This two volume set constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Adaptive and Natural Computing Algorithms, ICANNGA 2007, held in Warsaw, Poland, in April 2007. Coverage in the first volume includes evolutionary computation, genetic algorithms, and particle swarm optimization. The second volume covers neural networks, support vector machines, biomedical signal and image processing, biometrics, computer vision.

The two-volume set LNCS 6593 and 6594 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Adaptive and Natural Computing Algorithms, ICANNGA 2010, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in April 2010. The 83 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 144 submissions. The second volume includes 41 papers organized in topical sections on pattern recognition and learning, soft computing, systems theory, support vector machines, and bioinformatics.

The papers in this volume present theoretical insights and report practical applications both for neural networks, genetic algorithms and evolutionary computation. In the field of natural computing, swarm optimization, bioinformatics and computational biology contributions are no less compelling. A wide selection of contributions report applications of neural networks to process engineering, robotics and control. Contributions also abound in the field of evolutionary computation particularly in combinatorial and optimization problems. Many papers are dedicated to machine learning and heuristics, hybrid intelligent systems and soft computing applications. Some papers are devoted to quantum computation. In addition, kernel based algorithms, able to solve tasks other than classification, represent a revolution in pattern recognition bridging existing gaps. Further topics are intelligent signal processing and computer vision.

The ICANNGA series of Conferences has been organised since 1993 and has a long history of promoting the principles and understanding of computational intelligence paradigms within the scientific community and is a reference for established workers in this area. Starting in Innsbruck, in Austria (1993), then to Ales in Prance (1995), Norwich in England (1997), Portoroz in Slovenia (1999), Prague in the Czech Republic (2001) and finally Roanne, in France (2003), the ICANNGA series has established itself for experienced workers in the field. The series has also been of value to young researchers wishing both to extend their knowledge and experience and also to meet internationally renowned experts. The 2005 Conference, the seventh in the ICANNGA series, will take place at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, drawing on the experience of previous events, and following the same general model, combining technical sessions, including plenary lectures by renowned scientists, with tutorials.

"This book offers new ideas and recent developments in Natural Computing, especially on artificial immune systems"--Provided by publisher.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the computational material that forms the underpinnings of the currently evolving set of brain models. It is now clear that the brain is unlikely to be understood without recourse to computational theories. The theme of An Introduction to Natural Computation is that ideas from diverse areas such as neuroscience, information theory, and optimization theory have recently been extended in ways that make them useful for describing the brains programs. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the computational material that forms the underpinnings of the currently evolving set of brain models. It stresses the broad spectrum of learning models—ranging from neural network learning through reinforcement learning to genetic learning—and situates the various models in their appropriate neural context. To write about models of the brain before the brain is fully understood is a delicate matter. Very detailed models of the neural circuitry risk losing track of the task the brain is trying to solve. At the other extreme, models that represent cognitive constructs can be so abstract that they lose all relationship to neurobiology. An Introduction to Natural Computation takes the middle ground and stresses the computational task while staying near the neurobiology.

Genetic algorithms are playing an increasingly important role in studies of complex adaptive systems, ranging from adaptive agents in economic theory to the use of machine learning techniques in the design of complex devices such as aircraft turbines and integrated circuits. Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems is the book that initiated this field of study, presenting the theoretical foundations and exploring applications. In its most familiar form, adaptation is a biological process, whereby organisms evolve by rearranging genetic material to survive in environments confronting them. In this now classic work, Holland presents a mathematical model that allows for the nonlinearity of such complex interactions. He demonstrates the model's universality by applying it to economics, physiological psychology, game theory, and artificial intelligence and then outlines the way in which this approach modifies the traditional views of mathematical genetics. Initially applying his concepts to simply defined artificial systems with limited numbers of parameters, Holland goes on to explore their use in the study of a wide range of complex, naturally occuring processes, concentrating on systems having multiple factors that interact in nonlinear ways. Along the way he accounts for major effects of coadaptation and coevolution: the emergence of building blocks, or schemata, that are recombined and passed on to succeeding generations to provide, innovations and improvements.

Genetic algorithms have been used in science and engineering as adaptive algorithms for solving practical problems and as computational models of natural evolutionary systems. This brief, accessible introduction describes some of the most interesting research in the field and also enables readers to implement and experiment with genetic algorithms on their own. It focuses in depth on a small set of important and interesting topics—particularly in machine learning, scientific modeling, and artificial life—and reviews a broad span of research, including the work of Mitchell and her colleagues. The descriptions of applications and modeling projects stretch beyond the strict boundaries of computer science to include dynamical systems theory, game theory, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and population genetics, underscoring the exciting "general purpose" nature of genetic algorithms as search methods that can be employed across disciplines. An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms is accessible to students and researchers in any scientific discipline. It includes many thought and computer exercises that build on and reinforce the reader's understanding of the text. The first chapter introduces genetic algorithms and their terminology and describes two provocative applications in detail. The second and third chapters look at the use of genetic algorithms in machine learning (computer programs, data analysis and prediction, neural networks) and in scientific models (interactions among learning, evolution, and culture; sexual selection; ecosystems; evolutionary activity). Several approaches to the theory of genetic algorithms are discussed in depth in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter takes up implementation, and the last chapter poses some currently unanswered questions and surveys prospects for the future of evolutionary computation.

The field of natural computing has been the focus of a substantial research effort in recent decades. One particular strand of this research concerns the development of computational algorithms using metaphorical inspiration from systems and phenomena that occur in the natural world. These naturally inspired computing algorithms have proven to be successful problem-solvers across domains as diverse as management science, bioinformatics, finance, marketing, engineering, architecture and design. This book is a comprehensive introduction to natural computing algorithms, suitable for academic and industrial researchers and for undergraduate and graduate courses on natural computing in computer science, engineering and management science.

Drawing on interviews with 15 leading scientists, the authors present an unexpected vision: the future of computing is a synthesis with nature.