Synthesized Population Databases

Agent-based models simulate large-scale social systems. They assign behaviors and activities to "agents" (individuals) within the population being modeled and then allow the agents to interact with the environment and each other in complex simulations. Agent-based models are frequently used to simulate infectious disease outbreaks, among other uses. RTI used and extended an iterative proportional fitting method to generate a synthesized, geospatially explicit, human agent database that represents the US population in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the year 2000. Each agent is assigned to a household; other agents make up the household occupants. For this database, RTI developed the methods for • generating synthesized households and persons • assigning agents to schools and workplaces so that complex interactions among agents as they go about their daily activities can be taken into account • generating synthesized human agents who occupy group quarters (military bases, college dormitories, prisons, nursing homes). In this report, we describe both the methods used to generate the synthesized population database and the final data structure and data content of the database. This information will provide researchers with the information they need to use the database in developing agent-based models. Portions of the synthesized agent database are available to any user upon request. RTI will extract a portion (a county, region, or state) of the database for users who wish to use this database in their own agent-based models.

In 2005, RTI International researchers developed methods to generate synthesized population data on US households for the US Synthesized Population Database. These data are used in agent-based modeling, which simulates large-scale social networks to test how changes in the behaviors of individuals affect the overall network. Group quarters are residences where individuals live in close proximity and interact frequently. Although the Synthesized Population Database represents the population living in households, data for the nation’s group quarters residents are not easily quantified because of US Census Bureau reporting methods designed to protect individuals’ privacy Including group quarters population data can be an important factor in agent-based modeling because the number of residents and the frequency of their interactions are variables that directly affect modeling results. Particularly with infectious disease modeling, the increased frequency of agent interaction may increase the probability of infectious disease transmission between individuals and the probability of disease outbreaks This report reviews our methods to synthesize data on group quarters residents to match US Census Bureau data. Our goal in developing the Group Quarters Population Database was to enable its use with RTI’s US Synthesized Population Database in the Modeling of Infectious Diseases Agent Study.

In 2005, RTI International researchers developed methods to generate synthesized population data on US households for the US Synthesized Population Database. These data are used in agent-based modeling, which simulates large-scale social networks to test how changes in the behaviors of individuals affect the overall network. Group quarters are residences where individuals live in close proximity and interact frequently. Although the Synthesized Population Database represents the population living in households, data for the nation’s group quarters residents are not easily quantified because of US Census Bureau reporting methods designed to protect individuals’ privacy. Including group quarters population data can be an important factor in agent-based modeling because the number of residents and the frequency of their interactions are variables that directly affect modeling results. Particularly with infectious disease modeling, the increased frequency of agent interaction may increase the probability of infectious disease transmission between individuals and the probability of disease outbreaks. This report reviews our methods to synthesize data on group quarters residents to match US Census Bureau data. Our goal in developing the Group Quarters Population Database was to enable its use with RTI’s US Synthesized Population Database in the Modeling of Infectious Diseases Agent Study.

Because they can spread to humans, infections and diseases in poultry and other livestock populations are of keen interest to public health officials. Officials need to plan for a rapid response, and to do so, they need information about where farms are located and how they cluster spatially. No public domain, nationwide database currently exists for actual farm locations. RTI researchers in coordination with University of Pennsylvania infectious disease modelers developed a new way to create a synthetic dataset that replicates the spatial distribution of poultry farms and the type and number of birds raised on them. The RTI method produced a more realistic dataset than the currently used random placement alternative. The results suggest the RTI method could be used to simulate other livestock farms of interest to infectious disease researchers.

Communicable-disease transmission models are useful for the testing of prevention and intervention strategies. Agent-based models (ABMs) represent a new and important class of the many types of disease transmission models in use. Agent-based disease models benefit from their ability to assign disease transmission probabilities based on characteristics shared by individual agents. These shared characteristics allow ABMs to apply transmission probabilities when agents come together in geographic space. Modeling these types of social interactions requires data, and the results of the model largely depend on the quality of these input data. We initially generated a synthetic population for the United States, in support of the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study. Subsequently, we created shared characteristics to use in ABMs. The specific goals for this task were to assign the appropriately aged populations to schools, workplaces, and public transit. Each goal presented its own challenges and problems; therefore, we used different techniques to create each type of shared characteristic. These shared characteristics have allowed disease models to more realistically predict the spread of disease, both spatially and temporally.

Parallel Population and Parallel Human Proposes a new paradigm to investigate an individual’s cognitive deliberation in dynamic human-machine interactions Today, intelligent machines enable people to interact remotely with friends, family, romantic partners, colleagues, competitors, organizations, and others. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), mobile social media, and other technologies have been driving these interactions to an unprecedented level. As the complexity in system control and management with human participants increases, engineers are facing challenges that arise from the uncertainty of operators or users. Parallel Population and Parallel Human: A Cyber-Physical Social Approach presents systemic solutions for modeling, analysis, computation, and management of individuals’ cognition and decision-making in human-participated systems, such as the MetaVerse. With a virtual-real behavioral approach that seeks to actively prescribe user behavior through cognitive and dynamic learning, the authors present a parallel population/human model for optimal prescriptive control and management of complex systems that leverages recent advances in artificial intelligence. Throughout the book, the authors address basic theory and methodology for modeling, describe various implementation techniques, highlight potential acceleration technologies, discuss application cases from different fields, and more. In addition, the text: Considers how an individual’s behavior is formed and how to prescribe their behavioral modes Describes agent-based computation for complex social systems based on a synthetic population from realistic individual groups Proposes a universal algorithm applicable to a wide range of social organization types Extends traditional cognitive modeling by utilizing a dynamic approach to investigate cognitive deliberation in highly time-variant tasks Presents a new method that can be used for both large-scale social systems and real-time human-machine interactions without extensive experiments for modeling Parallel Population and Parallel Human: A Cyber-Physical Social Approach is a must-read for researchers, engineers, scientists, professionals, and graduate students who work on systems engineering, human-machine interaction, cognitive computing, and artificial intelligence.

The main aim of this book is to present an intriguing retrospective of Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) as it evolved from Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) over the past 25 years. On one hand, this is done by updating original authors' chapter content of Building Evaluation, the first edition published in 1989. That, in turn, is augmented by an orientation toward current and future practice on the other, including new authors who are engaged in ongoing, cutting edge projects. Therefore, individual, methodology oriented chapters covering the fundamental principles of POE and BPE go along with major thematic chapters, topics of which like sustainability or integration of new technologies are addressed in a diversity of case studies from around the globe. Research, methodologies, and framework of POEs continue to evolve. POEs are one step, on the larger scale of BPE, in understanding how buildings function after they are occupied. This resource helps a rchitects, building owners, and facility managers understand the implications and reactions to the facilities that they designed, built and/or commissioned. By considering the whole process from conception to future uses of the building, there can be a more holistic approach to the planning, programming, design, construction, occupancy, and future adaptability of the structure. This book is dedicated to first editor Wolfgang F. E. Preiser who passed away during the process of editing and reviewing chapters of this volume.