In ordinary credit card datasets, there are far fewer fraudulent transactions than ordinary transactions. In dealing with the credit card imbalance problem, the ideal solution must have low bias and low variance. The paper aims to provide an in-depth experimental investigation of the effect of using a hybrid data-point approach to resolve the class misclassification problem in imbalanced credit card datasets. The goal of the research was to use a novel technique to manage unbalanced datasets to improve the effectiveness of machine learning algorithms in detecting fraud or anomalous patterns in huge volumes of financial transaction records where the class distribution was imbalanced. The paper proposed using random forest and a hybrid data-point approach combining feature selection with Near Miss-based undersampling technique. We assessed the proposed method on two imbalanced credit card datasets, namely, the European Credit Card dataset and the UCI Credit Card dataset. The experimental results were reported using performance matrices. We compared the classification results of logistic regression, support vector machine, decision tree, and random forest before and after using our approach. The findings showed that the proposed approach improved the predictive accuracy of the logistic regression, support vector machine, decision tree, and random forest algorithms in credit card datasets. Furthermore, we found that, out of the four algorithms, the random forest produced the best results.

The exponential growth in fake news and its inherent threat to democracy, public trust, and justice has escalated the necessity for fake news detection and mitigation. Detecting fake news is a complex challenge as it is intentionally written to mislead and hoodwink. Humans are not good at identifying fake news. The detection of fake news by humans is reported to be at a rate of 54 and an additional 4 is reported in the literature as being speculative. The significance of fighting fake news is exemplified during the present pandemic. Consequently, social networks are ramping up the usage of detection tools and educating the public in recognising fake news. In the literature, it was observed that several machine learning algorithms have been applied to the detection of fake news with limited and mixed success. However, several advanced machine learning models are not being applied, although recent studies are demonstrating the efcacy of the ensemble machine learning approach; hence, the purpose of this study is to assist in the automated detection of fake news. An ensemble approach is adopted to help resolve the identified gap. This study proposed a blended machine learning ensemble model developed from logistic regression, support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, stochastic gradient descent, and ridge regression, which is then used on a publicly available dataset to predict if a news report is true or not. The proposed model will be appraised with the popular classical machine learning models, while performance metrics such as AUC, ROC, recall, accuracy, precision, and f1-score will be used to measure the performance of the proposed model. Results presented showed that the proposed model outperformed other popular classical machine learning models.

The ubiquitous access and exponential growth of information available on social media networks have facilitated the spread of fake news, complicating the task of distinguishing between this and real news. Fake news is a significant social barrier that has a profoundly negative impact on society. Despite the large number of studies on fake news detection, they have not yet been combined to offer coherent insight on trends and advancements in this domain. Hence, the primary objective of this study was to fill this knowledge gap. The method for selecting the pertinent articles for extraction was created using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). This study reviewed deep learning, machine learning, and ensemble-based fake news detection methods by a meta-analysis of 125 studies to aggregate their results quantitatively. The meta-analysis primarily focused on statistics and the quantitative analysis of data from numerous separate primary investigations to identify overall trends. The results of the meta-analysis were reported by the spatial distribution, the approaches adopted, the sample size, and the performance of methods in terms of accuracy. According to the statistics of between-study variance high heterogeneity was found with τ² = 3.441; the ratio of true heterogeneity to total observed variation was I² = 75.27% with the heterogeneity chi-square (Q) = 501.34, the degree of freedom = 124, and p ≤ 0.001. A p-value of 0.912 from the Egger statistical test confirmed the absence of a publication bias. The findings of the meta-analysis demonstrated satisfaction with the effectiveness of the recommended approaches from the primary studies on fake news detection that were included. Furthermore, the findings can inform researchers about various approaches they can use to detect online fake news.

Performance evaluation is one of the most critical components in assuring the comprehensive development of e-learning in medical education (e-LMED). Although several studies evaluate performance in e-LMED, no study presently maps the rising scientific knowledge and evolutionary patterns that establish a solid background to investigate and quantify the efficacy of the evaluation of performance in e-LMED. Therefore, this study aims to quantify scientific productivity, identify the key terms and analyze the extent of research collaboration in this domain. We searched the SCOPUS database using search terms informed by the PICOS model, and a total of 315 studies published between 1991 and 2022 were retrieved. Performance analysis, science mapping, network analysis, and visualization were performed using R Bibliometrix, Biblioshiny, and VOSviewer packages. Findings reveal that authors are actively publishing and collaborating in this domain, which experienced a sporadic publication increase in 2021. Most of the top publications, collaborations, countries, institutions, and journals are produced in first-world countries. In addition, studies evaluating performance in e-LMED evaluated constructs such as efficacy, knowledge gain, student perception, confidence level, acceptability, feasibility, usability, and willingness to recommend e-learning, mainly using pre-tests and post-tests experimental design methods. This study can help researchers understand the existing landscape of performance evaluation in e-LMED and could be used as a background to investigate and quantify the efficacy of the evaluation of e-LMED.

Energy stability on sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is always an important challenge, especially during data capturing and transmission of packets. The recent advancement in distributed clustering algorithms in the extant literature proposed for energy efficiency showed refinements in deployment of sensor nodes, network duration stability, and throughput of information data that are channelled to the base station. However, much scope still exists for energy improvements in a heterogeneous WSN environment. This research study uses the Gaussian elimination method merged with distributed energy efficient clustering (referred to as DEEC‐Gauss) to ensure energy efficient optimization in the wireless environment. The rationale behind the use of the novel DEEC‐Gauss clustering algorithm is that it fills the gap in the literature as researchers have not been able to use this scheme before to carry out energy‐efficient optimization in WSNs with 100 nodes, between 1,000 and 5000 rounds and still achieve a fast time output. In this study, using simulation, the performance of highly developed clustering algorithms, namely, DEEC, EDEEC_E, and DDEEC, was compared to the proposed Gaussian Elimination Clustering Algorithm (DEEC‐Gauss). The results show that the proposed DEEC‐Gauss Algorithm gives an average percentage of 4.2% improvement for the first node dead (FND), a further 2.8% improvement for the tenth node dead (TND), and the overall time of delivery was increased and optimized when compared with other contemporary algorithms.