Multi-agent Systems are commonly used for simulation of new paradigms of energy distribution. Especially when considering Smart Grids, the autonomicity deployed by goal-driven agents implies the need for being aware of multiple aspects connected to the energy distribution context. With “context” we refer to outside world variables like weather, stock market trends, location of the users, govern...

The increasingly diverse and dynamic contexts in which current applications are run imposes them to adapt and to become more autonomous. The goal of this thesis is to ease the development of such selfadaptive applications, by considering adaptation as an aspect which should be defined separately from the rest of the application, so as to be integrated and modified dynamically. To this end we pr...

Trademark image retrieval (TIR), a branch of content-based image retrieval (CBIR), is playing an important role in multimedia information retrieval. This paper proposes an effective solution for TIR by combining shape description and feature matching. We first present an effective shape description method which includes two shape descriptors. Second, we propose an effective feature matching str...

The current image retrieval systems are successful in retrieving images, using keyword based approaches. However, they are incapable to retrieve the images which are context sensitive and annotated inappropriately. Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) aims at developing techniques that support effective searching and browsing of large image repositories, based on automatically derived image fea...

Evaluating the usability of mobile systems raises new concerns and questions, challenging methods for both lab and field evaluations. A recent literature study showed that most mobile HCI research projects apply lab-based evaluations. Nevertheless, several researchers argue in favour of field evaluations as mobile systems are highly context-dependent. However, field-based usability studies are ...

In the last few years, many middlewares for context awareness have claimed to be agent-based. In this paper, we make a survey on the most known frameworks. We classify them according to their level of conformity to the agent paradigm and we discuss the usefulness of agents in these frameworks. Based on this survey, we enumerate several advantages of using agents in context-aware middlewares and...

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is playing an important role in multimedia information retrieval. This paper proposes an effective solution for IR by combining shape description and feature matching. First, an effective shape description method which includes two shape descriptors is presented. Second, an effective feature matching strategy to compute the dissimilarity value between the fe...

This paper aims at advancing one of the key elements in context-aware services that will make feasible the development of advanced applications of personalized agents: user profiles. These applications should be here understood as ones where mobile services, whichever they are, are provided to the final user in a distributed (agent-based) and personalized way. We examine how to provide this per...

Our comments on this CBAC interim report are based on nearly 20 years of research on biotechnology. The Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) first began investigating biotechnology regulation in 1984, when we organized the first conference in Canada on environmental issues regarding biotechnology. At that time we identified the need for a comprehensive policy framework f...

Advances in GPS and wireless networking technologies have enabled a new class of location-aware applications, including location tracking [10,2], location-enhanced messaging [3,9], location-based gaming(www.botfighters.com), and navigation aids for the visually impaired [12]. However, these applications typically represent places quite simply, as a geographical point or a point plus radius. We ...