Work place: PRINCE Research Laboratory, ISITC, Sousse University, H-Sousse, Tunisia
E-mail: Lilia.cheniti@isitc.u-sousse.tn
Website:
Research Interests:
Biography
Dr. Lilia Cheniti Belcadhi Associate professor and Researcher of Computer Sciences at the Higher Institute of Computer Sciences and Communication Technologies, Sousse University, Tunisia, and a graduate of Braunschweig University in Germany. She is a member of the PRINCE Research Lab, Sousse and was associate researcher at Telecom Bretagne, Brest in France. Her PhD was realized in co-supervision by Hannover University in Germany. She has a diploma of “Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches” (HDR) in Computer Sciences and intelligent e-learning environments and had two awards: First National Prize for Academic Excellence (Foreign Degrees) of the Tunisian President and a Graduate Merit Award of the of Braunschweig University, Germany.
Actively engaged in various international e-learning projects, she has authored numerous publications and co-authored several online courses, including Tunisia’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in computer science on the FUN platform. Formerly the head of the university’s online learning department for six years, she is currently the coordinator of the Pedagogical Innovation Unit. Dr. Cheniti Belcadhi is also an OER Ambassador for the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). She is a member of the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Francophone Universities Agency (AUF) and was elected President of the AUF Committee of Scientific and Socio- Economic Experts for the North Africa Region. Additionally, she represents her university in the UNESCO UNITWIN Network on Open Education and was recently elected Vice President for Higher Education within the Francophone University Network for Pedagogical Innovation, Teacher Training, and Educational Sciences.
By Rahma Haouas Zahwanie Lilia Cheniti-Belcadhi Saoussen Layouni Ghada El Khayat
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijitcs.2026.02.06, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2026
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological disorder that affects 2-3 in every 1,000 births worldwide. Early prediction of severity is vital for optimizing therapeutic interventions. This study introduces OntoML-CP, a novel hybrid intelligence framework that combines inductive machine learning with deductive ontology-based reasoning to predict Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels in children with CP. We present a hybrid architecture combining semantic features from a CP ontology and clinical data for machine learning, using ontological reasoning to refine predictions and improve clinical validity and interpretability. The clinical ontology built using OWL captures the relationships between symptoms of cerebral palsy, developmental disorders, and motor functions, enriched with clinical knowledge and FOAF to represent key stakeholders like patients, parents, and therapists. Using a synthetic dataset of 1,695 children with CP, generated by physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists based on real clinical cases and validated through expert review, we address demographic diversity and missing data through preprocessing techniques to correct class imbalance during model evaluation and selection. Seven supervised algorithms were evaluated, among which Random Forest and Gradient Boosting models achieved superior performance (accuracy: 85% and 83%), when augmented with our ontological framework. The models showed consistent performance across all GMFCS levels with macro-averaged F1-scores of 0.81 and 0.79, respectively, and maintained high sensitivity for severe cases (levels 4-5), significantly outperforming baseline models. The semantic layer enhances predictions with logical explanations and presents them through SPARQL queries and intuitive visual formats designed for healthcare professionals. Our ontology-driven approach provides medicine with not only accurate predictions but also context-aware, clinically interpretable explanations that support informed decisions and enable personalized, actionable CP severity predictions.
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