Office Agents: Personal Office Vitality Sensors with Intent

Scientific Conference (2021, May)

In smart office buildings, almost every aspect of the environment can be assessed and adjusted by sensors. Yet employees rarely have access to the data collected to act upon it. It is also unclear what ... [more ▼]

In smart office buildings, almost every aspect of the environment can be assessed and adjusted by sensors. Yet employees rarely have access to the data collected to act upon it. It is also unclear what they would find meaningful to follow the recommendations on healthy work conditions and behavior, while productivity is the priority. The Office Agents are a set of artefacts placed on the employee’s desk, which capture data about the office environment. Air quality, sound level, light exposure, productivity, and physical activity level are measured to provide office workers with feedback on the ‘best’ working conditions. Using speculative design and Objects with Intent, the employee engages in a negotiation with the Office Agents based on the office ecosystem. Through this project and interactivity session, we open a debate on the use of sensors in office environments and the stakes around office vitality from the viewpoint of the employees. [less ▲]

On characterizing the relationship between route choice behavior and optimal traffic control solution space

in Transportation Research Procedia (2017), 23

Explicitly including the dynamics of users' route choice behaviour in optimal traffic control applications has been of interest for researchers in the last five decades. This has been recognized as a very ... [more ▼]

Explicitly including the dynamics of users' route choice behaviour in optimal traffic control applications has been of interest for researchers in the last five decades. This has been recognized as a very challenging problem, due to the added layer of complexity and the considerable non-convexity of the resulting problem, even when dealing with simple static assignment and analytical link cost functions. In this work we establish a direct behavioural connection between the different shapes and structures emerging in the solution space of such problems and the underlying route choice behaviour. We specifically investigate how changes in the active equilibrium route set exert direct influence on the solution space's structure and behaviour. Based on this result, we then formulate and validate a constrained version of the original problem, yielding desirable properties in terms of solution space regularity. © 2017 The Authors. [less ▲]

On Judgment Aggregation in Abstract Argumentation

in Autonomous Agents & Multi-Agent Systems (2011), 22(1), 64102

Judgment aggregation is a field in which individuals are required to vote for or against a certain decision (the conclusion) while providing reasons for their choice. The reasons and the conclusion are ... [more ▼]

Judgment aggregation is a field in which individuals are required to vote for or against a certain decision (the conclusion) while providing reasons for their choice. The reasons and the conclusion are logically connected propositions. The problem is how a collective judgment on logically interconnected propositions can be defined from individual judgments on the same propositions. It turns out that, despite the fact that the individuals are logically consistent, the aggregation of their judgments may lead to an inconsistent group outcome, where the reasons do not support the conclusion. However, in this paper we claim that collective irrationality should not be the only worry of judgment aggregation. For example, judgment aggregation would not reject a consistent combination of reasons and conclusion that no member voted for. In our view this may not be a desirable solution. This motivates our research about when a social outcome is ‘compatible’ with the individuals’ judgments. The key notion that we want to capture is that any individual member has to be able to defend the collective decision. This is guaranteed when the group outcome is compatible with its members views. Judgment aggregation problems are usually studied using classical propositional logic. However, for our analysis we use an argumentation approach to judgment aggregation problems. Indeed the question of how individual evaluations can be combined into a collective one can also be addressed in abstract argumentation. We introduce three aggregation operators that satisfy the condition above, and we offer two definitions of compatibility. Not only does our proposal satisfy a good number of standard judgment aggregation postulates, but it also avoids the problem of individual members of a group having to become committed to a group judgment that is in conflict with their own individual positions. [less ▲]

On minimal realisations of dynamical structure functions

in Automatica (2015), 55

Motivated by the fact that transfer functions do not contain structural information about networks, dynamical structure functions were introduced to capture causal relationships between measured nodes in ... [more ▼]

Motivated by the fact that transfer functions do not contain structural information about networks, dynamical structure functions were introduced to capture causal relationships between measured nodes in networks. From the dynamical structure functions, a) we show that the actual number of hidden states can be larger than the number of hidden states estimated from the corresponding transfer function; b) we can obtain partial information about the true state-space equation, which cannot in general be obtained from the transfer function. Based on these properties, this paper proposes algorithms to find minimal realisations for a given dynamical structure function. This helps to estimate the minimal number of hidden states, to better understand the complexity of the network, and to identify potential targets for new measurements. [less ▲]

On numerical integration of discontinuous approximations in partition of unity finite elements

in IUTAM Bookseries (2010), 19

This contribution presents two advances in the formulation of discontinuous approximations in finite elements. The first method relies on Schwarz-Christoffel mapping for integration on arbitrary polygonal ... [more ▼]

This contribution presents two advances in the formulation of discontinuous approximations in finite elements. The first method relies on Schwarz-Christoffel mapping for integration on arbitrary polygonal domains [1]. When an element is split into two subdomains by a piecewise continuous discontinuity, each of these polygonal domains is mapped onto a unit disk on which cubature rules are utilized. This suppresses the need for the usual two-level isoparametric mapping. The second method relies on strain smoothing applied to discontinuous finite element approximations. By writing the strain field as a non-local weighted average of the compatible strain field, integration on the surface of the finite elements is transformed into boundary integration, so that the usual subdivision into integration cells is not required, an isoparametric mapping is not needed and the derivatives of the shape (enrichment) functions do not need to be computed. Results in fracture mechanics and composite materials are presented and both methods are compared in terms of accuracy and simplicity. The interested reader is referred to [1,6,13] for more details and should contact the authors to receive a version of the MATLAB codes used to obtain the results herein. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. [less ▲]

On the Composition and Limitations of Publicly Available COVID-19 X-Ray Imaging Datasets

E-print/Working paper (2020)

 Machine learning based methods for diagnosis and progression prediction of COVID-19 from imaging data have gained significant attention in the last months, in particular by the use of deep learning ... [more ▼]

 Machine learning based methods for diagnosis and progression prediction of COVID-19 from imaging data have gained significant attention in the last months, in particular by the use of deep learning models. In this context hundreds of models where proposed with the majority of them trained on public datasets. Data scarcity, mismatch between training and target population, group imbalance, and lack of documentation are important sources of bias, hindering the applicability of these models to real-world clinical practice. Considering that datasets are an essential part of model building and evaluation, a deeper understanding of the current landscape is needed. This paper presents an overview of the currently public available COVID-19 chest X-ray datasets. Each dataset is briefly described and potential strength, limitations and interactions between datasets are identified. In particular, some key properties of current datasets that could be potential sources of bias, impairing models trained on them are pointed out. These descriptions are useful for model building on those datasets, to choose the best dataset according the model goal, to take into account the specific limitations to avoid reporting overconfident benchmark results, and to discuss their impact on the generalisation capabilities in a specific clinical setting. [less ▲]

On the convergence of stresses in fretting fatigue

in Materials (2016), 9(8),

Fretting is a phenomenon that occurs at the contacts of surfaces that are subjected to oscillatory relative movement of small amplitudes. Depending on service conditions, fretting may significantly reduce ... [more ▼]

Fretting is a phenomenon that occurs at the contacts of surfaces that are subjected to oscillatory relative movement of small amplitudes. Depending on service conditions, fretting may significantly reduce the service life of a component due to fretting fatigue. In this regard, the analysis of stresses at contact is of great importance for predicting the lifetime of components. However, due to the complexity of the fretting phenomenon, analytical solutions are available for very selective situations and finite element (FE) analysis has become an attractive tool to evaluate stresses and to study fretting problems. Recent laboratory studies in fretting fatigue suggested the presence of stress singularities in the stick-slip zone. In this paper, we constructed finite element models, with different element sizes, in order to verify the existence of stress singularity under fretting conditions. Based on our results, we did not find any singularity for the considered loading conditions and coefficients of friction. Since no singularity was found, the present paper also provides some comments regarding the convergence rate. Our analyses showed that the convergence rate in stress components depends on coefficient of friction, implying that this rate also depends on the loading condition. It was also observed that errors can be relatively high for cases with a high coefficient of friction, suggesting the importance of mesh refinement in these situations. Although the accuracy of the FE analysis is very important for satisfactory predictions, most of the studies in the literature rarely provide information regarding the level of error in simulations. Thus, some recommendations of mesh sizes for those who wish to perform FE analysis of fretting problems are provided for different levels of accuracy. [less ▲]

On the equivalence between the cell-based smoothed finite element method and the virtual element method

E-print/Working paper (2014)

We revisit the cell-based smoothed finite element method (SFEM) for quadrilateral elements and extend it to arbitrary polygons and polyhedrons in 2D and 3D, respectively. We highlight the similarity ... [more ▼]

We revisit the cell-based smoothed finite element method (SFEM) for quadrilateral elements and extend it to arbitrary polygons and polyhedrons in 2D and 3D, respectively. We highlight the similarity between the SFEM and the virtual element method (VEM). Based on the VEM, we propose a new stabilization approach to the SFEM when applied to arbitrary polygons and polyhedrons. The accuracy and the convergence properties of the SFEM are studied with a few benchmark problems in 2D and 3D linear elasticity. Later, the SFEMis combined with the scaled boundary finite element method to problems involving singularity within the framework of the linear elastic fracture mechanics in 2D. [less ▲]

On the link between activity patterns and traffic within-day demand profiles: empirical analysis and application to demand estimation

Scientific Conference (2015, September)

On the role of enrichment and statistical admissibility of recovered fields in a posteriori error estimation for enriched finite element methods

in Engineering Computations (2012), 29(8), 814-841

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of the statistical admissibility of the recovered solution and the ability of the recovered solution to represent the singular solution; also ... [more ▼]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of the statistical admissibility of the recovered solution and the ability of the recovered solution to represent the singular solution; also the accuracy, local and global effectivity of recovery-based error estimators for enriched finite element methods (e.g. the extended finite element method, XFEM). Design/methodology/approach - The authors study the performance of two recovery techniques. The first is a recently developed superconvergent patch recovery procedure with equilibration and enrichment (SPR-CX). The second is known as the extended moving least squares recovery (XMLS), which enriches the recovered solutions but does not enforce equilibrium constraints. Both are extended recovery techniques as the polynomial basis used in the recovery process is enriched with singular terms for a better description of the singular nature of the solution. Findings - Numerical results comparing the convergence and the effectivity index of both techniques with those obtained without the enrichment enhancement clearly show the need for the use of extended recovery techniques in Zienkiewicz-Zhu type error estimators for this class of problems. The results also reveal significant improvements in the effectivities yielded by statistically admissible recovered solutions. Originality/value - The paper shows that both extended recovery procedures and statistical admissibility are key to an accurate assessment of the quality of enriched finite element approximations. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. [less ▲]