Learning Classifier Systems (LCS) [Holland, 1976] are a machine learning technique which combines evolutionary computing, reinforcement learning, supervised learning or unsupervised learning, and heuristics to produce adaptive systems. They are rulebased systems, where the rules are usually in the traditional production system form of “IF state THEN action”. An evolutionary algorithm and heuristics are used to search the space of possible rules, whilst a credit assignment algorithm is used to assign utility to existing rules, thereby guiding the search for better rules...

Complexity science has been a source of new insight in physical and social systems and has demonstrated that unpredictability and surprise are fundamental aspects of the world around us. This book is the outcome of a discussion meeting of leading scholars and critical thinkers with expertise in complex systems sciences and leaders from a variety of organizations...

Metadata play a fundamental role in both DLs and SDIs. Commonly defined as "structured data about data" or "data which describe attributes of a resource" or, more simply, "information about data", it is an essential requirement for locating and evaluating available data. Therefore, this book focuses on the study of different metadata aspects, which contribute to a more efficient use of DLs and SDIs. The three main issues addressed are: the management of nested collections of resources, the interoperability between metadata schemas, and the integration of information retrieval techniques to the discovery services of geographic data catalogs (contributing in this way to avoid metadata content heterogeneity)...

Graphics processing units (GPUs) have been revolutionizing the way computer graphics and visualization are practiced. Driven by the computer-games industry and its demand for efficient hardware support for 3D graphics, GPUs have dramatically increased in performance and functionality within only a few years. Although graphics hardware is primarily designed for the fast rendering of 3D scenes, it can also be used for other types of computations. In fact, GPUs have evolved to programmable processors that can facilitate applications beyond traditional real-time 3D rendering...

Many workers in the biological sciences—physiologists, psychologists, sociologists—are interested in cybernetics and would like to apply its methods and techniques to their own speciality. Many have, however, been prevented from taking up the subject by an impression that its use must be preceded by a long study of electronics and advanced pure mathematics; for they have formed the impression that cybernetics and these subjects are inseparable. The author is convinced, however, that this impression is false...

The computer hardware and software industry is committed to using formal methods. As a result, it is crucial that students who take automata theory and logic courses retain what they have learned and understand how to use their knowledge.

The goal of this book is to teach computational scientists and engineers how to develop tailored, flexible, and efficient working environments built from small programs (scripts) written in the easy-to-learn, very high-level language Python. The focus is on examples and applications of relevance to computational science: gluing existing applications and tools, e.g. for automating simulation, data analysis, and visualization; steering simulations and computational experiments; equipping programs with graphical user interfaces; making computational Web services; creating interactive interfaces with a Maple/Matlab-like syntax to numerical applications in C/C++ or Fortran; and building flexible object-oriented programming interfaces to existing C/C++ or Fortran libraries. In short, scripting with Python makes you much more productive, increases the reliability of your scientific work and lets you have more fun - under Unix, Windows and MacIntosh...

Multivariate public key cryptosystems (MPKC) is a fast-developing new area in cryptography. In the past 10 years, MPKC schemes have increasingly been seen as a possible alternative to number theoretic-based cryptosystems such as RSA, as they are generally more efficient in terms of computational effort. As quantum computers are developed, MPKC will become a necessary alternative...

Multiresolution methods in geometric modelling are concerned with the generation, representation, and manipulation of geometric objects at several levels of detail. Applications include fast visualization and rendering as well as coding, compression, and digital transmission of 3D geometric objects.

This book provides a framework for the design of competent optimization techniques by combining advanced evolutionary algorithms with state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. The primary focus of the book is on two algorithms that replace traditional variation operators of evolutionary algorithms, by learning and sampling Bayesian networks: the Bayesian optimization algorithm (BOA) and the hierarchical BOA (hBOA). They provide a scalable solution to a broad class of problems. The book provides an overview of evolutionary algorithms that use probabilistic models to guide their search, motivates and describes BOA and hBOA in a way accessible to a wide audience, and presents numerous results confirming that they are revolutionary approaches to black-box optimization...

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) is now a mature problem-solving family of heuristics that has found its way into many important real-life problems and into leading-edge scientific research. Spatially structured EAs have different properties than standard, mixing EAs. By virtue of the structured disposition of the population members they bring about new dynamical features that can be harnessed to solve difficult problems faster and more efficiently. This book describes the state of the art in spatially structured EAs by using graph concepts as a unifying theme...

This book deals with information processing; so it is far from being a book on information theory (which would be built on description and estimation). The reader will be shown the horse, but not the saddle. At any rate, at the very beginning, there was a series of lectures on “Information theory, through the looking-glass of an algebraist”, and, as years went on, a steady process of teaching and learning made the material evolve into the present form. There still remains an algebraic main theme: algorithms intertwining polynomial algebra and matrix algebra, in the shelter of signal theory...

The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed a surge of interest in numerical, computational intensive approaches to information processing. The lines that draw the boundaries between statistics, optimization, artificial intelligence and information processing are disappearing and it is not uncommon to find well founded and sophisticated mathematical approaches in applications traditionally associated with ad-hoc programming. Evolutionary Algorithms are increasingly being applied to information processing applications that require any kind of optimization and they have reached the status of problem-solving tools in the backpack of the engineer...

Parameterized complexity theory is a recent branch of computational complexity theory that provides a framework for a refined analysis of hard algorithmic problems. The central notion of the theory, fixed-parameter tractability, has led to the development of various new algorithmic techniques and a whole new theory of intractability. This book is a state-of-the-art introduction to both algorithmic techniques for fixed-parameter tractability and the structural theory of parameterized complexity classes, and it presents detailed proofs of recent advanced results that have not appeared in book form before...

Practical PHP and MySQL reflects Jono’s commitment to the spirit of making open source subjects accessible to everyone. The book carefully walks you through the code for eight useful, dynamic Web applications. Projects are presented in a playful way, like the forum project that touts horror movies that make you ‘hide behind the couch...