The Right Carrot for an Unruly Jungle

This thesis examines the U.S. Department of Justice leniency program setup involving both corporate and individual leniency. Specifically, the interaction between corporate and individual leniency programs in concurrent operation, the design of optimal leniency program structure to elicit corporate leniency applications and the behaviour of economic agents subject to such programs comprise the primary directions of this thesis. In addressing corporate malfeasance under the option to apply for leniency, the intra-firm interplay of agents is modeled as a dynamic game of incomplete information. The principle findings are that if agents are symmetric in their access to leniency the concurrent operation of corporate and individual leniency programs is suboptimal as the presence of the individual leniency program detracts from corporate leniency applications due to a reallocation of incentives to report. On the other hand, under asymmetric access it is in fact optimal to utilise both leniency programs concurrently as there is no distortion in incentives to report but rather a threat effect in motion. Agent access to these leniency programs is imperative in determining the success of the combinatory policy structure

Generative agent-based architectural design computation : behavioral strategies for integrating material, fabrication and construction characteristics in design processes

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the generative potential of agent-based systems for integrating material and fabrication characteristics into design processes. This generative agent-based system reflects the significance of behavioral strategies in computational design and construction. This work presents a generative behavioral approach for integrating fabrication processes with material specifications. The development of a computational framework facilitates this integration via an agent-based system. A series of experiments with related case studies emphasizes behavioral strategies within the processes of formation and materialization. This research proposes the integration of material and fabrication processes through an agent-based system. The utilization of this system reflects a theoretical framework in developing an integrative computational method. The implementation of this theoretical framework in practical studies demonstrates the applicability of this research. The practical developments highlight the importance of behavioral strategies to establish integral design computation. Chapter 1 introduces the extended behavioral strategies to integration design. Chapter 2 provides a study about integrative design computation to abstract the main drivers of design integration through agent-based modeling. Chapter 3 presents agent-based systems in architectural design, specifically, in regards to material, fabricational, and environmental principles. Chapter 4 explores experiments and case studies to adjust the development of a generative agent-based system for integrating material and fabrication characteristics in design processes. Chapter 5 explains procedures for setting-up a generative agent-based design computation. Chapter 6 discusses the significance of behavioral strategies to develop different behavioral layers within a generative agent-based architectural design. Chapter 7 concludes the integral behavioral strategies by proposing trends to minimize the gap between formation and materialization through coalescing computational and physical agent-based systems.Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die generativen Potentiale von Agenten-basierten Systemen zur Integration von Material- und Fertigungseigenschaften im Entwurfsprozess zu untersuchen. Diese generative, Agenten-basierten Systeme spiegeln die Bedeutung von Regel- und Verhaltens-basierten Strategien für das digitale Entwerfen, Planen und Konstruieren wider. Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit stellt einen generativen Ansatz zur Integration der Charakteristika von Material und Fertigung dar. Dies erfolgt über die Entwicklung einer digitalen Methode, die die Integration in ein Agent-basiertes System ermöglicht, was an einer Reihe von Experimenten und Fallstudien und der dazugehörigen Verhaltensstrategien für die Formgenerierung und Materialisierung erprobt wurde. Das operative Potential des theoretischen Rahmens wird in diesen praktischen Studien demonstriert und belegt die Anwendbarkeit der Forschung. Die theoretischen und praktischen Entwicklungen zeigen die Bedeutung von Verhaltensstrategien für das architektonische Entwerfen und einen ganzheitlichen digitalen Gestaltungs- und Bildungsprozess

MemeGraphs: Linking Memes to Knowledge Graphs

Memes are a popular form of communicating trends and ideas in social media and on the internet in general, combining the modalities of images and text. They can express humor and sarcasm but can also have offensive content. Analyzing and classifying memes automatically is challenging since their interpretation relies on the understanding of visual elements, language, and background knowledge. Thus, it is important to meaningfully represent these sources and the interaction between them in order to classify a meme as a whole. In this work, we propose to use scene graphs, that express images in terms of objects and their visual relations, and knowledge graphs as structured representations for meme classification with a Transformer-based architecture. We compare our approach with ImgBERT, a multimodal model that uses only learned (instead of structured) representations of the meme, and observe consistent improvements. We further provide a dataset with human graph annotations that we compare to automatically generated graphs and entity linking. Analysis shows that automatic methods link more entities than human annotators and that automatically generated graphs are better suited for hatefulness classification in memes

The role of Anogenital Mononuclear Phagocytes in HIV transmission

The focus of thesis is the study of the sexual transmission of HIV. We have used human anogenital tissues to evaluate the role of Mononuclear Phagocyte Subsets in mucosal HIV transmission. This thesis is comprised of three papers. In the first paper we describe a novel subset of epidermal dendritic cell in human anogenital tissues and we show it is a preferential target for HIV uptake, infection and transfer to CD4 T cells. In the second paper we develop an algorithm to remove autofluorescence from microscopy images of human tissue and show it is essential to enable accurate quantification of HIV localisation to target cells in situ. This facilitated the third paper - the development of a novel pipeline to quantify HIV localisation patterns in human colorectal tissue in situ. This paper used RNAscope to detect HIV, multiplex fluorescence microscopy and customised image processing algorithms to visualise the dynamics of HIV transmission in human colorectal tissue within 2 hours of exposure to HIV. We show conclusively that HIV is first enriched in mucosal DCs and submucosal macrophages, but not CD4 T cells, and that it is preferentially enriched in lymphoid aggregates. We also provide circumstantial evidence that lamina propria DCs traffic virus to the centre of lymphoid aggregates which themselves provide a conduit for HIV entry to the submucosal layer, where it associates with macrophages. Finally, we show that HIV mucosal entry induces its target cells to form clusters in which HIV+ DCs and macrophages transfer virus to and enhance infection of CD4 T cells, supported by ex vivo data. This paper provides the most comprehensive quantitative in situ overview of early HIV transmission events in human mucosal tissue to date. Together these papers describe new target cells involved in HIV transmission and provide insights into the actual events that occur in human colorectal tissue immediately following HIV exposure

Generative Agent-Based Design Computation

Agent-based systems have been widely investigated in simulation and modeling. In this paper, it is proposed that agent-based systems can also be developed as generative systems, in which different aspects of performative design can be defined as separate drivers in a proper computational framework. In this manner constrained generating procedures (CGP’s) are studied to integrate the discrete design processes into one system. Subsequently, this generative agent-based design tool is accompanied with generating and constraining mechanism which are informed by material characteristics and fabrication constraints, bringing to the forefront emergent complexity

Faculty Members’ Viewpoints on their Empowering Factors and Developing a Structured Questionnaire

Introduction: Study of faculty members’ viewpoints seems to be necessary in order to understand the empowering procedure of faculty members and university development to create a potent atmosphere. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess, recognize and prioritize these factors and accordingly a guide to develop a structured questionnaire, to be used for assessing faculty empowerment in a school /university. Methods: In a descriptive-analytical study, using purposive convenience sampling method, the viewpoints of 53 faculty members of Shiraz and Jahrom medical universities were evaluated. First, using existing literature as well as experts’ opinions, the initial list of strategies was developed and validated then, a questionnaire based on 5-point Likert-scale was developed and its reliability was confirmed (Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient=.85) then it was delivered to study population. Underlying structure of questionnaire was determined by exploratory factor analysis. Bartlett test and KOM index were respectively used for evaluating the sampling adequacy and appropriateness of analysis for structure identification. Friedman test was used for calculating viewpoints’ mean scores. Results: The variables of "Participation in academic activities", "allocating rewards according to professional progress", and "allotting rewards for innovations" showed the highest effectiveness (the means were 17.68, 16.79 and 16.42 respectively). On the other hand, performance evaluation by the students (Mean Rank: 9.87) and the relevant department (Mean Rank: 7.7) showed a minimal effect. The results of Bartlett's analysis and KOM measure showed that the collected data was appropriate for factor analysis. Nine factors having value more than 1 were identified which elucidated 74.5% of total variance of all variables. Conclusion: Several strategies are necessary for faculty members’ empowerment and to enforce workplace development such as access to opportunities, information, support, and resources. Moreover, effective motivation along with sense of being valued and efficient could facilitate the empowerment process. Hence, a well-organized administration based on democratic and collaborative principles could ease this procedure