Clinical trials of single drugs intended to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) have been notoriously unsuccessful. Combinations of repurposed drugs could provide effective treatments for AD. The challenge is to identify potentially effective combinations. To meet this challenge, machine learning (ML) was used to extract the knowledge from two leading AD databases, and then “the machine” predicted which combinations of the drugs in common between the two databases would be the most effective as treatments for AD. Specifically, three-layered artificial neural networks (ANNs) with compound, gated units in their internal layer were trained using ML to predict the cognitive scores of participants, separately in either database, given other data fields including age, demographic variables, comorbidities, and drugs taken. The predictions from the separately trained ANNs were statistically highly significantly correlated. The best drug combinations, jointly determined from both s... [more]

This paper presents a design of a data-driven-based neural network internal model control for a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) with hollow fiber for microfiltration. The experiment design is performed for measurement of physical parameters from an actuator input (permeate pump voltage), which gives the information (outputs) of permeate flux and trans-membrane pressure (TMP). The palm oil mill effluent is used as an influent preparation to depict fouling phenomenon in the membrane filtration process. From the experiment, membrane fouling potential is observed from flux decline pattern, with a rapid increment of TMP (above 200 mbar). Membrane fouling is a complex process and the available models in literature are not designed for control system (filtration performance). Therefore, this work proposes an aeration fouling control strategy to measure the filtration performance. The artificial neural networks (Feed-Forward Neural Network—FFNN, Radial Basis Function Neural Network—RBFNN... [more]

The study aims to elaborate a neural model and algorithm for optimizing hardness and porosity of coatings and thus ensure that they have superior cavitation erosion resistance. Al2O3-13 wt% TiO2 ceramic coatings were deposited onto 316L stainless steel by atmospheric plasma spray (ASP). The coatings were prepared with different values of two spray process parameters: the stand-off distance and torch velocity. Microstructure, porosity and microhardness of the coatings were examined. Cavitation erosion tests were conducted in compliance with the ASTM G32 standard. Artificial neural networks (ANN) were employed to elaborate the model, and the multi-objectives genetic algorithm (MOGA) was used to optimize both properties and cavitation erosion resistance of the coatings. Results were analyzed with MATLAB software by Neural Network Toolbox and Global Optimization Toolbox. The fusion of artificial intelligence methods (ANN + MOGA) is essential for future selection of thermal spray process pa... [more]

One popular method for optimizing systems, referred to as ANN-PSO, uses an artificial neural network (ANN) to approximate the system and an optimization method like particle swarm optimization (PSO) to select inputs. However, with reinforcement learning developments, it is important to compare ANN-PSO to newer algorithms, like Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO). To investigate ANN-PSO’s and PPO’s performance and applicability, we compare their methodologies, apply them on steady-state economic optimization of a chemical process, and compare their results to a conventional first principles modeling with nonlinear programming (FP-NLP). Our results show that ANN-PSO and PPO achieve profits nearly as high as FP-NLP, but PPO achieves slightly higher profits compared to ANN-PSO. We also find PPO has the fastest computational times, 10 and 10,000 times faster than FP-NLP and ANN-PSO, respectively. However, PPO requires more training data than ANN-PSO to converge to an optimal policy. This cas... [more]

This study investigated the use of brewing wastewater (BW) as the primary carbon source in the Postgate medium for the optimisation of sulphate reduction in acid mine drainage (AMD). The results showed that the sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) consortium was able to utilise BW for sulphate reduction. The response surface methodology (RSM)/Box−Behnken design optimum conditions found for sulphate reduction were a pH of 6.99, COD/SO42− of 2.87, and BW concentration of 200.24 mg/L with predicted sulphate reduction of 91.58%. Furthermore, by using an artificial neural network (ANN), a multilayer full feedforward (MFFF) connection with an incremental backpropagation network and hyperbolic tangent as the transfer function gave the best predictive model for sulphate reduction. The ANN optimum conditions were a pH of 6.99, COD/SO42− of 0.50, and BW concentration of 200.31 mg/L with predicted sulphate reduction of 89.56%. The coefficient of determination (R2) and absolute average deviation (AAD)... [more]

It is paramount to optimize the performance of a chemical process in order to maximize its yield and productivity and to minimize the production cost and the environmental impact. The various objectives in optimization are often in conflict, and one must determine the best compromise solution usually using a representative model of the process. However, solving first-principle models can be a computationally intensive problem, thus making model-based multi-objective optimization (MOO) a time-consuming task. In this work, a methodology to perform the multi-objective optimization for a two-reactor system for the production of acrylic acid, using artificial neural networks (ANNs) as meta-models, is proposed in an effort to reduce the computational time required to circumscribe the Pareto domain. The performance of the meta-model confirmed good agreement between the experimental data and the model-predicted values of the existent relationships between the eight decision variables and the n... [more]

In this paper, electrocoagulation (EC) treatment for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from cold meat industry wastewater is modeled and optimized using computational techniques. Methods such as artificial neural networks (ANNs) and response surface methodology (RSM), based on the Box−Behnken design using three levels, were employed to calculate the best control parameters for pH (5−9), current density (2−6 mA/cm2) and EC time (20−60 min). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and 3D graphs revealed that pH and current density are the main parameters used for depicting the EC process. The developed models successfully describe the process with a correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.96 for RSM and R2 = 0.99 for ANN. The models obtained were optimized applying the moth-flame optimization (MFO) algorithm to find the best operating conditions for COD removal. ANN-MFO was used and showed superior COD removal (92.91%) under conditions of pH = 8.9, current density = 6.6 mA/cm2 and an EC time of... [more]

This paper proposes a feature selection (FS) approach, namely, correlation and fitness value-based feature selection (CFFS). CFFS is an improvement feature selection approach of correlation-based feature selection (CFS) for the common failure cases of the induction motor. CFFS establishes the induction motor fault detection (FD) system with artificial neural network (ANN). This study analyzes the current signal of the induction motor with multiresolution analysis (MRA), extracts the features, and uses feature selection approaches (ReliefF, CFS, and CFFS) to reduce the number of features and maintain the accuracy of the induction motor fault detection system. Finally, the induction motor fault detection system is trained by the feature selection approaches selected features. The best induction motor fault detection system will be established through the comparison of the efficiency of these FS approaches.

Modelling techniques allow certain processes to be characterized and optimized without the need for experimentation. One of the crucial steps in vinegar production is the biotransformation of ethanol into acetic acid by acetic bacteria. This step has been extensively studied by using two predictive models: first-principles models and black-box models. The fact that first-principles models are less accurate than black-box models under extreme bacterial growth conditions suggests that the kinetic equations used by the former, and hence their goodness of fit, can be further improved. By contrast, black-box models predict acetic acid production accurately enough under virtually any operating conditions. In this work, we trained black-box models based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) of the multilayer perceptron (MLP) type and containing a single hidden layer to model acetification. The small number of data typically available for a bioprocess makes it rather difficult to identify the m... [more]

Experimental data of thermal conductivity, thermal stability, specific heat capacity, viscosity, UV−vis (light transmittance) and FTIR (light absorption) of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) dispersed in glycols, alcohols and water with the addition of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) surfactant for 0.5 wt % concentration along a temperature range of 25 °C to 200 °C were verified using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). In this research, an ANN approach was proposed using experimental datasets to predict the relative thermophysical properties of the tested nanofluids in the available literature. Throughout the designed network, 65% and 25% of data points were comprehended in the training and testing set while the other 10% was utilized as a validation set. The parameters such as temperature, concentration, size and time were considered as inputs while the thermophysical properties were considered as outputs to develop ANN models of further predictions with unseen datasets. Th... [more]

Pipelines are like a lifeline that is vital to a nation’s economic sustainability; as such, pipelines need to be monitored to optimize their performance as well as reduce the product losses incurred in the transportation of petroleum chemicals. A significant number of pipes would be underground; it is of immediate concern to identify and analyse the level of corrosion and assess the quality of a pipe. Therefore, this study intends to present the development of an intelligent model that predicts the condition of crude oil pipeline cantered on specific factors such as metal loss anomalies (over length, width and depth), wall thickness, weld anomalies and pressure flow. The model is developed using Feed-Forward Back Propagation Network (FFBPN) based on historical inspection data from oil and gas fields. The model was trained using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm by changing the number of hidden neurons to achieve promising results in terms of maximum Coefficient of determination (R2) va... [more]

Power quality disturbances (PQD) in electric distribution systems can be produced by the utilization of non-linear loads or environmental circumstances, causing electrical equipment malfunction and reduction of its useful life. Detecting and classifying different PQDs implies great efforts in planning and structuring the monitoring system. The main disadvantage of most works in the literature is that they treat a limited number of electrical disturbances through personal computer (PC)-based computation techniques, which makes it difficult to perform an online PQD classification. In this work, the novel contribution is a methodology for PQD recognition and classification through discrete wavelet transform, mathematical morphology, decomposition of singular values, and statistical analysis. Furthermore, the timely and reliable classification of different disturbances is necessary; hence, a field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based integrated circuit is developed to offer a portable hard... [more]

In the present study Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been optimized using a hybrid algorithm of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The hybrid GA-PSO algorithm has been used to improve the estimation of electricity demand of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The ANN-GA-PSO model uses gross domestic product (GSDP); electricity consumption per capita; income growth rate and consumer price index (CPI) as predictors that affect the electricity demand. Using the historical demand data of 25 years from 1991 till 2015 it is found that ANN-GA-PSO models have higher accuracy and performance reliability than single optimization models such as ANN-PSO or ANN-GA. In addition, the paper also forecasts the electricity demand of the state based on “as-it-is” scenario and the scenario based on milestones set by the “Vision-2023” document of the state.

Second generation ethanol faces challenges before profitable implementation. Biomass hydrolysis is one of the bottlenecks, especially when this process occurs at high solids loading and with enzymatic catalysts. Under this setting, kinetic modeling and reaction monitoring are hindered due to the conditions of the medium, while increasing the mixing power. An algorithm that addresses these challenges might improve the reactor performance. In this work, a soft sensor that is based on agitation power measurements that uses an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) as an internal model is proposed in order to predict free carbohydrates concentrations. The developed soft sensor is used in a Moving Horizon Estimator (MHE) algorithm to improve the prediction of state variables during biomass hydrolysis. The algorithm is developed and used for batch and fed-batch hydrolysis experimental runs. An alteration of the classical MHE is proposed for improving prediction, using a novel fuzzy rule to alter th... [more]

Artificial neural networks (ANNs), which have excellent self-learning performance, have been applied to various applications, such as target detection and industrial control. In this paper, a reference-model-based ANN controller with integral-proportional-derivative (I-PD) compensation has been proposed for temperature control systems. To improve the ANN self-learning efficiency, a reference model is introduced for providing the teaching signal for the ANN. System simulations were carried out in the MATLAB/SIMULINK environment and experiments were carried out on a digital-signal-processor (DSP)-based experimental platform. The simulation and experimental results were compared with those for a conventional I-PD control system. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified.

Although it is a well-researched topic, the complexity, time for process stabilization, and economic factors related to anaerobic digestion call for simulation of the process offline with the help of computer models. Nature-inspired techniques are a recently developed branch of artificial intelligence wherein knowledge is transferred from natural systems to engineered systems. For soft computing applications, nature-inspired techniques have several advantages, including scope for parallel computing, dynamic behavior, and self-organization. This paper presents a comprehensive review of such techniques and their application in anaerobic digestion modeling. We compiled and synthetized the literature on the applications of nature-inspired techniques applied to anaerobic digestion. These techniques provide a balance between diversity and speed of arrival at the optimal solution, which has stimulated their use in anaerobic digestion modeling.

With exposure to real-time market pricing structures, consumers would be incentivized to invest in electrical energy storage systems and smart predictive automation of their home energy systems. Smart home automation through optimizing HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) temperature set points, along with distributed energy storage, could be utilized in the process of optimizing the operation of the electric grid. Using electricity prices as decision variables to leverage electrical energy storage and flexible loads can be a valuable tool to optimize the performance of the power grid and reduce electricity costs both on the supply and demand sides. Energy demand prediction is important for proper allocation and utilization of the available resources. Manipulating energy prices to leverage storage and flexible loads through these demand prediction models is a novel idea that needs to be studied. In this paper, different models for proactive prediction of the energy demand... [more]

The present research work deals with prediction of hydrogen consumption of a fuel cell in an energy storage system. Due to the fact that these kind of systems have a very nonlinear behaviour, the use of traditional techniques based on parametric models and other more sophisticated techniques such as soft computing methods, seems not to be accurate enough to generate good models of the system under study. Due to that, a hybrid intelligent system, based on clustering and regression techniques, has been developed and implemented to predict the necessary variation of the hydrogen flow consumption to satisfy the variation of demanded power to the fuel cell. In this research, a hybrid intelligent model was created and validated over a dataset from a fuel cell energy storage system. Obtained results validate the proposal, achieving better performance than other well-known classical regression methods, allowing us to predict the hydrogen consumption with a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 3.73... [more]

This study presents a model for district-level electricity demand forecasting using a set of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) (parallel ANNs) based on current energy loads and social parameters such as occupancy. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis is conducted to select the inputs of the ANN by considering external weather conditions, occupancy type, main income providers’ employment status and related variables for the fuel poverty index. Moreover, a detailed parameter tuning is conducted using various configurations for each individual ANN. The study also demonstrates the strength of the parallel ANN models in different seasons of the years. In the proposed district level energy forecasting model, the training and testing stages of parallel ANNs utilise dataset of a group of six buildings. The aim of each individual ANN is to predict electricity consumption and the aggregated demand in sub-hourly time-steps. The inputs of each ANN are determined using Principal Component Analysis... [more]

Nowadays, to ensure sustainability of smart materials, it is imperative to eliminate or reduce carbon footprint related to nano material production. The concept of design of experiment to provide an optimal synthesis process, with a desired yield, is indispensable. It is the researcher’s goal to get optimum value for experiments that requires multiple runs and multiple inputs. Herein, is a reliable approach of utilizing design of experiment (DOE) for response surface methodology (RSM). Thus, to optimize a facile and effective synthesis process for fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) derived from tapioca that is in line with green chemistry principles for sustainable synthesis. The predictions for fluorescent CDs synthesis from RSM were in excellent agreement with the artificial neural network (ANN) model prediction by the Levenberg−Marquardt back propagation (LMBP) algorithm. Considering R2, root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) have all revealed a positive hidden layer... [more]

Double-suction centrifugal pumps are widely used in industrial and agricultural applications since their flow rate is twice that of single-suction pumps with the same impeller diameter. They usually run for longer, which makes them susceptible to cavitation, putting the downstream components at risk. A fast approach to predicting the Net Positive Suction Head required was applied to perform a multi-objective optimization on the double-suction centrifugal pump. An L32 (84) orthogonal array was designed to evaluate 8 geometrical parameters at 4 levels each. A two-layer feedforward neural network and genetic algorithm was applied to solve the multi-objective problem into pareto solutions. The results were validated by numerical simulation and compared to the original design. The suction performance was improved by 7.26%, 3.9%, 4.5% and 3.8% at flow conditions 0.6Qd, 0.8Qd, 1.0Qd and 1.2Qd respectively. The efficiency increased by 1.53% 1.0Qd and 1.1% at 0.8Qd. The streamline on the blade... [more]

The air/fuel ratio (AFR) regulation for spark-ignition (SI) engines has been an essential and challenging control problem for engineers in the automotive industry. The feed-forward and feedback scheme has been investigated in both academic research and industrial application. The aging effect can often cause an AFR sensor fault in the feedback loop, and the AFR control performance will degrade consequently. In this research, a new control scheme on AFR with fault-tolerance is proposed by using an artificial neural network model based on fault detection and compensation, which can provide the satisfactory AFR regulation performance at the stoichiometric value for the combustion process, given a certain level of misreading of the AFR sensor.

Short-term load forecasting is crucial for the operations planning of an electrical grid. Forecasting the next 24 h of electrical load in a grid allows operators to plan and optimize their resources. The purpose of this study is to develop a more accurate short-term load forecasting method utilizing non-linear autoregressive artificial neural networks (ANN) with exogenous multi-variable input (NARX). The proposed implementation of the network is new: the neural network is trained in open-loop using actual load and weather data, and then, the network is placed in closed-loop to generate a forecast using the predicted load as the feedback input. Unlike the existing short-term load forecasting methods using ANNs, the proposed method uses its own output as the input in order to improve the accuracy, thus effectively implementing a feedback loop for the load, making it less dependent on external data. Using the proposed framework, mean absolute percent errors in the forecast in the order of... [more]

Chemical flooding has been widely utilized to recover a large portion of the oil remaining in light and viscous oil reservoirs after the primary and secondary production processes. As core-flood tests and reservoir simulations take time to accurately estimate the recovery performances as well as analyzing the feasibility of an injection project, it is necessary to find a powerful tool to quickly predict the results with a level of acceptable accuracy. An approach involving the use of an artificial neural network to generate a representative model for estimating the alkali-surfactant-polymer flooding performance and evaluating the economic feasibility of viscous oil reservoirs from simulation is proposed in this study. A typical chemical flooding project was referenced for this numerical study. A number of simulations have been made for training on the basis of a base case from the design of 13 parameters. After training, the network scheme generated from a ratio data set of 50%-20%-30%... [more]

In electric power systems, there are always power quality disturbances (PQDs). Usually, noise contamination interferes with their detection and classification. Common methods perform frequency or time-frequency analyses on the power distribution signal for detecting and classifying a limited number of PQDs with some difficulties at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this regard, recently proposed methodologies for PQD detection estimate several parameters and apply distinct signal processing techniques to improve the detection of PQD. In this work, a novel methodology that merges empirical mode decomposition (EMD), the moments of a random variable, and an artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed for detecting and classifying different PQD. The proposed method estimates skewness, kurtosis, and Shannon entropy from the EMD of one-phase voltage/current signal. Then, an ANN is in charge of classifying the input signal into one of nine different classes for PQD, receiving these paramete... [more]