Competence Checking for the Global E-Service Society Using Games

We study the problem of checking the competence of communicative agents operating in a global society in order to receive and offer electronic services. Such a society will be composed of local sub-societies that will often be semi-open, viz., entrance of agents in a semi-open society is conditional to specific admission criteria. Assuming that a candidate agent provides an abstract description of their communicative skills, we present a test that a controller agent could perform in order to decide if a candidate agent should be admitted. We formulate this test by revisiting an existing knowledge representation framework based on games specified as extended logic programs. The resulting framework finds useful application in complex and inter-operable web-services construed as semi-open societies in support of the global vision known as the Semantic Web

SALINAS - An implicit finite element structural dynamics code developed for massively parallel platforms

As computational needs for structural finite element analysis increase, a robust implicit structural dynamics code is needed which can handle millions of degrees of freedom in the model and produce results with quick turn around time. A parallel code is needed to avoid limitations of serial platforms. Salinas is an implicit structural dynamics code specifically designed for massively parallel platforms. It computes the structural response of very large complex structures and provides solutions faster than any existing serial machine. This paper gives a current status of Salinas and uses demonstration problems to show Salinas' performance

The KGP model of agency for global computing: Computational model and prototype implementation

Abstract. We present the computational counterpart of the KGP (Knowledge, Goals, Plan) declarative model of agency for Global Computing. In this context, a computational entity is seen as an agent developed using Computational Logic tools and techniques. We model a KGP agent by relying upon a collection of capabilities, which are then used to define a collection of transitions, to be used within logically specified, context sensitive control theories, which we call cycle theories. In close relationship to the declarative model, the computational model mirrors the logical architecture by specifying appropriate computational counterparts for the capabilities and using these to give the computational models of the transitions. These computational models and the one specified for the cycle theories are all based on, and are significant extensions of, existing proof procedures for abductive logic programming and logic programming with priorities. We also discuss a prototype implementation of the overall computational model for KGP.

Compétences d'adaptation à la maladie du patient : une proposition

International audienceIntroduction: The 2007 recommendations of the HAS-INPES (Haute Autorité de Santé-Institut National de Prévention et d’Éducation pour la Santé) on therapeutic patient education (TPE) differentiate two classifications of the skills patients should acquire through educational programs in order to cope with their disease: self-care and life skills (the latter are inspired by the psychosocial skills suggested by the WHO). Being their formulation very general, a working group of IPCEM (association for developing TPE) suggests to formalize the definition of eight additional skills that we explain in this article. Description: These are contextualized skills, that is to say, characteristic of the life situations most frequently encountered by the patients. Therefore, their use can make therapeutic education programs closer to the real life of people. They borrow some teaching methods to the field of communication and justify to imagine new assessment techniques. Conclusion: The interest of formulating these psychosocial skills is to provide the caregivers and their partners the possibility of planning the future educational programs and share their fields of intervention. Conceptual changes which bring these new competences in the management of chronic diseases are discussed.Introduction : Les recommandations 2007 de la HAS-INPES (Haute Autorité de Santé-Institut National de Prévention et d’Éducation pour la Santé) sur l’éducation thérapeutique différencient deux registres de compétences du patient : compétences d’auto-soins et compétences d’adaptation à la maladie, ces dernières étant inspirées de l’OMS. Devant le constat que leur formulation est de nature très générale, un groupe de travail de l’IPCEM (association pour le développement de l’ETP) a proposé la formalisation de huit nouvelles compétences d’adaptation à la maladie que nous explicitons dans cet article. Description : ces compétences sont caractéristiques des situations de vie le plus fréquemment rencontrées par les patients. En ce sens, leur utilisation permet de rendre les programmes d’éducation thérapeutique plus proches de la réalité des personnes. Elles font appel à certaines méthodes pédagogiques du domaine du savoir-être et justifient d’imaginer de nouvelles techniques d’évaluation. Conclusions : L’intérêt de formuler ces compétences d’adaptation à la maladie est d’offrir aux soignants et à leurs partenaires la possibilité de concevoir les futurs programmes éducatifs et de s’en répartir les champs d’intervention. Les changements conceptuels qu’apportent ces nouvelles compétences dans la prise en charge des maladies chroniques sont discutés