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The task of probabilistic record linkage is to find and link records that refer to the same entity across several disparate data sources. The accurate linking of records (entity resolution) is an important task for the healthcare industry, government, law enforcement, and the private sector, for obvious reasons. However, finding exact matches of an entity can be challenging due to records with typographical, phonetical or other types of errors (noise) found across real-world data sources. Over the years, many comparison functions have been developed to relate pairs of records and produce a similarity score. With a pair of predefined thresholds, one may decide if records pairs match, do not match, or if they require further clerical review. Nevertheless, finding appropriate comparison functions, identity descriptors (fields), threshold values, and efficient classifiers remains a challenging task. In this study, we propose a supervised gradient-based learning model that can adjust its structure and parameters based on matching scores coming from many comparison functions (and applied to many fields), to efficiently classify the records. The design of this structure is transparent, and can potentially allow us to locate which comparison functions and fields are more significant to correctly link the records. To train this structure, we propose a novel performance index that can help learn how to separate matched from non-matched records. Results completed with the use of synthetic datasets affected by different levels of noise and real-world datasets show the effectiveness of the algorithm, which can significantly reduce the number of false positives, false negatives, and the number of records selected for review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Information granules, such as e.g., fuzzy sets, capture essential knowledge about data and the key dependencies between them. Quite commonly, we may envision that information granules (fuzzy sets) have become a result of fuzzy clustering and therefore could be succinctly represented in the form of some fuzzy partition matrices. Interestingly, the same data set could be represented from various standpoints and this multifaceted view yields a collection of different partition matrices being reflective of the higher-order granular knowledge about the data. The levels of specificity of the clusters the data are organized into could be quite different—the larger the number of clusters, the more detailed insight into the structure of data becomes available. Given the granularity of the resulting constructs (rather than plain data themselves), one could view a collection of partition matrices as a certain type of a network of knowledge. Considering a variety of sources of knowledge encountered across the network, we are interested in forming consensus between them. In a nutshell, this leads to the construction of certain fuzzy partition matrices which “reconcile” the knowledge captured by the individual partition matrices. Given that the granularity of the sources of knowledge under consideration could vary quite substantially, we develop a unified optimization perspective by introducing fuzzy proximity matrices that are induced by the corresponding partition matrices. In the sequel, the optimization is realized on a basis of these proximity matrices. We offer a detailed algorithm and illustrate its performance using a series of numeric experiments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A multi-view text classification may be better than a simple text classification. • Feature projection methods may outperform a multi-view text classification approach. • The proposed ranking method allows for selecting the best classification model. This study aims to propose (i) a multi-view text classification method and (ii) a ranking method that allows for selecting the best information fusion layer among many variations. Multi-view document classification is worth a detailed study as it makes it possible to combine different feature sets into yet another view that further improves text classification. For this purpose, we propose a multi-view framework for text classification that is composed of two levels of information fusion. At the first level, classifiers are constructed using different data views, i.e. different vector space models by various machine learning algorithms. At the second level, the information fusion layer uses input information using a features projection method and a meta-classifier modelled by a selected machine learning algorithm. A final decision based on classification results produced by the models positioned at the first layer is reached. Moreover, we propose a ranking method to assess various configurations of the fusion layer. We use heuristics that utilise statistical properties of F-score values calculated for classification results produced at the fusion layer. The information fusion layer of the classification framework and ranking method has been empirically evaluated. For this purpose, we introduce a use case checking whether companies' domains identify their innovativeness. The results empirically demonstrate that the information fusion layer enhances classification quality. The Friedman's aligned rank and Wilcoxon signed-rank statistical tests and the effect size support this hypothesis. In addition, the Spearman statistical test carried out for the obtained results demonstrated that the assessment made by the proposed ranking method converges to a well-established method named Hellinger - The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (H-TOPSIS). Thus, the proposed approach may be used for the assessment of classifier performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evaluating different models' perspectives for real-time adversarial attack detection in VANETs. • Identifying and preprocessing DSRC adversarial data using standard and fusion preprocessing approaches. • Selection for the golden ML model using a fuzzy decision-making framework for VANETs. • Evaluating the efficiency of the developed framework in four assessment processes. This paper addresses various issues in the literature concerning adversarial attack detection in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). These issues include the failure to consider both normal and adversarial attack perspectives simultaneously in Machine Learning (ML) model development, the lack of diversity preprocessing techniques for VANETs communication datasets, the inadequate selection guidelines for real-time adversarial attack detection models, and the limited emphasis on explainability in adversarial attack detection. In this study, we propose an original fuzzy decision-making framework that incorporates multiple fusion standpoints. Our framework aims to evaluate multi-ML models for real-time adversarial attack detection in VANETs, focusing on three stages. The first stage involves identifying and preprocessing Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) data using standard and fusion preprocessing approaches. Two communication scenarios, normal and jammed, are considered, resulting in two DSRC datasets. In the second stage, we develop multi-ML models based on the DSRC datasets using standard preprocessing and feature fusion preprocessing for dataset-1 and dataset-2, respectively. The third stage evaluates the multi-ML models using a fuzzy decision-making approach based on the Fuzzy Decision by Opinion Score Method (FDOSM) and an adversarial attack decision fusion matrix. The External Fusion Decision (EFD) settings of the FDOSM address individual ranking variance, provide a unique rank and select the best model. Experimental results demonstrate that the K-Nearest Neighbors Algorithm (kNN) model achieves the highest explain score of 0.2048 in dataset-1 using standard preprocessing, while the Random Forest (RF) model applied to dataset-2 using fusion preprocessing emerges as the most robust and golden model against adversarial attacks, with a score of 0.1819. This finding suggests that the fusion preprocessing approach using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is more suitable for addressing normal and adversarial attack perspectives. Furthermore, our fuzzy framework undergoes evaluation in terms of systematic rank, sensitivity analysis, explainability analysis, and comparison analysis. Overall, this framework provides valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in VANETs, informing the execution, selection, and interpretation of multi-ML models to tackle adversarial attack detection problems effectively. The new fuzzy framework demonstrates that multi-ML models based on feature fusion preprocessing are more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restricted Boltzmann machines and deep belief networks have been shown to perform effectively in many applications such as supervised and unsupervised learning, dimensionality reduction and feature learning. Implementing networks, which use contrastive divergence as the learning algorithm on neuromorphic hardware, can be beneficial for real-time hardware interfacing, power efficient hardware and scalability. Neuromorphic hardware which uses memristors as synapses is one of the most promising areas to achieve the above-mentioned goals. This paper presents a restricted Boltzmann machine which uses a two memristor model to emulate synaptic weights and achieves learning using contrastive divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concept-cognitive learning (CCL), an emerging intelligence learning paradigm, has recently become a popular research subject in artificial intelligence and cognitive computing. A central notion of CCL is cognitive and learning things via concepts. In this process, concepts play a fundamental role when mining and fusing knowledge from data to wisdom. With the in-depth research and expansion of CCL in scopes, goals, and methodologies, some difficulties have gradually emerged, including some vague terminology, ambiguous views, and scattered research. Hence, a systematic and comprehensive review of the development process and advanced research about CCL is particularly necessary at the moment. This paper summarizes the theoretical significance, application value, and future development potential of CCL. More importantly, by synthesizing the reviewed related research, we can acquire some interesting results and answer three essential questions: (1) why examine a cognitive and learning framework based on concept? (2) what is the concept-cognitive learning? (3) how to make concept-cognitive learning? The findings of this work could act as a valuable guide for related studies in quest of a clear understanding of the closely related research issues around concept-cognitive learning. • It is the first paper that attempts to provide an in-depth analysis of the advancement of CCL. • It is a multi-view categorization of CCL in research scopes, goals, and methodologies. • It is an elucidation of the main research gaps and suggestions for the related study of CCL. • It acquires some interesting results by synthesizing the reviewed related research of CCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a novel dynamic localisation-based decision (DLBD) with fuzzy weighting with zero inconsistency (FWZIC) under a probabilistic single-valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set (PSVNHFS) environment to benchmark Hybrid Multi Deep Transfer and Machine Learning (HMDTML) models. The novel DLBD method is proposed to generate a dynamic localisation decision matrix based on the upper and lower boundaries and the length of the scale. The superiority of DLBD derives from its ability to manage dynamic changes with boundary value consequences. In addition, the utilization of PSVNHFS in conjunction with DLBD and FWZIC has proven to effectively address the challenges posed by vagueness, uncertainty and hesitancy in the benchmarking procedure. The proposed methodology consists of three primary three steps: i) the adaptation of 48 HMDTML models, including 4 deep transfer learning models and 12 machine learning models trained on a dataset of 936 chest X-ray images obtained from both COVID-19 patients and individuals without the disease. Then, these models were evaluated based on seven evaluation criteria, and a decision matrix was proposed. ii) The development of a PSVNH–FWZIC to assign weights to the evaluation criteria. iii) The formulation of a PSVNH–DLBD for the purpose of benchmarking HMDTML models. Results of the PSVNH–FWZIC revealed that AUC and time were the most important evaluation criteria, while precision was the least important. Furthermore, the results from PSVNH–DLBD, reveal that Model M24 (Painters-Decision Tree) earned the highest rank when λ = 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 a n d 6 , followed by Model M25 (SqueezeNet-AdaBoost) and Model M34 (DeepLoc-kNN), while Model M39 (DeepLoc-SVM) had the lowest rank (rank = 48) across all λ values. The proposed method underwent sensitivity and comparison analyses to confirm its reliability and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth potential of a career reflects its future prospects and is an important consideration for individuals and organizations when career planning. There is still a lack of quantitative assessment tools for growth potential of careers. In this study, considering the key role of human capital in human resource management, as well as the excellent performance of complex network and machine learning in big data analysis and prediction, a career growth potential assessment model with human capital ensemble is proposed through human capital-based occupational mobility network and ensemble learning. First, an occupational mobility network is constructed based on online professional dataset to associate occupations with each other. Then, five dimensions of human capital measurements are designed to quantify human capital in terms of education, experience, social capital, occupational size, and concentration. These are then combined with the occupational mobility network to create a new network that depicts human capital flows among occupations. Finally, an ensemble framework for assessing career growth potential is constructed to integrate multidimensional human capital information in the network and obtain quantitative scores of growth potential. This study is the original attempt to adopt a data-driven idea and an intelligent approach to understand career growth potential. The experimental results show that it also makes a useful exploration for modeling human capital flows and intelligent assessment of career prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Feature selection is a challenging problem in areas such as pattern recognition, machine learning and data mining. Considering a consistency measure introduced in rough set theory, the problem of feature selection, also called attribute reduction, aims to retain the discriminatory power of original features. Many heuristic attribute reduction algorithms have been proposed however, quite often, these methods are computationally time-consuming. To overcome this shortcoming, we introduce a theoretic framework based on rough set theory, called positive approximation, which can be used to accelerate a heuristic process of attribute reduction. Based on the proposed accelerator, a general attribute reduction algorithm is designed. Through the use of the accelerator, several representative heuristic attribute reduction algorithms in rough set theory have been enhanced. Note that each of the modified algorithms can choose the same attribute reduct as its original version, and hence possesses the same classification accuracy. Experiments show that these modified algorithms outperform their original counterparts. It is worth noting that the performance of the modified algorithms becomes more visible when dealing with larger data sets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Traffic classification groups similar or related traffic data, which is one main stream technique of data fusion in the field of network management and security. With the rapid growth of network users and the emergence of new networking services, network traffic classification has attracted increasing attention. Many new traffic classification techniques have been developed and widely applied. However, the existing literature lacks a thorough survey to summarize, compare and analyze the recent advances of network traffic classification in order to deliver a holistic perspective. This paper carefully reviews existing network traffic classification methods from a new and comprehensive perspective by classifying them into five categories based on representative classification features, i.e., statistics-based classification, correlation-based classification, behavior-based classification, payload-based classification, and port-based classification. A series of criteria are proposed for the purpose of evaluating the performance of existing traffic classification methods. For each specified category, we analyze and discuss the details, advantages and disadvantages of its existing methods, and also present the traffic features commonly used. Summaries of investigation are offered for providing a holistic and specialized view on the state-of-art. For convenience, we also cover a discussion on the mostly used datasets and the traffic features adopted for traffic classification in the review. At the end, we identify a list of open issues and future directions in this research field. • Comprehensive evaluation criteria to assess classification methods. • A thorough review on traffic classification methods. • A discussion on advantages and disadvantages of classification methods. • An analysis on classification granularity by dividing it into four levels. • Exploration of open issues and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating interest rates is a typical multivariate prediction problem that has garnered considerable attention in the finance industry. However, the rising complexity of the prediction environment has presented significant obstacles to the methodology and application of traditional single-scale rational prediction models. Considering this challenge, the paper presents a new multivariate fusion prediction system that aims to tackle the following issues: (1) How to mine prediction information from multi-scale information systems (MSISs)? (2) How to describe the irrational behavior of decision-makers (DMs) in prediction processes? (3) How to improve the prediction performance and generalization capability of the models? Specifically, the score function of each feature under MSISs is primarily established by applying scale rules, regret theory (RT), and dominance relations to thoroughly explore prediction information across varying scales. Second, an adaptive S3WD model is developed for feature selection, which leverages the feature score distribution and the sequential three-way decision (S3WD) concept to avoid the problem of dimensional disasters, thereby improving the accuracy of selected features and reducing the learning cost. Furthermore, to enhance the effectiveness and rationality of the kernel extreme learning machine (KELM), an improved version known as IKELM is developed, which combines the regret-based comprehensive score of each sample. Finally, a multivariate fusion prediction system is constructed and abbreviated as an S3WD-IKELM-PSO system, where the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed to determine optimal parameters. It is worth noting that actual interest rate estimation datasets are utilized to verify the feasibility and validity of the proposed prediction system. According to the experimental results, the S3WD-IKELM-PSO system exhibits superior prediction performance and generalization ability compared to existing machine learning models. • A regret theory-based multivariate prediction system in MSISs is explored. • A regret-based feature evaluation system in an MSIS is designed. • An adaptive S3WD model for feature selection is proposed. • An improved KELM model is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We sum up a group of main challenges that data fusion might face. • We propose a thorough list of requirements to evaluate data fusion methods. • We review the literature of data fusion based on machine learning. • We comment on how a machine learning method can ameliorate fusion performance. • We present significant open issues and valuable future research directions. Data fusion is a prevalent way to deal with imperfect raw data for capturing reliable, valuable and accurate information. Comparing with a range of classical probabilistic data fusion techniques, machine learning method that automatically learns from past experiences without explicitly programming, remarkably renovates fusion techniques by offering the strong ability of computing and predicting. Nevertheless, the literature still lacks a thorough review of the recent advances of machine learning for data fusion. Therefore, it is beneficial to review and summarize the state of the art in order to gain a deep insight on how machine learning can benefit and optimize data fusion. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on data fusion methods based on machine learning. We first offer a detailed introduction to the background of data fusion and machine learning in terms of definitions, applications, architectures, processes, and typical techniques. Then, we propose a number of requirements and employ them as criteria to review and evaluate the performance of existing fusion methods based on machine learning. Through the literature review, analysis and comparison, we finally come up with a number of open issues and propose future research directions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Measures of relevance between features play an important role in classification and regression analysis. Mutual information has been proved an effective measure for decision tree construction and feature selection. However, there is a limitation in computing relevance between numerical features with mutual information due to problems of estimating probability density functions in high-dimensional spaces. In this work, we generalize Shannon’s information entropy to neighborhood information entropy and propose a measure of neighborhood mutual information. It is shown that the new measure is a natural extension of classical mutual information which reduces to the classical one if features are discrete; thus the new measure can also be used to compute the relevance between discrete variables. In addition, the new measure introduces a parameter delta to control the granularity in analyzing data. With numeric experiments, we show that neighborhood mutual information produces the nearly same outputs as mutual information. However, unlike mutual information, no discretization is required in computing relevance when used the proposed algorithm. We combine the proposed measure with four classes of evaluating strategies used for feature selection. Finally, the proposed algorithms are tested on several benchmark data sets. The results show that neighborhood mutual information based algorithms yield better performance than some classical ones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]