Search Results (46)

Educational data mining (EDM) plays a crucial role in developing intelligent early warning systems that enable timely interventions to improve student outcomes. This study presents a novel approach to student performance prediction by integrating metaheuristic hyperparameter optimization with explainable artificial intelligence for enhanced learning analytics. While Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) demonstrates efficiency in educational prediction tasks, achieving optimal performance requires sophisticated hyperparameter tuning, particularly for complex educational datasets where accuracy, interpretability, and actionable insights are paramount. This research addressed these challenges by implementing and evaluating five nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithms: Fox Algorithm (FOX), Giant Trevally Optimizer (GTO), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (SCSO), and Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA) for automated hyperparameter optimization. Using rigorous experimental methodology with 5-fold cross-validation and 20 independent runs, we assessed predictive performance through comprehensive metrics including Coefficient of Determination (R²), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Mean Squared Error (MSE), Relative Absolute Error (RAE), and Mean Error (ME). Results demonstrate that metaheuristic optimization significantly enhances educational prediction accuracy, with SCSO-LightGBM achieving superior performance with R² of 0.941. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis provides crucial interpretability, identifying Attendance, Hours Studied, Previous Scores, and Parental Involvement as dominant predictive factors, offering evidence-based insights for educational stakeholders. The proposed SCSO-LightGBM framework establishes an intelligent, interpretable system that supports data-driven decision-making in educational environments, enabling proactive interventions to enhance student success. Full article

Gallstone disease affects approximately 10–20% of the global adult population, with early diagnosis being essential for effective treatment and management. While image-based machine learning (ML) models have shown high accuracy in gallstone detection, tabular data approaches remain less explored. In this study, we have proposed a Random Forest (RF) classifier optimized using the Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (SCSO) algorithm for gallstone prediction based on a tabular dataset. Our experiments have been conducted across four frameworks: only RF without cross-validation (CV), RF with CV, RF-SCSO without CV, and RF-SCSO with CV. Only RF without CV model has achieved 81.25%, 79.07%, 85%, and 73.91% accuracy, F-score, precision, and recall, respectively, using all 38 features, while the RF with CV has obtained a 10-fold cross-validation accuracy of 78.42% using the same feature set. With SCSO-based feature reduction, the RF-SCSO without and with CV models have delivered a comparable accuracy of 79.17% and 78.32%, respectively, using only 13 features, indicating effective dimensionality reduction. SHAP analysis has identified CRP, Vitamin D, and AAST as the most influential features, and DiCE has further illustrated the model’s behavior by highlighting corrective counterfactuals for misclassified instances. These findings demonstrate the potential of interpretable, feature-optimized ML models for gallstone diagnosis using structured clinical data. Full article

Solar greenhouses are an important component of modern facility agriculture, and the dynamic changes in their internal environment directly affect crop growth and yield. Among these factors, crop transpiration releases water vapor through transpiration, directly altering the indoor humidity balance and forming a dynamic coupling with factors such as temperature and light. The environment of solar greenhouses exhibits highly nonlinear and multivariate coupling characteristics, leading to insufficient prediction accuracy in existing models. However, accurate predictions are crucial for regulating crop growth and yield. However, current mainstream greenhouse environmental prediction models still have obvious limitations when dealing with such complexity: traditional machine learning models and single-variable-driven models have issues such as insufficient accuracy (average MAE is 15–20% higher than in this study) and weak adaptability to nonlinear environmental changes in multi-environmental factor coupling predictions, making it difficult to meet the needs of precision farming. A review of relevant research over the past five years shows that while LSTM-based models perform well in time series prediction, they ignore the spatial correlations between environmental factors. Models incorporating attention mechanisms can capture key variables but suffer from high computational costs. To address these issues, this study proposes a prediction model based on multi-strategy optimization and gradient-boosting (GBDT) algorithms. By introducing a multi-scale feature fusion module, it addresses the accuracy issues in multi-factor coupling prediction. Additionally, it employs a lightweight network design to balance prediction performance and computational efficiency, filling the gap in existing research applications under complex greenhouse environments. The model optimizes data preprocessing and model parameters through Sobol sequence initialization, adaptive t-distribution perturbation strategies, and Gaussian–Cauchy mixture mutation strategies and combines CatBoost for modeling to enhance prediction accuracy. Experimental results show that the MSCSO–CatBoost model performs excellently in temperature prediction, with the mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) reduced by 22.5% (2.34 °C) and 24.4% (3.12 °C), respectively, and the coefficient of determination (R²) improved to 0.91, significantly outperforming traditional regression methods and combinations of other optimization algorithms. Additionally, the model demonstrates good generalization capability in predicting multiple environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, and light intensity, adapting to environmental fluctuations under different climatic conditions. This study confirms that combining multi-strategy optimization with gradient-boosting algorithms can significantly improve the prediction accuracy of solar greenhouse environments, providing reliable support for precision agricultural management. Future research could further explore the model’s adaptive optimization in complex climatic regions. Full article

The core structure of modern power systems reflects a fundamental symmetry between electricity supply and demand, and accurate load forecasting is essential for maintaining this dynamic balance. To improve the accuracy of short-term load forecasting in power systems, this paper proposes a novel model that combines a Multi-Strategy Improved Sand Cat Swarm Optimization algorithm (MSCSO) with a Self-Attention Temporal Convolutional Network (SA TCN). The model constructs efficient input features through data denoising, correlation filtering, and dimensionality reduction using UMAP. MSCSO integrates Uniform Tent Chaos Mapping, a sensitivity enhancement mechanism, and Lévy flight to optimize key parameters of the SA TCN, ensuring symmetrical exploration and stable convergence in the solution space. The self-attention mechanism exhibits structural symmetry when processing each position in the input sequence and does not rely on fixed positional order, enabling the model to more effectively capture long-term dependencies and preserve the symmetry of the sequence structure—demonstrating its advantage in symmetry-based modeling. Experimental results on historical load data from Panama show that the proposed model achieves excellent forecasting accuracy (RMSE = 24.7072, MAE = 17.5225, R² = 0.9830), highlighting its innovation and applicability in symmetrical system environments. Full article

Backfilling materials are commonly employed materials in mines for filling mining waste, and the strength of the consolidated backfill formed by the binding material directly influences the stability of the surrounding rock and production safety in mines. The traditional approach to obtaining the strength of the backfill demands a considerable amount of manpower and time. The rapid and precise acquisition and optimization of backfill strength parameters hold utmost significance for mining safety. In this research, the authors carried out a backfill strength experiment with five experimental parameters, namely concentration, cement–sand ratio, waste rock–tailing ratio, curing time, and curing temperature, using an orthogonal design. They collected 174 sets of backfill strength parameters and employed six population optimization algorithms, including the Artificial Ecosystem-based Optimization (AEO) algorithm, Aquila Optimization (AO) algorithm, Germinal Center Optimization (GCO), Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (SCSO), Sparrow Search Algorithm (SSA), and Walrus Optimization Algorithm (WaOA), in combination with the CatBoost algorithm to conduct a prediction study of backfill strength. The study also utilized the Shapley Additive explanatory (SHAP) method to analyze the influence of different parameters on the prediction of backfill strength. The results demonstrate that when the population size was 60, the AEO-CatBoost algorithm model exhibited a favorable fitting effect (R² = 0.947, VAF = 93.614), and the prediction error was minimal (RMSE = 0.606, MAE = 0.465), enabling the accurate and rapid prediction of the strength parameters of the backfill under different ratios and curing conditions. Additionally, an increase in curing temperature and curing time enhanced the strength of the backfill, and the influence of the waste rock–tailing ratio on the strength of the backfill was negative at a curing temperature of 50 °C, which is attributed to the change in the pore structure at the microscopic level leading to macroscopic mechanical alterations. When the curing conditions are adequate and the parameter ratios are reasonable, the smaller the porosity rate in the backfill, the greater the backfill strength will be. This study offers a reliable and accurate method for the rapid acquisition of backfill strength and provides new technical support for the development of filling mining technology. Full article

Hybrid metaheuristic algorithms have been widely used to solve global optimization problems, making the concept of hybridization increasingly important. This study proposes a new hybrid multi-strategy metaheuristic algorithm named COSGO, which combines the strengths of grey wolf optimization (GWO) and Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (SCSO) to effectively address global optimization tasks. Additionally, a chaotic opposition-based learning strategy is incorporated to enhance the efficiency and global search capability of the algorithm. One of the main challenges in metaheuristic algorithms is premature convergence or getting trapped in local optima. To overcome this, the proposed strategy is designed to improve exploration and help the algorithm escape local minima. As a real-world application, multi-level thresholding for color image segmentation—a well-known problem in image processing—is studied. The COSGO algorithm is applied using two objective functions, Otsu’s method and Kapur’s entropy, to determine optimal multi-level thresholds. Experiments are conducted on 10 images from the widely used BSD500 dataset. The results show that the COSGO algorithm achieves competitive performance compared to other State-of-the-Art algorithms. To further evaluate its effectiveness, the CEC2017 benchmark functions are employed, and a Friedman ranking test is used to statistically analyze the results. Full article

Accurate prediction of dam displacement is essential for structural safety and risk management. To comprehensively address the “accuracy–uncertainty–interpretability” trilemma in dam displacement prediction, this study proposes a deep learning framework that integrates Patch Time Series Transformer (PatchTST), Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (SCSO), Quantile Regression (QR), and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP). The proposed framework first employs PatchTST to capture the nonlinear temporal dependencies between multiple monitoring factors and dam displacement, while SCSO is utilized to adaptively optimize key hyperparameters, enabling the construction of a high-precision point prediction model. On this basis, QR is introduced to model the distributional uncertainty of displacement responses and to generate confidence-based prediction intervals, facilitating the evaluation of displacement anomalies. Furthermore, SHAP is incorporated to quantify the marginal contribution of each input factor to the model outputs, thereby enhancing interpretability and aligning model behavior with physical domain knowledge. The framework is validated using multi-year monitoring data from a double-curvature arch dam located in Southwest China. Comparative experiments demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms five well-established machine learning methods and the traditional linear regression method in terms of point prediction accuracy, reliability of interval estimation, and false alarm rate, exhibiting strong generalization and robustness. The SHAP-based analysis further reveals that water pressure variations and seasonal temperature cycles are the dominant factors influencing radial displacement, consistent with known structural deformation mechanisms. These findings affirm the physical consistency and engineering applicability of the proposed framework, offering a deployable and trustworthy solution for intelligent dam health monitoring and uncertainty-aware forecasting in safety-critical infrastructures. Full article

To improve the global search efficiency and dynamic adaptability of the Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (SCSO) algorithm for UAV path planning in complex 3D environments, this study proposes a Modified Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (MSCSO) algorithm by integrating chaotic mapping initialization, Lévy flight–Metropolis hybrid exploration mechanisms, simulated annealing–particle swarm hybrid exploitation strategies, and elite mutation techniques. These strategies not only significantly enhance the convergence speed while ensuring algorithmic precision but also provide effective avenues for enhancing the performance of SCSO. We successfully apply these modifications to UAV path planning scenarios in complex environments. Experimental results on 18 benchmark functions demonstrate the enhanced convergence speed and stability of MSCSO. The proposed method has a superior performance in multimodal optimization tasks. The performance of MSCSO in eight complex scenarios that derived from real-world terrain data by comparing MSCSO with three state-of-the-art algorithms, MSCSO generates shorter average path lengths, reduces collision risks by 21–35%, and achieves higher computational efficiency. Its robustness in obstacle-dense and multi-waypoint environments confirms its practicality in engineering contexts. Overall, MSCSO demonstrates substantial potential in low-altitude resource exploration and emergency rescue operations. These innovative strategies offer theoretical and technical foundations for autonomous decision-making in intelligent unmanned systems. Full article

The vertical inline pump, a single-stage centrifugal pump with a bent elbow inlet, is widely used in marine engineering. The unique water inlet passage combined with uneven inflow at the impeller inlet tends to form an inlet vortex and secondary flow area, which reduces performance and causes vibration. To predict the performance of the elbow inline pump, this study uses spline curve fitting for the centerline and cross-sectional shape of the elbow passage. With four elbow inlet variables from experimental design as the input layer and targeting efficiency under pump operating conditions, a pump performance prediction model based on an improved sand cat swarm optimization algorithm combined with a BP neural network (MSCSO-BP) is proposed. Six test functions are used to effectively test the improved sand cat swarm optimization algorithm. The results show that compared to the unimproved algorithm, the improved algorithm has significantly faster convergence speed, shorter parameter optimization time, and higher accuracy. For more demanding multidimensional test functions, the improved optimization algorithm can more accurately find the optimal solution, enhancing the prediction accuracy and generalization ability of inline pump performance. This provides a more effective engineering solution for the design and optimization of inline pumps. Full article

This paper proposes an Enhanced Dynamic Sand Cat Search Optimization algorithm (EDSCSO) designed to address the high-order nonlinearities and strong coupling issues in the parameter tuning of the position sliding mode controller for electro-hydrostatic actuators (EHAs). Traditional swarm intelligence optimization algorithms often struggle with the transition from global to local search, which leads to being trapped in local optima and results in lower computational efficiency. To overcome these challenges, the EDSCSO algorithm introduces an escape mechanism, a stochastic elite cooperative bootstrap strategy, and a multi-path differential perturbation strategy. These enhancements significantly increase the diversity of the population, facilitate a smooth transition from global to local search, avoid local optimum traps, and better balance the exploration and exploitation capabilities of the algorithm. Based on this algorithm, the sliding mode surface and convergence rate parameters within the sliding mode controller are optimized. Simulation validations conducted on the combined platform of MATLAB/Simulink and AMESim demonstrate that the sliding mode PID controller optimized by the EDSCSO algorithm achieves smaller steady-state and tracking errors, exhibits greater robustness, and offers enhanced computational efficiency compared to other swarm intelligence optimization algorithms. This study provides an effective optimization strategy to improve the control performance of the EHA position sliding mode controller. Full article

The surface settlement of railroad tunnels is dynamically updated as the construction progresses, exhibiting complex nonlinear characteristics. The accuracy of the on-site nonlinear regression fitting prediction method needs to be improved. To prevent surface settlement and surrounding rock collapse during railroad tunnel construction, while also ensuring the safety of the tunnel and existing structures, we propose a recursive prediction model for the long-term trend of surface settlement utilizing a singular spectrum analysis (SSA), improved sand cat swarm optimization (ISCSO), and a kernel extreme learning machine (KELM). First, SSA decomposition, known for its adaptive decomposition of one-dimensional nonlinear time series, reorganizes the early surface settlement data. The dynamic sliding window method is introduced to construct the prediction dataset, which is then trained using the KELM. ISCSO is used to optimize the key parameters of the KELM to obtain the long-term trend curves of surface settlement through recursive time series prediction. The superiority and effectiveness of ISCSO and the model are verified through numerical experiments and simulation experiments based on engineering cases, providing a reference for the early warning and control of surface settlement during the construction of similar tunnels. Full article

Amid the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle industry and the accelerating global shift toward green and low-carbon energy alternatives, this paper develops a multi-objective optimization model for an Electric Vehicle Integrated Energy Station (EVIES) and a high-rise building wind-solar-storage sharing system. The model aims to maximize the daily economic revenue of the EVIES, minimize the load variance on the grid side of the building, and reduce overall carbon emissions. To solve this multi-objective optimization problem, a Multi-Objective Sand Cat Swarm Optimization Algorithm (MSCSO) based on a mutation-dominated selection strategy is proposed. Benchmark tests confirm the significant performance advantages of MSCSO in both solution quality and stability, achieving the optimal mean and minimum variance in 73% of the test cases. Further comparative analyses validate the effectiveness of the proposed system, showing that the optimized configuration increases daily economic revenue by 26.54% on average and reduces carbon emissions by 37.59%. Additionally, post-optimization analysis reveals a smoother load curve after grid integration, a significantly reduced peak-to-valley difference, and improved overall operational stability. Full article

Power system stability is managed through various control loops, including the Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR), which regulates the terminal voltage of synchronous generators. This study integrated Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) and a Proportional–Integral–Derivative controller with Filtered derivative action (PIDF) to propose a hybrid Fuzzy PIDF controller enhanced by Fractional-Order Proportional-Derivative (FOPD) for AVR applications. For the first time, the newly introduced Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (SCSO) algorithm was applied to the AVR system to tune the parameters of the proposed fuzzy controller. The SCSO algorithm has been recognized as a powerful optimization tool and has demonstrated success across various engineering applications. The well-known Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm was also utilized in this study to optimize the gains of the proposed controller. The Fuzzy PIDF plus FOPD is a novel configuration that is designed to be a robust control technique for AVR to achieve an excellent performance. In this research, the Fuzzy PIDF + FOPD controller was optimized using the PSO and SCSO algorithms by minimizing the Integral Time Absolute Error (ITAE) objective function to enhance the overall performance of AVR systems. A comparative analysis was conducted to evaluate the superiority of the proposed approach by benchmarking the results against those of other controllers reported in the literature. Furthermore, the robustness of the controller was assessed under parametric uncertainties and varying load disturbances. Also, its robustness was examined against disturbances in the control signal. The results demonstrate that the proposed Fuzzy PIDF + FOPD controller tuned by the PSO and SCSO algorithms delivers exceptional performance as an AVR controller, outperforming other controllers. Additionally, the findings confirm the robustness of the Fuzzy PIDF + FOPD controller against parametric uncertainties, establishing its potential for a successful implementation in real-time applications. Full article

Carbon fiber composites (CFRPs) are prone to impact loads during their production, transportation, and service life. These impacts can induce microscopic damage that is always undetectable to the naked eye, thereby posing a significant safety risk to the structural integrity of CFRP structures. In this study, we developed an impact localization system for CFRP structures using extrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometric (EFPI) sensors. The impact signals detected by EFPI sensors are demodulated at high speeds using an intensity modulation method. An impact localization method for the CFRP structure based on the energy–entropy ratio endpoint detection and CNN-BIGRU-Attention is proposed. The time difference of arrival (TDOA) between signals from different EFPI sensors is collected to characterize the impact location. The attention mechanism is integrated into the CNN-BIGRU model to enhance the significance of the TDOA of impact signals detected by proximal EFPI sensors. The model is trained using the training set, with its parameters optimized using the sand cat swarm optimization algorithm and validation set. The localization performance of different models is then evaluated and compared using the test set. The impact localization system based on the CNN-BIGRU-Attention model using EFPI sensors was validated on a CFRP plate with an experimental area of 400 mm × 400 mm. The average error in impact localization is 8.14 mm, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and satisfactory performance of the proposed method. Full article

Landslides induced by heavy rainfall are common in southern China and pose significant risks to the safe operation of transmission lines. To ensure the reliability of transmission line operations, this paper presents a stability prediction model for transmission tower slopes based on the Improved Sand Cat Swarm Optimization (ISCSO) algorithm and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The ISCSO algorithm is enhanced with dynamic reverse learning and triangular wandering strategies, which are then used to optimize the kernel and penalty parameters of the SVM, resulting in the ISCSO-SVM prediction model. In this study, a typical transmission tower slope in southern China is used as a case study, with the transmission tower slope database generated through orthogonal experimental design and Geo-studio simulations. In addition to traditional input features, an additional input—transmission tower catchment area—is incorporated, and the stable state of the transmission tower slope is set as the predicted output. The results demonstrate that the ISCSO-SVM model achieves the highest prediction accuracy, with the smallest errors across all metrics. Specifically, compared to the standard SVM, the MAPE, MAE, and RMSE values are reduced by 70.96%, 71.41%, and 57.37%, respectively. The ISCSO-SVM model effectively predicts the stability of transmission tower slopes, thereby ensuring the safe operation of transmission lines. Full article