Syfte: Syftet med kandidatuppsatsen är att ta reda på ifall det svaga intresset för köpmäklare i Sverige beror på en bristande kännedom om köpmäklartjänstens existens eller om det saknas ett behov för tjänsten. En kortare utredning av hur lagen ser ut genomförs för att se om en köpmäklartjänst kan utövas enligt den idag rådande lagstiftningen. Forskningsfråga: Beror det svaga intresset för köpmäklare i Sverige på att svenska folket inte är medvetna om att tjänsten existerar eller beror det på att det inte finns ett behov av tjänsten? Metod: I uppsatsen har information samlats in genom två olika typer av undersökningsmetoder, kvantitativa enkäter och kvalitativa intervjuer. Informationen av dessa har sedan sammanställts och utgör resultatet i uppsatsen. Analysen i arbetet utgår ifrån resultatet vilket har bearbetats med den teoretiska delen som en grund. Det är utifrån den teoretiska modell som ställts upp, vilken är kallad ”slutlig analysmodell”, som analysen utarbetats. Uppsatsens bidrag: I Sverige finns det idag ett fåtal aktörer som agerar som så kallade köpmäklare, vilka jobbar på uppdrag av köpare. Efter att ha gjort en kortare forskning kring området så märktes det snabbt att det inte finns mycket information om varken tjänsten eller hur väl det svenska folket känner till en sådan tjänst eller om de har behov av det, att tillgå. Genom denna uppsats uppmärksammas därför problematiken kring efterfrågan av tjänsten och vad detta eventuellt kan bero på. Efter genomfört arbete kommer uppsatsen att kunna ligga till grund för vidare forskning kring tjänsten och dess efterfrågan.   Resultat och slutsats: Svenska bostadsspekulanter har dålig till ingen kännedom om att köpmäklartjänsten existerar då minimal marknadsföring görs. Även behovet är lågt bland svenska bostadsköpare då de är bra skyddade genom säljarens fastighetsmäklare som enligt lag även ska tillgodose köparens intresse.   Förslag till vidare forskning: 1)      Undersöka om det finns utrymme eller möjlighet till att genomföra lagändringar vilket skulle främja en köpmäklartjänst. 2)      Hur man kan öka svenska folkets medvetenhet om köpmäklartjänstens existens. 3)      Genomföra en mer rikstäckande undersökning kring svenska folkets medvetenhet och behov för att se om resultatet visar något annat. / Purpose: The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to determine if a lack of buyers real estate agents in Sweden is due to a lack of knowledge of the existence or the absence of need for the service. A short investigation of how the law corresponds to the work of a buyers real estate agent has been done.   Research question: Is the lack of buyer’s real estate agents in Sweden due to a lack of knowledge of their existence or the absence of need for the service.   Methodology: In this paper, the information is gathered from two different types of survey methods, quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. The information from these has been compiled and is the result of this paper. The analysis of the work is based on the results which have been processed with the theoretical part as a basis. It is based on the theoretical model which is called the "slutlig analysmodell".   Essay contributions: In Sweden, there are a few agents who act as buyer’s real estate agents which works on behalf of a buyer. After a shorter research it was found that there is not much information about the service or how well the Swedish people are aware of such a service or if they have any need of it. This essay therefore wants to point out the problem with the lack of demand for the service and what it may be due to. After completion of this essay this paper will provide a basis for further research into the service and its demand. Results and Conclusion: Swedish housing speculators have poor to no knowledge of the existens of the buyer’s real estate agent service due to minimal marketing. Also the demand of such a service is low due to that the buyers are well protected by the seller’s real estate agent, who by law also must work for the best of the buyers interests.   Suggestions for further research: 1) Investigate whether there is room or opportunity for the implementation of legislative changes which would support a buyers real estate agent service. 2) How to increase the Swedish people's awareness of the existence of a buyer’s real estate agent service. 3) Implement a more nationwide survey on Swedish people's awareness and needs of a buyer’s real estate agent service to see if the results show otherwise.

Detta examensarbete har skett i samarbete med Stadsmuseet i Skövde inför en utställning under sommaren och hösten 2013 om staden Skövdes skyddshelgon S:ta Elin. Arbetet innehåller en undersökning om hur en 3D-animerad karaktärs icke-verbala uppförande tillsammans med dess ikonografiska attribut kan fungera engagerande för publiken på ett sätt som stödjer syfte och mål med utställningen. För utställningen var målet att göra besökarna intresserade av vad som ligger bakom legenden. För utvärderingen skapades en prototyp i form av animerad 3D-karaktär som ingick i en kortfilm till utställningen om Elinlegenden. Karaktären Elin var i filmen "stum", i betydelsen att hon inte talade själv, därför var det viktigt att hennes karaktär ändå klarade att uttrycka personlighetsdrag. För examensarbetet valdes tre utvärderingsmetoder för att samla in data. Det användes en fokusgrupp för att utvärdera gestaltningen av S:ta Elin och två enkäter (en vid utställningen och en online).

Enterprises are challenging for decision support procedures incorporated in their daily work, for example, recommendation of prices during ordering of commodities in supply process. The practical experience has proved that economical effectiveness may be obtained in enterprise daily supply activities by balancing several factors as priority of customer, reliability of supplier, saleability of product etc. For this purpose the supply manager must be able to evaluate instantly considerable amounts of data. In this work adaptive software agents are analysed intended for using in information systems of such kind. Recommendation system is comprised of six agents for customer, order, supplier, stock, recommendation and data base. Algorithms for computing behaviour of agents are presented. Information system based on agents should make recommendations with regards to prices and discounts in order to support users – supply managers – in their decision making process. Recommendation system is implemented, using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and MS SQL Server. Experimental research of system has demonstrated the viability of approach and effectiveness of using recommendation system in enterprise activity.

This thesis is to develop a novel consensus algorithm or protocol for multi-agent systems in the event of communication link failure over the network. The structure or topology of the system is modeled by an algebraic graph theory, and defined as a discrete time-invariant system with a second-order dynamics. The communication link failure is governed by a Bernoulli process. Lyapunov-based methodologies and Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) techniques are then applied to find an appropriate controller gain by satisfying the sufficient conditions of the error dynamics. Therefore, the controller with the calculated gain is guaranteed to drive the system to reach a consensus. Finally, simulation and experiment studies are carried out by using two Mobile Robot Pioneer 3-DXs and one Pioneer 3-AT as a team to verify the proposed work.

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Little attention has been paid, in depth, to the relationship between fitness evaluation in evolutionary algorithms and reputation mechanisms in multi-agent systems, but if these could be related it opens the way for implementation of distributed evolutionary systems via multi-agent architectures. Our investigation concentrates on the effectiveness with which social selection, in the form of reputation, can replace direct fitness observation as the selection bias in an evolutionary multi-agent system. We do this in two stages: In the first, we implement a peer-to-peer, adaptive Genetic Algorithm (GA), in which agents act as individual GAs that, in turn, evolve dynamically themselves in real-time, using the traditional evolutionary operators of fitness-based selection, crossover and mutation. In the second stage, we replace the fitness-based selection operator with a reputation-based one, in which agents choose their mates based on the collective past experiences of themselves and their peers. Our investigation shows that this simple model of distributed reputation can be successful as the evolutionary drive in such a system, exhibiting practically identical performance and scalability to direct fitness observation. Further, we discuss the effect of noise (in the form of “defective” agents) in both models. We show that the reputation-based model is significantly better at identifying the defective agents, thus showing an increased level of resistance to noise.

In this research, a multi-agent approach was applied to the design of a large axial flow compressor in order to optimise performance and to greatly enlarge the useful operating range of the machine. In this design a number of distributed software/hardware agents co-operate to control the internal geometry of the machine and thereby optimise the compressor characteristics in response to changes in flow conditions. The resulting machine is termed an ‘Intelligent Geometry Compressor’ (IGC). The design of a multi-agent system for the IGC was carried out in three main phases, each supported by computer simulation. In the first phase a steady-state model of the IGC was developed in which global control of the variable geometry is achieved by a single agent. This was used to help identify specific requirements for performance and the underlying parametric relationships. The subsequent phases incorporated additional agents into the machine design to meet these requirements. Initially, agents were deployed to optimise the settings of individual rows of stator vanes. In the final phase, the MAS was extended to incorporate agents into the machine design for the control of individual stator vanes. Simulation results were obtained which demonstrate the effectiveness of the intelligent geometry compressor in achieving delivery pressure regulation over a wide range of steady-state operating conditions whilst optimising overall machine efficiency and avoiding the occurrence of stall. Some of the implications for the physical design of an IGC arising from the MAS concept were briefly considered. The experience of the research supported by the specific results and observations from many simulation trials, led to the conclusion that multi-agent systems can provide an effective and novel alternative approach to the design of an intelligent geometry compressor. By implication, this conclusion may be extended to other intelligent machine applications where similar opportunity to apply a distributed control solution exists.

The overall aim of the research project was to evaluate the potential of the fungal pathogen <I>Ascochyta caulina</I> as a biological control agent against <I>Chenopodium album</I>, a major weed in arable crops. A number of isolates of <I>Ascochyta caulina</I> were evaluated but isolate W 90-1 from Holland proved to be the most promising candidate because of its high virulence. It was therefore selected for more detailed greenhouse and field studies into the environmental parameters required for infection and disease development. Results of these studies showed that in order to achieve the maximum infection, a temperature of between 20-30°C, a relative humidity of >95% for 24 h and a spore density of approximately of 1-2 x 10⁶ spores per ml spore suspension were required. Mortality and plant necrosis levels after application of <I>A. caulina</I> decreased with plant age and treatment of <I>C. album</I> shortly after emergence or to juvenile plants (before 4-leaf growth stage) was most effective. The requirement for long periods of high relative humidity and the inability of <I>A. caulina </I>to cause satisfactory disease after the 4 leaf growth stage are the most important limiting factors for the development of <I>A. caulina</I> as a bioherbicide for <I>C. album. </I>A range of spore formulations was studied with the aim of reducing the requirement for long periods of high relative humidity for disease development. Studies indicated that disease development could be increased by incorporation of surfactants (Tween 80 or Sylgard) and nutrients (Czapek-Dox Broth and Yeast Extract) into inoculum suspension. Results of field trials indicated that if application were properly timed and optimum environmental conditions can be achieved the pathogen can give satisfactory control of the weed.

Agent-centered restrictions are widely accepted both in commonsense morality and across social and legal institutions, making it all the more striking that we have yet to ground them in a compelling theoretical rationale. This dissertation amounts to an effort to fill that gap by seeking out a new principled basis for justifying such constraints. I devote each of the first three chapters, respectively, to the three established deontological normative ethical theories: Rossian intuitionism, Kantianism, and Neo-Thomism. In each of these chapters, I lay out the relevant portion of the view’s deontological apparatus, analyzing it both for its plausibility as a whole and for its ability to justify constraints of the appropriate shape. After assessing and rejecting all three approaches, I devote the next two chapters to developing a new rationale for grounding constraints—one that avoids the pitfalls indicated in the prominent historical alternatives. Specifically, I anchor constraints in the distinction between the agent-neutral and agent-relative points of view, basing them in the widely accepted psychological fact of the natural independence of the personal point of view.

Agent-centered restrictions are widely accepted both in commonsense morality and across social and legal institutions, making it all the more striking that we have yet to ground them in a compelling theoretical rationale. This dissertation amounts to an effort to fill that gap by seeking out a new principled basis for justifying such constraints. I devote each of the first three chapters, respectively, to the three established deontological normative ethical theories: Rossian intuitionism, Kantianism, and Neo-Thomism. In each of these chapters, I lay out the relevant portion of the view’s deontological apparatus, analyzing it both for its plausibility as a whole and for its ability to justify constraints of the appropriate shape. After assessing and rejecting all three approaches, I devote the next two chapters to developing a new rationale for grounding constraints—one that avoids the pitfalls indicated in the prominent historical alternatives. Specifically, I anchor constraints in the distinction between the agent-neutral and agent-relative points of view, basing them in the widely accepted psychological fact of the natural independence of the personal point of view.