An Empirical Judgment of Computer Simulated Ayo Game for Decision Making

Decision making plays an important role in the life of every living creature. Virtually on daily basis, people must make one or more decision. A faulty decision can lead to defeat in any competition. This paper presents the process of making decisions on the basis of knowledge of game playing as a major key in defining human characteristics. We simulated Ayo game playing on a digital computer and empirically evaluated the behavior of the prototype simulation. Empirical judgment was carried out on how experts play Ayo game as a means of evaluating the performance of the heuristics used to evolve the Ayo player in the simulation. A paper-based questionnaire was designed and administered to the Ayo game players which were used for the assessments of players’ perceptions of the prototype simulation, which gives room for statistical interpretation. This projects a novel means of solving the problem of decision making in move selections in computer game-playing of Ayo game

Energy management and trading in a smart microgrid

Abstract: Abstract—Distributed Energy Generation (DEG) and Distributed Energy Storage (DES) are finding increasing applications in Demand Side Management (DSM) due to their potentials for grid power system balance and arbitrage opportunities. A grid-connected smart microgrid comprising heterogeneous (active and passive) smart consumers and a largescale energy storage device is considered in this work. Energy management by each smart entity is carried out by the proposed Microgrid Energy Management – Distributed Optimisation Algorithm (MEM-DOA) installed within the network according to consumer type. Each smart consumer optimises its energy consumption, expenditure and trading for comfort and profit. The proposed model was observed to yield financial benefits, grid reliability and sustainability, reduced investment on peaker plants, reduced Peak-to-Average-Ratio (PAR) demand and associated environmental benefits

Time programmable smart devices for peak demand reduction of smart homes in a microgrid

Abstract: Increasing electricity access through Microgrids for rural areas is often faced with the challenge of increased peak demand through increased electricity demand as more electronic devices will be acquired by the consumers and more small businesses will spring up in the community. If not taken care of, this leads to additional cost of incurring higher peaker plants to meet the peak demand, and the burden of the cost of peaker plants are consequentially transferred to the consumers. Since this load is generated by the consumers, it is most desirable to control the peak demand from the consumers’ side. Therefore, a method of Time Programmable Smart Devices (TPSD) with an efficient Electricity Use Plan (EUP) is proposed in this paper by introducing appliance working knowledge and improving load shifting technique of Demand Side Management for peak demand reduction in a rural Microgrid. This method yielded lower morning and evening peaks, a lower peak-to-peak difference than those available in literature, and a peak period shift from the traditional peak period to traditional off-peak period. These lead to financial savings, reduced cost of peaker plants and a safer environment from less greenhouse gases emissions

Effective energy consumption scheduling in smart homes

Abstract: Monthly expenditure on electricity by most households in South Africa take beyond acceptable percentage of their income. In order to keep the household energy expenditure below the energy poverty threshold, a daily electricity optimization problem is formulated using mixed integer linear programming (MILP) method. The energy optimization scheduling was carried out by a device called the Daily Maximum Energy Scheduling (DMES) device proposed to be incorporated into smart meters of households. The DMES algorithm was tested with household data set and was shown to be capable of ensuring that households spend less than 10% of their income on electricity bill monthly. This technique therefore, would be beneficial to consumers (for better financial savings and planning), utility (for effective energy and financial savings, and energy network planning) and cleaner environments as proposed for smart grid. Also, number of households in the nation living below the energy expenditure-based poverty threshold would increase

Facial expressions depicting compassionate and critical emotions: the development and validation of a new emotional face stimulus set

Attachment with altruistic others requires the ability to appropriately process affiliative and kind facial cues. Yet there is no stimulus set available to investigate such processes. Here, we developed a stimulus set depicting compassionate and critical facial expressions, and validated its effectiveness using well-established visual-probe methodology. In Study 1, 62 participants rated photographs of actors displaying compassionate/kind and critical faces on strength of emotion type. This produced a new stimulus set based on N = 31 actors, whose facial expressions were reliably distinguished as compassionate, critical and neutral. In Study 2, 70 participants completed a visual-probe task measuring attentional orientation to critical and compassionate/kind faces. This revealed that participants lower in self-criticism demonstrated enhanced attention to compassionate/kind faces whereas those higher in self-criticism showed no bias. To sum, the new stimulus set produced interpretable findings using visual-probe methodology and is the first to include higher order, complex positive affect displays

The factor structure of the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale in thirteen distinct populations

There is considerable evidence that self-criticism plays a major role in the vulnerability to and recovery from psychopathology. Methods to measure this process, and its change over time, are therefore important for research in psychopathology and well-being. This study examined the factor structure of a widely used measure, the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale in thirteen nonclinical samples (N = 7510) from twelve different countries: Australia (N = 319), Canada (N = 383), Switzerland (N = 230), Israel (N = 476), Italy (N = 389), Japan (N = 264), the Netherlands (N = 360), Portugal (N = 764), Slovakia (N = 1326), Taiwan (N = 417), the United Kingdom 1 (N = 1570), the United Kingdom 2 (N = 883), and USA (N = 331). This study used more advanced analyses than prior reports: a bifactor item-response theory model, a two-tier item-response theory model, and a non-parametric item-response theory (Mokken) scale analysis. Although the original three-factor solution for the FSCRS (distinguishing between Inadequate-Self, Hated-Self, and Reassured-Self) had an acceptable fit, two-tier models, with two general factors (Self-criticism and Self-reassurance) demonstrated the best fit across all samples. This study provides preliminary evidence suggesting that this two-factor structure can be used in a range of nonclinical contexts across countries and cultures. Inadequate-Self and Hated-Self might not by distinct factors in nonclinical samples. Future work may benefit from distinguishing between self-correction versus shame-based self-criticism.Peer reviewe