This book aims to provide a new vision of how algorithms are the core of decision support systems (DSSs), which are increasingly important information systems that help to make decisions related to unstructured and semi-unstructured decision problems that do not have a simple solution from a human point of view. It begins with a discussion of how DSSs will be vital to improving the health of th…
Due to the increasing demand for security and reliability in manufacturing and mechatronic systems, early detection and diagnosis of faults are key points to reduce economic losses caused by unscheduled maintenance and downtimes, to increase safety, to prevent the endangerment of human beings involved in the process operations and to improve reliability and availability of autonomous systems. T…
The air pollution problem inevitably accompanies our human activities. Severe air pollution situations have been reported, especially in emerging countries, and satisfying the air quality standards fully remains an underlying issue. Today, modeling research is one of the more valuable approaches to understanding the behavior of air pollutants, and is useful for regulation-, policy- and decision…
This study is the first to analyse the manifold interrelations between armed conflicts and the human and natural environments both historically and sociologically. While most research to date has dealt with this topic primarily with regard to environmental destruction caused by acts of war or armament in peacetime, this publication goes one step further by highlighting the historical changes to…
The purpose of this Special Issue is to create an an academic platform whereby high-quality research papers are published on the applications of innovative AI algorithms to transportation planning and operation. The authors present their original research articles related to the applications of AI or machine-learning techniques to transportation planning and operation. The topics of the article…
This cumulative habilitation thesis, proposes concepts for (i) modelling and analysing dependability based on architectural models of software-intensive systems early in development, (ii) decomposition and composition of modelling languages and analysis techniques to enable more flexibility in evolution, and (iii) bridging the divergent levels of abstraction between data of the operation phase,…
Business processes and information systems evolve constantly and affect each other in non-trivial ways. Aligning security requirements between both is a challenging task. This work presents an automated approach to extract access control requirements from business processes with the purpose of transforming them into a) access permissions for role-based access control and b) architectural data f…
CAD/CAM/CAE technologies find more and more applications in today's industries, e.g., in the automotive, aerospace, and naval sectors. These technologies increase the productivity of engineers and researchers to a great extent, while at the same time allowing their research activities to achieve higher levels of performance. A number of difficult-to-perform design and manufacturing processes ca…
This volume presents a comprehensive overview of biocultural rights, examining how we can promote the role of indigenous peoples and local communities as environmental stewards and how we can ensure that their ways of life are protected. With Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) or Community Protocols (CPs) being increasingly seen as a powerful way of tackling this immense challenge, this …
This contribution book is a collection of reviews and original articles from eminent experts working in the multi- and interdisciplinary arena of biomaterials, ranging from their design to novel uses. From their personal experience, the readers can obtain a stimulating foresight on the potentialities of different synthetic and engineered biomaterials. 21 chapters have been organized to illustra…