GeneCity: A Multi-Agent Simulation Environment of Hereditary Diseases
Abstract: Simulating an Artificial Society is always an intriguing and challenging process, to help us to better understand the macroscopic way humans function. Mathematical models usually make simplifications of the law governing systems, by presuming that populations are homogeneous and corporate in peace. In order to address the problems rising for heterogeneous populations, exploitation of agent technology leads to systems where agents have a unique way of performing actions, as individuals.
The study of specific scenario-based closed models may help us deliver some useful conclusions through proper data analysis. Interpreting a society and its mentality is a difficult task though, and perhaps impossible to completely cover in full range all its aspects, which may be visible, or be hidden under a chaotic way of behaviour.
Keeping this in mind, we pursue the simulation of a closed system in an artificial society, that of a hereditary disease epidemiological behaviour and how it affects a population, as part of a multi agent system. Agents, as human, acquire
human characteristics: education on the disease, fear for the birth of non healthy descendants, as well with other human-like mate selection criteria, as wealth (included in the genetic algorithm), topological distance, age differences and others.
The simulating system, called GeneCity, deploys an initial population of agents, under user specified demographical and sociological data, and can observe the changes through a period of epochs, with mate selection, marriages, deaths, births, genetic crossover and mutation, both for the biological and social genes.
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Περίληψη: Στο έργο αυτό πραγματευόμαστε τη προσομοίωση κοινωνικών δομών σε ένα κλειστό σύστημα, χρησιμοποιώντας τεχνολογία πολλαπλών πρακτόρων. Σε ένα στοχαστικό περιβάλλον, οι αυτόνομοι πράκτορες δημιουργούν κοινωνικά δίκτυα με τους άλλους πράκτορες μέσω των οποίων κάποιοι επιλέγουν τους συντρόφους με για να δημιουργήσουν οικογένειες. Χτίζοντας με αυτό το τρόπο τις κοινωνικές δομές από κάτω προς τα πάνω, εξετάζουμε το πως αλλάζουν οι αλληλεπιδράσεις των πρακτόρων, όταν αυτοί φέρουν το “στίγμα” μιας γενετικά μεταδιδόμενης ασθένειας.
Η έρευνα αυτή είναι καινοτόμα σε σχέση στα παραδοσιακά επιδημιολογικά μοντέλα, καθώς ξεφεύγει από τα απλουστευμένες μαθηματικές εκφράσεις και επιτρέπει την ανάπτυξη εξελικτικών διεργασιών στην κοινωνία. Επιπρόσθετα επιτρέπει την προσομοίωση πολύπλοκων σχέσεων όπως “αγάπη”, “φόβος”, “πληροφόρηση”, “επηρεασμός”, “κοινή γνώμη” κλπ.
Οι πράκτορες αποτελούνται από στοιχειώδη “ανθρώπινα” χαρακτηριστικά, τόσο από πλευράς φυσιολογίας (μικρο-γενετικό κώδικα) όσο και από πλευράς ψυχολογίας (προσωπικότητα). Οι πράκτορες προσομοιώνουν “ανθρώπινες” συμπεριφορές μέσα στα χρονικά πλαίσια που τους καθορίζει το ίδιο το κοινωνικό σύστημα.
Για την υλοποίηση του συστήματος, αναπτύξαμε την πλατφόρμα GeneCity, μέσω της οποίας μπορούν να αναπτυχθούν οι διάφοροι πράκτορες και ο χρήστης να καθορίσει, δυναμικά, τις προδιαγραφές του κοινωνικού συστήματος.
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Presentation in greek and in english.
References:
1. Ηλιάδης Δ. (2004), Περιβάλλον Προσομοίωσης Μετάδοσης Γενετικών Ασθενειών, Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης (pdf)
2. D. G. Eliades, A. L. Symeonidis and P. A. Mitkas, (2005) “GeneCity: A Multi Agent Simulation Environment for Hereditary Diseases”, European Workshop on Multi Agent Systems, p.137–147, Brussels, Belgium.
3. D. G. Eliades, A. L. Symeonidis and P. A. Mitkas, (2006) “GeneCity: A Multi Agent Simulation Environment for Hereditary Diseases”, IEEE International Conference on Computer Systems
and Applications, p.529–536, Dubai, UAE (pdf)
e-Ecole: An Intelligent Language Tutoring System for Anglophone Learners of Passive Voice in French
Abstract: This research examines the effectiveness of an Intelligent Language Tutoring System (ILTS) for instructing Anglophone Intermediate-level learners of French in the French Passive Voice. Furthermore it performs a comparative study of the two dominant types of feedback used by human tutors, Rule Prompting Feedback and General Prompting Feedback, within the ILTS framework.
The motivation of this study is the small number of experimental evaluations that currently exists in the related literature. In addition to that, most relevant studies with feedback either are based on either the developer’s intuition, or transcriptions from verbal classroom instruction. Our findings, however, indicate that human tutors provide different feedback in spoken, and different in writing.
Prior to the evaluation, an empirical study was conducted with questionnaires with various expert tutors of French, regarding mistake treatment in the Passive Voice. The French Passive Voice is recognised by teachers as an area in which Anglophones have difficulty with. The results of the study showed that the majority of the feedback messages the teachers had given, contained metalinguistic information with either general information about the mistake or statement the rule which was violated.
Two groups from a total of 19 learners from around the world were used. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the two different types of Feedback, in an on-line experiment. The one group received tutoring with Rule Prompting Feedback and the other group with General Prompting Feedback. A Pre-test and a Post-test was given to the participants before and immediately after the tutoring session.
The results show that the difference in learning gain in the Post-test in comparison with the Pre-test is significant for both the Rule and the General Prompting group. They did not support, however, that the difference between the learning gains of the two groups is significant. The results seem to explain the popularity of these two types of feedback among tutors of French, as shown in the empirical study.
This research confirms previous studies that metalinguistic feedback assists learners to perform significantly better in the Post-test results. Moreover, it indicates that for the ILTS, the proper kind of feedback should be used to treat the proper type of mistake.
References:
1. D. Eliades, “An ILTS for Anglophone Learners of Passive Voice in French,” University of Edinburgh, Scotland (pdf)
