Agent decision-making in open mixed networks

Computer systems increasingly carry out tasks in mixed networks, that is in group settings in which they interact both with other computer systems and with people. Participants in these heterogeneous human-computer groups vary in their capabilities, goals, and strategies; they may cooperate, collaborate, or compete. The presence of people in mixed networks raises challenges for the design and the evaluation of decision-making strategies for computer agents. This paper describes several new decision-making models that represent, learn and adapt to various social attributes that influence people's decision-making and presents a novel approach to evaluating such models. It identifies a range of social attributes in an open-network setting that influence people's decision-making and thus affect the performance of computer-agent strategies, and establishes the importance of learning and adaptation to the success of such strategies. The settings vary in the capabilities, goals, and strategies that people bring into their interactions. The studies deploy a configurable system called Colored Trails (CT) that generates a family of games. CT is an abstract, conceptually simple but highly versatile game in which players negotiate and exchange resources to enable them to achieve their individual or group goals. It provides a realistic analogue to multi-agent task domains, while not requiring extensive domain modeling. It is less abstract than payoff matrices, and people exhibit less strategic and more helpful behavior in CT than in the identical payoff matrix decision-making context. By not requiring extensive domain modeling, CT enables agent researchers to focus their attention on strategy design, and it provides an environment in which the influence of social factors can be better isolated and studied.     

Synthesis of Some Polymer Models of Potentially Biologically Active Compounds

2-(p-Styryl)-4-carboxyquinoline (vinyl cincophen), its 6-methyl and 6,7-benzo derivatives, p-formylstyryl thiosemicarbazone, and p-vinyl-DL-threo-β-phenylserine were synthesized and polymerized.     

Recombinant yeast as a functional tool for understanding bitterness and cucurbitacin biosynthesis in watermelon (Citrullus spp.)

Cucurbitacins are a group of bitter‐tasting oxygenated tetracyclic triterpenes that are produced in the family Cucurbitaceae and other plant families. The natural roles of cucurbitacins in plants are probably related to defence against pathogens and pests. Cucurbitadienol, a triterpene synthesized from oxidosqualene, is the first committed precursor to cucurbitacins produced by a specialized oxidosqualene cyclase termed cucurbitadienol synthase. We explored cucurbitacin accumulation in watermelon in relation to bitterness. Our findings show that cucurbitacins are accumulated in bitter‐tasting watermelon, Citrullus lanatus var. citroides, as well as in their wild ancestor, C. colocynthis, but not in non‐bitter commercial cultivars of sweet watermelon (C. lanatus var. lanatus). Molecular analysis of genes expressed in the roots of several watermelon accessions led to the isolation of three sequences (CcCDS1, CcCDS2 and ClCDS1), all displaying high similarity to the pumpkin CpCPQ, encoding a protein previously shown to possess cucurbitadienol synthase activity. We utilized the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain BY4743, heterozygous for lanosterol synthase, to probe for possible encoded cucurbitadienol synthase activity of the expressed watermelon sequences. Functional expression of the two sequences isolated from C. colocynthis (CcCDS1 and CcCDS2) in yeast revealed that only CcCDS2 possessed cucurbitadienol synthase activity, while CcCDS1 did not display cucurbitadienol synthase activity in recombinant yeast. ClCDS1 isolated from C. lanatus var. lanatus is almost identical to CcCDS1. Our results imply that CcCDS2 plays a role in imparting bitterness to watermelon. Yeast has been an excellent diagnostic tool to determine the first committed step of cucurbitacin biosynthesis in watermelon. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

第33届世界钻石大会在上海圆满落幕

由世界钻石交易所联盟(WFDB)与国际钻石加工厂商协会 (IDMA)及中华全国工商业联合会金银珠宝业商会钻石加工专业委员会(CDMA)共同承办的第33届世界钻石大会于2008年5月12-15日在上海波特曼丽嘉酒店顺利召开.     

CIBJO机构向会员传授珠宝营销知识

国际珠宝联盟(CIBJO)大会将于2007年3月12-15日在南非的开普敦举行。其间,CIBJO的市场与教育机构将开展一系列培训活动,向珠宝商们传授一些有效的珠宝营销手段以面对日益激烈的市场竞争。现在的消费者比以往更具辨识能力与知识以及具有更多的需求,而其它奢侈品牌的快速崛起也明     

Hydrodynamic theory of fourth sound in clamped conditions

The hydrodynamic theory of fourth sound is developed in detail for the cases of a flat capillary and a porous superleak filled with superfluid helium whose normal fluid motion is completely clamped. The attenuation is calculated including rigorously all the thermal conduction effects in both the helium and the capillary walls. Also included in the case of the superleak are the Rayleigh scattering and the thermal effects of the resonator walls. Comparison of the superleak results with existing experiments leads to the conclusion that Q factors of fourth-sound resonators could be increased considerably.