This overview report comprises two projects linked by the theme of the application of intelligent agents. The first project covers the development of RAPIDO, a rapid prototyping toolkit for the development and evaluation of agent applications. The papers and technical reports included for this project look at the implementation and application of the RAPIDO toolkit to a specific test case for evaluation purposes. The second project considers the use of an agent-based simulation of the Internet, called WebAgent, to explore agent-based solutions to improving network performance. The publications present the experimental methodology of WebAgent, and the results of evaluating Expl, an adaptive agent for intelligent control of dynamic caching strategies for web servers and clients. The knowledge gained during the course of these two projects has been published in refereed papers included within the accompanying portfolio. The production of Multi- Agent Systems (MAS), particularly Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) applications, is dependent upon the underlying paradigm. The generic approach to the specification of agent applications, and the object-oriented rapid prototyping technique, have allowed different implementations of a specific problem domain to be evaluated in order to determine the best architecture. The application of agent-based simulation to the field of web document caching has both introduced a new tool for performing evaluations of such techniques and has helped towards the proposal of a new approach, based upon intelligent, adaptive agents. The future of such directions promises to offer far greater application of these ideas to the regulation and management of networks in general.

With the significant potential of microalgae as a major biofuel source of the future, a considerable scientific attention is attracted towards the field of biotechnology and bioprocess engineering. Nevertheless the current photobioreactor (PBR) design methods are still too empirical. With this work I would like to promote the idea of designing a production system, such as a PBR, completely \emph{in silico}, thus allowing for the in silico optimization and optimal control determination. The thesis deals with the PBR modeling and simulation. It addresses two crucial issues in the current state-of-the-art PBR modeling. The first issue relevant to the deficiency of the currently available models - the incorrect or insufficient treatment of either the transport process modeling, the reaction modeling or the coupling between these two models. A correct treatment of both the transport and the reaction phenomena is proposed in the thesis - in the form of a unified modeling framework consisting of three interconnected parts - (i) the state system, (ii) the fluid-dynamic model and (iii) optimal control determination. The proposed model structure allows prediction of the PBR performance with respect to the modelled PBR size, geometry, operating conditions or a particular microalgae strain. The proposed unified modeling approach is applied to the case of the Couette-Taylor photobioreactor (CTBR) where it is used for the optimal control solution. The PBR represents a complex multiscale problem and especially in the case of the production scale systems, the associated computational costs are paramount. This is the second crucial issue addressed in the thesis. With respect to the computational complexity, the fluid dynamics simulation is the most costly part of the PBR simulation. To model the fluid flow with the classical CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) methods inside a production scale PBR leads to an enormous grid size. This usually requires a parallel implementation of the solver but in the parallelization of the classical methods lies another relevant issue - that of the amount of data the individual nodes must interchange with each other. The thesis addresses the performance relevant issues by proposing and evaluation alternative approaches to the fluid flow simulation. These approaches are more suitable to the parallel implementation than the classical methods because of their rather local character in comparison to the classical methods - namely the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) for fluid flow, which is the primary focus of the thesis in this regard and alternatively also the discrete random walk based method (DRW). As the outcome of the thesis I have developed and validated a new Lagrangian general modeling approach to the transport and reaction processes in PBR - a framework based on the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and the model of the Photosynthetic Factory (PSF) that models correctly the transport and reaction processes and their coupling. Further I have implemented a software prototype based on the proposed modeling approach and validated this prototype on the case of the Coutte-Taylor PBR. I have also demonstrated that the modeling approach has a significant potential from the computational costs point of view by implementing and validating the software prototype on the parallel architecture of CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture). The current parallel implementation is approximately 20 times faster than the unparallized one and decreases thus significantly the iteration cycle of the PBR design process.

Dans le domaine de l’architecture et de la conservation du patrimoine historique, les technologies de l’information et de la communication permettent l’acquisition de grandes quantités de données introduisant des supports d’analyses pour différentes finalités et à différents niveaux de détails (photographies, nuages de points, imagerie scientifique, …). L’organisation et la structuration de ces ressources est aujourd’hui un problème majeur pour la description, l’analyse et la compréhension d’objets patrimoniaux. Cependant les solutions existantes d’annotations sémantiques d’images ou de modèle 3D se révèlent insuffisantes notamment sur l’aspect de mise en relation des différents supports d’analyse.Cette thèse propose une approche permettant de conduire des annotations sur les différents supports bidimensionnels tout en permettant la propagation de ces annotations entre les différentes représentations (2D ou 3D) de l’objet. L’objectif est d’identifier des solutions pour corréler (d’un point de vue spatial, temporel et sémantique) des jeux d’annotations au sein d’un jeu d’images. Ainsi le système repose sur le principe de spatialisation des données permettant d’établir une relation entre les représentations 3D, intégrant toute la complexité géométrique de l’objet et par conséquent permettant l’extraction d’informations métriques, et les représentations 2D de l’objet. L’approche cherche donc à la mise en place d’une continuité informationnelle depuis l’acquisition d’images jusqu’à la construction de représentations 3D sémantiquement enrichies en intégrant des aspects multi-supports et multi-temporels. Ce travail a abouti à la définition et le développement d’un ensemble de modules informatiques pouvant être utilisés par des spécialistes de la conservation d’un patrimoine architectural comme par le grand public. / In the field of architecture and historic preservation , the information and communication technologies enable the acquisition of large amounts of data introducing analysis media for different purposes and at different levels of details ( photographs, point cloud, scientific imaging, ...). The organization and the structure of these resources is now a major problem for the description, the analysis and the understanding of cultural heritage objects. However the existing solutions in semantic annotations on images or on 3D model are insufficient, especially in the linking of different analysis media.This thesis proposes an approach for conducting annotations on different two-dimensional media while allowing the propagation of these annotations between different representations (2D or 3D) of the object. The objective is to identify solutions to correlate (from a spatial, temporal and semantic point of view) sets of annotations within sets of images. Thus, the system is based on the principle of data spatialization for establishing a relationship between the 3D representations, incorporating all the geometric complexity of the object and therefore to the metric information extraction, and 2D representations of object. The approach seeks to the establishment of an information continuity from the image acquisition to the construction of 3D representations semantically enhanced by incorporating multi-media and multi-temporal aspects. This work resulted in the definition and the development of a set of software modules that can be used by specialists of conservation of architectural heritage as by the general public.

The study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of people treated for multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Omaheke region, Namibia in order to make relevant recommendations regarding their management. A descriptive qualitative design approach was used. Data was collected using in-depth individual interviews with six participants. The interview transcripts were analysed using thematic content analysis. Three themes emerged namely (1) Stressors related to MDR-TB diagnosis and treatment which involved nature of disease and compulsory hospitalisation (2) Impact of being treated for MDR-TB which related to emotional , social , spiritual and financial impact (3) Support structures for people treated for MDR-TB which included family members, health care professionals and friends. Systemic practical patient-centred, staff-centred and community-centred recommendations are suggested as well as recommendations for future research and an appraisal of the limitations of this study. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

In spite of the multisite phenomenon’s apparent “success” and effectiveness in fulfilling the Great Commission, there are looming variables related to leadership structures and organizational complexities that have not been adequately addressed. Perhaps the most significant question in need of further research in the multisite field is simply determining where final decision-making authority is found. Does such authority lie at the campus level, or at the larger church level? For example, what decisions can and cannot a campus pastor make apart from the approval of the senior leadership team? The longevity of the multisite movement will ultimately be determined by the presence of healthy leadership structures that learn the tedious balance between control and freedom. The senior leadership team has the arduous task of being closely enough involved in the operations of each campus to ensure that campuses rightly embody the DNA of the overall church. Yet at the same time, this senior leadership team must empower and legitimize campus leadership in such a way that they do not feel unnecessarily restricted and compromised of their unique calling and giftedness. Such perceptions on behalf of campus leadership can lead to mistrust, conflict, and the ultimate deterrence of the mission of the church. This quantitative study addresses the leadership dynamics and organizational complexities in multisite churches, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between campus pastors and the church’s senior leadership team. Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and its practical significance. It also defines the research questions while indicating the study’s limitations. The examination of the precedent literature in chapter 2 underscores the biblical and theological foundations of this topic, such as the clear examples of shared leadership structures seen in the New Testament. Additionally, this chapter details the contemporary research regarding multisite structures in general, and leadership structures in particular. Chapter 3 presents the research design, defines the population, establishes the selection criteria, and outlines the instrumentation. Chapter 4 analyzes the findings, while chapter 5 presents the researcher’s conclusions. The study’s ultimate aim is to stimulate meaningful dialogue among multisite churches, and to strengthen multisite churches’ leadership structures so as to better ensure biblical fidelity, health, unity, and longevity.

CARDOSO, L. S. Análise de desempenho do emprego do multi-acesso em redes compostas por sistema celular de terceira geração e rede local sem fio. 2006. 107 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia de Teleinformática) – Centro de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, 2006. / Submitted by Marlene Sousa (mmarlene@ufc.br) on 2016-04-04T18:43:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_dis_lscardoso.pdf: 703370 bytes, checksum: a79d6bb866018e15b8a0f3183c1b769a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marlene Sousa(mmarlene@ufc.br) on 2016-04-06T18:18:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_dis_lscardoso.pdf: 703370 bytes, checksum: a79d6bb866018e15b8a0f3183c1b769a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-06T18:18:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_dis_lscardoso.pdf: 703370 bytes, checksum: a79d6bb866018e15b8a0f3183c1b769a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-08-13 / With the increasing demands for data services over the cellular networks, their operators are faced with the issue of providing the requested capacities while maintaining the service quality levels. The Multi-Access (MA) networks can be a cost effective way of raising those capacities, as it provides means to aggregate radio resources from the adopted Radio Access technologies (RATs) involved. Although the MA concept seems very promising, the gains concerning its adoption are not quite clear. These gains can come from different sources, such as from the inclusion of a second RAT itself and from the adoption of a suitable Access Selection (AS) procedure. The former concerns the gains available with the increase in the amount of radio resources while the latter concerns the ones available with a more suitable distribution of users among the RATs. This work aims to clarify the gains concerning the usage of the WLAN IEEE 802.11a in addition to the UTRAN, both in the homogeneous user distribution and hotspot cases, while employing the MA framework as the enabling technology. It also looks into the characteristics of some AS procedures based on coverage, user bit rate, estimated RAT throughput and mixed (user bit rate and load), aiming at clarifying which ones provide the best performance. The evaluation is based on a dynamic system-level multi-access simulator, comprised of a good and detailed level of the modeling concerning the involved technologies and concepts. Results show that considering the assumptions and modeling, significant capacity gains can be achieved when using intelligent AS algorithms in the UTRAN-WLAN MA networks. / Com as crescentes demandas pela provisão de serviços de dados em redes celulares, seus operadores tem arcado com os problemas de acomodar as crescentes capacidades enquanto mantém os níveis de qualidade de serviço. As redes de Multi-Acesso (MA) constituem uma maneira eficiente de oferecer estas capacidades, já que oferecem maneiras de agregar os recursos de rádio das Tecnologias de Acesso de Radio (RATs)1 empregadas. Apesar do conceito de Multi-Acesso ser interessante, os ganhos providos por sua adoção não são claros. Tais ganhos podem vir de diferentes fontes, tais como, a inclusão de uma nova RAT e do emprego de procedimentos de Seleção de Acesso (AS) adequados. A primeira fonte diz respeito aos ganhos disponibilizados pelo acréscimo de recursos de rádio, enquanto a segunda diz respeito à melhor distribuição dos usuários as RATs. Este trabalho visa tornar claro o ganho envolvido na adição de uma Rede Local Sem Fio (WLAN) 802.11a a uma UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), tanto para uma distribuição de usuários homogênea quanto para uma situação de hotspot, empregando o conceito de redes de MA como tecnologia habilitadora. Também entra em detalhes sobre as características de alguns procedimentos de AS2 baseados em cobertura, taxa de transmissão do usuário, vazão estimada da RAT e mista (taxa de transmissão e carga), tentando apontar quais fornecem os melhores desempenhos. A avaliação é baseada em simulações dinâmicas e sistêmicas que contam com modelagem detalhada das tecnologias e conceitos envolvidos. Os resultados mostram que, considerando a modelagem e pré-suposições, ganhos significativos podem ser conseguidos usando algoritmos de AS inteligentes no cenário do MA envolvendo as redes UTRAN e WLAN.

L'étude présentée dans ce mémoire traite du perçage orbital de l'alliage de titane Ti6Al4V et du composite à fibres de carbone CFRP sur des structures épaisses. Ce cas d'étude est extrait d'une problématique industrielle, provenant de la société Airbus qui souhaite intégrer à la structure primaire du mât de réacteur des pièces en CFRP afin de diminuer sa masse. Mais l'association de ces deux matériaux aux propriétés antagonistes pose de nombreux problèmes en matière de perçage. C'est la raison pour laquelle de nouvelles alternatives au perçage classique ont été recherchées. Parmi ces alternatives possibles, le perçage orbital avec micro-lubrification a montré des perspectives intéressantes. C'est pourquoi il a été choisi dans cette application industrielle. Mais ce procédé reste encore assez peu étudié et il existe donc peu de retours d'expériences et beaucoup de développements à réaliser. Le procédé de perçage orbital est très différent du perçage axial conventionnel. L'alésage est réalisé avec un outil de diamètre inférieur au trou, qui décrit une trajectoire hélicoïdale dans le matériau. L'ensemble des travaux présentés se focalisent sur la caractérisation en vue de l'optimisation du procédé de perçage orbital. Pour réaliser ceci, plusieurs aspects ont été abordés. Tout d'abord, une modélisation géométrique et cinématique de l'opération a été développée. La prise en compte de la géométrie exacte de l'outil et des conditions de coupe a permis de définir la géométrie du copeau à chaque instant. Cette connaissance est très importante pour la compréhension du mécanisme d'enlèvement de matière réalisé, elle permet d'estimer le chargement de l'outil et les conditions dans lesquelles s'effectue l'usinage. À partir de cette première modélisation géométrique, une modélisation des efforts de coupe a été mise en place. Pour cela, un modèle d'effort de type mécanistique a été utilisé. Son application a été adaptée au perçage orbital, afin de représenter au mieux l'opération. Les efforts ainsi modélisés ont été comparés à ceux observés expérimentalement afin de valider la modélisation proposée. Cela a permis d'envisager l'utilisation de cette modélisation pour une meilleure compréhension du processus d'enlèvement de matière présent. L'influence des entrées du modèle, à savoir les conditions de coupe et la géométrie de l'outil a été étudiée. L'autre apport de ces travaux réside dans la caractérisation du perçage orbital d'empilages CFRP/Ti6Al4V. En effet, de nombreux essais ont été mis en place pour caractériser le procédé de perçage orbital. Des procédures expérimentales ont donc été mises en place. Tout d'abord, le moyen d'essai instrumenté a dû être caractérisé afin qu'il corresponde au mieux aux moyens utilisés par l'industriel et surtout qu'il permette de réaliser des essais fiables et répétitifs. Les plans d'expériences mis en place par la suite ont permis de définir l'influence des paramètres de coupe sur les efforts et sur les diamètres réalisés. Dans cette phase de caractérisation, les défauts présents en perçage ont également été étudiés. Ainsi, des tendances ont pu être observées. Les résultats obtenus dans ces travaux dans ces travaux ont permis enfin d'envisager les voies d'optimisation du procédé, à travers le pilotage des avances, la stratégie de perçage, mais aussi la géométrie de l'outil. Des pistes ont été proposées et doivent faire l'objet d'études complémentaires. la modélisation mise en place et l'identification des phénomènes intervenant pendant l'opération ont d'ailleurs permis de poser les bases d'une surveillance du process. Celle-ci peut s'envisager de façon passive, pour contrôler le bon déroulement de l'opération, mais également de façon active pour agir en temps réel sur le pilotage du procédé, en fonction des phénomènes identifiés, afin de garantir la qualité souhaitée. / The study presented in this thesis deals with the orbital drilling of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy and CFRP carbon fiber composite. This case study is taken from an industrial problem, from the Airbus company wishing to incorporate parts CFRP to reduce its mass. But the combination of these two materials with antagonistic properties poses many problems for drilling. This is why new alternatives to conventional drilling have been sought. Among these alternatives, orbital drilling with micro-lubrication showed interesting prospects. That is why it was chosen in this industrial application. But this process is still relatively unexplored and there is little feedback and many developments to achieve. Orbital drilling process is very different from the conventional axial bore. The bore is machined with a smaller diameter tool than the hole, which describes a helical path in the material. All work presented focus on the characterization for the optimization of the orbital drilling process. To achieve this, several aspects were discussed. First, a geometric modeling and kinematics of operation has been developed. The inclusion of the exact geometry of the tool and cutting conditions helped to define the geometry of the chip at every moment. This knowledge is important for understanding the achieved material removal mechanism, it allows to estimate the loading of the tool and the conditions in which machining is performed. From this first geometric modeling, modeling of cutting forces was established. For this, a model of mechanistic type of effort was used. Its application was adapted to orbital drilling in order to best represent the operation. The thus modeled efforts were compared to those observed experimentally in order to validate the proposed model. This allowed to consider the use of this model for a better understanding of this material removal process. The influence of model inputs, namely the cutting conditions and tool geometry was studied. Another contribution of this work is the characterization of the orbital drilling of CFRP stacks / Ti6Al4V. Indeed, many tests were developed to characterize the orbital drilling process. Experimental procedures have therefore been put in place. First of all, the instrumented test means had to be characterized so that it better corresponds to the means used by the manufacturer and above all it allows to carry out reliable and repeatable testing. The experimental design implemented subsequently helped to define the influence of cutting parameters on the efforts and realized diameters. In this phase of characterization, the bore in errors have also been studied. Thus, the trends have been observed. The results obtained in this work in the meeting helped to consider the process optimization of routes, through the control of advances, the drilling strategy, but also the geometry of the tool. Tracks have been proposed and are subject to further study. modeling implementation and the identification of phenomena occurring during the operation have also laid the foundation for process monitoring. This can be considered passively, to monitor the smooth running of the operation, but also actively to act in real time to the control of the process, based on identified phenomena, to ensure the desired quality.

Etablir le meilleur plan pour l'usinage d'un produit, le meilleur ordonnancement des activités de construction d'un bâtiment ou la meilleure tournée de véhicules pour la livraison des commandes, en prenant en compte diverses contraintes économiques, temporelles, humaines, ou même météorologiques : dans cette diversité d'applications, optimiser la planification est une tâche complexe par le grand nombre d'entités hétérogènes en interaction, la forte dynamique, les objectifs contradictoires à atteindre, etc. La planification de missions pour des constellations de satellites en est un exemple majeur : beaucoup de paramètres et de contraintes, souvent antagonistes, doivent être pris en compte, entraînant une importante combinatoire. Actuellement, en Europe, les plans de missions sont élaborés au sol, juste avant que le satellite ne soit visible par la station d'émission. Les requêtes arrivant durant la planification ne peuvent être traitées, et sont mises en attente. De plus, la complexité de ce problème croit drastiquement : le nombre de constellations et les satellites les composant augmentent, ainsi que le nombre de requêtes journalières. Les approches actuelles montrent leurs limites. Pour pallier à ces inconvénients, de nouveaux systèmes basés sur la décentralisation et la distribution inhérentes à ce genre de problèmes, sont nécessaires. La théorie des systèmes multi-agents adaptatifs (AMAS) et notamment le modèle AMAS4Opt (AMAS for Optimisation) ont montré leur adéquation pour la résolution de problèmes d'optimisation complexes sous contraintes. Le comportement local et coopératif des agents AMAS permet au système de s'auto-adapter à la forte dynamique et de fournir des solutions adéquates rapidement. Dans cette thèse, nous adressons la résolution de la planification des missions de satellites par AMAS. Pour cela, nous avons complété et enrichi les modèles d'agents proposés par AMAS4Opt. Nous avons ainsi développé le système de planification dynamique de missions ATLAS. Pour valider ATLAS sur divers critères, nous avons utilisé un grand nombre de données hétérogènes. Enfin, ce travail a été comparé à un système " opérationnel' " standard sur des scénarios réels, mettant en valeur les apports de notre système. / Building the best plan in product treatment, the best schedule to a building construction or the best route for a salesman in order to visit a maximum of cities in the time allowed while taking into account different constraints (economic, temporal, humans or meteorological ): in all of those variety of applications, optimizing the planning is a complex task including a huge number of heterogeneous entities in interaction, the strong dynamics, multiple contradictory objectives, etc. Mission planning for constellations of satellites is a major example: a lot of parameters and constraints, often antagonists must be integrated, leading to an important combinatorial search space. Currently, in Europe, plans are built on ground, just before the satellite is visible by the ground stations. Any request coming during the planning process must wait for the next period. Moreover, the complexity of this problem grows drastically: the number of constellations and satellites increases, as the number of daily requests. Current approaches have shown their limits. To overcome those drawbacks, new systems based on decentralization and distribution inherent to this problem, are needed. The adaptive multi-agent systems (AMAS) theory and especially the AMAS4Opt (AMAS For Optimization) model have shown their adequacy in complex optimization problems solving. The local and cooperative behavior of agents allows the system to self-adapt to highly dynamic environments and to quickly deliver adequate solutions. In this thesis, we focus on solving mission planning for satellite constellations using AMAS. Thus, we propose several enhancement for the agent models proposed by AMAS4Opt. Then, we design the ATLAS dynamic mission planning system. To validate ATLAS on several criteria, we rely on huge sets of heterogeneous data. Finally, this work is compared to an operational and standard system on real scenarios, highlighting the value of our system.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-29T15:33:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_4087_.pdf: 1240371 bytes, checksum: a21ac1192a3b6108cf1746b0a5e824d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-27 / Dado um documento de entrada, um sistema de categorização multi-rótulo de texto tipicamente computa graus de crença para as categorias de um conjunto prédefinido, ordena as categorias por grau de crença, e atribui ao documento as categorias com grau de crença superior a um determinado limiar de poda. Idealmente, o grau de crença deveria informar a probabilidade do documento de fato pertencer à categoria. Infelizmente, ainda não existem categorizadores que computam tais probabilidades e mapear graus de crença em probabilidades é um problema ainda pouco explorado na área de RI. Neste trabalho, propomos um método baseado na regra de Bayes para mapear graus de crença em medidas de certeza de categorização multi-rótulo de texto. Propomos também uma estratégia para determinar limiares de poda baseada na medida de certeza de categorização - bayesian cut (BCut) - e uma variante para BCut - position based bayesian CUT (PBCut). Avaliamos experimentalmente o impacto dos métodos propostos no desempenho de duas técnicas de categorização multi-rótulo de texto, kvizinhos mais próximos multi-rótulo (ML-kNN) e rede neural sem peso do tipo VGRAM com correlação de dados (VG-RAM WNN-COR), no contexto da categorização de descrições de atividades econômicas de empresas brasileiras segundo a Classificação Nacional de Atividades Econômicas (CNAE). Investigamos também o impacto no desempenho de categorização multi-rótulo de texto de três métodos de poda comumente usados na literatura de RI - RCut, PCut, e SCut e uma variante de RCut - RTCut. Além disso, propomos novas variantes para PCut e SCut PCut* e SCut*, respectivamente para tratar problemas existentes nestas abordagens. Nossos resultados experimentais mostram que, usando nosso método de geração de medidas de certeza de categorização, é possível prever o quão certo está o categorizador de que as categorias por ele preditas são de fato pertinentes para um dado documento. Nossos resultados mostram também que o uso de nossas estratégias de poda BCut e PBCut produz desempenho de categorização superior ao de todas as outras estratégias consideradas em termos de precisão.