Although neural controllers based on multilayer neural networks have been demonstrating high potential in the nonconventional branch of adaptive process control called neurocontrol, practical applications are severely limited by the long training time that they require. This paper addresses the question of how to perform on-line training of multilayer neural controllers in an efficient way in order to reduce the training time. At first, based on multilayer neural networks, structures for a plant emulator and a controller are described. Only a little qualitative knowledge about the process to be controlled is required. The controller must learn the inverse dynamics of the plant from randomly chosen initial weights. Basic control configurations are briefly presented and new on-line training methods, based on performing multiple updating operations during each sampling period, are proposed and described in algorithmic form. One method, the direct inverse control error approach, is effective for small adjustments of the neural controller when it is already reasonably trained; another, the predicted output error approach, directly minimizes the control error and greatly improves convergence of the controller. Simulation and experimental results using a simple plant show the effectiveness of the proposed neuromorphic control structures and training methods.

This article reviews the state-of-the-art developments in Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) and their application to energy optimization problems. This methodology and related tools have contributed to changes in various paradigms used in energy optimization. Behavior and interactions between agents are key elements that must be understood in order to model energy optimization solutions that are robust, scalable and context-aware. The concept of MAS is introduced in this paper and it is compared with traditional approaches in the development of energy optimization solutions. The different types of agent-based architectures are described, the role played by the environment is analysed and we look at how MAS recognizes the characteristics of the environment to adapt to it. Moreover, it is discussed how MAS can be used as tools that simulate the results of different actions aimed at reducing energy consumption. Then, we look at MAS as a tool that makes it easy to model and simulate certain behaviors. This modeling and simulation is easily extrapolated to the energy field, and can even evolve further within this field by using the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. Therefore, we can argue that MAS is a widespread approach in the field of energy optimization and that it is commonly used due to its capacity for the communication, coordination, cooperation of agents and the robustness that this methodology gives in assigning different tasks to agents. Finally, this article considers how MASs can be used for various purposes, from capturing sensor data to decision-making. We propose some research perspectives on the development of electrical optimization solutions through their development using MASs. In conclusion, we argue that researchers in the field of energy optimization should use multi-agent systems at those junctures where it is necessary to model energy efficiency solutions that involve a wide range of factors, as well as context independence that they can achieve through the addition of new agents or agent organizations, enabling the development of energy-efficient solutions for smart cities and intelligent buildings.

Gene expression data are expected to be of significant help in the development of efficient cancer diagnoses and classification platforms. In order to select a small subset of informative genes from the data for cancer classification, recently, many researchers are analyzing gene expression data using various computational intelligence methods. However, due to the small number of samples compared to the huge number of genes (high dimension), irrelevant genes, and noisy genes, many of the computational methods face difficulties to select the small subset. Thus, we propose an improved (modified) binary particle swarm optimization to select the small subset of informative genes that is relevant for the cancer classification. In this proposed method, we introduce particles' speed for giving the rate at which a particle changes its position, and we propose a rule for updating particle's positions. By performing experiments on ten different gene expression datasets, we have found that the performance of the proposed method is superior to other previous related works, including the conventional version of binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) in terms of classification accuracy and the number of selected genes. The proposed method also produces lower running times compared to BPSO.

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In this paper a new technique is proposed to improve the recognition ability and the transaction speed to classify the Japanese and US paper currency. Two types of data sets, time series data and Fourier power spectra, are used in this study. In both cases, they are directly used as inputs to the neural network. Furthermore, we also refer a new evaluation method of recognition ability. Meanwhile, a technique is proposed to reduce the input scale of the neural network without preventing the growth of recognition. This technique uses only a subset of the original data set which is obtained using random masks. The recognition ability of using large data set and a reduced data set are discussed. In addition to that the results of using a reduced data set of the Fourier power spectra and the time series data are compared.