry out its legislative mandate, the Texas Constitution requires that most revenue generated by motor vehicle registration fees and motor fuel taxes be used for constructing and maintaining public roadways and other designated purposes. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) assists the Commission in executing state transportation policy. It is the responsibility of the legislature to appropriate money for TxDOT’s operation and maintenance expenses. All money authorized to be appropriated for TxDOT’s operations must come from the State Highway Fund (also known as Fund 6, Fund 006, or Fund 0006). The Commission can then use the balance in the fund to fulfill its responsibilities. However, the value of the revenue received in Fund 6 is not keeping pace with growing demand for transportation infrastructure in Texas. Additionally, diversion of revenue to nontransportation uses now exceeds $600 million per year. As shown in Figure 1.1, revenues and expenditures of the State Highway Fund per vehicle mile traveled (VMT) in Texas have remained almost flat since 1993. In the meantime, construction cost inflation has gone up more than 100%, effectively halving the value of expenditure.