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AIList Digest Volume 4 Issue 122
AIList Digest Wednesday, 14 May 1986 Volume 4 : Issue 122
Today's Topics:
Seminars - Searching Transformed State Spaces (Edinburgh) &
Automatic Design of Graphical Presentations (SRI) &
Knowledge, Communication, and Time (SRI),
Seminar Series - NCARAI Call for Speakers,
Conferences - Foundations of Deductive Databases and Logic Programming &
Uncertainty in AI Workshop &
AAAI-86
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Date: Mon, 12 May 86 15:02:51 -0100
From: Gideon Sahar <gideon%edai.edinburgh.ac.uk@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK>
Subject: Seminar - Searching Transformed State Spaces (Edinburgh)
Date: Wednesday 14th May l986
Time: 2.00 p.m.
Place: Department of Artificial Intelligence,
Seminar Room F10,
80 South Bridge,
EDINBURGH.
Dr. S. Steel, Department of Computer Science, University of Essex will
give a seminar entitled - "On Trying to do Dependency-Directed
Backtracking by Searching Transformed State Spaces".
Any search involves choices. Bad choices can cause disaster. DDBT is
an attempt to undo only those choices which caused the disaster. One
approach is to transform the seach space of the original problem into
a space with different states and operators that is easier to search.
I shall show the merits and failings of various spaces. At the moment
of writing I have no perfect method.
------------------------------
Date: Tue 13 May 86 11:40:54-PDT
From: Amy Lansky <LANSKY@SRI-AI.ARPA>
Subject: Seminar - Automatic Design of Graphical Presentations (SRI)
AUTOMATIC DESIGN OF GRAPHICAL PRESENTATIONS
Jock D. Mackinlay (MACKINLAY@SUMEX-AIM)
Computer Science Department, Stanford University
PLANLUNCH
11:00 AM, MONDAY, May 19
SRI International, Building E, Room EJ228 (new conference room)
The goal of the research described in this talk is to develop an
application-independent presentation tool that automatically designs
graphical presentations (e.g. bar charts, scatter plots, and connected
graphs) for relational information. There are two major criteria for
evaluating designs of graphical presentations: expressiveness and
effectiveness. Expressiveness means that a design expresses the
intended information. Effectiveness means that a design exploits the
capabilities of the output medium and the human visual system. A
presentation tool is intended to be used to build user interfaces.
However, a presentation tool will not be useful unless it generates
expressive and effective designs for a wide range of information.
This talk describes a theory of graphical presentations that can be used
to systematically generate a wide range of designs. Complex designs are
described as compositions of primitive designs. This theory leads to
the following synthesis algorithm:
o First, the information is divided into components, each
of which satisfies the expressiveness criterion for a
primitive graphical design.
o Next, a conjectural theory of human perception is used
to select the most effective primitive design for each
component. An effective design requires perceptual
tasks of low difficulty.
o Finally, composition operators are used to compose the
individual designs into a unified presentation of all
the information. A composition operator composes two
designs when the same information is expressed the same
way in both designs (identical parts are merged).
The synthesis algorithm has been implemented in a prototype presentation
tool, called APT (A Presentation Tool). Even though only a few primitive
designs are implemented, APT can generate a wide range of designs that
express information effectively.
VISITORS: Please arrive 5 minutes early so that you can be escorted up
from the E-building receptionist's desk. Thanks!
------------------------------
Date: Mon 12 May 86 20:35:16-PDT
From: Margaret Olender <OLENDER@SRI-AI.ARPA>
Subject: Seminar - Knowledge, Communication, and Time (SRI)
DATE: May 14, 1986
TIME: 4:15pm
TITLE: "Knowledge, Communication, and Time"
SPEAKER: Van Nguyen
LOCATION: SRI International
Ravenswood Avenue
Building E
CONFERENCE ROOM: EJ228
KNOWLEDGE, COMMUNICATION, AND TIME
Van Nguyen
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
(Joint work with Kenneth J. Perry)
The role that knowledge plays in distributed systems has come under
much study recently. In this talk, we re-examine the commonly
accepted definition of knowledge and examine how appropriate it is for
distributed computing. Motivated by the draw-backs thus exposed, we
propose an alternative definition that we believe to be better suited
to the task. This definition handles multiple knowers and makes
explicit the connection between knowledge, communication, and time.
It also emphasizes the fact that knowledge is a function of one's
initial knowledge, communication history and deductive abilities. The
need for assuming perfect reasoning is mitigated.
Having formalized these links, we then present the first proof
system for programs that incorporates both knowledge and time. The
proof system is compositional, sound and relatively complete, and is
an extension of the Nguyen-Demers-Gries-Owicki temporal proof system
for processes. Suprisingly, it does not require proofs of
non-interference (as first defined by Owicki-Gries).
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 May 86 11:55:23 edt
From: Ken Wauchope <wauchope@nrl-aic>
Subject: Seminar Series - NCARAI Call for Speakers
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelli-
gence (NCARAI), a branch of the Naval Research Laboratory
located in Washington, D.C., sponsors a bimonthly seminar
series. Seminars are held on alternate Mondays throughout
the year (except summers). The seminars are intended to pro-
mote interaction among individuals from the military,
governmental, industrial and academic communities.
Topics span the various research areas and issues in Artifi-
cial Intelligence with special interests in:
*Expert Systems
*Knowledge Representation
*Learning
*Logic programs and automated reasoning
*Natural Language processing
*New generation architectures
Presentations last for approximately one hour, followed by a
fifteen-minute question-and-answer session. Speakers in-
vited from the academic community are provided with a per
diem and an honorarium.
Please send 3 copies of a 200-250 word abstract to:
Kenneth Wauchope
Navy Center for Applied Research
in Artificial Intelligence
Naval Research Laboratory -- Code 7510
Washington, DC 20375-5000
ARPANET address: WAUCHOPE@NRL-AIC.ARPA
Telephone: (202) 767-2876 (AV) 297-2876
The committee will consider new and interesting work, as
well as promising work in progress.
****************************************************************************
I am the new coordinator for the seminar series here at NCARAI and this
announcement updates the phone number and ARPANET address for responses.
Thank you. --kw
****************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 May 86 20:30:20 EDT
From: Jack Minker <minker@mimsy.umd.edu>
Subject: Conference - Foundations of Deductive Databases and Logic Programming
************************************************************************
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED COMPUTER STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
and
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
are co-sponsoring an
invited workshop
on
FOUNDATIONS OF DEDUCTIVE DATABASES AND LOGIC PROGRAMMING
DATE: August 18-22, 1986
PLACE: Washington, DC
****************************************************************************
Professor Jack Minker, Department of Computer Sci-
ence, University of Maryland has received a grant from the
NSF to conduct the above workshop. The workshop is also
being supported by University of Maryland Institute for
Advanced Computer Studies and Department of Computer Sci-
ence. Its purpose is to bring together leading researchers
in deductive databases and logic programming to discuss
theoretical and practical issues. The attendance at this
workshop is by invitation only, but a limited amount of
funds is available to support faculty and students who are
working in the area and are interested in attending.
Faculty and students must send a brief statement of their
research interests relative to the workshop and a letter
specifying the amount of funds needed for transportation,
housing and meals, and the number of days they intend to be
at the workshop. Students must also send a letter of recom-
mendation from a faculty member and specify the degree for
which they are studying. This information should be sent by
May 30, 1986 to:
Ms. Johanna Weinstein
UMIACS
Building #094
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 454-4526
johanna@alv.umd.edu
PRELIMINARY TITLES
FOUNDATIONS OF DEDUCTIVE DATABASES
AND
LoGIC PROGRAMMING
1. Apt, K.R., "Non-monotonic Reasoning in Logic Program-
ming"
2. Bancilhon, Francois, "Performance Comparisons of
Recursive Query Evaluation Strategies"
3. Blair,Howard A., "Some Aspects of the Structure of the
Herbrand Gap"
4. Bowen, Ken, "Foundations of Meta-PROLOG"
5. Bowen, Ken, "Interfacing Meta-PROLOG and Large Data-
bases"
6. Gallier, Jean H.and Raatz, Stan, " A Refutation
Method for Horn Clauses with Equality and its Applica-
tions to Logic Programming"
7. Henschen, Larry, " Compiling the GCWA in Indefinite
Databases"
8. Henschen, Larry, "Functions in First-Order Databases"
9. Imielinski, Tomasz, "Query Processing in Deductive
Databases with Incomplete Information"
10. Imielinski,Tomasz, "Transforming Logical Rules by Rela-
tional Algebra Expressions"
11. Jaffar, Joxan, Lassez, Jean-Louis and Maher, Michael
J., "Prolog II as an instance of the Logic Programming
Language Scheme"
12. Kanellakis,Paris C., "Parallel Algorithms for Term
Matching"
13. Sadri, Fariba and Kowalski, Robert, "An adaption of
SL-resolution"
14. Lassez, J.L., Maher, M. and Marriott, K., "Unifica-
tion Revisited"
15. Lifschitz, Vladimir, "On the Declarative Semantics of
Logic Programming with Negation"
16. Maher, Michael J., "Equivalences of Logic Programs"
17. Maier, David, "Logic for Object-Oriented Databases"
18. Marriott, Kim and Lassez, Jean-Louis, "Implicit and
Explicit Representations of Negative Information"
19. Martelli, M. and Barbuti, R., "Programming in a Gen-
erally Functional Style to Design Logic Data Bases"
20. Minker, Jack, Chakravarthy, U.S. and Grant, John,
"Foundations of Semantic Query Optimization Deductive
Databases"
21. Mukai, Kuniaki, "Anadic Tuples in Prolog"
22. Naish, Lee, Thom, James A. and Ramamohanarao, Kotagiri,
"A Superjoin Algorithm for Deductive Databases"
23. Naqvi, Shamim A., "Negation in Almost-First-Order Data-
bases"
24. Porto, Antonio, "Semantic Unification for Knowledge
Base Deduction"
25. Sagiv, Yehoshua, "Optimization of Logical Queries"
26. Shepherdson, John C., "Negation in Logic Programming"
27. Sterling, Leon, "Meta-Interpreters: Flavors-style
Logic Programming?"
28. Topor, Rodney, "Domain Independent Databases"
29. van Emden, M.H., "Amalgamating Functional and Rela-
tional Programming"
30. van Gelder, Allen, "Negation as Failure Using Tight
Derivations for General Logic Programs"
31. Warren, David S., "Towards a Logical Theory of Database
Update"
32. Zaniolo, Carlo, Sacca, M., et al., "Safety and Compila-
tion of Recursive Queries"
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 May 86 21:27:08 PDT
From: CHEESEMAN%PLU@ames-io.ARPA
Subject: Conference - Uncertainty in AI Workshop
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Second Workshop on: "Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence"
Philadelphia, PA. August 8-10, 1986 (preceeding AAAI conf.)
Sponsored by: AAAI and RCA
This workshop is a follow-up to the successful workshop in L.A.,
August 1985. Its subject is reasoning under uncertainty and
representing uncertain information. The emphasis this year is on
applications, although papers on theory are also welcome. The
workshop provides an opportunity for those interested in uncertainty
in AI to present their ideas and participate in the discussions. Also
panel discussions will provide a lively cross-section of views.
Papers are invited on the following topics:
*Applications--Descriptions of novel approaches; interesting results;
important implementation difficulties; experimental comparison of
alternatives etc.
*Comparison and Evaluation of different uncertainty formalisms.
*Induction (Theory discovery) under uncertainty.
*Alternative uncertainty approaches.
*Relationship between uncertainty and logic.
*Uncertainty about uncertainty (Higher order approaches).
*Other uncertainty in AI issues.
Preference will be given to papers that have demonstrated their approach
in real applications. Some papers may be accepted for publication but not
presentation (except at a poster session).
Four copies of the paper (or an extended abstract) should be sent to the
arrangements chairman before 23rd. May 1986. Acceptances will be sent by the
20th. June and final (camera ready) papers must be received by 11th. July.
Proceedings will be available at the workshop.
General Chair: Program Chair: Arrangements Chair:
John Lemmer Peter Cheeseman Lawrence Carnuccio
KSC Inc. NASA-Ames Research Center RCA-Adv. Tech. Labs.
255 N. Washington St. Mail Stop 244-7 Mooretown Corp. Cntr.
Rome, NY 13440 Moffett Field, CA 94035 Route 38, Mooretown,
(315)336-0500 (415)694-6526 NJ 08057
(609)866-6428
Program Committee:
P. Cheeseman, J. Lemmer, T. Levitt, J. Pearl, M. Yousry, L. Zadeh.
------------------------------
Date: Tue 13 May 86 12:23:45-PDT
From: AAAI <AAAI-OFFICE@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
Subject: Conference - AAAI-86
The AAAI Annual Conference, schedule for August 11-15, 1986, will be
held in Philadelphia, PA. With the introduction of sessions devoted
to engineering practice, this year's Technical Program has accepted 67
papers for presentation in the engineering track and 119 papers in the
science track with over 15 panels and invited talks scattered
throughout the week. Examples of the invited talks include
"Connectionism" by G. Hinton, "Survey of Natural Language Processing"
by B. Grosz, and "What's Doable when Building an Expert System?" by B.
Buchanan. The Science Sessions, which were originally scheduled
for the Wyndam Franklin Plaza Hotel, have been moved to the
Philadelphia Civic Center; however, the dates of the Science Sessions
remain the same - August 11 and 12. The Engineering Sessions remain
at the Philadelphia Civic Center on August 14 and 15.
This year's tutorial program has 23 tutorials which include
advanced topics such as qualitative reasoning and uncertainty
management. The Tutorials also have been moved to the Wyndam Franklin
Plaza and still scheduled for August 11, 12 and 14.
The Exhibit Program has increased in size to include approximately 100
software and hardware vendors and publishers. This year the AAAI has
set a precedence by offering complimentary booth space to academic and
non-profit institutions to demonstrate their different AI research
projects to the conference attendees. Examples of the universities
and labs participating include MIT, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Queen's
University, SRI International, UCLA, and Cornell University. Eleven
major suppliers and manufacturers have agreed to provide these
universities and others with complimentary machines, technicians,
special crating, etc.
Costs for attending the conference are:
Early Registration (deadline June 13)
AAAI Member Non-Member
Regular $150 Regular $180
Student $ 75 Student $90
Late Registration (deadline July 11)
AAAI Member Non-Member
Regular $180 Regular $225
Student $ 90 Student $125
AAAI-86 Conference brochure, containing information on the program,
registration, housing, transportation, and social occasions can
be obtained by contacting:
AAAI-86
445 Burgess Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3496
415-328-3123 or 321-1118
AAAI-Office@sumex-aim.arpa
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End of AIList Digest
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