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Abstract: In this paper, we propose a new method for reversible data hiding by employing the hierarchical relationships of original images. There are many parameters for accessing the performances of reversible data hiding algorithms, including the output image quality, the hiding capacity, and the overhead for decoding. Considering the ease of implementation and the little overhead needed for decoding, we employ modification of difference values between pixels by using histogram-based scheme with extensions to pyramidal structure by utilizing inherent characteristics of original images. By doing so, global and local characteristics of original images can be utilized for hiding more capacity with acceptable quality of output image. With our method, better performances can be obtained with enhanced image quality, the more embedding capacity, and comparable amount of side information for decoding. More importantly, the reversibility of our method is guaranteed, meaning that original image and hidden message can both be perfectly recovered at the decoder. Simulation results demonstrate that proposed method in this paper outperforms those in conventional algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The conventional filtered-x least mean square (FxLMS) algorithm commonly employed for active noise control (ANC) is sensitive to disturbances acquired by the error microphone and yields poor performance in such scenario. To circumvent this problem, in this paper, a Wilcoxon FxLMS (WFxLMS) algorithm is proposed and used in the design of an efficient ANC which is robust to outliers in the secondary path and immune to burst noise acquired by the error microphone. It is demonstrated through simulation study that under such situation the proposed algorithm outperforms the traditional FxLMS algorithm. A particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm based robust ANC system, which does not require the modeling of the secondary path is also derived in the paper. Improved performance of the robust evolutionary ANC system over L2 norm based evolutionary ANC system is also shown. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper studies a multi-goal Q-learning algorithm of cooperative teams. Member of the cooperative teams is simulated by an agent. In the virtual cooperative team, agents adapt its knowledge according to cooperative principles. The multi-goal Q-learning algorithm is approached to the multiple learning goals. In the virtual team, agents learn what knowledge to adopt and how much to learn (choosing learning radius). The learning radius is interpreted in Section . Five basic experiments are manipulated proving the validity of the multi-goal Q-learning algorithm. It is found that the learning algorithm causes agents to converge to optimal actions, based on agents’ continually updated cognitive maps of how actions influence learning goals. It is also proved that the learning algorithm is beneficial to the multiple goals. Furthermore, the paper analyzes how sensitive the learning performance is affected by the parameter values of the learning algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A belief rule base inference methodology using the evidential reasoning (RIMER) approach has been developed recently. A belief rule base (BRB), which can be treated as a more generalized expert system, extends traditional IF-THEN rules, but requires the assignment of some system parameters including rule weights, attribute weights, and belief degrees. These parameters need to be determined with care for reliable system simulation and prediction. Some off-line optimization models have been proposed, but it is expensive to train and re-train these models in particular for large-scale systems. Moreover, the recursive algorithms are also proposed to fine tune a BRB online, which require less calculation time and satisfy the real-time requirement. However, the earlier mentioned learning algorithms are all based on a predetermined structure of the BRB. For a complex system, prior knowledge may not be perfect, which leads to the construction of an incomplete or even inappropriate initial BRB structure. Also, too many rules in an initial BRB may lead to over fitting, whilst too few rules may result in under fitting. Consequently, such a BRB system may not be capable of achieving overall optimal performance. In this paper, we consider one realistic and important case where both a preliminary BRB structure and system parameters assigned to given rules can be adjusted online. Based on the definition of a new statistical utility for a belief rule as investigated in this paper, a sequential learning algorithm for online constructing more compact BRB systems is proposed. Compared with the other learning algorithms, a belief rule can be automatically added into the BRB or pruned from the BRB, and our algorithm can also satisfy the real-time requirement. In addition, our algorithm inherits the feature of RIMER, i.e., only partial input and output information is required, which could be either incomplete or vague, either numerical or judgmental, or mixed. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, a practical case study about oil pipeline leak detection is studied and examined to demonstrate how the algorithm can be implemented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Service robots will play an increasing and more important role in the society in the next years. One of the main challenges is to endow robots with enough autonomy to operate on real environments. To reach that goal, the design of controllers to solve simple tasks must be automatized. Engineers look for learning algorithms that are general, robust, require low expertise knowledge, and generate controllers that can run on the real robot without any tuning stage. In this paper, a framework to learn behaviors (controllers) in mobile robotics, fulfilling the previous requirements, has been used. The framework is based on two modules: dataset generation and a data-driven evolutionary-based learning algorithm to obtain fuzzy controllers. Nevertheless, the design of a fuzzy controller still requires the selection of the type of learning algorithm, and also to choose the value of some design parameters. In this paper we present an exhaustive study on a set of evolutionary-based data-driven learning algorithms, for learning fuzzy controllers in mobile robotics, that cover a wide range of the accuracy/interpretability trade-off. The study has also evaluated the influence of the values of all the design parameters over accuracy and interpretability. The objective is to analyze the performance of the different algorithms for the design of behaviors in mobile robotics, and to extract some general rules that can help in the process to design new behaviors. The analysis comprises two different behaviors (wall-following and moving object following) and more than 450 tests, both in simulation and on a Pioneer II AT robot. Results have shown very good performances in complex and realistic conditions for the different combinations of algorithms and parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates how intelligent an agent may utilize a Q-learning approach, a simulation-based stochastic technique, to make optimal dynamic packaging decision in e-retailing setting. When the practical application of dynamic packaging involves a large number of products, normal Q-learning approach would encounter two major problems due to excessively large state space. First, learning the Q-values in tabular form may be infeasible because of the excessive amount of memory needed to store the table. Second, rewards in the state space may be so sparse that with random exploration they will only be discovered extremely slowly. This paper first describes the state-dependent and event-driven nature of the dynamic packaging problem with a Markov decision process model, then proposes a states generalization approach based on distortion measure, and finally puts forward a heuristic based exploration/exploitation policy which is used to improve the convergence in Q-learning. We validate our approach in a simulated test. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we propose an efficient simulation-based two-stage scheduling methodology by integrating vector ordinal optimization (VOO) and response surface methodology (RSM) to make a good scheduling policy for fab operation. The suggested method combines local and global rules into a single rule, with the objective of simultaneously optimizing multiple performance indices. Our approach consists of 2 stages: rule combination selection, and parameter optimization. In the first stage, we apply the VOO techniques to effectively selecting good rule combination. Results show that 1 orders of computation time reduction over traditional simulations can be achieved. In the second stage, we adopt RSM and desirability function to tune the parameters associated to scheduling algorithm. The proposed approach is validated by means of a comparison with other scheduling policies. The results show that the proposed scheduling method is effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Personalized web-based learning has become an important learning form in the 21st century. To recommend appropriate online materials for a certain learner, several characteristics of the learner, such as his/her learning style, learning modality, cognitive style and competency, need to be considered. An earlier research result showed that a fuzzy knowledge extraction model can be established to extract personalized recommendation knowledge by discovering effective learning paths from past learning experiences through an ant colony optimization model. Though that results revealed the theoretical potential of the proposed method in discovering effective learning paths for learners, critical limitations arose when considering its applications in real world situations, such as the requirement of a large amount of learners and a long period of training cycles in order to discover good learning paths for learners. These practical issues motivate this research. In this paper, the aim is to resolve the aforementioned issues by devising more efficient algorithms that basically run on the same ant colony model yet requiring only a reasonable number of learners and training cycles to find satisfactory good results. The key approaches to resolving the practical issues include revising the global update policy, an adaptive search policy and a segmented-goal training strategy. Based on simulation results, it is shown that these new ingredients added to the original knowledge extraction algorithm result in more efficient ones that can be applied in practical situations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, comparative performance analysis of various binary coded PSO algorithms on optimal PI and PID controller design for multiple inputs multiple outputs (MIMO) process is stated. Four algorithms such as modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO), discrete binary PSO (DBPSO), modified discrete binary PSO (MBPSO) and probability based binary PSO (PBPSO) are independently realized using MATLAB. The MIMO process of binary distillation column plant, described by Wood and Berry, with and without a decoupler having two inputs and two outputs is considered. Simulations are carried out to minimize two objective functions, that is, time integral of absolute error (ITAE) and integral of absolute error (IAE) with single stopping criterion for each algorithm called maximum number of fitness evaluations. The simulation experiments are repeated 20 times with each algorithm in each case. The performance measures for comparison of various algorithms such as mean fitness, variance of fitness, and best fitness are computed. The transient performance indicators and computation time are also recorded. The inferences are made based on analysis of statistical data obtained from 20 trials of each algorithm and after having comparison with some recently reported results about same MIMO controller design employing real coded genetic algorithm (RGA) with SBX and multi-crossover approaches, covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMAES), differential evolution (DE), modified continuous PSO (MPSO) and biggest log modulus tuning (BLT). On the basis of simulation results PBPSO is identified as a comparatively better method in terms of its simplicity, consistency, search and computational efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes a new multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) by extending the existing cat swarm optimization (CSO). It finds the nondominated solutions along the search process using the concept of Pareto dominance and uses an external archive for storing them. The performance of our proposed approach is demonstrated using standard test functions. A quantitative assessment of the proposed approach and the sensitivity test of different parameters is carried out using several performance metrics. The simulation results reveal that the proposed approach can be a better candidate for solving multiobjective problems (MOPs). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Clouds are rapidly becoming an important platform for scientific applications. In the Cloud environment with uncountable numeric nodes, resource is inevitably unreliable, which has a great effect on task execution and scheduling. In this paper, inspired by Bayesian cognitive model and referring to the trust relationship models of sociology, we first propose a novel Bayesian method based cognitive trust model, and then we proposed a trust dynamic level scheduling algorithm named Cloud-DLS by integrating the existing DLS algorithm. Moreover, a benchmark is structured to span a range of Cloud computing characteristics for evaluation of the proposed method. Theoretical analysis and simulations prove that the Cloud-DLS algorithm can efficiently meet the requirement of Cloud computing workloads in trust, sacrificing fewer time costs, and assuring the execution of tasks in a security way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Parameter estimation of chaotic systems is an important issue in the fields of computational mathematics and nonlinear science, which has gained increasing research and applications. In this paper, biogeography-based optimization (BBO), a new effective optimization algorithm based on the biogeography theory of the geographical distribution of biological organisms, is reasonably combined with differential evolution and simplex search to develop an effective hybrid algorithm for solving parameter estimation problem that is formulated as a multi-dimensional optimization problem. By suitably fusing several optimization methods with different searching mechanisms and features, the exploration and exploitation abilities of the hybrid algorithm can be enhanced and well balanced. Numerical simulation based on several typical chaotic systems and comparisons with some existing methods demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. In addition, the effects of population size and noise on the performances of the hybrid algorithm are investigated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a new multi-objective optimization algorithm in which multi-swarm cooperative strategy is incorporated into particle swarm optimization algorithm, called multi-swarm cooperative multi-objective particle swarm optimizer (MC-MOPSO). This algorithm consists of multiple slave swarms and one master swarm. Each slave swarm is designed to optimize one objective function of the multi-objective problem in order to find out all the non-dominated optima of this objective function. In order to produce a well distributed Pareto front, the master swarm is developed to cover gaps among non-dominated optima by using a local MOPSO algorithm. Moreover, in order to strengthen the capability locating multiple optima of the PSO, several improved techniques such as the Pareto dominance-based species technique and the escape strategy of mature species are introduced. The simulation results indicate that our algorithm is highly competitive to solving the multi-objective optimization problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In literature a number of different methods are proposed to improve the prediction accuracy of grey models. However, most of them are computationally expensive, and this may prohibit their extensive use. This paper describes a much simpler scheme, based on the principle of concatenation, in which unit step predictions are concatenated by replacing the missing outputs by their previously predicted values. Despite its extreme simplicity, it is shown that the predicted values thus derived results in a better performance than the methods proposed in the literature. Simulation studies show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm when applied to nonlinear function predictions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Biometrics recognition is one of the leading identity recognition means in the world today. Iris recognition is very effective for person identification due to the iris’ unique features and the protection of the iris from the environment and aging. This paper presents a simple methodology for pre-processing iris images and the design and training of a feedforward artificial neural network for iris recognition. Three different iris image data partitioning techniques and two data codings are proposed and explored. BrainMaker simulations reveal that recognition accuracies as high as 93.33% can be reached despite our testing of similar irises of the same color. We also experiment with various number of hidden layers, number of neurons in each hidden layer, input format (binary vs. analog), percent of data used for training vs testing, and with the addition of noise. Our recognition system achieves high accuracy despite using simple data pre-processing and a simple neural network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Regularized logistic regression is a useful classification method for problems with few samples and a huge number of variables. This regression needs to determine the regularization term, which amounts to searching for the optimal penalty parameter and the norm of the regression coefficient vector. This paper presents a new regularized logistic regression method based on the evolution of the regression coefficients using estimation of distribution algorithms. The main novelty is that it avoids the determination of the regularization term. The chosen simulation method of new coefficients at each step of the evolutionary process guarantees their shrinkage as an intrinsic regularization. Experimental results comparing the behavior of the proposed method with Lasso and ridge logistic regression in three cancer classification problems with microarray data are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Electrical evoked potentials (EEPs) time series prediction is a novel topic concentrating on reducing the cost of the visual prostheses research. Support vector machine (SVM), a superior neural network algorithm, is a powerful tool for time series forecasting but is insensitive to multivariate analysis. Meanwhile, similarity measurement (SM), a key technology in case-based reasoning, has been applied in a wide variety of fields but is only limited to the point-to-point computation. This paper firstly attempts to take the advantages of SM and SVM to generate a high performance EEPs predictor. Four independent SM metrics, i.e. fuzzy SM, numeric SM, textual SM and interval SM are employed to calculate the similarities between input variables (including electrical stimulation parameter and spatial parameter) and corresponding experimental values. Then SVM is utilized to predict EEPs behavior in terms of the temporal input. Furthermore, we add the similarities and temporal weights into SVM to indicate that recent data from similar experimental cases could provide more information than distant data from dissimilar ones. Due to the dynamic property, the new SVM is called dynamic SVM, i.e. DSVM and the predictor is named SM-DSVM. How to implement the hybrid predictor with grid-search for parameter optimization is illustrated in detail. In the empirical comparison, the predictive performances on 30 hold-out data are used to make comparisons between SM-DSVM and other comparative predictors. Empirical results show that SM-DSVM is feasible and validated for EEPs prediction in visual prostheses research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For various physical processes, especially those demanding high cost or operational time, it becomes crucial to have accurate predictions of their key performance measures based on given settings of different input parameters. Among other artificial intelligence based tools, fuzzy rule-based systems have also been widely used for this purpose. Widespread applicability of the rule-based systems has been restricted by lack of accuracy in the prediction results and inherent difficulties in different approaches that have been utilized for improving their prediction capabilities. The paper presents a two-stage approach for enhancing accuracy of prediction results. The first stage seeks best possible assignment of fuzzy sets of a response variable to the rules of a fuzzy rule-base, while the second stage looks for further improvement by adjusting shapes of the fuzzy sets of the response variable. For accomplishment of both of the stages, simulated annealing algorithm has been utilized and the approach has been practically applied on experimental data related to a turning process. The process has resulted in development of a rule-base that predicts with highly acceptable levels of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Particle swarm optimization (PSO) was proposed as an optimization technique for static environments; however, many real problems are dynamic, meaning that the environment and the characteristics of the global optimum can change in time. In this paper, we adapt recent techniques, which successfully address several major problems of PSO and exhibit a significant performance over multi-modal and non-stationary environments. In order to address the pre-mature convergence problem and improve the rate of PSO’s convergence to the global optimum, Fractional Global Best Formation (FGBF) technique is used. FGBF basically collects all the best dimensional components and fractionally creates an artificial Global Best particle (aGB) that has the potential to be a better “guide” than the PSO’s native gbest particle. To establish follow-up of local optima, we then introduce a novel multi-swarm algorithm, which enables each swarm to converge to a different optimum and use FGBF technique distinctively. Finally for the multi-dimensional dynamic environments where the optimum dimension also changes in time, we utilize a recent PSO technique, the multi-dimensional (MD) PSO, which re-forms the native structure of the swarm particles in such a way that they can make inter-dimensional passes with a dedicated dimensional PSO process. Therefore, in a multi-dimensional search space where the optimum dimension is unknown, swarm particles can seek for both positional and dimensional optima. This eventually pushes the frontier of the optimization problems in dynamic environments towards a global search in a multi-dimensional space, where there exists a multi-modal problem possibly in each dimension. We investigated both standalone and mutual applications of the proposed methods over the moving peaks benchmark (MPB), which originally simulates a dynamic environment in a unique (fixed) dimension. MPB is appropriately extended to accomplish the simulation of a multi-dimensional dynamic system, which contains dynamic environments active in several dimensions. An extensive set of experiments show that in traditional MPB application domain, FGBF technique applied with multi-swarms exhibits an impressive speed gain and tracks the global peak with the minimum error so far achieved with respect to the other competitive PSO-based methods. When applied over the extended MPB, MD PSO with FGBF can find optimum dimension and provide the (near-) optimal solution in this dimension. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Resolving the broadcast storm problem is an important issue in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). In this paper, we propose an approach for constructing a virtual subnet whose nodes are logically related. The virtual subnet can be spread upon clusters of a MANET. An intelligent agent with a routing filtering table is proposed to assist the best known clustering algorithms, the original Least ID algorithm and the original Highest Connection Cluster (HCC) algorithm, to improve group communication efficiency. Our simulation covers the network factors of hop count, deprave rate, and delay time. The simulation results show that when the proposed intelligent agent is used with the HCC algorithm, the delay time was reduced by 81.84% as compared with flooding, and by 49.25% as compared with the Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing algorithm. The delay time for the Least ID algorithm assisted by the proposed agents reduced by 81.84% compared to that of flooding and by 50% compared to that of AODV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to use off-the-shelf devices to develop a fall detection system. In human body identification, human body silhouette is adopted to improve privacy protection, and vertical projection histograms of the silhouette image and statistical scheme are used to reduce the effect of human body upper limb activities. The kNN classification algorithm is used to classify the postures using the ratio and difference of human body silhouette bounding box height and width. Meanwhile, since time difference is a vital factor to differentiate fall incident event and lying down event, the critical time difference is obtained from the experiment and verified by statistical hypothesis testing. With the help of the kNN classifier and the critical time difference, a fall incident detection system is developed to detect fall incident events. The experiment shows that it could reduce the effect of upper limb activities and the system has a correct rate of 84.44% on fall detection and lying down event detection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Identification of Hammerstein plants finds extensive applications in stability analysis and control design. For identification of such complex plants, the recent trend of research is to employ nonlinear network and to train their weights by evolutionary computing tools. In recent years the area of Artificial Immune System (AIS) has drawn attention of many researchers due to its broad applicability to different fields. In this paper by combining the principles of AIS and PSO, we propose two new but simple hybrid algorithms called Clonal PSO (CPSO) and Immunized PSO (IPSO) which involve less complexity and offers better identification performance. Identification of few benchmark Hammerstein models is carried out through simulation study and the results obtained are compared with those obtained by standard PSO, Clonal and GA based methods. Various simulation results demonstrate that IPSO algorithm offers best identification performance compared to the other algorithms. Out of the two algorithms proposed, the CPSO is computationally simpler but offers identification performance nearly similar to its PSO counterpart. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aiming at the multi-disease diagnosis, a self-organizing map (SOM) is developed. In this paper the tomato disease features are extracted and a mapping relationship between the diseases and the features is created. The inaccurate clustering of traditional SOM algorithm is analyzed. According to the analysis, Euclidean distance is taken as the main discrimination, and the adjacent-searching algorithm is optimized. Using the optimized algorithm, the cluster results of input samples are obtained, features of diseases are mapped, and a multi-disease diagnosis model is developed. The proposed SOM-based model has two layers. The feature array of diseases can be accurately and rapidly sorted and clustered using this model. This model can achieve an accurate diagnosis of multi-diseases. The simulation results show that the proposed model performs well and the proposed multi-disease diagnosis is effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Network reliability is very important for the decision support information. Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) is one of the optimal algorithms to estimate the network reliability for different kinds of network configuration. The traditional reliability estimation requires the information of all Minimal Paths (MPs) or Minimal Cuts (MCs). However, finding all MPs/MCs is extremely computationally expensive. This paper has compared and analyzed three Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) methods for estimating the two-terminal network reliability of a binary-state network: (1) MCS1 simulates the network reliability in terms of known MPs, (2) MCS2 estimates the network reliability in terms of known MCs; and (3) CAMCS (based on cellular automata, CA) estimates the network reliability directly without knowing any information of MPs or MCs. Our simulation results show that the direct estimation without knowing any information of MPs or MCs can speedup about 185 times when compared with other traditional approaches which require MPs or MCs information. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, using the concepts of field theory and potential functions a sub-optimal non-parametric algorithm for clustering of convex and non-convex data is proposed. For this purpose, equipotential surfaces, created by interaction of the potential functions, are applied. Equipotential surfaces are the geometric location of the points in the space on which the potential is constant. It means all points in each surface were affected the same by the field. Regarding this concept and other characteristics of equipotential surfaces, the outcome of this method will be an optimal solution for the clustering problem. But with regard to the existence of several parameters requiring to be set in the algorithm, finding the global optimal solution leads to a high computational complexity and therefore is not practical. Thus by applying some considerations and approximations, the resulting outcome will be a sub-optimal solution, while appropriate setting of the parameters causes the result to be closer to the global optimal solution. The advantage of this method is that it does not need any external parameter setting, such as number of clusters. To this end, an automatic parameter setting algorithm is suggested based on an optimal clustering index. Simulation results for a number of standard datasets, illustrate the superb performance of this method, especially for non-convexly scattered data. All mentioned characteristics of this method are widely demanded in different scientific areas. In this case it has been utilized in the well-known Point Location Problem (PLP) to reduce computational complexity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, bees algorithm (BA) has been used for null steering in the antenna radiation pattern by controlling the phase-only and the complex weights (both the amplitude and phase) of the array elements. The BA is an optimization algorithm inspired by the behavior of the honey bees to find the optimal way of harvesting food resources around the hive. Simulation results for Chebyshev patterns with the imposed single, multiple and broad nulls are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. The sensitivity of the nulling patterns due to small variations of the element phases is also investigated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recent years, different metaheuristic methods have been used to solve clustering problems. This paper addresses the problem of manufacturing cell formation using a modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The main modification that this work made to the original PSO algorithm consists in not using the vector of velocities that the standard PSO algorithm does. The proposed algorithm uses the concept of proportional likelihood with modifications, a technique that is used in data mining applications. Some simulation results are presented and compared with results from literature. The criterion used to group the machines into cells is based on the minimization of intercell movements. The computational results show that the PSO algorithm is able to find the optimal solutions in almost all instances, and its use in machine grouping problems is feasible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, an Evolutionary Memetic Algorithm (EMA), which uses a local search intensity scheme to complement the global search capability of Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs), is proposed for rule extraction. Two schemes for local search are studied, namely EMA-GA, which uses a micro-Genetic Algorithm-based (GA) technique, and EMA-AIS, which is inspired by Artificial Immune System (AIS) and uses the clonal selection for cell proliferation. The evolutionary memetic algorithm is complemented with the use of a variable-length chromosome structure, which allows the flexibility to model the number of rules required. In addition, advanced variation operators are used to improve different aspects of the algorithm. Real world benchmarking problems are used to validate the performance of EMA and results from simulations show the proposed algorithm is effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique to fully utilize photovoltaic (PV) array output power that depends on solar insolation and ambient temperature. The proposed intelligent MPPT algorithm based on extension theory can automatically adjust the step size to track the PV array maximum power point (MPP). Compared with the conventional fixed step size perturbation and observation (P&O) and incremental conductance (INC) methods, the presented approach is able to effectively improve the dynamic response and steady-state performance of the PV systems simultaneously. Theoretical analysis and the design principle of the proposed method are described in detail. Some simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed extension MPPT method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Transductive support vector machine (TSVM) is a well-known algorithm that realizes transductive learning in the field of support vector classification. This paper constructs a bi-fuzzy progressive transductive support vector machine (BFPTSVM) algorithm by combining the proposed notation of bi-fuzzy memberships for the temporary labeled sample appeared in progressive learning process and the sample-pruning strategy, which decreases the computation complexity and store memory of algorithm. Simulation experiments show that the BFPTSVM algorithm derives better classification performance and converges rapidly with better stability compared to the other learning algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes an approach for detection of the supply unbalance condition in induction motors by using data mining process. Simulation results have shown that a good indicator of the fault is the amplitude of the second harmonic of the supply frequency component (2f) in the signal obtained by the differences in supply current zero crossing instants. In the study, linear regression (LR), pace regression (PR), sequential minimal optimization (SMO), M5 model tree, M5’Rules, KStar, additive regression and back propagation neural network (BPNN) models are applied within the data mining process for determining the condition of the motor supply voltage. All data mining algorithms were applied using WEKA software. The best result for the determination of the fault related dominant parameter was obtained by using the M5P algorithm model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper introduces an embedded fuzzy expert system for Adaptive Weighted Fair Queueing (AWFQ) located in the network traffic router to update weights for output queues. WFQ algorithm allows differentiated service for traffic classes according to Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. Link sharing and packet scheduling methods are the most critical factors when guaranteeing QoS. There are many different scheduling mechanisms but adequate and adaptive QoS aware scheduling solutions are still in a phase of development due to the rapid growth of multimedia in the Internet. The proposed AWFQ model in this work simplifies the link sharing to two service classes: one for UDP and another for TCP. The implementation of the model is based on adaptive change of weight coefficients that determine the amount of allowed bandwidth for the service class. New weight coefficients are calculated periodically on routers according to developed embedded fuzzy expert system. It is shown through simulations that the AWFQ model is more stable and reacts faster to different traffic states than the traditional WFQ scheduler. The embedded expert system adjusts the weights of AWFQ with two parameters that are based on the share of the UDP and TCP input traffic data rate and the change of the share of the UDP and TCP input data rate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we have proposed an ordinal optimization theory-based two-stage algorithm to solve for a good enough solution of the stochastic simulation optimization problem with huge input-variable space . In the first stage, we construct a crude but effective model for the considered problem based on an artificial neural network. This crude model will then be used as a fitness function evaluation tool in a genetic algorithm to select N excellent settings from . In the second stage, starting from the selected N excellent settings we proceed with the existing goal softening searching procedures to search for a good enough solution of the considered problem. We applied the proposed algorithm to the reduction of overkills and retests in a wafer probe testing process, which is formulated as a stochastic simulation optimization problem that consists of a huge input-variable space formed by the vector of threshold values in the testing process. The vector of good enough threshold values obtained by the proposed algorithm is promising in the aspects of solution quality and computational efficiency. We have also justified the performance of the proposed algorithm in a wafer probe testing process based on the ordinal optimization theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, performance comparison of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) such as real coded genetic algorithm (RGA), modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO), covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMAES) and differential evolution (DE) on optimal design of multivariable PID controller design is considered. Decoupled multivariable PI and PID controller structure for Binary distillation column plant described by Wood and Berry, having 2 inputs and 2 outputs is taken. EAs simulations are carried with minimization of IAE as objective using two types of stopping criteria, namely, maximum number of functional evaluations (Fevalmax) and Fevalmax along with tolerance of PID parameters and IAE. To compare the performances of various EAs, statistical measures like best, mean, standard deviation of results and average computation time, over 20 independent trials are considered. Results obtained by various EAs are compared with previously reported results using BLT and GA with multi-crossover approach. Results clearly indicate the better performance of CMAES and MPSO designed PI/PID controller on multivariable system. Simulations also reveal that all the four algorithms considered are suitable for off-line tuning of PID controller. However, only CMAES and MPSO algorithms are suitable for on-line tuning of PID due to their better consistency and minimum computation time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we focus on the experimental analysis on the performance in artificial neural networks with the use of statistical tests on the classification task. Particularly, we have studied whether the sample of results from multiple trials obtained by conventional artificial neural networks and support vector machines checks the necessary conditions for being analyzed through parametrical tests. The study is conducted by considering three possibilities on classification experiments: random variation in the selection of test data, the selection of training data and internal randomness in the learning algorithm. The results obtained state that the fulfillment of these conditions are problem-dependent and indefinite, which justifies the need of using non-parametric statistics in the experimental analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper we propose a hybrid algorithm to optimize the structure of TSK type fuzzy model using backpropagation (BP) learning algorithm and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). In a first step, BP algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of the model (parameters of membership functions and fuzzy rules). NSGA-II is used in a second phase, to optimize the number of fuzzy rules and to fine tune the parameters. A well known benchmark is used to evaluate performances of the proposed modelling approach, and compare it with other modelling approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]