The work offers an integrated view on how knowledge is developed in localised systems of specialised firms (industrial districts IDs), through informal social networks (communities of practice CoPs), and firms networks, in an osmotic process between the internal to the district knowledge and the external to the district knowledge. Contrary to the Marshallian consolidated tradition, we describe ...

Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a popular nature-inspired meta-heuristic for solving continuous optimization problems. Although this technique is widely used, the understanding of the mechanisms that make swarms so successful is still limited. We present the first substantial experimental investigation of the influence of the local attractor on the quality of exploration and exploitation. ...

In practice, obtaining the global optimum for the economic dispatch {bf (ED)}problem with ramp rate limits and prohibited operating zones is presents difficulties. This paper presents a new andefficient method for solving the economic dispatch problem with non-smooth cost functions using aFuzzy Adaptive Genetic Algorithm (FAGA). The proposed algorithm  deals  with the issue ofcontrolling the ex...

Optimization of turning process is a non-linear optimization with constrains and it is difficult for the conventional optimization algorithms to solve this problem. The purpose of present study is to demonstrate the potential of Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) for optimization of multipass turning process. This algorithm is inspired by competition mechanism among imperialists and coloni...

This paper presents a novel technique to perform dynamic high-level exploration of a behavioral specification that is being partitioned for a multi-device architecture. The technique, unlike in traditional HLS, performs a global search on the four-dimensional design space formed by multiple partition segments of the behavior. Hence, the proposed technique effectively satisfies the global latenc...

How do animals in groups organize their work? Division of labour, i.e. the process by which individuals within a group choose which tasks to perform, has been extensively studied in social insects. Variability among individuals within a colony seems to underpin both the decision over which tasks to perform and the amount of effort to invest in a task. Studies have focused mainly on discrete tas...

We consider a team of k identical, oblivious, and semi-synchronous mobile robots that are able to sense (i.e., view) their environment, yet are unable to communicate, and evolve on a constrained path. Previous results in this weak scenario show that initial symmetry yields high lower bounds when problems are to be solved by deterministic robots. In this paper, we initiate research on probabilis...

Let D be a connected region inside a simple polygon, P . We define the angle hull of D, AH(D), to be the set of all points in P that can see two points of D at a right angle. We show that the perimeter of AH(D) cannot exceed in length the perimeter of D by more than a factor of 2. This upper bound is tight. Our result can be generalized to angles different from 90◦, and to settings where region...

Embedded systems are more and more implemented as multi-processor systems. The growing number of applications running in parallel as well as the increasing complexity of the applications result in an increasing number of processors within those systems. Thus, the design space of such systems grows non-linearly. Design space exploration therefore tries to answer the following questions: “How man...

We present an interactive visualization for the exploration of global hurricane tracks data, collected during 1851 to 2009. Linked perspectives with smooth interaction are provided, which enable powerful data selection and inspection.