Bio-inspired Mechanisms for Artificial Self-organised Systems

Research on self-organization tries to describe and explain forms, complex patterns and behaviours that arise from a collection of entities without an external organizer. As researchers in artificial systems, our aim is not to mimic self-organizing phenomena arising in Nature, but to understand and to control underlying mechanisms allowing desired emergence of forms, complex patterns and behaviours. In this paper we analyze three forms of self-organization: stigmergy, reinforcement mechanisms and cooperation. For each forms of self-organisation, we present a case study to show how we transposed it to some artificial systems and then analyse the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach

A social spider algorithm for global optimization

The growing complexity of real-world problems has motivated computer scientists to search for efficient problem-solving methods. Metaheuristics based on evolutionary computation and swarm intelligence are outstanding examples of nature-inspired solution techniques. Inspired by the social spiders, we propose a novel social spider algorithm to solve global optimization problems. This algorithm is mainly based on the foraging strategy of social spiders, utilizing the vibrations on the spider web to determine the positions of preys. Different from the previously proposed swarm intelligence algorithms, we introduce a new social animal foraging strategy model to solve optimization problems. In addition, we perform preliminary parameter sensitivity analysis for our proposed algorithm, developing guidelines for choosing the parameter values. The social spider algorithm is evaluated by a series of widely used benchmark functions, and our proposed algorithm has superior performance compared with other state-of-the-art metaheuristics.postprin

Spartan Daily, November 21, 2017

Volume 149, Issue 38https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2017/1079/thumbnail.jp

A state-of-art optimization method for analyzing the tweets of earthquake-prone region

With the increase in accumulated data and usage of the Internet, social media such as Twitter has become a fundamental tool to access all kinds of information. Therefore, it can be expressed that processing, preparing data, and eliminating unnecessary information on Twitter gains its importance rapidly. In particular, it is very important to analyze the information and make it available in emergencies such as disasters. In the proposed study, an earthquake with the magnitude of Mw = 6.8 on the Richter scale that occurred on January 24, 2020, in Elazig province, Turkey, is analyzed in detail. Tweets under twelve hashtags are clustered separately by utilizing the Social Spider Optimization (SSO) algorithm with some modifications. The sum-of intra-cluster distances (SICD) is utilized to measure the performance of the proposed clustering algorithm. In addition, SICD, which works in a way of assigning a new solution to its nearest node, is used as an integer programming model to be solved with the GUROBI package program on the test data-sets. Optimal results are gathered and compared with the proposed SSO results. In the study, center tweets with optimal results are found by utilizing modified SSO. Moreover, results of the proposed SSO algorithm are compared with the K-means clustering technique which is the most popular clustering technique. The proposed SSO algorithm gives better results. Hereby, the general situation of society after an earthquake is deduced to provide moral and material supports

Multi-Agent Systems

A multi-agent system (MAS) is a system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents. Multi-agent systems can be used to solve problems which are difficult or impossible for an individual agent or monolithic system to solve. Agent systems are open and extensible systems that allow for the deployment of autonomous and proactive software components. Multi-agent systems have been brought up and used in several application domains

Record breaking achievements by spiders and the scientists who study them

Organismal biology has been steadily losing fashion in both formal education and scientific research. Simultaneous with this is an observable decrease in the connection between humans, their environment, and the organisms with which they share the planet. Nonetheless, we propose that organismal biology can facilitate scientific observation, discovery, research, and engagement, especially when the organisms of focus are ubiquitous and charismatic animals such as spiders. Despite being often feared, spiders are mysterious and intriguing, offering a useful foundation for the effective teaching and learning of scientific concepts and processes. In order to provide an entryway for teachers and students—as well as scientists themselves—into the biology of spiders, we compiled a list of 99 record breaking achievements by spiders (the “Spider World Records”). We chose a worldrecord style format, as this is known to be an effective way to intrigue readers of all ages. We highlighted, for example, the largest and smallest spiders, the largest prey eaten, the fastest runners, the highest fliers, the species with the longest sperm, the most venomous species, and many more. We hope that our compilation will inspire science educators to embrace the biology of spiders as a resource that engages students in science learning. By making these achievements accessible to nonarachnologists and arachnologists alike, we suggest that they could be used: (i) by educators to draw in students for science education, (ii) to highlight gaps in current organismal knowledge, and (iii) to suggest novel avenues for future research efforts. Our contribution is not meant to be comprehensive, but aims to raise public awareness on spiders, while also providing an initial database of their record breaking achievements

Exploring the Relationship Between Behaviour and Neurochemistry in the Polyphenic Spider, Anelosimus studiosus (Araneae: Theridiidae)

The importance of social behaviour is evident in human society, but there are both costs and benefits associated with cooperation and sociality throughout the animal kingdom. At what point do the benefits outweigh the costs, and when do selective pressures favour sociality and colonization over solitude and independence? To investigate these questions, we have focused on an anomalous species of spider, Anelosimus studiosus, also known now as the northern social spider. Throughout its broad range, A. studiosus is solitary and aggressive, but recently, colonies of cooperative and social individuals have been observed at northern latitudes. This leads to two research questions: 1) what characteristics differentiate the two variants behaviourally, and, 2) how are they different physiologically? Colonies and individuals were collected from multiple populations throughout the Tennessee River watershed area and maintained in a laboratory environment for quantitative and qualitative assessment of behavioural traits as well as specific neurochemical analysis by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. After classifying individuals as social or aggressive, I looked at the influence of factors such as age, reproductive state, nutritional state, and time of day on behaviour and neurophysiology. I found correlations between social behaviours and serotonin, aggressive behaviours and octopamine (invertebrate counterpart of norepinephrine), and several other compounds associated with an increase or decrease in aggression. These studies combine techniques from multiple disciplines to contribute to the greater understanding of the proximate control of social and aggressive behaviours as well as factors influencing the evolution of sociality

OPTIMIZING PRODUCTION METHODS FOR ARTIFICAL SILK PROTEINS THROUGH BIOREACTOR AND PURIFICATION STUDIES OF RECOMBINANT PROTEINS EXPRESSED FROM Pichia pastoris

Advancements in the field of biomaterials are being made to produce an artificial silk fiber. A gene was constructed which utilized components from both the dragline silk of Nephila clavipes and nematode collagen. For this engineered protein, the yeast strain Pichia pastoris was chosen to be the host organism. Previous research has shown P. pastoris to have comparatively low amounts of specific protein productivity. Therefore, this problem must be compensated for by obtaining extremely high cell densities. The main focus of this study was to optimize the fermentation parameters of transgenic yeast cultures within a bioreactor in order to increase the yield of the recombinant protein. Through media improvement and feed pump control, cell densities of 350 optical density (OD) were obtained. Concentration and purification methods revealed insight into this material\u27s potential for future processing. Additionally, comparative studies with natural spider silk revealed temperature fluctuations within the spinneret region