This book examines some of the underlying processes behind different forms of information management, including how we store information in our brains, the impact of new technologies such as computers and robots on our efficiency in storing information, and how information is stored in families and in society. The editors brought together experts from a variety of disciplines. While it is generally agreed that information reduces uncertainties and that the ability to store it safely is of vital importance, these authors are open to different meanings of "information": computer science considers the bit as the information block; neuroscience emphasizes the importance of information as sensory inputs that are processed and transformed in the brain; theories in psychology focus more on individual learning and on the acquisition of knowledge; and finally sociology looks at how interpersonal processes within groups or society itself come to the fore. The book will be of value to researchers and students in the areas of information theory, artificial intelligence, and computational neuroscience.

The present book includes a set of selected extended papers from the 12th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2015), held in Colmar, France, from 21 to 23 July 2015. The conference brought together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the application of informatics to Control, Automation and Robotics. Four simultaneous tracks will be held, covering Intelligent Control Systems, Optimization, Robotics, Automation, Signal Processing, Sensors, Systems Modelling and Control, and Industrial Engineering, Production and Management. Informatics applications are pervasive in many areas of Control, Automation and Robotics. ICINCO 2015 received 214 submissions, from 42 countries, in all continents. After a double blind paper review performed by the Program Committee, 14% were accepted as full papers and thus selected for oral presentation. Additional papers were accepted as short papers and posters. A further selection was made after the Conference, based also on the assessment of presentation quality and audience interest, so that this book includes the extended and revised versions of the very best papers of ICINCO 2015. Commitment to high quality standards is a major concern of ICINCO that will be maintained in the next editions, considering not only the stringent paper acceptance ratios but also the quality of the program committee, keynote lectures, participation level and logistics.

This book describes efforts to improve subject-independent automated classification techniques using a better feature extraction method and a more efficient model of classification. It evaluates three popular saliency criteria for feature selection, showing that they share common limitations, including time-consuming and subjective manual de-facto standard practice, and that existing automated efforts have been predominantly used for subject dependent setting. It then proposes a novel approach for anomaly detection, demonstrating its effectiveness and accuracy for automated classification of biomedical data, and arguing its applicability to a wider range of unsupervised machine learning applications in subject-independent settings.

This book offers a timely overview of theories and methods developed by an authoritative group of researchers to understand the link between criticality and brain functioning. Cortical information processing in particular and brain function in general rely heavily on the collective dynamics of neurons and networks distributed over many brain areas. A key concept for characterizing and understanding brain dynamics is the idea that networks operate near a critical state, which offers several potential benefits for computation and information processing. However, there is still a large gap between research on criticality and understanding brain function. For example, cortical networks are not homogeneous but highly structured, they are not in a state of spontaneous activation but strongly driven by changing external stimuli, and they process information with respect to behavioral goals. So far the questions relating to how critical dynamics may support computation in this complex setting, and whether they can outperform other information processing schemes remain open. Based on the workshop "Dynamical Network States, Criticality and Cortical Function", held in March 2017 at the Hanse Institute for Advanced Studies (HWK) in Delmenhorst, Germany, the book provides readers with extensive information on these topics, as well as tools and ideas to answer the above-mentioned questions. It is meant for physicists, computational and systems neuroscientists, and biologists.

Focusing on non-intrusive load monitoring techniques in the area of smart grids and smart buildings, this book presents a thorough introduction to related basic principles, while also proposing improvements. As the basis of demand-side energy management, the non-intrusive load monitoring techniques are highly promising in terms of their energy-saving and carbon emission reduction potential. The book is structured clearly and written concisely. It introduces each aspect of these techniques with a number of examples, helping readers to understand and use the corresponding results. It provides latest strengths on the non-intrusive load monitoring techniques for engineers and managers of relevant departments. It also offers extensive information and a source of inspiration for researchers and students, while outlining future research directions.

This book addresses a range of solutions and effective control techniques for Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), intended as a response to the increased energy consumption and wastewater production stemming from globalization. It describes the fundamentals of MFCs and control-oriented mathematical models, and provides detailed information on uncertain parameters. Various control techniques like robust control with LMI, adaptive backstepping control, and exact linearization control are developed for different mathematical models. In turn, the book elaborates on the basics of adaptive control, presenting several methods in detail. It also demonstrates how MFCs can be developed at the laboratory level, equipping readers to develop their own MFCs for experimental purposes. In closing, it develops a transfer function model for MFCs by combining a system identification technique and model reference adaptive control techniques. By addressing one of the most promising sources of clean and renewable energy, this book provides a viable solution for meeting the world's increasing energy demands.

This book explores the latest and most relevant topics in the field of computational bioengineering and bioinformatics, with a particular focus on patient-specific, disease-progression modeling. It covers computational methods for cardiovascular disease prediction, with an emphasis on biomechanics, biomedical decision support systems, data mining, personalized diagnostics, bio-signal processing, protein structure prediction, biomedical image processing, analysis and visualization, and high-performance computing. It also discusses state-of-the-art tools for disease characterization, and recent advances in areas such as biomechanics, cardiovascular engineering, patient-specific modeling, population-based modeling, multiscale modeling, image processing, data mining, biomedical decision-support systems, signal processing, biomaterials and dental biomechanics, tissue and cell engineering, computational chemistry and high-performance computing. As such, it is a valuable resource for researchers, medical and bioengineering students, and medical device and software experts

This book offers a compendium of best practices in game dynamics. It covers a wide range of dynamic game elements ranging from player behavior over artificial intelligence to procedural content generation. Such dynamics make virtual worlds more lively and realistic and they also create the potential for moments of amazement and surprise. In many cases, game dynamics are driven by a combination of random seeds, player records and procedural algorithms. Games can even incorporate the player's real-world behavior to create dynamic responses. The best practices illustrate how dynamic elements improve the user experience and increase the replay value. The book draws upon interdisciplinary approaches; researchers and practitioners from Game Studies, Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology and other disciplines will find this book to be an exceptional resource of both creative inspiration and hands-on process knowledge.

This monograph presents new algorithms for formation control of multi-agent systems (MAS) based on principles of continuum mechanics. Beginning with an overview of traditional methods, the author then introduces an innovative new approach whereby agents of an MAS are considered as particles in a continuum evolving in n whose desired configuration is required to satisfy an admissible deformation function. The necessary theory and its validation on a mobile-agent-based swarm test bed are considered for two primary tasks: homogeneous transformation of the MAS and deployment of a random distribution of agents on a desired configuration. The framework for this model is based on homogeneous transformations for the evolution of an MAS under no inter-agent communication, local inter-agent communication, and intelligent perception by agents. Different communication protocols for MAS evolution, the robustness of tracking of a desired motion by an MAS evolving in n, and the effect of communication delays in an MAS evolving under consensus algorithms or homogeneous maps are also explored. Featuring appendices which introduce the requisite concepts from continuum kinematics and graph theory, this monograph will provide advanced graduate students and researchers with the necessary background to understand and apply the methods presented.

This book covers applications of machine learning in artificial intelligence. The specific topics covered include human language, heterogeneous and streaming data, unmanned systems, neural information processing, marketing and the social sciences, bioinformatics and robotics, etc. It also provides a broad range of techniques that can be successfully applied and adopted in different areas. Accordingly, the book offers an interesting and insightful read for scholars in the areas of computer vision, speech recognition, healthcare, business, marketing, and bioinformatics.

This standard text gives a unified treatment of passivity and L2-gain theory for nonlinear state space systems, preceded by a compact treatment of classical passivity and small-gain theorems for nonlinear input-output maps. The synthesis between passivity and L2-gain theory is provided by the theory of dissipative systems. Specifically, the small-gain and passivity theorems and their implications for nonlinear stability and stabilization are discussed from this standpoint. The connection between L2-gain and passivity via scattering is detailed. Feedback equivalence to a passive system and resulting stabilization strategies are discussed. The passivity concepts are enriched by a generalised Hamiltonian formalism, emphasising the close relations with physical modeling and control by interconnection, and leading to novel control methodologies going beyond passivity. The potential of L2-gain techniques in nonlinear control, including a theory of all-pass factorizations of nonlinear systems, and of parametrization of stabilizing controllers, is demonstrated. The nonlinear H-infinity optimal control problem is also treated and the book concludes with a geometric analysis of the solution sets of Hamilton-Jacobi inequalities and their relation with Riccati inequalities for the linearization. * L2-Gain and Passivity Techniques in Nonlinear Control (third edition) is thoroughly updated, revised, reorganized and expanded. Among the changes, readers will find: * updated and extended coverage of dissipative systems theory * substantial new material regarding converse passivity theorems and incremental/shifted passivity * coverage of recent developments on networks of passive systems with examples * a completely overhauled and succinct introduction to modeling and control of port-Hamiltonian systems, followed by an exposition of port-Hamiltonian formulation of physical network dynamics * updated treatment of all-pass factorization of nonlinear systems The book provides graduate students and researchers in systems and control with a compact presentation of a fundamental and rapidly developing area of nonlinear control theory, illustrated by a broad range of relevant examples stemming from different application areas.

Robust and Fault-Tolerant Control proposes novel automatic control strategies for nonlinear systems developed by means of artificial neural networks and pays special attention to robust and fault-tolerant approaches. The book discusses robustness and fault tolerance in the context of model predictive control, fault accommodation and reconfiguration, and iterative learning control strategies. Expanding on its theoretical deliberations the monograph includes many case studies demonstrating how the proposed approaches work in practice. The most important features of the book include: a comprehensive review of neural network architectures with possible applications in system modelling and control; a concise introduction to robust and fault-tolerant control; step-by-step presentation of the control approaches proposed; an abundance of case studies illustrating the important steps in designing robust and fault-tolerant control; and a large number of figures and tables facilitating the performance analysis of the control approaches described. The material presented in this book will be useful for researchers and engineers who wish to avoid spending excessive time in searching neural-network-based control solutions. It is written for electrical, computer science and automatic control engineers interested in control theory and their applications. This monograph will also interest postgraduate students engaged in self-study of nonlinear robust and fault-tolerant control.

This book delves into various solution paradigms such as artificial neural network, support vector machine, wavelet transforms, evolutionary computing, swarm intelligence. During the last decade, novel solution technologies based on human and species intelligence have gained immense popularity due to their flexible and unconventional approach. New analytical tools are also being developed to handle big data processing and smart decision making. The idea behind compiling this work is to familiarize researchers, academicians, industry persons and students with various applications of intelligent techniques for producing sustainable, cost-effective and robust solutions of frequently encountered complex, real-world problems in engineering and science disciplines. The practical problems in smart grids, communication, waste management, elimination of harmful elements from nature, etc., are identified, and smart and optimal solutions are proposed.

This book presents multibiometric watermarking techniques for security of biometric data. This book also covers transform domain multibiometric watermarking techniques and their advantages and limitations. The authors have developed novel watermarking techniques with a combination of Compressive Sensing (CS) theory for the security of biometric data at the system database of the biometric system. The authors show how these techniques offer higher robustness, authenticity, better imperceptibility, increased payload capacity, and secure biometric watermarks. They show how to use the CS theory for the security of biometric watermarks before embedding into the host biometric data. The suggested methods may find potential applications in the security of biometric data at various banking applications, access control of laboratories, nuclear power stations, military base, and airports.

This book introduces research presented at the "International Conference on Artificial Intelligence: Advances and Applications-2019 (ICAIAA 2019)," a two-day conference and workshop bringing together leading academicians, researchers as well as students to share their experiences and findings on all aspects of engineering applications of artificial intelligence. The book covers research in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning applications in health care, agriculture, business and security. It also includes research in core concepts of computer networks, intelligent system design and deployment, real-time systems, WSN, sensors and sensor nodes, SDN and NFV. As such it is a valuable resource for students, academics and practitioners in industry working on AI applications.

This proceeding features papers discussing big data innovation for sustainable cognitive computing. The papers feature detail on cognitive computing and its self-learning systems that use data mining, pattern recognition and natural language processing (NLP) to mirror the way the human brain works. This international conference focuses on cognitive computing technologies, from knowledge representation techniques and natural language processing algorithms to dynamic learning approaches. Topics covered include Data Science for Cognitive Analysis, Real-Time Ubiquitous Data Science, Platform for Privacy Preserving Data Science, and Internet-Based Cognitive Platform. The EAI International Conference on Big Data Innovation for Sustainable Cognitive Computing (BDCC 2018), took place on 13 - 15 December 2018 in Coimbatore, India.

This book presents the latest research of the field of optimization, modeling and algorithms, discussing the real-world application problems associated with new innovative methodologies. The requirements and demands of problem solving have been increasing exponentially and new computer science and engineering technologies have reduced the scope of data coverage worldwide. The recent advances in information communication technology (ICT) have contributed to reducing the gaps in the coverage of domains around the globe. The book is a valuable reference work for researchers in the fields of computer science and engineering with a particular focus on modeling, simulation and optimization as well as for postgraduates, managers, economists and decision makers

The book includes topics, such as: path planning, avoiding obstacles, following the path, go-to-goal control, localization, and visual-based motion control. The theoretical concepts are illustrated with a developed control architecture with soft computing and artificial intelligence methods. The proposed vision-based motion control strategy involves three stages. The first stage consists of the overhead camera calibration and the configuration of the working environment. The second stage consists of a path planning strategy using several traditional path planning algorithms and proposed planning algorithm. The third stage consists of the path tracking process using previously developed Gauss and Decision Tree control approaches and the proposed Type-1 and Type-2 controllers. Two kinematic structures are utilized to acquire the input values of controllers. These are Triangle Shape-Based Controller Design, which was previously developed and Distance-Based Triangle Structure that is used for the first time in conducted experiments. Four different control algorithms, Type-1 fuzzy logic, Type-2 Fuzzy Logic, Decision Tree Control, and Gaussian Control have been used in overall system design. The developed system includes several modules that simplify characterizing the motion control of the robot and ensure that it maintains a safe distance without colliding with any obstacles on the way to the target. The topics of the book are extremely relevant in many areas of research, as well as in education in courses in computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering and in mathematics at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

This book is intended for specialists as well as students and graduate students in the field of artificial intelligence, robotics and information technology. It is will also appeal to a wide range of readers interested in expanding the functionality of artificial intelligence systems. One of the pressing problems of modern artificial intelligence systems is the development of integrated hybrid systems based on deep learning. Unfortunately, there is currently no universal methodology for developing topologies of hybrid neural networks (HNN) using deep learning. The development of such systems calls for the expansion of the use of neural networks (NS) for solving recognition, classification and optimization problems. As such, it is necessary to create a unified methodology for constructing HNN with a selection of models of artificial neurons that make up HNN, gradually increasing the complexity of their structure using hybrid learning algorithms.

This volume presents the second part of the proceedings of the Mediterranean Conference on Information & Communication Technologies (MedICT 2015), which was held at Saidia, Morocco during 7-9 May, 2015. MedICT provides an excellent international forum to the researchers and practitioners from both academia as well as industry to meet and share cutting-edge development. The conference has also a special focus on enabling technologies for societal challenges, and seeks to address multidisciplinary challenges in Information & Communication Technologies such as health, demographic change, wellbeing, security and sustainability issues. The proceedings publish high quality papers which are closely related to the various theories, as well as emerging and practical applications of particular interest to the ICT community. This second volume provides a compact yet broad view of recent developments in Data, Systems, Services and Education, and covers recent research areas in the field including Control Systems, Software Engineering, Data Mining and Big Data, ICT for Education and Support Activities, Networking, Cloud Computing and Security, ICT Based Services and Applications, Mobile Agent Systems, Software Engineering, Data Mining and Big Data, Online Experimentation & Artificial Intelligence in Education, Networking, Cloud Computing and Security, ICT Based Education and Services ICT Challenges and Applications, Advances in ICT Modeling and Design ICT Developments.

This book contains the proceedings of the KES International conferences on Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare (KES-InMed-19) and Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services (KES-IIMSS-19), held on 17-19 June 2019 and co-located in St. Julians, on the island of Malta, as part of the KES Smart Digital Futures 2019 multi-theme conference. The major areas covered by KES-InMed-19 include: Digital IT Architecture in Healthcare; Advanced ICT for Medical and Healthcare; Biomedical Engineering, Trends, Research and Technologies and Healthcare Support System. The major areas covered by KES-IIMSS-19 were: Interactive Technologies; Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics; Intelligent Services and Architectures and Applications. This book is of use to researchers in these vibrant areas, managers, industrialists and anyone wishing to gain an overview of the latest research in these fields.

The most thrilling and challenging intellectual issues of humanity - whether and how a consistent account of reality can be obtained, which field of knowledge is capable to deal with the whole of reality and its formal representation, and how powerful intelligent machines can be brought into existence - are research areas demanding innovative and comprehensive study.""Reality, Universal Ontology and Knowledge Systems: Toward the Intelligent World"" provides cutting-edge research on reality, its nature and fundamental structure, and how it may be effectively represented both by human minds and intelligent machines. Striving to describe a standard world model and universal formal ontology, it offers a uniformly organized human knowledge. It includes powerful reasoning systems, and secure communication interoperability between two species of intelligences, as well as existing human beings and nascent computing reasoning systems promising the profound revolution in human values and ways of life.

This book explores the ways in which the broad range of technologies that make up the smart city infrastructure can be harnessed to incorporate more playfulness into the day-to-day activities that take place within smart cities, making them not only more efficient but also more enjoyable for the people who live and work within their confines. The book addresses various topics that will be of interest to playable cities stakeholders, including the human-computer interaction and game designer communities, computer scientists researching sensor and actuator technology in public spaces, urban designers, and (hopefully) urban policymakers. This is a follow-up to another book on Playable Cities edited by Anton Nijholt and published in 2017 in the same book series, Gaming Media and Social Effects.

This book offers a comprehensive reference guide to intelligence systems in environmental management. It provides readers with all the necessary tools for solving complex environmental problems, where classical techniques cannot be applied. The respective chapters, written by prominent researchers, explain a wealth of both basic and advanced concepts including ant colony, genetic algorithms, evolutionary algorithms, fuzzy multi-criteria decision making tools, particle swarm optimization, agent-based modelling, artificial neural networks, simulated annealing, Tabu search, fuzzy multi-objective optimization, fuzzy rules, support vector machines, fuzzy cognitive maps, cumulative belief degrees, and many others. To foster a better understanding, all the chapters include relevant numerical examples or case studies. Taken together, they form an excellent reference guide for researchers, lecturers and postgraduate students pursuing research on complex environmental problems. Moreover, by extending all the main aspects of classical environmental solution techniques to its intelligent counterpart, the book presents a dynamic snapshot on the field that is expected to stimulate new directions and stimulate new ideas and developments.

This book provides an overview of the problems involved in engineering scalable, elastic, and cost-efficient cloud computing services and describes the CloudScale method - a description of rescuing tools and the required steps to exploit these tools. It allows readers to analyze the scalability problem in detail and identify scalability anti-patterns and bottlenecks within an application. With the CloudScale method, software architects can analyze both existing and planned IT services. The method allows readers to answer questions like: * With an increasing number of users, can my service still deliver acceptable quality of service? * What if each user uses the service more intensively? Can my service still handle it with acceptable quality of service? * What if the number of users suddenly increases? Will my service still be able to handle it? * Will my service be cost-efficient? First the book addresses the importance of scalability, elasticity, and cost-efficiency as vital quality-related attributes of modern cloud computing applications. Following a brief overview of CloudScale, cloud computing applications are then introduced in detail and the aspects that need to be captured in models of such applications are discussed. In CloudScale, these aspects are captured in instances of the ScaleDL modeling language. Subsequently, the book describes the forward engineering part of CloudScale, which is applicable when developing a new service. It also outlines the reverse and reengineering parts of CloudScale, which come into play when an existing (legacy) service is modified. Lastly, the book directly focuses on the needs of both business-oriented and technical managers by providing guidance on all steps of implementing CloudScale as well as making decisions during that implementation. The demonstrators and reference projects described serve as a valuable starting point for learning from experience. This book is meant for all stakeholders interested in delivering scalable, elastic, and cost-efficient cloud computing applications: managers, product owners, software architects and developers alike. With this book, they can both see the overall picture as well as dive into issues of particular interest.