A new bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithm named the Pufferfish Optimization Algorithm (POA), that imitates the natural behavior of pufferfish in nature, is introduced in this paper. The fundamental inspiration of POA is adapted from the defense mechanism of pufferfish against predators. In this defense mechanism, by filling its elastic stomach with water, the pufferfish becomes a spherical ball with pointed spines, and as a result, the hungry predator escapes from this threat. The POA theory is stated and then mathematically modeled in two phases: (i) exploration based on the simulation of a predator’s attack on a pufferfish and (ii) exploitation based on the simulation of a predator’s escape from spiny spherical pufferfish. The performance of POA is evaluated in handling the CEC 2017 test suite for problem dimensions equal to 10, 30, 50, and 100. The optimization results show that POA has achieved an effective solution with the appropriate ability in exploration, exploitation, and the balance between them during the search process. The quality of POA in the optimization process is compared with the performance of twelve well-known metaheuristic algorithms. The simulation results show that POA provides superior performance by achieving better results in most of the benchmark functions in order to solve the CEC 2017 test suite compared to competitor algorithms. Also, the effectiveness of POA to handle optimization tasks in real-world applications is evaluated on twenty-two constrained optimization problems from the CEC 2011 test suite and four engineering design problems. Simulation results show that POA provides effective performance in handling real-world applications by achieving better solutions compared to competitor algorithms.

Understanding the growth paths of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on branding is extremely pertinent of technology-driven marketing. This explorative research covers a complete bibliometric analysis of the impact of AI on branding. The sample for this research included all 117 articles from the period of 1982-2019 in the Scopus database. A bibliometric study was conducted using co-occurrence, citation analysis and co-citation analysis. The empirical analysis investigates the value propositions of AI on branding. The study revealed the nine clusters of co-occurrence: Social Media Analytics and Brand Equity; Neural Networks and Brand Choice; Chat Bots-Brand Intimacy; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram-Luxury Brands; Interactive Agent-Brand Love and User Choice; Algorithm Recommendations and E-Brand Experience; User-Generated Content-Brand Sustainability; Brand Intelligence Analytics; and Digital Innovations and Brand Excellence. The findings also identify four clusters of citation analysis—Social Media Analysis and Brand Photos, Network Analysis and E-Commerce, Hybrid Simulating Modelling, and Real-time Knowledge-Based Systems—and four clusters of co-citation analysis: B2B Technology Brands, AI Fostered E-Brands, Information Cascades and Online Brand Ratings, and Voice Assistants-Brand Eureka Moments. Overall, the study presents the patterns of convergence and divergence of themes, narrowing to the specific topic, and multidisciplinary engagement in research, thus offering the recent insights in the field of AI on branding.

In this paper, a new bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithm called Giant Armadillo Optimization (GAO) is introduced, which imitates the natural behavior of giant armadillo in the wild. The fundamental inspiration in the design of GAO is derived from the hunting strategy of giant armadillos in moving towards prey positions and digging termite mounds. The theory of GAO is expressed and mathematically modeled in two phases: (i) exploration based on simulating the movement of giant armadillos towards termite mounds, and (ii) exploitation based on simulating giant armadillos’ digging skills in order to prey on and rip open termite mounds. The performance of GAO in handling optimization tasks is evaluated in order to solve the CEC 2017 test suite for problem dimensions equal to 10, 30, 50, and 100. The optimization results show that GAO is able to achieve effective solutions for optimization problems by benefiting from its high abilities in exploration, exploitation, and balancing them during the search process. The quality of the results obtained from GAO is compared with the performance of twelve well-known metaheuristic algorithms. The simulation results show that GAO presents superior performance compared to competitor algorithms by providing better results for most of the benchmark functions. The statistical analysis of the Wilcoxon rank sum test confirms that GAO has a significant statistical superiority over competitor algorithms. The implementation of GAO on the CEC 2011 test suite and four engineering design problems show that the proposed approach has effective performance in dealing with real-world applications.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of mortality among women. Early and accurate detection plays a crucial role in lowering its mortality rate. Timely detection and classification of breast cancer enable the most effective treatment. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have significantly improved the accuracy of tumor detection and classification in medical imaging compared to traditional methods. This study proposes a comprehensive classification technique for identifying breast cancer, utilizing a synthesized CNN, an enhanced optimization algorithm, and transfer learning. The primary goal is to assist radiologists in rapidly identifying anomalies. To overcome inherent limitations, we modified the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) technique with opposition-based learning (OBL). The Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization (EACO) methodology was then employed to determine the optimal hyperparameter values for the CNN architecture. Our proposed framework combines the Residual Network-101 (ResNet101) CNN architecture with the EACO algorithm, resulting in a new model dubbed EACO–ResNet101. Experimental analysis was conducted on the MIAS and DDSM (CBIS-DDSM) mammographic datasets. Compared to conventional methods, our proposed model achieved an impressive accuracy of 98.63%, sensitivity of 98.76%, and specificity of 98.89% on the CBIS-DDSM dataset. On the MIAS dataset, the proposed model achieved a classification accuracy of 99.15%, a sensitivity of 97.86%, and a specificity of 98.88%. These results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed EACO–ResNet101 over current methodologies.

Effective energy management is crucial for sustainability, carbon reduction, resource conservation, and cost savings. However, conventional energy forecasting methods often lack accuracy, suggesting the need for advanced approaches. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool for energy forecasting, but its lack of transparency and interpretability poses challenges for understanding its predictions. In response, Explainable AI (XAI) frameworks have been developed to enhance the transparency and interpretability of black-box AI models. Accordingly, this paper focuses on achieving accurate household energy consumption predictions by comparing prediction models based on several evaluation metrics, namely the Coefficient of Determination (R ² ), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Mean Squared Error (MSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The best model is identified by comparison after making predictions on unseen data, after which the predictions are explained by leveraging two XAI frameworks: Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME) and Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP). These explanations help identify crucial characteristics contributing to energy consumption predictions, including insights into feature importance. Our findings underscore the significance of current consumption patterns and lagged energy consumption values in estimating energy usage. This paper further demonstrates the role of XAI in developing consistent and reliable predictive models.

The agile model is a very vast and popular model in use in the software industry currently. It changes the way software is developed. It was introduced in 2001 to overcome deficiencies of software development in a workshop arranged by researchers and practitioners who were involved with the agile concept. They introduced the complete agile manifesto. The agile model has main components that make it more viable for use in well-organized software development. One of these is scrum methodology. The reason for the agile-scrum popularity is its use for small-scale projects, making small teams and allows change requests at any stage of a project from the client. It works for client satisfaction. Instead of so much popularity and distinctive features, agile-scrum also has some limitations when used for large scale projects development that makes it less efficient for development. This article discusses the agile-scrum methodology and its limitations when using for large-scale project organization.