Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-07DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131323
Guofeng Tang , Dan Li
The misalignment of contracts in software-as-a-service (SaaS) outsourcing often leads to suboptimal outcomes, a risk exacerbated when the client cannot observe the provider’s true efficiency or development effort, and when service quality involves multiple, competing dimensions. To tackle this problem, we employ a principal-agent framework to analyze the joint effects of hidden provider information and hidden action within a multidimensional quality setting. Our findings show that information asymmetry distorts the provider’s effort allocation across quality attributes, requiring specific contractual adjustments for screening and incentivization. Crucially, we derive a practical threshold rule for contract selection: revenue-sharing is optimal when quality has high value intensity (significantly impacting revenue) and provider efficiency strongly amplifies effort’s effect on outcomes; time-and-materials contracts suit standardized tasks with moderate value intensity; otherwise, a fixed-price contract should be chosen. This rule offers managers a clear, evidence-based guide to match contract forms with their specific service profiles.
{"title":"Optimal contracts for multidimensional SaaS outsourcing: screening efficiency, inducing effort, and threshold-based contract selection under hidden information","authors":"Guofeng Tang , Dan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131323","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131323","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The misalignment of contracts in software-as-a-service (SaaS) outsourcing often leads to suboptimal outcomes, a risk exacerbated when the client cannot observe the provider’s true efficiency or development effort, and when service quality involves multiple, competing dimensions. To tackle this problem, we employ a principal-agent framework to analyze the joint effects of hidden provider information and hidden action within a multidimensional quality setting. Our findings show that information asymmetry distorts the provider’s effort allocation across quality attributes, requiring specific contractual adjustments for screening and incentivization. Crucially, we derive a practical threshold rule for contract selection: revenue-sharing is optimal when quality has high value intensity (significantly impacting revenue) and provider efficiency strongly amplifies effort’s effect on outcomes; time-and-materials contracts suit standardized tasks with moderate value intensity; otherwise, a fixed-price contract should be chosen. This rule offers managers a clear, evidence-based guide to match contract forms with their specific service profiles.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131323"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-07DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131386
Sugyeong Jo , Hyeong Suk Na , Seokho Yoon , Sang Jin Kweon
Industrial steam procurement is a decision-making challenge that requires balancing cost efficiency, supplier quality, and environmental sustainability. In this study, we address the steam procurement problem by considering green supplier selection and order allocation. To account for the dynamic nature of steam pricing, block-rate pricing policies are used. Due to the discontinuous cost variations caused by block-rate pricing across consumption thresholds, we aim to improve demand forecasting accuracy by developing a time-series ensemble model based on Bayesian optimization. Additionally, we integrate hybrid multi-criteria decision-making techniques to incorporate the qualitative supplier evaluations beyond cost-based criteria. Finally, a multi-objective linear programming model is developed to optimize the trade-offs among the total cost of purchase (TCP), the total value of purchase (TVP), and carbon emissions. We validate the proposed framework with an application to a major manufacturer in Ulsan, Republic of Korea. The optimized procurement strategy increases TVP by 25% and reduces carbon emissions by 10% without raising TCP. We also present a sensitivity analysis that examines the impact of price volatility. Lastly, we further explore multiple scenarios that incorporate renewable energy sources.
{"title":"An integrated framework for solving the green supplier selection and order allocation problem in steam procurement","authors":"Sugyeong Jo , Hyeong Suk Na , Seokho Yoon , Sang Jin Kweon","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131386","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131386","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Industrial steam procurement is a decision-making challenge that requires balancing cost efficiency, supplier quality, and environmental sustainability. In this study, we address the steam procurement problem by considering green supplier selection and order allocation. To account for the dynamic nature of steam pricing, block-rate pricing policies are used. Due to the discontinuous cost variations caused by block-rate pricing across consumption thresholds, we aim to improve demand forecasting accuracy by developing a time-series ensemble model based on Bayesian optimization. Additionally, we integrate hybrid multi-criteria decision-making techniques to incorporate the qualitative supplier evaluations beyond cost-based criteria. Finally, a multi-objective linear programming model is developed to optimize the trade-offs among the total cost of purchase (TCP), the total value of purchase (TVP), and carbon emissions. We validate the proposed framework with an application to a major manufacturer in Ulsan, Republic of Korea. The optimized procurement strategy increases TVP by 25% and reduces carbon emissions by 10% without raising TCP. We also present a sensitivity analysis that examines the impact of price volatility. Lastly, we further explore multiple scenarios that incorporate renewable energy sources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131386"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-02DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131464
Yangyan Luo, Ying Chen
Visible-infrared person re-identification (VI-ReID) remains challenging due to substantial cross-modal discrepancies and the absence of explicit semantic correspondence. This paper presents a novel Visible-Guided Multigranularity Prompt Learning (VG-MPL) framework that integrates semantic reasoning into cross-modal alignment through language-guided prompt learning. A fine-grained adaptive prompt is constructed by decomposing textual templates into learnable semantic slots, whose activations are dynamically modulated by a Prompt Slot Router (PSR) guided by visible features. This design enables sample-specific semantic modeling and enhances interpretability. To establish coherent cross-modal representations, a multi-granularity consistency constraint is imposed across the hierarchical layers of the CLIP text encoder, ensuring that global identity and local attribute semantics remain aligned. Furthermore, an Alternative Cross-Modal Alignment (ACMA) strategy and its theoretical analysis promotes bidirectional learning between visible and infrared modalities, improving optimization stability and preventing one-sided collapse. Extensive experiments on SYSU-MM01 and RegDB datasets demonstrate that VG-MPL achieves state-of-the-art performance and superior cross-modal generalization, validating the effectiveness of adaptive semantic prompting and hierarchical alignment in bridging the modality gap.
{"title":"Visible-guided multigranularity prompt learning for visible-infrared person re-identification","authors":"Yangyan Luo, Ying Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131464","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131464","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Visible-infrared person re-identification (VI-ReID) remains challenging due to substantial cross-modal discrepancies and the absence of explicit semantic correspondence. This paper presents a novel Visible-Guided Multigranularity Prompt Learning (VG-MPL) framework that integrates semantic reasoning into cross-modal alignment through language-guided prompt learning. A fine-grained adaptive prompt is constructed by decomposing textual templates into learnable semantic slots, whose activations are dynamically modulated by a Prompt Slot Router (PSR) guided by visible features. This design enables sample-specific semantic modeling and enhances interpretability. To establish coherent cross-modal representations, a multi-granularity consistency constraint is imposed across the hierarchical layers of the CLIP text encoder, ensuring that global identity and local attribute semantics remain aligned. Furthermore, an Alternative Cross-Modal Alignment (ACMA) strategy and its theoretical analysis promotes bidirectional learning between visible and infrared modalities, improving optimization stability and preventing one-sided collapse. Extensive experiments on SYSU-MM01 and RegDB datasets demonstrate that VG-MPL achieves state-of-the-art performance and superior cross-modal generalization, validating the effectiveness of adaptive semantic prompting and hierarchical alignment in bridging the modality gap.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131464"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146122750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131489
Yu Zhou , Xing Liu , Jianqiao Long , Yitian Lu , Jiaoyang Cheng , Jichun Li
Path planning is a core challenge in autonomous navigation and continuously attracts significant attention in mobile robotics. While optimization algorithms are widely employed for solving robot path planning problems, the Aquila Optimizer (AO) suffers from slow convergence and a tendency to become trapped in local optima. To address these limitations, we propose a robot path planning method based on a Multi-strategy Enhanced Aquila Optimizer (MEAO). In MEAO, the initial population is enhanced using opposition-based learning, and an adaptive parameter mechanism balances exploration and exploitation. During the narrowed exploration phase, a phasor operator enables non-parametric optimization to improve global search capability, while a differential evolution mutation strategy is embedded to strengthen local exploitation. The algorithm’s performance is validated on the CEC2022 benchmark functions with ablation studies confirming the effectiveness and synergy of the various strategies. MEAO is further applied to robot path planning, with simulations performed on various complex two-dimensional grid maps, and comparisons made against several intelligent optimization-based algorithms. In addition, to address the limitations of the traditional Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) in terms of dynamic obstacle avoidance robustness and susceptibility to local minima, we introduce a dynamic threat response mechanism and an adaptive heading trap detection strategy. A collaborative framework combining MEAO-based global planning with the improved DWA for local obstacle avoidance is then established. Experimental results demonstrate that MEAO achieves shorter path lengths and faster convergence, while the improved DWA significantly enhances obstacle avoidance robustness in complex environments. The proposed collaborative framework thus ensures globally optimal paths and reliable real-time local obstacle avoidance, demonstrating the practicality and efficiency of the MEAO algorithm and improved DWA for mobile robot navigation.
{"title":"Robot path planning based on multi-strategy enhanced aquila optimizer algorithm in complex environments","authors":"Yu Zhou , Xing Liu , Jianqiao Long , Yitian Lu , Jiaoyang Cheng , Jichun Li","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131489","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131489","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Path planning is a core challenge in autonomous navigation and continuously attracts significant attention in mobile robotics. While optimization algorithms are widely employed for solving robot path planning problems, the Aquila Optimizer (AO) suffers from slow convergence and a tendency to become trapped in local optima. To address these limitations, we propose a robot path planning method based on a Multi-strategy Enhanced Aquila Optimizer (MEAO). In MEAO, the initial population is enhanced using opposition-based learning, and an adaptive parameter mechanism balances exploration and exploitation. During the narrowed exploration phase, a phasor operator enables non-parametric optimization to improve global search capability, while a differential evolution mutation strategy is embedded to strengthen local exploitation. The algorithm’s performance is validated on the CEC2022 benchmark functions with ablation studies confirming the effectiveness and synergy of the various strategies. MEAO is further applied to robot path planning, with simulations performed on various complex two-dimensional grid maps, and comparisons made against several intelligent optimization-based algorithms. In addition, to address the limitations of the traditional Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) in terms of dynamic obstacle avoidance robustness and susceptibility to local minima, we introduce a dynamic threat response mechanism and an adaptive heading trap detection strategy. A collaborative framework combining MEAO-based global planning with the improved DWA for local obstacle avoidance is then established. Experimental results demonstrate that MEAO achieves shorter path lengths and faster convergence, while the improved DWA significantly enhances obstacle avoidance robustness in complex environments. The proposed collaborative framework thus ensures globally optimal paths and reliable real-time local obstacle avoidance, demonstrating the practicality and efficiency of the MEAO algorithm and improved DWA for mobile robot navigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131489"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146122751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-10DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131418
Xiang Liu , Yan Wang , Xiayu Jiang , Zhicheng Ji , Shan He
Boolean network provides an efficient and qualitative insight into gene regulatory networks in that it can unveil the causal relationships between different genes and excavate their dynamics. Numerous approaches have been investigated to infer Boolean networks from the observed gene expression time-series data. Nevertheless, existing algorithms fail to precisely infer large-scale Boolean networks owing to the complex state transitions and the noisy data. Moreover, these algorithms suffer performance deterioration when encountering novel Boolean network architectures. To address these problems, this study proposes a novel knowledge-guided hyper-heuristic genetic programming combined with the mutual information theory called KMHHGP. Firstly, a novel hyper-heuristic genetic programming with the dual-domain encoding scheme is proposed to enhance generalization capability for inferring large-scale Boolean networks. Secondly, six novel operators are developed to compose a set of knowledge-guided low-level heuristics. Thirdly, a novel mutual information scheme is introduced to evaluate the correlation among target nodes and their regulatory nodes. In addition, a parsimony pressure mechanism is introduced to mitigate the overfitting phenomenon. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method robustly outperforms state-of-the-art methods in accurately inferring various large-scale networks.
{"title":"Knowledge-guided hyper-heuristic evolutionary algorithm for large-scale Boolean network inference","authors":"Xiang Liu , Yan Wang , Xiayu Jiang , Zhicheng Ji , Shan He","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131418","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131418","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Boolean network provides an efficient and qualitative insight into gene regulatory networks in that it can unveil the causal relationships between different genes and excavate their dynamics. Numerous approaches have been investigated to infer Boolean networks from the observed gene expression time-series data. Nevertheless, existing algorithms fail to precisely infer large-scale Boolean networks owing to the complex state transitions and the noisy data. Moreover, these algorithms suffer performance deterioration when encountering novel Boolean network architectures. To address these problems, this study proposes a novel knowledge-guided hyper-heuristic genetic programming combined with the mutual information theory called KMHHGP. Firstly, a novel hyper-heuristic genetic programming with the dual-domain encoding scheme is proposed to enhance generalization capability for inferring large-scale Boolean networks. Secondly, six novel operators are developed to compose a set of knowledge-guided low-level heuristics. Thirdly, a novel mutual information scheme is introduced to evaluate the correlation among target nodes and their regulatory nodes. In addition, a parsimony pressure mechanism is introduced to mitigate the overfitting phenomenon. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method robustly outperforms state-of-the-art methods in accurately inferring various large-scale networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131418"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146191897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Manual inspection of construction lifting machinery presents significant challenges, including high costs, low efficiency, operational complexity, and safety risks. To address these limitations, this paper proposes an intelligent surface defect detection method named FRE (Faster-RepViT-EMA), which utilizes drone imagery for automated visual inspection. Surface defects in such machinery are characterized by diversity, small scale, and complex backgrounds, which often limit the detection accuracy of conventional deep learning models such as the standard YOLOv8. The proposed FRE model enhances YOLOv8 architecture through three key modifications: replacing the C2F module in the backbone with a RepViT block to improve computational efficiency and training speed; integrating a FasterNet block in the neck network to enhance defect localization and small-target detection capability; and incorporating an Efficient Multiscale Attention (EMA) module into the backbone to suppress background interference and strengthen focus on defect features. To validate the approach, three dedicated datasets were constructed for typical defects in construction machinery—wire rope damage, metal corrosion, and structural cracking. Experimental results show that the FRE model achieves a detection accuracy of 91.7%, outperforming existing methods, while reducing parameter count by 23.26% compared to the baseline YOLOv8. These findings demonstrate that the proposed method enables fast, accurate, and lightweight defect detection, offering a practical and efficient solution for automated inspection in industrial applications.
{"title":"Visual intelligent diagnosis method for surface defects of construction hoisting machinery based on UAV images","authors":"Hao Feng , Shuwen Yu , Hao Gong , Xiaodan Chang , Chenbo Yin","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131607","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131607","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Manual inspection of construction lifting machinery presents significant challenges, including high costs, low efficiency, operational complexity, and safety risks. To address these limitations, this paper proposes an intelligent surface defect detection method named FRE (Faster-RepViT-EMA), which utilizes drone imagery for automated visual inspection. Surface defects in such machinery are characterized by diversity, small scale, and complex backgrounds, which often limit the detection accuracy of conventional deep learning models such as the standard YOLOv8. The proposed FRE model enhances YOLOv8 architecture through three key modifications: replacing the C2F module in the backbone with a RepViT block to improve computational efficiency and training speed; integrating a FasterNet block in the neck network to enhance defect localization and small-target detection capability; and incorporating an Efficient Multiscale Attention (EMA) module into the backbone to suppress background interference and strengthen focus on defect features. To validate the approach, three dedicated datasets were constructed for typical defects in construction machinery—wire rope damage, metal corrosion, and structural cracking. Experimental results show that the FRE model achieves a detection accuracy of 91.7%, outperforming existing methods, while reducing parameter count by 23.26% compared to the baseline YOLOv8. These findings demonstrate that the proposed method enables fast, accurate, and lightweight defect detection, offering a practical and efficient solution for automated inspection in industrial applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131607"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-04DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131533
Zhu Xiaoxin , Yang Yongqi, Ran Menghuan, Sun Lu
As global supply-chain structures become increasingly complex and disruption risks intensify, enhancing their dynamic robustness against cascading failures has become a critical challenge for ensuring supply-chain security and stability. This study focuses on three core challenges in multilayer supply chain networks: suppressing intra-layer failure propagation, preventing bottleneck effects at weak links, and controlling cross-layer cascading failures while maintaining material flows. We constructed a heterogeneous four-layer cascading failure model comprising suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Through a three-level coordinated mechanism of “intra-layer load-balanced allocation, elastic regulation of cross-layer coupling, and targeted reinforcement of vulnerable layers”, we achieved global robustness optimization and simulated the dynamic processes of failure redistribution within layers and diffusion across-layers. Based on this, we proposed a dynamically coupled, guidance-oriented multilayer collaborative protection strategy. The results show that: a node degree-based dynamic load allocation strategy can significantly delay intra-layer cascading failure propagation; reinforcing vulnerable layers through enhanced node capacity buffers and optimized topological balance effectively reduces their failure risk and mitigates global disruptions; and dynamically adjusting cross-layer coupling strength significantly suppresses cross-layer “ripple effects”. This research provides both theoretical support and actionable decision guidance for resilience optimization in complex supply chain networks.
{"title":"Preventing Cascading Failures in Supply Networks: The Role of Dynamic Coupling and Targeted Reinforcement","authors":"Zhu Xiaoxin , Yang Yongqi, Ran Menghuan, Sun Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131533","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131533","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As global supply-chain structures become increasingly complex and disruption risks intensify, enhancing their dynamic robustness against cascading failures has become a critical challenge for ensuring supply-chain security and stability. This study focuses on three core challenges in multilayer supply chain networks: suppressing intra-layer failure propagation, preventing bottleneck effects at weak links, and controlling cross-layer cascading failures while maintaining material flows. We constructed a heterogeneous four-layer cascading failure model comprising suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Through a three-level coordinated mechanism of “intra-layer load-balanced allocation, elastic regulation of cross-layer coupling, and targeted reinforcement of vulnerable layers”, we achieved global robustness optimization and simulated the dynamic processes of failure redistribution within layers and diffusion across-layers. Based on this, we proposed a dynamically coupled, guidance-oriented multilayer collaborative protection strategy. The results show that: a node degree-based dynamic load allocation strategy can significantly delay intra-layer cascading failure propagation; reinforcing vulnerable layers through enhanced node capacity buffers and optimized topological balance effectively reduces their failure risk and mitigates global disruptions; and dynamically adjusting cross-layer coupling strength significantly suppresses cross-layer “ripple effects”. This research provides both theoretical support and actionable decision guidance for resilience optimization in complex supply chain networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131533"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131486
Rui Zhang , Jianyuan Guo , Yong Qin , Limin Jia
Station-level passenger flow prediction is crucial for passenger flow regulation, crew scheduling, and train dispatching. However, existing deep learning models are difficult to apply to intra-station multi-point passenger flow forecasting tasks characterized by multivariate interactions and variance imbalance. To address this, we propose a deep learning model–the Multi-Scale Adaptive Graph-Enhanced Temporal Convolutional Network (MagTCN). The model balances high- and low-variance channels through parallel multi-scale one-dimensional (1-D) convolutions and a squeeze-and-excitation mechanism. Meanwhile, it dynamically constructs temporal graphs using cosine similarity and enhances cross-time-step pattern reuse via a Graph Convolutional Network (GCN), thereby improving predictive robustness under peak-demand scenarios. On this basis, information fusion is performed by a fusion attention layer, and the residual-gated decoder simultaneously generates multi-point, multi-step forecasts within a station in a single forward pass. We evaluate the model’s performance on real station passenger flow data from Guangzhou and Suzhou, China. The experimental results demonstrate that MagTCN outperforms advanced baselines such as iTransformer and TimeMixer, in terms of prediction accuracy across the four prediction horizons, while exhibiting superior stability and channel adaptability.
{"title":"MagTCN: A multi-scale adaptive graph-enhanced temporal convolutional network for variance-imbalanced multivariate passenger flow forecasting","authors":"Rui Zhang , Jianyuan Guo , Yong Qin , Limin Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131486","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131486","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Station-level passenger flow prediction is crucial for passenger flow regulation, crew scheduling, and train dispatching. However, existing deep learning models are difficult to apply to intra-station multi-point passenger flow forecasting tasks characterized by multivariate interactions and variance imbalance. To address this, we propose a deep learning model–the Multi-Scale Adaptive Graph-Enhanced Temporal Convolutional Network (MagTCN). The model balances high- and low-variance channels through parallel multi-scale one-dimensional (1-D) convolutions and a squeeze-and-excitation mechanism. Meanwhile, it dynamically constructs temporal graphs using cosine similarity and enhances cross-time-step pattern reuse via a Graph Convolutional Network (GCN), thereby improving predictive robustness under peak-demand scenarios. On this basis, information fusion is performed by a fusion attention layer, and the residual-gated decoder simultaneously generates multi-point, multi-step forecasts within a station in a single forward pass. We evaluate the model’s performance on real station passenger flow data from Guangzhou and Suzhou, China. The experimental results demonstrate that MagTCN outperforms advanced baselines such as iTransformer and TimeMixer, in terms of prediction accuracy across the four prediction horizons, while exhibiting superior stability and channel adaptability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131486"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131438
Wenkai Ye, Xichen Ye, Hang Yao, Kequan Yang, Xiaoqiang Li
Chest X-ray (CXR) multi-label classifiers are commonly trained with labels extracted from clinical reports, which are often incomplete and noisy. Under such label noise, we observe that performance degrades severely on tail classes (e.g., rare diseases), because these categories are under-represented and easily overwhelmed by corrupted annotations. As a result, existing methods can misidentify tail classes as noise and downweight their contribution to optimization during training. To address this issue, we propose LRC-CXR (Label-wise Reliability-aware Classifier for Chest X-ray), which calculates per-label reliability and selectively corrects noisy labels, preventing tail classes from being inadvertently under-trained. First, a Medical Description Bank provides lesion-aware textual prompts that guide the visual encoder toward diagnostically relevant patterns. Second, LRC-CXR models per-label reliability with a two-component Gaussian Mixture Model to distinguish clean, inseparable, and noisy labels. Third, only labels identified as noisy are refined via feature-space k-nearest-neighbor smoothing, while clean and inseparable labels are trained with stronger objectives through a hierarchical loss. Experiments on ChestX-ray14, CheXpert, and PadChest, including high-noise stress tests, show that LRC-CXR improves overall AUC/F1 and substantially boosts tail-class recall and robustness under label noise.
{"title":"Label-wise reliability-aware classifier for robust chest X-ray multi-label classification","authors":"Wenkai Ye, Xichen Ye, Hang Yao, Kequan Yang, Xiaoqiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131438","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131438","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chest X-ray (CXR) multi-label classifiers are commonly trained with labels extracted from clinical reports, which are often incomplete and noisy. Under such label noise, we observe that performance degrades severely on tail classes (e.g., rare diseases), because these categories are under-represented and easily overwhelmed by corrupted annotations. As a result, existing methods can misidentify tail classes as noise and downweight their contribution to optimization during training. To address this issue, we propose LRC-CXR (<strong>L</strong>abel-wise <strong>R</strong>eliability-aware <strong>C</strong>lassifier for Chest X-ray), which calculates per-label reliability and selectively corrects noisy labels, preventing tail classes from being inadvertently under-trained. First, a Medical Description Bank provides lesion-aware textual prompts that guide the visual encoder toward diagnostically relevant patterns. Second, LRC-CXR models per-label reliability with a two-component Gaussian Mixture Model to distinguish clean, inseparable, and noisy labels. Third, only labels identified as noisy are refined via feature-space k-nearest-neighbor smoothing, while clean and inseparable labels are trained with stronger objectives through a hierarchical loss. Experiments on ChestX-ray14, CheXpert, and PadChest, including high-noise stress tests, show that LRC-CXR improves overall AUC/F1 and substantially boosts tail-class recall and robustness under label noise.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131438"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-05-25Epub Date: 2026-01-29DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131379
Xing Cai , Tong Zhang , Zhen Cui
To efficiently solve expensive multi-objective optimization problems (EMOPs), it is essential to identify valuable evaluation points that lead to optimal solutions with minimal computational cost. In this work, we propose a deep graph-based evolutionary algorithm, named the multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on dominance decomposition and graph neural networks (MOEA-DDG). To model the complex dominance relationships among candidate solutions, an adjacency graph is constructed that integrates both evaluated and unevaluated individuals. A collaborative surrogate framework based on graph neural networks is proposed to guide the selection of promising candidates. This framework comprises two specialized models: the relational model (R-model), which decomposes dominance prediction into simpler sub-tasks by comparing solution quality across individual objectives-thus improving robustness and accuracy; and the metric model (M-model), which estimates solution quality by predicting Hypervolume (HV) improvement, enabling effective ranking when objective values are unavailable. To ensure thorough exploration of the solution space, a cluster-based selection strategy is designed, which partitions the objective domain and selects representative candidates from each cluster during each iteration. Extensive experiments on two benchmark test suites and a real-world molecular design task demonstrate that MOEA-DDG achieves a strong balance between exploration and exploitation, and significantly outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms under limited evaluation budgets.
{"title":"An efficient dominance decomposition-based deep graph evolutionary algorithm for the expensive multi-objective optimization","authors":"Xing Cai , Tong Zhang , Zhen Cui","doi":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131379","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131379","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To efficiently solve expensive multi-objective optimization problems (EMOPs), it is essential to identify valuable evaluation points that lead to optimal solutions with minimal computational cost. In this work, we propose a deep graph-based evolutionary algorithm, named the multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on dominance decomposition and graph neural networks (MOEA-DDG). To model the complex dominance relationships among candidate solutions, an adjacency graph is constructed that integrates both evaluated and unevaluated individuals. A collaborative surrogate framework based on graph neural networks is proposed to guide the selection of promising candidates. This framework comprises two specialized models: the relational model (R-model), which decomposes dominance prediction into simpler sub-tasks by comparing solution quality across individual objectives-thus improving robustness and accuracy; and the metric model (M-model), which estimates solution quality by predicting Hypervolume (HV) improvement, enabling effective ranking when objective values are unavailable. To ensure thorough exploration of the solution space, a cluster-based selection strategy is designed, which partitions the objective domain and selects representative candidates from each cluster during each iteration. Extensive experiments on two benchmark test suites and a real-world molecular design task demonstrate that MOEA-DDG achieves a strong balance between exploration and exploitation, and significantly outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms under limited evaluation budgets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50461,"journal":{"name":"Expert Systems with Applications","volume":"312 ","pages":"Article 131379"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}