Knowledge Update

​New York, Jan 27 (IANS) Questioning the decision-making ability of driverless cars, experts have suggested model driverless car regulations to ensure safety of the passengers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) experts David Danks and Alex John London from Carnegie Mellon University in the US argued that current safety regulations do not plan for autonomous systems and are ill-equipped to ensure that these systems would perform safely and reliably.

"Currently, we ensure safety on the roads by regulating the performance of the various mechanical systems of vehicles and by licensing drivers. When cars drive themselves we have no comparable system for evaluating the safety and reliability of their autonomous driving systems," said London.

In an opinion piece that appeared in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) Intelligent Systems, Danks and London suggested creating a dynamic system that resembles the regulatory and approval process for drugs and medical devices, including a robust system for post-approval monitoring.

"Self-driving cars and autonomous systems are rapidly spreading so we, as a society, need to find new ways to monitor and guide the development and implementation of these autonomous systems," added Danks.

The proposed phased process would begin with "pre-clinical trials," or testing in simulated environments, such as self-driving cars navigating varied landscapes and climates. 

This would provide information about how the autonomous system makes decisions in a wide range of contexts, so that we can understand how they might act in future in new situations, the duo said.

When a vehicle passes this test, the system would move on to "in-human" studies through a limited introduction into real world environments with trained human "co-pilots." 

Successful trials in these targeted environments would then lead to monitored, permit-based testing and further easing of restrictions as performance goals were met, the researchers noted.

Beijing, Jan 26 (IANS) Chinese think-tanks are among the world's best ones, with 9 of them making it to the best 175 in 2016, a report has said.

The number of Chinese think tanks has grown rapidly in the world last year, says Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, published by the think tank and civil societies program

London, Jan 26 (IANS) The number of cars made in the UK reached a 17-year high in 2016, the media reported.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on Wednesday said that exports rose 10.3 per cent to 1.35 million vehicles, a record for the second consecutive year,

​New York, Jan 26 (IANS) Consuming a Mediterranean diet -- rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, high on healthy fats like olive oil and low in refined sugars and saturated fats -- may provide a good nutritious balance that can improve medication adherence and mental health in patients with HIV-positive and Type 2 diabetes, researchers suggest. People who received healthy food and snacks for six months showed dramatic improvements in depression, the distress of having diabetes, diabetes self-management, trading off between food and healthcare and HIV medication adherence. People with diabetes who ate the nutritious food showed better long-term control of their blood sugar, reduced hospitalisations or emergency department visits. They also consumed less sugar and lost weight. "We saw significant improvements in food security and in outcomes related to all three mechanisms through which we posited that food insecurity may affect HIV and diabetes health -- nutritional, mental health and behavioural," said Kartika Palar, Assistant Professor at University of California - San Francisco (UCSF), US. The Mediterranean diet fulfilled 100 per cent of daily caloric requirements for people living with HIV and Type 2 diabetes. The patients also had fewer symptoms of depression and were less likely to binge drink. For those with HIV, adherence to antiretroviral therapy increased from 47 to 70 per cent. The study appeared online in the Journal of Urban Health.

​Bengaluru, Jan 25 (IANS) Software major Wipro Ltd on Wednesday announced acquiring Brazilian IT services provider InfoServer for $8.7 million (Rs 59 crore).

The Sao Paulo-based 20-year-old InfoServer provides custom application development and software deployment services in the Brazilian market.

Tokyo, Jan 25 (IANS) Japan in 2016 recorded a trade surplus for the first time in six years, thanks to the low price of oil, according to figures released by the Japanese Finance Ministry on Wednesday.

​New York, Jan 25 (IANS) Google Home, a voice-activated speaker powered by the Google Assistant for home automation, now lets you control Belkin Wemo and Honeywell products.

​San Francisco, Jan 25 (IANS) To help accelerate the digital transformation of enterprises, global networking giant Cisco is set to acquire AppDynamics Inc, a US-based application performance management and IT operations analytics company, for $3.7 billion.

​New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Apple has started rolling out iOS 10.3 beta update for those who have signed up for the change where voice assistant Siri will finally get cricket scores and statistics from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the International Cricket Council (ICC).