Beyond the Worst-Case Analysis of Algorithms


Book Description

Introduces exciting new methods for assessing algorithms for problems ranging from clustering to linear programming to neural networks.




Nature's Grossest: Set 1


Book Description

Horned lizards shoot a stinging blood out of their eyes. Octopuses disguise themselves with a black inky cloud. Snails leave behind a trail of slime. Creatures in the natural world do some pretty disgusting things! They're not trying to be gross. Rather, these adaptations help them survive in the tough conditions of the wild. This accessible, fun series will delight readers while introducing them to essential science curriculum concepts. * High-interest topics engage reluctant readers * Dynamic photographs feature animals in their native habitats and aid in reading comprehension * Provides opportunities for examining informational text elements, an important facet of the Common Core English/Language Arts Standards * Encourages scientific understanding of animals and their habitats




Adaptive and Natural Computing Algorithms


Book Description

The two volume set LNCS 4431 and LNCS 4432 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Adaptive and Natural Computing Algorithms, ICANNGA 2007, held in Warsaw, Poland, in April 2007. The 178 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 474 submissions.




Behave


Book Description

New York Times bestseller • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • One of the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year “It’s no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read.” —David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal "It has my vote for science book of the year.” —Parul Sehgal, The New York Times "Immensely readable, often hilarious...Hands-down one of the best books I’ve read in years. I loved it." —Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post From the bestselling author of A Primate's Memoir and the forthcoming Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will comes a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Behave is one of the most dazzling tours d’horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted. Moving across a range of disciplines, Sapolsky—a neuroscientist and primatologist—uncovers the hidden story of our actions. Undertaking some of our thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, and war and peace, Behave is a towering achievement—a majestic synthesis of cutting-edge research and a heroic exploration of why we ultimately do the things we do . . . for good and for ill.




Nature Inspired Cooperative Strategies for Optimization (NICSO 2011)


Book Description

Biological and other natural processes have always been a source of inspiration for computer science and information technology. Many emerging problem solving techniques integrate advanced evolution and cooperation strategies, encompassing a range of spatio-temporal scales for visionary conceptualization of evolutionary computation. The previous editions of NICSO were held in Granada, Spain (2006), Acireale, Italy (2007), Tenerife, Spain (2008), and again in Granada in 2010. NICSO evolved to be one of the most interesting and profiled workshops in nature inspired computing. NICSO 2011 has offered an inspiring environment for debating the state of the art ideas and techniques in nature inspired cooperative strategies and a comprehensive image on recent applications of these ideas and techniques. The topics covered by this volume include Swarm Intelligence (such as Ant and Bee Colony Optimization), Genetic Algorithms, Multiagent Systems, Coevolution and Cooperation strategies, Adversarial Models, Synergic Building Blocks, Complex Networks, Social Impact Models, Evolutionary Design, Self Organized Criticality, Evolving Systems, Cellular Automata, Hybrid Algorithms, and Membrane Computing (P-Systems).




Handbook of Applied Mathematics


Book Description

Most of the topics in applied mathematics dealt with in this handbook can be grouped rather loosely under the term analysis. They involve results and techniques which experience has shown to be of utility in a very broad variety of applications. Although care has been taken to collect certain basic results in convenient form, it is not the purpose of this handbook to duplicate the excellent collections of tables and formulas available in the National Bureau of Standards Handbook of Mathematical Functions (AMS Series 55, U.S. Government Printing Office) and in the references given therein. Rather, the emphasis in the present handbook is on technique, and we are indeed fortunate that a number of eminent applied mathe maticians have been willing to share with us their interpretations and experiences. To avoid the necessity of frequent and disruptive cross-referencing, it is expected that the reader will make full use of the index. Moreover, each chapter has been made as self-sufficient as is feasible. This procedure has resulted in occasional duplication, but as compensation for this the reader may appreciate the availability of different points of view concerning certain topics of current interest. As editor, I would like to express my appreciation to the contributing authors, to the reviewers, to the editorial staff of the publisher, and to the many secretaries and typists who have worked on the manuscript; without the partnership of all of these people, this handbook would not have been possible.




A Giant Dose of Gross


Book Description

Nature's most disgusting creatures take center stage, in this humorous but enlightening collection of downright disgusting creatures. From puking vultures and farting goats to stinky opossums who pretend to be dead, this title will include disgusting facts exploring each animal’s unusual skills and how they use them to survive. Humorous illustrations celebrating weird and wonderful creatures will delight any child with an interest in animals and nature, particularly those with a fondness for the grosser things in life.







Set-Theoretic Methods in Control


Book Description

The second edition of this monograph describes the set-theoretic approach for the control and analysis of dynamic systems, both from a theoretical and practical standpoint. This approach is linked to fundamental control problems, such as Lyapunov stability analysis and stabilization, optimal control, control under constraints, persistent disturbance rejection, and uncertain systems analysis and synthesis. Completely self-contained, this book provides a solid foundation of mathematical techniques and applications, extensive references to the relevant literature, and numerous avenues for further theoretical study. All the material from the first edition has been updated to reflect the most recent developments in the field, and a new chapter on switching systems has been added. Each chapter contains examples, case studies, and exercises to allow for a better understanding of theoretical concepts by practical application. The mathematical language is kept to the minimum level necessary for the adequate formulation and statement of the main concepts, yet allowing for a detailed exposition of the numerical algorithms for the solution of the proposed problems. Set-Theoretic Methods in Control will appeal to both researchers and practitioners in control engineering and applied mathematics. It is also well-suited as a textbook for graduate students in these areas. Praise for the First Edition "This is an excellent book, full of new ideas and collecting a lot of diverse material related to set-theoretic methods. It can be recommended to a wide control community audience." - B. T. Polyak, Mathematical Reviews "This book is an outstanding monograph of a recent research trend in control. It reflects the vast experience of the authors as well as their noticeable contributions to the development of this field...[It] is highly recommended to PhD students and researchers working in control engineering or applied mathematics. The material can also be used for graduate courses in these areas." - Octavian Pastravanu, Zentralblatt MATH




Natural Language Processing and Chinese Computing


Book Description

This two volume set of LNAI 11108 and LNAI 11109 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th CCF Conference on Natural Language Processing and Chinese Computing, NLPCC 2018, held in Hohhot, China, in August 2018. The 55 full papers and 31 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 308 submissions. The papers of the first volume are organized in the following topics: conversational Bot/QA/IR; knowledge graph/IE; machine learning for NLP; machine translation; and NLP applications. The papers of the second volume are organized as follows: NLP for social network; NLP fundamentals; text mining; and short papers.