Modern applications are both data and computationally intensive and require the storage and manipulation of voluminous traditional (alphanumeric) and nontraditional data sets (images, text, geometric objects, time-series). Examples of such emerging application domains are: Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Multimedia Information Systems, CAD/CAM, Time-Series Analysis, Medical Information Sstems, On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP), and Data Mining. These applications pose diverse requirements with respect to the information and the operations that need to be supported. From the database perspective, new techniques and tools therefore need to be developed towards increased processing efficiency.

This monograph explores the way spatial database management systems aim at supporting queries that involve the space characteristics of the underlying data, and discusses query processing techniques for nearest neighbor queries. It provides both basic concepts and state-of-the-art results in spatial databases and parallel processing research, and studies numerous applications of nearest neighbor queries.

Advanced Signature Indexing for Multimedia and Web Applications presents the latest research developments in signature-based indexing and query processing, specifically in multimedia and Web domains. These domains now demand a different designation of hashing information in bit-strings (i.e., signatures), and new indexes and query processing methods. The book provides solutions to these issues and addresses the resulting requirements, which are not adequately handled by existing approaches. Examples of these applications include: searching for similar images, representing multi-theme layers in maps, recommending products to Web-clients, and indexing large Web-log files. Special emphasis is given to structure description, implementation techniques and clear evaluation of operations performed (from a performance perspective).

Advanced Signature Indexing for Multimedia and Web Applications is an excellent reference for professionals involved in the development of applications in multimedia databases or the Web and may also serve as a textbook for advanced level courses in database and information retrieval systems.

Online social networks collect information from users'' social contacts and their daily interactions (co-tagging of photos, co-rating of products etc.) to provide them with recommendations of new products or friends. Lately, technological progressions in mobile devices (i.e. smart phones) enabled the incorporation of geo-location data in the traditional web-based online social networks, bringing the new era of Social and Mobile Web. The goal of this book is to bring together important research in a new family of recommender systems aimed at serving Location-based Social Networks (LBSNs). The chapters introduce a wide variety of recent approaches, from the most basic to the state-of-the-art, for providing recommendations in LBSNs.

The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 provides introductory material on recommender systems, online social networks and LBSNs. Part 2 presents a wide variety of recommendation algorithms, ranging from basic to cutting edge, as well as a comparison of the characteristics of these recommender systems. Part 3 provides a step-by-step case study on the technical aspects of deploying and evaluating a real-world LBSN, which provides location, activity and friend recommendations. The material covered in the book is intended for graduate students, teachers, researchers, and practitioners in the areas of web data mining, information retrieval, and machine learning.

Space support in databases poses new challenges in every part of a database management system & the capability of spatial support in the physical layer is considered very important. This has led to the design of spatial access methods to enable the effective & efficient management of spatial objects.

R-trees have a simplicity of structure & together with their resemblance to the B-tree, allow developers to incorporate them easily into existing database management systems for the support of spatial query processing.

This book provides an extensive survey of the R-tree evolution, studying the applicability of the structure & its variations to efficient query processing, accurate proposed cost models, & implementation issues like concurrency control and parallelism. Written for database researchers, designers & programmers as well as graduate students, this comprehensive monograph will be a welcome addition to the field.

This three-volume set LNCS 11139-11141 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, ICANN 2018, held in Rhodes, Greece, in October 2018.

The papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from  total of 360 submissions. They are related to the following thematic topics: AI and Bioinformatics, Bayesian and Echo State Networks, Brain Inspired Computing, Chaotic Complex Models, Clustering, Mining, Exploratory Analysis, Coding Architectures, Complex Firing Patterns, Convolutional Neural Networks, Deep Learning (DL), DL in Real Time Systems, DL and Big Data Analytics, DL and Big Data, DL and Forensics, DL and Cybersecurity, DL and Social Networks, Evolving Systems – Optimization, Extreme Learning Machines, From Neurons to Neuromorphism, From Sensation to Perception, From Single Neurons to Networks, Fuzzy Modeling, Hierarchical ANN, Inference and Recognition, Information and Optimization, Interacting with The Brain, Machine Learning (ML), ML for Bio Medical systems, ML and Video-Image Processing, ML and Forensics, ML and Cybersecurity, ML and Social Media, ML in Engineering, Movement and Motion Detection, Multilayer Perceptrons and Kernel Networks, Natural Language, Object and Face Recognition, Recurrent Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing, Reinforcement Learning, Reservoir Computing, Self-Organizing Maps, Spiking Dynamics/Spiking ANN, Support Vector Machines, Swarm Intelligence and Decision-Making, Text Mining, Theoretical Neural Computation, Time Series and Forecasting, Training and Learning.

This three-volume set LNCS 11139-11141 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, ICANN 2018, held in Rhodes, Greece, in October 2018.

The 139 full and 28 short papers as well as 41 full poster papers and 41 short poster papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from  total of 360 submissions. They are related to the following thematic topics: AI and Bioinformatics, Bayesian and Echo State Networks, Brain Inspired Computing, Chaotic Complex Models, Clustering, Mining, Exploratory Analysis, Coding Architectures, Complex Firing Patterns, Convolutional Neural Networks, Deep Learning (DL), DL in Real Time Systems, DL and Big Data Analytics, DL and Big Data, DL and Forensics, DL and Cybersecurity, DL and Social Networks, Evolving Systems – Optimization, Extreme Learning Machines, From Neurons to Neuromorphism, From Sensation to Perception, From Single Neurons to Networks, Fuzzy Modeling, Hierarchical ANN, Inference and Recognition, Information and Optimization, Interacting with The Brain, Machine Learning (ML), ML for Bio Medical systems, ML and Video-Image Processing, ML and Forensics, ML and Cybersecurity, ML and Social Media, ML in Engineering, Movement and Motion Detection, Multilayer Perceptrons and Kernel Networks, Natural Language, Object and Face Recognition, Recurrent Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing, Reinforcement Learning, Reservoir Computing, Self-Organizing Maps, Spiking Dynamics/Spiking ANN, Support Vector Machines, Swarm Intelligence and Decision-Making, Text Mining, Theoretical Neural Computation, Time Series and Forecasting, Training and Learning.

This three-volume set LNCS 11139-11141 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, ICANN 2018, held in Rhodes, Greece, in October 2018.

The papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from  total of 360 submissions. They are related to the following thematic topics: AI and Bioinformatics, Bayesian and Echo State Networks, Brain Inspired Computing, Chaotic Complex Models, Clustering, Mining, Exploratory Analysis, Coding Architectures, Complex Firing Patterns, Convolutional Neural Networks, Deep Learning (DL), DL in Real Time Systems, DL and Big Data Analytics, DL and Big Data, DL and Forensics, DL and Cybersecurity, DL and Social Networks, Evolving Systems – Optimization, Extreme Learning Machines, From Neurons to Neuromorphism, From Sensation to Perception, From Single Neurons to Networks, Fuzzy Modeling, Hierarchical ANN, Inference and Recognition, Information and Optimization, Interacting with The Brain, Machine Learning (ML), ML for Bio Medical systems, ML and Video-Image Processing, ML and Forensics, ML and Cybersecurity, ML and Social Media, ML in Engineering, Movement and Motion Detection, Multilayer Perceptrons and Kernel Networks, Natural Language, Object and Face Recognition, Recurrent Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing, Reinforcement Learning, Reservoir Computing, Self-Organizing Maps, Spiking Dynamics/Spiking ANN, Support Vector Machines, Swarm Intelligence and Decision-Making, Text Mining, Theoretical Neural Computation, Time Series and Forecasting, Training and Learning.

The 9 revised full papers presented together with three invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 54 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: FAIR data infrastructures, interoperability and reuse; knowledge representation; data models; data analysis in astronomy; text search and processing; distributed computing; information extraction from text.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 46th International Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Informatics, SOFSEM 2020, held in Limassol, Cyprus, in January 2020.  The 40 full papers presented together with 17 short papers and 3 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 125 submissions. They presented new research results in the theory and practice of computer science in the each sub-area of SOFSEM 2020: foundations of computer science, foundations of data science and engineering, foundations of software engineering, and foundations of algorithmic computational biology.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Discovery Science, DS 2020, which took place during October 19-21, 2020. The conference was planned to take place in Thessaloniki, Greece, but had to change to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 26 full and 19 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 76 submissions. The contributions were organized in topical sections named: classification; clustering; data and knowledge representation; data streams; distributed processing; ensembles; explainable and interpretable machine learning; graph and network mining; multi-target models; neural networks and deep learning; and spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal data.

Modern applications are both data and computationally intensive and require the storage and manipulation of voluminous traditional (alphanumeric) and nontraditional data sets (images, text, geometric objects, time-series). Examples of such emerging application domains are: Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Multimedia Information Systems, CAD/CAM, Time-Series Analysis, Medical Information Sstems, On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP), and Data Mining. These applications pose diverse requirements with respect to the information and the operations that need to be supported. From the database perspective, new techniques and tools therefore need to be developed towards increased processing efficiency.

This monograph explores the way spatial database management systems aim at supporting queries that involve the space characteristics of the underlying data, and discusses query processing techniques for nearest neighbor queries. It provides both basic concepts and state-of-the-art results in spatial databases and parallel processing research, and studies numerous applications of nearest neighbor queries.

Advanced Signature Indexing for Multimedia and Web Applications presents the latest research developments in signature-based indexing and query processing, specifically in multimedia and Web domains. These domains now demand a different designation of hashing information in bit-strings (i.e., signatures), and new indexes and query processing methods. The book provides solutions to these issues and addresses the resulting requirements, which are not adequately handled by existing approaches. Examples of these applications include: searching for similar images, representing multi-theme layers in maps, recommending products to Web-clients, and indexing large Web-log files. Special emphasis is given to structure description, implementation techniques and clear evaluation of operations performed (from a performance perspective).

Advanced Signature Indexing for Multimedia and Web Applications is an excellent reference for professionals involved in the development of applications in multimedia databases or the Web and may also serve as a textbook for advanced level courses in database and information retrieval systems.

Online social networks collect information from users'' social contacts and their daily interactions (co-tagging of photos, co-rating of products etc.) to provide them with recommendations of new products or friends. Lately, technological progressions in mobile devices (i.e. smart phones) enabled the incorporation of geo-location data in the traditional web-based online social networks, bringing the new era of Social and Mobile Web. The goal of this book is to bring together important research in a new family of recommender systems aimed at serving Location-based Social Networks (LBSNs). The chapters introduce a wide variety of recent approaches, from the most basic to the state-of-the-art, for providing recommendations in LBSNs.

The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 provides introductory material on recommender systems, online social networks and LBSNs. Part 2 presents a wide variety of recommendation algorithms, ranging from basic to cutting edge, as well as a comparison of the characteristics of these recommender systems. Part 3 provides a step-by-step case study on the technical aspects of deploying and evaluating a real-world LBSN, which provides location, activity and friend recommendations. The material covered in the book is intended for graduate students, teachers, researchers, and practitioners in the areas of web data mining, information retrieval, and machine learning.

Space support in databases poses new challenges in every part of a database management system & the capability of spatial support in the physical layer is considered very important. This has led to the design of spatial access methods to enable the effective & efficient management of spatial objects.

R-trees have a simplicity of structure & together with their resemblance to the B-tree, allow developers to incorporate them easily into existing database management systems for the support of spatial query processing.

This book provides an extensive survey of the R-tree evolution, studying the applicability of the structure & its variations to efficient query processing, accurate proposed cost models, & implementation issues like concurrency control and parallelism. Written for database researchers, designers & programmers as well as graduate students, this comprehensive monograph will be a welcome addition to the field.

This three-volume set LNCS 11139-11141 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, ICANN 2018, held in Rhodes, Greece, in October 2018.

The papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from  total of 360 submissions. They are related to the following thematic topics: AI and Bioinformatics, Bayesian and Echo State Networks, Brain Inspired Computing, Chaotic Complex Models, Clustering, Mining, Exploratory Analysis, Coding Architectures, Complex Firing Patterns, Convolutional Neural Networks, Deep Learning (DL), DL in Real Time Systems, DL and Big Data Analytics, DL and Big Data, DL and Forensics, DL and Cybersecurity, DL and Social Networks, Evolving Systems – Optimization, Extreme Learning Machines, From Neurons to Neuromorphism, From Sensation to Perception, From Single Neurons to Networks, Fuzzy Modeling, Hierarchical ANN, Inference and Recognition, Information and Optimization, Interacting with The Brain, Machine Learning (ML), ML for Bio Medical systems, ML and Video-Image Processing, ML and Forensics, ML and Cybersecurity, ML and Social Media, ML in Engineering, Movement and Motion Detection, Multilayer Perceptrons and Kernel Networks, Natural Language, Object and Face Recognition, Recurrent Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing, Reinforcement Learning, Reservoir Computing, Self-Organizing Maps, Spiking Dynamics/Spiking ANN, Support Vector Machines, Swarm Intelligence and Decision-Making, Text Mining, Theoretical Neural Computation, Time Series and Forecasting, Training and Learning.

This three-volume set LNCS 11139-11141 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, ICANN 2018, held in Rhodes, Greece, in October 2018.

The 139 full and 28 short papers as well as 41 full poster papers and 41 short poster papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from  total of 360 submissions. They are related to the following thematic topics: AI and Bioinformatics, Bayesian and Echo State Networks, Brain Inspired Computing, Chaotic Complex Models, Clustering, Mining, Exploratory Analysis, Coding Architectures, Complex Firing Patterns, Convolutional Neural Networks, Deep Learning (DL), DL in Real Time Systems, DL and Big Data Analytics, DL and Big Data, DL and Forensics, DL and Cybersecurity, DL and Social Networks, Evolving Systems – Optimization, Extreme Learning Machines, From Neurons to Neuromorphism, From Sensation to Perception, From Single Neurons to Networks, Fuzzy Modeling, Hierarchical ANN, Inference and Recognition, Information and Optimization, Interacting with The Brain, Machine Learning (ML), ML for Bio Medical systems, ML and Video-Image Processing, ML and Forensics, ML and Cybersecurity, ML and Social Media, ML in Engineering, Movement and Motion Detection, Multilayer Perceptrons and Kernel Networks, Natural Language, Object and Face Recognition, Recurrent Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing, Reinforcement Learning, Reservoir Computing, Self-Organizing Maps, Spiking Dynamics/Spiking ANN, Support Vector Machines, Swarm Intelligence and Decision-Making, Text Mining, Theoretical Neural Computation, Time Series and Forecasting, Training and Learning.

This three-volume set LNCS 11139-11141 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, ICANN 2018, held in Rhodes, Greece, in October 2018.

The papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from  total of 360 submissions. They are related to the following thematic topics: AI and Bioinformatics, Bayesian and Echo State Networks, Brain Inspired Computing, Chaotic Complex Models, Clustering, Mining, Exploratory Analysis, Coding Architectures, Complex Firing Patterns, Convolutional Neural Networks, Deep Learning (DL), DL in Real Time Systems, DL and Big Data Analytics, DL and Big Data, DL and Forensics, DL and Cybersecurity, DL and Social Networks, Evolving Systems – Optimization, Extreme Learning Machines, From Neurons to Neuromorphism, From Sensation to Perception, From Single Neurons to Networks, Fuzzy Modeling, Hierarchical ANN, Inference and Recognition, Information and Optimization, Interacting with The Brain, Machine Learning (ML), ML for Bio Medical systems, ML and Video-Image Processing, ML and Forensics, ML and Cybersecurity, ML and Social Media, ML in Engineering, Movement and Motion Detection, Multilayer Perceptrons and Kernel Networks, Natural Language, Object and Face Recognition, Recurrent Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing, Reinforcement Learning, Reservoir Computing, Self-Organizing Maps, Spiking Dynamics/Spiking ANN, Support Vector Machines, Swarm Intelligence and Decision-Making, Text Mining, Theoretical Neural Computation, Time Series and Forecasting, Training and Learning.

The 9 revised full papers presented together with three invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 54 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: FAIR data infrastructures, interoperability and reuse; knowledge representation; data models; data analysis in astronomy; text search and processing; distributed computing; information extraction from text.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 46th International Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Informatics, SOFSEM 2020, held in Limassol, Cyprus, in January 2020.  The 40 full papers presented together with 17 short papers and 3 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 125 submissions. They presented new research results in the theory and practice of computer science in the each sub-area of SOFSEM 2020: foundations of computer science, foundations of data science and engineering, foundations of software engineering, and foundations of algorithmic computational biology.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Discovery Science, DS 2020, which took place during October 19-21, 2020. The conference was planned to take place in Thessaloniki, Greece, but had to change to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 26 full and 19 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 76 submissions. The contributions were organized in topical sections named: classification; clustering; data and knowledge representation; data streams; distributed processing; ensembles; explainable and interpretable machine learning; graph and network mining; multi-target models; neural networks and deep learning; and spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal data.