Towards unsupervised ontology learning from data

Data-driven elicitation of ontologies from structured data is a well-recognized knowledge acquisition bottleneck. The development of efficient techniques for (semi-)automating this task is therefore practically vital - yet, hindered by the lack of robust theoretical foundations. In this paper, we study the problem of learning Description Logic TBoxes from interpretations, which naturally translates to the task of ontology learning from data.In the presented framework, the learner is provided with a set of positive interpretations (i.e., logical models) of the TBox adopted by the teacher. The goal is to correctly identify the TBox given this input. We characterize the key constraints on the models that warrant finite learnability of TBoxes expressed in selected fragments of the Description Logic ε λ and define corresponding learning algorithms.This work was funded in part by the National Research Foundation under Grant no. 85482

Taking Defeasible Entailment Beyond Rational Closure

We present a systematic approach for extending the KLM framework for defeasible entailment. We first present a class of basic defeasible entailment relations, characterise it in three distinct ways and provide a high-level algorithm for computing it. This framework is then refined, with the refined version being characterised in a similar manner. We show that the two well-known forms of defeasible entailment, rational closure and lexicographic closure, fall within our refined framework, that rational closure is the most conservative of the defeasible entailment relations within the framework (with respect to subset inclusion), but that there are forms of defeasible entailment within our framework that are more “adventurous” than lexicographic closure

Crystal field states of Kondo lattice heavy fermions CeRuSn3 and CeRhSn3

Inelastic neutron scattering experiments have been carried out to determine the crystal field states of the Kondo lattice heavy fermions CeRuSn3 and CeRhSn3. Both the compounds crystallize in LaRuSn3-type cubic structure (space group Pm-3n) in which the Ce atoms occupy two distinct crystallographic sites with cubic (m-3) and tetragonal (-4m.2) point symmetries. The INS data of CeRuSn3 reveal the presence of a broad excitation centered around 6-8 meV which is accounted by a model based on crystal electric field (CEF) excitations. On the other hand, the INS data of isostructural CeRhSn3 reveal three CEF excitations around 7.0, 12.2 and 37.2 meV. The neutron intensity sum rule indicates that the Ce ions at both cubic and tetragonal Ce sites are in Ce3+ state in both CeRuSn3 and CeRhSn3. The CEF level schemes for both the compounds are deduced. We estimate the Kondo temperature T_K = 3.1(2) K for CeRuSn3 from neutron quasielastic linewidth in excellent agreement with that determined from the scaling of magnetoresistance which gives T_K = 3.2(1) K. For CeRhSn3 the neutron quasielastic linewidth gives T_K = 4.6 K. For both CeRuSn3 and CeRhSn3, the ground state of Ce3+ turns out to be a quartet for the cubic site and a doublet for the tetragonal site.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A KLM Perspective on Defeasible Reasoning for Description Logics

In this paper we present an approach to defeasible reasoning for the description logic ALC. The results discussed here are based on work done by Kraus, Lehmann and Magidor (KLM) on defeasible conditionals in the propositional case. We consider versions of a preferential semantics for two forms of defeasible subsumption, and link these semantic constructions formally to KLM-style syntactic properties via representation results. In addition to showing that the semantics is appropriate, these results pave the way for more effective decision procedures for defeasible reasoning in description logics. With the semantics of the defeasible version of ALC in place, we turn to the investigation of an appropriate form of defeasible entailment for this enriched version of ALC. This investigation includes an algorithm for the computation of a form of defeasible entailment known as rational closure in the propositional case. Importantly, the algorithm relies completely on classical entailment checks and shows that the computational complexity of reasoning over defeasible ontologies is no worse than that of the underlying classical ALC. Before concluding, we take a brief tour of some existing work on defeasible extensions of ALC that go beyond defeasible subsumption

Methodological and empirical progress and challenges in integrated assessment of agricultural systems and policies

In this contribution we first present a methodology for integrated assessment of agricultural systems (SEAMLESS Integrated Framework), illustrate its application in an integrated assessment of high commodity prices and then discuss its flexibility and limitations. From there we take a broader view and reflect on key scientific and empirical questions with respect to the development of research tools for the integrated assessment of agricultural systems.agricultural systems, integrated assessment, modelling, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,

Physical properties of noncentrosymmetric superconductor LaIrSi3: A {\mu}SR study

The results of heat capacity C_p(T, H) and electrical resistivity \rho(T,H) measurements down to 0.35 K as well as muon spin relaxation and rotation (\muSR) measurements on a noncentrosymmetric superconductor LaIrSi3 are presented. Powder neutron diffraction confirmed the reported noncentrosymmetric body-centered tetragonal BaNiSn3-type structure (space group I4\,mm) of LaIrSi3. The bulk superconductivity is observed below T_c = 0.72(1) K. The intrinsic \Delta C_e/\gamma_n T_c = 1.09(3) is significantly smaller than the BCS value of 1.43, and this reduction is accounted by the \alpha-model of BCS superconductivity. The analysis of the superconducting state C_e(T) data by the single-band \alpha-model indicates a moderately anisotropic order parameter with the s-wave gap \Delta(0)/k_B T_c = 1.54(2) which is lower than the BCS value of 1.764. Our estimates of various normal and superconducting state parameters indicate a weakly coupled electron-phonon driven type-I s-wave superconductivity in LaIrSi3. The \muSR results also confirm the conventional type-I superconductivity in LaIrSi3 with a preserved time reversal symmetry and hence a singlet pairing superconducting ground state.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Language Processing but Does Not Facilitate Overt Second Language Word Production.

Word retrieval in bilingual speakers partly depends on executive control systems in the left prefrontal cortex - including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We tested the hypothesis that DLPFC modulates word production of words specifically in a second language (L2) by measuring the effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (anodal-tDCS) over the DLPFC on picture naming and word translation and on event-related potentials (ERPs) and their sources. Twenty-six bilingual participants with "unbalanced" proficiency in two languages were given 20 min of 1.5 mA anodal or sham tDCS (double-blind stimulation design, counterbalanced stimulation order, 1-week intersession delay). The participants then performed the following tasks: verbal and non-verbal fluency during anodal-tDCS stimulation and first and second language (L1 and L2) picture naming and translation [forward (L1 → L2) and backward (L2 → L1)] immediately after stimulation. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded during picture naming and translation. On the behavioral level, anodal-tDCS had an influence on non-verbal fluency but neither on verbal fluency, nor on picture naming and translation. EEG measures revealed significant interactions between Language and Stimulation on picture naming around 380 ms post-stimulus onset and Translation direction and Stimulation on translation around 530 ms post-stimulus onset. These effects suggest that L2 phonological retrieval and phoneme encoding are spatially and temporally segregated in the brain. We conclude that anodal-tDCS stimulation has an effect at a neural level on phonological processes and, critically, that DLPFC-mediated activation is a constraint on language production specifically in L2

Phytoplankton communities and acclimation in a cyclonic eddy in the southwest Indian Ocean

A study of phytoplankton in a cyclonic eddy was undertaken in the Mozambique Basin between Madagascar and southern Africa during austral winter. CHEMTAX analysis of pigment data indicated that the community comprised mainly haptophytes and diatoms, with Prochlorococcus, prasinophytes and pelagophytes also being prominent to the east and west of the eddy. There was little difference in community structure, chlorophyll-specific absorption [a*ph(440)] and pigment:TChla ratios between the surface and the sub-surface chlorophyll maximum (SCM), reflecting acclimation to fluctuating light conditions in a well mixed upper layer. Values for a*ph(440) were low for diatom dominance, high where prokaryote proportion was high, and intermediate for flagellate dominated communities. Chlorophyll c and fucoxanthin:TChla ratios were elevated over most of the eddy, while 19′-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin ratios increased in the eastern and western sectors. In a community comprising mainly flagellates and Prochlorococcus to the west of the eddy, there was high a*ph(440) at the surface and elevated ratios for divinyl chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and 19′-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin at the SCM. An increase in diadinoxanthin:TChla ratios and a decline in the quantum efficiency of photochemistry in PSII under high light conditions, indicated some photoprotection and photoinhibition at the surface even in a well mixed environment. Diadinoxanthin was the main photoprotective carotenoid within the eddy, while zeaxanthin was the dominant photoprotective pigment outside the eddy. The results of this study will be useful inputs into appropriate remote sensing models for estimating primary production and the size class distribution of phytoplankton in eddies in the southwest Indian Ocean

The flavor symmetry in the standard model and the triality symmetry

A Dirac fermion is expressed by a 4 component spinor which is a combination of two quaternions and which can be treated as an octonion. The octonion possesses the triality symmetry, which defines symmetry of fermion spinors and bosonic vector fields. The triality symmetry relates three sets of spinors and two sets of vectors, which are transformed among themselves via transformations $G_{23}, G_{12}, G_{13}$, $G_{123}$ and $G_{132}$. If the electromagnetic (EM) interaction is sensitive to the triality symmetry, i.e. EM probe selects one triality sector, EM signals from the 5 transformed world would not be detected, and be treated as the dark matter. According to an astrophysical measurement, the ratio of the dark to ordinary matter in the universe as a whole is almost exactly 5. We expect quarks are insensitive to the triality, and triality will appear as three times larger flavor degrees of freedom in the lattice simulation.Comment: 16 pages 8 figures, To be published in International Journal of Modern Physics