This book highlights recent developments in multidimensional data visualization, presenting both new methods and modifications on classic techniques. Throughout the book, various applications of multidimensional data visualization are presented including its uses in social sciences (economy, education, politics, psychology), environmetrics, and medicine (ophthalmology, sport medicine, pharmacology, sleep medicine). The book provides recent research results in optimization-based visualization. Evolutionary algorithms and a two-level optimization method, based on combinatorial optimization and quadratic programming, are analyzed in detail. The performance of these algorithms and the development of parallel versions are discussed. The utilization of new visualization techniques to improve the capabilies of artificial neural networks (self-organizing maps, feed-forward networks) is also discussed. The book includes over 100 detailed images presenting examples of the many different visualization techniques that the book presents. This book is intended for scientists and researchers in any field of study where complex and multidimensional data must be represented visually.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Distributed and Computer and Communication Networks, DCCN 2015, held in Moscow, Russia, in October 2015. The 38 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 94 submissions. The papers cover the following topics: computer and communication networks architecture optimization; control in computer and communication networks; performance and QoS evaluation in wireless networks; modeling and simulation of network protocols; queuing and reliability theory; wireless IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16, and UMTS (LTE) networks; FRID technology and its application in intellectual transportation networks; protocols design (MAC, Routing) for centimeter and millimeter wave mesh networks; internet and web applications and services; application integration in distributed information systems; big data in communication networks.

This book constitutes thoroughly revised and selected papers from the Second International Conference on Model-Driven Engineering and Software Development, MODELSWARD 2014, held in Lisbon, Portugal, in January 2014. The 10 thoroughly revised and extended papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 88 submissions. They are organized in topical sections named: invited papers; modeling languages, tools and architectures; and methodologies, processes and platforms.

This book constitutes the second part of the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2014, and of the International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2014, held in Shanghai, China, in September 2014. The 159 revised full papers presented in the three volumes of CCIS 461-463 were carefully reviewed and selected from 572 submissions. The papers of this volume are organized in topical sections on advanced neural network theory and algorithms; advanced evolutionary computing theory and algorithms, such as particle swarm optimization, differential evolution, ant colonies, artificial life, artificial immune systems and genetic algorithm; fuzzy, neural, and fuzzy-neuro hybrids; intelligent modeling, monitoring, and control of complex nonlinear systems; intelligent modeling and simulation of climate change; communication and control for distributed networked systems.

This book deals with the analysis, the design and the implementation of the mechatronic systems. Classical and modern tools are developed for the analysis and the design for such systems. Robust control, H-Infinity and guaranteed cost control theory are also used for analysis and design of mechatronic systems. Different controller such as state feedback, static output feedback and dynamic output feedback controllers are used to stabilize mechatronic systems. Heuristic algorithms are provided to solve the design of the classical controller such as PID, phase lead, phase lag and phase lead-lag controllers while linear matrix inequalities (LMI) algorithms are provided for finding solutions to the state feedback, static output feedback and dynamic output feedback controllers. The theory presented in the different chapters of the volume is applied to numerical examples to show the usefulness of the theoretical results. Some case studies are also provided to show how the developed concepts apply for real system. Emphasis is also put on the implementation in real-time for some real systems that we have developed in our mechatronic laboratory and all the detail is provided to give an idea to the reader how to implement its own mechatronic system. Mechatronics Systems: Analysis, Design and Implementation is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in mechatronic system and control theory and as a reference for academic researchers in control or mathematics with interest in control theory. The reader should have completed first-year graduate courses in control theory, linear algebra, and linear systems. It will also be of great value to engineers practising in fields where the systems can be modeled by linear time invariant systems.

In the past decade, feature-based design and manufacturing has gained some momentum in various engineering domains to represent and reuse semantic patterns with effective applicability. However, the actual scope of feature application is still very limited. Semantic Modeling and Interoperability in Product and Process Engineering provides a systematic solution for the challenging engineering informatics field aiming at the enhancement of sustainable knowledge representation, implementation and reuse in an open and yet practically manageable scale. This semantic modeling technology supports uniform, multi-facet and multi-level collaborative system engineering with heterogeneous computer-aided tools, such as CADCAM, CAE, and ERP. This presented unified feature model can be applied to product and process representation, development, implementation and management. Practical case studies and test samples are provided to illustrate applications which can be implemented by the readers in real-world scenarios. By expanding on well-known feature-based design and manufacturing approach, Semantic Modeling and Interoperability in Product and Process Engineering provides a valuable reference for researchers, practitioners and students from both academia and engineering field.

This book presents an agile and model-driven approach to manage scientific workflows. The approach is based on the Extreme Model Driven Design (XMDD) paradigm and aims at simplifying and automating the complex data analysis processes carried out by scientists in their day-to-day work. Besides documenting the impact the workflow modeling might have on the work of natural scientists, this book serves three major purposes: 1. It acts as a primer for practitioners who are interested to learn how to think in terms of services and workflows when facing domain-specific scientific processes. 2. It provides interesting material for readers already familiar with this kind of tools, because it introduces systematically both the technologies used in each case study and the basic concepts behind them. 3. As the addressed thematic field becomes increasingly relevant for lectures in both computer science and experimental sciences, it also provides helpful material for teachers that plan similar courses.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems, MODELS 2014, held in Valencia, Spain, in September/October 2014. The 41 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 126 submissions. The scope of the conference series is broad, encompassing modeling languages, methods, tools, and applications considered from theoretical and practical angles and in academic and industrial settings. The papers report on the use of modeling in a wide range of cloud, mobile, and web computing, model transformation behavioral modeling, MDE: past, present, future, formal semantics, specification, and verification, models at runtime, feature and variability modeling, composition and adaptation, practices and experience, modeling for analysis, pragmatics, model extraction, manipulation and persistence, querying, and reasoning.

Soft computing, as an engineering science, and statistics, as a classical branch of mathematics, emphasize different aspects of data analysis. Soft computing focuses on obtaining working solutions quickly, accepting approximations and unconventional approaches. Its strength lies in its flexibility to create models that suit the needs arising in applications. In addition, it emphasizes the need for intuitive and interpretable models, which are tolerant to imprecision and uncertainty. Statistics is more rigorous and focuses on establishing objective conclusions based on experimental data by analyzing the possible situations and their (relative) likelihood. It emphasizes the need for mathematical methods and tools to assess solutions and guarantee performance. Combining the two fields enhances the robustness and generalizability of data analysis methods, while preserving the flexibility to solve real-world problems efficiently and intuitively.

Fuzzy classifiers are important tools in exploratory data analysis, which is a vital set of methods used in various engineering, scientific and business applications. Fuzzy classifiers use fuzzy rules and do not require assumptions common to statistical classification. Rough set theory is useful when data sets are incomplete. It defines a formal approximation of crisp sets by providing the lower and the upper approximation of the original set. Systems based on rough sets have natural ability to work on such data and incomplete vectors do not have to be preprocessed before classification. To achieve better performance than existing machine learning systems, fuzzy classifiers and rough sets can be combined in ensembles. Such ensembles consist of a finite set of learning models, usually weak learners. The present book discusses the three aforementioned fields - fuzzy systems, rough sets and ensemble techniques. As the trained ensemble should represent a single hypothesis, a lot of attention is placed on the possibility to combine fuzzy rules from fuzzy systems being members of classification ensemble. Furthermore, an emphasis is placed on ensembles that can work on incomplete data, thanks to rough set theory. .

This volume constitutes the papers presented at the 15th International Conference on Computer Aided Systems Theory, EUROCAST 2015, held in February 2015 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. The total of 107 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The contributions are organized in topical sections on Systems Theory and Applications; Modelling Biological Systems; Intelligent Information Processing; Theory and Applications of Metaheuristic Algorithms; Computer Methods, Virtual Reality and Image Processing for Clinical and Academic Medicine; Signals and Systems in Electronics; Model-Based System Design, Verification, and Simulation; Digital Signal Processing Methods and Applications; Modelling and Control of Robots; Mobile Platforms, Autonomous and Computing Traffic Systems; Cloud and Other Computing Systems; and Marine Sensors and Manipulators.

This innovative text emphasizes a "less-is-more" approach to modeling complicated systems such as heat transfer by treating them first as "1-node lumped models" that yield simple closed-form solutions. The author develops numerical techniques for students to obtain more detail, but also trains them to use the techniques only when simpler approaches fail. Covering all essential methods offered in traditional texts, but with a different order, Professor Sidebotham stresses inductive thinking and problem solving as well as a constructive understanding of modern, computer-based practice. Readers learn to develop their own code in the context of the material, rather than just how to use packaged software, offering a deeper, intrinsic grasp behind models of heat transfer. Developed from over twenty-five years of lecture notes to teach students of mechanical and chemical engineering at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the book is ideal for students and practitioners across engineering disciplines seeking a solid understanding of heat transfer. This book also: * Adopts a novel inductive pedagogy where commonly understood examples are introduced early and theory is developed to explain and predict readily recognized phenomena * Introduces new techniques as needed to address specific problems, in contrast to traditional texts' use of a deductive approach, where abstract general principles lead to specific examples * Elucidates readers' understanding of the "heat transfer takes time" idea-transient analysis applications are introduced first and steady-state methods are shown to be a limiting case of those applications * Focuses on basic numerical methods rather than analytical methods of solving partial differential equations, largely obsolete in light of modern computer power * Maximizes readers' insights to heat transfer modeling by framing theory as an engineering design tool, not as a pure science, as has been done in traditional textbooks * Integrates practical use of spreadsheets for calculations and provides many tips for their use throughout the text examples

This book explains and examines the theoretical underpinnings of the Complex Variable Boundary Element Method (CVBEM) as applied to higher dimensions, providing the reader with the tools for extending and using the CVBEM in various applications. Relevant mathematics and principles are assembled and the reader is guided through the key topics necessary for an understanding of the development of the CVBEM in both the usual two as well as three or higher dimensions. In addition to this, problems are provided that build upon the material presented. The Complex Variable Boundary Element Method (CVBEM) is an approximation method useful for solving problems involving the Laplace equation in two dimensions. It has been shown to be a useful modelling technique for solving two-dimensional problems involving the Laplace or Poisson equations on arbitrary domains. The CVBEM has recently been extended to 3 or higher spatial dimensions, which enables the precision of the CVBEM in solving the Laplace equation to be now available for multiple dimensions. The mathematical underpinnings of the CVBEM, as well as the extension to higher dimensions, involve several areas of applied and pure mathematics including Banach Spaces, Hilbert Spaces, among other topics. This book is intended for applied mathematics graduate students, engineering students or practitioners, developers of industrial applications involving the Laplace or Poisson equations and developers of computer modelling applications.

3D Imaging, Analysis and Applications brings together core topics, both in terms of well-established fundamental techniques and the most promising recent techniques in the exciting field of 3D imaging and analysis. Many similar techniques are being used in a variety of subject areas and applications and the authors attempt to unify a range of related ideas. With contributions from high profile researchers and practitioners, the material presented is informative and authoritative and represents mainstream work and opinions within the community. Composed of three sections, the first examines 3D imaging and shape representation, the second, 3D shape analysis and processing, and the last section covers 3D imaging applications. Although 3D Imaging, Analysis and Applications is primarily a graduate text, aimed at masters-level and doctoral-level research students, much material is accessible to final-year undergraduate students. It will also serve as a reference text for professional academics, people working in commercial research and development labs and industrial practitioners.

Christoph Clauser and Jom Bartels SHE MAT (Simulator for HEat and MAss Transport) is an easy-to-use, general- purpose reactive transport simulation code for a wide variety of thermal and hy- drogeological problems in two and three dimensions. Specifically, SHEMAT solves coupled problems involving fluid flow, heat transfer, species transport, and chemical water-rock interaction in fluid-saturated porous media. It can handle a wide range of time scales. Therefore, it is useful to address both technical and geo- logical processes. In particular, it offers special and attractive features for model- ing steady-state and transient processes in hydro-geothermal reservoirs. This makes it well suited to predict the long-term behavior of heat mining installations in hot aquifers with highly saline brines. SHEMA T in its present form evolved from a fully coupled flow and heat transport model (Clauser 1988) which had been developed from the isothermal USGS 3-D groundwater model of Trescott and Larson (Trescott 1975; Trescott and Larson 1977). Transport of dissolved species, geochemical reactions between the solid and fluid phases, extended cou- pling between the individual processes (most notably between porosity and per- meability), and a convenient user interface (developed from Processing Modflow (Chiang and Kinzelbach 2001)) were added during several research projects funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) under grant CL 12117 and the German Federal Ministries for Education, Science, Research, and Technology (BMBF) under grant 032 69 95A-D and for Economics and Technology (BMWi) under grant 0327095 (Bartels et al. 2002, Kuhn et al. 2002a).

In order to satisfy the needs of their customers, network utilities require specially developed maintenance management capabilities. Maintenance Management information systems are essential to ensure control, gain knowledge and improve-decision making in companies dealing with network infrastructure, such as distribution of gas, water, electricity and telecommunications. Maintenance Management in Network Utilities studies specified characteristics of maintenance management in this sector to offer a practical approach to defining and implementing the best management practices and suitable frameworks.
Divided into three major sections, Maintenance Management in Network Utilities defines a series of stages which can be followed to manage maintenance frameworks properly. Different case studies provide detailed descriptions which illustrate the experience in real company situations. An introduction to the concepts is followed by main sections including:

A Literature Review: covering the basic concepts and models needed for framework design, development and implementation.
Framework Design and Definition: developing the basic pillars of network utilities maintenance management framework.
Performance Evaluation & Maturity: focusing on the reliability concept and maturity models from different viewpoints.

By establishing basic foundations for creating and maintaining maintenance managements strategies, Maintenance Management in Network Utilities acts a practical handbook for all professionals in these companies and across areas such as network development, operations management and marketing.
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This book looks at the convergent nature of technology and its relationship to the field of photogrammetry and 3D design. This is a facet of a broader discussion of the nature of technology itself and the relationship of technology to art, as well as an examination of the educational process. In the field of technology-influenced design-based education it is natural to push for advanced technology, yet within a larger institution the constraints of budget and adherence to tradition must be accepted. These opposing forces create a natural balance; in some cases constraints lead to greater creativity than freedom ever can - but in other cases the opposite is true. This work offers insights into ways to integrate new technologies into the field of design, and from a broader standpoint it also looks ahead, raising further questions and looking to the near future as to what additional technologies might cause further disruptions to 3D design as well as wonderful creative opportunities.

In this self-consistent monograph, the author gathers and describes different mathematical techniques and combines all together to form practical procedures for the inverse analyses. It puts together topics coming from mathematical programming, with soft computing and Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, in order to show, in the context of structural analyses, how the things work and what are the main problems one needs to tackle.

Throughout the book a number of examples and exercises are worked out in order to make reader practically familiar with discussed topics.

This two volume set (CCIS 398 and 399) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Symposium on Geo-Informatics in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem, GRMSE 2013, held in Wuhan, China, in November 2013. The 136 papers presented, in addition to 4 keynote speeches and 5 invited sessions, were carefully reviewed and selected from 522 submissions. The papers are divided into 5 sessions: smart city in resource management and sustainable ecosystem, spatial data acquisition through RS and GIS in resource management and sustainable ecosystem, ecological and environmental data processing and management, advanced geospatial model and analysis for understanding ecological and environmental process, applications of geo-informatics in resource management and sustainable ecosystem.

This book provides an overview of recent developments and applications of the Land Use Scanner model, which has been used in spatial planning for well over a decade. Internationally recognized as among the best of its kind, this versatile model can be applied at a national level for trend extrapolation, scenario studies and optimization, yet can also be employed in a smaller-scale regional context, as demonstrated by the assortment of regional case studies included in the book. Alongside these practical examples from the Netherlands, readers will find discussion of more theoretical aspects of land-use models as well as an assessment of various studies that aim to develop the Land-Use Scanner model further.

Spanning the divide between the abstractions of land-use modelling and the imperatives of policy making, this is a cutting-edge account of the way in which the Land-Use Scanner approach is able to interrogate a spectrum of issues that range from climate change to transportation efficiency. Aimed at planners, researchers and policy makers who need to stay abreast of the latest advances in land-use modelling techniques in the context of planning practice, the book guides the reader through the applications supported by current instrumentation. It affords the opportunity for a wide readership to benefit from the extensive and acknowledged expertise of Dutch planners, who have originated a host of much-used models."

This book deals with one of the most novel advances in natural computing, namely, in the field of tactile sense analysis. Massage, which provides relaxation and stimulation for human beings, is analyzed in this book for the first time by encoding the motions and tactile senses involved. The target audience is not limited to researchers who are interested in natural computing but also includes those working in ergonomic design, biomedical engineering, Kansei engineering, and cognitive science.

Decision makers in large scale interconnected network systems require simulation models for decision support. The behaviour of these systems is determined by many actors, situated in a dynamic, multi-actor, multi-objective and multi-level environment. How can such systems be modelled and how can the socio-technical complexity be captured? Agent-based modelling is a proven approach to handle this challenge. This book provides a practical introduction to agent-based modelling of socio-technical systems, based on a methodology that has been developed at TU Delft and which has been deployed in a large number of case studies. The book consists of two parts: the first presents the background, theory and methodology as well as practical guidelines and procedures for building models. In the second part this theory is applied to a number of case studies, where for each model the development steps are presented extensively, preparing the reader for creating own models.

An overview of biomechanical modeling of human soft tissue using nonlinear theoretical mechanics and incremental finite element methods, useful for computer simulation of the human musculoskeletal system.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 36th German Conference on Pattern Recognition, GCPR 2014, held in Munster, Germany, in September 2014. The 58 revised full papers and 8 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 153 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on variational models for depth and flow, reconstruction, bio-informatics, deep learning and segmentation, feature computation, video interpretation, segmentation and labeling, image processing and analysis, human pose and people tracking, interpolation and inpainting.

This book generalizes fuzzy logic systems for different types of uncertainty, including - semantic ambiguity resulting from limited perception or lack of knowledge about exact membership functions - lack of attributes or granularity arising from discretization of real data - imprecise description of membership functions - vagueness perceived as fuzzification of conditional attributes. Consequently, the membership uncertainty can be modeled by combining methods of conventional and type-2 fuzzy logic, rough set theory and possibility theory. In particular, this book provides a number of formulae for implementing the operation extended on fuzzy-valued fuzzy sets and presents some basic structures of generalized uncertain fuzzy logic systems, as well as introduces several of methods to generate fuzzy membership uncertainty. It is desirable as a reference book for under-graduates in higher education, master and doctor graduates in the courses of computer science, computational intelligence, or fuzzy control and classification, and is especially dedicated to researchers and practitioners in industry.