Median evidential c-means algorithm and its application to community detection

Median clustering is of great value for partitioning relational data. In this paper, a new prototype-based clustering method, called Median Evidential C-Means (MECM), which is an extension of median c-means and median fuzzy c-means on the theoretical framework of belief functions is proposed. The median variant relaxes the restriction of a metric space embedding for the objects but constrains the prototypes to be in the original data set. Due to these properties, MECM could be applied to graph clustering problems. A community detection scheme for social networks based on MECM is investigated and the obtained credal partitions of graphs, which are more refined than crisp and fuzzy ones, enable us to have a better understanding of the graph structures. An initial prototype-selection scheme based on evidential semi-centrality is presented to avoid local premature convergence and an evidential modularity function is defined to choose the optimal number of communities. Finally, experiments in synthetic and real data sets illustrate the performance of MECM and show its difference to other methods

Land cover classification using fuzzy rules and aggregation of contextual information through evidence theory

Land cover classification using multispectral satellite image is a very challenging task with numerous practical applications. We propose a multi-stage classifier that involves fuzzy rule extraction from the training data and then generation of a possibilistic label vector for each pixel using the fuzzy rule base. To exploit the spatial correlation of land cover types we propose four different information aggregation methods which use the possibilistic class label of a pixel and those of its eight spatial neighbors for making the final classification decision. Three of the aggregation methods use Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence while the remaining one is modeled after the fuzzy k-NN rule. The proposed methods are tested with two benchmark seven channel satellite images and the results are found to be quite satisfactory. They are also compared with a Markov random field (MRF) model-based contextual classification method and found to perform consistently better.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Evidential Evolving Gustafson-Kessel Algorithm For Online Data Streams Partitioning Using Belief Function Theory.

International audienceA new online clustering method called E2GK (Evidential Evolving Gustafson-Kessel) is introduced. This partitional clustering algorithm is based on the concept of credal partition defined in the theoretical framework of belief functions. A credal partition is derived online by applying an algorithm resulting from the adaptation of the Evolving Gustafson-Kessel (EGK) algorithm. Online partitioning of data streams is then possible with a meaningful interpretation of the data structure. A comparative study with the original online procedure shows that E2GK outperforms EGK on different entry data sets. To show the performance of E2GK, several experiments have been conducted on synthetic data sets as well as on data collected from a real application problem. A study of parameters' sensitivity is also carried out and solutions are proposed to limit complexity issues

Informational Paradigm, management of uncertainty and theoretical formalisms in the clustering framework: A review

Fifty years have gone by since the publication of the first paper on clustering based on fuzzy sets theory. In 1965, L.A. Zadeh had published “Fuzzy Sets” [335]. After only one year, the first effects of this seminal paper began to emerge, with the pioneering paper on clustering by Bellman, Kalaba, Zadeh [33], in which they proposed a prototypal of clustering algorithm based on the fuzzy sets theory

Paradox Elimination in Dempster–Shafer Combination Rule with Novel Entropy Function: Application in Decision-Level Multi-Sensor Fusion

Multi-sensor data fusion technology in an important tool in building decision-making applications. Modified Dempster–Shafer (DS) evidence theory can handle conflicting sensor inputs and can be applied without any prior information. As a result, DS-based information fusion is very popular in decision-making applications, but original DS theory produces counterintuitive results when combining highly conflicting evidences from multiple sensors. An effective algorithm offering fusion of highly conflicting information in spatial domain is not widely reported in the literature. In this paper, a successful fusion algorithm is proposed which addresses these limitations of the original Dempster–Shafer (DS) framework. A novel entropy function is proposed based on Shannon entropy, which is better at capturing uncertainties compared to Shannon and Deng entropy. An 8-step algorithm has been developed which can eliminate the inherent paradoxes of classical DS theory. Multiple examples are presented to show that the proposed method is effective in handling conflicting information in spatial domain. Simulation results showed that the proposed algorithm has competitive convergence rate and accuracy compared to other methods presented in the literature

Content And Multimedia Database Management Systems

A database management system is a general-purpose software system that facilitates the processes of defining, constructing, and manipulating databases for various applications. The main characteristic of the ‘database approach’ is that it increases the value of data by its emphasis on data independence. DBMSs, and in particular those based on the relational data model, have been very successful at the management of administrative data in the business domain. This thesis has investigated data management in multimedia digital libraries, and its implications on the design of database management systems. The main problem of multimedia data management is providing access to the stored objects. The content structure of administrative data is easily represented in alphanumeric values. Thus, database technology has primarily focused on handling the objects’ logical structure. In the case of multimedia data, representation of content is far from trivial though, and not supported by current database management systems

TEXTUAL DATA MINING FOR NEXT GENERATION INTELLIGENT DECISION MAKING IN INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT: A SURVEY

This paper proposes textual data mining as a next generation intelligent decision making technology for sustainable knowledge management solutions in any industrial environment. A detailed survey of applications of Data Mining techniques for exploiting information from different data formats and transforming this information into knowledge is presented in the literature survey. The focus of the survey is to show the power of different data mining techniques for exploiting information from data. The literature surveyed in this paper shows that intelligent decision making is of great importance in many contexts within manufacturing, construction and business generally. Business intelligence tools, which can be interpreted as decision support tools, are of increasing importance to companies for their success within competitive global markets. However, these tools are dependent on the relevancy, accuracy and overall quality of the knowledge on which they are based and which they use. Thus the research work presented in the paper uncover the importance and power of different data mining techniques supported by text mining methods used to exploit information from semi-structured or un-structured data formats. A great source of information is available in these formats and when exploited by combined efforts of data and text mining tools help the decision maker to take effective decision for the enhancement of business of industry and discovery of useful knowledge is made for next generation of intelligent decision making. Thus the survey shows the power of textual data mining as the next generation technology for intelligent decision making in the industrial environment

Parallel Evidence-Based Indexing of Complex Three-Dimensional Models Using Prototypical Parts and Relations (Dissertation Proposal)

This proposal is concerned with three-dimensional object recognition from range data using superquadric primitives. Superquadrics are a family of parametric shape models which represent objects at the part level and can account for a wide variety of natural and man-made forms. An integrated framework for segmenting dense range data of complex 3-D objects into their constituent parts in terms of bi-quadric surface patches and superquadric shape primitives is described in [29]. We propose a vision architecture that scales well as the size of its model database grows. Following the recovery of superquadric primitives from the input depth map, we split the computation into two concurrent processing streams. One is concerned with the classification of individual parts using viewpoint-invariant shape information while the other classifies pairwise part relationships using their relative size, orientation and type of joint. The major contribution of this proposal lies in a principled solution to the very difficult problems of superquadric part classification and model indexing. The problem is how to retrieve the best matched models without exploring all possible object matches. Our approach is to cluster together similar model parts to create a reasonable number of prototypical part classes (protoparts). Each superquadric part recovered from the input is paired with the best matching protopart using precomputed class statistics. A parallel, theoretically-well grounded evidential recognition algorithm quickly selects models consistent with the classified parts. Classified part relations (protorelations) are used to further reduce the number of consistent models and remaining ambiguities are resolved using sequential top-down search