Information

7741 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of T-Norms and S-Norms for Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Numbers in Weight Adjustment for Neural Networks

by Fernando Gaxiola, Patricia Melin, Fevrier Valdez, Oscar Castillo and Juan R. Castro

Information 2017, 8(3), 114; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030114 - 20 Sep 2017

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5808

A comparison of different T-norms and S-norms for interval type-2 fuzzy number weights is proposed in this work. The interval type-2 fuzzy number weights are used in a neural network with an interval backpropagation learning enhanced method for weight adjustment. Results of experiments [...] Read more.

A comparison of different T-norms and S-norms for interval type-2 fuzzy number weights is proposed in this work. The interval type-2 fuzzy number weights are used in a neural network with an interval backpropagation learning enhanced method for weight adjustment. Results of experiments and a comparative research between traditional neural networks and the neural network with interval type-2 fuzzy number weights with different T-norms and S-norms are presented to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach. In this research, the definitions of the lower and upper interval type-2 fuzzy numbers with random initial values are presented; this interval represents the footprint of uncertainty (FOU). The proposed work is based on recent works that have considered the adaptation of weights using type-2 fuzzy numbers. To confirm the efficiency of the proposed method, a case of data prediction is applied, in particular for the Mackey-Glass time series (for τ = 17). Noise of Gaussian type was applied to the testing data of the Mackey-Glass time series to demonstrate that the neural network using a interval type-2 fuzzy numbers method achieves a lower susceptibility to noise than other methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Artificial Intelligence)

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915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Volume Shocks around Announcements in the Chinese Stock Market: An Ex-Post Earnings-Information-Based Study of Speculative Behavior

by Xiangdong Chen, Fei Wang, Wei Wang and Valerie Hunstock

Information 2017, 8(3), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030112 - 14 Sep 2017

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4692

Abstract

The Second Board Market is typical stock market for high tech companies in China. This paper discusses the relationship between trading volume and price changes in the case of high-tech listed companies in the Chinese Second-Board Stock Market. By using the basic concepts [...] Read more.

The Second Board Market is typical stock market for high tech companies in China. This paper discusses the relationship between trading volume and price changes in the case of high-tech listed companies in the Chinese Second-Board Stock Market. By using the basic concepts proposed by Kim and Verrecchia, and Kandel and Pearson, and contrasting them with ex-post information from earnings releases, the paper provides findings on the speculative behavior of informed traders with a volume shock premium. The paper suggests that these methods may be further applied to investigating investors’ behavior in speculation, especially for the high-tech-company-based Second-Board Stock Market during announcement periods. Full article

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3030 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cooperative Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access with Energy Harvesting

by Weidong Guo and Yunfeng Wang

Information 2017, 8(3), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030111 - 14 Sep 2017

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5430

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the outage probability of an amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) model in multi-relay multiuser networks. In contrast to conventional cooperative networks, relays in the considered network have no embedded energy supply; they need to rely on [...] Read more.

In this paper, we analyze the outage probability of an amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) model in multi-relay multiuser networks. In contrast to conventional cooperative networks, relays in the considered network have no embedded energy supply; they need to rely on the energy harvested from the signals broadcasted by the source for their cooperative NOMA transmission. Based on this structure, a new relay selection scheme is proposed, considering both channel state information (CSI) and battery status of relays. Assuming each relay has infinite or finite energy storage for accumulating energy, we use the infinite or finite Markov chain to capture the evolution of relay batteries and certain simplified assumptions to reduce computational complexity of the Markov chain analysis. The approximate closed-form expressions for the outage probability of the proposed scheme are derived therefrom. All theoretical results are validated by numerical simulations. The impacts of the system parameters, such as relay number, energy harvesting threshold and battery size, on the performance are extensively investigated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Information and Communications Technology)

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263 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Linguistic Neutrosophic Cubic Numbers and Their Multiple Attribute Decision-Making Method

by Jun Ye

Information 2017, 8(3), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030110 - 8 Sep 2017

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 4607

Abstract

To describe both certain linguistic neutrosophic information and uncertain linguistic neutrosophic information simultaneously in the real world, this paper originally proposes the concept of a linguistic neutrosophic cubic number (LNCN), including an internal LNCN and external LNCN. In LNCN, its uncertain linguistic neutrosophic [...] Read more.

To describe both certain linguistic neutrosophic information and uncertain linguistic neutrosophic information simultaneously in the real world, this paper originally proposes the concept of a linguistic neutrosophic cubic number (LNCN), including an internal LNCN and external LNCN. In LNCN, its uncertain linguistic neutrosophic number consists of the truth, indeterminacy, and falsity uncertain linguistic variables, and its linguistic neutrosophic number consists of the truth, indeterminacy, and falsity linguistic variables to express their hybrid information. Then, we present the operational laws of LNCNs and the score, accuracy, and certain functions of LNCN for comparing/ranking LNCNs. Next, we propose a LNCN weighted arithmetic averaging (LNCNWAA) operator and a LNCN weighted geometric averaging (LNCNWGA) operator to aggregate linguistic neutrosophic cubic information and discuss their properties. Further, a multiple attribute decision-making method based on the LNCNWAA or LNCNWGA operator is developed under a linguistic neutrosophic cubic environment. Finally, an illustrative example is provided to indicate the application of the developed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neutrosophic Information Theory and Applications)

558 KiB

Open AccessReview

Frequent Releases in Open Source Software: A Systematic Review

by Antonio Cesar Brandão Gomes da Silva, Glauco De Figueiredo Carneiro, Fernando Brito e Abreu and Miguel Pessoa Monteiro

Information 2017, 8(3), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030109 - 5 Sep 2017

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6019

Abstract

Context: The need to accelerate software delivery, supporting faster time-to-market and frequent community developer/user feedback are issues that have led to relevant changes in software development practices. One example is the adoption of Rapid Release (RR) by several Open Source Software projects (OSS). [...] Read more.

Context: The need to accelerate software delivery, supporting faster time-to-market and frequent community developer/user feedback are issues that have led to relevant changes in software development practices. One example is the adoption of Rapid Release (RR) by several Open Source Software projects (OSS). This raises the need to know how these projects deal with software release approaches. Goal: Identify the main characteristics of software release initiatives in OSS projects, the motivations behind their adoption, strategies applied, as well as advantages and difficulties found. Method: We conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to reach the stated goal. Results: The SLR includes 33 publications from January 2006 to July 2016 and reveals nine advantages that characterize software release approaches in OSS projects; four challenge issues; three possibilities of implementation and two main motivations towards the adoption of RR; and finally four main strategies to implement it. Conclusion: This study provides an up-to-date and structured understanding of the software release approaches in the context of OSS projects based on findings systematically collected from a list of relevant references in the last decade. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG 2017))

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Open AccessArticle

Collecting Sensed Data with Opportunistic Networks: The Case of Contact Information Overhead

by Tekenate E. Amah, Maznah Kamat, Kamalrulnizam Abu Bakar, Syed Othmawi Abd Rahman, Muhammad Hafiz Mohammed, Aliyu M. Abali, Waldir Moreira and Antonio Oliveira

Information 2017, 8(3), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030108 - 5 Sep 2017

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 13423

Abstract

The rising human population in urban environments drives the mission towards smart cities, which envisions a wide deployment of sensors in order to improve the quality of living. In this regard, opportunistic networks (OppNets) present an economical means of collecting delay tolerant data [...] Read more.

The rising human population in urban environments drives the mission towards smart cities, which envisions a wide deployment of sensors in order to improve the quality of living. In this regard, opportunistic networks (OppNets) present an economical means of collecting delay tolerant data from sensors to their respective gateways for providing various Smart City services. Due to the distributed nature of the network, encounter-based routing protocols achieve acceptable throughput by requiring nodes to exchange and update contact information on an encounter basis. Unfortunately, sufficient insight into the associated overhead is lacking in the literature. Hence, we contribute by modelling contact information overhead and investigating its impact on OppNet routing, particularly in terms of data exchange success and energy consumption on portable handheld devices. Our findings reveal that the expected contact information overhead in Smart City scenarios significantly reduces data exchange success and increases energy consumption on portable handheld devices, thereby threatening the feasibility of the technology. We address this issue by proposing an algorithm that can be incorporated into encounter-based routing protocols to reduce contact information overhead without compromising throughput. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithm reduces the average contact information overhead, increases throughput and reduces average energy consumption. Full article

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Graphical abstract

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Open AccessArticle

Bonferroni Mean Operators of Linguistic Neutrosophic Numbers and Their Multiple Attribute Group Decision-Making Methods

by Changxing Fan, Jun Ye, Keli Hu and En Fan

Information 2017, 8(3), 107; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030107 - 1 Sep 2017

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 5260

Abstract

Linguistic neutrosophic numbers (LNN) is presented by Fang and Ye in 2017, which can describe the truth, falsity, and indeterminacy linguistic information independently. In this paper, the LNN and the Bonferroni mean operator are merged together to propose a LNN normalized weighted Bonferroni [...] Read more.

Linguistic neutrosophic numbers (LNN) is presented by Fang and Ye in 2017, which can describe the truth, falsity, and indeterminacy linguistic information independently. In this paper, the LNN and the Bonferroni mean operator are merged together to propose a LNN normalized weighted Bonferroni mean (LNNNWBM) operator and a LNN normalized weighted geometric Bonferroni mean (LNNNWGBM) operator and the properties of these two operators are proved. Further, multi-attribute group decision methods are introduced based on the proposed LNNNWBM and LNNNWGBM operators, and then an example is provided to demonstrate the application and validity of the proposed methods. In addition, in order to consider the effect of the parameters p and q on the decision results, different pairs of parameter values are employed to verify the decision results. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Arabic Handwritten Alphanumeric Character Recognition Using Very Deep Neural Network

by MohammedAli Mudhsh and Rolla Almodfer

Information 2017, 8(3), 105; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030105 - 31 Aug 2017

Cited by 48 | Viewed by 10010

Abstract

The traditional algorithms for recognizing handwritten alphanumeric characters are dependent on hand-designed features. In recent days, deep learning techniques have brought about new breakthrough technology for pattern recognition applications, especially for handwritten recognition. However, deeper networks are needed to deliver state-of-the-art results in [...] Read more.

The traditional algorithms for recognizing handwritten alphanumeric characters are dependent on hand-designed features. In recent days, deep learning techniques have brought about new breakthrough technology for pattern recognition applications, especially for handwritten recognition. However, deeper networks are needed to deliver state-of-the-art results in this area. In this paper, inspired by the success of the very deep state-of-the-art VGGNet, we propose Alphanumeric VGG net for Arabic handwritten alphanumeric character recognition. Alphanumeric VGG net is constructed by thirteen convolutional layers, two max-pooling layers, and three fully-connected layers. The proposed model is fast and reliable, which improves the classification performance. Besides, this model has also reduced the overall complexity of VGGNet. We evaluated our approach on two benchmarking databases. We have achieved very promising results, with a validation accuracy of 99.66% for the ADBase database and 97.32% for the HACDB database. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Artificial Intelligence)

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Open AccessArticle

An Extended VIKOR-Based Approach for Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Plant Site Selection with Heterogeneous Information

by Yunna Wu, Lingyun Liu, Jianwei Gao, Han Chu and Chuanbo Xu

Information 2017, 8(3), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030106 - 30 Aug 2017

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 5964

Abstract

The selection of a desirable site for constructing a pumped hydro energy storage plant (PHESP) plays a vital important role in the whole life cycle. However, little research has been done on the site selection of PHESP, which affects the rapid development of [...] Read more.

The selection of a desirable site for constructing a pumped hydro energy storage plant (PHESP) plays a vital important role in the whole life cycle. However, little research has been done on the site selection of PHESP, which affects the rapid development of PHESP. Therefore, this paper aims to select the most ideal PHESP site from numerous candidate alternatives using the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique. Firstly, a comprehensive evaluation criteria system is established for the first time. Then, considering quantitative and qualitative criteria coexist in this system, multiple types of representations, including crisp numerical values (CNVs), triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (TIFNs), and 2-dimension uncertain linguistic variables (2DULVs), are employed to deal with heterogeneous criteria information. To determine the weight of criteria and fully take the preference of the decision makers (DMs) into account, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method is applied for criteria weighting. After that, an extended Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method is utilized to provide compromise solutions for the PHESP site considering such heterogeneous information. At last, the proposed model is then applied in a case study of Zhejiang province, China to illustrate its practicality and efficiency. The result shows the Changlongshan should be selected as the optimal PHESP. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Information Theory and Methodology)

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Open AccessArticle

Edge Detection Method Based on General Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Applied to Color Images

by Claudia I. Gonzalez, Patricia Melin and Oscar Castillo

Information 2017, 8(3), 104; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030104 - 28 Aug 2017

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 6313

Abstract

This paper presents a new general type-2 fuzzy logic method for edge detection applied to color format images. The proposed algorithm combines the methodology based on the image gradients and general type-2 fuzzy logic theory to provide a powerful edge detection method. General [...] Read more.

This paper presents a new general type-2 fuzzy logic method for edge detection applied to color format images. The proposed algorithm combines the methodology based on the image gradients and general type-2 fuzzy logic theory to provide a powerful edge detection method. General type-2 fuzzy inference systems are approximated using the α-planes approach. The edge detection method is tested on a database of color images with the idea of illustrating the advantage of applying the fuzzy edge detection approach on color images against grayscale format images, and also when the images are corrupted by noise. This paper compares the proposed method based on general type-2 fuzzy logic with other edge detection algorithms, such as ones based on type-1 and interval type-2 fuzzy systems. Simulation results show that edge detection based on a general type-2 fuzzy system outperforms the other methods because of its ability to handle the intrinsic uncertainty in this problem. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuzzy Logic for Image Processing)

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813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel STDM Watermarking Using Visual Saliency-Based JND Model

by Chunxing Wang, Teng Zhang, Wenbo Wan, Xiaoyue Han and Meiling Xu

Information 2017, 8(3), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030103 - 25 Aug 2017

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4702

Abstract

The just noticeable distortion (JND) model plays an important role in measuring the visual visibility for spread transform dither modulation (STDM) watermarking. However, the existing JND model characterizes the suprathreshold distortions with an equal saliency level. Visual saliency (VS) has been widely studied [...] Read more.

The just noticeable distortion (JND) model plays an important role in measuring the visual visibility for spread transform dither modulation (STDM) watermarking. However, the existing JND model characterizes the suprathreshold distortions with an equal saliency level. Visual saliency (VS) has been widely studied by psychologists and computer scientists during the last decade, where the distortions are more likely to be noticeable to any viewer. With this consideration, we proposed a novel STDM watermarking method for a monochrome image by exploiting a visual saliency-based JND model. In our proposed JND model, a simple VS model is employed as a feature to reflect the importance of a local region and compute the final JND map. Extensive experiments performed on the classic image databases demonstrate that the proposed watermarking scheme works better in terms of the robustness than other related methods. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

A Robust Timetabling Model for a Metro Line with Passenger Activity Information

by Lai Wei and Zhenzhou Yuan

Information 2017, 8(3), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030102 - 25 Aug 2017

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5007

Abstract

Timetable design is crucial to the reliability of a metro service. In terms of the delays caused by passengers’ boarding and alighting behaviors during rush hours, the planned timetable for a metro line with high-frequency service tends to be difficult to implement. General [...] Read more.

Timetable design is crucial to the reliability of a metro service. In terms of the delays caused by passengers’ boarding and alighting behaviors during rush hours, the planned timetable for a metro line with high-frequency service tends to be difficult to implement. General oversaturation events, rather than accidents or track damage, still have a significant impact on metro systems, so that trains are canceled and delayed. When the activity reality diverges from the real-time or historical information, it is imperative that dispatchers present a good solution during the planning stage in order to minimize the nuisance for passengers and reduce the crowding risk. This paper presents a robust timetabling model (RTM) for a metro line with passenger activity information, which takes into account congestion and buffer time adjustments. The main objective pursued by dispatchers in the model is the enhancement of punctuality while minimizing train delays by adjusting the buffer time. By explicitly taking the passenger activity information into account, a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model was developed, and a genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed to solve the model. Finally, numerical experiments based on the Batong line of the Beijing Metro were carried out, the results of which verify the effectiveness and efficiency of our method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems)

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Open AccessReview

An Adaptive Traffic Signal Control in a Connected Vehicle Environment: A Systematic Review

by Peng Jing, Hao Huang and Long Chen

Information 2017, 8(3), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030101 - 24 Aug 2017

Cited by 50 | Viewed by 14301

Abstract

In the last few years, traffic congestion has become a growing concern due to increasing vehicle ownerships in urban areas. Intersections are one of the major bottlenecks that contribute to urban traffic congestion. Traditional traffic signal control systems cannot adjust the timing pattern [...] Read more.

In the last few years, traffic congestion has become a growing concern due to increasing vehicle ownerships in urban areas. Intersections are one of the major bottlenecks that contribute to urban traffic congestion. Traditional traffic signal control systems cannot adjust the timing pattern depending on road traffic demand. This results in excessive delays for road users. Adaptive traffic signal control in a connected vehicle environment has shown a powerful ability to effectively alleviate urban traffic congestions to achieve desirable objectives (e.g., delay minimization). Connected vehicle technology, as an emerging technology, is a mobile data platform that enables the real-time data exchange among vehicles and between vehicles and infrastructure. Although several reviews about traffic signal control or connected vehicles have been written, a systemic review of adaptive traffic signal control in a connected vehicle environment has not been made. Twenty-six eligible studies searched from six databases constitute the review. A quality evaluation was established based on previous research instruments and applied to the current review. The purpose of this paper is to critically review the existing methods of adaptive traffic signal control in a connected vehicle environment and to compare the advantages or disadvantages of those methods. Further, a systematic framework on connected vehicle based adaptive traffic signal control is summarized to support the future research. Future research is needed to develop more efficient and generic adaptive traffic signal control methods in a connected vehicle environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems)

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Open AccessArticle

Physical Layer Security and Optimal Multi-Time-Slot Power Allocation of SWIPT System Powered by Hybrid Energy

by Dandan Guo, Baogang Li and Wei Zhao

Information 2017, 8(3), 100; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030100 - 16 Aug 2017

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4680

Abstract

In this paper, a new approach is proposed to solve the constrained optimization problem of saving grid energy and increasing safety in a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) system. The traditional grid energy is combined with the renewable energy to form [...] Read more.

In this paper, a new approach is proposed to solve the constrained optimization problem of saving grid energy and increasing safety in a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) system. The traditional grid energy is combined with the renewable energy to form a hybrid energy, which provides power for the system to achieve green wireless transmission. The transfer process of SWIPT system is divided into multiple time slots. The renewable energy is harvested and stored in battery at each time slot. A multi-time-slot artificial noise-assisted transmission strategy is proposed to reduce the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of eavesdropping link. A power allocation algorithm based on multi-time-slot golden section is given, which performs one-dimensional search on the power ratio of artificial noise to determine the transmit power of source node. And then the allocation algorithm is utilized to dynamically configure the harvested renewable energy for each time slot. When the battery capacity is constant, the maximum renewable energy is being used to reduce the grid power consumption. Finally, the performances of proposed schemes are evaluated by simulations in terms of various tradeoffs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Energy Harvesting for Future Wireless Communications)

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171 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue on Mobile Systems, Mobile Networks, and Mobile Cloud: Security, Privacy, and Digital Forensics

by Lei Chen, Wenjia Li and Rami J. Haddad

Information 2017, 8(3), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030099 - 15 Aug 2017

Viewed by 4405

Abstract

The use of smartphones and mobile devices has become an indispensable part of everyone’s daily life and work [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobile Systems, Mobile Networks and Mobile Cloud: Security, Privacy and Digital Forensics)

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Open AccessArticle

A Generalized Triangular Intuitionistic Fuzzy Geometric Averaging Operator for Decision-Making in Engineering and Management

by Daniel O. Aikhuele and Sarah Odofin

Information 2017, 8(3), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030078 - 14 Aug 2017

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 6229

Abstract

Triangular intuitionistic fuzzy number (TIFN) is a more generalized platform for expressing imprecise, incomplete, and inconsistent information when solving multi-criteria decision-making problems, as well as for expressing and reflecting the evaluation information in several dimensions. In this paper, the TIFN has been applied [...] Read more.

Triangular intuitionistic fuzzy number (TIFN) is a more generalized platform for expressing imprecise, incomplete, and inconsistent information when solving multi-criteria decision-making problems, as well as for expressing and reflecting the evaluation information in several dimensions. In this paper, the TIFN has been applied for solving multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems, first, by defining some existing triangular intuitionistic fuzzy geometric aggregation operators, and then developing a new triangular intuitionistic fuzzy geometric aggregation operator, which is the generalized triangular intuitionistic fuzzy ordered weighted geometric averaging (GTIFOWGA) operator. Based on these operators, a new approach for solving multicriteria decision-making problems when the weight information is fixed is proposed. Finally, a numerical example is provided to show the applicability and rationality of the presented method, followed by a comparative analysis using similar existing computational approaches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Information Theory and Methodology)

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Open AccessArticle

An Information Theory Calculator for Understanding Information and Library Science Applications

by Robert M. Losee

Information 2017, 8(3), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030098 - 11 Aug 2017

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5183

Abstract

The study of information as proposed in information theory provides a useful tool for studying many aspects of information systems, libraries, and archives. How does a calculator that computes information-theoretic functions contribute to students learning database ideas such as the relationships between various [...] Read more.

The study of information as proposed in information theory provides a useful tool for studying many aspects of information systems, libraries, and archives. How does a calculator that computes information-theoretic functions contribute to students learning database ideas such as the relationships between various attributes, or columns in a relational database? Understanding the relationships between variables in a professional discipline can be viewed as the core of the discipline, and these information measures are very important to the study of the organization of information. A web-based information-theoretic calculator is examined that enables students to easily and completely process various information-theoretic calculations that are useful in studying database relationships. Students were questioned after using the calculator on a homework assignment. The students’ evaluations of this form of calculator were then examined, and lastly, recommendations about using information-theoretic calculators are suggested. Recommendations are made about the use of this form of calculator in a range of academic disciplines, from computer science and business, to library and information sciences. These recommendations apply to both the academy and professional practice applications in informational domains. Full article

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Open AccessReview

Review of Recent Type-2 Fuzzy Image Processing Applications

by Oscar Castillo, Mauricio A. Sanchez, Claudia I. Gonzalez and Gabriela E. Martinez

Information 2017, 8(3), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030097 - 10 Aug 2017

Cited by 60 | Viewed by 8791

Abstract

This paper presents a literature review of applications using type-2 fuzzy systems in the area of image processing. Over the last years, there has been a significant increase in research on higher-order forms of fuzzy logic; in particular, the use of interval type-2 [...] Read more.

This paper presents a literature review of applications using type-2 fuzzy systems in the area of image processing. Over the last years, there has been a significant increase in research on higher-order forms of fuzzy logic; in particular, the use of interval type-2 fuzzy sets and general type-2 fuzzy sets. The idea of making use of higher orders, or types, of fuzzy logic is to capture and represent uncertainty that is more complex. This paper is focused on image processing systems, which includes image segmentation, image filtering, image classification and edge detection. Various applications are presented where general type-2 fuzzy sets, interval type-2 fuzzy sets, and interval-value fuzzy sets are used; some are compared with the traditional type-1 fuzzy sets and others methodologies that exist in the literature for these areas in image processing. In all accounts, it is shown that type-2 fuzzy sets outperform both traditional image processing techniques as well as techniques using type-1 fuzzy sets, and provide the ability to handle uncertainty when the image is corrupted by noise. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuzzy Logic for Image Processing)

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Open AccessArticle

A Content-Based Image Retrieval Scheme Using an Encrypted Difference Histogram in Cloud Computing

by Dandan Liu, Jian Shen, Zhihua Xia and Xingming Sun

Information 2017, 8(3), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030096 - 7 Aug 2017

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5808

Abstract

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) has been widely used in many applications. Large storage and computation overheads have made the outsourcing of CBIR services attractive. However, the privacy issues brought by outsourcing have become a big problem. In this paper, a secure CBIR scheme [...] Read more.

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) has been widely used in many applications. Large storage and computation overheads have made the outsourcing of CBIR services attractive. However, the privacy issues brought by outsourcing have become a big problem. In this paper, a secure CBIR scheme based on an encrypted difference histogram (EDH-CBIR) is proposed. Firstly, the image owner calculates the order or disorder difference matrices of RGB components and encrypts them by value replacement and position scrambling. The encrypted images are then uploaded to the cloud server who extracts encrypted difference histograms as image feature vectors. To search similar images, the query image is encrypted by the image users as the image owner does, and the query feature vector is extracted by the cloud server. The Euclidean distance between query feature vector and image feature vector is calculated to measure the similarity. The security analysis and experiments demonstrate the usability of the proposed scheme. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Decentralized State-Observer-Based Traffic Density Estimation of Large-Scale Urban Freeway Network by Dynamic Model

by Yuqi Guo, Yangzhou Chen and Chiyuan Zhang

Information 2017, 8(3), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030095 - 3 Aug 2017

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4192

Abstract

In order to estimate traffic densities in a large-scale urban freeway network in an accurate and timely fashion when traffic sensors do not cover the freeway network completely and thus only local measurement data can be utilized, this paper proposes a decentralized state [...] Read more.

In order to estimate traffic densities in a large-scale urban freeway network in an accurate and timely fashion when traffic sensors do not cover the freeway network completely and thus only local measurement data can be utilized, this paper proposes a decentralized state observer approach based on a macroscopic traffic flow model. Firstly, by using the well-known cell transmission model (CTM), the urban freeway network is modeled in the way of distributed systems. Secondly, based on the model, a decentralized observer is designed. With the help of the Lyapunov function and S-procedure theory, the observer gains are computed by using linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique. So, the traffic densities of the whole road network can be estimated by the designed observer. Finally, this method is applied to the outer ring of the Beijing’s second ring road and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Planning of Vehicle Routing with Backup Provisioning Using Wireless Sensor Technologies

by Noélia Correia, Nuno Carvalho and Gabriela Schütz

Information 2017, 8(3), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030094 - 2 Aug 2017

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4905

Abstract

Wireless sensor technologies can be used by intelligent transportation systems to provide innovative services that lead to improvements in road safety and congestion, increasing end-user satisfaction. In this article, we address vehicle routing with backup provisioning, where the possibility of reacting to overloading/overcrowding [...] Read more.

Wireless sensor technologies can be used by intelligent transportation systems to provide innovative services that lead to improvements in road safety and congestion, increasing end-user satisfaction. In this article, we address vehicle routing with backup provisioning, where the possibility of reacting to overloading/overcrowding of vehicles at certain stops is considered. This is based on the availability of vehicle load information, which can be captured using wireless sensor technologies. After discussing the infrastructure and monitoring tool, the problem is mathematically formalized, and a heuristic algorithm using local search procedures is proposed. Results show that planning routes with backup provisioning can allow fast response to overcrowding while reducing costs. Therefore, sustainable urban mobility, with efficient use of resources, can be provided while increasing the quality of service perceived by users. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems)

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Open AccessArticle

A Practical Point Cloud Based Road Curb Detection Method for Autonomous Vehicle

by Rulin Huang, Jiajia Chen, Jian Liu, Lu Liu, Biao Yu and Yihua Wu

Information 2017, 8(3), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030093 - 30 Jul 2017

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 8341

Abstract

Robust and quick road curb detection under various situations is critical in developing intelligent vehicles. However, the road curb detection is easily affected by the obstacles in the road area when Lidar based method is applied. A practical road curb detection method using [...] Read more.

Robust and quick road curb detection under various situations is critical in developing intelligent vehicles. However, the road curb detection is easily affected by the obstacles in the road area when Lidar based method is applied. A practical road curb detection method using point cloud from a three-dimensional Lidar for autonomous vehicle is reported in this paper. First, a multi-feature, loose-threshold, varied-scope ground segmentation method is presented to increase the robustness of ground segmentation with which obstacles above the ground can be detected. Second, the road curb is detected by applying the global road trend and an extraction-update mechanism. Experiments show the robustness and efficiency of the road curb detection under various environments. The road curb detection method is 10 times the speed of traditional method and the accuracy is much higher than existing methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems)

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361 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Convolution-LSTM-Based Deep Neural Network for Cross-Domain MOOC Forum Post Classification

by Xiaocong Wei, Hongfei Lin, Liang Yang and Yuhai Yu

Information 2017, 8(3), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030092 - 30 Jul 2017

Cited by 80 | Viewed by 9691

Abstract

Learners in a massive open online course often express feelings, exchange ideas and seek help by posting questions in discussion forums. Due to the very high learner-to-instructor ratios, it is unrealistic to expect instructors to adequately track the forums, find all of the [...] Read more.

Learners in a massive open online course often express feelings, exchange ideas and seek help by posting questions in discussion forums. Due to the very high learner-to-instructor ratios, it is unrealistic to expect instructors to adequately track the forums, find all of the issues that need resolution and understand their urgency and sentiment. In this paper, considering the biases among different courses, we propose a transfer learning framework based on a convolutional neural network and a long short-term memory model, called ConvL, to automatically identify whether a post expresses confusion, determine the urgency and classify the polarity of the sentiment. First, we learn the feature representation for each word by considering the local contextual feature via the convolution operation. Second, we learn the post representation from the features extracted through the convolution operation via the LSTM model, which considers the long-term temporal semantic relationships of features. Third, we investigate the possibility of transferring parameters from a model trained on one course to another course and the subsequent fine-tuning. Experiments on three real-world MOOC courses confirm the effectiveness of our framework. This work suggests that our model can potentially significantly increase the effectiveness of monitoring MOOC forums in real time. Full article

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1017 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deep Transfer Learning for Modality Classification of Medical Images

by Yuhai Yu, Hongfei Lin, Jiana Meng, Xiaocong Wei, Hai Guo and Zhehuan Zhao

Information 2017, 8(3), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030091 - 29 Jul 2017

Cited by 127 | Viewed by 12278

Abstract

Medical images are valuable for clinical diagnosis and decision making. Image modality is an important primary step, as it is capable of aiding clinicians to access required medical image in retrieval systems. Traditional methods of modality classification are dependent on the choice of [...] Read more.

Medical images are valuable for clinical diagnosis and decision making. Image modality is an important primary step, as it is capable of aiding clinicians to access required medical image in retrieval systems. Traditional methods of modality classification are dependent on the choice of hand-crafted features and demand a clear awareness of prior domain knowledge. The feature learning approach may detect efficiently visual characteristics of different modalities, but it is limited to the number of training datasets. To overcome the absence of labeled data, on the one hand, we take deep convolutional neural networks (VGGNet, ResNet) with different depths pre-trained on ImageNet, fix most of the earlier layers to reserve generic features of natural images, and only train their higher-level portion on ImageCLEF to learn domain-specific features of medical figures. Then, we train from scratch deep CNNs with only six weight layers to capture more domain-specific features. On the other hand, we employ two data augmentation methods to help CNNs to give the full scope to their potential characterizing image modality features. The final prediction is given by our voting system based on the outputs of three CNNs. After evaluating our proposed model on the subfigure classification task in ImageCLEF2015 and ImageCLEF2016, we obtain new, state-of-the-art results—76.87% in ImageCLEF2015 and 87.37% in ImageCLEF2016—which imply that CNNs, based on our proposed transfer learning methods and data augmentation skills, can identify more efficiently modalities of medical images. Full article

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311 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Stabilization of Discrete-Time Markovian Jump Systems by a Partially Mode-Unmatched Fault-Tolerant Controller

by Mo Liu and Guoliang Wang

Information 2017, 8(3), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030090 - 25 Jul 2017

Viewed by 4893

Abstract

In this paper, a kind of fault-tolerant controller is proposed to study the stabilization problem of discrete-time Markovian jump systems, whose operation modes are not only partially-available but also unmatched. Here, such general properties of controller are modeled to be a controller having [...] Read more.

In this paper, a kind of fault-tolerant controller is proposed to study the stabilization problem of discrete-time Markovian jump systems, whose operation modes are not only partially-available but also unmatched. Here, such general properties of controller are modeled to be a controller having polytopic forms and uncertainties simultaneously. Based on the proposed model, concise conditions for the existence of such a controller are proposed with linear matrix inequality (LMI) forms, which are extended to consider observer design problem too. Compared with the traditional methods, not only is the designed controller more general but also the established results are fault free and could be solved directly. Finally, numerical examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Sensing, Information Security and Control of Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems)

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3194 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fuzzy Color Clustering for Melanoma Diagnosis in Dermoscopy Images

by Haidar A. Almubarak, R. Joe Stanley, William V. Stoecker and Randy H. Moss

Information 2017, 8(3), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030089 - 25 Jul 2017

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 8793

Abstract

A fuzzy logic-based color histogram analysis technique is presented for discriminating benign skin lesions from malignant melanomas in dermoscopy images. The approach extends previous research for utilizing a fuzzy set for skin lesion color for a specified class of skin lesions, using alpha-cut [...] Read more.

A fuzzy logic-based color histogram analysis technique is presented for discriminating benign skin lesions from malignant melanomas in dermoscopy images. The approach extends previous research for utilizing a fuzzy set for skin lesion color for a specified class of skin lesions, using alpha-cut and support set cardinality for quantifying a fuzzy ratio skin lesion color feature. Skin lesion discrimination results are reported for the fuzzy clustering ratio over different regions of the lesion over a data set of 517 dermoscopy images consisting of 175 invasive melanomas and 342 benign lesions. Experimental results show that the fuzzy clustering ratio applied over an eight-connected neighborhood on the outer 25% of the skin lesion with an alpha-cut of 0.08 can recognize 92.6% of melanomas with approximately 13.5% false positive lesions. These results show the critical importance of colors in the lesion periphery. Our fuzzy logic-based description of lesion colors offers relevance to clinical descriptions of malignant melanoma. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuzzy Logic for Image Processing)

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10484 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of VoIP QoS Performance in Wireless Mesh Networks

by Mohammad Tariq Meeran, Paul Annus, Muhammad Mahtab Alam and Yannick Le Moullec

Information 2017, 8(3), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030088 - 21 Jul 2017

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6513

Abstract

The main focus of this research article is the evaluation of selected voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solutions in wireless mesh network (WMN) scenarios. While WMNs have self-healing, self-forming, and dynamic topology features, they still pose challenges for the implementation of multimedia applications [...] Read more.

The main focus of this research article is the evaluation of selected voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solutions in wireless mesh network (WMN) scenarios. While WMNs have self-healing, self-forming, and dynamic topology features, they still pose challenges for the implementation of multimedia applications such as voice in various scenarios. Therefore, various solutions to make WMN more suitable for VoIP application have been proposed in the scientific literature. In this work, we have extensively explored a set of applicable scenarios by conducting experiments by means of a network simulator. The following scenarios were selected as the most representatives for performance evaluation: first responders, flooded village, remote village, and platoon deployment. Each selected scenario has been studied under six sub-scenarios corresponding to various combinations of the IEEE 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11s, and 802.11e standards; the G.711 and G.729 codecs; and the ad hoc on demand distance vector (AODV) and hybrid wireless mesh protocol (HWMP) routing protocols. The results in terms of quality of service (measured with the mean opinion score rating scale), supported by the analysis of delay, jitter and packet loss, show that 802.11g integration with both VoIP codecs and AODV routing protocol results in better VoIP performance as compared to most other scenarios. In case of 802.11g integration with 802.11s, VoIP performance decreases as compared to the other sub-scenarios without 802.11s. The results also show that 802.11n integration with 802.11e decreases VoIP performance in larger deployments. We conclude the paper with some recommendations in terms of combinations of those standards and protocols with a view to achieve a higher quality of service for the given scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Information Applications)

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1005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Efficient Listening and Sleeping Scheduling Mechanism Based on Self-Similarity for Duty Cycle Opportunistic Mobile Networks

by Feng Zeng, Yueyue Dou, Zhigang Chen and Hui Liu

Information 2017, 8(3), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030087 - 20 Jul 2017

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4439

Abstract

In opportunistic mobile networks (OppNets), nodes should be in listening state to discover the neighbors for opportunistic message forwarding. While in OppNets, contacts between nodes are sparse, most of the node’s energy is consumed in idle listening state, which highlights the need for [...] Read more.

In opportunistic mobile networks (OppNets), nodes should be in listening state to discover the neighbors for opportunistic message forwarding. While in OppNets, contacts between nodes are sparse, most of the node’s energy is consumed in idle listening state, which highlights the need for energy saving in contact probing. Duty cycle operation can be applied to address this problem. However, it may cause the degradation of network connectivity when the state of node is turned to be sleeping. In this paper, we propose an adaptive scheduling mechanism based on self-similarity, in which LMMSE predictor is used to predict the future contact information. The state of a node will be set as listening or sleeping adaptively according to the predicted result of future contacts with other nodes. Finally, we validate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism by conducting a large amount of trace-driven simulations, which show that the proposed mechanism outperforms the random working mechanism and periodical working mechanism in terms of the number of effective contacts, delivery ratio, transmission delay and cost. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobile Systems, Mobile Networks and Mobile Cloud: Security, Privacy and Digital Forensics)

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1939 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analytical Framework for Preliminary Planning of Very High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line Access Networks

by Franco Mazzenga and Romeo Giuliano

Information 2017, 8(3), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030086 - 19 Jul 2017

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3858

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce an analytical framework for the performance evaluation of the VDSL2-based access systems. It allows for the obtaining of approximations of the achievable bit rate per user, taking into account several factors, such as the bit-loading limitation per sub-carrier; [...] Read more.

In this paper, we introduce an analytical framework for the performance evaluation of the VDSL2-based access systems. It allows for the obtaining of approximations of the achievable bit rate per user, taking into account several factors, such as the bit-loading limitation per sub-carrier; interference scenario, including the number and positions of the active interferers along the cable; crosstalk statistics; and vectoring. A closed-form expression for the maximum sub-carrier frequency that can be loaded with the maximum number of allowed bits is also presented. Formulas are obtained assuming log-normal statistics for the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) per sub-carrier. The validity of the proposed formulas has been assessed by computer calculations. A very good agreement between the exact and the approximated bit rates has been obtained. The framework can be used for preliminary design of VDSL2 systems in terms of the bit rate coverage, as well as to analyze performance of other access technologies such as ADSL and G.fast. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Information and Communications Technology)

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564 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Lightweight RFID Grouping-Proof Protocol Based on Parallel Mode and DHCP Mechanism

by Zhicai Shi, Xiaomei Zhang and Yihan Wang

Information 2017, 8(3), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/info8030085 - 19 Jul 2017

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4320

Abstract

A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) grouping-proof protocol is to generate an evidence of the simultaneous existence of a group of tags and it has been applied to many different fields. For current grouping-proof protocols, there still exist some flaws such as low grouping-proof [...] Read more.

A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) grouping-proof protocol is to generate an evidence of the simultaneous existence of a group of tags and it has been applied to many different fields. For current grouping-proof protocols, there still exist some flaws such as low grouping-proof efficiency, being vulnerable to trace attack and information leakage. To improve the secure performance and efficiency, we propose a lightweight RFID grouping-proof protocol based on parallel mode and DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) mechanism. Our protocol involves multiple readers and multiple tag groups. During the grouping-proof period, one reader and one tag group are chosen by the verifier by means of DHCP mechanism. When only a part of the tags of the chosen group exist, the protocol can also give the evidence of their co-existence. Our protocol utilizes parallel communication mode between reader and tags so as to ensure its grouping-proof efficiency. It only uses Hash function to complete the mutual authentication among verifier, readers and tags. It can preserve the privacy of the RFID system and resist the attacks such as eavesdropping, replay, trace and impersonation. Therefore the protocol is secure, flexible and efficient. It only uses some lightweight operations such as Hash function and a pseudorandom number generator. Therefore it is very suitable to some low-cost RFID systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobile Systems, Mobile Networks and Mobile Cloud: Security, Privacy and Digital Forensics)

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Information, Volume 8, Issue 3 (September 2017) – 43 articles

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