Experiments and Simulations on Day-to-Day Route Choice-Behaviour

The paper reports laboratory experiments on a day-to-day route choice game with two routes. Subjects had to choose between a main road M and a side road S. The capacity was greater for the main road. 18 subjects participated in each session. In equilibrium the number of subjects is 12 on M and 6 on S. Two treatments with 6 sessions each were run at the Laboratory of Experimental Economics at Bonn University using RatImage. Feedback was given in treatment I only about own travel time and in treatment II on travel time for M and S. Money payoffs increase with decreasing time. The main results are as follows. 1. Mean numbers on M and S are very near to the equilibrium. 2. Fluctuations persist until the end of the sessions in both treatments. 3. Fluctuations are smaller under treatment II .The effect is small but significant. 4. The total number of changes is significantly greater in treatment I. 5. Subjects’ road changes and payoffs are negatively correlated in all sessions. 6. A direct response mode reacts with more changes for bad payoffs whereas a contrary response mode shows opposite reactions. Both response modes can be observed. 7. The simulation of an extended payoff sum learning model closely fits the main results of the statistical evaluation of the data.travel behaviour research, information in intelligent transportation systems, day-to-day route choice, laboratory experiments, payoff sum model

Monte Carlo sampling of Wigner functions and surface hopping quantum dynamics

The article addresses the achievable accuracy for a Monte Carlo sampling of Wigner functions in combination with a surface hopping algorithm for non-adiabatic quantum dynamics. The approximation of Wigner functions is realized by an adaption of the Metropolis algorithm for real-valued functions with disconnected support. The integration, which is necessary for computing values of the Wigner function, uses importance sampling with a Gaussian weight function. The numerical experiments agree with theoretical considerations and show an error of 2–3%

Testing (beliefs about) social preferences: evidence from an experimental coordination game

We report experimental results on a simple coordination game in which two players can coordinate either on an equal distribution of payoffs or on a Pareto superior but unequal distribution of payoffs. We find that the higher the difference in individual payoffs, the less likely is a successful coordination on the Pareto superior distribution. While this is well in line with the recent models of inequity aversion, our results are best explained not by a preference for equality per se but rather by the belief that the opponent has such a preference

Impact of secondary hard substrate on the distribution and abundance of Aurelia aurita in the western Baltic Sea

Highlights: • Impacts of wind farms on the occurrence of the moon jelly Aureliaaurita. • Artificial hard substrate has the potential to increase the abundance of A.aurita. • In the given example the abundance of A. aurita increases about 20%. • Distribution patterns indicate cross-border impacts on various sectors. This study assessed the impact of secondary hard substrate, as being introduced into marine ecosystems by the establishment of wind farm pillars, on the occurrence and distribution of the moon jelly Aurelia aurita in the southwestern Baltic Sea. A two-year data sampling was conducted with removable settlement plates to assess the distribution and population development of the scyphozoan polyps. The data collected from these samples were used to set up a model with Lagrangian particle technique. The results confirm that anthropogenic created hard substrate (e.g. offshore wind farms) has the potential to increase the abundance of the A. aurita population. The distribution of wind farm borne jellyfish along Danish, German and Polish coasts indicates conflicts with further sectors, mainly energy and tourism

Commuters route choice behaviour

The paper reports laboratory experiments with a two route choice scenario. In each session 18 subjects had to choose between a main road M and a side road S. The capacity of M was larger. Feedback was given in treatment I only on the subjects' own travel time and in treatment II on travel time for M and S. The main results are as follows: • Mean numbers on M and S are near to pure equilibrium. • Fluctuations persist until the end of the sessions. • The total number of changes is significantly greater in treatment I. • Subjects' road changes and payoffs are negatively correlated. • A direct response mode results in more changes for bad payoffs whereas a contrary response mode shows opposite reactions. • Simulations of an extended payoff sum learning model fits the main results of the statistical evaluation of the data

Local Communication Protocols for Learning Complex Swarm Behaviors with Deep Reinforcement Learning

Swarm systems constitute a challenging problem for reinforcement learning (RL) as the algorithm needs to learn decentralized control policies that can cope with limited local sensing and communication abilities of the agents. While it is often difficult to directly define the behavior of the agents, simple communication protocols can be defined more easily using prior knowledge about the given task. In this paper, we propose a number of simple communication protocols that can be exploited by deep reinforcement learning to find decentralized control policies in a multi-robot swarm environment. The protocols are based on histograms that encode the local neighborhood relations of the agents and can also transmit task-specific information, such as the shortest distance and direction to a desired target. In our framework, we use an adaptation of Trust Region Policy Optimization to learn complex collaborative tasks, such as formation building and building a communication link. We evaluate our findings in a simulated 2D-physics environment, and compare the implications of different communication protocols.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, version 2, accepted at ANTS 201

Socio-cultural norms of body size in Westerners and Polynesians affect heart rate variability and emotion during social interactions

The perception of body size and thus weight-related stigmatization vary between cultures. Both are stronger in Western than in Polynesian societies. Negative emotional experiences alter one’s behavioral, psychological, and physiological reactions in social interactions. This study compared affective and autonomic nervous system responses to social interactions in Germany and American Samoa, two societies with different body-size related norms. German (n = 55) and Samoan (n = 56) volunteers with and without obesity participated in a virtual ball-tossing game that comprised episodes of social inclusion and social exclusion. During the experiment, heart rate was measured and parasympathetic activity (i.e., high-frequency heart rate variability) was analyzed. We found differences in both emotional experience and autonomic cardio-regulation between the two cultures: during social inclusion, Germans but not Samoans showed increased parasympathetic activity. In Germans with obesity, this increase was related to a more negative body image (comprising high rates of weight-related teasing). During social exclusion, Samoans showed parasympathetic withdrawal regardless of obesity status, while Germans with obesity showed a stronger increase in parasympathetic activity than lean Germans. Furthermore, we found fewer obesity-related differences in emotional arousal after social exclusion in Samoans as compared to Germans. Investigating the interplay of socio-cultural, psychological, and biological aspects, our results suggest influences of body size-related socio-cultural norms on parasympathetic cardio-regulation and negative emotions during social interactions

Rolls-Royce Low Noise Highly Variable Cycle Nozzle for Next Generation Supersonic Aircraft

An overview of the work performed by Rolls-Royce under contract NNL08AA29C is presented. The work includes computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis for, and design of, a highly variable cycle exhaust model for the Supersonic project (NRA NN06ZEA001N). The CFD analysis shows that the latest design improvements to the clam shell doors have increased flow through the ejector over that achieved with previous designs