Design for conceptual knowledge processing: case studies in applied formal concept analysis

Conceptual Knowledge Processing (CKP) is a knowledge management and data analysis technique that makes use of conceptual structures. Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) is a CKP methodology that uses lattice theory to represent units of thought, or concepts. When FCA is used in software applications, it makes use of a process called Mixed Initiative. Mixed Initiative breaks down the roles of user and machine, allowing each to play to their strengths. This process allows the computer, which can process vast amounts of data, to produce interaction options from which the user can select. A human can interpret semantic knowledge contained within the data that a computer cannot. This synergy of user and computer allows complex tasks to be performed. Wille [Wil99] proposed ten atomic tasks of CKP which are combined to make these more complex tasks. The ten tasks are exploration, search, recognition, identification, analysis, investigation, decision, improvement, restructuring and memorisation. Individually, these tasks represent facets of interaction with conceptual systems. This thesis uses the ten tasks of Conceptual Knowledge Processing as a framework for experimentation with applications that use Formal Concept Analysis. The applications used for this analysis are MailSleuth, SurfMachine, DSift, ImageSleuth and SearchSleuth. These applications approach various problems, using FCA as the primary knowledge structure and interaction framework. Each application uses various interface components and varying degrees and types of exposure to the FCA structures on which they are based. The connection between CKP tasks and interface exposure is then explored and reported

Complete interoperability in healthcare : technical, semantic and process interoperability through ontology mapping and distributed enterprise integration techniques

Interoperability in healthcare is a requirement for effective communication between entities, to ensure timely access to up-to-date patient information and medical knowledge, and thus consistent patient care. This thesis focuses on the development of an interoperability solution for health by employing design science research methods to arrive at a final solution. First, background topics including Health Informatics standards and formats are covered, which leads to three major Health Informatics standards being used throughout the remainder of this work – HL7 for messaging, openEHR for patient records, and SNOMED CT as a standard terminology to facilitate clarity of information, and to discourage ambiguity between communicating entities. Ontology mapping methods between these standards designed to promote interoperability by using the standards in conjunction with each other are then presented, leading to a solution for semantic interoperability. A technical interoperability solution is required for sending these semantically interoperable messages, which leads to the development of a framework which uses a tuple-space paradigm to share messages. This framework is shown to have some scalability issues, which leads to the final solution – a scalable interoperability framework based on the Enterprise Service Bus methodology of enterprise integration which provides a real-world answer to communication in healthcare

An intelligent user interface for browsing and search MPEG-7 images using concept lattices

This paper presents the evaluation of a design and architecture for browsing and searching MPEG-7 images. Our approach is novel in that it exploits concept lattices for the representation and navigation of image content. Several concept lattices provide the foundation for the system (called Image-Sleuth) each representing a different search context, one for image shape, another for color and luminance, and a third for semantic content. This division of information aids in the facilitation of image browsing based on a metadata ontology. The test collection used for our study is a sub-set of MPEG-7 images created from the popular The Sims 2 TM game. The evaluation of the Image-Sleuth program is based on usability testing among 29 subjects. The results of the study are used to build an improved second generation program – Image-Sleuth2 – but in themselves indicate that image navigation via a concept lattice is a highly successful interface paradigm. Our results provide general insights for interface design using concept lattices that will be of interest to any applied research and development using concept lattices

An intelligent user interface for browsing and searching MPEG-7 images using concept lattices

This paper presents the evaluation of a design and architecture for browsing and searching MPEG-7 images. Our approach is novel in that it exploits concept lattices for the representation and navigation of image content. Several concept lattices provide the foundation for the system (called IMAGE-SLEUTH) each representing a different search context, one for image shape, another for color and luminance, and a third for semantic content, namely image browsing based on a metadata ontology. The test collection used for our study is a sub-set of MPEG-7 images created from the popular The Sims 2 game. The evaluation of the IMAGE-SLEUTH program is based on usability testing among 29 subjects. The results of the study are used to build an improved second generation program IMAGE-SLEUTH2 however these results also indicate that image navigation via a concept lattice is a highly successful interface paradigm. Our results provide general insights for interface design using concept lattices that will be of interest to any applied research and development using concept lattices

Browsing and Searching MPEG-7 Images using Formal Concept Analysis.

Content-based search and browsing of image collections is a difficult problem. This paper argues that Formal Con cept Analysis (FCA) is ideally suited to this task and engi neers a solution to demonstrate the idea. In general, stan dard keyword search is problematic when dealing with im ages. First, the value and names of the metadata are of ten unknown. Second, image search is about similarity in the sense of combinations of location, shape, luminance etc. These properties are hard to evaluate and unsuited to vector-space models of similarity used in information re trieval. This paper presents a Web-based FCA system for browsing MPEG-7 images and user evaluation results. The system is called IMAGE-SLEUTH. The trial collection that we use to profile IMAGE-SLEUTH are image objects based on a collection of items from the popular game The Sims 2. User testing was performed on 29 university students from various disiplines. The Sims data set is ideal for two rea sons. First, The Sims 2 imposes an interesting information space over the items which are annotated with scales such as needs and function, as well as the capacity to enhance the Sim character’s skill: objects which allow access to other skills such as logic, creativity, charisma. This infor mation space is revealed by the concept lattice. Second, the Sims items can be used to demonstrate the value of search via image descriptors such as shape, colour and luminance. MPEG-7 is therefore an important platform for image an notation since it provides for the information space induced by the game playing attributes as well as visual descriptors. This paper describes the process of image extraction and a description of the Web-based image browser – IMAGE SLEUTH

SearchSleuth: The Conceptual Neighbourhood of an Web Query

Abstract. This paper presents SearchSleuth, a program developed to experiment with a form of automatic local analysis that extends the standard Web search interface to include a conceptual neighbourhood focused on a formal concept derived from the query. The conceptual neighbourhood is displayed with upper neighbours representative of a generalisation operation, and lower neighbours representative of a specialisation operation. SearchSleuth also introduces a notion of a categorisation operation, where the conceptual focus can shift to a sibling concept of the search concept.