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Ontologies for probabilistic networks: a case study in the oesophageal-cancer domain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2007

EVELINE M. HELSPER  and
LINDA C. VAN DER GAAG
EVELINE M. HELSPER
Affiliation:
Department of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands; e-mail: linda@cs.uu.nl
LINDA C. VAN DER GAAG
Affiliation:
Department of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands; e-mail: linda@cs.uu.nl
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Abstract

Building a probabilistic network for a real-life domain of application is a hard and time-consuming process, which is generally performed with the help of domain experts. As the scope and, hence, the size and complexity of networks are increasing, the need for proper management of the elicited domain knowledge becomes apparent. To study the usefulness of ontologies for this purpose, we constructed an ontology for the domain of oesophageal cancer, based on a real-life probabilistic network for the staging of cancer of the oesophagus and the knowledge elicited for its construction. In this paper, we describe the various components of our ontology and outline the benefits of using ontologies in engineering probabilistic networks.

Type
Original Article
Information
The Knowledge Engineering Review , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 2007 , pp. 67 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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