The focus of this volume is comprised of the fundamentals, models, and information technologies (IT) methods and tools for disaster prediction and mitigation. A more detailed list of topics includes mathematical and computational modeling of processes leading to or producing disasters, modeling of disaster effects, IT means for disaster mitigation, including data mining tools, knowledge-based and expert systems for use in disaster circumstances, GIS-based systems for disaster prevention and mitigation and equipment for disaster-prone areas. A specific type or class of disasters (natural or human-made), however will not be part of the main focus of this work. Instead, this book was conceived to offer a comprehensive, integrative view on disasters, seeking to determine what various disasters have in common. Because disaster resilience and mitigation involve humans, societies and cultures, not only technologies and economic models, special attention was paid in this volume to gain a comprehensive view on these issues, as a foundation of the IT tool design.

The underlying technologies enabling the realization of recent advances in areas like mobile and enterprise computing are artificial intelligence (AI), modeling and simulation, and software engineering. A disciplined, multifaceted, and unified approach to modeling and simulation is now essential in new frontiers, such as Simulation Based Acquisition. This volume is an edited survey of international scientists, academicians, and professionals who present their latest research findings in the various fields of AI; collaborative/distributed computing; and modeling, simulation, and their integration. Whereas some of these areas continue to seek answers to basic fundamental scientific inquiries, new questions have emerged only recently due to advances in computing infrastructures, technologies, and tools. The book¿s principal goal is to provide a unifying forum for developing postmodern, AI-based modeling and simulation environments and their utilization in both traditional and modern application domains. Features and topics: * Blends comprehensive, advanced modeling and simulation theories and methodologies in a presentation founded on formal, system-theoretic and AI-based approaches * Uses detailed, real-world examples to illustrate key concepts in systems theory, modeling, simulation, object orientation, and intelligent systems * Addresses a broad range of critical topics in the areas of modeling frameworks, distributed and high-performance object-oriented simulation approaches, as well as robotics, learning, multi-scale and multi-resolution models, and multi-agent systems * Includes new results pertaining to intelligent and agent-based modeling, the relationship between AI-based reasoning and Discrete-Event System Specification, and large-scale distributed modeling and simulation frameworks * Provides cross-disciplinary insight into how computer science, computer engineering, and systems engineering can collectively provide a rich set of theories and methods enabling contemporary modeling and simulation This state-of-the-art survey on collaborative/distributed modeling and simulation computing environments is an essential resource for the latest developments and tools in the field for all computer scientists, systems engineers, and software engineers. Professionals, practitioners, and graduate students will find this reference invaluable to their work involving computer simulation, distributed modeling, discrete-event systems, AI, and software engineering.

Object-oriented database management systems (OODBMS) are used to imple ment and maintain large object databases on persistent storage. Regardless whether the underlying database model follows the object-oriented, the rela tional or the object-relational paradigm, a key feature of any DBMS product is content based access to data sets. On the one hand this feature provides user-friendly query interfaces based on predicates to describe the desired data. On the other hand it poses challenging questions regarding DBMS design and implementation as well as the application development process on top of the DBMS. The reason for the latter is that the actual query performance depends on a technically meaningful use of access support mechanisms. In particular, if chosen and applied properly, such a mechanism speeds up the execution of predicate based queries. In the object-oriented world, such queries may involve arbitrarily complex terms referring to inheritance hierarchies and aggregation paths. These features are attractive at the application level, however, they increase the complexity of appropriate access support mechanisms which are known to be technically non-trivial in the relational world."

This book focuses on the use of farm level, micro- and macro-data of cooperative systems and networks in developing new robust, reliable and coherent modeling tools for agricultural and environmental policy analysis. The efficacy of public intervention on agriculture is largely determined by the existence of reliable information on the effects of policy options and market developments on farmers' production decisions and in particular, on key issues such as levels of agricultural and non-agricultural output, land use and incomes, use of natural resources, sustainable-centric management, structural change and the viability of family farms. Over the last years, several methods and analytical tools have been developed for policy analysis using various sets of data. Such methods have been based on integrated approaches in an effort to investigate the above key issues and have thus attempted to offer a powerful environment for decision making, particularly in an era of radical change for both agriculture and the wider economy.

This book covers a range of statistical methods useful in the analysis of medical data, from the simple to the sophisticated, and shows how they may be applied using the latest versions of S-PLUS and S-PLUS 6. In each chapter several sets of medical data are explored and analysed using a mixture of graphical and model fitting approaches. At the end of each chapter the S-PLUS script files are listed, enabling readers to reproduce all the analyses and graphics in the chapter. These script files can be downloaded from a web site. The aim of the book is to show how to use S-PLUS as a powerful environment for undertaking a variety of statistical analyses from simple inference to complex model fitting, and for providing informative graphics. All such methods are of increasing importance in handling data from a variety of medical investigations including epidemiological studies and clinical trials. The mix of real data examples and background theory make this book useful for students and researchers alike. For the former, exercises are provided at the end of each chapter to increase their fluency in using the command line language of the S-PLUS software. Professor Brian Everitt is Head of the Department of Biostatistics and Computing at the Institute of Psychiatry in London and Sophia Rabe-Hesketh is a senior lecturer in the same department. Professor Everitt is the author of over 30 books on statistics including two previously co-authored with Dr. Rabe-Hesketh.

This volume is the Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Entertainment Computing (IWEC 2002). Entertainment has been taking very important parts in our life by refreshing us and activating our creativity. Recently by the advancement of computers and networks new types of entertainment have been emerging such as video games, entertainment robots, and network games. As these new games have a strong power to change our lives, it is good time for people who work in this area to discuss various aspects of entertainment and to promote entertainment related researches. Based on these considerations, we have organized a first workshop on entertainment computing. This workshop brings together researchers, developers, and practitioners working in the area of entertainment computing. It covers wide range of entertainment computing such as theoretical issues, hardware/software issues, systems, human interfaces, and applications. The particular areas covered by the workshop are: 1. Computers & Games Computer game algorithms, modeling of players, web technologies for networked games, human interface technologies for game applications. 2. Home/Arcade Games and Interactive Movies Video game computer technologies, motion capture technologies, real-time computer graphics technologies, interactive movie systems, story generation for games/movies, human factors of video games.

This book presents a state-of-the art review of current perspectives on Communications and Multimedia Security. It contains the Proceedings of the 3rd Joint Working Conference of IFIP TC6 and TC11, arranged by the International Federation for Information Processing and held in Athens, Greece in September 1997. The book aims to cover the subject of Communications and Multimedia Systems Security, as fully as possible. It constitutes an essential reading for information technology security specialists; computer professionals; communication systems professionals; EDP managers; EDP auditors; managers, researchers and students working on the subject.

This third volume in the series deals with such topics as information systems practice and theory, information systems and the accounting/auditing environment, and differing perspectives on information systems research.

Emerging business models, value configurations, and information technologies interact over time to create competitive advantage. Modern information technology has to be studied, understood, and applied along the time dimension of months and years, where changes are the rule. Such changes created by interactions between business elements and resources are very well suited for system dynamics modeling. ""Business Dynamics in Information Technology"" presents business-technology alignment processes, interaction processes, and decision processes, helping the reader study information technology from a dynamic, rather than a static, perspective. By introducing two simple tools from system dynamic modeling - causal loops and reference modes - the dynamic perspective will become important to both students and practitioners in the future.

Packed with more than 350 techniques, this book delivers what you need to know-on the spot. Its concise presentation of professional techniques is suited to experienced artists whether you are: * Migrating from another visual effects application * Upgrading to Houdini 9 * Seeking a handy reference to raise your proficiency with Houdini Houdini On the Spot presents immediate solutions in an accessible format. It clearly illustrates the essential methods that pros use to get the job done efficiently and creatively. Screenshots and step-by-step instructions show you how to: * Navigate and manipulate the version 9 interface * Create procedural models that can be modified quickly and efficiently with Surface Operators (SOPs) * Use Particle Operators (POPs) to build complex simulations with speed and precision * Minimize the number of operators in your simulations with Dynamics Operators (DOPs) * Extend Houdini with customized tools to include data or scripts with Houdini Digital Assets (HDAs) * Master the version 9 rendering options including Physically Based Rendering (PBR), volume rendering and motion blur * Quickly modify timing, geometry, space and rotational values of your animations with Channel Operators (CHOPs) * Create and manipulate elements with Composite Operators (COPs); Houdini's full-blown compositor toolset * Make your own SOPs, COPs, POPs, CHOPs, and shaders with the Vector Expressions (VEX) shading language * Configure the Houdini interface with customized environments and hotkeys * Mine the treasures of the dozens of standalone applications that are bundled with Houdini

This textbook reviews the theory, applications, and latest breakthroughs in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Presenting a specific focus on Opportunistic Mobile Networks (OMNs), the text considers the influence of human aspects, and examines emerging forms of inter-node cooperation. Features: contains review terms and exercises in each chapter, with the solutions and source code available at an associated website; introduces the fundamentals of DTNs, covering OMNs, PSNs, and MOONs; describes the ONE simulator, explaining how to set up a simulation project; provides detailed insights into the development and testing of protocols, together with a set of best practices for increased productivity and optimized performance; examines human aspects in the context of communication networks, from human-centric applications to the impact of emotion on human-network interplay; proposes various schemes for inter-node cooperation in DTNs/OMNs; presents a detailed discussion on aspects of heterogeneity in DTNs.

From environmental management to land planning and geo-marketing, the number of application domains that may greatly benefit from using data enriched with spatio-temporal features is expanding very rapidly. Unfortunately, development of new spatio-temporal applications is hampered by the lack of conceptual design methods suited to cope with the additional complexity of spatio-temporal data. This complexity is obviously due to the particular semantics of space and time, but also to the need for multiple representations of the same reality to address the diversity of requirements from highly heterogeneous user communities. Conceptual design methods are also needed to facilitate the exchange and reuse of existing data sets, a must in geographical data management due to the high collection costs of the data. Yet, current practice in areas like geographical information systems or moving objects databases does not include conceptual design methods very well, if at all.

This book shows that a conceptual design approach for spatio-temporal databases is both feasible and easy to apprehend. While providing a firm basis through extensive discussion of traditional data modeling concepts, the major focus of the book is on modeling spatial and temporal information. Parent, Spaccapietra and Zimanyi provide a detailed and comprehensive description of an approach that fills the gap between application conceptual requirements and system capabilities, covering both data modeling and data manipulation features. The ideas presented summarize several years of research on the characteristics and description of space, time, and perception. In addition to the authors' own data modeling approach, MADS (Modeling of Application Data with Spatio-temporal features), the book also surveys alternative data models and approaches (from industry and academia) that target support of spatio-temporal modeling.

The reader will acquire intimate knowledge of both the traditional and innovative features that form a consistent data modeling approach. Visual notations and examples are employed extensively to illustrate the use of the various constructs. Therefore, this book is of major importance and interest to advanced professionals, researchers, and graduate or post-graduate students in the areas of spatio-temporal databases and geographical information systems.

"For anyone thinking of doing research in this field, or who is developing a system based on spatio-temporal data, this text is essential reading." (Mike Worboys, U Maine, Orono, ME, USA)

"The high-level semantic model presented and validated in this book provides essential guidance to researchers and implementers when improving the capabilities of data systems to serve the actual needs of applications and their users in the temporal and spatial domains that are so prevalent today." (Gio Wiederhold, Stanford U, CA, USA)"

This book introduces readers to the basic concepts of and latest findings in the area of differential equations with uncertain factors. It covers the analytic method and numerical method for solving uncertain differential equations, as well as their applications in the field of finance. Furthermore, the book provides a number of new potential research directions for uncertain differential equation. It will be of interest to researchers, engineers and students in the fields of mathematics, information science, operations research, industrial engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, automation, economics, and management science.

Known for their visibility and tendency to generate controversy, first-person shooter (FPS) games are cultural icons and powder-kegs in American society. Contributors will examine a range of FPS games such as the Doom, Half-Life, System Shock, Deus Ex, Halo, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises. By applying and enriching a broad range of perspectives, this volume will address the cultural relevance and place of the genre in game studies, game theory and the cultures of game players.

Guns, Grenades, and Grunts gathers scholars from all disciplines to bring the weight of contemporary social theory and media criticism to bear on the public controversy and intellectual investigation of first-person shooter games. As a genre, FPS games have helped shepherd the game industry from the early days of shareware distribution and underground gaming clans to contemporary multimillion dollar production budgets, Hollywood-style launches, downloadable content and worldwide professional gaming leagues. The FPS has been and will continue to be a staple of the game market.

Representation and Retrieval of Visual Media in Multimedia Systems brings together in one place important contributions and up-to-date researcg results in this important area. Representation and Retrieval of Visual Media in Multimedia Systems serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most important research issues in the field.

The book reports on the 11th International Workshop on Railway Noise, held on 9 - 13 September, 2013, in Uddevalla, Sweden. The event, which was jointly organized by the Competence Centre Chalmers Railway Mechanics (CHARMEC) and the Departments of Applied Mechanics and Applied Acoustics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, covered a broad range of topics in the field of railway noise and vibration, including: prospects, legal regulations and perceptions; wheel and rail noise; prediction, measurements and monitoring; ground-borne vibration; squeal noise and structure-borne noise; and aerodynamic noise generated by high-speed trains. Further topics included: resilient track forms; grinding, corrugation and roughness; and interior noise and sound barriers. This book, which consists of a collection of peer-reviewed papers originally submitted to the workshop, not only provides readers with an overview of the latest developments in the field, but also offers scientists and engineers essential support in their daily efforts to identify, understand and solve a number of problems related to railway noise and vibration, and to achieve their ultimate goal of reducing the environmental impact of railway systems.

Recent achievements in hardware and software developments have enabled the introduction of a revolutionary technology: in-memory data management. This technology supports the flexible and extremely fast analysis of massive amounts of data, such as diagnoses, therapies, and human genome data. This book shares the latest research results of applying in-memory data management to personalized medicine, changing it from computational possibility to clinical reality. The authors provide details on innovative approaches to enabling the processing, combination, and analysis of relevant data in real-time. The book bridges the gap between medical experts, such as physicians, clinicians, and biological researchers, and technology experts, such as software developers, database specialists, and statisticians. Topics covered in this book include - amongst others - modeling of genome data processing and analysis pipelines, high-throughput data processing, exchange of sensitive data and protection of intellectual property. Beyond that, it shares insights on research prototypes for the analysis of patient cohorts, topology analysis of biological pathways, and combined search in structured and unstructured medical data, and outlines completely new processes that have now become possible due to interactive data analyses.

Multimedia is changing the design of database and information retrieval systems. The accumulation of audio, image, and video content is of little use in these systems if the content cannot be retrieved on demand, a critical requirement that has led to the development of new technologies for the analysis and indexing of media data. In turn, these technologies seek to derive information or features from a data type that can facilitate rapid retrieval, efficient compression, and logical presentation of the data. Significant work that has not been addressed, however, is the benefits of analyzing more than one data type simultaneously. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications presents a new framework for the simultaneous analysis of multiple media data objects. The primary benefit of this analysis is computed synchronization, a temporal and spatial alignment of multiple media objects. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications also presents several specific applications and a general structure for the solution of computed synchronization problems. The applications demonstrate the use of this structure. Two applications in particular are described in detail: the alignment of text to speech audio, and the alignment of simultaneous English language translations of ancient texts. Many additional applications are discussed as future uses of the technology. Computed Synchronization for Multimedia Applications is useful to researchers, students, and developers seeking to apply computed synchronization in many fields. It is also suitable as a reference for a graduate-level course in multimedia data retrieval.

An embedded system is loosely defined as any system that utilizes electronics but is not perceived or used as a general-purpose computer. Traditionally, one or more electronic circuits or microprocessors are literally embedded in the system, either taking up roles that used to be performed by mechanical devices, or providing functionality that is not otherwise possible. The goal of this book is to investigate how formal methods can be applied to the domain of embedded system design. The emphasis is on the specification, representation, validation, and design exploration of such systems from a high-level perspective. The authors review the framework upon which the theories and experiments are based, and through which the formal methods are linked to synthesis and simulation. A formal verification methodology is formulated to verify general properties of the designs and demonstrate that this methodology is efficient in dealing with the problem of complexity and effective in finding bugs. However, manual intervention in the form of abstraction selection and separation of timing and functionality is required. It is conjectured that, for specific properties, efficient algorithms exist for completely automatic formal validations of systems. Synchronous Equivalence: Formal Methods for Embedded Systems presents a brand new formal approach to high-level equivalence analysis. It opens design exploration avenues previously uncharted. It is a work that can stand alone but at the same time is fully compatible with the synthesis and simulation framework described in another book by Kluwer Academic Publishers Hardware-Software Co-Design of Embedded Systems: The POLIS Approach, by Balarin et al. Synchronous Equivalence: Formal Methods for Embedded Systems will be of interest to embedded system designers (automotive electronics, consumer electronics, and telecommunications), micro-controller designers, CAD developers and students, as well as IP providers, architecture platform designers, operating system providers, and designers of VLSI circuits and systems.

The worldwide video game console market surpassed $10 billion in 2003. Current sales of new consoles is consolidated around 3 major companies and their proprietary platforms: Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. In addition, there is an enormous installed "retro gaming" base of Ataria and Sega console enthusiasts. This book, written by a team led by Joe Grand, author of "Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty," provides hard-core gamers with they keys to the kingdom: specific instructions on how to crack into their console and make it do things it was never designed to do.
By definition, video console game players like to have fun. Most of them are addicted to the adrenaline rush associated with "winning," and even more so when the "winning" involves beating the system by discovering the multitude of "cheats" built into most video games. Now, they can have the ultimate adrenaline rush---actually messing around with the soul of the machine and configuring it to behave exactly as the command. This book builds on the motto of "Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty" and will appeal to the community of hardware geeks who associate unscrewing the back of their video console with para-jumping into the perfect storm.
* Providing a reliable, field-tested guide to hacking all of the most popular video gaming consoles.
* Written by some of the most knowledgeable and recognizable names in the hardware hacking community.
* Game Console Hacking is the first book on the market to show game enthusiasts (self described hardware geeks) how to disassemble, reconfigure, customize and re-purpose their Atari, Sega, Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox systems.

This is a book for people who love mechanics of composite materials and ? MATLAB . We will use the popular computer package MATLAB as a matrix calculator for doing the numerical calculations needed in mechanics of c- posite materials. In particular, the steps of the mechanical calculations will be emphasized in this book. The reader will not ?nd ready-made MATLAB programs for use as black boxes. Instead step-by-step solutions of composite material mechanics problems are examined in detail using MATLAB. All the problems in the book assume linear elastic behavior in structural mechanics. The emphasis is not on mass computations or programming, but rather on learning the composite material mechanics computations and understanding of the underlying concepts. The basic aspects of the mechanics of ?ber-reinforced composite materials are covered in this book. This includes lamina analysis in both the local and global coordinate systems, laminate analysis, and failure theories of a lamina.