In linear models of consensus dynamics, the state of the various agents converges to a value which is a convex combination of the agents’ initial states. We call it democratic if in the large scale limit (number of agents going to infinity) the vector of convex weights converges to 0 uniformly. Democracy is a relevant property which naturally shows up when we deal with opinion dynamic models an...

Voting is the process of combining multiple replies from replicated servers into a single reply. Data fusion is similar to but more general than voting. In data fusion, the input sources are not necessarily replicated servers, hence the inputs exhibit greater variance. Data fusion is a fundamental building block in distributed systems. It occurs in diverse contexts such as consensus, sensor net...

Deformable model tracking is a powerful methodology that allows us to track the evolution of high-dimensional parameter vectors from uncalibrated monocular video sequences. The core of the approach consists of using low-level vision algorithms, such as edge trackers or optical flow, to collect a large number of 2D displacements, or motion measurements, at selected model points and mapping them ...

An essential aim in Group Decision Making (GDM) problems is to achieve a high level of consensus among experts. Consensus is defined as general or widespread agreement, and it is usually modelled mathematically via a similarity function measuring how close experts’ opinions or preferences are. Similarity functions are defined based on the use of a metric describing the distance between experts’...

Purpose of the paper and literature addressed: Collaborative processes play an important role in the business marketing literature, as close interaction between buyers and sellers is a key to understanding inter-organizational exchanges. The recently emerged Service-Dominant logic also emphasises the importance of interaction and relationships in all exchange. Compared with the IMP discourse, t...

We propose a network management and control architecture that is able to dynamically load application-specific code, which in turn is able to control resources at a very low level. Recognising the existing diversity of network management and control architectures, we then address the problem of interoperability between control architecture domains. Given such interoperability, we show how clien...

OBJECTIVE : This purpose of this consensus statement was to compare endoscopic vascular graft harvesting (EVH) with conventional open vascular harvesting (OVH) in adults undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery and to determine which resulted in improved clinical and resource outcomes. METHODS : Before the consensus conference, the consensus panel reviewed the best available ...

Much of the GSS literature comparing GSS groups with manual groups has produced contrarian results. One of the more confusing is that GSS groups have a higher level of non-consensus than manual groups. Lack of consensus in GSS groups is considered to be a negative aspect of GSS. This paper argues that non-consensus is not necessarily harmful, and proposes an alternative interpretation of non-co...

Consumer satisfaction (CS) has been the focus of Marketing to increase consumers’ loyalty and repurchase intentions. This area of research is found in multiple disciplines. The “satisfaction” construct has been used as an indicator of IS success and acceptance in Information System (IS) and e-Commerce in particular. A critical review of the diverse literature reveals a lack of consensus in its ...