Dwelling on ontology - semantic reasoning over topographic maps

The thesis builds upon the hypothesis that the spatial arrangement of topographic features, such as buildings, roads and other land cover parcels, indicates how land is used. The aim is to make this kind of high-level semantic information explicit within topographic data. There is an increasing need to share and use data for a wider range of purposes, and to make data more definitive, intelligent and accessible. Unfortunately, we still encounter a gap between low-level data representations and high-level concepts that typify human qualitative spatial reasoning. The thesis adopts an ontological approach to bridge this gap and to derive functional information by using standard reasoning mechanisms offered by logic-based knowledge representation formalisms. It formulates a framework for the processes involved in interpreting land use information from topographic maps. Land use is a high-level abstract concept, but it is also an observable fact intimately tied to geography. By decomposing this relationship, the thesis correlates a one-to-one mapping between high-level conceptualisations established from human knowledge and real world entities represented in the data. Based on a middle-out approach, it develops a conceptual model that incrementally links different levels of detail, and thereby derives coarser, more meaningful descriptions from more detailed ones. The thesis verifies its proposed ideas by implementing an ontology describing the land use ‘residential area’ in the ontology editor Protégé. By asserting knowledge about high-level concepts such as types of dwellings, urban blocks and residential districts as well as individuals that link directly to topographic features stored in the database, the reasoner successfully infers instances of the defined classes. Despite current technological limitations, ontologies are a promising way forward in the manner we handle and integrate geographic data, especially with respect to how humans conceptualise geographic space

Papers on predicative constructions : Proceedings of the workshop on secundary predication, October 16-17, 2000, Berlin

This volume presents a collection of papers touching on various issues concerning the syntax and semantics of predicative constructions. A hot topic in the study of predicative copula constructions, with direct implications for the treatment of he (how many he's do we need?), and wider implications for the theories of predication, event-based semantics and aspect, is the nature and source of the situation argument. Closer examination of copula-less predications is becoming increasingly relevant to all these issues, as is clearly illustrated by the present collection

A parallel implementation of the tool GeoTriples using Apache Spark

Η πληθώρα γεωχωρικών δεδομένων που γίνονται διαθέσιμα δωρεάν στην Ευρώπη και τις Η.Π.Α. δείχνει την προσπάθεια για περισσότερα ελεύθερα γεωχωρικά δεδομένα.Τα διασυνδεδεμένα δεδομένα αποτελούν την προσπάθεια για διαθεσιμότητα δεδομένων στο Διαδίκτυο και τη διασύνδεση αυτών με άλλα δεδομένα ,ώστε η αξία του τελικού αποτελέσματος να είναι μεγαλύτερη από ένα απλό άθροισμα των δεδομένων που το αποτελούν.Τα γεωχωρικά δεδομένα που έχουν γίνει διαθέσιμα από διαστημικά πρακτορεία όπως ESA και NASA δεν ακολουθούν τη λογική των διασυνδεδεμένων δεδομένων.Επομένως ένας χρήστης που αναζητά γεωχωρικά δεδομένα μπορεί να τα βρει μόνο σε μεμονωμένες αποθήκες δεδομένων που μπορεί να περιέχουν ένα μέρος των δεδομένων που χρειάζεται.Η δημοσίευση των περιεχομένων αυτών των αποθηκών σε μορφή γράφων RDF καθιστά δυνατή την ανάπτυξη εφαρμογών ανάλυσης δεδομένων με γιγάντια περιβαντολλογική και οικονομική αξία. Το GeoTriples είναι ένα ημι-αυτόματο εργαλείο που επιτρέπει τη δημοσίευση γεωχωρικών δεδομένων σε γράφους RDF χρησιμοποιώντας τα πλέον σύγχρονα λεξιλόγια όπως είναι τα GeoSPARQL και stSPARQL , αλλά ταυτόχρονα δεν είναι δεσμευμένο σε κάποιο συγκεκριμένο λεξιλόγιο.Σε αυτή την πτυχιακή εργασία παρουσιάζουμε μία παράλληλη υλοποίηση του εργαλείου GeoTriples αξιοποιώντας το Apache Spark.Χρησιμοποιώντας την τεχνική MapReduce η εφαρμογή μας προσφέρει σημαντική βελτίωση στο χρόνο εκτέλεσης όταν λαμβάνει σαν είσοδο μεγάλα δεδομένα.A plethora of Earth Observation data that is becoming available at no charge in Europe and the US recently reflects the strong push for more open Earth Observation data. Linked data is a paradigm which studies how one can make data available on the Web, and interconnect it with other data with the aim of making the value of the resulting “Web of data” greater than the sum of its parts. Open Earth Observation data that are currently made available by space agencies such as ESA and NASA are not following the linked data paradigm. Therefore, Earth Observation data and other kinds of geospatial data that are necessary for a user to satisfy her information needs can only be found in different data silos, where each silo may contain only part of the needed data. Publishing the content of these silos as RDF graphs, enables the development of data analytics applications with great environmental and financial value. GeoTriples is a semi-automated tool that allows the publication of geospatial information into an RDF graph using the state of the art vocabularies like GeoSPARQL and stSPARQL, but at the same time it is not tightly coupled to a specific vocabulary. In this thesis we present a parallel implementation of the tool GeoTriples utilizing Apache Spark. Using the MapReduce technique we provide noticable improvement in time when dealing with large datasets

Paradigmatic Tendencies in Cartography: A Synthesis of the Scientific-Empirical, Critical and Post-Representational Perspectives

Maps have been important elements of visual representation in the development of different societies, and for this reason they have mainly been considered from a practical and utilitarian point of view. This means that cartographers or mapmakers have largely focused on the technical aspects of the cartographic products, and cartography has given little attention to both its theoretical component and to its philosophical and epistemological aspects. The current study is dedicated to consider these views. In this study the main trends, thoughts and different directions in cartography during positivism/empiricism, neo-positivism and post-structuralism are reviewed; and cartography is analysed under the modernism and post-modernism periods. Some of the arguments proposed by philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper are examined as important contributions in our understanding of the development of cartography and mapping. This study also incorporates the idea or concept of paradigm, which has been taken from the field of the epistemology of sciences. The aforementioned opens a space to analyse cartography in terms of a paradigm shift. In the analysis of each trend within contemporary cartography – from the second half of the twentieth century until today – it is necessary to keep in mind the theoretical scheme of a scientific discipline (object of study, research aims, methods and approaches, and results). This helps to determine the body of knowledge in cartography. It is also important to consider the epistemological context in which the tendencies are developed: positivism/empiricism, realism/structuralism and idealism/hermeneutic. In this way, by considering three epistemological levels - essentialist/ontical (scientific), deconstructive (sociological), and ontological (emergent) - some paradigmatic tendencies are postulated. The first level results in tendencies such as cartographic communication, cartographic semiotics, analytical cartography and cartographic visualisation - all of these belong to the scientific-empirical perspective. In the second level, we have critical cartography, belonging to the critical perspective and that confronts the scientific stances. Finally, in the third level the so-called post-representational cartography arises in open opposition to the traditional representational cartography.Im Entwicklungsprozess verschiedener Gesellschaften sind Karten immer wichtige Elemente visueller Darstellung gewesen. Karten wurden meist aus einer praktischen und utilitaristischen Sicht betrachtet. Das heißt, dass sich Kartographen oder Kartenmacher gezielt auf die technischen Aspekte kartographischer Produkte fokussiert haben, und Kartographie sich nur wenig mit den theoretischen Komponenten und philosophischen oder epistemologischen Aspekten auseinandergesetzt hat. Diese Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, diese Sichten zu analysieren. Diese Studie untersucht die verschiedenen kartographischen Denkrichtungen, die während des Positivismus/Empirismus, des Neo-Positivismus und der Post-Strukturalismusperioden entstanden sind und analysiert Kartographie der Moderne und post-moderner Perioden. Argumente von Philosophen wie Ludwig Wittgenstein und Karl Popper werden untersucht als wichtige Beiträge zu unserem Verständnis der Entwicklung der Kartographie. Diese Arbeit berücksichtigt auch das Konzept des Paradigmas, welches aus dem Gebiet der wissenschaftlichen Epistemologie adaptiert wurde. Dies eröffnet die Möglichkeit, Kartographie hinsichtlich eines Paradigmenwechsels analysieren zu können. Wenn man die Tendenzen der zeitgenössischen Kartographie – von der zweiten Hälfte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts bis heute – studiert, muss der theoretische Rahmen einer wissenschaftlichen Disziplin (Forschungsobjekt, Forschungsziel, Arbeitsmethodik und Ergebnisse) berücksichtigt werden. Dies erlaubt es, das gesammelte Wissen der Kartographie zu ermitteln. Ebenfalls wichtig ist die Berücksichtigung des epistemologischen Kontexts, in dem diese Tendenzen entstanden: Positivismus/Empirismus, Realismus/Strukturalismus und Idealismus/Hermeneutik. Unter Berücksichtigung dreier epistemologischer Ebenen – Essenzialisten/ontisch (wissenschaftlich), dekonstructiv (soziologisch) und ontologisch (emergent) – werden ausgewählte paradigmatische Tendenzen postuliert. Die erste Ebene ergibt Tendenzen wie die kartographische Kommunikation, die kartographische Semiotik, die analytische Kartographie und die kartographische Visualisierung, die alle zu der wissenschaftlich-empirischen Perspektive gehören. Zur zweiten Ebene gehört die kritische Kartographie, welche der kritischen Perspektive zugeordnet ist und die wissenschaftliche Standpunkte konfrontiert. Die so genannte post-repräsentative Kartographie entsteht aus der dritten Ebene im offenen Widerstand zur traditionellen repräsentativen Kartographie

Justifications for a Discontinuity Theory of Language Evolution

In Chapter 6 of Biological Foundations of Language, Lenneberg argues against continuity theories of language evolution, which claim that language evolved from simpler communication systems. Although Lenneberg was pessimistic about even discontinuity theories explaining how language evolved, discontinuity has become significant in the Minimalist program, which posits that our species’ acquisition of Merge was the key discontinuity that made language possible. On the basis of a unified description of natural communication systems, I show that language is indeed based upon a cognitive discontinuity, which is moreover specific to linguistic ability. However, I argue that even Minimalist theories must recognise this discontinuity as the sensorimotor interface with syntax, rather than syntax itself. This ultimately supports the view that syntactic structures are structures of thought, but taking this claim seriously means reimagining how syntax relates to semantics and morphology, as the traditional ‘lexical item’ is no longer a tenable primitive of generative theory

Феномен синкретизма в украинской лингвистике

У сучасній лінгвістиці вивчення складних системних зв’язків та динамізму мови навряд чи буде завершеним без урахування синкретизму. Традиційно явища транзитивності трактуються як поєднання різних типів утворень як результат процесів трансформації або відображення проміжних, синкретичних фактів, що характеризують мовну систему в синхронному аспекті.In modern linguistics, the study of complex systemic relations and language dynamism is unlikely to be complete without considering the transitivity. Traditionally, transitivity phenomena are treated as a combination of different types of entities, formed as a result of the transformation processes or the reflection of the intermediate, syncretic facts that characterize the language system in the synchronous aspect.В современной лингвистике изучение сложных системных отношений и языкового динамизма вряд ли будет полным без учета синкретизма. Традиционно явления транзитивности трактуются как совокупность различных типов сущностей, сформированных в результате процессов преобразования или отражения промежуточных синкретических фактов, которые характеризуют языковую систему в синхронном аспекте

Transformation of the concept of "power" as a basic cultural value in the media discourse of modern times in metagraphic representation

The relevance is due to the fact that new geopolitical realities cause the transformation of basic concepts, which include the concept of "power", which has an internal conflict of content, where there is power as self-possession and power as the management of others. At the same time, the concept of "power" itself is built in various linguistic and philosophical coordinate systems. The research is based on an ethnic-psycholinguistic scientific paradigm, within which the concept of "power" is analyzed from the point of view of structure and semantics as a separate element of linguistic consciousness, actively represented in the speech activity of representatives of various linguistic cultures (Kazakh, Russian, Anglo-American, Chinese). The appeal to this concept is predetermined by the acuteness of the experience of the problem of power itself as a constantly evolving socio-political institution. The aim of the study is to model the concept of "power" in the modern linguistic consciousness of modern times with the establishment of its structural and content specificity. The complexity of the claimed topic is predetermined by the initial ambiguity of power as a social phenomenon, which includes a binary of oppositions: "I" individual and "We" collective, the ability to control oneself and the ability to control others, legitimate power and illegitimate power, ethical power due to respect and authority and the power of oppression and pressure due to fear. The metagraph of the complex socio-political basic value "power" perfectly illustrates the representation of this complex concept, demonstrating qualitative transformations in the structure of the meaning of this concept at different levels of lexico-semantic, neurasthenic and symbolic-semiological hierarchy