Motivation for this Book Ontologies have received increasing attention over the last two decades. Their roots can be traced back to the ancient philosophers, who were interested in a c- ceptualization of the world. In the more recent past, ontologies and ontological engineering have evolved in computer science, building on various roots such as logics, knowledge representation, information modeling and management, and (knowledge-based) information systems. Most recently, largely driven by the next generation internet, the so-called Semantic Web, ontological software engineering has developed into a scientific field of its own, which puts particular emphasis on the theoretical foundations of representation and reasoning, and on the methods and tools required for building ontology-based software applications in diverse domains. Though this field is largely dominated by computer science, close re- tionships have been established with its diverse areas of application, where - searchers are interested in exploiting the results of ontological software engine- ing, particularly to build large knowledge-intensive applications at high productivity and low maintenance effort. Consequently, a large number of scientific papers and monographs have been p- lished in the very recent past dealing with the theory and practice of ontological software engineering. So far, the majority of those books are dedicated to the th- retical foundations of ontologies, including philosophical treatises and their re- tionships to established methods in information systems and ontological software engineering.

Die Skeleterkrankungen, insbesondere auch die Entwicklungsstarungen, kannen nur bei oberflachlicher Betrachtung als ein wissenschaftlich abgeschlossenes Gebiet angesehen werden. Eine handbuchmaBige Bearbeitung wird aber noch schwieriger, wenn die For- schungsrichtung, aus der heraus die zu Grunde liegende Starung erfaBt und begriffen werden solI, durch die klinisch-morphologische, pathoanatomische Betrachtungsweise eingegrenzt und allenfalls - etwa bei den hier in diesem Teilband zusammengefaBten genetischen Starungen - noch auf die Atiologie ausgedehnt wird. Wichtige Teilaspekte, wie etwa die biochemische Forschungsrichtung, kannen im Rahmen dieses Handbuchs naturlich nur gestreift werden, zumal gerade auf diesem Sektor noch vieles im FluB ist. haben daruber hinaus aber auch zu Aufspaltungen bisher Die biochemischen Analysen als Einheit angesehener Krankheitsbilder gefuhrt, wie etwa der Pfaundler-Hurlerschen Krankheit, die heute als Mucopolysaccharidspeicherkrankheit definiert und in mindestens sechs klinisch und biochemisch verschiedenen Formen beobachtet werden kann, ohne daB bisher bekannt ist, ob hier eine Stauung normaler Mucopolysaccharide bei einem lyso- somalen Enzymdefekt vorliegt oder anormal strukturierte Mucopolysaccharide nicht von normal ausgestatteten Lysosomen abgebaut werden kannen. Das gewahlte Beispiel des Pfaundler-Hurler mag dem Radiologen zeigen, welche der nur morphologischen Betrachtungsweise gezogen sind, und daB der Fort- Grenzen schritt gerade auf dem Gebiet der genetisch-bedingten Entwicklungsstorungen in dem Studium der formalen Genese und der biochemischen Zusammenhange gesucht werden muB. Diese Forschungen wird man genauestens verfolgen mussen, nicht nur, weil sie uns einen tieferen Einblick in die zu Grunde liegende Starung erlauben, sondern weil sich auch fur die Beurteilung morphologischer Erscheinungen neue Gesichtspunkte ergeben.

Motivation for this Book Ontologies have received increasing attention over the last two decades. Their roots can be traced back to the ancient philosophers, who were interested in a c- ceptualization of the world. In the more recent past, ontologies and ontological engineering have evolved in computer science, building on various roots such as logics, knowledge representation, information modeling and management, and (knowledge-based) information systems. Most recently, largely driven by the next generation internet, the so-called Semantic Web, ontological software engineering has developed into a scientific field of its own, which puts particular emphasis on the theoretical foundations of representation and reasoning, and on the methods and tools required for building ontology-based software applications in diverse domains. Though this field is largely dominated by computer science, close re- tionships have been established with its diverse areas of application, where - searchers are interested in exploiting the results of ontological software engine- ing, particularly to build large knowledge-intensive applications at high productivity and low maintenance effort. Consequently, a large number of scientific papers and monographs have been p- lished in the very recent past dealing with the theory and practice of ontological software engineering. So far, the majority of those books are dedicated to the th- retical foundations of ontologies, including philosophical treatises and their re- tionships to established methods in information systems and ontological software engineering.

IMPROVE stands for "Information Technology Support for Collaborative and Distributed Design Processes in Chemical Engineering" and is a large joint project of research institutions at RWTH Aachen University. This volume summarizes the results after 9 years of cooperative research work.

The focus of IMRPOVE is on understanding, formalizing, evaluating, and, consequently, improving design processes in chemical engineering. In particular, IMPROVE focuses on conceptual design and basic engineering, where the fundamental decisions concerning the design or redesign of a chemical plant are undertaken. Design processes are analyzed and evaluated in collaboration with industrial partners.