Visualization and debugging of distributed multiagent systems

Visualizing the behavior of systems with distributed data, control, and process is a notoriously difficult task. Each component in the distributed system has only a local view of the whole setup, and the onus is on the user to integrate, into a coherent whole, the large amounts of limited information they provide. In this article, we describe an architecture and an implemented system for visualizing and controlling distributed multiagent applications. The system comprises a suite of tools, with each tool providing a different perspective of the application being visualized . Each tool interrogates the components of the distributed application, collates the returned information, and presents this information to users in an appropriate manner. This in essence, shifts the burden ofinference from the user to the visualizer. Our visualizer has been evaluated on four distributed multiagent systems: a travel management application, a telecommunications network management application, a business process management demonstrator, and an electronic commerce application. Lastly, we briefly show how the suite of tools can be used together for debugging multiagent applications - a process we refer to as debugging via corroboration.     

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) cluster groups among chronically ill patients: relationship to illness adjustment and treatment outcome

Cluster analysis of the MMPI has been utilized widely in the chronic low back pain literature to try to identify reliable patient subtypes predictive of treatment outcome. We extended this methodology to patients with heterogeneous chronic medical conditions by replicating prototypic MMPI cluster group profiles and by relating cluster groups to clinical baseline and outcome data. Subjects were two independent samples (n = 254 and n = 263) of chronically ill patients admitted to an inpatient medicine/psychiatry unit. Using a four-cluster solution, similar cluster profile groups were replicated in both samples. Consistent differences emerged between cluster groups on functional impairment, psychiatric diagnoses, depression, and psychosomatic symptoms. Cluster group membership also predicted changes in functional impairment and depression six months after treatment. Results are discussed in terms of similarities between chronic low back pain and chronic illness and tailoring treatment to different patient types.     

Loss reduction in InGaAs/InGaAlAs quantum well electron transferwaveguides using ion implantation

We demonstrate that phosphorous ion implantation is an effective means of blue-shifting the absorption edge in InGaAs/InGaAlAs barrier, reservoir and quantum well electron transfer structures (BRAQWETS). The electroabsorption peak is wavelength-shifted by 100 nm after implant, with a complete recovery of the electroabsorption magnitude after an appropriate rapid thermal anneal cycle. Good electrical characteristics are also maintained after implant and anneal. We apply this technique to loss reduction for BRAQWETS waveguide devices. At 1.523 mm, the implant and anneal results in a decrease of rib waveguide propagation loss from 79.4 dB/mm to 6.2 dB/mm     

More on the limits-to-growth controversy.

Comments on P. C. Stern's (1978) article on the professional notice psychologists and other social scientists are taking of the limits-to-growth controversy, concerning solutions to environmental and resource problems. The ongoing debate is examined between those who believe in the necessity of limits and those who believe in the maximizing of personal freedom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Re: Proportionate mortality among union members employed at three Texas refineries

OBJECTIVES:We established an in vitro model to investigate the effects of valve sizing on the hemodynamic characteristics and leaflet motion of the Toronto SPV valve (St Jude Medical, Inc, St Paul, Minn). METHODS: Nine valves were first implanted in fresh porcine aortic roots and then retested in glutaraldehyde-treated porcine aortic roots. Three valves were 1- to 2-mm oversized, 3 were 1- to 2-mm undersized, and there were 3 size-for-size implantations. The elasticities of the aortic roots and the composite roots were measured in the pressure range between 0 and 120 mm Hg, and the composite roots were then tested in a pulsatile flow simulator. The transvalvular gradient and regurgitation were measured and the effective orifice area and performance index were calculated for each root. Leaflet motion was recorded on videotape. RESULTS: The external diameter of the fresh root increased by 35% as the hydrostatic pressure rose from 0 to 120 mm Hg, as compared with 11% for the glutaraldehyde-treated root. Valve implantation in the fresh root reduced the distensibility to 22% but did not change distensibility in the glutaraldehyde-treated root. The effective orifice area was dependent on the valve size, with the transvalvular gradient decreasing as the valve size increased. For the same size of valve the hydrodynamic parameters were slightly better if the valve was undersized by 1 mm. A significant difference in favor of the undersized valves was found in open-leaflet bending deformation. CONCLUSION: Leaflet motion of the stentless porcine aortic valve in vitro is improved if the valve is slightly undersized, and this may be beneficial to the long-term durability of the prosthesis.     

Effect of Cooking on Moisture Sorption Isotherms of Shea Nut (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn.) Kernels Part II: Modelling and Properties of Sorbed Water

An investigation was undertaken in this work to model the sorption isotherms of cooked and raw shea nut kernels determined by the standard static gravimetric method. The GAB, Halsey and Caurie models were validated and used in describing the sorption behaviour of the kernels. The monolayer moisture contents derived from Caurie’s equation for the desorption of cooked and raw kernels at 40, 50 and 60 °C were 5.49, 4.40 and 2.65 % and 5.22, 3.68 and 2.47 %, respectively. Monolayer moisture contents obtained from the GAB model showed a similar variation. As the temperature of sorption increased from 40 to 60 °C, the number of adsorbed monolayers (N), the surface area of adsorbent (A) and the percent bound water decreased significantly (p?<?0.05). It is suggested that the sorption process at all temperatures is multilayered. Desorption isosteric heats were lower for cooked kernels than the raw ones, while the reverse phenomenon was obtained for the adsorption process. It was established that, during storage, cooked kernels adsorbed moisture more slowly, suggesting that they could be stored for a longer period compared to the raw ones.     

Influence of physical pretreatments of sheanuts (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn.) on butter quality

Shea butter, usually extracted from kernels of Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn. by rural women in Sub‐Saharran Africa, has multiple traditional and industrial uses. Traditional processing methods are not standardized and often lead to the production of poor quality butter, which attract low market prices. The aim of this work was to study the different pretreatments locally applied to sheanuts during processing in order to identify those that can affect butter quality. The effect of cooking, soaking as well as drying on the amount of butter extracted and its minor constituents were investigated. All these pretreatments significantly affected oil quality. The effect of soaking of the kernels on improving oil extraction yields (55%) was comparable to that of kernels digested with α‐amylase, acid protease, cellulase/hemicellulase, pectinase, and glucanase enzymes before oil extraction reported in the literature. Drying had a significant negative effect on tocopherol contents of the oil. However, residual amounts of tocopherols in the oil after drying were high enough to suggest that it may still confer anti‐oxidant activities. Soaking, cooking, and drying are important pretreatments involved in the production of shea butter locally that need to be standardized in order to produce better quality butter. Practical applications: In this work, we carried out scientific analysis of methods already used by rural women to process shea fruits into shea butter. This work should be useful for establishing processing conditions for obtaining good quality shea butter.