This book provides two general granular computing approaches to mining relational data, the first of which uses abstract descriptions of relational objects to build their granular representation, while the second extends existing granular data mining solutions to a relational case. Both approaches make it possible to perform and improve popular data mining tasks such as classification, clustering, and association discovery. How can different relational data mining tasks best be unified? How can the construction process of relational patterns be simplified? How can richer knowledge from relational data be discovered? All these questions can be answered in the same way: by mining relational data in the paradigm of granular computing! This book will allow readers with previous experience in the field of relational data mining to discover the many benefits of its granular perspective. In turn, those readers familiar with the paradigm of granular computing will find valuable insights on its application to mining relational data. Lastly, the book offers all readers interested in computational intelligence in the broader sense the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the newly emerging field granular-relational data mining.

Soft computing and nature-inspired computing both play a significant role in developing a better understanding to machine learning. When studied together, they can offer new perspectives on the learning process of machines. The Handbook of Research on Soft Computing and Nature-Inspired Algorithms is an essential source for the latest scholarly research on applications of nature-inspired computing and soft computational systems. Featuring comprehensive coverage on a range of topics and perspectives such as swarm intelligence, speech recognition, and electromagnetic problem solving, this publication is ideally designed for students, researchers, scholars, professionals, and practitioners seeking current research on the advanced workings of intelligence in computing systems.

This book offers a novel perspective on abduction. It starts by discussing the major theories of abduction, focusing on the hybrid nature of abduction as both inference and intuition. It reports on the Peircean theory of abduction and discusses the more recent Magnani concept of animal abduction, connecting them to the work of medieval philosophers. Building on Magnani's manipulative abduction, the accompanying classification of abduction, and the hybrid concept of abduction as both inference and intuition, the book examines the problem of visual perception together with the related concepts of misrepresentation and semantic information. It presents the author's views on caricature and the caricature model of science, and then extends the scope of discussion by introducing some standard issues in the philosophy of science. By discussing the concept of ad hoc hypothesis generation as enthymeme resolution, it demonstrates how ubiquitous the problem of abduction is in all the different individual scientific disciplines. This comprehensive text provides philosophers, logicians and cognitive scientists with a historical, unified and authoritative perspective on abduction.

Cognitive Informatics (CI) is the science of cognitive information processing and its applications in cognitive computing. CI is a transdisciplinary enquiry of computer science, information science, cognitive science, and intelligence science that investigates into the internal information processing mechanisms and processes of the brain. Advances and engineering applications of CI have led to the emergence of cognitive computing and the development of Cognitive Computers (CCs) that reason and learn. As initiated by Yingxu Wang and his colleagues, CC has emerged and developed based on the transdisciplinary research in CI, abstract intelligence (aI), and denotational mathematics after the inauguration of the series of IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Informatics since 2002 at Univ. of Calgary, Stanford Univ., and Tsinghua Univ., etc. This volume in LNCS (subseries of Computational Intelligence), LNCI 323, edited by Y. Wang, D. Zhang, and W. Kinsner, presents the latest development in cognitive informatics and cognitive computing. The book focuses on the explanation of cognitive models of the brain, the layered reference model of the brain, the fundamental mechanisms of abstract intelligence, and the implementation of computational intelligence by autonomous inference and learning engines based on CCs.

Preferences are useful in many real-life problems, guiding human decision making from early childhood up to complex professional and organizational decisions. In artificial intelligence specifically, preferences is a relatively new topic of relevance to nonmonotonic reasoning, multiagent systems, constraint satisfaction, decision making, social choice theory and decision-theoretic planning The first part of this book deals with preference representation, with specific chapters dedicated to representation languages, nonmonotonic logics of preferences, conditional preference networks, positive and negative preferences, and the study of preferences in cognitive psychology. The second part of the book deals with reasoning with preferences, and includes chapters dedicated to preference-based argumentation, preferences database queries, and rank-ordering outcomes and intervals. The author concludes by examining forthcoming research perspectives. This is inherently a multidisciplinary topic and this book will be of interest to computer scientists, economists, operations researchers, mathematicians, logicians, philosophers and psychologists.

Stochastic global optimization is a very important subject, that has applications in virtually all areas of science and technology. Therefore there is nothing more opportune than writing a book about a successful and mature algorithm that turned out to be a good tool in solving difficult problems. Here we present some techniques for solving several problems by means of Fuzzy Adaptive Simulated Annealing (Fuzzy ASA), a fuzzy-controlled version of ASA, and by ASA itself. ASA is a sophisticated global optimization algorithm that is based upon ideas of the simulated annealing paradigm, coded in the C programming language and developed to statistically find the best global fit of a nonlinear constrained, non-convex cost function over a multi-dimensional space. By presenting detailed examples of its application we want to stimulate the reader's intuition and make the use of Fuzzy ASA (or regular ASA) easier for everyone wishing to use these tools to solve problems. We kept formal mathematical requirements to a minimum and focused on continuous problems, although ASA is able to handle discrete optimization tasks as well. This book can be used by researchers and practitioners in engineering and industry, in courses on optimization for advanced undergraduate and graduate levels, and also for self-study.

This book presents a domain of extreme industrial and scientific interest: the study of smart systems and structures. It presents polytope projects as comprehensive physical and cognitive architectures that support the investigation, fabrication and implementation of smart systems and structures. These systems feature multifunctional components that can perform sensing, control, and actuation. In light of the fact that devices, tools, methodologies and organizations based on electronics and information technology for automation, specific to the third industrial revolution, are increasingly reaching their limits, it is essential that smart systems be implemented in industry. Polytope projects facilitate the utilization of smart systems and structures as key elements of the fourth industrial revolution. The book begins by presenting polytope projects as a reference architecture for cyber-physical systems and smart systems, before addressing industrial process synthesis in Chapter 2. Flow-sheet trees, cyclic separations and smart configurations for multi-component separations are discussed here. In turn, Chapter 3 highlights periodic features for drug delivery systems and networks of chemical reactions, while Chapter 4 applies conditioned random walks to polymers and smart materials structures. Chapter 5 examines self-assembly and self-reconfiguration at different scales from molecular to micro systems. Smart devices and technologies are the focus of chapter 6. Modular micro reactor systems and timed automata are examined in selected case studies. Chapter 7 focuses on inferential engineering designs, concept-knowledge, relational concept analysis and model driven architecture, while Chapter 8 puts the spotlight on smart manufacturing, industry 4.0, reference architectures and models for new product development and testing. Lastly, Chapter 9 highlights the polytope projects methodology and the prospects for smart systems and structures. Focusing on process engineering and mathematical modeling for the fourth industrial revolution, the book offers a unique resource for engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs working in chemical, biochemical, pharmaceutical, materials science or systems chemistry, students in various domains of production and engineering, and applied mathematicians.

This book offers an inspiring and naive view on language and reasoning. It presents a new approach to ordinary reasoning that follows the author's former work on fuzzy logic. Starting from a pragmatic scientific view on meaning as a quantity, and the common sense reasoning from a primitive notion of inference, which is shared by both laypeople and experts, the book shows how this can evolve, through the addition of more and more suppositions, into various formal and specialized modes of precise, imprecise, and approximate reasoning. The logos are intended here as a synonym for rationality, which is usually shown by the processes of questioning, guessing, telling, and computing. Written in a discursive style and without too many technicalities, the book presents a number of reflections on the study of reasoning, together with a new perspective on fuzzy logic and Zadeh's "computing with words" grounded in both language and reasoning. It also highlights some mathematical developments supporting this view. Lastly, it addresses a series of questions aimed at fostering new discussions and future research into this topic. All in all, this book represents an inspiring read for professors and researchers in computer science, and fuzzy logic in particular, as well as for psychologists, linguists and philosophers.

This edited book presents scientific results of the 12th International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence Research, Management and Applications (SERA 2014) held on August 31 - September 4, 2014 in Kitakyushu, Japan. The aim of this conference was to bring together researchers and scientists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, computer users, and students to discuss the numerous fields of computer science and to share their experiences and exchange new ideas and information in a meaningful way. Research results about all aspects (theory, applications and tools) of computer and information science, and to discuss the practical challenges encountered along the way and the solutions adopted to solve them. This publication captures 17 of the conference's most promising papers.

This volume is a collection of research studies on the modeling of emotions in complex autonomous systems. Several experts in the field are reporting their efforts and reviewing the literature in order to shed lights on how the processes of coding and decoding emotional states took place in humans, which are the physiological, physical, and psychological variables involved, invent new mathematical models and algorithms to describe them, and motivate these investigations in the light of observable societal changes and needs, such as the aging population and the cost of health care services. The consequences are the implementation of emotionally and socially believable machines, acting as helpers into domestic spheres, where emotions drive behaviors and actions. The contents of the book are highly multidisciplinary since the modeling of emotions in robotic socially believable systems requires a holistic perspective on topics coming from different research domains such as computer science, engineering, sociology, psychology, linguistic, and information communication. The book is of interest both to experts and students since last research works on a so complex multidisciplinary topic are described in a neat and didactical scientific language.

This book presents the scientific outcome of the 5th International Conference on Applied Computing and Information Technology (ACIT 2017), which was held on July 9-13, 2017 in Hamamatsu, Japan. The aim of this conference was to bring together researchers and scientists, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, computer users, and students to discuss the numerous fields of computer science, to share their experiences and to exchange new ideas and information in a meaningful way. The book includes research findings on all aspects (theory, applications and tools) of computer and information science, and discusses the practical challenges encountered along the way and the solutions adopted to solve them. This book features 12 of the conference's most promising papers, written by authors who are expected to make important contributions to the field of computer and information science.

The use of optimization algorithms has seen an emergence in various professional fields due to its ability to process data and information in an efficient and productive manner. Combining computational intelligence with these algorithms has created a trending subject of research on how much more beneficial intelligent-inspired algorithms can be within companies and organizations. As modern theories and applications are continually being developed in this area, professionals are in need of current research on how intelligent algorithms are advancing in the real world. The Handbook of Research on Advancements of Swarm Intelligence Algorithms for Solving Real-World Problems is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the development of swarm intelligence algorithms and their implementation into current issues. While highlighting topics such as multi-agent systems, bio-inspired computing, and evolutionary programming, this publication explores various concepts and theories of swarm intelligence and outlines future directions of development. This book is ideally designed for IT specialists, researchers, academicians, engineers, developers, practitioners, and students seeking current research on the real-world applications of intelligent algorithms.

This book presents advances in alternative swarm development that have proved to be effective in several complex problems. Swarm intelligence (SI) is a problem-solving methodology that results from the cooperation between a set of agents with similar characteristics. The study of biological entities, such as animals and insects, manifesting social behavior has resulted in several computational models of swarm intelligence. While there are numerous books addressing the most widely known swarm methods, namely ant colony algorithms and particle swarm optimization, those discussing new alternative approaches are rare. The focus on developments based on the simple modification of popular swarm methods overlooks the opportunity to discover new techniques and procedures that can be useful in solving problems formulated by the academic and industrial communities. Presenting various novel swarm methods and their practical applications, the book helps researchers, lecturers, engineers and practitioners solve their own optimization problems.

This book represents the combined peer-reviewed proceedings
of the Seventh International Symposium on Intelligent Distributed Computing - IDC-2013, of the Second Workshop on Agents for Clouds - A4C-2013, of the Fifth International Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems Technology and Semantics - MASTS-2013,
and of the International Workshop on Intelligent Robots - iR-2013.
All the events were held in Prague, Czech Republic during September 4-6, 2013.

The 41 contributions published in this book address many topics
related to theory and applications of intelligent distributed
computing and multi-agent systems, including:
agent-based data processing, ambient intelligence, bio-informatics, collaborative systems, cryptography and security, distributed algorithms, grid and cloud computing, information extraction, intelligent robotics, knowledge management, linked data, mobile agents, ontologies, pervasive computing, self-organizing systems, peer-to-peer computing, social networks and trust, and swarm intelligence.

Electric power systems are experiencing significant changes at the worldwide scale in order to become cleaner, smarter, and more reliable. This edited book examines a wide range of topics related to these changes, which are primarily caused by the introduction of information technologies, renewable energy penetration, digitalized equipment, new operational strategies, and so forth. The emphasis will be put on the modeling and control of smart grid systems. The book addresses research topics such as high efficiency transforrmers, wind turbines and generators, fuel cells, or high speed turbines and generators.

Logic networks and automata are facets of digital systems. The change of the design of logic networks from skills and art into a scientific discipline was possible by the development of the underlying mathematical theory called the Switching Theory. The fundamentals of this theory come from the attempts towards an algebraic description of laws of thoughts presented in the works by George J. Boole and the works on logic by Augustus De Morgan. As often the case in engineering, when the importance of a problem and the need for solving it reach certain limits, the solutions are searched by many scholars in different parts of the word, simultaneously or at about the same time, however, quite independently and often unaware of the work by other scholars. The formulation and rise of Switching Theory is such an example. This book presents a brief account of the developments of Switching Theory and highlights some less known facts in the history of it. The readers will find the book a fresh look into the development of the field revealing how difficult it has been to arrive at many of the concepts that we now consider obvious . Researchers in the history or philosophy of computing will find this book a valuable source of information that complements the standard presentations of the topic.

Multimedia services involve processing, transmission and retrieval of multiple forms of information. Multimedia services have gained momentum in the past few years due to the easy availability of computing power and storage media. Societyisdemandinghuman-likeintelligentbehaviour,suchasadaptationand generalization, from machines every day. With this view in mind, researchers are working on fusing intelligent paradigms such as arti?cial neural networks, swarm intelligence, arti?cial immune systems, evolutionary computing and multiagents with multimedia services. Arti?cial neural networks use neurons, interconnected using various schemes, for fusing learning in multimedia-based systems. Evolutionary c- puting techniques are used in tasks such as optimization. Typical multiagent systems are based on Belief-Desire-Intention model and act on behalf of the users. Typical examples of intelligent multimedia services include digital - braries, e-learning and teaching, e-government, e-commerce, e-entertainment, e-health and e-legal services. This book includes 15 chapters on advanced tools and methodologies pertaining to the multimedia services. The authors and reviewers have c- tributed immensely to this research-oriented book. We believe that this - search volume will be valuable to professors, researchers and students of all disciplines, such as computer science, engineering and management. We express our sincere thanks to Springer-Verlag for their wonderful e- torial support.

The Intelligent Decision Technologies (IDT) International Conference encourages an interchange of research on intelligent systems and intelligent technologies that enhance or improve decision making. The focus of IDT is interdisciplinary and includes research on all aspects of intelligent decision technologies, from fundamental development to real applications. IDT has the potential to expand their support of decision making in such areas as finance, accounting, marketing, healthcare, medical and diagnostic systems, military decisions, production and operation, networks, traffic management, crisis response, human-machine interfaces, financial and stock market monitoring and prediction, and robotics. Intelligent decision systems implement advances in intelligent agents, fuzzy logic, multi-agent systems, artificial neural networks, and genetic algorithms, among others. Emerging areas of active research include virtual decision environments, social networking, 3D human-machine interfaces, cognitive interfaces, collaborative systems, intelligent web mining, e-commerce, e-learning, e-business, bioinformatics, evolvable systems, virtual humans, and designer drugs. This volume contains papers from the Fourth KES International Symposium on Intelligent Decision Technologies (KES IDT'12), hosted by researchers in Nagoya University and other institutions in Japan. This book contains chapters based on papers selected from a large number of submissions for consideration for the conference from the international community. The volume represents the current leading thought in intelligent decision technologies.

This monograph presents a simple, innovative approach for the measurement and short-term prediction of highway travel times based on the fusion of inductive loop detector and toll ticket data. The methodology is generic and not technologically captive, allowing it to be easily generalized for other equivalent types of data. The book shows how Bayesian analysis can be used to obtain fused estimates that are more reliable than the original inputs, overcoming some of the drawbacks of travel-time estimations based on unique data sources. The developed methodology adds value and obtains the maximum (in terms of travel time estimation) from the available data, without recurrent and costly requirements for additional data. The application of the algorithms to empirical testing in the AP-7 toll highway in Barcelona proves that it is possible to develop an accurate real-time, travel-time information system on closed-toll highways with the existing surveillance equipment, suggesting that highway operators might provide their customers with such an added value with little additional investment in technology.

This edited volume is targeted at presenting the latest state-of-the-art methodologies in "Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithms." The chapters deal with the theoretical and methodological aspects, as well as various applications to many real world problems from science, technology, business or commerce. Overall, the book has 14 chapters including an introductory chapter giving the fundamental definitions and some important research challenges. The contributions were selected on the basis of fundamental ideas/concepts rather than the thoroughness of techniques deployed.

The term "soft computing" applies to variants of and combinations under the four broad categories of evolutionary computing, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and Bayesian statistics. Although each one has its separate strengths, the complem- tary nature of these techniques when used in combination (hybrid) makes them a powerful alternative for solving complex problems where conventional mat- matical methods fail. The use of intelligent and soft computing techniques in the field of geo- chanical and pavement engineering has steadily increased over the past decade owing to their ability to admit approximate reasoning, imprecision, uncertainty and partial truth. Since real-life infrastructure engineering decisions are made in ambiguous environments that require human expertise, the application of soft computing techniques has been an attractive option in pavement and geomecha- cal modeling. The objective of this carefully edited book is to highlight key recent advances made in the application of soft computing techniques in pavement and geo- chanical systems. Soft computing techniques discussed in this book include, but are not limited to: neural networks, evolutionary computing, swarm intelligence, probabilistic modeling, kernel machines, knowledge discovery and data mining, neuro-fuzzy systems and hybrid approaches. Highlighted application areas include infrastructure materials modeling, pavement analysis and design, rapid interpre- tion of nondestructive testing results, porous asphalt concrete distress modeling, model parameter identification, pavement engineering inversion problems, s- grade soils characterization, and backcalculation of pavement layer thickness and moduli.

Information security and copyright protection are more important today than before. Digital watermarking is one of the widely used techniques used in the world in the area of information security. This book introduces a number of digital watermarking techniques and is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the importance of watermarking techniques and intelligent technology. The second part includes a number of watermarking techniques. The third part includes the hybrid watermarking techniques and the final part presents conclusions. This book is directed to students, professors, researchers and application engineers who are interested in the area of information security.

The book offers a new approach to information theory that is more general then the classical approach by Shannon. The classical definition of information is given for an alphabet of symbols or for a set of mutually exclusive propositions (a partition of the probability space ) with corresponding probabilities adding up to 1. The new definition is given for an arbitrary cover of , i.e. for a set of possibly overlapping propositions. The generalized information concept is called novelty and it is accompanied by two new concepts derived from it, designated as information and surprise, which describe "opposite" versions of novelty, information being related more to classical information theory and surprise being related more to the classical concept of statistical significance. In the discussion of these three concepts and their interrelations several properties or classes of covers are defined, which turn out to be lattices. The book also presents applications of these new concepts, mostly in statistics and in neuroscience.

The present book is the result of a three year research project which investigated the creative act of composing by means of algorithmic composition. Central to the investigation are the compositional strategies of 12 composers, which were documented through a dialogic and cyclic process of modelling and evaluating musical materials. The aesthetic premises and compositional approaches configure a rich spectrum of diverse positions, which is reflected also in the kinds of approaches and methods used. These approaches and methods include the generation and evaluation of chord sequences using genetic algorithms, the application of morphing strategies to research harmonic transformations, an automatic classification of personal preferences via machine learning, and an application of mathematical music theory to the analysis and resynthesis of musical material. The second part of the book features contributions by Sandeep Bhagwati, William Brooks, David Cope, Darla Crispin, Nicolas Donin, and Guerino Mazzola. These authors variously consider the project from different perspectives, offer independent approaches, or provide more general reflections from their respective research fields.