Crossovers

Consider the problem of a robot (algorithm, learning mechanism) moving along the real line attempting to locate a particular point ? . To assist the me- anism, we assume that it can communicate with an Environment (“Oracle”) which guides it with information regarding the direction in which it should go. If the Environment is deterministic the problem is the “Deterministic Point - cation Problem” which has been studied rather thoroughly [1]. In its pioneering version [1] the problem was presented in the setting that the Environment could charge the robot a cost which was proportional to the distance it was from the point sought for. The question of having multiple communicating robots locate a point on the line has also been studied [1, 2]. In the stochastic version of this problem, we consider the scenario when the learning mechanism attempts to locate a point in an interval with stochastic (i. e. , possibly erroneous) instead of deterministic responses from the environment. Thus when it should really be moving to the “right” it may be advised to move to the “left” and vice versa. Apart from the problem being of importance in its own right, the stoch- tic pointlocationproblemalsohas potentialapplications insolvingoptimization problems. Inmanyoptimizationsolutions–forexampleinimageprocessing,p- tern recognition and neural computing [5, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19], the algorithm worksits wayfromits currentsolutionto the optimalsolutionbasedoninfor- tion that it currentlyhas. A crucialquestionis oneof determining the parameter whichtheoptimizationalgorithmshoulduse.

Molecular evolution, phylogenetics, genomics, and other related topics are all critical to understanding evolutionary processes. All too frequently, however, they are treated separately in textbooks and courses, such that students fail to connect all of the concepts, principles, and nuances of the evolutionary processes. Integrated Molecular Evolut

TheArti?cialLifetermappearedmorethan20yearsagoinasmallcornerofNew Mexico, USA. Since then the area has developed dramatically, many researchers joining enthusiastically and research groups sprouting everywhere. This frenetic activity led to the emergence of several strands that are now established ?elds in themselves. We are now reaching a stage that one may describe as maturer: with more rigour, more benchmarks, more results, more stringent acceptance criteria, more applications, in brief, more sound science. This, which is the n- ural path of all new areas, comes at a price, however. A certain enthusiasm, a certain adventurousness from the early years is fading and may have been lost on the way. The ?eld has become more reasonable. To counterbalance this and to encourage lively discussions, a conceptual track, where papers were judged on criteria like importance and/or novelty of the concepts proposed rather than the experimental/theoretical results, has been introduced this year. A conference on a theme as broad as Arti?cial Life is bound to be very - verse,but a few tendencies emerged. First, ?elds like ‘Robotics and Autonomous Agents’ or ‘Evolutionary Computation’ are still extremely active and keep on bringing a wealth of results to the A-Life community. Even there, however, new tendencies appear, like collective robotics, and more speci?cally self-assembling robotics, which represent now a large subsection. Second, new areas appear.

Genome Stability: From Virus to Human Application, Second Edition, a volume in the Translational Epigenetics series, explores how various species maintain genome stability and genome diversification in response to environmental factors. Here, across thirty-eight chapters, leading researchers provide a deep analysis of genome stability in DNA/RNA viruses, prokaryotes, single cell eukaryotes, lower multicellular eukaryotes, and mammals, examining how epigenetic factors contribute to genome stability and how these species pass memories of encounters to progeny. Topics also include major DNA repair mechanisms, the role of chromatin in genome stability, human diseases associated with genome instability, and genome stability in response to aging. This second edition has been fully revised to address evolving research trends, including CRISPRs/Cas9 genome editing; conventional versus transgenic genome instability; breeding and genetic diseases associated with abnormal DNA repair; RNA and extrachromosomal DNA; cloning, stem cells, and embryo development; programmed genome instability; and conserved and divergent features of repair. This volume is an essential resource for geneticists, epigeneticists, and molecular biologists who are looking to gain a deeper understanding of this rapidly expanding field, and can also be of great use to advanced students who are looking to gain additional expertise in genome stability. A deep analysis of genome stability research from various kingdoms, including epigenetics and transgenerational effects Provides comprehensive coverage of mechanisms utilized by different organisms to maintain genomic stability Contains applications of genome instability research and outcomes for human disease Features all-new chapters on evolving areas of genome stability research, including CRISPRs/Cas9 genome editing, RNA and extrachromosomal DNA, programmed genome instability, and conserved and divergent features of repair