Skip to main content

Muaz A Niazi

University of Stirling, Computing Science and Mathematics, Alumnus

Followers

602

Following

74

Co-authors

16

Public Views

Dr. Muaz is the Editor-in-Chief of two journals Springer's Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling and IGI Global (USA) International Journal of Privacy and Health Information Management. He is also an Associate Editor for Springer Cognitive Computation and Wiley's Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies (ETT)

less

InterestsView All (50)

Uploads

Papers by Muaz A Niazi

Tamper-Evident Complex Genomic Networks

Cornell University - arXiv, Aug 19, 2017

Networks are important storage data structures now used to store personal information of individu... more Networks are important storage data structures now used to store personal information of individuals around the globe. With the advent of personal genome sequencing, networks are going to be used to store personal genomic sequencing of people. In contrast to social media networks, the importance of relationships in this genomic network is extremely significant. Losing connections between individuals thus implies losing relationship information (E.g. father or son etc.). There currently exists a considerably serious problem in the current approach to storing network data. Simply stated, network data is not tamper-evident. In other words, if some links or nodes were changed/removed/added by a malicious attacker, it would be impossible for the administrator to detect such changes. While, in the current age of social media networks, change in node characteristics and links can be bad in terms of relationships, in the case of networks for storing personal genomes, the results could be truly devastating. Here we present a scheme for building tamper-evident networks using a combination of Cryptographic and Ego-based Network analytic methods. Using actual published data-sets, we also demonstrate the utility and validity of the scheme besides demonstrating its working in various possible scenarios of usage. Results from the extensive experiments demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.

Erdős–Rényi (Random) Network

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more <p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a> represents the Erdös–Rnyi network formed with the <i>p</i> = 0.1. The network consists of a source, target and intermediate laid randomly in the network. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2a</a> represents the degree centrality of the individual nodes according to the size and color variation. Nodes (blue) have the highest degree centrality and thus have the largest size in the network where as the nodes (red) have the smallest value of degree centrality in the network. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2b</a> represents betweenness centrality of the nodes in the network. Nodes (blue) have the highest betweenness centrality and have the largest size in the network as the betweenness value decreases so the size and also the color changes ultimately to red. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2c</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">figure 2d</a> represents closeness centrality and eccentricity centrality of nodes of this network. Both of the centralities are analyzed on this network, the highest value nodes are represented as the largest nodes in blue color. To see the central node in the network or to observe which node is most eccentric in the network, reciprocal of these values is taken. Here, smaller the size of a node is more central and eccentric in the network. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2e</a> represents the eigenvector centrality of the nodes in the network. The highest value nodes are represented in blue color where as nodes with lowest values are represented in red color. (a) Degree Centrality. (b) Betweenness Centrality. (c) Closeness Centrality. (d) Eccentricity Centrality. (e) Eigenvector Centrality.</p

The graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the Erdös–Rnyi model network with <i>n</i> = 50

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

In the neural network, the graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the neural network with <i>n</i> = 297

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

In the Dolphin Social Network, the graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the dolphin social network with <i>n</i> = 62

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

In the Zachary's Karate Club network, the graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the karate club network with <i>n</i> = 34

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

Review Of Recent Trends In Measuring The Computing Systems Intelligence-Figure 1. Intelligence Of Different Simple Living Creature (Accessed 01.11.2017). 1.1. A Carnivorous Plants Catching An Insect (Https://Phys.Org/News/2016-05-Colombia-Peace-Reveal-Jungle-Species.Html); 1.2. A Colony Of Ants S...

The biological intelligence of different life forms, ranging from very simple (such as plants) to... more The biological intelligence of different life forms, ranging from very simple (such as plants) to very complex (such as humans) is the subject of many studies and a large amount of research. Frequent studies related to different kind of biological intelligence include: the intelligence of horses (Krueger, & Heinze, 2008; Krueger, Farmer, & Heinze, 2014; Schuetz, Farmer, & Krueger, 2016), intelligence of pigs (Broom, Sena, & Moynihan, 2009), intelligence of dogs (Coren, 1995), intelligence of primates (Reader, Hager, & Laland, 2011) and so one. Figures 1, 2, and 3 present some biological life forms that are frequently considered intelligent. Trewavas (2002; 2005) considered that plants intelligence should be based on principles such as their ability to adjust their morphology, and phenotype accordingly to ensure self- preservation and reproduction. Figure 1.1 presents an intelligent plant (carnivorous) that uses a strategy for catching very fast flying insects. In order to eat the in...

Brain. Broad Research In Artificial Intelligence And Neuroscience-Review Of Recent Trends In Measuring The Computing Systems Intelligence

Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require<br&gt... more Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require<br> computing systems that have some kind of intelligence in order to be solved. Recently, we have<br> seen a large number of artificial intelligent systems used in a number of scientific, technical and<br> social domains. Usage of such an approach often has a focus on healthcare. These systems can<br> provide solutions to a very large set of problems such as, but not limited to: elder patient care;<br> medical diagnosis; medical decision support; out-of-hospital emergency care; drug classification<br> among others. A recent key focus is that most of these developed intelligent systems are agent-based<br> approaches, or in other words, they can be considered as agent-based intelligent systems (ABISs).<br> ABISs are formally based on a set of interacting intelligent agents (IAs) in addition to the use of<br> intelligent cooperative approaches ...

Validation Of Enhanced Emotion Enabled Cognitive Agent Using Virtual Overlay Multi-Agent System Approach

Making roads safer by avoiding road collisions is one of the main reasons for inventing Autonomou... more Making roads safer by avoiding road collisions is one of the main reasons for inventing Autonomous vehicles (AVs). In this context, designing agent-based collision avoidance components of AVs which truly represent human cognition and emotions look is a more feasible approach as agents can replace human drivers. However, to the best of our knowledge, very few human emotion and cognition-inspired agent-based studies have previously been conducted in this domain. Furthermore, these agent-based solutions have not been validated using any key validation technique. Keeping in view this lack of validation practices, we have selected state-of-the-art Emotion Enabled Cognitive Agent (EEC_Agent), which was proposed to avoid lateral collisions between semi-AVs. The architecture of EEC_Agent has been revised using Exploratory Agent Based Modeling (EABM) level of the Cognitive Agent Based Computing (CABC) framework and real-time fear emotion generation mechanism using the Ortony, Clore & Collins...

BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience-Review of Recent Trends in Measuring the Computing Systems Intelligence

Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require computin... more Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require computing systems that have some kind of intelligence in order to be solved. Recently, we have seen a large number of artificial intelligent systems used in a number of scientific, technical and social domains. Usage of such an approach often has a focus on healthcare. These systems can provide solutions to a very large set of problems such as, but not limited to: elder patient care; medical diagnosis; medical decision support; out-of-hospital emergency care; drug classification among others. A recent key focus is that most of these developed intelligent systems are agent-based approaches, or in other words, they can be considered as agent-based intelligent systems (ABISs). ABISs are formally based on a set of interacting intelligent agents (IAs) in addition to the use of intelligent cooperative approaches namely forming intelligent cooperative multiagent systems (ICMASs). The main direction of ...

Evaluating Roles of Central Users in Online Communication Networks: A Case Study of #PanamaLeaks

ArXiv, 2017

Social media has changed the ways of communication, where everyone is equipped with the power to ... more Social media has changed the ways of communication, where everyone is equipped with the power to express their opinions to others in online discussion platforms. Previously, a number of stud- ies have been presented to identify opinion leaders in online discussion networks. Feng ("Are you connected? Evaluating information cascade in online discussion about the #RaceTogether campaign", Computers in Human Behavior, 2016) identified five types of central users and their communication patterns in an online communication network of a limited time span. However, to trace the change in communication pattern, a long-term analysis is required. In this study, we critically analyzed framework presented by Feng based on five types of central users in online communication network and their communication pattern in a long-term manner. We take another case study presented by Udnor et al. ("Determining social media impact on the politics of developing countries using social network a...

CoopRA Algorithm for Universal Characterization of the Experimental Evaluation Results of Cooperative Multiagent Systems

Experimental evaluation of the cooperative multiagent systems (CMASs) provides an assessment way ... more Experimental evaluation of the cooperative multiagent systems (CMASs) provides an assessment way that should be analysed. In this paper, we propose an algorithm with acronym CoopRA that can make a deep performance characterization, based on different indicators, of the experimental evaluation results of a CMAS. This could lead to the formulation of helpful information in some decisions related to the performance of the studied CMASs. In order to validate the proposed algorithm, we performed a case study on a CMAS composed of simple reactive agents that operate by mimicking the problem/task solving of natural ants. We chose this type of cooperative multiagent system architecture, based on the fact that even in case of the cooperative BRAIN – Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, Volume 9, Issue 3 (September, 2018) ISSN 2067-3957 38 multiagent systems composed of simple efficiently and flexibly cooperating agents could emerges an increased problem solving intelli...

Save Time With Software Patterns

Writing a pattern isn't easy (see the sidebar, "What is a Pattern?"). A pattern aut... more Writing a pattern isn't easy (see the sidebar, "What is a Pattern?"). A pattern author has to justify the pattern by giving examples of how to use it in different domains, usually at least two. For example, the abstract factory-design pattern is documented in InterViews and ET++, and the Singleton design pattern is documented in Smalltalk-80, as well as the InterViews UI Toolkit. The author must also provide any related patterns so developers can understand their differences. If developers use the patterns together in some scenarios, the author has to document this in the related-patterns section of the pattern documentation.

Tracing Ebola Sources: A Tale of Sacrifice in Service to Science and Humanity

Unlike soldiers on the battlefield, being a scientist is not equated with a profession involving ... more Unlike soldiers on the battlefield, being a scientist is not equated with a profession involving great risks. But what people often fail to realize is the passion which drives scientists to study and practice research. It is this passion which forces them to work in difficult conditions and, at times, even risk or sacrifice their lives while searching for the true nature of things in our Universe. Scientists often work towards the goal of making tiny improvements towards the betterment of human beings and the planet.

Modeling and Analysis of Network Dynamics in Complex Communication Networks Using Social Network Methods

ArXiv, 2017

Modern communication networks are inherently complex in nature. First of all, they have a large n... more Modern communication networks are inherently complex in nature. First of all, they have a large number of heterogeneous components. Secondly, their connectivity is extremely dynamic. Nodes can come and go, links can be removed and added over time. Traditional modeling and simulation techniques amalgamate or ignore such dynamics and therefore, are unable to represent them. Complex communication networks are therefore better modeled as mathematical structures called graphs. Modeling as graphs allows for the application of complex techniques such as various network based analysis techniques. While this is a very important and much needed skill for communication networks researchers and engineers, to the best of our knowledge, currently there is no resource describing these details. In this paper, we give a concise but comprehensive review of modeling complex communication networks as graphs. We also show how to apply complex social network analysis on these models besides a demonstrati...

Review of “The Model Thinker” by Scott Page

Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling, 2020

Book details Scott E. PageThe Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You.Hatc... more

Emerging topics in Internet technology: A complex networks approach

Internet Technology Letters, 2018

Communication networks, in general, and internet technology, in particular, is a fast-evolving ar... more Communication networks, in general, and internet technology, in particular, is a fast-evolving area of research. While it is important to keep track of emerging trends in this domain, it is such a fast-growing area that it can be very difficult to keep track of literature. The problem is compounded by the fast-growing number of citation databases. While other databases are gradually indexing a large set of reliable content, currently the Web of Science represents one of the most highly valued databases. Research indexed in this database is known to highlight key advancements in any domain. In this paper, we present a Complex Network-based analytical approach to analyze recent data from the Web of Science in communication networks. Taking bibliographic records from the recent period of 2014 to 2017, we model and analyze complex scientometric networks. Using bibliometric coupling applied over complex citation data we present answers to co-citation patterns of documents, co-occurrence patterns of terms, as well as the most influential articles, among others, We also present key pivot points and intellectual turning points. Complex network analysis of the data demonstrates a considerably high level of interest in two key clusters labeled descriptively as "social networks" and "computer networks". In addition, key themes in highly cited literature were clearly identified as "communication networks," "social networks," and "complex networks".

Towards Agent-Based Model Specification of Smart Grid: A Cognitive Agent-Based Computing Approach

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems, 2019

A smart grid can be considered as a complex network where each node represents a generation unit ... more A smart grid can be considered as a complex network where each node represents a generation unit or a consumer. Whereas links can be used to represent transmission lines. One way to study complex systems is by using the agent-based modeling (ABM) paradigm. An ABM is a way of representing a complex system of autonomous agents interacting with each other. Previously, a number of studies have been presented in the smart grid domain making use of the ABM paradigm. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of these studies have focused on the specification aspect of ABM. An ABM specification is important not only for understanding but also for replication of the model. In this study, we focus on development as well as specification of ABM for smart grid. We propose an ABM by using a combination of agent-based and complex networkbased approaches. For ABM specification, we use ODD and DREAM specification approaches. We analyze these two specification approaches qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Extensive experiments demonstrate that DREAM is a most useful approach as compared with ODD for modeling as well as for replication of models for smart grid.

A formal specification framework for smart grid components

Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling, 2018

Purpose Smart grid can be considered as the next step in the evolution of power systems. It compr... more Purpose Smart grid can be considered as the next step in the evolution of power systems. It comprises of different entities and objects ranging from smart appliances, smart meters, generators, smart storages, and more. One key problem in modeling smart grid is that while currently there has previously been a considerable focus on the proof of concept aspect of smart grid, there have been very few modeling attempts and even lesser attempts at formalization. To the best of our knowledge, formal specification has not been applied previously in the domain of smart grid. Methods Using a state-based formal specification language namely Z (pronounced as ‘Zed’), we present a novel approach to formally modeling and specify smart grid components. Results The modeling exercise clearly demonstrates that Z is particularly suited for modeling various smart grid components. Conclusions The presented formal specification can be considered as a first step towards the modeling of smart grid using a S...

Variations in power of opinion leaders in online communication networks

Royal Society Open Science, 2018

Online social media has completely transformed how we communicate with each other. While online d... more Online social media has completely transformed how we communicate with each other. While online discussion platforms are available in the form of applications and websites, an emergent outcome of this transformation is the phenomenon of ‘opinion leaders’. A number of previous studies have been presented to identify opinion leaders in online discussion networks. In particular, Feng (2016 Comput. Hum. Behav. 54 , 43–53. ( doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.052 )) has identified five different types of central users besides outlining their communication patterns in an online communication network. However, the presented work focuses on a limited time span. The question remains as to whether similar communication patterns exist that will stand the test of time over longer periods. Here, we present a critical analysis of the Feng framework both for short-term as well as for longer periods. Additionally, for validation, we take another case study presented by Udanor et al. (2016 Program 50 , 481–5...

Tamper-Evident Complex Genomic Networks

Cornell University - arXiv, Aug 19, 2017

Networks are important storage data structures now used to store personal information of individu... more Networks are important storage data structures now used to store personal information of individuals around the globe. With the advent of personal genome sequencing, networks are going to be used to store personal genomic sequencing of people. In contrast to social media networks, the importance of relationships in this genomic network is extremely significant. Losing connections between individuals thus implies losing relationship information (E.g. father or son etc.). There currently exists a considerably serious problem in the current approach to storing network data. Simply stated, network data is not tamper-evident. In other words, if some links or nodes were changed/removed/added by a malicious attacker, it would be impossible for the administrator to detect such changes. While, in the current age of social media networks, change in node characteristics and links can be bad in terms of relationships, in the case of networks for storing personal genomes, the results could be truly devastating. Here we present a scheme for building tamper-evident networks using a combination of Cryptographic and Ego-based Network analytic methods. Using actual published data-sets, we also demonstrate the utility and validity of the scheme besides demonstrating its working in various possible scenarios of usage. Results from the extensive experiments demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.

Erdős–Rényi (Random) Network

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more <p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a> represents the Erdös–Rnyi network formed with the <i>p</i> = 0.1. The network consists of a source, target and intermediate laid randomly in the network. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2a</a> represents the degree centrality of the individual nodes according to the size and color variation. Nodes (blue) have the highest degree centrality and thus have the largest size in the network where as the nodes (red) have the smallest value of degree centrality in the network. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2b</a> represents betweenness centrality of the nodes in the network. Nodes (blue) have the highest betweenness centrality and have the largest size in the network as the betweenness value decreases so the size and also the color changes ultimately to red. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2c</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">figure 2d</a> represents closeness centrality and eccentricity centrality of nodes of this network. Both of the centralities are analyzed on this network, the highest value nodes are represented as the largest nodes in blue color. To see the central node in the network or to observe which node is most eccentric in the network, reciprocal of these values is taken. Here, smaller the size of a node is more central and eccentric in the network. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#pone-0090283-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2e</a> represents the eigenvector centrality of the nodes in the network. The highest value nodes are represented in blue color where as nodes with lowest values are represented in red color. (a) Degree Centrality. (b) Betweenness Centrality. (c) Closeness Centrality. (d) Eccentricity Centrality. (e) Eigenvector Centrality.</p

The graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the Erdös–Rnyi model network with <i>n</i> = 50

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

In the neural network, the graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the neural network with <i>n</i> = 297

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

In the Dolphin Social Network, the graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the dolphin social network with <i>n</i> = 62

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

In the Zachary's Karate Club network, the graphs show a correlation between the frequency of the nodes and the centrality in the karate club network with <i>n</i> = 34

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090283#po... more

Review Of Recent Trends In Measuring The Computing Systems Intelligence-Figure 1. Intelligence Of Different Simple Living Creature (Accessed 01.11.2017). 1.1. A Carnivorous Plants Catching An Insect (Https://Phys.Org/News/2016-05-Colombia-Peace-Reveal-Jungle-Species.Html); 1.2. A Colony Of Ants S...

The biological intelligence of different life forms, ranging from very simple (such as plants) to... more The biological intelligence of different life forms, ranging from very simple (such as plants) to very complex (such as humans) is the subject of many studies and a large amount of research. Frequent studies related to different kind of biological intelligence include: the intelligence of horses (Krueger, & Heinze, 2008; Krueger, Farmer, & Heinze, 2014; Schuetz, Farmer, & Krueger, 2016), intelligence of pigs (Broom, Sena, & Moynihan, 2009), intelligence of dogs (Coren, 1995), intelligence of primates (Reader, Hager, & Laland, 2011) and so one. Figures 1, 2, and 3 present some biological life forms that are frequently considered intelligent. Trewavas (2002; 2005) considered that plants intelligence should be based on principles such as their ability to adjust their morphology, and phenotype accordingly to ensure self- preservation and reproduction. Figure 1.1 presents an intelligent plant (carnivorous) that uses a strategy for catching very fast flying insects. In order to eat the in...

Brain. Broad Research In Artificial Intelligence And Neuroscience-Review Of Recent Trends In Measuring The Computing Systems Intelligence

Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require<br&gt... more Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require<br> computing systems that have some kind of intelligence in order to be solved. Recently, we have<br> seen a large number of artificial intelligent systems used in a number of scientific, technical and<br> social domains. Usage of such an approach often has a focus on healthcare. These systems can<br> provide solutions to a very large set of problems such as, but not limited to: elder patient care;<br> medical diagnosis; medical decision support; out-of-hospital emergency care; drug classification<br> among others. A recent key focus is that most of these developed intelligent systems are agent-based<br> approaches, or in other words, they can be considered as agent-based intelligent systems (ABISs).<br> ABISs are formally based on a set of interacting intelligent agents (IAs) in addition to the use of<br> intelligent cooperative approaches ...

Validation Of Enhanced Emotion Enabled Cognitive Agent Using Virtual Overlay Multi-Agent System Approach

Making roads safer by avoiding road collisions is one of the main reasons for inventing Autonomou... more Making roads safer by avoiding road collisions is one of the main reasons for inventing Autonomous vehicles (AVs). In this context, designing agent-based collision avoidance components of AVs which truly represent human cognition and emotions look is a more feasible approach as agents can replace human drivers. However, to the best of our knowledge, very few human emotion and cognition-inspired agent-based studies have previously been conducted in this domain. Furthermore, these agent-based solutions have not been validated using any key validation technique. Keeping in view this lack of validation practices, we have selected state-of-the-art Emotion Enabled Cognitive Agent (EEC_Agent), which was proposed to avoid lateral collisions between semi-AVs. The architecture of EEC_Agent has been revised using Exploratory Agent Based Modeling (EABM) level of the Cognitive Agent Based Computing (CABC) framework and real-time fear emotion generation mechanism using the Ortony, Clore & Collins...

BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience-Review of Recent Trends in Measuring the Computing Systems Intelligence

Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require computin... more Many difficult problems, from the philosophy of computation point of view, could require computing systems that have some kind of intelligence in order to be solved. Recently, we have seen a large number of artificial intelligent systems used in a number of scientific, technical and social domains. Usage of such an approach often has a focus on healthcare. These systems can provide solutions to a very large set of problems such as, but not limited to: elder patient care; medical diagnosis; medical decision support; out-of-hospital emergency care; drug classification among others. A recent key focus is that most of these developed intelligent systems are agent-based approaches, or in other words, they can be considered as agent-based intelligent systems (ABISs). ABISs are formally based on a set of interacting intelligent agents (IAs) in addition to the use of intelligent cooperative approaches namely forming intelligent cooperative multiagent systems (ICMASs). The main direction of ...

Evaluating Roles of Central Users in Online Communication Networks: A Case Study of #PanamaLeaks

ArXiv, 2017

Social media has changed the ways of communication, where everyone is equipped with the power to ... more Social media has changed the ways of communication, where everyone is equipped with the power to express their opinions to others in online discussion platforms. Previously, a number of stud- ies have been presented to identify opinion leaders in online discussion networks. Feng ("Are you connected? Evaluating information cascade in online discussion about the #RaceTogether campaign", Computers in Human Behavior, 2016) identified five types of central users and their communication patterns in an online communication network of a limited time span. However, to trace the change in communication pattern, a long-term analysis is required. In this study, we critically analyzed framework presented by Feng based on five types of central users in online communication network and their communication pattern in a long-term manner. We take another case study presented by Udnor et al. ("Determining social media impact on the politics of developing countries using social network a...

CoopRA Algorithm for Universal Characterization of the Experimental Evaluation Results of Cooperative Multiagent Systems

Experimental evaluation of the cooperative multiagent systems (CMASs) provides an assessment way ... more Experimental evaluation of the cooperative multiagent systems (CMASs) provides an assessment way that should be analysed. In this paper, we propose an algorithm with acronym CoopRA that can make a deep performance characterization, based on different indicators, of the experimental evaluation results of a CMAS. This could lead to the formulation of helpful information in some decisions related to the performance of the studied CMASs. In order to validate the proposed algorithm, we performed a case study on a CMAS composed of simple reactive agents that operate by mimicking the problem/task solving of natural ants. We chose this type of cooperative multiagent system architecture, based on the fact that even in case of the cooperative BRAIN – Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, Volume 9, Issue 3 (September, 2018) ISSN 2067-3957 38 multiagent systems composed of simple efficiently and flexibly cooperating agents could emerges an increased problem solving intelli...

Save Time With Software Patterns

Writing a pattern isn't easy (see the sidebar, "What is a Pattern?"). A pattern aut... more Writing a pattern isn't easy (see the sidebar, "What is a Pattern?"). A pattern author has to justify the pattern by giving examples of how to use it in different domains, usually at least two. For example, the abstract factory-design pattern is documented in InterViews and ET++, and the Singleton design pattern is documented in Smalltalk-80, as well as the InterViews UI Toolkit. The author must also provide any related patterns so developers can understand their differences. If developers use the patterns together in some scenarios, the author has to document this in the related-patterns section of the pattern documentation.

Tracing Ebola Sources: A Tale of Sacrifice in Service to Science and Humanity

Unlike soldiers on the battlefield, being a scientist is not equated with a profession involving ... more Unlike soldiers on the battlefield, being a scientist is not equated with a profession involving great risks. But what people often fail to realize is the passion which drives scientists to study and practice research. It is this passion which forces them to work in difficult conditions and, at times, even risk or sacrifice their lives while searching for the true nature of things in our Universe. Scientists often work towards the goal of making tiny improvements towards the betterment of human beings and the planet.

Modeling and Analysis of Network Dynamics in Complex Communication Networks Using Social Network Methods

ArXiv, 2017

Modern communication networks are inherently complex in nature. First of all, they have a large n... more Modern communication networks are inherently complex in nature. First of all, they have a large number of heterogeneous components. Secondly, their connectivity is extremely dynamic. Nodes can come and go, links can be removed and added over time. Traditional modeling and simulation techniques amalgamate or ignore such dynamics and therefore, are unable to represent them. Complex communication networks are therefore better modeled as mathematical structures called graphs. Modeling as graphs allows for the application of complex techniques such as various network based analysis techniques. While this is a very important and much needed skill for communication networks researchers and engineers, to the best of our knowledge, currently there is no resource describing these details. In this paper, we give a concise but comprehensive review of modeling complex communication networks as graphs. We also show how to apply complex social network analysis on these models besides a demonstrati...

Review of “The Model Thinker” by Scott Page

Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling, 2020

Book details Scott E. PageThe Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You.Hatc... more

Emerging topics in Internet technology: A complex networks approach

Internet Technology Letters, 2018

Communication networks, in general, and internet technology, in particular, is a fast-evolving ar... more Communication networks, in general, and internet technology, in particular, is a fast-evolving area of research. While it is important to keep track of emerging trends in this domain, it is such a fast-growing area that it can be very difficult to keep track of literature. The problem is compounded by the fast-growing number of citation databases. While other databases are gradually indexing a large set of reliable content, currently the Web of Science represents one of the most highly valued databases. Research indexed in this database is known to highlight key advancements in any domain. In this paper, we present a Complex Network-based analytical approach to analyze recent data from the Web of Science in communication networks. Taking bibliographic records from the recent period of 2014 to 2017, we model and analyze complex scientometric networks. Using bibliometric coupling applied over complex citation data we present answers to co-citation patterns of documents, co-occurrence patterns of terms, as well as the most influential articles, among others, We also present key pivot points and intellectual turning points. Complex network analysis of the data demonstrates a considerably high level of interest in two key clusters labeled descriptively as "social networks" and "computer networks". In addition, key themes in highly cited literature were clearly identified as "communication networks," "social networks," and "complex networks".

Towards Agent-Based Model Specification of Smart Grid: A Cognitive Agent-Based Computing Approach

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems, 2019

A smart grid can be considered as a complex network where each node represents a generation unit ... more A smart grid can be considered as a complex network where each node represents a generation unit or a consumer. Whereas links can be used to represent transmission lines. One way to study complex systems is by using the agent-based modeling (ABM) paradigm. An ABM is a way of representing a complex system of autonomous agents interacting with each other. Previously, a number of studies have been presented in the smart grid domain making use of the ABM paradigm. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of these studies have focused on the specification aspect of ABM. An ABM specification is important not only for understanding but also for replication of the model. In this study, we focus on development as well as specification of ABM for smart grid. We propose an ABM by using a combination of agent-based and complex networkbased approaches. For ABM specification, we use ODD and DREAM specification approaches. We analyze these two specification approaches qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Extensive experiments demonstrate that DREAM is a most useful approach as compared with ODD for modeling as well as for replication of models for smart grid.

A formal specification framework for smart grid components

Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling, 2018

Purpose Smart grid can be considered as the next step in the evolution of power systems. It compr... more Purpose Smart grid can be considered as the next step in the evolution of power systems. It comprises of different entities and objects ranging from smart appliances, smart meters, generators, smart storages, and more. One key problem in modeling smart grid is that while currently there has previously been a considerable focus on the proof of concept aspect of smart grid, there have been very few modeling attempts and even lesser attempts at formalization. To the best of our knowledge, formal specification has not been applied previously in the domain of smart grid. Methods Using a state-based formal specification language namely Z (pronounced as ‘Zed’), we present a novel approach to formally modeling and specify smart grid components. Results The modeling exercise clearly demonstrates that Z is particularly suited for modeling various smart grid components. Conclusions The presented formal specification can be considered as a first step towards the modeling of smart grid using a S...

Variations in power of opinion leaders in online communication networks

Royal Society Open Science, 2018

Online social media has completely transformed how we communicate with each other. While online d... more Online social media has completely transformed how we communicate with each other. While online discussion platforms are available in the form of applications and websites, an emergent outcome of this transformation is the phenomenon of ‘opinion leaders’. A number of previous studies have been presented to identify opinion leaders in online discussion networks. In particular, Feng (2016 Comput. Hum. Behav. 54 , 43–53. ( doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.052 )) has identified five different types of central users besides outlining their communication patterns in an online communication network. However, the presented work focuses on a limited time span. The question remains as to whether similar communication patterns exist that will stand the test of time over longer periods. Here, we present a critical analysis of the Feng framework both for short-term as well as for longer periods. Additionally, for validation, we take another case study presented by Udanor et al. (2016 Program 50 , 481–5...