Digital Libraries and Portals Saving National Cultural Heritage (IMI–BAS Experience)

The current research activities of the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IMI—BAS) include the study and application of knowledge-based methods for the creation, integration and development of multimedia digital libraries with applications in cultural heritage. This report presents IMI-BAS’s developments at the digital library management systems and portals, i.e. the Bulgarian Iconographical Digital Library, the Bulgarian Folklore Digital Library and the Bulgarian Folklore Artery, etc. developed during the several national and international projects: - "Digital Libraries with Multimedia Content and its Application in Bulgarian Cultural Heritage" (contract 8/21.07.2005 between the IMI–BAS, and the State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications; - FP6/IST/P-027451 PROJECT LOGOS "Knowledge-on-Demand for Ubiquitous Learning", EU FP6, IST, Priority 2.4.13 "Strengthening the Integration of the ICT research effort in an Enlarged Europe" - NSF project D-002-189 SINUS "Semantic Technologies for Web Services and Technology Enhanced Learning". - NSF project IO-03-03/2006 ―Development of Digital Libraries and Information Portal with Virtual Exposition "Bulgarian Folklore Heritage". The presented prototypes aims to provide flexible and effective access to the multimedia presentation of the cultural heritage artefacts and collections, maintaining different forms and format of the digitized information content and rich functionality for interaction. The developments are a result of long- standing interests and work in the technological developments in information systems, knowledge processing and content management systems. The current research activities aims at creating innovative solutions for assembling multimedia digital libraries for collaborative use in specific cultural heritage context, maintaining their semantic interoperability and creating new services for dynamic aggregation of their resources, access improvement, personification, intelligent curation of content, and content protection. The investigations are directed towards the development of distributed tools for aggregating heterogeneous content and ensuring semantic compatibility with the European digital library EUROPEANA, thus providing possibilities for pan- European access to rich digitalised collections of Bulgarian cultural heritage

Numerical simulation of the stress-strain state of the dental system

We present mathematical models, computational algorithms and software, which can be used for prediction of results of prosthetic treatment. More interest issue is biomechanics of the periodontal complex because any prosthesis is accompanied by a risk of overloading the supporting elements. Such risk can be avoided by the proper load distribution and prediction of stresses that occur during the use of dentures. We developed the mathematical model of the periodontal complex and its software implementation. This model is based on linear elasticity theory and allows to calculate the stress and strain fields in periodontal ligament and jawbone. The input parameters for the developed model can be divided into two groups. The first group of parameters describes the mechanical properties of periodontal ligament, teeth and jawbone (for example, elasticity of periodontal ligament etc.). The second group characterized the geometric properties of objects: the size of the teeth, their spatial coordinates, the size of periodontal ligament etc. The mechanical properties are the same for almost all, but the input of geometrical data is complicated because of their individual characteristics. In this connection, we develop algorithms and software for processing of images obtained by computed tomography (CT) scanner and for constructing individual digital model of the tooth-periodontal ligament-jawbone system of the patient. Integration of models and algorithms described allows to carry out biomechanical analysis on three-dimensional digital model and to select prosthesis design.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Electronic marking of mathematics assignments using Microsoft Word 2007

This paper describes on-going work within the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at The Open University to enable distance learning students to electronically submit assignments rich in mathematical notation and diagrams, and for those assignments to be marked and returned electronically by their tutor. A trial is currently underway of a prototype system that enables students to submit assignments in a range of electronic formats, which are then converted to Microsoft Word 2007 format to enable tutors to take advantage of various features of this software for marking and providing mathematical comments. The systems developed for this trial are described and preliminary findings presented

Thinking Beyond the Scroll: The Ancient Library at Alexandria

The ancient library at Alexandria, Egypt became a unique institution, influenced by Aristotle’s school in Athens and the Greek model of learning. The institution consisted of a museum, which functioned as a learning center, and a library collection. The Library grew under the generous patronage of the Ptolemies and became a thriving center for learning and scholarship. The Christian academic library shares some important similarities, but its starting point for knowledge is quite different

A Survey on Retrieval of Mathematical Knowledge

We present a short survey of the literature on indexing and retrieval of mathematical knowledge, with pointers to 72 papers and tentative taxonomies of both retrieval problems and recurring techniques.Comment: CICM 2015, 20 page

Interoperability in the OpenDreamKit Project: The Math-in-the-Middle Approach

OpenDreamKit --- "Open Digital Research Environment Toolkit for the Advancement of Mathematics" --- is an H2020 EU Research Infrastructure project that aims at supporting, over the period 2015--2019, the ecosystem of open-source mathematical software systems. From that, OpenDreamKit will deliver a flexible toolkit enabling research groups to set up Virtual Research Environments, customised to meet the varied needs of research projects in pure mathematics and applications. An important step in the OpenDreamKit endeavor is to foster the interoperability between a variety of systems, ranging from computer algebra systems over mathematical databases to front-ends. This is the mission of the integration work package (WP6). We report on experiments and future plans with the \emph{Math-in-the-Middle} approach. This information architecture consists in a central mathematical ontology that documents the domain and fixes a joint vocabulary, combined with specifications of the functionalities of the various systems. Interaction between systems can then be enriched by pivoting off this information architecture.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Stewardship of the evolving scholarly record: from the invisible hand to conscious coordination

The scholarly record is increasingly digital and networked, while at the same time expanding in both the volume and diversity of the material it contains. The long-term future of the scholarly record cannot be effectively secured with traditional stewardship models developed for print materials. This report describes the key features of future stewardship models adapted to the characteristics of a digital, networked scholarly record, and discusses some practical implications of implementing these models. Key highlights include: As the scholarly record continues to evolve, conscious coordination will become an important organizing principle for stewardship models. Past stewardship models were built on an "invisible hand" approach that relied on the uncoordinated, institution-scale efforts of individual academic libraries acting autonomously to maintain local collections. Future stewardship of the evolving scholarly record requires conscious coordination of context, commitments, specialization, and reciprocity. With conscious coordination, local stewardship efforts leverage scale by collecting more of less. Keys to conscious coordination include right-scaling consolidation, cooperation, and community mix. Reducing transaction costs and building trust facilitate conscious coordination. Incentives to participate in cooperative stewardship activities should be linked to broader institutional priorities. The long-term future of the scholarly record in its fullest expression cannot be effectively secured with stewardship strategies designed for print materials. The features of the evolving scholarly record suggest that traditional stewardship strategies, built on an “invisible hand” approach that relies on the uncoordinated, institution-scale efforts of individual academic libraries acting autonomously to maintain local collections, is no longer suitable for collecting, organizing, making available, and preserving the outputs of scholarly inquiry. As the scholarly record continues to evolve, conscious coordination will become an important organizing principle for stewardship models. Conscious coordination calls for stewardship strategies that incorporate a broader awareness of the system-wide stewardship context; declarations of explicit commitments around portions of the local collection; formal divisions of labor within cooperative arrangements; and robust networks for reciprocal access. Stewardship strategies based on conscious coordination involve an acceleration of an already perceptible transition away from relatively autonomous local collections to ones built on networks of cooperation across many organizations, within and outside the traditional cultural heritage community

A new simulation technique for RF oscillators

The study of phase-noise in oscillators and the design of new circuit topologies necessitates an efficient technique for the simulation of oscillators. While numerous approaches have been developed over the years e.g. [1-3], each has its own merits and demerits. In this contribution, an asymptotic numeric method developed in e.g. [4-5] is applied to the simulation of RF oscillators. The method is closely related to the stroboscopic and high-order averaging method in [6] and the Heterogeneous Multiscale Methods in [7]. The method is advantageous in that the same methodology can be applied for the simulation of general circuit problems involving highly oscillatory ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations and delay differential equations. Furthermore and counter-intuitively, its efficacy improves with increasing frequency, a feature that is very favourable in modern communications systems where operating frequencies are ever rising. Results for a CMOS oscillator will confirm the validity and efficiency of the proposed method