Quantifying and optimizing visualization: An evolutionary computing-based approach

university is a complicated work so in the implementation it have violation of the constraints and it also takes a lot of time since it is created manually. In this paper evolutionary algorithm (EA) is used to create an effective and feasible schedules based on the real data input that is obtained from each department. The objective functions in EA contribute in gaining the fitness function to solve the constraints problem in the schedule by applying weighting for each hard constraints. The objective function is gained from the total of infringement in each soft constraints addition by score weighting. The genetic operator used in EA is stochastic variation Operator. As far as the reproduction operator is concerned, the tournament selection was used with size 3. Crossover operator is conducted after selection process with crossover probability equal to 0.05 and mutation rate is 0.1. The size of population was set to 9 and stopping criteria algorithm was left run for fitness value = 1. The simulation result shows that EA can create lecture schedules efficiently and feasibly. Moreover, it is also faster with the execution time of the proposed EA is less than 30 and easier than creating manually.

In mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) specific Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) are needed to safeguard them since traditional intrusion prevention techniques are not sufficient in the protection of MANET. In this paper we present an intrusion detection engine based on neural networks combined with a protection method, which is based on watermarking techniques. We exploit the advantages of information visualization and machine learning techniques in order to achieve intrusion detection. Then, we authenticate the maps produced by the application of the intelligent techniques using a novel combined watermarking embedded method. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated under different traffic conditions, mobility patterns and visualization metrics, showing its high efficiency.

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been widely used to search for optimal strategies for the planning and management of water resources systems, particularly reservoir operation. This study provides a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of state of the art of the non-animal-inspired EA applications to reservoir optimization. This type of EAs does not mimic biologic traits and group strategies of animal (wild) species. A search of pertinent papers was applied to the journal citation reports (JCRs). A bibliometric survey identified 14 pertinent non-animal-inspired EAs, such as the genetic algorithm (GA), simulated annealing (SA), and differential evolution (DE) algorithms, most of which have a number of modified versions. The characteristics of non-animal-inspired EAs and their modified versions were discussed to identify the difference between EAs and how each EA was improved. Additionally, the type of application of non-animal-inspired EAs to different case studies was investigated, and comparisons were made between the performance of the applied EAs in the studied literature. The survey revealed that the GA is the most frequently applied algorithm, followed by the DE algorithm. Non-animal-inspired EAs are superior to the classical methods of reservoir optimization (e.g., the non-linear programming and dynamic programming) due to faster convergence, diverse solution space, and efficient objective function evaluation. Several non-animal-inspired EAs of recent vintage have been shown to outperform the classic GA, which was the first evolutionary algorithm applied to reservoir operation.

Generating both accurate and diverse recommendations is required for modern recommender systems. Accurate recommendations can well meet the needs of users, while diverse recommendations can bring users novelty, discover the unknown preferences of users, and can also alleviate the long tail problem. However, these two metrics are conflicting and it is very hard to improve both at the same time. Thus, a compromise needs to be made. The easiest way is using hyperparameters to combine different objective functions or the recommendations of different recommendation algorithms, but it is difficult to determine parameters. Another common strategy is applying multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to provide multiple recommendations for each user, but how to choose the final recommendation becomes a new problem. To this end, we propose a two-phase evolutionary algorithm-based recommendation framework, named EARF. In EARF, a novel fitness function is designed, which converts the evaluation of accuracy and diversity into a single objective and automatically trades off these two goals. Based on the property of recommendation problem and fitness function, the genetic representation and operators are redefined. The experiments on real-world rating datasets indicate that the EARF is effective and the proposed evolutionary algorithm can achieve a good balance between accuracy and diversity.

We evaluate the small sample size (SSS) performance of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) for relevance feedback (RF) in image retrieval. We focus on the requirement to learn the user’s information need based on a small — between 2 and 25 — number of positive and negative training images. Despite this being a fundamental requirement, none of the existing works dealing with EAs for RF systematically evaluates their SSS performance. To address this issue, we compare four variants of EAs for RF. Common for all variants is the hierarchical, region-based image similarity model, with region and feature weights as parameters. The difference between the variants is in the objective function of the EA used to adjust the model parameters. The objective functions include: (O-1) precision; (O-2) average rank; (O-3) ratio of within-class (i.e., positive images) and between-class (i.e., positive and negative images) scatter; and (O-4) combination of O-2 and O-3. We note that — unlike O-1 and O-2 — O-3 and O-4 are not used in any of the existing works dealing with EAs for RF. The four variants are evaluated on five test databases, containing 61,895 general-purpose images, in 619 semantic categories. Results of the evaluation reveal that variants with objective functions O-3 and O-4 consistently outperform those with O-1 and O-2. Furthermore, comparison with the representative of the existing RF methods shows that EAs are both effective and efficient approaches for SSS learning in region-based image retrieval.

We systematically compare four variants of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) for relevance feedback (RF) in image retrieval. We focus on the small sample size (SSS) performance, i.e., the requirement to learn the user’s information need based on a small – between 2 and 25 – number of positive and negative training images. Despite this being a fundamental requirement, none of the existing works dealing with EAs for RF in image retrieval addresses it. Common for the four variants is the hierarchical, region-based image similarity model, with region and feature weights as parameters. The difference between the variants is in the objective function of the EA used to adjust the model parameters. The objective functions include: (O-1) precision; (O-2) average rank; (O-3) ratio of within-class (i.e., positive images) and between-class (i.e., positive and negative images) scatter; and (O-4) combination of O-2 and O-3. We note that – unlike O-1 and O-2 – O-3 and O-4 are not used in any of the existing works dealing with EAs for RF. The four variants are evaluated on five test databases, containing 61,895 general-purpose images, in 619 semantic categories. Results of the evaluation reveal that variants with objective functions O-3 and O-4 consistently outperform those with O-1 and O-2. Furthermore, comparison with the representative of the existing RF methods shows that EAs are both effective and efficient approaches for SSS learning in region-based image retrieval.

Proteins are cellular macromolecules made up of linear chains of amino acids that adopt a unique three-dimensional structure to carry out specific biological functions. Amongst various computational approaches developed for Protein Structure Prediction (PSP), ab initio methods perform the prediction without prior knowledge of known structures. However, due to huge computational complexity incurred by these methods, simplified hydrophobic-polar (HP) models are often used for the investigations. Despite this simplicity, PSP continues to be a hard combinatorial optimization problem requiring development of efficient heuristic search techniques. Memetic algorithm (MA), with its flexible architecture, encompasses the strength of both local and global search and has shown promise in solving problems with complex search landscape, including PSP. This thesis is focused on developing an effective ab initio technique under a suitable MA framework for solving the PSP problem using low resolution HP models. To enhance the effectiveness of the MA, a mechanism is devised to include knowledge from the problem domain by exploiting the concept of hydrophobic-core (H-core) formation. The size of the maximal possible H-core is estimated and the approximation is validated by our proposed deterministic search technique. Further, a new knowledge-based initial population generation technique ensures generating conformations which are not only valid, but also maintain diversity in the population. This helps to commence the search with good seeds leading towards faster convergence. While solving the PSP problem using MA, the greatest intricacy arises from the complex nature of its multi-modal landscape. Like all the evolutionary algorithms (EAs), MAs have the tendency to get trapped into local minima due to selection pressure and genetic drift induced by the genetic operators, and techniques are necessary to surmount this difficulty. A novel parental selection technique called “Adaptive Strategy for Assortative Mating” is developed that dynamically distributes the re production opportunity among the individuals of the population to boost the effectiveness of cross-over. Further, a new survival selection strategy, namely “Sib-based Survival Selection”, prevents the rapid spread of genetic material from a particular individual to other members in the population, ensuring the concurrent preservation of several potential solutions, and restricting premature convergence. A new diversification mechanism, namely “Memory-based Diversification”, systematically diversifies the population by introducing new genetic material whenever it gets stuck at local peaks and allows it to proceed for further progress. An extensive experimental analysis is also reported on the influence of all three techniques proposed to maintain the diversity of population. Furthermore, in order to carry out the conformational search efficiently, especially with the increase in sequence length, the optimization technique is designed such that it provides an effective balance between exploration and exploitation. A robust Multimodal Memetic Framework has been developed where optimization is accomplished in hierarchical stages. The population of each stage is partitioned into three different states: an Exploratory state to locate promising peaks, an Exploitative state to fine-tune the solutions found in the Exploratory state of the previous stage, and finally, a Central state to carry out the formation of potential solutions to explore the undiscovered regions. Non-identical genetic operators have been implemented in each state to balance the exploration and exploitation by employing necessary selection pressure and diversity. A non-isomorphic encoding based technique has been developed to capture the sub-structures that are representing a particular region. Furthermore, a novel local search technique exploits already explored fit individuals by employing the knowledge of sub-structures. The efficacy of the proposed framework is demonstrated with an adequate number of distinctive data sets and comparison with state-of-the-art methods.

Quality metrics of software can be categorized into internal quality metrics, external quality metrics, and quality in use metrics. Although existing a close relationship between internal and external quality of software systems, there are no explicit evidences in literature of what are the attributes and metrics of internal quality that impact external quality. Thus, we carried out a systematic literature review for identifying that relationship. After the analysis of 664 papers, 12 papers were studied in depth. As result, we found 65 metrics related primarily to the maintainability, usability, and reliability quality characteristics and the main attributes that impact external metrics are size, coupling, and cohesion.

An Enhanced multi-objective evolutionary optimization algorithm based on decomposition (E-MOEA-D) proposed for optimal placement of Distributed Generation (DG) and Electric Vehicle (EV) Fast Charging Station (FCS) in distribution system. The diversity of the evolutionary algorithm improves the convergence and diverse solution in the process of evolutionary optimization. The proposed algorithm is improved using enhanced diversity algorithm, which yield diverse candidate solutions in population. The optimal placement of DGs and FCS are formulated using three objective functions as i) Active power loss ii) Voltage deviation iii) DG cost. The proposed algorithm is simulated on IEEE-33 bus distribution system. The proposed algorithm is compared with other competitive multi-objective evolutionary algorithms such as decomposition based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA-D) and Non-dominated sorting multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (NSGA-II).

In this paper, an efficient evolutionary image segmentation algorithm (EISA) is proposed. The existing evolutionary approach of image segmentation has the advantages over the other approaches such as continuous contour, non-oversegmentation, and non-thresholds, but suffers from long computation time. EISA uses a K-means algorithm to split an image into many homogeneous regions and then merges the split regions automatically using an evolutionary algorithm. The image segmentation problem is formulated as an optimization problem and the objective function is also given. EISA using a novel chromosome encoding method and a novel intelligent genetic algorithm makes the segmentation results robust and the computation time much shorter than the existing evolutionary image segmentation algorithms. Design and analysis of EISA are also presented. Experimental results of natural images with various degrees of noise demonstrate the effectiveness of EISA.

Over the past few decades, various evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been applied to the optimization design of water distribution systems (WDSs). An important research area is to compare the performance of these EAs, thereby offering guidance for the selection of the appropriate EAs for practical implementations. Such comparisons are mainly based on the final solution statistics and, hence, are unable to provide knowledge on how different EAs reach the final optimal solutions and why different EAs performed differently in identifying optimal solutions. To this end, this paper aims to compare the real-time searching behaviour of three widely used EAs, which are genetic algorithms (GAs), the differential evolution (DE) algorithm and the ant colony optimization (ACO). These three EAs are applied to five WDS benchmarking case studies with different scales and complexities, and a set of five metrics are used to measure their run-time searching quality and convergence properties. Results show that the run-time metrics can effectively reveal the underlying searching mechanisms associated with each EA, which significantly goes beyond the knowledge from the traditional end-of-run solution statistics. It is observed that the DE is able to identify better solutions if moderate and large computational budgets are allowed due to its great ability in maintaining the balance between the exploration and exploitation. However, if the computational resources are rather limited or the decision has to be made in a very short time (e.g., real-time WDS operation), the GA can be a good choice as it can always identify better solutions than the DE and ACO at the early searching stages. Based on the results, the ACO performs the worst for the five case study considered. The outcome of this study is the offer of guidance for the algorithm selection based on the available computation resources, as well as knowledge into the EA’s underlying searching behaviours.

History matching is a challenging reverse problem due to the inherited uncertainty from Earth modeling. History matching process mandates building one or more sets of representative reservoir models with minimum misfit between the reservoir models and observed field data. There are several commercial assisted history matching tools and workflows to facilitate and orchestrate this process. This paper provides performance assessment and process evaluation between two of the commonly used optimization algorithms: the Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) and the Ensemble Smoother with Multiple Data Assimilation (ES-MDA) in an automated and closed loop workflows. The workflow starts with a parametrization step to identify and quantify the static and dynamic uncertainties in the reservoir model. The objective function is then constructed to guide and measure the convergence of the optimization process. The workflow is then executed to start the model calibration and history matching process. The algorithms, EA and ES-MDA, take different routes during the optimization process. EA works by selecting the best cases (i.e. most fitting genes that resulted in a minimum misfit) in each cycle, and generates a number of simulation cases (new generation) based on the predefined gene selection criteria. The iterative ES-MDA algorithm maintains the same number of simulation cases in each iteration (as many as in the initial Ensemble) throughout the assimilation process. The EA and ES-MDA optimization algorithms have their advantages and disadvantages to the history matching process. For instance, both workflows preserve the geological consistency with the dynamic reservoir models. The automation that both workflows provide incorporates G&G (Geological and Geophysical) workflows to capture, and carryover the static uncertainty to ensure consistency throughout the history matching process. In addition, in both cases, multiple simulation models are generated to cover reservoir static and dynamic uncertainties, which are crucial to the predictive capabilities of the history matched models. Both algorithms, as known, are stochastics in nature (i.e. cannot guarantee one deterministic solution) and, therefore. the results are highly dependent on the initial ensemble. EA is highly effective in searching the solution space, it requires a large number of simulation runs to converge a solution. On the other hand, ES-MDA does not exceed the number of initial ensembles in each iteration regardless of the number of iterations. This paper presents an automated workflow that leads to multiple reliable history matched simulation models. All of the generated models are geologically consistent and capture all model uncertainties that are needed to be preserved and carried forward in prediction. Moreover, this helps in updating the models seamlessly whenever new data is available by simply re-running the workflow with the model updates.

The interpretation and understanding of large quantities of data are challenges for users when interpreting the Information Visualization (VI) techniques, which is important as it makes the appropriate acquisition of the information through the visualization possible. The choice of the most appropriate information visualization method before commencing with the resolution of a given visual problem is primordial to obtaining an efficient solution. The implementation of the model involves choosing components and the architecture that stands its necessary functions effectively. This thesis has as its objective to describe an information visualization classification approach based on treemap, which is able to identify the best information visualization model for a given problem. From the treemap it is possible to elaborate strategy in the dictionary form of adequate Information Visualization techniques. Firstly, the actual state of the visualization field is described, and then the rules and criteria used in our research a program evaluating a new strategy for the presentation of visualization techniques are shown, able of detach and prioritizing the user interest techniques. Besides this, a comparative case study is presented with the information contained in another techniques visualization dictionary, the main correlate, called the Periodic Table of VI. The comparison is based on the usability and analysis of the cognitive complexity in the execution time of the user tasks in the information search. Finally, an evaluation of the results is presented through the experiments conducted with users and a comparative analysis of the techniques based on Treemap and the Periodic Table. The final results show that the VI Treemap presents itself as the best classification option regarding usability, availability and search performance, in relation to the other correlates work.

Broad learning approach to Surrogate-Assisted Multi-Objective evolutionary fuzzy clustering algorithm based on reference points for color image segmentation

The emergence of large language models (LLMs) is transforming various health-related domains, including approaches to obesity management. Obesity remains one of the world’s leading health issues, prompting the research community to develop various weight-loss applications focused on physical activity, dietary planning, and related interventions. In this study, we explore the capability of the LLM ChatGPT for personalized dietary planning. We conducted two case studies: Case Study 1 examined self-supervised recipe generation using ChatGPT alone, while Case Study 2 investigated a self-supervised approach combining National Institute of Health standards with ChatGPT recipe recommendations. We also performed a user study to evaluate recipe recommendations from ChatGPT. Our results show that ChatGPT recommends appropriate recipes based on comparisons with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recipe calculator. We found no significant difference between ChatGPT-generated recipe recommendation calories and USDA standards for either Case Study 1 (p = 0.8530) or Case Study 2 (p = 0.0687). In addition, we found significant weight loss in participants following these recipes in both Case Study 1 (p < 0.00001) and Case Study 2 (p = 0.0014). Furthermore, the user study with potential weight-loss participants revealed varying levels of satisfaction (p = 0.001) and identified themes related to meal preferences, effective prompt generation, and mixed concerns regarding privacy, trust, user consent, and data storage. We conclude by discussing additional findings from our case and user studies, and present opportunities, challenges, and design and ethical considerations for the research community.