Strategies in Case-Based Argumentation-Based Negotiation: An Application for the Tourism Domain

[EN] Negotiation is a key solution to find an agreement between conflicting parties especially during the purchase journey. This paper treats the negotiations between a travel agency and its customers in the domain of tourism. Both automated negotiation and argumentation are gathered to create a framework for automated agents, presenting a travel agency and its customers, to negotiate a trip and exchange arguments. Agents take advantage of their past experiences and use Case-Based Reasoning to select the best strategy to follow. We represent agents using two types of profiles, Argumentative profile that represents agents¿ ways of reasoning and Preference profile that embodies customers¿ preferences in the domain of tourism.Bouslama, R.; Jordán, J.; Heras, S.; Amor, NB. (2020). Strategies in Case-Based Argumentation-Based Negotiation: An Application for the Tourism Domain. Springer. 205-217. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51999-5_17S205217Aamodt, A., Plaza, E.: Case-based reasoning: foundational issues, methodological variations, and system approaches. AI Commun. 7(1), 39–59 (1994)Adnan, M.H.M., Hassan, M.F., Aziz, I., Paputungan, I.V.: Protocols for agent-based autonomous negotiations: a review. In: ICCOINS, pp. 622–626. IEEE (2016)Amgoud, L., Parsons, S.: Agent dialogues with conflicting preferences. In: Meyer, J.-J.C., Tambe, M. (eds.) ATAL 2001. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 2333, pp. 190–205. Springer, Heidelberg (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45448-9_14Amgoud, L., Prade, H.: Generation and evaluation of different types of arguments in negotiation. In: NMR, pp. 10–15 (2004)Bouslama, R., Ayachi, R., Ben Amor, N.: A new generic framework for argumentation-based negotiation using case-based reasoning. In: Medina, J., et al. (eds.) IPMU 2018. CCIS, vol. 854, pp. 633–644. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91476-3_52Bouslama, R., Ayachi, R., Ben Amor, N.: A new generic framework for mediated multilateral argumentation-based negotiation using case-based reasoning. In: Kern-Isberner, G., Ognjanović, Z. (eds.) ECSQARU 2019. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 11726, pp. 14–26. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29765-7_2Dimopoulos, Y., Moraitis, P.: Advances in argumentation based negotiation. In: Negotiation and Argumentation in Multi-agent Systems: Fundamentals, Theories, Systems and Applications, pp. 82–125 (2014)Hadidi, N., Dimopoulos, Y., Moraitis, P.: Tactics and concessions for argumentation-based negotiation. In: Computational Models of Argument: Proceedings of COMMA 2012, vol. 245, pp. 285–296 (2012)Hadoux, E., Hunter, A.: Strategic sequences of arguments for persuasion using decision trees. In: AAAI (2017)Heras, S., Jordán, J., Botti, V., Julián, V.: Argue to agree: a case-based argumentation approach. IJAR 54(1), 82–108 (2013)Heras, S., Jordán, J., Botti, V., Julián, V.: Case-based strategies for argumentation dialogues in agent societies. Inf. Sci. 223, 1–30 (2013)Jennings, N.R., Faratin, P., Lomuscio, A.R., Parsons, S., Sierra, C., Wooldridge, M.: Automated negotiation: prospects, methods and challenges. Int. J. Group Decis. Negot. 10(2), 199–215 (2001)Lazar, C.M.: Internet-an aid for e-tourism. Ecoforum J. 8(1), 1–4 (2019)Lopes, F., Novais, A.Q., Coelho, H.: Bilateral negotiation in a multi-agent energy market. In: Huang, D.-S., Jo, K.-H., Lee, H.-H., Kang, H.-J., Bevilacqua, V. (eds.) ICIC 2009. LNCS, vol. 5754, pp. 655–664. Springer, Heidelberg (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04070-2_71Park, S., Tussyadiah, I., Mazanec, J., Fesenmaier, D.: Travel personae of american pleasure travelers: a network analysis. J. Travel Tour. Mark. 27, 797–811 (2010)Rahwan, I., Ramchurn, S.D., Jennings, N.R., Mcburney, P., Parsons, S., Sonenberg, L.: Argumentation-based negotiation. KER 18(4), 343–375 (2003)Rahwan, I., Sonenberg, L., McBurney, P.: Bargaining and argument-based negotiation: some preliminary comparisons. In: Rahwan, I., Moraïtis, P., Reed, C. (eds.) ArgMAS 2004. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 3366, pp. 176–191. Springer, Heidelberg (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-32261-0_12Sierra, C., Jennings, N.R., Noriega, P., Parsons, S.: A framework for argumentation-based negotiation. In: Singh, M.P., Rao, A., Wooldridge, M.J. (eds.) ATAL 1997. LNCS, vol. 1365, pp. 177–192. Springer, Heidelberg (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0026758Soh, L.K., Tsatsoulis, C.: Agent-based argumentative negotiations with case-based reasoning. In: AAAI Fall Symposium Series on Negotiation Methods for Autonomous Cooperative Systems, pp. 16–25 (2001)Sycara, K.P.: Persuasive argumentation in negotiation. Theory Decis. 28(3), 203–242 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00162699Walton, D.: Argumentation Schemes for Presumptive Reasoning. Routledge, Abingdon (2013

Les tumeurs oncocytaires de la thyroide : a propos de 25 cas

But : Les tumeurs à cellules oncocytaires de la thyroïde (TOT) ont donné jusqu’à ces dernières années de nombreuses controverses, du fait des difficultés à différencier les tumeurs bénignes des tumeurs malignes, entraînant des attitudes thérapeutiques divergentes. L’objectif de cette étude est de voir à travers une revue de littérature les aspects cliniques et pathologiques particuliers aux tumeurs oncocytaires de la thyroïde et d’essayer de réunir les éléments cliniques et anatomopathologiques pouvant prédire l’aspect malin de ces tumeurs. Méthodes : Il s’agit d’une étude rétrospective menée sur une période de 19 ans étalée de janvier 1988 à décembre 2006, pendant laquelle nous avons colligé 25 cas de tumeurs oncocytaires de la thyroïde. La circonstance de découverte était un nodule thyroïdien pour tous les patients. Resultats : Notre travail repose sur une série de 25 tumeurs oncocytaires de la thyroïde, dont 3 cancers oncocytaires (12%). Ces tumeurs représentent 1,2% des tumeurs thyroïdiennes opérées durant la même période. L’âge moyen des patients ayant eu un carcinome oncocytaire était de 65 ans, la taille moyenne de ces carcinomes était de 4 cm. Le traitement a consisté en une loboisthmectomie pour les adénomes et en une thyroïdectomie totale associée à un curage ganglionnaire cervical suivi d’une irathérapie pour les carcinomes. Une seule patiente ayant présenté un carcinome oncocytaire a développé une métastase à distance. L’évolution était favorable chez tous les autres patients avec recul variable de 9 mois à 22 ans avec une moyenne de 5 ans. Conclusion : Les tumeurs oncocytaires de la thyroïde sont reconnues à la lumière des travaux récents comme une entité anatomo-clinique particulière, se différenciant des tumeurs vésiculaires (auxquelles elles ont été longtemps assimilées) par une évolution plus péjorative et par une insensibilité à l’iode radioactif avec une fréquence accrue de métastases pour les carcinomes.Mots clés : tumeur oncocytaire, tumeur à cellules de Hurthle, cancer de la thyroïde, thyroidectomie

Stenose tracheale post-intubation

Objective : Remind the main post-intubation tracheal stenosis etiopathogenic characteristics, specify the preoperative assessment and discuss the different therapeutic modalities.Materials and methods : This retrospective study includes 28 cases of scarring tracheal stenosis treated between 1987 and 2003.Results : They are acquired, secondary to intubation and / or tracheotomy. The results of our study highlight the important role of medical and endoscopic treatment. However, the best treatment of tracheal stenosis remains the surgical treatment based on tracheal resection anastomosis, 89% of good results in our study.Conclusion : Our results indicate that the endoscopic treatment of post-intubation tracheal stenoses can be considered a safe first-line therapy, leaving the complex and relapsing stenoses, for surgical resection.Keywords : Tracheal stenosis, tracheal intubation, tracheotomy

Thrombophlebite du sinus caverneux d’origine otogene : a propos d’un cas

But : Nous illustrons un cas de thrombophlébite du sinus caverneux compliquant une oto-mastoïdite. Nous étudions à la lumière de la littérature les difficultés diagnostiques et l’importance de la mise en oeuvre d’un traitement précoce et adapté afin d’éviter les séquelles ultérieures. Observation : Il s’agit d’un enfant âgé de 14 ans, qui avait présenté une exophtalmie avec oedème palpébral bilatéral et une baisse de l’acuité visuelle d’aggravation progressive au décours d’un épisode otitique. L’examen avait objectivé une paralysie faciale périphérique droite et à l’otoscopie un tympan droit bombé congestif.La TDM avait mis en évidence une thrombophlébite du sinus caverneux associée à un abcès cérébral et à un abcès rétropharyngé avec une oto-mastoïdite homolatérale. Le malade a été traité par une antibiothérapie à large spectre associée à une héparinothérapie, avec mastoïdectomie droite et drainage de l’abcès rétro-pharyngé. L’évolution a été marquée par la régression totale de la paralysie faciale, avec reperméabilisation du sinus caverneux et disparition totale de l’abcès temporal au contrôle scannographique. Le patient a gardé comme seule séquelle une cécité mono oculaire gauche. Conclusion : La thrombophlébite du sinus caverneux est une affection rare, surtout dans son origine otogène elle doit être diagnostiquée et traitée le plutôt possible, afin de prévenir les séquelles ou d’obtenir la régression de ces dernières. Le traitement doit associer une antibiothérapie à large spectre, les anticoagulants et un drainage chirurgical approprié du foyer septique.Mots-clés : Thrombophlébite du sinus caverneux, Otite moyenne aiguë, complication

α7-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor: Role in Early Odor Learning Preference in Mice

Recently, we have shown that mice with decreased expression of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7) in the olfactory bulb were associated with a deficit in odor discrimination compared to wild-type mice. However, it is unknown if mice with decreased α7-receptor expression also show a deficit in early odor learning preference (ELP), an enhanced behavioral response to odors with attractive value observed in rats. In this study, we modified ELP methods performed in rats and implemented similar conditions in mice. From post-natal days 5–18, wild-type mice were stroked simultaneously with an odor presentation (conditioned odor) for 90 s daily. Control mice were only stroked, exposed to odor, or neither. On the day of testing (P21), mice that were stroked in concert with a conditioned odor significantly investigated the conditioned odor compared to a novel odor, as observed similarly in rats. However, mice with a decrease in α7-receptor expression that were stroked during a conditioned odor did not show a behavioral response to that odorant. These results suggest that decreased α7-receptor expression has a role in associative learning, olfactory preference, and/or sensory processing deficits

The Common Swift Louse Fly, Crataerina pallida: An Ideal Species for Studying Host-Parasite Interactions

Little is known of the life-history of many parasitic species. This hinders a full understanding of host-parasitic interactions. The common swift louse fly, Crataerina pallida Latreille (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), an obligate haematophagous parasite of the Common Swift, Apus apus Linnaeus 1758, is one such species. No detrimental effect of its parasitism upon the host has been found. This may be because too little is known about C. pallida ecology, and therefore detrimental effects are also unknown. This is a review of what is known about the life-history of this parasite, with the aim of promoting understanding of its ecology. New, previously unreported observations about C. pallida made from personal observations at a nesting swift colony are described. Unanswered questions are highlighted, which may aid understanding of this host-parasite system. C. pallida may prove a suitable model species for the study of other host-parasite relationships

Interspecific variation in the relationship between clutch size, laying date and intensity of urbanization in four species of hole-nesting birds

The increase in size of human populations in urban and agricultural areas has resulted in considerable habitat conversion globally. Such anthropogenic areas have specific environmental characteristics, which influence the physiology, life history, and population dynamics of plants and animals. For example, the date of bud burst is advanced in urban compared to nearby natural areas. In some birds, breeding success is determined by synchrony between timing of breeding and peak food abundance. Pertinently, caterpillars are an important food source for the nestlings of many bird species, and their abundance is influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and date of bud burst. Higher temperatures and advanced date of bud burst in urban areas could advance peak caterpillar abundance and thus affect breeding phenology of birds. In order to test whether laying date advance and clutch sizes decrease with the intensity of urbanization, we analyzed the timing of breeding and clutch size in relation to intensity of urbanization as a measure of human impact in 199 nest box plots across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East (i.e., the Western Palearctic) for four species of hole-nesters: blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), great tits (Parus major), collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), and pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). Meanwhile, we estimated the intensity of urbanization as the density of buildings surrounding study plots measured on orthophotographs. For the four study species, the intensity of urbanization was not correlated with laying date. Clutch size in blue and great tits does not seem affected by the intensity of urbanization, while in collared and pied flycatchers it decreased with increasing intensity of urbanization. This is the first large-scale study showing a species-specific major correlation between intensity of urbanization and the ecology of breeding. The underlying mechanisms for the relationships between life history and urbanization remain to be determined. We propose that effects of food abundance or quality, temperature, noise, pollution, or disturbance by humans may on their own or in combination affect laying date and/or clutch size

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds

Peer reviewe