Optimal control, geometry, and quantum computing

We prove upper and lower bounds relating the quantum gate complexity of a unitary operation, U, to the optimal control cost associated to the synthesis of U. These bounds apply for any optimal control problem, and can be used to show that the quantum gate complexity is essentially equivalent to the optimal control cost for a wide range of problems, including time-optimal control and finding minimal distances on certain Riemannian, sub-Riemannian, and Finslerian manifolds. These results generalize the results of [Nielsen, Dowling, Gu, and Doherty, Science 311, 1133 (2006)], which showed that the gate complexity can be related to distances on a Riemannian manifold.

Using context and preferences to implement self-adapting pervasive computing applications

Applications that exploit contextual information in order to adapt their behaviour to dynamically changing operating environments and user requirements are increasingly being explored as part of the vision of pervasive or ubiquitous computing. Despite recent advances in infrastructure to support these applications through the acquisition, interpretation and dissemination of context data from sensors, they remain prohibitively difficult to develop and have made little penetration beyond the laboratory. This situation persists largely due to a lack of appropriately high-level abstractions for describing, reasoning about and exploiting context information as a basis for adaptation. In this paper, we present our efforts to address this challenge, focusing on our novel approach involving the use of preference information as a basis for making flexible adaptation decisions. We also discuss our experiences in applying our conceptual and software frameworks for context and preference modelling to a case study involving the development of an adaptive communication application.

Developing context-aware pervasive computing applications: Models and approach

There is growing interest in the use of context-awareness as a technique for developing pervasive computing applications that are flexible, adaptable, and capable of acting autonomously on behalf of users. However, context-awareness introduces a variety of software engineering challenges. In this paper, we address these challenges by proposing a set of conceptual models designed to support the software engineering process, including context modelling techniques, a preference model for representing context-dependent requirements, and two programming models. We also present a software infrastructure and software engineering process that can be used in conjunction with our models. Finally, we discuss a case study that demonstrates the strengths of our models and software engineering approach with respect to a set of software quality metrics.

RSA-Grid: A grid computing based framework for power system reliability and security analysis

Grid computing is an emerging technology for providing the high performance computing capability and collaboration mechanism for solving the collaborated and complex problems while using the existing resources. In this paper, a grid computing based framework is proposed for the probabilistic based power system reliability and security analysis. The suggested name of this computing grid is Reliability and Security Grid (RSA-Grid). Then the architecture of this grid is presented. A prototype system has been built for further development of grid-based services for power systems reliability and security assessment based on probabilistic techniques, which require high performance computing and large amount of memory. Preliminary results based on prototype of this grid show that RSA-Grid can provide the comprehensive assessment results for real power systems efficiently and economically.

Impact of Commercial Search Engines and International Databases on Engineering Teaching and Research

For the last three decades, the engineering higher education and professional environments have been completely transformed by the "electronic/digital information revolution" that has included the introduction of personal computer, the development of email and world wide web, and broadband Internet connections at home. Herein the writer compares the performances of several digital tools with traditional library resources. While new specialised search engines and open access digital repositories may fill a gap between conventional search engines and traditional references, these should be not be confused with real libraries and international scientific databases that encompass textbooks and peer-reviewed scholarly works. An absence of listing in some Internet search listings, databases and repositories is not an indication of standing. Researchers, engineers and academics should remember these key differences in assessing the quality of bibliographic "research" based solely upon Internet searches.

Religious Information Poverty in Australian State Schools

This paper introduces the concept of religious information poverty in Australian state schools from an information science perspective. Information scientists have been theorising about the global information society for some time, along with its increased provision of vital information for the good of the world. Australian state schools see themselves as preparing children for effective participation in the information society, yet Australian children are currently suffering a religious illiteracy that undermines this goal. Some reasons and theories are offered to explain the existence of religious information poverty in state schools, and suggestions for professional stakeholders are offered for its alleviation.

Hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer: estimate of risk: Education debate

The risk of breast cancer arises from a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. Recent studies show that type and duration of use of hormone replacement therapy affect a women's risk of developing breast cancer.1-7 The women's health initiative trial was stopped early because of excess adverse cardiovascular events and invasive breast cancer with oestrogen and progestogen.6 The publicity increased public awareness of the risks of hormone replacement therapy, and this was heightened by the publication of the million women study.2 However, the recently published oestrogen only arm of the women's health initiative trial suggests that this formulation may reduce the risk of breast cancer.8 To help make sense of the often confusing information,9 women and clinicians need individual rather than population risk data. We have produced estimates that can be used to calculate individual risk for women living up to the age of 79 and suggest the risk