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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.
Ontologies : A Handbook of Principles, Concepts and Applications in Information Systems
The primary objective of ONTOLOGIES: A Handbook of Principles, Concepts and Applications in Information Systems is to mobilize a collective awareness in the research community to the leading and emerging developments in ODIS, and consequently, highlight the enormous potential of ODIS research to both fundamentally transform and create innovative solutions to several problems in various domains. This book is a compilation of 32 leading-edge chapter contributions from some of the top researchers in the community working in various fundamental and applied disciplines related to ODIS. These chapters are organized into four broad themes: Foundations of ODIS, Ontological Engineering, ODIS Architectures, and ODIS Applications.
Online Storage Systems and Transportation Problems with Applications : Optimization Models and Mathematical Solutions
This books covers the analysis and development of online algorithms involving exact optimization and heuristic techniques, and their application to solve two real life problems. The first problem is concerned with a complex technical system: a special carousel based high-speed storage system - Rotastore. It is shown that this logistic problem leads to an NP-hard Batch PreSorting problem which is not easy to solve optimally in offline situations. The second problem originates in the health sector and leads to a vehicle routing problem. Reasonable solutions for the offline case covering a whole day with a few hundred orders are constructed with a heuristic approach, as well as by simulated annealing. Optimal solutions for typical online instances are computed by an efficient column enumeration approach leading to a set partitioning problem and a set of routing-scheduling subproblems. The latter are solved exactly with a branch-and-bound method which prunes nodes if they are value-dominated by previous found solutions or if they are infeasible with respect to the capacity or temporal constraints.
Online hate speech in the European Union : A discourse-analytic perspective
open access under a CC BY 4.0 license and reports on research carried out as part of the European Union co-funded C.O.N.T.A.C.T. project which targeted hate speech and hate crime across a number of EU member states. It showcases the bearing that discourse analytic research can have on our understanding of this phenomenon that is a growing global cause for concern.
Oncology : An Evidence-Based Approach
Reflect the principles and current practice of oncology with contributors from the fields of medical, surgical, and radiation oncology. The textbook will incorporate an evidence-based approach, enabling the reader to make decisions on the basis of concrete data. Sections on solid tumors, hematologic malignancies and the practice of oncology address the natural history and therapy for the full spectrum of neoplastic diseases in the adult. Further sections present fundamentals of supportive care of the cancer patient, the management of oncologic emergencies and acute toxicities of therapy, as well as care of metastatic disease and the terminally-ill patient. Breaking new ground, the textbook features thoughtful, in-depth sections on cancer prevention and control, cancer surviorship, the economics of cancer care, and cancer informatics. Cancer imaging is covered with an organ system-based approach, with an additional chapter on the especially intriguing potential of PET. Furthermore, a comprehensive section on translational basic science reviews the fundamentals of molecular biology, the cell cycle and signal transduction, carcinogenesis, cancer genetics, the biology of invations and metastasis, and tumor immunology.
Oncologic and Cardiologic PET/CT-Diagnosis : An Interdisciplinary Atlas and Manual
Since 1999/2000 simultaneous imaging of anatomical features and metabolic activities using fused PET and CT images has complemented and in many cases even replaced what was originally done as separate analysis. – Is this a small revolution? – In fact, this new approach can be considered to be without a rival for imaging diagnosis. The complementary efforts of nuclear medicine physicians and radiologists have improved the diagnostic value of PET/CT scans. The successful use of PET/CT in the field of oncology has been documented world-wide, and in cardiology we can take advantage of the significant findings of PET diagnosis, particularly in the USA. New prospects are now available for paediatric oncology and molecular medicine.
On color
Investigates color from numerous perspectives: literary, historical, cultural, anthropological, philosophical, art historical, political, and scientific. In ten lively and wide-ranging chapters, each devoted to a different color, they examine the various ways colors have shaped and continue to shape our social and moral imaginations. Each individual color becomes the focal point for a consideration of one of the extraordinary ways in which color appears and matters in our lives. Beautifully produced in full color, this book is a remarkably smart, entertaining, and fascinating guide to this elusive topic.
On Bypass : Advanced Perfusion Techniques
With the introduction of cardiac surgery more than five decades ago and the use of the heart-lung machine for open heart surgical procedures granting the surgeon unlimited time in which to operate inside the heart, a complex task has been given to the Perfusionist. With a pairing of a perfusionist and a surgeon for each chapter, On Bypass: Advanced Perfusion Techniques is an essential collection of techniques and protocols to aid in the difficult and immediate decision making in the operating room. Among the topics covered in this comprehensive text are pediatric perfusion techniques for complex congenital, separation from cardiopumonary bypass, blood flow during cardiopumonary bypass, and minimally invasive perfusion techniques. Also covered is ultrafiltration in cardiac surgery, echocardiography and cardiopulmonary bypass, and advances in long-term pulmonary support.
omputational science and its applications - ICCSA 2005 ; Vol. 3480 ; International Conference, Singapore, May 9-12, 2005, Proceedings, Part I
The four volume set assembled following The 2005 International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications, ICCSA 2005, held in Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore, from 9 May 2005 till 12 May 2005, represents the ?ne collection of 540 refereed papers selected from nearly 2,700 submissions. Computational Science has ?rmly established itself as a vital part of many scienti?c investigations, a?ecting researchers and practitioners in areas ranging from applications such as aerospace and automotive, to emerging technologies such as bioinformatics and nanotechnologies, to core disciplines such as ma- ematics, physics, and chemistry. Due to the shear size of many challenges in computational science, the use of supercomputing, parallel processing, and - phisticated algorithms is inevitable and becomes a part of fundamental t- oretical research as well as endeavors in emerging ?elds.
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.
olution Sets for Net Zero Energy Buildings : Feedback from 30 Buildings Worldwide
Presents a unique study of 30 NZEBs that have been constructed and have had their performance measured for at least 12 months. The study is based upon an international collaborative research initiated by the International Energy Agency. It is the first book to evaluate building strategies in houses, educational buildings and offices that have been demonstrated to work in practice. It examines how the design challenges of climate and building type have been addressed, and to what extent the various design approaches have been successful. This book presents convincing evidence that a careful re-thinking of conventional design norms can achieve a far greater performance benefit than is normally feasible. It identifies 'solution sets' that work at the whole building level and at the individual building design challenge level for each climate and building type. In doing so, the book provides guidance as to how to improve the design by learning from these cases. Unusually for a book of this type it has examples of buildings in what are conventionally labeled 'hot' and 'cold' climates.
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.
Oil and Security : A World Beyond Petroleum
This book examines the economic impact of changes in the global demand and supply for fossil fuels both on the major producers in Middle Eastern countries around the Persian Gulf, other producers, as well as the world at large. The economic, social and political life of most countries is not only intimately linked to and influenced by the energy market but also affected by historical developments. Among other issues, it shows how the economic, social and political development of societies in Arabia, the peoples of the Arab Peninsula are influenced by their historic and cultural environment, and what the future may bring to this region when their principal economic assets, petroleum and gas, start to lose markets as alternative sources of fossil fuel, alternative, and renewable energy supply the bulk of global energy needs. It also describes how changing fossil fuel costs, access, security of supply, and environmental impacts may affect future economic, social, and political developments as well as technological advances and changes in priorities.
Oculoplastics and Orbit
Considerable progress has been made in various fields of oculoplastic surgery, e.g. the development of endoscopic transcanalicular as well as endonasal minimal invasive techniques in lacrimal surgery, the use of muscle pedunculated scleral flaps to improve implant motility without pegging. This extraordinary volume enhances your understanding of Graves’ ophthalmopathy and helps you to define situations suitable for radiotherapy and more differentiated surgical strategies such as orbital fat resection, balance bony decompression and lid lengthening procedures. It exemplifies progress in aesthetic surgery such as endoscopic brow lift and soft techniques for mid-face rejuvenation and discusses general risks of infectious disease transmission using allografts as well as current concepts in the management of conjunctival neoplasms.
Oculoplastic Surgery Atlas : Cosmetic Facial Surgery
The previous volume in this series covered reconstructive eyelid surgery. This volume presents many aspects of facial cosmetic surgery, including blepharoplasty, endoscopic forehead surgery, rhytidectomy, and other related procedures. Future volumes will pr- ent facets of lacrimal and orbital surgery.
Oceans and Health: Pathogens in the Marine Environment
The importance of combating infectious diseases has received international attention, p- viding the opportunity for a multidisciplinary approach that combines medicine with other scientist candtechnological capabilities,notably information technology,nanotechnology,and biotechnology. In fact, it has been predicted that the future will bring a merging of these te- nologies with the cognitive and behavioral sciences.. The connection between infectious diseases and the oceans provides a paradigm for this perspective. A stark global context indisputably frames all human health issues in the twenty century: the world wide movement of people and goods. Throughout the past half century, international travel has skyrocketed; there are more than 500 million international arrivals per year. The greatest increase has taken place since the mid-1990s. The world has become integrated and global; consequently, the notion that it is possible to successfully eradicate a disease from the face of the planet has become simplistic. Infectious disease is a moving target and climate shifts will affect any disease that has an environmentally sensitive stage or vector.
Ocean-atmosphere interactions of gases and particles
The oceans and atmosphere interact through various processes, including the transfer of momentum, heat, gases and particles. In this book leading international experts come together to provide a state-of-the-art account of these exchanges and their role in the Earth-system, with particular focus on gases and particles. Chapters in the book cover: i) the ocean-atmosphere exchange of short-lived trace gases; ii) mechanisms and models of interfacial exchange (including transfer velocity parameterisations); iii) ocean-atmosphere exchange of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide; iv) ocean atmosphere exchange of particles and v) current and future data collection and synthesis efforts.
Ocean Waves Breaking and Marine Aerosol Fluxes
This book presents a comprehensive study on the breaking of surface waves induced by wind and the relationship of breaking rate with marine aerosol fluxes. The book draws attention to the theoretical and experimental achievements in the study of wave breaking phenomena in deep water seas. In particular, it deals with the important problems of energy dissipation and the estimation of energy loss due to wave breaking in deep waters. The rationale behind existing methods and practical outcomes for the estimation of whitecap coverage of the sea surface and energy dissipation rate are given in detail.The book also focuses on the fundamentals of marine aerosols and their generation. The text provides a comprehensive overview of the currently available experimental data on marine aerosol fluxes and presents theoretical methodology of the estimation of the intensity of sea aerosol production. The systematic analysis leads to a novel approach in the development of links between aerosol production with sea state parameters and its seasonal variation in deep water seas.
Observing the Sun with Coronado™ Telescopes
At around the turn of the millennium, the introduction of the Coronado range of solar telescopes and filters heralded the ‘coming of age’ of amateur solar astronomy. Before then, solar astronomy was mostly white-light only. Hydrogen-alpha systems were expensive and difficult to use, but today even the budget-priced Coronado PST (Personal Solar Telescope) provides a band pass of one Angstrom and is thermally stable. That means that today’s amateur solar observers can see – and image – sunspots, flares, prominences, plage, filaments, and active regions of the Sun, all in amazing detail.
Object-Oriented Technology. ECOOP 2007 Workshop Reader ; ECOOP 2007 Workshops, Berlin, Germany, July 30-31, 2007, Final Reports
Contains the reports from the workshopsheld at the 21st European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming - ECOOP 2007 - at Technische Universit] at Berlin. Nineteen workshops were heldin the courseofthis conference on July 30 and July 31, 2007, covering a large spectrum of hot research topics. As in previous editions of ECOOP, numerous scientists from academia and industry took the chance to present innovative and topical ideas in an environment ofering optimal conditions for exciting discussions and fruitful interactions. The Workshop Reader which contains the reports from the workshops has been a substantial part of the ECOOP conference for more than10 years
