The emergence of ontologies has marked another stage in the evolution of knowledge engineering. In the biomedical domain especially, a notable number of ontologies have been developed for knowledge acquisition, maintenance, sharing and reuse from large and distributed databases in order to reach the critical requirements of biomedical analysis and application. This research aims at the development of a Brain Gene Ontology by adopting a constructive IS methodology which tightly combines the processes of ontology learning, building, reuse and evaluation together. Brain Gene Ontology is a part of the BGO project that is being developed by KEDRI (Gottgtroy and Jain, 2005). The objective is to represent knowledge of the genes and proteins that are related to specific brain disorders like epilepsy and schizophrenia. The current stage focuses on the crucial neuronal parameters such as AMPA, GABA, CLC and SCN through their direct or indirect interactions with other genes and proteins. In this case, ontological representations were able to provide the conceptual framework and the knowledge itself to understand more about relationships among those genes and their links to brain disorders. It also provided a semantic repository of systematically ordered molecules concerned. The research adopts Protégé-Frames, which is an open source ontology tool suite for BGO development. Some Protégé plug-ins were also used to extend the applicable functions and improve knowledge representation. Basically, the research discusses the availability and the framework of the constructive Information System research methodology for ontology development, it also describes the process that bridges different notions of the brain, genes and proteins in various databases, and illustrates how to build and implement the ontology with Protégé-Frames and its plug-ins. The results of the BGO development proved that the constructive IS methodology does help to fill in the cognitive gap between domain users and ontology developers, the extensible, component-based architectures of Protégé-Frames significantly support the various activities in the ontology development process, and through explicitly specifying the meaning of fundamental concepts and their relations, ontology can actually integrate knowledge from multiple biological knowledge bases.

The emergence of ontologies has marked another stage in the evolution of knowledge engineering. In the biomedical domain especially, a notable number of ontologies have been developed for knowledge acquisition, maintenance, sharing and reuse from large and distributed databases in order to reach the critical requirements of biomedical analysis and application. This research aims at the development of a Brain Gene Ontology by adopting a constructive IS methodology which tightly combines the processes of ontology learning, building, reuse and evaluation together. Brain Gene Ontology is a part of the BGO project that is being developed by KEDRI (Gottgtroy and Jain, 2005). The objective is to represent knowledge of the genes and proteins that are related to specific brain disorders like epilepsy and schizophrenia. The current stage focuses on the crucial neuronal parameters such as AMPA, GABA, CLC and SCN through their direct or indirect interactions with other genes and proteins. In this case, ontological representations were able to provide the conceptual framework and the knowledge itself to understand more about relationships among those genes and their links to brain disorders. It also provided a semantic repository of systematically ordered molecules concerned. The research adopts Protégé-Frames, which is an open source ontology tool suite for BGO development. Some Protégé plug-ins were also used to extend the applicable functions and improve knowledge representation. Basically, the research discusses the availability and the framework of the constructive Information System research methodology for ontology development, it also describes the process that bridges different notions of the brain, genes and proteins in various databases, and illustrates how to build and implement the ontology with Protégé-Frames and its plug-ins. The results of the BGO development proved that the constructive IS methodology does help to fill in the cognitive gap between domain users and ontology developers, the extensible, component-based architectures of Protégé-Frames significantly support the various activities in the ontology development process, and through explicitly specifying the meaning of fundamental concepts and their relations, ontology can actually integrate knowledge from multiple biological knowledge bases.

L’objectif de la thèse est d’étayer l’activité de conception expérimentale avec l’utilisation d’un environnement informatique pour l’apprentissage humain (EIAH). La conception expérimentale correspond à une partie de la démarche d’investigation qui fait l’objet de nombreuses recherches, à la fois parce que cette activité favorise l’apprentissage mais aussi parce que c’est une tâche complexe à l’origine de difficultés identifiées.La situation que nous avons choisie est la mise en évidence de la fermentation alcoolique, thème abordé en classe de terminale scientifique de spécialité en sciences de la vie et de la terre. Les élèves doivent concevoir une expérience pour mettre en évidence ce métabolisme.La première étape de la thèse a consisté à effectuer une modélisation didactique des connaissances en jeu. Pour cela nous nous plaçons dans le cadre de la théorie anthropologique du didactique et plus précisément l’approche praxéologique (Bosch & Chevallard, 1999). Nous avons ainsi obtenu un premier résultat qui est la modélisation d’une praxéologie de référence à partir d’une analyse épistémologique des savoirs en jeu et des attentes institutionnelles.Afin d’aider les élèves dans cette activité à l’origine de difficultés, nous utilisons des supports d’étayage, portés par la plateforme informatique, LabBook. Cet EIAH structure des rapports expérimentaux, à l’aide de plusieurs outils (texte, tableur, dessin, protocole) mis à disposition des élèves. L’outil protocole « Copex », permet de pré structurer un protocole expérimental.La deuxième étape de la thèse a été de proposer un protocole pré structuré en étapes, actions et paramètres d’actions qui prend en charge les difficultés attendues, et de l’implémenter dans LabBook, en tenant compte des contraintes de l’EIAH.L’étape suivante a été de tester l’efficacité de la prise en charge de ces difficultés dans la situation proposée en classe. Pour cela nous avons ainsi réalisé deux expérimentations en classes de terminale scientifique dans trois lycées différents. Nous avons recueilli les productions des élèves ainsi que leur réponse à des questionnaires (pré-test et post-test).L’analyse des résultats a montré que l’activité proposée favorise les apprentissages des concepts en jeu, et fait évoluer les conceptions des élèves.Concernant la conception du protocole, la pré structuration proposée aide les élèves à produire des protocoles communicables et pertinents.A partir des praxéologies personnelles modélisées a priori nous avons mis en évidence la présence de praxéologies personnelles d’élèves.Les analyses effectuées ont permis de faire évoluer la situation proposée et de valider la proposition de pré structuration du protocole en étapes et en actions paramétrées.Enfin nous proposons des préconisations pour un diagnostic automatique des erreurs des élèves, dans le but de produire des rétroactions élaborées à partir du modèle praxéologique développé dans la thèse. / The thesis work involves a scaffold of the experimental design activity carried out by high school students in scientific activities using a TEL system (Technology Enhanced Learning).This type of activity promotes learning, but it is also a complex task that leads to difficulties identified in the literature. The situation highlights a specific cellular metabolism, the alcoholic fermentation, this topic being studied in high school biology classes. Students have to design an experimental procedure to highlight this metabolism.The first step of the thesis consisted in knowledge modelling for designing an experimental situation in biology. The framework used to model knowledge, is the Anthropological Theory of Didactics (ATD) and more precisely the praxeology model (Bosch & Chevallard, 1999). An epistemological analysis has been done in order to identify difficulties in this situation: difficulties related to knowledge and also to experimental procedure.A structured procedure was modelled into steps, actions and parameters, which takes into account difficulties identified a priori and implemented in a web environment named LabBook,.This TEL system offers fixed scaffolds in order to help students in an experimental design activity.The situation implemented in LabBook has been tested in three biology classes in high school, during two sets of experimentation. The analysis is based on the students’ productions and their answers to questionnaires (pre-test and post-test).The results analysis showed that the experimental design activity promotes learning and changes students’ conceptions. Regarding design experiment, the pre structuration helps students to produce relevant and communicable procedures.This reveals that students are able to use the pre-structured experimental procedure tool in LabBook.This is a requirement for students’ errors diagnosis in order to propose automatic personalised feedbacks. We make recommendations for such feedbacks based on the praxeology model developed in this thesis.

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2017-12-11T13:08:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DANIELLE CHAVES DE MEDEIROS - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2014.pdf: 1794393 bytes, checksum: 843f24f727881568e52ff59c12122403 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-11T13:08:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DANIELLE CHAVES DE MEDEIROS - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2014.pdf: 1794393 bytes, checksum: 843f24f727881568e52ff59c12122403 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12 / A seleção de critérios para a análise de informações durante o processo de avaliação da participação em fóruns de discussão de cursos de Educação a Distância (EaD) é um grande desafio. São muitas as variáveis que devem ser consideradas neste processo, além da subjetividade inerente à análise realizada pelo docente, passível de erro humano. Os docentes geralmente não possuem a seu dispor todos os recursos necessários, se tornando necessário o uso de uma metodologia ou ferramenta que o auxilie no processo de avaliação. Diante desta demanda e, a partir de um estudo dos principais indicadores qualitativos/quantitativos utilizados pelos professores de EaD, foi desenvolvido um arcabouço para a análise da participação dos alunos em fóruns. O objetivo deste arcabouço é servir de apoio à tomada de decisão do professor, fornecendo um mecanismo mais efetivo para a mensuração da quantidade e da qualidade das interações, passível de adaptação à metodologia tradicional adotada por cada docente. A validação deste arcabouço deu-se a partir da administração de questionários para a sondagem da opinião de docentes atuantes na área de ensino a distância, assim como pela realização de estudos de caso envolvendo a avaliação da acurácia de instâncias do arcabouço para o cálculo da nota de participação de alunos. Foi desenvolvido um Sistema Especialista (SE) para o processamento dos dados, com o uso de funções de similaridade para realizar, de forma semiautomática, a avaliação do conteúdo das mensagens dos alunos. Assim, as notas de participação calculadas foram confrontadas com as notas atribuídas pelo docente utilizando a abordagem tradicional. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que, em três das cinco turmas observadas, não foi possível verificar a existência de diferenças estatísticas significativas entre o desempenho das abordagens estudadas. Um estudo da acurácia e correlação revela que, em todos os casos analisados, há uma forte relação entre os dados e o erro médio encontrado foi inferior a 3%, demonstrando a aplicabilidade do arcabouço ao contexto da avaliação da participação em fóruns. / The selection of criteria for the information analysis during the participation evaluation process, in discussion forums of distance courses, is a major challenge. There are many variables to consider in this process, in addition to the subjectivity inherent in the analysis carried out by the instructor, which is subject to human error. Instructors, generally, do not have at their disposal all the resources necessary, thus, the use of methodologies or tools that can help them with this process are necessary. Facing this demand, and after performing a study of the major qualitative/quantitative indicators used by distance education teachers, we developed a framework for the analysis of the student participation in the forums. The aim of this framework is to support the decision-making process, by providing a more effective mechanism to measure the quantity and quality of interactions, capable of adjusting itself to the traditional methodology adopted by each teacher. The validation of this framework was performed by the administration of questionnaires that surveyed the opinion of active teachers in the distance learning area, and by the execution of case studies involving the assessment of the accuracy of instances of this framework for calculating the participation grade of students. The study involved the development of an Expert System, for the treatment and processing of the data, using similarity functions to perform, semi-automatically, the assessment of the content of the students' messages. Thus, it was possible to confront the calculated participation grades with the grades assigned by the teacher using the traditional approach. The results showed that, in three out of the five classes observed, it was not possible to verify the existence of statistically significant differences between the performance of both the approaches studied. A study of the accuracy and correlation shows that, in all the cases analyzed, there is a strong relationship between the data, and the average error was less than 3%, demonstrating the applicability of the proposed framework to the assessment of student participation in forums.

L'acquisition et la modélisation de connaissances ont été abordés jusqu'à présent selon deux approches principales : les êtres humains (experts) à l'aide des méthodologies de l'Ingénierie des Connaissances et le Knowledge Management, et les données à l'aide des techniques relevant de la découverte de connaissances à partir du contenu de bases de données (fouille de données). Cette thèse porte sur la conception d'un processus d'apprentissage conjoint par l'être humain et la machine combinant une approche de modélisation des connaissances de type Ingénierie des Connaissances (TOM4D, Timed Observation Modelling for Diagnosis) et une approche d'apprentissage automatique fondée sur un processus de découverte de connaissances à partir de données datées (TOM4L, Timed Observation Mining for Learning). Ces deux approches étant fondées sur la Théorie des Observations Datées, les modèles produits sont représentés dans le même formalisme ce qui permet leur comparaison et leur combinaison. Le mémoire propose également une méthode d'abstraction, inspiée des travaux de Newell sur le "Knowledge Level'' et fondée sur le paradigme d'observation datée, qui a pour but de traiter le problème de la différence de niveau d'abstraction inhérent entre le discours d'un expert et les données mesurées sur un système par un processus d'abstractions successives. Les travaux présentés dans ce mémoire ayant été menés en collaboration avec le CSTB de Sophia Antipolis (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment), ils sont appliqués à la modélisation de l'activité humaine dans le cadre de l'aide aux personnes âgées maintenues à domicile. / Knowledge acquisition has been traditionally approached from a primarily people-driven perspective, through Knowledge Engineering and Management, or from a primarily data-driven approach, through Knowledge Discovery in Databases, rather than from an integral standpoint. This thesis proposes then a human-machine learning approach that combines a Knowledge Engineering modelling approach called TOM4D (Timed Observation Modelling For Diagnosis) with a process of Knowledge Discovery in Databases based on an automatic data mining technique called TOM4L (Timed Observation Mining For Learning). The combination and comparison between models obtained through TOM4D and those ones obtained through TOM4L is possible, owing to that TOM4D and TOM4L are based on the Theory of Timed Observations and share the same representation formalism. Consequently, a learning process nourished with experts' knowledge and knowledge discovered in data is defined in the present work. In addition, this dissertation puts forward a theoretical framework of abstraction levels, in line with the mentioned theory and inspired by the Newell's Knowledge Level work, in order to reduce the broad gap of semantic content that exists between data, relative to an observed process, in a database and what can be inferred in a higher level; that is, in the experts' discursive level. Thus, the human-machine learning approach along with the notion of abstraction levels are then applied to the modelling of human behaviour in smart environments. In particular, the modelling of elderly people's behaviour at home in the GerHome Project of the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment) of Sophia Antipolis, France.

Toute action naturelle crée de l’énergie perdue qui pourrait être exploitée pour alimenter nos appareils électriques et mobiles. Nos environnements physiques disposent d’un nombre élevé de micro-sources d’énergies ; certes chacune est de faible puissance, mais leur multiplicité pourrait s’avérer significative, notamment dans le cadre du fonctionnement de microsystèmes.C’est le principe précédent qui a conduit nos travaux sur la problématique de la conception de microsystèmes autonomes. Ainsi, pour être innovante, l’ingénierie de microsystèmes doit à la fois s’appuyer sur la culture de l’électronique, de la mécanique mais aussi de l’énergétique. Le processus de conception est fortement pluridisciplinaire et son efficacité réside dans la capacité à mettre en œuvre des méthodologies et des outils :- de conception collaborative,- de capitalisation des connaissances techniques, - d’ingénierie multi-physique,- d’ingénierie intégrée.Sur le base de ces fondamentaux, nous avons développé un outil d’aide à la conception. La méthodologie sous-jacente permet :1- l’analyse et la structuration d’un problème de conception d’un microsystème autonome : cette phase conduit l’identification, la description fonctionnelle et environnementale du système et de son environnement.2- la modélisation des connaissances : une analyse architecturale conduit à la description des composants et des interactions liées au microsystème (directement ou indirectement) puis à la modélisation des comportements,3- la qualification énergétique et le couplage physique : la réutilisation structurée des modèles de connaissances est pilotée pour coupler les modèles physiques et décrire les sources, les puits et les mécanismes énergétiques des environnements,4- la conduite de la recherche de concepts innovants : la base de connaissances, les critères de qualification et la description fonctionnelle préalablement construits sont agencés dans une seule méthode de conception virtuelle pour rechercher des concepts de solutions innovants,5- le pré-dimensionnement : tout en assurant l’intégration des outils spécialisés de simulation (méthode des éléments finis et simulation fonctionnelle), le pré-dimensionnement de microsystèmes autonomes est supportée selon un schéma synthétique, assurant un raisonnement abductif (ou bottom-up)La conjonction des raisonnements physiques, l’intégration des méthodes et des cultures métiers, l’exploration virtuelle des espaces de solutions et la modélisation constituent les bases d’un nouveau moyen d’aide à la conception de microsystèmes autonomes. Cette approche a été déployée pour la conception d’un capteur piézoélectrique autonome. / Any natural action creates lost energy which could be exploited to supply our electrical and mobile appliance. Our physical environments have a high number of micro-energy sources. Admittedly, each one provides low power but their multiplicity could be significant, in particular within the framework of the microsystem operation.The previous observation guided our works towards the problematic of autonomous microsystem design. Thus, to be innovative, microsystems engineering must lean on electronic, mechanical and energy domains. The design process is highly multidisciplinary and its efficiency depends on the ability to implement methods and tools:- of collaborative design- of capitalization of technical knowledge- of multiphysic engineering- of integrated design.Based on these fundamentals, we developed a design support tool. The underlying methodology enables:1- the design problem analysis and structuring of an autonomous microsystem: this phase leads to the identification and functional and environmental description of the system and its environment2- the knowledge modelling: an architectural analysis gives the description of components and interactions related to the microsystem (directly or indirectly). Then, it leads to a behaviour modelling.3- the energy qualification and physical coupling: the structured reuse of knowledge models is guided to couple physical models and describe the sources, sinks and the energy mechanism of the environment.4- the control of innovative concept search: the knowledge base, qualification criteria and functional description, previously constructed, are combined in an unique virtual design approach dedicated to search innovative concepts as a solution5- the predimensioning: this phase ensures the integration of specific simulation tools (finite elements method and functional simulation). The predimensioning of autonomous microsystems is supported by a synthetic scheme based on an abductive reasoning (bottom-up).The combination of physical reasoning, the integration of methods and engineering domains, the virtual exploration of solution spaces and the modelling represent a new way to support autonomous microsystem design. This approach was applied to the design of an autonomous piezoelectric sensor.

Submitted by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2016-12-01T13:49:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Andrea C. F. Albuquerque.pdf: 4570257 bytes, checksum: 55a3bbe1076ec44491c4ecfbed0c08e6 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2016-12-01T13:51:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Andrea C. F. Albuquerque.pdf: 4570257 bytes, checksum: 55a3bbe1076ec44491c4ecfbed0c08e6 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2016-12-01T13:51:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Andrea C. F. Albuquerque.pdf: 4570257 bytes, checksum: 55a3bbe1076ec44491c4ecfbed0c08e6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-01T13:51:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Andrea C. F. Albuquerque.pdf: 4570257 bytes, checksum: 55a3bbe1076ec44491c4ecfbed0c08e6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-15 / During the development of OntoBio, a formal biodiversity ontology, it was observed that much of the knowledge of the expert, which was not included in the structured databases and allow ontology to be more expressive (tacit knowledge), was not represented, and thus ignored. Empirical evidences indicate that this knowledge is essential to help in generating knew scientific knowledge and consequently in the decision making process. In this highly connected environment, where data availability is massive, the use of ontologies is a recommended solution for allowing knowledge acquisition/generation. More specific issues such as representation of tacit scientific knowledge, are not satisfactorily elucidated. In order to contribute with solutions for such questions, it is necessary to investigate critical aspects of knowledge representation, modelling and formalization of tacit knowledge, and also to consider different views on the domain. This research proposes a method to agregate tacit knowledge to formal ontologies, incorporating semantic and expressivity to support generation of scientific knowledge. The method comprises the process of elicitation and formalization of scientific tacit knowledge of biodiversity, and the integration of this knowledge to the structure described in OntoBio. / Durante o desenvolvimento da OntoBio, uma ontologia formal de biodiversidade, observou-se que muito do conhecimento do especialista, que não estava contido nas bases de dados estruturadas e que tornam a ontologia mais expressiva (conhecimento tácito), não era representado, e com isso ignorado. Evidências empíricas indicam que este conhecimento é essencial para auxiliar na geração de novos conhecimentos científicos e consequentemente, nos processos de tomada de decisão. Neste ambiente de intensa conectividade, onde a disponibilidade de dados é massiva, a utilização de ontologias é uma solução recomendada, por permitir a aquisição/geração de conhecimento. Questões mais especificas, como a representação do conhecimento científico tácito, ainda não estão satisfatoriamente elucidadas. Para contribuir com soluções para tais questões, faz-se necessário investigar aspectos críticos de aquisição e representação do conhecimento, modelagem e formalização de conhecimento tácito, e considerar diferentes pontos de vista sobre o domínio. Esta pesquisa propõe um método para agregar conhecimento tácito à ontologias formais, incorporando semântica e expressividade para apoiar a geração de conhecimento científico. O método compreende o processo de elicitação e formalização do conhecimento científico tácito de biodiversidade, e a integração deste conhecimento à estrutura descrita na OntoBio.