Transportable Information Agents

Transportable agents are autonomous programs. They can move through a heterogeneous network of computers under their own control, migrating from host to host. They can sense the state of the network, monitor software conditions, and interact with other agents or resources. The network-sensing tools allow our agents to adapt to the network configuration and to navigate under the control of reactive plans. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of the navigation system that gives our agents autonomy. We also discuss the intelligent and adaptive behavior of autonomous agents in distributed information-gathering tasks

XML and Its Potential for Ecommerce

This paper reviews the origin and development of standards for Electronic Data Interchange, considering exceptions and variations that standards need to accommodate It examines cost factors that affect implementation and discusses conducting EDI over the Internet and the importance of metatags and data type definitions for interpreting data structures and improving functionality of business transactions. It looks at XML (eXtensible Markup Language) as a proposal to broaden the applicability of transacting business over the Internet by bringing EDI to the desktop

Technology and Biological Weapons: Future Threats

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Autonomous Weapon Systems: A Brief Survey of Developmental, Operational, Legal, and Ethical Issues

What does the Department of Defense hope to gain from the use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS)? This Letort Paper explores a diverse set of complex issues related to the developmental, operational, legal, and ethical aspects of AWS. It explores the recent history of the development and integration of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems into traditional military operations. It examines anticipated expansion of these roles in the near future as well as outlines international efforts to provide a context for the use of the systems by the United States. As these topics are well-documented in many sources, this Paper serves as a primer for current and future AWS operations to provide senior policymakers, decisionmakers, military leaders, and their respective staffs an overall appreciation of existing capabilities and the challenges, opportunities, and risks associated with the use of AWS across the range of military operations. Emphasis is added to missions and systems that include the use of deadly force.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1303/thumbnail.jp

Methodological considerations of integrating portable digital technologies in the analysis and management of complex superimposed Californian pictographs: From spectroscopy and spectral imaging to 3-D scanning

How can the utilization of newly developed advanced portable technologies give us greater understandings of the most complex of prehistoric rock art? This is the questions driving The Gordian Knot project analysing the polychrome Californian site known as Pleito. New small transportable devices allow detailed on-site analyses of rock art. These non-destructive portable technologies can use X-ray and Raman technology to determine the chemical elements used to make the pigment that makes the painting; they can use imaging techniques such as Highlight Reflective Transformation Imaging and dStretch© to enhance their visibility; they can use digital imagery to disentangle complex superimposed paintings; and they can use portable laser instruments to analyse the micro-topography of the rock surface and integrate these technologies into a 3-D environment. This paper outlines a robust methodology and preliminary results to show how an integration of different portable technologies can serve rock art research and management

Silicon as an intermediary between renewable energy and hydrogen

Non-renewable energy sources are becoming depleted. Air and water (our environment) are precious and will be under increased jeopardy without effective energy and environmental policies. A hydrogen technology based upon solar energy represents a viable solution to these problems. Silicon successfully functions as a tailor-made intermediate linking decentrally operating renewable energy-generation technology with equally decentrally organised hydrogen-based infrastructure at any location of choice. The transport and storage of silicon are free from potential hazards and/or high energy losses and require a simple infrastructure similar to that needed for coal. --

Extensible Modeling and Simulation Framework (XMSF) Opportunities for Web-Based Modeling and Simulation

Technical Opportunities Workshop Whitepaper, 14 June 2002Purpose: As the Department of Defense (DoD) is engaged in both warfighting and institutional transformation for the new millennium, DoD Modeling & Simulation (M&S) also needs to identify and adopt transformational technologies which provide direct tactical relevance to warfighters. Because the only software systems that composably scale to worldwide scope utilize the World Wide Web, it is evident that an extensible Web-based framework shows great promise to scale up the capabilities of M&S systems to meet the needs of training, analysis, acquisition, and the operational warfighter. By embracing commercial web technologies as a shared-communications platform and a ubiquitous-delivery framework, DoD M&S can fully leverage mainstream practices for enterprise-wide software development

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the ability of a bacterial species to resist the action of an antimicrobial drug, has been on the rise due to the widespread use of antimicrobial agents. Per the World Health Organization, AMR has an estimated annual cost of USD\u200934\u2005billion in the US and is predicted to be the number one cause of death worldwide by 2050. One way AMR bacteria can spread, and by which individuals can contract AMR infections, is through contaminated water. Monitoring AMR bacteria in the environment currently requires that samples be transported to a central laboratory for slow and labor intensive tests. We have developed an inexpensive assay using paper-based analytical devices (PADs) that can test for the presence of \u3b2-lactamase-mediated resistance. To demonstrate viability, the PAD was used to detect \u3b2-lactam resistance in wastewater and sewage and identified resistance in individual bacterial species isolated from environmental water sources.R01 OH010662/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States2018-06-06T00:00:00Z28474847PMC556886