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Coordination models and languages ; 10th International Conference, COORDINATION 2008, Oslo, Norway, June 4-6, 2008. Proceedings
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Coordination Models and Languages, COORDINATION 2008, held in Oslo, Norway, in June 2008, as one of the federated conferences on Distributed Computing Techniques, DisCoTec 2008.
Coordination : Neural, Behavioral and Social Dynamics
One of the most striking features of Coordination Dynamics is its interdisciplinary character. The problems we are trying to solve in this field range from behavioral phenomena of interlimb coordination and coordination between stimuli and movements (perception-action tasks) through neural activation patterns that can be observed during these tasks to clinical applications and social behavior. It is not surprising that close collaboration among scientists from different fields as psychology, kinesiology, neurology and even physics are imperative to deal with the enormous difficulties we are facing when we try to understand a system as complex as the human brain.
Cooperative Information Agents XI ; Matthias Klusch, Koen V. Hindriks, Mike P. Papazoglou, Leon Sterling
In today’s world of ubiquitously connected heterogeneous information systems and computing devices, the intelligent coordination and provision of relevant added-value information at any time, anywhere is of key importance to a va- ety of applications. This challenge is envisioned to be coped with by means of appropriate intelligent and cooperative information agents. An information agent is a computational software entity that has access to one or multiple heterogeneous and geographically dispersed data and infor- tion sources. It pro-actively searches for and maintains information on behalf of its human users, or other agents preferably just in time. In other words, it is managing and overcoming the di?culties associated with information overload in open, pervasive information and service landscapes. Each component of a modern cooperative information system is represented by an appropriate intelligent information agent capable of resolving system and semantic heterogeneities in a given context on demand. Cooperative infor- tion agents are supposed to accomplish both individual and shared joint goals depending on the actual user preferences in line with given or deduced limits of time, budget and resources available.
Concurrency, Graphs and Models : Essays Dedicated to Ugo Montanari on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday
The volume consists of seven sections, six of which are dedicated to the main research areas to which Ugo Montanari has contributed: Graph Transformation; Constraint and Logic Programming; Software Engineering; Concurrency; Models of Computation; and Software Verification.
Cognitive engineering : A distributed approach to machine intelligence
Cognitive Engineering: A Distributed Approach to Machine Intelligence explores the design issues of intelligent engineering systems. Beginning with the foundations of psychological modeling of the human mind, the main emphasis is given to parallel and distributed realization of intelligent models for application in reasoning, learning, planning and multi-agent co-ordination problems. The last two chapters provide case studies on human-mood detection and control, and behavioral co-operation of mobile robots. This is the first comprehensive text of its kind, bridging the gap between Cognitive Science and Cognitive Systems Engineering. Each chapter includes plenty of numerical examples and exercises with sufficient hints, so that the reader can solve the exercises on their own. Computer simulations are also included in most chapters to give a clear idea about the application of the algorithms undertaken in the book. In addition, mathematical analysis on convergence and stability of the neuro-fuzzy models will enable the reader to pursue their research career in cognitive engineering.
Massively Multi-Agent Technology ; AAMAS Workshops, MMAS 2006, LSMAS 2006, and CCMMS 2007 Hakodate, Japan, May 9, 2006 Honolulu, HI, USA, May 15, 2007 Selected and Revised Papers
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the joint AAMAS 2006 International Workshops on Massively Multi-Agent Systems, MMAS 2006, and on Large scale Multi-Agent Systems, LSMAS 2006, held in Hakodate, Japan, in May 2006, and of the International Workshop on Coordination and Control in Massively Multi-Agent Systems, CCMMS 2007, held in Honolulu, HI, USA, in May 2007 as associated event of AAMAS 2007.
Managing Dynamic Networks : Organizational Perspectives of Technology Enabled Inter-firm Collaboration
Collaboration of organizations reshapes traditional managerial practices and creates new inter-organizational contexts for strategy, coordination and control, information and knowledge management. Heralded as organizational forms of the future, networks are at the same time fragile and precarious organizational arrangements, which regularly fail. In order to investigate the new realities created by technology-enabled forms of network organizations and to address the emerging managerial challenges, this book introduces an integrative view on inter-firm network management. Centred on a network life cycle perspective, strategic, economic and relational facets of business networking are explored.
Managing Business Interfaces : Marketing and Engineering Issues in the Supply Chain and Internet Domains
Within companies and organizations there is an increased emphasis on making different functional areas work together seamlessly. These developments have led to an increased emphasis on research and practice in business that integrate the functional areas within and between business entities. The research community has recognized the importance of addressing these different, and often conflicting, business perspectives. This has led to research streams that address issues characterizing the domain of business interfaces. These include the benefits of coordination, new product development, product portfolio management, supply chain coordination, and partnerships and collaboration in the Internet space.
Management models of digital transformation : Analysis and definition of success factors for the development of a management framework
Analyses and integrates existing approaches to managing and coordinating a digital transformation in order to identify relevant success factors of a digital transformation, serving as a basis for the development of a systematic framework for a management model of digital transformation. The analysis reveals ten success-critical focus areas of a digital transformation, which comprise numerous success factors: ‘Vision, goals, and strategies’, ‘Leadership’, ‘Communication’, ‘Digital culture and mindset’, ‘Digital platform’, ‘Partnership network’, ‘Capabilities, talents, and skills’, ‘Organization, coordination, and roles’, ‘Management methodologies’, and ‘Governance’.
Macroeconomics of Monetary Union
This book, unlike other books, provides readers with a practical yet sophisticated grasp of the macroeconomic principles necessary to understand a monetary union. By definition, a monetary union is a group of countries that share a common currency. The most important case in point is the Euro area. Policy makers are the central bank, national governments, and national labour unions. Policy targets are price stability and full employment. Policy makers follow cold-turkey or gradualist strategies. Policy decisions are taken sequentially or simultaneously. The countries can differ in size or behaviour. Policy expectations are adaptive or rational. To illustrate all of this there are numerical simulations of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and wage policy.
Linked Democracy : Foundations, Tools, and Applications
This book shows the factors linking information flow, social intelligence, rights management and modelling with epistemic democracy, offering licensed linked data along with information about the rights involved. This model of democracy for the web of data brings new challenges for the social organisation of knowledge, collective innovation, and the coordination of actions. Licensed linked data, licensed linguistic linked data, right expression languages, semantic web regulatory models, electronic institutions, artificial socio-cognitive systems are examples of regulatory and institutional design (regulations by design). The web has been massively populated with both data and services, and semantically structured data, the linked data cloud, facilitates and fosters human-machine interaction. Linked data aims to create ecosystems to make it possible to browse, discover, exploit and reuse data sets for applications. Rights Expression Languages semi-automatically regulate the use and reuse of content.
Leveraging Mobile Media : Cross-Media Strategy and Innovation Policy for Mobile Media Communication
Mobile communications and next generation wireless networks emerge as new distribution channels for the media. This development offers exciting new opportunities for media companies: the mobile communication system creates new usage contexts for media content and services; the social use of mobile communications suggests that identity representation in social networks, impulsive access to trusted media brands, and micro-coordination emerge as new sources of value creation in the media industries. In the light of this background, this book takes two different viewpoints on the development of mobile media: from a competitive strategy point of view it analyzes the extension of cross-media strategies and the emergence of cross-network strategies; from a public policy point of view it develops demands and requirements for an innovation policy that fosters innovation in mobile media markets.
Learning and Adaption in Multi-Agent Systems ; 1st International Workshop, LAMAS 2005, Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 25, 2005, Revised Selected Papers
Contains selected and revised papers of the International Workshop on Lea- ing and Adaptation in Multi-Agent Systems (LAMAS 2005), held at the AAMAS 2005 Conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 26. An important aspect in multi-agent systems (MASs) is that the environment evolves over time, not only due to external environmental changes but also due to agent int- actions. For this reason it is important that an agent can learn, based on experience, and adapt its knowledge to make rational decisions and act in this changing environment autonomously. Machine learning techniques for single-agent frameworks are well established. Agents operate in uncertain environments and must be able to learn and act - tonomously. This task is, however, more complex when the agent interacts with other agents that have potentially different capabilities and goals. The single-agent case is structurally different from the multi-agent case due to the added dimension of dynamic interactions between the adaptive agents. Multi-agent learning, i.e., the ability of the agents to learn how to cooperate and compete, becomes crucial in many domains. Autonomous agents and multi-agent systems (AAMAS) is an emerging multi-disciplinary area encompassing computer science, software engineering, biology, as well as cognitive and social sciences. A t- oretical framework, in which rationality of learning and interacting agents can be - derstood, is still under development in MASs, although there have been promising ?
Component-Based Digital Movie Production : Reference Model of an Integrated Production System
The ongoing digitization process affects all areas of the media industry. Within the scientific discussion, movie production is little observed although it currently faces crucial structural developments. The change to digital production processes allows new ways of cooperation and coordination in the project networks. Marcus Pankow examines the specifics of the movie production industry and its value-creating processes, reflecting the digitization and its impact on the information systems strategy. An empirical case study analysis forms the basis for the development of a reference model for a company-wide application system to support the entire movie production process. Following the concept of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), he encapsulates established applications in services and integrates them on one platform.
Classical Biological Control of Bemisia tabaci in the United States : A Review of Interagency Research and Implementation
This book reviews the interagency research and development effort on classical biological control in the USA from 1992-2002. The successful exploration, importation, screening, evaluation, rearing, and establishment of at least five exotic Bemisia. tabaci natural enemies in rapid response to the devastating infestations in the USA is a landmark in interagency cooperation and coordination of multiple disciplines. In this volume, the various authors present detailed reviews of natural enemy exploration, introduction, and evaluation efforts that will serve as a guide to support and encourage classical biological control inputs into other integrated pest management systems.
CASCOM : Intelligent service coordination in the semantic web
A general architecture for service delivery and coordination in intelligent agent-based peer-to-peer (IP2P) environments, that has been developed within the CASCOM research project, is presented in this book.
Brain Dynamics : Synchronization and Activity Patterns in Pulse-Coupled Neural Nets with Delays and Noise
This book addresses a large variety of models in mathematical and computational neuroscience.He devotes the main part to the synchronization problem. He presents neural net models more realistic than the conventional ones by taking into account the detailed dynamics of axons, synapses and dendrites, allowing rather arbitrary couplings between neurons. He gives a complete stabile analysis that goes significantly beyond what has been known so far. He also derives pulse-averaged equations including those of the Wilson--Cowan and the Jirsa-Haken-Nunez types and discusses the formation of spatio-temporal neuronal activity pattems. An analysis of phase locking via sinusoidal couplings leading to various kinds of movement coordination is included.
Brain dynamics : An introduction to models and simualtions
Brain Dynamics serves to introduce graduate students and nonspecialists from various backgrounds to the field of mathematical and computational neurosciences. Some of the advanced chapters will also be of interest to the specialists. The book approaches the subject through pulse-coupled neural networks, with at their core the lighthouse and integrate-and-fire models, which allow for the highly flexible modelling of realistic synaptic activity, synchronization and spatio-temporal pattern formation. Topics also include pulse-averaged equations and their application to movement coordination. The book closes with a short analysis of models versus the real neurophysiological system.
Biology and Control Theory : Current Challenges
Creating some links between control feedback and biology modeling communities based on similarities in modeling, observing and perceiving alive structures, and analyzing interconnections between biological structures and subsystems was the main objective of this volume. The idea of this book was conceived in the context mentioned above with the objective to help in claiming many of the problems for control researchers, starting discussions and opening interactive debates between the control and biology communities, and, finally, to alert graduate students to the many interesting ideas at the frontier between control feedback theory and biology.
Bio-inspired computing and communication ; 1st Workshop on Bio-inspired design of networks, BIOWIRE 2007 Cambridge, UK, April 2-5, 2007 Revised Selected Papers
The book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the First Workshop on Bio-Inspired Design of Networks, BIOWIRE 2007, held in Cambridge, UK, in April 2007.
