This book covers the issues related to optimization of engineering and management problems using soft computing techniques with an industrial outlook. It covers a broad area related to real life complex decision making problems using a heuristics approach. It also explores a wide perspective and future directions in industrial engineering research on a global platform/scenario. The book highlights the concept of optimization, presents various soft computing techniques, offers sample problems, and discusses related software programs complete with illustrations. Features Explains the concept of optimization and relevance to soft computing techniques towards optimal solution in engineering and management Presents various soft computing techniques Offers problems and their optimization using various soft computing techniques Discusses related software programs, with illustrations Provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to handle relevant software for obtaining the optimal solution to various engineering problems

This textbook serves as an introduction to fault-tolerance, intended for upper-division undergraduate students, graduate-level students and practicing engineers in need of an overview of the field. Readers will develop skills in modeling and evaluating fault-tolerant architectures in terms of reliability, availability and safety. They will gain a thorough understanding of fault tolerant computers, including both the theory of how to design and evaluate them and the practical knowledge of achieving fault-tolerance in electronic, communication and software systems. Coverage includes fault-tolerance techniques through hardware, software, information and time redundancy. The content is designed to be highly accessible, including numerous examples and exercises. Solutions and powerpoint slides are available for instructors.

This book is the first to directly address the question of how to bridge what has been termed the "great divide" between the approaches of systems developers and those of social scientists to computer supported cooperative work--a question that has been vigorously debated in the systems development literature. Traditionally, developers have been trained in formal methods and oriented to engineering and formal theoretical problems; many social scientists in the CSCW field come from humanistic traditions in which results are reported in a narrative mode. In spite of their differences in style, the two groups have been cooperating more and more in the last decade, as the "people problems" associated with computing become increasingly evident to everyone. The authors have been encouraged to examine, rigorously and in depth, the theoretical basis of CSCW. With contributions from field leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Scandinavia, Mexico, and the United States, this volume offers an exciting overview of the cutting edge of research and theory. It constitutes a solid foundation for the rapidly coalescing field of social informatics. Divided into three parts, this volume covers social theory, design theory, and the sociotechnical system with respect to CSCW. The first set of chapters looks at ways of rethinking basic social categories with the development of distributed collaborative computing technology--concepts of the group, technology, information, user, and text. The next section concentrates more on the lessons that can be learned at the design stage given that one wants to build a CSCW system incorporating these insights--what kind of work does one need to do and how is understanding of design affected? The final part looks at the integration of social and technical in the operation of working sociotechnical systems. Collectively the contributors make the argument that the social and technical are irremediably linked in practice and so the "great divide" not only should be a thing of the past, it should never have existed in the first place.

This book is the first to directly address the question of how to bridge what has been termed the "great divide" between the approaches of systems developers and those of social scientists to computer supported cooperative work--a question that has been vigorously debated in the systems development literature. Traditionally, developers have been trained in formal methods and oriented to engineering and formal theoretical problems; many social scientists in the CSCW field come from humanistic traditions in which results are reported in a narrative mode. In spite of their differences in style, the two groups have been cooperating more and more in the last decade, as the "people problems" associated with computing become increasingly evident to everyone.
The authors have been encouraged to examine, rigorously and in depth, the theoretical basis of CSCW. With contributions from field leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Scandinavia, Mexico, and the United States, this volume offers an exciting overview of the cutting edge of research and theory. It constitutes a solid foundation for the rapidly coalescing field of social informatics.
Divided into three parts, this volume covers social theory, design theory, and the sociotechnical system with respect to CSCW. The first set of chapters looks at ways of rethinking basic social categories with the development of distributed collaborative computing technology--concepts of the group, technology, information, user, and text. The next section concentrates more on the lessons that can be learned at the design stage given that one wants to build a CSCW system incorporating these insights--what kind of work does one need to do and how is understanding of design affected? The final part looks at the integration of social and technical in the operation of working sociotechnical systems. Collectively the contributors make the argument that the social and technical are irremediably linked in practice and so the "great divide" not only should be a thing of the past, it should never have existed in the first place.

Contents:
1. Basic Principles: The Operating Regime Approach 2. Modelling: Fuzzy Set Methods for Local Modelling Identification 3. Modelling of Electrically Stimulated Muscle 4. Process Modelling Using a Functional State Approach 5. Markov Mixtures of Experts 6. Active Learning With Mixture Models 7. Local Learning in Local Model Networks 8. Side Effects of Normalising Basic Functions 9. Control: Heterogeneous Control Laws 10. Local Laguerre Models 11. Multiple Model Adaptive Control 12. H Control Using Multiple Linear Models 13. Synthesis of Fuzzy Control Systems Based on Linear Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Models

Systems Engineering Guidebook: A Process for Developing Systems and Products is intended to provide readers with a guide to understanding and becoming familiar with the systems engineering process, its application, and its value to the successful implementation of systems development projects. The book describes the systems engineering process as a multidisciplinary effort. The process is defined in terms of specific tasks to be accomplished, with great emphasis placed on defining the problem that is being addressed prior to designing the solution.

In recent years, the use of technology for the purposes of improving and enriching traditional instructional practices has received a great deal of attention. However, few works have explicitly examined cognitive, psychological, and educational principles on which technology-supported learning environments are based. This volume attempts to cover the need for a thorough theoretical analysis and discussion of the principles of system design that underlie the construction of technology-enhanced learning environments. It presents examples of technology-supported learning environments that cover a broad range of content domains, from the physical sciences and mathematics to the teaching of language and literacy.
The emphasis in this book is not on the design of educational software but on the design of learning environments. A great deal of research on learning and instruction has recently moved out of the laboratory into the design of applications in instructional settings. By designing technology-supported learning environments instructional scientists attempt to better understand the theories and principles that are explicit in their theories of learning. The contributors to this volume examine how factors such as social interaction, the creation of meaningful activities, the use of multiple perspectives, and the construction of concrete representations influence the acquisition of new information and transfer.

Systems-Level Modelling of Microbial Communities: Theory and Practice introduces various aspects of modelling microbial communities and presents a detailed overview of the computational methods which have been developed in this area. This book is aimed at researchers in the field of computational/systems biology as well as biologists/experimentalists studying microbial communities, who are keen on embracing the concepts of computational modelling. The primary focus of this book is on methods for modelling interactions between micro-organisms in a community, with special emphasis on constraint-based and network-based modelling techniques. A brief overview of population- and agent-based modelling is also presented. Lastly, it covers the experimental methods to understand microbial communities, and provides an outlook on how the field may evolve in the coming years.

Complex Systems are natural systems that science is unable to describe exhaustively. Examples of Complex Systems are both unicellular and multicellular living beings; human brains; human immune systems; ecosystems; human societies; the global economy; the climate and geology of our planet. This book is an account of a marvelous interdisciplinary journey the author made to understand properties of the Complex Systems. He has undertaken his trip, equipped with the fundamental principles of physical chemistry, in particular, the Second Law of Thermodynamics that describes the spontaneous evolution of our universe, and the tools of Non-linear dynamics. By dealing with many disciplines, in particular, chemistry, biology, physics, economy, and philosophy, the author demonstrates that Complex Systems are intertwined networks, working in out-of-equilibrium conditions, which exhibit emergent properties, such as self-organization phenomena and chaotic behaviors in time and space.

This book gives an in-depth introduction to the areas of modeling, identification, simulation, and optimization. These scientific topics play an increasingly dominant part in many engineering areas such as electrotechnology, mechanical engineering, aerospace, and physics. This book represents a unique and concise treatment of the mutual interactions among these topics.
Techniques for solving general nonlinear optimization problems as they arise in identification and many synthesis and design methods are detailed. The main points in deriving mathematical models via prior knowledge concerning the physics describing a system are emphasized. Several chapters discuss the identification of black-box models. Simulation is introduced as a numerical tool for calculating time responses of almost any mathematical model. The last chapter covers optimization, a generally applicable tool for formulating and solving many engineering problems.

This volume's goal is to begin to document the dialogue processes in naturally-occurring human tutoring, in the context of informing the design of intelligent tutoring systems, and of interactive systems in general. This project represents the first empirical study of human tutorial dialogue from a conversation analytic perspective -- the conversational interaction is the focus of analysis rather than larger scale techniques for teaching. It is also the first study of tutoring to make use of large quantities of carefully transcribed tutoring conversations/dialogues.
The motivation for this focus comes from two sources: First, although all tutoring systems have implicit theory or theories of minute-level interaction built into them, little research has been done to form an empirical foundation for such theories. Therefore, current systems tend to be based on the designers' intuitions rather than on data. This fact almost certainly makes systems unnecessarily brittle in actual use. Second, of the small but growing collection of empirical studies of tutoring, almost all have been designed and carried out by computer scientists, whose training naturally leads them to be concerned with interaction at the level of knowledge transfer and teaching techniques. Fox's training as a linguist brings attention to the minute-by-minute details of the interaction, in particular to the processes that bring the interaction into existence and allow it to develop relatively smoothly.

The voices in this collection are primarily those of researchers and developers concerned with bringing knowledge of technological possibilities to bear on informed and effective system design. Their efforts are distinguished from many previous writings on system development by their central and abiding reliance on direct and continuous interaction with those who are the ultimate arbiters of system adequacy; namely, those who will use the technology in their everyday lives and work. A key issue throughout is the question of who does what to whom: whose interests are at stake, who initiates action and for what reason, who defines the problem and who decides that there is one.
The papers presented follow in the footsteps of a small but growing international community of scholars and practitioners of participatory systems design. Many of the original European perspectives are represented here as well as some new and distinctively American approaches. The collection is characterized by a rich and diverse set of perspectives and experiences that, despite their differences, share a distinctive spirit and direction -- a more humane, creative, and effective relationship between those involved in technology's design and use, and between technology and the human activities that motivate the technology.

Under the vast umbrella of Plant Sciences resides a plethora of highly specialized fields. Botanists, agronomists, horticulturists, geneticists, and physiologists each employ a different approach to the study of plants and each for a different end goal. Yet all will find themselves in the laboratory engaging in what can broadly be termed biotechnology. Addressing a wide variety of related topics, Plant Tissue Culture, Development, and Biotechnology gives the practical and technical knowledge needed to train the next generation of plant scientists regardless of their ultimate specialization. With the detailed perspectives and hands-on training signature to the authors previous bestselling books, Plant Development and Biotechnology and Plant Tissue Culture Concepts and Laboratory Exercises, this book discusses relevant concepts supported by demonstrative laboratory experiments. It provides critical thinking questions, concept boxes highlighting important ideas, and procedure boxes giving precise instruction for experiments, including step-by-step procedures, such as the proper microscope use with digital photography, along with anticipated results, and a list of materials needed to perform them. Integrating traditional plant sciences with recent advances in plant tissue culture, development, and biotechnology, chapters address germplasm preservation, plant growth regulators, embryo rescue, micropropagation of roses, haploid cultures, and transformation of meristems. Going beyond the scope of a simple laboratory manual, this book also considers special topics such as copyrights, patents, legalities, trade secrets, and the business of biotechnology. Focusing on plant culture development and its applications in biotechnology across a myriad of plant science specialties, this text uses a broad range of species and practical laboratory exercises to make it useful fo

This book seeks to establish an interdisciplinary, applied social scientific model for researchers and students that advocates a cooperative effort between machines and people. After showing that basic research on social processes offers much needed guidance for those creating technology and designing tools for group work, its papers demonstrate the mutual relevance of social science and information system design, and encourage better integration of these disciplines.
This comprehensive collection closely examines the variety of electronic tools being deployed to solve traditional problems in communication and coordination. Unfortunately, research shows that these tools have not been as successful as their designers had envisioned, partially because they were not always produced with the needs and goals of their human users in mind. The editors' goal is to entice more social scientists to orient their research around questions of practical interest to information system designers and to convince designers to search for the knowledge about social and organizational behavior that would make their tools more useful.

The TransNav 2011 Symposium held at the Gdynia Maritime University, Poland in June 2011 has brought together a wide range of participants from all over the world. The program has offered a variety of contributions, allowing to look at many aspects of the navigational safety from various different points of view. Topics presented and discussed at the Symposium were: navigation, safety at sea, sea transportation, education of navigators and simulator-based training, sea traffic engineering, ship's manoeuvrability, integrated systems, electronic charts systems, satellite, radio-navigation and anti-collision systems and many others. This book is part of a series of six volumes and provides an overview of Navigational Systems and Simulators and is addressed to scientists and professionals involved in research and development of navigation, safety of navigation and sea transportation.

Besides scheduling problems for single and parallel machines and shop scheduling problems, this book covers advanced models involving due-dates, sequence dependent changeover times and batching. Discussion also extends to multiprocessor task scheduling and problems with multi-purpose machines. Among the methods used to solve these problems are linear programming, dynamic programming, branch-and-bound algorithms, and local search heuristics. The text goes on to summarize complexity results for different classes of deterministic scheduling problems.

There has been some solid work done in the area of User-Centered Design (UCD) over the last few years. What's been missing is an in-depth, comprehensive textbook that connects UCD to usability and User Experience (UX) principles and practices. This new textbook discusses a theoretical framework in relation to other design theories. It provides a repeatable, practical process for implementation, offering numerous examples, methods, and case studies for support, and it emphasizes best practices in specific environments, including mobile and web applications, print products, as well as hardware.

Since its first volume in 1960, Advances in Computers has presented detailed coverage of innovations in computer hardware, software, theory, design, and applications. It has also provided contributors with a medium in which they can explore their subjects in greater depth and breadth than journal articles usually allow. As a result, many articles have become standard references that continue to be of significant, lasting value in this rapidly expanding field.

Reconfigurable computing techniques and adaptive systems are some of the most promising architectures for microprocessors. Reconfigurable and Adaptive Computing: Theory and Applications explores the latest research activities on hardware architecture for reconfigurable and adaptive computing systems. The first section of the book covers reconfigurable systems. The book presents a software and hardware codesign flow for coarse-grained systems-on-chip, a video watermarking algorithm for the H.264 standard, a solution for regular expressions matching systems, and a novel field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based acceleration solution with MapReduce framework on multiple hardware accelerators. The second section discusses network-on-chip, including an implementation of a multiprocessor system-on-chip platform with shared memory access, end-to-end quality-of-service metrics modeling based on a multi-application environment in network-on-chip, and a 3D ant colony routing (3D-ACR) for network-on-chip with three different 3D topologies. The final section addresses the methodology of system codesign. The book introduces a new software-hardware codesign flow for embedded systems that models both processors and intellectual property cores as services. It also proposes an efficient algorithm for dependent task software-hardware codesign with the greedy partitioning and insert scheduling method (GPISM) by task graph.

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of cloud computing security technology and implementation while exploring practical solutions to a wide range of cloud computing security issues. As more organizations use cloud computing and cloud providers for data operations, the need for proper security in these and other potentially vulnerable areas has become a global priority for organizations of all sizes. Research efforts from academia and industry, as conducted and reported by experts in all aspects of security related to cloud computing, are gathered within one reference guide. Features * Covers patching and configuration vulnerabilities of a cloud server * Evaluates methods for data encryption and long-term storage in a cloud server * Demonstrates how to verify identity using a certificate chain and how to detect inappropriate changes to data or system configurations John R. Vacca is an information technology consultant and internationally known author of more than 600 articles in the areas of advanced storage, computer security, and aerospace technology. John was also a configuration management specialist, computer specialist, and the computer security official (CSO) for NASA's space station program (Freedom) and the International Space Station Program from 1988 until his retirement from NASA in 1995.

"Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications, Second Edition" is brought forward by Brian Wilson Department of Systems and Information Management, Lancaster University, UK. The result of many years' experience, this book, now extensively revised and updated, emphasizes the application of systems concepts and methodologies that have been developed at Lancaster University. In particular the book is about problem solving and the relationship between theory and practice. Complementary to "Systems Thinking, Systems Practice" by Peter Checkland (Wiley, 1981), which has become a classic in the field, this book shows how systems ideas can be used to cope with real-life problems. Reviews of the first edition: "an excellent book which provides a synthesis of the action-research undertaken by the well-known Department of Systems, University of Lancaster. Wilson's lucid style of writing and the historical perspective of the Lancaster learning experience provide a strong contextural case for the concept of a human activity system to investigate 'badly-defined' [Checkland's 'soft'] systems". (Chris Beaumont, "Journal of the Operational Research Society", January 1985). "This volume, expertly compiled by Brian Wilson, is the latest and probably the clearest statement in book form of the philosophy of that department [Department of Systems, University of Lancaster]. This is a volume which deserves to be read. (E.R. Carson, Kybernetes, 12, 1985). ""Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications" is Wilson's account of his professional life at Lancaster since then (1966). His careful reflection on the work of so many years deserves attention). (Trevor Williams, Futures, December 1985).

Control Engineering and Information Systems contains the papers presented at the 2014 International Conference on Control Engineering and Information Systems (ICCEIS 2014, Yueyang, Hunan, China, 20-22 June 2014). All major aspects of the theory and applications of control engineering and information systems are addressed, including: - Intelligent systems - Teaching cases - Pattern recognition - Industry application - Machine learning - Systems science and systems engineering - Data mining - Optimization - Business process management - Evolution of public sector ICT - IS economics - IS security and privacy - Personal data markets - Wireless ad hoc and sensor networks - Database and system security - Application of spatial information system - Other related areas Control Engineering and Information Systems provides a valuable source of information for scholars, researchers and academics in control engineering and information systems.

Modern-day projects require software and systems engineers to work together in realizing architectures of large and complex software-intensive systems. To date, the two have used their own tools and methods to deal with similar issues when it comes to the requirements, design, testing, maintenance, and evolution of these architectures. Software and Systems Architecture in Action explores practices that can be helpful in the development of architectures of large-scale systems in which software is a major component. Examining the synergies that exist between the disciplines of software and systems engineering, it presents concepts, techniques, and methods for creating and documenting architectures. The book describes an approach to architecture design that is driven from systemic quality attributes determined from both the business and technical goals of the system, rather than just its functional requirements. This architecture-centric design approach utilizes analytically derived patterns and tactics for quality attributes that inform the architect's design choices and help shape the architecture of a given system. The book includes coverage of techniques used to assess the impact of architecture-centric design on the structural complexity of a system. After reading the book, you will understand how to create architectures of systems and assess their ability to meet the business goals of your organization. Ideal for anyone involved with large and complex software-intensive systems, the book details powerful methods for engaging the software and systems engineers on your team. The book is also suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate-level courses on software and systems architecture as it exposes students to the concepts and techniques used to create and manage architectures of software-intensive systems.

Shaped by Quantum Theory, Technology, and the Genomics Revolution

The integration of photonics, electronics, biomaterials, and nanotechnology holds great promise for the future of medicine. This topic has recently experienced an explosive growth due to the noninvasive or minimally invasive nature and the cost-effectiveness of photonic modalities in medical diagnostics and therapy. The second edition of the Biomedical Photonics Handbook presents recent fundamental developments as well as important applications of biomedical photonics of interest to scientists, engineers, manufacturers, teachers, students, and clinical providers. The third volume, Therapeutics and Advanced Biophotonics, focuses on therapeutic modalities, advanced biophotonic technologies, and future trends.

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Represents the Collective Work of over 150 Scientists, Engineers, and Clinicians"

Designed to display the most recent advances in instrumentation and methods, as well as clinical applications in important areas of biomedical photonics to a broad audience, this three-volume handbook provides an inclusive forum that serves as an authoritative reference source for a broad audience involved in the research, teaching, learning, and practice of medical technologies.

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What s New in This Edition: "

A wide variety of photonic biochemical sensing technologies has already been developed for clinical monitoring of early disease states and physiological parameters, such as blood pressure, blood chemistry, pH, temperature, and the presence of pathological organisms or biochemical species of clinical importance. Advanced photonic detection technologies integrating the latest knowledge of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics allow sensing of early disease states, thus revolutionizing the medicine of the future. Nanobiotechnology has opened new possibilities for detection of biomarkers of disease, imaging single molecules and "in situ "diagnostics at the single-cell level. In addition to these state-of-the-art advancements, the second edition contains new topics and chapters including:

Fiber Optic Probe Design

Laser and Optical Radiation Safety

Photothermal Detection

Multidimensional Fluorescence Imaging

Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging

Molecular Contrast Optical Coherence Tomography

Multiscale Photoacoustics

Polarized Light for Medical Diagnostics

Quantitative Diffuse Reflectance Imaging

Interferometric Light Scattering

Nonlinear Interferometric Vibrational Imaging

Nanoscintillator-Based Therapy

SERS Molecular Sentinel Nanoprobes

Plasmonic Coupling Interference Nanoprobes

Comprised of three books: Volume I: Fundamentals, Devices, and Techniques; Volume II: Biomedical Diagnostics; and Volume III: Therapeutics and Advanced Biophotonics, this second edition contains eight sections, and provides introductory material in each chapter. It also includes an overview of the topic, an extensive collection of spectroscopic data, and a list of references for further reading."

As the complexity of today s networked computer systems grows, they become increasingly difficult to understand, predict, and control. Addressing these challenges requires new approaches to building these systems. Adaptive, Dynamic, and Resilient Systems supplies readers with various perspectives of the critical infrastructure that systems of networked computers rely on. It introduces the key issues, describes their interrelationships, and presents new research in support of these areas.
The book presents the insights of a different group of international experts in each chapter. Reporting on recent developments in adaptive systems, it begins with a survey of application fields. It explains the requirements of such fields in terms of adaptation and resilience. It also provides some abstract relationship graphs that illustrate the key attributes of distributed systems to supply you with a better understanding of these factors and their dependencies.
The text examines resilient adaptive systems from the perspectives of mobile, infrastructure, and enterprise systems and protecting critical infrastructure. It details various approaches for building adaptive, dynamic, and resilient systems including agile, grid, and autonomic computing; multi-agent-based and biologically inspired approaches; and self-organizing systems.
The book includes many stories of successful applications that illustrate a diversified range of cutting-edge approaches. It concludes by covering related topics and techniques that can help to boost adaptation and resilience in your systems."