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This paper aims to examine from commodity portfolio managers’ perspective the performance of liquidity adjusted risk modeling in assessing the market risk parameters of a large commodity portfolio and in obtaining efficient and coherent portfolios under different market circumstances.

The implemented market risk modeling algorithm and investment portfolio analytics using reinforcement machine learning techniques can simultaneously handle risk-return characteristics of commodity investments under regular and crisis market settings besides considering the particular effects of the time-varying liquidity constraints of the multiple-asset commodity portfolios.

In particular, the paper implements a robust machine learning method to commodity optimal portfolio selection and within a liquidity-adjusted value-at-risk (LVaR) framework. In addition, the paper explains how the adapted LVaR modeling algorithms can be used by a commodity trading unit in a dynamic asset allocation framework for estimating risk exposure, assessing risk reduction alternates and creating efficient and coherent market portfolios.

The optimization parameters subject to meaningful operational and financial constraints, investment portfolio analytics and empirical results can have important practical uses and applications for commodity portfolio managers particularly in the wake of the 2007–2009 global financial crisis. In addition, the recommended reinforcement machine learning optimization algorithms can aid in solving some real-world dilemmas under stressed and adverse market conditions (e.g. illiquidity, switching in correlations factors signs, nonlinear and non-normal distribution of assets’ returns) and can have key applications in machine learning, expert systems, smart financial functions, internet of things (IoT) and financial technology (FinTech) in big data ecosystems.

This research is inspired by a real case study from a pump rental business company across the US. The company was looking to increase the utilization of its rental assets while, at the same time, keeping the cost of fleet mobilization as efficient as possible. However, decisions for asset movement between branches were largely arranged between individual branch managers on an as-needed basis.

The authors propose an improvement for the company's asset management practice by modeling an integrated decision tool which involves evaluation of several machine learning algorithms for demand prediction and mathematical optimization for a centrally-planned asset allocation.

The authors found that a feed-forward neural network (FNN) model with single hidden layer is the best performing predictor for the company's intermittent product demand and the optimization model is proven to prescribe the most efficient asset allocation given the demand prediction from FNN model.

The implementation of this new tool will close the gap between the company's current and desired future level of operational performance and consequently increase its competitiveness

The results show a superior prediction performance by a feed-forward neural network model and an efficient allocation decision prescribed by the optimization model.

Cement as one of the major components of construction activities, releases a tremendous amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere, resulting in adverse environmental impacts and high energy consumption. Increasing demand for CO₂ consumption has urged construction companies and decision-makers to consider ecological efficiency affected by CO₂ consumption. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a method capable of analyzing and assessing the eco-efficiency determining factor in Iran’s 22 local cement companies over 2015–2019.

This research uses two well-known artificial intelligence approaches, namely, optimization data envelopment analysis (DEA) and machine learning algorithms at the first and second steps, respectively, to fulfill the research aim. Meanwhile, to find the superior model, the CCR model, BBC model and additive DEA models to measure the efficiency of decision processes are used. A proportional decreasing or increasing of inputs/outputs is the main concern in measuring efficiency which neglect slacks, and hence, is a critical limitation of radial models. Thus, the additive model by considering desirable and undesirable outputs, as a well-known DEA non-proportional and non-radial model, is used to solve the problem. Additive models measure efficiency via slack variables. Considering both input-oriented and output-oriented is one of the main advantages of the additive model.

After applying the proposed model, the Malmquist productivity index is computed to evaluate the productivity of companies over 2015–2019. Although DEA is an appreciated method for evaluating, it fails to extract unknown information. Thus, machine learning algorithms play an important role in this step. Association rules are used to extract hidden rules and to introduce the three strongest rules. Finally, three data mining classification algorithms in three different tools have been applied to introduce the superior algorithm and tool. A new converting two-stage to single-stage model is proposed to obtain the eco-efficiency of the whole system. This model is proposed to fix the efficiency of a two-stage process and prevent the dependency on various weights. Converting undesirable outputs and desirable inputs to final desirable inputs in a single-stage model to minimize inputs, as well as turning desirable outputs to final desirable outputs in the single-stage model to maximize outputs to have a positive effect on the efficiency of the whole process.

The performance of the proposed approach provides us with a chance to recognize pattern recognition of the whole, combining DEA and data mining techniques during the selected period (five years from 2015 to 2019). Meanwhile, the cement industry is one of the foremost manufacturers of naturally harmful material using an undesirable by-product; specific stress is given to that pollution control investment or undesirable output while evaluating energy use efficiency. The significant concentration of the study is to respond to five preliminary questions.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an automated machine learning (AutoML) and multi-agent system approach to improve overall product delivery satisfaction under limited resources.

An AutoML method is purposed to model delivery satisfaction of individual customer, and a heuristic method and multi-agent system are proposed to improve overall satisfaction under limited processing capability. A series of simulation experiments have been conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

The simulated results show that the proposed method can effectively improve overall delivery satisfaction, especially when the demand of customer orders is highly fluctuating and when the customer satisfaction models are highly diversified.

The proposed framework provides a more dynamic and continuously improving way to model delivery satisfaction of individual customer, thereby supports companies to provide personalized services and develop scalable and flexible business at a lower cost, and ultimately improves the overall quality, efficiency and effectiveness of delivery services.

The proposed methodology utilizes AutoML and multi-agent system to model individual customer delivery satisfaction and improve the overall satisfaction. It can cooperate with the existing delivery resource planning methods to further improve customer delivery satisfaction. The authors propose an AutoML approach to model individual customer delivery satisfaction, which enables continuous update and improvements. The authors propose multi-agent system and a heuristic method to improve overall delivery satisfaction. The numerical results show that the proposed method can improve overall delivery satisfaction with limited processing capability.

The sustainable transition towards the circular economy requires the effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) and information technology (IT) techniques. As the sustainability targets for 2030–2050 increasingly become a tougher challenge, society, company managers and policymakers require more support from AI and IT in general. How can the AI-based and IT-based smart decision-support tools help implementation of circular economy principles from micro to macro scales?

This chapter provides a conceptual framework about the current status and future development of smart decision-support tools for facilitating the circular transition of smart industry, focussing on the implementation of the industrial symbiosis (IS) practice. IS, which is aimed at replacing production inputs of one company with wastes generated by a different company, is considered as a promising strategy towards closing the material, energy and waste loops. Based on the principles of a circular economy, the utility of such practices to close resource loops is analyzed from a functional and operational perspective. For each life cycle phase of IS businesses – e.g., opportunity identification for symbiotic business, assessment of the symbiotic business and sustainable operations of the business – the role played by decision-support tools is described and embedding smartness in these tools is discussed.

Based on the review of available tools and theoretical contributions in the field of IS, the characteristics, functionalities and utilities of smart decision-support tools are discussed within a circular economy transition framework. Tools based on recommender algorithms, machine learning techniques, multi-agent systems and life cycle analysis are critically assessed. Potential improvements are suggested for the resilience and sustainability of a smart circular transition.

Limitations encountered with the models developed in the previous studies had occurrences of global minima; due to which this study developed a new intelligent ubiquitous computational model that learns with gradient descent learning rule and operates with auto-encoders and decoders to attain better energy optimization. Ubiquitous machine learning computational model process performs training in a better way than regular supervised learning or unsupervised learning computational models with deep learning techniques, resulting in better learning and optimization for the considered problem domain of cloud-based internet-of-things (IOTs). This study aims to improve the network quality and improve the data accuracy rate during the network transmission process using the developed ubiquitous deep learning computational model.

In this research study, a novel intelligent ubiquitous machine learning computational model is designed and modelled to maintain the optimal energy level of cloud IOTs in sensor network domains. A new intelligent ubiquitous computational model that learns with gradient descent learning rule and operates with auto-encoders and decoders to attain better energy optimization is developed. A new unified deterministic sine-cosine algorithm has been developed in this study for parameter optimization of weight factors in the ubiquitous machine learning model.

The newly developed ubiquitous model is used for finding network energy and performing its optimization in the considered sensor network model. At the time of progressive simulation, residual energy, network overhead, end-to-end delay, network lifetime and a number of live nodes are evaluated. It is elucidated from the results attained, that the ubiquitous deep learning model resulted in better metrics based on its appropriate cluster selection and minimized route selection mechanism.

In this research study, a novel ubiquitous computing model derived from a new optimization algorithm called a unified deterministic sine-cosine algorithm and deep learning technique was derived and applied for maintaining the optimal energy level of cloud IOTs in sensor networks. The deterministic levy flight concept is applied for developing the new optimization technique and this tends to determine the parametric weight values for the deep learning model. The ubiquitous deep learning model is designed with auto-encoders and decoders and their corresponding layers weights are determined for optimal values with the optimization algorithm. The modelled ubiquitous deep learning approach was applied in this study to determine the network energy consumption rate and thereby optimize the energy level by increasing the lifetime of the sensor network model considered. For all the considered network metrics, the ubiquitous computing model has proved to be effective and versatile than previous approaches from early research studies.

The developed ubiquitous computing model with deep learning techniques can be applied for any type of cloud-assisted IOTs in respect of wireless sensor networks, ad hoc networks, radio access technology networks, heterogeneous networks, etc. Practically, the developed model facilitates computing the optimal energy level of the cloud IOTs for any considered network models and this helps in maintaining a better network lifetime and reducing the end-to-end delay of the networks.

The social implication of the proposed research study is that it helps in reducing energy consumption and increases the network lifetime of the cloud IOT based sensor network models. This approach helps the people in large to have a better transmission rate with minimized energy consumption and also reduces the delay in transmission.

In this research study, the network optimization of cloud-assisted IOTs of sensor network models is modelled and analysed using machine learning models as a kind of ubiquitous computing system. Ubiquitous computing models with machine learning techniques develop intelligent systems and enhances the users to make better and faster decisions. In the communication domain, the use of predictive and optimization models created with machine learning accelerates new ways to determine solutions to problems. Considering the importance of learning techniques, the ubiquitous computing model is designed based on a deep learning strategy and the learning mechanism adapts itself to attain a better network optimization model.

Due to the increasing size and complexity of construction projects, construction engineering and management involves the coordination of many complex and dynamic processes and relies on the analysis of uncertain, imprecise and incomplete information, including subjective and linguistically expressed information. Various modelling and computing techniques have been used by construction researchers and applied to practical construction problems in order to overcome these challenges, including fuzzy hybrid techniques. Fuzzy hybrid techniques combine the human-like reasoning capabilities of fuzzy logic with the capabilities of other techniques, such as optimization, machine learning, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and simulation, to capitalise on their strengths and overcome their limitations. Based on a review of construction literature, this chapter identifies the most common types of fuzzy hybrid techniques applied to construction problems and reviews selected papers in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique to illustrate their capabilities for addressing construction challenges. Finally, this chapter discusses areas for future development of fuzzy hybrid techniques that will increase their capabilities for solving construction-related problems. The contributions of this chapter are threefold: (1) the limitations of some standard techniques for solving construction problems are discussed, as are the ways that fuzzy methods have been hybridized with these techniques in order to address their limitations; (2) a review of existing applications of fuzzy hybrid techniques in construction is provided in order to illustrate the capabilities of these techniques for solving a variety of construction problems and (3) potential improvements in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique in construction are provided, as areas for future research.

This paper aims to empirically test, from a regulatory portfolio management standpoint, the application of liquidity-adjusted risk techniques in the process of getting optimum and investable economic-capital structures in the Gulf Cooperation Council financial markets, subject to applying various operational and financial optimization restrictions under crisis outlooks.

The author implements a robust methodology to assess regulatory economic-capital allocation in a liquidity-adjusted value at risk (LVaR) context, mostly from the standpoint of investable portfolios analytics that have long- and short-sales asset allocation or for those portfolios that contain long-only asset allocation. The optimization route is accomplished by controlling the nonlinear quadratic objective risk function with certain regulatory constraints along with LVaR-GARCH-M (1,1) procedure to forecast conditional risk parameters and expected returns for multiple asset classes.

The author’s conclusions emphasize that the attained investable economic-capital portfolios lie-off the efficient frontier, yet those long-only portfolios seem to lie near the efficient frontier than portfolios with long- and short-sales assets allocation. In effect, the newly observed market microstructures forms and derived deductions were not apparent in prior research studies (Al Janabi, 2013).

The attained empirical results are quite interesting for practical portfolio optimization, within the environments of big data analytics, reinforcement machine learning, expert systems and smart financial applications. Furthermore, it is quite promising for multiple-asset portfolio management techniques, performance measurement and improvement analytics, reinforcement machine learning and operations research algorithms in financial institutions operations, above all after the consequences of the 2007–2009 financial crisis.

While this paper builds on Al Janabi’s (2013) optimization algorithms and modeling techniques, it varies in the sense that it covers the outcomes of a multi-asset portfolio optimization method under severe event market scenarios and by allowing for both long-only and combinations of long-/short-sales multiple asset. The achieved empirical results, optimization parameters and efficient and investable economic-capital figures were not apparent in Al Janabi’s (2013) paper because the prior evaluation were performed under normal market circumstances and without bearing in mind the impacts of the 2007–2009 global financial crunch.

The purpose of this study is to address the issue that the traditional V-shaped ball valve profile shape is limiting the flow control characteristics in a series structure and to optimize the design profile by proposing an open-hole profile.

This paper proposes a Gaussian process regression surrogate model based on the genetic algorithm optimization of swarm intelligence, combined with the Expected Improvement point addition criterion, to optimize and correct the design profile. The flow regulation performance of the optimized V-shaped regulating ball valve is verified through a combination of numerical simulation and experiment.

The results demonstrate that the optimized V-shaped regulating ball valve has higher flow regulation accuracy and a more stable flow regulation process. After optimization, the flow characteristic curve of the spool is closer to the ideal equal percentage characteristic. The simulation results of the flow field are consistent with the experimental results.

The proposed method significantly reduces the optimization time, has higher efficiency and solves the problem that traditional optimization methods struggle with, which is ensuring optimal flow regulation performance. Compared to the traditional trial-and-error optimization method, the proposed method is more effective. The feasibility of the method is supported by experimental results.