The semantic web as a newspaper media convergence facilitator

Newspapers are evolving and this causes great changes in how newspapers reach their consumers, but also in how newspapers work internally. Advanced computerised support is needed in order to cope with the new needs, which require that machines are aware of a greater part of the underlying semantics. Ontologies and Semantic Web technologies are clear candidates for web-wide semantics. However, newspapers have made great investments in their current news management systems and their wish is to undertake a smooth transition. Our proposal is to build an ontological framework based on existing journalism and multimedia standards. These standards are based on XML technologies. Therefore, we have developed a generic XML Schema to OWL mapping, complemented with an XML to RDF one. Together, they allow reusing existing metadata that, once in a semantic space, facilitates data integration, news management and retrieval. The resulting ontological framework is being applied in the Diari Segre Media Group¹, which produces press, radio and television content.     

Dynamic context generation for natural language understanding: a multifaceted knowledge approach

We describe a comprehensive framework for text understanding, based on the representation of context. It is designed to serve as a representation of semantics for the full range of interpretive and inferential needs of general natural language processing. Its most distinctive feature is its uniform representation of the various simple and independent linguistic sources that play a role in determining meaning: lexical associations, syntactic restrictions, case-role expectations, and most importantly, contextual effects. Compositional syntactic structure from a shallow parsing is represented in a neural net-based associative memory, where it then interacts through a Bayesian network with semantic associations and the context or "gist" of the passage carried forward from preceding sentences. Experiments with more than 2000 sentences in different languages are included.     

Parallel natural language processing on a semantic network array processor

This paper presents a parallel natural language processing system implemented on a marker-passing parallel AI computer, the Semantic Network Array Processor (SNAP). Our system uses a memory-based parsing approach in which parsing is viewed as a memory search process. Linguistic information is stored as phrasal patterns in a semantic network knowledge base distributed over the memory of the parallel computer. Parsing is performed by recognizing and linking phrasal patterns that reflect a sentence interpretation. This is achieved by propagating markers over the distributed network. We have developed a system capable of processing newswire articles from a particular domain. The paper presents the structure of the system, the memory-based parsing method used, and the performance results obtained.<>     

Format-independent and metadata-driven media resource adaptation using semantic web technologies

Adaptation of media resources is an emerging field due to the growing amount of multimedia content on the one hand and an increasing diversity in usage environments on the other hand. Furthermore, to deal with a plethora of coding and metadata formats, format-independent adaptation systems are important. In this paper, we present a new format-independent adaptation system. The proposed adaptation system relies on a model that takes into account the structural metadata, semantic metadata, and scalability information of media bitstreams. The model is implemented using the web ontology language. Existing coding formats are mapped to the structural part of the model, while existing metadata standards can be linked to the semantic part of the model. Our new adaptation technique, which is called RDF-driven content adaptation, is based on executing SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language queries over instances of the model for media bitstreams. Using different criteria, RDF-driven content adaptation is compared to other adaptation techniques. Next to real-time execution times, RDF-driven content adaptation provides a high abstraction level for the definition of adaptations and allows a seamless integration with existing semantic metadata standards.     

自然语言语义相关度计算模型的k枝剪求解法

为了能够更为合理地利用语义来进行自然语言处理,提出了一种自然语言语义相关度计算模型及该模型的k枝剪求解法.在该模型中使用语句的语义相关度来判定最佳语法分析方案;分析了语句的两层语义结构并给出了其数学描述方法;在模型求解过程中,会形成一个状态空间树,使用k枝剪法舍弃可能性较小的状态,可以有效地降低计算复杂度并较为准确地计算出模型的近似解.实验结果表明,该方法具有一定的可行性.     

Lexicalization in natural language generation: A survey

In natural language generation, a meaning representation of some kind is successively transformed into a sentence or a text. Naturally, a central subtask of this problem is the choice of words, orlexicalization. In this paper, we propose four major issues that determine how a generator tackles lexicalization, and survey the contributions that researchers have made to them. Open problems are identified, and a possible direction for future research is sketched.     

Stochastic web-based natural language dialog planning for web information filtering

This work addresses natural language dialog planning for an intelligent web filtering model, which lets the user filter search results obtained by a traditional search engine and assists them to find what they really are looking for. Unlike state-of-the-art approaches, a stochastic planning model is proposed for a web-driven dialog system which uses Conditional Random Fields to predict next dialog moves. Experiments with real web users and different interaction settings show the promise of the approach to web-based adaptive planning aimed at information filtering.     

Constructing composite web services from natural language requests

As a demand on composite Web services increases, there is a growing interest in a convenient access to them. This paper proposes a natural language interface to Web services, which can be used even by a novice user who does not know Web service technologies. Given a user's natural language request to a composite service, the proposed method generates an abstract workflow, which describes the constituent tasks and their transitions in a composite service. Specifically, the proposed method constructs a sophisticated abstract workflow from complex sentences with phrases and control constructs. Experimental results with a variety of natural language requests show that the proposed method successfully extracts abstract workflows, resulting in an accuracy of 95.2%.     

Limited context semantic translation from a single knowledge-base for a natural language and structuring metarules

The article introduces an experimental system which produces multilingual semantic translations from relatively short texts from a given context. The system was conceived as an investigation instrument whose characteristics are the following: —the elaboration of a single analyzer and generator able to receive, in the form of data, specific information concerning national language, within the limits of a given area of application; —the use of exclusively semantic internal representation, whose formation is derived from “frames” (an object is defined as a list of “attribute-value” couples, permitting recursion); —a single knowledge-base is used for each natural language as initial data (the grammar transmitted was of a semantic-syntacticatn type); —the structure of grammar used in computer language processing being rarely as well adapted to analysis as to generation, the system itself is provided with the possibility of transforming and reorganizing the information for more efficient use at one stage of processing (thus, theatns are used directly in analysis, whereas for the purposes of generation they are “explored” and their information reorganized); —to produce a text, the use of general structuring principles (independent of language) are experimented with. These principles are given in the form of metarules. The application of these metarules to the restructured grammar of a natural language produces specific structuration rules, peculiar to this language. Although the system was conceived for any conceptual area or language, the present knowledge-base of the system (the experimental support) is based on a collection of elementary exercises in three-dimensional geometry written in Rumanian and in French. She does research in the CNRS group C.F. Picard headed by Professor Pitrat, University of Paris 6.     

AMPN: a semantic resource for Arabic morphological patterns

In this paper, we present a pilot Arabic morphological Pattern Net study based on a lexical semantic resource. During this study, a limited number of Arabic Morphological Patterns have been selected in order to analyze the structure and the behavior of the verbs in the Arabic PropBank, which is a semantically annotated corpus of newswire text from the Annahar Journal. Our goal is twofold: (a) to study whether there is a direct relationship between morphological patterns and verbal semantic roles; and, (b) to verify that this direct relationship is a pervasive component of Arabic verb morphology. The approach to building our morphological Patterns database is based on linguistic generalization of the semantic roles of the verbal predicates. The results obtained show promising outcome for a future, more comprehensive study.     

Reversible logic grammars for natural language parsing and generation

The use of a single grammar in natural language parsing and generation is most desirable for a variety of reasons, including efficiency, perspicuity, integrity, robustness, and a certain amount of elegance. These characteristics have been noted before by several researchers, but it was only recently that more serious attention started to be paid to the problem of creating a bidirectional system for natural language processing. In this paper we discuss a somewhat more radical version of the problem: given a parser for a language, can we reverse it so that it becomes an efficient generator for the same language? Furthermore, since both the parser and the generator are based upon the same grammar, are there any normalization conditions upon the form of the grammar that must be met in order to assure the maximum efficiency of the reversed program? Can other grammars be transformed into the normal form? We describe the results of an experiment with PROLOG-based logic grammar which has been derived from a substantial-coverage string grammar for English. We present an alogorithm for automated inversion of a unification parser into an efficient unification generator, using the collections of minimal sets of essential arguments for predicates. We discuss the scope of the present version of the algorithm and then point out several possible avenues for extension. We also outline a preliminary solution to the question of grammar's “normal form” and suggest a handful of normalizing transformations that can be used to enhance the efficiency of the generator. This research interacts closely with a Japanese-English machine translation project at New York University, for which the first implementation of the inversion algorithm has been prepared.     

The semantic web: yet another hip?

Currently, computers are changing from single, isolated devices into entry points to a worldwide network of information exchange and business transactions called the World Wide Web (WWW). For this reason, support in data, information, and knowledge exchange has become a key issue in current computer technology. The success of the WWW has made it increasingly difficult to find, access, present, and maintain the information required by a wide variety of users. In response to this problem, many new research initiatives and commercial enterprises have been set up to enrich available information with machine processable semantics. This semantic web will provide intelligent access to heterogeneous, distributed information, enabling software products (agents) to mediate between user needs and the information sources available. This paper summarizes ongoing research in the area of the semantic web, focusing especially on ontology technology.     

PGSW-OS: a novel approach for resource management in a semantic web operating system based on a P2P grid architecture

A web operating system is an operating system that users can access from any hardware at any location. A peer-to-peer (P2P) grid uses P2P communication for resource management and communication between nodes in a grid and manages resources locally in each cluster, and this provides a proper architecture for a web operating system. Use of semantic technology in web operating systems is an emerging field that improves the management and discovery of resources and services. In this paper, we propose PGSW-OS (P2P grid semantic Web OS), a model based on a P2P grid architecture and semantic technology to improve resource management in a web operating system through resource discovery with the aid of semantic features. Our approach integrates distributed hash tables (DHTs) and semantic overlay networks to enable semantic-based resource management by advertising resources in the DHT based upon their annotations to enable semantic-based resource matchmaking. Our model includes ontologies and virtual organizations. Our technique decreases the computational complexity of searching in a web operating system environment. We perform a simulation study using the Gridsim simulator, and our experiments show that our model provides enhanced utilization of resources, better search expressiveness, scalability, and precision.     

Multilingual natural language generation for multilingual software: A functional linguistic approach

In this paper we present an implemented account of multilingual linguistic resources for multilingual text generation that improves significantly on the degree of reuse of resources both across languages and across applications. We argue that this is a necessary step for multilingual generation in order to reduce the high cost of constructing linguistic resources and to make natural language generation relevant for a wider range of applications particularly, in this paper, for multilingual software and user interfaces. We begin by contrasting a weak and a strong approach to multilinguality in the state of the art in multilingual text generation. Neither approach has provided sufficient principles for organizing multilingual work. We then introduce our framework , where multilingual variation is included as an intrinsic feature of all levels of representation. We provide an example of multilingual tactical generation using this approach and discuss some of the performance, maintenance, and development issues that arise.     

CNLs for the semantic web: a state of the art

One of the core challenges for building the semantic web is the creation of ontologies, a process known as ontology authoring. Controlled natural languages (CNLs) propose different frameworks for interfacing and creating ontologies in semantic web systems using restricted natural language. However, in order to engage non-expert users with no background in knowledge engineering, these language interfacing must be reliable, easy to understand and accepted by users. This paper includes the state-of-the-art for CNLs in terms of ontology authoring and the semantic web. In addition, it includes a detailed analysis of user evaluations with respect to each CNL and offers analytic conclusions with respect to the field.