Mathematical Visualization is a young new discipline. It offers efficient visualization tools to the classical subjects of mathematics, and applies mathematical techniques to problems in computer graphics and scientific visualization. Originally, it started in the interdisciplinary area of differential geometry, numerical mathematics, and computer graphics. In recent years, the methods developed have found important applications.
The current volume is the quintessence of an international workshop in September 1997 in Berlin, focusing on recent developments in this emerging area. Experts present selected research work on new algorithms for visualization problems, describe the application and experiments in geometry, and develop new numerical or computer graphical techniques.

This volume brings together recent theoretical work in Learning Classifier Systems (LCS), which is a Machine Learning technique combining Genetic Algorithms and Reinforcement Learning. It includes self-contained background chapters on related fields (reinforcement learning and evolutionary computation) tailored for a classifier systems audience and written by acknowledged authorities in their area - as well as a relevant historical original work by John Holland.

Legged robots are a promising locomotion system, capable of performing tasks that conventional vehicles cannot. Even more exciting is the fact that this is a rapidly developing field of study for researchers from a variety of disciplines. However, only a few books have been published on the subject of multi-legged robots. The main objective of this book is to describe some of the major control issues concerning walking robots that the authors have faced over the past 10 years. A second objective is to focus especially on very large hydraulically driven hexapod robot locomotion weighing more than 2,000 kg, making this the first specialized book on this topic. The 10 chapters of the book touch on diverse relevant topics such as design aspects, implementation issues, modeling for control, navigation and control, force and impedance control-based walking, fully autonomous walking, walking and working tasks of hexapod robots, and the future of walking robots. The construction machines of the future will very likely resemble hydraulically driven hexapod robots like the ones described in this book - no longer science fiction but now a reality.

Public and situated display technologies can have an important impact on individual and social behaviour and present us with particular interesting new design considerations and challenges. While there is a growing body of research exploring these design considerations and social impact this work remains somewhat disparate, making it difficult to assimilate in a coherent manner. This book brings together the perspectives of key researchers in the area of public and situated display technology. The chapters detail research representing the social, technical and interactional aspects of public and situated display technologies. The underlying concern common to these chapters is how these displays can be best designed for collaboration, coordination, community building and mobility. Presenting them together allows the reader to examine everyday display activities within the context of emerging technological possibilities.

This book provides a framework for the design of competent optimization techniques by combining advanced evolutionary algorithms with state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. The primary focus of the book is on two algorithms that replace traditional variation operators of evolutionary algorithms, by learning and sampling Bayesian networks: the Bayesian optimization algorithm (BOA) and the hierarchical BOA (hBOA). They provide a scalable solution to a broad class of problems. The book provides an overview of evolutionary algorithms that use probabilistic models to guide their search, motivates and describes BOA and hBOA in a way accessible to a wide audience, and presents numerous results confirming that they are revolutionary approaches to black-box optimization.

Knowledge Discovery today is a significant study and research area. In finding answers to many research questions in this area, the ultimate hope is that knowledge can be extracted from various forms of data around us. This book covers recent advances in unsupervised and supervised data analysis methods in Computational Intelligence for knowledge discovery. In its first part the book provides a collection of recent research on distributed clustering, self organizing maps and their recent extensions. If labeled data or data with known associations are available, we may be able to use supervised data analysis methods, such as classifying neural networks, fuzzy rule-based classifiers, and decision trees. Therefore this book presents a collection of important methods of supervised data analysis. "Classification and Clustering for Knowledge Discovery" also includes variety of applications of knowledge discovery in health, safety, commerce, mechatronics, sensor networks, and telecommunications.

Organizational Semiotics occupies an important niche in the research community of human communication and information systems. It opens up new ways of understanding the functioning of information and information resources in organised behaviour. In recent years, a numberof workshops and conferences have provided researchers and practitioners opportunities to discuss their theories, methods and practices and to assess the benefits and potential of this approach. Literature in this field is much in demand but still difficult to find, so we are pleased to offer a third volume in the miniseries of Studies in Organizational Semiotics. This book is based on the papers and discussions of the fifth workshop on Organizational Semiotics held in Delft, June 13-15, 2002, hosted by Groningen University and Delft Technical University in the Netherlands. The topic of this workshop was the dynamics and change in organizations. The chapters in this book reflect recent developments in theory and applications and demonstrate the significance of Organizational Semiotics to information systems, human communication and coordination, organizational analysis and modelling. In particular, it provides a framework that accommodates both the technical and social aspects of information systems. The mini-series presents the frontier of the research in this area and shows how the theory and techniques enhance the quality of work on information systems.

Protein informatics is a newer name for an already existing discipline. It encompasses the techniques used in bioinformatics and molecular modeling that are related to proteins. While bioinformatics is mainly concerned with the collection, organization, and analysis of biological data, molecular modeling is devoted to representation and manipulation of the structure of proteins.

Protein informatics requires substantial prerequisites on computer science, mathematics, and molecular biology. The approach chosen here, allows a direct and rapid grasp on the subject starting from basic knowledge of algorithm design, calculus, linear algebra, and probability theory.

An Introduction to Protein Informatics, a professional monograph will provide the reader a comprehensive introduction to the field of protein informatics. The text emphasizes mathematical and computational methods to tackle the central problems of alignment, phylogenetic reconstruction, and prediction and sampling of protein structure.

An Introduction to Protein Informatics is designed for a professional audience, composed of researchers and practitioners within bioinformatics, molecular modeling, algorithm design, optimization, and pattern recognition. This book is also suitable as a graduate-level text for students in computer science, mathematics, and biomedicine.

Technology in today's world has continued to develop into multifaceted structures. The performance of computers, specifically, has significantly increased leading to various and complex problems regarding the dependability of these systems. Recently, solutions for these issues have been based on soft computing methods; however, there lacks a considerable amount of research on the applications of these techniques within system dependability. Soft Computing Methods for System Dependability is a collection of innovative research on the applications of these processing techniques for solving problems within the dependability of computer system performance. This book will feature comparative experiences shared by researchers regarding the development of these technological solutions. While highlighting topics including evolutionary computing, chaos theory, and artificial neural networks, this book is ideally designed for researchers, data scientists, computing engineers, industrialists, students, and academicians in the field of computer science.

The application of Computational Intelligence in emerging research areas such as Granular Computing, Mechatronics, and Bioinformatics shows its usefulness often emphasized by Prof Lotfi Zadeh, the inventor of fuzzy logic and many others. This book contains recent advances in Computational Intelligence methods for modeling, optimization and prediction and covers a large number of applications. The book presents new Computational Intelligence theory and methods for modeling and prediction. The range of the various applications is captured with 5 chapters in image processing, 2 chapters in audio processing, 3 chapters in commerce and finance, 2 chapters in communication networks and 6 chapters containing other applications.

This book is designed to strengthen understanding of the critical information in the framework for technology application competencies for K-12 teachers.

The Second International Computational Wind Engineering Symposium was held in Colorado, USA during August 1996 and presented papers on the popular application of CFD concepts. These proceedings contain a set of invited papers providing state-of-the-art reviews on subjects such as CFD turbulence models, bluff body aerodynamics, terrain aerodynamics and building aerodynamics. Individual session papers reflect on recent methodologies and innovations on CFD techniques applied to flow about bluff bodies immersed in shear layers, bridge aerodynamics, air pollution aerodynamics, mesoscale predictions of flow over complex terrain and the application of advanced numerical method strategies to these topics.

Bioinformatics involves specialized application of computer technology to investigative and conceptual problems in biology and medicine; neuroinformatics (NI) is the practice of bioinformatics in the neurosciences. Over the past two decades the biomedical sciences have been revolutionized by databases, data mining and data modeling techniques.

The Human Genome Project, which depended on informatics methods, has been the most well recognized bioinformatics undertaking. Bioinformatics has since been applied all across biology and medicine, and has also transformed almost every avenue in neuroscience. Yet in neuropsychology, NI perspectives remain largely unrealized. Ironically, NI offers enormous potential to the essential praxis of neuropsychology - assessing cognitive behavior and relating cognition to neural systems. Neuroinformatics can be applied to neuropsychology as richly as it has been applied across the neurosciences.

Neuroinformatics for Neuropsychology is the first book to explain the relevance and value of NI to neuropsychology. It systematically describes NI tools, applications and models that can enhance the efforts of neuropsychologists. It also describes the implications of NI for neuropsychology in the 21st century fundamental shifts away from the conventional modes of research, practice and communication that have thus far characterized the field. One of the foremost experts on the subject:

• Illustrates the vital role NI is playing throughout the neurosciences.
• Provides a sampling of NI tools and applications in neuroscience research, and lays out current organization structures that support NI.
• Describes the lack of NI in neuropsychology, differentiates between NI systems for neuropsychology and conventional computerized assessment methods, and proposes criteria for neuropsychology-specific NI systems.
• Describes NI applications and models currently in use in neuropsychology, and NI models for neuropsychology that are being pioneered in phenomics research.
• Discusses potential obstacles and aids to NI in neuropsychology, including issues such as data sharing, standardization of methods, and data ontology.
• Projects the future of neuropsychological research and practice in light of the new generation of the internet, Web 2.0, geared to collective knowledge building.

A vital introduction to a profound technological practice, Neuroinformatics for Neuropsychology is important reading for clinical neuropsychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, behavioral neurologists, and speech-language pathologists. Researchers, clinicians, and graduate students interested in informatics for the brain-behavioral sciences will especially welcome this unique volume."

This book addresses two main themes. The first is, the discipline of informatics. Two major questions will be discussed: how can we obtain and keep track of a systematic and objective overview of the vast landscape in higher informatics education, both nationally and internationally? and would it be useful to rationalize and redesign the informatics curricula, leading to less fragmentation and more communality? The second theme is the relation between informatics and other disciplines, with the following main questions: what informatics do we need to offer a coherent curriculum which suits the needs of the actual information society with respect to specific disciplines? what is relevant in informatics and CIT to provide to others? and what informatics concepts, methods and techniques form the hard core needed in every other discipline?

This book is written from an engineer's perspective of the mind. "Artificial Mind System" exposes the reader to a broad spectrum of interesting areas in general brain science and mind-oriented studies. In this research monograph a picture of the holistic model of an artificial mind system and its behaviour is drawn, as concretely as possible, within a unified context, which could eventually lead to practical realisation in terms of hardware or software. With a view that "the mind is a system always evolving," ideas inspired by many branches of studies related to brain science are integrated within the text, i.e. artificial intelligence, cognitive science / psychology, connectionism, consciousness studies, general neuroscience, linguistics, pattern recognition / data clustering, robotics, and signal processing.

"Wireless is coming" was the message received by VLSI designers in the early 1990's. They believed it. But they never imagined that the wireless wave would be coming with such intensity and speed. Today one of the most challenging areas for VLSI designers is VLSI circuit and system design for wireless applications. New generation of wireless systems, which includes multimedia, put severe constraints on performance, cost, size, power and energy. The challenge is immense and the need for new generation of VLSI designers, who are fluent in wireless communication and are masters of mixed signal design, is great. No single text or reference book contains the necessary material to educate such needed new generation of VLSIdesigners. There are gaps. Excellent books exist on communication theory and systems, including wireless applications and others treat well basic digital, analog and mixed signal VLSI design. We feel that this book is the first of its kind to fill that gap. In the first half of this book we offer the reader (the VLSI designer) enough material to understand wireless communication systems. We start with a historical account. And then we present an overview of wireless communication systems. This is followed by detailed treatment of related topics; the mobile radio, digital modulation and schemes, spread spectrum and receiver architectures. The second half of the book deals with VLSI design issues related to mixed-signal design. These include analog-to-digital conversion, transceiver design, digital low-power techniques, amplifier design, phase locked loops and frequency synthesizers.

This book covers the recent applications of computational intelligence techniques in reliability engineering. This volume contains a survey of the contributions made to the optimal reliability design literature in recent years. It also contains chapters devoted to different applications of a genetic algorithm in reliability engineering and to combinations of this algorithm with other computational intelligence techniques.

This book presents an up-to-date account of research in important topics of fuzzy group theory. It concentrates on the theoretical aspects of fuzzy subgroups of a group. It includes applications to abstract recognition problems and to coding theory. The book begins with basic properties of fuzzy subgroups. Fuzzy subgroups of Hamiltonian, solvable, P-Hall, and nilpotent groups are discussed. Construction of free fuzzy subgroups is determined. Numerical invariants of fuzzy subgroups of Abelian groups are developed. The problem in group theory of obtaining conditions under which a group can be expressed as a direct product of its normal subgroups is considered. Methods for deriving fuzzy theorems from crisp ones are presented and the embedding of lattices of fuzzy subgroups into lattices of crisp groups is discussed as well as deriving membership functions from similarity relations. The material presented makes this book a good reference for graduate students and researchers working in fuzzy group theory.

The evolution of modern computers began more than 50 years ago and has been driven to a large extend by rapid advances in electronic technology during that period. The first computers ran one application (user) at a time. Without the benefit of operating systems or compilers, the application programmers were responsible for managing all aspects of the hardware. The introduction of compilers allowed programmers to express algorithms in abstract terms without being concerned with the bit level details of their implementation. Time sharing operating systems took computing systems one step further and allowed several users and/or applications to time share the computing services of com puters. With the advances of networks and software tools, users and applications were able to time share the logical and physical services that are geographically dispersed across one or more networks. Virtual Computing (VC) concept aims at providing ubiquitous open computing services in analogous way to the services offered by Telephone and Elec trical (utility) companies. The VC environment should be dynamically setup to meet the requirements of a single user and/or application. The design and development of a dynamically programmable virtual comput ing environments is a challenging research problem. However, the recent advances in processing and network technology and software tools have successfully solved many of the obstacles facing the wide deployment of virtual computing environments as will be outlined next."

Rem tene, verba sequentur (Gaius J. Victor, Rome VI century b.c.)

The ultimate goal of this book is to bring the fundamental issues of information granularity, inference tools and problem solving procedures into a coherent, unified, and fully operational framework. The objective is to offer the reader a comprehensive, self-contained, and uniform exposure to the subject.The strategy is to isolate some fundamental bricks of Computational Intelligence in terms of key problems and methods, and discuss their implementation and underlying rationale within a well structured and rigorous conceptual framework as well as carefully related to various application facets. The main assumption is that a deep understanding of the key problems will allow the reader to compose into a meaningful mosaic the puzzle pieces represented by the immense varieties of approaches present in the literature and in the computational practice. All in all, the main approach advocated in the monograph consists of a sequence of steps offering solid conceptual fundamentals, presenting a carefully selected collection of design methodologies, discussing a wealth of development guidelines, and exemplifying them with a pertinent, accurately selected illustrative material.

Written by one of the top most statisticians with experience in diverse fields of applications of statistics, the book deals with the philosophical and methodological aspects of information technology, collection and analysis of data to provide insight into a problem, whether it is scientific research, policy making by government or decision making in our daily lives.The author dispels the doubts that chance is an expression of our ignorance which makes accurate prediction impossible and illustrates how our thinking has changed with quantification of uncertainty by showing that chance is no longer the obstructor but a way of expressing our knowledge. Indeed, chance can create and help in the investigation of truth. It is eloquently demonstrated with numerous examples of applications that statistics is the science, technology and art of extracting information from data and is based on a study of the laws of chance. It is highlighted how statistical ideas played a vital role in scientific and other investigations even before statistics was recognized as a separate discipline and how statistics is now evolving as a versatile, powerful and inevitable tool in diverse fields of human endeavor such as literature, legal matters, industry, archaeology and medicine.Use of statistics to the layman in improving the quality of life through wise decision making is emphasized.

This book covers performance analysis of computer networks, and begins by providing the necessary background in probability theory, random variables, and stochastic processes. Queuing theory and simulation are introduced as the major tools analysts have access to. It presents performance analysis on local, metropolitan, and wide area networks, as well as on wireless networks. It concludes with a brief introduction to self-similarity. Designed for a one-semester course for senior-year undergraduates and graduate engineering students, it may also serve as a fingertip reference for engineers developing communication networks, managers involved in systems planning, and researchers and instructors of computer communication networks.

Systems designers have learned that many agents co-operating within the system can solve very complex problems with a minimal design effort. In general, multi-agent systems that use swarm intelligence are said to be swarm intelligent systems. Today, these are mostly used as search engines and optimization tools. This volume reviews innovative methodologies of swarm intelligence, outlines the foundations of engineering swarm intelligent systems and applications, and relates experiences using the particle swarm optimisation.