The process of microplanning encompasses a range of problems in Natural Language Generation (NLG), such as referring expression generation, lexical choice, and aggregation, problems in which a generator must bridge underlying domain-specific representations and general linguistic representations. In this paper, we describe a uniform approach to microplanning based on declarative representations of a generator's communicative intent. These representations describe the RE- SULTS of NLG: communicative intent associates the concrete linguistic structure planned by the generator with inferences that show how the meaning of that structure communicates needed information about some application domain in the current discourse context. Our approach, implemented in the SPUD (sentence planning using description) microplanner, uses the lexicalized treeadjoining grammar formalism (LTAG) to connect structure to meaning and uses modal logic programming to connect meaning to context. At the same time, communicative intent representations provide a RESOURCE for the PROCESS of NLG. Using representations of communicative intent, a generator can augment the syntax, semantics and pragmatics of an incomplete sentence simultaneously, and can assess its progress on the various problems of microplanning incrementally. The declarative formulation of communicative intent translates into a well-defined methodology for designing grammatical and conceptual resources which the generator can use to achieve desired microplanning behavior in a specified domain. Contents 1 Motivation 3 2

Temporal and modal logics have been used in many applications in Arti cial Intelligence and Computer Science for the manipulation of information with timedependent or, in general, context-dependent properties. Knowledge representation and reasoning, temporal planning, simulation, temporal veri cation, and description of agent systems, are among the applications for which temporal and modal logics have been proven useful. Programming languages based on Temporal or Modal Logics, provide powerful executable formalisms for implementing such applications. In this article we introduce the basic notions behind temporal and modal logic programming languages. We brie y present representative temporal and modal logic programming languages and give examples of their use.

Riassumiamo brevemente la nostra attività di ricerca nel campo delle logiche non-classiche iniziata negli anni ’90. In particolare, descriviamo la nostra ricerca riguardante l’applicazione delle logiche non-classiche alla rappresentazione della conoscenza e lo sviluppo di metodi di prova per logiche non-monotone e condizionali. We briefly outline our research activity in the field of nonclassical logics started in the 90s. In particular, we describe our research in the application of non-classical logics to knowledge representation and in the development of proof methods for non-monotonic and conditional logics. Keywords: Non-classical logics, knowledge representation, proof methods 1

Abstract We review the Italian contribution to proof-theoretic and higher-order extensions of logic programming; this originated from the realization that Horn clauses lacked standard abstraction mechanisms such as higher-order programming, scoping constructs and forms of information hiding. Those extensions were based on the Deduction and Computation paradigm as formulated in Miller et al’s approach [51], which built logic programming around the notion of focused uniform proofs The Italian contribution has been both foundational and applicative, in terms of language extensions, implementation techniques and usage of the new features to capture various computation models. We argue that the emphasis has now moved to the theory and practice of logical frameworks, carrying with it a better understanding of the foundations of proof search. 1 Introduction and

Our general goal is to provide a semantic foundation for the specification of concurrent and distributed object systems. We use Troll, a formal object-oriented language, for system specification. It is now widely accepted that object classes are unsuitable modularisation units when it comes to dealing with very large systems. An intermediate concept between the system and the objects is needed for allowing reusability of specifications and providing a clearer system structure. Enriching Troll with a module concept forces us to develop new theoretical constructs ensuring an appropriate underpinning of the language. We propose a module logic Mdtl for specifying and reasoning about the dynamic aspects of distributed and modular object systems. The main features of the logic include the ability to express module interaction and internal module concurrency. In this paper, we present the syntax and model-theoretic semantics of the module logic Mdtl. The logic is illustrated and...