Ontologies for crisis management:a review of state of the art in ontology design and usability

The growing use of a variety of information systems in crisis management both by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and emergency management agencies makes the challenges of information sharing and interoperability increasingly important. The use of semantic web technologies is a growing area and is a technology stack specifically suited to these challenges. This paper presents a review of ontologies, vocabularies and taxonomies that are useful in crisis management systems. We identify the different subject areas relevant to crisis management based on a review of the literature. The different ontologies and vocabularies available are analysed in terms of their coverage, design and usability. We also consider the use cases for which they were designed and the degree to which they follow a variety of standards. While providing comprehensive ontologies for the crisis domain is not feasible or desirable there is considerable scope to develop ontologies for the subject areas not currently covered and for the purposes of interoperability.

Words and intelligence II:essays in honor of Yorick Wilks

Yorick Wilks is a central figure in the fields of Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence. His influence has extends to many areas of these fields and includes contributions to Machine Translation, word sense disambiguation, dialogue modeling and Information Extraction.This book celebrates the work of Yorick Wilks from the perspective of his peers. It consists of original chapters each of which analyses an aspect of his work and links it to current thinking in that area. His work has spanned over four decades but is shown to be pertinent to recent developments in language processing such as the Semantic Web.This volume forms a two-part set together with Words and Intelligence I, Selected Works by Yorick Wilks, by the same editors.

Integrating OpenMI and Uncertweb:managing uncertainty in OpenMI models

OpenMI is a widely used standard allowing exchange of data between integrated models, which has mostly been applied to dynamic, deterministic models. Within the FP7 UncertWeb project we are developing mechanisms and tools to support the management of uncertainty in environmental models. In this paper we explore the integration of the UncertWeb framework with OpenMI, to assess the issues that arise when propagating uncertainty in OpenMI model compositions, and the degree of integration possible with UncertWeb tools. In particular we develop an uncertainty-enabled model for a simple Lotka-Volterra system with an interface conforming to the OpenMI standard, exploring uncertainty in the initial predator and prey levels, and the parameters of the model equations. We use the Elicitator tool developed within UncertWeb to identify the initial condition uncertainties, and show how these can be integrated, using UncertML, with simple Monte Carlo propagation mechanisms. The mediators we develop for OpenMI models are generic and produce standard Web services that expose the OpenMI models to a Web based framework. We discuss what further work is needed to allow a more complete system to be developed and show how this might be used practically.

Models, Techniques and Applications of e-Learning Personalization

In recent years Web has become mainstream medium for communication and information dissemination. This paper presents approaches and methods for adaptive learning implementation, which are used in some contemporary web-interfaced Learning Management Systems (LMSs). The problem is not how to create electronic learning materials, but how to locate and utilize the available information in personalized way. Different attitudes to personalization are briefly described in section 1. The real personalization requires a user profile containing information about preferences, aims, and educational history to be stored and used by the system. These issues are considered in section 2. A method for development and design of adaptive learning content in terms of learning strategy system support is represented in section 3. Section 4 includes a set of innovative personalization services that are suggested by several very important research projects (SeLeNe project, ELENA project, etc.) dated from the last few years. This section also describes a model for role- and competency-based learning customization that uses Web Services approach. The last part presents how personalization techniques are implemented in Learning Grid-driven applications.

An Ontology-based Approach to Student Skills in Multiagent e-Learning Systems

The main idea of our approach is that the domain ontology is not only the instrument of learning but an object of examining student skills. We propose for students to build the domain ontology of examine discipline and then compare it with etalon one. Analysis of student mistakes allows to propose them personalized recommendations and to improve the course materials in general. For knowledge interoperability we apply Semantic Web technologies. Application of agent-based technologies in e-learning provides the personification of students and tutors and saved all users from the routine operations.

Authors Support in the TM4L Environment

The TM4L environment enables the development and use of ontology-aware courseware based on the Semantic Web technology Topic Maps. In this paper we discuss its features in the light of authoring support, giving illustrative examples to highlight its use.

Using the Business Process Execution Language for Managing Scientific Processes

This paper describes the use of the Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS/BPEL) for managing scientific workflows. This work is result of our attempt to adopt Service Oriented Architecture in order to perform Web services – based simulation of metal vapor lasers. Scientific workflows can be more demanding in their requirements than business processes. In the context of addressing these requirements, the features of the BPEL4WS specification are discussed, which is widely regarded as the de-facto standard for orchestrating Web services for business workflows. A typical use case of calculation the electric field potential and intensity distributions is discussed as an example of building a BPEL process to perform distributed simulation constructed by loosely-coupled services.

A Prototype of an Extension to the UDDI Registry Allowing Pubilcation and Search Based on Subjective Evaluations

The paper has been presented at the International Conference Pioneers of Bulgarian Mathematics, Dedicated to Nikola Obreshko and Lubomir Tschakalo , So a, July, 2006.

Software Development for Distributed System of Russian Databases for Electronics Materials

Current state of Russian databases for substances and materials properties was considered. A brief review of integration methods of given information systems was prepared and a distributed databases integration approach based on metabase was proposed. Implementation details were mentioned on the posed database on electronics materials integration approach. An operating pilot version of given integrated information system implemented at IMET RAS was considered.

A Survey on the Integration of Enterprise Applications as a Service

The present paper discusses the process of multi-lateral integration of the business applications, which requires the construction of a common infra-structure, acquires the format of a service and leads to release of the individual construction of a private infra-structure by every participant in the process.

ImageSpace: An Environment for Image Ontology Management

More and more researchers have realized that ontologies will play a critical role in the development of the Semantic Web, the next generation Web in which content is not only consumable by humans, but also by software agents. The development of tools to support ontology management including creation, visualization, annotation, database storage, and retrieval is thus extremely important. We have developed ImageSpace, an image ontology creation and annotation tool that features (1) full support for the standard web ontology language DAML+OIL; (2) image ontology creation, visualization, image annotation and display in one integrated framework; (3) ontology consistency assurance; and (4) storing ontologies and annotations in relational databases. It is expected that the availability of such a tool will greatly facilitate the creation of image repositories as islands of the Semantic Web.

Consuming linked data in supply chains:enabling data visibility via linked pedigrees

The performance of a supply chain depends critically on the coordinating actions and decisions undertaken by the trading partners. The sharing of product and process information plays a central role in the coordination and is a key driver for the success of the supply chain. In this paper we propose the concept of "Linked pedigrees" - linked datasets, that enable the sharing of traceability information of products as they move along the supply chain. We present a distributed and decentralised, linked data driven architecture that consumes real time supply chain linked data to generate linked pedigrees. We then present a communication protocol to enable the exchange of linked pedigrees among trading partners. We exemplify the utility of linked pedigrees by illustrating examples from the perishable goods logistics supply chain.

Семантическая Википедия как Источник Онтологий для Интеллектуальных Поисковых Систем

Определены подходы к интеллектуальному поиску информации при помощи современных Web-технологий. Проанализированы источники онтологических описаний предметных областей поиска, в частности, семантическая Википедия. Предложены методы использования онтологий для повышения пертинентности информационного поиска.

Easy Creation of Semantics-Enhanced Digital Artwork Collections

In this paper we propose an approach for cost-effective employing of semantic technologies to improve the efficiency of searching and browsing of digital artwork collections. It is based on a semi-automatic creation of a Topic Map-based virtual art gallery portal by using existing Topic Maps tools. Such a ‘cheap’ solution could enable small art museums or art-related educational programs that lack sufficient funding for software development and publication infrastructure to take advantage of the emerging semantic technologies. The proposed approach has been used for creating the WSSU Diggs Gallery Portal.

Online Education: What Works in Mathematics

Florida State University and University of Helsinki Information technology has the potential to deliver education to everybody by high quality online courses and associated services, and to enhance traditional face-to-face instruction by, e.g., web services offering virtually unlimited practice and step-bystep solutions to practice problems. Regardless of this, tools of information technology have not yet penetrated mathematics education in any meaningful way. This is mostly due to the inertia of academia: instructors are slow to change their working habits. This paper reports on an experiment where all the instructors (seven instructors and six teaching assistants) of a large calculus course were required to base their instruction on online content. The paper will analyze the effectiveness of various solutions used, and finishes with recommendations regarding best practices.