Flexible Ontology Research Articles

Experimental and Didactical Strategy to Improve Understanding of the Fundamental Concepts in Quantum Physics.

Quantum physics is an essential theory serving to explore nature at its smallest scales. Interaction between elemental particles in matter is leading toward new potential alternatives for producing decarbonized clean energies. Despite its importance, students find difficulties in understanding quantum mechanics due to a wrong categorization of the fundamental concepts. Studying quantum physics needs a new flexible ontology in which the quantum entity can have particle or wave properties depending on the context. We developed a workshop in quantum devices to put concepts into the correct conceptual categorization. With the aim of strengthening interinstitutional exchange, we realized the workshop with a population conformed by environmental engineering students of the Corporación Universitaria Uniagraria. Meeting took place in the Institución Universitaria Politécnico Grancolombiano facilities. Laser, LED (Light Emitting Diode), and photocell were the devices used to introduce the most fundamental concepts of quantum physics. The theoretical component of the workshop was divided into two main elements, the first, radiation-matter interaction, and the second, electrical transport mechanisms in materials. Pedagogical instruments employed were diagnostic proof, evaluative proof, and satisfaction inquiry. Despite the success achieved in the general realization of the workshop, students suggested some aspects for considering in future versions.

Problems with quantitative categorization: An argument for qualitative approaches

As data science gains traction, it often brings quantitative approaches and positivist epistemologies. While these can generate powerful insights, we argue for methodological hybridity in modern data science. We demonstrate the power of complementary qualitative approaches and flexible ontologies. Using an example of classifying segments™ on Strava, neither quantitative nor qualitative approaches alone were adequate to meaningfully classify segments, but together allowed accurate, useful, and intuitive categories to emerge. Drawing on this experience, we discuss qualitative data science and argue the ontological discussions within Critical GIS from the 1990s and 2000s are increasingly relevant and informative amidst our platial paradigms.

Multiple ontologies in learning quantum mechanics

In this study, consistent with the interpretivist paradigm, focus group discussions (FGDs) were used together data about tertiary physics students’ multiple ontologies / realities on wave – particle duality. Findings of the study show the need to afford tertiary physics students opportunities to critically think so that they develop ontologies which may contribute to debates aiming to solve pertinent wave – particle issues. Therefore physics educators should expose tertiary physics students to teaching and learning contexts which develop flexible ontologies about wave – particle duality. Such exposure encourages tertiary physics students to engage in exploring alternatives which may be scientifically significant.

PROGRAMMATIC SYSTEM FOR INTERACTIVE REPRESENTATION OF SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION RESULTS

Our time is characterized by rapidly increased information quantity. The volumes of accumulated data become so large that the manual handling of this data by experts of certain subject areas becomes almost impossible. In such circumstances, it is extremely important to develop effective tools that could provide users the information, presented in the form of large arrays of spatially and thematically distributed information resources (documents). An example of an array of spatially and thematic distributed documents is the set of information that characterizes scientific achievements of the institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Such information may be useful for a wide range of users, but can bring especially great benefits to young researchers — students, engaged in scientific and educational activities. The article proposes the approach to build the information and analytical system designed to provide the access to an array of information about the achievements of scientific institutions for young researchers. The system is characterized by flexible ontology driven architecture, which allows dynamical modifying of its composition and structure for the need of a particular user or project. The article describes the architecture of the ontology driven lexicographic system, based on which the system of interactive representation of achievements is constructed. In addition, the structure and interrelations of the software components that are part of the system are described. The software system is being developed within the framework of research “Interactive Base of Knowledge of Scientific Achievements of the Institutions of National Academy of Science of Ukraine” by the researchers of National Centre “Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”.

Automatic textual description of interactions between two objects in surveillance videos

The purpose of our work is to automatically generate textual video description schemas from surveillance video scenes compatible with police incidents reports. Our proposed approach is based on a generic and flexible context-free ontology. The general schema is of the form [actuator] [action] [over/with] [actuated object] [+ descriptors: distance, speed, etc.]. We focus on scenes containing exactly two objects. Through elaborated steps, we generate a formatted textual description. We try to identify the existence of an interaction between the two objects, including remote interaction which does not involve physical contact and we point out when aggressivity took place in these cases. We use supervised deep learning to classify scenes into interaction or no-interaction classes and then into subclasses. The chosen descriptors used to represent subclasses are keys in surveillance systems that help generate live alerts and facilitate offline investigation.

With Few Eyes, All Hoaxes are Deep

Quality control is critical to open production communities like Wikipedia. Wikipedia editors enact border quality control with edits (counter-vandalism) and new article creations (new page patrolling) shortly after they are saved. In this paper, we describe a long-standing set of inefficiencies that have plagued new page patrolling by drawing a contrast to the more efficient, distributed processes for counter-vandalism. Further, to address this issue, we demonstrate an effective automated topic model based on a labeling strategy that leverages a folksonomy developed by subject specific working groups in Wikipedia (WikiProject tags) and a flexible ontology (WikiProjects Directory) to arrive at a hierarchical and uniform label set. We are able to attain very high fitness measures (macro ROC-AUC: 95.2%, macro PR-AUC: 74.5%) and real-time performance using word2vec-based features. Finally, we present a proposal for how incorporating this model into current tools will shift the dynamics of new article review positively.

A flexible ontology for inference of emergent whole cell function from relationships between subcellular processes

Whole cell responses arise from coordinated interactions between diverse human gene products functioning within various pathways underlying sub-cellular processes (SCP). Lower level SCPs interact to form higher level SCPs, often in a context specific manner to give rise to whole cell function. We sought to determine if capturing such relationships enables us to describe the emergence of whole cell functions from interacting SCPs. We developed the Molecular Biology of the Cell Ontology based on standard cell biology and biochemistry textbooks and review articles. Currently, our ontology contains 5,384 genes, 753 SCPs and 19,180 expertly curated gene-SCP associations. Our algorithm to populate the SCPs with genes enables extension of the ontology on demand and the adaption of the ontology to the continuously growing cell biological knowledge. Since whole cell responses most often arise from the coordinated activity of multiple SCPs, we developed a dynamic enrichment algorithm that flexibly predicts SCP-SCP relationships beyond the current taxonomy. This algorithm enables us to identify interactions between SCPs as a basis for higher order function in a context dependent manner, allowing us to provide a detailed description of how SCPs together can give rise to whole cell functions. We conclude that this ontology can, from omics data sets, enable the development of detailed SCP networks for predictive modeling of emergent whole cell functions.

In Defense of Chi's Ontological Incompatibility Hypothesis

This article responds to an article by A. Gupta, D. Hammer, and E. F. Redish (2010) that asserts that M. T. H. Chi's (1992, 2005) hypothesis of an “ontological commitment” in conceptual development is fundamentally flawed. In this article, I argue that Chi's theoretical perspective is still very much intact and that the critique offered by Gupta et al. is itself based on a flawed interpretation of Chi's theory. The purpose of this article is to address that misconception of Chi's work and to clarify her overall theoretical perspective. I begin by reviewing Chi's theory of ontological commitments, making an important comment about her position on the nature of expert conceptualizations. I review the methodological approaches used by J. D. Slotta and M. T. H. Chi (2006) to measure ontological commitments and comment on the instructional implications of Chi's theory. I then address the misconception held by Gupta et al. about Chi's work and call for more empirical research to tease apart the differences between Chi's view of “parallel ontologies” and Gupta et al.'s view of “flexible ontologies.”

World Wide Food Webs: Power to Feed Ecologists

World Wide Food Webs: Power to Feed Ecologists

A framework for supporting bottom-up ontology evolution for discovery and description of Grid services

The problem of service sharing in a Grid environment arises from the heterogeneity of ontologies. The discovery and description of Grid services based on the heterogeneous ontologies might give rise to misunderstanding of the contents. In order to reduce and ultimately to remove the misunderstanding, a domain-specific ontology should be shared among concerned parties, and the abilities of Grid services should be discovered and described based on that shared ontology. However, since the ontology evolves as time goes by, the shared ontology for the Grid services should have a flexible infrastructure that has an ability to reflect the changes in ontologies. This paper proposes a flexible ontology management approach for discovery and description of Grid service capabilities supporting ontology evolution whose goal is to enhance the interoperability among Grid services. In this approach, concepts and descriptions in an ontology are defined independently, and they are connected by relationships. In addition, the relationships are updated based on real-time evaluations of ontology users in order to flexibly support ontology evolution. A bottom-up ontology evolution means such environment that allows ontology users to evaluate impact factors of concepts in an ontology and that results of the evaluation are reflected to the modification of the ontology. The contribution of this paper is to suggest the ontology management framework that not only enables semantic discovery and description of a Grid service capability but also supports a bottom-up ontology evolution based on the users’ evaluations.

From “wiggly structures” to “unshaky towers”: problem framing, solution finding, and negotiation of courses of actions during a civil engineering unit for elementary students

The present study was designed to investigate problem- and solution-related activity of elementary students in ill-defined and open-ended settings. One Grade 4/5 class of 28 students engaged in the activities of the “Engineering for Children: Structures” curriculum, designed as a vehicle for introducing science concepts, providing ill-defined problem solving contexts, and fostering positive attitudes towards science and technology. Data included video recordings, ethnographic field notes, student produced artefacts (projects and engineering logbooks), and interviews with teachers and observers. These data supported the notion of problems, solutions, and courses of actions as entities with flexible ontologies. In the course of their negotiations, students demonstrated an uncanny competence to frame and reframe problems and solutions and to decide courses of actions of different complexities in spite of the ambiguous nature of (arte)facts, plans, and language. A case study approach was chosen as the literary device to report these general findings. The discussion focuses on the inevitably ambiguous nature of (arte)facts, plans, and language and the associated notion of “interpretive flexibility.” Suggestions are provided for teachers on how to deal with interpretive flexibility without seeking recourse to the didactic approaches of direct teaching. But what happens when problems and solutions are negotiable, when there are no longer isolated problems which one tries to solve but problems which maintain complex linkages with ensembles of other problems and diverse constraints, or when problems and solutions are simultaneously invented? (Lestel, 1989, p. 692, my translation)

Fiction and the causal theory of names

The paper discusses the causal theory of names and its impact on the theory of fiction. It is claimed that the causal theory of names has a structural and a historical component. Names of fictional beings are structurally alike to usual proper names. As for the historical aspect, it is claimed that the historical or causal chain condition for name adequacy is too strong when mythodology and fiction are taken into consideration. A flexible ontology including various kinds of beings is necessary to adequately account for mythological and fictional beings.