Reconocimiento de Huellas Dactilares Usando Características Locales

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Gualberto Aguilar

2008-01-01

Full Text Available El reconocimiento de huellas dactilares es uno de los métodos más populares usados con mayor grado de éxito para la identificación de personas. La huella dactilar tiene características únicas llamadas minucias, las cuales son puntos donde los bordes terminan o se dividen. Los sistemas de identificación que usan patrones biométricos de huella dactilar se denominan AFIS (Sistema de Identificación Automático de Huella Dactilar. En este trabajo se realizó un sistema para reconocimiento de huella dactilar usando combinación de Transformada Rápida de Fourier (FFT con Filtros de Gabor para aclarar la imagen y después un novedoso método para el reconocimiento usando características locales.

Reconocimiento de Gestos usando Cámaras de Profundidad

OpenAIRE

JHONSON GARCÍA, FIORELLA ANNETH

2017-01-01

El proyecto pretende detectar un repertorio de gestos a partir de nubes de puntos 3D obtenidas con cámaras de profundidad tipo Kinect. Jhonson García, FA. (2017). Reconocimiento de Gestos usando Cámaras de Profundidad. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/91700 TFGM

Predicción de los precios de contratos de electricidad usando una red neuronal con arquitectura dinámica

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Juan David Velásquez Henao

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Los contratos en los mercados liberalizados de electricidad constituyen una herramienta para proteger a los agentes de la volatilidad; en este contexto, los pronósticos de los precios son una entrada clave para la toma de decisiones estratégicas y operativas de los agentes. En este artículo, se pronostican los precios promedios de los contratos despachados en el mercado eléctrico colombiano, usando una red neuronal con arquitectura dinámica conocida como DAN2. El modelo desarrollado es capaz de capturar la dinámica intrínseca de la serie de precios y de pronosticar el precio para el siguiente mes con más precisión que la metodología ARIMA clásica, para horizontes de predicción de 12 y 24 meses

Identificación de sistemas no lineales usando series Volterra – Laguerre

OpenAIRE

Medina Ramos, Carlos Celestino; Medina Ramos, Carlos Celestino

2011-01-01

Este trabajo de Tesis está enfocado en la identificación de sistemas no lineales de modelo dinámico no conocido, adicionalmente y en base a los resultados obtenidos, se propone la aplicación del sistema de Control Predictivo no Lineal Basado en Modelos, NMPC, usando el algoritmo de la Matriz Dinámica de Control no Lineal, NDMC. El primer objetivo de este trabajo consiste en implementar una metodología para la identificación de sistemas no lineales usando series de Volterra truncadas; proye...

La exploración naturalista de Madeira en el siglo XIX: Los viajeros alemanes y su interés por esta isla

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Rebok, Sandra

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This essay aims to describe the various German scientific travellers who visited the island of Madeira from the second half of the 19th century onwards, the studies carried out by them, and the publications which resulted from their work. It documents the beginning of the systematic scientific research of this island, analyzing the focus of this interest as well as the form in which it developed in the decades to follow. After a general introduction about the genre of scientific travel literature, the article presents the significance of Madeira for German natural scientists and physicians of the 19th century, their impressions about the island, as well as the manifold information they offer about the geography, botany, landscapes, commerce, agriculture, and habits of the populations and their daily life. In this context, the views of Madeira expressed by these travellers will be of interest, particularly in the context of the differences they observed between Madeira and the Canary Islands.Este estudio tiene como objetivo dar a conocer a diferentes viajeros científicos de origen alemán que visitaron Madeira a partir de mediados del siglo XIX, los estudios realizados por ellos así como las publicaciones que resultaron de ello. Se trata principalmente de documentar los inicios de la investigación científica sistemática en la isla, analizar este interés y la forma en que se desarrolló en las décadas siguientes. Tras una introducción general sobre el género de la literatura de viajes, el enfoque se centra en el significado de esta isla para los visitantes, naturalistas y médicos alemanes del siglo XIX, las propias impresiones de las regiones recorridas, así como la variada información ofrecida sobre su geografía, botánica, los distintos paisajes, el comercio, la agricultura, las costumbres de la población y su vida cotidiana. Se analizará especialmente la mirada de estos viajeros sobre Madeira y por otro lado se realizará una

Agentes hemostáticos locais e adesivos teciduais

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Marcus Vinicius H. de Carvalho

Full Text Available Nos últimos dez anos os agentes hemostáticos e os adesivos teciduais têm sido usados frequentemente e são uma alternativa positiva para evitar a perda sanguínea excessiva. O objetivo dessa revisão é discutir as características de cada um desses agentes para facilitar a decisão do cirurgião na escolha do produto mais adequado para cada tipo de sangramento e natureza da hemorragia. Uma pesquisa da literatura sobre o assunto, nas línguas inglesa e portuguesa, foi conduzida usando o PubMed (www.pubmed.com e Google (www.google.com.br para encontrar artigos recentes sobre o tema. Com base nestes estudos, os autores fizeram uma revisão didática sobre os agentes hemostáticos e adesivos teciduais e concluem que existe um agente hemostático a ser usado em cada cenário específico.

Programação funcional usando Java

OpenAIRE

Jorge Juan Zavaleta Gavidia

1997-01-01

Desde a introdução da World Wide Web para o mundo nos inícios de 1990, usando a Internet como uma rede para transferir dados, empregando uma forma de expressão chamada de Hipertexto, a qual liga as informações relacionadas e combinadas com multimídia, os Webs resultantes têm aberto novas possibilidades de expressão e comunicação. A quantidade de tráfego de dados na Web e o número de computadores ofertando informação vem crescendo dramaticamente, mas falta expressividade e qualidade interativa...

Agentes hemostáticos locais e adesivos teciduais Topical haemostatic agents and tissue adhesives

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Marcus Vinicius H. de Carvalho

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Nos últimos dez anos os agentes hemostáticos e os adesivos teciduais têm sido usados frequentemente e são uma alternativa positiva para evitar a perda sanguínea excessiva. O objetivo dessa revisão é discutir as características de cada um desses agentes para facilitar a decisão do cirurgião na escolha do produto mais adequado para cada tipo de sangramento e natureza da hemorragia. Uma pesquisa da literatura sobre o assunto, nas línguas inglesa e portuguesa, foi conduzida usando o PubMed (www.pubmed.com e Google (www.google.com.br para encontrar artigos recentes sobre o tema. Com base nestes estudos, os autores fizeram uma revisão didática sobre os agentes hemostáticos e adesivos teciduais e concluem que existe um agente hemostático a ser usado em cada cenário específico.In the last ten years the hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives have been frequently used and they are positive alternatives to prevent excessive blood loss. The objective of this review is to discuss the characteristics of each of these agents to facilitate the surgeon's decision when choosing the most suitable product for every type of bleeding and nature of hemorrhage. A survey of the literature on the subject, in English and in Portuguese, was conducted using PubMed (www.pubmed.com and Google (www.google.com.br to find recent articles on the topic. Based on these studies, the authors conducted a didactic review on the hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives and concluded that there is a hemostatic agent to be used in each specific scenario.

Monitorização de transplante cardíaco usando análises do eletrograma intracavitário

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BROFMAN Paulo Roberto S.

1997-01-01

Full Text Available Uma série de registros do eletrograma intracavitário tem sido utilizada para monitorização não invasiva da rejeição em pacientes transplantados usando um marcapasso de dupla câmara e eletrodos endocavitários revestidos com estrutura fractal. Os sinais têm sido avaliados usando o sistema CHARM (Computerized Heart Acute Rejection Monitoring _ sistema computadorizado para monitorização da rejeição cardíaca aguda. Os relatórios obtidos com este sistema contêm curvas com parâmetros sensíveis à rejeição, que demonstram uma boa correlação com a clínica e os resultados das biópsias convencionais. A monitorização a longo prazo, usando estas análises, mostrou ser uma ferramenta valiosa no acompanhamento destes pacientes.

Línea de atención telefónica sobre virus Zika: experiencia de una unidad de medicina tropical y del viajero

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Marta Díaz-Menéndez

2017-11-01

Full Text Available La actual epidemia por virus Zika ha generado gran alarma social, favorecida en parte por la falta de información de la población general. Para proporcionar información veraz y contrastada, la Unidad de Medicina Tropical y del Viajero del Hospital Carlos III-La Paz (Madrid puso en marcha una línea de atención telefónica sobre la infección por el virus Zika. En este artículo se presentan los datos relativos a los primeros 6 meses de su funcionamiento. El perfil predominante de llamadas corresponde a mujeres solicitando información previa a la realización del viaje. Los destinos sobre los que más información se ha demandado han sido Brasil, Méjico y Colombia. La mayoría de las llamadas se resolvieron ofreciendo información exclusivamente. La implementación de dispositivos de atención telefónica que ofrezcan información contrastada y fiable en el contexto de enfermedades asociadas a gran alarma social es de gran interés sanitario, reduce el número de consultas innecesarias y ahorra costes.

Implementación del sistema para municipios, usando pmi

OpenAIRE

Cruz Ruiz, Victor Hugo; Buenaño Vera, Sulay Pamela; Freire Cobo, Lenin

2014-01-01

El objetivo de informe de graduación, es plantear y describir la implementación de un sistema informático en una entidad municipal usando PMI, siguiendo las pautas definidas en la Guía del PMBOK. Nuestro estudio es aplicar la Metodología Administración de Proyectos PMI a un proyecto ya terminado. Para este proyecto hemos tomado la información de la implementación del Sistema CABILDO ERP en el Gobierno Municipal de San Jacinto de Yaguachi, realizado por la empresa ecuatoriana...

Prevalência e fatores associados à infecção pelo Mycobacterium tuberculosis entre agentes comunitários de saúde no Brasil, usando-se a prova tuberculínica

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Wesley Pereira Rogerio

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Resumo Este artigo tem por objetivo determinar a prevalência e os fatores associados à infecção latente pelo Mycobacterium tuberculosis entre agentes comunitários de saúde (ACS, usando dois pontos de corte da prova tuberculínica 5mm e 10mm. Trata-se de estudo transversal, com dados coletados sobre sexo, idade, cicatriz de BCG, prova tuberculínica (PT anterior, tempo que trabalha na profissão de ACS, atuar em unidade básica de saúde (UBS, ter tido contato intradomiciliar com tuberculose (TB, usar álcool, ser fumante e apresentar comorbidades. Para controle de variáveis de confusão e estimativa da medida de efeito (OR, foi empregada a regressão logística. Aplicou-se PT, com leitura após 48-72 horas. As prevalências foram de 57,88% e 37,3%, respectivamente, para 5mm e 10mm. Manteve-se associada à positividade para o ponto de corte de 10mm a condição de trabalhar em UBS com Programa de Controle de Tuberculose (PCT implementado e já ter tido contato intradomiciliar com TB. Já para o ponto de corte de 5mm, trabalhar em UBS com PCT e implementado. São necessárias ações de conscientização nos municípios e fortalecimento das ações de educação permanente sobre a temática.

Interação Humano - Computador usando Visão Computacional

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Bernardo Bucher B. Barbosa

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Este trabalho visa estudar maneiras de se explorar a Interação Humano Computador, usando Visão Computacional. A idéia tem como objetivo um esforço para tornar o computador mais interativo com o usuário, sem a necessidade da compra de um hardware ou acessório específico para tal. O produto final deste trabalho em desenvolvimento é um software que contempla esta funcionalidade, tornando o computador mais interativo.

CLARIFICACIÓN DE AGUAS USANDO COAGULANTES POLIMERIZADOS: CASO DEL HIDROXICLORURO DE ALUMINIO

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JUAN MIGUEL COGOLLO FLÓREZ

2011-01-01

Full Text Available En este artículo se realiza un estudio del proceso de clarificación en sistemas de tratamiento de aguas industriales usando un coagulante inorgánico polimerizado (hidroxicloruro de aluminio. Inicialmente, se establecen los elementos conceptuales más importantes de las etapas del proceso de clarificación (coagulación, floculación y sedimentación. Luego, se señalan los principales coagulantes convencionales utilizados en el tratamiento de aguas y se abordan los policloruros de aluminio (PAC´s como integrantes de una nueva generación de coagulantes alternativos cuyo uso se ha incrementado en las últimas décadas dado su mejor desempeño respecto a los coagulantes convencionales; se especifican los aspectos técnicos y operativos que se deben considerar al momento de implementar un proceso de clarificación de aguas usando un PAC como coagulante. Finalmente, se presentan datos comparativos de condiciones operacionales reales de un proceso de clarificación de aguas, producto de un trabajo previo, donde se remplazó un coagulante convencional (sulfato de aluminio por hidroxicloruro de aluminio, donde se corrobora el mejor desempeño del proceso luego del remplazo.

LO PINTORESCO COMO CATEGORÍA ESTÉTICA EN EL ARTE DE VIAJEROS: APUNTES PARA LA OBRA DE RUGENDAS

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Pablo Diener

2007-12-01

Full Text Available La categoría estética de lo pintoresco fue incorporada en el repertorio conceptual de artistas y teóricos del arte hacia las últimas décadas del siglo XVIII. Su contenido ha tenido siempre un carácter inestable. De un significado inicial que aludía a una forma de ver y aprehender la naturaleza siguiendo los cánones de composición de artistas clásicos, pasó a ser utilizado con un sentido considerablemente más amplio, como una forma de percepción y registro de la realidad en todos los ámbitos. Tomando como ejemplo la obra de J.M. Rugendas, en este artículo se estudian las connotaciones que lo pintoresco adquirió para los artistas viajeros seguidores de la tradición de Alexander von Humboldt. Se observa que esta categoría estética jugó un papel esencial para vincular el quehacer artístico a los proyectos de reconocimiento científico del continente americano en el curso del siglo XIXThe aesthetic category of "picturesque" was incorporated in the conceptual repertoire of artists and art theorists during the last decades of the eighteenth century. Its content has always had an unstable character. Initially, its meaning alluded to a particular way of seeing and seizing nature, following classic artists' composition canons. Later, it was used in a more comprehensive sense as a form of perception and recording of reality in different fields. This article studies the different connotations that "picturesque" had for travelers that followed the tradition of Alexander von Humboldt. By examining the work of J.M. Rugendas, it is possible to observe that aesthetic categories played an essential role in linking art work and scientific exploration projects in the American continent during the nineteenth century

Nosotros, vosotros, ellos: relatos de viajeros judíos del siglo XV a la luz del concepto de alteridad

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Cano Pérez, María José

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Travel literature could be considered as the nexus of numerous types of texts within the narrative genre. Nevertheless, the information it offers from historical, geographical or sociological, among others, points of view, converts it into a register from which are concealed the own experiences of travelers in their journeys. In this sense, these ones are specially relevant in identity studies in which it is possible to observe the alterity that the authors show in their writings describing, in a constant way, their perception of the places they visited but also different communities, Jewish and non-Jewish, they find. In these pages it is offered a study about the impressions of 15th century Medieval authors in their voyages.La literatura de viajes podría considerarse el nexo de multitud de tipos de textos dentro del genero de la narrativa. Sin embargo, los datos que ofrece desde el punto de vista histórico, geográfico o sociológico, entre otros, hacen de ella un registro del que subyacen además las experiencias propias de los viajeros en sus travesías. De este modo, resultan especialmente destacadas en estudios de identidad en los que observar la alteridad que muestran los autores en sus escritos en los que describen, de manera constante, su percepción de los lugares que visitan pero también las diferentes comunidades, judías y no judías, con las que se encuentran. En estas paginas se ofrece un estudio acerca de las impresiones de autores medievales del siglo XV en sus viajes.

Análisis de la biodiversidad genética del algodón peruano usando marcadores moleculares: Avances en el 2004

OpenAIRE

Olórtegui, José; Espinoza, Marco; Espinoza, José; Montoya, Ysabel

2005-01-01

Tres mini preparaciones de extracción de ADN de algodón fueron comparadas en términos de calidad y rendimiento. El método de extracción de ADN usando CTAB fue el más eficiente (30 ug) en comparación con un kit comercial de extracción (20 ug) a partir de 100 mg de hojas cotiledonarias. La óptima calidad del ADN fue evaluada con las enzimas de restricción EcoRI y MseI. El ADN preparado será usado para iniciar el análisis de la biodiversidad genética del algodón peruano, usando marcadores mole...

Diarrea del viajero asociada a Aeromonas hydrophila Traveller's diarrohea caused by Aeromonas hydrophila

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M. L. Pita Toledo

2001-06-01

Full Text Available Aeromonas hydrophila es una bacteria que se encuentra frecuentemente en aguas dulces y salobres. Desde hace varios años se conoce que determinadas cepas de la especie pueden causar enfermedad en pescados y en anfibios, existiendo cierta controversia sobre su patogeneicidad en humanos. No obstante, puede dar lugar a infección en personas, que la adquieren bien a través de heridas abiertas o bien por ingestión de alimentos o agua contaminados. Sin embargo, en prácticamente la totalidad de las publicaciones se hace referencia a casos aislados más que a brotes producidos por esta bacteria. Generalmente la infección por A. hydrophila da lugar a gastroenteritis en personas sanas, pudiendo generar una septicemia en individuos inmunodeprimidos.En 1998 se produjo una alarma en el sector hotelero por un incremento considerable de los casos de gastroenteritis entre los turistas que acudían durante sus vacaciones a determinadas zonas costeras de la isla de Tenerife.Tras tener conocimiento de la situación, la Dirección General de Salud Pública inició una investigación epidemiológica con el objetivo de conocer la magnitud real del problema detectado e identificar los factores asociados a la misma, para poner en marcha las medidas correctoras y de control necesarias. El análisis inicial permitió determinar que se trataba de un proceso de gran magnitud en su extensión aunque de carácter leve, que afectaba únicamente a los turistas en una zona costera en concreto, compatible por lo tanto con la diarrea del viajero, planteándose un origen probablemente hídrico.Aeromonas hydrophila is a bacteria frequently found in fresh water and saline water. Certain strains of the species have been known to cause disease in fish and amphibians for several years, although some controversy exists about its ability to cause illness in humans. Nevertheless, either through open wounds or contaminated food or water, it can give rise to infection. However, almost

DESHIDRATACIÓN OSMÓTICA DE FRUTOS DE PAPAYA HAWAIANA (Carica papaya L. EN CUATRO AGENTES EDULCORANTES OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION OF HAWAIIAN PAPAYA FRUITS (Carica papaya L. USING FOUR SWEETENER AGENTS

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Margarita Maria Ríos Pérez

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Trozos de papaya hawaiiana (Carica papaya L. fueron sometidos a un proceso de osmo-deshidratación usando cuatro agentes edulcorantes: miel de abejas, miel de caña, crema de miel de abejas y sacarosa en medio acuoso a 79 grados Brix, temperatura de 20 ºC y 23 horas de inmersión. Los resultados estadísticos mostraron que el agente de mayor capacidad deshidratante fue la miel de abejas y el menor la sacarosa. Además, los análisis cinéticos indicaron que la máxima transferencia de masa ocurre en las primeras cuatro horas del proceso y la máxima pérdida de masa del producto que puede ser alcanzada fue de 32 % con un contenido de humedad final en los frutos de papaya osmodeshidratada de 41,3 % b.h.Pieces of Hawaiian papaya (Carica papaya L. were subjected to osmotic dehydration using four sweetener agents: honey, molasses, honey cream and sucrose in aqueous solution to 79 degrees Brix, 20 ºC temperature and 23 hours of immersion. The statistical results showed that honey was the sweetener agent with highest osmotic capacity while sucrose had the lowest. The kinetic analysis also showed that the maximum mass transfer occurs during the first four hours of the process and the maximum mass loss of the product that can be attained was 32 % with a final moisture content of 41,3 % w.b.

Construcción de Distribuciones Multivariadas con Marginales Dependientes Usando Cópulas en R

OpenAIRE

Jaramillo-Elorza, M. C; Lozano, J. A

2014-01-01

Las cópulas se han convertido en una herramienta popular para la construcción de modelos multivariados en campos donde la dependencia multivariada es de gran interés. El propósito de este trabajo es presentar las cópulas tanto en su concepto teórico, como en su implementación en el software estadístico R y profundizar en la construcción de distribuciones multivariadas con marginales dependientes, usando la clase mvdc del paquete copula, la cual permite utilizar varias y diferentes marginales ...

Guía metodológica para obtener patrones de accidentabilidad laboral usando Data Mining

OpenAIRE

Cevallos Chacón, Alvaro

2013-01-01

El objetivo de esta investigación es desarrollar y proponer una metodología clara y objetiva que permita a las empresas de cualquier industria, investigar sobre patrones de accidentabilidad laboral usando la minería de datos como herramienta de análisis. Para tal efecto se combina los conceptos de seguridad industrial relacionados con la investigación de accidentes y toma como marco principal, la normatividad nacional vigente en materia de seguridad y salud en el trabajo. Estos conceptos son ...

EVALUACIÓN DE LA DEGRADACIÓN Y MINERALIZACIÓN DEL MALATIÓN USANDO FOTOCATÁLISIS MEDIANTE UN COLECTOR SOLAR

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Diana Catalina Rodriguez

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Se empleó un colector solar para evaluar la degradación del malatión en una solución acuosa de 15 _g/L del plaguicida, usando tres concentraciones diferentes de dióxido de titanio (100, 200 y 250 mg/L y peróxido de hidrógeno (H2O2 al 30% como agente oxidante. La disminución de la concentración del malatión se determinó por cromatografía de gases con detector de microcaptura de electrones (CG-_ECD, previa extracción de las muestras con discos C18, y la mineralización se determinó mediante análisis de carbono orgánico total (COT. El proceso de degradación se evaluó durante 16 horas, durante las cuales, se registró la energía solar incidente mediante un radiómetro (Kipp & Zonen, modelo CUV 3. En la fotolisis se alcanzó un porcentaje de degradación de 58,8% y en la fotocatálisis, con 250 mg/L de TiO2 y 10 mL/h de H2O2, se obtuvo 98,7% de degradación. El porcentaje de mineralización alcanzado durante la fotocatálisis fue de 73%.

SISTEMA DE MODELAGEM DE FIGURAS TRIDIMENSIONAIS USANDO RECONHECIMENTO DE VOZ

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Kauan Cristiano De Souza

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Atualmente o mercado de Sistemas de Desenho auxiliado por Computador (CAD, sofre extrema carência de processos automatizados de reconhecimento de fala. O surgimento de tecnologias de automação facilita no desenvolvimento de aplicações capazes de auxiliar nestes processos. Baseando-se nestas afirmações construiu-se um modelo utilizando tecnologias capazes de transformar fala em sinais digitais, sendo possível a interpretação por sofisticados computadores. Observando ausência de tais ferramentas, o presente trabalho busca uma proposta capaz de acrescentar mecanismos os quais possibilitem a criação de modelos tridimensionais usando tecnologias como servidores HTTP, dispositivos moveis, linguagens de programação Java e PHP, Computação Gráfica e linguagem de interpretação por blocos. Os resultados obtidos na confecção do presente trabalho corroboram com as necessidades atuais representadas na sociedade propondo sustentabilidade, acessibilidade, portabilidade e facilidade de comunicação.

Síntesis de oxitocina en fase sólida usando derivados de terbutoxicarbonilo y fluorenilmetoxicarbonilo

OpenAIRE

Calvo, Julio C; Barrera, Nubia F.; García, Josué A.; Guzman, Fanny; Espejo, Fabiola; Patarroyo, Manuel E.

2010-01-01

La oxitocina, péptido cíclico cuya secuencia es CYIQNCPLG, fué el primer péptido de importancia biológica que pudo ser sintetizado. En este trabajo se compara la síntesis de la oxitocina usando resina p metilbenzhidrilamina (MBHA) para la síntesis por estrategia t-Boc y resina Rink p-metilbenzhidrilamina (Rink MBHA) para la síntesis por estrategia Fmoc, con altos rendimientos. El péptido crudo se ciclizó en una disolución acuosa de dimetilsulfóxido al 10%. La caracterización se llevó a cabo p...

Compósitos polímero-madeira preparados por polimerização in situ de metil metacrilato usando aditivos bifuncionais

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Bruno Dufau Mattos

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Resumo O presente trabalho teve por objetivo a confecção de compósitos polímero-madeira por meio de polimerização in situ de metil metacrilato (MMA, utilizando ácido metacrílico (MAA e glicidil metacrilato (GMA como agentes de ligação e reticulação. Amostras de madeira de guapuruvu foram impregnadas em um sistema de vácuo e pressão e polimerizadas em estufa a 90°C por 10h, usando 1,5% de peroxido de benzoíla como catalisador. Os compósitos foram caracterizados por meio de testes de absorção de água e estabilidade dimensional, molhabilidade, ATR-IR, TGA, MEV e WPG. Os espectros de ATR-IR mostraram incrementos nas bandas a 1746, 1460, e 1145 cm–1, referentes as estruturas químicas dos polímeros dentro da madeira, confirmado posteriormente pelas imagens de MEV. A termogravimetria apontou reações químicas entre os copolímeros e a parede celular da madeira nos compósitos com GMA e MAA. Os compósitos preparados com MMA apresentaram incrementos acima de 50% nas propriedades higroscópicas e de estabilidade dimensional, entretanto a adição de GMA e MAA resultou em maiores incrementos nas mesmas propriedades, entre 66-90%.

Validación de la escala para manía de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia usando el análisis de Rasch

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Ricardo Sánchez

2011-03-01

Conclusiones. En este primer estudio de la escala para manías usando el análisis de Rasch, se detectó mal ajuste y redundancia de algunos ítems. El síndrome maníaco no queda completamente evaluado por la escala. El instrumento podría mejorarse agregando síntomas depresivos.

Aulas-laboratorios de bajo costo, usando TIC

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Silvia E. Calderón

2015-01-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de una propuesta educativa orientada a promover el desarrollo de un pensamiento critico y un mayor interes por las ciencias experimentales. Con este fin desarrollamos propuestas de proyectos educativos susceptibles de ser destinadas a las aulas y laboratorios de las escuelas secundarias y primeros anos de la universidad, que resaltan los aspectos metodologicos de las ciencias. Aqui, realizamos una compilacion de varios proyectos, que ilustran formas de incorporar las tecnologias de la informacion y la comunicacion (TIC en diversos experimentos de ciencias, muchos de ellos publicados individualmente anteriormente, y que en conjunto se pueden utilizar para implementar un aula-laboratorio de bajo costo. Con TIC hacemos referencia a la convergencia de computadoras, sistemas audiovisuales, Internet, telefonia, y diversos equipos que se integran con algunos de ellos. Los proyectos intentan integrar areas como fisica, matematica, quimica, informatica, arte, etc. y apuntan a que los estudiantes puedan responder a las preguntas: .Como sabemos esto?, .Por que creemos en aquello? Preguntas que ilustran la naturaleza del pensamiento cientifico. Nuestra contribucion mas significativa es haber desarrollado ≪aulas-laboratorios≫ de muy bajo costo, usando TIC. Con el advenimiento de programas como ≪Una Laptop por Nino≫ que se estan implementando en varios paises de Latinoamerica, resulta oportuno utilizar este recurso como base para generar laboratorios de bajo costo, que creemos pueden ser una herramienta util para mejorar el aprendizaje de las ciencias, incentivar vocaciones y contribuir a desarrollar un pensamiento critico, a la par de desarrollar habilidades con el uso de las TIC que pueden ser de utilidad en diversos ambitos academicos y laborales.

Producción de carbones ultralimpios usando flotación burbujeante y lixiviación con ácidos

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Juan Barraza

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Los carbones ultralimpios representan una importante materia prima para la elaboración de productos de alto valor agregado tales como fibra de carbono, electrodos, espumas de carbón, entre otros. En este trabajo, carbones ultralimpios con concentraciones menores a 0,50% de ceniza (p/p, base seca, bs se obtuvieron usando flotación burbujeante en columna y lixiviación con ácidos fluorhídrico (HF y nítrico (HNO3. Los contenidos de ceniza se redujeron desde 19,60 % en los carbones alimentados hasta 8,70 % en los carbones flotados usando tres etapas en serie en una columna de flotación. Al usar lixiviación química con HF 7,53M y HNO3 2,3M, los carbones presentaron contenidos de 1,42% de ceniza, 0,86% de azufre y 2,00% de materia mineral, mientras que cuando se usó un proceso combinado de flotación seguido de lixiviación ácida con HF 19,2M y HNO3 8,12M se obtuvo un carbón con 0,48 % de ceniza 0,71 % de azufre y 0,96 % de materia mineral. Sin embargo, al usar carbón original (no flotado a las mismas concentraciones ácidas utilizadas en el proceso combinado se produjo un carbón ultralimpio de contenido de ceniza 0,33%.

Producción de carbones ultralimpios usando flotación burbujeante y lixiviación con ácidos

OpenAIRE

Barraza, Juan; Mejía, Isabel

2009-01-01

Los carbones ultralimpios representan una importante materia prima para la elaboración de productos de alto valor agregado tales como fibra de carbono, electrodos, espumas de carbón, entre otros. En este trabajo, carbones ultralimpios con concentraciones menores a 0,50% de ceniza (p/p, base seca, bs) se obtuvieron usando flotación burbujeante en columna y lixiviación con ácidos fluorhídrico (HF) y nítrico (HNO3). Los contenidos de ceniza se redujeron desde 19,60 % en los carbones alimentados ...

Análisis del tratamiento ideal usando baños termotratados para la separación de cal de los residuos de descarne en curtiembres

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Yelitza Aguas Mendoza

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Se analizó el tratamiento ideal usando baños termotratados para la separación de cal de los residuos de descarne, del proceso de curtición semiartesanal desarrollado en Sampués, Departamento de Sucre (Colombia. Para su desarrollo se seleccionó una muestra de carnaza representativa, homogénea y con menos tiempo de almacenamiento. Dicha muestra se redujo al tamaño de 1 cm2 y se conservó refrigerada para posteriormente realizar los análisis de grasa, pH y presencia de cal. Los baños termotratados de desencalado se realizaron a tres temperaturas diferentes (26, 30 y 35 ºC. Se utilizó como agente desencalante el acido sulfúrico en tres concentraciones (3, 2 y 1 N. Además se usó un sistema de agitación simulando el bombo en proceso industrial. Se llevaron a cabo nueve pruebas con tres repeticiones para mayor confiabilidad de los datos, en donde se determinó la correlación existente entre las variables independientes, temperatura y concentración, sobre la cal impregnada y los resultados de grasa en cada una de las muestras en un tiempo de 4 y 8 h.

SÍNTESIS DE OXITOCINA EN FASE SÓLIDA USANDO DERIVADOS DE TERBUTOXICARBONILO Y FLUORENILMETOXICARBONILO

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Julio C Calvo

2010-08-01

Full Text Available La oxitocina, péptido cíclico cuya secuencia es CYIQNCPLG, fué el primer péptido de importancia biológica que pudo ser sintetizado. En este trabajo se compara la síntesis de la oxitocina usando resina p metilbenzhidrilamina (MBHA para la síntesis por estrategia t-Boc y resina Rink p-metilbenzhidrilamina (Rink MBHA para la síntesis por estrategia Fmoc, con altos rendimientos. El péptido crudo se ciclizó en una disolución acuosa de dimetilsulfóxido al 10%. La caracterización se llevó a cabo por espectrometría de masas y resonancia magnética nuclear, y se logró detectar la presencia de dos isómeros.

Medición de microdeformaciones en losas viales usando sensores de redes de Bragg en fibras ópticas

OpenAIRE

Vélez-Hoyos, Francisco Javier; Serpa-Imbet, Claudia Milena; Gómez-Cardona, Nelson Darío

2010-01-01

En este trabajo se presenta un método no invasivo para la medición de microdeformaciones en estructuras de concreto usando sensores de redes de Bragg en fibras ópticas adheridos a su superficie. Se realizan mediciones en losas viales de concreto bajo una carga estática de 10 kN, encontrándose una relación aproximada de 2 : 1 entre la deformación registrada por los sensores y los valores arrojados por una simulación computacional con el método de elementos finitos. Se propone el uso de estos s...

José Nicolás de Azara : un icono del Grand Tour

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Jorge García Sánchez

2008-01-01

Full Text Available José Nicolás de Azara, bien conocido como Agente de Preces y ministro plenipotenciario ante la Santa Sede, fue tal vez la personalidad española de mayor influencia en los círculos intelectuales y artísticos de la Roma del siglo XVIII. Su asumida función de guía ilustrado y su vocación pedagógica para con los jóvenes viajeros lo convirtieron en un auténtico icono del Grand Tour.José Nicolás de Azara, well known as Agente de Preces (Agent of Supplications and ministro plenipotenciario (Plenipotentiary Minister in the Holy See, was perhaps the most influential Spanish personality in the intellectual and artistic circles of Eighteenth-Century Rome. His wilful function of enlightened guide and his pedagogic attitude towards the young travellers made of him an authentic icon of the Grand Tour.

Lei da gravitação universal e os satélites: uma abordagem histórico-temática usando multimídia

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Elvis Vilela Rodrigues

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Examina-se, neste artigo, o desenvolvimento de aulas de Física em que, usando-se uma multimídia, a Lei da Gravitação Universal é abordada de forma contextualizada a partir da História da Ciência e de um tema atual (os satélites. O objetivo foi examinar como estudantes de Ensino Médio aceitam e se envolvem nesse estudo. Usando uma abordagem metodológica qualitativa, a multimídia apresenta o que são e como funcionam os satélites artificiais, trazendo uma narrativa histórica desde as ideias de movimento do sistema planetário de Ptolomeu até as de Isaac Newton sobre o movimento dos corpos, culminando na Lei da Gravitação Universal. Entrevistas, observações de sala de aula e documentos produzidos pelos estudantes mostram que as imagens, os filmes e os textos contidos na multimídia enriquecem, de modo significativo, o conteúdo, facilitando o entendimento de conceitos da Física. A contextualização histórico-temática, por sua vez, produz maior envolvimento dos alunos no estudo da Física.

IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE UN SERVICIO EN LA WEB –MASHUP– PARA LA FUSIÓN DE IMÁGENES SATELITALES USANDO LA TRANSFORMADA RÁPIDA DE WAVELET HAAR

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Rubén Medina

2014-05-01

Full Text Available En este artículo se implementa un nuevo servicio en la Web que ofrece a los usuarios la posibilidad de realizar la fusión de imágenes de satélite provenientes de diferentes sensores remotos y/o con diferentes resoluciones espaciales. A lo largo del artículo tres temáticas importantes son abordadas. La primera temática corresponde al servicio Web, éste servicio es implementado usando software libre y cuenta con una sencilla interfaz donde el usuario puede interactuar y principalmente puede realizar una solicitud del servicio de fusión. Adicionalmente, en la aplicación Web se desarrolló un módulo que permite obtener datos georreferenciados de diferentes fuentes externas para crear un nuevo servicio (Mashup a través de las API’s, de manera rápida y fácil utilizando OpenStreetMaps. La segunda temática se ocupa del análisis de la transformada rápida de wavelet haar (TRWH, estos conceptos matemáticos se abordan a partir de un ejemplo usando una matriz que se descompone en coeficientes de detalle y de aproximación de segundo nivel. La última temática detalla la metodología propuesta, paso a paso, para realizar la fusión de imágenes usando la TRWH. Igualmente con el fin de determinar la eficiencia de la TRWH cinco wavelets diferentes fueron implementadas en Matlab para fusionar el mismo par de imágenes satelitales. Las imágenes resultantes fueron evaluadas tanto en la calidad espacial como en la espectral a través de cuatro índices. Los mejores resultados de la evaluación fueron obtenidos con la TRWH la cual preserva la riqueza espectral de la imagen multiespectral original y mejora su calidad espacial.

Sobre el estudio de la función cuadrática y su relación con el área de algunas figuras y su visualización usando Cabri II Plus

OpenAIRE

Vera Barrios, Dídimo

2013-01-01

Propuesta didáctica en donde se presentan algunas actividades dinámicas usando Cabri II Plus con el fin de relacionar algunos aspectos que tienen que ver con el área de algunas figuras y la función cuadrática.

AUTOMATIZACIÓN DE LA ARQUITECTURA DE COMPONENTES GENÉRICOS USANDO UML

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Noel Fuentes Ramírez

2006-04-01

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La arquitectura de componentes genéricos permite chequear la consistencia interna de sus elementos arquitectónicos (componentes y conectores a partir de las relaciones internas en sus respectivas estructuras, que pueden ser de inclusión y transformación. También permite verificar la conexión entre componentes y conectores a partir de las relaciones de transformación entre sus interfaces respectivas. Las ideas que se presentan aquí constituyen una propuesta para la automatización de la descripción de esta arquitectura usando el lenguaje de modelado unificado (UML a partir de la descripción formal de sus diagramas de clases y de secuencia, así como para el chequeo de la consistencia. En este artículo se muestra la aplicación de esta propuesta mediante una extensión de la herramienta Visual Paradigm, por medio de un módulo de software conectable.

Efeito de instruções usando DVD-ROM no desempenho técnico de massoterapia miofascial e sua retenção

OpenAIRE

Luiz Francisco Cachoni

2014-01-01

Contextualização: Existem poucas investigações sobre recursos didáticos modernos para o ensino de habilidades técnicas de massoterapia. Objetivo: Avaliar o efeito de instruções usando filme no formato DVD associado ao ensino tradicional (aula expositiva com demonstração do instrutor em um voluntário), no aprendizado e na retenção de massagem miofascial (MM). Método: Estudo retrospectivo e duplo cego. Uma fisioterapeuta experiente que atuou como professora (cega ao objetivo do estudo) e 60 fis...

A relax and cut approach using the multi-commodity flow formulation for the traveling salesman problem

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Makswell Seyiti Kawashima

2015-01-01

Full Text Available En este artículo nosotros exploramos una formulación de flujo multiproductos para el Problema del Agente Viajero Asimétrico (ATSP en la obtención de cotas duales de este problema. El procedimiento empleado es una variante del método relax and cut propuesto en la literatura que computa los multiplicadores lagrangianos asociados a las restricciones de eliminación de subrutas preservando la optimalidad de los multiplicadores asociados a las restricciones de asignación. Los resultados obtenidos con la experimentación computacional son alentadores y muestran que el algoritmo propuesto genera buenas cotas duales con un tiempo de ejecución bajo.

MODELACIÓN NUMÉRICA DE PROCESOS DE ESTERILIZACIÓN TÉRMICA DE ALIMENTOS USANDO VOLUMENES DE CONTROL: APROXIMACIÓN CILÍNDRICA

OpenAIRE

HÉCTOR J. CIRO-VELÁSQUEZ; CARLOS GONZÁLEZ; EDUARD GARCÍA

2009-01-01

Un proceso de esterilización térmica de alimentos fue modelado usando la técnica de diferenciación finita aplicada a volúmenes de control. El modelo de simulación fue desarrollado en coordenadas cilíndricas con un ejemplo de aplicación tomando como referencia un producto cárnico (carne de res). Los resultados de la simulación mostraron que el algoritmo desarrollado es independiente de la red nodal seleccionada, permitiendo cuantificar las curvas de penetración de calor en el punto crítico del...

Análisis de un sistema de almacenamiento de energía térmica usando cloruro de magnesio hexahidratado

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Andrés Felipe Macía

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Se simuló el comportamiento del cloruro de magnesio hexahidratado (MgCl2*6H2O como almacenador de energía térmica, que posee una temperatura de transición de fase de 117ºC; lo que lo convierte en un material con gran potencial en el área de las aplicaciones de mediana temperatura (aplicaciones industriales. Se desarrolló una simulación CFD usando el software FLUENT para describir la fusión/solidificación de la sal hidratada. Se observó el efecto del uso de aletas y las fuerzas boyantes producidas por los efectos gravitacionales.

Clasificación digital de masas nubosas a partir de imágenes meteorológicas usando algoritmos de aprendizaje de máquina

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Salomón Einstein Ramírez-Fernández

2014-01-01

Full Text Available La identificación exacta de nubes precipitantes es una tarea difícil. En el presente trabajo se aplicaron los algoritmos Máquinas de Soporte Vectorial, Árboles de Decisión y Bosques Aleatorios para discriminar entre nubes precipitantes y nubes no precipitantes, a partir de una imagen meteorológica del satélite GOES-13 que cubre el territorio colombiano. El objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar el desempeño de los algoritmos de aprendizaje de máquina (ML, para la clasificación digital de masas nubosas, en términos de la exactitud temática de la clasificación usando como referencia el algoritmo convencional distancia de Mahalanobis. Los resultados muestran que los algoritmos ML proporcionan una clasificación de masas de nubes más exacta que la obtenida por algoritmos convencionales. La mejor exactitud fue obtenida usando Bosques Aleatorios (RF, con una exactitud temática global de 97%. Adicionalmente, la clasificación obtenida con RF fue comparada pixel a pixel con estimaciones de precipitación de la NASA Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM obteniendo una exactitud global del 94%. De acuerdo con este estudio, los algoritmos ML pueden ser usados para mejorar los actuales métodos de identificación de nubes precipitantes.

Estructura y diversidad genética en vacas Holstein de Antioquia usando un polimorfismo del gen bGH

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Juan Rincon F.

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Objetivo. Determinar las frecuencias alélicas y genotípicas del polimorfismo del intrón 3 del gen bGH y estimar algunos parámetros de estructura poblacional en ganado Holstein. Materiales y métodos. El estudio se realizó con 1366 vacas Holstein en 120 hatos de 11 municipios del departamento de Antioquia. Se extrajo DNA por el método de Salting out y la genotipificación se realizó usando la técnica de PCR-RFLPs. La diversidad genética se determinó mediante la comparación de las heterocigosidades, El equilibrio de Hardy-Weinberg (HW y la diferenciación genética entre las poblaciones se realizó usando el software Arlequín 2.0 Las frecuencias alélicas y genotípicas se evaluaron mediante el paquete estadístico SAS®. Resultados. Las frecuencias genotípicas encontradas fueron 0.764 (+/+, 0.223 (+/- y 0.013 (-/- y las frecuencias alélicas 0.876 (+ y 0.124 (-. No se encontraron desviaciones del Equilibrio de Hardy Weinberg en ninguna de las subpoblaciones. La diversidad genética determinada mediante la comparación de las heterocigosidades fue relativamente baja entre poblaciones pero al interior de estas no. El valor de FST de toda la población fue de 0.0068 y significativo (p<0.05, algunos FST pareados también lo fueron, tomando valores desde 0.0 a 0.13. Los estadísticos FIT y FIS no fueron significativos. Conclusiones. El gen bGH es un candidato interesante para evaluar características de importancia económica ya que no parece haber sido sometido a selección directa, presenta una variabilidad media en las poblaciones, observándose diferenciación genética significativa entre distintos municipios, producto de los diferentes sistemas de producción y acceso a las biotecnologías.

Implementación de un mantenimiento basado en la condición usando modelado y simulación: caso de estudio de un motor sin-crónico de imanes permanentes

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Jabid Quiroga Méndez

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Este artículo introduce la arquitectura de un CBM (mantenimiento basado en la condición en una aplicación eléctrica. La detección de fallas de manera oportuna y eficiente constituye uno de los retos más importantes asociados al CBM y el enfoque basado en modelos en el medio para conseguirlo. Un caso de estudio en un motor sincrónico de imanes permanentes (PMSM es ejecutado para ilustrar cómo el modelado es utilizado en la implementación de un CBM. El monitoreo fue implementado en tiempo real usando Matlab® y dSpace®. Se emplea como indicadora de falla la diferencia entre los valores de la componente secuencial negativa para las corrientes predichas usando una red neuronal multicapa y la corriente obtenida del motor. Resultados experimentales demostraron la efectividad del modelo propuesto en la detección de la falla de cortocircuito en el estator en distintos niveles de severidad y carga, obteniendo una confiabilidad en la detección mayor al 95%.

Variantes del problema del cartero mixto que se pueden resolver usando programación lineal

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Francisco Javier Zaragoza Martínez

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Dada una gráfica mixta y conexa con costos en sus aristas y arcos, el problema del cartero mixto consiste en encontrar un circuito cerrado de la gráfica mixta que recorra sus aristas y arcos a costo mínimo. Se sabe que este problema es NP-duro. Sin embargo, bajo ciertas condiciones adicionales, el problema se puede resolver en tiempo polinomial usando programación lineal, en otras palabras, los poliedros correspondientes son enteros. Algunas de estas condiciones son: la gráfica mixta es serie paralelo o la gráfica mixta tiene grado total par en todos sus vértices. Además, mostramos que si agregamos la restricción adicional de que cada arista se recorra exactamente una vez entonces el problema se puede resolver en tiempo polinomial si el conjunto de arcos forma un bosque. Palabras clave: Gráfica mixta, problema de cartero, programación lineal. Mathematics Subject Classification: 05C45, 90C35.

Extração do óleo de manjericão usando fluido supercrítico: analise experimental e matemática

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Nídia Alves de Barros

2014-01-01

Full Text Available O óleo essencial de manjericão (Ocimum basilicum L. é valorizado no mercado internacional e amplamente usado nas indústrias de condimentos, cosméticos e medicinais. Entre todos os processos que podem ser aplicados na obtenção do óleo, a extração usando fluido supercrítico (EFS pode ser um método seletivo e eficiente, dependendo das condições operacionais, como temperatura e pressão, que precisam ser otimizadas. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar a eficiência da extração supercrítica, utilizando planejamento experimental, na extração do óleo de manjericão com os métodos convencionais (hidrodestilação e soxhlet. Para a realização da parte experimental, foi utilizado dióxido de carbono como solvente para a EFS e hexano, para aplicação no soxhlet. Foi realizado um delineamento central composto rotacional (DCCR, aplicando três pressões (100, 200 e 300 bar e três temperaturas (30, 40 e 50ºC. Através da hidrodestilação, obteve-se o menor rendimento (0,26%, usando o Soxhlet, o rendimento foi de 2,39% sendo superior, comparado á EFS, que foi de 0,43%. O DCCR mostrou que, para otimizar o processo, é necessário aumentar a pressão e a temperatura para o alcance de maiores rendimentos. Foi possível constatar que o modelo matemático representou bem o processo de extração, propiciando o "scale-up" deste.

Desarrollo de herramienta de gestión de proyectos RUP usando metodologías Scrum + XP : gestión del proyecto y requisitos

OpenAIRE

Molina Romero, Javier; Quishpi Betún, Luis

2016-01-01

Una de las principales causas por las que los proyectos de desarrollo software fracasan es la ausencia de metodología en su desarrollo. La motivación que hay detrás de este proyecto es el desarrollo de una aplicación web usando la metodología Rational Unified Process (RUP) y aprender, en una situación real, cómo desarrollar utilizando las metodologías Scrum + XP. El principal objetivo de este proyecto es el seguimiento y documentación de una aplicación web para gestionar proyectos mediant...

Modelos de pérdida de masa de acero por corrosión atmosférica en Colombia usando inteligencia computacional

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Esteban Velilla

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Con el fin de clasificar la corrosividad de las diferentes atmósferas colombianas, como parte de un proyecto de investigación extenso [1], se expusieron placas de acero al carbono en 21 estaciones distribuidas a lo largo de la infraestructura eléctrica del país (líneas de transmisión y subestaciones. En estas estaciones se midieron entre otros, el tiempo de humectación y la deposición de sulfatos y cloruros durante 12 meses; además, bimensualmente se tomaban placas de acero para medir en laboratorio la pérdida de masa sufrida por estas durante el tiempo de exposición. La clasificación de las 21 estaciones se hizo en 4 grupos, considerando: el tiempo de humectación, contenidos de cloruros y sulfatos, la altura sobre el nivel del mar y el tiempo de exposición de las placas; variables consideradas linealmente independientes según la técnica de descomposición en valores singulares (SVD realizada. El criterio utilizado para la clasificación fue el de similitud de las variables utilizando la norma Euclidiana considerada en la red neuronal no supervisada tipo Kohonen. Adicionalmente, se implementaron modelos para la pérdida de masa del acero para cada uno de los grupos usando redes neuronales (RN tipo Feed-Forward, definiéndose como entradas las variables antes mencionadas y como única salida la pérdida de masa. Complementariamente se presenta una comparación entre el modelo de RN para el grupo 1, con otros modelos obtenidos usando Algoritmos Genéticos (AG y el método Simplex.

EL TURISMO SOLIDARIO COMO INSTRUMENTO DE DESARROLLO: UN ESTUDIO DE CASO PARA ANALIZAR LAS PRINCIPALES MOTIVACIONES DE LOS TURISTAS SOLIDARIOS

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Laura Fuentes-Moraleda

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Este estudio se centra en el concepto y evolución del turismo solidario así como en las motivaciones del turista que lo realiza. Tras la revisión de la literatura y basado en un estudio cuantitativo de la cartera de clientes de una ONG española especializada en viajes solidarios, se concluye que la interactuación con otras culturas y el enriquecimiento personal son dos de las principales motivaciones de este tipo de viajero. Los resultados del estudio presentan algunas orientaciones para que las comunidades adapten su oferta actual hacia una mayor integración con el viajero.

Implementação da Técnica de Dessorção Térmica Programada (TPD) usando Espectrometria de Massa Quadrupolo

OpenAIRE

Barreto, Ana Marta Fortunato

2011-01-01

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Física O projecto “Implementação da Técnica de Dessorção Térmica Programada (TPD) usando Espectrometria de Massa Quadrupolo”, apresentado nesta Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia Física, surgiu como uma proposta de requalificação ao aparelho de análise de superfícies Multitécnica. A dessorção térmica é o fenómeno que permite a separação física de ...

Simulación de la señalización de un usuarío móvil y un usuario fijo usando simulación de la señalización de un usuario móvil y un usuario fijo usandosimulación de la señalización de un usuario móvil y un usuario fijo usando simulación de la señalización de un usuario móvil y un usuario fijo usando ss7

OpenAIRE

Lopez Masabanda, Reina Azucena; Escalante Guzman, Betsy Rosa; Medina Moreira, Washington

2014-01-01

El presente proyecto consiste en realizar la simulación de la señalización entre un usuario de telefonía móvil y un usuario de telefonía fija usando el protocolo SS7, el cual ilustrará el proceso de una llamada. El software a utilizar, conocido como OMNET ++, es un simulador discreto de redes, usado habitualmente para modelar el tráfico de redes de telecomunicaciones, protocolos, sistemas multiprocesadores y distribuidos, que permite representar de manera real diferentes tipos de procesos de ...

Esquema de redundancia y distribución de carga de alta disponibilidad para la prestación de telefonía ip usando sip (junio 2009)

OpenAIRE

PARRA L., ANDRÉS; GUERRERO, FABIO G.

2010-01-01

En este artículo se presenta un esquema de distribución de carga y redundancia en la infraestructura de un ISP (Internet Service Provider) para la prestación de servicios de telefonía IP (ITSPs) sobre Internet usando el protocolo SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) garantizando niveles de acceso al servicio similares a la PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) y brindando una infraestructura de red escalable. La solución se plantea en tres partes: redundancia del servicio y distribución de ca...

Validação de simulações combinadas usando programas de simulação de energia do edifício e programas de transferência de calor, ar e umidade em componentes construtivos

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Costola, D.; Blocken, B.J.E.; Hensen, J.L.M.

2011-01-01

Desempenho higrotérmico dos edifícios tem sido estudado usando uma variedade de programas de computador, os quais consideram determinados domínios geométricos (exterior, envelope e interior) e físicos (calor, ar e umidade). Estes programas podem ser classificados em três principais grupos: programas

El hormiguero con parabólica. Un estudio de las transformaciones sociomediáticas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lic. Tania Montoro

2000-01-01

Full Text Available ¿Qué es un viaje? En primer lugar, un desplazamiento en el espacio. El pasaje por algún sitio. Su duración depende siempre de dos conceptos racionales: la salida y la llegada. El viajero (investigador es alguien que se encuentra suspenso entre dos referencias, que balizan el recorrido. Viajar contiene en sí el aspecto de la separación entre conocido y desconocido, viejo y nuevo. Un atajo en el tiempo, desde el mundo anterior hacia el nuevo mundo. Un atajo cuyas fronteras son puertas y ventanas, metáforas de la separación. El viajero, es ante todo, un extranjero, un intruso, un observador marginal, pero atento...

Criptosporidiose em paciente com espondilite anquilosante usando adalimumabe Cryptosporidiosis in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis treated with adalimumab

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Augusto Chiuchetta

2010-06-01

Full Text Available A criptosporidiose é uma doença parasitária causada pelo protozoário Cryptosporidium sp. Observou-se um aumento no número de diagnósticos realizados nos últimos vinte anos, principalmente em pacientes que apresentam imunodeficiências como a síndrome da imunodeficiência humana adquirida e as imunodeficiências induzidas como em pacientes transplantados e nos que necessitam realizar hemodiálise frequentemente. Relata-se o caso de um jovem com espondilite anquilosante que, usando adalimumabe, apresentou diarreia devido à criptosporidiose.Cryptosporidiosis is a parasitic disease caused by a protozoan called Cryptosporidium sp. An increased number of diagnoses were made in the last 20 years, especially in patients with immunodeficiency like the acquired human immunodeficiency syndrome and induced immunodeficiency, such as in transplant patients and those who need frequent hemodialysis, has been observed. We report the case of a young patient with ankylosing spondylitis treated with adalimumab who developed chronic diarrhea secondary to cryptosporidiosis

Medición de microdeformaciones en losas viales usando sensores de redes de Braggen fibras ópticas Microdeformation measurement of concrete roadway slabs using fiber Bragg gratings

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Francisco Javier Vélez Hoyos

2010-06-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo se presenta un método no invasivo para la medición de microdeformaciones en estructuras de concreto usando sensores de redes de Bragg en fibras ópticas adheridos a su superficie. Se realizan mediciones en losas viales de concreto bajo una carga estática de 10 kN, encontrándose una relación aproximada de 2 : 1 entre la deformación registrada por los sensores y los valores arrojados por una simulación computacional con el método de elementos finitos. Se propone el uso de estos sensores para el monitoreo estructural de losas en una malla vial con sensores distribuidos y multiplexados por longitud de onda. Este es el primer reporte en Colombia de medición de deformación de losas viales usando sensores de fibra óptica.This work shows a non–invasive method for micro–deformation measurements of concrete structures using Bragg grating sensors in optical fibers adhered to the surface. Measurements on roadway slabs under a 10 kN static load are made, finding an approximated ratio of 2 : 1 between the deformation registered by the sensors and the values from a computational simulation with the finite element method. We propose the use of these sensors for slab structural monitoring in a road network employing distributed and wavelength multiplexed sensors. This is a first report in Colombia of roadway slabs microdeformation measurement using fiber optic sensors.

Agent Programming Languages and Logics in Agent-Based Simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, John

2018-01-01

and social behavior, and work on verification. Agent-based simulation is an approach for simulation that also uses the notion of agents. Although agent programming languages and logics are much less used in agent-based simulation, there are successful examples with agents designed according to the BDI...

OTIMIZAÇÃO USANDO ALGORITMO GENÉTICO DE UM MODELO DE PROPAGÇÃO BASEADO EM EQUAÇÕES PARABÓLICAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Carlos Vilanova

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Este artigo apresenta uma avaliação metodológica para otimizar parâmetros em um conhecido modelo de propagação de ondas de rádio na troposfera. O modelo de propagação é baseado no Divisor de passos de Fourier para resolver equações parabólicas. Nossa abordagem utiliza algoritmo genético para determinar os valores dos parâmetros que maximize a intensidade de campo em uma determinada posição do observador. Usando algoritmo genético o tempo necessário na busca dos parâmetros ótimos é reduzido significativamente. A avaliação preliminar dos resultados através da simulação mostra que a nossa abordagem é promissora.

Agents unleashed a public domain look at agent technology

CERN Document Server

Wayner, Peter

1995-01-01

Agents Unleashed: A Public Domain Look at Agent Technology covers details of building a secure agent realm. The book discusses the technology for creating seamlessly integrated networks that allow programs to move from machine to machine without leaving a trail of havoc; as well as the technical details of how an agent will move through the network, prove its identity, and execute its code without endangering the host. The text also describes the organization of the host's work processing an agent; error messages, bad agent expulsion, and errors in XLISP-agents; and the simulators of errors, f

Predicción de la generación interna volumétrica de calor y la capacidad calorífica durante un tratamiento electromagnético del material usando algoritmos híbridos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edgar García-Morantes

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Este trabajo considera la estimación de la generación interna volumétrica de calor y la capacidad calorífica de una muestra esférica sólida calentada por un campo electromagnético homogéneo variante en el tiempo. Para tal fin, la estrategia numérica soluciona el correspondiente problema inverso. Tres formas funcionales (lineal, senoidal y exponencial para el campo electromagnético fueron considerados. Ruido blanco fue agregado al perfil de temperatura teórica (i.e. la solución del problema directo para simular una situación más realística. La temperatura se pretendió que fuera leída por cuatro sensores. El problema inverso fue solucionado a través de tres diferentes enfoques: usando un optimizador tradicional, usando técnicas modernas y usando una mezcla de ambos. En el primer caso, usamos un algoritmo determinístico tradicional como lo es el de Levenberg-Marquardt (LM. En el segundo, consideramos tres metaheurísticos estocásticos: El Algoritmo de optimización de la espiral (SOA, la Búsqueda en vórtice (VS, y el método de atracción ponderada (WAM. Para el caso final, proponemos híbridos entre el LM y los algoritmos metahehurísticos. Los resultados muestran que LM converge a la solución esperada solo si las condiciones iniciales (IC están dentro de un rango limitado. Por otra parte, los metaheurísticos convergen en un amplio rango de IC pero muestra baja precisión. Los enfoques híbridos convergen y mejoran la precisión obtenida con los metaheurísticos. La diferencia entre los valores esperados y obtenidos, así como, los errores RMS son reportados y comparados para los tres métodos.

Avaliação da capacidade resistente última de estacas em compressão usando análises em tensão/deformação

OpenAIRE

Vieira, Ana Rita Ribeiro

2013-01-01

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil - Ramo de Estruturas e Geotecnia Nesta dissertação avalia-se a capacidade resistente última de estacas em compressão usando análises em tensão/deformação. A capacidade resistente última das estacas é avaliada através do programa computacional de elementos finitos Plaxis 2D v. 8 e é comparada com a capacidade resistente última prevista por métodos de extrapolação da curva carga vs. assetamento de ensaios de carga que não ...

IDENTIFICACIÓN EFICIENTE DE ERRORES EN ESTIMACIÓN DE ESTADO USANDO UN ALGORITMO GENÉTICO ESPECIALIZADO IDENTIFICAÇÃO EFICAZ DOS ERROS EM ESTIMATIVA DE ESTADO USANDO UM ALGORITMO GENÉTICO ESPECIALIZADO EFFICIENT IDENTIFICATION OF ERRORS IN STATE ESTIMATION THROUGH A SPECIALIZED GENETIC ALGORITHM

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Hugo Andrés Ruiz

2012-06-01

Full Text Available En este artículo se presenta un método para resolver el problema de estimación de estado en sistemas eléctricos usando optimización combinatoria. Su objetivo es el estudio de mediciones con errores de difícil detección, que afectan el desempeño y calidad de los resultados cuando se emplea un estimador de estado clásico. Dada su complejidad matemática, se deducen indicadores de sensibilidad de la teoría de puntos de apalancamiento que se usan en el algoritmo de optimización de Chu-Beasley, con el fin de disminuir el esfuerzo computacional y mejorar la calidad de los resultados. El método propuesto se valida en un sistema IEEE de 30 nodos.Neste artigo apresenta-se um método para resolver o problema de estimativa de estado em sistemas elétricos usando otimização combinatória. Seu objetivo é o estudo de medidas com erros de difícil detecção, que afetam o desempenho e qualidade dos resultados quando se emprega um estimador de estado clássico. Dada sua complexidade matemática, deduzem-se indicadores de sensibilidade da teoria de pontos de alavancagem que se usam no algoritmo de otimização de Chu-Beasley, com o fim de diminuir o esforço computacional e melhorar a qualidade dos resultados. O método proposto se valida em um sistema IEEE de 30 nós.In this paper a method to solve the state estimation problem in electric systems applying combinatorial optimization is presented. Its objective is the study of measures with difficult detection errors, which affect the performance and quality of the results when a classic state estimator is used. Due to the mathematical complexity, sensibility indicators are deduced from the theory of leverage points used in the Chu-Beasley optimization algorithm with the purpose of reducing the computational effort and enhance the quality of the results. The proposed method is validated in a 30-node IEEE system.

Mobile Agent Data Integrity Using Multi-Agent Architecture

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McDonald, Jeffrey

2004-01-01

.... Security issues for mobile agents continue to produce research interest, particularly in developing mechanisms that guarantee protection of agent data and agent computations in the presence of malicious hosts...

Imágenes del Estrecho de Gibraltar desde la literatura de viajes: un paisaje dominado por el viento y la frontera

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César López Gómez

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Frontera entre dos continentes y límite durante varios siglos del Mundo Antiguo frente al desconocido y temido Atlántico, el Estrecho de Gibraltar constituye un enclave geoestratégico de primer orden recorrido por numerosos viajeros desde la Antigüedad. De la lectura de la literatura de viajes, especialmente prolífica desde que Gibraltar en 1704 se convierte en puerto británico y puerta de entrada en la península Ibérica para los viajeros ilustrados, se obtienen imágenes de un territorio en el que las construcciones castrenses y las diversas huellas del viento constituyen los rasgos más sobresalientes de un paisaje singular situado en el extremo sur del continente europeo.

Estimate of DMFT index using teeth most affected by dental caries in twelve-year-old children Estimación del índice DMFT usando los dientes más afectados por caries dentales en niños de doce años Estimativa do Índice CPOD usando os dentes mais afetados pela cárie dentária aos doze anos

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Stela Márcia Pereira

2009-02-01

Full Text Available The objective of the study was to develop regression models to describe the epidemiological profile of dental caries in 12-year-old children in an area of low prevalence of caries. Two distinct random probabilistic samples of schoolchildren (n=1,763 attending public and private schools in Piracicaba, Southeastern Brazil, were studied. Regression models were estimated as a function of the most affected teeth using data collected in 2005 and were validated using a 2001 database. The mean (SD DMFT index was 1.7 (2.08 in 2001 and the regression equations estimated a DMFT index of 1.67 (1.98, which corresponds to 98.2% of the DMFT index in 2001. The study provided detailed data on the caries profile in 12-year-old children by using an updated analytical approach. Regression models can be an accurate and feasible method that can provide valuable information for the planning and evaluation of oral health services.El objetivo de este estudio fue desarrollar modelos de regresión para describir el perfil epidemiológico de caries dentales en niños de 12 años en un área de baja prevalencia de caries. Fueron estudiados dos muestras distintas aleatorias y probabilísticas de niños escolares (n= 1.763 que estudiaban en colegios públicos y privados en Piracicaba, Sureste de Brasil. Modelos de regresión fueron estimados como una función de los dientes más afectados usando datos colectados en 2005 y fueron validados usando una base de datos del 2001. El índice promedio (SD de DMFT fue 1,7 (2,08 en 2001 y las ecuaciones de regresión estimaron un índice de DMFT de 1,67 (1,98, lo cual corresponde a 98,2% del índice en 2001. El estudio provee datos detallados sobre el perfil de caries en niños de 12 años usando una aproximación analítica. Los modelos de regresión pueden ser un método confiable y factible que puede proporcional información valiosa para la planificación y evaluación de servicios de cuidado oral.O objetivo do estudo foi

Diseño e implementación de una herramienta para analizar imágenes extraídas de redes sociales, usando la librería OpenCV

OpenAIRE

Ramos Alférez, Albert

2015-01-01

Diseño de una aplicación web que permite extraer información de redes sociales e internet para reconocimiento de personas desaparecidas Design and implementation of a tool for analyzing images taken from social networks, using the OpenCV library Diseño e implementación de una herramienta para analizar imágenes extraídas de redes sociales, usando la librería OpenCV Disseny e implementació d'una eina per analitzar imatges extretes de les xarxes socials, utilitzant la llibrería OpenCV...

[Alkylating agents].

Science.gov (United States)

Pourquier, Philippe

2011-11-01

With the approval of mechlorethamine by the FDA in 1949 for the treatment of hematologic malignancies, alkylating agents are the oldest class of anticancer agents. Even though their clinical use is far beyond the use of new targeted therapies, they still occupy a major place in specific indications and sometimes represent the unique option for the treatment of refractory diseases. Here, we are reviewing the major classes of alkylating agents and their mechanism of action, with a particular emphasis for the new generations of alkylating agents. As for most of the chemotherapeutic agents used in the clinic, these compounds are derived from natural sources. With a complex but original mechanism of action, they represent new interesting alternatives for the clinicians, especially for tumors that are resistant to conventional DNA damaging agents. We also briefly describe the different strategies that have been or are currently developed to potentiate the use of classical alkylating agents, especially the inhibition of pathways that are involved in the repair of DNA lesions induced by these agents. In this line, the development of PARP inhibitors is a striking example of the recent regain of interest towards the "old" alkylating agents.

Tratamiento de enfermedad de aorta torácica con afectación de troncos supraaórticos usando técnica combinada de cirugía convencional y tratamiento endovascular

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Antonio Jiménez Aceituno

2007-04-01

Conclusiones: El abordaje del arco aórtico usando técnicas endovasculares presenta el problema de la oclusión de TSA. El uso de derivaciones quirúrgicas hace posible esto. El abordaje combinado es aún una técnica nueva pero que podría ser una alternativa válida a la cirugía abierta de arco y aorta torácica descendente. Nuestra experiencia es satisfactoria, aunque no concluyente por tratarse sólo de dos casos.

Medición de microdeformaciones en losas viales usando sensores de redes de Braggen fibras ópticas Microdeformation measurement of concrete roadway slabs using fiber Bragg gratings

OpenAIRE

Francisco Javier Vélez Hoyos; Claudia Milena Serpa Imbet; Nelson Darío Gómez Cardona

2010-01-01

En este trabajo se presenta un método no invasivo para la medición de microdeformaciones en estructuras de concreto usando sensores de redes de Bragg en fibras ópticas adheridos a su superficie. Se realizan mediciones en losas viales de concreto bajo una carga estática de 10 kN, encontrándose una relación aproximada de 2 : 1 entre la deformación registrada por los sensores y los valores arrojados por una simulación computacional con el método de elementos finitos. Se propone el uso de estos s...

Incorporating BDI Agents into Human-Agent Decision Making Research

Science.gov (United States)

Kamphorst, Bart; van Wissen, Arlette; Dignum, Virginia

Artificial agents, people, institutes and societies all have the ability to make decisions. Decision making as a research area therefore involves a broad spectrum of sciences, ranging from Artificial Intelligence to economics to psychology. The Colored Trails (CT) framework is designed to aid researchers in all fields in examining decision making processes. It is developed both to study interaction between multiple actors (humans or software agents) in a dynamic environment, and to study and model the decision making of these actors. However, agents in the current implementation of CT lack the explanatory power to help understand the reasoning processes involved in decision making. The BDI paradigm that has been proposed in the agent research area to describe rational agents, enables the specification of agents that reason in abstract concepts such as beliefs, goals, plans and events. In this paper, we present CTAPL: an extension to CT that allows BDI software agents that are written in the practical agent programming language 2APL to reason about and interact with a CT environment.

Chemical warfare agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuca, Kamil; Pohanka, Miroslav

2010-01-01

Chemical warfare agents are compounds of different chemical structures. Simple molecules such as chlorine as well as complex structures such as ricin belong to this group. Nerve agents, vesicants, incapacitating agents, blood agents, lung-damaging agents, riot-control agents and several toxins are among chemical warfare agents. Although the use of these compounds is strictly prohibited, the possible misuse by terrorist groups is a reality nowadays. Owing to this fact, knowledge of the basic properties of these substances is of a high importance. This chapter briefly introduces the separate groups of chemical warfare agents together with their members and the potential therapy that should be applied in case someone is intoxicated by these agents.

Logics for Intelligent Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, John-Jules Charles

2014-01-01

This chapter presents the history of the application of logic in a quite popular paradigm in contemporary computer science and artificial intelligence, viz. the area of intelligent agents and multi-agent systems. In particular we discuss the logics that have been used to specify single agents, the

Biological Agents

Science.gov (United States)

... E-Tools Safety and Health Topics / Biological Agents Biological Agents This page requires that javascript be enabled ... 202) 693-2300 if additional assistance is required. Biological Agents Menu Overview In Focus: Ebola Frederick A. ...

Monitoreo de cambios en la densidad de cobertura forestal en bosque templado usando fotografías aéreas digitales de alta resolución

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José López García

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Se utilizaron series multitemporales de fotografías aéreas digitales de alta resolución de pequeño formato para evaluar los cambios en la densidad de cobertura forestal en un bosque templado. Una combinación de técnicas convencionales y adaptadas de fotogrametría y fotointerpretación fueron utilizadas para establecer un método específico de evaluación.  Este método ha sido probado en un periodo de doce años (1999-2011 en la zona núcleo de la Reserva de la Biósfera Mariposa Monarca, localizada en los estados de México y Michoacán, en México, usando mosaicos ortorectificados como mapas base para evaluar cambios bienales. Las imágenes fueron fotointerpretadas de manera tradicional marcando los cambios sobre acetatos, colocados sobre las imágenes impresas, creando así nuevos polígonos. Estos fueron transferidos directamente de los acetatos al ortomosaico a través de la pantalla de la computadora, usando al menos tres puntos de control, cumpliendo así con el principio de triangulación radial. El bosque fue separado en las siguientes clases de cobertura forestal: cerrada, semi-cerrada, semi-abierta, abierta y deforestada. La evaluación en la exactitud en la clasificación de densidad de cobertura fue estimada a través de muestreos en campo, empleando matrices de confusión, siendo del 95%. A partir de 2003, este método ha sido utilizado para determinar el pago por servicios ambientales. Dicho pago, junto con una gran interacción con las comunidades, se ha traducido en una reducción en la degradación forestal y la deforestación en la zona núcleo de la Reserva.

APROXIMACIÓN AL ANÁLISIS DE LA VALORACIÓN DE LA PRUEBA USANDO MODIFIED WIGMOREAN ANALYSIS (MWA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos del Valle Rojas

2009-01-01

Full Text Available El presente trabajo muestra cómo el análisis de la valoración de la prueba, usando herramientas de diagramación argumental, puede ayudar a los operadores jurídicos a evaluar la calidad de la argumentación del razonamiento jurídico. Se aplica el Modified Wigmorean Analysis (MWA a un caso penal hipotético y a un caso real, ensayando el proceso de análisis y diagramación y probando su utilidad. La conclusión reseña las ventajas y debilidades del análisis y sugiere ajustes al proceso de diagramación.The present work shows how the analysis of the valuation of the proof, using tools of plot diagramming, can help the juridical operators to evaluate the quality of the argumentation of the juridical reasoning. There is applied the Modified Wigmorean Analysis (MWA to a penal hypothetical case and to a real case, testing the process of analysis and diagramming and proving his utility. The conclusion outlines the advantages and weaknesses of the analysis and suggests adjustments to the process of diagramming.

Pirólise catalítica do PEBD usando como catalisador a vermiculita modificada

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Franciel Aureliano Bezerra

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Resumo O polietileno de baixa densidade (PEBD é um dos polímeros mais usados atualmente, e a grande quantidade desse polímero produzida resulta em toneladas de resíduos, que necessitam ser tratados. Neste trabalho foi realizada a pirólise termocatalítica do PEBD usando como catalisador a argila vermiculita modificada, como alternativa para o tratamento dos resíduos. A argila foi tratada com solução de ácido nítrico a diferentes concentrações e calcinada a 400 °C. Os materiais foram caracterizados por técnicas de difratometria de raios X, termogravimetria, adsorção de nitrogênio e espectroscopia de energia dispersiva. A pirólise térmica e termocatalítica foi realizada em um micro reator acoplado com GC/MS, a 500 °C. O intuito da pirólise de resíduos poliméricos é a obtenção de hidrocarbonetos leves (C<16, que possam ser empregados na indústria química e petroquímica, através de quebras na cadeia polimérica. Os resultados foram satisfatórios, com aumento no rendimento para hidrocarbonetos leves ao empregar os catalisadores chegando a 71,4% de produtos com C<16, enquanto a pirólise térmica resultou apenas de 25,8%.

Síntese sol-gel de scaffolds porosos de vidro bioativo com adição de agente porogênico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. B. A. P. Guimarães

Full Text Available Resumo O uso de biomateriais capazes de gerar uma resposta biológica tem sido um dos maiores progressos em medicina regenerativa, devido à sua habilidade de suportar o crescimento e estimular a regeneração do tecido danificado. Neste contexto, biocerâmicas, particularmente o vidro bioativo (VB, foram o objetivo de múltiplos estudos. A técnica de adição de agentes porogênicos para a síntese de scaffolds é uma técnica interessante, pois vários tipos de agentes porogênicos podem ser usados. Este estudo propôs obter scaffolds através de quatro agentes porogênicos e avaliar os efeitos que a mudança na temperatura de tratamento poderiam ter em sua cristalinidade. Scaffolds de vidro bioativo obtidos pela técnica sol-gel 100S (100% SiO2 mais agentes porogênicos (parafina 1, parafina 2, cera e CMC - carboximetilcelulose foram preparados e caracterizados. Como os melhores resultados foram obtidos com a parafina 1, scaffolds com composição 58S (60%SiO2-36%CaO-4%P2O5 e 100S usando parafina 1 como agente porogênico foram preparados. Os scaffolds foram submetidos a diferentes temperaturas de tratamento para avaliar a cristalinidade do material. A estrutura de poros foi analisada por microscopia eletrônica de varredura e microtomografia computadorizada e apresentou tamanho, distribuição e porosidade satisfatória, características importantes pois permitem migração celular, transporte de nutrientes, vascularização e crescimento tecidual. Por meio da difração de raios X constatou-se a natureza amorfa dos scaffolds. A 900 °C, scaffolds de VB 58S e 100S tiveram um pequeno aumento na sua cristalinidade. As análises de BET (adsorção de N2 mostraram estrutura mesoporosa no material. A área de superfície específica variou de 73,2 m2/g no scaffold 58S tratado a 800 °C até 331,2 m2/g no scaffold 100S tratado a 800 °C. O material não é tóxico pelos ensaios MTT de citotoxicidade. Os resultados mostraram que é poss

MODELAMIENTO DE LA CINÉTICA DE BIOADSORCIÓN DE Cr (III USANDO CÁSCARA DE NARANJA

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MARTHA LUCIA PINZÓN-BEDOYA

2009-01-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo se utilizó como material bioadsorbente cáscara naranja con el fin de remover iones cromo presentes en soluciones hipotéticas diluidas, utilizadas como modelo de aguas contaminadas con bajas concentraciones de este metal. Las condiciones de operación utilizadas fueron: relación sólido/líquido 4 g/l, tamaño de partícula ??0,425 mm, concentración inicial de disolución de Cr(III 100 mg/l, tiempo de contacto 60 h y pH constante (4 y 5. Los modelos cinéticos escogidos para identificar el mecanismo de reacción del proceso de bioadsorción usando cáscara de naranja fueron: primer orden reversible, pseudo- segundoorden, Elovich y difusión intraparticular. Los resultados indican que la ecuación de Elovich proporciona mayor exactitud en el ajuste de los datos experimentales del equilibrio a este modelo cinético. La bondad del ajuste de los datos se realizó por regresión no-lineal utilizando como criterio la minimización de la función objeto suma de los cuadrados del error, SCE, haciendo uso de la herramienta matemática MATLAB.

Un estudio sobre el desarrollo del pensamiento aleatorio usando recursos educativos abiertos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yenny Patricia Pinzón Triana

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Este estudio presenta los resultados de un proyecto de investigación sobre la implementación de la enseñanza probabilística con recursos educativos abiertos (REA, diseñados en la plataforma Edmodo, y que está dirigido a estudiantes de tercer grado de educación básica secundaria de Bogotá, Colombia, y Tuxtepec, México. El fin era evidenciar sus preconceptos, nociones y evaluar el resultado de la instrucción en términos de su pensamiento probabilístico y dar respuesta a la interrogante ¿cuál es el efecto de la instrucción en probabilidad usando Edmodo en estudiantes de tercer grado de educación básica secundaria respecto a la valoración de fenómenos aleatorios de la vida cotidiana, sus conjeturas y la toma de decisiones? Se empleó un enfoque cualitativo a partir del método de estudio de casos, desde el análisis particular a lo general (Stake, 2005. Para la implementación, se consideró el estudio de Fishbein (1975 sobre el desarrollo del pensamiento probabilístico y el de Marzano (2000, relacionado con las dimensiones del aprendizaje. Estos elementos sirvieron para establecer el impacto del uso de los REA, en especial el de la plataforma Edmodo en el desarrollo de competencias en los estudiantes. Los instrumentos consistieron en una prueba de entrada, actividades de apoyo interactivo desde Edmodo y una prueba de salida para determinar los niveles de aprendizaje; mediante triangulación de datos, se evidenciaron alcances de niveles adecuados de desempeño acordes con los requerimientos de los estándares nacionales e internacionales.

Calculo y comparacion de la prima de un reaseguro de salud usando el modelo de opciones de Black-Scholes y el modelo actuarial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Eduardo Giron

2015-12-01

Full Text Available La presente investigación pretende calcular y comparar la prima de un reaseguro  usando el modelo de opciones de Black-Scholes y el modelo clásico actuarial tradicional. El período de análisis va desde enero de 2011 hasta diciembre de 2012. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el modelo de Black-Scholes, que se utiliza normalmente para valorar opciones financieras, puede ser también usado para la estimación de primas de reaseguros de salud; y que la prima neta estimada a partir de este modelo se aproxima a las establecidas por el método actuarial, excepto cuando el deducible del reaseguro es muy alto (por encima de $200.000.000.

Contrast agents for cardiac angiography: effects of a nonionic agent vs. a standard ionic agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bettmann, M.A.; Bourdillon, P.D.; Barry, W.H.; Brush, K.A.; Levin, D.C.

1984-01-01

The effects on cardiac hemodynamics and of a standard contrast agent, sodium methylglucamine diatrizoate [Renografin 76] were compared with the effects of a new nonionic agent (iohexol) in a double-blind study in 51 patietns undergoing coronary angiography and left ventriculography. No significant alteration in measured blood parameters occurred with either contrast agent. Hemodynamic changes occurred with both, but were significantly greater with the standard renografin than with the low-osmolality, nonionic iohexol. After left ventriculography, heart rate increased and peripheral arterial pressure fell with both agents, but less with iohexol. It is concluded that iohexol causes less alteration in cardiac function than does the agent currently most widely used. Nonionic contrast material is likely to improve the safety of coronary angiography, particularly in those patients at greatest risk

Maximización de la función de Verosimilitud de Distribuciones de Probabilidad usando Algoritmos Genéticos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Arturo Fuentes Mariles

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Tradicionalmente, para obtener los parámetros de una función de distribución con el método de máxima verosimilitud se acostumbra igualar a cero la derivada del logaritmo de la función de verosimilitud y resolver el sistema de ecuaciones no lineales que resulta. La popularidad del procedimiento se debe a su sencillez; sin embargo, cuando la función de verosimilitud no es suficientemente regular, puede llevar a obtener un valor muy alejado del máximo Por ese motivo, en este documento se presenta el uso de un algoritmo genético que permite encontrar los parámetros de la función de distribución (con los que se maximiza directamente la función de verosimilitud, o su logaritmo, sin recurrir a la derivada de los logaritmos de dicha función. Se halló buena concordancia de los resultados respecto a los obtenidos usando un software de uso frecuente en México, para el caso las funciones Gumbel y Gumbel de dos poblaciones. 

Study of the leaching of heavy metals from waste water sludge and incinerator's ash, using coupled thermostated columns and DTPA as complex agent; Estudio de la extraccion de metales pesados de lodos y cenizas de aguas residuales usando columnas termostatizadas acopladas y DTPA como agente complejante

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vite T, J.; Vite T, M.; Guerrero D, J.; Carreno de Leon, M.C. [Departamento de Estudios del Ambiente, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, A.P. 18-1027, 11801 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

2000-07-01

We studied the metallic composition from waste water sludge and incinerators ashes of an incinerator located in Toluca, Mexico, the qualitative studies were made using the Activation Analysis technique, and fluorescence X-ray techniques. The quantitative analysis of heavy metals in the wastes were made using Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (Icp-Aes). For leaching the samples, we used four coupled thermostated columns, each one had a p H of 2,5, 7 and 10. The flux of the air was of 1600 cc/min. The temperature was maintain constant in 60 Centigrade using a thermostated system. For this study we used 100 g of wastes mixed with mineral acid or sodium hydroxide to reach p H 2,5,7 and 10. We added a reducing and tensoactive agents and finally DTPA as complex agent. With this method, we obtain a better leaching efficiency using a complex agent. However the high DTPA cost, make this process expansive that is why we recommend to work with another classes of complex agents, that be cheaper to leach metals of different chemistry matrix. (Author)

Almanaque da Dengue: leituras e narrativas de Agentes Comunitários de Saúde Almanaque de Dengue: lecturas y narraciones de Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Dengue Almanac: readings and narratives of Community Health Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Maria Scherlowski Leal David

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Apresenta-se um estudo de leitura e apropriação como metodologia de aproximação ao universo narrativo de Agentes Comunitários de Saúde (ACS, usando um dispositivo de informação e comunicação - o Almanaque da Dengue (AD. O objetivo foi o de perceber as formas de construção e apropriação de saberes sobre dengue e saúde por parte dos ACS, além de avaliar a serventia do AD como um dispositivo info-comunicacional. Foram realizadas oficinas com agentes do Rio de Janeiro, com vistas à desconstrução e leitura relacional do AD. A análise das narrativas gerou três categorias temáticas: abundância informacional nos ciclos epidêmicos; culpabilização da vítima; contradições e ambiguidades no trabalho dos ACS como mediadores. O AD mostrou-se um instrumento útil na discussão e apropriação de informações sobre a saúde, devido ao caráter textual relacional e não linear dos seus conteúdos, e ao seu formato interativo e não impositivo de formulações sobre a dengue e saúde.Presentase un estudio de lectura y apropiación como método de acercamiento al universo narrativo de los agentes comunitarios de salud (ACS, utilizando un dispositivo de información y comunicación, el Almanaque de Dengue (AD. Objetivó-se ampliar la comprensión acerca de las formas de construcción y apropiación de conocimientos sobre dengue y salud, y evaluar el Almanac como un dispositivo info-comunicacional. La metodología cualitativa se desarrolló por medio de talleres con ACS de Río de Janeiro, para la deconstrucción y lectura relacional del AD. Los resultados se clasificaron en tres temas: la abundancia de información en ciclos epidémicos, culpa de la víctima, las contradicciones y ambigüedades en la labor de la ACS. El AD ha demostrado ser una herramienta útil para el debate y la propiedad de la información de salud, debido al carácter relacional y no lineal de su contenido y su formato interactivo, no prescriptivo sobre dengue y

A Composite Agent Architecture for Multi-Agent Simulations

OpenAIRE

VanPutte, Michael; Osborn, Brian; Hiles, John

2002-01-01

CGF Computer Generated Forces and Behavioral Representation The MOVES Institute’s Computer-Generated Autonomy Group has focused on a research goal of modeling complex and adaptive behavior while at the same time making the behavior easier to create and control. This research has led to several techniques for agent construction, that includes a social and organization relationship management engine, a composite agent architecture, an agent goal apparatus, a structure for capturi...

TACtic- A Multi Behavioral Agent for Trading Agent Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Khosravi, Hassan; Shiri, Mohammad E.; Khosravi, Hamid; Iranmanesh, Ehsan; Davoodi, Alireza

Software agents are increasingly being used to represent humans in online auctions. Such agents have the advantages of being able to systematically monitor a wide variety of auctions and then make rapid decisions about what bids to place in what auctions. They can do this continuously and repetitively without losing concentration. To provide a means of evaluating and comparing (benchmarking) research methods in this area the trading agent competition (TAC) was established. This paper describes the design, of TACtic. Our agent uses multi behavioral techniques at the heart of its decision making to make bidding decisions in the face of uncertainty, to make predictions about the likely outcomes of auctions, and to alter the agent's bidding strategy in response to the prevailing market conditions.

Análisis de la calidad de servicio al cliente que se oferta en las agencias de registro civil de las ciudades de Riobamba, Ambato, Guaranda y Latacunga usando el modelo SERVQUAL.

OpenAIRE

Haro Sosa, Giovanny Lenin

2017-01-01

La investigación tiene por objetivo analizar la calidad de servicio al cliente que se oferta en las agencias de Registro Civil de las ciudades de Riobamba, Ambato, Guaranda y Latacunga usando el modelo SERVQUAL. Registro Civil ha implementado grandes cambios en los últimos años referente a infraestructura, innovación tecnológica y talento humano, sin embargo, de ello no existe un modelo de aseguramiento de la calidad del servicio, por lo cual se hace necesario visitar a cada un...

Are probiotics effective to prevent traveler’s diarrhea?

Science.gov (United States)

Pinos, Yazmín; Castro-Gutiérrez, Victoria; Rada, Gabriel

2016-12-23

La diarrea aguda es la enfermedad más común que afecta a los viajeros, principalmente aquellos que se dirigen a regiones de alto riesgo. El uso de probióticos podría prevenir su aparición, sin embargo, los datos que apoyan su uso no son consistentes y no se recomiendan en las guías clínicas actuales. Utilizando la base de datos Epistemonikos, la cual es mantenida mediante búsquedas en múltiples bases de datos, identificamos cuatro revisiones sistemáticas que en conjunto incluyen siete estudios aleatorizados pertinentes a esta pregunta. Realizamos un metanálisis y tablas de resumen de los resultados utilizando el método GRADE. Concluimos que los probióticos podrían prevenir la diarrea del viajero, pero la certeza de la evidencia es baja.

Chilenos en Alemania y alemanes en Chile. Viaje y Nación en el siglo XIX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ljuba Boric Bargetto

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Por lo general, la literatura de viajes se tilda como una fuente no del todo confiable en el campo historiográfico por la posible subjetividad y excesiva imaginación que contendrían sus relatos, no teniendo mayor atractivo para el lector que el conjunto de descripciones de lugares geográficos, anécdotas y aspectos de la vida cotidiana de los países visitados por el viajero que ha querido plasmar en un papel. Sin embargo, se ha dejado de lado uno de los verdaderos valores de los relatos de viajes, es decir el testimonio que éstos reflejarían del pensamiento y mentalidad del viajero que los escribe, y por ende de su identidad nacional como miembro de un país y colectividad determinada, por sobre su cualidad informativa y descriptiva...

Simulación y validación de modelos de destilación por lotes usando Aspen Batch Modeler: recuperación de epóxido de limoneno

OpenAIRE

Yeison Agudelo; Rolando Barrera Zapata

2016-01-01

Se desarrolló el modelado y simulación de una columna de destilación por lotes para la recuperación de epóxido de limoneno de una mezcla multicomponente, usando el software especializado Aspen Batch Modeler. Para la validación de los modelos se desarrolló el proceso experimental en un equipo de roto-evaporación, donde se varió la composición inicial de la mezcla, temperatura y presión de operación. La composición final de fondos y destilado se determinó a través de cromatografía de gases. Los...

JMat - Herramienta remota de cálculo y multiusuario para el aprendizaje basado en problemas usando Matlab

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bladimir Bacca Cortes

2011-01-01

Full Text Available JMat es una herramienta de cálculo basada en JAVA y EJS (Easy Java Simulations, con un esquema cliente / servidor, soporte multi-usuario y acceso remoto a Matlab. La aplicación está orientada a brindar a los usuarios una interacción con Matlab usando tres interfaces: Consola de Comandos, donde se invocan remotamente comandos de texto compatibles con Matlab. Espacio de Trabajo y Graficación, donde se mantiene un registro automático de las variables de usuario y se grafican individualmente. Funciones de usuario y Transferencia de Archivos, donde el usuario crea sus funciones, envía y recibe datos hacia y desde el servidor. JMat requiere un acceso a Internet, un servidor remoto donde esté instalado Matlab y un cliente (Navegador WEB o aplicación. No se requiere Matlab en el cliente. JMat está siendo usada actualmente en la Universidad del Valle en los cursos de Control Automático de Procesos, Control Inteligente, Redes Neuronales Artificiales, Procesamiento de Señales y Tratamiento Digital de Imágenes como herramienta para el aprendizaje basado en problemas empleando la plataforma de eLearning de la Universidad del Valle.

Multi-Agent Pathfinding with n Agents on Graphs with n Vertices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Förster, Klaus-Tycho; Groner, Linus; Hoefler, Torsten

2017-01-01

We investigate the multi-agent pathfinding (MAPF) problem with $n$ agents on graphs with $n$ vertices: Each agent has a unique start and goal vertex, with the objective of moving all agents in parallel movements to their goal s.t.~each vertex and each edge may only be used by one agent at a time....... We give a combinatorial classification of all graphs where this problem is solvable in general, including cases where the solvability depends on the initial agent placement. Furthermore, we present an algorithm solving the MAPF problem in our setting, requiring O(n²) rounds, or O(n³) moves...... of individual agents. Complementing these results, we show that there are graphs where Omega(n²) rounds and Omega(n³) moves are required for any algorithm....

Estimate potential evaporation and solar radiation in the Yaqui valley, Sonora, Mexico, using data from satellite; Estimacion de evaporacion y radiacion solar en el valle del Yaqui, Sonora, usando datos de satelite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

J Watts, Christopher; Rodriguez, Julio Cesar [Instituto del Medio Ambiente y el Desarrollo sustentable del estado de Sonora (Mexico); Garatuza Payan, Jaime [Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora (Mexico); Henk de Bruin [Universidad Agricola de Wageningen (Netherlands); Stewart, John [Universidad de Southampton (United Kingdom)

1999-12-01

The data from tow automatic weather stations in the Yaqui valley were used to estimate potential evaporation using the Makkink formula, based on observed incoming solar radiation and climatological values of air temperature. The usefulness of this formula was assessed by comparison with the Penman-Monteith, Penman and Priestley-Taylor formula and measurements of net radiation. A methodology was presented for estimating incoming solar radiation using visible band data from the GOES satellite. Comparisons against ground-based measurements from two pyranometers installed in the Yaqui valley gave good results, particularly in months with low cloud cover. Images for August 1993 were used to produce a map of the spatial distribution of potential evaporation. [Spanish] Para calcular la evaporacion potencial en el valle del Yaqui, usando la formula de Makkink, se utilizaron datos de dos estaciones meteorologicas automaticas. La mencionada formula se basa en la radiacion solar incidente observada y en ciertos valores climatologicos de temperatura del aire. Se evaluo la utilidad de esta formula, comparandola con las de Penman-Monteith, Pennan y Priestley-Taylor, asi como con mediciones de radiacion neta. Se desarrollo una metodologia para estimar la radiacion solar incidente usando la banda visible del satelite GOES. Se hizo una comparacion con mediciones de dos piranometros instalados en el valla del Yaqui, obteniendose buenos resultados, principalmente en meses con poca nubosidad. Se utilizaron imagenes de agosto de 1993 para producir un mapa de la distribucion espacial de la evaporacion potencial.

9th KES Conference on Agent and Multi-Agent Systems : Technologies and Applications

CERN Document Server

Howlett, Robert; Jain, Lakhmi

2015-01-01

Agents and multi-agent systems are related to a modern software paradigm which has long been recognized as a promising technology for constructing autonomous, complex and intelligent systems. The topics covered in this volume include agent-oriented software engineering, agent co-operation, co-ordination, negotiation, organization and communication, distributed problem solving, specification of agent communication languages, agent privacy, safety and security, formalization of ontologies and conversational agents. The volume highlights new trends and challenges in agent and multi-agent research and includes 38 papers classified in the following specific topics: learning paradigms, agent-based modeling and simulation, business model innovation and disruptive technologies, anthropic-oriented computing, serious games and business intelligence, design and implementation of intelligent agents and multi-agent systems, digital economy, and advances in networked virtual enterprises. Published p...

10th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

CERN Document Server

Pérez, Javier; Golinska, Paulina; Giroux, Sylvain; Corchuelo, Rafael; Trends in Practical Applications of Agents and Multiagent Systems

2012-01-01

PAAMS, the International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems is an evolution of the International Workshop on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. PAAMS is an international yearly tribune to present, to discuss, and to disseminate the latest developments and the most important outcomes related to real-world applications. It provides a unique opportunity to bring multi-disciplinary experts, academics and practitioners together to exchange their experience in the development of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.   This volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the 2012 in the workshops: Workshop on Agents for Ambient Assisted Living, Workshop on Agent-Based Solutions for Manufacturing and Supply Chain and Workshop on Agents and Multi-agent systems for Enterprise Integration.

Riot Control Agents

Science.gov (United States)

... Submit What's this? Submit Button Facts About Riot Control Agents Interim document Recommend on Facebook Tweet Share Compartir What riot control agents are Riot control agents (sometimes referred to ...

Desenvolvimento e validação de metodos para a determinação de antimicrobianos em leite e farmacos usando a cromatografia liquida de alta eficiencia e eletroforese capilar

OpenAIRE

Monica Cecilia Vargas Mamani

2007-01-01

Resumo: Antimicrobianos são largamente empregados na medicina veterinária e resíduos destes podem permanecer nos alimentos de origem animal, acima de valores considerados seguros, quando não são respeitadas as boas práticas veterinárias. O objetivo deste trabalho foi o desenvolvimento e validação de métodos para a determinação de tetraciclinas, sulfonamidas, cloranfenicol e fluoroquinolonas em fármacos usando a eletroforese capilar (CE), assim como método multiresíduos para a determinação de ...

Constructing Secure Mobile Agent Systems Using the Agent Operating System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van t Noordende, G.J.; Overeinder, B.J.; Timmer, R.J.; Brazier, F.M.; Tanenbaum, A.S.

2009-01-01

Designing a secure and reliable mobile agent system is a difficult task. The agent operating system (AOS) is a building block that simplifies this task. AOS provides common primitives required by most mobile agent middleware systems, such as primitives for secure communication, secure and

Nondestructive Intervention to Multi-Agent Systems through an Intelligent Agent

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Jing; Wang, Lin

2013-01-01

For a given multi-agent system where the local interaction rule of the existing agents can not be re-designed, one way to intervene the collective behavior of the system is to add one or a few special agents into the group which are still treated as normal agents by the existing ones. We study how to lead a Vicsek-like flocking model to reach synchronization by adding special agents. A popular method is to add some simple leaders (fixed-headings agents). However, we add one intelligent agent, called ‘shill’, which uses online feedback information of the group to decide the shill's moving direction at each step. A novel strategy for the shill to coordinate the group is proposed. It is strictly proved that a shill with this strategy and a limited speed can synchronize every agent in the group. The computer simulations show the effectiveness of this strategy in different scenarios, including different group sizes, shill speed, and with or without noise. Compared to the method of adding some fixed-heading leaders, our method can guarantee synchronization for any initial configuration in the deterministic scenario and improve the synchronization level significantly in low density groups, or model with noise. This suggests the advantage and power of feedback information in intervention of collective behavior. PMID:23658695

Nondestructive intervention to multi-agent systems through an intelligent agent.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Han

Full Text Available For a given multi-agent system where the local interaction rule of the existing agents can not be re-designed, one way to intervene the collective behavior of the system is to add one or a few special agents into the group which are still treated as normal agents by the existing ones. We study how to lead a Vicsek-like flocking model to reach synchronization by adding special agents. A popular method is to add some simple leaders (fixed-headings agents. However, we add one intelligent agent, called 'shill', which uses online feedback information of the group to decide the shill's moving direction at each step. A novel strategy for the shill to coordinate the group is proposed. It is strictly proved that a shill with this strategy and a limited speed can synchronize every agent in the group. The computer simulations show the effectiveness of this strategy in different scenarios, including different group sizes, shill speed, and with or without noise. Compared to the method of adding some fixed-heading leaders, our method can guarantee synchronization for any initial configuration in the deterministic scenario and improve the synchronization level significantly in low density groups, or model with noise. This suggests the advantage and power of feedback information in intervention of collective behavior.

Estimación de la demanda de agua para uso residencial urbano usando un modelo discreto-continuo y datos desagregados a nivel de hogar: el caso de la ciudad de Manizales, Colombia

OpenAIRE

Darío Jiménez; Sergio Orrego; Felipe Vásquez; Roberto Ponce

2017-01-01

En el presente trabajo se estima la demanda de agua para uso residencial urbano en la ciudad de Manizales, Colombia, usando un modelo estructural que considera tanto la elección discreta del bloque de consumo como la elección continua sobre la cantidad a consumir. La demanda se estimó econométricamente utilizando una base de datos única para un país en desarrollo y que contiene información completa sobre el consumo mensual de agua, el tamaño del hogar, las características de la vivienda, vari...

Organizations as Socially Constructed Agents in the Agent Oriented Paradigm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G. Boella (Guido); L.W.N. van der Torre (Leon)

2005-01-01

htmlabstractIn this paper we propose a new role for the agent metaphor in the definition of the organizational structure of multiagent systems. The agent metaphor is extended to consider as agents also social entities like organizations, groups and normative systems, so that mental attitudes can

Neuroprotective "agents" in surgery. Secret "agent" man, or common "agent" machine?

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, R. J.

1999-01-01

The search for clinically-effective neuroprotective agents has received enormous support in recent years--an estimated $200 million by pharmaceutical companies on clinical trials for traumatic brain injury alone. At the same time, the pathophysiology of brain injury has proved increasingly complex, rendering the likelihood of a single agent "magic bullet" even more remote. On the other hand, great progress continues with technology that makes surgery less invasive and less risky. One example is the application of endovascular techniques to treat coronary artery stenosis, where both the invasiveness of sternotomy and the significant neurological complication rate (due to microemboli showering the cerebral vasculature) can be eliminated. In this paper we review aspects of intraoperative neuroprotection both present and future. Explanations for the slow progress on pharmacologic neuroprotection during surgery are presented. Examples of technical advances that have had great impact on neuroprotection during surgery are given both from coronary artery stenosis surgery and from surgery for Parkinson's disease. To date, the progress in neuroprotection resulting from such technical advances is an order of magnitude greater than that resulting from pharmacologic agents used during surgery. The progress over the last 20 years in guidance during surgery (CT and MRI image-guidance) and in surgical access (endoscopic and endovascular techniques) will soon be complemented by advances in our ability to evaluate biological tissue intraoperatively in real-time. As an example of such technology, the NASA Smart Probe project is considered. In the long run (i.e., in 10 years or more), pharmacologic "agents" aimed at the complex pathophysiology of nervous system injury in man will be the key to true intraoperative neuroprotection. In the near term, however, it is more likely that mundane "agents" based on computers, microsensors, and microeffectors will be the major impetus to improved

MODELADO DEL PRECIO SPOT DE LA ELECTRICIDAD EN BRASIL USANDO UNA RED NEURONAL AUTORREGRESIVA ELECTRICITY SPOT PRICE MODELLING IN BRASIL USING AN AUTOREGRESSIVE NEURAL NETWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan D Velásquez

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Una red neuronal autorregresiva es estimada para el precio mensual brasileño de corto plazo de la electricidad, la cual describe mejor la dinámica de los precios que un modelo lineal autorregresivo y que un perceptrón multicapa clásico que usan las mismas entradas y neuronas en la capa oculta. El modelo propuesto es especificado usando un procedimiento estadístico basado en el contraste del radio de verosimilitud. El modelo pasa una batería de pruebas de diagnóstico. El procedimiento de especificación propuesto permite seleccionar el número de unidades en la capa oculta y las entradas a la red neuronal, usando pruebas estadísticas que tienen en cuenta la cantidad de los datos y el ajuste del modelo a la serie de precios. La especificación del modelo final demuestra que el precio para el próximo mes es una función no lineal del precio actual, de la energía afluente actual y de la energía almacenada en el embalse equivalente en el mes actual y dos meses atrás.An autoregressive neural network model is estimated for the monthly Brazilian electricity spot price, which describes the prices dynamics better than a linear autoregressive model and a classical multilayer perceptron using the same input and neurons in the hidden layer. The proposed model is specified using a statistical procedure based on a likelihood ratio test. The model passes a battery of diagnostic tests. The proposed specification procedure allows us to select the number of units in hidden layer and the inputs to the neural network based on statistical tests, taking into account the number of data and the model fitting to the price time series. The final model specification demonstrates that the price for the next month is a nonlinear function of the current price, the current energy inflow, and the energy saved in the equivalent reservoir in the current month and two months ago.

Advances on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 10th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

CERN Document Server

Müller, Jörg; Rodríguez, Juan; Pérez, Javier

2012-01-01

Research on Agents and Multi-Agent Systems has matured during the last decade and many effective applications of this technology are now deployed. PAAMS provides an international forum to present and discuss the latest scientific developments and their effective applications, to assess the impact of the approach, and to facilitate technology transfer. PAAMS started as a local initiative, but has since grown to become THE international yearly platform to present, to discuss, and to disseminate the latest developments and the most important outcomes related to real-world applications. It provides a unique opportunity to bring multi-disciplinary experts, academics and practitioners together to exchange their experience in the development and deployment of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. PAAMS intends to bring together researchers and developers from industry and the academic world to report on the latest scientific and technical advances on the application of multi-agent systems, to discuss and debate the major ...

Highlights on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 10th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

CERN Document Server

Sánchez, Miguel; Mathieu, Philippe; Rodríguez, Juan; Adam, Emmanuel; Ortega, Alfonso; Moreno, María; Navarro, Elena; Hirsch, Benjamin; Lopes-Cardoso, Henrique; Julián, Vicente

2012-01-01

Research on Agents and Multi-Agent Systems has matured during the last decade and many effective applications of this technology are now deployed. PAAMS provides an international forum to present and discuss the latest scientific developments and their effective applications, to assess the impact of the approach, and to facilitate technology transfer. PAAMS started as a local initiative, but has since grown to become THE international yearly platform to present, to discuss, and to disseminate the latest developments and the most important outcomes related to real-world applications. It provides a unique opportunity to bring multi-disciplinary experts, academics and practitioners together to exchange their experience in the development and deployment of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. PAAMS intends to bring together researchers and developers from industry and the academic world to report on the latest scientific and technical advances on the application of multi-agent systems, to discuss and debate the major ...

Radiographic scanning agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bevan, J.A.

1983-01-01

This invention relates to radiodiagnostic agents and more particularly to a composition and method for preparing a highly effective technetium-99m-based bone scanning agent. One deficiency of x-ray examination is the inability of that technique to detect skeletal metastases in their incipient stages. It has been discovered that the methanehydroxydiphosphonate bone mineral-seeking agent is unique in that it provides the dual benefits of sharp radiographic imaging and excellent lesion detection when used with technetium-99m. This agent can also be used with technetium-99m for detecting soft tissue calcification in the manner of the inorganic phosphate radiodiagnostic agents

Estudio comparativo de flujo de fluido a través de una placa de orificio usando las ecuaciones de Stokes y de Navier-Stokes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miryam Lucía Guerra-Mazo

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Presenta los resultados de la comparación entre las ecuaciones de Stokes y de Navier-Stokes para la simulación del flujo de agua líquida, a condiciones atmosféricas, a través de una placa orificio concéntrica. A partir de los datos experimentales que fueron tomados en el banco de fluidos, se evaluaron las simulaciones de ambas ecuaciones, usando el software libre Freefem++cs, que se basa en el método de los elementos finitos; las variables evaluadas son velocidad y presión en un intervalo de tiempo. Al analizar los resultados obtenidos con las simulaciones y comparar con los datos experimentales se encontró que las ecuaciones de Navier-Stokes representan mejor el sistema que la ecuación de Stokes.

Raúl Porras, escritor

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Carlos Eduardo Zavaleta

2011-05-01

Full Text Available No creo que sea una novedad el juzgar a un importante historiador ycrítico literario, además de insigne diplomático y viajero ilustrado, queinclusive estudió a fondo a los cronistas del siglo XVI y a otros viajeros(especialmente franceses e italianos que vinieron al país; no es ningunanovedad, digo, juzgarlo como escritor, puesto que en esencia lo fuedesde su juventud, desde antes de los veinte años, cuando se iniciófundando una revista satírica, Alma Latina, dirigida por el mismo, juntocon su amigo Guillermo Luna Cartland.Además, su situación no es única dentro de la llamada “generacióndel Centenario”, pues varios de sus miembros, entre ellos Jorge Basadre,Luis Alberto Sánchez, Porras, Luna Cartland y Manuel G. Abastos,velaron sus primeras armas en el vasto campo de la literatura.

Smart Agents and Sentiment in the Heterogeneous Agent Model

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vácha, Lukáš; Baruník, Jozef; Vošvrda, Miloslav

2009-01-01

Roč. 18, č. 3 (2009), s. 209-219 ISSN 1210-0455 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LC06075; GA ČR GP402/08/P207; GA ČR(CZ) GA402/09/0965 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : heterogeneous agent model * market structure * smart traders * Hurst exponent Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2009/E/vacha- smart agent s and sentiment in the heterogeneous agent model.pdf

Espacio literario relevante sobre el problema del vendedor viajero (TSP: contenido, clasificación, métodos y campos de inspiración Relevant literary space on travelling salesman problem (TSP: contents, classification, methods and fields of inspiration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Ivan Pérez Rave

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Se describe y se analiza un espacio literario relevante sobre el Problema del Vendedor Viajero (TSP en términos de contenido, clases de TSP, métodos y campos de inspiración. Los datos empleados provinieron de los trabajos más citados en Scopus sobre el TSP, tanto a través de la historia como en el período 2006-2010. Se encontró que el TSP prevalece en las investigaciones, con enfoques tanto en el problema original como en sus variantes, entre las cuales se identificaron el TSP Múltiple y el TSP Probabilístico. Entre los principales campos de inspiración para resolver el TSP están la evolución biológica y su base genético-molecular, el comportamiento de hormigas reales, la termodinámica, las estrategias sistemáticas para combinar reglas de decisión y la búsqueda de vecindades. Hoy día se tiende a desarrollar métodos híbridos, especialmente integrando enfoques globales con búsquedas locales, y se identifica la necesidad de introducir nuevos campos de inspiración.This paper describes and analyzes, in terms of content, the types of TSP, methods and fields of inspiration - the most relevant "literary space" on TSP. It is built based on the top most cited on the TSP history and the Top 10 cited from 2006 to 2010. The study of TSP still prevails in Research, focusing on the original problem and its variants: Multiple TSP (m-TSP and Probabilistic TSP (PTSP. Evidence shows that there has been progress in the development of TSP solving methods, highlighted by various inspiration fields: biological evolution, behavior of real ants, thermodynamics, systematic strategies for combining decision rules, and neighborhood search. There is a tendency to develop hybrid methods, in particular by integrating global approaches to local search. There is need to introduce new fields of inspiration.

Asymptotically Optimal Agents

OpenAIRE

Lattimore, Tor; Hutter, Marcus

2011-01-01

Artificial general intelligence aims to create agents capable of learning to solve arbitrary interesting problems. We define two versions of asymptotic optimality and prove that no agent can satisfy the strong version while in some cases, depending on discounting, there does exist a non-computable weak asymptotically optimal agent.

Traitement de l'hétérogénéité sémantique dans les interactions humain-agent et agent-agent

OpenAIRE

Mazuel , Laurent

2008-01-01

The main purpose of this thesis is the management of semantic heterogeneity in human-agent and agent-agent interaction. We especially focus on the situation where a software agent, supplied with a knowledge representation model, has to understand requests coming from different interlocutors; either it is a human user or another software agent.Most work in this domain either focus on human-agent interaction or agent-agent interaction. On the contrary, we suggest that it is possible to use a co...

Relay tracking control for second-order multi-agent systems with damaged agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Lijing; Li, Jing; Liu, Qin

2017-11-01

This paper investigates a situation where smart agents capable of sensory and mobility are deployed to monitor a designated area. A preset number of agents start tracking when a target intrudes this area. Some of the tracking agents are possible to be out of order over the tracking course. Thus, we propose a cooperative relay tracking strategy to ensure the successful tracking with existence of damaged agents. Relay means that, when a tracking agent quits tracking due to malfunction, one of the near deployed agents replaces it to continue the tracking task. This results in jump of tracking errors and dynamic switching of topology of the multi-agent system. Switched system technique is employed to solve this specific problem. Finally, the effectiveness of proposed tracking strategy and validity of the theoretical results are verified by conducting a numerical simulation. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Agentes Comunitários de Saúde e os sentidos de "ser agente" Community Health Agents and the meanings of "being an agent"

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Viviane Milan Pupin

2008-08-01

Full Text Available O Programa Saúde da Família constitui-se enquanto estratégia de mudança do modelo assistencial. O artigo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa qualitativa sobre os sentidos de "ser agente" produzidos, por meio de entrevistas abertas, com Agentes Comunitários de Saúde que trabalham nos cinco Núcleos de Saúde da Família da cidade de Ribeirão Preto - São Paulo, vinculados à Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto - USP. As entrevistas foram gravadas e transcritas na íntegra e analisadas segundo princípios da análise de conteúdo. A análise permitiu a descrição de sentidos acerca de ser agente subdivididos em: Sentidos produzidos na relação com a comunidade e Sentidos produzidos na relação com a equipe. A análise dos sentidos de ser agente possibilitou construir um diálogo sobre as tensões relacionadas a um fazer em saúde ora permeado por concepções atreladas ao modelo biomédico, ora atrelado aos novos paradigmas em saúde.The Family Health Program consists of a strategy to change the health care model. This article presents the results from a qualitative study about the meanings of "being an agent" obtained through open interviews with Community Health Agents who work in five Family Health Centers of the Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine (University of São Paulo, located in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. Interviews were tape recorded, fully transcribed, and then content analyzed. The analysis allowed for descriptions of meanings toward "being an agent", subdivided into: Meanings produced by relationships with the community, and Meanings produced by relationships with the team. Analyzing the meanings of being an agent provided the establishment of a dialogue about the tensions related to a health practice that is at times influenced by conceptions associated with the biomedical method, and at other times with the new health paradigm.

Biological warfare agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duraipandian Thavaselvam

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The recent bioterrorist attacks using anthrax spores have emphasized the need to detect and decontaminate critical facilities in the shortest possible time. There has been a remarkable progress in the detection, protection and decontamination of biological warfare agents as many instrumentation platforms and detection methodologies are developed and commissioned. Even then the threat of biological warfare agents and their use in bioterrorist attacks still remain a leading cause of global concern. Furthermore in the past decade there have been threats due to the emerging new diseases and also the re-emergence of old diseases and development of antimicrobial resistance and spread to new geographical regions. The preparedness against these agents need complete knowledge about the disease, better research and training facilities, diagnostic facilities and improved public health system. This review on the biological warfare agents will provide information on the biological warfare agents, their mode of transmission and spread and also the detection systems available to detect them. In addition the current information on the availability of commercially available and developing technologies against biological warfare agents has also been discussed. The risk that arise due to the use of these agents in warfare or bioterrorism related scenario can be mitigated with the availability of improved detection technologies.

Biological warfare agents

Science.gov (United States)

Thavaselvam, Duraipandian; Vijayaraghavan, Rajagopalan

2010-01-01

The recent bioterrorist attacks using anthrax spores have emphasized the need to detect and decontaminate critical facilities in the shortest possible time. There has been a remarkable progress in the detection, protection and decontamination of biological warfare agents as many instrumentation platforms and detection methodologies are developed and commissioned. Even then the threat of biological warfare agents and their use in bioterrorist attacks still remain a leading cause of global concern. Furthermore in the past decade there have been threats due to the emerging new diseases and also the re-emergence of old diseases and development of antimicrobial resistance and spread to new geographical regions. The preparedness against these agents need complete knowledge about the disease, better research and training facilities, diagnostic facilities and improved public health system. This review on the biological warfare agents will provide information on the biological warfare agents, their mode of transmission and spread and also the detection systems available to detect them. In addition the current information on the availability of commercially available and developing technologies against biological warfare agents has also been discussed. The risk that arise due to the use of these agents in warfare or bioterrorism related scenario can be mitigated with the availability of improved detection technologies. PMID:21829313

Modelo Principal-Agente para contratos entre pequenos produtores e empresa exportadora de manga no Rio Grande do Norte

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Luciano Menezes Bezerra Sampaio

2007-12-01

Full Text Available A fruticultura é uma atividade de grande importância na balança comercial brasileira e mais ainda para a região Nordeste. As diversas exigências do mercado exportador de frutas, como os certificados de qualidade, aliadas aos entraves internos da produção e da comercialização, entre os quais a ausência de padronização dos produtos e a falta de crédito, fizeram da intermediação das exportações uma prática regular. Grandes empresas, cooperativas, associações e ONG’s recebem as produções de muitos pequenos produtores e as exportam, conjuntamente com sua própria produção, quando também produzem. No Nordeste, é comum o agente exportador oferecer contratos de exportação aos produtores que incluem assistência técnica, administrativa e jurídica e os insumos necessários à produção. Este trabalho formula uma proposta de modelagem, usando a teoria dos jogos, mais especificamente a abordagem Principal-Agente, para os contratos de exportação entre produtores e exportadores da fruticultura. Aplicou-se a proposta para os pequenos produtores de manga do Rio Grande do Norte, e mostrou-se que a escolha do tipo de contrato da maioria dos produtores é ótima para ambas as partes e que estes contratos incentivam o produtor a aplicar esforço elevado na produção. Extensões da modelagem proposta podem incluir barganha nas negociações ou considerar um modelo de jogo dinâmico.Fruit production is an activity of great importance in the Brazilian commercial balance and even more in the Northeastern region. Intermediation is a regular practice in the fruit exporting market due to existence of requirements, such as quality certificates, and of internal problems in production and commercialization, such as credit limitations and absence of product standardization. Large companies, cooperatives, associations and NGOs receive products from many small producers and export them together with their own products. In Northeast, it is

14th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems : Special Sessions

CERN Document Server

Escalona, María; Corchuelo, Rafael; Mathieu, Philippe; Vale, Zita; Campbell, Andrew; Rossi, Silvia; Adam, Emmanuel; Jiménez-López, María; Navarro, Elena; Moreno, María

2016-01-01

PAAMS, the International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems is an evolution of the International Workshop on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. PAAMS is an international yearly tribune to present, to discuss, and to disseminate the latest developments and the most important outcomes related to real-world applications. It provides a unique opportunity to bring multi-disciplinary experts, academics and practitioners together to exchange their experience in the development of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. This volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the 2016 in the special sessions: Agents Behaviours and Artificial Markets (ABAM); Advances on Demand Response and Renewable Energy Sources in Agent Based Smart Grids (ADRESS); Agents and Mobile Devices (AM); Agent Methodologies for Intelligent Robotics Applications (AMIRA); Learning, Agents and Formal Languages (LAFLang); Multi-Agent Systems and Ambient Intelligence (MASMAI); Web Mining and ...

ANTICUERPOS DIRIGIDOS A PEQUEÑAS MOLÉCULAS DE NEUROTRANSMISORES Y PÉPTIDOS: PRODUCCIÓN Y APLICACIÓN DE ANTICUERPOS A DOPAMINA, SEROTONINA, GABA, VASOPRESINA, PÉPTIDO VASOACTIVO INTESTINAL, NEUROPÉPTIDO Y, SOMATOSTATINA Y SUSTANCIA P

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruud M. Buijs

2009-01-01

Full Text Available En el presente trabajo se describe un procedimiento por medio del cual pueden ser obtenidos anticuerpos a partir de moléculas pequeñas de neurotransmisores usando glutaraldehido como agente acoplador. Este procedimiento fue desarrollado bajo la condición de que el inmunógeno usado para la preparación del anticuerpo fuera, hasta donde fuese posible, de la misma identidad que la molécula transmisora fijada al tejido. Con el de fin de lograr mayor éxito, los péptidos, aminas o aminoácidos1 fueron conjugados a una proteína acarreadora usando glutaraldehido. Los anticuerpos obtenidos fueron usados en estudios de inmunohistoquímica permitiendo la detección de estos transmisores después de un proceso de fijación con glutaraldehido o paraformaldehido para los péptidos.

Developing Agent-Oriented Video Surveillance System through Agent-Oriented Methodology (AOM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheah Wai Shiang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Agent-oriented methodology (AOM is a comprehensive and unified agent methodology for agent-oriented software development. Although AOM is claimed to be able to cope with a complex system development, it is still not yet determined up to what extent this may be true. Therefore, it is vital to conduct an investigation to validate this methodology. This paper presents the adoption of AOM in developing an agent-oriented video surveillance system (VSS. An intruder handling scenario is designed and implemented through AOM. AOM provides an alternative method to engineer a distributed security system in a systematic manner. It presents the security system at a holistic view; provides a better conceptualization of agent-oriented security system and supports rapid prototyping as well as simulation of video surveillance system.

Agent Architectures for Compliance

Science.gov (United States)

Burgemeestre, Brigitte; Hulstijn, Joris; Tan, Yao-Hua

A Normative Multi-Agent System consists of autonomous agents who must comply with social norms. Different kinds of norms make different assumptions about the cognitive architecture of the agents. For example, a principle-based norm assumes that agents can reflect upon the consequences of their actions; a rule-based formulation only assumes that agents can avoid violations. In this paper we present several cognitive agent architectures for self-monitoring and compliance. We show how different assumptions about the cognitive architecture lead to different information needs when assessing compliance. The approach is validated with a case study of horizontal monitoring, an approach to corporate tax auditing recently introduced by the Dutch Customs and Tax Authority.

A Secure Protocol Based on a Sedentary Agent for Mobile Agent Environments

OpenAIRE

Abdelmorhit E. Rhazi; Samuel Pierre; Hanifa Boucheneb

2007-01-01

The main challenge when deploying mobile agent environments pertains to security issues concerning mobile agents and their executive platform. This paper proposes a secure protocol which protects mobile agents against attacks from malicious hosts in these environments. Protection is based on the perfect cooperation of a sedentary agent running inside a trusted third host. Results show that the protocol detects several attacks, such as denial of service, incorrect execution and re-execution of...

Moral actor, selfish agent.

Science.gov (United States)

Frimer, Jeremy A; Schaefer, Nicola K; Oakes, Harrison

2014-05-01

People are motivated to behave selfishly while appearing moral. This tension gives rise to 2 divergently motivated selves. The actor-the watched self-tends to be moral; the agent-the self as executor-tends to be selfish. Three studies present direct evidence of the actor's and agent's distinct motives. To recruit the self-as-actor, we asked people to rate the importance of various goals. To recruit the self-as-agent, we asked people to describe their goals verbally. In Study 1, actors claimed their goals were equally about helping the self and others (viz., moral); agents claimed their goals were primarily about helping the self (viz., selfish). This disparity was evident in both individualist and collectivist cultures, attesting to the universality of the selfish agent. Study 2 compared actors' and agents' motives to those of people role-playing highly prosocial or selfish exemplars. In content (Study 2a) and in the impressions they made on an outside observer (Study 2b), actors' motives were similar to those of the prosocial role-players, whereas agents' motives were similar to those of the selfish role-players. Study 3 accounted for the difference between the actor and agent: Participants claimed that their agent's motives were the more realistic and that their actor's motives were the more idealistic. The selfish agent/moral actor duality may account for why implicit and explicit measures of the same construct diverge, and why feeling watched brings out the better angels of human nature.

The Agent of Change: The Agent of Conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatfield, C. R., Jr.

This speech examines the role of change agents in third world societies and indicates that the change agent must, to some extent, manipulate the social situation, even if his view of society is a more optimistic one than he finds in reality. If he considers strains and stresses to be the lubricants of change, then his focus on conflict as a…

Simulação tridimensional adaptativa da separação das fases de uma mistura bifásica usando a equação de Cahn-Hilliard

OpenAIRE

Nós, R.L.; Ceniceros, H.D.; Roma, A.M.

2012-01-01

Simulamos a separação dos componentes de uma mistura bifásica com a equação de Cahn-Hilliard. Esta equação contém intrincados termos não lineares e derivadas de alta ordem. Além disso, a delgada região de transição entre os componentes da mistura requer muita resolução. Assim, determinar a solução numérica da equação de Cahn-Hilliard não é uma tarefa fácil, principalmente em três dimensões. Conseguimos a resolução exigida no tempo usando uma discretização semi-implícita de segunda ordem. No e...

Interactions of ionic and nonionic contrast agents with thrombolytic agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fareed, J.; Moncada, R.; Scanlon, P.; Hoppensteadt, D.; Huan, X.; Walenga, J.M.

1987-01-01

Both the ionic and nonionic intravascular contrast media have been used before and after the administration of thrombolytic agents to evaluate clot lysis during angioplasty and the treatment of myocardial infarction. In experimental animal models, the authors found that the clot lytic efficacy of streptokinase, streptokinase-plasminogen complex, and tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is markedly augmented if these agents are administered within 1 hour after the angiographic producers. Furthermore, contrast agents injected after the administration of t-Pa exhibit a synergistic action. In stimulated models administration of one ionic contrast medium (Angiovist, Berlex, Wayne, NJ) and two nonionic contrast agents (Isovue-370, Squibb Diagnostics, New Brunswick, NJ; Omnipaque-350, Winthrop, NY) 15 minutes before the administration of t-PA resulted in marked enhancement of the lytic activity. Although the mechanism of this interaction is unknown at this time, it should be taken into consideration in the treatment of patients with myocardial infarction, in whom contrast agents are continually used to evaluate the therapeutic lysis. Furthermore, this interaction may be partly related to the therapeutic efficacy and/or hemorrhagic actions observed

Pasajes de una vuelta al mundo. El Oriente de Pedro Cubero Sebastián en su periplo universal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Córdoba, Joaquín Mª

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Entre 1671 y 1679, un sacerdote español llamado Don Pedro Cubero Sebastián, como predicador apostólico y explorador que iba a abrir camino a posteriores misioneros católicos, dio por primera vez la vuelta al mundo en sentido inverso al tradicional. Por tierra y mar, cruzando inmensos desiertos y cordilleras, mares y ríos caudalosos, durante ocho años viajó por Europa, Oriente Próximo y la India, Malaca, Filipinas y América hasta tornar a España navegando por el Atlántico, Tan singular sacerdote escondía el espíritu de un verdadero viajero y explorador, enamorado de los mundos distantes, los recónditos paisajes y las costumbres de los más diferentes pueblos. Su figura es una muestra más de la constancia y la original audacia de los viajeros españoles de su siglo.…

Comparação das técnicas transarterial e de estimulação de múltiplos nervos para bloqueio do plexo braquial por via axilar usando lidocaína com epinefrina

OpenAIRE

Imbelloni, Luiz Eduardo; Beato, Lúcia; Cordeiro, José Antônio

2005-01-01

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A técnica transarterial com grandes doses de anestésico local resulta em alta efetividade para o bloqueio axilar do plexo braquial. A técnica utilizando múltiplos estímulos exige mais tempo e maior experiência. Este estudo prospectivo compara a latência e o índice de sucesso do bloqueio do plexo braquial usando duas técnicas de localização: transarterial ou múltipla estimulação dos nervos. MÉTODO: A lidocaína com epinefrina, 800 mg, foi usada inicialmente para o blo...

Survey of agent for intelligent information retrieval; Chiteki kensaku no tame no agent no chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yazawa, T [Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo (Japan)

1996-09-01

Development of agent systems has been surveyed, to classify and arrange characteristic functions of the agents, and to grasp the realization situation of these agents in their development. In addition, prospective functions of information retrieval systems using the agents at maximum and functions to be developed among these in the future are clarified. The agents are characterized by the expression function, communication function, planning function, adaptive function, and learning function. The agents are desired to be classified into interface agents whose works are to respond to individual workers, coordinator agents which conduct works with high pervasion, such as assignment of works and their control, and task agents which conduct specialized works for individual examples. Thus, design and configuration of the agent system, and improvement and expansion of system functions can be effectively and easily conducted. 52 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs.

Agent and multi-Agent systems in distributed systems digital economy and e-commerce

CERN Document Server

Hartung, Ronald

2013-01-01

Information and communication technology, in particular artificial intelligence, can be used to support economy and commerce using digital means. This book is about agents and multi-agent distributed systems applied to digital economy and e-commerce to meet, improve, and overcome challenges in the digital economy and e-commerce sphere. Agent and multi-agent solutions are applied in implementing real-life, exciting developments associated with the need to eliminate problems of distributed systems.   The book presents solutions for both technology and applications, illustrating the possible uses of agents in the enterprise domain, covering design and analytic methods, needed to provide a solid foundation required for practical systems. More specifically, the book provides solutions for the digital economy, e-sourcing clusters in network economy, and knowledge exchange between agents applicable to online trading agents, and security solutions to both digital economy and e-commerce. Furthermore, it offers soluti...

Solucionando dificultades en el aula: una estrategia usando el aprendizaje basado en problemas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mery Luz Valderrama Sanabria

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Introducción: Se utiliza el proyecto de investigación en el aula con énfasis en el Aprendizaje Basado en Problemas, el cual promueve el aprendizaje activo y significativo, permitiendo solucionar situaciones reales de conocimiento en torno a una temática específica. Implementa los principios de la investigación formativa, como herramienta para generar nuevas alternativas en la apropiación del conocimiento. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo conocer la percepción de los estudiantes del programa Regencia de Farmacia frente a la utilización del aprendizaje basado en problemas con el fin de realizar aportes al currículo. Materiales y Métodos: Estudio descriptivo y transversal realizado con una muestra no probabilística, por conveniencia, conformada por 109 estudiantes de segundo a sexto semestre. Se elaboró un cuestionario con escala tipo Likert, sometido a valoración por expertos. Resultados: En general, los estudiantes están de acuerdo con la estrategia porque ha permitido acercarse a la investigación, fortaleciendo el pensamiento crítico; generando autonomía y responsabilidad frente al aprendizaje. A medida que avanzan los semestres, le ven mayor utilidad. Sin embargo, falta claridad en el uso de la metodología y capacitación por parte de algunos docentes para desarrollarla eficazmente. Discusión: La coordinación docente es fundamental, se debe fortalecer este aspecto para dar claridad al uso de la metodología. Implementar procesos de evaluación para determinar los avances desarrollados por los estudiantes y el impacto generado. Conclusiones: Los estudiantes consideran que adquieren conocimientos y competencias que les ayudarán en la práctica profesional.  Cómo citar este artículo: Valderrama ML, Castaño GA. Solucionando dificultades en el aula: una estrategia usando el aprendizaje basado en problemas. Rev Cuid. 2017; 8(3: 1907-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.15649/cuidarte.v8i3.456

Comparison of the pain severity, drug leakage and ecchymosis rates caused by the application on tramadol intramuscular injection in Z-track and Air-lock techniques Comparación de la severidad del dolor y las tasas de escape de líquido y equimosis causadas por la aplicación intramuscular de tramadol usando las técnicas de cámara de aire y Z-track Comparação da severidade da dor e as taxas de fuga de líquidas equimoses causadas pela aplicação intramuscular de tramadol usando as técnicas de câmaras de ar e Z-track

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahla Najafidolatabad

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Objective. To compare the pain severity caused by the application of the Z-track and Air-lock intramuscular injections. Methodology. Unblinded clinical trial, where 90 female subjects aged between 18 and 60 years old were randomly assigned to two groups; the first group received the tramadol intramuscular injection using the Z-track technique (ZT and the second group received it through the air- lock method (AL. A 10 centimeter linear visual scale was used to evaluate the injection pain. The scale length was considered as the pain severity. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 13. Groups' age, Body Mass index (BMI, and pain intensity were compared using unpaired student's t test. Results. The study showed that the pain severity of patients in the AL method group was lower than in the ZT technique group (pObjetivo. Comparar la severidad del dolor y las tasas de escape de líquido y equimosis causadas por la aplicación de las inyecciones intramusculares usando la técnica Z-track (ZT y la técnica de la cámara de aire (CA. Metodología. Este es un ensayo clínico no ciego donde un grupo de 90 mujeres entre los 18 y 60 años fueron aleatoriamente asignadas a dos grupos; El primer grupo recibió la inyección por medio de la técnica ZT y el segundo por medio de la técnica de CA. Se uso una escala visual lineal de 10 centímetros para medir la intensidad del dolor causado por la inyección. La longitud de la escala fue considerada como la severidad del dolor. Los datos fueron analizados utilizando el programa SPSS versión 13. La edad, el índice de Masa Corporal (IMC, y la intensidad del dolor de los grupos fueron comparados usando el test de la t para muestras independientes. Resultados. El estudio mostró que la severidad del dolor y las tasas de escape de líquido y equimosis en las pacientes evaluadas usando el método CA era menor que el dolor causado por la técnica ZT (p Objetivo. Comparar a severidade da dor e as taxas de escape de

Reasoning about emotional agents

OpenAIRE

Meyer, J.-J.

2004-01-01

In this paper we discuss the role of emotions in artificial agent design, and the use of logic in reasoning about the emotional or affective states an agent can reside in. We do so by extending the KARO framework for reasoning about rational agents appropriately. In particular we formalize in this framework how emotions are related to the action monitoring capabilities of an agent.

Double agents and secret agents: the emerging fields of exogenous chemical exchange saturation transfer and T2-exchange magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents for molecular imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Daryaei, Iman; Pagel, Mark D

2015-01-01

Two relatively new types of exogenous magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents may provide greater impact for molecular imaging by providing greater specificity for detecting molecular imaging biomarkers. Exogenous chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) agents rely on the selective saturation of the magnetization of a proton on an agent, followed by chemical exchange of a proton from the agent to water. The selective detection of a biomarker-responsive CEST signal and an unresponsive CEST signal, followed by the ratiometric comparison of these signals, can improve biomarker specificity. We refer to this improvement as a "double-agent" approach to molecular imaging. Exogenous T 2 -exchange agents also rely on chemical exchange of protons between the agent and water, especially with an intermediate rate that lies between the slow exchange rates of CEST agents and the fast exchange rates of traditional T 1 and T 2 agents. Because of this intermediate exchange rate, these agents have been relatively unknown and have acted as "secret agents" in the contrast agent research field. This review exposes these secret agents and describes the merits of double agents through examples of exogenous agents that detect enzyme activity, nucleic acids and gene expression, metabolites, ions, redox state, temperature, and pH. Future directions are also provided for improving both types of contrast agents for improved molecular imaging and clinical translation. Therefore, this review provides an overview of two new types of exogenous contrast agents that are becoming useful tools within the armamentarium of molecular imaging.

A CSP-Based Agent Modeling Framework for the Cougaar Agent-Based Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Gracanin, Denis; Singh, H. Lally; Eltoweissy, Mohamed; Hinchey, Michael G.; Bohner, Shawn A.

2005-01-01

Cognitive Agent Architecture (Cougaar) is a Java-based architecture for large-scale distributed agent-based applications. A Cougaar agent is an autonomous software entity with behaviors that represent a real-world entity (e.g., a business process). A Cougaar-based Model Driven Architecture approach, currently under development, uses a description of system's functionality (requirements) to automatically implement the system in Cougaar. The Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) formalism is used for the formal validation of the generated system. Two main agent components, a blackboard and a plugin, are modeled as CSP processes. A set of channels represents communications between the blackboard and individual plugins. The blackboard is represented as a CSP process that communicates with every agent in the collection. The developed CSP-based Cougaar modeling framework provides a starting point for a more complete formal verification of the automatically generated Cougaar code. Currently it is used to verify the behavior of an individual agent in terms of CSP properties and to analyze the corresponding Cougaar society.

Fundamental studies of oral contrast agents for MR. Comparison of manganese agent and iron agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, Osamu; Hiraishi, Kumiko; Suginobu, Yoshito; Takeuchi, Masayasu; Narabayashi, Isamu

1996-01-01

We investigated and compared signal intensity and the effect of imaging the upper abdomen with blueberry juice (B.J.), a Mn agent utilizing the properties of paramagnetic metals, and FerriSeltz (F.S.), an iron agent. Since the relaxation effect was much stronger with B.J. than with F.S., the signal intensity required of a peroral contrast agent was able to be obtained at a much lower concentration of B.J. In imaging the upper abdomen, B.J. had a positive effect on imaging in T1-weighted images, and a negative effect in T2-weighted images. F.S. had a positive imaging effect in both, and because it showed extremely high signals in T2-weighted images, motion artifact arose. (author)

Topical antifungal agents: an update.

Science.gov (United States)

Diehl, K B

1996-10-01

So many topical antifungal agents have been introduced that it has become very difficult to select the proper agent for a given infection. Nonspecific agents have been available for many years, and they are still effective in many situations. These agents include Whitfield's ointment, Castellani paint, gentian violet, potassium permanganate, undecylenic acid and selenium sulfide. Specific antifungal agents include, among others, the polyenes (nystatin, amphotericin B), the imidazoles (metronidazole, clotrimazole) and the allylamines (terbinafine, naftifine). Although the choice of an antifungal agent should be based on an accurate diagnosis, many clinicians believe that topical miconazole is a relatively effective agent for the treatment of most mycotic infections. Terbinafine and other newer drugs have primary fungicidal effects. Compared with older antifungal agents, these newer drugs can be used in lower concentrations and shorter therapeutic courses. Studies are needed to evaluate the clinical efficacies and cost advantages of both newer and traditional agents.

Interacting agents in finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hommes, C.; Durlauf, S.N.; Blume, L.E.

2008-01-01

Interacting agents in finance represent a behavioural, agent-based approach in which financial markets are viewed as complex adaptive systems consisting of many boundedly rational agents interacting through simple heterogeneous investment strategies, constantly adapting their behaviour in response

Agent-based enterprise integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N. M. Berry; C. M. Pancerella

1998-12-01

The authors are developing and deploying software agents in an enterprise information architecture such that the agents manage enterprise resources and facilitate user interaction with these resources. The enterprise agents are built on top of a robust software architecture for data exchange and tool integration across heterogeneous hardware and software. The resulting distributed multi-agent system serves as a method of enhancing enterprises in the following ways: providing users with knowledge about enterprise resources and applications; accessing the dynamically changing enterprise; locating enterprise applications and services; and improving search capabilities for applications and data. Furthermore, agents can access non-agents (i.e., databases and tools) through the enterprise framework. The ultimate target of the effort is the user; they are attempting to increase user productivity in the enterprise. This paper describes their design and early implementation and discusses the planned future work.

Estimativa dos coeficientes de afetação dos custos às atividades agrícolas usando a teoria da máxima entropia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria do Socorro Rosário

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Neste artigo, pretende-se estimar os coeficientes de afetação dos custos às atividades agrícolas, a partir de informação incompleta. Um modelo de desagregação dos custos de fatores de produção variáveis por atividade foi desenvolvido com base na teoria da máxima entropia e foi aplicado à região alentejo, usando os dados da base RICA de 2008. Os resultados obtidos mostram que a teoria da entropia é uma opção flexível e robusta para realizar a estimação de coeficientes de afetação dos custos das atividades num contexto de informação incompleta. Entre as duas variantes utilizadas, o modelo da entropia cruzada generalizada revelou maior capacidade de previsão, uma vez que os coeficientes estimados são mais próximos dos valores reais.

Radiopharmaceutical scanning agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

This invention is directed to dispersions useful in preparing radiopharmaceutical scanning agents, to technetium labelled dispersions, to methods for preparing such dispersions and to their use as scanning agents

Agente adaptable y aprendizaje

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arturo Angel Lara Rivero

2013-05-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo se contrasta el concepto de agente programado con el de agente complejo adaptable, se presenta una nueva visión ligada al aprendizaje y la estructura del agente. La imagen del agente se analiza considerando los modelos internos, la práctica, el concepto de rutina y la influencia en su comportamiento, y la importancia del aprendizaje ex ante y ex post. Por último se muestra que la resolución de problemas está sujeta a restricciones del agente y se describen las formas de explorar el espacio de soluciones mediante tres tipos de exploración: exhaustiva, aleatoria y selectiva.

Three-agent Peer Evaluation

OpenAIRE

Vicki Knoblauch

2008-01-01

I show that every rule for dividing a dollar among three agents impartially (so that each agent's share depends only on her evaluation by her associates) underpays some agent by at least one-third of a dollar for some consistent profile of evaluations. I then produce an impartial division rule that never underpays or overpays any agent by more than one-third of a dollar, and for most consistent evaluation profiles does much better.

Child malnutrition in Mexico in the last two decades: prevalence using the new WHO 2006 growth standards Malnutrición preescolar en México en las últimas dos décadas: prevalencias usando los estándares de la OMS-2006

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teresa González-de Cossío

2009-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To describe preschool malnutrition prevalence and trends in Mexican children for the 1988, 1999 and 2006 Mexican National Nutrition Surveys using WHO-2006 standards and National Center for Health Statistics/WHO (NCHS/WHO references. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prevalence of undernutrition ( plus 2 z-score for weight/height were calculated. RESULTS: Height/age and weight/height have increased over time (pOBJETIVO: Describir las prevalencias y tendencias de malnutrición en preescolares mexicanos, según resultados de las Encuestas Nacionales de Nutrición 1988, 1999 y 2006, usando estándares de la Organización Mundial de la Salud de 2006 y referencias del National Center for Health Statistics/ World Health Organization (NCHS/WHO. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se calcularon prevalencias de desnutrición (puntaje z +2z peso/talla. RESULTADOS: La talla/edad y el peso/talla han aumentado con el tiempo (p< 0.05. Usando los estándares de la OMS de 2006, el desmedro en menores de cinco años de edad era de 26.9, 21.5 y 15.5% en 1988, 1999 y 2006, respectivamente. Los valores de emaciación fueron 6.2, 2.1 y 2.0%. La emaciación en 2006 en los menores de seis meses de edad fue de 4.9%. El sobrepeso aumentó de 1988 a 1999 (6.1 a 7.5% y se estabilizó en 2006 (7.6%. Las diferencias entre grupos étnicos y socioeconómicos disminuyeron con el tiempo. CONCLUSIONES: El desmedro disminuyó marcadamente, pero continúa siendo el principal problema de malnutrición. El sobrepeso emergió como problema de salud pública en niños. Las estimaciones de desnutrición en preescolares previamente publicadas usando las referencias del NCHS/WHO subestimaban las verdaderas cifras. Las desviaciones en la talla alcanzada a partir de los 12 meses de edad revelan prácticas de lactancia y alimentación infantil pobres, probablemente aunadas a infecciones tempranas. Estos resultados refuerzan la necesidad de mejorar la calidad de los programas de nutrición y de promover pr

Citocompatibilidade de discos de titânio tratados com cobertura usando nanotecnologia de prata

OpenAIRE

Marco Aurelio Alves Feitosa

2012-01-01

Os componentes protéticos que fazem a união entre implante e prótese são importantes para a manutenção da saúde peri-implantar sendo responsáveis pela vedação permucosa e impedindo a penetração de agentes químicos ou bacterianos desencadeadores de processos destrutivos nas estruturas ao redor do implante. Assim faz-se importante o desenvolvimento de técnicas que preservando as características de citocompatibilidade dos componentes protéticos que incorporem a sua estrutura, agentes antibacteri...

A Verification Logic for GOAL Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Hindriks, K. V.

Although there has been a growing body of literature on verification of agents programs, it has been difficult to design a verification logic for agent programs that fully characterizes such programs and to connect agent programs to agent theory. The challenge is to define an agent programming language that defines a computational framework but also allows for a logical characterization useful for verification. The agent programming language GOAL has been originally designed to connect agent programming to agent theory and we present additional results here that GOAL agents can be fully represented by a logical theory. GOAL agents can thus be said to execute the corresponding logical theory.

Variations on agent-oriented programming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalia Baziukė

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Occurrence of the agent paradigm and its further applications have stimulated the emergence of new concepts and methodologies in computer science. Today terms like multi-agent system, agent-oriented methodology, and agent-oriented programming (AOP are widely used. The aim of this paper is to clarify the validity of usage of the terms AOP and AOP language. This is disclosed in two phases of an analysis process. Determining to which concepts, terms like agent, programming, object-oriented analysis and design, object-oriented programming, and agent-oriented analysis and design correspond is accomplished in the first phase. Analysis of several known agent system engineering methodologies in terms of key concepts used, final resulting artifacts, and their relationship with known programming paradigms and modern tools for agent system development is performed in the second phase. The research shows that in most cases in the final phase of agent system design and in the coding stage, the main artifact is an object, defined according to the rules of the object-oriented paradigm. Hence, we say that the computing society still does not have AOP owing to the lack of an AOP language. Thus, the term AOP is very often incorrectly assigned to agent system development frameworks that in most cases, transform agents into objects.DOI: 10.15181/csat.v5i1.1361

Users, Bystanders and Agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krummheuer, Antonia Lina

2015-01-01

Human-agent interaction (HAI), especially in the field of embodied conversational agents (ECA), is mainly construed as dyadic communication between a human user and a virtual agent. This is despite the fact that many application scenarios for future ECAs involve the presence of others. This paper...

Viajando sobre hojas volanderas: representaciones del viaje en pliegos sueltos del siglo XVIII

OpenAIRE

Gomis, Juan

2016-01-01

El tema que aborda este trabajo son las representaciones del viaje y de los viajeros en los romances del siglo XVIII. Los objetivos son, en primer lugar, dar a conocer una fuente «popular» en relación a un tema, el viaje, que para el siglo XVIII ha s

Hyperthermia and chemotherapy agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roizin-Towle, L.; Hall, E.J.

1981-01-01

The use of chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer dates back to the late 19th century, but the modern era of chemotherapy drugs was ushered in during the 1940's with the development of the polyfunctional alkylating agent. Since then, numerous classes of drugs have evolved and the combined use of antineoplastic agents with other treatment modalities such as radiation or heat, remains a large relatively unexplored area. This approach, combining local hyperthermia with chemotherapy agents affords a measure of targeting and selective toxicity not previously available for drugs. In this paper, the effects of adriamycin, bleomycin and cis-platinum are examined. The adjuvant use of heat may also reverse the resistance of hypoxic cells noted for some chemotherapy agents

Reasoning about emotional agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, J.-J.

In this paper we discuss the role of emotions in artificial agent design, and the use of logic in reasoning about the emotional or affective states an agent can reside in. We do so by extending the KARO framework for reasoning about rational agents appropriately. In particular we formalize in

Desarrollo de un horno solar para el secado de plantas y vegetales usando control difuso

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar G. Ibarra Manzano

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Recientemente, el aprovechamiento de la energía solar en el deshidratado de productos agrícolas se ha vuelto cada día más común debido a los altos rendimientos en los productos post-cosecha. La inversión en tecnologías propias para contribuir con los productores del sector agroalimentario es un factor importante para el desarrollo de las cadenas produc­tivas de nuestro país. En este trabajo se presenta el desarrollo de un horno solar para el secado de plantas y vegetales utilizando control difuso. Este es un sistema térmicamente controlado que permite disminuir el tiempo de secado de varios días a unas horas. Se reali­zaron pruebas de secado usando flor de jamaica, en las cuales se pudo disminuir el tiempo de secado de cuatro días a aproximadamente 5 h. Se presentan tanto la parte de diseño conceptual, como resultados experimentales del mismo. Los resultados obtenidos permiten ver la viabilidad del diseño propuesto.Recently, the use of solar energy in the dehydration of agricultural products is becomingmore common as high yields in the post-harvest products. Investment in technologies forcontributing to the producers of food products is an important factor for the development ofthe productive chains of our country. This paper presents the development of a solar oven fordrying plants and vegetables using fuzzy control. This is a heat-controlled system that allowsdecreasing the drying time from several days to hours. Drying tests were conducted usingjamaica flower, which could decrease the drying time from four days to about 5 h. We presentboth the conceptual design of the experimental results. The results obtained allow us to seethe feasibility of the proposed design.

Clustering recommendations to compute agent reputation

Science.gov (United States)

Bedi, Punam; Kaur, Harmeet

2005-03-01

Traditional centralized approaches to security are difficult to apply to multi-agent systems which are used nowadays in e-commerce applications. Developing a notion of trust that is based on the reputation of an agent can provide a softer notion of security that is sufficient for many multi-agent applications. Our paper proposes a mechanism for computing reputation of the trustee agent for use by the trustier agent. The trustier agent computes the reputation based on its own experience as well as the experience the peer agents have with the trustee agents. The trustier agents intentionally interact with the peer agents to get their experience information in the form of recommendations. We have also considered the case of unintentional encounters between the referee agents and the trustee agent, which can be directly between them or indirectly through a set of interacting agents. The clustering is done to filter off the noise in the recommendations in the form of outliers. The trustier agent clusters the recommendations received from referee agents on the basis of the distances between recommendations using the hierarchical agglomerative method. The dendogram hence obtained is cut at the required similarity level which restricts the maximum distance between any two recommendations within a cluster. The cluster with maximum number of elements denotes the views of the majority of recommenders. The center of this cluster represents the reputation of the trustee agent which can be computed using c-means algorithm.

Agents Play Mix-game

Science.gov (United States)

Gou, Chengling

In recent years, economics and finance see the shift of paradigm from representative agent models to heterogeneous agent models [1, 2]. More and more economists and physicists made efforts in research on heterogeneous agent models for financial markets. Minority game (MG) proposed by D. Challet, and Y. C. Zhang [3] is an example among such efforts. Challet and Zhang's MG model, together with the original bar model of Arthur, attracts a lot of following studies [4-6]. Given MG's richness and yet underlying simplicity, MG has also received much attention as a financial market model [4]. MG comprises an odd number of agents choosing repeatedly between the options of buying (1) and selling (0) a quantity of a risky asset. The agents continually try to make the minority decision, i.e. buy assets when the majority of other agents are selling, and sell when the majority of other agents are buying. Neil F. Johnson [4, 5] and coworkers extended MG by allowing a variable number of active traders at each timestep— they called their modified game as the Grand Canonical Minority Game (GCMG). GCMG, and to a lesser extent the basic MG itself, can reproduce the stylized facts of financial markets, such as volatility clustering and fat-tail distributions.

Agent planning in AgScala

Science.gov (United States)

Tošić, Saša; Mitrović, Dejan; Ivanović, Mirjana

2013-10-01

Agent-oriented programming languages are designed to simplify the development of software agents, especially those that exhibit complex, intelligent behavior. This paper presents recent improvements of AgScala, an agent-oriented programming language based on Scala. AgScala includes declarative constructs for managing beliefs, actions and goals of intelligent agents. Combined with object-oriented and functional programming paradigms offered by Scala, it aims to be an efficient framework for developing both purely reactive, and more complex, deliberate agents. Instead of the Prolog back-end used initially, the new version of AgScala relies on Agent Planning Package, a more advanced system for automated planning and reasoning.

Multi-Agent Systems for E-Commerce

OpenAIRE

Solodukha, T. V.; Sosnovskiy, O. A.; Zhelezko, B. A.

2009-01-01

The article focuses on multi-agent systems (MAS) and domains that can benefit from multi-agent technology. In the last few years, the agent based modeling (ABM) community has developed several practical agent based modeling toolkits that enable individuals to develop agent-based applications. The comparison of agent-based modeling toolkits is given. Multi-agent systems are designed to handle changing and dynamic business processes. Any organization with complex and distributed business pro...

Los españoles más viajeros

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Callejo Gallego, Javier

2008-01-01

Full Text Available From a specific exploitation of the data contributed by the survey that in greater measure collects the activities and tourist movements of the Spaniards, Familitur (directed by the Instituto de Estudios Turísticos, the behavior of those Spaniards that register a greater frequency of trips along the year is analyzed. The perspective of such approximation is initially descriptive: to know up to what point they configure a social profile differentiated or they carry out another type of trips. That is to say, up to what point they are differentiated of the other Spaniards, beyond the difference that individualizes them as more travelers. But also it tries, with the limits of the characteristics of the data obtained, to advance explanations on such differentiation.

Automatic Generation of Agents using Reusable Soft Computing Code Libraries to develop Multi Agent System for Healthcare

OpenAIRE

Priti Srinivas Sajja

2015-01-01

This paper illustrates architecture for a multi agent system in healthcare domain. The architecture is generic and designed in form of multiple layers. One of the layers of the architecture contains many proactive, co-operative and intelligent agents such as resource management agent, query agent, pattern detection agent and patient management agent. Another layer of the architecture is a collection of libraries to auto-generate code for agents using soft computing techni...

Effectiveness testing of spill-treating agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fingas, M.F.; Stoodley, R.; Laroche, N.

1990-01-01

Laboratory effectiveness tests are described for four classes of spill-treating agents: solidifiers, demulsifying agents, surface-washing agents and dispersants. Many treating agents in these four categories have been tested for effectiveness and the results are presented. Solidifiers or gelling agents solidify oil, requiring a large amount of agent to solidify oil-ranging between 16% by weight, to over 200%. Emulsion breakers prevent or reverse the formation of water-in-oil emulsions. A newly-developed effectiveness test shows that only one product is highly effective; however, many products will work, but require large amounts of spill-treating agent. Surfactant--containing materials are of two types, surface-washing agents and dispersants. Testing has shown that an agent that is a good dispersant is conversely a poor surface-washing agent, and vice versa. Tests of surface-washing agents show that only a few agents have effectiveness of 25-40%, where this effectiveness is the percentage of heavy oil removed from a test surface. Results using the 'swirling flask' test for dispersant effectiveness are reported. Heavy oils show effectiveness values of about 1%, medium crudes of about 10%, light crude oils of about 30% and very light oils of about 90%. (author)

Modelo Bio-inspirado para el Reconocimiento de Gestos Usando Primitivas de Movimiento en Visión

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra E. Nope

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Resumen: Se aborda el problema del reconocimiento de gestos usando la información de movimiento con el fin de obtener un modelo bio-inspirado para, en un futuro, utilizarlo en la programación de robots mediante el paradigma del aprendizaje por imitación. En este trabajo se extraen las primitivas de movimiento a partir de imágenes consecutivas, capturadas por una cámara web estándar. Para la programación por imitación de robots se identificó, como primera fase, el reconocimiento de gestos, en el cual es necesario resolver tres aspectos principales: La representación instantánea del movimiento, la integración temporal de dicha información y, la estrategia de clasificación. Estos tres aspectos serán tratados a lo largo de este trabajo y, en contraste con otros, la extracción del movimiento y su codificación está inspirada en el procesamiento del movimiento realizado en el cerebro de macacos. El modelo obtenido fue aplicado al reconocimiento de cuatro tipos de gestos realizados con la mano por diferentes personas. El porcentaje de aciertos varió entre 91.42% y 97.14%, utilizando diferentes estrategias estándar de clasificación. Palabras clave: Reconocimiento de gestos, modelo bio-inspirado, primitivas de movimiento, codificación del movimiento, integración temporal, visión artificial

BSL-3 laboratory practices in the United States: comparison of select agent and non-select agent facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Stephanie L; Pompei, Victoria C; Anderson, Alice

2014-01-01

New construction of biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories in the United States has increased in the past decade to facilitate research on potential bioterrorism agents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention inspect BSL-3 facilities and review commissioning documentation, but no single agency has oversight over all BSL-3 facilities. This article explores the extent to which standard operating procedures in US BSL-3 facilities vary between laboratories with select agent or non-select agent status. Comparisons are made for the following variables: personnel training, decontamination, personal protective equipment (PPE), medical surveillance, security access, laboratory structure and maintenance, funding, and pest management. Facilities working with select agents had more complex training programs and decontamination procedures than non-select agent facilities. Personnel working in select agent laboratories were likely to use powered air purifying respirators, while non-select agent laboratories primarily used N95 respirators. More rigorous medical surveillance was carried out in select agent workers (although not required by the select agent program) and a higher level of restrictive access to laboratories was found. Most select agent and non-select agent laboratories reported adequate structural integrity in facilities; however, differences were observed in personnel perception of funding for repairs. Pest management was carried out by select agent personnel more frequently than non-select agent personnel. Our findings support the need to promote high quality biosafety training and standard operating procedures in both select agent and non-select agent laboratories to improve occupational health and safety.

Agent Persuasion Mechanism of Acquaintance

Science.gov (United States)

Jinghua, Wu; Wenguang, Lu; Hailiang, Meng

Agent persuasion can improve negotiation efficiency in dynamic environment based on its initiative and autonomy, and etc., which is being affected much more by acquaintance. Classification of acquaintance on agent persuasion is illustrated, and the agent persuasion model of acquaintance is also illustrated. Then the concept of agent persuasion degree of acquaintance is given. Finally, relative interactive mechanism is elaborated.

Smart Agents and Sentiment in the Heterogeneous Agent Model

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vácha, Lukáš; Baruník, Jozef; Vošvrda, Miloslav

-, č. 81 (2010), s. 39-40 ISSN 0926-4981 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA402/09/0965; GA ČR GP402/08/P207 Grant - others:GAUK(CZ) GAUK 46108 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : Smart traders * price movements * smart traders concept Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2010/E/vacha- smart agent s and sentiment in the heterogeneous agent model.pdf

10th KES Conference on Agent and Multi-Agent Systems : Technologies and Applications

CERN Document Server

Chen-Burger, Yun-Heh; Howlett, Robert; Jain, Lakhmi

2016-01-01

The modern economy is driven by technologies and knowledge. Digital technologies can free, shift and multiply choices, often intruding on the space of other industries, by providing new ways of conducting business operations and creating values for customers and companies. The topics covered in this volume include software agents, multi-agent systems, agent modelling, mobile and cloud computing, big data analysis, business intelligence, artificial intelligence, social systems, computer embedded systems and nature inspired manufacturing, etc. that contribute to the modern Digital Economy. This volume highlights new trends and challenges in agent, new digital and knowledge economy research and includes 28 papers classified in the following specific topics: business process management, agent-based modeling and simulation, anthropic-oriented computing, learning paradigms, business informatics and gaming, digital economy, and advances in networked virtual enterprises. Published papers were selected for presentatio...

Security Measures to Protect Mobile Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Dadhich, Piyanka; Govil, M. C.; Dutta, Kamlesh

2010-11-01

The security issues of mobile agent systems have embarrassed its widespread implementation. Mobile agents that move around the network are not safe because the remote hosts that accommodate the agents initiates all kinds of attacks. These hosts try to analyze the agent's decision logic and their accumulated data. So, mobile agent security is the most challenging unsolved problems. The paper analyzes various security measures deeply. Security especially the attacks performed by hosts to the visiting mobile agent (the malicious hosts problem) is a major obstacle that prevents mobile agent technology from being widely adopted. Being the running environment for mobile agent, the host has full control over them and could easily perform many kinds of attacks against them.

Mobile agent location in distributed environments

Science.gov (United States)

Fountoukis, S. G.; Argyropoulos, I. P.

2012-12-01

An agent is a small program acting on behalf of a user or an application which plays the role of a user. Artificial intelligence can be encapsulated in agents so that they can be capable of both behaving autonomously and showing an elementary decision ability regarding movement and some specific actions. Therefore they are often called autonomous mobile agents. In a distributed system, they can move themselves from one processing node to another through the interconnecting network infrastructure. Their purpose is to collect useful information and to carry it back to their user. Also, agents are used to start, monitor and stop processes running on the individual interconnected processing nodes of computer cluster systems. An agent has a unique id to discriminate itself from other agents and a current position. The position can be expressed as the address of the processing node which currently hosts the agent. Very often, it is necessary for a user, a processing node or another agent to know the current position of an agent in a distributed system. Several procedures and algorithms have been proposed for the purpose of position location of mobile agents. The most basic of all employs a fixed computing node, which acts as agent position repository, receiving messages from all the moving agents and keeping records of their current positions. The fixed node, responds to position queries and informs users, other nodes and other agents about the position of an agent. Herein, a model is proposed that considers pairs and triples of agents instead of single ones. A location method, which is investigated in this paper, attempts to exploit this model.

Stabilized radiographic scanning agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fawzi, M.B.

1982-01-01

Stable compositions useful as technetium 99m-based scintigraphic agents comprise gentisic acid or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt or ester thereof in combination with a pertechnetate reducing agent or dissolved in pertechnetate-99m (sup(99m)TcOsub(4)sup(-)) solution. The compositions are especially useful in combination with a phosphate or phosphonate material that carries the radionuclide to bone, thus providing a skeletal imaging agent

Radiographic scintiscanning agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bevan, J.A.

1979-01-01

A new technetium-based scintiscanning agent has been prepared comprising a water soluble sup(99m)Tc-methanehydroxydiphosphonate in combination with a reducing agent selected from stannous, ferrous, chromous and titanous salts. As an additional stabilizer salts and esters of gentisic or ascorbic acids have been used. (E.G.)

Agent-Based Optimization

CERN Document Server

Jędrzejowicz, Piotr; Kacprzyk, Janusz

2013-01-01

This volume presents a collection of original research works by leading specialists focusing on novel and promising approaches in which the multi-agent system paradigm is used to support, enhance or replace traditional approaches to solving difficult optimization problems. The editors have invited several well-known specialists to present their solutions, tools, and models falling under the common denominator of the agent-based optimization. The book consists of eight chapters covering examples of application of the multi-agent paradigm and respective customized tools to solve  difficult optimization problems arising in different areas such as machine learning, scheduling, transportation and, more generally, distributed and cooperative problem solving.

2015 Special Sessions of the 13th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

CERN Document Server

Hernández, Josefa; Mathieu, Philippe; Campbell, Andrew; Fernández-Caballero, Antonio; Moreno, María; Julián, Vicente; Alonso-Betanzos, Amparo; Jiménez-López, María; Botti, Vicente; Trends in Practical Applications of Agents, Multi-Agent Systems and Sustainability : the PAAMS Collection

2015-01-01

This volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the 2015 special sessions of the 13th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, held at University of Salamanca, Spain, at 3rd-5th June, 2015: Agents Behaviours and Artificial Markets (ABAM); Agents and Mobile Devices (AM); Multi-Agent Systems and Ambient Intelligence (MASMAI); Web Mining and Recommender systems (WebMiRes); Learning, Agents and Formal Languages (LAFLang); Agent-based Modeling of Sustainable Behavior and Green Economies (AMSBGE); Emotional Software Agents (SSESA) and Intelligent Educational Systems (SSIES). The volume also includes the paper accepted for the Doctoral Consortium in PAAMS 2015. PAAMS, the International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems is an evolution of the International Workshop on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. PAAMS is an international yearly tribune to present, to discuss, and to disseminate the latest develo...

Agent independent task planning

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, William S.

1990-01-01

Agent-Independent Planning is a technique that allows the construction of activity plans without regard to the agent that will perform them. Once generated, a plan is then validated and translated into instructions for a particular agent, whether a robot, crewmember, or software-based control system. Because Space Station Freedom (SSF) is planned for orbital operations for approximately thirty years, it will almost certainly experience numerous enhancements and upgrades, including upgrades in robotic manipulators. Agent-Independent Planning provides the capability to construct plans for SSF operations, independent of specific robotic systems, by combining techniques of object oriented modeling, nonlinear planning and temporal logic. Since a plan is validated using the physical and functional models of a particular agent, new robotic systems can be developed and integrated with existing operations in a robust manner. This technique also provides the capability to generate plans for crewmembers with varying skill levels, and later apply these same plans to more sophisticated robotic manipulators made available by evolutions in technology.

Análisis Diferenciado Del Perfil Y De La Motivación Del Turista Nacional Y Extranjero En La Ruta Del Vino Del Marco De Jerez

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TOMÁS LÓPEZ-GUZMÁN

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Las motivaciones y actitud de los turistas en la actualidad están permitiendo el desarrollo de nuevos productos y destinos que permiten satisfacer las nuevas demandas de los viajeros. En este artículo presentamos una investigación centrada en el turismo del vino, en concreto la Denominación de Origen Jerez-Sherry. Esta denominación gira en torno a una ruta del vino cuyas bodegas reciben alrededor de 500.000 visitas anualmente. Así mismo, presentamos los resultados obtenidos de un trabajo de campo, llevado a cabo dentro de las propias bodegas, donde se ha realizado una encuesta a los turistas para conocer sus motivaciones y percepciones. Los principales resultados de esta investigación nos muestran el elevado grado de satisfacción de los turistas respecto a la bodega que han visitado, así como la interrelación existente entre el vino, la gastronomía local y el creciente interés de los viajeros por todo lo relacionado con la cultura del vino.

A Framework for Organization-Aware Agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Andreas Schmidt; Dignum, Virginia; Villadsen, Jørgen

2016-01-01

This short paper introduces and summarizes the AORTA reasoning framework that can be integrated into BDI-agents to enable organizational decision-making. This work has recently been published in the Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (JAAMAS), as [3].......This short paper introduces and summarizes the AORTA reasoning framework that can be integrated into BDI-agents to enable organizational decision-making. This work has recently been published in the Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (JAAMAS), as [3]....

A Comparison of Organization-Centered and Agent-Centered Multi-Agent Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Andreas Schmidt; Villadsen, Jørgen

2013-01-01

Whereas most classical multi-agent systems have the agent in center, there has recently been a development towards focusing more on the organization of the system, thereby allowing the designer to focus on what the system goals are, without considering how the goals should be fulfilled. We have d...

Contrast agents for MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonnemain, B.

1994-01-01

Contrast agents MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) have been developed to improve the diagnostic information obtained by this technic. They mainly interact on T1 and T2 parameters and increase consequently normal to abnormal tissues contrast. The paramagnetic agents which mainly act on longitudinal relaxation rate (T1) are gadolinium complexes for which stability is the main parameter to avoid any release of free gadolinium. The superparamagnetic agents that decrease signal intensity by an effect on transversal relaxation rate (T2) are developed for liver, digestive and lymph node imaging. Many area of research are now opened for optimal use of present and future contrast agents in MRI. (author). 28 refs., 4 tabs

Study of Crossling Agent and Couplink Agent Synergism on Mechanical Properties of HDPE-Cu Composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mashuri; Sujud, A.A.; Karo Karo, Aloma

2001-01-01

The effects of crosslink agents, coupling agents and synergism on mechanical properties of HDPE-Cu composites materials has been investigated. The crosslink was made with dicumyl peroxide as crosslink agents of 2% concentration, so the interface adhesion of matrix-filler was made with 3-amino propyl triethoxysilane as coupling agents of 0.5% concentration. The results of research's showed, that the crosslink and interface adhesion of matrix-filler can increase tensile strength and elongation at break of HDPE-Cu composites. The synergism of two agents can increase tensile strength to 20% and elongation at break to 23% of HDPE-Cu composites materials

ANÁLISIS TERMODINÁMICO DE UN SISTEMA DE REFRIGERACIÓN SOLAR POR ABSORCIÓN USANDO SOLUCIONES DE MONOMETILAMINA - AGUA PARA LA CONSERVACIÓN DE ALIMENTOS ANÁLISE TERMODINÁMICA DUM SISTEMA DE REFRIGERAÇÃO SOLAR POR ABSORÇÃO USANDO COMO PARELHA MONOMETILAMINA - AGUA PARA A CONSERVA DE ALIMENTOS THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A SOLAR ABSORPTION REFRIGERARON SYSTEM USING MONOMETHYLAMINE - WATER SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD STORAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CESAR A. ISAZA

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Este trabajo presenta la viabilidad de los sistemas de refrigeración solar por absorción usando soluciones de monometilamina - agua (MMA-A para aplicaciones en conservación de alimentos en las regiones rurales de Colombia, sin acceso a la red de energía eléctrica. Para suplirlos requerimientos de energía térmica se propone un sistema de calentamiento de agua con energía solar usando colectores de placa y un sistema de respaldo convencional. En este trabajo se determinó el coeficiente de operación (COP del sistema de refrigeración solar por absorción de una sola etapa en función de la temperatura en los diferentes componentes del ciclo. Los resultados indican que el sistema podría mejorarse mediante un mejor diseño en el intercambiador de calor de solución, el evaporador y el rectificador. Los resultados teóricos demuestran que el uso de la solución de MMA-A puede ser usada en sistemas de refrigeración por absorción operados con energía térmica de baja calidad, tales como la energía solar.Este trabalho apresenta a viabilidade e aplicabilidade dos sistemas de refrigeração solar por absorção usando como parelha a monometilamina - agua (MMA-W para fins de conservação de alimentos ñas regiões rurais da Colômbia, onde não há energía disponível. Propõese um sistema de calefação solar mediante coletores solares de placa plana com um sistema convencional de aquecimento auxiliar para suprir as necessidades energéticas do refrigerador por absorção. Determinou-se o coeficiente de desempenho (COP do sistema de refrigeração solar por absorção só de uma etapa em funçã da temperatura nos diferentes componentes do ciclo. Os resultados indicam que o sistema poderia se melhorar mediante um desenho melhorno intercambiador de calor de solução, o evaporador e o retificador os resultados teóricos demonstram que o uso da solução de MMA-W pode ser usada em sistemas de refrigeração como parelha absortiva operado

Overview of shoreline cleaning agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clayton, J.

1992-01-01

Chemical cleaning agents may be used to promote release of stranded oil from shorelines for reasons including biological sensitivity of indigenous fauna and flora to the oil, amenity considerations of the shoreline, or concern about refloating of the oil and subsequent stranding on adjacent shorelines. While use of chemical cleaning agents may be appropriate under proper toxic responses in circumstances, certain limitations should be recognized. The potential for toxic responses in indigenous fauna and flora to the cleaning agents must be considered. Enhanced penetration of oil into permeable shorelines following treatment with chemical cleaning agents also is not desirable. However, if conditions related to toxicity and substrate permeability are determined to be acceptable, the use of chemical cleaning agents for treatment of stranded oil can be considered. Chemical agents for cleaning oiled shorelines can be grouped into three categories: (1) non-surfactant-based solvents, (2) chemical dispersants, and (3) formulations especially designed to release stranded oil from shoreline substrates (i.e., shoreline-cleaning-agents). Depending on the specific circumstances present on an oiled shoreline, it is generally desirable that chemical agents used for cleaning will release oil from shoreline substrate(s) to surface waters. Recovery of the oil can then be accomplished by mechanical procedures such as booming and skimming operations

Radiographic scanning agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tofe, A.J.

1976-01-01

A stable radiographic scanning agent on a sup(99m)Tc basis has been developed. The substance contains a pertechnetate reduction agent, tin(II)-chloride, chromium(II)-chloride, or iron(II)-sulphate, as well as an organospecific carrier and ascorbic acid or a pharmacologically admissible salt or ester of ascorbic acid. (VJ) [de

Agent-Supported Mission Operations Teamwork

Science.gov (United States)

Malin, Jane T.

2003-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the development of software agents to support of mission operations teamwork. The goals of the work was to make automation by agents easy to use, supervise and direct, manage information and communication to decrease distraction, interruptions, workload and errors, reduce mission impact of off-nominal situations and increase morale and decrease turnover. The accomplishments or the project are: 1. Collaborative agents - mixed initiative and creation of instructions for mediating agent 2. Methods for prototyping, evaluating and evolving socio-technical systems 3. Technology infusion: teamwork tools in mISSIons 4. Demonstrations in simulation testbed An example of the use of agent is given, the use of an agent to monitor a N2 tank leak. An incomplete instruction to the agent is handled with mediating assistants, or Intelligent Briefing and Response Assistant (IBRA). The IBRA Engine also watches data stream for triggers and executes Act-Whenever actions. There is also a Briefing and Response Instruction (BRI) which is easy for a discipline specialist to create through a BRI editor.

Agent Communications using Distributed Metaobjects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldsmith, Steven Y.; Spires, Shannon V.

1999-06-10

There are currently two proposed standards for agent communication languages, namely, KQML (Finin, Lobrou, and Mayfield 1994) and the FIPA ACL. Neither standard has yet achieved primacy, and neither has been evaluated extensively in an open environment such as the Internet. It seems prudent therefore to design a general-purpose agent communications facility for new agent architectures that is flexible yet provides an architecture that accepts many different specializations. In this paper we exhibit the salient features of an agent communications architecture based on distributed metaobjects. This architecture captures design commitments at a metaobject level, leaving the base-level design and implementation up to the agent developer. The scope of the metamodel is broad enough to accommodate many different communication protocols, interaction protocols, and knowledge sharing regimes through extensions to the metaobject framework. We conclude that with a powerful distributed object substrate that supports metaobject communications, a general framework can be developed that will effectively enable different approaches to agent communications in the same agent system. We have implemented a KQML-based communications protocol and have several special-purpose interaction protocols under development.

Odor Classification using Agent Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sigeru OMATU

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In order to measure and classify odors, Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM can be used. In the present study, seven QCM sensors and three different odors are used. The system has been developed as a virtual organization of agents using an agent platform called PANGEA (Platform for Automatic coNstruction of orGanizations of intElligent Agents. This is a platform for developing open multi-agent systems, specifically those including organizational aspects. The main reason for the use of agents is the scalability of the platform, i.e. the way in which it models the services. The system models functionalities as services inside the agents, or as Service Oriented Approach (SOA architecture compliant services using Web Services. This way the adaptation of the odor classification systems with new algorithms, tools and classification techniques is allowed.

Believable Social and Emotional Agents.

Science.gov (United States)

1996-05-01

While building tools to support the creation of believable emotional agents, I had to make a number of important design decisions . Before describing...processing systems, it is difficult to give an artist direct control over the emotion - al aspects of the character. By making these decisions explicit, I hope...Woody on “Cheers”). Believable Agents BELIEVABLE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL AGENTS 11 Lesson: We don’t want agent architectures that enforce rationality and

The agent-relative/agent-neutral distinction: my two sense(s) | Lerm ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Careful analysis of various metaethics supports that there are these two senses – analysis, in particular, of a neo-Kantian metaethic, according to which reasons are agent-relative in the dependence sense but agent-neutral in the homogeneous sense, and – perhaps surprisingly – of Utilitarianism, according to which ...

SECOND BUYING AGENT

CERN Multimedia

SPL - SERVICES ACHATS

2000-01-01

Last year the buying agent LOGITRADE started operations on the CERN site, processing purchasing requests for well-defined families of products up to a certain value. It was planned from the outset that a second buying agent would be brought in to handle the remaining product families. So, according to that plan, the company CHARLES KENDALL will be commencing operations at CERN on 8 May 2000 in Building 73, 1st floor, offices 31 and 35 (phone and fax numbers to be announced).Each buying agent will have its own specific list of product families and will handle purchasing requests up to 10'000 CHF.Whenever possible they will provide the requested supplies at a price (including the cost of their own services) which must be equivalent to or lower than the price mentioned on the purchasing request, changing the supplier if necessary. If a lower price cannot be obtained, agents will provide the necessary administrative support free of charge.To ensure that all orders are processed in the best possible conditions, us...

A waterproofing agent

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shchipanov, A.I.; Bass, U.M.; Belousov, E.D.; Chernova, S.P.; Gioev, K.A.; Perlin, L.M.; Shapiro, B.O.; Silantev, U.R.

1979-12-25

A waterproofing agent is proposed with improved physiomechanical properties. The agent contains (by parts): bitumens: 100; emulsifier: .6-5; polyvinylpyrrolidone: .4-8; synthetic latex: 5.24; a corrosion inhibitor: .2-10; SPL methyl methacrylate with chloroprene: 2.24; hydrochlorinated amine of adduct diethylene triamine with diglycidyl diamine: 2-10, water: 118-220. The agent is prepared using either periodic or continuous action in emulsifying dispersion machines. The bitumen is dispersed in the machine in an aqueous emulsifying solution in which polyvinylpyrrolidone and the corrosion inihibitor are first introduced. Then a synthetic latex solution is introduced into the bitumen emulsion while being mixed in rotor-type turbulent mixers; a solution and a hydrochlorinated amine of adduct diethylene triamine with diglycidyl diamine solution until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Example: a waterproofing agent is obtained in parts: bitumen 100, emulsifyer (oxidized petrolatum): .6; polyvinylpyrrolidone: .4; synthetic latex (nitrile): 5; corrosion inhibitor (guanidine chromate): .2, SPL:2; and water 118. The properties of the proposed composition are better than the properties of the composition currently used.

Agent control of cooperating satellites

OpenAIRE

Lincoln, N.K.; Veres, S.M.; Dennis, Louise; Fisher, Michael; Lisitsa, Alexei

2011-01-01

A novel, hybrid, agent architecture for (small)swarms of satellites has been developed. The software architecture for each satellite comprises ahigh-level rational agent linked to a low-level control system. The rational agent forms dynamicgoals, decides how to tackle them and passes theactual implementation of these plans to the control layer. The rational agent also has access to aMatLabmodel of the satellite dynamics, thus allowing it to carry out selective hypothetical reasoningabout pote...

Assurance in Agent-Based Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilliom, Laura R.; Goldsmith, Steven Y.

1999-05-10

Our vision of the future of information systems is one that includes engineered collectives of software agents which are situated in an environment over years and which increasingly improve the performance of the overall system of which they are a part. At a minimum, the movement of agent and multi-agent technology into National Security applications, including their use in information assurance, is apparent today. The use of deliberative, autonomous agents in high-consequence/high-security applications will require a commensurate level of protection and confidence in the predictability of system-level behavior. At Sandia National Laboratories, we have defined and are addressing a research agenda that integrates the surety (safety, security, and reliability) into agent-based systems at a deep level. Surety is addressed at multiple levels: The integrity of individual agents must be protected by addressing potential failure modes and vulnerabilities to malevolent threats. Providing for the surety of the collective requires attention to communications surety issues and mechanisms for identifying and working with trusted collaborators. At the highest level, using agent-based collectives within a large-scale distributed system requires the development of principled design methods to deliver the desired emergent performance or surety characteristics. This position paper will outline the research directions underway at Sandia, will discuss relevant work being performed elsewhere, and will report progress to date toward assurance in agent-based systems.

Assurance in Agent-Based Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilliom, Laura R.; Goldsmith, Steven Y.

1999-01-01

Our vision of the future of information systems is one that includes engineered collectives of software agents which are situated in an environment over years and which increasingly improve the performance of the overall system of which they are a part. At a minimum, the movement of agent and multi-agent technology into National Security applications, including their use in information assurance, is apparent today. The use of deliberative, autonomous agents in high-consequence/high-security applications will require a commensurate level of protection and confidence in the predictability of system-level behavior. At Sandia National Laboratories, we have defined and are addressing a research agenda that integrates the surety (safety, security, and reliability) into agent-based systems at a deep level. Surety is addressed at multiple levels: The integrity of individual agents must be protected by addressing potential failure modes and vulnerabilities to malevolent threats. Providing for the surety of the collective requires attention to communications surety issues and mechanisms for identifying and working with trusted collaborators. At the highest level, using agent-based collectives within a large-scale distributed system requires the development of principled design methods to deliver the desired emergent performance or surety characteristics. This position paper will outline the research directions underway at Sandia, will discuss relevant work being performed elsewhere, and will report progress to date toward assurance in agent-based systems

From SMART to agent systems development

OpenAIRE

Ashri, R; Luck, M; d'Inverno, M

2005-01-01

In order for agent-oriented software engineering to prove effective it must use principled notions of agents and enabling specification and reasoning, while still considering routes to practical implementation. This paper deals with the issue of individual agent specification and construction, departing from the conceptual basis provided by the smart agent framework. smart offers a descriptive specification of an agent architecture but omits consideration of issues relating to\\ud construction...

Retóricas del viaje a España, 1800-1900

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriz Colombi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Partiendo de una reflexión crítica en torno a la literatura de viajes, se analizan los textos de Fray Servando, Sarmiento, Rubén Darío y Alfonso Reyes, para observar en ellos las relaciones que se establecen entre el viajero y, en este caso, España (expectativas, representaciones, descubrimientos.

Towards a Calendar Agent Society with Intelligent Agents in ASP-Updates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco A. Ramos C.

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Se presenta el análisis y algunas especificaciones para describir una sociedad multi-agente que representa agendas dinámicas en Answer Sets Programming, por medio de actualización de bases de conocimiento. Se trata de un estudio de caso para representar un grupo de agentes BD Iinteligentes con el fin común de programar una reunión, y se utiliza un ejemplo para mostrar la manera de distribuir y cambiar sus especificaciones bajo circunstancias imprevistas, así como un protocolo sencillo para realizar una reunión consensual. Sostenemos que el marco propuesto es apropiado para tener los beneficios de una base sólida como Answer Sets Programming, de la simplicidad de su programación lógica declarativa, así como de la practicidad para resolvedores existentes implementados, que pueden ser utilizados para un sistema más completo y útil de sociedades de agentes.We present the analysis and some preliminary specifications to describe a multi-agent society to represent dynamic appointments under in Answer-Sets Programming, by means of knowledge-base updates. This is a case study to represent a group of intelligent BDI agents with a common goal of scheduling a meeting, and we use an example to show how to distribute and change their specifications under unforeseen circumstances, as well as a simple protocol to realise a consensual meeting. We claim that the proposed framework is appropriate to have the benefits from a strong foundation like Answer-Sets Programming, simplicity for its declarative logic programming, as well as practicality for existent implemented solvers, which can be used to implement a more-complete and useful system of agent societies.

Knowledge Management in Role Based Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Kır, Hüseyin; Ekinci, Erdem Eser; Dikenelli, Oguz

In multi-agent system literature, the role concept is getting increasingly researched to provide an abstraction to scope beliefs, norms, goals of agents and to shape relationships of the agents in the organization. In this research, we propose a knowledgebase architecture to increase applicability of roles in MAS domain by drawing inspiration from the self concept in the role theory of sociology. The proposed knowledgebase architecture has granulated structure that is dynamically organized according to the agent's identification in a social environment. Thanks to this dynamic structure, agents are enabled to work on consistent knowledge in spite of inevitable conflicts between roles and the agent. The knowledgebase architecture is also implemented and incorporated into the SEAGENT multi-agent system development framework.

Conversational Agents in E-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Kerry, Alice; Ellis, Richard; Bull, Susan

This paper discusses the use of natural language or 'conversational' agents in e-learning environments. We describe and contrast the various applications of conversational agent technology represented in the e-learning literature, including tutors, learning companions, language practice and systems to encourage reflection. We offer two more detailed examples of conversational agents, one which provides learning support, and the other support for self-assessment. Issues and challenges for developers of conversational agent systems for e-learning are identified and discussed.

Taskable Reactive Agent Communities

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Myers, Karen

2002-01-01

The focus of Taskable Reactive Agent Communities (TRAC) project was to develop mixed-initiative technology to enable humans to supervise and manage teams of agents as they perform tasks in dynamic environments...

Comparação das técnicas transarterial e de estimulação de múltiplos nervos para bloqueio do plexo braquial por via axilar usando lidocaína com epinefrina Comparación de las técnicas transarterial y de estimulación de múltiples nervios para bloqueo del plexo braquial por vía axilar usando lidocaína con epinefrina Comparison of transarterial and multiple nerve stimulation techniques for axillary block using lidocaine with epinephrine

OpenAIRE

Luiz Eduardo Imbelloni; Lúcia Beato; José Antônio Cordeiro

2005-01-01

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A técnica transarterial com grandes doses de anestésico local resulta em alta efetividade para o bloqueio axilar do plexo braquial. A técnica utilizando múltiplos estímulos exige mais tempo e maior experiência. Este estudo prospectivo compara a latência e o índice de sucesso do bloqueio do plexo braquial usando duas técnicas de localização: transarterial ou múltipla estimulação dos nervos. MÉTODO: A lidocaína com epinefrina, 800 mg, foi usada inicialmente para o blo...

Sustainable Society Formed by Unselfish Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Kikuchi, Toshiko

It has been pointed out that if the social configuration of the three relations (market, communal and obligatory relations) is not balanced, a market based society as a total system fails. Using multi-agent simulations, this paper shows that a sustainable society is formed when all three relations are integrated and function respectively. When agent trades are based on the market mechanism (i.e., agents act in their own interest and thus only market relations exist), weak agents who cannot perform transactions die. If a compulsory tax is imposed to enable all weak agents to survive (i.e., obligatory relations exist), then the fiscal deficit increases. On the other hand, if agents who have excess income undertake the unselfish action of distributing their surplus to the weak agents (i.e., communal relations exist), then trade volume increases. It is shown that the existence of unselfish agents is necessary for the realization of a sustainable society. However, the survival of all agents is difficult in a communal society. In an artificial society, for all agents survive and fiscal balance to be maintained, all three social relations need to be fully integrated. These results show that adjusting the balance of the three social relations well lead to the realization of a sustainable society.

Security Infrastructure and Applicationsfor Mobile Agents

OpenAIRE

Shibli, Awais

2010-01-01

Research areas of this dissertation are security for mobile agents, for applications based on mobile agents, and for distributed network environments in which mobile agents execute. Mobile agents paradigm has captured researchers’ and industry’s interests long time ago because of its innovative capabilities and attractive applications. The ability of mobile agents to autonomously migrate from host to host, transferring their code and internal state, enables them to accomplish tasks in network...

Fairness in multi-agent systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, de S.; Tuyls, K.P.; Verbeeck, K.

2008-01-01

Multi-agent systems are complex systems in which multiple autonomous entities, called agents, cooperate in order to achieve a common or personal goal. These entities may be computer software, robots, and also humans. In fact, many multi-agent systems are intended to operate in cooperation with or as

On Programming Organization-Aware Agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Andreas Schmidt

2013-01-01

Since it is difficult (or even impossible) to assume anything about the agents’ behavior and goals in an open multi-agent system, it is often suggested that an organization is imposed upon the agents, whichhich, by abstracting away from the agents, specifies boundaries and objectives that the age...

GOAL Agents Instantiate Intention Logic

OpenAIRE

Hindriks, Koen; van der Hoek, Wiebe

2008-01-01

It is commonly believed there is a big gap between agent logics and computational agent frameworks. In this paper, we show that this gap is not as big as believed by showing that GOAL agents instantiate Intention Logic of Cohen and Levesque. That is, we show that GOAL agent programs can be formally related to Intention Logic.We do so by proving that the GOAL Verification Logic can be embedded into Intention Logic. It follows that (a fragment of) Intention Logic can be used t...

William Davis Robinson: Trader, Agent, and Defender of Spanish American Independence, 1799-1819

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johanna Von Grafenstein

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Este artículo propone una relectura de las acciones y escritos del comerciante estadounidense William Davis Robinson en el contexto de la literatura de viaje de los siglos XVIII y XIX , que ha sido examinado en décadas recientes por algunos autores. Este trabajo se basa en el concepto de “viajeros de revoluciones”, bajo el cual entendemos individuos que se encuentran en un país, región o ciudad de manera temporal, que se ven a sí mismos como visitantes u observadores ex - ternos, describen y analizan un proceso político o social de transformación con una mirada externa y escriben para un público externo. Este trabajo analiza dos textos: Una somera visión de la América española , publicado en 1815, y Memorias de la Revolución Mexicana , que apareció en 1820. En este artículo se sostiene y se busca demostrar que las Memorias de Robinson pueden ser entendidas como literatura de viaje favorable a la “revolución mexicana”, mientras que el segundo texto constituye una informada descripción de los recursos existentes y las posibili - dades de relaciones comerciales con México y los demás países de América del Sur, una vez que estos hayan ganado su independencia. Este texto constituye también un manifiesto que proclama a los Estados Unidos como líder y guar - dián de la libertad en este hemisferio, en oposición a las potencias europeas, como España y Gran Bretaña.

Análise da eficiência do mercado futuro brasileiro de boi gordo usando co-integração

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

André Steffens Moraes

2009-09-01

Full Text Available A hipótese de que os preços futuros são preditores não viesados dos preços à vista é uma hipótese conjunta de que os mercados são eficientes e que não existe prêmio ao risco. Entretanto, na presença de prêmio ao risco, a hipótese de não viés pode ser rejeitada mesmo quando o mercado é eficiente. Este artigo testa a eficiência do mercado futuro brasileiro do boi gordo na presença de prêmio ao risco, usando técnicas de co-integração. Os resultados mostram que o mercado futuro do boi gordo é eficiente e não viesado no longo prazo, independente da presença de prêmio ao risco.The hypothesis that future prices are unbiased predictors of spot prices is a joint hypothesis that markets are efficient and risk premium are absent. However, the unbiasedness hypothesis may be rejected in the presence of a risk premium, even when the market is efficient. The objective of this article is to test market efficiency for the Brazilian live cattle while permitting the presence of risk premium, using cointegration techniques. Results show that the future markets for live cattle are efficient and unbiasedness in the long run, and does not depend of the presence of a risk premium.

Dynamics of three-agent games

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mungan, Muhittin; Rador, Tonguc

2008-01-01

We study the dynamics and resulting score distribution of three-agent games where after each competition a single agent wins and scores a point. A single competition is described by a triplet of numbers p, t and q denoting the probabilities that the team with the highest, middle or lowest accumulated score wins. The three-agent game can be regarded as a social model where a player can be favored or disfavored for advancement, based on his/her accumulated score. We study the full family of solutions in the regime, where the number of agents and competitions is large, which can be regarded as a hydrodynamic limit. Depending on the parameter values (p, q, t), we find six qualitatively different asymptotic score distributions and we provide a qualitative explanation of these results. We also compare our analytical results against numerical simulations of the microscopic model and find these to be in excellent agreement. It is possible to decide the outcome of a three-agent game through a mini-tournament of two-agent competitions among the participating players and it turns out that the resulting possible score distributions are a subset of those obtained for the general three-agent games. We discuss how one can add a steady and democratic decline rate to the model and present a simple geometric construction that allows one to obtain the score evolution equations for n-agent games

Dynamics of three-agent games

Science.gov (United States)

Mungan, Muhittin; Rador, Tonguç

2008-02-01

We study the dynamics and resulting score distribution of three-agent games where after each competition a single agent wins and scores a point. A single competition is described by a triplet of numbers p, t and q denoting the probabilities that the team with the highest, middle or lowest accumulated score wins. The three-agent game can be regarded as a social model where a player can be favored or disfavored for advancement, based on his/her accumulated score. We study the full family of solutions in the regime, where the number of agents and competitions is large, which can be regarded as a hydrodynamic limit. Depending on the parameter values (p, q, t), we find six qualitatively different asymptotic score distributions and we provide a qualitative explanation of these results. We also compare our analytical results against numerical simulations of the microscopic model and find these to be in excellent agreement. It is possible to decide the outcome of a three-agent game through a mini-tournament of two-agent competitions among the participating players and it turns out that the resulting possible score distributions are a subset of those obtained for the general three-agent games. We discuss how one can add a steady and democratic decline rate to the model and present a simple geometric construction that allows one to obtain the score evolution equations for n-agent games.

Immunological effects of hypomethylating agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindblad, Katherine E; Goswami, Meghali; Hourigan, Christopher S; Oetjen, Karolyn A

2017-08-01

Epigenetic changes resulting from aberrant methylation patterns are a recurrent observation in hematologic malignancies. Hypomethylating agents have a well-established role in the management of patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia. In addition to the direct effects of hypomethylating agents on cancer cells, there are several lines of evidence indicating a role for immune-mediated anti-tumor benefits from hypomethylating therapy. Areas covered: We reviewed the clinical and basic science literature for the effects of hypomethylating agents, including the most commonly utilized therapeutics azacitidine and decitabine, on immune cell subsets. We summarized the effects of hypomethylating agents on the frequency and function of natural killer cells, T cells, and dendritic cells. In particular, we highlight the effects of hypomethylating agents on expression of immune checkpoint inhibitors, leukemia-associated antigens, and endogenous retroviral elements. Expert commentary: In vitro and ex vivo studies indicate mixed effects on the function of natural killer, dendritic cells and T cells following treatment with hypomethylating agents. Clinical correlates of immune function have suggested that hypomethylating agents have immunomodulatory functions with the potential to synergize with immune checkpoint therapy for the treatment of hematologic malignancy, and has become an active area of clinical research.

Cooperative heuristic multi-agent planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Weerdt, M.M.; Tonino, J.F.M.; Witteveen, C.

2001-01-01

In this paper we will use the framework to study cooperative heuristic multi-agent planning. During the construction of their plans, the agents use a heuristic function inspired by the FF planner (l3l). At any time in the process of planning the agents may exchange available resources, or they may

Limonene and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol cleaning agent

Science.gov (United States)

Bohnert, George W.; Carter, Richard D.; Hand, Thomas E.; Powers, Michael T.

1996-05-07

The present invention is a tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol and limonene or terpineol cleaning agent and method for formulating and/or using the cleaning agent. This cleaning agent effectively removes both polar and nonpolar contaminants from various electrical and mechanical parts and is readily used without surfactants, thereby reducing the need for additional cleaning operations. The cleaning agent is warm water rinsable without the use of surfactants. The cleaning agent can be azeotropic, enhancing ease of use in cleaning operations and ease of recycling.

Limonene and tetrahydrofurfurly alcohol cleaning agent

Science.gov (United States)

Bohnert, George W.; Carter, Richard D.; Hand, Thomas E.; Powers, Michael T.

1997-10-21

The present invention is a tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol and limonene cleaning agent and method for formulating and/or using the cleaning agent. This cleaning agent effectively removes both polar and nonpolar contaminants from various electrical and mechanical parts and is readily used without surfactants, thereby reducing the need for additional cleaning operations. The cleaning agent is warm water rinsable without the use of surfactants. The cleaning agent can be azeotropic, enhancing ease of use in cleaning operations and ease of recycling.

Security Framework for Agent-Based Cloud Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K Venkateshwaran

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Agent can play a key role in bringing suitable cloud services to the customer based on their requirements. In agent based cloud computing, agent does negotiation, coordination, cooperation and collaboration on behalf of the customer to make the decisions in efficient manner. However the agent based cloud computing have some security issues like (a. addition of malicious agent in the cloud environment which could demolish the process by attacking other agents, (b. denial of service by creating flooding attacks on other involved agents. (c. Some of the exceptions in the agent interaction protocol such as Not-Understood and Cancel_Meta protocol can be misused and may lead to terminating the connection of all the other agents participating in the negotiating services. Also, this paper proposes algorithms to solve these issues to ensure that there will be no intervention of any malicious activities during the agent interaction.

Persuasive Conversational Agent with Persuasion Tactics

Science.gov (United States)

Narita, Tatsuya; Kitamura, Yasuhiko

Persuasive conversational agents persuade people to change their attitudes or behaviors through conversation, and are expected to be applied as virtual sales clerks in e-shopping sites. As an approach to create such an agent, we have developed a learning agent with the Wizard of Oz method in which a person called Wizard talks to the user pretending to be the agent. The agent observes the conversations between the Wizard and the user, and learns how to persuade people. In this method, the Wizard has to reply to most of the user's inputs at the beginning, but the burden gradually falls because the agent learns how to reply as the conversation model grows.

Culturally Aware Agent Communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rehm, Matthias; Nakano, Yukiko; Koda, Tomoko

2012-01-01

Agent based interaction in the form of Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) has matured over the last decade and agents have become more and more sophisticated in terms of their verbal and nonverbal behavior like facial expressions or gestures. Having such “natural” communication channels...... available for expressing not only task-relevant but also socially and psychologically relevant information makes it necessary to take influences into account that are not readily implemented like emotions or cultural heuristics. These influences have a huge impact on the success of an interaction...

Business Intelligence using Software Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana-Ramona BOLOGA

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents some ideas about business intelligence today and the importance of developing real time business solutions. The authors make an exploration of links between business intelligence and artificial intelligence and focuses specifically on the implementation of software agents-based systems in business intelligence. There are briefly presented some of the few solutions proposed so far that use software agents properties for the benefit of business intelligence. The authors then propose some basic ideas for developing real-time agent-based software system for business intelligence in supply chain management, using Case Base Reasoning Agents.

Multi-agent and complex systems

CERN Document Server

Ren, Fenghui; Fujita, Katsuhide; Zhang, Minjie; Ito, Takayuki

2017-01-01

This book provides a description of advanced multi-agent and artificial intelligence technologies for the modeling and simulation of complex systems, as well as an overview of the latest scientific efforts in this field. A complex system features a large number of interacting components, whose aggregate activities are nonlinear and self-organized. A multi-agent system is a group or society of agents which interact with others cooperatively and/or competitively in order to reach their individual or common goals. Multi-agent systems are suitable for modeling and simulation of complex systems, which is difficult to accomplish using traditional computational approaches.

A Framework for Organization-Aware Agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Andreas Schmidt; Dignum, Virginia; Villadsen, Jørgen

2017-01-01

boundaries and work towards the objectives of the organization. In this paper, we present the AORTA reasoning framework and show how it can be integrated into typical BDI-agents. We provide operational semantics that enables agents to make organizational decisions in order to coordinate and cooperate without......’ behavior space and describe the expected behavior of the agents. Assuming an open environment, where agents are developed independently of the Organizational structures, agents need to be able to reason about the structure, so that they can deliberate about their actions and act within the expected...

Ambient agents: embedded agents for remote control and monitoring using the PANGEA platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Villarrubia, Gabriel; De Paz, Juan F; Bajo, Javier; Corchado, Juan M

2014-07-31

Ambient intelligence has advanced significantly during the last few years. The incorporation of image processing and artificial intelligence techniques have opened the possibility for such aspects as pattern recognition, thus allowing for a better adaptation of these systems. This study presents a new model of an embedded agent especially designed to be implemented in sensing devices with resource constraints. This new model of an agent is integrated within the PANGEA (Platform for the Automatic Construction of Organiztions of Intelligent Agents) platform, an organizational-based platform, defining a new sensor role in the system and aimed at providing contextual information and interacting with the environment. A case study was developed over the PANGEA platform and designed using different agents and sensors responsible for providing user support at home in the event of incidents or emergencies. The system presented in the case study incorporates agents in Arduino hardware devices with recognition modules and illuminated bands; it also incorporates IP cameras programmed for automatic tracking, which can connect remotely in the event of emergencies. The user wears a bracelet, which contains a simple vibration sensor that can receive notifications about the emergency situation.

Ambient Agents: Embedded Agents for Remote Control and Monitoring Using the PANGEA Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel Villarrubia

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Ambient intelligence has advanced significantly during the last few years. The incorporation of image processing and artificial intelligence techniques have opened the possibility for such aspects as pattern recognition, thus allowing for a better adaptation of these systems. This study presents a new model of an embedded agent especially designed to be implemented in sensing devices with resource constraints. This new model of an agent is integrated within the PANGEA (Platform for the Automatic Construction of Organiztions of Intelligent Agents platform, an organizational-based platform, defining a new sensor role in the system and aimed at providing contextual information and interacting with the environment. A case study was developed over the PANGEA platform and designed using different agents and sensors responsible for providing user support at home in the event of incidents or emergencies. The system presented in the case study incorporates agents in Arduino hardware devices with recognition modules and illuminated bands; it also incorporates IP cameras programmed for automatic tracking, which can connect remotely in the event of emergencies. The user wears a bracelet, which contains a simple vibration sensor that can receive notifications about the emergency situation.

Radiopharmaceutical agents for skeletal scanning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, S.E.; Van Aswegen, A.; Loetter, M.G.; Minnaar, P.C.; Otto, A.C.; Goedhals, L.; Dedekind, P.S.

1987-01-01

The quality of bone scan images obtained with a locally produced and with an imported radiopharmaceutical bone agent, methylene diphosphonate (MDP), was compared visually. Standard skeletal imaging was carried out on 10 patients using both agents, with a period of 2 to 7 days between studies with alternate agents. Equal amounts of activity were administered for both agents. All images were acquired on Polaroid film for subsequent evaluation. The acquisition time for standard amount of counts per study was recorded. Three physicians with applicable experience evaluated image quality (on a 4 point scale) and detectability of metastasis (on a 3 point scale). There was no statistically significant difference (p 0,05) between the two agents by paired t-test of Hotelling's T 2 analysis. It is concluded that the imaging properties of the locally produced and the imported MDP are similar

An Interactive Tool for Creating Multi-Agent Systems and Interactive Agent-based Games

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Henrik Hautop; Pagliarini, Luigi

2011-01-01

Utilizing principles from parallel and distributed processing combined with inspiration from modular robotics, we developed the modular interactive tiles. As an educational tool, the modular interactive tiles facilitate the learning of multi-agent systems and interactive agent-based games...

N-grams Based Supervised Machine Learning Model for Mobile Agent Platform Protection against Unknown Malicious Mobile Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pallavi Bagga

2017-12-01

Full Text Available From many past years, the detection of unknown malicious mobile agents before they invade the Mobile Agent Platform has been the subject of much challenging activity. The ever-growing threat of malicious agents calls for techniques for automated malicious agent detection. In this context, the machine learning (ML methods are acknowledged more effective than the Signature-based and Behavior-based detection methods. Therefore, in this paper, the prime contribution has been made to detect the unknown malicious mobile agents based on n-gram features and supervised ML approach, which has not been done so far in the sphere of the Mobile Agents System (MAS security. To carry out the study, the n-grams ranging from 3 to 9 are extracted from a dataset containing 40 malicious and 40 non-malicious mobile agents. Subsequently, the classification is performed using different classifiers. A nested 5-fold cross validation scheme is employed in order to avoid the biasing in the selection of optimal parameters of classifier. The observations of extensive experiments demonstrate that the work done in this paper is suitable for the task of unknown malicious mobile agent detection in a Mobile Agent Environment, and also adds the ML in the interest list of researchers dealing with MAS security.

Continuum deformation of multi-agent systems

CERN Document Server

Rastgoftar, Hossein

2016-01-01

This monograph presents new algorithms for formation control of multi-agent systems (MAS) based on principles of continuum mechanics. Beginning with an overview of traditional methods, the author then introduces an innovative new approach whereby agents of an MAS are considered as particles in a continuum evolving in ℝn whose desired configuration is required to satisfy an admissible deformation function. The necessary theory and its validation on a mobile-agent-based swarm test bed are considered for two primary tasks: homogeneous transformation of the MAS and deployment of a random distribution of agents on a desired configuration. The framework for this model is based on homogeneous transformations for the evolution of an MAS under no inter-agent communication, local inter-agent communication, and intelligent perception by agents. Different communication protocols for MAS evolution, the robustness of tracking of a desired motion by an MAS evolving in ℝn, and the effect of communication delays in an MAS...

Adrenal imaging agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, M.A.; Hanson, R.N.; Holman, B.L.

1980-01-01

The goals of this proposal are the development of selenium-containing analogs of the aromatic amino acids as imaging agents for the pancreas and of the adrenal cortex enzyme inhibitors as imaging agents for adrenal pathology. The objects for this year include (a) the synthesis of methylseleno derivatives of phenylalanine and tryptophan, and (b) the preparation and evaluation of radiolabeled iodobenzoyl derivatives of the selenazole and thiazole analogs of metyrapone and SU-9055

Privacy-aware mobile agent: Protecting privacy in open systems by modelling social behaviour of software agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, A.P.

2004-01-01

In distributed problem solving with multi-agent systems it is assumed that collective behaviour emerges from interaction among rational agents. The dissemination of mobile agents will lead to open systems. Emergent behaviour in open systems must fulfil common goals based on goals of individual

Econophysics of agent-based models

CERN Document Server

Aoyama, Hideaki; Chakrabarti, Bikas; Chakraborti, Anirban; Ghosh, Asim

2014-01-01

The primary goal of this book is to present the research findings and conclusions of physicists, economists, mathematicians and financial engineers working in the field of "Econophysics" who have undertaken agent-based modelling, comparison with empirical studies and related investigations. Most standard economic models assume the existence of the representative agent, who is “perfectly rational” and applies the utility maximization principle when taking action. One reason for this is the desire to keep models mathematically tractable: no tools are available to economists for solving non-linear models of heterogeneous adaptive agents without explicit optimization. In contrast, multi-agent models, which originated from statistical physics considerations, allow us to go beyond the prototype theories of traditional economics involving the representative agent. This book is based on the Econophys-Kolkata VII Workshop, at which many such modelling efforts were presented. In the book, leading researchers in the...

Building Multi-Agent Systems Using Jason

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boss, Niklas Skamriis; Jensen, Andreas Schmidt; Villadsen, Jørgen

2010-01-01

We provide a detailed description of the Jason-DTU system, including the used methodology, tools as well as team strategy. We also discuss the experience gathered in the contest. In spring 2009 the course “Artificial Intelligence and Multi- Agent Systems” was held for the first time...... on the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). A part of this course was a short introduction to the multi-agent framework Jason, which is an interpreter for AgentSpeak, an agent-oriented programming language. As the final project in this course a solution to the Multi-Agent Programming Contest from 2007, the Gold...

Aspects of agents for safeguards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotte, U.

1999-01-01

With the development of the Internet and the WWW, information treatment has gained a new dimension. (Intelligent) software agents are one of the means expected to relieve human staff of the burden of information overload, and in the future to contribute to safeguards data acquisition, data evaluation and decision-making. An overview is given for the categories of Internet, intranet and desktop agents. Aspects of the potential application of agents are described in three fields: information access and delivery, collaboration and workflow management, adaptive interfaces and learning assistants. Routine application of agents is not yet in sight, but the scientific and technical progress seems to be encouraging. (author)

Stable agents for imaging investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tofe, A.J.

1976-01-01

This invention concerns highly stable compounds useful in preparing technetium 99m based scintiscanning exploration agents. The compounds of this invention include a pertechnetate reducing agent or a solution of oxidized pertechnetate and an efficient proportion, sufficient to stabilize the compounds in the presence of oxygen and of radiolysis products, of ascorbic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester of this acid. The invention also concerns a perfected process for preparing a technetium based exploration agent, consisting in codissolving the ascorbic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester of such an acid and a pertechnetate reducing agent in a solution of oxidized pertechnetate [fr

Tres consejos para un viaje sano y salvo

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2008-02-01

La subdivisión de la salud del viajero y de importación de animales se complace en presentar estos consejos de viaje y les desea a todos un viaje sano y salvo.  Created: 2/1/2008 by National Center for the Prevention, Detection and Control of Infectious Diseases (NCPDCID).   Date Released: 2/27/2008.

Radioactive scanning agents with stabilizer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fawzi, M.B.

1982-01-01

Stable compositions useful as technetium 99-based scintigraphic agents comprise gentisyl alcohol or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt or ester thereof in combination with a pertechnetate reducing agent or dissolved in pertechnetate-99m (sup(99m)TcOsub(4)sup(-)) solution. The compositions are especially useful in combination with a phosphate or phosphonate material that carries the radionuclide to bone, thus providing a skeletal imaging agent

Intelligent Agents in E-Commerce

OpenAIRE

Valentin LITOIU; Amelia BADICA; Cristian ETEGAN

2006-01-01

This paper emphasizes the importance of intelligent agents in e-commerce, with a particular focus on the B2C and B2B context. From the consumer buying behaviour perspective, agents can be used to assist the following stages: need identification, product brokering, buyer coalition formation, merchant brokering and negotiation. Related to B2B commerce, intelligent agents are involved in partnership formation, brokering and negotiation.

Complex responses to alkylating agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samson, L.D.

2003-01-01

Using Affymetrix oligonucleotide GeneChip analysis, we previously found that, upon exposure to the simple alkylating agent methylmethane sulfonate, the transcript levels for about one third of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome (∼2,000 transcripts) are induced or repressed during the first hour or two after exposure. In order to determine whether the responsiveness of these genes has any relevance to the protection of cells against alkylating agents we have undertaken several follow-up studies. First, we explored the specificity of this global transcriptional response to MMS by measuring the global response of S. cerevisiae to a broad range of agents that are known to induce DNA damage. We found that each agent produced a very different mRNA transcript profile, even though the exposure doses produced similar levels of toxicity. We also found that the selection of genes that respond to MMS is highly dependent upon what cell cycle phase the cells are in at the time of exposure. Computational clustering analysis of the dataset derived from a large number of exposures identified several promoter motifs that are likely to control some of the regulons that comprise this large set of genes that are responsive to DNA damaging agents. However, it should be noted that these agents damage cellular components other than DNA, and that the responsiveness of each gene need not be in response to DNA damage per se. We have also begun to study the response of other organisms to alkylating agents, and these include E. coli, cultured mouse and human cells, and mice. Finally, we have developed a high throughput phenotypic screening method to interrogate the role of all non-essential S. cerevisiae genes (about 4,800) in protecting S. cerevisiae against the deleterious effects of alkylating agents; we have termed this analysis 'genomic phenotyping'. This study has uncovered a plethora of new pathways that play a role in the recovery of eukaryotic cells after exposure to toxic

Monitoring volatile anaesthetic agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, W.J.

2000-01-01

Full text: The methods that have been used for monitoring volatile anaesthetic agents depend on some physical property such as Density, Refractometry, Mass, Solubility, Raman scattering, or Infra-red absorption. Today, refractometry and infra-red techniques are the most common. Refractometry is used for the calibration of vaporizers. All anaesthetic agents increase the refractive index of the carrier gas. Provided the mixture is known then the refractive change measures the concentration of the volatile anaesthetic agent. Raman Scattering is when energy hits a molecule a very small fraction of the energy is absorbed and re-emitted at one or more lower frequencies. The shift in frequency is a function of the chemical bonds and is a fingerprint of the substance irradiated. Electromagnetic (Infra-red) has been the commonest method of detection of volatile agents. Most systems use a subtractive system, i.e. the agent in the sampling cell absorbed some of the infrared energy and the photo-detector therefore received less energy. A different approach is where the absorbed energy is converted into a pressure change and detected as sound (Acoustic monitor). This gives a more stable zero reference. More recently, the detector systems have used multiple narrow-band wavelengths in the infrared bands and by shape matching or matrix computing specific agent identification is achieved and the concentration calculated. In the early Datex AS3 monitors, a spectral sweep across the 3 micron infrared band was used to create spectral fingerprints. The recently released AS3 monitors use a different system with five very narrow band filters in the 8-10 micron region. The transmission through each of these filters is a value in a matrix which is solved by a micro computer to identify the agent and its concentration. These monitors can assist in improving the safety and efficiency of our anaesthetics but do not ensure that the patient is completely anaesthetized. Copyright (2000

Monitoring volatile anaesthetic agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Russell, W J [Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA (Australia). Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care

2000-12-01

Full text: The methods that have been used for monitoring volatile anaesthetic agents depend on some physical property such as Density, Refractometry, Mass, Solubility, Raman scattering, or Infra-red absorption. Today, refractometry and infra-red techniques are the most common. Refractometry is used for the calibration of vaporizers. All anaesthetic agents increase the refractive index of the carrier gas. Provided the mixture is known then the refractive change measures the concentration of the volatile anaesthetic agent. Raman Scattering is when energy hits a molecule a very small fraction of the energy is absorbed and re-emitted at one or more lower frequencies. The shift in frequency is a function of the chemical bonds and is a fingerprint of the substance irradiated. Electromagnetic (Infra-red) has been the commonest method of detection of volatile agents. Most systems use a subtractive system, i.e. the agent in the sampling cell absorbed some of the infrared energy and the photo-detector therefore received less energy. A different approach is where the absorbed energy is converted into a pressure change and detected as sound (Acoustic monitor). This gives a more stable zero reference. More recently, the detector systems have used multiple narrow-band wavelengths in the infrared bands and by shape matching or matrix computing specific agent identification is achieved and the concentration calculated. In the early Datex AS3 monitors, a spectral sweep across the 3 micron infrared band was used to create spectral fingerprints. The recently released AS3 monitors use a different system with five very narrow band filters in the 8-10 micron region. The transmission through each of these filters is a value in a matrix which is solved by a micro computer to identify the agent and its concentration. These monitors can assist in improving the safety and efficiency of our anaesthetics but do not ensure that the patient is completely anaesthetized. Copyright (2000

DelPapa - Aplicativo computacional para a análise de dados de experimentos no delineamento blocos ao acaso, usando o método Papadakis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lindolfo Storck

2015-05-01

Full Text Available O aplicativo computacional para a análise de dados de experimentos executados no delineamento blocos ao acaso, por meio do método usual e de Papadakis, foi desenvolvido em sua primeira versão (não publicada, na linguagem de programação Pascal. Considerando que o método de Papadakis foi eficiente para as principais culturas agrícolas (milho, soja, feijão e trigo e, para tornar o aplicativo mais amigável, a versão em Pascal foi reprogramada em Java, cuja denominação é DelPapa. Este aplicativo realiza a análise de variância segundo o delineamento blocos ao acaso pelo método usual (estima parâmetros genéticos, medidas de qualidade experimental e testes dos pressupostos da análise de variância e pelo método de Papadakis. Usando as médias ajustadas pela covariável (média dos erros das parcelas vizinhas, também realiza o teste Scott e Knott (P=0,05 para agrupar os tratamentos.

Modelación númerica de procesos de esterilización térmica de alimentos usando volúmenes de control: Aproximación cilíndrica./Numerical simulation of thermal sterilization process of foods using control volumes: Cylindrical aproximation.

OpenAIRE

Ciro Velásquez, Héctor José; González, Carlos; García, Eduardo

2009-01-01

Un proceso de esterilización térmica de alimentos fue modelado usando la técnica de diferenciación finita aplicada a volúmenes de control. El modelo de simulación fue desarrollado en coordenadas cilíndricas con un ejemplo de aplicación tomando como referencia un producto cárnico (carne de res). Los resultados de la simulación mostraron que el algoritmo desarrollado es independiente de la red nodal seleccionada, permitiendo cuantificar las curvas de penetración de calor en el punto crítico del...

Homeostatic Agent for General Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Naoto

2018-03-01

One of the essential aspect in biological agents is dynamic stability. This aspect, called homeostasis, is widely discussed in ethology, neuroscience and during the early stages of artificial intelligence. Ashby's homeostats are general-purpose learning machines for stabilizing essential variables of the agent in the face of general environments. However, despite their generality, the original homeostats couldn't be scaled because they searched their parameters randomly. In this paper, first we re-define the objective of homeostats as the maximization of a multi-step survival probability from the view point of sequential decision theory and probabilistic theory. Then we show that this optimization problem can be treated by using reinforcement learning algorithms with special agent architectures and theoretically-derived intrinsic reward functions. Finally we empirically demonstrate that agents with our architecture automatically learn to survive in a given environment, including environments with visual stimuli. Our survival agents can learn to eat food, avoid poison and stabilize essential variables through theoretically-derived single intrinsic reward formulations.

Intelligent Agents in E-Commerce

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentin LITOIU

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper emphasizes the importance of intelligent agents in e-commerce, with a particular focus on the B2C and B2B context. From the consumer buying behaviour perspective, agents can be used to assist the following stages: need identification, product brokering, buyer coalition formation, merchant brokering and negotiation. Related to B2B commerce, intelligent agents are involved in partnership formation, brokering and negotiation.

Comparison of Communication Models for Mobile Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xining Li

2003-04-01

Full Text Available An agent is a self-contained process being acting on behalf of a user. A Mobile Agent is an agent roaming the internet to access data and services, and carry out its assigned task remotely. This paper will focus on the communication models for Mobile Agents. Generally speaking, communication models concern with problems of how to name Mobile Agents, how to establish communication relationships, how to trace moving agents, and how to guarantee reliable communication. Some existing MA systems are purely based on RPC-style communication, whereas some adopts asynchronous message passing, or event registration/handling. Different communication concepts suitable for Mobile Agents are well discussed in [1]. However, we will investigate these concepts and existing models from a different point view: how to track down agents and deliver messages in a dynamic, changing world.

2APL: a practical agent programming language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dastani, M.M.

2008-01-01

This article presents a BDI-based agent-oriented programming language, called 2APL (A Practical Agent Programming Language). This programming language facilitates the implementation ofmulti-agent systems consisting of individual agents thatmay share and access external environments. It realizes

11th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

CERN Document Server

Hermoso, Ramon; Moreno, María; Rodríguez, Juan; Hirsch, Benjamin; Mathieu, Philippe; Campbell, Andrew; Suarez-Figueroa, Mari; Ortega, Alfonso; Adam, Emmanuel; Navarro, Elena

2013-01-01

Research on Agents and Multi-agent Systems has matured during the last decade and many effective applications of this technology are now deployed. PAAMS provides an international forum to presents and discuss the latest scientific developments and their effective applications, to assess the impact of the approach, and to facilitate technology transfer. PAAMS started as a local initiative, but since grown to become the international yearly platform to present, to discuss, and to disseminate the latest developments and the most important outcomes related to real-world applications. It provides a unique opportunity to bring multi-disciplinary experts, academics and practitioners together to Exchange their experience in the development and deployment of Agents and Multiagents systems. PAAMS intends to bring together researchers and developers from industry and the academic world to report on the latest scientific and technical advances on the application of multi-agent systems, to discuss and debate the major iss...

Interação terapêutica em saúde mental usando a teoria da aprendizagem mediada Interacción terapéutica en la salud mental usando la teoría de aprendizaje mediada Therapeutical interaction in mental health using the mediated learning theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Cristina Barros da Cunha

2009-09-01

Full Text Available A relação terapeuta/paciente de saúde mental e as consequências do padrão interativo entre ambos foram discutidas com base na Teoria da Experiência de Aprendizagem Mediada, proposta por R. Feuerstein. Usando uma proposta de operacionalização da Escala de Avaliação de Experiência de Aprendizagem Mediada de C. S. Lidz, analisou-se o padrão de mediação adotado por uma terapeuta na interação com dois pacientes. Terapeuta e pacientes foram observados em 15 sessões de interação em atividades de socialização. Os dados foram transcritos em registro cursivo e analisados segundo a proposta de operacionalização citada. Os resultados mostraram que a terapeuta adotou um padrão de mediação adequado nos principais critérios da Escala. Isto, por sua vez, demonstrou que a terapeuta intencionalmente envolvia os pacientes nas atividades propostas, enfatizando e atribuindo valor positivo às atitudes destes; além disso, a terapeuta se referia aos eventos do passado/futuro para estabelecer relações entre os elementos envolvidos na atividade e o conhecimento do paciente em seu processo de aprendizagem.La relación entre el terapeuta y el paciente de la salud mental y las consecuencias del modelo de interacción entre ambos fueron examinadas utilizando la Teoría de Aprendizaje Mediada, ofertada por R. Feuerstein. Usando una aplicación práctica de la propuesta de la Escala de Avaliación de Experiencia de Aprendezaje Mediada de C. S. Lidz, se analizó el patrón de mediacción que una terapeuta ha adoptado con dos pacientes. La terapeuta y el paciente se observaron en 15 situacciones de interacción en actividades de socialización. Los datos fueron analizados utilizando una aplicación práctica de la propuesta anterior. Los resultados demostraron que la terapeuta ha adoptado un excelente modelo de mediación para los principales criterios de la escala. Se mostró que el terapeuta intencionalmente envolvía los pacientes em las

Design and simulation of material-integrated distributed sensor processing with a code-based agent platform and mobile multi-agent systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosse, Stefan

2015-02-16

Multi-agent systems (MAS) can be used for decentralized and self-organizing data processing in a distributed system, like a resource-constrained sensor network, enabling distributed information extraction, for example, based on pattern recognition and self-organization, by decomposing complex tasks in simpler cooperative agents. Reliable MAS-based data processing approaches can aid the material-integration of structural-monitoring applications, with agent processing platforms scaled to the microchip level. The agent behavior, based on a dynamic activity-transition graph (ATG) model, is implemented with program code storing the control and the data state of an agent, which is novel. The program code can be modified by the agent itself using code morphing techniques and is capable of migrating in the network between nodes. The program code is a self-contained unit (a container) and embeds the agent data, the initialization instructions and the ATG behavior implementation. The microchip agent processing platform used for the execution of the agent code is a standalone multi-core stack machine with a zero-operand instruction format, leading to a small-sized agent program code, low system complexity and high system performance. The agent processing is token-queue-based, similar to Petri-nets. The agent platform can be implemented in software, too, offering compatibility at the operational and code level, supporting agent processing in strong heterogeneous networks. In this work, the agent platform embedded in a large-scale distributed sensor network is simulated at the architectural level by using agent-based simulation techniques.

Design and Simulation of Material-Integrated Distributed Sensor Processing with a Code-Based Agent Platform and Mobile Multi-Agent Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Bosse

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Multi-agent systems (MAS can be used for decentralized and self-organizing data processing in a distributed system, like a resource-constrained sensor network, enabling distributed information extraction, for example, based on pattern recognition and self-organization, by decomposing complex tasks in simpler cooperative agents. Reliable MAS-based data processing approaches can aid the material-integration of structural-monitoring applications, with agent processing platforms scaled to the microchip level. The agent behavior, based on a dynamic activity-transition graph (ATG model, is implemented with program code storing the control and the data state of an agent, which is novel. The program code can be modified by the agent itself using code morphing techniques and is capable of migrating in the network between nodes. The program code is a self-contained unit (a container and embeds the agent data, the initialization instructions and the ATG behavior implementation. The microchip agent processing platform used for the execution of the agent code is a standalone multi-core stack machine with a zero-operand instruction format, leading to a small-sized agent program code, low system complexity and high system performance. The agent processing is token-queue-based, similar to Petri-nets. The agent platform can be implemented in software, too, offering compatibility at the operational and code level, supporting agent processing in strong heterogeneous networks. In this work, the agent platform embedded in a large-scale distributed sensor network is simulated at the architectural level by using agent-based simulation techniques.

Switching dynamics of multi-agent learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vrancx, P.; Tuyls, K.P.; Westra, R.

2008-01-01

This paper presents the dynamics of multi-agent reinforcement learning in multiple state problems. We extend previous work that formally modelled the relation between reinforcement learning agents and replicator dynamics in stateless multi-agent games. More precisely, in this work we use a

Extinguishing agent for combustible metal fires

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, John F.; Stauffer, Edgar Eugene

1976-10-12

A low chloride extinguishing agent for combustible metal fires comprising from substantially 75 to substantially 94 weight percent of sodium carbonate as the basic fire extinguishing material, from substantially 1 to substantially 5 weight percent of a water-repellent agent such as a metal stearate, from substantially 2 to substantially 10 weight percent of a flow promoting agent such as attapulgus clay, and from substantially 3 to substantially 15 weight percent of a polyamide resin as a crusting agent.

Stable radiographic scanning agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

Stable compositions which are useful in the preparation of Technetium-99m-based scintigraphic agents are discussed. They are comprised of ascorbic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof in combination with a pertechnetate reducing agent or dissolved in oxidized pertechnetate-99m (sup(99m)TcO 4 - ) solution

Multi-Agent Framework in Visual Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. M. Molina

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The recent interest in the surveillance of public, military, and commercial scenarios is increasing the need to develop and deploy intelligent and/or automated distributed visual surveillance systems. Many applications based on distributed resources use the so-called software agent technology. In this paper, a multi-agent framework is applied to coordinate videocamera-based surveillance. The ability to coordinate agents improves the global image and task distribution efficiency. In our proposal, a software agent is embedded in each camera and controls the capture parameters. Then coordination is based on the exchange of high-level messages among agents. Agents use an internal symbolic model to interpret the current situation from the messages from all other agents to improve global coordination.

CEST and PARACEST MR contrast agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hancu, Ileana; Dixon, W. Thomas; Woods, Mark; Sherry, A. Dean; Vinogradov, Elena; Lenkinski, Robert E.

2010-01-01

In this review we describe the status of development for a new class of magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents, based on chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST). The mathematics and physics relevant to the description of the CEST effect in MR are presented in an appendix published in the online version only. We discuss the issues arising when translating in vitro results obtained with CEST agents to using these MR agents in in vivo model studies and in humans. Examples are given on how these agents are imaged in vivo. We summarize the status of development of these CEST agents, and speculate about the next steps that may be taken towards the demonstration of CEST MR imaging in clinical applications

Susceptibility of Haemophilus equigenitalis, the causal agent of contagious equine metritis, to 31 antimicrobial agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugimoto, C; Isayama, Y; Kashiwazaki, M; Mitani, K

1981-01-01

The minimal inhibitory concentrations of 31 antimicrobial agents were determined for 99 isolates of Haemophilus equigenitalis by the agar dilution method. All the isolates showed good susceptibility to 26 antimicrobial agents tests, minimal inhibitory concentrations of which were less than 3.13 micrograms/ml for more than 90% of the isolates. Of these agents, 4 macrolides (erythromycin, oleandomycin, kitasamycin, tylosin), 3 tetracyclines (tetracycline, chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline), 1 peptide (colistin), 1 penicillin (ampicillin) and 1 pleuromutilin (tiamulin) were the most active agents, showing a minimal inhibitory concentration of less than 0.39 micrograms/ml for more than 90% of the isolates. The growth of more than 90% of the isolates was not inhibited by 800 micrograms/ml of streptomycin.

Imprecise Beliefs in a Principal Agent Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rigotti, L.

1998-01-01

This paper presents a principal-agent model where the agent has multiple, or imprecise, beliefs. We model this situation formally by assuming the agent's preferences are incomplete. One can interpret this multiplicity as an agent's limited knowledge of the surrounding environment. In this setting,

Individualism and Collectivism in Trade Agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofstede, G.J.; Jonker, C.M.; Verwaart, D.

2008-01-01

Agent-Based Modeling can contribute to the understanding of international trade processes. Models for the effects of culture and cultural differences on agent behavior are required for realistic agent-based simulation of international trade. This paper makes a step toward modeling of culture in

Modeling culture in intelligent virtual agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mascarenhas, S.; Degens, N.; Paiva, A.; Prada, R.; Hofstede, G.J.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Aylett, R.

2016-01-01

This work addresses the challenge of creating virtual agents that are able to portray culturally appropriate behavior when interacting with other agents or humans. Because culture influences how people perceive their social reality it is important to have agent models that explicitly consider social

Paludismo por Plasmodiumvivax: presentación de un caso

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mérida Morales Lugo

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Introducción: el paludismo o malaria, es la enfermedad infecciosa tropical más frecuente del mundo y dependiendo del subtipo del Plasmodium se puede definir su distribución geográfica. La cantidad de casos reportados en los últimos años ha aumentado debido al incremento en el número de viajeros a zonas endémicas, falta de profilaxis adecuada y la prevalencia cada vez mayor de parásitos resistentes a los fármacos empleados para su tratamiento. Caso clínico: se presenta un caso con un síndrome febril agudo y antecedente epidemiológico de regresar de Guinea Ecuatorial, país donde el paludismo se considera endémico. Conclusiones: la malaria por Plasmodiumvivax es considerada una enfermedad de prevalencia muy baja, curso clínico benigno y distribución geográfica limitada a zonas de Asia, América del Sur y Oceanía; sin embargo, en este trabajo se pudo demostrar la infección por P. vivax en viajero procedente de Guinea Ecuatorial donde el tipo de Plasmodiummás frecuente es el falciparum.

Multi-agent Cooperation in a Planning Framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Weerdt, M.M.; Bos, A.; Tonino, J.F.M.; Witteveen, C.

2000-01-01

The promise of multi-agent systems is that multiple agents can solve problems more efficiently than single agents can. In this paper we propose a method to implement cooperation between agents in the planning phase, in order to achive more cost-effective solutions than without cooperation. Two

Change Agent Survival Guide

Science.gov (United States)

Dunbar, Folwell L.

2011-01-01

Consulting is a rough racket. Only a tarantula hair above IRS agents, meter maids and used car sales people, the profession is a prickly burr for slings and arrows. Throw in education, focus on dysfunctional schools and call oneself a "change agent," and this bad rap all but disappears. Unfortunately, though, consulting/coaching/mentoring in…

Modelling an Agent's Mind and Matter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.; Boman, M.

1997-01-01

In agent models often it is assumed that the agent maintains internal representations of the material world (e.g., its beliefs). An overall model of the agent and the material world necessarily incorporates sub-models for physical simulation and symbolic simulation, and a formalisation of the

Animated BDP agents in virtual environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus; Egges, A.; op den Akker, Hendrikus J.A.; Zwiers, Jakob; Krose, B.; de Rijke, M.; Schreiber, G.; van Someren, M.

2001-01-01

We introduce a Believes, Desires and Plans (BDP) agent that acts in a virtual environment using multi-modal interaction with the user. The environment is our virtual theatre environment. In this environment different agents have been introduced. In order to obtain a more uniform framework for agent

Principals, agents and research programmes

OpenAIRE

Elizabeth Shove

2003-01-01

Research programmes appear to represent one of the more powerful instruments through which research funders (principals) steer and shape what researchers (agents) do. The fact that agents navigate between different sources and styles of programme funding and that they use programmes to their own ends is readily accommodated within principal-agent theory with the help of concepts such as shirking and defection. Taking a different route, I use three examples of research programming (by the UK, ...

Cinética de adsorción de Cr (VI usando biomasas residuales modificadas químicamente en sistemas por lotes y continuo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Candelaria Tejada Tovar

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Se estudia la adsorción de Cr (VI a partir de biomasa residual: bagazo de palma y cáscaras de ñame, además se estudia la modificación con ácido cítrico de las biomasas. La determinación del metal en solución fue llevada a cabo usando el método de la 1,5-difenilcarbazida. Del análisis FTIR se encontró que los grupos hidroxilo y carbonilo presentes en los adsorbentes son los de mayor contribución al proceso de remoción. Además, la modificación mejora la eficiencia del metal de acuerdo con la isoterma de Langmuir de 13 a 4mg/g para el bagazo de palma, y de 22 a 26mg/g para las cáscaras de ñame. Se establece además una mejora en el proceso al trabajar las biomasas en sistema continuo. De las condiciones óptimas de adsorción se determinó que el pH de 2 y el tamaño de partícula de 1mm son las que más favorecen el proceso, y el modelo de Elovich el que mejor lo describe.

Mesonero, viajero por Francia y Bélgica (1840-1841

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Núñez Rey, Concepción

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Soon after his return, the weekly Semanario Pintoresco Español published an account of the trip Mesonero Romanos made across France and Belgium between the years of 1840 and 1841. He shared his experiences in a series of 16 articles that he wrote between the months of April and August of 1841, which he would republish in a single volume shortly afterwards. We can see in his writings the way Mesonero viewed the people and cultures he visited. His work provides numerous comparisons and reflections about Spain; which remained always present in his mind. Readers familiar with Mesonero's writings on Madrid customs and manners may be surprised by his fascination with technical progress and the more advanced aspects of the societies he visited.

El testimonio del viaje que Mesonero Romanos emprendió por Francia y Bélgica de 1840 a 1841, apareció publicado en el Semanario Pintoresco Español poco después de su regreso. Entre abril y agosto de ese año vertió su experiencia viajera en dieciséis artículos, que muy pronto reeditó reuniéndolos en un volumen. En estos textos descubrimos la mirada con que el autor contempla las sociedades visitadas, en la que está siempre presente España, dando lugar a constantes comparaciones y reflexiones. Para el lector habituado a sus artículos costumbristas madrileños sorprende su fascinación por el progreso técnico y el interés con que supo ver la modernidad de las sociedades visitadas.

Agent-based modeling and network dynamics

CERN Document Server

Namatame, Akira

2016-01-01

The book integrates agent-based modeling and network science. It is divided into three parts, namely, foundations, primary dynamics on and of social networks, and applications. The book begins with the network origin of agent-based models, known as cellular automata, and introduce a number of classic models, such as Schelling’s segregation model and Axelrod’s spatial game. The essence of the foundation part is the network-based agent-based models in which agents follow network-based decision rules. Under the influence of the substantial progress in network science in late 1990s, these models have been extended from using lattices into using small-world networks, scale-free networks, etc. The book also shows that the modern network science mainly driven by game-theorists and sociophysicists has inspired agent-based social scientists to develop alternative formation algorithms, known as agent-based social networks. The book reviews a number of pioneering and representative models in this family. Upon the gi...

[Supramolecular Agents for Theranostics].

Science.gov (United States)

Deyev, S M; Lebedenko, E N

2015-01-01

This mini-review summarizes recent data obtained in the process of creation of a versatile module platform suitable for construction of supramolecular theranostic agents. As an example, we consider multifunctional hybrid agents for imaging and elimination of cancer cells. The use of an adapter protein system barnase:barstar for producing targeted multifunctional hybrid structures on the basis of highly specific peptides and mini-antibodies as addressing modules and recombinant proteins and/or nanoparticles of different nature (quantum dots, nanogold, magnetic nanoparticles, nanodiamonds, upconverting nanophosphores, polymer nanoparticles) as agents visualizing and damaging cancer cells is described. New perspectives for creation of selective and highly effective compounds for theranostics and personified medicine are contemplated.

An Agent Framework of Tourism Recommender System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Zhi Yang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the development of an Agent framework for tourism recommender system. The recommender system can be featured as an online web application which is capable of generating a personalized list of preference attractions for tourists. Traditional technologies of classical recommender system application domains, such as collaborative filtering, content-based filtering and content-based filtering are effectively adopted in the framework. In the framework they are constructed as Agents that can generate recommendations respectively. Recommender Agent can generate recommender information by integrating the recommendations of Content-based Agent, collaborative filtering-based Agent and constraint-based Agent. In order to make the performance more effective, linear combination method of data fusion is applied. User interface is provided by the tourist Agent in form of webpages and mobile app.

Agent-based land markets: Heterogeneous agents, land proces and urban land use change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Filatova, Tatiana; Parker, Dawn C.; van der Veen, A.; Amblard, F.

2007-01-01

We construct a spatially explicit agent-based model of a bilateral land market. Heterogeneous agents form their bid and ask prices for land based on the utility that they obtain from a certain location (houte/land) and base on the state of the market (an excess of demand or supply). We underline the

Teaching Tourism Change Agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stilling Blichfeldt, Bodil; Kvistgaard, Hans-Peter; Hird, John

2017-01-01

course that is part of a Tourism Master’s program, where a major challenge is not only to teach students about change and change agents, but to teach them how change feels and ho w to become change agents. The c hange management course contains an experiment inspired by experiential teaching literature...... change in tourism in the future....

Travel Agent Course Outline.

Science.gov (United States)

British Columbia Dept. of Education, Victoria.

Written for college entry-level travel agent training courses, this course outline can also be used for inservice training programs offered by travel agencies. The outline provides information on the work of a travel agent and gives clear statements on what learners must be able to do by the end of their training. Material is divided into eight…

Multi-agent systems simulation and applications

CERN Document Server

Uhrmacher, Adelinde M

2009-01-01

Methodological Guidelines for Modeling and Developing MAS-Based SimulationsThe intersection of agents, modeling, simulation, and application domains has been the subject of active research for over two decades. Although agents and simulation have been used effectively in a variety of application domains, much of the supporting research remains scattered in the literature, too often leaving scientists to develop multi-agent system (MAS) models and simulations from scratch. Multi-Agent Systems: Simulation and Applications provides an overdue review of the wide ranging facets of MAS simulation, i

Mejoramiento de imágenes usando funciones de base radial Images improvement using radial basis functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaime Alberto Echeverri Arias

2009-07-01

Full Text Available La eliminación del ruido impulsivo es un problema clásico del procesado no lineal para el mejoramiento de imágenes y las funciones de base radial de soporte global son útiles para enfrentarlo. Este trabajo presenta una técnica de interpolación que disminuye eficientemente el ruido impulsivo en imágenes, mediante el uso de interpolante obtenido por funciones de base radial en el marco de la investigación enfocada en el desarrollo de un Sistema de recuperación de imágenes de recursos acuáticos amazónicos. Esta técnica primero etiqueta los píxeles de la imagen que son ruidosos y, mediante la interpolación, genera un valor de reconstrucción de dicho píxel usando sus vecinos. Los resultados obtenidos son comparables y muchas veces mejores que otras técnicas ya publicadas y reconocidas. Según el análisis de resultados, se puede aplicar a imágenes con altas tasas de ruido, manteniendo un bajo error de reconstrucción de los píxeles "ruidosos", así como la calidad visual.Global support radial base functions are effective in eliminating impulsive noise in non-linear processing. This paper introduces an interpolation technique which efficiently reduces image impulsive noise by means of an interpolant obtained through radial base functions. These functions have been used in a research project designed to develop a system for the recovery of images of Amazonian aquatic resources. This technique starts with the tagging by interpolation of noisy image pixels. Thus, a value of reconstruction for the noisy pixels is generated using neighboring pixels. The results obtained with this technique have proved comparable and often better than those obtained with previously known techniques. According to results analysis, this technique can be successfully applied on images with high noise levels. The results are low error in noisy pixel reconstruction and better visual quality.

The effectiveness testing of oil spill-treating agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fingas, M.F.; Kyle, D.A.; Laroche, N.; Fieldhouse, B.; Sergy, G.; Stoodley, G.

1995-01-01

Laboratory effectiveness tests have been developed for four classes of oil spill treating agents: solidifiers, demulsifying agents, surface-washing agents and dispersants. Several treating agent products in these four categories have been tested for effectiveness. The aquatic toxicity of these agents is an important factor and has been measured for many products. These results are presented. Solidifiers or gelling agents solidify oil. Test results show that solidifiers require between 16% and 200% of agent by weight compared to the oil. De-emulsifying agents or emulsion breakers prevent the formation of or break water-in-oil emulsions. Surfactant-containing materials are of two types, surface-washing agents and dispersants. Testing has shown that effectiveness is orthogonal for these two types of treating agents. Tests of surface washing agents show that only a few agents have effectiveness of 25 to 55%, where this is defined as the percentage of oil removed from a test surface. Dispersant effectiveness results using the swirling flask test are reported. Heavy oils show effectiveness values of about 1%, medium crudes of about 10%, light crude oils of about 30% and very light oils of about 90%

21 CFR 181.28 - Release agents.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2010-04-01 2009-04-01 true Release agents. 181.28 Section 181.28 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN... Release agents. Substances classified as release agents, when migrating from food-packaging material shall...

Ontology-based multi-agent systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hadzic, Maja; Wongthongtham, Pornpit; Dillon, Tharam; Chang, Elizabeth [Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence Institute, Perth, WA (Australia)

2009-07-01

The Semantic web has given a great deal of impetus to the development of ontologies and multi-agent systems. Several books have appeared which discuss the development of ontologies or of multi-agent systems separately on their own. The growing interaction between agents and ontologies has highlighted the need for integrated development of these. This book is unique in being the first to provide an integrated treatment of the modeling, design and implementation of such combined ontology/multi-agent systems. It provides clear exposition of this integrated modeling and design methodology. It further illustrates this with two detailed case studies in (a) the biomedical area and (b) the software engineering area. The book is, therefore, of interest to researchers, graduate students and practitioners in the semantic web and web science area. (orig.)

Chemical Agents

Science.gov (United States)

... CR) see Riot Control Agents Digitalis Distilled mustard (HD) see Sulfur mustard E Ethylene glycol F Fentanyls and other opioids H Hydrazine Hydrofluoric acid (hydrogen fluoride) Hydrogen chloride Hydrogen cyanide (AC) Hydrogen ...

A principal-agent Model of corruption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenendijk, Nico

1997-01-01

One of the new avenues in the study of political corruption is that of neo-institutional economics, of which the principal-agent theory is a part. In this article a principal-agent model of corruption is presented, in which there are two principals (one of which is corrupting), and one agent (who is

Radiation protective agents possessing anti-oxidative properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anzai, Kazunori; Ueno, Emi; Yoshida, Akira; Furuse, Masako; Ikota, Nobuo [National Inst. of Radiological Sciences, Research Center for Radiation Safety, Chiba, Chiba (Japan)

2005-11-15

The purpose of studies is to see mechanisms of radiation protection of agents possessing anti-oxidative properties because the initial step resulting in radiation hazard is the formation of radicals by water radiolysis. Agents were commercially available or synthesized proxyl derivatives (spin prove agents), commercially available spin-trapping agents, edaravone and TMG (a tocopherol glycoside). Mice and cultured cells were X-irradiated by Shimadzu Pantak HF-320 or 320S. Survivals of cells were determined by colony assay and of mice, to which the agents were given intraperitoneally before or after X-irradiation, within 30 days post irradiation. Plasma and marrow concentrations of proxyls were estimated by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry. Mechanisms of their radiation protective effects were shown different from agent to agent. TMG was found effective even post irradiation, which suggests a possibility for a new drug development. Some (spin trapping agents and TMG), virtually ineffective at the cell level, were found effective in the whole body, suggesting the necessity of studies on their disposition and metabolism. (S.I.)

Radiation protective agents possessing anti-oxidative properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anzai, Kazunori; Ueno, Emi; Yoshida, Akira; Furuse, Masako; Ikota, Nobuo

2005-01-01

The purpose of studies is to see mechanisms of radiation protection of agents possessing anti-oxidative properties because the initial step resulting in radiation hazard is the formation of radicals by water radiolysis. Agents were commercially available or synthesized proxyl derivatives (spin prove agents), commercially available spin-trapping agents, edaravone and TMG (a tocopherol glycoside). Mice and cultured cells were X-irradiated by Shimadzu Pantak HF-320 or 320S. Survivals of cells were determined by colony assay and of mice, to which the agents were given intraperitoneally before or after X-irradiation, within 30 days post irradiation. Plasma and marrow concentrations of proxyls were estimated by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry. Mechanisms of their radiation protective effects were shown different from agent to agent. TMG was found effective even post irradiation, which suggests a possibility for a new drug development. Some (spin trapping agents and TMG), virtually ineffective at the cell level, were found effective in the whole body, suggesting the necessity of studies on their disposition and metabolism. (S.I.)

EL TIEMPO

OpenAIRE

Jaramillo Ochoa, Jaramillo

2009-01-01

El tiempo es el aliado misterioso que nos envuelve y nos transporta, nos permite ser viajeros de nuestro propio tren sin reglas. Cómo saber qué tiempo tomar... Cómo saber qué tiempo ceder... Cómo saber cuando el tiempo es correcto... Es silencioso, es voraz, es traicionero, el peor de los enemigos: el tiempo no perdona. Cómo saber si el tiempo se detiene.

Preemptive mobile code protection using spy agents

OpenAIRE

Kalogridis, Georgios

2011-01-01

This thesis introduces 'spy agents' as a new security paradigm for evaluating trust in remote hosts in mobile code scenarios. In this security paradigm, a spy agent, i.e. a mobile agent which circulates amongst a number of remote hosts, can employ a variety of techniques in order to both appear 'normal' and suggest to a malicious host that it can 'misuse' the agent's data or code without being held accountable. A framework for the operation and deployment of such spy agents is described. ...

Dynamics of Three Agent Games

OpenAIRE

Rador, Tonguc; Mungan, Muhittin

2007-01-01

We study the dynamics and resulting score distribution of three-agent games where after each competition a single agent wins and scores a point. A single competition is described by a triplet of numbers $p$, $t$ and $q$ denoting the probabilities that the team with the highest, middle or lowest accumulated score wins. We study the full family of solutions in the regime, where the number of agents and competitions is large, which can be regarded as a hydrodynamic limit. Depending on the parame...

CHI: A General Agent Communication Framework

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldsmith, S.Y.; Phillips, L.R.; Spires, S.V.

1998-12-17

We have completed and exercised a communication framework called CHI (CLOS to HTML Interface) by which agents can communicate with humans. CHI follows HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and produces HTML (HyperText Markup Language) for use by WWW (World-Wide Web) browsers. CHI enables the rapid and dynamic construction of interface mechanisms. The essence of CHI is automatic registration of dynamically generated interface elements to named objects in the agent's internal environment. The agent can access information in these objects at will. State is preserved, so an agent can pursue branching interaction sequences, activate failure recovery behaviors, and otherwise act opportunistically to maintain a conversation. The CHI mechanism remains transparent in multi-agent, multi-user environments because of automatically generated unique identifiers built into the CHI mechanism. In this paper we discuss design, language, implementation, and extension issues, and, by way of illustration, examine the use of the general CHI/HCHI mechanism in a specific international electronic commerce system. We conclude that the CHI mechanism is an effective, efficient, and extensible means of the agent/human communication.

VigilAgent for the development of agent-based multi-robot surveillance systems

OpenAIRE

Gascueña Noheda, José Manuel; Navarro Martínez, Elena María; Fernández Caballero, Antonio

2011-01-01

Usually, surveillance applications are developed following an ad-hoc approach instead of using a methodology to guide stakeholders in achieving quality standards expected from commercial software. To solve this gap, our conjecture is that surveillance applications can be fully developed from their initial design stages by means of agent-based methodologies. Specifically, this paper describes the experience and the results of using a multi-agent systems approach according to the process provid...

What makes virtual agents believable?

Science.gov (United States)

Bogdanovych, Anton; Trescak, Tomas; Simoff, Simeon

2016-01-01

In this paper we investigate the concept of believability and make an attempt to isolate individual characteristics (features) that contribute to making virtual characters believable. As the result of this investigation we have produced a formalisation of believability and based on this formalisation built a computational framework focused on simulation of believable virtual agents that possess the identified features. In order to test whether the identified features are, in fact, responsible for agents being perceived as more believable, we have conducted a user study. In this study we tested user reactions towards the virtual characters that were created for a simulation of aboriginal inhabitants of a particular area of Sydney, Australia in 1770 A.D. The participants of our user study were exposed to short simulated scenes, in which virtual agents performed some behaviour in two different ways (while possessing a certain aspect of believability vs. not possessing it). The results of the study indicate that virtual agents that appear resource bounded, are aware of their environment, own interaction capabilities and their state in the world, agents that can adapt to changes in the environment and exist in correct social context are those that are being perceived as more believable. Further in the paper we discuss these and other believability features and provide a quantitative analysis of the level of contribution for each such feature to the overall perceived believability of a virtual agent.

Radioactive scanning agents with hydroquinone stabilizer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitehouse, H.S.

1982-01-01

Stable compositions useful as technetium 99m-based scintigraphic agents comprise hydroquinone in combination with a pertechnetate reducing agent or dissolved in pertechnetate-99m (sup(99m)TcOsub(4)sup(-)) solution. The compositions are especially useful in combination with a phosphate or phosphonate material which carries the radionuclide to bone, thus providing a skeletal imaging agent

21 CFR 178.3860 - Release agents.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2010-04-01 2009-04-01 true Release agents. 178.3860 Section 178.3860 Food and... and Production Aids § 178.3860 Release agents. Substances listed in paragraph (b) of this section may be safely used as release agents in petroleum wax complying with § 178.3710 and in polymeric resins...

Applications of Multi-Agent Technology to Power Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Nagata, Takeshi

Currently, agents are focus of intense on many sub-fields of computer science and artificial intelligence. Agents are being used in an increasingly wide variety of applications. Many important computing applications such as planning, process control, communication networks and concurrent systems will benefit from using multi-agent system approach. A multi-agent system is a structure given by an environment together with a set of artificial agents capable to act on this environment. Multi-agent models are oriented towards interactions, collaborative phenomena, and autonomy. This article presents the applications of multi-agent technology to the power systems.

Aptitud combinatoria general y especifica de líneas tropicales de maiz usando probadores

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauro Sierra

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Aptitud combinatoria general y específica de líneas tropicales de maíz usando probadores. Durante el ciclo O - I 1996/97 fueron evaluados en el Campo Experimental Cotaxtla mestizos de líneas sobresalientes y provenientes de varias fuentes de germoplasma como son : a Líneas recicladas de H-513 X VS-536, b Líneas derivadas de un compuesto de amplia base genética, c Líneas élite de programa de maíz de Cotaxtla (LTs y d Líneas de CIMMYT (CMLs. Como probadores se usaron las líneas LT-154 y LT-155 progenitores del híbrido H-513 y las líneas CML247 y CML254 cuya cruza es un patrón heterótico definido por CIMMYT para el trópico. Hubo líneas con buen comportamiento per-se tanto en rendimiento como en características agronómicas y que se encuentran formando mestizos sobresalientes con uno o varios probadores. Con relación a la Aptitud combinatoria, se encontró que las líneas F31XF30-4-3-1, F41XF40-1-2-1, CABG3’-12-2-1-2-1-1, LT174 y CML15 registraron los máximos valores con el probador 2 (LT155; F4XF3-5-2-1 y CML15 con el probador 4 (CMl254. Así también, las líneas F4XF5-5-1-1, y CABG3’-12-2-1-2-1-1, LT174, CML13 y CML15 con buena ACG. Con relación a los probadores, se encontró que para el grupo de líneas Recicladas , los probadores 1(LT154 y 4 (CML254 registraron los coeficientes de regresión más altos, lo que indica que permiten identificar líneas sobresalientes. Para líneas CABG fué el probador 2 (LT155 el que registró el mejor valor y en líneas Élite , los probadores 2(LT155, y 3(CML247 identificaron mejor a las líneas sobresalientes. Para las líneas del CIMMYT el mejor valor fué para el probador 4(CML254

Improving Multi-Agent Systems Using Jason

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vester, Steen; Boss, Niklas Skamriis; Jensen, Andreas Schmidt

2011-01-01

We describe the approach used to develop the multi-agent system of herders that competed as the Jason-DTU team at the Multi-Agent Programming Contest 2010. We also participated in 2009 with a system developed in the agentoriented programming language Jason which is an extension of AgentSpeak. We ...... used the implementation from 2009 as a foundation and therefore much of the work done this year was on improving that implementation. We present a description which includes design and analysis of the system as well as the main features of our agent team strategy. In addition we discuss...

Fault Reconnaissance Agent for Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elhadi M. Shakshuki

2010-01-01

Full Text Available One of the key prerequisite for a scalable, effective and efficient sensor network is the utilization of low-cost, low-overhead and high-resilient fault-inference techniques. To this end, we propose an intelligent agent system with a problem solving capability to address the issue of fault inference in sensor network environments. The intelligent agent system is designed and implemented at base-station side. The core of the agent system – problem solver – implements a fault-detection inference engine which harnesses Expectation Maximization (EM algorithm to estimate fault probabilities of sensor nodes. To validate the correctness and effectiveness of the intelligent agent system, a set of experiments in a wireless sensor testbed are conducted. The experimental results show that our intelligent agent system is able to precisely estimate the fault probability of sensor nodes.

[Decorporation agents for internal radioactive contamination].

Science.gov (United States)

Ohmachi, Yasushi

2015-01-01

When radionuclides are accidentally ingested or inhaled, blood circulation or tissue/organ deposition of the radionuclides causes systemic or local radiation effects. In such cases, decorporation therapy is used to reduce the health risks due to their intake. Decorporation therapy includes reduction and/or inhibition of absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, isotopic dilution, and the use of diuretics, adsorbents, and chelating agents. For example, penicillamine is recommended as a chelating agent for copper contamination, and diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid is approved for the treatment of internal contamination with plutonium. During chelation therapy, the removal effect of the drugs should be monitored using a whole-body counter and/or bioassay. Some authorities, such as the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements and International Atomic Energy Agency, have reported recommended decorporation agents for each radionuclide. However, few drugs are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and many are off-label-use agents. Because many decontamination agents are drugs that have been available for a long time and have limited efficacy, the development of new, higher-efficacy drugs has been carried out mainly in the USA and France. In this article, in addition to an outline of decorporation agents for internal radioactive contamination, an outline of our research on decorporation agents for actinide (uranium and plutonium) contamination and for radio-cesium contamination is also presented.

MODELO DE APOYO A LA COMERCIALIZACIÓN DE ELECTRICIDAD USANDO LÓGICA DIFUSA Y APRENDIZAJE DE MÁQUINA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JULIAN MORENO

2009-01-01

Full Text Available El trabajo que se describe en este artículo explora la posibilidad de emplear un modelo basado en la lógica difusa y en el aprendizaje de máquina para que los agentes comercializadores del mercado eléctrico Colombiano, o de alguno con características similares, maximicen sus utilidades de acuerdo a su perfil de riesgo. El modelo consta de dos partes, la primera es un sistema experto difuso que les brinda a estos agentes una recomendación respecto a la estrategia comercial que deben emplear, y cuya definición depende principalmente de las condiciones del mercado. La segunda es un mecanismo de aprendizaje por refuerzo con el que los agentes "aprenden" a medida que perciben las consecuencias que sus acciones les acarrean, de manera que las modifican esperando obtener una recompensa no solo en el corto sino también en el largo plazo.

Characterization of chemical agent transport in paints.

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Matthew P; Gordon, Wesley; Lalain, Teri; Mantooth, Brent

2013-09-15

A combination of vacuum-based vapor emission measurements with a mass transport model was employed to determine the interaction of chemical warfare agents with various materials, including transport parameters of agents in paints. Accurate determination of mass transport parameters enables the simulation of the chemical agent distribution in a material for decontaminant performance modeling. The evaluation was performed with the chemical warfare agents bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide (distilled mustard, known as the chemical warfare blister agent HD) and O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate (VX), an organophosphate nerve agent, deposited on to two different types of polyurethane paint coatings. The results demonstrated alignment between the experimentally measured vapor emission flux and the predicted vapor flux. Mass transport modeling demonstrated rapid transport of VX into the coatings; VX penetrated through the aliphatic polyurethane-based coating (100 μm) within approximately 107 min. By comparison, while HD was more soluble in the coatings, the penetration depth in the coatings was approximately 2× lower than VX. Applications of mass transport parameters include the ability to predict agent uptake, and subsequent long-term vapor emission or contact transfer where the agent could present exposure risks. Additionally, these parameters and model enable the ability to perform decontamination modeling to predict how decontaminants remove agent from these materials. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Evaluation of clot formation in blood-contrast agent mixture: experimental study on ionic/nonionic contrast agents and plastic/ glass syringes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shim, Hyung Jin; Lee, Jong Beum; Lee, Yong Chul; Lee, Kwan Seh; Kim, Kun Sang

1991-01-01

Recent introduction of low-osmolar nonionic contrast agents has allowed the performance of angiography with certain advantages such as reduced pain, reduced osmotic load and other potential advantages, over high osmolar ionic contrast agents. But the potential thrombogenic risk of nonionic contrast agent has been debate because of their weak anticoagulation effect. Several reports have recently documented the formation of thrombi in catheters and syringes containing nonionic contrast agent, and thromboembolic episodes have been noted during angiographic procedures. We have also been experienced blood clotting within blood mixed contrast agent syringe during angiography. Thus, we have studied with blood mixed ionic (Diatrizoate, Ioglicate) agents and nonionic (Iopamidol, Iopromide) agents, that used usually in our hospital, and saline in plastic and glass syringes. Each syringes were checked the clot formation on 10,30,60,90 minutes. Total 340 samples were obtained from 8 adults before angiography. Our data showed that nonionic contrast agents had significantly lesser anticoagulation effect than ionic contrast agents (ρ < 0.0001) on Chi-square test), both in plastic and glass syringes. And formation of clotting in glass syringes were significantly greater than that in plastic syringes (ρ < 0.0001). Thus meticulous technique is required to prevent thrombosis during angiographic procedure using nonionic contrast agents

Introducing ALAS: A Novel Agent-Oriented Programming Language

Science.gov (United States)

Mitrović, Dejan; Ivanović, Mirjana; Vidaković, Milan

2011-09-01

Agent-oriented programming languages represent a family of programming languages that provide developers with high-level abstractions and constructs necessary for implementing and using agent-related concepts. In this paper a novel agent-oriented programming language for rapid and efficient development of reactive agents, named ALAS, is presented. The simple, but powerful set of language constructs is designed to support the execution of agents in heterogenous environments, and to enable easy employment of advanced agent features, such as mobility and web service integration.

Computational Intelligence Agent-Oriented Modelling

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Neruda, Roman

2006-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 2 (2006), s. 430-433 ISSN 1109-2777 R&D Projects: GA MŠk 1M0567 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : multi-agent systems * adaptive agents * computational intelligence Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

Reactive agents and perceptual ambiguity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dartel, M. van; Sprinkhuizen-Kuyper, I.G.; Postma, E.O.; Herik, H.J. van den

2005-01-01

Reactive agents are generally believed to be incapable of coping with perceptual ambiguity (i.e., identical sensory states that require different responses). However, a recent finding suggests that reactive agents can cope with perceptual ambiguity in a simple model (Nolfi, 2002). This paper

Noncontraceptive use of contraceptive agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Nickles, Monique Collier; Alderman, Elizabeth

2014-06-01

• On the basis of strong research evidence, there are many noncontraceptive advantages to use of hormonal contraceptive agents in adolescent girls. (3) (4)(5)(7)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). • On the basis of research evidence and consensus, most of these agents are safe with minor adverse effects. (2)(3)(4)(5)(7)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). • On the basis of research evidence and consensus, through application of evidence-based approaches and proper counseling, pediatricians can use various contraceptive agents to treat several medical conditions and to help alleviate many of the undesired symptoms and complications associated with menstrual periods. (2)(3)(4)(5)(7)(10)(11)(12)(13) (14). • On the basis of research evidence and consensus, these agents may be used in sexually active adolescents to simultaneously help prevent unintended adolescent pregnancies. (2)(3)(4)(5)(7)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14).

Cranial nerve contrast using nerve-specific fluorophores improved by paired-agent imaging with indocyanine green as a control agent

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Veronica C.; Vuong, Victoria D.; Wilson, Todd; Wewel, Joshua; Byrne, Richard W.; Tichauer, Kenneth M.

2017-09-01

Nerve preservation during surgery is critical because damage can result in significant morbidity. This remains a challenge especially for skull base surgeries where cranial nerves (CNs) are involved because visualization and access are particularly poor in that location. We present a paired-agent imaging method to enhance identification of CNs using nerve-specific fluorophores. Two myelin-targeting imaging agents were evaluated, Oxazine 4 and Rhodamine 800, and coadministered with a control agent, indocyanine green, either intravenously or topically in rats. Fluorescence imaging was performed on excised brains ex vivo, and nerve contrast was evaluated via paired-agent ratiometric data analysis. Although contrast was improved among all experimental groups using paired-agent imaging compared to conventional, solely targeted imaging, Oxazine 4 applied directly exhibited the greatest enhancement, with a minimum 3 times improvement in CNs delineation. This work highlights the importance of accounting for nonspecific signal of targeted agents, and demonstrates that paired-agent imaging is one method capable of doing so. Although staining, rinsing, and imaging protocols need to be optimized, these findings serve as a demonstration for the potential use of paired-agent imaging to improve contrast of CNs, and consequently, surgical outcome.

Institutions, Behavior of Agents and Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukharev Oleg, S.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available We study the efficiency criterion, describing the behavior and choices of agents, the influence of moral norms on the model of behavior, as well as the criterion of efficiency as an institution to assess the behavior and development of the economic system. Curve proposed institutional compromise that allows to determine the possibility of changes in the welfare of interacting agents and their compliance with ethical standards when welfare increases due to violation or compliance with these standards. For the purposes of this demonstration of the influence of the model of chart-based dilemmas Holmes-Moriarty. Incentives in determining the agents behaviors play a key role in their formation due to the moral principles of behavior. However, in economics there are situations when moral principles are derived certain behaviors or interactions agents. Holmes and Moriarty there is an alternative interaction, which they can not take advantage of, and there is a full range of alternatives that actually programs the strategic outcomes of interactions that reflect the curves of "institutional compromise." Choosing an agent of moral standards as a potential model determines its behavior and, most importantly, interaction with other agents, adhering to certain moral principles. Assess the condition and the possibility of using a static criterion of Pareto efficiency for the analysis of situations where it is important to measure the economic efficiency. Showing institutional aspects that must be considered in the application or formulation of new performance criteria. It is proved that there is a connection microeconomic efficiency / inefficiency and parameters of behavior of agents that actualizes the need to impact on the behavior of agents incentives to solve the task of changing the structure.

[Community health agents: profile and education].

Science.gov (United States)

Marzari, Carla Kowalski; Junges, José Roque; Selli, Lucilda

2011-01-01

This research discusses the profile and education of the community health agents. There is no clarity about the kind of professional needed and the appropriate training to the fulfillment of the function. The research is a case study with exploratory methodology and qualitative approach. The data was collected with a focused group, formed by ten agents, intentional selected from those with more time in service in Family Health Strategy teams from the municipality of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul State. The discussions were recorded and transcribed by the researcher. The data was interpreted by content analysis. The results pointed to some important questions concerning the identity of the community health agents: integration on the health team, insertion in the community, profile and education. The profile which emerges from the research, is not different from the one proposed by the Ministry of Health. However, the difference is the professionalization, an initiative assumed by the agent, guided by reality, which he faces in his activity. The gaps, perceived in his formation, cause the agent to construct his professional identity, determined more by the technical aspect of the scientific knowledge than by his social competence as a community agent.

Agents in E-learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Mencke

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a framework to describe thecrossover domain of e-learning and agent technology.Furthermore it is used to classify existing work and possiblestarting points for the future development of agenttechniques and technologies order to enhance theperformance and the effectiveness of several aspects of elearningsystems. Agents are not a new concept but their usein the field of e-learning constitutes a basis for consequentialadvances.

A Multi-Agent Environment for Negotiation

Science.gov (United States)

Hindriks, Koen V.; Jonker, Catholijn M.; Tykhonov, Dmytro

In this chapter we introduce the System for Analysis of Multi-Issue Negotiation (SAMIN). SAMIN offers a negotiation environment that supports and facilitates the setup of various negotiation setups. The environment has been designed to analyse negotiation processes between human negotiators, between human and software agents, and between software agents. It offers a range of different agents, different domains, and other options useful to define a negotiation setup. The environment has been used to test and evaluate a range of negotiation strategies in various domains playing against other negotiating agents as well as humans. We discuss some of the results obtained by means of these experiments.

Agent-Based Negotiation in Uncertain Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Debenham, John; Sierra, Carles

An agent aims to secure his projected needs by attempting to build a set of (business) relationships with other agents. A relationship is built by exchanging private information, and is characterised by its intimacy — degree of closeness — and balance — degree of fairness. Each argumentative interaction between two agents then has two goals: to satisfy some immediate need, and to do so in a way that develops the relationship in a desired direction. An agent's desire to develop each relationship in a particular way then places constraints on the argumentative utterances. The form of negotiation described is argumentative interaction constrained by a desire to develop such relationships.

A study on development and applications of agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sun Hee; Sohn, Jae Min

2000-06-01

An agent study is variously applied from the restricted research of an early AI field to the practical SW development of the design and implementation of a high level, distributed hybrid system. Among the detailed research fields of AI, making a new research field called distributed AI, the trial of resolving a problem based on an agent, has begun. Related to it, the requirement of an intelligent system to offer convenience to easily do a job which the user wants, with the recent trial of an approach for internet agents of various types, were developed to be performed automatically and the agent anticipate the user's need. In this paper, the basic concepts regarding an agent system, research direction and applications were analyzed and outlined. The consisting elements were also analyzed. such as background, needs, basic concepts and properties of the agent. The agent's research status was recently analyzed, and the development and related property of an intelligent agent were written. Application and the instance of a generalized agent about applicable fields in the real world were studied, functions and services about intelligent agents were analyzed. The applicable field of an agent technique becomes various not in information retrieval on a web site, but in the processing of internet information, and in the electronic commerce, industry and medical fields. Through analyzing and comparing the general concept of various agents, this study will aid in establishing a future direction of research in this field

Multi-Agent Information Classification Using Dynamic Acquaintance Lists.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhopadhyay, Snehasis; Peng, Shengquan; Raje, Rajeev; Palakal, Mathew; Mostafa, Javed

2003-01-01

Discussion of automated information services focuses on information classification and collaborative agents, i.e. intelligent computer programs. Highlights include multi-agent systems; distributed artificial intelligence; thesauri; document representation and classification; agent modeling; acquaintances, or remote agents discovered through…

Artificial agents learning human fairness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, de S.; Tuyls, K.P.; Verbeeck, K.; Padgham, xx; Parkes, xx

2008-01-01

Recent advances in technology allow multi-agent systems to be deployed in cooperation with or as a service for humans. Typically, those systems are designed assuming individually rational agents, according to the principles of classical game theory. However, research in the field of behavioral

Requirements Modeling with Agent Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Dasgupta, Aniruddha; Krishna, Aneesh; Ghose, Aditya K.

Agent-oriented conceptual modeling notations are highly effective in representing requirements from an intentional stance and answering questions such as what goals exist, how key actors depend on each other, and what alternatives must be considered. In this chapter, we review an approach to executing i* models by translating these into set of interacting agents implemented in the CASO language and suggest how we can perform reasoning with requirements modeled (both functional and non-functional) using i* models. In this chapter we particularly incorporate deliberation into the agent design. This allows us to benefit from the complementary representational capabilities of the two frameworks.

Trends and developments in MRI contrast agent research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavagna, F.M.; Dapra, M.; Castelli, P.M.; Maggioni, F.; Kirchin, M.A.

1997-01-01

The currently prevailing trends in industrial contrast agent research for MRI are discussed. Specific mention is made of contrast agents for liver imaging using both static and delayed procedures, of the potential for blood pool agents and the form such agents may take, and of the ultimate challenge for contrast agent R and D: tissue-targeting in a wider sense to both normal and pathologic tissues. (orig.)

Persistent agents in Axelrod's social dynamics model

Science.gov (United States)

Reia, Sandro M.; Neves, Ubiraci P. C.

2016-01-01

Axelrod's model of social dynamics has been studied under the effect of external media. Here we study the formation of cultural domains in the model by introducing persistent agents. These are agents whose cultural traits are not allowed to change but may be spread through local neighborhood. In the absence of persistent agents, the system is known to present a transition from a monocultural to a multicultural regime at some critical Q (number of traits). Our results reveal a dependence of critical Q on the occupation probability p of persistent agents and we obtain the phase diagram of the model in the (p,Q) -plane. The critical locus is explained by the competition of two opposite forces named here barrier and bonding effects. Such forces are verified to be caused by non-persistent agents which adhere (adherent agents) to the set of traits of persistent ones. The adherence (concentration of adherent agents) as a function of p is found to decay for constant Q. Furthermore, adherence as a function of Q is found to decay as a power law with constant p.

Reversal agents in anaesthesia and critical care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nibedita Pani

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the advent of short and ultra-short acting drugs, an in-depth knowledge of the reversal agents used is a necessity for any anaesthesiologist. Reversal agents are defined as any drug used to reverse the effects of anaesthetics, narcotics or potentially toxic agents. The controversy on the routine reversal of neuromuscular blockade still exists. The advent of newer reversal agents like sugammadex have made the use of steroidal neuromuscular blockers like rocuronium feasible in rapid sequence induction situations. We made a review of the older reversal agents and those still under investigation for drugs that are regularly used in our anaesthesia practice.

Chemical warfare agents identification by thermal neutron detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Boxue; Ai Xianyun; Tan Daoyuan; Zhang Dianqin

2000-01-01

The hydrogen concentration determination by thermal neutron detection is a non-destructive, fast and effective method to identify chemical warfare agents and TNT that contain different hydrogen fraction. When an isotropic neutron source is used to irradiate chemical ammunition, hydrogen atoms of the agent inside shell act as a moderator and slow down neutrons. The number of induced thermal neutrons depends mainly upon hydrogen content of the agent. Therefore measurement of thermal neutron influence can be used to determine hydrogen atom concentration, thereby to determine the chemical warfare agents. Under a certain geometry three calibration curves of count rate against hydrogen concentration were measured. According to the calibration curves, response of a chemical agent or TNT could be calculated. Differences of count rate among chemical agents and TNT for each kind of shells is greater than five times of standard deviations of count rate for any agent, so chemical agents or TNT could be identified correctly. Meanwhile, blast tube or liquid level of chemical warfare agent could affect the response of thermal neutron count rate, and thereby the result of identification. (author)

Os efeitos da política monetária sobre o produto no Brasil: evidência empírica usando restrição de sinais

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jocildo Fernandes Bezerra

2014-08-01

Full Text Available O presente trabalho tem por objetivo examinar os efeitos dos choques da política monetária sobre o Produto Interno Bruto (PIB e sobre a produção industrial, usando, respectivamente, dados de periodicidades trimestral e mensal, cobrindo o período de 1995 a 2010. O método empregado foi o de Vetores Autorregressivos (VAR, tal como proposto por Uhlig (2005, que consiste em permitir que as dinâmicas do PIB e do produto industrial se ajustem livremente às restrições dos sinais das funções de impulso-resposta das demais variáveis do modelo. Os resultados obtidos revelam que choques na taxa de juros da política monetária produzem efeitos mais expressivos quando comparados com estudos anteriores. A decomposição histórica da variância mostra que os choques mantêm o PIB abaixo de sua tendência no período de 1996 a 2002, enquanto no caso do produto industrial, esse padrão ocorre em todo o período estudado.

Agent-Based Models in Social Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Quang, Le Anh; Jung, Nam; Cho, Eun Sung; Choi, Jae Han; Lee, Jae Woo

2018-06-01

We review the agent-based models (ABM) on social physics including econophysics. The ABM consists of agent, system space, and external environment. The agent is autonomous and decides his/her behavior by interacting with the neighbors or the external environment with the rules of behavior. Agents are irrational because they have only limited information when they make decisions. They adapt using learning from past memories. Agents have various attributes and are heterogeneous. ABM is a non-equilibrium complex system that exhibits various emergence phenomena. The social complexity ABM describes human behavioral characteristics. In ABMs of econophysics, we introduce the Sugarscape model and the artificial market models. We review minority games and majority games in ABMs of game theory. Social flow ABM introduces crowding, evacuation, traffic congestion, and pedestrian dynamics. We also review ABM for opinion dynamics and voter model. We discuss features and advantages and disadvantages of Netlogo, Repast, Swarm, and Mason, which are representative platforms for implementing ABM.

Application Framework with Abstractions for Protocol and Agent Role

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Bent Bruun

2016-01-01

In multi-agent systems, agents interact by sending and receiving messages and the actual sequences of message form interaction structures between agents. Protocols and agents organized internally by agent roles support these interaction structures. Description and use of protocols based on agent ...... roles are supported by a simple and expressive application framework....

Three essays in agent-based macroeconomics

OpenAIRE

Canzian, Giulia

2009-01-01

The dissertation is aimed at offering an insight into the agent-based methodology and its possible application to the macroeconomic analysis. Relying on this methodology, I deal with three different issues concerning heterogeneity of economic agents, bounded rationality and interaction. Specifically, the first chapter is devoted to describe the distinctive characteristics of agent-based economics and its advantages-disadvantages. In the second chapter I propose a credit market framework c...

Dendrimer-based Macromolecular MRI Contrast Agents: Characteristics and Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hisataka Kobayashi

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Numerous macromolecular MRI contrast agents prepared employing relatively simple chemistry may be readily available that can provide sufficient enhancement for multiple applications. These agents operate using a ~100-fold lower concentration of gadolinium ions in comparison to the necessary concentration of iodine employed in CT imaging. Herein, we describe some of the general potential directions of macromolecular MRI contrast agents using our recently reported families of dendrimer-based agents as examples. Changes in molecular size altered the route of excretion. Smaller-sized contrast agents less than 60 kDa molecular weight were excreted through the kidney resulting in these agents being potentially suitable as functional renal contrast agents. Hydrophilic and larger-sized contrast agents were found better suited for use as blood pool contrast agents. Hydrophobic variants formed with polypropylenimine diaminobutane dendrimer cores created liver contrast agents. Larger hydrophilic agents are useful for lymphatic imaging. Finally, contrast agents conjugated with either monoclonal antibodies or with avidin are able to function as tumor-specific contrast agents, which also might be employed as therapeutic drugs for either gadolinium neutron capture therapy or in conjunction with radioimmunotherapy.

Agent-based modeling of sustainable behaviors

CERN Document Server

Sánchez-Maroño, Noelia; Fontenla-Romero, Oscar; Polhill, J; Craig, Tony; Bajo, Javier; Corchado, Juan

2017-01-01

Using the O.D.D. (Overview, Design concepts, Detail) protocol, this title explores the role of agent-based modeling in predicting the feasibility of various approaches to sustainability. The chapters incorporated in this volume consist of real case studies to illustrate the utility of agent-based modeling and complexity theory in discovering a path to more efficient and sustainable lifestyles. The topics covered within include: households' attitudes toward recycling, designing decision trees for representing sustainable behaviors, negotiation-based parking allocation, auction-based traffic signal control, and others. This selection of papers will be of interest to social scientists who wish to learn more about agent-based modeling as well as experts in the field of agent-based modeling.

Mobile Agents in Networking and Distributed Computing

CERN Document Server

Cao, Jiannong

2012-01-01

The book focuses on mobile agents, which are computer programs that can autonomously migrate between network sites. This text introduces the concepts and principles of mobile agents, provides an overview of mobile agent technology, and focuses on applications in networking and distributed computing.

Exchanging large data object in multi-agent systems

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Yaseen, Wathiq Laftah; Othman, Zulaiha Ali; Nazri, Mohd Zakree Ahmad

2016-08-01

One of the Business Intelligent solutions that is currently in use is the Multi-Agent System (MAS). Communication is one of the most important elements in MAS, especially for exchanging large low level data between distributed agents (physically). The Agent Communication Language in JADE has been offered as a secure method for sending data, whereby the data is defined as an object. However, the object cannot be used to send data to another agent in a different location. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to propose a method for the exchange of large low level data as an object by creating a proxy agent known as a Delivery Agent, which temporarily imitates the Receiver Agent. The results showed that the proposed method is able to send large-sized data. The experiments were conducted using 16 datasets ranging from 100,000 to 7 million instances. However, for the proposed method, the RAM and the CPU machine had to be slightly increased for the Receiver Agent, but the latency time was not significantly different compared to the use of the Java Socket method (non-agent and less secure). With such results, it was concluded that the proposed method can be used to securely send large data between agents.

Protecting mobile agents from external replay attacks

OpenAIRE

Garrigues Olivella, Carles; Migas, Nikos; Buchanan, William; Robles, Sergi; Borrell Viader, Joan

2014-01-01

Peer-reviewed This paper presents a protocol for the protection of mobile agents against external replay attacks. This kind of attacks are performed by malicious platforms when dispatching an agent multiple times to a remote host, thus making it reexecute part of its itinerary. Current proposals aiming to address this problem are based on storing agent identifiers, or trip markers, inside agent platforms, so that future reexecutions can be detected and prevented. The problem of these solut...

Process for preparation of MR contrast agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2002-01-01

The present invention provides a process for the preparation of an MR contrast agent, said process comprising: i) obtaining a solution in a solvent of a hydrogenatable, unsaturated substrate compound and a catalyst for the hydrogenation of said substrate compound; ii) introducing said solution...... in droplet form into a chamber containing hydrogen gas (H2) enriched in para-hydrogen (p-1H2) and/or ortho-deuterium (o-2H2) whereby to hydrogenate said substrate to form a hydrogenated imaging agent; iii) optionally subjecting said hydrogenated imaging agent to a magnetic field having a field strength below...... earth's ambient field strength; iv) optionally dissolving said imaging agent in an aqueous medium; v) optionally separating said catalyst from the solution of said imaging agent in said aqueous medium; vi) optionally separating said solvent from the solution of said imaging agent in said aqueous medium...

Pinning synchronization of a mobile agent network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Lei; Sun, You-xian

2009-01-01

We investigate the problem of controlling a group of mobile agents in a plane in order to move them towards a desired orbit via pinning control, in which each agent is associated with a chaotic oscillator coupled with those of neighboring agents, and the pinning strategy is to have the common linear feedback acting on a small fraction of agents by random selection. We explore the effects of the pinning probability, feedback gains and agent density in the pinning synchronization of a mobile agent network under a fast-switching constraint, and perform numerical simulations for validation. In particular, we show that there exists a critical pinning density for network synchronization with an unbounded region: above the threshold, the dynamical network can be controlled by pinning; below it, anarchy prevails. And for the network with a single bounded synchronization region, pinning control has little effect as regards enhancing network synchronizability

22 CFR 51.22 - Passport agents and passport acceptance agents.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... misdemeanor conviction for crimes involving moral turpitude or breach of trust, including but not limited to...) Safeguarding passport application information under the Privacy Act of 1974. Passport acceptance agents...

Transfection Agent Induced Nanoparticle Cell Loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karin Montet-Abou

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Loading cells with magnetic nanoparticles, and tracking their fate in vivo by high resolution MRI, is an attractive approach for enhancing the efficacy of cell-based therapies including those utilizing hematopoietic stem cells, neuroprogenitor cells, and T cells. The transfection agent (internalization agent assisted loading with the Feridex IV® nanoparticle is an attractive method of loading because of the low cost of materials, and possible low regulatory barriers for eventual clinical use. We therefore explored the interaction between Feridex IV® and three internalization agents protamine (PRO, polylysine (PLL, and lipofectamine (LFA. Feridex reacted with internalization agents to form aggregates, except when either the internalization agent or Feridex was present in large excess. When Jurkat T cells were incubated with Feridex/LFA or Feridex/PRO mixtures, and washed by centrifugation, nanoparticle aggregates co-purified with cells. With C17.2 cells large iron oxide particles adhered to the cell surface. At 30 μg/mL Feridex and 3 μg/mL LFA, internalization was largely mediated by LFA and was largely cytoplasmic. However, we found that the conditions used to label cells with Feridex and transfection agents need to be carefully selected to avoid the problems of surface adsorption and nanoparticle precipitation.

Anticipatory vehicle routing using delegate multi-agent systems

OpenAIRE

Weyns, Danny; Holvoet, Tom; Helleboogh, Alexander

2007-01-01

This paper presents an agent-based approach, called delegate multi-agent systems, for anticipatory vehicle routing to avoid traffic congestion. In this approach, individual vehicles are represented by agents, which themselves issue light-weight agents that explore alternative routes in the environment on behalf of the vehicles. Based on the evaluation of the alternatives, the vehicles then issue light-weight agents for allocating road segments, spreading the vehicles’ intentions and coordi...

Coll-Hurtado, A. (2016, Espacio y ocio: el turismo en México, Instituto de Geografía, UNAM, México, 168 pp., ISBN 978-607-02-8505-9

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Busto Ibarra

2017-03-01

Full Text Available El turismo es un tema de gran actualidad, y en las últimas décadas se ha convertido en una de las principales actividades económicas en diversos países del mundo que ofrecen al viajero increíbles lugares naturales, culturales, históricos, arqueológicos, que lo aleja de su rutina diaria y le permite disfrutar de un tiempo de ocio.

31 CFR 10.4 - Eligibility for enrollment as enrolled agent or enrolled retirement plan agent.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...) Enrollment as an enrolled agent upon examination. The Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility may grant enrollment as an enrolled agent to an applicant who demonstrates special competence in tax... the Office of Professional Responsibility and who has not engaged in any conduct that would justify...

Internet-enabled collaborative agent-based supply chains

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Weiming; Kremer, Rob; Norrie, Douglas H.

2000-12-01

This paper presents some results of our recent research work related to the development of a new Collaborative Agent System Architecture (CASA) and an Infrastructure for Collaborative Agent Systems (ICAS). Initially being proposed as a general architecture for Internet based collaborative agent systems (particularly complex industrial collaborative agent systems), the proposed architecture is very suitable for managing the Internet enabled complex supply chain for a large manufacturing enterprise. The general collaborative agent system architecture with the basic communication and cooperation services, domain independent components, prototypes and mechanisms are described. Benefits of implementing Internet enabled supply chains with the proposed infrastructure are discussed. A case study on Internet enabled supply chain management is presented.

Recent advances in agent-based complex automated negotiation

CERN Document Server

Ito, Takayuki; Zhang, Minjie; Fujita, Katsuhide; Robu, Valentin

2016-01-01

This book covers recent advances in Complex Automated Negotiations as a widely studied emerging area in the field of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. The book includes selected revised and extended papers from the 7th International Workshop on Agent-Based Complex Automated Negotiation (ACAN2014), which was held in Paris, France, in May 2014. The book also includes brief introductions about Agent-based Complex Automated Negotiation which are based on tutorials provided in the workshop, and brief summaries and descriptions about the ANAC'14 (Automated Negotiating Agents Competition) competition, where authors of selected finalist agents explain the strategies and the ideas used by them. The book is targeted to academic and industrial researchers in various communities of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems, such as agreement technology, mechanism design, electronic commerce, related areas, as well as graduate, undergraduate, and PhD students working in those areas or having interest in them.

Regulated open multi-agent systems (ROMAS) a multi-agent approach for designing normative open systems

CERN Document Server

Garcia, Emilia; Botti, Vicente

2015-01-01

Addressing the open problem of engineering normative open systems using the multi-agent paradigm, normative open systems are explained as systems in which heterogeneous and autonomous entities and institutions coexist in a complex social and legal framework that can evolve to address the different and often conflicting objectives of the many stakeholders involved. Presenting  a software engineering approach which covers both the analysis and design of these kinds of systems, and which deals with the open issues in the area, ROMAS (Regulated Open Multi-Agent Systems) defines a specific multi-agent architecture, meta-model, methodology and CASE tool. This CASE tool is based on Model-Driven technology and integrates the graphical design with the formal verification of some properties of these systems by means of model checking techniques. Utilizing tables to enhance reader insights into the most important requirements for designing normative open multi-agent systems, the book also provides a detailed and easy t...

Modelling User Preferences and Mediating Agents in Electronic Commerce

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dastani, M.M.; Jacobs, N.; Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.

2005-01-01

An important ingredient in agent-mediated electronic commerce is the presence of intelligent mediating agents that assist electronic commerce participants (e.g. individual users, other agents, organisations). These mediating agents are in principle autonomous agents that interact with their

Modeling culture in intelligent virtual agents

OpenAIRE

Mascarenhas, S.; Degens, N.; Paiva, A.; Prada, R.; Hofstede, G.J.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Aylett, R.

2016-01-01

This work addresses the challenge of creating virtual agents that are able to portray culturally appropriate behavior when interacting with other agents or humans. Because culture influences how people perceive their social reality it is important to have agent models that explicitly consider social elements, such as existing relational factors. We addressed this necessity by integrating culture into a novel model for simulating human social behavior. With this model, we operationalized a par...

[Biological agents].

Science.gov (United States)

Amano, Koichi

2009-03-01

There are two types of biological agents for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA); monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins. Among the latter, etanercept, a recombinant fusion protein of soluble TNF receptor and IgG was approved in 2005 in Japan. The post-marketing surveillance of 13,894 RA patients revealed the efficacy and safety profiles of etanercept in the Japanese population, as well as overseas studies. Abatacept, a recombinant fusion protein of CTLA4 and IgG, is another biological agent for RA. Two clinical trials disclosed the efficacy of abatacept for difficult-to-treat patients: the AIM for MTX-resistant cases and the ATTAIN for patients who are resistant to anti-TNF. The ATTEST trial suggested abatacept might have more acceptable safety profile than infliximab. These biologics are also promising for the treatment of RA for not only relieving clinical symptoms and signs but retarding structural damage.

Modeling User Preferences and Mediating Agents in Electronic Commerce

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dastani, M.M.; Jacobs, N.; Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.; Dignum, F.; Sierra, C.

2001-01-01

An important ingredient in agent-mediated Electronic Commerce is the presence of intelligent mediating agents that assist Electronic Commerce participants (e.g., individual users, other agents, organisations). These mediating agents are in principle autonomous agents that will interact with their

Evolutionary game theory using agent-based methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Adami, Christoph; Schossau, Jory; Hintze, Arend

2016-12-01

Evolutionary game theory is a successful mathematical framework geared towards understanding the selective pressures that affect the evolution of the strategies of agents engaged in interactions with potential conflicts. While a mathematical treatment of the costs and benefits of decisions can predict the optimal strategy in simple settings, more realistic settings such as finite populations, non-vanishing mutations rates, stochastic decisions, communication between agents, and spatial interactions, require agent-based methods where each agent is modeled as an individual, carries its own genes that determine its decisions, and where the evolutionary outcome can only be ascertained by evolving the population of agents forward in time. While highlighting standard mathematical results, we compare those to agent-based methods that can go beyond the limitations of equations and simulate the complexity of heterogeneous populations and an ever-changing set of interactors. We conclude that agent-based methods can predict evolutionary outcomes where purely mathematical treatments cannot tread (for example in the weak selection-strong mutation limit), but that mathematics is crucial to validate the computational simulations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Metareasoning and Social Evaluations in Cognitive Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Pinyol, Isaac; Sabater-Mir, Jordi

Reputation mechanisms have been recognized one of the key technologies when designing multi-agent systems. They are specially relevant in complex open environments, becoming a non-centralized mechanism to control interactions among agents. Cognitive agents tackling such complex societies must use reputation information not only for selecting partners to interact with, but also in metareasoning processes to change reasoning rules. This is the focus of this paper. We argue about the necessity to allow, as a cognitive systems designers, certain degree of freedom in the reasoning rules of the agents. We also describes cognitive approaches of agency that support this idea. Furthermore, taking as a base the computational reputation model Repage, and its integration in a BDI architecture, we use the previous ideas to specify metarules and processes to modify at run-time the reasoning paths of the agent. In concrete we propose a metarule to update the link between Repage and the belief base, and a metarule and a process to update an axiom incorporated in the belief logic of the agent. Regarding this last issue we also provide empirical results that show the evolution of agents that use it.

New antithrombotic agents in the ambulatory setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, Neville M; Weightman, William M; Watts, Stephen A

2014-12-01

Many patients presenting for surgical or other procedures in an ambulatory setting are taking new antiplatelet or anticoagulant agents. This review assesses how the novel features of these new agents affect the management of antithrombotic therapy in the ambulatory setting. There have been very few studies investigating the relative risks of continuing or ceasing new antithrombotic agents. Recent reviews indicate that the new antithrombotic agents offer greater efficacy or ease of administration but are more difficult to monitor or reverse. They emphasize the importance of assessing the bleeding risk of the procedure, the thrombotic risk if the agent is ceased, and patient factors that increase the likelihood of bleeding. The timing of cessation of the agent, if required, depends on its pharmacokinetics and patients' bleeding risks. Patients at high risk of thrombotic complications may require bridging therapy. Once agreed upon, the perioperative plan should be made clear to all involved. As there are few clinical studies to guide management, clinicians must make rational decisions in relation to continuing or ceasing new antithrombotic agents. This requires knowledge of their pharmacokinetics, and a careful multidisciplinary assessment of the relative thrombotic and bleeding risks in individual patients.

Agents Within our Midst

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-14

agents; and the development of bio -monitoring protocols for civilian and service personnel during a chemical attack. These efforts have resulted in greater...produced by staphylococcal bacteria that is and is classified as a CDC select agent which has the potential to be used as a biological weapon .1...NMR chemical shift perturbation titrations with Fab (fragment, antigen binding regions) domains of 20B1, 14G8, and 6D3 using deuterated (2H) SEB

Multi-Agent Framework for Virtual Learning Spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheremetov, Leonid; Nunez, Gustavo

1999-01-01

Discussion of computer-supported collaborative learning, distributed artificial intelligence, and intelligent tutoring systems focuses on the concept of agents, and describes a virtual learning environment that has a multi-agent system. Describes a model of interactions in collaborative learning and discusses agents for Web-based virtual…

14 CFR 29.1199 - Extinguishing agent containers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Extinguishing agent containers. 29.1199....1199 Extinguishing agent containers. (a) Each extinguishing agent container must have a pressure relief to prevent bursting of the container by excessive internal pressures. (b) The discharge end of each...

14 CFR 25.1199 - Extinguishing agent containers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Extinguishing agent containers. 25.1199....1199 Extinguishing agent containers. (a) Each extinguishing agent container must have a pressure relief to prevent bursting of the container by excessive internal pressures. (b) The discharge end of each...

14 CFR 23.1199 - Extinguishing agent containers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Extinguishing agent containers. 23.1199... Powerplant Fire Protection § 23.1199 Extinguishing agent containers. For commuter category airplanes, the following applies: (a) Each extinguishing agent container must have a pressure relief to prevent bursting of...

An Important Chemical Weapon Group: Nerve Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakan Yaren

2007-12-01

Full Text Available As a result of developing modern chemistry, nerve agents, which are one of the most important group of efficient chemical warfare agents, were developed just before Second World War. They generate toxic and clinical effects via inhibiting acetylcholinesterase irreversibly and causing excessive amounts of acetylcholine at cholinergic synapses in the body. Clinical symptoms are occurred as a result of affected muscarinic (stimulation of secretuar glands, miosis, breathing problems etc., nicotinic (stimulation of skeletal muscles, paralyse, tremors etc. and central nerve system (convulsions, loss of consciousness, coma etc. areas. In case of a nerve agent exposure, treatment includes the steps of ventilation, decontamination, antidotal treatment (atropine, oximes, diazepam and pyridostigmine bromide and supportive theraphy. Because of arising possibility of using chemical warfare agents due to current conjuncture of the world, medical staff should know about nerve agents, their effects and how to treat the casualties exposured to nerve agents. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2007; 6(6.000: 491-500

An Important Chemical Weapon Group: Nerve Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakan Yaren

2007-12-01

Full Text Available As a result of developing modern chemistry, nerve agents, which are one of the most important group of efficient chemical warfare agents, were developed just before Second World War. They generate toxic and clinical effects via inhibiting acetylcholinesterase irreversibly and causing excessive amounts of acetylcholine at cholinergic synapses in the body. Clinical symptoms are occurred as a result of affected muscarinic (stimulation of secretuar glands, miosis, breathing problems etc., nicotinic (stimulation of skeletal muscles, paralyse, tremors etc. and central nerve system (convulsions, loss of consciousness, coma etc. areas. In case of a nerve agent exposure, treatment includes the steps of ventilation, decontamination, antidotal treatment (atropine, oximes, diazepam and pyridostigmine bromide and supportive theraphy. Because of arising possibility of using chemical warfare agents due to current conjuncture of the world, medical staff should know about nerve agents, their effects and how to treat the casualties exposured to nerve agents. [TAF Prev Med Bull. 2007; 6(6: 491-500

Modelado e implementación de un sistema multiagente para el diagnóstico de enfermedades de transmisión sexual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauro Callejas Cuervo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Esta investigación presenta el modelado e implementación de una aplicación informática basada en un sistema multiagente como herramienta de apoyo a programas de prevención de enfermedades de transmisión sexual (ETS. Para ello se abordó el proceso de investigación concerniente al área de los agentes de software y los sistemas multiagentes, así como también las características que identifican las enfermedades de transmisión sexual; finalmente se exponen las principales fases del desarrollo de una aplicación web basado en sistemas multiagentes para la prevención de estas enfermedades, siguiendo la metodología Ingenias y usando la plataforma Java Agent Development Framework.

Story telling engine based on agent interaction

OpenAIRE

Porcel, Juan Carlos

2008-01-01

Comics have been used as a programming tool for agents, giving them instructions on how to act. In this thesis I do this in reverse, I use comics to describe the actions of agents already interacting with each other to create a storytelling engine that dynamically generate stories, based on the interaction of said agents. The model for the agent behaviours is based on the improvisational puppets model of Barbara Hayes-Roth. This model is chosen due to the nature of comics themselves. Comics ...

Prostate Activated Prodrugs and Imaging Agents

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jones, Graham B

2004-01-01

.... The substrate chosen was a 3 component system composed of a peptide sequence with affinity for PSA, an imaging agent and a deactivating bridge-linker, which electronically incapacitates the imaging agent...

Reducing Interaction Costs for Self-interested Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yunqi; Larson, Kate

In many multiagent systems, agents are not able to freely interact with each other or with a centralized mechanism. They may be limited in their interactions by cost or by the inherent structure of the system. Using a combinatorial auction application as motivation, we study the impact of interaction costs and structure on the strategic behaviour of self-interested agents. We present a particular model of costly agent-interaction, and argue that self-interested agents may wish to coordinate their actions with their neighbours so as to reduce their individual costs. We highlight the issues that arise in such a setting, propose a cost-sharing mechanism that agents can use, and discuss group coordination procedures. Experimental work validates our model.

Learning in engineered multi-agent systems

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Anup

Consider the problem of maximizing the total power produced by a wind farm. Due to aerodynamic interactions between wind turbines, each turbine maximizing its individual power---as is the case in present-day wind farms---does not lead to optimal farm-level power capture. Further, there are no good models to capture the said aerodynamic interactions, rendering model based optimization techniques ineffective. Thus, model-free distributed algorithms are needed that help turbines adapt their power production on-line so as to maximize farm-level power capture. Motivated by such problems, the main focus of this dissertation is a distributed model-free optimization problem in the context of multi-agent systems. The set-up comprises of a fixed number of agents, each of which can pick an action and observe the value of its individual utility function. An individual's utility function may depend on the collective action taken by all agents. The exact functional form (or model) of the agent utility functions, however, are unknown; an agent can only measure the numeric value of its utility. The objective of the multi-agent system is to optimize the welfare function (i.e. sum of the individual utility functions). Such a collaborative task requires communications between agents and we allow for the possibility of such inter-agent communications. We also pay attention to the role played by the pattern of such information exchange on certain aspects of performance. We develop two algorithms to solve this problem. The first one, engineered Interactive Trial and Error Learning (eITEL) algorithm, is based on a line of work in the Learning in Games literature and applies when agent actions are drawn from finite sets. While in a model-free setting, we introduce a novel qualitative graph-theoretic framework to encode known directed interactions of the form "which agents' action affect which others' payoff" (interaction graph). We encode explicit inter-agent communications in a directed

Terapia baseada em realidade virtual usando o leap motion controller para reabilitação do membro superior após acidente vascular cerebral = Virtual reality therapy using the leap motion controller for post-stroke upper limb rehabilitation Virtual reality therapy using the Leap Motion Controller for post-stroke upper limb rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soares, Nayron Medeiros

2017-01-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a aplicabilidade de um sensor de movimento, baseado em realidade virtual, para promover a reabilitação do membro superior após um acidente vascular cerebral. RELATO DOS CASOS: Três pacientes após acidente vascular cerebral realizaram um treino para reabilitação do membro superior com realidade virtual usando a tecnologia Leap Motion Controller e o jogo Playground 3D®, durante três dias consecutivos. No primeiro e no terceiro dia, foram avaliados com os testes Caixa e Blocos, Coordenação Óculo-Manual de Melo e Estimulação Magnética Transcraniana. No último dia, foram aplicadas Fichas de Avaliação da Experiência do paciente. Após o treinamento proposto, observou-se diminuição do limiar motor em ambos os hemisférios cerebrais e melhores desempenhos nos testes que avaliaram a habilidade manual e óculo-manual. A terapia proposta foi bem recebida pelos pacientes testados. CONCLUSÕES: Não foram observados efeitos adversos e os resultados mostram-se promissores e precisos no treinamento realizado com realidade virtual usando a tecnologia Leap Motion Controller e o jogo Playground 3D®. O treinamento proporcionou uma participação ativa dos pacientes na reabilitação das sequelas de extremidade superior após um acidente vascular cerebral

CATS-based Air Traffic Controller Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Callantine, Todd J.

2002-01-01

This report describes intelligent agents that function as air traffic controllers. Each agent controls traffic in a single sector in real time; agents controlling traffic in adjoining sectors can coordinate to manage an arrival flow across a given meter fix. The purpose of this research is threefold. First, it seeks to study the design of agents for controlling complex systems. In particular, it investigates agent planning and reactive control functionality in a dynamic environment in which a variety perceptual and decision making skills play a central role. It examines how heuristic rules can be applied to model planning and decision making skills, rather than attempting to apply optimization methods. Thus, the research attempts to develop intelligent agents that provide an approximation of human air traffic controller behavior that, while not based on an explicit cognitive model, does produce task performance consistent with the way human air traffic controllers operate. Second, this research sought to extend previous research on using the Crew Activity Tracking System (CATS) as the basis for intelligent agents. The agents use a high-level model of air traffic controller activities to structure the control task. To execute an activity in the CATS model, according to the current task context, the agents reference a 'skill library' and 'control rules' that in turn execute the pattern recognition, planning, and decision-making required to perform the activity. Applying the skills enables the agents to modify their representation of the current control situation (i.e., the 'flick' or 'picture'). The updated representation supports the next activity in a cycle of action that, taken as a whole, simulates air traffic controller behavior. A third, practical motivation for this research is to use intelligent agents to support evaluation of new air traffic control (ATC) methods to support new Air Traffic Management (ATM) concepts. Current approaches that use large, human

Real Estate Agent Commission Disputes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anida Duarte

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among Procuring Cause Law, real estate agent years of experience, and real estate commission disputes. A pilot survey was conducted in the southwestern United States among real estate agents, realtor(s, and brokers. After testing the hypothesis, the decision was made to fail to reject the hypothesis and conclude that real estate agent experience and not Procuring Cause Law produced favorable outcomes in disputes. As a result, the following recommendations were made: (a Agency seller and buyer’s agreements should be used in each transaction to avoid disputes, (b proper expectations and guidelines should be reviewed prior to starting any real estate transaction, (c a checklist may assist in the assurance that all valuable information is reviewed, (d agents could benefit from fully understanding Procuring Cause Law and sharing this information with their clients, (e state and national regulatory requirements of the law could be modified for easier understanding and use, and (f consumers who willfully violate the law could be subject to monetary penalties.

Fuzzy Constraint-Based Agent Negotiation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Menq-Wen Lin; K. Robert Lai; Ting-Jung Yu

2005-01-01

Conflicts between two or more parties arise for various reasons and perspectives. Thus, resolution of conflicts frequently relies on some form of negotiation. This paper presents a general problem-solving framework for modeling multi-issue multilateral negotiation using fuzzy constraints. Agent negotiation is formulated as a distributed fuzzy constraint satisfaction problem (DFCSP). Fuzzy constrains are thus used to naturally represent each agent's desires involving imprecision and human conceptualization, particularly when lexical imprecision and subjective matters are concerned. On the other hand, based on fuzzy constraint-based problem-solving, our approach enables an agent not only to systematically relax fuzzy constraints to generate a proposal, but also to employ fuzzy similarity to select the alternative that is subject to its acceptability by the opponents. This task of problem-solving is to reach an agreement that benefits all agents with a high satisfaction degree of fuzzy constraints, and move towards the deal more quickly since their search focuses only on the feasible solution space. An application to multilateral negotiation of a travel planning is provided to demonstrate the usefulness and effectiveness of our framework.

inventory management, VMI, software agents, MDV model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waldemar Wieczerzycki

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Background: As it is well know, the implementation of instruments of logistics management is only possible with the use of the latest information technology. So-called agent technology is one of the most promising solutions in this area. Its essence consists in an entirely new way of software distribution on the computer network platform, in which computer exchange among themselves not only data, but also software modules, called just agents. The first aim is to propose the alternative method of the implementation of the concept of the inventory management by the supplier with the use of intelligent software agents, which are able not only to transfer the information but also to make the autonomous decisions based on the privileges given to them. The second aim of this research was to propose a new model of a software agent, which will be both of a high mobility and a high intelligence. Methods: After a brief discussion of the nature of agent technology, the most important benefits of using it to build platforms to support business are given. Then the original model of polymorphic software agent, called Multi-Dimensionally Versioned Software Agent (MDV is presented, which is oriented on the specificity of IT applications in business. MDV agent is polymorphic, which allows the transmission through the network only the most relevant parts of its code, and only when necessary. Consequently, the network nodes exchange small amounts of software code, which ensures high mobility of software agents, and thus highly efficient operation of IT platforms built on the proposed model. Next, the adaptation of MDV software agents to implementation of well-known logistics management instrument - VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory is illustrated. Results: The key benefits of this approach are identified, among which one can distinguish: reduced costs, higher flexibility and efficiency, new functionality - especially addressed to business negotiation, full automation

The highly intelligent virtual agents for modeling financial markets

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, G.; Chen, Y.; Huang, J. P.

2016-02-01

Researchers have borrowed many theories from statistical physics, like ensemble, Ising model, etc., to study complex adaptive systems through agent-based modeling. However, one fundamental difference between entities (such as spins) in physics and micro-units in complex adaptive systems is that the latter are usually with high intelligence, such as investors in financial markets. Although highly intelligent virtual agents are essential for agent-based modeling to play a full role in the study of complex adaptive systems, how to create such agents is still an open question. Hence, we propose three principles for designing high artificial intelligence in financial markets and then build a specific class of agents called iAgents based on these three principles. Finally, we evaluate the intelligence of iAgents through virtual index trading in two different stock markets. For comparison, we also include three other types of agents in this contest, namely, random traders, agents from the wealth game (modified on the famous minority game), and agents from an upgraded wealth game. As a result, iAgents perform the best, which gives a well support for the three principles. This work offers a general framework for the further development of agent-based modeling for various kinds of complex adaptive systems.

Agent review phase one report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zubelewicz, Alex Tadeusz; Davis, Christopher Edward; Bauer, Travis LaDell

2009-12-01

This report summarizes the findings for phase one of the agent review and discusses the review methods and results. The phase one review identified a short list of agent systems that would prove most useful in the service architecture of an information management, analysis, and retrieval system. Reviewers evaluated open-source and commercial multi-agent systems and scored them based upon viability, uniqueness, ease of development, ease of deployment, and ease of integration with other products. Based on these criteria, reviewers identified the ten most appropriate systems. The report also mentions several systems that reviewers deemed noteworthy for the ideas they implement, even if those systems are not the best choices for information management purposes.

Anti-Infectious Agents against MRSA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nobuhiro Koyama

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Clinically useful antibiotics, β-lactams and vancomycin, are known to inhibit bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan synthesis. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA has a unique cell wall structure consisting of peptidoglycan and wall teichoic acid. In recent years, new anti-infectious agents (spirohexaline, tripropeptin C, DMPI, CDFI, cyslabdan, 1835F03, and BPH-652 targeting MRSA cell wall biosynthesis have been discovered using unique screening methods. These agents were found to inhibit important enzymes involved in cell wall biosynthesis such as undecaprenyl pyrophosphate (UPP synthase, FemA, flippase, or UPP phosphatase. In this review, the discovery, the mechanism of action, and the future of these anti-infectious agents are described.

Culture-specific communication management for virtual agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Endrass, Birgit; Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth

2009-01-01

Human interaction depends on several individual factors such as personality, social relations, age or gender. But also the society we live in influences our behaviour. Thus culture affects the way communication is led. As virtual agents interact in a more and more human-like manner, culture......, the use of pauses in speech as well as the occurrence of overlapping speech was analyzed and integrated into a demonstrator using virtual agents. In a preliminary study, we investigated whether subjects perceive a difference between agent dialogs that are in line with culture-specific findings and agent...

Embodied artificial agents for understanding human social cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Wykowska, Agnieszka; Chaminade, Thierry; Cheng, Gordon

2016-05-05

In this paper, we propose that experimental protocols involving artificial agents, in particular the embodied humanoid robots, provide insightful information regarding social cognitive mechanisms in the human brain. Using artificial agents allows for manipulation and control of various parameters of behaviour, appearance and expressiveness in one of the interaction partners (the artificial agent), and for examining effect of these parameters on the other interaction partner (the human). At the same time, using artificial agents means introducing the presence of artificial, yet human-like, systems into the human social sphere. This allows for testing in a controlled, but ecologically valid, manner human fundamental mechanisms of social cognition both at the behavioural and at the neural level. This paper will review existing literature that reports studies in which artificial embodied agents have been used to study social cognition and will address the question of whether various mechanisms of social cognition (ranging from lower- to higher-order cognitive processes) are evoked by artificial agents to the same extent as by natural agents, humans in particular. Increasing the understanding of how behavioural and neural mechanisms of social cognition respond to artificial anthropomorphic agents provides empirical answers to the conundrum 'What is a social agent?' © 2016 The Authors.

Multi-Agent Software Engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamed, A.H.

2014-01-01

This paper proposed an alarm-monitoring system for people based on multi-agent using maps. The system monitors the users physical context using their mobile phone. The agents on the mobile phones are responsible for collecting, processing and sending data to the server. They can determine the parameters of their environment by sensors. The data are processed and sent to the server. On the other side, a set of agents on server can store this data and check the preconditions of the restrictions associated with the user, in order to trigger the appropriate alarms. These alarms are sent not only to the user who is alarmed to avoid the appeared restriction, but also to his supervisor. The proposed system is a general purpose alarm system that can be used in different critical application areas. It has been applied for monitoring the workers of radiation sites. However, these workers can do their activity tasks in the radiation environments safely

Teaching tourism change agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blichfeldt, Bodil Stilling; Kvistgaard, Hans-Peter; Hird, John

2017-01-01

This article discuss es know ledge, competencies and skills Master’s students should obtain during their academic studies and particularly, the differences between teaching about a topic and teaching to do. This is ex emplified by experiential learning theory and the case of a change management...... course that is part of a Tourism Master’s program, where a major challenge is not only to teach students about change and change agents, but to teach them how change feels and ho w to become change agents. The c hange management course contains an experiment inspired by experiential teaching literature...... and methods. The experiment seeks to make students not only hear/learn about change agency and management, but to make them feel cha nge, hereby enabling them to develop the skills and competencies necessary for them to take on the role as change agent s and thus enable them to play key role s in implementing...

Establish an Agent-Simulant Technology Relationship (ASTR)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-14

collective protection; CP; decontamination ; decon; contamination avoidance; CA; chemical biological radiological; CBR 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION...Within chemical defense, the individual protection (IP), collective protection (CP), decontamination (decon), and contamination avoidance (CA...OT). c. Testing may use chemical warfare agent (CWA), biological warfare agent (BWA), radiological agent, or simulant (surrogate). A simulant is a

Novel insights in agent-based complex automated negotiation

CERN Document Server

Lopez-Carmona, Miguel; Ito, Takayuki; Zhang, Minjie; Bai, Quan; Fujita, Katsuhide

2014-01-01

This book focuses on all aspects of complex automated negotiations, which are studied in the field of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. This book consists of two parts. I: Agent-Based Complex Automated Negotiations, and II: Automated Negotiation Agents Competition. The chapters in Part I are extended versions of papers presented at the 2012 international workshop on Agent-Based Complex Automated Negotiation (ACAN), after peer reviews by three Program Committee members. Part II examines in detail ANAC 2012 (The Third Automated Negotiating Agents Competition), in which automated agents that have different negotiation strategies and are implemented by different developers are automatically negotiated in the several negotiation domains. ANAC is an international competition in which automated negotiation strategies, submitted by a number of universities and research institutes across the world, are evaluated in tournament style. The purpose of the competition is to steer the research in the area of bilate...

A real-time architecture for time-aware agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Prouskas, Konstantinos-Vassileios; Pitt, Jeremy V

2004-06-01

This paper describes the specification and implementation of a new three-layer time-aware agent architecture. This architecture is designed for applications and environments where societies of humans and agents play equally active roles, but interact and operate in completely different time frames. The architecture consists of three layers: the April real-time run-time (ART) layer, the time aware layer (TAL), and the application agents layer (AAL). The ART layer forms the underlying real-time agent platform. An original online, real-time, dynamic priority-based scheduling algorithm is described for scheduling the computation time of agent processes, and it is shown that the algorithm's O(n) complexity and scalable performance are sufficient for application in real-time domains. The TAL layer forms an abstraction layer through which human and agent interactions are temporally unified, that is, handled in a common way irrespective of their temporal representation and scale. A novel O(n2) interaction scheduling algorithm is described for predicting and guaranteeing interactions' initiation and completion times. The time-aware predicting component of a workflow management system is also presented as an instance of the AAL layer. The described time-aware architecture addresses two key challenges in enabling agents to be effectively configured and applied in environments where humans and agents play equally active roles. It provides flexibility and adaptability in its real-time mechanisms while placing them under direct agent control, and it temporally unifies human and agent interactions.

Infecção cirúrgica em colecistectomia videolaparoscópica usando ácido peracético como esterilizante dos instrumentais

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edluza Maria Viana Bezerra de Melo

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Determinar a frequência de infecção de sítio cirúrgico em pacientes submetidos à colecistectomia videolaparoscópica usando o ácido peracético como esterilizante. MÉTODOS: Foi realizado estudo retrospectivo descritivo do tipo coorte transversal. O ácido peracético foi usado para esterilização seguindo protocolo preconizado pelo fabricante. Foram observados os critérios e indicadores de processo e estrutura para prevenção de infecção de sítio cirúrgico no pré e intraoperatório. Para a vigilância epidemiológica, consultas ambulatoriais eram agendadas para o 15º e entre o 30º e 45º dias após a alta. RESULTADOS: Entre 247 pacientes foram diagnosticados dois casos de infecção de sítio cirúrgico (0,8%. Um paciente reinternou para antibioticoterapia sistêmica e punção percutânea; no outro, a infecção foi superficial e acompanhada ambulatorialmente. CONCLUSÃO: Eticamente não é permitida a realização de um estudo prospectivo pelo fato do ácido peracético ter sido proibido para a esterilização de instrumentais que penetrem em órgãos e cavidades; contudo, estes resultados encorajam estudo prospectivo caso-controle, comparando o uso dele (controle histórico com a esterilização por óxido de etileno.

Subjective performance evaluations and reciprocity in principal-agent relations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sebald, Alexander Christopher; Walzl, Markus

2014-01-01

. In contrast to existing models of reciprocity, we find that agents tend to sanction whenever the feedback of principals is below their subjective self-evaluations even if agents' pay-offs are independent of it. In turn, principals provide more positive feedback (relative to their actual performance assessment......We conduct a laboratory experiment with agents working on, and principals benefiting from, a real effort task in which the agents' performance can only be evaluated subjectively. Principals give subjective performance feedback to agents, and agents have an opportunity to sanction principals...... of the agent) if this does not affect their pay-off....

Discriminación de coberturas del suelo usando datos espectrales multi-angulares del sensor polder-1: alcances y limitaciones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Paz Pellat

2016-04-01

Full Text Available La información espectral multi-angular (visión de un píxel desde diferentes ángulos de visión y con ángulos de iluminación solar diferentes obtenida de sensores remotos tiene potencial para una discriminación adecuada de clases de coberturas del suelo. De acuerdo con varios esfuerzos realizados para poder analizar la capacidad de discriminación de las clases de cobertura del suelo, se introduce un marco teórico-conceptual para el análisis de la información espectral, angular y temporal (tamaño de píxel fijo. En este trabajo se explora el uso del sensor POLDER-1. La base de datos fue analizada ajustando un modelo de la función de distribución bidireccional de las reflectancias (BRDF en las bandas espectrales disponibles, para diferentes clases de cobertura del suelo del sistema GLC2000. Los resultados experimentales muestran adecuados ajustes a nivel de píxeles y datos diarios. Con los parámetros ajustados del modelo de la BRDF se analizó el potencial de discriminación usando espacios espectrales de las bandas de la región del rojo e infrarrojo cercano, utilizando diferentes resoluciones temporales y espaciales (agrupación de píxeles. Los resultados mostraron alta confusión (traslapes de posición en espacios espectrales, detectándose limitaciones de dichos enfoques para el caso de confusiones debidas a mezclas de clases o causadas por la dinámica temporal de las mismas. Al final se define un esquema para aproximar la clasificación de la vegetación al acoplar la información disponible en los sensores ópticos y las clases que pueden ser discriminadas.

Teamwork in Multi-Agent Systems A Formal Approach

CERN Document Server

Dunin-Keplicz, Barbara Maria

2010-01-01

What makes teamwork tick?. Cooperation matters, in daily life and in complex applications. After all, many tasks need more than a single agent to be effectively performed. Therefore, teamwork rules!. Teams are social groups of agents dedicated to the fulfilment of particular persistent tasks. In modern multiagent environments, heterogeneous teams often consist of autonomous software agents, various types of robots and human beings. Teamwork in Multi-agent Systems: A Formal Approach explains teamwork rules in terms of agents' attitudes and their complex interplay. It provides the first comprehe

Construcción de saberes en la web social: estado de la cuestión

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edgar Villegas Iriarte

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Este artículo presenta el estado de la cuestión sobre la construcción de saberes y sentidos en la web social. Es resultado de una investigación doctoral que busca desarrollar un modelo descriptivo y comprensivo de las relaciones, movimientos y actuaciones en torno a la producción de saberes en la Web social. Para hacerlos visibles, se concentró la mirada investigativa a través de los saberes viajeros. Se revisaron metabuscadores académicos y revistas especializadas; se realizó una preselección de artículos y, posteriormente, una selección que permitió revisar en detalle textos procedentes de investigaciones realizadas en Asia (incluidas Australia y Nueva Zelanda, Europa, Latinoamérica y Norteamérica. Se encontró un área de reciente creación con una alta velocidad de cambio. Igualmente, que aún no se logran comprender las lógicas de las motivaciones que llevan a las personas a crear o mantener proyectos basados en la colaboración. Finalmente, los sentidos que se le asignan a los saberes viajeros en la web social corresponden a formas de expresión, identidad y relación (socialidad.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents: A Review of Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Sahraei

2015-10-01

Full Text Available  Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI contrast agents most commonly agents used in diagnosing different diseases. Several agents have been ever introduced with different peculiar characteristics. They vary in potency, adverse reaction and other specification, so it is important to select the proper agent in different situations. We conducted a systematic literature search in MEDLINE/PUBMED, Web of Science (ISI, Scopus,Google Scholar by using keywords "gadolinium" and "MRI contrast Medias", "Gadofosvest", "Gadobenate" and "Gadoxetate". The most frequent contrast media agents made based on gadolinium (Gd. These are divided into two categories based on the structure of their chelating parts, linear agents and macrocyclic agents. All characteristics of contrast media factors, including efficiency, kinetic properties, stability, side effects and the rate of resolution are directly related to the structure of chelating part of that formulation.In vitro data has shown that the macrocyclic compounds are the most stable Gd-CA as they do not bind to serum proteins, they all possess similar and relatively low relaxivity and the prevalence of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF has decreased by increasing the use of macrocyclic agents in recent years. No cases of NSF have been recorded after the administration of any of the high-relaxivity protein interacting agents, the vascular imaging agent gadofosveset trisodium (Ablavar, the hepatic imaging agent gadoxetate meglumine (Eovist, and the multipurpose agent gadobenate dimeglumine (MultiHance. In pregnancy and lactating women, stable macrocyclic agent is recommended.

Intelligent Agent Transparency in Human-Agent Teaming for Multi-UxV Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercado, Joseph E; Rupp, Michael A; Chen, Jessie Y C; Barnes, Michael J; Barber, Daniel; Procci, Katelyn

2016-05-01

We investigated the effects of level of agent transparency on operator performance, trust, and workload in a context of human-agent teaming for multirobot management. Participants played the role of a heterogeneous unmanned vehicle (UxV) operator and were instructed to complete various missions by giving orders to UxVs through a computer interface. An intelligent agent (IA) assisted the participant by recommending two plans-a top recommendation and a secondary recommendation-for every mission. A within-subjects design with three levels of agent transparency was employed in the present experiment. There were eight missions in each of three experimental blocks, grouped by level of transparency. During each experimental block, the IA was incorrect three out of eight times due to external information (e.g., commander's intent and intelligence). Operator performance, trust, workload, and usability data were collected. Results indicate that operator performance, trust, and perceived usability increased as a function of transparency level. Subjective and objective workload data indicate that participants' workload did not increase as a function of transparency. Furthermore, response time did not increase as a function of transparency. Unlike previous research, which showed that increased transparency resulted in increased performance and trust calibration at the cost of greater workload and longer response time, our results support the benefits of transparency for performance effectiveness without additional costs. The current results will facilitate the implementation of IAs in military settings and will provide useful data to the design of heterogeneous UxV teams. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

A rapid method for testing in vivo the susceptibility of different strains of Trypanosoma cruzi to active chemotherapeutic agents

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Leny S. Filardi

1984-06-01

Full Text Available A method is described which permits to determine in vivo an in a short period of time (4-6 hours the sensitivity of T. cruzo strains to known active chemotherapeutic agents. By using resistant- and sensitive T. cruzi stains a fairly good correlation was observed between the results obtained with this rapid method (which detects activity against the circulating blood forms and those obtained with long-term schedules which involve drug adminstration for at least 20 consecutive days and a prolonged period of assessment. This method may be used to characterize susceptibility to active drugs used clinically, provide infomation on the specific action against circulating trypomastigotes and screen active compounds. Differences in the natural susceptibility of Trypanosoma cruzi strains to active drugs have been already reported using different criteria, mostly demanding long-term study of the animal (Hauschka, 1949; Bock, Gonnert & Haberkorn, 1969; Brener, Costa & Chiari, 1976; Andrade & Figueira, 1977; Schlemper, 1982. In this paper we report a method which detects in 4-6 hours the effect of drugs on bloodstream forms in mice with established T. cruzi infections. The results obtained with this method show a fairly good correlation with those obtained by prolonged treatment schedules used to assess the action of drugs in experimental Chagas' disease and may be used to study the sensitivity of T. cruzi strains to active drugs.No presente trabalho descreve-se um metodo que permite determinar in vivo e em curto espaço de tempo (4-6 horas a sensibilidade de cepas de T. cruzi a agentes terapeuticos ativos na doença de Chagas. Usando-se cepas sensíveis e resistentes aos medicamentos foi possível observar uma boa correlação entre os resultados obtidos com o método rápido (que detecta atividade contra as formas circulantes do parasita e aqueles obtidos com esquema de acao prolongada que envolve a administração da droga por 20 dias e posterior avalia

Reaching High Interactive Levels with Situated Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guzmán-Obando J.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available El documento presenta un proceso coordinado a través del cual los agentes situados son capaces de trabajar en forma conjunta con el conocimiento de sus habilidades para interactuar con otras entidades similares. Una buena coordinación se deriva de que cada agente situado es capaz de representar sus tasas de idoneidad para llevar a cabo cualquier acción de una manera eficaz. Además de utilizar dichas tasas, un agente puede coordinar sus acciones con otros agentes. En este sentido, cada agente situado trata de seleccionar y realizar sólo las acciones con los mayores índices de ejecución. Algunos experimentos en un verdadero fútbol robótico banco de pruebas están diseñadas para poner en práctica el enfoque coordinado propuesto. Observaciones finales concluir la eficacia y las ventajas de la obra presentada con el fin de aumentar el rendimiento de un equipo integrado por agentes situados cuando tienen que resolver tareas complejas en un escenario dinámico, competitivo e impredecible.

Mechanisms of resistance to alkylating agents

OpenAIRE

Damia, G.; D‘Incalci, M.

1998-01-01

Alkylating agents are the most widely used anticancer drugs whose main target is the DNA, although how exactly the DNA lesions cause cell death is still not clear. The emergence of resistance to this class of drugs as well as to other antitumor agents is one of the major causes of failure of cancer treatment. This paper reviews some of the best characterized mechanisms of resistance to alkylating agents. Pre- and post-target mechanisms are recognized, the former able to limit the formation of...

A survey of the sequence-specific interaction of damaging agents with DNA: emphasis on antitumor agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, V

1999-01-01

This article reviews the literature concerning the sequence specificity of DNA-damaging agents. DNA-damaging agents are widely used in cancer chemotherapy. It is important to understand fully the determinants of DNA sequence specificity so that more effective DNA-damaging agents can be developed as antitumor drugs. There are five main methods of DNA sequence specificity analysis: cleavage of end-labeled fragments, linear amplification with Taq DNA polymerase, ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (PCR), single-strand ligation PCR, and footprinting. The DNA sequence specificity in purified DNA and in intact mammalian cells is reviewed for several classes of DNA-damaging agent. These include agents that form covalent adducts with DNA, free radical generators, topoisomerase inhibitors, intercalators and minor groove binders, enzymes, and electromagnetic radiation. The main sites of adduct formation are at the N-7 of guanine in the major groove of DNA and the N-3 of adenine in the minor groove, whereas free radical generators abstract hydrogen from the deoxyribose sugar and topoisomerase inhibitors cause enzyme-DNA cross-links to form. Several issues involved in the determination of the DNA sequence specificity are discussed. The future directions of the field, with respect to cancer chemotherapy, are also examined.

A Novel Security Approach in Mobile Agent Using Encryption

OpenAIRE

Nidhi Gupta; Dr. Anurag Dixit

2012-01-01

The appearance of software agents has given rise too much discussion of what such an agent is and how it differs from programs in general. An agent is anything that can be viewed as perceiving its environment through sensors & acting upon that environment through actuators. The existing systems can be classified in the context of singleagent systems and multi-agent systems. Mobile agents cantransport themselves from one host to another. Mobile agents have been developed as an extension to and...

Intelligent Design of Nano-Scale Molecular Imaging Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takeaki Ozawa

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Visual representation and quantification of biological processes at the cellular and subcellular levels within living subjects are gaining great interest in life science to address frontier issues in pathology and physiology. As intact living subjects do not emit any optical signature, visual representation usually exploits nano-scale imaging agents as the source of image contrast. Many imaging agents have been developed for this purpose, some of which exert nonspecific, passive, and physical interaction with a target. Current research interest in molecular imaging has mainly shifted to fabrication of smartly integrated, specific, and versatile agents that emit fluorescence or luminescence as an optical readout. These agents include luminescent quantum dots (QDs, biofunctional antibodies, and multifunctional nanoparticles. Furthermore, genetically encoded nano-imaging agents embedding fluorescent proteins or luciferases are now gaining popularity. These agents are generated by integrative design of the components, such as luciferase, flexible linker, and receptor to exert a specific on–off switching in the complex context of living subjects. In the present review, we provide an overview of the basic concepts, smart design, and practical contribution of recent nano-scale imaging agents, especially with respect to genetically encoded imaging agents.

Detection of Alkylating Agents using Electrical and Mechanical Means

Science.gov (United States)

Gerchikov, Yulia; Borzin, Elena; Gannot, Yair; Shemesh, Ariel; Meltzman, Shai; Hertzog-Ronen, Carmit; Tal, Shay; Stolyarova, Sara; Nemirovsky, Yael; Tessler, Nir; Eichen, Yoav

2011-08-01

Alkylating agents are reactive molecules having at least one polar bond between a carbon atom and a good leaving group. These often simple molecules are frequently used in organic synthesis, as sterilizing agents in agriculture and even as anticancer agents in medicine. Unfortunately, for over a century, some of the highly reactive alkylating agents are also being used as blister chemical warfare agents. Being relatively simple to make, the risk is that these will be applied by terrorists as poor people warfare agents. The detection and identification of such alkylating agents is not a simple task because of their high reactivity and simple structure of the reactive site. Here we report on new approaches to the detection and identification of such alkylating agents using electrical (organic field effect transistors) and mechanical (microcantilevers) means.

Detection of Alkylating Agents using Electrical and Mechanical Means

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerchikov, Yulia; Borzin, Elena; Gannot, Yair; Shemesh, Ariel; Meltzman, Shai; Hertzog-Ronen, Carmit; Eichen, Yoav; Tal, Shay; Stolyarova, Sara; Nemirovsky, Yael; Tessler, Nir

2011-01-01

Alkylating agents are reactive molecules having at least one polar bond between a carbon atom and a good leaving group. These often simple molecules are frequently used in organic synthesis, as sterilizing agents in agriculture and even as anticancer agents in medicine. Unfortunately, for over a century, some of the highly reactive alkylating agents are also being used as blister chemical warfare agents. Being relatively simple to make, the risk is that these will be applied by terrorists as poor people warfare agents. The detection and identification of such alkylating agents is not a simple task because of their high reactivity and simple structure of the reactive site. Here we report on new approaches to the detection and identification of such alkylating agents using electrical (organic field effect transistors) and mechanical (microcantilevers) means.

Method and apparatus to characterize ultrasonically reflective contrast agents

Science.gov (United States)

Pretlow, Robert A., III (Inventor)

1993-01-01

A method and apparatus for characterizing the time and frequency response of an ultrasonically reflective contrast agent is disclosed. An ultrasonically reflective contrast agent is injected, under constant pressure, into a fluid flowing through a pump flow circuit. The fluid and the ultrasonically reflective contrast agent are uniformly mixed in a mixing chamber, and the uniform mixture is passed through a contrast agent chamber. The contrast agent chamber is acoustically and axially interposed between an ultrasonic transducer chamber and an acoustic isolation chamber. A pulse of ultrasonic energy is transmitted into the contrast agent chamber from the ultrasonic transducer chamber. An echo waveform is received from the ultrasonically reflective contrast agent, and it is analyzed to determine the time and frequency response of the ultrasonically reflective contrast agent.

Detection of Alkylating Agents using Electrical and Mechanical Means

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerchikov, Yulia; Borzin, Elena; Gannot, Yair; Shemesh, Ariel; Meltzman, Shai; Hertzog-Ronen, Carmit; Eichen, Yoav [Schulich Department of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, 32000, Haifa (Israel) (Israel); Tal, Shay [Present address: Systems Biology Department, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 (United States); Stolyarova, Sara; Nemirovsky, Yael; Tessler, Nir, E-mail: chryoav@tx.technion.ac.il [Department of Electrical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, 32000, Haifa (Israel)

2011-08-17

Alkylating agents are reactive molecules having at least one polar bond between a carbon atom and a good leaving group. These often simple molecules are frequently used in organic synthesis, as sterilizing agents in agriculture and even as anticancer agents in medicine. Unfortunately, for over a century, some of the highly reactive alkylating agents are also being used as blister chemical warfare agents. Being relatively simple to make, the risk is that these will be applied by terrorists as poor people warfare agents. The detection and identification of such alkylating agents is not a simple task because of their high reactivity and simple structure of the reactive site. Here we report on new approaches to the detection and identification of such alkylating agents using electrical (organic field effect transistors) and mechanical (microcantilevers) means.

Learning Sequences of Actions in Collectives of Autonomous Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian K.; Wolpert, David H.; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

In this paper we focus on the problem of designing a collective of autonomous agents that individually learn sequences of actions such that the resultant sequence of joint actions achieves a predetermined global objective. We are particularly interested in instances of this problem where centralized control is either impossible or impractical. For single agent systems in similar domains, machine learning methods (e.g., reinforcement learners) have been successfully used. However, applying such solutions directly to multi-agent systems often proves problematic, as agents may work at cross-purposes, or have difficulty in evaluating their contribution to achievement of the global objective, or both. Accordingly, the crucial design step in multiagent systems centers on determining the private objectives of each agent so that as the agents strive for those objectives, the system reaches a good global solution. In this work we consider a version of this problem involving multiple autonomous agents in a grid world. We use concepts from collective intelligence to design goals for the agents that are 'aligned' with the global goal, and are 'learnable' in that agents can readily see how their behavior affects their utility. We show that reinforcement learning agents using those goals outperform both 'natural' extensions of single agent algorithms and global reinforcement, learning solutions based on 'team games'.

Intelligent agents for e-commerce applications

Science.gov (United States)

Vuppala, Krishna

1999-12-01

This thesis focuses on development of intelligent agent solutions for e-commerce applications. E-Commerce has several complexities like: lack of information about the players, learning the nature of one's business partners/competitors, finding the right business partner to do business with, using the right strategy to get best profit out of the negotiations etc. The agent models developed can be used in any agent solution for e-commerce. Concepts and techniques from Game Theory and Artificial Intelligence are used. The developed models have several advantages over the existing ones as: the models assume the non-availability of information about other players in the market, the models of players get updated over the time as and when new information comes about the players, the negotiation model incorporates the patience levels of the players and expectations from other players in the market. Power industry has been chosen as the application area for the demonstration of the capabilities and usage of the developed agent models. Two e-commerce scenarios where sellers and buyers can go through the power exchanges to bid in auctions, or make bilateral deals outside of the exchange are addressed. In the first scenario agent helps market participants in coordinating strategies with other participants, bidding in auctions by analyzing and understanding the behavior of other participants. In the second scenario, called "Power Traders Assistant" agent helps power trader, who buys and sells power through bilateral negotiations, in negotiating deals with his customers.

Modelling of robotic work cells using agent based-approach

Science.gov (United States)

Sękala, A.; Banaś, W.; Gwiazda, A.; Monica, Z.; Kost, G.; Hryniewicz, P.

2016-08-01

In the case of modern manufacturing systems the requirements, both according the scope and according characteristics of technical procedures are dynamically changing. This results in production system organization inability to keep up with changes in a market demand. Accordingly, there is a need for new design methods, characterized, on the one hand with a high efficiency and on the other with the adequate level of the generated organizational solutions. One of the tools that could be used for this purpose is the concept of agent systems. These systems are the tools of artificial intelligence. They allow assigning to agents the proper domains of procedures and knowledge so that they represent in a self-organizing system of an agent environment, components of a real system. The agent-based system for modelling robotic work cell should be designed taking into consideration many limitations considered with the characteristic of this production unit. It is possible to distinguish some grouped of structural components that constitute such a system. This confirms the structural complexity of a work cell as a specific production system. So it is necessary to develop agents depicting various aspects of the work cell structure. The main groups of agents that are used to model a robotic work cell should at least include next pattern representatives: machine tool agents, auxiliary equipment agents, robots agents, transport equipment agents, organizational agents as well as data and knowledge bases agents. In this way it is possible to create the holarchy of the agent-based system.

Towards Culturally-Aware Virtual Agent Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Rehm, Matthias

2010-01-01

Globalization leads to an increase in intercultural encounters with a risk of misunderstandings due to different patterns of behavior and understanding. Learning applications have been proposed that employ virtual agents as their primary tool. Through their embodiment, learning can be done...... in a game-like environment in a more interesting way than for example learning with a textbook. The authors support the idea that virtual agents are a great opportunity for teaching cultural awareness. Realizing this, the concept of culture needs to be translated into computational models and the advantages...... of different systems using virtual agents need to be considered. Therefore, the authors reflect in this chapter on how virtual agents can help to learn about culture, scan definitions of culture from the social sciences, give an overview on how multiagent systems developed over time and classify the state...

Contrast Agent in Magnetic Resonance Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vu-Quang, Hieu

2015-01-01

Nanoparticles have been employed as contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in order to improve sensitivity and accuracy in diagnosis. In addition, these contrast agents are potentially combined with other therapeutic compounds or near infrared bio-imaging (NIR) fluorophores to obtain...... theranostic or dual imaging purposes, respectively. There were two main types of MRI contrast agent that were synthesized during this PhD project including fluorine containing nanoparticles and magnetic nanoparticles. In regard of fluorine containing nanoparticles, there were two types contrast agent...... cancer cells for cancer diagnosis in MRI. F127-Folate coated SPION were stable in various types of suspension medium for over six months. They could specifically target folate receptor of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo thus enhancing the contrast in MRI T2/T2* weighted images. These are preliminary...

Intelligent agents in data-intensive computing

CERN Document Server

Correia, Luís; Molina, José

2016-01-01

This book presents new approaches that advance research in all aspects of agent-based models, technologies, simulations and implementations for data intensive applications. The nine chapters contain a review of recent cross-disciplinary approaches in cloud environments and multi-agent systems, and important formulations of data intensive problems in distributed computational environments together with the presentation of new agent-based tools to handle those problems and Big Data in general. This volume can serve as a reference for students, researchers and industry practitioners working in or interested in joining interdisciplinary work in the areas of data intensive computing and Big Data systems using emergent large-scale distributed computing paradigms. It will also allow newcomers to grasp key concepts and potential solutions on advanced topics of theory, models, technologies, system architectures and implementation of applications in Multi-Agent systems and data intensive computing. .

Agentes de software móviles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Crisman Martínez Barrera

2001-10-01

Full Text Available Los agentes móviles son programas de software inteligentes que realizan un objetivo que involucran desarrollos soportados en técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial, los cuales pretenden facilitar la interoperabilidad de sistemas. Este artículo define las disciplinas, plataformas y herramientas necesarias para el desarrollo de agentes móviles, sus características principales y las arquitecturas predominantes de éstas; presenta además una evaluación de sus perspectivas futuras.Mobile agents are intelligent software programs that can obtain an objective that involucrates developments supported in Artificial Intelligence techniques. These pretend to facilitate the interoperability of systems. This article defines disciplines, platforms and tools necessary for the development of mobile agents, their principal characteristics and the predominant architectures of these. A final evaluation and future perspectives are offered.

AORTA: Adding Organizational Reasoning to Agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Andreas Schmidt; Dignum, Virginia

2014-01-01

the expected behavior of the agents. Agents need to be able to reason about the regulations, so that they can act within the expected boundaries and work towards the objectives of the organization. This extended abstract introduces AORTA, a component that can be integrated into agents’ reasoning mechanism......, allowing them to reason about (and act upon) regulations specified by an organizational model using simple reasoning rules. The added value is that the organizational model is independent of that of the agents, and that the approach is not tied to a specific organizational model....

Optimization of extinguishing agents for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boleman, M.; Lipar, M.; Balog, K.

1998-01-01

Focus is placed on use of extinguishing agents in nuclear power plants. The advantages and disadvantages of these agents are compared. Further perspectives for using particular extinguishing agents in nuclear power plants are outlined. (author)

Bridging humans via agent networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishida, Toru

1994-01-01

Recent drastic advance in telecommunication networks enabled the human organization of new class, teleorganization, which differ from any existing organization in that the organization which is easy to create by using telecommunication networks is virtual and remote, that people can join multiple organizations simultaneously, and that the organization can involve people who may not know each other. In order to enjoy the recent advance in telecommunication, the agent networks to help people organize themselves are needed. In this paper, an architecture of agent networks, in which each agent learns the preference or the utility functioin of the owner, and acts on behalf of the owner in maintaining the organization, is proposed. When an agent networks supports a human organization, the conventional human interface is divided into personal and social interfaces. The functionalities of the social interface in teleconferencing and telelearning were investigated. In both cases, the existence of B-ISDN is assumed, and the extension to the business meeting scheduling using personal handy phone (PHS) networks with personal digital assistant (PDA) terminals is expected. These circumstances are described. Mutual selection protocols (MSP) and their dynamic properties are explained. (K.I.)

Using Cognitive Agents to Train Negotiation Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher A. Stevens

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Training negotiation is difficult because it is a complex, dynamic activity that involves multiple parties. It is often not clear how to create situations in which students can practice negotiation or how to measure students' progress. Some have begun to address these issues by creating artificial software agents with which students can train. These agents have the advantage that they can be “reset,” and played against multiple times. This allows students to learn from their mistakes and try different strategies. However, these agents are often based on normative theories of how negotiators should conduct themselves, not necessarily how people actually behave in negotiations. Here, we take a step toward addressing this gap by developing an agent grounded in a cognitive architecture, ACT-R. This agent contains a model of theory-of-mind, the ability of humans to reason about the mental states of others. It uses this model to try to infer the strategy of the opponent and respond accordingly. In a series of experiments, we show that this agent replicates some aspects of human performance, is plausible to human negotiators, and can lead to learning gains in a small-scale negotiation task.

Using Cognitive Agents to Train Negotiation Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Christopher A; Daamen, Jeroen; Gaudrain, Emma; Renkema, Tom; Top, Jakob Dirk; Cnossen, Fokie; Taatgen, Niels A

2018-01-01

Training negotiation is difficult because it is a complex, dynamic activity that involves multiple parties. It is often not clear how to create situations in which students can practice negotiation or how to measure students' progress. Some have begun to address these issues by creating artificial software agents with which students can train. These agents have the advantage that they can be "reset," and played against multiple times. This allows students to learn from their mistakes and try different strategies. However, these agents are often based on normative theories of how negotiators should conduct themselves, not necessarily how people actually behave in negotiations. Here, we take a step toward addressing this gap by developing an agent grounded in a cognitive architecture, ACT-R. This agent contains a model of theory-of-mind, the ability of humans to reason about the mental states of others. It uses this model to try to infer the strategy of the opponent and respond accordingly. In a series of experiments, we show that this agent replicates some aspects of human performance, is plausible to human negotiators, and can lead to learning gains in a small-scale negotiation task.

History of chemical and biological warfare agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szinicz, L.

2005-01-01

Chemical and biological warfare agents constitute a low-probability, but high-impact risk both to the military and to the civilian population. The use of hazardous materials of chemical or biological origin as weapons and for homicide has been documented since ancient times. The first use of chemicals in terms of weapons of mass destruction goes back to World War I, when on April 22, 1915 large amounts of chlorine were released by German military forces at Ypres, Belgium. Until around the 1970s of the 20th century, the awareness of the threat by chemical and biological agents had been mainly confined to the military sector. In the following time, the development of increasing range delivery systems by chemical and biological agents possessors sensitised public attention to the threat emanating from these agents. Their proliferation to the terrorists field during the 1990s with the expanding scale and globalisation of terrorist attacks suggested that these agents are becoming an increasing threat to the whole world community. The following article gives a condensed overview on the history of use and development of the more prominent chemical and biological warfare agents

History of chemical and biological warfare agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Szinicz, L

2005-10-30

Chemical and biological warfare agents constitute a low-probability, but high-impact risk both to the military and to the civilian population. The use of hazardous materials of chemical or biological origin as weapons and for homicide has been documented since ancient times. The first use of chemicals in terms of weapons of mass destruction goes back to World War I, when on April 22, 1915 large amounts of chlorine were released by German military forces at Ypres, Belgium. Until around the 1970s of the 20th century, the awareness of the threat by chemical and biological agents had been mainly confined to the military sector. In the following time, the development of increasing range delivery systems by chemical and biological agents possessors sensitised public attention to the threat emanating from these agents. Their proliferation to the terrorists field during the 1990s with the expanding scale and globalisation of terrorist attacks suggested that these agents are becoming an increasing threat to the whole world community. The following article gives a condensed overview on the history of use and development of the more prominent chemical and biological warfare agents.

Alkylating agents for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Kun; Tan, Jianlong; Wu, Taixiang

2009-01-21

Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia (WM) is an uncommon B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by bone marrow infiltration and production of monoclonal immunoglobulin. Uncertainty remains if alkylating agents, such as chlorambucil, melphalan or cyclophosphamide, are an effective form of management. To assess the effects and safety of the alkylating agents on Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia (WM). We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Issue 1, 2008), MEDLINE (1966 to 2008), EMBASE (1980 to 2008), the Chinese Biomedical Base (1982 to 2008) and reference lists of articles.We also handsearched relevant conference proceedings from 1990 to 2008. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing alkylating agents given concomitantly with radiotherapy, splenectomy, plasmapheresis, stem-cell transplantation in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of WM. Two authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. We contacted study authors for additional information. We collected adverse effects information from the trials. One trial involving 92 participants with pretreated/relapsed WM compared the effect of fludarabine versus the combination of cyclophosphamide (the alkylating agent), doxorubicin and prednisone (CAP). Compared to CAP, the Hazard ratio (HR) for deaths of treatment with fludarabine was estimated to be 1.04, with a standard error of 0.30 (95% CI 0.58 to 1.48) and it indicated that the mean difference of median survival time was -4.00 months, and 16.00 months for response duration. The relative risks (RR) of response rate was 2.80 (95% CI 1.10 to 7.12). There were no statistically difference in overall survival rate and median survival months, while on the basis of response rate and response duration, fludarabine seemed to be superior to CAP for pretreated/relapsed patients with macroglobulinaemia. Although alkylating agents have been used for decades they have never actually been tested in a proper randomised trial. This

Agent-based method for distributed clustering of textual information

Science.gov (United States)

Potok, Thomas E [Oak Ridge, TN; Reed, Joel W [Knoxville, TN; Elmore, Mark T [Oak Ridge, TN; Treadwell, Jim N [Louisville, TN

2010-09-28

A computer method and system for storing, retrieving and displaying information has a multiplexing agent (20) that calculates a new document vector (25) for a new document (21) to be added to the system and transmits the new document vector (25) to master cluster agents (22) and cluster agents (23) for evaluation. These agents (22, 23) perform the evaluation and return values upstream to the multiplexing agent (20) based on the similarity of the document to documents stored under their control. The multiplexing agent (20) then sends the document (21) and the document vector (25) to the master cluster agent (22), which then forwards it to a cluster agent (23) or creates a new cluster agent (23) to manage the document (21). The system also searches for stored documents according to a search query having at least one term and identifying the documents found in the search, and displays the documents in a clustering display (80) of similarity so as to indicate similarity of the documents to each other.

Agent Control for Reconfigurable Open Kinematic Chain Manipulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janez Sluga

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a method for the autonomous control of differently structured open kinematic chains based on multi-agent system technology. The appropriate level of distributing local autonomy (agents to a manipulative structure is defined, which makes it possible to dynamically change the number, type and structure of manipulative components without modifying their behavioural logic. To achieve fast reconfigurable and scalable manipulative systems, a new multi-agent method is developed for controlling the manipulator kinematics. The new method enables independent manipulator structure from the control system because of its structural and system modularity. The proposed method consists of kinematic equations for use in an agent environment, agent motion-planning algorithms, evaluation functions, agent control logic and kinematic algorithms. The results of simulations and real-world experiments demonstrate the usefulness of the approach for different non-redundant and redundant manipulation structures.

Do you get it? User-evaluated explainable BDI agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broekens, J.; Harbers, M.; Hindriks, K.; Bosch, K. van den; Jonker, C.; Meyer, J.J.C.

2010-01-01

In this paper we focus on explaining to humans the behavior of autonomous agents, i.e., explainable agents. Explainable agents are useful for many reasons including scenario-based training (e.g. disaster training), tutor and pedagogical systems, agent development and debugging, gaming, and

Java-based mobile agent platforms for wireless sensor networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aiello, F.; Carbone, A.; Fortino, G.; Galzarano, S.; Ganzha, M.; Paprzycki, M.

2010-01-01

This paper proposes an overview and comparison of mobile agent platforms for the development of wireless sensor network applications. In particular, the architecture, programming model and basic performance of two Java-based agent platforms, Mobile Agent Platform for Sun SPOT (MAPS) and Agent

Collaborative Information Agents on the World Wide Web

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, James R.; Mathe, Nathalie; Wolfe, Shawn; Koga, Dennis J. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

In this paper, we present DIAMS, a system of distributed, collaborative information agents which help users access, collect, organize, and exchange information on the World Wide Web. Personal agents provide their owners dynamic displays of well organized information collections, as well as friendly information management utilities. Personal agents exchange information with one another. They also work with other types of information agents such as matchmakers and knowledge experts to facilitate collaboration and communication.

Non-radiological contrast agents (MRI)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonnemain, B.; Lautrou, J.; Meyer, D.; Doucet, D.

1987-01-01

Over the past few years, extensive research has been carried out in an attempt to develop contrast agents that could help improve both the performance (acquisition times) and the diagnostic efficacy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques. On the basis of physicochemical and pharmacological criteria discussed in this presentation, a few efficacious, well-tolerated compounds could be developed. Two of them, the gadolinium complexes Gd-DOTA and Gd-DTPA, are currently being tried in man. This first generation of contrast agents, which are aspecific markers of the intravascular space, has been shown to have good diagnostic potential in conventional MRI procedures. The diagnostic contribution of these contrast agents will probably be a most essential factor in new MRI techniques using low field strengh or fast imaging sequences [fr

Prophylaxis and Therapy Against Chemical Agents

Science.gov (United States)

2009-11-01

Hematopoietic Consequences F. Dorandeu 5) pH Dependent Toxicity of Sulphur Mustard In Vitro J. Mikler Nerve Agents / Scavengers 1) Mutagenesis...symptoms such as salivation or shortness of breath and lower level exposures could be rendered inconsequential. B.2 CURRENT THERAPY FOR NERVE AGENT

Deliberate Evolution in Multi-Agent Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brazier, F.M.; Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.; Wijngaards, N.J.E.; Gabbay, D.

2001-01-01

Evolution in societies of agents is a challenging phenomenon, both from a fundamental perspective and from an applied perspective. In the literature often genetic programming approaches are used and relatively simple agents are considered, which have no deliberate influence on the direction of the

Vivid agents : theory, architecture, and applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schroeder, M.; Wagner, G.R.

2000-01-01

Vivid agents (Wagner, 1996) are software-controlled systems whose state comprises the mental components of knowledge, perceptions, tasks, and intentions, and whose behavior is represented by means of action and reaction rules. An execution model for vivid agents is presented, which is based on an

Mansion, A Distributed Multi-Agent System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van t Noordende, G.; Brazier, F.M.; Tanenbaum, A.S.

2001-01-01

In this position summary we present work in progress on a worldwide, scalable multi-agent system, based on a paradigm of hyperlinked rooms. The framework offers facilities for managing distribution, security and mobility aspects for both active elements (agents) and passive elements (objects) in the

The design of interacting agents for use in interfaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Connah, D.M.; Brouwer-Janse, M.D.; Harrington, T.L.

1994-01-01

In this paper situated agents are contrasted with agents which rely on a planning-based model of action. It is suggested that situated agents are particularly appropriate for skill-based tasks and that skill forms the basis of many important applications. The impact of situated agents on

Agent Based Modeling Applications for Geosciences

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, J. S.

2004-12-01

Agent-based modeling techniques have successfully been applied to systems in which complex behaviors or outcomes arise from varied interactions between individuals in the system. Each individual interacts with its environment, as well as with other individuals, by following a set of relatively simple rules. Traditionally this "bottom-up" modeling approach has been applied to problems in the fields of economics and sociology, but more recently has been introduced to various disciplines in the geosciences. This technique can help explain the origin of complex processes from a relatively simple set of rules, incorporate large and detailed datasets when they exist, and simulate the effects of extreme events on system-wide behavior. Some of the challenges associated with this modeling method include: significant computational requirements in order to keep track of thousands to millions of agents, methods and strategies of model validation are lacking, as is a formal methodology for evaluating model uncertainty. Challenges specific to the geosciences, include how to define agents that control water, contaminant fluxes, climate forcing and other physical processes and how to link these "geo-agents" into larger agent-based simulations that include social systems such as demographics economics and regulations. Effective management of limited natural resources (such as water, hydrocarbons, or land) requires an understanding of what factors influence the demand for these resources on a regional and temporal scale. Agent-based models can be used to simulate this demand across a variety of sectors under a range of conditions and determine effective and robust management policies and monitoring strategies. The recent focus on the role of biological processes in the geosciences is another example of an area that could benefit from agent-based applications. A typical approach to modeling the effect of biological processes in geologic media has been to represent these processes in

Priming of supernatural agent concepts and agency detection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Elk, M.; Rutjens, B.T.; van der Pligt, J.; van Harreveld, F.

2016-01-01

In evolutionary approaches to religion it is argued that belief in supernatural agents is strongly related to a perceptual bias to over-detect the presence of agents in the environment. We report five experiments that investigate whether processing concepts about supernatural agents facilitates

Social Psychology Of Persuasion Applied To Human-agent Interaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shenghua Liu

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses and evaluates the application of a social psychologically enriched, user-centered approach to agent architecture design. The major aim is to facilitate human-agent interaction (HAI by making agents not only algorithmically more intelligent but also socially more skillful in communicating with the user. A decision-making model and communicative argumentation strategies have been incorporated into the agent architecture. In the presented content resource management experiments, enhancement of human task performance is demonstrated for users that are supported by a persuasive agent. This superior performance seems to be rooted in a more trusting collaborative relationship between the user and the agent, rather than in the appropriateness of the agent's decision-making suggestions alone. In particular, the second experiment demonstrated that interface interaction design should follow the principles of task-orientation and implicitness. Making the influence of the agent too salient can trigger counterintentional effects, such as users' discomfort and psychological reactance.

Agent-based Simulation of the Maritime Domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Vaněk

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a multi-agent based simulation platform is introduced that focuses on legitimate and illegitimate aspects of maritime traffic, mainly on intercontinental transport through piracy afflicted areas. The extensible architecture presented here comprises several modules controlling the simulation and the life-cycle of the agents, analyzing the simulation output and visualizing the entire simulated domain. The simulation control module is initialized by various configuration scenarios to simulate various real-world situations, such as a pirate ambush, coordinated transit through a transport corridor, or coastal fishing and local traffic. The environmental model provides a rich set of inputs for agents that use the geo-spatial data and the vessel operational characteristics for their reasoning. The agent behavior model based on finite state machines together with planning algorithms allows complex expression of agent behavior, so the resulting simulation output can serve as a substitution for real world data from the maritime domain.

Macroeconomic Policies and Agent Heterogeneity

OpenAIRE

GOTTLIEB, Charles

2012-01-01

Defence date: 24 February 2012 Examining Board: Giancarlo Corsetti, Arpad Abraham, Juan Carlos Conesa, Jonathan Heathcote. This thesis contributes to the understanding of macroeconomic policies’ impact on the distribution of wealth. It belongs to the strand of literature that departs from the representative agent assumption and perceives agent heterogeneity and the induced disparities in wealth accumulation, as an important dimension of economic policy-making. Within such economic envir...

Business Intelligence using Software Agents

OpenAIRE

Ana-Ramona BOLOGA; Razvan BOLOGA

2011-01-01

This paper presents some ideas about business intelligence today and the importance of developing real time business solutions. The authors make an exploration of links between business intelligence and artificial intelligence and focuses specifically on the implementation of software agents-based systems in business intelligence. There are briefly presented some of the few solutions proposed so far that use software agents properties for the benefit of business intelligence. The authors then...

AFECS. multi-agent framework for experiment control systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gyurjyan, V; Abbott, D; Heyes, G; Jastrzembski, E; Timmer, C; Wolin, E [Jefferson Lab, 12000 Jefferson Ave. MS-12B3, Newport News, VA 23606 (United States)], E-mail: gurjyan@jlab.org

2008-07-01

AFECS is a pure Java based software framework for designing and implementing distributed control systems. AFECS creates a control system environment as a collection of software agents behaving as finite state machines. These agents can represent real entities, such as hardware devices, software tasks, or control subsystems. A special control oriented ontology language (COOL), based on RDFS (Resource Definition Framework Schema) is provided for control system description as well as for agent communication. AFECS agents can be distributed over a variety of platforms. Agents communicate with their associated physical components using range of communication protocols, including tcl-DP, cMsg (publish-subscribe communication system developed at Jefferson Lab), SNMP (simple network management protocol), EPICS channel access protocol and JDBC.

AFECS. Multi-Agent Framework for Experiment Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vardan Gyurjyan; David Abbott; William Heyes; Edward Jastrzembski; Carl Timmer; Elliott Wolin

2008-01-23

AFECS is a pure Java based software framework for designing and implementing distributed control systems. AFECS creates a control system environment as a collection of software agents behaving as finite state machines. These agents can represent real entities, such as hardware devices, software tasks, or control subsystems. A special control oriented ontology language (COOL), based on RDFS (Resource Definition Framework Schema) is provided for control system description as well as for agent communication. AFECS agents can be distributed over a variety of platforms. Agents communicate with their associated physical components using range of communication protocols, including tcl-DP, cMsg (publish-subscribe communication system developed at Jefferson Lab), SNMP (simple network management protocol), EPICS channel access protocol and JDBC.

AFECS. multi-agent framework for experiment control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyurjyan, V; Abbott, D; Heyes, G; Jastrzembski, E; Timmer, C; Wolin, E

2008-01-01

AFECS is a pure Java based software framework for designing and implementing distributed control systems. AFECS creates a control system environment as a collection of software agents behaving as finite state machines. These agents can represent real entities, such as hardware devices, software tasks, or control subsystems. A special control oriented ontology language (COOL), based on RDFS (Resource Definition Framework Schema) is provided for control system description as well as for agent communication. AFECS agents can be distributed over a variety of platforms. Agents communicate with their associated physical components using range of communication protocols, including tcl-DP, cMsg (publish-subscribe communication system developed at Jefferson Lab), SNMP (simple network management protocol), EPICS channel access protocol and JDBC

Cognitive agent programming : A semantic approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riemsdijk, M.B. van

2006-01-01

In this thesis we are concerned with the design and investigation of dedicated programming languages for programming agents. We focus in particular on programming languages for rational agents, i.e., flexibly behaving computing entities that are able to make "good" decisions about what to do. An

Agentes comunitários de saúde: perfil e formação Community health agents: profile and education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carla Kowalski Marzari

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A pesquisa discute o perfil e a formação dos agentes comunitários de saúde. Não existe ainda clareza sobre o tipo de profissional necessário e a formação adequada para o desempenho da função. Trata-se de um estudo de caso com metodologia exploratória e abordagem qualitativa. A coleta de dados foi com grupo focal formado por dez agentes, selecionados intencionalmente entre aqueles com mais tempo de serviço nas Equipes da Estratégia Saúde da Família do município de Santa Maria (RS. As discussões foram gravadas e transcritas. Os dados foram trabalhados através da análise de conteúdo. Os resultados apontaram para algumas questões centrais sobre a identidade dos agentes: integração na equipe de saúde, inserção na comunidade, perfil e formação. O perfil que emerge da pesquisa não é diferente daquele proposto pelo Ministério da Saúde. No entanto, o diferencial é a busca por profissionalização, iniciativa assumida pelo próprio agente, efetivada e pautada pela realidade que ele enfrenta a partir da sua atuação. As lacunas percebidas na sua formação levam o agente a construir sua própria identidade profissional, pautada mais pelo aspecto técnico do conhecimento científico do que pela sua competência social como agente comunitário.This research discusses the profile and education of the community health agents. There is no clarity about the kind of professional needed and the appropriate training to the fulfillment of the function. The research is a case study with exploratory methodology and qualitative approach. The data was collected with a focused group, formed by ten agents, intentional selected from those with more time in service in Family Health Strategy teams from the municipality of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul State. The discussions were recorded and transcribed by the researcher. The data was interpreted by content analysis. The results pointed to some important questions concerning the identity of

Competing intelligent search agents in global optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Streltsov, S.; Vakili, P. [Boston Univ., MA (United States); Muchnik, I. [Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States)

1996-12-31

In this paper we present a new search methodology that we view as a development of intelligent agent approach to the analysis of complex system. The main idea is to consider search process as a competition mechanism between concurrent adaptive intelligent agents. Agents cooperate in achieving a common search goal and at the same time compete with each other for computational resources. We propose a statistical selection approach to resource allocation between agents that leads to simple and efficient on average index allocation policies. We use global optimization as the most general setting that encompasses many types of search problems, and show how proposed selection policies can be used to improve and combine various global optimization methods.

Preparação e caracterização de eletrocatalisadores PtRu/C e PtSn/C via redução química por ácido cítrico para oxidação direta de alcoóis em células a combustível tipo PEM

OpenAIRE

Roberto Willyan Ramon Verjulio-Silva

2008-01-01

Neste trabalho, os sistemas de eletrocatalisadores platina-rutênio (PtRu/C) e platina-estanho (PtSn/C) suportados em carbono de alta área superficial XC72R (Cabot) foram preparados pela redução química de precursores metálicos em solução usando o ácido cítrico como agente redutor. Os eletrocatalisadores foram preparados em diferentes valores de pH, com o objetivo de obter as condições de sínteses mais otimizadas para cada um dos sistemas preparados. O método otimizado mostrou-se eficiente na ...

Agent-Based Decentralized Control Method for Islanded Microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Qiang; Chen, Feixiong; Chen, Minyou

2016-01-01

as a local control processor together with communication devices, so agents can collect present states of distributed generators and loads, when communication lines are added between two layers. Moreover, each agent can also exchange information with its neighboring agents of the network. After information...

Putative neuroprotective agents in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Dodd, Seetal; Maes, Michael; Anderson, George; Dean, Olivia M; Moylan, Steven; Berk, Michael

2013-04-05

In many individuals with major neuropsychiatric disorders including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, their disease characteristics are consistent with a neuroprogressive illness. This includes progressive structural brain changes, cognitive and functional decline, poorer treatment response and an increasing vulnerability to relapse with chronicity. The underlying molecular mechanisms of neuroprogression are thought to include neurotrophins and regulation of neurogenesis and apoptosis, neurotransmitters, inflammatory, oxidative and nitrosative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, cortisol and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and epigenetic influences. Knowledge of the involvement of each of these pathways implies that specific agents that act on some or multiple of these pathways may thus block this cascade and have neuroprotective properties. This paper reviews the potential of the most promising of these agents, including lithium and other known psychotropics, aspirin, minocycline, statins, N-acetylcysteine, leptin and melatonin. These agents are putative neuroprotective agents for schizophrenia and mood disorders. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quitina y carboximetilquitosana como agentes desintegrantes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sol A Fernández Monagas

1998-08-01

Full Text Available Se realizó un estudio comparativo de la quitina y la carboximetilquitosana como agentes desintegrantes, y se evaluó la influencia ejercida por el método empleado en la elaboración de las tabletas sobre la actividad desintegrante de ambos polímeros. La quitina presentó buenas características como agente desintegrante independientemente del método utilizado en la elaboración de las tabletas, mientras que la actividad desintegrante de la carboximetilquitosana fue afectada por el proceso de granulación.A comparative study of chitin and carboxymethylchitosan as disintegrating agents was wade made. The influence exerted bu tje method used in the preparation of the tablets on the disintegrating activity of both polymers was evaluated. Chitin proved to have good characteristics as a disintegrating agent independently of the method used to make tablets. The disintegrating activity of carboxymethylchitosan was affected by the granulation process.

Pharmacological stress agents in nuclear cardiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buscombe, J.R.

2004-01-01

Treadmill test combined with myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) is a commonly used technique in the assessment of coronary artery disease. However there are a group of patients who may not be able to undergo treadmill tests. Patients with underlying conditions like neuromuscular disease, musculoskeletal disorder, heart failure and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on renal dialysis would find it difficult to perform exercise on a treadmill or bicycle ergometer. These conditions prevent them from performing adequate exercise. Such patients would benefit from pharmacological stress procedures combined with MPS. Nuclear medicine departments use various pharmacological agents while performing stress tests on cardiac patients. The most commonly used pharmacological agents for cardiac stress are coronary vasodilators and catecholamines. In addition to these agents, adjuvant use of nitrates and atropine is also a common practice in nuclear cardiology. This review addresses various physiological and pharmacological properties of the commonly used pharmacological stress agents in MPS and critically analyses their advantages and disadvantages, as well as their safety and efficacy. (author)

Unibot, a Universal Agent Architecture for Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saša Mladenović

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Today there are numerous robots in different applications domains despite the fact that they still have limitations in perception, actuation and decision process. Consequently, robots usually have limited autonomy, they are domain specific or have difficulty to adapt on new environments. Learning is the property that makes an agent intelligent and the crucial property that a robot should have to proliferate into the human society. Embedding the learning ability into the robot may simplify the development of the robot control mechanism. The motivation for this research is to develop the agent architecture of the universal robot – Unibot. In our approach the agent is the robot i.e. Unibot that acts in the physical world and is capable of learning. The Unibot conducts several simultaneous simulations of a problem of interest like path-finding. The novelty in our approach is the Multi-Agent Decision Support System which is developed and integrated into the Unibot agent architecture in order to execute simultaneous simulations. Furthermore, the Unibot calculates and evaluates between multiple solutions, decides which action should be performed and performs the action. The prototype of the Unibot agent architecture is described and evaluated in the experiment supported by the Lego Mindstorms robot and the NetLogo.

Multi-Agent System for Recruiting Patients for Clinical Trials

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-01

Managing Agent: The Trial Managing Agent has been implemented in Java , with support from a MySQL back-end database. This is used to conveniently exchange...these principles via simulation. • Recruitment Agent: The Recruitment Agent has been imple- mented in Java and has been used by 124 GPs so far

Bacterial agents and sensitivity pattern of neonatal conjuctivitis in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: In Africa alone, between 1000 – 4000 children are blinded annually by conjunctivitis. In view of the changing aetiological agents documented in other parts of the world and evolving resistance of infective agents to therapeutic agents, the present study was designed to define the bacterial agents, their antibiotic ...

Modern approaches to agent-based complex automated negotiation

CERN Document Server

Bai, Quan; Ito, Takayuki; Zhang, Minjie; Ren, Fenghui; Aydoğan, Reyhan; Hadfi, Rafik

2017-01-01

This book addresses several important aspects of complex automated negotiations and introduces a number of modern approaches for facilitating agents to conduct complex negotiations. It demonstrates that autonomous negotiation is one of the most important areas in the field of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. Further, it presents complex automated negotiation scenarios that involve negotiation encounters that may have, for instance, a large number of agents, a large number of issues with strong interdependencies and/or real-time constraints.

Software agent constrained mobility for network performance monitoring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bohoris, C.; Liotta, A.; Pavlou, G.

2000-01-01

During the recent years of research on mobile agents, significant effort has been directed towards the identification of models of agent mobility suitable for network management applications. Also, a lot of research work is currently being carried out trying to provide an assessment of mobile agent

Heterogenous Agents Model with the Worst Out Algorithm

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vácha, Lukáš; Vošvrda, Miloslav

-, č. 8 (2006), s. 3-19 ISSN 1801-5999 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : efficient market hypothesis * fractal market hypothesis * agents' investment horizons * agents' trading strategies * technical trading rules * heterogeneous agent model with stochastic memory * Worst out algorithm Subject RIV: AH - Economics

Strategic farsighted learning in competitive multi-agent games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

t Hoen, P.J.; Bohté, S.M.; Poutré, la J.A.; Brewka, G.; Coradeschi, S.; Perini, A.

2006-01-01

We describe a generalized Q-learning type algorithm for reinforcement learning in competitive multi-agent games. We make the observation that in a competitive setting with adaptive agents an agent's actions will (likely) result in changes in the opponents policies. In addition to accounting for the

A Multi-Agent Traffic Control Model Based on Distributed System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian WU

2014-06-01

Full Text Available With the development of urbanization construction, urban travel has become a quite thorny and imminent problem. Some previous researches on the large urban traffic systems easily change into NPC problems. We purpose a multi-agent inductive control model based on the distributed approach. To describe the real traffic scene, this model designs four different types of intelligent agents, i.e. we regard each lane, route, intersection and traffic region as different types of intelligent agents. Each agent can achieve the real-time traffic data from its neighbor agents, and decision-making agents establish real-time traffic signal plans through the communication between local agents and their neighbor agents. To evaluate the traffic system, this paper takes the average delay, the stopped time and the average speed as performance parameters. Finally, the distributed multi-agent is simulated on the VISSIM simulation platform, the simulation results show that the multi-agent system is more effective than the adaptive control system in solving the traffic congestion.

Deliberate normative agents : principles and architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dignum, F.P.M.; Castelfranchi, C.; Jonker, C.; Treur, J.; Jennings, N.R.; Lespérance, Y.

2000-01-01

In this paper norms are assumed to be useful in agent societies. It is claimed that not only following norms, but also the possibility of ‘intelligent’ norm violation can be useful. Principles for agents that are able to behave deliberatively on the basis of explicitly represented norms are

13 CFR 120.952 - Fiscal agent.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Fiscal Agent to assess the financial markets, minimize the cost of sales, arrange for the production of... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fiscal agent. 120.952 Section 120.952 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Development Company...

Human-Agent Decision-making: Combining Theory and Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarit Kraus

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Extensive work has been conducted both in game theory and logic to model strategic interaction. An important question is whether we can use these theories to design agents for interacting with people? On the one hand, they provide a formal design specification for agent strategies. On the other hand, people do not necessarily adhere to playing in accordance with these strategies, and their behavior is affected by a multitude of social and psychological factors. In this paper we will consider the question of whether strategies implied by theories of strategic behavior can be used by automated agents that interact proficiently with people. We will focus on automated agents that we built that need to interact with people in two negotiation settings: bargaining and deliberation. For bargaining we will study game-theory based equilibrium agents and for argumentation we will discuss logic-based argumentation theory. We will also consider security games and persuasion games and will discuss the benefits of using equilibrium based agents.

Identificação de variáveis cataclísmicas eruptivas na direção do bojo galáctico e Nuvens de Magalhães usando dados do OGLE

Science.gov (United States)

Cieslinski, D.; Diaz, M. P.; Mennickent, R.; Pietrzyski, G.

2003-08-01

Na década de 90 iniciaram-se vários programas para a pesquisa de matéria escura na Galáxia usando o efeito de microlentes gravitacionais. Entre os projetos mais bem conhecidos podemos mencionar o OGLE (Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment) e o MACHO (MAssive Compact Halo Objects). A estratégia usada por eles consiste em fazer fotometria de banda larga (normalmente B, R e I) de um grande número de estrelas (dezenas de milhões) tão freqüentemente quanto possí vel e por longos perí odos de tempo (anos). Uma tal sistemática de observação, além de descobrir inúmeras lentes gravitacionais, é também muito apropriada para a descoberta de estrelas variáveis. De fato, inúmeras novas variáveis de vários tipos foram descobertas como subproduto. Exemplos podem ser encontrados nos endereços http://bulge.princeton.edu/~ogle/ e http://wwwmacho.mcmaster.ca/. As variáveis cataclí smicas eruptivas (novas clássicas, novas recorrentes e novas anãs) são objetos que apresentam variabilidade de grande amplitude com escalas de tempo de dias a centenas de dias e, por esta razão, devem ter sido detectadas em grande número nestes "surveys". Para testar esta possibilidade nós procuramos nos dados do OGLE por tais sistemas e o presente trabalho mostra os resultados desta pesquisa. Os objetos foram selecionados entre as variáveis detectadas usando a amplitude de variação de brilho como critério principal. Este critério forneceu 13756 objetos, sendo 2169 na direção da Grande Nuvem de Magalhães, 1162 na direção da Pequena Nuvem de Magalhães e o restante na direção do Bojo Galáctico. A análise foi feita inspecionando-se visualmente cada curva de luz por erupções com as características acima mencionadas. Os resultados obtidos podem ser sumarizados como: descoberta de duas novas clássicas e 33 novas anãs. Além disso, pode-se mencionar a identificação de candidatas a outros tipos de variáveis como: estrelas simbióticas, RV Tauri, R Coronae

Building Agents to Serve Customers

OpenAIRE

Barbuceanu, Mihai; Fox, Mark S.; Hong, Lei; Lallement, Yannick; Zhang, Zhongdong

2004-01-01

AI agents combining natural language interaction, task planning, and business ontologies can help companies provide better-quality and more costeffective customer service. Our customer-service agents use natural language to interact with customers, enabling customers to state their intentions directly instead of searching for the places on the Web site that may address their concern. We use planning methods to search systematically for the solution to the customer's problem, ensuring that a r...

Variabilidad genética de Aedes aegypti en algunas áreas del Perú usando Single Stranded Conformational Polymorphism (SSCP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nélida Leiva G

2004-07-01

Full Text Available Aedes aegypti es el vector responsable de la transmisión del virus del dengue, su distribución geográfica se ha ampliado rápidamente debido principalmente a la intervención de los seres humanos. Objetivo: Analizar la variabilidad genética de este mosquito mediante la comparación del Segundo Espaciador Transcrito Interno (ITS 2 perteneciente al ADN ribosomal (rADN. Materiales y Métodos: Se analizaron muestras de ocho localidades (Jaén, Tingo María, Iquitos, Lambayeque, el distrito de El Rimac, Sullana y Zarumilla y uno de la provincia de Huaquillas (Ecuador. El análisis de la variabilidad se determinó usando la técnica conocida como SSCP (Single Stranded Conformation Polymorphism. Resultados: El estudio muestra que existe variabilidad genética entre las poblaciones analizadas, principalmente entre las muestras localizadas en la costa del Perú (Zarumilla, El Rímac, Sullana y Huaquillas y las muestras del nororiente (Tingo María, Iquitos, Jaén y Lambayeque Conclusión: Se determinaron dos variantes genéticas entre las poblaciones de Aedes aegypti: Costeña y Nororiental, que probablemente provienen de dos ancestros diferentes y cuyo ancestro común sufrió de aislamiento por distancia. Se observó que no existe relación entre las distancias genéticas y las distancias geográficas indicando que la migración de estas poblaciones es el resultado de la intervención de los seres humanos que diseminan al vector y no por la migración activa del mosquito. Se plantea el papel de la Cordillera de los Andes en la migración y separación de las poblaciones de Aedes.

Control Activo de Vibraciones en un Rotor Tipo Jeffcott con Velocidad Variable Usando una Suspensión Electromecánica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Beltrán-Carbajal

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Resumen: En este trabajo se presenta un esquema de balanceo activo para un rotor tipo Jeffcott con velocidad variable, usando una suspensión con actuadores electromecánicos lineales. Se propone un esquema de estimación de las señales de perturbación que se inducen por la excentricidad presente en el sistema rotor-chumacera y una ley de control del desbalance que combina tareas de seguimiento de trayectorias para el perfil de velocidades en el rotor. Las señales de perturbación se estiman adecuadamente y el control de la velocidad se realiza en forma robusta, dando como resultado un desempeño eficiente del esquema de control activo para la supresión de vibraciones, con amplitud y frecuencia variables, generadas por el inherente desbalance desconocido en elrotor. Abstract: An active balancing scheme for a variable rotor speed Jeffcott-like rotor, using a suspension with linear electromechanical actuators, is presented. In addition, an estimation scheme for the perturbation signals induced by the inherent eccentricity on the rotating mechanical system, and a control law synthesized for simultaneous tracking tasks on the rotor speed are proposed. Some simulation results show the fast and efficient performance of the active vibration control scheme for good suppression of variable amplitude and frequency harmonic vibrations associated to the unbalance, as well as an effective estimation of the perturbation signals and robustness of the rotor speed controller. The proposed methodology can be applied for on-line monitoring and fault detection quite common in rotating machinery. Palabras clave: Control activo de vibraciones, Rotor tipo Jeffcott, Rechazo de perturbaciones., Keywords: Active vibration control, Jeffcott-like rotor, Disturbance rejection.

Controle dos vasos renais usando clips vasculares e fio cirúrgico em nefrectomias vídeo-assistidas de doadores vivos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alcides José Branco Filho

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: A nefrectomia laparoscópica em doadores vivos para transplante renal vem assumindo um papel importante na era das cirurgias minimamente invasivas, acarretando menor morbidade aos doadores, e resultados semelhantes à técnica aberta no que se refere ao enxerto renal. O objetivo do presente artigo é relatar a experiência do nosso serviço utilizando a técnica de controle dos vasos renais usando fio cirúrgico e clips vasculares. MÉTODO: Foram realizadas 45 nefrectomias utilizando a técnica vídeo-assistida, com ligadura dos vasos renais com clips de titânio (LT-300 e fio cirúrgico. As variáveis analisadas foram tempo cirúrgico, perda sangüínea, tempo de isquemia quente, permanência hospitalar, necessidade de conversão e complicações. RESULTADOS: O procedimento foi realizado com sucesso em todos os casos. O tempo cirúrgico médio foi de 118 minutos, com perda sangüínea estimada em 84ml e tempo de isquemia quente de 4,3 minutos. Dois casos de íleo prolongado, uma lesão de veia gonadal, um escape de artéria renal e uma necrose de ureter foram observados. A permanência hospitalar média foi de 3,7 dias. O uso de clips vasculares e fio cirúrgico reduziu a perda de tecido venoso comparado à técnica com staplers e gerou redução de custos. CONCLUSÕES: A nefrectomia vídeo-assistida com a técnica descrita é factível e mostrou ser efetiva na contenção de gastos e na redução de tecido venoso perdido.

Endotoxins, Glucans and Other Microbial Cell Wall Agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Basinas, Ioannis; Elholm, Grethe; Wouters, Inge M.

2017-01-01

During the last decades an increasing interest in microbial cell wall agents has been established, since exposure to these agents has been linked to a wide range of adverse and beneficial health effects. The term microbial cell wall agents refers to a group of molecules of different composition that

The mobile agent rendezvous problem in the ring

CERN Document Server

Kranakis, Evangelos; Marcou, Euripides

2010-01-01

Mobile agent computing is being used in fields as diverse as artificial intelligence, computational economics and robotics. Agents' ability to adapt dynamically and execute asynchronously and autonomously brings potential advantages in terms of fault-tolerance, flexibility and simplicity. This monograph focuses on studying mobile agents as modelled in distributed systems research and in particular within the framework of research performed in the distributed algorithms community. It studies the fundamental question of how to achieve rendezvous, the gathering of two or more agents at the same n

An Emotional Agent Model Based on Granular Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Hu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Affective computing has a very important significance for fulfilling intelligent information processing and harmonious communication between human being and computers. A new model for emotional agent is proposed in this paper to make agent have the ability of handling emotions, based on the granular computing theory and the traditional BDI agent model. Firstly, a new emotion knowledge base based on granular computing for emotion expression is presented in the model. Secondly, a new emotional reasoning algorithm based on granular computing is proposed. Thirdly, a new emotional agent model based on granular computing is presented. Finally, based on the model, an emotional agent for patient assistant in hospital is realized, experiment results show that it is efficient to handle simple emotions.

Global optimization of minority game by intelligent agents

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yan-Bo; Wang, Bing-Hong; Hu, Chin-Kun; Zhou, Tao

2005-10-01

We propose a new model of minority game with intelligent agents who use trail and error method to make a choice such that the standard deviation σ2 and the total loss in this model reach the theoretical minimum values in the long time limit and the global optimization of the system is reached. This suggests that the economic systems can self-organize into a highly optimized state by agents who make decisions based on inductive thinking, limited knowledge, and capabilities. When other kinds of agents are also present, the simulation results and analytic calculations show that the intelligent agent can gain profits from producers and are much more competent than the noise traders and conventional agents in original minority games proposed by Challet and Zhang.

Viajando sobre hojas volanderas: representaciones del viaje en pliegos sueltos del siglo XVIII = Travelling on broadsides: representations of travels in 18th-century Spanish chapbooks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Gomis Coloma

2016-12-01

Full Text Available ResumenEl tema que aborda este trabajo son las representaciones del viaje y de los viajeros en los romances del siglo XVIII. Los objetivos son, en primer lugar, dar a conocer una fuente “popular” en relación a un tema, el viaje, que para el siglo XVIII ha sido generalmente estudiado desde la perspectiva de la alta cultura, como ingrediente clave para la formación e instrucción de cualquier espíritu ilustrado. Rastreando los aspectos asociados al viaje que, numerosos, asoman en los pliegos sueltos, se muestran otras representaciones de viajes y viajeros, que contribuyan a enriquecer nuestra comprensión sobre la diversidad de concepciones que el tema pudo suscitar en la época. En segundo lugar, a partir de una muestra representativa de romances publicados en el siglo XVIII, se analizan distintos rasgos de los relatos de viajes: periplos, lugares de destino, tipos de viajes, identidad de los viajeros, causas para emprender el itinerario, descripción de espacios, éxito o fracaso de la empresa, etc. Finalmente, se seleccionan algunos textos representativos para indagar los valores asociados al viaje y al encuentro con “el otro”, con el fin de explorar los miedos e ilusiones que, según los relatos, llevaba aparejado aventurarse hacia lo desconocido.AbstractThis paper focuses on 18th century romances’ representations of travels and travellers. Its aims are: firstly, to shed light on a «popular» source about a topic like travels, which has been studied traditionally from the perspective of high culture, as an element linked to the education of enlightened people. Through the analysis of different features about travels which are found in «pliegos sueltos», another representations of travels and travellers are shown, which can enrich our understanding about this topic. Secondly, different features of travelling stories published as popular prints in the 18th century are analysed: journeys, destinations, travellers and their aims

Halon firefighting agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pope, P.R.; Dalzell, G.A.

1991-01-01

This paper examines the current state of the International agreements on the use of halons and the subsequent National and industry approaches to the subject. It examines the definition of Essential Use and gives particular examples to clarify its interpretation. Alternative methods of loss control are reviewed. It does not address alternative active firefighting agents but examines the need for protection in particular areas. It addresses reduction of the hazards and consequences so that the need for protection can be minimized. Practical measures to minimize the installed quantities of halon are described. This covers specifications for new, essential, systems and the short term reduction of inventories in existing systems. The causes of leakage and accidental releases are studied and preventive measures are proposed. The paper concludes with an overview of the current research into replacement agents and the future outlook

Multi-issue Agent Negotiation Based on Fairness

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Baohe; Zheng, Sue; Wu, Hong

Agent-based e-commerce service has become a hotspot now. How to make the agent negotiation process quickly and high-efficiently is the main research direction of this area. In the multi-issue model, MAUT(Multi-attribute Utility Theory) or its derived theory usually consider little about the fairness of both negotiators. This work presents a general model of agent negotiation which considered the satisfaction of both negotiators via autonomous learning. The model can evaluate offers from the opponent agent based on the satisfaction degree, learn online to get the opponent's knowledge from interactive instances of history and negotiation of this time, make concessions dynamically based on fair object. Through building the optimal negotiation model, the bilateral negotiation achieved a higher efficiency and fairer deal.

Towards Agent-Based Model Specification in Smart Grid: A Cognitive Agent-based Computing Approach

OpenAIRE

Akram, Waseem; Niazi, Muaz A.; Iantovics, Laszlo Barna

2017-01-01

A smart grid can be considered as a complex network where each node represents a generation unit or a consumer. Whereas links can be used to represent transmission lines. One way to study complex systems is by using the agent-based modeling (ABM) paradigm. An ABM is a way of representing a complex system of autonomous agents interacting with each other. Previously, a number of studies have been presented in the smart grid domain making use of the ABM paradigm. However, to the best of our know...

Reactivity of Dual-Use Decontaminants with Chemical Warfare Agents

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-01

REACTIVITY OF DUAL-USE DECONTAMINANTS WITH CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS ECBC-TR-1384... Decontaminants with Chemical Warfare Agents 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Willis, Matthew P...extraction) of chemical warfare agents from materials. 15. SUBJECT TERMS GD HD Decontamination Hazard mitigation VX Chemical warfare agent Liquid-phase

Liposomes as carriers of imaging agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caride, V.J.

1985-01-01

This review discusses the utilization of liposomes as imaging agents or as vehicles for contrast materials. The initial approach was the use of radiolabeled liposomes for scintigraphy. To this end liposomes were either labeled in the lipid membrane or aqueous radiotracers were incorporated inside the lipid vesicles. The lipid labeling provides a more stable association of the radioactive tracer and the lipid vesicles, while the use of water-soluble radiotracers provides a wider selection of compounds. Early attempts at selective tumor imaging using radiolabeled liposomes were unsuccessful. The use of monoclonal antibodies attached to liposomes offers new hopes. Several strategies have been proposed in this respect and several others can be envisioned. The use of liposomes permits the use of several administration routes for imaging agents. Of particular interest is the subcutaneous administration for lymph node visualization. Liposomes offer clear advantages over most radiocontrast agents for prolonged hepatosplenic contrast enhancement. This is particularly relevant in the diagnostic evaluation of the abdomen with computed tomography. Important research efforts are being conducted in this area. Two different approaches have been advanced: the incorporation of contrast agents into liposomes and the preparation of radiopaque liposomes from radiodense lipids. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging can also benefit from contrast agents. Several centers are investigating this exciting field using liposomes loaded with paramagnetic elements.152 references

Agents for navigating virtual reality E-commerce environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Anton; van Dijk, Betsy; Sebaaly, Milad Fares

2001-01-01

We report about work in progress on capabilities of navigation agents in virtual environments. These agents may help a user to explore the environment: where to go, where to buy, where to find, etc. The agents may make suggestions based on a user profile, earlier visits and earlier given advice and

A multi-agent system for coordinating international shipping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldsmith, S.Y.; Phillips, L.R.; Spires, S.V.

1998-05-01

Moving commercial cargo across the US-Mexico border is currently a complex, paper-based, error-prone process that incurs expensive inspections and delays at several ports of entry in the Southwestern US. Improved information handling will dramatically reduce border dwell time, variation in delivery time, and inventories, and will give better control of the shipment process. The Border Trade Facilitation System (BTFS) is an agent-based collaborative work environment that assists geographically distributed commercial and government users with transshipment of goods across the US-Mexico border. Software agents mediate the creation, validation and secure sharing of shipment information and regulatory documentation over the Internet, using the World Wide Web to interface with human actors. Agents are organized into Agencies. Each agency represents a commercial or government agency. Agents perform four specific functions on behalf of their user organizations: (1) agents with domain knowledge elicit commercial and regulatory information from human specialists through forms presented via web browsers; (2) agents mediate information from forms with diverse otologies, copying invariant data from one form to another thereby eliminating the need for duplicate data entry; (3) cohorts of distributed agents coordinate the work flow among the various information providers and they monitor overall progress of the documentation and the location of the shipment to ensure that all regulatory requirements are met prior to arrival at the border; (4) agents provide status information to human actors and attempt to influence them when problems are predicted.

Glutamic acid as anticancer agent: An overview

OpenAIRE

Dutta, Satyajit; Ray, Supratim; Nagarajan, K.

2013-01-01

The objective of the article is to highlight various roles of glutamic acid like endogenic anticancer agent, conjugates to anticancer agents, and derivatives of glutamic acid as possible anticancer agents. Besides these emphases are given especially for two endogenous derivatives of glutamic acid such as glutamine and glutamate. Glutamine is a derivative of glutamic acid and is formed in the body from glutamic acid and ammonia in an energy requiring reaction catalyzed by glutamine synthase. I...

Emotional Storytelling using Virtual and Robotic Agents

OpenAIRE

Costa, Sandra; Brunete, Alberto; Bae, Byung-Chull; Mavridis, Nikolaos

2016-01-01

In order to create effective storytelling agents three fundamental questions must be answered: first, is a physically embodied agent preferable to a virtual agent or a voice-only narration? Second, does a human voice have an advantage over a synthesised voice? Third, how should the emotional trajectory of the different characters in a story be related to a storyteller's facial expressions during storytelling time, and how does this correlate with the apparent emotions on the faces of the list...

Modeling of a production system using the multi-agent approach

Science.gov (United States)

Gwiazda, A.; Sękala, A.; Banaś, W.

2017-08-01

The method that allows for the analysis of complex systems is a multi-agent simulation. The multi-agent simulation (Agent-based modeling and simulation - ABMS) is modeling of complex systems consisting of independent agents. In the case of the model of the production system agents may be manufactured pieces set apart from other types of agents like machine tools, conveyors or replacements stands. Agents are magazines and buffers. More generally speaking, the agents in the model can be single individuals, but you can also be defined as agents of collective entities. They are allowed hierarchical structures. It means that a single agent could belong to a certain class. Depending on the needs of the agent may also be a natural or physical resource. From a technical point of view, the agent is a bundle of data and rules describing its behavior in different situations. Agents can be autonomous or non-autonomous in making the decision about the types of classes of agents, class sizes and types of connections between elements of the system. Multi-agent modeling is a very flexible technique for modeling and model creating in the convention that could be adapted to any research problem analyzed from different points of views. One of the major problems associated with the organization of production is the spatial organization of the production process. Secondly, it is important to include the optimal scheduling. For this purpose use can approach multi-purposeful. In this regard, the model of the production process will refer to the design and scheduling of production space for four different elements. The program system was developed in the environment NetLogo. It was also used elements of artificial intelligence. The main agent represents the manufactured pieces that, according to previously assumed rules, generate the technological route and allow preprint the schedule of that line. Machine lines, reorientation stands, conveyors and transport devices also represent the

Fluid extraction using carbon dioxide and organophosphorus chelating agents

Science.gov (United States)

Smart, Neil G.; Wai, Chien M.; Lin, Yuehe; Kwang, Yak Hwa

1998-01-01

Methods for extracting metalloid and metal species from a solid or liquid material by exposing the material to a fluid solvent, particularly supercritical CO.sub.2, and a chelating agent are described. The chelating agent forms a chelate with the species, the chelate being soluble in the fluid to allow removal of the species from the material. In preferred embodiments the extraction solvent is supercritical CO.sub.2 and the chelating agent comprises an organophosphorous chelating agent, particularly sulfur-containing organophosphorous chelating agents, including mixtures of chelating agents. Examples of chelating agents include monothiophosphinic acid, di-thiophosphinic acid, phosphine sulfite, phosphorothioic acid, and mixtures thereof. The method provides an environmentally benign process for removing metal and metalloids from industrial waste solutions, particularly acidic solutions. Both the chelate and the supercritical fluid can be regenerated and the contaminant species recovered to provide an economic, efficient process.

Perspectives in the development of hybrid bifunctional antitumour agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Musso, Loana; Dallavalle, Sabrina; Zunino, Franco

2015-08-15

In spite of the development of a large number of novel target-specific antitumour agents, the single-agent therapy is in general not able to provide an effective durable control of the malignant process. The limited efficacy of the available agents (both conventional cytotoxic and novel target-specific) reflects not only the expression of defence mechanisms, but also the complexity of tumour cell alterations and the redundancy of survival pathways, thus resulting in tumour cell ability to survive under stress conditions. A well-established strategy to improve the efficacy of antitumour therapy is the rational design of drug combinations aimed at achieving synergistic effects and overcoming drug resistance. An alternative strategy could be the use of agents designed to inhibit simultaneously multiple cellular targets relevant to tumour growth/survival. Among these novel agents are hybrid bifunctional drugs, i.e. compounds resulting by conjugation of different drugs or containing the pharmocophores of different drugs. This strategy has been pursued using various conventional or target-specific agents (with DNA damaging agents and histone deacetylase inhibitors as the most exploited compounds). A critical overview of the most representative compounds is provided with emphasis on the HDAC inhibitor-based hybrid agents. In spite of some promising results, the actual pharmacological advantages of the hybrid agents remain to be defined. This commentary summarizes the recent advances in this field and highlights the pharmacological basis for a rational design of hybrid bifunctional agents. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

¿CÓMO IMPLEMENTAR UN MODELO DE VOLATILIDAD USANDO LENGUAJE R?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

FERNÁN VILLA GARZÓN

2011-12-01

Full Text Available El modelado y pronóstico de series de tiempo financieras es una actividad de interés económico para los agentes del mercado. Las series de tiempo provenientes de ésta área a menudo presentan relaciones dinámicas complejas entre sus variables las cuales pueden ser capturadas mediante modelos de volatilidad. Estos pueden ser implementados en la mayoría de entornos de programación existentes. Sin embargo, la implementación de los modelos es compleja por no tener pautas para diseñar e implementar su código. Dado que R es un entorno de programación gratuito y estable, en este trabajo se proponen algunas pautas para diseñar e implementar el código de un modelo de volatilidad en R; como caso de ejemplo, se propone la creación del paquete Volatility que incluye el modelo de volatilidad GARCH y se mostrará su aplicabilidad al modelar la volatilidad de una serie de tiempo real.

Use of contrast agents for liver MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, Janice

2007-01-01

Contrast-enhanced MRI is recognised as one of the most accurate imaging methods for investigating diseases of the liver. Uniquely several different types of contrast agents are available for liver MRI. They can be divided into non-specific extracellular fluid space (ECF), hepatocyte specific and reticulo-endothelial system (RES) specific agents. They are used to improve the detection of focal liver lesions by increasing normal-abnormal tissue contrast and to assist in lesion characterisation by demonstrating tissue perfusion and cellular function. ECF-gadolinium (Gd) chelates have been widely used in abdominal MRI for many years. They provide valuable information regarding the vascularisation and perfusion characteristics of lesions and assist in lesion detection, particularly of hypervascular lesions. The hepatocyte and RES-specific agents further improve lesion detection, provide important functional information and allow the distinction between hepatocellular and non-hepatocellular tumours. This article describes the different MR contrast agents and discusses their current status for diagnosing focal liver lesions. The importance of optimised technique and appropriate selection of contrast agent is emphasised

Analytical interference by contrast agents in biochemical assays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Otnes, Sigrid; Fogh-Andersen, Niels; Rømsing, Janne

2017-01-01

Objective. To provide a clinically relevant overview of the analytical interference by contrast agents (CA) in laboratory blood test measurements. Materials and Methods. The effects of five CAs, gadobutrol, gadoterate meglumine, gadoxetate disodium, iodixanol, and iomeprol, were studied on the 29...... most frequently performed biochemical assays. One-day-old plasma, serum, and whole blood were spiked with doses of each agent such that the gadolinium agents and the iodine agents reached concentrations of 0.5mMand 12mg iodine/mL, respectively. Subsequently, 12 assays were reexamined using 1/2 and 1...

Improving Disability Awareness among Extension Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Mahadevan, Lakshmi; Peterson, Rick L.; Grenwelge, Cheryl

2014-01-01

Increasing prevalence rates and legislative mandates imply that educators, parents, and Extension agents will need better tools and resources to meet the needs of special populations. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service addresses this issue by using e-learning tools. Extension agents can take advantage of these courses to gain critical…

An Agent-Based Monetary Production Simulation Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Charlotte

2006-01-01

An Agent-Based Simulation Model Programmed in Objective Borland Pascal. Program and source code is downloadable......An Agent-Based Simulation Model Programmed in Objective Borland Pascal. Program and source code is downloadable...

AGENTES DE SOFTWARE MÓVILES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Crisman Martínez Barrera

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Los agentes móviles son programas de software inteligentes que realizan un objetivo que involucran desarrollos soportados en técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial, los cuales pretenden facilitar la interoperabilidad de sistemas. Este artículo define las disciplinas, plataformas y herramientas necesarias para el desarrollo de agentes móviles, sus características principales y las arquitecturas predominantes de éstas; presenta además una evaluación de sus perspectivas futuras.

The interaction of MRI contrast agents with phospholipids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jendrasiak, Gordon L.; Smith, Ralph L.; Ribeiro, Anthony A.

2000-01-01

The molecular interactions of three clinically used MRI contrast agents with lipid vesicles, consisting of egg phosphatidylcholine (EPC), have been studied using high-field NMR techniques. At a molar ratio of one contrast agent molecule to five phospholipid molecules, a significant increase in the proton resonance line width occurred for certain lipid head group moieties. A large decrease in the T 1 relaxation times for the head group moieties was also observed. These two effects occurred regardless of the ionic status and the chelate structure of the three contrast agents. The structure of the contrast agents did, however, affect the magnitude of the two NMR parameter changes. These NMR effects also differed in magnitude amongst the various head group entities. The NMR effects were greatest for the head group moieties at or near the vesicle-water interface. The results are discussed in terms of the structure of the phospholipid-water interface. Since the use of contrast agents has become routine in clinical MRI, our results are of importance in terms of the interaction of the agents with physiological surfaces, many of which contain phospholipids. The understanding of such interactions should be of value not only for improved diagnostics, but also in the development of new contrast agents. (author)

Monitoring presence of chemical agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Preston, J.M.

1984-01-01

The specification describes a case for use with a hand-portable chemical agent detector for continuously monitoring an atmosphere for the presence of predetermined chemical agents. The detector having means for ionizing air samples and providing at an output terminal electrical signals representative of the mobility spectrum of ionized chemical vapours produced by the ionizing means. The case comprises means for defining a chamber in the case for supporting and removably enclosing the detector, means for communicating ambient atmosphere to the chamber, electrical circuit means in the case, the circuit means being adapted to be detachably connected to the detector output terminal when the detector is positioned in the chamber and being responsive to the electrical signals for producing an alarm signal when the signals detect a chemical agent concentration in the atmosphere exceeding a predetermined concentration level, and alarm means responsive to the alarm signal. (author)

21 CFR 178.3295 - Clarifying agents for polymers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2010-04-01 2009-04-01 true Clarifying agents for polymers. 178.3295 Section... SANITIZERS Certain Adjuvants and Production Aids § 178.3295 Clarifying agents for polymers. Clarifying agents may be safely used in polymers that are articles or components of articles intended for use in contact...

Preparing Students for Future Learning with Teachable Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Doris B.; Dohmen, Ilsa M.; Cheng, Britte H.; Oppezzo, Marily A.; Chase, Catherine C.; Schwartz, Daniel L.

2010-01-01

One valuable goal of instructional technologies in K-12 education is to prepare students for future learning. Two classroom studies examined whether Teachable Agents (TA) achieves this goal. TA is an instructional technology that draws on the social metaphor of teaching a computer agent to help students learn. Students teach their agent by…

Uma experiência didática de corrosão usando colorimetria visual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bárbara Bidoia Bidetti

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a simple and rapid method of evaluating galvanized steel sheet corrosion in a CuSO4 solution, as an experimentation proposal for corrosion teaching. Galvanized steel corrosion is present in tanks and tubing by leading of natural or industrial waters which contain soluble copper compounds. This was the rationale for choosing the Cu2+ ions solution as an oxidizing agent. The method principle is based on visual colorimetry because the used oxidant has an intense blue color. Thus, a change in its concentration as a result of the corrosive process can be followed by a color intensity change in the solution thereby allowing evaluation of the corrosion rate.

Alternative inerting agents

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Du

1997-08-01

Full Text Available Final Project Report ALTERNATIVE INERTING AGENTS Author/s: J J L DU PLESSIS Research Agency: OSIR MINING TECHNOLOGY Project No: Date: 3 2 7 2 COL 443 APRIL 1999 N’ ) ( G~6~ I Title: 9 / The results show...

Halide test agent replacement study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Banks, E.M.; Freeman, W.P.; Kovach, B.J. [and others

1995-02-01

The intended phaseout of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from commercial use required the evaluation of substitute materials for the testing for leak paths through both individual adsorbers and installed adsorbent banks. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Committee on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment (CONAGT) is in charge of maintaining the standards and codes specifying adsorbent leak test methods for the nuclear safety related air cleaning systems. The currently published standards and codes cite the use of R-11, R-12 and R-112 for leak path test agents. All of these compounds are CFCs. There are other agencies and organizations (USDOE, USDOD and USNRC) also specifying testing for leak paths or in some cases for special life tests using the above compounds. The CONAGT has recently developed criteria for the suitability evaluation of substitute test agents. On the basis of these criteria, several compounds were evaluated for their acceptability as adsorbent bed leak and life test agents. The ASME CONAGT Test Agent Qualification Criteria. The test agent qualification is based on the following parameters: (1) Similar retention times on activated carbons at the same concentration levels as one of the following: R-11, R-12, R-112 or R-112a. (2) Similar lower detection limit sensitivity and precision in the concentration range of use as R-11, R-12, R-112 and R-112a. (3) Gives the same in-place leak test results as R-11, R-12, R-112, or R-112a. (4) Chemical and radiological stability under the use conditions. (5) Causes no degradation of the carbon and its impregnant or of the other NATS components under the use conditions. (6) Is listed in the USEPA Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) inventory for commercial use.

26 CFR 1.1502-77 - Agent for the group.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 12 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Agent for the group. 1.1502-77 Section 1.1502... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Administrative Provisions and Other Rules § 1.1502-77 Agent for the group. (a) Scope... consolidated return year is the sole agent (agent for the group) that is authorized to act in its own name with...

Biomaterials for mediation of chemical and biological warfare agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Alan J; Berberich, Jason A; Drevon, Geraldine F; Koepsel, Richard R

2003-01-01

Recent events have emphasized the threat from chemical and biological warfare agents. Within the efforts to counter this threat, the biocatalytic destruction and sensing of chemical and biological weapons has become an important area of focus. The specificity and high catalytic rates of biological catalysts make them appropriate for decommissioning nerve agent stockpiles, counteracting nerve agent attacks, and remediation of organophosphate spills. A number of materials have been prepared containing enzymes for the destruction of and protection against organophosphate nerve agents and biological warfare agents. This review discusses the major chemical and biological warfare agents, decontamination methods, and biomaterials that have potential for the preparation of decontamination wipes, gas filters, column packings, protective wear, and self-decontaminating paints and coatings.

Contrast-enhanced peripheral MRA. Technique and contrast agents