Computer Aided Systems Theory (CAST) deals with the task of contributing to the creation and implementation of tools for the support of usual CAD tools for design and simulation by formal mathematical or logical means in modeling. Naturally,thebasisfortheconstructionandimplementationofCASTsoftwareis provided by the existing current knowledge in modeling and by the experience of practitioners in engineering design. Systems Theory, as seen from the viewpoint of CAST research and CAST tool development, has the role of providing formal frameworks and related theoretical knowledge for model-construction and model analysis. We purposely do not distinguish sharply between systems theory and CAST and other similar ?elds of research and tool development such as for example in applied numerical analysis or other computational sciences. TheheredocumentedEUROCASTconferencewhichtookplaceattheVienna University of Technology re?ects current mainstreams in CAST. As in the p- vious conferences new topics, both theoretical and application oriented, have been addressed. The presented papers show that the ?eld is widespread and that new - velopments in computer science and in information technology are the driving forces. Theeditorswouldliketothanktheauthorsforprovidingtheirmanuscriptsin hardcopyandinelectronicformontime.Thesta?ofSpringer-VerlagHeidelberg gave, as in previous CAST publications, valuable support in editing this volume.

The concept of CAST as Computer Aided Systems Theory, was introduced by F. Pichler in the late 1980s to include those computer theoretical and practical developments as tools to solve problems in System Science. It was considered as the third component (the other two being CAD and CAM) necessary to build the path from Computer and Systems Sciences to practical developments in Science and Engineering. The University of Linz organized the first CAST workshop in April 1988, which demonstrated the acceptance of the concepts by the scientific and technical community. Next, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria joined the University of Linz to organize the first international meeting on CAST, (Las Palmas, February 1989), under the name EUROCAST’89. This was a very successful gathering of systems theorists, computer scientists, and engineers from most European countries, North America, and Japan. It was agreed that EUROCAST international conferences would be organized every two years, alternating between Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and a continental European location. Thus, successive EUROCAST meetings have taken place in Krems (1991), Las Palmas (1993), Innsbruck (1995), Las Palmas (1997), and Vienna (1999), in addition to an extra-European CAST Conference in Ottawa in 1994.

Computer Aided Systems Theory (CAST) deals with the task of contributing to the creation and implementation of tools for the support of usual CAD tools for design and simulation by formal mathematical or logical means in modeling. Naturally,thebasisfortheconstructionandimplementationofCASTsoftwareis provided by the existing current knowledge in modeling and by the experience of practitioners in engineering design. Systems Theory, as seen from the viewpoint of CAST research and CAST tool development, has the role of providing formal frameworks and related theoretical knowledge for model-construction and model analysis. We purposely do not distinguish sharply between systems theory and CAST and other similar ?elds of research and tool development such as for example in applied numerical analysis or other computational sciences. TheheredocumentedEUROCASTconferencewhichtookplaceattheVienna University of Technology re?ects current mainstreams in CAST. As in the p- vious conferences new topics, both theoretical and application oriented, have been addressed. The presented papers show that the ?eld is widespread and that new - velopments in computer science and in information technology are the driving forces. Theeditorswouldliketothanktheauthorsforprovidingtheirmanuscriptsin hardcopyandinelectronicformontime.Thesta?ofSpringer-VerlagHeidelberg gave, as in previous CAST publications, valuable support in editing this volume.

This work executes a unique transdisciplinary methodology building on the author’s previous book, A User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization: And How to Save it (Pluto, 2010), which was the first peer-reviewed study to establish a social science framework for the integrated analysis of crises across climate, energy, food, economic, terror and the police state. Since the 2008 financial crash, the world has witnessed an unprecedented outbreak of social unrest in every major continent. Beginning with the birth of the Occupy movement and the Arab Spring, the eruption of civil disorder continues to wreak havoc unpredictably from Greece to Ukraine, from China to Thailand, from Brazil to Turkey, and beyond. Yet while policymakers and media observers have raced to keep up with events, they have largely missed the biophysical triggers of this new age of unrest – the end of the age of cheap fossil fuels, and its multiplying consequences for the Earth’s climate, industrial food production, and economic growth. This book for the first time develops an empirically-ground theoretical model of the complex interaction between biophysical processes and geopolitical crises, demonstrated through the analysis of a wide range of detailed case studies of historic, concurrent and probable state failures in the Middle East, Northwest Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. Geopolitical crises across these regions, Ahmed argues, are being driven by the proliferation of climate, food and economic crises which have at their root the common denominator of a fundamental and permanent disruption in the energy basis of industrial civilization. This inevitable energy transition, which will be completed well before the close of this century, entails a paradigm shift in the organization of civilization. Yet for this shift to result in a viable new way of life will require a fundamental epistemological shift recognizing humanity’s embeddedness in the natural world. For this to be achieved, the stranglehold of conventional models achieved through the hegemony of establishment media reporting – dominated by fossil fuel interests – must be broken. While geopolitics cannot be simplistically reduced to the biophysical, this book shows that international relations today can only be understood by recognizing the extent to which the political is embedded in the biophysical. Although the book offers a rigorous scientific analysis, it is written in a clean, journalistic style to ensure readability and accessibility to a general audience. It will contain a large number of graphical illustrations concerning oil production data, population issues, the food price index, economic growth and debt, and other related issues to demonstrate the interconnections and correlations across key sectors.

The two-volume set LNCS 12013 and 12014 constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Aided Systems Theory, EUROCAST 2019, held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, in February 2019. The 123 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 172 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: Part I: systems theory and applications; pioneers and landmarks in the development of information and communication technologies; stochastic models and applications to natural, social and technical systems; theory and applications of metaheuristic algorithms; model-based system design, verification and simulation. Part II: applications of signal processing technology; artificial intelligence and data mining for intelligent transportation systems and smart mobility; computer vision, machine learning for image analysis and applications; computer and systems based methods and electronic technologies in medicine; advances in biomedical signal and image processing; systems concepts and methods in touristic flows; systems in industrial robotics, automation and IoT.

Having a solid understanding of materials recycling is of high importance, especially due to the growing use of composites in many industries and increasingly strict legislation and concerns about the disposal of composites in landfills or by incineration. Recycling of Plastics, Metals, and Their Composites provides a comprehensive review of the recycling of waste polymers and metal composites. It provides the latest advances and covers the fundamentals of recycled polymers and metal composites, such as preparation, morphology, and physical, mechanical, thermal, and flame-retardancy properties. FEATURES Offers a state-of-the-art review of the recycling of polymer composites and metal composites for sustainability Describes a life-cycle analysis to help readers understand the true potential value and market for these recycled materials Details potential applications of recycled polymer and metal composites Includes the performance of natural fiber–reinforced recycled thermoplastic polymer composites under aging conditions and the recycling of multi-material plastics Covers recycling technologies, opportunities, and challenges for polymer-matrix composites This book targets technical professionals in the metal and polymer industries as well as researchers, scientists, and advanced students. It is also of interest to decision makers at material suppliers, recycled metal and polymer product manufacturers, and governmental agencies working with recycled metal and polymer composites.