Improving adaptiveness in autonomous characters

Much research has been carried out to build emotion regulation models for autonomous agents that can create suspension of disbelief in human audiences or users. However, most models up-to-date concentrate either on the physiological aspect or the cognitive aspect of emotion. In this paper, an architecture to balance the Physiological vs Cognitive dimensions for creation of life-like autonomous agents is proposed. The resulting architecture will be employed in ORIENT which is part of the EU-FP6 project eCircus 3. An explanation of the existing architecture, FAtiMA focusing on its benefits and flaws is provided. This is followed by a description of the proposed architecture that combines FAtiMA and the PSI motivational system. Some inspiring work is also reviewed. Finally, a conclusion and directions for future work are given

Cerebral ß-amyloid angiopathy in aged squirrel monkeys

Cerebral ß-amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is an age-related disorder of the brain vasculature that is involved in up to 20% of non-traumatic cerebral hemorrhage in humans. CAA is a risk factor for cognitive decline, and may exacerbate the dementia of Alzheimer's disease. Progress in discovering the cause and potential therapies for this disorder has been hindered by the paucity of animal models, particularly models of idiopathic CAA. The squirrel monkey (Saimiri spp) develops significant CAA in the natural course of aging. To evaluate the suitability of Saimiri as a model of human CAA, we studied the distribution and composition of Aß subtypes in CAA and parenchymal (senile plaque) deposits in the brains of aged squirrel monkeys, as well as the relationship between vascular ßamyloid deposition and comorbid vasculopathies that occur in aged humans. Our findings show that: 1) CAA consists ultrastructurally of classical amyloid fibrils and is the principal type of cerebral ß-amyloidosis in squirrel monkeys; 2) The two primary isoforms of Aß (Aß40 and Aß42) coexist in most microvascular and parenchymal lesions of Saimiri, although Aß40 tends to predominate in larger arterioles; 3) CAA and parenchymal plaques overlap to a considerable degree in most affected brain areas, and are distributed symmetrically in the two hemispheres; 4) Both CAA and plaques are particularly abundant in rostral regions and comparatively sparse in the occipital lobe; 5) Capillaries are especially vulnerable to CAA in squirrel monkeys; and 6) When CAA is severe, it is associated with a small, but significant, increase in other vasculopathies, including microhemorrhage, fibrinoid extravasation and focal gliosis. These findings, in the context of genetic, vascular and immunologic similarities between squirrel monkeys and humans, support the squirrel monkey as a biologically advantageous model for studying the basic biology of idiopathic, age-related CAA, and for testing emerging therapies for human ß-amyloidoses such as Alzheimer's disease

Virtual team performance in a highly competitive environment

In this article, we empirically validate a version of the input-mediator-output-input (IMOI) model (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, & Jundt, 2005), adapting it to investigate virtual team performance in a highly competitive environment. Our hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling across time periods with data obtained from 606 professional online gaming teams belonging to the European Electronic Sports League. The findings validate the hypothesized IMOI model, and demonstrate the effects of anticipated emotions on shared motivation of team members. The results contribute to theory and have significant implications for the management of geographically distributed work groups