Conditions under which compositions of component systems form a well-defined system-of-systems are here formulated at a fundamental level. Statement of what defines a well-defined composition and sufficient conditions guaranteeing such a result offers insight into exemplars that can be found in special cases such as differential equation and discrete event systems. For any given global state of a composition, two requirements can be stated informally as: (1) the system can leave this state, i.e., there is at least one trajectory defined that starts from the state; and (2) the trajectory evolves over time without getting stuck at a point in time. Considered for every global state, these conditions determine whether the resultant is a well-defined system and, if so, whether it is non-deterministic or deterministic. We formulate these questions within the framework of iterative specifications for mathematical system models that are shown to be behaviorally equivalent to the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) formalism. This formalization supports definitions and proofs of the afore-mentioned conditions. Implications are drawn at the fundamental level of existence where the emergence of a system from an assemblage of components can be characterized. We focus on systems with feedback coupling where existence and uniqueness of solutions is problematic.

A schema is described as a diagram showing the basic outline of something, or as an organizational or conceptual pattern in the mind. It is also, in Kantian philosophy, a method that allows the understanding to apply concepts to the evidence of the senses. My Schema is a model of emergence.

Nous proposons de contribuer par une approche géographique à l’étude du phénomène d’émergence de maladies virales en Afrique forestière équatoriale en nous appuyant sur les origines probables de l’infection à VIH-sida. Le Virus d’Immunodéficience Humaine (VIH), responsable de la pandémie actuelle de sida, est d’origine zoonotique. Né de la recombinaison des formes simiennes de rétrovirus, le virus humain (VIH) est issu du passage de la barrière inter-espèces des agents viraux portés par les primates (Virus d’Immunodéficience Simienne - VIS) et qui ont été sélectionnés au fil des temps et à l’occasion d’expositions multiples et prolongées aux organismes humains.L’objet de ce travail est la lecture du processus d’émergence des maladies virales comme un système dans lequel interagissent dynamiques spatiales, aspects humains et paramètres environnementaux. Il s’agit d’explorer la piste des origines de l’émergence du VIH-sida sous le prisme d’une étude géographique : les habitudes migratoires, territoriales, domestiques des populations forestières de l’est Cameroun peuvent créer des situations périlleuses en termes d’exposition, de diffusion et de propagation des maladies virales. / Through a geographical approach, we propose to contribute to the study of viral disease emergence in the equatorial African forestry by focusing on the probable original causes of the HIV-Aids virus. The Human immunodeficiency virus, responsible for the current Aids pandemic has zoonotic origins. Born from the recombination of several forms of simian retroviruses, the human virus (HIV) comes from the crossing of the inter-species barrier by viral agents carried by the primates (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus - VIS) and which have over time been selected and following multiple exposures and extended to the human organisms.The subject of this work is treating the viral diseases emergence process as a system within which spatial dynamics, human aspects and environmental parameters interact. This requires exploring the origins of the emergence of HIV-aids, through the prism of a geographical study: migration, territorial, and domestic patterns of east Cameroonian forestry can create perilous situations in terms of exposure, diffusion and propagation of viral diseases.

Dans la posture émergentiste classique et sa réinterprétation par les premières sciences cognitives, la notion d'émergence ne fait que traduire un consensus anti-réductionniste et n'a aucune véritable pertinence explicative. Pourtant aujourd'hui, les systèmes multi-agents en informatique et la théorie des systèmes dynamiques non linéaires en physique et en biologie, permettent d'ouvrir la «boîte noire» de l'émergence.Il devient possible de définir l'émergence non plus comme la survenance magique de propriétés ontologiquement irréductibles, mais comme la bifurcation dynamique d'un système vers une organisation macroscopique robuste computationnellement et fonctionnellement irréductible, c'est-à-dire non interprétable en termes des propriétés micro-causales du niveau de base. Les propriétés émergentes n'existent qu'en tant qu'elles sont fonctionnelles pour un détecteur de haut niveau.Si des systèmes physiques peuvent instancier des propriétés fonctionnellement irréductibles et relatives à un certain niveau de détection, alors l'irréductibilité fonctionnelle n'est par un argument contre le physicalisme, etil n'est plus possible d'affirmer qu'une propriété n'est pas fonctionnelle simplement parce que l'on ne parvient pas à la fonctionnaliser, puisque son impossible fonctionnalisation peut signifier que l'on ne se situe pas au bonniveau de détection. L'irréductibilité fonctionnelle des propriétés phénoménales ne serait donc pas un argument suffisant pour les exclure du domaine physique. La notion d'émergence ne permet pas de résoudre le problème corps-esprit, mais elle permet d'envisager qu'un tel « problème difficile » puisse survenir dans cadrephysicaliste. / In the classical emergentist position and its re-interpretation within the early cognitive sciences, the notion of emergence transposes only an anti-reductionist consensus and does not contain any pertinent explicative value. Yet today, as a consequence of the multi-agent systems in informatics along with dynamic non-linear theories in both physics and biology, the formerly dubious notion of emergence has become a relevant and informative concept.Emergence was defined as magic supervenience of ontologically irreducible properties. Today in contrast, one views the notion of emergence in terms of dynamic bifurcations to a robust macroscopic organization computationally and functionally irreducible, that is to say it can not be analyzed in terms of their micro-causal components. Emergent properties exist if and only if they are functional for a higher level of detection.This means that functional irreducibility is not an argument against physicalism, nor is it possible to state that a certain property is not functional simply because we are unable to give it a functional interpretation, for itmight signify that one is not situated within the correct level for its detection. The functional irreducibility of some phenomenal properties will not therefor be a sufficient argument to exclude them from the physical realm. The notion of emergence does not resolve the mind-body problem but it does permit considering that such a problem can occur within the physical world.

Glitch is becoming an important topic both in popular culture and academia. In 2012, Disney cast a glitch as a major character in its movie homage to arcade video games Wreck-It Ralph. More and more studies about glitch are emerging across various disciplines, from media studies to aesthetics. So far, researchers were focusing mostly on theoretical and technological aspects of the glitch. This Master's thesis aims to analyze the "everyday" glitch and the roles it plays in the video game culture, conducting a qualitative content analysis of online discussion forums of three recent hit video games: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The first part of the thesis reviews the literature connected to the glitch and explains its connection to similar scientific concepts: error, noise and emergence. It also introduces different aspects and roles of the glitch, ranging from cheating and metagaming to humor and aberrant use. The second part consists of the analysis of online discussion forums concerning the player definition of the glitch, the process of finding and sharing the glitch and about the main aspects of the glitch from the viewpoint of active participants in online discussions: glitch as an error or a feature, patching the glitch, cheating, metagaming and humor. As...

Title: Disruption of movement or cohesion of groups through individuals Author: Jiří Vejmola Department: Department of Theoretical Computer Science and Mathematical Logic Supervisor of the master thesis: Mgr. Roman Neruda, CSc., Institute of Computer Science of the ASCR, v. v. i. Abstract: Just a few of informed and like-minded individuals, guides, are needed to lead otherwise naive group. We look at some of the possible changes that can be caused by the presence of another informed individual with different intentions, an intruder. It is implied that he cannot cause anything significant under normal circumstances. To counter that and to increase his chances of success we intruduce a new parameter - credibility. We explore how it changes the overall behaviour. We show that by applying it to the intruder his influence over others increases. This in turn makes naive individuals more willing to follow him. We show that if the right conditions are met he can eventually become the one who leads the group. Keywords: multi-agent system, swarm intelligence, emergence, credibility

Business processes can be divided into standardisable and non-standardisable processes. Such processes are characterised by their activities, events, states and time-points. The conditions in which process activities, events, states and time-points occur determines how they are observed, recorded and acted upon. Under predictable and stable conditions an observer can record them by predetermining them and this can be done using existing process design approaches and methodologies. Such processes are termed standardisable processes; for example a process for manufacturing cars. However, under unpredictable and unstable conditions an observer cannot record them by predetermining all the possible events, because uncertainty leads to unpredictable events occurring. Such processes are termed non-standardisable processes and in this thesis as emergent processes; for example special engineering projects like building the Channel Tunnel. Therefore, a new approach is required for designing non-standardisable processes. Process events are significant because the observer notices and records them. Significantly, the observer of events also has to act on them. Whether process events occur in predictable and stable conditions or unpredictable and unstable conditions, makes a difference to how an observer notices, records and acts on them. This is highly significant for this thesis argument, because as non-standardisable process events can be unexpected and unpredictable or emergent a new approach is required to design them. This thesis advances knowledge of designing non-standardisable processes by conceptualising them as emergent business processes (EBP) and contributing a new approach for designing them using action research and the deferred design approach as a process design methodology. Uncertain and unpredictable conditions is characterised here as emergence. The observer cannot predetermine all the possible process events for processes that operate in emergent conditions and cannot determine how to act upon unpredictable process events, because some events will be predictable and others unpredictable. The pragmatist research methodology was used to research to identify and resolve the problem with EBP in the Foreign Procurement Division (FPD) of the Kuwait Ministry of Defence. It was also used an approach for designing EBP. The research contributes the new understanding of non-standardisable processes as emergent business processes. This is a significant contribution because it is conceptualisation that is not found in the literature. This conceptualisation recognises the need to find new approaches for designing and implementing EBP. Therefore, the research also contributes a new approach for designing EBP using the action research methodology as a process design methodology.

Technoetic and media arts are environments of mediated interaction and emergence, where meaning is negotiated by individuals through a personal examination and experience—or becoming—within the mediated space. This thesis examines these environments from a musical perspective and considers how sound functions as an analog to this becoming. Five distinct, original musical works explore the possibilities as to how the emergent dynamics of mediated, interactive exchange can be leveraged towards the construction of musical sound. In the context of this research, becoming can be understood relative to Henri Bergson’s description of the appearance of reality—something that is making or unmaking but is never made. Music conceived of a linear model is essentially fixed in time. It is unable to recognize or respond to the becoming of interactive exchange, which is marked by frequent and unpredictable transformation. This research abandons linear musical approaches and looks to generative music as a way to reconcile the dynamics of mediated interaction with a musical listening experience. The specifics of this relationship are conceptualized in the structaural coupling model, which borrows from Maturana & Varela’s “structural coupling.” The person interacting and the generative musical system are compared to autopoietic unities, with each responding to mutual perturbations while maintaining independence and autonomy. Musical autonomy is sustained through generative techniques and organized within a psychogeographical framework. In the way that cities invite use and communicate boundaries, the individual sounds of a musical work create an aural context that is legible to the listener, rendering the consequences or implications of any choice audible. This arrangement of sound, as it relates to human presence in a technoetic environment, challenges many existing assumptions, including the idea “the sound changes.” Change can be viewed as a movement predicated by behavior. Amergent music is brought forth through kinds of change or sonic movement more robustly explored as a dimension of musical behavior. Listeners hear change, but it is the result of behavior that arises from within an autonomous musical system relative to the perturbations sensed within its environment. Amergence propagates through the effects of emergent dynamics coupled to the affective experience of continuous sonic transformation.

Nous apprenons très jeunes une quantité de règles nous permettant d'interagir avec d'autres personnes: des conventions sociales. Elles diffèrent des autres types d'apprentissage dans le sens où les premières personnes à les avoir utilisées n'ont fait qu'un choix arbitraire parmi plusieurs alternatives possibles: le côté de la route où conduire, la forme d'une prise électrique, ou inventer de nouveaux mots. À cause de celà, lorsqu'une nouvelle convention se crée au sein d'une population d'individus interagissant entre eux, de nombreuses alternatives peuvent apparaître et conduire à une situation complexe où plusieurs conventions équivalentes coexistent en compétition. Il peut devenir difficile de les retenir toutes, comment faisons-nous pour trouver un accord efficacement ? Nous exerçons communément un contrôle actif sur nos situations d'apprentissage, en par exemple sélectionnant des activités qui ne soient ni trop simples ni trop complexes. Il a été montré que ce type de comportement, dans des cas comme l'apprentissage sensori-moteur, aide à apprendre mieux, plus vite, et avec moins d'exemples. Est-ce que de tels mécanismes pourraient aussi influencer la négociation de conventions sociales? Le lexique est un exemple particulier de convention sociale: quels mots associer avec tel objet ou tel sens? Une classe de modèles computationels, les Language Games, montrent qu'il est possible pour une population d'individus de construire un langage commun via une série d'interactions par paires. En particulier, le modèle appelé Naming Game met l'accent sur la formation du lexique reliant mots et sens, et montre une typique explosion de la complexité avant de commencer à écarter les conventions synonymes ou homonymes et arriver à un consensus. Dans cette thèse, nous introduisons l'idée de l'apprentissage actif et du contrôle actif de la croissance de la complexité dans le Naming Game, sous la forme d'une politique de choix du sujet de conversation, applicable à chaque interaction. Différentes stratégies sont introduites, et ont des impacts différents sur à la fois le temps nécessaire pour converger vers un consensus et la quantité de mémoire nécessaire à chaque individu. Premièrement, nous limitons artificiellement la mémoire des agents pour éviter l'explosion de complexité locale. Quelques stratégies sont présentées, certaines ayant des propriétés similaires au cas standard en termes de temps de convergence. Dans un deuxième temps, nous formalisons ce que les agents doivent optimiser, en se basant sur une représentation de l'état moyen de la population. Deux stratégies inspirées de cette notion permettent de limiter les besoins en mémoire sans avoir à contraindre le système, et en prime permettent de converger plus rapidement. Nous montrons ensuite que la dynamique obtenue est proche d'un comportement théorique optimal, exprimé comme une borne inférieure au temps de convergence. Finalement, nous avons mis en place une expérience utilisateur en ligne sous forme de jeu pour collecter des données sur le comportement d'utilisateurs réels placés dans le cadre du modèle. Les résultats suggèrent qu'ils ont effectivement une politique active de choix de sujet de conversation, en comparaison avec un choix aléatoire.Les contributions de ce travail de thèse incluent aussi une classification des modèles de Naming Games existants, et un cadriciel open-source pour les simuler. / Social conventions are learned mostly at a young age, but are quite different from other domains, like for example sensorimotor skills. The first people to define conventions just picked an arbitrary alternative between several options: a side of the road to drive on, the design of an electric plug, or inventing a new word. Because of this, while setting a new convention in a population of interacting individuals, many competing options can arise, and lead to a situation of growing complexity if many parallel inventions happen. How do we deal with this issue?Humans often exhert an active control on their learning situation, by for example selecting activities that are neither too complex nor too simple. This behavior, in cases like sensorimotor learning, has been shown to help learn faster, better, and with fewer examples. Could such mechanisms also have an impact on the negotiation of social conventions ? A particular example of social convention is the lexicon: which words we associated with given meanings. Computational models of language emergence, called the Language Games, showed that it is possible for a population of agents to build a common language through only pairwise interactions. In particular, the Naming Game model focuses on the formation of the lexicon mapping words and meanings, and shows a typical burst of complexity before starting to discard options and find a final consensus. In this thesis, we introduce the idea of active learning and active control of complexity growth in the Naming Game, in the form of a topic choice policy: agents can choose the meaning they want to talk about in each interaction. Several strategies were introduced, and have a different impact on both the time needed to converge to a consensus and the amount of memory needed by individual agents. Firstly, we artificially constrain the memory of agents to avoid the local complexity burst. A few strategies are presented, some of which can have similar convergence speed as in the standard case. Secondly, we formalize what agents need to optimize, based on a representation of the average state of the population. A couple of strategies inspired by this notion help keep the memory usage low without having constraints, but also result in a faster convergence process. We then show that the obtained dynamics are close to an optimal behavior, expressed analytically as a lower bound to convergence time. Eventually, we designed an online user experiment to collect data on how humans would behave in the same model, which shows that they do have an active topic choice policy, and do not choose randomly. Contributions from this thesis also include a classification of the existing Naming Game models and an open-source framework to simulate them.

La connexion entre milieux aquatiques et terrestres a suscité l’intérêt de la communauté scientifique, notamment l’effet du transfert d’énergie et de matière sur le fonctionnement des écosystèmes adjacents. Beaucoup d’études se sont intéressées aux apports d’insectes aquatiques ailés dans les écosystèmes naturels, mais peu à leur impact en milieu agricole. En modifiant la production secondaire d’invertébrés aquatiques, les pratiques agricoles sont à même d’intensifier ou diminuer l’effet de ces apports aquatiques dans les terres agricoles et par conséquent la fourniture de services écosystémiques utiles à l’agriculture. Nous avons collecté des données d’émergences et de dispersion d’insectes aquatiques depuis plusieurs rivières dans des paysages agricoles. Les principaux groupes d’insectes émergents sont les trichoptères (56%), chironomidés (25%) et éphéméroptères (19%). Nous estimons la biomasse sèche émergente entre 1445 et 7374 mg m-2 an-1 selon les sites. Une majorité de ces insectes aquatiques se déposent sur une bande entre 0 et 10 mètres du bord de la rivière mais une proportion importante (45%) se dépose dans les cultures après 20 mètres. Nous apportons de nouvelles et prometteuses connaissances suggérant que les insectes aquatiques participent à la fourniture de plusieurs services écosystémiques (fertilisation, contrôle biologie, épuration de l’eau et pollinisation). En paysage agricole, une communauté d’insectes riche et abondant est nécessaire à la mise en place d’un système agricole durable. Nous pensons que le rôle des insectes aquatiques est à ce titre important et suggérons de nouvelles pistes de recherches pour l’agroécologie. / The connection between aquatic and terrestrial habitats has increased scientific interest in ecological subsidies, focusing on how the transfer of matter and energy between adjacent ecosystems can modify the ecosystems functioning. Much attention has focused on aquatic subsidies associated with winged aquatic insects in pristine areas, but their implication in agricultural landscapes is rarely considered. By altering the production of benthic macroinvertebrates, agricultural practices can increase or decrease the strength of aquatic subsidies and subsequently the provision of several ecosystem services to agriculture. We have monitored the emergence and inland dispersal of adult aquatic insects from several agricultural streams. Most emerging dry mass (DM) belong to Trichoptera (56%), Chironomidae (25%) and Ephemeroptera (19%). We estimate that annual emerging dry mass of aquatic insects ranged between 1445 and 7374 mg m-2 y-1 depending on stream. The majority of aquatic insects emerging falls between 0 and 10 meters from stream hedges. However, a great proportion (45%) though disperses and eventually falls after 20 meters from the stream. We provide new and promising evidence suggesting that winged stream insects can support several ecosystem services (soil fertilization, crop pest control, water purification and pollination). In agricultural landscapes, a rich and abundant insect community is necessary to promote sustainable practices, and we believe the role of aquatic subsidies in providing ecosystem services to agriculture is a new and promising field of research in agroecology.