May We Have Your Attention: Analysis of a Selective Attention Task

In this paper we present a deeper analysis than has previously been carried out of a selective attention problem, and the evolution of continuous-time recurrent neural networks to solve it. We show that the task has a rich structure, and agents must solve a variety of subproblems to perform well. We consider the relationship between the complexity of an agent and the ease with which it can evolve behavior that generalizes well across subproblems, and demonstrate a shaping protocol that improves generalization

An agent-based architecture for managing the provision of community care - the INCA (Intelligent Community Alarm) experience

Community Care is an area that requires extensive cooperation between independent agencies, each of which needs to meet its own objectives and targets. None are engaged solely in the delivery of community care, and need to integrate the service with their other responsibilities in a coherent and efficient manner. Agent technology provides the means by which effective cooperation can take place without compromising the essential security of both the client and the agencies involved as the appropriate set of responses can be generated through negotiation between the parties without the need for access to the main information repositories that would be necessary with conventional collaboration models. The autonomous nature of agents also means that a variety of agents can cooperate together with various local capabilities, so long as they conform to the relevant messaging requirements. This allows a variety of agents, with capabilities tailored to the carers to which they are attached to be developed so that cost-effective solutions can be provided. </p

The Evolution of Reaction-diffusion Controllers for Minimally Cognitive Agents

No description supplie

Perfection of materials technology for producing improved Gunn-effect devices Interim scientific report

Chemical vapor deposition of epitaxial gallium arsenid

Beyond persons: extending the personal / subpersonal distinction to non-rational animals and artificial agents

The distinction between personal level explanations and subpersonal ones has been subject to much debate in philosophy. We understand it as one between explanations that focus on an agent’s interaction with its environment, and explanations that focus on the physical or computational enabling conditions of such an interaction. The distinction, understood this way, is necessary for a complete account of any agent, rational or not, biological or artificial. In particular, we review some recent research in Artificial Life that pretends to do completely without the distinction, while using agent-centered concepts all the way. It is argued that the rejection of agent level explanations in favour of mechanistic ones is due to an unmotivated need to choose among representationalism and eliminativism. The dilemma is a false one if the possibility of a radical form of externalism is considered

Resilience of pore-water chemistry and calcification in photosynthetic zones of calcifying sediments

Photosynthetically driven calcification was investigated in diatom‐dominated carbonate sediments from Bait Reef, Australia. Laboratory measurements conducted over complete diel cycles, using O2, pH, CO32‐, and Ca2+ microsensors, confirmed that photosynthesis and respiration drive calcification and calcium release via their respective effects on the local pH. However, the dark situation does not simply mirror the light situation. Profiles showed that calcification and calcium release are not necessarily tightly coupled to the light cycle and that mass transfer phenomena need to be considered in diel chemical dynamics. The magnitude and timing of pH and CO2{ 3 concentration changes did not simply follow the light cycle. The pH in the upper 3 mm of the sediment changed more rapidly upon illumination than upon darkening. Consequently, photosynthetically induced calcification began shortly (within 1 h) after illumination, but the pH remained elevated and calcification continued for ~7 h after darkening. Thus, calcification in marine phototrophic sediments is not limited to light periods, but may continue for extended periods after darkening. This decoupling of light, photosynthesis, and calcification has profound consequences for estimates of daily calcification rates, which have previously been made from measurements assuming close to steady states and 12 : 12 h light : dark calcification and decalcification. In Bait Reef sediments, such an assumption underestimates daily calcification rates by two‐ to threefold

Perfection of materials technology for producing improved Gunn-effect devices

Chemical vapor deposition system for improved Gunn effect devices using arsenic chloride 3 metho

Direct neutron capture of 48Ca at kT = 52 keV

The neutron capture cross section of 48Ca was measured relative to the known gold cross section at kT = 52 keV using the fast cyclic activation technique. The experiment was performed at the Van-de-Graaff accelerator, Universitaet Tuebingen. The new experimental result is in good agreement with a calculation using the direct capture model. The 1/v behaviour of the capture cross section at thermonuclear energies is confirmed, and the adopted reaction rate which is based on several previous experimental investigations remains unchanged.Comment: 9 pages (uses Revtex), 2 postscript figures, accepted for publication as Brief Report in Phys. Rev.