Maria-Teresa Sagri

A constructive framework for legal ontologies

The increasing development of legal ontologies seems to offer interesting solutions to legal knowledge formalization, which in past experiences lead to a limited exploitation of legal expert systems for practical use. The paper describes how a constructive approach to ontology can provide useful components to create newly designed legal decision support systems either as local or Web-based semantic services. We describe the relation of our research to AI&Law and legal philosophy, the components of our Core Legal Ontology, the JurWordNet semantic lexicon, and some examples of use of legal ontologies for both norm conformity and compatibility. Our legal ontologies are based on DOLCE+, an extension of the DOLCE foundational ontology developed in the WonderWeb and Metokis EU projects.

Some Ontological Tools to Support Legal Regulatory Compliance, with a Case Study

The increasing development of legal ontologies seems to offer satisfactory solutions to legal knowledge formalization, which in past experiences lead to a limited exploitation of legal expert systems for practical and commercial use. The paper describes some ontology-based tools that enable legal knowledge formalization. Jurwordnet is an extension to the legal domain of the Italian version of EuroWordNet. It is a content description model for legal information and a lexical resource for accessing multilingual and heterogeneous information sources. Its concepts are organised according to a “Core Legal Ontology” (CLO), based on DOLCE+, an extension of the DOLCE foundational ontology. Jurwordnet and CLO are also used to represent the assessment of legal regulatory compliance across different legal systems or between norms and cases. An example is discussed concerning compliance between EC directives and national legislations.

The structuring of legal knowledge in LOIS

A new method was proposed for constructing total variation diminishing (TVD) upwind schemes in conservation forms. Two limiters were used to prevent non-physical oscillations across discontinuity. Both limiters can ensure the nonlinear compact schemes TVD property. Two compact TVD (CTVD) schemes were tested, one is third-order accuracy, and the other is fifth-order. The performance of the numerical algorithms was assessed by one-dimensional complex waves and Riemann problems, as well as a two-dimensional shock-vortex interaction and a shock-boundary flow interaction. Numerical results show their high-order accuracy and high resolution, and low oscillations across discontinuities.更多还原The globed solution for a coupled nonlinear Klein-Gordon system in two-dimensional space was studied. First, a sharp threshold of blowup and global existence for the system was obtained by constructing a type of cross-constrained variational problem and establishing so-called cross-invariant manifolds of the evolution flow. Then the result of how small the initial data for which the solution exists globally was proved by using the scaling argument.Both a real time optical interferometric experiment and a numerical simulation of two-dimension non-steady state model were employed to study the growth process of aqueous sodium chlorate crystals. The parameters such as solution concentration distribution, crystal dimensions, growth rate and velocity field were obtained by both experiment and numerical simulation. The influence of earth gravity during crystal growth process was analyzed. A reasonable theory model corresponding to the present experiment is advanced. The thickness of concentration boundary layer was investigated especially. The results from the experiment and numerical simulation match well.Based on the large deflection dynamic equations of axisymmetric shallow shells of revolution, the nonlinear forced vibration of a corrugated shallow shell under uniform load is investigated. The nonlinear partial differential equations of shallow shell are reduced to the nonlinear integral-differential equations by the method of Green’s function. To solve the integral-differential equations, expansion method is used to obtain Green’s function. Then the integral-differential equations are reduced to the form with degenerate core by expanding Green’s function as series of characteristic function. Therefore, the integral-differential equations become nonlinear ordinary differential equations with regard to time. The amplitude-frequency response under harmonic force is obtained by considering single mode vibration. As a numerical example, forced vibration phenomena of shallow spherical shells with sinusoidal corrugation are studied. The obtained solutions are available for reference to design of corrugated shells更多还原As vibration-based structural damage detection methods are easily affected by environmental noise, a new statistic-based noise analysis method is proposed together with the Monte Carlo technique to investigate the influence of experimental noise of modal data on sensitivity-based damage detection methods. Different from the commonly used random perturbation technique, the proposed technique is deduced directly by Moore-Penrose generalized inverse of the sensitivity matrix, which does not only make the analysis process more efficient but also can analyze the influence of noise on both frequencies and mode shapes for three commonly used sensitivity-based damage detection methods in a similar way. A one-story portal frame is adopted to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed noise analysis technique.更多还原A new class of generalized mixed implicit quasi-equilibrium problems (GMIQEP) with four-functions is introduced and studied. The new class of equilibrium problems includes many known generalized equilibrium problems and generalized mixed implicit quasi-variational inequality problems as many special cases. By employing the auxiliary principle technique, some predictor-corrector iterative algorithms for solving the GMIQEP are suggested and analyzed. The convergence of the suggested algorithm only requires the continuity and the partially relaxed implicit strong monotonicity of the mappings.A nonlinear Galerkin mixed element (NGME) method for the stationary incompressible magnetohydrodynamics equations is presented. And the existence and error estimates of the NGME solution are derived.The Newtonian method is employed to obtain nonlinear mathematical model of motion of a horizontally cantilevered and inflexible pipe conveying fluid. The order magnitudes of relevant physical parameters are analyzed qualitatively to establish a foundation on the further study of the model. The method of multiple scales is used to obtain eigenfunctions of the linear free-vibration modes of the pipe. The boundary conditions yield the characteristic equations from which eigenvalues can be derived. It is found that flow velocity in the pipe may induced the 3:1, 2:1 and 1:1 internal resonances between the first and second modes such that the mechanism of flow-induced internal resonances in the pipe under consideration is explained theoretically. The 3:1 internal resonance first occurs in the system and is, thus, the most important since it corresponds to the minimum critical velocity.更多还原The possible intermittent impacts of a two-stage isolation system with rigid limiters have been investigated. The isolation system is under periodic external excitation disturbed by small stationary Gaussian white noise after shock. The maximal impact Poincare map is proposed based on the multi-body dynamics with unilateral constrains. Then in the period after shock, the zero order approximate stochastic discrete model and the first order approximate stochastic model are developed. The real isolation system of an MTU diesel engine is used to evaluate the established model. After calculating of the numerical example, the effects of noise excitation on the isolation system are discussed. The results show that the property of the system is complicated due to intermittent impact. The difference between zero order model and the first order model may be great. The effect of small noise is obvious. The results may be expected useful to the naval designers.更多还原In a vertically oscillating circular cylindrical container, singular perturbation theory of two-time scale expansions is developed in weakly viscous fluids to investigate the motion of single free surface standing wave by linearizing the Navier-Stokes equation. The fluid field is divided into an outer potential flow region and an inner boundary layer region. The solutions of both two regions are obtained and a linear amplitude equation incorporating damping term and external excitation is derived. The condition to appear stable surface wave is obtained and the critical curve is determined. In addition, an analytical expression of damping coefficient is determined. Finally, the dispersion relation, which has been derived from the inviscid fluid approximation, is modified by adding linear damping. It is found that the modified results are reasonably closer to experimental results than former theory. Result shows that when forcing frequency is low, the viscosity of the fluid is prominent for the mode selection. However, when forcing frequency is high, the surface tension of the fluid is prominent.The reduction approaches are presented for vibration control of symmetric, cyclic periodic and linking structures. The condensation of generalized coordinates, the locations of sensors and actuators, and the relation between system inputs and control forces are assumed to be set in a symmetric way so that the control system posses the same repetition as the structure considered. By employing proper transformations of condensed generalized coordinates and the system inputs, the vibration control of an entire system can be implemented by carrying out the control of a number of sub-structures, and thus the dimension of the control problem can be significantly reduced.A class of Hopfield neural network with time-varying delays and impulsive effects is concerned. By applying the piecewise continuous vector Lyapunov function some sufficient conditions were obtained to ensure the global exponential stability of impulsive delay neural networks. An example and its simulation are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the results.It is demonstrated that when tension leg platform (TLP) moves with finite amplitude in waves, the inertia force, the drag force and the buoyancy acting on the platform are nonlinear functions of the response of TLP. The tensions of the tethers are also nonlinear functions of the displacement of TLP. Then the displacement, the velocity and the acceleration of TLP should be taken into account when loads are calculated. In addition, equations of motions should be set up on the instantaneous position. A theoretical model for analyzing the nonlinear behavior of a TLP with finite displacement is developed, in which multifold nonlinearities are taken into account, i.e., finite displacement, coupling of the six degrees of freedom, instantaneous position, instantaneous wet surface, free surface effects and viscous drag force. Based on the theoretical model, the comprehensive nonlinear differential equations are deduced. Then the nonlinear dynamic analysis of ISSC TLP in regular waves is performed in the time domain. The degenerative linear solution of the proposed nonlinear model is verified with existing published one. Furthermore, numerical results are presented, which illustrate that nonlinearities exert a significant influence on the dynamic responses of the TLP.

An Ontology-Based Model for Representing “Bundle-of-Rights”

This paper describes an application of the lexical resource JurWordNet and of Core Legal Ontology as a descriptive vocabulary for modeling legal domains. The two resources can be viewed as a repository of structured knowledge aimed at supporting the modeling of normative domains. In our ontological approach legal entities are represented as conceptual units and their interrelations are described inside the same language. Besides practical applications, these new forms of representation allow exercises of computational jurisprudence, in that they consent to formally analyze phenomena and aspects of juridical factuality for which the general theory of law has already created models and theories. This contribution aims to present a preliminary analysis of the relation among regulative units and to investigate how further aspects linked to the description of parts of norms and complex concepts can be represented in an ontology-based framework. As a case study, in the field of the Intellectual Property Right (IPR) management, the representation of click-on licences for re-using Public Sector Information is presented.

Ontology-Based Models of Legal Knowledge

In this paper we describe an application of the lexical resource JurWordNet and of the Core Legal Ontology as a descriptive vocabulary for modeling legal domains. It can be viewed as the semantic component of a global standardisation framework for digital governments. A content description model provides a repository of structured knowledge aimed at supporting the semantic interoperability between sectors of Public Administration and the communication processes towards citizen. Specific conceptual models built from this base will act as a cognitive interface able to cope with specific digital government issues and to improve the interaction between citizen and Public Bodies. As a Case study, the representation of the click-on licences for re-using Public Sector Information is presented.

Semantic Lexicons for Accessing Legal Information

In many countries public institutions, as the main producers and distributors of legal source information, have promoted projects aimed at improving the availability and the free access to information via the web as a significant component of the process of transparency in citizen/institution interaction. This paper describes the state of the art in terms of European projects created by public institutions for facilitating access to regulatory information and it focuses on the necessity of integrating structural documentary standards with semantic ones for the description of content. The Italian JurWordNet project is a source of semantic metadata aimed at supporting the semantic interoperability between sectors of Public Administration; the creation of a multilingual lexicon that extends the Italian model to five European languages (the aim of the Lois Project that has recently been approved by the EU) is also described.