The NATO-Advanced Research Workshop "Esterases, Lipases and Phospholipases: From Structure to Clinical Significance" was held at the University of Bordeaux II, France from 22nd- 24th September 1993 under the Directorship of Professor Michel Clerc of the University of Bordeaux II. The meeting was organised by Hugues Chap (INSERM U 326, Toulouse, France), Georges Ferard (University of Strasbourg, France), Wolfgang Junge (University of Kiel, Germany) and Michael Mackness (University of Manchester, UK). In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that hydrolytic enzymes of the esterase, lipase and phospholipase type play central roles in the pathophysiology of many human diseases. The purpose of this NATO-ARW was to bring together experts (both clinical and scientific) in all three interrelated fields to review the current basic and clinical position and discuss future developments particularly with respect to future research aimed at determining the basic biochemical lesion involving hydrolytic enzymes involved in human disease and the use of these enzymes in diagnosis. As well as formal lectures from established researchers, the meeting also involved a number of lively round-table discussions on future developments and presentations from younger research workers, all of which are recorded in this Proceedings and which contribute to the success of the meeting.

Almost every month, a new optimization algorithm is proposed, often accompanied by the claim that it is superior to all those that came before it. However, this claim is generally based on the algorithm's performance on a specific set of test cases, which are not necessarily representative of the types of problems the algorithm will face in real life. This book presents the theoretical analysis and practical methods (along with source codes) necessary to estimate the difficulty of problems in a test set, as well as to build bespoke test sets consisting of problems with varied difficulties. The book formally establishes a typology of optimization problems, from which a reliable test set can be deduced. At the same time, it highlights how classic test sets are skewed in favor of different classes of problems, and how, as a result, optimizers that have performed well on test problems may perform poorly in real life scenarios.

The NATO-Advanced Research Workshop "Esterases, Lipases and Phospholipases: From Structure to Clinical Significance" was held at the University of Bordeaux II, France from 22nd- 24th September 1993 under the Directorship of Professor Michel Clerc of the University of Bordeaux II. The meeting was organised by Hugues Chap (INSERM U 326, Toulouse, France), Georges Ferard (University of Strasbourg, France), Wolfgang Junge (University of Kiel, Germany) and Michael Mackness (University of Manchester, UK). In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that hydrolytic enzymes of the esterase, lipase and phospholipase type play central roles in the pathophysiology of many human diseases. The purpose of this NATO-ARW was to bring together experts (both clinical and scientific) in all three interrelated fields to review the current basic and clinical position and discuss future developments particularly with respect to future research aimed at determining the basic biochemical lesion involving hydrolytic enzymes involved in human disease and the use of these enzymes in diagnosis. As well as formal lectures from established researchers, the meeting also involved a number of lively round-table discussions on future developments and presentations from younger research workers, all of which are recorded in this Proceedings and which contribute to the success of the meeting.

Brain computer interfaces (BCI) are devices which measure brain activity and translate it into messages or commands, thereby opening up many possibilities for investigation and application. This book provides keys for understanding and designing these multi-disciplinary interfaces, which require many fields of expertise such as neuroscience, statistics, informatics and psychology. This second volume, Technology and Applications, is focused on the field of BCI from the perspective of its end users, such as those with disabilities to practitioners. Covering clinical applications and the field of video games, the book then goes on to explore user needs which drive the design and development of BCI. The software used for their design, primarily OpenViBE, is explained step by step, before a discussion on the use of BCI from ethical, philosophical and social perspectives. The basic notions developed in this reference book are intended to be accessible to all readers interested in BCI, whatever their background. More advanced material is also offered, for readers who want to expand their knowledge in disciplinary fields underlying BCI.

This is the first book devoted entirely to Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), which is a non-specific algorithm, similar to evolutionary algorithms, such as taboo search and ant colonies.

Since its original development in 1995, PSO has mainly been applied to continuous-discrete heterogeneous strongly non-linear numerical optimization and it is thus used almost everywhere in the world. Its convergence rate also makes it a preferred tool in dynamic optimization.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are devices which measure brain activity and translate it into messages or commands, thereby opening up many investigation and application possibilities. This book provides keys for understanding and designing these multi-disciplinary interfaces, which require many fields of expertise such as neuroscience, statistics, informatics and psychology. This first volume, Methods and Perspectives, presents all the basic knowledge underlying the working principles of BCI. It opens with the anatomical and physiological organization of the brain, followed by the brain activity involved in BCI, and following with information extraction, which involves signal processing and machine learning methods. BCI usage is then described, from the angle of human learning and human-machine interfaces. The basic notions developed in this reference book are intended to be accessible to all readers interested in BCI, whatever their background. More advanced material is also offered, for readers who want to expand their knowledge in disciplinary fields underlying BCI. This first volume will be followed by a second volume, entitled Technology and Applications.