Logic Negation with Spiking Neural P Systems

Nowadays, the success of neural networks as reasoning systems is doubtless. Nonetheless, one of the drawbacks of such reasoning systems is that they work as black-boxes and the acquired knowledge is not human readable. In this paper, we present a new step in order to close the gap between connectionist and logic based reasoning systems. We show that two of the most used inference rules for obtaining negative information in rule based reasoning systems, the so-called Closed World Assumption and Negation as Finite Failure can be characterized by means of spiking neural P systems, a formal model of the third generation of neural networks born in the framework of membrane computing.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figur

Mereotopological Analysis of Formal Concepts in Security Ontologies

In this paper an analysis of security ontologies, using an mereotopological interpretation of the relationship amongst their classes, based on the entailment in the ontology, is presented. The analysis is carried out by means of a graphical tool (called Paella) that implements such an interpretation and it can suggest the potential debugging of anomalies. The analysis also suggests how to interpret the representational anomalies.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2009-0949

Reconciling Knowledge in Social Tagging Web Services

Sometimes we want to search for new information about topics but we can not find relevant results using our own knowledge (for example, our personal bookmarks). A potential solution could be the use of knowledge from other users to find what we are searching for. This solution implies that we can achieve some agreement on implicit semantics used by the other users. We call it Reconciliation of Knowledge. The aim of this paper is to show an agent-based method which lets us reconcile two different knowledge basis (associated with tagging systems) into a common language, obtaining a new one that allows the reconcilitiation of (part of) this knowledge. The agents use Formal Concept Analysis concepts and tools and it has been implemented on the JADE multiagent platform.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2009-0949

Numerical explicit analysis of hole flanging by single-stage incremental forming

The use of Single-Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) technology in hole flanging operations using multi-stages strategies have been widely studied in the last few years. However, these strategies are very time-consuming, limiting its industrial application.In a very recent work of the authors, the capability of SPIF process to successfully perform hole-flanges using a single-stage strategy has been experimentally investigated. The aim of the present work is to develop a numerical model of this process to beable to predict the sheet failure as a function of the size of the pre-cut hole. The numerical results are compared and discussed in the light of experimental tests over AA7075-O metal sheets with 1.6mm thickness.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad DPI2015-64047-

Extending Qualitative Spatial Theories with Emergent Spatial Concepts: An Automated Reasoning Approach

Qualitative Spatial Reasoning is an exciting research field of the Knowledge Representation and Reasoning paradigm whose application often requires the extension, refinement or combination of existent theories (as well as the associated calculus). This paper addresses the issue of the sound spatial interpretation of formal extensions of such theories; particularly the interpretation of the extension and the desired representational features. The paper shows how to interpret certain kinds of extensions of Region Connection Calculus (RCC) theory. We also show how to rebuild the qualitative calculus of these extensions.Junta de Andalucía TIC-606

Climate-driven changes in air quality over Europe by the end of the 21st century, with special reference to Portugal

Climate change alone may deeply impact air quality levels in the atmosphere because the changes in the meteorological conditions will induce changes on the transport, dispersion and transformation of air pollutants. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of climate change on the air quality over Europe and Portugal, using a reference year (year 1990) and a IPCC SRES A2 year (year 2100). The Hadley Centre global atmospheric circulation model (HadAM3P) was used to provide results for these two climatic scenarios, which were then used as synoptic forcing for the MM5-CHIMERE air quality modelling system. In order to assess the contribution of future climate change on 03 and PM concentrations, no changes in regional emissions were assumed and only climate change forcing was considered. The modelling results suggest that the O(3) monthly mean levels in the atmosphere may increase almost 50 mu g m(-3) across Europe in July under the IPCC SRES A2 scenario. In Portugal, this increase may reach 20 mu g m(-3). The changes of PM10 monthly average values over Europe will depend on the region. The increase in PM10 concentrations during specific months could be explained by the average reduction of the boundary layer height and wind speed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Yours, Mine, Ours: Some Best Practices for Authors Writing Collaboratively

The authors of this article focus on the best practices we learned through our experiences in scholarly writing, with a specific focus on the collaborative writing process. For the sake of this paper, we define collaborative writing as a collective process of creating a scholarly work for distribution, either through formal (e.g., peer-review) or informal (e.g., white paper) venues. This article is, in part, in response to our lack of formal training and addresses a situation in which we felt other researchers might find themselves. We hope to provide starting points for others interested in writing collaboratively and help empower those wishing to have a broader conversation about writing. Our scope here is limited to collaborative writing, and as such, we exclude other components of collaborative scholarly work, such as generating an idea, pursuing a grant, or analyzing data. Nevertheless, we do endeavor to provide resources and advice broadly applicable and relevant to all disciplines. After a brief literature review, included to provide a broader context, the authors give some background information on their own experiences with co-authorship prior to this article. However, the authors dedicate most of this article to presenting reflections, advice, and a curated list of open-access resources related to some of the critical aspects and challenges of collaborative writing

How important are maritime emissions for the air quality: at European and national scale

Due to its dependence on fossil fuel combustion, emissions from the marine transport sector can significantly contribute to air pollution. This work aims to evaluate the impact of maritime transport emissions on air quality in Portugal using a numerical air quality modelling approach, with high-resolution emission data. Emissions from the European TNO inventory were compiled and pre-processed at hourly and high spatial (∼3 × 3 km2) resolutions. Scenarios with and without these maritime emissions were then simulated with the WRF-CHIMERE modelling system, extensively tested and validated for Portugal domain, in order to evaluate their impact on air quality. A simulation was performed for one year (2016) and the resulting differences were analysed in terms of spatial distribution, time series and deltas. The main deltas for NO2 and PM10 are located over international shipping routes and major ports, while O3 concentrations are impacted in a larger area. The modelling results also indicate that shipping emissions are responsible for deltas in the concentration of NO2 higher than 20% over specific urban areas located in the west coast of Portugal, and less than 5% for PM10. For O3 the relative contribution is low (around 2%) but this contribution is also observed at locations more than 50 km from the coast.Thanks are due for the financial support to FCT/MEC through national funds, and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020, for the AIRSHIP project (PTDC/AAG-MAA/2569/2014 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016752) and CESAM (UID/AMB/50017 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638).publishe