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IRList Digest Volume 4 Number 44
IRList Digest Friday, 26 August 1988 Volume 4 : Issue 44
Today's Topics:
Email - Changes in addresses for IRList news
Call for Papers - ACL 1989 Annual Meeting; Vancouver, 26-29 June
Abstracts - Dissertations selected by S. Humphrey [Part 1 of 5]
News addresses are
Internet: fox@fox.cs.vt.edu or fox%fox.cs.vt.edu@dcssvx.cc.vt.edu
BITNET: foxea@vtcc1.bitnet (replaces foxea@vtvax3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 88 18:19:22 EDT
From: Edward A. Fox <fox>
Subject: email changes
1) The BITNET node I use, vtcc1, should now be listed officially in
all host tables. Thus, people should be able to reply to me and
to send there. Please stop using "foxea@vtvax3" unless you have
problems, in which case our systems people would like to know and
should be able to correct the situation.
2) If your mail goes through some system understanding name servers
you should be able to mail directly to me at:
fox@fox.cs.vt.edu
If you cannot, you definitely can reach me at
fox%fox.cs.vt.edu@dcssvx.cc.vt.edu
Please be aware that vtopus.cs.vt.edu will be down starting
next Tuesday for probably a week or two, or maybe even
longer, so please switch your mail to one of these addresses.
Thanks, Ed
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 88 10:30:14 EDT
From: Donald E Walker <walker@FLASH.BELLCORE.COM>
Subject: ACL 1989 Annual Meeting Call for Papers; Vancouver, 26-29 June
CALL FOR PAPERS
27th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics
26-29 June 1989
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TOPICS OF INTEREST: Papers are invited on substantial, original,
and unpublished research on all aspects of computational linguistics,
including, but not limited to, pragmatics, discourse, semantics,
syntax, and the lexicon; phonetics, phonology, and morphology;
interpreting and generating spoken and written language; linguistic,
mathematical, and psychological models of language; machine translation
and translation aids; natural language interfaces; message
understanding systems; and theoretical and applications papers of every
kind.
REQUIREMENTS: Papers should describe unique work that has not been
submitted elsewhere; they should emphasize completed work rather than
intended work; and they should indicate clearly the state of completion
of the reported results.
FORMAT FOR SUBMISSION: Authors should submit twelve copies of an
extended abstract not to exceed eight double-spaced pages (exclusive of
references) in a font no smaller than 10 point (elite). The title page
should include the title, the name(s) of the author(s), complete
addresses, a short (5 line) summary, and a specification of the topic
area. Submissions that do not conform to this format will not be
reviewed. Send to:
Julia Hirschberg
ACL89 Program Chair
AT&T Bell Laboratories, 2D-450
600 Mountain Avenue
Murray Hill, NJ 07974, USA
(201)582-7496; julia@btl.att.com
SCHEDULE: Papers are due by 6 January 1989. Authors will be notified
of acceptance by February 20. Camera-ready copies of final papers
prepared in a double-column format, either on model paper or in a
reduced font size using laserprinter output, must be received by 20
April along with a signed copyright release statement.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: The meeting will include a program of tutorials
organized by Martha Pollack, AI Center, SRI International, 333
Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA; (415)859-2037;
pollack@ai.sri.com. Anyone wishing to arrange an exhibit or present a
demonstration should send a brief description together with a
specification of physical requirements (space, power, telephone
connections, tables, etc.) to Richard Rosenberg at the address below.
CONFERENCE INFORMATION: Local arrangements are being handled by
Richard Rosenberg, Department of Computer Science, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CANADA V6T 1W5; (604)228-4142;
rosen%cs.ubc.ca@relay.cs.net. For other information on the conference
and on the ACL more generally, contact Don Walker (ACL), Bellcore, MRE
2A379, 445 South Street, Box 1910, Morristown, NJ 07960-1910, USA;
(201)829-4312; walker@flash.bellcore.com or bellcore!walker.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Joyce Friedman, Barbara Grosz, Julia Hirschberg,
Bob Kasper, Richard Kittredge, Beth Levin, Steve Lytinen, Len Schubert,
Martha Palmer, Fernando Pereira, Carl Pollard, Mark Steedman.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 88 13:36:58 EDT
From: "Susanne M. HUMPHREY" <humphrey@MCS.NLM.NIH.GOV>
Subject: dissertation abstracts
Ed, latest edition of dissertations for irlist and SIGIR Forum.
Please forward to Vijay for me. I left in the .[]. delimiters in case
they were useful to you; let me know for future.
[Note: I have left them in too - Ed]
...
--Susanne
.[
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-28544.
AU DILLA, WILLIAM NOEL.
IN The University of Texas at Austin Ph.D 1987, 206 pages.
TI TESTS OF INFORMATION EVALUATION BEHAVIOR IN A COMPETITIVE
ENVIRONMENT.
DE Business Administration, Accounting.
AB This study addresses the question: "How does context affect the
behavior of information system evaluators in a competitive
environment?" using an experimental setting. Four different
explanations of why context might or might not affect this
behavior are proposed and examined. They include the expected
utility hypothesis and three explanations based on recent research
on cognitive processes in judgment and choice: (1) individuals act
according to prospect theory, (2) individuals act with information
because they wish to avoid uncertainty, and (3) individuals view
information as a valuable good.
This research extends previous work on subjective evaluation of
information systems in two ways. First, earlier studies either
were strictly descriptive or sought to build simplified
combinatorial models of subject behavior. The present study goes
beyond this to examine the decision strategies individuals employ
for subjective information evaluation. Second, previous work
examined settings with no conflict of interest between
individuals, using a decision-theoretic framework. The present
study examines a competitive two person setting, using a
game-theoretic framework. This scenario is more representative of
environments in which accounting information is actually used than
the settings of earlier experimental work.
In the experiment, subjects played the part of one of two managers
in a firm operating in a simplified production environment. They
interacted with a microcomputer, which played the part of a second
manager. The subjects had the option to obtain private information
on a random variable affecting the production process. Contextual
variables manipulated were task setting and stated cost of
information.
The principal findings of the study are that individuals: (1)
apparently use simplified decision strategies in the information
evaluation problem and (2) tend to ignore the effects their
private information will have on the actions of the other manager.
A significant proportion of subjects consistently obtained
information in cases where it had negative expected value. This
proportion was unaffected by task setting, indicating individuals
choose to act with information because they wish to avoid
uncertainty. Some subjects' choices were also affected by stated
information cost. This effect differed across task settings.
.]
.[
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG88-01444.
AU WESTLAND, JAMES CHRISTOPHER.
IN The University of Michigan Ph.D 1987, 259 pages.
TI SEMANTIC NETWORKS: A STOCHASTIC MODEL OF THEIR PERFORMANCE IN
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL.
DE Business Administration, Accounting.
AB Recent advances in computer technology have made possible the
implementation of information retrieval strategies adopting
semantic network approaches from artificial intelligence. This
research investigates the claim that document based information
retrieval strategies which automatically extend the user's query
by inferring, through the use of a semantic network, the concepts
that the user wishes to retrieve, can outperform traditional
Boolean retrieval strategies. The claim reflects a growing concern
among researchers and commercial information retrieval services
that many relevant documents are not being retrieved in systems
using Boolean retrieval strategies. Research by Furnas, and Blair
and Maron attribute this to problems in user query formulation,
particularly the use of multiple terms to express similar
meanings.
This research compares two classes of document based information
retrieval strategies--Boolean and "concept" extended. The latter
strategy is adapted from research by Kochen on semantic network
based document retrieval. The Kochen algorithm generates an
equivalence class of terms called "concepts" from a semantic
network which are used to disjunctively extend a document database
query.
This research analyzes Boolean and "concept" extended retrieval
strategy performance via a stochastic model of user querying and
information retrieval. Stochastic processes for querying,
retrieving and constructing semantic networks are proposed, and
resulting probability distributions are constructed in the
analysis. The research also investigates various alternatives for
measuring the performance of document retrieval systems.
The research results show improved performance measured by most
performance statistics for the "concept" extended retrieval
strategy over the traditional Boolean strategy. "Concept" extended
queries were shown to improve expected recall as much as 20%, and
expected precision as much as 10%. This is attributed to that
strategy's injection of new information about document database
content into the user's query. The research also provides evidence
for the positive correlation of precision and recall, and for the
superior informativeness of precision and recall over composite
and Neyman-Pearson measures of retrieval performance.
The research additionally provides a limited microeconomic
analysis of the costs and benefits of document based information
retrieval strategies in a competitive marketplace. This provides
economic guidelines for commercial implementations of document
retrieval systems using "concept" extended retrieval strategies.
.]
.[
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-19970.
AU HAREL, ELIE C.
IN University of California, Los Angeles Ph.Do 1987, 219 pages.
TI IREX: AN AUTOMATED INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS EXPERT.
DE Business Administration, Management.
AB This dissertation addresses the problem of information
requirements generation as part of the business strategic planning
process. Currently, such processes require elaborate manual
analysis that needs to be performed by highly skilled and
experienced consultants. The current procedures, therefore, are
extremely lengthy and expensive. Furthermore, the documented
knowledge about these methodologies is deficient and incomplete.
The methodology proposed in this dissertation takes the approach
that the information requirements generation process can be made
simpler, faster, and less expensive, by its consolidation into an
expert system that would be used as a tool by information system
analysts and possibly end users. Such a system will incorporate
significant parts of the knowledge accumulated by acknowledged
experts in this field, as well as industry specific information,
and a sophisticated easy-to-use human interface. In addition, new
knowledge about the information requirements generation process
can be obtained and documented by the knowledge acquisition phase
of the expert system creation.
IREX (Information Requirements EXpert) is a prototype expert
system for generating business information requirements. It uses a
variation of the BICS methodology which assumes the existence of a
finite set of generic models which can be customized for all
businesses. IREX incorporates knowledge acquired from experts who
have been using BICS over an extended period of time, and is
currently tailored for the use by real estate brokerage firms.
IREX was implemented and tested on a microcomputer using the
PROLOG language. The tests were conducted in a real world
environment where specific information requirements were generated
for several real estate brokerage firms. The results show that the
concepts behind IREX lend themselves very nicely to the expert
system approach. The problems encountered were mostly due to
semantics to which the users were not accustomed, and help
facilities that were not fully implemented within the prototype
version of IREX. The results also indicate that the BICS
methodology is not as naturally applicable to service oriented
enterprises as it is to production or manufacturing type firms.
Continued research is being done to enhance IREX as practical tool
for information systems planners in multiple industry types.
(Abstract shortened with permission of author.).
.]
.[
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-28739.
AU LE, LAN THI.
IN University of Houston Ph.D 1987, 361 pages.
TI DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY - MASS
SPECTROMETRY HYDROCARBON DATA INTERPRETATION AND AN EQUILIBRIUM
MODEL FOR THE EFFECT OF NEUTRAL SURFACTANTS IN REVERSED-PHASE HIGH
PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY.
DE Chemistry, Analytical.
AB An expert system computer program has been developed to
automatically arrive at decisions normally made by a highly
specialized highly skilled analytical chemist in the routine
interpretation of data from a Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry
(GC/MS) data system. The specific purpose of the expert system is
to set chemical limits within which the system accepts one or more
of nine candidate compounds ("spectral matches") provided by a
commercially available data system. This is accomplished by
assuming that each gas chromatographic peak might be a mixture;
deconvoluting each peak using mass spectral "type analysis" into
as many as 3 possible components of each of as many as 8 different
types; and assigning a carbon number range to each possible
component based on its elution time. A library identification is
assigned if and only if (a) it is within these type and carbon
number limits, and (b) the corresponding deconvoluted spectrum
also show a good "match" or "fit" with the library spectrum. If
the library identifications are unacceptable, the component is
assigned a generic identification in terms of component type and
carbon number. The expert system was constructed to retain the
human expert's knowledge and to reduce the need for the expert
whose specialized skills can be used more productively in
non-routine areas.
The effect of solute ionization and the concentrations of nonionic
and zwitterionic (neutral but charged) surfactants on the
retention times of weak acids, bases, and ampholytes in
reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography was
investigated. An equilibrium model based upon interaction among
eluent and solutes is derived to predict the retention behavior.
Micro-Bondapak C$\sb{18}$ was used as the stationary phase, and an
aqueous buffer solution was used as the mobile phase in which
nonionic and zwitterionic surfactants were added at different
concentrations for each pH.
Retention times of solutes were found to decrease as the
concentrations of nonionic surfactants in the mobile were
increased. The same results were obtained from the weak acids and
ampholytes in zwitterionic surfactant, but not for weak bases. At
high pH, the retention times of weak bases were decreased as the
concentrations of zwitterionic surfactant were increased. At low
pH, the retention times of weak bases were found to increase as
the concentrations of zwitterionic surfactant were increased. It
is hypothesized that zwitterionic surfactants are oriented on the
surface in such a way that non-equivalent charge-charge
interactions occur with charged samples.
.]
[Note: continued in next issue - Ed]
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END OF IRList Digest
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