This book presents a new perspective on and a new approach to a wide spectrum of situations, related to data analysis, actually, a kind of a new paradigm. Namely, for a given data set and its partition, whose origins may be of any kind, the authors try to reconstruct this partition on the basis of the data set given, using very broadly conceived clustering procedure. The main advantages of this new paradigm concern the substantive aspects of the particular cases considered, mainly in view of the variety of interpretations, which can be assumed in the framework of the paradigm. Due to the novel problem formulation and the flexibility in the interpretations of this problem and its components, the domains, which are encompassed (or at least affected) by the potential use of the paradigm, include cluster analysis, classification, outlier detection, feature selection, and even factor analysis as well as geometry of the data set. The book is useful for all those who look for new, nonconventional approaches to their data analysis problems.

This volume presents recent research, challenging problems and solutions in Intelligent Systems- covering the following disciplines: artificial and computational intelligence, fuzzy logic and other non-classic logics, intelligent database systems, information retrieval, information fusion, intelligent search (engines), data mining, cluster analysis, unsupervised learning, machine learning, intelligent data analysis, (group) decision support systems, intelligent agents and multi-agent systems, knowledge-based systems, imprecision and uncertainty handling, electronic commerce, distributed systems, etc. The book defines a common ground for sometimes seemingly disparate problems and addresses them by using the paradigm of broadly perceived intelligent systems. It presents a broad panorama of a multitude of theoretical and practical problems which have been successfully dealt with using the paradigm of intelligent computing.

This volume showcases contributions from internationally-known researchers in the field of information management. Most of the approaches presented here make use of fuzzy logic, introduced by L.A. Zadeh almost 50 years ago, which constitute a powerful tool to model and handle gradual concepts. What all of these contributions have in common is placing the user at the center of the information system, be it for helping him/her to query a data set, to handle imperfect information, or to discover useful knowledge from a massive collection of data. Researchers working in data and knowledge management will greatly benefit from this collection of up-to-date studies. This may be also an invaluable source of information for postgraduate students interested in advanced information management techniques.

This book presents a new perspective on and a new approach to a wide spectrum of situations, related to data analysis, actually, a kind of a new paradigm. Namely, for a given data set and its partition, whose origins may be of any kind, the authors try to reconstruct this partition on the basis of the data set given, using very broadly conceived clustering procedure. The main advantages of this new paradigm concern the substantive aspects of the particular cases considered, mainly in view of the variety of interpretations, which can be assumed in the framework of the paradigm. Due to the novel problem formulation and the flexibility in the interpretations of this problem and its components, the domains, which are encompassed (or at least affected) by the potential use of the paradigm, include cluster analysis, classification, outlier detection, feature selection, and even factor analysis as well as geometry of the data set. The book is useful for all those who look for new, nonconventional approaches to their data analysis problems.

This book is composed of selected papers presented at IWIFSGN'2019-The Eighteenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and Generalized Nets-held on October 24-25, 2019, in Warsaw, Poland, which is one of the main conferences on fuzzy logic, notably on extensions of the traditional fuzzy sets, in particular on the intuitionistic fuzzy sets. A considerable part of the conference sessions is also concerned with recent developments and challenges in the theory and applications of other topics exemplified by uncertainty, incompleteness and imprecision modeling, the Generalized Nets (GNs), a powerful extension of the traditional Petri net paradigm, and the InterCriteria Analysis, a new method for the feature selection and analyses in multicriteria and multiattribute decision-making problems. Some more general problems of computational and artificial intelligence, exemplified by evolutionary computations, machine learning, etc., are also dealt with. The papers included yield a good perspective on all of these important issues and problems.

This book gathers selected papers from two important conferences held on October 24-28, 2018, in Warsaw, Poland: theFifteenth National Conference of Operational and Systems Research, BOS-2018, one of the leading conferences in the field of operational and systems research not only in Poland but also at the European level; andthe Seventeenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and General Nets, IWIFSGN-2018, one of thepremiere conferences on fuzzy logic. The papers presented here constitute a fair and comprehensive representation of the topics covered by both BOS-2018 and IWIFSGN-2018, includingextensions of the traditional fuzzy sets, in particular on the intuitionistic fuzzy sets, as well as other topics in uncertainty and imprecision modeling, the Generalized Nets (GNs), a powerful extension of the traditional Petri net paradigm, and InterCriteria Analysis, a new method for feature selection and analyses in multicriteria and multi-attribute decision-making problems. The Workshop was dedicated to the memory of Professor Beloslav Riecan (1936-2018), a regular participant at the IWIFSGN workshops.

The word consensus has been frequently used for centuries, perhaps millenia. People have always deemed it important that decisions having a long lasting impact on groups, countries or even civilizations be arrived at in a consensual manner. Undoubtedly the complexity of modern world in all its social, technological, economic and cultural dimensions has created new environments where consensus is regarded desirable. Consensus typically denotes a state of agreement prevailing in a group of agents, human or software. In the strict sense of the term, consensus means that the agreement be unanimous. Since such a state is often unreachable or even unnecessary, other less demanding consensus-related notions have been introduced. These typically involve some graded, partial or imprecise concepts. The contributions to this volume define and utilize such less demanding - and thus at the same time more general - notions of consensus. However, consensus can also refer to a process whereby the state of agreement is reached. Again this state can be something less stringent than a complete unanimity of all agents regarding all options. The process may involve modifications, resolutions and /or mitigations of the views or inputs of individuals or software agents in order to achieve the state of consensus understood in the more general sense. The consensus reaching processes call for some soft computational approaches, methods and techniques, notably fuzzy and possibilistic ones. These are needed to accommodate the imprecision in the very meaning of some basic concepts utilized in the definition of consensus as a state of agreement and as a process whereby this state is to be reached. The overall aim of this volume is to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the issues related to consensus states and consensual processes.

This volume presents recent research, challenging problems and solutions in Intelligent Systems- covering the following disciplines: artificial and computational intelligence, fuzzy logic and other non-classic logics, intelligent database systems, information retrieval, information fusion, intelligent search (engines), data mining, cluster analysis, unsupervised learning, machine learning, intelligent data analysis, (group) decision support systems, intelligent agents and multi-agent systems, knowledge-based systems, imprecision and uncertainty handling, electronic commerce, distributed systems, etc. The book defines a common ground for sometimes seemingly disparate problems and addresses them by using the paradigm of broadly perceived intelligent systems. It presents a broad panorama of a multitude of theoretical and practical problems which have been successfully dealt with using the paradigm of intelligent computing.

This book presents selected papers from two important conferences held on October 12-14, 2016 in Warsaw, Poland: the Fourteenth National Conference of Operational and Systems Research, BOS-2016, one of the premiere conferences in the field of operational and systems research not only in Poland but also at the European level; and the Fifteenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and General Nets, IWIFSGN-2016, one of the foremost conferences on fuzzy logic, notably addressing extensions of the traditional fuzzy sets, as well as the Generalized Nets (GNs), a powerful extension of the traditional Petri net paradigm. The scope of the BOS con ferences includes all types of problems related to systems modeling, systems analysis, broadly perceived operational research, optimization, decision making, and decision support, to name but a few. In all these areas, virtually all models used have to take into account not only uncertainty in its traditional sense, but also imprecision of information. That is, in addition to traditional probabilistic and statistical tools and techniques, the use of methods based on fuzzy sets can also be sensible. Even more so, employing certain extensions of the classic concept of a fuzzy set can be very useful. Applying intuitionistic fuzzy sets, which are at the core of the IWIFSGN conferences, is a good example. Both conferences, BOS-2016 and IWIFSGN-2016, offered ideal venues for the exchange of ideas, cross-fertilization, and mutual inspiration.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of two collocated international conferences: EUSFLAT-2017 - the 10th edition of the flagship Conference of the European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology held in Warsaw, Poland, on September 11-15, 2017, and IWIFSGN'2017 - The Sixteenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and Generalized Nets, held in Warsaw on September 13-15, 2017. The conferences were organized by the Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Department IV of Engineering Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Polish Operational and Systems Research Society in collaboration with the European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and various European universities. The aim of the EUSFLAT-2017 was t o bring together theoreticians and practitioners working on fuzzy logic, fuzzy systems, soft computing and related areas and to provide a platform for exchanging ideas and discussing the latest trends and ideas, while the aim of IWIFSGN'2017 was to discuss new developments in extensions of the concept of a fuzzy set, such as an intuitionistic fuzzy set, as well as other concepts, like that of a generalized net. The papers included, written by leading international experts, as well as the special sessions and panel discussions contribute to the development the field, strengthen collaborations and intensify networking.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of two collocated international conferences: EUSFLAT-2017 - the 10th edition of the flagship Conference of the European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology held in Warsaw, Poland, on September 11-15, 2017, and IWIFSGN'2017 - The Sixteenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and Generalized Nets, held in Warsaw on September 13-15, 2017. The conferences were organized by the Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Department IV of Engineering Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Polish Operational and Systems Research Society in collaboration with the European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and various European universities. The aim of the EUSFLAT-2017 was to bring together theoreticians and practitioners working on fuzzy logic, fuzzy systems, soft computing and related areas and to provide a platform for exchanging ideas and discussing the l atest trends and ideas, while the aim of IWIFSGN'2017 was to discuss new developments in extensions of the concept of a fuzzy set, such as an intuitionistic fuzzy set, as well as other concepts, like that of a generalized net. The papers included, written by leading international experts, as well as the special sessions and panel discussions contribute to the development the field, strengthen collaborations and intensify networking.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of two collocated international conferences: EUSFLAT-2017 - the 10th edition of the flagship Conference of the European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology held in Warsaw, Poland, on September 11-15, 2017, and IWIFSGN'2017 - The Sixteenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and Generalized Nets, held in Warsaw on September 13-15, 2017. The conferences were organized by the Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Department IV of Engineering Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Polish Operational and Systems Research Society in collaboration with the European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and various European universities. The aim of the EUSFLAT-2017 was to bring together theoreticians and practitioners working on fuzzy logic, fuzzy systems, soft computing and related areas and to provide a platform for exchanging ideas and discussing the l atest trends and ideas, while the aim of IWIFSGN'2017 was to discuss new developments in extensions of the concept of a fuzzy set, such as an intuitionistic fuzzy set, as well as other concepts, like that of a generalized net. The papers included, written by leading international experts, as well as the special sessions and panel discussions contribute to the development the field, strengthen collaborations and intensify networking.

The word consensus has been frequently used for centuries, perhaps millenia. People have always deemed it important that decisions having a long lasting impact on groups, countries or even civilizations be arrived at in a consensual manner. Undoubtedly the complexity of modern world in all its social, technological, economic and cultural dimensions has created new environments where consensus is regarded desirable. Consensus typically denotes a state of agreement prevailing in a group of agents, human or software. In the strict sense of the term, consensus means that the agreement be unanimous. Since such a state is often unreachable or even unnecessary, other less demanding consensus-related notions have been introduced. These typically involve some graded, partial or imprecise concepts. The contributions to this volume define and utilize such less demanding - and thus at the same time more general - notions of consensus. However, consensus can also refer to a process whereby the state of agreement is reached. Again this state can be something less stringent than a complete unanimity of all agents regarding all options. The process may involve modifications, resolutions and /or mitigations of the views or inputs of individuals or software agents in order to achieve the state of consensus understood in the more general sense. The consensus reaching processes call for some soft computational approaches, methods and techniques, notably fuzzy and possibilistic ones. These are needed to accommodate the imprecision in the very meaning of some basic concepts utilized in the definition of consensus as a state of agreement and as a process whereby this state is to be reached. The overall aim of this volume is to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the issues related to consensus states and consensual processes.

This volume is the first part of the two-volume proceedings of the International C- ference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN 2005), held on September 11-15, 2005 in Warsaw, Poland, with several accompanying workshops held on September 15, 2005 at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toru , Poland. The ICANN conference is an annual meeting organized by the European Neural Network Society in cooperation with the International Neural Network Society, the Japanese Neural Network Society, and the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. It is the premier European event covering all topics concerned with neural networks and related areas. The ICANN series of conferences was initiated in 1991 and soon became the major European gathering for experts in those fields. In 2005 the ICANN conference was organized by the Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland, and the Nicolaus Copernicus Univ- sity, Toru , Poland. From over 600 papers submitted to the regular sessions and some 10 special c- ference sessions, the International Program Committee selected - after a thorough peer-review process - about 270 papers for publication. The large number of papers accepted is certainly a proof of the vitality and attractiveness of the field of artificial neural networks, but it also shows a strong interest in the ICANN conferences.

This volume is the first part of the two-volume proceedings of the International C- ference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN 2005), held on September 11-15, 2005 in Warsaw, Poland, with several accompanying workshops held on September 15, 2005 at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toru , Poland. The ICANN conference is an annual meeting organized by the European Neural Network Society in cooperation with the International Neural Network Society, the Japanese Neural Network Society, and the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. It is the premier European event covering all topics concerned with neural networks and related areas. The ICANN series of conferences was initiated in 1991 and soon became the major European gathering for experts in those fields. In 2005 the ICANN conference was organized by the Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland, and the Nicolaus Copernicus Univ- sity, Toru , Poland. From over 600 papers submitted to the regular sessions and some 10 special c- ference sessions, the International Program Committee selected - after a thorough peer-review process - about 270 papers for publication. The large number of papers accepted is certainly a proof of the vitality and attractiveness of the field of artificial neural networks, but it also shows a strong interest in the ICANN conferences.

This book is composed of selected papers from the Sixteenth National Conference on Operational and Systems Research, BOS-2020, held on December 14-15, 2020, one of premiere conferences in the field of operational and systems research. The second is the Nineteenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and Generalized Nets, IWIFSGN 2020, held on December 10-11, 2020, in Warsaw, Poland, in turn-one of premiere conferences on fuzzy logic, notably on extensions of the traditional fuzzy sets, also comprising a considerable part on the generalized nets (GNs), an important extension of the traditional Petri nets. A joint publication of selected papers from the two conferences follows a long tradition of such a joint organization and-from a substantial point of view-combines systems modeling, systems analysis, broadly perceived operational research, notably optimization, decision making, and decision support, with various aspects of uncertain and imprecise information and their related tools and techniques.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Flexible Query Answering Systems, FQAS 2021, held virtually and in Bratislava, Slovakia, in September 2021.The 16 full papers and 1 perspective papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 17 submissions. They are organized in the following topical sections: model-based flexible query answering approaches and data-driven approaches.

This volume contains, first of all, the papers presented at the Fourteenth International Workshop on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and Generalized Nets (IWIFSGN-2015) held on October 26-28, 2015 in Cracow, Poland. Moreover, the volume contains some papers of a particular relevance not presented at the Workshop. The Workshop is mainly devoted to the presentation of recent research results in the broadly perceived fields of intuitionistic fuzzy sets and generalized nets initiated by Professor Krassimir T. Atanassov whose constant inspiration and support is crucial for such a widespread growing popularity and recognition of these areas. The Workshop is a next edition of a series of the IWIFSGN Workshops organized for years by the Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland, Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, and WIT -- Warsaw School of Information Technology, Warsaw, Poland, and co-organized by: Matej Bel University, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, Universidad Publica de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, Universidade de Tras-Os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal, Prof. Asen Zlatarov University, Burgas, Bulgaria, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, and the University of Westminster, Harrow, UK.

This volume contains the papers presented at the Eleventh Flexible Query Answering Systems 2015 (FQAS-2015) held on October 26-28, 2015 in Cracow, Poland. The international conferences on Flexible Query Answering Systems (FQAS) are a series of premier conferences focusing on the key issue in the information society of providing easy, flexible, and intuitive access to information and knowledge to everybody, even people with a very limited computer literacy. In targeting this issue, the Conference draws on several research areas, such as information retrieval, database management, information filtering, knowledge representation, soft computing, management of multimedia information, and human-computer interaction. The Conference provides a unique opportunity for researchers, developers and practitioners to explore new ideas and approaches in a multidisciplinary forum.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Flexible Query Answering Systems, FQAS 2011, held in Roskilde, Denmark, in October 2011. The 43 papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on logical approaches to flexible querying, fuzzy logic in spatial and temporal data modeling and querying, knowledge-based approaches, multimedia, data fuzziness, reliability and trust, information retrieval, preference queries, flexible querying of graph data, ranking, ordering and statistics, query recommendation and interpretation, as well as on fuzzy databases and applications (8 papers presented in a special session).