Fuzzy-based hunger games search algorithm for global optimization and feature selection using medical data.

Feature selection (FS) is one of the basic data preprocessing steps in data mining and machine learning. It is used to reduce feature size and increase model generalization. In addition to minimizing feature dimensionality, it also enhances classification accuracy and reduces model complexity, which are essential in several applications. Traditional methods for feature selection often fail in the optimal global solution due to the large search space. Many hybrid techniques have been proposed depending on merging several search strategies which have been used individually as a solution to the FS problem. This study proposes a modified hunger games search algorithm (mHGS), for solving optimization and FS problems. The main advantages of the proposed mHGS are to resolve the following drawbacks that have been raised in the original HGS; (1) avoiding the local search, (2) solving the problem of premature convergence, and (3) balancing between the exploitation and exploration phases. The mHGS has been evaluated by using the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2020 (CEC'20) for optimization test and ten medical and chemical datasets. The data have dimensions up to 20000 features or more. The results of the proposed algorithm have been compared to a variety of well-known optimization methods, including improved multi-operator differential evolution algorithm (IMODE), gravitational search algorithm, grey wolf optimization, Harris Hawks optimization, whale optimization algorithm, slime mould algorithm and hunger search games search. The experimental results suggest that the proposed mHGS can generate effective search results without increasing the computational cost and improving the convergence speed. It has also improved the SVM classification performance.

Evaluating Ensemble Learning Methods for Multi-Modal Emotion Recognition Using Sensor Data Fusion.

Automatic recognition of human emotions is not a trivial process. There are many factors affecting emotions internally and externally. Expressing emotions could also be performed in many ways such as text, speech, body gestures or even physiologically by physiological body responses. Emotion detection enables many applications such as adaptive user interfaces, interactive games, and human robot interaction and many more. The availability of advanced technologies such as mobiles, sensors, and data analytics tools led to the ability to collect data from various sources, which enabled researchers to predict human emotions accurately. Most current research uses them in the lab experiments for data collection. In this work, we use direct and real time sensor data to construct a subject-independent (generic) multi-modal emotion prediction model. This research integrates both on-body physiological markers, surrounding sensory data, and emotion measurements to achieve the following goals: (1) Collecting a multi-modal data set including environmental, body responses, and emotions. (2) Creating subject-independent Predictive models of emotional states based on fusing environmental and physiological variables. (3) Assessing ensemble learning methods and comparing their performance for creating a generic subject-independent model for emotion recognition with high accuracy and comparing the results with previous similar research. To achieve that, we conducted a real-world study "in the wild" with physiological and mobile sensors. Collecting the data-set is coming from participants walking around Minia university campus to create accurate predictive models. Various ensemble learning models (Bagging, Boosting, and Stacking) have been used, combining the following base algorithms (K Nearest Neighbor KNN, Decision Tree DT, Random Forest RF, and Support Vector Machine SVM) as base learners and DT as a meta-classifier. The results showed that, the ensemble stacking learner technique gave the best accuracy of 98.2% compared with other variants of ensemble learning methods. On the contrary, bagging and boosting methods gave (96.4%) and (96.6%) accuracy levels respectively.

NeuroPlace: Categorizing urban places according to mental states.

Urban spaces have a great impact on how people's emotion and behaviour. There are number of factors that impact our brain responses to a space. This paper presents a novel urban place recommendation approach, that is based on modelling in-situ EEG data. The research investigations leverages on newly affordable Electroencephalogram (EEG) headsets, which has the capability to sense mental states such as meditation and attention levels. These emerging devices have been utilized in understanding how human brains are affected by the surrounding built environments and natural spaces. In this paper, mobile EEG headsets have been used to detect mental states at different types of urban places. By analysing and modelling brain activity data, we were able to classify three different places according to the mental state signature of the users, and create an association map to guide and recommend people to therapeutic places that lessen brain fatigue and increase mental rejuvenation. Our mental states classifier has achieved accuracy of (%90.8). NeuroPlace breaks new ground not only as a mobile ubiquitous brain monitoring system for urban computing, but also as a system that can advise urban planners on the impact of specific urban planning policies and structures. We present and discuss the challenges in making our initial prototype more practical, robust, and reliable as part of our on-going research. In addition, we present some enabling applications using the proposed architecture.