Artificial immune systems (AIS) constitute a relatively new area of bio-inspired computing. Biological models of the natural immune system, in particular the theories of clonal selection, immune networks and negative selection, have provided the inspiration for AIS algorithms. Moreover, such algorithms have been successfully employed in a wide variety of different application areas. However, de...

Developmental biology requires three principles of organization characteristic of living organisms: multicellular architecture, cellular division, and cellular differentiation. Implemented in silicon according to these principles, new computing machines become able to grow, to self-replicate, and to self-repair. The introduction of a new algorithm for cellular division, the so-called Tom Thumb ...

We present preliminary results of an ongoing survey to probe the physical nature of a sample of open clusters ( POCRs, Bica et al. 2001) believed to be in an advanced stage of dynamical evolution. This kind of object is very important to constrain dynamical N -body models of clusters evolution and dissolution, and to understand the formation of the Galactic field stars population. Moreover they...