Automatic ontology mapping for agent communication

Agent communication languages such as ACL and KQML provide a standard for agent communication. These languages enable an agent to specify the intention and the content of a message as well as the protocol, the language, and the ontology that are used. For the protocol and the language some standards are available and should be known by the communicating agents. The ontology used in a communication depends on the subject of the communication. Since the number of subjects is almost infinite and since the concepts used for a subject can be described by different ontologies, the development of generally accepted standards will take a long time. This lack of standardization, which hampers communication and collaboration between agents, is known as the interoperability problem. To overcome the interoperability problem, agents must be able to establish a mapping between their ontologies. This paper investigates a new approach to the interoperability problem. The proposed approach requires neither a correspondence between concepts used in the ontologies nor a correspondence between the structure of the ontologies. It only requires that some instances of the subject about which the agents try to communicate are known by both agents.economics of technology ;

The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector Crater Origins and Hypervelocity Cratering at Oblique Angles in Aluminum Foil

From 1999 to 2006 the NASA Stardust mission collected cometary particles from the Wild 2 comet and interstellar dust from the interstellar medium in two collectors made from aerogel tiles and aluminum foil. By studying their isotopic compositions, these particles can provide us with information about nucleosynthetic processes in stars. Both collector trays are being studied for traces of these particles, though a number of challenges have arisen in doing so. Identifying impact craters in the aluminum foil on the interstellar collector tray has been incredibly difficult. In addition to being only a few micrometers or less in diameter, many craters may have been caused by debris from the spacecraft instead. It is currently impossible to tell a crater’s origin without much more detailed analysis. One way to determine a crater’s origin is by examining the direction of impact. Interstellar dust is likely to have impacted the collector tray normal to its surface, while other debris impacted at a variety of angles. However, this directional information is not obvious in the craters on the aluminum foil strips. We examined the results of two hypervelocity test shots of particles into aluminum foil targets, varying the angle of impact and the particle sizes used. Auger elemental analysis was carried out on a number of craters across each foil. Many craters at higher impact angles (\u3e60°) display the presence of deposited material around a crater, creating a spray pattern in the direction aligned with the direction of impact. No such patterns are observed for impacts closer to normal angles. When applied to the Stardust interstellar collector, such information may help in distinguishing craters caused by debris from those caused by interstellar dust, without the use of extensive analysis first

Survey of ‘Low-Z’ Particles from the Interplanetary Dust Collection in Search of IDPs

Micrometeorites are one of the most common types of extraterrestrial material that fall to the Earth, beside meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). All of these materials are known to contain presolar grains that, when studied in the laboratory, provide information about the origin of the solar system and help to constrain models of nucleosynthesis in stars. Recent studies of micrometeorites revealed the presence of a group of particles with very high C contents. These ultra-carbonaceous Antarctic micrometeorites (UCAMMs) are fine-grained, fluffy particles dominated by highly disordered carbonaceous matter. The presence of H and N isotopic anomalies, abundant presolar grains, and other minerals suggest similarities to IDPs. The presence of these ultra-carbonaceous particles led us to question if similar particles may be present in the NASA interplanetary dust collection. These particles undergo preliminary SEM-EDX analysis after being collected in the upper-stratosphere to separate IDPs from terrestrial contaminants. Some of the particles classified as terrestrial contaminants have spectra suggesting that they are dominated by low atomic number (low-Z) elements that are typically not detectable by EDX analysis. Although classified as terrestrial contaminants, some of these particles may in fact be extraterrestrial ‘low-Z’ IDPs with high C contents, similar to UCAMMs. In this study, we examined a number of low-Z particles to investigate this possibility. Using more sensitive EDX equipment, Raman analysis, and NanoSIMS isotopic imaging we showed that it is unlikely any of these low-Z particles contain presolar material, making it unclear whether or not these particles have an extraterrestrial origin

Dynamic Oscillatory Interactions Between Neural Attention and Sensorimotor Systems

The adaptive and flexible ability of the human brain to preference the processing of salient environmental features in the visual space is essential to normative cognitive function, and various neurologically afflicted patient groups report negative impacts on visual attention. While the brain-bases of human attentional processing have begun to be unraveled, very little is known regarding the interactions between attention systems and systems supporting sensory and motor processing. This is essential, as these interactions are dynamic; evolving rapidly in time and across a wide range of functionally defined rhythmic frequencies. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and a range of novel cognitive paradigms and analytical techniques, this work attempts to fill critical gaps in this knowledge. Specifically, we unravel the role of dynamic oscillatory interactions between attention and three sensorimotor systems. First, we establish the importance of sub-second occipital alpha (8 – 14 Hz) oscillatory responses in visual distractor suppression during selective attention (Chapter 1) and their essential role in fronto-parietal attention networks during visual orienting (Chapter 2). Next, we examine the divergent effects of directed attention on multi-frequency primary somatosensory neural oscillations in the theta (4 – 8 Hz), alpha, and beta (18 – 26 Hz) bands (Chapter 3). Finally, we extend these findings to the motor system (Chapter 4), and find that the frontal and parietal beta-frequency oscillations known to support motor planning and execution are modulated equivalently by differing subtypes of attentional interference, whereas frontal gamma (64 – 84 Hz) oscillations specifically index the superadditive effect of this interference. These findings provide new insight into the dynamic nature of attention-sensorimotor interactions in the human brain, and will be the foundation for groundbreaking new studies of attentional deficits in patients with common neurological disorders (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, Parkinson’s disease). With an enhanced knowledge of the temporal and spectral definitions of these impairments, new therapeutic interventions utilizing frequency-targeted neural stimulation can be developed

Instilling Biblical Dispositions in Faith-Based Teacher Education Programs

Education faculty understand the importance of emphasizing and assessing teacher candidates’ professional dispositions. While all educator preparation providers examine dispositions, should faculty in our community of Christian colleges and universities include a stronger emphasis on Biblically-based dispositions? This essay explores the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and values Christian educators should embrace, including dispositions teachers should display in a public or private-school setting. Christians are called to conform to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28) and, therefore, they should exemplify the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:22) and the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22). In addition, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5), a service mindset (Galatians 5:13), an ethic of care (1 John 3), and a spirit of gratitude (Philippians 2:14) should be evident in a believer’s life. Finally, the essay examines potential assessment practices and practical ways to emphasize Biblically-based dispositions

An examination of fast similarity search trees with gating

The emergence of complex data objects that must be indexed and queried in databases has created a need for access methods that are both generic and efficient. Traditional search algorithms that only check specified fields and keys are no longer effective. Tree-structured indexing techniques based on metric spaces are widely used to solve this problem. Unfortunately, these data structures can be slow as the computational complexity of computing the distance between two points in a metric space can be high. This thesis will explore data structures for the evaluation of range queries in general metric spaces. The performance limitations of metric spaces will be analyzed and opportunities for improvement will be discussed. It will culminate with the introduction of the Fast Similarity Search Tree as a viable alternative to existing methodologies

Variation in diosgenin level in seed kernels among different provenances of Balanites aegyptiaca Del (Zygophyllaceae) and its correlation with oil content

Balanites aegyptiaca (Zygopyllaceae) is a widely grown desert plant with multi-use potential. It is found in most of the African continent, the Middle East, and South Asia; however, this plant remains one of the most neglected plant species. Its seed kernel is used for oil extraction and the oil is used for human consumption and cosmetics. However, the oil cake is regarded as unsuitable for feeding because of the presence of many toxic substances. In this study, a spectrophotometric determination of diosgenin level and subsequent oil percentage analyses were carried out using the seed kernels of B. aegyptiaca collected from five Israeli provenances (Bet-Shean, Ein-gedi, Sapir, Samar, and Eilat) and five international locations (Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Niger, and India). The results suggested that the sample from the Bet Shean Valley, which is considered the northern-most latitude where B. aegyptiaca naturally grows, contained the highest level of diosgenin as well as oil percentage; the Indian sample contained the lowest levels of both diosgenin and oil. The result also showed that there is a strong positive correlation (R2 = 0.849) between diosgenin level and oil percentage in the B. aegyptiaca seed kernel

Facile NMR Relaxation Sensor for Monitoring of Biomass Degradation Products during Conversion to Biogas

The chemical and morphological composition of animal biowaste is known to limit the efficiency of methane production by bacterial anaerobic digestion (AD). To better understand these material limitations, we studied degradative changes in cattle manure’s organic complex components chemical and morphological composition during its AD to methane. This was achieved using low field 1H NMR relaxation times domain (TD) spectral mapping combined with T1 (spin-lattice) and T2 (spin-spin) TD of cattle manure biomass (CM) peaks assignment, starting from samples of initial freshly collected CM biomass sample followed by several time points sampling during 21 days cycle of the AD process. A T1-T2 relaxation TD graph giving a stable reproducible pattern of 12 peaks was generated, and assigned to different domains, whose changes during AD could be observed. These 12 peaks were assigned to TDs of crystalline nano-aggregated complexes of different degrees of crystallinity with low porosity and low hydration rate and a morphological group of amorphous domains with increased pore size, density, and higher hydration. In agreement with models of elementary cellulose fibrils, these domains were designated as three layers of cellulose consisting of interior, subsurface, and surface. The most amorphous TD volume showed good correlation with biogas production and could serve as an indicator for digestibility and cellulose conversion to a glucose intermediate during the AD process. This study demonstrated the facile and versatile usage of 2D 1H NMR T1-T2 sensorial technology in studying complex biowaste systems, with the potential for improving CM biomass conversion efficiency into bio-methane

Larvicidal effects of aqueous extracts of Balanites aegyptiaca (desert date) against the larvae of Culex pipiens mosquitoes

The effect of aqueous extracts of the fruit pulp, seed kernel, roots, bark, and leaves of Balanites aegyptiaca Del. (Zygophyllacea) against the larvae of the Culex pipens mosquito was investigated. Early fourth instars larvae of C. pipiens mosquitoes were exposed, for up to three days, to a dilution of 0, 0.1,0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% aqueous extracts of fruit pulp, seed kernel, roots, bark, and leaves. All tested extracts showed larval mortality, however, larval mortality was greatest with the aqueous root extract. The lowest concentration of root extract (0.1%) showed 100% larval mortality after three days, whereasa 0.5% concentration of aqueous bark extract was needed for 100% larval mortality. Aqueous extracts of leaf, fruit pulp, and seed kernel showed less larval mortality compared to the root and/or bark extracts. It is suggested that all parts of the B. aegyptiaca contain larvicidal properties that could bedeveloped and used as natural insecticides for mosquito control