Run-Time Selection of Coordination Mechanisms in Multi-Agent Systems

This paper presents a framework that enables autonomous agents to dynamically select the mechanism they employ in order to coordinate their inter-related activities. Adopting this framework means coordination mechanisms move from the realm of being imposed upon the system at design time, to something that the agents select at run-time in order to fit their prevailing circumstances and their current coordination needs. Empirical analysis is used to evaluate the effect of various design alternatives for the agent's decision making mechanisms and for the coordination mechanisms themselves

Signal Processing

Contains reports on one research project.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and U. S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E

The International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on the Law of International Watercourses: Principles and Planned Measures

52 pages. Contains 6 pages of footnotes

The International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on the Law of International Watercourses: Principles and Planned Measures

52 pages. Contains 6 pages of footnotes

Protein and DNA sequence determinants of thermophilic adaptation

Prokaryotes living at extreme environmental temperatures exhibit pronounced signatures in the amino acid composition of their proteins and nucleotide compositions of their genomes reflective of adaptation to their thermal environments. However, despite significant efforts, the definitive answer of what are the genomic and proteomic compositional determinants of Optimal Growth Temperature of prokaryotic organisms remained elusive. Here the authors performed a comprehensive analysis of amino acid and nucleotide compositional signatures of thermophylic adaptation by exhaustively evaluating all combinations of amino acids and nucleotides as possible determinants of Optimal Growth Temperature for all prokaryotic organisms with fully sequences genomes.. The authors discovered that total concentration of seven amino acids in proteomes, IVYWREL, serves as a universal proteomic predictor of Optimal Growth Temperature in prokaryotes. Resolving the old-standing controversy the authors determined that the variation in nucleotide composition (increase of purine load, or A+G content with temperature) is largely a consequence of thermal adaptation of proteins. However, the frequency with which A and G nucleotides appear as nearest neighbors in genome sequences is strongly and independently correlated with Optimal Growth Temperature. as a result of codon bias in corresponding genomes. Together these results provide a complete picture of proteomic and genomic determinants of thermophilic adaptation.Comment: in press PLoS Computational Biology; revised versio

Comparative image analysis approaches to assess ecological effects of macroalgal removal on inshore reefs of Magnetic Island, Australia

Macroalgae removal is a proposed management option in the GBR to reverse declines in inshore coral reef health. Automated image analysis (AIA) is a valuable tool to assess benthic community assemblages. This study compared the accuracy of benthic community assemblages assessed through the AIA program CoralNet to manual image analysis. The ecological effect of macroalgae removal on benthic community composition was also investigated on established permanent quadrats (5x5 m) for reefs at Florence and Arthur Bay, Magnetic Island. Control and treatment quadrats (n=3 respectively) were photographed before and after macroalgae removal over 6 months. The results obtained by AIA and manual approaches were consistent, with macroalgae cover is approximately 77%-87% in all quadrats before macroalgal removal. Through the monitoring period, a small increase in coral cover in the macroalgal removal quadrats was observed in Florence and Arthur Bay (an increase of 1.8% and 0.1%, respectively). CoralNet was demonstrated to be robust for assessing reef benthic cover with no significant difference in recorded benthic categories when compared to the manual approach. CoralNet was accurate for identifying broad benthic categories, but less effective than manual image analyses for lower taxonomic categories (i.e., genus or species level)

Signal Processing

Contains reports on two research projects.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and U. S. Air Force) under Contract DAAB07-71-C-030