A knowledge based system for linking information to support decision making in construction

This work describes the development of a project model centred on the information and knowledge generated and used by managers. It describes a knowledge-based system designed for this purpose. A knowledge acquisition exercise was undertaken to determine the tasks of project managers and the information necessary for and used by these tasks. This information was organised into a knowledge base for use by an expert system. The form of the knowledge lent itself to organisation into a link network. The structure of the knowledge-based system, which was developed, is outlined and its use described. Conclusions are drawn as to the applicability of the model and the final system. The work undertaken shows that it is feasible to benefit from the field of artificial intelligence to develop a project manager assistant computer program that utilises the benefit of information and its link

Creation of regions for dialect features using a cellular automaton

An issue in dialect research has been how to make generalizations from survey data about where some dialect feature might be found. Pre-computational methods included drawing isoglosses or using shadings to indicate areas where an analyst expected a feature to be found. The use of computers allowed for faster plotting of locations where any given feature had been e¬licited, and also allowed for the use of statistical techniques from technical geography to estimate regions where particular features might be found. However, using the computer did not make the analysis less subjective than isoglosses, and statistical methods from technical geography have turned out to be limited in use. We have prepared a cellular automaton (CA) for use with data collected for the Linguistic Atlas Project that can address the problems involved in this type of data visualization. The CA plots the locations where survey data was elicited, and then through the application of rules creates an estimate of the spatial distributions of selected features. The application of simple rules allows the CA to create objective and reproducible estimates based on the data it was given, without the use of statistical methods

Artificial Intelligence in Radiotherapy Treatment Planning: Present and Future.

Treatment planning is an essential step of the radiotherapy workflow. It has become more sophisticated over the past couple of decades with the help of computer science, enabling planners to design highly complex radiotherapy plans to minimize the normal tissue damage while persevering sufficient tumor control. As a result, treatment planning has become more labor intensive, requiring hours or even days of planner effort to optimize an individual patient case in a trial-and-error fashion. More recently, artificial intelligence has been utilized to automate and improve various aspects of medical science. For radiotherapy treatment planning, many algorithms have been developed to better support planners. These algorithms focus on automating the planning process and/or optimizing dosimetric trade-offs, and they have already made great impact on improving treatment planning efficiency and plan quality consistency. In this review, the smart planning tools in current clinical use are summarized in 3 main categories: automated rule implementation and reasoning, modeling of prior knowledge in clinical practice, and multicriteria optimization. Novel artificial intelligence-based treatment planning applications, such as deep learning-based algorithms and emerging research directions, are also reviewed. Finally, the challenges of artificial intelligence-based treatment planning are discussed for future works

Quantum Probabilities as Behavioral Probabilities

We demonstrate that behavioral probabilities of human decision makers share many common features with quantum probabilities. This does not imply that humans are some quantum objects, but just shows that the mathematics of quantum theory is applicable to the description of human decision making. The applicability of quantum rules for describing decision making is connected with the nontrivial process of making decisions in the case of composite prospects under uncertainty. Such a process involves deliberations of a decision maker when making a choice. In addition to the evaluation of the utilities of considered prospects, real decision makers also appreciate their respective attractiveness. Therefore, human choice is not based solely on the utility of prospects, but includes the necessity of resolving the utility-attraction duality. In order to justify that human consciousness really functions similarly to the rules of quantum theory, we develop an approach defining human behavioral probabilities as the probabilities determined by quantum rules. We show that quantum behavioral probabilities of humans not merely explain qualitatively how human decisions are made, but they predict quantitative values of the behavioral probabilities. Analyzing a large set of empirical data, we find good quantitative agreement between theoretical predictions and observed experimental data.Comment: Latex file, 32 page

Open macroeconomics in an open economy

There are three pillars of the new Labour Government''s approach to economic policy: delivering macroeconomic stability, tackling the supply-side barriers to growth and delivering employment and economic opportunities to all. This lecture focuses on the reforms the new government has introduced in order to deliver macroeconomic stability and why open and transparent institutions and procedures are central to those reforms. The lecture sets out four principles for macroeconomic policymaking which flow from changes in the world economy and the world of economic ideas over the past twenty or thirty years. These are:-- the principle of stability through constrained discretion -- the principle of credibility through sound, long-term policies -- the principle of credibility through maximum transparency -- the principle of credibility through pre-commitment. The lecture explains each principle in turn and shows how they are being translated into practice in the macroeconomic policy reforms that the new government is introducing at the Treasury and the Bank of reforms which add up to what is now probably one of the most open and accountable system of economic policymaking in the world