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The architecture of AND/OR fuzzy neural networks exhibits outstanding learning abilities and significant interpretation capabilities. However, AND/OR networks suffer from structure-related problems namely low efficiency and slow convergence of learning due to several reasons such as high dimensionality and gradient-based learning algorithms which lead to a visible computing overhead. In this paper, we present a two-phase fuzzy logic-oriented network design that is composed of AND/OR neurons. This design takes advantages of Randomized Neural Network (RNN) to achieve higher convergence while exhibiting good nonlinear approximation capabilities. A gradient–based learning algorithm is implemented in the second phase of the design to further reduce values of performance index. The quality of the proposed design and resulting architecture is quantified through the use of numeric data along with fuzzy sets (information granules). Experimental results meet the research's objectives and the proposed design methodology opens up new future directions for proceeding with more improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transfer learning is aimed at supporting the design of machine learning models in the target domain D t , given that the knowledge (model) has already been constructed in the source domain D s. The domains D t and D s (as well as the corresponding tasks T s and T t) are similar, yet not identical. As a result, the model transferred from D s to D t in this new environment exhibits its relevance (credibility) only to some limited extent. In this study, we develop an original approach, where we advocate that the knowledge transfer (model transfer) gives rise to a granular model where the level of information granularity associated with the produced results quantifies the relevance (quality or credibility) of the transferred model. In other words, we stress that the quality of knowledge transferred to D t becomes captured through a granular generalization of the original numeric model. The overall systematic design process is elaborated on by focusing on the development process of granular neural networks carried out on a basis of the numeric neural networks coming from D s. The key aspect of the design is to elevate the existing numeric neural network to its granular counterpart by admitting that the connections of the developed model come in the form of information granules, in particular intervals and fuzzy sets. The optimization process is guided by adjusting (optimizing) the level of information granularity being regarded as an essential design asset. The optimized performance index builds upon the descriptors of information granules commonly encountered in Granular Computing. In particular, coverage and specificity measures are treated as sound performance indicators of the quality of knowledge transfer (viz. the performance of the granular neural network expressed in the target domain). Several illustrative examples are provided to visualize the performance of the established design environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, we are concerned with a construction of granular neural networks (GNNs)—architectures formed as a direct result reconciliation of results produced by a collection of local neural networks constructed on a basis of individual data sets. Being cognizant of the diversity of the results produced by the collection of networks, we arrive at the concept of granular neural network, producing results in the form of information granules (rather than plain numeric entities) that become reflective of the diversity of the results generated by the contributing networks. The design of a granular neural network exploits the concept of justifiable granularity. Introduced is a performance index quantifying the quality of information granules generated by the granular neural network. This study is illustrated with the aid of machine learning data sets. The experimental results provide a detailed insight into the developed granular neural networks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study, we concentrate on the fundamentals and essential development issues of logic-driven constructs of fuzzy neural networks. These networks, referred to as logic-oriented neural networks, constitute an interesting conceptual and computational framework that greatly benefits from the establishment of highly synergistic links between the technology of fuzzy sets (or granular computing, being more general) and neural networks. The most essential advantages of the proposed networks are twofold. First, the transparency of neural architectures becomes highly relevant when dealing with the mechanisms of efficient learning. Here the learning is augmented by the fact that domain knowledge could be easily incorporated in advance prior to any learning. This becomes possible given the compatibility between the architecture of the problem and the induced topology of the neural network. Second, once the training has been completed, the network can be easily interpreted and thus it directly translates into a series of truth-quantifiable logic expressions formed over a collection of information granules. The design process of the logic networks synergistically exploits the principles of information granulation, logic computing and underlying optimization including those biologically inspired techniques (such as particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithms and alike). We elaborate on the existing development trends, present key methodological pursuits and algorithms. In particular, we show how the logic blueprint of the networks is supported by the use of various constructs of fuzzy sets including logic operators, logic neurons, referential operators and fuzzy relational constructs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we present a new granular classifier in two versions (iterative and non–iterative), by adopting some ideas originating from a kind of Functional Link Artificial Neural Network and the Functional Network schemes. These two architectures are substantially the same: they both use a function basis instead of the usual activation function, but they are different for the learning algorithm. We augment them from the perspective of Granular Computing and information granules, designing a new kind of classifier and two learning algorithms, by taking into account granularity of information. The proposed classifier exhibits the advantages of the granular architectures, that is higher accuracy and transparency. We formally discuss the convergence of the iterative learning scheme. We carry out some numerical experiments using publicly available data, by comparing the results against those results produced by the state-of-the-art methods. In particular, we achieved sound results by invoking the iterative learning scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, classical fuzzy clustering-based neural networks (FCNNs) have been successfully applied to regression tasks. The determination of the parameters such as cluster centers of the existing hard c-means (HCM) or fuzzy c-means (FCM), leads to the performance deterioration of the model because of the sensitivity of HCM or FCM to noise and outliers. Moreover, there are also several factors for over-fitting and degradation of the robustness of the ensuing model. To solve such problems, two improved clustering techniques and L 2 norm-regularization are considered in the proposed robust fuzzy clustering-based neural networks (RFCNNs) modeling. SVs-based hard c-means (SVs-based HCM) and SVs-based fuzzy c-means (SVs-based FCM) designed with support vectors (SVs) can reduce the interference of uncorrelated data, including noise and outliers, thereby enhancing the main data characteristics effectively, as well as leading to the construction on the improved network model. L 2 norm-regularization can be used to alleviate the degradation of robustness caused by overfitting. In terms of improving the performance of the model through SVs-based HCM or SVs-based FCM, as well as robustness completed through L 2 norm-regularization, the superiority of RFCNNs was verified by experimenting with synthetic data and publicly available data from machine learning datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we introduce an advanced architecture of K-means clustering-based polynomial Radial Basis Function Neural Networks (p-RBF NNs) designed with the aid of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) and develop a comprehensive design methodology supporting their construction. The architecture of the p-RBF NNs comes as a result of a synergistic usage of the evolutionary optimization-driven hybrid tools. The connections (weights) of the proposed p-RBF NNs being of a certain functional character and are realized by considering four types of polynomials. In order to design the optimized p-RBF NNs, a prototype (center value) of each receptive field is determined by running the K-means clustering algorithm and then a prototype and a spread of the corresponding receptive field are further optimized through running Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE). The Weighted Least Square Estimation (WLSE) is used to estimate the coefficients of the polynomials (which serve as functional connections of the network). The performance of the proposed model and the comparative analysis involving models designed with the aid of PSO and DE are presented in case of a nonlinear function and two Machine Learning (ML) datasets [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polynomial neural network (PNN) is a flexible self-organizing network model, and there have been lots of improvements to it. However, various and improved models of PNN do not properly balance their performance and efficiency. In this study, we present novel self-organized hybrid fuzzy neural networks (SHFNN). The purpose of this study is to develop a new design methodology of constructing a hybrid fuzzy model through enhanced input strategy (EIS) and probability-based node selection (PNS) to reinforce the performance of the model without sacrificing efficiency. l 2 -norm regularization (l 2) is utilized to mitigate overfitting as well as enhance generalization capability. The key points of SHFNN can be summarized as follows. First, a hybrid network structure is constructed by combining fuzzy radial basis function neural networks (FRBFNN) and PNN. Second, we propose a probability-based node selection strategy for node (neuron) selection. Third, an enhanced input strategy (EIS) is proposed to design the enhanced input set by merging the general candidate input set (GCIS) and the original candidate input set (OCIS). The regularization coefficient estimation method based on l 2 is used in conjunction with EIS and PNS to improve the performance and enhance the stability of the model. The effectiveness of SHFNN is validated using synthetic and machine learning dataset. The experimental results show that the prediction accuracy of the proposed model is improved by 4–22% when compared with some methods reported in the literature. Statistical analysis is also considered to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a multi-view multi-label learning for incomplete data which are ubiquitous with the usage of three kinds of representations including within-view representation, cross-view representation, and consensus-view representation. Different from the recent learning machines, the proposed learning machine takes the feature-oriented information, label-oriented information, and associated information between features and labels in multiple representations together and exploits the hidden useful information of available instances with the usage of instance–instance correlations, feature–feature correlations, label-label correlations, and feature–label correlations. The developed learning machine is named as within- cross- consensus-view representation-based multi-view multi-label learning with incomplete data (WCC-MVML-ID). Extensive experiments on multiple multi-view and multi-label data sets with incomplete data validate the effectiveness of WCC-MVML-ID and it can be concluded that (1) WCC-MVML-ID outperforms other compared learning machines and its performances are more stable even though the missing rates of features and labels being larger; (2) compared with within-view information and consensus-view information, cross-view information is more useful for the processing problem about incomplete data; (3) WCC-MVML-ID can converge within 45 iterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, we introduce a new design methodology of granular-oriented self-organizing Hybrid Fuzzy polynomial neural networks (HFPNN) that is based on multi-layer perceptron with context-based polynomial neurons (CPNs) or polynomial neurons (PNs). In contrast to the typical architectures encountered in polynomial neural networks (PNN), our main objective is to develop a design strategy of HFPNN as follows: (a) The first layer of the proposed network consists of context-based polynomial neuron (CPN). Here CPN is fully reflective of the structure encountered in numeric data which are granulated with the aid of context-based fuzzy c-means (C-FCM) clustering method. The context-based clustering supporting the design of information granules is completed in the space of the input data (input variables) while the formation of the clusters here is guided by a collection of some predefined fuzzy sets (so-called contexts) specified in the output space. (b) The proposed design procedure being applied to each layer of HFPNN leads to the selection of the preferred nodes of the network (CPNs or PNs) whose local characteristics (such as the number of contexts, the number of clusters, a collection of the specific subset of input variables, and the order of the polynomial) can be easily adjusted. These options contribute to the flexibility as well as simplicity and compactness of the resulting architecture of the network. For the evaluation of the performance of the proposed HFPNN, we use well-known machine learning data coming from the machine learning repository. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We introduce a regression method that fully exploits both global and local information about a set of points in search of a suitable function explaining their mutual relationships. The points are assumed to form a repository of information granules. At a global level, statistical methods discriminate between regular points and outliers. Then the local component of the information embedded in the former is used to draw an optimal regression curve. We address the challenge of using a variety of standard machine learning tools such as support vector machine (SVM) or slight variants of them within the unifying hat of Granular Computing realm to obtain a definitely new featured nonlinear regression method. The performance of the proposed approach is illustrated with the aid of three well-known benchmarks and ad hoc featured datasets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]