Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Agent UML'

As the amount of accessible and shareable knowledge increases, it is figured out that learning platforms offering the same context and learning path to all users can not meet the demands of learners. This issue brings out the necessity of designing and developing adaptive hypermedia systems. This study describes an agent-based adaptive learning framework whose goal is to implement effective tutoring system with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and cognitive didactic methods into Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHS) in the domain of Unified Modeling Language (UML). There are three main goals of this study. First goal is to explore how supportive agents affect student&rsquo
s learning achievement in distance learning. Second goal is to examine the interaction between supportive agents and learners with the help of experiments in Human Computer Interaction laboratories and system analysis. The effects of the methodology that agents give misleading hints which are common mistakes of other learners are also investigated. Last goal is to deliver effective feedback to students both from IAs and tutors. In order to assess that UML-ALF has accomplished its objectives, we followed an experimental procedure. Experimental groups have taken the advantage of adaptive and intelligent techniques of the UML-ALF and control groups have used the traditional learning techniques. The results show that there is a positive correlation between variables practice score and number of agent suggestion which means, as the participants benefit from supportive agents, they get higher scores.

Agentska paradigma predstavlja najprirodniji i najdosledniji postojeći pristup implementaciji distribuiranih sistema. Uz pomoć agenata moguće je u potpunosti realizovati konceptdistribuiranih softverskih komponenti, koje će, osim rešenja zadatka na distribuiranom nivou, pružiti i određenu količinu autonomnosti i inteligencije da bi se zadati cilj ostvario. Agentsko okruženje predstavlja programsko okruženje koje upravlja životnim tokom agenata i obezbeđuje mu sve potrebne mehanizme za realizaciju zadatka. U ovoj doktorskoj disertaciji predložen je model agentskog okruženja baziran na tehnologiji distribuiranih komponenti, koji podržava FIPA specifikaciju i sledeće koncepte: razmenu poruka, mobilnost agenata, sigurnosne mehanizme i direktorijume agenata i servisa. Model agentskog okruženja je implementiran u J2EE tehnologiji. Podržan je sistem plug-in-ova za sve bitne komponente agentskog okruženja (menadžere). Modelovan je iimplementiran koncept mobilnih zadataka. Dat je model i implementacija sistema međusobnog uređenja odnosa agentskih centara. Predloženo rešenje agentskog okruženja verifikovano je na bibliotečkom informacionom sistemu BISIS. Verifikacija je izvršena na sledećim agentskim zadacima: pretraživanje bibliotečke mreže, ocenjivanje kvaliteta zapisa i inteligentna raspodela opterećenja.
Agent technology is one of the most consistent approaches to the distributed computing implementation. Agents can be used to fully implement distributed software component concept. Agents can solve distributed problems utilizing certain degree of autonomy and intelligence. Agent framework represents programming environment that controls agent life cycle and provides all necessary mechanisms for task execution. The subject of the dissertation is formal specification of an agent framework based on distributed component technology. This framework supports FIPA specification and following concepts: message interchange, agent mobility, security and agent and service directory. Agent framework is implemented in J2EE technology. Plug-in system is designed for all key elements of agent framework. Mobile tasks were specified and implemented. Also, inter-facilitator connectivity mechanism is specified and implemented. The framework is verified by a case study on the library information system BISIS. Following agent tasks were performed: library network search, library record quality estimation and intelligent load balansing. 

Debugging multi-agent systems, which are concurrent, distributed, and consist of complex components is difficult, yet crucial. The development of these complex systems is supported by agent-oriented software engineering methodologies which utilise agents as the central design metaphor. The systems that are developed are inherently complex since the components of these systems may interact in flexible and sophisticated ways and traditional debugging techniques are not appropriate. Despite this, very little effort has been applied to developing appropriate debugging tools and techniques. Debugging multi-agent systems without good debugging tools is highly impractical and without suitable debugging support developing and maintaining multi-agent systems will be more difficult than it need be. In this thesis we propose that the debugging process can be supported by following an agent-oriented design methodology, and then using the developed design artifacts in the debugging phase. We propose a domain independent debugging framework which comprises the developed processes and components that are necessary in using design artifacts as debugging artifacts. Our approach is to take a non-formal design artifact, such as an AUML protocol design, and encode it in a machine interpretable manner such that the design can be used as a model of correct system behaviour. These models are used by a run-time debugging system to compare observed behaviour against specified behaviour. We provide details for transforming two design artifact types into equivalent debugging artifacts and show how these can be used to detect bugs. During a debugging episode in which a bug has been identified our debugging approach can provide detailed information about the possible reason for the bug occurring. To determine if this information was useful in helping to debug programs we undertook a thorough empirical study and identified that use of the debugging tool translated to an improvement in debugging performance. We conclude that the debugging techniques developed in this thesis provide effective debugging support for multi-agent systems and by having an extensible framework new design artifacts can be explored and as translations are developed they can be added to the debugging system.

La gestion de crise est devenue une activité indispensable à toute organisation publique ou privée. Elle repose le plus souvent sur un dispositif particulier appelé " cellule de crise " qui a pour objectif de mettre en œuvre des mesures d'anticipation, de vigilance, d'intervention et de sauvegarde et fait intervenir de multiples acteurs qui interagissent. Pour se préparer aux situations de crise, les communes ont l'obligation de définir un PCS (Plan Communal de Sauvegarde), mais ce dernier ne suffit pas à lui seul à garantir l'efficacité de l'organisation de crise. L'objectif de ce travail est de proposer une méthodologie, principalement fondée sur la pensée systémique et sur les Systèmes Multi-Agents, pour étudier la vulnérabilité organisationnelle de la cellule de crise et en évaluer sa performance. Un outil de simulation a été développé à destination des responsables. Il intègre des indicateurs de performance organisationnels pour identifier les défaillances potentielles de l'organisation. Les résultats de la simulation sont consignés sous la forme d'un tableau de bord dont l'analyse peut servir à améliorer l'organisation de crise.

A presente tese de doutorado está inserida dentro do contexto da área de AOSE – Agent-Oriented Software Engineering, uma área surgida recentemente voltada para a engenharia de software de sistemas multi-agentes que mescla conceitos tanto da Inteligência Artificial como da Engenharia de Software. Esta nova área surgiu devido aos novos desafios enfrentados pelos engenheiros de software ao projetar sistemas multi-agentes, uma vez que este tipo de sistema apresenta características que os diferenciam de outros tipos de software, precisamente o fato de possuírem agentes de software, entidades autônomas e pró-ativas que executam funções no sistema, possuidoras de objetivos próprios e capazes de perceber e agir sobre o ambiente que os cerca sem a intervenção de usuários externos. Este trabalho descreve um metamodelo UML desenvolvido para a modelagem de requisitos funcionais específicos para projetos de sistemas multi-agentes. O seu desenvolvimento baseou-se na constatação de que, apesar de já existirem linguagens derivadas da UML para o projeto de sistemas multi-agentes, nenhuma das linguagens estudadas desenvolveu mecanismos para a modelagem dos requisitos deste tipo de software, o que levou-nos a criar um metamodelo UML para este propósito. No decorrer desta tese serão descritas as linguagens estudadas derivadas da UML para ser aplicadas no projeto de sistemas multi-agentes, o metamodelo desenvolvido, sua adaptação aos princípios de projeto de Vicari (2007), três estudos de caso onde o metamodelo foi aplicado, além de uma proposta de mapeamento dos conceitos definidos no metamodelo para os conceitos das linguagens MAS-ML e AML, bem como uma proposta para a validação do metamodelo e dos diagramas criados por meio dele.
This PhD thesis is inserted within the context of the AOSE (Agent-Oriented Software Engineering) area, a recently-emerged field dealing with the software engineering of multi-agent systems which mixes concepts of Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering together. This new area emerged from new challenges faced by the software engineers when designing multi-agent systems, since this kind of system presents characteristics that set them apart from other types of software, precisely for including software agents, autonomous and proactive entities that execute functions in the system, owning their own goals and able to perceive and act upon the surrounding environment without the intervention of external users. This work describes a UML metamodel developed for the modeling of the specific functional requirements for multi-agent systems projects. Its development was based on the perception that among the studied UML-derived languages for the multi-agent systems project, none of them had developed mechanisms for requirements modeling on this kind of software, leading us to create a UML metamodel for this purpose. Along this thesis we shall describe the UML-derived languages we studied to be applied in the multi-agent systems project, the developed metamodel, its adaptation to the Vicari (2007) design principles, three case studies on which the metamodel was applied, plus a mapping proposal for the concepts defined in the metamodel into MASML and AML languages concepts, as well as a validation proposal for the metamodel and the diagrams created by means of it.

Dentre as várias áreas de pesquisa em Inteligência Artificial Distribuída, priorizamos analisar a comunicação entre os agentes de uma sociedade. É através da comunicação que os agentes podem trocar informações entre si e assim resolver de forma cooperativa um problema global ou local que existe na sociedade. A análise do fluxo de comunicação entre agentes é portanto de grande interesse da comunidade científica que se dedica à IAD. Neste trabalho, através do estudo teórico (análise matemática) e simulações computacionais, comparamos o fluxo de comunicação entre os agentes de dois modelos de organizações dinâmicas: uma organização em que os agentes realizam uma busca informada de um parceiro (Coalisão Baseada em Dependências - CBD) e uma organização em que os agentes realizam uma busca não informada de um parceiro (Rede Contractual - RC). O Sistema CENINT, um sistema multiagente (SMA) baseado no modelo RC, foi desenvolvido a fim de realizar as simulações necessárias para os estudos deste trabalho. Por outro lado, sabemos que os sistemas multiagentes são utilizados para desenvolver modelos teóricos que permitem elucidar a estrutura de processos complexos e que a orientação a objetos facilita o desenvolvimento de sistemas complexos. Percebeu-se que a orientação a objetos poderia ser uma ferramenta adequada para desenvolver sistemas multiagentes. Assim neste trabalho, optou-se por desenvolver o sistema CENINT utilizando as técnicas de orientação a objetos, mais especificamente utilizar os diagramas da UML (Unified Modeling Language) para análise e projeto do sistema.

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The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has far outgrown its initial purpose as a standard visual notation for constructing intuitive, high-level blueprint models of object-oriented software. A series of extension, such as OCL, XMI, ASL, MOF, UML profiles, and different proposed formal semantics, to the language and to its application scope have fedoff each other in synergy. While these extensions constitute a sound starting point to make UML the pivotal element for the Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) and Semantic Web (SW) visions, many other building blocks are still missing, including: (1) Complete formal semantics for UML and OCL; (2) UML inference engine based on such semantics to support model checking and intelligent agent reasoning with UML semantic web ontologies; (3) UML model compilers to fully automate both structural and behavioral code generation from detailed UML/OCL models. In this thesis, we present the MODELOG framework based on a single proposal to address these three issues: it consists of an automatic mapping from fully refined UML/OCL models to the object-oriented logic programs in the Flora-2, an executable and Turing-complete language with a well-defined formal semantics. We developed the MODELOG mapping as model transformations. As source for these transformations, we reused the UML2 and OCL2 metamodels provided by OMG and as target we developed a Flora metamodel. As we experimented and compared two language to implement the transformation: the dedicated transformation language ATL based on OCL, and Flora itself viewed as a model transformation language. As validating case study for MODELOG, we developed the Triangram robotic assembly puzzle. It is an example of planning tasks often executed by agents and it requires a complex class hierarchy together with complex structural and behavioral constraints. The Flora PSM of this puzzle was entirely automatically generated from its UML/OCL model by applying the MODELOG transformations. The main originality of this thesis is twofold. First, it simultaneously tackles various gaps in UML for its new extended role: formal specification language, MDE, semantic web services and agent engineering, Second, it does so without putting forward any new language but only by reusing a theoretically consolidated and efficiently implemented one. In contrast, previous proposals tend be limited to one or two such applications while often proposing new languages. The thesis makes contributions to various fields: For MDE, it shows the feasibility of completely automated full structural and behavioral executable code generation from a UML/OCL PIM, on a non-trivial, complex case study involving automated reasoning; For agile development, it reconcile that the robustness of formal methods with the early testing of fast prototyping, since MODELOG not only generates executable code, but also model checking code from UML/OCL models. For UML and OCL, it provides a fully integrated denotational formal semantics in Transaction Frame Logic on which Flora is based; For logic programming, it provides compositional metamodels of all the languages integrated in the Flora platform that clarify their relations and make them available as source or target language for a variety of MDE tasks such as model checking and fast prototyping; it also provides a way to develop logic programs using the consolidated full-life cycle object-oriented software engineering processes; For agent engineering, it shows how to get combine the complementary strengths of the object-oriented and logic paradigms, the two mostly widely reused in agent-oriented methods; For the semantic web service development, its introduced a highly automated MDE approach allowing to model them visually with UML-based industrial strengths method and CASE tools, and automatically generate their specification in the W3C standard SWSL, which is a XML-enabled variant of Flora

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CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Os objetos de aprendizagem (OAs) têm tomado um papel importante no contexto educacional atual, onde os meios computacionais se tornam cada vez mais presentes em sala de aula impulsionados por instituições governamentais. Dentre as características necessárias para utilização efetiva dos OAs a bibliografia enumera dois pontos principais, o reuso e o compartilhamento. Com o avanço de novos meios computacionais o conceito de reuso tem adquirido novas proporções vislumbrando a utilização do conteúdo educacional disponibilizado pelos OAs em diversos ambientes computacionais. Dentre estes novos ambientes computacionais, os dispositivos móveis e a televisão digital (TVD) estendem o conceito de e-learning criando duas novas vertentes, são elas o m-learning e t-learning respectivamente. Apesar disso, os OAs criados para os ambientes de e-learning dificilmente podem ser reutilizados nos novos ambientes devido às dificuldades de apresentação de conteúdo nos dispositivos móveis e de TVD. Para dar apoio à visualização de OAs nestes novos ambientes o presente trabalho apresenta conceitos relacionados à OAs, a TVD e aos agentes de software para basear a análise do sistema multiagentes desenvolvido. Este sistema tem como principal funcionalidade a adaptação de conteúdo para os ambientes de t-learning e m-learning. A intenção do presente trabalho é apresentar uma arquitetura, utilizando diagramas da Agent UML, que comporte a adaptação de OAs para que possam ser visualizados em múltiplos ambientes e aplicar esta arquitetura a casos de uso voltados à televisão digital. Através do sistema desenvolvido foi possível adaptar múltiplos formatos de conteúdos de OAs para que sejam visualizados nos dispositivos do Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital (SBTVD).
Learning Objects (LO) are assuming an important role in current educational context, where computational resources are a common presence in the classroom due to government incentives. Among the needed characteristics for right using of LOs by teachers and students, two main aspects are highlighted by the literature, the reusing and sharing. With the advances in the new computing environments the concept of reusing has been taking new proportions viewing the utilization of its educational content in several computing environments. Among these new computing environments, the mobile devices and the digital television (DTV) extends the concept of e-learning creating two new strands, they are the m-learning and t-learning respectively. Nevertheless, the LOs created for e-learning environment hardly can be used in the new environments due to the difficulties of presenting on mobile and DTV devices. To help the presenting of LOs in these new environments this work presents concepts related to LOs, DTV and agents based software aiming the analysis of a multiagent system developed. This system has as your main feature the adaptation of content for t-learning and m-learning environments. The intention of this work is present an architecture, using Agent UML (AUML) diagrams, that supports the LOs adaptation for viewing in multiple environments and apply this architecture to digital television use cases. Through the system developed should be possible to adapt multiple LOs content formats to be viewed on the devices of the Brazilian System of Digital Television (SBTVD).

This thesis aims to explore and demonstrate the ability of the new standard of structural and behavioural components in Unified Modelling Language (UML 2.0 / 2004) to model the learning behaviour of Intelligent Agents. The thesis adopts the research direction that views agent-oriented systems as an extension to object-oriented systems. In view of the fact that UML has been the de facto standard for modelling object-oriented systems, this thesis concentrates on exploring such modelling potential with Intelligent Agent-oriented systems. Intelligent Agents are Agents that have the capability to learn and reach agreement with other Agents or users. The research focuses on modelling the learning behaviour of a single Intelligent Agent, as it is the core of multi-agent systems. During the writing of the thesis, the only work done to use UML 2.0 to model structural components of Agents was from the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agent (FIPA). The research builds upon, explores, and utilises this work and provides further development to model the structural components of learning behaviour of Intelligent Agents. The research also shows the ability of UML version 2.0 behaviour diagrams, namely activity diagrams and sequence diagrams, to model the learning behaviour of Intelligent Agents that use learning from observation and discovery as well as learning from examples of strategies. The research also evaluates if UML 2.0 state machine diagrams can model specific reinforcement learning algorithms, namely dynamic programming, Monte Carlo, and temporal difference algorithms. The thesis includes user guides of UML 2.0 activity, sequence, and state machine diagrams to allow researchers in agent-oriented systems to use the UML 2.0 diagrams in modelling the learning components of Intelligent Agents. The capacity for learning is a crucial feature of Intelligent Agents. The research identifies different learning components required to model the learning behaviour of Intelligent Agents such as learning goals, learning strategies, and learning feedback methods. In recent years, the Agent-oriented research has been geared towards the agency dimension of Intelligent Agents. Thus, there is a need to conduct more research on the intelligence dimension of Intelligent Agents, such as negotiation and argumentation skills. The research shows that behavioural components of UML 2.0 are capable of modelling the learning behaviour of Intelligent Agents while structural components of UML 2.0 need extension to cover structural requirements of Agents and Intelligent Agents. UML 2.0 has an extension mechanism to fulfil Agents and Intelligent Agents for such requirements. This thesis will lead to increasing interest in the intelligence dimension rather than the agency dimension of Intelligent Agents, and pave the way for objectoriented methodologies to shift more easily to paradigms of Intelligent Agent-oriented systems.

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CAPES
O desenvolvimento de soluções de Inteligência Artificial (IA) para sistemas computacionais é complexo dado a natureza dos problemas atacados, em particular quando envolvem problemas multiagentes e multitarefas (MAMT). Apesar de existirem vários métodos para o desenvolvimento de Sistema Multiagentes (SMA), são poucos os que dão alguma importância à compreensão do problema; e mesmo estes métodos não abordam os problemas MAMT com o devido detalhamento. Abordando a deficiência destas metodologias, estamos propondo o método Icelus que foca em guiar o analista em compreender e descrever corretamente o problema a ser solucionado. Icelus permitirá uma melhor abordagem na análise e compreensão de um problema MAMT, facilitando a distribuição do conhecimento para o restante do time de desenvolvimento, reduzindo o risco de erros de codificação ao longo do desenvolvimento do projeto.
The development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to computational systems is a complex activity, given the nature of the problems attacked, in particular when they involve multi-agent problems and multitasking (MAMT). Although there are several methods for the development of Multi-agent System (MAS), there are just a few that give any importance to understanding the problem; and even these methods do not address the problems with all detailing that MAMT problems needs. Addressing the deficiency of these methods, we are proposing the Icelus method that focuses on leading the analyst to understand and describe correctly the problem to be solved. Icelus will enable a better approach in the analysis and understanding of a MAMT problem, facilitating the distribution of knowledge to the rest of the development team, reducing the risk of coding errors throughout the development of the project.

Jusqu'à présent, le travail réalisé en ingénierie de conception de systèmes multi-agents (SMA) a été essentiellement orienté sur la phase de conception d'applications multi-agents. Aussi, certaines lacunes demeurent en ce qui concerne les phases de validation et d'exploitation des résultats. L'absence de mécanismes adaptés pose de réelles difficultés. Comment comprendre l'état et le fonctionnement d'un SMA constitué de centaines d'agents autonomes et proactifs ? Notre principale contribution consiste en la proposition d'un modèle original supportant les caractéristiques du paradigme agent ainsi que la gestion et la compréhension des mondes complexes simulés. Le modèle est construit en fonction de deux modèles formels existants : les graphes conceptuels et les réseaux de Petri colorés. Afin d'atteindre une première étape de validation, un prototype a été implémenté sur la base de deux outils existants (Notio et Renew)

La simulation de systèmes complexes naturels ou sociaux a pour but de répondre aux questions que se pose un observateur sur ces systèmes. La complexité des situations réelles représentées, des entités impliquées et de leurs interactions produisent une masse de résultats qu'il est paradoxalement aussi diffcile à comprendre que le système réel initial. L'enjeu de notre travail est de faciliter l'observation et l'analyse de ces résultats par un observateur pour une meilleure compréhension des simulations orientées agent (SOA). Nous avons identifé une liste d'exigences inhérentes à l'observation que doit vérifer une plate-forme de SOA afn de faciliter la prise en compte de l'observation. Nous formalisons les concepts relatifs à l'observation sous la forme d'une ontologie de domaine destinée à la fois aux concepteurs de plates-formes de simulation ou de modèles, ainsi qu'aux entités logicielles de ces plates-formes qui utilisent cette ontologie comme vocabulaire conceptuel consensuel pour leurs interactions. Plusieurs moyens pour mieux gérer l'observation dans les plates-formes de simulation sont proposées, à la fois en termes d'architecture logicielle et de visualisation. Les interactions entre agents locaux en SOA sont à l'origine des phénomènes résultants au niveau global. Pour observer ces interactions à toutes les échelles allant du local au global, nous avons développé le concept de conversation, ainsi que des représentations visuelles génériques dédiées aux interactions à grande échelle. Nous avons validé ces propositions par la simulation d'un système à grande échelle de transfert de matières organiques entre exploitations agricoles
The goal of simulation of ecological or social complex systems is to help observers to answer questions about these systems. In individual-based models, the complexity of the system represented, the entities and their interactions produce a huge mass of results. These results are paradoxically as difficult to understand as the real system, that the model is suppoded to simplify. My research interests is to facilitate the observation and analysis of these results by the user, for a better understanding of multi-agent simulations. I have identified a list of requirements, that a multi-agent simulation platform should verify in order to facilitate observation by the user. A domain ontology dedicated to observation formalizes the concepts relative to the observation task. This observation ontology is useful both for humans involved in the simulation process, and for the software entities which can use this ontologyas a common vocabulary in their interactions. Several means are proposed to improve observation management in multi-agent simulation platforms, in term of architecture and visualisation. The interactions between agents are the source of emerging glabal phenomena : it is necessary to observe them at every relevant scales ranging from global to local. Hence, I have proposed the concept of conversation, and visual generic representations dedicated to large scale interactions. These proposals have been valited thanks to the simulation of the management of animal wastes fluxes between farms at a territory scale in Reunion Island

Les cadres interactionnels actuels pour les communications entre agents (protocoles, stratégies de conversation, jeux de dialogue, ...) garantissent la cohérence structurelle des conversations tenues. Pourtant, ce n'est pas tant l'habilité des agents à structurer leurs conversations qui nous intéresse que leurs aptitudes à tenir des conversations utiles quant à leurs objectifs individuels et collectifs. Pour traiter cette problématique, nous avons défini et implanté un modèle complet de la communication entre agents qui couvre les quatre dimensions classiques de la communication : syntaxe, structure, sémantique et pragmatique. Au niveau syntaxique, nous proposons le langage DIAGAL[DIAlogue Game based Agent communication Language] qui se présente comme un ensemble de jeux de dialogue qui permettent la manipulation conjointe d'engagements sociaux. Du point de vue de la structuration des dialogues, les jeux de dialogue que nous proposons offrent une alternative à la rigidité des protocoles tout en capturant les aspects conventionnels de la communication, absents des approches considérant des actes de langages isolés. Dans notre approche, le niveau sémantique de la communication repose, quant à lui, sur les engagements sociaux qui capturent les interdépendances contractées par les agents lors des communications. Dans ce contexte, notre contribution principale concerne les aspects cognitifs de la pragmatique. À cet effet, nous proposons une théorie cognitive de l'utilisation de ce cadre interactionnel basée sur la notion de cohérence cognitive et fondée sur des résultats non encore formalisés de sciences cognitives. Issue d'une unification de la théorie de la dissonance cognitive (une des théories majeures de psychologie cognitive) avec la théorie de cohérence cognitive (développée en philosophie de l'esprit), notre approche est formulée en termes d'éléments et de contraintes, notions familières en informatique. La théorie motivationnelle résultante est ensuite étendue afin de traiter la communication entre agents cognitifs. Sous les hypothèses de notre théorie, nous définissons alors une métrique de l'utilité des conversations entre agents. Nous montrons comment cette théorie permet de résoudre en pratique de nombreux problèmes fondamentaux des aspects cognitifs de la pragmatique des communications entre agents. En particulier, nous proposons une première application de notre théorie pour l'utilisation automatique par des agents de type BDI [Beliefs, Desires and Intentions] des jeux de dialogue du langage DIAGAL. Ce faisant, nous introduisons un certain nombre d'outils techniques pour l'automatisation des communications entre agents tout en précisant quels sont nos apports théoriques pour les SMAs et plus généralement pour les sciences cognitives.

La thèse présente modèle multi-agents générique pour la représentation d'une la définition d'un expertise et l'application de ce modèle pour le transfert de cette expertise. Les travaux sont plus particulièrement axés sur la modélisation des connaissances et des raisonnements d'un apprenant par des agents cognitifs mais le modèle intègre également des aspects pédagogiques par l'introduction de stratégies tutorielles. Le modèle multi-agents est constitué par la définition conjointe d'un modèle d'agent, d'un modèle de société et d'une organisation multi-niveaux pour la représentation d'expertise. L'application de ce modèle multi-agents pour le transfert d'expertise comporte trois aspects: définition des agents de deux types représentant les connaissances primitives et l'enchaînement hiérarchique de ces deux types de connaissances au sein des graphes de raisonnement ; modélisation des connaissances de l'apprenant comme un sous-ensemble de l'expertise décrite dans les graphes de raisonnement et la construction du modèle de l'apprenant par recouvrement distribué et enfin intégration au sein même du modèle d'agent de stratégies tutorielles permettant d'utiliser au mieux le modèle de l'apprenant construit.

Nesta Tese, elaboro uma investigação acerca de meu projeto de trabalho Você gostaria de participar de uma experiência artística?, em desenvolvimento desde 1994. Trata-se de um projeto que envolve aspectos de participação do espectador, escultura e instalação, assim como uma abordagem do circuito de arte. A pesquisa se desenvolve em duas etapas complementares: em um primeiro momento, é elaborada a noção de Künstlertheorie ou Teoria de Artista, como procedimento de trabalho que envolve ao mesmo tempo a produção de textos e de obras de arte, articulando teoria e prática a partir de um sistema de revezamentos plásticodiscursivos; em um segundo momento, procura-se desenvolver o que seria a teoria do projeto Você gostaria de participar de uma experiência artística?, com a utilização da chamada escrita de artista na elaboração de uma nova narrativa, que incorpora diversos escritos já existentes articulando, deste modo, formas visuais e discursivas. Como resultado, é produzido um texto que ao mesmo tempo que se inscreve como teoria de artista (Künstlertheorie), indaga acerca da possibilidade de funcionar enquanto obra de arte.
On this Thesis, I elaborate an investigation about Would you like to participate in an artistic experience?, a project of mine under development since 1994. This project involves aspects of participatory practices, issues on sculpture and installation, and an approach towards the art circuit. The research is developed in two complementary parts: firstly, the notion of Künstlertheorie or artists theory is established, as an working procedure that involves at the same time the production of texts and artworks, articulating theory and practice from the standard of a plastic-discursive rotation system; secondly, it is elaborated what might be considered the theory of the Would you like to participate in an artistic experience? project, with the use of the socalled artists writing. A new narrative is brought forward, with the use of several preexisting writings, articulating visual and discursive forms. As a result, a text is produced, one that is inscribed as artists theory (Künstlertheorie); at the same time, it inquires about the possibilities of its functioning as a work of art.

Esta dissertação tem por objetivo promover a criação de imagens possíveis produzidas com Agentes Comunitárias de Saúde (ACS) sobre o trabalho e a condição de ACS. Operando com a pesquisa intervenção, produzimos imagens que trazem à tona alguns dos enunciados que operam na produção de subjetividades no trabalho em saúde desses sujeitos. Adotamos a pesquisa intervenção na forma da intervenção fotográfica, tendo como pressuposto que o enunciado também vai passar pelo olhar. Assim a pesquisa se tornou dispositivo de intervenção imagética, desnaturalizando o olhar e mostrando as condições sob as quais podemos ver. Partindo do imaginado como potência para revelar múltiplos sentidos, tomamos a imagem, e mais especificamente a imagem fotográfica, como dispositivo estratégico que opera no sentido de transformar para conhecer. O trabalho foi desenvolvido na equipes de saúde da família do Rincão 1 e 2, no bairro Belém Velho, do município de Porto Alegre RS, entre os meses de junho de 2012 e fevereiro de 2013, com encontros semanais que transitaram entre o acompanhamento do trabalho das ACS na área, bem como a participação em reuniões de equipe e a eventos que a mesma promoveu. Os conceitos de governamentalidade, acontecimento e disciplina, tomados das obras de Foucault, criaram condições para desnaturalizar as noções de público e privado na saúde, assim como operaram da mesma maneira com o surgimento das ACS no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) As imagens mostram que dentro da unidade de saúde as normas disciplinam o trabalho, dividindo o trabalho e os trabalhadores através do regramentos das ações e da delimitação dos espaços de atuação de cada um. No território outras imagens sobre o trabalho se fizeram possíveis, mostrando que o ambiente disciplinar se liga fortemente a proximidade com o resto da equipe. Em relação ao trabalho entendemos que olhar para as agentes como “artífices” possibilita recolocar a responsabilidade de criação de vínculos que recai sobre essas trabalhadoras, coletivizando a tarefa e colocando a equipe (a qual inclui as ACS) como produtora de vínculo. Para forjar esse éthos de “artífice” é preciso que as ACS realizem certas praticas de si que possibilitem a elas refletirem sobre si e sobre o mundo. Utilizamos, também, a imagem da armadura que protege contra a infidelidade da vida, colocada pela paraskéue, como um outro modo de pensar a formação dessas trabalhadoras, que ao mesmo tempo são colocadas como centrais e periféricas na reorganização do modelo de assistência em saúde.
This dissertation aims to promote the creation of possible images produced with Community Health Agents (ACS) on labor and the condition of ACS. Operating with the intervention research, we produced images that bring to light some of the statements that operate in the production of subjectivities in health work of these individuals. We embrace research intervention in the form of photographic intervention, with the assumption that the statement will also pass by the look. So the research became imagery intervention device, by undermining the look and showing the conditions under which we can see. From the imagined as power to reveal multiple senses, we take the picture, and more specifically the photographic image as a strategic device that operates to transform to meet. The work was developed in family health teams of Rincão 1 and 2, in the neighborhood Belém Velho, in the city of Porto Alegre RS, between the months of June 2012 and February 2013, with weekly meetings that passed between the monitoring of work of ACS in the area, as well as participation in team meetings and events that this team promoted. The concepts of governmentality, event and discipline, taken from the works of Foucault, created conditions to deconstruct the notions of public and private health sectors, as well as operated the same way with the onset of ACS in the Unified Health System (SUS). The images show that within the health unit standards governing the work, dividing the work and workers through the ruling of the actions and the delimitation of areas of expertise of each. In the territory other images about the work were made possible by showing that the disciplinary atmosphere binds strongly to proximity to the rest of the team. Regarding the work we understand that looking at agents as "craftsmen" enables replace the responsibility of creating bonds that falls on these workers, collectivizing the task and putting the team (which includes ACS) as a producer of bond. To forge this ethos of "craftsman", is necessary that the ACS perform certain self practices that enable them to reflect on themselves and the world. We also use the image of the armor that protects against infidelity of life posed by paraskeue, as another way of thinking about education of these workers, who are placed at the same time as central and peripheral in the reorganization of health care.

Este estudo tem por objeto a compreensão do reconhecimento profissional e social do Agente Comunitário de Saúde (ACS) destacando-se as influências das relações sociais impostas, mas que ao mesmo tempo trazem para o cenário o fruto destas relações, a desigualdade social, que remete ao conceito de classes sociais nas relações entre Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF) e favela. O objetivo geral é estudar e analisar a percepção dos ACS na Estratégia de Saúde da Família das áreas programáticas (AP) 2.1, 3.1 e 5.2 do município do Rio de Janeiro acerca do seu reconhecimento social e profissional a partir das categorias de reconhecimento e classe social. O estudo é desenvolvido por meio de uma abordagem qualitativa, com base nas narrativas do trabalho, reconhecimento, classe social e gênero, com organização e análise segundo a metodologia do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Os campos de pesquisas utilizados foram às áreas programáticas (A.P.) 2.2, 3.1 e 5.2. Os resultados geraram dois eixos temáticos: Percepção do que levou este trabalhador a ser ACS; Falta de reconhecimento e valorização. O fato de estar desempregado ou inserido em formas de subemprego surgiu como a maior motivação para ser tornar ACS; A divulgação do processo seletivo público leva o ACS a acreditar que será contratado por um estatuto, gerando a expectativa em ser funcionário público e ter garantias trabalhistas sólidas, afastando a possibilidade de voltar a estar desempregado. Na segunda categoria, as questões destacadas incluem: A ACS é morador de uma favela e pertence à classe trabalhadora. A grande maioria destes trabalhadores são mulheres, que precisam estar perto de casa para exercer seu papel também como educadora dos filhos, mas também para aumentar sua renda ou até mesmo exercer seu papel como provedora de uma família inteira, o que também possui determinação de classe social. O ACS se percebe desvalorizado como mediador no trabalho educativo. Esta desvalorização denota a compreensão do trabalho do ACS como de baixa complexidade. A questão salarial também é um fato ao qual o ACS atribui sua desvalorização como trabalhador, e retrata um pertencimento econômico a uma determinada classe social, a classe explorada pelo capital. Conclui-se que o que a inserção de trabalhadores comunitários, via seleção e contratação de ACS na atenção básica aproveita as redes sociais de integração pré-formadas nas comunidades para inserir e dar eficácia às ações de saúde. O atual contexto de trabalho do ACS representa um modo de produção da saúde que aliena este trabalhador, destituindo-o do seu processo de trabalho e reforçando a estrutura de classes presente na sociedade, interferindo no reconhecimento social e profissional do ACS.
This study aims the understanding of social and professional recognition of Community Health Agent (CHA) highlighting the influences of social relations imposed, wich, at the same time, bring to the stage the outputs of these relations: social inequality, refered to the concepts of social classes and relationship between health services and the slums (favelas). The overall goal is to study and analyze the perception of CHA in the Family Health Strategy in three program areas (PA) of Rio de Janeiro city on their social and professional recognition based on the categories of recognition and social class. The study is developed through a qualitative approach, based on the narratives of labour, recognition, social class and gender, organization and analysis according to the Methodology of the Collective Subject Discourse. The results generated two main themes: Perception of what led this subject to become a CHA; Lack of recognition and appreciation. The fact of being unemployed or inserted in forms of underemployment emerged as the biggest motivation for becoming CHA; disclosure of public selection process leads these workers to believe that the CHA will be hired by statute, creating the expectation of being a public servant and have labor rights solid, eliminating the possibility of returning to being unemployed. In the second category, the issues highlighted include: CHA is a slum dweller and belongs to working class. The vast majority of these workers are women, who need to be close to home to play its role as educator of children, but also to increase their income or even execer its role as a provider of an entire family, which also have determination of social class. The CHA is perceived as undervalued mediator in educational work. This devaluation denotes the understanding of the CHA work as one of low complexity. The salary issue is also a fact to which ACS assigns its devaluation as a worker, and portrays an economic belonging to a certain social class, the class exploited by capital. It follows that the insertion of community workers, via selection and hiring of CHA in primary care units uses social networks preformed in communities to give effect to the health actions. The current work context of the ACS represents a mode of production that alienates this health worker, depriving him of his working process and reinforcing the class structure in this society, interfering with their social and professional recognition.

Parce que le cholestérol spermatique influence la résistance des spermatozoïdes à la congélation, nous avons émis l’hypothèse que les spermatozoïdes supplémentés en cholestérol exogène subiraient moins de dommages pendant la cryoconservation améliorant leur pouvoir fécondant après décongélation. Etant insoluble, le cholestérol est incorporé dans la méthyl β-cyclodextrin formant un complexe hydrosoluble, cholestérol lié à la cyclodextrine (CLC). Cette étude à montré que le traitement CLC, dans un dilueur de lait écrémé, améliore la cryorésistance de la semence de bouc en augmentant le niveau de cholestérol spermatique, responsable de la résistance des spermatozoïdes au choc au froid et au stress osmotique, sans affecter la capacitation induite in vitro après décongélation. Par insémination artificielle, les semences ayant subient une augmentation de cholestérol exogène ont montré un meilleur taux de fertilité et de prolificité in vivo par rapport à la semence non traitée. Ces observations suggèrent que le traitement CLC pourrait être utilisé pour améliorer la fertilité des troupeaux et mérite des explorations chez d’autres espèces. Evaluer l’efficacité du CLC sur la cryorésistance de la semence de bélier nous a permis de montrer que le traitement CLC est plus efficace dans un dilueur de lait écrémé par rapport à un dilueur de jaune d’œuf commercial. Toutefois, cette amélioration de la qualité spermatique post-dégel n’est pas suffisante pour induire une augmentation de la fertilité in vivo, suggérant la nécessité d’optimiser le protocole de congélation ou une adaptation du protocole d’insémination. Cependant, combiner le traitement CLC au tréhalose (un cryoprotecteur externe) n’a pas montré d’effet synergique sur l’amélioration de la qualité spermatique post-dégel. Finalement, pour amorcer un transfert technologique nous avons montré que le traitement CLC permet de conserver la qualité spermatique de la semence de bouc en présence de plasma séminal, dont le retrait était recommandé en raison de son effet délétère. De plus, le traitement CLC permet le maintain de la qualité de la semence bouc conservée en frais pendant 24 h à 5°C avant congélation facilitant son transport de la ferme vers le laboratoire. Ces résultats démontrent que le cholestérol joue un rôle crucial et essentiel dans la cryoprotection des semences animales.
Because sperm cholesterol content contributes to their resistance to freezing, we hypothesized that exogenous cholesterol incorporated in sperm reduces cryodamage and thus improves the fertilizing capacity of thawed sperm. Being a lipid, cholesterol is insoluble in aqueous media, rendering difficult to deliver to cells in vitro. Methyl β-cyclodextrin is a carrier molecule that couples to cholesterol to form a water-soluble compound, “cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrin” (CLC) that can transfer the cholesterol into cell membranes. The research within this thesis shows that CLC treatment of goat semen enhances fresh sperm resistance to cold shock and osmotic stress due to the increased cholesterol, involving in sperm cryoresistance in a skim milk-based extender without affecting sperm in vitro capacitation after thawing. A pilot field trial in goats demonstrated that artificial insemination with sperm that underwent increased exogenous cholesterol yielded higher fertility and prolificacy rates in vivo compared to untreated semen. These observations suggest that CLC treatment could be used to improve frozen sperm quality and fertility rate of other species. Using ram sperm, our study demonstrated that CLC treatment was more efficient in a skim milk-based extender compared totraditional egg yolk-based extender. However, in vivo fertility of the ram semen that was cryopreserved in the skim milk-based extender with CLC did not differ from semen that was cryopreserved in egg yolk-based extender without CLC. Further research is warranted to combine CLC with other cryoprotection strategies or to modify the insemination protocol to adequately permit capacitation in vivo. However, using CLC treatment with trehalose, a cell impermeable cryoprotectant, did not demonstrate any synergic effect of the cryoprotectants on thawed sperm quality. Finally, in an effort to develop a protocol for semen cryopreservation that can be accessible to the emerging goat industry in Quebec, a pilot test trial demonstrated that goat sperm treated with CLC are more resistant to exposure to seminal plasma than CLC-free sperm in skim milk-based extender. Additionally, CLC treatment markedly improves the post-thaw quality of the sperm after temporary storage for 24 h prior to processing. Together, these results demonstrated that cholesterol has a fundamental and innovative role in animal semen cryoprotection.

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A Internet e o ensino à distância (EAD) possibilitam a configuração de inúmeros cenários de aprendizagem em um mundo globalizado. A união com dispositivos móveis e a grande variedade de softwares educacionais modificam a postura das instituições que implantam ambientes de EAD. O problema deixa de ser "como produzir o software educacional que preciso", para ser "onde encontrar,como compor e como usar o software que necessito". Entretanto, os softwares desenvolvidos para estes ambientes de ensino à distância, apesar de não estarem isolados uns dos outros, ainda são criados com um foco interno. A metodologia de desenvolvimento prevalecente consiste na criação de interfaces diretas, o que obriga os projetistas a especificar, projetar, codificar e depurar programas personalizados para acessarem os dados de um aplicativo, e, então, mapear e converter as respectivas estruturas de dados conforme o necessário, para introduzi-los em outro. Desta forma, cada instância da integração é especializada, a mplementação é c

Agentes inteligentes é um termo guarda-chuva que agrega diversas pesquisas no desenvolvimento de softwares autônomos que utilizam técnicas de Inteligência Artificial a fim de satisfazer metas estabelecidas por seus usuários. A construção de sistemas baseados em agentes inteligentes é uma tarefa complexa que envolve aspectos como comunicação entre agentes, planejamento, divisão de tarefas, coordenação, representação e manipulação de conhecimento e comportamentos, entre outras tarefas. Plataformas para agentes prevêem alguns serviços que permitem a desenvolvedores construir soluções sem a necessidade de se preocupar com todos detalhes da implementação. Um novo modelo para criação de agentes chamado 'agentes atômicos' é proposto com o objetivo de oferecer flexibilidade para o gerenciamento de conhecimento e implementação de comportamentos. A arquitetura Agentes Semânticos provê um framework para a implementação de tal modelo, oferecendo um conjunto de ferramentas para a criação de agentes inteligentes. Um protótipo de plataforma para agentes, baseado em tal arquitetura, foi desenvolvido em Java e permite a criação de aplicações capazes de processar linguagem natural restrita, manipular conhecimento e executar ações úteis.
Intelligent Agents is an umbrella term that aggregates different research on the development of autonomous software that uses Artificial Intelligence techniques in order to satisfy user requests. The construction of systems based on intelligent agents is a complex task that involves aspects such as agent communication, planning, work division, cooperation, epresentation and manipulation of knowledge,among other activities. Agent Platforms provide some services that allow developers to build solutions without the need of worrying about every implementation detail. A new model for creating agents, called 'atomic agents', is proposed with the goal of offering flexible knowledge management and behavior implementation for constructing software agents. The Semantic AgentArchitecture provides a framework for the implementation of such model, offering a set of tools for the creation of intelligent agents. A prototype Agent Platform, based on the architecture, was developed in Java and allows the creation of applications that are able to process restricted natural language, manipulate knowledge and execute useful actions.

Un système multi-agent (SMA) est un système dans lequel plusieurs agents opèrent et interagissent. Chaque agent a la responsabilité d’exécuter des tâches. Cependant, chaque agent, pour diverses raisons, peut rencontrer des problèmes pendant l’exécution de ses tâches ; ce qui peut induire un disfonctionnement du SMA. Cependant, le SMA doit être en mesure de détecter les sources de problèms (d’erreurs) afin de les contrôler et ainsi continuer son exécution correctement. Un tel SMA est appelé un SMA tolérant aux fautes. Il existe deux types de sources d’erreurs pour un agent : les erreurs causées par son environnment et les erreurs dûes à sa programmation. Dans la littérature, il existe plusieurs techniques qui traitent des erreurs de programmation au niveau des agents. Cependant, ces techniques ne traitent pas des erreurs causées par l’environnement de l’agent. Tout d’abord, nous distinguons entre l’environnment d’un agent et l’environnement du SMA. L’environnement d’un agent représente toutes les composantes matérielles ou logicielles que l’agent ne peut contrôler mais avec lesquelles il interagit. Cependant, l’environnment du SMA représente toutes les composantes que le système ne contrôle pas mais avec lesquelles il interagit. Ainsi, le SMA peut contrôler certaines des composantes avec lesquelles un agent interagit. Ainsi, une composante peut appartenir à l’environnement d’un agent et ne pas appartenir à l’environnement du système. Dans ce travail, nous présentons une méthodologie de conception de SMA tolérants aux fautes, nommée FATMAS, qui permet au concepteur du SMA de détecter et de corriger, si possible, les erreurs causées par les environnements des agents. Cette méthodologie permettra ainsi de délimiter la frontière du SMA de son environnement avec lequel il interagit. La frontière du SMA est déterminée par les différentes composantes (matérielles ou logicielles) que le système contrôle. Ainsi, le SMA, à l’intérieur de sa frontière, peut corriger les erreurs provenant de ses composantes. Cependant, le SMA n’a aucun contrôle sur toutes les composantes opérant dans son environnement. La méthodologie, que nous proposons, doit couvrir les trois premières phases d’un développement logiciel qui sont l’analyse, la conception et l’implémentation tout en intégrant, dans son processus de développement, une technique permettant au concepteur du système de délimiter la frontière du SMA et ainsi détecter les sources d’erreurs et les contrôler afin que le système multi-agent soit tolérant aux fautes (SMATF). Cependant, les méthodologies de conception de SMA, référencées dans la littérature, n’intègrent pas une telle technique. FATMAS offre au concepteur du SMATF quatre modèles pour décrire et développer le SMA ainsi qu’une technique de réorganisation du système qui lui permet de détecter et de contrôler ses sources d’erreurs, et ainsi définir la frontière du SMA. Chaque modèle est associé à un micro processus qui guide le concepteur lors du développement du modèle. FATMAS offre aussi un macro-processus, qui définit le cycle de développement de la méthodologie. FATMAS se base sur un développement itératif pour identifier et déterminer les tâches à ajouter au système afin de contrôler des sources d’erreurs. À chaque itération, le concepteur évalue, selon une fonction de coût/bénéfice s’il est opportun d’ajouter de nouvelles tâches de contrôle au système. Le premier modèle est le modèle de tâches-environnement. Il est développé lors de la phase d’analyse. Il identifie les différentes tâches que les agents doivent exécuter, leurs préconditions et leurs ressources. Ce modèle permet d’identifier différentes sources de problèmes qui peuvent causer un disfonctionnement du système. Le deuxième modèle est le modèle d’agents. Il est développé lors de la phase de conception. Il décrit les agents, leurs relations, et spécifie pour chaque agent les ressources auxquelles il a le droit d’accéder. Chaque agent exécutera un ensemble de tâches identifiées dans le modèle de tâches-environnement. Le troisième modèle est le modèle d’interaction d’agents. Il est développé lors de la phase de conception. Il décrit les échanges de messages entre les agents. Le quatrième modèle est le modèle d’implémentation. Il est développé lors de la phase d’implémentation. Il décrit l’infrastructure matérielle sur laquelle le SMA va opérer ainsi que l’environnement de développement du SMA. La méthodologie inclut aussi une technique de réorganisation. Cette technique permet de délimiter la frontière du SMA et contrôler, si possible, ses sources d’erreurs. Cette technique doit intégrer trois techniques nécessaires à la conception d’un système tolérant aux fautes : une technique de prévention d’erreurs, une technique de recouvrement d’erreurs, et une technique de tolérance aux fautes. La technique de prévention d’erreurs permet de délimiter la frontière du SMA. La technique de recouvrement d’erreurs permet de proposer une architecture du SMA pour détecter les erreurs. La technique de tolérance aux fautes permet de définir une procédure de réplication d’agents et de tâches dans le SMA pour que le SMA soit tolérant aux fautes. Cette dernière technique, à l’inverse des techniques de tolérance aux fautes existantes, réplique les tâches et les agents et non seulement les agents. Elle permet ainsi de réduire la complexité du système en diminuant le nombre d’agents à répliquer. Résumé iv De même, un agent peut ne pas être en erreur mais la composante matérielle sur laquelle il est exécuté peut ne plus être fonctionnelle. Ce qui constitue une source d’erreurs pour le SMA. Il faudrait alors que le SMA continue à s’exécuter correctement malgrè le disfonctionnement d’une composante. FATMAS fournit alors un support au concepteur du système pour tenir compte de ce type d’erreurs soit en contrôlant les composantes matérielles, soit en proposant une distribution possible des agents sur les composantes matérielles disponibles pour que le disfonctionnement d’une composante matérielle n’affecte pas le fonctionnement du SMA. FATMAS permet d’identifier des sources d’erreurs lors de la phase de conception du système. Cependant, elle ne traite pas des sources d’erreurs de programmation. Ainsi, la technique de réorganization proposée dans ce travail sera validée par rapport aux sources d’erreurs identifiées lors de la phase de conception et provenant de la frontière du SMA. Nous démontrerons formellement que, si une erreur provient d’une composante que le SMA contrôle, le SMA devrait être opérationnel. Cependant, FATMAS ne certifie pas que le futur système sera toujours opérationnel car elle ne traîte pas des erreurs de programmation ou des erreurs causées par son environnement.
A multi-agent system (MAS) consists of several agents interacting together. In a MAS, each agent performs several tasks. However, each agent is prone to individual failures so that it can no longer perform its tasks. This can lead the MAS to a failure. Ideally, the MAS should be able to identify the possible sources of failures and try to overcome them in order to continue operating correctly ; we say that it should be fault-tolerant. There are two kinds of sources of failures to an agent : errors originating from the environment with which the agents interacts, and programming exceptions. There are several works on fault-tolerant systems which deals with programming exceptions. However, these techniques does not allow the MAS to identify errors originating from an agent’s environment. In this thesis, we propose a design methodology, called FATMAS, which allows a MAS designer to identify errors originating from agents’ environments. Doing so, the designer can determine the sources of failures it could be able to control and those it could not. Hence, it can determine the errors it can prevent and those it cannot. Consequently, this allows the designer to determine the system’s boundary from its environment. The system boundary is the area within which the decision-taking process of the MAS has power to make things happen, or prevent them from happening.We distinguish between the system’s environment and an agent’s environment. An agent’s environment is characterized by the components (hardware or software) that the agent does not control. However, the system may control some of the agent’s environment components. Consequently, some of the agent’s environment components may not be a part of the system’s environment. The development of a fault-tolerant MAS (FTMAS) requires the use of a methodology to design FTMAS and of a reorganization technique that will allow the MAS designer to identify and control, if possible, different sources of system failure. However, current MAS design methodologies do not integrate such a technique. FATMAS provides four models used to design and implement the target system and a reorganization technique to assist the designer in identifying and controlling different sources of system’s failures. FATMAS also provides a macro process which covers the entire life cycle of the system development as well as several micro processes that guide the designer when developing each model. The macro-process is based on an iterative approach based on a cost/benefit evaluation to help the designer to decide whether to go from one iteration to another. The methodology has three phases : analysis, design, and implementation. The analysis phase develops the task-environment model. This model identifies the different tasks the agents will perform, their resources, and their preconditions. It identifies several possible sources of system failures. The design phase develops the agent model and the agent interaction model. The agent model describes the agents and their resources. Each agent performs several tasks identified in the task-environment model. The agent interaction model describes the messages exchange between agents. The implementation phase develops the implementation model, and allows an automatic code generation of Java agents. The implementation model describes the infrastructure upon which the MAS will operate and the development environment to be used when developing the MAS. The reorganization technique includes three techniques required to design a fault-tolerant system : a fault-prevention technique, a fault-recovery technique, and a fault-tolerance technique. The fault-prevention technique assists the designer in delimiting the system’s boundary. The fault-recovery technique proposes a MAS architecture allowing it to detect failures. The fault-tolerance technique is based on agent and task redundancy. Contrary to existing fault-tolerance techniques, this technique replicates tasks and agents and not only agents. Thus, it minimizes the system complexity by minimizing the number of agents operating in the system. Furthermore, FATMAS helps the designer to deal with possible physical component failures, on which the MAS will operate. It proposes a way to either control these components or to distribute the agents on these components in such a way that if a component is in failure, then the MAS could continue operating properly. The FATMAS methodology presented in this dissertation assists a designer, in its development process, to build fault-tolerant systems. It has the following main contributions : 1. it allows to identify different sources of system failure ; 2. it proposes to introduce new tasks in a MAS to control the identified sources of failures ; 3. it proposes a mechanism which automatically determines which tasks (agents) should be replicated and in which other agents ; 4. it reduces the system complexity by minimizing the replication of agents ; Abstract vii 5. it proposes a MAS reorganization technique which is embedded within the designed MAS and assists the designer to determine the system’s boundary. It proposes a MAS architecture to detect and recover from failures originating from the system boundary. Moreover, it proposes a way to distribute agents on the physical components so that the MAS could continue operating properly in case of a component failure. This could make the MAS more robust to fault prone environments. FATMAS alows to determine different sources of failures of a MAS. The MAS controls the sources of failures situated in its boundary. It does not control the sources of failures situated in its environments. Consequently, the reorganization technique proposed in this dissertation will be proven valid only in the case where the sources of failures are controlled by the MAS. However, it cannot be proven that the future system is fault-tolerant since faults originating from the environment or from coding are not dealt with.

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Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior
This paper presents a critical rescue of the term youth, while simultaneously is presented as the lifetime of between 15 and 24 years. Rescue two features in the literature. The first considers youth as a transition period and the second phase work that from a predisposition to rebellion. Discusses the design plural of that term, youth recital to this social and historical aspects of different societies to which it relates and highlights the importance of realizing the diversity of it. Where the object of investigation, the Young Agent Program, the overall objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the actions of the Young Agent Program for Human Development in Natal-RN. Specifically aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Young Agent Program: a) as an enhancer of the integration of young people in social spaces of family, school and community, b) as to (re) insertion and the incorporation of issues related to health in adolescence, and c ) regarding the work of young people as multipliers of the actions of the program. With regard to the methodological procedures presents a review of the literature on youth, and the categories of human development, leadership and evaluation of youth policies for the construction of theoretical and analytical approach, using documentary data collection in the Municipal Labor and Social Services - SEMT on the Young Agent Program, and interviews with actors involved in the program. Finally, evaluates the effectiveness of the Young Agent Program from the perspective of participants
Este trabalho apresenta um resgate sobre o termo juventude, que contemporaneamente ? apresentado como o per?odo de vida entre 15 e 24 anos. Resgata duas caracter?sticas presentes na literatura. A primeira considera juventude como per?odo de transi??o e a segunda trabalha essa fase a partir de uma predisposi??o ? rebeldia. Discute a concep??o plural do termo juventude considerando para isso aspectos s?cio-hist?ricos das distintas sociedades a qual se refere e destaca a import?ncia de se perceber as diversidades do mesmo. Tendo como objeto de investiga??o o Programa Agente Jovem, o objetivo geral do trabalho ? avaliar a efetividade das a??es do programa Agente Jovem para o Desenvolvimento Humano na cidade de Natal-RN. Especificamente objetiva avaliar a efetividade do Programa Agente Jovem: a) enquanto potencializador da integra??o dos jovens nos espa?os sociais da fam?lia, da escola e da comunidade; b) quanto ? (re) inser??o escolar e a incorpora??o dos temas relacionados ? sa?de na adolesc?ncia; e c) quanto ? atua??o dos jovens enquanto multiplicadores das a??es do programa. No que se refere aos procedimentos metodol?gicos apresenta a revis?o da literatura sobre juventude, e sobre as categorias desenvolvimento humano, protagonismo juvenil e avalia??o de pol?ticas p?blicas, para a constru??o da abordagem te?rico-anal?tica; utiliza coleta de dados documentais na Secretaria Municipal de Trabalho e Assist?ncia Social - SEMTAS sobre o Programa Agente Jovem; e entrevistas com atores envolvidos com o programa. Por fim, apresenta a avalia??o da efetividade do Programa Agente Jovem sob a ?tica dos participantes

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Cooperative process of teach-learning at a distance of the society of intelligent agents of environment MATHNET. It is presented architecture of the society of agents of the MATHNET that to provide the process with teach-learning. It is in exchange for distinguished the Tutor Agent and the model of communication, based messages and that it uses the FIPA-ACL Agent Communication Language, between the Tutor Agent and excessively the participant agents of this society. The main characteristics and the paper (responsibilities) of the Tutor Agent describe. Its conceptual model is constructed. Its main Cases Use, interactions with several agents of this architecture and the protocols of communication of the Tutor Agent with the other agents are shaped. The Tutor Agent creates itself using a tool of construction of agents. One implements the Tutor Agent and its Cases Use to inside demonstrate to its relevance and importance of the system and the model of communication.
Processo de ensino-aprendizagem cooperativo à distância da sociedade de agentes inteligentes do ambiente MATHNET. Apresenta-se a arquitetura da sociedade de agentes do MATHNET que provê o processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Destaca-se o Agente Tutor e o modelo de comunicação, baseado em troca de mensagens e que utiliza a Linguagem de Comunicação FIPA-ACL, entre o Agente Tutor e os demais agentes participantes dessa sociedade. Descrevem-se as principais características e o papel (responsabilidades) do Agente Tutor. Constrói-se o seu modelo conceitual. Modelam-se os seus principais Casos de Uso, as interações com os demais agentes dessa arquitetura e os protocolos de comunicação do Agente Tutor com os outros agentes. Cria-se o Agente Tutor utilizando para isto uma ferramenta de construção de agentes. Implementa-se o Agente Tutor e seus Casos de Uso para demonstrar sua relevância e importância dentro do sistema e o modelo de comunicação aqui proposto.

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Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venâncio. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Profissional em Saúde.
O estudo buscou compreender na literatura científica e documentos oficiais da saúde a centralidade do trabalho do Agente Comunitário de Saúde (ACS), mediados pelo ideário da Promoção de Saúde, na Estratégia de Saúde da Família e Atenção Básica de Saúde (ESF/ABS). O ACS assume caráter central na prática sanitária pela Vigilância em Saúde articulada ao ideário da Promoção da Saúde, considerando papel mediador entre serviços dessa área e a população no território. O levantamento da literatura e os documentos oficiais apontam para a importância desse ideário na definição das atribuições dos ACS, demonstrando, entretanto, conflitos e contradições nas concepções de saúde envolvidas na prática sanitária e a reorientação do modelo de atenção à saúde. O ideário da Promoção de Saúde tem despontado como atualização no discurso das Políticas de Saúde para controle sanitário e para mediação de conflitos no âmbito local, em que o papel do ACS é dilemático e central na ESF/ABS. A prática sanitária, conforme perspectiva institucional, tem direcionado a ação educativa e o incentivo à ‘participação comunitária’ para viés behaviorista e biomédico, associados à pactuações por metas, em que, atualmente, destaca-se as Doenças e Agravos Não Transmissíveis (DANTs). Por outro lado, o legado anterior dos movimentos populares em saúde aponta para viabilidade histórica da ‘participação comunitária’ na luta pela saúde enquanto direito social, sentido mais próximo da Saúde Coletiva e dos princípios constitucionais do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Essa perspectiva se mantém como horizonte a ser alcançado sob inflexões no financiamento, gestão e formulação das políticas de saúde no âmbito da aparelhagem estatal.
The study sought to understand the scientific literature and official documents of the centrality of the health work of Community Health Agents (ACS), mediated by the ideology of Health Promotion in Primary Care and Family Health Health Strategy (FHS / ABS). The ACS plays a central character in the health practice Health Surveillance articulated the ideology of Health Promotion, considering mediator between services in this area and the role population in the territory. The survey of the literature and official documents indicate the importance of this notion in defining the duties of the ACS, showing, however, conflicts and contradictions in health concepts involved in health practice and reorientation of the health care model. The ideology of health promotion has emerged as updated the discourse of Health Policy for sanitary control and mediation of conflicts at the local level, where the role of the ACS is dilemmatic and central in the ESF / ABS. The health praxis, as institutional perspective, has directed educational activities and the encouragement of 'community participation' for behavioral and biomedical bias associated with the pacts by targets, which currently stands out the Noncommunicable Diseases and (DANTs). Moreover, the previous legacy of popular movements in health points to historical viability of 'community participation' in the fight for health care as a social right, closest meaning of Public Health and the constitutional principles of the Unified Health System (SUS). This perspective remains as goal to be reached under inflections in financing, management and formulation of health policies within the state apparatus.

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CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
This study is characterised as ethnography of the sanitary practices developed at the Rio Negro Indian Sanitary Special District (DSEI), highlighting the work organization of nursing professionals, such as, nurses, nursing technicians and the Indian health-care agent. Its aims comprise the sanitary practices employed by the Indian Health-Care Multidisciplinary Team (EMSI) nursing corps regarding the provision of differentiated attention to health-care as it interacts with the Baniwa Indian health-care agent (AIS), his forming process and sociodemographic profile; social representations and sanitary practices, seeking to grasp his compatibility and/or incompatibility with the policy of differentiated attention to the Indian health-care subsystem. The present research entails a prospective, descriptive, qualitative type study, directed by the interpretative model of the social representation theory and health evaluative survey. The findings here obtained show that the Baniwa AIS, faces problems regarding his low schooling, along with the fact that his professional forming process has advanced very little since the DSEI was implemented six years ago. The EMSI acting profile is marked by the care treatment model to the spontaneous demand, even though the professionals provide care for diseases of the infectious, chronic-degenerative type to specific population groups (mother-child group), with detriment to health surveillance components presupposed on the design of the National health programs. Among the set of essential activities developed in the DSEI, the travelling logistics consumes a large part of the EMSI time and energy, with negative implications on the health-care agent overseeing and followup as well as on the implementation of the differentiated attention principle presupposed by the National Indian Health-Care Policy. The areas are still greatly patched and the differentiated attention gets mixed up with the extension of the coverage provided by the DSEI Implantation.
O estudo se caracteriza como uma etnografia das práticas sanitárias desenvolvidas no DSEI Rio Negro, com ênfase na organização do trabalho dos profissionais de enfermagem, aí compreendidos o enfermeiro, o técnico de enfermagem e o agente indígena de saúde. Os objetivos compreendem a análise das práticas sanitárias do corpo de enfermagem da Equipe Multidisciplinar de Saúde na oferta de atenção diferenciada à saúde e em interação com o agente indígena de saúde; do perfil-sócio-demográfico e o processo de formação dos Agentes Indígenas de Saúde (AIS) Baniwa; das representações sociais e práticas sanitárias dos AIS, buscando apreender sua compatibilidade e/ou incompatibilidade com a política de atenção diferenciada do subsistema de saúde indígena. A pesquisa é um estudo exploratório, descritivo, do tipo qualitativo, orientado pelo modelo interpretativo da teoria das representações sociais e da pesquisa avaliativa em saúde. Os resultados obtidos mostram que os AIS Baniwa enfrentam problemas ligados à baixa escolaridade, e que seu processo de formação profissional pouco avançou após 6 anos de implantação do DSEI. O perfil de atuação da EMSI é marcado pelo modelo assistencial curativo à demanda espontânea, ainda que os profissionais efetuem assistência a agravos de tipo infeccioso, crônico-degenerativo e de grupos populacionais específicos (grupo materno-infantil), com prejuízo dos componentes de vigilância a saúde previstos na organização dos programas nacionais de saúde. Dentre o conjunto de atividades essenciais desenvolvidas no DSEI, a logística de deslocamento consome grande parte do tempo e energia da EMSI, com implicações negativas na supervisão e acompanhamento dos agentes de saúde e na implementação do princípio da atenção diferenciada previsto na Política Nacional de Saúde Indígena. As áreas são ainda bastante fragmentadas e a atenção diferenciada se confunde com a extensão de cobertura provida pela implantação do DSEI.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
The economic globalization with its transformation in the workplace leads to increased unemployment and the precariousness of the bonds. Within this reality, increases the service delivery sector and the number of occupations in poor conditions. Also increases the demand for services developed during the night. The exercise of this journey is seen as normal, but they forget that humans are not nocturnal animals, just need to adapt to this schedule, which can be harmful to their health. Changing the sleep-wake cycle causes physical and mental problems. Many professions have been surveyed at night, yet the lack of research on a work night and monotonous, like the concierge staff, who carry on the eve of public property, indicated the need to search this reality. Our study was based on the reports of this category of employees Proguaru AS where we work as a social worker. We used qualitative research technique and how to collect oral history topical information in order to evaluate the perception that those workers have to their profession. The content of this wear was evaluated in the activity of agents concierge and social determinants which influenced the choice of office and those who lead them to continue to exercise it. It was also clear that the central act of the work occupies in their lives, indicating the need to think about social policies that intervene in the impacts of such a work process
A globalização econômica com suas transformações no mundo do trabalho acarreta o aumento do desemprego e a precarização dos vínculos. Dentro desta realidade, amplia-se o setor de prestação de serviço e o número de profissões exercidas em condições precárias. Cresce também a demanda por trabalhos desenvolvidos no período noturno. O exercício de tal jornada é visto como normal, porém esquecem-se de que os homens não são animais noturnos, logo precisam adaptar-se a tal horário, o que pode ser prejudicial à saúde dos indivíduos. A alteração do ciclo vigília-sono acarreta desgaste físico e mental. Muitas profissões noturnas já foram pesquisadas, contudo a carência de investigação sobre um trabalho noturno e monótono, como dos agentes de portaria, os quais exercem a vigília do patrimônio público, indicou a necessidade de pesquisar tal realidade. Nosso estudo teve como base os relatos desta categoria de funcionários da Proguaru S.A, empresa na qual trabalhamos como assistente social. Utilizamos pesquisa qualitativa e como técnica de coleta de informações a história oral tópica, a fim de avaliar a percepção que os referidos trabalhadores têm de sua profissão. O conteúdo avaliado mostrou o desgaste presente na atividade dos agentes de portaria e quais determinantes sociais influíram na escolha do cargo e aqueles que os levam a continuar exercê-lo. Ficou clara também a centralidade que o ato de trabalhar ocupa em suas vidas, indicando a necessidade de se pensar em políticas sociais que intervenham nos impactos causados por tal processo de trabalho

Situado no contexto de incremento das políticas penitenciárias de interiorização de unidades prisionais por todo o estado de São Paulo, este trabalho tem a intenção de analisar o cotidiano e as práticas sociais e profissionais de agentes penitenciários do município de Itirapina, cidade localizada no interior paulista, onde se encontram instaladas duas penitenciárias. Análise parte da ótica de agentes, moradores, comerciantes e demais moradores,para resgatar o modo pelo qual tais políticas de interiorização dos presídios têm afetado a vida no município em questão. Assim como os detentos, os agentes penitenciários têm seu cotidiano ligado à rotina da prisão, criam seu vocabulário e seu modo de agir transitando entre o interior da cadeia e o convívio com demais pessoas na cidade. A dinâmica social recebe grande influência dos valores e das práticas oriundos das penitenciárias construídas na cidade. Portanto, dentro deste contexto, a construção de discursos e valores colocam a profissão de agente penitenciário numa posição de destaque, cercada de privilégios, relativizando o conceito de prestígio, mesmo estando diretamente relacionado com um universo tão estigmatizado como o prisional. Através da observação da rotina desses profissionais e demais pessoas que se relacionam entre si, na intenção de perceber a dinâmica social cotidiana dessas pessoas, este trabalho também realizou entrevistas com agentes, moradores e comerciantes, buscando perceber como o ambiente criado dentro dos limites da prisão ultrapassa suas muralhas até invadir e influenciar a rotina da grande maioria da população local.. Dessa maneira, destaca-se a relevância do agente penitenciário nos mais variados espaços de sociabilidade do município, fazendo deles agentes sociais referenciais no contexto urbano. Esta dissertação volta sua análise para as transformações e consequências engendradas durante esse processo, percebendo o trânsito de agentes penitenciários, sua comunicação do convívio intramuros com o extramuros, ao mesmo tempo em que ambos se coalescem em sua dinâmica social. Percebe-se, portanto, como a cidade e a prisão interligam-se uma à outra, envolvendo todas as pessoas pertencentes a esse contexto.
Situated in the context of increase policies internalization of prisons throughout the state of Sao Paulo, this paper aims to analyze the everyday practices of social and professional prison officers of Itirapina the municipality, a town in the interior, where are installed two prisons. Analysis through the views of agents, residents, merchants and other inhabitants of the city such as internalization of prison policies has affected the county in question. Like the inmates, prison officers have linked to their daily routine of prison, they create their vocabulary and their mode of action moving between the inside of jail and living with others in the city. The social dynamics developed in Itirapina receives great influence of the values and practices from the prisons built in the city. Therefore, within this context, the construction of discourses and values put the profession of the prison guard in Itirapina in a prominent position, surrounded by privileges, relativizing the concept of prestige, it is directly related to a universe so stigmatized prison. By observing the routine of these professionals and others who relate to each other, hoping to understand the social dynamics of these people daily, this study also conducted interviews with staff, residents and merchants, seeking to understand how the environment created within the confines of the prison beyond its walls to break the routine and influence of the great majority of the population of the city. Thus, we highlight the relevance of the prison guard in a variety of social spaces in the city, making them agents of social references in the urban context. This essay turns its analysis to the changes and consequences engendered during this process, realizing the transit of prison guards, their communication with the extramural with intramural living, while they both coalesce in its social dynamics. It is clear, therefore, how city and prison are interconnected to each other, involving all those present here.

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This study aims to analyse the relationship between high profile management compensation and Brazilian firm’s performance. In other words, investigate if real increases in executive compensation are significantly correlated to the firm’s performance. The analysis was underpinned by the economic theory, mainly through the Principal-agent model. This empirical study was carried out using data disaggregated by sub sectors of economic activity, for Brazil within the period of 2001 to 2006. Information about management’s real compensation were retrieved from the Brazilian Employment and Labour Ministry’s Annual Relation of Social Information (RAIS). The information about the firm’s profits was extracted from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics’ Annual Industrial, Services and Commerce Surveys. The estimated regressions aimed at verifying whether the evolution of high profile managers’ average real compensation of each sub-sector was correlated with the evolution of firm’s profit per worker. Particularly it was noted if previous soars in compensation were followed by increases in profits, given the macroeconomic factors ceteris paribus. For this purpose, binary dummy variables were included for each year and the autocorrelation within the real profit per worker was also controlled. According to the data, it can be concluded that both variables have a contemporaneous correlation, suggesting that executives can extract rent from the firms’ profit. However, the correlation between lagged managers’ real compensation and firm’s real profit per worker, although positive, is not statistically significant. Therefore, the assumption that executive’s compensation could have positively influence in the firm’s performance needs to be investigated more thoroughly.
Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a relação entre a remuneração da alta gerência e a evolução do desempenho das firmas brasileiras. Isto é, investigar até que ponto os aumentos da remuneração real da alta gerência estão realmente correlacionados de forma significativa ao desempenho da empresa. A análise foi feita sob a luz da teoria econômica, sobretudo a partir do modelo agente-principal. O estudo empírico foi implementado a partir de dados desagregados por sub-setor de atividade econômica, para o Brasil ao longo do período 2001-2006. As informações sobre a remuneração dos executivos foram obtidas através dos dados da Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS) do Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego. Já as informações sobre o lucro real de cada sub-setor foram colhidas das Pesquisas Anuais de Serviços (PAS), Comércio (PAC) e Indústria (PIA), realizadas pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). As regressões estimadas tiveram como objetivo verificar se a evolução da remuneração real média dos executivos de cada sub-setor tem correlação com a evolução do lucro real por trabalhador de cada sub-setor. Em particular, verificou-se se o aumento prévio da remuneração real dos executivos é seguido de um aumento do lucro real por trabalhador, controlados os fatores macroeconômicos, através da inclusão de variáveis binárias para cada ano, e controlada a autocorrelação da variável lucro real por trabalhador. De acordo com os dados analisados neste trabalho, conclui-se que há correlação contemporânea entre o rendimento real dos executivos e o desempenho das firmas, sugerindo que os executivos têm poder de barganha para se apropriar de parte dos lucros. Contudo, a correlação entre o aumento prévio da remuneração real dos executivos e o lucro no período seguinte, apesar de positiva, não é estatisticamente significativa. Assim sendo, a hipótese de que melhora da remuneração dos executivos pode influenciar positivamente o desempenho das empresas requer mais investigações para ser respondida com segurança.

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The government has two objectives in this economy: make the states invest in thepriority sector and equalize wealth among states. Applying the model of the Principal-Agent Problem, we obtain that the federal system may not increase society 's wellfare when the states not necessarily invest in its respective thepriority sector. We also obtain that it is possible to implement an optimal mechanism where government equalize wealth among states without cost and can make states invest in thepriority sector.

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Esta investigação encontrou no quadro teórico-metodológico do Interacionismo Sociodiscursivo (ISD) solo fértil para a construção de um trabalho científico transdisciplinar acerca da linguagem verbal em contextos sociais historicamente situados. Com o levantamento da literatura, apenas foi encontrado o estudo de Barbosa (2014) na direção tomada pela pesquisa em tela, sendo esta a principal justificativa para a sua materialização. Assim, tem-se como objetivo geral: investigar a significação de gêneros de textos por uma agente-leitora universitária em diferentes formações sociais de linguagem. E como objetivos específicos: (i) compreender o papel representado pelas vivências de leitura passadas e atuais da agente-leitora em espaços diversificados e compartilhados com grupos sociais distintos e sua possível influência no processo pessoal de significação de gêneros de texto; (ii) analisar os modos de representações psicológicas, linguísticas e discursivas materializados em textos empíricos por uma agente-leitora na situação de significação de leitura de um Artigo Científico, de uma Crônica e de um Artigo de Opinião; (iii) identificar o agir linguageiro desta agente-leitora em situação de interpretação dos gêneros de texto explorados nesta pesquisa. No plano teórico, contou com o suporte teórico e metodológico do materialismo sócio-histórico vigotskiano ampliado pelo ISD (BRONCKART, 1999, 2006, 2008) acerca das operações psicológicas, linguísticas e enunciativas presentificadas nas situações de linguagem circunscritas na textualidade; buscou sustentação na filosofia do agir comunicativo (HABERMAS, 1987); e nas ciências do discurso (ORLANDI, 2005; 2006), dentre outras referências filiadas aos pressupostos assumidos nesta investigação. Fez-se opção pelo método investigativo qualitativo (TURATO, 2006; RONDEL, 2003; SCHWANDT, 2006), de natureza exploratória, cujo delineamento de pesquisa foi Estudo de Caso Único (GIL, 2009). Com efeito, colaborou com a construção dos dados uma agente-leitora estudante, à época, do Curso de Pedagogia, de uma universidade pública federal, localizada em Recife/PE (NE brasileiro). O estudo empírico efetivou-se em dois encontros com a agente-leitora, a saber: (i) entrevista sobre a história de leitura, e a sessão de significação da leitura da Crônica, e; (ii) em encontro posterior, a agente-leitora produziu a significação de leitura do Artigo Científico e do Artigo de Opinião. Procedeu-se com a análise descendente do ISD (tipos de discursos, mecanismo de textualização e os mecanismos enunciativos), consubstanciada com parte dos princípios e procedimentos da escola brasileira de análise de discurso. Com base nos achados, de modo geral, concluiu-se que: (i) Sofia de fato traz para o momento da significação a sua história de leitora, melhor dizendo, as interações sociais vividas na família, sobretudo pela figura de alteridade da avó enunciando no início de cada sessão o prazer que sentiu ao ler os três gêneros de textos; (ii) os indícios da intervenção discursiva ocorridos nas práticas sociointeracionistas na instância formal acadêmica foram materializados no modo como a agente-leitora representou a significação que realizou do Artigo Científico; (iii) a recepção de gênero textual, na perspectiva de compreensão de leitura como um trabalho interlocutivo e colaborativo acontece, de fato, na relação entre leitor-texto-autor.
The following investigation found on the Sociodiscursive Interactionism (SDI) theoretical approach fertile ground to build a transdisciplinary scientific work about the verbal language on specifically social and historical contexts. After researching the existing literature, only has been found the following study based on Barbosa`s (2014) study, this fact justifies the existence of the present work. Therefore, the main goal of the study is: investigate the textual genres’ signification by a college agent reader in different language social conformations. And for specific goals we have: (i) understand the function of agent reader’s previous and following readings on deferent and shared places by different social groups and it’s possible influence on the subjects own process of textual genres’ signification; (ii) analyze the psychological, linguistics and discursive modes materialized on academic works by a agent reader as it reads and significates one scientific paper, one chronicle and one journalistic article; (iii) trace these agent reader’s speeches’ acts in a situation of active reading on the genres explored by this research. As a theoretic support the present work used Vigotski’s socio-historical materialism enlarged by SDI (BRONCKART, 1999, 2006, 2008) about the psychological, linguistic and enunciative operations existing only on the reading situation; the research supports itself on the commutative act philosophy (Habermas, 1987); on the speech science (ORLANDI, 2005, 2006), among others theories in whom this work is based. The investigative method is quatitavive (TURATO, 2006; RONDEL, 2003; SCHWANDT, 2006), exploratory, based on a single-case design (GIL, 2009). This research was based on the study of a single subject, a Universidade Federal De Pernambuco’s female pedagogy student, located on Recife PE (Brazilian Northeast). The data collection occurred on two meetings with the agent reader: (i) interview about the reading historical and the chronicle reading section, and, (ii) the reading an signification of a scientific paper and the journalistic article. Afterword it was made a descendant analysis from the SDI (kinds or speech, text mechanisms and de enunciations mechanisms), embodied partially with the Brazilian’s school of speech analysis’ principals and proceeders. Based on the research data it comes to those conclusions: (i) Sofia indeed brings her previous story as a reader to help the on going signification moment, which means, that the social interactions lived in family, especially on the grandmother figure, speaking on the beginning of each section about the pleasure of the tree genres’ reading; (ii) discursive interactions’ evidences occur on social-interactive practices on the formalist academic ways that the agent reader represented the scientific papes’s signification; (iii) the textual genres’ reading compression thus indeed occur as an interactive and collaborative effort on the relationship between reader, text and author.

Esta dissertação propõe uma Ontologia Funcional de Reputação para agentes. Tal ontologia representa uma parte do conhecimento científico sobre reputação provido tanto pelas Ciências Humanas quanto pelos trabalhos em Inteligência Artificial. Seu objetivo é oferecer uma perspectiva funcional para a representação e análise da reputação como mecanismo de controle social em sociedades de agentes, de forma a sustentar a implementação de modelos de reputação para agentes. A Ontologia Funcional de Reputação foi construída a partir das categorias de conhecimento da Ontologia Funcional do Direito, proposta por Valente (1995), e utiliza a categorização de conceitos definida para o mundo jurídico para a representação do mundo social. A ontologia foi codificada em OWL DL, uma linguagem formal baseada em lógica descritiva. Uma vez construída a ontologia, os conceitos utilizados por diversos modelos e sistemas de reputação foram utilizados na sua avaliação. A utilização de um motor de inferência permitiu comparar estes conceitos, representados por meio de classes OWL, com as classes da ontologia. Tal comparação permite avaliar, de modo preliminar, a adequação do uso da Ontologia Funcional de Reputação como uma possível interlingua entre diversos agentes heterogêneos, cada qual utilizando um modelo de reputação diferente, que necessitam interoperar.
This work presents a Functional Ontology of Reputation for agents. This ontology represents the broad knowledge about reputation produced in some areas of interest such as Social Sciences and Artificial Intelligence. Its goal is to provide a functional perspective both to represent and analyze reputation as a social control mechanism for agent’s societies, in order to support the implementation of reputation model for agents. The Functional Ontology of Reputation employs the primitive categories of knowledge used in the Functional Ontology of Law proposed by Valente (1995). The idea is that the concepts of the legal world can be used to model the social world, through the extension of the concept of legal rule to social norm and the internalization of social control mechanisms in the agent's mind, so far externalized in legal institutions. The Functional Ontology of Reputation contains five main categories that have been borrowed from or inspired by the Functional Ontology of Law: Reputative Knowledge, Responsibility Knowledge, Normative Knowledge, World Knowledge and Common Sense Knowledge.As in the Functional Ontology of Law, the distinction among the categories of the reputation ontology are accomplished according to a functional perspective, in which each component of the reputation system, embedded in the social system, exists to perform a specific function in the effort to achieve social objectives, such as trust, reciprocity and social cooperation. The Functional Ontology of Reputation was implemented in OWL, a description logic language. This ontology was evaluated by using several concepts related to reputation, included in different reputation models and reputation systems. These concepts were defined as OWL classes and a reasoner was used in order to produce the comparison between these concepts and the ontology classes. This comparison allows evaluating, in a preliminary way, the Functional Ontology of Reputation utilization as a possible interlingua between several heterogeneous agents that need to interoperate, despite the utilization of different reputation model.

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Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venâncio. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Profissional em Saúde.
Nesta dissertação, discute-se a Educação Profissional do trabalhador de nível médio sem formação específica em saúde - o Agente de Controle de Endemias (ACE). Além disso, numa perspectiva de complementaridade, são abordados os conceitos de qualificação e de competência profissional. A formação foi tratada do ponto de vista histórico, sendo necessária a discussão de alguns aspectos das políticas sociais, além dos modelos de gestão em saúde que embasaram a política de Educação Permanente em Saúde no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Verifica-se na metodologia desta política a identificação e validação de um conjunto de competências profissionais num sistema complexo de trabalho. O estudo incidiu sobre os ACE no município de Niterói/RJ e permitiu concluir pela existência de uma dimensão bastante complexa entre a formação e a exigência prática do trabalho, enquanto elementos políticos estruturantes da Vigilância em Saúde. Apontamos que, na década de 2000, foi executada uma política de formação num padrão de excelência pelo PROFORMAR/EPSJV/FIOCRUZ.
This dissertation discusses the Professional Education of the average worker without specific training in health – Agent of Endemic Disease Control (ACE). In addition, a complementary perspective, discusses the concepts of qualification and professional competence. The training was handled in the historical point of view, it was necessary to discuss some aspects of social policies, and management models that support the health policy of Permanent Education in Health System Health Checks on the methodology of this policy identification and validation of a set of professional skills in a complex system of work. The study focused on the agents of ACE in country city Niterói/RJ, and concluded that there is a very complex dimension between training and work practice requirements, whil e structuring the political elements of Surveillance in Health points out that in 2000s, ran a training policy in a standard of excellence by PROFORMAR EPSJV/FIOCRUZ.

A presente pesquisa propõe uma arquitetura de agente computacional inteligente fundamentada nos princípios da Inteligência Artificial Construtivista. A IA Construtivista é um ramo alternativo dentro do panorama paradigmático da IA. Realiza-se preliminarmente um estudo sobre as conseqüências teóricas promovidas pela incorporação das concepções da Psicologia Construtivista à Inteligência Artificial, uma vez que essa nova abordagem cria um novo sentido para procedimentos já bem estabelecidos nos paradigmas clássicos deste campo científico. São examinadas, então, novas posturas epistemológicas, surgidas com a proposta construtivista para a IA. Finalmente, a partir desse estudo, propõe-se um modelo de agente capaz de uma aprendizagem autônoma e eficiente, na perspectiva de um modelo de aprendizagem geral. O agente é capaz de aprender com as próprias experiências, construindo e reconstruindo hipóteses sobre os fenômenos vivenciados e identificando as regularidades do ambiente.
This research proposes an agent architecture based on the Constructivist Artificial Intelligence approach. Constructivist AI is an alternative branch into AI paradigmatic field. We proceed with an initial study about the theoretical consequences promoted by the incorporation of constructivist psychological conceptions in artificial intelligence. We argue that this new approach creates a new meaning to some well-stablished procedures coming from the classic paradigms of the field. Then we examine new epistemological positions born with the constructivist approach. Finally, after that, we propose an agent model able to learn about its universe in an autonomous and efficient way, and from a general learning perspective. Our agent is able to learn with its own experience, building and rebuilding hypothese about the phenomenoums that it observes and identifying the environment regularities.

La croissance des chiffres d’affaires issus de la vente en ligne de produits physiques témoigne de l’intérêt des fournisseurs pour l’adoption du e-commerce B2C comme un canal de distribution alternatif à la vente au détail classique. Les retombées positives du B2C sont prônées tant bien au niveau de la littérature scientifique qu’au niveau de la pratique. En effet, l’utilisation des magasins virtuels ayant substitué l’exploitation des magasins conventionnels permet aux e-fournisseurs d’atteindre un large éventail géographique d’une clientèle accessible par Internet. Du côté des consommateurs, l’accessibilité aux produits à tout moment et la livraison à domicile améliorent leur expérience de magasinage, notamment des économies en temps et de carburant. Cette vision commune des retombées de la distribution B2C ne considère que «la face apparente de l’iceberg», confinée à la prise de commande et au dernier kilomètre de livraison. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à investiguer les impacts de la distribution e-commerce sur une étendue plus large qui englobe le système complet de distribution du e-fournisseur. En effet la complexité de son contexte opérationnel multi-acteur met en épreuve sa capacité à gérer ses opérations de distribution de manière durable, tout en assurant des délais de livraison de plus en plus courts à ses e-consommateurs. D’autant plus, les systèmes de distribution B2C héritent des symptômes d’inefficience observés dans l’environnement logistique actuel. Par ailleurs, le concept de distribution hyperconnectée habilitée par l’Internet Physique (PI ou π) présente une alternative candidate qui à priori permettrait aux e-fournisseurs d’améliorer leurs performances par rapport aux approches actuelles de la gestion de la distribution B2C. Cette thèse développe une étude exploratoire des impacts de l’utilisation de la distribution hyperconnectée habilitée par π sur le potentiel durable de e-fournisseurs, en comparaison avec les options de distribution B2C actuelles. Pour ce faire, des études de cas à base de simulations multiagents ont été développées pour la modélisation de scénarios de distribution d’un e-fournisseur, inspirés des données réelles de notre partenaire industriel Industries de la Rive Sud. L’utilisation d’indicateurs clés de performance nous a permis d’évaluer progressivement les performances du e-fournisseur dans des scénarios portant d’abord sur l’approche de distribution drop-ship. Ensuite nous avons évalué une approche dynamique de déploiement distribué de B2C dans le contexte logistique actuel puis dans un contexte habilité par π. Cette thèse contribue en premier lieu à combler la faille théorique qui existe entre la recherche et la pratique en termes de modélisation des systèmes de distribution B2C intégrée. La deuxième contribution est le développement d’un modèle conceptuel multi-agent générique pour la simulation de scénarios de distribution B2C. La troisième contribution est la proposition d’une approche de consolidation intégrée qui permet aux e-fournisseurs d’améliorer leurs performances tout en réduisant de manière globale les délais de livraison des commandes des e-consommateurs dans le cadre d’une approche de distribution drop-ship. La quatrième contribution est la proposition d’un modèle dynamique d’équilibrage des inventaires dans le réseau de distribution d’un e-fournisseur. La dernière contribution confirme par expériences de simulation qu’une distribution hyperconnectée habilitée par PI permet de renforcer le potentiel durable des e-fournisseurs.
The growth of online sales of physical products demonstrates the interest of suppliers for the adoption of B2C e-commerce as an alternative distribution channel to the conventional retail channel. The benefits of B2C are promoted not only by the scientific literature but also by practically grounded professional literature. In fact, Web stores complemented conventional Brick-and-Mortar retail shops, allowing e-vendors to access a wide geographical range of e-consumers through the Internet. On the consumer side, accessing products at any time and home delivery enhance their shopping experience, notably through time and fuel savings. This common vision of B2C distribution benefits considers only «the visible face of the iceberg», confined to the ordering process and the last-mile delivery. In this thesis, we are interested in investigating the impacts of e-commerce distribution over a larger scope that encompasses the entire distribution system of e-vendors. In fact, the complexity of their multi-actor operational environment challenges their ability to manage their distribution operations in a sustainable way, while ensuring ever quicker deliveries to their e-consumers. Moreover, B2C distribution systems inherit the inefficiency symptoms observed through the current logistics environment. Besides, the concept of the Physical Internet (PI or π) enabled hyperconnected distribution is a priori a candidate alternative that allows e-vendors to improve their performance, in contrast with current B2C distribution approaches. Through an exploratory study, this thesis investigates the impacts of a PI-enabled hyperconnected distribution on the sustainable potential of e-vendors, in contrast with current B2C distribution options. To this end, case studies based on multi-agent simulations were developed for modeling e-vendor distribution scenarios, inspired by actual data from our industrial partner South Shore Industries. Through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs), we gradually assessed e-vendor performance starting from the drop-ship distribution approach. Then, we assessed a dynamic B2C deployment approach in the current logistics environment then in a PI-enabled context. The first contribution of this thesis is to close the theoretical gap between research and practice in terms of modeling integrated B2C distribution systems. The second contribution is the development of a generic multi-agent conceptual model for B2C distribution scenario simulations. The third contribution is the proposal of an integrated consolidation based distribution approach allowing e-vendors to improve their performances, while globally reducing e-consumer order delivery times, within a drop-ship distribution based approach. The fourth contribution is the proposal of an e-vendor dynamic inventory balancing model. The last contribution confirms through a simulation-based experiment, that a PI-enabled hyperconnected distribution leverages the sustainable potential of e-vendors.

La planification devient complexe quand il s’agit de gérer des situations incertaines. Prédire de façon précise est une tâche fastidieuse pour les planificateurs humains. L’approche Simulation-Based Planning consiste à associer la planification à la simulation. Chaque plan généré est simulé afin d’être testé et évalué. Le plan le plus approprié est alors retenu. Cependant, le problème est encore plus complexe lorsque viennent s’ajouter des contraintes spatiales. Par exemple, lors d’un feu de forêt, des bulldozers doivent construire une ligne d’arrêt pour arrêter la propagation des feux. Ils doivent alors tenir compte non seulement de l’avancée des feux mais aussi des caractéristiques du terrain afin de pouvoir avancer plus facilement. Nous proposons une approche de géosimulation basée sur les agents et qui a pour but d’assister la planification dans un espace réel, à large échelle géographique et surtout à forte composante spatiale. Un feu de forêt est un problème typique nécessitant une planification dans un monde réel incertain et soumis à de fortes contraintes spatiales. Nous illustrons donc notre approche (nommée ENCASMA) sur le problème des feux de forêts. L’approche consiste à établir un parallélisme entre l’Environnement Réel ER (p.ex. une forêt incendiée) et un Environnement de Simulation ES (p.ex. une reproduction virtuelle de la forêt incendiée). Pour garantir un niveau acceptable de réalisme, les données spatiales utilisées dans l’ES doivent absolument provenir d’un SIG (Système d’information Géographique). Les planificateurs réels comme les pompiers ou les bulldozers sont simulés par des agents logiciels qui raisonnent sur l’espace modélisé par l’ES. Pour une meilleure sensibilité spatiale (pour tenir compte de toutes les contraintes du terrain), les agents logiciels sont dotés de capacités avancées telles que la perception. En utilisant une approche par géosimulation multiagent, nous pouvons générer une simulation réaliste du plan à exécuter. Les décideurs humains peuvent visualiser les conséquences probables de l’exécution de ce plan. Ils peuvent ainsi évaluer le plan et éventuellement l’ajuster avant son exécution effective (sur le terrain). Quand le plan est en cours d’exécution, et afin de garantir la cohérence des données entre l’ER et l’ES, nous gardons trace sur l’ES des positions (sur l’ER) des planificateurs réels (en utilisant les technologies du positionnement géoréférencé). Nous relançons la planification du reste du plan à partir de la position courante de planificateur réel, et ce de façon périodique. Ceci est fait dans le but d’anticiper tout problème qui pourrait survenir à cause de l’aspect dynamique de l’ER. Nous améliorons ainsi le processus classique de l’approche DCP (Distributed Continual Planning). Enfin, les agents de l’ES doivent replanifier aussitôt qu’un événement imprévu est rapporté. Étant donné que les plans générés dans le cas étudié (feux de forêts) sont essentiellement des chemins, nous proposons également une approche basée sur la géosimulation orientée agent pour résoudre des problèmes particuliers de Pathfinding (recherche de chemin). De plus, notre approche souligne les avantages qu’apporte la géosimulation orientée agent à la collaboration entre agents humains et agents logiciels. Plus précisément, elle démontre : • Comment la cognition spatiale des agents logiciels sensibles à l’espace peut être complémentaire avec la cognition spatiale des planificateurs humains. • Comment la géosimulation orientée agent peut complémenter les capacités humaines de planification lors de la résolution de problèmes complexes. Finalement, pour appliquer notre approche au cas des feux de forêts, nous avons utilisé MAGS comme plate-forme de géosimulation et Prometheus comme simulateur du feu. Les principales contributions de cette thèse sont : 1. Une architecture (ENCASMA) originale pour la conception et l’implémentation d’applications (typiquement des applications de lutte contre les désastres naturels) dans un espace géographique réel à grande échelle et dynamique. 2. Une approche basée sur les agents logiciels pour des problèmes de Pathfinding (recherche de chemin) particuliers (dans un environnement réel et à forte composante spatiale, soumis à des contraintes qualitatives). 3. Une amélioration de l’approche de planification DCP (plus particulièrement le processus de continuité) afin de remédier à certaines limites de la DCP classique. 4. Une solution pratique pour un problème réel et complexe : la lutte contre les feux de forêts. Cette nouvelle solution permet aux experts du domaine de mieux planifier d’avance les actions de lutte et aussi de surveiller l’exécution du plan en temps réel.
Planning becomes complex when addressing uncertain situations. Accurate predictions remain a hard task for human planners. The Simulation-Based Planning approach consists in associating planning and simulation. Each generated plan is simulated in order to be tested and evaluated. The most appropriate plan is kept. The problem is even more complex when considering spatial constraints. For example, when fighting a wildfire, dozers build a firebreak to stop fire propagation. They have to take into account not only the fire spread but also the terrain characteristics in order to move easily. We propose an agent-based geosimulation approach to assist such planners with planning under strong spatial constraints in a real large-scale space. Forest fire fighting is a typical problem involving planning within an uncertain real world under strong spatial constraints. We use this case to illustrate our approach (ENCASM). The approach consists in drawing a parallel between the Real Environment RE (i.e. a forest in fire) and the Simulated Environment SE (i.e. a virtual reproduction of the forest). Spatial data within the SE should absolutely come from a GIS (Geographic Information System) for more realism. Real planners such as firefighters or dozers are simulated using software agents which reason about the space of the SE. To achieve a sufficient spatial awareness (taking into account all terrain’s features), agents have advanced capabilities such as perception. Using a multiagent geosimulation approach, we can generate a realistic simulation of the plan so that human decision makers can visualize the probable consequences of its execution. They can thus evaluate the plan and adjust it before it can effectively be executed. When the plan is in progress and in order to maintain coherence between RE and SE, we keep track in the SE of the real planners’ positions in the RE (using georeferencing technologies). We periodically replan the rest of the plan starting from the current position of the real planner. This is done in order to anticipate any problem which could occur due to the dynamism of the RE. We thus enhance the process of the classical Distributed Continual Planning DCP. Finally, the agents must replan as soon as an unexpected event is reported by planners within the RE. Since plans in the studied case (forest fires) are mainly paths, we propose a new approach based on agent geosimulation to solve particular Pathfinding problems. Besides, our approach highlights the benefits of the agent-based geo-simulation to the collaboration of both humans and agents. It thus shows: • How spatial cognitions of both spatially aware agents and human planners can be complementary. • How agent-based geo-simulation can complement human planning skills when addressing complex problems. Finally, when applying our approach on firefighting, we use MAGS as a simulation platform and Prometheus as a fire simulator. The main contributions of this thesis are: 1. An original architecture (ENCASMA) for the design and the implementation of applications (typically, natural disasters applications) in real, dynamic and large-scale geographic spaces. 2. An agent-based approach for particular Pathfinding problems (within real and spatially constrained environments and under qualitative constraints). 3. An enhancement of the DCP (particularly, the continual process) approach in order to overcome some limits of the classical DCP. 4. A practical solution for a real and complex problem: wildfires fighting. This new solution aims to assist experts when planning firefighting actions and monitoring the execution of these plans.

Este trabalho apresenta o projeto e arquitetura de uma plataforma para execução de Agentes com funções implementadas em hardware, tomando vantagem do uso de hardware reconfigurável. Os Agentes em hardware são implementados utilizando dispositivos FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Array). O trabalho estende trabalhos anteriores semelhantes na área, com o diferencial de adicionar suporte às funcionalidades de reconfiguração parcial do hardware, suportar aplicações que demandam alto desempenho em hardware – como processamento de sinais e imagens – e redução de recursos de hardware necessários para execução da interface em software. A plataforma proposta utiliza o framework JADE (Java Agent Development Framework), que é um dos frameworks mais populares no estado da arte de desenvolvimento de Agentes e compatível com outros frameworks de Agentes através da conformidade aos padrões FIPA (Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents). Com o uso do JADE, a plataforma possibilita a comunicação entre Agentes com funções implementadas em hardware e Agentes puramente implementados em software dentro de um mesmo SMA (Sistema Multi-Agente). Uma funcionalidade notável do JADE é a possibilidade de migração de Agentes entre plataformas de um mesmo SMA. Através do uso da reconfiguração parcial de hardware em conjunto com o JADE, a plataforma permite a migração de Agentes de software para hardware e vice-versa, além de suportar reconfiguração de múltiplos Agentes em hardware com um único FPGA. A plataforma faz uso de um único chip através do uso de um processador soft core implementado na lógica programável. O uso deste processador é um diferencial neste trabalho, e mostra que é possível utilizar o JADE em sistemas embarcados com recursos de processamento limitados. Ou seja, em um Agente cuja principal função é implementada em hardware, basta um processador bastante simples para atuar como uma interface entre o hardware e o framework de Agentes. O uso do processador dentro do FPGA tem também o benefício de oferecer formas de acesso mais integrado ao hardware, permitindo maior desempenho na transmissão de dados ao hardware. A plataforma foi validada através de estudos de caso de Agentes com implementações em hardware e em software, incluindo um estudo de caso aplicado de processamento de imagem embarcado utilizando VANTs (Veículos Aéreos Não-Tripulados). O estudo também apresenta comparações de desempenho entre a execução dos Agentes em hardware e em outras plataformas embarcadas de prateleira. Os experimentos realizados mostram um ganho significativo de desempenho nas implementações em FPGA, especialmente considerando processamento de imagens de alta resolução, mesmo considerando que o FPGA executa em frequências consideravelmente reduzidas em comparação às outras plataformas testadas.
This work described the design and architecture of a platform for execution of Agents whose functions are implemented in hardware, by leveraging the use of reconfigurable hardware. The hardware Agents are implemented using FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Array) devices. This work extends previous similar work in this field, while adding the features of hardware partial reconfiguration, supporting applications which require high performance in hardware – such as image or signal processing – and reducing the hardware resource for the software interface execution. The proposed platform makes use of the JADE (Java Agent Development Framework) framework, which is one of the most popular frameworks in state-of-the-art Agent development, and is also compatible with other Agent development frameworks due to compliance with FIPA (Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents) standards. With the use of JADE, the platform enables communication among Agents which are implemented in hardware and Agents purely implemented in software, inside the same MAS (Multi-Agent System). One notable feature of JADE is the possibility of migrating Agents among platforms inside a single MAS. Through the use of hardware partial reconfiguration along with JADE, the platform enables the migration of Agents from software to hardware and viceversa, in addition to supporting múltiple hardware Agents in a single FPGA. The platform makes use of a single chip, by using a MicroBlaze soft core processor implemented in programmable logic. The use of this processor is a distinction on this work, and it shows that it is possible to use JADE on embedded systems with limited processing power. That is, in an Agent whose main function is implemented in hardware, a very simple processor to act as an interface between hardware and the Agent framework is enough. The use of the soft core processor inside the FPGA also has the benefit of offering more integrated ways of accessing hardware, enabling higher performance for transferring data to hardware. The platform was validated through case studies of hardware and software Agent implementation, including a case study applied to image processing using UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The study also shows performance comparisons between the Agent execution in hardware and in other off-the-shelf embedded platforms. The performed experiments report a significative performance increase in the FPGA implementations, particularly in high resolution image processing, even considering that the FPGA runs in considerably lower clock frequency than the other tested platforms.

Résumé Internet est devenu un moyen de diffusion de l’information géographique par excellence. Il offre de plus en plus de services cartographiques accessibles par des milliers d’internautes à travers le monde. Cependant, la qualité de ces services doit être améliorée, principalement en matière de personnalisation. A cette fin, il est important que la carte générée corresponde autant que possible aux besoins, aux préférences et au contexte de l’utilisateur. Ce but peut être atteint en appliquant les transformations appropriées, en temps réel, aux objets de l’espace à chaque cycle de génération de la carte. L’un des défis majeurs de la génération d’une carte à la volée est la résolution des conflits spatiaux qui apparaissent entre les objets, essentiellement à cause de l’espace réduit des écrans d’affichage. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une nouvelle approche basée sur la mise en œuvre d’un système multiagent pour la génération à la volée des cartes et la résolution des conflits spatiaux. Cette approche est basée sur l’utilisation de la représentation multiple et la généralisation cartographique. Elle résout les conflits spatiaux et génère les cartes demandées selon une stratégie innovatrice : la génération progressive des cartes par couches d’intérêt. Chaque couche d’intérêt contient tous les objets ayant le même degré d’importance pour l’utilisateur. Ce contenu est déterminé à la volée au début du processus de génération de la carte demandée. Notre approche multiagent génère et transfère cette carte suivant un mode parallèle. En effet, une fois une couche d’intérêt générée, elle est transmise à l’utilisateur. Dans le but de résoudre les conflits spatiaux, et par la même occasion générer la carte demandée, nous affectons un agent logiciel à chaque objet de l’espace. Les agents entrent ensuite en compétition pour l’occupation de l’espace disponible. Cette compétition est basée sur un ensemble de priorités qui correspondent aux différents degrés d’importance des objets pour l’utilisateur. Durant la résolution des conflits, les agents prennent en considération les besoins et les préférences de l’utilisateur afin d’améliorer la personnalisation de la carte. Ils améliorent la lisibilité des objets importants et utilisent des symboles qui pourraient aider l’utilisateur à mieux comprendre l’espace géographique. Le processus de génération de la carte peut être interrompu en tout temps par l’utilisateur lorsque les données déjà transmises répondent à ses besoins. Dans ce cas, son temps d’attente est réduit, étant donné qu’il n’a pas à attendre la génération du reste de la carte. Afin d’illustrer notre approche, nous l’appliquons au contexte de la cartographie sur le web ainsi qu’au contexte de la cartographie mobile. Dans ces deux contextes, nous catégorisons nos données, qui concernent la ville de Québec, en quatre couches d’intérêt contenant les objets explicitement demandés par l’utilisateur, les objets repères, le réseau routier et les objets ordinaires qui n’ont aucune importance particulière pour l’utilisateur. Notre système multiagent vise à résoudre certains problèmes liés à la génération à la volée des cartes web. Ces problèmes sont les suivants : 1. Comment adapter le contenu des cartes, à la volée, aux besoins des utilisateurs ? 2. Comment résoudre les conflits spatiaux de manière à améliorer la lisibilité de la carte tout en prenant en considération les besoins de l’utilisateur ? 3. Comment accélérer la génération et le transfert des données aux utilisateurs ? Les principales contributions de cette thèse sont : 1. La résolution des conflits spatiaux en utilisant les systèmes multiagent, la généralisation cartographique et la représentation multiple. 2. La génération des cartes dans un contexte web et dans un contexte mobile, à la volée, en utilisant les systèmes multiagent, la généralisation cartographique et la représentation multiple. 3. L’adaptation des contenus des cartes, en temps réel, aux besoins de l’utilisateur à la source (durant la première génération de la carte). 4. Une nouvelle modélisation de l’espace géographique basée sur une architecture multi-couches du système multiagent. 5. Une approche de génération progressive des cartes basée sur les couches d’intérêt. 6. La génération et le transfert, en parallèle, des cartes aux utilisateurs, dans les contextes web et mobile.
Abstract Internet is a fast growing medium to get and disseminate geospatial information. It provides more and more web mapping services accessible by thousands of users worldwide. However, the quality of these services needs to be improved, especially in term of personalization. In order to increase map flexibility, it is important that the map corresponds as much as possible to the user’s needs, preferences and context. This may be possible by applying the suitable transformations, in real-time, to spatial objects at each map generation cycle. An underlying challenge of such on-the-fly map generation is to solve spatial conflicts that may appear between objects especially due to lack of space on display screens. In this dissertation, we propose a multiagent-based approach to address the problems of on-the-fly web map generation and spatial conflict resolution. The approach is based upon the use of multiple representation and cartographic generalization. It solves conflicts and generates maps according to our innovative progressive map generation by layers of interest approach. A layer of interest contains objects that have the same importance to the user. This content, which depends on the user’s needs and the map’s context of use, is determined on-the-fly. Our multiagent-based approach generates and transfers data of the required map in parallel. As soon as a given layer of interest is generated, it is transmitted to the user. In order to generate a given map and solve spatial conflicts, we assign a software agent to every spatial object. Then, the agents compete for space occupation. This competition is driven by a set of priorities corresponding to the importance of objects for the user. During processing, agents take into account users’ needs and preferences in order to improve the personalization of the final map. They emphasize important objects by improving their legibility and using symbols in order to help the user to better understand the geographic space. Since the user can stop the map generation process whenever he finds the required information from the amount of data already transferred, his waiting delays are reduced. In order to illustrate our approach, we apply it to the context of tourist web and mobile mapping applications. In these contexts, we propose to categorize data into four layers of interest containing: explicitly required objects, landmark objects, road network and ordinary objects which do not have any specific importance for the user. In this dissertation, our multiagent system aims at solving the following problems related to on-the-fly web mapping applications: 1. How can we adapt the contents of maps to users’ needs on-the-fly? 2. How can we solve spatial conflicts in order to improve the legibility of maps while taking into account users’ needs? 3. How can we speed up data generation and transfer to users? The main contributions of this thesis are: 1. The resolution of spatial conflicts using multiagent systems, cartographic generalization and multiple representation. 2. The generation of web and mobile maps, on-the-fly, using multiagent systems, cartographic generalization and multiple representation. 3. The real-time adaptation of maps’ contents to users’ needs at the source (during the first generation of the map). 4. A new modeling of the geographic space based upon a multi-layers multiagent system architecture. 5. A progressive map generation approach by layers of interest. 6. The generation and transfer of web and mobile maps at the same time to users.

Le paradigme multi-agents est largement utilisé pour concevoir des outils de simulation dédiés à la chaîne de création de valeur. En dépit de son attrait et de son ample utilisation dans la recherche, la technologie agent et son intégration avec des outils de planification de la chaîne de création de valeur distribuée représente encore un champ à explorer. En particulier, il existe une lacune de recherche dans la phase d'analyse des cadres méthodologiques basés sur le concept des multi-agents. Cette phase représente le premier effort de modélisation et influence considérablement le processus de création entier, ainsi que les simulations résultantes. Afin de contribuer à combler cette lacune, cette thèse présente un cadre méthodologique appelé FAMASS -Architecture FORAC pour modéliser des simulations multi-agents pour la planification des chaînes de création de valeur. L'approche FAMASS a l'intention de fournir une représentation uniforme d'un système distribué de planification avancée (d-APS) qui utilise la technologie multi-agents, un support à des analystes de simulation pour définir clairement les besoin fonctionnels des utilisateurs de scénarios de simulation, ainsi que leurs définitions expérimentales, et un guide aux analystes pour déployer les modèles d'analyse en modèles de spécification et de design. Par conséquent, la capitalisation de la connaissance et du savoir-faire des acteurs de la simulation est améliorée. Les scénarios de simulation sont donc modélisés plus vite, de façon plus précise, et ils sont éventuellement développés et utilisés. Le cadre méthodologique proposé est validé à travers une méthode de preuve-de-concept fondée sur un cas industriel solide et réaliste.

Peu de modèles et de simulations qui décrivent les comportements de foule en situations de conflit impliquant des forces de l’ordre et des armes non-létales (NLW) existent. Ce mémoire présente des modèles d’agents de la foule et des forces de l’ordre ainsi que des NLWs dans des situations de conflit. Des groupes ainsi que leurs interactions et actions collectives sont explicitement modélisés, ce qui repousse les approches de simulation de foule existantes. Les agents sont caractérisés par des profils d’appréciation de l’agressivité et ils peuvent changer leurs comportements en relation avec la Théorie de l’identité sociale. Un logiciel a été développé et les modèles ont été calibrés avec des scénarios réalistes. Il a démontré la faisabilité technique de modèles sociaux aussi complexes pour des foules de centaines d’agents, en plus de générer des données pour évaluer l’efficacité des techniques d’intervention.
Few models and simulations that describe crowd behaviour in conflict situations involving control forces and non-lethal weapons (NLW) exist. This thesis presents models for crowd agents, control forces, and NLWs in crowd control situations. Groups as well as their interactions and collective actions are explicitly modelled, which pushes further currently existing crowd simulation approaches. Agents are characterized by appreciation of aggressiveness profiles and they can change their behaviours in relation with the Social Identity theory. A software application was developed and the models were calibrated with realistic scenarios. It demonstrated the technical feasibility of such complex social models for crowds of hundreds of agents, as well generating data to assess the efficiency of intervention techniques.

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In recent years, much research and development effort has been directed towards the fields of ubiquitous computing and multi-agent systems. Further progress is needed for taking full advantage of such technologies in order to provide a degree of intelligence, flexibility, and abstraction in building ubiquitous applications. This work presents the design of a programming language for the development of ubiquitous multi-agent applications. The language aims to define ubiquitous concepts at the same level of abstraction as multi-agent systems concepts, where important ubiquity concepts such as locations and devices are first-class abstractions. The design of the language was based on FAML, a generic meta-model for MAS development, and also draws upon some of the fundamental features of agent-oriented programming languages.
Nos últimos anos muitos esforços em pesquisas e desenvolvimento tem sido direcionados para a área de computação ubíqua e sistemas multiagentes (SMAs). O avanço nessas áreas é necessário para obter vantagem na utilização de suas tecnologias a fim de prover inteligência, flexibilidade e novas abstrações na construção de aplicações ubíquas. Nesse contexto é onde a inteligência artificial e as técnicas de sistemas multiagentes desempenharão um papel importante. Este trabalho apresenta a construção de uma linguagem de programação para aplicações multiagentes ubíquas. A linguagem define conceitos de ubiquidade no mesmo nível de abstração dos conceitos de sistemas multiagentes, onde conceitos importantes de ubiquidade como localização e dispositivos são abstrações de primeira ordem. O projeto da linguagem baseia-se no metamodelo FAML, um metamodelo genérico para o desenvolvimento de SMAs, e também em funcionalidades essenciais de linguagens de programação orientadas a agentes.

Uma das principais motivações da Inteligência Artificial no contexto dos sistemas de entretenimento digital é criar personagens adaptáveis a novas situações, pouco previsíveis, com aprendizado rápido, memória de situações passadas e uma grande diversidade de comportamentos consistente e convincente ao longo do tempo. De acordo com recentes estudos desenvolvidos nos campos da Neurociência e da Psicologia, a capacidade de resolução de problemas não está unicamente atrelada à facilidade na manipulação de símbolos, mas também à exploração das características do ambiente e à interação social, que pode ser expressa na forma de fenômenos emocionais. Os resultados desses estudos confirmam o papel fundamental que cumprem a personalidade e as emoções nas atividades de percepção, planejamento, raciocínio, criatividade, aprendizagem, memória e tomada de decisão. Quando módulos para a manipulação de personalidade e emoções são incorporados à teoria de agentes, é possível a construção de Agentes com Comportamento Convincente (Believable Agents). O objetivo principal deste trabalho é desenvolver e implementar uma arquitetura de agentes inteligentes para construir personagens sintéticos cujos estados afetivos influenciam em suas atividades cognitivas. Para o desenvolvimento de tal arquitetura utilizou-se o modelo BDI (Beliefs, Desires e Intentions) como base e aos módulos existentes em uma implementação desse modelo foi incluído um Módulo Afetivo. Esse Módulo Afetivo é constituído por três submódulos (Personalidade, Humor e Emoção) e deve impactar nas atividades cognitivas de percepção, memória e tomada de decisão do agente. Duas provas de conceito (experimentos) foram construídas : a simulação do problema do ``Dilema do Prisioneiro Iterado\'\' e a versão computadorizada do ``Jogo da Memória\'\'. A construção desses experimentos permitiu avaliar empiricamente a influência da personalidade, humor e emoção nas atividades cognitivas dos agentes, e consequentemente no seu comportamento. Os resultados evidenciam que a utilização da nova arquitetura permite a construção de agentes com comportamentos mais coerentes, adaptativos e cooperativos quando comparados aos de agentes construídos com arquiteturas cujas atividades cognitivas não consideram o estado afetivo, e também produz um comportamento mais próximo de um agente humano que de um comportamento ótimo ou aleatório. Essa evidência de sucesso, apresentada nos resultados, mostra que os agentes construídos com a arquitetura proposta nessa dissertação indicam um avanço na direção do desenvolvimento dos Agentes com Comportamento Convincente.
One of the main motivations of Artificial Intelligence in the context of the digital entertainment systems is to create characters that are adaptable to new situations, unpredictable, fast learners, enable with memory of past situations and a variety of consistent and convincing behavior over time. According to recent studies conducted in the fields of Neuroscience and Psychology, the ability to solve problems is not only related to the capacity to manipulate symbols, but also to the ability to explore the environment and to engage into social interaction, which can be expressed as emotional phenomena. The results of these studies confirm the key role the personality and emotions play in the activities of perception, attention, planning, reasoning, creativity, learning, memory and decision making. When modules for handling personality and emotion, are incorporated in a theory of agents, it is possible to build Believable Agents. The main objective of this work is to develop and implement an intelligent agent architecture to build synthetic characters whose affective states influence their cognitive activities. To develop such architecture the BDI model (Beliefs, Desires and Intentions) was used as a basis, to which an Affective Module was included. The Affective Module consists of three sub-modules (Personality, Mood and Emotion), which influence the cognitive activities of perception, memory and decision making. Finally, two proofs of concept were built: the simulation of the problem of ``Iterated Prisoner\'s Dilemma\'\' and the computerized version of the ``Memory Game.\'\' The construction of these experiments allowed to evaluate empirically the influence of personality, mood and emotion in cognitive activities of agents and consequently in their behavior. The results show that using the proposed architecture one can build agents with more consistent, adaptive and cooperative behaviors when compared to agents built with architectures whose affective states do not influence their cognitive activities. It also produces a behavior that is closer to a human user than that of optimal or random behavior. This evidence of success, presented in the obtained results, show that agents built with the proposed architecture indicate an advance towards the development of Believable Agents.

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FAPESB
A Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF) é convocada a garantir assistência para as pessoas que consomem drogas (i)legais, na medida que esta prática social adquiriu a dimensão de problema de saúde pública. Similar aos demais serviços de saúde, a ESF espelha modos particulares, socialmente construídos, de compreender e lidar com os fenômenos de saúde e doença. O trabalho se fundamenta no/a agente comunitário/a de saúde, popularmente conhecido/a em Salvador/BA como “ACS”. Trata-se habitualmente de um/a morador/a que se torna cuidador/a da comunidade, o que lhe permite desempenhar o papel de “elo” entre a população e o serviço. A dupla inserção do/a ACS no território o/a destaca entre os/as demais profissionais da unidade de saúde, e é crucial para garantir a adesão e a eficácia das ações em saúde. Sua atuação multifuncional é ancorada na legislação; está submetida a diferentes esferas de gestão; é integrada às demais atividades desenvolvidas nos diferentes espaços da ESF; é orientada e/ou apoiada por profissionais vinculados/as ao posto de saúde e a outros serviços com quem atuam em parceria; é marcada pela relação entre concepções terapêuticas distintas que coexistem no âmbito da ESF; e está estreitamente relacionada à realidade das microáreas e da cidade onde elas se situam. Portanto, a gerência do processo de cuidar e a prática do/a agente de saúde revelam-se multideterminadas, ambivalentes e condicionadas culturalmente. Ao mesmo tempo, são responsáveis por causar sofrimento psíquico neste/a trabalhador/a, ao qual o/a ACS reage por meio de mecanismos de defesa (in)conscientes, individuais e coletivos. O cuidado oferecido por ACS para homens adultos que moram no bairro e consomem crack não foge a esta regra. A resistência masculina em acessar e/ou aderir à assistência prestada na rede básica de saúde acentua o distanciamento existente entre este público e o serviço. O/A profissional afirma desconhecer ou não se sente apto/a para lidar com os desafios que caracterizam a abordagem do usuário de crack. Apesar disto, encontra meios para assegurar o cuidado de si e deste sujeito, o qual é pautado sobretudo na sabedoria prática baseada em sua experiência cotidiana no território. Trata-se, portanto, de um cuidado no/do habitar. Este trabalho reúne algumas considerações sobre o assunto a partir de uma pesquisa etnográfica, realizada entre junho de 2015 e setembro de 2016, em uma unidade da ESF soteropolitana e seu território de abrangência. O objetivo é problematizar, do ponto de vista antropológico, as questões sociais e culturais do trabalho do/a ACS; e compreender os limites e possibilidades de sua atuação na ESF frente ao consumidor de crack.
The public health care system, through the Family Health Program (FHP), is summoned to provide assistance to (il)legal drugs users, as soon as this social practice was considered a public health problem. Similar to others health services, the FHP reflects a peculiar and socially built manner to comprehend and deal with the health and the illness related issues. This study focus on the Community Health Agent, commonly known as ACS (Agente Comunitário de Saúde) in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The ACS usually is a person who lives in the neighborhood and becomes a community caregiver, which allows him/her to bridge the gap between the community and the public health service. The double insertion of the ACS in the territory distinguishes him/her from other health professionals at the same service. Besides that, it is a crucial aspect to ensure the access of the community to the health assistance and as well as to guarantee its effectiveness. The ACS practice is a multifunctional one. It is based on the Brazilian legislation; It is under different levels of management; It is part of the others activities developed in the different places of the health service; It is supported and guided by professionals from the same service whom the ACS work with, and professionals from others services of the public health care system. Furthermore, the ACS actions are influenced by a variety of the therapeutic approaches which exist on the context of the Family Health Program; It depends on the life conditions of the population that lives in the particular areas where the ACS acts and Salvador social features in general. Therefore, it is possible to say that the ACS professional oversight and the peculiar work of this professional are both multidetermined, ambivalent, and social and culturally conditioned. At the same time, it affects the ACS mental health and as a result, he/she reacts through psychological defensive strategies, in an attempt to protect himself/herself. The assistance that the ACS provides to adult male crack users that live in the community occurs in the same way. Men resist to access and to adhere to the care provided by the public health service and it increases the distance between this specific public and the Brazilian public health care service unit. The ACS states that he/she doesn’t know how or is incapable to deal with the challenges related to the approach of the crack users. Nevertheless, this professional develops strategies to protect himself/herself and also to ensure the drug users’assistance. Such strategies are based on “practical wisdom”, built on his/her daily field experience. It refers to care “from/within the dwelling”. This study analyses these subjects based on an ethnographic research developed between June 2015 and September 2016 in a FHP unit located in the city of Salvador. It aims to discuss, from an anthropological perspective, the social and cultural issues related to the practice of the ACS and to understand the limits and the possibilities of his/her work when dealing with the crack user. Key-words: Ethnography and Anthropology of Care, Family Health Program, Community Health Agent, Drug users.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão
Software agents represent an evolution of traditional software entities, having the ability to control their own behavior and acting with autonomy. Typically, software agents act reactively, where actions and perceptions are predefined at design time, or in a deliberative way, where the corresponding action for a given perception is found at run time through reasoning. Deliberative agents do not need all knowledge to be predefined; on the contrary, from an initial knowledge they can infer new knowledge. However, to find an action appropriate to a particular perception, they take a long time, generating a high computational cost. As a solution to this problem, a hybrid architecture with learning for the development of hybrid software agents is presented in this work. Hybrid agents combine reactive and deliberative behavior taking advantage of the speed of reactive behavior and the reasoning capability of the deliberative one are a better option for structuring software agents. The main advantages of the proposed architecture are learning of the reactive behavior, faster and more efficient, through the interactions of the agent with its environment and its consequent adaptability to the environment. The agent adapts to the environment as it learns new reactive behavior from frequent deliberative behavior. The proposed architecture was evaluated through the development of case studies in the information security domain using case-based reasoning, ontologies for the representation of domain knowledge and supervised learning for automatic generation of reactive rules. Results obtained with the case studies performed confirmed a greater effectiveness and a shorter response time of the hybrid agent with learning regarding both the reactive or deliberative agent as well as a hybrid agent without learning in the intrusion detection in computer networks domain. From the specification and evaluation of the hybrid architecture with supervised learning in the Information Security domain, a reference architecture for the development of hybrid agents with learning was generalized. In future works, we intend to evaluate this reference architecture in other domains, with other types of reasoning and learning techniques to evaluate its impact on the productivity and quality of the development of hybrid software agents.
Os agentes de software representam uma evolução do software tradicional, tendo a capacidade de controlar seu próprio comportamento e agir com autonomia. Tipicamente, os agentes de software agem de forma reativa, onde as percepções e ações são predefinidas no momento da sua concepção, ou de forma deliberativa, onde a ação correspondente para uma determinada percepção é encontrada em tempo de execução através de um processo de raciocínio. Os agentes deliberativos não necessitam que todo o conhecimento seja predefinido, ao contrário, a partir de um conhecimento inicial eles conseguem inferir novo conhecimento. Todavia, em muitos casos, para encontrar uma ação apropriada a uma determinada percepção eles levam muito tempo, gerando um alto custo computacional. Como solução a esse problema, apresentamos neste trabalho uma arquitetura híbrida com aprendizagem para o desenvolvimento de agentes de software híbridos. Os agentes híbridos, que combinam comportamento reativo e deliberativo, são uma opção melhor para estruturar os agentes de software. As principais vantagens da arquitetura tese é o aprendizado do comportamento reativo, mais rápido e eficiente, através de interações do agente com o seu ambiente e a sua consequente adaptabilidade ao ambiente. O agente se adapta ao ambiente na medida em que aprende novo comportamento reativo a partir de comportamento deliberativo frequente. A arquitetura tese foi avaliada através do desenvolvimento de estudos de casos no domínio da segurança da informação utilizando o raciocínio baseado em casos, ontologias para a representação do conhecimento do domínio de estudo e aprendizagem supervisionada para geração automática de regras reativas. Os resultados obtidos com os estudos de casos realizados confirmaram uma efetividade maior e um menor tempo de resposta do agente híbrido com aprendizagem em relação tanto ao comportamento isolado de um agente reativo ou deliberativo bem como de um agente híbrido sem aprendizagem no domínio da detecção de intrusões em redes de computadores. A partir da especificação e avaliação da arquitetura híbrida com aprendizagem supervisionada no domínio da Segurança da Informação, foi generalizada uma arquitetura de referência para o desenvolvimento de agentes híbridos com aprendizagem. Em trabalhos futuros, pretende-se avaliar esta arquitetura de referência em outros domínios, com outros tipos de raciocínio e técnicas de aprendizagem para avaliar o seu impacto na produtividade e qualidade do desenvolvimento de agentes de software híbridos.

Esta dissertação apresenta a utilização de ontologias como um primeiro passo em direção à interoperabilidade, no nível semântico, entre agentes de diferentes domínios. O contexto de aplicação é um portal educacional chamado PortEdu. Este portal fornece a infra-estrutura e suporte para ambientes de aprendizagem baseados em agentes. O foco deste trabalho é em um agente específico, o agente social, no qual são acrescentadas todas as funcionalidades necessárias para que ele possa interagir com agentes fora de seu contexto. O agente social pertence a um ambiente de aprendizagem multi-agente projetado para apoiar o treinamento do raciocínio, diagnóstico e modelagem de domínios de conhecimento incerto e complexo, como a área médica. Esse ambiente de aprendizagem chama-se AMPLIA. O conhecimento do agente social é modelado através de redes bayesianas, as quais possibilitam ao agente representar seu conhecimento probabilístico e tomar decisões através dele. A representação através de redes bayesianas não foi desenvolvida para ser utilizada no processo de comunicação com outros agentes, o que dificulta a interoperabilidade do agente social com os demais agentes do portal educacional, no qual os ambientes de ensino aprendizagem encontram-se ancorados. A abordagem proposta para fornecer interoperabilidade amplia a arquitetura do agente social possibilitando-o representar seu conhecimento probabilístico através de OWL (Web Ontology Language) e também sua comunicação com agentes externos através de FIPA-ACL (Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents – Agent Communication Language), linguagem para comunicação utilizada no PortEdu. A OWL não foi projetada para representar incerteza, sendo assim, também foi desenvolvida uma estrutura para possibilitar tal representação em OWL.
This dissertation presents the utilization of ontologies as a first step towards interoperability at the semantic level among agents of different domains. Our test bed is an Educational Portal (PortEdu). This portal provides the infra-structure and support for agent-based learning environments. We focus on a specific agent, the social agent, adding all the necessary functionality for him to interact with agents that aren’t fully aware of its context. The social agent belongs to a Multi-agent Learning Environment designed to support training of diagnostic reasoning and modeling of domains with complex and uncertain knowledge, such as the medical area. This learning environment is called AMPLIA. The knowledge of social agent is implemented with Bayesian networks, which allows the agent to represent its probabilistic knowledge and make its decisions. The representation through Bayesian networks was not designed to be used for communication with other agents, which makes it more difficult for the social agent to interoperate with the agents present in the portal. The approach proposed to supply interoperability extends the social agent’s architecture allowing the representation of his probabilistic knowledge through OWL (Web Ontology Language) and also allows this communication with external agents through FIPA-ACL (Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents – Agent Communication Language), which is the communication language adopted in PortEdu. OWL was not designed to represent uncertain knowledge, thus, it was also developed a structure to allow such representation in OWL.

Une chaîne logistique est composée d’entreprises fabriquant et distribuant des produits aux consommateurs. En modélisant chacune de ses entreprises comme un agent intelligent, nous étudions l’effet « coup de fouet » qui s’y propage. Cet effet consiste en l’amplification de la variabilité des commandes passées par les entreprises lorsque l’on s’éloigne du client final. Dans un premier temps, nous modélisons chaque entreprise d’une chaîne logistique forestière québécoise comme un agent intelligent, afin de proposer deux mécanismes de coordination décentralisés réduisant ce phénomène. Des simulations de ce système multiagent montrent que ce mécanisme est efficace pour une chaîne logistique dans son ensemble. Dans un second temps, d’autres simulations sont utilisées pour construire un jeu, que nous analysons avec la Théorie de Jeux. Nous vérifions ainsi que les entreprises n’ont pas intérêt d’arrêter unilatéralement d’utiliser nos mécanismes de coordination (équilibre de Nash).
A supply chain is a set of companies that manufacture and distribute products to consumers. We study the “bullwhip effect” that is propagated therein by modelling each company as an intelligent agent. This effect is the amplification of the variability of orders placed by companies, as one moves away from end-customers. Firstly, we model each company in a Québec wood supply chain as an intelligent agent, in order to propose two decentralized coordination mechanisms reducing this phenomenon. Simulations of this multi-agent system show that our mechanism is efficient for a supply chain as a whole. Secondly, additional simulations are used to build a game, which we analyze with Game Theory. We verify here that companies have no incentive to cease unilaterally from using our two coordination mechanisms (Nash equilibrium).

Diante da necessidade de prover equilíbrio de carga aos sistemas distribuídos, este trabalho de pesquisa propõe um serviço de balanceamento de carga que atua em aplicações de objetos distribuídos denominado arquitetura MABal arquitetura Multi-Agente Distribuída de Balanceamento de Carga para Aplicações de Objetos Distribuídos. A arquitetura MABal realiza o balanceamento de carga de um sistema com base nos níveis de carga dos nós e, diferentemente de outras abordagens de balanceamento de carga, preocupa-se com o tráfego de rede gerado durante a comunicação entre os objetos distribuídos de uma aplicação para a realização de um caso de uso, ou seja, para o provimento de uma determinada funcionalidade da aplicação ao usuário. Esta arquitetura é constituída por um grupo de agentes, modelados segundo a metodologia de Engenharia de Software Orientada a Agentes MESSAGE: (i) agentes gerenciadores; (ii) um agente neural, que utiliza uma rede neural Perceptron de Múltiplas Camadas como mecanismo de raciocínio; e (iii) agentes de balanceamento de carga, que realizam migrações e replicações de objetos servidores. Estes agentes atuam de forma cooperativa, a cada invocação de serviço de um objeto, para selecionar o nó mais apropriado para executar o objeto provedor do serviço requisitado. Esta seleção do nó mais apropriado é guiada por um conjunto de políticas que visam oferecer uma solução de balanceamento de carga orientada a caso de uso aos sistemas distribuídos. A arquitetura MABal teve o seu comportamento simulado pela ferramenta de simulação SimBal, desenvolvida neste trabalho de pesquisa. Os resultados desta simulação foram comparados aos resultados da simulação da execução de um mesmo caso de uso aplicando-se o Serviço de Nomes da especificação CORBA. Os resultados desta comparação mostraram-se favoráveis ao serviço de balanceamento de carga da arquitetura MABal, pois esta arquitetura apresentou menor tempo de execução e menor quantidade de acessos à rede durante a execução do caso de uso considerado.
Considering the need for balancing distributed systems, we propose a load balancing service that operates on distributed object applications named MABal. MABal architecture analyses the load levels of nodes and, differently from other load balancing approaches, considers the network transfer during the communication of distributed objects at a use case execution. This architecture is formed by a group of agents that are modeled by MESSAGE methodology: (i) coordinator agents; (ii) a neural agent that has a Multiple Layer Perceptron neural net as its inference mechanism; and (iii) load balancing agents that migrate and replicate server objects. This group of agents acts cooperatively to select the most appropriate node for executing the required service every time an object service is required. This selection is guided by a set of policies aiming at offering a use-case based load balancing solution to distributed systems. MABal architecture behavior has been simulated by a simulation tool named SimBal, developed by us. The simulation results have been compared to CORBA Naming Service ones for the same use case execution. The comparison results showed that MABal architecture obtained a lower execution time and also a lower number of network acesses during the use case execution.