Open University of Catalonia

About: Open University of Catalonia is a education organization based out in Barcelona, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Higher education. The organization has 1943 authors who have published 4646 publications receiving 64200 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya & UOC.

S-shaped and V-shaped gaining-sharing knowledge-based algorithm for feature selection

Abstract: In machine learning, searching for the optimal feature subset from the original datasets is a very challenging and prominent task. The metaheuristic algorithms are used in finding out the relevant, important features, that enhance the classification accuracy and save the resource time. Most of the algorithms have shown excellent performance in solving feature selection problems. A recently developed metaheuristic algorithm, gaining-sharing knowledge-based optimization algorithm (GSK), is considered for finding out the optimal feature subset. GSK algorithm was proposed over continuous search space; therefore, a total of eight S-shaped and V-shaped transfer functions are employed to solve the problems into binary search space. Additionally, a population reduction scheme is also employed with the transfer functions to enhance the performance of proposed approaches. It explores the search space efficiently and deletes the worst solutions from the search space, due to the updation of population size in every iteration. The proposed approaches are tested over twenty-one benchmark datasets from UCI repository. The obtained results are compared with state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms including binary differential evolution algorithm, binary particle swarm optimization, binary bat algorithm, binary grey wolf optimizer, binary ant lion optimizer, binary dragonfly algorithm, binary salp swarm algorithm. Among eight transfer functions, V4 transfer function with population reduction on binary GSK algorithm outperforms other optimizers in terms of accuracy, fitness values and the minimal number of features. To investigate the results statistically, two non-parametric statistical tests are conducted that concludes the superiority of the proposed approach.

Route bazaar: automatic interdomain contract negotiation

Abstract: While it is widely acknowledged that the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) has many flaws, most of the proposed fixes focus solely on improving the stability and security of its path computation. However, because interdomain routing involves contracts between Autonomous Systems (ASes), this paper argues that contractual and routing issues should be tackled jointly. We propose Route Bazaar, a backward-compatible system for flexible Internet connectivity. Inspired by the decentralized construction of trust in cryptocurrencies, Route Bazaar uses a decentralized public ledger and cryptography to provide ASes with automatic means to form, establish, and verify end-to-end connectivity agreements.

Women, youth and everything else: age-based and gendered stereotypes in relation to digital technology among elderly Italian mobile phone users:

Abstract: In the context of an international research project on older people’s relations with and through mobile telephony, Italian participants spontaneously provided narrations on mobile phones that appeared to be structured around strong stereotypes. Respondents show a twofold representation of mobile phones either as a simple communication tool or as a ‘hi-tech’ device, which generates multifaceted stereotypes. More specifically, when the mobile phone is considered as a simple communication tool, age-based stereotypes address younger people’s bad manners, while gendered stereotypes depict women as ‘chatterboxes’ or ‘social groomers’. On the other hand, when the mobile phone is considered a ‘hi-tech’ device, age-based stereotypes underline younger people’s advanced user skills, while gendered stereotypes focus on women’s lack of competencies. Based on that, we provide a conceptual framework for analysing such stereotyped – and apparently conflicting – representations. Interestingly, while some issues also emerg...