Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Authors: Patrik Haslum, Australian National University; Nir Lipovetsky,University of Melbourne; Daniele Magazzeni, King’s College London; Christian Muise, IBM Research

Keywords: AI planning, problem modelling, classical planning, numeric planning, temporal planning, hybrid planning

Abstract: Planning is the branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that seeks to automate reasoning about plans, most importantly the reasoning that goes into formulating a plan to achieve a given goal in a given situation. AI planning is model-based: a planning system takes as input a description (or model) of the initial situation, the actions available to change it, and the goal condition to output a plan composed of those actions that will accomplish the goal when executed from the initial situation. > Download eBook PDF

Distributed Computing Theory

Authors:  Karine Altisen, VERIMAG/Grenoble INP; Stéphane Devismes,VERIMAG/Université de Grenoble Alpes; Swan Dubois & Franck Petit,LIP6/Sorbonne Université

Keywords: distributed computing, distributed algorithms, fault tolerance, transient faults, self-stabilization, convergence, closure, stabilization time, atomic-state model, daemons

Abstract: This book aims at being a comprehensive and pedagogical introduction to the concept of self-stabilization, introduced by Edsger Wybe Dijkstra in 1973. Self-stabilization characterizes the ability of a distributed algorithm to converge within finite time to a configuration from which its behavior is correct (i.e., satisfies a given specification), regardless the arbitrary initial configuration of the system. This arbitrary initial configuration may be the result of the occurrence of a finite number of transient faults. Hence, self-stabilization is actually considered as a versatile non-masking fault tolerance approach, since it recovers from the effect of any finite number of such faults in an unified manner. > Download eBook PDF

Human-Centered Informatics

Authors: Eva Hornecker, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar; Luigina Ciolfi,Sheffield Hallam University

Keywords: HCI, museums, interaction design, digital heritage, heritage technology, museum installation, informal learning

Abstract: Museums have been a domain of study and design intervention for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) for several decades. However, while resources providing overviews on the key issues in the scholarship have been produced in the fields of museum and visitor studies, no such resource as yet existed within HCI. This book fills this gap and covers key issues regarding the study and design of HCIs in museums. > Download eBook PDF

Human Language Technologies

Authors: Shay Cohen, University of Edinburgh

Keywords: natural language processing, computational linguistics, Bayesian statistics, Bayesian NLP, statistical learning, inference in NLP, grammar modeling in NLP, neural networks, representation learning

Abstract: Natural language processing (NLP) went through a profound transformation in the mid-1980s when it shifted to make heavy use of corpora and data-driven techniques to analyze language. Since then, the use of statistical techniques in NLP has evolved in several ways. One such example of evolution took place in the late 1990s or early 2000s, when full-fledged Bayesian machinery was introduced to NLP. This Bayesian approach to NLP has come to accommodate various shortcomings in the frequentist approach and to enrich it, especially in the unsupervised setting, where statistical learning is done without target prediction examples. > Download eBook PDF

Control and Mechatronics

Authors:  Farzin Asadi, Kocaeli University; Robert E. Bolanos, Southwest Research Institute; Jorge Rodríguez, Power Smart Control, Leganés, Spain

Keywords: closed-loop control, control, controller, feedback, PID controller, MATLAB®, Simulink®

Abstract: Feedback control systems is an important course in aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and mechatronics engineering, to name just a few. Feedback control systems improve the system’s behavior so the desired response can be achieved. > Download eBook PDF

Data Management

Authors: Foto Afrati, National Technical University of Athens; Rada Chirkova, North Carolina State University

Keywords: conjunctive queries, aggregate queries, arithmetic comparisons, negation, acyclic queries, query containment, query equivalence, equivalent query rewritings, maximally contained query rewritings, tuple-generating dependencies, equality-generating dependencies, the chase algorithm query containment and rewriting under dependencies, data exchange, determinacy, XPath, tree data

Abstract: The topic of using views to answer queries has been popular for a few decades now, as it cuts across domains such as query optimization, information integration, data warehousing, website design and, recently, database-as-a-service and data placement in cloud systems. This book assembles foundational work on answering queries using views in a self-contained manner, with an effort to choose material that constitutes the backbone of the research. > Download eBook PDF

Mathematics and Statistics

Authors:  Esteban Calviño-Louzao, Eduardo García-Río, Ramón Vázquez-Lorenzo, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Peter Gilkey, University of Oregon; JeongHyeong Park, SungKyunkan University

Keywords: affine gradient Ricci solitions, affine Killing vector fields, geodesic completeness, locally homogeneous affine surfaces, locally symmetric affine surfaces, projectively flat, quasi-Einstein equation

Abstract: Book IV continues the discussion begun in the first three volumes. Although it is aimed at first-year graduate students, it is also intended to serve as a basic reference for people working in affine differential geometry. It also should be accessible to undergraduates interested in affine differential geometry. We are primarily concerned with the study of affine surfaces which are locally homogeneous. > Download eBook PDF

Semantic Web: Theory and Technology

Authors:  Elisa F. Kendall, Thematix Partners LLC; Deborah L. McGuinness, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Keywords: ontology, ontology development, ontology engineering, knowledge representation and reasoning, knowledge graphs, Web Ontology Language (OWL), linked data, terminology work

Abstract: This book, motivated by the Ontology 101 tutorial given for many years at what was originally the Semantic Technology Conference (SemTech) and then later from a semester-long university class, is designed to provide the foundations for ontology engineering. The book can serve as a course textbook or a primer for all those interested in ontologies. > Download eBook PDF

Learning and Memory

Authors: Elisabete Castelon Konkiewitz, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Brazil; Edward B. Ziff, New York University

Keywords: autism, Asperger, social inclusion, mirror neurons, executive functions, theory of the mind, art therapy, music therapy, ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis), neurodevelopment, cognition, empathy, intelligence, creativity, brain, learning disabilities, workplace, social skills, default mode network, emotional processing, socialization, communication

Abstract: This book gives a basic and broad but innovative view of autism. It seeks to rupture stereotypes and stigmas and starts with the story and paintings of the artist Camila Falchi, who has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Camila’s art is evidence of the complexity of her internal world and its variety of themes, intensity of feelings, daydreaming, fantasy, and dreams. This complexity compels us to question and rethink our perceptions of the autism spectrum, the mind, and creativity. > Download eBook PDF