Improving the utility of locally differentially private protocols for longitudinal and multidimensional frequency estimates

This paper investigates the problem of collecting multidimensional data throughout time(i.e.,longitudinal studies)for the fundamental task of frequency estimation under Local Differential Privacy(LDP)guarantees.Contrary to frequency estimation of a single attribute,the multidimensional aspect demands particular attention to the privacy budget.Besides,when collecting user statistics longitudinally,privacy progressively degrades.Indeed,the“multiple”settings in combination(i.e.,many attributes and several collections throughout time)impose several challenges,for which this paper proposes the first solution for frequency estimates under LDP.To tackle these issues,we extend the analysis of three state-of-the-art LDP protocols(Generalized Randomized Response–GRR,Optimized Unary Encoding–OUE,and Symmetric Unary Encoding–SUE)for both longitudinal and multidimensional data collections.While the known literature uses OUE and SUE for two rounds of sanitization(a.k.a.memoization),i.e.,L-OUE and L-SUE,respectively,we analytically and experimentally show that starting with OUE and then with SUE provides higher data utility(i.e.,L-OSUE).Also,for attributes with small domain sizes,we propose Longitudinal GRR(L-GRR),which provides higher utility than the other protocols based on unary encoding.Last,we also propose a new solution named Adaptive LDP for LOngitudinal and Multidimensional FREquency Estimates(ALLOMFREE),which randomly samples a single attribute to be sent with the whole privacy budget and adaptively selects the optimal protocol,i.e.,either L-GRR or L-OSUE.As shown in the results,ALLOMFREE consistently and considerably outperforms the state-of-the-art L-SUE and L-OUE protocols in the quality of the frequency estimates.

Adaptive Update Distribution Estimation under Probability Byzantine Attack

The secure and normal operation of distributed networks is crucial for accurate parameter estimation.However,distributed networks are frequently susceptible to Byzantine attacks.Considering real-life scenarios,this paper investigates a probability Byzantine(PB)attack,utilizing a Bernoulli distribution to simulate the attack probability.Historically,additional detection mechanisms are used to mitigate such attacks,leading to increased energy consumption and burdens on distributed nodes,consequently diminishing operational efficiency.Differing from these approaches,an adaptive updating distributed estimation algorithm is proposed to mitigate the impact of PB attacks.In the proposed algorithm,a penalty strategy is initially incorporated during data updates to weaken the influence of the attack.Subsequently,an adaptive fusion weight is employed during data fusion to merge the estimations.Additionally,the reason why this penalty term weakens the attack has been analyzed,and the performance of the proposed algorithm is validated through simulation experiments.

Novel operating theatre scheduling method based on estimation of distribution algorithm

In order to improve the efficiency of operating rooms,reduce the costs for hospitals and improve the level of service qualities, a scheduling method was developed based on an estimation of distribution algorithm（ EDA）. First, a scheduling problem domain is described. Based on assignment constraints and resource capacity constraints, the mathematical programming models are set up with an objective function to minimize the system makespan. On the basis of the descriptions mentioned above, a solution policy of generating feasible scheduling solutions is established. Combined with the specific constraints of operating theatres, the EDA-based algorithm is put forward to solve scheduling problems. Finally, simulation experiments are designed to evaluate the scheduling method. The orthogonal table is chosen to determine the parameters in the proposed method. Then the genetic algorithm and the particle swarm optimization algorithm are chosen for comparison with the EDA-based algorithm, and the results indicate that the proposed method can decrease the makespan of the surgical system regardless of the size of operations. Moreover, the computation time of the EDA-based algorithm is only approximately 5 s when solving the large scale problems, which means that the proposed algorithm is suitable for carrying out an on-line scheduling optimization of the patients.

Robust Airfoil Optimization with Multi-objective Estimation of Distribution Algorithm

A transonic airfoil designed by means of classical point-optimization may result in its dramatically inferior performance under off-design conditions. To overcome this shortcoming, robust design is proposed to find out the optimal profile of an airfoil to maintain its performance in an uncertain environment. The robust airfoil optimization is aimed to minimize mean values and variances of drag coefficients while satisfying the lift and thickness constraints over a range of Mach numbers. A multi-objective estimation of distribution algorithm is applied to the robust airfoil optimization on the base of the RAE2822 benchmark airfoil. The shape of the airfoil is obtained through superposing ten Hick-Henne shape functions upon the benchmark airfoil. A set of design points is selected according to a uniform design table for aerodynamic evaluation. A Kriging model of drag coefficient is constructed with those points to reduce computing costs. Over the Mach range from 0.7 to 0.8, the airfoil generated by the robust optimization has a configuration characterized by supercritical airfoil with low drag coefficients. The small fluctuation in its drag coefficients means that the performance of the robust airfoil is insensitive to variation of Mach number.

Distributed Fault Estimation for Nonlinear Systems With Sensor Saturation and Deception Attacks Using Stochastic Communication Protocols

This paper is aimed at the distributed fault estimation issue associated with the potential loss of actuator efficiency for a type of discrete-time nonlinear systems with sensor saturation.For the distributed estimation structure under consideration,an estimation center is not necessary,and the estimator derives its information from itself and neighboring nodes,which fuses the state vector and the measurement vector.In an effort to cut down data conflicts in communication networks,the stochastic communication protocol(SCP)is employed so that the output signals from sensors can be selected.Additionally,a recursive security estimator scheme is created since attackers randomly inject malicious signals into the selected data.On this basis,sufficient conditions for a fault estimator with less conservatism are presented which ensure an upper bound of the estimation error covariance and the mean-square exponential boundedness of the estimating error.Finally,a numerical example is used to show the reliability and effectiveness of the considered distributed estimation algorithm.

Bridging element-free Galerkin and pluri-Gaussian simulation for geological uncertainty estimation in an ensemble smoother data assimilation framework

The facies distribution of a reservoir is one of the biggest concerns for geologists,geophysicists,reservoir modelers,and reservoir engineers due to its high importance in the setting of any reliable decisionmaking/optimization of field development planning.The approach for parameterizing the facies distribution as a random variable comes naturally through using the probability fields.Since the prior probability fields of facies come either from a seismic inversion or from other sources of geologic information,they are not conditioned to the data observed from the cores extracted from the wells.This paper presents a regularized element-free Galerkin(R-EFG)method for conditioning facies probability fields to facies observation.The conditioned probability fields respect all the conditions of the probability theory(i.e.all the values are between 0 and 1,and the sum of all fields is a uniform field of 1).This property achieves by an optimization procedure under equality and inequality constraints with the gradient projection method.The conditioned probability fields are further used as the input in the adaptive pluri-Gaussian simulation(APS)methodology and coupled with the ensemble smoother with multiple data assimilation(ES-MDA)for estimation and uncertainty quantification of the facies distribution.The history-matching of the facies models shows a good estimation and uncertainty quantification of facies distribution,a good data match and prediction capabilities.

Distributed Dynamic Load in Structural Dynamics by the Impulse-Based Force Estimation Algorithm

This paper proposes a novel approach for identifying distributed dynamic loads in the time domain.Using polynomial andmodal analysis,the load is transformed intomodal space for coefficient identification.This allows the distributed dynamic load with a two-dimensional form in terms of time and space to be simultaneously identified in the form of modal force,thereby achieving dimensionality reduction.The Impulse-based Force Estimation Algorithm is proposed to identify dynamic loads in the time domain.Firstly,the algorithm establishes a recursion scheme based on convolution integral,enabling it to identify loads with a long history and rapidly changing forms over time.Secondly,the algorithm introduces moving mean and polynomial fitting to detrend,enhancing its applicability in load estimation.The aforementioned methodology successfully accomplishes the reconstruction of distributed,instead of centralized,dynamic loads on the continuum in the time domain by utilizing acceleration response.To validate the effectiveness of the method,computational and experimental verification were conducted.

Uniformly Minimum-Variance Unbiased Estimator (UMVUE) for the Gamma Cumulative Distribution Function with Known and Integer Scale Parameter

Uniformly minimum-variance unbiased estimator (UMVUE) for the gamma cumulative distribution function with known and integer scale parameter. This paper applies Rao-Blackwell and Lehmann-Scheffeé Theorems to deduce the uniformly minimum-variance unbiased estimator (UMVUE) for the gamma cumulative distribution function with known and integer scale parameters. The paper closes with an example comparing the empirical distribution function with the UMVUE estimates.

Improved Hybrid Differential Evolution-Estimation of Distribution Algorithm with Feasibility Rules for NLP/MINLP Engineering Optimization Problems

In this paper, an improved hybrid differential evolution-estimation of distribution algorithm (IHDE-EDA) is proposed for nonlinear programming (NLP) and mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) models in engineering optimization fields. In order to improve the global searching ability and convergence speed, IHDE-EDA takes full advantage of differential information and global statistical information extracted respectively from differential evolution algorithm and annealing mechanism-embedded estimation of distribution algorithm. Moreover, the feasibility rules are used to handle constraints, which do not require additional parameters and can guide the population to the feasible region quickly. The effectiveness of hybridization mechanism of IHDE-EDA is first discussed, and then simulation and comparison based on three benchmark problems demonstrate the efficiency, accuracy and robustness of IHDE-EDA. Finally, optimization on an industrial-size scheduling of two-pipeline crude oil blending problem shows the practical applicability of IHDE-EDA.

Optimization by Estimation of Distribution with DEUM Framework Based on Markov Random Fields

This paper presents a Markov random field （MRP） approach to estimating and sampling the probability distribution in populations of solutions. The approach is used to define a class of algorithms under the general heading distribution estimation using Markov random fields （DEUM）. DEUM is a subclass of estimation of distribution algorithms （EDAs） where interaction between solution variables is represented as an undirected graph and the joint probability of a solution is factorized as a Gibbs distribution derived from the structure of the graph. The focus of this paper will be on describing the three main characteristics of DEUM framework, which distinguishes it from the traditional EDA. They are： 1） use of MRF models, 2） fitness modeling approach to estimating the parameter of the model and 3） Monte Carlo approach to sampling from the model.

Archimedean copula estimation of distribution algorithm based on artificial bee colony algorithm

The artificial bee colony （ABC） algorithm is a com- petitive stochastic population-based optimization algorithm. How- ever, the ABC algorithm does not use the social information and lacks the knowledge of the problem structure, which leads to in- sufficiency in both convergent speed and searching precision. Archimedean copula estimation of distribution algorithm （ACEDA） is a relatively simple, time-economic and multivariate correlated EDA. This paper proposes a novel hybrid algorithm based on the ABC algorithm and ACEDA called Archimedean copula estima- tion of distribution based on the artificial bee colony （ACABC） algorithm. The hybrid algorithm utilizes ACEDA to estimate the distribution model and then uses the information to help artificial bees to search more efficiently in the search space. Six bench- mark functions are introduced to assess the performance of the ACABC algorithm on numerical function optimization. Experimen- tal results show that the ACABC algorithm converges much faster with greater precision compared with the ABC algorithm, ACEDA and the global best （gbest）-guided ABC （GABC） algorithm in most of the experiments.

Estimation of coal particle size distribution by image segmentation

Several industrial coal processes are largely determined by the distribution of particle sizes in their feed.Currently these parameters are measured by manual sampling,which is time consuming and cannot provide real time feedback for automatic control purposes.In this paper,an approach using image segmentation on images of overlapped coal particles is described.The estimation of the particle size distribution by number is also described.The particle overlap problem was solved using image enhancement algorithms that converted those image parts representing material in lower layers to black.Exponential high-pass filter(EHPF) algorithms were used to remove the texture from particles on the surface.Finally,the edges of the surface particles were identified by morphological edge detection.These algorithms are described in detail as is the method of extracting the coal particle size.Tests indicate that using more coal images gives a higher accuracy estimate.The positive absolute error of 50 random tests was consistently less than 2.5% and the errors were reduced as the size of the fraction increased.

Combinations of Estimation of Distribution Algorithms and Other Techniques

This paper summaries our recent work on combining estimation of distribution algorithms （EDA） and other techniques for solving hard search and optimization problems： a） guided mutation, an offspring generator in which the ideas from EDAs and genetic algorithms are combined together, we have shown that an evolutionary algorithm with guided mutation outperforms the best GA for the maximum clique problem, b） evolutionary algorithms refining a heuristic, we advocate a strategy for solving a hard optimization problem with complicated data structure, and c） combination of two different local search techniques and EDA for numerical global optimization problems, its basic idea is that not all the new generated points are needed to be improved by an expensive local search.

An improved estimation of distribution algorithm for multi-compartment electric vehicle routing problem

The multi-compartment electric vehicle routing problem(EVRP)with soft time window and multiple charging types(MCEVRP-STW&MCT)is studied,in which electric multi-compartment vehicles that are environmentally friendly but need to be recharged in course of transport process,are employed.A mathematical model for this optimization problem is established with the objective of minimizing the function composed of vehicle cost,distribution cost,time window penalty cost and charging service cost.To solve the problem,an estimation of the distribution algorithm based on Lévy flight(EDA-LF)is proposed to perform a local search at each iteration to prevent the algorithm from falling into local optimum.Experimental results demonstrate that the EDA-LF algorithm can find better solutions and has stronger robustness than the basic EDA algorithm.In addition,when comparing with existing algorithms,the result shows that the EDA-LF can often get better solutions in a relatively short time when solving medium and large-scale instances.Further experiments show that using electric multi-compartment vehicles to deliver incompatible products can produce better results than using traditional fuel vehicles.

A novel hybrid estimation of distribution algorithm for solving hybrid flowshop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine

The hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine is a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, and it exists widely in chemical, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry. In this work, a novel mathematic model for the hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine(HFSPUPM) was proposed. Additionally, an effective hybrid estimation of distribution algorithm was proposed to solve the HFSPUPM, taking advantage of the features in the mathematic model. In the optimization algorithm, a new individual representation method was adopted. The(EDA) structure was used for global search while the teaching learning based optimization(TLBO) strategy was used for local search. Based on the structure of the HFSPUPM, this work presents a series of discrete operations. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid algorithm compared with other algorithms.

Gaussian process assisted coevolutionary estimation of distribution algorithm for computationally expensive problems

In order to reduce the computation of complex problems, a new surrogate-assisted estimation of distribution algorithm with Gaussian process was proposed. Coevolution was used in dual populations which evolved in parallel. The search space was projected into multiple subspaces and searched by sub-populations. Also, the whole space was exploited by the other population which exchanges information with the sub-populations. In order to make the evolutionary course efficient, multivariate Gaussian model and Gaussian mixture model were used in both populations separately to estimate the distribution of individuals and reproduce new generations. For the surrogate model, Gaussian process was combined with the algorithm which predicted variance of the predictions. The results on six benchmark functions show that the new algorithm performs better than other surrogate-model based algorithms and the computation complexity is only 10% of the original estimation of distribution algorithm.

Distribution of chlorophyU a and estimation of primary productivity in the eastern waters of Balingtang Channel in summer

Oceanographical features on both sides of Balingtang Channel (17°55′-20°06′N, 122°55′-126°57′E) were comprehensively investigated on board of R/V "Experiment 3" in June. 1984. The pre-sent paper reports the chlorophyll data collected and primary productivity estimated there. Water sam-ples were taken with a glass bottle of Model HQMat the depth of 0, 10. 25, 50, 75, 100 and 150m, separately. Chlorophyll was determined according to the spectrophotometry proposed by UNESCO(1966) and calculated with the trichromatic equations of Jeffrey-Humphrey(1975). Estimations ofprimary productivity were carried out using a simplified equation (Q = 1.5) given by Cadee(1975).

An effective estimation of distribution algorithm for parallel litho machine scheduling with reticle constraints

In order to improve the scheduling efficiency of photolithography,bottleneck process of wafer fabrications in the semiconductor industry,an effective estimation of distribution algorithm is proposed for scheduling problems of parallel litho machines with reticle constraints,where multiple reticles are available for each reticle type.First,the scheduling problem domain of parallel litho machines is described with reticle constraints and mathematical programming formulations are put forward with the objective of minimizing total weighted completion time.Second,estimation of distribution algorithm is developed with a decoding scheme specially designed to deal with the reticle constraints.Third,an insert-based local search with the first move strategy is introduced to enhance the local exploitation ability of the algorithm.Finally,simulation experiments and analysis demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

A Value-at-Risk Based Approach for PMU Placement in Distribution Systems

With the application of phasor measurement units(PMU)in the distribution system,it is expected that the performance of the distribution system state estimation can be improved obviously with the PMU measurements into consideration.How to appropriately place the PMUs in the distribution is therefore become an important issue due to the economical consideration.According to the concept of efficient frontier,a value-at-risk based approach is proposed to make optimal placement of PMU taking account of the uncertainty of measure errors,statistical characteristics of the pseudo measurements,and reliability of the measurement instrument.The reasonability and feasibility of the proposed model is illustrated with 12-node system and IEEE-33 node system.Simulation results indicated that uncertainties of measurement error and instrument fault result in more PMU to be installed,and measurement uncertainty is the main affect factor unless the fault rate of PMU is quite high.

Reliability analysis of extended generalized inverted exponential distribution with applications

A general version of the inverted exponential distribution is introduced, studied and analyzed. This generalization depends on the method of Marshall-Olkin to extend a family of distributions. Some statistical and reliability properties of this family are studied. In addition, numerical estimation of the maximum likelihood estimate（MLE） parameters are discussed in details. As an application, some real data sets are analyzed and it is observed that the presented family provides a better fit than some other known distributions.