Automatic generation of fuzzy classification rules using granulation-based adaptive clustering

A central problem of fuzzy modelling is the generation of fuzzy rules that fit the data to the highest possible extent. In this study, we present a method for automatic generation of fuzzy rules from data. The main advantage of the proposed method is its ability to perform data clustering without the requirement of predefining any parameters including number of clusters. The proposed method creates data clusters at different levels of granulation and selects the best clustering results based on some measures. The proposed method involves merging clusters into new clusters that have a coarser granulation. To evaluate performance of the proposed method, three different datasets are used to compare performance of the proposed method to other classifiers: SVM classifier, FCM fuzzy classifier, subtractive clustering fuzzy classifier. Results show that the proposed method has better classification results than other classifiers for all the datasets used

Discovery and Extraction of Protein Sequence Motif Information that Transcends Protein Family Boundaries

Protein sequence motifs are gathering more and more attention in the field of sequence analysis. The recurring patterns have the potential to determine the conformation, function and activities of the proteins. In our work, we obtained protein sequence motifs which are universally conserved across protein family boundaries. Therefore, unlike most popular motif discovering algorithms, our input dataset is extremely large. As a result, an efficient technique is essential. We use two granular computing models, Fuzzy Improved K-means (FIK) and Fuzzy Greedy K-means (FGK), in order to efficiently generate protein motif information. After that, we develop an efficient Super Granular SVM Feature Elimination model to further extract the motif information. During the motifs searching process, setting up a fixed window size in advance may simplify the computational complexity and increase the efficiency. However, due to the fixed size, our model may deliver a number of similar motifs simply shifted by some bases or including mismatches. We develop a new strategy named Positional Association Super-Rule to confront the problem of motifs generated from a fixed window size. It is a combination approach of the super-rule analysis and a novel Positional Association Rule algorithm. We use the super-rule concept to construct a Super-Rule-Tree (SRT) by a modified HHK clustering, which requires no parameter setup to identify the similarities and dissimilarities between the motifs. The positional association rule is created and applied to search similar motifs that are shifted some residues. By analyzing the motifs results generated by our approaches, we realize that these motifs are not only significant in sequence area, but also in secondary structure similarity and biochemical properties

Uncertainty and Interpretability Studies in Soft Computing with an Application to Complex Manufacturing Systems

In systems modelling and control theory, the benefits of applying neural networks have been extensively studied. Particularly in manufacturing processes, such as the prediction of mechanical properties of heat treated steels. However, modern industrial processes usually involve large amounts of data and a range of non-linear effects and interactions that might hinder their model interpretation. For example, in steel manufacturing the understanding of complex mechanisms that lead to the mechanical properties which are generated by the heat treatment process is vital. This knowledge is not available via numerical models, therefore an experienced metallurgist estimates the model parameters to obtain the required properties. This human knowledge and perception sometimes can be imprecise leading to a kind of cognitive uncertainty such as vagueness and ambiguity when making decisions. In system classification, this may be translated into a system deficiency - for example, small input changes in system attributes may result in a sudden and inappropriate change for class assignation. In order to address this issue, practitioners and researches have developed systems that are functional equivalent to fuzzy systems and neural networks. Such systems provide a morphology that mimics the human ability of reasoning via the qualitative aspects of fuzzy information rather by its quantitative analysis. Furthermore, these models are able to learn from data sets and to describe the associated interactions and non-linearities in the data. However, in a like-manner to neural networks, a neural fuzzy system may suffer from a lost of interpretability and transparency when making decisions. This is mainly due to the application of adaptive approaches for its parameter identification. Since the RBF-NN can be treated as a fuzzy inference engine, this thesis presents several methodologies that quantify different types of uncertainty and its influence on the model interpretability and transparency of the RBF-NN during its parameter identification. Particularly, three kind of uncertainty sources in relation to the RBF-NN are studied, namely: entropy, fuzziness and ambiguity. First, a methodology based on Granular Computing (GrC), neutrosophic sets and the RBF-NN is presented. The objective of this methodology is to quantify the hesitation produced during the granular compression at the low level of interpretability of the RBF-NN via the use of neutrosophic sets. This study also aims to enhance the disitnguishability and hence the transparency of the initial fuzzy partition. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is tested against a real case study for the prediction of the properties of heat-treated steels. Secondly, a new Interval Type-2 Radial Basis Function Neural Network (IT2-RBF-NN) is introduced as a new modelling framework. The IT2-RBF-NN takes advantage of the functional equivalence between FLSs of type-1 and the RBF-NN so as to construct an Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic System (IT2-FLS) that is able to deal with linguistic uncertainty and perceptions in the RBF-NN rule base. This gave raise to different combinations when optimising the IT2-RBF-NN parameters. Finally, a twofold study for uncertainty assessment at the high-level of interpretability of the RBF-NN is provided. On the one hand, the first study proposes a new methodology to quantify the a) fuzziness and the b) ambiguity at each RU, and during the formation of the rule base via the use of neutrosophic sets theory. The aim of this methodology is to calculate the associated fuzziness of each rule and then the ambiguity related to each normalised consequence of the fuzzy rules that result from the overlapping and to the choice with one-to-many decisions respectively. On the other hand, a second study proposes a new methodology to quantify the entropy and the fuzziness that come out from the redundancy phenomenon during the parameter identification. To conclude this work, the experimental results obtained through the application of the proposed methodologies for modelling two well-known benchmark data sets and for the prediction of mechanical properties of heat-treated steels conducted to publication of three articles in two peer-reviewed journals and one international conference

Nie-Tan Method and its Improved Version: A Counterexample

Context: The bottleneck on interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems is the output processing when using Centroid Type-Reduction + Defuzzification (CTR+D method). Nie and Tan proposed an approximation to CTR+D (NT method). Recently, Mendel and Liu improved the NT method (INT method). Numerical examples (due to Mendel and Liu) exhibit the NT and INT methods as good approximations to CTR+D.Method: Normalization to the unit interval of membership function domains (examples and counterexample) and variables involved in the calculations for the three methods. Examples (due to Mendel and Liu) taken from the literature. Counterexample with piecewise linear membership functions. Comparison by means of error and percentage relative error.Results: NT vs. CTR+D: Our counterexample showed an error of 0.1014 and a percentage relative error of 30.53%. This is respectively 23 and 32 times higher than the worst case obtained in the examples. INT vs. CTR+D: Our counterexample showed an error of 0.0725 and a percentage relative error of 21.83%. This is respectively 363 and 546 times higher than the worst case obtained in the examples.Conclusions: NT and INT methods are not necessarily good approximations to the CTR+D method

Global Research Performance on the Design and Applications of Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Systems: A Bibliometric Analysis

There has been a significant contribution to scientific literature in the design and applications of Type-2 fuzzy logic systems (T2FLS). The T2FLSs found applications in many aspects of our daily lives, such as engineering, pure science, medicine and social sciences. The online web of science was searched to identify the 100 most frequently cited papers published on the design and application of T2FLS from 1980 to 2016. The articles were analyzed based on authorship, source title, country of origin, institution, document type, web of science category, and year of publication. The correlation between the average citation per year (ACY) and the total citation (TC) was analyzed. It was found that there is a strong relationship between the ACY and TC (r = 0.91643, P<0.01), based on the papers consider in this research.  The “Type -2 fuzzy sets made simple” authored by Mendel and John (2002), published in IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems received the highest TC as well as the ACY. The future trend in this research domain was also analyzed. The present analysis may serve as a guide for selecting qualitative literature especially to the beginners in the field of T2FLS

Centroide de un Conjunto Difuso Tipo-2 de Intervalo: Continuo vs. Discreto

Karnik-Mendel algorithm involves execution of two independent procedures for computing the centroid of an interval type-2 fuzzy set: the first one for computing the left endpoint of the interval centroid (which is denoted by c l ), and the second one for computing its right counterpart (which is denoted by c r ). Convergence of the discrete version of the algorithm to compute the centroid is known, whereas convergence of the continuous version may exhibit some issues. This paper shows that the calculation of c l and c r are really the same problem on the discrete version, and also we describe some problems related with the convergence of the centroid on its continuous version.El algoritmo de Karnik-Mendel presenta siempre dos procedimientos independientes para calcular el centroide de un conjunto difuso tipo-2 de intervalo: el primero calculando su extremo izquierdo (denotado como c l ) y el segundo calculando su extremo derecho (denotado como c r ). Esto a´un es cierto en diferentes versiones del algoritmo que han sido propuestas en la literatura. En la versión discreta del centroide no hay problemas relacionados con la convergencia dado que existe un número finito de términos para sumar. Por otro lado, la versión continua tiene algunos problemas relacionados con la convergencia. Este artículo presenta una discusión simple donde se muestra que el cálculo de c l y c r en su versión discreta es el mismo problema y no dos problemas diferentes. También se muestran algunos problemas relacionados con la convergencia del centroide en su versión continua

Hybrid passivity based and fuzzy type-2 controller for chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems

In this paper a hybrid passivity based and fuzzy type-2 controller for chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems is presented. The proposed control strategy is an appropriate choice to be implemented for the stabilization of chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems due to the energy considerations of the passivity based controller and the flexibility and capability of the fuzzy type-2 controller to deal with uncertainties. As it is known, chaotic systems are those kinds of systems in which one of their Lyapunov exponents is real positive, and hyper-chaotic systems are those kinds of systems in which more than one Lyapunov exponents are real positive. In this article one chaotic Lorentz attractor and one four dimensions hyper-chaotic system are considered to be stabilized with the proposed control strategy. It is proved that both systems are stabilized by the passivity based and fuzzy type-2 controller, in which a control law is designed according to the energy considerations selecting an appropriate storage function to meet the passivity conditions. The fuzzy type-2 controller part is designed in order to behave as a state feedback controller, exploiting the flexibility and the capability to deal with uncertainties. This work begins with the stability analysis of the chaotic Lorentz attractor and a four dimensions hyper-chaotic system. The rest of the paper deals with the design of the proposed control strategy for both systems in order to design an appropriate controller that meets the design requirements. Finally, numerical simulations are done to corroborate the obtained theoretical results.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version