Is knowledge an economic good? Which are the characteristics of the institutions regulating the production and diffusion of knowledge? Cumulation of knowledge is a key determinant of economic growth, but only recently knowledge has moved to the core of economic analysis. Recent literature also gives profound insights into events like scientific progress, artistic and craft development which have been rarely addressed as socio-economic institutions, being the domain of sociologists and historians rather than economists. This volume adopts a multidisciplinary approach to bring knowledge in the focus of attention, as a key economic issue.

This monograph is focused on control law design methods for asymptotic tracking and disturbance rejection in the presence of uncertainties. The methods are based on adaptive implementation of the Internal Model Principle (IMP). The monograph shows how this principle can be applied to the problems of asymptotic rejection/tracking of a priori uncertain exogenous signals for linear and nonlinear plants with known and unknown parameters. The book begins by introducing the problems of adaptive control, the challenges that are faced, modern methods and an overview of the IMP. It then introduces special observers for uncertain exogeneous signals affecting linear and nonlinear systems with known and unknown parameters. The basic algorithms of adaptation applied to the canonical closed-loop error models are presented. The authors then address the systematic design of adaptive systems for asymptotic rejection/tracking of a priori uncertain exosignals. The monograph also discusses the adaptive rejection/tracking of a priori uncertain exogenous signals in systems with input delay, the problems of performance improvement in disturbance rejection and reference tracking and the issue of robustness of closed-loop systems. Adaptive Regulation provides a systematic discussion of the IMP applied to a variety of control problems, making it of interest to researchers and industrial practitioners.

How do we design a self-organizing system? Is it possible to validate and control non-deterministic dynamics? What is the right balance between the emergent patterns that bring robustness, adaptability and scalability, and the traditional need for verification and validation of the outcomes? The last several decades have seen much progress from original ideas of "emergent functionality" and "design for emergence", to sophisticated mathematical formalisms of "guided self-organization". And yet the main challenge remains, attracting the best scientific and engineering expertise to this elusive problem. This book presents state-of-the-practice of successfully engineered self-organizing systems, and examines ways to balance design and self-organization in the context of applications. As demonstrated in this second edition of Advances in Applied Self-Organizing Systems, finding this balance helps to deal with practical challenges as diverse as navigation of microscopic robots within blood vessels, self-monitoring aerospace vehicles, collective and modular robotics adapted for autonomous reconnaissance and surveillance, self-managing grids and multiprocessor scheduling, data visualization and self-modifying digital and analog circuitry, intrusion detection in computer networks, reconstruction of hydro-physical fields, traffic management, immunocomputing and nature-inspired computation. Many algorithms proposed and discussed in this volume are biologically inspired, and the reader will also gain an insight into cellular automata, genetic algorithms, artificial immune systems, snake-like locomotion, ant foraging, birds flocking, neuromorphic circuits, amongst others. Demonstrating the practical relevance and applicability of self-organization, Advances in Applied Self-Organizing Systems will be an invaluable tool for advanced students and researchers in a wide range of fields.

The basis for this book is a number of lectures given frequently by the author to third year students of the Department of Economics at Leningrad State University who specialize in economical cybernetics. The main purpose of this book is to provide the student with a relatively simple and easy-to-understand manual containing the basic mathematical machinery utilized in the theory of games. Practical examples (including those from the field of economics) serve mainly as an interpretation of the mathematical foundations of this theory rather than as indications of their actual or potential applicability. The present volume is significantly different from other books on the theory of games. The difference is both in the choice of mathematical problems as well as in the nature of the exposition. The realm of the problems is somewhat limited but the author has tried to achieve the greatest possible systematization in his exposition. Whenever possible the author has attempted to provide a game-theoretical argument with the necessary mathematical rigor and reasonable generality. Formal mathematical prerequisites for this book are quite modest. Only the elementary tools of linear algebra and mathematical analysis are used.

Knowledge has in recent years become a key driver for growth of regions and nations. This volume empirically investigates the emergence of the knowledge economy in the late 20th century from a regional point of view. It first deals with the theoretical background for understanding the knowledge economy, with knowledge spillovers and development externalities. It then examines aspects of the relationship between knowledge inputs and innovative outputs in the information, computer and telecommunications sector (ICT) of the economy at the regional level. Case studies focusing on a wide variety of sectors, countries and regions finally illustrate important regional innovation issues.

This book is inspired by the development of distributed model predictive control of networked systems to save computation and communication sources. The significant new contribution is to show how to design efficient DMPCs that can be coordinated asynchronously with the increasing effectiveness of the event-triggering mechanism and how to improve the event-triggered DMPC for different requirements improvement of control performance, extension to interconnected networked systems, etc. The book is likely to be of interest to the persons who are engaged in researching control theory in academic institutes, the persons who go in for developing control systems in R&D institutes or companies, the control engineers who are engaged in the implementation of control algorithms, and people who are interested in the distributed MPC.

This book focuses on the nonlinear dynamics based on the vector fields with univariate quadratic functions. This book is a unique monograph for two-dimensional quadratic nonlinear systems. It provides different points of view about nonlinear dynamics and bifurcations of the quadratic dynamical systems. Such a two-dimensional dynamical system is one of simplest dynamical systems in nonlinear dynamics, but the local and global structures of equilibriums and flows in such two-dimensional quadratic systems help us understand other nonlinear dynamical systems, which is also a crucial step toward solving the Hilbert's sixteenth problem. Possible singular dynamics of the two-dimensional quadratic systems are discussed in detail. The dynamics of equilibriums and one-dimensional flows in two-dimensional systems are presented. Saddle-sink and saddle-source bifurcations are discussed, and saddle-center bifurcations are presented. The infinite-equilibrium states are switching bifurcations for nonlinear systems. From the first integral manifolds, the saddle-center networks are developed, and the networks of saddles, source, and sink are also presented. This book serves as a reference book on dynamical systems and control for researchers, students, and engineering in mathematics, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

Cooperative Control Design: A Systematic, Passivity-Based Approach discusses multi-agent coordination problems, including formation control, attitude coordination, and synchronization. The goal of the book is to introduce passivity as a design tool for multi-agent systems, to provide exemplary work using this tool, and to illustrate its advantages in designing robust cooperative control algorithms. The discussion begins with an introduction to passivity and demonstrates how passivity can be used as a design tool for motion coordination. Followed by the case of adaptive redesigns for reference velocity recovery while describing a basic design, a modified design and the parameter convergence problem. Formation control is presented as it relates to relative distance control and relative position control. The coverage is concluded with a comprehensive discussion of agreement and the synchronization problem with an example using attitude coordination.

This book gathers contributions on analytical, numerical, and application aspects of time-delay systems, under the paradigm of control theory, and discusses recent advances in these different contexts, also highlighting the interdisciplinary connections. The book will serve as a useful tool for graduate students and researchers in the fields of dynamical systems, automatic control, numerical methods, and functional analysis.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in network dynamics and control with applications to supply chains, manufacturing and logistics systems. It systemizes these developments in the form of new taxonomies and methodological principles to shape the research domain of supply network dynamics control. Uniquely, the book links the fundamentals of control and system theories and artificial intelligence with supply chain and operations management. It addresses the needs of researchers and practitioners alike, revealing the challenges and opportunities of supply chain and operations management by means of dynamic system analysis.

This book brings together the impact of Prof. John Horton Conway, the playful and legendary mathematician's wide range of contributions in science which includes research areas-Game of Life in cellular automata, theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory, and coding theory. It contains transcripts where some eminent scientists have shared their first-hand experience of interacting with Conway, as well as some invited research articles from the experts focusing on Game of Life, cellular automata, and the diverse research directions that started with Conway's Game of Life. The book paints a portrait of Conway's research life and philosophical direction in mathematics and is of interest to whoever wants to explore his contribution to the history and philosophy of mathematics and computer science. It is designed as a small tribute to Prof. Conway whom we lost on April 11, 2020.

"Control of Complex Systems: Structural Constraints and Uncertainty" focuses on control design under information structure constraints, with a particular emphasis on large-scale systems. The complexity of such systems poses serious computational challenges and severely restricts the types of feedback laws that can be used in practice. This book systematically addresses the main issues, and provides a number of applications that illustrate potential design methods, most which use Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs), which have become a popular design tool over the past two decades. Authors Aleksandar I. Zecevic and Dragoslav D. Siljak use their years of experience in the control field to also:

• Address the issues of large-scale systems as they relate to robust control and linear matrix inequalities
• Discuss a new approach to applying standard LMI techniques to large-scale systems, combining graphic-theoretic decomposition techniques with appropriate low-rank numerical approximations and dramatically reducing the computational effort
• Providing numerous examples and a wide variety of applications, ranging from electric power systems and nonlinear circuits to mechanical problems and dynamic Boolean networks

"Control of Complex Systems: Structural Constraints and Uncertainty" will appeal to practicing engineers, researchers and students working in control design and other related areas.

With the latest advances in shielding technology come questions about techniques, approaches and economic benefits. This single-source volume has the answers professionals need. This complete, up-to-date reference guide covers the fundamentals of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and cable shielding.

This book contains all refereed papers that were accepted to the fourth edition of the - Complex Systems Design & Management - (CSD&M 2013) international conference which took place in Paris (France) from December 4-6, 2013.

These proceedings cover the most recent trends in the emerging field of complex systems sciences & practices from an industrial and academic perspective, including the main industrial domains (transport, defense & security, electronics, energy & environment, e-services), scientific & technical topics (systems fundamentals, systems architecture & engineering, systems metrics & quality, systemic tools) and system types (transportation systems, embedded systems, software & information systems, systems of systems, artificial ecosystems).

The CSD&M 2013 conference is organized under the guidance of the CESAMES non-profit organization. "

Many of the most challenging problems in the applied sciences involve non-differentiable structures as well as partial differential operators, thus leading to non-smooth distributed parameter systems. This edited volume aims to establish a theoretical and numerical foundation and develop new algorithmic paradigms for the treatment of non-smooth phenomena and associated parameter influences. Other goals include the realization and further advancement of these concepts in the context of robust and hierarchical optimization, partial differential games, and nonlinear partial differential complementarity problems, as well as their validation in the context of complex applications. Areas for which applications are considered include optimal control of multiphase fluids and of superconductors, image processing, thermoforming, and the formation of rivers and networks. Chapters are written by leading researchers and present results obtained in the first funding phase of the DFG Special Priority Program on Nonsmooth and Complementarity Based Distributed Parameter Systems: Simulation and Hierarchical Optimization that ran from 2016 to 2019.

Selected Areas in Cryptography brings together in one place important contributions and up-to-date research results in this fast moving area. Selected Areas in Cryptography serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most challenging research issues in the field.

This book, dedicated to Professor Georgi M. Dimirovski on his anniversary, contains new research directions, challenges, and many relevant applications related to many aspects within the broadly perceived areas of systems and control, including signal analysis and intelligent systems. The project comprises two volumes with papers written by well known and very active researchers and practitioners. The first volume is focused on more foundational aspects related to general issues in systems science and mathematical systems, various problems in control and automation, and the use of computational and artificial intelligence in the context of systems modeling and control. The second volume is concerned with a presentation of relevant applications, notably in robotics, computer networks, telecommunication, fault detection/diagnosis, as well as in biology and medicine, and economic, financial, and social systems too.

This book offers a complete and detailed introduction to the theory of discrete dynamical systems, with special attention to stability of fixed points and periodic orbits. It provides a solid mathematical background and the essential basic knowledge for further developments such as, for instance, deterministic chaos theory, for which many other references are available (but sometimes, without an exhaustive presentation of preliminary notions). Readers will find a discussion of topics sometimes neglected in the research literature, such as a comparison between different predictions achievable by the discrete time model and the continuous time model of the same application. Another novel aspect of this book is an accurate analysis of the way a fixed point may lose stability, introducing and comparing several notions of instability: simple instability, repulsivity, and complete instability. To help the reader and to show the flexibility and potentiality of the discrete approach to dynamics, many examples, numerical simulations, and figures have been included. The book is used as a reference material for courses at a doctoral or upper undergraduate level in mathematics and theoretical engineering.

This book focuses on the emergence of creative ideas from cognitive and social dynamics. In particular, it presents data, models, and analytical methods grounded in a network dynamics approach. It has long been hypothesized that innovation arises from a recombination of older ideas and concepts, but this has been studied primarily at an abstract level. In this book, we consider the networks underlying innovation - from the brain networks supporting semantic cognition to human networks such as brainstorming groups or individuals interacting through social networks - and relate the emergence of ideas to the structure and dynamics of these networks. Methods described include experimental studies with human participants, mathematical evaluation of novelty from group brainstorming experiments, neurodynamical modeling of conceptual combination, and multi-agent modeling of collective creativity. The main distinctive features of this book are the breadth of perspectives considered, the integration of experiments with theory, and a focus on the combinatorial emergence of ideas.

Knowledge-Based Intelligent System Advancements: Systemic and Cybernetic Approaches presents selected new AI-based ideas and methods for analysis and decision making in intelligent information systems derived using systemic and cybernetic approaches. This book is useful for researchers, practitioners and students interested intelligent information retrieval and processing, machine learning and adaptation, knowledge discovery, applications of fuzzy based methods and neural networks.

Given the pervasive nature of information technology and information systems in the modern world, the design and development of IS and IT are critical issues of concern. New research topics continuously emerge in tandem with the latest developments in technology-E-Business, Knowledge Management, Business Process Reengineering, for example. However, when the initial flurry of research abates and the "gloss" of these areas has diminished somewhat, as it inevitably does, the enduring core issue remains as to how to develop systems to fully exploit these new areas. Both information systems and information technology are interpreted fairly broadly in this book. Of particular interest to the editors were research studies that facilitate an understanding of the role and impact of information technology on society, organizations, and individuals, and which strive to improve the design and use of information systems in that context. The contributions to the book are categorized into four broad themes. First is the core issue of developing information systems in the current environment. In this section several fundamental challenges to current assumptions and conventional wisdom in information systems development are posed. The second section considers the management of information systems. Again, the conventional wisdom is challenged. The penultimate section focuses on researching information systems. Here, various issues to do with research methods are surfaced, and the use of leading-edge research methods in information systems development is pioneered and discussed. Finally, a section is devoted to understanding information systems. This section addresses the perennial challenge in the IS field in relation to the conceptual foundations of the field. This volume comprises the proceedings of the Working Conference on Realigning Research and Practice in Information Systems Development: The Social and Organizational Perspective, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in Boise, Idaho, USA in July 2001. Given the central importance of information systems development in the current age, this eclectic book, which considers the topic from a rich and varied set of perspectives, will be essential reading for researchers and practitioners working in all areas of IS and IT.

I believe it was the message of the day one Sunday, when he preached about hell. I left church scared for the first time, in fear because of how he described hell. This then started my lifelong quest to understand why. Why is there a hell, and how could this be fair? I did not ask for this. I thought, Who would want to take such a chance to live life and not get these rules right and suffer eternity in hell? This book begins by describing the events of the war in heaven as described in Revelation 12:7-11, as a foundation establishing that life did exist before the earth was created, the proof also being found in Genesis itself. That is where we find Satan as a serpent. This is what could be considered as "Exhibit A"-Satan in the Garden of Eden, proof of his existence on earth after he was cast down from heaven into the earth. This book presents many more important questions that serve as a key to unlocking the mysteries of creation. One example is, how, why, and when our spirits were created. My research and years of study of the Bible reveal to me that our spirits were created before we were born and will still exist after we die.

This extraordinary three-volume work, written in an engaging and rigorous style by a world authority in the field, provides an accessible, comprehensive introduction to the full spectrum of mathematical and statistical techniques underpinning contemporary methods in data-driven learning and inference. This final volume, Learning, builds on the foundational topics established in volume I to provide a thorough introduction to learning methods, addressing techniques such as least-squares methods, regularization, online learning, kernel methods, feedforward and recurrent neural networks, meta-learning, and adversarial attacks. A consistent structure and pedagogy is employed throughout this volume to reinforce student understanding, with over 350 end-of-chapter problems (including complete solutions for instructors), 280 figures, 100 solved examples, datasets and downloadable Matlab code. Supported by sister volumes Foundations and Inference, and unique in its scale and depth, this textbook sequence is ideal for early-career researchers and graduate students across many courses in signal processing, machine learning, data and inference.