Learning Mazes with Aliasing States: An LCS Algorithm with Associative Perception

Learning classifier systems (LCSs) belong to a class of algorithms based on the principle of self-organization and have frequently been applied to the task of solving mazes, an important type of reinforcement learning (RL) problem. Maze problems represent a simplified virtual model of real environments that can be used for developing core algorithms of many real-world applications related to the problem of navigation. However, the best achievements of LCSs in maze problems are still mostly bounded to non-aliasing environments, while LCS complexity seems to obstruct a proper analysis of the reasons of failure. We construct a new LCS agent that has a simpler and more transparent performance mechanism, but that can still solve mazes better than existing algorithms. We use the structure of a predictive LCS model, strip out the evolutionary mechanism, simplify the reinforcement learning procedure and equip the agent with the ability of associative perception, adopted from psychology. To improve our understanding of the nature and structure of maze environments, we analyze mazes used in research for the last two decades, introduce a set of maze complexity characteristics, and develop a set of new maze environments. We then run our new LCS with associative perception through the old and new aliasing mazes, which represent partially observable Markov decision problems (POMDP) and demonstrate that it performs at least as well as, and in some cases better than, other published systems

Extraction of protein profiles from primary neurons using active contour models and wavelets

AbstractThe function of complex networks in the nervous system relies on the proper formation of neuronal contacts and their remodeling. To decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes, it is essential to establish unbiased automated tools allowing the correlation of neurite morphology and the subcellular distribution of molecules by quantitative means.We developed NeuronAnalyzer2D, a plugin for ImageJ, which allows the extraction of neuronal cell morphologies from two dimensional high resolution images, and in particular their correlation with protein profiles determined by indirect immunostaining of primary neurons. The prominent feature of our approach is the ability to extract subcellular distributions of distinct biomolecules along neurites. To extract the complete areas of neurons, required for this analysis, we employ active contours with a new distance based energy. For locating the structural parts of neurons and various morphological parameters we adopt a wavelet based approach. The presented approach is able to extract distinctive profiles of several proteins and reports detailed morphology measurements on neurites.We compare the detected neurons from NeuronAnalyzer2D with those obtained by NeuriteTracer and Vaa3D-Neuron, two popular tools for automatic neurite tracing. The distinctive profiles extracted for several proteins, for example, of the mRNA binding protein ZBP1, and a comparative evaluation of the neuron segmentation results proves the high quality of the quantitative data and proves its practical utility for biomedical analyses

Cultural Production and Social Movements After the Arab Spring

This book is available open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The so-called Arab Spring challenged conventional wisdom and certainties about the Arab world where its effects continue to be felt as well as in the diaspora. This book provides an original contribution to current social and cultural theory on Arab social movements by giving a fuller historical and critical treatment of contemporary artistic and cultural production from the region and beyond. Thematically structured and covering culture, media, politics, and literary studies, the book uses a range of theoretical material that engages readers in three key ways. First, it adopts a critical standpoint with respect to the term “Arab Spring,” recognizing the multiple interpretations and varied geographical, historical, and political realities of the term. Second, its focus on carefully selected case studies - namely, Egypt, Tunis, Syria, and Yemen - adds depth to analysis of the cultural, literary and artistic dimensions that operate fluidly across the Arab world. Third, it presents a methodological case study for the growing community of researchers involved in interdisciplinary education. Together, the contributors to the book show how the interplay of politics, culture, and media across varied locations has and continues to shape emergent Arab social forms and a region on the cusp of historical and cultural change

Understanding the Ecological Role, Population Dynamics, and Geographic Distribution of \u3ci\u3eManihot Walkerae\u3c/i\u3e

Walker’s Manihot, Manihot walkerae Croizat (Euphorbiaceae), is an endangered plant that is endemic to the Tamaulipan thornscrub ecoregion. Understanding M. walkerae’s geographic distribution, populations, and species interactions can provide essential information for the development of sound conservation strategies. To this aim, I asked the following questions: 1) What is the potential geographic distribution for M. walkerae? and, will it be affected by climate change? 2) Using global and regional extinction risk assessments, what is the extinction risk category for M. walkerae after incorporating species distribution models? 3) What do natural history observations reveal about M. walkerae’s population composition, and insect interactions? These questions were answered using species distribution modeling, both IUCN and Mexican Risk Assessment methods, and natural history observations. The results of this work could be used to establish national and international strategies to conserve this endangered species

Belonging and Becoming in a Multicultural World

Children and youth are front and center in the context of global mass migration and the social discord around questions of multicultural inclusion that it often ignites. It is young people at the forefront of navigating the complexities of cultural and ethnic diversity in their everyday lives. Imprecise portrayals of their inclination to either embrace diversity or to incite racism are used to exemplify both the success and failures of the multicultural project. In the context of young people’s heightened politicization, Belonging and Becoming in a Multicultural World, shifts the focus to a group of Sudanese and Karen refugee youth’s own insights, explanations and practices as they attempt to create a sense of identity and belonging. It sees these young people engaging race, racism and national identity in creative and unexpected ways as they are confronted with the social and moral implications of multiculturalism in Australia

Cultural Production and Social Movements After the Arab Spring

This book is available open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The so-called Arab Spring challenged conventional wisdom and certainties about the Arab world where its effects continue to be felt as well as in the diaspora. This book provides an original contribution to current social and cultural theory on Arab social movements by giving a fuller historical and critical treatment of contemporary artistic and cultural production from the region and beyond. Thematically structured and covering culture, media, politics, and literary studies, the book uses a range of theoretical material that engages readers in three key ways. First, it adopts a critical standpoint with respect to the term “Arab Spring,” recognizing the multiple interpretations and varied geographical, historical, and political realities of the term. Second, its focus on carefully selected case studies - namely, Egypt, Tunis, Syria, and Yemen - adds depth to analysis of the cultural, literary and artistic dimensions that operate fluidly across the Arab world. Third, it presents a methodological case study for the growing community of researchers involved in interdisciplinary education. Together, the contributors to the book show how the interplay of politics, culture, and media across varied locations has and continues to shape emergent Arab social forms and a region on the cusp of historical and cultural change

Transdisciplinarity for sustainability in engineering education

Tesi amb diferents seccions retallales per drets dels editorsThis research aims to improve engineering education in sustainability (EESD) through transdisciplinarity (td) learning approaches. The research comprised 3 phases. The first consisted of the analysis of how sustainability is approached in EE through a co-word analysis and characterization of the keywords networks of three relevant journals in the field of EESD over two decades. The journal networks evolution analysis suggested that the concern was growing to move to society. Td and related keywords constantly dripped along the ten years in all the journals and gained relevance, especially in International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (IJSHE) and Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP). Additionally the IJSHE showed a will of reinforcing relationships beyond the university; the International Journal of Engineering Education (IJEE) gave relevance to real case studies with a North-South component and to students’ representativeness; and the JCLP contributed aspects on competences and educational strategies. The characterisation brought as relevant categories towards sustainability those related to cross-boundary schemes (i.e. td, ethics, networking), institutional aspects, faculty professional development training and learning strategies. Finally, keywords related to td and collaborative networking spread throughout all the areas of knowledge addressed by the journals, indicating a widening interest. The second phase studied how emergent EESD initiatives were approached from td as valued competence for sustainability. The research indicated that most of the initiatives fitted in the problem solving discourse, where co-production of knowledge and method-driven aspects are relevant. Deepening this discourse, most initiatives corresponded to the real-world argument promoting science-society collaboration to solve societal problems (EU contexts); others looked for convergence of all sciences (life, human, physical and engineering) in pursuit of human well-being (innovation argument, US contexts); and some initiatives brought together students and entities in a team-based learning process with social purpose (transcendent interdisciplinary research “tir” argument). It is noteworthy that none of the initiatives mirrored the transgression discourse, which attempts to reformulate the establishment, no longer for society but with society. The last phase consisted in the implementation of a td learning environment experience in the course Action Research Workshop on Science and Technology (Sci&Tech) for Sustainability (5 ETCS) of the UPC Master degree in Sustainability Sci&Tech. Civil organisations, public administration, students and educators undertook collaborative research on real-life sustainability case studies, following two cycles of action-reflection. While the course mainly fitted in the real-world argument of problem solving, service learning (SL) or CampusLab schemes also reproduced a team-based learning with societal purpose (“tir” argument). We addressed the transgression discourse by means of SL focusing on social justice, which enhanced the development of complex thinking. Afterwards, some students engaged as professional researchers-activists in the participant organisations. Challenges of their learning process were: problem formulation, process uncertainty, stakeholder’s interests and roles integration, and interpersonal skills. Additionally, a well-valued Emotional Intelligence module was developed by the author to help students face some process paralyzing uncertainties. Finally this work proposes a set of fundamental features to be considered for an effective scheme for a td approach in EESD, methodically framing the science-society discourse on the issue at stake: work in real-world complex problems; involve diverse disciplines and fields cooperation; involve science-society cooperation and mutual learning processes; integrate types of knowledge; rely on disciplinary and cross-disciplinary practice.Aquesta investigació té com a objectiu la millora de l'educació en enginyeria en sostenibilitat (EESD) a través d'un enfocament d'aprenentatge transdisciplinari, en 3 fases. La primera va consistir en l'anàlisi de com s'aborda la sostenibilitat a EE, mitjançant l'anàlisi de co-ocurrència i la caracterització dels mots clau d’articles de tres revistes rellevants en l’EESD, al llarg de 10 anys. L'anàlisi de l'evolució de les xarxes de revistes va suggerir una preocupació creixent per a traslladar el focus a la societat. La transdisciplinarietat (td) i els mots clau relacionats van degotar constantment al llarg del període a totes les revistes, guanyant rellevància, especialment a la International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (IJSHE) i la Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP) A més, mostrà la rellevància de: la voluntat de reforçar relacions més enllà de la universitat, a la IJSHE; els estudis de casos reals amb component Nord-Sud, i la representativitat dels estudiants, a la International Journal of Engineering Education; i els aspectes sobre competències i estratègies educatives, a la JCLP. La caracterització va aportar com a categories rellevants per la sostenibilitat les relacionades amb esquemes “cross-boundary” (td, ètica, treball en xarxa), aspectes institucionals, desenvolupament professional del professorat i estratègies d'aprenentatge. Finalment, els mots clau relacionats amb td i xarxes de col·laboració s’identificaren al llarg de totes les àrees de coneixement empreses a les revistes, indicant un interès creixent. La segona fase va estudiar com les iniciatives de EESD, eren abordades des de la td. Indicà que la majoria encaixaven en el discurs de resolució de problemes, que emfatitza la coproducció de coneixement i els aspectes metodològics. Aprofundint aquest discurs, la majoria de les iniciatives s’esqueien a l'argument del món real que promou la col·laboració ciència-societat sobre problemes socials (context UE); altres buscaven la convergència de les ciències (vida, salut, física i enginyeria) en la recerca del benestar humà (argument d'innovació, context USA); i algunes reunien a estudiants i entitats en un procés grupal d'aprenentatge, amb propòsit social (argument d'investigació interdisciplinària transcendent "tir"). És rellevant que cap de les iniciatives es va vincular al discurs de transgressió, que persegueix la reformulació de l'”establishment” ja no per a la societat, sinó amb la societat. L'última fase va consistir en la implementació d'un entorn d'aprenentatge td al curs Taller d'Investigació-Acció (5 ETCS) del Màster UPC en Ciència i Tecnologia de Sostenibilitat. Organitzacions civils i de govern, estudiants i educadors van investigar col·laborativament en casos reals de sostenibilitat, a partir de dos cicles d'acció-reflexió. Si bé el curs encaixa principalment en l'argument del món real del discurs de resolució de problemes, els esquemes d'aprenentatge servei (ApS) o CampusLab poden reproduir l'argument "tir" d'aprenentatge basat en equips amb propòsit social. El discurs de la transgressió s'abordà mitjançant l’ApS per a la justícia social i va resultar en la implicació professional d'alguns estudiants en les organitzacions civils participants. Els reptes del procés d'aprenentatge foren: formulació de problemes; gestió d'incerteses; integració de diferents interessos i rols; i habilitats interpersonals. Per això, l'autora desenvolupà un valorat mòdul d'Intel·ligència Emocional, animat a encarar punts paralitzants del procés. Finalment, aquest treball proposa un conjunt d'elements fonamentals a considerar en un esquema eficaç per a aplicar l'enfocament td a l’EESD, que emmarqui de forma metòdica el discurs sobre la qüestió social en joc: treballar sobre problemes complexos del món real; involucrar diverses disciplines i àrees; facilitar la cooperació ciència-societat i els processos. Finalment, aquest treball proposa un conjunt d’elements fonamentals a considerar en un esquema eficaç per a aplicar l'enfocament transdisciplinarietat a l’EESD, que emmarqui de forma metòdica el discurs sobre la qüestió social en joc: treballar sobre problemes complexos del món real; involucrar diverses disciplines i àrees; facilitar la cooperació ciència-societat i els processos d'aprenentatge mutu; integrar tipus de coneixement; recolzar-se en pràctiques disciplinàries i interdisciplinàriesPostprint (published version

Intelligent Control and Path Planning of Multiple Mobile Robots Using Hybrid Ai Techniques

This work reports the problem of intelligent control and path planning of multiple mobile robots. Soft computing methods, based on three main approaches i.e. 1) Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm, 2) Radial Basis Function Network and 3) Bees Algorithm are presented. Initially, Bacterial foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA) with constant step size is analyzed for the navigation of mobile robots. Then the step size has been made adaptive to develop an Adaptive Bacterial Foraging Optimization (ABFO) controller. Further, another controller using radial basis function neural network has been developed for the mobile robot navigation. Number of training patterns are intended to train the RBFN controller for different conditions arises during the navigation. Moreover, Bees Algorithm has been used for the path planning of the mobile robots in unknown environments. A new fitness function has been used to perform the essential navigational tasks effectively and efficiently. In addition to the selected standalone approaches, hybrid models are also proposed to improve the ability of independent navigation. Five hybrid models have been presented and analyzed for navigation of one, two and four mobile robots in various scenarios. Comparisons have been made for the distance travelled and time taken by the robots in simulation and real time. Further, all the proposed approaches are found capable of solving the basic issues of path planning for mobile robots while doing navigation. The controllers have been designed, developed and analyzed for various situations analogous to possible applications of the robots in indoor environments. Computer simulations are presented for all cases with single and multiple mobile robots in different environments to show the effectiveness of the proposed controllers. Furthermore, various exercises have been performed, analyzed and compared in physical environments to exhibit the effectiveness of the developed controllers

Grasping the nettle: the central–local constraints on local government funding in England

In England, the traditional method of central government redistribution and equalization between locations has been replaced with a greater emphasis on self-sufficiency and entrepreneurism. English local government now faces existential funding questions – a situation that is repeated around the world as the public sector manages the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Financialization has figured large in the study of entrepreneurial behaviour. However, in England, legal and procedural constraints have driven authorities to seek revenue funding from other sources, principally seeking additional property-related revenues. In response, this article presents a novel typology of local government funding sources and offers an original analysis of their implications for local authorities’ role. The empirical findings show that the buoyancy and quantum of many funding sources are constrained by prior evolution of location and central–local relations: they are not automatic routes to financialization. Conceptually, these findings reveal that methods of financialization, and the local government funding system within which they typically sit, are as likely to be constrained by the evolution and techniques of governance as they are accelerated by it. International debates around financialization, and wider concerns of how locations develop, would benefit from this account of the often-hidden nature and agency of local government funding systems