This volume contains survey and research articles by some of the leading researchers in mathematical systems theory - a vibrant research area in its own right. Many authors have taken special care that their articles are self-contained and accessible also to non-specialists.

Presents an overview of the complex biological systems used within a global public health setting and features a focus on malaria analysis Bridging the gap between agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) and geographic information systems (GIS), Spatial Agent-Based Simulation Modeling in Public Health: Design, Implementation, and Applications for Malaria Epidemiology provides a useful introduction to the development of agent-based models (ABMs) by following a conceptual and biological core model of Anopheles gambiae for malaria epidemiology. Using spatial ABMs, the book includes mosquito (vector) control interventions and GIS as two example applications of ABMs, as well as a brief description of epidemiology modeling. In addition, the authors discuss how to most effectively integrate spatial ABMs with a GIS. The book concludes with a combination of knowledge from entomological, epidemiological, simulation-based, and geo-spatial domains in order to identify and analyze relationships between various transmission variables of the disease. Spatial Agent-Based Simulation Modeling in Public Health: Design, Implementation, and Applications for Malaria Epidemiology also features: Location-specific mosquito abundance maps that play an important role in malaria control activities by guiding future resource allocation for malaria control and identifying hotspots for further investigation Discussions on the best modeling practices in an effort to achieve improved efficacy, cost-effectiveness, ecological soundness, and sustainability of vector control for malaria An overview of the various ABMs, GIS, and spatial statistical methods used in entomological and epidemiological studies, as well as the model malaria study A companion website with computer source code and flowcharts of the spatial ABM and a landscape generator tool that can simulate landscapes with varying spatial heterogeneity of different types of resources including aquatic habitats and houses Spatial Agent-Based Simulation Modeling in Public Health: Design, Implementation, and Applications for Malaria Epidemiology is an excellent reference for professionals such as modeling and simulation experts, GIS experts, spatial analysts, mathematicians, statisticians, epidemiologists, health policy makers, as well as researchers and scientists who use, manage, or analyze infectious disease data and/or infectious disease-related projects. The book is also ideal for graduate-level courses in modeling and simulation, bioinformatics, biostatistics, public health and policy, and epidemiology.

For more than three decades, Anders Lindquist has delivered fundamental cont- butions to the ?elds of systems, signals and control. Throughout this period, four themes can perhaps characterize his interests: Modeling, estimation and ?ltering, feedback and robust control. His contributions to modeling include seminal work on the role of splitting subspaces in stochastic realization theory, on the partial realization problem for both deterministic and stochastic systems, on the solution of the rational covariance extension problem and on system identi?cation. His contributions to ?ltering and estimation include the development of fast ?ltering algorithms, leading to a nonlinear dynamical system which computes spectral factors in its steady state, and which provide an alternate, linear in the dimension of the state space, to computing the Kalman gain from a matrix Riccati equation. His further research on the phase portrait of this dynamical system gave a better understanding of when the Kalman ?lter will converge, answering an open question raised by Kalman. While still a student he established the separation principle for stochastic function differential equations, including some fundamental work on optimal control for stochastic systems with time lags. He continued his interest in feedback control by deriving optimal and robust control feedback laws for suppressing the effects of harmonic disturbances. Moreover, his recent work on a complete parameterization of all rational solutions to the Nevanlinna-Pick problem is providing a new approach to robust control design.

This book is devoted to conservative realizations of various classes of Stieltjes, inverse Stieltjes, and general Herglotz-Nevanlinna functions as impedance functions of linear systems. The main feature of the monograph is a new approach to the realization theory profoundly involving developed extension theory in triplets of rigged Hilbert spaces and unbounded operators as state-space operators of linear systems. The connections of the realization theory to systems with accretive, sectorial, and contractive state-space operators as well as to the Phillips-Kato sectorial extension problem, the Krein-von Neumann and Friedrichs extremal extensions are provided. Among other results the book contains applications to the inverse problems for linear systems with non-self-adjoint Schrödinger operators, Jacobi matrices, and to the Nevanlinna-Pick system interpolation.

The IMA Hot Topics workshop on compatible spatialdiscretizations was held in 2004. This volume contains original contributions based on the material presented there. A unique feature is the inclusion of work that is representative of the recent developments in compatible discretizations across a wide spectrum of disciplines in computational science. Abstracts and presentation slides from the workshop can be accessed on the internet.

This book presents papers from the 11th Sustainable Education and Development Research Conference on the theme: "Build Resilient Infrastructure, Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization, and Foster Innovation." Papers related to the sub-themes were presented: i. Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all. ii. Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry's share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in the least developed countries. iii. Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets. iv. By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities. v. Enhance scientific research and upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing productivity. SEDRC gathers papers that explain how key education on the Sustainable Development Goals is transforming lives, eradicating poverty, professing solutions to the infrastructural deficit in Africa, and providing innovative ways to provide affordable housing in Africa. This book will be of interest to academics, postgraduate students, and industry professionals.

In the ideal world, major decisions would be made based on complete and reliable information available to the decision maker. We live in a world of uncertainties, and decisions must be made from information which may be incomplete and may contain uncertainty. The key mathematical question addressed in this volume is "how to make decision in the presence of quantifiable uncertainty." The volume contains articles on model problems of decision making process in the energy and power industry when the available information is noisy and/or incomplete. The major tools used in studying these problems are mathematical modeling and optimization techniques; especially stochastic optimization. These articles are meant to provide an insight into this rapidly developing field, which lies in the intersection of applied statistics, probability, operations research, and economic theory. It is hoped that the present volume will provide entry to newcomers into the field, and stimulation for further research.