This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Natural Computing, TPNC 2017, held in Dublin, Ireland, in December 2018. The 35 full papers presented in this book, together with one invited talk, were carefully reviewed and selected from 69 submissions. The papers are organized around the following topical sections: applications of natural computing as algorithms, bioinformatics, control, cryptography, design, economics. The more theoretical contributions handle with artificial chemistry, artificial immune systems, artificial life, cellular automata, cognitive computing, cognitive engineering, cognitive robotics, collective behaviour, complex systems, computational intelligence, computational social science, computing with words, developmental systems, DNA computing, DNA nanotechnology, evolutionary algorithms, evolutionary computing, evolutionary game theory, fractal geometry, fuzzy control, fuzzy logic, fuzzy sets, fuzzy systems, genetic algorithms, genetic programming, granular computing, heuristics, intelligent agents, intelligent systems, machine intelligence, molecular programming, neural computing, neural networks, quantum communication, quantum computing, rough sets, self-assembly.

Why are Australians anxious and pessimistic? Who or what has caused our loss of trust in Australia? Why has a feeling of powerlessness crept in for so many? Has the luck really run out for the lucky country? And what can we do to get it back? Every generation believes its forebears have messed up the planet. That's how we evolve. But the mood in Australia at the moment, for all ages, seems one of gloom. People are angry. Distrustful. And not just because we are losing Prime Ministers faster than we are losing wickets! Sport, business, education, banking, farming, religion, trade unions, charities and hospitals have all lost their way through a series of scandals that we must learn from. And disillusion with our leaders is at its peak. Policy has been replaced by politicking. Commentator, author and former newspaper editor David Fagan asks the questions we all want answered as he traces the not-so-gentle decline of important Australian institutions. Through analysis and interviews with experts he explores what has defined Australia in the past and how we want to be defined in the future. Peeling back the rot that has contaminated almost everything Australians believe in, he asks: are we still the economically, socially and culturally strong country that most aspire to? Should we be alarmed? Or has the laconic Australian drifted from believing 'she'll be right' to being a 'bloody knocker'? Has the Luck Run Out? shines a spotlight on the mistakes we have made, our national disillusion and looks to what can be done to re-set the mood of the times. And, more importantly, what we have to do to set things right.

I remember thinking that he was going to electrocute himself and that I should say something. But then I figured he was the qualified technician and I was new to the island. Everything was new to me, including the fact that electrical wiring was supposed to look like spaghetti; bare un-connected wires protruding from weird places were normal. I let him throw the switch-- The search for a simpler, less complicated way of life was the quest of David Fagan. For nearly twenty years he has pursued this ambition, only recently concluding that perhaps simplicity is unobtainable given the amount of evidence he has amassed during almost half his lifetime on Hydra Island, Greece. After liquidating his life in the rat race, he plunged enthusiastically into life on the Rock. In spite of unforeseen obstacles, he optimistically persevered with an assortment of careers, each exposing him to un-anticipated situations and characters. uncomplicated, circumstances he found himself in, bringing his brand of diplomacy, sensitivity, and humour to the telling of tales about the people and place that he now regards as his family and home. Author's website: www David-Fagan.com