Towards the implementation of a preference-and uncertain-aware solver using answer set programming

Logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction (or LPPODs) are a recently defined logic-programming framework based on logic programs with ordered disjunction and possibilistic logic. The framework inherits the properties of such formalisms and merging them, it supports a reasoning which is nonmonotonic, preference-and uncertain-aware. The LPPODs syntax allows to specify 1) preferences in a qualitative way, and 2) necessity values about the certainty of program clauses. As a result at semantic level, preferences and necessity values can be used to specify an order among program solutions. This class of program therefore fits well in the representation of decision problems where a best option has to be chosen taking into account both preferences and necessity measures about information. In this paper we study the computation and the complexity of the LPPODs semantics and we describe the algorithm for its implementation following on Answer Set Programming approach. We describe some decision scenarios where the solver can be used to choose the best solutions by checking whether an outcome is possibilistically preferred over another considering preferences and uncertainty at the same time.Postprint (published version

Creating agent platforms to host agent-mediated services that share resources

After a period where the Internet was exclusively filled with content, the present efforts are moving towards services, which handle the raw information to create value from it. Therefore labors to create a wide collection of agent-based services are being perfomed in several projects, such as Agentcities does. In this work we present an architecture for agent platforms named a-Buildings. The aim of the proposed architecture is to ease the creation, installation, search and management of agent-mediated services and the share of resources among services. To do so the a-Buildings architecture creates a new level of abstraction on top of the standard FIPA agent platform specification. Basically, an a-Building is a service-oriented platform which offers a set of low level services to the agents it hosts. We define low level services as those required services that are neccesary to create more complex high level composed services.Postprint (published version

Protección de datos médicos e Internet

This report presents a discussion of the adventages electronic clinical data gives, not only to the medical staff (helping them to get more accurate data about their patients) but also to the patient (receiving a better medical care). Then we present a study of the current spanish and european laws that rule about protection of medical data. Finally we present the characteristics a distributed information system managing and storing medical data should have, and the security measures to be taken if such a system is connected to a public network such as Internet.Postprint (published version

UCTx: a multi-agent system to assist a transplant coordination unit

We present a system called UCTx, designed to model and automate some of the tasks performed by a Transplant Coordination Unit (UCTx) inside a Hospital. The aim of this work is to show how a multi-agent approach allows us to describe and implement the model, and how UCTx is capable of dealing with another multi-agent (Carrel, an Agent Mediated Institution for the exchange of Human Tissues among Hospitals for Transplantation) in order to meet its own goals, acting as the representative of the hospital in the negotiation. As an example we introduce the use of this Agency in the case of Cornea Transplantation.Postprint (published version

Extending the Carrel system to mediate in the organ and tissue allocation processes: a first approach

In this paper we extend the formalization of Carrel, a virtual organization for the procurement of tissues for transplantation purposes, in order to model also the procurement of human organs for transplants. We will focus in the organ allocation process to show how it can be formalized with the ISLANDER formalism. Also we present a first mechanism to federate the institution in several geographically-distributed platforms.Postprint (published version

A preference meta-model for logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction

This paper presents an approach for specifying user preferences related to services by means of a preference meta-model, which is mapped to logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction following a Model-Driven Methodology (MDM). MDM allows to specify problem domains by means of meta-models which can be converted to instance models or other meta-models through transformation functions. In particular we propose a preference meta-model that defines an abstract preference specification language allowing users to specify preferences in a more friendly way using models. We also present a meta-model for logic programs with possibilistic order disjunction. Then we show how we conceptually map the preference meta-model to logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction by means of a mapping function.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

USE: a concept-based recommendation system to support creative search

Semiotics is a field on which research in Computer Science methodologies has focused, mainly concerning Syntax and Semantics. These methodologies, however, are lacking some flexibility for the continuously evolving web community, in which the knowledge is classified with tags rather than with ontologies. In this paper we propose a system for the recommendation of tagged pictures obtained from the Web. The system, driven by user feedback, executes an abductive reasoning (based on WordNet synset semantic relations) that is able to iteratively lead to new concepts which progressively represent the cognitive creative user state.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Word sense ranking based on semantic similarity and graph entropy

In this paper we propose a system for the recommendation of tagged pictures obtained from the Web. The system, driven by user feedback, executes an abductive reasoning (based on WordNet synset semantic relations) that is able to iteratively lead to new concepts which progressively represent the cognitive creative user state. Furthermore we design a selection mechanism to pick the most relevant abductive inferences by mixing a topological graph analysis together with a semantic similitude measure.Preprin

Norms, organisations and semantic web services: The ALIVE approach

ALIVE is an EU FP7 STREP whose goal is the convergence of organisational and normative modelling with and service-oriented architectures (SOAs) using model-driven software engineering. The project provides a framework for designing and implementing systems, taking into account organisational, coordination and service perspectives. A key project aspect is the integration of normative systems with live SOAs, through the distributed monitoring of normative state. Here we give a brief overview of the project, explore of the domain from a service context, outline the architecture under construction and sketch the use-cases that illustrate and inform the project.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Towards a goal-oriented agent-based simulation framework for high-performance computing

Currently, agent-based simulation frameworks force the user to choose between simulations involving a large number of agents (at the expense of limited agent reasoning capability) or simulations including agents with increased reasoning capabilities (at the expense of a limited number of agents per simulation). This paper describes a first attempt at putting goal-oriented agents into large agentbased (micro-)simulations. We discuss a model for goal-oriented agents in HighPerformance Computing (HPC) and then briefly discuss its implementation in PyCOMPSs (a library that eases the parallelisation of tasks) to build such a platform that benefits from a large number of agents with the capacity to execute complex cognitive agents.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft