Cooperative Particle Swarm Optimization for Combinatorial Problems

A particularly successful line of research for numerical optimization is the well-known computational paradigm particle swarm optimization (PSO). In the PSO framework, candidate solutions are represented as particles that have a position and a velocity in a multidimensional search space. The direct representation of a candidate solution as a point that flies through hyperspace (i.e., Rn) seems to strongly predispose the PSO toward continuous optimization. However, while some attempts have been made towards developing PSO algorithms for combinatorial problems, these techniques usually encode candidate solutions as permutations instead of points in search space and rely on additional local search algorithms. In this dissertation, I present extensions to PSO that by, incorporating a cooperative strategy, allow the PSO to solve combinatorial problems. The central hypothesis is that by allowing a set of particles, rather than one single particle, to represent a candidate solution, combinatorial problems can be solved by collectively constructing solutions. The cooperative strategy partitions the problem into components where each component is optimized by an individual particle. Particles move in continuous space and communicate through a feedback mechanism. This feedback mechanism guides them in the assessment of their individual contribution to the overall solution. Three new PSO-based algorithms are proposed. Shared-space CCPSO and multispace CCPSO provide two new cooperative strategies to split the combinatorial problem, and both models are tested on proven NP-hard problems. Multimodal CCPSO extends these combinatorial PSO algorithms to efficiently sample the search space in problems with multiple global optima. Shared-space CCPSO was evaluated on an abductive problem-solving task: the construction of parsimonious set of independent hypothesis in diagnostic problems with direct causal links between disorders and manifestations. Multi-space CCPSO was used to solve a protein structure prediction subproblem, sidechain packing. Both models are evaluated against the provable optimal solutions and results show that both proposed PSO algorithms are able to find optimal or near-optimal solutions. The exploratory ability of multimodal CCPSO is assessed by evaluating both the quality and diversity of the solutions obtained in a protein sequence design problem, a highly multimodal problem. These results provide evidence that extended PSO algorithms are capable of dealing with combinatorial problems without having to hybridize the PSO with other local search techniques or sacrifice the concept of particles moving throughout a continuous search space

Tartu Ülikooli toimetised. Tööd semiootika alalt. 1964-1992. 0259-4668

http://www.ester.ee/record=b1331700*es

Proceedings of the 2004 ONR Decision-Support Workshop Series: Interoperability

In August of 1998 the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), approached Dr. Phillip Abraham of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) with the proposal for an annual workshop focusing on emerging concepts in decision-support systems for military applications. The proposal was considered timely by the ONR Logistics Program Office for at least two reasons. First, rapid advances in information systems technology over the past decade had produced distributed collaborative computer-assistance capabilities with profound potential for providing meaningful support to military decision makers. Indeed, some systems based on these new capabilities such as the Integrated Marine Multi-Agent Command and Control System (IMMACCS) and the Integrated Computerized Deployment System (ICODES) had already reached the field-testing and final product stages, respectively. Second, over the past two decades the US Navy and Marine Corps had been increasingly challenged by missions demanding the rapid deployment of forces into hostile or devastate dterritories with minimum or non-existent indigenous support capabilities. Under these conditions Marine Corps forces had to rely mostly, if not entirely, on sea-based support and sustainment operations. Particularly today, operational strategies such as Operational Maneuver From The Sea (OMFTS) and Sea To Objective Maneuver (STOM) are very much in need of intelligent, near real-time and adaptive decision-support tools to assist military commanders and their staff under conditions of rapid change and overwhelming data loads. In the light of these developments the Logistics Program Office of ONR considered it timely to provide an annual forum for the interchange of ideas, needs and concepts that would address the decision-support requirements and opportunities in combined Navy and Marine Corps sea-based warfare and humanitarian relief operations. The first ONR Workshop was held April 20-22, 1999 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Luis Obispo, California. It focused on advances in technology with particular emphasis on an emerging family of powerful computer-based tools, and concluded that the most able members of this family of tools appear to be computer-based agents that are capable of communicating within a virtual environment of the real world. From 2001 onward the venue of the Workshop moved from the West Coast to Washington, and in 2003 the sponsorship was taken over by ONR’s Littoral Combat/Power Projection (FNC) Program Office (Program Manager: Mr. Barry Blumenthal). Themes and keynote speakers of past Workshops have included: 1999: ‘Collaborative Decision Making Tools’ Vadm Jerry Tuttle (USN Ret.); LtGen Paul Van Riper (USMC Ret.);Radm Leland Kollmorgen (USN Ret.); and, Dr. Gary Klein (KleinAssociates) 2000: ‘The Human-Computer Partnership in Decision-Support’ Dr. Ronald DeMarco (Associate Technical Director, ONR); Radm CharlesMunns; Col Robert Schmidle; and, Col Ray Cole (USMC Ret.) 2001: ‘Continuing the Revolution in Military Affairs’ Mr. Andrew Marshall (Director, Office of Net Assessment, OSD); and,Radm Jay M. Cohen (Chief of Naval Research, ONR) 2002: ‘Transformation ... ’ Vadm Jerry Tuttle (USN Ret.); and, Steve Cooper (CIO, Office ofHomeland Security) 2003: ‘Developing the New Infostructure’ Richard P. Lee (Assistant Deputy Under Secretary, OSD); and, MichaelO’Neil (Boeing) 2004: ‘Interoperability’ MajGen Bradley M. Lott (USMC), Deputy Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; Donald Diggs, Director, C2 Policy, OASD (NII

The acquisition of the English prepositional phrase by South African English second language learners

Bibliography: pages 121-132Documented evidence indicates that South African learners, including university students, experience problems in using English as an academic language. In particular, reading and writing levels are below expected levels. Some scholars have attributed learners’ inability to acquire Cognitive and Academic Language Proficiency to an overreliance on Communicative Language Teaching and are of the view that problems in reading and writing, at least in part, stem from English Second Language (ESL) learners’ poor command of English grammar. The problem of underperformance in English is exacerbated by underqualified teachers and inadequate resources, which translate to a lack of information. This study focused on the acquisition of one particular aspect of English grammar, namely prepositions, and on how prepositions could be instructed to English First Additional Language (EFAL) learners in the South African context. The study was motivated by the researcher’s own observations as an English teacher, that EFAL learners struggle to acquire English prepositions, and by the absence of information on how to teach prepositions, even though the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement includes prepositions that ought to be taught at different stages. This lack of information compounds the identified problem, given that teachers struggle to teach specific aspects of English grammar without clear guidance. The present study utilised a quasi-experimental design (a pre-test – post-test design) to compare the effectiveness of explicit versus implicit grammar instruction in teaching English prepositions. The study also considered the effect of learners’ first language (Sesotho or isiZulu) on the acquisition of English prepositions. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results suggest that learners benefited more from explicit grammar instruction than from implicit grammar instruction, and that the first language had no significant effect on learning outcomes. The study contributes to the field of Applied Linguistics in that it increases our understanding of the constructive role that explicit grammar instruction can play in the South African context and in that it provides practical examples of how EFAL teachers can instruct prepositions to their learners.Gedokumenteerde bewyse dui daarop dat Suid Afrikaanse leerders, insluitende universiteitsstudente, probleme ondervind in hul gebruik van Engels as akademiese taal. Vlakke in lees- en skryfvaardighede is spesifiek onder standaard. Leerders se onvermoë om Kognitiewe Akademiese Taalvaardigheid te verwerf word dikwels geassosieer met die beklemtoning van Kommunikatiewe Taalonderring in die Suid Afrikaanse kurrikulum, en verskeie navorsers reken dat probleme in lees en skryf deur leerders se swak kennis van Engelse grammatika veroorsaak word. Die probleem word vererger deur swak gekwalifiseerde onderwysers, onvoldoende hulpbronne, en ‘n tekort aan informasie oor hoe leerders onderrig moet word. Hierdie studie fokus op die verwerwing van ‘n spesifieke aspek van Engelse grammatika, naamlik voorsetsels, en op hoe hierdie aspek van die grammatika aan Engels Eerste Addisionele Taal leerders in Suid Afrika aangebied moet word. Die motivering vir die studie was die navorser se eie observasie as Engelse onderwyser dat leerders probleme ondervind met die aanleer van Engelse voorsetsels en deur die afwesigheid van inligting oor hoe voorsetsels onderrig moet word op verskillende vlakke. Hierdie gebrek aan inligting beteken dat onderwysers dikwels nie weet hoe om leerders te ondersteun nie. Die studie het ‘n kwasi-eksperimentele ontwerp (‘n pre-toets – post-toets ontwerp) gevolg om die effektiwiteit van eksplisiete versus implisiete grammatika onderrig van Engelse voorsetsels te vergelyk. Die studie het ook die invloed van leerders se eerste taal (Sesotho of isiZulu) op die verwerwing van Engelse voorsetsels ondersoek. Die data is statisties geanaliseer met behulp van die ‘Statistical Package for Social Sciences’. Die resultate suggereer dat leerders eerder baat by eksplisiete grammatika instruksie, en dat die eerste taal geen beduidende invloed op die uitkoms van die leerproses het nie. Die studie dra by tot kennisgenerering in die veld van Toegepaste Linguistiek, in die sin dat die resultate ons begrip ten opsigte van die konstruktiewe rol van explisiete grammatika instruksie in die Suid Afrikaanse konteks verbreed. Die studie bied ook praktiese voorbeelde aan onderwysers oor hoe voorsetsels suksesvol onderrig kan word in Engels Eeste Addisionele Taal.Linguistics and Modern LanguagesM.A. (Applied Linguistics

The development of discourse cohesion in British sign language.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN023193 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Magical Verse from Early Medieval England: The Metrical Charms in Context

This thesis contextualises the Old English Metrical Charms, a selection of twelve alliterative texts from early medieval England. These compositions approach poetic language in a different way from most other literary genres. When performed, they should produce changes in the physical world. Their desired results reflect early medieval concerns. Some are occupied with bodily wellbeing and hope to cure sick patients or prevent undesirable conditions. Others focus on restoring material wellbeing, redressing theft or requesting agricultural benefits. Scholars conventionally find the Metrical Charms challenging. There are several reasons for this circumstance. The Old English texts sometimes presuppose an awareness to obscure stories and events, and they employ a poetic register characterised by rare words and neologisms. Similarly, the Metrical Charms blur modern distinctions between science, magic, and religion, maintaining a complicated relationship with Christianity. They also demonstrate intricate transmission patterns: some show influences of written and oral media; most preserve overt and covert connections to texts in other languages. The thesis employs a comparative methodology and examines the Metrical Charms against a broader background of (often medieval but sometimes modern) European charm traditions. Old English charms are rare. Middle English, Latin, German, Dutch, and Scandinavian charms survive in greater numbers and sometimes resemble the Old English texts. The precise relationships between these compositions have remained underexplored. A comparative methodology affords the unique possibility of linking notoriously complex passages in the Metrical Charms to similar sections from analogous texts. The thesis finds this approach is effective in retrieving the meaning of obscure words and phrases. It offers new solutions for some of the field’s most longstanding interpretative problems

Machine Performers: Agents in a Multiple Ontological State

In this thesis, the author explores and develops new attributes for machine performers and merges the trans-disciplinary fields of the performing arts and artificial intelligence. The main aim is to redefine the term “embodiment” for robots on the stage and to demonstrate that this term requires broadening in various fields of research. This redefining has required a multifaceted theoretical analysis of embodiment in the field of artificial intelligence (e.g. the uncanny valley), as well as the construction of new robots for the stage by the author. It is hoped that these practical experimental examples will generate more research by others in similar fields. Even though the historical lineage of robotics is engraved with theatrical strategies and dramaturgy, further application of constructive principles from the performing arts and evidence from psychology and neurology can shift the perception of robotic agents both on stage and in other cultural environments. In this light, the relation between representation, movement and behaviour of bodies has been further explored to establish links between constructed bodies (as in artificial intelligence) and perceived bodies (as performers on the theatrical stage). In the course of this research, several practical works have been designed and built, and subsequently presented to live audiences and research communities. Audience reactions have been analysed with surveys and discussions. Interviews have also been conducted with choreographers, curators and scientists about the value of machine performers. The main conclusions from this study are that fakery and mystification can be used as persuasive elements to enhance agency. Morphologies can also be applied that tightly couple brain and sensorimotor actions and lead to a stronger stage presence. In fact, if this lack of presence is left out of human replicants, it causes an “uncanny” lack of agency. Furthermore, the addition of stage presence leads to stronger identification from audiences, even for bodies dissimilar to their own. The author demonstrates that audience reactions are enhanced by building these effects into machine body structures: rather than identification through mimicry, this causes them to have more unambiguously biological associations. Alongside these traits, atmospheres such as those created by a cast of machine performers tend to cause even more intensely visceral responses. In this thesis, “embodiment” has emerged as a paradigm shift – as well as within this shift – and morphological computing has been explored as a method to deepen this visceral immersion. Therefore, this dissertation considers and builds machine performers as “true” performers for the stage, rather than mere objects with an aura. Their singular and customized embodiment can enable the development of non-anthropocentric performances that encompass the abstract and conceptual patterns in motion and generate – as from human performers – empathy, identification and experiential reactions in live audiences