WorldWideScience

Sample records for service agents authorized

  1. 31 CFR 401.1 - Secret Service agents authorized to make seizures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Secret Service agents authorized to... Finance (Continued) SECRET SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF VESSELS, VEHICLES... Secret Service agents authorized to make seizures. All officers of the U.S. Secret Service engaged in the...

  2. Opportunities of creating multi-agent systems in the service sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shatsky A.A.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available the paper seeks to examine opportunities to create multi-agent systems (MAS in the service sector. Using methods of theoretical analysis and synthesis, the author attempts to apply a multi-agent technology to description of the socio-economic system, such as the service sector. As a result, the author identifies three types of MAS in the service sector based on different types of architecture of intelligent information systems. The research shows that the problem posed by the author requires further study and clarification of results

  3. Protecting Dynamic Mobile Agent against Denial of Service Attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggarwal, Mayank; Nipur, Pallavi

    2010-11-01

    Mobile Agents are softwares migrating from one node to another to fulfill the task of its owner. The introduction of mobile agents has reduced network latency, network traffic a lot but at the same time it has increased the vulnerability for attacks by malicious hosts. One such attack is `Denial of Service', once the agent is launched it is free to roam without any control of its owner, this on one hand decreases the cost of agent—owner interaction and on the other hand increases the chances of `Denial Of Service'. In Denial Of Service attack the malicious host may deny resources required by the agent and kill the agent, thus the result computed so far is lost and this may happen every time the agent visits any malicious host. In this paper we continued the work done in [10] in which the authors proposed techniques by which owner can detect the malicious host for `Denial Of Service' but they did not covered technique for dynamic routes i.e. where the host or agent initiate migrations to hosts which were not contained in the route composed by the owner. We introduced an algorithm and a model which can be useful for the above purpose.

  4. 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.

  5. The Psychological Self as Actor, Agent, and Author.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAdams, Dan P

    2013-05-01

    The psychological self may be construed as a reflexive arrangement of the subjective "I" and the constructed "Me," evolving and expanding over the human life course. The psychological self begins life as a social actor, construed in terms of performance traits and social roles. By the end of childhood, the self has become a motivated agent, too, as personal goals, motives, values, and envisioned projects for the future become central features of how the I conceives of the Me. A third layer of selfhood begins to form in the adolescent and emerging adulthood years, when the self as autobiographical author aims to construct a story of the Me, to provide adult life with broad purpose and a dynamic sense of temporal continuity. An integrative theory that envisions the psychological self as a developing I-Me configuration of actor, agent, and author helps to synthesize a wide range of conceptions and findings on the self from social, personality, cognitive, cultural, and developmental psychology and from sociology and other social sciences. The actor-agent-author framework also sheds new light on studies of self-regulation, self-esteem, self-continuity, and the relationship between self and culture. © The Author(s) 2013.

  6. 46 CFR 515.24 - Agent for service of process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Agent for service of process. 515.24 Section 515.24... agent for service of process. Any person serving the Secretary must also send to the ocean... Secretary. (c) Service of administrative process, other than subpoenas, may be effected upon the legal agent...

  7. Extension agents\\' marketing related services: The relevance to ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study investigated the marketing related services provided to farmers by extension agents in Osun State, Nigeria. Data were collected from the extension agents in the services of Osun State Agricultural Development Projects, which is the government outfit to provide such services to farmers on one hand and their ...

  8. Quality of service agents in the internet

    OpenAIRE

    Schelén, Olov

    1998-01-01

    The Internet is a multi-purpose communication network supporting users and applications with different service demands. To meet these demands, mechanisms for service differentiation in the network are proposed. This thesis presents an admission control architecture where clients can make resource reservations through agents. For each domain in the network there is an agent responsible for admission control. The architecture provides scalable resource reservations for virtual leased lines. Res...

  9. Semantic Web Services with Web Ontology Language (OWL-S) - Specification of Agent-Services for DARPA Agent Markup Language (DAML)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Sycara, Katia P

    2006-01-01

    CMU did research and development on semantic web services using OWL-S, the semantic web service language under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency- DARPA Agent Markup Language (DARPA-DAML) program...

  10. 14 CFR 121.550 - Secret Service Agents: Admission to flight deck.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Secret Service Agents: Admission to flight... OPERATING REQUIREMENTS: DOMESTIC, FLAG, AND SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATIONS Flight Operations § 121.550 Secret Service Agents: Admission to flight deck. Whenever an Agent of the Secret Service who is assigned the duty...

  11. Environmental Agents Service (EAS) Registry System of Records

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Environmental Agent Service (EAS) Registries is the information system encompassing the Ionizing Radiation Registry (IRR), the Agent Orange Registry (AOR), and...

  12. MAINS: MULTI-AGENT INTELLIGENT SERVICE ARCHITECTURE FOR CLOUD COMPUTING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Joshva Devadas

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Computing has been transformed to a model having commoditized services. These services are modeled similar to the utility services water and electricity. The Internet has been stunningly successful over the course of past three decades in supporting multitude of distributed applications and a wide variety of network technologies. However, its popularity has become the biggest impediment to its further growth with the handheld devices mobile and laptops. Agents are intelligent software system that works on behalf of others. Agents are incorporated in many innovative applications in order to improve the performance of the system. Agent uses its possessed knowledge to react with the system and helps to improve the performance. Agents are introduced in the cloud computing is to minimize the response time when similar request is raised from an end user in the globe. In this paper, we have introduced a Multi Agent Intelligent system (MAINS prior to cloud service models and it was tested using sample dataset. Performance of the MAINS layer was analyzed in three aspects and the outcome of the analysis proves that MAINS Layer provides a flexible model to create cloud applications and deploying them in variety of applications.

  13. 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.

  14. 12 CFR 618.8010 - Related services authorization process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Related services authorization process. 618... PROVISIONS Related Services § 618.8010 Related services authorization process. (a) Authorities. System banks and associations may only offer related services that meet the criteria specified in this regulation...

  15. 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...

  16. Service orientation in holonic and multi agent manufacturing and robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, Andre; Trentesaux, Damien

    2013-01-01

    The book covers four research domains representing a trend for modern manufacturing control: Holonic and Multi-agent technologies for industrial systems; Intelligent Product and Product-driven Automation; Service Orientation of Enterprise’s strategic and technical processes; and Distributed Intelligent Automation Systems. These evolution lines have in common concepts related to service orientation derived from the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm.     The service-oriented multi-agent systems approach discussed in the book is characterized by the use of a set of distributed autonomous and cooperative agents, embedded in smart components that use the SOA principles, being oriented by offer and request of services, in order to fulfil production systems and value chain goals.   A new integrated vision combining emergent technologies is offered, to create control structures with distributed intelligence supporting the vertical and horizontal enterprise integration and running in truly distributed ...

  17. Improvement in the distribution of services in multi-agent systems with SCODA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesús Ángel ROMÁN GALLEGO

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The distribution of services on multi-agent systems allows it to reduce to the agents their computational load. The functionality of the system does not reside in the agents themselves, however it is ubiquitously distributed so that allows you to perform tasks in parallel avoiding an additional computational cost to the elements in the system. The distribution of services that offers SCODA (Distributed and Specialized Agent Communities allows an intelligent management of these services provided by agents of the system and the parallel execution of threads that allow to respond to requests asynchronously, which implies an improvement in the performance of the system at both the computational level as the level of quality of service in the control of these services. The comparison carried out in the case of study that is presented in this paper demonstrates the existing improvement in the distribution of services on systems based on SCODA.

  18. Enhancing E-Learning through Web Service and Intelligent Agents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nasir Hussain

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available E-learning is basically the integration of various technologies. E-Learning technology is now maturing and we can find a multiplicity of standards. New technologies such as agents and web services are promising better results. In this paper we have proposed an e-learning architecture that is dependent on intelligent agent systems and web services. These communication technologies will make the architecture more robust, scalable and efficient.

  19. Virtual customer service agents: using social presence and personalization to shape online service encounters

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhagen, T.; van Nes, J; Feldberg, F; van Dolen, W.

    2014-01-01

    By performing tasks traditionally fulfilled by service personnel and having a humanlike appearance, virtual customer service agents bring classical service elements to the web, which may positively influence customer satisfaction through eliciting social responses and feelings of personalization.

  20. Virtual Customer Service Agents: Using Social Presence and Personalization to Shape Online Service Encounters

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhagen, T.; van Nes, J.; Feldberg, J.F.M.; van Dolen, W.M.

    2014-01-01

    By performing tasks traditionally fulfilled by service personnel and having a humanlike appearance, virtual customer service agents bring classical service elements to the web, which may positively influence customer satisfaction through eliciting social responses and feelings of personalization.

  1. 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

  2. [Links between non-professional agents and the official Veterinary Services in sub-Saharan Africa].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diop, B A; Bessin, R

    2004-04-01

    Para-professional agents known as auxiliaries, or community animal health workers, provide low-cost basic veterinary services to communities of livestock producers. A 2003 survey of 16 Sub-Saharan African countries, carried out as part of the Pan-African Programme for the Control of Epizootics, showed that in the majority of cases, the official Veterinary Services have no (or very few) links with the auxiliaries, although they are well aware of their existence and in some cases the auxiliaries have been trained by officials of the Veterinary Services. However, there are isolated cases of countries establishing more formal links, for example, recognising the status of an auxiliary, recognising auxiliaries with no definition of a status, attaching auxiliaries to Veterinary Service staff, establishing agreements for the provision of auxiliary services through livestock producer associations, harmonising auxiliary training programmes, issuing professional auxiliary cards, and setting up a consultation framework on the issue of auxiliaries. Unlike private veterinarians, agents of the official services do not generally perceive auxiliaries as competitors, and sometimes collaboration develops at this level. The authors propose several measures to improve links between the official Veterinary Services and auxiliaries, as follows: the fields of competence of auxiliaries should be defined and their curriculum harmonised, the status of auxiliaries should be recognised, a monitoring and assessment mechanism should be established at senior level in the Veterinary Services, training for livestock producers should be improved.

  3. Service orientation in holonic and multi-agent manufacturing

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, André; Trentesaux, Damien

    2015-01-01

    This volume gathers the peer reviewed papers presented at the 4th edition of the International Workshop “Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-agent Manufacturing – SOHOMA’14” organized and hosted on November 5-6, 2014 by the University of Lorraine, France in collaboration with the CIMR Research Centre of the University Politehnica of Bucharest and the TEMPO Laboratory of the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrésis.   The book is structured in six parts, each one covering a specific research line which represents a trend in future manufacturing: (1) Holonic and Agent-based Industrial Automation Systems; (2) Service-oriented Management and Control of Manufacturing Systems; (3) Distributed Modelling for Safety and Security in Industrial Systems; (4) Complexity, Big Data and Virtualization in Computing-oriented Manufacturing; (5) Adaptive, Bio-inspired and Self-organizing Multi-Agent Systems for Manufacturing, and (6) Physical Internet Simulation, Modelling and Control.   There is a clear ...

  4. 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.

  5. A framework for service enterprise workflow simulation with multi-agents cooperation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Wenan; Xu, Wei; Yang, Fujun; Xu, Lida; Jiang, Chuanqun

    2013-11-01

    Process dynamic modelling for service business is the key technique for Service-Oriented information systems and service business management, and the workflow model of business processes is the core part of service systems. Service business workflow simulation is the prevalent approach to be used for analysis of service business process dynamically. Generic method for service business workflow simulation is based on the discrete event queuing theory, which is lack of flexibility and scalability. In this paper, we propose a service workflow-oriented framework for the process simulation of service businesses using multi-agent cooperation to address the above issues. Social rationality of agent is introduced into the proposed framework. Adopting rationality as one social factor for decision-making strategies, a flexible scheduling for activity instances has been implemented. A system prototype has been developed to validate the proposed simulation framework through a business case study.

  6. 49 CFR 40.331 - To what additional parties must employers and service agents release information?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... service agents release information? 40.331 Section 40.331 Transportation Office of the Secretary of... Release of Information § 40.331 To what additional parties must employers and service agents release information? As an employer or service agent you must release information under the following circumstances...

  7. 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.

  8. 31 CFR 202.3 - Authorization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authorization. 202.3 Section 202.3 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE DEPOSITARIES AND FINANCIAL AGENTS OF THE FEDERAL...

  9. SAFAX - An Extensible Authorization Service for Cloud Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samuel Paul Kaluvuri

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Cloud storage services have become increasingly popular in recent years. Users are often registered to multiple cloud storage services that suit different needs. However, the ad-hoc manner in which data sharing between users is implemented leads to issues for these users. For instance, users are required to define different access control policies for each cloud service they use and are responsible for synchronizing their policies across different cloud providers. Users do not have access to a uniform and expressive method to deal with authorization. Current authorization solutions cannot be applied as-is, since they cannot cope with challenges specific to cloud environments. In this paper, we analyze the challenges of data sharing in multi-cloud environments and propose SAFAX, an XACML based authorization service designed to address these challenges. SAFAX's architecture allows users to deploy their access control policies in a standard format, in a single location, and augment policy evaluation with information from user selectable external trust services. We describe the architecture of SAFAX, a prototype implementation based on this architecture, illustrate the extensibility through external trust services and discuss the benefits of using SAFAX from both the user's and cloud provider's perspectives.

  10. 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

  11. 49 CFR 40.329 - What information must laboratories, MROs, and other service agents release to employees?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... other service agents release to employees? 40.329 Section 40.329 Transportation Office of the Secretary... Confidentiality and Release of Information § 40.329 What information must laboratories, MROs, and other service agents release to employees? (a) As an MRO or service agent you must provide, within 10 business days of...

  12. 6th Workshop on Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-Agent Manufacturing

    CERN Document Server

    Trentesaux, Damien; Thomas, André; Leitão, Paulo; Oliveira, José

    2017-01-01

    The book offers an integrated vision on Cloud and HPC, Big Data, Analytics and virtualization in computing-oriented manufacturing, combining information and communication technologies, service-oriented control of holonic architectures as well as enterprise integration solutions based on SOA principles. It is structured in eight parts, each one grouping research and trends in digital manufacturing and service oriented manufacturing control: Cloud and Cyber-Physical Systems for Smart Manufacturing, Reconfigurable and Self-organized Multi-Agent Systems for Industry and Service, Sustainability Issues in Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, Holonic and Multi-agent System Design for Industry and Service, Should Intelligent Manufacturing Systems be Dependable and Safe?, Service-oriented Management and Control of Manufacturing Systems, Engineering and Human Integration in Flexible and Reconfigurable Industrial Systems,Virtualization and Simulation in Computing-oriented Industry and Service.

  13. Smart Aerospace eCommerce: Using Intelligent Agents in a NASA Mission Services Ordering Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moleski, Walt; Luczak, Ed; Morris, Kim; Clayton, Bill; Scherf, Patricia; Obenschain, Arthur F. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    This paper describes how intelligent agent technology was successfully prototyped and then deployed in a smart eCommerce application for NASA. An intelligent software agent called the Intelligent Service Validation Agent (ISVA) was added to an existing web-based ordering application to validate complex orders for spacecraft mission services. This integration of intelligent agent technology with conventional web technology satisfies an immediate NASA need to reduce manual order processing costs. The ISVA agent checks orders for completeness, consistency, and correctness, and notifies users of detected problems. ISVA uses NASA business rules and a knowledge base of NASA services, and is implemented using the Java Expert System Shell (Jess), a fast rule-based inference engine. The paper discusses the design of the agent and knowledge base, and the prototyping and deployment approach. It also discusses future directions and other applications, and discusses lessons-learned that may help other projects make their aerospace eCommerce applications smarter.

  14. 78 FR 21862 - Revision to United States Marshals Service Fees for Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-12

    ....). List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 0 Authority delegations (Government agencies), Government employees... Marshals Service employee, agent, or contractor. This proposed fee increase reflects the current costs to.... Marshals Service employee, agent, or contractor, plus travel costs and any other out-of- pocket expenses...

  15. 7 CFR 62.204 - Authority to request service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority to request service. 62.204 Section 62.204 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... prove his/her financial interest in the product or service at the discretion of the Deputy Administrator. ...

  16. 75 FR 27348 - Public Health Services Act; Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Services Act; Delegation of Authority Notice is hereby given that I have delegated to the Director, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), with authority to redelegate, the authority to...

  17. 31 CFR 312.1 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority. 312.1 Section 312.1 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... UNIONS AS FISCAL AGENTS OF THE UNITED STATES § 312.1 Authority. (a) Home Owners' Loan Act. Section 5(k...

  18. Merging Agents and Cloud Services in Industrial Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco P. Maturana

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel idea to combine agent technology and cloud computing for monitoring a plant floor system is presented. Cloud infrastructure has been leveraged as the main mechanism for hosting the data and processing needs of a modern industrial information system. The cloud offers unlimited storage and data processing in a near real-time fashion. This paper presents a software-as-a-service (SaaS architecture for augmenting industrial plant-floor reporting capabilities. This reporting capability has been architected using networked agents, worker roles, and scripts for building a scalable data pipeline and analytics system.

  19. 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.

  20. Parallel Agent-as-a-Service (P-AaaS Based Geospatial Service in the Cloud

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xicheng Tan

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available To optimize the efficiency of the geospatial service in the flood response decision making system, a Parallel Agent-as-a-Service (P-AaaS method is proposed and implemented in the cloud. The prototype system and comparisons demonstrate the advantages of our approach over existing methods. The P-AaaS method includes both parallel architecture and a mechanism for adjusting the computational resources—the parallel geocomputing mechanism of the P-AaaS method used to execute a geospatial service and the execution algorithm of the P-AaaS based geospatial service chain, respectively. The P-AaaS based method has the following merits: (1 it inherits the advantages of the AaaS-based method (i.e., avoiding transfer of large volumes of remote sensing data or raster terrain data, agent migration, and intelligent conversion into services to improve domain expert collaboration; (2 it optimizes the low performance and the concurrent geoprocessing capability of the AaaS-based method, which is critical for special applications (e.g., highly concurrent applications and emergency response applications; and (3 it adjusts the computing resources dynamically according to the number and the performance requirements of concurrent requests, which allows the geospatial service chain to support a large number of concurrent requests by scaling up the cloud-based clusters in use and optimizes computing resources and costs by reducing the number of virtual machines (VMs when the number of requests decreases.

  1. 49 CFR 551.66 - What is the legal effect of service of process on an agent?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false What is the legal effect of service of process on... Service of Process on Foreign Manufacturers and Importers Method of Service of Process § 551.66 What is the legal effect of service of process on an agent? Service on an agent of administrative or judicial...

  2. Book Review: Jessica F Green, Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keremis, Anestis

    2017-01-01

    Book review of "Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance" by Jessica F Green. Princeton,NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014.215 pp., £16.95 (p/b), ISBN 9780691157597......Book review of "Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance" by Jessica F Green. Princeton,NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014.215 pp., £16.95 (p/b), ISBN 9780691157597...

  3. 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.

  4. 49 CFR 40.403 - Must a service agent notify its clients when the Department issues a PIE?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Must a service agent notify its clients when the... Must a service agent notify its clients when the Department issues a PIE? (a) As a service agent, if... clients, in writing, about the issuance, scope, duration, and effect of the PIE. You may meet this...

  5. Retailing and service activities: main agents and their urban insertion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heliana Comin Vargas

    2000-12-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the im portance of retailing and service activities in term s of social and econom ic developm ent, and the action of the different retailing and services agents related to the urban space. It tries to make clear the conflicts among all these agents, showing the present scenery of big cities, having as a reference the city of São Paulo, which are facing a strong increase on the retailing offer com pared to the demand. Finally, it points out som e aspects which should be thought or rethought in order to prepare efficient urban policies that could be able to control the relationship between retail and city searching for better patterns of urban quality

  6. 41 CFR 101-39.202 - Contractor authorized services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... VEHICLES 39-INTERAGENCY FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 39.2-GSA Interagency Fleet Management System Services... related GSA Interagency Fleet Management System (IFMS) services solely for official purposes. (b) To the... -leased equipment which is not controlled by a GSA IFMS fleet management center, or for authorized...

  7. Co-creating value through agents interaction within service network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okdinawati, L.; Simatupang, T.M.; Sunitiyoso, Y.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to gives further understanding on value co-creation mechanisms in B-to-B service network by reinforcing the processes, the relationships, and influences of other agents where Collaborative Transportation Management (CTM) forms might be best employed. Design/methodology/approach: In order to model the interactions among agents in the collaboration processes and the value co-creation processes, this research used three collaboration cases in Indonesia. Then, the agent-based simulation was used to capture both the collaboration process and the value co-creation process of the three collaboration cases. Findings: The interactions among the agents both inside and outside their collaboration environment determined agent’s role as a value co-creator. The willingness of an agent to accept the opinion of another agent determined the degree of their willingness to co-operate and to change their strategies, and perceptions. Therefore, influenced the size of the value obtained by them in each collaboration process. Research limitations/implications: The findings of the simulations subject to assumptions based on the collaboration cases. Further research is related to how to encourage agents to co-operate and adjust their perceptions. Practical implications: It is crucial for the practitioners to interact with another agent both inside and outside their collaboration environment. The opinions of another agent inside the collaboration environment also need to be considered. Originality/value: This research is derived from its emphasis on how a value is co-created by reinforcing both the collaborative processes and the interactions among agents as well as on how CTM might be best employed.

  8. Co-creating value through agents interaction within service network

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okdinawati, L.; Simatupang, T.M.; Sunitiyoso, Y.

    2017-07-01

    The purpose of this paper is to gives further understanding on value co-creation mechanisms in B-to-B service network by reinforcing the processes, the relationships, and influences of other agents where Collaborative Transportation Management (CTM) forms might be best employed. Design/methodology/approach: In order to model the interactions among agents in the collaboration processes and the value co-creation processes, this research used three collaboration cases in Indonesia. Then, the agent-based simulation was used to capture both the collaboration process and the value co-creation process of the three collaboration cases. Findings: The interactions among the agents both inside and outside their collaboration environment determined agent’s role as a value co-creator. The willingness of an agent to accept the opinion of another agent determined the degree of their willingness to co-operate and to change their strategies, and perceptions. Therefore, influenced the size of the value obtained by them in each collaboration process. Research limitations/implications: The findings of the simulations subject to assumptions based on the collaboration cases. Further research is related to how to encourage agents to co-operate and adjust their perceptions. Practical implications: It is crucial for the practitioners to interact with another agent both inside and outside their collaboration environment. The opinions of another agent inside the collaboration environment also need to be considered. Originality/value: This research is derived from its emphasis on how a value is co-created by reinforcing both the collaborative processes and the interactions among agents as well as on how CTM might be best employed.

  9. Pre-Service Teachers and Classroom Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellegrino, Anthony M.

    2010-01-01

    This study examined the classroom practices of five pre-service teachers from three secondary schools in a large southeastern state. Through classroom observations, survey responses, reviews of refection logs, and focus-group interview responses, we centered on the issue of developing classroom authority as a means to effective classroom…

  10. 77 FR 11437 - Inspection Service Authority; Seizure and Forfeiture

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-27

    ... POSTAL SERVICE 39 CFR Part 233 Inspection Service Authority; Seizure and Forfeiture AGENCY: Postal... Service's rules and regulations regarding the seizure and forfeiture of property into three sections, 39.... The proposed revision consolidates sections 233.8 and 233.9, and treats seizures involving personal...

  11. 49 CFR 40.341 - Must service agents comply with DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Roles and Responsibilities of Service Agents § 40.341 Must service agents comply with DOT drug and alcohol testing... requirements of this part and the DOT agency drug and alcohol testing regulations. (b) If you do not comply...

  12. 49 CFR 40.17 - Is an employer responsible for obtaining information from its service agents?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Is an employer responsible for obtaining... Responsibilities § 40.17 Is an employer responsible for obtaining information from its service agents? Yes, as an employer, you are responsible for obtaining information required by this part from your service agents...

  13. The Reconfiguration of Service Production Systems in Response to Offshoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brandl, Kristin; Mol, Michael J.; Petersen, Bent

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: A service production system has a structure composed of task execution, agents performing tasks and a resulting service output. The purpose of this paper is to understand how such a service production system changes as a consequence of offshoring.Design/methodology/approach: Drawing...... of a service production system in response to change ignited by offshoring. The authors find recurring effects between structures that enable and constrain agents and agents who shape the structure of the production system. Research limitations/implications: The paper offers a novel contribution to the service...... operations management literature by applying practice theory. Moreover, the authors propose a detailed, activity-driven view of service production systems and service offshoring. The authors contribute to practice theory by extending its domain to operations management.Practical implications...

  14. Pricing the Services in Dynamic Environment: Agent Pricing Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Žagar, Drago; Rupčić, Slavko; Rimac-Drlje, Snježana

    New Internet applications and services as well as new user demands open many new issues concerning dynamic management of quality of service and price for received service, respectively. The main goals of Internet service providers are to maximize profit and maintain a negotiated quality of service. From the users' perspective the main goal is to maximize ratio of received QoS and costs of service. However, achieving these objectives could become very complex if we know that Internet service users might during the session become highly dynamic and proactive. This connotes changes in user profile or network provider/s profile caused by high level of user mobility or variable level of user demands. This paper proposes a new agent based pricing architecture for serving the highly dynamic customers in context of dynamic user/network environment. The proposed architecture comprises main aspects and basic parameters that will enable objective and transparent assessment of the costs for the service those Internet users receive while dynamically change QoS demands and cost profile.

  15. 5 CFR 2429.12 - Service of process and papers by the Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Service of process and papers by the... REQUIREMENTS Miscellaneous § 2429.12 Service of process and papers by the Authority. (a) Methods of service... COUNSEL OF THE FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY AND FEDERAL SERVICE IMPASSES PANEL FEDERAL LABOR...

  16. THE AUTHORITY TO FILE BANKRUPTCY PETITIONS AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INDONESIA’S FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erma Defiana Putriyanti

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The transfer in the functions, duties, and authority for regulation and supervision as stipulated in Article 55 of the Act concerning the Financial Services Authority (OJK does not include the transfer of authority in filing a petition for bankruptcy. The authority to file a bankrupty petition against a debtor in the financial services sector still refers to Article 2 paragraph (3 to (5 Act No. 37 of 2004 concerning Bankruptcy and Suspension of Payment. Peralihan fungsi, tugas dan kewenangan pengaturan dan pengawasan sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 55 Undang-undang tentang Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK tidak termasuk peralihan kewenangan pengajuan pailit. Kewenangan untuk mengajukan permohonan pailit terhadap debitor yang bergerak dibidang jasa keuangan tetap mengacu pada Pasal 2 ayat (3 sampai (5 Undang-Undang Nomor 37 Tahun 2004 tentang Kepailitan dan PKPU.

  17. THE AUTHORITY TO FILE BANKRUPTCY PETITIONS AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INDONESIA’S FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erma Defiana Putriyanti

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The transfer in the functions, duties, and authority for regulation and supervision as stipulated in Article 55 of the Act concerning the Financial Services Authority (OJK does not include the transfer of authority in filing a petition for bankruptcy. The authority to file a bankrupty petition against a debtor in the financial services sector still refers to Article 2 paragraph (3 to (5 Act No. 37 of 2004 concerning Bankruptcy and Suspension of Payment.   Peralihan fungsi, tugas dan kewenangan pengaturan dan pengawasan sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 55 Undang-undang tentang Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK tidak termasuk peralihan kewenangan pengajuan pailit. Kewenangan untuk mengajukan permohonan pailit terhadap debitor yang bergerak dibidang jasa keuangan tetap mengacu pada Pasal 2 ayat (3 sampai (5 Undang-Undang Nomor 37 Tahun 2004 tentang Kepailitan dan PKPU.

  18. Modeling the Interaction Between Semantic Agents and Semantic Web Services Using MDA Approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kardas, Geylani; Göknil, Arda; Dikenelli, Oguz; Topaloglu, N. Yasemin

    2007-01-01

    In this paper, we present our metamodeling approach for integrating semantic web services and semantic web enabled agents under Model Driven Architecture (MDA) view which defines a conceptual framework to realize model driven development. We believe that agents must have well designed environment

  19. Semantic Agent-Based Service Middleware and Simulation for Smart Cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ming; Xu, Yang; Hu, Haixiao; Mohammed, Abdul-Wahid

    2016-12-21

    With the development of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technology, a variety of embedded and mobile devices is integrated to interact via the platform of the Internet of Things, especially in the domain of smart cities. One of the primary challenges is that selecting the appropriate services or service combination for upper layer applications is hard, which is due to the absence of a unified semantical service description pattern, as well as the service selection mechanism. In this paper, we define a semantic service representation model from four key properties: Capability (C), Deployment (D), Resource (R) and IOData (IO). Based on this model, an agent-based middleware is built to support semantic service enablement. In this middleware, we present an efficient semantic service discovery and matching approach for a service combination process, which calculates the semantic similarity between services, and a heuristic algorithm to search the service candidates for a specific service request. Based on this design, we propose a simulation of virtual urban fire fighting, and the experimental results manifest the feasibility and efficiency of our design.

  20. Semantic Agent-Based Service Middleware and Simulation for Smart Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Liu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available With the development of Machine-to-Machine (M2M technology, a variety of embedded and mobile devices is integrated to interact via the platform of the Internet of Things, especially in the domain of smart cities. One of the primary challenges is that selecting the appropriate services or service combination for upper layer applications is hard, which is due to the absence of a unified semantical service description pattern, as well as the service selection mechanism. In this paper, we define a semantic service representation model from four key properties: Capability (C, Deployment (D, Resource (R and IOData (IO. Based on this model, an agent-based middleware is built to support semantic service enablement. In this middleware, we present an efficient semantic service discovery and matching approach for a service combination process, which calculates the semantic similarity between services, and a heuristic algorithm to search the service candidates for a specific service request. Based on this design, we propose a simulation of virtual urban fire fighting, and the experimental results manifest the feasibility and efficiency of our design.

  1. Semantic Agent-Based Service Middleware and Simulation for Smart Cities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ming; Xu, Yang; Hu, Haixiao; Mohammed, Abdul-Wahid

    2016-01-01

    With the development of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technology, a variety of embedded and mobile devices is integrated to interact via the platform of the Internet of Things, especially in the domain of smart cities. One of the primary challenges is that selecting the appropriate services or service combination for upper layer applications is hard, which is due to the absence of a unified semantical service description pattern, as well as the service selection mechanism. In this paper, we define a semantic service representation model from four key properties: Capability (C), Deployment (D), Resource (R) and IOData (IO). Based on this model, an agent-based middleware is built to support semantic service enablement. In this middleware, we present an efficient semantic service discovery and matching approach for a service combination process, which calculates the semantic similarity between services, and a heuristic algorithm to search the service candidates for a specific service request. Based on this design, we propose a simulation of virtual urban fire fighting, and the experimental results manifest the feasibility and efficiency of our design. PMID:28009818

  2. 20 CFR 628.705 - SYETP authorized services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... feasible, shall include contextual learning opportunities which integrate the development of general... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false SYETP authorized services. 628.705 Section 628.705 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR PROGRAMS UNDER...

  3. 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.

  4. 75 FR 1735 - Section 3504 Agent Employment Tax Liability

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-13

    ... Section 3504 Agent Employment Tax Liability AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION... employment tax liability of agents authorized by the Secretary under section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to perform acts required of employers with respect to taxes under the Federal Unemployment...

  5. Merging Agents and Cloud Services in Industrial Applications

    OpenAIRE

    Francisco P. Maturana; Juan L. Asenjo; Neethu S. Philip; Shweta Chatrola

    2014-01-01

    A novel idea to combine agent technology and cloud computing for monitoring a plant floor system is presented. Cloud infrastructure has been leveraged as the main mechanism for hosting the data and processing needs of a modern industrial information system. The cloud offers unlimited storage and data processing in a near real-time fashion. This paper presents a software-as-a-service (SaaS) architecture for augmenting industrial plant-floor reporting capabilities. This reporting capability has...

  6. 5 CFR 846.726 - Delegation of authority to act as OPM's agent for receipt of employee communications relating to...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ....726 Delegation of authority to act as OPM's agent for receipt of employee communications relating to... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Delegation of authority to act as OPM's agent for receipt of employee communications relating to elections. 846.726 Section 846.726...

  7. 47 CFR 22.409 - Developmental authorization for a new Public Mobile Service or technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Mobile Service or technology. 22.409 Section 22.409 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES PUBLIC MOBILE SERVICES Developmental Authorizations § 22.409 Developmental authorization for a new Public Mobile Service or technology. The FCC may grant applications for...

  8. 76 FR 13618 - Delegation of Authority; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the Secretary Delegation of Authority; Centers... Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority, last published at 55 FR 9363 (March 13, 1990). Part A... of Inspector General. This delegation of authority supersedes the authorities delegated under Part A...

  9. 31 CFR 406.1 - Secret Service officers authorized to make seizures of gold.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Secret Service officers authorized to... and Finance (Continued) SECRET SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF GOLD FOR VIOLATIONS OF GOLD RESERVE ACT OF 1934 AND GOLD REGULATIONS § 406.1 Secret Service officers authorized to...

  10. 17 CFR 279.4 - Form ADV-NR, appointment of agent for service of process by non-resident general partner and non...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Form ADV-NR, appointment of agent for service of process by non-resident general partner and non-resident managing agent of an... agent for service of process by non-resident general partner and non-resident managing agent of an...

  11. 75 FR 40842 - Public Health Service Act (PHS), Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Service Act (PHS), Delegation of Authority Notice is hereby given that I have delegated to the Director... Secretary of Health and Human Services under the following section under Title XXVI of the Public Health...

  12. An agent-based peer-to-peer architecture for semantic discovery of manufacturing services across virtual enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wenyu; Zhang, Shuai; Cai, Ming; Jian, Wu

    2015-04-01

    With the development of virtual enterprise (VE) paradigm, the usage of serviceoriented architecture (SOA) is increasingly being considered for facilitating the integration and utilisation of distributed manufacturing resources. However, due to the heterogeneous nature among VEs, the dynamic nature of a VE and the autonomous nature of each VE member, the lack of both sophisticated coordination mechanism in the popular centralised infrastructure and semantic expressivity in the existing SOA standards make the current centralised, syntactic service discovery method undesirable. This motivates the proposed agent-based peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture for semantic discovery of manufacturing services across VEs. Multi-agent technology provides autonomous and flexible problemsolving capabilities in dynamic and adaptive VE environments. Peer-to-peer overlay provides highly scalable coupling across decentralised VEs, each of which exhibiting as a peer composed of multiple agents dealing with manufacturing services. The proposed architecture utilises a novel, efficient, two-stage search strategy - semantic peer discovery and semantic service discovery - to handle the complex searches of manufacturing services across VEs through fast peer filtering. The operation and experimental evaluation of the prototype system are presented to validate the implementation of the proposed approach.

  13. 38 CFR 21.8370 - Authorization of transportation services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Certain Children of Vietnam Veterans-Spina Bifida and Covered Birth Defects Transportation Services § 21... non-VA programs; or (3) Can commute to school with family, friends, or fellow students. (Authority: 38... has approved the information collection requirements in this section under control number 2900-0580...

  14. 31 CFR 500.575 - Certain services to Vietnamese nationals authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Certain services to Vietnamese... Vietnamese nationals authorized. (a) Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis for the provision in the United States or a third country of business orientation or training services to Vietnamese...

  15. 31 CFR 586.509 - Provision of certain legal services authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Provision of certain legal services authorized. 586.509 Section 586.509 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance..., authorizing receipt, from unblocked sources, of payment of professional fees and reimbursement of incurred...

  16. 31 CFR 598.507 - Provision of certain legal services authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Provision of certain legal services authorized. 598.507 Section 598.507 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance... case-by-case basis authorizing receipt from unblocked sources of payment of professional fees and...

  17. 31 CFR 587.507 - Provision of certain legal services authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Provision of certain legal services authorized. 587.507 Section 587.507 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance...-case basis authorizing receipt from unblocked sources of payment of professional fees and reimbursement...

  18. 31 CFR 545.513 - Provision of certain legal services authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Provision of certain legal services authorized. 545.513 Section 545.513 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance... issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing receipt from unblocked sources of payment of professional fees...

  19. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY OF PROVIDED SERVICES IN THE VISION OF TRAVEL AGENTS IN SUCEAVA MUNICIPALITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian Valentin HAPENCIUC

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Taking into account its pragmatic meaning, the success of a travel agency frequently relies on the activity of travel agents. In the process of promoting and selling flat voyages, customer service can be directly influenced by the interaction of factors such as: offer accuracy, sales representatives quality, employee timeliness, politeness of the travel agent, maintaining eye contact etc., all of which are components of the offered product. Thereby, we conducted, within the period 5 - 15 March 2015, a research based on interviews with 26 travel agents from 20 different units, in order to determine their awareness about potential factors that may have an influence on the quality of offered services. By the instrumentality of a questionnaire, we attempted to assess the integrity and loyalty of employees, their attitude regarding the activities they carry, their dissatisfaction, negative and  positive factors influencing service quality, and their positioning to the organization and brand.

  20. 76 FR 31337 - Public Health Service Act (PHS); Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-31

    ... Service Act (PHS); Delegation of Authority Notice is hereby given that pursuant to Section 3306(14) of the... authorities described in section 3306(14)(B) of the PHS Act. This delegation is in addition to those duties..., pursuant to the delegation in the previous paragraph. These authorities shall be exercised under the...

  1. 75 FR 42486 - Financial Management Service; Proposed Collection of Information: Authorization Agreement for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Fiscal Service Financial Management Service; Proposed Collection of Information: Authorization Agreement for Preauthorized Payment (SF 5510) AGENCY: Financial Management Service, Fiscal Service, Treasury. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. SUMMARY: The Financial Management...

  2. 31 CFR 587.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is authorized to debit any blocked account held at that financial institution in payment or reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the term normal service charge shall include...

  3. 31 CFR 540.504 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Statements of Licensing Policy § 540.504 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is authorized to debit any blocked account held by that financial institution in payment or reimbursement for normal service charges owed to it by the owner of the blocked...

  4. 17 CFR 239.43 - Form F-N, appointment of agent for service of process by foreign banks and foreign insurance...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Form F-N, appointment of agent for service of process by foreign banks and foreign insurance companies and certain of their holding... agent for service of process by foreign banks and foreign insurance companies and certain of their...

  5. Services of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority Library

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carregado, M.A.; Wallingre, G.V.

    2011-01-01

    Full text; The main of this work is to present the services and activities of the ARN (Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear) Library to potential users from the biological dosimetry area in the framework of the intercomparison Meeting of the Latin American Biological Dosimetry Network held in Buenos Aires from October 27-30 of 2008. It makes a short chronology of the library; the services offered to each type of users and the tasks related to technical and international cooperation with other organizations such as: the terminology Committee of IRAM (Instituto Argentino de Normalizacion y Certificacion); the input of national literature to the INIS Database of the IAEA; the retrospective digitalisation, indexing and bibliographic description of institutional publications to be submitted to the repository of the Ibero American Forum of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Regulatory Organizations and the participation in nuclear information networks. Finally it shown some relevant data from the internal statistics. (authors)

  6. Authorization Management Service

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — Provides an enterprise-wide capability for managing individual authorizations for access to protected information. An Individual Authorization is an abstract concept...

  7. Odor Classification using Agent Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sigeru OMATU

    2014-03-01

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

  8. AN AUTOMATED END-TO-END MULTI-AGENT QOS BASED ARCHITECTURE FOR SELECTION OF GEOSPATIAL WEB SERVICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Shah

    2012-07-01

    With the proliferation of web services published over the internet, multiple web services may provide similar functionality, but with different non-functional properties. Thus, Quality of Service (QoS offers a metric to differentiate the services and their service providers. In a quality-driven selection of web services, it is important to consider non-functional properties of the web service so as to satisfy the constraints or requirements of the end users. The main intent of this paper is to build an automated end-to-end multi-agent based solution to provide the best-fit web service to service requester based on QoS.

  9. Authorization for the functioning of service laboratories for personal monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1981-10-01

    The requirements of the Brazilian CNEN (Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear) are established for the construction licensing and operation authorization of laboratories offering personnel monitoring services for external exposures to X-and gamma radiation. (I.C.R.) [pt

  10. Permission and Authorization in Policies for Virtual Communities of Agents

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    2005-01-01

    htmlabstractWe study the design of policies for virtual communities of agents based on peer-to-peer systems or the grid infrastructure. In a virtual community agents can play both the role of resource consumers and the role of resource providers. Moreover, the agents remain in control of their

  11. Efficacy and safety testing of mycotoxin-detoxifying agents in broilers following the European Food Safety Authority guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osselaere, A; Devreese, M; Watteyn, A; Vandenbroucke, V; Goossens, J; Hautekiet, V; Eeckhout, M; De Saeger, S; De Baere, S; De Backer, P; Croubels, S

    2012-08-01

    Contamination of feeds with mycotoxins is a worldwide problem and mycotoxin-detoxifying agents are used to decrease their negative effect. The European Food Safety Authority recently stated guidelines and end-points for the efficacy testing of detoxifiers. Our study revealed that plasma concentrations of deoxynivalenol and deepoxy-deoxynivalenol were too low to assess efficacy of 2 commercially available mycotoxin-detoxifying agents against deoxynivalenol after 3 wk of continuous feeding of this mycotoxin at concentrations of 2.44±0.70 mg/kg of feed and 7.54±2.20 mg/kg of feed in broilers. This correlates with the poor absorption of deoxynivalenol in poultry. A safety study with 2 commercially available detoxifying agents and veterinary drugs showed innovative results with regard to the pharmacokinetics of 2 antibiotics after oral dosing in the drinking water. The plasma and kidney tissue concentrations of oxytetracycline were significantly higher in broilers receiving a biotransforming agent in the feed compared with control birds. For amoxicillin, the plasma concentrations were significantly higher for broilers receiving an adsorbing agent in comparison to birds receiving the biotransforming agent, but not to the control group. Mycotoxin-detoxifying agents can thus interact with the oral bioavailability of antibiotics depending on the antibiotic and detoxifying agent, with possible adverse effects on the health of animals and humans.

  12. 17 CFR 249.250 - Form F-X, for appointment of agent for service of process by issuers registering securities on...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Form F-X, for appointment of agent for service of process by issuers registering securities on Form F-8, F-9, F-10 or F-80 (§ 239.38... F-X, for appointment of agent for service of process by issuers registering securities on Form F-8...

  13. Agent Services for Situation Aware Control of Power Systems With Distributed Generation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Saleem, Arshad; Heussen, Kai; Lind, Morten

    2009-01-01

    Electric Power system of Denmark exhibits some unique characteristics. An increasing part of the electricity is produced by distributed generators (DGs). Most of these DGs are connected to the network at the distribution level. At the same time the concept of vehicle to grid (V2G) is already...... in the process of realization. This situation has created an incentive in electric power industry to utilize modern information and communication technologies (ICT) for improving the distribution system automation. This paper describes our work on how significantly increased amount of distributed generation...... services. We present results from several experiments where agents offer and utilize services in order to achieve distributed and autonomous control for subgrid operation of a distribution system. Finally it is discussed how the service oriented architecture can be combined with knowledge based reasoning...

  14. 31 CFR 538.504 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) U.S. financial institutions are... reimbursement for normal service charges owed to such U.S. financial institution by the owner of such blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the term normal service charge shall include charges in payment or...

  15. 31 CFR 595.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) U.S. financial institutions are... reimbursement for normal service charges owed to such U.S. financial institution by the owner of such blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the term normal service charge shall include charges in payment or...

  16. 31 CFR 536.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... § 536.505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) U.S. financial... or reimbursement for normal service charges owed to such U.S. financial institution by the owner of such blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the term normal service charge shall include charges...

  17. GEOSS authentication/authorization services: a Broker-based approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santoro, M.; Nativi, S.

    2014-12-01

    The vision of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) is the achievement of societal benefits through voluntary contribution and sharing of resources to better understand the relationships between the society and the environment where we live. The GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) allows users to search, access, and use the resources contributed by the GEOSS members. The GEO DAB (Discovery and Access Broker) is the GCI component in charge of interconnecting the heterogeneous data systems contributing to GEOSS. Client applications (i.e. the portals and apps) can connect to GEO DAB as a unique entry point to discover and access resources available through GCI, with no need to implement the many service protocols and models applied by the GEOSS data providers. The GEO DAB implements the brokering approach (Nativi et al., 2013) to build a flexible and scalable System of Systems. User authentication/authorization functionality is becoming more and more important for GEOSS data providers and users. The Providers ask for information about who accessed their resources and, in some cases, want to limit the data download. The Users ask for a profiled interaction with the system based on their needs and expertise level. Besides, authentication and authorization is necessary for GEOSS to provide moderated social services - e.g. feedback messages, data "fit for use" comments, etc. In keeping with the GEOSS principles of building on existing systems and lowering entry-barriers for users, an objective of the authentication/authorization development was to support existing and well-used users' credentials (e.g. Google, Twitter, etc.). Due to the heterogeneity of technologies used by the different providers and applications, a broker-based approach for the authentication/authorization was introduced as a new functionality of GEO DAB. This new capability will be demonstrated at the next GEO XI Plenary (November 2014). This work will be presented and discussed

  18. 31 CFR 597.504 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Licensing Policy § 597.504 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) U.S... institution in payment or reimbursement for normal service charges owed to such U.S. financial institution by the owner of such blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the term normal service charge shall...

  19. 31 CFR 598.506 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Policy § 598.506 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) U.S. financial... reimbursement for normal service charges owed to such U.S. financial institution by the owner of such blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the term normal service charges includes but is not limited to...

  20. 78 FR 14303 - Statement of Delegation of Authority; Health Resources and Services Administration and Centers...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-05

    ... Services Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention I hereby delegate to the Administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with authority to redelegate, the authority vested in the Secretary of the...

  1. 17 CFR 269.5 - Form F-X, for appointment of agent for service of process by issuers registering securities on...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Form F-X, for appointment of agent for service of process by issuers registering securities on Form F-8, F-9, F-10 or F-80 (§§ 239... INDENTURE ACT OF 1939 § 269.5 Form F-X, for appointment of agent for service of process by issuers...

  2. User involvement in measuring service quality of local authority occupational therapy services: a new approach.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sixma, H.J.; Calnan, S.; Calnan, M.; Groenewegen, P.P.

    2001-01-01

    The aim of this paper is two-fold: (i) to describe the development of a new measuring instrument for quality of care from the perspective of the users of local authority Occupational Therapy (OT) services, and (ii) to evaluate the potential of the new instrument as a standardized approach for the

  3. 38 CFR 21.8072 - Authorizing training, services, and assistance beyond the initial individualized written plan of...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Authorizing training, services, and assistance beyond the initial individualized written plan of vocational... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authorizing training, services, and assistance beyond the initial individualized written plan of vocational rehabilitation. 21...

  4. 76 FR 81929 - South Carolina Public Service Authority; Notice of Workshop for Santee Cooper Hydroelectric Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 199-205] South Carolina Public Service Authority; Notice of Workshop for Santee Cooper Hydroelectric Project On May 26 and...) and the South Carolina Public Service Authority (SCPSA), licensee for the Santee-Cooper Hydroelectric...

  5. Twitter web-service for soft agent reporting in persistent surveillance systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rababaah, Haroun; Shirkhodaie, Amir

    2010-04-01

    Persistent surveillance is an intricate process requiring monitoring, gathering, processing, tracking, and characterization of many spatiotemporal events occurring concurrently. Data associated with events can be readily attained by networking of hard (physical) sensors. Sensors may have homogeneous or heterogeneous (hybrid) sensing modalities with different communication bandwidth requirements. Complimentary to hard sensors are human observers or "soft sensors" that can report occurrences of evolving events via different communication devices (e.g., texting, cell phones, emails, instant messaging, etc.) to the command control center. However, networking of human observers in ad-hoc way is rather a difficult task. In this paper, we present a Twitter web-service for soft agent reporting in persistent surveillance systems (called Web-STARS). The objective of this web-service is to aggregate multi-source human observations in hybrid sensor networks rapidly. With availability of Twitter social network, such a human networking concept can not only be realized for large scale persistent surveillance systems (PSS), but also, it can be employed with proper interfaces to expedite rapid events reporting by human observers. The proposed technique is particularly suitable for large-scale persistent surveillance systems with distributed soft and hard sensor networks. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed technique is measured experimentally by conducting several simulated persistent surveillance scenarios. It is demonstrated that by fusion of information from hard and soft agents improves understanding of common operating picture and enhances situational awareness.

  6. 49 CFR 40.297 - Does anyone have the authority to change a SAP's initial evaluation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Does anyone have the authority to change a SAP's... the Return-to-Duty Process § 40.297 Does anyone have the authority to change a SAP's initial... managed-care provider, any service agent) may change in any way the SAP's evaluation or recommendations...

  7. 77 FR 1689 - Public Availability of Federal Labor Relations Authority FY 2011 Service Contract Inventory

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-11

    ... FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY Public Availability of Federal Labor Relations Authority FY 2011 Service Contract Inventory AGENCY: Federal Labor Relations Authority. ACTION: Notice of Public... the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117), the Federal Labor Relations Authority...

  8. 76 FR 26296 - Public Availability of Federal Labor Relations Authority FY 2010 Service Contract Inventory

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-06

    ... FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY Public Availability of Federal Labor Relations Authority FY 2010 Service Contract Inventory AGENCY: Federal Labor Relations Authority. ACTION: Notice of Public... the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117), the Federal Labor Relations Authority...

  9. 31 CFR 543.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this....505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial... charges to correct bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary...

  10. 31 CFR 594.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this....505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial... to correct bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and...

  11. 31 CFR 544.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... payment or reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As... Licensing Policy § 544.505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S... adjustment charges to correct bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges...

  12. 31 CFR 593.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... payment or reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As... Licensing Policy § 593.505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S... adjustment charges to correct bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges...

  13. 31 CFR 547.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this... Policy § 547.505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial... charges to correct bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary...

  14. 31 CFR 537.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is... bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and protest fees, and...

  15. 31 CFR 541.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is... bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and protest fees, and...

  16. 31 CFR 548.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is... bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and protest fees, and...

  17. 31 CFR 588.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this... § 588.505 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial... to correct bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and...

  18. 31 CFR 546.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is... bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and protest fees, and...

  19. 31 CFR 542.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is... bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and protest fees, and...

  20. 31 CFR 545.504 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... reimbursement for normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this... § 545.504 Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial... to correct bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and...

  1. 31 CFR 551.505 - Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... normal service charges owed it by the owner of that blocked account. (b) As used in this section, the... Entries in certain accounts for normal service charges authorized. (a) A U.S. financial institution is... bookkeeping errors; and, but not by way of limitation, minimum balance charges, notary and protest fees, and...

  2. 76 FR 53492 - South Carolina Public Service Authority (Also Referred to as Santee Cooper); Combined Licenses...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-26

    ... Carolina Public Service Authority (Also Referred to as Santee Cooper); Combined Licenses for Virgil C... as Santee Cooper), for two Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 52 combined... Service Authority (Also Referred to as Santee Cooper) Application for the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station...

  3. 5 CFR 2429.18 - Service of petitions for review of final authority orders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... established in Public Law No. 100-236 for determining the appropriate court of appeals to review an agency... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Service of petitions for review of final authority orders. 2429.18 Section 2429.18 Administrative Personnel FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY...

  4. The Authorized Service After-Sales Service, Customer Satisfaction and Impact: An Application in the Automotive Industry in Istanbul

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeynep ÖZGÜNER

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Authorized service after sales services provided by this study investigates the relationship between customer satisfaction. Research of survey forms conducted to the car owners. Their car owners surveyed in the study, presented to them by their satisfaction with after-sales service customer satisfaction levels identified were whether there is a relationship with the size of the after-sales service. Also differentiate according to demographic variables were found to be different. The security of data, frequencies, rates, and averages were calculated by them. Independent samples t-test (independent samples t-test and one way ANOVA analysis used from the data. The sub-dimensions subjected for the correlation analysis between to relationships examined. As a result, after-sales services according to the dimensions of the satisfaction of car owners are determined to be at a high level overall. There is not huge difference between to demographic changes with after sales services. Meaningful relationships have been identified with after sales services with sub-dimensions.

  5. 26 CFR 31.3306(n)-1 - Services on American vessel whose business is conducted by general agent of Secretary of Commerce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... conducted by general agent of Secretary of Commerce. 31.3306(n)-1 Section 31.3306(n)-1 Internal Revenue... conducted by general agent of Secretary of Commerce. (a) Section 3306(n) and this section of the regulations... by a general agent of the Secretary of Commerce. Whether services performed by such an officer or...

  6. User Needs of Digital Service Web Portals: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heo, Misook; Song, Jung-Sook; Seol, Moon-Won

    2013-01-01

    The authors examined the needs of digital information service web portal users. More specifically, the needs of Korean cultural portal users were examined as a case study. The conceptual framework of a web-based portal is that it is a complex, web-based service application with characteristics of information systems and service agents. In…

  7. Users' demographic profile and quality attributes of bus services: The perspectives of users, operators and local authorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noh, Nur'Amirah Mhd.; Hamid, Ahmad Hilmy Abd

    2017-10-01

    Bus services that can help meet almost every bus user's needs are the goals of bus operators. Despite such an idealistic view, the operators themselves, users and even the local authorities have been found to hold different views about the quality of service that the bus should deliver. As the users i.e., customers are considered as important stakeholders, understanding their characteristics, profile and pattern is very crucial. To this end, the present study has attempted to gauge the perspectives of all the above-mentioned stakeholders. For the users, a customer satisfaction survey was employed to look into the relative influence of service attributes. In addition, surveys were also administered to bus operators and local authorities to study their perspectives in relation to this matter. 450 randomly selected respondents were surveyed. Identification of the service level was analyzed through the Likert scale whereas the perspectives of the operators and authorities were dealt with through mean value Analysis. Specifically, this study aims to identify the crucial attributes in determining the quality of the bus services. Findings of the study indicated that different attributes were selected by users, operators and authorities, which clearly enlightened the variations of the important attributes in determining the level of bus service quality. In its attempt to compare the service level attributes from three perspectives, this study has helped advance better improvement and strategies for the urban public bus operators and planners, in addition to the authorities in delivering user-friendly bus services by taking into account the local context, user profile and demographic characteristics.

  8. 47 CFR 76.944 - Commission review of franchising authority decisions on rates for the basic service tier and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commission review of franchising authority... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Cable Rate Regulation § 76.944 Commission review of franchising authority... forum for appeals of decisions by franchising authorities on rates for the basic service tier or...

  9. Personality as predictor of customer service centre agent performance in the banking industry: An exploratory study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Blignaut

    2014-10-01

    Research purpose: The aim of the study was to identify personality traits, as measured by the Occupational Personality Questionnaire 32r (item response theory scored version, including the more parsimonious Big Five personality traits, that may act as job performance predictors for customer service centre (CSC agents in the banking industry. Motivation for the study: This study provides an exploratory investigation of whether specific personality traits differ amongst CSC agents in the banking industry, based on their job performance. No published research in this field could be identified. Research design, approach and method: Purposive sampling was used to collect data from the entire CSC agent base of a particular banking group (N = 89. Responses were analysed by means of quantitative techniques. Main findings and practical/managerial implications: Results indicate that parsimonious traits of personality, expressed as the Big Five personality traits, predict job performance. The importance of carefully selecting suitable job performance criteria for a specific environment, however, emerged as a critical issue in performance prediction. Contribution: The study focuses attention on the importance of CSC agents’ performance as frontline staff in the banking industry and identifying valid criteria for selecting the most suitable agents. Providing a one-contact point of service such as a CSC is a fairly new approach in the South African banking industry and this study provides an initial investigation of personality traits that may serve as job performance predictors in this environment.

  10. 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.

  11. Report: Results of Technical Vulnerability Assessment: EPA’s Directory Service System Authentication and Authorization Servers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Report #11-P-0597, September 9, 2011. Vulnerability testing of EPA’s directory service system authentication and authorization servers conducted in March 2011 identified authentication and authorization servers with numerous vulnerabilities.

  12. Avatars and virtual agents - relationship interfaces for the elderly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaked, Nava A

    2017-06-01

    In the Digital Era, the authors witness a change in the relationship between the patient and the care-giver or Health Maintenance Organization's providing the health services. Another fact is the use of various technologies to increase the effectiveness and quality of health services across all primary and secondary users. These technologies range from telemedicine systems, decision making tools, online and self-services applications and virtual agents; all providing information and assistance. The common thread between all these digital implementations, is they all require human machine interfaces. These interfaces must be interactive, user friendly and inviting, to create user involvement and cooperation incentives. The challenge is to design interfaces which will best fit the target users and enable smooth interaction especially, for the elderly users. Avatars and Virtual Agents are one of the interfaces used for both home care monitoring and companionship. They are also inherently multimodal in nature and allow an intimate relation between the elderly users and the Avatar. This study discusses the need and nature of these relationship models, the challenges of designing for the elderly. The study proposes key features for the design and evaluation in the area of assistive applications using Avatar and Virtual agents for the elderly users.

  13. Service for fault tolerance in the Ad Hoc Networks based on Multi Agent Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghalem Belalem

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The Ad hoc networks are distributed networks, self-organized and does not require infrastructure. In such network, mobile infrastructures are subject of disconnections. This situation may concern a voluntary or involuntary disconnection of nodes caused by the high mobility in the Ad hoc network. In these problems we are trying through this work to contribute to solving these problems in order to ensure continuous service by proposing our service for faults tolerance based on Multi Agent Systems (MAS, which predict a problem and decision making in relation to critical nodes. Our work contributes to study the prediction of voluntary and involuntary disconnections in the Ad hoc network; therefore we propose our service for faults tolerance that allows for effective distribution of information in the Network by selecting some objects of the network to be duplicates of information.

  14. 28 CFR 0.140 - Authority relating to advertisements, and purchase of certain supplies and services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority relating to advertisements, and purchase of certain supplies and services. 0.140 Section 0.140 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Authorizations With Respect to Personnel and Certain Administrative Matters § 0.140 Authority...

  15. INVESTIGATION AUTHORITIES OF FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY IN SYARIAH BANKING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamsir

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to explore the authority of the FSA as one of the institutions that deal with crime investigation in banking institutions, especially in Islamic Banking. Investigators FSA has great authority other than the authority to conduct investigations that are not owned by other investigators. The existence of this authority would lead to overlapping investigation with a given investigation agencies such as the police and the prosecutor. Fundamental problems are experienced by the FSA in conducting the investigation is less availability of human resources of FSA investigator. Therefore, inevitably required cooperation with the Police in effecting the FSA investigation. Effectiveness of investigations conducted by the FSA task for banking crimes that occurred in Islamic Banking is need synergy of communication and coordination with the DSN as an institution authorized by the Islamic Banking Act to provide recommendations to other agencies including the FSA if there is suspicion of a criminal offense in Islamic Banking.

  16. An Automated End-To Multi-Agent Qos Based Architecture for Selection of Geospatial Web Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, M.; Verma, Y.; Nandakumar, R.

    2012-07-01

    Over the past decade, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web services have gained wide popularity and acceptance from researchers and industries all over the world. SOA makes it easy to build business applications with common services, and it provides like: reduced integration expense, better asset reuse, higher business agility, and reduction of business risk. Building of framework for acquiring useful geospatial information for potential users is a crucial problem faced by the GIS domain. Geospatial Web services solve this problem. With the help of web service technology, geospatial web services can provide useful geospatial information to potential users in a better way than traditional geographic information system (GIS). A geospatial Web service is a modular application designed to enable the discovery, access, and chaining of geospatial information and services across the web that are often both computation and data-intensive that involve diverse sources of data and complex processing functions. With the proliferation of web services published over the internet, multiple web services may provide similar functionality, but with different non-functional properties. Thus, Quality of Service (QoS) offers a metric to differentiate the services and their service providers. In a quality-driven selection of web services, it is important to consider non-functional properties of the web service so as to satisfy the constraints or requirements of the end users. The main intent of this paper is to build an automated end-to-end multi-agent based solution to provide the best-fit web service to service requester based on QoS.

  17. 31 CFR 500.585 - Payments for services rendered by North Korea to United States aircraft authorized.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... North Korea to United States aircraft authorized. 500.585 Section 500.585 Money and Finance: Treasury... TREASURY FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS Licenses, Authorizations and Statements of Licensing Policy § 500.585 Payments for services rendered by North Korea to United States aircraft authorized. Payments...

  18. The Transfer of Local Authority School Support Services to External Social Enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatcher, Richard

    2015-01-01

    This paper explores an emerging and largely unresearched sector of the school education market, the transfer of local authority support services to external social enterprises. It locates these new social enterprises as a consequence of government strategies to reduce public spending, shrink local government and create competitive markets in…

  19. Quality of local authority occupational therapy services: developing an instrument to measure the user's perspective.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Calnan, S.; Sixma, H.J.; Calnan, M.W.; Groenewegen, P.P.

    2000-01-01

    The aims of this paper are threefold: (1) to describe the development of an instrument measuring quality of care from the specific perspective of the users of local authority occupational therapy services; (2) to present the results from a survey of users' views about the quality of services offered

  20. 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...

  1. Analysis of the quality of wastewater from the service stations located in the operative area of Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority

    OpenAIRE

    Dahal, Karna

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this thesis was to analyse the data of pollutant parameters for waste water from the service stations situated in the operative area of the Viikinmäki and Suomenoja WWTPs in the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY). The main reason for this analysis was that HSY wanted to know about the quality of waste water discharged from the service stations into the influent of its WWTPs. The number of cars used in Finland is increasing day by day; hence, au...

  2. An Exception Handling Service for Software Agent Ensembles

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Klein, Mark

    2004-01-01

    ... (I) the creation of better contingent contracts between agents (both human and software- based) as well as (2) exception-handling agents that monitor MAS for problem symptoms, diagnose the underlying problems, and intervene as appropriate to avoid or resolve these problems.

  3. 7 CFR 53.12 - Authority of agent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) LIVESTOCK (GRADING...

  4. 32 CFR 700.822 - Delivery of personnel to civil authorities and service of subpoena or other process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... service of subpoena or other process. 700.822 Section 700.822 National Defense Department of Defense... personnel to civil authorities and service of subpoena or other process. (a) Commanding officers or other... service of subpoenas or other process as provided by the Manual of the Judge Advocate General. ...

  5. Ethics of using language editing services in an era of digital communication and heavily multi-authored papers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lozano, George A

    2014-06-01

    Scientists of many countries in which English is not the primary language routinely use a variety of manuscript preparation, correction or editing services, a practice that is openly endorsed by many journals and scientific institutions. These services vary tremendously in their scope; at one end there is simple proof-reading, and at the other extreme there is in-depth and extensive peer-reviewing, proposal preparation, statistical analyses, re-writing and co-writing. In this paper, the various types of service are reviewed, along with authorship guidelines, and the question is raised of whether the high-end services surpass most guidelines' criteria for authorship. Three other factors are considered. First, the ease of collaboration possible in the internet era allows multiple iterations between the author(s) and the "editing service", so essentially, papers can be co-written. Second, "editing services" often offer subject-specific experts who comment not only on the language, but interpret and improve scientific content. Third, the trend towards heavily multi-authored papers implies that the threshold necessary to earn authorship is declining. The inevitable conclusion is that at some point the contributions by "editing services" should be deemed sufficient to warrant authorship. Trying to enforce any guidelines would likely be futile, but nevertheless, it might be time to revisit the ethics of using some of the high-end "editing services". In an increasingly international job market, awareness of this problem might prove increasingly important in authorship disputes, the allocation of research grants, and hiring decisions.

  6. 78 FR 53138 - South Carolina Public Service Authority; Notice of Meeting to Discuss Santee-Cooper Biological...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-28

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 199-205] South Carolina Public Service Authority; Notice of Meeting to Discuss Santee-Cooper Biological Opinion On July 15, 2010, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) filed its Biological Opinion (BO) on the relicensing of...

  7. 7 CFR 54.1012 - Authority of agent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) MEATS, PREPARED MEATS, AND...

  8. Agent-based self-service technology adoption model for air-travelers: Exploring best operational practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ueda, Keiichi; Kurahashi, Setsuya

    2018-02-01

    The continuous development of the service economy and an aging society with fewer children is expected to lead to a shortage of workers in the near future. In addition, the growth of the service economy would require service providers to meet various service requirements. In this regard, self-service technology (SST) is a promising alternative to securing labor in both developed and emerging countries. SST is expected to coordinate the controllable productive properties in order to optimize resources and minimize consumer stress. As services are characterized by simultaneity and inseparability, a smoother operation in cooperation with the consumer is required to provide a certain level of service. This study focuses on passenger handling in an airport departure lobby with the objective of optimizing multiple service resources comprising interpersonal service staff and self-service kiosks. Our aim is to elucidate the passenger decision- making mechanism of choosing either interpersonal service or self-service as the check-in option, and to apply it to analyze several scenarios to determine the best practice. The experimental space is studied and an agent-based model is proposed to analyze the operational efficiency via a simulation. We expand on a previous SST adoption model, which is enhanced by introducing the concept of individual traits. We focus on the decision-making of individuals who are neutral toward the service option, by tracking the actual activity of passengers and mapping their behavior into the model. A new method of validation that follows a different approach is proposed to ensure that this model approximates real-world situations. A scenario analysis is then carried out with the aim of exploring the best operational practice to minimize the stress experienced by the air travelers and to meet the business needs of the airline managers at the airport. We collected actual data from the Departure Control System of an airline to map the real-world data

  9. Agent-Based Self-Service Technology Adoption Model for Air-Travelers: Exploring Best Operational Practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keiichi Ueda

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The continuous development of the service economy and an aging society with fewer children is expected to lead to a shortage of workers in the near future. In addition, the growth of the service economy would require service providers to meet various service requirements. In this regard, self-service technology (SST is a promising alternative to securing labor in both developed and emerging countries. SST is expected to coordinate the controllable productive properties in order to optimize resources and minimize consumer stress. As services are characterized by simultaneity and inseparability, a smoother operation in cooperation with the consumer is required to provide a certain level of service. This study focuses on passenger handling in an airport departure lobby with the objective of optimizing multiple service resources comprising interpersonal service staff and self-service kiosks. Our aim is to elucidate the passenger decision-making mechanism of choosing either interpersonal service or self-service as the check-in option, and to apply it to analyze several scenarios to determine the best practice. The experimental space is studied and an agent-based model is proposed to analyze the operational efficiency via a simulation. We expand on a previous SST adoption model, which is enhanced by introducing the concept of individual traits. We focus on the decision-making of individuals who are neutral toward the service option, by tracking the actual activity of passengers and mapping their behavior into the model. A new method of validation that follows a different approach is proposed to ensure that this model approximates real-world situations. A scenario analysis is then carried out with the aim of exploring the best operational practice to minimize the stress experienced by the air travelers and to meet the business needs of the airline managers at the airport. We collected actual data from the Departure Control System of an airline to map

  10. Socio-Ecohydrologic Agents And Services: Integrating Human And Natural Components To Address Coupled System Resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavao-zuckerman, M.; Pope, A.; Chan, D.; Curl, K.; Gimblett, H. R.; Hough, M.; House-Peters, L.; Lee, R.; Scott, C. A.

    2012-12-01

    Riparian corridors in arid regions are highly valued for their relative scarcity, and because healthy riparian systems support high levels of biodiversity, can meet human demand for water and water-related resources and functions. Our team is taking a transdiciplinary social-ecological systems approach to assessing riparian corridor resilience in two watersheds (the San Pedro River in USA and Mexico, and the Rio San Miguel in Mexico) through a project funded by the NSF CNH program ("Strengthening Resilience of Arid Region Riparian Corridors"). Multiple perspectives are integrated in the project, including hydrology, ecology, institutional dynamics, and decision making (at the level of both policy and individual choice), as well as the perspectives of various stakeholder groups and individuals in the watersheds. Here we discuss initial findings that center around linking changes in ecohydrology and livelihoods related to decisions in response to climatic, ecological, and social change. The research team is implementing two approaches to integrate the disparate disciplines participating in the research (and the varied perspectives among the stakeholders in this binational riparian context): (1) ecosystem service assessment, and (2) agent based model simulation. We are developing an ecosystem service perspective that provides a bridge between ecological dynamics in the landscape and varied stakeholder perspectives on the implications of ecohydrology for well-being (economic, cultural, ecological). Services are linked on one hand to the spatial patterns of traits of individuals within species (allowing a more predictive application of ecosystem services as they vary with community change in time), and to stakeholder perspectives (facilitating integration of ecosystem services into our understanding of decision making processes) in a case study in the San Pedro River National Conservation Area. The agent- based model (ABM) approach incorporates the influence of human

  11. 7 CFR 17.4 - Agents of the participant or importer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... competitive advantage. A shipping agent may not take any action which would give a competitive advantage to... a purchasing agent or shipping agent, or employ the services of any other agent, broker, consultant... services for commodities provided under any title of the Act, section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of...

  12. Building Agents to Serve Customers

    OpenAIRE

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

    2004-01-01

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

  13. 42 CFR 1001.801 - Failure of HMOs and CMPs to furnish medically necessary items and services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... or services under a State Medicaid Plan; (ii) Primary care case management system providing services..., from the following sources: (1) The QIO or other quality assurance organization under contract with a... licensing or certification authorities; (3) Fiscal agents or contractors, or private insurance companies; (4...

  14. 39 CFR 2.2 - Agent for receipt of process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Agent for receipt of process. 2.2 Section 2.2 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE GENERAL AND TECHNICAL PROVISIONS (ARTICLE II) § 2.2 Agent for receipt of process. The General Counsel of the Postal...

  15. Multi-agent agro-economic simulation of irrigation water demand with climate services for climate change adaptation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Balbi

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Farmers’ irrigation practices play a crucial role in the sustainability of crop production and water consumption, and in the way they deal with the current and future effects of climate change. In this study, a system dynamic multi-agent model adopting the soil water balance provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56 was developed to explore how farmers’ decision making may affect future water needs and use with a focus on the role of climate services, i.e. forecasts and insurance. A climatic projection record representing the down-scaled A1B market scenario (a balance across all sources of the assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC is used to produce future daily data about relative humidity, precipitation, temperature and wind speed. Two types of meteorological services are made available: i a bi-weekly bulletin; and ii seasonal forecasts. The precision of these services was altered to represent different conditions, from perfect knowledge to poor forecasts. Using the available forecasts, farming agents take adaptation decisions concerning crop allocation and irrigation management on the basis of their own risk attitudes. Farmers’ attitudes are characterized by fuzzy classifications depending on age, relative income and crop profitability. Farming agents’ adaptation decisions directly affect the crop and irrigation parameters, which in turn affect future water needs on a territorial level. By incorporating available and future meteorological services, the model allows the farmer’s decision making-process to be explored together with the consequent future irrigation water demand for the period 2015 to 2030. The model prototype is applied to a data set of the Venice Lagoon Watershed, an area of 2038 km2 in north-east Italy, for a preliminary test of its performance and to design future development objectives.

  16. 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.

  17. Designing an architectural style for dynamic medical Cross-Organizational Workflow management system: an approach based on agents and web services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouzguenda, Lotfi; Turki, Manel

    2014-04-01

    This paper shows how the combined use of agent and web services technologies can help to design an architectural style for dynamic medical Cross-Organizational Workflow (COW) management system. Medical COW aims at supporting the collaboration between several autonomous and possibly heterogeneous medical processes, distributed over different organizations (Hospitals, Clinic or laboratories). Dynamic medical COW refers to occasional cooperation between these health organizations, free of structural constraints, where the medical partners involved and their number are not pre-defined. More precisely, this paper proposes a new architecture style based on agents and web services technologies to deal with two key coordination issues of dynamic COW: medical partners finding and negotiation between them. It also proposes how the proposed architecture for dynamic medical COW management system can connect to a multi-agent system coupling the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) with Computerized Prescriber Order Entry (CPOE). The idea is to assist the health professionals such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists with decision making tasks, as determining diagnosis or patient data analysis without stopping their clinical processes in order to act in a coherent way and to give care to the patient.

  18. 49 CFR 40.15 - May an employer use a service agent to meet DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... drug and alcohol testing requirements? 40.15 Section 40.15 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Employer Responsibilities § 40.15 May an employer use a service agent to meet DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements? (a...

  19. Multi-Agent Information Classification Using Dynamic Acquaintance Lists.

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2003-01-01

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

  20. Virtual Web Services

    OpenAIRE

    Rykowski, Jarogniew

    2007-01-01

    In this paper we propose an application of software agents to provide Virtual Web Services. A Virtual Web Service is a linked collection of several real and/or virtual Web Services, and public and private agents, accessed by the user in the same way as a single real Web Service. A Virtual Web Service allows unrestricted comparison, information merging, pipelining, etc., of data coming from different sources and in different forms. Detailed architecture and functionality of a single Virtual We...

  1. 39 CFR 2.5 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority. 2.5 Section 2.5 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE GENERAL AND TECHNICAL PROVISIONS (ARTICLE II) § 2.5 Authority. These bylaws are adopted by the Board under the authority conferred upon the...

  2. 21 CFR 181.28 - Release agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

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

  3. Transformation management of primary health care services in two selected local authorities in Gauteng

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W Sibaya

    2000-09-01

    Full Text Available The transformation of health services in South Africa today is governed by the political, policy and legislative frameworks. This article focuses on the transformation of a primary health care service within a local authority in Gauteng. The purpose with this article is to explore and describe the perceptions (expectations and fears of selected managers employed in this primary health care service. The results are utilised to compile a strategy (framework for transformation management and leadership within the primary health care service. A qualitative research design was utilised and the data was collected by means of individual interviews with selected managers in the service, followed by a content analysis. The expectations and fears of managers focus mainly on personnel matters, community participation/satisfaction, salaries and parity, inadequate stocks/supplies and medication, the deterioration of quality service delivery and the need for training and empowerment. These results are divided into structure, process and outcome dimensions and are embodied in the conceptual framework for the transformation and leadership strategy. It is recommended that standards for transformation management be formulated and that the quality of transformation management be evaluated accordingly.

  4. Provision of out-of-hours interventional radiology services in the London Strategic Health Authority

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Illing, R.O.; Ingham Clark, C.L.; Allum, C.

    2010-01-01

    Aim: To review the provision of out-of-hours interventional radiology (IR) services in the London Strategic Health Authority (SHA). Materials and methods: All 29 acute hospitals in the London SHA were contacted between November 2008 and January 2009. A questionnaire based on the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) guidelines assessed the provision of out-of-hours IR services. An 'ad-hoc' service was defined as on-call provision where not all the radiologists could perform intervention: If IR was required out of hours, an interventionalist came in when off-duty or the patient was transferred. Results: Seventeen out of the 29 (59%) hospitals provided ad-hoc out-of-hours services, eight (28%) provided a 24-hour rota, and four (14%) provide no out-of-hours cover. No ad-hoc service had formal transfer arrangements to a centre providing a 24 h service. Only two hospitals providing a 24 h service had six radiologists on the rota. Conclusion: Strategic planning for out-of-hours IR across London is recommended. This is likely to be welcomed by the hospitals involved, allowing informal arrangements to be formalized, and collaboration to provide comprehensive regional networks, provided appropriate funding is made available. A national audit is recommended; it is unlikely these findings are unique to London.

  5. Provision of out-of-hours interventional radiology services in the London Strategic Health Authority

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Illing, R.O., E-mail: rowland@doctors.org.u [University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 235 Euston Road, London NW1 2BU (United Kingdom); Ingham Clark, C.L.; Allum, C. [Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, London (United Kingdom)

    2010-04-15

    Aim: To review the provision of out-of-hours interventional radiology (IR) services in the London Strategic Health Authority (SHA). Materials and methods: All 29 acute hospitals in the London SHA were contacted between November 2008 and January 2009. A questionnaire based on the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) guidelines assessed the provision of out-of-hours IR services. An 'ad-hoc' service was defined as on-call provision where not all the radiologists could perform intervention: If IR was required out of hours, an interventionalist came in when off-duty or the patient was transferred. Results: Seventeen out of the 29 (59%) hospitals provided ad-hoc out-of-hours services, eight (28%) provided a 24-hour rota, and four (14%) provide no out-of-hours cover. No ad-hoc service had formal transfer arrangements to a centre providing a 24 h service. Only two hospitals providing a 24 h service had six radiologists on the rota. Conclusion: Strategic planning for out-of-hours IR across London is recommended. This is likely to be welcomed by the hospitals involved, allowing informal arrangements to be formalized, and collaboration to provide comprehensive regional networks, provided appropriate funding is made available. A national audit is recommended; it is unlikely these findings are unique to London.

  6. A Methodology for Evaluating User Perceptions of the Delivery of ICT Services: a comparative study of six UK local authorities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Les Worrall

    2000-11-01

    Full Text Available Evaluating and managing the effective delivery of ICT services is an issue that has been brought into sharper relief recently. This has been particularly prevalent in the UK public sector where the growing emphasis on formalised client-contractor relationships, outsourcing and benchmarking (both between local authorities and between local authorities and private sector organisations has meant that the definition of service standards and agreeing performance criteria has attracted considerable practitioner attention. This research is based on 295 interviews conducted in six UK local authorities. The investigation used both gap analysis and perceptual mapping techniques to develop an understanding of the aspects of ICT service delivery that users' value most in conjunction with an assessment of how well they perceive their ICT department is performing on these criteria. The paper exposes considerable differences in the relative performance of the six local authorities from both the gap analysis and the perceptual mapping elements of the investigation. The methodology is shown to provide an effective way of identifying key performance issues from the user perspective and benchmarking service performance across organisations.

  7. The importance of role sending in the sensemaking of change agent roles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Danielle A; Hendy, Jane; Barlow, James

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to investigate what happens when a lack of role-sending results in ambiguous change agent roles during a large scale organisational reconfiguration. The authors consider the role of sensemaking in resolving role ambiguity of middle manager change agents and the consequences of this for organisational restructuring. Data were collected from a case study analysis of significant organisational reconfiguration across a local National Health Service Trust in the UK. Data consists of 82 interviews, complemented by analysis of over 100 documents and field notes from 51 hours of observations collected over five phases covering a three year period before, during and after the reconfiguration. An inductive qualitative analysis revealed the sensemaking processes by which ambiguity in role definition was resolved. The data explains how change agents collectively make sense of a role in their own way, drawing on their own experiences and views as well as cues from other organisational members. The authors also identified the organisational outcomes which resulted from this freedom in sensemaking. This study demonstrates that by leaving too much flexibility in the definition of the role, agents developed their own sensemaking which was subsequently very difficult to manipulate. In creating new roles, management first needs to have a realistic vision of the task and roles that their agents will perform, and second, to communicate these expectations to both those responsible for recruiting these roles and to the agents themselves. Much of the focus in sensemaking research has been on the importance of change agents' sensemaking of the change but there has been little focus on how change agents sensemake their own role in the change.

  8. Artificial agents learning human fairness

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    2008-01-01

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

  9. Supply of equipment and components, materials of dedicated commercial grade, other services

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perdices, D.; Perez Medina, E.

    2014-01-01

    The following article describes the course of action of Tecnatom as Procurement Agent and Manufacturing Manager for the supply materials, equipment and components for the Spanish Nuclear Power Plants. We have devoted a special mention to the supply of dedicated commercial grade items (CGI), bringing together the services of Manufacturing Manager, Engineering service and testing facilities, simplifying the control of the supply chain with total warranty. (Author)

  10. 5 CFR 308.103 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 308.103 Section 308.103 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS VOLUNTEER SERVICE § 308.103 Authority. Section 301 of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, Public Law 95-454, authorized Federal...

  11. Alternative inerting agents

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Du

    1997-08-01

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

  12. International Workshop on Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-Agent Manufacturing

    CERN Document Server

    Trentesaux, Damien; Thomas, André; McFarlane, Duncan

    2016-01-01

    This volume gathers the peer reviewed papers which were presented at the 5th edition of the International Workshop “Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-agent Man-ufacturing – SOHOMA’15” organized in November 5-6, 2015 by the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) of the University of Cambridge, UK in collaboration with the CIMR Research Centre in Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Robotics of the University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania, the LAMIH Laboratory of Industrial and Human Automation Control, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrésis, France and the CRAN Re-search Centre for Automatic Control, Nancy of the University of Lorraine, France. The book is structured in seven parts, each one grouping a number of chapters de-scribing research in actual domains of the digital transformation in manufacturing and trends in future manufacturing control: (1) Applications of Intelligent Products; (2) Advances in Control of Physical Internet ...

  13. Medición de la Calidad del Servicio para Agentes de Suscripción en Revistas Digitales a través del Modelo Servqual (Measuring the Quality of Service for Subscription Agents in eJournals through Model Servqual

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salvador Enrique Vazquez Moctezuma

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Resumen Las bibliotecas, hospitales, bancos y centros de investigación compran revistas académicas en formato digital con editores e intermediarios para proveerlas a los usuarios que las necesitan. Los administradores con frecuencia califican los servicios que ofertan hacia sus usuarios, pero se olvidan en evaluar a los agentes de suscripción, los cuales a su vez repercuten en el servicio que se brinda a los usuarios finales. Por otra parte, los agentes requieren conocer la percepción que tienen sus clientes/bibliotecas al utilizar sus servicios con el fin de rediseñar, incrementar o eliminar alguno de estos, sin embargo tratar de medir la calidad de un servicio es complejo, puesto que son acciones donde los resultados pueden verse o sentirse, pero la actividad en sí misma es intangible. El presente estudio tiene como propósito esencial, realizar un acercamiento para determinar las percepciones y expectativas que tienen 31 administradores de cinco países de Latinoamérica, que contrataron el servicio de gestión de accesos a través de agencias de suscripción y de la cual son los principales verificadores de accesos a revistas electrónicas. También se mencionan los servicios que ofrece el agente de suscripciones así como se describe el modelo Servqual. Con respecto a la metodología se aplicó un cuestionario con escala Likert. De forma general, se encontró que las expectativas de los clientes superan sus percepciones. Abstract Libraries, hospitals, banks and research centers buy academic journals in digital format with publishers and intermediaries to provide them to the users who need them. Administrators often qualify the services they offer to their users, but forget to rate subscription agents, which in turn affect the service to end users is provided. Moreover, agents need to know the perception your customers / libraries to use their services in order to redesign, increase or remove any of these, however try to measure the

  14. Standard formatted data units-control authority procedures

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to establish a set of minimum and optional requirements for the implementation of Control Authority (CA) organizations within and among the Agencies participating in the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). By satisfying these requirements, the resultant cooperating set of CA organizations will produce a global CA service supporting information transfer with digital data under the Standard Formatted Data Unit (SFDU) concept. This service is primarily accomplished through the registration, permanent archiving, and dissemination of metadata in the form of Metadata Objects (MDO) that assist in the interpretation of data objects received in SFDU form. This Recommendation addresses the responsibilities, services, and interface protocols for a hierarchy of CA organizations. The top level, consisting of the CCSDS Secretariat and its operational agent, is unique and primarily provides a global coordination function. The lower levels are Agency CA organizations that have primary responsibility for the registration, archiving, and dissemination of MDOs. As experience is gained and technology evolves, the CA Procedures will be extended to include enhanced services and their supporting protocols. In particular, it is anticipated that eventually CA organizations will be linked via networks on a global basis, and will provide requestors with online automated access to CA services. While this Recommendation does not preclude such operations, it also does not recommend the specific protocols to be used to ensure global compatibility of these services. These recommendations will be generated as experience is gained.

  15. 78 FR 75471 - Section 3504 Agent Employment Tax Liability

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-12

    ... 3504 Agent Employment Tax Liability AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Final... home care services, which are subject to taxes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. The final... the agent and employer are liable for the employment taxes and penalties associated with the employer...

  16. Local authorities and electricity: territories, actors and issues within the local public service in France

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bouvier, G.

    2005-06-01

    In France, the role of local authorities in the organization of the electricity supply system is largely unknown mainly due to the size of the state-owned utility Electricite de France (EDF). Local authorities and their groupings played a major role in the electrification of the national territory and have kept important prerogatives as conceding authorities of this service of general interest. These groupings also became the tools of the soft power of local actors. The geopolitical analysis of the relationships between local municipalities and electric power stakeholders shows the diversity of actors and opinions. Stuck between market liberalization issues and decentralization to local authorities, these groupings tend to reinforce their competencies. Furthermore, decentralization goes along with a reinforcement of the political involvement in local energy policy and with conflicts on the adequate territorial scale for theses policies. (author)

  17. 39 CFR 261.2 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority. 261.2 Section 261.2 Postal Service... Authority. (a) 39 U.S.C. 401(5) states that the Postal Service has the power to acquire property it deems.... Included is the authority to issue records management policy and to delegate or take appropriate action if...

  18. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Betancourt, Orlando A. Vol 22, No 1 (2016) - Articles Forensic mental health services: Current service provision and planning for a prison mental health service in the Eastern Cape Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2078-6786. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's ...

  19. The hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control : a practice perspective.

    OpenAIRE

    Ahrens, T.; Ferry, L.; Khalifa, R.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose This paper aims to trace the hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the contexts that gave rise to hybridisation than do previous accountability research frameworks. Design/methodology/approach Using practice theory, this paper interprets the findings from a field study of Newcastle City Council and a review of relevant local authority regulation for England, stretching back to...

  20. Reactivity of Dual-Use Decontaminants with Chemical Warfare Agents

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-07-01

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

  1. 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.

  2. Business Intelligence using Software Agents

    OpenAIRE

    Ana-Ramona BOLOGA; Razvan BOLOGA

    2011-01-01

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

  3. Spatial dynamics of ecosystem service flows: a comprehensive approach to quantifying actual services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Johnson, Gary W.; Voigt, Brian; Villa, Ferdinando

    2013-01-01

    Recent ecosystem services research has highlighted the importance of spatial connectivity between ecosystems and their beneficiaries. Despite this need, a systematic approach to ecosystem service flow quantification has not yet emerged. In this article, we present such an approach, which we formalize as a class of agent-based models termed “Service Path Attribution Networks” (SPANs). These models, developed as part of the Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) project, expand on ecosystem services classification terminology introduced by other authors. Conceptual elements needed to support flow modeling include a service's rivalness, its flow routing type (e.g., through hydrologic or transportation networks, lines of sight, or other approaches), and whether the benefit is supplied by an ecosystem's provision of a beneficial flow to people or by absorption of a detrimental flow before it reaches them. We describe our implementation of the SPAN framework for five ecosystem services and discuss how to generalize the approach to additional services. SPAN model outputs include maps of ecosystem service provision, use, depletion, and flows under theoretical, possible, actual, inaccessible, and blocked conditions. We highlight how these different ecosystem service flow maps could be used to support various types of decision making for conservation and resource management planning.

  4. Measuring Changes in Service Costs to Meet the Requirements of the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Shirley, Chad; Ausink, John; Baldwin, Laura H

    2004-01-01

    The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 sets forth a series of goals for the Department of Defense to reduce the cost of the services it buys over a ten-year period through changes...

  5. 77 FR 70893 - Authorization for Non-VA Medical Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-28

    ... care, nursing home care, domiciliary care, or medical services and who requires medical services to... care, nursing home care, domiciliary care, or medical services, and requires medical services to... may contract for certain hospital care (inpatient care) and medical services (outpatient care) for...

  6. Information, Authority, and Corporate Hierarchies

    OpenAIRE

    Choe, Chongwoo; In-Uck, Park

    2010-01-01

    In a typical corporate hierarchy, the manager is delegated the authority to make strategic decisions, and to contract with other employees. By studying a model with one principal and two agents where one agent can gather information that is valuable for the principal's project choice and the other agent provides effort to the chosen project, we study when the principal can benefit from such delegation relative to centralization. We show that beneficial delegation is possible when complete con...

  7. 42 CFR 60.36 - Consequence of using an agent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Consequence of using an agent. 60.36 Section 60.36 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GRANTS HEALTH EDUCATION ASSISTANCE LOAN PROGRAM The Lender and Holder § 60.36 Consequence of using an agent. The delegation of...

  8. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Otukunefor, TV. Vol 6, No 3 (2012) - Articles Bacterial species isolated from water bodies in Rivers and Bayelsa States are possible aetiological agents of diarrhoea. Abstract. ISSN: 0795-3038. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  9. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Shetty, P. Vol 59 (2006) - Articles A Simple and Rapid Complexometric Determination of Thallium(III) using Mercaptoethane as Demasking Agent Abstract PDF. ISSN: 0379-4350. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners ...

  10. 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.

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

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    1996-01-01

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

  12. 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.

  13. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Adedeji, AR. Vol 4, No 3 (2010) - Articles Comparative Efficacy and Economic Viability of Trichoderma Strains as Bio-Control Agents for the Control of Phytophthora Pod Rot of Cocoa in Nigeria Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2070-0083. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors ...

  14. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Otokunefor, TV. Vol 4, No 1 (2002) - Articles The incidence of Salmonella and Vibrio species as actiological agents of diarrhoea in water environment in rivers and Bayelsa state, Nigeria Abstract · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  15. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Jhaumeer-Laulloo, S. Vol 4, No 1 (2010) - Articles Structure-activity relationship of Schiff base derivatives of bis(aminophenyl)disulfide and p-vanillin as antimicrobial agents. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1997-342X. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More ...

  16. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rai, K B. Vol 15, No 3 (2014) - Articles Terminalia catappa, an anticlastogenic agent against MMS induced genotoxicity in the human lymphocyte culture and in bone marrow cells of Albino mice. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1110-8630. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors ...

  17. Introducing ALAS: A Novel Agent-Oriented Programming Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitrović, Dejan; Ivanović, Mirjana; Vidaković, Milan

    2011-09-01

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

  18. A Test of Reliability of the Personnel Dosimetry Services Authorized by CSN using Photon Beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brosed, A.; Delgado, A.; Granados, C. E.; Lopez Ortiz, G.

    1987-01-01

    In 1987 the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (CSN) had eight Personnel Dosimetry Services (PDS) authorized to asses the equivalent doses to the spanish occupationally exposed workers, by means of the readings from the dosemeters wear by them. An audit was carried on the PDS on behalf of CSN under the control of CIEMAT. Batches of dosemeters from each one of the PDS were irradiated to dose equivalent values which were well established by CIEMAT but kept hidden from the PDS. By comparing the true values with those obtained by the PDS, it was possible to evaluate the Services according to the analysis of the quantity Q= I B I -I- S where B is the average of the individual deviations between the dosemeters belonging to the same group and the true value as established by CIEMAT, whereas S is the standard deviation of the values inside of this same group. The results of the evaluation, which was made using the new ICRU quantities for personnel monitoring, are presented. (Author) 8 refs

  19. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mbajiorgu, Felix. Vol 15, No 4 (2015) - Articles Ketolide agents HMR 3004 and HMR 3647 (telithromycin) inhibit the growth of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1680-6905. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's ...

  20. Matrix of occupational exposures to carcinogenic agents and pesticides in Costa Rica

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaves, Jorge; Partanen, Timo; Wesseling, Catharina; Chaverri, Fabio; Monge, Patricia; Ruepert, Clemens; Guardado, Jorge; Aragon, Aurora; Kauppinen, Timo

    2004-01-01

    The European data system CAREX converts national numbers of workers in 55 sectors and estimated proportions of workers exposed to carcinogenic agents into numbers of workers exposed to each agent. CAREX is applied and modified in Costa Rica (TICAREX) for the first time outside Europe. 27 carcinogenic agents and 7 groups of pesticides were included. Numbers of exposed were estimated separately for men and women. The most frequent agents in the 1.3 million labor force of Costa Rica were solar radiation (333,000 workers); diesel engine emissions (278,000); paraquat and diquat (175,000); environmental tobacco smoke (71,000); chromium (VI) compounds (55,000); benzene (52,000); mancozeb, maneb and zineb (49,000); chlorothalonil (38,000); wood dust (32,000); silica dust (27,000); benomyl (19,000); lead and its inorganic compounds (19,000); tetrachloroethylene (18,000); and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (17,000). Owing to the different occupational distribution between the genders, formaldehyde, radon and methylene chloride were more frequent than pesticides, chromium (VI), wood dust, and silica dust in women. Agriculture, construction, personal and domestic services, land and water transport and allied services, pottery and similar industries, manufacture of wood products, mining, forestry, fishing, manufacture of electric products, and bars and restaurants were sectors with frequent exposures. Substantial reduction of occupational and environmental exposures to these agents would improve considerably public and occupational health. Reduction of occupational exposures is usually also followed by improvement of environmental quality. Monitoring of exposures and health of workers and the general public is essential in the control of environmental contamination and human exposures. This report presents details of the exposures matrix, which is the basis of TICAREX. (author) [es

  1. Agents Within our Midst

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-14

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

  2. Improving Disability Awareness among Extension Agents

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2014-01-01

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

  3. 21 CFR 316.22 - Permanent-resident agent for foreign sponsor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS FOR HUMAN USE ORPHAN DRUGS Designation of an Orphan Drug § 316.22 Permanent-resident agent for foreign sponsor. Every foreign sponsor that seeks orphan-drug designation shall name a permanent resident of the United States as the sponsor's agent upon whom service of all processes, notices...

  4. 20 CFR 669.380 - What is the objective assessment that is authorized as an intensive service?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... training participant through the use of diagnostic testing and other assessment tools. The methods used by... authorized as an intensive service? 669.380 Section 669.380 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR NATIONAL FARMWORKER JOBS PROGRAM UNDER TITLE I OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT...

  5. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dannon, E. Vol 9, No 2 (2015) - Articles Efficacité de l'agent antagoniste Trichoderma harzianum sur Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersiciagent pathogène de la tomate. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1997-342X. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about ...

  6. Continuing Professional Education of Insurance and Risk Management Practitioners: A Comparative Case Study of Customer Service Representatives, Insurance Agents and Risk Managers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krauss, George E.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to understand how selected insurance practitioners learn and developed in their practices setting. The selected insurance practitioners (collectively customer service representatives, insurance agents, and risk managers) are responsible for the counseling and placement of insurance products and the implementation of…

  7. 39 CFR 601.104 - Postal purchasing authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... in writing local buying authority throughout the Postal Service. ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Postal purchasing authority. 601.104 Section 601.104 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE PROCUREMENT SYSTEM FOR THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE...

  8. 41 CFR 302-3.418 - Will my agency pay for property management services when I am authorized a TCS?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... station as a rental property. Services provided by the company may include, but are not limited to... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Will my agency pay for property management services when I am authorized a TCS? 302-3.418 Section 302-3.418 Public Contracts and...

  9. The Geographic Information Grid System Based on Mobile Agent

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    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.

  10. 28 CFR 60.2 - Authorized categories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... officer of the Virgin Islands, Guam, or the Canal Zone. (d) Any officer of the Metropolitan Police... the United States. (f) Any civilian agent of the Department of Defense not subject to military... Uniform Code of Military Justice. (h) Any military agent of the Department of Defense who is authorized to...

  11. State Public Health Enabling Authorities: Results of a Fundamental Activities Assessment Examining Core and Essential Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoss, Aila; Menon, Akshara; Corso, Liza

    2016-01-01

    Context Public health enabling authorities establish the legal foundation for financing, organizing, and delivering public health services. State laws vary in terms of the content, depth, and breadth of these fundamental public health activities. Given this variance, the Institute of Medicine has identified state public health laws as an area that requires further examination. To respond to this call for further examination, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Law Program conducted a fundamental activities legal assessment on state public health laws. Objective The goal of the legal assessment was to examine state laws referencing frameworks representing public health department fundamental activities (ie, core and essential services) in an effort to identify, catalog, and describe enabling authorities of state governmental public health systems. Design In 2013, Public Health Law Program staff compiled a list of state statutes and regulations referencing different commonly-recognized public health frameworks of fundamental activities. The legal assessment included state fundamental activities laws available on WestlawNext as of July 2013. The results related to the 10 essential public health services and the 3 core public health functions were confirmed and updated in June 2016. Results Eighteen states reference commonly-recognized frameworks of fundamental activities in their laws. Thirteen states have listed the 10 essential public health services in their laws. Eight of these states have also referenced the 3 core public health functions in their laws. Five states reference only the core public health functions. Conclusions Several states reference fundamental activities in their state laws, particularly through use of the essential services framework. Further work is needed to capture the public health laws and practices of states that may be performing fundamental activities but without reference to a common framework. PMID

  12. State Public Health Enabling Authorities: Results of a Fundamental Activities Assessment Examining Core and Essential Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoss, Aila; Menon, Akshara; Corso, Liza

    2016-01-01

    Public health enabling authorities establish the legal foundation for financing, organizing, and delivering public health services. State laws vary in terms of the content, depth, and breadth of these fundamental public health activities. Given this variance, the Institute of Medicine has identified state public health laws as an area that requires further examination. To respond to this call for further examination, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Law Program conducted a fundamental activities legal assessment on state public health laws. The goal of the legal assessment was to examine state laws referencing frameworks representing public health department fundamental activities (ie, core and essential services) in an effort to identify, catalog, and describe enabling authorities of state governmental public health systems. In 2013, Public Health Law Program staff compiled a list of state statutes and regulations referencing different commonly-recognized public health frameworks of fundamental activities. The legal assessment included state fundamental activities laws available on WestlawNext as of July 2013. The results related to the 10 essential public health services and the 3 core public health functions were confirmed and updated in June 2016. Eighteen states reference commonly-recognized frameworks of fundamental activities in their laws. Thirteen states have listed the 10 essential public health services in their laws. Eight of these states have also referenced the 3 core public health functions in their laws. Five states reference only the core public health functions. Several states reference fundamental activities in their state laws, particularly through use of the essential services framework. Further work is needed to capture the public health laws and practices of states that may be performing fundamental activities but without reference to a common framework.

  13. SAFAX : an extensible authorization service for cloud environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kaluvuri, S.P.; Egner, A.I.; Den Hartog, J.I.; Zannone, N.

    2015-01-01

    Cloud storage services have become increasingly popular in recent years. Users are often registered to multiple cloud storage services that suit different needs. However, the ad hoc manner in which data sharing between users is implemented lead to issues for these users. For instance, users are

  14. Climate services: Lessons learned and future prospects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brasseur, Guy P.; Gallardo, Laura

    2016-03-01

    This perspective paper reviews progress made in the last decades to enhance the communication and use of climate information relevant to the political and economic decision process. It focuses, specifically, on the creation and development of climate services, and highlights a number of difficulties that have limited the success of these services. Among them are the insufficient awareness by societal actors of their vulnerability to climate change, the lack of relevant products and services offered by the scientific community, the inappropriate format in which the information is provided, and the inadequate business model adopted by climate services. The authors suggest that, to be effective, centers should host within the same center a diversity of staff including experts in climate science, specialists in impact, adaptation, and vulnerability, representatives of the corporate world, agents of the public service as well as social managers and communication specialists. The role and importance of environmental engineering is emphasized.

  15. A Broker-based approach for GEOSS authentication/authorization services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santoro, Mattia; Nativi, Stefano

    2015-04-01

    The Group on Earth Observation (GEO) is a voluntary partnership of governments and international organizations coordinating efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). GEOSS aims to achieve societal benefits through voluntary contribution and sharing of resources to better understand the relationships between the society and the environment where we live. The GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) implements a digital infrastructure (e-infrastructure) that coordinates access to these systems, interconnecting and harmonizing their data, applications, models, and products. The GCI component implementing the needed interoperability arrangements to interconnect the data systems contributing to GEOSS is the GEO DAB (Discovery and Access Broker). This provides a unique entry point to which client applications (i.e. the portals and apps) can connect for exploiting (search, discover, and access) resources available through GCI. The GEO DAB implements the brokering approach (Nativi et al., 2013) to build a flexible and scalable System of Systems. GEOSS data providers ask for information about who accessed their resources and, in some cases, want to limit the data download. GEOSS users ask for a profiled interaction with the system based on their needs and expertise level. This raised the need for an enrichment of GEO DAB functionalities, i.e. user authentication/authorization. Besides, authentication and authorization is necessary for GEOSS to provide moderated social services - e.g. feedback messages, data "fit for use" comments, etc. In the development of this new functionality, the need to support existing and well-used users' credentials (e.g. Google, Twitter, etc.) stems from GEOSS principles to build on existing systems and lower entry-barriers for users. To cope with these requirements and face the heterogeneity of technologies used by the different data systems and client applications, a broker-based approach for the authentication/authorization

  16. The Fall and Rise of the Travel Agent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steve Jermanok

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available In the age of online travel agencies, there are questions of whether personal travel agents remain relevant. This article argues that travel agents have never been more necessary because the proliferation of options is overwhelming for many consumers. Travel agents are also much more personal than their online counterparts, providing services that cannot be found online.

  17. The Fall and Rise of the Travel Agent

    OpenAIRE

    Steve Jermanok

    2014-01-01

    In the age of online travel agencies, there are questions of whether personal travel agents remain relevant. This article argues that travel agents have never been more necessary because the proliferation of options is overwhelming for many consumers. Travel agents are also much more personal than their online counterparts, providing services that cannot be found online.

  18. 5 CFR 581.202 - Service of process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Service of process. 581.202 Section 581... GARNISHMENT ORDERS FOR CHILD SUPPORT AND/OR ALIMONY Service of Process § 581.202 Service of process. (a) A... facilitate proper service of process on its designated agent(s). If legal process is not directed to any...

  19. Optimization of extinguishing agents for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    1998-01-01

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

  20. 5 CFR 2430.12 - Administrative Law Judge's decision; contents; service; transfer of case to the Authority...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Administrative Law Judge's decision and of the order transferring the case to the Board shall be complete upon... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Administrative Law Judge's decision; contents; service; transfer of case to the Authority; contents of record in case. 2430.12 Section 2430.12...

  1. Towards Culturally-Aware Virtual Agent Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Rehm, Matthias

    2010-01-01

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

  2. Contrast agents for MRI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonnemain, B.

    1994-01-01

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

  3. Interactions of ionic and nonionic contrast agents with thrombolytic agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    1987-01-01

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

  4. 1 report, 6 authors? Easy!

    CERN Multimedia

    Anaïs Schaeffer

    2015-01-01

    In 2016, the CERN E-Publishing Service will be testing three co-authoring platforms to decide which is the most suitable for CERN. Whatever type of documents you co-write – scientific papers, internal reports or proceedings – a co-authoring tool will simplify the process. To make such a service available at CERN, the E-Publishing team needs your help.   At CERN, the E-Publishing Service is responsible for copy-editing scientific texts such as CERN reports, scientific papers, school or conference proceedings, etc., and provides support to CERN people regarding the style and layout of their publications. As part of its efforts to simplify the lives of CERN authors, the E-Publishing Service has decided to evaluate the benefits of a new service: a co-authoring platform. If you write on LaTeX or Word-like software, use a messaging application for comments and a calendar for deadlines, and then distribute the file by e-mail (as many times as necessary) – then a co-au...

  5. 7 CFR 58.3 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 58.3 Section 58.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections... Inspection and Grading Services of Manufactured or Processed Dairy Products Administration § 58.3 Authority...

  6. Agent-based organizational modelling for analysis of safety culture at an air navigation service provider

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stroeve, Sybert H.; Sharpanskykh, Alexei; Kirwan, Barry

    2011-01-01

    Assessment of safety culture is done predominantly by questionnaire-based studies, which tend to reveal attitudes on immaterial characteristics (values, beliefs, norms). There is a need for a better understanding of the implications of the material aspects of an organization (structures, processes, etc.) for safety culture and their interactions with the immaterial characteristics. This paper presents a new agent-based organizational modelling approach for integrated and systematic evaluation of material and immaterial characteristics of socio-technical organizations in safety culture analysis. It uniquely considers both the formal organization and the value- and belief-driven behaviour of individuals in the organization. Results are presented of a model for safety occurrence reporting at an air navigation service provider. Model predictions consistent with questionnaire-based results are achieved. A sensitivity analysis provides insight in organizational factors that strongly influence safety culture indicators. The modelling approach can be used in combination with attitude-focused safety culture research, towards an integrated evaluation of material and immaterial characteristics of socio-technical organizations. By using this approach an organization is able to gain a deeper understanding of causes of diverse problems and inefficiencies both in the formal organization and in the behaviour of organizational agents, and to systematically identify and evaluate improvement options.

  7. SECOND BUYING AGENT

    CERN Multimedia

    SPL - SERVICES ACHATS

    2000-01-01

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

  8. 20 CFR 670.945 - Are Job Corps operators and service providers authorized to pay State or local taxes on gross...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... provider to pay such taxes, the center operator or service provider may pay the taxes with Federal funds... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Are Job Corps operators and service providers authorized to pay State or local taxes on gross receipts? 670.945 Section 670.945 Employees' Benefits...

  9. 76 FR 53903 - Delegation of Authorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-30

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Delegation of Authorities Notice is hereby given that I... Delegations of Authority, last published at 55 FR 9363 (March 13, 1990). Title I--Quality, Affordable Health... the Public Health Service Act. The delegation includes, but does not limit the authority to, directing...

  10. Requirements of health policy and services journals for authors to disclose financial and non-financial conflicts of interest: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khamis, Assem M; Hakoum, Maram B; Bou-Karroum, Lama; Habib, Joseph R; Ali, Ahmed; Guyatt, Gordon; El-Jardali, Fadi; Akl, Elie A

    2017-09-19

    The requirements of the health policy and services journals for authors to report their financial and non-financial conflicts of interest (COI) are unclear. The present article aims to assess the requirements of health policy and services journals for authors to disclose their financial and non-financial COIs. This is a cross-sectional study of journals listed by the Web of Science under the category of 'Health Policy and Services'. We reviewed the 'Instructions for Authors' on the journals' websites and then simulated the submission of a manuscript to obtain any additional relevant information made available during that step. We abstracted data in duplicate and independently using a standardised form. Out of 72 eligible journals, 67 (93%) had a COI policy. A minority of policies described how the disclosed COIs of authors would impact the editorial process (34%). None of the policies had clear-cut criteria for rejection based on the content of the disclosure. Approximately a fifth of policies (21%) explicitly stated that inaccurate or incomplete disclosures might lead to manuscript rejection or retraction. No policy described whether the journal would verify the accuracy or completeness of authors' disclosed COIs. Most journals' policies (93%) required the disclosure of at least one form of financial COI. While the majority asked for specification of source of payment (71%), a minority asked for the amount (18%). Overall, 81% of policies explicitly required disclosure of non-financial COIs. A majority of health policy and services journal policies required the disclosure of authors' financial and non-financial COIs, but few required details on disclosed COIs. Health policy journals should provide specific definitions and instructions for disclosing non-financial COIs. A framework providing clear typology and operational definitions of the different types of COIs will facilitate both their disclosure by authors and reviewers and their assessment and management by

  11. Comparison of Communication Models for Mobile Agents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xining Li

    2003-04-01

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

  12. Use of health care services and pharmaceutical agents in coeliac disease: a prospective nationwide study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ukkola Anniina

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Approximately 1% of the population suffer from coeliac disease. However, the disease is heavily underdiagnosed. Unexplained symptoms may lead to incremented medical consultations and productivity losses. The aim here was to estimate the possible concealed burden of untreated coeliac disease and the effects of a gluten-free diet. Methods A nationwide cohort of 700 newly detected adult coeliac patients were prospectively evaluated. Health care service use and sickness absence from work during the year before diagnosis were compared with those in the general population; the data obtained from an earlier study. Additionally, the effect of one year on dietary treatment on the aforementioned parameters and on consumption of pharmaceutical agents was assessed. Results Untreated coeliac patients used primary health care services more frequently than the general population. On a gluten-free diet, visits to primary care decreased significantly from a mean 3.6 to 2.3. The consumption of medicines for dyspepsia (from 3.7 to 2.4 pills/month and painkillers (6.8-5.5 pills/month and the number of antibiotic courses (0.6-0.5 prescriptions/year was reduced. There were no changes in hospitalizations, outpatient visits to secondary and tertiary care, use of other medical services, or sickness absence, but the consumption of nutritional supplements increased on treatment. Conclusions Coeliac disease was associated with excessive health care service use and consumption of drugs before diagnosis. Dietary treatment resulted in a diminished burden to the health care system and lower use of on-demand medicines and antibiotic treatment. The results support an augmented diagnostic approach to reduce underdiagnosis of coeliac disease. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01145287

  13. Use of health care services and pharmaceutical agents in coeliac disease: a prospective nationwide study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ukkola, Anniina; Kurppa, Kalle; Collin, Pekka; Huhtala, Heini; Forma, Leena; Kekkonen, Leila; Mäki, Markku; Kaukinen, Katri

    2012-09-27

    Approximately 1% of the population suffer from coeliac disease. However, the disease is heavily underdiagnosed. Unexplained symptoms may lead to incremented medical consultations and productivity losses. The aim here was to estimate the possible concealed burden of untreated coeliac disease and the effects of a gluten-free diet. A nationwide cohort of 700 newly detected adult coeliac patients were prospectively evaluated. Health care service use and sickness absence from work during the year before diagnosis were compared with those in the general population; the data obtained from an earlier study. Additionally, the effect of one year on dietary treatment on the aforementioned parameters and on consumption of pharmaceutical agents was assessed. Untreated coeliac patients used primary health care services more frequently than the general population. On a gluten-free diet, visits to primary care decreased significantly from a mean 3.6 to 2.3. The consumption of medicines for dyspepsia (from 3.7 to 2.4 pills/month) and painkillers (6.8-5.5 pills/month) and the number of antibiotic courses (0.6-0.5 prescriptions/year) was reduced. There were no changes in hospitalizations, outpatient visits to secondary and tertiary care, use of other medical services, or sickness absence, but the consumption of nutritional supplements increased on treatment. Coeliac disease was associated with excessive health care service use and consumption of drugs before diagnosis. Dietary treatment resulted in a diminished burden to the health care system and lower use of on-demand medicines and antibiotic treatment. The results support an augmented diagnostic approach to reduce underdiagnosis of coeliac disease. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01145287.

  14. The analysis of the survey results for the current 'business agent'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, I. H.; Shim, H. S.; Jeon, I. Y.; Kang, W. S.; Yun, K. H.; Na, S. H.; Park, T. J.; Kim, I. S.

    2004-01-01

    Our survey is conducted about the current systems in the 'Business Agents' regulations which prescribes running business such as the safe control of radiation on behalf of any permitted users. The radiation safety staffs who are engaged in the handling of radioisotope respond our quaternaries. They are as follows: 1. the radiation safety staffs' attitude to the need of 'Business Agent' regulations, 2. the satisfaction level of 'Business Agent' service, 3. the propriety of the manpower. The survey results are that the 68.4% of the respondents are in favor of the need of 'Business Agent' regulations and the 63.6% of the respondents expressed satisfactions for the service of 'Business Agent'. For the one manpower managing 'Business Agent', 32.3% of the respondents expressed as 'overburdened' and 37.5% as 'appropriate.' Our results give the feedback to develop the system of 'Business Agent' regulations as making feedback effect

  15. 25 CFR 900.1 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Authority. 900.1 Section 900.1 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AND INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES... Authority. These regulations are prepared, issued, and maintained jointly by the Secretary of Health and...

  16. Aspects of agents for safeguards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kotte, U.

    1999-01-01

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

  17. 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.

  18. Allocation of reactive power support, active loss balancing and demand interruption ancillary services in MicroGrids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gomes, Mario Helder [Departamento de Engenharia Electrotecnica, Instituto Politecnico de Tomar, Quinta do Contador, Estrada da Serra, 2300 Tomar (Portugal); Saraiva, Joao Tome [INESC Porto and Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Campus da FEUP, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200 - 465 Porto (Portugal)

    2010-10-15

    MicroGrids represent a new paradigm for the operation of distribution systems and there are several advantages as well as challenges regarding their development. One of the advantages is related with the participation of MicroGrid agents in electricity markets and in the provision of ancillary services. This paper describes two optimization models to allocate three ancillary services among MicroGrid agents - reactive power/voltage control, active loss balancing and demand interruption. These models assume that MicroGrid agents participate in the day-ahead market sending their bids to the MicroGrid Central Controller, MGCC, that acts as an interface with the Market Operator. Once the Market Operator returns the economic dispatch of the MicroGrid agents, the MGCC checks its technical feasibility (namely voltage magnitude and branch flow limits) and activates an adjustment market to change the initial schedule and to allocate these three ancillary services. One of the models has crisp nature considering that voltage and branch flow limits are rigid while the second one admits that voltage and branch flow limits are modeled in a soft way using Fuzzy Set concepts. Finally, the paper illustrates the application of these models with a Case Study using a 55 node MV/LV network. (author)

  19. Public extension agents' need for new competencies: evidence from ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Small yield differences between Extension service-recipients and non-recipients indicate that Extension support has minimal effect on farmers' production. Agents need new competencies regarding correct application conservation agriculture. The study recommends the involvement of extension agents, scientists and ...

  20. Agent review phase one report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

    2009-12-01

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

  1. A Multilateral Negotiation Model for Cloud Service Market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Dongjin; Sim, Kwang Mong

    Trading cloud services between consumers and providers is a complicated issue of cloud computing. Since a consumer can negotiate with multiple providers to acquire the same service and each provider can receive many requests from multiple consumers, to facilitate the trading of cloud services among multiple consumers and providers, a multilateral negotiation model for cloud market is necessary. The contribution of this work is the proposal of a business model supporting a multilateral price negotiation for trading cloud services. The design of proposed systems for cloud service market includes considering a many-to-many negotiation protocol, and price determining factor from service level feature. Two negotiation strategies are implemented: 1) MDA (Market Driven Agent); and 2) adaptive concession making responding to changes of bargaining position are proposed for cloud service market. Empirical results shows that MDA achieved better performance in some cases that the adaptive concession making strategy, it is noted that unlike the MDA, the adaptive concession making strategy does not assume that an agent has information of the number of competitors (e.g., a consumer agent adopting the adaptive concession making strategy need not know the number of consumer agents competing for the same service).

  2. Democratizing Authority in the Built Environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andersen, Michael P [UC Berkeley; Kolb, John [UC Berkeley; Chen, Kaifei [UC Berkeley; Culler, David [UC Berkeley; Katz, Randy [UC Berkeley

    2017-11-08

    Operating systems and applications in the built environment have relied upon central authorization and management mechanisms which restrict their scalability, especially with respect to administrative overhead. We propose a new set of primitives encompassing syndication, security, and service execution that unifies the management of applications and services across the built environment, while enabling participants to individually delegate privilege across multiple administrative domains with no loss of security or manageability. We show how to leverage a decentralized authorization syndication platform to extend the design of building operating systems beyond the single administrative domain of a building. The authorization system leveraged is based on blockchain smart contracts to permit decentralized and democratized delegation of authorization without central trust. Upon this, a publish/subscribe syndication tier and a containerized service execution environment are constructed. Combined, these mechanisms solve problems of delegation, federation, device protection and service execution that arise throughout the built environment. We leverage a high-fidelity city-scale emulation to verify the scalability of the authorization tier, and briefly describe a prototypical democratized operating system for the built environment using this foundation.

  3. 48 CFR 501.103 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authority. 501.103 Section... SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Purpose, Authority, Issuance 501.103 Authority. GSA's Senior Procurement Executive issues the GSAR under the authority of the Federal Property and...

  4. 12 CFR 618.8040 - Authorized insurance services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... association, to accept or reject such insurance. (b) Bank and association board policies governing the... by receipt of commissions or gifts from underwriting insurance companies. However, employees may... extension of credit or provision of other service on the purchase of insurance sold or endorsed by a bank or...

  5. How Internet of Things Influences Human Behavior Building Social Web of Services via Agent-Based Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Komarov Mikhail

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper discovers potential human interactions with growing amount of internet of things (IoT via proposed concept of Social Web of Services (classical social web with smart things - daily life objects connected to the internet. To investigate the impact of IoT on user behaviour patterns we modelled human-thing interactions using agent-based simulation (ABM. We have proved that under certain conditions SmartThings, connected to the IoT, are able to change patterns of Human behaviour. Results of this work predict our way of living in the era of caused by viral effects of IoT application (HCI and M2M connections, and could be used to foster business process management in the IoT era.

  6. Effectiveness testing of spill-treating agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    1990-01-01

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

  7. 20 CFR 404.1069 - Real estate agents and direct sellers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Real estate agents and direct sellers. 404... § 404.1069 Real estate agents and direct sellers. (a) Trade or business. If you perform services after 1982 as a qualified real estate agent or as a direct seller, as defined in section 3508 of the Code...

  8. 39 CFR 3.5 - Delegation of authority by Board.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Delegation of authority by Board. 3.5 Section 3.5 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE BOARD OF GOVERNORS (ARTICLE III) § 3.5 Delegation of authority by Board. As authorized by 39 U.S.C. 402, these bylaws...

  9. Cost-Effective Location Management for Mobile Agents on the Internet

    OpenAIRE

    Chien-Sheng Chen; Jiing-Dong Hwang; Chyuan-Der Lu; Ting-Yuan Yeh

    2015-01-01

    Many mobile agent system-related services and applications require interacting with a mobile agent by passing messages. However, an agent’s mobility raises several challenges in delivering messages to a mobile agent accurately. Consisting of tracking and message delivery phases, most mobile agent location management schemes create or receive many update messages and interaction messages to ensure the effectiveness of the schemes. In addition to downgrading the overall performance of a mobile ...

  10. Use of agents to optimize traffic over wireless mobile connections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helin, Mikko; Jarvinen, Jari; Kalliokorpi, Janne; Kolehmainen, Jari; Narikka, Jorma

    2002-08-01

    Wireless mobile connections have some well known disadvantages, like slow data rate, high and variable error-rate. In addition to that there are possible (and probable) inefficiencies when connecting different types of protocols stacks, like running TCP over GPRS. On the other hand mobile and portable devices have some limitations, which are based on their size and cannot therefore be removed totally. Potential users are so-called common people and they would like to have very simple-to-use applications solving their daily problems, not causing new ones. One approach to make this situation better is to use agents. They could operate on many different levels, like connecting different physical servers to produce the service needed, connecting different services together, optimizing for different types of user devices, connecting different message types (like audio, animation etc.) to produce the service, making transformations (like reading e-mails as voice mail etc.). This paper will discuss these various aspects of agent technology in the context of mobile services provided to consumers. Discussion and conclusions are partly based on the ZanderMail project. Although it is a mail agent project its results can easily be extended to various message types and various other services, like those based on the location of mobile device. The paper will cover widely these different ideas and ZanderMail is just used as an example and a tool for testing various issues. The idea is to utilize agents many ways to fade away at least partly those known problems mentioned in the beginning. An agent could operate in the network quite near the mobile device to overcome the problem caused by different protocol stacks. It could make logical decisions based on location and other local information, like weather, and it could handle priority issues on various levels of application(s).

  11. 26 CFR 1.1502-77 - Agent for the group.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

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

  12. The Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ketter, W.; Collins, J.; Reddy, P.; Flath, C.; De Weerdt, M.M.

    2011-01-01

    This is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2012 (Power TAC 2012). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through tariff contracts,

  13. The Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); P. Reddy (Prashant); C. Flath (Christoph); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2012 (Power TAC 2012). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through tariff

  14. 31 CFR 545.519 - Payments and transfers authorized for goods and services exported to the territory of Afghanistan...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...) SANCTIONS REGULATIONS Licenses, Authorizations and Statements of Licensing Policy § 545.519 Payments and... Taliban prior to the effective date. (a) Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis to permit... for the benefit of a person with respect to goods, software, technology, or services exported prior to...

  15. 7 CFR 1927.55 - Title clearance services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... REGULATIONS TITLE CLEARANCE AND LOAN CLOSING Real Estate Title Clearance and Loan Closing § 1927.55 Title clearance services. (a) Responsibilities of closing agents. Services to be provided to the agency and the borrower by a closing agent in connection with the transaction vary depending on whether a title insurance...

  16. Web Services Integration on the Fly

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Leong, Hoe W

    2008-01-01

    .... Given data, software agents and supporting software infrastructure, web services integration on the fly means that human coding is not required to integrate web services into a Web Service Architecture...

  17. Chemotherapy Agents: A Primer for the Interventional Radiologist

    OpenAIRE

    Mihlon, Frank; Ray, Charles E.; Messersmith, Wells

    2010-01-01

    In this article, the authors review the basic principles of cancer chemotherapy and provide an overview of each of the general classes of chemotherapeutic agents with a target audience of interventional radiologists in mind. Special attention is paid to agents used in regional chemotherapy as well as agents commonly included in systemic chemotherapeutic regimens for patients who also require regional chemotherapy.

  18. Continuum deformation of multi-agent systems

    CERN Document Server

    Rastgoftar, Hossein

    2016-01-01

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

  19. 5 CFR 535.103 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 535.103 Section 535.103 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS CRITICAL POSITION PAY AUTHORITY § 535.103 Authority. (a) Subject to a grant of authority from OPM in consultation with OMB and all other...

  20. Towards understanding citizens trust in local government authorities in social service provision: A case of education service in Maswa district Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Makorere

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper stresses on understanding citizens’ trust to local government authorities in the provision of social services, the case of education service in Maswa district. The paper discloses that majority of respondents of 82.2% of total respondents were not involved in full council meetings, although the meetings are supposed to be open to the public and all information that is presented there is public information which includes proposed plans and budgets as well as quarterly progress reports. This shows that there are problems in primary education. Moreover, due to various problems that still exist in primary education in the area under study, they created a sense of distrust between citizens to local government and local leaders to be specific including Village Executive Officers, Ward Executive Officers and councilors since majority of the respondents revealed that they are lazy harass people. This makes people to be reluctant to participate in development activities include refusing to contribute financially in various development initiatives since they do not see importance of their local leaders so they decide to take their own decisions.

  1. Granting authority to a new policy. A community benefit services policy becomes part of the general business strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karibo, J

    1994-05-01

    Bon Secours Health System's new strategic plan and community benefit services policy integrates the planning, budgeting, evaluating, and reporting of community benefit services into management processes at the same level of authority as other operational activities. The strategic plan of Bon Secours Health System, headquartered in Marriottsville, MD, documents the system's mission, operating principles, vision, and five goals, one of which is to improve the communities' health status. The community benefit services operating policy requires that the Bon Secours Health System chief executive officer (CEO) and each local system CEO and nursing home administrator form a multidisciplinary local work group to be responsible for community benefit services. Each local work group assesses the needs of its community within the framework of the annual planning process. Determining what services are needed and how to deliver them is relatively easy. The difficult task is determining which of the many needs to address. What a community lacks may be the result of poor or inadequate public policy. For example, its priority may not be healthcare. In these situations healthcare providers may be best able to serve the community by providing indirect support to social service providers or by advocating for change. The community benefit services operating policy provides a standard approach to match the community's priority needs with the institution's resources and produce a measurable improvement in health status.

  2. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    economique des services ecosystemiques dans la reserve de biosphere de la Pendjari au Nord-Benin Abstract. ISSN: 2413-354X. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More ...

  3. 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.

  4. An Integrated System for Disabled People Developed with the Agent Platform PANGEA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolina ZATO

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available New trends in multi-agent systems call for self-adaptation and high dynamics, hence the new model of open MAS or virtual organization of agents. However, as existing agent platforms are not yet equipped to support this behavior, it is necessary to create new systems and mechanisms to facilitate the development of these new architectures. This article presents PANGEA, an agent platform to develop open multi-agent systems, specifically those including organizational aspects such as virtual agent organizations. The platform allows the integral management of organizations and offers tools to the end user. Additionally, it includes a communication protocol based on the IRC standard, which facilitates implementation and remains robust even with a large number of connections. The introduction of a CommunicationAgent and a Sniffer make it possible to offer Web Services for the distributed control of interaction. In order to test PANGEA, an integral system was developed to help the disabled, gathering a set of easily deployable and integrated services under a single architecture.

  5. An Agent-Based Model for Addressing the Impact of a Disaster on Access to Primary Care Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guclu, Hasan; Kumar, Supriya; Galloway, David; Krauland, Mary; Sood, Rishi; Bocour, Angelica; Hershey, Tina Batra; van Nostrand, Elizabeth; Potter, Margaret

    2016-06-01

    Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaways, Queens, forced residents to evacuate and primary care providers to close or curtail operations. A large deficit in primary care access was apparent in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Our objective was to build a computational model to aid responders in planning to situate primary care services in a disaster-affected area. Using an agent-based modeling platform, HAZEL, we simulated the Rockaways population, its evacuation behavior, and primary care providers' availability in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Data sources for this model included post-storm and community health surveys from New York City, a survey of the Rockaways primary care providers, and research literature. The model then tested geospatially specific interventions to address storm-related access deficits. The model revealed that areas of high primary care access deficit were concentrated in the eastern part of the Rockaways. Placing mobile health clinics in the most populous census tracts reduced the access deficit significantly, whereas increasing providers' capacity by 50% reduced the deficit to a lesser degree. An agent-based model may be a useful tool to have in place so that policy makers can conduct scenario-based analyses to plan interventions optimally in the event of a disaster. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:386-393).

  6. 78 FR 50057 - Delegation of Authorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-16

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the Secretary Delegation of Authorities Notice... to the effective date of this delegation of authorities. Nothing in this delegation of authorities is... delegation of authorities excludes the authority to issue regulations and to submit reports to Congress...

  7. Using the Integration of Discrete Event and Agent-Based Simulation to Enhance Outpatient Service Quality in an Orthopedic Department

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cholada Kittipittayakorn

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Many hospitals are currently paying more attention to patient satisfaction since it is an important service quality index. Many Asian countries’ healthcare systems have a mixed-type registration, accepting both walk-in patients and scheduled patients. This complex registration system causes a long patient waiting time in outpatient clinics. Different approaches have been proposed to reduce the waiting time. This study uses the integration of discrete event simulation (DES and agent-based simulation (ABS to improve patient waiting time and is the first attempt to apply this approach to solve this key problem faced by orthopedic departments. From the data collected, patient behaviors are modeled and incorporated into a massive agent-based simulation. The proposed approach is an aid for analyzing and modifying orthopedic department processes, allows us to consider far more details, and provides more reliable results. After applying the proposed approach, the total waiting time of the orthopedic department fell from 1246.39 minutes to 847.21 minutes. Thus, using the correct simulation model significantly reduces patient waiting time in an orthopedic department.

  8. Using the Integration of Discrete Event and Agent-Based Simulation to Enhance Outpatient Service Quality in an Orthopedic Department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kittipittayakorn, Cholada; Ying, Kuo-Ching

    2016-01-01

    Many hospitals are currently paying more attention to patient satisfaction since it is an important service quality index. Many Asian countries' healthcare systems have a mixed-type registration, accepting both walk-in patients and scheduled patients. This complex registration system causes a long patient waiting time in outpatient clinics. Different approaches have been proposed to reduce the waiting time. This study uses the integration of discrete event simulation (DES) and agent-based simulation (ABS) to improve patient waiting time and is the first attempt to apply this approach to solve this key problem faced by orthopedic departments. From the data collected, patient behaviors are modeled and incorporated into a massive agent-based simulation. The proposed approach is an aid for analyzing and modifying orthopedic department processes, allows us to consider far more details, and provides more reliable results. After applying the proposed approach, the total waiting time of the orthopedic department fell from 1246.39 minutes to 847.21 minutes. Thus, using the correct simulation model significantly reduces patient waiting time in an orthopedic department.

  9. Framework for Securing Mobile Software Agents

    OpenAIRE

    Mwakalinga, G Jeffy; Yngström, Louise

    2006-01-01

    Information systems are growing in size and complexity making it infeasible for human administrators to manage them. The aim of this work is to study ways of securing and using mobile software agents to deter attackers, protect information systems, detect intrusions, automatically respond to the intrusions and attacks, and to produce recovery services to systems after attacks. Current systems provide intrusion detection, prevention, protection, response, and recovery services but most of thes...

  10. 76 FR 47353 - Final Directives for Forest Service Wind Energy Special Use Authorizations, Forest Service Manual...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-04

    ... Forest Management Act (NFMA); Executive Order (E.O.) 13212, which states increased production and... Service Handbooks 2609.13 and 2709.11; Notice #0;#0;Federal Register / Vol. 76 , No. 150 / Thursday..., Forest Service Handbooks 2609.13 and 2709.11 AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of issuance of...

  11. Volttron: An Agent Platform for the Smart Grid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haack, Jereme N.; Akyol, Bora A.; Carpenter, Brandon J.; Tews, Cody W.; Foglesong, Lance W.

    2013-05-06

    VOLLTRON platform enables the deployment of intelligent sensors and controllers in the smart grid and provides a stable, secure and flexible framework that expands the sensing and control capabilities. VOLTTRON platform provides services fulfilling the essential requirements of resource management and security for agent operation in the power grid. The facilities provided by the platform allow agent developers to focus on the implementation of their agent system and not on the necessary "plumbing' code. For example, a simple collaborative demand response application was written in less than 200 lines of Python.

  12. Explicit and Latent Authority in Hierarchical Organizations

    OpenAIRE

    van den Brink, J.R.; Gilles, R.P.

    2005-01-01

    In this paper we consider the problem of the control of access to a firm's productive asset, embedding the relevant decision makers into a general structure of formal authority relations. Within such an authority structure, each decision maker acts as a principal to some decision makers, while she acts as an agent in relation to certain other decision makers. We study under which conditions decision makers decide to exercise their own authority and to accept their superiors' authority. We dis...

  13. Constitutionality of enforcement of claims by private enforcement agents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bodiroga Nikola

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The main focus of this paper is legal status of private enforcement agents in Serbia. The 2011 Serbian Law on Enforcement and Security has introduced private enforcement agents as legal professionals in charge mainly for carrying out of the enforcement. Special enforcement procedure for collection of utilities and similar claims has become exclusive competence of private enforcement agents. Since enforcement procedure has always been regarded as a set of coercive measures against enforcement debtor, it became questionable whether this coercion could be exercised by private enforcement agents. It has been argued by legal scholars that enforcement of civil judgments and other enforcement deeds belongs only to the state authority. The author tackles this issue from the standpoint of decisions of constitutional courts and jurisprudence of European Court of Human Rights.

  14. A Multi Agent Based Approach for Prehospital Emergency Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safdari, Reza; Shoshtarian Malak, Jaleh; Mohammadzadeh, Niloofar; Danesh Shahraki, Azimeh

    2017-07-01

    To demonstrate an architecture to automate the prehospital emergency process to categorize the specialized care according to the situation at the right time for reducing the patient mortality and morbidity. Prehospital emergency process were analyzed using existing prehospital management systems, frameworks and the extracted process were modeled using sequence diagram in Rational Rose software. System main agents were identified and modeled via component diagram, considering the main system actors and by logically dividing business functionalities, finally the conceptual architecture for prehospital emergency management was proposed. The proposed architecture was simulated using Anylogic simulation software. Anylogic Agent Model, State Chart and Process Model were used to model the system. Multi agent systems (MAS) had a great success in distributed, complex and dynamic problem solving environments, and utilizing autonomous agents provides intelligent decision making capabilities.  The proposed architecture presents prehospital management operations. The main identified agents are: EMS Center, Ambulance, Traffic Station, Healthcare Provider, Patient, Consultation Center, National Medical Record System and quality of service monitoring agent. In a critical condition like prehospital emergency we are coping with sophisticated processes like ambulance navigation health care provider and service assignment, consultation, recalling patients past medical history through a centralized EHR system and monitoring healthcare quality in a real-time manner. The main advantage of our work has been the multi agent system utilization. Our Future work will include proposed architecture implementation and evaluation of its impact on patient quality care improvement.

  15. 45 CFR 1201.11 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authority. 1201.11 Section 1201.11 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE PRODUCTION... Authority. The Corporation receives authority to change its governing regulations from the National and...

  16. Effect of Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agent Policy Decisions

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) are used as a treatment for anemia in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients. In early 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug...

  17. Maintenance service contract model for heavy equipment in mining industry using principal agent theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pakpahan, Eka K. A.; Iskandar, Bermawi P.

    2015-12-01

    Mining industry is characterized by a high operational revenue, and hence high availability of heavy equipment used in mining industry is a critical factor to ensure the revenue target. To maintain high avaliability of the heavy equipment, the equipment's owner hires an agent to perform maintenance action. Contract is then used to control the relationship between the two parties involved. The traditional contracts such as fixed price, cost plus or penalty based contract studied is unable to push agent's performance to exceed target, and this in turn would lead to a sub-optimal result (revenue). This research deals with designing maintenance contract compensation schemes. The scheme should induce agent to select the highest possible maintenance effort level, thereby pushing agent's performance and achieve maximum utility for both parties involved. Principal agent theory is used as a modeling approach due to its ability to simultaneously modeled owner and agent decision making process. Compensation schemes considered in this research includes fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing. The optimal decision is obtained using a numerical method. The results show that if both parties are risk neutral, then there are infinite combination of fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing produced the same optimal solution. The combination of fixed price and cost sharing contract results in the optimal solution when the agent is risk averse, while the optimal combination of fixed price and revenue sharing contract is obtained when agent is risk averse. When both parties are risk averse, the optimal compensation scheme is a combination of fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing.

  18. Supply of equipment and components, materials of dedicated commercial grade, other services; Suministro de equipos y respuestos. Materiales de grado comercial dedicados. Otros servicios

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perdices, D.; Perez Medina, E.

    2014-10-01

    The following article describes the course of action of Tecnatom as Procurement Agent and Manufacturing Manager for the supply materials, equipment and components for the Spanish Nuclear Power Plants. We have devoted a special mention to the supply of dedicated commercial grade items (CGI), bringing together the services of Manufacturing Manager, Engineering service and testing facilities, simplifying the control of the supply chain with total warranty. (Author)

  19. Reference Agent : Mengoptimalkan Pustakawan Dalam Menghidupkan Kembali Layanan Referensi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dian Kristyanto

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available One of the services developed in library is reference service. This service is a featured product that can give information solution for users. For the vital service, reference librarian is demanded to have an innovation, creation and communication skill, so he can serve to user needs for information. This article dealts with the concept of reference librarian  to  the  development  of  ICT  in  order  to  be  agent  of  reference service being a featured service of library.

  20. [Community health agents: profile and education].

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2011-01-01

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

  1. Multi-Agent Modeling in Managing Six Sigma Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Y. Chau

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a multi-agent model is proposed for considering the human resources factor in decision making in relation to the six sigma project. The proposed multi-agent system is expected to increase the acccuracy of project prioritization and to stabilize the human resources service level. A simulation of the proposed multiagent model is conducted. The results show that a multi-agent model which takes into consideration human resources when making decisions about project selection and project team formation is important in enabling efficient and effective project management. The multi-agent modeling approach provides an alternative approach for improving communication and the autonomy of six sigma projects in business organizations.

  2. The Principal-Agent model and the European Union

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Delreux, Tom; Adriaensen, J.

    2017-01-01

    This book assesses the use and limitations of the principal-agent model in a context of increasingly complex political systems such as the European Union. Whilst a number of conceptual, theoretical and methodological challenges need to be addressed, the authors show that the principal-agent model

  3. 38 CFR 17.180 - Delegation of authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Delegation of authority. 17.180 Section 17.180 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Veterans Canteen Service § 17.180 Delegation of authority. In connection with the Veterans Canteen Service...

  4. 42 CFR 81.1 - Purpose and Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Purpose and Authority. 81.1 Section 81.1 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH... EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM ACT OF 2000 Introduction § 81.1 Purpose and Authority...

  5. 77 FR 72350 - Delegation of Authorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-05

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Delegation of Authorities Notice is hereby given that I... ensure that CMS' provider enrollment process continues without interruption. This delegation of authority... effective date of this delegation of authority. These authorities may be re-delegated. This delegation of...

  6. 45 CFR 2507.12 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authority. 2507.12 Section 2507.12 Public Welfare... FOR DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT § 2507.12 Authority. The Corporation receives authority to change its governing regulations from the National and Community Service Act of 1990...

  7. 36 CFR 228.40 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority. 228.40 Section 228.40 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MINERALS Disposal of Mineral Materials § 228.40 Authority. Authority for the disposal of mineral materials is provided by the...

  8. Enhancing Author Information for CERN Document Server: Creating an Author Collection and Using Author Disambiguation Methods

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2096274; Witowski, Sebastian

    Authors are a substantial part of queries in digital libraries, where the results are reflecting the service quality and success. Ambiguous author names can confuse users and cause an inaccurate relation between authorships and individual researchers. Providing a set of disambiguated authors is challenging and related to data integration, since this is done in several ways and by different systems, both manually and automatically. Many disambiguation algorithms have been proposed in the literature, where the most solutions are solving the ambiguities by applying machine learning techniques. However, such problems cannot be solved with an accuracy of 100%. Our contributions to the CERN Document Server presented in this work consists of two parts: first, we create and deploy an author knowledge data base (collection) and second, we link authors of bibliographic records back to their authority records. For the latter, we use a library providing machine learning tools for clustering (where we use trained data fro...

  9. Mechanism Design for Task Procurement with Flexible Quality of Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerding, Enrico H.; Larson, Kate; Rogers, Alex; Jennings, Nicholas R.

    In this paper, we consider the problem where an agent wishes to complete a single computational task, but lacks the required resources. Instead, it must contract self-interested service providers, who are able to flexibly manipulate the quality of service they deliver, in order to maximise their own utility. We extend an existing model to allow for multiple such service providers to be contracted for the same task, and derive optimal task procurement mechanisms in the setting where the agent has full knowledge of the cost functions of these service providers (considering both simultaneous and sequential procurement). We then extend these results to the incomplete information setting where the agent must elicit cost information from the service providers, and we characterise a family of incentive-compatible and individually-rational mechanisms. We show empirically that sequential procurement always generates greater utility for the agent compared to simultaneous procurement, and that over a range of settings, contracting multiple providers is preferable to contracting just one.

  10. The 2018 Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2017-01-01

    markdownabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2018 (Power TAC 2018). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through

  11. The 2013 Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); P. Reddy (Prashant); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2013-01-01

    textabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2013 (Power TAC 2013). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through tariff

  12. The 2016 Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2016-01-01

    markdownabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2016 (Power TAC 2016). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through

  13. The 2017 Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2017-01-01

    markdownabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2017 (Power TAC 2017). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through

  14. The 2012 Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); P. Reddy (Prashant); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2012-01-01

    textabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2012 (Power TAC 2012). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through tariff

  15. The 2015 Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); P. Reddy (Prashant); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2015-01-01

    markdownabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2015 (Power TAC 2015). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through

  16. The 2014 Power Trading Agent Competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    W. Ketter (Wolfgang); J. Collins (John); P. Reddy (Prashant); M.M. de Weerdt (Mathijs)

    2014-01-01

    textabstractThis is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2014 (Power TAC 2014). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through tariff

  17. 48 CFR 204.7206 - Using CAGE codes to identify agents and brokers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... identify agents and brokers. 204.7206 Section 204.7206 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE... 204.7206 Using CAGE codes to identify agents and brokers. Authorized agents and brokers are entities... code will be assigned to the agent/broker establishment in addition to any codes assigned to the...

  18. Educational Psychology in Scotland: Making a Difference. An Aspect Report on the Findings of Inspections of Local Authority Educational Psychology Services 2006-10

    Science.gov (United States)

    Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, 2011

    2011-01-01

    This report provides, for the first time, an overview based on inspections of all 32 local authority educational psychology services. The picture it presents is broadly a very positive one although it also points to areas in which there is certainly scope for further improvement. The report shows that services are making a positive difference to…

  19. 78 FR 18594 - Delegation of Authorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-27

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Delegation of Authorities Notice is hereby given that I... Delegations of Authority, last published at 55 FR 9363 (March 13, 1990). Affordable Care Act Title I--Quality... Programs. This delegation of authorities excludes the authority to issue regulations and to submit reports...

  20. 77 FR 14952 - Delegations of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-14

    ... office automation services, including setting rates to recover the cost of goods and services within... office automation services, with authority to take actions required by law or regulation to perform such... amended, 29 U.S.C. 794, prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in USDA programs...

  1. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Gray, Mel. Vol 31, No 2 (2016) - Articles Sociocultural context and the success of international aid on National Agricultural Advisory Services program in eastern Uganda Abstract. ISSN: 1012-1080. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  2. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Kagoyire, C. Vol 20 (2011): Series C: Mathematical Sciences, Engineering and Technology - Articles Web geoprocessing services on GML with a fast XML database. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2305-2678. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  3. 50 CFR 82.4 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authority. 82.4 Section 82.4 Wildlife and... PROTECTION ACT OF 1972) Introduction § 82.4 Authority. The Secretary of the Interior has delegated to the Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, his authority under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to enter into...

  4. Service technologies as factor of service and tourism companies' competitiveness

    OpenAIRE

    Zhanna Gornostaeva; Vladimir Zhidkov

    2014-01-01

    The authors define the role of service technology in shaping the quality of service and tourism companies, the authors' method of measuring the quality of service and tourism businesses and developing a conceptual model of quality of service and the conceptual model of the internal quality of the service, and also carry out testing of the model on the example of the 'Intourist' Hotel in Volgograd, Russia.

  5. New Safety rule for Chemical Agents

    CERN Multimedia

    Safety Commission

    2010-01-01

    The following Safety rule has been issued on 08-01-2010: Safety Regulation SR-C Chemical Agents This document applies to all persons under the Director General’s authority. It sets out the minimal requirements for the protection of persons from risks to their safety and health arising, or likely to arise, from the effects of hazardous chemical agents used in any CERN activity. All Safety rules are available on the web pages.

  6. Estresse no trabalho em agentes dos centros de atendimento socioeducativo do Rio Grande do Sul Estrés en el trabajo en agentes en los centros de atención socioeducativa de Rio Grande do Sul Job stress in agents at the socio-educational service centers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrícia Bitencourt Toscani Greco

    2013-03-01

    psicológicas en trabajo del agente.The study was both to understand the association of work stress, socio-demographic and labor characteristics, habits and working conditions of the Socio-educational agents in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was a cross-sectional study with 381 agents of the Socio-educational Service Centers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The Brazilian version of the Job Stress Scale for assessment of work stress has been applied. Were classified in a situation of high strain 19.2% of the agents. The following factors were related to job stress: the need for counseling, lack of leisure time, day shift work, dissatisfaction with the workplace, the need for absence from work due to health problems and insufficient scale work. There is a need to further research working conditions and execution of Occupational Health Service acting in order to minimize the effects of psychological demands at work of a socio-educational agent.

  7. Ontological support for web courseware authoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aroyo, L.M.; Dicheva, D.; Cristea, A.I.; Cerri, S.A.; Gouardères, G.; Paraguaçu, F.

    2002-01-01

    In this paper we present an ontology- oriented authoring support system for Web-based courseware. This is an elaboration of our approach to knowledge classification and indexing in the previously developed system AIMS (Agent-based Information Management System) aimed at supporting students while

  8. Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-Agent Manufacturing Control

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, André; Trentesaux, Damien

    2012-01-01

    Service orientation is emerging nowadays at multiple organizational levels in enterprise business, and it leverages technology in response to the growing need for greater business integration, flexibility and agility of manufacturing enterprises. This book gathers contributions from scientists, researchers and industrialists on concepts, methods, frameworks and implementing issues addressing trends in the service orientation of control technology and management applied to manufacturing enterprise. It analyzes a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) representing a technical architecture, a business modelling concept, a type of infrastructure, an integration source and a new way of viewing units of automation within the enterprise. The presents how SOA aligns the business world with the world of information technology in a way that makes both more effective.  

  9. Decentralized Services Orchestration Using Intelligent Mobile Agents with Deadline Restrictions

    OpenAIRE

    Magalhães , Alex; Lung , Lau Cheuk; Rech , Luciana

    2010-01-01

    International audience; The necessity for better performance drives service orchestration towards decentralization. There is a recent approach where the integrator - that traditionally centralizes all corporative services and business logics - remains as a repository of interface services, but now lacks to know all business logics and business workflows. There are several techniques using this recent approach, including hybrid solutions, peer-to-peer solutions and trigger-based mechanisms. A ...

  10. Agent based energy management systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wolter, Martin

    2012-07-01

    In liberalized, regulated energy markets, the different participants - namely producers and consumers of energy, transmission and distribution system operators as well as regulatory authorities - have partly divergent and partly convergent interests. Loads, power plants and grid operators try to maximize their own benefit in this highly complex environment accepting to act detrimentally to others. Although the relationship between the participants is mostly competitive, there are some fundamental shared interests, e.g. voltage stability, a constant system frequency or efficient energy production, transmission and distribution, which are endangered e.g. by increased injection of volatile sources in low and medium voltage grids, displacement of stabilizing bulk generation and the slowly progressing extension of the electric grid. There is a global consensus, that the resulting challenges can efficiently be faced using information and communication technologies to coordinate grid utilization and operation. The basic idea is to benefit from unused reserves by participating in deployment of system services e.g. reactive power supply to keep the voltage within certain bounds. The coordination can best be done by the grid operator. All activities of that kind are summarized under the umbrella term ''Smart Grid''. To simultaneously model the behavior and interests of different types of market participants and their convergent and divergent interests, multi-agent systems are used. They offer a perfectly fitting framework for this sort of game theory and can easily be adapted to all kinds of new challenges of electricity markets. In this work, multi-agent systems are used to either cooperatively or competitively solve problems in distribution and transmission systems. Therefore, conventional algorithms have to be modified to converge into multiple local optima using only small pieces of the entire system information. It is clearly stated, that personal

  11. Fundamentals of Agent Perception and Attention Modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Peters, Christopher; Castellano, Ginevra; Rehm, Matthias

    2011-01-01

    Perception and attention mechanisms are of great importance for entities situated within complex dynamic environments. With roles extending greatly beyond passive information services about the external environment, such mechanisms actively prioritise, augment and expedite information to ensure t...... agents can achieve a more substantial connection with their environment for the purposes of reacting, planning, decision making and, ultimately, behaving.......Perception and attention mechanisms are of great importance for entities situated within complex dynamic environments. With roles extending greatly beyond passive information services about the external environment, such mechanisms actively prioritise, augment and expedite information to ensure...... that the potentially relevant is made available so appropriate action can take place. Here, we describe the rationale behind endowing artificial entities, or virtual agents, with real-time perception and attention systems. We cover the fundamentals of designing and building such systems. Once equipped, the resulting...

  12. Construction of a Learning Agent Handling Its Rewards According to Environmental Situations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moriyama, Koichi; Numao, Masayuki

    The authors aim at constructing an agent which learns appropriate actions in a Multi-Agent environment with and without social dilemmas. For this aim, the agent must have nonrationality that makes it give up its own profit when it should do that. Since there are many studies on rational learning that brings more and more profit, it is desirable to utilize them for constructing the agent. Therefore, we use a reward-handling manner that makes internal evaluation from the agent's rewards, and then the agent learns actions by a rational learning method with the internal evaluation. If the agent has only a fixed manner, however, it does not act well in the environment with and without dilemmas. Thus, the authors equip the agent with several reward-handling manners and criteria for selecting an effective one for the environmental situation. In the case of humans, what generates the internal evaluation is usually called emotion. Hence, this study also aims at throwing light on emotional activities of humans from a constructive view. In this paper, we divide a Multi-Agent environment into three situations and construct an agent having the reward-handling manners and the criteria. We observe that the agent acts well in all the three Multi-Agent situations composed of homogeneous agents.

  13. 31 CFR 408.1 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority. 408.1 Section 408.1 Money... SERVICE-RULES GOVERNING ACCESS § 408.1 Authority. The designation of the buildings and grounds in this... promulgated pursuant to the authority vested in the Secretary of the Treasury by 18 U.S.C. 1752 (84 Stat. 1891...

  14. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Kiplang'at, Joseph. Vol 8, No 1 (2016) - Articles Outsourcing information communication technology services in selected public university libraries in Kenya Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2077-2815. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's ...

  15. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Akinade, H. Vol 14, No 1-2 (2014) - Articles Marketing Strategy: A Tool for Library and Information Services Delivery by Academic Libraries in Southwest Nigeria. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1596-5414. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  16. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Emwanta, Maria-Gorretti. Vol 24, No 2 (2014) - Articles Facebook as an Information Service Delivery Tool: Perspectives of Library Staff at the University of Benin, Nigeria Abstract. ISSN: 0795-4778. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  17. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Hitzeroth, HW. Vol 79, No 2 (1991) - Articles Duchenne muscular dystrophy - a molecular service. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 0256-95749. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and Conditions of Use · Contact AJOL ...

  18. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Groningen, HB. Vol 17, No 1 (2014) - Articles Comparison of blood services and clinical transfusion practices in Zimbabwe and the Netherlands: What are the key lessons? Abstract. ISSN: 1560-8646. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  19. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Igwe, Kingsley N. Vol 8, No 1 (2017) - Articles Delivery of community information service as corporate social responsibility by librarians in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2360-994X. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL ...

  20. Enabling private and public sector organizations as agents of homeland security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glassco, David H. J.; Glassco, Jordan C.

    2006-05-01

    Homeland security and defense applications seek to reduce the risk of undesirable eventualities across physical space in real-time. With that functional requirement in mind, our work focused on the development of IP based agent telecommunication solutions for heterogeneous sensor / robotic intelligent "Things" that could be deployed across the internet. This paper explains how multi-organization information and device sharing alliances may be formed to enable organizations to act as agents of homeland security (in addition to other uses). Topics include: (i) using location-aware, agent based, real-time information sharing systems to integrate business systems, mobile devices, sensor and actuator based devices and embedded devices used in physical infrastructure assets, equipment and other man-made "Things"; (ii) organization-centric real-time information sharing spaces using on-demand XML schema formatted networks; (iii) object-oriented XML serialization as a methodology for heterogeneous device glue code; (iv) how complex requirements for inter / intra organization information and device ownership and sharing, security and access control, mobility and remote communication service, tailored solution life cycle management, service QoS, service and geographic scalability and the projection of remote physical presence (through sensing and robotics) and remote informational presence (knowledge of what is going elsewhere) can be more easily supported through feature inheritance with a rapid agent system development methodology; (v) how remote object identification and tracking can be supported across large areas; (vi) how agent synergy may be leveraged with analytics to complement heterogeneous device networks.

  1. 7 CFR 54.3 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 54.3 Section 54.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections... PRODUCTS (GRADING, CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) Regulations Administration § 54.3 Authority. The Chief is...

  2. 48 CFR 305.502 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authority. 305.502 Section 305.502 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMPETITION AND ACQUISITION PLANNING PUBLICIZING CONTRACT ACTIONS Paid Advertisements 305.502 Authority. The Contracting Officer may...

  3. 41 CFR 302-7.201 - Is temporary storage in excess of authorized limits and excess valuation of goods and services...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Is temporary storage in excess of authorized limits and excess valuation of goods and services payable at Government expense? 302-7.201 Section 302-7.201 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Travel Regulation System...

  4. 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

  5. 76 FR 9353 - Statement of Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-17

    ... involved the exercise of these authorities prior to the effective date of this delegation. This delegation... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Health Resources and Services Administration Statement of Delegation of Authority Notice is hereby given that I have delegated to the Administrator, Health Resources...

  6. Political authorities of local government

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Messing, M.

    1977-01-01

    Historically the responsibility for planning, siting, constructing, and operating the generating, transmission, and distribution systems for electric utility service (as well as the end-use systems) developed within the electric utility industry itself, subject to state and local regulation. This responsibility was later sanctioned as a functional authority as both private and publicly-owned utility franchises were negotiated with states and brought under the regulatory purview of Public Service Commissions and Public Utility Commissions around the turn of the century. Since 1970 this historic framework has been substantially altered by the enactment of powerplant siting laws in approximately 23 states and by the assertion of state interests in not only the corporate regulation, but the long range planning of electric powerplants and the consideration of alternative energy systems. Thus it is instructive to consider the authorities for powerplant siting in the following context: (1) historically the reponsibility and the authority for powerplant siting has redounded to franchised utility companies; (2) since 1970 the states have begun to exercise their constitutional authority over the development of power plant siting and energy systems; (3) both local governments and electric utility companies exist as subdivisions of the state, subject to state regulation and the delegation of state authorities. However, the assertion of state authorities in this area has come at a time when changes in the technology an the institutional structure of the electric utility industry have extended the functional service areas beyond the geographic boundaries and political jurisdictions of either local or state government, thereby creating a jurisdictional hiatus between the serivce areas of electric utilities and the jurisdictional authorities of state and local government

  7. 75 FR 63480 - Delegation of Authorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-15

    ... exercise of the authorities delegated herein prior to the effective date of this delegation. This delegation of authorities granted herein is effective immediately. Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3101. Dated... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the Secretary Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...

  8. Understanding Legitimate Teacher Authority in a Cross-Cultural Teaching Context: Pre-Service Chinese Language Teachers Undertaking Teaching Practicum in International Schools in Hong Kong

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Chun; Gu, Mingyue; Hu, Jingjing

    2015-01-01

    Legitimate teacher authority is fundamental to effective teaching, but is often a thorny issue that teachers need to grapple with when teaching in cross-cultural teaching contexts. By interviewing 18 pre-service Chinese language teachers on their understanding of legitimate teacher authority throughout teaching practicum at international schools…

  9. 32 CFR Appendix to Part 395 - Delegations of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Delegations of Authority Appendix to Part 395...) ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTERS DEFENSE LEGAL SERVICES AGENCY Pt. 395, App. Appendix to Part 395—Delegations of Authority... terminate the service, of an employee in the interest of national security. 2. Authorize and approve...

  10. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ering, SO. Vol 3, No 1 (2008) - Articles Rationalization in the Nigerian Public Service: Implications for Cross River State Workers Morale and Productivity Abstract PDF · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and ...

  11. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Aniley, B. Vol 1, No 2 (2010) - Articles Service quality attributes affecting passengers' satisfaction with HIGER city bus. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2410-2393. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and Conditions of Use ...

  12. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ilugbo, EA. Vol 3, No 2 (2010) - Articles Personality Traits as Predictors of Stress among female Teachers in Osun State Teaching Service Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2006-7593. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms ...

  13. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Anie, Sylvester O. Vol 5, No 2 (2014) - Articles Improving public library services for rural community development. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 2360-994X. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and Conditions of Use ...

  14. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Njoku, KC. Vol 10, No 1 (2015) - Articles Application of the anomic theory on the phenomenon of disengagement lethargy in the Imo state public service, Nigeria Abstract PDF · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners ...

  15. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Maduku, DK. Vol 17, No 3 (2013) - Articles Predicting retail banking customers' attitude towards Internet banking services in South Africa Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1998-8125. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and ...

  16. 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.

  17. Building an Educational Program together health community agents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lúcia Rondelo Duarte

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Aiming at contributing inputs to the learning process of community health agents from Family Health Strategy, this study has sought to devise an Educational Program to qualify seven community agents from the Family Health Unit on Habiteto, a neighborhood in the Brazilian city of Sorocaba. Speeches on the perception these agents have of their work, their difficulties and proposals were captured and analyzed within the framework of the "Collective Subject Speech". Results showed the group's learning needs, and guided the devising and implementation of the Educational Program, which adopted the "Problem-Based Education" model. This knowledge was built by the agents through a problem-focused reality, debating, searching for solutions, and implementing intervention projects. They noticed that being a community health agent means, above all, to struggle and harness community forces for purposes of defending health & education public services and for improving social health determinants.

  18. Alkylating agents for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Kun; Tan, Jianlong; Wu, Taixiang

    2009-01-21

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

  19. Critical Questions Regarding Gadolinium Deposition in the Brain and Body After Injections of the Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents, Safety, and Clinical Recommendations in Consideration of the EMA's Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee Recommendation for Suspension of the Marketing Authorizations for 4 Linear Agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runge, Val M

    2017-06-01

    For magnetic resonance, the established class of intravenous contrast media is the gadolinium-based contrast agents. In the 3 decades since initial approval, these have proven in general to be very safe for human administration. However, in 2006, a devastating late adverse reaction to administration of the less stable gadolinium-based contrast agents was identified, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. The result of actions taken by the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration, stratifying the agents by risk and contraindicating specific agents in severe renal dysfunction, has led to no new cases being identified in North America or Europe. Subsequently, in 2014, long-term deposition in the brain of gadolinium was first shown, after administration of 2 nonionic linear chelates, gadodiamide, and gadopentetate dimeglumine. This has led to an intense focus on the question of in vivo distribution, possible dechelation, and subsequent deposition of gadolinium, together with substantial clarification of the phenomenon as well as stratification of the agents on this basis. This review focuses on 8 critical questions regarding gadolinium deposition in the brain and body, with the answers and discussion therein important for future regulatory decisions and clinical practice. It is now clear that dechelation of gadolinium occurs in vivo with the linear agents and is responsible for this phenomenon, with key experts in the field recommending, except where there is no suitable alternative, a shift in clinical practice from the linear to macrocyclic agents. In addition, on March 10, 2017, the Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee of the European Medicines Agency recommended suspension of the marketing authorization for 4 linear gadolinium contrast agents-specifically Omniscan, Optimark, Magnevist, and MultiHance (gadodiamide, gadoversetamide, gadopentetate dimeglumine, and gadobenate dimeglumine)-for intravenous injection. Cited in the report was

  20. 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

  1. 76 FR 12978 - Statement of Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-09

    ... HRSA and CDC officials, which involve the exercise of these authorities prior to the effective date of... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Health Resources and Services Administration Statement of Delegation of Authority Notice is hereby given that I have delegated to the Administrator, Health Resources...

  2. The author training manual develop marketable ideas, craft books that sell, become the author publishers want, and self-publish effectively

    CERN Document Server

    Amir, Nina

    2014-01-01

    Anyone can publish a book and become an ""author,"" but if you want to become a successful author with a profitable publishing career, you need a clear, step-by-step guide to help you develop book ideas that sell. In The Author Training Manual, expert editor and book coach Nina Amir reveals the exact process successful authors have used to create business plans and proposals for their books and teaches you how to view your ideas through the eyes of acquisitions editors and literary agents. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, plan to traditionally publish or self-publish, The Author Tra

  3. 7 CFR 91.3 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 91.3 Section 91.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections... AND GENERAL INFORMATION Administration § 91.3 Authority. The Deputy Administrator is charged with the...

  4. 5 CFR 430.101 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 430.101 Section 430.101 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Performance Management § 430.101 Authority. Chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code, provides for the...

  5. 7 CFR 75.3 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 75.3 Section 75.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections... CERTIFICATION OF QUALITY OF AGRICULTURAL AND VEGETABLE SEEDS Administration § 75.3 Authority. The Director is...

  6. 7 CFR 53.3 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 53.3 Section 53.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections... STANDARDS) Regulations Administration § 53.3 Authority. The Director is charged with the administration of...

  7. Challenges for tree officers to enhance the provision of regulating ecosystem services from urban forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Helen J; Doick, Kieron J; Hudson, Malcolm D; Schreckenberg, Kate

    2017-07-01

    Urbanisation and a changing climate are leading to more frequent and severe flood, heat and air pollution episodes in Britain's cities. Interest in nature-based solutions to these urban problems is growing, with urban forests potentially able to provide a range of regulating ecosystem services such as stormwater attenuation, heat amelioration and air purification. The extent to which these benefits are realized is largely dependent on urban forest management objectives, the availability of funding, and the understanding of ecosystem service concepts within local governments, the primary delivery agents of urban forests. This study aims to establish the extent to which British local authorities actively manage their urban forests for regulating ecosystem services, and identify which resources local authorities most need in order to enhance provision of ecosystem services by Britain's urban forests. Interviews were carried out with staff responsible for tree management decisions in fifteen major local authorities from across Britain, selected on the basis of their urban nature and high population density. Local authorities have a reactive approach to urban forest management, driven by human health and safety concerns and complaints about tree disservices. There is relatively little focus on ensuring provision of regulating ecosystem services, despite awareness by tree officers of the key role that urban forests can play in alleviating chronic air pollution, flood risk and urban heat anomalies. However, this is expected to become a greater focus in future provided that existing constraints - lack of understanding of ecosystem services amongst key stakeholders, limited political support, funding constraints - can be overcome. Our findings suggest that the adoption of a proactive urban forest strategy, underpinned by quantified and valued urban forest-based ecosystem services provision data, and innovative private sector funding mechanisms, can facilitate a change to a

  8. 76 FR 22396 - Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the Secretary Delegation of Authority Notice is... Department's policy on regulations and the existing delegation of authority to approve and issue regulations... effective date of this delegation. This delegation is effective upon signature. (Authority: Section 6 of the...

  9. 20 CFR 669.400 - What are the elements of the Individual Employment Plan that is authorized as an intensive service?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... customer-centered case management tool, an IEP is a personal record and must receive confidential treatment. ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What are the elements of the Individual Employment Plan that is authorized as an intensive service? 669.400 Section 669.400 Employees' Benefits...

  10. 31 CFR 352.13 - Fiscal agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fiscal agents. 352.13 Section 352.13 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE... Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 925 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64198 Dallas, San Francisco, Kansas City...

  11. 31 CFR 330.9 - Fiscal agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fiscal agents. 330.9 Section 330.9 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE.... Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 925 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64198 Dallas, San Francisco, Kansas...

  12. 31 CFR 332.12 - Fiscal agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fiscal agents. 332.12 Section 332.12 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE... City, 925 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64198 Dallas, San Francisco, Kansas City, St. Louis AK, AR, AZ...

  13. 47 CFR 22.401 - Description and purposes of developmental authorizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... leading to the potential development of a new Public Mobile Service or technology; or, (c) Stations... authorizations. 22.401 Section 22.401 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES PUBLIC MOBILE SERVICES Developmental Authorizations § 22.401 Description and purposes of...

  14. 28 CFR 0.29j - Law enforcement authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Law enforcement authority. 0.29j Section 0.29j Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 4-Office of the Inspector General § 0.29j Law enforcement authority. Subject to guidelines promulgated by the Attorney General, Special Agents of the Offic...

  15. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ojo, JO. Vol 14, No 1-2 (2014) - Articles Marketing Strategy: A Tool for Library and Information Services Delivery by Academic Libraries in Southwest Nigeria. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1596-5414. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's ...

  16. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ansa-Asare, O. Vol 13, No 1 (2008) - Articles Total petroleum content and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels in soil and groundwater at the site of a fuel service station in Accra. Abstract. ISSN: 0855-2215. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More ...

  17. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Thom, Rita GM. Vol 6, No 3 (2003) - Articles HIV/AIDS and mental illness: ethical and medico-legal issues for psychiatric services. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1994-8220. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and ...

  18. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Okekeokosisi, JohnBosco O.C. Vol 15, No 1 (2015) - Articles Insight into the Utilization of Cloud and Mobile Computing in a service oriented world. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1116-5405. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners ...

  19. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Williams, C. Vol 17, No 2 (2013) - Articles The influence of service brand equity on the strength of brand relationships in the fast food industry. Abstract PDF. ISSN: 1998-8125. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners ...

  20. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Olotu, OA. Vol 8, No 2 (2010) - Articles Marketing of financial services and customer loyalty in the Nigerian banking sector. Abstract. ISSN: 1596-8308. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's Partners · Terms and Conditions of Use ...

  1. Author Details

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Oumtanaga, A. Vol 7, No 1 (2005): Serie E - Articles Evaluation de la mise en ceuvre des services du protocole IPV6 dans un environnement de laboratoire. Abstract. ISSN: 2413-354X. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about AJOL · AJOL's ...

  2. Chemical warfare agents identification by thermal neutron detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Boxue; Ai Xianyun; Tan Daoyuan; Zhang Dianqin

    2000-01-01

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

  3. 9 CFR 592.10 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 592.10 Section 592.10 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION VOLUNTARY INSPECTION OF EGG PRODUCTS Administration § 592.10 Authority. The Administrator shall...

  4. Quantal health effects of three toxic agents combined

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seiler, F.A.

    1988-01-01

    Quantal health effects such as cancer, correlated with the combined action of three toxic agents, are considered. Data on the combined effects of two agents are scarce and no such data exist for three toxicants, yet concerns have arisen about simultaneous exposure of radiation workers to three different agents. Using models developed from the analysis of health effects involving two toxicants, equations for the combined effects of three agents are derived from a more general formalism. An application of practical interest is the incidence of cancer of the esophagus and its correlation with concurrent exposures to alcohol, tobacco, and either low- or high-LET radiation. (author)

  5. 76 FR 25355 - Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-04

    ... subordinates, which involve the exercise of this authority prior to the effective date of this delegation. This delegation is effective upon date of signature. Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3101. Dated: April 22, 2011. Kathleen... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS) Office of the Secretary Delegation of Authority...

  6. A study on development and applications of agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Sun Hee; Sohn, Jae Min

    2000-06-01

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

  7. 47 CFR 76.1603 - Customer service-rate and service changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... both subscribers and local franchising authorities before implementing any rate or service change. Such... franchising authority. (e) To the extent the operator is required to provide notice of service and rate..., or franchising authority on the transaction between the operator and the subscriber. Note 1 to § 76...

  8. A novel plastification agent for cemented carbides extrusion molding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ji-Cheng Zhou; Bai-Yun Huang

    2001-01-01

    A type of novel plastification agent for plasticizing powder extrusion molding of cemented carbides has been developed. By optimizing their formulation and fabrication method, the novel plastification agent, with excellent properties and uniform distribution characters, were manufactured. The thermal debinding mechanism has been studied, the extruding rheological characteristics and debinding behaviors have been investigated. Using the newly developed plastification agent, the cemented carbides extrusion rods, with diameter up to 25 mm, have been manufactured. (author)

  9. Highly reconfigurable production systems controlled by real-time agents

    OpenAIRE

    Schütz, D.;Schraufstetter, M.;Folmer, J.;Vogel-Heuser, B.;Gmeiner, T.;Shea, K.

    2017-01-01

    Flexible plant components can significantly increase the flexibility of manufacturing systems and enable concepts like mass-customized production. This paper presents an approach for production planning and execution for flexible manufacturing system components, based on software agents. The agents are implemented directly on a PLC, making them capable of real-time operation. Additionally, a service-interface contributes to the vertical integration of the approach into the higher level planni...

  10. 7 CFR 1942.303 - Authorities, delegation, and redelegation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) PROGRAM REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) ASSOCIATIONS Rural Business Enterprise... Public Law 103-354 employees. Grant approval authorities are contained in subpart A of part 1901 of this...

  11. 31 CFR 316.12 - Fiscal agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fiscal agents. 316.12 Section 316.12 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE..., Kansas City, MO 64198 Dallas, San Francisco, Kansas City, St. Louis AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, IL...

  12. 31 CFR 342.9 - Fiscal agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fiscal agents. 342.9 Section 342.9 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE... Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64198 Dallas, San Francisco, Kansas City, St. Louis AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID...

  13. 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%.

  14. Hybrid POMDP-BDI Agent Architecture with Online Stochastic Planning and Desires with Changing Intensity Levels

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Rens, GB

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The authors propose an agent architecture which combines Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) and the belief-desire-intention (BDI) framework have several complementary strengths. The authors propose an agent architecture, which...

  15. Common Agents used in parasuicide in Buffalo City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiran Sukeri

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Background. Parasuicide is a serious public health concern. Understanding the methods used will help in developing preventive strategies. Objective. To investigate the agent(s used in parasuicide attempts by individuals aged 10 - 20 years in Buffalo City (which includes the municipalities of East London, King William’s Town and Bhisho in the Eastern Cape. Method. All referrals for parasuicide to the East London Mental Health Unit, the only mental health facility servicing Buffalo City, for the period January 2006 to December 2008 were analysed with regard to age, agent(s, number of attempts and psychiatric disorder. Results. Of 1 169 patients referred after parasuicide by ingestion of substances, 360 (31% were between the ages of 10 and 20 years. Eighty-three per cent were female and 17% male. Cattle dip was the commonest agent used, followed by amitriptyline. Conclusion. The study showed that organophosphates were the commonest agent used in parasuicide in Buffalo City and that the incidence of parasuicide was higher in females than in males.

  16. 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.

  17. 31 CFR 225.10 - Other agency practices and authorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE ACCEPTANCE OF BONDS... part by reason of the acceptance of bonds secured by Government obligations. (b) Agency authorities... for security in cases authorized by other provisions of law. ...

  18. 9 CFR 590.10 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 590.10 Section 590.10 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE EGG PRODUCTS... Authority. The Administrator shall perform, for and under the supervision of the Secretary, such duties as...

  19. Trading Agents

    CERN Document Server

    Wellman, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Automated trading in electronic markets is one of the most common and consequential applications of autonomous software agents. Design of effective trading strategies requires thorough understanding of how market mechanisms operate, and appreciation of strategic issues that commonly manifest in trading scenarios. Drawing on research in auction theory and artificial intelligence, this book presents core principles of strategic reasoning that apply to market situations. The author illustrates trading strategy choices through examples of concrete market environments, such as eBay, as well as abst

  20. 77 FR 30050 - Financial Management Service Proposed Collection of Information: Resolution Authorizing Execution...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Fiscal Service Financial Management Service Proposed Collection of... Depositary, Financial Agency, and Collateral Agreement AGENCY: Financial Management Service, Fiscal Service, Treasury. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. SUMMARY: The Financial Management Service, as part of...

  1. MAKOCI: A WEB PORTAL FOR INTEGRATING AND SHARING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SERVICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chin-Te Jung

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The lack of integration and communication of various geographic information services (GI services has resulted in many duplication collection of earth observation data, and challenges of semantic interoperability. This paper proposes an ontology-based multi-agents platform, called MAKOCI (multi-agent knowledge oriented cyberinfrastructure, which acts as GI service one stop to manage, publish, share, and discover GI services semantically. By ontologies, formal meanings of concepts are defined to annotate and discover GI services on a conceptual level for semantic interoperability. With the assistance of multi-agents, the processes in MAKOCI can be divided into various modules and be communicated based on the same semantics in ontologies. A prototype was implemented to test MAKOCI. Finally, we conclude the advantages and disadvantages of MAKOCI and point out several future works.

  2. Fronto-parietal coding of goal-directed actions performed by artificial agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kupferberg, Aleksandra; Iacoboni, Marco; Flanagin, Virginia; Huber, Markus; Kasparbauer, Anna; Baumgartner, Thomas; Hasler, Gregor; Schmidt, Florian; Borst, Christoph; Glasauer, Stefan

    2018-03-01

    With advances in technology, artificial agents such as humanoid robots will soon become a part of our daily lives. For safe and intuitive collaboration, it is important to understand the goals behind their motor actions. In humans, this process is mediated by changes in activity in fronto-parietal brain areas. The extent to which these areas are activated when observing artificial agents indicates the naturalness and easiness of interaction. Previous studies indicated that fronto-parietal activity does not depend on whether the agent is human or artificial. However, it is unknown whether this activity is modulated by observing grasping (self-related action) and pointing actions (other-related action) performed by an artificial agent depending on the action goal. Therefore, we designed an experiment in which subjects observed human and artificial agents perform pointing and grasping actions aimed at two different object categories suggesting different goals. We found a signal increase in the bilateral inferior parietal lobule and the premotor cortex when tool versus food items were pointed to or grasped by both agents, probably reflecting the association of hand actions with the functional use of tools. Our results show that goal attribution engages the fronto-parietal network not only for observing a human but also a robotic agent for both self-related and social actions. The debriefing after the experiment has shown that actions of human-like artificial agents can be perceived as being goal-directed. Therefore, humans will be able to interact with service robots intuitively in various domains such as education, healthcare, public service, and entertainment. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. 31 CFR 281.1 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority. 281.1 Section 281.1 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... of the authority vested in the Secretary of the Treasury by section 114 of the Budget and Accounting...

  4. Dynamic selection mechanism for quality of service aware web services

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Mello, Demian Antony; Ananthanarayana, V. S.

    2010-02-01

    A web service is an interface of the software component that can be accessed by standard Internet protocols. The web service technology enables an application to application communication and interoperability. The increasing number of web service providers throughout the globe have produced numerous web services providing the same or similar functionality. This necessitates the use of tools and techniques to search the suitable services available over the Web. UDDI (universal description, discovery and integration) is the first initiative to find the suitable web services based on the requester's functional demands. However, the requester's requirements may also include non-functional aspects like quality of service (QoS). In this paper, the authors define a QoS model for QoS aware and business driven web service publishing and selection. The authors propose a QoS requirement format for the requesters, to specify their complex demands on QoS for the web service selection. The authors define a tree structure called quality constraint tree (QCT) to represent the requester's variety of requirements on QoS properties having varied preferences. The paper proposes a QoS broker based architecture for web service selection, which facilitates the requesters to specify their QoS requirements to select qualitatively optimal web service. A web service selection algorithm is presented, which ranks the functionally similar web services based on the degree of satisfaction of the requester's QoS requirements and preferences. The paper defines web service provider qualities to distinguish qualitatively competitive web services. The paper also presents the modelling and selection mechanism for the requester's alternative constraints defined on the QoS. The authors implement the QoS broker based system to prove the correctness of the proposed web service selection mechanism.

  5. E-learning paradigms and applications agent-based approach

    CERN Document Server

    Jain, Lakhmi

    2014-01-01

    Teaching and learning paradigms have attracted increased attention especially in the last decade. Immense developments of different ICT technologies and services have paved the way for alternative but effective approaches in educational processes. Many concepts of the agent technology, such as intelligence, autonomy, and cooperation, have had a direct positive impact on many of the requests imposed on modern e-learning systems and educational processes. This book presents the state-of-the-art of e-learning and tutoring systems, and discusses their capabilities and benefits that stem from integrating software agents. We hope that the presented work will be of a great use to our colleagues and researchers interested in the e-learning and agent technology.    

  6. Effects of contrast agents on the fallopian tube in a rabbit model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, D.E.

    1989-01-01

    Selection of the optimal contrast agent for hysterosalpingography was the focus of this study. The authors have evaluated the effect of different iodinated contrast agents on the fallopian tube of a rabbit. Ethiodol (oil-soluble contrast agent), methylglucamine iothalomate (water-soluble ionic agent) 30% and 60%, and Ioxilan (water-soluble monionic contrast agent) were compared. The agents were introduced by fallopian tube catheterization. Findings suggested that nonionic water-soluble contrast agents were the least detrimental to the fallopian tube and surrounding tissue. Iothalomate 60% resulted in mild inflammatory changes. Oil-soluble contrast agents caused granulomatous reaction and fibrinous adhesions

  7. SEM: A Cultural Change Agent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, Bradley; Bourke, Brian

    2015-01-01

    The authors advance the concept that institutional culture is a purposeful framework by which to view SEM's utility, particularly as a cultural change agent. Through the connection of seemingly independent functions of performance and behavior, implications emerge that deepen the understanding of the influence of culture on performance outcomes…

  8. 42 CFR 447.506 - Authorized generic drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authorized generic drugs. 447.506 Section 447.506... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS PAYMENTS FOR SERVICES Payment for Drugs § 447.506 Authorized generic drugs. (a) Authorized generic drug defined. For the purposes of this subpart, an authorized generic drug...

  9. 5 CFR 300.301 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority. 300.301 Section 300.301 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS EMPLOYMENT (GENERAL) Details of Employees § 300.301 Authority. (a) In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3341, an agency may detail an employee in the...

  10. 50 CFR 34.2 - Authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authority. 34.2 Section 34.2 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM REFUGE REVENUE SHARING WITH COUNTIES § 34.2 Authority. (a) The Act of October 17...

  11. Semantics of agent-based service delegation and alignment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Balsters, H; Huitema, GB; Szirbik, NB; Meersman, R; Tari, Z; Herrero, P; Mendez, G; Cavedon, L; Martin, D; Hinze, A; Buchanan, G; Perez, MS; Robles,; Humble, J; Albani, A; Dietz, JLG; Panetto, H; Scannapieco, M; Halpin, T; Spyns, P; Zaha, JM; Zimanyi, E; Stefanakis, E; Dillon, T; Feng, L; Jarrar, M; Lehmann, J; DeMoor, A; Duval, E; Aroyo, L

    2005-01-01

    In this paper we concentrate on conceptual modeling and semantics of service delegation and alignment in information systems. In delegation, a source company wishes to hand over parts of its functionality together with related responsibilities to a supplying party. From the side of the outsourcer

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcus Vinicius H. de Carvalho

    2013-02-01

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

  13. Prior Authorization of PMDs Demonstration - Status Update

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — CMS implemented a Prior Authorization process for scooters and power wheelchairs for people with Fee-For-Service Medicare who reside in seven states with high...

  14. Simulation for IT Service Desk Improvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Bober

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available IT service desk is a complex service that IT service company provides to its customers. This article provides a methodology which uses discrete-event simulation to help IT service management to make decision and to plan service strategy. Simulation model considers learning ability of service desk agents and growth of knowledge database of the company. Model shows how the learning curve influences the time development of service desk quality and efficiency. This article promotes using simulation to define quantitative goals for the service desk improvement.

  15. Pharmacological stress agents in nuclear cardiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buscombe, J.R.

    2004-01-01

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

  16. Quantal health effects for a combination of several toxic agents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seiler, F A

    1988-12-01

    Quantal health effects caused by the combined action of a number of toxic agents are modeled using the information available for each toxicant acting in isolation. Two basic models are used; one assumes no interaction, the other postulates a separable kind of interaction in which each agent contributes an enhancement factor independent of all other agents. These two models provide yardsticks by which to measure synergisms and antagonisms in the interaction between the effects of toxic agents. Equations are given in approximations for small and large values of the risk. (author)

  17. Quantal health effects for a combination of several toxic agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seiler, F.A.

    1988-01-01

    Quantal health effects caused by the combined action of a number of toxic agents are modeled using the information available for each toxicant acting in isolation. Two basic models are used; one assumes no interaction, the other postulates a separable kind of interaction in which each agent contributes an enhancement factor independent of all other agents. These two models provide yardsticks by which to measure synergisms and antagonisms in the interaction between the effects of toxic agents. Equations are given in approximations for small and large values of the risk. (author)

  18. [Decorporation agents for internal radioactive contamination].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohmachi, Yasushi

    2015-01-01

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

  19. Monitoring presence of chemical agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preston, J.M.

    1984-01-01

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

  20. Exclusive queueing model including the choice of service windows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Masahiro; Yanagisawa, Daichi; Nishinari, Katsuhiro

    2018-01-01

    In a queueing system involving multiple service windows, choice behavior is a significant concern. This paper incorporates the choice of service windows into a queueing model with a floor represented by discrete cells. We contrived a logit-based choice algorithm for agents considering the numbers of agents and the distances to all service windows. Simulations were conducted with various parameters of agent choice preference for these two elements and for different floor configurations, including the floor length and the number of service windows. We investigated the model from the viewpoint of transit times and entrance block rates. The influences of the parameters on these factors were surveyed in detail and we determined that there are optimum floor lengths that minimize the transit times. In addition, we observed that the transit times were determined almost entirely by the entrance block rates. The results of the presented model are relevant to understanding queueing systems including the choice of service windows and can be employed to optimize facility design and floor management.

  1. 76 FR 62068 - Delegation of Authorities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-06

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Delegation of Authorities Notice is hereby given that I... information. This delegation shall be exercised in accordance with the Department's applicable policies... effective date of this delegation. This delegation of authorities is effective upon date of signature...

  2. 48 CFR 732.401 - Statutory authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... the making of advance payments with respect to functions authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act. Advance payments may also be made under section 305 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services... GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FINANCING Advance Payments 732.401 Statutory authority. (a...

  3. Nutraceuticals as therapeutic agents for atherosclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moss, Joe W E; Williams, Jessica O; Ramji, Dipak P

    2018-05-01

    Atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disorder of medium and large arteries and an underlying cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), is responsible for a third of all global deaths. Current treatments for CVD, such as optimized statin therapy, are associated with considerable residual risk and several side effects in some patients. The outcome of research on the identification of alternative pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of CVD has been relatively disappointing with many promising leads failing at the clinical level. Nutraceuticals, products from food sources with health benefits beyond their nutritional value, represent promising agents in the prevention of CVD or as an add-on therapy with current treatments. This review will highlight the potential of several nutraceuticals, including polyunsaturated fatty acids, flavonoids and other polyphenols, as anti-CVD therapies based on clinical and pre-clinical mechanism-based studies. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Reviewing Microgrids from a Multi-Agent Systems Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge J. Gomez-Sanz

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The construction of Smart Grids leads to the main question of what kind of intelligence such grids require and how to build it. Some authors choose an agent based solution to realize this intelligence. However, there may be some misunderstandings in the way this technology is being applied. This paper exposes some considerations of this subject, focusing on the Microgrid level, and shows a practical example through INGENIAS methodology, which is a methodology for the development of Agent Oriented systems that applies Model Driven Development techniques to produce fully functional Multi-Agent Systems.

  5. 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.

  6. 47 CFR 76.910 - Franchising authority certification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Franchising authority certification. 76.910... MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Cable Rate Regulation § 76.910 Franchising authority certification. (a) A franchising authority must be certified by the Commission in order to regulate the basic...

  7. UK Local Authority engagement with the Energy Service Company (ESCo) model: Key characteristics, benefits, limitations and considerations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hannon, Matthew J.; Bolton, Ronan

    2015-01-01

    This paper explores how some UK Local Authorities (LAs) have opted to engage with the Energy Service Company (ESCo) model in a bid to enhance their influence over local energy system change and help them to deliver on their political ‘public good’ objectives. Three common approaches to LA ESCo model engagement are outlined including the: (1) LA owned ‘arm's-length’ model; (2) private sector owned concession agreement model; and (3) community owned and run model. The LA's decision to establish its own ESCo, or alternatively enter into a partnership with another, predominantly depends on: its willingness to expose itself to risk, the level of strategic control it desires and the resources it has at its disposal. However, the business case is contingent on the extent to which the national policy and regulatory framework facilitates and obligates LAs to play an active energy governance role. Stronger alignment of local and national energy agendas through communication and coordination between different governance actors could help to remove critical barriers to LA ESCo engagement and their wider energy governance activities. - Highlights: • Some UK Local Authorities (LAs) have engaged with Energy Service Company (ESCo). • Driven by a desire to shape local energy system to deliver on their objectives. • LA may establish an ‘arm's length’ ESCo or partner with a private or community ESCo. • Trade-off between strategic control over energy system change and exposure to risk. • LA can bolster ESCo business case but ultimately depends on central government

  8. 77 FR 37412 - Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Community Living Delegation of Authority Effective immediately, I hereby delegate to the individual serving as the Administrator for the... of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 1397k. This authority may be redelegated. This delegation...

  9. 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.

  10. 76 FR 72713 - Statement of Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-25

    ... involve the exercise of these authorities prior to the effective date of this delegation. This delegation... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Health Resources and Services Administration Centers for..., Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Director, Centers for Disease Control and...

  11. Performance Management, Managerial Authority, and Public Service Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Poul Aaes

    2014-01-01

    that managerial authority over human resources positively moderates the effect of performance management, whereas decentralizing goal setting works in the opposite direction. These findings may help account for the differing effects of performance management found in previous studies and suggest that decision...

  12. O AGENTE COMUNITÁRIO DE SAÚDE NO PROCESSO DE MUNICIPALIZAÇÃO DA SAÚDE

    OpenAIRE

    Maria Josefina da Silva

    2000-01-01

    The community health agent in the health services municipalization process. This study is about the role of the health community agent in the context of municipalization, considering the Brazilian sanitary reform and the present tendencies of public and Government politics concerning the globalization process. It narrates the appearance of the health agent in Brazil, initially considering the Health Agent Program (PAS) in State of Ceará, Brazil and the Health Community Agent Program (PACS) of...

  13. 7 CFR 900.305 - Duties of referendum agent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Conduct of Referenda To Determine Producer Approval of Milk Marketing Orders To Be Made Effective Pursuant to Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as Amended § 900.305 Duties of referendum agent. The... Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing...

  14. Embodied artificial agents for understanding human social cognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wykowska, Agnieszka; Chaminade, Thierry; Cheng, Gordon

    2016-05-05

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

  15. Explicit and Latent Authority in Hierarchical Organizations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Brink, J.R.; Gilles, R.P.

    2005-01-01

    We consider the problem of control of access to a firm's productive asset, embedding the decision makers into a structure of formal authority relationships.Within such a structure, decision makers act as principal to some decision makers, while they act as agent to other decision makers.We study

  16. 76 FR 11569 - Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Enforcement Authority Procedures

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-02

    ..., providing the industry a greater sense of the parameters within which agents may exercise this authority... be expanded to include packages consigned for medical use because the urgency of these deliveries is...

  17. 78 FR 21606 - Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-11

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Delegation of Authority Notice is hereby given that in furtherance of the delegation of authority to the Assistant Secretary for Health on September 28, 1979, by the... such work by private non- profit entities, respectively. All previous delegations and redelegations...

  18. Forest Service programs, authorities, and relationships: A technical document supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ervin G. Schuster; Michael A. Krebs

    2003-01-01

    The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974, as amended, directs the Forest Service to prepare and update a renewable resources assessment that would include "a description of Forest Service programs and responsibilities , their interrelationships, and the relationship of these programs and responsibilities to public and private...

  19. 33 CFR 138.150 - Service of process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Service of process. 138.150... Pollution (Vessels) § 138.150 Service of process. (a) When executing the forms required by this subpart... as its agent for service of process for purposes of this subpart and for receipt of notices of...

  20. Alkalisation agent measurement with differential conductivity method in secondary water system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wuhrmann, Peter; Lendi, Marco

    2012-09-01

    Besides ammonia hydroxide, also morpholine and ethanol-amine (ETA) are mainly used as a pH regulating agent on the secondary water side [1]. The concentration of the alkalisation agent can only be calculated if the chemical composition in the sample is known [2]. Therefore, for a reliable alkalisation agent measurement, there are three major steps to take: A reliable specific and (degassed) acid conductivity measurement, pH calculation and the selection of the chemical model for concentration calculation of the alkalisation agent (authors)

  1. In Interactive, Web-Based Approach to Metadata Authoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pollack, Janine; Wharton, Stephen W. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) serves a growing number of users by assisting the scientific community in the discovery of and linkage to Earth science data sets and related services. The GCMD holds over 8000 data set descriptions in Directory Interchange Format (DIF) and 200 data service descriptions in Service Entry Resource Format (SERF), encompassing the disciplines of geology, hydrology, oceanography, meteorology, and ecology. Data descriptions also contain geographic coverage information, thus allowing researchers to discover data pertaining to a particular geographic location, as well as subject of interest. The GCMD strives to be the preeminent data locator for world-wide directory level metadata. In this vein, scientists and data providers must have access to intuitive and efficient metadata authoring tools. Existing GCMD tools are not currently attracting. widespread usage. With usage being the prime indicator of utility, it has become apparent that current tools must be improved. As a result, the GCMD has released a new suite of web-based authoring tools that enable a user to create new data and service entries, as well as modify existing data entries. With these tools, a more interactive approach to metadata authoring is taken, as they feature a visual "checklist" of data/service fields that automatically update when a field is completed. In this way, the user can quickly gauge which of the required and optional fields have not been populated. With the release of these tools, the Earth science community will be further assisted in efficiently creating quality data and services metadata. Keywords: metadata, Earth science, metadata authoring tools

  2. Effects of some decontaminating agents on the purification of radioactive sewage; Influence de quelques agents decontaminants sur l'epuration d'eaux residuaires radioactives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cantel, J; Cohen, P [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1958-07-01

    The efficiency of different decontaminating agents on the processing of radioactive sewage was studied. Versene, which is often used, decreases very slightly the efficiency of the chemical treatment. (author) [French] On a etudie l'influence de differents agents decontaminants sur l'efficacite du traitement d'eaux residuaires radioactives. Le Versene, souvent utilise, ne gene pratiquement pas l'efficacite du traitement chimique employe. (auteur)

  3. Authentication, Authorization and Accounting with Ethereum Blockchain

    OpenAIRE

    Thakur, Mukesh

    2017-01-01

    Over past decade cloud services have enabled individuals and organizations to perform different types of tasks such as online storage, email services, on-demand movies and TV shows. The cloud services has also enabled on-demand deployment of applications, at cheap cost with elastic and scalable, fault tolerant system. These cloud services are offered by cloud providers who use authentication, authorization and accounting framework based on client-server model. Though this model has been used ...

  4. The Military Language Tutor (MILT) Program: An Advanced Authoring System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Jonathan D.; Sabol, Mark A.; Wisher, Robert A.; Seidel, Robert J.

    1998-01-01

    Discusses the Military Language Tutor (MILT), a language-tutor authoring system, examining the development of a proof of principal version of MILT's two-dimensional Arabic microworld, which uses speech input to control an animated agent in solving an authored problem and describing an evaluation of the speech-driven microworld at Fort Campbell,…

  5. 32 CFR 352a.6 - Authorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... CHARTERS DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE (DFAS) § 352a.6 Authorities. The Director, DFAS, is specifically delegated authority to: (a) Represent the C, DoD, on finance and accounting matters. (b) Have free... Agencies concerning finance and accounting activities, as necessary. (c) Enter into agreements with DoD...

  6. 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).

  7. 39 CFR 222.2 - Authority to administer oaths or function as notaries public.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority to administer oaths or function as notaries public. 222.2 Section 222.2 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY § 222.2 Authority to administer oaths or function as notaries public. (a...

  8. Sequestering agents for the removal of actinides from waste streams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Raymond, K.N.; White, D.J.; Xu, Jide; Mohs, T.R. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

    1997-10-01

    The goal of this project is to take a biomimetic approach toward developing new separation technologies for the removal of radioactive elements from contaminated DOE sites. To achieve this objective, the authors are investigating the fundamental chemistry of naturally occurring, highly specific metal ion sequestering agents and developing them into liquid/liquid and solid supported actinide extraction agents. Nature produces sideophores (e.g., Enterobactin and Desferrioxamine B) to selectivity sequester Lewis acidic metal ions, in particular Fe(III), from its surroundings. These chelating agents typically use multiple catechols or hydroxamic acids to form polydentate ligands that chelate the metal ion forming very stable complexes. The authors are investigating and developing analogous molecules into selective chelators targeting actinide(IV) ions, which display similar properties to Fe(III). By taking advantage of differences in charge, preferred coordination number, and pH stability range, the transition from nature to actinide sequestering agents has been applied to the development of new and highly selective actinide extraction technologies. Additionally, the authors have shown that these chelating ligands are versatile ligands for chelating U(VI). In particular, they have been studying their coordination chemistry and fundamental interactions with the uranyl ion [UO{sub 2}]{sup 2+}, the dominant form of uranium found in aqueous media. With an understanding of this chemistry, and results obtained from in vivo uranium sequestration studies, it should be possible to apply these actinide(IV) extraction technologies to the development of new extraction agents for the removal of uranium from waste streams.

  9. Evaluation of oral abdominal contrast agent containing ferric ammonium citrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiga, Toshiko; Kawamura, Yasutaka; Iwasaki, Toshiko

    1991-01-01

    We evaluated the effectiveness of oral MRI contrast agent containing ferric ammonium citrate. Twenty patients were arbitrarily divided into 2 groups according to the given dose of 100 and 200 mg Fe of oral MRI contrast agent. MRI was performed before and immediately after ingesting 300 ml solution of oral MRI contrast agent using a 1.5 T superconducting system (GE: Signa). Each dose of 100 and 200 mg Fe of oral MRI contrast agent produced sufficient enhancement of gastrointestinal tract, enough to make clear the pancreatic contour and porta hepatis. There was no significant change in blood and urine analysis observed after taking oral MRI contrast agent. The use of ferric ammonium citrate as an oral MRI contrast agent seems to add valuable information in performing upper abdominal MRI imaging. (author)

  10. Behavioral effects of nerve agents: laboratory animal models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Myers, T. M.

    2009-01-01

    Diverse and often subtle behavioral consequences have been reported for humans exposed to nerve agents. Laboratory studies of nerve agent exposure offer rigorous control over important variables, but species other than man must be used. Nonhuman primate models offer the best means of identifying the toxic nervous system effects of nerve agent insult and the countermeasures best capable of preventing or attenuating these effects. Comprehensive behavioral models must evaluate preservation and recovery of function as well as new learning ability. The throughput and sensitivity of the tests chosen are important considerations. A few nonhuman primate studies will be discussed to elaborate recent successes, current limitations, and future directions.(author)

  11. DIRAC - Distributed Infrastructure with Remote Agent Control

    CERN Document Server

    Tsaregorodtsev, A; Closier, J; Frank, M; Gaspar, C; van Herwijnen, E; Loverre, F; Ponce, S; Graciani Diaz, R.; Galli, D; Marconi, U; Vagnoni, V; Brook, N; Buckley, A; Harrison, K; Schmelling, M; Egede, U; Bogdanchikov, A; Korolko, I; Washbrook, A; Palacios, J P; Klous, S; Saborido, J J; Khan, A; Pickford, A; Soroko, A; Romanovski, V; Patrick, G N; Kuznetsov, G; Gandelman, M

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes DIRAC, the LHCb Monte Carlo production system. DIRAC has a client/server architecture based on: Compute elements distributed among the collaborating institutes; Databases for production management, bookkeeping (the metadata catalogue) and software configuration; Monitoring and cataloguing services for updating and accessing the databases. Locally installed software agents implemented in Python monitor the local batch queue, interrogate the production database for any outstanding production requests using the XML-RPC protocol and initiate the job submission. The agent checks and, if necessary, installs any required software automatically. After the job has processed the events, the agent transfers the output data and updates the metadata catalogue. DIRAC has been successfully installed at 18 collaborating institutes, including the DataGRID, and has been used in recent Physics Data Challenges. In the near to medium term future we must use a mixed environment with different types of grid mid...

  12. Comparison between risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic agent and haloperidol, a conventional agent used to treat schizophrenia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rehman, A.; Jawed, M.; Maheshwari, M.P.

    2012-01-01

    An observational and comparative study was conducted to compare the functional outcome between the patients treated with conventional antipsychotic agent haloperidol and typical antipsychotic agent, Risperidone (Risperidal). A total of 32 patients were included in the study with established schizophrenia according to (DSM iv). The data was processed on SSPE 10th version. The primary outcome measure was the improvement of negative symptoms of schizophrenia and secondary outcome measure was to observe the superiority of the atypical drug Risperid one over conventional agent haloperidol regarding side effects. Patients were assessed at baseline, 2nd and 8th week, using four tools of assessment. For treatment group receiving haloperidol mean was 47.2+-11.50 at 8th week and for Risperidone treatment group mean was 43+-14.68. The P values for all the parameters in the Clozapine group were significant as compared to haloperidol. (author)

  13. Reactions of CW Agents HD And GD with the Polymer Fabrics PVAM and CHEMCAT 41

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-01

    D. Durst, “Qualitative Gas Chromatographic Characterization of Chemically Neutralized Chemical Warfare Agent Reaction Masses Produced During...based catalysts for decontamination of HD and G agents,” Proceedings of the 2003 Joint Service Scientific Conference on Chemical & Biological...thermal burden on the wearer by allowing heat and moisture transport. The garment prevents exposure to outside chemical weapons agents (CWAs) by a

  14. Development of chemical cleaning formulation for service water system of FBTR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Velmurugan, S.; Narasimhan, S.V.; Das, P.C.; Mathur, P.K.

    1995-01-01

    Service water system of Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) was found to be corroded and at few locations, the corrosion product oxides were choking the smaller diameter pipelines. An attempt was made to develop a chemical cleaning formulation to chemically remove the oxides using a surface conditioner and chelating agents. Of the several complexants tested, hydroxyethylethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (HEDTA) was found to be better than other complexants from the point of view of oxide dissolution efficiency, solubility etc. A two stage chemical cleaning process involving conditioning of the oxide layer with 0.1% tannic acid followed by exposure of the conditioned oxide layer with a formulation containing 1% HEDTA + 0.5% Sodium Gluconate +0.2% hexamine was recommended to remove the corrosion product oxide present in the service water system. (author). 4 refs., 2 tabs

  15. Cost-Effective Location Management for Mobile Agents on the Internet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chien-Sheng Chen

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Many mobile agent system-related services and applications require interacting with a mobile agent by passing messages. However, an agent’s mobility raises several challenges in delivering messages to a mobile agent accurately. Consisting of tracking and message delivery phases, most mobile agent location management schemes create or receive many update messages and interaction messages to ensure the effectiveness of the schemes. In addition to downgrading the overall performance of a mobile agent location management scheme, excessive transmission of messages increases the network load. The migration locality of a mobile agent and the interaction rate between mobile agents significantly affect the performance of a mobile agent location management scheme with respect to location management cost. This work presents a novel Dual Home based Scheme (DHS that can lower the location management costs in terms of migration locality and interaction rate. While the DHS scheme uniquely adopts dual home location management architecture, a selective update strategy based on that architecture is also designed for cost-effective location management of mobile agents. Moreover, DHS is compared with available schemes based on formulations and simulation experiments from the perspective of location management costs. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed DHS scheme performs satisfactorily in terms of migration locality and interaction rate.

  16. Expressing Intervals in Automated Service Negotiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Kassidy P.; Warnier, Martijn; van Splunter, Sander; Brazier, Frances M. T.

    During automated negotiation of services between autonomous agents, utility functions are used to evaluate the terms of negotiation. These terms often include intervals of values which are prone to misinterpretation. It is often unclear if an interval embodies a continuum of real numbers or a subset of natural numbers. Furthermore, it is often unclear if an agent is expected to choose only one value, multiple values, a sub-interval or even multiple sub-intervals. Additional semantics are needed to clarify these issues. Normally, these semantics are stored in a domain ontology. However, ontologies are typically domain specific and static in nature. For dynamic environments, in which autonomous agents negotiate resources whose attributes and relationships change rapidly, semantics should be made explicit in the service negotiation. This paper identifies issues that are prone to misinterpretation and proposes a notation for expressing intervals. This notation is illustrated using an example in WS-Agreement.

  17. A multi-agent approach to intelligent monitoring in smart grids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallejo, D.; Albusac, J.; Glez-Morcillo, C.; Castro-Schez, J. J.; Jiménez, L.

    2014-04-01

    In this paper, we propose a scalable multi-agent architecture to give support to smart grids, paying special attention to the intelligent monitoring of distribution substations. The data gathered by multiple sensors are used by software agents that are responsible for monitoring different aspects or events of interest, such as normal voltage values or unbalanced intensity values that can end up blowing fuses and decreasing the quality of service of end consumers. The knowledge bases of these agents have been built by means of a formal model for normality analysis that has been successfully used in other surveillance domains. The architecture facilitates the integration of new agents and can be easily configured and deployed to monitor different environments. The experiments have been conducted over a power distribution network.

  18. 38 CFR 8.32 - Authority of the guardian.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority of the guardian... SERVICE LIFE INSURANCE Appeals § 8.32 Authority of the guardian. What actions does a guardian have the authority to take for insurance purposes? The guardian of an insured or beneficiary has the authority to...

  19. A Web Service Monitoring System for the Enterprise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Coimbatore S. Chandersekaran

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available An enterprise that uses web services for the conduct of business can benefit from computer-based monitoring for its normal course of business. Services that are unavailable, delayed, inadequate, and/or provide poor or delayed information flow, all hinder or prevent the normal course of business. In extreme cases they may prevent business from being conducted. The proper performance of the service-oriented approach, the communication flow and the services themselves directly equate to the health and vitality of the enterprise. By health we mean, availability, performance, integrity, and reliability of web services. This paper reviews an agent based approach for web service monitoring in an enterprise environment. The agents create and collect information about the services. The paper also provides a definition of events that need to be monitored and the elements that should be recorded. Some information about critical events is time critical and should be sent as alerts to monitoring personnel for review and possible action. These processes are currently being implemented in a major defense enterprise.

  20. Production of Antimicrobial Agent by Streptomyces violachromogenes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, Arwa A.

    2007-01-01

    The isolation of antibiotics from microorganisms improved the discovery of novel antibiotics, which is relatively easy as compared to chemical synthesis of antimicrobial agents. This study starts from isolation and purification of the antimicrobial producing Sterptomycetes obtained from soil habitat of Yemen. The good antimicrobial producing Sterptomycetes isolate was selected from a batch of Sterptomycetes isolates then identified. This isolate has bioactivity against some G+ve and G-ve bacteria. The antimicrobial agent isolated from Streptomyces violachromogenes (isolate no.YA118) was extracted with ethyl acetate at pH 3. The residue was applied to a silica gel column chromatography and eluted stepwise with many solvent systems. The active fractions were tested with B. subtilis NCTC10400. The purification of the antibiotic has been carried out by thin layer chromatography then the physical and chemical properties were studied to identify the antimicrobial agent. The isolated antimicrobial agent is an antibiotic belonging to the neomycin group. (author)

  1. Dynamic electronic institutions in agent oriented cloud robotic systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagrath, Vineet; Morel, Olivier; Malik, Aamir; Saad, Naufal; Meriaudeau, Fabrice

    2015-01-01

    The dot-com bubble bursted in the year 2000 followed by a swift movement towards resource virtualization and cloud computing business model. Cloud computing emerged not as new form of computing or network technology but a mere remoulding of existing technologies to suit a new business model. Cloud robotics is understood as adaptation of cloud computing ideas for robotic applications. Current efforts in cloud robotics stress upon developing robots that utilize computing and service infrastructure of the cloud, without debating on the underlying business model. HTM5 is an OMG's MDA based Meta-model for agent oriented development of cloud robotic systems. The trade-view of HTM5 promotes peer-to-peer trade amongst software agents. HTM5 agents represent various cloud entities and implement their business logic on cloud interactions. Trade in a peer-to-peer cloud robotic system is based on relationships and contracts amongst several agent subsets. Electronic Institutions are associations of heterogeneous intelligent agents which interact with each other following predefined norms. In Dynamic Electronic Institutions, the process of formation, reformation and dissolution of institutions is automated leading to run time adaptations in groups of agents. DEIs in agent oriented cloud robotic ecosystems bring order and group intellect. This article presents DEI implementations through HTM5 methodology.

  2. 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.

  3. Antecedents and consequences of the service climate in boundary-spanning self-managing service teams

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jong, de A.; Ruyter, de J.C.; Lemmink, J.G.A.M.

    2004-01-01

    In this article, the authors examine antecedents and consequences of the service climate in boundary-spanning self-managing teams (SMTs) that deliver financial services. Using data from members of 61 SMTs and their customers, the authors show a differential impact of the SMT service climate on

  4. A Distributed Multi-Agent System for Collaborative Information Management and Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, James R.; Wolfe, Shawn R.; Wragg, Stephen D.; Koga, Dennis (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    In this paper, we present DIAMS, a system of distributed, collaborative agents to help users access, manage, share and exchange information. A DIAMS personal agent helps its owner find information most relevant to current needs. It provides tools and utilities for users to manage their information repositories with dynamic organization and virtual views. Flexible hierarchical display is integrated with indexed query search-to support effective information access. Automatic indexing methods are employed to support user queries and communication between agents. Contents of a repository are kept in object-oriented storage to facilitate information sharing. Collaboration between users is aided by easy sharing utilities as well as automated information exchange. Matchmaker agents are designed to establish connections between users with similar interests and expertise. DIAMS agents provide needed services for users to share and learn information from one another on the World Wide Web.

  5. 31 CFR 223.1 - Certificate of authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Certificate of authority. 223.1 Section 223.1 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE SURETY COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS WITH THE...

  6. Theorising Derecognition of Local Government Authorities as Political Injustice: The Effects of Technical Claims in Senegal's Forestry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Papa Faye

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Most developing-country governments have 'recognised' elected local governments (ELGs by transferring to them the authority (e.g. rights and resources over the forests within their jurisdiction. In practice, however, Forest Services are 'derecognising' ELGs – taking back these decentralised powers. This article shows that 'derecognition' is effectively a new 'recognition' dynamic in decentralised forest management in Senegal, in which Forestry officials and agents derecognise ELGs drawing upon technical claims. It also theorises derecognition as political injustice by demonstrating how the technical claims, although used in support of sustainable forest governance, cause political injustice through the following observed derecognition outcomes: 1 circumvention of ELGs that deprives them of the means to be responsive to local people (and thus disables them as democratic institutions; 2 subordination of the new participatory organisations created to receive the powers taken from ELGs to instrumental objectives of central forestry authorities; and 3 progressive privatisation of the forests that diminishes the democratic public domain.

  7. Multi-agents Based Modelling for Distribution Network Operation with Electric Vehicle Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hu, Junjie; Morais, Hugo; Zong, Yi

    2014-01-01

    Electric vehicles (EV) can become integral part of a smart grid because instead of just consuming power they are capable of providing valuable services to power systems. To integrate EVs smoothly into the power systems, a multi-agents system (MAS) with hierarchical organization structure...... and its role is to manage the distribution network safely by avoiding grid congestions and using congestion prices to coordinate the energy schedule of VPPs. VPP agents belong to the middle level and their roles are to manage the charge periods of the EVs. EV agents sit in the bottom level...

  8. 47 CFR 25.102 - Station authorization required.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Station authorization required. 25.102 Section 25.102 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS General § 25.102 Station authorization required. (a) No person shall use or operate...

  9. The case for full practice authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, Olivia; Kinsey-Weathers, Shanieka

    2016-03-01

    The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended in its 2010 report on the future of nursing that advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) should factor prominently in providing care to the millions of Americans who access healthcare services under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The IOM also recommended that APRNs practice to the full extent of their education and training.However, many states have laws in place that limit full practice authority for APRNs, specifically NPs, in providing basic health services such as primary care. These laws place restrictions on independent practice and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, which prevent nurses from “responding effectively to rapidly changing health care settings and an evolving health care system.” Less than half of the United States has adopted full practice authority licensure and practice laws (see APRN practice authority at a glance). This article discusses how the primary care needs of millions of Americans can be met by granting full practice authority to APRNs nationwide and provides evidence to support the high level of care these practitioners can provide independently.

  10. 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.

  11. 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)

  12. 9 CFR 147.51 - Authorized laboratory minimum requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authorized laboratory minimum requirements. 147.51 Section 147.51 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE... Authorized Laboratories and Approved Tests § 147.51 Authorized laboratory minimum requirements. These minimum...

  13. Nanostructuring of Aluminum Alloy Powders by Cryogenic Attrition with Hydrogen-Free Process Control Agent

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-02-01

    Nanostructuring of Aluminum Alloy Powders by Cryogenic Attrition with Hydrogen-Free Process Control Agent by Frank Kellogg , Clara Hofmeister...Process Control Agent Frank Kellogg Bowhead Science and Technology Clara Hofmeister Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center...NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Frank Kellogg , Clara Hofmeister, Anit Giri, and Kyu Cho 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e

  14. 76 FR 13646 - Statement of Delegation of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-14

    ... Delegation of Authority Notice is hereby given that I have delegated to the Administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), authority vested in the Secretary under Title XX, Section 2008(b... Act, as it pertains to the functions assigned to HRSA. This authority may be redelegated. HRSA will...

  15. Distributing emotional services in ambient intelligence through cognitive agents

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Acampora, G.; Loia, V.; Vitiello, A.

    2011-01-01

    Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is a pervasive computing paradigm whose main aim is to design smart environments composed of invisible, connected, intelligent and interactive systems, which are naturally sensitive and responsive to the presence of people, providing advanced services for improving the

  16. The interaction of MRI contrast agents with phospholipids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    2000-01-01

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

  17. 42 CFR 136.30 - Payment to Medicare-participating hospitals for authorized Contract Health Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INDIAN HEALTH... responsible after the provider of services has coordinated benefits and all other alternative resources have... consistent with part 136 of this title or section 503(a) of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA...

  18. Radiation hardenable impregnating agents for the consolidating conservation of wooden objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaudy, R.

    1985-01-01

    Radiation hardenable impregnating agents offer some advantages over the conventional agents. At the author's institution objects up to 110 cm length can be impregnated for conservation. More than 200 monomers and resins have been investigated. The procedure of impregnation is outlined and some kinds of wooden objects conserved in this way listed. (G.W.)

  19. Study of occupational risk agents and its probable hazards to human health; Estudo dos agentes de risco ocupacional e seus provaveis agravos na saude humana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carneiro, Janete Cristina G. Gaburo; Alves, Alice dos Santos; Sanches, Matias P., E-mail: janetegc@ipen.br, E-mail: alicesante@hotmail.com, E-mail: msanches@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    2013-07-01

    Currently the workplaces become increasingly complex and a strategy evaluation and the control of occupational risks agents is needed. Workers may be exposed to environmental agents (chemical, physical and biological) and other unsuitable conditions by performing tasks that involve these agents directly. The main objective of this study is to approach conceptual aspects of risk conditions, physical in nature, with emphasis on ionizing radiation and its interaction with other agents in occupational and environmental situations. To meet this goal, it is performed a literature review and a summary of the main occupational agents known or suspected to cause any adverse health effects in humans. According to the available literature the reported studies on the effects of combined exposures to radiation and others agents are recognized and, as far as possible, should be taken into account in evaluating of the potential radiation risks at low levels of exposure. (author)

  20. Dressings and topical agents for preventing pressure ulcers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Zena E H; Webster, Joan

    2013-08-18

    Pressure ulcers, which are localised injury to the skin, or underlying tissue or both, occur when people are unable to reposition themselves to relieve pressure on bony prominences. Pressure ulcers are often difficult to heal, painful and impact negatively on the individual's quality of life. The cost implications of pressure ulcer treatment are considerable, compounding the challenges in providing cost effective, efficient health services. Efforts to prevent the development of pressure ulcers have focused on nutritional support, pressure redistributing devices, turning regimes and the application of various topical agents and dressings designed to maintain healthy skin, relieve pressure and prevent shearing forces. Although products aimed at preventing pressure ulcers are widely used, it remains unclear which, if any, of these approaches are effective in preventing the development of pressure ulcers. To evaluate the effects of dressings and topical agents on the prevention of pressure ulcers, in people of any age without existing pressure ulcers, but considered to be at risk of developing a pressure ulcer, in any healthcare setting. In February 2013 we searched the following electronic databases to identify reports of relevant randomised clinical trials (RCTs): the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library); Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (The Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations); Ovid EMBASE; and EBSCO CINAHL. We included RCTs evaluating the use of dressings, topical agents, or topical agents with dressings, compared with a different dressing, topical agent, or combined topical agent and dressing, or no intervention or standard care, with the aim of preventing the development of a pressure ulcer. We assessed trials for their appropriateness for inclusion and for their risk of bias. This was done by two review

  1. An Agent-Based Approach for a Smart Transport System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian PEÑARANDA

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a proposal for a Smart Transport System which is an application that facilitates the interconnection between people (citizens, tourists and transport providers (Bus, metro, trains, trams, defining the services that everyone can request or offer. The system has been defined as a virtual organization where agents (representing actors of the transport system can enter or leave into the system consuming or offering services. Due to the fact that modern urban public transport is increasingly an important service used by citizens in current cities, the proposed system will improve the use of resources while also ensuring time flexible mobility solutions for citizens.

  2. 7 CFR 2045.1753 - Authority to accept gratuitous services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., Personnel Division, and Director, Finance Office, are hereby authorized to accept and utilize gratuitous... its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State or County Office from a source listed in § 2045...

  3. From actors to agents in socio-ecological systems models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rounsevell, M D A; Robinson, D T; Murray-Rust, D

    2012-01-19

    The ecosystem service concept has emphasized the role of people within socio-ecological systems (SESs). In this paper, we review and discuss alternative ways of representing people, their behaviour and decision-making processes in SES models using an agent-based modelling (ABM) approach. We also explore how ABM can be empirically grounded using information from social survey. The capacity for ABM to be generalized beyond case studies represents a crucial next step in modelling SESs, although this comes with considerable intellectual challenges. We propose the notion of human functional types, as an analogy of plant functional types, to support the expansion (scaling) of ABM to larger areas. The expansion of scope also implies the need to represent institutional agents in SES models in order to account for alternative governance structures and policy feedbacks. Further development in the coupling of human-environment systems would contribute considerably to better application and use of the ecosystem service concept.

  4. 76 FR 77149 - Authority To Manufacture and Distribute Postage Evidencing Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-12

    ... POSTAL SERVICE 39 CFR Part 501 Authority To Manufacture and Distribute Postage Evidencing Systems AGENCY: Postal Service\\TM\\. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This rule clarifies the responsibility of the... reasons stated, 39 CFR part 501 is amended as follows: PART 501--AUTHORIZATION TO MANUFACTURE AND...

  5. 21 CFR 1005.25 - Service of process on manufacturers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Service of process on manufacturers. 1005.25....25 Service of process on manufacturers. (a) Every manufacturer of electronic products, prior to... United States as the manufacturer's agent upon whom service of all processes, notices, orders, decisions...

  6. The next generation of interoperability agents in healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso, Luciana; Marins, Fernando; Portela, Filipe; Santos, Manuel; Abelha, António; Machado, José

    2014-05-16

    Interoperability in health information systems is increasingly a requirement rather than an option. Standards and technologies, such as multi-agent systems, have proven to be powerful tools in interoperability issues. In the last few years, the authors have worked on developing the Agency for Integration, Diffusion and Archive of Medical Information (AIDA), which is an intelligent, agent-based platform to ensure interoperability in healthcare units. It is increasingly important to ensure the high availability and reliability of systems. The functions provided by the systems that treat interoperability cannot fail. This paper shows the importance of monitoring and controlling intelligent agents as a tool to anticipate problems in health information systems. The interaction between humans and agents through an interface that allows the user to create new agents easily and to monitor their activities in real time is also an important feature, as health systems evolve by adopting more features and solving new problems. A module was installed in Centro Hospitalar do Porto, increasing the functionality and the overall usability of AIDA.

  7. The Next Generation of Interoperability Agents in Healthcare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana Cardoso

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Interoperability in health information systems is increasingly a requirement rather than an option. Standards and technologies, such as multi-agent systems, have proven to be powerful tools in interoperability issues. In the last few years, the authors have worked on developing the Agency for Integration, Diffusion and Archive of Medical Information (AIDA, which is an intelligent, agent-based platform to ensure interoperability in healthcare units. It is increasingly important to ensure the high availability and reliability of systems. The functions provided by the systems that treat interoperability cannot fail. This paper shows the importance of monitoring and controlling intelligent agents as a tool to anticipate problems in health information systems. The interaction between humans and agents through an interface that allows the user to create new agents easily and to monitor their activities in real time is also an important feature, as health systems evolve by adopting more features and solving new problems. A module was installed in Centro Hospitalar do Porto, increasing the functionality and the overall usability of AIDA.

  8. Impact of formulary restriction with prior authorization by an antimicrobial stewardship program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Erica E; Stevenson, Kurt B; West, Jessica E; Bauer, Karri A; Goff, Debra A

    2013-02-15

    In an era of increasing antimicrobial resistance and few antimicrobials in the developmental pipeline, many institutions have developed antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) to help implement evidence-based (EB) strategies for ensuring appropriate utilization of these agents. EB strategies for accomplishing this include formulary restriction with prior authorization. Potential limitations to this particular strategy include delays in therapy, prescriber pushback, and unintended increases in use of un-restricted antimicrobials; however, our ASP found that implementing prior authorization for select antimicrobials along with making a significant effort to educate clinicians on criteria for use ensured more appropriate prescribing of these agents, hopefully helping to preserve their utility for years to come.

  9. 42 CFR 35.21 - Authorization of transfer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... EXAMINATIONS HOSPITAL AND STATION MANAGEMENT Transfer of Patients § 35.21 Authorization of transfer. Except as... of a station or hospital of the Service may provide, without any cost to the patient, for the transfer of the patient either from such station or hospital to another station or hospital of the Service...

  10. On the Improvement of the Legislation Regulating the Powers of Public Authorities in the Field of Procurement of Goods, Works and Services for State and Municipal Needs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evgeny V. Solomonov

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available On the basis of a systematic analysis of the powers of public authorities, as well as legislation on contract system in the field of procurement of goods, works and services for state and municipal needs, the Authors come to a conclusion about the need to improve the existing legislation in this field of public relations.

  11. Metadata Authoring with Versatility and Extensibility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pollack, Janine; Olsen, Lola

    2004-01-01

    NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) assists the scientific community in the discovery of and linkage to Earth science data sets and related services. The GCMD holds over 13,800 data set descriptions in Directory Interchange Format (DIF) and 700 data service descriptions in Service Entry Resource Format (SERF), encompassing the disciplines of geology, hydrology, oceanography, meteorology, and ecology. Data descriptions also contain geographic coverage information and direct links to the data, thus allowing researchers to discover data pertaining to a geographic location of interest, then quickly acquire those data. The GCMD strives to be the preferred data locator for world-wide directory-level metadata. In this vein, scientists and data providers must have access to intuitive and efficient metadata authoring tools. Existing GCMD tools are attracting widespread usage; however, a need for tools that are portable, customizable and versatile still exists. With tool usage directly influencing metadata population, it has become apparent that new tools are needed to fill these voids. As a result, the GCMD has released a new authoring tool allowing for both web-based and stand-alone authoring of descriptions. Furthermore, this tool incorporates the ability to plug-and-play the metadata format of choice, offering users options of DIF, SERF, FGDC, ISO or any other defined standard. Allowing data holders to work with their preferred format, as well as an option of a stand-alone application or web-based environment, docBUlLDER will assist the scientific community in efficiently creating quality data and services metadata.

  12. Local authorities and electricity: territories, actors and issues within the local public service in France; Les collectivites locales et l'electricite. Territoires, acteurs et enjeux autour du service public local de l'electricite en france

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bouvier, G

    2005-06-15

    In France, the role of local authorities in the organization of the electricity supply system is largely unknown mainly due to the size of the state-owned utility Electricite de France (EDF). Local authorities and their groupings played a major role in the electrification of the national territory and have kept important prerogatives as conceding authorities of this service of general interest. These groupings also became the tools of the soft power of local actors. The geopolitical analysis of the relationships between local municipalities and electric power stakeholders shows the diversity of actors and opinions. Stuck between market liberalization issues and decentralization to local authorities, these groupings tend to reinforce their competencies. Furthermore, decentralization goes along with a reinforcement of the political involvement in local energy policy and with conflicts on the adequate territorial scale for theses policies. (author)

  13. In vivo imaging agents: an international market report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to provide a global perspective of the in vivo imaging agents business to market planning executives who are working for companies that develop, produce and distribute various types of in vivo imaging agents. Others that could find this study useful include investment bankers, regulatory and governmental authorities and purchasers of these products. The study attempts to diligently provide market data by type for important geographic markets - Western Europe, the U.S.A., and Japan. A competitive intelligence section which discusses companies involved in these markets constitutes the last part of this study. These profiles are not intended to extensively evaluate each company's marketing strengths or strategies but to provide a general idea of the market presence and prospects. A combination of primary and secondary research is used for all findings. (author)

  14. 31 CFR 360.55 - Individuals authorized to certify.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Individuals authorized to certify. 360.55 Section 360.55 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued... imprint of either the corporate seal of the institution or of the issuing or paying agent's stamp. The...

  15. 31 CFR 353.55 - Individuals authorized to certify.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Individuals authorized to certify. 353.55 Section 353.55 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued... imprint of either the corporate seal of the institution or of the issuing or paying agent's stamp. The...

  16. Training strategic community agents in health effects of ionizing radiation; Capacitacao de agentes comunitarios de saude em efeitos das radiacoes ionizantes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leite, Teresa C.S.B.; Silva, IIson P.M. da; Jannuzzi, Denise M.S. [Fundacao Eletronuclear de Assistencia Medica (CIRA/FEAM), Angra dos Reis, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Informacoes em Radioepidemiologia; Maurmo, Alexandre M., E-mail: ammaurmo@gmail.com [Fundacao Eletronuclear de Assistencia Medica (CMRl/CTNV/FEAM), Angra dos Reis, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Treinamento Prof. Nelson Valverde. Centro de Medicina das Radiacoes Ionizantes

    2013-11-01

    The main motivation for the development of training was the need to train agents (opinion makers) with proximity and credibility among the population, to clarify the most frequently asked questions in relation to ionizing radiation, the operation of nuclear power plants, emergency plans and about the possibility of there effects of radiation on the health of inhabitants in regions close to the central Nuclear Almirante Alvaro Alberto - CNAAA. The project has a target audience of 420 agents, 60 of them have already been trained in a pilot project . The results indicate that the topics of training were adequate and the agents have expanded their knowledge. On the other hand, the information passed on to communities by agents, recognized by this population as ' the most reliable people', is of greater credibility and likelihood of success in communicating important issues for the population living in the vicinity of the CNAAA. (author)

  17. 28 CFR 549.80 - Authority to conduct autopsies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authority to conduct autopsies. 549.80... MEDICAL SERVICES Authority To Conduct Autopsies § 549.80 Authority to conduct autopsies. (a) The Warden may order an autopsy and related scientific or medical tests to be performed on the body of a deceased...

  18. 27 CFR 447.56 - Authority of Customs officers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Authority of Customs... IMPLEMENTS OF WAR Miscellaneous Provisions § 447.56 Authority of Customs officers. (a) Officers of the U.S. Customs Service are authorized to take appropriate action to assure compliance with this part and with 27...

  19. 36 CFR 63.1 - Purpose and authorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Purpose and authorities. 63.1 Section 63.1 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... authorities. (a) These regulations have been developed to assist Federal agencies in identifying and...

  20. Secure Mobile Agent from Leakage-Resilient Proxy Signatures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Tang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A mobile agent can sign a message in a remote server on behalf of a customer without exposing its secret key; it can be used not only to search for special products or services, but also to make a contract with a remote server. Hence a mobile agent system can be used for electronic commerce as an important key technology. In order to realize such a system, Lee et al. showed that a secure mobile agent can be constructed using proxy signatures. Intuitively, a proxy signature permits an entity (delegator to delegate its signing right to another entity (proxy to sign some specified messages on behalf of the delegator. However, the proxy signatures are often used in scenarios where the signing is done in an insecure environment, for example, the remote server of a mobile agent system. In such setting, an adversary could launch side-channel attacks to exploit some leakage information about the proxy key or even other secret states. The proxy signatures which are secure in the traditional security models obviously cannot provide such security. Based on this consideration, in this paper, we design a leakage-resilient proxy signature scheme for the secure mobile agent systems.

  1. Teaching the Teacher: Tutoring SimStudent Leads to More Effective Cognitive Tutor Authoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuda, Noboru; Cohen, William W.; Koedinger, Kenneth R.

    2015-01-01

    SimStudent is a machine-learning agent initially developed to help novice authors to create cognitive tutors without heavy programming. Integrated into an existing suite of software tools called Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT), SimStudent helps authors to create an expert model for a cognitive tutor by tutoring SimStudent on how to solve…

  2. Will you survive the services revolution?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karmarkar, Uday

    2004-06-01

    Of late, offshoring and outsourcing have become political hot buttons. These o words have been conflated to mean that high-paying, white-collar jobs have been handed to well-trained but less expensive workers in India and other locales. The brouhaha over the loss of service jobs, which currently account for over 80% of private-sector employment in the United States, is not merely an American phenomenon. The fact is that service-sector jobs in all developed countries are at risk. Regardless of what the politicians now say, worry focused on offshoring and outsourcing misses the point, the author argues. We are in the middle of a fundamental change, which is that services are being industrialized. Three factors in particular are combining with outsourcing and offshoring to drive that transformation: The first is increasing global competition, where just as with manufactured goods in the recent past, foreign companies are offering more services in the United States, taking market share from U.S. companies. The second is automation: New hardware and software systems that take care of back-room and front-office tasks such as counter operations, security, billing, and order taking are allowing firms to dispense with clerical, accounting, and other staff positions. The third is self-service. Why use a travel agent when you can book your own flight, hotel, and rental car online? As these forces combine to sweep across the service sector, executives of all stripes must start thinking about arming and defending themselves, just as their manufacturing cousins did a generation ago. This will demand proactive and far-reaching changes, including focusing specifically on customer preference, quality, and technological interfaces; rewiring strategy to find new value from existing and unfamiliar sources; de-integrating and radically reassembling operational processes; and restructuring the organization to accommodate new kinds of work and skills.

  3. Three Essays on Economic Agents' Incentives and Decision Making

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, Dongryul

    2009-01-01

    This dissertation consists of three essays on theoretical analysis of economic agents' decision making and incentives. Chapter 1 gives an outline of the subjects to be examined in the subsequent chapters and shows their conclusions in brief. Chapter 2 explores the decision problem of a superordinate (a principal) regarding whether to delegate its authority or right to make a decision to a subordinate (an agent) in an organization. We first study the optimal contracting problem of the su...

  4. 7 CFR 1955.4 - Redelegation of authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Redelegation of authority. 1955.4 Section 1955.4 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS... provided in § 1900.6(c) of this chapter, any authority in this subpart which is specifically delegated to...

  5. Integration of outpatient infectious diseases clinic pharmacy services and specialty pharmacy services for patients with HIV infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Elise M; Gerzenshtein, Lana

    2016-06-01

    The integration of specialty pharmacy services and existing outpatient clinical pharmacy services within an infectious diseases (ID) clinic to optimize the care of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is described. The management of HIV-infected patients is a highly specialized area of practice, often requiring use of complex medication regimens for reduction of HIV-associated morbidity and mortality prophylaxis and treatment of opportunistic infections, and prevention of HIV transmission. To maximize the effectiveness and safety of treatment with antiretroviral agents and associated pharmacotherapies, an interdisciplinary team is often involved in patient care. At Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine (NM), the outpatient ID clinic has long worked with an interdisciplinary care team including physicians, clinical pharmacists, nurses, and social workers to care for patients with HIV infection. In April 2014, specialty pharmacy services for patients with HIV infection were added to the NM ID clinic's care model to help maintain continuity of care and enhance patient follow-up. The care model includes well-defined roles for clinical pharmacists, pharmacy residents and students on rotation, and licensed pharmacy technicians. Specialty pharmacy services, including medication education, prescription fulfillment, assistance with medication access (e.g., navigation of financial assistance programs, completion of prior-authorization requests), and treatment monitoring, allow for closed-loop medication management of the HIV-infected patient population. Integration of specialty pharmacy services with the interdisciplinary care provided in the outpatient NM ID clinic has enhanced continuity of care for patients with HIV infection in terms of prescription filling, medication counseling, and adherence monitoring. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Physical properties of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sklaviadis, T.K.; Manuelidis, L.; Manuelidis, E.E.

    1989-03-01

    In this report, the authors present the first physical characterization of the Creutzfeld-Jakob disease agent. Preparations with high yields of infectivity (assayed infectious units) were obtained by a novel, gentle procedure in which initially sedimenting Gp34 (prion protein) was disaggregated by a variety of criteria with no subsequent loss of infectivity. Studies with this preparation indicate that most of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agent has both a viruslike size and density. In velocity sedimentation and isopycnic sucrose gradients, infectivity comigrated with nucleic acid-protein complexes of appreciable size.

  7. Physical properties of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sklaviadis, T.K.; Manuelidis, L.; Manuelidis, E.E.

    1989-01-01

    In this report, the authors present the first physical characterization of the Creutzfeld-Jakob disease agent. Preparations with high yields of infectivity (assayed infectious units) were obtained by a novel, gentle procedure in which initially sedimenting Gp34 (prion protein) was disaggregated by a variety of criteria with no subsequent loss of infectivity. Studies with this preparation indicate that most of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agent has both a viruslike size and density. In velocity sedimentation and isopycnic sucrose gradients, infectivity comigrated with nucleic acid-protein complexes of appreciable size

  8. Acute Organophosphate Poisonings: Therapeutic Dilemmas and New Potential Therapeutic Agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vucinic, S.; Jovanovic, D.; Vucinic, Z.; Todorovic, V.; Segrt, Z.

    2007-01-01

    years. New potential therapeutic agents for OPI poisoning include: glycopyrrolate as anticholinergic; organophosphorous hydrolases, butyrilcholinesterases and sodium bicarbonate which degrade OPI and accelerate AChE reactivation; reversible anticholinesterases for reduction of AChE reinchibition; NMDA antagonist as neuroprotectors. Authors from Maryland have proposed the usage of IL-1 Rp antagonists in acute OPI intoxication, a new, original approach to therapy which deserves to be elucidated. For now pharmaceutical industries do not show satisfying initiative in developing new therapeutic agents and antidotes for OPI poisoning. However, randomized, controlled clinical studies, for the beginning with the agents which are in clinical practice, would elucidate their clinical efficacy, reduce the number of lethal pesticide poisonings in developing countries and provide information of special importance for the army and medical service. (author)

  9. AuthorizationService

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — Selects users from the given station id and application id whose role and/or functions matched at least one of the roles and/or functions in the input role list and...

  10. Transition to e-government in Developing countries: The Case of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) e-Service Smart City Initiatives in Ghana

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kofi Wireko, Joseph; Skouby, Knud Erik

    2016-01-01

    Most developing countries, especially in Africa are fighting corruption as a major barrier to development, and e-government is seen as a new way of addressing it. Besides generally being recognized as cost-efficient, e-government is thought to reduce corruption through increased transparency......, better accountability and, the disappearance of the “middle-man” in the acquisition of public services by the citizenry. This paper discusses the extent to which this has been achieved in Ghana by analyzing the implementation of e-government service of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA......) of Ghana using the “stages of growth” mode from a sociotechnical perspective. The outcome of the analysis suggests that the e-government service implementation by DVLA is still at its basic and rudimentary stage (Catalogue stage) and continuous presence of the “middle-man,” high level of corruption, lack...

  11. 38 CFR 36.4202 - Definitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... information, report of verifications used by a lender, holder or authorized servicing agent to determine the... obligation or the authorized servicing agent of the lender or of the assignee or transferee if the obligation..., sleeping, and sanitary facilities. A double-wide manufactured home is a movable dwelling designed for...

  12. Calibration of individual dosemeters by using external beams of photon radiation. A nationwide survey among Personal Dosimetry Services, authorized by CSN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brosed, A.; Ginjaume, M.

    1995-12-01

    A nationwide survey in 1995 among Personal Dosimetry Services, authorized by the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), has led the Spanish Dosimetry Laboratories to review and update the dosimetric conversion coefficients and correction factors in use in Spain since 1987. The recommendations of the ICRU Report 47(1992) are discussed and adopted. In addition differences in back-scattering form IRCU tissue and PMMA phantoms are analysed. Analytical functions used to calculate conversion coefficients and back-scattering correction factors due to the use of different phantom materials are presented, together with the adopted final values. Firstly, the above mentioned parameters are applied to ISO narrow spectra series, which are discribed in this report. Secondly, differences between 1995 and 1987 values are also shown. (Author)

  13. An Analysis of Construct Validity of Motivation As It Relates to North Carolina County Agricultural Extension Service Agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calloway, Pauline Frances

    This study investigated the construct validity of the Herzberg (1964) theory of motivation as it relates to county Extension agents; and developed an inventory to measure the job satisfaction of county agents in North Carolina. The inventory was administered to 419 agents in 79 counties. Factor analysis was used to determine the number of job…

  14. 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

  15. Qualitative Description and Quantitative Optimization of Tactical Reconnaissance Agents System Organization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiong Li

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the problem of qualitative description and quantitative optimization for tactical reconnaissance agents system organization is considered with objective of higher teamwork efficiency and more reasonable task balancing strategies. By analyzing tactical reconnaissance system and its environment, task-(role-entity agent mapping mechanism and agents in system organization, the system framework is qualitatively described. By transforming the system into an interaction task request-service mechanism queuing system, a Markov chain of system state transition is obtained, since its state transition process in interaction is Markov process and accords with real tactical reconnaissance behaviors. By solving the state transition equations, the inherent relationship of tactical reconnaissance agents is found and the optimized system configuration is obtained. The established simulation demonstration system proves that the proposed approach and model are feasible and effective.

  16. 77 FR 48525 - Statement of Organization, Functions and Delegations of Authority

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Health Resources and Services Administration Statement of... Clinician Recruitment and Service (BCRS), who reports directly to the Administrator, Health Resources and..., Functions and Delegations of Authority of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health...

  17. Agent Programming Languages and Logics in Agent-Based Simulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, John

    2018-01-01

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

  18. NICA: Natural Interaction with a Caring Agent

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Carolis, Berardina; Mazzotta, Irene; Novielli, Nicole

    Ambient Intelligence solutions may provide a great opportunity for elderly people to live longer at home. Assistance and care are delegated to the intelligence embedded in the environment. However, besides considering service-oriented response to the user needs, the assistance has to take into account the establishment of social relations. We propose the use of a robot NICA (as the name of the project Natural Interaction with a Caring Agent) acting as a caring assistant that provides a social interface with the smart home services. In this paper, we introduce the general architecture of the robot's "mind" and then we focus on the need to properly react to affective and socially oriented situations.

  19. INSTALLATION OF A BUYING AGENT ON THE CERN SITE

    CERN Multimedia

    Head of SPL Division

    1999-01-01

    In March, the Finance Committee approved the installation of a Buying Agent on the CERN site to process orders with a value below 5,000 CHF.The role of a Buying Agent is to supply low-cost products that are widely available on the market to a number of different clients. By purchasing quantities far in excess of CERN's own requirements, the Buying Agent is thus able to obtain better prices.In addition, the Agent must guarantee that purchasing requests are handled within a given time and that the product exactly matches users' needs; he must also check that the article delivered is the one ordered, and follow up all disputes and delivery delays.To offer you these services, the company LOGITRADE will be setting up office on the CERN site - Building 73, floor 3 - as of 3 May 1999 (phone No. 72280 _ 79167). Seen from the users, this company will have the same task as any other purchasing office on the site.Internal Purchase Requisitions (DAI) for a value of less than 5,000 CHF relating, initially, to computer con...

  20. 39 CFR 230.1 - Establishment and authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Establishment and authority. 230.1 Section 230.1... the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.3), and 39 U.S.C. 410, an independent... subscribe to the oath of office required of all Postal Service employees under 39 U.S.C. 1011, and the...