Learning obstacle avoidance with an operant behavioral model

Artificial intelligence researchers have been attracted by the idea of having robots learn how to accomplish a task, rather than being told explicitly. Reinforcement learning has been proposed as an appealing framework to be used in controlling mobile agents. Robot learning research, as well as research in biological systems, face many similar problems in order to display high flexibility in performing a variety of tasks. In this work, the controlling of a vehicle in an avoidance task by a previously developed operant learning model (a form of animal learning) is studied. An environment in which a mobile robot with proximity sensors has to minimize the punishment for colliding against obstacles is simulated. The results were compared with the Q-Learning algorithm, and the proposed model had better performance. In this way a new artificial intelligence agent inspired by neurobiology, psychology, and ethology research is proposed.Fil: Gutnisky, D. A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería.Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; ArgentinaFil: Zanutto, Bonifacio Silvano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería.Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentin

Cooperation in the iterated prisoner's dilemma is learned by operant conditioning mechanisms

The prisoner's dilemma (PD) is the leading metaphor for the evolution of cooperative behavior in populations of selfish agents. Although cooperation in the iterated prisoner's dilemma (IPD) has been studied for over twenty years, most of this research has been focused on strategies that involve nonlearned behavior. Another approach is to suppose that players' selection of the preferred reply might he enforced in the same way as feeding animals track the best way to feed in changing nonstationary environments. Learning mechanisms such as operant conditioning enable animals to acquire relevant characteristics of their environment in order to get reinforcements and to avoid punishments. In this study, the role of operant conditioning in the learning of cooperation was evaluated in the PD. We found that operant mechanisms allow the learning of IPD play against other strategies. When random moves are allowed in the game, the operant learning model showed low sensitivity. On the basis of this evidence, it is suggested that operant learning might be involved in reciprocal altruism.Fil: Gutnisky, D. A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria. Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Zanutto, Bonifacio Silvano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria. Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentin

Social Work in Italy: a change in Italian social services

Actualment, el sistema de serveis socials a Itàlia encara és complex i incomplet i no és sostenible políticament ni econòmicament. Els drets universals han deixat de ser l’objectiu essencial de les seves accions. La crisi econòmica i les tensions relacionades amb els problemes de seguretat i inclusió social generen incertesa sobre el futur i una pèrdua d’identitat, donant lloc a noves exigències de control social i unes expectatives d’inclusió limitades.Actualmente, el sistema de servicios sociales en Italia todavía es complejo e incompleto y no es sostenible política ni económicamente. Los derechos universales han dejado de ser el objetivo esencial de sus acciones. La crisis económica y las tensiones relacionadas con los problemas de seguridad e inclusión social generan incertidumbre sobre el futuro y una pérdida de identidad, dando lugar a nuevas exigencias de control social y a unas expectativas de inclusión limitadas.Still today, the Italian social services system is complex and incomplete, and no longer sustainable either politically or economically. The universality of rights is no longer the underlying objective that its actions must pursue. The economic crisis and the tensions concerning the issues of security and social inclusion generate fears about the future and a loss of identity, giving rise to new demands for social control and reduced prospects of inclusion

Gimme shelter: endangered waterbirds in the coastal area between Timavo and Tagliamento river mouths

Il presente contributo analizza lo stato dell’avifauna nidificante nella zona costiera del Friuli Venezia Giulia. Se per lo svernamento e la sosta durante le migrazioni la zona considerata è da ritenersi molto vocata con un numero di specie ed individui paragonabile alle altre zone umide maggiori dell’Alto Adriatico, per la nidificazione il valore locale risulta minore. Nel periodo riproduttivo la scarsa o nulla mobilità dei soggetti nidificanti deve essere compensata da condizioni di idoneità ambientale e di elevata tranquillità. La semplificazione territoriale seguita all’antropizzazione, in particolare alle bonifiche, unita al disturbo diretto da parte delle molteplici attività umane deprime le potenzialità dell’area. La nidificazione coloniale di Ciconiformi e Caradriformi è concentrata in porzioni molto ridotte di territorio (con l’eccezione del Gabbiano reale mediterraneo), talora al di fuori di ogni vincolo di tutela, mentre una serie di impatti naturali ed antropici mette a rischio il mantenimento di alcune popolazioni nidificanti. Fatta salva la conservazione dell’esistente, risulta necessario intraprendere alcune azioni volte a rallentare i fenomeni in atto e a ricostruire gli ambienti scomparsi. La ricostruzione delle barene in laguna di Marano e di un mosaico di zone umide d’acqua dolce con diverse tipologie (canneti, boschi umidi, prati temporaneamente allagati e pascolati) nelle zone perilagunari, insieme ad una gestione “integrata” di alcune delle valli da pesca estensive di maggiori dimensioni, potrebbero incrementare il valore delle zone umide regionali per gli uccelli acquatici nidificanti.This study analyses the state of conservation of breeding waterbirds in the coastal areas of the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia. Such areas are very important for wintering and resting during migrations, with species and individual numbers comparable to those of the other main Northern Adriatic wetlands. However, breeding waterbirds are not as abundant and diverse. Indeed, during the reproductive season the presence of breeding individuals is related to good environmental conditions and to low levels of disturbance. The loss of habitats caused by human interventions, in particular wetland reclaiming, and the disturbance deriving from human activities, have drastically decreased the area potentials. Colonial breeding of Ciconidae and Caradridae is concentrated in very small territories (with the exception of the Yellow Legged Gull), that in some cases are not even protected, whereas a series of natural and human impacts places at risk the maintenance of some breeding populations. The efforts should thus be devoted both to the conservation of habitats and species that are already presents, and to the restoration of habitats that have disappeared. Saltmarsh rebuilding in Marano lagoon and the creation of a variety of freshwater wetlands (reedbeds, riveline woodlands, flooded and grazed meadows) in the perilagoonal areas, together with the integrated management of some extensive fishfarms, could increase the value of regional wetlands for breeding waterbirds

Transfer of artificial syntax functions among equivalence - related stimuli: An event - related brain potentials study

La formación de clases de equivalencia entre estímulos ha sido propuesta en el campo del Análisis Experimental del Comportamiento como un prerrequisito conductual para el lenguaje. Adicionalmente, existe evidencia de que la transferencia de función entre estímulos equivalentes podría explicar la adquisición de estructuras sintácticas simples. No obstante, la simplicidad de las funciones sintácticas estudiadas no capturó la complejidad combinatoria de la gramática natural. Si la transferencia de funciones en clases de equivalencia es un modelo posible del desarrollo de estructuras gramaticales, debería verificarse en contextos más válidos para el estudio del lenguaje. Los objetivos del presente trabajo fueron: 1) analizar la transferencia de funciones sintácticas en clases de equivalencia en un contexto válido para el estudio de la adquisición de reglas gramaticales, utilizando para ello el paradigma de gramáticas artificiales 2) Analizar los potenciales cerebrales relacionados con el procesamiento de esta transferencia de función, en secuencias gramaticales y no gramaticales. Se encontró evidencia comportamental de transferencia de función en un subgrupo de los sujetos experimentales. El potencial P600, típicamente asociado al costo de integración sintáctica en contextos linguísticos, fue observado en estos sujetos ante: violaciones gramaticales con estímulos originales de la gramática artificial y secuencias con estímulos relacionados por equivalencia (gramaticales y no gramaticales). Se interpretó que el procesamiento de las secuencias artificiales implicó mecanismos neurobiológicos similares a los asociados a la sintaxis del lenguaje, y que el patrón de actividad P600 observado puede ser explicado por el aumento del costo de integración de los estímulos al contexto previo.Stimulus equivalence class formation has been proposed as a behavioral prerequisite for language within the field of experimental analysis of behavior. Additionally, there is evidence that transfer of function among equivalent stimuli may explain acquisition of simple syntactic structures. However these experiments analyzed sequence functions that did not capture the complexity and versatility of natural grammar. If transfer of function between stimuli that belong to the same equivalence classes is indeed a useful model for the development of grammatical structures, then we should be able to verify it in a more valid context for the study of language. Artificial grammar learning tasks have been applied to the study of several aspects of language acquisition, from word segmentation to phrase structure and syntax rules. Furthermore, it has been shown that patterns of brain activity during processing of artificial grammars resemble those observed in language syntax processing. In particular, structural violations of language sentences and artificial grammar sequences both activate Broca's area. Therefore, artificial grammars provide a valid paradigm to study the learning of syntactic functions. The main objectives of the current work were: (1) to analyze transfer of function within equivalence classes in a valid context for the study of syntax acquisition, applying the artificial grammar paradigm and (2) to analyze brain potentials related to the transfer of function in grammatical and ungrammatical sequences. Fifteen subjects were trained to form two three-stimulus equivalence classes and then performed an artificial grammar learning task. One stimulus from each equivalence class was included as an item in the artificial grammar categories. During a test stage, subjects were asked to classify new artificial grammar sequences as grammatical or ungrammatical, while their EEG activity was registered. Half of these new sequences were built using the original training items and the other half contained equivalence-related stimulus. Subjects were assigned to two groups according to their performance in this test stage. Those participants whose percentage of correct responses was above 50 % were considered to pass, while those below were assigned to the fail group. We found behavioral evidence of transfer of function in the pass subgroup. These participants were able to correctly discriminate grammatical from un grammatical sequences that were built using original or equivalence-related stimulus. Event-Related potential Analysis of the EEG signal indicated a posteriorly distributed positivity with a topography and time-course similar to the P600 potential. Within linguistic contexts, P600 is interpreted as the neural correlate of prediction and integration costs during syntax processing. It has been proposed that sentence comprehension depends on predictive mechanisms that combine lexical, semantic and syntactic information from linguistic input to anticipate future words. Processing of incoming stimuli is facilitated by pre- activation, allowing rapid integration to previous context. However, when the input does not match predictions, this integration becomes slower and more difficult, requiring additional neural resources. The P600 has been considered and index of increased integration costs, generated by unfulfilled predictions of word category and morphology based on previous context. In the present experiment, the P600 was observed after: grammar violations with the original artificial grammar lexicon and artificial sequences containing equivalence-related stimulus (both grammatical andungrammatical). Results showed that artificial grammar processing involved neurobiological mechanisms that are similar to those associated in natural grammar processing. We interpreted the observed P600 pattern in terms of an increased stimulus integration cost, both in the case of grammatical and ungrammatical equivalence-related stimulus. Even though we consider that transference of function and equivalence class formations are by themselves insufficient to explain the complexity of natural grammar, we propose that this processes might be relevant to its acquisition and evolution, constituting a behavioral prerequisite for language development.Fil: Tabullo, Angel Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Yorio, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Zanutto, Silvano. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Wainselboim, Alejandro Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentin

Habitat management and conservation in the Isonzo River Mouth Natural Regional Reserve

La Riserva Naturale Regionale Foce Isonzo, il cui territorio coincide in gran parte con quello del SIC/ZPS 3330004, conduce interventi di conservazione e gestione sui 21 habitat di interesse comunitario, inclusi nell’all.I della DIR CE 92/43, presenti nell’area. Altri habitat non inclusi nella DIR CE 92/43 vengono gestiti in quanto ospitano specie di interesse comunitario, incluse nell’all. II e/o IV della stessa Direttiva, nell’all.I della DIR CE 79/409, nelle Liste Rosse Nazionali e Regionali oppure presenti con un numero di individui considerato di importanza internazionale o nazionale per l’avifauna. Gli interventi di conservazione attuati sono previsti e regolamentati nella Riserva dai propri: Piano di Conservazione e Sviluppo, Piano Faunistico, Regolamento e Piano di gestione degli habitat vegetali. Molti habitat vengono lasciati alla libera evoluzione. Per la loro conservazione viene considerata sufficiente la regolamentazione delle attività antropiche. Altri habitat vengono mantenuti per mezzo di interventi di gestione ordinaria quali: lo sfalcio, il pascolo e la gestione dei livelli idrici nelle aree arginate. Alcune superfici di prati e pascoli in abbandono, ed in via di scomparsa a causa del progressivo arbustamento, sono state ripristinate mediante il taglio e l’asporto della biomassa legnosa ed il riavvio delle attività gestionali necessarie. Diversi interventi di rinaturazione sono stati inoltre eseguiti, in aree precedentemente drenate ed arate a fini agricoli, realizzando nuovi stagni permanenti e temporanei, prati, pascoli e boschi. In seguito a tali interventi, in questi nuovi ambienti, sono attualmente presenti numerosi habitat e numerosissime specie di interesse comunitario.The Isonzo River Mouth Natural Regional Reserve, whose borders coincide very closely with those of the SAC/SPA 3330004, carries out conservation and management actions on 21 habitat of European interest, included in Annex I of the EU Directive 92/43, that are present within its borders. Other habitats are not included in Annex I of the EU Directive 92/43, but they are managed because they host species of European interest, included in Annex II and IV of the same Directive, in Annex I of the European Directive 79/409, in the National and Regional Red Lists, or that are present with numbers of international or national relevance in the case of bird species. The conservation actions that have been carried out are regulated by several Plans that have relevance for the Reserve: Conservation and Development Plan, Faunistic Plan, Reserve Regulations and Vegetation Management Plan. Several habitats are not directly modified by human intervention. Indeed, their conservation is assured simply by regulating human activities. Other habitats are maintained only through ordinary management actions, such as grass cutting, grazing and water level management in the diken areas. Some areas, characterised by abandoned meadows and disappearing due to shrub invasion, have been restored by cutting and removing the wood biomass and by carrying out the subsequent ordinary management actions. Furthermore, several renaturation actions have been carried out in areas that had been dried and used for agriculture. In such areas, permanent and temporary ponds, meadows and woods have been created. Following such actions, in these environments a lot of habitats and species of European interest have appeared

On the role of latent design conditions in cyber-physical systems security

As cyber-physical systems (CPS) become prevalent in everyday life, it is critical to understand the factors that may impact the security of such systems. In this paper, we present insights from an initial study of historical security incidents to analyse such factors for a particular class of CPS: industrial control systems (ICS). Our study challenges the usual tendency to blame human fallibility or resort to simple explanations for what are often complex issues that lead to a security incident. We highlight that (i) perception errors are key in such incidents (ii) latent design conditions -- e.g., improper specifications of a system's borders and capabilities -- play a fundamental role in shaping perceptions, leading to security issues. Such design-time considerations are particularly critical for ICS, the life-cycle of which is usually measured in decades. Based on this analysis, we discuss how key characteristics of future smart CPS in such industrial settings can pose further challenges with regards to tackling latent design flaws

Do faultlines hurt or help? exploring distance, identity, task conflict, and individual performance in diverse groups

We introduce the concept of faultline distance that reflects the extent to which subgroups formed by faultlines diverge as a result of accumulated differences across them (e.g., two members of age 20 are closer in age to two members of an opposing faultline of age 25 than of two members of age 50). We further extend faultline theory by showing how different faultline bases (information-based and social category faultlines) have differential effects on outcomes. Using a sample of 76 workgroups from a Fortune 500 information processing company, we examine the relationships between group faultlines, shared identity, work-related conflict, and multiple individual performance indicators. The results reveal that members of groups with strong information-based faultlines had high levels of performance ratings, while members of groups with strong social category faultlines had low levels of bonuses. Faultline distance further exacerbated the negative effects in groups with strong social category faultlines and reversed the positive effects in groups with information-based faultlines. A sense of strong superordinate identity among group members enhanced members\u27 performance. Finally, mediated moderation was confirmed for the groups with strong social category faultlines; such groups had low levels of conflict which then resulted in low levels of bonuses

Orbital debris mitigation through deorbiting with passive electrodynamic drag

The increase of orbital debris and the consequent proliferation of smaller objects through fragmentation are driving the need for mitigation strategies. The issue is how to deorbit the satellite with an efficient system that does not impair drastically the propellant budget of the satellite and, consequently, reduces its operating life. We have been investigating, in the framework of a European-Community-funded project, a passive system that makes use of an electrodynamics tether to deorbit a satellite through Lorentz forces. The deorbiting system will be carried by the satellite itself at launch and deployed from the satellite at the end of its life. From that moment onward the system operates passively without requiring any intervention from the satellite itself. The paper summarizes the results of the analysis carried out to show the deorbiting performance of the system starting from different orbital altitudes and inclinations for a reference satellite mass. Results can be easily scaled to other satellite masses. The results have been obtained by using a high-fidelity computer model that uses the latest environmental routines for magnetic field, ionospheric density, atmospheric density and a gravity field model. The tether dynamics is modelled by considering all the main aspects of a real system as the tether flexibility and its temperature-dependent electrical conductivity. Temperature variations are computed by including all the major external and internal input fluxes and the thermal flux emitted from the tether. The results shows that a relatively compact and light system can carry out the complete deorbit of a relatively large satellite in a time ranging from a month to less than a year starting from high LEO with the best performance occurring at low orbital inclinations

Aprendizaje inferencial de términos verbales nuevos: un estudio de Potenciales Evocados

La capacidad de sujetos adultos para adquirir términos verbales nuevos mediante aprendizaje inferencial ha sid estudiada. Para ello se presentaron en computadora 70 escenas visuales diferentes consistentes en figuras geométricas que realizaban distintos posibles movimientos. De manera simultánea cada escena era descripta por una frase formada por no-palabras. Los participantes debían aprender cuáles eran los términos que denotaban cada uno de los movimientos presentados. En el testeo, 80 escenas con nuevas combinaciones de las figuras y movimientos del entrenamiento eran presentados en simultáneo ya fuera con frases que las describían correctamente (condición “Correctas”, 50% de ensayos) o que poseían un “verbo” que no describía el movimiento presentado en la escena (condición “Incorrectas”, 0% de ensayos), mientras se registraba su actividad electroencefalográfica. Los participantes debían decidir en menos de 2 segundos, si la frase describía o no la escena presentada. 15 de los 19 participantes respondieron significativamente por encima del azar durante el testeo. El registro de los potenciales evocados mostró la aparición de una negatividad parieto-occipital en los 400 a 700 ms posteriores a la aparición del “verbo” incorrecto, de características compatibles con el N400. Los resultados muestran que en adultos es posible inferir el significado de términos verbales nuevos a partir de la co-ocurrencia entre contexto visual y lingüístico. La aparición de una negatividad de tipo N400 ante la incongruencia entre escena y “verbo”, señala que la integración de la información contextual y lingüística se da de manera continua, apoyando la visión de una interpretación incremental de la frase.The capacity to acquire new verbal meanings by inferential learning was studied in adults. To do so, 70 different visual scenes were presented by computer. Each scene consisted of geometrical figures that could perform different possible movements. In simultaneous, each scene was described by a sentence formed by non-words. Participants had to learn which non-word referred to each presented movement. During testing, 80 additional scenes with new combinations of the already presented figures and movements were presented simultaneously with sentences that either described the scene correctly (“Correctas” condition, 50% of trials), or presented an erroneous “verb” (“Incorrectas” condition, 50% of trials), while the electroencephalographic activity of the participant was recorded. 15 of the 19 participants responded significantly above chance during the test. Evoked potential recordings showed the appearance of a parieto-occipital negativity 400 to 700 ms after presentation of the erroneous “verb”, that was compatible with an N400. Results show that adults are able to infer new verbal meanings from the co-occurrence between visual and linguistic context. The appearance of an N400-like negativity with incongruence between scene and “verb” indicates that contextual and linguistic information are continuously integrated, supporting the vision of an incremental interpretation of sentences.Fil: Lopes Da Cunha, Pamela Johanna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Vernis, Sergio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Zanutto, Bonifacio Silvano. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria. Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Wainselboim, Alejandro Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentin