Model Driven Development of Agents for Ambient Intelligence

En esta tesis se define un proceso dirigido por modelos para el desarrollo de sistemas de Inteligencia Ambiental (AmI) basados en agentes auto-gestionados que pueden ser ejecutados en los dispositivos más usuales de los entornos AmI, teléfonos inteligentes o sensores. Nuestra solución está centrada en una arquitectura de MAS totalmente distribuida y descentralizada, gracias a la integración de los agentes en los dispositivos heterogéneos que suelen formar parte de un sistema AmI

Tourism in the global south: landscapes, identities and development

This book is the fourth of a series on ‘Tourism and Spatial Planning’ that the Centre for Geographical Studies (CEG) research group ‘Tourism, Culture and Space’ (TERRiTUR) has published: ‘Tourism, Innovation and Development’ (2008), ‘Niche Tourism’ (2009) and ‘Water and Tourism. Resources Management, Planning and Sustainability’ (2010). Our first acknowledgement is to our fellow contributors, who courteously and promptly responded to our requests, and who have provided the bulk of this book. There are also many other colleagues at CEG who contributed in various ways. We would like to acknowledge the support of José Manuel Simões, head of our research group ‘Tourism, Culture and Space’, and of Diogo Abreu, head of the Centre for Geographical studies. We are equally grateful to all those colleagues who have refereed the chapters contained in this volume, whose name remains anonymous for the purpose of maintaining integrity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Component-based software architectures and multi-agent systems: mutual and complementary contributions for supporting software development

Dans cette thèse, nous explorons les diverses contributions que les systèmes multi-agents (SMA) et les architectures à base de composants (CBSA) peuvent mutuellement et complémentairement s'apporter l'un à l'autre. Dans un premier temps, nous définissons, illustrons, analysons et discutons une méthodologie du développement des SMA, un modèle de composants (SpeAD), un langage de description d'architecture (SpeADL) et une méthode de conception (SpEArAF) qui facilitent et guident la description et l'implémentation des SMA. Cette réponse complète au développement des SMA est assistée par un outil (MAY) et a été appliquée à un grand nombre d'applications. Dans un second temps, nous explorons à travers divers expériences l'aide que peuvent apporter les SMA auto-adaptatif aux CBSA. Les agents et leur réorganisation continuelle jouent à la fois le rôle de moteur de la construction et de l'adaptation dynamique de l'architecture, mais aussi du conteneur qui connecte ses éléments en pratique.In this thesis, we explore the various aspects of the mutual and complementary contributions that multi-agent systems (MASs) and component-based software architectures (CBSAs) can provide to each other. On one hand, we define, illustrate, analyse and discuss an architecture-oriented methodology of MAS development, a component model (SpeAD), an architectural description language (SpeADL) and a design method (SpEArAF) that ease and guide the description and the implementation of MASs. This complete answer to MAS development is supported by a tool (MAY) and has been applied to many applications. On the other hand, we explore through various experiments how self-adaptive MASs can be used to support CBSAs. The agents and their continuous reorganisation act both as the engine of the construction and of the dynamic adaptation of the architecture, and as the runtime container that practically connects its elements together

Aerospace medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 177

This bibliography lists 112 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in January 1978

Indigenous-driven mission : reconstructing religious change in sixteenth-century Maluku

During the sixteenth century, tens of thousands of people in the region which the Europeans called Maluku embraced Christianity. Contemporary writers of both secular and mission chronicles celebrated this Christianisation as the work of Europeans, both colonial administrators and missionaries, who had won over the converts by persuasion, by godly attributes, and by military prowess. Though always focussed on European actors, these chroniclers also expected indigenous rulers to play a role in conversion. These kings and chiefs, once they had been persuaded by captains or missionaries to become Christians themselves, were understood to have the power to bring their subjects with them into the new faith in an effortless top-down process. Consequently, religious change was often reported as instances of passive and rather superficial 'mass conversion.' This representation of early Christianisation in Maluku has persisted in texts as divergent as reports written by seventeenth-century Dutch ministers, twentieth-century Catholic mission histories, and more recent works by secular scholars. During the past four decades, thousands of pages of contemporary letters and reports composed by colonial authorities, Portuguese merchants, and Jesuit missionaries have been published by the Portuguese Government and the Society of Jesus. Careful, critical reading of these primary source materials reveals that the Europe-centric view of conversion in sixteenth-century Maluku is mostly erroneous. In actuality, religious change in the region occurred as a consequence of an indigenous-driven mission effort. Interest in Christianity originated with indigenous people, not with Europeans, and not with missionaries once they arrived. Local individuals actively sought out opportunities to explore and embrace the new faith. They then aggressively attempted to draw Christian influence into their lands. Jesuit missionaries in Maluku served as appendages to the local mission effort, frequently told where they would labour and whom they would visit. In some instances, missionaries and other Europeans found themselves either held against their will or even traded like exotic goods. Although conversion to Christianity often generated strong opposition, it never occurred as the result of outside pressure. When faced with threats and intimidation from others, indigenous Christians stubbornly maintained the ability to act for themselves, in many cases prodding the Portuguese colonial apparatus to wield its power in support of Christian communities. Though religious change often appeared to be a mass movement, with villages or particular ethnic groups converting in totality, this was never the case. Conversion remained an individual act, resulting in a religiously diverse landscape. Despite persistent Portuguese expectations that mass conversion to Christianity in Maluku should occur as a consequence of the power of Christian rulers over their people, kings and chiefs who did convert lacked both the power and the will to impose a new faith on their subjects

Developing of Ultrasound Experimental Methods using Machine Learning Algorithms for Application of Temperature Monitoring of Nano-Bio-Composites Extrusion

In industry fiber degradation during processing of biocomposite in the extruder is a problem that requires a reliable solution to save time and money wasted on producing damaged material. In this thesis, We try to focus on a practical solution that can monitor the change in temperature that causes fiber degradation and material damage to stop it when it occurs. Ultrasound can be used to detect the temperature change inside the material during the process of material extrusion. A monitoring approach for the extruder process has been developed using ultrasound system and the techniques of machine learning algorithms. A measurement cell was built to form a dataset of ultrasound signals at different temperatures for analysis. Machine learning algorithms were applied through machine-learning algorithm’s platform to classify the dataset based on the temperature. The dataset was classified with accuracy 97% into two categories representing over and below damage temperature (190oc) ultrasound signal. This approach could be used in industry to send an alarm or a temperature control signal when material damage is detected. Biocomposite is at the core of automotive industry material research and development concentration. Melt mixing process was used to mix biocomposite material with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for the purpose of enhancing mechanical and thermal properties of biocomposite. The resulting composite nano-bio- composite was tested via different types of thermal and mechanical tests to evaluate its performance relative to biocomposite. The developed material showed enhancement in mechanical and thermal properties that considered a high potential for applications in the future

Doctoral Theses in Early Modern History: Recent Trends and Not-so-new Problems

Based on the list of the theses defended in Portuguese universities in the last eight years, a brief assessment is made of the recent developments in the field of Early Modern History Studies in Portugal, highlighting its recent trends and persistent problems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multi-Agent Systems

This Special Issue ""Multi-Agent Systems"" gathers original research articles reporting results on the steadily growing area of agent-oriented computing and multi-agent systems technologies. After more than 20 years of academic research on multi-agent systems (MASs), in fact, agent-oriented models and technologies have been promoted as the most suitable candidates for the design and development of distributed and intelligent applications in complex and dynamic environments. With respect to both their quality and range, the papers in this Special Issue already represent a meaningful sample of the most recent advancements in the field of agent-oriented models and technologies. In particular, the 17 contributions cover agent-based modeling and simulation, situated multi-agent systems, socio-technical multi-agent systems, and semantic technologies applied to multi-agent systems. In fact, it is surprising to witness how such a limited portion of MAS research already highlights the most relevant usage of agent-based models and technologies, as well as their most appreciated characteristics. We are thus confident that the readers of Applied Sciences will be able to appreciate the growing role that MASs will play in the design and development of the next generation of complex intelligent systems. This Special Issue has been converted into a yearly series, for which a new call for papers is already available at the Applied Sciences journal’s website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/Multi-Agent_Systems_2019

Norms beyond Empire

Norms beyond Empire seeks to rethink the relationship between law and empire by emphasizing local normative production. Its ten chapters explore normative production by focusing on case studies from the Iberian empires in China, India, Japan, and the Philippines. ; Readership: All interested in legal history, the history of Christianity in Asia, the history of Spanish and Portuguese imperialism, early modern colonialism, missionary history, global history, and legal pluralism