Development of systems software for the Ferut computer at theUniversity of Toronto, 1952 to 1955

The Ferut computer was a copy of the Mark 1 computer at the University of Manchester. Two years after its delivery in Toronto, systems software had been developed to vastly enlarge the community of users. To go from a few dedicated programmers patient enough to deal with the extremely difficult machine code to a situation where anyone with two hours to spare could program successfully was a major advance. This article retraces the steps in this pioneering experiment in automatic programming, in which the author played a central role     

Parallel multischeme computation with the switch of computation history

A parallel multischeme computation in the solutions of differential equation initial-value problems has been studied. The mathematical switch of computation history is used successfully in the identification of the best approximation among all available ones at a computing step. A solution correction factor is also developed to achieve an extra four digits in solution accuracy. Based on our results, if the truncation error of computation history as we defined it can be properly utilized, then a computation engaging high-order schemes or using fine grids may be unnecessary.     

Skyline计算研究综述

近年来,skyline计算以其在多目标决策、数据挖掘、数据库可视化等方面的潜在应用引起了越来越多研究者的关注。集中式skyline计算作为最早的研究重点得到了深入的研究,许多有效的skyline计算算法被提出来,例如BNL、NN、BBS等等。其中,BBS被认为是当前最佳的集中式skyline计算算法。分布式skyline计算的研究也取得了明显进展,已有的工作分别对面向分布式数据库、移动自组织网络和对等网络等的skyline计算进行了探索。Skyline计算还被扩展为其它更复杂的计算问题,包括任意子空间上的skyline,所有子空间上的skyline,k-支配的skyline,空间skyline计算等等。然而,迄今为止,国内外还没有一篇论文对sky-line计算技术作过全面的分析与评述。对skyline计算技术进行系统的综述。在介绍已有代表性算法的基础上,通过分析它们的特点和比较它们的性能,总结了各算法的优势和不足,并指出了skyline计算的未来发展方向。     

Artist Space 6: Generative computation and the arts

Cyberart incorporates interactive systems within artistic practices. The foundation for a theory of artistic production and creativity becomes expanded on the basis of a biological implication that is not dependent solely on aesthetic judgment. To communicate with computers and their high performance software stimulates artists’ imagination and there are types of interface or hardware that connect the natural system (especially the body) to the internal life of computers.     

Students at the centre: non-lineal narratives and self-conscious learning

This paper reflects on the design and evaluation of a multimedia learning tool developed for students of qualitative research. Two issues are explored which are pertinent to the introduction of multimedia networked learning tools into existing teaching and learning cultures. First, the concept of the non-lineal — in multimedia narratives, in the ethnographic research process, in the learning process and in relation to teaching strategies. Second, drawing from evaluations of the multimedia tool the idea of self-conscious multilineal learning, and continuities between hypermedia learning and conventional teaching and learning practices are discussed. Finally the theoretical and practical implications of these discussions are related to the question of developing 'student-centred learning'.     

Resource holding times: computation and optimization

In scheduling hard-real-time systems, the primary objective is to meet all deadlines. We study the scheduling of such systems with the secondary objective of minimizing the duration of time for which the system locks each shared resource. We abstract out this objective into the resource hold time (rht)—the largest length of time that may elapse between the instant that a system locks a resource and the instant that it subsequently releases the resource, and study properties of the rht. We present an algorithm for computing resource hold times for every resource in a task system that is scheduled using Earliest Deadline First scheduling, with resource access arbitrated using the Stack Resource Policy. We also present and prove the correctness of algorithms for decreasing these rht’s without changing the semantics of the application or compromising application feasibility.

Quantum computation and cryptography: an overview

The new Quantum Information Theory augurs powerful machines that obey the “entangled” logic of the subatomic world. Parallelism, entanglement, teleportation, no-cloning and quantum cryptography are typical peculiarities of this novel way of understanding computation. In this article, we highlight and explain these fundamental ingredients that make Quantum Computing potentially powerful and Quantum Communications reliable.     

Evolutionary computation: comments on the history and current state

Evolutionary computation has started to receive significant attention during the last decade, although the origins can be traced back to the late 1950's. This article surveys the history as well as the current state of this rapidly growing field. We describe the purpose, the general structure, and the working principles of different approaches, including genetic algorithms (GA) (with links to genetic programming (GP) and classifier systems (CS)), evolution strategies (ES), and evolutionary programming (EP) by analysis and comparison of their most important constituents (i.e. representations, variation operators, reproduction, and selection mechanism). Finally, we give a brief overview on the manifold of application domains, although this necessarily must remain incomplete     

The alchemy of computation: designing with the unknown

Modern computers allow a methodical search of possibly billions of experiments and the exploitation of interactions that are not known in advance. This enables a bottom-up process of design by assembling or configuring systems and testing the degree to which they fulfill the desired goal. We give two detailed examples of this process. One is referred to as Cartesian genetic programming and the other evolution-in-materio. In the former, evolutionary algorithms are used to exploit the interactions of software components representing mathematical, logical, or computational elements. In the latter, evolutionary algorithms are used to manipulate physical systems particularly at the electrical or electronic level. We compare and contrast both approaches and discuss possible new research directions by borrowing ideas from one and using them in the other.

     

Reaction centre accessibility. II. Role of reaction centre congestion in the calculation of reaction centre accessibility

Accessibility to reaction centres is as important as electronic reactivity in determining the success of a reaction. The possibility of its calculation becomes a necessary requisite in the prediction of reaction products. Using a recently proposed approach to the calculation of reaction centre congestion based on a two dimensional representation of molecules, a new system has been realised that can quickly evaluate the desired accessibility. The system is based on the simulation of the steric interaction between reactants in different orientations. The calculation of an interaction energy for each orientation and their combination permits the approximate estimation of the reaction probability for the steric factors concerned. Even though all the operations were performed using a two-dimensional representation the results are encouraging. It is obvious that at this level it is impossible to predict face accessibility preference.     

Part 5: Statistical mechanics of communication and computation

Statistical mechanics (SM) is a branch of theoretical physics that explores cooperative phenomena observed in many body systems. For a long time, applications of SM were limited to material objects such as gases, liquids, metals, magnets, and semi-conductors. However, about a decade ago, concepts and methods developed for SM began to be actively applied to problems in information science. These applications have provided various ground-breaking results, particularly in the fields of communication and computation. Such activities are still ongoing, resulting in the development of a novel cross-disciplinary research field between the natural and the information sciences. In this review article, we show why and how SM can be utilized in information science, illustrating its use by means of three applications: error correcting codes, a public key cryptosystem, and analysis of a decision problem. Yoshiyuki Kabashima, Ph.D.: He has been a professor at Department of Computational Intelligence and Systems Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology since 2004. He received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in theoretical physics from Kyoto University in 1989, 1991 and 1994, respectively. He is mainly working in a crossdisciplinary field between statistical mechanics and information sciences.     

Models of parallel computation :a survey and classification

In this paper, the state-of-the-art parallel computational model research is reviewed. We will introduce various models that were developed during the past decades. According to their targeting architecture features, especially memory organization, we classify these parallel computational models into three generations. These models and their characteristics are discussed based on three generations classification. We believe that with the ever increasing speed gap between the CPU and memory systems, incorporating non-uniform memory hierarchy into computational models will become unavoidable. With the emergence of multi-core CPUs, the parallelism hierarchy of current computing platforms becomes more and more complicated. Describing this complicated parallelism hierarchy in future computational models becomes more and more important. A semi-automatic toolkit that can extract model parameters and their values on real computers can reduce the model analysis complexity, thus allowing more complicated models with more parameters to be adopted. Hierarchical memory and hierarchical parallelism will be two very important features that should be considered in future model design and research.     

Models of parallel computation: a survey and classification

In this paper, the state-of-the-art parallel computational model research is reviewed. We will introduce various models that were developed during the past decades. According to their targeting architecture features, especially memory organization, we classify these parallel computational models into three generations. These models and their characteristics are discussed based on three generations classification. We believe that with the ever increasing speed gap between the CPU and memory systems, incorporating non-uniform memory hierarchy into computational models will become unavoidable. With the emergence of multi-core CPUs, the parallelism hierarchy of current computing platforms becomes more and more complicated. Describing this complicated parallelism hierarchy in future computational models becomes more and more important. A semi-automatic toolkit that can extract model parameters and their values on real computers can reduce the model analysis complexity, thus allowing more complicated models with more parameters to be adopted. Hierarchical memory and hierarchical parallelism will be two very important features that should be considered in future model design and research.     

Nonlinearity measures: definition, computation and applications

This paper is the first of two papers treating the quantification of open loop nonlinearity of dynamic systems. A generic definition of a nonlinearity measure is presented on the basis of the “best” linear approximation of a nonlinear system. Generalizing an earlier approach of Allgöwer, the measure can be applied both to the analysis of steady state operating points of continuously operated processes as well as to a trajectory dependent analysis of batch or other transient processes. An approximative computational strategy transferring the original infinite dimensional nested optimization problem into a convex finite dimensional minimization problem is discussed. The applications in this paper focus on operating point dependent analysis. Three continuously operated stirred tank reactor (CSTR) examples are investigated including a benchmark CSTR. The latter is also used to illustrate a computationally efficient lower bound approximation of the proposed nonlinearity measure. The additional difficulties associated with a trajectory rather than an operating point dependent analysis will be discussed in the forthcoming second part of this communication treating transient reaction processes.     

Nature-inspired computation and communication: A formal approach

We introduce the special issue with the title of “Nature-inspired Computation and Communication: A Formal Approach” edited by Prof. Phan Cong Vinh and Dr. Emil Vassev to scientists, researchers, professionals and students in the field of computing. Hopefully, they will find this issue provoking for their research related to hot topics of computing and being useful to their future work.     

Game design education: integrating computation and culture

Game studies, as a humanistic discipline, has no defined limits to its coverage, no single methodology, and no clear historical boundary. In short, the creation of a curriculum around games is an emerging practice in which research and education, theory and practice, art and commerce, and existing disciplinary boundaries all continue changing in challenging and unpredictable ways. Although many universities focus their digital media curricula on game production and game studies, Georgia Tech's commitment to humanistic frameworks connect this emerging environment to longer traditions of human culture by emphasizing research into the expressive potential of games.