Macro Agents Research Articles

The Hidden Side of Electro-Mobility: Modelling Agents’ Financial Statements and Their Interactions with a European Focus

While much attention has been given, to date, to subsidies and taxes, the literature on the topic is yet to address less visible aspects of electro-mobility. These include the interactions among players, including money exchanges, and balance sheet issues. Analysing these is needed, as it helps identify additional mechanisms that may affect electro-mobility. This paper reports a modelling exercise that applies the system dynamics method, with its focus on stock and flow variables. The resulting simulation model captures the financial statements of several macro agents. The results show that the objective of the study is met: the model remains ‘stock-flow consistent’, meaning that assets and equity and liabilities balance out. By attaining this, the model serves as a coherent framework that makes the “hidden” side of electro-mobility visible, for the first time, based on current state-of-the-art, with the implication that it facilitates the analysis of potential financial factors that may either jeopardise or be conducive to faster road electrification. We conclude that the incorporation of the financial statements of key electro-mobility agents and their interlinkages in a simulation model is both a feasible and desired property for policy-relevant models.

Synthesis of Biobased Block Copolymers Using A Novel Methacrylated Methyl Salicylate and Poly(3‐Hydroxybutyrate)

AbstractA novel biobased vinyl monomer was synthesized by the reaction of methyl salicylate with methacrylic anhydride. The resulting salicylate based monomer was polymerized by reversible addition fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerizations using two or three trithiocarbonate functionalized poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) macro agents. The molecular structures of the obtained polymers were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and GPC analysis. The resulting block copolymers showed glass transition temperature (Tg) at 5 °C and melting temperature (Tm) at 160 °C according to DSC results. Compared to PHB, the obtained block copolymers displayed enhanced thermal stability according to TGA results. The overall rate constants of the RAFT polymerization using tri‐functionalized PHB macro agent were determined as 2.58 ×10−4, 1.17×10−4, and 0.50×10−4 L mol−1s−1 for 70, 80 and 90 °C, respectively. The activation energy was found to be 18.6 kcal K−1mol−1. The overall rate constant of the homopolymerization of the obtained monomer was determined as 1.14×10−4 Lmol−1s−1.

Comparative approach to ICT practices in civilian and military environments for organizational management during the pandemic crisis

It is well known that change affects people and implicitly the organizations they belong to, as a place of manifestation and storage of their capabilities. Consequently, the changes also give rise to concerns for at least an acceptable solution to the management of the main changes that occurred in the situation prior to the occurrence of the disruptive events. In this context, the onset of the pandemic crisis puts organizations in front of a fragile reality (relative to the stability of the normal state of functionality of society), fully characterized by volatility, insecurity, complexity and ambiguity. In the search for ideas to improve resilience, there are no predetermined solutions, any method that has registered results in a certain organizational field becoming a candidate of good practice. In this framework, it is proposed the comparative investigation (civilian-military) of ICT practices, as a macro agent of change, used in the field of organizational management during the current pandemic crisis. The approach is based, for each of the two mentioned organizational categories, both on theoretical aspects with hypothetical value identified or derived from the specialized literature specific or complementary to the field in question, and on identified practices. We considered this approach useful because there are enough arguments that the military organization has been a model of organizational-managerial development, which finds wide applicability for business continuity management situations, applicable to civilian organizations. Final expectations are directed, based on data existing so far, towards the identification of flexible and adaptable solutions, with the value of good practice.

Embracing multiple perspectives of sustainable development in a composite measure: The Multilevel Sustainable Development Index

To manage progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainability indicators and indices are useful analytical tools. Indices proposed in the literature rarely comprise all three contentual domains of sustainable development (environment, society, and economy), fail to enable comparisons of agents at multiple levels, and exhibit methodological shortcomings. Comparability of micro, meso, and macro agents is crucial because the macro SDGs can only be achieved if micro and meso agents contribute. Contributions must be measured in a methodologically sound manner to avoid misled decision making. To overcome these deficiencies, we develop the comprehensive and comparable Multilevel Sustainable Development Index (MLSDI). A novel information-theoretic algorithm is shown to outperform established multivariate statistical weighting methods such as the principal component analysis (PCA). The application of the MLSDI to 62 industries in the German economy reveals that the chemical industry requires urgent action with regard to environmental performances, and the agricultural industry demands assistance and action in all three domains.

Building Multiple Resolution Modeling Systems Using the High-Level Architecture

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The modeling and simulation pyramid in defense states it clearly: Multi-Level modeling and simulation are required. Models and simulations are often classified by the US Department of Defense into four levels—campaign, mission, engagement, and engineering. Campaign simulation models are applied for evaluation; mission-level simulations to experiment with the integration of several macro agents; engagement simulations in engineered systems development; and engineering-level simulation models with a solid foundation in structural physics and components. Models operating at one level must be able to interact with models at another level. Therefore, the cure (“silver bullet”) is very clear: a comprehensive framework for Multiple Resolution Modeling (MRM) is needed.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">In this paper, we discuss our research about how to construct MRM environments. Also, the utilization of the High-Level Architecture (HLA) is explained and in particular, the processes of verification and validation in these composite models. Three implementations in the areas of aerospace, navy ships, and infantry combat are utilized to illustrate the MRM simulation concepts.</div></div>

Brunei’s SPN21 English language-in-education policy: A macro-to-micro evaluation

ABSTRACTIn 2009, Brunei’s Ministry of Education unveiled the National Education System for the twenty-first century, popularly termed the SPN21, to replace the 1984 bilingual education system (the Dwibahasa). What immediately stood out about the SPN21 is the apparent heavier emphasis placed on English over the Official language, Bahasa Melayu, with English being introduced much earlier in the curriculum, i.e. as the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science from Year 1 onwards. This paper aims to evaluate the efficacies of English language-in-education policies of SPN21, focusing on the interface between macro planning and micro practices. Rather than relying on evaluative measures in terms of national examination results as a benchmark of success, this paper assesses data gathered from two micro agents: the teachers and the pupils. Teachers, as implementers of language policies, collaborate with pupils in the classroom to achieve the goals articulated by the macro planners. The pupils in this study were assessed in terms of their motivation in English language learning whereas the teachers were assessed in terms of support received from the macro agents. The findings of the surveys are encouraging with indications that the English-enhancing initiatives thus far implemented will continue to produce the desired outcomes.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION PROGRAMS TEACHERS AND MTB MLE IMPLEMENTATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

According to the new The K to 12 Basic Education Program implemented in the Philippines in 2013, modifications in pre-service education for aspiring teachers shall be applied to conform to the requirements of both K to 12 and its auxiliary program for the first three levels called Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) that mandates the utility of students’ mother tongue(s) as medium of instruction. The agencies in charge for these modifications are the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education. Their task involves ensuring that the Teacher Education curriculum offered in different higher education institutions in the Philippines will meet the necessary quality standards for new teachers. However, since the implementation of MTB-MLE as a national policy in the School Year 2012-2013, no national guideline has been issued to higher education institutions regarding the said modifications.This paper locates voices of tertiary instructors employed in elementary education programs in four selected universities across the Philippines during the implementation of the MTB-MLE policy. This study specifically sought to determine the interventions applied by university administrations to their elementary education programs to ensure that their adult learners’ knowledge and skills are aligned with the national policies even without direct guidelines from any macro agents. Central to this paper are the perceptions of the informants regarding the interventions applied by their university administrations to their elementary education programs.Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2018.42.16421663 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Diseño e Implementación de una Plataforma Automatizada de Gestión de Transacciones P2P con Dinero Electrónico

El dinero electrónico es un medio de pagos implementado por el Banco Central del Ecuador, el cual permite a las personas realizar transacciones comerciales desde su celular; este se puede utilizar para efectuar pagos en grandes establecimientos comerciales denominados “macro agentes”, entre los que se encuentran las cadenas de supermercados, pero también se puede utilizar para realizar consumos en todo tipo de negocios particulares como restaurantes, tiendas, etc., mediante transferencias de “persona a persona” denominadas P2P. Sin embargo, el sistema de dinero electrónico, SDE, tal como está concebido induce ciertas desventajas competitivas entre los negocios particulares y los macro agentes; la principal radica en que los primeros no cuentan con un sistema que les permita llevar registro de los cobros efectuados con dinero electrónico. El presente artículo detalla la creación de una plataforma tecnológica que permite actualmente a todo tipo de negocios y personas llevar registro de sus transacciones P2P, mediante una solución automatizada con capacidad de generar balances de los pagos recibidos, los cuales se pueden visualizar fácilmente a través de Internet. Para esto se llevó a cabo un análisis profundo del funcionamiento del SDE, con el fin de establecer una solución eficiente al problema, procurando siempre optimizar recursos.

Global Information Ethics

The article argues that Information Ethics (IE) can provide a successful approach for coping with the challenges posed by our increasingly globalized reality. After a brief review of some of the most fundamental transformations brought about by the phenomenon of globalization, the article distinguishes between two ways of understanding Global Information Ethics, as an ethics of global communication or as a global-information ethics. It is then argued that cross-cultural, successful interactions among micro and macro agents call for a high level of successful communication, that the latter requires a shared ontology friendly towards the implementation of moral actions, and that this is provided by IE. There follows a brief account of IE and of the ontic trust, the hypothetical pact between all agents and patients presupposed by IE.

Global Information Ethics: The Importance of Being Environmentally Earnest

The paper argues that Information Ethics (IE) can provide a successful approach for coping with the challenges posed by our increasingly globalized reality. After a brief review of some of the most fundamental transformations brought about by the phenomenon of globalization, the article distinguishes between two ways of understanding Global Information Ethics, as an ethics of global communication or as a global-information ethics. It is then argued that cross-cultural, successful interactions among micro and macro agents call for a high level of successful communication, that the latter requires a shared ontology friendly towards the implementation of moral actions, and that this is provided by IE. There follows a brief account of IE and of the ontic trust, the hypothetical pact between all agents and patients presupposed by IE.

Multi-agent computer aided assembly process planning system for ship hull

A multi-agent computer aided assembly process planning system (MCAAPP) for ship hull is presented. The system includes system framework, global facilitator, the macro agent structure, agent communication language, agent-oriented programming language, knowledge representation and reasoning strategy. The system can produce the technological file and technological quota, which can satisfy the production needs of factory.