A Modular System Oriented to the Design of Versatile Knowledge Bases for Chatbots

The paper illustrates a system that implements a framework, which is oriented to the development of a modular knowledge base for a conversational agent. This solution improves the flexibility of intelligent conversational agents in managing conversations. The modularity of the system grants a concurrent and synergic use of different knowledge representation techniques. According to this choice, it is possible to use the most adequate methodology for managing a conversation for a specific domain, taking into account particular features of the dialogue or the user behavior. We illustrate the implementation of a proof-of-concept prototype: a set of modules exploiting different knowledge representation methodologies and capable of managing different conversation features has been developed. Each module is automatically triggered through a component, named corpus callosum, that selects in real time the most adequate chatbot knowledge module to activate

A Modular System Oriented to the Design of Versatile Knowledge Bases for Chatbots

The paper illustrates a system that implements a framework, which is oriented to the development of a modular knowledge base for a conversational agent. This solution improves the flexibility of intelligent conversational agents in managing conversations. The modularity of the system grants a concurrent and synergic use of different knowledge representation techniques. According to this choice, it is possible to use the most adequate methodology for managing a conversation for a specific domain, taking into account particular features of the dialogue or the user behavior. We illustrate the implementation of a proof-of-concept prototype: a set of modules exploiting different knowledge representation methodologies and capable of managing different conversation features has been developed. Each module is automatically triggered through a component, named corpus callosum, that selects in real time the most adequate chatbot knowledge module to activate

Mathematical Patterns and Cognitive Architectures

Mathematical patterns are an important subclass of the class of patterns. The main task of this paper is examining a particular proposal concerning the nature of mathematical patterns and some elements of the cognitive architecture an agent should have to recognize them

A Knowledge Management and Decision Support Model for Enterprises

We propose a novel knowledge management system (KMS) for enterprises. Our system exploits two different approaches for knowledge representation and reasoning: a document-based approach based on data-driven creation of a semantic space and an ontology-based model. Furthermore, we provide an expert system capable of supporting the enterprise decisional processes and a semantic engine which performs intelligent search on the enterprise knowledge bases. The decision support process exploits the Bayesian networks model to improve business planning process when performed under uncertainty

Creativity in Conceptual Spaces

The main aim of this paper is contributing to what in the last few years has been known as computational creativity. This will be done by showing the relevance of a particular mathematical representation of G"ardenfors's conceptual spaces to the problem of modelling a phenomenon which plays a central role in producing novel and fruitful representations of perceptual patterns: analogy

Psicología ambiental y ecopsicología en edad evolutiva: aspectos cognitivos, afectivos y relacionales

Ecopsychology and environmental psychology study the individual-environment relationship, highlighting the benefits that contact with nature can produce in individuals with cognitive, affective, individual and relational benefits. The objectives of the research has set out to achieve are as follow: explore relationships and experiences that children have towards plants, natural open spaces and animals; develop a sense ofbelonging to the territory; evaluate the perception of the degree of connection to nature; assess whether contact with nature changes and facilitates learning processes, relational mode; provide a play-recreation nature space for primary school children; promote cultural paths that aim to enhance the “re-discovery” of nature; create and offerthe natural spaces where children can express feelings, emotions, needs; raising awareness of environmental issues; evaluate the sensitivity and knowledge that children have with respect to the environmental crisis; assessment of the effects that natural laboratories can have on child welfare; educational evaluation of the impact and“re-balancing” of nature.The research involved the activation of natural laboratories in the fourth and fifth years of a primary state school in Palermo, running an entire school year on a weekly basis (as an experimental group).At the end of the project, the CNS (Connectedness to Nature Scale) and NRS (Nature Relatedness Scale) were used as two research samples: the experimental group, and a smooth control group for age, gender, class. The results show a significant statistical difference between the two groups, and act as evidence of how the research has been able to validate the assumptions and achieved the set out goals.Ecopsicología y psicología ambiental estudian la relación individuo-medio ambiente, poniendo de relieve los efectos beneficiosos que el contacto con la naturaleza puede generar en los sujetos a nivel cognoscitivo, afectivo, individual y relacional.Los objetivos que la investigación se ha propuesto conseguir son: explorar las relaciones y vivencias que los niños tienen con respecto a las plantas, espacios abiertos naturales y animales; desarrollar el sentido de pertenencia al territorio; evaluar la percepción del grado de conexión con la naturaleza; evaluar si el contacto con la naturaleza modifique y facilite procesos de aprendizaje, modalidades relacionales; ofrecer un espacio lúdico recreativo-relacional naturalista a niños de escuelas primarias; favorecer recorridos culturales que apunten a la valorización y “re-descubrimiento” de la naturaleza. Crear y ofrecer los espacios naturalistas donde los niños puedan expresar vivencias, emociones, necesidades; sensibilización a la cuestión medioambiental; evaluar la sensibilidad y el conocimiento que los niños tienen con respecto a la crisis medioambiental; evaluación de los efectos que los laboratorios naturalistas tienen en el bienestar de los niños; evaluación del impacto educativo y “re-equilibrador” de la naturaleza.La investigación ha previsto la activación de laboratorios naturalistas en una cuarta y una quinta de una escuela pública primaria del municipio de Palermo, durante un año escolar con una frecuencia semanal (grupo experimental). Al final de la investigación-intervención se han suministrado la CNS (Connectedness to Nature Escalera) y la NRS (Nature Relatedness Escaleras) a las dos muestras de la investigación: el grupo experimental, y un grupo de control homogéneo por edad, sexo, clases.Los resultados muestran una significativa diferencia estadística entre los dos grupos, a prueba del hecho, la investigación-intervención ha logrado validar la hipótesis de base y perseguir los objetivos

L’immigrazione nella trasformazione dei contesti urbani: il caso siciliano, l’esigenza del recupero culturale ed il rifiuto della marginalizzazione

The issue of the immigration leads to reorganize the whole social architecture of the societies in which it occurs. Considering the urban environment as a microcosm which has a great deal of influence on global dynamics, it is right to think about the living conditions of urban citizens who live in the multicultural present societies, often suffering marginalization. As the last researches claim, the local government system is the one that could help to deal with the immigration matter in the best way and this also needs to be urgently addressed, as the “Immigration in Sicily” case study could show

a case study on the selection of promising functional starter strains from grape yeasts a report by student of food science and technology degree university of foggia southern italy

The main aim of this research, performed by some students in Food Science and Technology of Foggia University, is to show how perform the selection of a functional starter through a step-by-step procedure. Fifteen yeast strains were studied in order to assess their biotechnological traits, e.g. catalase, urease, B-glucosidase, pectolytic and xylanolytic activities, production of H2S, resistance to copper, SO2 and acetic acid, growth at different temperatures, alkaline pH, in presence of different amounts of ethanol and glucose, and some probiotic properties. After studying these abilities, yeasts were identified through the miniaturized system API 20 C AUX and two kinds of multivariate analyses (Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis) were performed to highlight the best strains.</p

Clinical and molecular description of the first Italian cohort of 33 subjects with hypophosphatasia

IntroductionHypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare genetic disease caused by inactivating variants of the ALPL gene. Few data are available on the clinical presentation in Italy and/or on Italian HPP surveys.MethodsThere were 30 suspected HPP patients recruited from different Italian tertiary cares. Biological samples and related clinical, biochemical, and anamnestic data were collected and the ALPL gene sequenced. Search for large genomic deletions at the ALPL locus (1p36) was done. Phylogenetic conservation and modeling were applied to infer the effect of the variants on the protein structure.ResultsThere were 21 ALPL variants and one large genomic deletion found in 20 out of 30 patients. Unexpectedly, NGS-driven differential diagnosis allowed uncovering three hidden additional HPP cases, for a total of 33 HPP subjects. Eight out of 24 coding variants were novel and classified as “pathogenic”, “likely pathogenic”, and “variants of uncertain significance”. Bioinformatic analysis confirmed that all the variants strongly destabilize the homodimer structure. There were 10 cases with low ALP and high VitB6 that resulted negative to genetic testing, whereas two positive cases have an unexpected normal ALP value. No association was evident with other biochemical/clinical parameters.DiscussionWe present the survey of HPP Italian patients with the highest ALPL mutation rate so far reported and confirm the complexity of a prompt recognition of the syndrome, mostly for HPP in adults. Low ALP and high VitB6 values are mandatory for the genetic screening, this latter remaining the gold standard not only to confirm the clinical diagnosis but also to make differential diagnosis, to identify carriers, to avoid likely dangerous therapy in unrecognized cases