A Declarative Semantics for CLP with Qualification and Proximity

Uncertainty in Logic Programming has been investigated during the last decades, dealing with various extensions of the classical LP paradigm and different applications. Existing proposals rely on different approaches, such as clause annotations based on uncertain truth values, qualification values as a generalization of uncertain truth values, and unification based on proximity relations. On the other hand, the CLP scheme has established itself as a powerful extension of LP that supports efficient computation over specialized domains while keeping a clean declarative semantics. In this paper we propose a new scheme SQCLP designed as an extension of CLP that supports qualification values and proximity relations. We show that several previous proposals can be viewed as particular cases of the new scheme, obtained by partial instantiation. We present a declarative semantics for SQCLP that is based on observables, providing fixpoint and proof-theoretical characterizations of least program models as well as an implementation-independent notion of goal solutions.Comment: 17 pages, 26th Int'l. Conference on Logic Programming (ICLP'10

A Transformation-based Implementation for CLP with Qualification and Proximity

Uncertainty in logic programming has been widely investigated in the last decades, leading to multiple extensions of the classical LP paradigm. However, few of these are designed as extensions of the well-established and powerful CLP scheme for Constraint Logic Programming. In a previous work we have proposed the SQCLP (proximity-based qualified constraint logic programming) scheme as a quite expressive extension of CLP with support for qualification values and proximity relations as generalizations of uncertainty values and similarity relations, respectively. In this paper we provide a transformation technique for transforming SQCLP programs and goals into semantically equivalent CLP programs and goals, and a practical Prolog-based implementation of some particularly useful instances of the SQCLP scheme. We also illustrate, by showing some simple-and working-examples, how the prototype can be effectively used as a tool for solving problems where qualification values and proximity relations play a key role. Intended use of SQCLP includes flexible information retrieval applications.Comment: 49 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, preliminary version of an article of the same title, published as Technical Report SIC-4-10, Universidad Complutense, Departamento de Sistemas Inform\'aticos y Computaci\'on, Madrid, Spai

Identifying mode confusion potential in software design

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-54).by Mario A. Rodríguez.S.M

La calidad de la educación. Un problema actual

Este artículo, que forma parte de un libro, inédito aún, dirigido a comprender cómo alcanzar la calidad de los aprendizajes tan deseada por los educadores, tiene la intención de situar la problemática en el contexto actual, analizando las condiciones que favorecen e impiden el logro de este propósito. Se hace un llamado de alerta para transformar la situación que hoy prevalece en las escuelas a partir de la adopción de verdaderos cambios en nuestros sistemas de educación y no fijados en meras reformas

Educación: una cuestión de libertad

En los albores del siglo XXI, la educación sigue ocupando un lugar estelar en el progreso y desarrollo de las sociedades; algo sobre lo que debatir y donde la hermenéutica parece encontrar un campo sembrado en el que poder expandirse. Todo ello porque cuando se trata de la educación, comparecen las personas y, en última instancia, emerge una cuestión nada sencilla de comprender: la libertad. Ciertamente, ya advertía Cicerón que la educación es el principio en el que descansa la libertad y el engrandecimiento de las sociedades. Son muchas las cuestiones, por tanto, que están en juego cuando abordamos una tema del que tantas cosas dependen, bien sea en el terreno personal, familiar, social o político