Knowledge base management systems - the bases of advanced CAD

We present the structure and the use of a knowledge database of tunnel for teaching purposes. This database, called KBT, is complementary to the e-learning tool DIDACTU. The development of KBT will give an important help to teaching providing text an images to illustrate courses. 2000). Words are ambiguous, so we must express them with definitions in order to resolve their ambiguity. A word and its definition is what we call a “concept”, which refers to every and each item which matches the definition and – hence – the name. So, that we call concept is each thing and tool clearly identified in tunnel works. A jumbo, a beam, a computer code, a theory are concepts. The identification of these concepts is done by automatic language treatment running on chosen texts. An expert of the world of tunnel give definition for any concept and set it in a tree that checks subsumed relations (IS A) between all concepts. The same process applies to various relations between concepts, mainly aggregation (IS A PART OF); the sum of these various trees, featuring the same concepts, offers a kind of common reference for concepts organisation in the field of tunnels. This helps to define some conceptual neighbourhoods, which, we hope, will allow some reasoning in a next future or for the educational software DIDACTU a new kind of navigation and for the knowledge base KBT a new query mode. This part is still under development, and shall be presented next symposium. 3 MAIN CONCEPTS LEADING TO THE KBT DATABASE 3.1 What is an “interesting” tunnel and for what use? When teaching, examples are used for showing some feature or some problem that may occur during the construction of a tunnel. Interesting tunnel are these where something unexpected occurs and where an original solution must be founded. For a teacher, but also for a young engineer, the discussion that can develop when showing the case is usually fruitful, and the student will remember the causes of the incident and its remedial. Several cases, well chosen, would be an appreciated help when teaching, or for new engineers, who wish to upgrade their own knowledge. 3.2 What were the previous works about databases? The previous works about on-line databases are numerous, and the authors contributed to these progresses (Faure et al, 1992). A recurrent subject of discussion about that kind of database is the property of the data. In the WASSS project (Faure, 1999), (Faure et al, 2001) we have decided to share the data into two parts, the first one that we call meta-data, which are information on the data, and the data itself. The meta-data are access free, but the detailed data remains under the acknowledgement of its owner. It is quite heavy and we worried about the management of the rights (Faure et al, 2002). For the actual release of KBT we skip that approach and we think that all data must be free for a gentle use of the database. One other aspect of that kind of database is the feeding of it. Preparation of a case must be very light, if we want obtain numerous cases. We observed that for a men knowing correctly the case he want to display, the capture of the structured data all must no be longer than few minutes, and we conceive KBT as to agree with this constraint. The building of the web 316 Figure 1. First page when entering DIDACTU with the link to KBT. pages presenting the case may be longer, but as the form is completely free, it is easy for the writer to describe his case generally already existing on an other format, and he can use images, maps, sketches and also web links. The WEB page(s) is written in his own language, as KBT allows the use of several languages. 4 THE ON-LINE KBT DATABASE KBT means: “Knowledge data Base for Tunnels”. The word knowledge is used in its full signification, that is to say, that we want collect not only information about tunnel, but also reasoning about it when an incident occurs. For this, when filling the database four kinds of data are asked in a chosen language among French, Italian, Spanish, German and English. 4.1 What data for KBT? 4.1.1 General data about the tunnel These data are asked in a form, the user must fill: Name of the tunnel Country GPS coordinates of the two entrances Owner of the tunnel Builder (name of the company) Number of tubes Mean declivity Shape of section (circular, horse shoe shape, elliptic, rectangular....) (a combo list) Length of the tunnel Excavated volume Name of the road (railways) that uses the tunnel Date of the opening Date of writing the form Name of the writer Used language for web pages.

The Knowledge Base Management Systems (KBMS) Project at the University of Toronto (1985-1995) was inspired by a need for advanced knowledge representation applications that require knowledge bases containing hundreds of thousands or even millions of knowledge units. The knowledge representation language Telos provided a framework for the project. The key results included conceptual modeling innovations in the use of semantic abstractions, representations of time and space, and implementation techniques for storage management, query processing, rule management, and concurrency control. In this paper, we review the key ideas introduced in the KBMS project, and connect them to some of the work since the conclusion of the project that is either closely related to or directly inspired by it.

The increasing adoption of semantic technologies and the corresponding increasing complexity of application requirements are motivating extensions to the standard reasoning paradigms and services supported by such technologies. This thesis focuses on two of such extensions: nonmonotonic reasoning and inference-proof access control. Expressing knowledge via general rules that admit exceptions is an approach that has been commonly adopted for centuries in areas such as law and science, and more recently in object-oriented programming and computer security. The experiences in developing complex biomedical knowledge bases reported in the literature show that a direct support to defeasible properties and exceptions would be of great help. On the other hand, there is ample evidence of the need for knowledge confidentiality measures. Ontology languages and Linked Open Data are increasingly being used to encode the private knowledge of companies and public organizations. Semantic Web techniques facilitate merging different sources of knowledge and extract implicit information, thereby putting at risk security and the privacy of individuals. But the same reasoning capabilities can be exploited to protect the confidentiality of knowledge. Both nonmonotonic inference and secure knowledge base access rely on nonstandard reasoning procedures. The design and realization of these algorithms in a scalable way (appropriate to the ever-increasing size of ontologies and knowledge bases) is carried out by means of a diversified range of optimization techniques such as appropriate module extraction and incremental reasoning. Extensive experimental evaluation shows the efficiency of the developed optimization techniques: (i) for the first time performance compatible with real-time reasoning is obtained for large nonmonotonic ontologies, while (ii) the secure ontology access control proves to be already compatible with practical use in the e-health application scenario. �

Mining people's semantic trajectory behaviours from geotagged photographs

The nature of a hypermedia-based knowledge-based management system (KBMS) admitting default knowledge is examined. The associative reasoning of hypermedia has been utilized to provide both probabilistic and logical interpretations to default rules. The knowledge acquisition process for one such system is challenging, because it must be done under a controlled experiment permitting Bayesian interpretation of default facts and composition of hard rules in logical form. This obviously entails a very large knowledge base. Both the procedural (logic) and empirical (probabilistic) configuration of default situations on the hypermedia help in focusing only a limited subset of the whole knowledge base. However, the success of the KBMS designer will depend on the power of the abstraction tools provided. >

Development of a Building Information Modelling Asset (BIMAsset) value realisation model

Les donnees statistiques habituellement recueillies sur les etudiants et leur cursus pourraient etre exploitees en vue de rationaliser les procedures de selection et de recrutement. Expert 4 est un systeme de gestion de bases des connaissances concu pour la description precise des connaissances dans le domaine bio-medical qui permet a l'utilisateur de resumer et de traiter les donnees entrees dans le systeme. Il necessite un IBM PC avec une memoire vive de 128 K. L'auteur decrit une ebauche d'application dans le domaine pre-cite exploitant les donnees sur deux groupes d'etudiants. (INTD)

A Hybrid Modelling Framework for Ecosystem-Based Climate Change Adaptation Using System Dynamics and Bayesian Networks

According to the diversity of geological conditions involved in railway location design, different types of geological objects were classified and indexed, and proposed the modeling method based on multiple sub-bases. It used the computer's internal and external representation in geological knowledge representation. In computer external, it used object-oriented class-rules knowledge representation model, added credibility to the object-oriented knowledge representation model, and then achieved fuzzy representation of knowledge. In order to achieve visual representation of external knowledge representation, text, images and three-dimensional virtual reality technology were used. According to the ambiguity of geological knowledge, it realized uncertainty reasoning of the part based on rule condition and conclusions.

A System Perspective on Business Models

Faced with the immensity of new biological data spurred by the Human Genome Project, bio-ontologies have been generated to provide models of biological concepts to form a semantic framework. Such a semantic framework can be used to underpin a knowledge management (KM) mechanism to facilitate effective knowledge storage, sharing, and communication across computers for biological research. With regards to DNA sequences, the research process usually starts when biologists acquire new sequences. We propose a knowledge organization mechanism using fuzzy measure similarity with Gene Ontology (GO) to assist researchers by alleviating the difficulties of parsing through an immense amount of data and providing insight into how various organisms function. Based on particular evolving ontologies, a value-added knowledge base and semantic-based knowledge agent were established to return precise results tailored for the user.

Workflows are a technology to structure work in functional, non-overlapping steps. They define
\nnot only the order of execution of the steps, and describe whether steps are executed in
\nparallel, they also specify who or what tool has to fulfill which step. Workflows offer the possibility
\nto automate work, to increase the understandability of processes, and they ease the
\ncontrol of process execution. The tools to manage workflows, so called workflow management
\nsystems (WfMSs), are traditionally rigid as they separate workflow definition done at build time
\nfrom workflow execution done at run time. This makes them ill-suited for managing flexible and
\nunstructured workflows. In this thesis, we focus on the support of flexible processes in eHealth,
\nwhich are affected by more foreseen than unforeseen events. To bridge the gap between rigid
\nWfMSs and flexible workflows, we developed a concept for dynamic and context-aware workflow
\nmanagement called Flexwoman. Although our focus lies on flexible eHealth processes,
\nFlexwoman is a generic approach that can be applied to several different application domains.
\nFlexwoman supports the usage of context information to adapt processes automatically at run
\ntime to foreseen events. Processes can also be manually adapted to handle unforeseen events.
\nTo achieve this flexibility, context information from different sensors is unified and thus can be
\nanalyzed in the same way. The analysis and adaptation of workflows is executed with a rule engine.
\nA rule engine can store, reason about and apply knowledge automatically and efficiently.
\nRules and application logic are separated, thus, rules can be changed during run time without
\naffecting application logic or process description. Workflows are internally described by Hierarchical
\nColored Petri nets (HCPNs) and executed by a HCPN execution engine. HCPNs allow for
\na deterministic execution of workflows and can represent workflows on different levels of detail.
\nIn summary, in Flexwoman, significant context changes (events) trigger automated adaptations
\nthat replace parts of the workflow by sub workflows, which can in turn be adapted. The adaptations
\nand the rules for context-aware adaptation are saved in the organizational memory for
\nlater reuse. Flexwoman’s event based behavior facilitates proactive adaptations instead of only
\nallowing for adaptations while entering or leaving a task. Replacements are not bound to special
\nplaces defined at build time but each part of the workflow, which has not been executed yet, can
\nbe replaced at run time. We implemented and evaluated the concept. The evaluations show
\ni) that all required functionality is available, ii) that the system scales with a growing number of
\nrules, and iii) that the system correctly handles failure situations.

Design has been framed as a driver of innovation through product meaning, but it falls short when it comes to dedicated knowledge and methods directly applicable into design practices. Structured by Design Research Methodology (DRM) (Blessing and Chakrabarti 2009), this thesis combines exploratory research with practice-based design research. This thesis presents a literature review covering design studies, psychology, cognitive semantics, linguistics, marketing, innovation management and new product development. Together combined these have been used to develop a new framework of ‘product meaning’ consisting of 4 definitions: meaning as conceptualisation, as importance, as intention, and as representation. The framework has been used to demonstrate that different types of meaning are utilised throughout different stages of product development. Meaning as conceptualisation is identified as fundamental, and the most suitable, for design practice engaged in product meaning innovation. Three strategies of innovation of product meaning through product re-purposing are identified. Furthermore, from the field of cognitive science, theories and methods such as concept categorisation, thematic roles and conceptual blending are used as analysis tools for the selected 6 examples of innovative new meaning products. The structure of meaning innovations has been identified to consist of seven distinctive elements. Ten common characteristics of new meaning innovations are identified and, additionally, an exploratory method of current meanings of products is presented. Moreover, through engagement in practice-based design research a new meaning-driven design process has been developed. The findings from this research have been combined into a new design platform for an approach to meaning innovation and evaluated with experienced designers.

Jeff Magee and Jeff Kramer John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, 1999, 374 pp. ISBN 0471987107, $64.99 The book is an introductory text to the ideas, concepts, and topics of concurrency. The text focuses on understanding concepts and techniques, and problems of concurrency, not on the implementation or language. The author's overall goal is that by a combination of learning and doing using Java should make the process of acquiring the skills relating to concurrency interesting, enjoyable, and challenging. The Java language is thus used only for illustration and programming experience of the reader. The book is intended for a computer science student or software developer. A background in programming is expected, as well as some familiarity with the essential concepts of object-oriented programming. Knowledge of the Java programming language and operating systems concepts is beneficial but not required. After reading the text, a reader can expect to have a broad understanding of the concepts of concurrency, the problems that arise, methods to emphasis desirable properties in a concurrent system, and ways to avoid the undesirable ones. The text provides a systematic treatment of concepts, as means to rigorously specify and model concurrent systems, with Java examples to animate and illustrate the concepts discussed. The book is organized into twelve chapters, with three appendices. The first eight chapters provide a concise and comprehensive foundation of concurrency, with the remaining four chapters focusing on more advanced concepts. The latter four chapters are somewhat supplemental and can be read at the discretion of the reader. The content of the text is self-contained, with no reliance upon external references. The authors provide a concluding set of notes and further topics which reference external works, but these are not used in the chapter contents. The introduction provides the foundation for the book, and an idea of what will follow in the rest of the text. The basics of modeling and Java are covered. Authors follow with the concepts of processes, threads and with the idea of concurrency. The emphasis is on using Java, and on the notation used to define a concurrent process or thread. The discussion continues covering interleaving and asynchronous concurrency. Various details about composition of parallel processes and finite state processing modeling are presented. The programming of concurrent execution using Java is then examined via the concept of multiple threads. Here, sharing objects among Java threads is also discussed. The concept of conditional synchronization is covered next, and is used to construct a monitor. The methods of the base object in Java is used, and a waiting queue associated with a Java object is discussed and implemented. This discussion is followed by introduction of deadlock. Authors show the conditions necessary for a deadlock to occur and present an analysis of a concurrent system establishing that such a system is deadlock-free. The classic Dining Philosopher's problem is used to illustrate the distinction between finding deadlocks in models and in programs. The presentation continues with the safety property (that asserts that nothing bad happens), and the liveliness property (that asserts that nothing good happens). Here, authors use the material on model-based design to consolidate many of the concepts previously discussed. No one modeling method or design methodology is emphasized. Then creation and elimination of threads in a running program is covered next. The dynamic starting and stopping of Java threads is presented. The discussion moves then to messaging passing. Asynchronous and synchronous messaging is presented with Java programming examples. The concept of a rendezvous, allowing for interaction in a messaging system, is also presented. Based on the concepts developed so far filter-pipeline, supervisor-worker, and announcer-listener concurrent architectures are examined. Java programs demonstrating how the elements of each model interact at runtime are developed. The presentation completes with modeling and implementing of timed systems. Time is signaled by the passage of successive time ticks. The authors then elaborate on a system that is event-based rather than thread-based. Java programs are used to illustrate in implementation the concepts discussed. The three appendices provide a reference, specification, and listing of semantics for the finite-state modeling algebra used by the authors throughout the book. The text is ideal for teaching in a classroom environment, or for a motivated reader to use for self-paced learning. Its organization follows a logical train of discussion and thought, with each chapter building successively on the other, with the more difficult concepts and topics withheld until later. This gradual approach makes the material flow smoothly and cohesively from the beginning to the end. The book is intended as a textbook, so does organize the material and discussion as one, but does not become too dry or bland to stifle the reader's interest in the material. The examples are inter-mixed with the discussion to highlight and emphasize essential points the authors make in each chapter. The text illustrates concepts well under discussion, and does not become a long-winded recital of theory. The topics examined are fundamental to concurrency, and are well illustrated and discussed, but no one topic is examined extensively. The code examples are well written concerning the programming style, indentation and comments. A CD is provided, containing the codes from the book. In addition supplementary material consisting of presentation slides and an errata is provided on the author's WWW site, as well as on the CD. The book is up to date both on the topics of concurrency, and with the Java applets, code, and programs used to illustrate them. Later, as the Java language evolves, the examples may need to be updated, but for the time being the text well represents that state of the Java language. William F. Gilreath, Micron Technology, Inc., Boise Idaho

The purpose of a database management system is the reliable and efficient management of shared persistent data. Current knowledge-based systems are designed for representing and processing knowledge in a way that is cognitively adequate. Since knowledge should be kept persistent as well, it seems to be interesting to combine the techniques of database management systems and knowledge-based systems into something like a knowledge base management system. We shortly show some conceptual differences between these two types of systems and then discuss how database concepts should be evolved in order to meet the requirements of knowledge-based systems. Using LILOG-DB as an example, we demonstrate in detail the modeling capabilities a database system should provide in order to support typical knowledge structures.Especially, we discuss the design of FLL, a first-order logic based query language supporting an order-sorted complex-object data-model under an Open-World Assumption.KeywordsLogic ProgramDatabase SystemKnowledge RepresentationOpen StructureDatabase Management SystemThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.