International Conference on Bio-Inspired Computing: Theories and Applications (BIC-TA) is one of the flagship conferences on Bio-Computing, bringing together the world’s leading scientists from different areas of Natural Computing. Since 2006, the conferences have taken place at Wuhan (2006), Zhengzhou (2007), Adelaide (2008), Beijing (2009), Liverpool & Changsha (2010), Malaysia (2011) and India (2012). Following the successes of previous events, the 8th conference is organized and hosted by Anhui University of Science and Technology in China. This conference aims to provide a high-level international forum that researchers with different backgrounds and who are working in the related areas can use to present their latest results and exchange ideas. Additionally, the growing trend in Emergent Systems has resulted in the inclusion of two other closely related fields in the BIC-TA 2013 event, namely Complex Systems and Computational Neuroscience. These proceedings are intended for researchers in the fields of Membrane Computing, Evolutionary Computing and Genetic Algorithms, DNA and Molecular Computing, Biological Computing, Swarm Intelligence, Autonomy-Oriented Computing, Cellular and Molecular Automata, Complex Systems, etc. Professor Zhixiang Yin is the Dean of the School of Science, Anhui University of Science & Technology, China. Professor Linqiang Pan is the head of the research group of Natural Computing at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Professor Xianwen Fang also works at the Anhui University of Science & Technology.

Advances in Engineering Materials, Structures and Systems: Innovations, Mechanics and Applications comprises 411 papers that were presented at SEMC 2019, the Seventh International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation, held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 2 to 4 September 2019. The subject matter reflects the broad scope of SEMC conferences, and covers a wide variety of engineering materials (both traditional and innovative) and many types of structures. The many topics featured in these Proceedings can be classified into six broad categories that deal with: (i) the mechanics of materials and fluids (elasticity, plasticity, flow through porous media, fluid dynamics, fracture, fatigue, damage, delamination, corrosion, bond, creep, shrinkage, etc); (ii) the mechanics of structures and systems (structural dynamics, vibration, seismic response, soil-structure interaction, fluid-structure interaction, response to blast and impact, response to fire, structural stability, buckling, collapse behaviour); (iii) the numerical modelling and experimental testing of materials and structures (numerical methods, simulation techniques, multi-scale modelling, computational modelling, laboratory testing, field testing, experimental measurements); (iv) innovations and special structures (nanostructures, adaptive structures, smart structures, composite structures, bio-inspired structures, shell structures, membranes, space structures, lightweight structures, long-span structures, tall buildings, wind turbines, etc); (v) design in traditional engineering materials (steel, concrete, steel-concrete composite, aluminium, masonry, timber, glass); (vi) the process of structural engineering (conceptualisation, planning, analysis, design, optimization, construction, assembly, manufacture, testing, maintenance, monitoring, assessment, repair, strengthening, retrofitting, decommissioning). The SEMC 2019 Proceedings will be of interest to civil, structural, mechanical, marine and aerospace engineers. Researchers, developers, practitioners and academics in these disciplines will find them useful. Two versions of the papers are available. Short versions, intended to be concise but self-contained summaries of the full papers, are in this printed book. The full versions of the papers are in the e-book.

1946 is the year Bryce DeWitt entered Harvard graduate school. Quantum Gravity was his goal and remained his goal throughout his lifetime until the very end. The pursuit of Quantum Gravity requires a profound understanding of Quantum Physics and Gravitation Physics. As G. A. Vilkovisky commented , "Quantum Gravity is a combination of two words, and one should know both. Bryce understood this as nobody else, and this wisdom is completely unknown to many authors of the flux of papers that we see nowadays." Distingished physicist Cecile DeWitt-Morette skillfully blends her personal and scientific account with a wealth of her late husband's often unpublished writings on the subject matter. This volume, through the perspective of the leading researcher on quantum gravity of his generation, will provide an invaluable source of reference for anyone working in the field.

Contents:Millennium Lecture — Cairo, 15 January 2000 (M Atiyah)Trends for Science and Mathematics in the 21st Century (P A Griffiths)Arabic Mathematics and Rewriting the History of Mathematics (R Rashed)The Paradigm Shift in Mathematics Education: A Scenario for Change (W Ebeid)Einstein's Theory of Spacetime and Gravity (J Ehlers)Moduli Problems in Geometry (M S Narasimhan)Enumerative Geometry from the Greeks to Strings (C Procesi)Optical Solitons: Twenty-Seven Years of the Last Millennium and Three More Years of the New? (R K Bullough)Concepts of Non-Smooth Dynamical Systems (T Küpper)Radical Theory: Developments and Trends (R Wiegandt)On Minimal Subgroups of Finite Groups (M Asaad)Totally and Mutually Permutable Products of Finite Groups (A Ballester-Bolinches)Asymptotic Behaviour of Solutions of Evolution Equations (B Basit)On Nonlinear Evolution Equations with Applications (L Debnath)A Robust Layer-Resolving Numerical Method for a Free Convection Problem (J Étienne et al.)Growth Value-Distribution and Zero-Free Regions of Entire Functions and Sections (F F Abi-Khuzam)Three Linear Preserver Problems (A R Sourour)Prediction: Advances and New Research (E K Al-Hussaini)Inference on Parameters of the Laplace Distribution Based on Type-II Censored Samples Using Edgeworth Approximation (N Balakrishnan et al.)Mathematical Models in the Theory of Accelerated Experiments (V Bagdonavicius & M Nikulin)The Vibrations of a Drum with Fractal Boundary (J Fleckinger-Pellé)Intermediate States: Some Nonclassical Properties (M S Abdalla & A-S F Obada)On the Relativistic Two-Body Equation (S R Komy)Singularities in General Relativity and the Origin of Charge (K Buchner)The Inner Geometry of Light Cone in Godel Universe (M Abdel-Megied) Readership: Mathematicians. Keywords:Proceedings;Conference;Mathematics;Cairo (Egypt)

Based on the proceedings of the first International Conference on Matrix-Analytic Methods (MAM) in Stochastic Models, held in Flint, Michigan, this book presents a general working knowledge of MAM through tutorial articles and application papers. It furnishes information on MAM studies carried out in the former Soviet Union.