This classroom-texted textbook/reference presents a set of useful modeling techniques, describing how these can be combined into a powerful framework for the analysis and design of business systems. These techniques follow an interactive modeling and simulation (IMS) approach, enabling the modeling and simulation of separate parts of the system at different levels of abstraction, and the composition of these parts in a flexible crosscutting manner that preserves the behavior of the individual parts. Topics and features: presents a detailed introduction to the foundations of IMS for business system design, covering protocol modeling and goal modeling semantics; describes the practical application of IMS for business system design, illustrated by a selection of useful case studies; highlights the advantages of this approach to IMS for business system design, with a focus on performance management, motivation modeling, and communication; includes review questions and exercises at the end of each chapter.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 22nd International Symposium on Formal Methods, FM 2018, held in Oxford, UK, in July 2018. The 44 full papers presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 110 submissions. They present formal methods for developing and evaluating systems. Examples include autonomous systems, robots, and cyber-physical systems in general. The papers cover a broad range of topics in the following areas: interdisciplinary formal methods; formal methods in practice; tools for formal methods; role of formal methods in software systems engineering; and theoretical foundations.

This two-volume set CCIS 751 and CCIS 752 constitutes the proceedings of the 17th Asia Simulation Conference, AsiaSim 2017, held in Malacca, Malaysia, in August/September 2017. The 124 revised full papers presented in this two-volume set were carefully reviewed and selected from 267 submissions. The papers contained in these proceedings address challenging issues in modeling and simulation in various fields such as embedded systems; symbiotic simulation; agent-based simulation; parallel and distributed simulation; high performance computing; biomedical engineering; big data; energy, society and economics; medical processes; simulation language and software; visualization; virtual reality; modeling and Simulation for IoT; machine learning; as well as the fundamentals and applications of computing.

The three-volume set CCIS 761, CCIS 762, and CCIS 763 constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2017, and of the International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2017, held in Nanjing, China, in September 2017. The 208 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from over 625 submissions. The papers of this volume are organized in topical sections on: Biomedical Signal Processing; Computational Methods in Organism Modeling; Medical Apparatus and Clinical Applications; Bionics Control Methods, Algorithms and Apparatus; Modeling and Simulation of Life Systems; Data Driven Analysis; Image and Video Processing; Advanced Fuzzy and Neural Network Theory and Algorithms; Advanced Evolutionary Methods and Applications; Advanced Machine Learning Methods and Applications; Intelligent Modeling, Monitoring, and Control of Complex Nonlinear Systems; Advanced Methods for Networked Systems; Control and Analysis of Transportation Systems; Advanced Sliding Mode Control and Applications; Advanced Analysis of New Materials and Devices; Computational Intelligence in Utilization of Clean and Renewable Energy Resources; Intelligent Methods for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction; Intelligent Methods in Developing Electric Vehicles, Engines and Equipment; Intelligent Computing and Control in Power Systems; Modeling, Simulation and Control in Smart Grid and Microgrid; Optimization Methods; Computational Methods for Sustainable Environment.

The three-volume set CCIS 761, CCIS 762, and CCIS 763 constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2017, and of the International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2017, held in Nanjing, China, in September 2017. The 208 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from over 625 submissions. The papers of this volume are organized in topical sections on: Biomedical Signal Processing; Computational Methods in Organism Modeling; Medical Apparatus and Clinical Applications; Bionics Control Methods, Algorithms and Apparatus; Modeling and Simulation of Life Systems; Data Driven Analysis; Image and Video Processing; Advanced Fuzzy and Neural Network Theory and Algorithms; Advanced Evolutionary Methods and Applications; Advanced Machine Learning Methods and Applications; Intelligent Modeling, Monitoring, and Control of Complex Nonlinear Systems; Advanced Methods for Networked Systems; Control and Analysis of Transportation Systems; Advanced Sliding Mode Control and Applications; Advanced Analysis of New Materials and Devices; Computational Intelligence in Utilization of Clean and Renewable Energy Resources; Intelligent Methods for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction; Intelligent Methods in Developing Electric Vehicles, Engines and Equipment; Intelligent Computing and Control in Power Systems; Modeling, Simulation and Control in Smart Grid and Microgrid; Optimization Methods; Computational Methods for Sustainable Environment.

The three-volume set CCIS 761, CCIS 762, and CCIS 763 constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2017, and of the International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2017, held in Nanjing, China, in September 2017. The 208 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from over 625 submissions. The papers of this volume are organized in topical sections on: Biomedical Signal Processing; Computational Methods in Organism Modeling; Medical Apparatus and Clinical Applications; Bionics Control Methods, Algorithms and Apparatus; Modeling and Simulation of Life Systems; Data Driven Analysis; Image and Video Processing; Advanced Fuzzy and Neural Network Theory and Algorithms; Advanced Evolutionary Methods and Applications; Advanced Machine Learning Methods and Applications; Intelligent Modeling, Monitoring, and Control of Complex Nonlinear Systems; Advanced Methods for Networked Systems; Control and Analysis of Transportation Systems; Advanced Sliding Mode Control and Applications; Advanced Analysis of New Materials and Devices; Computational Intelligence in Utilization of Clean and Renewable Energy Resources; Intelligent Methods for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction; Intelligent Methods in Developing Electric Vehicles, Engines and Equipment; Intelligent Computing and Control in Power Systems; Modeling, Simulation and Control in Smart Grid and Microgrid; Optimization Methods; Computational Methods for Sustainable Environment.

This book constitutes the refereed conference proceedings of the 12th EAI International Conference on Quality, Reliability, Security and Robustness in Heterogeneous Networks, QShine 2016, held in Seoul, South Korea, in July 2016. The 27 full papers, 5 short papers and 18 workshop papers were selected from 85 submissions. The papers are organized thematically in tracks, starting with network security, followed by QoS, reliability and modeling, wireless and mobile networks. In addition the papers of two workshops are included: International Workshop on 5G Communication Architecture and Technology (5G-CAT 2016), and the 2nd International Workshop on Sensor Networks and Cloud Computing (SNCC 2016).

This is a revised and updated second edition, including new chapters on temporal and point uncertainty model, as well as on sampling and deterministic modeling. It is a comprehensive presentation of spatial modeling techniques used in the earth sciences, outlining original techniques developed by the author. Data collection in the earth sciences is difficult and expensive, but simple, rational and logical approaches help the reader to appreciate the fundamentals of advanced methodologies. It requires special care to gather accurate geological, hydrogeological, meteorological and hydrological information all with risk assessments. Spatial simulation methodologies in the earth sciences are essential, then, if we want to understand the variability in features such as fracture frequencies, rock quality, and grain size distribution in rock and porous media. This book outlines in a detailed yet accessible way the main spatial modeling techniques, in particular the Kriging methodology. It also presents many unique physical approaches, field cases, and sample interpretations. Since Kriging's origin in the 1960s it has been developed into a number of new methods such as cumulative SV (CSV), point CSV (PCSV), and spatial dependence function, which have been applied in different aspects of the earth sciences. Each one of these techniques is explained in this book, as well as how they are used to model earth science phenomena such as geology, earthquakes, meteorology, and hydrology. In addition to Kriging and its variants, several alternatives to Kriging methodology are presented and the necessary steps in their applications are clearly explained. Simple spatial variation prediction methodologies are also revised with up-to-date literature, and the ways in which they relate to more advanced spatial modeling methodologies are explained. The book is a valuable resource for students, researchers and professionals of a broad range of disciplines including geology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, environment, image processing, spatial modeling and related topics. Keywords "Data mining - Geo-statistics - Kriging - Regional uncertainty - Spatial dependence - Spatial modeling - geographic data - geoscience - hydrology - image processing

Focused on efficient simulation-driven multi-fidelity optimization techniques, this monograph on simulation-driven optimization covers simulations utilizing physics-based low-fidelity models, often based on coarse-discretization simulations or other types of simplified physics representations, such as analytical models. The methods presented in the book exploit as much as possible any knowledge about the system or device of interest embedded in the low-fidelity model with the purpose of reducing the computational overhead of the design process. Most of the techniques described in the book are of response correction type and can be split into parametric (usually based on analytical formulas) and non-parametric, i.e., not based on analytical formulas. The latter, while more complex in implementation, tend to be more efficient. The book presents a general formulation of response correction techniques as well as a number of specific methods, including those based on correcting the low-fidelity model response (output space mapping, manifold mapping, adaptive response correction and shape-preserving response prediction), as well as on suitable modification of design specifications. Detailed formulations, application examples and the discussion of advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are also included. The book demonstrates the use of the discussed techniques for solving real-world engineering design problems, including applications in microwave engineering, antenna design, and aero/hydrodynamics.

This book addresses the question of how to achieve social coordination in Socio-Cognitive Technical Systems (SCTS). SCTS are a class of Socio-Technical Systems that are complex, open, systems where several humans and digital entities interact in order to achieve some collective endeavour. The book approaches the question from the conceptual background of regulated open multiagent systems, with the question being motivated by their design and construction requirements. The book captures the collective effort of eight groups from leading research centres and universities, each of which has developed a conceptual framework for the design of regulated multiagent systems and most have also developed technological artefacts that support the processes from specification to implementation of that type of systems. The first, introductory part of the book describes the challenge of developing frameworks for SCTS and articulates the premises and the main concepts involved in those frameworks. The second part discusses the eight frameworks and contrasts their main components. The final part maps the new field by discussing the types of activities in which SCTS are likely to be used, the features that such uses will exhibit, and the challenges that will drive the evolution of this field.

Arid-semiarid regions have suffered from sharp conflicts among water resource utilization, mining, and the environmental protection. Sustainable development in these regions requires a close coordination between economy, society and the environment. Based on systematic hydrogeological investigations, laboratory and in-situ tests, and application of innovative methodologies including theoretical analysis modeling and prediction to study water resource distribution (including surface water, groundwater, mine water and coal mine domestic water) in mining areas, this dissertation provides detailed analysis of the current situation and trend of water uses in domestic supply, agriculture and industry. It evaluates the status development and utilization, evolution trend, exploitation and utilization potential of water resources in Shen-Dong Coal Mine area, one of China's extra-large coal bases. Incorporated with the long and intermediate terms' development strategies of this area, the dissertation lays out a scientific allocation scheme of water resources in different hydrological years and proposes a planning mode of water resources development and utilization and a technical scheme for comprehensive water resources utilization to provide technical supports for the optimal allocation, rational exploitation, comprehensive utilization and scientific management of water resources. This dissertation is one of the best in Chang'an University because of the volume of reliable data, defensible scientific analysis, and world significance of the research results.

This book is written to introduce computer simulations to undergraduate college students, freshmen to seniors, in STEM fields. The book starts with concepts from Basic Mathematics: Geometry, Algebra and Calculus, Properties of Elementary Functions (Polynomials, Exponential, Hyperbolic and Trigonometric Functions) are studied and simple differential equations representing these functions are derived. Numerical approximations of first and second order differential equations are studied in terms of finite differences on uniform grids. Computer solutions are obtained via recursive relations or solutions of simultaneous algebraic equations. Comparisons with the exact solutions (known a priori) allow the calculations of the error due to discretization. After the students build confidence in this approach, more problems where the solutions are not known a priori are tackled with applications in many fields. Next, the book gradually addresses linear differential equations with variable coefficients and nonlinear differential equations, including problems of bifurcation and chaos.Applications in Dynamics, Solid Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Chemical Reactions, and Combustion are included. Biographies of 50 pioneering mathematicians and scientists who contributed to the materials of the book are briefly sketched, to shed light on the history of these STEM fields.Finally, the main concepts discussed in the book, are summarized to make sure that the students do not miss any of them. Also, references for further readings are given for interested readers.

This thesis addresses one of the most fundamental challenges for modern science: how can the brain as a network of neurons process information, how can it create and store internal models of our world, and how can it infer conclusions from ambiguous data? The author addresses these questions with the rigorous language of mathematics and theoretical physics, an approach that requires a high degree of abstraction to transfer results of wet lab biology to formal models. The thesis starts with an in-depth description of the state-of-the-art in theoretical neuroscience, which it subsequently uses as a basis to develop several new and original ideas. Throughout the text, the author connects the form and function of neuronal networks. This is done in order to achieve functional performance of biological brains by transferring their form to synthetic electronics substrates, an approach referred to as neuromorphic computing. The obvious aspect that this transfer can never be perfect but necessarily leads to performance differences is substantiated and explored in detail. The author also introduces a novel interpretation of the firing activity of neurons. He proposes a probabilistic interpretation of this activity and shows by means of formal derivations that stochastic neurons can sample from internally stored probability distributions. This is corroborated by the author's recent findings, which confirm that biological features like the high conductance state of networks enable this mechanism. The author goes on to show that neural sampling can be implemented on synthetic neuromorphic circuits, paving the way for future applications in machine learning and cognitive computing, for example as energy-efficient implementations of deep learning networks. The thesis offers an essential resource for newcomers to the field and an inspiration for scientists working in theoretical neuroscience and the future of computing.

This book presents lecture notes from the XVI 'Jacques-Louis Lions' Spanish-French School on Numerical Simulation in Physics and Engineering, held in Pamplona (Navarra, Spain) in September 2014. The subjects covered include: numerical analysis of isogeometric methods, convolution quadrature for wave simulations, mathematical methods in image processing and computer vision, modeling and optimization techniques in food processes, bio-processes and bio-systems, and GPU computing for numerical simulation. The book is highly recommended to graduate students in Engineering or Science who want to focus on numerical simulation, either as a research topic or in the field of industrial applications. It can also benefit senior researchers and technicians working in industry who are interested in the use of state-of-the-art numerical techniques in the fields addressed here. Moreover, the book can be used as a textbook for master courses in Mathematics, Physics, or Engineering.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of investment problems pertaining to electric energy infrastructure, including both generation and transmission facilities. The analysis encompasses decision-making tools for expansion planning, reinforcement, and the selection and timing of investment options. In this regard, the book provides an up-to-date description of analytical tools to address challenging investment questions such as: How can we expand and/or reinforce our aging electricity transmission infrastructure? How can we expand the transmission network of a given region to integrate significant amounts of renewable generation? How can we expand generation facilities to achieve a low-carbon electricity production system? How can we expand the generation system while ensuring appropriate levels of flexibility to accommodate both demand-related and production-related uncertainties? How can we choose among alternative production facilities? What is the right time to invest in a given production or transmission facility? Written in a tutorial style and modular format, the book includes a wealth of illustrative examples to facilitate comprehension. It is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of electric energy systems, operations research, management science, and economics. Practitioners in the electric energy sector will also benefit from the concepts and techniques presented here.

This edited book aims at presenting current research activities in the field of robust variable-structure systems. The scope equally comprises highlighting novel methodological aspects as well as presenting the use of variable-structure techniques in industrial applications including their efficient implementation on hardware for real-time control. The target audience primarily comprises research experts in the field of control theory and nonlinear dynamics but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

Make-believe plays a far stronger role in both the design and use of interfaces, games and services than we have come to believe. This edited volume illustrates ways for grasping and utilising that connection to improve interaction, user experiences, and customer value. Useful for designers, undergraduates and researchers alike, this new research provide tools for understanding and applying make-believe in various contexts, ranging from digital tools to physical services. It takes the reader through a world of imagination and intuition applied into efficient practice, with topics including the connection of human-computer interaction (HCI) to make-believe and backstories, the presence of imagination in gamification, gameworlds, virtual worlds and service design, and the believability of make-believe based designs in various contexts. Furthermore, it discusses the challenges inherent in applying make-believe as a basis for interaction design, as well as the enactive mechanism behind it. Whether used as a university textbook or simply used for design inspiration, Digital Make-Believe provides new and efficient insight into approaching interaction in the way in which actual users of devices, software and services can innately utilise it.

This book presents a new, multidisciplinary perspective on and paradigm for integrative experimental design research. It addresses various perspectives on methods, analysis and overall research approach, and how they can be synthesized to advance understanding of design. It explores the foundations of experimental approaches and their utility in this domain, and brings together analytical approaches to promote an integrated understanding. The book also investigates where these approaches lead to and how they link design research more fully with other disciplines (e.g. psychology, cognition, sociology, computer science, management). Above all, the book emphasizes the integrative nature of design research in terms of the methods, theories, and units of study-from the individual to the organizational level. Although this approach offers many advantages, it has inherently led to a situation in current research practice where methods are diverging and integration between individual, team and organizational understanding is becoming increasingly tenuous, calling for a multidisciplinary and transdiscipinary perspective. Experimental design research thus offers a powerful tool and platform for resolving these challenges. Providing an invaluable resource for the design research community, this book paves the way for the next generation of researchers in the field by bridging methods and methodology. As such, it will especially benefit postgraduate students and researchers in design research, as well as engineering designers.

This book presents a new suite of benchmarks for and examples of porous media mechanics collected over the last two years. It continues the assembly of benchmarks and examples for porous media mechanics published in 2014. The book covers various applications in the geosciences, geotechnics, geothermal energy, and geological waste deposition. The analysis of thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes is essential to many applications in environmental engineering, such as geological waste deposition, geothermal energy utilisation, carbon capture and storage, water resources management, hydrology, and even climate change. In order to assess the feasibility and safety of geotechnical applications, process-based modelling is the only tool that can effectively quantify future scenarios, a fact which also creates a huge burden of responsibility concerning the reliability of computational tools. The book shows that benchmarking offers a suitable methodology for verifying the quality of modelling tools based on best practices, and together with code comparison fosters community efforts. It also provides a brief introduction to the DECOVALEX, SeSBench and MOMAS initiatives. This benchmark book is part of the OpenGeoSys initiative - an open source project designed to share knowledge and experience in environmental analysis and scientific computation.

This volume on "Advances in Analysis and Design of Deep Foundations" contains 22 technical papers which cover various aspects of analysis and design of deep foundations based on full-scale field testing, numerical modeling, and analytical solutions. The technical papers are 8-10 pages long that present the results and findings from research as well as practical-oriented studies on deep foundations that are of interest to civil/geotechnical engineering community. The topics cover a wide spectrum of applications that include evaluation of the axial and lateral capacity of piles, pile group effects, evaluation of the increase in pile capacity with time (or pile setup), influence of excavation on pile capacity, study the behavior of pile raft caisson foundations, evaluate the bearing capacity and settlement of piles from cone penetration tests, etc. This volume is part of the proceedings of the 1st GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures, Egypt 2017.

This book introduces simulation tools and strategies for complex systems of solid-state-drives (SSDs) which consist of a flash multi-core microcontroller plus NAND flash memories. It provides a broad overview of the most popular simulation tools, with special focus on open source solutions. VSSIM, NANDFlashSim and DiskSim are benchmarked against performances of real SSDs under different traffic workloads. PROs and CONs of each simulator are analyzed, and it is clearly indicated which kind of answers each of them can give and at a what price. It is explained, that speed and precision do not go hand in hand, and it is important to understand when to simulate what, and with which tool. Being able to simulate SSD's performances is mandatory to meet time-to-market, together with product cost and quality. Over the last few years the authors developed an advanced simulator named "SSDExplorer" which has been used to evaluate multiple phenomena with great accuracy, from QoS (Quality Of Service) to Read Retry, from LDPC Soft Information to power, from Flash aging to FTL. SSD simulators are also addressed in a broader context in this book, i.e. the analysis of what happens when SSDs are connected to the OS (Operating System) and to the end-user application (for example, a database search). The authors walk the reader through the full simulation flow of a real system-level by combining SSD Explorer with the QEMU virtual platform. The reader will be impressed by the level of know-how and the combination of models that such simulations are asking for.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 18th International Workshop on Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, MABS 2017, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2017. The workshop was held in conjunction with the 16th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, AAMAS 2017. The 15 revised full papers included in this volume were carefully selected from 23 submissions. The topic of the papers is about applying agent-based simulation techniques to real-world problems focusing on the confluence of socio-technical-natural sciences and multi-agent systems with a strong application/empirical vein.

This book reports on the latest advances in understanding cross-cultural decision and human cognition with respect to various cultural constructs, such as geographical, historical, sociological, and organizational cultures. It addresses researchers, scholars, and industry practitioners from diverse fields, including sociology, linguistics, business, military science, psychology, human factors research, neuroscience, and education. The book covers a wealth of topics, including: analyses of historical events and intercultural competence; commercial applications of social-cultural science; the study of decision-making similarities (and differences) across cultures; cultural behavioral modeling and simulation technology; and social networks and studies on group communication alike. It also reports on real-world case studies relevant to cross-cultural decision-making. The book's main goal is to combine studies from other relevant disciplines such as causal analysis in complex environments, team decision making and social changes to develop a more holistic understanding of the decisions that people, groups, and societies make, so as to improve our ability to forecast and plan for the future. Based on the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Cross-Cultural Decision Making (CCDM), held on July 17-21, 2017, in Los Angeles, California, USA, this book offers a multidisciplinary view on the impact of culture on people's cognition and behavior, and a timely reference guide to new applications and future challenges.

The book provides readers with a snapshot of the state of the art in the field of nature-inspired computing and its application in optimization. The approach is mainly practice-oriented: each bio-inspired technique or algorithm is introduced together with one of its possible applications. Applications cover a wide range of real-world optimization problems: from feature selection and image enhancement to scheduling and dynamic resource management, from wireless sensor networks and wiring network diagnosis to sports training planning and gene expression, from topology control and morphological filters to nutritional meal design and antenna array design. There are a few theoretical chapters comparing different existing techniques, exploring the advantages of nature-inspired computing over other methods, and investigating the mixing time of genetic algorithms. The book also introduces a wide range of algorithms, including the ant colony optimization, the bat algorithm, genetic algorithms, the collision-based optimization algorithm, the flower pollination algorithm, multi-agent systems and particle swarm optimization. This timely book is intended as a practice-oriented reference guide for students, researchers and professionals.

This book addresses the problems involved in the modelling and simulation of shale gas reservoirs, and details recent advances in the field. It discusses various modelling and simulation challenges, such as the complexity of fracture networks, adsorption phenomena, non-Darcy flow, and natural fracture networks, presenting the latest findings in these areas. It also discusses the difficulties of developing shale gas models, and compares analytical modelling and numerical simulations of shale gas reservoirs with those of conventional reservoirs. Offering a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art in developing shale gas models and simulators in the upstream oil industry, it allows readers to gain a better understanding of these reservoirs and encourages more systematic research on efficient exploitation of shale gas plays. It is a valuable resource for researchers interested in the modelling of unconventional reservoirs and graduate students studying reservoir engineering. It is also of interest to practising reservoir and production engineers.