On the acquisition and representation of procedural knowledge

Historically knowledge acquisition has proven to be one of the greatest barriers to the development of intelligent systems. Current practice generally requires lengthy interactions between the expert whose knowledge is to be captured and the knowledge engineer whose responsibility is to acquire and represent knowledge in a useful form. Although much research has been devoted to the development of methodologies and computer software to aid in the capture and representation of some of some types of knowledge, little attention has been devoted to procedural knowledge. NASA personnel frequently perform tasks that are primarily procedural in nature. Previous work is reviewed in the field of knowledge acquisition and then focus on knowledge acquisition for procedural tasks with special attention devoted to the Navy's VISTA tool. The design and development is described of a system for the acquisition and representation of procedural knowledge-TARGET (Task Analysis and Rule Generation Tool). TARGET is intended as a tool that permits experts to visually describe procedural tasks and as a common medium for knowledge refinement by the expert and knowledge engineer. The system is designed to represent the acquired knowledge in the form of production rules. Systems such as TARGET have the potential to profoundly reduce the time, difficulties, and costs of developing knowledge-based systems for the performance of procedural tasks

Використання агрегованих критеріїв для оцінки якості тестів програмного забезпечення

An approach to evaluating the software tests quality using aggregated quality criteria is proposed. The article considers the finding of such characteristics of software tests that can be used to judge their quality and their need for improvement. The subject of the study is the formation of a software tests quality evaluation system, which can be used in the software development process. It is proposed to consider a software test as a multiattribute object. It is emphasized that it is necessary to take into account both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of tests and test coverage, which greatly complicates the construction of a model for evaluating the software tests quality. Various approaches to solving the problem of evaluating complex, multiattribute objects are considered. The problem of comparing and ordering complex objects taking into account different criteria is considered. The choice of the method of sequential aggregation of classified states to solve the problem of multicriteria selection and assessment is justified. The stages of the procedure for solving the estimation problem using the method of sequential aggregation of classified states are considered. An activity diagram is constructed that reflects an algorithm for constructing a hierarchical system of criteria. The criteria for evaluating software tests are given, which belong to three groups - efficiency, coverage, and software implementation. For a hierarchical system of criteria aggregation, a set of indicators, their qualitative gradations with corresponding numerical intervals, are allocated. At the highest level of the hierarchy, it is proposed to use three composite criteria that correspond to the groups of efficiency, coverage and implementation, which will allow to obtain an integral indicator of the software tests quality. The resulting integral indicator includes five quality classes, each of which corresponds to a multitude of low-level indicator estimates. Тests quality evaluation will improve the testing process, which purpose is to ensure the specified quality of the software being developed.Пропонується підхід до оцінки якості тестів програмного забезпечення з використанням агрегованих критеріїв якості. Розглядається знаходження таких характеристик тестів програмного забезпечення, за якими можна судити про їхню якість і необхідність доопрацювання. Предметом дослідження є формування системи оцінювання якості програмних тестів, яку можливо використовувати в процесі розробки програмного забезпечення. Запропоновано розглядати тест програмного забезпечення як багатоознаковий об'єкт. Підкреслюється, що необхідно враховувати як кількісні, так і якісні характеристики тестів і тестового покриття, що істотно ускладнює побудову моделі оцінки якості програмних тестів. Розглянуто різні підходи до вирішення задачі оцінювання складних, багатоознакових об'єктів. Розглядається проблема порівняння й упорядкування складних об'єктів з урахуванням різних критеріїв. Обґрунтовано вибір методу послідовного агрегування станів, що класифікуються для розв'язання задачі багатокритеріального вибору і проведення оцінювання. Розглянуто етапи процедури вирішення задачі оцінювання з використанням методу послідовного агрегування станів, що класифікуються. Наведена діаграма діяльності, яка відображає алгоритм побудови ієрархічної системи критеріїв. Розглянуті критерії оцінювання програмних тестів, які відносяться до трьох груп – ефективності, покриття і програмної реалізації. Для ієрархічної системи агрегування критеріїв виділено набір показників, їх якісні градації з відповідними чисельними інтервалами. На вищому рівні ієрархії запропоновано використовувати три складенихкритерія, які відповідають групам ефективності, покриття і реалізації, що, в свою чергу, дозволить отримати інтегральний показник якості програмних тестів. Отриманий інтегральний показник включає п'ять класів якості, кожному з яких відповідає множина оцінок показників нижнього рівня. Оцінка якості програмних тестів дозволить поліпшити процес тестування, метою якого є забезпечення заданого рівня якості програмного забезпечення, що розробляється

The LBS package - a microcomputer implementation of the Light Beam Search method for the multiple -objective non-linear mathematical programming

The paper presents the LBS package which is a microcomputer implementation of the Light Beam Search method. The software has been designed to support interactive analysis of multiple-objective continuous non-linear mathematical programming problems. At the decision phase of the interactive procedure, a sample of points, composed of the current point and a number of alternative proposals, is presented to the decision maker (DM). The sample is constructed to ensure a relatively easy evaluation of the sample by the DM. To this end an outranking relation is used as a local preference model in a neighborhood of the current point. The outranking relation is used to define a sub-region of the non-dominated set where the sample presented to the DM comes from. The DM has two possibilities to move from one sub-region to another which better fits his/her preferences. The first possibility consists in specifying a new reference point which is then projected onto the non-dominated set in order to find a better non-dominated point. The second possibility consists in shifting the current point to a selected point from the sub-region. In both cases, a new sub-region is defined around the updated current point. This technique can be compared to projecting a focused beam of light from a spotlight at the reference point onto the non-dominated set; the highlighted sub-region changes when either the reference point or the point of interest in the non-dominated set are changed. The LBS package has been implemented in Turbo Pascal within the MS-Windows environment. The package includes two versions of the LBS executable program and a set of example problems. The LBS program is composed of three modules: the problem definition module, the solver module and the interactive analysis module. The problem definition module allows for defining multiple-objective non-linear problems in a natural text form. It supports also checking the correctness of the problem definition and compilation of a problem defined in a text form to an internal format. The solver module is exchangeable and any non-linear optimizer fining to the specified interface can be used in this module. The two versions of the LBS program differ just by the solver used. The first one, coming from the PINOKIO package, is an implementation of the Generalized Reduced Gradient method (GRG). The second one, coming from the DIDAS-N package is an implementation of the Penalty Shifting Method. The interactive analysis module makes an extensive use of computer graphics to help in the perception of a large amount of information. The graphical windows environment allows for simultaneous presentation of different kinds of information and mixing of textual, numerical and graphical forms of presentation

From Information to Choice: A Critical Inquiry Into Visualization Tools for Decision Making

In the face of complex decisions, people often engage in a three-stage process that spans from (1) exploring and analyzing pertinent information (intelligence); (2) generating and exploring alternative options (design); and ultimately culminating in (3) selecting the optimal decision by evaluating discerning criteria (choice). We can fairly assume that all good visualizations aid in the intelligence stage by enabling data exploration and analysis. Yet, to what degree and how do visualization systems currently support the other decision making stages, namely design and choice? To explore this question, we conducted a comprehensive review of decision-focused visualization tools by examining publications in major visualization journals and conferences, including VIS, EuroVis, and CHI, spanning all available years. We employed a deductive coding method and in-depth analysis to assess if and how visualization tools support design and choice. Specifically, we examined each visualization tool by (i) its degree of visibility for displaying decision alternatives, criteria, and preferences, and (ii) its degree of flexibility for offering means to manipulate the decision alternatives, criteria, and preferences with interactions such as adding, modifying, changing mapping, and filtering. Our review highlights the opportunities and challenges and reveals a surprising scarcity of tools that support all stages, and while most tools excel in offering visibility for decision criteria and alternatives, the degree of flexibility to manipulate these elements is often limited, and the lack of tools that accommodate decision preferences and their elicitation is notable. Future research could explore enhancing flexibility levels and variety, exploring novel visualization paradigms, increasing algorithmic support, and ensuring that this automation is user-controlled via the enhanced flexibility levels

Collection and integration of local knowledge and experience through a collective spatial analysis

This article discusses the convenience of adopting an approach of Collective Spatial Analysis in the P/PGIS processes, with the aim of improving the collection and integration of knowledge and local expertise in decision-making, mainly in the fields of planning and adopting territorial policies. Based on empirical evidence, as a result of the review of scientific articles from the Web of Science database, in which it is displayed how the knowledge and experience of people involved in decision-making supported by P/PGIS are collected and used, a prototype of a WEB-GSDSS application has been developed. This prototype allows a group of people to participate anonymously, in an asynchronous and distributed way, in a decision-making process to locate goods, services, or events through the convergence of their views. Via this application, two case studies for planning services in districts of Ecuador and Italy were carried out. Early results suggest that in P/PGIS local and external actors contribute their knowledge and experience to generate information that afterwards is integrated and analysed in the decision-making process. On the other hand, in a Collective Spatial Analysis, these actors analyse and generate information in conjunction with their knowledge and experience during the process of decision-making. We conclude that, although the Collective Spatial Analysis approach presented is in a subjective and initial stage, it does drive improvements in the collection and integration of knowledge and local experience, foremost among them is an interdisciplinary geo-consensusPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Rapid prototyping and fast user trial of multimedia broadcast and cellular services

This paper presents the results of fast user trial of multimedia services that are enabled when a mobile terminal has access to converged services over digital broadcast and mobile telecommunications networks. It first describes the motivations behind developing this system and describes the service scenarios that benefit most from it. It then provides an overview of the service components of the test case scenario. Finally, it presents the results of fast user trials on end users of the services that were developed. This work was conducted as part of the EU-funded CISMUNDUS project