Ensemble Of Convolutional Neural Networks Research Articles

Early Identification of Rotten Potatoes Using an Electronic Nose Based on Feature Discretization and Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network

Early Identification of Rotten Potatoes Using an Electronic Nose Based on Feature Discretization and Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network

Crack pattern–based machine learning prediction of residual drift capacity in damaged masonry walls

AbstractIn this paper, we present a method based on an ensemble of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for the prediction of residual drift capacity in unreinforced damaged masonry walls using as only input the crack pattern. We use an accurate block‐based numerical model to generate mechanically consistent crack patterns induced by external actions (earthquake‐like loads and differential settlements). For a damaged masonry wall, we extract the crack width cumulative distribution, we derive a crack width exceedance curve (CWEC), and we evaluate the drift loss (DL) with respect to the undamaged wall. Numerous pairs of CWEC and DL are thus generated and used for training (and validating) an ensemble of CNNs generated via repeated ‐folding cross validation with shuffling. As a result, a method for damage prognosis (Level IV of SHM) is provided. Such method appears general, inexpensive, and able to adequately predict the DL using as only input the CWEC, providing real‐time support for decision making in damaged masonry structures.

CRIECNN: Ensemble convolutional neural network and advanced feature extraction methods for the precise forecasting of circRNA-RBP binding sites

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have surfaced as important non-coding RNA molecules in biology. Understanding interactions between circRNAs and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) is crucial in circRNA research. Existing prediction models suffer from limited availability and accuracy, necessitating advanced approaches. In this study, we propose CRIECNN (Circular RNA-RBP Interaction predictor using an Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network), a novel ensemble deep learning model that enhances circRNA-RBP binding site prediction accuracy. CRIECNN employs advanced feature extraction methods and evaluates four distinct sequence datasets and encoding techniques (BERT, Doc2Vec, KNF, EIIP). The model consists of an ensemble convolutional neural network, a BiLSTM, and a self-attention mechanism for feature refinement. Our results demonstrate that CRIECNN outperforms state-of-the-art methods in accuracy and performance, effectively predicting circRNA-RBP interactions from both full-length sequences and fragments. This novel strategy makes an enormous advancement in the prediction of circRNA-RBP interactions, improving our understanding of circRNAs and their regulatory roles.

Grading the severity of diabetic retinopathy using an ensemble of self-supervised pre-trained convolutional neural networks: ESSP-CNNs

Grading the severity of diabetic retinopathy using an ensemble of self-supervised pre-trained convolutional neural networks: ESSP-CNNs

Masked facial recognition using ensemble convolutional neural network and grey-level co-occurrence matrix

The COVID-19 pandemic proved how face masks became necessary to stop the spread of infection. Due to this, effective identification of people wearing face mask became challenging. Masked facial recognition has significantly increased in accuracy because of developments in convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Small size of the dataset of masked facial images has been a problem in earlier research. As would be expected, this results in poorer accuracy when the model tries to identify faces. In this study, a novel model is proposed with textural feature extraction using grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and an ensemble of two pre-trained CNNs DenseNet-121 and VGG-16. Using the minimum redundancy and maximum relevance, the model has improved accuracy by choosing the most important features of the image. The model was trained using in-house dataset that included 38,290 photos of 2,500 people with approximately equal distribution of properly masked, partially masked, and unmasked images. In this, we evaluated the performance of the model on different classifiers multi-class logistic regression (LR) and support vector machine (SVM) with one-vs-rest (OvR) classification and artificial neural network (ANN) and applied a soft voting scheme. The model achieved the highest accuracy of 98.56% at a learning rate of 0.001 on the ANN classifier.

Enhancing Pneumonia Diagnosis Through Chest Imaging and Machine Learning A Comprehensive Ensemble Approach with Diverse CNN Architectures

Abstract: This research presents a novel approach for pneumonia diagnosis in chest X-ray images utilizing an ensemble of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The proposed system integrates state-of-the-art architectures such as ResNet, DenseNet, InceptionV3, MobileNet, and AlexNet, helping transfer learning to fine-tune these models on a curated chest X-ray dataset obtained from Kaggle. The dataset comprises two classes: normal and pneumonia. The ensemble methodology combines the predictive strengths of individual CNN models, harnessing their diverse feature extraction capabilities. A key innovation lies in the incorporation of the AlexNet architecture into the ensemble, aiming to further enhance the ensemble's discriminative power. The system undergoes a comprehensive training, validation, and testing pipeline, culminating in real-time predictions on new chest X-ray images. The experimental results showcase the effectiveness of the ensemble approach, demonstrating improved accuracy and robustness in pneumonia detection compared to individual models. The incorporation of AlexNet contributes unique features to the ensemble, ighlighting the potential of diverse model architectures in enhancing diagnostic performance

Incremental Learning-Enhanced Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network for Robust Pose-Invariant Face Recognition

Abstract: In the dynamic realm of face recognition, where challenges such as pose variations, illumination changes, and expression nuances abound, this research embarks on a novel journey toward enhancing recognition robustness. Herein lies an amalgamation of innovative methodologies aimed at transcending the boundaries of traditional face recognition paradigms. At the forefront, an Adaptive Morphological Bilateral Filtering (AMBF) technique emerges, poised to revolutionize image preprocessing. AMBF stands as a beacon of adaptability, seamlessly sharpening blurry facial images while mitigating the risks of introducing undesirable artifacts. Its arsenal of morphological operations, carefully orchestrated to uplift image quality, presents a promising solution to the perennial challenge of recognizing faces under adverse conditions. Complementing this pioneering filtering approach is the integration of an Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network (ECNN), an avant-garde ensemble learning architecture.

Deep Learning for Real-time Affective Hand Gesture Recognition in EMASPEL

This research marks a transformative leap in personalized learning through real-time affective hand gesture recognition in EMASPEL (Emotional Multi-Agents System for Peer-to-peer E-Learning), an educational platform. Our deep learning model, a meticulously crafted ensemble of convolutional and recurrent neural networks, deciphers the unspoken language of emotions embedded within student gestures, accurately capturing both spatial and temporal patterns. This detailed emotional map empowers EMASPEL to tailor its interactions with exquisite precision, addressing frustration, nurturing curiosity, and maximizing student engagement. The impact is profound: students flourish in personalized learning environments, experiencing enhanced outcomes and a newfound connection to their educational journey. Teachers, equipped with real-time emotional insights, provide targeted support and cultivate a more inclusive, responsive classroom. Beyond gestures, we envision a future enriched by multimodal data integration, encompassing facial expressions, voice analysis, and potentially physiological sensors, to paint even richer portraits of student emotions and cognitive states. Continuous refinement through rigorous longitudinal studies will pave the way for deeper understanding and ensure responsible implementation. Ultimately, this research reimagines education as a dynamic ensemble of personalized learning, where technology serves as a bridge between teacher and student, unlocking not just academic success but a lifelong love of knowledge.

CECT: Controllable ensemble CNN and transformer for COVID-19 image classification

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in hundreds of million cases and numerous deaths worldwide. Here, we develop a novel classification network CECT by controllable ensemble convolutional neural network and transformer to provide a timely and accurate COVID-19 diagnosis. The CECT is composed of a parallel convolutional encoder block, an aggregate transposed-convolutional decoder block, and a windowed attention classification block. Each block captures features at different scales from 28 × 28 to 224 × 224 from the input, composing enriched and comprehensive information. Different from existing methods, our CECT can capture features at both multi-local and global scales without any sophisticated module design. Moreover, the contribution of local features at different scales can be controlled with the proposed ensemble coefficients. We evaluate CECT on two public COVID-19 datasets and it reaches the highest accuracy of 98.1% in the intra-dataset evaluation, outperforming existing state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, the developed CECT achieves an accuracy of 90.9% on the unseen dataset in the inter-dataset evaluation, showing extraordinary generalization ability. With remarkable feature capture ability and generalization ability, we believe CECT can be extended to other medical scenarios as a powerful diagnosis tool. Code is available at https://github.com/NUS-Tim/CECT.

Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Maxillary Sinus Anomalies: Validation and Clinical Correlation.

Computer aided diagnostics (CAD) systems can automate the differentiation of maxillary sinus (MS) with and without opacification, simplifying the typically laborious process and aiding in clinical insight discovery within large cohorts. This study uses Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS) a large, prospective, long-term, population-based cohort study of participants between 45 and 74 years of age. We develop a CAD system using an ensemble of 3D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to analyze cranial MRIs, distinguishing MS with opacifications (polyps, cysts, mucosal thickening) from MS without opacifications. The system is used to find correlations of participants with and without MS opacifications with clinical data (smoking, alcohol, BMI, asthma, bronchitis, sex, age, leukocyte count, C-reactive protein, allergies). The evaluation metrics of CAD system (Area Under Receiver Operator Characteristic: 0.95, sensitivity: 0.85, specificity: 0.90) demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach. MS with opacification group exhibited higher alcohol consumption, higher BMI, higher incidence of intrinsic asthma and extrinsic asthma. Male sex had higher prevalence of MS opacifications. Participants with MS opacifications had higher incidence of hay fever and house dust allergy but lower incidence of bee/wasp venom allergy. The study demonstrates a 3D CNN's ability to distinguish MS with and without opacifications, improving automated diagnosis and aiding in correlating clinical data in population studies. 3 Laryngoscope, 2024.

Quantifying predictive uncertainty in damage classification for nondestructive evaluation using Bayesian approximation and deep learning

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL), a widely used nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method, for inspecting pipelines to prevent potential long-term failures. However, during field testing, uncertainties can affect the accuracy of the inspection and the decision-making process regarding damage conditions. Therefore, it is essential to identify and quantify these uncertainties to ensure the reliability of the inspection. This study focuses on the uncertainties that arise during the inverse NDE process due to the dynamic magnetization process, which is affected by the relative motion of the MFL sensor and the material being tested. Specifically, the study investigates the uncertainties caused by sensing liftoff, which can affect the output signal of the sensing system. Due to the complexity of describing the forward uncertainty propagation process, this study compared two typical machine learning (ML)-based approximate Bayesian inference methods, convolutional neural network and deep ensemble, to address the input uncertainty from the MFL response data. Besides, an autoencoder method is applied to tackle the lack of experimental data for the training model by augmenting the dataset, which is constructed with the pre-trained model based on transfer learning. Prior knowledge learned from large simulated MFL signals can fine-tune the autoencoder model which enhances the subsequent learning process on experimental MFL data with faster generalization. The augmented data from the fine-tuned autoencoder is further applied for ML-based defect size classification. This study conducted prediction accuracy and uncertainty analysis with calibration, which can evaluate the prediction performance and reveal the relation between the liftoff uncertainty and prediction accuracy. Further, to strengthen the trustworthiness of the prediction results, the decision-making process guided by uncertainty is applied to provide valuable insights into the reliability of the final prediction results. Overall, the proposed framework for uncertainty quantification offers valuable insights into the assessment of reliability in MFL-based decision-making and inverse problems.

Two-Stage Ensemble Deep Learning Model for Precise Leaf Abnormality Detection in Centella asiatica

Leaf abnormalities pose a significant threat to agricultural productivity, particularly in medicinal plants such as Centella asiatica (Linn.) Urban (CAU), where they can severely impact both the yield and the quality of leaf-derived substances. In this study, we focus on the early detection of such leaf diseases in CAU, a critical intervention for minimizing crop damage and ensuring plant health. We propose a novel parallel-Variable Neighborhood Strategy Adaptive Search (parallel-VaNSAS) ensemble deep learning method specifically designed for this purpose. Our approach is distinguished by a two-stage ensemble model, which combines the strengths of advanced image segmentation and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to detect leaf diseases with high accuracy and efficiency. In the first stage, we employ U-net, Mask-R-CNN, and DeepNetV3++ for the precise image segmentation of leaf abnormalities. This step is crucial for accurately identifying diseased regions, thereby facilitating a focused and effective analysis in the subsequent stage. The second stage utilizes ShuffleNetV2, SqueezeNetV2, and MobileNetV3, which are robust CNN architectures, to classify the segmented images into different categories of leaf diseases. This two-stage methodology significantly improves the quality of disease detection over traditional methods. By employing a combination of ensemble segmentation and diverse CNN models, we achieve a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of leaf diseases. Our model’s efficacy is further enhanced through the integration of four decision fusion strategies: unweighted average (UWA), differential evolution (DE), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and Variable Neighborhood Strategy Adaptive Search (VaNSAS). Through extensive evaluations of the ABL-1 and ABL-2 datasets, which include a total of 14,860 images encompassing eight types of leaf abnormalities, our model demonstrates its superiority. The ensemble segmentation method outperforms single-method approaches by 7.34%, and our heterogeneous ensemble model excels by 8.43% and 14.59% compared to the homogeneous ensemble and single models, respectively. Additionally, image augmentation contributes to a 5.37% improvement in model performance, and the VaNSAS strategy enhances solution quality significantly over other decision fusion methods. Overall, our novel parallel-VaNSAS ensemble deep learning method represents a significant advancement in the detection of leaf diseases in CAU, promising a more effective approach to maintaining crop health and productivity.

E2ETCA: End-to-end training of CNN and attention ensembles for rice disease diagnosis1

Rice is one of the most important crops worldwide. Diseases of the rice plant can drastically reduce crop yield and even lead to complete loss of production. Early diagnosis can reduce the severity and help efforts to establish effective treatment and reduce the usage of pesticides. Traditional machine learning approaches have already been employed for automatic diagnosis. However, they heavily rely on manual preprocessing of images and handcrafted features, which is challenging, time-consuming, and may require domain expertise. Recently, a single end-to-end deep learning (DL)-based approach was employed to diagnose rice diseases. However, it is not highly robust, nor is it generalizable to every dataset. Hence, we propose a novel end-to-end training of convolutional neural network (CNN) and attention (E2ETCA) ensemble framework that fuses the features of two CNN-based state-of-the-art (SOTA) models along with those of an attention-based vision transformer model. These fused features are utilized for diagnosis by the addition of an extra fully connected layer with softmax. The whole procedure is performed end-to-end, which is very important for real-world applications. Additionally, we feed the extracted features into a traditional machine learning approach support vector machine for classification and further analysis. To verify the effectiveness of our proposed E2ETCA framework, we demonstrate it on three publicly available datasets: the Mendeley Rice Leaf Disease Image Samples dataset, the Kaggle Rice Diseases Image dataset, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute dataset, and a combination of these three datasets. On the basis of various evaluation metrics (accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score), our proposed E2ETCA framework exhibits superior performance to existing SOTA approaches for rice disease diagnosis, which can also be generalizable in similar other domains.

Novel Human Activity Recognition by graph engineered ensemble deep learning model

This research delves into the domain of Human Activity Recognition (HAR) through sensor data analysis, offering a comprehensive exploration of three diverse datasets: UniMiB-SHAR, Motion Sense, and WISDM Actitracker. The UniMiB-SHAR dataset encompasses a diverse array of linear as well as non-linear and complex activities which involve the movement of more than one joint or muscle (for example Hitting Obstacles, jogging and falling with face down). This motion generates highly correlated sensor readings over a certain period of time. In this case, Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) are effective in feature extraction as well as classification of HAR activities, but they may not fully grasp the combined features of spatial as well as temporal aspects in the HAR datasets and heavily rely on labelled data. Whereas, Graph convolution networks (GCN), with their capacity to model complex interactions through graph structure, complement CNN’s capabilities in classifying non-linear activities in the HAR dataset. By leveraging the Knowledge graph structure and acquiring the feature embeddings from the GCN model, in this study, a Noval ensemble CNN model is proposed for the classification of activities. The novel HAR pipeline is termed as Graph Engineered EnsemCNN HAR (GE-EnsemCNN-HAR) and its performance is evaluated on HAR datasets. Proposed model demonstrated a noteworthy accuracy of 93.5% on UniMiB-SHAR dataset, surpassing the Shallow CNN model with GNN with an improvement of 20.14%. The proposed model achieved a notable accuracy rate of 96.18% and 98% when evaluated on the Motion Sense and WISDM Actitracker dataset.

Vulnerable JavaScript functions detection using stacking of convolutional neural networks.

System security for web-based applications is paramount, and for the avoidance of possible cyberattacks it is important to detect vulnerable JavaScript functions. Developers and security analysts have long relied upon static analysis to investigate vulnerabilities and faults within programs. Static analysis tools are used for analyzing a program's source code and identifying sections of code that need to be further examined by a human analyst. This article suggests a new approach for identifying vulnerable code in JavaScript programs by using ensemble of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) models. These models use vulnerable information and code features to detect related vulnerable code. For identifying different vulnerabilities in JavaScript functions, an approach has been tested which involves the stacking of CNNs with misbalancing, random under sampler, and random over sampler. Our approach uses these CNNs to detect vulnerable code and improve upon current techniques' limitations. Previous research has introduced several approaches to identify vulnerable code in JavaScript programs, but often have their own limitations such as low accuracy rates and high false-positive or false-negative results. Our approach addresses this by using the power of convolutional neural networks and is proven to be highly effective in the detection of vulnerable functions that could be used by cybercriminals. The stacked CNN approach has an approximately 98% accuracy, proving its robustness and usability in real-world scenarios. To evaluate its efficacy, the proposed method is trained using publicly available JavaScript blocks, and the results are assessed using various performance metrics. The research offers a valuable insight into better ways to protect web-based applications and systems from potential threats, leading to a safer online environment for all.

Performance evaluation in cataract surgery with an ensemble of 2D-3D convolutional neural networks.

An important part of surgical training in ophthalmology is understanding how to proficiently perform cataract surgery. Operating skill in cataract surgery is typically assessed by real-time or video-based expert review using a rating scale. This is time-consuming, subjective and labour-intensive. A typical trainee graduates with over 100 complete surgeries, each of which requires review by the surgical educators. Due to the consistently repetitive nature of this task, it lends itself well to machine learning-based evaluation. Recent studies utilize deep learning models trained on tool motion trajectories obtained using additional equipment or robotic systems. However, the process of tool recognition by extracting frames from the videos to perform phase recognition followed by skill assessment is exhaustive. This project proposes a deep learning model for skill evaluation using raw surgery videos that is cost-effective and end-to-end trainable. An advanced ensemble of convolutional neural network models is leveraged to model technical skills in cataract surgeries and is evaluated using a large dataset comprising almost 200 surgical trials. The highest accuracy of 0.8494 is observed on the phacoemulsification step data. Our model yielded an average accuracy of 0.8200 and an average AUC score of 0.8800 for all four phase datasets of cataract surgery proving its robustness against different data. The proposed ensemble model with 2D and 3D convolutional neural networks demonstrated a promising result without using tool motion trajectories to evaluate surgery expertise.

Gesture Recognition Using MLP-Mixer With CNN and Stacking Ensemble for sEMG Signals

Gesture Recognition Using MLP-Mixer With CNN and Stacking Ensemble for sEMG Signals

Breast cancer detection using ensemble of convolutional neural networks

Early detection leading to timely treatment in the initial stages of cancer may decrease the breast cancer death rate. We propose deep learning techniques along with image processing for the detection of tumors. The availability of online datasets and advances in graphical processing units (GPU) have promoted the application of deep learning models for the detection of breast cancer. In this paper, deep learning models using convolutional neural network (CNN) have been built to automatically classify mammograms into benign and malignant. Issues like overfitting and dataset imbalance are overcome. Experimentation has been done on two publicly available datasets, namely mammographic image analysis society (MIAS) database and digital database for screening mammography (DDSM). Robustness of the models is accomplished by merging the datasets. In our experimentation, MatConvNet has achieved an accuracy of 94.2% on the merged dataset, performing the best amongst all the CNN models used individually. Hungarian optimization algorithm is employed for selection of individual CNN models to form an ensemble. Ensemble of CNN models led to an improved performance, resulting in an accuracy of 95.7%.

Explainable deep learning enhances robust and reliable real-time monitoring of a chromatographic protein A capture step.

The application of model-based real-time monitoring in biopharmaceutical production is a major step toward quality-by-design and the fundament for model predictive control. Data-driven models have proven to be a viable option to model bioprocesses. In the high stakes setting of biopharmaceutical manufacturing it is essential to ensure high model accuracy, robustness, and reliability. That is only possible when (i) the data used for modeling is of high quality and sufficient size, (ii) state-of-the-art modeling algorithms are employed, and (iii) the input-output mapping of the model has been characterized. In this study, we evaluate the accuracy of multiple data-driven models in predicting the monoclonal antibody (mAb) concentration, double stranded DNA concentration, host cell protein concentration, and high molecular weight impurity content during elution from a protein A chromatography capture step. The models achieved high-quality predictions with a normalized root mean squared error of <4% for the mAb concentration and of ≈10% for the other process variables. Furthermore, we demonstrate how permutation/occlusion-based methods can be used to gain an understanding of dependencies learned by one of the most complex data-driven models, convolutional neural network ensembles. We observed that the models generally exhibited dependencies on correlations that agreed with first principles knowledge, thereby bolstering confidence in model reliability. Finally, we present a workflow to assess the model behavior in case of systematic measurement errors that may result from sensor fouling or failure. This study represents a major step toward improved viability of data-driven models in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Advancing Facial Expression Recognition in Online Learning Education Using a Homogeneous Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network Approach

Advancing Facial Expression Recognition in Online Learning Education Using a Homogeneous Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network Approach