7,226 research outputs found

    Configuration Management of Distributed Systems over Unreliable and Hostile Networks

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    Economic incentives of large criminal profits and the threat of legal consequences have pushed criminals to continuously improve their malware, especially command and control channels. This thesis applied concepts from successful malware command and control to explore the survivability and resilience of benign configuration management systems. This work expands on existing stage models of malware life cycle to contribute a new model for identifying malware concepts applicable to benign configuration management. The Hidden Master architecture is a contribution to master-agent network communication. In the Hidden Master architecture, communication between master and agent is asynchronous and can operate trough intermediate nodes. This protects the master secret key, which gives full control of all computers participating in configuration management. Multiple improvements to idempotent configuration were proposed, including the definition of the minimal base resource dependency model, simplified resource revalidation and the use of imperative general purpose language for defining idempotent configuration. Following the constructive research approach, the improvements to configuration management were designed into two prototypes. This allowed validation in laboratory testing, in two case studies and in expert interviews. In laboratory testing, the Hidden Master prototype was more resilient than leading configuration management tools in high load and low memory conditions, and against packet loss and corruption. Only the research prototype was adaptable to a network without stable topology due to the asynchronous nature of the Hidden Master architecture. The main case study used the research prototype in a complex environment to deploy a multi-room, authenticated audiovisual system for a client of an organization deploying the configuration. The case studies indicated that imperative general purpose language can be used for idempotent configuration in real life, for defining new configurations in unexpected situations using the base resources, and abstracting those using standard language features; and that such a system seems easy to learn. Potential business benefits were identified and evaluated using individual semistructured expert interviews. Respondents agreed that the models and the Hidden Master architecture could reduce costs and risks, improve developer productivity and allow faster time-to-market. Protection of master secret keys and the reduced need for incident response were seen as key drivers for improved security. Low-cost geographic scaling and leveraging file serving capabilities of commodity servers were seen to improve scaling and resiliency. Respondents identified jurisdictional legal limitations to encryption and requirements for cloud operator auditing as factors potentially limiting the full use of some concepts

    A deep learning-enhanced digital twin framework for improving safety and reliability in human-robot collaborative manufacturing

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    In Industry 5.0, Digital Twins bring in flexibility and efficiency for smart manufacturing. Recently, the success of artificial intelligence techniques such as deep learning has led to their adoption in manufacturing and especially in human–robot collaboration. Collaborative manufacturing tasks involving human operators and robots pose significant safety and reliability concerns. In response to these concerns, a deep learning-enhanced Digital Twin framework is introduced through which human operators and robots can be detected and their actions can be classified during the manufacturing process, enabling autonomous decision making by the robot control system. Developed using Unreal Engine 4, our Digital Twin framework complies with the Robotics Operating System specification, and supports synchronous control and communication between the Digital Twin and the physical system. In our framework, a fully-supervised detector based on a faster region-based convolutional neural network is firstly trained on synthetic data generated by the Digital Twin, and then tested on the physical system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed Digital Twin-based framework. To ensure safety and reliability, a semi-supervised detector is further designed to bridge the gap between the twin system and the physical system, and improved performance is achieved by the semi-supervised detector compared to the fully-supervised detector that is simply trained on either synthetic data or real data. The evaluation of the framework in multiple scenarios in which human operators collaborate with a Universal Robot 10 shows that it can accurately detect the human and robot, and classify their actions under a variety of conditions. The data from this evaluation have been made publicly available, and can be widely used for research and operational purposes. Additionally, a semi-automated annotation tool from the Digital Twin framework is published to benefit the collaborative robotics community

    Evolutionary ecology of obligate fungal and microsporidian invertebrate pathogens

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    The interactions between hosts and their parasites and pathogens are omnipresent in the natural world. These symbioses are not only key players in ecosystem functioning, but also drive genetic diversity through co-evolutionary adaptations. Within the speciose invertebrates, a plethora of interactions with obligate fungal and microsporidian pathogens exist, however the known interactions is likely only a fraction of the true diversity. Obligate invertebrate fungal and microsporidian pathogen require a host to continue their life cycle, some of which have specialised in certain host species and require host death to transmit to new hosts. Due to their requirement to kill a host to spread to a new one, obligate fungal and microsporidian pathogens regulate invertebrate host populations. Pathogen specialisation to a single or very few hosts has led to some fungi evolving the ability to manipulate their host’s behaviour to maximise transmission. The entomopathogenic fungus, Entomophthora muscae, infects houseflies (Musca domestica) over a week-long proliferation cycle, resulting in flies climbing to elevated positions, gluing their mouthparts to the substrate surface, and raising their wings to allow for a clear exit from fungal conidia through the host abdomen. These sequential behaviours are all timed to occur within a few hours of sunset. The E. muscae mechanisms used in controlling the mind of the fly remain relatively unknown, and whether other fitness costs ensue from an infection are understudied.European Commissio

    AN ANALYSIS OF IF THE ADVANCED PLACEMENT: WORLD HISTORY MODERN READING IS EFFECTIVE TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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    This study explored if the AP World History: Modern Reading is effective teacher professional development and if it impacts teachers and students. Desimone’s Core Conceptual Framework served as the foundation for which to evaluate professional development. Adult learning theory served as the theoretical framework. The researcher used a mixed methods explanatory sequential design. A survey was completed by 83 AP World History: Modern high school teachers who had attended the AP World History: Modern on-site Reading. The survey provided data on teacher perceptions of the Reading as well as the perceived impacts on student learning. The researcher then conducted a focus group discussion with eight participants to study teacher perceptions and the impact on student learning in greater depth. Quantitative and qualitative results were integrated in order to gain a deeper understanding. The researcher found that attending the AP World History: Modern on-site Reading is beneficial teacher professional development. The structure of the in-person Reading allows for collaboration, engages participants and is relevant to the attendees’ classroom practice. As a result of attending the Reading, teachers perceive increases in their knowledge and understanding of exam requirements, and they perceive increased levels of confidence in their abilities to instruct students and assess student learning. Teachers perceive that attending the AP World History: Modern Reading improved their students’ scores and contributed to growth in student learning

    Technology for Low Resolution Space Based RSO Detection and Characterisation

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    Space Situational Awareness (SSA) refers to all activities to detect, identify and track objects in Earth orbit. SSA is critical to all current and future space activities and protect space assets by providing access control, conjunction warnings, and monitoring status of active satellites. Currently SSA methods and infrastructure are not sufficient to account for the proliferations of space debris. In response to the need for better SSA there has been many different areas of research looking to improve SSA most of the requiring dedicated ground or space-based infrastructure. In this thesis, a novel approach for the characterisation of RSO’s (Resident Space Objects) from passive low-resolution space-based sensors is presented with all the background work performed to enable this novel method. Low resolution space-based sensors are common on current satellites, with many of these sensors being in space using them passively to detect RSO’s can greatly augment SSA with out expensive infrastructure or long lead times. One of the largest hurtles to overcome with research in the area has to do with the lack of publicly available labelled data to test and confirm results with. To overcome this hurtle a simulation software, ORBITALS, was created. To verify and validate the ORBITALS simulator it was compared with the Fast Auroral Imager images, which is one of the only publicly available low-resolution space-based images found with auxiliary data. During the development of the ORBITALS simulator it was found that the generation of these simulated images are computationally intensive when propagating the entire space catalog. To overcome this an upgrade of the currently used propagation method, Specialised General Perturbation Method 4th order (SGP4), was performed to allow the algorithm to run in parallel reducing the computational time required to propagate entire catalogs of RSO’s. From the results it was found that the standard facet model with a particle swarm optimisation performed the best estimating an RSO’s attitude with a 0.66 degree RMSE accuracy across a sequence, and ~1% MAPE accuracy for the optical properties. This accomplished this thesis goal of demonstrating the feasibility of low-resolution passive RSO characterisation from space-based platforms in a simulated environment

    Beam scanning by liquid-crystal biasing in a modified SIW structure

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    A fixed-frequency beam-scanning 1D antenna based on Liquid Crystals (LCs) is designed for application in 2D scanning with lateral alignment. The 2D array environment imposes full decoupling of adjacent 1D antennas, which often conflicts with the LC requirement of DC biasing: the proposed design accommodates both. The LC medium is placed inside a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) modified to work as a Groove Gap Waveguide, with radiating slots etched on the upper broad wall, that radiates as a Leaky-Wave Antenna (LWA). This allows effective application of the DC bias voltage needed for tuning the LCs. At the same time, the RF field remains laterally confined, enabling the possibility to lay several antennas in parallel and achieve 2D beam scanning. The design is validated by simulation employing the actual properties of a commercial LC medium

    Innovation in Energy Security and Long-Term Energy Efficiency â…ˇ

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    The sustainable development of our planet depends on the use of energy. The increasing world population inevitably causes an increase in the demand for energy, which, on the one hand, threatens us with the potential to encounter a shortage of energy supply, and, on the other hand, causes the deterioration of the environment. Therefore, our task is to reduce this demand through different innovative solutions (i.e., both technological and social). Social marketing and economic policies can also play their role by affecting the behavior of households and companies and by causing behavioral change oriented to energy stewardship, with an overall switch to renewable energy resources. This reprint provides a platform for the exchange of a wide range of ideas, which, ultimately, would facilitate driving societies toward long-term energy efficiency

    Blending the Material and Digital World for Hybrid Interfaces

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    The development of digital technologies in the 21st century is progressing continuously and new device classes such as tablets, smartphones or smartwatches are finding their way into our everyday lives. However, this development also poses problems, as these prevailing touch and gestural interfaces often lack tangibility, take little account of haptic qualities and therefore require full attention from their users. Compared to traditional tools and analog interfaces, the human skills to experience and manipulate material in its natural environment and context remain unexploited. To combine the best of both, a key question is how it is possible to blend the material world and digital world to design and realize novel hybrid interfaces in a meaningful way. Research on Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) investigates the coupling between physical objects and virtual data. In contrast, hybrid interfaces, which specifically aim to digitally enrich analog artifacts of everyday work, have not yet been sufficiently researched and systematically discussed. Therefore, this doctoral thesis rethinks how user interfaces can provide useful digital functionality while maintaining their physical properties and familiar patterns of use in the real world. However, the development of such hybrid interfaces raises overarching research questions about the design: Which kind of physical interfaces are worth exploring? What type of digital enhancement will improve existing interfaces? How can hybrid interfaces retain their physical properties while enabling new digital functions? What are suitable methods to explore different design? And how to support technology-enthusiast users in prototyping? For a systematic investigation, the thesis builds on a design-oriented, exploratory and iterative development process using digital fabrication methods and novel materials. As a main contribution, four specific research projects are presented that apply and discuss different visual and interactive augmentation principles along real-world applications. The applications range from digitally-enhanced paper, interactive cords over visual watch strap extensions to novel prototyping tools for smart garments. While almost all of them integrate visual feedback and haptic input, none of them are built on rigid, rectangular pixel screens or use standard input modalities, as they all aim to reveal new design approaches. The dissertation shows how valuable it can be to rethink familiar, analog applications while thoughtfully extending them digitally. Finally, this thesis’ extensive work of engineering versatile research platforms is accompanied by overarching conceptual work, user evaluations and technical experiments, as well as literature reviews.Die Durchdringung digitaler Technologien im 21. Jahrhundert schreitet stetig voran und neue Geräteklassen wie Tablets, Smartphones oder Smartwatches erobern unseren Alltag. Diese Entwicklung birgt aber auch Probleme, denn die vorherrschenden berührungsempfindlichen Oberflächen berücksichtigen kaum haptische Qualitäten und erfordern daher die volle Aufmerksamkeit ihrer Nutzer:innen. Im Vergleich zu traditionellen Werkzeugen und analogen Schnittstellen bleiben die menschlichen Fähigkeiten ungenutzt, die Umwelt mit allen Sinnen zu begreifen und wahrzunehmen. Um das Beste aus beiden Welten zu vereinen, stellt sich daher die Frage, wie neuartige hybride Schnittstellen sinnvoll gestaltet und realisiert werden können, um die materielle und die digitale Welt zu verschmelzen. In der Forschung zu Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) wird die Verbindung zwischen physischen Objekten und virtuellen Daten untersucht. Noch nicht ausreichend erforscht wurden hingegen hybride Schnittstellen, die speziell darauf abzielen, physische Gegenstände des Alltags digital zu erweitern und anhand geeigneter Designparameter und Entwurfsräume systematisch zu untersuchen. In dieser Dissertation wird daher untersucht, wie Materialität und Digitalität nahtlos ineinander übergehen können. Es soll erforscht werden, wie künftige Benutzungsschnittstellen nützliche digitale Funktionen bereitstellen können, ohne ihre physischen Eigenschaften und vertrauten Nutzungsmuster in der realen Welt zu verlieren. Die Entwicklung solcher hybriden Ansätze wirft jedoch übergreifende Forschungsfragen zum Design auf: Welche Arten von physischen Schnittstellen sind es wert, betrachtet zu werden? Welche Art von digitaler Erweiterung verbessert das Bestehende? Wie können hybride Konzepte ihre physischen Eigenschaften beibehalten und gleichzeitig neue digitale Funktionen ermöglichen? Was sind geeignete Methoden, um verschiedene Designs zu erforschen? Wie kann man Technologiebegeisterte bei der Erstellung von Prototypen unterstützen? Für eine systematische Untersuchung stützt sich die Arbeit auf einen designorientierten, explorativen und iterativen Entwicklungsprozess unter Verwendung digitaler Fabrikationsmethoden und neuartiger Materialien. Im Hauptteil werden vier Forschungsprojekte vorgestellt, die verschiedene visuelle und interaktive Prinzipien entlang realer Anwendungen diskutieren. Die Szenarien reichen von digital angereichertem Papier, interaktiven Kordeln über visuelle Erweiterungen von Uhrarmbändern bis hin zu neuartigen Prototyping-Tools für intelligente Kleidungsstücke. Um neue Designansätze aufzuzeigen, integrieren nahezu alle visuelles Feedback und haptische Eingaben, um Alternativen zu Standard-Eingabemodalitäten auf starren Pixelbildschirmen zu schaffen. Die Dissertation hat gezeigt, wie wertvoll es sein kann, bekannte, analoge Anwendungen zu überdenken und sie dabei gleichzeitig mit Bedacht digital zu erweitern. Dabei umfasst die vorliegende Arbeit sowohl realisierte technische Forschungsplattformen als auch übergreifende konzeptionelle Arbeiten, Nutzerstudien und technische Experimente sowie die Analyse existierender Forschungsarbeiten

    Systemic Circular Economy Solutions for Fiber Reinforced Composites

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    This open access book provides an overview of the work undertaken within the FiberEUse project, which developed solutions enhancing the profitability of composite recycling and reuse in value-added products, with a cross-sectorial approach. Glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymers, or composites, are increasingly used as structural materials in many manufacturing sectors like transport, constructions and energy due to their better lightweight and corrosion resistance compared to metals. However, composite recycling is still a challenge since no significant added value in the recycling and reprocessing of composites is demonstrated. FiberEUse developed innovative solutions and business models towards sustainable Circular Economy solutions for post-use composite-made products. Three strategies are presented, namely mechanical recycling of short fibers, thermal recycling of long fibers and modular car parts design for sustainable disassembly and remanufacturing. The validation of the FiberEUse approach within eight industrial demonstrators shows the potentials towards new Circular Economy value-chains for composite materials

    Sensing Collectives: Aesthetic and Political Practices Intertwined

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    Are aesthetics and politics really two different things? The book takes a new look at how they intertwine, by turning from theory to practice. Case studies trace how sensory experiences are created and how collective interests are shaped. They investigate how aesthetics and politics are entangled, both in building and disrupting collective orders, in governance and innovation. This ranges from populist rallies and artistic activism over alternative lifestyles and consumer culture to corporate PR and governmental policies. Authors are academics and artists. The result is a new mapping of the intermingling and co-constitution of aesthetics and politics in engagements with collective orders
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