Domain specific software architectures: Command and control

GTE is the Command and Control contractor for the Domain Specific Software Architectures program. The objective of this program is to develop and demonstrate an architecture-driven, component-based capability for the automated generation of command and control (C2) applications. Such a capability will significantly reduce the cost of C2 applications development and will lead to improved system quality and reliability through the use of proven architectures and components. A major focus of GTE's approach is the automated generation of application components in particular subdomains. Our initial work in this area has concentrated in the message handling subdomain; we have defined and prototyped an approach that can automate one of the most software-intensive parts of C2 systems development. This paper provides an overview of the GTE team's DSSA approach and then presents our work on automated support for message processing

Self-Adaptive Systems for Information Survivability: PMOP and AWDRAT

Information systems form the backbones of the critical infrastructures of modern societies. Unfortunately, these systems are highly vulnerable to attacks that can result in enormous damage. Furthermore, traditional approaches to information security have not provided all the protections necessary to defeat and recover from a concerted attack; in particular, they are largely irrelevant to the problem of defending against attacks launched by insiders.This paper describes two related systems PMOP and AWDRAT that were developed during the DARPA Self Regenerative Systems program. PMOP defends against insider attacks while AWDRAT is intended to detect compromises to software systems. Both rely on self-monitoring, diagnosis and self-adaptation. We describe both systems and show the results of experiments with each

Ion-trap quantum information processing: experimental status

Atomic ions trapped in ultra-high vacuum form an especially well-understood and useful physical system for quantum information processing. They provide excellent shielding of quantum information from environmental noise, while strong, well-controlled laser interactions readily provide quantum logic gates. A number of basic quantum information protocols have been demonstrated with trapped ions. Much current work aims at the construction of large-scale ion-trap quantum computers using complex microfabricated trap arrays. Several groups are also actively pursuing quantum interfacing of trapped ions with photons.Comment: review article for Frontiers of Physics replace corrupted TeX fil

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative: Investigating Immigration and Social Policy Preferences. Executive Report.

In an era of mass migration, social scientists, populist parties and social movements raise concerns over the future of immigration-destination societies. What impacts does this have on policy and social solidarity? Comparative cross-national research, relying mostly on secondary data, has findings in different directions. There is a threat of selective model reporting and lack of replicability. The heterogeneity of countries obscures attempts to clearly define data-generating models. P-hacking and HARKing lurk among standard research practices in this area.This project employs crowdsourcing to address these issues. It draws on replication, deliberation, meta-analysis and harnessing the power of many minds at once. The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative carries two main goals, (a) to better investigate the linkage between immigration and social policy preferences across countries, and (b) to develop crowdsourcing as a social science method. The Executive Report provides short reviews of the area of social policy preferences and immigration, and the methods and impetus behind crowdsourcing plus a description of the entire project. Three main areas of findings will appear in three papers, that are registered as PAPs or in process

Cultural Education and Cultural Participation in Germany 2018 (KuBiPaD I)

Objectives: The survey examines patterns of cultural participation in Germany on the basis of a standardised population survey. Cultural participation includes the consumption, reception and non-professional production of artistic goods in the fields of music, film, literature, performing and visual arts. To explain cultural participation, variables were collected on resource endowment and opportunity structure, on socialising stimuli as well as personal preferences and competencies. An instrument was specially developed to measure cognitive competencies in the fields of painting and music. Method: The basic population consisted of German-speaking persons aged 15 and over in private households in Germany. In a two-stage selection procedure, first a random sample stratified by combination of districts and BIK10 region size classes was drawn from 200 sample points in 183 municipalities. In the second step, persons aged 15 and over were randomly selected from the population registers of these municipalities. In standardised, computer-assisted face-to-face interviews (CAPI), 2592 people were interviewed between July and December 2018. The fieldwork was conducted by Infas, Bonn. The response rate was 22.9\%. Individual modules and questions were only presented to subsamples of respondents. Questionnaire content: leisure time behaviour; preferences, consumption and reception in the fields of music, film, literature, performing and visual arts; preferences for experimentally recorded song variations (subsample); reception of a visual stimulus (Peter Doig: ´100 years ago´; subsample); cultural self-production with a focus on music-making; cultural further education with a focus on libraries and adult education centres; cultural socialisation with a focus on family and school; legitimacy of cultural offerings; legitimacy of plays (factorial survey; subsample); political interest; party preference; economic and cultural capital; extensive module on sociodemography; competence tests in the fields of painting and music (subsamples).1. Leisure time behaviour: frequency of selected leisure activities in the last 12 months; active membership in an organisation, club or other association; other organisations (open-ended); amount of leisure time on a working day (hours, minutes); number of holiday trips in the last 12 months. 2. Legitimacy of culture: eligibility of various cultural offerings; opinion on the desirability of cultural participation. 3. Preferences, consumption and reception in the fields of music, film, literature, performing and visual arts: Music: music genre preferences: preferred music genres; concert attendance in the last 12 months; frequency of concert attendance of selected music genres in the last 12 months (type of concert); opera or concert subscription in the last 12 months; frequency of use of various music media in the last four weeks; size of own record collection; ownership of music files; size of music files; Film: film genre preferences; frequency of cinema visits in the last 12 months; film reception; private feature film consumption in the last four weeks; type of feature film media used; size of own film collection; size of film files; number of series in the last 6 months; Literature: book reading: Number of books read in the last 12 months; audiobook consumption: number of audiobooks in the last 12 months; number of readings attended in the last 12 months; literary preferences; size of analogue and digital book collection (number); Performing arts: frequency of attending various performing arts in the last 12 months; theatre subscription in the last 12 months; Visual arts and cultural heritage: frequency of visiting different sights and museums in the last 12 months; interest in different types of visual arts and design; Cultural self-production with a focus on music making: Frequency of creative activities; musical instruments played today and in the past; learning method for the musical instrument played most often today and in the past; age for starting to learn this musical instrument; duration of instruction by other persons in years; learning duration in years for all musical instruments ever learned; self-assessment of skills in the musical instrument; public presentation of music; earning money through music; Cultural continuing education with emphasis on libraries and adult education centres: Knowledge acquisition: frequency of learning about specific cultural styles, trends or artists; frequency of library use in leisure time in the last 12 months; purpose for library use; number of course offerings of adult education centres used in the last 24 months; purposes of use (programme areas) of adult education centres; Cultural socialisation with focus on family and school: Parental household at age 14: Living with both biological parents or other family constellation; Parents in other family constellation; Leisure activities of mother and father or other caregivers; Music preferences of mother and father or other caregivers; Own leisure activities at age 14; Television socialisation up to the age of 12 (often watched television together with parents, discussed television programmes at home, etc.); Reading socialisation up to the age of 12 (parents read aloud, books given as birthday or Christmas presents, etc.); number of books in the parental household; type of musical instruments in the parental household; favourite subjects at school; participation in various school study groups (AGs); knowledge of foreign languages; foreign languages. 4. Politics: interest in politics; party preference (Sunday question). Demography: sex; age (month and year of birth); religious denomination; general school leaving certificate; type of school leaving certificate obtained abroad; number of years of schooling abroad; intended school leaving certificate; type of training and study certificate; highest university degree or degree; field of study; employment; occupation coding (ISCO 08): Occupation; occupational status; weekly working time (hours, minutes); secondary employment; extent of secondary employment (hours, decimal place); secondary employment related to job; reason for unemployment or secondary employment; year of last job or never worked full-time; occupation code (ISCO 08): last job declared; last occupational status; duration of unemployment in months; self-assessment of general health; disability; type of disability; marital status; household size; living with partner; persons under 18 in household; age of persons in household under 18; underage children outside the home; steady partner. Economic situation: personal net income (grouped); household net income (grouped); property ownership; property value; amount of property; type of housing; living space in sqm; household equipment (e.g. garden, plot or allotment for sole use, pet, car, motorbike, antiques, dishwasher, etc.); number of cars in the household. Information on partner: sex; country of birth; highest general school leaving certificate; other school leaving certificate; university degree; employment; occupation coding (ISCO 08): partner´s occupation; occupational status; reason for unemployment or secondary employment. Migration background: citizenship; other citizenship; country of birth Germany; year of moving to Germany; place of growing up until the age of 14. Information on parents: country of birth of father and mother (Federal Republic of Germany, GDR, former German Reich, other country); country of birth of father and mother (foreign country); number of grandparents born abroad; occupational status of father and mother when respondent was 15 years old; occupation coding (ISCO 08): Father´s occupation; occupation coding (ISCO 08): mother´s occupation; father´s and mother´s highest general school leaving certificate; parents´ other school leaving certificate; parents´ university degree. Additionally coded: serial number; respondent ID; sub-sample; province drawing sample; province survey date; interview date (year, month, day); weight; sample point, community size BIK; panel readiness. Interviewer rating: interviewer follow-up; presence of third party during interview; third party intervention in interview; assessment of respondent´s readiness to answer; reliability of answers; disturbances or problems; respondent´s residence; condition of residence; living environment.Zielsetzung: Die Studie untersucht Muster der Kulturpartizipation in Deutschland auf der Basis einer standardisierten Bevölkerungsumfrage. Die Kulturpartizipation umfasst den Konsum, die Rezeption und die nicht-professionelle Produktion künstlerischer Güter in den Sparten Musik, Film, Literatur, darstellende und bildende Kunst. Für die Erklärung der Kulturpartizipation wurden Variablen zur Ressourcenausstattung und Opportunitätsstruktur, zu den sozialisatorischen Anregungen sowie den persönlichen Präferenzen und Kompetenzen erhoben. Eigens entwickelt wurde ein Instrument zur Messung der kognitiven Kompetenzen in den Sparten Malerei und Musik. Methode: Die Grundgesamtheit bildeten deutschsprachige Personen ab 15 Jahren in Privathaushalten Deutschlands. In einem zweistufigen Auswahlverfahren wurde zunächst eine nach Kombination von Kreisen und BIK10-Regionsgrößenklassen geschichtete Zufallsstichprobe von 200 Sample Points in 183 Gemeinden gezogen. Im zweiten Schritt wurden Personen ab 15 Jahren aus den Einwohnermeldeverzeichnissen dieser Gemeinden zufällig ausgewählt. In standardisierten, computergestützten Face-to-Face-Interviews (CAPI) wurden 2592 Personen zwischen Juli und Dezember 2018 befragt. Die Feldarbeit wurde von Infas, Bonn, durchgeführt. Die Response-Rate betrug 22,9\%. Einzelne Module und Fragen wurden nur Subsamples der Befragten vorgelegt. Fragebogeninhalt: Freizeitverhalten; Präferenzen, Konsum und Rezeption in den Sparten Musik, Film, Literatur, darstellende und bildende Kunst; Präferenzen für experimentell eingespielte Songvariationen (Subsample); Rezeption eines visuellen Stimulus (Peter Doig: „100 years ago“; Subsample); kulturelle Eigenproduktion mit Schwerpunkt Musizieren; kulturelle Weiterbildung mit Schwerpunkt Bibliotheken und Volkshochschulen; kulturelle Sozialisation mit Schwerpunkt Familie und Schule; Legitimität von Kulturangeboten; Legitimität von Theaterstücken (faktorieller Survey; Subsample); politisches Interesse; Parteipräferenz; ökonomisches und kulturelles Kapital; umfangreiches Modul zur Soziodemografie; Kompetenztests in den Sparten Malerei und Musik (Subsamples).1. Freizeitverhalten: Häufigkeit ausgewählter Freizeitaktivitäten in den letzten 12 Monaten; aktive Migliedschaft in einer Organisation, einem Verein oder einer anderen Vereinigung; sonstige Organisationen (offene Nennung); Freizeitumfang an einem Werktag (Stunden, Minuten); Anzahl der Urlaubsreisen in den letzten 12 Monaten. 2. Legitimität von Kultur: Förderungswürdigkeit verschiedener Kulturangebote; Meinung zur Erwünschtheit der Kulturpartizipation. 3. Präferenzen, Konsum und Rezeption in den Sparten Musik, Film, Literatur, darstellende und bildende Kunst: Musik: Musikgenrepräferenzen: präferierte Musikrichtungen; Konzertbesuch in den letzten 12 Monaten; Häufigkeit des Konzertbesuchs ausgewählter Musikrichtungen in den letzten 12 Monaten (Konzertart); Opern- oder Konzertabonnement in den letzten 12 Monaten; Nutzungshäufigkeit verschiedener Musikmedien in den letzten vier Wochen; Umfang der eigenen Tonträgersammlung; Besitz von Musikdateien; Umfang der Musikdateien; Film: Filmgenrepräferenzen; Häufigkeit von Kinobesuchen in den letzten 12 Monaten; Filmrezeption; privater Spielfilmkonsum in den letzten vier Wochen; Art der genutzten Spielfilmmedien; Umfang der eigenen Filmsammlung; Umfang der Filmdateien; Anzahl der Serien in den letzten 6 Monaten; Literatur: Buchlektüre: Anzahl der gelesenen Bücher in den letzten 12 Monaten; Hörbuchkonsum: Anzahl der Hörbücher in den letzten 12 Monaten; Anzahl der besuchten Lesungen in den letzten 12 Monaten; Literaturgenrepräferenzen; Umfang der analogen und digitalen Büchersammlung (Anzahl); Darstellende Kunst: Häufigkeit des Besuchs verschiedener darstellender Kunst in den letzten 12 Monaten; Theater-Abonnement in den letzten 12 Monaten; Bildende Kunst und kulturelles Erbe: Häufigkeit des Besuchs verschiedener Sehenswürdigkeiten und Museen in den letzten 12 Monaten; Interesse an verschiedenen Arten von bildender Kunst und Design; Kulturelle Eigenproduktion mit Schwerpunkt Musizieren: Häufigkeit kreativer Aktivitäten; heute und früher gespielte Musikinstrumente; Lernmethode für das heute und früher am häufigsten gespielte Musikinstrument; Alter für den Beginn des Erlernens dieses Musikinstruments; Dauer der Anleitung durch andere Personen in Jahren; Lerndauer in Jahren für alle jemals erlernten Musikinstrumente; Selbsteinschätzung der Fähigkeiten in dem Musikinstrument; öffentliche Präsentation der Musik; Geldverdienst durch die Musik; Kulturelle Weiterbildung mit Schwerpunkt Bibliotheken und Volkshochschulen: Wissensaneignung: Häufigkeit des Informierens über bestimmte kulturelle Stilrichtungen, Trends oder Künstler; Häufigkeit der Bibliotheksnutzung in der Freizeit in den letzten 12 Monaten; Nutzungszweck für die Bibliotheksnutzung; Anzahl der genutzten Kursangebote von Volkshochschulen in den letzten 24 Monaten; Nutzungszwecke (Programmbereiche) von Volkshochschulen; Kulturelle Sozialisation mit Schwerpunkt Familie und Schule: Elterlicher Haushalt im Alter von 14 Jahren: Zusammenleben mit beiden leiblichen Eltern oder andere Familienkonstellation; Erziehungsberechtigte in anderer Familienkonstellation; Freizeitaktivitäten von Mutter und Vater bzw. anderer Bezugspersonen; Musikpräferenzen von Mutter und Vater bzw. anderer Bezugspersonen; eigene Freizeitaktivitäten im Alter von 14 Jahren; Fernsehsozialisation bis zum 12. Lebensjahr (oft gemeinsam mit den Eltern Fernsehen geschaut, zu Hause wurde über Fernsehsendungen diskutiert, etc.); Lesesozialisation bis zum 12. Lebensjahr (Eltern haben vorgelesen, Bücher zum Geburtstag oder Weihnachten geschenkt bekommen, etc.); Anzahl der Bücher im elterlichen Haushalt; Art der Musikinstrumente im elterlichen Haushalt; Lieblingsfächer in der Schule; Teilnahme an verschiedenen schulischen Arbeitsgemeinschaften (AGs); Fremdsprachenkenntnis; Fremdsprachen. 4. Politik: Politikinteresse; Parteipräferenz (Sonntagsfrage). Demographie: Geschlecht; Alter (Geburtsmonat und Geburtsjahr); Konfession; allgemeiner Schulabschluss; Art des im Ausland erworbenen Schulabschlusses; Anzahl der Schuljahre im Ausland; angestrebter Schulabschluss; Art des Ausbildungs- und Studienabschlusses; höchster Hochschul- oder Studienabschluss; Studienrichtung; Erwerbstätigkeit; Berufscodierung (ISCO 08): Berufsangabe; berufliche Stellung; Wochenarbeitszeit (Stunden, Minuten); Nebentätigkeit; Umfang der Nebentätigkeit (Stunden, Nachkommastelle); kunnstbezogene Nebentätigkeit; Grund für Erwerbslosigkeit bzw. Nebenerwerbstätigkeit; Jahr der letzten Erwerbstätigkeit oder noch nie hauptberuflich erwerbstätig; Berufscodierung (ISCO 08): letzte Berufsangabe; letzte berufliche Stellung; Dauer der Arbeitslosigkeit in Monaten; Selbsteinschätzung des allgemeinen Gesundheitszustands; Behinderung; Art der Behinderung; Familienstand; Haushaltsgröße; Zusammenleben mit dem Partner/ der Partnerin; Personen unter 18 Jahren im Haushalt; Alter der Personen im Haushalt unter 18 Jahren; minderjährige Kinder außer Haus; fester Partner/ feste Partnerin. Wirtschaftliche Situation: persönliches Nettoeinkommen (gruppiert); Haushaltsnettoeinkommen (gruppiert); Immobilienbesitz; Immobilienwert; Höhe des Vermögens; Wohnform; Wohnfläche in qm; Haushaltsausstattung (z.B. Garten, Grundstück oder Kleingarten zur Alleinnutzung, Haustier, Auto, Motorrad, Antiquitäten, Spülmaschine, etc.); Anzahl der Autos im Haushalt. Angaben zum Partner: Geschlecht; Geburtsland; höchster allgemeinbildender Schulabschluss; anderer Schulabschluss; Hochschulabschluss; Erwerbstätigkeit; Berufscodierung (ISCO 08): Berufsangabe Partner; berufliche Stellung; Grund für Erwerbslosigkeit oder Nebenerwerbstätigkeit. Migrationshintergrund: Staatsbürgerschaft; weitere Staatsbürgerschaft; Geburtsland Deutschland; Jahr des Zuzugs nach Deutschland; Ort des Aufwachsens bis zum 14. Lebensjahr (Bundesland, frühere deutsche Ostgebiete, Ausland); Land des Aufwachsens; Angaben zu den Eltern: Geburtsland von Vater und Mutter (Bundesrepublik Deutschland, DDR, früheres Deutsches Reich, anderes Land); Geburtsland von Vater und Mutter (Ausland); Anzahl der im Ausland geborenen Großeltern; berufliche Stellung des Vaters und der Mutter als der Befragte 15 Jahre alt war; Berufscodierung (ISCO 08): Berufsangabe Vater; Berufscodierung (ISCO 08): Berufsangabe Mutter; höchster allgemeinbildender Schulabschluss des Vaters und der Mutter; anderer Schulabschluss der Eltern; Hochschulabschluss der Eltern. Zusätzlich verkodet wurde: lfd. Nummer; Befragten ID; Teilsample; Bundesland Ziehung Sample; Bundesland Erhebungszeitpunkt; Interviewdatum (Jahr, Monat, Tag); Gewicht; Samplepoint, Gemeindegröße BIK; Panelbereitschaft. Interviewerrating: Interviewernachbefragung; Anwesenheit Dritter während des Interviews; Eingriff Dritter in das Interview; Beurteilung der Antwortbereitschaft des Befragten; Zuverlässigkeit der Antworten; Störungen oder Probleme; Wohnhaus des Befragten; Zustand des Wohnhauses; Wohnumgebung

Identifying Genes Related to Stomatal Anatomy: An Approach to Predict Drought Tolerance in Sagebrush, a Keystone Species of Northwestern America

Drought, heat waves and fire have become more prevalent in northwestern North America threatening the sustainability of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate) populations. This project aims to understand and predict pathways related to drought tolerance across sagebrush populations by identifying genes related to stomatal anatomy. Stomata control gas exchange, regulate transpiration, and enable photosynthesis becoming essential to estimate water use efficiency (WUE) in face of climate change. While the sagebrush genome has been recently published, it is not fully annotated, and genes related to stomatal anatomy have not been identified. The annotated genome of the model Arabidopsis thaliana is mined to identify genes underpinning stomatal anatomy and recover those in sagebrush. An automated literature review pipeline was designed and implemented to identify genes related to our target phenotype in Arabidopsis thaliana. The pipeline is seeded with a list of key genes and mines for additional genes, for which their function has been confirmed by publications deposited in the NCBI database. Those latter publications are checked to evaluate whether they connect to new genes involved in this phenotype. This resource is currently used to identify genes controlling stomatal anatomy in sagebrush and perform comparative analyses across populations to predict differences in WUE