Dissolution of Dynamic Electronic Institutions, a first approach: Relevant factors and causes

In the context of the digital business ecosystems, small organizations cooperate between them in order to achieve common goals or offer new services for expanding their markets. There are different approaches for these cooperation models such as virtual enterprises, virtual organizations or dynamic electronic institutions which in their lifecycle have in common a dissolution phase. However this phase has not been studied deeply in the current literature and it lacks formalization. In this paper a first approach for achieving and managing the dissolution phase is proposed, as well as a CBR process in order to support it in a multi-agent system

Embodied Autonomy in Digital Ecosystems: From Bio-Inspired Agents to Cognitive Systems

This paper proposes to promote autonomy in digital ecosystems so that it provides agents with information to improve the behavior of the digital ecosystem in terms of stability. This work proposes that, in digital ecosystems, autonomous agents can provide fundamental services and information. The final goal is to run the ecosystem, generate novel conditions and let agents exploit them. A set of evaluation measures must be defined as well. We want to provide an outline of some global indicators, such as heterogeneity and diversity, and establish relationships between agent behavior and these global indicators to fully understand interactions between agents, and to understand the dependence and autonomy relations that emerge between the interacting agents. Individual variations, interaction dependencies, and environmental factors are determinants of autonomy that would be considered. The paper concludes with a discussion of situations when autonomy is a milestone

A Multiagent System for Coordinating Ambulances for Emergency Medical Services

To coordinate ambulances for emergency medical services, a multiagent system uses an auction mechanism based on trust. Results of tests using real data show that this system can efficiently assign ambulances to patients, thereby reducing transportation time. Emergency transportation on specialized vehicles is needed when a person's health is in risk of irreparable damage. A patient can't benefit from sophisticated medical treatments and technologies if she or he isn't placed in a proper healthcare center with the appropriate medical team. For example, strokes are neurological emergencies involving a limited amount of time in which treatment measures are effective

Expert supervision based on cases

The paper focuses on taking advantage of large amounts of data that are systematically stored in plants (by means of SCADA systems), but not exploited enough in order to achieve supervisory goals (fault detection, diagnosis and reconfiguration). The methodology of case base reasoning (CBR) is proposed to perform supervisory tasks in industrial processes by re-using the stored data. The goal is to take advantage of experiences, registered in a suitable structure as cam, avoiding the tedious task of knowledge acquisition and representation needed by other reasoning techniques as expert systems. An outlook of CBR terminology and basic concepts are presented. The adaptation of CBR in performing expert supervisory tasks, taking into account the particularities and difficulties derived from dynamic systems, is discussed. A special interest is focused in proposing a general case definition suitable for supervisory tasks. Finally, this structure and the whole methodology is tested in a application example for monitoring a real drier chamber

Curriculum sequencing for an e-learning system based on learning styles

This work shows the use of adaptation techniques involved in an e-learning system that considers students' learning styles and students' knowledge states. The mentioned e-learning system is built on a multiagent framework designed to examine opportunities to improve the teaching and to motivate the students to learn what they want in a user-friendly and assisted environment

Studies about the atomic capabilities concept for linear control systems in physical multi-agent environments

This paper shows the impact of the atomic capabilities concept to include control-oriented knowledge of linear control systems in the decisions making structure of physical agents. These agents operate in a real environment managing physical objects (e.g. their physical bodies) in coordinated tasks. This approach is presented using an introspective reasoning approach and control theory based on the specific tasks of passing a ball and executing the offside manoeuvre between physical agents in the robotic soccer testbed. Experimental results and conclusions are presented, emphasising the advantages of our approach that improve the multi-agent performance in cooperative systems

Necessary and sufficient conditions for robust stability using modal intervals

In this paper, robustness of parametric systems is analyzed using a new approach to interval mathematics called Modal Interval Analysis. Modal Intervals are an interval extension that, instead of classic intervals, recovers some of the properties required by a numerical system. Modal Interval Analysis not only simplifies the computation of interval functions but allows semantic interpretation of their results. Necessary, sufficient and, in some cases, necessary and sufficient conditions for robust performance are presented

Predictive motion control of a mirosot mobile robot

This paper discusses predictive motion control of a MiRoSoT robot. The dynamic model of the robot is deduced by taking into account the whole process - robot, vision, control and transmission systems. Based on the obtained dynamic model, an integrated predictive control algorithm is proposed to position precisely with either stationary or moving obstacle avoidance. This objective is achieved automatically by introducing distant constraints into the open-loop optimization of control inputs. Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of such control strategy for the deduced dynamic model

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Notícies de la comunitat universitària

L'Argumentació en l’educació del consum: una via per abordar l’educació científica de la ciutadania del segle XXI

La finalitat de la investigació que es presenta és la de millorar el disseny de contextos educatius afavoridors del desenvolupament en l'alumnat de models de pensament, acció i comunicació coincidents amb els principis de la complexitat. Prenent com a focus la comunicació, ens centrem en l'ús del llenguatge i especialment en l'argumentació perquè és a partir d'aquesta que els membres de la ciutadania comparteixen estratègies, negocien punts de vista i defineixen accions per a posicionar-se davant del repte d'afrontar la sostenibilitat (Izquierdo et al., 2004)

La Creatividad como método didáctico en las asignaturas de proyectos de diseño

En la primera parte del estudio se describen los principios generales que sirven de base a la producción de ideas y se determinan los criterios para incrementar la creatividad en los estudiantes de estas asignaturas, dentro de la docencia en proyectos. En la segunda parte se establecen tres métodos donde quedan englobadas las diferentes técnicas de creatividad, que servirán de base para su clasificación: los denominados métodos de rastreo, los métodos basados en la exteriorización espontánea y los métodos combinatorios. En la tercera parte se describen las técnicas seleccionadas y su implementación. Se presentan los estudios realizados a partir de diversas aplicaciones de técnicas de creatividad a proyectos docentes de diseño e ingeniería, mostrando y analizando los resultados obtenidos. Para ello se realizaron diversas propuestas de proyectos, centrando el estudio en tres, el diseño de un reloj de sobremesa, un juguete de madera y un envase. Respecto al método de rastreo se eligió la técnica de las “analogías” para su implementación. En lo que respecta a los métodos basados en la exteriorización espontánea la técnica principal fue el brainstorming en algunas de sus más diversas configuraciones, entre ellas el brainstorming clásico y el braindrawing y se aplicaron algunos aspectos propios de la sinéctica. En lo que concierne a los métodos combinatorios se trabajó la caja de zwicky

A Homogeneous Set-Theoretical Frame for Clustering Fuzzy Relational Data

Our purpose is to provide a set-theoretical frame to clustering fuzzy relational data basically based on cardinality of the fuzzy subsets that represent objects and their complementaries, without applying any crisp property. From this perspective we define a family of fuzzy similarity indexes which includes a set of fuzzy indexes introduced by Tolias et al, and we analyze under which conditions it is defined a fuzzy proximity relation. Following an original idea due to S. Miyamoto we evaluate the similarity between objects and features by means the same mathematical procedure. Joining these concepts and methods we establish an algorithm to clustering fuzzy relational data. Finally, we present an example to make clear all the process

Tècniques científiques integrades II: un nou model per impartir una assignatura de pràctiques de laboratori

La Facultat de Ciències ha desplegat els nous graus de Biologia, Química, Ciències Ambientals i Biotecnologia organitzats amb un primer curs comú per donar les bases científiques prèvies als següents cursos ja especialitzats. El disseny dels nous graus ha suposat un canvi en la metodologia i organització d’aquests estudis. Dins d’aquest primer curs es situa el mòdul de Tècniques Científiques Integrades (TCI), de caràcter pràctic i que consta de tres assignatures que van endinsant a l’alumne en l’experimentació científica. Dins d’aquest mòdul es situa l’assignatura Tècniques Científiques Integrades II, una assignatura de 6 crèdits, completament pràctica, que té per objectiu introduir l’alumne al laboratori científic, l’aplicació de tècniques bàsiques d’anàlisi, i el bon ús del material de laboratori. Complementant aquest objectiu, l’alumne ha de començar a treballar diferents competències transversals necessàries en l’àmbit científic

Tutorització intensiva i avaluació continuada de pràctiques professionalitzadores en psicologia de la salut

La tutorització intensiva, a la qual al·ludeix el títol de l’activitat que presentem, es deriva de la consideració de l’alumne com a element central en el seu procés d’aprenentatge. Per tant, a l’hora de garantir la qualitat dels aprenentatges assolits pels alumnes, l’interès principal han de ser els outputs que són capaços de donar al llarg del desenvolupament dels programes docents, sense deixar de vetllar pels inputs que la universitat posa al seu abast. Aquestes tasques requereixen una supervisió i suport continus del treball dels alumnes, per tal que puguin assolir nivells òptims en la seva formació. Les pràctiques que tutoritzem pertanyen a una assignatura troncal de segon cicle de l’actual llicenciatura de Psicologia. En el seu disseny s’ha tingut en compte, en la mesura del possible, el nou sistema de crèdits ECTS. Pel que fa a les hores de dedicació de l’estudiant, s’ha procurat l’apropament a la ratio d’entre dues i tres hores de treball de l’estudiant, per cada hora de docència del professor

A chemical Hamiltonian approach study of the basis set superposition error changes on electron densities and one- and two-center energy components

A comparision of the local effects of the basis set superposition error (BSSE) on the electron densities and energy components of three representative H-bonded complexes was carried out. The electron densities were obtained with Hartee-Fock and density functional theory versions of the chemical Hamiltonian approach (CHA) methodology. It was shown that the effects of the BSSE were common for all complexes studied. The electron density difference maps and the chemical energy component analysis (CECA) analysis confirmed that the local effects of the BSSE were different when diffuse functions were present in the calculations