On Agent Communication in Large Groups

The problem is fundamental and natural, yet deep - to simulate the simplest possible form of communication that can occur within a large multi-agent system. It would be prohibitive to try and survey all of the research on communication in general so we must restrict our focus. We will devote our efforts to synthetic communication occurring within large groups. In particular, we would like to discover a model for communication that will serve as an abstract model, a prototype, for simulating communication within large groups of biological organisms

An Algorithmic Palette Tool

Our algorithmic tool follows the model of RGB percentage curves, but now the control of these curves is though algorithms that indirectly, and more abstractly, create, evolve, and modify such curves. To fully explain our methods we must first introduce the topic mutating expressions. This is done in Section Two. In Section Three we document the user-interface problems we dealt with, and finally in Section Four discuss conclusions and suggest ideas for future exploration. Before commencing with the technical details however, we wish to emphasize the nature of the colorization problem that led to the conception and development of our methods

Merlin\u27s Magic Square Enhanced

This paper first considers questions about games related to Merlin\u27s Magic Square from the point of view of group actions. At this juncture, little beyond the formal model is new, but the exposition sets the stage for considering certain enhanced versions of these games. The analysis of enhanced games, with the aid of semigroup actions, is carried out in complete detail for an ostensibly simpler (k = 3) game before turning to a Merlin ( k = 4) game. Concluding sections discuss various ways to generalize our games. To review the solution to Merlin\u27s Magic Square, we begin by introducing our formal model. As usual, we use 1 to represent an ON light and 0 to represent an OFF light. When light and button are one unit as in Merlin we shall also speak of the button itself as being ON or OFF

Graphical Evolution Experiments in Artificial Life

Larry Yaeger\u27s alife simulation running on a Silicon Graphics Iris Workstation is called Poly World. Our description of PolyWorld is based on notes taken during an oral presentation and video demonstration given in the Artificial Life Panel Session of SIGGRAPH \u2792: In PolyWorld the visual organisms roam on a bounded two dimensional grid. The organisms brains are small neural nets enabling the organisms to control their external visual appearance and to perceive the external world by processing pixmaps. The simulation controls for total energy while striving to explore competition and self-organization. Genes present are for size, strength, maximum speed, mutation rate, number of crossover points in the neural net, lifespan, energy to offspring, and ID (a parameter used to enable mimicry). The neural net can make decisions about whether the organism should eat, fight, mate, move, turn, light (effecting the external appearance of the light sensor panel it emits), or focus (gaze at the appearance of others). To see the organisms evolve to different species adopting distinct and atypical strategies and behaviors for survival is most impressive. Words do not do justice to the video animation sequences

On Uniform and Relative Distribution in the Brauer Group

In this progress/technical report our objective is twofold. First, to formalize and expand upon remarks appearing in [7] concerning the relativization of the fundamental identity in the setting of the Brauer group of a ring, and second to exhibit a construction which shows how to interpret uniform distribution as a homological phenomenon

On Quaternionic Pseudo-Random Number Generators

There is no dearth of published literature on the design, implementation, analysis, or use of pseudo-random number generators or PRNGs. For example, [6] [7] [14] and the references therein, provide a broad overview and firm grounding for the subject. This report complements and elaborates upon the work of McKeever [9], who investigated PRNGs constructed in a non-commutative setting with the target application being so-called cryptographically secure PRNGs as discussed in [12] or [13]. Novel solutions to the problem of designing cryptographically secure PRNGS continue to be proposed [1] [2] [10] [15], so despite the caution and skepticism required, the area remains active. The concept elaborated upon here is computation in a finite non-commutative object which is more than a matrix ring over a finite field. Specifically, we consider computation in a homomorphic image of a maximal order of an ordinary quaternion algebra. In Section Two we develop the necessary algebraic machinery. In Section Three we consider PRNG design in this computational setting. In Section Four we attempt some preliminary analysis of the PRNGs described. In Section Five we offer some final remarks and conclusions

Simulated Annealing and Optimal Codes

Following standard notation, an (n, m, d) code C denotes a binary code C which has length n, size m, and Hamming distance d. According to Hill [6] the “main coding theory problem” is to optimize one of these three parameters when the other two are held fixed. The usual version of this optimization problem is to find the largest code for a given length and given minimum distance. This is the problem we shall consider, thus making it clear what we mean by an “optimal code.

Secure Trapdoor Hash Functions Based on Public-Key Cryptosystems

In this paper we systematically consider examples representative of the various families of public-key cryptosystems to see if it would be possible to incorporate them into trapdoor hash functions, and we attempt to evaluate the resulting strengths and weaknesses of the functions we are able to construct. We are motivated by the following question: Question 1.2 How likely is it that the discoverer of a heretofore unknown public-key cryptosystem could subvert it for use in a plausible secure trapdoor hash algorithm? In subsequent sections, our investigations will lead to a variety of constructions and bring to light the non-adaptability of public-key cryptosystems that are of a \low density. More importantly, we will be led to consider from a new point of view the effects of the unsigned addition, shift, exclusive-or and other logical bit string operators that are presently used in constructing secure hash algorithms: We will show how the use of publickey cryptosystems leads to \fragile secure hash algorithms, and we will argue that circular shift operators are largely responsible for the security of modern high-speed secure hash algorithms

Ant Paintings Based on the Seed Foraging Behavior of P. barbatus

Abstract We describe our conversion of a simulation of the seed foraging behavior of the ant species P. barbatus to a generative art technique for creating ant paintings. We also show how the key parameters involved influence the results

Soluble CD36 Ectodomain Binds Negatively Charged Diacylglycerol Ligands and Acts as a Co-Receptor for TLR2

BACKGROUND:Cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) is a transmembrane glycoprotein involved in many biological processes, such as platelet biology, angiogenesis and in the aetiopathology of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are one of the most important receptors of the innate immune system. Their main function is the recognition of conserved structure of microorganisms. This recognition triggers signaling pathways that activate transcription of cytokines and co-stimulatory molecules which participate in the generation of an immune response against microbes. In particular, TLR2 has been shown to recognize a broad range of ligands. Recently, we showed that CD36 serves as a co-receptor for TLR2 and enhances recognition of specific diacylglycerides derived from bacteria. METHODOLOGY/ PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here, we investigate the mechanism by which CD36 contributes to ligand recognition and activation of TLR2 signaling pathway. We show that the ectodomain of murine CD36 (mCD36ED) directly interacts with negatively charged diacylglycerol ligands, which explains the specificity and selectivity of CD36 as a TLR2 co-receptor. We also show that mCD36ED amplifies the pro-inflammatory response to lipoteichoic acid in macrophages of wild-type mice and restores the pro-inflammatory response of macrophages from mice deficient in CD36 (oblivious), but not from mice deficient in cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) (heedless). CONCLUSION/ SIGNIFICANCE: These data indicate that the CD36 ectodomain is the only relevant domain for activation of TLR2 signaling pathway and that CD36 and CD14 have a non-redundant role for loading ligands onto TLR2 in the plasma-membrane. The pro-inflammatory role of soluble CD36 can be relevant in the activation of the immune response against pathogens, as well as in the progression of chronic diseases. Therefore, an increased level of soluble forms of CD36, which has been reported to be increased in type II diabetic patients, could accelerate atherosclerosis by increasing the pro-inflammatory response to diacylglycerol ligands