798 research outputs found
Strategies for distributing goals in a team of cooperative agents
This paper addresses the problem of distributing goals to individual agents inside a team of cooperative agents. It shows that several parameters determine the goals of particular agents. The first parameter is the set of goals allocated to the team; the second parameter is the description of the real actual world; the third parameter is the description of the agents' ability and commitments. The last parameter is the strategy the team agrees on: for each precise goal, the team may define several strategies which are orders between agents representing, for instance, their relative competence or their relative cost. This paper also shows how to combine strategies. The method used here assumes an order of priority between strategie
The Strategy-Proofness Landscape of Merging
Merging operators aim at defining the beliefs/goals of a group of agents from
the beliefs/goals of each member of the group. Whenever an agent of the group
has preferences over the possible results of the merging process (i.e., the
possible merged bases), she can try to rig the merging process by lying on her
true beliefs/goals if this leads to better merged base according to her point
of view. Obviously, strategy-proof operators are highly desirable in order to
guarantee equity among agents even when some of them are not sincere. In this
paper, we draw the strategy-proof landscape for many merging operators from the
literature, including model-based ones and formula-based ones. Both the general
case and several restrictions on the merging process are considered
Fluid-fluid demixing transitions in colloid--polyelectrolyte star mixtures
We derive effective interaction potentials between hard, spherical colloidal
particles and star-branched polyelectrolytes of various functionalities and
smaller size than the colloids. The effective interactions are based on a
Derjaguin-like approximation, which is based on previously derived potentials
acting between polyelectrolyte stars and planar walls. On the basis of these
interactions we subsequently calculate the demixing binodals of the binary
colloid--polyelectrolyte star mixture, employing standard tools from
liquid-state theory. We find that the mixture is indeed unstable at moderately
high overall concentrations. The system becomes more unstable with respect to
demixing as the star functionality and the size ratio grow.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Journal of Physics: Condensed
Matte
Decrement Operators in Belief Change
While research on iterated revision is predominant in the field of iterated
belief change, the class of iterated contraction operators received more
attention in recent years. In this article, we examine a non-prioritized
generalisation of iterated contraction. In particular, the class of weak
decrement operators is introduced, which are operators that by multiple steps
achieve the same as a contraction. Inspired by Darwiche and Pearl's work on
iterated revision the subclass of decrement operators is defined. For both,
decrement and weak decrement operators, postulates are presented and for each
of them a representation theorem in the framework of total preorders is given.
Furthermore, we present two sub-types of decrement operators
Green Synthesis of Glycopolymers Using an Enzymatic Approach
beta-Glucosidase and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) are used as biocatalysts in aqueous solution for the enzymatic synthesis of glycomonomers and the respective enzymatic polymerization toward glycopolymers. The biocatalytically synthesized monomers contain (meth)acrylate functionalities that are able to be polymerized by an enzyme-initiated polymerization using an HRP/hydrogen peroxide/acetylacetone ternary system. The structure of the glycomonomers and the respective glycopolymers as well as the monomer conversion after the reaction are determined by H-1 NMR spectroscopy. The synthesized glycopolymers have a dispersity and a number-average molecular weight up to 5.8 and 297 kg mol(-1), respectively. Thermal and degradation properties of the glycopolymers are studied by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. In addition, preparation of glycopolymers via conventional free radical polymerization is performed and the properties of the obtained polymers are compared with the enzymatically synthesized glycopolymers
Stability of composite plates under varying axial forces
The aim of this contribution is to show how the known theories of elastic plates
can be extended in order to describe property arbitrary inhomogeneous of the
plates materiaĆ for dynamics stability. Each layer being the composite components
is taken to be inhomogeneous and anisotropic. The perfect contact between the
components of the plate is assumed
A single transcription factor is sufficient to induce and maintain secretory cell architecture
We hypothesized that basic helixâloopâhelix (bHLH) MIST1 (BHLHA15) is a âscaling factorâ that universally establishes secretory morphology in cells that perform regulated secretion. Here, we show that targeted deletion of MIST1 caused dismantling of the secretory apparatus of diverse exocrine cells. Parietal cells (PCs), whose function is to pump acid into the stomach, normally lack MIST1 and do not perform regulated secretion. Forced expression of MIST1 in PCs caused them to expand their apical cytoplasm, rearrange mitochondrial/lysosome trafficking, and generate large secretory granules. Mist1 induced a cohort of genes regulated by MIST1 in multiple organs but did not affect PC function. MIST1 bound CATATG/CAGCTG E boxes in the first intron of genes that regulate autophagosome/lysosomal degradation, mitochondrial trafficking, and amino acid metabolism. Similar alterations in cell architecture and gene expression were also caused by ectopically inducing MIST1 in vivo in hepatocytes. Thus, MIST1 is a scaling factor necessary and sufficient by itself to induce and maintain secretory cell architecture. Our results indicate that, whereas mature cell types in each organ may have unique developmental origins, cells performing similar physiological functions throughout the body share similar transcription factor-mediated architectural âblueprints.
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