scholarly journals Individual and collective foraging in autonomous search agents with human intervention

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Schloesser ◽  
Derek Hollenbeck ◽  
Christopher T. Kello
Keyword(s):  
Group Performance ◽  
Social Foraging ◽  
Collective Modes ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Group Foraging ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Autonomous Search ◽  
Foraging Task ◽  
Search Modes

AbstractHumans and other complex organisms exhibit intelligent behaviors as individual agents and as groups of coordinated agents. They can switch between independent and collective modes of behavior, and flexible switching can be advantageous for adapting to ongoing changes in conditions. In the present study, we investigated the flexibility between independent and collective modes of behavior in a simulated social foraging task designed to benefit from both modes: distancing among ten foraging agents promoted faster detection of resources, whereas flocking promoted faster consumption. There was a tradeoff between faster detection versus faster consumption, but both factors contributed to foraging success. Results showed that group foraging performance among simulated agents was enhanced by loose coupling that balanced distancing and flocking among agents and enabled them to fluidly switch among a variety of groupings. We also examined the effects of more sophisticated cognitive capacities by studying how human players improve performance when they control one of the search agents. Results showed that human intervention further enhanced group performance with loosely coupled agents, and human foragers performed better when coordinating with loosely coupled agents. Humans players adapted their balance of independent versus collective search modes in response to the dynamics of simulated agents, thereby demonstrating the importance of adaptive flexibility in social foraging.

scholarly journals Tight and Loose Coupling in Organizations

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Romans Pancs
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Tightly Coupled ◽  
Equilibrium Amount

AbstractSome industries have consumers who seek novelty and firms that innovate vigorously and whose organizational structure is loosely coupled, or easily adaptable. Other industries have consumers who take comfort in the traditional and firms that innovate little and whose organizational structure is tightly coupled, or not easily adaptable. This paper proposes a model that explains why the described features tend to covary across industries. The model highlights the pervasiveness of equilibrium inefficiency (innovation can be insufficient or excessive) and the nonmonotonicity of welfare in the equilibrium amount of innovation.

scholarly journals Translucent Answer Predictions in Multi-Hop Reading Comprehension

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (05) ◽  
pp. 7700-7707
Author(s):  
G P Shrivatsa Bhargav ◽  
Michael Glass ◽  
Dinesh Garg ◽  
Shirish Shevade ◽  
Saswati Dana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Question Answering ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Local Context ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Neural Architecture ◽  
Coupled Networks ◽  
Novel Design

Research on the task of Reading Comprehension style Question Answering (RCQA) has gained momentum in recent years due to the emergence of human annotated datasets and associated leaderboards, for example CoQA, HotpotQA, SQuAD, TriviaQA, etc. While state-of-the-art has advanced considerably, there is still ample opportunity to advance it further on some important variants of the RCQA task. In this paper, we propose a novel deep neural architecture, called TAP (Translucent Answer Prediction), to identify answers and evidence (in the form of supporting facts) in an RCQA task requiring multi-hop reasoning. TAP comprises two loosely coupled networks – Local and Global Interaction eXtractor (LoGIX) and Answer Predictor (AP). LoGIX predicts supporting facts, whereas AP consumes these predicted supporting facts to predict the answer span. The novel design of LoGIX is inspired by two key design desiderata – local context and global interaction– that we identified by analyzing examples of multi-hop RCQA task. The loose coupling between LoGIX and the AP reveals the set of sentences used by the AP in predicting an answer. Therefore, answer predictions of TAP can be interpreted in a translucent manner. TAP offers state-of-the-art performance on the HotpotQA (Yang et al. 2018) dataset – an apt dataset for multi-hop RCQA task – as it occupies Rank-1 on its leaderboard (https://hotpotqa.github.io/) at the time of submission.

scholarly journals Neural encoding of perceived patch value during competitive and hazardous virtual foraging

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Silston ◽  
Toby Wise ◽  
Song Qi ◽  
Xin Sui ◽  
Peter Dayan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Foraging ◽  
Survival Strategy ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Hazardous Environments ◽  
Predatory Attack ◽  
Multidimensional Information ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Foraging Task

AbstractNatural observations suggest that in safe environments, organisms avoid competition to maximize gain, while in hazardous environments the most effective survival strategy is to congregate with competition to reduce the likelihood of predatory attack. We probed the extent to which survival decisions in humans follow these patterns, and examined the factors that determined individual-level decision-making. In a virtual foraging task containing changing levels of competition in safe and hazardous patches with virtual predators, we demonstrate that human participants inversely select competition avoidant and risk diluting strategies depending on perceived patch value (PPV), a computation dependent on reward, threat, and competition. We formulate a mathematically grounded quantification of PPV in social foraging environments and show using multivariate fMRI analyses that PPV is encoded by mid-cingulate cortex (MCC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortices (vMPFC), regions that integrate action and value signals. Together, these results suggest humans utilize and integrate multidimensional information to adaptively select patches highest in PPV, and that MCC and vMPFC play a role in adapting to both competitive and predatory threats in a virtual foraging setting.

scholarly journals A Framework for Migration of SOA based Applications to Microservices Architecture

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. e18
Author(s):  
Vinay Raj ◽  
Ravichandra Sadam
Keyword(s):  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Enterprise Service Bus ◽  
Client Server ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Independent Design ◽  
Server Architecture

This Distributed systems have evolved rapidly as the demand for independent design, and deployment ofsoftware applications has increased. It has emerged from the monolithic style of client-server architecture toservice-oriented architecture, and then to the trending microservices. Monolithic applications are difficult toupdate, maintain, and deploy as it makes the application code very complex to understand. To overcome the designand deployment challenges in monolithic applications, service oriented architecture has emerged as a style ofdecomposing the entire application into loosely coupled, scalable, and interoperable services. Though SOA hasbecome popular in the integration of multiple applications using the enterprise service bus, there are fewchallenges related to delivery, deployment, governance, and interoperability of services. Additionally, the servicesin SOA applications are tending towards monolithic in size with the increase in changing user requirements. Toovercome the design and maintenance challenges in SOA, microservices has emerged as a new architectural styleof designing applications with loose coupling, independent deployment, and scalability as key features.

Transforming Cross-Organisational Processes between European Administrations

2009 ◽  
pp. 93-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Ziemann ◽  
Peter Loos
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Service ◽  
System Integration ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Business Interoperability ◽  
Visible Behaviour ◽  
Clear Objective

New legal settings, the need for improved quality of service, and technological advances increase the pressure on public administrations to cooperate in order to modernize and innovate procedures. Thus, the automation of cross-organisational processes is a clear objective. But due to the traditional independence of administrations, as well as the need to minimize modifications of internal systems, a loose coupling rather than tight system integration is desired. In this vein, a method is required that enables public administrations to create comprehensive interfaces they can publish to collaboration partners. This chapter presents the concept for a Business Interoperability Interface that describes the externally visible behaviour of administrations and supports the design and execution of loosely coupled, cross-organisational processes. Requirements for this interface are derived from the Europol-Eurojust collaboration, and the development and application of the Business Interoperability Interface are illustrated with the same scenario.

Understanding Information Technology Implementation Failure

2011 ◽  
pp. 1496-1512
Author(s):  
Marie-Claude Boudreau ◽  
Jonny Holmström
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Implementation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Lotus Notes ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Interpretive Case Study ◽  
Implementation Failure ◽  
Share Information

This chapter uses the theory of loose coupling to explain failure in the adoption of an information technology aimed at improving collaboration across one organization’s internal boundaries. The research details an interpretive case study of a single organization, MacGregor Crane, in which relatively autonomous individuals are only loosely connected in terms of their daily interactions. The company implemented Lotus Notes© in an attempt to increase collaboration. However, this effort failed because employees in various units, particularly engineering, were reluctant to share information across unit boundaries. In light of these findings, it is suggested that the successful implementation of a collaborative IT within a loosely coupled organization should involve the reconsideration of the organizational members’ roles and functions.

scholarly journals Study on Loose-Coupling Methods for Aircraft Thermal Anti-Icing System

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaobin Shen ◽  
Qi Guo ◽  
Guiping Lin ◽  
Yu Zeng ◽  
Zhongliang Hu
Keyword(s):  
Heat Conduction ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Freezing Point ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Temperature Range ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Coupling Methods ◽  
Naca 0012

To simulate aircraft thermal anti-icing systems and solve the conjugate heat transfer of air-droplet flow and solid skin, the heat and mass transfer model of the runback water on the anti-icing surface was combined with the heat conduction equation of the skin by loosely coupled methods. According to the boundary conditions used for the runback water conservation equations, two loose-coupling methods for the heat exchange between the runback water and the solid skin were developed based on surface heat flow and surface temperature, respectively. The anti-icing and ice accretion results of a NACA 0012 electro-thermal anti-icing system were obtained by the two loose-coupling methods. The heat flow-based method directly solves the thermodynamic model of the runback water without any extra assumptions, but the convergence rate is relatively slow. On the other hand, the temperature-based method achieves higher calculation speed, but the freezing point is extended to an artificial temperature range between water and ice phases. When the value of the artificial temperature range is small, the results obtained by the temperature-based method are consistent with those of the heat flow-based method, indicating that the effect of freezing point extension can be ignored for thermal anti-icing simulation. Furthermore, the solutions of the two methods are in acceptable and comparable agreement with the experimental and simulative results in the literature, confirming their feasibility and effectiveness. In addition, it is found that the ice thicknesses and ice shapes rise obviously near the runback water limits as a result of the transverse heat conduction of the solid skin.

GROUP FORAGING BY A KLEPTOPARASITIC FISH: A STRONG INFERENCE TEST OF SOCIAL FORAGING MODELS

Ecology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 84 (12) ◽  
pp. 3349-3359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian M. Hamilton ◽  
Lawrence M. Dill
Keyword(s):  
Social Foraging ◽  
Group Foraging ◽  
Inference Test ◽  
Strong Inference ◽  
Foraging Models

scholarly journals Explaining organisational responses to a board-level quality improvement intervention: findings from an evaluation in six providers in the English National Health Service

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorelei Jones ◽  
Linda Pomeroy ◽  
Glenn Robert ◽  
Susan Burnett ◽  
Janet E Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Quality Improvement Intervention ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Hospital Boards ◽  
Board Level ◽  
Improvement Intervention

BackgroundHealthcare systems worldwide are concerned with strengthening board-level governance of quality. We applied Lozeau, Langley and Denis’ typology (transformation, customisation, loose coupling and corruption) to describe and explain the organisational response to an improvement intervention in six hospital boards in England.MethodsWe conducted fieldwork over a 30-month period as part of an evaluation in six healthcare provider organisations in England. Our data comprised board member interviews (n=54), board meeting observations (24 hours) and relevant documents.ResultsTwo organisations transformed their processes in a way that was consistent with the objectives of the intervention, and one customised the intervention with positive effects. In two further organisations, the intervention was only loosely coupled with organisational processes, and participation in the intervention stopped when it competed with other initiatives. In the final case, the intervention was corrupted to reinforce existing organisational processes (a focus on external regulatory requirements). The organisational response was contingent on the availability of ‘slack’—expressed by participants as the ‘space to think’ and ‘someone to do the doing’—and the presence of a functioning board.ConclusionsUnderperforming organisations, under pressure to improve, have little time or resources to devote to organisation-wide quality improvement initiatives. Our research highlights the need for policy-makers and regulators to extend their focus beyond the choice of intervention, to consider how the chosen intervention will be implemented in public sector hospitals, how this will vary between contexts and with what effects. We provide useful information on the necessary conditions for a board-level quality improvement intervention to have positive effects.

scholarly journals Performance of human groups in social foraging: the role of communication in consensus decision making

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. King ◽  
Claire Narraway ◽  
Lindsay Hodgson ◽  
Aidan Weatherill ◽  
Volker Sommer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Social Foraging ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Group Success ◽  
Consensus Decision Making ◽  
Consensus Decision

Early hominids searched for dispersed food sources in a patchy, uncertain environment, and modern humans encounter equivalent spatial–temporal coordination problems on a daily basis. A fundamental, but untested assumption is that our evolved capacity for communication is integral to our success in such tasks, allowing information exchange and consensus decisions based on mutual consideration of pooled information. Here we examine whether communication enhances group performance in humans, and test the prediction that consensus decision-making underlies group success. We used bespoke radio-tagging methodology to monitor the incremental performance of communicating and non-communicating human groups (small group sizes of two to seven individuals), during a social foraging experiment. We found that communicating groups ( n = 22) foraged more effectively than non-communicating groups ( n = 21) and were able to reach consensus decisions (an ‘agreement’ on the most profitable foraging resource) significantly more often than non-communicating groups. Our data additionally suggest that gesticulations among group members played a vital role in the achievement of consensus decisions, and therefore highlight the importance of non-verbal signalling of intentions and desires for successful human cooperative behaviour.

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