Analyzing Differences between Online Learner Groups during the COVID-19 Pandemic through K-Prototype Clustering

Online learning is a very important means of study, and has been adopted in many countries worldwide. However, only recently are researchers able to collect and analyze massive online learning datasets due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In this article, we analyze the difference between online learner groups by using an unsupervised machine learning technique, i.e., k-prototypes clustering. Specifically, we use questionnaires designed by domain experts to collect various online learning data, and investigate students’ online learning behavior and learning outcomes through analyzing the collected questionnaire data. Our analysis results suggest that students with better learning media generally have better online learning behavior and learning result than those with poor online learning media. In addition, both in economically developed or undeveloped regions, the number of students with better learning media is less than the number of students with poor learning media. Finally, the results presented here show that whether in an economically developed or an economically undeveloped region, the number of students who are enriched with learning media available is an important factor that affects online learning behavior and learning outcomes.

基于Blending-Clustering集成学习的大坝变形预测模型

【目的】变形是反映大坝结构性态最直观的效应量,构建科学合理的变形预测模型是保障大坝安全健康运行的重要手段。针对传统大坝变形预测模型预测精度低、误报率高等问题导致的错误报警现象,【方法】选取不同预测模型和聚类算法集成,构建了一种Blending-Clustering集成学习的大坝变形预测模型,该模型以Blending对单一预测模型集成提升预测精度为核心,并通过Clustering聚类优选预测值改善模型稳定性。以新疆某面板堆石坝变形监测数据为实例分析,通过多模型预测性能比较,对所提出模型的预测精度和稳定性进行全面评估。【结果】结果显示:Blending-Clustering模型将预测模型和聚类算法集成,均方根误差(RMSE)和归一化平均百分比误差(nMAPE)明显降低,模型的预测精度得到显著提高;回归相关系数(R~2)得到提升,模型具备更强的拟合能力;在面板堆石坝上22个测点变形数据集上的预测评价指标波动范围更小,模型的泛化性和稳定性得到有效增强。【结论】结果表明:Blending-Clustering集成预测模型对于预测精度、泛化性和稳定性均有明显提升,在实际工程具有一定的应用价值。

Multiscale and Auto-Tuned Semi-Supervised Deep Subspace Clustering and Its Application in Brain Tumor Clustering

In this paper,we introduce a novel Multi-scale and Auto-tuned Semi-supervised Deep Subspace Clustering(MAS-DSC)algorithm,aimed at addressing the challenges of deep subspace clustering in high-dimensional real-world data,particularly in the field of medical imaging.Traditional deep subspace clustering algorithms,which are mostly unsupervised,are limited in their ability to effectively utilize the inherent prior knowledge in medical images.Our MAS-DSC algorithm incorporates a semi-supervised learning framework that uses a small amount of labeled data to guide the clustering process,thereby enhancing the discriminative power of the feature representations.Additionally,the multi-scale feature extraction mechanism is designed to adapt to the complexity of medical imaging data,resulting in more accurate clustering performance.To address the difficulty of hyperparameter selection in deep subspace clustering,this paper employs a Bayesian optimization algorithm for adaptive tuning of hyperparameters related to subspace clustering,prior knowledge constraints,and model loss weights.Extensive experiments on standard clustering datasets,including ORL,Coil20,and Coil100,validate the effectiveness of the MAS-DSC algorithm.The results show that with its multi-scale network structure and Bayesian hyperparameter optimization,MAS-DSC achieves excellent clustering results on these datasets.Furthermore,tests on a brain tumor dataset demonstrate the robustness of the algorithm and its ability to leverage prior knowledge for efficient feature extraction and enhanced clustering performance within a semi-supervised learning framework.

Path-Based Clustering Algorithm with High Scalability Using the Combined Behavior of Evolutionary Algorithms

Path-based clustering algorithms typically generate clusters by optimizing a benchmark function.Most optimiza-tion methods in clustering algorithms often offer solutions close to the general optimal value.This study achieves the global optimum value for the criterion function in a shorter time using the minimax distance,Maximum Spanning Tree“MST”,and meta-heuristic algorithms,including Genetic Algorithm“GA”and Particle Swarm Optimization“PSO”.The Fast Path-based Clustering“FPC”algorithm proposed in this paper can find cluster centers correctly in most datasets and quickly perform clustering operations.The FPC does this operation using MST,the minimax distance,and a new hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm in a few rounds of algorithm iterations.This algorithm can achieve the global optimal value,and the main clustering process of the algorithm has a computational complexity of O�k2×n�.However,due to the complexity of the minimum distance algorithm,the total computational complexity is O�n2�.Experimental results of FPC on synthetic datasets with arbitrary shapes demonstrate that the algorithm is resistant to noise and outliers and can correctly identify clusters of varying sizes and numbers.In addition,the FPC requires the number of clusters as the only parameter to perform the clustering process.A comparative analysis of FPC and other clustering algorithms in this domain indicates that FPC exhibits superior speed,stability,and performance.

Efficient Clustering Network Based on Matrix Factorization

Contrastive learning is a significant research direction in the field of deep learning.However,existing data augmentation methods often lead to issues such as semantic drift in generated views while the complexity of model pre-training limits further improvement in the performance of existing methods.To address these challenges,we propose the Efficient Clustering Network based on Matrix Factorization(ECN-MF).Specifically,we design a batched low-rank Singular Value Decomposition(SVD)algorithm for data augmentation to eliminate redundant information and uncover major patterns of variation and key information in the data.Additionally,we design a Mutual Information-Enhanced Clustering Module(MI-ECM)to accelerate the training process by leveraging a simple architecture to bring samples from the same cluster closer while pushing samples from other clusters apart.Extensive experiments on six datasets demonstrate that ECN-MF exhibits more effective performance compared to state-of-the-art algorithms.

Improved Data Stream Clustering Method: Incorporating KD-Tree for Typicality and Eccentricity-Based Approach

Data stream clustering is integral to contemporary big data applications.However,addressing the ongoing influx of data streams efficiently and accurately remains a primary challenge in current research.This paper aims to elevate the efficiency and precision of data stream clustering,leveraging the TEDA(Typicality and Eccentricity Data Analysis)algorithm as a foundation,we introduce improvements by integrating a nearest neighbor search algorithm to enhance both the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm.The original TEDA algorithm,grounded in the concept of“Typicality and Eccentricity Data Analytics”,represents an evolving and recursive method that requires no prior knowledge.While the algorithm autonomously creates and merges clusters as new data arrives,its efficiency is significantly hindered by the need to traverse all existing clusters upon the arrival of further data.This work presents the NS-TEDA(Neighbor Search Based Typicality and Eccentricity Data Analysis)algorithm by incorporating a KD-Tree(K-Dimensional Tree)algorithm integrated with the Scapegoat Tree.Upon arrival,this ensures that new data points interact solely with clusters in very close proximity.This significantly enhances algorithm efficiency while preventing a single data point from joining too many clusters and mitigating the merging of clusters with high overlap to some extent.We apply the NS-TEDA algorithm to several well-known datasets,comparing its performance with other data stream clustering algorithms and the original TEDA algorithm.The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves higher accuracy,and its runtime exhibits almost linear dependence on the volume of data,making it more suitable for large-scale data stream analysis research.

Hyperspectral Image Based Interpretable Feature Clustering Algorithm

Hyperspectral imagery encompasses spectral and spatial dimensions,reflecting the material properties of objects.Its application proves crucial in search and rescue,concealed target identification,and crop growth analysis.Clustering is an important method of hyperspectral analysis.The vast data volume of hyperspectral imagery,coupled with redundant information,poses significant challenges in swiftly and accurately extracting features for subsequent analysis.The current hyperspectral feature clustering methods,which are mostly studied from space or spectrum,do not have strong interpretability,resulting in poor comprehensibility of the algorithm.So,this research introduces a feature clustering algorithm for hyperspectral imagery from an interpretability perspective.It commences with a simulated perception process,proposing an interpretable band selection algorithm to reduce data dimensions.Following this,amulti-dimensional clustering algorithm,rooted in fuzzy and kernel clustering,is developed to highlight intra-class similarities and inter-class differences.An optimized P systemis then introduced to enhance computational efficiency.This system coordinates all cells within a mapping space to compute optimal cluster centers,facilitating parallel computation.This approach diminishes sensitivity to initial cluster centers and augments global search capabilities,thus preventing entrapment in local minima and enhancing clustering performance.Experiments conducted on 300 datasets,comprising both real and simulated data.The results show that the average accuracy(ACC)of the proposed algorithm is 0.86 and the combination measure(CM)is 0.81.

Deep Learning and Tensor-Based Multiple Clustering Approaches for Cyber-Physical-Social Applications

The study delves into the expanding role of network platforms in our daily lives, encompassing various mediums like blogs, forums, online chats, and prominent social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. While these platforms offer avenues for self-expression and community support, they concurrently harbor negative impacts, fostering antisocial behaviors like phishing, impersonation, hate speech, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, cyberterrorism, fake news propagation, spamming, and fraud. Notably, individuals also leverage these platforms to connect with authorities and seek aid during disasters. The overarching objective of this research is to address the dual nature of network platforms by proposing innovative methodologies aimed at enhancing their positive aspects and mitigating their negative repercussions. To achieve this, the study introduces a weight learning method grounded in multi-linear attribute ranking. This approach serves to evaluate the significance of attribute combinations across all feature spaces. Additionally, a novel clustering method based on tensors is proposed to elevate the quality of clustering while effectively distinguishing selected features. The methodology incorporates a weighted average similarity matrix and optionally integrates weighted Euclidean distance, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of attribute importance. The analysis of the proposed methods yields significant findings. The weight learning method proves instrumental in discerning the importance of attribute combinations, shedding light on key aspects within feature spaces. Simultaneously, the clustering method based on tensors exhibits improved efficacy in enhancing clustering quality and feature distinction. This not only advances our understanding of attribute importance but also paves the way for more nuanced data analysis methodologies. In conclusion, this research underscores the pivotal role of network platforms in contemporary society, emphasizing their potential for both positive contributions and adverse consequences. The proposed methodologies offer novel approaches to address these dualities, providing a foundation for future research and practical applications. Ultimately, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on optimizing the utility of network platforms while minimizing their negative impacts.

Examining the Use of Scott’s Formula and Link Expiration Time Metric for Vehicular Clustering

Implementing machine learning algorithms in the non-conducive environment of the vehicular network requires some adaptations due to the high computational complexity of these algorithms.K-clustering algorithms are simplistic,with fast performance and relative accuracy.However,their implementation depends on the initial selection of clusters number(K),the initial clusters’centers,and the clustering metric.This paper investigated using Scott’s histogram formula to estimate the K number and the Link Expiration Time(LET)as a clustering metric.Realistic traffic flows were considered for three maps,namely Highway,Traffic Light junction,and Roundabout junction,to study the effect of road layout on estimating the K number.A fast version of the PAM algorithm was used for clustering with a modification to reduce time complexity.The Affinity propagation algorithm sets the baseline for the estimated K number,and the Medoid Silhouette method is used to quantify the clustering.OMNET++,Veins,and SUMO were used to simulate the traffic,while the related algorithms were implemented in Python.The Scott’s formula estimation of the K number only matched the baseline when the road layout was simple.Moreover,the clustering algorithm required one iteration on average to converge when used with LET.

Density Clustering Algorithm Based on KD-Tree and Voting Rules

Traditional clustering algorithms often struggle to produce satisfactory results when dealing with datasets withuneven density. Additionally, they incur substantial computational costs when applied to high-dimensional datadue to calculating similarity matrices. To alleviate these issues, we employ the KD-Tree to partition the dataset andcompute the K-nearest neighbors (KNN) density for each point, thereby avoiding the computation of similaritymatrices. Moreover, we apply the rules of voting elections, treating each data point as a voter and casting a votefor the point with the highest density among its KNN. By utilizing the vote counts of each point, we develop thestrategy for classifying noise points and potential cluster centers, allowing the algorithm to identify clusters withuneven density and complex shapes. Additionally, we define the concept of “adhesive points” between two clustersto merge adjacent clusters that have similar densities. This process helps us identify the optimal number of clustersautomatically. Experimental results indicate that our algorithm not only improves the efficiency of clustering butalso increases its accuracy.

Sparse Reconstructive Evidential Clustering for Multi-View Data

Although many multi-view clustering(MVC) algorithms with acceptable performances have been presented, to the best of our knowledge, nearly all of them need to be fed with the correct number of clusters. In addition, these existing algorithms create only the hard and fuzzy partitions for multi-view objects,which are often located in highly-overlapping areas of multi-view feature space. The adoption of hard and fuzzy partition ignores the ambiguity and uncertainty in the assignment of objects, likely leading to performance degradation. To address these issues, we propose a novel sparse reconstructive multi-view evidential clustering algorithm(SRMVEC). Based on a sparse reconstructive procedure, SRMVEC learns a shared affinity matrix across views, and maps multi-view objects to a 2-dimensional humanreadable chart by calculating 2 newly defined mathematical metrics for each object. From this chart, users can detect the number of clusters and select several objects existing in the dataset as cluster centers. Then, SRMVEC derives a credal partition under the framework of evidence theory, improving the fault tolerance of clustering. Ablation studies show the benefits of adopting the sparse reconstructive procedure and evidence theory. Besides,SRMVEC delivers effectiveness on benchmark datasets by outperforming some state-of-the-art methods.

Contrastive Consistency and Attentive Complementarity for Deep Multi-View Subspace Clustering

Deep multi-view subspace clustering (DMVSC) based on self-expression has attracted increasing attention dueto its outstanding performance and nonlinear application. However, most existing methods neglect that viewprivatemeaningless information or noise may interfere with the learning of self-expression, which may lead to thedegeneration of clustering performance. In this paper, we propose a novel framework of Contrastive Consistencyand Attentive Complementarity (CCAC) for DMVsSC. CCAC aligns all the self-expressions of multiple viewsand fuses them based on their discrimination, so that it can effectively explore consistent and complementaryinformation for achieving precise clustering. Specifically, the view-specific self-expression is learned by a selfexpressionlayer embedded into the auto-encoder network for each view. To guarantee consistency across views andreduce the effect of view-private information or noise, we align all the view-specific self-expressions by contrastivelearning. The aligned self-expressions are assigned adaptive weights by channel attention mechanism according totheir discrimination. Then they are fused by convolution kernel to obtain consensus self-expression withmaximumcomplementarity ofmultiple views. Extensive experimental results on four benchmark datasets and one large-scaledataset of the CCAC method outperformother state-of-the-artmethods, demonstrating its clustering effectiveness.

A Study of Triangle Inequality Violations in Social Network Clustering

Clustering a social network is a process of grouping social actors into clusters where intra-cluster similarities among actors are higher than inter-cluster similarities. Clustering approaches, i.e. , k-medoids or hierarchical, use the distance function to measure the dissimilarities among actors. These distance functions need to fulfill various properties, including the triangle inequality (TI). However, in some cases, the triangle inequality might be violated, impacting the quality of the resulting clusters. With experiments, this paper explains how TI violates while performing traditional clustering techniques: k-medoids, hierarchical, DENGRAPH, and spectral clustering on social networks and how the violation of TI affects the quality of the resulting clusters.

Improved Unit Commitment with Accurate Dynamic Scenarios Clustering Based on Multi-Parametric Programming and Benders Decomposition

Stochastic unit commitment is one of the most powerful methods to address uncertainty. However, the existingscenario clustering technique for stochastic unit commitment cannot accurately select representative scenarios,which threatens the robustness of stochastic unit commitment and hinders its application. This paper providesa stochastic unit commitment with dynamic scenario clustering based on multi-parametric programming andBenders decomposition. The stochastic unit commitment is solved via the Benders decomposition, which decouplesthe primal problem into the master problem and two types of subproblems. In the master problem, the committedgenerator is determined, while the feasibility and optimality of generator output are checked in these twosubproblems. Scenarios are dynamically clustered during the subproblem solution process through the multiparametric programming with respect to the solution of the master problem. In other words, multiple scenariosare clustered into several representative scenarios after the subproblem is solved, and the Benders cut obtainedby the representative scenario is generated for the master problem. Different from the conventional stochasticunit commitment, the proposed approach integrates scenario clustering into the Benders decomposition solutionprocess. Such a clustering approach could accurately cluster representative scenarios that have impacts on theunit commitment. The proposed method is tested on a 6-bus system and the modified IEEE 118-bus system.Numerical results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in clustering scenarios. Compared withthe conventional clustering method, the proposed method can accurately select representative scenarios whilemitigating computational burden, thus guaranteeing the robustness of unit commitment.

Low-Rank Multi-View Subspace Clustering Based on Sparse Regularization

Multi-view Subspace Clustering (MVSC) emerges as an advanced clustering method, designed to integrate diverse views to uncover a common subspace, enhancing the accuracy and robustness of clustering results. The significance of low-rank prior in MVSC is emphasized, highlighting its role in capturing the global data structure across views for improved performance. However, it faces challenges with outlier sensitivity due to its reliance on the Frobenius norm for error measurement. Addressing this, our paper proposes a Low-Rank Multi-view Subspace Clustering Based on Sparse Regularization (LMVSC- Sparse) approach. Sparse regularization helps in selecting the most relevant features or views for clustering while ignoring irrelevant or noisy ones. This leads to a more efficient and effective representation of the data, improving the clustering accuracy and robustness, especially in the presence of outliers or noisy data. By incorporating sparse regularization, LMVSC-Sparse can effectively handle outlier sensitivity, which is a common challenge in traditional MVSC methods relying solely on low-rank priors. Then Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) algorithm is employed to solve the proposed optimization problems. Our comprehensive experiments demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of LMVSC-Sparse, offering a robust alternative to traditional MVSC methods.

Research on the IL-Bagging-DHKELM Short-Term Wind Power Prediction Algorithm Based on Error AP Clustering Analysis

With the continuous advancement of China’s“peak carbon dioxide emissions and Carbon Neutrality”process,the proportion of wind power is increasing.In the current research,aiming at the problem that the forecasting model is outdated due to the continuous updating of wind power data,a short-term wind power forecasting algorithm based on Incremental Learning-Bagging Deep Hybrid Kernel Extreme Learning Machine(IL-Bagging-DHKELM)error affinity propagation cluster analysis is proposed.The algorithm effectively combines deep hybrid kernel extreme learning machine(DHKELM)with incremental learning(IL).Firstly,an initial wind power prediction model is trained using the Bagging-DHKELM model.Secondly,Euclidean morphological distance affinity propagation AP clustering algorithm is used to cluster and analyze the prediction error of wind power obtained from the initial training model.Finally,the correlation between wind power prediction errors and Numerical Weather Prediction(NWP)data is introduced as incremental updates to the initial wind power prediction model.During the incremental learning process,multiple error performance indicators are used to measure the overall model performance,thereby enabling incremental updates of wind power models.Practical examples show the method proposed in this article reduces the root mean square error of the initial model by 1.9 percentage points,indicating that this method can be better adapted to the current scenario of the continuous increase in wind power penetration rate.The accuracy and precision of wind power generation prediction are effectively improved through the method.

Optical Fibre Communication Feature Analysis and Small Sample Fault Diagnosis Based on VMD-FE and Fuzzy Clustering

To solve the problems of a few optical fibre line fault samples and the inefficiency of manual communication optical fibre fault diagnosis,this paper proposes a communication optical fibre fault diagnosis model based on variational modal decomposition(VMD),fuzzy entropy(FE)and fuzzy clustering(FC).Firstly,based on the OTDR curve data collected in the field,VMD is used to extract the different modal components(IMF)of the original signal and calculate the fuzzy entropy(FE)values of different components to characterize the subtle differences between them.The fuzzy entropy of each curve is used as the feature vector,which in turn constructs the communication optical fibre feature vector matrix,and the fuzzy clustering algorithm is used to achieve fault diagnosis of faulty optical fibre.The VMD-FE combination can extract subtle differences in features,and the fuzzy clustering algorithm does not require sample training.The experimental results show that the model in this paper has high accuracy and is relevant to the maintenance of communication optical fibre when compared with existing feature extraction models and traditional machine learning models.

Comprehensive K-Means Clustering

The k-means algorithm is a popular data clustering technique due to its speed and simplicity. However, it is susceptible to issues such as sensitivity to the chosen seeds, and inaccurate clusters due to poor initial seeds, particularly in complex datasets or datasets with non-spherical clusters. In this paper, a Comprehensive K-Means Clustering algorithm is presented, in which multiple trials of k-means are performed on a given dataset. The clustering results from each trial are transformed into a five-dimensional data point, containing the scope values of the x and y coordinates of the clusters along with the number of points within that cluster. A graph is then generated displaying the configuration of these points using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), from which we can observe and determine the common clustering patterns in the dataset. The robustness and strength of these patterns are then examined by observing the variance of the results of each trial, wherein a different subset of the data keeping a certain percentage of original data points is clustered. By aggregating information from multiple trials, we can distinguish clusters that consistently emerge across different runs from those that are more sensitive or unlikely, hence deriving more reliable conclusions about the underlying structure of complex datasets. Our experiments show that our algorithm is able to find the most common associations between different dimensions of data over multiple trials, often more accurately than other algorithms, as well as measure stability of these clusters, an ability that other k-means algorithms lack.

Effective data transmission through energy-efficient clustering and Fuzzy-Based IDS routing approach in WSNs

Wireless sensor networks(WSN)gather information and sense information samples in a certain region and communicate these readings to a base station(BS).Energy efficiency is considered a major design issue in the WSNs,and can be addressed using clustering and routing techniques.Information is sent from the source to the BS via routing procedures.However,these routing protocols must ensure that packets are delivered securely,guaranteeing that neither adversaries nor unauthentic individuals have access to the sent information.Secure data transfer is intended to protect the data from illegal access,damage,or disruption.Thus,in the proposed model,secure data transmission is developed in an energy-effective manner.A low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy(LEACH)is developed to efficiently transfer the data.For the intrusion detection systems(IDS),Fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks(ANNs)are proposed.Initially,the nodes were randomly placed in the network and initialized to gather information.To ensure fair energy dissipation between the nodes,LEACH randomly chooses cluster heads(CHs)and allocates this role to the various nodes based on a round-robin management mechanism.The intrusion-detection procedure was then utilized to determine whether intruders were present in the network.Within the WSN,a Fuzzy interference rule was utilized to distinguish the malicious nodes from legal nodes.Subsequently,an ANN was employed to distinguish the harmful nodes from suspicious nodes.The effectiveness of the proposed approach was validated using metrics that attained 97%accuracy,97%specificity,and 97%sensitivity of 95%.Thus,it was proved that the LEACH and Fuzzy-based IDS approaches are the best choices for securing data transmission in an energy-efficient manner.

Adaptive Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise(ADBSCAN)for Clusters of Different Densities

Finding clusters based on density represents a significant class of clustering algorithms.These methods can discover clusters of various shapes and sizes.The most studied algorithm in this class is theDensity-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise(DBSCAN).It identifies clusters by grouping the densely connected objects into one group and discarding the noise objects.It requires two input parameters:epsilon(fixed neighborhood radius)and MinPts(the lowest number of objects in epsilon).However,it can’t handle clusters of various densities since it uses a global value for epsilon.This article proposes an adaptation of the DBSCAN method so it can discover clusters of varied densities besides reducing the required number of input parameters to only one.Only user input in the proposed method is the MinPts.Epsilon on the other hand,is computed automatically based on statistical information of the dataset.The proposed method finds the core distance for each object in the dataset,takes the average of these distances as the first value of epsilon,and finds the clusters satisfying this density level.The remaining unclustered objects will be clustered using a new value of epsilon that equals the average core distances of unclustered objects.This process continues until all objects have been clustered or the remaining unclustered objects are less than 0.006 of the dataset’s size.The proposed method requires MinPts only as an input parameter because epsilon is computed from data.Benchmark datasets were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method that produced promising results.Practical experiments demonstrate that the outstanding ability of the proposed method to detect clusters of different densities even if there is no separation between them.The accuracy of the method ranges from 92%to 100%for the experimented datasets.