Case-based Reasoning Methodology Research Articles

Harnessing Vernacular Knowledge for Contemporary Sustainable Design through a Collaborative Digital Platform

Vernacular architecture offers valuable technological and typological solutions rooted in knowledge systems that connect environmental, social, economic, and cultural contexts. This paper introduces the Heritage for People Platform, a collaborative digital tool developed under the VerSus+ project (Creative Europe Program), aimed at organising and disseminating vernacular architectural knowledge with a focus on sustainable practices that are both culturally and environmentally conscious. The platform builds upon lessons learned from similar projects, offering key improvements such as the adoption of a Case-Based Reasoning methodology, which organises examples by geographic location, materials, and intervention types. A structured classification system based on sustainability principles and strategies enables cross-disciplinary research and comparison. The design process was highly participatory, incorporating user feedback at every stage to ensure the platform is accessible to a wide range of users, including designers, scholars, craftspeople, and the general public. A cross-device, user-centered approach further broadens its accessibility. The platform provides a public, web-based geospatial repository where users can create, update, and explore a dynamic collection of artefacts, design models, people, and institutions from across the globe. This tool marks a significant advance in promoting and preserving both physical and intangible heritage, with strong educational and practical applications for sustainable architecture. The paper details the theoretical framework and real-world potential of the platform as a critical resource for promoting sustainability in the built environment.

(Re) active materials for sensitive, adaptive and interactive design. Practices for a (re) generation of sense for well-being and comfort

The article aims to read the transition of material design approaches identifying an evolutive models with major principles and contribution into the health improvement through material innovations. The analysis follows a bottom-up approach, using a case-based reasoning methodology to study well-being concept evolution and identify new material experimentations frontiers within three approaches: Imitative, Augmentative, and Mutational. The contribution of the article reflects and suggests the introduction of new material design approaches to manage the design of advanced materials’ behaviuors in their future development, highlighting their potential impact on user satisfaction and acceptance, collective welfare improvement, performance optimization, and environmental concerns.

Algorithm selection using edge ML and case-based reasoning

In practical data mining, a wide range of classification algorithms is employed for prediction tasks. However, selecting the best algorithm poses a challenging task for machine learning practitioners and experts, primarily due to the inherent variability in the characteristics of classification problems, referred to as datasets, and the unpredictable performance of these algorithms. Dataset characteristics are quantified in terms of meta-features, while classifier performance is evaluated using various performance metrics. The assessment of classifiers through empirical methods across multiple classification datasets, while considering multiple performance metrics, presents a computationally expensive and time-consuming obstacle in the pursuit of selecting the optimal algorithm. Furthermore, the scarcity of sufficient training data, denoted by dimensions representing the number of datasets and the feature space described by meta-feature perspectives, adds further complexity to the process of algorithm selection using classical machine learning methods. This research paper presents an integrated framework called eML-CBR that combines edge edge-ML and case-based reasoning methodologies to accurately address the algorithm selection problem. It adapts a multi-level, multi-view case-based reasoning methodology, considering data from diverse feature dimensions and the algorithms from multiple performance aspects, that distributes computations to both cloud edges and centralized nodes. On the edge, the first-level reasoning employs machine learning methods to recommend a family of classification algorithms, while at the second level, it recommends a list of the top-k algorithms within that family. This list is further refined by an algorithm conflict resolver module. The eML-CBR framework offers a suite of contributions, including integrated algorithm selection, multi-view meta-feature extraction, innovative performance criteria, improved algorithm recommendation, data scarcity mitigation through incremental learning, and an open-source CBR module, reshaping research paradigms. The CBR module, trained on 100 datasets and tested with 52 datasets using 9 decision tree algorithms, achieved an accuracy of 94% for correct classifier recommendations within the top k=3 algorithms, making it highly suitable for practical classification applications.

Automation of Legal Precedents Retrieval: Findings from a Literature Review

Judges frequently rely their reasoning on precedents. Courts must preserve uniformity in decisions while, depending on the legal system, previous cases compel rulings. The search for methods to accurately identify similar previous cases is not new and has been a vital input, for example, to case-based reasoning (CBR) methodologies. This literature review offers a comprehensive analysis of the advancements in automating the identification of legal precedents, primarily focusing on the paradigm shift from manual knowledge engineering to the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML). While multiple approaches harnessing NLP and ML show promise, none has emerged as definitively superior, and further validation through statistically significant samples and expert-provided ground truth is imperative. Additionally, this review employs text-mining techniques to streamline the survey process, providing an accurate and holistic view of the current research landscape. By delineating extant research gaps and suggesting avenues for future exploration, this review serves as both a summation and a call for more targeted, empirical investigations.

Improving Coronary Artery Disease Prediction

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common form of CVDs. Abundant research works propose decision support systems for CAD early detection. Most of proposed solutions have their origins in the realm of machine learning and datamining. This paper presents two solutions for CAD prediction. The first solution optimizes a random forest model (RFM) through hyperparameters tuning. The second solution uses a case-based reasoning (CBR) methodology. The CBR solution takes advantage of feature importance to improve the execution time of the retrieve step in the CBR cycle. The experimentations show that the RFM outperformed most recent published models for CAD diagnosis. By reducing the number of attributes, the CBR solution improves the execution time and also performs very well in terms of diagnosis accuracy. The performance of the CBR solution is intended to be enhanced because CBR is a learning methodology.

Case representation and retrieval for complex product design based on case-based reasoning

Reusing design knowledge of products is a useful way to solve the efficiency issue of complex product design. The design knowledge is tacit, empirical, and unstructured and there exists insufficient case matching and inefficient design reuse in complex products design process. Aiming at these problems, this paper presents an improved case-based reasoning methodology combining ontology with two-stage retrieval. Firstly, a knowledge domain ontology model of complex product design is constructed, and the technology of ontology-based data access is introduced to automatically generate a case knowledge base with semantic information. Then, a new two-stage case retrieval method integrated semantic query with similarity calculation is proposed. The case subset is selected by query statements. It has the characteristic of isomorphism with design problem. The retrieval mechanism is applied to compress the traversal space, reduce the redundancy of semantic similarity calculation, improve the retrieval efficiency, and fulfill the target of case reuse. Finally, a variant design of the chiller unit as an example is executed to illustrate the use of the proposed method, and experiments are organized to evaluate its performance. The result shows that the proposed approach has an average precision of 92% and high stability, outperforming existing methods.

Case-Based Reasoning Application for Parking Guidance Systems

Parking activities are one of the major problems in modern cities' transportation management systems. It is a complex and expensive process, and its price is determined not only by service tariffs, but also by resources invested in finding and traveling to vacancy spaces. Parking problems in larger cities can lead to increased air pollution, noise, driver time losses, stress and congestion. Parking guidance information systems (PGIS) have been successfully used to improve services and reduce harmful effects. Using case-based reasoning methodology in parking management and guidance systems could improve services and reduce required resources. Data collected from the existing drivers’ experience can be used by PGIS to generate solutions in free parking space search.

Case-Based Reasoning for Home Health Care planning considering unexpected events

In recent years, Home Health Care (HHC) has gained popularity in different countries around the world (e.g. France, US, Germany, etc.). The HHC consists in providing medical services to patients at home. During the HHC service, caregivers’ planning may be disrupted by some unexpected events (e.g. urgent request, caregiver absence, traffic congestion, etc.), which makes HHC activities infeasible. This paper addresses the daily HHC routing and scheduling problem by considering unpredicted events. To solve this problem, we propose a Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) methodology. Our purpose is to create the HHC case base which contains the knowledge about the perturbation.

Emergency Management Case-Based Reasoning Systems: A Survey of Recent Developments

ABSTRACT With the frequent occurrence of natural and man-made disasters, emergency management has become an active research field aiming at saving lives and reducing environmental and economic losses. Due to the complexity of crisis situations, emergency managers need to be assisted in making critical and effective decisions. Case-based reasoning (CBR) methodology has been widely adopted to support emergency decision makers in their tasks. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of recent emergency management CBR systems reported in peer-reviewed journals and ICCBR conference proceedings between 2000 and 2020. Recent development trends of emergency management CBR systems are identified in terms of their purposes, application contexts and techniques used for their development. Finally, opportunities to improve emergency management CBR systems are outlined.

Development of Excessive-Smoke-Emitting-Car Fault Diagnostic System (ESECFDS) based on Case-Base Reasoning (CBR) Methodology

This paper proposes a diagnostic system, ESECFDS, to solve the problem of excessive smoke emission from a faulty car, based on Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) Methodology that accepts a user query as a new case, compares it with several stored cases in a Case-Base (CB) based on a similarity score using Jaccard Similarity method and provides feedback result to the user. The CBR cycle R4 Model of Aamodt and Plaza has been modified to R5 Model to improve the time complexity of the proposed algorithm of the system over the popular R4 Model.

Comentando comentários: questões de texto, género e corpus

Based on the process of constituting a corpus on the practices of commentary, the aim of this paper is to discuss and exemplify some aspects related to the collection and organization of that corpus. In this way, it will be evident that a linear methodology - definition of a corpus, research method, elaboration of the database, cataloguing of the material collected, creation of a search engine - necessary for the study of the comment is a complex task that motivates reflection both on the constitution of a corpus and on the characteristics of genre and text, supported by a heuristic and case-based reasoning methodology.

App-Delivered Self-Management Intervention Trial selfBACK for People With Low Back Pain: Protocol for Implementation and Process Evaluation.

BackgroundImplementation and process evaluation is vital for understanding how interventions function in different settings, including if and why interventions have different effects or do not work at all.ObjectiveThis paper presents the protocol for an implementation and process evaluation embedded in a multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted in Denmark and Norway (the selfBACK project). selfBACK is a data-driven decision support system that provides participants with weekly self-management plans for low back pain. These plans are delivered through a smartphone app and tailored to individual participants by using case-based reasoning methodology. In the trial, we compare selfBACK in addition to usual care with usual care alone.MethodsThe aim of this study is to conduct a convergent mixed-methods implementation and process evaluation of the selfBACK app by following the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance framework. We will evaluate the process of implementing selfBACK and investigate how participants use the intervention in daily life. The evaluation will also cover the reach of the intervention, health care provider willingness to adopt it, and participant satisfaction with the intervention. We will gather quantitative measures by questionnaires and measures of data analytics on app use and perform a qualitative exploration of the implementation using semistructured interviews theoretically informed by normalization process theory. Data collection will be conducted between March 2019 and October 2020.ResultsThe trial opened for recruitment in February 2019. This mixed-methods implementation and evaluation study is embedded in the randomized controlled trial and will be collecting data from March 2019 to October 2020; dissemination of trial results is planned thereafter. The results from the process evaluation are expected 2021-2022.ConclusionsThis study will provide a detailed understanding of how self-management of low back pain can be improved and how a digital health intervention can be used as an add-on to usual care to support patients to self-manage their low back pain. We will provide knowledge that can be used to explore the possibilities of extending the generic components of the selfBACK system and key drivers that could be of use in other conditions and diseases where self-management is an essential prevention or treatment strategy.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03798288; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03798288International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/20308

Usability and Acceptability of an App (SELFBACK) to Support Self-Management of Low Back Pain: Mixed Methods Study.

BackgroundSelf-management is the key recommendation for managing nonspecific low back pain (LBP). However, there are well-documented barriers to self-management; therefore, methods of facilitating adherence are required. Smartphone apps are increasingly being used to support self-management of long-term conditions such as LBP.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the usability and acceptability of the SELFBACK smartphone app, designed to support and facilitate self-management of non-specific LBP. The app provides weekly self-management plans, comprising physical activity, strength and flexibility exercises, and patient education. The plans are tailored to the patient’s characteristics and symptom progress by using case-based reasoning methodology.MethodsThe study was carried out in 2 stages using a mixed-methods approach. All participants undertook surveys, and semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with a subgroup of participants. Stage 1 assessed an app version with only the physical activity component and a web questionnaire that collects information necessary for tailoring the self-management plans. The physical activity component included monitoring of steps recorded by a wristband, goal setting, and a scheme for sending personalized, timely, and motivational notifications to the user’s smartphone. Findings from Stage 1 were used to refine the app and inform further development. Stage 2 investigated an app version that incorporated 3 self-management components (physical activity, exercises, and education). A total of 16 participants (age range 23-71 years) with ongoing or chronic nonspecific LBP were included in Stage 1, and 11 participants (age range 32-56 years) were included in Stage 2.ResultsIn Stage 1, 15 of 16 participants reported that the baseline questionnaire was easy to answer, and 84% (13/16) found the completion time to be acceptable. Overall, participants were positive about the usability of the physical activity component but only 31% (5/16) found the app functions to be well integrated. Of the participants, 90% (14/16) were satisfied with the notifications, and they were perceived as being personalized (12/16, 80%). In Stage 2, all participants reported that the web questionnaire was easy to answer and the completion time acceptable. The physical activity and exercise components were rated useful by 80% (8/10), while 60% (6/10) rated the educational component useful. Overall, participants were satisfied with the usability of the app; however, only 50% (5/10) found the functions to be well integrated, and 20% (2/10) found them to be inconsistent. Overall, 80% (8/10) of participants reported it to be useful for self-management. The interviews largely reinforced the survey findings in both stages.ConclusionsThis study has demonstrated that participants considered the SELFBACK app to be acceptable and usable and that they thought it would be useful for supporting self-management of LBP. However, we identified some limitations and suggestions useful to guide further development of the SELFBACK app and other mobile health interventions.

Case-based reasoning for complexity management in Industry 4.0

PurposeIncreasingly, dynamic market environments lead to growing complexity in manufacturing and pose a severe threat for the competitiveness of manufacturing companies. Systematic guidance to manage this complexity, especially in the context of Industry 4.0 and the therewith rising trends such as digitalization and data-driven production optimization, is lacking. To address this deficit a case-based reasoning (CBR) system for providing knowledge about managing complexity in Industry 4.0 is presented.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the explicit knowledge representation for managing complexity in IT-based manufacturing is introduced. Second, the CBR process step to retrieve knowledge from an artificially composed case base with in total 70 cases of data-based complexity management in the context of Industry 4.0 is set out. Third, knowledge transfer alongside several maturity levels of information technology capabilities of manufacturing systems for reuse in new problem scenarios is introduced.FindingsThe paper comprises the conceptual approach for designing a CBR system to support data-based complexity management in manufacturing systems. Furthermore, the appropriateness of the CBR system to provide applicable knowledge for reducing and managing complexity in corporate practice is shown.Research limitations/implicationsThe presented research results are evaluated in the course of an embedded single case study and may therefore lack generalizability. Future research to test and enhance the appropriateness of the developed CBR system will strengthen the research contribution.Originality/valueThe paper provides a novel approach to systematically support knowledge transfer for data-based complexity management by transferring the well-known and established methodology of CBR to the rising application domain of manufacturing systems in the context of Industry 4.0.

A digital decision support system (selfBACK) for improved self-management of low back pain: a pilot study with 6-week follow-up

BackgroundVery few of the publicly available apps directed towards self-management of low back pain (LBP) have been rigorously tested and their theoretical underpinnings seldom described. The selfBACK app was developed in collaboration with end-users and clinicians and its content is supported by best evidence on self-management of LBP. The objectives of this pilot study were to investigate the basis for recruitment and screening procedures for the subsequent randomized controlled trial (RCT), to test the inclusion process in relation to questionnaires and app installation, and finally to investigate the change in primary outcome over time.MethodsThis single-armed pilot study enrolled 51 participants who had sought help for LBP of any duration from primary care (physiotherapy, chiropractic, or general practice) within the past 8 weeks. Participants were screened for eligibility using the PROMIS-Physical-Function-4a questionnaire. Participants were asked to use the selfBACK app for 6 weeks. The app provided weekly tailored self-management plans targeting physical activity, strength and flexibility exercises, and education. The construction of the self-management plans was achieved using case-based reasoning (CBR) methodology to capture and reuse information from previous successful cases. Participants completed the primary outcome pain-related disability (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire [RMDQ]) at baseline and 6-week follow-up along with a range of secondary outcomes. Metrics of app use were collected throughout the intervention period.ResultsFollow-up data at 6 weeks was obtained for 43 participants. The recruitment procedures were feasible, and the number needed to screen was acceptable (i.e., 1.6:1). The screening questionnaire was altered during the pilot study. The inclusion process, answering questionnaires and app installation, were feasible. The primary outcome (RMDQ) improved from 8.6 (SD 5.1) at baseline to 5.9 (SD 4.0) at 6-week follow-up (change score 1.8, 95% CI 0.7 to 2.9). Participants spent on average 134 min (range 0–889 min) using the app during the 6-week period.ConclusionThe recruitment, screening, and inclusion procedures were feasible for the subsequent RCT with a small adjustment. The improvement on the RMDQ from baseline to follow-up was small. Time pattern of app usage varied considerably between the participants.Trial registrationNCT03697759. Registered on August 10, 2018. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03697759

Analyzing Cyber-Attack Intention for Digital Forensics Using Case-Based Reasoning

Cyber-attacks are increasing and varying dramatically day by day. It has become challenging to control cyber-attacks and to identify the perpetrators and their intentions. In general, the analysis of the intentions of cyber-attacks is one of the main challenges in digital forensics. In many cases of cyber-attacks, the analysis of the intent of the attacks determines the strategy and tools used in the attack, thus facilitating the process of identifying the perpetrator of the attack with greater accuracy. In this paper a model will be proposed to analyze the intentions of cyber-attacks. In this proposal, a set of steps will be conceived by linking them with a case-based reasoning methodology. This model will be examined by analyzing the intent of attacks for some cases and comparing the results with other methods of analyzing the intent of attacks. Hopefully the results will determine the intent of cyber-attacks more accurately.

An App-Delivered Self-Management Program for People With Low Back Pain: Protocol for the selfBACK Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundLow back pain (LBP) is prevalent across all social classes, in all age groups, and across industrialized and developing countries. From a global perspective, LBP is considered the leading cause of disability and negatively impacts everyday life and well-being. Self-management is a recommended first-line treatment, and mobile apps are a promising platform to support self-management of conditions like LBP. In the selfBACK project, we have developed a digital decision support system made available for the user via an app intended to support tailored self-management of nonspecific LBP.ObjectiveThe trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of using the selfBACK app to support self-management in addition to usual care (intervention group) versus usual care only (control group) in people with nonspecific LBP.MethodsThis is a single-blinded, randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two parallel arms. The selfBACK app provides tailored self-management plans consisting of advice on physical activity, physical exercises, and educational content. Tailoring of plans is achieved by using case-based reasoning (CBR) methodology, which is a branch of artificial intelligence. The core of the CBR methodology is to use data about the current case (participant) along with knowledge about previous and similar cases to tailor the self-management plan to the current case. This enables a person-centered intervention based on what has and has not been successful in previous cases. Participants in the RCT are people with LBP who consulted a health care professional in primary care within the preceding 8 weeks. Participants are randomized to using the selfBACK app in addition to usual care versus usual care only. We aim to include a total of 350 participants (175 participants in each arm). Outcomes are collected at baseline, 6 weeks, and 3, 6, and 9 months. The primary end point is difference in pain-related disability between the intervention group and the control group assessed by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire at 3 months.ResultsThe trial opened for recruitment in February 2019. Data collection is expected to be complete by fall 2020, and the results for the primary outcome are expected to be published in fall 2020.ConclusionsThis RCT will provide insights regarding the benefits of supporting tailored self-management of LBP through an app available at times convenient for the user. If successful, the intervention has the potential to become a model for the provision of tailored self-management support to people with nonspecific LBP and inform future interventions for other painful musculoskeletal conditions.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrial.gov NCT03798288; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03798288International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/14720

A Novel CBR-Decision Tree Based Intelligent Car Fault Diagnosis System (CFDS)

Fault diagnostic systems find numerous applications in almost all service domains. Now a days, interest lies on intelligent fault diagnosis. For this, a huge database of cases called Case Base (CB) comprising of fault descriptions and their solutions needs to be maintained. Case Based Reasoning (CBR) is a popular Artificial Intelligence technique that supports huge databases that find popular applications in fault diagnosis systems. CBR is a very useful process for solving problems, detecting and diagnosing faults, learning, reasoning and supporting decisions. As the size of CB increases, the accuracy of the system too increases leading to an increase in computational time complexity. So CBR techniques are coupled with machine learning approaches to reduce the same. This paper proposes a CBR methodology based Intelligent Car Fault Diagnosis System (CFDS) that integrates decision tree as a machine learning technique and jaccard similarity method to diagnose faults of cars accurately in a minimum time. A car fault diagnosis and detection system requires individual expertise gathered from personal experience and technical skills. Many times, not only the fault, but also the car part from where the fault originates or the cause of the fault needs to be known to handle or repair the problem. So, to help car mechanics as an assistant tool, CFDS is proposed; so that they can deal with various types of car faults very easily. Here, the proposed methodology integrates decision trees and jaccard similarity method to diagnose faults where the usage of decision trees is to store cases and jaccard similarity method is used to calculate the similarity percentages between user new query case and stored cases in the CB. User can post a new query about his car problem to the user interface of the CFDS. The CFDS uses the proposed methodology to find the solutions of that problem, and finally then at last these solutions are displayed to the user. To obtain better performance of the CFD system, this paper introduces a novel model of CBR cycle called CR4 model that is slightly modified version of traditional CBR cycle of R4 model, proposed by Aamodt and Plaza in 1994.

Case-based reasoning for selection of the best practices in low-carbon city development

Cities emit extensive carbon emissions, which are considered a major contributor to the severe issue of climate change. Various low-carbon development programs have been initiated at the city level worldwide to address this problem. These practices are invaluable in promoting the development of low-carbon cities. Therefore, an effective approach should be developed to help decision makers select the best practices from previous experience on the basis of the impact features of carbon emission and city context features. This study introduces a case-based reasoning methodology for a specific city to select the best practices as references for low-carbon city development. The proposed methodology consists of three main components, namely, case representation, case retrieval, and case adaption and retention. For city representation, this study selects city context features and the impact features of carbon emission to characterize and represent a city. The proposed methodology is demonstrated by applying it to the selection of the best practices for low-carbon development of Chengdu City in Sichuan Province, China.

Preliminary Service Life Estimation Model for MEP Components Using Case-Based Reasoning and Genetic Algorithm

In recent decades, building maintenance has been recognized as an important issue as the number of deteriorating buildings increases around the world. In densely populated cities, building maintenance is essential for ensuring sustainable living and safety for residents. Improper maintenance can not only cause enormous maintenance costs, but also negatively affect residents and their environment. As a first step, the service life of building components needs to be estimated in advance. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) components especially produce many maintenance-related problems compared to other components. In this research, a model was developed that applies the genetic algorithm (GA) and case-based reasoning (CBR) methodologies to estimating the service life of MEP components. The applicability of the model was tested by comparing the outputs of 20 randomly selected test cases with those of retrieved similar cases. The experimental results demonstrated that the overall similarity scores of the retrieved cases were over 90%, and the mean absolute error rate (MAER) of 10-NN was approximately 7.48%. This research contributes to the literature for maintenance management by not only presenting an approach to estimating the service life of building components, but also by helping convert the existing maintenance paradigm from reactive to proactive measures.