Functionalized gold nanoparticle supported sensory mechanisms applied in detection of chemical and biological threat agents: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Upadhyayula, Venkata K.K., E-mail: Upadhyayula.Venkata@epa.gov [Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (ORISE), MC-100-44, PO Box 117, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)

2012-02-17

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Smart sensors are needed for detection of chemical and biological threat agents. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Smart sensors detect analytes with rapid speed, high sensitivity and selectivity. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) can potentially smart sense threat agents. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Functionalized GNPs support multiple analytical methods for sensing threat agents. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Threat agents of all types can be detected using functionalized GNPs. - Abstract: There is a great necessity for development of novel sensory concepts supportive of smart sensing capabilities in defense and homeland security applications for detection of chemical and biological threat agents. A smart sensor is a detection device that can exhibit important features such as speed, sensitivity, selectivity, portability, and more importantly, simplicity in identifying a target analyte. Emerging nanomaterial based sensors, particularly those developed by utilizing functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) as a sensing component potentially offer many desirable features needed for threat agent detection. The sensitiveness of physical properties expressed by GNPs, e.g. color, surface plasmon resonance, electrical conductivity and binding affinity are significantly enhanced when they are subjected to functionalization with an appropriate metal, organic or biomolecular functional groups. This sensitive nature of functionalized GNPs can be potentially exploited in the design of threat agent detection devices with smart sensing capabilities. In the presence of a target analyte (i.e., a chemical or biological threat agent) a change proportional to concentration of the analyte is observed, which can be measured either by colorimetric, fluorimetric, electrochemical or spectroscopic means. This article provides a review of how functionally modified gold colloids are applied in the detection of a broad

Rapid Induction of Protective Immunity Against Biothreat Agents Using CPG-Based Oglionucleotides

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Klinman, Dennise

2001-01-01

.... Additional studies examining the ability of these CpG ODN to act as adjuvants when co-administered with vaccines being developed to prevent infection by biowarfare pathogens are also being pursued...

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

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.

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.

Understanding Virulence in the Brucellae and Francisellae: Towards Efficacious Treatments for Two Potential Biothreat Agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rasley, A; Parsons, D A; El-Etr, S; Roux, C; Tsolis, R

2009-12-30

Francisella tularensis, Yersinia pestis and Brucellae species are highly infectious pathogens classified as select agents by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the potential for use in bioterrorism attacks. These organisms are known to be facultative intracellular pathogens that preferentially infect human monocytes. As such, understanding how the host responds to infection with these organisms is paramount in detecting and combating human disease. We have compared the ability of fully virulent strains of each pathogen and their non-pathogenic near neighbors to enter and survive inside the human monocytic cell line THP-1 and have quantified the cellular response to infection with the goal of identifying both unique and common host response patterns. We expanded the scope of these studies to include experiments with pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains of Y. pestis, the causative agent of plague. Nonpathogenic strains of each organism were impaired in their ability to survive intracellularly compared with their pathogenic counterparts. Furthermore, infection of THP-1 cells with pathogenic strains of Y. pestis and F. tularensis resulted in marked increases in the secretion of the inflammatory chemokines IL-8, RANTES, and MIP-1{beta}. In contrast, B. melitensis infection failed to elicit any significant increases in a panel of cytokines tested. These differences may underscore distinct strategies in pathogenic mechanisms employed by these pathogens.

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.

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...

Rapid Induction of Protective Immunity Against Biothreat Agens Using CPG-Based Oglionucleotides

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Klinman, Dennis

1999-01-01

This research project examines the ability of synthetic oligonucleotides (ODN) containing immunostimulatory 'CpG' motifs to trigger the innate immune system, thereby improving the host's ability to survive infection by biowarfare agents...

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...

Rapid focused sequencing: a multiplexed assay for simultaneous detection and strain typing of Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, and Yersinia pestis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosemary S Turingan

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The intentional release of Bacillus anthracis in the United States in 2001 has heightened concern about the use of pathogenic microorganisms in bioterrorism attacks. Many of the deadliest bacteria, including the Class A Select Agents Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, and Yersinia pestis, are highly infectious via the pulmonary route when released in aerosolized form. Hence, rapid, sensitive, and reliable methods for detection of these biothreats and characterization of their potential impact on the exposed population are of critical importance to initiate and support rapid military, public health, and clinical responses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have developed microfluidic multiplexed PCR and sequencing assays based on the simultaneous interrogation of three pathogens per assay and ten loci per pathogen. Microfluidic separation of amplified fluorescently labeled fragments generated characteristic electrophoretic signatures for identification of each agent. The three sets of primers allowed significant strain typing and discrimination from non-pathogenic closely-related species and environmental background strains based on amplicon sizes alone. Furthermore, sequencing of the 10 amplicons per pathogen, termed "Rapid Focused Sequencing," allowed an even greater degree of strain discrimination and, in some cases, can be used to determine virulence. Both amplification and sequencing assays were performed in microfluidic biochips developed for fast thermal cycling and requiring 7 µL per reaction. The 30-plex sequencing assay resulted in genotypic resolution of 84 representative strains belonging to each of the three biothreat species. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The microfluidic multiplexed assays allowed identification and strain differentiation of the biothreat agents Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, and Yersinia pestis and clear discrimination from closely-related species and several environmental

Draft genome sequence of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica BD11-00177

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coolen, J.P.M.; Sjödin, A.; Maraha, B.; Hajer, G.F.; Forsman, M.; Verspui, E.; Frenay, H.M.E.; Notermans, D.W.; Vries, M.C. de; Reubsaet, F.A.G.; Paauw, A.; Roeselers, G.

2013-01-01

Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium in the class Gammaproteobacteria. This strain is of interest because it is the etiologic agent of tularemia and a highly virulent category A biothreat agent. Here we describe the draft genome sequence and annotation of Francisella

Recombinant Antibodies for the Detection of Bacteriophage MS2 and Ovalbumin

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

O'Connell, Kevin

2002-01-01

...) genes are expressed on the surface of bacteriophage (bacterial virus) particles. We describe here the isolation of additional recombinant antibodies that bind two simulants of biothreat agents...

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.

Methods for Model-Based Reasoning within Agent-Based Ambient Intelligence Applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosse, T.; Both, F.; Gerritsen, C.; Hoogendoorn, M.; Treur, J.

2012-01-01

Within agent-based Ambient Intelligence applications agents react to humans based on information obtained by sensoring and their knowledge about human functioning. Appropriate types of reactions depend on the extent to which an agent understands the human and is able to interpret the available

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...

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 ...

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...

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.

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.

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

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.

Agent Based Reasoning in Multilevel Flow Modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lind, Morten; Zhang, Xinxin

2012-01-01

to launch the MFM Workbench into an agent based environment, which can complement disadvantages of the original software. The agent-based MFM Workbench is centered on a concept called “Blackboard System” and use an event based mechanism to arrange the reasoning tasks. This design will support the new...

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

Applications of commercial biosensors in clinical, food, environmental, and biothreat/biowarfare analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahadır, Elif Burcu; Sezgintürk, Mustafa Kemal

2015-06-01

The lack of specific, low-cost, rapid, sensitive, and easy detection of biomolecules has resulted in the development of biosensor technology. Innovations in biosensor technology have enabled many biosensors to be commercialized and have enabled biomolecules to be detected onsite. Moreover, the emerging technologies of lab-on-a-chip microdevices and nanosensors offer opportunities for the development of new biosensors with much better performance. Biosensors were first introduced into the laboratory by Clark and Lyons. They developed the first glucose biosensor for laboratory conditions. Then in 1973, a glucose biosensor was commercialized by Yellow Springs Instruments. The commercial biosensors have small size and simple construction and they are ideal for point-of-care biosensing. In addition to glucose, a wide variety of metabolites such as lactate, cholesterol, and creatinine can be detected by using commercial biosensors. Like the glucose biosensors (tests) other commercial tests such as for pregnancy (hCG), Escherichia coli O157, influenza A and B viruses, Helicobacter pylori, human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis, and malaria have achieved success. Apart from their use in clinical analysis, commercial tests are also used in environmental (such as biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, pesticide), food (such as glutamate, glutamine, sucrose, lactose, alcohol, ascorbic acid), and biothreat/biowarfare (Bacillus anthracis, Salmonella, Botulinum toxin) analysis. In this review, commercial biosensors in clinical, environmental, food, and biowarfare analysis are summarized and the commercial biosensors are compared in terms of their important characteristics. This is the first review in which all the commercially available tests are compiled together. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

Agent-based models in economics a toolkit

CERN Document Server

Fagiolo, Giorgio; Gallegati, Mauro; Richiardi, Matteo; Russo, Alberto

2018-01-01

In contrast to mainstream economics, complexity theory conceives the economy as a complex system of heterogeneous interacting agents characterised by limited information and bounded rationality. Agent Based Models (ABMs) are the analytical and computational tools developed by the proponents of this emerging methodology. Aimed at students and scholars of contemporary economics, this book includes a comprehensive toolkit for agent-based computational economics, now quickly becoming the new way to study evolving economic systems. Leading scholars in the field explain how ABMs can be applied fruitfully to many real-world economic examples and represent a great advancement over mainstream approaches. The essays discuss the methodological bases of agent-based approaches and demonstrate step-by-step how to build, simulate and analyse ABMs and how to validate their outputs empirically using the data. They also present a wide set of applications of these models to key economic topics, including the business cycle, lab...

An Immune Agent for Web-Based AI Course

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Tao; Cai, Zixing

2006-01-01

To overcome weakness and faults of a web-based e-learning course such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), an immune agent was proposed, simulating a natural immune mechanism against a virus. The immune agent was built on the multi-dimension education agent model and immune algorithm. The web-based AI course was comprised of many files, such as HTML…

Evaluating Water Demand Using Agent-Based Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, T. S.

2004-12-01

The supply and demand of water resources are functions of complex, inter-related systems including hydrology, climate, demographics, economics, and policy. To assess the safety and sustainability of water resources, planners often rely on complex numerical models that relate some or all of these systems using mathematical abstractions. The accuracy of these models relies on how well the abstractions capture the true nature of the systems interactions. Typically, these abstractions are based on analyses of observations and/or experiments that account only for the statistical mean behavior of each system. This limits the approach in two important ways: 1) It cannot capture cross-system disruptive events, such as major drought, significant policy change, or terrorist attack, and 2) it cannot resolve sub-system level responses. To overcome these limitations, we are developing an agent-based water resources model that includes the systems of hydrology, climate, demographics, economics, and policy, to examine water demand during normal and extraordinary conditions. Agent-based modeling (ABM) develops functional relationships between systems by modeling the interaction between individuals (agents), who behave according to a probabilistic set of rules. ABM is a "bottom-up" modeling approach in that it defines macro-system behavior by modeling the micro-behavior of individual agents. While each agent's behavior is often simple and predictable, the aggregate behavior of all agents in each system can be complex, unpredictable, and different than behaviors observed in mean-behavior models. Furthermore, the ABM approach creates a virtual laboratory where the effects of policy changes and/or extraordinary events can be simulated. Our model, which is based on the demographics and hydrology of the Middle Rio Grande Basin in the state of New Mexico, includes agent groups of residential, agricultural, and industrial users. Each agent within each group determines its water usage

A technology path to tactical agent-based modeling

Science.gov (United States)

James, Alex; Hanratty, Timothy P.

2017-05-01

Wargaming is a process of thinking through and visualizing events that could occur during a possible course of action. Over the past 200 years, wargaming has matured into a set of formalized processes. One area of growing interest is the application of agent-based modeling. Agent-based modeling and its additional supporting technologies has potential to introduce a third-generation wargaming capability to the Army, creating a positive overmatch decision-making capability. In its simplest form, agent-based modeling is a computational technique that helps the modeler understand and simulate how the "whole of a system" responds to change over time. It provides a decentralized method of looking at situations where individual agents are instantiated within an environment, interact with each other, and empowered to make their own decisions. However, this technology is not without its own risks and limitations. This paper explores a technology roadmap, identifying research topics that could realize agent-based modeling within a tactical wargaming context.

A hybrid agent-based approach for modeling microbiological systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Zaiyi; Sloot, Peter M A; Tay, Joc Cing

2008-11-21

Models for systems biology commonly adopt Differential Equations or Agent-Based modeling approaches for simulating the processes as a whole. Models based on differential equations presuppose phenomenological intracellular behavioral mechanisms, while models based on Multi-Agent approach often use directly translated, and quantitatively less precise if-then logical rule constructs. We propose an extendible systems model based on a hybrid agent-based approach where biological cells are modeled as individuals (agents) while molecules are represented by quantities. This hybridization in entity representation entails a combined modeling strategy with agent-based behavioral rules and differential equations, thereby balancing the requirements of extendible model granularity with computational tractability. We demonstrate the efficacy of this approach with models of chemotaxis involving an assay of 10(3) cells and 1.2x10(6) molecules. The model produces cell migration patterns that are comparable to laboratory observations.

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...

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...

Development of evanescent wave absorbance-based fibre-optic ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

potential human health risk and may lead to death in young children and adults ... tive measures for disease outbreak are necessary, because of the recent biothreat, ... optical fibres in chemical sensing and biosensing are reviewed in detail in [12–19]. ... systematic development of these evanescent wave absorbance-based ...

Type VI Secretion is a Major Virulence Determinant in Burkholderia Mallei

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Schell, Mark A; Ulrich, Ricky L; Ribot, Wilson J; Brueggemann, Ernst E; Hines, Harry B; Chen, Dan; Lipscomb, Lyla; Kim, H. S; Mrazek, Jan; Nierman, William C; DeShazer, David

2007-01-01

Burkholderia mallei is a host-adapted pathogen and a category B biothreat agent. Although the B. mallei VirAG two-component regulatory system is required for virulence in hamsters, the virulence genes it regulates are unknown...

Discovery of Novel Virulence Factors of Biothreat Agents: Validation of the Phosphoproteome-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

2008-06-30

systems that could serve as new targets for intervention and therapy . The comparative analysis of signaling profiles will further aid us in... chocolate agar plates. To confirm that infection over the 4 hour time-course used in the RPMA analysis does not cause apoptosis of THP-1 cells

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.

Agent-Based Data Integration Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Łukasz Faber

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Combining data from diverse, heterogeneous sources while facilitating a unified access to it is an important (albeit difficult task. There are various possibilities of performing it. In this publication, we propose and describe an agent-based framework dedicated to acquiring and processing distributed, heterogeneous data collected from diverse sources (e.g., the Internet, external software, relational, and document databases. Using this multi-agent-based approach in the aspects of the general architecture (the organization and management of the framework, we create a proof-of-concept implementation. The approach is presented using a sample scenario in which the system is used to search for personal and professional profiles of scientists.

New approaches in agent-based modeling of complex financial systems

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ting-Ting; Zheng, Bo; Li, Yan; Jiang, Xiong-Fei

2017-12-01

Agent-based modeling is a powerful simulation technique to understand the collective behavior and microscopic interaction in complex financial systems. Recently, the concept for determining the key parameters of agent-based models from empirical data instead of setting them artificially was suggested. We first review several agent-based models and the new approaches to determine the key model parameters from historical market data. Based on the agents' behaviors with heterogeneous personal preferences and interactions, these models are successful in explaining the microscopic origination of the temporal and spatial correlations of financial markets. We then present a novel paradigm combining big-data analysis with agent-based modeling. Specifically, from internet query and stock market data, we extract the information driving forces and develop an agent-based model to simulate the dynamic behaviors of complex financial systems.

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...

Validation of Agent Based Distillation Movement Algorithms

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gill, Andrew

2003-01-01

Agent based distillations (ABD) are low-resolution abstract models, which can be used to explore questions associated with land combat operations in a short period of time Movement of agents within the EINSTein and MANA ABDs...

An Active Learning Exercise for Introducing Agent-Based Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Pinder, Jonathan P.

2013-01-01

Recent developments in agent-based modeling as a method of systems analysis and optimization indicate that students in business analytics need an introduction to the terminology, concepts, and framework of agent-based modeling. This article presents an active learning exercise for MBA students in business analytics that demonstrates agent-based…

Consentaneous agent-based and stochastic model of the financial markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Gontis, Vygintas; Kononovicius, Aleksejus

2014-01-01

We are looking for the agent-based treatment of the financial markets considering necessity to build bridges between microscopic, agent based, and macroscopic, phenomenological modeling. The acknowledgment that agent-based modeling framework, which may provide qualitative and quantitative understanding of the financial markets, is very ambiguous emphasizes the exceptional value of well defined analytically tractable agent systems. Herding as one of the behavior peculiarities considered in the behavioral finance is the main property of the agent interactions we deal with in this contribution. Looking for the consentaneous agent-based and macroscopic approach we combine two origins of the noise: exogenous one, related to the information flow, and endogenous one, arising form the complex stochastic dynamics of agents. As a result we propose a three state agent-based herding model of the financial markets. From this agent-based model we derive a set of stochastic differential equations, which describes underlying macroscopic dynamics of agent population and log price in the financial markets. The obtained solution is then subjected to the exogenous noise, which shapes instantaneous return fluctuations. We test both Gaussian and q-Gaussian noise as a source of the short term fluctuations. The resulting model of the return in the financial markets with the same set of parameters reproduces empirical probability and spectral densities of absolute return observed in New York, Warsaw and NASDAQ OMX Vilnius Stock Exchanges. Our result confirms the prevalent idea in behavioral finance that herding interactions may be dominant over agent rationality and contribute towards bubble formation.

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.

Dissemination of Cultural Norms and Values: Agent-Based Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Andreevich Degterev

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article shows how agent-based modeling allows us to explore the mechanisms of the dissemination of cultural norms and values both within one country and in the whole world. In recent years, this type of simulation is particularly prevalent in the analysis of international relations, becoming more popular than the system dynamics and discrete event simulation. The use of agent-based modeling in the analysis of international relations is connected with the agent-structure problem in international relations. Structure and agents act as interdependent and dynamically changing in the process of interaction between entities. Agent-structure interaction could be modeled by means of the theory of complex adaptive systems with the use of agent-based modeling techniques. One of the first examples of the use of agent-based modeling in political science is a model of racial segregation T. Shellinga. On the basis of this model, the author shows how the change in behavioral patterns at micro-level impacts on the macro-level. Patterns are changing due to the dynamics of cultural norms and values, formed by mass-media and other social institutes. The author shows the main areas of modern application of agent-based modeling in international studies including the analysis of ethnic conflicts, the formation of international coalitions. Particular attention is paid to Robert Axelrod approach based on the use of genetic algorithms to the spread of cultural norms and values. Agent-based modeling shows how to how to create such conditions that the norms that originally are not shared by a significant part of the population, eventually spread everywhere. Practical application of these algorithms is shown by the author of the article on the example of the situation in Ukraine in 2015-2016. The article also reveals the mechanisms of international spread of cultural norms and values. The main think-tanks using agent-based modeling in international studies are

Agent-based services for B2B electronic commerce

Science.gov (United States)

Fong, Elizabeth; Ivezic, Nenad; Rhodes, Tom; Peng, Yun

2000-12-01

The potential of agent-based systems has not been realized yet, in part, because of the lack of understanding of how the agent technology supports industrial needs and emerging standards. The area of business-to-business electronic commerce (b2b e-commerce) is one of the most rapidly developing sectors of industry with huge impact on manufacturing practices. In this paper, we investigate the current state of agent technology and the feasibility of applying agent-based computing to b2b e-commerce in the circuit board manufacturing sector. We identify critical tasks and opportunities in the b2b e-commerce area where agent-based services can best be deployed. We describe an implemented agent-based prototype system to facilitate the bidding process for printed circuit board manufacturing and assembly. These activities are taking place within the Internet Commerce for Manufacturing (ICM) project, the NIST- sponsored project working with industry to create an environment where small manufacturers of mechanical and electronic components may participate competitively in virtual enterprises that manufacture printed circuit assemblies.

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.

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.

Moral Guilt : An Agent-Based Model Analysis

OpenAIRE

Gaudou , Benoit; Lorini , Emiliano; Mayor , Eunate

2013-01-01

International audience; In this article we analyze the influence of a concrete moral emotion (i.e. moral guilt) on strategic decision making. We present a normal form Prisoner’s Dilemma with a moral component. We assume that agents evaluate the game’s outcomes with respect to their ideality degree (i.e. how much a given outcome conforms to the player’s moral values), based on two proposed notions on ethical preferences: Harsanyi’s and Rawls’. Based on such game, we construct and agent-based m...

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

Agent-based modeling and simulation Part 3 : desktop ABMS.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macal, C. M.; North, M. J.; Decision and Information Sciences

2007-01-01

Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) is a new approach to modeling systems comprised of autonomous, interacting agents. ABMS promises to have far-reaching effects on the way that businesses use computers to support decision-making and researchers use electronic laboratories to support their research. Some have gone so far as to contend that ABMS 'is a third way of doing science,' in addition to traditional deductive and inductive reasoning (Axelrod 1997b). Computational advances have made possible a growing number of agent-based models across a variety of application domains. Applications range from modeling agent behavior in the stock market, supply chains, and consumer markets, to predicting the spread of epidemics, the threat of bio-warfare, and the factors responsible for the fall of ancient civilizations. This tutorial describes the theoretical and practical foundations of ABMS, identifies toolkits and methods for developing agent models, and illustrates the development of a simple agent-based model of shopper behavior using spreadsheets.

Empirical agent-based modelling challenges and solutions

CERN Document Server

Barreteau, Olivier

2014-01-01

This instructional book showcases techniques to parameterise human agents in empirical agent-based models (ABM). In doing so, it provides a timely overview of key ABM methodologies and the most innovative approaches through a variety of empirical applications.  It features cutting-edge research from leading academics and practitioners, and will provide a guide for characterising and parameterising human agents in empirical ABM.  In order to facilitate learning, this text shares the valuable experiences of other modellers in particular modelling situations. Very little has been published in the area of empirical ABM, and this contributed volume will appeal to graduate-level students and researchers studying simulation modeling in economics, sociology, ecology, and trans-disciplinary studies, such as topics related to sustainability. In a similar vein to the instruction found in a cookbook, this text provides the empirical modeller with a set of 'recipes'  ready to be implemented. Agent-based modeling (AB...

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.

Next frontier in agent-based complex automated negotiation

CERN Document Server

Ito, Takayuki; Zhang, Minjie; Robu, Valentin

2015-01-01

This book focuses on automated negotiations based on multi-agent systems. It is intended for researchers and students in various fields involving autonomous agents and multi-agent systems, such as e-commerce tools, decision-making and negotiation support systems, and collaboration tools. The contents will help them to understand the concept of automated negotiations, negotiation protocols, negotiating agents’ strategies, and the applications of those strategies. In this book, some negotiation protocols focusing on the multiple interdependent issues in negotiations are presented, making it possible to find high-quality solutions for the complex agents’ utility functions. This book is a compilation of the extended versions of the very best papers selected from the many that were presented at the International Workshop on Agent-Based Complex Automated Negotiations.

The selection of adhesive systems for resin-based luting agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Carville, Rebecca; Quinn, Frank

2008-01-01

The use of resin-based luting agents is ever expanding with the development of adhesive dentistry. A multitude of different adhesive systems are used with resin-based luting agents, and new products are introduced to the market frequently. Traditional adhesives generally required a multiple step bonding procedure prior to cementing with active resin-based luting materials; however, combined agents offer a simple application procedure. Self-etching 'all-in-one' systems claim that there is no need for the use of a separate adhesive process. The following review addresses the advantages and disadvantages of the available adhesive systems used with resin-based luting agents.

Macromolecular and dendrimer-based magnetic resonance contrast agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bumb, Ambika; Brechbiel, Martin W. (Radiation Oncology Branch, National Cancer Inst., National Inst. of Health, Bethesda, MD (United States)), e-mail: pchoyke@mail.nih.gov; Choyke, Peter (Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Inst., National Inst. of Health, Bethesda, MD (United States))

2010-09-15

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful imaging modality that can provide an assessment of function or molecular expression in tandem with anatomic detail. Over the last 20-25 years, a number of gadolinium-based MR contrast agents have been developed to enhance signal by altering proton relaxation properties. This review explores a range of these agents from small molecule chelates, such as Gd-DTPA and Gd-DOTA, to macromolecular structures composed of albumin, polylysine, polysaccharides (dextran, inulin, starch), poly(ethylene glycol), copolymers of cystamine and cystine with GD-DTPA, and various dendritic structures based on polyamidoamine and polylysine (Gadomers). The synthesis, structure, biodistribution, and targeting of dendrimer-based MR contrast agents are also discussed

Agent-Based Computing: Promise and Perils

OpenAIRE

Jennings, N. R.

1999-01-01

Agent-based computing represents an exciting new synthesis both for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, more genrally, Computer Science. It has the potential to significantly improve the theory and practice of modelling, designing and implementing complex systems. Yet, to date, there has been little systematic analysis of what makes an agent such an appealing and powerful conceptual model. Moreover, even less effort has been devoted to exploring the inherent disadvantages that stem from adoptin...

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.

Agent-based simulation of electricity markets : a literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sensfuss, F.; Genoese, M.; Genoese, M.; Most, D.

2007-01-01

The electricity sector in Europe and North America is undergoing considerable changes as a result of deregulation, issues related to climate change, and the integration of renewable resources within the electricity grid. This article reviewed agent-based simulation methods of analyzing electricity markets. The paper provided an analysis of research currently being conducted on electricity market designs and examined methods of modelling agent decisions. Methods of coupling long term and short term decisions were also reviewed. Issues related to single and multiple market analysis methods were discussed, as well as different approaches to integrating agent-based models with models of other commodities. The integration of transmission constraints within agent-based models was also discussed, and methods of measuring market efficiency were evaluated. Other topics examined in the paper included approaches to integrating investment decisions, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) trading, and renewable support schemes. It was concluded that agent-based models serve as a test bed for the electricity sector, and will help to provide insights for future policy decisions. 74 refs., 6 figs

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...

Agent-based inter-organizational systems in advanced logistics operations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Wasesa (Meditya)

2017-01-01

textabstract“Agent-based Inter-organizational Systems (ABIOS) in Advanced Logistics Operations” explores the concepts, the design, and the role and impact of agent-based systems to improve coordination and performance of logistics operations. The dissertation consists of one conceptual study and

Gd-HOPO Based High Relaxivity MRI Contrast Agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Datta, Ankona; Raymond, Kenneth

2008-11-06

Tris-bidentate HOPO-based ligands developed in our laboratory were designed to complement the coordination preferences of Gd{sup 3+}, especially its oxophilicity. The HOPO ligands provide a hexadentate coordination environment for Gd{sup 3+} in which all he donor atoms are oxygen. Because Gd{sup 3+} favors eight or nine coordination, this design provides two to three open sites for inner-sphere water molecules. These water molecules rapidly exchange with bulk solution, hence affecting the relaxation rates of bulk water olecules. The parameters affecting the efficiency of these contrast agents have been tuned to improve contrast while still maintaining a high thermodynamic stability for Gd{sup 3+} binding. The Gd- HOPO-based contrast agents surpass current commercially available agents ecause of a higher number of inner-sphere water molecules, rapid exchange of inner-sphere water molecules via an associative mechanism, and a long electronic relaxation time. The contrast enhancement provided by these agents is at least twice that of commercial contrast gents, which are based on polyaminocarboxylate ligands.

In Defense of Agent-Based Virtue Ethics | Van Zyl | Philosophical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In 'Against agent-based virtue ethics' (2004) Michael Brady rejects agent-based virtue ethics on the grounds that it fails to capture the commonsense distinction between an agent's doing the right thing, and her doing it for the right reason. In his view, the failure to account for this distinction has paradoxical results, making it ...

Integrated Semiconductor-based Diagnostics System for Multiplexed Genomic Amplification and Electrochemical Detection of Biothreat Agents

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

microporous disc with adhesive backing. Figure 6. Illustration of the bottom polypropylene layer with the PCR chamber. PCR Chamber UNCLASSIFIED...consistent heating in the PCR chamber. Using insulation and a modified commercial temperature sensor, consistent thermal cycling was achieved with this

A role based coordination model in agent systems

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG Ya-ying; YOU Jin-yuan

2005-01-01

Coordination technology addresses the construction of open, flexible systems from active and independent software agents in concurrent and distributed systems. In most open distributed applications, multiple agents need interaction and communication to achieve their overall goal. Coordination technologies for the Internet typically are concerned with enabling interaction among agents and helping them cooperate with each other.At the same time, access control should also be considered to constrain interaction to make it harmless. Access control should be regarded as the security counterpart of coordination. At present, the combination of coordination and access control remains an open problem. Thus, we propose a role based coordination model with policy enforcement in agent application systems. In this model, coordination is combined with access control so as to fully characterize the interactions in agent systems. A set of agents interacting with each other for a common global system task constitutes a coordination group. Role based access control is applied in this model to prevent unauthorized accesses. Coordination policy is enforced in a distributed manner so that the model can be applied to the open distributed systems such as Intemet. An Internet online auction system is presented as a case study to illustrate the proposed coordination model and finally the performance analysis of the model is introduced.

Stability of subsystem solutions in agent-based models

Science.gov (United States)

Perc, Matjaž

2018-01-01

The fact that relatively simple entities, such as particles or neurons, or even ants or bees or humans, give rise to fascinatingly complex behaviour when interacting in large numbers is the hallmark of complex systems science. Agent-based models are frequently employed for modelling and obtaining a predictive understanding of complex systems. Since the sheer number of equations that describe the behaviour of an entire agent-based model often makes it impossible to solve such models exactly, Monte Carlo simulation methods must be used for the analysis. However, unlike pairwise interactions among particles that typically govern solid-state physics systems, interactions among agents that describe systems in biology, sociology or the humanities often involve group interactions, and they also involve a larger number of possible states even for the most simplified description of reality. This begets the question: when can we be certain that an observed simulation outcome of an agent-based model is actually stable and valid in the large system-size limit? The latter is key for the correct determination of phase transitions between different stable solutions, and for the understanding of the underlying microscopic processes that led to these phase transitions. We show that a satisfactory answer can only be obtained by means of a complete stability analysis of subsystem solutions. A subsystem solution can be formed by any subset of all possible agent states. The winner between two subsystem solutions can be determined by the average moving direction of the invasion front that separates them, yet it is crucial that the competing subsystem solutions are characterised by a proper composition and spatiotemporal structure before the competition starts. We use the spatial public goods game with diverse tolerance as an example, but the approach has relevance for a wide variety of agent-based models.

Agent-based models for higher-order theory of mind

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Weerd, Harmen; Verbrugge, Rineke; Verheij, Bart; Kamiński, Bogumił; Koloch, Grzegorz

2014-01-01

Agent-based models are a powerful tool for explaining the emergence of social phenomena in a society. In such models, individual agents typically have little cognitive ability. In this paper, we model agents with the cognitive ability to make use of theory of mind. People use this ability to reason

Dynamic Allocation of a Domestic Heating Task to Gas-Based and Heatpump-Based Heating Agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Treur, J.

2013-01-01

In this paper a multi-agent model for a domestic heating task is introduced and analysed. The model includes two alternative heating agents (for gas-based heating and for heatpump-based heating), and a third allocation agent which determines the most economic allocation of the heating task to these

Agent-based simulation of a financial market

Science.gov (United States)

Raberto, Marco; Cincotti, Silvano; Focardi, Sergio M.; Marchesi, Michele

2001-10-01

This paper introduces an agent-based artificial financial market in which heterogeneous agents trade one single asset through a realistic trading mechanism for price formation. Agents are initially endowed with a finite amount of cash and a given finite portfolio of assets. There is no money-creation process; the total available cash is conserved in time. In each period, agents make random buy and sell decisions that are constrained by available resources, subject to clustering, and dependent on the volatility of previous periods. The model proposed herein is able to reproduce the leptokurtic shape of the probability density of log price returns and the clustering of volatility. Implemented using extreme programming and object-oriented technology, the simulator is a flexible computational experimental facility that can find applications in both academic and industrial research projects.

An Intelligent Fleet Condition-Based Maintenance Decision Making Method Based on Multi-Agent

OpenAIRE

Bo Sun; Qiang Feng; Songjie Li

2012-01-01

According to the demand for condition-based maintenance online decision making among a mission oriented fleet, an intelligent maintenance decision making method based on Multi-agent and heuristic rules is proposed. The process of condition-based maintenance within an aircraft fleet (each containing one or more Line Replaceable Modules) based on multiple maintenance thresholds is analyzed. Then the process is abstracted into a Multi-Agent Model, a 2-layer model structure containing host negoti...

A Coupled Simulation Architecture for Agent-Based/Geohydrological Modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Jaxa-Rozen, M.

2016-12-01

The quantitative modelling of social-ecological systems can provide useful insights into the interplay between social and environmental processes, and their impact on emergent system dynamics. However, such models should acknowledge the complexity and uncertainty of both of the underlying subsystems. For instance, the agent-based models which are increasingly popular for groundwater management studies can be made more useful by directly accounting for the hydrological processes which drive environmental outcomes. Conversely, conventional environmental models can benefit from an agent-based depiction of the feedbacks and heuristics which influence the decisions of groundwater users. From this perspective, this work describes a Python-based software architecture which couples the popular NetLogo agent-based platform with the MODFLOW/SEAWAT geohydrological modelling environment. This approach enables users to implement agent-based models in NetLogo's user-friendly platform, while benefiting from the full capabilities of MODFLOW/SEAWAT packages or reusing existing geohydrological models. The software architecture is based on the pyNetLogo connector, which provides an interface between the NetLogo agent-based modelling software and the Python programming language. This functionality is then extended and combined with Python's object-oriented features, to design a simulation architecture which couples NetLogo with MODFLOW/SEAWAT through the FloPy library (Bakker et al., 2016). The Python programming language also provides access to a range of external packages which can be used for testing and analysing the coupled models, which is illustrated for an application of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES).

Agent-based transportation planning compared with scheduling heuristics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mes, Martijn R.K.; van der Heijden, Matthijs C.; van Harten, Aart

2004-01-01

Here we consider the problem of dynamically assigning vehicles to transportation orders that have di¤erent time windows and should be handled in real time. We introduce a new agent-based system for the planning and scheduling of these transportation networks. Intelligent vehicle agents schedule

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.

The fractional volatility model: An agent-based interpretation

Science.gov (United States)

Vilela Mendes, R.

2008-06-01

Based on the criteria of mathematical simplicity and consistency with empirical market data, a model with volatility driven by fractional noise has been constructed which provides a fairly accurate mathematical parametrization of the data. Here, some features of the model are reviewed and extended to account for leverage effects. Using agent-based models, one tries to find which agent strategies and (or) properties of the financial institutions might be responsible for the features of the fractional volatility model.

A Framework For Agent-Based Educational Guidance And ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This work applies principles of artificial intelligence and agent development of educational guidance and counselling. An agent – based expert system is developed. The system supports the storage and intelligent interactive processing of the knowledge acquired by study and experience of the human expert in the domain ...

Markov chain aggregation for agent-based models

CERN Document Server

Banisch, Sven

2016-01-01

This self-contained text develops a Markov chain approach that makes the rigorous analysis of a class of microscopic models that specify the dynamics of complex systems at the individual level possible. It presents a general framework of aggregation in agent-based and related computational models, one which makes use of lumpability and information theory in order to link the micro and macro levels of observation. The starting point is a microscopic Markov chain description of the dynamical process in complete correspondence with the dynamical behavior of the agent-based model (ABM), which is obtained by considering the set of all possible agent configurations as the state space of a huge Markov chain. An explicit formal representation of a resulting “micro-chain” including microscopic transition rates is derived for a class of models by using the random mapping representation of a Markov process. The type of probability distribution used to implement the stochastic part of the model, which defines the upd...

Modeling collective emotions: a stochastic approach based on Brownian agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schweitzer, F.

2010-01-01

We develop a agent-based framework to model the emergence of collective emotions, which is applied to online communities. Agents individual emotions are described by their valence and arousal. Using the concept of Brownian agents, these variables change according to a stochastic dynamics, which also considers the feedback from online communication. Agents generate emotional information, which is stored and distributed in a field modeling the online medium. This field affects the emotional states of agents in a non-linear manner. We derive conditions for the emergence of collective emotions, observable in a bimodal valence distribution. Dependent on a saturated or a super linear feedback between the information field and the agent's arousal, we further identify scenarios where collective emotions only appear once or in a repeated manner. The analytical results are illustrated by agent-based computer simulations. Our framework provides testable hypotheses about the emergence of collective emotions, which can be verified by data from online communities. (author)

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.

Towards an agent-oriented programming language based on Scala

Science.gov (United States)

Mitrović, Dejan; Ivanović, Mirjana; Budimac, Zoran

2012-09-01

Scala and its multi-threaded model based on actors represent an excellent framework for developing purely reactive agents. This paper presents an early research on extending Scala with declarative programming constructs, which would result in a new agent-oriented programming language suitable for developing more advanced, BDI agent architectures. The main advantage the new language over many other existing solutions for programming BDI agents is a natural and straightforward integration of imperative and declarative programming constructs, fitted under a single development framework.

Gadolinium-based contrast agents in pediatric magnetic resonance imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gale, Eric M.; Caravan, Peter [Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Department of Radiology, The Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, MA (United States); Rao, Anil G. [Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Charleston, SC (United States); McDonald, Robert J. [College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Department of Radiology, Rochester, MN (United States); Winfeld, Matthew [University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Fleck, Robert J. [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Gee, Michael S. [MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Harvard Medical School, Division of Pediatric Imaging, Department of Radiology, Boston, MA (United States)

2017-05-15

Gadolinium-based contrast agents can increase the accuracy and expediency of an MRI examination. However the benefits of a contrast-enhanced scan must be carefully weighed against the well-documented risks associated with administration of exogenous contrast media. The purpose of this review is to discuss commercially available gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) in the context of pediatric radiology. We discuss the chemistry, regulatory status, safety and clinical applications, with particular emphasis on imaging of the blood vessels, heart, hepatobiliary tree and central nervous system. We also discuss non-GBCA MRI contrast agents that are less frequently used or not commercially available. (orig.)

A knowledge base architecture for distributed knowledge agents

Science.gov (United States)

Riedesel, Joel; Walls, Bryan

1990-01-01

A tuple space based object oriented model for knowledge base representation and interpretation is presented. An architecture for managing distributed knowledge agents is then implemented within the model. The general model is based upon a database implementation of a tuple space. Objects are then defined as an additional layer upon the database. The tuple space may or may not be distributed depending upon the database implementation. A language for representing knowledge and inference strategy is defined whose implementation takes advantage of the tuple space. The general model may then be instantiated in many different forms, each of which may be a distinct knowledge agent. Knowledge agents may communicate using tuple space mechanisms as in the LINDA model as well as using more well known message passing mechanisms. An implementation of the model is presented describing strategies used to keep inference tractable without giving up expressivity. An example applied to a power management and distribution network for Space Station Freedom is given.

Agent Behavior-Based Simulation Study on Mass Collaborative Product Development Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuo Zhang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Mass collaborative product development (MCPD benefits people by high innovation products with lower cost and shorter lead time due to quick development of group innovation, Internet-based customization, and prototype manufacturing. Simulation is an effective way to study the evolution process and therefore to guarantee the success of MCPD. In this paper, an agent behavior-based simulation approach of MCPD is developed, which models the MCPD process as the interactive process of design agents and the environment objects based on Complex Adaptive System (CAS theory. Next, the structure model of design agent is proposed, and the modification and collaboration behaviors are described. Third, the agent behavior-based simulation flow of MCPD is designed. At last, simulation experiments are carried out based on an engineering case of mobile phone design. The experiment results show the following: (1 the community scale has significant influence on MCPD process; (2 the simulation process can explicitly represent the modification and collaboration behaviors of design agents; (3 the community evolution process can be observed and analyzed dynamically based on simulation data.

Agent based Particle Swarm Optimization for Load Frequency Control of Distribution Grid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cha, Seung-Tae; Saleem, Arshad; Wu, Qiuwei

2012-01-01

This paper presents a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based on multi-agent controller. Real-time digital simulator (RTDS) is used for modelling the power system, while a PSO based multi-agent LFC algorithm is developed in JAVA for communicating with resource agents and determines the scenario...... to stabilize the frequency and voltage after the system enters into the islanding operation mode. The proposed algorithm is based on the formulation of an optimization problem using agent based PSO. The modified IEEE 9-bus system is employed to illustrate the performance of the proposed controller via RTDS...

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-based modelling of cholera diffusion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Augustijn-Beckers, Petronella; Doldersum, Tom; Useya, Juliana; Augustijn, Dionysius C.M.

2016-01-01

This paper introduces a spatially explicit agent-based simulation model for micro-scale cholera diffusion. The model simulates both an environmental reservoir of naturally occurring V.cholerae bacteria and hyperinfectious V. cholerae. Objective of the research is to test if runoff from open refuse

Agent-based simulation in entrepreneurship research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yang, S.-J.S.; Chandra, Y.

2009-01-01

Agent-based modeling (ABM) has wide applications in natural and social sciences yet it has not been widely applied in entrepreneurship research. We discuss the nature of ABM, its position among conventional methodologies and then offer a roadmap for developing, testing and extending theories of

Agent-based simulation of animal behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.M. Jonker (Catholijn); J. Treur

1998-01-01

textabstract In this paper it is shown how animal behaviour can be simulated in an agent-based manner. Different models are shown for different types of behaviour, varying from purely reactive behaviour to pro-active, social and adaptive behaviour. The compositional development method for

Mobile Agent-Based Software Systems Modeling Approaches: A Comparative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aissam Belghiat

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Mobile agent-based applications are special type of software systems which take the advantages of mobile agents in order to provide a new beneficial paradigm to solve multiple complex problems in several fields and areas such as network management, e-commerce, e-learning, etc. Likewise, we notice lack of real applications based on this paradigm and lack of serious evaluations of their modeling approaches. Hence, this paper provides a comparative study of modeling approaches of mobile agent-based software systems. The objective is to give the reader an overview and a thorough understanding of the work that has been done and where the gaps in the research are.

Agent-based Modeling with MATSim for Hazards Evacuation Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, J. M.; Ng, P.; Henry, K.; Peters, J.; Wood, N. J.

2015-12-01

Hazard evacuation planning requires robust modeling tools and techniques, such as least cost distance or agent-based modeling, to gain an understanding of a community's potential to reach safety before event (e.g. tsunami) arrival. Least cost distance modeling provides a static view of the evacuation landscape with an estimate of travel times to safety from each location in the hazard space. With this information, practitioners can assess a community's overall ability for timely evacuation. More information may be needed if evacuee congestion creates bottlenecks in the flow patterns. Dynamic movement patterns are best explored with agent-based models that simulate movement of and interaction between individual agents as evacuees through the hazard space, reacting to potential congestion areas along the evacuation route. The multi-agent transport simulation model MATSim is an agent-based modeling framework that can be applied to hazard evacuation planning. Developed jointly by universities in Switzerland and Germany, MATSim is open-source software written in Java and freely available for modification or enhancement. We successfully used MATSim to illustrate tsunami evacuation challenges in two island communities in California, USA, that are impacted by limited escape routes. However, working with MATSim's data preparation, simulation, and visualization modules in an integrated development environment requires a significant investment of time to develop the software expertise to link the modules and run a simulation. To facilitate our evacuation research, we packaged the MATSim modules into a single application tailored to the needs of the hazards community. By exposing the modeling parameters of interest to researchers in an intuitive user interface and hiding the software complexities, we bring agent-based modeling closer to practitioners and provide access to the powerful visual and analytic information that this modeling can provide.

Rapid-Viability PCR Method for Detection of Live, Virulent Bacillus anthracis in Environmental Samples ▿

OpenAIRE

Létant, Sonia E.; Murphy, Gloria A.; Alfaro, Teneile M.; Avila, Julie R.; Kane, Staci R.; Raber, Ellen; Bunt, Thomas M.; Shah, Sanjiv R.

2011-01-01

In the event of a biothreat agent release, hundreds of samples would need to be rapidly processed to characterize the extent of contamination and determine the efficacy of remediation activities. Current biological agent identification and viability determination methods are both labor- and time-intensive such that turnaround time for confirmed results is typically several days. In order to alleviate this issue, automated, high-throughput sample processing methods were developed in which real...

Agent-Based Crowd Simulation Considering Emotion Contagion for Emergency Evacuation Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Faroqi, H.; Mesgari, M.-S.

2015-12-01

During emergencies, emotions greatly affect human behaviour. For more realistic multi-agent systems in simulations of emergency evacuations, it is important to incorporate emotions and their effects on the agents. In few words, emotional contagion is a process in which a person or group influences the emotions or behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotion states and behavioral attitudes. In this study, we simulate an emergency situation in an open square area with three exits considering Adults and Children agents with different behavior. Also, Security agents are considered in order to guide Adults and Children for finding the exits and be calm. Six levels of emotion levels are considered for each agent in different scenarios and situations. The agent-based simulated model initialize with the random scattering of agent populations and then when an alarm occurs, each agent react to the situation based on its and neighbors current circumstances. The main goal of each agent is firstly to find the exit, and then help other agents to find their ways. Numbers of exited agents along with their emotion levels and damaged agents are compared in different scenarios with different initialization in order to evaluate the achieved results of the simulated model. NetLogo 5.2 is used as the multi-agent simulation framework with R language as the developing language.

AGENT-BASED CROWD SIMULATION CONSIDERING EMOTION CONTAGION FOR EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROBLEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Faroqi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available During emergencies, emotions greatly affect human behaviour. For more realistic multi-agent systems in simulations of emergency evacuations, it is important to incorporate emotions and their effects on the agents. In few words, emotional contagion is a process in which a person or group influences the emotions or behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotion states and behavioral attitudes. In this study, we simulate an emergency situation in an open square area with three exits considering Adults and Children agents with different behavior. Also, Security agents are considered in order to guide Adults and Children for finding the exits and be calm. Six levels of emotion levels are considered for each agent in different scenarios and situations. The agent-based simulated model initialize with the random scattering of agent populations and then when an alarm occurs, each agent react to the situation based on its and neighbors current circumstances. The main goal of each agent is firstly to find the exit, and then help other agents to find their ways. Numbers of exited agents along with their emotion levels and damaged agents are compared in different scenarios with different initialization in order to evaluate the achieved results of the simulated model. NetLogo 5.2 is used as the multi-agent simulation framework with R language as the developing language.

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

Chronic Heart Failure Follow-up Management Based on Agent Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadzadeh, Niloofar; Safdari, Reza

2015-10-01

Monitoring heart failure patients through continues assessment of sign and symptoms by information technology tools lead to large reduction in re-hospitalization. Agent technology is one of the strongest artificial intelligence areas; therefore, it can be expected to facilitate, accelerate, and improve health services especially in home care and telemedicine. The aim of this article is to provide an agent-based model for chronic heart failure (CHF) follow-up management. This research was performed in 2013-2014 to determine appropriate scenarios and the data required to monitor and follow-up CHF patients, and then an agent-based model was designed. Agents in the proposed model perform the following tasks: medical data access, communication with other agents of the framework and intelligent data analysis, including medical data processing, reasoning, negotiation for decision-making, and learning capabilities. The proposed multi-agent system has ability to learn and thus improve itself. Implementation of this model with more and various interval times at a broader level could achieve better results. The proposed multi-agent system is no substitute for cardiologists, but it could assist them in decision-making.

Agent-based modelling in synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorochowski, Thomas E

2016-11-30

Biological systems exhibit complex behaviours that emerge at many different levels of organization. These span the regulation of gene expression within single cells to the use of quorum sensing to co-ordinate the action of entire bacterial colonies. Synthetic biology aims to make the engineering of biology easier, offering an opportunity to control natural systems and develop new synthetic systems with useful prescribed behaviours. However, in many cases, it is not understood how individual cells should be programmed to ensure the emergence of a required collective behaviour. Agent-based modelling aims to tackle this problem, offering a framework in which to simulate such systems and explore cellular design rules. In this article, I review the use of agent-based models in synthetic biology, outline the available computational tools, and provide details on recently engineered biological systems that are amenable to this approach. I further highlight the challenges facing this methodology and some of the potential future directions. © 2016 The Author(s).

FIPA agent based network distributed control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2003-03-01

A control system with the capabilities to combine heterogeneous control systems or processes into a uniform homogeneous environment is discussed. This dynamically extensible system is an example of the software system at the agent level of abstraction. This level of abstraction considers agents as atomic entities that communicate to implement the functionality of the control system. Agents' engineering aspects are addressed by adopting the domain independent software standard, formulated by FIPA. Jade core Java classes are used as a FIPA specification implementation. A special, lightweight, XML RDFS based, control oriented, ontology markup language is developed to standardize the description of the arbitrary control system data processor. Control processes, described in this language, are integrated into the global system at runtime, without actual programming. Fault tolerance and recovery issues are also addressed.

FIPA agent based network distributed control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2003-01-01

A control system with the capabilities to combine heterogeneous control systems or processes into a uniform homogeneous environment is discussed. This dynamically extensible system is an example of the software system at the agent level of abstraction. This level of abstraction considers agents as atomic entities that communicate to implement the functionality of the control system. Agents' engineering aspects are addressed by adopting the domain independent software standard, formulated by FIPA. Jade core Java classes are used as a FIPA specification implementation. A special, lightweight, XML RDFS based, control oriented, ontology markup language is developed to standardize the description of the arbitrary control system data processor. Control processes, described in this language, are integrated into the global system at runtime, without actual programming. Fault tolerance and recovery issues are also addressed

Agent Based Fuzzy T-S Multi-Model System and Its Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaopeng Zhao

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Based on the basic concepts of agent and fuzzy T-S model, an agent based fuzzy T-S multi-model (ABFT-SMM system is proposed in this paper. Different from the traditional method, the parameters and the membership value of the agent can be adjusted along with the process. In this system, each agent can be described as a dynamic equation, which can be seen as the local part of the multi-model, and it can execute the task alone or collaborate with other agents to accomplish a fixed goal. It is proved in this paper that the agent based fuzzy T-S multi-model system can approximate any linear or nonlinear system at arbitrary accuracy. The applications to the benchmark problem of chaotic time series prediction, water heater system and waste heat utilizing process illustrate the viability and the efficiency of the mentioned approach. At the same time, the method can be easily used to a number of engineering fields, including identification, nonlinear control, fault diagnostics and performance analysis.

Complexity in Simplicity: Flexible Agent-based State Space Exploration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jacob Illum; Larsen, Kim Guldstrand

2007-01-01

In this paper, we describe a new flexible framework for state space exploration based on cooperating agents. The idea is to let various agents with different search patterns explore the state space individually and communicate information about fruitful subpaths of the search tree to each other...

Agent-Based Model Approach to Complex Phenomena in Real Economy

Science.gov (United States)

Iyetomi, H.; Aoyama, H.; Fujiwara, Y.; Ikeda, Y.; Souma, W.

An agent-based model for firms' dynamics is developed. The model consists of firm agents with identical characteristic parameters and a bank agent. Dynamics of those agents are described by their balance sheets. Each firm tries to maximize its expected profit with possible risks in market. Infinite growth of a firm directed by the ``profit maximization" principle is suppressed by a concept of ``going concern". Possibility of bankruptcy of firms is also introduced by incorporating a retardation effect of information on firms' decision. The firms, mutually interacting through the monopolistic bank, become heterogeneous in the course of temporal evolution. Statistical properties of firms' dynamics obtained by simulations based on the model are discussed in light of observations in the real economy.

Agent Based Modelling for Social Simulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, S.K.; Ubink, E.M.; Vecht, B. van der; Langley, D.J.

2013-01-01

This document is the result of an exploratory project looking into the status of, and opportunities for Agent Based Modelling (ABM) at TNO. The project focussed on ABM applications containing social interactions and human factors, which we termed ABM for social simulation (ABM4SS). During the course

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.

Rediscovering the Economics of Keynes in an Agent-Based Computational Setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Charlotte

The aim of this paper is to use agent-based computational economics to explore the economic thinking of Keynes. Taking his starting point at the macroeconomic level, Keynes argued that economic systems are characterized by fundamental uncertainty - an uncertainty that makes rule-based behaviour...... and reliance on monetary magnitudes more optimal to the economic agent than profit- and utility optimazation in the traditional sense. Unfortunately more systematic studies of the properties of such a system was not possible at the time of Keynes. The system envisioned by Keynes holds a lot of properties...... in commen with what we today call complex dynamic systems, and today we may aply the method of agent-based computational economics to the ideas of Keynes. The presented agent-based Keynesian model demonstrate, as argued by Keynes, that the economy can selforganize without relying on price movement...

Agent Based Individual Traffic guidance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wanscher, Jørgen Bundgaard

2004-01-01

When working with traffic planning or guidance it is common practice to view the vehicles as a combined mass. >From this models are employed to specify the vehicle supply and demand for each region. As the models are complex and the calculations are equally demanding the regions and the detail...... of the road network is aggregated. As a result the calculations reveal only what the mass of vehicles are doing and not what a single vehicle is doing. This is the crucial difference to ABIT (Agent Based Individual Trafficguidance). ABIT is based on the fact that information on the destination of each vehicle...

An Intelligent Agent based Architecture for Visual Data Mining

OpenAIRE

Hamdi Ellouzi; Hela Ltifi; Mounir Ben Ayed

2016-01-01

the aim of this paper is to present an intelligent architecture of Decision Support System (DSS) based on visual data mining. This architecture applies the multi-agent technology to facilitate the design and development of DSS in complex and dynamic environment. Multi-Agent Systems add a high level of abstraction. To validate the proposed architecture, it is implemented to develop a distributed visual data mining based DSS to predict nosocomial infectionsoccurrence in intensive care units. Th...

Agent-Based Modeling: A Powerful Tool for Tourism Researchers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nicholls, Sarah; Amelung, B.; Student, Jillian

2017-01-01

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a way of representing complex systems of autonomous agents or actors, and of simulating the multiple potential outcomes of these agents’ behaviors and interactions in the form of a range of alternatives or futures. Despite the complexity of the tourism system, and the

Characterization of nanoparticle-based contrast agents for molecular magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shan, Liang; Chopra, Arvind; Leung, Kam; Eckelman, William C.; Menkens, Anne E.

2012-01-01

The development of molecular imaging agents is currently undergoing a dramatic expansion. As of October 2011, ∼4,800 newly developed agents have been synthesized and characterized in vitro and in animal models of human disease. Despite this rapid progress, the transfer of these agents to clinical practice is rather slow. To address this issue, the National Institutes of Health launched the Molecular Imaging and Contrast Agents Database (MICAD) in 2005 to provide freely accessible online information regarding molecular imaging probes and contrast agents for the imaging community. While compiling information regarding imaging agents published in peer-reviewed journals, the MICAD editors have observed that some important information regarding the characterization of a contrast agent is not consistently reported. This makes it difficult for investigators to evaluate and meta-analyze data generated from different studies of imaging agents, especially for the agents based on nanoparticles. This article is intended to serve as a guideline for new investigators for the characterization of preclinical studies performed with nanoparticle-based MRI contrast agents. The common characterization parameters are summarized into seven categories: contrast agent designation, physicochemical properties, magnetic properties, in vitro studies, animal studies, MRI studies, and toxicity. Although no single set of parameters is suitable to define the properties of the various types of contrast agents, it is essential to ensure that these agents meet certain quality control parameters at the preclinical stage, so that they can be used without delay for clinical studies.

Agent-Based Framework for Personalized Service Provisioning in Converged IP Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Podobnik, Vedran; Matijasevic, Maja; Lovrek, Ignac; Skorin-Kapov, Lea; Desic, Sasa

In a global multi-service and multi-provider market, the Internet Service Providers will increasingly need to differentiate in the service quality they offer and base their operation on new, consumer-centric business models. In this paper, we propose an agent-based framework for the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) electronic market, comprising the Consumer Agents, Broker Agents and Content Agents, which enable Internet consumers to select a content provider in an automated manner. We also discuss how to dynamically allocate network resources to provide end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) for a given consumer and content provider.

Migration control for mobile agents based on passport and visa

OpenAIRE

Guan, SU; Wang, T; Ong, SH

2003-01-01

Research on mobile agents has attracted much attention as this paradigm has demonstrated great potential for the next-generation e-commerce. Proper solutions to security-related problems become key factors in the successful deployment of mobile agents in e-commerce systems. We propose the use of passport and visa (P/V) for securing mobile agent migration across communities based on the SAFER e-commerce framework. P/V not only serves as up-to-date digital credentials for agent-host authentica...

Nano/micromotors for security/defense applications. A review

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Virendra V.; Wang, Joseph

2015-11-01

The new capabilities of man-made micro/nanomotors open up considerable opportunities for diverse security and defense applications. This review highlights new micromotor-based strategies for enhanced security monitoring and detoxification of chemical and biological warfare agents (CBWA). The movement of receptor-functionalized nanomotors offers great potential for sensing and isolating target bio-threats from complex samples. New mobile reactive materials based on zeolite or activated carbon offer considerable promise for the accelerated removal of chemical warfare agents. A wide range of proof-of-concept motor-based approaches, including the detection and destruction of anthrax spores, `on-off' nerve-agent detection or effective neutralization of chemical warfare agents have thus been demonstrated. The propulsion of micromotors and their corresponding bubble tails impart significant mixing that greatly accelerates such detoxification processes. These nanomotors will thus empower sensing and destruction where stirring large quantities of decontaminating reagents and controlled mechanical agitation are impossible or undesired. New technological breakthroughs and greater sophistication of micro/nanoscale machines will lead to rapid translation of the micromotor research activity into practical defense applications, addressing the escalating threat of CBWA.

Intelligent judgements over health risks in a spatial agent-based model.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulkareem, Shaheen A; Augustijn, Ellen-Wien; Mustafa, Yaseen T; Filatova, Tatiana

2018-03-20

Millions of people worldwide are exposed to deadly infectious diseases on a regular basis. Breaking news of the Zika outbreak for instance, made it to the main media titles internationally. Perceiving disease risks motivate people to adapt their behavior toward a safer and more protective lifestyle. Computational science is instrumental in exploring patterns of disease spread emerging from many individual decisions and interactions among agents and their environment by means of agent-based models. Yet, current disease models rarely consider simulating dynamics in risk perception and its impact on the adaptive protective behavior. Social sciences offer insights into individual risk perception and corresponding protective actions, while machine learning provides algorithms and methods to capture these learning processes. This article presents an innovative approach to extend agent-based disease models by capturing behavioral aspects of decision-making in a risky context using machine learning techniques. We illustrate it with a case of cholera in Kumasi, Ghana, accounting for spatial and social risk factors that affect intelligent behavior and corresponding disease incidents. The results of computational experiments comparing intelligent with zero-intelligent representations of agents in a spatial disease agent-based model are discussed. We present a spatial disease agent-based model (ABM) with agents' behavior grounded in Protection Motivation Theory. Spatial and temporal patterns of disease diffusion among zero-intelligent agents are compared to those produced by a population of intelligent agents. Two Bayesian Networks (BNs) designed and coded using R and are further integrated with the NetLogo-based Cholera ABM. The first is a one-tier BN1 (only risk perception), the second is a two-tier BN2 (risk and coping behavior). We run three experiments (zero-intelligent agents, BN1 intelligence and BN2 intelligence) and report the results per experiment in terms of

Spatial agent-based models for socio-ecological systems: challenges and prospects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Filatova, T.; Verburg, P.H.; Parker, D.C.; Stannard, S.R.

2013-01-01

Departing from the comprehensive reviews carried out in the field, we identify the key challenges that agent-based methodology faces when modeling coupled socio-ecological systems. Focusing primarily on the papers presented in this thematic issue, we review progress in spatial agent-based models

Reverse engineering a social agent-based hidden markov model--visage.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hung-Ching Justin; Goldberg, Mark; Magdon-Ismail, Malik; Wallace, William A

2008-12-01

We present a machine learning approach to discover the agent dynamics that drives the evolution of the social groups in a community. We set up the problem by introducing an agent-based hidden Markov model for the agent dynamics: an agent's actions are determined by micro-laws. Nonetheless, We learn the agent dynamics from the observed communications without knowing state transitions. Our approach is to identify the appropriate micro-laws corresponding to an identification of the appropriate parameters in the model. The model identification problem is then formulated as a mixed optimization problem. To solve the problem, we develop a multistage learning process for determining the group structure, the group evolution, and the micro-laws of a community based on the observed set of communications among actors, without knowing the semantic contents. Finally, to test the quality of our approximations and the feasibility of the approach, we present the results of extensive experiments on synthetic data as well as the results on real communities, such as Enron email and Movie newsgroups. Insight into agent dynamics helps us understand the driving forces behind social evolution.

Invariance and universality in social agent-based simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio

2002-01-01

Agent-based simulation models have a promising future in the social sciences, from political science to anthropology, economics, and sociology. To realize their full scientific potential, however, these models must address a set of key problems, such as the number of interacting agents and their geometry, network topology, time calibration, phenomenological calibration, structural stability, power laws, and other substantive and methodological issues. This paper discusses and highlights these problems and outlines some solutions. PMID:12011412

Contract Monitoring in Agent-Based Systems: Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Hodík, Jiří; Vokřínek, Jiří; Jakob, Michal

Monitoring of fulfilment of obligations defined by electronic contracts in distributed domains is presented in this paper. A two-level model of contract-based systems and the types of observations needed for contract monitoring are introduced. The observations (inter-agent communication and agents’ actions) are collected and processed by the contract observation and analysis pipeline. The presented approach has been utilized in a multi-agent system for electronic contracting in a modular certification testing domain.

Automated mode shape estimation in agent-based wireless sensor networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Andrew T.; Lynch, Jerome P.

2010-04-01

Recent advances in wireless sensing technology have made it possible to deploy dense networks of sensing transducers within large structural systems. Because these networks leverage the embedded computing power and agent-based abilities integral to many wireless sensing devices, it is possible to analyze sensor data autonomously and in-network. In this study, market-based techniques are used to autonomously estimate mode shapes within a network of agent-based wireless sensors. Specifically, recent work in both decentralized Frequency Domain Decomposition and market-based resource allocation is leveraged to create a mode shape estimation algorithm derived from free-market principles. This algorithm allows an agent-based wireless sensor network to autonomously shift emphasis between improving mode shape accuracy and limiting the consumption of certain scarce network resources: processing time, storage capacity, and power consumption. The developed algorithm is validated by successfully estimating mode shapes using a network of wireless sensor prototypes deployed on the mezzanine balcony of Hill Auditorium, located on the University of Michigan campus.

A strategy learning model for autonomous agents based on classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Śnieżyński Bartłomiej

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper we propose a strategy learning model for autonomous agents based on classification. In the literature, the most commonly used learning method in agent-based systems is reinforcement learning. In our opinion, classification can be considered a good alternative. This type of supervised learning can be used to generate a classifier that allows the agent to choose an appropriate action for execution. Experimental results show that this model can be successfully applied for strategy generation even if rewards are delayed. We compare the efficiency of the proposed model and reinforcement learning using the farmer-pest domain and configurations of various complexity. In complex environments, supervised learning can improve the performance of agents much faster that reinforcement learning. If an appropriate knowledge representation is used, the learned knowledge may be analyzed by humans, which allows tracking the learning process

Multi-agent based distributed control architecture for microgrid energy management and optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basir Khan, M. Reyasudin; Jidin, Razali; Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A new multi-agent based distributed control architecture for energy management. • Multi-agent coordination based on non-cooperative game theory. • A microgrid model comprised of renewable energy generation systems. • Performance comparison of distributed with conventional centralized control. - Abstract: Most energy management systems are based on a centralized controller that is difficult to satisfy criteria such as fault tolerance and adaptability. Therefore, a new multi-agent based distributed energy management system architecture is proposed in this paper. The distributed generation system is composed of several distributed energy resources and a group of loads. A multi-agent system based decentralized control architecture was developed in order to provide control for the complex energy management of the distributed generation system. Then, non-cooperative game theory was used for the multi-agent coordination in the system. The distributed generation system was assessed by simulation under renewable resource fluctuations, seasonal load demand and grid disturbances. The simulation results show that the implementation of the new energy management system proved to provide more robust and high performance controls than conventional centralized energy management systems.

Multi-agent cooperation rescue algorithm based on influence degree and state prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yanbin; Ma, Guangfu; Wang, Linlin; Xi, Pengxue

2018-04-01

Aiming at the multi-agent cooperative rescue in disaster, a multi-agent cooperative rescue algorithm based on impact degree and state prediction is proposed. Firstly, based on the influence of the information in the scene on the collaborative task, the influence degree function is used to filter the information. Secondly, using the selected information to predict the state of the system and Agent behavior. Finally, according to the result of the forecast, the cooperative behavior of Agent is guided and improved the efficiency of individual collaboration. The simulation results show that this algorithm can effectively solve the cooperative rescue problem of multi-agent and ensure the efficient completion of the task.

Persuasion Model and Its Evaluation Based on Positive Change Degree of Agent Emotion

Science.gov (United States)

Jinghua, Wu; Wenguang, Lu; Hailiang, Meng

For it can meet needs of negotiation among organizations take place in different time and place, and for it can make its course more rationality and result more ideal, persuasion based on agent can improve cooperation among organizations well. Integrated emotion change in agent persuasion can further bring agent advantage of artificial intelligence into play. Emotion of agent persuasion is classified, and the concept of positive change degree is given. Based on this, persuasion model based on positive change degree of agent emotion is constructed, which is explained clearly through an example. Finally, the method of relative evaluation is given, which is also verified through a calculation example.

An agent-based information management model of the Chinese pig sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osinga, S.A.; Kramer, M.R.; Hofstede, G.J.; Roozmand, O.; Beulens, A.J.M.

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the effect of a selected top-down measure (what-if scenario) on actual agent behaviour and total system behaviour by means of an agent-based simulation model, when agents’ behaviour cannot fully be managed because the agents are autonomous. The Chinese pork sector serves as

Modeling and simulation of complex systems a framework for efficient agent-based modeling and simulation

CERN Document Server

Siegfried, Robert

2014-01-01

Robert Siegfried presents a framework for efficient agent-based modeling and simulation of complex systems. He compares different approaches for describing structure and dynamics of agent-based models in detail. Based on this evaluation the author introduces the "General Reference Model for Agent-based Modeling and Simulation" (GRAMS). Furthermore he presents parallel and distributed simulation approaches for execution of agent-based models -from small scale to very large scale. The author shows how agent-based models may be executed by different simulation engines that utilize underlying hard

A Skeleton Based Programming Paradigm for Mobile Multi-Agents on Distributed Systems and Its Realization within the MAGDA Mobile Agents Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Aversa

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Parallel programming effort can be reduced by using high level constructs such as algorithmic skeletons. Within the MAGDA toolset, supporting programming and execution of mobile agent based distributed applications, we provide a skeleton-based parallel programming environment, based on specialization of Algorithmic Skeleton Java interfaces and classes. Their implementation include mobile agent features for execution on heterogeneous systems, such as clusters of WSs and PCs, and support reliability and dynamic workload balancing. The user can thus develop a parallel, mobile agent based application by simply specialising a given set of classes and methods and using a set of added functionalities.

A Multi-Agent Based Energy Management Solution for Integrated Buildings and Microgrid System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anvari-Moghaddam, Amjad; Rahimi-Kian, Ashkan; Mirian, Maryam S.

2017-01-01

-reflex to complex learning agents are designed and implemented to cooperate with each other to reach an optimal operating strategy for the mentioned integrated energy system (IES) while meeting the system’s objectives and related constraints. The optimization process for the EMS is defined as a coordinated......In this paper, an ontology-driven multi-agent based energy management system (EMS) is proposed for monitoring and optimal control of an integrated homes/buildings and microgrid system with various renewable energy resources (RESs) and controllable loads. Different agents ranging from simple...... distributed generation (DG) and demand response (DR) management problem within the studied environment and is solved by the proposed agent-based approach utilizing cooperation and communication among decision agents. To verify the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed multi-agent based EMS, several...

Agent-Based Collaborative Traffic Flow Management, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We propose agent-based game-theoretic approaches for simulation of strategies involved in multi-objective collaborative traffic flow management (CTFM). Intelligent...

Geometry of behavioral spaces: A computational approach to analysis and understanding of agent based models and agent behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Cenek, Martin; Dahl, Spencer K.

2016-11-01

Systems with non-linear dynamics frequently exhibit emergent system behavior, which is important to find and specify rigorously to understand the nature of the modeled phenomena. Through this analysis, it is possible to characterize phenomena such as how systems assemble or dissipate and what behaviors lead to specific final system configurations. Agent Based Modeling (ABM) is one of the modeling techniques used to study the interaction dynamics between a system's agents and its environment. Although the methodology of ABM construction is well understood and practiced, there are no computational, statistically rigorous, comprehensive tools to evaluate an ABM's execution. Often, a human has to observe an ABM's execution in order to analyze how the ABM functions, identify the emergent processes in the agent's behavior, or study a parameter's effect on the system-wide behavior. This paper introduces a new statistically based framework to automatically analyze agents' behavior, identify common system-wide patterns, and record the probability of agents changing their behavior from one pattern of behavior to another. We use network based techniques to analyze the landscape of common behaviors in an ABM's execution. Finally, we test the proposed framework with a series of experiments featuring increasingly emergent behavior. The proposed framework will allow computational comparison of ABM executions, exploration of a model's parameter configuration space, and identification of the behavioral building blocks in a model's dynamics.

Agent-Based Modeling of Day-Ahead Real Time Pricing in a Pool-Based Electricity Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sh. Yousefi

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an agent-based structure of the electricity retail market is presented based on which day-ahead (DA energy procurement for customers is modeled. Here, we focus on operation of only one Retail Energy Provider (REP agent who purchases energy from DA pool-based wholesale market and offers DA real time tariffs to a group of its customers. As a model of customer response to the offered real time prices, an hourly acceptance function is proposed in order to represent the hourly changes in the customer’s effective demand according to the prices. Here, Q-learning (QL approach is applied in day-ahead real time pricing for the customers enabling the REP agent to discover which price yields the most benefit through a trial-and-error search. Numerical studies are presented based on New England day-ahead market data which include comparing the results of RTP based on QL approach with that of genetic-based pricing.

Personalized E- learning System Based on Intelligent Agent

Science.gov (United States)

Duo, Sun; Ying, Zhou Cai

Lack of personalized learning is the key shortcoming of traditional e-Learning system. This paper analyzes the personal characters in e-Learning activity. In order to meet the personalized e-learning, a personalized e-learning system based on intelligent agent was proposed and realized in the paper. The structure of system, work process, the design of intelligent agent and the realization of intelligent agent were introduced in the paper. After the test use of the system by certain network school, we found that the system could improve the learner's initiative participation, which can provide learners with personalized knowledge service. Thus, we thought it might be a practical solution to realize self- learning and self-promotion in the lifelong education age.

Research on environmental impact of water-based fire extinguishing agents

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuai

2018-02-01

This paper offers current status of application of water-based fire extinguishing agents, the environmental and research considerations of the need for the study of toxicity research. This paper also offers systematic review of test methods of toxicity and environmental impact of water-based fire extinguishing agents currently available, illustrate the main requirements and relevant test methods, and offer some research findings for future research considerations. The paper also offers limitations of current study.

QoS Negotiation and Renegotiation Based on Mobile Agents

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG Shi-bing; ZHANG Deng-yin

2006-01-01

The Quality of Service (QoS) has received more and more attention since QoS becomes increasingly important in the Internet development. Mobile software agents represent a valid alternative to the implementation of strategies for the negotiation. In this paper, a QoS negotiation and renegotiation system architecture based on mobile agents is proposed. The agents perform the task in the whole process. Therefore, such a system can reduce the network load, overcome latency, and avoid frequent exchange information between clients and server. The simulation results show that the proposed system could improve the network resource utility about 10%.

Emergent Macroeconomics An Agent-Based Approach to Business Fluctuations

CERN Document Server

Delli Gatti, Domenico; Gallegati, Mauro; Giulioni, Gianfranco; Palestrini, Antonio

2008-01-01

This book contributes substantively to the current state-of-the-art of macroeconomics by providing a method for building models in which business cycles and economic growth emerge from the interactions of a large number of heterogeneous agents. Drawing from recent advances in agent-based computational modeling, the authors show how insights from dispersed fields like the microeconomics of capital market imperfections, industrial dynamics and the theory of stochastic processes can be fruitfully combined to improve our understanding of macroeconomic dynamics. This book should be a valuable resource for all researchers interested in analyzing macroeconomic issues without recurring to a fictitious representative agent.

Structuring Qualitative Data for Agent-Based Modelling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ghorbani, Amineh; Dijkema, Gerard P.J.; Schrauwen, Noortje

2015-01-01

Using ethnography to build agent-based models may result in more empirically grounded simulations. Our study on innovation practice and culture in the Westland horticulture sector served to explore what information and data from ethnographic analysis could be used in models and how. MAIA, a

An agent-based architecture for multimodal interaction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.; Wijngaards, W.C.A.

In this paper, an executable generic process model is proposed for combined verbal and non-verbal communication processes and their interaction. The agent-based architecture can be used to create multimodal interaction. The generic process model has been designed, implemented and used to simulate

An agent-based architecture for multimodal interaction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonker, C.M.; Treur, J.; Wijngaards, W.C.A.

2001-01-01

In this paper, an executable generic process model is proposed for combined verbal and non-verbal communication processes and their interaction. The agent-based architecture can be used to create multimodal interaction. The generic process model has been designed, implemented and used to simulate

Laser-based instrumentation for the detection of chemical agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartford, A. Jr.; Sander, R.K.; Quigley, G.P.; Radziemski, L.J.; Cremers, D.A.

1982-01-01

Several laser-based techniques are being evaluated for the remote, point, and surface detection of chemical agents. Among the methods under investigation are optoacoustic spectroscopy, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and synchronous detection of laser-induced fluorescence (SDLIF). Optoacoustic detection has already been shown to be capable of extremely sensitive point detection. Its application to remote sensing of chemical agents is currently being evaluated. Atomic emission from the region of a laser-generated plasma has been used to identify the characteristic elements contained in nerve (P and F) and blister (S and Cl) agents. Employing this LIBS approach, detection of chemical agent simulants dispersed in air and adsorbed on a variety of surfaces has been achieved. Synchronous detection of laser-induced fluorescence provides an attractive alternative to conventional LIF, in that an artificial narrowing of the fluorescence emission is obtained. The application of this technique to chemical agent simulants has been successfully demonstrated. 19 figures

Connectionist agent-based learning in bank-run decision making

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Weihong; Huang, Qiao

2018-05-01

It is of utter importance for the policy makers, bankers, and investors to thoroughly understand the probability of bank-run (PBR) which was often neglected in the classical models. Bank-run is not merely due to miscoordination (Diamond and Dybvig, 1983) or deterioration of bank assets (Allen and Gale, 1998) but various factors. This paper presents the simulation results of the nonlinear dynamic probabilities of bank runs based on the global games approach, with the distinct assumption that heterogenous agents hold highly correlated but unidentical beliefs about the true payoffs. The specific technique used in the simulation is to let agents have an integrated cognitive-affective network. It is observed that, even when the economy is good, agents are significantly affected by the cognitive-affective network to react to bad news which might lead to bank-run. Both the rise of the late payoffs, R, and the early payoffs, r, will decrease the effect of the affective process. The increased risk sharing might or might not increase PBR, and the increase in late payoff is beneficial for preventing the bank run. This paper is one of the pioneers that links agent-based computational economics and behavioral economics.

Intelligent Agent-Based Intrusion Detection System Using Enhanced Multiclass SVM

Science.gov (United States)

Ganapathy, S.; Yogesh, P.; Kannan, A.

2012-01-01

Intrusion detection systems were used in the past along with various techniques to detect intrusions in networks effectively. However, most of these systems are able to detect the intruders only with high false alarm rate. In this paper, we propose a new intelligent agent-based intrusion detection model for mobile ad hoc networks using a combination of attribute selection, outlier detection, and enhanced multiclass SVM classification methods. For this purpose, an effective preprocessing technique is proposed that improves the detection accuracy and reduces the processing time. Moreover, two new algorithms, namely, an Intelligent Agent Weighted Distance Outlier Detection algorithm and an Intelligent Agent-based Enhanced Multiclass Support Vector Machine algorithm are proposed for detecting the intruders in a distributed database environment that uses intelligent agents for trust management and coordination in transaction processing. The experimental results of the proposed model show that this system detects anomalies with low false alarm rate and high-detection rate when tested with KDD Cup 99 data set. PMID:23056036

Complex between lignin and a Ti-based coupling agent

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jonas Stensgaard; Barsberg, Søren Talbro; Felby, Claus

2014-01-01

-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in combination with first principle predictions based on the density functional theory (DFT). In the infrared spectra, a new band at 1586 cm-1 was identified and the DFT predictions confirmed that the new band is because of the covalent bonds in the form of ether linkages...... coating formulations would have a better performance if the adhesion to wood could be improved. In the present work, the chemical interaction between a titanium-based coupling agent, isopropyl triisostearoyl titanate (titanium agent, TA) and lignin has been studied by means of attenuated total reflectance...

A Novel Approach to Selecting Contractor in Agent-based Multi-sensor Battlefield Reconnaissance Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiong Li

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel approach towards showing how contractor in agent-based simulation for complex warfare system such as multi-sensor battlefield reconnaissance system can be selected in Contract Net Protocol (CNP with high efficiency. We first analyze agent and agent-based simulation framework, CNP and collaborators, and present agents interaction chain used to actualize CNP and establish agents trust network. We then obtain contractor's importance weight and dynamic trust by presenting fuzzy similarity-based algorithm and trust modifying algorithm, thus we propose contractor selecting approach based on maximum dynamic integrative trust. We validate the feasibility and capability of this approach by implementing simulation, analyzing compared results and checking the model.

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.

Data Provenance for Agent-Based Models in a Distributed Memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delmar B. Davis

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Agent-Based Models (ABMs assist with studying emergent collective behavior of individual entities in social, biological, economic, network, and physical systems. Data provenance can support ABM by explaining individual agent behavior. However, there is no provenance support for ABMs in a distributed setting. The Multi-Agent Spatial Simulation (MASS library provides a framework for simulating ABMs at fine granularity, where agents and spatial data are shared application resources in a distributed memory. We introduce a novel approach to capture ABM provenance in a distributed memory, called ProvMASS. We evaluate our technique with traditional data provenance queries and performance measures. Our results indicate that a configurable approach can capture provenance that explains coordination of distributed shared resources, simulation logic, and agent behavior while limiting performance overhead. We also show the ability to support practical analyses (e.g., agent tracking and storage requirements for different capture configurations.

Understanding Group/Party Affiliation Using Social Networks and Agent-Based Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Kenyth

2012-01-01

The dynamics of group affiliation and group dispersion is a concept that is most often studied in order for political candidates to better understand the most efficient way to conduct their campaigns. While political campaigning in the United States is a very hot topic that most politicians analyze and study, the concept of group/party affiliation presents its own area of study that producers very interesting results. One tool for examining party affiliation on a large scale is agent-based modeling (ABM), a paradigm in the modeling and simulation (M&S) field perfectly suited for aggregating individual behaviors to observe large swaths of a population. For this study agent based modeling was used in order to look at a community of agents and determine what factors can affect the group/party affiliation patterns that are present. In the agent-based model that was used for this experiment many factors were present but two main factors were used to determine the results. The results of this study show that it is possible to use agent-based modeling to explore group/party affiliation and construct a model that can mimic real world events. More importantly, the model in the study allows for the results found in a smaller community to be translated into larger experiments to determine if the results will remain present on a much larger scale.

Modeling Oil Exploration and Production: Resource-Constrained and Agent-Based Approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakobsson, Kristofer

2010-05-01

Energy is essential to the functioning of society, and oil is the single largest commercial energy source. Some analysts have concluded that the peak in oil production is soon about to happen on the global scale, while others disagree. Such incompatible views can persist because the issue of 'peak oil' cuts through the established scientific disciplines. The question is: what characterizes the modeling approaches that are available today, and how can they be further developed to improve a trans-disciplinary understanding of oil depletion? The objective of this thesis is to present long-term scenarios of oil production (Paper I) using a resource-constrained model; and an agent-based model of the oil exploration process (Paper II). It is also an objective to assess the strengths, limitations, and future development potentials of resource-constrained modeling, analytical economic modeling, and agent-based modeling. Resource-constrained models are only suitable when the time frame is measured in decades, but they can give a rough indication of which production scenarios are reasonable given the size of the resource. However, the models are comprehensible, transparent and the only feasible long-term forecasting tools at present. It is certainly possible to distinguish between reasonable scenarios, based on historically observed parameter values, and unreasonable scenarios with parameter values obtained through flawed analogy. The economic subfield of optimal depletion theory is founded on the notion of rational economic agents, and there is a causal relation between decisions made at the micro-level and the macro-result. In terms of future improvements, however, the analytical form considerably restricts the versatility of the approach. Agent-based modeling makes it feasible to combine economically motivated agents with a physical environment. An example relating to oil exploration is given in Paper II, where it is shown that the exploratory activities of individual

Multi Agent System Based Wide Area Protection against Cascading Events

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Zhou; Chen, Zhe; Liu, Leo

2012-01-01

In this paper, a multi-agent system based wide area protection scheme is proposed in order to prevent long term voltage instability induced cascading events. The distributed relays and controllers work as a device agent which not only executes the normal function automatically but also can...... the effectiveness of proposed protection strategy. The simulation results indicate that the proposed multi agent control system can effectively coordinate the distributed relays and controllers to prevent the long term voltage instability induced cascading events....

An agent-based model of signal transduction in bacterial chemotaxis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jameson Miller

2010-05-01

Full Text Available We report the application of agent-based modeling to examine the signal transduction network and receptor arrays for chemotaxis in Escherichia coli, which are responsible for regulating swimming behavior in response to environmental stimuli. Agent-based modeling is a stochastic and bottom-up approach, where individual components of the modeled system are explicitly represented, and bulk properties emerge from their movement and interactions. We present the Chemoscape model: a collection of agents representing both fixed membrane-embedded and mobile cytoplasmic proteins, each governed by a set of rules representing knowledge or hypotheses about their function. When the agents were placed in a simulated cellular space and then allowed to move and interact stochastically, the model exhibited many properties similar to the biological system including adaptation, high signal gain, and wide dynamic range. We found the agent based modeling approach to be both powerful and intuitive for testing hypotheses about biological properties such as self-assembly, the non-linear dynamics that occur through cooperative protein interactions, and non-uniform distributions of proteins in the cell. We applied the model to explore the role of receptor type, geometry and cooperativity in the signal gain and dynamic range of the chemotactic response to environmental stimuli. The model provided substantial qualitative evidence that the dynamic range of chemotactic response can be traced to both the heterogeneity of receptor types present, and the modulation of their cooperativity by their methylation state.

An agent-based model of signal transduction in bacterial chemotaxis.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Jameson; Parker, Miles; Bourret, Robert B; Giddings, Morgan C

2010-05-13

We report the application of agent-based modeling to examine the signal transduction network and receptor arrays for chemotaxis in Escherichia coli, which are responsible for regulating swimming behavior in response to environmental stimuli. Agent-based modeling is a stochastic and bottom-up approach, where individual components of the modeled system are explicitly represented, and bulk properties emerge from their movement and interactions. We present the Chemoscape model: a collection of agents representing both fixed membrane-embedded and mobile cytoplasmic proteins, each governed by a set of rules representing knowledge or hypotheses about their function. When the agents were placed in a simulated cellular space and then allowed to move and interact stochastically, the model exhibited many properties similar to the biological system including adaptation, high signal gain, and wide dynamic range. We found the agent based modeling approach to be both powerful and intuitive for testing hypotheses about biological properties such as self-assembly, the non-linear dynamics that occur through cooperative protein interactions, and non-uniform distributions of proteins in the cell. We applied the model to explore the role of receptor type, geometry and cooperativity in the signal gain and dynamic range of the chemotactic response to environmental stimuli. The model provided substantial qualitative evidence that the dynamic range of chemotactic response can be traced to both the heterogeneity of receptor types present, and the modulation of their cooperativity by their methylation state.

Agent-based Personal Network (PN) service architecture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Bo; Olesen, Henning

2004-01-01

In this paper we proposte a new concept for a centralized agent system as the solution for the PN service architecture, which aims to efficiently control and manage the PN resources and enable the PN based services to run seamlessly over different networks and devices. The working principle...

Agent-Based Modeling of Taxi Behavior Simulation with Probe Vehicle Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saurav Ranjit

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Taxi behavior is a spatial–temporal dynamic process involving discrete time dependent events, such as customer pick-up, customer drop-off, cruising, and parking. Simulation models, which are a simplification of a real-world system, can help understand the effects of change of such dynamic behavior. In this paper, agent-based modeling and simulation is proposed, that describes the dynamic action of an agent, i.e., taxi, governed by behavior rules and properties, which emulate the taxi behavior. Taxi behavior simulations are fundamentally done for optimizing the service level for both taxi drivers as well as passengers. Moreover, simulation techniques, as such, could be applied to another field of application as well, where obtaining real raw data are somewhat difficult due to privacy issues, such as human mobility data or call detail record data. This paper describes the development of an agent-based simulation model which is based on multiple input parameters (taxi stay point cluster; trip information (origin and destination; taxi demand information; free taxi movement; and network travel time that were derived from taxi probe GPS data. As such, agent’s parameters were mapped into grid network, and the road network, for which the grid network was used as a base for query/search/retrieval of taxi agent’s parameters, while the actual movement of taxi agents was on the road network with routing and interpolation. The results obtained from the simulated taxi agent data and real taxi data showed a significant level of similarity of different taxi behavior, such as trip generation; trip time; trip distance as well as trip occupancy, based on its distribution. As for efficient data handling, a distributed computing platform for large-scale data was used for extracting taxi agent parameter from the probe data by utilizing both spatial and non-spatial indexing technique.

Agent-Based Decision Control—How to Appreciate Multivariate Optimisation in Architecture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Negendahl, Kristoffer; Perkov, Thomas Holmer; Kolarik, Jakub

2015-01-01

, the method is applied to a multivariate optimisation problem. The aim is specifically to demonstrate optimisation for entire building energy consumption, daylight distribution and capital cost. Based on the demonstrations Moth’s ability to find local minima is discussed. It is concluded that agent-based...... in the early design stage. The main focus is to demonstrate the optimisation method, which is done in two ways. Firstly, the newly developed agent-based optimisation algorithm named Moth is tested on three different single objective search spaces. Here Moth is compared to two evolutionary algorithms. Secondly...... optimisation algorithms like Moth open up for new uses of optimisation in the early design stage. With Moth the final outcome is less dependent on pre- and post-processing, and Moth allows user intervention during optimisation. Therefore, agent-based models for optimisation such as Moth can be a powerful...

Agent Based Knowledge Management Solution using Ontology, Semantic Web Services and GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea DIOSTEANU

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of our research is to develop an agent based knowledge management application framework using a specific type of ontology that is able to facilitate semantic web service search and automatic composition. This solution can later on be used to develop complex solutions for location based services, supply chain management, etc. This application for modeling knowledge highlights the importance of agent interaction that leads to efficient enterprise interoperability. Furthermore, it proposes an "agent communication language" ontology that extends the OWL Lite standard approach and makes it more flexible in retrieving proper data for identifying the agents that can best communicate and negotiate.

Multiscale agent-based cancer modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Le; Wang, Zhihui; Sagotsky, Jonathan A; Deisboeck, Thomas S

2009-04-01

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is an in silico technique that is being used in a variety of research areas such as in social sciences, economics and increasingly in biomedicine as an interdisciplinary tool to study the dynamics of complex systems. Here, we describe its applicability to integrative tumor biology research by introducing a multi-scale tumor modeling platform that understands brain cancer as a complex dynamic biosystem. We summarize significant findings of this work, and discuss both challenges and future directions for ABM in the field of cancer research.

Engineering large-scale agent-based systems with consensus

Science.gov (United States)

Bokma, A.; Slade, A.; Kerridge, S.; Johnson, K.

1994-01-01

The paper presents the consensus method for the development of large-scale agent-based systems. Systems can be developed as networks of knowledge based agents (KBA) which engage in a collaborative problem solving effort. The method provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to the development of this type of system. This includes a systematic analysis of user requirements as well as a structured approach to generating a system design which exhibits the desired functionality. There is a direct correspondence between system requirements and design components. The benefits of this approach are that requirements are traceable into design components and code thus facilitating verification. The use of the consensus method with two major test applications showed it to be successful and also provided valuable insight into problems typically associated with the development of large systems.

iCrowd: agent-based behavior modeling and crowd simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Kountouriotis, Vassilios I.; Paterakis, Manolis; Thomopoulos, Stelios C. A.

2016-05-01

Initially designed in the context of the TASS (Total Airport Security System) FP-7 project, the Crowd Simulation platform developed by the Integrated Systems Lab of the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications at N.C.S.R. Demokritos, has evolved into a complete domain-independent agent-based behavior simulator with an emphasis on crowd behavior and building evacuation simulation. Under continuous development, it reflects an effort to implement a modern, multithreaded, data-oriented simulation engine employing latest state-of-the-art programming technologies and paradigms. It is based on an extensible architecture that separates core services from the individual layers of agent behavior, offering a concrete simulation kernel designed for high-performance and stability. Its primary goal is to deliver an abstract platform to facilitate implementation of several Agent-Based Simulation solutions with applicability in several domains of knowledge, such as: (i) Crowd behavior simulation during [in/out] door evacuation. (ii) Non-Player Character AI for Game-oriented applications and Gamification activities. (iii) Vessel traffic modeling and simulation for Maritime Security and Surveillance applications. (iv) Urban and Highway Traffic and Transportation Simulations. (v) Social Behavior Simulation and Modeling.

Agent-based modeling as a tool for program design and evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawlor, Jennifer A; McGirr, Sara

2017-12-01

Recently, systems thinking and systems science approaches have gained popularity in the field of evaluation; however, there has been relatively little exploration of how evaluators could use quantitative tools to assist in the implementation of systems approaches therein. The purpose of this paper is to explore potential uses of one such quantitative tool, agent-based modeling, in evaluation practice. To this end, we define agent-based modeling and offer potential uses for it in typical evaluation activities, including: engaging stakeholders, selecting an intervention, modeling program theory, setting performance targets, and interpreting evaluation results. We provide demonstrative examples from published agent-based modeling efforts both inside and outside the field of evaluation for each of the evaluative activities discussed. We further describe potential pitfalls of this tool and offer cautions for evaluators who may chose to implement it in their practice. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the future of agent-based modeling in evaluation practice and a call for more formal exploration of this tool as well as other approaches to simulation modeling in the field. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity Analysis of an Agent-Based Model of Culture's Consequences for Trade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Burgers, S.L.G.E.; Jonker, C.M.; Hofstede, G.J.; Verwaart, D.

2010-01-01

This paper describes the analysis of an agent-based model’s sensitivity to changes in parameters that describe the agents’ cultural background, relational parameters, and parameters of the decision functions. As agent-based models may be very sensitive to small changes in parameter values, it is of

Organization of the secure distributed computing based on multi-agent system

Science.gov (United States)

Khovanskov, Sergey; Rumyantsev, Konstantin; Khovanskova, Vera

2018-04-01

Nowadays developing methods for distributed computing is received much attention. One of the methods of distributed computing is using of multi-agent systems. The organization of distributed computing based on the conventional network computers can experience security threats performed by computational processes. Authors have developed the unified agent algorithm of control system of computing network nodes operation. Network PCs is used as computing nodes. The proposed multi-agent control system for the implementation of distributed computing allows in a short time to organize using of the processing power of computers any existing network to solve large-task by creating a distributed computing. Agents based on a computer network can: configure a distributed computing system; to distribute the computational load among computers operated agents; perform optimization distributed computing system according to the computing power of computers on the network. The number of computers connected to the network can be increased by connecting computers to the new computer system, which leads to an increase in overall processing power. Adding multi-agent system in the central agent increases the security of distributed computing. This organization of the distributed computing system reduces the problem solving time and increase fault tolerance (vitality) of computing processes in a changing computing environment (dynamic change of the number of computers on the network). Developed a multi-agent system detects cases of falsification of the results of a distributed system, which may lead to wrong decisions. In addition, the system checks and corrects wrong results.

Study on the E-commerce platform based on the agent

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Ruixue; Qin, Lishuan; Gao, Yinmin

2011-10-01

To solve problem of dynamic integration in e-commerce, the Multi-Agent architecture of electronic commerce platform system based on Agent and Ontology has been introduced, which includes three major types of agent, Ontology and rule collection. In this architecture, service agent and rule are used to realize the business process reengineering, the reuse of software component, and agility of the electronic commerce platform. To illustrate the architecture, a simulation work has been done and the results imply that the architecture provides a very efficient method to design and implement the flexible, distributed, open and intelligent electronic commerce platform system to solve problem of dynamic integration in ecommerce. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the architecture of electronic commerce platform system, and the approach how Agent and Ontology support the electronic commerce platform system.

A Computational Agent-Based Modeling Approach for Competitive Wireless Service Market

KAUST Repository

Douglas, C C; Hyoseop Lee,; Wonsuck Lee,

2011-01-01

Using an agent-based modeling method, we study market dynamism with regard to wireless cellular services that are in competition for a greater market share and profit. In the proposed model, service providers and consumers are described as agents

A spatial web/agent-based model to support stakeholders' negotiation regarding land development.

Science.gov (United States)

Pooyandeh, Majeed; Marceau, Danielle J

2013-11-15

Decision making in land management can be greatly enhanced if the perspectives of concerned stakeholders are taken into consideration. This often implies negotiation in order to reach an agreement based on the examination of multiple alternatives. This paper describes a spatial web/agent-based modeling system that was developed to support the negotiation process of stakeholders regarding land development in southern Alberta, Canada. This system integrates a fuzzy analytic hierarchy procedure within an agent-based model in an interactive visualization environment provided through a web interface to facilitate the learning and negotiation of the stakeholders. In the pre-negotiation phase, the stakeholders compare their evaluation criteria using linguistic expressions. Due to the uncertainty and fuzzy nature of such comparisons, a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process is then used to prioritize the criteria. The negotiation starts by a development plan being submitted by a user (stakeholder) through the web interface. An agent called the proposer, which represents the proposer of the plan, receives this plan and starts negotiating with all other agents. The negotiation is conducted in a step-wise manner where the agents change their attitudes by assigning a new set of weights to their criteria. If an agreement is not achieved, a new location for development is proposed by the proposer agent. This process is repeated until a location is found that satisfies all agents to a certain predefined degree. To evaluate the performance of the model, the negotiation was simulated with four agents, one of which being the proposer agent, using two hypothetical development plans. The first plan was selected randomly; the other one was chosen in an area that is of high importance to one of the agents. While the agents managed to achieve an agreement about the location of the land development after three rounds of negotiation in the first scenario, seven rounds were required in the second

SIMULATING AN EVOLUTIONARY MULTI-AGENT BASED MODEL OF THE STOCK MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana MARICA

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on artificial stock market simulations using a multi-agent model incorporating 2,000 heterogeneous agents interacting on the artificial market. The agents interaction is due to trading activity on the market through a call auction trading mechanism. The multi-agent model uses evolutionary techniques such as genetic programming in order to generate an adaptive and evolving population of agents. Each artificial agent is endowed with wealth and a genetic programming induced trading strategy. The trading strategy evolves and adapts to the new market conditions through a process called breeding, which implies that at each simulation step, new agents with better trading strategies are generated by the model, from recombining the best performing trading strategies and replacing the agents which have the worst performing trading strategies. The simulation model was build with the help of the simulation software Altreva Adaptive Modeler which offers a suitable platform for financial market simulations of evolutionary agent based models, the S&P500 composite index being used as a benchmark for the simulation results.

Web based parallel/distributed medical data mining using software agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kargupta, H.; Stafford, B.; Hamzaoglu, I.

1997-12-31

This paper describes an experimental parallel/distributed data mining system PADMA (PArallel Data Mining Agents) that uses software agents for local data accessing and analysis and a web based interface for interactive data visualization. It also presents the results of applying PADMA for detecting patterns in unstructured texts of postmortem reports and laboratory test data for Hepatitis C patients.

Hypercompetitive Environments: An Agent-based model approach

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Manuel; Araújo, Tanya

Information technology (IT) environments are characterized by complex changes and rapid evolution. Globalization and the spread of technological innovation have increased the need for new strategic information resources, both from individual firms and management environments. Improvements in multidisciplinary methods and, particularly, the availability of powerful computational tools, are giving researchers an increasing opportunity to investigate management environments in their true complex nature. The adoption of a complex systems approach allows for modeling business strategies from a bottom-up perspective — understood as resulting from repeated and local interaction of economic agents — without disregarding the consequences of the business strategies themselves to individual behavior of enterprises, emergence of interaction patterns between firms and management environments. Agent-based models are at the leading approach of this attempt.

A Skeleton Based Programming Paradigm for Mobile Multi-Agents on Distributed Systems and Its Realization within the MAGDA Mobile Agents Platform

OpenAIRE

R. Aversa; B. Di Martino; N. Mazzocca; S. Venticinque

2008-01-01

Parallel programming effort can be reduced by using high level constructs such as algorithmic skeletons. Within the MAGDA toolset, supporting programming and execution of mobile agent based distributed applications, we provide a skeleton-based parallel programming environment, based on specialization of Algorithmic Skeleton Java interfaces and classes. Their implementation include mobile agent features for execution on heterogeneous systems, such as clusters of WSs and PCs, and support reliab...

Exploring complex dynamics in multi agent-based intelligent systems: Theoretical and experimental approaches using the Multi Agent-based Behavioral Economic Landscape (MABEL) model

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandridis, Konstantinos T.

This dissertation adopts a holistic and detailed approach to modeling spatially explicit agent-based artificial intelligent systems, using the Multi Agent-based Behavioral Economic Landscape (MABEL) model. The research questions that addresses stem from the need to understand and analyze the real-world patterns and dynamics of land use change from a coupled human-environmental systems perspective. Describes the systemic, mathematical, statistical, socio-economic and spatial dynamics of the MABEL modeling framework, and provides a wide array of cross-disciplinary modeling applications within the research, decision-making and policy domains. Establishes the symbolic properties of the MABEL model as a Markov decision process, analyzes the decision-theoretic utility and optimization attributes of agents towards comprising statistically and spatially optimal policies and actions, and explores the probabilogic character of the agents' decision-making and inference mechanisms via the use of Bayesian belief and decision networks. Develops and describes a Monte Carlo methodology for experimental replications of agent's decisions regarding complex spatial parcel acquisition and learning. Recognizes the gap on spatially-explicit accuracy assessment techniques for complex spatial models, and proposes an ensemble of statistical tools designed to address this problem. Advanced information assessment techniques such as the Receiver-Operator Characteristic curve, the impurity entropy and Gini functions, and the Bayesian classification functions are proposed. The theoretical foundation for modular Bayesian inference in spatially-explicit multi-agent artificial intelligent systems, and the ensembles of cognitive and scenario assessment modular tools build for the MABEL model are provided. Emphasizes the modularity and robustness as valuable qualitative modeling attributes, and examines the role of robust intelligent modeling as a tool for improving policy-decisions related to land

An Intelligent Fleet Condition-Based Maintenance Decision Making Method Based on Multi-Agent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Sun

2012-01-01

Full Text Available According to the demand for condition-based maintenance online decision making among a mission oriented fleet, an intelligent maintenance decision making method based on Multi-agent and heuristic rules is proposed. The process of condition-based maintenance within an aircraft fleet (each containing one or more Line Replaceable Modules based on multiple maintenance thresholds is analyzed. Then the process is abstracted into a Multi-Agent Model, a 2-layer model structure containing host negotiation and independent negotiation is established, and the heuristic rules applied to global and local maintenance decision making is proposed. Based on Contract Net Protocol and the heuristic rules, the maintenance decision making algorithm is put forward. Finally, a fleet consisting of 10 aircrafts on a 3-wave continuous mission is illustrated to verify this method. Simulation results indicate that this method can improve the availability of the fleet, meet mission demands, rationalize the utilization of support resources and provide support for online maintenance decision making among a mission oriented fleet.

Conceptual Framework for Agent-Based Modeling of Customer-Oriented Supply Networks

OpenAIRE

Solano-Vanegas , Clara ,; Carrillo-Ramos , Angela; Montoya-Torres , Jairo ,

2015-01-01

Part 3: Collaboration Frameworks; International audience; Supply Networks (SN) are complex systems involving the interaction of different actors, very often, with different objectives and goals. Among the different existing modeling approaches, agent-based systems can properly represent the autonomous behavior of SN links and, simultaneously, observe the general response of the system as a result of individual actions. Most of research using agent-based modeling in SN focuses on production is...

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.)

Agent-Based Modeling in Systems Pharmacology.

Science.gov (United States)

Cosgrove, J; Butler, J; Alden, K; Read, M; Kumar, V; Cucurull-Sanchez, L; Timmis, J; Coles, M

2015-11-01

Modeling and simulation (M&S) techniques provide a platform for knowledge integration and hypothesis testing to gain insights into biological systems that would not be possible a priori. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is an M&S technique that focuses on describing individual components rather than homogenous populations. This tutorial introduces ABM to systems pharmacologists, using relevant case studies to highlight how ABM-specific strengths have yielded success in the area of preclinical mechanistic modeling.

A Framework for Agent-based Human Interaction Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Axel Bürkle

2008-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper we describe an agent-based infrastructure for multimodal perceptual systems which aims at developing and realizing computer services that are delivered to humans in an implicit and unobtrusive way. The framework presented here supports the implementation of human-centric context-aware applications providing non-obtrusive assistance to participants in events such as meetings, lectures, conferences and presentations taking place in indoor "smart spaces". We emphasize on the design and implementation of an agent-based framework that supports "pluggable" service logic in the sense that the service developer can concentrate on coding the service logic independently of the underlying middleware. Furthermore, we give an example of the architecture's ability to support the cooperation of multiple services in a meeting scenario using an intelligent connector service and a semantic web oriented travel service.

Agent-Based Approach for Modelling the Labour Migration from China to Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeriy Leonidovich Makarov

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article describes the process of labour migration from China to Russia and shows its modelling using the agent-based approach. This approach allows us to simulate an artificial society in a computer program taking into account the diversity of individuals under consideration, as well as to model a set of laws and rules of conduct that make up the institutional environment in which the members of this society live. A brief review and analysis of agent-based migration models presented in the foreign literature are given. The agent-based model of labour migration from China to Russia developed by the Central Economic Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences simulates human behaviour close to reality, which is based on their internal purposes, determining the agents choice of territory as a place of residence. Therefore, at the development of the agents of the model and their behaviour algorithms, as well as the organization of the environment in which they exist and interact, the main characteristics of the population of two neighbouring countries and their demographic processes have been considered. Using the model, two experiments have been conducted. The purpose of the first of them was to assess the effect of depreciation of the rubble against the yuan on the overall indexes of labour migration, as well as its structure. In the second experiment, the procedure of the search of the information by agents for the migratory decision-making was changing. Namely, all generalizing information on the average salary by types of activity and skill level of employees, both in China and Russia, became available to all agents irrespective of their qualification level.

Agent-based Modeling Methodology for Analyzing Weapons Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-26

technique involve model structure, system representation and the degree of validity, coupled with the simplicity, of the overall model. ABM is best suited... system representation of the air combat system . We feel that a simulation model that combines ABM with equation-based representation of weapons and...AGENT-BASED MODELING METHODOLOGY FOR ANALYZING WEAPONS SYSTEMS THESIS Casey D. Connors, Major, USA

An Agent-Based Dynamic Model of Politics, Fertility and Economic Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zining Yang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In the political economy of development, government policy choices at a single point in time can dramatically affect a country's development path by impacting fertility, economic and political decisions across generations. Combining system dynamics and agent-based modeling approaches in a complex adaptive system, a simulation framework of the Politics of Fertility and Economic Development (POFED is formalized to understand the relationship between politics, economic, and demography change at both macro and micro levels. First, a new political capacity measurement is used; and the system dynamics model is validated with the latest data. Second, the endogenous attributes are fused with non-cooperative game theory in an agent-based framework to simulate the interactive political economic dynamics of individual intra-societal transactions. Finally, macro and micro levels are connected with policy levers of political capacity and political instability by merging system dynamics and agent-based components. This paper also explores the agent-based model's behavioral dynamics via simulation methods to identify paths towards economic development and political stability. This model demonstrates micro level human agency can act, react and interact, thus driving macro level dynamics, while macro structures provide political, social and economic environments that constrain or incentivize micro level human behavior.

Between Complexity and Parsimony: Can Agent-Based Modelling Resolve the Trade-off

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helle Ørsted; Malawska, Anna Katarzyna

2013-01-01

to BR- based policy studies would be to couple research on bounded ra-tionality with agent-based modeling. Agent-based models (ABMs) are computational models for simulating the behavior and interactions of any number of decision makers in a dynamic system. Agent-based models are better suited than...... are general equilibrium models for capturing behavior patterns of complex systems. ABMs may have the potential to represent complex systems without oversimplifying them. At the same time, research in bounded rationality and behavioral economics has already yielded many insights that could inform the modeling......While Herbert Simon espoused development of general models of behavior, he also strongly advo-cated that these models be based on realistic assumptions about humans and therefore reflect the complexity of human cognition and social systems (Simon 1997). Hence, the model of bounded rationality...

Developing framework for agent- based diabetes disease management system: user perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadzadeh, Niloofar; Safdari, Reza; Rahimi, Azin

2014-02-01

One of the characteristics of agents is mobility which makes them very suitable for remote electronic health and tele medicine. The aim of this study is developing a framework for agent based diabetes information management at national level through identifying required agents. The main tool is a questioner that is designed in three sections based on studying library resources, performance of major organizations in the field of diabetes in and out of the country and interviews with experts in the medical, health information management and software fields. Questionnaires based on Delphi methods were distributed among 20 experts. In order to design and identify agents required in health information management for the prevention and appropriate and rapid treatment of diabetes, the results were analyzed using SPSS 17 and Results were plotted with FREEPLANE mind map software. ACCESS TO DATA TECHNOLOGY IN PROPOSED FRAMEWORK IN ORDER OF PRIORITY IS: mobile (mean 1/80), SMS, EMAIL (mean 2/80), internet, web (mean 3/30), phone (mean 3/60), WIFI (mean 4/60). In delivering health care to diabetic patients, considering social and human aspects is essential. Having a systematic view for implementation of agent systems and paying attention to all aspects such as feedbacks, user acceptance, budget, motivation, hierarchy, useful standards, affordability of individuals, identifying barriers and opportunities and so on, are necessary.

Teamcore Project Control of Agent-Based Systems (COABS) Program

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tambe, Milind

2002-01-01

An increasing number of agent-based systems now operate in complex dynamic environments, such as disaster rescue missions, monitoring/surveillance tasks, enterprise integration, and education/training environments...

Russian and Foreign Experience of Integration of Agent-Based Models and Geographic Information Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantin Anatol’evich Gulin

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article provides an overview of the mechanisms of integration of agent-based models and GIS technology developed by Russian and foreign researchers. The basic framework of the article is based on critical analysis of domestic and foreign literature (monographs, scientific articles. The study is based on the application of universal scientific research methods: system approach, analysis and synthesis, classification, systematization and grouping, generalization and comparison. The article presents theoretical and methodological bases of integration of agent-based models and geographic information systems. The concept and essence of agent-based models are explained; their main advantages (compared to other modeling methods are identified. The paper characterizes the operating environment of agents as a key concept in the theory of agent-based modeling. It is shown that geographic information systems have a wide range of information resources for calculations, searching, modeling of the real world in various aspects, acting as an effective tool for displaying the agents’ operating environment and allowing to bring the model as close as possible to the real conditions. The authors also focus on a wide range of possibilities for various researches in different spatial and temporal contexts. Comparative analysis of platforms supporting the integration of agent-based models and geographic information systems has been carried out. The authors give examples of complex socio-economic models: the model of a creative city, humanitarian assistance model. In the absence of standards for research results description, the authors focus on the models’ elements such as the characteristics of the agents and their operation environment, agents’ behavior, rules of interaction between the agents and the external environment. The paper describes the possibilities and prospects of implementing these models

Implementation and design of a communication system of an agent-based automated substation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIN Yong-jun; LIU Yu-tao; ZHANG Dan-hui

2006-01-01

A substation system requires that communication be transmitted reliably,accurately and in real-time.Aimed at solving problems,e.g.,flow confliction and sensitive data transmission,a model of the communication system of an agent-based automated substation is introduced.The running principle is discussed in detail and each type of agent is discussed further.At the end,the realization of the agent system applied to the substation is presented.The outcome shows that the communication system of an agent-based automated substation improves the accuracy and reliability of the data transfer and presents it in realtime.

Synthesis and characterization of novel curing agents for surface coatings based on acrylamide copolymers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patel, N. V.; Parmar, R. J.; Parmar, J. S.

2003-01-01

The acrylamide based curing agents were prepared form methyl methacrylate-acrylamide copolymers by further methylolation and subsequent etherification with butanol. These were characterized for their various physico-chemical characteristics. Various sets of these ACAs were blended with hydroxyl functional acrylic resin to prepare the staving compared with the conventional melamine-formaldehyde based curing agent containing compositions. The films were also characterized thermogravimetric analysis and IR-spectra. The result reveals that the properties of certain compositions based on ACAs were remarkably better than those of conventional melamine-formaldehyde based curing agent based coatings

An Agent Based Modelling Approach for Multi-Stakeholder Analysis of City Logistics Solutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anand, N.

2015-01-01

This thesis presents a comprehensive framework for multi-stakeholder analysis of city logistics solutions using agent based modeling. The framework describes different stages for the systematic development of an agent based model for the city logistics domain. The framework includes a

An agent-based method for simulating porous fluid-saturated structures with indistinguishable components

Science.gov (United States)

Kashani, Jamal; Pettet, Graeme John; Gu, YuanTong; Zhang, Lihai; Oloyede, Adekunle

2017-10-01

Single-phase porous materials contain multiple components that intermingle up to the ultramicroscopic level. Although the structures of the porous materials have been simulated with agent-based methods, the results of the available methods continue to provide patterns of distinguishable solid and fluid agents which do not represent materials with indistinguishable phases. This paper introduces a new agent (hybrid agent) and category of rules (intra-agent rule) that can be used to create emergent structures that would more accurately represent single-phase structures and materials. The novel hybrid agent carries the characteristics of system's elements and it is capable of changing within itself, while also responding to its neighbours as they also change. As an example, the hybrid agent under one-dimensional cellular automata formalism in a two-dimensional domain is used to generate patterns that demonstrate the striking morphological and characteristic similarities with the porous saturated single-phase structures where each agent of the ;structure; carries semi-permeability property and consists of both fluid and solid in space and at all times. We conclude that the ability of the hybrid agent to change locally provides an enhanced protocol to simulate complex porous structures such as biological tissues which could facilitate models for agent-based techniques and numerical methods.

Agent-based modelling of consumer energy choices

Science.gov (United States)

Rai, Varun; Henry, Adam Douglas

2016-06-01

Strategies to mitigate global climate change should be grounded in a rigorous understanding of energy systems, particularly the factors that drive energy demand. Agent-based modelling (ABM) is a powerful tool for representing the complexities of energy demand, such as social interactions and spatial constraints. Unlike other approaches for modelling energy demand, ABM is not limited to studying perfectly rational agents or to abstracting micro details into system-level equations. Instead, ABM provides the ability to represent behaviours of energy consumers -- such as individual households -- using a range of theories, and to examine how the interaction of heterogeneous agents at the micro-level produces macro outcomes of importance to the global climate, such as the adoption of low-carbon behaviours and technologies over space and time. We provide an overview of ABM work in the area of consumer energy choices, with a focus on identifying specific ways in which ABM can improve understanding of both fundamental scientific and applied aspects of the demand side of energy to aid the design of better policies and programmes. Future research needs for improving the practice of ABM to better understand energy demand are also discussed.

Agent-based Simulation of Reactive, Pro-active, and Social Animal Behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

1998-01-01

In this paper it is shown how animal behaviour can be simulated in an agent-based manner. Different models are shown for different types of behaviour, varying from purely reactive behaviour to pro-active and social behaviour. The compositional development method for multi-agent systems DESIRE and

Massively multiplexed microbial identification using resequencing DNA microarrays for outbreak investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Leski, T. A.; Ansumana, R.; Jimmy, D. H.; Bangura, U.; Malanoski, A. P.; Lin, B.; Stenger, D. A.

2011-06-01

Multiplexed microbial diagnostic assays are a promising method for detection and identification of pathogens causing syndromes characterized by nonspecific symptoms in which traditional differential diagnosis is difficult. Also such assays can play an important role in outbreak investigations and environmental screening for intentional or accidental release of biothreat agents, which requires simultaneous testing for hundreds of potential pathogens. The resequencing pathogen microarray (RPM) is an emerging technological platform, relying on a combination of massively multiplex PCR and high-density DNA microarrays for rapid detection and high-resolution identification of hundreds of infectious agents simultaneously. The RPM diagnostic system was deployed in Sierra Leone, West Africa in collaboration with Njala University and Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory located in Bo. We used the RPM-Flu microarray designed for broad-range detection of human respiratory pathogens, to investigate a suspected outbreak of avian influenza in a number of poultry farms in which significant mortality of chickens was observed. The microarray results were additionally confirmed by influenza specific real-time PCR. The results of the study excluded the possibility that the outbreak was caused by influenza, but implicated Klebsiella pneumoniae as a possible pathogen. The outcome of this feasibility study confirms that application of broad-spectrum detection platforms for outbreak investigation in low-resource locations is possible and allows for rapid discovery of the responsible agents, even in cases when different agents are suspected. This strategy enables quick and cost effective detection of low probability events such as outbreak of a rare disease or intentional release of a biothreat agent.

Elements of decisional dynamics: An agent-based approach applied to artificial financial market

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Iris; Cotsaftis, Michel; Bertelle, Cyrille

2018-02-01

This paper introduces an original mathematical description for describing agents' decision-making process in the case of problems affected by both individual and collective behaviors in systems characterized by nonlinear, path dependent, and self-organizing interactions. An application to artificial financial markets is proposed by designing a multi-agent system based on the proposed formalization. In this application, agents' decision-making process is based on fuzzy logic rules and the price dynamics is purely deterministic according to the basic matching rules of a central order book. Finally, while putting most parameters under evolutionary control, the computational agent-based system is able to replicate several stylized facts of financial time series (distributions of stock returns showing a heavy tail with positive excess kurtosis, absence of autocorrelations in stock returns, and volatility clustering phenomenon).

Multi-agent based modeling for electric vehicle integration in a distribution network operation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Junjie; Morais, Hugo; Lind, Morten

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a multi-agent based modeling technology for simulating and operating a hierarchical energy management of a power distribution system with focus on EVs integration. The proposed multi-agent system consists of four types of agents: i) Distribution system...... operator (DSO) technical agent and ii) DSO market agents that both belong to the top layer of the hierarchy and their roles are to manage the distribution network by avoiding grid congestions and using congestion prices to coordinate the energy scheduled; iii) Electric vehicle virtual power plant agents...

Modeling Multi-Mobile Agents System Based on Coalition Signature Mechanism Using UML

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

SUNZhixin; HUANGHaiping; WANGRuchuan

2004-01-01

With the development of electronic commerce and agent techniques, multi-mobile agents cooperation can not only improve the efficiency of electronic business trade, but more importantly, it has a comprehensive applicative value in solving the security issues of mobile agent system. This paper firstly describes the mechanism of multi-mobile agents coalition signature aiming at the system security. Subsequently it brings forward a basic architecture of Multi-mobile agents system (MMAS) based on the design pattern of multi-mobile agents. The paper uses the diagrs_rn of UML, such as use case diagram, class diagram and sequence diagram to build the detailed model of the coalition signature and multi-mobile agents cooperation results. Through security analysis, we find that multimobile agents cooperation and interaction can solve some security problems of mobile agents in transfer, and also it can improve the efficiency of business trade. These results indicate that MMAS has a high security performance and can be widely used in E-commerce trade.

Ontology-based intelligent fuzzy agent for diabetes application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Acampora, G.; Lee, C.-S.; Wang, M.-H.; Hsu, C.-Y.; Loia, V.

2009-01-01

It is widely pointed out that classical ontologies are not sufficient to deal with imprecise and vague knowledge for some real world applications, but the fuzzy ontology can effectively solve data and knowledge with uncertainty. In this paper, an ontology-based intelligent fuzzy agent (OIFA),

The Geographic Information Grid System Based on Mobile Agent

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2006-01-01

We analyze the deficiencies of current application systems, and discuss the key requirements of distributed Geographic Information service (GIS). We construct the distributed GIS on grid platform. Considering the flexibility and efficiency, we integrate the mobile agent technology into the system. We propose a new prototype system, the Geographic Information Grid System (GIGS) based on mobile agent. This system has flexible services and high performance, and improves the sharing of distributed resources. The service strategy of the system and the examples are also presented.

Agent Based Modelling for Social Simulation

OpenAIRE

Smit, S.K.; Ubink, E.M.; Vecht, B. van der; Langley, D.J.

2013-01-01

This document is the result of an exploratory project looking into the status of, and opportunities for Agent Based Modelling (ABM) at TNO. The project focussed on ABM applications containing social interactions and human factors, which we termed ABM for social simulation (ABM4SS). During the course of this project two workshops were organized. At these workshops, a wide range of experts, both ABM experts and domain experts, worked on several potential applications of ABM. The results and ins...

Agent Based Framework Architecture for Supporting Content Adaptation for Mobile Government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan Omar Al-Sakran

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Rapid spread of smart mobile technology that supports internet access is transforming the way governments provide services to their citizens. Mobile devices have different capabilities based on the manufacturers and models. This paper proposes a new framework for adapting the content of M-government services using mobile agent technology. The framework is based on a mediation architecture that uses multiple mobile agents and XML as semi-structure mediation language. The flexibility of the mediation and XML provide an adaptive environment to stream data based on the capabilities of the device sending the query to the system.

Integration agent-based models and GIS as a virtual urban dynamic laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Peng; Liu, Miaolong

2007-06-01

Based on the Agent-based Model and spatial data model, a tight-coupling integrating method of GIS and Agent-based Model (ABM) is to be discussed in this paper. The use of object-orientation for both spatial data and spatial process models facilitates their integration, which can allow exploration and explanation of spatial-temporal phenomena such as urban dynamic. In order to better understand how tight coupling might proceed and to evaluate the possible functional and efficiency gains from such a tight coupling, the agent-based model and spatial data model are discussed, and then the relationships affecting spatial data model and agent-based process models interaction. After that, a realistic crowd flow simulation experiment is presented. Using some tools provided by general GIS systems and a few specific programming languages, a new software system integrating GIS and MAS as a virtual laboratory applicable for simulating pedestrian flows in a crowd activity centre has been developed successfully. Under the environment supported by the software system, as an applicable case, a dynamic evolution process of the pedestrian's flows (dispersed process for the spectators) in a crowds' activity center - The Shanghai Stadium has been simulated successfully. At the end of the paper, some new research problems have been pointed out for the future.

Agent-based modeling in ecological economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Heckbert, Scott; Baynes, Tim; Reeson, Andrew

2010-01-01

Interconnected social and environmental systems are the domain of ecological economics, and models can be used to explore feedbacks and adaptations inherent in these systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM) represents autonomous entities, each with dynamic behavior and heterogeneous characteristics. Agents interact with each other and their environment, resulting in emergent outcomes at the macroscale that can be used to quantitatively analyze complex systems. ABM is contributing to research questions in ecological economics in the areas of natural resource management and land-use change, urban systems modeling, market dynamics, changes in consumer attitudes, innovation, and diffusion of technology and management practices, commons dilemmas and self-governance, and psychological aspects to human decision making and behavior change. Frontiers for ABM research in ecological economics involve advancing the empirical calibration and validation of models through mixed methods, including surveys, interviews, participatory modeling, and, notably, experimental economics to test specific decision-making hypotheses. Linking ABM with other modeling techniques at the level of emergent properties will further advance efforts to understand dynamics of social-environmental systems.

An agent-based QoS provisioning mechanism for WDM optical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ouyang, Yong; Zeng, Qingji; Yue, Ling

2004-04-01

This paper addresses QoS provisioning mechanisms in the WDM optical networks. With the appearance of metropolitan optical network, a hierarchical metro and wide area optical network will be envisioned in the near future. This hierarchical optical transport network is often divided into optical domains by geography, administration and technology, which usually employ different QoS routing algorithms and policies. To provide end-to-end optical QoS is becoming a new challenge for the optical network design. In this paper, we first give an overview of issues on the QoS provisioning in data, control and management planes of the WDM optical network. And then three provisioning approaches are analyzed and compared. Finally, we propose an agent-based hybrid centralized/distributed QoS provisioning mechanism based on the concept of domain agent. This agent-based hybrid mechanism employs centralized approach in the domain and distributed approach between domains. It offers scalability and intra-domain optimal QoS routing. It also keeps independence and interoperability between domains.

Agent-Based Modeling of Consumer Decision making Process Based on Power Distance and Personality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roozmand, O.; Ghasem-Aghaee, N.; Hofstede, G.J.; Nematbakhsh, M.A.; Baraani, A.; Verwaart, T.

2011-01-01

Simulating consumer decision making processes involves different disciplines such as: sociology, social psychology, marketing, and computer science. In this paper, we propose an agent-based conceptual and computational model of consumer decision-making based on culture, personality and human needs.

Assessing Consequential Scenarios in a Complex Operational Environment Using Agent Based Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-16

capabilities and maturities of 4 subelements: cognition, judgment, emotion , and critical thinking. Each model represents these subelements differently...CADSIM) 102 5.2 Evaluating Agent-Based Technologies: Maturity Level and the Human Domain 103 5.2.1 Evaluation of Maturity Level 103 5.2.2 Human...describes the maturity of agent-based models, ranging from realistic caricatures to quantitatively characterized phenomena at the microlevel. This

Using Agent-Based Models in the Analysis and Forecast of Socio-Economic Development of Territories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitalii Nikolaevich Makoveev

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to study the essence of agent-based modeling, defining its features and prospects of usage in the modeling of socio-economic development of territories and systematization of domestic and foreign approaches to the development of prototypes for agent-based models of territories. Information basis for the research comprised the works on agent-based modeling by Russian and foreign scholars, especially articles and monographs of scientists of the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences, papers presented in an international journal The Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation and other sources available on the Internet. The article presents theoretical and methodological foundations of agent-based models of territories. The author considers the concepts of “agent-based modeling” and “agent” and defines specifics of agent-based models in comparison with other types of simulation modeling. The paper also describes major stages of building agent-based models for territories and considers qualification requirements to a modeling subject. Furthermore, it reviews Russian and foreign approaches to the development of prototypes for agent-based models of territories. It has been determined that most of them deal with the modeling of spatial, territorial and socio-economic development of regions, cities and municipal entities. Agents in such models are presented by households, residents of regions and cities, enterprises and organizations operating in their territory, and public administration authorities (their inclusion in the model makes it possible to test different options of management impacts on territories by changing the model parameters, for instance, the introduction of certain prohibitions and quotas, issuance of permits, distribution of financial resources, etc.. At the end of the paper, the author formulates major conclusions. He shows the complexity faced

Agent-Based Model of Information Security System: Architecture and Formal Framework for Coordinated Intelligent Agents Behavior Specification

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gorodetski, Vladimir

2001-01-01

The contractor will research and further develop the technology supporting an agent-based architecture for an information security system and a formal framework to specify a model of distributed knowledge...

Agent-based power sharing scheme for active hybrid power sources

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Zhenhua

The active hybridization technique provides an effective approach to combining the best properties of a heterogeneous set of power sources to achieve higher energy density, power density and fuel efficiency. Active hybrid power sources can be used to power hybrid electric vehicles with selected combinations of internal combustion engines, fuel cells, batteries, and/or supercapacitors. They can be deployed in all-electric ships to build a distributed electric power system. They can also be used in a bulk power system to construct an autonomous distributed energy system. An important aspect in designing an active hybrid power source is to find a suitable control strategy that can manage the active power sharing and take advantage of the inherent scalability and robustness benefits of the hybrid system. This paper presents an agent-based power sharing scheme for active hybrid power sources. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed agent-based power sharing scheme, simulation studies are performed for a hybrid power source that can be used in a solar car as the main propulsion power module. Simulation results clearly indicate that the agent-based control framework is effective to coordinate the various energy sources and manage the power/voltage profiles.

MATT: Multi Agents Testing Tool Based Nets within Nets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Kerraoui

2016-12-01

As part of this effort, we propose a model based testing approach for multi agent systems based on such a model called Reference net, where a tool, which aims to providing a uniform and automated approach is developed. The feasibility and the advantage of the proposed approach are shown through a short case study.

Agent-based models of financial markets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samanidou, E [Department of Economics, University of Kiel, Olshausenstrasse 40, D-24118 Kiel (Germany); Zschischang, E [HSH Nord Bank, Portfolio Mngmt. and Inv., Martensdamm 6, D-24103 Kiel (Germany); Stauffer, D [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Cologne University, D-50923 Koeln (Germany); Lux, T [Department of Economics, University of Kiel, Olshausenstrasse 40, D-24118 Kiel (Germany)

2007-03-15

This review deals with several microscopic ('agent-based') models of financial markets which have been studied by economists and physicists over the last decade: Kim-Markowitz, Levy-Levy-Solomon, Cont-Bouchaud, Solomon-Weisbuch, Lux-Marchesi, Donangelo-Sneppen and Solomon-Levy-Huang. After an overview of simulation approaches in financial economics, we first give a summary of the Donangelo-Sneppen model of monetary exchange and compare it with related models in economics literature. Our selective review then outlines the main ingredients of some influential early models of multi-agent dynamics in financial markets (Kim-Markowitz, Levy-Levy-Solomon). As will be seen, these contributions draw their inspiration from the complex appearance of investors' interactions in real-life markets. Their main aim is to reproduce (and, thereby, provide possible explanations) for the spectacular bubbles and crashes seen in certain historical episodes, but they lack (like almost all the work before 1998 or so) a perspective in terms of the universal statistical features of financial time series. In fact, awareness of a set of such regularities (power-law tails of the distribution of returns, temporal scaling of volatility) only gradually appeared over the nineties. With the more precise description of the formerly relatively vague characteristics (e.g. moving from the notion of fat tails to the more concrete one of a power law with index around three), it became clear that financial market dynamics give rise to some kind of universal scaling law. Showing similarities with scaling laws for other systems with many interacting sub-units, an exploration of financial markets as multi-agent systems appeared to be a natural consequence. This topic has been pursued by quite a number of contributions appearing in both the physics and economics literature since the late nineties. From the wealth of different flavours of multi-agent models that have appeared up to now, we

Agent-based models of financial markets

Science.gov (United States)

Samanidou, E.; Zschischang, E.; Stauffer, D.; Lux, T.

2007-03-01

This review deals with several microscopic ('agent-based') models of financial markets which have been studied by economists and physicists over the last decade: Kim-Markowitz, Levy-Levy-Solomon, Cont-Bouchaud, Solomon-Weisbuch, Lux-Marchesi, Donangelo-Sneppen and Solomon-Levy-Huang. After an overview of simulation approaches in financial economics, we first give a summary of the Donangelo-Sneppen model of monetary exchange and compare it with related models in economics literature. Our selective review then outlines the main ingredients of some influential early models of multi-agent dynamics in financial markets (Kim-Markowitz, Levy-Levy-Solomon). As will be seen, these contributions draw their inspiration from the complex appearance of investors' interactions in real-life markets. Their main aim is to reproduce (and, thereby, provide possible explanations) for the spectacular bubbles and crashes seen in certain historical episodes, but they lack (like almost all the work before 1998 or so) a perspective in terms of the universal statistical features of financial time series. In fact, awareness of a set of such regularities (power-law tails of the distribution of returns, temporal scaling of volatility) only gradually appeared over the nineties. With the more precise description of the formerly relatively vague characteristics (e.g. moving from the notion of fat tails to the more concrete one of a power law with index around three), it became clear that financial market dynamics give rise to some kind of universal scaling law. Showing similarities with scaling laws for other systems with many interacting sub-units, an exploration of financial markets as multi-agent systems appeared to be a natural consequence. This topic has been pursued by quite a number of contributions appearing in both the physics and economics literature since the late nineties. From the wealth of different flavours of multi-agent models that have appeared up to now, we discuss the Cont

Agent-based models of financial markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samanidou, E; Zschischang, E; Stauffer, D; Lux, T

2007-01-01

This review deals with several microscopic ('agent-based') models of financial markets which have been studied by economists and physicists over the last decade: Kim-Markowitz, Levy-Levy-Solomon, Cont-Bouchaud, Solomon-Weisbuch, Lux-Marchesi, Donangelo-Sneppen and Solomon-Levy-Huang. After an overview of simulation approaches in financial economics, we first give a summary of the Donangelo-Sneppen model of monetary exchange and compare it with related models in economics literature. Our selective review then outlines the main ingredients of some influential early models of multi-agent dynamics in financial markets (Kim-Markowitz, Levy-Levy-Solomon). As will be seen, these contributions draw their inspiration from the complex appearance of investors' interactions in real-life markets. Their main aim is to reproduce (and, thereby, provide possible explanations) for the spectacular bubbles and crashes seen in certain historical episodes, but they lack (like almost all the work before 1998 or so) a perspective in terms of the universal statistical features of financial time series. In fact, awareness of a set of such regularities (power-law tails of the distribution of returns, temporal scaling of volatility) only gradually appeared over the nineties. With the more precise description of the formerly relatively vague characteristics (e.g. moving from the notion of fat tails to the more concrete one of a power law with index around three), it became clear that financial market dynamics give rise to some kind of universal scaling law. Showing similarities with scaling laws for other systems with many interacting sub-units, an exploration of financial markets as multi-agent systems appeared to be a natural consequence. This topic has been pursued by quite a number of contributions appearing in both the physics and economics literature since the late nineties. From the wealth of different flavours of multi-agent models that have appeared up to now, we discuss the Cont

Erbium-Based Perfusion Contrast Agent for Small-Animal Microvessel Imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justin J. Tse

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT facilitates the visualization and quantification of contrast-enhanced microvessels within intact tissue specimens, but conventional preclinical vascular contrast agents may be inadequate near dense tissue (such as bone. Typical lead-based contrast agents do not exhibit optimal X-ray absorption properties when used with X-ray tube potentials below 90 kilo-electron volts (keV. We have developed a high-atomic number lanthanide (erbium contrast agent, with a K-edge at 57.5 keV. This approach optimizes X-ray absorption in the output spectral band of conventional microfocal spot X-ray tubes. Erbium oxide nanoparticles (nominal diameter 4000 Hounsfield units, and perfusion of vessels < 10 μm in diameter was demonstrated in kidney glomeruli. The described new contrast agent facilitated the visualization and quantification of vessel density and microarchitecture, even adjacent to dense bone. Erbium’s K-edge makes this contrast agent ideally suited for both single- and dual-energy micro-CT, expanding potential preclinical research applications in models of musculoskeletal, oncological, cardiovascular, and neurovascular diseases.

Multi-dimensional information diffusion and balancing market supply: an agent-based approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osinga, S.A.; Kramer, M.R.; Hofstede, G.J.; Beulens, A.J.M.

2013-01-01

This agent-based information management model is designed to explore how multi-dimensional information, spreading through a population of agents (for example farmers) affects market supply. Farmers make quality decisions that must be aligned with available markets. Markets distinguish themselves by

A Systematic Review of Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation Applications in the Higher Education Domain

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, X.; Blackmore, K. L.

2015-01-01

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) applications in the higher education (HE) domain. Agent-based modelling is a "bottom-up" modelling paradigm in which system-level behaviour (macro) is modelled through the behaviour of individual local-level agent interactions (micro).…

Agent-Based Coordination Model for Designing Transportation Applications

OpenAIRE

BADEIG, F; BALBO, F; SCEMAMA, G; ZARGAYOUNA, M

2008-01-01

This paper presents an environment-centered approach to design multi-agent solutions to transportation problems. Based on the Property-based Coordination Principle (PbC), the objective of our approach is to solve three recurrent issues in the design of these solutions: the knowledge problem, the space-time dimension and the dynamics of the real environment. To demonstrate the benefits of our approach, two completely different applications, a demand-responsive transportation system and a simul...

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.

Agent-based reactive power management of power distribution networks with distributed energy generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, M.S.; Mahmud, M.A.; Oo, A.M.T.; Pota, H.R.; Hossain, M.J.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A coordinated multi-agent system is proposed for reactive power management. • A linear quadratic regulator with a proportional integral controller is designed. • Proposed multi-agent scheme provides accurate estimation and control of the system. • Voltage stability is improved with proper power management for different scenarios. • Results obtained from the proposed scheme is compared to the traditional approach. - Abstract: In this paper, a new agent-based distributed reactive power management scheme is proposed to improve the voltage stability of energy distribution systems with distributed generation units. Three types of agents – distribution system agent, estimator agent, and control agent are developed within the multi-agent framework. The agents simultaneously coordinated their activities through the online information and energy flow. The overall achievement of the proposed scheme depends on the coordination between two tasks – (i) estimation of reactive power using voltage variation formula and (ii) necessary control actions to provide the estimated reactive power to the distribution networks through the distributed static synchronous compensators. A linear quadratic regulator with a proportional integrator is designed for the control agent in order to control the reactive component of the current and the DC voltage of the compensators. The performance of the proposed scheme is tested on a 10-bus power distribution network under various scenarios. The effectiveness is validated by comparing the proposed approach to the conventional proportional integral control approach. It is found that, the agent-based scheme provides excellent robust performance under various operating conditions of the power distribution network.

Agent-Based Model of Price Competition and Product Differentiation on Congested Networks

OpenAIRE

Lei Zhang; David Levinson; Shanjiang Zhu

2007-01-01

Using consistent agent-based techniques, this research models the decision-making processes of users and infrastructure owner/operators to explore the welfare consequence of price competition, capacity choice, and product differentiation on congested transportation networks. Component models include: (1) An agent-based travel demand model wherein each traveler has learning capabilities and unique characteristics (e.g. value of time); (2) Econometric facility provision cost models; and (3) Rep...

Analysis of Customer Behaviour and Online Retailers Strategies Using the Agent-Based Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sava Čavoški

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the application of ABMS – agent-based modelling and simulation in the analysis of customer behaviour on B2C e-commerce websites as well as in the analysis of various business decisions upon the effects of on-line sales. By linking the areas of modelling based on agents and electronic commerce, this paper addresses the new opportunities for a quality assessment of consumer behaviour and reasons explaining this behaviour in e-commerce. The interactions of agents that make up this model are sublimated in the utility function that provides the basis for decision-making in the model. The rules of behaviour and interactions, included in the model through the utility function, denote the complexity of the decision-making process which occurs in evaluation and purchase of products in the part of B2C e-commerce. The simulation model implemented in the software NetLogo enables the monitoring of all interactions between the consumers (ConsumerAgents, seller-Internet sites (SellerAgents and advertisement agents (BannerAgents by generating the indicators of B2C site business performance.

Corrosion of bismuth-based superconductor wires by some atmospheric agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben Azzouz, F.; M'chirgui, A.; Ben Salem, M.; Yangui, B.; Lamine, C.; Nitsche, S.; Boulesteix, C.

2000-01-01

Superconducting wires (SWs) were previously prepared in our group by heat treatment of bismuth-based superconductor coatings on a metal core. This paper presents an analysis of the corrosion process by some atmospheric agents on the SWs. SWs with different concentrations of a (Bi, Pb)-2223 phase have been exposed to water vapour saturated air, to pure water vapour or to dry carbon dioxide. Each of these atmospheric agents was found to act differently on the SWs. However, all the studied corrosion processes present a high sensitivity to the concentration of the (Bi, Pb)-2223 phase. For a higher concentration of this phase, the SWs are less sensitive to atmospheric agents. (author)

Calibrating emergent phenomena in stock markets with agent based models.

Science.gov (United States)

Fievet, Lucas; Sornette, Didier

2018-01-01

Since the 2008 financial crisis, agent-based models (ABMs), which account for out-of-equilibrium dynamics, heterogeneous preferences, time horizons and strategies, have often been envisioned as the new frontier that could revolutionise and displace the more standard models and tools in economics. However, their adoption and generalisation is drastically hindered by the absence of general reliable operational calibration methods. Here, we start with a different calibration angle that qualifies an ABM for its ability to achieve abnormal trading performance with respect to the buy-and-hold strategy when fed with real financial data. Starting from the common definition of standard minority and majority agents with binary strategies, we prove their equivalence to optimal decision trees. This efficient representation allows us to exhaustively test all meaningful single agent models for their potential anomalous investment performance, which we apply to the NASDAQ Composite index over the last 20 years. We uncover large significant predictive power, with anomalous Sharpe ratio and directional accuracy, in particular during the dotcom bubble and crash and the 2008 financial crisis. A principal component analysis reveals transient convergence between the anomalous minority and majority models. A novel combination of the optimal single-agent models of both classes into a two-agents model leads to remarkable superior investment performance, especially during the periods of bubbles and crashes. Our design opens the field of ABMs to construct novel types of advanced warning systems of market crises, based on the emergent collective intelligence of ABMs built on carefully designed optimal decision trees that can be reversed engineered from real financial data.

Calibrating emergent phenomena in stock markets with agent based models

Science.gov (United States)

Sornette, Didier

2018-01-01

Since the 2008 financial crisis, agent-based models (ABMs), which account for out-of-equilibrium dynamics, heterogeneous preferences, time horizons and strategies, have often been envisioned as the new frontier that could revolutionise and displace the more standard models and tools in economics. However, their adoption and generalisation is drastically hindered by the absence of general reliable operational calibration methods. Here, we start with a different calibration angle that qualifies an ABM for its ability to achieve abnormal trading performance with respect to the buy-and-hold strategy when fed with real financial data. Starting from the common definition of standard minority and majority agents with binary strategies, we prove their equivalence to optimal decision trees. This efficient representation allows us to exhaustively test all meaningful single agent models for their potential anomalous investment performance, which we apply to the NASDAQ Composite index over the last 20 years. We uncover large significant predictive power, with anomalous Sharpe ratio and directional accuracy, in particular during the dotcom bubble and crash and the 2008 financial crisis. A principal component analysis reveals transient convergence between the anomalous minority and majority models. A novel combination of the optimal single-agent models of both classes into a two-agents model leads to remarkable superior investment performance, especially during the periods of bubbles and crashes. Our design opens the field of ABMs to construct novel types of advanced warning systems of market crises, based on the emergent collective intelligence of ABMs built on carefully designed optimal decision trees that can be reversed engineered from real financial data. PMID:29499049

Performance Evaluation of Bidding-Based Multi-Agent Scheduling Algorithms for Manufacturing Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Gordillo

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Artificial Intelligence techniques have being applied to many problems in manufacturing systems in recent years. In the specific field of manufacturing scheduling many studies have been published trying to cope with the complexity of the manufacturing environment. One of the most utilized approaches is (multi agent-based scheduling. Nevertheless, despite the large list of studies reported in this field, there is no resource or scientific study on the performance measure of this type of approach under very common and critical execution situations. This paper focuses on multi-agent systems (MAS based algorithms for task allocation, particularly in manufacturing applications. The goal is to provide a mechanism to measure the performance of agent-based scheduling approaches for manufacturing systems under key critical situations such as: dynamic environment, rescheduling, and priority change. With this mechanism it will be possible to simulate critical situations and to stress the system in order to measure the performance of a given agent-based scheduling method. The proposed mechanism is a pioneering approach for performance evaluation of bidding-based MAS approaches for manufacturing scheduling. The proposed method and evaluation methodology can be used to run tests in different manufacturing floors since it is independent of the workshop configuration. Moreover, the evaluation results presented in this paper show the key factors and scenarios that most affect the market-like MAS approaches for manufacturing scheduling.

Event-triggered hybrid control based on multi-Agent systems for Microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dou, Chun-xia; Liu, Bin; Guerrero, Josep M.

2014-01-01

This paper is focused on a multi-agent system based event-triggered hybrid control for intelligently restructuring the operating mode of an microgrid (MG) to ensure the energy supply with high security, stability and cost effectiveness. Due to the microgrid is composed of different types...... of distributed energy resources, thus it is typical hybrid dynamic network. Considering the complex hybrid behaviors, a hierarchical decentralized coordinated control scheme is firstly constructed based on multi-agent sys-tem, then, the hybrid model of the microgrid is built by using differential hybrid Petri...

Can agent based models effectively reduce fisheries management implementation uncertainty?

Science.gov (United States)

Drexler, M.

2016-02-01

Uncertainty is an inherent feature of fisheries management. Implementation uncertainty remains a challenge to quantify often due to unintended responses of users to management interventions. This problem will continue to plague both single species and ecosystem based fisheries management advice unless the mechanisms driving these behaviors are properly understood. Equilibrium models, where each actor in the system is treated as uniform and predictable, are not well suited to forecast the unintended behaviors of individual fishers. Alternatively, agent based models (AMBs) can simulate the behaviors of each individual actor driven by differing incentives and constraints. This study evaluated the feasibility of using AMBs to capture macro scale behaviors of the US West Coast Groundfish fleet. Agent behavior was specified at the vessel level. Agents made daily fishing decisions using knowledge of their own cost structure, catch history, and the histories of catch and quota markets. By adding only a relatively small number of incentives, the model was able to reproduce highly realistic macro patterns of expected outcomes in response to management policies (catch restrictions, MPAs, ITQs) while preserving vessel heterogeneity. These simulations indicate that agent based modeling approaches hold much promise for simulating fisher behaviors and reducing implementation uncertainty. Additional processes affecting behavior, informed by surveys, are continually being added to the fisher behavior model. Further coupling of the fisher behavior model to a spatial ecosystem model will provide a fully integrated social, ecological, and economic model capable of performing management strategy evaluations to properly consider implementation uncertainty in fisheries management.

Improving Agent Based Modeling of Critical Incidents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Till

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Agent Based Modeling (ABM is a powerful method that has been used to simulate potential critical incidents in the infrastructure and built environments. This paper will discuss the modeling of some critical incidents currently simulated using ABM and how they may be expanded and improved by using better physiological modeling, psychological modeling, modeling the actions of interveners, introducing Geographic Information Systems (GIS and open source models.

Excellent approach to modeling urban expansion by fuzzy cellular automata: agent base model

Science.gov (United States)

Khajavigodellou, Yousef; Alesheikh, Ali A.; Mohammed, Abdulrazak A. S.; Chapi, Kamran

2014-09-01

Recently, the interaction between humans and their environment is the one of important challenges in the world. Landuse/ cover change (LUCC) is a complex process that includes actors and factors at different social and spatial levels. The complexity and dynamics of urban systems make the applicable practice of urban modeling very difficult. With the increased computational power and the greater availability of spatial data, micro-simulation such as the agent based and cellular automata simulation methods, has been developed by geographers, planners, and scholars, and it has shown great potential for representing and simulating the complexity of the dynamic processes involved in urban growth and land use change. This paper presents Fuzzy Cellular Automata in Geospatial Information System and remote Sensing to simulated and predicted urban expansion pattern. These FCA-based dynamic spatial urban models provide an improved ability to forecast and assess future urban growth and to create planning scenarios, allowing us to explore the potential impacts of simulations that correspond to urban planning and management policies. A fuzzy inference guided cellular automata approach. Semantic or linguistic knowledge on Land use change is expressed as fuzzy rules, based on which fuzzy inference is applied to determine the urban development potential for each pixel. The model integrates an ABM (agent-based model) and FCA (Fuzzy Cellular Automata) to investigate a complex decision-making process and future urban dynamic processes. Based on this model rapid development and green land protection under the influences of the behaviors and decision modes of regional authority agents, real estate developer agents, resident agents and non- resident agents and their interactions have been applied to predict the future development patterns of the Erbil metropolitan region.

Programming secure mobile agents in healthcare environments using role-based permissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Georgiadis, C K; Baltatzis, J; Pangalos, G I

2003-01-01

The healthcare environment consists of vast amounts of dynamic and unstructured information, distributed over a large number of information systems. Mobile agent technology is having an ever-growing impact on the delivery of medical information. It supports acquiring and manipulating information distributed in a large number of information systems. Moreover is suitable for the computer untrained medical stuff. But the introduction of mobile agents generates advanced threads to the sensitive healthcare information, unless the proper countermeasures are taken. By applying the role-based approach to the authorization problem, we ease the sharing of information between hospital information systems and we reduce the administering part. The different initiative of the agent's migration method, results in different methods of assigning roles to the agent.

An Agent Based Collaborative Simplification of 3D Mesh Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li-Rong; Yu, Bo; Hagiwara, Ichiro

Large-volume mesh model faces the challenge in fast rendering and transmission by Internet. The current mesh models obtained by using three-dimensional (3D) scanning technology are usually very large in data volume. This paper develops a mobile agent based collaborative environment on the development platform of mobile-C. Communication among distributed agents includes grasping image of visualized mesh model, annotation to grasped image and instant message. Remote and collaborative simplification can be efficiently conducted by Internet.

Design and Optimization of Gadolinium Based Contrast Agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, G.A.; Geraldes, C.F.G.C.; University of Coimbra

2007-01-01

The role of Gd 3+ chelates as contrast agents in Magnetic Resonance Imaging is discussed. The theory describing the different contributions to paramagnetic relaxation relevant to the understanding of the molecular parameters determining the relativity of those Gd 3+ chelates, is presented. The experimental techniques used to obtain those parameters are also described. Then, the various approaches taken to optimize those parameters, leading to maximum relativity (efficiency) of the contrast agents, are also illustrated with relevant examples taken from the literature. The various types of Gd 3+ -based agents, besides non-specific and hepatobiliary agents, are also discussed, namely blood pool, targeting, responsive and paramagnetic chemical shift saturation transfer (PARACEST) agents. Finally, a perspective is presented of some of the challenges lying ahead in the optimization of MRI contrast agents to be useful in Molecular Imaging. (author)

A critical survey of agent-based wholesale electricity market models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weidlich, Anke; Veit, Daniel

2008-01-01

The complexity of electricity markets calls for rich and flexible modeling techniques that help to understand market dynamics and to derive advice for the design of appropriate regulatory frameworks. Agent-Based Computational Economics (ACE) is a fairly young research paradigm that offers methods for realistic electricity market modeling. A growing number of researchers have developed agent-based models for simulating electricity markets. The diversity of approaches makes it difficult to overview the field of ACE electricity research; this literature survey should guide the way through and describe the state-of-the-art of this research area. In a conclusive summary, shortcomings of existing approaches and open issues that should be addressed by ACE electricity researchers are critically discussed. (author)

Research of negotiation in network trade system based on multi-agent

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Jun; Wang, Guozheng; Wu, Haiyan

2009-07-01

A construction and implementation technology of network trade based on multi-agent is described in this paper. First, we researched the technology of multi-agent, then we discussed the consumer's behaviors and the negotiation between purchaser and bargainer which emerges in the traditional business mode and analysed the key technology to implement the network trade system. Finally, we implement the system.

An Agent-Based Modeling Framework and Application for the Generic Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Gidden, Matthew J.

Key components of a novel methodology and implementation of an agent-based, dynamic nuclear fuel cycle simulator, Cyclus , are presented. The nuclear fuel cycle is a complex, physics-dependent supply chain. To date, existing dynamic simulators have not treated constrained fuel supply, time-dependent, isotopic-quality based demand, or fuel fungibility particularly well. Utilizing an agent-based methodology that incorporates sophisticated graph theory and operations research techniques can overcome these deficiencies. This work describes a simulation kernel and agents that interact with it, highlighting the Dynamic Resource Exchange (DRE), the supply-demand framework at the heart of the kernel. The key agent-DRE interaction mechanisms are described, which enable complex entity interaction through the use of physics and socio-economic models. The translation of an exchange instance to a variant of the Multicommodity Transportation Problem, which can be solved feasibly or optimally, follows. An extensive investigation of solution performance and fidelity is then presented. Finally, recommendations for future users of Cyclus and the DRE are provided.

Use of agent based simulation for traffic safety assessment

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Conradie, Dirk CU

2008-07-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the development of an agent based Computational Building Simulation (CBS) tool, termed KRONOS that is being used to work on advanced research questions such as traffic safety assessment and user behaviour in buildings...

A Multi Agent Based Model for Airport Service Planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W.H. Ip

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Aviation industry is highly dynamic and demanding in nature that time and safety are the two most important factors while one of the major sources of delay is aircraft on ground because of it complexity, a lot of machinery like vehicles are involved and lots of communication are involved. As one of the aircraft ground services providers in Hong Kong International Airport, China Aircraft Services Limited (CASL aims to increase competitiveness by better its service provided while minimizing cost is also needed. One of the ways is to optimize the number of maintenance vehicles allocated in order to minimize chance of delay and also operating costs. In the paper, an agent-based model is proposed for support decision making in vehicle allocation. The overview of the aircrafts ground services procedures is firstly mentioned with different optimization methods suggested by researchers. Then, the agent-based approach is introduced and in the latter part of report and a multi-agent system is built and proposed which is decision supportive for CASL in optimizing the maintenance vehicles' allocation. The application provides flexibility for inputting number of different kinds of vehicles, simulation duration and aircraft arrival rate in order to simulation different scenarios which occurs in HKIA.

Method for distributed agent-based non-expert simulation of manufacturing process behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Ivezic, Nenad; Potok, Thomas E.

2004-11-30

A method for distributed agent based non-expert simulation of manufacturing process behavior on a single-processor computer comprises the steps of: object modeling a manufacturing technique having a plurality of processes; associating a distributed agent with each the process; and, programming each the agent to respond to discrete events corresponding to the manufacturing technique, wherein each discrete event triggers a programmed response. The method can further comprise the step of transmitting the discrete events to each agent in a message loop. In addition, the programming step comprises the step of conditioning each agent to respond to a discrete event selected from the group consisting of a clock tick message, a resources received message, and a request for output production message.

Agent-based modeling of the energy network for hybrid cars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez de Durana, José María; Barambones, Oscar; Kremers, Enrique; Varga, Liz

2015-01-01

Highlights: • An approach to represent and calculate multicarrier energy networks has been developed. • It provides a modeling method based on agents, for multicarrier energy networks. • It allows the system representation on a single sheet. • Energy flows circulating in the system can be observed dynamically during simulation. • The method is technology independent. - Abstract: Studies in complex energy networks devoted to the modeling of electrical power grids, were extended in previous work, where a computational multi-layered ontology, implemented using agent-based methods, was adopted. This structure is compatible with recently introduced Multiplex Networks which using Multi-linear Algebra generalize some of classical results for single-layer networks, to multilayer networks in steady state. Static results do not assist overly in understanding dynamic networks in which the values of the variables in the nodes and edges can change suddenly, driven by events, and even where new nodes or edges may appear or disappear, also because of other events. To address this gap, a computational agent-based model is developed to extend the multi-layer and multiplex approaches. In order to demonstrate the benefits of a dynamical extension, a model of the energy network in a hybrid car is presented as a case study

The distributed agent-based approach in the e-manufacturing environment

Science.gov (United States)

Sękala, A.; Kost, G.; Dobrzańska-Danikiewicz, A.; Banaś, W.; Foit, K.

2015-11-01

The deficiency of a coherent flow of information from a production department causes unplanned downtime and failures of machines and their equipment, which in turn results in production planning process based on incorrect and out-of-date information. All of these factors entail, as the consequence, the additional difficulties associated with the process of decision-making. They concern, among other, the coordination of components of a distributed system and providing the access to the required information, thereby generating unnecessary costs. The use of agent technology significantly speeds up the flow of information within the virtual enterprise. This paper includes the proposal of a multi-agent approach for the integration of processes within the virtual enterprise concept. The presented concept was elaborated to investigate the possible solutions of the ways of transmission of information in the production system taking into account the self-organization of constituent components. Thus it implicated the linking of the concept of multi-agent system with the system of managing the production information, based on the idea of e-manufacturing. The paper presents resulting scheme that should be the base for elaborating an informatics model of the target virtual system. The computer system itself is intended to be developed next.

CASCADE: An Agent Based Framework For Modeling The Dynamics Of Smart Electricity Systems

OpenAIRE

Rylatt, R. M.; Gammon, Rupert; Boait, Peter John; Varga, L.; Allen, P.; Savill, M.; Snape, J. Richard; Lemon, Mark; Ardestani, B. M.; Pakka, V. H.; Fletcher, G.; Smith, S.; Fan, D.; Strathern, M.

2013-01-01

Collaborative project with Cranfield University The Complex Adaptive Systems, Cognitive Agents and Distributed Energy (CASCADE) project is developing a framework based on Agent Based Modelling (ABM). The CASCADE Framework can be used both to gain policy and industry relevant insights into the smart grid concept itself and as a platform to design and test distributed ICT solutions for smart grid based business entities. ABM is used to capture the behaviors of diff erent socia...

Agent Based Model of Livestock Movements

Science.gov (United States)

Miron, D. J.; Emelyanova, I. V.; Donald, G. E.; Garner, G. M.

The modelling of livestock movements within Australia is of national importance for the purposes of the management and control of exotic disease spread, infrastructure development and the economic forecasting of livestock markets. In this paper an agent based model for the forecasting of livestock movements is presented. This models livestock movements from farm to farm through a saleyard. The decision of farmers to sell or buy cattle is often complex and involves many factors such as climate forecast, commodity prices, the type of farm enterprise, the number of animals available and associated off-shore effects. In this model the farm agent's intelligence is implemented using a fuzzy decision tree that utilises two of these factors. These two factors are the livestock price fetched at the last sale and the number of stock on the farm. On each iteration of the model farms choose either to buy, sell or abstain from the market thus creating an artificial supply and demand. The buyers and sellers then congregate at the saleyard where livestock are auctioned using a second price sealed bid. The price time series output by the model exhibits properties similar to those found in real livestock markets.

Development of a Multivalent Subunit Vaccine against Tularemia Using Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV Based Delivery System.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukalyani Banik

Full Text Available Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular pathogen, and is the causative agent of a fatal human disease known as tularemia. F. tularensis is classified as a Category A Biothreat agent by the CDC based on its use in bioweapon programs by several countries in the past and its potential to be used as an agent of bioterrorism. No licensed vaccine is currently available for prevention of tularemia. In this study, we used a novel approach for development of a multivalent subunit vaccine against tularemia by using an efficient tobacco mosaic virus (TMV based delivery platform. The multivalent subunit vaccine was formulated to contain a combination of F. tularensis protective antigens: OmpA-like protein (OmpA, chaperone protein DnaK and lipoprotein Tul4 from the highly virulent F. tularensis SchuS4 strain. Two different vaccine formulations and immunization schedules were used. The immunized mice were challenged with lethal (10xLD100 doses of F. tularensis LVS on day 28 of the primary immunization and observed daily for morbidity and mortality. Results from this study demonstrate that TMV can be used as a carrier for effective delivery of multiple F. tularensis antigens. TMV-conjugate vaccine formulations are safe and multiple doses can be administered without causing any adverse reactions in immunized mice. Immunization with TMV-conjugated F. tularensis proteins induced a strong humoral immune response and protected mice against respiratory challenges with very high doses of F. tularensis LVS. This study provides a proof-of-concept that TMV can serve as a suitable platform for simultaneous delivery of multiple protective antigens of F. tularensis. Refinement of vaccine formulations coupled with TMV-targeting strategies developed in this study will provide a platform for development of an effective tularemia subunit vaccine as well as a vaccination approach that may broadly be applicable to many other bacterial pathogens.

Brief introductory guide to agent-based modeling and an illustration from urban health research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy H. Auchincloss

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract There is growing interest among urban health researchers in addressing complex problems using conceptual and computation models from the field of complex systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM is one computational modeling tool that has received a lot of interest. However, many researchers remain unfamiliar with developing and carrying out an ABM, hindering the understanding and application of it. This paper first presents a brief introductory guide to carrying out a simple agent-based model. Then, the method is illustrated by discussing a previously developed agent-based model, which explored inequalities in diet in the context of urban residential segregation.

Brief introductory guide to agent-based modeling and an illustration from urban health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Auchincloss, Amy H; Garcia, Leandro Martin Totaro

2015-11-01

There is growing interest among urban health researchers in addressing complex problems using conceptual and computation models from the field of complex systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is one computational modeling tool that has received a lot of interest. However, many researchers remain unfamiliar with developing and carrying out an ABM, hindering the understanding and application of it. This paper first presents a brief introductory guide to carrying out a simple agent-based model. Then, the method is illustrated by discussing a previously developed agent-based model, which explored inequalities in diet in the context of urban residential segregation.

Reevaluation of 1999 Health-Based Environmental Screening Levels (HBESLs) for Chemical Warfare Agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Watson, Annetta Paule [ORNL; Dolislager, Fredrick G [ORNL

2007-05-01

This report evaluates whether new information and updated scientific models require that changes be made to previously published health-based environmental soil screening levels (HBESLs) and associated environmental fate/breakdown information for chemical warfare agents (USACHPPM 1999). Specifically, the present evaluation describes and compares changes that have been made since 1999 to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) risk assessment models, EPA exposure assumptions, as well as to specific chemical warfare agent parameters (e.g., toxicity values). Comparison was made between screening value estimates recalculated with current assumptions and earlier health-based environmental screening levels presented in 1999. The chemical warfare agents evaluated include the G-series and VX nerve agents and the vesicants sulfur mustard (agent HD) and Lewisite (agent L). In addition, key degradation products of these agents were also evaluated. Study findings indicate that the combined effect of updates and/or changes to EPA risk models, EPA default exposure parameters, and certain chemical warfare agent toxicity criteria does not result in significant alteration to the USACHPPM (1999) health-based environmental screening level estimates for the G-series and VX nerve agents or the vesicant agents HD and L. Given that EPA's final position on separate Tier 1 screening levels for indoor and outdoor worker screening assessments has not yet been released as of May 2007, the study authors find that the 1999 screening level estimates (see Table ES.1) are still appropriate and protective for screening residential as well as nonresidential sites. As such, risk management decisions made on the basis of USACHPPM (1999) recommendations do not require reconsideration. While the 1999 HBESL values are appropriate for continued use as general screening criteria, the updated '2007' estimates (presented below) that follow the new EPA protocols currently under development

A Public-key based Information Management Model for Mobile Agents

OpenAIRE

Rodriguez, Diego; Sobrado, Igor

2000-01-01

Mobile code based computing requires development of protection schemes that allow digital signature and encryption of data collected by the agents in untrusted hosts. These algorithms could not rely on carrying encryption keys if these keys could be stolen or used to counterfeit data by hostile hosts and agents. As a consequence, both information and keys must be protected in a way that only authorized hosts, that is the host that provides information and the server that has sent the mobile a...

Fast Conflict Resolution Based on Reinforcement Learning in Multi-agent System

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

PIAOSonghao; HONGBingrong; CHUHaitao

2004-01-01

In multi-agent system where each agen thas a different goal (even the team of agents has the same goal), agents must be able to resolve conflicts arising in the process of achieving their goal. Many researchers presented methods for conflict resolution, e.g., Reinforcement learning (RL), but the conventional RL requires a large computation cost because every agent must learn, at the same time the overlap of actions selected by each agent results in local conflict. Therefore in this paper, we propose a novel method to solve these problems. In order to deal with the conflict within the multi-agent system, the concept of potential field function based Action selection priority level (ASPL) is brought forward. In this method, all kinds of environment factor that may have influence on the priority are effectively computed with the potential field function. So the priority to access the local resource can be decided rapidly. By avoiding the complex coordination mechanism used in general multi-agent system, the conflict in multi-agent system is settled more efficiently. Our system consists of RL with ASPL module and generalized rules module. Using ASPL, RL module chooses a proper cooperative behavior, and generalized rule module can accelerate the learning process. By applying the proposed method to Robot Soccer, the learning process can be accelerated. The results of simulation and real experiments indicate the effectiveness of the method.

A standard protocol for describing individual-based and agent-based models

Science.gov (United States)

Grimm, Volker; Berger, Uta; Bastiansen, Finn; Eliassen, Sigrunn; Ginot, Vincent; Giske, Jarl; Goss-Custard, John; Grand, Tamara; Heinz, Simone K.; Huse, Geir; Huth, Andreas; Jepsen, Jane U.; Jorgensen, Christian; Mooij, Wolf M.; Muller, Birgit; Pe'er, Guy; Piou, Cyril; Railsback, Steven F.; Robbins, Andrew M.; Robbins, Martha M.; Rossmanith, Eva; Ruger, Nadja; Strand, Espen; Souissi, Sami; Stillman, Richard A.; Vabo, Rune; Visser, Ute; DeAngelis, Donald L.

2006-01-01

Simulation models that describe autonomous individual organisms (individual based models, IBM) or agents (agent-based models, ABM) have become a widely used tool, not only in ecology, but also in many other disciplines dealing with complex systems made up of autonomous entities. However, there is no standard protocol for describing such simulation models, which can make them difficult to understand and to duplicate. This paper presents a proposed standard protocol, ODD, for describing IBMs and ABMs, developed and tested by 28 modellers who cover a wide range of fields within ecology. This protocol consists of three blocks (Overview, Design concepts, and Details), which are subdivided into seven elements: Purpose, State variables and scales, Process overview and scheduling, Design concepts, Initialization, Input, and Submodels. We explain which aspects of a model should be described in each element, and we present an example to illustrate the protocol in use. In addition, 19 examples are available in an Online Appendix. We consider ODD as a first step for establishing a more detailed common format of the description of IBMs and ABMs. Once initiated, the protocol will hopefully evolve as it becomes used by a sufficiently large proportion of modellers.

DAIDS: a Distributed, Agent-based Information Dissemination System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pete Haglich

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The Distributed Agent-Based Information Dissemination System (DAIDS concept was motivated by the need to share information among the members of a military tactical team in an atmosphere of extremely limited or intermittent bandwidth. The DAIDS approach recognizes that in many cases communications limitations will preclude the complete sharing of all tactical information between the members of the tactical team. Communications may be limited by obstructions to the line of sight between platforms; electronic warfare; or environmental conditions, or just contention from other users of that bandwidth. Since it may not be possible to achieve a complete information exchange, it is important to prioritize transmissions so the most critical information from the standpoint of the recipient is disseminated first. The challenge is to be able to determine which elements of information are the most important to each teammate. The key innovation of the DAIDS concept is the use of software proxy agents to represent the information needs of the recipient of the information. The DAIDS approach uses these proxy agents to evaluate the content of a message in accordance with the context and information needs of the recipient platform (the agent's principal and prioritize the message for dissemination. In our research we implemented this approach and demonstrated that it provides nearly a reduction in transmission times for critical tactical reports by up to a factor of 30 under severe bandwidth limitations.

Socially rational agents in spatial land use planning: a heuristic proposal based negotiation mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ghavami, S.M.; Taleai, M.; Arentze, T.A.

2016-01-01

This paper introduces a novel heuristic based negotiation model for urban land use planning by using multi-agent systems. The model features two kinds of agents: facilitator and advocate. Facilitator agent runs the negotiation according to a certain protocol that defines the procedure. Two roles are

Distributed Market-Based Algorithms for Multi-Agent Planning with Shared Resources

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-01

1 Introduction 1 2 Distributed Market-Based Multi-Agent Planning 5 2.1 Problem Formulation...over the deterministic planner, on the “test set” of scenarios with changing economies. . . 50 xi xii Chapter 1 Introduction Multi-agent planning is...representation of the objective (4.2.1). For example, for the supply chain mangement problem, we assumed a sequence of Bernoulli coin flips, which seems

Agent-based Security and Efficiency Estimation in Airport Terminals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, S.A.M.

We investigate the use of an Agent-based framework to identify and quantify the relationship between security and efficiency within airport terminals. In this framework, we define a novel Security Risk Assessment methodology that explicitly models attacker and defender behavior in a security

Integrating adaptive behaviour in large-scale flood risk assessments: an Agent-Based Modelling approach

Science.gov (United States)

Haer, Toon; Aerts, Jeroen

2015-04-01

Between 1998 and 2009, Europe suffered over 213 major damaging floods, causing 1126 deaths, displacing around half a million people. In this period, floods caused at least 52 billion euro in insured economic losses making floods the most costly natural hazard faced in Europe. In many low-lying areas, the main strategy to cope with floods is to reduce the risk of the hazard through flood defence structures, like dikes and levees. However, it is suggested that part of the responsibility for flood protection needs to shift to households and businesses in areas at risk, and that governments and insurers can effectively stimulate the implementation of individual protective measures. However, adaptive behaviour towards flood risk reduction and the interaction between the government, insurers, and individuals has hardly been studied in large-scale flood risk assessments. In this study, an European Agent-Based Model is developed including agent representatives for the administrative stakeholders of European Member states, insurers and reinsurers markets, and individuals following complex behaviour models. The Agent-Based Modelling approach allows for an in-depth analysis of the interaction between heterogeneous autonomous agents and the resulting (non-)adaptive behaviour. Existing flood damage models are part of the European Agent-Based Model to allow for a dynamic response of both the agents and the environment to changing flood risk and protective efforts. By following an Agent-Based Modelling approach this study is a first contribution to overcome the limitations of traditional large-scale flood risk models in which the influence of individual adaptive behaviour towards flood risk reduction is often lacking.

Using the Agent-Based Modeling in Economic Field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora Mihail

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The last ten years of the XX century has been the witnesses of the apparition of a new scientific field, which is usually defined as the study of “Complex adaptive systems”. This field, generic named Complexity Sciences, shares its subject, the general proprieties of complex systems across traditional disciplinary boundaries, with cybernetics and general systems theory. But the development of Complexity Sciences approaches is determined by the extensive use of Agent-Based-Models (ABM as a research tool and an emphasis on systems, such as markets, populations or ecologies, which are less integrated or “organized” than the ones, such as companies and economies, intensively studied by the traditional disciplines. For ABM, a complex system is a system of individual agents who have the freedom to act in ways that are not always totally predictable, and whose actions are interconnected such that one agent’s actions changes the context (environment for other agents. These are many examples of such complex systems: the stock market, the human body immune system, a business organization, an institution, a work-team, a family etc.

Developing an Agent-Based Simulation System for Post-Earthquake Operations in Uncertainty Conditions: A Proposed Method for Collaboration among Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Navid Hooshangi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Agent-based modeling is a promising approach for developing simulation tools for natural hazards in different areas, such as during urban search and rescue (USAR operations. The present study aimed to develop a dynamic agent-based simulation model in post-earthquake USAR operations using geospatial information system and multi agent systems (GIS and MASs, respectively. We also propose an approach for dynamic task allocation and establishing collaboration among agents based on contract net protocol (CNP and interval-based Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS methods, which consider uncertainty in natural hazards information during agents’ decision-making. The decision-making weights were calculated by analytic hierarchy process (AHP. In order to implement the system, earthquake environment was simulated and the damage of the buildings and a number of injuries were calculated in Tehran’s District 3: 23%, 37%, 24% and 16% of buildings were in slight, moderate, extensive and completely vulnerable classes, respectively. The number of injured persons was calculated to be 17,238. Numerical results in 27 scenarios showed that the proposed method is more accurate than the CNP method in the terms of USAR operational time (at least 13% decrease and the number of human fatalities (at least 9% decrease. In interval uncertainty analysis of our proposed simulated system, the lower and upper bounds of uncertain responses are evaluated. The overall results showed that considering uncertainty in task allocation can be a highly advantageous in the disaster environment. Such systems can be used to manage and prepare for natural hazards.

Review of the systems biology of the immune system using agent-based models.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinde, Snehal B; Kurhekar, Manish P

2018-06-01

The immune system is an inherent protection system in vertebrate animals including human beings that exhibit properties such as self-organisation, self-adaptation, learning, and recognition. It interacts with the other allied systems such as the gut and lymph nodes. There is a need for immune system modelling to know about its complex internal mechanism, to understand how it maintains the homoeostasis, and how it interacts with the other systems. There are two types of modelling techniques used for the simulation of features of the immune system: equation-based modelling (EBM) and agent-based modelling. Owing to certain shortcomings of the EBM, agent-based modelling techniques are being widely used. This technique provides various predictions for disease causes and treatments; it also helps in hypothesis verification. This study presents a review of agent-based modelling of the immune system and its interactions with the gut and lymph nodes. The authors also review the modelling of immune system interactions during tuberculosis and cancer. In addition, they also outline the future research directions for the immune system simulation through agent-based techniques such as the effects of stress on the immune system, evolution of the immune system, and identification of the parameters for a healthy immune system.

Multi-agent system-based event-triggered hybrid control scheme for energy internet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dou, Chunxia; Yue, Dong; Han, Qing Long

2017-01-01

This paper is concerned with an event-triggered hybrid control for the energy Internet based on a multi-agent system approach with which renewable energy resources can be fully utilized to meet load demand with high security and well dynamical quality. In the design of control, a multi-agent system...

Rapid filtration separation-based sample preparation method for Bacillus spores in powdery and environmental matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Isabel, Sandra; Boissinot, Maurice; Charlebois, Isabelle; Fauvel, Chantal M; Shi, Lu-E; Lévesque, Julie-Christine; Paquin, Amélie T; Bastien, Martine; Stewart, Gale; Leblanc, Eric; Sato, Sachiko; Bergeron, Michel G

2012-03-01

Authorities frequently need to analyze suspicious powders and other samples for biothreat agents in order to assess environmental safety. Numerous nucleic acid detection technologies have been developed to detect and identify biowarfare agents in a timely fashion. The extraction of microbial nucleic acids from a wide variety of powdery and environmental samples to obtain a quality level adequate for these technologies still remains a technical challenge. We aimed to develop a rapid and versatile method of separating bacteria from these samples and then extracting their microbial DNA. Bacillus atrophaeus subsp. globigii was used as a simulant of Bacillus anthracis. We studied the effects of a broad variety of powdery and environmental samples on PCR detection and the steps required to alleviate their interference. With a benchmark DNA extraction procedure, 17 of the 23 samples investigated interfered with bacterial lysis and/or PCR-based detection. Therefore, we developed the dual-filter method for applied recovery of microbial particles from environmental and powdery samples (DARE). The DARE procedure allows the separation of bacteria from contaminating matrices that interfere with PCR detection. This procedure required only 2 min, while the DNA extraction process lasted 7 min, for a total of sample preparation procedure allowed the recovery of cleaned bacterial spores and relieved detection interference caused by a wide variety of samples. Our procedure was easily completed in a laboratory facility and is amenable to field application and automation.

Simulating classroom lessons : an agent-based attempt

OpenAIRE

Ingram, Fred; Brooks, Roger John

2018-01-01

This is an interim report on a project to construct an agent-based simulation that reproduces some of the interactions between students and their teacher in classroom lessons. In a pilot study, the activities of 67 students and 7 teachers during 40 lessons were recorded using a data collection instrument that currently captures 17 student states and 15 teacher states. These data enabled various conceptual models to be explored, providing empirical values and distributions for the model parame...

A distributed agent architecture for real-time knowledge-based systems: Real-time expert systems project, phase 1

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S. Daniel

1990-01-01

We propose a distributed agent architecture (DAA) that can support a variety of paradigms based on both traditional real-time computing and artificial intelligence. DAA consists of distributed agents that are classified into two categories: reactive and cognitive. Reactive agents can be implemented directly in Ada to meet hard real-time requirements and be deployed on on-board embedded processors. A traditional real-time computing methodology under consideration is the rate monotonic theory that can guarantee schedulability based on analytical methods. AI techniques under consideration for reactive agents are approximate or anytime reasoning that can be implemented using Bayesian belief networks as in Guardian. Cognitive agents are traditional expert systems that can be implemented in ART-Ada to meet soft real-time requirements. During the initial design of cognitive agents, it is critical to consider the migration path that would allow initial deployment on ground-based workstations with eventual deployment on on-board processors. ART-Ada technology enables this migration while Lisp-based technologies make it difficult if not impossible. In addition to reactive and cognitive agents, a meta-level agent would be needed to coordinate multiple agents and to provide meta-level control.

Application of agent-based system for bioprocess description and process improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Ying; Kipling, Katie; Glassey, Jarka; Willis, Mark; Montague, Gary; Zhou, Yuhong; Titchener-Hooker, Nigel J

2010-01-01

Modeling plays an important role in bioprocess development for design and scale-up. Predictive models can also be used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing to assist decision-making either to maintain process consistency or to identify optimal operating conditions. To predict the whole bioprocess performance, the strong interactions present in a processing sequence must be adequately modeled. Traditionally, bioprocess modeling considers process units separately, which makes it difficult to capture the interactions between units. In this work, a systematic framework is developed to analyze the bioprocesses based on a whole process understanding and considering the interactions between process operations. An agent-based approach is adopted to provide a flexible infrastructure for the necessary integration of process models. This enables the prediction of overall process behavior, which can then be applied during process development or once manufacturing has commenced, in both cases leading to the capacity for fast evaluation of process improvement options. The multi-agent system comprises a process knowledge base, process models, and a group of functional agents. In this system, agent components co-operate with each other in performing their tasks. These include the description of the whole process behavior, evaluating process operating conditions, monitoring of the operating processes, predicting critical process performance, and providing guidance to decision-making when coping with process deviations. During process development, the system can be used to evaluate the design space for process operation. During manufacture, the system can be applied to identify abnormal process operation events and then to provide suggestions as to how best to cope with the deviations. In all cases, the function of the system is to ensure an efficient manufacturing process. The implementation of the agent-based approach is illustrated via selected application scenarios, which

Resource Based Multi Agent Plan Merging : Framework and application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Weerdt, M.M.; Van der Krogt, R.P.J.; Witteveen, C.

2003-01-01

We discuss a resource-based planning framework where agents are able to merge plans by exchanging resources. In this framework, plans are specified as structured objects composed of resource consuming and resource producing processes (actions). A plan itself can also be conceived as a process

Agent-oriented Architecture for Task-based Information Search System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aroyo, Lora; de Bra, Paul M.E.; De Bra, P.; Hardman, L.

1999-01-01

The topic of the reported research discusses an agent-oriented architecture of an educational information search system AIMS - a task-based learner support system. It is implemented within the context of 'Courseware Engineering' on-line course at the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology,

Can human-like Bots control collective mood: agent-based simulations of online chats

Science.gov (United States)

Tadić, Bosiljka; Šuvakov, Milovan

2013-10-01

Using an agent-based modeling approach, in this paper, we study self-organized dynamics of interacting agents in the presence of chat Bots. Different Bots with tunable ‘human-like’ attributes, which exchange emotional messages with agents, are considered, and the collective emotional behavior of agents is quantitatively analyzed. In particular, using detrended fractal analysis we determine persistent fluctuations and temporal correlations in time series of agent activity and statistics of avalanches carrying emotional messages of agents when Bots favoring positive/negative affects are active. We determine the impact of Bots and identify parameters that can modulate that impact. Our analysis suggests that, by these measures, the emotional Bots induce collective emotion among interacting agents by suitably altering the fractal characteristics of the underlying stochastic process. Positive emotion Bots are slightly more effective than negative emotion Bots. Moreover, Bots which periodically alternate between positive and negative emotion can enhance fluctuations in the system, leading to avalanches of agent messages that are reminiscent of self-organized critical states.

An efficient communication strategy for mobile agent based distributed spatial data mining application

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Guodong; Wang, Jiazhen

2005-11-01

An efficient communication strategy is proposed in this paper, which aims to improve the response time and availability of mobile agent based distributed spatial data mining applications. When dealing with decomposed complex data mining tasks or On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP), mobile agents authorized by the specified user need to coordinate and cooperate with each other by employing given communication method to fulfill the subtasks delegated to them. Agent interactive behavior, e.g. messages passing, intermediate results exchanging and final results merging, must happen after the specified path is determined by executing given routing selection algorithm. Most of algorithms exploited currently run in time that grows approximately quadratic with the size of the input nodes where mobile agents migrate between. In order to gain enhanced communication performance by reducing the execution time of the decision algorithm, we propose an approach to reduce the number of nodes involved in the computation. In practice, hosts in the system are reorganized into groups in terms of the bandwidth between adjacent nodes. Then, we find an optimal node for each group with high bandwidth and powerful computing resources, which is managed by an agent dispatched by agent home node. With that, the communication pattern can be implemented at a higher level of abstraction and contribute to improving the overall performance of mobile agent based distributed spatial data mining applications.

A Two-Stage Multi-Agent Based Assessment Approach to Enhance Students' Learning Motivation through Negotiated Skills Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Chadli, Abdelhafid; Bendella, Fatima; Tranvouez, Erwan

2015-01-01

In this paper we present an Agent-based evaluation approach in a context of Multi-agent simulation learning systems. Our evaluation model is based on a two stage assessment approach: (1) a Distributed skill evaluation combining agents and fuzzy sets theory; and (2) a Negotiation based evaluation of students' performance during a training…

A Secured Cognitive Agent based Multi-strategic Intelligent Search System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neha Gulati

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Search Engine (SE is the most preferred information retrieval tool ubiquitously used. In spite of vast scale involvement of users in SE’s, their limited capabilities to understand the user/searcher context and emotions places high cognitive, perceptual and learning load on the user to maintain the search momentum. In this regard, the present work discusses a Cognitive Agent (CA based approach to support the user in Web-based search process. The work suggests a framework called Secured Cognitive Agent based Multi-strategic Intelligent Search System (CAbMsISS to assist the user in search process. It helps to reduce the contextual and emotional mismatch between the SE’s and user. After implementation of the proposed framework, performance analysis shows that CAbMsISS framework improves Query Retrieval Time (QRT and effectiveness for retrieving relevant results as compared to Present Search Engine (PSE. Supplementary to this, it also provides search suggestions when user accesses a resource previously tagged with negative emotions. Overall, the goal of the system is to enhance the search experience for keeping the user motivated. The framework provides suggestions through the search log that tracks the queries searched, resources accessed and emotions experienced during the search. The implemented framework also considers user security. Keywords: BDI model, Cognitive Agent, Emotion, Information retrieval, Intelligent search, Search Engine

ZnO nanowire-based glucose biosensors with different coupling agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Juneui [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of); Lim, Sangwoo, E-mail: swlim@yonsei.ac.kr [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)

2013-01-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Fabrication of ZnO nanowire-based glucose biosensors using different coupling agents. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Highest sensitivity for (3-aminopropyl)methyldiethoxysilane-treated biosensor. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Larger amount of glucose oxidase and lower electron transfer resistance for (3-aminopropyl)methyldiethoxysilane-treated biosensor. - Abstract: ZnO-nanowire-based glucose biosensors were fabricated by immobilizing glucose oxidase (GOx) onto a linker attached to ZnO nanowires. Different coupling agents were used, namely (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS), (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES), and (3-aminopropyl)methyldiethoxysilane (APS), to increase the affinity of GOx binding to ZnO nanowires. The amount of GOx immobilized on the ZnO nanowires, the performance, sensitivity, and Michaelis-Menten constant of each biosensor, and the electron transfer resistance through the biosensor were all measured in order to investigate the effect of the coupling agent on the ZnO nanowire-based biosensor. Among the different biosensors, the APS-treated biosensor had the highest sensitivity (17.72 {mu}A cm{sup -2} mM{sup -1}) and the lowest Michaelis-Menten constant (1.37 mM). Since APS-treated ZnO nanowires showed the largest number of C-N groups and the lowest electron transfer resistance through the biosensor, we concluded that these properties were the key factors in the performance of APS-treated glucose biosensors.

ZnO nanowire-based glucose biosensors with different coupling agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Juneui; Lim, Sangwoo

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Fabrication of ZnO nanowire-based glucose biosensors using different coupling agents. ► Highest sensitivity for (3-aminopropyl)methyldiethoxysilane-treated biosensor. ► Larger amount of glucose oxidase and lower electron transfer resistance for (3-aminopropyl)methyldiethoxysilane-treated biosensor. - Abstract: ZnO-nanowire-based glucose biosensors were fabricated by immobilizing glucose oxidase (GOx) onto a linker attached to ZnO nanowires. Different coupling agents were used, namely (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS), (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES), and (3-aminopropyl)methyldiethoxysilane (APS), to increase the affinity of GOx binding to ZnO nanowires. The amount of GOx immobilized on the ZnO nanowires, the performance, sensitivity, and Michaelis–Menten constant of each biosensor, and the electron transfer resistance through the biosensor were all measured in order to investigate the effect of the coupling agent on the ZnO nanowire-based biosensor. Among the different biosensors, the APS-treated biosensor had the highest sensitivity (17.72 μA cm −2 mM −1 ) and the lowest Michaelis–Menten constant (1.37 mM). Since APS-treated ZnO nanowires showed the largest number of C-N groups and the lowest electron transfer resistance through the biosensor, we concluded that these properties were the key factors in the performance of APS-treated glucose biosensors.

Multi-Agent Based Microscopic Simulation Modeling for Urban Traffic Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianyan Kuang

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Traffic simulation plays an important role in the evaluation of traffic decisions. The movement of vehicles essentially is the operating process of drivers, in order to reproduce the urban traffic flow from the micro-aspect on computer, this paper establishes an urban traffic flow microscopic simulation system (UTFSim based on multi-agent. The system is seen as an intelligent virtual environment system (IVES, and the four-layer structure of it is built. The road agent, vehicle agent and signal agent are modeled. The concept of driving trajectory which is divided into LDT (Lane Driving Trajectory and VDDT (Vehicle Dynamic Driving Trajectory is introduced. The “Link-Node” road network model is improved. The driving behaviors including free driving, following driving, lane changing, slowing down, vehicle stop, etc. are analyzed. The results of the signal control experiments utilizing the UTFSim developed in the platform of Visual Studio. NET indicates that it plays a good performance and can be used in the evaluation of traffic management and control.

An Agent-Based Model for Studying Child Maltreatment and Child Maltreatment Prevention

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaolin; Puddy, Richard W.

This paper presents an agent-based model that simulates the dynamics of child maltreatment and child maltreatment prevention. The developed model follows the principles of complex systems science and explicitly models a community and its families with multi-level factors and interconnections across the social ecology. This makes it possible to experiment how different factors and prevention strategies can affect the rate of child maltreatment. We present the background of this work and give an overview of the agent-based model and show some simulation results.

An agent-based model for diffusion of electric vehicles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kangur, Ayla; Jager, Wander; Verbrugge, Rineke; Bockarjova, Marija

2017-01-01

The transition from fuel cars to electric cars is a large-scale process involving many interactions between consumers and other stakeholders over decades. To explore how policies may interact with consumer behavior over such a long time period, we developed an agent-based social simulation model. In

Agent-based distributed hierarchical control of dc microgrid systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meng, Lexuan; Vasquez, Juan Carlos; Guerrero, Josep M.

2014-01-01

In order to enable distributed control and management for microgrids, this paper explores the application of information consensus and local decisionmaking methods formulating an agent based distributed hierarchical control system. A droop controlled paralleled DC/DC converter system is taken as ....... Standard genetic algorithm is applied in each local control system in order to search for a global optimum. Hardware-in-Loop simulation results are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.......In order to enable distributed control and management for microgrids, this paper explores the application of information consensus and local decisionmaking methods formulating an agent based distributed hierarchical control system. A droop controlled paralleled DC/DC converter system is taken...... as a case study. The objective is to enhance the system efficiency by finding the optimal sharing ratio of load current. Virtual resistances in local control systems are taken as decision variables. Consensus algorithms are applied for global information discovery and local control systems coordination...

Complexity and agent-based modelling in urban research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fertner, Christian

influence on the bigger system. Traditional scientific methods or theories often tried to simplify, not accounting complex relations of actors and decision-making. The introduction of computers in simulation made new approaches in modelling, as for example agent-based modelling (ABM), possible, dealing......Urbanisation processes are results of a broad variety of actors or actor groups and their behaviour and decisions based on different experiences, knowledge, resources, values etc. The decisions done are often on a micro/individual level but resulting in macro/collective behaviour. In urban research...

Online Bahavior Aquisition of an Agent based on Coaching as Learning Assistance

Science.gov (United States)

Hirokawa, Masakazu; Suzuki, Kenji

This paper describes a novel methodology, namely ``Coaching'', which allows humans to give a subjective evaluation to an agent in an iterative manner. This is an interactive learning method to improve the reinforcement learning by modifying a reward function dynamically according to given evaluations by a trainer and the learning situation of the agent. We demonstrate that the agent can learn different reward functions by given instructions such as ``good or bad'' by human's observation, and can also obtain a set of behavior based on the learnt reward functions through several experiments.

Large-scale agent-based social simulation : A study on epidemic prediction and control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, M.

2016-01-01

Large-scale agent-based social simulation is gradually proving to be a versatile methodological approach for studying human societies, which could make contributions from policy making in social science, to distributed artificial intelligence and agent technology in computer science, and to theory

Healing agent in cement-based materials and structures, and process for its preparation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonkers, H.M.

2009-01-01

The present invention relates to healing agent in cement-based materials and structures, wherein said healing agent comprises organic compounds and/or bacteria-loaded porous particles, which porous particles comprise expanded clay- or sintered fly ash. Furthermore, said porous particles are intact

Derivation of Continuum Models from An Agent-based Cancer Model: Optimization and Sensitivity Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Voulgarelis, Dimitrios; Velayudhan, Ajoy; Smith, Frank

2017-01-01

Agent-based models provide a formidable tool for exploring complex and emergent behaviour of biological systems as well as accurate results but with the drawback of needing a lot of computational power and time for subsequent analysis. On the other hand, equation-based models can more easily be used for complex analysis in a much shorter timescale. This paper formulates an ordinary differential equations and stochastic differential equations model to capture the behaviour of an existing agent-based model of tumour cell reprogramming and applies it to optimization of possible treatment as well as dosage sensitivity analysis. For certain values of the parameter space a close match between the equation-based and agent-based models is achieved. The need for division of labour between the two approaches is explored. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

ModelforAnalyzing Human Communication Network Based onAgent-Based Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuyama, Shinako; Terano, Takao

This paper discusses dynamic properties of human communications networks, which appears as a result of informationexchanges among people. We propose agent-based simulation (ABS) to examine implicit mechanisms behind the dynamics. The ABS enables us to reveal the characteristics and the differences of the networks regarding the specific communicationgroups. We perform experiments on the ABS with activity data from questionnaires survey and with virtual data which isdifferent from the activity data. We compare the difference between them and show the effectiveness of the ABS through theexperiments.

An agent-based model for integrated emotion regulation and contagion in socially affected decision making

OpenAIRE

Manzoor, A.; Treur, J.

2015-01-01

This paper addresses an agent-based computational social agent model for the integration of emotion regulation, emotion contagion and decision making in a social context. The model integrates emotion-related valuing, in order to analyse the role of emotions in socially affected decision making. The agent-based model is illustrated for the interaction between two persons. Simulation experiments for different kinds of scenarios help to understand how decisions can be affected by regulating the ...

Agent Based Modeling as an Educational Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, J. H.; Johnson, R.; Castillo, V.

2012-12-01

Motivation is a key element in high school education. One way to improve motivation and provide content, while helping address critical thinking and problem solving skills, is to have students build and study agent based models in the classroom. This activity visually connects concepts with their applied mathematical representation. "Engaging students in constructing models may provide a bridge between frequently disconnected conceptual and mathematical forms of knowledge." (Levy and Wilensky, 2011) We wanted to discover the feasibility of implementing a model based curriculum in the classroom given current and anticipated core and content standards.; Simulation using California GIS data ; Simulation of high school student lunch popularity using aerial photograph on top of terrain value map.

Tissue-based standoff biosensors for detecting chemical warfare agents

Science.gov (United States)

Greenbaum, Elias; Sanders, Charlene A.

2003-11-18

A tissue-based, deployable, standoff air quality sensor for detecting the presence of at least one chemical or biological warfare agent, includes: a cell containing entrapped photosynthetic tissue, the cell adapted for analyzing photosynthetic activity of the entrapped photosynthetic tissue; means for introducing an air sample into the cell and contacting the air sample with the entrapped photosynthetic tissue; a fluorometer in operable relationship with the cell for measuring photosynthetic activity of the entrapped photosynthetic tissue; and transmitting means for transmitting analytical data generated by the fluorometer relating to the presence of at least one chemical or biological warfare agent in the air sample, the sensor adapted for deployment into a selected area.

Using Model Replication to Improve the Reliability of Agent-Based Models

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Wei; Kim, Yushim

The basic presupposition of model replication activities for a computational model such as an agent-based model (ABM) is that, as a robust and reliable tool, it must be replicable in other computing settings. This assumption has recently gained attention in the community of artificial society and simulation due to the challenges of model verification and validation. Illustrating the replication of an ABM representing fraudulent behavior in a public service delivery system originally developed in the Java-based MASON toolkit for NetLogo by a different author, this paper exemplifies how model replication exercises provide unique opportunities for model verification and validation process. At the same time, it helps accumulate best practices and patterns of model replication and contributes to the agenda of developing a standard methodological protocol for agent-based social simulation.

An enhanced performance through agent-based secure approach for mobile ad hoc networks

Science.gov (United States)

Bisen, Dhananjay; Sharma, Sanjeev

2018-01-01

This paper proposes an agent-based secure enhanced performance approach (AB-SEP) for mobile ad hoc network. In this approach, agent nodes are selected through optimal node reliability as a factor. This factor is calculated on the basis of node performance features such as degree difference, normalised distance value, energy level, mobility and optimal hello interval of node. After selection of agent nodes, a procedure of malicious behaviour detection is performed using fuzzy-based secure architecture (FBSA). To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, comparative analysis is done with conventional schemes using performance parameters such as packet delivery ratio, throughput, total packet forwarding, network overhead, end-to-end delay and percentage of malicious detection.

BROSMAP: A Novel Broadcast Based Secure Mobile Agent Protocol for Distributed Service Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dina Shehada

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile agents are smart programs that migrate from one platform to another to perform the user task. Mobile agents offer flexibility and performance enhancements to systems and service real-time applications. However, security in mobile agent systems is a great concern. In this paper, we propose a novel Broadcast based Secure Mobile Agent Protocol (BROSMAP for distributed service applications that provides mutual authentication, authorization, accountability, nonrepudiation, integrity, and confidentiality. The proposed system also provides protection from man in the middle, replay, repudiation, and modification attacks. We proved the efficiency of the proposed protocol through formal verification with Scyther verification tool.

An Agent-based Extensible Climate Control System for Sustainable Greenhouse Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jan Corfixen; Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard; Klein, Mark

2011-01-01

The slow adoption pace of new control strategies for sustainable greenhouse climate control by industrial growers is mainly due to the complexity of identifying and resolving potentially conflicting climate control requirements. In this paper, we present a multi-agent-based climate control system....... Negotiation is done using a novel multi-issue negotiation protocol that uses a generic algorithm to find an optimized solution within the search space. The Multi-Agent control system has been empirically evaluated in an ornamental floriculture research facility in Denmark. The evaluation showed...... that it is realistic to implement the climate control requirements as individual agents, thereby opening greenhouse climate control systems for integration of independently produced control strategies....

Novel Agent Based-approach for Industrial Diagnosis: A Combined use Between Case-based Reasoning and Similarity Measure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatima Zohra Benkaddour

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In spunlace nonwovens industry, the maintenance task is very complex, it requires experts and operators collaboration. In this paper, we propose a new approach integrating an agent- based modelling with case-based reasoning that utilizes similarity measures and preferences module. The main purpose of our study is to compare and evaluate the most suitable similarity measure for our case. Furthermore, operators that are usually geographically dispersed, have to collaborate and negotiate to achieve mutual agreements, especially when their proposals (diagnosis lead to a conflicting situation. The experimentation shows that the suggested agent-based approach is very interesting and efficient for operators and experts who collaborate in INOTIS enterprise.

Agent-based game theory modeling for driverless vehicles at intersections.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-01

This report presents three research efforts that were published in various journals. The first research effort presents a reactive-driving agent based algorithm for modeling driver left turn gap acceptance behavior at signalized intersections. This m...

Practicality of Agent-Based Modeling of Civil Violence: an Assessment

OpenAIRE

Thron, Christopher; Jackson, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Joshua Epstein (2002) proposed a simple agent-based model to describe the formation and evolution of spontaneous civil violence (such as riots or violent demonstrations). In this paper we study the practical applicability of Epstein's model.

A Watershed-Scale Agent-Based Model Incorporating Agent Learning and Interaction of Farmers' Decisions Subject to Carbon and Miscanthus Prices

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, T.; Eheart, J.; Cai, X.; Braden, J. B.

2010-12-01

Agricultural watersheds are coupled human-natural systems where the land use decisions of human agents (farmers) affect surface water quality, and in turn, are affected by the weather and yields. The reliable modeling of such systems requires an approach that considers both the human and natural aspects. Agent-based modeling (ABM), representing the human aspect, coupled with hydrologic modeling, representing the natural aspect, is one such approach. ABM is a relatively new modeling paradigm that formulates the system from the perspectives of the individual agents, i.e., each agent is modeled as a discrete autonomous entity with distinct goals and actions. The primary objective of this study is to demonstrate the applicability of this approach to agricultural watershed management. This is done using a semi-hypothetical case study of farmers in the Salt Creek watershed in East-Central Illinois under the influence markets for carbon and second-generation bioenergy crop (specifically, miscanthus). An agent-based model of the system is developed and linked to a hydrologic model of the watershed. The former is based on fundamental economic and mathematical programming principles, while the latter is based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Carbon and second-generation bioenergy crop markets are of interest here due to climate change and energy independence concerns. The agent-based model is applied to fifty hypothetical heterogeneous farmers. The farmers' decisions depend on their perceptions of future conditions. Those perceptions are updated, according to a pre-defined algorithm, as the farmers make new observations of prices, costs, yields and the weather with time. The perceptions are also updated as the farmers interact with each other as they share new information on initially unfamiliar activities (e.g., carbon trading, miscanthus cultivation). The updating algorithm is set differently for different farmers such that each is unique in his processing of

Exploration of agent of change’s role in biodiesel energy transition process using agent-based model

Science.gov (United States)

Hidayatno, A.; Vicky, L. R.; Destyanto, A. R.

2017-11-01

As the world’s largest Crude Palm Oil (CPO) producer, Indonesia uses CPO as raw material for biodiesel. A number of policies have been designed by the Indonesian government to support adoption of biodiesel. However, the role of energy alternatives faced complex problems. Agent-based modeling can be applied to predict the impact of policies on the actors in the business process to acquire a rich discernment of the behavior and decision making by the biodiesel industries. This study evaluates government policy by attending at the adoption of the biodiesel industry in the tender run by a government with the intervention of two policy options biodiesel energy utilization by developing an agent-based model. The simulation result show that the policy of adding the biodiesel plant installed capacity has a good impact in increasing the production capacity and vendor adoption in the tender. Even so, the government should consider the cost to be incurred and the profits for vendors, so the biodiesel production targets can be successfully fulfilled.

Can human-like Bots control collective mood: agent-based simulations of online chats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tadić, Bosiljka; Šuvakov, Milovan

2013-01-01

Using an agent-based modeling approach, in this paper, we study self-organized dynamics of interacting agents in the presence of chat Bots. Different Bots with tunable ‘human-like’ attributes, which exchange emotional messages with agents, are considered, and the collective emotional behavior of agents is quantitatively analyzed. In particular, using detrended fractal analysis we determine persistent fluctuations and temporal correlations in time series of agent activity and statistics of avalanches carrying emotional messages of agents when Bots favoring positive/negative affects are active. We determine the impact of Bots and identify parameters that can modulate that impact. Our analysis suggests that, by these measures, the emotional Bots induce collective emotion among interacting agents by suitably altering the fractal characteristics of the underlying stochastic process. Positive emotion Bots are slightly more effective than negative emotion Bots. Moreover, Bots which periodically alternate between positive and negative emotion can enhance fluctuations in the system, leading to avalanches of agent messages that are reminiscent of self-organized critical states. (paper)

Integrated control of lateral and vertical vehicle dynamics based on multi-agent system

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chen; Chen, Long; Yun, Chaochun; Jiang, Haobin; Chen, Yuexia

2014-03-01

The existing research of the integrated chassis control mainly focuses on the different evaluation indexes and control strategy. Among the different evaluation indexes, the comprehensive properties are usually not considered based on the non-linear superposition principle. But, the control strategy has some shortages on tyre model with side-slip angle, road adhesion coefficient, vertical load and velocity. In this paper, based on belief, desire and intention(BDI)-agent model framework, the TYRE agent, electric power steering(EPS) agent and active suspension system(ASS) agent are proposed. In the system(SYS) agent, the coordination mechanism is employed to manage interdependences and conflicts among other agents, so as to improve the flexibility, adaptability, and robustness of the global control system. Due to the existence of the simulation demand of dynamic performance, the vehicle multi-body dynamics model is established by SIMPACK. And then the co-simulation analysis is conducted to evaluate the proposed multi-agent system(MAS) controller. The simulation results demonstrate that the MAS has good effect on the performance of EPS and ASS. Meantime, the better road feeling for the driver is provided considering the multiple and complex driving traffic. Finally, the MAS rapid control prototyping is built to conduct the real vehicle test. The test results are consistent to the simulation results, which verifies the correctness of simulation. The proposed research ensures the driving safety, enhances the handling stability, and improves the ride comfort.

Efficient Allocation of Resources for Defense of Spatially Distributed Networks Using Agent-Based Simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroshl, William M; Sarkani, Shahram; Mazzuchi, Thomas A

2015-09-01

This article presents ongoing research that focuses on efficient allocation of defense resources to minimize the damage inflicted on a spatially distributed physical network such as a pipeline, water system, or power distribution system from an attack by an active adversary, recognizing the fundamental difference between preparing for natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or even accidental systems failures and the problem of allocating resources to defend against an opponent who is aware of, and anticipating, the defender's efforts to mitigate the threat. Our approach is to utilize a combination of integer programming and agent-based modeling to allocate the defensive resources. We conceptualize the problem as a Stackelberg "leader follower" game where the defender first places his assets to defend key areas of the network, and the attacker then seeks to inflict the maximum damage possible within the constraints of resources and network structure. The criticality of arcs in the network is estimated by a deterministic network interdiction formulation, which then informs an evolutionary agent-based simulation. The evolutionary agent-based simulation is used to determine the allocation of resources for attackers and defenders that results in evolutionary stable strategies, where actions by either side alone cannot increase its share of victories. We demonstrate these techniques on an example network, comparing the evolutionary agent-based results to a more traditional, probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) approach. Our results show that the agent-based approach results in a greater percentage of defender victories than does the PRA-based approach. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Multi-Agent System based Event-Triggered Hybrid Controls for High-Security Hybrid Energy Generation Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dou, Chun-Xia; Yue, Dong; Guerrero, Josep M.

2017-01-01

This paper proposes multi-agent system based event- triggered hybrid controls for guaranteeing energy supply of a hybrid energy generation system with high security. First, a mul-ti-agent system is constituted by an upper-level central coordi-nated control agent combined with several lower......-level unit agents. Each lower-level unit agent is responsible for dealing with internal switching control and distributed dynamic regula-tion for its unit system. The upper-level agent implements coor-dinated switching control to guarantee the power supply of over-all system with high security. The internal...

A Collective Case Study of Secondary Students' Model-Based Inquiry on Natural Selection through Programming in an Agent-Based Modeling Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Lin

2011-01-01

This is a collective case study seeking to develop detailed descriptions of how programming an agent-based simulation influences a group of 8th grade students' model-based inquiry (MBI) by examining students' agent-based programmable modeling (ABPM) processes and the learning outcomes. The context of the present study was a biology unit on…

Flocking in Multi-Agent Systems with Multiple Virtual Leaders Based Only on Position Measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su Housheng

2012-01-01

Most existing flocking algorithms assume one single virtual leader and rely on information on both relative positions and relative velocities among neighboring agents. In this paper, the problem of controlling a flock of mobile autonomous agents to follow multiple virtual leaders is investigated by using only position information in the sense that agents with the same virtual leader asymptotically attain the same velocity and track the corresponding virtual leader based on only position measurements. A flocking algorithm is proposed under which every agent asymptotically attains its desired velocity, collision between agents can be avoided, and the final tight formation minimizes all agents' global potentials. A simulation example is presented to verify and illustrate the theoretical results. (general)

Rediscovering the Economics of Keynes in an Agent-Based Computational Setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Charlotte

2016-01-01

The aim of this paper is to use agent-based computational economics to explore the economic thinking of Keynes. Taking his starting point at the macroeconomic level, Keynes argued that economic systems are characterized by fundamental uncertainty — an uncertainty that makes rule-based behavior...

MULTI AGENT-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL LANDSCAPE (MABEL) - AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SIMULATION MODEL: SOME EARLY ASSESSMENTS

OpenAIRE

Alexandridis, Konstantinos T.; Pijanowski, Bryan C.

2002-01-01

The Multi Agent-Based Environmental Landscape model (MABEL) introduces a Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) systemic methodology, to simulate land use and transformation changes over time and space. Computational agents represent abstract relations among geographic, environmental, human and socio-economic variables, with respect to land transformation pattern changes. A multi-agent environment is developed providing task-nonspecific problem-solving abilities, flexibility on achieving g...

A Mechanism to Avoid Collusion Attacks Based on Code Passing in Mobile Agent Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jaimez, Marc; Esparza, Oscar; Muñoz, Jose L.; Alins-Delgado, Juan J.; Mata-Díaz, Jorge

Mobile agents are software entities consisting of code, data, state and itinerary that can migrate autonomously from host to host executing their code. Despite its benefits, security issues strongly restrict the use of code mobility. The protection of mobile agents against the attacks of malicious hosts is considered the most difficult security problem to solve in mobile agent systems. In particular, collusion attacks have been barely studied in the literature. This paper presents a mechanism that avoids collusion attacks based on code passing. Our proposal is based on a Multi-Code agent, which contains a different variant of the code for each host. A Trusted Third Party is responsible for providing the information to extract its own variant to the hosts, and for taking trusted timestamps that will be used to verify time coherence.

Evolutionary Agent-based Models to design distributed water management strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Reed, P. M.

2012-12-01

There is growing awareness in the scientific community that the traditional centralized approach to water resources management, as described in much of the water resources literature, provides an ideal optimal solution, which is certainly useful to quantify the best physically achievable performance, but is generally inapplicable. Most real world water resources management problems are indeed characterized by the presence of multiple, distributed and institutionally-independent decision-makers. Multi-Agent Systems provide a potentially more realistic alternative framework to model multiple and self-interested decision-makers in a credible context. Each decision-maker can be represented by an agent who, being self-interested, acts according to local objective functions and produces negative externalities on system level objectives. Different levels of coordination can potentially be included in the framework by designing coordination mechanisms to drive the current decision-making structure toward the global system efficiency. Yet, the identification of effective coordination strategies can be particularly complex in modern institutional contexts and current practice is dependent on largely ad-hoc coordination strategies. In this work we propose a novel Evolutionary Agent-based Modeling (EAM) framework that enables a mapping of fully uncoordinated and centrally coordinated solutions into their relative "many-objective" tradeoffs using multiobjective evolutionary algorithms. Then, by analysing the conflicts between local individual agent and global system level objectives it is possible to more fully understand the causes, consequences, and potential solution strategies for coordination failures. Game-theoretic criteria have value for identifying the most interesting alternatives from a policy making point of view as well as the coordination mechanisms that can be applied to obtain these interesting solutions. The proposed approach is numerically tested on a

Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, and Burkholderia pseudomallei by Use of Laser Light Scattering Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bugrysheva, Julia V; Lascols, Christine; Sue, David; Weigel, Linda M

2016-06-01

Rapid methods to determine antimicrobial susceptibility would assist in the timely distribution of effective treatment or postexposure prophylaxis in the aftermath of the release of bacterial biothreat agents such as Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, or Burkholderia pseudomallei Conventional susceptibility tests require 16 to 48 h of incubation, depending on the bacterial species. We evaluated a method that is based on laser light scattering technology that measures cell density in real time. We determined that it has the ability to rapidly differentiate between growth (resistant) and no growth (susceptible) of several bacterial threat agents in the presence of clinically relevant antimicrobials. Results were available in 10 h of incubation. Use of laser scattering technology decreased the time required to determine antimicrobial susceptibility by 50% to 75% for B. anthracis, Y. pestis, and B. pseudomallei compared to conventional methods. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Land-use change arising from rural land exchange : an agent-based simulation model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, Martha M.; Alam, Shah Jamal; van Dijk, Jerry|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/29612642X; Rounsevell, Mark D. A.

Land exchange can be a major factor driving land-use change in regions with high pressure on land, but is generally not incorporated in land-use change models. Here we present an agent-based model to simulate land-use change arising from land exchange between multiple agent types representing

Implementing a Multi-Agent System in Python with an Auction-Based Agreement Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ettienne, Mikko Berggren; Vester, Steen; Villadsen, Jørgen

2012-01-01

We describe the solution used by the Python-DTU team in the Multi-Agent Programming Contest 2011, where the scenario was called Agents on Mars. We present our auction-based agreement algorithm and discuss our chosen strategy and our choice of technology used for implementing the system. Finally, we...

Developing an agent-based model on how different individuals solve complex problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ipek Bozkurt

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Research that focuses on the emotional, mental, behavioral and cognitive capabilities of individuals has been abundant within disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, among others. However, when facing complex problems, a new perspective to understand individuals is necessary. The main purpose of this paper is to develop an agent-based model and simulation to gain understanding on the decision-making and problem-solving abilities of individuals. Design/Methodology/approach: The micro-level analysis modeling and simulation paradigm Agent-Based Modeling Through the use of Agent-Based Modeling, insight is gained on how different individuals with different profiles deal with complex problems. Using previous literature from different bodies of knowledge, established theories and certain assumptions as input parameters, a model is built and executed through a computer simulation. Findings: The results indicate that individuals with certain profiles have better capabilities to deal with complex problems. Moderate profiles could solve the entire complex problem, whereas profiles within extreme conditions could not. This indicates that having a strong predisposition is not the ideal way when approaching complex problems, and there should always be a component from the other perspective. The probability that an individual may use these capabilities provided by the opposite predisposition provides to be a useful option. Originality/value: The originality of the present research stems from how individuals are profiled, and the model and simulation that is built to understand how they solve complex problems. The development of the agent-based model adds value to the existing body of knowledge within both social sciences, and modeling and simulation.

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...

Capacity Analysis for Parallel Runway through Agent-Based Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Peng

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Parallel runway is the mainstream structure of China hub airport, runway is often the bottleneck of an airport, and the evaluation of its capacity is of great importance to airport management. This study outlines a model, multiagent architecture, implementation approach, and software prototype of a simulation system for evaluating runway capacity. Agent Unified Modeling Language (AUML is applied to illustrate the inbound and departing procedure of planes and design the agent-based model. The model is evaluated experimentally, and the quality is studied in comparison with models, created by SIMMOD and Arena. The results seem to be highly efficient, so the method can be applied to parallel runway capacity evaluation and the model propose favorable flexibility and extensibility.

Biological Select Agents and Toxins: Risk-Based Assessment Management and Oversight.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burnett, LouAnn Crawford; Brodsky, Benjamin H.

2016-12-01

Sandia National Laboratories' International Biological and Chemical Threat Reduction (SNL/IBCTR) conducted, on behalf of the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP), a review of risk assessment in modern select agent laboratories. This review and analysis consisted of literature review, interviews of FSAP staff, entities regulated by FSAP, and deliberations of an expert panel. Additionally, SNL/IBCTR reviewed oversight mechanisms used by industries, US agencies, and other countries for high-consequence risks (e.g, nuclear, chemical, or biological materials, aviation, off-shore drilling, etc.) to determine if alternate oversight mechanisms existed that might be applicable to FSAP oversight of biological select agents and toxins. This report contains five findings, based on these reviews and analyses, with recommendations and suggested actions for FSAP to consider.

An Agent-Based Modeling Template for a Cohort of Veterans with Diabetic Retinopathy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theodore Eugene Day

Full Text Available Agent-based models are valuable for examining systems where large numbers of discrete individuals interact with each other, or with some environment. Diabetic Veterans seeking eye care at a Veterans Administration hospital represent one such cohort.The objective of this study was to develop an agent-based template to be used as a model for a patient with diabetic retinopathy (DR. This template may be replicated arbitrarily many times in order to generate a large cohort which is representative of a real-world population, upon which in-silico experimentation may be conducted.Agent-based template development was performed in java-based computer simulation suite AnyLogic Professional 6.6. The model was informed by medical data abstracted from 535 patient records representing a retrospective cohort of current patients of the VA St. Louis Healthcare System Eye clinic. Logistic regression was performed to determine the predictors associated with advancing stages of DR. Predicted probabilities obtained from logistic regression were used to generate the stage of DR in the simulated cohort.The simulated cohort of DR patients exhibited no significant deviation from the test population of real-world patients in proportion of stage of DR, duration of diabetes mellitus (DM, or the other abstracted predictors. Simulated patients after 10 years were significantly more likely to exhibit proliferative DR (P<0.001.Agent-based modeling is an emerging platform, capable of simulating large cohorts of individuals based on manageable data abstraction efforts. The modeling method described may be useful in simulating many different conditions where course of disease is described in categorical stages.

The Simulation of Financial Markets by Agent-Based Mix-Game Models

OpenAIRE

Chengling Gou

2006-01-01

This paper studies the simulation of financial markets using an agent-based mix-game model which is a variant of the minority game (MG). It specifies the spectra of parameters of mix-game models that fit financial markets by investigating the dynamic behaviors of mix-game models under a wide range of parameters. The main findings are (a) in order to approach efficiency, agents in a real financial market must be heterogeneous, boundedly rational and subject to asymmetric information; (b) an ac...

An agent-based computational model for tuberculosis spreading on age-structured populations

Science.gov (United States)

Graciani Rodrigues, C. C.; Espíndola, Aquino L.; Penna, T. J. P.

2015-06-01

In this work we present an agent-based computational model to study the spreading of the tuberculosis (TB) disease on age-structured populations. The model proposed is a merge of two previous models: an agent-based computational model for the spreading of tuberculosis and a bit-string model for biological aging. The combination of TB with the population aging, reproduces the coexistence of health states, as seen in real populations. In addition, the universal exponential behavior of mortalities curves is still preserved. Finally, the population distribution as function of age shows the prevalence of TB mostly in elders, for high efficacy treatments.

Emerging protein targets for metal-based pharmaceutical agents : An update

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Almeida, Andreia; Oliveira, Bruno L.; Correia, Joao D. G.; Soveral, Graca; Casini, Angela

2013-01-01

The peculiar chemical properties of metal-based drugs impart innovative pharmacological profiles to this class of therapeutic and diagnostic agents, most likely in relation to novel molecular mechanisms still poorly understood. However, inorganic drugs have been scarcely considered for medicinal

Learning Natural Selection in 4th Grade with Multi-Agent-Based Computational Models

Science.gov (United States)

Dickes, Amanda Catherine; Sengupta, Pratim

2013-01-01

In this paper, we investigate how elementary school students develop multi-level explanations of population dynamics in a simple predator-prey ecosystem, through scaffolded interactions with a multi-agent-based computational model (MABM). The term "agent" in an MABM indicates individual computational objects or actors (e.g., cars), and these…

Efficient graph-based dynamic load-balancing for parallel large-scale agent-based traffic simulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xu, Y.; Cai, W.; Aydt, H.; Lees, M.; Tolk, A.; Diallo, S.Y.; Ryzhov, I.O.; Yilmaz, L.; Buckley, S.; Miller, J.A.

2014-01-01

One of the issues of parallelizing large-scale agent-based traffic simulations is partitioning and load-balancing. Traffic simulations are dynamic applications where the distribution of workload in the spatial domain constantly changes. Dynamic load-balancing at run-time has shown better efficiency

An agent-based approach to financial stylized facts

Science.gov (United States)

Shimokawa, Tetsuya; Suzuki, Kyoko; Misawa, Tadanobu

2007-06-01

An important challenge of the financial theory in recent years is to construct more sophisticated models which have consistencies with as many financial stylized facts that cannot be explained by traditional models. Recently, psychological studies on decision making under uncertainty which originate in Kahneman and Tversky's research attract a lot of interest as key factors which figure out the financial stylized facts. These psychological results have been applied to the theory of investor's decision making and financial equilibrium modeling. This paper, following these behavioral financial studies, would like to propose an agent-based equilibrium model with prospect theoretical features of investors. Our goal is to point out a possibility that loss-averse feature of investors explains vast number of financial stylized facts and plays a crucial role in price formations of financial markets. Price process which is endogenously generated through our model has consistencies with, not only the equity premium puzzle and the volatility puzzle, but great kurtosis, asymmetry of return distribution, auto-correlation of return volatility, cross-correlation between return volatility and trading volume. Moreover, by using agent-based simulations, the paper also provides a rigorous explanation from the viewpoint of a lack of market liquidity to the size effect, which means that small-sized stocks enjoy excess returns compared to large-sized stocks.

Router Agent Technology for Policy-Based Network Management

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Edward T.; Sudhir, Gurusham; Chang, Hsin-Ping; James, Mark; Liu, Yih-Chiao J.; Chiang, Winston

2011-01-01

This innovation can be run as a standalone network application on any computer in a networked environment. This design can be configured to control one or more routers (one instance per router), and can also be configured to listen to a policy server over the network to receive new policies based on the policy- based network management technology. The Router Agent Technology transforms the received policies into suitable Access Control List syntax for the routers it is configured to control. It commits the newly generated access control lists to the routers and provides feedback regarding any errors that were faced. The innovation also automatically generates a time-stamped log file regarding all updates to the router it is configured to control. This technology, once installed on a local network computer and started, is autonomous because it has the capability to keep listening to new policies from the policy server, transforming those policies to router-compliant access lists, and committing those access lists to a specified interface on the specified router on the network with any error feedback regarding commitment process. The stand-alone application is named RouterAgent and is currently realized as a fully functional (version 1) implementation for the Windows operating system and for CISCO routers.

Pathomics: Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turteltaub, K W; Ascher, M; Langlois, R; Fodor, I; Kercher, J; Laughlin, K M; Nelson, D; Colston, W; Milanovich, F P

2006-12-08

Pathomics is a research project to explore the feasibility for developing biosignatures for early infectious disease detection in humans, particularly those that represent a threat from bioterrorism. Our goal is to use a science-based approach to better understand the underlying molecular basis of disease and to find sensitive, robust, and specific combinations of biological molecules (biosignatures) in the host that will indicate the presence of developing infection prior to overt symptoms (pre-syndromic). The ultimate goal is develop a national surveillance system for monitoring for the release and managing the consequences of a biothreat agent or an emerging disease. Developing the science for a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of infectious disease and the development of biosignature-based diagnostics could help detect both emerging and engineered treats to humans.

Financial Regulation in an Agent Based Macroeconomic Model

OpenAIRE

Riccetti, Luca; Russo, Alberto; Mauro, Gallegati

2013-01-01

Starting from the agent-based decentralized matching macroeconomic model proposed in Riccetti et al. (2012), we explore the effects of banking regulation on macroeconomic dynamics. In particular, we study the overall credit exposure and the lending concentration towards a single counterparty, finding that the portfolio composition seems to be more relevant than the overall exposure for banking stability, even if both features are very important. We show that a too tight regulation is dangerou...

Solution of partial differential equations by agent-based simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szilagyi, Miklos N

2014-01-01

The purpose of this short note is to demonstrate that partial differential equations can be quickly solved by agent-based simulation with high accuracy. There is no need for the solution of large systems of algebraic equations. This method is especially useful for quick determination of potential distributions and demonstration purposes in teaching electromagnetism. (letters and comments)

Agent-based approach for generation of a money-centered star network

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jae-Suk; Kwon, Okyu; Jung, Woo-Sung; Kim, In-mook

2008-09-01

The history of trade is a progression from a pure barter system. A medium of exchange emerges autonomously in the market, a position currently occupied by money. We investigate an agent-based computational economics model consisting of interacting agents considering distinguishable properties of commodities which represent salability. We also analyze the properties of the commodity network using a spanning tree. We find that the “storage fee” is more crucial than “demand” in determining which commodity is used as a medium of exchange.

Development and Demonstration of a Method to Evaluate Bio-Sampling Strategies Using Building Simulation and Sample Planning Software

OpenAIRE

Dols, W. Stuart; Persily, Andrew K.; Morrow, Jayne B.; Matzke, Brett D.; Sego, Landon H.; Nuffer, Lisa L.; Pulsipher, Brent A.

2010-01-01

In an effort to validate and demonstrate response and recovery sampling approaches and technologies, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with several other agencies, have simulated a biothreat agent release within a facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on two separate occasions in the fall of 2007 and the fall of 2008. Because these events constitute only two realizations of many possible scenarios, increased understanding of sampling strategies can be obtained by vir...

Genetic Algorithms for Agent-Based Infrastructure Interdependency Modeling and Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

May Permann

2007-03-01

Today’s society relies greatly upon an array of complex national and international infrastructure networks such as transportation, electric power, telecommunication, and financial networks. This paper describes initial research combining agent-based infrastructure modeling software and genetic algorithms (GAs) to help optimize infrastructure protection and restoration decisions. This research proposes to apply GAs to the problem of infrastructure modeling and analysis in order to determine the optimum assets to restore or protect from attack or other disaster. This research is just commencing and therefore the focus of this paper is the integration of a GA optimization method with a simulation through the simulation’s agents.

Towards a standard model for research in agent-based modeling and simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nuno Fachada

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Agent-based modeling (ABM is a bottom-up modeling approach, where each entity of the system being modeled is uniquely represented as an independent decision-making agent. ABMs are very sensitive to implementation details. Thus, it is very easy to inadvertently introduce changes which modify model dynamics. Such problems usually arise due to the lack of transparency in model descriptions, which constrains how models are assessed, implemented and replicated. In this paper, we present PPHPC, a model which aims to serve as a standard in agent based modeling research, namely, but not limited to, conceptual model specification, statistical analysis of simulation output, model comparison and parallelization studies. This paper focuses on the first two aspects (conceptual model specification and statistical analysis of simulation output, also providing a canonical implementation of PPHPC. The paper serves as a complete reference to the presented model, and can be used as a tutorial for simulation practitioners who wish to improve the way they communicate their ABMs.

Modeling and simulation of virtual human's coordination based on multi-agent systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mei; Wen, Jing-Hua; Zhang, Zu-Xuan; Zhang, Jian-Qing

2006-10-01

The difficulties and hotspots researched in current virtual geographic environment (VGE) are sharing space and multiusers operation, distributed coordination and group decision-making. The theories and technologies of MAS provide a brand-new environment for analysis, design and realization of distributed opening system. This paper takes cooperation among virtual human in VGE which multi-user participate in as main researched object. First we describe theory foundation truss of VGE, and present the formalization description of Multi-Agent System (MAS). Then we detailed analyze and research arithmetic of collectivity operating behavior learning of virtual human based on best held Genetic Algorithm(GA), and establish dynamics action model which Multi-Agents and object interact dynamically and colony movement strategy. Finally we design a example which shows how 3 evolutional Agents cooperate to complete the task of colony pushing column box, and design a virtual world prototype of virtual human pushing box collectively based on V-Realm Builder 2.0, moreover we make modeling and dynamic simulation with Simulink 6.

A multi-agent based intelligent configuration method for aircraft fleet maintenance personnel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Qiang

2014-04-01

Full Text Available A multi-agent based fleet maintenance personnel configuration method is proposed to solve the mission oriented aircraft fleet maintenance personnel configuration problem. The maintenance process of an aircraft fleet is analyzed first. In the process each aircraft contains multiple parts, and different parts are repaired by personnel with different majors and levels. The factors and their relationship involved in the process of maintenance are analyzed and discussed. Then the whole maintenance process is described as a 3-layer multi-agent system (MAS model. A communication and reasoning strategy among the agents is put forward. A fleet maintenance personnel configuration algorithm is proposed based on contract net protocol (CNP. Finally, a fleet of 10 aircraft is studied for verification purposes. A mission type with 3 waves of continuous dispatch is imaged. Compared with the traditional methods that can just provide configuration results, the proposed method can provide optimal maintenance strategies as well.

An agent-based simulation model to study accountable care organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Pai; Wu, Shinyi

2016-03-01

Creating accountable care organizations (ACOs) has been widely discussed as a strategy to control rapidly rising healthcare costs and improve quality of care; however, building an effective ACO is a complex process involving multiple stakeholders (payers, providers, patients) with their own interests. Also, implementation of an ACO is costly in terms of time and money. Immature design could cause safety hazards. Therefore, there is a need for analytical model-based decision-support tools that can predict the outcomes of different strategies to facilitate ACO design and implementation. In this study, an agent-based simulation model was developed to study ACOs that considers payers, healthcare providers, and patients as agents under the shared saving payment model of care for congestive heart failure (CHF), one of the most expensive causes of sometimes preventable hospitalizations. The agent-based simulation model has identified the critical determinants for the payment model design that can motivate provider behavior changes to achieve maximum financial and quality outcomes of an ACO. The results show nonlinear provider behavior change patterns corresponding to changes in payment model designs. The outcomes vary by providers with different quality or financial priorities, and are most sensitive to the cost-effectiveness of CHF interventions that an ACO implements. This study demonstrates an increasingly important method to construct a healthcare system analytics model that can help inform health policy and healthcare management decisions. The study also points out that the likely success of an ACO is interdependent with payment model design, provider characteristics, and cost and effectiveness of healthcare interventions.

A mobile-agent-based wireless sensing network for structural monitoring applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, Stuart G; Farinholt, Kevin M; Figueiredo, Eloi; Moro, Erik A; Park, Gyuhae; Farrar, Charles R; Flynn, Eric B; Mascarenas, David L; Todd, Michael D

2009-01-01

A new wireless sensing network paradigm is presented for structural monitoring applications. In this approach, both power and data interrogation commands are conveyed via a mobile agent that is sent to sensor nodes to perform intended interrogations, which can alleviate several limitations of the traditional sensing networks. Furthermore, the mobile agent provides computational power to make near real-time assessments on the structural conditions. This paper will discuss such prototype systems, which are used to interrogate impedance-based sensors for structural health monitoring applications. Our wireless sensor node is specifically designed to accept various energy sources, including wireless energy transmission, and to be wirelessly triggered on an as-needed basis by the mobile agent or other sensor nodes. The capabilities of this proposed sensing network paradigm are demonstrated in the laboratory and the field

Graceful Failure and Societal Resilience Analysis Via Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Schopf, P. S.; Cioffi-Revilla, C.; Rogers, J. D.; Bassett, J.; Hailegiorgis, A. B.

2014-12-01

Agent-based social modeling is opening up new methodologies for the study of societal response to weather and climate hazards, and providing measures of resiliency that can be studied in many contexts, particularly in coupled human and natural-technological systems (CHANTS). Since CHANTS are complex adaptive systems, societal resiliency may or may not occur, depending on dynamics that lack closed form solutions. Agent-based modeling has been shown to provide a viable theoretical and methodological approach for analyzing and understanding disasters and societal resiliency in CHANTS. Our approach advances the science of societal resilience through computational modeling and simulation methods that complement earlier statistical and mathematical approaches. We present three case studies of social dynamics modeling that demonstrate the use of these agent based models. In Central Asia, we exmaine mutltiple ensemble simulations with varying climate statistics to see how droughts and zuds affect populations, transmission of wealth across generations, and the overall structure of the social system. In Eastern Africa, we explore how successive episodes of drought events affect the adaptive capacity of rural households. Human displacement, mainly, rural to urban migration, and livelihood transition particularly from pastoral to farming are observed as rural households interacting dynamically with the biophysical environment and continually adjust their behavior to accommodate changes in climate. In the far north case we demonstrate one of the first successful attempts to model the complete climate-permafrost-infrastructure-societal interaction network as a complex adaptive system/CHANTS implemented as a ``federated'' agent-based model using evolutionary computation. Analysis of population changes resulting from extreme weather across these and other cases provides evidence for the emergence of new steady states and shifting patterns of resilience.

Agent-based modeling of noncommunicable diseases: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nianogo, Roch A; Arah, Onyebuchi A

2015-03-01

We reviewed the use of agent-based modeling (ABM), a systems science method, in understanding noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their public health risk factors. We systematically reviewed studies in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Sciences published from January 2003 to July 2014. We retrieved 22 relevant articles; each had an observational or interventional design. Physical activity and diet were the most-studied outcomes. Often, single agent types were modeled, and the environment was usually irrelevant to the studied outcome. Predictive validation and sensitivity analyses were most used to validate models. Although increasingly used to study NCDs, ABM remains underutilized and, where used, is suboptimally reported in public health studies. Its use in studying NCDs will benefit from clarified best practices and improved rigor to establish its usefulness and facilitate replication, interpretation, and application.

Emotion based Agent Architectures for Tutoring Systems : The INES Architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poel, Mannes; op den Akker, Rieks; Heylen, Dirk; Nijholt, Anton; Trappl, Robert

2004-01-01

In this paper we discuss our approach to integrate emotions in the agent based tutoring system INES (Intelligent Nursing Education System). First we discuss the INES system where we emphasize the emotional component of the system. Afterwards we show how a more advanced emotion generation

A review of Agent Based Modeling for agricultural policy evaluation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kremmydas, Dimitris; Athanasiadis, I.N.; Rozakis, Stelios

2018-01-01

Farm level scale policy analysis is receiving increased attention due to a changing agricultural policy orientation. Agent based models (ABM) are farm level models that have appeared in the end of 1990's, having several differences from traditional farm level models, like the consideration of

Emotion based Agent Architectures for Tutoring Systems: The INES Architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poel, Mannes; op den Akker, Hendrikus J.A.; Heylen, Dirk K.J.; Nijholt, Antinus; Trappl, R.

2004-01-01

In this paper we discuss our approach to integrate emotions in the agent based tutoring system INES (Intelligent Nursing Education System). First we discuss the INES system where we emphasize the emotional component of the system. Afterwards we show how a more advanced emotion generation

Overconfident investors in the LLS agent-based artificial financial market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lovric, M.; Kaymak, U.; Spronk, J.

2009-01-01

Agent-based artificial financial markets are bottom-up models of financial markets which explore the mapping from the micro level of individual investor behavior into the macro level of aggregate market phenomena. It has been recently recognized in the literature that such (agentbased) models are

Mechanisms of self-organization and finite size effects in a minimal agent based model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfi, V; Cristelli, M; Pietronero, L; Zaccaria, A

2009-01-01

We present a detailed analysis of the self-organization phenomenon in which the stylized facts originate from finite size effects with respect to the number of agents considered and disappear in the limit of an infinite population. By introducing the possibility that agents can enter or leave the market depending on the behavior of the price, it is possible to show that the system self-organizes in a regime with a finite number of agents which corresponds to the stylized facts. The mechanism for entering or leaving the market is based on the idea that a too stable market is unappealing for traders, while the presence of price movements attracts agents to enter and speculate on the market. We show that this mechanism is also compatible with the idea that agents are scared by a noisy and risky market at shorter timescales. We also show that the mechanism for self-organization is robust with respect to variations of the exit/entry rules and that the attempt to trigger the system to self-organize in a region without stylized facts leads to an unrealistic dynamics. We study the self-organization in a specific agent based model but we believe that the basic ideas should be of general validity

A Text-Based Chat System Embodied with an Expressive Agent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lamia Alam

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Life-like characters are playing vital role in social computing by making human-computer interaction more easy and spontaneous. Nowadays, use of these characters to interact in online virtual environment has gained immense popularity. In this paper, we proposed a framework for a text-based chat system embodied with a life-like virtual agent that aims at natural communication between the users. To achieve this kind of system, we developed an agent that performs some nonverbal communications such as generating facial expression and motions by analyzing the text messages of the users. More specifically, this agent is capable of generating facial expressions for six basic emotions such as happy, sad, fear, angry, surprise, and disgust along with two additional emotions, irony and determined. Then to make the interaction between the users more realistic and lively, we added motions such as eye blink and head movements. We measured our proposed system from different aspects and found the results satisfactory, which make us believe that this kind of system can play a significant role in making an interaction episode more natural, effective, and interesting. Experimental evaluation reveals that the proposed agent can display emotive expressions correctly 93% of the time by analyzing the users’ text input.

Simulating the Reproductive Behavior of a Region’s Population with an Agent-Based Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeriy Leonidovich Makarov

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The research analyses the impact of the inequality of demographic transition on socio-demographic characteristics of the regional population and on the dynamics of these characteristics. The study was conducted with the help of computer-based experiments (simulations, which was run on the original agent-based model. The model is an artificial society, and personal characteristics of its members are set so that they could represent age-demographic structure of a simulate region. The agents are divided into two subgroups, which differ in their reproductive strategy. The first group has traditional strategy with high birth rate. The second group has considerably lower birth rate, observed in the modern developed societies. The model uses stochastic approaches to imitate the principle processes of population growth: mortality and morbidity. Mortality is set according to age-sex specific mortality coefficients, which do not differ across the population as a whole. New agents (child births appear as a choice of agents – women of reproductive age, and the choice depends on the subgroup. The overall age and social structure of the region is aggregated across individual agents. A number of experiments has been carried out with the model utilization. This allowed forecasting the size and structure of the population of a given region. The results of the experiments have revealed that despite its simplicity, the developed agent-based model well predicts the initial conditions in the region (e.g. age-demographic and social structure. The model shows good fit in terms of estimating the dynamics of major characteristics of the population.

An Agent-Based Model of Farmer Decision Making in Jordan

Science.gov (United States)

Selby, Philip; Medellin-Azuara, Josue; Harou, Julien; Klassert, Christian; Yoon, Jim

2016-04-01

We describe an agent based hydro-economic model of groundwater irrigated agriculture in the Jordan Highlands. The model employs a Multi-Agent-Simulation (MAS) framework and is designed to evaluate direct and indirect outcomes of climate change scenarios and policy interventions on farmer decision making, including annual land use, groundwater use for irrigation, and water sales to a water tanker market. Land use and water use decisions are simulated for groups of farms grouped by location and their behavioural and economic similarities. Decreasing groundwater levels, and the associated increase in pumping costs, are important drivers for change within Jordan'S agricultural sector. We describe how this is considered by coupling of agricultural and groundwater models. The agricultural production model employs Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP), a method for calibrating agricultural production functions to observed planted areas. PMP has successfully been used with disaggregate models for policy analysis. We adapt the PMP approach to allow explicit evaluation of the impact of pumping costs, groundwater purchase fees and a water tanker market. The work demonstrates the applicability of agent-based agricultural decision making assessment in the Jordan Highlands and its integration with agricultural model calibration methods. The proposed approach is designed and implemented with software such that it could be used to evaluate a variety of physical and human influences on decision making in agricultural water management.

An Agent-based Manufacturing Management System for Production and Logistics within Cross-Company Regional and National Production Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Hanel

2008-11-01

Full Text Available The goal is the development of a simultaneous, dynamic, technological as well as logistical real-time planning and an organizational control of the production by the production units themselves, working in the production network under the use of Multi-Agent-Technology. The design of the multi-agent-based manufacturing management system, the models of the single agents, algorithms for the agent-based, decentralized dispatching of orders, strategies and data management concepts as well as their integration into the SCM, basing on the solution described, will be explained in the following.

An Agent-Based Manufacturing Management System for Production and Logistics within Cross-Company Regional and National Production Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Heinrich

2005-03-01

Full Text Available The goal is the development of a simultaneous, dynamic, technological as well as logistical real-time planning and an organizational control of the production by the production units themselves, working in the production network under the use of Multi-Agent-Technology. The design of the multi-agent-based manufacturing management system, the models of the single agents, algorithms for the agent-based, decentralized dispatching of orders, strategies and data management concepts as well as their integration into the SCM, basing on the solution described, will be explained in the following.

Spherical Nucleic Acids as Intracellular Agents for Nucleic Acid Based Therapeutics

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Liangliang

Recent functional discoveries on the noncoding sequences of human genome and transcriptome could lead to revolutionary treatment modalities because the noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) can be applied as therapeutic agents to manipulate disease-causing genes. To date few nucleic acid-based therapeutics have been translated into the clinic due to challenges in the delivery of the oligonucleotide agents in an effective, cell specific, and non-toxic fashion. Unmodified oligonucleotide agents are destroyed rapidly in biological fluids by enzymatic degradation and have difficulty crossing the plasma membrane without the aid of transfection reagents, which often cause inflammatory, cytotoxic, or immunogenic side effects. Spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), nanoparticles consisting of densely organized and highly oriented oligonucleotides, pose one possible solution to circumventing these problems in both the antisense and RNA interference (RNAi) pathways. The unique three dimensional architecture of SNAs protects the bioactive oligonucleotides from unspecific degradation during delivery and supports their targeting of class A scavenger receptors and endocytosis via a lipid-raft-dependent, caveolae-mediated pathway. Owing to their unique structure, SNAs are able to cross cell membranes and regulate target genes expression as a single entity, without triggering the cellular innate immune response. Herein, my thesis has focused on understanding the interactions between SNAs and cellular components and developing SNA-based nanostructures to improve therapeutic capabilities. Specifically, I developed a novel SNA-based, nanoscale agent for delivery of therapeutic oligonucleotides to manipulate microRNAs (miRNAs), the endogenous post-transcriptional gene regulators. I investigated the role of SNAs involving miRNAs in anti-cancer or anti-inflammation responses in cells and in in vivo murine disease models via systemic injection. Furthermore, I explored using different strategies to construct

A review of agent-based models for forecasting the deployment of distributed generation in energy systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veneman, J.F.; Oey, M.A.; Kortmann, L.J.; Brazier, F.M.; De Vries, L.J.

2011-01-01

Agent-based models are seeing increasing use in the study of distributed generation (DG) deployment. Researchers and decision makers involved in the implementation of DG have been lacking a concise overview of why they should consider using agent-based modeling (ABM) for forecasting purposes. Since

Macroprudential policies in an agent-based artificial economy

OpenAIRE

Raberto, Marco; Teglio, Andrea; Cincotti, Silvano

2012-01-01

Basel III is a recently-agreed regulatory standard for bank capital adequacy with focus on the macroprudential dimension of banking regulation, i.e., the system- wide implications of banks’ lending and risk. An important Basel III provision is to reduce procyclicality of present banking regulation and promote countercyclical capital buffers for banks. The Eurace agent-based macroeconomic model and sim- ulator has been recently showed to be able to reproduce a credit-fueled boom-bust dynamics ...

AGENT-BASED NEGOTIATION PLATFORM IN COLLABORATIVE NETWORKED ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adina-Georgeta CREȚAN

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an agent-based platform to model and support parallel and concurrent negotiations among organizations acting in the same industrial market. The underlying complexity is to model the dynamic environment where multi-attribute and multi-participant negotiations are racing over a set of heterogeneous resources. The metaphor Interaction Abstract Machines (IAMs is used to model the parallelism and the non-deterministic aspects of the negotiation processes that occur in Collaborative Networked Environment.

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...

Emerging medical informatics with case-based reasoning for aiding clinical decision in multi-agent system.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Ying; Colloc, Joël; Jacquet-Andrieu, Armelle; Lei, Kai

2015-08-01

This research aims to depict the methodological steps and tools about the combined operation of case-based reasoning (CBR) and multi-agent system (MAS) to expose the ontological application in the field of clinical decision support. The multi-agent architecture works for the consideration of the whole cycle of clinical decision-making adaptable to many medical aspects such as the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, therapeutic monitoring of gastric cancer. In the multi-agent architecture, the ontological agent type employs the domain knowledge to ease the extraction of similar clinical cases and provide treatment suggestions to patients and physicians. Ontological agent is used for the extension of domain hierarchy and the interpretation of input requests. Case-based reasoning memorizes and restores experience data for solving similar problems, with the help of matching approach and defined interfaces of ontologies. A typical case is developed to illustrate the implementation of the knowledge acquisition and restitution of medical experts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

An implementation of norm-based agent negotiation.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, Pieter; Prakken, H.; Vey Mestdagh, C.N.J. de

2007-01-01

In this paper, we develop our previous outline of a multi-agent architecture for regulated information exchange in crime investigations. Interactions about information exchange between agents (representing police officers) are further analysed as negotiation dialogues with embedded persuasion

Nonlinear multi-analysis of agent-based financial market dynamics by epidemic system

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yunfan; Wang, Jun; Niu, Hongli

2015-10-01

Based on the epidemic dynamical system, we construct a new agent-based financial time series model. In order to check and testify its rationality, we compare the statistical properties of the time series model with the real stock market indices, Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index and Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index. For analyzing the statistical properties, we combine the multi-parameter analysis with the tail distribution analysis, the modified rescaled range analysis, and the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis. For a better perspective, the three-dimensional diagrams are used to present the analysis results. The empirical research in this paper indicates that the long-range dependence property and the multifractal phenomenon exist in the real returns and the proposed model. Therefore, the new agent-based financial model can recurrence some important features of real stock markets.

Consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems based on sampled data with a small sampling delay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Na; Wu Zhi-Hai; Peng Li

2014-01-01

In this paper, consensus problems of heterogeneous multi-agent systems based on sampled data with a small sampling delay are considered. First, a consensus protocol based on sampled data with a small sampling delay for heterogeneous multi-agent systems is proposed. Then, the algebra graph theory, the matrix method, the stability theory of linear systems, and some other techniques are employed to derive the necessary and sufficient conditions guaranteeing heterogeneous multi-agent systems to asymptotically achieve the stationary consensus. Finally, simulations are performed to demonstrate the correctness of the theoretical results. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Multilayer quantum secret sharing based on GHZ state and generalized Bell basis measurement in multiparty agents

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiao-Jun; An, Long-Xi; Yu, Xu-Tao; Zhang, Zai-Chen

2017-10-01

A multilayer quantum secret sharing protocol based on GHZ state is proposed. Alice has the secret carried by quantum state and wants to distribute this secret to multiple agent nodes in the network. In this protocol, the secret is transmitted and shared layer by layer from root Alice to layered agents. The number of agents in each layer is a geometric sequence with a specific common ratio. By sharing GHZ maximally entangled states and making generalized Bell basis measurement, one qubit state can be distributed to multiparty agents and the secret is shared. Only when all agents at the last layer cooperate together, the secret can be recovered. Compared with other protocols based on the entangled state, this protocol adopts layered construction so that secret can be distributed to more agents with fewer particles GHZ state. This quantum secret sharing protocol can be used in wireless network to ensure the security of information delivery.

Ultrasensitive DNA sequence detection using nanoscale ZnO sensor arrays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Nitin; Dorfman, Adam; Hahm, Jong-in [Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 160 Fenske Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)

2006-06-28

We report that engineered nanoscale zinc oxide structures can be effectively used for the identification of the biothreat agent, Bacillus anthracis by successfully discriminating its DNA sequence from other genetically related species. We explore both covalent and non-covalent linking schemes in order to couple probe DNA strands to the zinc oxide nanostructures. Hybridization reactions are performed with various concentrations of target DNA strands whose sequence is unique to Bacillus anthracis. The use of zinc oxide nanomaterials greatly enhances the fluorescence signal collected after carrying out duplex formation reaction. Specifically, the covalent strategy allows detection of the target species at sample concentrations at a level as low as a few femtomolar as compared to the detection sensitivity in the tens of nanomolar range when using the non-covalent scheme. The presence of the underlying zinc oxide nanomaterials is critical in achieving increased fluorescence detection of hybridized DNA and, therefore, accomplishing rapid and extremely sensitive identification of the biothreat agent. We also demonstrate the easy integration potential of nanoscale zinc oxide into high density arrays by using various types of zinc oxide sensor prototypes in the DNA sequence detection. When combined with conventional automatic sample handling apparatus and computerized fluorescence detection equipment, our approach can greatly promote the use of zinc oxide nanomaterials as signal enhancing platforms for rapid, multiplexed, high-throughput, highly sensitive, DNA sensor arrays.

Ultrasensitive DNA sequence detection using nanoscale ZnO sensor arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Nitin; Dorfman, Adam; Hahm, Jong-in

2006-01-01

We report that engineered nanoscale zinc oxide structures can be effectively used for the identification of the biothreat agent, Bacillus anthracis by successfully discriminating its DNA sequence from other genetically related species. We explore both covalent and non-covalent linking schemes in order to couple probe DNA strands to the zinc oxide nanostructures. Hybridization reactions are performed with various concentrations of target DNA strands whose sequence is unique to Bacillus anthracis. The use of zinc oxide nanomaterials greatly enhances the fluorescence signal collected after carrying out duplex formation reaction. Specifically, the covalent strategy allows detection of the target species at sample concentrations at a level as low as a few femtomolar as compared to the detection sensitivity in the tens of nanomolar range when using the non-covalent scheme. The presence of the underlying zinc oxide nanomaterials is critical in achieving increased fluorescence detection of hybridized DNA and, therefore, accomplishing rapid and extremely sensitive identification of the biothreat agent. We also demonstrate the easy integration potential of nanoscale zinc oxide into high density arrays by using various types of zinc oxide sensor prototypes in the DNA sequence detection. When combined with conventional automatic sample handling apparatus and computerized fluorescence detection equipment, our approach can greatly promote the use of zinc oxide nanomaterials as signal enhancing platforms for rapid, multiplexed, high-throughput, highly sensitive, DNA sensor arrays

Lapse of time effects on tax evasion in an agent-based econophysics model

Science.gov (United States)

Seibold, Götz; Pickhardt, Michael

2013-05-01

We investigate an inhomogeneous Ising model in the context of tax evasion dynamics where different types of agents are parameterized via local temperatures and magnetic fields. In particular, we analyze the impact of lapse of time effects (i.e. backauditing) and endogenously determined penalty rates on tax compliance. Both features contribute to a microfoundation of agent-based econophysics models of tax evasion.

Strengthening Theoretical Testing in Criminology Using Agent-based Modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Shane D; Groff, Elizabeth R

2014-07-01

The Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency ( JRCD ) has published important contributions to both criminological theory and associated empirical tests. In this article, we consider some of the challenges associated with traditional approaches to social science research, and discuss a complementary approach that is gaining popularity-agent-based computational modeling-that may offer new opportunities to strengthen theories of crime and develop insights into phenomena of interest. Two literature reviews are completed. The aim of the first is to identify those articles published in JRCD that have been the most influential and to classify the theoretical perspectives taken. The second is intended to identify those studies that have used an agent-based model (ABM) to examine criminological theories and to identify which theories have been explored. Ecological theories of crime pattern formation have received the most attention from researchers using ABMs, but many other criminological theories are amenable to testing using such methods. Traditional methods of theory development and testing suffer from a number of potential issues that a more systematic use of ABMs-not without its own issues-may help to overcome. ABMs should become another method in the criminologists toolbox to aid theory testing and falsification.

Agent Based Simulation of Group Emotions Evolution and Strategy Intervention in Extreme Events

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Agent based simulation method has become a prominent approach in computational modeling and analysis of public emergency management in social science research. The group emotions evolution, information diffusion, and collective behavior selection make extreme incidents studies a complex system problem, which requires new methods for incidents management and strategy evaluation. This paper studies the group emotion evolution and intervention strategy effectiveness using agent based simulation method. By employing a computational experimentation methodology, we construct the group emotion evolution as a complex system and test the effects of three strategies. In addition, the events-chain model is proposed to model the accumulation influence of the temporal successive events. Each strategy is examined through three simulation experiments, including two make-up scenarios and a real case study. We show how various strategies could impact the group emotion evolution in terms of the complex emergence and emotion accumulation influence in extreme events. This paper also provides an effective method of how to use agent-based simulation for the study of complex collective behavior evolution problem in extreme incidents, emergency, and security study domains.

An Agent-Based Simulation for Investigating the Impact of Stereotypes on Task-Oriented Group Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Maghami, Mahsa; Sukthankar, Gita

In this paper, we introduce an agent-based simulation for investigating the impact of social factors on the formation and evolution of task-oriented groups. Task-oriented groups are created explicitly to perform a task, and all members derive benefits from task completion. However, even in cases when all group members act in a way that is locally optimal for task completion, social forces that have mild effects on choice of associates can have a measurable impact on task completion performance. In this paper, we show how our simulation can be used to model the impact of stereotypes on group formation. In our simulation, stereotypes are based on observable features, learned from prior experience, and only affect an agent's link formation preferences. Even without assuming stereotypes affect the agents' willingness or ability to complete tasks, the long-term modifications that stereotypes have on the agents' social network impair the agents' ability to form groups with sufficient diversity of skills, as compared to agents who form links randomly. An interesting finding is that this effect holds even in cases where stereotype preference and skill existence are completely uncorrelated.

Quantitative Analysis of Intra Urban Growth Modeling using socio economic agents by combining cellular automata model with agent based model

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, V. K.; Jha, A. K.; Gupta, K.; Srivastav, S. K.

2017-12-01

Recent studies indicate that there is a significant improvement in the urban land use dynamics through modeling at finer spatial resolutions. Geo-computational models such as cellular automata and agent based model have given evident proof regarding the quantification of the urban growth pattern with urban boundary. In recent studies, socio- economic factors such as demography, education rate, household density, parcel price of the current year, distance to road, school, hospital, commercial centers and police station are considered to the major factors influencing the Land Use Land Cover (LULC) pattern of the city. These factors have unidirectional approach to land use pattern which makes it difficult to analyze the spatial aspects of model results both quantitatively and qualitatively. In this study, cellular automata model is combined with generic model known as Agent Based Model to evaluate the impact of socio economic factors on land use pattern. For this purpose, Dehradun an Indian city is selected as a case study. Socio economic factors were collected from field survey, Census of India, Directorate of economic census, Uttarakhand, India. A 3X3 simulating window is used to consider the impact on LULC. Cellular automata model results are examined for the identification of hot spot areas within the urban area and agent based model will be using logistic based regression approach where it will identify the correlation between each factor on LULC and classify the available area into low density, medium density, high density residential or commercial area. In the modeling phase, transition rule, neighborhood effect, cell change factors are used to improve the representation of built-up classes. Significant improvement is observed in the built-up classes from 84 % to 89 %. However after incorporating agent based model with cellular automata model the accuracy improved from 89 % to 94 % in 3 classes of urban i.e. low density, medium density and commercial classes

The effects of X-ray energy and an iodine-based contrast agent on chromosome aberrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsubara, Sho; Kubota, Nobuo; Katoh, Tsuguhisa; Yoshino, Norio; Sasaki, Takehito; Sasaki, Masao S.

1994-01-01

A study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of combining irradiation with X rays of various energies and an iodine-based contrast agent on the induction of chromosome aberrations in the peripheral lymphocytes of blood samples taken from healthy young donors. Although no enhancement of the effect of radiation was induced when blood samples with the iodine-based contrast agent were given 35 kV X irradiation, an 80 kV X-ray exposure induced an enhanced level of chromosome aberrations, and a 250 kV X irradiation, an enhancement of the frequencies of chromosome aberrations was seen in blood samples with the iodine-based contrast agent, especially when a Lucite phantom was employed in studies to increase the scattered rays. It was thus shown by microdosimetric analysis that X irradiation combined with an iodine-based contrast agent causes an enhancement of the absorbed radiation dose, which is dependent on the X-ray energies employed. This phenomenon may have clinical use in the radiotherapeutic management of tumors, although further extensive studies of tumor vascularity must be pursued before this can be applied clinically. 21 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs

The institutional stance in agent-based simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sileno, G.; Boer, A.; van Engers, T.; Filipe, J.; Fred, A.L.N.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a multi-agent framework intended to animate scenarios of compliance and non-compliance in a normative system. With the purpose of describing social human behaviour, we choose to reduce social complexity by creating models of the involved agents starting from stories, and

Improving Agent Based Models and Validation through Data Fusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Laskowski, Marek; Demianyk, Bryan C P; Friesen, Marcia R; McLeod, Robert D; Mukhi, Shamir N

2011-01-01

This work is contextualized in research in modeling and simulation of infection spread within a community or population, with the objective to provide a public health and policy tool in assessing the dynamics of infection spread and the qualitative impacts of public health interventions. This work uses the integration of real data sources into an Agent Based Model (ABM) to simulate respiratory infection spread within a small municipality. Novelty is derived in that the data sources are not necessarily obvious within ABM infection spread models. The ABM is a spatial-temporal model inclusive of behavioral and interaction patterns between individual agents on a real topography. The agent behaviours (movements and interactions) are fed by census / demographic data, integrated with real data from a telecommunication service provider (cellular records) and person-person contact data obtained via a custom 3G Smartphone application that logs Bluetooth connectivity between devices. Each source provides data of varying type and granularity, thereby enhancing the robustness of the model. The work demonstrates opportunities in data mining and fusion that can be used by policy and decision makers. The data become real-world inputs into individual SIR disease spread models and variants, thereby building credible and non-intrusive models to qualitatively simulate and assess public health interventions at the population level.

Shape Effects in Nanoparticle-Based Imaging Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Culver, Kayla Shani Brook

At the nanoscale, material properties become highly size and shape dependent. These properties can be manipulated and exploited for a variety of biomedical applications, including sensing, drug delivery, diagnostics, and imaging. In particular, nanoparticles of different materials, sizes and shapes have been developed as high-performance contrast agents for optical, electron, and medical imaging. In this thesis, I focus on gold nanoparticles because they are widely used as contrast agents in multiple types of imaging modalities. Additionally, the surface of gold can be readily functionalized with ligands and the structure of the particles can be manipulated to modulate their performance as imaging agents. The properties of nanoparticles can generate contrast directly. For example, the light scattering properties of gold particles can be visualized in optical microscopy, the high electron density of gold produces contrast in electron microscopy, and the x-ray absorption properties of gold can be detected in medical x-ray and computed tomography imaging. Alternatively, the properties of the nanomaterial can be exploited to modulate the signal produced by other molecules that are bound to the particle surface. The light emission of molecular fluorophores can be quenched or dramatically increased by coupling to the optical field enhancements of gold nanoparticles, and the performance of gadolinium (Gd(III))-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents can be increased by coupling to the rotational motion of nanoparticles. In this dissertation, I focus specifically on how the structure of star-shaped gold particles (nanostars) can be exploited as single-particle optical probes and to dramatically enhance the relaxivity of Gd(III) bound to the surface. Differential interference contrast (DIC) is a type of wide-field diffraction-limited optical microscopy that is commonly used by biologists to image cells without labels. Here, I demonstrate the DIC can be used

Protection of Mobile Agents Execution Using a Modified Self-Validating Branch-Based Software Watermarking with External Sentinel

Science.gov (United States)

Tomàs-Buliart, Joan; Fernández, Marcel; Soriano, Miguel

Critical infrastructures are usually controlled by software entities. To monitor the well-function of these entities, a solution based in the use of mobile agents is proposed. Some proposals to detect modifications of mobile agents, as digital signature of code, exist but they are oriented to protect software against modification or to verify that an agent have been executed correctly. The aim of our proposal is to guarantee that the software is being executed correctly by a non trusted host. The way proposed to achieve this objective is by the improvement of the Self-Validating Branch-Based Software Watermarking by Myles et al.. The proposed modification is the incorporation of an external element called sentinel which controls branch targets. This technique applied in mobile agents can guarantee the correct operation of an agent or, at least, can detect suspicious behaviours of a malicious host during the execution of the agent instead of detecting when the execution of the agent have finished.

Agent-Based Computational Modeling of Cell Culture ...

Science.gov (United States)

Quantitative characterization of cellular dose in vitro is needed for alignment of doses in vitro and in vivo. We used the agent-based software, CompuCell3D (CC3D), to provide a stochastic description of cell growth in culture. The model was configured so that isolated cells assumed a “fried egg shape” but became increasingly cuboidal with increasing confluency. The surface area presented by each cell to the overlying medium varies from cell-to-cell and is a determinant of diffusional flux of toxicant from the medium into the cell. Thus, dose varies among cells for a given concentration of toxicant in the medium. Computer code describing diffusion of H2O2 from medium into each cell and clearance of H2O2 was calibrated against H2O2 time-course data (25, 50, or 75 uM H2O2 for 60 min) obtained with the Amplex Red assay for the medium and the H2O2-sensitive fluorescent reporter, HyPer, for cytosol. Cellular H2O2 concentrations peaked at about 5 min and were near baseline by 10 min. The model predicted a skewed distribution of surface areas, with between cell variation usually 2 fold or less. Predicted variability in cellular dose was in rough agreement with the variation in the HyPer data. These results are preliminary, as the model was not calibrated to the morphology of a specific cell type. Future work will involve morphology model calibration against human bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells. Our results show, however, the potential of agent-based modeling

Distributed-observer-based cooperative control for synchronization of linear discrete-time multi-agent systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Hongjing; Zhang, Huaguang; Wang, Zhanshan

2015-11-01

This paper considers output synchronization of discrete-time multi-agent systems with directed communication topologies. The directed communication graph contains a spanning tree and the exosystem as its root. Distributed observer-based consensus protocols are proposed, based on the relative outputs of neighboring agents. A multi-step algorithm is presented to construct the observer-based protocols. In light of the discrete-time algebraic Riccati equation and internal model principle, synchronization problem is completed. At last, numerical simulation is provided to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

ActivitySim: large-scale agent based activity generation for infrastructure simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gali, Emmanuel [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Eidenbenz, Stephan [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Mniszewski, Sue [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Cuellar, Leticia [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Teuscher, Christof [PORTLAND STATE UNIV

2008-01-01

The United States' Department of Homeland Security aims to model, simulate, and analyze critical infrastructure and their interdependencies across multiple sectors such as electric power, telecommunications, water distribution, transportation, etc. We introduce ActivitySim, an activity simulator for a population of millions of individual agents each characterized by a set of demographic attributes that is based on US census data. ActivitySim generates daily schedules for each agent that consists of a sequence of activities, such as sleeping, shopping, working etc., each being scheduled at a geographic location, such as businesses or private residences that is appropriate for the activity type and for the personal situation of the agent. ActivitySim has been developed as part of a larger effort to understand the interdependencies among national infrastructure networks and their demand profiles that emerge from the different activities of individuals in baseline scenarios as well as emergency scenarios, such as hurricane evacuations. We present the scalable software engineering principles underlying ActivitySim, the socia-technical modeling paradigms that drive the activity generation, and proof-of-principle results for a scenario in the Twin Cities, MN area of 2.6 M agents.

The Simulation of Financial Markets by an Agent-Based Mix-Game Model

OpenAIRE

Chengling Gou

2006-01-01

This paper studies the simulation of financial markets using an agent-based mix-game model which is a variant of the minority game (MG). It specifies the spectra of parameters of mix-game models that fit financial markets by investigating the dynamic behaviors of mix-game models under a wide range of parameters. The main findings are (a) in order to approach efficiency, agents in a real financial market must be heterogeneous, boundedly rational and subject to asymmetric information; (b) an ac...

Agent-based Algorithm for Spatial Distribution of Objects

KAUST Repository

Collier, Nathan

2012-06-02

In this paper we present an agent-based algorithm for the spatial distribution of objects. The algorithm is a generalization of the bubble mesh algorithm, initially created for the point insertion stage of the meshing process of the finite element method. The bubble mesh algorithm treats objects in space as bubbles, which repel and attract each other. The dynamics of each bubble are approximated by solving a series of ordinary differential equations. We present numerical results for a meshing application as well as a graph visualization application.

Jogo da Minoria: um modelo baseado em agentes aplicado ao mercado financeiro Minority Game: an agent-based model applied to financial market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Fernando Crepaldi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Nos últimos anos houve uma contribuição significativa dos físicos para a construção de um tipo de modelo baseado em agentes que busca reproduzir, em simulação computacional, o comportamento do mercado financeiro. Esse modelo, chamado Jogo da Minoria consiste de um grupo de agentes que vão ao mercado comprar ou vender ativos. Eles tomam decisões com base em estratégias e, por meio delas, os agentes estabelecem um intrincado jogo de competição e coordenação pela distribuição da riqueza. O modelo tem demonstrado resultados bastante ricos e surpreendentes, tanto na dinâmica do sistema como na capacidade de reproduzir características estatísticas e comportamentais do mercado financeiro. Neste artigo, são apresentadas a estrutura e a dinâmica do Jogo da Minoria, bem como as contribuições recentes relacionadas ao Jogo da Minoria denominado de Grande Canônico, que é um modelo mais bem ajustado às características do mercado financeiro e reproduz as regularidades estatísticas do preço dos ativos chamadas fatos estilizados.Over the past ten years physicists have made a significant contribution to the building of an agent-based model to reproduce the behavior of financial markets using computer simulation. This model, called the Minority Game, consists of a group of agents that buy or sell assets. They make decisions based on strategies, and through them the agents establish an intricate game of competition and coordination resulting in the distribution of wealth. The model has shown outstanding surprising results concerning both the dynamics of the system and the ability to reproduce statistical and behavior characteristics of the financial market. In this study, the structure and dynamics of the Minority Game and the recent contributions related to the Grand Canonical Minority game, a model which is better adapted to the characteristics of the financial market and reproduce the statistical regularities of asset prices (called

An Agent Based Approach for Project Management in Construction

OpenAIRE

Sencer, Safiye; Turgay, Tahsin

2013-01-01

Project management has an important role in terms of time, cost and flexibility. An agentbased architecture provides additional robustness, scalability, flexibility that is particularly appropriate for problems with a dynamic and distributed nature. Integrated agent based project management covers design and construction planning. It is combined with plan execution, tolerating both the design and plan, which may be changed as necessary. In this reason, the decision making process requires tha...

Strategies to Enhance Online Learning Teams. Team Assessment and Diagnostics Instrument and Agent-based Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-12

Strategies to Enhance Online Learning Teams Team Assessment and Diagnostics Instrument and Agent-based Modeling Tristan E. Johnson, Ph.D. Learning ...REPORT DATE AUG 2010 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2010 to 00-00-2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Strategies to Enhance Online Learning ...TeamsTeam Strategies to Enhance Online Learning Teams: Team Assessment and Diagnostics Instrument and Agent-based Modeling 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT

Comparing methods of targeting obesity interventions in populations: An agent-based simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Beheshti, Rahmatollah; Jalalpour, Mehdi; Glass, Thomas A

2017-12-01

Social networks as well as neighborhood environments have been shown to effect obesity-related behaviors including energy intake and physical activity. Accordingly, harnessing social networks to improve targeting of obesity interventions may be promising to the extent this leads to social multiplier effects and wider diffusion of intervention impact on populations. However, the literature evaluating network-based interventions has been inconsistent. Computational methods like agent-based models (ABM) provide researchers with tools to experiment in a simulated environment. We develop an ABM to compare conventional targeting methods (random selection, based on individual obesity risk, and vulnerable areas) with network-based targeting methods. We adapt a previously published and validated model of network diffusion of obesity-related behavior. We then build social networks among agents using a more realistic approach. We calibrate our model first against national-level data. Our results show that network-based targeting may lead to greater population impact. We also present a new targeting method that outperforms other methods in terms of intervention effectiveness at the population level.

Is the person-situation debate important for agent-based modeling and vice-versa?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron

Full Text Available Agent-based models (ABM are believed to be a very powerful tool in the social sciences, sometimes even treated as a substitute for social experiments. When building an ABM we have to define the agents and the rules governing the artificial society. Given the complexity and our limited understanding of the human nature, we face the problem of assuming that either personal traits, the situation or both have impact on the social behavior of agents. However, as the long-standing person-situation debate in psychology shows, there is no consensus as to the underlying psychological mechanism and the important question that arises is whether the modeling assumptions we make will have a substantial influence on the simulated behavior of the system as a whole or not.Studying two variants of the same agent-based model of opinion formation, we show that the decision to choose either personal traits or the situation as the primary factor driving social interactions is of critical importance. Using Monte Carlo simulations (for Barabasi-Albert networks and analytic calculations (for a complete graph we provide evidence that assuming a person-specific response to social influence at the microscopic level generally leads to a completely different and less realistic aggregate or macroscopic behavior than an assumption of a situation-specific response; a result that has been reported by social psychologists for a range of experimental setups, but has been downplayed or ignored in the opinion dynamics literature.This sensitivity to modeling assumptions has far reaching consequences also beyond opinion dynamics, since agent-based models are becoming a popular tool among economists and policy makers and are often used as substitutes of real social experiments.

An Agent-Based Model of New Venture Creation: Conceptual Design for Simulating Entrepreneurship

Science.gov (United States)

Provance, Mike; Collins, Andrew; Carayannis, Elias

2012-01-01

There is a growing debate over the means by which regions can foster the growth of entrepreneurial activity in order to stimulate recovery and growth of their economies. On one side, agglomeration theory suggests the regions grow because of strong clusters that foster knowledge spillover locally; on the other side, the entrepreneurial action camp argues that innovative business models are generated by entrepreneurs with unique market perspectives who draw on knowledge from more distant domains. We will show you the design for a novel agent-based model of new venture creation that will demonstrate the relationship between agglomeration and action. The primary focus of this model is information exchange as the medium for these agent interactions. Our modeling and simulation study proposes to reveal interesting relationships in these perspectives, offer a foundation on which these disparate theories from economics and sociology can find common ground, and expand the use of agent-based modeling into entrepreneurship research.

An Automated Negotiation-based Framework via Multi-Agent System for the Construction Domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moamin Mahmoud

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose an automated multi-agent negotiation framework for decision making in the construction domain. It enables software agents to conduct negotiations and autonomously make decisions. The proposed framework consists of two types of components, internal and external. Internal components are integrated into the agent architecture while the external components are blended within the environment to facilitate the negotiation process. The internal components are negotiation algorithm, negotiation style, negotiation protocol, and solution generators. The external components are the negotiation base and the conflict resolution algorithm. We also discuss the decision making process flow in such system. There are three main processes in decision making for specific projects, which are propose solutions, negotiate solutions and handling conflict outcomes (conflict resolution. We finally present the proposed architecture that enables software agents to conduct automated negotiation in the construction domain.

An agent-based approach equipped with game theory. Strategic collaboration among learning agents during a dynamic market change in the California electricity crisis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki [Department of Management, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States); Department of Industrial and Information Management, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan (China)

2010-09-15

An agent-based approach is a numerical (computer-intensive) method to explore the complex characteristics and dynamics of microeconomics. Using the agent-based approach, this study investigates the learning speed of traders and their strategic collaboration in a dynamic market change of electricity. An example of such a market change can be found in the California electricity crisis (2000-2001). This study incorporates the concept of partial reinforcement learning into trading agents and finds that they have two learning components: learning from a dynamic market change and learning from collaboration with other traders. The learning speed of traders becomes slow when a large fluctuation occurs in the power exchange market. The learning speed depends upon the type of traders, their learning capabilities and the fluctuation of market fundamentals. The degree of collaboration among traders gradually reduces during the electricity crisis. The strategic collaboration among traders is examined by a large simulator equipped with multiple learning capabilities. (author)

An agent-based approach equipped with game theory. Strategic collaboration among learning agents during a dynamic market change in the California electricity crisis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki

2010-01-01

An agent-based approach is a numerical (computer-intensive) method to explore the complex characteristics and dynamics of microeconomics. Using the agent-based approach, this study investigates the learning speed of traders and their strategic collaboration in a dynamic market change of electricity. An example of such a market change can be found in the California electricity crisis (2000-2001). This study incorporates the concept of partial reinforcement learning into trading agents and finds that they have two learning components: learning from a dynamic market change and learning from collaboration with other traders. The learning speed of traders becomes slow when a large fluctuation occurs in the power exchange market. The learning speed depends upon the type of traders, their learning capabilities and the fluctuation of market fundamentals. The degree of collaboration among traders gradually reduces during the electricity crisis. The strategic collaboration among traders is examined by a large simulator equipped with multiple learning capabilities. (author)

Easing the adoption of agent-based modelling (ABM) in tourism research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Johnson, Peter; Nicholls, Sarah; Student, Jillian; Amelung, Bas; Baggio, Rodolfo; Balbi, Stefano; Boavida-Portugal, Ines; Jong, de Eline; Hofstede, G.J.; Lamers, M.A.J.; Pons, Marc; Steiger, Robert

2017-01-01

Agent-based modelling (ABM) is an emerging approach in tourism research. Despite the natural fit between theories of tourism as a complex, interconnected system, and the generative approach supported in ABM, there has been only limited integration within mainstream tourism research. This research

Use of Agent Based Modelling to Investigate the Dynamics of Slum ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Urban planners and policy makers face challenges in effective management of slum ... slum characteristics using various remote sensing and artificial intelligence ... an empirically informed agent based prototype that can simulate future patterns ... The study incorporates physical, environmental, social and economic factors ...

Preference-based reasoning in BDI Agent Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visser, Simeon; Thangarajah, John; Harland, James; Dignum, F.P.M.

2016-01-01

An important feature of BDI agent systems is number of different ways in which an agent can achieve its goals. The choice of means to achieve the goal in made by the system at run time, depending on contextual information that is not available in advance. In this article, we explore ways that the

The Evolution of ICT Markets: An Agent-Based Model on Complex Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Liangjie; Wu, Bangtao; Chen, Zhong; Li, Li

Information and communication technology (ICT) products exhibit positive network effects.The dynamic process of ICT markets evolution has two intrinsic characteristics: (1) customers are influenced by each others’ purchasing decision; (2) customers are intelligent agents with bounded rationality.Guided by complex systems theory, we construct an agent-based model and simulate on complex networks to examine how the evolution can arise from the interaction of customers, which occur when they make expectations about the future installed base of a product by the fraction of neighbors who are using the same product in his personal network.We demonstrate that network effects play an important role in the evolution of markets share, which make even an inferior product can dominate the whole market.We also find that the intensity of customers’ communication can influence whether the best initial strategy for firms is to improve product quality or expand their installed base.

Gadolinium-based magnetic resonance contrast agents at 7 Tesla: in vitro T1 relaxivities in human blood plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Noebauer-Huhmann, Iris M; Szomolanyi, Pavol; Juras, Vladimír; Kraff, Oliver; Ladd, Mark E; Trattnig, Siegfried

2010-09-01

PURPOSE/INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine the T1 relaxivities (r1) of 8 gadolinium (Gd)-based MR contrast agents in human blood plasma at 7 Tesla, compared with 3 Tesla. Eight commercially available Gd-based MR contrast agents were diluted in human blood plasma to concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 mmol/L. In vitro measurements were performed at 37 degrees C, on a 7 Tesla and on a 3 Tesla whole-body magnetic resonance imaging scanner. For the determination of T1 relaxation times, Inversion Recovery Sequences with inversion times from 0 to 3500 ms were used. The relaxivities were calculated. The r1 relaxivities of all agents, diluted in human blood plasma at body temperature, were lower at 7 Tesla than at 3 Tesla. The values at 3 Tesla were comparable to those published earlier. Notably, in some agents, a minor negative correlation of r1 with a concentration of up to 2 mmol/L could be observed. This was most pronounced in the agents with the highest protein-binding capacity. At 7 Tesla, the in vitro r1 relaxivities of Gd-based contrast agents in human blood plasma are lower than those at 3 Tesla. This work may serve as a basis for the application of Gd-based MR contrast agents at 7 Tesla. Further studies are required to optimize the contrast agent dose in vivo.

A Computational Agent-Based Modeling Approach for Competitive Wireless Service Market

KAUST Repository

Douglas, C C

2011-04-01

Using an agent-based modeling method, we study market dynamism with regard to wireless cellular services that are in competition for a greater market share and profit. In the proposed model, service providers and consumers are described as agents who interact with each other and actively participate in an economically well-defined marketplace. Parameters of the model are optimized using the Levenberg-Marquardt method. The quantitative prediction capabilities of the proposed model are examined through data reproducibility using past data from the U.S. and Korean wireless service markets. Finally, we investigate a disruptive market event, namely the introduction of the iPhone into the U.S. in 2007 and the resulting changes in the modeling parameters. We predict and analyze the impacts of the introduction of the iPhone into the Korean wireless service market assuming a release date of 2Q09 based on earlier data. © 2011 IEEE.

Identification of walking human model using agent-based modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Shahabpoor, Erfan; Pavic, Aleksandar; Racic, Vitomir

2018-03-01

The interaction of walking people with large vibrating structures, such as footbridges and floors, in the vertical direction is an important yet challenging phenomenon to describe mathematically. Several different models have been proposed in the literature to simulate interaction of stationary people with vibrating structures. However, the research on moving (walking) human models, explicitly identified for vibration serviceability assessment of civil structures, is still sparse. In this study, the results of a comprehensive set of FRF-based modal tests were used, in which, over a hundred test subjects walked in different group sizes and walking patterns on a test structure. An agent-based model was used to simulate discrete traffic-structure interactions. The occupied structure modal parameters found in tests were used to identify the parameters of the walking individual's single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) mass-spring-damper model using 'reverse engineering' methodology. The analysis of the results suggested that the normal distribution with the average of μ = 2.85Hz and standard deviation of σ = 0.34Hz can describe human SDOF model natural frequency. Similarly, the normal distribution with μ = 0.295 and σ = 0.047 can describe the human model damping ratio. Compared to the previous studies, the agent-based modelling methodology proposed in this paper offers significant flexibility in simulating multi-pedestrian walking traffics, external forces and simulating different mechanisms of human-structure and human-environment interaction at the same time.

An Agent-Based Intervention to Assist Drivers Under Stereotype Threat: Effects of In-Vehicle Agents' Attributional Error Feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Joo, Yeon Kyoung; Lee-Won, Roselyn J

2016-10-01

For members of a group negatively stereotyped in a domain, making mistakes can aggravate the influence of stereotype threat because negative stereotypes often blame target individuals and attribute the outcome to their lack of ability. Virtual agents offering real-time error feedback may influence performance under stereotype threat by shaping the performers' attributional perception of errors they commit. We explored this possibility with female drivers, considering the prevalence of the "women-are-bad-drivers" stereotype. Specifically, we investigated how in-vehicle voice agents offering error feedback based on responsibility attribution (internal vs. external) and outcome attribution (ability vs. effort) influence female drivers' performance under stereotype threat. In addressing this question, we conducted an experiment in a virtual driving simulation environment that provided moment-to-moment error feedback messages. Participants performed a challenging driving task and made mistakes preprogrammed to occur. Results showed that the agent's error feedback with outcome attribution moderated the stereotype threat effect on driving performance. Participants under stereotype threat had a smaller number of collisions when the errors were attributed to effort than to ability. In addition, outcome attribution feedback moderated the effect of responsibility attribution on driving performance. Implications of these findings are discussed.

An agent-based model for integrated emotion regulation and contagion in socially affected decision making

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manzoor, A.; Treur, J.

2015-01-01

This paper addresses an agent-based computational social agent model for the integration of emotion regulation, emotion contagion and decision making in a social context. The model integrates emotion-related valuing, in order to analyse the role of emotions in socially affected decision making. The

Agent-Based Simulation and Assessment of NAS Security and Safety, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The key innovation proposed here is the use of agent-based modeling and simulation to evaluate the safety of the National Airspace under crisis operations and...

Using Agent Base Models to Optimize Large Scale Network for Large System Inventories

Science.gov (United States)

Shameldin, Ramez Ahmed; Bowling, Shannon R.

2010-01-01

The aim of this paper is to use Agent Base Models (ABM) to optimize large scale network handling capabilities for large system inventories and to implement strategies for the purpose of reducing capital expenses. The models used in this paper either use computational algorithms or procedure implementations developed by Matlab to simulate agent based models in a principal programming language and mathematical theory using clusters, these clusters work as a high performance computational performance to run the program in parallel computational. In both cases, a model is defined as compilation of a set of structures and processes assumed to underlie the behavior of a network system.

Advanced Contrast Agents for Multimodal Biomedical Imaging Based on Nanotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Calle, Daniel; Ballesteros, Paloma; Cerdán, Sebastián

2018-01-01

Clinical imaging modalities have reached a prominent role in medical diagnosis and patient management in the last decades. Different image methodologies as Positron Emission Tomography, Single Photon Emission Tomography, X-Rays, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging are in continuous evolution to satisfy the increasing demands of current medical diagnosis. Progress in these methodologies has been favored by the parallel development of increasingly more powerful contrast agents. These are molecules that enhance the intrinsic contrast of the images in the tissues where they accumulate, revealing noninvasively the presence of characteristic molecular targets or differential physiopathological microenvironments. The contrast agent field is currently moving to improve the performance of these molecules by incorporating the advantages that modern nanotechnology offers. These include, mainly, the possibilities to combine imaging and therapeutic capabilities over the same theranostic platform or improve the targeting efficiency in vivo by molecular engineering of the nanostructures. In this review, we provide an introduction to multimodal imaging methods in biomedicine, the sub-nanometric imaging agents previously used and the development of advanced multimodal and theranostic imaging agents based in nanotechnology. We conclude providing some illustrative examples from our own laboratories, including recent progress in theranostic formulations of magnetoliposomes containing ω-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids to treat inflammatory diseases, or the use of stealth liposomes engineered with a pH-sensitive nanovalve to release their cargo specifically in the acidic extracellular pH microenvironment of tumors.

A new approach in the preparation of dendrimer-based bifunctional diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid MR contrast agent derivatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Nwe, Kido; Xu, Heng; Regino, Celeste Aida S; Bernardo, Marcelino; Ileva, Lilia; Riffle, Lisa; Wong, Karen J; Brechbiel, Martin W

2009-07-01

In this paper, we report a new method to prepare and characterize a contrast agent based on a fourth-generation (G4) polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer conjugated to the gadolinium complex of the bifunctional diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid derivative (1B4M-DTPA). The method involves preforming the metal-ligand chelate in alcohol prior to conjugation to the dendrimer. The dendrimer-based agent was purified by a Sephadex G-25 column and characterized by elemental analysis. The analysis and SE-HPLC data gave a chelate to dendrimer ratio of 30:1 suggesting conjugation at approximately every other amine terminal on the dendrimer. Molar relaxivity of the agent measured at pH 7.4 displayed a higher value than that of the analogous G4 dendrimer based agent prepared by the postmetal incorporation method (r(1) = 26.9 vs 13.9 mM(-1) s(-1) at 3 T and 22 degrees C). This is hypothesized to be due to the higher hydrophobicity of this conjugate and the lack of available charged carboxylate groups from noncomplexed free ligands that might coordinate to the metal and thus also reduce water exchange sites. Additionally, the distribution populations of compounds that result from the postmetal incorporation route are eliminated from the current product simplifying characterization as quality control issues pertaining to the production of such agents for clinical use as MR contrast agents. In vivo imaging in mice showed a reasonably fast clearance (t(1/2) = 24 min) suggesting a viable agent for use in clinical application.

An agent-based legal knowledge acquisition methodology for agile public administration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boer, A.; van Engers, T.

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a knowledge elicitation method based on serious gaming for theory construction about the effects of the law on the behaviours of agents. These games provide input to simulations of business process and product design alternatives. For knowledge representation, we have combined

Agent-based Modeling Automated: Data-driven Generation of Innovation Diffusion Models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jensen, T.; Chappin, E.J.L.

2016-01-01

Simulation modeling is useful to gain insights into driving mechanisms of diffusion of innovations. This study aims to introduce automation to make identification of such mechanisms with agent-based simulation modeling less costly in time and labor. We present a novel automation procedure in which

Investment in the future electricity system - An agent-based modelling approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kraan, O.; Kramer, G. J.; Nikolic, I.

2018-01-01

Now that renewable technologies are both technically and commercially mature, the imperfect rational behaviour of investors becomes a critical factor in the future success of the energy transition. Here, we take an agent-based approach to model investor decision making in the electricity sector

AJAN TABANLI MODELLEME VE HESAPLAMALI İKTİSAT - AGENT-BASED MODELLING AND COMPUTATIONAL ECONOMICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emrah KELEŞ

2014-07-01

Full Text Available ÖzetRasyonellik ve homojenlik varsayımları ile iktisadi ajanlar arasındaki etkileşimi göz ardı eden temsiliajan yaklaşımı, dinamik stokastik genel denge modellerine dayanan yerleşik iktisada duyulan güveninazalmasına yol açmıştır. 1990’ların sonlarından itibaren ajan tabanlı hesaplamalı yaklaşım finansal iktisat,endüstriyel organizasyon, makro iktisat, politik iktisat ve iktiadi ağ oluşumu başta olmak üzere sosyalbilimlerde yaygınlaşmaya başlamıştır. Son olarak 2008 küresel finansal kriz yerleşik, iktisadın dahayüksek sesle tartışılmasına ve ajan tabanlı yaklaşımın daha çok benimsenmesine neden olmuştur. Bu yeniyaklaşım araştırmacılara pasif haldeki fiziksel varlıklardan durumları, inanışları ve davranış kuralları olanaktif karar alıcılara kadar çeşitli ajanların bulunduğu yapay bir dünya kurmalarına imkân vermektedir.Bu yapay dünyalarda ajanların birbirleriyle ya da çevreleriyle etkileşimi onların adaptif (uyarlanabilirolmasına ve kompleks adaptif bir sistem meydana getirmelerine izin vermektedir. Bu çalışmada, ajantabanlı yaklaşımın temel unsurlarının incelenmesi ve DSGE modellerine göre üstünlüklerinin gösterilmesiamaçlanmıştır.AbstractAssumptions of rationality and homogeneity, and framework of representative agent that rule out interactionsbetween agents have led to a decline in confidence to mainstream economics based on dynamicstochastic equilibrium models. Starting from late 1990s, agent-based computational approach has becomeincreasingly popular in social sciences, especially in financial economics, industrial organization, macroeconomics,political economy, and economic network formation. Finally, 2008 global financial crisis hascaused mainstream to be argued loudly and agent-based approach to be adopted more. This new approachenables researchers to construct artificial worlds where various agents ranging from passive entities to active

AJAN TABANLI MODELLEME VE HESAPLAMALI İKTİSAT - AGENT-BASED MODELLING AND COMPUTATIONAL ECONOMICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emrah KELEŞ

2014-08-01

Full Text Available ÖzetRasyonellik ve homojenlik varsayımları ile iktisadi ajanlar arasındaki etkileşimi göz ardı eden temsiliajan yaklaşımı, dinamik stokastik genel denge modellerine dayanan yerleşik iktisada duyulan güveninazalmasına yol açmıştır. 1990’ların sonlarından itibaren ajan tabanlı hesaplamalı yaklaşım finansal iktisat,endüstriyel organizasyon, makro iktisat, politik iktisat ve iktiadi ağ oluşumu başta olmak üzere sosyalbilimlerde yaygınlaşmaya başlamıştır. Son olarak 2008 küresel finansal kriz yerleşik, iktisadın dahayüksek sesle tartışılmasına ve ajan tabanlı yaklaşımın daha çok benimsenmesine neden olmuştur. Bu yeniyaklaşım araştırmacılara pasif haldeki fiziksel varlıklardan durumları, inanışları ve davranış kuralları olanaktif karar alıcılara kadar çeşitli ajanların bulunduğu yapay bir dünya kurmalarına imkân vermektedir.Bu yapay dünyalarda ajanların birbirleriyle ya da çevreleriyle etkileşimi onların adaptif (uyarlanabilirolmasına ve kompleks adaptif bir sistem meydana getirmelerine izin vermektedir. Bu çalışmada, ajantabanlı yaklaşımın temel unsurlarının incelenmesi ve DSGE modellerine göre üstünlüklerinin gösterilmesiamaçlanmıştır.AbstractAssumptions of rationality and homogeneity, and framework of representative agent that rule out interactionsbetween agents have led to a decline in confidence to mainstream economics based on dynamicstochastic equilibrium models. Starting from late 1990s, agent-based computational approach has becomeincreasingly popular in social sciences, especially in financial economics, industrial organization, macroeconomics,political economy, and economic network formation. Finally, 2008 global financial crisis hascaused mainstream to be argued loudly and agent-based approach to be adopted more. This new approachenables researchers to construct artificial worlds where various agents ranging from passive entities to active

SETH: A Hierarchical, Agent-based Architecture for Smart Spaces

OpenAIRE

Marsá Maestre, Iván

2008-01-01

The ultimate goal of any smart environment is to release users from the tasks they usually perform to achieve comfort, efficiency, and service personalization. To achieve this goal, we propose to use multiagent systems. In this report we describe the SETH architectur: a hierarchical, agent-based solution intended to be applicable to different smart space scenarios, ranging from small environments, like smart homes or smart offices, to large smart spaces like cities.

Policy based Agents in Wireless Body Sensor Mesh Networks for Patient Health Monitoring

OpenAIRE

Kevin Miller; Suresh Sankaranarayanan

2009-01-01

There is presently considerable research interest in using wireless and mobile technologies in patient health monitoring particularly in hospitals and nursing homes. For health monitoring,, an intelligent agent based hierarchical architecture has already been published by one of the authors of this paper. Also, the technique of monitoring and notifying the health of patients using an intelligent agent, to the concerned hospital personnel, has also been proposed. We now present the details of ...

Mesoscopic effects in an agent-based bargaining model in regular lattices.

Science.gov (United States)

Poza, David J; Santos, José I; Galán, José M; López-Paredes, Adolfo

2011-03-09

The effect of spatial structure has been proved very relevant in repeated games. In this work we propose an agent based model where a fixed finite population of tagged agents play iteratively the Nash demand game in a regular lattice. The model extends the multiagent bargaining model by Axtell, Epstein and Young modifying the assumption of global interaction. Each agent is endowed with a memory and plays the best reply against the opponent's most frequent demand. We focus our analysis on the transient dynamics of the system, studying by computer simulation the set of states in which the system spends a considerable fraction of the time. The results show that all the possible persistent regimes in the global interaction model can also be observed in this spatial version. We also find that the mesoscopic properties of the interaction networks that the spatial distribution induces in the model have a significant impact on the diffusion of strategies, and can lead to new persistent regimes different from those found in previous research. In particular, community structure in the intratype interaction networks may cause that communities reach different persistent regimes as a consequence of the hindering diffusion effect of fluctuating agents at their borders.

Mesoscopic effects in an agent-based bargaining model in regular lattices.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David J Poza

Full Text Available The effect of spatial structure has been proved very relevant in repeated games. In this work we propose an agent based model where a fixed finite population of tagged agents play iteratively the Nash demand game in a regular lattice. The model extends the multiagent bargaining model by Axtell, Epstein and Young modifying the assumption of global interaction. Each agent is endowed with a memory and plays the best reply against the opponent's most frequent demand. We focus our analysis on the transient dynamics of the system, studying by computer simulation the set of states in which the system spends a considerable fraction of the time. The results show that all the possible persistent regimes in the global interaction model can also be observed in this spatial version. We also find that the mesoscopic properties of the interaction networks that the spatial distribution induces in the model have a significant impact on the diffusion of strategies, and can lead to new persistent regimes different from those found in previous research. In particular, community structure in the intratype interaction networks may cause that communities reach different persistent regimes as a consequence of the hindering diffusion effect of fluctuating agents at their borders.

Agent-based Decentralization of Applications in Distributed Smart Grid Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kienesberger, Georg; Xypolytou, Evangelia; Marchgraber, Jurgen

2015-01-01

systems (DMACS) and aims to give an overview on the different requirements and challenges on the way from current centralized control systems to DMACS. Therefore, different ICT scenarios and MAS topologies are employed to discuss the decentralization of three exemplary smart grid applications: voltage......Smart grid technology promises to prepare today’s power systems for the challenges of the future by extensive integration of information and communication technology (ICT). One key aspect is the control paradigm which will have to be shifted from completely centralized control systems to more...... dezentralized concepts in order to adapt to the distributed nature of smart grids. Multi-agent systems (MAS) are a very promising approach for designing distributed, decentralized systems, naturally also in the field of smart grids. This work introduces the notion of decentralized multi-agent-based control...

Simulating GenCo bidding strategies in electricity markets with an agent-based model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Botterud, Audun; Thimmapuram, Prakash R.; Yamakado, Malo

2005-01-01

In this paper we use an agent-based simulation model, EMCAS, to analyze market power in electricity markets. We focus on the effect of congestion management on the ability of generating companies (GenCos) to raise prices beyond competitive levels. An 11-node test power system is used to compare a market design based on locational marginal pricing with a market design that uses system marginal pricing and congestion management by counter trading. Bidding strategies based on both physical and economic withholding are compared to a base case with production cost bidding. The results show that unilateral market power is exercised under both pricing mechanisms. However, the largest changes in consumer costs and GenCo profits due to strategic bidding occur under the locational marginal pricing scheme. The analysis also illustrates that agent-based modeling can contribute important insights into the complex interactions between the participants in transmission-constrained electricity markets. (Author)

Agent-Oriented Embedded Control System Design and Development of a Vision-Based Automated Guided Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Xing

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a control system design and development approach for a vision-based automated guided vehicle (AGV based on the multi-agent system (MAS methodology and embedded system resources. A three-phase agent-oriented design methodology Prometheus is used to analyse system functions, construct operation scenarios, define agent types and design the MAS coordination mechanism. The control system is then developed in an embedded implementation containing a digital signal processor (DSP and an advanced RISC machine (ARM by using the multitasking processing capacity of multiple microprocessors and system services of a real-time operating system (RTOS. As a paradigm, an onboard embedded controller is designed and developed for the AGV with a camera detecting guiding landmarks, and the entire procedure has a high efficiency and a clear hierarchy. A vision guidance experiment for our AGV is carried out in a space-limited laboratory environment to verify the perception capacity and the onboard intelligence of the agent-oriented embedded control system.

An agent-based model for energy service companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, Marguerite; Varga, Liz; Allen, Peter

2015-01-01

Highlights: • An agent-based model for household energy efficiency upgrades is considered. • Energy service companies provide an alternative to traditional utility providers. • Household self-financing is a limiting factor to widespread efficiency upgrading. • Longer term service contracts can lead to reduced household energy costs. • Future energy price increases enable service providers to retain their customer base. - Abstract: The residential housing sector is a major consumer of energy accounting for approximately one third of carbon emissions in the United Kingdom. Achieving a sustainable, low-carbon infrastructure necessitates a reduced and more efficient use of domestic energy supplies. Energy service companies offer an alternative to traditional providers, which supply a single utility product to satisfy the unconstrained demand of end users, and have been identified as a potentially important actor in sustainable future economies. An agent-based model is developed to examine the potential of energy service companies to contribute to the large scale upgrading of household energy efficiency, which would ultimately lead to a more sustainable and secure energy infrastructure. The migration of households towards energy service companies is described by an attractiveness array, through which potential customers can evaluate the future benefits, in terms of household energy costs, of changing provider. It is shown that self-financing is a limiting factor to the widespread upgrading of residential energy efficiency. Greater reductions in household energy costs could be achieved by committing to longer term contracts, allowing upgrade costs to be distributed over greater time intervals. A steadily increasing cost of future energy usage lends an element of stability to the market, with energy service companies displaying the ability to retain customers on contract expiration. The model highlights how a greater focus on the provision of energy services, as

Evaluating the effect of human activity patterns on air pollution exposure using an integrated field-based and agent-based modelling framework

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, Oliver; Beelen, Rob M. J.; de Bakker, Merijn P.; Karssenberg, Derek

2015-04-01

Constructing spatio-temporal numerical models to support risk assessment, such as assessing the exposure of humans to air pollution, often requires the integration of field-based and agent-based modelling approaches. Continuous environmental variables such as air pollution are best represented using the field-based approach which considers phenomena as continuous fields having attribute values at all locations. When calculating human exposure to such pollutants it is, however, preferable to consider the population as a set of individuals each with a particular activity pattern. This would allow to account for the spatio-temporal variation in a pollutant along the space-time paths travelled by individuals, determined, for example, by home and work locations, road network, and travel times. Modelling this activity pattern requires an agent-based or individual based modelling approach. In general, field- and agent-based models are constructed with the help of separate software tools, while both approaches should play together in an interacting way and preferably should be combined into one modelling framework, which would allow for efficient and effective implementation of models by domain specialists. To overcome this lack in integrated modelling frameworks, we aim at the development of concepts and software for an integrated field-based and agent-based modelling framework. Concepts merging field- and agent-based modelling were implemented by extending PCRaster (http://www.pcraster.eu), a field-based modelling library implemented in C++, with components for 1) representation of discrete, mobile, agents, 2) spatial networks and algorithms by integrating the NetworkX library (http://networkx.github.io), allowing therefore to calculate e.g. shortest routes or total transport costs between locations, and 3) functions for field-network interactions, allowing to assign field-based attribute values to networks (i.e. as edge weights), such as aggregated or averaged

Agent-based modeling and simulation of clean heating system adoption in Norway

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sopha, Bertha Maya

2011-03-15

A sound climate policy encouraging clean energy investment is important to mitigate global warming. Previous research has demonstrated that consumer choice indeed plays an important role in adoption of sustainable technologies. This thesis strives to gain a better understanding of consumers' decision-making on heating systems and to explore the potential application of agent-based modeling (ABM) in exploring mechanism underlying adoption in which heating system adoption by Norwegian households is taken up as a case study. An interdisciplinary approach, applying various established theories including those of psychology, is applied to create a model for consumer behavior and implement this behavior in an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to simulate heating technology diffusion. A mail-survey, carried out in autumn 2008, is a means to collect information for parameterizing the agent-based model, for gaining empirical facts, and for validating the developed model at micro-level. Survey sample consisted of 1500 Norwegian households drawn from population register and 1500 wood pellet users in Norway. The response rates were 10.3% and 34.6% for population sample and wood pellet sample respectively. This study is divided into two parts; empirical analysis and agent-based simulation. The empirical analysis aims at fully understanding the important aspects of adoption decision and their implications, in order to assist simulation. The analysis particularly contributes to the identification of differences/similarities between adopters and non adopters of wood pellet heating with respects to some key points of adoption derived from different theories, psychological factors underlying the adoption-decision of wood pellet heating, and the rationales underlying Norwegian households' decisions regarding their future heating system. The simulation study aims at exploring the mechanism of heterogeneous household decision-making giving rise to the diffusion of heating systems, and

Chitosan-Based Coating with Antimicrobial Agents: Preparation, Property, Mechanism, and Application Effectiveness on Fruits and Vegetables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yage Xing

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Chitosan coating is beneficial to maintaining the storage quality and prolonging the shelf life of postharvest fruits and vegetables, which is always used as the carrier film for the antimicrobial agents. This review focuses on the preparation, property, mechanism, and application effectiveness on the fruits and vegetables of chitosan-based coating with antimicrobial agents. Chitosan, derived by deacetylation of chitin, is a modified and natural biopolymer as the coating material. In this article, the safety and biocompatible and antimicrobial properties of chitosan were introduced because these attributes are very important for its application. The methods to prepare the chitosan-based coating with antimicrobial agents, such as essential oils, acid, and nanoparticles, were developed by other researchers. Meanwhile, the application of chitosan-based coating is mainly due to its antimicrobial activity and other functional properties, which were investigated, introduced, and analyzed in this review. Furthermore, the surface and mechanical properties were also investigated by researchers and concluded in this article. Finally, the effects of chitosan-based coating on the storage quality, microbial safety, and shelf life of fruits and vegetables were introduced. Their results indicated that chitosan-based coating with different antimicrobial agents would probably have wide prospect in the preservation of fruits and vegetables in the future.

An Adaptive Agent-Based Model of Homing Pigeons: A Genetic Algorithm Approach

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Francis Oloo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Conventionally, agent-based modelling approaches start from a conceptual model capturing the theoretical understanding of the systems of interest. Simulation outcomes are then used “at the end” to validate the conceptual understanding. In today’s data rich era, there are suggestions that models should be data-driven. Data-driven workflows are common in mathematical models. However, their application to agent-based models is still in its infancy. Integration of real-time sensor data into modelling workflows opens up the possibility of comparing simulations against real data during the model run. Calibration and validation procedures thus become automated processes that are iteratively executed during the simulation. We hypothesize that incorporation of real-time sensor data into agent-based models improves the predictive ability of such models. In particular, that such integration results in increasingly well calibrated model parameters and rule sets. In this contribution, we explore this question by implementing a flocking model that evolves in real-time. Specifically, we use genetic algorithms approach to simulate representative parameters to describe flight routes of homing pigeons. The navigation parameters of pigeons are simulated and dynamically evaluated against emulated GPS sensor data streams and optimised based on the fitness of candidate parameters. As a result, the model was able to accurately simulate the relative-turn angles and step-distance of homing pigeons. Further, the optimised parameters could replicate loops, which are common patterns in flight tracks of homing pigeons. Finally, the use of genetic algorithms in this study allowed for a simultaneous data-driven optimization and sensitivity analysis.

The use of innovative gadolinium-based contrast agent for MR-diagnosis of cancer in the experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chernov, V; Medvedeva, A; Sinilkin, I; Zelchan, R; Grigorev, E; Frolova, I; Nam, I

2016-01-01

The present study of the functional suitability and specific activity of the contrast agent gadolinium-based for magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated that the investigated contrast agent intensively accumulates in organs and anatomical structures of the experimental animals. In the model of tumor lesions in animals, study have shown that investigational contrast agent accumulates in the tumor tissue and retained there in for a long enough time. (paper)

Linking Bayesian and agent-based models to simulate complex social-ecological systems in semi-arid regions

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Aloah J Pope

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Interdependencies of ecologic, hydrologic, and social systems challenge traditional approaches to natural resource management in semi-arid regions. As a complex social-ecological system, water demands in the Sonoran Desert from agricultural and urban users often conflicts with water needs for its ecologically-significant riparian corridors. To explore this system, we developed an agent-based model to simulate complex feedbacks between human decisions and environmental conditions in the Rio Sonora Watershed. Cognitive mapping in conjunction with stakeholder participation produced a Bayesian model of conditional probabilities of local human decision-making processes resulting to changes in water demand. Probabilities created in the Bayesian model were incorporated into the agent-based model, so that each agent had a unique probability to make a positive decision based on its perceived environment at each point in time and space. By using a Bayesian approach, uncertainty in the human decision-making process could be incorporated. The spatially-explicit agent-based model simulated changes in depth-to-groundwater by well pumping based on an agent’s water demand. Changes in depth-to-groundwater feedback to influence agent behavior, as well as determine unique vegetation classes within the riparian corridor. Each vegetation class then provides varying stakeholder-defined quality values of ecosystem services. Using this modeling approach allowed us to examine effects on both the ecological and social system of semi-arid riparian corridors under various scenarios. The insight provided by the model contributes to understanding how specific interventions may alter the complex social-ecological system in the future.

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

Carbon allowance auction design of China's emissions trading scheme: A multi-agent-based approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, Ling; Wu, Jiaqian; Yu, Lean; Bao, Qin

2017-01-01

In this paper, a multi-agent-based ETS simulation model is proposed for carbon allowance auction design in China. In the proposed model, two main agents, i.e., the government (the ETS implementer) and the firms in different sectors (the ETS targets), are considered. Under the ETS policy, all agents make various decisions individually according to their own goals, and interact with each other through three main markets: the commodity market, the primary carbon auction market and the secondary carbon trading market. Different popular auction designs are introduced into the ETS formulation to offer helpful insights into China's ETS design. (1) Generally, the ETS would lead to positive effects on China's carbon mitigation and energy structure improvement, but a negative impact on economy. (2) As for auction forms, the uniform-price design is relatively moderate, while the discriminative-price design is quite aggressive in both economic damage and emissions reduction. (3) As for carbon price, the uniform-price auction might generate a slightly higher market clearing price than the discriminative-price auction, and the prices under two auction rules fluctuate about RMB 40 per metric ton. (4) As for carbon cap, the total allowances in the carbon auction market should be carefully set to well balance economic growth and mitigation effect. - Highlights: • A multi-agent-based model is proposed for China's emissions trading scheme (ETS). • Two main economic agents are included: government and firms in different sectors. • Auction-based allocation for initial carbon allowances is especially investigated. • Economic and environmental impacts of different auction designs are analyzed. • Results confirm the validity of the model and give helpful insights into ETS design.

Cognitive Modeling for Agent-Based Simulation of Child Maltreatment

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaolin; Puddy, Richard

This paper extends previous work to develop cognitive modeling for agent-based simulation of child maltreatment (CM). The developed model is inspired from parental efficacy, parenting stress, and the theory of planned behavior. It provides an explanatory, process-oriented model of CM and incorporates causality relationship and feedback loops from different factors in the social ecology in order for simulating the dynamics of CM. We describe the model and present simulation results to demonstrate the features of this model.

Traders’ Networks of Interactions and Structural Properties of Financial Markets: An Agent-Based Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda Ponta

2018-01-01

Full Text Available An information-based multiasset artificial stock market characterized by different types of stocks and populated by heterogeneous agents is presented and studied so as to determine the influences of agents’ networks on the market’s structure. Agents are organized in networks that are responsible for the formation of the sentiments of the agents. In the market, agents trade risky assets in exchange for cash and share their sentiments by means of interactions that are determined by sparsely connected graphs. A central market maker (clearing house mechanism determines the price process for each stock at the intersection of the demand and the supply curves. A set of market’s structure indicators based on the main single-assets and multiassets stylized facts have been defined, in order to study the effects of the agents’ networks. Results point out an intrinsic structural resilience of the stock market. In fact, the network is necessary in order to archive the ability to reproduce the main stylized facts, but also the market has some characteristics that are independent from the network and depend on the finiteness of traders’ wealth.

Simulation based on intelligent agents of the process of negotiation of the electric power market in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pastrana David, Maria Marcela; Guzman Luna, Jaime A; Ovalle Carranza, Demetrio Arturo

2005-01-01

The aim of this paper is describing the phases of analyzing, designing, building and validation of a multi-agent system to simulate the negotiation process of Colombian electric energy market. This project intent to exhibit advantages of multi-agent systems to model simulation processes. Analysis and design phases use MAS-common KADS rnethodology, which is one of the well known for agent-based system modeling. For this purpose, it is modeled the part of negotiation process among market human agents, which is representing by energy buying and selling among energy generators, commercial agents, and consumers

Ferro-based derivatizing agents for LC/MS an LC/EC/MS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seiwert, Bettina

2007-01-01

Within this thesis, the development and application of ferrocene-based derivatizing agents for LC/MS and LC/EC/MS is presented. The advantages of derivatization by ferrocenes are the similtaneous introduction of a mass tag and an electroactive group, which make them ideally suited for LC/MS and

Modeling investor sentiment and overconfidence in an agent-based stock market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lovric, M.; Kaymak, U.; Spronk, J.

2010-01-01

Agent-based stock markets as bottom-up models of financial markets allow us to study the link between individual investor behavior and aggregate market phenomena, and as such are a useful tool for investigating the implications of behavioral finance and investor psychology. In this paper we want to

Recent progress in econophysics: Chaos, leverage, and business cycles as revealed by agent-based modeling and human experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Xin, Chen; Huang, Ji-Ping

2017-12-01

Agent-based modeling and controlled human experiments serve as two fundamental research methods in the field of econophysics. Agent-based modeling has been in development for over 20 years, but how to design virtual agents with high levels of human-like "intelligence" remains a challenge. On the other hand, experimental econophysics is an emerging field; however, there is a lack of experience and paradigms related to the field. Here, we review some of the most recent research results obtained through the use of these two methods concerning financial problems such as chaos, leverage, and business cycles. We also review the principles behind assessments of agents' intelligence levels, and some relevant designs for human experiments. The main theme of this review is to show that by combining theory, agent-based modeling, and controlled human experiments, one can garner more reliable and credible results on account of a better verification of theory; accordingly, this way, a wider range of economic and financial problems and phenomena can be studied.

Recent progress in econophysics: Chaos, leverage,and business cycles as revealed by agent-based modeling and human experiments

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Chen Xin; Ji-Ping Huang

2017-01-01

Agent-based modeling and controlled human experiments serve as two fundamental research methods in the field of econophysics.Agent-based modeling has been in development for over 20 years,but how to design virtual agents with high levels of human-like "intelligence" remains a challenge.On the other hand,experimental econophysics is an emerging field;however,there is a lack of experience and paradigms related to the field.Here,we review some of the most recent research results obtained through the use of these two methods concerning financial problems such as chaos,leverage,and business cycles.We also review the principles behind assessments of agents' intelligence levels,and some relevant designs for human experiments.The main theme of this review is to show that by combining theory,agent-based modeling,and controlled human experiments,one can garner more reliable and credible results on account of a better verification of theory;accordingly,this way,a wider range of economic and financial problems and phenomena can be studied.

Pediatric Patients Demonstrate Progressive T1-Weighted Hyperintensity in the Dentate Nucleus following Multiple Doses of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agent.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, D R; Chatterjee, A R; Yazdani, M; Marebwa, B; Brown, T; Collins, H; Bolles, G; Jenrette, J M; Nietert, P J; Zhu, X

2016-12-01

While there have been recent reports of brain retention of gadolinium following gadolinium-based contrast agent administration in adults, a retrospective series of pediatric patients has not previously been reported, to our knowledge. We investigated the relationship between the number of prior gadolinium-based contrast agent doses and increasing T1 signal in the dentate nucleus on unenhanced T1-weighted MR imaging. We hypothesized that despite differences in pediatric physiology and the smaller gadolinium-based contrast agent doses that pediatric patients are typically administered based on weighted-adjusted dosing, the pediatric brain would also demonstrate dose-dependent increasing T1 signal in the dentate nucleus. We included children with multiple gadolinium-based contrast agent administrations at our institution. A blinded reader placed ROIs within the dentate nucleus and adjacent cerebellar white matter. To eliminate reader bias, we also performed automated ROI delineation of the dentate nucleus, cerebellar white matter, and pons. Dentate-to-cerebellar white matter and dentate-to pons ratios were compared with the number of gadolinium-based contrast agent administrations. During 20 years at our institution, 280 patients received at least 5 gadolinium-based contrast agent doses, with 1 patient receiving 38 doses. Sixteen patients met the inclusion/exclusion criteria for ROI analysis. Blinded reader dentate-to-cerebellar white matter ratios were significantly associated with gadolinium-based contrast agent doses (r s = 0.77, P = .001). The dentate-to-pons ratio and dentate-to-cerebellar white matter ratios based on automated ROI placement were also significantly correlated with gadolinium-based contrast agent doses (t = 4.98, P contrast agent doses is significantly correlated with progressive T1-weighted dentate hyperintensity. Definitive confirmation of gadolinium deposition requires tissue analysis. Any potential clinical sequelae of gadolinium retention in

An agent-based analysis of the German electricity market with transmission capacity constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veit, Daniel J.; Weidlich, Anke; Krafft, Jacob A.

2009-01-01

While some agent-based models have been developed for analyzing the German electricity market, there has been little research done on the emerging issue of intra-German congestion and its effects on the bidding behavior of generator agents. Yet, studies of other markets have shown that transmission grid constraints considerably affect strategic behavior in electricity markets. In this paper, the implications of transmission constraints on power markets are analyzed for the case of Germany. Market splitting is applied in the case of congestion in the grid. For this purpose, the agent-based modeling of electricity systems (AMES) market package developed by Sun and Tesfatsion is modified to fit the German context, including a detailed representation of the German high-voltage grid and its interconnections. Implications of transmission constraints on prices and social welfare are analyzed for scenarios that include strategic behavior of market participants and high wind power generation. It can be shown that strategic behavior and transmission constraints are inter-related and may pose severe problems in the future German electricity market.

An agent-based analysis of the German electricity market with transmission capacity constraints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veit, Daniel J.; Weidlich, Anke; Krafft, Jacob A. [University of Mannheim, Dieter Schwarz Chair of Business Administration, E-Business and E-Government, 68131 Mannheim (Germany)

2009-10-15

While some agent-based models have been developed for analyzing the German electricity market, there has been little research done on the emerging issue of intra-German congestion and its effects on the bidding behavior of generator agents. Yet, studies of other markets have shown that transmission grid constraints considerably affect strategic behavior in electricity markets. In this paper, the implications of transmission constraints on power markets are analyzed for the case of Germany. Market splitting is applied in the case of congestion in the grid. For this purpose, the agent-based modeling of electricity systems (AMES) market package developed by Sun and Tesfatsion is modified to fit the German context, including a detailed representation of the German high-voltage grid and its interconnections. Implications of transmission constraints on prices and social welfare are analyzed for scenarios that include strategic behavior of market participants and high wind power generation. It can be shown that strategic behavior and transmission constraints are inter-related and may pose severe problems in the future German electricity market. (author)

Strategic directions for agent-based modeling: avoiding the YAAWN syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Sullivan, David; Evans, Tom; Manson, Steven; Metcalf, Sara; Ligmann-Zielinska, Arika; Bone, Chris

In this short communication, we examine how agent-based modeling has become common in land change science and is increasingly used to develop case studies for particular times and places. There is a danger that the research community is missing a prime opportunity to learn broader lessons from the use of agent-based modeling (ABM), or at the very least not sharing these lessons more widely. How do we find an appropriate balance between empirically rich, realistic models and simpler theoretically grounded models? What are appropriate and effective approaches to model evaluation in light of uncertainties not only in model parameters but also in model structure? How can we best explore hybrid model structures that enable us to better understand the dynamics of the systems under study, recognizing that no single approach is best suited to this task? Under what circumstances - in terms of model complexity, model evaluation, and model structure - can ABMs be used most effectively to lead to new insight for stakeholders? We explore these questions in the hope of helping the growing community of land change scientists using models in their research to move from 'yet another model' to doing better science with models.

Linking agent-based models and stochastic models of financial markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Ling; Li, Baowen; Podobnik, Boris; Preis, Tobias; Stanley, H Eugene

2012-05-29

It is well-known that financial asset returns exhibit fat-tailed distributions and long-term memory. These empirical features are the main objectives of modeling efforts using (i) stochastic processes to quantitatively reproduce these features and (ii) agent-based simulations to understand the underlying microscopic interactions. After reviewing selected empirical and theoretical evidence documenting the behavior of traders, we construct an agent-based model to quantitatively demonstrate that "fat" tails in return distributions arise when traders share similar technical trading strategies and decisions. Extending our behavioral model to a stochastic model, we derive and explain a set of quantitative scaling relations of long-term memory from the empirical behavior of individual market participants. Our analysis provides a behavioral interpretation of the long-term memory of absolute and squared price returns: They are directly linked to the way investors evaluate their investments by applying technical strategies at different investment horizons, and this quantitative relationship is in agreement with empirical findings. Our approach provides a possible behavioral explanation for stochastic models for financial systems in general and provides a method to parameterize such models from market data rather than from statistical fitting.

A Participatory Agent-Based Simulation for Indoor Evacuation Supported by Google Glass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesús M. Sánchez

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Indoor evacuation systems are needed for rescue and safety management. One of the challenges is to provide users with personalized evacuation routes in real time. To this end, this project aims at exploring the possibilities of Google Glass technology for participatory multiagent indoor evacuation simulations. Participatory multiagent simulation combines scenario-guided agents and humans equipped with Google Glass that coexist in a shared virtual space and jointly perform simulations. The paper proposes an architecture for participatory multiagent simulation in order to combine devices (Google Glass and/or smartphones with an agent-based social simulator and indoor tracking services.

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.

An Agent-based Modeling of Water-Food Nexus towards Sustainable Management of Urban Water Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Esmaeili, N.; Kanta, L.

2017-12-01

Growing population, urbanization, and climate change have put tremendous stress on water systems in many regions. A shortage in water system not only affects water users of a municipality but also that of food system. About 70% of global water is withdrawn for agriculture; livestock and dairy productions are also dependent on water availability. Although researchers and policy makers have identified and emphasized the water-food (WF) nexus in recent decade, most existing WF models offer strategies to reduce trade-offs and to generate benefits without considering feedback loops and adaptations between those systems. Feedback loops between water and food system can help understand long-term behavioral trends between water users of the integrated WF system which, in turn, can help manage water resources sustainably. An Agent-based modeling approach is applied here to develop a conceptual framework of WF systems. All water users in this system are modeled as agents, who are capable of making decisions and can adapt new behavior based on inputs from other agents in a shared environment through a set of logical and mathematical rules. Residential and commercial/industrial consumers are represented as municipal agents; crop, livestock, and dairy farmers are represented as food agents; and water management officials are represented as policy agent. During the period of water shortage, policy agent will propose/impose various water conservation measures, such as adapting water-efficient technologies, banning outdoor irrigation, implementing supplemental irrigation, using recycled water for livestock/dairy production, among others. Municipal and food agents may adapt conservation strategies and will update their demand accordingly. Emergent properties of the WF nexus will arise through dynamic interactions between various actors of water and food system. This model will be implemented to a case study for resource allocation and future policy development.

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.

An agent-based hydroeconomic model to evaluate water policies in Jordan

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, J.; Gorelick, S.

2014-12-01

Modern water systems can be characterized by a complex network of institutional and private actors that represent competing sectors and interests. Identifying solutions to enhance water security in such systems calls for analysis that can adequately account for this level of complexity and interaction. Our work focuses on the development of a hierarchical, multi-agent, hydroeconomic model that attempts to realistically represent complex interactions between hydrologic and multi-faceted human systems. The model is applied to Jordan, one of the most water-poor countries in the world. In recent years, the water crisis in Jordan has escalated due to an ongoing drought and influx of refugees from regional conflicts. We adopt a modular approach in which biophysical modules simulate natural and engineering phenomena, and human modules represent behavior at multiple scales of decision making. The human modules employ agent-based modeling, in which agents act as autonomous decision makers at the transboundary, state, organizational, and user levels. A systematic nomenclature and conceptual framework is used to characterize model agents and modules. Concepts from the Unified Modeling Language (UML) are adopted to promote clear conceptualization of model classes and process sequencing, establishing a foundation for full deployment of the integrated model in a scalable object-oriented programming environment. Although the framework is applied to the Jordanian water context, it is generalizable to other regional human-natural freshwater supply systems.

Emergence of heterogeneity in an agent-based model

OpenAIRE

Abdullah, Wan Ahmad Tajuddin Wan

2002-01-01

We study an interacting agent model of a game-theoretical economy. The agents play a minority-subsequently-majority game and they learn, using backpropagation networks, to obtain higher payoffs. We study the relevance of heterogeneity to performance, and how heterogeneity emerges.

Production and characterisation of a neutralising chimeric antibody against botulinum neurotoxin A.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie Prigent

Full Text Available Botulinum neurotoxins, produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, are the causative agent of botulism. This disease only affects a few hundred people each year, thus ranking it among the orphan diseases. However, botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A is the most potent toxin known to man. Due to their potency and ease of production, these toxins were classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC as Category A biothreat agents. For several biothreat agents, like BoNT/A, passive immunotherapy remains the only possible effective treatment allowing in vivo neutralization, despite possible major side effects. Recently, several mouse monoclonal antibodies directed against a recombinant fragment of BoNT/A were produced in our laboratory and most efficiently neutralised the neurotoxin. In the present work, the most powerful one, TA12, was selected for chimerisation. The variable regions of this antibody were thus cloned and fused with the constant counterparts of human IgG1 (kappa light and gamma 1 heavy chains. Chimeric antibody production was evaluated in mammalian myeloma cells (SP2/0-Ag14 and insect cells (Sf9. After purifying the recombinant antibody by affinity chromatography, the biochemical properties of chimeric and mouse antibody were compared. Both have the same very low affinity constant (close to 10 pM and the chimeric antibody exhibited a similar capacity to its parent counterpart in neutralising the toxin in vivo. Its strong affinity and high neutralising potency make this chimeric antibody interesting for immunotherapy treatment in humans in cases of poisoning, particularly as there is a probable limitation of the immunological side effects observed with classical polyclonal antisera from heterologous species.

Scopolamine provocation-based pharmacological MRI model for testing procognitive agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Hegedűs, Nikolett; Laszy, Judit; Gyertyán, István; Kocsis, Pál; Gajári, Dávid; Dávid, Szabolcs; Deli, Levente; Pozsgay, Zsófia; Tihanyi, Károly

2015-04-01

There is a huge unmet need to understand and treat pathological cognitive impairment. The development of disease modifying cognitive enhancers is hindered by the lack of correct pathomechanism and suitable animal models. Most animal models to study cognition and pathology do not fulfil either the predictive validity, face validity or construct validity criteria, and also outcome measures greatly differ from those of human trials. Fortunately, some pharmacological agents such as scopolamine evoke similar effects on cognition and cerebral circulation in rodents and humans and functional MRI enables us to compare cognitive agents directly in different species. In this paper we report the validation of a scopolamine based rodent pharmacological MRI provocation model. The effects of deemed procognitive agents (donepezil, vinpocetine, piracetam, alpha 7 selective cholinergic compounds EVP-6124, PNU-120596) were compared on the blood-oxygen-level dependent responses and also linked to rodent cognitive models. These drugs revealed significant effect on scopolamine induced blood-oxygen-level dependent change except for piracetam. In the water labyrinth test only PNU-120596 did not show a significant effect. This provocational model is suitable for testing procognitive compounds. These functional MR imaging experiments can be paralleled with human studies, which may help reduce the number of false cognitive clinical trials. © The Author(s) 2015.

An adaptive multi-agent-based approach to smart grids control and optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, Marco [Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL (United States); Perez, Carlos; Granados, Adrian [Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Ocala, FL (United States)

2012-03-15

In this paper, we describe a reinforcement learning-based approach to power management in smart grids. The scenarios we consider are smart grid settings where renewable power sources (e.g. Photovoltaic panels) have unpredictable variations in power output due, for example, to weather or cloud transient effects. Our approach builds on a multi-agent system (MAS)-based infrastructure for the monitoring and coordination of smart grid environments with renewable power sources and configurable energy storage devices (battery banks). Software agents are responsible for tracking and reporting power flow variations at different points in the grid, and to optimally coordinate the engagement of battery banks (i.e. charge/idle/discharge modes) to maintain energy requirements to end-users. Agents are able to share information and coordinate control actions through a parallel communications infrastructure, and are also capable of learning, from experience, how to improve their response strategies for different operational conditions. In this paper we describe our approach and address some of the challenges associated with the communications infrastructure for distributed coordination. We also present some preliminary results of our first simulations using the GridLAB-D simulation environment, created by the US Department of Energy (DoE) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). (orig.)

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.

Web of Data Evolution by Exploiting Agent Based-Argumentation

OpenAIRE

Chamekh , Fatma; Boulanger , Danielle; Talens , Guilaine

2015-01-01

International audience; Sharing knowledge and data coming from different sources is one of the biggest advantage of linked data. Keeping this knowledge graph up to date may take in account both ontology vocabularies and data since they should be consistent. Our general problem is to deal with web of data evolution in particular: We aim at assisting user in a such complex process. In this research work, we propose an agent based-argumentation framework to help user linked data changes. We assi...

Money-Scape: A Generic Agent-Based Model of Corruption

OpenAIRE

Hokky Situngkir

2004-01-01

There has been a lot of works on corruption cases. We must think that corruption is a cultural aspect in a social life. We cannot separate the corruption with the cultural system where the corruption raised. Indonesia has been recorded to be one of the countries of the worst economic and political system on corruption case. The paper is introducing the usage of agent based simulation for analyzing the corruption specifically in Indonesia as the biggest corruption level. The model showed is na...

Agent based modeling of energy networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez de Durana, José María; Barambones, Oscar; Kremers, Enrique; Varga, Liz

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A new approach for energy network modeling is designed and tested. • The agent-based approach is general and no technology dependent. • The models can be easily extended. • The range of applications encompasses from small to large energy infrastructures. - Abstract: Attempts to model any present or future power grid face a huge challenge because a power grid is a complex system, with feedback and multi-agent behaviors, integrated by generation, distribution, storage and consumption systems, using various control and automation computing systems to manage electricity flows. Our approach to modeling is to build upon an established model of the low voltage electricity network which is tested and proven, by extending it to a generalized energy model. But, in order to address the crucial issues of energy efficiency, additional processes like energy conversion and storage, and further energy carriers, such as gas, heat, etc., besides the traditional electrical one, must be considered. Therefore a more powerful model, provided with enhanced nodes or conversion points, able to deal with multidimensional flows, is being required. This article addresses the issue of modeling a local multi-carrier energy network. This problem can be considered as an extension of modeling a low voltage distribution network located at some urban or rural geographic area. But instead of using an external power flow analysis package to do the power flow calculations, as used in electric networks, in this work we integrate a multiagent algorithm to perform the task, in a concurrent way to the other simulation tasks, and not only for the electric fluid but also for a number of additional energy carriers. As the model is mainly focused in system operation, generation and load models are not developed

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

Mathematical modeling of malaria infection with innate and adaptive immunity in individuals and agent-based communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurarie, David; Karl, Stephan; Zimmerman, Peter A; King, Charles H; St Pierre, Timothy G; Davis, Timothy M E

2012-01-01

Agent-based modeling of Plasmodium falciparum infection offers an attractive alternative to the conventional Ross-Macdonald methodology, as it allows simulation of heterogeneous communities subjected to realistic transmission (inoculation patterns). We developed a new, agent based model that accounts for the essential in-host processes: parasite replication and its regulation by innate and adaptive immunity. The model also incorporates a simplified version of antigenic variation by Plasmodium falciparum. We calibrated the model using data from malaria-therapy (MT) studies, and developed a novel calibration procedure that accounts for a deterministic and a pseudo-random component in the observed parasite density patterns. Using the parasite density patterns of 122 MT patients, we generated a large number of calibrated parameters. The resulting data set served as a basis for constructing and simulating heterogeneous agent-based (AB) communities of MT-like hosts. We conducted several numerical experiments subjecting AB communities to realistic inoculation patterns reported from previous field studies, and compared the model output to the observed malaria prevalence in the field. There was overall consistency, supporting the potential of this agent-based methodology to represent transmission in realistic communities. Our approach represents a novel, convenient and versatile method to model Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Mathematical modeling of malaria infection with innate and adaptive immunity in individuals and agent-based communities.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Gurarie

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Agent-based modeling of Plasmodium falciparum infection offers an attractive alternative to the conventional Ross-Macdonald methodology, as it allows simulation of heterogeneous communities subjected to realistic transmission (inoculation patterns. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We developed a new, agent based model that accounts for the essential in-host processes: parasite replication and its regulation by innate and adaptive immunity. The model also incorporates a simplified version of antigenic variation by Plasmodium falciparum. We calibrated the model using data from malaria-therapy (MT studies, and developed a novel calibration procedure that accounts for a deterministic and a pseudo-random component in the observed parasite density patterns. Using the parasite density patterns of 122 MT patients, we generated a large number of calibrated parameters. The resulting data set served as a basis for constructing and simulating heterogeneous agent-based (AB communities of MT-like hosts. We conducted several numerical experiments subjecting AB communities to realistic inoculation patterns reported from previous field studies, and compared the model output to the observed malaria prevalence in the field. There was overall consistency, supporting the potential of this agent-based methodology to represent transmission in realistic communities. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our approach represents a novel, convenient and versatile method to model Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Creating Agent-Based Energy Transition Management Models That Can Uncover Profitable Pathways to Climate Change Mitigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Auke Hoekstra

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The energy domain is still dominated by equilibrium models that underestimate both the dangers and opportunities related to climate change. In reality, climate and energy systems contain tipping points, feedback loops, and exponential developments. This paper describes how to create realistic energy transition management models: quantitative models that can discover profitable pathways from fossil fuels to renewable energy. We review the literature regarding agent-based economics, disruptive innovation, and transition management and determine the following requirements. Actors must be detailed, heterogeneous, interacting, learning, and strategizing. Technology should be represented as a detailed and heterogeneous portfolio that can develop in a bottom-up manner, using endogenous feedback loops. Assumptions about discount rates and the social cost of carbon should be configurable. The model should contain interactions between the global, national, local, and individual level. A review of modelling techniques shows that equilibrium models are unsuitable and that system dynamics and discrete event simulation are too limited. The agent-based approach is found to be uniquely suited for the complex adaptive sociotechnical systems that must be modelled. But the choice for agent-based models does not mean a rejection of other approaches because they can be accommodated within the agent-based framework. We conclude with practical guidelines.

The comparison of the use of holonic and agent-based methods in modelling of manufacturing systems

Science.gov (United States)

Foit, K.; Banaś, W.; Gwiazda, A.; Hryniewicz, P.

2017-08-01

The rapid evolution in the field of industrial automation and manufacturing is often called the 4th Industry Revolution. Worldwide availability of the internet access contributes to the competition between manufacturers, gives the opportunity for buying materials, parts and for creating the partnership networks, like cloud manufacturing, grid manufacturing (MGrid), virtual enterprises etc. The effect of the industry evolution is the need to search for new solutions in the field of manufacturing systems modelling and simulation. During the last decade researchers have developed the agent-based approach of modelling. This methodology have been taken from the computer science, but was adapted to the philosophy of industrial automation and robotization. The operation of the agent-based system depends on the simultaneous acting of different agents that may have different roles. On the other hand, there is the holon-based approach that uses the structures created by holons. It differs from the agent-based structure in some aspects, while the other ones are quite similar in both methodologies. The aim of this paper is to present the both methodologies and discuss the similarities and the differences. This may could help to select the optimal method of modelling, according to the considered problem and software resources.

Dynamics of bloggers’ communities: Bipartite networks from empirical data and agent-based modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Mitrović, Marija; Tadić, Bosiljka

2012-11-01

We present an analysis of the empirical data and the agent-based modeling of the emotional behavior of users on the Web portals where the user interaction is mediated by posted comments, like Blogs and Diggs. We consider the dataset of discussion-driven popular Diggs, in which all comments are screened by machine-learning emotion detection in the text, to determine positive and negative valence (attractiveness and aversiveness) of each comment. By mapping the data onto a suitable bipartite network, we perform an analysis of the network topology and the related time-series of the emotional comments. The agent-based model is then introduced to simulate the dynamics and to capture the emergence of the emotional behaviors and communities. The agents are linked to posts on a bipartite network, whose structure evolves through their actions on the posts. The emotional states (arousal and valence) of each agent fluctuate in time, subject to the current contents of the posts to which the agent is exposed. By an agent’s action on a post its current emotions are transferred to the post. The model rules and the key parameters are inferred from the considered empirical data to ensure their realistic values and mutual consistency. The model assumes that the emotional arousal over posts drives the agent’s action. The simulations are preformed for the case of constant flux of agents and the results are analyzed in full analogy with the empirical data. The main conclusions are that the emotion-driven dynamics leads to long-range temporal correlations and emergent networks with community structure, that are comparable with the ones in the empirical system of popular posts. In view of pure emotion-driven agents actions, this type of comparisons provide a quantitative measure for the role of emotions in the dynamics on real blogs. Furthermore, the model reveals the underlying mechanisms which relate the post popularity with the emotion dynamics and the prevalence of negative

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.

An agent-based intelligent environmental monitoring system

OpenAIRE

Athanasiadis, Ioannis N; Mitkas, Pericles A

2004-01-01

Fairly rapid environmental changes call for continuous surveillance and on-line decision making. There are two main areas where IT technologies can be valuable. In this paper we present a multi-agent system for monitoring and assessing air-quality attributes, which uses data coming from a meteorological station. A community of software agents is assigned to monitor and validate measurements coming from several sensors, to assess air-quality, and, finally, to fire alarms to appropriate recipie...

Agent based approach for engineering and control of micro-grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basso, Gillian

2013-01-01

Energy management is, nowadays, a subject of uttermost importance. Indeed, we are facing growing concerns such as petroleum reserve depletion, earth global warming or power quality (e.g. avoiding blackouts during peak times). Smart grids is an attempt to solve such problems, by adding to power grids bidirectional communications and ICT capabilities in order to provide an intelligent autonomic management for the grid. This thesis focuses on the management of micro-grids thanks to multi-agent systems (MAS). Micro-grids are low-power networks, composed of small and decentralized energy producers (possibly renewable) and consumers. These networks can be connected to the main grid or islanded, this make them more complex. Due to their complexity and their geographical distribution, smart grids and micro-grids can not be easily managed by a centralized system. Distributed artificial intelligences especially MAS appear to be a solution to resolve problems related to smart grids. Firstly we defined an approach implementing feedback loops. These feedback loops exist in complex systems which can be defined with several abstraction levels. Two levels are interacting. The micro-level contains a set of agents owning behaviours that can be combined. The result of the combination impact the state of the system. The macro-level processes these influences to define a new state of the system which will impact the agents behaviours at the micro-level. This feedback loop separates behaviours on several levels. This approach is used to defined a demand and supply matching problem in micro-grid. This problem afford to manage a set of goals which currently are independently processed. Finally, an application is developed using MAS that ensures grid stability thanks to storage systems. This application was thought to be integrated to the approach detailed above. Secondly, a grid simulator id developed. This simulator allows dynamic control of devices. It is based on three main principles

Agent-based model of angiogenesis simulates capillary sprout initiation in multicellular networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Walpole, J; Chappell, J C; Cluceru, J G; Mac Gabhann, F; Bautch, V L; Peirce, S M

2015-09-01

Many biological processes are controlled by both deterministic and stochastic influences. However, efforts to model these systems often rely on either purely stochastic or purely rule-based methods. To better understand the balance between stochasticity and determinism in biological processes a computational approach that incorporates both influences may afford additional insight into underlying biological mechanisms that give rise to emergent system properties. We apply a combined approach to the simulation and study of angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from existing networks. This complex multicellular process begins with selection of an initiating endothelial cell, or tip cell, which sprouts from the parent vessels in response to stimulation by exogenous cues. We have constructed an agent-based model of sprouting angiogenesis to evaluate endothelial cell sprout initiation frequency and location, and we have experimentally validated it using high-resolution time-lapse confocal microscopy. ABM simulations were then compared to a Monte Carlo model, revealing that purely stochastic simulations could not generate sprout locations as accurately as the rule-informed agent-based model. These findings support the use of rule-based approaches for modeling the complex mechanisms underlying sprouting angiogenesis over purely stochastic methods.

On the engineering of agent-based simulations of social activities with social networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ronald, N.A.; Dignum, V.; Jonker, C.; Arentze, T.A.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2012-01-01

Context Models of how people move around cities play a role in making decisions about urban and land-use planning. Previous models have been based on space and time, and have neglected the social aspect of travel. Recent work on agent-based modelling shows promise as a new approach, especially for

Agent-Based and Macroscopic Modeling of the Complex Socio-Economic Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksejus Kononovičius

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The focus of this contribution is the correspondence between collective behavior and inter-individual interactions in the complex socio-economic systems. Currently there is a wide selection of papers proposing various models for the both collective behavior and inter-individual interactions in the complex socio-economic systems. Yet the papers directly relating these two concepts are still quite rare. By studying this correspondence we discuss a cutting edge approach to the modeling of complex socio-economic systems. Design/methodology/approach – The collective behavior is often modeled using stochastic and ordinary calculus, while the inter-individual interactions are modeled using agent-based models. In order to obtain the ideal model, one should start from these frameworks and build a bridge to reach another. This is a formidable task, if we consider the top-down approach, namely starting from the collective behavior and moving towards inter-individual interactions. The bottom-up approach also fails, if complex inter-individual interaction models are considered, yet in this case we can start with simple models and increase the complexity as needed. Findings – The bottom-up approach, considering simple agent-based herding model as a model for the inter-individual interactions, allows us to derive certain macroscopic models of the complex socio-economic systems from the agent-based perspective. This provides interesting insights into the collective behavior patterns observed in the complex socio-economic systems. Research limitations/implications –The simplicity of the agent-based herding model might be considered to be somewhat limiting. Yet this simplicity implies that the model is highly universal. It reproduces universal features of social behavior and also can be further extended to fit different socio-economic scenarios. Practical implications – Insights provided in this contribution might be used to modify existing

Statistical Agent Based Modelization of the Phenomenon of Drug Abuse

Science.gov (United States)

di Clemente, Riccardo; Pietronero, Luciano

2012-07-01

We introduce a statistical agent based model to describe the phenomenon of drug abuse and its dynamical evolution at the individual and global level. The agents are heterogeneous with respect to their intrinsic inclination to drugs, to their budget attitude and social environment. The various levels of drug use were inspired by the professional description of the phenomenon and this permits a direct comparison with all available data. We show that certain elements have a great importance to start the use of drugs, for example the rare events in the personal experiences which permit to overcame the barrier of drug use occasionally. The analysis of how the system reacts to perturbations is very important to understand its key elements and it provides strategies for effective policy making. The present model represents the first step of a realistic description of this phenomenon and can be easily generalized in various directions.

A learning-based agent for home neurorehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lydakis, Andreas; Meng, Yuanliang; Munroe, Christopher; Wu, Yi-Ning; Begum, Momotaz

2017-07-01

This paper presents the iterative development of an artificially intelligent system to promote home-based neurorehabilitation. Although proper, structured practice of rehabilitation exercises at home is the key to successful recovery of motor functions, there is no home-program out there which can monitor a patient's exercise-related activities and provide corrective feedback in real time. To this end, we designed a Learning from Demonstration (LfD) based home-rehabilitation framework that combines advanced robot learning algorithms with commercially available wearable technologies. The proposed system uses exercise-related motion information and electromyography signals (EMG) of a patient to train a Markov Decision Process (MDP). The trained MDP model can enable an agent to serve as a coach for a patient. On a system level, this is the first initiative, to the best of our knowledge, to employ LfD in an health-care application to enable lay users to program an intelligent system. From a rehabilitation research perspective, this is a completely novel initiative to employ machine learning to provide interactive corrective feedback to a patient in home settings.

Toward Agent-Based Models of the Development And Evolution of Business Relations and Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Ian F.; Marks, Robert E.; Young, Louise

Firms achieve competitive advantage in part through the development of cooperative relations with other firms and organisations. We describe a program of research designed to map and model the development of cooperative inter-firm relations, including the processes and paths by which firms may evolve from adversarial to more cooperative relations. Narrative-event-history methods will be used to develop stylised histories of the emergence of business relations in various contexts and to identify relevant causal mechanisms to be included in the agent-based models of relationship and network evolution. The relationship histories will provide the means of assuring the agent-based models developed.

An Agent-based Approach for Ideational Support in Learning - Integration and Impact.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aroyo, L.M.; Stoyanov, S.; Kommers, Petrus A.M.

1999-01-01

This paper provides results from research work done in respect to the application of agent technology within educational settings. It focuses on problem solving, information handling issues and idea generation. It is based on two research system examples: Solution, Mapping, Intelligent, Learning,

Carbon emissions trading scheme exploration in China: A multi-agent-based model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, Ling; Wu, Jiaqian; Yu, Lean; Bao, Qin

2015-01-01

To develop a low-carbon economy, China launched seven pilot programs for carbon emissions trading (CET) in 2011 and plans to establish a nationwide CET mechanism in 2015. This paper formulated a multi-agent-based model to investigate the impacts of different CET designs in order to find the most appropriate one for China. The proposed bottom-up model includes all main economic agents in a general equilibrium framework. The simulation results indicate that (1) CET would effectively reduce carbon emissions, with a certain negative impact on the economy, (2) as for allowance allocation, the grandfathering rule is relatively moderate, while the benchmarking rule is more aggressive, (3) as for the carbon price, when the price level in the secondary CET market is regulated to be around RMB 40 per metric ton, a satisfactory emission mitigation effect can be obtained, (4) the penalty rate is suggested to be carefully designed to balance the economy development and mitigation effect, and (5) subsidy policy for energy technology improvement can effectively reduce carbon emissions without an additional negative impact on the economy. The results also indicate that the proposed novel model is a promising tool for CET policy making and analyses. -- Highlights: •A multi-agent-based model is proposed for carbon emissions trading (CET) in China. •Three agents are included: government, firms in different sectors and households. •The impacts of CET on the economy and environment in China are analyzed. •Different CET designs are simulated to find an appropriate policy for China. •Results confirm the effectiveness of the model and give helpful insights into CET design

Research on monitoring system of water resources in irrigation region based on multi-agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, T H; Wang, D S

2012-01-01

Irrigation agriculture is the basis of agriculture and rural economic development in China. Realizing the water resource information of irrigated area will make full use of existing water resource and increase benefit of irrigation agriculture greatly. However, the water resource information system of many irrigated areas in our country is not still very sound at present, it lead to the wasting of a lot of water resources. This paper has analyzed the existing water resource monitoring system of irrigated areas, introduced the Multi-Agent theories, and set up a water resource monitoring system of irrigated area based on multi-Agent. This system is composed of monitoring multi-Agent federal, telemetry multi-Agent federal, and the Communication Network GSM between them. It can make full use of good intelligence and communication coordination in the multi-Agent federation interior, improve the dynamic monitoring and controlling timeliness of water resource of irrigated area greatly, provide information service for the sustainable development of irrigated area, and lay a foundation for realizing high information of water resource of irrigated area.

Numerical Problems and Agent-Based Models for a Mass Transfer Course