An overview of decision table literature.

The present report contains an overview of the literature on decision tables since its origin. The goal is to analyze the dissemination of decision tables in different areas of knowledge, countries and languages, especially showing these that present the most interest on decision table use. In the first part a description of the scope of the overview is given. Next, the classification results by topic are explained. An abstract and some keywords are included for each reference, normally provided by the authors. In some cases own comments are added. The purpose of these comments is to show where, how and why decision tables are used. Other examined topics are the theoretical or practical feature of each document, as well as its origin country and language. Finally, the main body of the paper consists of the ordered list of publications with abstract, classification and comments.

An overview of decision table literature 1982-1995.

This report gives an overview of the literature on decision tables over the past 15 years. As much as possible, for each reference, an author supplied abstract, a number of keywords and a classification are provided. In some cases own comments are added. The purpose of these comments is to show where, how and why decision tables are used. The literature is classified according to application area, theoretical versus practical character, year of publication, country or origin (not necessarily country of publication) and the language of the document. After a description of the scope of the interview, classification results and the classification by topic are presented. The main body of the paper is the ordered list of publications with abstract, classification and comments.

GeoLocSI – Web-Based GIS for Verification and Modification of Data Stored in Data Base

Currently there are thousand container events happening daily on more than 20 000 locations in the World. Some of these locations are big international ports and others are just little cities with not precise coordinates in the free available Data Bases (DB). Verification and validation these locations are at the same time a very important task and a challenging one. This paper describes the development of a web-based geographical information system for assisting in verifying and modifying geographical data in DB by interactive intuitive GIS technique. For the proper work of the system, first we collected geographical data for container ports from different open sources according to the known container ports’ names from our ConTraffic System. Then we stored it in a dataset in our DB and we created a map-based application which allows us to see not only the data in tabular view but also the geographical position of the ports over a map. Using this web-based application all the data can be modified quite easy, including the geographical coordinates. They can be modified directly by just typing the correct coordinates or by interactive way (drag the graphical object to the correct geographical position on the map).JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

Analysis of SAP log data based on network community decomposition

Information systems support and ensure the practical running of the most critical business processes. There exists (or can be reconstructed) a record (log) of the process running in the information system. Computer methods of data mining can be used for analysis of process data utilizing support techniques of machine learning and a complex network analysis. The analysis is usually provided based on quantitative parameters of the running process of the information system. It is not so usual to analyze behavior of the participants of the running process from the process log. Here, we show how data and process mining methods can be used for analyzing the running process and how participants behavior can be analyzed from the process log using network (community or cluster) analyses in the constructed complex network from the SAP business process log. This approach constructs a complex network from the process log in a given context and then finds communities or patterns in this network. Found communities or patterns are analyzed using knowledge of the business process and the environment in which the process operates. The results demonstrate the possibility to cover up not only the quantitative but also the qualitative relations (e.g., hidden behavior of participants) using the process log and specific knowledge of the business case.Web of Science103art. no. 9

The State of the Art in Language Workbenches. Conclusions from the Language Workbench Challenge

Language workbenches are tools that provide high-level mechanisms for the implementation of (domain-specific) languages. Language workbenches are an active area of research that also receives many contributions from industry. To compare and discuss existing language workbenches, the annual Language Workbench Challenge was launched in 2011. Each year, participants are challenged to realize a given domain-specific language with their workbenches as a basis for discussion and comparison. In this paper, we describe the state of the art of language workbenches as observed in the previous editions of the Language Workbench Challenge. In particular, we capture the design space of language workbenches in a feature model and show where in this design space the participants of the 2013 Language Workbench Challenge reside. We compare these workbenches based on a DSL for questionnaires that was realized in all workbenches

Realistic adversarial machine learning to improve network intrusion detection

Modern organizations can significantly benefit from the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and more specifically Machine Learning (ML), to tackle the growing number and increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks targeting their business processes. However, there are several technological and ethical challenges that undermine the trustworthiness of AI. One of the main challenges is the lack of robustness, which is an essential property to ensure that ML is used in a secure way. Improving robustness is no easy task because ML is inherently susceptible to adversarial examples: data samples with subtle perturbations that cause unexpected behaviors in ML models. ML engineers and security practitioners still lack the knowledge and tools to prevent such disruptions, so adversarial examples pose a major threat to ML and to the intelligent Network Intrusion Detection (NID) systems that rely on it. This thesis presents a methodology for a trustworthy adversarial robustness analysis of multiple ML models, and an intelligent method for the generation of realistic adversarial examples in complex tabular data domains like the NID domain: Adaptative Perturbation Pattern Method (A2PM). It is demonstrated that a successful adversarial attack is not guaranteed to be a successful cyber-attack, and that adversarial data perturbations can only be realistic if they are simultaneously valid and coherent, complying with the domain constraints of a real communication network and the class-specific constraints of a certain cyber-attack class. A2PM can be used for adversarial attacks, to iteratively cause misclassifications, and adversarial training, to perform data augmentation with slightly perturbed data samples. Two case studies were conducted to evaluate its suitability for the NID domain. The first verified that the generated perturbations preserved both validity and coherence in Enterprise and Internet-of Things (IoT) network scenarios, achieving realism. The second verified that adversarial training with simple perturbations enables the models to retain a good generalization to regular IoT network traffic flows, in addition to being more robust to adversarial examples. The key takeaway of this thesis is: ML models can be incredibly valuable to improve a cybersecurity system, but their own vulnerabilities must not be disregarded. It is essential to continue the research efforts to improve the security and trustworthiness of ML and of the intelligent systems that rely on it.Organizações modernas podem beneficiar significativamente do uso de Inteligência Artificial (AI), e mais especificamente Aprendizagem Automática (ML), para enfrentar a crescente quantidade e sofisticação de ciberataques direcionados aos seus processos de negócio. No entanto, há vários desafios tecnológicos e éticos que comprometem a confiabilidade da AI. Um dos maiores desafios é a falta de robustez, que é uma propriedade essencial para garantir que se usa ML de forma segura. Melhorar a robustez não é uma tarefa fácil porque ML é inerentemente suscetível a exemplos adversos: amostras de dados com perturbações subtis que causam comportamentos inesperados em modelos ML. Engenheiros de ML e profissionais de segurança ainda não têm o conhecimento nem asferramentas necessárias para prevenir tais disrupções, por isso os exemplos adversos representam uma grande ameaça a ML e aos sistemas de Deteção de Intrusões de Rede (NID) que dependem de ML. Esta tese apresenta uma metodologia para uma análise da robustez de múltiplos modelos ML, e um método inteligente para a geração de exemplos adversos realistas em domínios de dados tabulares complexos como o domínio NID: Método de Perturbação com Padrões Adaptativos (A2PM). É demonstrado que um ataque adverso bem-sucedido não é garantidamente um ciberataque bem-sucedido, e que as perturbações adversas só são realistas se forem simultaneamente válidas e coerentes, cumprindo as restrições de domínio de uma rede de computadores real e as restrições específicas de uma certa classe de ciberataque. A2PM pode ser usado para ataques adversos, para iterativamente causar erros de classificação, e para treino adverso, para realizar aumento de dados com amostras ligeiramente perturbadas. Foram efetuados dois casos de estudo para avaliar a sua adequação ao domínio NID. O primeiro verificou que as perturbações preservaram tanto a validade como a coerência em cenários de redes Empresariais e Internet-das-Coisas (IoT), alcançando o realismo. O segundo verificou que o treino adverso com perturbações simples permitiu aos modelos reter uma boa generalização a fluxos de tráfego de rede IoT, para além de serem mais robustos contra exemplos adversos. A principal conclusão desta tese é: os modelos ML podem ser incrivelmente valiosos para melhorar um sistema de cibersegurança, mas as suas próprias vulnerabilidades não devem ser negligenciadas. É essencial continuar os esforços de investigação para melhorar a segurança e a confiabilidade de ML e dos sistemas inteligentes que dependem de ML

Fairness Testing: A Comprehensive Survey and Analysis of Trends

Unfair behaviors of Machine Learning (ML) software have garnered increasing attention and concern among software engineers. To tackle this issue, extensive research has been dedicated to conducting fairness testing of ML software, and this paper offers a comprehensive survey of existing studies in this field. We collect 100 papers and organize them based on the testing workflow (i.e., how to test) and testing components (i.e., what to test). Furthermore, we analyze the research focus, trends, and promising directions in the realm of fairness testing. We also identify widely-adopted datasets and open-source tools for fairness testing

The use of an expert system to identify pupils' misconception in science: a prototype and evaluation

In this research, the author proposes a development which contributes towards a knowledge of linking research in diagnosing student misconception in science education and the expert systems technology. Specifically, the thesis will describe the development and evaluation of a prototype diagnostic system to become a supportive tool for classroom teachers. Three topics of electricity, speed and motion graphs, and floating and sinking were selected to explore the use of expert systems technology in diagnostic testing in science. For each topic, the strategy for building the rule-based diagnostic knowledge representation is discussed. The main steps are analysis of past research literature in pupil misconceptions, building a matrix table consisting of various parameters and logical relationship between these parameters, designing the questions for eliciting the understanding and building the rule base. Finally the rule base has to be organised for encoding into a format suitable for inclusion into a generic expert system shell (Leonardo). In general, the two forms of rules contained in the knowledge base are diagnostic rules and the question sequence rules. The diagnostic rule consists of if-then statements which describes the patterns of typical science misconceptions found in the literature. Detection of a specific pattern results in descriptive diagnostic feedback. The question sequence also consists of if-then rules which are used to support the branching of questions according to previous responses. In the topic of floating and sinking, the diagnostic rule makes use of the certainty factors feature of the shell in making a decision. Both school pupils and teachers were used to validate the program. The analysis of pupils' responses suggests that the program is capable of diagnosing pupil's misconception and that new diagnosis rules can be added to the program to cater for new patterns of understanding detected by the system. The teachers responded favourably to a questionnaire regarding the user interface, the accuracy and outcomes of the questions used in the program and the accuracy of the diagnostic feedback provided by the program. In conclusion, within the limitation of the scope of the diagnosis rule base contained in the program, the research shows that such a methodology for using the available expert knowledge is feasible