Word length and lexical activation: Longer is better.

Many models of spoken word recognition posit the existence of lexical and sublexical representations, with excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms used to affect the activation levels of such representations. Bottom-up evidence provides excitatory input, and inhibition from phonetically similar representations leads to lexical competition. In such a system, long words should produce stronger lexical activation than short words, for 2 reasons: Long words provide more bottom-up evidence than short words, and short words are subject to greater inhibition due to the existence of more similar words. Four experiments provide evidence for this view. In addition, reaction-time-based partitioning of the data shows that long words generate greater activation that is available both earlier and for a longer time than is the case for short words. As a result, lexical influences on phoneme identification are extremely robust for long words but are quite fragile and condition-dependent for short words. Models of word recognition must consider words of all lengths to capture the true dynamics of lexical activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Table-Free Bridging

Simple interconnection of high-speed local area networks (LAN's) can be accomplished without special technology through the use of table-free bridges. Self-guided frame routing allows frames to trace specific routes through bridged LAN's without requiring bridges to maintain address tables or perform table lookups. As a result, the technique applies to networks regardless of their operating speed or topological configuration and requires no interbridge protocols. The paper discusses a method known as source routing that provides tablefree bridging and self-guided frame routing for LAN's. Participation by the bridges that interconnect pairs of LAN's and by the stations whose frames they forward is described. Possible frame formats are shown as enhancements to the standard frame formats of the IEEE 802 and ISO 8802 local area networks.     

The rest stays unchanged (concurrency and state-based specification)

Pre-/postconditions have been extensively used in program specification, e.g. Z [Spi89], VDM [Jon86], and proof, e.g. Hoare logic, Dijkstra's guarded commands [DiF88]. In [ScP86, SPB90] the authors introduced neutral and central relations to formalise the concept of the rest stays the same. In this paper we abstract away from the specific definition of neutral relation given in [SPB90], through the mechanism of relational boolean algebras. This leads to the definition of implicitly central relations which are easier for the user in practical examples and facilitate the use of pre-/postcondition reasoning about truly concurrent behaviour.     

Normalized Interactions between autonomous agents

The CEC Project GOAL (Esprit 6283) aims to develop generic software tools to support a new project management paradigm, in which projects are collaborative, decentralised and inter-organizational. To support inter-organizational interaction, communication and cooperation, we are developing a design framework for formalizing the flow of information between organizations, specifying access to and provision of project services, and defining project-wide standards and procedures. This framework is based on normalizing interactions between autonomous software agents by specifying messages and protocols for inter-agent communication and cooperation. This paper reviews the framework, and then focusses on the specification and implementation of a case study, the automation of a distributed document review procedure. This is both a successful proof of concept and a demonstration of how Artificial Intelligence technologies can support inter-organizational project management. It also points the way to agent brokering, an enhancement of object brokering in distributed open systems, where the satisfaction of service requests can be subject to negotiation.Supported by CEC Esprit Project GOAL (Esprit 6283) and CEC Esprit BRA Medlar II (Esprit 6471).Supported by CEC Esprit Project GOAL (Esprit 6283).     

Responsible agent behavior: a distributed computing perspective

Software agents that are autonomous, communicative, and possibly intelligent processes raise new questions for developers of distributed systems. Specifically, what is responsible agent behavior, and who, as the owner, is legally responsible for it? The answers involve an understanding of human-agent interaction, agent-oriented middleware, and social behavior. Some software agents will have a sufficiently large number of internal states to be capable of seemingly intelligent behavior. Hence, an agent's future external behavior cannot be guaranteed on the basis of its past behavior, even if that behavior has been monitored over time. Complete compliance tests of intelligent agents, therefore, may not be achievable because of the (possibly) large number of internal states. Thus, the best we can say is that an agent has not exhibited noncompliant behavior yet. Communication between agents implies a contract between owners, and the complexity of agents implies possibly unpredictable behavior. Therefore, an appropriate legal framework is required to underwrite the consequences of communicative actions and to provide safeguards against unlawful activities. The legal implications of agent technology require new ways of thinking about working with an agent, new requirements for agent-oriented middleware, and additional types of social behavior to be considered when designing a multiagent system     

Development of a disposable electrode modified with carbonized,graphene‐loaded nanofiber for the detection of dopamine in human serum

A one‐step electrode surface modification is proposed in which a disposable, screen‐printed carbon electrode is functionalized with carbonized, electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN)‐loaded graphene (G) nanoparticles to form a composite, CPAN5G‐4x. The electrochemical behavior of the CPAN5G‐4x electrode was examined by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction were used to characterize the surface morphology and physical properties of the carbonized composite nanofibers before and after modification. The modified electrode was found to be effective for the detection of dopamine (DA) using square‐wave voltammetry (SWV) in the presence of interfering substances such as ascorbic acid and uric acid. With the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to an optimized solution of phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) at a pH of 2, the fabricated electrode exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of DA relative to PBS without SDS at a pH of 7.4. The SWV current displayed a linear response to DA concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 100 μM, with a limit of detection of 70 nM (S/N = 3) and a sensitivity of 1.4258 μA μM^?1 cm^?2. Finally, the CPAN5G‐4x electrode was used to determine DA levels in human serum. The modified electrode can potentially be harnessed for further electrochemical biosensor applications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40858.