Co-constructing intersubjectivity with artificial conversational agents: People are more likely to initiate repairs of misunderstandings with agents represented as human

This article explores whether people more frequently attempt to repair misunderstandings when speaking to an artificial conversational agent if it is represented as fully human. Interactants in dyadic conversations with an agent (the chat bot Cleverbot) spoke to either a text screen interface (agent's responses shown on a screen) or a human body interface (agent's responses vocalized by a human speech shadower via the echoborg method) and were either informed or not informed prior to interlocution that their interlocutor's responses would be agent-generated. Results show that an interactant is less likely to initiate repairs when an agent-interlocutor communicates via a text screen interface as well as when they explicitly know their interlocutor's words to be agent-generated. That is to say, people demonstrate the most “intersubjective effort” toward establishing common ground when they engage an agent under the same social psychological conditions as face-to-face human–human interaction (i.e., when they both encounter another human body and assume that they are speaking to an autonomously-communicating person). This article's methodology presents a novel means of benchmarking intersubjectivity and intersubjective effort in human-agent interaction.     

Water level dynamics of Amazon wetlands at the watershed scale by satellite altimetry

In this study we used satellite altimetry to characterize the time and space variations in water stored in or circulating through rivers, floodplains, wetlands and lakes in the major sub-basins of the Amazon basin. Using a specific methodology to rigorously select original three-dimensional (3D) data from an Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) mission, water level time series were calculated at the crossing path of the satellite tracks with the water bodies. We took advantage of the continuous sampling of the water level along the satellite track segments that cross the watershed to analyse both spatial and temporal relationships between: (i) the river and its floodplain and (ii) different basins. This work evidences in particular the existence of water leaking between the Negro and Solimões basins at the high water stage. It highlights that the phenomenon of a secondary flood peak occurring in the water level series in the Solimões basin at rising water, known as repiquete, is caused by the rain equatorial regime of the northern upstream tributaries of the Solimões River, but is disconnected from the same phenomenon occurring within the Rio Negro basin.     

From qualitative to quantitative environmental scenarios: Translating storylines into biophysical modeling inputs at the watershed scale

Scenarios are increasingly used for envisioning future social-ecological changes and consequences for human well-being. One approach integrates qualitative storylines and biophysical models to explore potential futures quantitatively and maximize public engagement. However, this integration process is challenging and sometimes oversimplified. Using the Yahara Watershed (Wisconsin, USA) as a case study, we present a transparent and reproducible roadmap to develop spatiotemporally explicit biophysical inputs [climate, land use/cover (LULC), and nutrients] that are consistent with scenario narratives and can be linked to a process-based biophysical modeling suite to simulate long-term dynamics of a watershed and a range of ecosystem services. Our transferrable approach produces daily weather inputs by combining climate model projections and a stochastic weather generator, annual narrative-based watershed-scale LULC distributed spatially using transition rules, and annual manure and fertilizer (nitrogen and phosphorus) inputs based on current farm and livestock data that are consistent with each scenario narrative.     

Continuum-based classification of remotely sensed imagery to describe urban sprawl on a watershed scale

Remote sensed imagery can both describe urban sprawl on a watershed scale and provide essential information for modeling the impact of sprawl on watercourses. This paper looks at six watersheds in greater Cleveland, OH: two urban; two rural; and two undergoing rapid urbanization. Thematic Mapper imagery from 1984, 1988, 1994, to 1999 was classified into functional classes describing each watershed in terms of the position of each pixel along continua of [1] percentage permeability and [2] canopy cover. Because the functional classes represent positions along independent continua rather than thematic land-cover classes, they can easily be compared from image to image, and they provide quantitative estimates of parameters at 30-m resolution suitable for spatial simulation models. The imagery classified in this way makes it possible to observe the progress of urban sprawl both within these watersheds and over a study area which extends from the inner city to its rural surroundings.     

Soil moisture assessment at a basin scale using active microwave remote sensing: the Agriscatt '88 Airborne Campaign on the Orgeval watershed

In June and July 1988, the European Space Agency organized in five European countries the Agriscatt '88 campaign. For this campaign two airborne scatterometers were used, including the French dual-frequency (C and X band) dual-polarization (HH and W) forward-looking radar ERASME. For the French site, the Orgeval hydrological basin, one of the aims of the experiment was to develop a soil moisture retrieval algorithm from radar data. It is shown, from comparison with the ground-truth data, that the use of a multiconfiguration radar improves the capacity of imaging radar for soil moisture mapping. In particular, an algorithm based on a vegetation absorption index and a soil moisture one is tested over wheat fields.     

基于VB的简单游戏开发的初探——华容道游戏的设计

随着软件技术以及互联网技术的不断发展,游戏产业发展迅速,已经成为经济增长的一个亮点。本文简要的介绍了游戏的发展历史,另外还简单地介绍了众多游戏开发软件中的一种——即VisualBasic,其中主要地介绍了最新版的VisualBasic6.0,同时利用一个小游戏简单介绍了利用VisualBasic开发游戏的处理过程。     

基于VB的简单游戏开发的初探——华容道游戏的设计

随着软件技术以及互联网技术的不断发展，游戏产业发展迅速，已经成为经济增长的一个亮点。本文简要的介绍了游戏的发展历史，另外还简单地介绍了众多游戏开发软件中的一种——即visual Basic，其中主要地介绍了最新版的Visual Basic6．0，同时利用一个小游戏简单介绍了利用Visual Basic开发游戏的处理过程。     

An open source massively parallel solver for Richards equation: Mechanistic modelling of water fluxes at the watershed scale

In this paper we present a massively parallel open source solver for Richards equation, named the RichardsFOAM solver. This solver has been developed in the framework of the open source generalist computational fluid dynamics tool box OpenFOAM^®  and is capable to deal with large scale problems in both space and time. The source code for RichardsFOAM may be downloaded from the CPC program library website.     

Participatory modeling and the dilemma of diffuse nitrogen management in a residential watershed

Whereas point sources of nutrients are well understood and controllable, there is growing concern about non-point sources, especially those that are related to individual property owners. Modeling tools were used to analyze and visualize the fate of nitrogen from three anthropogenic sources: septic tanks, atmospheric deposition, and fertilizer. Our results suggest that septic tanks may be a less significant contributor to surface water nitrogen pollution in the short-term whereas fertilizer used at the home scale is a more significant source than previously thought. Participation in the study was solicited from community stakeholders who were instrumental in understanding how models could be applied to local decision making, in making appropriate model assumptions, and in developing politically feasible scenarios. Stakeholders used the model results to develop recommendations for the Calvert County Board of Commissioners. Recommendations include mandating nitrogen removal septic tanks for some homes, intensive citizen education about fertilizer usage, local regulation of fertilizer sales, reduction in automobile traffic, and cooperation with regional regulatory agencies working to reduce regional NO_x emissions. We explore how the participatory process can be used to influence decision-making, management policies, and citizen education in Calvert County, MD, to reduce all anthropogenic sources of nitrogen to local waters.     

Capturing the response of players to a location-based game

Location-based games offer opportunities for us to learn more about people’s interactions and feelings towards the environment they are in as well as to understand more about the mental models and locations associated with known environments, e.g. a university campus with its associations of learning. In our study, we wanted to manipulate the activities in a game to take advantage of certain locations in the hope of producing certain emotional reactions. However, it is not enough to simply produce these reactions; one must also have a way of capturing any emotions produced whether these are the ones expected or not. The objective of this paper, therefore, was to trial a new methodology for location-based games that aims at capturing the players’ emotional reactions to the activities in a game whilst in certain locations. In order to test the methodology, we designed a location-based game that can be played on any Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone that has an accelerometer. The game has been designed to interweave with a persons’ normal activity. As a result, there is little distinction between gaming time and non-gaming time.     

Development and testing of a river basin management simulation game for integrated management of the Magdalena-Cauca river basin

Sustainable basin management is important for both people and ecosystems. Increasing science-policy and inter-sectoral dialogue is recommended as a means to balance competing demands and achieve this; however, this dialogue is not necessarily easy to achieve. Here, we present a serious game aimed at communicating the complex relationships present in river basins and enabling dialogue between policy-makers and scientists in the Magdalena-Cauca basin, Colombia. Players guide the development of a fictional river basin over 30 years and the impacts of their decisions are simulated using WEAP water resources modelling software. The game has been used in various contexts. Here, experiences with stakeholders at a national forum in Bogota and with water professionals in Bangkok are discussed. The experience shows that the game is attractive to stakeholders, stimulates dialogue and provides interesting insights into the way computer models and stakeholders mental models can interact with and enrich each other.     

Minimization of cost,sediment load,and sensitivity to climate change in a watershed management application

One challenge of climate change adaptation is to design watershed-based stormwater management plans that meet current total maximum daily load targets and also take into consideration anticipated changes in future precipitation patterns. We present a multi-scale, multiobjective framework for generating a diverse family of stormwater best management practice (BMP) plans for entire watersheds. Each of these alternative BMP configurations are non-dominated by any other identified solution with respect to cost of the implementation of the management plan and sediment loading predicted at the outflow of the watershed; those solutions are then pruned with respect to dominance in sensitivity to predicted changes in precipitation patterns. We first use GIS data to automatically precompute a set of cost-optimal BMP configurations for each subwatershed, over its entire range of possible treatment levels. We then formulate each solution as a real-valued vector of treatment levels for the subwatersheds and employ a staged multiobjective optimization approach using differential evolution to generate sets of non-dominated solutions. Finally, selected solutions are mapped back to the corresponding preoptimized BMP configurations for each subwatershed. The integrated method is demonstrated on the Bartlett Brook mixed-used impaired watershed in South Burlington, VT, and patterns in BMP configurations along the non-dominated front are investigated. Watershed managers and other stakeholders could use this approach to assess the relative trade-offs of alternative stormwater BMP configurations.     

MCDA: a constructivist approach to the management of human resources at a governmental agency

In the context of a concern with a self sustaining system for the management of Human Resources, those responsible for the Coordination of Human Resources at the Governmental Agency 'Secretaria de Administração do Estado de Santa Catarina' (SEA) have decided to use a Constructivist Multicriteria Decision Aid Approach (MCDA) to help them identify the most convenient courses of action for the achievement of the proposed goals. The present paper shows both the development of an MCDA model and the process used for action generation and assessment.     

Evaluation of a game to teach requirements collection and analysis in software engineering at tertiary education level

A highly important part of software engineering education is requirements collection and analysis which is one of the initial stages of the Database Application Lifecycle and arguably the most important stage of the Software Development Lifecycle. No other conceptual work is as difficult to rectify at a later stage or as damaging to the overall system if performed incorrectly. As software engineering is a field with a reputation for producing graduates who are inappropriately prepared for applying their skills in real life software engineering scenarios, it suggests that traditional educational techniques such as role-play, live-through case studies and paper-based case studies are insufficient preparation and that other approaches are required. To attempt to combat this problem we have developed a games-based learning application to teach requirements collection and analysis at tertiary education level as games-based learning is seen as a highly motivating, engaging form of media and is a rapidly expanding field. This paper will describe the evaluation of the requirements collection and analysis game particularly from a pedagogical perspective. The game will be compared to traditional methods of software engineering education using a pre-test/post-test, control group/experimental group design to assess if the game can act as a suitable supplement to traditional techniques and assess if it can potentially overcome shortcomings. The game will be evaluated in five separate experiments at tertiary education level.     

3D sound spatialization with game engines: the virtual acoustics performance of a game engine and a middleware for interactive audio design

Virtual Reality - This study analyses one of the most popular game engines and an audio middleware to reproduce sound according to sound propagation physics. The analysis focuses on the...     

Snowmelt runoff modelling in a Himalayan basin with the aid of satellite data

The Himalayan basins have runoff contributions from rainfall as well as from snow and ice. In the present study a snowmelt runoff model (SRM) was applied to estimate the streamflow for Satluj basin located in the western Himalayan region. This model uses the direct input of remotely sensed snow-cover area (SCA) data for calibration and simulation. The SCA in the basin was determined using remote sensing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra-Aqua satellite. In addition, daily precipitation and temperature data, as well as a Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation model (SRTM-DEM), were used to prepare the area elevation curves. The model was calibrated using the dataset for a period of 3 years (1996–1997, 1997–1998 and 1998–1999) and model parameters for streamflow routing were optimized. Using the optimized parameters, streamflow simulations were made for four years of data (i.e. 2000–2003 and 2004–2005). The accuracy of the streamflow verification was determined using different criteria such as shape of the outflow hydrograph, efficiency and difference in volume. The seasonal temperature lapse rates (TLRs) estimated from land surface temperature (LST) maps were used in the model and considerable improvement in simulation was observed. It was found that the overall efficiency increased when using varying TLRs.     

Design of a web-based application of the coupled multi-agent system model and environmental model for watershed management analysis using Hadoop

Watersheds are modeled as coupled human and natural systems (CHNSs) by coupling a multi-agent system (MAS) model and an environmental model. The computational intensity and model accessibility of the coupled models are addressed in this paper. Multithreaded programming is used to improve the computational efficiency. As a result, the total running time of the coupled models is reduced by 80%, from one hour for a sequential run to twelve minutes with an eight-core desktop machine, running the model in parallel. To make the coupled models publicly accessible, a web-based application of the coupled models is implemented in the Hadoop-based cloud computing environment, which allows users to access and execute the model simultaneously without an increase in latency. This study presents a case of cyberinfrastructure design for complex watershed management problems, especially to parallelize computational models and provide model accessibility with user scalability.     

Assessing the short-term impacts of changing grazing regime at the landscape scale with remote sensing

Livestock grazing is an important form of land use, affecting ecosystems worldwide. In ecoregions that evolved with low densities of large ungulates, such as those in the western United States, there is ongoing debate as to the appropriate concentrations of livestock that can be sustained. Limited landscape-scale monitoring makes it difficult to pinpoint the landscape-scale impacts of livestock on ecosystems. In this study, we use remote sensing to identify landscape-scale changes in Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), a proxy for community greenness, following changes in land use in south-central Idaho, United States. Grazing allotments in the study area have been managed by Lava Lake Land & Livestock (Lava Lake) since 2001, and recent landscape-scale changes include reduced grazing intensity, longer rest periods and reduced grazing in riparian zones. Additionally, sheep bands owned by Lava Lake were collared with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to track their daily locations during the 2004–2005 summer grazing seasons. We found that increased NDVI was more likely to occur adjacent to riparian channels, which have been a focus for ecological recovery by land managers at Lava Lake. Decreased NDVI was most likely within 500 m of sheep grazing. However, the extent of impact differed depending on land use and elevation. Decreased NDVI on allotments with a large reduction in total number of sheep was most likely within only 60–150 m. Grazing on lands at elevations above 2300 m had no relationship to decreased NDVI. Our results suggest that grazing impacts are heterogeneous across the landscape and depend strongly on stocking rates and elevation (which is correlated to precipitation). Spatial analysis of NDVI can identify landscape-scale changes resulting from livestock grazing that may not be apparent from local monitoring. Patterns of change identified with remote sensing can guide ecosystem monitoring across extensive public and private lands.     

Developing a pragmatic evaluation of ICTs for older adults with cognitive impairment at scale: the IN LIFE experience

Implementing information and communications technology (ICT) at scale requires evaluation processes to capture the impact on users as well as the infrastructure into which it is being introduced. For older adults living with cognitive impairment, this requires evaluation that can accommodate different levels of cognitive impairment, alongside input from family and formal caregivers, plus stakeholder organisations. The European Horizon 2020 project INdependent LIving support Functions for the Elderly (IN LIFE) set out to integrate 17 technologies into a single digital platform for older people living with cognitive impairment plus their families, care providers and stakeholders. The IN LIFE evaluation took place across six national pilot sites to examine a number of variables including impact on the users, user acceptance of the individual services and the overall platform, plus the economic case for the IN LIFE platform. The results confirmed the interest and need among older adults, family caregivers, formal caregivers and stakeholders, for information and communications technology (ICT). Relative to the baseline, quality of life improved and cognition stabilised; however, there was an overall reluctance to pay for the platform. The findings provide insights into existing barriers and challenges for adoption of ICT for older people living with cognitive impairment.