bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Which EU Country Contributes Most to GHG Emissions in the LULUCF Sector Relative to Population and GDP?
Authors: Kostevica Valerija , Blumberga Dagnija
Published: October 2024

In pursuit of climate neutrality, EU nations must collectively address the problem of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants, which necessitates equitable economic strategies. However, the heterogeneous economic, social, and geographical profiles present hurdles in enacting a cohesive policy framework and realizing shared goals. Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector play a crucial role in achieving the EU 2050 climate neutrality goal, as LULUCF is both a source and a sink for GHG emissions, it provides products like wood and biomass that help to reduce emissions in other sectors. This paper aims to compare GHG emissions of different EU countries by using targeted indicators related to per capita and to GDP per capita to enhance the analysis. The results reveal substantial differences in emissions in relation to population and GDP per capita between selected EU countries, even among countries with similar profiles, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Notably, countries with lower GDP per capita and smaller population tend to have higher emission values, suggesting less efficiency in managing land use and forestry. The study highlights the need for multi-year data analysis to identify trends in emissions and removals within the LULUCF sector, considering the impacts of natural disasters and economic activities such as bark beetle outbreak or wood harvesting.
Diallel crosses in Picea abies VI. Genetic variation in early reproduction in three young Norway spruce progeny trials
Authors: Skrøppa Tore , Solvin Thomas Mørtvedt , Steffenrem Arne
Published: October 2024

Female flowering and cone production took place in three Norway spruce progeny tests at ages 17 and 20 years, each planted with full-sib families from a half diallel. The number of cones on individual trees were scored in five classes. More than 50 % of the trees produced cones, and a considerable variation was found among families for the ability to produce cones (precocity) and for the number of clones scored in classes (fruitfulness). Both traits were strongly related to tree heights and diameters at the individual and at the family level. In general, tall trees produced the highest number of cones. However, some families produced many cones even if their average heights were low. In two of the half diallels, estimates of GCA variance components for the number of cones produced had twice the value of the SCA component, indicating additive genetic inheritance of cone production. Heritability estimates of cone scores were 0.10, 0.17 and 0.23, and the genetic correlations between cone production and tree heights were 0.40, 0.50 and 0.35 in the tree half-diallels, respectively.
Updated Resistensi Antibiotik: Dari Pre Klinik Hingga Aplikasi Klinik Tenaga Kesehatan
Authors: Syahniar Rike , Nabila Audia Nizhma , Januarrifianto Desy , Mardhia Mardhia , Lusida Nurmalia , Farida Inas
Published: October 2024

Penyalahgunaan dan penggunaan antibiotik yang berlebihan menyebabkan meningkatnya prevalensi resistensi antibiotik. Dokter, perawat, bidan, dan tenaga kefarmasian berperan penting dalam memberikan informasi dan edukasi penggunaan antibiotik kepada masyarakat. Tujuan kegiatan ini adalah untuk memberikan edukasi mengenai penggunaan dan resistensi antibiotik. Kegiatan dimulai dengan memberikan pre-test kepada partisipan, dilanjutkan dengan penyampaian materi mengenai update resistensi antibiotik oleh narasumber dan kemudian diberikan post-test. Hasil uji wilcoxon, diketahui p-value = 0,000 < 0,05, serta ada kenaikan nilai mean pre test sebesar 68.44 menjadi 82.34 pada post test. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa ada pengaruh edukasi terhadap peningkatan pengetahuan peserta mengenai resistensi antibiotik.
Edukasi Tentang Dampak Perilaku Merokok Pada Kesehatan Remaja di MTs Negeri 38 Rorotan Jakarta Utara
Authors: Nurmawaty Dwi , Idris Irdanuraprida
Published: October 2024

Tingkat prevalensi perokok aktif di kalangan remaja usia 5-19 tahun naik dari sebesar 10,54% pada tahun 2019 menjadi sebesar 10,61% pada tahun 2020. Berdasarkan data Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) pada tahun 2023, diketahui bahwa jumlah penduduk di Indonesia yang menjadi perokok di usia 15 tahun ke atas adalah sebesar 28,62%. Angka ini meningkat 0,36% poin dari tahun sebelumnya adalah 28,26%. Sementara berdasarkan jenis kelaminnya, persentase perokok laki-laki adalah mencapai sebanyak 56,36%. Kegiatan penyuluhan kesehatan dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode ceramah dengan alat bantu aplikasi Canva dan leaflet. Berdasarkan hasil pre-test dan post-test dari sejumlah 32 siswa didapatkan hasil adanya peningkatan dari tingkat pengetahuan para siswa mengenai dampak negatif dari perilaku merokok dengan nilai 9,4% - 68,7%. Adanya kegiatan penyuluhan ini diharapkan dapat memberikan pemahaman dan pengetahuan yang lebih baik kepada para siswa terkait dampak perilaku merokok sehingga siswa tidak berperilaku merokok.
Edukasi Pencegahan dan Tatalaksana MRSA pada Tenaga Kesehatan
Authors: Syahniar Rike , Farsida Farsida , Setyani Reny Luhur , Malayanti Malayanti , Siswanti Retno Tri , Asmawati Wa Ode , Farida Inas
Published: October 2024

Hasil surveilans nasional pada delapan rumah sakit rujukan utama, menunjukkan bahwa permasalahan MRSA ini sangat tinggi. Prevalensi infeksi akibat MRSA menunjukkan rentang antara 25%-65% dengan rata-rata nasional adalah 38%. Maka penting adanya edukasi mengenai pencegahan penularan dan tatalaksana MRSA pada tenaga kesehatan. Rumah sakit perlu memastikan bahwa mampu mencegah penularan penyakit di dalam dan dari rumah sakit. Tujuan pengabdian ini memberikan edukasi pencegahan dan tatalaksana MRSA pada tenaga kesehatan. Hasil pengabdian masyarakat menunjukkan bahwa dari 196 responden yang diberikan edukasi, 83,16% memiliki tingkat pengetahuan pada kategori baik, 11,22% masuk dalam kategori pengetahuan cukup dan 5,61% dalam kategori kurang. Simpulan yaitu sebagian besar tenaga kesehatan memiliki tingkat pengetahuan yang baik setelah diberikan edukasi mengenai mengenai pencegahan penularan dan tatalaksana MRSA pada tenaga kesehatan.
An Extra-Curricular Challenge Co-Developed with Industry: A Learning-Focused Hackathon
Authors: Rennick Chris , Rajendran Vidyasagar , Ifeanyi Silas
Published: October 2024

There are numerous strategies to include industrial perspectives in undergraduate education, however, it is challenging to provide students with high-fidelity industrial experiences in a classroom setting. These industrial perspectives are very valuable to students’ education as the problems faced in the real-world are often multi-disciplinary and ill-structured. This paper describes an extracurricular event co-organized by an automotive manufacturer and a Canadian university that aimed to bring an industrial problem to students in a setting where they could learn and practice their engineering skills. The challenge was a software-driven task with testing done on real hardware in real time. Optional training at the start of the event helped to ease the learning curve and ensured that students were able to achieve some level of success. While the activity ultimately looked similar to a hackathon, the structure of the event, and the lack of competition between teams created a low-stakes learning environment where attendees of all skill levels could thrive. Feedback from students and the industrial partner was positive, with several students commenting on how this event changed their perspective on work in the automotive sector.
Assessing the Gaps between Alberta K-12 Competency Development and University of Alberta Engineering Introductory-level Graduate Attribute Indicators
Authors: Yu Shuai , Carey Jason
Published: October 2024

Canadian engineering education is in high demand for students. The University of Alberta (U of A) internal surveys have shown that the first year of engineering program is often the most challenging due to the greater expectations of knowledge and skills, different learning environments, and higher requirements of independent study skills compared to high school. Hence, high school graduates should be equipped with the competencies and knowledge to be more prepared for their first-year engineering studies, which is critical to their success. Therefore, this paper aims first to explore the engineering-specific high school competencies to enter the Faculty of Engineering, U of A. Further, it seeks to identify the gaps between these competencies and the introductory-level graduate attributes (GAs) in the U of A engineering programs. Using a document analysis method, we compared the ENGG introductory-level GAs with the learning outcomes of high school required courses. The findings indicate that high school courses prepare students for first-year engineering courses in terms of knowledge-based and other competencies. However, despite the alignment, gaps also exist in terms of life-long learning, professionalism, ethics and equity, economics and project management that need to be addressed by the program’s first year. Having these skills developed would better prepare students for the first year of engineering and should be a focus of first-year engineering programs.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM TEACHING SYSTEM THINKING TO ENGINEERING STUDENTS
Authors: Azad Amin , Moore Emily
Published: October 2024

The primary focus of Engineering Education programs has been to train engineers in various aspects of problem-solving techniques. However, there have been concerns about the types of problems engineering students are exposed to. Most engineering programs train students on solving routine problems, with extension to originative problems in design courses. However, highly complex or “wicked problems” are more rarely explored at the undergraduate level in spite of the fact that they are some of the most important problems faced in society. Systems Thinking has been suggested as a promising approach to addressing wicked problems. We have designed a course in Systems Thinking at the University of Toronto targeted toward students from all disciplines of engineering. The objective of this course is to encourage students to explore the inherent ambiguity of complex problems while introducing them to tools and approaches to visualize their problem space. This paper evaluates the learning experience of students in the first iteration of this course, through a series of analyses performed on their coursework, personal reflections, and interviews. It was hypothesized that teaching Systems Thinking to engineering students would increase their awareness of the problem space, push them to learn about other disciplines outside of engineering, and increase their ability to visualize the elements in the problem. Our results suggest ways in which Systems Thinking has helped engineering students in their problem solving abilities and looks at the specific skills in which engineering students have significantly improved.
Incorporating Engineering Skills Training in Engineering Programs
Authors: Juraschka Ashley , Rennick Chris , Milne Andrew
Published: October 2024

In recent years, shop training in Canadian public schools has declined. Coupled with the steadily decreasing cost of/increased exposure to new manufacturing techniques, many novice engineering students do not know/appreciate the role of machining in design and manufacturing. This deficit in understanding of manufacturing processes, their abilities and deficiencies, and their role in design is a significant weakness. A short duration activity was created to introduce students to various operations on lathes, mills, and drill presses through the manufacturing of a small keychain. During each session, a pair of students entered the machine shop every 10 minutes and moved through the machining processes with their keychain blanks assembly-line style. Feedback was collected from both student participants, and TA supervisors to inform continuous improvement of the activity. Results indicate that students perception of skill as well as their comfort level on the lathe, mill and drill press all increased. Results also demonstrate that there is an increase in student interest in machining after the completion of the keychain activity. Response from TAs indicated that while supervising the activity was a significant burden on them, overall it was worth it for the student participants.
Un manuel pédagogique de travaux pratiques en commande moderne.
Authors: Ghodbane Azeddine , Bensoussan David
Published: October 2024

La commande moderne a pris un essor considérable dans les années 70, notamment du fait qu’elle s’adaptait à des calculs matriciels traités par ordinateur. Toutefois, le domaine a été élaboré par les spécialistes de l’algèbre linéaire. De ce fait, la connexion des résultats obtenus avec la commande classique, plus intuitive, n’a pas toujours été mise en évidence. Le manuel de travaux pratiques (TP) récemment rédigé aborde le sujet avec un grand nombre d’exemples traités de façon analytique (solutions continues et discrètes) et par des logiciels de simulation Matlab/Simulink/GeoGebra. Des méthodes de simulation novatrices y sont exposées qui permettent de concevoir efficacement les paramètres de la compensation stabilisatrice. Ce manuel suit le plan de l’ouvrage : Commande moderne - une approche analogique et numérique [1]. [1] Commande moderne : une approche analogique et numérique (David Bensoussan, Éditions internationales de polytechnique). 2008, Latest Edition. Abstract-- Modern control gained considerable momentum in the 1970s, especially as it adapted to computer-processed matrix calculations. However, the field was developed by specialists in linear algebra. As a result, the connection of the results with the more intuitive classical control was not always highlighted. The recently written Manual of solved problems in Control addresses the subject with a large number of examples treated analytically (continuous and discrete solutions) and with Matlab/Simulink/GeoGebra simulation software. Innovative simulation methods are presented that allow efficient design of stabilizing compensation parameters. This manual follows the outline of the book: Modern control - an analog and digital approach [1]. [1] Modern Control: An Analog and Digital Approach (David Bensoussan, Éditions internationales de polytechnique). 2008, Latest Edition.
Increasing confidence and preparedness in incoming engineering students through a Summer Bridge Program
Authors: Caballero Daniela , Leung Vincent
Published: October 2024

The transition from high school to postsecondary studies entails many challenges for students. Thus, postsecondary institutions have developed Summer Bridge Programs (SBP) to support students in this transition by improving academic and psychosocial preparedness while boosting general confidence and attitude toward the university or college. The EMBER program in the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University aims to help students entering Engineering programs succeed academically and socially. The program is divided into three parts: self-paced online learning modules, synchronous online tutorials, and four-day in-person workshops. This paper explores students’ experiences and self-reported levels of confidence and preparedness. Three anonymous surveys were administered to students participating in EMBER. The initial results show that students’ self-reported confidence and preparedness levels increased after attending EMBER. Most students valued all parts of the experience. Future research will focus on assessing the extent to which the EMBER program improves academic outcomes.
Experiences of Engineering Education Research Faculty Members in Canada: A Collaborative Autoethnography
Authors: Hladik Stephanie , Zacharias Kari , Seniuk Cicek Jillian
Published: October 2024

As Engineering Education Research (EER) capacity has grown in Canada, tensions have emerged including negotiating legitimacy and the struggle to find space in institutions. In Canada, these tensions have been examined through the perspectives of graduate students studying EER, however, the experiences of new faculty members in EER-specific roles in our region are under-researched. In this paper, we examine our experiences as pre-tenure faculty members in EER-specific roles using collaborative authoethnography. Through a series of reflective prompts and iterative discussions, we address the question of how early-career EER faculty negotiate building an academic “home.” Our findings highlight how our senses of belonging in our academic unit, our engineering faculty, and the wider EER national community are mediated by our abilities to take on engineering identities. This research can help other individuals and faculties understand what supports can help us survive and thrive in Canadian academic contexts.
Conditional Splittings of Belief Bases and Nonmonotonic Inference with c-Representations
Authors: Beierle Christoph , Spiegel Lars-Phillip , Haldimann Jonas , Wilhelm Marco , Heyninck Jesse , Kern-Isberner Gabriele
Published: October 2024

The concept of conditional syntax splitting for inductive inference

from conditional belief bases has been proposed as

a generalization of syntax splitting which also covers cases

where the conditionals in the subbases share some atoms.

p-Entailment and system Z fail to satisfy conditional syntax

splitting, and up to now, only two inductive inference

operators, lexicographic inference and system W, have been

shown to satisfy this property. In this paper, we introduce

the concept of conditional semantic splitting. We show that

c-representations satisfy a core postulate relating conditional

splittings on the syntax and the semantic level. Based on these

findings, we investigate conditional syntax splitting for

nonmonotonic inference with c-representations. Regarding single

c-representations, we utilize the concept of selection strategies,

and show that a straightforward property of the selection

strategy leads to inference operators satisfying conditional

syntax splittings. Furthermore, we show that c-inference taking

all c-representations of a belief base into account also

fully complies with conditional syntax splitting.
Capturing Non-flat Assumption-based Argumentation with Bipolar SETAFs
Authors: Berthold Matti , Rapberger Anna , Ulbricht Markus
Published: October 2024

While the flat fragment of assumption-based argumentation (ABA) is widely studied in the literature, the general, non-flat case has mostly been neglected so far. Until recently, there was no possible way to instantiate non-flat ABA in terms of an abstract argumentation framework. While this gap has been closed for complete-based ABA semantics, capturing admissible-based semantics cannot yet be achieved by looking at the relation between the instantiated arguments only; it requires augmenting arguments with their premises, hence being a semi-abstract instantiaiton. In this paper, we provide a compact and fully abstract instantiation by making use of both collective attack and support relations. Then, inspired by fundamental properties of abstract formalisms, we identify flaws of native ABA semantics in the non-flat case and provide refinements thereof, utilizing our novel instatiation.
Abductive Reasoning in a Paraconsistent Framework
Authors: Bienvenu Meghyn , Inoue Katsumi , Kozhemiachenko Daniil
Published: October 2024

We explore the problem of explaining observations starting from a classically inconsistent theory by adopting a paraconsistent framework. We consider two expansions of the well-known Belnap-Dunn paraconsistent four-valued logic BD: BD-circ introduces formulas of the form circ phi (‘the information about phi is reliable’), while BD-triangle augments the language with formulas triangle phi (‘there is information that phi is true’). We define and motivate the notions of abduction problems and explanations in BD-circ and BD-triangle and show that they are not reducible to one another. We analyse the complexity of standard abductive reasoning tasks (solution recognition, solution existence, and relevance / necessity of hypotheses) in both logics. Finally, we show how to reduce abduction in BD-circ and BD-triangle to abduction in classical propositional logic, thereby enabling the reuse of existing abductive reasoning procedures.
Weak Admissibility for ABA via Abstract Set-Attacks
Authors: Blümel Lydia , König Matthias , Ulbricht Markus
Published: October 2024

Is an argument acceptable if all potential counter-arguments are unacceptable themselves? In standard models of argumentation, the answer to this question is counter-intuitively not necessarily yes. However, based on the notion of weak admissibility, a family of semantics has been established where these unreasonable attacks do not successfully counter otherwise strong arguments. While in the abstract setting weak admissibility is well-understood, a similar issue arises in the context of structured argumentation formalisms like assumption based argumentation (ABA). It is well known that under standard argumentation semantics, ABA frameworks can be reduced to abstract argumentation frameworks (AFs), however, it turns out that in the case of weak admissibility this approach surprisingly fails. We instead propose to utilize a recently published instantiation technique utilizing collective attacks (SETAFs). We first define weak admissibility for SETAFs and study basic properties; afterwards, we push our proposal to the structured setting. We show that via our approach the characteristic properties of weak admissibility carry over to ABA, and thus establish a basis for further studies of these common scenarios also in ABA and related structured argumentation formalisms.
Lost in the Crowd: k-unmatchability in Anonymized Knowledge Graphs
Authors: Bonatti Piero Andrea , Magliocca Francesco , Sauro Luigi
Published: October 2024

This paper introduces and investigates k-unmatchability, a counterpart of k-anonymity for knowledge graphs.

Like k-anonimity, k-unmatchability enhances privacy by ensuring that any individual in any external source can always be matched to either none or at least k different anonymized individuals.

The tradeoff between privacy protection and information loss can be controlled with parameter k.

We analyze the data complexity of k-unmatchability under different notions of anonymization.
Belief Change on Rational Rankings
Authors: Borges Nerio , Konieczny Sébastien , Pino Pérez Ramón , Schwind Nicolas
Published: October 2024

We introduce a new epistemic space: the space of rational rankings. This space is very useful for understanding some aspects of belief dynamics. In particular, the issues which concern improving the new information. Thus, we define in a very clear and succinct way a class of operators capturing the fact that the new information is improved. An interesting feature of this space is that the behavior of these operators can be characterized through a few equations and inequalities which are very simple and whose meaning is transparent. We prove that these operators are indeed improvement operators. Moreover, we show that these operators have good behavior when they undergo a sufficient number of iterations. In such a case, they become Darwiche and Pearl revision operators.
Contracted Temporal Equilibrium Logic
Authors: Cabalar Pedro , Eiter Thomas , Soldà Davide
Published: October 2024

The stable model semantics of logic programs has been characterized by Equilibrium Logic, which is a non-monotonic formalism that selects models from the (monotonic) intermediate logic of Here-and-There. It provides stable models for arbitrary propositional formulas and has been fruitfully extended to different modal languages. Among them are theories in the syntax of Linear-Time Temporal Logic (LTL), giving rise to Temporal Equilibrium logic (TEL) based on Temporal Here-and-There (THT). In TEL, models are selected that minimize truth among THT traces of the same length. In this paper, we consider a selection that in addition may reduce the number of transitions in a trace, intuitively forming a contraction of it. We thus introduce contracted THT and contracted TEL on top of a model selection on a logical basis. The resulting c-stable models can be viewed as stable models in TEL that can not be summarized into a smaller trace. We illustrate contraction on several examples related to logic programming and explore several properties, like the relation to TEL and LTL, and in particular the connection to the LTL property of stuttering.
ASP-QRAT: A Conditionally Optimal Dual Proof System for ASP
Authors: Chew Leroy , de Colnet Alexis , Szeider Stefan
Published: October 2024

Answer Set Programming (ASP) is a declarative programming approach

that captures many problems in knowledge representation and reasoning.

To certify an ASP solver's decision, whether the program is

consistent or inconsistent, we need a certificate or proof that can

be independently verified.

This paper proposes the dual proof system ASP-QRAT that certifies both

consistent and inconsistent ASPs. ASP-QRAT is based on a translation

of ASP to QBF (Quantified Boolean Formus) and the QBF proof system

QRAT as a checking format.

We show that ASP-QRAT p-simulates ASP-DRUPE, an existing refutation

system for inconsistent disjunctive ASPs. We show that ASP-QRAT is

conditionally optimal for consistent and inconsistent ASPs, i.e.,

any super-polynomial lower bound on the shortest proof size of

ASP-QRAT implies a major breakthrough in theoretical computer science.

The case for consistent ASPs is remarkable

because no analog exists in the QBF case.
Strongly Analytic Calculi for KLM Logics with SMT-Based Prover
Authors: Ciabattoni Agata , Eisenhofer Clemens , Rozplokhas Dmitry
Published: October 2024

We introduce modular calculi for the logics for nonmonotonic reasoning defined by Kraus, Lehmann, and Magidor, featuring a strengthened form of analyticity. Our calculi are used to determine the computational complexity for the logics C, CL, CM, P (and M), and fragments thereof. The calculi are encoded into SMT solvers, yielding an efficient prover with countermodel generation capabilities. Our work encompasses known results and introduces new findings, including co-NP-completeness and a more effective semantics for C.
Probabilistic Synthesis and Verification for LTL on Finite Traces
Authors: Aminof Benjamin , Cooper Linus , Rubin Sasha , Vardi Moshe Y. , Zuleger Florian
Published: October 2024

We study synthesis and verification of probabilistic models

and specifications over finite traces. Probabilistic models

are formalized in this work as Markov Chains and Markov

Decisions Processes. Motivated by the recent attention given

to, and importance of, finite-trace specifications in AI, we

use linear-temporal logic on finite traces as a specification

formalism for properties of traces with finite but unbounded

time horizons. Since there is no bound on the time horizon,

our Markov chains generate infinite traces, and we consider

two possible semantics: “existential (resp. universal) prefix-

semantics” which says that the finite-trace property holds

on some (resp. every) finite prefix of the trace. For both

types of semantics, we study two computational problems:

the verification problem — “does a given Markov chain

satisfy the specification with probability one?”; and the

synthesis problem — “find a strategy (if there is one) that ensures

the Markov decision process satisfies the specification with

probability one”. We provide optimal algorithms that

follow an automata-theoretic approach, and prove that the

complexity of the synthesis problem is 2EXPTIME-complete

for both semantics, and that for the verification problem it

is PSPACE-complete for the universal-prefix semantics, but

EXPSPACE-complete for the existential-prefix semantics.
A Sound and Complete Axiomatisation for Intuitionistic Linear Temporal Logic
Authors: Fernández-Duque David , McLean Brett , Zenger Lukas
Published: October 2024

Intuitionistic linear temporal logic (iLTL) has been studied extensively, especially in the last decade. It enjoys natural semantics over intuitionistic Kripke frames equipped with an order-preserving function representing the temporal dynamics, known as 'expanding models'. This leads to a logic that is known to be decidable but whose axiomatisation has long remained open.

We propose an extension of iLTL with the co-implication connective of Hilbert–Brouwer logic and call it 'bi-intuitionistic linear temporal logic' (biLTL). We establish that this extension is still decidable for the class of expanding models. We moreover give a sound and complete Hilbert-style calculus for it, the first for any logic extending iLTL. As a corollary, the topological semantics for intuitionistic propositional logic cannot be extended to a topological semantics for Hilbert-Brouwer logic, which thus establishes co-implication as a distinctive feature of the Kripke semantics for bi-intuitionistic logic.
Possibility of Conditionals and Conditional Possibilities: From the Triviality Result to Possibilistic Imaging
Authors: Flaminio Tommaso , Godo Lluis , Rosella Giuliano
Published: October 2024

Lewis-Gärdenfors imaging is an updating procedure for probability functions that generalizes Bayesian conditionalization, allowing to approach the probability of conditionals and counterfactual formulas without incurring in Lewis well-known triviality result. Precisely, while the probability of a so called Stalnaker conditional (as formalizable in Lewis logic C2) was proved to be an imaged probability by Lewis in his celebrated paper from 1976, a variant of Gärdenfors generalized imaging (proposed by Dubois and Prade in 1994) has been recently proved to characterize the probability of Lewis counterfactuals, the latter refer to those conditionals of Lewis’s logic C1.

The present contribution extends the analysis on Lewis’s triviality result, imaging and generalized imaging to cope with possibility and necessity measures. In particular, after showing that the triviality result also holds in the possibilistic framework, we introduce a way to define the possibility measure of conditional and counterfactual formula. Then we prove that the possibilistic version of Lewis-Gärdenfors imaging (that is inspired by a definition given again by Dubois and Prade in 1994) actually characterizes, as in the aforementioned cases, the possibility of Stalnaker conditionals and Lewis counterfactuals.

Furthermore, we show that possibilistic imaging can also be described within the setting of Boolean algebras of conditionals and Lewis algebras. These are algebraic models for conditional and counterfactual formulas recently introduced by two of the present authors. On these structures one can (canonically) define a notion of possibility measure that turns out to be the conditional possibility and imaged possibility mentioned above, respectively, and hence it represents the possibility of conditional and counterfactual formulas.
Reasoning in SHIQ with Axiom- and Concept-Level Standpoint Modalities
Authors: Gómez Álvarez Lucía , Rudolph Sebastian
Published: October 2024

Standpoint logic is a recently proposed modal logic framework that is well-suited for multiperspective reasoning and ontology integration. For this reason, combinations of standpoint logic with description logics (DLs) are of special interest.

Prior work has shown that it is possible to add standpoints to numerous decidable fragments of first-order logics - including very expressive DLs up to SROIQbs - while preserving their reasoning complexity, so long as standpoint modalities are limited to the axiom level. A more expressive tighter modal integration, where standpoint modalities are also allowed to occur in concept expressions, has so far only been investigated for the much less expressive DL EL+.

In this paper, we push this line of research showing that the DL SHIQ allows for a tight modal integration with standpoints without compromising its ExpTime reasoning complexity. The core insight toward this result is that any satisfiable knowledge base admits a model with only polynomially many worlds, an argument which requires a rather elaborate model-theoretic construction. This allows us to establish a polynomial equisatisfiable translation into plain SHIQ which, beyond showing the theoretical result, enables us to use highly optimised OWL reasoners to provide practical reasoning support for ontology languages extended by standpoint modelling. We complement our findings with the observation that our techniques would fail upon adding the modelling feature of nominals to the underlying DL.
Preference-Based Abstract Argumentation for Case-Based Reasoning
Authors: Gould Adam , Paulino-Passos Guilherme , Dadhania Seema , Williams Matthew , Toni Francesca
Published: October 2024

In the pursuit of enhancing the efficacy and flexibility of interpretable, data-driven classification models, this work introduces a novel incorporation of user-defined preferences with Abstract Argumentation and Case-Based Reasoning (CBR). Specifically, we introduce Preference-Based Abstract Argumentation for Case-Based Reasoning (which we call AA-CBR-P), allowing users to define multiple approaches to compare cases with an ordering that specifies their preference over these comparison approaches. We prove that the model inherently follows these preferences when making predictions and show that previous abstract argumentation for case-based reasoning approaches are insufficient at expressing preferences over constituents of an argument. We then demonstrate how this can be applied to a real-world medical dataset sourced from a clinical trial evaluating differing assessment methods of patients with a primary brain tumour. We show empirically that our approach outperforms other interpretable machine learning models on this dataset.
A Representation Theorem for Causal Decision Making
Authors: Halpern Joseph Y. , Piermont Evan
Published: October 2024

We show that it is possible to understand and identify a decision maker’s subjective causal judgements by observing her preferences over interventions. Following Pearl [2000, DOI: doi.org/10.1017/S0266466603004109 ], we represent causality using causal models (also called structural equations models), where the world is described by a collection of variables, related by equations. We show that if a preference relation over interventions satisfies certain axioms (related to standard axioms regarding counterfactuals), then we can define (i) a causal model, (ii) a probability capturing the decision-maker’s uncertainty regarding the external factors in the world and (iii) a utility on outcomes such that each intervention is associated with an expected utility and such that intervention A is preferred to B iff the expected utility of A is greater than that of B. In addition, we characterize when the causal model is unique. Thus, our results allow a modeler to test the hypothesis that a decision maker’s preferences are consistent with some causal model and to identify causal judgements from observed behavior.
From Acceptance to Rejection in Abstract Argumentation
Authors: Heine Anne-Marie , Ulbricht Markus
Published: October 2024

Dynamic reasoning environments are among the key aspects in formal argumentation research.

Presumably the best understood problem is the so-called enforcement problem which asks, generally speaking, whether a given argumentation framework can be modified in a way that a certain desired outcome is ensured.

However, enforcement research primarily focuses on the acceptance of arguments or sets thereof.

This paper aims to explore the dual problem and investigates means to reject certain unreasonable viewpoints.

To achieve this, we use labelling semantics on abstract argumentation frameworks (AFs), since they provide a clearly defined notion of rejection.

We consider different kinds of updates for our given AF and provide results on existence as well as minimality of syntactic and semantic changes. For the latter, we define the new concept of consensus preservation, formalizing the intuition that formerly acceptable opinions should remain acceptable in the adapted framework. Lastly we discuss how these two notions of minimizing change interact.
Total Preorders vs Ranking Functions under Belief Revision – the Dynamics of Empty Layers
Authors: Kern-Isberner Gabriele , Hahn Alexander , Haldimann Jonas , Beierle Christoph
Published: October 2024

Total preorders and Spohn’s ranking functions are most popular semantic structures in nonmonotonic reasoning and belief revision. Each ranking function uniquely induces a total preorder, while each total preorder corresponds to infinitely many ranking functions because of the empty layers that ranking functions may have. In this paper, we adopt a dynamic perspective and investigate the role of empty layers in belief revision scenarios. We strengthen the notion of (inferential) equivalence of ranking functions by introducing revision equivalence which postulates the equivalence of ranking functions after (most general) revision operations. Moreover, we single out so-called linearly equivalent ranking functions as prototypes of ranking functions with regularly inserted empty layers. Such ranking functions are most suitable to provide an invariance property for revision equivalence which claims that linear equivalence should be preserved. We show that strategic c-revisions ensure (conditional) revision equivalence of linearly equivalent ranking functions if the strategies are adequately chosen, whereas the Darwiche-Pearl postulates for iterated revision alone are not enough to guarantee revision equivalence of ranking functions.

We evaluate various other iterated revision approaches from the literature with respect to revision equivalence and preserving linear equivalence under revision. Furthermore, we present an approach to defining equivalence preserving revision operators for ranking functions from revision operators for total preorders.
Balancing Open-Mindedness and Conservativeness in Quantitative Bipolar Argumentation (and How to Prove Semantical from Functional Properties)
Authors: Potyka Nico , Booth Richard
Published: October 2024

Quantitative bipolar argumentation frameworks (QBAFs) have various

applications in areas like product recommendation, review aggregation

and explaining machine learning models. QBAF semantics assign a

strength to every argument that is based on an a priori belief and the

strength of its attackers and supporters. Intuitively, a QBAF semantics

is open-minded when it is unbiased in the sense that a priori beliefs

can be given up eventually when sufficient arguments to the contrary

are presented. While this behaviour is desirable in many applications,

existing open-minded semantics also have the property that even very

weak arguments will eventually eliminate the a priori beliefs. In this

paper, we will study notions of conservativeness that demand that the deviation

from the a priori beliefs is bounded by the strength of pro and contra

arguments. We will discuss compatibility and conflicts with existing

properties and present two new semantics with interesting semantical

guarantees. To do so, we will build up on the framework of modular semantics

and prove some general relationships between functional and semantical properties

that are useful to simplify the study of new modular semantics.
Repairing Assumption-Based Argumentation Frameworks
Authors: Rapberger Anna , Ulbricht Markus
Published: October 2024

The field of formal argumentation is driven by situations where conflicting information need to be balanced out argumentatively. However, if the given knowledge base does not induce any reasonable viewpoint, these methods are stretched to their limits. In this paper, we address this issue in the context of assumption-based argumentation (ABA). More specifically, we study repairing notions for knowledge bases where no assumption can be accepted. We develop genuine repairing techniques for ABA, based on the modification of the building blocks of ABA frameworks, i.e., rules and assumptions. Thereby, we start from basic operators towards more and more fine-grained approaches. We compare their behavior to each other and demonstrate their compliance with suitable repairing desiderata.
Semantic Constructions for Belief Base Contraction: Partial Meet vs Smooth Kernel
Authors: Ribeiro Jandson S.
Published: October 2024

We introduce novel classes of fully rational contraction operators for belief bases. These operators are founded on a plausibility relation on models, called tracks, that allow distinguishing between suitable and unsuitable models.

We obtain three main representation theorems: the first one semantically characterises the class of partial-meet operators, which are related to the rationality postulate of relevance; while the second one semantically characterises the class of smooth kernel contraction operators, which are related to the postulates of core-retainment and relative closure. The third representation theorem semantically characterises the supplementary postulates (conjunction and intersection). We consider logics that are both Tarskian and compact.
Navigating and Querying Answer Sets: How Hard Is It Really and Why?
Authors: Rusovac Dominik , Hecher Markus , Gebser Martin , Gaggl Sarah Alice , Fichte Johannes K.
Published: October 2024

Answer set programming is a popular declarative paradigm with countless applications for modeling and solving combinatorial problems. We can view a program as a knowledge database compactly representing conditions for solutions. Often we are interested in reasoning about solutions of filtering answer sets. At the heart of these questions is brave and cautious reasoning. For browsing answer sets, we combine both as restricting atoms of answer sets is only meaningful for atoms called facets that belong to some (brave) but not to all answer sets (cautious). Surprisingly, the precise computational complexity of facet problems remained widely open so far. In this paper, we study the complexity of answer set facets. We establish tight results for reasoning with facets, deciding upper and lower bounds as well as the exact number of facets, and comparing facets. Facet reasoning seems to be a natural problem formalism, residing in complexity families Σᴾ, Πᴾ, Dᴾ, and Θᴾ, up to the third level. Moreover, our study considers quantitative importance questions on facets and generalizing from facets to conjunctions, disjunctions, and arbitrary queries. We complete our results by an experimental evaluation.
On Abstracting over the Irrelevant in Answer Set Programming
Authors: Saribatur Zeynep G. , Knorr Matthias , Gonçalves Ricardo , Leite João
Published: October 2024

Generalization is an important ability that allows humans to tackle complex problems by identifying common problem structures and omitting irrelevant details. Whereas such ability comes naturally to humans, it has proved challenging to establish within AI systems. Although different research communities have tackled this challenge, their focus has usually been set on developing efficient algorithms for concrete problems, and a general theoretical understanding of the generalization ability is still lacking. In the context of Answer Set Programming (ASP), a well-established knowledge representation and reasoning paradigm for solving highly combinatorial search problems, research on generalization has primarily focused on forgetting and projection, two related operations that aim at the omission of irrelevant details, while abstraction, an operation that aims at providing a higher-level view on the common solution and problem structures, has largely been overlooked. In this paper, we develop the theoretical foundation for generalized reasoning through abstraction in ASP, focusing on the notion of abstraction through vocabulary clustering. We formally characterize when abstraction is possible, semantically define the desired result, investigate syntactic operators to obtain such abstractions, and study the computational complexity of this problem.
Optimisation and Approximation in Abstract Argumentation: The Case of Admissibility
Authors: Skiba Kenneth , Thimm Matthias
Published: October 2024

We propose two soft notions of the notion of admissibility in abstract argumentation. The first one weakens the defence notion by allowing, to a certain degree, undefended attacks, and the second one allows, to a certain degree, conflicts within sets of arguments. We analyse these new semantical notions based on the computational complexity of optimisation and approximation. Finally, we discuss and analyse soft notions for preferred semantics.
CE-QArg: Counterfactual Explanations for Quantitative Bipolar Argumentation Frameworks
Authors: Yin Xiang , Potyka Nico , Toni Francesca
Published: October 2024

There is a growing interest in understanding arguments' strength in Quantitative Bipolar Argumentation Frameworks (QBAFs). Most existing studies focus on attribution-based methods that explain an argument's strength by assigning importance scores to other arguments but fail to explain how to change the current strength to a desired one. To solve this issue, we introduce counterfactual explanations for QBAFs. We discuss problem variants and propose an iterative algorithm named Counterfactual Explanations for Quantitative bipolar Argumentation frameworks (CE-QArg). CE-QArg can identify valid and cost-effective counterfactual explanations based on two core modules, polarity and priority, which help determine the updating direction and magnitude for each argument, respectively. We discuss some formal properties of our counterfactual explanations and empirically evaluate CE-QArg on randomly generated QBAFs.
Large Neighborhood Prioritized Search for Combinatorial Optimization with Answer Set Programming
Authors: Sugimori Irumi , Inoue Katsumi , Nabeshima Hidetomo , Schaub Torsten , Soh Takehide , Tamura Naoyuki , Banbara Mutsunori
Published: October 2024

We propose Large Neighborhood Prioritized Search (LNPS) for solving combinatorial optimization problems in Answer Set Programming (ASP). LNPS is a metaheuristic that starts with an initial solution and then iteratively tries to find better solutions by alternately destroying and prioritized searching for a current solution. Due to the variability of neighborhoods, LNPS allows for flexible search without strongly depending on the destroy operators. We present an implementation of LNPS based on ASP. The resulting heulingo solver demonstrates that LNPS can significantly enhance the solving performance of ASP for optimization. Furthermore, we establish the competitiveness of our LNPS approach by empirically contrasting it to (adaptive) large neighborhood search.
Dialectical Reconciliation via Structured Argumentative Dialogues
Authors: Vasileiou Stylianos Loukas , Kumar Ashwin , Yeoh William , Son Tran Cao , Toni Francesca
Published: October 2024

We present a novel framework designed to extend model reconciliation approaches, commonly used in human-aware planning, for enhanced human-AI interaction. By adopting a structured argumentation-based dialogue paradigm, our framework enables dialectical reconciliation to address knowledge discrepancies between an explainer (AI agent) and an explainee (human user), where the goal is for the explainee to understand the explainer's decision. We formally describe the operational semantics of our proposed framework, providing theoretical guarantees. We then evaluate the framework's efficacy ``in the wild'' via computational and human-subject experiments. Our findings suggest that our framework offers a promising direction for fostering effective human-AI interactions in domains where explainability is important.