Evolutionary algorithms for solving unconstrained multilevel lot-sizing problem with series structure

This paper presents a comparative study of evolutionary algorithms which are considered to be effective in solving the multilevel lot-sizing problem in material requirement planning (MRP) systems. Three evolutionary algorithms (simulated annealing (SA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA)) are provided. For evaluating the performances of algorithms, the distribution of total cost (objective function) and the average computational time are compared. As a result, both GA and PSO have better cost performances with lower average total costs and smaller standard deviations. When the scale of the multilevel lot-sizing problem becomes larger, PSO is of a shorter computational time.     

Ontology-based approach for legal provision retrieval

In this paper, we present an ontology-based approach for legal provision retrieval. The approach aims at assisting the man who knows little about legal knowledge to inquire appropriate provisions. Legal ontology and legal concept probability model are main functional components in our approach. Legal ontology is extracted from Chinese laws by the natural language processing (NLP) techniques. Legal concept probability model is built from corpus, and the model is used to bridge the gap between legal ontology and natural language inquiries.     

Mining evolving association rules for e-business recommendation

Association analysis is an effective data mining approach capable of unveiling interesting associations within a large dataset. Although widely adopted in e-business areas, it still has many difficulties when applied in practice. For instance, there is a mismatch between the static rules discovered and the drifting nature of the user interests, and it is difficult to detect associations from a huge volume of raw user data. This paper presents an effective approach to mine evolving association rules in order to tackle these problems. It is followed by a recommendation model based on the evolving association rules unveiled. Experimental results on an online toggery show that it can effectively unveil people’s shifting interests and make better recommendations accordingly.     

Fault detection of networked control systems with uncertain time-varying delay and quantization error

Problems related to fault detection of networked control systems (NCSs) with both uncertain timevarying delay and quantization error are studied in this paper. A novel model with the form of polytopic uncertainty is given to represent the influences of both the time-varying delay and the quantization error, and then the reference model based method is used to design the residual generator that is robust to both unknown network-induced delay and unknown inputs. A numerical example is also given to illustrate the merits of the presented method. The proposed method can be regarded as an extension of the authors’ former work, which can only deal with time-varying delay.     

Directed proxy signature in the standard model

A directed signature is a type of signature with restricted verification ability. Directed signatures allow only a designated verifier to check the validity of the signature issued to him, and at the time of trouble or if necessary, any third party can verify the signature with the help of the signer or the designated verifier. Directed signature schemes are widely used in situations where the receiver’s privacy should be protected. Proxy signatures allow an entity to delegate its signing capability to another entity in such a way that the latter can sign message on behalf of the former when the former is not available. Proxy signature schemes have found numerous practical applications such as distributed systems and mobile agent applications. In this paper, we firstly define the notion of the directed proxy signature by combining the proxy signature and directed signature. Then, we formalize its security model and present a concrete scheme in the standard model. Finally, we use the techniques from provable security to show that the proposed scheme is unforgeable under the gap Diffie-Hellman assumption, and invisible under the decisional Diffie-Hellman assumption.     

An information-based color feature representation and its application in detecting adult images

For many image classification tasks, color histogram is usually employed as an important “signature” to describe the color distribution of the image and infer the image content. However, most traditional color histograms cannot achieve satisfactory results in many image classification systems. In order to improve the accuracy and reduce the computational complexity of the classification task, an information-based color feature representation is proposed in this paper. The mutual information between the feature and the class label is adopted to evaluate the discriminative power of the feature. A novel quantization scheme is presented, which removes the redundant color components and combines the adjacent components together to generate a new feature to maximize the discriminative ability. An iterative algorithm is performed to derive the color space quantization and color feature generation. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed color representation, a specific image classification task, i.e., differentiating the adult images from benign ones, is employed. Experimental results show that our color feature achieves better classification performance and better efficiency compared with the traditional color histogram.     

Accurate 3D reconstruction of subject-specific knee finite element model to simulate the articular cartilage defects

The biomechanical relationship between the articular cartilage defect and knee osteoarthritis (OA) has not been clearly defined. This study presents a 3D knee finite element model (FEM) to determine the effect of cartilage defects on the stress distribution around the defect rim. The complete knee FEM, which includes bones, articular cartilages, menisci and ligaments, is developed from computed tomography and magnetic resonance images. This FEM then is validated and used to simulate femoral cartilage defects. Based on the obtained results, it is confirmed that the 3D knee FEM is reconstructed with high-fidelity level and can faithfully predict the knee contact behavior. Cartilage defects drastically affect the stress distribution on articular cartilages. When the defect size was smaller than 1.00 cm², the stress elevation and redistribution were found undistinguishable. However, significant stress elevation and redistribution were detected due to the large defect sizes (⩾1.00 cm²). This alteration of stress distribution has important implications relating to the progression of cartilage defect to OA in the human knee joint.     

Chosen ciphertext secure identity-based broadcast encryption in the standard model

To give concurrent consideration both the efficiency and the security (intensity of intractable problem) in the standard model, a chosen ciphertext secure identity-based broadcast encryption is proposed. Against the chosen ciphertext security model, by using identity (ID) sequence and adding additional information in ciphertext, the self-adaptive chosen identity security (the full security) and the chosen ciphertext security are gained simultaneously. The reduction of scheme’s security is the decisional bilinear Diffie-Hellman (BDH) intractable assumption, and the proof of security shows that the proposed scheme is indistinguishable against adaptive chosen ciphertext attacks in the standard model under the decisional BDH intractable assumption. So the security level is improved, and it is suitable for higher security environment.     

Aero-optical characteristics of supersonic flow over blunt wedge with cavity window

The optical rays that form the image of an object and propagate a supersonic flow over a vehicle are refracted by the density variations. A numerical analysis of the aero-optical characteristics of supersonic flow over blunt wedge with a cavity window is carried out. A hybrid method of Reynold averaged Navier-Stokes and direct simulation Monte Carlo (RANS/DSMC) is employed to simulate the flowfield. Refraction factor is introduced to evaluate the flowfield’s aero-optical characteristic. The results show that mean flow’s aero-optical effects are mainly caused by the shock wave, the expansion wave and the turbulent boundary layer. Fluctuation flow’s aero-optical effects are mainly caused by the turbulent boundary layer and the shock wave induced by the cavity window. The aero-optical effects at the leading side of window are caused by the mean density variations, while the effects at the trailing side are caused by the density fluctuations. Different draft angles of the cavity window are investigated. The airborne optical devices of supersonic vehicle should be mounted in the middle of the cavity window with a large draft angle.     

Numerical simulation of fluid flow caused by buoyancy forces during vacuum arc remelting process

The metallurgical structure and composition of ingots which depend critically on the fluid motion within the molten pool during the vacuum arc remelting (VAR) process have important effect on the subsequent mechanical processes like forging, rolling and welding. In order to determine the fluid motion of molten pool, a 2D finite element model is established using ANSYS10.0 software, combined with the turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer. The fluid motion caused by thermo buoyancy forces is investigated at different VAR processes in the present study. The results indicate that the fluid flows symmetrically along the axis of the molten pool and clockwisely along the circle at the right pool’s profile. It is also shown that the maximum velocity increases with increasing melting rate and a direct proportional relationship exists.