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IRList Digest Volume 2 Number 65
IRList Digest Monday, 1 December 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 65
Today's Topics:
Abstracts - NSF IST Awards for Fiscal Year 1986 - Part 3 of 5
News addresses are ARPANET: fox%vt@csnet-relay.arpa BITNET: foxea@vtvax3.bitnet
CSNET: fox@vt UUCPNET: seismo!vtisr1!irlistrq
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Date: Fri, 21 Nov 86 18:38:14 est
From: vtopus!fox (Ed Fox)
Subject: Information on NSF awards, sent by J. Deken at NSF
Fiscal Year 1986 Research Projects
Funded by the Information Science Program
(now Knowledge and Database Systems Program)
Part 3 of 5
IST-8512108
$99,394 - 12 mos.
Hans Kamp
University of Texas at Austin
Logic Representation of Attitudes for Computer Natural Language Understanding
- - -
This project develops a theory of attitudes based on logical and computational
models. Modeling attitudes is important to information science because
automated natural language processing systems have proved unable to understand
unrestricted narrative and exposition without additional contextual information
such as the attitudes of speaker and listener. In particular, the dynamics of
attitudes, the mechanisms by which they change in response to information
input, are being illuminated.
_____
IST-8644864
$35,721 - 12 mos.
Abraham Kandel
Florida State University
Analysis and Modeling of Imprecise Information in Uncertain Environments
- - -
A problem of considerable inportance in the development of expert systems is
the ability to represent imprecise data. This research is based upon the
representation of imprecise data by possibility distributions. The PI is
interested in developing a theory of statistics in the framework of possibility
distributions. Particular emphasis in this research is given to the development
of a "typical" value associated with a possibility distribution. This value is
analagous to the expected value in the framework of probability theory. The PI
will study the properties of this typical value and its usefulness solving
differential equations. Just as the expected value provides a means for
summarizing probabilistic information the significance of this research lies in
the fact that the so called "typical" value will provide a means for summarizing
possibilistic data. This in turn will lead to simplification in handling
imprecise information of the type represented by possibility distributions.
_____
IST-8542811
$65,414 - 12 mos.
R.L. Kashyap
Purdue University
Research on Inference Procedures with Uncertainty
- - -
The development of inference procedures which can be used with uncertain
information is an important issue in the construction of expert systems. Ad hoc
and intuitive approaches to inference are used in many expert systems; this
research investigates several systematic and rational inference procedures
which could be used in expert systems. The theoretical foundations include
Bayesian theory, Dempster and Shafer's theory of evidence, and fuzzy reasoning.
A working expert system for structure damage assessment is used to test the
inference procedures. The significance of this research is that it will
contribute to the important problem of handling uncertain information in expert
systems by developing a rigorous approach to uncertainty.
_____
IST-8644676
$74,752 - 12 mos.
George J. Klir
State University of New York at Binghamton
Possibilistic Information: Theory and Applicability
- - -
Information theory based on the Shannon entropy has been very successful in
dealing with many systems problems, but its limitations are becoming
increasingly clear. A development of new information theory is proposed, one
which is based on possibility theory rather than probability theory. Such a
theory is fundamentally different from the Shannon information theory since it
involves imprecision that is not statistical in nature. As such, it is more
suitable for dealing with the wide range of systems problems that are often
referred to as problems of organized complexity (as contrasted with problems of
disorganized complexity, where statistical methods perform well). In analogy
with its probabilistic counterpart, possibilistic information is defined in
terms of the underlying notion of possibilistic uncertainty. The latter is a
measure that possesses counterparts of all properties of the Shannon entropy
and, in addition, has an important property of monotonicity. The proposed re-
search includes a mathematical investigation of some fundamental issues involv-
ing the possibilistic information, a development of basic laws and principles
of the possibilistic information theory, and a study of its applicability in a
broad range of relevant areas. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate the
fundamental complementarity of the two information theories and to characterize
the two domains for which application of one or the other information theory is
superior. This will be accomplished analytically, when feasible, or by
experiments simulated on the computer.
_____
IST-8552925
$54,250 - 12 mos.
Richard E. Korf
University of California at Los Angeles
Presidential Young Investigator Award : Machine Learning
- - -
Richard Korf's research focuses on mechanisms by which intelligent computer
systems can learn the large amounts of specific knowledge necessary to solve
realistic problems. In particular, the research explores the ways in which
specific knowledge can help to reduce the amount of trial-and-error search
needed by a computer for problem solving. A central thrust of this research is
machine learning - the processes by which relevant knowledge is automatically
acquired by the computer rather than being programmed by a human. The
significance of machine learning and problem solving for the future use of
computers can hardly be overstated. Practical autonomous computer systems of
the future will need far more knowledge than humans can explicitly transfer, and
so the computers themselves will have to learn independently.
_____
IST-8518307
$15,750 - 12 mos.
Donald H. Kraft
Louisiana State University
Travel to the ACM Conference on Research and Development in
Information Retrieval: Pisa, Italy; September 8-10, l986
- - -
This award supports travel funds for fifteen U.S. participants to the l986 ACM
Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval in Pisa, Italy
on September 8-10, l986. This conference is sponsored by the Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italian National Research Council), in cooperation
with the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Informa-
tion Retrieval and several other professional organizations. The conference
scope includes theory, methodology and applications of information retrieval,
with particular emphasis on new emerging application areas. This conference
provides an opportunity for strengthening the quality of information retrieval
research, as well as facilitating international communication in this area.
_____
DCR-8602665
$45,720 - 12 mos.
Benjamin J. Kuipers
University of Texas at Austin
Knowledge Representations for Expert Causal Models
- - -
The goal of this research is to design and build a computer program to under-
stand a realistic description of a medical case, construct a detailed model of
the internal state of the patient and its evolution, and answer questions about
the pathophysiology of the case, concentrating on the domain of salt and water
balance disorders in the kidney. During the past year, progress has been made
in several directions. The theoretical study of qualitative simulation has been
completed. QSIM, a new version of the qualitative simulation algorithm based on
the theoretical work, has been implemented, runs very efficiently and is being
distributed to interested researchers. The Evoker, an associative
hypothesis-generator, has been redesigned and reimplemented to make it a more
general-purpose tool for knowledge engineering. A preliminary version of the
interaction between QSIM and the Evoker that constitutes the core of the RENAL
program has been designed and implememted. The size and scope of the
knowledge bases for both QSIM and the Evoker are steadily being augmented. This
project focuses on completing the knowledge bases, codifying a set of principles
for acquiring and validating its contents. The pattern of interactions are
being completed between QSIM and the Evoker, concentrating particularly on the
matcher between the different descriptive terms used by the two reasoners, to
make RENAL into a complete diagnostic system.
_____
RII-8600412
$10,000 - 12 mos.
Jill H. Larkin
University of California at Berkeley
Developing the Instructional Power of Modern Personal Computing
- - -
This project will provide the principal investigator with the opportunity to
conduct advanced research not possible at her home institution and to interact
with students and colleagues through teaching, counseling, and mentoring
activities in a way that demonstrates her successful career in science.
(Visiting Professorships for Women)
_____
IST-8600412
$10,000 - 12 mos.
Wendy G. Lehnert
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Presidential Young Investigator Award: Natural Language Computing Systems
- - -
Advanced computer information processing systems which manipulate natural
language (normal human verbal discourse) are composed of complex sets of
interacting sub-programs. Among these are programs which dynamically create
new data structures and new sub-programs according to rules for manipulating
the initial input. Such dynamic "learning" systems are inherently difficult to
understand and maintain; especially for those not involved in the original de-
sign. The goals of this project are to develop tools for automatically analyzing
the data dependencies and tracking interactions and isolating potential effects
due to system modifications. The importance of the effort is in its potential
to facilitate reliable and practical natural language information systems.
_____
IST-8603697
$5,000 - 12 mos.
Michael E. Lesk
Bell Communications Research
Workshop on Document Generation Principles
- - -
This award is for a three day workshop on document generation principles. The
workshop brings together four groups of researchers with closely interrelated,
but historically separately investigated interests:
The generation of natural language documents by computer;
The production of manuals and other documents by people;
The search of natural language texts by computer; and
The evaluation of human) writing for clarity and readability.
This workshop, as an interdisciplinary forum for the interaction of questions
and methods about natural language production and searching, provides a signifi-
cant perspective beyond document generation systems to more general "knowledge
transfer" systems. Artificial intelligence programs of the near future will
require such knowledge transfer capability as a widespread infrastructure.
_____
IST-8602765
$76078 - 12 mos.
R. Duncan Luce
Harvard University
Measurement: Axiomatic and Meaningfulness Studies
- - -
Information from phenomena in the real world cannot be managed unless it is
converted into a representation, for use by people and computers. This
conversion from phenomena to representation is the fundamental process of
quantification or measurement. Since quantification is essential, it is of
paramount importance for information systems that it be done well. This
research investigates the properties of some mathematical systems of
quantification, in order to illuminate the concept of "meaningfulness." In
particular, the research shows how quantification must be managed in many
cases, so that seemingly equivalent choices of "representation" do not
inadvertently lead the people or computers which use these representations into
unexpectedly different reasoning and conclusions. The research is significant
in that structural and analytic studies of "meaningfulness" may well illuminate
the empirical calibration of the representation and reasoning schemes used by
many modern computing systems.
_____
IST-8444028
$62,500 - 12 mos.
David Maier
Oregon Graduate Center
Presidential Young Investigator Award: Foundations of Knowledge Management
Systems
- - -
The goal of this project is to integrate recent findings from research on
database structure, knowledge representation, programming languages, expert
systems, graphics, and information retrieval in order to build a foundation for
building knowledge management systems (KMS). A KMS is an intelligent database
system which allows extraction and manipulation of information without
reference to storage format, mode of representation (text, graphics, audio,
etc.) or the state of organization of the data. The significance of the project
will be a substantial improvement in ease of use and intelligence capability of
data management systems.
_____
IST-8604977
$46,956 - 12 mos.
David Maier
Oregon Graduate Center
Automatic Generation of Interactive Displays
- - -
This project seeks a way to construct user-system interfaces with less effort
than is currently required and at the same time to achieve a higher degree of
uniformity among interfaces than is currently found. The approach taken is to
relate a source object (such as some information in an application program) and
a view object (such as a graphical image on the computer's screen) by means of a
"filter". By this term is meant a program which can satisfy some constraint on
the two objects it relates. Filters are to be bidirectional: if the source
changes, the view must be updated; if the view is edited, the system must find a
corresponding change to the source to keep the constraint satisfied. An
important property of filters is that they can be composed in a variety of ways,
so that new filters can be defined using other filters as parts. One objective
of the research is a formal theory which will allow transformations between
equivalent systems of filters. The results are to be tested by implementing a
prototype system for generating user interfaces. The research is carried out in
collaboration with Alan H. Borning, of the University of Washington, and Ralph
London, of Tektronix, Inc.
_____
IST-8642813
$25,500 - 12 mos.
Gerald S. Malecki
Office of Naval Research
Committee on Human Factors
- - -
This award is for the National Science Foundation to join with other agencies of
the Feceral Government in providing sponsorship support for ongoing activities
of the Committee on Human Factors of the National Academy of Sciences. This
Committee was established in October l980 and is currently sponsored jointly by
various agencies of the Department of Defense and by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration. The Committee's principal objectives are to provide
new perspectives on important theoretical and methodological issues to
strengthen the scientific bases of human factors research and development.
_____
IST-8606187
$19,650 - 12 mos.
James L. McClelland
Carnegie-Mellon University
Workshop of Parallel Distributed Processing in Information and
Cognitive Research (Washington, D.C. ; February 28 - March 1, 1986)
- - -
This project is a workshop for researchers from several areas supported by
Information Science. The workshop explores the interaction of issues in
artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience with
parallel distributed process (PDP) models. (PDP models are ones in which
information processing is accomplished through the interaction of a large
number of simple, highly interconnected processing units). The primary goal of
the workshop is to develop an agenda for researchers in Cognitive/Information
Science. The goal is achieved in the following way: At the workshop researchers
provide an overview of the relevant issues, examine existing PDP models in light
of recent data, and consider challenges posed by high-level phenomena studied in
the area of artificial intelligence. The workshop will benefit the study of
Information Science by bringing together top researchers and allowing them to
look at newly emerging issues and currently unanswered questions.
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END OF IRList Digest
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