CONCRETE DOSAGE: FROM TRIAL-AND-ERROR TO THE USE OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS, WHICH METHOD IS BETTER FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS?

Scientific databases managing continuous observations of natural phenomena are currently storing multiple TBs of data and will soon reach the PBs range. Given their size, a very important part of the system load comes from scientists sifting through long stretches of noise in search of relevant events. This is a trial-and-error procedure where a scientist retrieves a data interval, processes it...

This paper presents a neural network approach to controlling nonlinear system. Trial-and-error correlation learning, which is a generally useful method for optimizing parameters, is applied to training a neural controller to balance an inverted pendulum. The controller is simplified by automatically pruning the hidden neurons to only two. Computer simulation shows that the trained neural contro...

SASC (Server-Aided Secret Computation) protocols enable a client (a smart card) to borrow computing power from a server (e.g., an untrustworthy auxiliary device like an ATM) without revealing its secret information. In this paper, we propose a new active attack on server-aided secret computation protocols. We describe our attack by using Beguin and Quisquater’s protocol. (We modify the protocol...

The high probability of hardware failures prevents many advanced robots (e.g., legged robots) from being confidently deployed in real-world situations (e.g., post-disaster rescue). Instead of attempting to diagnose the failures, robots could adapt by trial-and-error in order to be able to complete their tasks. In that case, damage recovery can be seen as a Reinforcement Learning (RL) problem. H...

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic is now in its fourth decade. The WHO estimates that over 35.3 million people are living with HIV worldwide. With over 1.6 million deaths and 1.6 million infected in 2012, the HIV epidemic continues to be a major scientific challenge [1]. Many roadblocks have been overcome. The development of effective anti-retroviral therapy (ARV) has had a dramat...

Online courses appear to be the future if colleges and universities choose to increase enrollments with students who need more flexibility in scheduling. The challenge has been to create a course that is rigorous with the limitations to physical presence of the instructor and the parameters inherent in technological delivery. This article relates the planning and execution of such a graduate ps...

SQL tuning—the attempt to improve a poorly-performing execution plan produced by the database query optimizer—is a critical aspect of database performance tuning. Ironically, as commercial databases strive to improve on the manageability front, SQL tuning is becoming more of a black art. It requires a high level of expertise in areas like (i) query optimization, run-time execution of query plan...

A single dose of 200 mg/kg razoxane protected mice against the sub-chronic lethal effects (i.e. within 21 days) of 10 mg/kg daunomycin. When the razoxane dose was split into 2 doses of 100 mg/kg, even better protection against higher doses of daunomycin was obtained. The best protective effect was seen when the razoxane was given 24 h before or simultaneously with the daunomycin, and it was sti...