A Functional Architecture Approach to Neural Systems

The technology for the design of systems to perform extremely complex combinations of real-time functionality has developed over a long period. This technology is based on the use of a hardware architecture with a physical separation into memory and processing, and a software architecture which divides functionality into a disciplined hierarchy of software components which exchange unambiguous information. This technology experiences difficulty in design of systems to perform parallel processing, and extreme difficulty in design of systems which can heuristically change their own functionality. These limitations derive from the approach to information exchange between functional components. A design approach in which functional components can exchange ambiguous information leads to systems with the recommendation architecture which are less subject to these limitations. Biological brains have been constrained by natural pressures to adopt functional architectures with this different information exchange approach. Neural networks have not made a complete shift to use of ambiguous information, and do not address adequate management of context for ambiguous information exchange between modules. As a result such networks cannot be scaled to complex functionality. Simulations of systems with the recommendation architecture demonstrate the capability to heuristically organize to perform complex functionality

Rough Neural Networks Architecture For Improving Generalization In Pattern Recognition

Neural networks are found to be attractive trainable machines for pattern recognition. The capability of these models to accommodate wide variety and variability of conditions, and the ability to imitate brain functions, make them popular research area. This research focuses on developing hybrid rough neural networks. These novel approaches are assumed to provide superior performance with respect to detection and automatic target recognition.In this thesis, hybrid architectures of rough set theory and neural networks have been investigated, developed, and implemented. The first hybrid approach provides novel neural network referred to as Rough Shared weight Neural Networks (RSNN). It uses the concept of approximation based on rough neurons to feature extraction, and experiences the methodology of weight sharing. The network stages are a feature extraction network, and a classification network. The extraction network is composed of rough neurons that accounts for the upper and lower approximations and embeds a membership function to replace ordinary activation functions. The neural network learns the rough set’s upper and lower approximations as feature extractors simultaneously with classification. The RSNN implements a novel approximation transform. The basic design for the network is provided together with the learning rules. The architecture provides a novel method to pattern recognition and is expected to be robust to any pattern recognition problem. The second hybrid approach is a two stand alone subsystems, referred to as Rough Neural Networks (RNN). The extraction network extracts detectors that represent pattern’s classes to be supplied to the classification network. It works as a filter for original distilled features based on equivalence relations and rough set reduction, while the second is responsible for classification of the outputs from the first system. The two approaches were applied to image pattern recognition problems. The RSNN was applied to automatic target recognition problem. The data is Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image scenes of tanks, and background. The RSNN provides a novel methodology for designing nonlinear filters without prior knowledge of the problem domain. The RNN was used to detect patterns present in satellite image. A novel feature extraction algorithm was developed to extract the feature vectors. The algorithm enhances the recognition ability of the system compared to manual extraction and labeling of pattern classes. The performance of the rough backpropagation network is improved compared to backpropagation of the same architecture. The network has been designed to produce detection plane for the desired pattern. The hybrid approaches developed in this thesis provide novel techniques to recognition static and dynamic representation of patterns. In both domains the rough set theory improved generalization of the neural networks paradigms. The methodologies are theoretically robust to any pattern recognition problem, and are proved practically for image environments

Magnification Control in Self-Organizing Maps and Neural Gas

We consider different ways to control the magnification in self-organizing maps (SOM) and neural gas (NG). Starting from early approaches of magnification control in vector quantization, we then concentrate on different approaches for SOM and NG. We show that three structurally similar approaches can be applied to both algorithms: localized learning, concave-convex learning, and winner relaxing learning. Thereby, the approach of concave-convex learning in SOM is extended to a more general description, whereas the concave-convex learning for NG is new. In general, the control mechanisms generate only slightly different behavior comparing both neural algorithms. However, we emphasize that the NG results are valid for any data dimension, whereas in the SOM case the results hold only for the one-dimensional case.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure

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

Credit Scoring Based on Hybrid Data Mining Classification

The credit scoring has been regarded as a critical topic. This study proposed four approaches combining with the NN (Neural Network) classifier for features selection that retains sufficient information for classification purpose. Two UCI data sets and different approaches combined with NN classifier were constructed by selecting features. NN classifier combines with conventional statistical LDA, Decision tree, Rough set and F-score approaches as features preprocessing step to optimize feature space by removing both irrelevant and redundant features. The procedure of the proposed algorithm is described first and then evaluated by their performances. The results are compared in combination with NN classifier and nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test will be held to show if there has any significant difference between these approaches. Our results suggest that hybrid credit scoring models are robust and effective in finding optimal subsets and the compound procedure is a promising method to the fields of data mining