Adaptive Cooperative Learning Methodology for Oil Spillage Pattern Clustering and Prediction

The serious environmental, economic and social consequences of oil spillages could devastate any nation of the world. Notable aftermath of this effect include loss of (or serious threat to) lives, huge financial losses, and colossal damage to the ecosystem. Hence, understanding the pattern and  making precise predictions in real time is required (as opposed to existing rough and discrete prediction) to give decision makers a more realistic picture of environment. This paper seeks to address this problem by exploiting oil spillage features with sets of collected data of oil spillage scenarios. The proposed system integrates three state-of-the-art tools: self organizing maps, (SOM), ensembles of deep neural network (k-DNN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). It begins with unsupervised learning using SOM, where four natural clusters were discovered and used in making the data suitable for classification and prediction (supervised learning) by ensembles of k-DNN and ANFIS. Results obtained showed the significant classification and prediction improvements, which is largely attributed to the hybrid learning approach, ensemble learning and cognitive reasoning capabilities. However, optimization of k-DNN structure and weights would be needed for speed enhancement. The system would provide a means of understanding the nature, type and severity of oil spillages thereby facilitating a rapid response to impending oils spillages. Keywords: SOM, ANFIS, Fuzzy Logic, Neural Network, Oil Spillage, Ensemble Learnin

Selection of representative feature training sets with self-organized maps for optimized time series modeling and prediction: application to forecasting daily drought conditions with ARIMA and neural network models

While the simulation of stochastic time series is challenging due to their inherently complex nature, this is compounded by the arbitrary and widely accepted feature data usage methods frequently applied during the model development phase. A pertinent context where these practices are reflected is in the forecasting of drought events. This chapter considers optimization of feature data usage by sampling daily data sets via self-organizing maps to select representative training and testing subsets and accordingly, improve the performance of effective drought index (EDI) prediction models. The effect would be observed through a comparison of artificial neural network (ANN) and an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models incorporating the SOM approach through an inspection of commonly used performance indices for the city of Brisbane. This study shows that SOM-ANN ensemble models demonstrate competitive predictive performance for EDI values to those produced by ARIMA models

Coverage, Continuity and Visual Cortical Architecture

The primary visual cortex of many mammals contains a continuous representation of visual space, with a roughly repetitive aperiodic map of orientation preferences superimposed. It was recently found that orientation preference maps (OPMs) obey statistical laws which are apparently invariant among species widely separated in eutherian evolution. Here, we examine whether one of the most prominent models for the optimization of cortical maps, the elastic net (EN) model, can reproduce this common design. The EN model generates representations which optimally trade of stimulus space coverage and map continuity. While this model has been used in numerous studies, no analytical results about the precise layout of the predicted OPMs have been obtained so far. We present a mathematical approach to analytically calculate the cortical representations predicted by the EN model for the joint mapping of stimulus position and orientation. We find that in all previously studied regimes, predicted OPM layouts are perfectly periodic. An unbiased search through the EN parameter space identifies a novel regime of aperiodic OPMs with pinwheel densities lower than found in experiments. In an extreme limit, aperiodic OPMs quantitatively resembling experimental observations emerge. Stabilization of these layouts results from strong nonlocal interactions rather than from a coverage-continuity-compromise. Our results demonstrate that optimization models for stimulus representations dominated by nonlocal suppressive interactions are in principle capable of correctly predicting the common OPM design. They question that visual cortical feature representations can be explained by a coverage-continuity-compromise.Comment: 100 pages, including an Appendix, 21 + 7 figure

A Machine Learning based Framework for KPI Maximization in Emerging Networks using Mobility Parameters

Current LTE network is faced with a plethora of Configuration and Optimization Parameters (COPs), both hard and soft, that are adjusted manually to manage the network and provide better Quality of Experience (QoE). With 5G in view, the number of these COPs are expected to reach 2000 per site, making their manual tuning for finding the optimal combination of these parameters, an impossible fleet. Alongside these thousands of COPs is the anticipated network densification in emerging networks which exacerbates the burden of the network operators in managing and optimizing the network. Hence, we propose a machine learning-based framework combined with a heuristic technique to discover the optimal combination of two pertinent COPs used in mobility, Cell Individual Offset (CIO) and Handover Margin (HOM), that maximizes a specific Key Performance Indicator (KPI) such as mean Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) of all the connected users. The first part of the framework leverages the power of machine learning to predict the KPI of interest given several different combinations of CIO and HOM. The resulting predictions are then fed into Genetic Algorithm (GA) which searches for the best combination of the two mentioned parameters that yield the maximum mean SINR for all users. Performance of the framework is also evaluated using several machine learning techniques, with CatBoost algorithm yielding the best prediction performance. Meanwhile, GA is able to reveal the optimal parameter setting combination more efficiently and with three orders of magnitude faster convergence time in comparison to brute force approach

Medical imaging analysis with artificial neural networks

Given that neural networks have been widely reported in the research community of medical imaging, we provide a focused literature survey on recent neural network developments in computer-aided diagnosis, medical image segmentation and edge detection towards visual content analysis, and medical image registration for its pre-processing and post-processing, with the aims of increasing awareness of how neural networks can be applied to these areas and to provide a foundation for further research and practical development. Representative techniques and algorithms are explained in detail to provide inspiring examples illustrating: (i) how a known neural network with fixed structure and training procedure could be applied to resolve a medical imaging problem; (ii) how medical images could be analysed, processed, and characterised by neural networks; and (iii) how neural networks could be expanded further to resolve problems relevant to medical imaging. In the concluding section, a highlight of comparisons among many neural network applications is included to provide a global view on computational intelligence with neural networks in medical imaging

A Constructive, Incremental-Learning Network for Mixture Modeling and Classification

Gaussian ARTMAP (GAM) is a supervised-learning adaptive resonance theory (ART) network that uses Gaussian-defined receptive fields. Like other ART networks, GAM incrementally learns and constructs a representation of sufficient complexity to solve a problem it is trained on. GAM's representation is a Gaussian mixture model of the input space, with learned mappings from the mixture components to output classes. We show a close relationship between GAM and the well-known Expectation-Maximization (EM) approach to mixture-modeling. GAM outperforms an EM classification algorithm on a classification benchmark, thereby demonstrating the advantage of the ART match criterion for regulating learning, and the ARTMAP match tracking operation for incorporate environmental feedback in supervised learning situations.Office of Naval Research (N00014-95-1-0409