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Global Grand Challenges (GCs) have received only a limited attention within the tourism literature and this Progress paper examines one such GC – dementia and the contribution that tourism research can make to helping people live well with dementia. The paper critically debates the concept of GCs, the challenges of addressing them and how dementia presents both a challenge and opportunity for the academy. Using the concept of the visitor journey and the social model of disability as a paradigm, the paper reviews progress towards creating a more dementia-inclusive society through the auspices of tourism research, reviewing the contributions to date and where the interconnections with dementia and tourism exist. The review draws from a wide interdisciplinary framework including health, medicine, travel medicine and leisure and argues for a greater use of transdisciplinary approaches to address GCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the characteristics that drive conflicting outcomes on the impact of Twitter data on firm returns using financial micro data. Using 314 European tourism firms as a case study and a sample of 63 million Tweets, we build sentiment and emotion (anger, fear, joy) data series and use them to compute impulse response functions for firm returns. Our results indicate that firm size and popularity are the most important firm features that explain the asymmetric impact of Twitter sentiment and of the anger emotion, while debt explains the variations in the impact of the fear emotion. We also find that the impact of the joy emotion is more evident before the COVID-19 pandemic and more muted after the outbreak. Our findings reconcile varied research on Twitter's impact on tourism industry returns and provide insights to practitioners on using Twitter to gauge online users' collective knowledge of real outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keyphrase Extraction is an automatic task that involves identifying the key words or phrases that capture the main content of an article. It is useful for various downstream tasks, including text search, text clustering, and text classification. Embedding-based methods for keyphrase extraction have shown promising results by utilizing pre-trained language models to represent candidate phrases and documents separately. These methods then rank the candidate phrases based on the cosine similarity between the document and the candidate phrases embeddings. However, there are mainly two shortcomings in such methods: I) Redundancy errors, when there are partial repetitions of candidate keyphrases, the methods tend to use redundant long phrases as keyphrases; II) Low keyphrase coverage, such as some keyphrases used to describe locally important information are ignored. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised keyphrase extraction method called "MICRank", which evaluates the importance of candidate keyphrases from three perspectives: global information, local information, and attribute information, and solved the aforementioned issues. The experimental results on six benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed MICRank method outperforms the state-of-the-art unsupervised keyphrase extraction methods. In addition, this paper improves the judgment criterion of correct keyphrase extraction and introduces a new evaluation metric called S1@M (M ∈ {5,10,15}) to address the issue of synonyms being considered incorrect predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In allusion to the privacy and security problems, a secure multi-channel information protection scheme based on an integrated optical device is proposed in this paper. The information to be encrypted and shared is converted into a QR code. For supporting the multi-channel encryption, a 1- n w encryption algorithm is employed, which possesses the capability to map the original image information into n w seemingly random cipher images. In terms of hardware, an ultra-compact optical encryption device is designed, which consists of two rows of ring resonators coupled to the waveguide. This novel encryption device can output ten cipher images, each transmitted on a separate channel. Meanwhile, the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser subject to optical injection and optical feedback is researched to generate optical chaos sequences, which are introduced for key generation and QR code encryption. Ultimately, combining the 1- n w encryption algorithm and optical chaos, information protection is implemented based on integrated optics. The simulation results demonstrate the practical feasibility and remarkable effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Furthermore, various security and robustness analyses are performed, and the results reveal that the proposed information protection scheme has a high level of security and robustness. This work is of great significance for the development of optical encryption chips and provides potential applications for secure data sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA sequence motif discovery is an important issue in gene research, which helps identify transcription factor binding sites in DNA sequences to reveal the mechanisms that regulate gene expression. However, the growing awareness of privacy protection and increasingly stringent regulations pose challenges to data collection and usage. This paper proposes DP-FLMD, a privacy-preserving federated framework for discovering DNA sequence motifs. We employ federated learning, allowing participants to store their raw data locally and upload only selected parameters to protect data privacy. Nevertheless, privacy concerns still persist, as these participant parameters may potentially compromise their privacy to some extent. To enhance privacy protection, we incorporate a differential privacy algorithm to add noise to these parameters. Additionally, we verify that the method satisfies ϵ -differential privacy through theoretical analysis. Extensive experiments are performed on six datasets, demonstrating that DP-FLMD achieves a good trade-off between privacy and utility. Besides, we investigate the effect of parameters on DP-FLMD. In the future, our research will focus on exploring enhanced privacy protection mechanisms, expanding the scope of framework applications, and further optimizing the trade-off between privacy and utility. • Federated learning for DNA sequence motifs discovery. • A strategy for reducing communication costs. • Alleviating privacy concerns in distributed DNA sequence motif discovery. • The new algorithm achieves a better trade-off between privacy and utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard NMF algorithm is not suitable for sampling data from low-dimensional manifolds embedded in high-dimensional environmental spaces, as the geometric information hidden in feature manifolds and sample manifolds is rarely learned. In order to obtain better clustering performance based on NMF, manifold and orthogonal constraint, a new type of model named Orthogonal Graph regularized Non-negative Matrix Factorization model under Sparse Constraints (OGNMFSC) is proposed. Firstly, this type of model constructs a nearest neighbor graph to encode the geometric information of the data space, in order to obtain more discriminative ability by preserving the structure of the graph. Secondly, this type of model adds orthogonal constraints to achieve better local representation and significantly reduce the inconsistency between the original matrix and the basis vectors. Thirdly, by adding sparse constraints to obtain a sparser representation matrix, the clustering performance of the model can be improved. The main conclusion of this paper is that two effective algorithms have been generated to solve the model, which not only provides theoretical convergence proof for these two algorithms, but also demonstrates significant clustering performance in experiments compared to classical models such as K-means, PCA, NMF, Semi-NMF, NMFSC, ONMF, GNMF, NeNMF. • Effectively combining graph regularization, orthogonality and sparsity. • The convergence proof of the new model's algorithm has been obtained. • Compared with NMF, ONMF and etc, this model has shown good results in experiments. • Explain the effective combination of orthogonality, graph, sparsity via experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research introduces Automated Cost-Duration Variance Prediction (CDVP) system to empower project managers to proactively predict project budget, duration, cost variance and duration variance. The research involved the development and comparison of a total of 48 machine learning (ML) algorithms, with 12 algorithms dedicated to each predictive model. To conduct the study, a dataset comprising 1277 historical cases of Field Canals Improvement Projects (FCIPs) was utilized. Factor analysis and stepwise regression analysis were employed for feature selection where five key drivers were identified from the initial 25 parameters. The paper optimized the performance of each algorithm based on Bayesian optimization. The proposed system produces four outputs: project cost, project cost variance, project duration, and duration variance. The developed ML models were able to predict all of the system's outputs with an adjusted determination coefficient R2 score greater than 0.93 and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) less than 8.97. Environmentally, this research recommends to assess CO 2 emissions as a performance criterion to select the low environmental impact algorithms. As a result, Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) and AdaBoost Regressor were green sustainable algorithms that emitted on average 58 and 69 CO 2e grams per computational hours. To enhance interpretability, the study employed the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) technique to provide explanations for the key drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In artificial intelligence applications, advanced computational models, such as deep learning, are employed to achieve high accuracy, often requiring the execution of numerous operations. Conversely, lightweight computational models are typically more resource-efficient, making them suitable for various devices, including smartphones, tablets, and wearable technology. This paper presents an ultra-low-computation solution for interpreting sign languages to assist deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals without needing specialized hardware or significant computational resources. The proposed approach initially performs data abstraction on the input data. During this process, the image is systematically scanned from various perspectives, and the collected information is then encoded into a one-dimensional vector. Subsequently, the abstracted information undergoes processing through a Fully Connected Neural Network (FCN), resulting in highly accurate output. We also introduced two abstraction methods, namely Opaque and Glass, inspired by the interaction of light with different types of objects. The proposed abstractions facilitate the comprehension of the hand gesture's outer boundary as well as its row-wise and column-wise density of pixels. Our experiments on three datasets confirm the efficiency of the proposed method, achieving an accuracy of 99.4% in recognizing American Sign Language, 99.96% accuracy in recognizing Indian Sign Language, and 99.95% accuracy in recognizing Bangla Sign Language. Notably, the model size and the number of MAC operations are significantly smaller than state-of-the-art computational models trained on the same datasets. • We introduced an ultra-low-computation method for interpreting sign languages. • We developed a new encoding for the abstraction of hand gesture images. • Our approach significantly reduces both model size and MAC operations. • We achieved high accuracy in understanding American, Indian, and Bangla SLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common subspace learning methods only utilize local or global structure in feature extraction, and cannot obtain the global optimal discriminative projection matrix. For this reason, this paper proposes a discriminative sparse subspace learning method based on the manifold regularization framework (DSSL-MR), which introduces the graph Laplacian matrix that reflects the intrinsic geometric structure of the sample as a penalty term. DSSL-MR simultaneously uses both sub-manifold and multi-manifold information of samples for obtaining optimal projection to enhance the discriminability of different classes in subspace. DSSL-MR uses the sparse property of the L 2 , 1 -norm to constrain the projection matrix, which can eliminate redundant features and select features that are significant for classification. It is a linear supervised method, which belongs to the Fisher discriminant analysis framework. Experimental results on multiple real-world datasets show that the algorithm is very effective in classification and has high recognition rates. • Subspace learning and spectral graphs are combined into a unified learning framework. • The learned projection maps samples to the subspace with optimal class separation. • The manifold regularization framework fusing decision boundary and subspace learning. • The sample structure is analyzed by fusing multimanifold and submanifold information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency Medical Services are essential for health systems as their effective management can improve patient prognosis. Nevertheless, designing an optimized distribution of resources is a difficult task due to the complex nature of these systems. Moreover, locating the resources is particularly challenging in heterogeneous density territories where, in addition to their efficient management, the equity principle in the medical access of inhabitants of rural areas is also desirable. This paper approaches the ambulance (re)location–allocation problem in the geographical area of the Basque Country. The area has three major cities, which account for a third of the emergencies, while there are few emergencies in rural areas, with a sparse population. To that end, a two-stage stochastic 0-1 integer linear programming model that balances the response time between densely populated and isolated areas is proposed. Specifically, the model incorporates two relevant principles: (1) optimizing emergency attendance through the option of allocating ambulances via a multi-interval response time and (2) equitably responding to emergencies so remote areas are not neglected. Conducted experiments have been validated and indicate that the proposed model can improve the success rate in rural areas by 23 percentage points, while reducing the overall success rate by less than 9 percentage points. • We develop two data-driven ambulance (re)location–allocation stochastic models. • Two objectives: Concern for regional equity while maintaining efficiency. • Multi-interval response times are optimized in the Basque Emergency Medical Service. • Robust and global validated results show an improvement in success rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent multi-objective optimization problems are very complex which require an effective and robust evolutionary method for obtaining a global Pareto-optimal solutions. Most of these multi-objective evolutionary techniques are population-based methods which usually work on random search approaches and often trapped into local minima during their execution. A new fuzzy tuned mayfly algorithm (FTMA) is presented in this paper, to obtain the Pareto-optimal solutions for any complex multi-objective power system problem. It has a self-adapting global exploration capability to get the best Pareto-optimal solutions by varying two crucial parameters i.e., crossover (P c) and mutation P m probabilities. Moreover, a model of Pareto-dominance is employed to rank non-dominating solutions to maintain the diversity within the populations. The proposed evolutionary approach is examined on a standard ZDT benchmark test suite and its algorithmic performance is statistically compared with a few of the recent optimization techniques such as NSGA-II, NSGA-III, MMODE, MOAVOA and MMA algorithm. It is further applied to minimize two distinct objective functions (i.e., total transmission loss and voltage stability index) for IEEE-118 bus system and IEEE-24 bus RTS. A comprehensive statistical analysis is presented for the obtained numerical results, which proves that proposed FTMA has better convergence with better solution diversity in comparison to the other competing algorithms. A comprehensive analysis based on statistical results reveal that the proposed FTMA is superior for obtaining better non-dominating pareto-fronts as compared to other competing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In traditional machine learning, there is often a discrepancy in data distribution between the source and target domains. Domain adaptation (DA) was proposed to learn the robust classifier for target domain by using knowledge from different source domains. Most DA methods focus on only the geometric structure of the data or statistical properties to reduce the differences between domains. The complementarity of these two aspects is ignored, which causes the problem of domain underadaptation to some degree. In this paper, we propose latent space search (LSS) approach for domain adaptation that consider both geometric and statistical properties. LSS consists of two parts: latent subspace learning and space search subspace learning. In the latent subspace, the geometric and statistical properties of the data are preserved by a low-rank coupled projection as well as joint distribution of the data. For the solution, an iterative feedback approach is used to obtain a robust subspace. Furthermore, to improve the discriminability of the subspace, the space search optimization algorithm is used to reconstruct the latent subspace, so that the source domain and the target domain can interleave well in the subspace. A comparative study illustrates that the proposed LSS has better performance than other state-of-art models reported in the literature. • Differences in data distribution exist in traditional machine learning. • Geometric and statistical properties are preserved in the latent subspace. • The discriminability of the subspace is raised in space search subspace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task of multimodal image fusion aims to preserve the respective advantages of each modality, such as the detailed texture information from visible light images and the salient target information from infrared images. However, images in real environments are often not perfect high-quality images but are affected by various degradation factors such as noise, blur, and glare. Existing unsupervised multimodal image fusion algorithms use undegraded source images as input to fusion networks and generate high-quality fusion images through complex fusion strategies. This single linear learning approach from high-quality to high-quality cannot be applied to the fusion task of degraded multimodal images in real environments. To address this issue, this paper proposes an end-to-end multimodal image fusion network based on a high-order local degradation model (MFHOD). Firstly, inspired by the idea of probabilistic degradation, we propose a high-order local random degradation model (HODM), which inputs the source multimodal images into the degradation model to obtain degraded images before feeding them into the network. Secondly, we design a simple and efficient dual-branch feature extraction encoder to extract deep features from images. Then, from the perspectives of image pixels, brightness, and gradients, we propose an improved composite loss composed of multiple loss functions to constrain network training. Finally, we propose a L 2 -norm fusion strategy for preserving brightness information in low-light nighttime images. Our MFHOD demonstrates good performance on infrared and visible light image datasets as well as medical image datasets. Experimental results show that MFHOD can effectively suppress the effects of glare, noise, and smoke in adverse environments, and also improve the quality of fusion images in low-light and nighttime environments. • Linear fusion methods cannot fully train the feature extraction of neural networks. • Two-stage high-order degradation models significantly boost network nonlinearity. • End-to-end network simplifies multimodal image fusion process. • MFHOD boosts brightness and contrast, suppressing glare, noise, and smoke effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the mobile and random nature of services in cyber–physical–social systems (CPSSs), developing service composition approaches that ensure high availability, minimal energy consumption, and high quality of service (QoS) remains a complex challenge. Over the last two decades, several service composition approaches have been proposed in the literature to deal with this challenge. Nevertheless, the existing approaches have certain limitations, particularly in situations where services may move from one location to another, become unavailable due to intensive battery usage, encounter failures, or undergo a decline in quality. These limitations often arise because these approaches do not simultaneously integrate mobility, energy, and QoS constraints while defining the user's movement in a random manner. In this paper, the learning-based swarm optimization-aware service composition algorithm (LS-SCA) is proposed to overcome the aforementioned shortcoming. This approach surpasses existing ones by accounting simultaneously for the user's mobility, energy, and QoS criteria during the service composition process. First, the Small World in Motion (SWIM) mobility model is employed in this study to determine the user's mobility traces, avoiding the random generation of users' traces. Second, an energy consumption model is proposed to increase the energy efficiency by avoiding the overuse of the devices' batteries that can reduce the availability of services and lead to the composition failure. Third, the two-phase learning-based swarm optimizer (TPLSO) method is used in the composition process to find the sub-optimal composition that satisfies the global QoS constraints with the highest utility in terms of mobility, energy, and QoS. Unlike the most existing metaheuristic-based service composition approaches where the overall composition population is improved over a given number of iterations, the TPLSO method is exploited in this paper to improve only a subset of compositions, which reduces the composition time and increases the QoS utility of the composition. The simulation scenarios using two real datasets demonstrate that the LS-SCA approach outperforms six baselines in terms of energy consumption, QoS utility, and availability of composition. This notable performance makes the proposed approach more suitable for real-world applications where energy efficiency, QoS, and availability are crucial factors to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shoeprint reconstruction is essential in forensic science, but it is also challenging due to various inconsistencies in the patterns, textures, sizes, abrasions, etc. of shoeprints. The computational reconstruction of sharper and more complete shoeprints is conventionally conducted using handcrafted features, and it often requires human intervention. Prior studies using end-to-end machine learning approaches are limited in number and have not achieved a high level of performance. In this paper, we propose a model named ShoeRec, which employs variational autoencoder (VAE) as a component in a U-Net-like architecture to reconstruct missing regions and borders in shoeprint images. ShoeRec incorporates skip connections to preserve key patterns and employs VAE in the bottleneck to facilitate the reconstruction of desired shoeprints with the restoration of detail as perceived by humans. As a U-Net, the model skips the contextual information from the encoder to the decoder, and the compressed features in the latent space via VAE optimize the probabilistic distribution for reconstructing complete shoeprints. The reconstruction operation is automatically tuned according to the objective function, so as to reduce the structural correlation between the original and projected shoeprint and restore the absent information in the desired shoeprints. To the best of our knowledge, ShoeRec is the first deep learning infusion model that specializes in shoeprint reconstruction. The shoeprints reconstructed by ShoeRec have a close match with the originals in terms of both structures and patterns, and ShoeRec outperforms state-of-the-art generative models in human evaluation. • An end-to-end deep learning model focuses on shoeprint reconstruction for forensics. • Reconstruction of existing patterns together with the generation of missing regions. • Missing regions reconstruction is specifically designed based on the loss function. • The proposed model performs well for noisy, blurry, and partial input images. • Model outperforms state-of-the-art generative models in terms of human evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug-target interaction (DTI) prediction refers to the use of computational methods and models to predict the interaction between drugs and biological targets. DTI can help researchers understand the mechanism of action of drugs, discover new drug targets, and screen drug candidates. Recently, a large number of DTI models integrating deep drug-target interaction features have emerged to make up for the dilemma of incomplete information on shallow drug and target features. However, these models ignore the challenge of overlapping interaction information by simply integrating deep interaction information. This paper proposes a flexible DTI prediction with interactive information extraction and trade-off (FDTIIT) to address the above challenges. The main idea of FDTIIT is to use flexible mutual attention to extract interaction information about drugs and targets, and then limit the dependence between them to avoid redundant information. Specifically, FDTIIT mainly includes three parts: drug and target representation, drug-target interactive information extraction, and drug-target interactive information trade-off. Among them, the drug and target representation module mainly uses the graph convolutional network and convolutional neural network to learn the representation of drugs and targets. Then, the drug-target interactive information extraction module extracts the drug information hidden in the target and the target information hidden in the drug based on mutual attention. To avoid possible information overlap between drug representation and target representation after the fusion of interaction information, FDTIIT designs an interactive information trade-off module. This module limits the dependence between drug and target representation, providing more comprehensive information to support high-performance drug-target interaction prediction. Multiple experiments designed on three publicly available datasets validated FDTIIT's effectiveness. • We propose a flexible interactive information extraction module. • We consider the interaction information overlap problem for the first time. • A novel interactive information trade-off strategy is proposed. • We integrate shallow and deep interaction features to predict DTI. • Experimental results on multiple datasets validate the effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive research has been conducted on image steganography and watermarking algorithms, owing to their crucial rules in secret data transmission, copyright protection, and traceability. Despite promising results and numerous surveys proposed in the literature, there is still a lack of comprehensive analysis dedicated to deep learning-based image steganography and watermarking algorithms. In this paper, we focus on investigating three important aspects: neural networks, structure models, and training strategies. Our review covers the vast literature in this field. Furthermore, we provide a comprehensive statistical analysis from diverse perspectives, including models, loss functions, platforms, datasets, and attacks. Moreover, we conduct in a thorough comparative analysis and evaluation of existing representative algorithms, assessing their effectiveness within the context of deep learning. Finally, the challenges and potential research directions in the domain of deep-learning image steganography and watermarking algorithms are discussed to facilitate future research. • Comprehensive review of deep learning-based image steganography and watermarking. • In-depth analysis of neural networks, structure models, and training strategies. • Extensive statistical analysis of current models, datasets, attack, and platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile charging is feasible to deal with the energy-constrained problem in wireless rechargeable sensor networks (WRSNs). The mobile chargers (MCs) are usually employed to charge the sensors sequentially according to the charging schemes. Existing studies assume that each sensor should be charged to its maximum energy capacity or to a fixed upper threshold before the next one can be charged. However, they neglect to control the charging time adaptively of each sensor according to the charging demand. Hence, in this paper, we assume that the charging time of each sensor can be controlled, and we study the joint optimization of charging sequence and charging time problem (JCSCT). Correspondingly, we propose a novel deep reinforcement learning with hybrid action space approach for JCSCT (DRLH-JCSCT), which utilizes deep q-network (DQN) to generate the charging sequence, and adopts deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) to determine the charging time. An attention-based encoder–decoder model is integrated in the actor network of DDPG, and a modified bi-directional gate recurrent unit network (MBGRU) is utilized as the decoder. We also design a novel reward function to evaluate the quality of the charging actions. Simulations demonstrate the improved charging performance of the proposed approach, with a longer network lifetime and fewer failed sensors compared with the existing mobile charging scheduling approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hub capacities are considered for the single-allocation Hub Maximal Covering problem. • A new Mixed-Integer Linear-Programming model is proposed and solved for the problem. • A Comprehensive fitness landscape analysis shows the problem space is rugged plain. • A new GARVND algorithm with original Crossover and Mutation operators is proposed. • Experiments showed that GARVND outdid GA, SA, VNS, TS, & GWO+SA methods in objective value. In this paper, a new variation to the Hub Maximal Covering problem called the Capacitated Single-Allocation Hub Maximal Covering Problem (CSAHMCP) is addressed for the first time and a novel binary-integer mathematical model has been proposed. To analyze the features of the problem's solution space and to determine the most effective heuristic approach to solve it, a comprehensive Fitness Landscape Analysis is performed which reveals that the problem is of 'rugged plain' type and can best be solved using an algorithm with good exploration and exploitation capabilities at the same time. Accordingly, we proposed a new algorithm named GARVND, which is a hybrid of the Genetic Algorithm acting as the main framework for diversification, and a variant of the Variable Neighborhood Descent algorithm called 'Reduced VND' acting as a means to improve individual solutions (intensification) by searching in the spaces generated by four types of neighborhood operators. We also introduced two original crossover and mutation operators that can be used for any hub location solution method. The parameters of GARVND are tuned toward less computational times and higher solution quality by using the Taguchi experiment design technique. We solved 114 CSAHMCP instances (several times each) from the Australian Post (AP) dataset using the proposed GARVND, as well as by the Genetic Algorithm, Variable Neighborhood Search, Simulated Annealing, Tabu Search algorithms, and a hybrid algorithm consisting of Grey Wolf Optimizer and Simulated Annealing, in addition to the Gurobi exact solver. Extensive computational results and statistical analyses showed that GARVND yields favorable solutions, outperforming all the compared algorithms by producing smaller gaps with global optimal objective values. In addition, to illustrate the practical value of the CSAHMCP and the GARVND method, we performed a cost-flow sensitivity analysis for the AP Central Sydney network and came up with the best expansion scenarios to be adopted by the management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to propose a new hybrid Machine Learning (ML) with Egret Swarm Optimization Algorithm (ESOA) and Weighted Relevance-based Combination Strategy (WERCS) methods for predicting the patch loading resistance (PLR) of both longitudinally unstiffened and stiffened plate girders. A dataset of both stiffened and unstiffened plate girders under patch loading are collected and used for training and testing to generate the proposed models. Firstly, the WERCS method is used to resample the training set to improve the performance of training data. After that, four ML models, including Gradient Boosted Tree (GTB), Extreme Gradient Boosting algorithm (XGB), Artificial neural network (ANN), and CATBoost regression (CAT) are employed. The hyperparameter of all above ML models are optimized by using ESOA algorithm to choose the best performance models. It was found that the WERCS influences considerably the performance of hybrid ML models, and the WERCS + ESOA + XGB model presents the best performance compared to others. The accuracy of the WERCS + ESOA + XGB model is validated by comparing its predictive results with the existing design codes and formulae. Additionally, the Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME) method is used to assess the importance and contributions of each input variable in the proposed model. This algorithm can explain the global and local effects of features with each range and create favourable foundations for practical designing. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool is developed to conveniently estimate both the patch loading resistance of longitudinally unstiffened and stiffened plate girders. A Python library has been developed and uploaded to PyPi for more convenient use without the need for accessing the source code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]