A Split-Step PSO Algorithm in Predicting Construction Litigation Outcome

Abstract. Owing to the highly complicated nature and the escalating cost involved in construction claims, it is highly desirable for the parties to a dispute to know with some certainty how the case would be resolved if it were taken to court. The use of artificial neural networks can be a cost-effective technique to help to predict the outcome of construction claims, on the basis of characteristics of cases and the corresponding past court decisions. This paper presents the application of a split-step particle swarm optimization (PSO) model for training perceptrons to predict the outcome of construction claims in Hong Kong. The advantages of global search capability of PSO algorithm in the first step and local fast convergence of Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm in the second step are combined together. The results demonstrate that, when compared with the benchmark backward propagation algorithm and the conventional PSO algorithm, it attains a higher accuracy in a much shorter time

Computational modeling of land surface temperature using remote sensing data to investigate the spatial arrangement of buildings and energy consumption relationship

The effect of urban form on energy consumption has been the subject of various studies around the world. Having examined the effect of buildings on energy consumption, these studies indicate that the physical form of a city has a notable impact on the amount of energy consumed in its spaces. The present study identified the variables that affected energy consumption in residential buildings and analyzed their effects on energy consumption in four neighborhoods in Tehran: Apadana, Bimeh, Ekbatan-phase I, and Ekbatan-phase II. After extracting the variables, their effects are estimated with statistical methods, and the results are compared with the land surface temperature (LST) remote sensing data derived from Landsat 8 satellite images taken in the winter of 2019. The results showed that physical variables, such as the size of buildings, population density, vegetation cover, texture concentration, and surface color, have the greatest impacts on energy usage. For the Apadana neighborhood, the factors with the most potent effect on energy consumption were found to be the size of buildings and the population density. However, for other neighborhoods, in addition to these two factors, a third factor was also recognized to have a significant effect on energy consumption. This third factor for the Bimeh, Ekbatan-I, and Ekbatan-II neighborhoods was the type of buildings, texture concentration, and orientation of buildings, respectively

Estimating longitudinal dispersion coefficient in natural streams using empirical models and machine learning algorithms

The longitudinal dispersion coefficient (LDC) plays an important role in modeling the transport of pollutants and sediment in natural rivers. As a result of transportation processes, the concentration of pollutants changes along the river. Various studies have been conducted to provide simple equations for estimating LDC. In this study, machine learning methods, namely support vector regression, Gaussian process regression, M5 model tree (M5P) and random forest, and multiple linear regression were examined in predicting the LDC in natural streams. Data sets from 60 rivers around the world with different hydraulic and geometric features were gathered to develop models for LDC estimation. Statistical criteria, including correlation coefficient (CC), root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE), were used to scrutinize the models. The LDC values estimated by these models were compared with the corresponding results of common empirical models. The Taylor chart was used to evaluate the models and the results showed that among the machine learning models, M5P had superior performance, with CC of 0.823, RMSE of 454.9 and MAE of 380.9. The model of Sahay and Dutta, with CC of 0.795, RMSE of 460.7 and MAE of 306.1, gave more precise results than the other empirical models. The main advantage of M5P models is their ability to provide practical formulae. In conclusion, the results proved that the developed M5P model with simple formulations was superior to other machine learning models and empirical models; therefore, it can be used as a proper tool for estimating the LDC in rivers

Investigation of submerged structures’ flexibility on sloshing frequency using a boundary element method and finite element analysis

In this study, the boundary element method–finite element method (BEM-FEM) model is employed to investigate the sloshing and flexibility terms of elastic submerged structures on the behavior of a coupled domain. The methods are finite element and boundary elements which are utilized for structural dynamic and sloshing modeling, respectively. The applied models are used to assess dynamic parameters of a fluid-structure system. Based on the proposed model, a code is developed which can be applied to an arbitrary two- and three- dimensional tank with an arbitrarily shaped elastic submerged structure. Results are validated based on the existing methods represented in the literature and it is concluded that the absolute relative deviation is lower than 2%. Finally, the interactive influences of submerged components which are more meaningful are investigated

Time series-based groundwater level forecasting using gated recurrent unit deep neural networks

In this research, the mean monthly groundwater level with a range of 3.78 m in Qoşaçay plain, Iran, is forecast. Regarding three different layers of gated recurrent unit (GRU) structures and a hybrid of variational mode decomposition with gated recurrent unit (VMD-GRU), deep learning-based neural network models are developed. As the base model for performance comparison, the general single-long short-term memory-layer network model is developed. In all models, the module of sequence-to-one is used because of the lack of meteorological variables recorded in the study area. For modeling, 216 monthly datasets of the mean monthly water table depth of 33 different monitoring piezometers in the period April 2002–March 2020 are utilized. To boost the performance of the models and reduce the overfitting problem, an algorithm tuning process using different types of hyperparameter accompanied by a trial-and-error procedure is applied. Based on performance evaluation metrics, the total learnable parameters value and especially the model grading process, the new double-GRU model coupled with multiplication layer (×) (GRU2× model) is chosen as the best model. Under the optimal hyperparameters, the GRU2× model results in an R 2 of 0.86, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.18 m, a corrected Akaike’s information criterion (AICc) of −280.75, a running time for model training of 87 s and a total grade (TG) of 6.21 in the validation stage; and the hybrid VMD-GRU model yields an RMSE of 0.16 m, an R 2 of 0.92, an AICc of −310.52, a running time of 185 s and a TG of 3.34. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Prediction of multi-inputs bubble column reactor using a novel hybrid model of computational fluid dynamics and machine learning

The combination of machine learning and numerical methods has recently become popular in the prediction of macroscopic and microscopic hydrodynamics parameters of bubble column reactors. Such numerical combination can develop a smart multiphase bubble column reactor with the ability of low-cost computational time when considering the big data. However, the accuracy of such models should be improved by optimizing the data parameters. This paper uses an adaptivenetwork-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to train four big data inputs with a novel integration of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of gas. The results show that the increasing number of input variables improves the intelligence of the ANFIS method up to R = 0.99, and the number of rules during the learning process has a significant effect on the accuracy of this type of modeling. Furthermore, the proper selection of model’s parameters results in higher accuracy in the prediction of the flow characteristics in the column structure

A hybrid adaptive time-delay neural network model for multi-step-ahead prediction of sunspot activity

The availability of accurate empirical models for multi-step-ahead (MS) prediction is desirable in many areas. Some ANN technologies, such as multiple-neural network, time-delay neural network (TDNN), and adaptive time-delay neural network (ATNN), have proven successful in addressing various complicated problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of neural network MS predictive models. Motivated by the above-mentioned technologies, we proposed a hybrid neural network model, which integrated characteristics decomposition units, and a dynamic spline interpolation unit into the multiple ATNNs. Inside the net, the regular and certain information were extracted to ATNN, while both time delays and weights were dynamically adapted. The yearly average of the sunspots, which has been considered by geophysicists, environment scientists, and climatologists as a complicated non-linear system, was selected to test the hybrid model. Comparative results were presented between a traditional MS predictive model based on TDNN and the proposed model. Validation studies indicated that the proposed model is quite effective in MS prediction, especially for single-factor time series.Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringAuthor name used in this publication: Chun-Tian Chen

Poverty alleviation policies and action in Hong Kong : an analysis of public engagement strategies

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio