Equilibria in social belief removal
In studies of multi-agent interaction, especially in game theory, the notion of equilibrium often plays a prominent role. A typical scenario for the belief merging problem is one in which several agents pool their beliefs together to form a consistent “group” picture of the world. The aim of this paper is to define and study new notions of equilibria in belief merging. To do so, we assume the agents arrive at consistency via the use of a social belief removal function, in which each agent, using his own individual removal function, removes some belief from his stock of beliefs. We examine several notions of equilibria in this setting, assuming a general framework for individual belief removal due to Booth et al. We look at their inter-relations as well as prove their existence or otherwise. We also show how our equilibria can be seen as a generalisation of the idea of taking maximal consistent subsets of agents.

title: Sydney OWL Syntax - towards a Controlled Natural Language Syntax for OWL 1.1
abstract: This paper describes a proposed new syntax that can be used to write and read OWL ontologies in Controlled Natural Language (CNL): a well-defined subset of the English language. Following the lead of Manchester OWL Syntax in making OWL more accessible for non-logicians, and building on the previous success of Schwitter’s PENG (Processable English), the proposed Sydney OWL Syntax enables two-way translation and generation of grammatically correct full English sentences to and from OWL 1.1 functional syntax. Used in conjunction with OWL tools, it is designed to facilitate ontology construction and editing by enabling authors to write an OWL ontology in a defined subset of English. It also improves readability and understanding of OWL statements or whole ontologies, by enabling them to be read as English sentences. It is hoped that by providing the option of an intuitive, easy to use English syntax which requires no specialized knowledge, the broader community will be far more likely to develop and benefit from Semantic Web applications. This paper is a discussion paper covering the scope, design, and examples of Sydney OWL Syntax in use, and the authors invite feedback on all aspects of the proposal via email to krr.sydneysyntax@cse.unsw.edu.au. Working drafts of the full specification are available at http://www.ics.mq.edu.au/~rolfs/sos.

title: Modelling Object Typicality in Description Logics
abstract: We present a semantic model of typicality of concept members in description logics (DLs) that accords well with a binary, globalist cognitive model of class membership and typicality. We define a general preferential semantic framework for reasoning with object typicality in DLs. We propose the use of feature vectors to rank concept members according to their defining and characteristic features, which provides a modelling mechanism to specify typicality in composite concepts.

title: Implementing Iterated Belief Change Via Prime Implicates
abstract: Belief change is concerned with modelling the way in which an idealised (rational) reasoner maintains their beliefs and the way in which those beliefs are modified as the reasoner acquires new information. The AGM [1,3,5] framework is the most widely cited belief change methodology in the literature. It models the reasoner’s belief state as a set of sentences that is logically closed under deduction and provides for three belief change operations: expansion, contraction and revision. Each of the AGM belief change operations is motivated by principles of rationality that are formalised by way of rationality postulates.

title: Merging Epistemic States
abstract: Intelligent agents are often faced with the problem of trying to merge possibly conflicting pieces of information obtained from different sources into a consistent view of the world. We propose a framework for the modelling of such merging operations with roots in the work of Spohn . Unlike most approaches we focus on the merging of epistemic states, not knowledge bases. We construct a number of plausible merging operations and measure them against various properties that merging operations ought to satisfy. Finally, we discuss the connection between merging and the use of infobases , .

title: Next Steps in Propositional Horn Contraction
abstract: Standard belief contraction assumes an underlying logic containing full classical propositional logic, but there are good reasons for considering contraction in less expressive logics. In this paper we focus on Horn logic. In addition to being of interest in its own right, our choice is motivated by the use of Horn logic in several areas, including ontology reasoning in description logics. We consider three versions of contraction: entailment-based and inconsistency-based contraction (e-contraction and i-contraction, resp.), introduced by Delgrande for Horn logic, and package contraction (p-contraction), studied by Fuhrmann and Hansson for the classical case. We show that the standard basic form of contraction, partial meet, is too strong in the Horn case. We define more appropriate notions of basic contraction for all three types above, and provide associated representation results in terms of postulates. Our results stand in contrast to Delgrande's conjectures that orderly maxichoice is the appropriate contraction for both e- and i-contraction. Our interest in p-contraction stems from its relationship with an important reasoning task in ontological reasoning: repairing the subsumption hierarchy in EL. This is closely related to p-contraction with sets of basic Horn clauses (Horn clauses of the form p → q). We show that this restricted version of p-contraction can also be represented as i-contraction.

title: Collage Grammars for Collision-Free Growing of Objects in 3D Scenes
abstract: In the real world, solid objects rarely collide without serious damage. We study collision-freeness in the context of collage grammars, which are picture- and scene-generating devices based on hyperedge replacement. We identify a type of collage grammars that generate only collision-free collages, and prove the undecidability of the problem whether an arbitrary collage grammar generates any collision-free collage. Moreover, we discuss collision avoidance in the derivation process as an appropriate tool for practical modelling purposes.

title: Tactic-Based Optimized Compilation of Functional Programs
abstract: Within a framework of correct code-generation from HOL-specifications, we present a particular instance concerned with the optimized compilation of a lazy language (called MiniHaskell) to a strict language (called MiniML). 
 
Both languages are defined as shallow embeddings into denotational semantics based on Scott's cpo's, leading to a derivation of the corresponding operational semantics in order to cross-check the basic definitions. 
 
On this basis, translation rules from one language to the other were formally derived in Isabelle/HOL. Particular emphasis is put on the optimized compilation of function applications leading to the side-calculi inferring e.g. strictness of functions. 
 
The derived rules were grouped and set-up as an instance of our generic, tactic-based translator for specifications to code.

title: Structure-based design of potent CDK1 inhibitors derived from olomoucine
abstract: Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), an enzyme participating in the regulation of the cell cycle, constitutes a possible target in the search for new antitumor agents. Starting from the purine derivative olomoucine and following a structure-based approach, potent inhibitors of this enzyme were rapidly identified. The molecular modeling aspects of this work are described.

title: Identification of cylin-dependent kinase 1 inhibitors of a new chemical type by structure-based design and database searching
abstract: We have selected cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), an enzyme participating in the regulation of the cell cycle, as a target in our efforts to discover new antitumor agents. By exploiting available structural information, we designed an ATP-site directed ligand scaffold that allowed us to identify 4-(3-methyl-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydro-naphthalen-2-ylamino)-benzenesulfonamide as a new potent inhibitor of CDK1 in a subsequent database search. The synthesis and testing of some analogues confirmed the interest of this class of compounds as novel CDK1 inhibitors.

title: An Artificial Chemistry for Networking
abstract: Chemical computing models have been proposed since the 1980ies for expressing concurrent computations in elegant ways for shared memory systems. In this paper we look at the distributed case of network protocol execution for which we developed an online artificial chemistry. In this chemistry, data packets become molecules which can interact with each other, yielding computation networks comparable to biological metabolisms. Using this execution support, we show how to compute an average over arbitrary networking topologies and relate it to traditional forms of implementing load balancing. Our long-term interest lies in the robust implementation, operation and evolution of network protocols, for which artificial chemistries provide a promising basis.