Explanation for case-based reasoning via abstract argumentation

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is extensively used in AI in support of several applications, to assess a new situation (or case) by recollecting past situations (or cases) and employing the ones most similar to the new situation to give the assessment. In this paper we study properties of a recently proposed method for CBR, based on instantiated Abstract Argumentation and referred to as AA-CBR, for problems where cases are represented by abstract factors and (positive or negative) outcomes, and an outcome for a new case, represented by abstract factors, needs to be established. In addition, we study properties of explanations in AA-CBR and define a new notion of lean explanations that utilize solely relevant cases. Both forms of explanations can be seen as dialogical processes between a proponent and an opponent, with the burden of proof falling on the proponent

Anisotropic magnetic fluctuations in the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe studied by angle-resolved ^{59}Co NMR

We have carried out direction-dependent ^{59}Co NMR experiments on a single crystal sample of the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe in order to study the magnetic properties in the normal state. The Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate measurements provide microscopic evidence that both static and dynamic susceptibilities are ferromagnetic with strong Ising anisotropy. We discuss that superconductivity induced by these magnetic fluctuations prefers spin-triplet pairing state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The Dense Plasma Torus Around the Nucleus of an Active Galaxy NGC 1052

A subparsec-scale dense plasma torus around an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is unveiled. We report on very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations at 2.3, 8.4, and 15.4 GHz towards the active galaxy NGC 1052. The convex spectra of the double-sided jets and the nucleus imply that synchrotron emission is obscured through free--free absorption (FFA) by the foreground cold dense plasma. A trichromatic image was produced to illustrate the distribution of the FFA opacity. We found a central condensation of the plasma which covers about 0.1 pc and 0.7 pc of the approaching and receding jets, respectively. A simple explanation for the asymmetric distribution is the existence of a thick plasma torus perpendicular to the jets. We also found an ambient FFA absorber, whose density profile can be ascribed to a spherical distribution of the isothermal King model. The coexistence of torus-like and spherical distributions of the plasma suggests a transition from radial accretion to rotational accretion around the nucleus.Comment: 10 pages, to appear in Publ. Astron. Soc. Japan, vol.53, No.2 (2001

Preliminary experimental results of gas recycling subsystems except carbon dioxide concentration

Oxygen concentration and separation is an essential factor for air recycling in a controlled ecological life support system (CELSS). Furthermore, if the value of the plant assimilatory quotient is not coincident with that of the animal respiratory quotient, the recovery of oxygen from the concentrated CO2 through chemical methods will become necessary to balance the gas contents in a CELSS. Therefore, oxygen concentration and separation equipment using Salcomine and O2 recovery equipment, such as Sabatier and Bosch reactors, were experimentally developed and tested

Rotating and infalling motion around the high-mass young stellar object Cepheus A-HW2 observed with the methanol maser at 6.7 GHz

We have measured the internal proper motions of the 6.7 GHz methanol masers associated with Cepheus A (Cep A) HW2 using Very Long Baseline Interferometery (VLBI) observations. We conducted three epochs of VLBI monitoring observations of the 6.7 GHz methanol masers in Cep A-HW2 with the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN) over the period between 2006-2008. In 2006, we were able to use phase-referencing to measure the absolute coordinates of the maser emission with an accuracy of a few milliarcseconds. We compared the maser distribution with other molecular line observations that trace the rotating disk. We measured the internal proper motions for 29 methanol maser spots, of which 19 were identified at all three epochs and the remaining ten at only two epochs. The magnitude of proper motions ranged from 0.2 to 7.4 km/s, with an average of 3.1 km/s. Although there are large uncertainties in the observed internal proper motions of the methanol maser spots in Cep A, they are well fitted by a disk that includes both rotation and infall velocity components. The derived rotation and infall velocities at the disk radius of 680 au are 0.5 +- 0.7 and 1.8 +- 0.7 km/s, respectively. Assuming that the modeled disk motion accurately represents the accretion disk around the Cep A-HW2 high-mass YSO, we estimated the mass infall rate to be 3 x 10^{-4} n_8 Msun/yr (n_8 is the gas volume density in units of 10^{8} cm^{-3}). The combination of the estimated mass infall rate and the magnitude of the fitted infall velocity suggests that Cep A-HW2 is at an evolutionary phase of active gas accretion from the disk onto the central high-mass YSO. The infall momentum rate is estimated to be 5 x 10^{-4} n_8 Msun/yr km/s, which is larger than the estimated stellar radiation pressure of the HW2 object, supporting the hypothesis that this object is in an active gas accretion phase.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic