16,184 research outputs found
Automatic ontology mapping for agent communication
Agent communication languages such as ACL and KQML provide a standard for agent communication. These languages enable an agent to specify the intention and the content of a message as well as the protocol, the language, and the ontology that are used. For the protocol and the language some standards are available and should be known by the communicating agents. The ontology used in a communication depends on the subject of the communication. Since the number of subjects is almost infinite and since the concepts used for a subject can be described by different ontologies, the development of generally accepted standards will take a long time. This lack of standardization, which hampers communication and collaboration between agents, is known as the interoperability problem. To overcome the interoperability problem, agents must be able to establish a mapping between their ontologies. This paper investigates a new approach to the interoperability problem. The proposed approach requires neither a correspondence between concepts used in the ontologies nor a correspondence between the structure of the ontologies. It only requires that some instances of the subject about which the agents try to communicate are known by both agents.economics of technology ;
Optimal Net-Load Balancing in Smart Grids with High PV Penetration
Mitigating Supply-Demand mismatch is critical for smooth power grid
operation. Traditionally, load curtailment techniques such as Demand Response
(DR) have been used for this purpose. However, these cannot be the only
component of a net-load balancing framework for Smart Grids with high PV
penetration. These grids can sometimes exhibit supply surplus causing
over-voltages. Supply curtailment techniques such as Volt-Var Optimizations are
complex and computationally expensive. This increases the complexity of
net-load balancing systems used by the grid operator and limits their
scalability. Recently new technologies have been developed that enable the
rapid and selective connection of PV modules of an installation to the grid.
Taking advantage of these advancements, we develop a unified optimal net-load
balancing framework which performs both load and solar curtailment. We show
that when the available curtailment values are discrete, this problem is
NP-hard and develop bounded approximation algorithms for minimizing the
curtailment cost. Our algorithms produce fast solutions, given the tight timing
constraints required for grid operation. We also incorporate the notion of
fairness to ensure that curtailment is evenly distributed among all the nodes.
Finally, we develop an online algorithm which performs net-load balancing using
only data available for the current interval. Using both theoretical analysis
and practical evaluations, we show that our net-load balancing algorithms
provide solutions which are close to optimal in a small amount of time.Comment: 11 pages. To be published in the 4th ACM International Conference on
Systems for Energy-Efficient Built Environments (BuildSys 17) Changes from
previous version: Fixed a bug in Algorithm 1 which was causing some min cost
solutions to be misse
Critical cross?field outcomes: A Rortian view on why and how to teach jurisprudence in South Africa in the 2010s
Higher education authorities strive towards a transformed, democratic, non?racist, non?sexist system which will, inter alia, promote a democratic ethos and human rights culture through educational programmes and practices that will foster creative thinking, cultural tolerance and a collective commitment to reach the ideals of a humane, non?sexist and non?racist society. The critical cross?field outcomes that must be demonstrably achieved by any programme approved in terms of the National Qualifications Framework echo these ideals. Law faculties typically refer to their Jurisprudence modules to demonstrate compliance with the requirements that students should understand the world as a set of related systems and be sensitive to different cultures, meanings and perceptions across a range of social contexts. However, the design and presentation of such modules should be reconsidered. It is argued that the ideas of the liberal pragmatist Richard Rorty (1931?2007) provide valuable insights into these aspects and that a new justification for inclusion of Jurisprudence in law curricula is, in fact, established through it
Legal requirements for school rules and disciplinary sanctions
The new educational dispensation has created some uncertainty regarding the application and formulation of school rules, lawful disciplinary measures and procedural requirements for discipline in schools. This contribution is aimed at providing a legal framework for lawful school rules, as well as for the interpretation and application of school rules. The legal framework is assessed from a reformational frame of reference, which includes taking a stand regarding the state and its functions. The discussion focuses on phenomena such as education, discipline and order. The requirements for lawful disciplinary measures are also addressed. The conclusion is that the drastic changes to the system afford Christian governing bodies and educators the opportunity to promote true discipleship within the parameters of the law
The legal nature of schools, codes of conduct and disciplinary proceedings in schools
All stakeholders in education should appreciate the legal nature of schools, legal provisions for the management of schools and discipline in schools as well as codes of conduct. Furthermore, these stakeholders should be able to properly implement the various legal prescriptions that apply to all of these aspects. The role of the state and schools in society is addressed from a reformational perspective. The same is done with respect to the true meaning and purpose of discipline in schools. The legal provisions with regards to each of these aspects are critically measured against these principles
Experimental quantum information processing with 43Ca+ ions
For quantum information processing (QIP) with trapped ions, the isotope 43Ca+
offers the combined advantages of a quantum memory with long coherence time, a
high fidelity read out and the possibility of performing two qubit gates on a
quadrupole transition with a narrow-band laser. Compared to other ions used for
quantum computing, 43Ca+ has a relatively complicated level structure. In this
paper we discuss how to meet the basic requirements for QIP and demonstrate
ground state cooling, robust state initialization and efficient read out for
the hyperfine qubit with a single 43Ca+ ion. A microwave field and a Raman
light field are used to drive qubit transitions, and the coherence times for
both fields are compared. Phase errors due to interferometric instabilities in
the Raman field generation do not limit the experiments on a time scale of 100
ms. We find a quantum information storage time of many seconds for the
hyperfine qubit.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Deterministic entanglement of ions in thermal states of motion
We give a detailed description of the implementation of a Molmer-Sorensen
gate entangling two Ca+ ions using a bichromatic laser beam near-resonant with
a quadrupole transition. By amplitude pulse shaping and compensation of
AC-Stark shifts we achieve a fast gate operation without compromising the error
rate. Subjecting different input states to concatenations of up to 21
individual gate operations reveals Bell state fidelities above 0.80. In
principle, the entangling gate does not require ground state cooling of the
ions as long as the Lamb-Dicke criterion is fulfilled. We present the first
experimental evidence for this claim and create Bell states with a fidelity of
0.974(1) for ions in a thermal state of motion with a mean phonon number of
=20(2) in the mode coupling to the ions' internal states.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures (author name spelling corrected
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