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Basic abstraction principles are reached through ontology, which was traditionally conceived as a depiction of the world itself. Ontology is also described using conceptual modeling (CM) that defines fundamental concepts of reality. CM is one of the central activities in computer science, especially as it is mainly used in software engineering as an intermediate artifact for system construction. To achieve such a goal, we propose Stoic CM (SCM) as a description of what a system must do functionally with minimal ambiguity. As a case study, we apply SCM to investigate the ontology of BPMN (business process modeling notation). Such an undertaking would demonstrate SCM notions and simultaneously may offer a viable ontological foundation for BPMN. SCM defines the being of things and actions in reality based on Stoic notions of existence and subsistence. It has two levels of specification: (1) a subsistence static model where things and actions subsist and (2) an existence dynamic model where things and actions exist in time. From the Stoic ontological point of view, while a thing existing has a clear denotation, subsistence indicates the thing is being there, but it is inactive (does not participate in an event). We apply SCM to BPMN processes that involve buying a new car with many notions, such as activity, task, event, and message. The result indicates that SCM produces a tighter representation of reality, thus providing the necessary description of the part in the application world to be used as requirements for developing the software system., Comment: 10 pages, 18 figures

International audience; Fake News have become a global phenomenon due to its explosive growth, particularly on social media. How to identify fake news is becoming an extremely attractive working domain. The lack of a sound, well-grounded conceptual characterization of what exactly a Fake news is and what are its main features, makes difficult to manage Fake News understanding, identification and creation. In this research we propose that conceptual modeling must play a crucial role to characterize Fake News content in a precise way. Only clearly delimiting what a Fake News is, it will be possible to understand and managing their different perspectives and dimensions, with the final purpose of developing any reliable framework for online Fake News detection as much automated as possible. This paper discusses the effort that should be made towards a precise conceptual model of Fake News and its relation with an XAI approach.

Understanding the complex urban landscapes of cities and their evolution is becoming an ever more essential area of research for urbanists, city planners, historians, and industry leaders. Toward this endeavor, data-driven 3D semantic city models can be implemented to create tools for understanding, simulating, and modeling these urbanization processes and many other urban phenomena. These implementations often require integrating multidimensional (2D/3D, temporal, and thematic), heterogeneous, and multisource urban data to provide users with more complete views of the changing urban landscape. In recent years, researchers have turned toward Semantic Web technologies such as knowledge graphs as common platforms for integrating these data and their underlying data models. However, simple transformation or conversion of urban data towards these formats is prone to data loss, and integration of urban data model standards lacking interoperability poses its own challenges. This work proposes a model-centric urban data transformation approach towards Semantic Web data formats, based on international standards for facilitating the integration of these urban data and promoting their interoperability in the context of multidimensional city modeling.

International audience; Transdisciplinarity implementation remains a challenge in projects that bring together disciplinary actors while it is essential for modeling complex problems, such as data analysis to produce narratives. In this article, we explain how this approach, applied to the case of data journalism, allowed us upstream to identify a research problem and downstream to build draw a methodology and a common language, in particular through the use of conceptual models. Thanks to its graphic formalizations, this tool, initially thought of as a step for software design, allowed all the actors of the project to build and validate the mode at each stage; La mise en œuvre effective de la transdisciplinarité reste une gageure dans les projets qui rassemblent des acteurs disciplinaires alors qu’elle est indispensable pour modéliser des problèmes complexes, comme la recherche et le traitement de l’information pour produire des narrations à partir de données. Dans cet article, nous expliquons en quoi cette approche, appliquée au cas du data journalisme, a fait émerger en amont une problématique de recherche et a ébauché en aval une méthodologie et un langage communs, notamment par le recours à des modèles conceptuels. De par ses formalisations graphiques, cet outil, initialement pensé comme une étape pour la conception logicielle, a permis à tous les acteurs du projet de construire et valider le modèle au fur et à mesure.

In the systems and software modeling field, a conceptual model involves modeling with concepts to support development and design. An example of a conceptual model is a description developed using the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML uses a model multiplicity formulation approach, wherein a number of models are used to represent alternative views. By contrast, a model singularity approach uses only a single integrated model. Each of these styles of modeling has its strengths and weaknesses. This paper introduces a partial solution to the issue of multiplicity vs. singularity in modeling by adopting UML use cases and class models into the conceptual thinging machine (TM) model. To apply use cases, we adopt the observation that a use-case diagram is a description that shows the internal structure of the part of the system represented by the use case in addition to being useful to people outside of the system. Additionally, the UML class diagram is recast in TM representation. Accordingly, we develop a TMUML model that embraces the TM specification of the UML class diagram and the internal structure extracted from the UML use case. TMUML modeling introduces some of the advantages that have made UML a popular modeling language to TM modeling. At the same time, this approach supplies UML with partial model singularity. The paper details experimentation with TMUML using examples from the literature. Our results indicate that mixing UML with other models could be a viable approach., 10 pages, 18 figures

Process mining involves discovering, monitoring, and improving real processes by extracting knowledge from event logs in information systems. Process mining has become an important topic in recent years, as evidenced by a growing number of case studies and commercial tools. Current studies in this area assume that event records are created separately from a conceptual model (CM). Techniques are then used to discover missing processes and conformance with the CM, as well as for checks and enhancements. By contrast, in this paper we focus on modeling events as part of a tight multilevel CM that includes a static description, dynamics, events-log scheme, and monitoring and control system. If there is an out-of-model event log, it is treated as a requirement needed to build or enrich the CM. The motivation for such a unified system is our thesis that process mining is an essential component of a CM with built-in mining capabilities to perform self-process mining and attain completeness. Accordingly, our proposed conceptual model facilitates collecting data generated about itself. The resultant framework emphasizes an integrated representation of systems to include process-mining functionalities. Case studies that start with event logs are recast to evolve around a model-first approach that is not limited to the initial event log. The result presents a framework that achieves the aims of process mining in a more comprehensive way, 10 pages, 21 figures

Transdisciplinarity implementation remains a challenge in projects that bring together disciplinary actors while it is essential for modeling complex problems, such as data analysis to produce narratives. In this article, we explain how this approach, applied to the case of data journalism, allowed us upstream to identify a research problem and downstream to build draw a methodology and a common language, in particular through the use of conceptual models. Thanks to its graphic formalizations, this tool, initially thought of as a step for software design, allowed all the actors of the project to build and validate the mode at each stage, La mise en œuvre effective de la transdisciplinarité reste une gageure dans les projets qui rassemblent des acteurs disciplinaires alors qu’elle est indispensable pour modéliser des problèmes complexes, comme la recherche et le traitement de l’information pour produire des narrations à partir de données. Dans cet article, nous expliquons en quoi cette approche, appliquée au cas du data journalisme, a fait émerger en amont une problématique de recherche et a ébauché en aval une méthodologie et un langage communs, notamment par le recours à des modèles conceptuels. De par ses formalisations graphiques, cet outil, initialement pensé comme une étape pour la conception logicielle, a permis à tous les acteurs du projet de construire et valider le modèle au fur et à mesure.

Data modeling is a process of developing a model to design and develop a data system that supports an organization s various business processes. A conceptual data model represents a technology-independent specification of structure of data to be stored within a database. The model aims at providing richer expressiveness and incorporating a set of semantics to (a) support the design, control, and integrity parts of the data stored in data management structures and (b) coordinate viewing of connections and ideas on a database. The described structure of the data is often represented in an entity-relationship (ER) model, which was one of the first data-modeling techniques and is likely to continue to be a popular way of characterizing entity classes, attributes and relationships. This paper is an attempt to examine the basic ER modeling notions to analyze the concepts to which they refer as well as ways to represent them. In such a mission, we apply a new modeling methodology (thinging machine; TM) to ER in terms of its fundamental building constructs, representation entities, relationships and attributes. The goal of this venture is to further the understanding of data models and enrich their semantics. Three specific contributions to modeling in this context are incorporated: (a) using the TM model s five generic actions to inject processing in the ER structure; (b) relating the single ontological element of TM modeling (i.e., a thing/machine or thimac) to ER entities and relationships; and (c) proposing a high-level integrated, extended ER model that includes structural and time-oriented notions (e.g., events or behavior)., Comment: 14 pages, 28 figures

The physiology of the sow mammary gland is qualitatively well described and understood. However, the quantitative effect of various biological mechanisms contributing to the synthesis of colostrum and milk is lacking and more complicated to obtain. The objective of this study was to integrate physiological and empirical knowledge of the production of colostrum and milk in a dynamic model of a single sow mammary gland to understand and quantify parameters controlling mammary gland output. In 1983, Heather Neal and John Thornley published a model of the mammary gland in cattle, which was used as a starting point for the development of this model. The original cattle model was reparameterized, modified, and extended to describe the production of milk by the sow mammary gland during lactation and the prepartum production of colostrum as the combined output of immunoglobulins (Ig) and milk. Initially, the model was reparameterized to simulate milk synthesis potential of a single gland by considering biological characteristics and empirical estimations of sows and piglets. Secondly, the model was modified to simulate more accurately the responses to changes in milk removal rates. This was done by linking the ejectable milk storage capacity to the number of secretory cells rather than being constant throughout lactation. Finally, the model was extended to include the prepartum synthesis of milk and the kinetics of Ig into and out of the mammary gland. A progressive capacity of secretory cells to synthesize milk was used to differentiate the time between the onset of milk synthesis and Ig transfer. Changes in maximum milk removal rate, duration of milk ejection, and nursing interval exerted a great impact on the modeled milk output. Changes by ±60% in one of these parameters were capable of increasing milk output by 28% to 39% during the first 4 wk in lactation compared with the reference parameterization. This suggests that the ability of the piglet to remove milk from the gland exerts a key control on milk synthesis during lactation. Modeling colostrum as the combined output of Ig and milk allowed to represent the rapid decline in Ig concentration observed during the first hours after farrowing. In conclusion, biological and empirical knowledge was integrated into a model of the sow mammary gland and constitutes a simple approach to explore in which conditions and to what extent individual parameters influence Ig kinetics and milk production.

International audience; The generation of an optimum planning problem and search for its solution are very complex regarding different business contexts. Generally, the problem is addressed by an optimization formulation and an optimizer is used to find a solution. This is a classical approach for the Operations Research (OR) community. However, business experts often need to express specific requirements and planning goals mathematically on a case by case basis. They also need to compute a planning result within various business constraints. In this paper, we try to support these experts during this preliminary problem design phase using a model driven engineering framework. An OR model could be generated from the knowledge included in a business conceptual model. A model to model transformation is described to support this goal. The Traveling Salesman Problem is used as a simple case study that allows explanation of our model transformation rules. We implemented our approach in the ADOxx meta-modelling Platform.

International audience; Over half of the nonpolar glacial watersheds are found in the Himala-7 yas and they are sources of water for billions of people. Understanding how var-8 iations in precipitation and snowmelt will affect their lives is thus of prime inter-9 est. As very scarce data are available, modeling should be adapted. The proposed 10 hydrological framework is based on the distributed conceptual model HBV set 11 up to account for snowmelt in the Greater Hymalayas. Spatialization is carried 12 out with respect to terrain constraints (hydrology, land cover, elevation). Applied 13 to the Kunhar's watershed, this reveals the key role of correlated temperature and 14 elevation variables. 15

User needs for software features and interfaces are diverse and changing, motivating the goal of making it as easy as possible for users themselves to change software, or to have it changed on their behalf in response to their developing needs. However, in my opinion, current approaches do not address this issue adequately: software engineering promotes flexible code, but in practice this does not help end-users effect change in their software. End-user and live programming systems help users customize their interfaces by accessing and modifying the underlying source code. I take a different approach, seeking to maximize the kinds of modifications that can take place through regular interactions, e.g. direct manipulation of interface elements. I call this approach malleable software. To understand contemporary needs for and barriers to modifying software, I study how it is produced, maintained, adopted, and appropriated in a network of communities working with biodiversity data. I find that the mode of software production, i.e. the technologies and economic relations that produce software, is biased towards centralized, one-size-fits-all systems. This leads me to propose a long-term, interdisciplinary research program in reforming the tools of software development to create infrastructures for plurality. These tools should help multiple communities collaborate without forcing them to consolidate around identical interfaces or data representations. Malleable software is one such infrastructure, in which interactive systems are dynamic constellations of interfaces, devices, and programs assembled at the site of use. My technological contribution is a reconstruction of the programming mechanisms used to create interactive behavior. I generalize existing control structures for interaction as entanglements, and develop a higher-order control structure, entanglers, which produces entanglements when particular pre-conditions, called co-occurrences, are met. Entanglers cause interactions to be assembled dynamically as system components come and go. I develop these mechanisms in Tangler, a prototype environment for building malleable interactive software. I demonstrate how Tangler supports malleability through a set of benchmark cases illustrating how users can modify systems by themselves or with programmer assistance. This thesis is an early step towards a paradigm for programming and designing malleable software that can keep up with human diversity.; Les besoins des utilisateurs en matière de fonctionnalités et d'interfaces logicielles sont variés et changeants. Mon objectif est de permettre aux utilisateurs eux-mêmes de facilement modifier ou faire modifier leur logiciel en fonction de l'évolution de leurs besoins. Toutefois, à mon avis, les approches actuelles ne traitent pas cette question de façon adéquate : L'ingénierie logicielle favorise la flexibilité du code mais, dans la pratique, cela n'aide pas les utilisateurs finaux à apporter des changements à leurs logiciels. Les systèmes permettant à l'utilisateur de programmer en direct (“live programming”) ou de modifier le code du logiciel (“end-user programming”) permettent aux utilisateurs de personnaliser les interfaces de leur logiciel en accédant et modifiant le code source. J'adopte une approche différente, qui cherche à maximiser les modifications qui peuvent être faites à travers des interactions habituelles, par exemple la manipulation directe d'éléments d'interface. J'appelle cette approche la malléabilité logicielle. Pour comprendre les besoins des utilisateurs et les obstacles à la modification des logiciels interactifs, j'étudie comment les logiciels actuels sont produits, maintenus, adoptés et appropriés dans un réseau de communautés travaillant avec des données sur la biodiversité. Je montre que le mode de production des logiciels, c'est-à-dire les technologies et les modèles économiques qui les produisent, est biaisé en faveur de systèmes centralisés et uniformisés. Cela m'amène à proposer un programme de recherche interdisciplinaire à long terme pour repenser les outils de développement logiciel afin de créer des infrastructures pour la pluralité. Ces outils peuvent aider de multiples communautés à collaborer sans les forcer à adopter des interfaces ou représentations de données identiques. Le logiciel malléable représente une telle infrastructure, dans laquelle les systèmes interactifs sont des constellations dynamiques d'interfaces, de dispositifs et de programmes construits au moment de leur utilisation. Ma contribution technologique est de recréer des mécanismes de programmation pour concevoir des comportements interactifs. Je généralise les structures de contrôle existantes pour l'interaction en ce que j’appelle des intrications (“entanglements”). J'élabore une structure de contrôle d'ordre supérieur, les intricateurs (“entanglers”), qui produisent ces intrications lorsque des conditions préalables particulières sont remplies. Ces conditions préalables sont appelées co-occurrences. Les intricateurs organisent l'assemblage des interactions dynamiquement en fonction des besoins des composants du système. Je développe ces mécanismes dans Tangler, un prototype d’environnement pour la construction de logiciels interactifs malléables. Je démontre comment Tangler supporte la malléabilité à travers un ensemble de cas d'étude illustrant comment les utilisateurs peuvent modifier les systèmes par eux-mêmes ou avec l'aide d'un programmeur. Cette thèse est un premier pas vers un paradigme de programmation et de conception de logiciels malléables capables de s'adapter à la diversité des usages et des utilisateurs.

User needs for software features and interfaces are diverse and changing, motivating the goal of making it as easy as possible for users themselves to change software, or to have it changed on their behalf in response to their developing needs. However, in my opinion, current approaches do not address this issue adequately: software engineering promotes flexible code, but in practice this does not help end-users effect change in their software. End-user and live programming systems help users customize their interfaces by accessing and modifying the underlying source code. I take a different approach, seeking to maximize the kinds of modifications that can take place through regular interactions, e.g. direct manipulation of interface elements. I call this approach malleable software. To understand contemporary needs for and barriers to modifying software, I study how it is produced, maintained, adopted, and appropriated in a network of communities working with biodiversity data. I find that the mode of software production, i.e. the technologies and economic relations that produce software, is biased towards centralized, one-size-fits-all systems. This leads me to propose a long-term, interdisciplinary research program in reforming the tools of software development to create infrastructures for plurality. These tools should help multiple communities collaborate without forcing them to consolidate around identical interfaces or data representations. Malleable software is one such infrastructure, in which interactive systems are dynamic constellations of interfaces, devices, and programs assembled at the site of use. My technological contribution is a reconstruction of the programming mechanisms used to create interactive behavior. I generalize existing control structures for interaction as entanglements, and develop a higher-order control structure, entanglers, which produces entanglements when particular pre-conditions, called co-occurrences, are met. Entanglers cause interactions to be assembled dynamically as system components come and go. I develop these mechanisms in Tangler, a prototype environment for building malleable interactive software. I demonstrate how Tangler supports malleability through a set of benchmark cases illustrating how users can modify systems by themselves or with programmer assistance. This thesis is an early step towards a paradigm for programming and designing malleable software that can keep up with human diversity.; Les besoins des utilisateurs en matière de fonctionnalités et d'interfaces logicielles sont variés et changeants. Mon objectif est de permettre aux utilisateurs eux-mêmes de facilement modifier ou faire modifier leur logiciel en fonction de l'évolution de leurs besoins. Toutefois, à mon avis, les approches actuelles ne traitent pas cette question de façon adéquate : L'ingénierie logicielle favorise la flexibilité du code mais, dans la pratique, cela n'aide pas les utilisateurs finaux à apporter des changements à leurs logiciels. Les systèmes permettant à l'utilisateur de programmer en direct (“live programming”) ou de modifier le code du logiciel (“end-user programming”) permettent aux utilisateurs de personnaliser les interfaces de leur logiciel en accédant et modifiant le code source. J'adopte une approche différente, qui cherche à maximiser les modifications qui peuvent être faites à travers des interactions habituelles, par exemple la manipulation directe d'éléments d'interface. J'appelle cette approche la malléabilité logicielle. Pour comprendre les besoins des utilisateurs et les obstacles à la modification des logiciels interactifs, j'étudie comment les logiciels actuels sont produits, maintenus, adoptés et appropriés dans un réseau de communautés travaillant avec des données sur la biodiversité. Je montre que le mode de production des logiciels, c'est-à-dire les technologies et les modèles économiques qui les produisent, est biaisé en faveur de systèmes centralisés et uniformisés. Cela m'amène à proposer un programme de recherche interdisciplinaire à long terme pour repenser les outils de développement logiciel afin de créer des infrastructures pour la pluralité. Ces outils peuvent aider de multiples communautés à collaborer sans les forcer à adopter des interfaces ou représentations de données identiques. Le logiciel malléable représente une telle infrastructure, dans laquelle les systèmes interactifs sont des constellations dynamiques d'interfaces, de dispositifs et de programmes construits au moment de leur utilisation. Ma contribution technologique est de recréer des mécanismes de programmation pour concevoir des comportements interactifs. Je généralise les structures de contrôle existantes pour l'interaction en ce que j’appelle des intrications (“entanglements”). J'élabore une structure de contrôle d'ordre supérieur, les intricateurs (“entanglers”), qui produisent ces intrications lorsque des conditions préalables particulières sont remplies. Ces conditions préalables sont appelées co-occurrences. Les intricateurs organisent l'assemblage des interactions dynamiquement en fonction des besoins des composants du système. Je développe ces mécanismes dans Tangler, un prototype d’environnement pour la construction de logiciels interactifs malléables. Je démontre comment Tangler supporte la malléabilité à travers un ensemble de cas d'étude illustrant comment les utilisateurs peuvent modifier les systèmes par eux-mêmes ou avec l'aide d'un programmeur. Cette thèse est un premier pas vers un paradigme de programmation et de conception de logiciels malléables capables de s'adapter à la diversité des usages et des utilisateurs.

International audience; Description : Nicola Guarino is widely recognized as one of the founders of applied ontology. His deep interest in the subtlest details of theoretical analysis and his vision of ontology as the Rosetta Stone for semantic interoperability guided the development and understanding of this domain. His motivations in research stem from the conviction that all science must be for the benefit of society at large, and his motto has always been that ontologies are not just for making information systems interoperable, but – more importantly – for ensuring that systems’ users understand each other. He was among the first to recognize that applied ontology must be an interdisciplinary enterprise if it is to capture the intended meaning of the terms used by an information system. This book is a collection of essays written in homage to Nicola Guarino; a tribute to his many scientific contributions to the discipline of applied ontology. The papers presented here reflect the wide variety of research topics that marked Nicola's impact on the applied ontology community. They are grouped according to the five general areas addressed by Nicola in his career: what is an ontology; knowledge engineering; ontologies and language; ontological categories and relationships; and ontologies and applications.Nicola Guarino's work and dedication will undoubtedly continue to influence the applied ontology community, and this book will be of interest to the many researchers aiming to establish ontologically sound bases for their research areas.

Safety is an emergent property of safety critical systems (SCS), including railway systems. This emergent aspect exacerbates their development process and requires a thorough reasoning to reduce hazards. This thesis proposes an ontological approach that integrates safety activities from the early design stages of SCS. This structured framework provides a semantic harmonization between the involved domains, such as safety engineering and Goal Oriented Requirements Engineering (GORE). The business logic integrated in this approach is validated by real rail accident scenarios and a remotely operated task. At first, we proposed a dysfunctional analysis ontology called DAO and based on the high-level ontology UFO. DAO considers the socio-technical and environmental aspects of SCS and integrates the different types of faults and cognitive properties that are respectively related to technical failures and human errors. The DAO conceptual model is expressed in OntoUML and formalized in OWL language in order to provide a reasoning support. Then, a semantic bridge is established between safety measures, safety goals and safety requirements through the development of a goal-oriented security management ontology, called GOSMO. The management of safety decisions is based on the reinterpretation of the Or-Bac access control model from a safety point of view. In order to ensure the overall consistency of requirements, GOSMO allows structuring the management of requirements changes and their traceability, La sécurité-innocuité est une propriété émergente des systèmes critiques de sécurité (SCS), notamment les systèmes ferroviaires. Cet aspect émergent complexifie leur processus du développement et nécessite un raisonnement judicieux permettant de diminuer les dangers. Cette thèse propose une approche ontologique qui intègre les activités de sécurité dès les premières phases de conception des SCS. Ce cadre structuré offre une harmonisation sémantique entre les domaines impliqués, tels que l'ingénierie de sécurité et l'Ingénierie des Exigences Dirigée par les Buts (IEDB). La logique métier intégrée dans cette approche est validée par des cas d'étude ferroviaires d'accidents réels et d'une mission télé-opérée. Dans un premier temps, nous avons proposé une ontologie d'analyse dysfonctionnelle appelée DAO et fondée sur l'ontologie de haut niveau UFO. DAO considère les aspects sociaux-techniques et environnementaux des SCS et intègre les différents types de fautes et de propriétés cognitives liés respectivement aux défaillances techniques et aux erreurs humaines. Le modèle conceptuel de DAO est exprimé en OntoUML et formalisé en langage OWL afin de fournir un support de raisonnement. Ensuite, un pont sémantique est établi entre les mesures de sécurité, les buts de sécurité et les exigences de sécurité par le développement d'une ontologie de gestion de sécurité orientée-but, appelée GOSMO. La gestion des décisions de sécurité s’appuie sur la réinterprétation du modèle de contrôle d'accès Or-Bac d'un point de vue sécurité-innocuité. Afin d'assurer la cohérence globale des exigences, GOSMO permet de structurer la gestion des évolutions des exigences et leur traçabilité.

Part 7: Teaching Challenges; International audience; OntoREA© is a specification of the Accounting and Finance domain in the OntoUML language [1]. In a previous article [2] the authors use a forward contract financial derivative instrument to demonstrate the validity of the OntoREA© model within the design science research methodology (DSRM) [3]. A forward contract does not change over time and therefore can be modelled as static hedge portfolio composition. However, it is of interest if the OntoREA© model can also hold true for dynamic hedge portfolio compositions, as induced by option contract financial derivative instruments. This article investigates on that and delivers proof that the OntoREA© model is suitable for option contracts as well. Through adequately refining the platform specific database model (PSM) the policy’s dynamic nature can be demonstrated. Moreover, including a Plan/Do/Check/Act (PDCA) process model for the specification of the option contract replication also demonstrates the information processing in the REA accounting infrastructure. The proposed approach is implemented into an R/Shiny software prototype where the 3-tier-architecture is used to integrate the database and the PDCA process model at the R/Shiny implementation specific model (ISM) level. The presented hedge portfolio representation of derivatives can be useful for business analysts in the finance and accounting domain as well as for teaching financial derivative instruments.

Part 4: Reviews and Analyses of Modeling Methods; International audience; Metamodels play a pivotal role in conceptual modeling as they manifest the abstraction level applied when creating conceptual models. Consequently, design decisions made by the metamodel developer determine utility, capabilities, and expressiveness of the conceptual modeling language - and eventually the created models. However, only limited research defines and applies metrics for analyzing the structure and capabilities of a metamodel, and eventually support the development of new metamodels. This not only concerns general-purpose modeling languages, but also domain-specific ones, which usually undergo shorter update cycles. The paper at hand introduces a generic analysis framework to syntactically analyze modeling languages. The framework is applied to 40 metamodels of domain-specific conceptual modeling languages (DSML). This research establishes a foundation to support metamodel development in the future. The contribution of this paper is threefold: (i) an analysis framework for conceptual modeling method metamodels is proposed, (ii) results from applying this framework to 40 ADOxx-based DSML metamodels are presented, and (iii) a human-based reasoning after comparison of these results with Ecore-based metamodels is conducted.

Urban runoff contamination is recognized as a major source of the deterioration of the quality of surface water. Commonly used stormwater quality models have poor performance in predicting the pollutant dynamics at the surface outlet, mainly due to the lack of precise knowledge on the governing processes and the difficulties of acquiring representative and continuous databases on real sites. The main purpose of this Ph.D. thesis is to improve the state of stormwater quality modeling. It aims in particular to develop a conceptual modeling tool for stormwater quality prediction at the scale of a city district catchment, based on a deep understanding of the build-up and the wash-off. The application of commonly used stormwater build-up/wash-off models to simulate the dynamics of total suspended solids (TSS) at the outlet of the road catchment suggests that the models poorly replicate the temporal variability of the TSS concentrations unless short periods are considered. The unpredictable nature of the accumulation is largely responsible for the model failure. The evaluation of the contribution of atmospheric dry deposition to stormwater loads for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals shows that atmospheric deposition is not a major source of contaminants in stormwater runoff. Thus, linking the air and water compartment in a modeling chain to have more accurate estimates of pollutant loads in stormwater runoff may not be relevant unless the direct traffic emissions are accounted for. The investigation of the wash-off process on elementary surfaces shows that the fine particles are the most likely to be mobilized and transported during a rainfall event. Stormwater samples were collected for this study using an innovative rainfall simulator that allows continuous, on-site monitoring of instantaneous flow and turbidity measurements and that can be easily transported and used on real sites. The new knowledge acquired on the build-up and wash-off processes underlines the great variability of these processes and calls into question their modeling with deterministic approaches. Hence, this knowledge is incorporated into developing a new conceptual stormwater quality model based on the stochastic drawing of event mean concentrations (EMC) of TSS and water quality parameters. The model is integrated within the hydrological model URBS. The application of this approach accounts for the spatial and temporal variability of pollutant emissions by distinguishing the contributions of each land use separately. The obtained results are promising in terms of estimating the concentration levels of TSS at the outlet of the city district catchment and replicating the general behavior of the TSS dynamics. However, improvements can be envisaged to consolidate the approach and improve its predictions. Comparison of this model with global empirical, semi-distributed conceptual and distributed physical modeling approaches shows that in terms of predictive power and stability, the stochastic-URBS and the physically distributed approaches are the most efficient. However, in terms of ease of implementation and best fit between observations and simulations, the global empirical and semi-distributed conceptual modeling approaches are the most powerful. This comparison shows that the perfect model that covers all aspects of stormwater quality modeling does not exist. The choice of the most appropriate modeling approach should mainly be driven by modeling objectives, La maîtrise de la contamination générée par temps de pluie en milieu urbain constitue un enjeu environnemental important pour limiter la dégradation des milieux aquatiques superficiels. Les outils de modélisation traditionnelle utilisés pour estimer les flux de polluants dans les eaux de ruissellement sont jugés insuffisants dans leur capacité à reproduire les dynamiques des polluants à l’exutoire. Cela est souvent lié au manque de connaissances précises sur les processus en jeu d’une part, et d’autre part aux difficultés d’acquérir des bases de données représentatives et en continu sur des sites réels. Cette thèse a donc pour objectif d’améliorer l’état de la modélisation de la qualité. Elle vise en particulier le développement d’un outil de modélisation conceptuelle de la qualité des eaux de ruissellement à l’échelle du quartier, à partir d’une compréhension approfondie des processus d'accumulation et de lessivage. La simulation des pollutogrammes de matières en suspension (MES) à l’avaloir du bassin versant routier avec les modèles conceptuels d’accumulation-lessivage montre la faible performance des modèles pour estimer les dynamiques d’émissions de MES pour des longues périodes ; la variabilité du processus d’accumulation est le responsable principal de l’inadéquation de ces modèles. L’évaluation de la contribution des retombées atmosphériques sèches à la contamination des eaux de ruissellement en hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAPs) et métaux montrent que l’atmosphère ne joue qu’un rôle très mineur dans la contamination des eaux de ruissellement par ces substances. Ainsi le couplage des modèles atmosphériques, qui ne tiennent pas compte des émissions directes liées au trafic, avec les modèles de qualité de l’eau, ne semble pas très pertinent dans l’objectif d’améliorer la prédiction de la contamination des eaux pluviales à l’exutoire. L’investigation à la micro-échelle du mécanisme de lessivage montre que les particules fines sont les plus susceptibles d’être mobilisées par le ruissellement. Cette étude a été menée en utilisant un simulateur de pluie innovant qui présente les avantages d’être mobile et léger, et la possibilité d’avoir des enregistrements en ligne du débit et de la turbidité. Les nouvelles connaissances acquises sur les processus soulignent une grande variabilité qui remet en cause l'intérêt de leur modélisation avec des approches déterministes. Ces connaissances sont intégrées à l’échelle du quartier pour développer un outil de modélisation conceptuelle basé sur une approche stochastique d'estimation de la concentration moyenne de MES et des paramètres de qualité. Le modèle développé est intégré dans le modèle hydrologique URBS. L’application de ce modèle permet d’intégrer la variabilité spatiale et temporelle des émissions en distinguant les contributions de chaque occupation du sol. Les résultats sont prometteurs en termes d’estimation des niveaux de concentration de MES à l’exutoire du bassin versant et de réplication du comportement général de la dynamique de MES, cependant des améliorations peuvent être envisagés pour consolider l’approche et améliorer ses prédictions. La comparaison de ce modèle avec des approches de modélisation empirique globale, conceptuelle semi-distribuée et physique distribuée, montre qu’en termes de pouvoir prédictif et de fiabilité, l’approche URBS-stochastique en parallèle avec l’approche de modélisation physique distribuée sont les plus performantes. En termes de simplicité d’implémentation et d’ajustement entre les observations et les simulations, les approches de modélisation empirique globale et conceptuelle semi-distribuée sont les plus puissantes. A l’issue de cette comparaison, il est clair qu’il n’existe pas un modèle parfait qui couvre toutes les caractéristiques de la modélisation de la qualité des eaux de ruissellement. Le choix de l’approche de modélisation la plus appropriée doit se faire en fonction des objectifs attendus par le modélisateur

Urban runoff contamination is recognized as a major source of the deterioration of the quality of surface water. Commonly used stormwater quality models have poor performance in predicting the pollutant dynamics at the surface outlet, mainly due to the lack of precise knowledge on the governing processes and the difficulties of acquiring representative and continuous databases on real sites. The main purpose of this Ph.D. thesis is to improve the state of stormwater quality modeling. It aims in particular to develop a conceptual modeling tool for stormwater quality prediction at the scale of a city district catchment, based on a deep understanding of the build-up and the wash-off. The application of commonly used stormwater build-up/wash-off models to simulate the dynamics of total suspended solids (TSS) at the outlet of the road catchment suggests that the models poorly replicate the temporal variability of the TSS concentrations unless short periods are considered. The unpredictable nature of the accumulation is largely responsible for the model failure. The evaluation of the contribution of atmospheric dry deposition to stormwater loads for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals shows that atmospheric deposition is not a major source of contaminants in stormwater runoff. Thus, linking the air and water compartment in a modeling chain to have more accurate estimates of pollutant loads in stormwater runoff may not be relevant unless the direct traffic emissions are accounted for. The investigation of the wash-off process on elementary surfaces shows that the fine particles are the most likely to be mobilized and transported during a rainfall event. Stormwater samples were collected for this study using an innovative rainfall simulator that allows continuous, on-site monitoring of instantaneous flow and turbidity measurements and that can be easily transported and used on real sites. The new knowledge acquired on the build-up and wash-off processes underlines the great variability of these processes and calls into question their modeling with deterministic approaches. Hence, this knowledge is incorporated into developing a new conceptual stormwater quality model based on the stochastic drawing of event mean concentrations (EMC) of TSS and water quality parameters. The model is integrated within the hydrological model URBS. The application of this approach accounts for the spatial and temporal variability of pollutant emissions by distinguishing the contributions of each land use separately. The obtained results are promising in terms of estimating the concentration levels of TSS at the outlet of the city district catchment and replicating the general behavior of the TSS dynamics. However, improvements can be envisaged to consolidate the approach and improve its predictions. Comparison of this model with global empirical, semi-distributed conceptual and distributed physical modeling approaches shows that in terms of predictive power and stability, the stochastic-URBS and the physically distributed approaches are the most efficient. However, in terms of ease of implementation and best fit between observations and simulations, the global empirical and semi-distributed conceptual modeling approaches are the most powerful. This comparison shows that the perfect model that covers all aspects of stormwater quality modeling does not exist. The choice of the most appropriate modeling approach should mainly be driven by modeling objectives; La maîtrise de la contamination générée par temps de pluie en milieu urbain constitue un enjeu environnemental important pour limiter la dégradation des milieux aquatiques superficiels. Les outils de modélisation traditionnelle utilisés pour estimer les flux de polluants dans les eaux de ruissellement sont jugés insuffisants dans leur capacité à reproduire les dynamiques des polluants à l’exutoire. Cela est souvent lié au manque de connaissances précises sur les processus en jeu d’une part, et d’autre part aux difficultés d’acquérir des bases de données représentatives et en continu sur des sites réels. Cette thèse a donc pour objectif d’améliorer l’état de la modélisation de la qualité. Elle vise en particulier le développement d’un outil de modélisation conceptuelle de la qualité des eaux de ruissellement à l’échelle du quartier, à partir d’une compréhension approfondie des processus d'accumulation et de lessivage. La simulation des pollutogrammes de matières en suspension (MES) à l’avaloir du bassin versant routier avec les modèles conceptuels d’accumulation-lessivage montre la faible performance des modèles pour estimer les dynamiques d’émissions de MES pour des longues périodes ; la variabilité du processus d’accumulation est le responsable principal de l’inadéquation de ces modèles. L’évaluation de la contribution des retombées atmosphériques sèches à la contamination des eaux de ruissellement en hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAPs) et métaux montrent que l’atmosphère ne joue qu’un rôle très mineur dans la contamination des eaux de ruissellement par ces substances. Ainsi le couplage des modèles atmosphériques, qui ne tiennent pas compte des émissions directes liées au trafic, avec les modèles de qualité de l’eau, ne semble pas très pertinent dans l’objectif d’améliorer la prédiction de la contamination des eaux pluviales à l’exutoire. L’investigation à la micro-échelle du mécanisme de lessivage montre que les particules fines sont les plus susceptibles d’être mobilisées par le ruissellement. Cette étude a été menée en utilisant un simulateur de pluie innovant qui présente les avantages d’être mobile et léger, et la possibilité d’avoir des enregistrements en ligne du débit et de la turbidité. Les nouvelles connaissances acquises sur les processus soulignent une grande variabilité qui remet en cause l'intérêt de leur modélisation avec des approches déterministes. Ces connaissances sont intégrées à l’échelle du quartier pour développer un outil de modélisation conceptuelle basé sur une approche stochastique d'estimation de la concentration moyenne de MES et des paramètres de qualité. Le modèle développé est intégré dans le modèle hydrologique URBS. L’application de ce modèle permet d’intégrer la variabilité spatiale et temporelle des émissions en distinguant les contributions de chaque occupation du sol. Les résultats sont prometteurs en termes d’estimation des niveaux de concentration de MES à l’exutoire du bassin versant et de réplication du comportement général de la dynamique de MES, cependant des améliorations peuvent être envisagés pour consolider l’approche et améliorer ses prédictions. La comparaison de ce modèle avec des approches de modélisation empirique globale, conceptuelle semi-distribuée et physique distribuée, montre qu’en termes de pouvoir prédictif et de fiabilité, l’approche URBS-stochastique en parallèle avec l’approche de modélisation physique distribuée sont les plus performantes. En termes de simplicité d’implémentation et d’ajustement entre les observations et les simulations, les approches de modélisation empirique globale et conceptuelle semi-distribuée sont les plus puissantes. A l’issue de cette comparaison, il est clair qu’il n’existe pas un modèle parfait qui couvre toutes les caractéristiques de la modélisation de la qualité des eaux de ruissellement. Le choix de l’approche de modélisation la plus appropriée doit se faire en fonction des objectifs attendus par le modélisateur

Prosopographic databases, which allow the study of social groups through their bibliography, are used today by a significant number of historians. Computerization has allowed intensive and large-scale exploitation of these databases. The modeling of these proposopographic databases has given rise to several data models. An important problem is to ensure a level of quality of the stored information. In this article , we propose a generic data model allowing to describe most of the existing prosopographic databases and to enrich them by integrating several quality concepts such as uncertainty, reliability, accuracy or completeness.

International audience; Classically, Data Warehouses (DWs) supports business analyses on data coming from the inside of an organization. Nevertheless, Lined Open Data (LOD) might sensibly complete these business analyses by providing complementary perspectives during a decision-making pro-cess. In this paper, we propose a conceptual modeling solution, named Unified Cube, which blends together multidimensional data from DWs and LOD datasets without materializing them in a stationary repository. We complete the conceptual modeling with an implementation frame-work which manages the relations between a Unified Cube and multiple data sources at both schema and instance levels. We also propose an analysis processing process which queries different sources in a transparent way to decision-makers. The practical value of our proposal is illustrated through real-world data and benchmarks.

International audience; This article presents a middle-out approach to build legal domain reference ontology for a Legal Knowledge Based System (LKBS). The proposed approach is a combination of top-down and bottom-up strategies. In particular, we propose to develop legal domain reference ontology, splitted into modules or fragments, based on merging two processes: Conceptual Modeling Process, by reusing foundational ontologies (top-down strategy) and Ontology Learning Process from textual resources (bottom-up strategy).

Part 9: Simulation and Virtual Environments; International audience; PLM tools mainly refer information systems based on a wide graph representing linked information. Such a PLM model is compatible with a meta-model often expressed in UML. UML graphics diagrams are paradigms to support sharing and understanding the concepts and relationships that must be supported by the PLM tool. Nevertheless instance diagrams contain so many objects that it is hard to present them in a holistic view that can be easily shared by collaborators. This paper presents a 3D approach to visualize an Object-Process Methodology (OPM) model, which provides a single holistic view of a complex system and supports sharing among collaborating parties. This approach has been applied to managing the complex information related to VISIONAIR – a European visualization infrastructure project, successfully enabling the management of 123 simultaneous projects.

International audience; The area of risk management in geo-hazards is fairly complex due to extreme and unpredictable climatic events. Studies of natural hazard, risk and vulnerability have increased significantly in the last 20-25 years leading to a marked improvements in our understanding of core issues at the heart of these concepts. Emergence of vulnerability is the core concept for understanding what it is about the condition of people and their socio-economic and environmental interactions that enables hazard to become a disaster. This notion entails the predisposition of specific system, society, land, community or even region to be affected and do not conquer with disaster. Being dynamic concept vulnerability assessment is varying across temporal and spatial scale. Generally the term used to assess and manage risk that a system undergoes from negative change owing perturbation. This study is conducted in Bar-Sur-Loup located in south-east of France. The aim of study is to identify territorial components/issues that play significant role in formulating territorial vulnerability, realize territorial vulnerability by developing conceptual model to risk of rainfall induces shallow landslide and application of GIS based methodology to map vulnerability of teritorial elements at risk. The choice of this territory is vital due to its geographic location, increased urbanization, industrialization and limited access to transportation system. In this regard the realization of territorial vulnerability seems very complex and interrelated and needs to be considered different factors based on their quantitative and qualitative analysis. We have identified and realized 11 territorial issues and map each issue with respect to risk of rainfall induced shallow landslide. These issues include, issues of population (density of population), vulnerability of built environment (residential building and industries), and object oriented critical infrastructure (hospitals, emergency services, mayor office, indication of safe zones), network oriented infrastructure (roads, tunnels, bridges, electricity etc).

International audience; AbstractAgroecosystems represent 38 % of global land use. Agroecosystems are located close to human settlements and are managed to produce food and fibers, traded in markets. Agroecosystems also produce other goods and services essential to human beings, such as climate regulation, flood mitigation, and landscape amenity. Economists and ecologists have developed the ecosystem services framework to foster the provision of these non-commercial services. Scientists can therefore help decision makers to develop sustainable ecosystems by studying ecosystem services. Here, we analyze the trade-offs of ecosystem services of farming systems. We discuss case studies of mixed perennial crops. The set of ecosystem services provided by these agroecosystems depends on their composition, structure, and management. Complex rule-based management will be required if winegrowers are to maintain an adequate set of ecosystem services across contrasting climatic years. Innovations including cover crops in banana systems can fulfill most of the objective set but will rely on increased farm labor. We then discuss the advantages, challenges, and opportunities to include the description of relations between ecosystem services in cropping system design. We propose to extend the yield gap analysis to ecosystem services, as a service gap analysis. This extension faces methodological questions about the potential provision of a service in a region. We conclude on the challenges that need to be faced if we want to use ecosystem services trade-offs to improve the contribution of agricultural systems to human well-being.

International audience; The aim of the article is to clarify the conception and the implementation of the database for the description of urban areas and their evolution. In particular, it concerns the conception of computer models created to describe the history of urban and architectural facts. Several years ago, we worked on this theme in education and research context. For this study, the method evolved, based on the context of the “Observatoire Hommes-Milieux”, the “Bassin minier de Provence”. The new goal is to allow cartographic representations, which enable the researcher to follow in a heuristic manner, taking into consideration the constraints imposed by the historical research in the field of urban and architectural heritage.; L’article vise à rendre compte de la conception et de la mise en œuvre de bases de données décrivant l’évolution de territoires urbanisés. Il porte sur la modélisation de la dimension historique d’éléments architecturaux et urbains, qui s’appuie sur une première expérience réalisée dans un cadre d’enseignement et de recherche. Relevant d’une lecture systématique et continue du territoire, la méthode a évoluée lors d’une étude postérieure conduite dans le cadre de l’Observatoire Hommes-Milieux « Bassin minier de Provence ». Prenant en considération les contraintes imposées par la recherche historique dans le domaine du patrimoine architectural et urbain, l’objectif prioritaire est de permettre une production cartographique destinée à appuyer une démarche de recherche historique de nature heuristique

International audience; Many models have been proposed for modeling multidimensional data warehouse and most consider a same function to determine how measure values are aggregated according to different data detail levels. We provide a conceptual model that supports (1) multiple aggregations, associating to the same measure a different aggregation function according to analysis axes or hierarchies, and (2) differentiated aggregation, allowing specific aggregations at each detail level. Our model is based on a graphical formalism that allows controlling the validity of aggregation functions (distributive, algebraic or holistic). We also show how conceptual modeling can be used, in an R-OLAP environment, for building lattices of pre-computed aggregates.

International audience; A method defines a systematic process for problem solving including the required aids and resources. This paper aims at contributing to the area of method development and in particular to practices and experiences in this field by reporting on a case from conceptual modelling and reflecting on lessons learned in it. The contributions of the paper are (1) an application case from method development in a distributed team, (2) the actual method development process integrating work procedure, cooperation principles and notation, and (3) experiences and lessons learned from developing a method component for context modeling.

In the context of three European projects, our research team has developed a data model and query language for digital libraries supporting identification, structuring, metadata, and discovery and reuse of digital resources. The model is inspired by the Web and it is formalized as a first-order theory, certain models of which correspond to the notion of digital library. In addition, a full translation of the model to RDF and of the query language to SPARQL has been proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of the model and its suitability for practical applications. The choice of RDF is due to the fact that it is a generally accepted representation language in the context of digital libraries and the Semantic Web. One of the major aims of the thesis was to design and actually implement a simplified form of a digital library management system based on the theoretical model. To obtain this, we have developed a prototype based on RDF and SPARQL, which uses a RDF store to facilitate internal management of metadata. The prototype allows users to manage and query metadata of digital or non-digital resources in the system, using URIs as resource identifiers, a set of predicates to model descriptions of resources, and simple conjunctive queries to discover knowledge in the system. The prototype is implemented by using Java technologies and the Google Web Toolkit framework whose system architecture consists of a storage layer, a business logic layer, a service layer and a user interface. During the thesis work, the prototype was built, tested, and debugged locally and then deployed on Google App Engine. In the future, it will be expanded to become a full fledged digital library management system. Moreover, the thesis also presents our contribution to content generation by reuse. This is mostly theoretical work whose purpose is to enrich the model and query language by providing an important community service. The incorporation of this service in the implemented system is left to future work.; Dans le cadre de trois projets européens, notre équipe a mis au point un modèle de données et un langage de requête pour bibliothèques numériques supportant l'identification, la structuration, les métadonnées, la réutilisation, et la découverte des ressources numériques. Le modèle proposé est inspiré par le Web et il est formalisé comme une théorie du premier ordre, dont certains modèles correspondent à la notion de bibliothèque numérique. En outre, une traduction complète du modèle en RDF et du langage de requêtes en SPARQL a également été proposée pour démontrer son adéquation à des applications pratiques. Le choix de RDF est dû au fait qu’il est un langage de représentation généralement accepté dans le cadre des bibliothèques numériques et du Web sémantique. L’objectif de cette thèse était double: concevoir et mettre en œuvre une forme simplifiée de système de gestion de bibliothèques numériques, d’une part, et contribuer à l’enrichissement du modèle, d’autre part. Pour atteindre cet objectif nous avons développé un prototype d’un système de bibliothèque numérique utilisant un stockage RDF pour faciliter la gestion interne des métadonnées. Le prototype permet aux utilisateurs de gérer et d’interroger les métadonnées des ressources numériques ou non-numériques dans le système en utilisant des URIs pour identifier les ressources, un ensemble de prédicats pour la description de ressources, et des requêtes conjonctives simples pour la découverte de connaissances dans le système. Le prototype est mis en œuvre en utilisant les technologies Java et l’environnement de Google Web Toolkit dont l'architecture du système se compose d'une couche de stockage, d’une couche de métier logique, d’une couche de service, et d’une interface utilisateur. Pendant la thèse, le prototype a été construit, testé et débogué localement, puis déployé sur Google App Engine. Dans l’avenir, il peut être étendu pour devenir un système complet de gestion de bibliothèques numériques. Par ailleurs, la thèse présente également notre contribution à la génération de contenu par réutilisation de ressources. Il s’agit d’un travail théorique dont le but est d’enrichir le modèle en lui ajoutant un service important, à savoir la possibilité de création de nouvelles ressources à partir de celles stockées dans le système. L’incorporation de ce service dans le système sera effectuée ultérieurement.

The CAiSE’92 paper presented a tool called OICSI that used Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to support both the generation of an Information System (IS) conceptual schema from textual requirements and in the reverse way, schema paraphrasing to ease schema understanding and evaluation by stakeholders. Both topics have been of interest during the next 20 years among other new usages of NLP techniques in the context IS development. For sake of space, this paper concentrates on an overview of NLP techniques used as elicitation techniques.

Highlights ► We applied a conceptual modeling procedure in a transdisciplinary setting towards sustainable management of wetlands. ► We examined the capacity for scientist and non-scientist to work together in defining a consensual vision of the social-ecological system in analysis. ► We found that the procedure is appropriate for the setting and highly valued by participants due to the inherent systems thinking and possibility to share visions. ► Wetlands have been described mainly by their direct recreational value. ► A transdisciplinary setting implies distinct challenges than in an interdisciplinary setting; hence, both interactions are relevant towards sustainability.; International audience; Science and policy integration towards natural resource management is not novel; however it has not always been successful. Partially, this failure is explained by the lack of consideration of different forms of knowledge. In order to incorporate the diversity of knowledge, transdisciplinary has been proposed and, this paper tests conceptual modeling as a tool to promote it. Qualitative modeling is an intermediate step of Systems Approach Framework (SAF) that is a methodology towards the sustainability of social-ecological systems. SAF has been applied in Praia da Vitoria Bay, in the Azores to analyze the future use of wetlands. We promoted a workshop bringing together 18 stakeholders: scientists, managers, private sectors and Non-Governmental Organizations. This paper presents the procedures and discusses the observed interaction between participants, their views and, how the wetlands services were described. Results show that non-scientists found the exercise particularly challenging but with high value due to: the systemic view and, opportunity of sharing viewpoints. The wetlands were mostly described by the direct benefits. The results show that transdisciplinarity can be operationalized and that conceptual modeling is an adequate exercise to achieve it. However, interdisciplinary work and stakeholders' analysis are also necessary because the knowledge gathered is different.

International audience; Preface of the RIGIM Workshop on Requirements, Intentions, and Goals in Conceptual Modeling.

International audience; proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science, RCIS 2012.

International audience; Both the library and the museum communities have developed conceptual models for the information they produce about the collections they hold: FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records), and CIDOC CRM (Conceptual Reference Model). But neither proves perfectly adequate when it comes to some specific types of rare and unique materials: manuscripts, hand-press resources, annotated copies of printed books, art prints, and ephemera and clippings files. However, a combination of these two models, named FRBROO, solves the problem. The paper examines in detail how each of these types of resources is modeled according to FRBROO.

For a long time, polysemy used to be considered as a marginal or accidental phenomenon in language. Where as today, it is well known that polysemy is being part of linguistic systems. The first part of our thesis draws up a panorama of semantic theories dealing with polysemy. Although it is not exhaustive, it reveals how and why that phenomenon has become a problematic of the utmost significance in linguistics. From the distinction established by G. Kleiber (1999), we consider two major trends in accordance with the way they conceive the link between meaning, reference and polysemy. On one hand, polysemy is described in terms of one basic referential sense from which secondary senses derive (objectivism). On the other hand, polysemy is analyzed as an areferential semantic potential from which senses emerge by contextual mechanisms (constructivism). About the question of the meaning representation of polysems, we postulate that linguistic unities are associated with a structure of pieces of conceptual information into the mind of speakers-hearers, so that it is possible to elaborate of conceptual modeling of it. In the framework of Cognitive Grammar (R.W. Langacker), the structure is a network constituted of semantic values, which are more or less schematic, and of elaborated senses stemmed from them. The most schematic meaning corresponds to the linguistic conceptual link between its instantiations. Some elaborations are the senses which can be constructed in discourse. On the basis of D. Tuggy’s works (1993), we propose to organize the conceptual modelings of multiple meanings words along a continuum homonymy-polysemy-multifaciality-vagueness, in function of various parameters : entrenchment, cognitive salience, possibility of accessibility and of activation of the network components (schematic or elaborated values). So, we can highlight some organizational regularities specific to the semantic representation of polysems as well as a typology of polysemous senses. The third and last part of our thesis is dedicated to sense construction. In Cognitive Grammar, it is a non modulary, compositional and dynamic process. Focusing especially on the impact of context on the interpretation of complex expressions containing a polysem, the analysis of Adj-N and N-Adj noun phrases puts to the fore some regularities governing the activation of polysemic senses. These regularities are linked to the linguistic context (position and function of the adjective towards the qualified substantive) and to the extra-linguistic context, Tout d’abord perçue comme un phénomène marginal, presque un accident en langue, on considère aujourd’hui que la polysémie fait partie intégrante des systèmes linguistiques. De nombreuses théories se sont intéressées au phénomène des unités à sens multiples et reliés. La première partie de notre travail en dresse un panorama non exhaustif mais révélateur, montrant comment et pourquoi la polysémie s’est peu à peu imposée comme un phénomène incontournable qui doit nécessairement être au cœur de tout modèle de la signification. Aussi, à partir de la distinction établie par G. Kleiber (1999), nous considérons deux grands courants selon le rapport établi entre signification, référence et polysémie. Le premier décrit la polysémie en termes de sens premier référentiel dont sont dérivés des sens secondaires (courant objectiviste). Le second l’analyse en termes de potentiel sémantique aréférentiel à partir duquel est obtenu l’ensemble des sens du polysème par spécialisation ou enrichissement contextuel(le) (courant constructiviste). Notre réflexion porte ensuite sur la représentation de la signification des polysèmes – principalement des noms – en grammaire cognitive (R.W. Langacker). Nous postulons que toute expression est associée, dans l’appareil cognitif des locuteurs-auditeurs, à une structure conceptuelle d’informations représentant sa signification. Nous proposons une modélisation en réseau structuré autour de valeurs sémantiques plus ou moins schématiques et de sens élaborés. Ainsi, c’est la valeur la plus schématique qui permet de faire le lien en langue entre ses élaborations que sont les sens observables en discours. Sur la base des travaux de D. Tuggy (1993), nous déclinons les représentations de la signification des mots à sens multiples le long d’un continuum homonymie-polysémie-multifacialité-indétermination, selon les degrés d’enracinement, de saillance, et les possibilités d’accessibilité et d’activation des différents composants (valeur schématique et élaborations sémantiques). Et, nous mettons ainsi en avant certaines des régularités organisatrices propres aux représentations sémanticoconceptuelles des polysèmes nominaux, ainsi qu’une typologie des sens polysémiques. Nous abordons enfin la construction du sens en grammaire cognitive, notamment l’influence du contexte dans l’interprétation d’expressions complexes comportant un polysème. Ainsi, nous considérons qu’il s’agit d’un processus non modulaire, compositionnel et dynamique. L’analyse de syntagmes nominaux du type Adj-N et N-Adj révèle en outre certaines régularités dans l’activation des sens polysémiques des unités linguistiques mises en jeu, liées au cotexte (place et fonction de l’adjectif par rapport au substantif recteur) et au contexte extralinguistique

Nowadays, the field of the geoprocessing applications is more and more important and the number of software-tools specialized in the handling of the space-time data witnessed a considerable growth during this last decade. Several methods dedicated to the design of geoprocessing applications have been proposed in the literature. Real time applications are also experiencing great changes and refering to the spatial location. The advent of telecommunications has drawn the attention of taking into account the distribution and allocation information for geoprocessing applications. Telegeoprocessing discipline was born from the alliance of telecommunications and geomatics, characterized by the use of modern positioning systems like GPS (Global Positioning System). Currently, the emergence of pervasive information systems opens several research areas. Thus real time geoprocessing applications raise several problems. In fact, their architecture must support mathematical models and algorithms with important capacities of calculations; besides there is the difficulty to take in account of the real time granularity. They also present major problems at the design stage because of the absence of a specific standardized formalism. The different formalisms that exist in the literature which are supported by design methods of geomatic applications and real time applications are inefficient to answer the problems of design of the real time geoprocessing applications. The research we conducted allowed us to offer basic concepts based on UML (Unified Modeling Language) extensions to take into account the conceptual issues of communication, location data and applications. Thus we propose a UML profile that addresses real time constraints in the field of real time geoprocessing applications. The GRT (Geographic Real Time) profile targets the design of real-time geoprocessing applications. This work has led to a prototype with a CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) tool supporting the proposed formalism. A validation through concrete examples enabled us to enrich this prototype., Le domaine des applications géomatiques est en plein essor et le nombre de logiciels spécialisés dans la manipulation des données spatio-temporelles a connu une croissance considérable cette dernière décennie. Cette évolution a été accompagnée, dans la littérature, par la proposition de plusieurs méthodes de conception dédiées aux applications géomatiques. Les applications temps réel connaissent également une grande évolution et font référence à la localisation spatiale. L’avènement des télécommunications a suscité l’intérêt de prendre en compte la distribution et la répartition de l’information pour les applications géomatiques. La discipline de télégéomatique est née d’une fusion de la géomatique et des télécommunications en se caractérisant par l’usage des systèmes modernes de positionnement de type GPS (Global Positionning System). Actuellement, l’émergence des systèmes d’information pervasifs ouvre plusieurs axes de recherche. Ainsi les applications géomatiques temps réel soulèvent plusieurs problématiques : l’architecture logicielle de telles applications doit supporter des modèles mathématiques et des algorithmes qui ont des capacités de calculs importantes, la prise en compte de la granularité du temps réel et la conception et la modélisation de telles applications doit permettre de formaliser les spécifications et d’apporter des outils logiciels cohérents par rapport aux besoins des utilisateurs et des contraintes liées à la réactivité et éventuellement la mobilité des composants du système. Les différents formalismes qui existent dans la littérature et qui sont supportés par des méthodes de conception des applications géomatiques et des applications temps réel sont insuffisants et ne répondent pas au besoin du concepteur. Un travail de recherche dans la prise en compte au niveau conceptuel des contraintes liées à la dimension temps réelle de la nouvelle génération des applications géomatiques temps réel est certainement prometteuse. Les recherches que nous avons menées nous ont permis de proposer des concepts de base s’appuyant sur des extensions d’UML (Unified Modeling Language) afin de prendre en compte au niveau conceptuel les problématiques de communications et de localisation des données et des applications. Nous proposons un profil UML pour la conception des applications géomatiques temps réel. C’est le profil GRT (Geographic Real Time) dédié à la conception des applications géomatiques temps réel. Ce travail débouche sur un prototype doté d’un atelier de génie logiciel supportant le formalisme proposé. Une validation à travers des exemples concrets nous permettra d’enrichir ce prototype

Requirements engineering has since long acknowledged the importance of the notion that system requirements are stakeholder goalsrather than system functionsand ought to be elicited, modeled and analyzed accordingly. In this book, Nurcan and her co-editors collected twenty contributions from leading researchers in requirements engineering with the intention to comprehensively present an overview of the different perspectives that exist today, in 2010, on the concept of intention in the information systems community. These original papers honor Colette Rolland for her contributions to this field, as she was probably the first to emphasize that intention has to be considered as a first-class concept in information systems engineering. Written by long-term collaborators (and most often friends) of Colette Rolland, this volume covers topics like goal-oriented requirements engineering, model-driven development, method engineering, and enterprise modeling. As such, it is a tour dhorizon of Colette Rollands lifework, and is presented to her on the occasion of her retirement at CaISE 2010 in Hammamet, the conference she once cofounded and which she helped to grow and prosper for more than 20 years.

International audience; Systems designers have to cope with the ever growing complexity of nowadays systems. This issue becomes dramatic in the aeronautics domain, due to the huge number of functions the systems have to support, the significant number of sub-system elements required to implement these functions and their inter-connections. Although requirements engineering is a good answer to the issue of system specification, as it enables the definition of a contract specifying the constraints the system architecture has to take into account, it does not scale very well when the size and the complexity of the systems increase significantly. Model Driven Engineering (MDE) approaches are currently used by software engineers to enhance software quality and increase capitalization in product line delivery for complex systems, but are not yet widely used at the system architecture level. As such, there is still a big gap between the system engineering world and the software engineering world, that is particularly obvious in requirement processing, leading to misreadings and misinterpretations of the system requirements by software engineers, with important consequences at the software architecture level. In this paper, we propose an MDE approach to address this issue at the system architecture level, contributing to bridge the gap between system and software architectures. In particular, we will describe an approach to deal with the expression of requirements in a MDE context, which relies on the notion of system conceptual modeling.

The SemanticWeb is a new Web paradigm that provides a common framework for data to be shared and reused across applications, enterprises and community boundaries. The biggest problem we face right now is a way to "link" information coming from different sources that are often heterogeneous syntactically as well as semantically. Today much information is stored in relational databases. Thus data integration from relational sources into the Semantic Web is in high demand. The objective of this thesis is to provide methods and techniques to address this problem. It proposes an approach based on a combination of ontology-based schema representation and description logics. Database schemas in the approach are designed using ORM methodology. The stability and flexibility of ORM facilitate the maintenance and evolution of integration systems. A new web ontology language and its logic foundation are proposed in order to capture the semantics of relational data sources while still assuring a decidable and automated reasoning over information from the sources. An automatic translation of ORM models into ontologies is introduced to allow capturing the data semantics without laboriousness and fallibility. This mechanism foresees the coexistence of others sources, such as hypertext, integrated into the Semantic Web environment. This thesis constitutes the advances in many fields, namely data integration, ontology engineering, description logics, and conceptual modeling. It is hoped to provide a foundation for further investigations of data integration from relational sources into the Semantic Web.; Le web sémantique est un nouveau paradigme web qui fournit un cadre commun pour des données devant être partagées et réutilisées à travers des applications, en franchissant les frontières entre les entreprises et les communautés. Le problème majeur que l'on rencontre à présent, est la manière de relier les informations provenant de différentes sources, celles-ci utilisant souvent une syntaxe et une sémantique différentes. Puisqu'aujourd'hui, la plupart des informations sont gardées dans des bases de données relationnelles, l'intégration de source de données relationnelle dans le web sémantique est donc très attendue. L'objectif de cette thèse est de fournir des méthodes et des techniques pour résoudre ce problème d'intégration des bases de données. Nous proposons une approche combinant des représentations de schémas à base d'ontologie et des logiques de descriptions. Les schémas de base de données sont conçus en utilisant la méthodologie ORM. La stabilité et la flexibilité de ORM facilite la maintenance et l'évolution des systèmes d'intégration. Un nouveau langage d'ontologie web et ses fondements logiques sont proposées afin de capturer la sémantique des sources de données relationnelles, tout en assurant le raisonnement décidable et automatique sur les informations provenant des sources. Une traduction automatisée des modèles ORM en ontologies est introduite pour permettre d'extraire la sémantique des données rapidement et sans faillibilité. Ce mécanisme prévoit la coexistence d'autre sources d'informations, tel que l'hypertexte, intégrées à l'environnement web sémantique. Cette thèse constitue une avancée dans un certain nombre de domaine, notamment dans l'intégration de données, l'ingénierie des ontologies, les logiques de descriptions, et la modélisation conceptuelle. Ce travail pourra fournir les fondations pour d'autres investigations pour intégrer les données provenant de sources relationnelles vers le web sémantique.

The SemanticWeb is a new Web paradigm that provides a common framework for data to be shared and reused across applications, enterprises and community boundaries. The biggest problem we face right now is a way to "link" information coming from different sources that are often heterogeneous syntactically as well as semantically. Today much information is stored in relational databases. Thus data integration from relational sources into the Semantic Web is in high demand. The objective of this thesis is to provide methods and techniques to address this problem. It proposes an approach based on a combination of ontology-based schema representation and description logics. Database schemas in the approach are designed using ORM methodology. The stability and flexibility of ORM facilitate the maintenance and evolution of integration systems. A new web ontology language and its logic foundation are proposed in order to capture the semantics of relational data sources while still assuring a decidable and automated reasoning over information from the sources. An automatic translation of ORM models into ontologies is introduced to allow capturing the data semantics without laboriousness and fallibility. This mechanism foresees the coexistence of others sources, such as hypertext, integrated into the Semantic Web environment. This thesis constitutes the advances in many fields, namely data integration, ontology engineering, description logics, and conceptual modeling. It is hoped to provide a foundation for further investigations of data integration from relational sources into the Semantic Web.; Le web sémantique est un nouveau paradigme web qui fournit un cadre commun pour des données devant être partagées et réutilisées à travers des applications, en franchissant les frontières entre les entreprises et les communautés. Le problème majeur que l'on rencontre à présent, est la manière de relier les informations provenant de différentes sources, celles-ci utilisant souvent une syntaxe et une sémantique différentes. Puisqu'aujourd'hui, la plupart des informations sont gardées dans des bases de données relationnelles, l'intégration de source de données relationnelle dans le web sémantique est donc très attendue. L'objectif de cette thèse est de fournir des méthodes et des techniques pour résoudre ce problème d'intégration des bases de données. Nous proposons une approche combinant des représentations de schémas à base d'ontologie et des logiques de descriptions. Les schémas de base de données sont conçus en utilisant la méthodologie ORM. La stabilité et la flexibilité de ORM facilite la maintenance et l'évolution des systèmes d'intégration. Un nouveau langage d'ontologie web et ses fondements logiques sont proposées afin de capturer la sémantique des sources de données relationnelles, tout en assurant le raisonnement décidable et automatique sur les informations provenant des sources. Une traduction automatisée des modèles ORM en ontologies est introduite pour permettre d'extraire la sémantique des données rapidement et sans faillibilité. Ce mécanisme prévoit la coexistence d'autre sources d'informations, tel que l'hypertexte, intégrées à l'environnement web sémantique. Cette thèse constitue une avancée dans un certain nombre de domaine, notamment dans l'intégration de données, l'ingénierie des ontologies, les logiques de descriptions, et la modélisation conceptuelle. Ce travail pourra fournir les fondations pour d'autres investigations pour intégrer les données provenant de sources relationnelles vers le web sémantique.

National audience; The conceptual modeling of the HCI is an essential element for being able to reach a true model driven engineering for a large broad of applications. If it is possible to find modeling method which take into account the conceptual modeling level, they are often hard to understand because they use specific formalism which do not facilitate the exchanges with the domain's experts who however are the right people for defining and validating this kind of models. What we propose through our approach is a modeling method of the HCI which, by being based on business process, facilitate the communication between the computer scientists and the domain's experts.; La modélisation conceptuelle des IHM est un élément essentiel pour arriver à une ingénierie dirigée par les modèles capable deprendre en charge un grand nombre de types d'applications. S'il est possible de trouver aujourd'hui des méthodes de modélisation des IHM capable de prendre en compte la modélisation de niveau conceptuelle, celles-ci sont bien souvent difficiles d'accès à travers l'utilisation de formalisme spécifiques qui ne facilitent pas les échanges avec les experts métier. Or ce sont les personnes les plus à même de définir ces modèles et de les valider. Pour répondre à cette problématique, nous avons défini les bases d'une méthode de modélisation des IHM qui, en s'appuyant sur les processus métier, permet de faciliter la communication entre les informaticiens et les experts métier.