Discrete entropy is used to measure the content of an image, where a higher value indicates an image with richer details. Infrared images are capable of revealing important hidden targets. The disadvantage of this type of image is that their low contrast and level of detail are not consistent with human visual perception. These problems can be caused by variations of the environment or by limitations of the cameras that capture the images. In this work we propose a method that improves the details of infrared images, increasing their entropy, preserving their natural appearance, and enhancing contrast. The proposed method extracts multiple features of brightness and darkness from the infrared image. This is done by means of the multiscale top-hat transform. To improve the infrared image, multiple scales are added to the bright areas and multiple areas of darkness are subtracted. The method was tested with 450 infrared thermal images from a public database. Evaluation of the experimental results shows that the proposed method improves the details of the image by increasing entropy, also preserving natural appearance and enhancing the contrast of infrared thermal images.

Correctly defining and grouping electrical feeders is of great importance for electrical system operators. In this paper, we compare two different clustering techniques, K-means and hierarchical agglomerative clustering, applied to real data from the east region of Paraguay. The raw data were pre-processed, resulting in four data sets, namely, (i) a weekly feeder demand, (ii) a monthly feeder demand, (iii) a statistical feature set extracted from the original data and (iv) a seasonal and daily consumption feature set obtained considering the characteristics of the Paraguayan load curve. Considering the four data sets, two clustering algorithms, two distance metrics and five linkage criteria a total of 36 models with the Silhouette, Davies–Bouldin and Calinski–Harabasz index scores was assessed. The K-means algorithms with the seasonal feature data sets showed the best performance considering the Silhouette, Calinski–Harabasz and Davies–Bouldin validation index scores with a configuration of six clusters.

Skin dermoscopy images frequently lack contrast caused by varying light conditions. Indeed, often low contrast is seen in dermoscopy images of melanoma, causing the lesion to blend in with the surrounding skin. In addition, the low contrast prevents certain details from being seen in the image. Therefore, it is necessary to design an approach that can enhance the contrast and details of dermoscopic images. In this work, we propose a multi-scale morphological approach to reduce the impacts of lack of contrast and to enhance the quality of the images. By top-hat reconstruction, the local bright and dark features are extracted from the image. The local bright features are added and the dark features are subtracted from the image. In this way, images with higher contrast and detail are obtained. The proposed approach was applied to a database of 236 color images of benign and malignant melanocytic lesions. The results show that the multi-scale morphological approach by reconstruction is a competitive algorithm since it achieved a very satisfactory level of contrast enhancement and detail enhancement in dermoscopy images.

Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) increase the transport capacity of standard optical networks, and have been proposed as a short-term solution to satisfy the dynamic demands of service quality requirements. To this end, the development of algorithms to better facilitate Routing and Spectrum Allocation (RSA) is envisaged to have a critical impact on the performance of EON. Given the abundance of RSA algorithms, this study presents the unique challenge of organizing and classifying them meaningfully to understand and select the most suitable approach for the corresponding niche service quality requirements. This study proposes a novel taxonomy structure for grouping RSA algorithms based on the following criteria: (1) resource assignment policies, (2) flexibility type, (3) traffic type, (4) optimization approaches, (5) number of objective functions, and (6) problem separability. Finally, the contributions of this study are twofold: it presents a state-of-the-art taxonomy framework that organizes existing published works based on a set of predetermined criteria, and explores research opportunities involving RSA algorithms to realize the full potential of EONs in telecommunications.

Internet energy consumption has increased rapidly, and energy conservation has become a significant issue that requires focused research efforts. The most promising solution is to identify the minimum power subsets within the network and shut down unnecessary network devices and links to satisfy traffic loads. Due to their distributed network control, implementing a centralized and coordinated strategy in traditional networks is challenging. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging technology with dynamic, manageable, cost-effective, and adaptable solutions. SDN decouples network control and forwarding functions, allowing network control to be directly programmable, centralizing control with a global network view to manage power states. Nevertheless, it is crucial to develop efficient algorithms that leverage the centralized control of SDN to achieve maximum energy savings and consider peak traffic times. Traffic demand usually cannot be satisfied, even when all network devices are active. This work jointly addresses the routing of traffic flows and the assignment of SDN devices to these flows, called the Routing and Device Assignment (RDA) problem. It simultaneously seeks to minimize the network’s energy consumption and blocked traffic flows. For this approach, we develop an exact solution based on Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) as well as a metaheuristic based on a Genetic Algorithm (GA) that seeks to optimize both criteria by routing flows efficiently and suspending devices not used by the flows. Conducted simulations on traffic environment scenarios show up to 34% savings in overall energy consumption for the MILP and 33% savings achieved by the GA. These values are better than those obtained using competitive state-of-the-art strategies.