Autonomic computing architecture for SCADA cyber security

Cognitive computing relates to intelligent computing platforms that are based on the disciplines of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other innovative technologies. These technologies can be used to design systems that mimic the human brain to learn about their environment and can autonomously predict an impending anomalous situation. IBM first used the term ‘Autonomic Computing’ in 2001 to combat the looming complexity crisis (Ganek and Corbi, 2003). The concept has been inspired by the human biological autonomic system. An autonomic system is self-healing, self-regulating, self-optimising and self-protecting (Ganek and Corbi, 2003). Therefore, the system should be able to protect itself against both malicious attacks and unintended mistakes by the operator

Autonomic computing meets SCADA security

© 2017 IEEE. National assets such as transportation networks, large manufacturing, business and health facilities, power generation, and distribution networks are critical infrastructures. The cyber threats to these infrastructures have increasingly become more sophisticated, extensive and numerous. Cyber security conventional measures have proved useful in the past but increasing sophistication of attacks dictates the need for newer measures. The autonomic computing paradigm mimics the autonomic nervous system and is promising to meet the latest challenges in the cyber threat landscape. This paper provides a brief review of autonomic computing applications for SCADA systems and proposes architecture for cyber security

Women’s ski jumping and Olympic programme inclusion

A group of female ski jumpers took legal action against the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, alleging that its failure to include a women’s ski jumping event amounted to a breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Seema Patel, a Lecturer in Sports Law and Management with Nottingham Trent University, examines the International Olympic Committee’s criteria for inclusion in the Olympics, the exceptions that exist for traditional Olympic events and the current status of the appeal

The IAAF’s hyperandrogenism regulations suspended

On 27 July, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (‘CAS’) delivered a landmark ruling on the regulation of gender in sport. The decision explores how the categorisation of sport on the basis of sex can be best reconciled with the “biological reality” that human sex cannot necessarily be divided so clearly. Dr. Seema Patel, Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, Deputy Director of the Centre for Sports Law and author of ‘Inclusion and Exclusion in Competitive Sport: Socio-Legal and Regulatory Perspectives,’ reviews the case and suggests that sport regulation must be cautious of traditional criteria to determine eligibility in sports

Creating a level playing field: a study of the admissions and experiences of different groups onto a university sport management course

This paper explores the admissions process and experiences of students enrolled on sport science courses at one UK university. Admissions data from the university identified that whilst a large number of women and ethnic minorities initially apply to sport courses, few attend open days and even fewer eventually enrol, compared to males and individuals of white ethnicity. To date, only one blind student has enrolled on the courses. Interviews investigating six undergraduate students’ experiences of the admissions process are analysed. The findings suggest that the difference is due to wider cultural issues rather than the university process, which is viewed positively by British Asian and female students. Conversely, a student with a disability was negative about the admissions process. This has far-reaching implications for university sport courses and for other institutions

Noncommmutative theorems: Gelfand Duality, Spectral, Invariant Subspace, and Pontryagin Duality

We extend the Gelfand-Naimark duality of commutative C*-algebras, "A COMMUTATIVE C*-ALGEBRA -- A LOCALLY COMPACT HAUSDORFF SPACE" to "A C*-ALGEBRA--A QUOTIENT OF A LOCALLY COMPACT HAUSDORFF SPACE". Thus, a C*-algebra is isomorphic to the convolution algebra of continuous regular Borel measures on the topological equivalence relation given by the above mentioned quotient. In commutative case this reduces to Gelfand-Naimark theorem. Applications: 1) A simultaneous extension, to arbitrary Hilbert space operators, of Jordan Canonical Form and Spectral Theorem of normal operators 2) A functional calculus for arbitrary operators. 3) Affirmative solution of Invariant Subspace Problem. 4) Extension of Pontryagin duality to nonabelian groups, and inevitably to groups whose underlying topological space is noncommutative.Comment: 10 page

Investigation on rotating ailerons

The effectiveness of rotating ailerons in a subsonic flow is theoretically studied to evaluate their capability in comparison to conventional ailerons. The analysis is based on the cortex lattice approach of Byelotserkovskii (1965) for different wing planforms of small and large aspect ratios. The rolling moment coefficient obtained with the rotating ailerons with a span equal to 22% of the wing span is higher than that for the conventional ailerons of almost double the span. The effectiveness of the rotating ailerons decreases with reduction in the wing aspect ratio, although it is possible to reduce the aileron size for required rolling capabilit

Artificial intelligence makes computers lazy

This paper looks at the age-old problem of trying to instil some degree of intelligence in computers. Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Genetic Programming (GP) are techniques that are used to evolve a solution to a problem using processes that mimic natural evolution. This paper reflects on the experience gained while conducting research applying GA and GP to two quite different problems: Medical Diagnosis and Robot Path Planning. An observation is made that when these algorithms are not applied correctly the computer seemingly exhibits lazy behaviour, arriving at a suboptimal solutions. Using examples, this paper shows how this 'lazy' behaviour can be overcome