Prototype of Fault Adaptive Embedded Software for Large-Scale Real-Time Systems

This paper describes a comprehensive prototype of large-scale fault adaptive embedded software developed for the proposed Fermilab BTeV high energy physics experiment. Lightweight self-optimizing agents embedded within Level 1 of the prototype are responsible for proactive and reactive monitoring and mitigation based on specified layers of competence. The agents are self-protecting, detecting cascading failures using a distributed approach. Adaptive, reconfigurable, and mobile objects for reliablility are designed to be self-configuring to adapt automatically to dynamically changing environments. These objects provide a self-healing layer with the ability to discover, diagnose, and react to discontinuities in real-time processing. A generic modeling environment was developed to facilitate design and implementation of hardware resource specifications, application data flow, and failure mitigation strategies. Level 1 of the planned BTeV trigger system alone will consist of 2500 DSPs, so the number of components and intractable fault scenarios involved make it impossible to design an `expert system' that applies traditional centralized mitigative strategies based on rules capturing every possible system state. Instead, a distributed reactive approach is implemented using the tools and methodologies developed by the Real-Time Embedded Systems group.Comment: 2nd Workshop on Engineering of Autonomic Systems (EASe), in the 12th Annual IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer Based Systems (ECBS), Washington, DC, April, 200

Cooperation between expert knowledge and data mining discovered knowledge: Lessons learned

Expert systems are built from knowledge traditionally elicited from the human expert. It is precisely knowledge elicitation from the expert that is the bottleneck in expert system construction. On the other hand, a data mining system, which automatically extracts knowledge, needs expert guidance on the successive decisions to be made in each of the system phases. In this context, expert knowledge and data mining discovered knowledge can cooperate, maximizing their individual capabilities: data mining discovered knowledge can be used as a complementary source of knowledge for the expert system, whereas expert knowledge can be used to guide the data mining process. This article summarizes different examples of systems where there is cooperation between expert knowledge and data mining discovered knowledge and reports our experience of such cooperation gathered from a medical diagnosis project called Intelligent Interpretation of Isokinetics Data, which we developed. From that experience, a series of lessons were learned throughout project development. Some of these lessons are generally applicable and others pertain exclusively to certain project types

Project knowledge into project practice: generational issues in the knowledge management process

This paper considers Learning and Knowledge Transfer within the project domain. Knowledge can be a tenuous and elusive concept, and is challenging to transfer within organizations and projects. This challenge is compounded when we consider generational differences in the project and the workplace. This paper looks at learning, and the transfer of that generated knowledge. A number of tools and frameworks have been considered, together with accumulated extant literature. These issues have been deliberated through the lens of different generational types, focusing on the issues and differences in knowledge engagement and absorption between Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y/Millennials. Generation Z/Centennials have also been included where appropriate. This is a significant issue in modern project and organizational structures. Some recommendations are offered to assist in effective knowledge transfer across generational types.Accepted manuscrip

Never again!: how the lessons from Auschwitz project impacts on schools in Scotland

As the education for citizenship agenda continues to impact on schools in Scotland, and with the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) in conjunction with the Scottish Government organising its Lessons From Auschwitz Project for Scottish students and teachers until 2011, this study aimed to investigate the school processes by which students were chosen to participate in the Lessons From Auschwitz (LFA) project; examine student and teacher perceptions of the LFA Project; investigate the impact the LFA Project has on student citizenship values and on their schools and communities; and investigate the impact the LFA Project has on teachers

Target and (Astro-)WISE technologies - Data federations and its applications

After its first implementation in 2003 the Astro-WISE technology has been rolled out in several European countries and is used for the production of the KiDS survey data. In the multi-disciplinary Target initiative this technology, nicknamed WISE technology, has been further applied to a large number of projects. Here, we highlight the data handling of other astronomical applications, such as VLT-MUSE and LOFAR, together with some non-astronomical applications such as the medical projects Lifelines and GLIMPS, the MONK handwritten text recognition system, and business applications, by amongst others, the Target Holding. We describe some of the most important lessons learned and describe the application of the data-centric WISE type of approach to the Science Ground Segment of the Euclid satellite.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Proceedngs IAU Symposium No 325 Astroinformatics 201

Virginia Earth Science Collaborative Astronomy Course for Teachers

We describe the development and implementation of a professional development course for teachers of grades 4-12 designed to increase their content knowledge in astronomy, space science, and the nature of science using interactive presentations, and hands-on and inquiry-based lessons. The course, Space Science for Teachers, encompasses the astronomy and nature of science components of the Virginia Standards of Learning for grades 4-12 [1]. In addition to increasing their content knowledge, teachers gain experience using innovative teaching technologies, such as an inflatable planetarium, planetarium computer software, and computer controlled telescopes. The courses included evening laboratory sessions where teachers learned the constellations, how to find specific celestial objects, and how to use a variety of small telescopes. Participants received three graduate credit hours in science after completing the course requirements. Space Science for Teachers was taught at the University of Virginia in Summer 2005 and 2006, at George Mason University in Summer 2006 and 2007, at the University of Virginia Southwest Center in Abingdon, Virginia in Fall 2006, and at the MathScience Innovation Center in Richmond during Summer 2005 and 2007. A total of 135 teachers participated in the courses

Mud Creek Urban Nonpoint Source Demonstration

Northwest Arkansas is the seventh fastest developing area in the nation. The conversion of rolling pastureland into paved city streets, parking lots, and buildings within this rapidly urbanizing region is reducing infiltration and intensifying stormwater runoff. In the city of Fayetteville alone, the population increased from 42,099 to 58,163 between 1990 and 1999, moving the city across the population threshold which will require the Phase II Stormwater Permit process. Approximately half of Fayetteville is included in the Illinois River Watershed, which has been identified as the third highest priority watershed in need of restoration in the state of Arkansas. Mud Creek, an urban tributary to the Illinois River, receives half of the treated effluent from the Fayetteville municipal wastewater treatment plant in addition to capturing residential and commercial runoff in Northeast Fayetteville. Pollutants including sediment, nutrients, bacteria and chemicals can be channeled off residential lawns, parking lots, and construction sites, through stormdrains, and into area water resources. For these reasons, the Mud Creek sub-basin of the Illinois River was the focus of an EPA 319(h) grant-funded project focusing on urban NPS prevention education. The Mud Creek Project was the first of it’s kind in Arkansas to target urban audiences, promoting their role and responsibility in improving and protecting the water quality in an urbanizing watershed

Evaluation Findings from the California Wellness Foundation's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative

Highlights research findings from a comprehensive program evaluation of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, a ten-year, $60-million effort to decrease the incidence of teen pregnancies in California

Lessons Learned from Efforts at Institutional Change: Case Studies of Six OCEPT Institutions

As one part of a multifaceted evaluation of the Oregon Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (OCEPT), a case study approach was used to enable a deeper understanding of how a diverse group of six institutions attempted to achieve OCEPT goals and to learn more about factors that facilitated or hindered their efforts. Multiple sources of data were used, with heavy reliance on a series of on-site interviews. The analytical framework included a depth and pervasiveness typology of institutional change and a view of change as encompassing meaning, organization, and effects. While goals and accomplishment levels, as well as the depth and pervasiveness of change. varied across the six institutions, OCEPT-influenced changes most likely to be sustained included: new kinds and levels of faculty collaboration; peer-led teaching and learning approaches, and attention to evidence that these approaches positively affect student course performance; increased faculty awareness of their role in teacher recruitment, with related changes in classroom practices; and, continued strengthening of access to infomiation and academic advising for those preparing to become teachers. These institutions, however, did not make significant progress on one major goal of the project—to increase the numbers of underrepresented groups interested in teaching careers. Change was affected by the compatibility of OCEPT goals with institutional and faculty culture, as well as by local collaborative leadership, the size and complexity of the institution, the presence of boundary spanners, and how OCEPT resources were used