Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

What Is The Ideal Consensus Conference, And How Would We Recognize It If We Saw One?, Jan R. Coe

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

The consensus conference is a participatory mechanism that envisages ordinary citizens engaging with experts (scientists and other knowledge producers) on issues of compelling social significance. It invites ordinary citizens to bring their life experience and values to the serious consideration of a technology that may have far-reaching consequences. Three selected examples of consensus conferences are examined in order to see how they match the ideal. The paper concludes with thoughts about the adequacy of evaluation frameworks and suggest that a more dynamic model of consensus conference evaluation (based on public understanding of science models) might invite more compelling reflections about …

Openws-Transaction: Enabling Reliable Web Service Transactions, Ivan Vasquez, John A. Miller, Kunal Verma, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

OpenWS-Transaction is an open source middleware that enables Web services to participate in a distributed transaction as prescribed by the WS-Coordination and WS-Transaction set of specifications. Central to the framework are the Coordinator and Participant entities, which can be integrated into existing services by introducing minimal changes to application code. OpenWS-Transaction allows transaction members to recover their original state in case of operational failure by leveraging techniques in logical logging and recovery at the application level. Depending on transaction style, system recovery may involve restoring key application variables and replaying uncommitted database activity. Transactions are assumed to be defined in …

A Look At 20 Academic Libraries Technical Services Web Pages, Deana Groves

DLTS Faculty Publications

The 21st century technical services librarian has access to a plethora of electronic and online work tools from which to choose to complete daily tasks. An assessment of the Western Kentucky University Libraries 19 benchmark institutions shows a great disparity of online work tools made available through university libraries technical services departmental web sites. Four areas (technical services, cataloging, serials, and acquisitions) are discussed. Outcomes indicate that 1) few of these institutions list online work tools and 2) of those that do, there is very little overlap. This paper investigates this phenomenon of inconsistent technical services online work tools.

Demonstrating Dynamic Configuration And Execution Of Web Processes, Karthik Gomadam, Kunal Verma, Amit P. Sheth, John A. Miller

Kno.e.sis Publications

Web processes are next generation workflows on the web, created using Web services. In this paper we demonstrate the METEOR-S Configuration and Execution Environment (MCEE) system. It will illustrate the capabilities of the system to a) Discover partners b) Optimize partner selection using constraint analysis, c) Perform interaction protocol and data mediation. A graphical execution monitor to monitor the various phases of execution will be used to demonstrate various aspects of the system.

Discovering Informative Connection Subgraphs In Multi-Relational Graphs, Cartic Ramakrishnan, William Milnor, Matthew Perry, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Discovering patterns in graphs has long been an area of interest. In most approaches to such pattern discovery either quantitative anomalies, frequency of substructure or maximum flow is used to measure the interestingness of a pattern. In this paper we introduce heuristics that guide a subgraph discovery algorithm away from banal paths towards more "informative" ones. Given an RDF graph a user might pose a question of the form: "What are the most relevant ways in which entity X is related to entity Y?" the response to which is a subgraph connecting X to Y. We use our heuristics to …

The Internet And Civil Society: Environmental And Labour Organizations In Hong Kong, Yin-Wah Chu, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To what extent has the Internet strengthened civil society? In which ways have civil society organizations (CSOs) used the internet to communicate their missions, enhance the discussion of public issues, extend networks and mobilize collective actions? This article seeks to answer these and related questions by reporting on an empirical study in Hong Kong. The study involves an analysis of the web pages launched by 14 environmental groups and 22 labour organizations on the one hand, and in-depth interviews with representatives of five of these organizations on the other. Due to the lack of resources and low level of e-readiness …

Ontoqa: Metric-Based Ontology Quality Analysis, Samir Tartir, I. Budak Arpinar, Michael Moore, Amit P. Sheth, Boanerges Aleman-Meza

Kno.e.sis Publications

As the Semantic Web gains importance for sharing knowledge on the Internet this has lead to the development and publishing of many ontologies in different domains. When trying to reuse existing ontologies into their applications, users are faced with the problem of determining if an ontology is suitable for their needs. In this paper, we introduce OntoQA, an approach that analyzes ontology schemas and their populations (i.e. knowledgebases) and describes them through a well defined set of metrics. These metrics can highlight key characteristics of an ontology schema as well as its population and enable users to make an informed …

When The Saints Go Marching Out, Scott J. Wallsten

Scott J. Wallsten

No abstract provided.

Semantics For Scientific Experiments And The Web: The Implicit, The Formal And The Powerful, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Modeling Fuzzy Rules With Description Logics, Sudhir Agarwal, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

In real application scenarios, input data and knowledge is often vague. Likewise, it is often the case that exact reasoning over data is impossible due to complex dependencies between input data and target outputs. For practical applications, however, good approximations often suffice, and efficient calculation of an approximate answer is often preferable over complex processing which may take a long time to come up with an exact answer. Fuzzy logic supports both features by providing fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy IF-THEN rule bases. In this paper, we show how fuzzy membership functions and fuzzy rules can be modeled by means …

Dlp Isn't So Bad After All, Peter Haase, Markus Krotzsch, York Sure, Rudi Studer, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

We discuss some of the recent controversies concerning the DLP fragment of OWL. We argue that it is a meaningful fragment and can serve as a basic interoperability layer between OWL and logic programming-based ontology languages.

Optimal Adaptation In Autonomic Web Processes With Inter-Service Dependencies, Kunal Verma, Prashant Doshi, Karthik Gomadam, John A. Miller, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

We present methods for optimally adapting Web processes to exogenous events while preserving inter-service dependencies. For example, in a supply chain process, orders placed by the manufacturer may get delayed in arriving. In response to this event, the manufacturer has the choice of either waiting out the delay or changing the supplier.

Building Skills F2f – Using Chat Reference Techniques, Darcy C. Del Bosque, Kimberly Chapman

Library Faculty Publications

The UTSA Library, like many organizations, has been experiencing a period of rapid growth and change. Even positive change can cause stress in departments, and one way to help employees deal with change, while still providing customer-oriented service, is to establish a regular forum for discussion that encourages departmental communication.

Training is an important aspect of employee development; however, the literature indicates that, in many organizations, training is often given little attention and relegated to the sidelines due to other demands on staff. With the hiring of new personnel, including a new Head of Reference and a Training Coordinator, the …

Computing For Human Experience And Wellness, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Internet Accessibility And Usage Among Urban Adolescents In Southern California: Implications For Web-Based Health Research, C. Anderson Johnson, Ping Sun, Jennifer B. Unger, Paula Palmer, Peggy E. Gallaher, Chih-Ping Chou, Steve Sussman, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The World Wide Web (WWW) poses a distinct capability to offer interventions tailored to the individual’s characteristics. To fine tune the tailoring process, studies are needed to explore how Internet accessibility and usage are related to demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and other health related characteristics. This study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on 2373 7th grade students of various ethnic groups in Southern California. Measures of Internet use included Internet use at school or at home, Email use, chat-room use, and Internet favoring. Logistic regressions were conducted to assess the associations between Internet uses with selected demographic, psychosocial, behavioral …

Work In Progress: The Wsu Model For Engineering Mathematics Education, Nathan W. Klingbeil, Richard Mercer, Kuldip S. Rattan, Michael L. Raymer, David B. Reynolds

Kno.e.sis Publications

This paper summarizes progress to date on the WSU model for engineering mathematics education, an NSF funded curriculum reform initiative at Wright State University. The WSU model seeks to increase student retention, motivation and success in engineering through application-driven, just-in-time engineering math instruction. The WSU approach involves the development of a novel freshman-level engineering mathematics course EGR 101, as well as a large-scale restructuring of the engineering curriculum. By removing traditional math prerequisites and moving core engineering courses earlier in the program, the WSU model shifts the traditional emphasis on math prerequisite requirements to an emphasis on engineering motivation for …

Mammalogy At Texas Tech University: A Historical Perspective, Lisa C. Bradley, John R. Suchecki, Brian R. Amman, Joel G. Brant, Hugh H. Genoways, L. Rex Mcaliley, Robert J. Baker, Francisca Mendez-Harclerode, Robert D. Bradley

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The mammalogy program at Texas Tech University officially was established in 1962, when Robert L. Packard joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences. As the institution's first mammalogist, Packard took the initiative to develop a strong program of mammalian research and education. Influenced by the successful program built by his mentor, E. Raymond Hall, at the University of Kansas, Packard modeled similar goals for Texas Tech University. Those goals included a strong emphasis on both undergraduate and graduate education and research, with several mammalogy faculty members, and the establishment and growth of a large and active mammal collection.

The Economic Costs Of The War In Iraq, Scott J. Wallsten, Katrina Kosec

Scott J. Wallsten

No abstract provided.

Ga-Facilitated Knn Classifier Optimization With Varying Similarity Measures, Michael R. Peterson, Travis E. Doom, Michael L. Raymer

Kno.e.sis Publications

Genetic algorithms are powerful tools for k-nearest neighbors classifier optimization. While traditional knn classification techniques typically employ Euclidian distance to assess pattern similarity, other measures may also be utilized. Previous research demonstrates that GAs can improve predictive accuracy by searching for optimal feature weights and offsets for a cosine similarity-based knn classifier. GA-selected weights determine the classification relevance of each feature, while offsets provide alternative points of reference when assessing angular similarity. Such optimized classifiers perform competitively with other contemporary classification techniques. This paper explores the effectiveness of GA weight and offset optimization for knowledge discovery using knn classifiers with …

Extracting Reduced Logic Programs From Artificial Neural Networks, Jens Lehmann, Sebastian Bader, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Artificial neural networks can be trained to perform excellently in many application areas. While they can learn from raw data to solve sophisticated recognition and analysis problems, the acquired knowledge remains hidden within the network architecture and is not readily accessible for analysis or further use: Trained networks are black boxes. Recent research efforts therefore investigate the possibility to extract symbolic knowledge from trained networks, in order to analyze, validate, and reuse the structural insights gained implicitly during the training process. In this paper, we will study how knowledge in form of propositional logic programs can be obtained in such …

Integrating First-Order Logic Programs And Connectionist Systems - A Constructive Approach, Sebastian Bader, Andreas Witzel, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Significant advances have recently been made concerning the integration of symbolic knowledge representation with artificial neural networks (also called connectionist systems). However, while the integration with propositional paradigms has resulted in applicable systems, the case of first-order knowledge representation has so far hardly proceeded beyond theoretical studies which prove the existence of connectionist systems for approximating first-order logic programs up to any chosen precision. Advances were hindered severely by the lack of concrete algorithms for obtaining the approximating networks which were known to exist: the corresponding proofs are not constructive in that they do not yield concrete methods for building …

Ontology Learning As A Use-Case For Neural-Symbolic Integration, Pascal Hitzler, Sebastian Bader, Artur Garcez

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

We argue that the field of neural-symbolic integration is in need of identifying application scenarios for guiding further research. We furthermore argue that ontology learning - as occurring in the context of semantic technologies - provides such an application scenario with potential for success and high impact on neural-symbolic integration.

Enterprise Applications Of Semantic Web: The Sweet Spot Of Risk And Compliance, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Semantic Web is in the transition from vision and research to reality. In this early state, it is important to study the technical capabilities in the context of real-world applications, and how applications built using the Semantic Web technology meet the real market needs. Beyond push from research, it is the market pull and the ability of the technology to meet real business needs that is a key to ultimate success of any technology. In this paper, we discuss the market of Risk and Compliance which presents unique market opportunity combined with challenging technical requirements. We discuss how the Semantic …

Peer-To-Peer Discovery Of Semantic Associations, Matthew Perry, Maciej Janik, Cartic Ramakrishnan, Conrad Ibanez, I. Budak Arpinar, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

The Semantic Web vision promises an extension of the current Web in which all data is annotated with machine understandable metadata. The relationship-centric nature of this data has led to the definition of Semantic Associations, which are complex relationships between resources. Semantic Associations attempt to answer queries of the form “how are resource A and resource B related?” Knowing how two entities are related is a crucial question in knowledge discovery applications. Much the same way humans collaborate and interact to form new knowledge, discovery of Semantic Associations across repositories on a peer-to-peer network can allow peers to share their …

A Semantic Template Based Designer For Semantic Web Processes, Ranjit Mulye, John A. Miller, Kunal Verma, Karthik Gomadam, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

The growing popularity of service oriented computing based on Web services standards is creating a need for paradigms to represent and design business processes. Significant work has been done in the representation aspects with regards to WSBPEL. However, design and modeling of business processes is still an open issue. In this paper, we present a novel designer for business processes, which allows for intuitive modeling of Web processes, as well as using a template based approach for semi-automatically integrating partners either at design time or at deployment time. This work has been done as part of the METEOR-S project, which …

On Embedding Machine-Processable Semantics Into Documents, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan

Kno.e.sis Publications

Most Web and legacy paper-based documents are available in human comprehensible text form, not readily accessible to or understood by computer programs. Here, we investigate an approach to amalgamate XML technology with programming languages for representational purposes that can enhance traceability, thereby facilitating semiautomatic extraction and update. Specifically, we propose a modular technique to embed machine-processable semantics into a text document with tabular data via annotations, resulting sometimes in ill-formed XML fragments, and evaluate this technique vis a vis document querying, manipulation, and integration. The ultimate aim is to be able to author and extract human-readable and machine-comprehensible parts of …

Faster Owl Using Split Programs, Denny Vrandecic, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Knowledge representation and reasoning on the Semantic Web is done by means of ontologies. While the quest for suitable ontology languages is still ongoing, OWL [5] has been established as a core standard. It comes in three flavours, as OWL Full, OWL DL and OWL Lite, where OWL Full contains OWL DL, which in turn contains OWL Lite. The latter two coincide semantically with certain description logics and can thus be considered fragments of first-order predicate logic.

Morphisms In Context, Markus Krotzsch, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Morphisms constitute a general tool for modelling complex relationships between mathematical objects in a disciplined fashion. In Formal Concept Analysis (FCA), morphisms can be used for the study of structural properties of knowledge represented in formal contexts, with applications to data transformation and merging. In this paper we present a comprehensive treatment of some of the most important morphisms in FCA and their relationships, including dual bonds, scale measures, infomorphisms, and their respective relations to Galois connections. We summarize our results in a concept lattice that cumulates the relationships among the considered morphisms. The purpose of this work is to …

A Modular Approach To Document Indexing And Semantic Search, Dhanya Ravishankar, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Trivikram Immaneni

Kno.e.sis Publications

This paper develops a modular approach to improving effectiveness of searching documents for information by reusing and integrating mature software components such as Lucene APIs, WORDNET, LSA techniques, and domain-specific controlled vocabulary. To evaluate the practical benefits, the prototype was used to query MEDLINE database, and to locate domain-specific controlled vocabulary terms in Materials and Process Specifications. Its extensibility has been demonstrated by incorporating a spell-checker for the input query, and by structuring the retrieved output into hierarchical collections for quicker assimilation. It is also being used to experimentally explore the relationship between LSA and document clustering using 20-mini-newsgroups and …

Lifecycle Of Semantic Web Processes, Jorge Cardoso, Chistoph Bussler, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

This tutorial presents what can be achieved by symbiotic synthesis of two of the most important research and technology application areas: Web Services and the Semantic Web. It presents the more recent evolution of the Web Service platform towards rich Web Service and process model annotation, and explores some of the promises and challenges in applying semantics to each of the steps in the Semantic Web Process lifecycle.