Self Monitoring Goal Driven Autonomy Agents

The growing abundance of autonomous systems is driving the need for robust performance. Most current systems are not fully autonomous and often fail when placed in real environments. Via self-monitoring, agents can identify when their own, or externally given, boundaries are violated, thereby increasing their performance and reliability. Specifically, self-monitoring is the identification of unexpected situations that either (1) prohibit the agent from reaching its goal(s) or (2) result in the agent acting outside of its boundaries. Increasingly complex and open environments warrant the use of such robust autonomy (e.g., self-driving cars, delivery drones, and all types of future digital and physical assistants). The techniques presented herein advance the current state of the art in self-monitoring, demonstrating improved performance in a variety of challenging domains. In the aforementioned domains, there is an inability to plan for all possible situations. In many cases all aspects of a domain are not known beforehand, and, even if they were, the cost of encoding them is high. Self-monitoring agents are able to identify and then respond to previously unexpected situations, or never-before-encountered situations. When dealing with unknown situations, one must start with what is expected behavior and use that to derive unexpected behavior. The representation of expectations will vary among domains; in a real-time strategy game like Starcraft, it could be logically inferred concepts; in a mars rover domain, it could be an accumulation of actions\u27 effects. Nonetheless, explicit expectations are necessary to identify the unexpected. This thesis lays the foundation for self-monitoring in goal driven autonomy agents in both rich and expressive domains and in partially observable domains. We introduce multiple techniques for handling such environments. We show how inferred expectations are needed to enable high level planning in real-time strategy games. We show how a hierarchical structure of Goal-driven Autonomy (GDA) enables agents to operate within large state spaces. Within Hierarchical Task Network planning, we show how informed expectations identify states that are likely to prevent an agent from reaching its goals in dynamic domains. Finally, we give a model of expectations for self-monitoring at the meta-cognitive level, and empirical results of agents equipped with and without metacognitive expectations

Cyber-security Risk Assessment

Cyber-security domain is inherently dynamic. Not only does system configuration changes frequently (with new releases and patches), but also new attacks and vulnerabilities are regularly discovered. The threat in cyber-security is human, and hence intelligent in nature. The attacker adapts to the situation, target environment, and countermeasures. Attack actions are also driven by attacker's exploratory nature, thought process, motivation, strategy, and preferences. Current security risk assessment is driven by cyber-security expert's theories about this attacker behavior. The goal of this dissertation is to automatically generate the cyber-security risk scenarios by: * Capturing diverse and dispersed cyber-security knowledge * Assuming that there are unknowns in the cyber-security domain, and new knowledge is available frequently * Emulating the attacker's exploratory nature, thought process, motivation, strategy, preferences and his/her interaction with the target environment * Using the cyber-security expert's theories about attacker behavior The proposed framework is designed by using the unique cyber-security domain requirements identified in this dissertation and by overcoming the limitations of current risk scenario generation frameworks. The proposed framework automates the risk scenario generation by using the knowledge as it becomes available (or changes). It supports observing, encoding, validating, and calibrating cyber-security expert's theories. It can also be used for assisting the red-teaming process. The proposed framework generates ranked attack trees and encodes the attacker behavior theories. These can be used for prioritizing vulnerability remediation. The proposed framework is currently being extended for developing an automated threat response framework that can be used to analyze and recommend countermeasures. This framework contains behavior driven countermeasures that uses the attacker behavior theories to lead the attacker away from the system to be protected

Management for Bachelors

The textbook contains educational module, which embraces the content of main regulatory disciplines on specialists training by the direction 6.030601 “Management” in the knowledge branch 03.06 “Management and administration” of the educational and qualification level “Bachelor”. According to the content the disciplines completely conform to curricula approved by scientific and methodological commission on management and agreed with logical and structural scheme of educational process. The textbook embraces almost all aspects of bachelor training. The chapters contain questions for self-control and list of recommended literature. While creating the chapters the results of fundamental and applied scientific researches of the evaluation branch, the forecasting and management of economic potential of complicated industrial system were used

Algebraic verification of hybrid systems in Isabelle/HOL

The thesis describes an open modular semantic framework for the verification of hybrid systems in a general-purpose proof assistant. We follow this approach to create the first algebraic based verification components for hybrid systems in Isabelle/HOL. The framework benefits from various design choices. Firstly, an algebra for programs such as Kleene algebras with tests or modal Kleene algebras captures the verification condition generation by providing rules for each programming construct. Intermediate relational or state transformer semantics instantiated to a concrete model of the program store allow the framework to handle assignments and ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The verification rules for ODEs require user-provided solutions, differential invariants or analytical descriptions of the continuous dynamics of the system. The construction is a shallow embedding which makes the approach quickly extensible and modular. Taking advantage of these features, we derive differential Hoare logic (dH), a minimalistic logic for the verification of hybrid systems, and the differential refinement calculus (dR) for their stepwise construction. Yet the approach is not limited to these formalisms. We also present a hybrid weakest liberal precondition calculus based on predicate transformers which subsumes powerful deductive verification approaches like differential dynamic logic. The framework is also compositional: we combine it with lenses to vary the model of the program store. We also support it with a formalisation of affine and linear systems of ordinary differential equations in Isabelle/HOL. This integration simplifies various certifications that the proof assistant requires such as guarantees of existence and uniqueness of the corresponding solutions. Verification examples illustrate the approach at work. Formalisations of our solutions to problems of the international friendly competition ARCH2020, where our components participated, further evidence their effectiveness. Finally, a larger case study certifying an invariant for a PID controller of the roll angle in a quadcopter’s flight complements these verifications

The Influence of Collective Working Memory Strategies on Agent Teams

Past self-organizing models of collectively moving "particles" (simulated bird flocks, fish schools, etc.) typically have been based on purely reflexive agents that have no significant memory of past movements or environmental obstacles. These agent collectives usually operate in abstract environments, but as these domains take on a greater realism, the collective requires behaviors use not only presently observed stimuli but also remembered information. It is hypothesized that the addition of a limited working memory of the environment, distributed among the collective's individuals can improve efficiency in performing tasks. This is first approached in a more traditional particle system in an abstract environment. Then it is explored for a single agent, and finally a team of agents, operating in a simulated 3-dimensional environment of greater realism. In the abstract environment, a limited distributed working memory produced a significant improvement in travel between locations, in some cases improving performance over time, while in others surprisingly achieving an immediate benefit from the influence of memory. When strategies for accumulating and manipulating memory were subsequently explored for a more realistic single agent in the 3-dimensional environment, if the agent kept a local or a cumulative working memory, its performance improved on different tasks, both when navigating nearby obstacles and, in the case of cumulative memory, when covering previously traversed terrain. When investigating a team of these agents engaged in a pursuit scenario, it was determined that a communicating and coordinating team still benefited from a working memory of the environment distributed among the agents, even with limited memory capacity. This demonstrates that a limited distributed working memory in a multi-agent system improves performance on tasks in domains of increasing complexity. This is true even though individual agents know only a fraction of the collective's entire memory, using this partial memory and interactions with others in the team to perform tasks. These results may prove useful in improving existing methodologies for control of collective movements for robotic teams, computer graphics, particle swarm optimization, and computer games, and in interpreting future experimental research on group movements in biological populations

Across disciplinary boundaries towards a sustainable life: psychodynamic reflection on human behaviour ; dedicated with eternal gratitude and in high esteem to Prof. Dr. Rainer Fuchs

Contents: Introduction: Inga Krättli: Long-term Responsibility for a Sustainable Life: Introductory Panel Session and Roundtable Discussion (15-22); Part 1: On Organisations and Philosophies of Development: Isolde M. Schönstein: Die Verantwortung der Kirchen für nachhaltige Entwicklung (25-33); Emil Brix: Zivilgesellschaft als Chance für die Demokratie (35-42); Michal Sicinski: Ecology and Sustainable Development within a General Social Theory: Old and New Approaches (43-52); Part 2: On Higher Education and Cases of Institution Building: Norbert Derner: Mutual Relationships of Personal Interests and the Evolution of Complex Social Systems (55-59); R. Garleja, I. Kerpe: Innovative Changes in the Social Demand for Lifelong Education (61-66); Richard J. Bartak: Bioakademie - Bildungsprojekt zum ökologischen Landbau in der Tschechischen Republik (67-74); Vijaya Sherry Chand, Elmar A. Stuhler and Sasi Misra: The Fachhochschule System of Higher Education: University of Applied Sciences, Landshut and University of Applied Sciences, Freising-Weihenstephan (75-86); Part 3: Interdisciplinary Studies on National Parks, Ecotourism and Investment: Jan W. Dobrowolski: An Interdisciplinary Study of, and Education for, the Sustainable Development of National Park Regions in Poland and a New Concept of Sound Tourism Management applied to the Cinque Terre National Park in Italy (89-100); Aleksandra Wagner, Jan W. Dobrowolski, Maria Zielinska: Ecotourism as a Factor of Sustainable Development of Specially Protected Regions (101-108); Philippos Nicolopoulos: The Large Scale Investments in Alternative Tourism and Sustainable Development: The Case of Crete and Arcadia (109-121); Part 4: Living Space Resources, Evaluation of Raw Materials, Agricultural and Food Policy: Drago Muvrin: Sustainable Development through Research and Learning. Sustainable Development and Habitation. An Approach to the Use of Living Space Resources (125-136); Ingeborg Bauer: Basic Principles of the Bavarian Agricultural Policy and its Contribution to Sustainable Development (137-142); Aija Melngaile: Global Aspects of Food Chain Development (143-149); Richard J. Bartak: Evaluating the Use of Raw Materials for Food Production from Economic, Ecological, Ethical and Social Points of View (151-162); Part 5: International Agricultural Research for Development: Sabine Homann, Andre van Rooyen, Thinah Moyo and Zivayi Nengomasha: Strengthening Livestock Market Flows and Feeding Practices for Improved Livelihoods in Southern Zimbabwe (165-173); Sabine Homann, Barbara Rischkowsky, Jörg Steinbach, Michael Kirk: Towards Endogenous Development: Borana Pastoralists' Response to Environmental and Institutional Changes (175-182); Sabine Homann, Barbara Rischkowsky, Jörg Steinbach: Herd Mobility Leads the Way for Sustainable Pastoral Development: The Case of Borana Rangelands, Southern Ethiopia (183-194); Part 6: Aspects of Eco-Design and Development, Innovation as well as Renewable Energy Sources: Marion Hersh: Ecodesign for All: Principles and Practice (197-216); Jozica Knez-Riedl: Developing a Sustainable/Holistic Firm (217-225); Majda Bastic: Analysis of Slovenian New Products from Environmental Viewpoint (227-234); Jan Fiedler: The Economics of Renewable Energy Sources in the Czech Republic (235-240); Part 7: Technological Issues and Opportunities: Zinaida Klestova, Alexander Makarenko, Eugene Samorodov: Geoinformational Systems in society Transformation. System Analysis and Transregional Infrastructure (243-250); T. Abadjieva: Effect of Solar Radiation on Materials and Design of Buildings in Botswana (251-258); Vera Vokolkova: Road Transport and its Contribution to Global Warming with Special Regards to Developing Countries (259-269); Dana Wenscheova: Transportation and Environment in the City of Brno (271-275); Antonin Kremr: The Modrice Project - Reconstruction and Intensification of the City Waste Water Treatment Plant in Brno (277-280); Part 8: Latvian Processes and Methodologies: I. Skards, J. Raipulis, I. Karlsone, V. Strazdina: Why Have Suicide Rates in Baltic States Increased after Restoration of Independence after 1990 (283-296); Ilmars Skards, Jekabs Raipulis, Ilga Karlsone: Demographic Situation in Latvia and the Conditions which Limit it (297-310); A. Goldsteins: State Forest Certification Activities in Latvia (311-315); Part 9: Our New Enemy: Timi Ecimovic: The Climate Change System (319-334); Melanie Thun: "Shishmaref Must Yield" (335-336); Werner Zeppenfeld: Tuvalu: An Island Nation Cables SOS (337); Part 10: Possible Follow up Studies: Rainer Fuchs, Shalini Misra: Need and Possibility for Analysing Human Motivation Potential - Related to Sustainability (341-363); Rainer Fuchs: Goal-oriented Action: The Interaction of Process Components in Terms of Cybernetic Theory (365-380); Elmar A. Stuhler: The Usefulness of Action Psychology for Multipurpose Agribusiness (381-393); Elmar A. Stuhler: Retrospect and Prospect (395-400)

A model of school managerial control : the systematic analysis of managerial behaviors, processes, and indicators

The theoretical construct of control has been defined as necessary (Etzioni, 1965), ubiquitous (Vickers, 1967), and on-going (E. Langer, 1983). Empirical measures, however, have not adequately given meaning to this potent construct, especially within complex organizations such as schools. Four stages of theory-development and empirical testing of school building managerial control using principals and teachers working within the nation\u27s fourth largest district are presented in this dissertation as follows: (1) a review and synthesis of social science theories of control across the literatures of organizational theory, political science, sociology, psychology, and philosophy; (2) a systematic analysis of school managerial activities performed at the building level within the context of curricular and instructional tasks; (3) the development of a survey questionnaire to measure school building managerial control; and (4) initial tests of construct validity including inter-item reliability statistics, principal components analyses, and multivariate tests of significance. The social science synthesis provided support of four managerial control processes: standards, information, assessment, and incentives. The systematic analysis of school managerial activities led to further categorization between structural frequency of behaviors and discretionary qualities of behaviors across each of the control processes and the curricular and instructional tasks. Teacher survey responses (N=486) reported a significant difference between these two dimensions of control, structural frequency and discretionary qualities, for standards, information, and assessments, but not for incentives. The descriptive model of school managerial control suggests that (1) teachers perceive structural and discretionary managerial behaviors under information and incentives more clearly than activities representing standards or assessments, (2) standards are primarily structural while assessments are primarily qualitative, (3) teacher satisfaction is most closely related to the equitable distribution of incentives, (4) each of the structural managerial behaviors has a qualitative effect on teachers, and that (5) certain qualities of managerial behaviors are perceived by teachers as distinctly discretionary, apart from school structure. The variables of teacher tenure and school effectiveness reported significant effects on school managerial control processes, while instructional levels (elementary, junior, and senior) and individual school differences were not found to be significant for the construct of school managerial control

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse