On-lattice agent-based simulation of populations of cells within the open-source chaste framework

Over the years, agent-based models have been developed that combine cell division and reinforced random walks of cells on a regular lattice, reaction-diffusion equations for nutrients and growth factors and ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for the subcellular networks regulating the cell cycle. When linked to a vascular layer, this multiple scale model framework has been applied to tumour growth and therapy. Here we report on the creation of an agent-based multiscale environment amalgamating the characteristics of these models within a Virtual Pysiological Human (VPH) Exemplar Project. This project enables re-use, integration, expansion and sharing of the model and relevant data. The agent-based and reactiondiffusion parts of the multiscale model have been implemented and are available for download as part of the latest public release of Chaste (“Cancer, Heart and Soft Tissue Environment”), (http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/chaste/) version 3.1, part of the VPH Toolkit (http://toolkit.vph-noe.eu/). The environment functionalities are verified against the original models, in addition to extra validation of all aspects of the code. In this work, we present the details of the implementation of the agent-based environment, including the system description, the conceptual model, the development of the simulation model and the processes of verification and validation of the simulation results. We explore the potential use of the environment by presenting exemplar applications of the “what if” scenarios that can easily be studied in the environment. These examples relate to tumour growth, cellular competition for resources and tumour responses to hypoxia. We conclude our work by summarising the future steps for the expansion of the current system

From raw data to agent perceptions for simulation, verification, and monitoring

In this paper we present a practical solution to the problem of connecting “real world” data exchanged between sensors and actuators with the higher level of abstraction used in frameworks for multiagent systems. In particular, we show how to connect an industry-standard publish-subscribe communication protocol for embedded systems called MQTT with two Belief-Desire-Intention agent modelling and programming languages: Jason/AgentSpeak and Brahms. In the paper we describe the details of our Java implementation and we release all the code open source

A Roadmap to Pervasive Systems Verification

yesThe complexity of pervasive systems arises from the many different aspects that such systems possess. A typical pervasive system may be autonomous, distributed, concurrent and context-based, and may involve humans and robotic devices working together. If we wish to formally verify the behaviour of such systems, the formal methods for pervasive systems will surely also be complex. In this paper, we move towards being able to formally verify pervasive systems and outline our approach wherein we distinguish four distinct dimensions within pervasive system behaviour and utilise different, but appropriate, formal techniques for verifying each one.EPSR

Design and Development of an Architecture for Demonstrating the Interplay of Emerging SISO Standards

Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) SIW Conference PaperThe Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) focuses on facilitating simulation interoperability across government and non-government applications worldwide. A number of standards are emerging that will individually have great impact on the development and operation of simulation systems, as well as interoperation across simulation systems and command and control systems. Taken together, however, the emerging standards represent a set of capabilities and technologies which can revolutionize the simulation industry, radically improving the way we develop and deliver interoperable systems

An Approach to Quantify Workload in a System of Agents

The role of humans in aviation and other domains continues to shift from manual control to automation monitoring. Studies have found that humans are often poorly suited for monitoring roles, and workload can easily spike in off-nominal situations. Current workload measurement tools, like NASA TLX, use human operators to assess their own workload after using a prototype system. Such measures are used late in the design process and can result in ex- pensive alterations when problems are discovered. Our goal in this work is to provide a quantitative workload measure for use early in the design process. We leverage research in human cognition to de ne metrics that can measure workload on belief-desire-intentions based multi-agent systems. These measures can alert designers to potential workload issues early in design. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by characterizing quantitative differences in the workload for a single pilot operations model compared to a traditional two pilot model