517 research outputs found
Recursive Online Enumeration of All Minimal Unsatisfiable Subsets
In various areas of computer science, we deal with a set of constraints to be
satisfied. If the constraints cannot be satisfied simultaneously, it is
desirable to identify the core problems among them. Such cores are called
minimal unsatisfiable subsets (MUSes). The more MUSes are identified, the more
information about the conflicts among the constraints is obtained. However, a
full enumeration of all MUSes is in general intractable due to the large number
(even exponential) of possible conflicts. Moreover, to identify MUSes
algorithms must test sets of constraints for their simultaneous satisfiabilty.
The type of the test depends on the application domains. The complexity of
tests can be extremely high especially for domains like temporal logics, model
checking, or SMT. In this paper, we propose a recursive algorithm that
identifies MUSes in an online manner (i.e., one by one) and can be terminated
at any time. The key feature of our algorithm is that it minimizes the number
of satisfiability tests and thus speeds up the computation. The algorithm is
applicable to an arbitrary constraint domain and its effectiveness demonstrates
itself especially in domains with expensive satisfiability checks. We benchmark
our algorithm against state of the art algorithm on Boolean and SMT constraint
domains and demonstrate that our algorithm really requires less satisfiability
tests and consequently finds more MUSes in given time limits
Reformulation in planning
Reformulation of a problem is intended to make the problem more amenable to efficient solution. This is equally true in the special case of reformulating a planning problem. This paper considers various ways in which reformulation can be exploited in planning
A Neutrosophic Description Logic
Description Logics (DLs) are appropriate, widely used, logics for managing
structured knowledge. They allow reasoning about individuals and concepts, i.e.
set of individuals with common properties. Typically, DLs are limited to
dealing with crisp, well defined concepts. That is, concepts for which the
problem whether an individual is an instance of it is yes/no question. More
often than not, the concepts encountered in the real world do not have a
precisely defined criteria of membership: we may say that an individual is an
instance of a concept only to a certain degree, depending on the individual's
properties. The DLs that deal with such fuzzy concepts are called fuzzy DLs. In
order to deal with fuzzy, incomplete, indeterminate and inconsistent concepts,
we need to extend the fuzzy DLs, combining the neutrosophic logic with a
classical DL. In particular, concepts become neutrosophic (here neutrosophic
means fuzzy, incomplete, indeterminate, and inconsistent), thus reasoning about
neutrosophic concepts is supported. We'll define its syntax, its semantics, and
describe its properties.Comment: 18 pages. Presented at the IEEE International Conference on Granular
Computing, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA, May 200
Recent intimate partner violence against women and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.
OBJECTIVE: We reviewed cohort studies to determine the magnitude and temporal direction of the association between recent intimate partner violence (IPV) and a range of adverse health outcomes or health risk behaviours. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Medline, EMBASE and PsycINFO were searched from the first record to November 2016. Recent IPV was defined as occurring up to and including the last 12 months; all health outcomes were eligible for inclusion. Results were combined using random-effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: 35 separate cohort studies were retrieved. Eight studies showed evidence of a positive association between recent IPV and subsequent depressive symptoms, with a pooled OR from five estimates of 1.76 (95% CI 1.26 to 2.44, I2=37.5%, p=0.172). Five studies demonstrated a positive, statistically significant relationship between depressive symptoms and subsequent IPV; the pooled OR from two studies was 1.72 (95% CI 1.28 to 2.31, I2=0.0%, p=0.752). Recent IPV was also associated with increased symptoms of subsequent postpartum depression in five studies (OR=2.19, 95%āCI 1.39 to 3.45, p=0.000), although there was substantial heterogeneity. There was some evidence of a bidirectional relationship between recent IPV and hard drug use and marijuana use, although studies were limited. There was no evidence of an association between recent IPV and alcohol use or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), although there were few studies and inconsistent measurement of alcohol and STIs. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to violence has significant impacts. Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the temporal relationship between recent IPV and different health issues, while considering the differential effects of recent versus past exposure to IPV. Improved measurement will enable an understanding of the immediate and longer term health needs of women exposed to IPV. Healthcare providers and IPV organisations should be aware of the bidirectional relationship between recent IPV and depressive symptoms. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016033372
A lower bound on CNF encodings of the at-most-one constraint
Constraint "at most one" is a basic cardinality constraint which requires
that at most one of its boolean inputs is set to . This constraint is
widely used when translating a problem into a conjunctive normal form (CNF) and
we investigate its CNF encodings suitable for this purpose. An encoding differs
from a CNF representation of a function in that it can use auxiliary variables.
We are especially interested in propagation complete encodings which have the
property that unit propagation is strong enough to enforce consistency on input
variables. We show a lower bound on the number of clauses in any propagation
complete encoding of the "at most one" constraint. The lower bound almost
matches the size of the best known encodings. We also study an important case
of 2-CNF encodings where we show a slightly better lower bound. The lower bound
holds also for a related "exactly one" constraint.Comment: 38 pages, version 3 is significantly reorganized in order to improve
readabilit
The role of the agent's outside options in principal-agent relationships
We consider a principal-agent model of adverse selection where, in order to trade with the principal,
the agent must undertake a relationship-specific investment which affects his outside option to trade,
i.e. the payoff that he can obtain by trading with an alternative principal. This creates a distinction
between the agentās ex ante (before investment) and ex post (after investment) outside options to trade.
We investigate the consequences of this distinction, and show that whenever an agentās ex ante and ex
post outside options differ, this may equip the principal with an additional tool for screening among
different agent types, by randomizing over the probability with which trade occurs once the agent
has undertaken the investment. In turn, this may enhance the efficiency of the optimal second-best
contract
āItās Always Good to Askā:A Mixed Methods Study on the Perceived Role of Sexual Health Practitioners Asking Gay and Bisexual Men About Experiences of Domestic Violence and Abuse
Development of joint displays is a valued approach to merging qualitative and quantitative findings in mixed methods research. This study aimed to illustrate a case series mixed methods display and the utility of using mixed methods for broadening our understanding of domestic violence and abuse. Using a convergent design, 532 gay and bisexual men participated in a Health and Relationship Survey in a U.K. sexual health service and 19 in an interview. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately and integrated at the level of interpretation and reporting. There were inconsistencies in perceptions and reports of abuse. Men were supportive of selective enquiry for domestic violence and abuse by practitioners (62.6%; 95% confidence interval = 58.1% to 66.7%) while being mindful of contextual factors.</p
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