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Ontologies for Agents : Theory and Experiences

On the other hand, ontologies have established themselves as a powerful tool to enable kno- edge sharing, and a growing number of applications have bene?ted from the use of ontologies as a means to achieve semantic interoperability among heterogeneous, distributed systems. In principle ontologies and agents are a match made in heaven, that has failed to happen. What makes a simple piece of software an agent is its ability to communicate in a ”social” environment, to make autonomous decisions, and to be proactive on behalf of its user. Communication ultimately depends on und- standing the goals, preferences, and constraints posed by the user. Autonomy is theabilitytoperformataskwithlittleornouserintervention,whileproactiveness involves acting autonomously with no need for user prompting. Communication, but also autonomy and proactiveness, depend on knowledge. The ability to c- municate depends on understanding the syntax (terms and structure) and the semantics of a language. Ontologies provide the terms used to describe a domain and the semantics associated with them. In addition, ontologies are often comp- mented by some logical rules that constrain the meaning assigned to the terms. These constraints are represented by inference rules that can be used by agents to perform the reasoning on which autonomy and proactiveness are based.

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Online Communities and Social Computing ; 2nd International Conference, OCSC 2007, Held as Part of HCI International 2007, Beijing, China, July 22-27, 2007, Proceedings

The 12th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCI Inter- tional 2007, was held in Beijing, P.R. China, 22-27 July 2007. This volume, edited by Douglas Schuler, contains papers in the thematic area of Online Communities and Social Computing, addressing the following major topics: • Designing and Developing On-line Communities • Knowledge, Collaboration, Learning and Local On-line Communities

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One Hundred Years of Chemical Warfare : Research, Deployment, Consequences

On April 22, 1915, the German military released 150 tons of chlorine gas at Ypres, Belgium. Carried by a long-awaited wind, the chlorine cloud passed within a few minutes through the British and French trenches, leaving behind at least 1,000 dead and 4,000 injured. This chemical attack, which amounted to the first use of a weapon of mass destruction, marks a turning point in world history. The preparation as well as the execution of the gas attack was orchestrated by Fritz Haber, the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in Berlin-Dahlem. During World War I, Haber transformed his research institute into a center for the development of chemical weapons (and of the means of protection against them).

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On the move to meaningful internet systems 2007 : OTM 2007 Workshops ; OTM Confederated International Workshops and Posters, AWeSOMe, CAMS, OTM Academy Doctoral Consortium, MONET, OnToContent, ORM, PerSys, PPN, RDDS, SSWS, and SWWS 2007, Vilamoura, Portugal, November 25-30, 2007,

it is clear that there is an acute and increasing need to address and discuss in an integrated forum the implied software and system issues as well as methodological, semantical, theoretical and application issues. As we all know, e-mail, the Internet, and even video conferences are not sufficient for effective and efficient scientific exchange. This is why the OnTheMove (OTM) Federated Conferences series has been created to cover the increasingly wide yet closely connected range of fundamental technologies such as data and Web Semantics.

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On the move to meaningful internet systems 2006 : CoopIS, DOA, GADA, and ODBASE ; Vol. 4276 ; OTM Confederated International Conferences, CoopIS, DOA, GADA, and ODBASE 2006, Montpellier, France, October 29 - November 3, 2006, Proceedings, Part II

A two-volume set, which constitutes the refereed proceedings of the four confederated conferences CoopIS 2006, DOA 2006, GADA 2006, and ODBASE 2006 held as OTM 2006 in Montpellier, France. It contains 106 revised full and 9 short papers, which were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 361 submissions.

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On the move to meaningful internet systems 2005 : OTM 2005 Workshops ; OTM Confederated International Workshops and Posters, AWeSOMe, CAMS, GADA. MIOS+INTEROP, ORM, PhDS, SeBGIS. SWWS. and WOSE 2005, Agia Napa, Cyprus, October 31 - November 4, 2005, Proceedings

This book constitutes the joint refereed proceedings of nine international workshops held as part of OTM 2005 in Agia Napa, Cyprus in October/November 2005.The 145 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 268 submissions. Topics addressed are agents, Web services and ontologies merging (AWeSOMe 2005), context-aware mobile systems (CAMS 2005), grid computing and its application to data analysis (GADA 2005), inter-organizational systems and interoperability of enterprise software and applications (MIOS+INTEROP 2005), object-role modeling (ORM 2005), a PHD symposium (PhDS 2005), semantic-based geographical information systems (SeBGIS 2005), Web semantics (SWWS 2005), and ontologies, semantics and e-learning (WOSE 2005)

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On the move to meaningful internet systems : OTM 2008 Workshops ; OTM Confederated International Workshops and Posters, ADI, AWeSoMe, COMBEK, EI2N, IWSSA, MONET, OnToContent + QSI, ORM, PerSys, RDDS, SEMELS, and SWWS 2008, Monterrey, Mexico, November 9-14, 2008. Proceedings

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of 13 international workshops held as part of OTM 2008 in Monterrey, Mexico, in November 2008.The 106 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 171 submissions to the workshops. The volume starts with 19 additional revised poster papers of the OTM 2008 main conferences CoopIS and ODBASE. Topics of the workshop papers are ambient data integration (ADI 2008), agents and web services merging in distributed environment (AWeSoMe 2008), community-based evolution of knowledge-intensive systems (COMBEK 2008), enterprise integration, interoperability and networking (EI2N 2008), system/software architectures .

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On the move to meaningful internet systems : OTM 2008 ; OTM 2008 Confederated International Conferences, CoopIS, DOA, GADA, IS, and ODBASE 2008, Monterrey, Mexico, November 9-14, 2008, Proceedings, Part I

This two-volume set LNCS 5331/5332 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the five confederated international conferences on Cooperative Information Systems (CoopIS 2008), Distributed Objects and Applications (DOA 2008), Grid computing, high performAnce and Distributed Applications (GADA 2008), Information Security (IS 2008), and Ontologies, Databases and Applications of Semantics (ODBASE 2008), held as OTM 2008 in Monterrey, Mexico, in November 2008.

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OMDoc : An Open Markup Format for Mathematical Documents [version 1.2]

Computers arechanging the way wethink. Of course,nearly all desk-workers have access to computers and use them to email their colleagues, search the Web for information and prepare documents. But I’m not referring to that. I mean that people have begun to think about what they do in compu- tional terms and to exploit the power of computers to do things that would previously have been unimaginable. This observation is especially true of mathematicians.

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Olfactory knows the truth

Olfaction, the sense of smell detects and discriminate odors as well as social cues which influence our innate responses. The olfactory system in human beings is found to be weak as compared to other animals; however, it seems to be very precise. It can detect and discriminate millions of chemical moieties (odorants) even in minuscule quantities. The sense of smell is greatly underappreciated, despite the fact that it monitors the intake of airborne agents into the human respiratory system and determine to a large degree the flavor and palatability of foods and beverage. In addition to enhancing quality of life, this primary sensory system warns of spoiled foods, leaking natural gas, polluted air and smoke, and mediates basic elements of communication (e.g., mother-infant interaction). It is now apparent that smell dysfunction is among the first clinical signs of such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer’s disease and sporadic Parkinson’s disease.

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Obstetric Anesthesia Handbook

As the field of obstetric anesthesia continues to change rapidly, both in technique and in specific pharmaceutical agents used, it is essential for all practitioners caring for the pregnant patient to be familiar with current anesthetic protocols and general concepts in obstetric anesthesia. The Handbook appeals to a wide audience, as it was written with the practicing anesthesiologists in mind, as well as nurse anesthetists, obstetricians, housestaff, and residents. The Obstetric Anesthesia Handbook supplies expert advice on every facet of anesthesia for childbirth and related obstetric procedures. The text is authoritative, succinct, and highly practical. It is accompanied by over 100 illustrations and tables making the text a convenient reference to the busy practitioner.

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Obesity and Cancer

This book highlights the concordance between signaling pathways that are involved in obesity and cancer cross-talks. It describes the role of cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, insulin, and adipokines in the development of obesity-associated cancers. The book reviews the role of inflammatory signaling pathways such as estrogen-mediated signaling, mTOR and AMP-activated protein kinase pathway and the involvement of adaptive and innate immunity, oxidative stress, gene polymorphism, dietary phytochemicals, and miRNAs in obesity and cancer. In addition, it covers the latest research on the drugs and natural therapeutic agents that target obesity-induced cancers and discusses various in vivo models for studying obesity and obesity-associated cancer. Lastly, it analyses the role of genetic polymorphisms in the obesity-related genes that influence cancer development.

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Nutraceuticals and health care ; 1st ed.

Explores the role of plant-based nutraceuticals as food ingredients and as therapeutic agents for preventing various diseases. The book assesses the role of nutraceuticals in addressing cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity by highlighting the derivatives, extraction, chemistry, mechanism of action, pharmacology, bioavailability, and safety of specific nutraceuticals. It analyzes twenty one nutraceuticals in a systematic way, providing a welcomed reference for nutrition researchers, nutritionists and dieticians, as well as other scientists studying related areas in food science, technology or agriculture. Students studying related topics will also benefit from this material.

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Novel Biotechnologies for Biocontrol Agent Enhancement and Management

This multidisciplinary group, having backgrounds in the diff- ent aspects of biotechnologies (transgenic enhancement, molecular biology, formulation, genetics, risk assessment, new technology, biochemistry, and physiology), presented highly advanced lectures during the 10-day-ASI, in order to allow students to improve their capability to enhance and manage - ological control agents. This approach will allow ASI attendees to bring new ideas, new approaches, or new methodologies coming from different ?elds of application to their own ?eld of expertise.

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Nonlinear Dynamics and Heterogeneous Interacting Agents

Economic application of nonlinear dynamics, microscopic agent-based modelling, and the use of artificial intelligence techniques as learning devices of boundedly rational actors are among the most exciting interdisciplinary ventures of economic theory over the past decade. This volume provides us with a most fascinating series of examples on "complexity in action" exemplifying the scope and explanatory power of these innovative approaches.

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Nonbayesian Decision Theory : Beliefs and Desires as Reasons for Action

This book aims to present an account of rational choice from a non-Bayesian point of view. Rational agents maximize subjective expected utility, but contrary to what is claimed by Bayesians, the author argues that utility and subjective probability should not be defined in terms of preferences over uncertain prospects. To some extent, the author’s non-Bayesian view gives a modern account of what decision theory could have been like, had decision theorists not entered the Bayesian path discovered by Ramsey, Savage, and Jeffrey. The author argues that traditional Bayesian decision theory is unavailing from an action-guiding perspective. For the deliberating Bayesian agent, the output of decision theory is not a set of preferences over alternative acts - these preferences are on the contrary used as input to the theory.

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Nimesulide - Actions and Uses

Nimesulide is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) which acts as a cyclooxygenase- 2 inhibitor but also has other novel pharmacological features which account for its effect in the control of pain and inflammation. It has become a leading NSAID in over 50 countries worldwide. This book provides a comprehensive and fully up-to-date critical review of the published literature on nimesulide, including comparisons with anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic agents. The emphasis is on the action of nimesulide in relation to its therapeutic and side effects in comparison with other established NSAIDs, including the new class of Coxibs.

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Next generation probiotics from novel drugs to future therapeutics

Provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge exploration of probiotics as powerful therapeutic agents. With the rapid advancements in the field, this book offers a deep dive into how probiotics are evolving beyond traditional uses, addressing complex health conditions and diseases in modern medicine. By combining the latest scientific research with practical applications, this book equips researchers, clinicians, and healthcare professionals with the knowledge needed to incorporate probiotics into clinical practice and future therapeutic strategies.

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Next generation information technologies and systems ; 6th International Conference, NGITS 2006, Kebbutz Sehfayim, Israel, July 4-6, 2006, Proceedings

The selected papers may be classified roughly in ten broad areas: ? Information systems development ? Distributed systems ? Semi-structured data ? Data mining and agent-oriented computing ? User-oriented design ? Frameworks, models and taxonomies ? Simulation and incremental computing ? Information integration ? Security and privacy ? Next-generation applications This event is the culmination of efforts by many talented and dedicated individuals.

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New Vision of Metformin in treating cancer

The anti-diabetic drug metformin is rapidly emerging as a potential anticancer agent. Metformin is a biguanide that is effective in treating type 2 diabetes and the insulin resistance syndromes, improves insulin resistance by reducing hepatic gluconeogensis and by enhancing glucose uptake by skeletal muscle. Metformin can reduce the incidence of cancers and can reduce the mortality from cancers, increase the response to treatment cancer cells when using radiotherapy and chemotherapy, reduce the likelihood of relapse. Diabetes can be a factor in the occurrence of various types of cancer, and develop a variety of cancers such as colo-rectal, pancreas and liver cancers, compared to non-diabetic patients. Incidence of various cancers is high among patients of T2DM due to insulin resistance and mitogenic effects caused by hyperglycemia.

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