Autonomic System

We study the interaction between optimal routing overlay and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Traffic Engineering (TE) in a single Autonomous System (AS). Our work is motivated in part by the work of Qiu et al [1], in which the interaction between overlay selfish routing and TE is brought up. However, our work is different in that [1] assumes each overlay user controls an infinitesimal amount of traffic demand and makes routing decisions independently. We study a single large scale and centrally controlled overlay network that controls a non-negligible portion of traffic demand and does optimal routing on application level. Akamai exemplifies this type of overlay. We further assume that the proportion of overlay traffic is significant enough to influence the routing decisions of TE.

This paper provides a complete framework for thread migration using JPDA. In our framework neither we lose portability nor do we insert any artificial code. The system developed based on our framework needs no extra involvement of programming to continue the whole migration system. It is a powerful autonomous system for heterogeneous environment maintaining its portability since Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is not modified.

The objective of this paper is to discuss why computer-based systems should be autonomic, where autonomicity implies self-managing, often conceptualized in terms of being self-configuring, selfhealing, self-optimising, self-protecting and self-aware. We look at motivations for autonomicity, examine how more and more systems are exhibiting autonomic behavior, and finally look at future directions.

The relationship between trust and control is quite relevant both for the very notion of trust and for modelling and implementing trust-control relations with autonomous systems; but it is not trivial at all. On the one side, it is true that where/when there is control there is no trust, and vice versa.

Local assortativity has been recently proposed as a measure to analyse complex networks. It has been noted that the Internet Autonomous System level networks show a markedly different local assortativity profile to most biological and social networks. In this paper we show that, even though several Internet growth models exist, none of them produce the local assortativity profile that can be observed in the real AS networks. We introduce a new generic growth model which can produce a linear local assortativity profile similar to that of the Internet. We verify that this model accurately depicts the local assortativity profile criteria of Internet, while also satisfactorily modelling other attributes of AS networks already explained by existing models.

In open systems where the components, i.e. the agents and the resources, may be unknown at design time, or in dynamic and self-organizing systems evolving with time, there is a need to enable the agents to communicate their intentions with respect to future activities and resource utilization to resolve coordination issues dynamically. Ideally, we would like to allow ad-hoc interaction, where two standalone independently-designed systems are able to coordinate whenever a need arises. The Semantic Web based approach presented in this paper aims at enabling agents to coordinate without assuming any design-time ontological alignment of them. An agent can express an action intention using own vocabulary, and through the process of dynamic ontology linking other agents will be able to arrive at a practical interpretation of that intention. We also show how our approach can be realized on top of the Semantic Agent Programming Language.

In transactional systems, the objectives of quality of service regarding are often specified by Service Level Objectives (SLOs) that stipulate a response time to be achieved for a percentile of the transactions. Usually, there are different client classes with different SLOs. In this paper, we extend a technique that enforces the fulfilment of the SLOs using admission control. The admission

In this paper, several three dimensional (3-D) four-wing smooth quadratic autonomous chaotic systems are analyzed. It is shown that these systems have a number of similar features. A new 3-D continuous autonomous system is proposed based on these features. The new system can generate a four-wing chaotic attractor with less terms in the system equations. Several basic properties of the new system is analyzed by means of Lyapunov exponents, bifurcation diagrams and Poincare maps. Phase diagrams show that the equilibria are related to the existence of multiple wings.

We propose a market-managed QoS (Quality of Service) interconnection model for heterogeneous networking environments. The deployment of this model will help autonomous systems to reduce the cost of their network services as well as increase social welfare. We describe a technical solution for a next generation Internet, where networks are managed based on either technology requirements (QoS networks) or market principles (market-managed networks). Our solution requires two technologies: BMP (Bandwidth Management Point) and a modified version of BGP (Border Gateway Protocol). The modified version of BGP, as proposed in this paper, provides additional routing exchange information such as price and QoS level specifications. Both technologies are discussed with regard to the impact on routing, QoS provisioning, and charging. In order to show the benefit of our approach for inter-domain routing and interconnection, we present some analytical and simulation results, showing the significant increase in network service revenue as well as the increase in social welfare. These results draw important implications for designing the next generation Internet with regard to investment in QoS networks.

The paper describes a variable speed wind generation system where fuzzy logic principles are used for efficiency optimization and performance enhancement control. A squirrel cage induction generator feeds the power to a double-sided pulse width modulated converter system which pumps power to a utility grid or can supply to an autonomous system. The generation system has fuzzy logic control with vector control in the inner loops. A fuzzy controller tracks the generator speed with the wind velocity to extract the maximum power. A second fuzzy controller programs the machine flux for light load efficiency improvement, and a third fuzzy controller gives robust speed control against wind gust and turbine oscillatory torque. The complete control system has been developed, analyzed, and validated by simulation study. Performances have then been evaluated in detail.

Autonomous systems present the future of wireless networks and applications. Systems that are able to go anywhere and be truly "autonomous" have a huge advantage over those dependent on finite power sources. They do not require regular maintenance of a battery; therefore they can be put into places where it might be difficult to replace components. The question is "How

Communication between institutions, or domains, residing in the Internet requires a route to be created between the routing domains. Each of these domains is controlled by a single administrative authority, and is referred to as an autonomous system (AS). Control of routes that move the data in the Internet between ASes is problematic. If an AS requires certain route characteristics beyond the selection of the first hop, the AS must pay for some type of special service from its Internet service provider (ISP). The ISP can provide integrity of the data using end-to-end encryption, but the customer AS still does not have control over the route. In other words, an organization is unable to prevent its data from passing through certain parts of the Internet. We believe that a service allowing an AS to select from alternate routes, on behalf of an organization, could meet this need for route customization. The alternate routes could be created to meet the requirements of the source AS, such as the avoidance of another AS. The service must minimize the incremental cost (in hops) of the alternate routes and maximize the probability that an alternate route will be found. We measure the effectiveness of several algorithms as they are used to select ASes to deploy a solution, called inter-domain collaborative routing (IDCR), that allows ''friend'' routers to collaboratively determine a route. Key to the performance of IDCR is the placement of ''friend'' routers in the Internet. We explore the trade-off between placing ''friend'' routers in various levels of the hierarchy of routers in the Internet. In order to measure the effectiveness of IDCR as the set of ASes deploying the service is varied, we track the probability of routing success and monitor the incremental cost in hops as the service creates alternate routes in several small but representative network models. We evaluate three algorithms used to determine which routers should support the IDCR service. The first, called the degree algorithm, categorizes the routers into a hierarchy, based only on the nodal degree of the router [1]. The second, called the factor algorithm, calculates an IDCR factor for each router and uses that to rank select routers to provide the service. Finally, the greedy algorithm, serving as the baseline, iterates across all candidate routers, selecting routers one at a time based on the performance of the service.

There is increasing interest from the marine science community in using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) under ice shelves and under sea ice. These environments pose challenges to the vehicle and support team, and they mean that recovery may be almost impossible, or very expensive, should the vehicle develop a fault particularly when beneath ice. This paper reviews recent published work on AUV reliability and develops a risk management process (RMP-AUV) tuned to the needs of the responsible owner working with a technical support team. The RMP-AUV provides a framework for the responsible owner to determine an acceptable risk using mainly objective information, augmented with subjective judgement on the priority of the proposed vehicle campaigns. A process is defined whereby the technical team determines the probability of loss based on the most applicable historic data for the vehicle. If this is less than the risk acceptable to the owner, RMP-AUV then requires this assessment to be verified, for example through a proving campaign. How a campaign can be designed to meet this objective is discussed and other risk mitigation strategies are outlined. Worked examples are included to illustrate the how the proposed RMP-AUV would work, using actual reliability data from the Autosub AUV. We are some way from having sufficiently reliable (or sufficiently inexpensive) AUVs that the task of risk assessment in polar environments becomes trivial. Until that time careful performance and risk assessments will be needed. Furthermore, those assessments should be used to drive forward improvements in AUV reliability so that the full potential of autonomous systems to deliver data from the polar regions can be realised.

Testbed technology is very important in the development of the Internet. Similar to the present internet, next generation internet also starts from testbed. There are two kinds of testbeds, testbed networks like CNGI-CERNET2, Internet2, Geant; testbed systems like PlanetLab, NS2.

Hybrid power systems have the capability to incorporate significant renewable energy penetration for a small autonomous system while still maintaining reliable grid stability. While there are many papers covering the optimization of component size and dispatch strategy, far fewer papers contain experimental performance data from hybrid systems. Mercy Hospital in Bo, Sierra Leone is converting their power system into a photovoltaic (PV)-diesel hybrid system, thus providing an opportunity to examine the change in system performance before, during, and after the conversion. Due to the seasonal availability of electric power in Sierra Leone, two datasets representing two distinct load profiles are analyzed: Wet Season and Dry Season. The difference in generation efficiency, cost per kW h, generator runtime, and fuel consumption are calculated between a diesel-only generation baseline and the recorded hybrid system performance. The results indicated that the hybrid system significantly reduces operation costs; approximately 37% less during Dry Season and 64% reduction in the Wet Season than a diesel-only generator serving the same load.

Robot arms are used in modern work cells and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) in handling work pieces and loading/unloading processes. The robot arm links may interfere with the bodies of the system components, which are considered as obstacles in the robot workspace. In order that the robot works in safe conditions, study of robot workspace in a free space and

Re-occurrence of the same problem is very common in many large software products. By matching the symptoms of a new problem to those in a database of known problems, automated diagnosis and even selfhealing for re-occurrences can be (partially) realized. This paper exploits function call stacks as highly structured symptoms of a certain class of problems, including crashes, hangs, and traps. We propose and evaluate algorithms for efficiently and accurately matching call stacks by a weighted metric of the similarity of their function names, after first removing redundant recursion and uninformative (poor discriminator) functions from those stacks. We also describe a new indexing scheme to speed queries to the repository of known problems, without compromising the quality of matches returned. Experiments conducted using call stacks from actual product problem reports demonstrate the improved accuracy (both precision and recall) resulting from our new stack-matching algorithms and removal of uninformative or redundant function names, as well as the performance and scalability improvements realized by indexing call stacks. We also discuss how call-stack matching can be used in both self-managing (or autonomic systems) and human "help desk" applications.

This paper reflects different understandings and positions on IP/MPLS OAM functions and management applications, as perceived by representatives from industry and academia. There is a clear effort to improve the state-of-the-art and to apply lessons learnt from the Ethernet/ATM approaches. A series of questions on the short-term, mid-term and long-term directions definitively arises, especially with regard to the separation of control and management functions. The questions mentioned below do not exhaustively cover the topic. Instead, the questions serve as a starting point for a discussion on methodologies to apply, on engineering requirements to consider, and on the technical challenges to resolve harnessing this next stage of evolution of heterogeneous networking. The panel guests present their perception on these issues. What are the lessons learnt from ATM and Ethernet OAM techniques that are oriented to a single network technology? What is equivalent of OAM appropriate for IP/[G]MPLS (it has to be more at link level rather than connection level)? What MPLS MIB information is intended to support OAM functions? What are the challenges on OAM in hybrid and multi-layer networks? How will management systems of next generation networks (NGN) and GRID networks make use of the OAM functions and what else is needed to smoothen the controlmanagement interactions? What is the impact of convergent IP networking and autonomic networking on OAM functions and their distribution? How much proactiveness can management applications achieve with and without OAM functionalities? K e y w o r d s -O A M : I P / M P L S ; p r o a c t i v e management; data mining; heterogeneous networks; [G]MPLS; autonomic systems

We analyze a second-order, nonlinear delay-differential equation with negative feedback. The characteristic equation for the linear stability of the equilibrium is completely solved, as a function of two parameters describing the strength of the feedback and the damping in the autonomous system. The bifurcations occurring as the linear stability is lost are investigated by the construction of a center manifold:

The acoustic signature of an internal combustion (IC) engine contains valuable information regarding the functioning of its components. It could be used to detect the incipient faults in the engine. Acoustics-based condition monitoring of systems precisely tries to handle the questions and in the process extracts the relevant information from the acoustic signal to identify the health of the system. In automobile industry, fault diagnosis of engines is generally done by a set of skilled workers who by merely listening to the sound produced by the engine, certify whether the engine is good or bad, primary owing to their excellent sensory skills and cognitive capabilities. It would indeed be a challenging task to mimic the capabilities of those individuals in a machine. In the fault diagnosis setup developed hereby, the acoustic signal emanated from the engine is first captured and recorded; subsequently the acoustic signal is transformed on to a domain where distinct patterns corresponding to the faults being investigated are visible. Traditionally, acoustic signals are mainly analyzed with spectral analysis, i.e., the Fourier transform, which is not a proper tool for the analysis of IC engine acoustic signals, as they are non-stationary and consist of many transient components. In the present work, Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM)-based approach for IC engine is proposed. EMD is a new time-frequency analyzing method for nonlinear and non-stationary signals. By using the EMD, a complicated signal can be decomposed into a number of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) based on the local characteristics time scale of the signal. Treating these IMFs as feature vectors HMM is applied to classify the IC engine acoustic signal. Experimental results show that the proposed method can be used as a tool in intelligent autonomous system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of IC engine.

This paper concerns on modeling of stand alone biomass and solar energy system in Sarawak. Sarawak state needs to develop a number of small power generations in remote areas using stand alone system. Stand alone power systems are of special interest combined with renewable energy design in areas not connected to the capital electric grid. The ultimate goal of this project is to obtain a reliable autonomous system with the optimization of the components size and the improvement of capital cost. Simulated model for photovoltaic system is designed using MATLAB Simulink together with PSIM and model for biomass is designed using HoneyWell software to investigate the design and the performance of stand-alone renewable energy systems. Furthermore, the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) software is important to develop the cost optimization analysis. The costs for both renewable systems are optimized, compared and analyzed. For a particular scenario, inputs to HOMER include load data, renewable resource data, system component specifications and costs, and a variety of information of optimization, such as number of components in order to obtain the best possible system for rural areas.

This paper describes Livingstone, an implemented kernel for a self-reconfiguring autonomous system, that is reactive and uses component-based declarative models. The paper presents a formal characterization of the representation formalism used in Livingstone, and reports on our experience with the implementation in a variety of domains. Livingstone's representation formalism achieves broad coverage of hybrid software/hardware systems by coupling the concurrent transition system models underlying concurrent reactive languages with the discrete qualitative representations developed in model-based reasoning. We achieve a reactive system that performs significant deductions in the sense/response loop by drawing on our past experience at building fast propositional conflictbased algorithms for model-based diagnosis, and by framing a model-based configuration manager as a propositional, conflict-based feedback controller that generates focussed, optimal responses. Livingstone automates all these tasks using a single model and a single core deductive engine, thus making significant progress towards achieving a central goal of modelbased reasoning. Livingstone, together with the ttSTS planning and scheduling engine and the I~APS executive, has been selected as the core autonomy architecture for Deep Space One, the first spacecraft for NASA's New Millenium program.

A fiber Brag grating sensor interrogator has been developed which is capable of gathering vectors of information from individual fiber Bragg gratings by capturing the full optical spectrum 3 kHz. Using a field programmable gate array with high speed digital-to-analog converters and analog-to-digital components, plus a kilohertz rate MEMS optical filter, the optical spectrum can be scanned at rates in excess of 10 million nanometers per second, allowing sensor sampling rates of many kilohertz while maintaining the necessary resolution to understand sensor changes. The autonomous system design performs all necessary detection and processing of multiple sensors and allows spectral measurements to be exported as fast as Ethernet, USB, or RS232 devices can receive it through a memory mapped interface. The high speed - full spectrum - fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogator enables advanced interrogation of dynamic strain and temperature gradients along the length of a sensor, as well as the use of each sensor for multiple stimuli, such as in temperature compensation. Two examples are described, showing interrogation of rapid laser heating in an optical fiber, as well as complex strain effects in a beam that had an engineered defect.

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are widely used for navigation and calibration purposes on unmanned autonomous vehicles. This paper provides a comparative survey and evaluation of the low-cost IMUs focusing on both the possible sensor packages and the available software solutions. Several example IMUs are compared in detail including inertial only IMUs, GPS-coupled IMUs, and hobbyist-level IMUs. The future direction of low-cost IMUs are discussed including optical-flow-based solutions and collaborative IMUs.

He has authored over 35 refereed publications and received two patents. His active research interests include control design and state estimation for nonlinear systems, fault diagnostics, intelligent transportation systems, active noise control, and MEMS sensor design.

Oscillators are key components of electronic systems. Undesired perturbations, i.e. noise, in practical electronic systems adversely affect the spectral and timing properties of oscillators resulting in phase noise, which is a key performance limiting factor, being a major contributor to bit-error-rate (BER) of RF communication systems, and creating synchronization problems in clocked and sampled-data systems. In this paper, we first present a theory and numerical methods for nonlinear perturbation and noise analysis of oscillators described by a system of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs), which extends our recent results on perturbation analysis of autonomous ordinary differential equations (ODEs). In developing the above theory, we rely on novel results we establish for linear periodically time-varying (LPTV) systems: Floquet theory for DAEs. We then use this nonlinear perturbation analysis to derive the stochastic characterization, including the resulting oscillator spectrum, of phase noise in oscillators due to colored (e.g., 1= f noise), as opposed to white, noise sources. The case of white noise sources has already been treated by us in a recent publication. The results of the theory developed in this work enabled us to implement a rigorous and effective analysis and design tool in a circuit simulator for low phase noise oscillator design.

The Autonomous Systems Laboratory is in the midst of developing an advanced underwater robotic technology test platform. The platform consists of the Omni-Directional Intelligent Navigator (ODIN) and the Integrated Graphic Workstation (IGW). ODIN is a six degree-of-freedom (dof) underwater vehicle with dual operational modes (autonomous and tethered) and a single dof mechanical manipulator. IGW is a real-time, 3-dimensional graphic monitoring, testing, and evaluation workstation. This paper presents ODIN's mechanical and electrical specifications; its vehicle dynamics and depth control system; its recent simulation and experimental results; and IGW's specifications

In contrast to the noradrenergic dysregulation described in PTSD, little is known regarding noradrenergic function in dissociative disorders. The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate basal norepinephrine in depersonalization disorder (DPD). Nine subjects with DSM-IV DPD, without lifetime PTSD, were compared to nine healthy comparison (HC) subjects. Norepinephrine was measured via 24-h urine collection and three serial plasma determinations. Groups did not differ significantly in plasma norepinephrine levels. Compared to the HC group, the DPD group demonstrated significantly higher urinary norepinephrine, only prior to covarying for anxiety. The DPD group also demonstrated a highly significant inverse correlation between urinary norepinephrine and depersonalization severity (rsy0.88). Norepinephrine and cortisol levels (reported in a prior study) were not intercorrelated. We concluded that although dissociation accompanied by anxiety was associated with heightened noradrenergic tone, there was a marked basal norepinephrine decline with increasing severity of dissociation. The findings are in concordance with the few reports on autonomic blunting in dissociation and merit further investigation. ᮊ

Physical and environmental sensing is benefitting several domains to solve real time problems. Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSAN) are emerging as the new generation of sensor networks and providing a boost towards the development of autonomous systems. Use of WSAN towards crop irrigation is one of the top most utilization in the area of Agriculture. In this paper we have presented the crop irrigation control to better utilize water resource which is getting scarce. The one of the major hindrances on the way of WSAN adaptation in the third world countries like Pakistan is the factor of hardware/system cost. To cope up with cost factor, there is a need of the indigenous development of sensor and actuator motes. In addition to crop irrigation control, we also presented our efforts of indigenous design and development of WSAN and its protocol.

THE DISCIPLINE OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY: CURRENT DEFINITIONS Neuroendocrinology Here in this well-concealed spot, almost to be covered with a thumbnail, lies the very main spring of primitive existence À vegetative, emotional, reproductive À on which with more or less success, man has come to superimpose a cortex of inhibitions.

The characterization of three commercial thermoelectric modules, which are designed for cooling/heating applications, is presented to employ the devices for power conversion, i.e., as thermoelectric generators (TEGs). The thermoelectric theory is briefly summarized at first, taking into account the relationship between the effective temperature difference across the TEG junctions and the temperature difference applied externally, considering insulating ceramic plates having finite thermal conductance. The thermoelectric modules have been characterized in terms of open-circuit output voltage and output power density for different temperature gradients and load conditions. Measurement techniques and experimental data are reported, which show the possibility of using thermoelectric devices for energy-harvesting applications. A comparison of the results from the tested devices with the performance data of commercial TEGs that are specifically designed for power harvesting is then presented, and the main characteristics of the two device typologies are discussed. A TEG was then used to supply an autonomous system that interfaces with a temperature sensor and periodically transmits the measurement information via an RF link. Experimental data show that the system works correctly and sends the RF signal when the temperature difference that is applied across the TEG is higher than 34 K.

This paper introduces a new 3-D quadratic autonomous system, which can generate two coexisting single-wing chaotic attractors and a pair of diagonal double-wing chaotic attractors. More importantly, the system can generate a fourwing chaotic attractor with very complicated topological structures over a large range of parameters. Some basic dynamical behaviors and the compound structure of the new 3-D system are investigated. Detailed bifurcation analysis illustrates the evolution processes of the system among two coexisting sinks, two coexisting periodic orbits, two coexisting single-wing chaotic attractors, major and minor diagonal double-wing chaotic attractors, and a four-wing chaotic attractor. Poincaré-map analysis shows that the system has extremely rich dynamics. The physical existence of the fourwing chaotic attractor is verified by an electronic circuit. Finally, spectral analysis shows that the system has an extremely broad frequency bandwidth, which is very desirable for engineering applications such as secure communications.

A methodology is developed for calculating the correct size of a photovoltaic (PV)-hybrid system and for optimizing its management. The power for the hybrid system comes from PV panels and an engine-generator-that is, a gasoline or diesel engine driving an electrical generator. The combined system is a stand-alone or autonomous system, in the sense that no third energy source is brought in to meet the load. Two parameters were used to characterize the role of the engine-generator: denoted SDM and SAR, they are, respectively, the battery charge threshold at which it is started up, and the storage capacity threshold at which it is stopped, both expressed as a percentage of the nominal battery storage capacity. The methodology developed is applied to designing a PV-hybrid system operating in Corsica, as a case study. Various sizing configurations were simulated, and the optimal configuration that meets the autonomy constraint (no loss of load) was determined, by minimizing of the energy cost. The influence of the battery storage capacity on the solar contribution is also studied. The smallest energy cost per kWh was obtained for a system characterized by an SDM 5 30% and an SAR 5 70%. A study on the effects of component lifetimes on the economics of PV-hybrid and PV stand-alone systems has shown that battery size can be reduced by a factor of two in PV-hybrid systems, as compared to PV stand-alone systems.

In this paper, the state of the art in ultra-low power (ULP) VLSI design is presented within a unitary framework for the first time. A few general principles are first introduced to gain an insight into the design issues and the approaches that are specific to ULP systems, as well as to better understand the challenges that have to be faced in the foreseeable future. Intuitive understanding is accompanied by rigorous analysis for each key concept. The analysis ranges from the circuit to the micro-architectural level, and reference is given to process, physical and system levels when necessary. Among the main goals of this paper, it is shown that many paradigms and approaches borrowed from traditional above-threshold low-power VLSI design are actually incorrect. Accordingly, common misconceptions in the ULP domain are debunked and replaced with technically sound explanations.

... Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology 4800 Oak Grove Dr. Pasadena, CA 91 109, USA { Amir.Fijany, Farrokh.Vatan, Anthony.C ... The mapping onto 0/1 Integer Programming problem enables the use of a variety of algorithms that can efficiently solve the ...

Water scarcity are serious problem in many areas of the world, such as the Middle East and North African countries (MENA), the Southern European Mediterranean Islands (SEMI) and isolated communi ties in desert or arid areas of Central Asian countries. One of the promising solutions for this problem is devel oping of autonomous system of drinking water supply or desalination systems working on RES, particularly solar energy. However, RES especially solar energy potential of the most arid areas is usually high. In addition, the cost of primary fuel is getting up while the need to maintain clean environment is becoming an important issue worldwide . There are a number of desalination methods proposed by scientists and available on the market. Among them, reverse osmosis (RO) is quite suitable for small to medium capacity systems and also has good perspectives for cost reduction and improvement in efficiency in the near future. And a number of research works on solar powered RO systems, from pilot project to industrial scale developed and proposed by researches which can be found from literature. This paper presents a review of the highlights that have been achieved during the last years in solar powered RO desalination. Also proposed the preliminary investigations on developed small scale PV powered RO desalination system, which supposed to be feasible system to use by small farmers in rural areas of Central Asia.

Abstract—We investigate the stability properties of a novel agent-based system for the detection of network bandwidth-based distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. The pro-posed system provides a description of the structure of flows which comprise the DDoS attack. In doing ...

The stress system coordinates the adaptive responses of the organism to stressors of any kind. The main components of the stress system are the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and locus ceruleus -norepinephrine (LC/NE)-autonomic systems and their peripheral effectors, the pituitary -adrenal axis, and the limbs of the autonomic system. Activation of the stress system leads to behavioral and peripheral changes that improve the ability of the organism to adjust homeostasis and increase its chances for survival. The CRH and LC/NE systems stimulate arousal and attention, as well as the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system, which is involved in anticipatory and reward phenomena, and the hypothalamic b-endorphin system, which suppresses pain sensation and, hence, increases analgesia. CRH inhibits appetite and activates thermogenesis via the catecholaminergic system. Also, reciprocal interactions exist between the amygdala and the hippocampus and the stress system, which stimulates these elements and is regulated by them. CRH plays an important role in inhibiting GnRH secretion during stress, while, via somatostatin, it also inhibits GH, TRH and TSH secretion, suppressing, thus, the reproductive, growth and thyroid functions. Interestingly, all three of these functions receive and depend on positive catecholaminergic input. The end-hormones of the hypothalamic -pituitary -adrenal (HPA) axis, glucocorticoids, on the other hand, have multiple roles. They simultaneously inhibit the CRH, LC/NE and b-endorphin systems and stimulate the mesocortico-limbic dopaminergic system and the CRH peptidergic central nucleus of the amygdala. In addition, they directly inhibit pituitary gonadotropin, GH and TSH secretion, render the target tissues of sex steroids and growth factors resistant to these substances and suppress the 5 0 deiodinase, which converts the relatively inactive tetraiodothyronine (T 4 ) to triiodothyronine (T 3 ), contributing further to the suppression of reproductive, growth and thyroid functions. They also have direct as well as insulin-mediated effects on adipose tissue, ultimately promoting visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension (metabolic syndrome X) and direct effects on the bone, causing ''low turnover'' osteoporosis. Central CRH, via glucocorticoids and catecholamines, inhibits the inflammatory reaction, while directly secreted by peripheral nerves CRH stimulates local inflammation (immune CRH). CRH antagonists may be useful in human pathologic states, such as melancholic depression and chronic anxiety, associated with chronic hyperactivity of the stress system, along with predictable behavioral, neuroendocrine, metabolic and immune changes, based on the interrelations outlined above. Conversely, potentiators of CRH secretion/action may be useful to treat atypical depression, postpartum depression and the fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndromes, all characterized by low HPA axis and LC/NE activity, fatigue, depressive symptomatology, hyperalgesia and increased immune/inflammatory responses to stimuli. D

Acknowledgments I would like to thank Professors Rodrigo Ventura and Pedro Lima,for the opportunity to work in this project, as well as for their help and ready assistance. I also thank my co-worker and friend Ana Cristina Aleixo for all her hard work and helpful ideas, without which this project would probably not yet be complete. I would like to

Until recently, written language and writing have been considered to be of minor interest in the context of cognitive and linguistic theories. Though the practical relevance of writing competences is undisputed, research in lan- guage production was, initially, research into speech production. This limita- tion was mainly due to the widespread opinion that spoken language is the exclusive domain of linguistics because of its 'naturalness', whereas written language was considered to be 'invented.' As a consequence, it was held to be more of a technical problem, e.g. in teaching, language policy or typogra- phy. This idea can be traced back to Saussurean linguistics: "Only the spo- ken word is the objective of linguistics." (Saussure 1967 2 : 28; our transla- tion). For several reasons the situation has changed over the last few years. Re- search in the history of writing systems has demonstrated that it is not just a matter of intentional acts of script refo...

Hierarchical approaches and methodologies are commonly used for control system design and synthesis. Well-known model-based techniques are often applied to solve problems of complex and large-scale control systems. The general philosophy of decomposing control problems into modular and more manageable subsystem control problems applies equally to the growing domain of intelligent and autonomous systems. However, for this class of systems, new techniques for subsystem coordination and overall system control are often required. This article presents an approach to hierarchical control design and synthesis for the case where the collection of subsystems is comprised of fuzzy logic controllers and fuzzy knowledge-based decision systems. The approach is used to implement hierarchical behavior-based controllers for autonomous navigation of one or more mobile robots. Theoretical details of the approach are presented, followed by discussions of practical design and implementation issues. Example implementations realized on various physical mobile robots are described to demonstrate how the techniques may be applied in practical applications involving homogeneous and heterogeneous robot teams.

In this position paper we present a conceptual vision of adaptation, a key feature of autonomic systems. We put some stress on the role of control data and argue how some of the programming paradigms and models used for adaptive systems match with our conceptual framework.