Modern applications of logic, in mathematics, theoretical computer science, and linguistics, require combined systems involving many different logics working together. In this book the author offers a basic methodology for combining - or fibring - systems. This means that many existing complex systems can be broken down into simpler components, hence making them much easier to manipulate.

Young traces the evolution of the term information from its general linguistic use into the mainstream of modern science, proposing an entirely new definition of information as a mass-energy phenomenon. He demonstrates that: information is in all cases a form phenomenon; both form and information are mass-energy rather than abstract phenomena; mind can be viewed as a mass-energy rather form-manipulating process; form constitutes a mechanism immanent in the physical universe via which mass-energy systems can communicate informationally and control their own energetic activities.

This book introduces Meaningful Purposive Interaction Analysis (MPIA) theory, which combines social network analysis (SNA) with latent semantic analysis (LSA) to help create and analyse a meaningful learning landscape from the digital traces left by a learning community in the co-construction of knowledge. The hybrid algorithm is implemented in the statistical programming language and environment R, introducing packages which capture - through matrix algebra - elements of learners' work with more knowledgeable others and resourceful content artefacts. The book provides comprehensive package-by-package application examples, and code samples that guide the reader through the MPIA model to show how the MPIA landscape can be constructed and the learner's journey mapped and analysed. This building block application will allow the reader to progress to using and building analytics to guide students and support decision-making in learning.

Computational modeling allows to reduce, refine and replace animal experimentation as well as to translate findings obtained in these experiments to the human background. However these biomedical problems are inherently complex with a myriad of influencing factors, which strongly complicates the model building and validation process. This book wants to address four main issues related to the building and validation of computational models of biomedical processes: 1. Modeling establishment under uncertainty 2. Model selection and parameter fitting 3. Sensitivity analysis and model adaptation 4. Model predictions under uncertainty In each of the abovementioned areas, the book discusses a number of key-techniques by means of a general theoretical description followed by one or more practical examples. This book is intended for graduate students and researchers active in the field of computational modeling of biomedical processes who seek to acquaint themselves with the different ways in which to study the parameter space of their model as well as its overall behavior.

This book provides an accessible introduction to the basic theory of fluid mechanics and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) from a modern perspective that unifies theory and numerical computation. Methods of scientific computing are introduced alongside with theoretical analysis and MATLAB (R) codes are presented and discussed for a broad range of topics: from interfacial shapes in hydrostatics, to vortex dynamics, to viscous flow, to turbulent flow, to panel methods for flow past airfoils. The third edition includes new topics, additional examples, solved and unsolved problems, and revised images. It adds more computational algorithms and MATLAB programs. It also incorporates discussion of the latest version of the fluid dynamics software library FDLIB, which is freely available online. FDLIB offers an extensive range of computer codes that demonstrate the implementation of elementary and advanced algorithms and provide an invaluable resource for research, teaching, classroom instruction, and self-study. This book is a must for students in all fields of engineering, computational physics, scientific computing, and applied mathematics. It can be used in both undergraduate and graduate courses in fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, and computational fluid dynamics. The audience includes not only advanced undergraduate and entry-level graduate students, but also a broad class of scientists and engineers with a general interest in scientific computing.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of different biomedical data types, including both clinical and genomic data. Thorough explanations enable readers to explore key topics ranging from electrocardiograms to Big Data health mining and EEG analysis techniques. Each chapter offers a summary of the field and a sample analysis. Also covered are telehealth infrastructure, healthcare information association rules, methods for mass spectrometry imaging, environmental biodiversity, and the global nonlinear fitness function for protein structures. Diseases are addressed in chapters on functional annotation of lncRNAs in human disease, metabolomics characterization of human diseases, disease risk factors using SNP data and Bayesian methods, and imaging informatics for diagnostic imaging marker selection. With the exploding accumulation of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), there is an urgent need for computer-aided analysis of heterogeneous biomedical datasets. Biomedical data is notorious for its diversified scales, dimensions, and volumes, and requires interdisciplinary technologies for visual illustration and digital characterization. Various computer programs and servers have been developed for these purposes by both theoreticians and engineers. This book is an essential reference for investigating the tools available for analyzing heterogeneous biomedical data. It is designed for professionals, researchers, and practitioners in biomedical engineering, diagnostics, medical electronics, and related industries.

This volume presents the proceedings of the 11th Conference on Problems and Methods in Mathematical Physics (11th TMP), held in Chemnitz, March 25-28, 1999. The conference was dedicated to the memory of Siegfried PrAssdorf, who made important contributions to the theory and numerical analysis of operator equations and their applications in mathematical physics and mechanics. The main part of the book comprises original research papers. The topics are ranging from integral and pseudodifferential equations, boundary value problems, operator theory, boundary element and wavelet methods, approximation theory and inverse problems to various concrete problems and applications in physics and engineering, and reflect PrAssdorf's broad spectrum of research activities. The volume also contains articles describing the life and mathematical achievements of Siegfried PrAssdorf and includes a list of his publications. The book is addressed to a wide audience in the mathematical and engineering sciences.

Discrete stochastics is the theory of discrete probability spaces. This undergraduate textbook gives a concise introduction into discrete stochastics in general, and into a variety of typical special topics in this field, such as information theory, fluctuation theory, and semigroups of stochastic matrices. The emphasis lies on probability theory rather than on statistical methodology. Motivations, interpretations, and numerous examples and exercises relate the mathematical theory to stochastic experience.

This book shows how to develop efficient quantitative methods to characterize neural data and extra information that reveals underlying dynamics and neurophysiological mechanisms. Written by active experts in the field, it contains an exchange of innovative ideas among researchers at both computational and experimental ends, as well as those at the interface. Authors discuss research challenges and new directions in emerging areas with two goals in mind: to collect recent advances in statistics, signal processing, modeling, and control methods in neuroscience; and to welcome and foster innovative or cross-disciplinary ideas along this line of research and discuss important research issues in neural data analysis. Making use of both tutorial and review materials, this book is written for neural, electrical, and biomedical engineers; computational neuroscientists; statisticians; computer scientists; and clinical engineers.

This book gathers outstanding papers on numerical modeling in Mechanical Engineering (Volume 2) as part of the proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Numerical Modeling in Engineering (NME 2018), which was held in Ghent, Belgium. The overall objective of the conference was to bring together international scientists and engineers in academia and industry from fields related to advanced numerical techniques, such as the finite element method (FEM), boundary element method (BEM), isogeometric analysis (IGA), etc., and their applications to a wide range of engineering disciplines. This book addresses various industrial engineering applications of numerical simulations to Mechanical and Materials Engineering, including: Aerospace applications, Acoustic analysis, Biomechanical applications, Contact problems and wear, Heat transfer analysis, Vibration and dynamics, Transient analysis, Nonlinear analysis, Composite materials, Polymers, Metal alloys, Fracture mechanics, Fatigue of materials, Creep behavior, Phase transformation, and Crystal plasticity.

Provides the necessary skills to solve problems in mathematical statistics through theory, concrete examples, and exercises With a clear and detailed approach to the fundamentals of statistical theory, Examples and Problems in Mathematical Statistics uniquely bridges the gap between theory andapplication and presents numerous problem-solving examples that illustrate the relatednotations and proven results. Written by an established authority in probability and mathematical statistics, each chapter begins with a theoretical presentation to introduce both the topic and the important results in an effort to aid in overall comprehension. Examples are then provided, followed by problems, and finally, solutions to some of the earlier problems. In addition, Examples and Problems in Mathematical Statistics features: * Over 160 practical and interesting real-world examples from a variety of fields including engineering, mathematics, and statistics to help readers become proficient in theoretical problem solving * More than 430 unique exercises with select solutions * Key statistical inference topics, such as probability theory, statistical distributions, sufficient statistics, information in samples, testing statistical hypotheses, statistical estimation, confidence and tolerance intervals, large sample theory, and Bayesian analysis Recommended for graduate-level courses in probability and statistical inference, Examples and Problems in Mathematical Statistics is also an ideal reference for applied statisticians and researchers.

Modern optimization approaches have attracted many research scientists, decision makers and practicing researchers in recent years as powerful intelligent computational techniques for solving several complex real-world problems. The Handbook of Research on Modern Optimization Algorithms and Applications in Engineering and Economics highlights the latest research innovations and applications of algorithms designed for optimization applications within the fields of engineering, IT, and economics. Focusing on a variety of methods and systems as well as practical examples, this book is a significant resource for graduate-level students, decision makers, and researchers in both public and private sectors who are seeking research-based methods for modeling uncertain real-world problems.

This monograph investigates violations of statistical stability of physical events, variables, and processes and develops a new physical-mathematical theory taking into consideration such violations - the theory of hyper-random phenomena. There are five parts. The first describes the phenomenon of statistical stability and its features, and develops methods for detecting violations of statistical stability, in particular when data is limited. The second part presents several examples of real processes of different physical nature and demonstrates the violation of statistical stability over broad observation intervals. The third part outlines the mathematical foundations of the theory of hyper-random phenomena, while the fourth develops the foundations of the mathematical analysis of divergent and many-valued functions. The fifth part contains theoretical and experimental studies of statistical laws where there is violation of statistical stability. The monograph should be of particular interest to engineers and scientists in general who study the phenomenon of statistical stability and use statistical methods for high-precision measurements, prediction, and signal processing over long observation intervals.

Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements XIX In its 19th year the International Conference on Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements continues to provide highest quality research which forms this book. This volume examines a wide variety of topics related to new experimental and computational methods. The continuous improvement in computer efficiency, coupled with diminishing costs and the rapid development of numerical procedures have generated an ever-increasing expansion of computational simulations that permeate all fields of science and technology. As these procedures continue to grow in magnitude and complexity, it is essential to validate their results to be certain of their reliability. This can be achieved by performing dedicated and accurate experiments, which have undergone a constant and enormous development. At the same time, current experimental techniques have become more complex and sophisticated so that they require the intensive use of computers, both for running experiments as well as acquiring and processing the resulting data. Some of the subject areas covered are: Computational and experimental methods; Fluid flow; Structural and stress analysis; Electromagnetic problems; Structural integrity; Destructive and non-destructive testing; Heat transfer and thermal processes; Advances in computational methods; Automotive and Aerospace applications; Applications in industry; Ocean engineering and marine structures; Fluid structure interaction; Bio-electromagnetics; Hybrid methods; Process simulations; Validation of computer modelling; Virtual testing and verification; Simulation and forecasting; Measurements in engineering. Earthquake Resistant Engineering Structures XII Major earthquakes and associated effects continue to stress the need to carry out more research and a better understanding of these phenomena in order to design earthquake resistant buildings and to carry out risk assessments. This volume combines the latest leading research as presented on the 12th edition of the ERES conference. As the world's population has concentrated in urban areas resulting in buildings in regions of high seismic vulnerability, we have seen the consequences of natural disasters take an ever higher toll on human existence. Protecting the built environment in earthquake-prone regions involves not only the optimal design and construction of new facilities, but also the upgrading and rehabilitation of existing structures including heritage buildings. The type of highly specialized retrofitting employed to protect the built heritage is an important area of research. The research papers included in this volume cover: Seismic isolation and energy dissipation; Building performance during earthquakes; Numerical analysis; Performance based design; Experimental studies; Seismic hazards and tsunamis; Safety engineering; Liquefaction; Innovative technologies; Paraseismic devices and Lifelines and resilience.

This proceedings volume originates from a conference held in Herrnhut in June 2013. It provides unique insights into the power of abstract methods and techniques in dealing successfully with numerous applications stemming from classical analysis and mathematical physics. The book features diverse topics in the area of operator semigroups, including partial differential equations, martingale and Hilbert transforms, Banach and von Neumann algebras, Schroedinger operators, maximal regularity and Fourier multipliers, interpolation, operator-theoretical problems (concerning generation, perturbation and dilation, for example), and various qualitative and quantitative Tauberian theorems with a focus on transfinite induction and magics of Cantor. The last fifteen years have seen the dawn of a new era for semigroup theory with the emphasis on applications of abstract results, often unexpected and far removed from traditional ones. The aim of the conference was to bring together prominent experts in the field of modern semigroup theory, harmonic analysis, complex analysis and mathematical physics, and to present the lively interactions between all of those areas and beyond. In addition, the meeting honored the sixtieth anniversary of Prof C. J. K. Batty, whose scientific achievements are an impressive illustration of the conference goal. These proceedings present contributions by prominent scientists at this international conference, which became a landmark event.They will be a valuable and inspiring source of information for graduate students and established researchers.

This book provides an outline of theoretical concepts and their experimental verification in studies of self-organization phenomena in chemical systems, as they emerged in the mid-20th century and have evolved since. Presenting essays on selected topics, it was prepared by authors who have made profound contributions to the field. Traditionally, physical chemistry has been concerned with interactions between atoms and molecules that produce a variety of equilibrium structures - or the 'dead' order - in a stationary state. But biological cells exhibit a different 'living' kind of order, prompting E. Schroedinger to pose his famous question "What is life?" in 1943. Through an unprecedented theoretical and experimental development, it was later revealed that biological self-organization phenomena are in complete agreement with the laws of physics, once they are applied to a special class of thermodynamically open systems and non-equilibrium states. This knowledge has in turn led to the design and synthesis of simple inorganic systems capable of self-organization effects. These artificial 'living organisms' are able to operate on macroscopic to microscopic scales, even down to single-molecule machines. In the future, such research could provide a basis for a technological breakthrough, comparable in its impact with the invention of lasers and semiconductors. Its results can be used to control natural chemical processes, and to design artificial complex chemical processes with various functionalities. The book offers an extensive discussion of the history of research on complex chemical systems and its future prospects.

This monograph studies optimization problems for rigid punches in elastic media and for high-speed penetration of rigid strikers into deformed elastoplastic, concrete, and composite media using variational calculations, tools from functional analysis, and stochastic and min-max (guaranteed) optimization approaches with incomplete data. The book presents analytical and numerical results developed by the authors during the last ten years.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the European Conference on Modelling and Simulation (ECMS), this inspirational text/reference reviews significant advances in the field of modelling and simulation, as well as key applications of simulation in other disciplines. The broad-ranging volume presents contributions from a varied selection of distinguished experts chosen from high-impact keynote speakers and best paper winners from the conference, including a Nobel Prize recipient, and the first president of the European Council for Modelling and Simulation (also abbreviated to ECMS). This authoritative book will be of great value to all researchers working in the field of modelling and simulation, in addition to scientists from other disciplines who make use of modelling and simulation approaches in their work.

This book presents new efficient methods for optimization in realistic large-scale, multi-agent systems. These methods do not require the agents to have the full information about the system, but instead allow them to make their local decisions based only on the local information, possibly obtained during communication with their local neighbors. The book, primarily aimed at researchers in optimization and control, considers three different information settings in multi-agent systems: oracle-based, communication-based, and payoff-based. For each of these information types, an efficient optimization algorithm is developed, which leads the system to an optimal state. The optimization problems are set without such restrictive assumptions as convexity of the objective functions, complicated communication topologies, closed-form expressions for costs and utilities, and finiteness of the system's state space.

This book is intended for use in advanced graduate courses in statistics / machine learning, as well as for all experimental neuroscientists seeking to understand statistical methods at a deeper level, and theoretical neuroscientists with a limited background in statistics. It reviews almost all areas of applied statistics, from basic statistical estimation and test theory, linear and nonlinear approaches for regression and classification, to model selection and methods for dimensionality reduction, density estimation and unsupervised clustering. Its focus, however, is linear and nonlinear time series analysis from a dynamical systems perspective, based on which it aims to convey an understanding also of the dynamical mechanisms that could have generated observed time series. Further, it integrates computational modeling of behavioral and neural dynamics with statistical estimation and hypothesis testing. This way computational models in neuroscience are not only explanatory frameworks, but become powerful, quantitative data-analytical tools in themselves that enable researchers to look beyond the data surface and unravel underlying mechanisms. Interactive examples of most methods are provided through a package of MatLab routines, encouraging a playful approach to the subject, and providing readers with a better feel for the practical aspects of the methods covered. "Computational neuroscience is essential for integrating and providing a basis for understanding the myriads of remarkable laboratory data on nervous system functions. Daniel Durstewitz has excellently covered the breadth of computational neuroscience from statistical interpretations of data to biophysically based modeling of the neurobiological sources of those data. His presentation is clear, pedagogically sound, and readily useable by experts and beginners alike. It is a pleasure to recommend this very well crafted discussion to experimental neuroscientists as well as mathematically well versed Physicists. The book acts as a window to the issues, to the questions, and to the tools for finding the answers to interesting inquiries about brains and how they function." Henry D. I. Abarbanel Physics and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego "This book delivers a clear and thorough introduction to sophisticated analysis approaches useful in computational neuroscience. The models described and the examples provided will help readers develop critical intuitions into what the methods reveal about data. The overall approach of the book reflects the extensive experience Prof. Durstewitz has developed as a leading practitioner of computational neuroscience. " Bruno B. Averbeck

The papers collected in this volume focus on new perspectives on individuals, society, and science, specifically in the field of socio-economic systems. The book is the result of a scientific collaboration among experts from "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi (Romania), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy), "University of Defence" of Brno (Czech Republic), and "Pablo de Olavide" University of Sevilla (Spain). The heterogeneity of the contributions presented in this volume reflects the variety and complexity of social phenomena. The book is divided in four Sections as follows. The first Section deals with recent trends in social decisions. Specifically, it aims to understand which are the driving forces of social decisions. The second Section focuses on the social and public sphere. Indeed, it is oriented on recent developments in social systems and control. Trends in quantitative theories and models are described in Section 3, where many new formal, mathematical-statistical tools for modelling complex social phenomena are presented. Finally, Section 4 shows integrative theories and models; particularly, it deals with the ethical, cultural and political approaches to social science, the pedagogical methods, and the relationship between literature, politics, religion and society. The book is addressed to sociologists, philosophers, mathematicians, statisticians, people interested in ethics, and specialists in the fields of communication, social, and political sciences.

In many disciplines of science it is vital to know the effect of a 'treatment' on a response variable of interest; the effect being known as the 'treatment effect'. Here, the treatment can be a drug, an education program or an economic policy, and the response variable can be an illness, academic achievement or GDP. Once the effect is found, it is possible to intervene to adjust the treatment and attain a desired level of the response variable. A basic way to measure the treatment effect is to compare two groups, one of which received the treatment and the other did not. If the two groups are homogenous in all aspects other than their treatment status, then the difference between their response outcomes is the desired treatment effect. But if they differ in some aspects in addition to the treatment status, the difference in the response outcomes may be due to the combined influence of more than one factor. In non-experimental data where the treatment is not randomly assigned but self-selected, the subjects tend to differ in observed or unobserved characteristics. It is therefore imperative that the comparison be carried out with subjects similar in their characteristics. This book explains how this problem can be overcome so the attributable effect of the treatment can be found. This book brings to the fore recent advances in econometrics for treatment effects. The purpose of this book is to put together various economic treatments effect models in a coherent fashion, make it clear which can be parameters of interest, and show how they can be identified and estimated under weak assumptions. The emphasis throughout the book is on semi- and non-parametric estimation methods, but traditional parametric approaches are also discussed. This book is ideally suited to researchers and graduate students with a basic knowledge of econometrics.

In this book, recent developments in our understanding of fundamental vortex ring and jet dynamics will be discussed, with a view to shed light upon their near-field behaviour which underpins much of their far-field characteristics. The chapters provide up-to-date research findings by their respective experts and seek to link near-field flow physics of vortex ring and jet flows with end-applications in mind. Over the past decade, our knowledge on vortex ring and jet flows has grown by leaps and bounds, thanks to increasing use of high-fidelity, high-accuracy experimental techniques and numerical simulations. As such, we now have a much better appreciation and understanding on the initiation and near-field developments of vortex ring and jet flows under many varied initial and boundary conditions. Chapter 1 outlines the vortex ring pinch-off phenomenon and how it relates to the initial stages of jet formations and subsequent jet behaviour, while Chapter 2 takes a closer look at the behaviour resulting from vortex ring impingement upon solid boundaries and how the use of a porous surface alters the impingement process. Chapters 3 and 4 focus upon the formation of synthetic jets from vortex ring structures experimentally and numerically, the challenges in understanding the relationships between their generation parameters and how they can be utilized in flow separation control problems. Chapter 5 looks at the use of imposing selected nozzle trailing-edge modifications to effect changes upon the near-field dynamics associated with circular, noncircular and coaxial jets, with a view to control their mixing behaviour. And last but not least, Chapter 6 details the use of unique impinging jet configurations and how they may lend themselves towards greater understanding and operating efficacies in heat transfer problems. This book will be useful to postgraduate students and researchers alike who wish to get up to speed regarding the latest developments in vortex ring and jet flow behaviour and how their interesting flow dynamics may be put into good use in their intended applications.

Topological surgery is a mathematical technique used for creating new manifolds out of known ones. In this book the authors observe that it also occurs in natural phenomena of all scales: 1-dimensional surgery happens during DNA recombination and when cosmic magnetic lines reconnect; 2-dimensional surgery happens during tornado formation and cell mitosis; and they conjecture that 3-dimensional surgery happens during the formation of black holes from cosmic strings, offering an explanation for the existence of a black hole's singularity. Inspired by such phenomena, the authors present a new topological model that extends the formal definition to a continuous process caused by local forces. Lastly, they describe an intrinsic connection between topological surgery and a chaotic dynamical system exhibiting a "hole drilling" behavior. The authors' model indicates where to look for the forces causing surgery and what deformations should be observed in the local submanifolds involved. These predictions are significant for the study of phenomena exhibiting surgery and they also open new research directions. This novel study enables readers to gain a better understanding of the topology and dynamics of various natural phenomena, as well as topological surgery itself and serves as a basis for many more insightful observations and new physical implications.