Interposition agents are a well-known device for attaching legacy applications to distributed systems. However, agents are difficult to build and are often large, monolithic pieces of software which are suited only to limited applications or systems. We solve this problem with Bypass, a language and a tool for quickly building multiple small agents that can be combined together to create powerful yet manageable software.

1 A high order control basis for volition It appears to be a straightforward implication of distributed cognition principles that there is no integrated executive control system (e.g. Brooks 1991, Clark 1997). If distributed cognition is taken as a credible paradigm for cognitive science this in turn presents a challenge to volition because the concept of volition assumes integrated information processing and action control. For instance the process of forming a goal should integrate information about the available action options. If the goal is acted upon these processes should control motor behavior. If there were no executive system then it would seem that processes of action selection and performance couldn’t be functionally integrated in the right way. The apparently centralized decision and action control processes of volition would be an illusion arising from the competitive and cooperative interaction of many relatively simple cognitive systems. Here I will make a case that this conclusion is not well-founded. Prima facie it is not clear that distributed organization can achieve coherent functional activity when there are many complex interacting systems, there is high potential for interference between systems, and there is a need for focus. Resolving conflict and providing focus are key reasons why executive systems have been proposed (Baddeley 1986, Norman and Shallice 1986, Posner and Raichle 1994). This chapter develops an extended theoretical argument based on this idea, according to which selective pressures operating in the evolution of cognition favor high order control organization with a ‘highest-order ’ control system that performs executive functions. The core elements of this architecture are presented in figure 1.

\How to SYN in seven easy steps"

Philosophy of Mind Series. pp. 298-324. Abstract: In this chapter we trace the problem of self-control back to its roots in research on agency and intentionality, and discuss the relationship between self-knowledge and self-control in the context of our own research on Choice Blindness. In addition, we provide a range of suggestions for how modern sensor and computing technology might be of use in scaffolding and augmenting our self-control abilities, an avenue that has remained largely unexplored. In our discussion, two core concepts are introduced. The first is the concept of Computer-Mediated Extrospection, which builds and expands on the familiar idea of self-observation or self-monitoring as a way to gain self-knowledge. The second is the notion of Distributed Motivation, which follows as a natural extension of the use of precommitment and selfbinding as tools to overcome a predicted weakness of one’s will.

Abstract. The term usability is ubiquitous in human-computer interaction, so much so that it is commonly used without definition. Rather than one established meaning of usability, there are, however, multiple images of usability. While each image provides a partial view, the partiality remains implicit unless confronted with alternative images. This study delineates six images of usability: universal usability, situational usability, perceived usability, hedonic usability, organizational usability, and cultural usability. The different foci of the images provide opportunities for becoming sensitized to manifold aspects of the use of a system and thereby acquiring a genuine understanding of its usability. The six images differ, for example, in the extent to which they include aspects of the outcome of the process of using a system or merely the process of use, whether they involve collaborative use or merely individual use, and in their view of usability as perceived by individuals or shared by groups. Several challenges result from recognizing that usability is a set of images rather than a coherent concept, including a risk of misunderstandings in discussions of usability because participants may assume different images of usability and a need for supplementary methods addressing the collaborative and long-term aspects of usability. Moreover, the images call for extending the scope of practical usability work to include the effects achieved by users during their use of systems for real work.

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Cooperative behavior among a group of agents is studied assuming adaptive interactions. Each agent plays a Prisoner's Dilemma game with its local neighbors, collects an aggregate payoff and imitates the strategy of its best neighbor. Agents may punish or reward their neighbors by removing or sustaining the interactions, according to their satisfaction level and strategy played. Whenever an agent prefers to dismiss an interaction, the corresponding neighbor is replaced by another randomly chosen agent, introducing diversity and evolution to the agents neighborhoods. Numerical and analytical study shows the existence of a full-defective state coexisting with a highly cooperative steady state. The latter equilibrium solution is composed mostly by cooperative agents, with a minor population of defectors that exploit the cooperators. It is shown how the network adaptation dynamics favors the emergence of cooperators with highest payoff. These "leaders" are shown to sustain the global cooperative steady state. Also we find the surprising result that on average, the average payoff of defectors is larger than the average payoff of cooperators, recovering the dilemma at a macro scale. Whenever "leaders" are perturbed (e.g. by addition of noise), an unstable situation arises and global cascades with oscillations between the nearly full defection network and the fully cooperative outcome are observed.

The study is focused on how to model and assess safety at industrial installations. A starting point was the concept of safety function, which is defined as a technical, organisational or combined function, which can reduce the probability and/or consequences of a set of hazards in a specific system. A tentative theoretical framework has been developed. In a case study, a workplace at a process industry was analysed. A number of safety functions were identified and characterised according to the frame-work. The efficiency of these safety functions was assessed, and a few different approaches were tried in this evaluation. A conclusion was that the safety function concept worked well in the practical analysis of the safety in the studied system. It was also clear that there is a need for further improvement of the theoretical framework, and a number of ideas came up during the case study.

Different theories and applications concerning "safety barriers" and "safety functions" have been investigated. The general aim was to compare principles and terminology in some different areas. Of special interest are applications from the nuclear and chemical-process industries, and a short summary is given. The study is based on a literature review, interviews and discussions. Only a few theoretical models describing safety functions have been found. This points to the need for further development of models and theories that might provide a basis for improved practical tools to support the design and evaluation of organisational proce dures. A tentative model is discussed. It is based on "safety function elements" and the characteristics needed to describe and assess safety functions, e.g. purpose, efficiency, and reliability. 1

doi:10.1089/cmb.2010.0178. RNA locally optimal secondary structures provide a concise and exhaustive description of all possible secondary structures of a given RNA sequence, and hence a very good representation of the RNA folding space. In this paper, we present an efficient algorithm which computes all locally optimal secondary structures for any folding model that takes into account the stability of helical regions. This algorithm is implemented in a software called regliss that runs on a publicly accessible web server: