Collaborative software agents support for the texpros document management system

This dissertation investigates the use of active rules that are embedded in markup documents. Active rules are used in a markup representation by integrating Collaborative Software Agents with TEXPROS (abbreviation for TEXt PROcessing System) [Liu and Ng 1996] to create a powerful distributed document management system. Such markup documents with embedded active rules are called Active Documents. For fast retrieval purposes, when we need to generate a customized Internet folder organization, we first define the Folder Organization Query Language (FO-QL) to solve data categorization problems. FO-QL defines the folder organization query process that automatically retrieves links of documents deposited into folders and then constructs a folder organization in either a centralized document repository or multiple distributed document repositories. Traditional documents are stored as static data that do not provide any dynamic capabilities for accessing or interacting with the document environment. The dynamic and distributed nature of both markup data and markup rules do not merely respond to requests for information, but intelligently anticipate, adapt, and actively seek ways to support the computing processes. This outcome feature conquers the static nature of the traditional documents. An Office Automation Definition Language (OADL) with active rules is defined for constructing the TEXPROS \u27s dual modeling approach and workflow events representation. Active Documents are such agent-supported OADL documents. With embedded rules and self-describing data features, Active Documents provide capability of collaborative interactions with software agents. Data transformation and data integration are both data processing problems but little research has focused on the markup documents to generate a versatile folder organization. Some of the research merely provides manual browsing in a document repository to find the right document. This browsing is time consuming and unrealistic, especially in multiple document repositories. With FO-QL, one can create a customized folder organization on demand

Development and implementation of a combined discrete and finite element multibody dynamics simulation environment

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-198) and index.Some engineering applications and physical phenomena involve multiple bodies that undergo large displacements involving collisions between the bodies. Considering the difficulties and cost associated when conducting physical experiments of such systems, there is a demand for numerical simulation capabilities. The discrete element methods (DEM) are numerical techniques that have been specifically developed to facilitate simulations of distinct bodies that interact with each other through contact forces. In DEM the simulated bodies are typically assumed to be infinitely rigid. However, there are multibody systems for which it is useful to take into account the deformability of the simulated bodies. The objective of this research is to incorporate deformability in DEM, enabling the evaluation of the stress and strain distributions within simulated bodies during simulation. In order to achieve this goal, an Updated Lagrangian (UL) Finite Element (FE) formulation and an explicit time integration scheme have been employed together with some simplifiying assumptions to linearize this highly nonlinear contact problem and obtain solutions with realistic computational cost. An object-oriented extendable computational tool has been built specifically to allow us to simulate multiple distinct bodies that interact through contact forces allowing selected bodies to be deformable. Database technology has also been utilized in order to efficiently handle the huge amounts of computed results.by Petros Komodromos.Ph.D

Mediation on XQuery Views

The major goal of information integration is to provide efficient and easy-to-use access to multiple heterogeneous data sources with a single query. At the same time, one of the current trends is to use standard technologies for implementing solutions to complex software problems. In this dissertation, I used XML and XQuery as the standard technologies and have developed an extended projection algorithm to provide a solution to the information integration problem. In order to demonstrate my solution, I implemented a prototype mediation system called Omphalos based on XML related technologies. The dissertation describes the architecture of the system, its metadata, and the process it uses to answer queries. The system uses XQuery expressions (termed metaqueries) to capture complex mappings between global schemas and data source schemas. The system then applies these metaqueries in order to rewrite a user query on a virtual global database (representing the integrated view of the heterogeneous data sources) to a query (termed an outsourced query) on the real data sources. An extended XML document projection algorithm was developed to increase the efficiency of selecting the relevant subset of data from an individual data source to answer the user query. The system applies the projection algorithm to decompose an outsourced query into atomic queries which are each executed on a single data source. I also developed an algorithm to generate integrating queries, which the system uses to compose the answers from the atomic queries into a single answer to the original user query. I present a proof of both the extended XML document projection algorithm and the query integration algorithm. An analysis of the efficiency of the new extended algorithm is also presented. Finally I describe a collaborative schema-matching tool that was implemented to facilitate maintaining metadata

A flexible approach for mapping between object-oriented databases and xml. A two way method based on an object graph.

One of the most popular challenges facing academia and industry is the development of effective techniques and tools for maximizing the availability of data as the most valuable source of knowledge. The internet has dominated as the core for maximizing data availability and XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has emerged and is being gradually accepted as the universal standard format for platform independent publishing and exchanging data over the Internet. On the other hand, there remain large amount of data held in structured databases and database management systems have been traditionally used for the effective storage and manipulation of large volumes of data. This raised the need for effective methodologies capable of smoothly transforming data between different formats in general and between XML and structured databases in particular. This dissertation addresses the issue by proposing a two-way mapping approach between XML and object-oriented databases. The basic steps of the proposed approach are applied in a systematic way to produce a graph from the source and then transform the graph into the destination format. In other words, the derived graph summarizes characteristics of the source whether XML (elements and attributes) or object-oriented database (classes, inheritance and nesting hierarchies). Then, the developed methodology classifies nodes and links from the graph into the basic constructs of the destination, i.e., elements and attributes for XML or classes, inheritance and nesting hierarchies for object-oriented databases. The methodology has been successfully implemented and illustrative case studies are presented in this document

Distributed Search in Semantic Web Service Discovery

This thesis presents a framework for semantic Web Service discovery using descriptive (non-functional) service characteristics in a large-scale, multi-domain setting. The framework uses Web Ontology Language for Services (OWL-S) to design a template for describing non-functional service parameters in a way that facilitates service discovery, and presents a layered scheme for organizing ontologies used in service description. This service description scheme serves as a core for desigining the four main functions of a service directory: a template-based user interface, semantic query expansion algorithms, a two-level indexing scheme that combines Bloom filters with a Distributed Hash Table, and a distributed approach for storing service description. The service directory is, in turn, implemented as an extension of the Open Service Discovery Architecture. The search algorithms presented in this thesis are designed to maximize precision and completeness of service discovery, while the distributed design of the directory allows individual administrative domains to retain a high degree of independence and maintain access control to information about their services

Reader zum Workshop Standardisierung im eLearning : Begleitveranstaltung zum Förderprogramm Neue Medien in der Bildung ; 10./11. April 2002 Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt/Main

Bei der Entwicklung und vor allem bei der institutions- und projektübergreifenden Nutzung von eLearning Modulen oder Lernobjekten spielen Standards und Spezifikationen zu deren Beschreibung und Verwaltung eine immer wichtigere Rolle. Nur auf deren Basis können sich langfristig Verwaltungs- und Verwertungsmodelle entwickeln, die eine breite Nutzung von eLearning Modulen bis hin zur Entwicklung eines entsprechenden Marktes ermöglichen. Aufgrund allgemeingültiger Spezifikation für die Beschreibung von Lernobjekten bis hin zu standardisierten Angaben für komplette online Kurse werden Anbieter und Nachfrager in Tauschbörsen, institutionsübergreifenden Kooperationen, fachspezifischen Datenbanken und Bildungsservern eLearning Ressourcen anbieten und nutzen. Projekte und Initiativen stehen jetzt vor der Aufgabe, sich einen Überblick über vorhandene Standards und Spezifikationen zu verschaffen, um für sich selbst die geeigneten auswählen und anwenden zu können. Oft werden aufgrund der projektspezifischen Anforderungen zudem eigene Beschreibungen entwickelt. Dadurch entsteht eine Vielzahl von Beschreibungen, die den Austausch und das Auffinden von Modulen über die Projektgrenzen hinaus schwierig wenn nicht unmöglich machen. Der in diesem Band dokumentierte Workshop "Standardisierung im eLearning" hat das Ziel, die aktuelle Diskussion um die Entwicklung und Anwendung von Standards aufzugreifen, transparent zu machen und fortzuführen. Veranstalter des Workshops sind das Kompetenzzentrum für Neue Medien in der Lehre der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt/Main und der Projektträger Neue Medien in der Bildung + Fachinformation. Die Veranstaltung setzt die Reihe von themenspezifischen Begleitworkshops im Rahmen des Förderprogramms Neue Medien in der Bildung fort. Eine Übersicht zu bereits durchgeführten und in Planung befindlichen Begleitveranstaltungen finden Sie auf dem Internet-Portal des Projektträgers (http://www.medien-bildung.net)