Cyberattack Detection and Handling for Neural Network-Approximated Economic Model Predictive Control

Cyberattacks on control systems can create unprofitable and unsafe operating conditions. To enhance safety and attack resiliency of control systems, cyberattack detection strategies can be developed. Prior work in our group has sought to develop cyberattack detection strategies that are integrated with an advanced control formulation known as Lyapunov-based economic model predictive control (LEMPC), in the sense that the controller properties can be used to analyze closed-loop stability in the presence or absence of undetected attacks. In this work, we consider neural network-approximated control laws, concepts for mitigating cyberattacks on such control laws, and how these ideas elucidate concepts in how to fight back against cyberattacks. We begin by providing sufficient conditions under which a neural network (NN) that approximates an LEMPC maintains safety for a sampling period after a cyberattack by inheriting safety properties from the LEMPC formulation. Then, we discuss a second concept inspired by neural network repair in the presence of adversarial attacks for attempting to ensure safety of controllers for a time period after undetected attacks, even those not based on a rigorous control law formulation like LEMPC. We examine the potential conservatism differences between the LEMPC-based safety strategy and one based on repairing problematic control actions, and discuss how this concept can inspire ideas for fighting back against attacks

Impact d'une formation collaborative donnée à des enseignants de chimie du secondaire sur l’enseignement et l’apprentissage du concept de mole

Faute de connaissances épistémologiques et socio-historiques au sujet du concept de mole et d’une transposition didactique pertinente de ce concept dans les manuels scolaires, les enseignants ne disposent pas des moyens nécessaires pour que leur enseignement soit aussi efficace qu’ils le souhaiteraient. Plusieurs recherches confirment que cet enseignement met habituellement l’accent sur l’aspect quantitatif de ce concept, néglige ses aspects qualitatifs et ne tient pas toujours compte des trois domaines du savoir en chimie : sous-microscopique, macroscopique et symbolique. L’évolution socio-historique de la mole est complexe. En 1900, Ostwald définit la mole comme étant une « masse normale ». En 1961, on reconnait la mole comme étant un concept pour compter les entités sous-microscopiques. En 1971, la mole devient l’unité de la « quantité de matière », sans toutefois que cela soit clairement mentionné dans la définition. Les diverses définitions qui se sont succédées laissent donc l’enseignant perplexe devant le choix d’une définition adéquate. De plus, les confusions linguistiques liées à l’apprentissage de la mole sont nombreuses, telles que des confusions phonétiques (mol et molécule), et des confusions symboliques (n, m, M, N. etc.). Un enseignement de la mole qui ne tient pas compte de ses aspects qualitatif et quantitatif, de l’évolution socio-historique du concept et d’un évitement des erreurs sémantiques risque de provoquer des obstacles didactiques chez les élèves. Par conséquent, l’objectif général de cette recherche de développement était d’étudier l’impact d’une formation portant sur le concept de mole donnée à des enseignants du secondaire sur l’évolution de leurs connaissances et compétences professionnelles et sur la réduction des obstacles didactiques chez les élèves. La formation a été planifiée selon un cycle de DBR (Design Based Research) qui comportait de nombreuses interactions entre l’étudiante-chercheure et les six enseignantes participantes d’une école du Liban. Ce cycle de DBR se subdivisait en cinq méso cycles dans chacun desquels l’étudiante-chercheure animait des activités de perfectionnement. Le premier mésocycleconsistait essentiellement en un microcycle d’analyse et d’exploration ; les 2e, 3e et 4e cycles comportent des microcycles de design et de conception de matériel didactique ainsi que des microcycles d’analyse, d’exploration, d’évaluation et de réflexion ; le dernier mésocycleconsistait surtout en un microcycle d’évaluation et d’exploration. Durant le premier méso cycle, l’analyse des données recueillies lors d’un groupe de discussion, d’une analyse de fiches de préparation et d’une évaluation diagnostique des apprentissages a confirmé la problématique décrite ci-dessus. Durant les trois méso cycles suivants (2e, 3e et 4e), un matériel didactique a été élaboré et mis à l’essai en classe. Chacun de ces méso cycles commençait par un retour réflexif des enseignantes ayant expérimenté le matériel didactique en classe. Par la suite, une activité de perfectionnement de synthèse était animée par l’étudiante-chercheure, une amélioration du matériel d’équipe était effectuée en équipe et une mise à l’essai par des enseignantes était réalisée en classe. Chaque mésocyclese terminait par une évaluation des résultats des élèves. Durant le dernier méso cycle, l’étudiante-chercheure a animé un groupe de discussion et des entretiens d’explicitation durant lequel les enseignantes participantes ont partagé leurs impressions au sujet des effets de la formation sur leur enseignement et sur les apprentissages des élèves. L’analyse et l’interprétation des résultats obtenus semblent montrer des effets positifs sur l’évolution des connaissances et des compétences professionnelles des enseignantes et sur la réduction des obstacles didactiques chez les élèves. Cette recherche présentait néanmoins d’assez nombreuses limites, notamment en raison du petit nombre d’enseignantes participantes.In the absence of epistemological and socio-historical knowledge about the concept of mole and of a relevant didactic transposition of this concept in textbooks, teachers do not have the means to make their teaching as effective as they would like. Several studies confirm that this teaching usually emphasizes the quantitative aspect of this concept, neglects its qualitative aspects and does not always take into account the three areas of knowledge in chemistry: sub-microscopic, macroscopic and symbolic. The socio-historical evolution of the mole is complex. In 1900, Ostwald defined the mole as a "normal mass". In 1961, the mole was recognized as a concept for counting sub-microscopic entities. In 1971, the mole became the unit of the "quantity of substance", however without this being clearly mentioned in the definition. These various definitions leave the teacher puzzled and looking for an adequate definition. In addition, there are many linguistic confusions related to the learning of the mole, such as phonetic confusions (mol and molecule), and symbolic confusions (n, m, M, N, etc.). A teaching of the mole that does not take into account its qualitative and quantitative aspects, the socio-historical evolution of the concept and an avoidance of semantic errors may cause didactic obstacles for secondary school students. Therefore, the general objective of this development research was to study the impact of a training on the concept of mole given to secondary school teachers on the evolution of their professional knowledge and skills and on the reduction of didactic barriers in secondary school students. The training was planned according to a DBR (Design Based Research) cycle which involved numerous interactions between the student-researcher and the six participating teachers from a Lebanese school. This DBR cycle was subdivided into five meso-cycles in each of which the student-researcher conducted developmental activities. The first meso-cycle consisted essentially of a microcycle of analysis and exploration ; the 2nd, 3rd and 4th cycles include microcycles of design of didactic materials as well as microcycles of analysis and exploration, evaluation and reflection ; the last meso-cycle consisted mainly of a microcycle of evaluation and exploration. During the first meso-cycle, an analysis of the data collected during a focus group, an analysis of the preparation documents and a diagnostic assessment of learning confirmed the problem described above. During the following three meso-cycles (2nd, 3rd and 4th), a didactic material was developed and tested in class. Each of these meso-cycles began with a reflexive feedback from the teachers who had experienced the didactic material in class. Subsequently, a synthesis development activity was facilitated by the student-researcher, an improvement of the team material was carried out by the teachers and a test was conducted in class. Each meso-cycle ended with an assessment of the secondary school students’ achievement. During the last meso-cycle, the student-researcher facilitated a focus group and explanatory interviews during which the participating teachers shared their impressions about the effects of the training on their teaching and on student learning. The analysis and interpretation of the results obtained seem to show positive effects on the evolution of teachers' professional knowledge and skills and on the reduction of didactic obstacles for secondary school students. Nevertheless, this research had quite a few limitations, mainly because of the small number of participating teachers

Perspectives on Design Considerations Inspired by Security and Quantum Technology in Cyberphysical Systems for Process Engineering

Advances in computer science have been a driving force for change in process systems engineering for decades. Faster computers, expanded computing resources, simulation software, and improved optimization algorithms have all changed chemical engineers’ abilities to predict, control, and optimize process systems. Two newer areas relevant to computer science that are impacting process systems engineering are cybersecurity and quantum computing. This work reviews some of our group’s recent work in control-theoretic approaches to control system cybersecurity and touches upon the use of quantum computers, with perspectives on the relationships between process design and control when cybersecurity and quantum technologies are of interest

Quantum Computing and Resilient Design Perspectives for Cybersecurity of Feedback Systems

Cybersecurity of control systems is an important issue in next-generation manufac- turing that can impact both operational objectives (safety and performance) as well as process designs (via hazard analysis). Cyberattacks differ from faults in that they can be coordinated efforts to exploit system vulnerabilities to create otherwise unlikely hazard scenarios. Because coordination and targeted process manipulation can be characteristics of attacks, some of the tactics previously analyzed in our group from a control system cybersecurity perspective have incorporated randomness to attempt to thwart attacks. The underlying assumption for the generation of this randomness has been that it can be achieved on a classical computer; however, quantum computers can also create random behavior in the results of computations. This work explores how errors in quantum hardware that can create non-deterministic outputs from quantum computers interact with control system cybersecurity. These studies serve as a reminder of the need to incorporate cybersecurity considerations at the process design stage

Some Assembly Required: How Scientific Explanations are Constructed During Clinical Interviews

This article is concerned with commonsense science knowledge, the informally-gained knowledge of the natural world that students possess prior to formal instruction in a scientific discipline. Although commonsense science has been the focus of substantial study for more than two decades, there are still profound disagreements about its nature and origin, and its role in science learning. What is the reason that it has been so difficult to reach consensus? We believe that the problems run deep; there are difficulties both with how the field has framed questions and the way that it has gone about seeking answers. In order to make progress, we believe it will be helpful to focus on one type of research instrument – the clinical interview – that is employed in the study of commonsense science. More specifically, we argue that we should seek to understand and model, on a moment-by-moment basis, student reasoning as it occurs in the interviews employed to study commonsense science. To illustrate and support this claim, we draw on a corpus of interviews with middle school students in which the students were asked questions pertaining to the seasons and climate phenomena. Our analysis of this corpus is based on what we call the mode-node framework. In this framework, student reasoning is seen as drawing on a set of knowledge elements we call nodes, and this set produces temporary explanatory structures we call dynamic mental constructs. Furthermore, the analysis of our corpus seeks to highlight certain patterns of student reasoning that occur during interviews, patterns in what we call conceptual dynamics. These include patterns in which students can be seen to search through available knowledge (nodes), in which they assemble nodes into an explanation, and in which they converge on and shift among alternative explanations

Bridging Physics and Biology Teaching through Modeling

As the frontiers of biology become increasingly interdisciplinary, the physics education community has engaged in ongoing efforts to make physics classes more relevant to life sciences majors. These efforts are complicated by the many apparent differences between these fields, including the types of systems that each studies, the behavior of those systems, the kinds of measurements that each makes, and the role of mathematics in each field. Nonetheless, physics and biology are both sciences that rely on observations and measurements to construct models of the natural world. In the present theoretical article, we propose that efforts to bridge the teaching of these two disciplines must emphasize shared scientific practices, particularly scientific modeling. We define modeling using language common to both disciplines and highlight how an understanding of the modeling process can help reconcile apparent differences between the teaching of physics and biology. We elaborate how models can be used for explanatory, predictive, and functional purposes and present common models from each discipline demonstrating key modeling principles. By framing interdisciplinary teaching in the context of modeling, we aim to bridge physics and biology teaching and to equip students with modeling competencies applicable across any scientific discipline.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 3 table

The power of interactive teaching

IUBMB for sponsoring the event and the workshop facilitator

Learner-Centered Inquiry in Undergraduate Biology: Positive Relationships with Long-Term Student Achievement

We determined short- and long-term correlates of a revised introductory biology curriculum on understanding of biology as a process of inquiry and learning of content. In the original curriculum students completed two traditional lecture-based introductory courses. In the revised curriculum students completed two new learner-centered, inquiry-based courses. The new courses differed significantly from those of the original curriculum through emphases on critical thinking, collaborative work, and/or inquiry-based activities. Assessments were administered to compare student understanding of the process of biological science and content knowledge in the two curricula. More seniors who completed the revised curriculum had high-level profiles on the Views About Science Survey for Biology compared with seniors who completed the original curriculum. Also as seniors, students who completed the revised curriculum scored higher on the standardized Biology Field Test. Our results showed that an intense inquiry-based learner-centered learning experience early in the biology curriculum was associated with long-term improvements in learning. We propose that students learned to learn science in the new courses which, in turn, influenced their learning in subsequent courses. Studies that determine causal effects of learner-centered inquiry-based approaches, rather than correlative relationships, are needed to test our proposed explanation

Classtalk: A Classroom Communication System for Active Learning

This pdf file is an article describing the advantages of using Classtalk technology in the classroom to enhance classroom communication. Classtalk technology cab facilitate the presentation of questions for small group work, collec the student answers and then display histograms showing how the class answered. This new communication technology can help instructors create a more interactive, student centered classroom, especially when teaching large courses. The article describes Classtalk as a very useful tool not only for engaging students in active learning, but also for enhancing the overall communication within the classroom. This article is a selection from the electronic Journal for Computing in Higher Education. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

Evaluating a Modeling Curriculum by Using Heuristics for Productive Disciplinary Engagement

The BIO2010 report provided a compelling argument for the need to create learning experiences for undergraduate biology students that are more authentic to modern science. The report acknowledged the need for research that could help practitioners successfully create and reform biology curricula with this goal in mind. Our objective in this article was to explore how a set of six design heuristics could be used to evaluate the potential of curricula to support productive learning experiences for science students. We drew on data collected during a long-term study of an undergraduate traineeship that introduced students to mathematical modeling in the context of modern biological problems. We present illustrative examples from this curriculum that highlight the ways in which three heuristics—instructor role-modeling, holding students to scientific norms, and providing students with opportunities to practice these norms—consistently supported learning across the curriculum. We present a more detailed comparison of two different curricular modules and explain how differences in student authority, problem structure, and access to resources contributed to differences in productive engagement by students in these modules. We hope that our analysis will help practitioners think in more concrete terms about how to achieve the goals set forth by BIO2010