Revisiting Explicit Negation in Answer Set Programming

[Abstract] A common feature in Answer Set Programming is the use of a second negation, stronger than default negation and sometimes called explicit, strong or classical negation. This explicit negation is normally used in front of atoms, rather than allowing its use as a regular operator. In this paper we consider the arbitrary combination of explicit negation with nested expressions, as those defined by Lifschitz, Tang and Turner. We extend the concept of reduct for this new syntax and then prove that it can be captured by an extension of Equilibrium Logic with this second negation. We study some properties of this variant and compare to the already known combination of Equilibrium Logic with Nelson’s strong negation.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TIC2017-84453-PXunta de Galicia; GPC ED431B 2019/03Xunta de Galicia; 2016-2019 ED431G/01, CITICCentre International de Math´ematiques et d’Informatique de Toulouse; ANR-11-LABEX-004

A Polynomial Reduction of Forks Into Logic Programs

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] In this research note we present additional results for an earlier published paper [1]. There, we studied the problem of projective strong equivalence (PSE) of logic programs, that is, checking whether two logic programs (or propositional formulas) have the same behaviour (under the stable model semantics) regardless of a common context and ignoring the effect of local auxiliary atoms. PSE is related to another problem called strongly persistent forgetting that consists in keeping a program’s behaviour after removing its auxiliary atoms, something that is known to be not always possible in Answer Set Programming. In [1], we introduced a new connective ‘|’ called fork and proved that, in this extended language, it is always possible to forget auxiliary atoms, but at the price of obtaining a result containing forks. We also proved that forks can be translated back to logic programs introducing new hidden auxiliary atoms, but this translation was exponential in the worst case. In this note we provide a new polynomial translation of arbitrary forks into regular programs that allows us to prove that brave and cautious reasoning with forks has the same complexity as that of ordinary (disjunctive) logic programs and paves the way for an efficient implementation of forks. To this aim, we rely on a pair of new PSE invariance properties.We wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful suggestions that have helped to improve the paper. This work was partially supported by MICINN, Spain, grant PID2020-116201GB-I00, Xunta de Galicia, Spain, grant GPC ED431B 2019/03, Universidade da Coruña/CISUG, Spain, (funding for open access charge) and National Science Foundation, USA, grant NSF Nebraska EPSCoR 95-3101-0060-402Xunta de Galicia; ED431B 2019/03USA. National Science Foundation; EPSCoR 95-3101-0060-40

Forgetting Auxiliary Atoms in Forks

©2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/. This version of the article has been accepted for publication in Artificial Intelligence. The Version of Record is available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artint.2019.07.005Versión final aceptada de: F. Aguado, P. Cabalar, J. Fandinno, D. Pearce, G. Pérez, and, C. Vidal, "Forgetting Auxiliary Atoms in Forks", Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 275, pp. 575-601, Oct. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.artint.2019.07.005[Abstract]: In this work we tackle the problem of checking strong equivalence of logic programs that may contain local auxiliary atoms, to be removed from their stable models and to be forbidden in any external context. We call this property projective strong equivalence (PSE). It has been recently proved that not any logic program containing auxiliary atoms can be reformulated, under PSE, as another logic program or formula without them – this is known as strongly persistent forgetting. In this paper, we introduce a conservative extension of Equilibrium Logic and its monotonic basis, the logic of Here-and-There, in which we deal with a new connective ‘|’ we call fork. We provide a semantic characterisation of PSE for forks and use it to show that, in this extension, it is always possible to forget auxiliary atoms under strong persistence. We further define when the obtained fork is representable as a regular formula.We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers of the Artificial Intelligence Journal, and previously, to the reviewers of the workshop ASPOCP'17, for their comments and suggestions that have helped improve the paper substantially. This work has been partially supported by MINECO (grant TIN2017-84453-P) and Xunta de Galicia (grants GPC ED431B 2019/03 and 2016-2019 ED431G/01 for CITIC center), Spain; by the Salvador de Madariaga programme, Spain; by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); and by the Centre International de Mathématiques et d'Informatique de Toulouse (CIMI) through contract ANR-11-LABEX-0040-CIMI within the programme ANR-11-IDEX-0002-02.Xunta de Galicia; ED431B 2019/03Xunta de Galicia; 2016-2019 ED431G/0

The mRNA degradation factor Xrn1 regulates transcription elongation in parallel to Ccr4

Co-transcriptional imprinting of mRNA by Rpb4 and Rpb7 subunits of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and by the Ccr4–Not complex conditions its posttranscriptional fate. In turn, mRNA degradation factors like Xrn1 are able to influence RNAPII-dependent transcription, making a feedback loop that contributes to mRNA homeostasis. In this work, we have used repressible yeast GAL genes to perform accurate measurements of transcription and mRNA degradation in a set of mutants. This genetic analysis uncovered a link from mRNA decay to transcription elongation. We combined this experimental approach with computational multi-agent modelling and tested different possibilities of Xrn1 and Ccr4 action in gene transcription. This double strategy brought us to conclude that both Xrn1-decaysome and Ccr4–Not regulate RNAPII elongation, and that they do it in parallel. We validated this conclusion measuring TFIIS genome-wide recruitment to elongating RNAPII. We found that xrn1Δ and ccr4Δ exhibited very different patterns of TFIIS versus RNAPII occupancy, which confirmed their distinct role in controlling transcription elongation. We also found that the relative influence of Xrn1 and Ccr4 is different in the genes encoding ribosomal proteins as compared to the rest of the genome

Reversibility of the zinc-blende to rock-salt phase transition in cadmium sulfide nanocrystals

CdS nanoparticles prepared by a mechanochemical reaction in a planetary ball mill have been investigated by x-ray diffraction, optical absorption, and Raman scattering under high pressure conditions up to 11 GPa. The zinc-blende (ZB) to rock-salt phase transition is observed around 6 GPa in all experiments, the transition pressure being similar to the one measured in CdS colloidal nanocrystals, and much higher than in bulk (around 3 GPa). The direct optical energy gap in ZB-CdS increases with pressure, and suddenly drops when the pressure is raised above 6 GPa, according to the high-pressure indirect-gap behavior. A linear blue-shift of the CdS Raman spectra is observed upon increasing pressure. Both Raman and x-ray diffraction studies indicate that the phase transition has a large hysteresis, making the ZB phase barely recoverable at ambient conditions. Cell parameters and bulk modulus measured in CdS nanoparticles clearly show that the nanoparticles at ambient conditions are subject to an initial pressure in comparison to CdS bulk.This work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Projects MAT2008-06873-C02-01/MAT, MAT2011-28868-C02-01 and CTQ2009-14596-C02-01), the Comunidad de Madrid and European Social Fund (Project S2009/PPQ-1551 4161893 (QUIMAPRES)), and the MALTA-Consolider Ingenio 2010 (Reference CSD2007-00045). R.M.-R. thanks the Spanish MEC for a FPI research grant (Reference BES-2006-13359). The expert assistance of L. Rodríguez at the SERTEM is gratefully acknowledged

Familias y Docentes: garantes del aprendizaje durante el confinamiento = Families and teachers: guarantees of learning during confinement

p. 353-370El cierre de los centros educativos en España ha supuesto una adaptación inmediata sobre la forma de garantizar el aprendizaje. Los docentes han tenido que adaptarse de manera inmediata a un entorno digital de enseñanza y las familias han debido de atender con garantías a las tareas virtuales de sus hijos. El presente estudio tiene dos objetivos: a) analizar las variables relativas a la relación existente entre la familia, los centros educativos y los docentes, así como sus problemas para apoyar a los alumnos; b) analizar el efecto que tiene el modelo de enseñanza empleado por el docente en el seguimiento de la enseñanza virtual. Se ha utilizado una metodología cuantitativa con un diseño ex post facto descriptivo por encuesta, en el que han participado 3700 docentes y 5867 familias de todo el territorio español. Las principales dificultades se han encontrado en la falta de apoyo por parte de la administración y en la formación en competencia digital del profesorado. También ha quedado de manifiesto la necesidad de trabajar la autonomía y la autorregulación de los estudiantes y además existieron deferencias significativas en función del modelo de enseñanza (centrado en contenido versus en competencia) de los docentes.S

An Ex Vivo Model in Human Femoral Heads for Histopathological Study and Resonance Frequency Analysis of Dental Implant Primary Stability

Objective. This study was designed to explore relationships of resonance frequency analysis (RFA)—assessed implant stability (ISQ values) with bone morphometric parameters and bone quality in an ex vivo model of dental implants placed in human femoral heads and to evaluate the usefulness of this model for dental implant studies. Material and Methods. This ex vivo study included femoral heads from 17 patients undergoing surgery for femoral neck fracture due to osteoporosis (OP) ( ) or for total prosthesis joint replacement due to severe hip osteoarthrosis (OA) ( ). Sixty  mm Dentsply Astra implants were placed, followed by RFA. CD44 immunohistochemical analysis for osteocytes was also carried out. Results. As expected, the analysis yielded significant effects of femoral head type (OA versus OA) ( ), but not of the implants ( ) or of the interaction of the two factors ( ). Bonferroni post hoc comparisons showed a lower mean ISQ for implants in decalcified ( ) heads than in fresh ( ) or fixated ( ) heads (both ). The ISQ score (fresh) was significantly higher for those in OA ( ) versus OP ( ) heads. However, mixed linear analysis showed no significant association between ISQ scores and morphologic or histomorphometric results ( in all cases), and no significant differences in ISQ values were found as a function of the length or area of the cortical layer (both ). Conclusion. Although RFA-determined ISQ values are not correlated with morphometric parameters, they can discriminate bone quality (OP versus OA). This ex vivo model is useful for dental implant studies.This investigation was partially supported by Research Group no. CTS-138 (Junta de Andalucía, Spain)

11ª Reunión Española de Optoelectrónica, OPTOEL’19

Producción CientíficaPassive Optical Networks (PONs) are the most deployed network infrastructure in the access segment. Indeed, the number of Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) subscribers in Europe increased with more than 59.6 million in September 2018. On the other hand, the automation of the PON configuration to lead to better control of the network management may provide many advantages to exploit the PON capabilities, for example to facilitate the integration of Software Defined Networking (SDN) strategies in this networks. Indeed, SDN may improve the network efficiency of networks regarding scalability, management and Quality of Service (QoS) performance. Therefore, we propose a network automation system in Python to control and configure a SDN-GPON solution implemented over a real GPON testbed.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (project TEC2017-84423-C3-1-P