This paper considers a number of selection schemes commonly used in modern genetic algorithms. Specifically, proportionate reproduction, ranking selection, tournament selection, and Genitor (or «steady state") selection are compared on the basis of solutions to deterministic difference or differential equations, which are verified through computer simulations. The analysis provides convenient approximate or exact solutions as well as useful convergence time and growth ratio estimates. The paper recommends practical application of the analyses and suggests a number of paths for more detailed analytical investigation of selection techniques. Keywords: proportionate selection, ranking selection, tournament selection, Genitor, takeover time, time complexity, growth ratio. 1

This paper: 1) reviews different combinations between ANN's and evolutionary algorithms (EA's), including using EA's to evolve ANN connection weights, architectures, learning rules, and input features; 2) discusses different search operators which have been used in various EA's; and 3) points out possible future research directions. It is shown, through a considerably large literature review, that combinations between ANN's and EA's can lead to significantly better intelligent systems than relying on ANN's or EA's alone

Evolutionary computation has started to receive significant attention during the last decade, although the origins can be traced back to the late 1950s. This article surveys the history as well as the current state of this rapidly growing field. We describe the purpose, the general structure and the working principles of different approaches, including genetic algorithms (GA) (with links to genetic programming (GP) and classifier systems (CS)), evolution strategies (ES), and evolutionary programming (EP), by analysis and comparison of their most important constituents (i.e., representations, variation operators, reproduction and selection mechanism). Finally, we give a brief overview on the manifold of application domains, although this necessarily must remain incomplete.

Data on individuals and entities are being collected widely. These data can contain information that explicitly identifies the individual (e.g., social security number). Data can also contain other kinds of personal information (e.g., date of birth, zip code, gender) that are potentially identifying when linked with other available data sets. Data are often shared for business or legal reasons. This paper addresses the important issue of preserving the anonymity of the individuals or entities during the data dissemination process. We explore preserving the anonymity by the use of generalizations and suppressions on the potentially identifying portions of the data. We extend earlier works in this area along various dimensions. First, satisfying privacy constraints is considered in conjunction with the usage for the data being disseminated. This allows us to optimize the process of preserving privacy for the specified usage. In particular, we investigate the privacy transformation in the context of data mining applications like building classification and regression models. Second, our work improves on previous approaches by allowing more flexible generalizations for the data. Lastly, this is combined with a more thorough exploration of the solution space using the genetic algorithm framework. These extensions allow us to transform the data so that they are more useful for their intended purpose while satisfying the privacy constraints.

Research on potential interactions between connectionist learning systems, i.e., artificial neural networks (ANNs), and evolutionary search procedures, like genetic algorithms (GAs), has attracted a lot of attention recently. Evolutionary ANNs (EANNs) can be considered as the combination of ANNs and evolutionary search procedures. This paper first distinguishes among three kinds of evolution in EANNs, i.e., the evolution of connection weights, of architectures and of learning rules. Then it reviews each kind of evolution in detail and analyses critical issues related to different evolutions. The review shows that although a lot of work has been done on the evolution of connection weights and of architectures, few attempts have been made to understand the evolution of learning rules. Interactions among different evolutions are seldom mentioned in current research. However, the evolution of learning rules and its interactions with other kinds of evolution play a vital role in EANNs. As t...

The field of metaheuristics for the application to combinatorial optimization problems is a rapidly growing field of research. This is due to the importance of combinatorial optimization problems for the scientific as well as the industrial world. We give a survey of the nowadays most important metaheuristics from a conceptual point of view. We outline the different components and concepts that are used in the different metaheuristics in order to analyze their similarities and differences. Two very important concepts in metaheuristics are intensification and diversification. These are the two forces that largely determine the behaviour of a metaheuristic. They are in some way contrary but also complementary to each other. We introduce a framework, that we call the I&D frame, in order to put different intensification and diversification components into relation with each other. Outlining the advantages and disadvantages of different metaheuristic approaches we conclude by pointing out the importance of hybridization of metaheuristics as well as the integration of metaheuristics and other methods for optimization.

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In this paper, we study the problem features that may cause a multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) difficulty in converging to the true Pareto-optimal front. Identification of such features helps us develop difficult test problems for multi-objective optimization. Multi-objective test problems are constructed from single-objective optimization problems, thereby allowing known difficult features of single-objective problems (such as multi-modality, isolation, or deception) to be directly transferred to the corresponding multi-objective problem. In addition, test problems having features specific to multiobjective optimization are also constructed. More importantly, these difficult test problems will enable researchers to test their algorithms for specific aspects of multi-objective optimization. Keywords Genetic algorithms, multi-objective optimization, niching, pareto-optimality, problem difficulties, test problems. 1 Introduction After a decade since the pioneering wor...

Evolutionary computation uses computational models of evolutionary processes as key elements in the design and implementation of computer-based problem solving systems. In this paper we provide an overview of evolutionary computation, and describe several evolutionary algorithms that are currently of interest. Important similarities and differences are noted, which lead to a discussion of important issues that need to be resolved, and items for future research.

The evolutionary approach called scatter search, and its generalized form called path relinking, originated from strategies for creating composite decision rules and surrogate constraints. Recent studies demonstrate the practical advantages of these approaches for solving a diverse array of optimization problems from both classical and real world settings. Scatter search and path relinking contrast with other evolutionary procedures, such as genetic algorithms, by providing unifying principles for joining solutions based on generalized path constructions (in both Euclidean and neighborhood spaces) and by utilizing strategic designs where other approaches resort to randomization. Additional advantages are provided by intensification and diversification mechanisms that exploit adaptive memory, drawing on foundations that link scatter search and path relinking to tabu search. The goal of this paper is to clarify the connection between these developments in evolutionary methods, and to highlight key ideas and research issues that offer promise of yielding future advances.