Agent Street: An Environment for Exploring Agent-Based Models in Second Life

Urban models can be seen on a continuum between iconic and symbolic. Generally speaking, iconic models are physical versions of the real world at some scaled down representation, while symbolic models represent the system in terms of the way they function replacing the physical or material system by some logical and/or mathematical formulae. Traditionally iconic and symbolic models were distinct classes of model but due to the rise of digital computing the distinction between the two is becoming blurred, with symbolic models being embedded into iconic models. However, such models tend to be single user. This paper demonstrates how 3D symbolic models in the form of agent-based simulations can be embedded into iconic models using the multi-user virtual world of Second Life. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates Second Life\'s potential for social science simulation. To demonstrate this, we first introduce Second Life and provide two exemplar models; Conway\'s Game of Life, and Schelling\'s Segregation Model which highlight how symbolic models can be viewed in an iconic environment. We then present a simple pedestrian evacuation model which merges the iconic and symbolic together and extends the model to directly incorporate avatars and agents in the same environment illustrating how \'real\' participants can influence simulation outcomes. Such examples demonstrate the potential for creating highly visual, immersive, interactive agent-based models for social scientists in multi-user real time virtual worlds. The paper concludes with some final comments on problems with representing models in current virtual worlds and future avenues of research.Agent-Based Modelling, Pedestrian Evacuation, Segregation, Virtual Worlds, Second Life

In Silico Prediction of Physicochemical Properties

This report provides a critical review of computational models, and in particular(quantitative) structure-property relationship (QSPR) models, that are available for the prediction of physicochemical properties. The emphasis of the review is on the usefulness of the models for the regulatory assessment of chemicals, particularly for the purposes of the new European legislation for the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of CHemicals (REACH), which entered into force in the European Union (EU) on 1 June 2007. It is estimated that some 30,000 chemicals will need to be further assessed under REACH. Clearly, the cost of determining the toxicological and ecotoxicological effects, the distribution and fate of 30,000 chemicals would be enormous. However, the legislation makes it clear that testing need not be carried out if adequate data can be obtained through information exchange between manufacturers, from in vitro testing, and from in silico predictions. The effects of a chemical on a living organism or on its distribution in the environment is controlled by the physicochemical properties of the chemical. Important physicochemical properties in this respect are, for example, partition coefficient, aqueous solubility, vapour pressure and dissociation constant. Whilst all of these properties can be measured, it is much quicker and cheaper, and in many cases just as accurate, to calculate them by using dedicated software packages or by using (QSPRs). These in silico approaches are critically reviewed in this report.JRC.I.3-Toxicology and chemical substance

Co-design for not-for-profit urganization

Co-design has potential to help community-based organizations deliver better services to their beneficiaries, since it encourages users to get involved in designing services that will be delivered to them. Good use of co-design could bring several benefits, e.g. ensuring that services match users’ needs. However, the extent of co-design knowledge among community-based organizations is currently unknown. Hence, this study aimed at investigating their current state of co-design knowledge in order to develop guidance to help them effectively co-design services with their beneficiaries. This project employed a mix-method approach including a survey, interviews, case studies, and a creative workshop. This paper will discuss results of case studies conducted with five organizations, which involved observations and interviews with key staff and users. The results revealed that the level of understanding of co-design among community-based organizations varied greatly. While most organizations have the right mindset for adopting co-design, since they are keen to listen to users’ ideas, only the minority actually involves users in designing services. The lack of awareness may be the main reason of the slow adoption of codesign. Thus, it is important to help them understand the value of co-design and how it can be used to suit their needs.</p

The ethical limits of bungee research in ICTD

Research in ICTD is difficult because engineers with technical expertise are separated from the challenges that they are trying to address by large physical distances and significant social differences. To overcome these challenges, much research involves occasional short visits by external researchers to developing regions to investigate problems and generate ideas which are then developed back at the engineers' home base before further return visits for deployment and evaluation. This paper highlights the ethical limitations of this `bungee research', and reflects on our experiences in evolving more fruitful research practices. We argue that relying on bungee research as a primary model of research engagement is unethical, and we suggest some minimal conditions that are necessary, but not sufficient, for such visits to be ethically defensible in ICTD research

Health products; designed with, not for, end users

This paper describes research in progress that aims to explore the role that open design could play in the development of medical products. Including people in the development process of medical products has been shown to have benefits to both producers and users but is not universally applied. There are multiple factors from a producer’s point of view as to why a collaborative development process is not used, but similarly there are some medical conditions that preclude a person’s involvement in collaborative group work. For example, people who have the chronic condition Cystic Fibrosis are excluded from traditional collaborative design sessions due to susceptibility to certain communicable diseases. Open design offers the opportunity for people normally excluded in collaborative design processes to not only be included, but also shape the direction of the enquiry. Through the use of social media, and other collaborative internet-enabled tools the dissemination and development of ideas can occur. This goes beyond the fundamental moral and pragmatic arguments for collaborative working, since the knowledge and experience of the people participating is harnessed and available to all. This process therefore bears the hallmarks of a truly emancipatory technique, compatible with the notion of human flourishing and that the concept of a person’s ‘health’ extends beyond a mere absence of illness. The research is based around a series of practical case studies within an Action Research framework, the first of which is outlined here, where artefacts will be produced using open design; drawing upon established methods using prototypes as research and trialing the combination of physical tools (e.g. 3D printing) and virtual meeting spaces to facilitate the design activity

Open design and medical products: irreconcilable differences, or natural bedfellows?

This paper describes the first case study of a continuing practice-based PhD as a work-inprogress,exploring the benefits of open design in the conception (and development) of medical products. Described here is the first attempt to tackle some of the issues facing the implementation of open design in a field where a recognised move to ‘open’ working practices & innovation is needed. Presented are some initial results, and some analysis that (it is hoped) will provide an opportunity for discussion. There are moral and pragmatic reasons to include people in the design process, especially true for medical products-whatever their complexity. Some people cannot participate in traditional collaborative design workshops (through suppressed immune systems, immobility, etc) and open design presents an opportunity for those excluded to participate in the design process, such as those people with Cystic Fibrosis. This is a chronic genetic condition, affecting the internal organs and having a very great impact on a person’s quality of life; as one example, people who have Cystic Fibrosis are strongly discouraged from meeting together. Open design by its nature is a collaborative activity, and the work described here aims to prototype a wholly virtual meeting of people, and empower them to conceive and develop their own products based on their own lived experience of Cystic Fibrosis. The project involves the development of a community of people with Cystic Fibrosis, supported through tools and online workshops with a designer, within an Action Research methodology. It is expected that open design has a positive contribution to make in this field, despite the very real questions surrounding its implementation; and the transition of the designer’s role from production of artefacts to facilitating and nurturing design activity is explored in this work

Quando: enabling museum and art gallery practitioners to develop interactive digital exhibits

Museums and Art Galleries are challenged to inspire, engage and involve visitors by presenting their collections within physical exhibitions. Curators and exhibition professionals are increasingly telling stories using digital interactivity. This work introduces Quando, a visual programming based toolset that domain experts can use to create interactive exhibits. A small case study demonstrates the language in use at during an archaeological excavation

Raising awareness for potential sustainability effects in Uganda: A survey-based empirical study

Copyright © 2019 for this paper by its authors. In July 2019, we ran the 3rd International BRIGHT summer school for Software Engineering and Information Systems at the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The participants developed a group project over the course of the week, which included the application of the Sustainability Awareness Framework. The framework promotes discussion on the impact of software systems on sustainability based on a set of questions. In this paper, we present the educational evaluation of the Sustainability Awareness Framework in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results indicate that the framework can provide supportive guidance of the societal and environmental challenges in the given context

Germ cell specification and ovary structure in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The segregation of the germline from somatic tissues is an essential process in the development of all animals. Specification of the primordial germ cells (PGCs) takes place via different strategies across animal phyla; either specified early in embryogenesis by the inheritance of maternal determinants in the cytoplasm of the oocyte ('preformation') or selected later in embryonic development from undifferentiated precursors by a localized inductive signal ('epigenesis'). Here we investigate the specification and development of the germ cells in the rotifer <it>Brachionus plicatilis</it>, a member of the poorly-characterized superphyla Lophotrochozoa, by isolating the <it>Brachionus </it>homologues of the conserved germ cell markers <it>vasa </it>and <it>nanos</it>, and examining their expression using <it>in situ </it>hybridization.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Bpvasa </it>and <it>Bpnos </it>RNA expression have very similar distributions in the <it>Brachionus </it>ovary, showing ubiquitous expression in the vitellarium, with higher levels in the putative germ cell cluster. <it>Bpvas </it>RNA expression is present in freshly laid eggs, remaining ubiquitous in embryos until at least the 96 cell stage after which expression narrows to a small cluster of cells at the putative posterior of the embryo, consistent with the developing ovary. <it>Bpnos </it>RNA expression is also present in just-laid eggs but expression is much reduced by the four-cell stage and absent by the 16-cell stage. Shortly before hatching of the juvenile rotifer from the egg, <it>Bpnos </it>RNA expression is re-activated, located in a subset of posterior cells similar to those expressing <it>Bpvas </it>at the same stage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The observed expression of <it>vasa </it>and <it>nanos </it>in the developing <it>B. plicatilis </it>embryo implies an epigenetic origin of primordial germ cells in Rotifer.</p

The politics of co-design in ICT for sustainable development

In this paper, we discuss an approach to co-design in ICT for sustainable development. We first set out to consider sustainable development as incorporate a concern for resilience, adaptability, and autonomy. We then draw on an ongoing participatory design project to illustrate how co-design projects can be configured, along with the political choices that this entails, to support such development