Remote sensing estimation of rice chlorophyll content based on UAV image feature selection and PSO-optimized ensemble learning

Enhancing in-season yield forecast accuracy for film-mulched wheat: A hybrid approach coupling crop model and UAV remote-sensing data by ensemble learning technique

An ensemble deep learning model for exhaust emissions prediction of heavy oil-fired boiler combustion

To develop an intelligent recognition model based on deep learning algorithms of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images, and to preliminarily explore the value of this model for remote identification, monitoring and management of cattle, a source of Schistosoma japonicum infection. Oncomelania hupensis snail-infested marshlands around the Poyang Lake area were selected as the study area. Image datasets of the study area were captured by aerial photography with UAV and subjected to augmentation. Cattle in the sample database were annotated with the annotation software VGG Image Annotator to create the morphological recognition labels for cattle. A model was created for intelligent recognition of livestock based on deep learning-based Mask R-convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms. The performance of the model for cattle recognition was evaluated with accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score and mean precision. A total of 200 original UAV images were obtained, and 410 images were yielded following data augmentation. A total of 2 860 training samples of cattle recognition were labeled. The created deep learning-based Mask R-CNN model converged following 200 iterations, with an accuracy of 88.01%, precision of 92.33%, recall of 94.06%, F1 score of 93.19%, and mean precision of 92.27%, and the model was effective to detect and segment the morphological features of cattle. The deep learning-based Mask R-CNN model is highly accurate for recognition of cattle based on UAV images, which is feasible for remote intelligent recognition, monitoring, and management of the source of S. japonicum infection.

Child mortality is a big problem around the world, especially in low- and middle-income nations where there are big differences in health care and social conditions. This investigation seeks to create a predictive model for child mortality and pinpoint the key factors that significantly contribute to it, employing machine learning (ML) methodologies. The dataset includes various features such as parental age, maternal education, birth weight, wealth index, and access to healthcare services. Thirteen machine learning classifiers were used, categorized into four model groups: Traditional Models (Logistic Regression, K-Nearest Neighbors, Support Vector Machine, Naive Bayes), Tree-Based Models (Decision Tree, Random Forest, Extra Trees), Boosting Models (AdaBoost, Gradient Boosting, XGBoost), and Ensemble Learning Models (Soft Voting, Hard Voting, Stacking). The efficacy of each model was assessed using classification metrics, including Accuracy, Precision, Recall, and F1-Score within a 10-fold cross-validation framework to guarantee robustness. Results indicate that ensemble models, particularly AdaBoost, achieved the highest predictive accuracy, with perfect scores across all metrics (1.00). XGBoost and Stacking also demonstrated strong and consistent performance. The findings indicate that ensemble learning methods are effective in predicting child mortality and can assist policymakers and healthcare planners in identifying high-risk populations and implementing targeted interventions to reduce child mortality.

Semantic segmentation of weed and crop images is a key component and prerequisite for automated weed management. For weeds in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images, which are usually characterized by small size and easily confused with crops at early growth stages, existing semantic segmentation models have difficulties to extract sufficiently fine features. This leads to their limited performance in weed and crop segmentation of UAV images. We proposed a fine-grained feature-guided UNet, named FG-UNet, for weed and crop segmentation in UAV images. Specifically, there are two branches in FG-UNet, namely the fine-grained feature branch and the UNet branch. In the fine-grained feature branch, a fine feature-aware (FFA) module was designed to mine fine features in order to enhance the model's ability to segment small objects. In the UNet branch, we used an encoder-decoder structure to realize high-level semantic feature extraction in images. In addition, a contextual feature fusion (CFF) module was designed for the fusion of the fine features and high-level semantic features, thus enhancing the feature discrimination capability of the model. The experimental results showed that our proposed FG-UNet, achieved state-of-the-art performance compared to other semantic segmentation models, with mean intersection over union (MIOU) and mean pixel accuracy (MPA) of 88.06% and 92.37%, respectively. The proposed method in this study lays a solid foundation for accurate detection and intelligent management of weeds. It will have a positive impact on the development of smart agriculture. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Monitoring aboveground organs biomass of wheat and maize: A novel model combining ensemble learning and allometric theory

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) can evaluate potential atherosclerosis (AS) and ultrafast pulse wave velocity (ufPWV) is a new technique to accurately assess PWV. However, few studies have examined the predictive value of ufPWV for AS risk. We aimed to establish a classification model for AS risk diagnosis based on ufPWV, so that AS can be diagnosed and prevented in advance. We collected imaging data, as well as clinical and laboratory data. A total of 613 patients with 20 attributes were admitted in this study. There were 392 patients with hyperlipidemia (AS risk group) and 221 healthy adults as the control group. In order to build AS risk prediction models, we considered decision tree, five different ensemble learning (EL) models [random forest (RF), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and light gradient boosting machine (LGBM)] and two different feature selection methods [statistical analysis and RF]. Accuracy and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used as the main criterion for model evaluation. In the prediction of AS risk with statistical analysis as the feature selection method, the performances of XGBoost (accuracy: 0.851; AUC: 0.884) and RF (accuracy: 0.844; AUC: 0.889) were better than other models. Besides, in the prediction of AS risk with RF as the feature selection method, the performances of LGBM (accuracy: 0.870; AUC: 0.903) and XGBoost (accuracy: 0.857; AUC: 0.903) were better than other models. In conclusions, EL models with RF as the feature selection method might provide accurate results in predicting AS risk. Besides, ufPWV, especially PWV of left common carotid artery at the end of systole, was an important feature in the AS risk prediction models.

<p>Ensemble learning is one of the most powerful extensions for improving upon individual machine learning models. Rather than a single model being used, several models are trained and the predictions combined to make a more informed decision. Such combinations will ideally overcome the shortcomings of any individual member of the ensemble. Most ma- chine learning competition winners feature an ensemble of some sort, and there is also sound theoretical proof to the performance of certain ensem- bling schemes. The benefits of ensembling are clear in both theory and practice. Despite the great performance, ensemble learning is not a trivial task. One of the main difficulties is designing appropriate ensembles. For exam- ple, how large should an ensemble be? What members should be included in an ensemble? How should these members be weighted? Our first contribution addresses these concerns using a strongly-typed population- based search (genetic programming) to construct well-performing ensem- bles, where the entire ensemble (members, hyperparameters, structure) is automatically learnt. The proposed method was found, in general, to be significantly better than all base members and commonly used compari- son methods trialled. With automatically designed ensembles, there is a range of applica- tions, such as competition entries, forecasting and state-of-the-art predic- tions. However, often these applications also require additional prepro- cessing of the input data. Above the ensemble considers only the original training data, however, in many machine learning scenarios a pipeline is required (for example performing feature selection before classification). For the second contribution, a novel automated machine learning method is proposed based on ensemble learning. This method uses a random population-based search of appropriate tree structures, and as such is em- barrassingly parallel, an important consideration for automated machine learning. The proposed method is able to achieve equivalent or improved results over the current state-of-the-art methods and does so in a fraction of the time (six times as fast). Finally, while complex ensembles offer great performance, one large limitation is the interpretability of such ensembles. For example, why does a forest of 500 trees predict a particular class for a given instance? In an effort to explain the behaviour of complex models (such as ensem- bles), several methods have been proposed. However, these approaches tend to suffer at least one of the following limitations: overly complex in the representation, local in their application, limited to particular fea- ture types (i.e. categorical only), or limited to particular algorithms. For our third contribution, a novel model agnostic method for interpreting complex black-box machine learning models is proposed. The method is based on strongly-typed genetic programming and overcomes the afore- mentioned limitations. Multi-objective optimisation is used to generate a Pareto frontier of simple and explainable models which approximate the behaviour of much more complex methods. We found the resulting rep- resentations are far simpler than existing approaches (an important con- sideration for interpretability) while providing equivalent reconstruction performance. Overall, this thesis addresses two of the major limitations of existing ensemble learning, i.e. the complex construction process and the black- box models that are often difficult to interpret. A novel application of ensemble learning in the field of automated machine learning is also pro- posed. All three methods have shown at least equivalent or improved performance than existing methods.</p>

Chlorophyll content is an important index to measure the nutritional status of wheat. Rapid and accurate estimation of chlorophyll content is crucial to monitor the photosynthetic capacity and growth status of wheat and optimize its quality. To solve the problem of low precision in the hyperspectral estimation of crop chlorophyll content, this paper selects vegetation indices, spectral characteristic parameters, fractional differential spectrum, and wavelet energy coefficient as index parameters. Meanwhile, principal component analysis (PCA) is exploited to reduce and fuse these index parameters to eliminate the multicollinearity among the index parameters. Then, based on multiple linear regression and support vector machine algorithms, the estimation model of wheat chlorophyll content in different growth stages is constructed. The results show that the PCA reduces the dimension of hyperspectral data while retaining the original information, which improves the operation efficiency of the model, and ensures the effect of chlorophyll content estimation. The experimental results indicate that the multiple linear regression method achieves a better estimation effect of chlorophyll content at the booting stage, and the R 2 , RMSE, and nRMSE of the estimation model are 0.79, 2.21, and 5.50% respectively. This study provides a new technical method for estimating crop chlorophyll content using hyperspectral remote sensing data and comprehensive index parameters.

Threats in the digital landscape increased as different emerging technologies progress. Despite the various implementations of different defensive measures and tools to monitor and detect traffic anomaly, complexity and cost are the main challenges for small to medium enterprise networks. This study developed a malicious traffic detection system that utilized signature-based and anomaly-based techniques through packet analysis and network flow using machine learning algorithms. The system consists of a Raspberry Pi-based packet capturing tool, website application, implored with Ensemble Learning Model to detect and classify malicious network traffic. The ensemble learning model which includes weak learners like Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes and Support Vector Machine (SVM), in which individual results are combined and boosted using XG Boost algorithm. CTU-13 and CSE-CIC-IDS2018 datasets were used for training and validating the model. The ensemble learning model achieved an accuracy of 96.42%, precision of 98.99%, recall of 93.79%, and <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{F 1}$</tex>-score of 96.32% for the binary classification using the validation data. Moreover, the model also achieved an accuracy of 96.39%, precision of 95.82%, recall of 96.39%, and F1-score of 95.66% for the multiple classification. The ensemble machine learning model was also evaluated using generated traffic, resulting in a decline in performance: accuracy dropped to 60.94%, precision to 44.44%, recall to 30.77%, and the F1-score to 61.54%.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a crucial expansion of Internet services, linking numerous devices that produce and exchange substantial quantities of data. Strong defense against evolving cyberattacks that jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA Triad) of IoT systems is necessary due to this interconnectedness. Therefore, by controlling network activity to stop invasions and identify odd data patterns, intrusion detection systems can offer a robust layer of security for IoT systems. With a focus on identifying less frequent Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), this study aims to detect attacks directed at the CIA Triad. We examined two popular and unbalanced data sets, TON-IoT and BoT-IoT, for anomaly detection in IoT networks. By examining the usefulness of the ensemble learning and deep learning models in anomaly detection inside the IoT network data, we were able to study the security element of the network. The ensemble learning models considered are the following. Random Forest, XGBoost, and Stacking. The considered deep learning models are as follows: BiLSTM, GRU, Autoencoder, and Self-Taught Learning (STL: AE-SVM). The performance metrics studied are as follows: Accuracy, False Alert Rate, Recall, Precision, and F1-score. Regrettably, there were instances in which anomalies could not be detected using conventional techniques. This is because labeled data is scarce, particularly for APT attacks, and attack traffic is frequently sparse and noisy. We suggested a deep self-taught learning system (STL: AE-XGB) based on Transfer Learning to detect anomalies in IoT network data to tackle these difficult issues. To enhance classification performance and capture the changing landscape of attack methods in IoT networks. Our models automatically augment annotated data. The results show that our proposed model (STL: AE-XGB) outperforms the conventional models studied and provides interesting results in binary and multiclass classification.

Order-up-to-level inventory optimization model using time-series demand forecasting with ensemble deep learning

Leaves of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were measured with a Hydro N-Tester (HNT), a portable chlorophyll meter, to obtain a relative estimate of leaf chlorophyll content, which gives an indication of plant N-status. The aim was to find if there were differences in HNT values between the winter wheat cultivars investigated, and to assess whether these values could be used for prediction of grain protein content (GPC). In Experiment 1, chlorophyll meter readings were taken at growth stages (GS) Zadoks 31 and 55 in five winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars in 17 annual field trials located in southeast Norway in 1996, 1997, and 1998. There were significant differences in HNT values between cultivars at both GS 31 and 55, but no differences were found between the three most commonly used cultivars in Norway at present, cvs. Bjørke, Mjølner and Rudolf. Because of the variation between years the HNT values at GS 55 were found to be unsuitable for direct prediction of the GPC. In Experiment 2, HNT was used in 21 annual N-fertilizer trials with winter wheat, performed in 1996 and 1997 and located in southeast Norway. A delay in the measurements from GS 55 to GS 65 generally improved the GPC prediction in 1996. Nitrogen applied at GS 55 increased GPC by approximately 1 unit of percent in cv. Folke, regardless of HNT value, while in cv. Portal nitrogen applied at this stage gave no increase in GPC at HNT values beyond 700.

Purpose This study aims to propose a new ensemble learning model and compare its performance with other ensemble models to obtain the best model for detecting financial statement fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a quantitative approach, using secondary data from financial reports, annual reports, regulatory reports and other information on the internet. It focuses on all companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2020 to 2023. The independent variables in this study use financial and nonfinancial variables. In contrast, the target variable for fraudulent financial reports is based on sanctions from regulators and the company’s special supervisory status. Findings This study results show that the ensemble blending model performs best in detecting financial statement fraud compared to the ensemble model that construct it. Research limitations/implications This study sets ensemble learning to default settings. Setting certain conditions can further improve the performance of ensemble learning models. Practical implications This study can broaden the insights of practitioners, academics, investors, regulators, stakeholders and corporate finance experts into detecting financial report fraud. Originality/value This study proposes a new ensemble learning model that previous studies have not discussed. This ensemble learning model performs best compared to other ensemble learning models.

The rapid and accurate estimation of leaf chlorophyll content (LCC), an important indicator of crop photosynthetic capacity and nutritional status, is of great significance for precise nitrogen fertilization management. To explore the existence of a versatile regression model that can be successfully used to estimate the LCC for different varieties under different growth stages and nitrogen stress conditions, a study was conducted in 2023 across the growing season for winter wheat with five species and five nitrogen application levels. Two machine learning regression algorithms, support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF), were used to establish the bridge between UAV-derived multispectral vegetation indices and ground truth LCC (relative chlorophyll content, SPAD), taking the multivariate linear regression (MLR) algorithm as a reference. The results show that the visible atmospherically resistant index, vegetative index, and normalized difference vegetation index had the highest correlation with ground truth LCC, with a Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.95. All three regression algorithms (MLR, RF, and SVM) performed well on the training dataset (R2: 0.932–0.944, RMSE: 3.96 to 4.37), but performed differently on validation datasets with different growth stages, species, and nitrogen application levels. Compared to winter wheat species and nitrogen application levels, the growth stages had the greatest influence on the generalization ability of LCC estimation models, especially for the dough stage. At the dough stage, compared to MLR and RF, SVM performed best, with R2 increasing by 0.27 and 0.10, respectively, and RMSE decreasing by 1.13 and 0.46, respectively. Overall, this study demonstrated that the combination of UAV-derived multispectral VIs and the SVM regression algorithm could be successfully applied to map the LCC of winter wheat for different species, growth stages, and nitrogen stress conditions. Ultimately, this research is significant as it shows the successful application of UAV data for mapping the LCC of winter wheat across diverse conditions, offering valuable insights for precision nitrogen fertilization management.