Ontology technology for the development and deployment of learning technology systems - a survey

The World-Wide Web is undergoing dramatic changes at the moment. The Semantic Web is an initiative to bring meaning to the Web. The Semantic Web is based on ontology technology – a knowledge representation framework – at its core. We illustrate the importance of this evolutionary development. We survey five scenarios demonstrating different forms of applications of ontology technologies in the development and deployment of learning technology systems. Ontology technologies are highly useful to organise, personalise, and publish learning content and to discover, generate, and compose learning objects

BSML: A Binding Schema Markup Language for Data Interchange in Problem Solving Environments (PSEs)

We describe a binding schema markup language (BSML) for describing data interchange between scientific codes. Such a facility is an important constituent of scientific problem solving environments (PSEs). BSML is designed to integrate with a PSE or application composition system that views model specification and execution as a problem of managing semistructured data. The data interchange problem is addressed by three techniques for processing semistructured data: validation, binding, and conversion. We present BSML and describe its application to a PSE for wireless communications system design

Description of the CUDF Format

This document contains several related specifications, together they describe the document formats related to the solver competition which will be organized by Mancoosi. In particular, this document describes: - DUDF (Distribution Upgradeability Description Format), the document format to be used to submit upgrade problem instances from user machines to a (distribution-specific) database of upgrade problems; - CUDF (Common Upgradeability Description Format), the document format used to encode upgrade problems, abstracting over distribution-specific details. Solvers taking part in the competition will be fed with input in CUDF format

A Reasoner for Calendric and Temporal Data

Calendric and temporal data are omnipresent in countless Web and Semantic Web applications and Web services. Calendric and temporal data are probably more than any other data a subject to interpretation, in almost any case depending on some cultural, legal, professional, and/or locational context. On the current Web, calendric and temporal data can hardly be interpreted by computers. This article contributes to the Semantic Web, an endeavor aiming at enhancing the current Web with well-defined meaning and to enable computers to meaningfully process data. The contribution is a reasoner for calendric and temporal data. This reasoner is part of CaTTS, a type language for calendar definitions. The reasoner is based on a \theory reasoning" approach using constraint solving techniques. This reasoner complements general purpose \axiomatic reasoning" approaches for the Semantic Web as widely used with ontology languages like OWL or RDF

A Type Language for Calendars

Time and calendars play an important role in databases, on the Semantic Web, as well as in mobile computing. Temporal data and calendars require (specific) modeling and processing tools. CaTTS is a type language for calendar definitions using which one can model and process temporal and calendric data. CaTTS is based on a "theory reasoning" approach for efficiency reasons. This article addresses type checking temporal and calendric data and constraints. A thesis underlying CaTTS is that types and type checking are as useful and desirable with calendric data types as with other data types. Types enable (meaningful) annotation of data. Type checking enhances efficiency and consistency of programming and modeling languages like database and Web query languages

A Reasoner for Calendric and Temporal Data

Calendric and temporal data are omnipresent in countless Web and Semantic Web applications and Web services. Calendric and temporal data are probably more than any other data a subject to interpretation, in almost any case depending on some cultural, legal, professional, and/or locational context. On the current Web, calendric and temporal data can hardly be interpreted by computers. This article contributes to the Semantic Web, an endeavor aiming at enhancing the current Web with well-defined meaning and to enable computers to meaningfully process data. The contribution is a reasoner for calendric and temporal data. This reasoner is part of CaTTS, a type language for calendar definitions. The reasoner is based on a "theory reasoning" approach using constraint solving techniques. This reasoner complements general purpose "axiomatic reasoning" approaches for the Semantic Web as widely used with ontology languages like OWL or RDF

Converting relational databases into object relational databases

This paper proposes an approach for migrating existing Relational DataBases (RDBs) into Object-Relational DataBases (ORDBs). The approach is superior to existing proposals as it can generate not only the target schema but also the data instances. The solution takes an existing RDB as input, enriches its metadata representation with required semantics, and generates an enhanced canonical data model, which captures essential characteristics of the target ORDB, and is suitable for migration. A prototype has been developed, which migrates successfully RDBs into ORDBs (Oracle 11g) based on the canonical model. The experimental results were very encouraging, demonstrating that the proposed approach is feasible, efficient and correct

An Entailment Relation for Reasoning on the Web

Reasoning on the Web is receiving an increasing attention because of emerging fields such as Web adaption and Semantic Web. Indeed, the advanced functionalities striven for in these fields call for reasoning capabilities. Reasoning on the Web, however, is usually done using existing techniques rarely fitting the Web. As a consequence, additional data processing like data conversion from Web formats (e.g. XML or HTML) into some other formats (e.g. classical logic terms and formulas) is often needed and aspects of the Web (e.g. its inherent inconsistency) are neglected. This article first gives requirements for an entailment tuned to reasoning on the Web. Then, it describes how classical logic’s entailment can be modified so as to enforce these requirements. Finally, it discusses how the proposed entailment can be used in applying logic programming to reasoning on the Web