Augmenting Agent Platforms to Facilitate Conversation Reasoning

Within Multi Agent Systems, communication by means of Agent Communication Languages (ACLs) has a key role to play in the co-operation, co-ordination and knowledge-sharing between agents. Despite this, complex reasoning about agent messaging, and specifically about conversations between agents, tends not to have widespread support amongst general-purpose agent programming languages. ACRE (Agent Communication Reasoning Engine) aims to complement the existing logical reasoning capabilities of agent programming languages with the capability of reasoning about complex interaction protocols in order to facilitate conversations between agents. This paper outlines the aims of the ACRE project and gives details of the functioning of a prototype implementation within the Agent Factory multi agent framework

Computational complexity and memory usage for multi-frontal direct solvers in structured mesh finite elements

The multi-frontal direct solver is the state-of-the-art algorithm for the direct solution of sparse linear systems. This paper provides computational complexity and memory usage estimates for the application of the multi-frontal direct solver algorithm on linear systems resulting from B-spline-based isogeometric finite elements, where the mesh is a structured grid. Specifically we provide the estimates for systems resulting from $C^{p-1}$ polynomial B-spline spaces and compare them to those obtained using $C^0$ spaces.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Can the world cut poverty in half ? how policy reform and effective aid can meet international development goals

More effective development aid could greatly improve poverty reduction in the areas where poverty reduction is expected to lag: Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Even more potent would be significant policy reform in the countries themselves. The authors develop a model of efficient aid in which the total volume of aid is endogenous. In particular, aid flows respond to policy improvements that create a better environment for poverty reduction and effective use of aid. They use the model to investigate scenarios-of policy reform, of more efficient aid, and of greater volumes of aid-that point the way to how the world could cut poverty in half in every major region. The fact that aid increases the benefits of reform suggests that a high level of aid to strong reformers may increase the likelihood of sustained good policy (an idea ratified in several recent case studies of low-income reformers). The authors find that the world is not operating on the efficiency frontier. With the same level of concern, much more poverty reduction could be achieved by allocating aid on the basis of how poor countries are as well as on the basis of the quality of their policies. Global poverty reduction requires a partnership in which"third world"countries and governments improve economic policy while"first world"citizens and governments show concern about poverty and translate that concern into effective assistance.Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Services&Transfers to Poor,Poverty Reduction Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Economics&Finance,Achieving Shared Growth,Environmental Economics&Policies,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Services&Transfers to Poor,Poverty Assessment

Examining the Legal Consciousness of Residence Life Staff

Understanding the law has become an integral part of the work of higher education professionals, especially residence life staff. For decades, courts have contributed an increasingly important role in shaping the litigious nature of society at large and within higher education (Greenleaf, 1982). Barr and Associates (1988) noted the increasingly major influence of the law on campus life. Even in the mid-1990s, Gehring and Penney (1995) highlighted the critical need to understand legal issues for those professionals entering the field of higher education and student affairs. Since Olivas (2013) found that higher education law is a rapidly changing area in the field, knowledge of the law is critical to anyone in a professional position in higher education. [Discussion questions developed by Amelia King-Kostelac.

The importance of ideas: an a priori critical juncture framework

This paper sets out an improved framework for examining critical junctures. This framework, while rigorous and broadly applicable and an advance on the frameworks currently employed, primarily seeks to incorporate an a priori element. Until now the frameworks utilized in examining critical junctures were entirely postdictive. Adding a predictive element to the concept will constitute a significant advance. The new framework, and its predictive element, termed the “differentiating factor,” is tested here in examining macro-economic crises and subsequent changes in macro-economic policy, in America and Sweden