Some recent fuzzy database modeling advances for the non-traditional applications are introduced in this book. The focus is on database models for modeling complex information and uncertainty at the conceptual, logical, physical design levels and from integrity constraints defined on the fuzzy relations.
The database models addressed here are; the conceptual data models, including the ExIFO and ExIFO2 data models, the logical database models, including the extended NF2 database model, fuzzy object-oriented database model, and the fuzzy deductive object-oriented database model. Integrity constraints are defined on the fuzzy relations are also addressed. A continuing reason for the limited adoption of fuzzy database systems has been performance. There have been few efforts at defining physical structures that accomodate fuzzy information. A new access structure and data organization for fuzzy information is introduced in this book.

This text describes computer programs for simulating phenomena in hydrodynamics, gas dynamics, and elastic plastic flow in one, two, and three dimensions. Included in the two-dimensional program are Maxwell's equations, and thermal and radiation diffusion. The numerical procedures described in the text permit the exact conservation of physical properties in the solutions of the fundamental laws of mechanics. The author also treats materials, including the use of simulation programs to predict material behavior.

Modeling and Simulation: Theory and Practice provides a comprehensive review of both methodologies and applications of simulation and modeling. The methodology section includes such topics as the philosophy of simulation, inverse problems in simulation, simulation model compilers, treatment of ill-defined systems, and a survey of simulation languages. The application section covers a wide range of topics, including applications to environmental management, biology and medicine, neural networks, collaborative visualization and intelligent interfaces. The book consists of 13 invited chapters written by former colleagues and students of Professor Karplus. Also included are several short 'reminiscences' describing Professor Karplus' impact on the professional careers of former colleagues and students who worked closely with him over the years.

Since the first edition of this book was published seven years ago, the field of modeling and simulation of communication systems has grown and matured in many ways, and the use of simulation as a day-to-day tool is now even more common practice. With the current interest in digital mobile communications, a primary area of application of modeling and simulation is now in wireless systems of a different flavor from the traditional' ones. This second edition represents a substantial revision of the first, partly to accommodate the new applications that have arisen. New chapters include material on modeling and simulation of nonlinear systems, with a complementary section on related measurement techniques, channel modeling and three new case studies; a consolidated set of problems is provided at the end of the book.

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.

What is it about the structure and organisation of science and technology that has led to the spectacularly successful growth of knowledge during this century? This book explores this important and much debated question in an innovative way, by using computer simulations. The computer simulation of societies and social processes is a methodology which is rapidly becoming recognised for its potential in the social sciences. This book applies the tools of simulation systematically to a specific domain: science and technology studies. The book shows how computer simulation can be applied both to questions in the history and philosophy of science and to issues of concern to sociologists of science and technology. Chapters in the book demonstrate the use of simulation for clarifying the notion of creativity and for understanding the logical processes employed by eminent scientists to make their discoveries. The book begins with three introductory chapters. The first introduces simulation for the social sciences, surveying current work and explaining the advantages and pitfalls of this new methodology. The second and third chapters review recent work on theoretical aspects of social simulation, introducing fundamental concepts such as self organisation and complexity and relating these to the simulation of scientific discovery."

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.

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.

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)"

"Intelligent Control" considers non-traditional modelling and control approaches to nonlinear systems. Fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computing techniques are the main tools used. The book presents a modular switching fuzzy logic controller where a PD-type fuzzy controller is executed first followed by a PI-type fuzzy controller thus improving the performance of the controller compared with a PID-type fuzzy controller.The advantage of the switching-type fuzzy controller is that it uses one rule-base thus minimises the rule-base during execution. A single rule-base is developed by merging the membership functions for change of error of the PD-type controller and sum of error of the PI-type controller. Membership functions are then optimized using evolutionary algorithms. Since the two fuzzy controllers were executed in series, necessary further tuning of the differential and integral scaling factors of the controller is then performed. Neural-network-based tuning for the scaling parameters of the fuzzy controller is then described and finally an evolutionary algorithm is applied to the neurally-tuned-fuzzy controller in which the sigmoidal function shape of the neural network is determined.

The important issue of stability is addressed and the text demonstrates empirically that the developed controller was stable within the operating range. The text concludes with ideas for future research to show the reader the potential for further study in this area.

"Intelligent Control "will be of interest to researchers from engineering and computer science backgrounds working in the intelligent and adaptive control."

This is a practical perspective on simulation aimed at working scientists and engineers. Amply illustrated, the book provides many examples with computer coding. New topics, such as animation, concept modeling, and logic transfer are covered in detail.

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.

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.

DRAG (from un modele de la Demande Routiere, des Accidents et leur Gravite) is a complex computer model that simulates accident propensities under detailed conditions. The DRAG approach constitutes the largest road accident modelling effort ever undertaken. Gaudry is the creator and developer of DRAG and this work explains its nature, purpose and value. Such a model, which explains accidents for a whole region, province or country, has advantages in answering many questions asked about accidents (such as the role of the economic cycle, weather, prices, insurance etc.) that other models fail to take fully into account.
DRAG research is underpinned by a fundamental theoretical innovation which sees a 3-level approach to analysing the determinants of the number of road victims in a given accident: Exposure (the distance travelled), Accident Frequency Risk and Accident Severity Risk (i.e. the number of victims of each type of accident). In applying flexible mathematical forms, the DRAG model also allows significant conceptual and empirical claims to be made about the importance of detecting responses that reverse themselves (to alcohol, and to other factors).
Under Gaudry's guidance, a family of DRAG-inspired models has grown up, based on their development for different countries and this book explores each national model in turn. As more countries seek to adopt the DRAG approach, this book serves as a timely, unique and valuable guide to the model.

SISDEP a (TM)95 provides an international forum for the presentation of state-of-the-art research and development results in the area of numerical process and device simulation. Continuously shrinking device dimensions, the use of new materials, and advanced processing steps in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices require new and improved software. The trend towards increasing complexity in structures and process technology demands advanced models describing all basic effects and sophisticated two and three dimensional tools for almost arbitrarily designed geometries. The book contains the latest results obtained by scientists from more than 20 countries on process simulation and modeling, simulation of process equipment, device modeling and simulation of novel devices, power semiconductors, and sensors, on device simulation and parameter extraction for circuit models, practical application of simulation, numerical methods, and software.

This book compares existing soil erosion models and determines their suitability for predicting the impacts of global change upon soil erosion. The common datasets used for the evaluation are drawn from both temperate and semi-arid areas; they represent 73 site-years of data from seven sites in three countries. Six field-scale erosion models are evaluated; five of these are continuous-simulation types (GLEAMS, EPIC, CSEP, MEDRUSH and WEPP), the other is event-based (EUROSERM). After an introduction, the results of the model evaluation exercise are presented. Subsequent sections deal with weaknesses or omissions in current modelling approaches, descriptions of specific erosion models, and potential or actual model applications.

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 is discussed.

The encorporation 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 different visualization techniques that are presented.

This book is intended for scientists and researchers in any field of study where complex and multidimensional data must be represented visually.

The book describes what these models are, what they are based on, how they function, and then, most innovatively, how they can be used to generate new useful knowledge about the environmental system.

Discusses this generation of knowledge by computer models from an epistemological perspective and illustrates it by numerous examples from applied and fundamental research.

Includes ample technical appendices and is a valuable source of information for graduate students and scientists alike working in the field of environmental sciences.

Building upon the fundamental principles of decision theory, Decision-Based Design: Integrating Consumer Preferences into Engineering Design presents an analytical approach to enterprise-driven Decision-Based Design (DBD) as a rigorous framework for decision making in engineering design. Once the related fundamentals of decision theory, economic analysis, and econometrics modelling are established, the remaining chapters describe the entire process, the associated analytical techniques, and the design case studies for integrating consumer preference modeling into the enterprise-driven DBD framework. Methods for identifying key attributes, optimal design of human appraisal experiments, data collection, data analysis, and demand model estimation are presented and illustrated using engineering design case studies. The scope of the chapters also provides: A rigorous framework of integrating the interests from both producer and consumers in engineering design, Analytical techniques of consumer choice modelling to forecast the impact of engineering decisions, Methods for synthesizing business and engineering models in multidisciplinary design environments, and Examples of effective application of Decision-Based Design supported by case studies. No matter whether you are an engineer facing decisions in consumer related product design, an instructor or student of engineering design, or a researcher exploring the role of decision making and consumer choice modelling in design, Decision-Based Design: Integrating Consumer Preferences into Engineering Design provides a reliable reference over a range of key topics.

Shape interrogation is the process of extraction of information from a geometric model. It is a fundamental component of Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems. The authors focus on shape interrogation of geometric models bounded by free-form surfaces. Free-form surfaces, also called sculptured surfaces, are widely used in the bodies of ships, automobiles and aircraft, which have both functionality and attractive shape requirements. Many electronic devices as well as consumer products are designed with aesthetic shapes, which involve free-form surfaces. This book provides the mathematical fundamentals as well as algorithms for various shape interrogation methods including nonlinear polynomial solvers, intersection problems, differential geometry of intersection curves, distance functions, curve and surface interrogation, umbilics and lines of curvature, geodesics, and offset curves and surfaces. This book will be of interest both to graduate students and professionals.

In GPU Pro5 Advanced Rendering Techniques, section editors Wolfgang Engel, Christopher Oat, Carsten Dachsbacher, Michal Valient, Wessam Bahnassi, and Marius Bjorge have once again assembled a high-quality collection of cutting-edge techniques for advanced graphics processing unit (GPU) programming.

Divided into six sections, the book covers rendering, lighting, effects in image space, mobile devices, 3D engine design, and compute. It explores rasterization of liquids, ray tracing of art assets that would otherwise be used in a rasterized engine, physically based area lights, volumetric light effects, screen-space grass, the usage of quaternions, and a quadtree implementation on the GPU. It also addresses the latest developments in deferred lighting on mobile devices, OpenCL optimizations for mobile devices, morph targets, and tiled deferred blending methods.

In color throughout, GPU Pro5 is the only book that incorporates contributions from more than 50 experts who cover the latest developments in graphics programming for games and movies. It presents ready-to-use ideas and procedures that can help solve many of your daily graphics programming challenges. Example programs with source code are provided on the book s CRC Press web page."

Supramolecular chemistry has been defined by J.-M. Lehn as "a highly interdisciplinary field of science covering the chemical, physical, and biological features of chemical species of higher complexity, that are held together and organized by means of intermolecular (noncovalent) binding interactions" (Science, 1993). Recognition, reactivity, and transport represent three basic functional features, in essence dynami s, which may be translated into structural features. The purpose of the NATO workshop which took place september 1-5, 1993 at the Bischenberg (near Strasbourg) was to present computations which may contribute to the atomic level understanding of the structural and thermodynamical features involved in the processes of molecular recognition and supramolecular organization. of "supra-molecular modeling." Other The main focus was therefore, on the many facets applications of computers in chemistry, such as automation, simulation of processes, procedures for fitting kinetic or thermodynamic data, computer assisted synthetic strategies, use of data bases for structure elucidation or for bibliographic searches, have an obvious impact in supramolecular chemistry as well, but were not presented at the workshop.

This introduction to random variables and signals provides engineering students with the analytical and computational tools for processing random signals using linear systems. It presents the underlying theory as well as examples and applications using computational aids throughout, in particular, computer-based symbolic computation programs are used for performing the analytical manipulations and the numerical calculations. The accompanying CD-ROM provides MathcadTM and MatlabTM notebooks and sheets to develop processing methods. Intended for a one-semester course for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students, the book covers such topics as: set theory and probability; random variables, distributions, and processes; deterministic signals, spectral properties, and transformations; and filtering, and detection theory. The large number of worked examples together with the programming aids make the book eminently suited for self study as well as classroom use.

The focus from most Virtual Reality (VR) systems lies mainly on the visual immersion of the user. But the emphasis only on the visual perception is insufficient for some applications as the user is limited in his interactions within the VR. Therefore the textbook presents the principles and theoretical background to develop a VR system that is able to create a link between physical simulations and haptic rendering which requires update rates of 1\,kHz for the force feedback. Special attention is given to the modeling and computation of contact forces in a two-finger grasp of textiles. Addressing further the perception of small scale surface properties like roughness, novel algorithms are presented that are not only able to consider the highly dynamic behaviour of textiles but also capable of computing the small forces needed for the tactile rendering at the contact point. Final analysis of the entire VR system is being made showing the problems and the solutions found in the work