Tools of the Trade: A Survey of Various Agent Based Modeling Platforms

Agent Based Modeling (ABM) toolkits are as diverse as the community of people who use them. With so many toolkits available, the choice of which one is best suited for a project is left to word of mouth, past experiences in using particular toolkits and toolkit publicity. This is especially troublesome for projects that require specialization. Rather than using toolkits that are the most publicized but are designed for general projects, using this paper, one will be able to choose a toolkit that already exists and that may be built especially for one's particular domain and specialized needs. In this paper, we examine the entire continuum of agent based toolkits. We characterize each based on 5 important characteristics users consider when choosing a toolkit, and then we categorize the characteristics into user-friendly taxonomies that aid in rapid indexing and easy reference.Agent Based Modeling, Individual Based Model, Multi Agent Systems

A Minimum-Cost Flow Model for Workload Optimization on Cloud Infrastructure

Recent technology advancements in the areas of compute, storage and networking, along with the increased demand for organizations to cut costs while remaining responsive to increasing service demands have led to the growth in the adoption of cloud computing services. Cloud services provide the promise of improved agility, resiliency, scalability and a lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This research introduces a framework for minimizing cost and maximizing resource utilization by using an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) approach to optimize the assignment of workloads to servers on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure. The model is based on the classical minimum-cost flow model, known as the assignment model.Comment: 2017 IEEE 10th International Conference on Cloud Computin

Constraint Propagation in Workflow Systems Using CLIPS

Workflow applications are involved with sequencing activities, monitoring and routing jobs, and coordinating work schedules. These applications must often track changing information about temporal relationships, and maintain a correct set of dependencies among those relationships during the workflow (Egger and Wagner, 1992). Constraint propagation provides a mechanism for updating temporal relationships. Research in temporal reasoning has focused on the problem of constraint propagation, especially for interval-based temporal relations (Allen, 1983; Kautz and Ladkin, 1991). Allen’s model of interval- based temporal relations (1983) uses a transitivity table to infer sets of possible relations among any three events. For example, if we know that A occurs before B, and B occurs during C, then A and C may participate in any of the following relations: before, overlaps, meets, during, and starts. We do not know which relation is correct, however, until we receive additional information about A and C; we have only a set of constraints on the possible truthfulness of the system’s state. As new information is introduced in the form of additional temporal relations (e.g., a work schedule being “firmed up”), the network of temporal constraints needs to be re-computed and checked for correctness. Thus new information about A and C means that previous relations produced from the transitivity table can be eliminated, and relations between C and B need to be re-computed

A Multi-Layered Framework for Developing a Web-Based Intelligent Corporate Bond Rating Agent

This paper describes a Web-based Intelligent Corporate Bond Rating Agent. It is designed to include a real- time dimension in a corporate bond rating information system. By incorporating qualitative variables, the agent also provides a means of supplementing conventional rating approaches. Timely information capabilities of the Web-based Intelligent Corporate Bond Rating Agent would be a benefit for the capital market considering the nonmonotonic nature of rating information systems

Developing Web-based Agents for Knowledge Management

Can we employ the emerging web technologies to transform expert systems technology so that it can be more readily harnessed for the development of Knowledge Management Agents (KMA)? This paper outlines how web technologies can be combined with an expert system shell to provide the platform for the development of KMA. To demonstrate the applicability of such a platform, a sample inter-organizational credential-analysis system is developed. Implications of combining these two technologies in the creation of web-based KMAs, and the platform’s potential applications are then presented

A Prototype Intelligent Tutoring System for Programming Languages: Adding a User Model and Feedback to Instructional Transaction Shells

Intelligent tutoring systems and knowledge management systems are becoming increasingly important, especially their connection to training-on-demand systems. New developments like the Internet and advances in expert systems allow the deployment of intelligent interfaces, which can present the knowledge accumulated in a database. This paper proposes a prototype that utilizes these new technologies to extend Merrill’s work (1992) on instructional transaction shells. These shells embody instructional techniques that are independent of the knowledge they are teaching, and thus reusable. The prototype includes a self-learning expert system for user modeling, thus allowing for a personalized user interface and presentation of content

A Framework for Designing Internet-Based Curriculum

The increased availability and use of Internet technology within business and education is spurring an increase in the use of these tools for on-line teaching and learning. Creating a flexible learning system incorporating these technologies can maximize student understanding and retention of new information. An example of a framework forcurriculum development is developed which incorporates multiple Internet tools, learner support, and encourages employees to use those tools that best meets their individual learning styles and need