Synthesis in silica nanoreactor: Copper pyrophosphate quantum dots and silver oxide nanocrystallites inside silica mezochannels

The synthesis routes are presented for the preparation of nanocomposites composed of nanocrystals placed inside SBA-15 silica pores. The procedures assume treating the silica channels as nanoreactors, where nanocrystals are created as a result of thermal decomposition of internal functional units. Its sizes and chemical composition can be modified by the change of functional group types and density inside silica channels. The procedure is demonstrated by the example of copper pyrophosphate quantum dots and silver oxide nanoparticles inside silica mezochannels. The method can be easily adopted to other types of nanocrystals that can be synthesized inside silica nanoreactors

Design of interpretable fuzzy systems

This book shows that the term “interpretability” goes far beyond the concept of readability of a fuzzy set and fuzzy rules. It focuses on novel and precise operators of aggregation, inference, and defuzzification leading to flexible Mamdani-type and logical-type systems that can achieve the required accuracy using a less complex rule base. The individual chapters describe various aspects of interpretability, including appropriate selection of the structure of a fuzzy system, focusing on improving the interpretability of fuzzy systems designed using both gradient-learning and evolutionary algorithms. It also demonstrates how to eliminate various system components, such as inputs, rules and fuzzy sets, whose reduction does not adversely affect system accuracy. It illustrates the performance of the developed algorithms and methods with commonly used benchmarks. The book provides valuable tools for possible applications in many fields including expert systems, automatic control and robotics

A new approach to nonlinear modelling of dynamic systems based on fuzzy rules

For many practical weakly nonlinear systems we have their approximated linear model. Its parameters are known or can be determined by one of typical identification procedures. The model obtained using these methods well describes the main features of the system’s dynamics. However, usually it has a low accuracy, which can be a result of the omission of many secondary phenomena in its description. In this paper we propose a new approach to the modelling of weakly nonlinear dynamic systems. In this approach we assume that the model of the weakly nonlinear system is composed of two parts: a linear term and a separate nonlinear correction term. The elements of the correction term are described by fuzzy rules which are designed in such a way as to minimize the inaccuracy resulting from the use of an approximate linear model. This gives us very rich possibilities for exploring and interpreting the operation of the modelled system. An important advantage of the proposed approach is a set of new interpretability criteria of the knowledge represented by fuzzy rules. Taking them into account in the process of automatic model selection allows us to reach a compromise between the accuracy of modelling and the readability of fuzzy rules

On-line signature partitioning using a population based algorithm

The on-line signature is a biometric attribute which can be used for identity verification. It is a very useful characteristic because it is commonly accepted in societies across the world. However, the verification process using this particular biometric feature is a rather difficult one. Researchers working on identity verification involving the on-line signature might face various problems, including the different discriminative power of signature descriptors, the problem of a large number of descriptors, the problem of descriptor generation, etc. However, population-based algorithms (PBAs) can prove very useful when resolving these problems. Hence, we propose a new method for on-line signature partitioning using a PBA in order to improve the verification process effectiveness. Our method uses the Differential Evolution algorithm with a properly defined evaluation function for creating the most characteristic partitions of the dynamic signature. We present simulation results of the proposed method for the BioSecure DS2 database distributed by the BioSecure Association

An algorithm for the evolutionary-fuzzy generation of on-line signature hybrid descriptors

In biometrics, methods which are able to precisely adapt to the biometric features of users are much sought after. They use various methods of artificial intelligence, in particular methods from the group of soft computing. In this paper, we focus on on-line signature verification. Such signatures are complex objects described not only by the shape but also by the dynamics of the signing process. In standard devices used for signature acquisition (with an LCD touch screen) this dynamics may include pen velocity, but sometimes other types of signals are also available, e.g. pen pressure on the screen surface (e.g. in graphic tablets), the angle between the pen and the screen surface, etc. The precision of the on-line signature dynamics processing has been a motivational springboard for developing methods that use signature partitioning. Partitioning uses a well-known principle of decomposing the problem into smaller ones. In this paper, we propose a new partitioning algorithm that uses capabilities of the algorithms based on populations and fuzzy systems. Evolutionary-fuzzy partitioning eliminates the need to average dynamic waveforms in created partitions because it replaces them. Evolutionary separation of partitions results in a better matching of partitions with reference signatures, eliminates disproportions between the number of points describing dynamics in partitions, eliminates the impact of random values, separates partitions related to the signing stage and its dynamics (e.g. high and low velocity of signing, where high and low are imprecise-fuzzy concepts). The operation of the presented algorithm has been tested using the well-known BioSecure DS2 database of real dynamic signatures

Evolutionary algorithm with a configurable search mechanism

In this paper, we propose a new population-based evolutionary algorithm that automatically configures the used search mechanism during its operation, which consists in choosing for each individual of the population a single evolutionary operator from the pool. The pool of operators comes from various evolutionary algorithms. With this idea, a flexible balance between exploration and exploitation of the problem domain can be achieved. The approach proposed in this paper might offer an inspirational alternative in creating evolutionary algorithms and their modifications. Moreover, different strategies for mutating those parts of individuals that encode the used search operators are also taken into account. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm has been tested using typical benchmarks used to test evolutionary algorithms

Evolutionary algorithm for selecting dynamic signatures partitioning approach

In the verification of identity, the aim is to increase effectiveness and reduce involvement of verified users. A good compromise between these issues is ensured by dynamic signature verification. The dynamic signature is represented by signals describing the position of the stylus in time. They can be used to determine the velocity or acceleration signal. Values of these signals can be analyzed, interpreted, selected, and compared. In this paper, we propose an approach that: (a) uses an evolutionary algorithm to create signature partitions in the time and velocity domains; (b) selects the most characteristic partitions in terms of matching with reference signatures; and (c) works individually for each user, eliminating the need of using skilled forgeries. The proposed approach was tested using Biosecure DS2 database which is a part of the DeepSignDB, a database with genuine dynamic signatures. Our simulations confirmed the correctness of the adopted assumptions

Multi-population-based algorithm with an exchange of training plans based on population evaluation

Population Based Algorithms (PBAs) are excellent search tools that allow searching space of parameters defined by problems under consideration. They are especially useful when it is difficult to define a differentiable evaluation criterion. This applies, for example, to problems that are a combination of continuous and discrete (combinatorial) problems. In such problems, it is often necessary to select a certain structure of the solution (e.g. a neural network or other systems with a structure usually selected by the trial and error method) and to determine the parameters of such structure. As PBAs have great application possibilities, the aim is to develop more and more effective search formulas used in them. An interesting approach is to use multiple populations and process them with separate PBAs (in a different way). In this paper, we propose a new multi-population-based algorithm with: (a) subpopulation evaluation and (b) replacement of the associated PBAs subpopulation formulas used for their processing. In the simulations, we used a set of typical CEC2013 benchmark functions. The obtained results confirm the validity of the proposed concept

Monitoring regenerative heat exchanger in steam power plant by making use of the recurrent neural network

Artificial Intelligence algorithms are being increasingly used in industrial applications. Their important function is to support operation of diagnostic systems. This paper presents a new approach to the monitoring of a regenerative heat exchanger in a steam power plant, which is based on a specific use of the Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). The proposed approach was tested using real data. This approach can be easily adapted to similar monitoring applications of other industrial dynamic objects