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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Shouhui Wang, Jianguo Dai, Qingzhan Zhao and Meina Cui

Many factors affect the emergence and development of crop diseases and insect pests. Traditional methods for investigating this subject are often difficult to employ and produce…

Abstract

Purpose

Many factors affect the emergence and development of crop diseases and insect pests. Traditional methods for investigating this subject are often difficult to employ and produce limited data with considerable uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to predict the annual degree of cotton spider mite infestations by employing grey theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors established a GM(1,1) model to forecast mite infestation degree based on the analysis of historical data. To improve the prediction accuracy, the authors modified the grey model using Markov chain and BP neural network analyses. The prediction accuracy of the GM(1,1), Grey-Markov chain, and Grey-BP neural network models was 84.31, 94.76, and 96.84 per cent, respectively.

Findings

Compared with the single grey forecast model, both the Grey-Markov chain model and the Grey-BP neural network model had higher forecast accuracy, and the accuracy of the latter was highest. The improved grey model can be used to predict the degree of cotton spider mite infestations with high accuracy and overcomes the shortcomings of traditional forecasting methods.

Practical implications

The two new models were used to estimate mite infestation degree in 2015 and 2016. The Grey-Markov chain model yielded respective values of 1.27 and 1.15, whereas the Grey-BP neural network model yielded values 1.4 and 1.68; the actual values were 1.5 and 1.8.

Originality/value

The improved grey model can be used for medium- and long-term predictions of the occurrence of cotton spider mites and overcomes problems caused by data singularity and fluctuation. This research method can provide a reference for the prediction of similar diseases.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2020

Bingjun Li and Shuhua Zhang

The purpose of this study to provide a reference basis for effectively managing the risk of agrometeorological disasters in Henan Province, speeding up the establishment of a…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study to provide a reference basis for effectively managing the risk of agrometeorological disasters in Henan Province, speeding up the establishment of a scientific and reasonable system of agrometeorological disasters prevention and reduction and guaranteeing grain security.

Design/methodology/approach

Firstly, according to the statistical data of areas covered by natural disaster, areas affected by natural disaster, sown area of grain crops and output of grain crops from 1979 to 2018 in Henan Province, China. We have constructed an agrometeorological disaster risk assessment system for Henan province, China, which is composed of indicators such as rate covered by natural disaster, rate affected by natural disaster, disaster coefficient of variation and disaster vulnerability. The variation characteristics of agrometeorological disasters in Henan Province and their effects on agricultural production are analyzed. Secondly, the grey relational analysis method is used to analyze the relation degree between the main agrometeorological disaster factors and the output of grain crops of Henan Province. Based on the grey BP neural network, the rate covered by various natural disaster and the rate affected by various natural disaster are simulated and predicted.

Findings

The results show that: (1) the freeze injury in the study period has a greater contingency, the intensity of the disaster is also greater, followed by floods. Droughts, windstorm and hail are Henan Province normal disasters. (2) According to the degree of disaster vulnerability, the ability to resist agricultural disasters in Henan Province is weak. (3) During the study period, drought and flood are the key agrometeorological disasters affecting the grain output of Henan Province, China.

Practical implications

The systematic analysis and evaluation of agrometeorological disasters are conducive to the sustainable development of agriculture, and at the same time, it can provide appropriate and effective measures for the assessment and reduction of economic losses and risks.

Originality/value

By calculating and analyzing the rate covered by natural disaster, the rate affected by natural disaster, disaster coefficient of variation and disaster vulnerability of crops in Henan Province of China and using grey BP neural network simulation projections for the rate covered by various natural disaster and the rate affected by various natural disaster, the risk assessment system of agrometeorological disasters in Henan is constructed, which provides a scientific basis for systematic analysis and evaluation of agrometeorological disasters.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Farshad Faezy Razi and Seyed Hooman Shariat

The purpose of this paper is twofold: the selection of project portfolios through hybrid artificial neural network algorithms, feature selection based on grey relational analysis…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: the selection of project portfolios through hybrid artificial neural network algorithms, feature selection based on grey relational analysis, decision tree and regression; and the identification of the features affecting project portfolio selection using the artificial neural network algorithm, decision tree and regression. The authors also aim to classify the available options using the decision tree algorithm.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to achieve the research goals, a project-oriented organization was selected and studied. In all, 49 project management indicators were chosen from A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), and the most important indicators were identified using a feature selection algorithm and decision tree. After the extraction of rules, decision rule-based multi-criteria decision making matrices were produced. Each matrix was ranked through grey relational analysis, similarity to ideal solution method and multi-criteria optimization. Finally, a model for choosing the best ranking method was designed and implemented using the genetic algorithm. To analyze the responses, stability of the classes was investigated.

Findings

The results showed that projects ranked based on neural network weights by the grey relational analysis method prove to be better options for the selection of a project portfolio. The process of identification of the features affecting project portfolio selection resulted in the following factors: scope management, project charter, project management plan, stakeholders and risk.

Originality/value

This study presents the most effective features affecting project portfolio selection which is highly impressive in organizational decision making and must be considered seriously. Deploying sensitivity analysis, which is an innovation in such studies, played a constructive role in examining the accuracy and reliability of the proposed models, and it can be firmly argued that the results have had an important role in validating the findings of this study.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2010

Zhang Heng

The purpose of this paper is to develop a system to analyse the characteristics of infrared objects.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a system to analyse the characteristics of infrared objects.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the gray scale of image pixel by the image entropy, gray scale estimating is carries on to construct the neural networks. And then the grey relational analysis and grey clustering methods are applied to filter the possible object. The target is predicted through image segmentation pretreatment based on the forecasting value by grey system and assigned corresponding mark. The forecasting precision is greatly elevated by GM (1, 1) model.

Findings

The paper illustrates that, based on the analysis and its experimental results, this system has a good recognition rate for infrared target.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides a way to grasp the minutial feature of the image. The filtering operation based on pixel level provided auto‐adapted filtering with a new stage.

Practical implications

Applications of grey theory deepened the content of detecting infrared targets and enriched technology of image processing.

Originality/value

This system introduces an effective method for detecting infrared targets.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 39 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2015

Scarlat Emil and Virginia Mărăcine

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how tacit and explicit knowledge determine grey knowledge and how these are stimulated through interactions within networks, forming the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how tacit and explicit knowledge determine grey knowledge and how these are stimulated through interactions within networks, forming the grey hybrid intelligent systems (HISs). The feedback processes and mechanisms between internal and external knowledge determine the apparition of grey knowledge into an intelligent system (IS). The extension of ISs is determined by the ubiquity of the internet but, in our framework, the grey knowledge flows assure the viability and effectiveness of these systems.

Design/methodology/approach

Some characteristics of the Hybrid Intelligent Knowledge Systems are put forward along with a series of models of hybrid computational intelligence architectures. More, relevant examples from the literature related to the hybrid systems architectures are presented, underlying their main advantages and disadvantages.

Findings

Due to the lack of a common framework it remains often difficult to compare the various HISs conceptually and evaluate their performance comparatively. Different applications in different areas are needed for establishing the best combinations between models that are designed using grey, fuzzy, neural network, genetic, evolutionist and other methods. But all these systems are knowledge dependent, the main flow that is used in all parts of every kind of system being the knowledge. Grey knowledge is an important part of the real systems and the study of its proprieties using the methods and techniques of grey system theory remains an important direction of the researches.

Originality/value

The paper discusses the differences among the three types of knowledge and how they and the grey systems theory can be used in different hybrid architectures.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 April 2022

Lei Zhang, Huanbin Xue, Zeying Li and Yong Wei

The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamic behavior of complex-valued switched grey neural network models (SGNMs) with distributed delays when the system parameters and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamic behavior of complex-valued switched grey neural network models (SGNMs) with distributed delays when the system parameters and external input are grey numbers.

Design/methodology/approach

Firstly, by using the properties of grey matrix, M-matrix theory and Homeomorphic mapping, the existence and uniqueness of equilibrium point of the SGNMs were discussed. Secondly, by constructing a proper Lyapunov functional and using the average dwell time approach and inequality technique, the robust exponential stability of the SGNMs under restricted switching was studied. Finally, a numerical example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed results.

Findings

Sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of equilibrium point of the SGNMs have been established; sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the robust stability of the SGNMs under restricted switching have been obtained.

Originality/value

(1) Different from asymptotic stability, the exponential stability of SGNMs which include grey parameters and distributed time delays will be investigated in this paper, and the exponential convergence rate of the SGNMs can also be obtained; (2) the activation functions, self-feedback coefficients and interconnected matrices are with different forms in different subnetworks; and (3) the results obtained by LMIs approach are complicated, while the proposed sufficient conditions are straightforward, which are conducive to practical applications.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2020

Yuling Hong, Yingjie Yang and Qishan Zhang

The purpose of this paper is to solve the problems existing in topic popularity prediction in online social networks and advance a fine-grained and long-term prediction model for…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to solve the problems existing in topic popularity prediction in online social networks and advance a fine-grained and long-term prediction model for lack of sufficient data.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on GM(1,1) and neural networks, a co-training model for topic tendency prediction is proposed in this paper. The interpolation based on GM(1,1) is employed to generate fine-grained prediction values of topic popularity time series and two neural network models are considered to achieve convergence by transmitting training parameters via their loss functions.

Findings

The experiment results indicate that the integrated model can effectively predict dense sequence with higher performance than other algorithms, such as NN and RBF_LSSVM. Furthermore, the Markov chain state transition probability matrix model is used to improve the prediction results.

Practical implications

Fine-grained and long-term topic popularity prediction, further improvement could be made by predicting any interpolation in the time interval of popularity data points.

Originality/value

The paper succeeds in constructing a co-training model with GM(1,1) and neural networks. Markov chain state transition probability matrix is deployed for further improvement of popularity tendency prediction.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 April 2015

Zhou Cheng and Tao Juncheng

To accurately forecast logistics freight volume plays a vital part in rational planning formulation for a country. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to developing a novel…

Abstract

Purpose

To accurately forecast logistics freight volume plays a vital part in rational planning formulation for a country. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to developing a novel combination forecasting model to predict China’s logistics freight volume, in which an improved PSO-BP neural network is proposed to determine the combination weights.

Design/methodology/approach

Since BP neural network has the ability of learning, storing, and recalling information that given by individual forecasting models, it is effective in determining the combination weights of combination forecasting model. First, an improved PSO based on simulated annealing method and space-time adjustment strategy (SAPSO) is proposed to solve out the connection weights of BP neural network, which overcomes the problems of local optimum traps, low precision and poor convergence during BP neural network training process. Then, a novel combination forecast model based on SAPSO-BP neural network is established.

Findings

Simulation tests prove that the proposed SAPSO has better convergence performance and more stability. At the same time, combination forecasting models based on three types of BP neural networks are developed, which rank as SAPSO-BP, PSO-BP and BP in accordance with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and convergent speed. Also the proposed combination model based on SAPSO-BP shows its superiority, compared with some other combination weight assignment methods.

Originality/value

SAPSO-BP neural network is an original contribution to the combination weight assignment methods of combination forecasting model, which has better convergence performance and more stability.

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Nai-ming Xie, Song-Ming Yin and Chuan-Zhen Hu

The purpose of this paper is to study a new approach by combining a multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) algorithm with a GM(1, N) model in order to estimate the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study a new approach by combining a multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) algorithm with a GM(1, N) model in order to estimate the development cost of a new type of aircraft.

Design/methodology/approach

First, data about developing costs and their influencing factors were collected for several types of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Second, a GM(1, N) model was constructed to simulate development costs for a civil aircraft. Then, an MLPNN algorithm was added to optimize and revise the simulative and forecasting values. Finally, a combined approach, using both a GM(1, N) model and an MLPNN algorithm was adopted to forecast development costs for new civil aircraft.

Findings

The results show that the proposed approach could do the work of cost estimation for new types of aircraft. Rather than using a single model, the combined approach could improve simulative and forecasting accuracy.

Practical implications

Scientific cost estimation could improve management efficiency and promote the success of a new type of civil aircraft development. Considering that China’s civil aircraft research and development is at its very beginning stages, only very limited data could be collected. The development costs for civil aircraft are affected by a series of factors. The approach outlined by this paper could be applied to development cost estimations in China’s civil aircraft industry.

Originality/value

The paper has succeeded by constructing a cost estimation index system and proposing a novel combined cost estimation approach comprised of a GM(1, N) model and an MLPNN. It has undoubtedly contributed to improving the accuracy of cost estimations.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 October 2019

Li Xuemei, Yun Cao, Junjie Wang, Yaoguo Dang and Yin Kedong

Research on grey systems is becoming more sophisticated, and grey relational and prediction analyses are receiving close review worldwide. Particularly, the application of grey

3180

Abstract

Purpose

Research on grey systems is becoming more sophisticated, and grey relational and prediction analyses are receiving close review worldwide. Particularly, the application of grey systems in marine economics is gaining importance. The purpose of this paper is to summarize and review literature on grey models, providing new directions in their application in the marine economy.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper organized seminal studies on grey systems published by Chinese core journal database – CNKI, Web of Science and Elsevier from 1982 to 2018. After searching the aforementioned database for the said duration, the authors used the CiteSpace visualization tools to analyze them.

Findings

The authors sorted the studies according to their countries/regions, institutions, keywords and categories using the CiteSpace tool; analyzed current research characteristics on grey models; and discussed their possible applications in marine businesses, economy, scientific research and education, marine environment and disasters. Finally, the authors pointed out the development trend of grey models.

Originality/value

Although researches are combining grey theory with fractals, neural networks, fuzzy theory and other methods, the applications, in terms of scope, have still not met the demand. With the increasingly in-depth research in marine economics and management, international marine economic research has entered a new period of development. Grey theory will certainly attract scholars’ attention, and its role in marine economy and management will gain considerable significance.

Details

Marine Economics and Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-158X

Keywords

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