Search

When students use an online eTextbook with content and interactive graded exercises, they often display aspects of two types of behavior: credit-seeking, and knowledge-seeking. Any given student might behave to some degree in either way in a given assignment. In this work, we look at multiple aspects of detecting the degree to which either behavior is taking place, and investigate relationships to student performance. In particular, we focus on an eTextbook used for teaching Formal Languages, an advanced computer science course. This eTextbook is using Programmed Instruction (PI) framesets to deliver the material. We take two approaches to analyze session interactions in order to detect credit-seeking incidents. We first start with a coarse-grained approach by presenting an unsupervised model that clusters the behavior in the work sessions based on the sequence of different interactions that happens during them. Then we perform a fine-grained analysis where we consider the type of each question in the frameset, which can be a multi-choice, single-choice, or T/F question. We show that credit-seeking behavior is negatively affecting the learning outcome of the students. We also find that the type of the PI frame is a key factor in drawing students more into the credit-seeking behavior to finish the PI framesets quickly. We implement three machine learning models that predict students' midterm and overall semester grades based on their amount of credit-seeking behavior on the PI framesets. Finally, we provide a semisupervised learning model to aid in the work session labeling process.

As more students interact with online learning platforms and eTextbooks, they generate massive amounts of data. For example, the OpenDSA eTextbook system collects clickstream data as users interact with prose, visualizations, and interactive auto-graded exercises. Ideally, instructors and system developers can harness this information to create better instructional experiences. But in its raw event-level form, it is difficult for developers or instructors to understand student behaviors, or to make testable hypotheses about relationships between behavior and performance. In this study, we describe our efforts to break raw event-level data first into sessions (a continuous series of work by a student) and then to meaningfully abstract the events into higher-level descriptions of that session. The goal of this abstraction is to help instructors and researchers gain insights into the students' learning behaviors. For example, we can distinguish when students read material and then attempt the associated exercise, versus going straight to the exercise and then hunting for the answers in the associated material. We first bundle events into related activities, such as the events associated with stepping through a given visualization, or with working a given exercise. Each such group of events defines a state. A state is a basic unit that characterizes the interaction log data, and there are multiple state types including reading prose, interacting with visual contents, and solving exercises. We harnessed the abstracted data to analyze studying behavior and compared it with course performance based on GPA. We analyzed data from the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 sections of a senior-level Formal Languages course, and also from the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 sections of a data structures course.

As more students interact with online learning platforms and eTextbooks, they generate massive amounts of data. For example, the OpenDSA eTextbook system collects clickstream data as users interact with prose, visualizations, and interactive auto-graded exercises. Ideally, instructors and system developers can harness this information to create better instructional experiences. But in its raw event-level form, it is difficult for developers or instructors to understand student behaviors, or to make testable hypotheses about relationships between behavior and performance. In this study, we describe our efforts to break raw event-level data first into sessions (a continuous series of work by a student) and then to meaningfully abstract the events into higher-level descriptions of that session. The goal of this abstraction is to help instructors and researchers gain insights into the students' learning behaviors. For example, we can distinguish when students read material and then attempt the associated exercise, versus going straight to the exercise and then hunting for the answers in the associated material. We first bundle events into related activities, such as the events associated with stepping through a given visualization, or with working a given exercise. Each such group of events defines a state. A state is a basic unit that characterizes the interaction log data, and there are multiple state types including reading prose, interacting with visual contents, and solving exercises. We harnessed the abstracted data to analyze studying behavior and compared it with course performance based on GPA. We analyzed data from the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 sections of a senior-level Formal Languages course, and also from the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 sections of a data structures course.

When students use an online eTextbook with content and interactive graded exercises, they often display aspects of two types of behavior: credit-seeking, and knowledge-seeking. Any given student might behave to some degree in either way in a given assignment. In this work, we look at multiple aspects of detecting the degree to which either behavior is taking place, and investigate relationships to student performance. In particular, we focus on an eTextbook used for teaching Formal Languages, an advanced computer science course. This eTextbook is using Programmed Instruction (PI) framesets to deliver the material. We take two approaches to analyze session interactions in order to detect credit-seeking incidents. We first start with a coarse-grained approach by presenting an unsupervised model that clusters the behavior in the work sessions based on the sequence of different interactions that happens during them. Then we perform a fine-grained analysis where we consider the type of each question in the frameset, which can be a multi-choice, single-choice, or T/F question. We show that credit-seeking behavior is negatively affecting the learning outcome of the students. We also find that the type of the PI frame is a key factor in drawing students more into the credit-seeking behavior to finish the PI framesets quickly. We implement three machine learning models that predict students' midterm and overall semester grades based on their amount of credit-seeking behavior on the PI framesets. Finally, we provide a semisupervised learning model to aid in the work session labeling process.

The material taught in a Formal Languages course is mathematical in nature and requires students to practice proofs and algorithms to understand the content. Traditional Formal Languages textbooks are heavy on prose, and homework typically consists of solving many paper exercises. Some instructors make use of finite state machine simulators like the JFLAP package. JFLAP helps students by allowing them to build models and apply various algorithms on these models, which improves student interaction with the studied material. However, students still need to read a significant amount of text and practice problems by hand to achieve understanding. Inspired by the principles of the Programmed Instruction (PI) teaching method, we seek to develop a new Formal Languages eTextbook capable of conveying these concepts more intuitively. The PI approach has students read a little, ideally a sentence or a paragraph, and then answer a question or complete an exercise related to that information. Based on the question response, students can continue to other information frames or retry to solve the exercise. Our goal is to present all algorithms using algorithm visualizations and produce proficiency exercises to let students demonstrate understanding. To evaluate the pedagogical effectiveness of our new eTextbook, we conduct time and performance evaluations across two offerings of the course CS4114 Formal Languages and Automata. In time evaluation, the time spent by students looking at instructional content with text and visualizations versus with PI frames is compared to determine levels of student engagement. In performance evaluation, students grades are compared to assess learning gains with text and paper exercises only, with text, visualizations with exercises, and with PI frames.

Technological advances and increasing customer need for highly customized products have triggered a fourth industrial revolution. A digital revolution in the manufacturing industry is enforced by introducing smart devices and knowledge bases to form intelligent manufacturing information systems. One of the goals of the digital revolution is to allow flexibility of smart factories by automating shop floor changes based on the changes in input production processes and ordered products. In order to make this possible, a formal language to describe production processes is needed, together with a code generator for its models and an engine to execute the code on smart devices. Existing process modeling languages are not usually tailored to model production processes, especially if models are needed for automatic code generation. In this paper we propose a research on Industry 4.0 manufacturing using a Domain-Specific Modeling Language (DSML) within a Model-Driven Software Development (MDSD) approach to model production processes. The models would be used to generate instructions to smart devices and human workers, and gather a feedback from them during the process execution. A pilot comparative analysis of three modeling languages that are commonly used for process modeling is given with the goal of identifying supported modeling concepts, good practices and usage patterns.

Objective: To develop a methodology for motion planning in autonomous systems with multiple agents. Methodology: In the first place, a parametric definition of the behavior of a team of autonomous navigation systems is established. Then, the control policies are interpreted by a synthesis algorithm by converting the task description into LTL formulas and therefore generating a model that allows for automatic abstractions. Starting from configurations of generic solutions, we derive the case of multiple robots with a unique task, assuming an environment with stationary obstacles. The methodology is validated in all the aforementioned scenarios, and results are then analyzed and discussed. Results: Our proposed methodology, for motion planning in autonomous systems with multiple agents, combines two state-of-the-art techniques, mitigating the combinatorial explosion of states in traditional approaches. Conclusions: Our proposed methodology solves the automaton synthesis for multiple agents with high-level control, and even with task changes during the execution. The problem of combinatorial explosion of states is mitigated. The solution is optimized vis-a-vis the number of transactions performed by the team members. Financing: Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Objetivo: Presentar una metodología para la planificación de movimientos de sistemas autónomos con múltiples agentes. Metodología: Se define y parametriza el comportamiento físico de un equipo de sistemas de navegación autónoma, luego se describe e implementa un algoritmo de síntesis de políticas de control que interpreta estas descripciones convertidas a fórmulas LTL y se genera un modelo que permite hacer abstracciones automáticas. A partir de configuraciones genéricas de solución, se deriva en el caso de múltiples robots con una única tarea en un entorno con obstáculos fijos. La metodología se valida en diferentes escenarios y se analizan los resultados. Resultados: La metodología propuesta para planificación de movimientos en sistemas con múltiples agentes, combina dos técnicas del estado del arte, permitiendo mitigar la explosión combinacional de estados presente en los enfoques tradicionales. Conclusiones: La metodología que se presenta resuelve el problema de síntesis de autómatas para el control de alto nivel, con cambio de tareas durante la ejecución. Bajo ciertos criterios, se mitiga el problema de explosión combinacional de estados asociado a estos sistemas. La solución es óptima respecto al número de transiciones seguidas por los miembros del equipo. Financiamiento: Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira

Objective: To develop a methodology for motion planning in autonomous systems with multiple agents. Methodology: In the first place, a parametric definition of the behavior of a team of autonomous navigation systems is established. Then, the control policies are interpreted by a synthesis algorithm by converting the task description into LTL formulas and therefore generating a model that allows for automatic abstractions. Starting from configurations of generic solutions, we derive the case of multiple robots with a unique task, assuming an environment with stationary obstacles. The methodology is validated in all the aforementioned scenarios, and results are then analyzed and discussed. Results: Our proposed methodology, for motion planning in autonomous systems with multiple agents, combines two state-of-the-art techniques, mitigating the combinatorial explosion of states in traditional approaches. Conclusions: Our proposed methodology solves the automaton synthesis for multiple agents with high-level control, and even with task changes during the execution. The problem of combinatorial explosion of states is mitigated. The solution is optimized vis-a-vis the number of transactions performed by the team members. Financing: Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Objetivo: Presentar una metodología para la planificación de movimientos de sistemas autónomos con múltiples agentes. Metodología: Se define y parametriza el comportamiento físico de un equipo de sistemas de navegación autónoma, luego se describe e implementa un algoritmo de síntesis de políticas de control que interpreta estas descripciones convertidas a fórmulas LTL y se genera un modelo que permite hacer abstracciones automáticas. A partir de configuraciones genéricas de solución, se deriva en el caso de múltiples robots con una única tarea en un entorno con obstáculos fijos. La metodología se valida en diferentes escenarios y se analizan los resultados. Resultados: La metodología propuesta para planificación de movimientos en sistemas con múltiples agentes, combina dos técnicas del estado del arte, permitiendo mitigar la explosión combinacional de estados presente en los enfoques tradicionales. Conclusiones: La metodología que se presenta resuelve el problema de síntesis de autómatas para el control de alto nivel, con cambio de tareas durante la ejecución. Bajo ciertos criterios, se mitiga el problema de explosión combinacional de estados asociado a estos sistemas. La solución es óptima respecto al número de transiciones seguidas por los miembros del equipo. Financiamiento: Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira

[EN] In this paper we go further with the study initiated by Behle, Krebs and Reifferscheid (in: Proceedings CAI 2011, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6742, pp 97-114, 2011), who gave an Eilenberg-type theorem for non-regular languages via typed monoids. We provide a new extension of that result, inspired by the one carried out by Pin in the regular case in 1995, who considered classes of languages not necessarily closed under complement. We introduce the so-called positively typed monoids, and give a correspondence between varieties of such algebraic structures and positive varieties of possibly non-regular languages. We also prove a similar result for classes of languages with weaker closure properties

[EN] In this paper we go further with the study initiated by Behle, Krebs and Reifferscheid (in: Proceedings CAI 2011, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6742, pp 97-114, 2011), who gave an Eilenberg-type theorem for non-regular languages via typed monoids. We provide a new extension of that result, inspired by the one carried out by Pin in the regular case in 1995, who considered classes of languages not necessarily closed under complement. We introduce the so-called positively typed monoids, and give a correspondence between varieties of such algebraic structures and positive varieties of possibly non-regular languages. We also prove a similar result for classes of languages with weaker closure properties

[EN] In this work, we analyze the computational power of Watson-Crick finite automata (WKFA) if some restrictions over the transition function in the model are imposed. We consider that the restrictions imposed refer to the maximum length difference between the two input strands which is called the delay. We prove that the language class accepted by WKFA with such restrictions is a proper subclass of the languages accepted by arbitrary WKFA in general. In addition, we initiate the study of the language classes characterized by WKFAs with bounded delays. We prove some of the results by means of various relationships between WKFA and sticker systems.

[EN] In this work, we analyze the computational power of Watson-Crick finite automata (WKFA) if some restrictions over the transition function in the model are imposed. We consider that the restrictions imposed refer to the maximum length difference between the two input strands which is called the delay. We prove that the language class accepted by WKFA with such restrictions is a proper subclass of the languages accepted by arbitrary WKFA in general. In addition, we initiate the study of the language classes characterized by WKFAs with bounded delays. We prove some of the results by means of various relationships between WKFA and sticker systems.

[EN] In this work, we analyze the computational power of Watson-Crick finite automata (WKFA) if some restrictions over the transition function in the model are imposed. We consider that the restrictions imposed refer to the maximum length difference between the two input strands which is called the delay. We prove that the language class accepted by WKFA with such restrictions is a proper subclass of the languages accepted by arbitrary WKFA in general. In addition, we initiate the study of the language classes characterized by WKFAs with bounded delays. We prove some of the results by means of various relationships between WKFA and sticker systems.

The recently proposed Cohesive Homotopy Type Theory is exploited as a formal foundation for central concepts in Topological and Geometrical Quantum Computation. Specifically the Cohesive Homotopy Type Theory provides a formal, logical approach to concepts like smoothness, cohomology and Khovanov homology; and such approach permits to clarify the quantum algorithms in the context of Topological and Geometrical Quantum Computation. In particular we consider the so-called a "open-closed stringy topological quantum computera" which is a theoretical topological quantum computer that employs a system of open-closed strings whose worldsheets are open-closed cobordisms. The open-closed stringy topological computer is able to compute the Khovanov homology for tangles and for hence it is a universal quantum computer given than any quantum computation is reduced to an instance of computation of the Khovanov homology for tangles. The universal algebra in this case is the Frobenius Algebra and the possible open-closed stringy topological quantum computers are forming a symmetric monoidal category which is equivalent to the category of knowledgeable Frobenius algebras. Then the mathematical design of an open-closed stringy topological quantum computer is involved with computations and theorem proving for generalized Frobenius algebras. Such computations and theorem proving can be performed automatically using the Automated Theorem Provers with the TPTP language and the SMT-solver Z3 with the SMT-LIB language. Some examples of application of ATPs and SMT-solvers in the mathematical setup of an open-closed stringy topological quantum computer will be provided. © 2015 SPIE.

Nonconstructive computations by various types of machines and automata have been considered by, for example, Karp and Lipton as well as Freivalds. They allow to regard more complicated algorithms from the viewpoint of much more primitive computational devices. The amount of nonconstructivity is a quantitative characterization of the distance between types of computational devices with respect to solving a specific problem. This paper studies the amount of nonconstructivity needed to learn classes of formal languages. Different learning types are compared with respect to the amount of nonconstructivity needed to learn indexable classes and recursively enumerable classes, respectively, of formal languages from positive data. Matching upper and lower bounds for the amount of nonconstructivity needed are shown. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nonconstructive computations by various types of machines and automata have been considered by, for example, Karp and Lipton as well as Freivalds. They allow to regard more complicated algorithms from the viewpoint of much more primitive computational devices. The amount of nonconstructivity is a quantitative characterization of the distance between types of computational devices with respect to solving a specific problem. This paper studies the amount of nonconstructivity needed to learn classes of formal languages. Different learning types are compared with respect to the amount of nonconstructivity needed to learn indexable classes and recursively enumerable classes, respectively, of formal languages from positive data. Matching upper and lower bounds for the amount of nonconstructivity needed are shown. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nonconstructive computations by various types of machines and automata have been considered by, for example, Karp and Lipton as well as Freivalds. They allow to regard more complicated algorithms from the viewpoint of much more primitive computational devices. The amount of nonconstructivity is a quantitative characterization of the distance between types of computational devices with respect to solving a specific problem. This paper studies the amount of nonconstructivity needed to learn classes of formal languages. Different learning types are compared with respect to the amount of nonconstructivity needed to learn indexable classes and recursively enumerable classes, respectively, of formal languages from positive data. Matching upper and lower bounds for the amount of nonconstructivity needed are shown. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electronic version of an article published as International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 2020 31:01, 133-142, DOI: 10.1142/S0129054120400092 © World Scientific Publishing Company https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/ijfcs, [EN] In this paper, we investigate the compensation loops, a DNA rearrangement in chromosomes due to unequal crossing over. We study the e fect of compensation loops over the gene duplication, and we formalize it as a restricted case of gene duplication in general. We study this biological process under the point of view of formal languages, and we provide some results about the languages de fined in this way.

Electronic version of an article published as International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 2020 31:01, 133-142, DOI: 10.1142/S0129054120400092 © World Scientific Publishing Company https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/ijfcs, [EN] In this paper, we investigate the compensation loops, a DNA rearrangement in chromosomes due to unequal crossing over. We study the e fect of compensation loops over the gene duplication, and we formalize it as a restricted case of gene duplication in general. We study this biological process under the point of view of formal languages, and we provide some results about the languages de fined in this way.

In the inter-domain routing infrastructure, a route leak is defined as a violation of the routing policy agreed between two Autonomous Systems (AS). Route leaks have resulted in large-scale outages on the Internet, taking down several services. Although route leaks seem a simple problem, the solution is complex because: (i) ASes consider -partially- routing policy private, (ii) lack of a formal and standard language to express routing policy and (iii) BGP lacks adequate cryptographic-based security. In this paper, we present an experimental analysis of a distributed ledger-based architecture that provides a solution to route leaks. Specifically, the routing policy is unambiguously expressed using a formal language, that is then stored in a blockchain. This decentralized architecture allows private policies and interfaces seamlessly with the current BGP infrastructure, requiring no changes to routers. We build a prototype to evaluate our proposed architecture using Hyperledger, we analyze its performance using a real-world BGP dataset. Our results show that our architecture scales linearly with relevant metrics. Additionally, we validate the architecture preventing an artificially introduced route leak in a realistic 10 AS topology., This work was supported by the Spanish MINECO under contract TEC2017-90034-C2-1-R (ALLIANCE) and the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA)., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

A finite-state automaton (FSA) (see Sect. 2.3) is obtained from a standard nondeterministic finite automaton (NFA, see Sect. 1.3) by removing all accepting states and also replacing the unique initial state by a set of initial states. Such a modification can be used to better describe discrete-event systems (DESs) (Wonham and Cai 2019; Cassandras and Lafortune 2010). DESs usually refer to as event-driven processes that cannot be described by differential equations, where the latter usually represent time-driven processes. The FSA-based DESs are usually simple and many properties of FSAs are decidable, so FSAs are rather welcome in engineering-oriented studies. However, despite being simple, FSAs can also perform many good properties that are of both theoretical and practical importance. During the past three decades, plenty of properties and their verification or synthesis techniques on DESs in the framework of FSAs have been proposed and developed, e.g., controllability and observability (The notion of observability in the supervisory control framework is totally different from that studied in this book (see Chaps. 4, 5, 7).) (Ramadge and Wonham 1987; Ramadge 1986; Lin and Wonham 1988), diagnosability (Lin 1994; Sampath 1995), detectability (Shu et al. 2007; Shu and Lin 2011; Zhang 2017), opacity (Saboori and Hadjicostis 2014, 2012, 2011, 2013; Lin 2011), etc., where controllability and observability are defined on formal languages, diagnosability is defined on events, but the others are defined on states (except for that the result of Lin (2011) is defined on formal languages)., QC 20191206

Industry 4.0 enforces digital revolution in the manufacturing industry by introducing smart devices and knowledge bases to form intelligent manufacturing information systems. One of the goals of the digital revolution is to support an automatic production from product specification to allow faster reaction on the product changes and a lot size one production. In order to make this possible, a formal language to describe production processes is needed, together with a code generator for its models and an engine to execute the code on smart devices. In this paper we propose a research on Industry 4.0 manufacturing using a Model-Driven Software Development (MDSD) approach to model production processes, use the models to generate instructions to smart devices and human workers, and gather a feedback from them during the process execution.

Packet processing programs may have multiple semantically equivalent representations in terms of the match-action abstraction exposed by the underlying data plane. Some representations may encode the entire packet processing program into one large table allowing packets to be matched in a single lookup, while others may encode the same functionality decomposed into a pipeline of smaller match-action tables, maximizing modularity at the cost of increased lookup latency. In this paper, we provide the first systematic study of match-action program representations in order to assist network programmers in navigating this vast design space. Borrowing from relational database and formal language theory, we define a framework for the equivalent transformation of match-action programs to obtain certain irredundant representations that we call ``normal forms''. We find that normalization generally improves the capacity of the control plane to program the data-plane and to observe its state, at the same time having negligible, or positive, performance impact., QC 20191216

iStar2.0 was delivered in 2016 with the intention of becoming a standard de facto for the i* community. It includes a lightweight definition of the language adorned with a metamodel (in the form of a UML class diagram) that is useful for most purposes. However, in some contexts, a more precise algebraic definition including a notion of satisfaction is needed. This paper presents such elements. First, an algebraic definition of iStar2.0. Then, some auxiliary operations. Last, the notion of satisfaction over i* models using first order logic. Satisfaction is still defined mainly in a syntactic form, relying upon the satisfaction of the individual intentional elements comprising the model., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The goal of the Automated Exercises project is to create an automated assessment exercise framework which will allow instructors to build a number of different exercises for the Formal Languages course by uploading a JFLAP file to an OpenDSA textbook. The project will impact both instructors and students. Instructors will use it to build different exercises for students that will eliminate the time and effort to grade these exercises manually. Students will use these exercises to practice more on different topics, as time is available. The final product will eventually have to complete generating exercises, auto-grade exercises, and store students' answers and grades in an OpenDSA database. To complete the project, we needed to utilize some basic web design language, such as HTML or JavaScript. We had to complete being able to generate, complete, and grade the exercises for all the topics required, including NFA/DFA and PDA. However, the editor in Turing Machine needs more work. The platform should be easily manageable and configurable because the clients, Dr. Mostafa Mohammed and other instructors and students, could make heavy use of this software. We need to make it as easy as possible. The UI part of the platform is mostly designed, and we added more buttons and features to make it useful. However, aesthetics are not our focus since only the instructor would be dealing with our designed platform, whereas the student would be doing exercises on the OpenDSA platform. Data input is for the instructor to upload a JFLAP file to the site and it will be converted to JSON file for the auto grading system. Then, the auto grading system takes the answers of the student to check the correctness in each case, and the result will be shown underneath the graph in a table. The result of the test would be stored into an object inside the exercise grader and shown on the screen as a form of alert, containing attempts, test results, highest scores, and time consumed. The attached

[EN] In this work, we propose the study of SN P systems as classical information encoders. By taking the spike train of an SN P system as a (binary) source of information, we can obtain different languages according to a previously defined encoding alphabet. We provide a characterization of the language families generated by the SN P systems in this way. This characterization depends on the way we define the encoding scheme: bounded or not bounded and, in the first case, with one-to-one or non injective encodings. Finally, we propose a network topology in order to define a cascading encoder.

[EN] In this work, we propose the study of SN P systems as classical information encoders. By taking the spike train of an SN P system as a (binary) source of information, we can obtain different languages according to a previously defined encoding alphabet. We provide a characterization of the language families generated by the SN P systems in this way. This characterization depends on the way we define the encoding scheme: bounded or not bounded and, in the first case, with one-to-one or non injective encodings. Finally, we propose a network topology in order to define a cascading encoder.

The formalized and algorithmic study of human language within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has motivated much theoretical work in the related field of formal languages, in particular the subfields of grammar and automata theory. Motivated and informed by NLP, the papers in this thesis explore the connections between expressibility – that is, the ability for a formal system to define complex sets of objects – and algorithmic complexity – that is, the varying amount of effort required to analyse and utilise such systems. Our research studies formal systems working not just on strings, but on more complex structures such as trees and graphs, in particular syntax trees and semantic graphs. The field of mildly context-sensitive languages concerns attempts to find a useful class of formal languages between the context-free and context-sensitive. We study formalisms defining two candidates for this class; tree-adjoining languages and the languages defined by linear context-free rewriting systems. For the former, we specifically investigate the tree languages, and define a subclass and tree automaton with linear parsing complexity. For the latter, we use the framework of parameterized complexity theory to investigate more deeply the related parsing problems, as well as the connections between various formalisms defining the class. The field of semantic modelling aims towards formally and accurately modelling not only the syntax of natural language statements, but also the meaning. In particular, recent work in semantic graphs motivates our study of graph grammars and graph parsing. To the best of our knowledge, the formalism presented in Paper III of this thesis is the first graph grammar where the uniform parsing problem has polynomial parsing complexity, even for input graphs of unbounded node degree.

This book features a selection of best papers from 13 workshops held at the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS 2017, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2017. The 17 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in this volume. They cover specific topics, both theoretical and applied, in the general area of autonomous agents and multiagent systems.

The formalized and algorithmic study of human language within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has motivated much theoretical work in the related field of formal languages, in particular the subfields of grammar and automata theory. Motivated and informed by NLP, the papers in this thesis explore the connections between expressibility – that is, the ability for a formal system to define complex sets of objects – and algorithmic complexity – that is, the varying amount of effort required to analyse and utilise such systems. Our research studies formal systems working not just on strings, but on more complex structures such as trees and graphs, in particular syntax trees and semantic graphs. The field of mildly context-sensitive languages concerns attempts to find a useful class of formal languages between the context-free and context-sensitive. We study formalisms defining two candidates for this class; tree-adjoining languages and the languages defined by linear context-free rewriting systems. For the former, we specifically investigate the tree languages, and define a subclass and tree automaton with linear parsing complexity. For the latter, we use the framework of parameterized complexity theory to investigate more deeply the related parsing problems, as well as the connections between various formalisms defining the class. The field of semantic modelling aims towards formally and accurately modelling not only the syntax of natural language statements, but also the meaning. In particular, recent work in semantic graphs motivates our study of graph grammars and graph parsing. To the best of our knowledge, the formalism presented in Paper III of this thesis is the first graph grammar where the uniform parsing problem has polynomial parsing complexity, even for input graphs of unbounded node degree.

The formalized and algorithmic study of human language within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has motivated much theoretical work in the related field of formal languages, in particular the subfields of grammar and automata theory. Motivated and informed by NLP, the papers in this thesis explore the connections between expressibility – that is, the ability for a formal system to define complex sets of objects – and algorithmic complexity – that is, the varying amount of effort required to analyse and utilise such systems. Our research studies formal systems working not just on strings, but on more complex structures such as trees and graphs, in particular syntax trees and semantic graphs. The field of mildly context-sensitive languages concerns attempts to find a useful class of formal languages between the context-free and context-sensitive. We study formalisms defining two candidates for this class; tree-adjoining languages and the languages defined by linear context-free rewriting systems. For the former, we specifically investigate the tree languages, and define a subclass and tree automaton with linear parsing complexity. For the latter, we use the framework of parameterized complexity theory to investigate more deeply the related parsing problems, as well as the connections between various formalisms defining the class. The field of semantic modelling aims towards formally and accurately modelling not only the syntax of natural language statements, but also the meaning. In particular, recent work in semantic graphs motivates our study of graph grammars and graph parsing. To the best of our knowledge, the formalism presented in Paper III of this thesis is the first graph grammar where the uniform parsing problem has polynomial parsing complexity, even for input graphs of unbounded node degree.

The formalized and algorithmic study of human language within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has motivated much theoretical work in the related field of formal languages, in particular the subfields of grammar and automata theory. Motivated and informed by NLP, the papers in this thesis explore the connections between expressibility – that is, the ability for a formal system to define complex sets of objects – and algorithmic complexity – that is, the varying amount of effort required to analyse and utilise such systems. Our research studies formal systems working not just on strings, but on more complex structures such as trees and graphs, in particular syntax trees and semantic graphs. The field of mildly context-sensitive languages concerns attempts to find a useful class of formal languages between the context-free and context-sensitive. We study formalisms defining two candidates for this class; tree-adjoining languages and the languages defined by linear context-free rewriting systems. For the former, we specifically investigate the tree languages, and define a subclass and tree automaton with linear parsing complexity. For the latter, we use the framework of parameterized complexity theory to investigate more deeply the related parsing problems, as well as the connections between various formalisms defining the class. The field of semantic modelling aims towards formally and accurately modelling not only the syntax of natural language statements, but also the meaning. In particular, recent work in semantic graphs motivates our study of graph grammars and graph parsing. To the best of our knowledge, the formalism presented in Paper III of this thesis is the first graph grammar where the uniform parsing problem has polynomial parsing complexity, even for input graphs of unbounded node degree.

The formalized and algorithmic study of human language within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has motivated much theoretical work in the related field of formal languages, in particular the subfields of grammar and automata theory. Motivated and informed by NLP, the papers in this thesis explore the connections between expressibility – that is, the ability for a formal system to define complex sets of objects – and algorithmic complexity – that is, the varying amount of effort required to analyse and utilise such systems. Our research studies formal systems working not just on strings, but on more complex structures such as trees and graphs, in particular syntax trees and semantic graphs. The field of mildly context-sensitive languages concerns attempts to find a useful class of formal languages between the context-free and context-sensitive. We study formalisms defining two candidates for this class; tree-adjoining languages and the languages defined by linear context-free rewriting systems. For the former, we specifically investigate the tree languages, and define a subclass and tree automaton with linear parsing complexity. For the latter, we use the framework of parameterized complexity theory to investigate more deeply the related parsing problems, as well as the connections between various formalisms defining the class. The field of semantic modelling aims towards formally and accurately modelling not only the syntax of natural language statements, but also the meaning. In particular, recent work in semantic graphs motivates our study of graph grammars and graph parsing. To the best of our knowledge, the formalism presented in Paper III of this thesis is the first graph grammar where the uniform parsing problem has polynomial parsing complexity, even for input graphs of unbounded node degree.

Due to the increasing complexity of embedded systems, early detection of software/hardware errors has become desirable. In this context, effective yet flexible specification methods that support rigorous analysis of embedded systems requirements are needed. Current specification methods such as pattern-based, boilerplates normally lack meta-models for extensibility and flexibility. In contrast, formal specification languages, like temporal logic, Z, etc., enable rigorous analysis, however, they usually are too mathematical and difficult to comprehend by average software engineers. In this paper, we propose a specification representation of requirements, which considers thematic roles and domain knowledge, enabling deep semantic analysis. The specification is complemented by our constrained natural language specification framework, ReSA, which acts as the interface to the representation. The representation that we propose is encoded in description logic, which is a decidable and computationally-tractable ontology language. By employing the ontology reasoner, Hermit, we check for consistency and completeness of requirements. Moreover, we propose an automatic transformation of the ontology-based specifications into Timed Computation Tree Logic formulas, to be used further in model checking embedded systems.

Hazard and operability analysis (HAZOP) has developed from a tentative approach to hazard identification for process plants in the early 1970s to an almost universally accepted approach today, and a central technique of safety engineering. Techniques for automated HAZOP analysis were developed in the 1970s, but still have not displaced expensive manual approaches. Reasons for this were investigated and conclusions are drawn. The author's actual experience in applying automated HAZOP techniques over a period of more than 30 years is revisited, including results from several full-scale validation studies and many industrial applications. Automated techniques, when combined with manual approaches, were found to provide significant improvements in HAZOP quality and a limited but valuable improvement in efficiency.

We prove two limits on the behavior of a model of self-assembling particles introduced by Dabby and Chen (Proceedings of 24th ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), pp. 1526–1536, 2013), called insertion systems, where monomers insert themselves into the middle of a growing linear polymer. First, we prove that the expressive power of these systems is equal to context-free grammars, answering a question posed by Dabby and Chen. Second, we prove that systems of k monomer types can deterministically construct polymers of length n=2Θ(k3/2) in O(log 5 / 3(n)) expected time, and that this is optimal in both the number of monomer types and expected time., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Lambek calculus is a logical foundation of categorial grammar, a linguistic paradigm of grammar as logic and parsing as deduction. Pentus (2010) gave a polynomial-time algorithm for determining provability of bounded depth formulas in L*, the Lambek calculus with empty antecedents allowed. Pentus’ algorithm is based on tabularisation of proof nets. Lambek calculus with brackets is a conservative extension of Lambek calculus with bracket modalities, suitable for the modeling of syntactical domains. In this paper we give an algorithm for provability in Lb*, the Lambek calculus with brackets allowing empty antecedents. Our algorithm runs in polynomial time when both the formula depth and the bracket nesting depth are bounded. It combines a Pentus-style tabularisation of proof nets with an automata-theoretic treatment of bracketing., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The formalized and algorithmic study of human language within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has motivated much theoretical work in the related field of formal languages, in particular the subfields of grammar and automata theory. Motivated and informed by NLP, the papers in this thesis explore the connections between expressibility – that is, the ability for a formal system to define complex sets of objects – and algorithmic complexity – that is, the varying amount of effort required to analyse and utilise such systems. Our research studies formal systems working not just on strings, but on more complex structures such as trees and graphs, in particular syntax trees and semantic graphs. The field of mildly context-sensitive languages concerns attempts to find a useful class of formal languages between the context-free and context-sensitive. We study formalisms defining two candidates for this class; tree-adjoining languages and the languages defined by linear context-free rewriting systems. For the former, we specifically investigate the tree languages, and define a subclass and tree automaton with linear parsing complexity. For the latter, we use the framework of parameterized complexity theory to investigate more deeply the related parsing problems, as well as the connections between various formalisms defining the class. The field of semantic modelling aims towards formally and accurately modelling not only the syntax of natural language statements, but also the meaning. In particular, recent work in semantic graphs motivates our study of graph grammars and graph parsing. To the best of our knowledge, the formalism presented in Paper III of this thesis is the first graph grammar where the uniform parsing problem has polynomial parsing complexity, even for input graphs of unbounded node degree.

[ES] En el presente TFG se desarrollará un analizador de secuencias de carácter bioquímico (fundamentalmente, secuencias de ADN y de ARN) para la búsqueda de posibles mutaciones debidas a la repetición de subsecuencias. El marco teórico de este trabajo se basa en la utilización de gramáticas formales (incontextuales y regulares) y de los algoritmos de análisis eficientes para ellas. El analizador se desarrollará en JAVA y se pretende obtener una herramienta que trabaje en modo "stand-alone". Posteriormente, se evaluará su posible integración en un website para su ejecución en red., [EN] In the present project, a sequence analyzer biochemical character develops mainly of sequences of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), to search for possible mutations due to repetition of subsequences. The theoretical framework of this paper is based on the use of formal languages (context-free and regular) and analysis of efficient algorithms for these languages. The analyzer is developed in the Java programming language, with it is to obtain a tool that works in stand- alone mode. Subsequently, possible integration will be evaluated on a website to run on network.

Parsing for mildly context-sensitive language formalisms is an important area within natural language processing. While the complexity of the parsing problem for some such formalisms is known to be polynomial, this is not the case for all of them. This article presents a series of results regarding the complexity of parsing for linear context-free rewriting systems and deterministic tree-walking transducers. We discuss the difference between uniform and nonuniform complexity measures and how parameterized complexity theory can be used to investigate how different aspects of the formalisms influence how hard the parsing problem is. The main results we survey are all hardness results and indicate that parsing is hard even for relatively small values of parameters such as rank and fan-out in a rewriting system., Parameterized Natural Language Parsing

We propose a distributed and cooperative motion and task control scheme for a team of mobile robots that are subject to dynamic constraints including inter-robot collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance of the communication network. Moreover, each agent has a local high-level task given as a Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) formula of desired motion and actions. Embedded graph grammars (EGGs) are used as the main tool to specify local interaction rules and switching control modes among the robots, which is then combined with the model-checking-based task planning module. It is ensured that all local tasks are satisfied while the dynamic constraints are obeyed at all time. The overall approach is demonstrated by simulation and experimental results., QC 20161207

Parsing for mildly context-sensitive language formalisms is an important area within natural language processing. While the complexity of the parsing problem for some such formalisms is known to be polynomial, this is not the case for all of them. This article presents a series of results regarding the complexity of parsing for linear context-free rewriting systems and deterministic tree-walking transducers. We discuss the difference between uniform and nonuniform complexity measures and how parameterized complexity theory can be used to investigate how different aspects of the formalisms influence how hard the parsing problem is. The main results we survey are all hardness results and indicate that parsing is hard even for relatively small values of parameters such as rank and fan-out in a rewriting system., Parameterized Natural Language Parsing

We propose a distributed and cooperative motion and task control scheme for a team of mobile robots that are subject to dynamic constraints including inter-robot collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance of the communication network. Moreover, each agent has a local high-level task given as a Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) formula of desired motion and actions. Embedded graph grammars (EGGs) are used as the main tool to specify local interaction rules and switching control modes among the robots, which is then combined with the model-checking-based task planning module. It is ensured that all local tasks are satisfied while the dynamic constraints are obeyed at all time. The overall approach is demonstrated by simulation and experimental results., QC 20161207

Parsing for mildly context-sensitive language formalisms is an important area within natural language processing. While the complexity of the parsing problem for some such formalisms is known to be polynomial, this is not the case for all of them. This article presents a series of results regarding the complexity of parsing for linear context-free rewriting systems and deterministic tree-walking transducers. We discuss the difference between uniform and nonuniform complexity measures and how parameterized complexity theory can be used to investigate how different aspects of the formalisms influence how hard the parsing problem is. The main results we survey are all hardness results and indicate that parsing is hard even for relatively small values of parameters such as rank and fan-out in a rewriting system., Parameterized Natural Language Parsing

We propose a distributed and cooperative motion and task control scheme for a team of mobile robots that are subject to dynamic constraints including inter-robot collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance of the communication network. Moreover, each agent has a local high-level task given as a Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) formula of desired motion and actions. Embedded graph grammars (EGGs) are used as the main tool to specify local interaction rules and switching control modes among the robots, which is then combined with the model-checking-based task planning module. It is ensured that all local tasks are satisfied while the dynamic constraints are obeyed at all time. The overall approach is demonstrated by simulation and experimental results., QC 20161207

Parsing for mildly context-sensitive language formalisms is an important area within natural language processing. While the complexity of the parsing problem for some such formalisms is known to be polynomial, this is not the case for all of them. This article presents a series of results regarding the complexity of parsing for linear context-free rewriting systems and deterministic tree-walking transducers. We discuss the difference between uniform and nonuniform complexity measures and how parameterized complexity theory can be used to investigate how different aspects of the formalisms influence how hard the parsing problem is. The main results we survey are all hardness results and indicate that parsing is hard even for relatively small values of parameters such as rank and fan-out in a rewriting system., Parameterized Natural Language Parsing

We propose a distributed and cooperative motion and task control scheme for a team of mobile robots that are subject to dynamic constraints including inter-robot collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance of the communication network. Moreover, each agent has a local high-level task given as a Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) formula of desired motion and actions. Embedded graph grammars (EGGs) are used as the main tool to specify local interaction rules and switching control modes among the robots, which is then combined with the model-checking-based task planning module. It is ensured that all local tasks are satisfied while the dynamic constraints are obeyed at all time. The overall approach is demonstrated by simulation and experimental results., QC 20161207

We propose a distributed and cooperative motion and task control scheme for a team of mobile robots that are subject to dynamic constraints including inter-robot collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance of the communication network. Moreover, each agent has a local high-level task given as a Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) formula of desired motion and actions. Embedded graph grammars (EGGs) are used as the main tool to specify local interaction rules and switching control modes among the robots, which is then combined with the model-checking-based task planning module. It is ensured that all local tasks are satisfied while the dynamic constraints are obeyed at all time. The overall approach is demonstrated by simulation and experimental results., QC 20161207

[ES] Mediante este proyecto se plantea el diseño de un analizador de biosecuencias centrado en el análisis de la elongación en horquilla (hairpin lengthening), una operación natural sobre lenguajes formales inspirada en fenómenos de biología molecular consistente en elongar la palabra que forma la horquilla, preservando la estructura, sin tener que completarla necesariamente y basándose en la distancia de elongación de la horquilla. Para ello se ha trasladado el problema al ámbito de la teoría de lenguajes, cuya traducción se realiza de forma directa y sencilla, y se han aplicado distintas estrategias de programación, entre las que se encuentran programación dinámica y algoritmos voraces. Además, se lleva a cabo su implementación en el lenguaje de programación Java para asegurar su portabilidad, incluyendo un interfaz gráfico para facilitar su uso., [EN] Through this Project the desing of a biosequence analyzer is proposed, focused on the hairpin lenghtening analysis, a natural operation on formal languages which has been inspired by molecular biology that concerns the lenghtening of the word that forms a hairpin, preserving the structure, without necessarily completing the hairpin and based on the hairpin lengthening distance. In order to fulfill this task, the problem has been moved to the language theory scope, wich translation can be done in a direct and simple way. Different programming strategies has been applied in order to solve the problem, among them dynamic programming and greedy algorithm strategy. Also, the biosequence analyzer previosly designed has been implemented using Java programming language to achieve its portability, including a graphical user interface to ease its use, [CA] Mitjançant aquest projecte, es planteja el disseny d'un analitzador de bioseqüències centrat en l'anàlisi de l'elongació en forqueta (hairpin lengthening), una operació natural sobre llenguatges formals inspirada en fenòmens de biologia molecular consistent a perllongar la paraula que forma la forqueta, preservant-ne l'estructura, sense haver de completar-la necessàriament i basant-se en la distància d'elongació de forqueta. Amb aquesta finalitat, s'ha traslladat el problema a l'àmbit de la teoria de llenguatges la traducció del qual es realitza de forma directa i senzilla, i s'han aplicat distintes estratègies de programació entre les quals es troben programació dinàmica i algoritmes voraços. A més a més, es du a terme la implementació en el llenguatge de programació Java per a assegurar la seua portabilitat amb la inclusió d’una interfície gràfica que en facilite l’ús.