3,101 research outputs found

    Absorbing Random Walks Interpolating Between Centrality Measures on Complex Networks

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    Centrality, which quantifies the "importance" of individual nodes, is among the most essential concepts in modern network theory. As there are many ways in which a node can be important, many different centrality measures are in use. Here, we concentrate on versions of the common betweenness and it closeness centralities. The former measures the fraction of paths between pairs of nodes that go through a given node, while the latter measures an average inverse distance between a particular node and all other nodes. Both centralities only consider shortest paths (i.e., geodesics) between pairs of nodes. Here we develop a method, based on absorbing Markov chains, that enables us to continuously interpolate both of these centrality measures away from the geodesic limit and toward a limit where no restriction is placed on the length of the paths the walkers can explore. At this second limit, the interpolated betweenness and closeness centralities reduce, respectively, to the well-known it current betweenness and resistance closeness (information) centralities. The method is tested numerically on four real networks, revealing complex changes in node centrality rankings with respect to the value of the interpolation parameter. Non-monotonic betweenness behaviors are found to characterize nodes that lie close to inter-community boundaries in the studied networks

    Conformance Testing as Falsification for Cyber-Physical Systems

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    In Model-Based Design of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), it is often desirable to develop several models of varying fidelity. Models of different fidelity levels can enable mathematical analysis of the model, control synthesis, faster simulation etc. Furthermore, when (automatically or manually) transitioning from a model to its implementation on an actual computational platform, then again two different versions of the same system are being developed. In all previous cases, it is necessary to define a rigorous notion of conformance between different models and between models and their implementations. This paper argues that conformance should be a measure of distance between systems. Albeit a range of theoretical distance notions exists, a way to compute such distances for industrial size systems and models has not been proposed yet. This paper addresses exactly this problem. A universal notion of conformance as closeness between systems is rigorously defined, and evidence is presented that this implies a number of other application-dependent conformance notions. An algorithm for detecting that two systems are not conformant is then proposed, which uses existing proven tools. A method is also proposed to measure the degree of conformance between two systems. The results are demonstrated on a range of models

    Using Expert Models in Human Reliability Analysis - A Dependence Assessment Method Based on Fuzzy Logic

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    International audienceIn human reliability analysis (HRA), dependence analysis refers to assessing the influence of the failure of the operators to perform one task on the failure probabilities of subsequent tasks. A commonly used approach is the technique for human error rate prediction (THERP). The assessment of the dependence level in THERP is a highly subjective judgment based on general rules for the influence of five main factors. A frequently used alternative method extends the THERP model with decision trees. Such trees should increase the repeatability of the assessments but they simplify the relationships among the factors and the dependence level. Moreover, the basis for these simplifications and the resulting tree is difficult to trace. The aim of this work is a method for dependence assessment in HRA that captures the rules used by experts to assess dependence levels and incorporates this knowledge into an algorithm and software tool to be used by HRA analysts. A fuzzy expert system (FES) underlies the method. The method and the associated expert elicitation process are demonstrated with a working model. The expert rules are elicited systematically and converted into a traceable, explicit, and computable model. Anchor situations are provided as guidance for the HRA analyst's judgment of the input factors. The expert model and the FES-based dependence assessment method make the expert rules accessible to the analyst in a usable and repeatable way, with an explicit and traceable basis

    A two-level structure for advanced space power system automation

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    The tasks to be carried out during the three-year project period are: (1) performing extensive simulation using existing mathematical models to build a specific knowledge base of the operating characteristics of space power systems; (2) carrying out the necessary basic research on hierarchical control structures, real-time quantitative algorithms, and decision-theoretic procedures; (3) developing a two-level automation scheme for fault detection and diagnosis, maintenance and restoration scheduling, and load management; and (4) testing and demonstration. The outlines of the proposed system structure that served as a master plan for this project, work accomplished, concluding remarks, and ideas for future work are also addressed

    Dynamic Fuzzy Rule Interpolation

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    Transformation-Based Fuzzy Rule Interpolation Using Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Sets

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    In support of reasoning with sparse rule bases, fuzzy rule interpolation (FRI) offers a helpful inference mechanism for deriving an approximate conclusion when a given observation has no overlap with any rule in the existing rule base. One of the recent and popular FRI approaches is the scale and move transformation-based rule interpolation, known as T-FRI in the literature. It supports both interpolation and extrapolation with multiple multi-antecedent rules. However, the difficult problem of defining the precise-valued membership functions required in the representation of fuzzy rules, or of the observations, restricts its applications. Fortunately, this problem can be alleviated through the use of type-2 fuzzy sets, owing to the fact that the membership functions of such fuzzy sets are themselves fuzzy, providing a more flexible means of modelling. This paper therefore, extends the existing T-FRI approach using interval type-2 fuzzy sets, which covers the original T-FRI as its specific instance. The effectiveness of this extension is demonstrated by experimental investigations and, also, by a practical application in comparison to the state-of-the-art alternative approach developed using rough-fuzzy setspublishersversionPeer reviewe
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