A comparative illustration of foundational ontologies : BORO and UFO

This paper investigates the differences that exist between a 3D and a 4D ontology. We examine these differences by comparing both ontologies through the metaphysical choices each ontology makes and explore the composing characteristics that define them. More specifically, the differences between the ontologies were illustrated through several modeling fragments that were derived from a modeling case presented at the 5thOntoCom workshop. Each of these modeling fragments focused on the metaphysical choices that the ontologies make –Essence and Identity, Relationships and Time. These comparisons highlighted the different ontological approaches and structures that exist between the ontologies. Moreover, depending on the ontology, the resulting conceptual model could differ substantially, confirming the impact and importance of the choice of a certain ontology. The observed differences between both ontologies eventually led us to formulate three discussion points that question the applicability of certain metaphysical choices in certain circumstances, and that can serve as a basis for future discussion or future research studies in the domain of ODCM

Toward the automation of business process ontology generation

Semantic Business Process Management (SBPM) utilises semantic technologies (e.g., ontology) to model and query process representations. There are times in which such models must be reconstructed from existing textual documentation. In this scenario the automated generation of ontological models would be preferable, however current methods and technology are still not capable of automatically generating accurate semantic process models from textual descriptions. This research attempts to automate the process as much as possible by proposing a method that drives the transformation through the joint use of a foundational ontology and lexico-semantic analysis. The method is presented, demonstrated and evaluated. The original dataset represents 150 business activities related to the procurement processes of a case study company. As the evaluation shows, the proposed method can accurately map the linguistic patterns of the process descriptions to semantic patterns of the foundational ontology to a high level of accuracy, however further research is required in order to reduce the level of human intervention, expand the method so as to recognise further patterns of the foundational ontology and develop a tool to assist the business process modeller in the semi-automated generation of process models

Comprehending 3D and 4D ontology-driven conceptual models: An empirical study

This paper presents an empirical study that investigates the extent to which the pragmatic quality of ontology-driven models is influenced by the choice of a particular ontology, given a certain understanding of that ontology. To this end, we analyzed previous research efforts and distilled three hypotheses based on different metaphysical characteristics. An experiment based on two foundational ontologies (UFO and BORO) involving 158 participants was then carried out, followed by a protocol analysis to gain further insights into the results of experiment. We then extracted five derivations from the results of the empirical study in order to summarize our findings. Overall, the results confirm that the choice of a foundational ontology can lead to significant differences in the interpretation and comprehension of the conceptual models produced. Moreover, the effect of applying a certain foundational ontology can cause considerable variations in the effort required to comprehend these models

Ontology-based standards development: Application of OntoStanD to ebXML business process specification schema

Business-to-Business (B2B) interoperations are an important part of today's global economy. Business process standards are developed to provide a common understanding of the information shared between trading partners. These standards, however, mainly capture the syntax of the transactions and not their semantics. This paper proposes the use of ontologies as the basis for standards development and presents an ontology for the ebXML Business Process Specification Schema (ebBP) with the aim of empowering the capture and sharing of semantics embedded within B2B processes as well as enabling knowledge deduction and reasoning over the shared knowledge. The paper utilises the Ontology-based Standards Development methodology (OntoStanD) as a methodological approach for designing ontological models of standards. This research demonstrates how Semantic Web technologies can be utilised as a basis for standards development and representation in order to improve standards-based interoperability between trading partners

Solved what spacetime is?

In this essay the author overcomes the theoretical contradiction between General Relativity that defines the gravitational field as a geometric aspect of spacetime, either as potential or curvature, and Quantum Gravity that defines it as a fundamental force of interaction, with the change in the conception of spacetime of structural geometric property from the gravitational field, to the conception of spacetime structural geometric property of matter in motion. Spacetime is not a continent of matter (Substantialism) but rather is contained in matter insofar as it constitutes the geometric structure that gives it its shape and allows its changes, to which as space it confers its ability to contain and as time its capacity to becoming. Nor is spacetime the category of geometric relations of material bodies and their events (Relationism), since it is not a relational property of matter but rather the geometric spacetime structural property of matter, which it endows with their abilities to self-contain and transform. The author's conception of spacetime is that dynamic energy-matter, geometrically endowed with the four dimensions of spacetime, is spatially self-contained and temporarily self-transforming. The wave-particle, of matter and of the field, does not exist in spacetime, but this is the intrinsic structural geometric property of the wave-particle, therefore, attached to its own internal nature, as its intrinsic dimensional geometric property which with the force of law is manifested in its quantitative measurements, either when the wave particle itself is taken or in relation to others. Thus, only theories on gravity from Quantum Gravity are possible, although they must be reformulated, renouncing to integrate them with the geometric vision derived from the equations of the so-called "General Relativity"

Rule and Improvisation. An Ontology of Music

This dissertation argues (1) that musical improvisation is any performer’s real-time handling of that excess of musical properties not encoded by any set of instructions, nor foreseeable by the performer herself, that we find in any performance; (2) that, hence, every musical performance is improvisatory in a lesser or greater degree; (3) that every performance stems from a (not necessarily textual) set of instructions, as long as no musical occurrence takes place ex nihilo or in an alleged normative void; (4) that there can be no musical work detached or independent from a performance, by virtue of what I’ve called the minimum sensorial requirement; and (5) that a form of Carnapian deflationism is the best ontological strategy to address mind-dependent, cultural entities such as musical works. As a consequence of the above, (6) a musical work should be considered an unrepeatable, improvisatory and hybrid entity, a physical/normative object (understood in a deflationary, non-realist fashion), the aggregation of a set of instructions (a particular abstract artefact) and a performance (a concrete object)

Development of semantic data models to support data interoperability in the rail industry

Railways are large, complex systems that comprise many heterogeneous subsystems and parts. As the railway industry continues to enjoy increasing passenger and freight custom, ways of deriving greater value from the knowledge within these subsystems are increasingly sought. Interfaces to and between systems are rare, making data sharing and analysis difficult. Semantic data modelling provides a method of integrating data from disparate sources by encoding knowledge about a problem domain or world into machine-interpretable logic and using this knowledge to encode and infer data context and meaning. The uptake of this technique in the Semantic Web and Linked Data movements in recent years has provided a mature set of techniques and toolsets for designing and implementing ontologies and linked data applications. This thesis demonstrates ways in which semantic data models and OWL ontologies can be used to foster data exchange across the railway industry. It sets out a novel methodology for the creation of industrial semantic models, and presents a new set of railway domain ontologies to facilitate integration of infrastructure-centric railway data. Finally, the design and implementation of two prototype systems is described, each of which use the techniques and ontologies in solving a known problem