Predicting Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) populations and associated grain damage in smallholder farmers’ maize stores: A machine learning approach

Prostephanus truncatus is a notorious pest of stored-maize grain and its spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa has led to increased levels of grain storage losses. The current study developed models to predict the level of P. truncatus infestation and associated damage of maize grain in smallholder farmer stores. Data were gathered from grain storage trials conducted in Hwedza and Mbire districts of Zimbabwe and correlated with weather data for each site. Insect counts of P. truncatus and other common stored grain insect pests had a strong correlation with time of year with highest recorded numbers from January to May. Correlation analysis showed insect-generated grain dust from boring and feeding activity to be the best indicator of P. truncatus presence in stores (r = 0.70), while a moderate correlation (r = 0.48) was found between P. truncatus numbers and storage insect parasitic wasps, and grain damage levels significantly correlated with the presence of Tribolium castaneum (r = 0.60). Models were developed for predicting P. truncatus infestation and grain damage using parameter selection algorithms and decision-tree machine learning algorithms with 10-fold cross-validation. The P. truncatus population size prediction model performance was weak (r = 0.43) due to the complicated sampling and detection of the pest and eight-week long period between sampling events. The grain damage prediction model had a stronger correlation coefficient (r = 0.93) and is a good estimator for in situ stored grain insect damage. The models were developed for use under southern African climatic conditions and can be improved with more input data to create more precise models for building decision-support tools for smallholder maize-based production systems.     

Classification of the cardiotocogram data for anticipation of fetal risks using machine learning techniques

The aim of the research is evaluating the classification performances of eight different machine-learning methods on the antepartum cardiotocography (CTG) data. The classification is necessary to predict newborn health, especially for the critical cases. Cardiotocography is used for assisting the obstetricians’ to obtain detailed information during the pregnancy as a technique of measuring fetal well-being, essentially in pregnant women having potential complications. The obstetricians describe CTG shortly as a continuous electronic record of the baby's heart rate took from the mother's abdomen. The acquired information is necessary to visualize unhealthiness of the embryo and gives an opportunity for early intervention prior to happening a permanent impairment to the embryo. The aim of the machine learning methods is by using attributes of data obtained from the uterine contraction (UC) and fetal heart rate (FHR) signals to classify as pathological or normal. The dataset contains 1831 instances with 21 attributes, examined by applying the methods. In the paper, the highest accuracy displayed as 99.2%.     

A GIS plug-in for Bayesian belief networks: Towards a transparent software framework to assess and visualise uncertainties in ecosystem service mapping

The complexity and spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem processes driving ecosystem service delivery require spatially explicit models that take into account the different parameters affecting those processes. Current attempts to model ecosystem service delivery on a broad, regional scale often depend on indicator-based approaches that are generally not able to fully capture the complexity of ecosystem processes. Moreover, they do not allow quantification of uncertainty on their predictions. In this paper, we discuss a QGIS plug-in which promotes the use of Bayesian belief networks for regional modelling and mapping of ecosystem service delivery and associated uncertainties. Different types of specific Bayesian belief network output maps, delivered by the plug-in, are discussed and their decision support capacities are evaluated. This plug-in, used in combination with firmly developed Bayesian belief networks, has the potential to add value to current spatial ecosystem service accounting methods. The plug-in can also be used in other research domains dealing with spatial data and uncertainty.     

Prediction of risk factors of cyberbullying-related words in Korea: Application of data mining using social big data

The study examined a decision tree analysis using social big data to conduct the prediction model on types of risk factors related to cyberbullying in Korea. The study conducted an analysis of 103,212 buzzes that had noted causes of cyberbullying and data were collected from 227 online channels, such as news websites, blogs, online groups, social network services, and online bulletin boards. Using opinion-mining method and decision tree analysis, the types of cyberbullying were sorted using SPSS 25.0. The results indicated that the total rate of types of cyberbullying in Korea was 44%, which consisted of 32.3% victims, 6.4% perpetrators, and 5.3% bystanders. According to the results, the impulse factor was also the greatest influence on the prediction of the risk factors and the propensity for dominance factor was the second greatest factor predicting the types of risk factors. In particular, the impulse factor had the most significant effect on bystanders, and the propensity for dominance factor was also significant in influencing online perpetrators. It is necessary to develop a program to diminish the impulses that were initiated by bystanders as well as victims and perpetrators because many of those bystanders have tended to aggravate impulsive cyberbullying behaviors.     

Improving the multi-objective evolutionary optimization algorithm for hydropower reservoir operations in the California Oroville–Thermalito complex

This study demonstrates the application of an improved Evolutionary optimization Algorithm (EA), titled Multi-Objective Complex Evolution Global Optimization Method with Principal Component Analysis and Crowding Distance Operator (MOSPD), for the hydropower reservoir operation of the Oroville–Thermalito Complex (OTC) – a crucial head-water resource for the California State Water Project (SWP). In the OTC's water-hydropower joint management study, the nonlinearity of hydropower generation and the reservoir's water elevation–storage relationship are explicitly formulated by polynomial function in order to closely match realistic situations and reduce linearization approximation errors. Comparison among different curve-fitting methods is conducted to understand the impact of the simplification of reservoir topography. In the optimization algorithm development, techniques of crowding distance and principal component analysis are implemented to improve the diversity and convergence of the optimal solutions towards and along the Pareto optimal set in the objective space. A comparative evaluation among the new algorithm MOSPD, the original Multi-Objective Complex Evolution Global Optimization Method (MOCOM), the Multi-Objective Differential Evolution method (MODE), the Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA), the Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing approach (MOSA), and the Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization scheme (MOPSO) is conducted using the benchmark functions. The results show that best the MOSPD algorithm demonstrated the best and most consistent performance when compared with other algorithms on the test problems. The newly developed algorithm (MOSPD) is further applied to the OTC reservoir releasing problem during the snow melting season in 1998 (wet year), 2000 (normal year) and 2001 (dry year), in which the more spreading and converged non-dominated solutions of MOSPD provide decision makers with better operational alternatives for effectively and efficiently managing the OTC reservoirs in response to the different climates, especially drought, which has become more and more severe and frequent in California.     

A novel approach to adaptive relational association rule mining

The paper focuses on the adaptive relational association rule mining problem. Relational association rules represent a particular type of association rules which describe frequent relations that occur between the features characterizing the instances within a data set. We aim at re-mining an object set, previously mined, when the feature set characterizing the objects increases. An adaptive relational association rule method, based on the discovery of interesting relational association rules, is proposed. This method, called ARARM (Adaptive Relational Association Rule Mining) adapts the set of rules that was established by mining the data before the feature set changed, preserving the completeness. We aim to reach the result more efficiently than running the mining algorithm again from scratch on the feature-extended object set. Experiments testing the method's performance on several case studies are also reported. The obtained results highlight the efficiency of the ARARM method and confirm the potential of our proposal.     

Improving Short-Circuit Current Capacity, Resistance, and Breaking Load of OPGW Constructions by Modifying Aluminium Alloy With AlB2

This article presents a method that can be applied to molten AA-6101 alloy to improve electrical properties of the aluminium part of the optical ground wire (OPGW) used in overhead transmission lines to protect phase conductors from lightning strike and to transmit signals and data. AA-6101 alloy in casting of the log as 6 m length and 178 mm diameter for extrusion has been inoculated by AlB₂ to decrease detrimental effects of Cr, Ti, V, and Zr on the conductivity of the material. After inoculation, improved billets were extruded as 9.5 mm diameter feedstock. Required wires drawn from the feedstock according to the construction types of OPGW to be tested were exposed to aging at 175°C, 6 h (T-8). Upon completion of the back-twist and performing-type stranding process, resistance, and short-circuit current capacity and breaking load of the OPGW 88/44 constructions with other metal combinations have been examined and tested to show improvement. Results are summarized in tables and graphically.     

地面油管漏失定量测试方法探讨

对油管漏失进行定量测试的方法确定具体漏失位置。方法运用双频道回声探仪探测动液面的原理和工作方法，根据油管漏失形成的死油坏在测试曲线上出现特殊波位置判断油管漏失位置。结果：经过７０多井次的现场试验，该方法具有较高的准确性和可靠性。结论：利用特殊波可以有效监测油管漏失，并具有推广使用价值。     

一个面向CAD／CAM的演绎数据库管理系统

演绎数据库管理系统ＤＥＤＢＭＳ是工程数据库管理系统ＥＤＢＭＳ／２中的一个子系统。本文着重介绍其产生式语言用户界面、工作流程及功能特点。ＤＥＤＢＭＳ系统的开发，使ＥＤＢＭＳ／２不仅具有工程数据据管理功能，而且具有数据演绎和知识处理能力，从而成为ＣＡＤ／ＣＡＭ系统集成化和智能化的有力支撑工具。