This book contains a selection of the best papers given at an international conference on advanced computer systems. The Advanced Computer Systems Conference was held in October 2006, in Miedzyzdroje, Poland. The book is organized into four topical areas: Artificial Intelligence; Computer Security and Safety; Image Analysis, Graphics and Biometrics; and Computer Simulation and Data Analysis.

"Info-metrics is a framework for rational inference on the basis of limited, or insufficient, information. It is the science of modeling, reasoning, and drawing inferences under conditions of noisy and insufficient information. Info-metrics has its roots in information theory (Shannon, 1948), Bernoulli's and Laplace's principle of insufficient reason (Bernoulli, 1713) and its offspring the principle of maximum entropy (Jaynes, 1957). It is an interdisciplinary framework situated at the intersection of information theory, statistical inference, and decision-making under uncertainty. Within a constrained optimization setup, info-metrics provides a simple way for modeling and understanding all types of systems and problems. It is a framework for processing the available information with minimal reliance on assumptions and information that cannot be validated. Quite often a model cannot be validated with finite data. Examples include biological, social and behavioral models, as well as models of cognition and knowledge. The info-metrics framework extends naturally for tackling these types of common problems"--

Information Processing is a key area of research and development and the symposium presented state-of-the-art reports on some of the areas which are of relevance in automatic control: fault diagnosis and system reliability. Papers also covered the role of expert systems and other knowledge based systems, which are needed, to cope with the vast quantities of data generated by large scale systems. This volume should be considered essential reading for anyone involved in this rapidly developing area.

During the last few years, computers have evolved from pure number crunching machines to "intelligent" problem solving tools. Increasing effort has been spent on the investigation of new approaches and the application of solutions to real world problems. In this way, exciting new techniques have evolved providing support for an increasing number of technical and economical aspects. Applications range from the design and development of ultra highly integrated circuits to totally new man-machine interfaces, from software engineering tools to fault diagnosis systems, from decision support to even the analysis of unemployment. Following a first joint workshop on Advanced Information Processing held in July 1988 at the Institute for Problems of Informatics of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IPIAN) at Moscow, this was the second time that scientists and researchers from the USSR Academy of Sciences and Siemens AG, Corporate Research and Development, exchanged results and discussed recent advances in the field of applied computer sciences. Initiated by Prof. Dr. I. Mizin, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and Director of IPIAN, and Prof. Dr. H. Schwartzel, Vice President of the Siemens AG and Head of the Applied Computer Science & Software Department, a joint symposium was arranged at the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow on June 5th and 6th 1990. The meetings on Information Processing and Software and Systems Design Automation provided a basis both for presentations of ongoing research and for discussions about specific problems.

The annual conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) is the flagship conference on neural computation. These proceedings contain all of the papers that were presented.

Information processing and information flow occur in the course of an organism's development and throughout its lifespan. Organisms do not exist in isolation, but interact with each other constantly within a complex ecosystem. The relationships between organisms, such as those between prey or predator, host and parasite, and between mating partners, are complex and multidimensional. In all cases, there is constant communication and information flow at many levels.This book focuses on information processing by life forms and the use of information technology in understanding them. Readers are first given a comprehensive overview of biocomputing before navigating the complex terrain of natural processing of biological information using physiological and analogous computing models. The remainder of the book deals with “artificial” processing of biological information as a human endeavor in order to derive new knowledge and gain insight into life forms and their functioning. Specific innovative applications and tools for biological discovery are provided as the link and complement to biocomputing.Since “artificial” processing of biological information is complementary to natural processing, a better understanding of the former helps us improve the latter. Consequently, readers are exposed to both domains and, when dealing with biological problems of their interest, will be better equipped to grasp relevant ideas.