Neo-fuzzy neuron learning using backfitting algorithm

Neural Computing and Applications - This paper proposes an automatic and simple approach to design a neo-fuzzy neuron for identification purposes. The proposed approach uses the backfitting...     

A low complexity mechanism for congestion notification in rural IPSec‐enabled heterogeneous backhaul networks

Management in wireless backhaul networks is a challenging task, especially in rural and isolated environments. In these scenarios, the backhaul network usually consists of a set of heterogeneous wireless links that provide limited and variable bandwidth to the access networks, often 3G/4G small cells. Because of the highly constrained nature of this type of backhaul network, intelligent and joint management in both the backhaul network and the access network is crucial in order to avoid performance degradation caused by traffic congestion. In order to avoid the saturation in the backhaul network, access networks should consider the backhaul state when taking decisions in the admission control and scheduling procedures. However, no standardized mechanisms currently exist for sharing management information between both networks. In this work, we propose to use the Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) bit in the outer IP headers present in the Iuh 3GPP IPSec‐enabled interfaces in order to notify the backhaul congestion state to the access network. We analyze for the referred scenario, compatibility and security details, validating our approach by running numerically simulations and implementing the notification mechanism. Our low complexity approach offers 2% accuracy and backhaul update latency lower than 10 ms during 80% of the time, which makes the solution appropriate for admission control and scheduling intervals in small cells.     

The importance of access to information and knowledge coordination on quality and economic benefits obtained from Six Sigma

Wireless Networks - This paper presents a structural equation model that relates knowledge coordination with access to information in the process of implementing Six Sigma and their impact on the...     

Unprecedented Improvement of Single Li‐Ion Conductive Solid Polymer Electrolyte Through Salt Additive

Solid‐state lithium metal (Li°) batteries (SSLMBs) are believed to be the most promising technologies to tackle the safety concerns and the insufficient energy density encountered in conventional Li‐ion batteries. Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) inherently own good processability and flexibility, enabling large‐scale preparation of SSLMBs. To minimize the growth of Li° dendrites and cell polarization in SPE‐based SSLMBs, an additive‐containing single Li‐ion conductive SPE is reported. The characterization results show that a small dose of electrolyte additive (2 wt%) substantially increases the ionic conductivity of single Li‐ion conductive SPEs as well as the interfacial compatibility between electrode and SPE, allowing the cycling of SPE‐based cells with good electrochemical performance. This work may provide a paradigm shift on the design of highly cationic conductive electrolytes, which are essential for developing safe and high‐performance rechargeable batteries.     

Synergistic Roll‐to‐Roll Transfer and Doping of CVD‐Graphene Using Parylene for Ambient‐Stable and Ultra‐Lightweight Photovoltaics

A roll‐to‐roll (R2R) transfer technique is employed to improve the electrical properties of transferred graphene on flexible substrates using parylene as an interfacial layer. A layer of parylene is deposited on graphene/copper (Cu) foils grown by chemical vapor deposition and are laminated onto ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/poly(ethylene terephthalate). Then, the samples are delaminated from the Cu using an electrochemical transfer process, resulting in flexible and conductive substrates with sheet resistances of below 300 Ω sq^?1, which is significantly better (fourfold) than the sample transferred by R2R without parylene (1200 Ω sq^?1). The characterization results indicate that parylene C and D dope graphene due to the presence of chlorine atoms in their structure, resulting in higher carrier density and thus lower sheet resistance. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the binding energy between parylene and graphene is stronger than that of EVA and graphene, which may lead to less tear in graphene during the R2R transfer. Finally, organic solar cells are fabricated on the ultrathin and flexible parylene/graphene substrates and an ultra‐lightweight device is achieved with a power conversion efficiency of 5.86%. Additionally, the device shows a high power per weight of 6.46 W g^?1 with superior air stability.     

A traffic analysis attack to compute social network measures

The development of digital media, the increasing use of social networks, the easier access to modern technological devices, is perturbing thousands of people in their public and private lives. People love posting their personal news without consider the risks involved. Privacy has never been more important. Privacy enhancing technologies research have attracted considerable international attention after the recent news against users personal data protection in social media websites like Facebook. It has been demonstrated that even when using an anonymous communication system, it is possible to reveal user’s identities through intersection attacks or traffic analysis attacks. Combining a traffic analysis attack with Analysis Social Networks (SNA) techniques, an adversary can be able to obtain important data from the whole network, topological network structure, subset of social data, revealing communities and its interactions. The aim of this work is to demonstrate how intersection attacks can disclose structural properties and significant details from an anonymous social network composed of a university community.

     

A comparison of learning methods over raw data: forecasting cab services market share in New York City

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The cab services, present in most of the cities, are one of the most used offerings for passenger transportation. Nowadays their business model is being...     

Generalized Nonlinear Stiffness Identification on Controlled Mechanical Vibrating Systems

A new algebraic parametric identification method in time domain for multiple degrees‐of‐freedom mechanical vibrating systems with high‐order nonlinear stiffness is proposed. Parameters of mass, damping and linear and nonlinear stiffness are estimated on‐line and, simultaneously, using transient real‐time position measurements and active control force signals. Parametric identification can be applied for real‐time estimation of both symmetrical and non‐symmetrical stiffness. Parametric identification is combined with adaptive planned motion control on Multiple‐Input‐Multiple‐Output nonlinear mechanical vibrating systems. Analytical and numerical results prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed on‐line algebraic parametric identification approach.     

Detection of bodies in maritime rescue operations using unmanned aerial vehicles with multispectral cameras

In this study, we use unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with multispectral cameras to search for bodies in maritime rescue operations. A series of flights were performed in open‐water scenarios in the northwest of Spain, using a certified aquatic rescue dummy in dangerous areas and real people when the weather conditions allowed it. The multispectral images were aligned and used to train a convolutional neural network for body detection. An exhaustive evaluation was performed to assess the best combination of spectral channels for this task. Three approaches based on a MobileNet topology were evaluated, using (a) the full image, (b) a sliding window, and (c) a precise localization method. The first method classifies an input image as containing a body or not, the second uses a sliding window to yield a class for each subimage, and the third uses transposed convolutions returning a binary output in which the body pixels are marked. In all cases, the MobileNet architecture was modified by adding custom layers and preprocessing the input to align the multispectral camera channels. Evaluation shows that the proposed methods yield reliable results, obtaining the best classification performance when combining green, red‐edge, and near‐infrared channels. We conclude that the precise localization approach is the most suitable method, obtaining a similar accuracy as the sliding window but achieving a spatial localization close to 1 m. The presented system is about to be implemented for real maritime rescue operations carried out by Babcock Mission Critical Services Spain.