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Showing papers on "Knowledge sharing published in 1995"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of ontology in supporting knowledge sharing activities is described, and a set of criteria to guide the development of ontologies for these purposes are presented, and it is shown how these criteria are applied in case studies from the design ofOntologies for engineering mathematics and bibliographic data.
Abstract: Recent work in Artificial Intelligence is exploring the use of formal ontologies as a way of specifying content-specific agreements for the sharing and reuse of knowledge among software entities. We take an engineering perspective on the development of such ontologies. Formal ontologies are viewed as designed artifacts, formulated for specific purposes and evaluated against objective design criteria. We describe the role of ontologies in supporting knowledge sharing activities, and then present a set of criteria to guide the development of ontologies for these purposes. We show how these criteria are applied in case studies from the design of ontologies for engineering mathematics and bibliographic data. Selected design decisions are discussed, and alternative representation choices and evaluated against the design criteria.

6,949 citations


Book ChapterDOI
19 Aug 1995
TL;DR: This chapter discusses the desirable features of languages and protocols for communication among intelligent information agents and KQML is described and evaluated as an agent communication language relative to the desiderata.
Abstract: This chapter discusses the desirable features of languages and protocols for communication among intelligent information agents. These desiderata are divided into seven categories: form, content, semantics, implementation, networking, environment, and reliability. The Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML) is a new language and protocol for exchanging information and knowledge. This work is part of a larger effort, the ARPA Knowledge Sharing Effort, which is aimed at developing techniques and methodologies for building large-scale knowledge bases that are sharable and reusable. KQML is both a message format and a message-handling protocol to support run-time knowledge sharing among agents. KQML is described and evaluated as an agent communication language relative to the desiderata.

259 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
20 Feb 1995
TL;DR: A set of emerging ideas in evaluation of ontologies useful for ontology developers in the lab, as a foundation from which to perform technical evaluations; end users of ontology in companies; and future research are presented as a basis upon which to performs progressive and disciplined investigations in this area.
Abstract: Ontologies are the platforms that enable the sharing and reuse of knowledge by establishing common vocabularies and semantic interpretations of terms. While ontologies may provide for reusability, sharability or both, the evaluation of their definitions and software environment is critical to the success of the final applications that reuse and share these definitions. If wrong definitions from the ontology coexist with specific knowledge formalized in the KB, the KBS may make poor or wrong conclusions. The lack of methods for evaluating ontologies in laboratories can be an obstacle to their use in companies. The paper presents a set of emerging ideas in evaluation of ontologies useful for: ontology developers in the lab, as a foundation from which to perform technical evaluations; end users of ontologies in companies, as a point of departure in the search for the best ontology for their systems; and future research, as a basis upon which to perform progressive and disciplined investigations in this area. After briefly exploring some general questions such as: why, what, when, how and where to evaluate; who evaluates; and, what to evaluate against, we focus on the definition of a set of criteria useful in the evaluation process. Finally, we use some of these criteria in the evaluation of the Bibliographic-Data ontology (T. Gruber, 1994). >

171 citations


Book
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: This text provides a guide to the current state of the art in building and sharing very large knowledge bases, and is intended to act as a catalyst to future research, development and applications.
Abstract: In the early days of artificial intelligence it was widely believed that powerful computers would, in the future, enable mankind to solve many real-world problems through the use of very general inference procedures and very little domain-specific knowledge With the benefit of hindsight, this view can now be called quite naive The field of expert systems, which developed during the early 1970s, embraced the paradigm that "Knowledge is Power" - even very fast computers require very large amounts of very specific knowledge to solve non-trivial problems Thus, the field of large knowledge bases has emerged This book presents progress on building and sharing very large-scale knowledge bases Progress has been made in specific scientific domains, including molecular biology, where large knowledge bases have become important tools for researchers Another development is the attention being paid to structuring large knowledge bases The use of a carefully developed set of concepts, called an "ontalogy", is becoming almost standard practice This text provides a guide to the current state of the art in building and sharing very large knowledge bases, and is intended to act as a catalyst to future research, development and applications

165 citations


Proceedings Article
20 Aug 1995
TL;DR: It is argued that matchmaking permits large numbers of dynamic consumers and providers, operating on rapidly-changing data, to share information more effectively than via current methods.
Abstract: Factors such as the massive increase in information available via electronic networks and the advent of virtual distributed workgroups for commerce are placing severe burdens on traditional methods of information sharing and retrieval. Matchmaking proposes an intelligent facilitation agent that accepts machine-readable requests and advertisements from information consumers and providers, and determines potential information sharing paths. We argue that matchmaking permits large numbers of dynamic consumers and providers, operating on rapidly-changing data, to share information more effectively than via current methods. This paper introduces matchmaking, as enabled by knowledge sharing standards like KQML, and describes the SHADE and COINS matchmaker implementations. The utility and initial results of matchmaking are illustrated via example scenarios in engineering and consumer information retrieval.

100 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that an integrated workbench of application tools cannot meet the long- term needs of engineering collaborators and standards cannot satisfy the information sharing needs of collaborators, because these needs are dynamic.
Abstract: The design of products by multi-disciplinary groups is a knowledge intensive activity Collaborators must be able to exchange informa tion and share some common understanding of the informaton's content The hope, however, that an integrated workbench of application tools will span the needs of engineering collaborators is misplaced We argue that an integrated workbench of application tools cannot meet the long- term needs of engineering collaborators Moreover, standards cannot satisfy the information sharing needs of collaborators, because these needs are dynamic

100 citations


01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: A protocol and architecture are presented in order to achieve consensual knowledge bases in which knowledge is expressed in a formal language and which are considered as containing the state of the art in some research area.
Abstract: A protocol and architecture are presented in order to achieve consensual knowledge bases (i.e. bases in which knowledge is expressed in a formal language and which are considered as containing the state of the art in some research area). It assumes that the construction of the base must and can be achieved collectively. The architecture is based on individual workstations which provide support for developing a knowledge base: formal expression of knowledge through objects, tasks and qualitative equations annotated with hypertext nodes and links. It also provides tools for detecting similarities and inconsistencies between pieces of knowledge. These bases can be grouped together in order to constitute a new reference knowledge base. The process for constructing this last base mimics the submission of articles to peer-reviewed journals. This is achieved through a protocol for submitting knowledge to the group base, confronting it with the content of that base, amending it accordingly, reviewing it by the other knowledge bases and finally incorporating it. The system is to be used by researchers in the field of genome sequencing.

64 citations


01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: KQML is described and evaluated as an agent communication language relative to the desiderata, which are divided into seven categories: form, content, semantics, implementation, networking, environment, and reliability.
Abstract: This paper offers some opinions on the desirable features of languages and protocols for communication among intelligent information agents. These desiderata are divided into seven categories: form, content, semantics, implementation, networking, environment, and reliability. The Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML), is a new language and protocol for exchanging information and knowledge. This work is part of a larger effort, the ARPA Knowledge Sharing Effort, which is aimed at developing techniques and methodologies for building largescale knowledge bases which are sharable and reusable. KQML is both a message format and a message-handling protocol to support run-time knowledge sharing among agents. KQML is described and evaluated as an agent communication language relative to the desiderata.

38 citations


01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: This paper introduces matchmaking, as enabled by knowledge sharing standards like KQML, and gives a brief description of the the SHADE and COINS matchmakers.
Abstract: The massive increase in information available via electronic networks is placing severe burdens on traditional methods of information sharing and retrieval. Matchmaking proposes an intelligent facilitation agent that accepts machine-readable requests and advertisements from information consumers and providers, and determines potential information sharing paths. Matchmaking permits large nmnbers of dynamic consumers and providers, operating on rapidly-changing data, to locate and share information effectively. This paper introduces matchmaking, as enabled by knowledge sharing standards like KQML, and gives a brief description of the the SHADE and COINS matchmakers. In addition, several applications are described to illustrate the utility of matchmaking for information retrieval.

22 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
10 Aug 1995
TL;DR: This work presents a new case-based planning methodology that extends the capability and effectiveness of previous approaches by incorporating the ability to learn new domain knowledge from other planners via an integrated knowledge sharing mechanism.
Abstract: Computer aided process planning is a key part of bridging the link between design and manufacturing. Case-based reasoning provides an attractive paradigm for process planning as it combines the generative and variant approaches and improves the effectiveness of the planner by applying old experiences to solving new planning problems. We present a new case-based planning methodology that extends the capability and effectiveness of previous approaches by incorporating the ability to learn new domain knowledge from other planners via an integrated knowledge sharing mechanism. In addition, our planner has the capability to use multiple cases in the process of constructing a new plan, providing more effective utilization of the planner's previous experiences. The planning algorithm is based on domain-independent partial-order planning, and provides a formal approach to case-based process planning.

15 citations


01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: This paper is focused on providing some criteria for verifying Knowledge Sharing Technology (KST), the engineering activity that guarantees the correctness of the definitions in an ontology, its associated software environments, and documentation with respect to a frame of reference during each phase and between phases of its life cycle.
Abstract: This paper is focused on providing some criteria for verifying Knowledge Sharing Technology (KST). Verification of KST refers to the engineering activity that guarantees the correctness of the definitions in an ontology, its associated software environments, and documentation with respect to a frame of reference during each phase and between phases of its life cycle. Verification of the software and documentation guarantee that they are correct. Verification of the ontologies refers to building the ontology right, and it verifies that: (1) the architecture of the ontology is sound, (2) the lexicon and the syntax of the definitions are correct, and (3) the content of the ontologies and their definitions are internally and metaphysically consistent, complete, concise, expandable and sensitive.

Book ChapterDOI
26 Sep 1995
TL;DR: A case study of a project that was undertaken by a geographically distributed team, involved a non-routine design problem, and employed several computer tools for team collaboration as well as for specific design tasks is presented.
Abstract: Knowledge-intensive CAD must support knowledge building in design environments. Since knowledge sharing is a central activity in the collaborative design process, much of the design knowledge is embedded in the design discourse. For this reason, systematic capture of the design discourse may provide a practical means for knowledge building. This paper presents a case study of a design project and analyzes the discourse to illustrate this point. Our purpose is also to understand characteristics of the discourse in order to support its capture as well as to support knowledge building. The case study is a project that was undertaken by a geographically distributed team, involved a non-routine design problem, and employed several computer tools for team collaboration as well as for specific design tasks. In this paper, we present several quantitative measures for the different types of design information, the use of tools and media, and the role of different types of knowledge in the design process. We interpret these measures in the context of the design project to begin to answer the questions: how could knowledge-intensive CAD have aided in the design process and how can we support building and reuse of knowledge in such collaborative design projects?

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this classification, data, knowledge and experience are suggested as information level categories and case-based reasoning is introduced as a promising approach to computer-supported collaboration in information systems based on experience sharing.
Abstract: The paper presents a classification of multiuser information systems based upon levels in which information is shared in team collaboration. In this classification, data, knowledge and experience are suggested as information level categories. The concepts underlying the classification are presented through a review of current approaches to information sharing. Work on the ICON system is discussed as an on-going research and development project which implements data sharing in an integrated information system. Advances in computer-supported collaborative information environments through AI methods are presented and reviewed as possibilities for the future development of knowledge sharing and experience sharing in information systems. Case-based reasoning, a subfield in AI emphasizing experiential knowledge, is introduced as a promising approach to computer-supported collaboration in information systems based on experience sharing. A research project in this field is presented as a case study.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper will review how concurrent engineering is being integrated into semiconductor device development and how artificial intelligence-based models will support concurrent engineering implementation.
Abstract: The design of semiconductor devices is an extremely complex and costly process Numerous design and test iterations are typically necessary to finally complete a successful device Competition in the industry has forced semiconductor manufacturers to reduce design cycle times and costs One method now being used to accomplish these objectives is concurrent engineering This paper will review how concurrent engineering is being integrated into semiconductor device development and how artificial intelligence-based models will support concurrent engineering implementation Major changes are needed in design simulation, methods of knowledge sharing, and incorporating best practices A semantic network is proposed that retains the knowledge of a product in a central repository as various engineers contribute to the product's development The knowledge contained in this central repository can be referenced for applicability by engineers during product design, development, and production

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The goal is to build flexible knowledge-based systems which can use a variety of problem-solving methods and additional task knowledge, without altering the method or task representation, within a problem-space architecture which allows opportunistic adaptation of problems based on the particular goal, situation and knowledge available.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The main purpose of this paper is to identify the essential problems to be addressed by concurrency control techniques, and some of the well-known concurrence control techniques are investigated, and a critical analysis is made about their (in)adequacies, if they were to be directly applied to the KBMS environment.
Abstract: Knowledge Base Management Systems (KBMSs) are a new product generation with recognized applicability in several different areas, like medicine, geology, engineering design, robotics, etc. As long as this applicability is growing, the necessity for knowledge sharing is also becoming a crucial point to be taken into account by those systems. Thus, knowledge sharing and connectivity are going to be the key features of the intelligent information systems of the future. This means that many users should be able to access the KBMSs simultaneously. Nevertheless, arbitrary concurrent access to a resource can lead to many inconsistencies, and undesirable behavior. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the essential problems to be addressed by concurrency control techniques. Moreover, some of the well-known concurrency control techniques are investigated, and a critical analysis is made about their (in)adequacies, if they were to be directly applied to the KBMS environment.

01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: By building a medical conceptual model inside the galen project, a methodology has been defined to deal with both operative goals and deep and unsolved problems about knowledge.
Abstract: By building a medical conceptual model inside the galen project, a methodology has been defined to deal with both operative goals and deep and unsolved problems about knowledge. This knowledge sharing oriented approach exploits existing medical coding systems such as knowledge sources and enables us to represent their concepts in a wider cognitive context referring to ontological theories. The tasks of cognitive ergonomy, quasi-naturalness of language, versatility, and flexibility seem to be supported through some functions, such as viewpoint, context, and sign, which act as spin-off points to knowledge or information which is not modeled.

01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: A data dictionary includes that part of terminology, which is largely independent of a certain knowledge model, which can be used as a basis for integrating knowledge bases into information systems, for knowledge sharing and reuse and for modular development of knowledge-based systems.
Abstract: The development of open and integrated knowledge bases makes new demands on the definition of the used terminology. The definition should be realized in a data dictionary separated from the knowledge base. Within the works done at a reference model of medical knowledge, a data dictionary has been developed and used in different applications: a term definition shell, a documentation tool and a knowledge base. The data dictionary includes that part of terminology, which is largely independent of a certain knowledge model. For that reason, the data dictionary can be used as a basis for integrating knowledge bases into information systems, for knowledge sharing and reuse and for modular development of knowledge-based systems.


Book
01 Jun 1995
TL;DR: A component-based architecture for automation of protocol-directed therapy and a data model in managing time granularity of natural-language clinical information.
Abstract: A component-based architecture for automation of protocol-directed therapy.- Coordinating taxonomies: Key to re-usable concept representations.- Generating personalised patient information using the medical record.- Analysis of medical jargon: The RECIT system.- Medical knowledge representation for medical report analysis.- Modelling medical concepts as time-objects.- Modeling medical reasoning with the Event Calculus: an application to the management of mechanical ventilation.- A general framework for building patient monitoring systems.- Semi-qualitative models and simulation for biomedical applications.- Generating explanations of pathophysiological system behaviors from qualitative simulation of compartmental models.- An information-based bayesian approach to history taking.- Medical decision making using Ignorant Influence Diagrams.- Dynamic propagation in causal probabilistic networks with instantiated variables.- Alerts as starting point for hospital infection surveillance and control.- Cooperative software agents for patient management.- High level control strategies for diabetes therapy.- Therapy planning using qualitative trend descriptions.- Adaptation and abstraction in a case-based antibiotics therapy adviser.- Field evaluations of a knowledge-based system for peripheral blood interpretation.- Functional evaluation of SETH: An expert system in clinical toxicology.- Evaluating a neural network decision-support tool for the diagnosis of breast cancer.- Knowledge-based systems for lymph node pathology: A comparison of two approaches.- Mapping laboratory medicine onto the select and test model to facilitate knowledge-based report generation in laboratory medicine.- Machine learning techniques applied to the diagnosis of acute abdominal pain.- Reflections on building medical decision support systems and corresponding implementation in diagnostics shell D3.- Decision models for cost-effectiveness analysis: a means for knowledge sharing and quality control in health care multidisciplinary tasks.- Model-based application: The Galen structured clinical user interface.- A knowledge-based modelling of hospital information systems components.- Use of a conceptual semi-automatic ICD-9 encoding system in an hospital environment.- Quality assurance and increased efficiency in medical projects with neural networks by using a structured development method for feedforward neural networks (SENN).- A prototype neural network decision-support tool for the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.- Integration of neural networks and rule based systems in the interpretation of liver biopsy images.- A cooperative and adaptive approach to medical image segmentation.- COBRA: Integration of knowledge-bases with case-databases in the domain of congenital malformation.- Case-based medical multi-expertise: an example in psychiatry.- TIME-NESIS: A data model in managing time granularity of natural-language clinical information.- Induction of expert system rules from databases based on rough set theory and resampling methods.- Sequential knowledge acquisition: Combining models and cases.- Medical fuzzy expert systems and reasoning about beliefs.- Diagnosis of human acid-base balance states via combined pattern recognition for Markov chains.- Intelligence formation problems in children at an early age applying new computer technologies under conditions of rehabilitation center.- Telecardiology.- Modelling a sharable medical concept system: Ontological foundation in GALEN.- A graph-based approach to the structural analysis of proliferative breast lesions..- A workstation for clinical decision support in a local area network for cardiology.- Knowledge-based education tool to improve quality in diabetes care.- NEPHARM: A pharmacokinetic database for adjusting drug dosage to impaired renal function.- A hybrid architecture for knowledge-based systems.- Representing medical context using rule-based object-oriented programming techniques.- Integration of Neural Networks and knowledge-based systems in medicine.- Generated critic in the knowledge based neurology trainer.- An approach to analysis of qualitative data with insufficient number of quantization levels.- Inductively learned rule for breast cancer domain with improved interobserver reproducibility.- Development and evaluation of a knowledge-based system to support ventilator therapy management.- A neural support to the prognostic evaluation of Cardiac Surgery.- DECISion-support system for radiological diagnostic.- A preliminary investigation into the analysis of electromyographic activity using a system of multiple neural networks.- Knowledge-based system to predict the effect of pregnancy on progression of diabetic retinopathy.- A software to evaluate multislices radiotherapic treatment planning.- TKR-tool: An expert system for Total Knee Replacement management.

31 Oct 1995
TL;DR: Monitor the major physical, demographic, and economic trends in Amazon to better understand the overall context of the project-level insights and use the insights from the above to structure the policy dialogue.
Abstract: Implementation of the Pilot Program is firmly under way. Solid project implementation performance is essential. In the long run, however, the benefits of the Pilot Program will be measured by knowledge learned, not by dollars spent or the number of projects implemented. The knowledge will be gained only through a systematic learning strategy at the Program Level. Such a learning strategy will rest on five pillars: 1) strengthen the coordination among individual projects; 2) ensure that each project has in place a system for objectively monitoring and analyzing its results and for monitoring these results carefully at the Program level; 3) monitor the major physical, demographic, and economic trends in Amazon to better understand the overall context of our project-level insights; 4) use the insights from the above to structure the policy dialogue; and 5) ensure that the learning strategy has the highest level of credibility and objectivity.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
10 Aug 1995
TL;DR: The authors discuss their knowledge sharing methodology for planning which is manifested in a framework, called KII (the Knowledge Interchange Interface), which is used to realize cooperation between heterogeneous planning systems.
Abstract: Cooperation between planners is essential when solving many complicated problems in planning. In this paper, the authors discuss their knowledge sharing methodology for planning which is manifested in a framework, called KII (the Knowledge Interchange Interface). The KII is used to realize cooperation between heterogeneous planning systems. Cooperation takes place in a peer-to-peer manner through a common ontology. The KII consists of five integrated modules which are used to provide knowledge translation into and out of the defined common ontology language from the local knowledge representations and also to provide communication between the planning systems.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
20 Nov 1995
TL;DR: The Aide de Camp project at the University of Liverpool has been addressing the problem of information overload (together with related issues), particularly with regard to electronic mail, and utilises a system of cooperating knowledge-based systems which reduces the overall number of messages for the organisation.
Abstract: The Aide de Camp project at the University of Liverpool has been addressing the problem of information overload (together with related issues), particularly with regard to electronic mail. One successful application supplied users with a knowledge-based system (KBS) which, together with a sophisticated e-mail user agent, can handle routine communications on behalf of the user. This approach was used to create a software knowledge-based assistant (KBA) which helps a lecturer in the administration of an undergraduate course. Whilst this approach is successful in its objective of reducing the number of messages presented to the lecturer, it often achieves this by increasing the number of messages other members of the organisation receive (for example the student and the technical support staff). To overcome this failing, the work utilises a system of cooperating knowledge-based systems which reduces the overall number of messages for the organisation. This cooperation is implemented using the Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML), which provides a protocol for KBS's to share and exchange knowledge.

01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: This work has been developing and formalizing a hierarchy describing knowledge to facilitate transferring knowledge among agents, the specification knowledge and assumptions employed by a system, and for resolving conflicts among these agents.
Abstract: Sophisticated cooperative reasoning among agents requires that the agents be able to share models of their reasoning processes. Developing intelligent systems costeffectively necessitates that components be reused. In order to facilitate sharing and reusing knowledge among distributed (knowledge-based) applications, we have been developing a canonical representation for acquiring and transmitting semantics. This representation will include both a scheme for representing semantics and a hierarchy of concepts used to describe predicates. We have been developing and formalizing a hierarchy describing knowledge to facilitate (1) the specification knowledge and assumptions employed by a system, (2) transferring knowledge among agents (applications) in system and (3) for resolving conflicts among these agents (Figure 1). We are utilizing derivatives of object diagrams [Rumbaugh91], semantic networks [CQ69], and conceptual dependencies [SR74] to describe the fundamental concepts which underlay various algorithms and knowledge representations. By formally describing higher level concepts via these fundamental concepts, we intend to reason about the semantics of and translate knowledge among applications employing different knowledge representations. This hierarchy of concepts will be validated by performing analysis on a complex domain (probably plastics manufacturing) to ensure that the formalisms used to describe elements in the hierarchy are sufficient.

Book ChapterDOI
25 Jun 1995
TL;DR: The aim of this work was directed towards demonstrating that the use of explicit knowledge representation concerning budget-related choices in health care, can improve communication among different operators, and eventually ameliorate the quality control of health care services.
Abstract: This study presents a methodology for creating and employing decision-analytic models in order to solve problems involving different health care expertises Several agents may concur in making a choice, each of them having a different role both in building and using the model As a matter of fact, each agent can provide specialized knowledge for the creation of parts of this model Operators may use different sets of data for exploring possible model improvement, and may manipulate different variables influencing final decision The training example given by the paper will be a model for a therapeutic choice based on the cost/effectiveness ratio Two agents will be taken into consideration: a physician, able to predict health outcomes and a hospital manager, able to compute costs They both have access to the hospital data base, but with different logical views, that allow them to validate and improve the relative part of the model The aim of this work was directed towards demonstrating that the use of explicit knowledge representation concerning budget-related choices in health care, can improve communication among different operators, and eventually ameliorate the quality control of health care services