Algorithms, Volume 11, Issue 2 (February 2018) – 12 articles

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is generally improved by adaptively adjusting the inertia weight or combining with other evolution algorithms. However, in most modified PSO algorithms, the random values are always generated by uniform distribution in the range of [0, 1]. In this study, the random values, which are generated by uniform distribution in the ranges of [0, 1] and [−1, 1], and Gauss distribution with mean 0 and variance 1 ( $U\left[0,1\right]$ , $U\left[-1,1\right]$ and $G(0,1)$ ), are respectively used in the standard PSO and linear decreasing inertia weight (LDIW) PSO algorithms. For comparison, the deterministic PSO algorithm, in which the random values are set as 0.5, is also investigated in this study. Some benchmark functions and the pressure vessel design problem are selected to test these algorithms with different types of random values in three space dimensions (10, 30, and 100). The experimental results show that the standard PSO and LDIW-PSO algorithms with random values generated by $U\left[-1,1\right]$ or $G(0,1)$ are more likely to avoid falling into local optima and quickly obtain the global optima. This is because the large-scale random values can expand the range of particle velocity to make the particle more likely to escape from local optima and obtain the global optima. Although the random values generated by $U\left[-1,1\right]$ or $G(0,1)$ are beneficial to improve the global searching ability, the local searching ability for a low dimensional practical optimization problem may be decreased due to the finite particles. Full article

Two cylinders arranged symmetrically on a frame have become a major form of steering mechanism for articulated off-road vehicles (AORVs). However, the differences of stroke and arm lead to pressure fluctuation, vibration noise, and a waste of torque. In this paper, the differences of stroke and arm are reduced based on a genetic algorithm (GA). First, the mathematical model of the steering mechanism is put forward. Then, the difference of stroke and arm are optimized using a GA. Finally, a FW50GLwheel loader is used as an example to demonstrate the proposed GA-based optimization method, and its effectiveness is verified by means of automatic dynamic analysis of mechanical systems (ADAMS). The stroke difference of the steering hydraulic cylinders was reduced by 92% and the arm difference reached a decrease of 78% through GA optimization, in comparison with unoptimized structures. The simulation result shows that the steering mechanism optimized by GA behaved better than by previous methods. Full article

Aiming at the pitting fault of deep groove ball bearing during service, this paper uses the vibration signal of five different states of deep groove ball bearing and extracts the relevant features, then uses a neural network to model the degradation for identifying and classifying the fault type. By comparing the effects of training samples with different capacities through performance indexes such as the accuracy and convergence speed, it is proven that an increase in the sample size can improve the performance of the model. Based on the polynomial fitting principle and Pearson correlation coefficient, fusion features based on the skewness index are proposed, and the performance improvement of the model after incorporating the fusion features is also validated. A comparison of the performance of the support vector machine (SVM) model and the neural network model on this dataset is given. The research shows that neural networks have more potential for complex and high-volume datasets. Full article

In the Vertex Cover Reconfiguration (VCR) problem, given a graph G, positive integers k and ℓ and two vertex covers S and T of G of size at most k, we determine whether S can be transformed into T by a sequence of at most ℓ vertex additions or removals such that every operation results in a vertex cover of size at most k. Motivated by results establishing the $\mathsf{W}\left[\mathsf{1}\right]$ -hardness of VCR when parameterized by ℓ, we delineate the complexity of the problem restricted to various graph classes. In particular, we show that VCR remains $\mathsf{W}\left[\mathsf{1}\right]$ -hard on bipartite graphs, is $\mathsf{NP}$ -hard, but fixed-parameter tractable on (regular) graphs of bounded degree and more generally on nowhere dense graphs and is solvable in polynomial time on trees and (with some additional restrictions) on cactus graphs. Full article

Cluster analyses are often conducted with the goal to characterize an underlying probability density, for which the data-point density serves as an estimate for this probability density. We here test and benchmark the common nearest neighbor (CNN) cluster algorithm. This algorithm assigns a spherical neighborhood R to each data point and estimates the data-point density between two data points as the number of data points N in the overlapping region of their neighborhoods (step 1). The main principle in the CNN cluster algorithm is cluster growing. This grows the clusters by sequentially adding data points and thereby effectively positions the border of the clusters along an iso-surface of the underlying probability density. This yields a strict partitioning with outliers, for which the cluster represents peaks in the underlying probability density—termed core sets (step 2). The removal of the outliers on the basis of a threshold criterion is optional (step 3). The benchmark datasets address a series of typical challenges, including datasets with a very high dimensional state space and datasets in which the cluster centroids are aligned along an underlying structure (Birch sets). The performance of the CNN algorithm is evaluated with respect to these challenges. The results indicate that the CNN cluster algorithm can be useful in a wide range of settings. Cluster algorithms are particularly important for the analysis of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We demonstrate how the CNN cluster results can be used as a discretization of the molecular state space for the construction of a core-set model of the MD improving the accuracy compared to conventional full-partitioning models. The software for the CNN clustering is available on GitHub. Full article

To improve energy efficiency and maintain the stability of the power grid, time-of-use (TOU) electricity tariffs have been widely used around the world, which bring both opportunities and challenges to the energy-efficient scheduling problems. Single machine scheduling problems under TOU electricity tariffs are of great significance both in theory and practice. Although methods based on discrete-time or continuous-time models have been put forward for addressing this problem, they are deficient in solution quality or time complexity, especially when dealing with large-size instances. To address large-scale problems more efficiently, a new greedy insertion heuristic algorithm with a multi-stage filtering mechanism including coarse granularity and fine granularity filtering is developed in this paper. Based on the concentration and diffusion strategy, the algorithm can quickly filter out many impossible positions in the coarse granularity filtering stage, and then, each job can find its optimal position in a relatively large space in the fine granularity filtering stage. To show the effectiveness and computational process of the proposed algorithm, a real case study is provided. Furthermore, two sets of contrast experiments are conducted, aiming to demonstrate the good application of the algorithm. The experiments indicate that the small-size instances can be solved within 0.02 s using our algorithm, and the accuracy is further improved. For the large-size instances, the computation speed of our algorithm is improved greatly compared with the classic greedy insertion heuristic algorithm. Full article

It is of great clinical significance to establish an accurate intelligent model to diagnose the somatization disorder of community correctional personnel. In this study, a novel machine learning framework is proposed to predict the severity of somatization disorder in community correction personnel. The core of this framework is to adopt the improved bacterial foraging optimization (IBFO) to optimize two key parameters (penalty coefficient and the kernel width) of a kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) and build an IBFO-based KELM (IBFO-KELM) for the diagnosis of somatization disorder patients. The main innovation point of the IBFO-KELM model is the introduction of opposition-based learning strategies in traditional bacteria foraging optimization, which increases the diversity of bacterial species, keeps a uniform distribution of individuals of initial population, and improves the convergence rate of the BFO optimization process as well as the probability of escaping from the local optimal solution. In order to verify the effectiveness of the method proposed in this study, a 10-fold cross-validation method based on data from a symptom self-assessment scale (SCL-90) is used to make comparison among IBFO-KELM, BFO-KELM (model based on the original bacterial foraging optimization model), GA-KELM (model based on genetic algorithm), PSO-KELM (model based on particle swarm optimization algorithm) and Grid-KELM (model based on grid search method). The experimental results show that the proposed IBFO-KELM prediction model has better performance than other methods in terms of classification accuracy, Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC), sensitivity and specificity. It can distinguish very well between severe somatization disorder and mild somatization and assist the psychological doctor with clinical diagnosis. Full article

Cognitive radio is a promising technology for improving spectrum utilization, which allows cognitive users access to the licensed spectrum while primary users are absent. In this paper, we design a resource allocation framework based on graph theory for spectrum assignment in cognitive radio networks. The framework takes into account the constraints that interference for primary users and possible collision among cognitive users. Based on the proposed model, we formulate a system utility function to maximize the system benefit. Based on the proposed model and objective problem, we design an improved ant colony optimization algorithm (IACO) from two aspects: first, we introduce differential evolution (DE) process to accelerate convergence speed by monitoring mechanism; then we design a variable neighborhood search (VNS) process to avoid the algorithm falling into the local optimal. Simulation results demonstrate that the improved algorithm achieves better performance. Full article

Credit card holders from different age groups have different usage behaviors, so deeply investigating the credit card usage condition and properly modeling the usage trend of all customers in different age groups from time series data is meaningful for financial institutions as well as banks. Until now, related research in trend analysis of credit card usage has mostly been focused on specific group of people, such as the behavioral tendencies of the elderly or college students, or certain behaviors, such as the increasing number of cards owned and the rise in personal card debt or bankruptcy, in which the only analysis methods employed are simply enumerating or classifying raw data; thus, there is a lack of support in specific mathematical models based on usage behavioral time series data. Considering that few systematic modeling methods have been introduced, in this paper, a novel usage trend analysis method for credit card holders in different age groups based on singular spectrum analysis (SSA) has been proposed, using the time series data from the Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (SCPC). The decomposition and reconstruction process in the method is proposed. The results show that the credit card usage frequency falls down from the age of 26 to the lowest point at around the age of 58 and then begins to increase again. At last, future work is discussed. Full article

In Body Area Networks (BANs), how to achieve energy management to extend the lifetime of the body area networks system is one of the most critical problems. In this paper, we design a body area network system powered by renewable energy, in which the sensors carried by patient with energy harvesting module can transmit data to a personal device. We do not require any a priori knowledge of the stochastic nature of energy harvesting and energy consumption. We formulate a user utility optimization problem. We use Lyapunov Optimization techniques to decompose the problem into three sub-problems, i.e., battery management, collecting rate control and transmission power allocation. We propose an online resource allocation algorithm to achieve two major goals: (1) balancing sensors’ energy harvesting and energy consumption while stabilizing the BANs system; and (2) maximizing the user utility. Performance analysis addresses required battery capacity, bounded data queue length and optimality of the proposed algorithm. Simulation results verify the optimization of algorithm. Full article

Multi-armed bandit (MAB) models are a viable approach to describe the problem of best wireless network selection by a multi-Radio Access Technology (multi-RAT) device, with the goal of maximizing the quality perceived by the final user. The classical MAB model does not allow, however, to properly describe the problem of wireless network selection by a multi-RAT device, in which a device typically performs a set of measurements in order to collect information on available networks, before a selection takes place. The MAB model foresees in fact only one possible action for the player, which is the selection of one among different arms at each time step; existing arm selection algorithms thus mainly differ in the rule according to which a specific arm is selected. This work proposes a new MAB model, named measure-use-MAB (muMAB), aiming at providing a higher flexibility, and thus a better accuracy in describing the network selection problem. The muMAB model extends the classical MAB model in a twofold manner; first, it foresees two different actions: to measure and to use; second, it allows actions to span over multiple time steps. Two new algorithms designed to take advantage of the higher flexibility provided by the muMAB model are also introduced. The first one, referred to as measure-use-UCB1 (muUCB1) is derived from the well known UCB1 algorithm, while the second one, referred to as Measure with Logarithmic Interval (MLI), is appositely designed for the new model so to take advantage of the new measure action, while aggressively using the best arm. The new algorithms are compared against existing ones from the literature in the context of the muMAB model, by means of computer simulations using both synthetic and captured data. Results show that the performance of the algorithms heavily depends on the Probability Density Function (PDF) of the reward received on each arm, with different algorithms leading to the best performance depending on the PDF. Results highlight, however, that as the ratio between the time required for using an arm and the time required to measure increases, the proposed algorithms guarantee the best performance, with muUCB1 emerging as the best candidate when the arms are characterized by similar mean rewards, and MLI prevailing when an arm is significantly more rewarding than others. This calls thus for the introduction of an adaptive approach capable of adjusting the behavior of the algorithm or of switching algorithm altogether, depending on the acquired knowledge on the PDF of the reward on each arm. Full article

In order to coordinate the damping performance and energy regenerative performance of energy regenerative suspension, this paper proposes a structure of a vehicle semi-active energy regenerative suspension with an electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA). In light of the proposed concept, a specific energy regenerative scheme is designed and a mechanical properties test is carried out. Based on the test results, the parameter identification for the system model is conducted using a recursive least squares algorithm. On the basis of the system principle, the nonlinear model of the semi-active energy regenerative suspension with an EHA is built. Meanwhile, linear-quadratic-Gaussian control strategy of the system is designed. Then, the influence of the main parameters of the EHA on the damping performance and energy regenerative performance of the suspension is analyzed. Finally, the main parameters of the EHA are optimized via the genetic algorithm. The test results show that when a sinusoidal is input at the frequency of 2 Hz and the amplitude of 30 mm, the spring mass acceleration root meam square value of the optimized EHA semi-active energy regenerative suspension is reduced by 22.23% and the energy regenerative power RMS value is increased by 40.51%, which means that while meeting the requirements of vehicle ride comfort and driving safety, the energy regenerative performance is improved significantly. Full article