The papers in this volume formed the programme of the 1st International Conference on Computational Models of Argument (COMMA), which was hosted by the Dept. of Computer Science of The University of Liverpool from Sept. 11th–12th, 2006. This conference originated from the ASPIC project1 from which significant support has been received. The...
The basic motivation of this work was the integration of biophysical models within the interval constraints framework for decision support. Comparing the major features of biophysical models with the expressive power of the existing interval constraints framework, it was clear that the most important inadequacy was related with the representation...
This festschrift celebrates the life of a remarkable man.
Rob Milne died while climbing Mount Everest early on 5th June 2005 Nepal Time. He was 48. He is survived by his wife Val and his two children Alex and Rosemary. His untimely death was a tragedy, but Rob packed 96 years of living into his 48 years of life. In any one of his three...
This article proposes an automatic generation method of relation matrix for Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM), which is a popular tool widely used for visualising problem structure, problem structure analysis, and decision making. In ISM, problems are divided into sub problems. Then hierarchy relations are introduced into the set of sub...
In the summer of 1956, John McCarthy organized the famous Dartmouth Conference which is now commonly viewed as the founding event for the field of Artificial Intelligence. During the last 50 years, AI has seen a tremendous development and is now a well-established scientific discipline all over the world. Also in Europe AI is in excellent shape, as...
Since ancient times, ontology, the analysis and categorisation of what exists, has been fundamental to philosophical enquiry. But, until recently, ontology has been seen as an abstract, purely theoretical discipline, far removed from the practical applications of science. However, with the increasing use of sophisticated computerised information...
Information modelling and knowledge bases are becoming very important topics not only in academic communities related to information systems and computer science but also in the business field of information technology.
Currently, the structural complexity of information resources, the variety of abstraction levels of information, and...
The 12th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED-2005) is being held July 18–22, 2005, in Amsterdam, the beautiful Dutch city near the sea. AIED-2005 is the latest in an on-going series of biennial conferences in AIED dating back to the mid-1980’s when the field emerged from a synthesis of artificial...
Over the past years, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology has evolved and moved from the research laboratories to the mainstream, in which many organizations are now leveraging it as part of their core infrastructure system for providing and building security in their businesses. Understanding the challenges and requirements of PKI related...
This thesis is concerned with Data Mining: extracting useful insights from large and detailed collections of data. With the increased possibilities in modern society for companies and institutions to gather data cheaply and efficiently, this subject has become of increasing importance. This interest has inspired a rapidly maturing research field...
Software is the essential enabler for the new economy and science. It creates new markets and new directions for a more reliable, flexible, and robust society. It empowers the exploration of our world in ever more depth. However, software often falls short behind our expectations. Current software methodologies, tools, and techniques remain...
This thesis is an attempt to address the spontaneous, often unpredictable uses of technology that can foster feelings of social participation. A key idea is that social processes and dynamics advance technological design. Consider the most recent applications that are primarily focused on social interaction: social software (Allen, 2004),...
