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Juan Carlos Figueroa-García
Eduyn Ramiro López-Santana
José Ignacio Rodriguez-Molano (Eds.)

Communications in Computer and Information Science 915

Applied Computer
Sciences in Engineering
5th Workshop on Engineering Applications, WEA 2018
Medellín, Colombia, October 17–19, 2018
Proceedings, Part I

123
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in Computer and Information Science 915
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Juan Carlos Figueroa-García
Eduyn Ramiro López-Santana
José Ignacio Rodriguez-Molano (Eds.)

Applied Computer
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5th Workshop on Engineering Applications, WEA 2018
Medellín, Colombia, October 17–19, 2018
Proceedings, Part I

123
Editors
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Department of Industrial Engineering Department of Industrial Engineering
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Bogotá Bogotá
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Eduyn Ramiro López-Santana
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 Preface

The fifth edition of the Workshop on Engineering Applications (WEA 2018) was
focused on computer science, simulation, IoT, logistics, as well as computational
intelligence and its applications. WEA has grown as a scientific forum for applied
engineering and applied sciences in academia, industry, and goverment. WEA 2018
was one of the flagship events of the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad
Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, in Bogotá, Colombia.
WEA 2018 was held at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín – Colombia, one
of the most beautiful cities in the country. The submissions covered topics such as
computer science, IoT, logistics, operations research, simulation systems, systems
dynamics, systems modeling, power and electrical applications, software engineering,
computer informatics, computational intelligence, and intelligent computing among
others. In this first volume, the proceedings are focused on computational intelligence,
power applications, simulation systems and software engineering. Therefore, the main
topic of our conference was “Applied Computer Sciences in Engineering.”
WEA 2018 received over 200 submissions from 15 countries. All submissions were
rigorously peer–reviewed via EasyChair and 91 papers were accepted for presentation
at WEA 2018. The Program Committee divided all submissions into two volumes, and
finally 50 high–quality papers were included in this volume of Communications in
Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS) published by Springer. The Faculty of
Engineering of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, the Universidad de
Antioquia, the Corporación Unificada Nacional (CUN), the Faculty of Engineering
of the National University of Colombia, and the Infantry School of the National
Colombian Army made significant efforts to guarantee the success of the conference.
We would like to thank all members of the Program Committee and the referees for
their commitment to help in the review process and for spreading our call for papers.
We would like to thank Alfred Hofmann and Jorge Nakahara from Springer for their
helpful advice, guidance, and their continuous support in publishing the proceedings,
and a special thanks to all authors for supporting WEA 2018; without all their high–
quality submissions, the conference would not have been possible.
Finally, we are especially grateful to the University of Antioquia for supporting the
organization of the event, particularly to the professors and students of the research
groups INCAS and GITA, the Department of Industrial Engineering, Expoingeniería,
the Universidad de Antioquia Foundation, the IEEE Universidad Distrital Francisco
José de Caldas Student branch, the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers
Chapter 985 (IISE) of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, the Labo-
ratory for Automation and Computational Intelligence (LAMIC), the Acquisition and
Representation of Knowledge Expert Systems and Simulation (ARCOSES) research
VI Preface

groups of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, and the Algorithms and
Combinatory (ALGOS) research group of the National University of Colombia.

October 2018 Juan Carlos Figueroa-García

Eduyn Ramiro López-Santana
José Ignacio Rodriguez-Molano

General Chair
Juan Carlos Figueroa–García
Finance Chair/Treasurer
Pablo Andres Maya Duque
Technical Chairs
Juan G. Villegas
Carlos Montenegro Marín
Publication Chair
Eduyn López–Santana
Track Chairs
Edwin Rivas
German Mendez–Giraldo
Juan G. Villegas
Juan Rafael Orozco–Arroyave
Logistics Chairs
Pablo Andres Maya Duque
Yesid Díaz
Plenary Speakers
Vladik Kreinovich
Juan J. Merelo Guervoz
Roberto Murphy
Carlos Cabrera
Organization
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Corporación Unificada Nacional de Educación
Superior (CUN), Colombia
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), USA
Universidad de Granada, Spain
INAOE, Mexico
Miami Dade College, USA
VIII Organization
Program Committee
Abdellah Kacha
Adil Usman
Adolfo Jaramillo–Matta
Alvaro D. Orjuela–Cañon
Alvaro Jaramillo
Andres M. Alvarez Mesa
Aydee Lopez
Carlos Franco–Franco
Carlos Osorio–Ramírez
Christopher Mejía
DeShuang Huang
Diana Ovalle
Diana P. Tobón Vallejo
Diego Botia
Eduyn López–Santana
Edwin Rivas
Eliana M. Toro
Elmar Nöth
Elvis Eduardo Gaona
Eugenio Yime
Feizar Javier Rueda–Velazco
Francisco Ramis
Germán Hernández–Pérez
Giovanny Tarazona
Gonzalo Mejía
Guadalupe González
Guillermo Cabrera
Gustavo Gatica
Gustavo Puerto L.
Henry Diosa
Heriberto Román–Flores
I–Hsien Ting
Isabel Agudelo
University of Jijel, Algeria
Indian Institute of Technology at Mandi, India
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Antonio Nariño, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP),
Brazil
Universidad del Rosario, Colombia
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
MIT, USA
Tongji University, China
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad del Valle, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Colombia
University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, Germany
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad del Atlántico, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad del Bío Bío, Chile
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad C. Valparaiso, Chile
Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Panama
Universidad C. Valparaiso, Chile
Universidad de Santiago de Chile/Universidad
Andrés Bello, Chile
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad de Tarapacá, Chile
National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Logyca, Colombia

Ivan Santelices Manfalti
Jair Cervantes–Canales
Jairo R. Montoya–Torres
Jairo Serrano
Jairo Soriano–Mendez
Jan Rusz
Javier Arturo Orjuela–Castro
Javier F. Botia–Valderrama
Jesus Lopez
Jhon James Granada Torres
Jose Ignacio Rodríguez Molano
Jose Luis González–Velarde
Jose Luis Villa
Juan Carlos Figueroa–García
Juan Camilo Vásquez
Juan Carlos Rivera
Juan Felipe Botero–Vega
Juan G. Villegas
Juan Rafael Orozco–Arroyave
Laura Lotero
Laura Lotero
Lindsay Alvarez
Luis J. Morantes Guzmán
Mabel Frías
Mario Chong
Martha Centeno
Martin Pilat
Mauricio Pardo Gonzalez
Michael Till Beck
Miguel Melgarejo
Milton Herrera
Milton Orlando Sarria Paja
Nelson L. Diaz Aldana
Nicanor García
Nicolas Clavijo
Oscar Acevedo
Oswaldo Lopez Santos
Pablo Andres Maya Duque
Pablo Manyoma Colombia
Organization IX
Universidad del Bío–Bío, Chile
Universidad Autónoma de México, Mexico
Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia
Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
CTU, Czech Republic
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad EAFIT, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
UPB, Colombia
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano, Colombia
Universidad de las Villas Marta Abreu, Cuba
Universidad del Pacífico, Peru
University of Turabo, Puerto Rico
Charles University, Czech Republic
Universidad del Norte, Colombia
LMU, Germany
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad Piloto de Colombia, Colombia
Universidad Santiago de Cali, Colombia
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad Javeriana Cali, Colombia
Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Colombia
Universidad de Ibagué, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Universidad del Valle, Colombia
X Organization

Paulo Alonso Gaona Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,

Colombia
Rafael Bello–Pérez Universidad de las Villas Marta Abreu, Cuba
Roberto Ferro Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Rodrigo Linfati Universidad del Bío–Bío, Chile
Roman Neruda Charles University, Czech Academy of Sciences
Santiago Murillo Rendón Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
Sergio Rojas–Galeano Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
Steven Latré University of Antwerp, The Netherlands
Tomás Arias Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Victor Cantillo Universidad del Norte, Colombia
Victor Medina García Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
William Camilo Rodríguez Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas,
Colombia
William Sarache Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
Xavier Hesselbach Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain
Yesid Díaz Corporación Unificada Nacional de Educación
Superior (CUN), Colombia
Yurilev Chalco–Cano Universidad de Tarapacá, Chile
 Contents – Part I

Computational Intelligence

Optimization Under Fuzzy Constraints: From a Heuristic Algorithm

to an Algorithm that Always Converges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Vladik Kreinovich and Juan Carlos Figueroa-García

Going Stateless in Concurrent Evolutionary Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Juan J. Merelo and José-Mario García-Valdez

Thermal Vein Signatures, DNA and EEG Brainprint in Biometric

User Authentication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Carlos Cabrera, German Hernández, Luis Fernando Niño,
and Dipankar Dasgupta

Robust Kalman Filter for High-Frequency Financial Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Tomáš Cipra, Radek Hendrych, and Michal Černý

A Note on Partial Identification of Regression Parameters

in Regression with Interval-Valued Dependent Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Michal Černý, Tomáš Cipra, Radek Hendrych, Ondřej Sokol,
and Miroslav Rada

State Estimation of a Dehydration Process by Interval Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 66

Carlos Collazos, César A. Collazos, Carlos Sánchez, Pedro Mariño,
Domingo A. Montaño, Iván Ruiz, Farid Meléndez-Pertruz,
Alejandra Rojas, and Adriana Maldonado-Franco

A Note About the (x, y) Coordinates of the Centroid of a Fuzzy Set . . . . . . . 78

Juan Carlos Figueroa-García, Eduyn Ramiro López-Santana,
and Carlos Franco-Franco

Control of a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator

Using a Neuro-Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Helbert Espitia, Guzmán Díaz, and Susana Díaz

A Fuzzy Linear Fractional Programming Approach to Design

of Distribution Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Eduyn López-Santana, Carlos Franco,
and Juan Carlos Figueroa-García

Methods for Generating Contexts Based on Similarity Relations

to Multigranulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Dianne Arias, Yaima Filiberto, and Rafael Bello
XII Contents – Part I

Price Prediction with CNN and Limit Order Book Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Jaime Niño, Andrés Arévalo, Diego Leon, German Hernandez,
and Javier Sandoval

Feature Group Selection Using MKL Penalized with ‘1 -norm

and SVM as Base Learner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Henry Jhoán Areiza-Laverde, Gloria M. Díaz,
and Andrés Eduardo Castro-Ospina

Voice Pathology Detection Using Artificial Neural Networks and Support

Vector Machines Powered by a Multicriteria Optimization Algorithm . . . . . . 148
Henry Jhoán Areiza-Laverde, Andrés Eduardo Castro-Ospina,
and Diego Hernán Peluffo-Ordóñez

Automatic Visual Classification of Parking Lot Spaces:

A Comparison Between BoF and CNN Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Jhon Edison Goez Mora, Juan Camilo Londoño Lopera,
and Diego Alberto Patiño Cortes

On the Use of Neuroevolutive Methods as Support Tools

for Diagnosing Appendicitis and Tuberculosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Alvaro David Orjuela-Cañón, Hugo Fernando Posada-Quintero,
Cesar Hernando Valencia, and Leonardo Mendoza

An Algebraic Model to Formalize Sentences and Their Context:

Use Case Scenario of the Spanish Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Edgardo Samuel Barraza Verdesoto, Edwin Rivas Trujillo,
Víctor Hugo Medina García, and Duván Cardona Sánchez

Application of the AdaBoost.RT Algorithm for the Prediction

of the COLCAP Stock Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Laura Reyes Fajardo and Andrés Gaona Barrera

Prototype of a Recommendation System Based on Multi-agents

in the Analysis of Movies Dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Andres Ballén, Nancy Gelvez, and Helbert Espitia

A Game Theory Approach for Intrusion Prevention Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Julián Francisco Mojica Sánchez, Octavio José Salcedo Parra,
and Lewys Correa Sánchez

Simulation Systems

A Simulation Model for the Attention to Users in Emergency Situations

in the City of Bogotá. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
German Mendez-Giraldo, Eduyn López-Santana,
and Carolina Suarez-Roldan
 Contents – Part I XIII

Hybrid Simulation and GA for a Flexible Flow Shop Problem

with Variable Processors and Re-entrant Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
German Mendez-Giraldo, Lindsay Alvarez-Pomar, and Carlos Franco

Evaluating the Supply Chain Design of Fresh Food on Food Security

and Logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Javier Orjuela-Castro and Wilson Adarme-Jaimes

System Dynamics Modelling of Photovoltaic Power Generation

Investment Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Lindsay Alvarez-Pomar, Edward Ricaurte-Montoya,
and Ernesto Gomez-Vargas

A Goal-Seeking System Dynamics Methodology for Hospital Bed

Capacity Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Sebastián Jaén

Dynamic Performance of the Agricultural Sector Under Conditions

of Climate Change and Armed Post-conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Olga Rosana Romero, Gerard Olivar, and Carmine Bianchi

Mathematical Modeling and Computational Simulation of the Diffusive

Behavior of Adenocarcinoma Biomarker Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Esteban Vallejo, Gustavo Suárez, William Torres, and Adolfo Uribe

Langmuir–Hinshelwood Mechanism Implemented in FPGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Luis Alejandro Caycedo Villalobos

Modeling the Traceability and Recovery Processes in the Closed-Loop

Supply Chain and Their Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Milton M. Herrera, Lorena Vargas, and Daly Contento

A Markov-Monte Carlo Simulation Model to Support Urban Planning

Decisions: A Case Study for Medellín, Colombia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Julián Andrés Castillo, Yony Fernando Ceballos,
and Elena Valentina Gutiérrez

A Coalitional Game for Achieving Emergent Cooperation in Ad Hoc

Networks Through Sympathy and Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Julian F. Latorre, Juan Pablo Ospina, and Jorge E. Ortiz

Supporting the Natural Gas Supply Chain Public Policies Through

Simulation Methods: A Dynamic Performance Management Approach . . . . . 363
Mauricio Becerra Fernández, Elsa Cristina González La Rotta,
Federico Cosenz, and Isaac Dyner Rezonzew
XIV Contents – Part I

Modelling Collaborative Logistics Policies that Impact the Performance

of the Agricultural Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Olga Rosana Romero, Gerard Olivar, and Carmine Bianchi

Software Engineering

Linear Temporal Logic Applied to Component-Based Software

Architectural Models Specified Through qarq Calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Oscar Javier Puentes and Henry Alberto Diosa

Design of App Based on Hl7 and IoT for Assistance PHD

Health Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
Sabrina Suárez Arrieta, Octavio José Salcedo Parra,
and Alberto Acosta López

NeuroEHR: Open Source Telehealth System for the Management

of Clinical Data, EEG and Remote Diagnosis of Epilepsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Edward Molina, Ricardo Salazar-Cabrera, and Diego M. López

Approach of an Active Defense Protocol to Deal with RAT Malware:

A Colombian Case Study Against njRAT Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Fernando Quintero, Eduardo Chavarro, Giovanni Cruz,
and Carlos Fernández

Towards a Computational Tool to Facilitate the Scheduling

of Elective Surgeries in a Healthcare Institution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
Carolina Saavedra-Moreno, Fabián Castaño, Luis Corredor,
and Andrés García-León

Design and Implementation of a Modular Optical System of Perimeter

Activity Detection for Military Posts of the Colombian National
Army - Phanton Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Fabian Garay, Sebastián Puerto, Jose Jiménez, and Jorge Rodríguez

A Programming Model for Decentralised Data Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Joaquín F. Sánchez, Jorge A. Quiñones, and Juan M. Corredor

Fighting Adversarial Attacks on Online Abusive Language Moderation . . . . . 480

Nestor Rodriguez and Sergio Rojas-Galeano

Power and Energy Applications

Simulation of a 14 Node IEEE System with Distributed Generation

Using Quasi-dynamic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Luis Felipe Gaitan, Juan David Gómez, and Edwin Rivas Trujillo
 Contents – Part I XV

Computational Tool for Simulation and Automatic Testing

of a Single-Phase Cascaded Multilevel Inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
Oswaldo Lopez-Santos, Julián R. Corredor, and Diego F. Salazar

Analysis of Exact Electrode Positioning Systems for Multichannel-EEG . . . . 523

Mónica Rodríguez-Calvache, Andrés Calle, Sara Valderrama,
Isabel Arango López, and José David López

The Impact of Residential Demand Response in the Active Power

Balance of an Isolated Microgrid: A Case of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Dahiana López-García, Adriana Arango-Manrique,
and Sandra X. Carvajal-Quintero

Event-Triggered Digital Implementation of MPPT for Integration

of PV Generators in DC Buses of Microgrids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
Oswaldo Lopez-Santos, María Merchán-Riveros, and Germain Garcia

Integration of Distributed Generation in Demand Response Programs:

Study Case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
Luis A. Arias, Edwin Rivas, Francisco Santamaria,
and Andres D. Quevedo

Adaptive Sampling Frequency Synchronized Reference Generator

for Grid Connected Power Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Oswaldo Lopez-Santos, Sebastián Tilaguy-Lezama, and Germain Garcia

Software Assisted Energy Efficient and Flexible WDM-PON

Access Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Luis Albarracín, Imene Sekkiou, Beatriz Ortega, Francisco Chicharro,
José Mora, and Gustavo Puerto

Real-Time Frequency-Decoupling Control for a Hybrid Energy Storage

System in an Active Parallel Topology Connected to a Residential
Microgrid with Intermittent Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Alexander Narvaez, Camilo Cortes, and Cesar Trujillo

Analysis of Control Sensitivity Functions for Power System

Frequency Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Julian Patiño, José David López, and Jairo Espinosa

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

 Contents – Part II

Green Logistics and Optimization

Optimal Location of Protective Devices Using Multi-objective Approach . . . . 3

Oscar D. Montoya, Ricardo A. Hincapie, and Mauricio Granada

Adaptive Energy Management System for Self-consumption

in Productive Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Jorge Barrientos, José David López, and Felipe Valencia

A Traffic Flows Scheme for User-BS Association in Green HetNets . . . . . . . 28

Luis A. Fletscher, José M. Maestre, and Catalina Valencia Peroni

Logistics IRP Model for the Supply Chain of Perishable Food . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Javier Arturo Orjuela-Castro, Diego Batero-Manso,
and Juan Pablo Orejuela-Cabrera

A Mathematical Model Under Uncertainty for Optimizing Medicine

Logistics in Hospitals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Carlos Franco, Eduyn Ramiro López-Santana,
and Juan Carlos Figueroa-García

Hybrid PSO-TS-CHR Algorithm Applied to the Vehicle Routing Problem

for Multiple Perishable Products Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Jesus David Galarcio Noguera, Helman Enrique Hernández Riaño,
and Jorge Mario López Pereira

Districting Decisions in Home Health Care Services: Modeling

and Case Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Sebastian Cortés, Elena Valentina Gutiérrez, Juan D. Palacio,
and Juan G. Villegas

Modeling Strategy for Supply Chain Design Considering Multiple Periods

and Backlogging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
César Amilcar López Bello, William J. Guerrero,
and José Ignacio Rodríguez Molano

A Metaheuristic Approach for the Cumulative Capacitated

Arc Routing Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Sergio Andrés Lenis and Juan Carlos Rivera

A Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Model for a Selective Vehicle

Routing Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Andrea Posada, Juan Carlos Rivera, and Juan D. Palacio
XVIII Contents – Part II

Internet of Things (IoT)

Voltage Quality in Distribution Systems for Smart Cities Using

Energy Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Alvaro Espinel and Adriana Marcela Vega

Failures Monitoring in Refrigeration Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Oscar de Jesús Ballestas Ortega and José Luis Villa

From SDL Modeling to WSN Simulation for IoT Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Andres Felipe Fuentes Vasquez and Eugenio Tamura

Design and Implementation of a Laboratory Sample Collection System

Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Edgar Krejci Garzon, Yesid Diaz Gutiérrez,
Manuel Alberto Salgado Alba, and Fernando Agusto Celis Florez

Internet of Things Proposal for Measuring Wind Variables in a Smart Home

Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Jairo Fernando Gutiérrez, Alvaro David Orjuela-Cañón,
and Juan Mauricio Garcia

Design of Urban Mobility Services for an Intermediate City

in a Developing Country, Based on an Intelligent Transportation
System Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Ricardo Salazar-Cabrera and Álvaro Pachón de la Cruz

Development of a WEB Prototype Based on JSON and REST Technology

to Manage Progress in the Physical and Psychological Rehabilitation
of People with Cognitive Disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
William Ruiz Martínez, Roberto Ferro Escobar, and Yesid Díaz

Automated Epileptic Seizure Detection System Based on a Wearable

Prototype and Cloud Computing to Assist People with Epilepsy . . . . . . . . . . 204
Nicolas Escobar Cruz, Jhon Solarte, and Andres Gonzalez-Vargas

Modeling and Implementation Data Architecture for the Internet

of Things and Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
José Ignacio Rodríguez-Molano, Cesar Amilcar López-Bello,
and Leonardo Emiro Contreras-Bravo

Automatic Intelligibility Assessment of Parkinson’s Disease with

Diadochokinetic Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
L. Felipe Parra-Gallego, Tomás Arias-Vergara,
Juan Camilo Vásquez-Correa, Nicanor Garcia-Ospina,
Juan Rafael Orozco-Arroyave, and Elmar Nöth
 Contents – Part II XIX

Modeling and Simulation of Integration of Internet of Things

and Manufacturing Industry 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
José Ignacio Rodríguez-Molano, Jenny Alexandra Triana-Casallas,
and Leonardo Emiro Contreras-Bravo

Digital Signal Processing (DSP)

Continuous Wavelet Transform for Muscle Activity Detection in Surface

EMG Signals During Swallowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Sebastian Roldan-Vasco, Estefania Perez-Giraldo,
and Andres Orozco-Duque

Hyperthermia Study in Breast Cancer Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Hector Fabian Guarnizo Mendez, Mauricio Andrés Polochè Arango,
and John Jairo Pantoja Acosta

A Non-linear Dynamics Approach to Classify Gait Signals of Patients

with Parkinson’s Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Paula Andrea Pérez-Toro, Juan Camilo Vásquez-Correa,
Tomas Arias-Vergara, Nicanor Garcia-Ospina,
Juan Rafael Orozco-Arroyave, and Elmar Nöth

Changes in Electrocardiographic Signals During Training in Laparoscopic

Surgery Simulator: A Preliminary Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Jazmín Ximena Suárez-Revelo, Any Ruiz-Duque, Juan Pablo Toro,
Ana María Mejía-Bueno, and Alher Mauricio Hernández-Valdivieso

Validation of EEG Pre-processing Pipeline by Test-Retest Reliability . . . . . . 290

Jazmín Ximena Suárez-Revelo, John Fredy Ochoa-Gómez,
and Carlos Andrés Tobón-Quintero

Bioacoustic Signals Denoising Using the Undecimated Discrete

Wavelet Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Alejandro Gómez, Juan P. Ugarte, and Diego Mauricio Murillo Gómez

Automatic Calculation of Body Mass Index Using Digital

Image Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Juan D. J. Amador, Josué Espejel Cabrera, Jared Cervantes,
Laura D. Jalili, and José S. Ruiz Castilla

Network Applications

Improving Early Attack Detection in Networks with sFlow and SDN . . . . . . 323
Alexander Leal, Juan Felipe Botero, and Eduardo Jacob
XX Contents – Part II

Design and Implementation of a Controlled and Monitored Multipurpose

Exploratory Device Through a Wi-Fi Connection Using MatchPort . . . . . . . . 336
Arnaldo Andres González, Luis Eduardo Pallares,
Roberto Ferro Escobar, and Jorge Enrique Portella

A Fast Reliability Analysis Approach for Colombian Natural

Gas Subnetworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Wilson González-Vanegas, Andrés Álvarez-Meza,
and Álvaro Orozco-Gutiérrez

Implementation of the AODV Routing Protocol for Message Notification in

a Wireless Sensor Microgrid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Elvis Gaona-García, Sergio Palechor-Mopán, Laura Murcia-Sierra,
and Paulo Gaona-García

SNMP Converter and the Forward Data Collection as Management Method

in Dynamic Distributed Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Mauricio Tamayo, Henry Zarate, and Jorge Ortíz Triviño

Miscellaneous Applications

How Does the Toolbox Choice Affect ERP Analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Andrés Quintero-Zea, Mónica Rodríguez, María Isabel Cano,
Karen Melisa Pava, Manuela Suaza, Natalia Trujillo,
and José David López

A Test Bed to Measure Transverse Deflection of a Flexible

Link Manipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Cecilia Murrugarra, Osberth De Castro, and Angel Terrones

Work of Breathing Dynamics Under Changes of PEEP and Pressure

Support in Non-invasive Mechanical Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
Yessika María Ortega, Isabel Cristina Muñoz,
and Alher Mauricio Hernández

Design and Implementation of a Sliding Mode Observer-Based Controller

for a Mass-Spring System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Carlos M. Florez R., Hector Botero Castro,
and Esteban Jiménez-Rodríguez

Design of a Device for Recording Bioelectric Signals with Surface

Electrodes, in the Evaluation of the Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation
on a Tissue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Fabian Garay, Aura Hernández, Hans López, Helber Barbosa,
and Bibiana Vallejo
 Contents – Part II XXI

Bioinformatics Approach to Analyze Influenza Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Karina Salvatierra and Hector Florez

3D Object Pose Estimation for Robotic Packing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

C. H. Rodriguez-Garavito, Guillermo Camacho-Munoz,
David Álvarez-Martínez, Karol Viviana Cardenas, David Mateo Rojas,
and Andrés Grimaldos

Development of a Line-Follower Robot for Robotic Competition Purposes. . . 464

Harold Murcia, Juan David Valenciano, and Yeison Tapiero

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Computational Intelligence
 Optimization Under Fuzzy Constraints:
From a Heuristic Algorithm to an
Algorithm that Always Converges

Vladik Kreinovich1 and Juan Carlos Figueroa-Garcı́a2(B)

1
University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
vladik@utep.edu
2
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá D.C., Colombia
jcfigueroag@udistrital.edu.co
http://www.cs.utep.edu/vladik

Abstract. An efficient iterative heuristic algorithm has been used to

implement Bellman-Zadeh solution to the problem of optimization under
fuzzy constraints. In this paper, we analyze this algorithm, explain why it
works, show that there are cases when this algorithm does not converge,
and propose a modification that always converges.

Keywords: Optimization · Fuzzy constraints

Bellmna-Zadeh approach · Convergence

1 Formulation of the Problem

Need to Select the Best Alternative. In many practical situations, we want
to select the best of the possible alternatives x.
To use mathematical and computational techniques in solving such problems,
we need describe this problem in precise terms. For this, we need to describe what
is meant by “the best”, and what is meant by “possible alternatives”.
What Does “The Best” Means. “The best” can usually be described in
numerical form: we have an objective function f (x) such that the larger the
value of this function, the better the alternative. For example, in economics
problems, we want to maximize profit.
In some cases, the better alternative corresponds to the smallest value of
the corresponding function g(x). For example, in economics, we may want to
minimize the cost g(x). In transportation problems, we may want to minimize
travel time g(x). Such problems can be easily reformulated in the maximization
def
terms if we take f (x) = −g(x).
The Objective Function Is Usually Continuous, Even Smooth. Tiny
changes in the selected alternative usually do not change the output much, so
This work was supported in part by US National Science Foundation grant HRD-
1242122 (Cyber-ShARE Center).
c Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018
J. C. Figueroa-Garcı́a et al. (Eds.): WEA 2018, CCIS 915, pp. 3–16, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00350-0_1
4 V. Kreinovich and J. C. Figueroa-Garcı́a

we expect that the values of the objective function f (x) should not change
much either. Thus, we expect the objective function to be continuous – or, if
we interpret “not much” as bounded by a certain constant times Δx, as Lips-
chitz continuous, and thus, as differentiable almost everywhere. In practice, the
objective function is usually smooth.
Which Alternatives Are Possible? An alternative is possible if it satisfies
certain constraints. Usually, these constraints are equalities gi (x) = 0 or inequal-
ities hj (x) ≥ 0. For example, in chemical manufacturing, constraints are that
the number of potential pollutants p(x) released into the environment does not
exceed some threshold t: p(x) ≤ t. This constraint can be described as h1 (x) ≥ 0,
def
where h1 (x) = t − p(x).
In principle, we can have more general constraints. Let us denote the set of all
possible alternatives – i.e., of all the alternatives that satisfy all the constraints
– by S ⊂ RN for an appropriate N .
It Is Reasonable to Assume that Constraints Describe a Closed Set.
Selecting an alternative means selecting the parameters that describe this alter-
native. For example, in control applications, we select the values of the control
parameters. For a car, we can select the acceleration and the torque, etc.
In practice, we can set up the desired values only with some accuracy – and
we can only measure how well we have set them with some accuracy. As a result,
if we have a sequence of possible alternative x1 , x2 , . . . that converges to a limit
alternative x, then, for any desired implementation and/or measuring accuracy
ε > 0, there is a possible state xn which is ε-close to x and is, thus, practically
indistinguishable from the alternative x. Since we cannot distinguish the limit
alternative x from possible alternatives, no matter how much we increase our
accuracy, it makes sense to assume that the limit alternative x is also possible.
Under this assumption, the set S of all possible alternatives has the property
that is xi ∈ S for all i and xi → x, then x ∈ S. In mathematical terms, this
means that the set S is closed.
Comment. This closeness assumption is the main reason why in traditional opti-
mization problems, we consider constraints of the non-strict inequality type
hj (x) ≥ 0 but not constraints of the strict inequality type hj (x) > 0. Indeed,
non-strict inequalities are preserved in the limit, while strict inequalities are not
necessarily preserved: e.g., 2−i > 0, 2−i → 0, but 0 > 0.
In Practice, the Set of Possible Alternatives Is Always Bounded. In
practice, the values of all the quantities are bounded. For example, the speeds
are limited by the speed of light, the distances for Earth travel are bounded by
the Earth’s size, accelerations are bounded by our technical abilities, etc. Thus,
in practice, the set S of possible alternatives is always bounded.
Mathematical Conclusion: The Set of Possible Alternatives Is a Com-
pact Set. Since the set S is closed and bounded, it is a compact set. This means,
in particular, that for every continuous function F (x) on this set, there exists
 Optimization Under Fuzzy Uncertainty 5

an alternative xopt at which this function attains its maximum, i.e., at which
F (xopt ) = max F (x).
x∈S

Resulting Formulation: Optimization Under Constraints. Thus, the

above practical problem takes the following form: maximize the objective func-
tion f (x) under the constraint that g1 (x) = 0, . . . , gm (x) = 0, h1 (x) ≥ 0, . . . ,
hm (x) ≥ 0 (or, more generally, that x ∈ S for some compact set S).
Since the set S of possible alternatives is compact, for continuous objective
functions f (x), there is always an alternative xopt that solves this problem.
Algorithms for Optimization Under Constraints. There exist many effi-
cient algorithms for optimization under constraints; see, e.g., [9].
The most well-known methods are based on Lagrange multiplier techniques,
according to which maximizing a function f (x) under the constraints g1 (x) = 0,
. . . , gm (x) = 0 can be reduced to the unconstrained problem of maximizing the
auxiliary function

f (x) + λ1 · g1 (x) + . . . + λm · gm (x),

where the auxiliary constants λi (known as Lagrange multipliers) can be deter-

mined by the condition that the resulting solution x satisfies all m equality
constraints gi (x) = 0, 1 ≤ i ≤ m.
Thus, equality-type constraint optimization problem can be reduced to an
unconstraint optimization problem, and for such problems, many efficient opti-
mization algorithms are known; see, e.g., [9].
If some of the constraints are inequalities, then the constrained maximum is
attained when some of them are equalities, and some are not. In this case, we
need to consider all 2n possible subsets I ⊆ {1, . . . , n}, and for each of these
subsets, look for local maxima of the auxiliary function
m
 
f (x) + λi (x) · gi (x) + λj · hj (x).
i=1 j∈I

For each I, we select the coefficients λi and λj from the condition that gi (x) = 0
for all i and hj (x) = 0 for all j ∈ I; then, we check that hj (x) > 0 for all j ∈ I.
This procedure leads to several different possible maxima x; out of them, we
select the one for which the value of the objective function f (x) is the largest.
Need for Imprecise (“Fuzzy”) Constraints. In many practical situations,
constraints are imprecise. For example, when we select a hotel, we want it to
be “comfortable” and/or “not very expensive”. These are not precise terms: in
many cases, we are not 100% sure what “not very expensive” means.
Fuzzy Logic: A Way to Describe Imprecise (“Fuzzy”) Constraints. Sit-
uations where we have information described in such imprecise (“fuzzy”) natural-
language terms are ubiquitous. To take this imprecise information into account
when using computers, it is necessary to describe this information in precise
6 V. Kreinovich and J. C. Figueroa-Garcı́a

terms. Such a description was proposed by Lotfi Zadeh and is now known as
fuzzy logic; see, e.g., [2,4,7,8,10,11].
The main idea behind fuzzy logic is that to describe an imprecise property
like “not very expensive”, we ask an expert, for each possible value of the cor-
responding quantity q (i.e., of the hotel daily rate) describe, on a scale from
0 to 1, the degree to which this amount is, in the opinion of this expert, not
very expensive. For example, for a hotel in El Paso, Texas, a daily rate of $140
would definitely not satisfy this property, so we assign degree 0. The daily rate
of $35 would definitely satisfy this property, so we assign degree 1. For some
intermediate values like $80, we will assign intermediate degrees.
Instead of using the scale from 0 to 1, we can alternatively use a scale, e.g.,
from 0 to 10, and then divide the result by 10. For example, if an expert estimates
his/her degree as 7 on a scale from 0 to 10, we get the degree 7/10 = 0.7.
As a result, as a description of the desired imprecise property, we get a
function that assigns, to each possible value q of this quantity, the degree μ(q)
to which this value satisfies this property. This function is known as a membership
function, or, alternatively, as a fuzzy set.
Tiny changes in x usually only slightly change the degree to which x is
possible. So, similarly to our conclusion that the objective function be continuous
and even smooth, we conclude that the membership function should also be
continuous – and, if possible, smooth.
“And”-Operations. In most practical situations, we have several different con-
straints that describe different quantities. For example, when selecting a hotel,
we want a hotel which is not very expensive (which is a limitation on the daily
rate), not very noisy (which is a restriction on noise level), not too far from the
city center (which is a restriction on the distance), etc.
By using the above procedure, we can find, for each of the related quantities,
the degree to which the given value of this quantity satisfies the corresponding
constraint. But what we are interested in is the degree to which the hotel as a
whole satisfies all these properties, i.e., the degree to which the hotel is not very
expensive and not very noisy and not too far from the city center, etc. How can
we find this degree?
Theoretically, we could use the same procedure as above and ask the expert’s
opinion about all possible combinations of the corresponding quantities. How-
ever, the number of such combinations grows exponentially with the number of
quantities, and even for reasonable number of quantities, becomes astronomi-
cally large. It is therefore not practically possible to ask for expert’s opinion
about all these combinations.
Thus, we need to be able to estimate the degree to which an “and”-
combination A & B is satisfied if we know to what extent A and B are satisfied.
In other words, we need to be able, given the degree a to which A is satisfied and
the degree b to which b is satisfied, to come up with an estimate for the degree
to which the combination A & B is satisfied. This estimate is usually denoted by
f& (a, b), and the corresponding function f& is known as an “and”-operation, or,
for historical reasons, a t-norm.
 Optimization Under Fuzzy Uncertainty 7

This operation must satisfy several reasonable conditions. For example, since
A & B means the same as B & A, it is reasonable to require that the estimates
for these two combinations are the same, i.e., that f& (a, b) = f& (b, a). In math-
ematical terms, this means that the “and”-operations be commutative.
Similarly, since A & (B & C) means the same as (A & B) & C, we expect that
the corresponding estimates are equal, i.e., that f& (a, f& (b, c)) = f& (f& (a, b), c).
In other words, the “and”-operations must be associative.
The degree to which we believe that A & B holds cannot exceed the degree
to which A or B holds, so we must have f& (a, b) ≤ a and f& (a, b) ≤ b.
If our degree of belief in A and/or in B increases, then the degree of belief in
A & B will either increase or remain the same. So, the “and”-operation should
be monotonic: if a ≤ a and b ≤ b , then f& (a, b) ≤ f& (a , b ).
It is also reasonable, since A & A means the same as A, to require that
f& (a, a) = a for all a. It turns out that the only “and”-operation that satis-
fies all these properties is the minimum f& (a, b) = min(a, b).

Proposition 1. Let f& (a, b) be a function from [0, 1]×[0, 1] to [0, 1] that satisfies
the following properties:

– it is monotonic, i.e., a ≤ a and b ≤ b imply f& (a, b) ≤ f& (a , b );

– it is idempotent, i.e., f& (a, a) = a for all a, and
– it satisfies the inequalities f& (a, b) ≤ a and f& (a, b) ≤ b for all a and b.

Then, f& (a, b) = min(a, b) for all a and b.

Comments.

– All the proofs are places in a special (last) proofs section.

– Please note that this result does not require that f& be commutative and/or
associative.
– Minimum is indeed one of the most widely use “and”-operations.

Fuzzy Constraints. After applying the appropriate “and”-operation to con-

straints describing individual quantities, we get a membership function (fuzzy
set) μ(x) that describes, for each alternative x, to what extend this alterna-
tive satisfies all the given constraints, i.e., to what extent this alternative x is
possible.
Alpha-Cuts: An Alternative Way of Describing Fuzzy Sets. Instead of a
membership function μ(x), we can describe the same imprecise information if we
def
describe, for each α ∈ (0, 1], the set Sα = {x : μ(x) ≥ α} of all the alternatives
for which the expert’s degree of confidence that x is possible is at least α. Such
sets are known as alpha-cuts.
Once we know all the α-cuts, we can uniquely reconstruct the membership
function: namely, one can easily prove that for every x, μ(x) is the largest α for
which x ∈ Sα .
8 V. Kreinovich and J. C. Figueroa-Garcı́a

Alpha-Cuts Are Usually Closed and Compact. Since the membership

functions are continuous, alpha-cuts are closed sets; since the set of possible
alternatives is bounded, each α-cut is a compact set.
Additional Natural Property. Similar to our arguments that f (x) and μ(x)
be continuous, it is also reasonable to assume that the set Sα to also continuously
depend on α – e.g., in terms of the usual Hausdorff metric
 
  
dH (S, S ) = max max d(s, S ), max 
d(s , S) ,
s∈S s ∈S

where the distance d(s , S) between an element s and a set S is defined in the
def
usual way d(s , S) = min d(s , s). This is true for many known membership
s∈S
functions.
Optimization Under Fuzzy Constraints: Bellman-Zadeh Formulation
of the Problem. Intuitively, it makes sense to say that the desired alternative
should be optimal and satisfy all the constraints. For example, when we look for
a hotel which is the cheapest among all the hotel which are not too far away
from the city center, what we are really meaning is that we are looking for a
hotel which is cheap and not too far away from the city center.
To describe this idea in precise terms, we need to be able to describe, for
each alternative x, the degree μopt (x) to what extent this alternative is optimal.
The corresponding degree depends on the value of the objective function f (x),
i.e., we must have μopt (x) = F (f (x)) for some function F (x).
def
When the value f (x) is the smallest possible, i.e., when f (x) = m =
min f (x), where X is the set of all alternatives, then this degree is 0: μopt (x) = 0.
x∈X
In other words, we must have F (m) = 0.
Similarly, when the value f (x) is the largest possible, i.e., when f (x) =
def
M = max f (x), then this degree is 1: μopt (x) = 1. In other words, we must have
x∈X
F (M ) = 1.
It is reasonable to use the simplest linear interpolation to find the values
f (x) − m
F (f (x)) for f (x) ∈ (m, M ). Thus, we get μopt (x) = . The degree to
M −m
which the alternative x is optimal and satisfies the constraints can be obtained
by applying the corresponding “and”-operation (which we agreed to be min) and
is, thus, equal to  
def f (x) − m
J(x) = min , μ(x) . (1)
M −m
We should select the alternative for which this degree of satisfaction is the
largest, i.e., we should select the alternative for which J(x) attains the largest
possible value.
This formulation was proposed by Zadeh and Bellman in 1970 and is thus
known as Bellman-Zadeh approach to optimization under fuzzy constraints [1];
see also [5,6].
 Optimization Under Fuzzy Uncertainty 9

Comment. Since both the original objective function f (x) and the membership
function μ(x) are continuous, the function J(x) is also continuous. Due to the
fact that the set of all possible alternatives S is a compact set, there always exists
an alternative at which the new objective function J(x) attains its maximum.
Thus, the Bellman-Zadeh formulation always leads to a solution.
Bellman-Zadeh Approach: Need for New Algorithms. At first glance, the
situation is good: we have reduced the original practical problem to the problem
of unconstrained optimization, and for this problem, as we have mentioned, there
are many efficient algorithms.
However, from the computational viewpoint, the situation is not so good:
most efficient optimization algorithms require that the objective function be
smooth (everywhere differentiable), and the expression J(x) is not differentiable
– even when the original objective function f (x) and the membership func-
tion μ(x) describing constraints is differentiable. This is because the function
min(a, b) is not differentiable when a = b.
For non-smooth functions, optimization algorithms are not that efficient;
thus, it is desirable to design new efficient algorithm for solving the corresponding
problem.
A Known Heuristic Algorithm. A heuristic iterative algorithm for opti-
mization under fuzzy constraints is known. This algorithm assumes that we can
efficiently solve the corresponding crisp optimization problems. Specifically, we
assume that for every α, we can efficiently maximize f (x) under the constraint
x ∈ Sα , where Sα is the α-cut of the fuzzy constraint set μ(x).
In this algorithm, we start with an arbitrary value α0 ∈ (0, 1), and then
compute the values α1 , α2 , . . . as follows. Once we have the value αk , we:

– solve the corresponding constraint optimization problem, i.e., find the maxi-
mum Mk of the original objective function f (x) under the constraint x ∈ Sαk
(and find the value xk at which this maximum is attained); and
def Mk − m
– then compute αk+1 = .
M −m
We stop when the difference between the two consecutive values of αk becomes
sufficiently small, i.e., when |αk+1 − αk | ≤ ε for some pre-determined stopping
threshold ε > 0. In this case, we return the corresponding alternative xk as the
optimal one.
The main advantage of this heuristic algorithm comes from the fact that for
each α, the constraint x ∈ Sα has a traditional non-fuzzy form. For example, for
the inequality constraint of the type Hj (x) ≥ A for some fuzzy number A, the
α-cut usually has a form Hj (x) ≥ a for some crisp a, i.e., the form hj (x) ≥ 0,
def
where hj (x) = Hj (x)−a. Thus, to find xk , we can use known and well-developed
efficient algorithms for traditional (non-fuzzy) constraint optimization.
Results of Testing this Algorithm. In [3], one of the authors applied this
heuristic algorithm to several different instances of optimization under fuzzy
constraints. In all these instances, no matter what the initial value α0 we selected,
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difficulties, and wish to try a new place. We have met many upon the road,
who have nearly equalled the old woman on the prairie, who had begun the
world seven times.
The other female passenger was a young girl who had come down the
river in the boat, her home being on the prairie, back of Peru. She was a
pretty innocent country lassie about sixteen, travelling alone, on a visit to a
brother living on the river, whose wife was ill and required her services. Her
travelling dress was a muslin striped with pink; and her hat one of that
description we call Dutch bonnets, made of pasteboard covered with pink
glazed gingham. She was rejoiced to examine my wardrobe, and cut new
patterns, as she lives far from the haunts of men and mantua-makers. My
Mosaic brooch pleased her much, and she asked me if I had bought it of the
pedlar who she heard had lately arrived in that part of the country with a lot
of new goods, and whom she was eager to see. I was obliged to say I had
not purchased it from that fashionable depositary. She then proposed to
show me her clothes; mine being new to her, she supposed her’s must be
new and desirable to me. At her request the chamber-maid drew from the
state-room a huge chest of black walnut, which she opened, and, among
other things, displayed a pretty straw bonnet trimmed with gay ribbons and
flowers. That was her Sunday bonnet. She also drew forth a topaz pin which
had reached here in a pedlar’s cart, and was a present to her by her brother.
‘This pin has lasted wonderfully,’ she said, ‘considering how much it has
been borrowed. At every dance or party when I do not go, some of the girls
borrow and wear it. It has been lent for ten miles around.’ This young lady
had been brought when quite young, by her family, from Ohio, whence they
emigrated here. They had all suffered much from the fever and ague, but
were now acclimated, or rather had corrected the causes of their agues, and
she had become fat and rosy. I have remarked in several instances, that the
children born here, or brought here young, grow up strong and ruddy, and
their parents suffer the most. It is only the first generation who lose their
health, as the land improves and diseases vanish about their homes by the
time their children are grown. This family live upon a large and productive
farm which yields, among other things, according to her account, four
hundred bushels of peaches. In the season of this delicious fruit her mother
gives a peach feast, inviting all their friends and acquaintances, who, after
eating as much as they like, carry away each a basket full. Her family sell
several barrels of dried peaches every year.
 Twelve miles below Peoria we stopped at the town of Pekin, built upon a
bank elevated fifteen feet above the water during high tide; but now, all
these places are much higher. The captain told us he should be here some
time taking in merchandize, and we employed the interval in seeing the
lions of the town. I told the little country girl our intention. ‘Lions!’ she
said, ‘I guess you mean wolves; there are no lions in these parts.’
Pekin is a small place and only contains eight or nine hundred
inhabitants, and five or six streets. The shops seemed well filled with goods,
and presented a goodly show of tin, iron-ware, dry-goods, crockery,
provisions, etc. I purchased a green gauze veil here and several small
articles, all of which I found much more expensive than in our Atlantic
shops, freight being high on the Mississippi. In paying for them I found a
new currency here, my shillings and sixpences being transformed into bits
and pics or picayunes. The Pekin Express lay upon the counter which we
amused ourselves looking over while waiting for change. The person who
kept the shop turned out to be the oldest inhabitant of the place, that
important personage who, in a storm, always determines if there has been
ever a greater one or no. He might very well be the oldest, as the town is but
ten years in existence. ‘Pekin,’ he said, ‘would have been ere this far ahead
of any town upon the river, were it not that there were two parties among
the commissioners who were to lay it out; these pulling different ways the
town was nearly lost between them. The rich country behind, and the river
in front, had befriended them, and they soon expected to have their branch
of the railroad finished to Mackinaw river, whose water power and timber
bluffs were very valuable.’ We remarked as we walked, a large hotel nearly
finished; a presbyterian, methodist, and several other meeting-houses; office
of the ‘Tazewell Telegraph’; academy, and some dwellings. We lay here
four hours with a hot sun reflecting from the sandy bank, impatiently
watching the barrels of flour which seemed as they would never cease
rolling from the large store-house upon the bank, down to our vessel. These
barrels are from the steam flour mills, which turn out two hundred barrels a
day. Beside these, we took in a hundred sacks of corn, and some other
merchandize. The captain seemed well pleased with his morning’s work,
saying he had a streak of luck that day. Three miles below this he had
another ‘streak.’ At the mouth of Mackinaw river scows were waiting him,
loaded with bundles of laths and staves, and long dark boards, which I took
for mahogany, but which proved to be black-walnut. The Mackinaw is a
clear stream, having rich bottom land, bounded by bluffs covered with
white oak and cedar. The prairies through which it flows, are rolling and
tolerable land with several mill seats.
The Illinois looked beautiful this afternoon. Its glassy waters scarcely
moved, and it seemed so content with its sweet resting place, and at the
silent admiration of those stately trees, which were sending their cool
flickering shadows over her and gazing down at loveliness, that it would
fain linger upon its course, as some young languid beauty, conscious of a
graceful position which is winning admiring glances from every beholder.
Among the trees, beside the usual elm, oak and maple, we observed
several enormous wild cherry trees, nearly one hundred feet in height, and
at least fifteen feet in circumference, and the paw paw, the coffee nut, the
red ash, American nettle, a tall, slender tree, with pretty red berries, and
many unknown to us, or to those around us. The islands in this river are
small but covered with soft, luxurious herbage. The birds and wild fowl
were out, enjoying themselves, chattering, pluming their wings, and visiting
each other from tree to tree. Among the wild fowl, we observed teal and
brant, and wild ducks, skimming over the water, or wheeling in flocks over
our heads. One, apparently in a spirit of daring, would set out to cross our
path—leaving his little cove, he would glide with the utmost rapidity over
the river in front of us, leaving a silver line on the smooth surface of the
stream, and after we had passed, glide back, bobbing up and down upon the
waves in our wake. When he arrived at home, what a quacking and
chattering and fluttering was heard! In one little cove, or bayou, was a little
island, covered with rich grass, and shaded from the sun by the dense grove
whose branches met over it—this seemed to be quite a colony of ducks,
who were going and coming in rapid but graceful evolutions from the main
land. A young man who stood near us named the place Quackville, and
declared when he returned home he would publish a map, and sell off the
lots. We passed several towns to day, as Liverpool, Havanna, Beardstown—
the former a small settlement, but which its inhabitants intend to make
larger, as they have already a railroad in contemplation across the
Mississippi. Beardstown is a place of some importance. It is a county town,
and its commerce greater than any upon the river. Mechanics of all
descriptions are to be found here, as bakers, shoe makers, tailors,
blacksmiths, cabinet makers, silver smiths, carpenters, joiners, coopers,
painters &c. &c. see Peck. There are also here steam flour mills, saw mills,
breweries, distilleries, &c. A canal is projected here, to connect the Illinois
with the Wabash, (which divides the state of Illinois from Indiana,) by
means of the Sangamon and Vermillion forks. While passing these towns
one is surprised at their rapid growth, for when Schoolcraft rowed his canoe
up this river twenty years since, it was a wilderness only inhabited by
Indians. Opposite Havanna, the Spoon river enters the Illinois. Its Indian
name is Amequeon, which means ladle, and is much prettier than its present
name. It is one hundred and forty miles in length, navigable most of the
way, and capable of being cleared further. The soil is dry undulating prairie,
with considerable timber—and some of it upon the forks of the Spoon is the
richest in the state—its forks and tributaries affording good mill seats. It is
in the military bounty land, which commences just above it, and terminates
at the junction of the Illinois with the Mississippi, making a triangle of five
million three hundred and sixty thousand acres, about ninety miles along
the Illinois, and the base of the triangle, ninety miles across to the
Mississippi, near Quincy. This is appropriated by Congress to the soldiers
of the regular army in the war between the United States and Great Britain.
Two thirds of this land is prairie, and the rest timbered, crossed by a variety
of rivers and creeks. The soil is generally a black vegetable mould from
fifteen to thirty inches deep. Much of the best of this land has been bought
up by a company who have opened an office at Quincy, where they sell it
from three to ten dollars an acre, while other parts are sold at the price
government established for its lands all over the States, one dollar and
twenty-five cents an acre. Government has given to the State of Illinois
every other section. Sangamon river comes gliding down over its pebbly
floor, a pure transparent stream, between Liverpool and Havanna. It runs
through Sangamon county, of whose fertility, beautiful scenery, crowded
population, rich prairies, numerous streams, and valuable timber groves, we
have heard such flourishing accounts. By the way, I can never get
reconciled to the western custom of calling woods timber, woodland, or
groves, or forest, timberland. My young country girl, Maria, in relating an
interesting romantic event which had occurred in her region of country,
instead of speaking of a ramble in the woods said ‘we had gone to walk in
the timber.’ In this famed county is Springfield, the capital of the State. The
Sangamon river is one hundred and eighty miles long, and navigable nearly
to the capitol, seventy-five miles, by small steamboats. With a small
expense it can be cleared. We do not see the Illinois in all its grandeur, as
the water is low. It falls, our captain says, one and a half inches a day, and
has fallen eight feet since June. It will arise in the autumn, and when its
present channel is full overflows the bottom land to the bluffs. This makes
the river shore, unless very elevated, rather unhealthy, and consequently
uninhabited. Soon after passing the Sangamon, we stopped to take in wood,
and we embraced the opportunity to take a sunset stroll in the forest. A
small cottage embowered among woodpiles, inhabited by a woodman and
his family, were the only signs of human life we saw. These sylvan
solitudes however, are not without their denizens, for the birds were
skipping from bough to bough, the turtle were romantically reclining upon
the logs beside the water, the wild fowls, and the paroquets were chattering
in concert with the mocking bird. There the squirrel also

“Sits partly on a bough his brown nuts cracking,

And from the shell the sweet white kernel taking.”

Here however in these pretty nooks he sits undisturbed, for no boys

‘with crooks and bags’ can molest his quiet haunts. We enjoyed the deep
forest walk very much having been now so long cramped in a steamboat,
and wandered along among the stately beech and graceful linden, the black
walnut and locust, swung upon the festoons of the enormous vines which
hung down from the trees, and breathed with much satisfaction the perfume
from the dewy herbage, grape vine buds, and yellow jassamin which
climbed the boughs around us. The steamboat bell recalled us to the shore
in time to see a steamboat pass, being the second we had met this morning.
There is much travelling upon this river during the summer months. Our
captain told us he had made fifty-eight trips last year from St. Louis to Peru,
carrying ten thousand passengers. This seems a great number, but we are a
travelling people, and with the emigrants going west, it may be true. I am
chary of repeating things heard upon the road as I know my country people
delight in quizzing travellers. I have had some awful examples of this lately,
sufficient to make me cautious, in regard to certain tourists from abroad to
this country; and when told any thing dubious, remember the three miles of
roast pig; the drunken ladies of Boston; the piano with pantalets upon its
legs; the canvass bags to hold specie in times of bank troubles, etc. etc.
Pretty Maria’s travelling bonnet, which I described to you, also reminds me
of the misconceptions to which travellers are liable, who take a hasty glance
and go not to the best sources for information. As proof of the poverty of
the country, low style of dress and manners, an European traveller tells his
readers the richest ladies wear hats of their own manufacture, made of
pasteboard covered with calico or gingham. And so they do; but only to run
in the garden, or to a neighbor in the county, for you know we all, when in
the county, use these as garden hats, as they shelter the face so well from
the sun. I wish you could transport yourself here at this moment, and seat
yourself by me upon the hurricane deck, and see how perfectly the forest
shore is reflected upon the quiet polished Illinois. This stream cannot be
called a flowing one for it has scarcely any current, but reposes in its bed
with the tranquility of a lake. Now it lies in evening’s deep shadow, while,
as we look above, the topmost plumage is tipt with gold—this gradually
disappears,—darkness succeeds, except where one struggling moon-beam,
from the Indians Tibic geezis, night sun, streams down the long forest vista,
and lies like a silver ribbon across the river. I always go to bed with the
chickens while on board a steamboat, as a light attracts mosquetoes, and
here river fog forbids us to sit out of doors—so good night.

July 10.—Off Meredosia. This is a thriving town, built upon one of those
elevated terraces which occur frequently along the river as if on purpose to
raise the settlements above the damp alluvion, and to give them a pretty
effect. It is in a good situation to rise, as it is a sort of business port to
Jacksonville, to which a railroad of twenty-three miles is in operation; and
Morgan county, upon which it is situated, is a thickly peopled district,
having good timbered lands, mill streams, quarries of lime and free stone;
and is watered by many streams. Jacksonville is a large town where there
are several churches, a court house, mills and shops. The Quincy and
Danville railroad passes through Meredosia, to the Wabash river, two
hundred and twenty miles. Through this river, communication is held with
the lakes. Their exports are between two and three hundred thousand
dollars, and imports five hundred thousand dollars. Here we took in several
passengers. Six miles below Meredosia is Naples, a small collection of
shops and dwellings, situated upon a high bank. Upon one house, larger
than the rest, I read the name ‘Napoleon Coffee House.’ I looked around for
Vesuvious, but saw it not, nor any other Neopolitan traces. The names upon
this river are very ludicrous, and striking monuments of the want of taste in
those who bestowed them. One would imagine, from reading my last letter,
I had been travelling in seven league boats, or in a balloon, as I have
touched at Peru, Pekin, Havanna, Liverpool, Naples, Brussels, Rome, (part
in the night,) &c. While the Indian names are so pretty, why are they
neglected for such worn out European designations. Peoria, and Illinois, and
Ottowa are very pretty; Hennipen is very well, as given in honor of one of
the early discoverers of this county from France, and it might be thought a
debt of gratitude, but every pioneer has not so good a name, and if this
custom is followed, it saddles us with such names as already abound, viz: Jo
Davies’ County, Pike, Cook, Higgonbottom, Hancock, Buggsville,
Toddtown, Dodgeville. Moreover, the Indians were the first explorers, and
if any, they are entitled to this honor. To obviate this it has been proposed to
take something local, but unless persons of taste are consulted, we shall
hear of more Bigbonelicks, Bloodyruns, Mud Lakes or Crab Orchard’s. I
wish Congress would take the matter in hand, and form a committee of
nomanclature to name every new settlement.
We are constantly passing steamboats. In 1836, at Beardstown, there
were four hundred and fifty arrivals and departures, and at Naples their
account was the first year, 1828, nine; from March to June, 1832, one
hundred and eight, and now, of course all these figures must be doubled.
Among our passengers we have an old Kentucky woman, who has been
living several years upon this river. She was so rejoiced to see a slave again,
that soon she and Violette, our chambermaid, became quite intimate friends.
She frequently borrowed her pipe to have a comfortable smoke out upon the
guards, where, with Violette beside her, she would smoke and chat for
hours. A lady on board, who had lately become a convert to temperance
cause, was extremely offended at the sight of spirits upon the dining table.
Her husband argued for their use upon the ground of frequent impure water,
and fever and ague, from which the stomach is fortified. The wife, however,
was not convinced; when, in the midst of a high argument, our old woman
put her head in at the door, and taking out her pipe, after slowly puffing off
her smoke, uttered this oracular sentence: ‘For my part, I think there are lots
of gnats strained at, and lots of camels swallowed,’—and disappeared. The
husband left the argument for the card table, whence he arose sometime
after, grumbling at his losses, and galled by the discovery that the winner
was a well known black legg, whose practice was to live in steamboats
during summer, to fleece such silly sheep as himself. In the winter he
returned upon his laurels, to New Orleans or St. Louis, to revel upon his
winnings.
This morning we passed one of those machines employed by
government, during low water for the purpose of clearing away the
sandbars. It is a large wooden ark, worked by steam. A great shovel takes
up the mud, brings it up, and throws it into the scow at the other side which
is emptied upon the shores. The State has appropriated $100,000 to
improvements upon this river. There are several sandbars, and below
Ottowa ledges of sandstone which, if removed, would render the navigation
unimpeded at all seasons of the year quite to Ottowa, two hundred and ten
miles above the mouth of the river. We stopped so often to take in freight
and passengers, that we began to be fearful we should not reach the mouth
of the river and behold its junction with the stately Mississippi before dark
—however, ‘we came a good jog’ this morning, to use our old Kentucky
lady’s phrase, and now after tea we are sitting upon the guards watching for
it. We are continually passing streams which run into this river—Crooked
creek, comes down about one hundred miles through a very fertile region of
country with a soil of argillaceous mould from one to four feet deep.[20] Its
banks are lined with oak, maple, hickory, black walnut and much other
valuable timber. Bituminous coal, and free stone quarries are also found
there. Apple creek, at whose mouth is a small settlement; Macoupin creek,
its name taken from the Indian Maquapin, a water plant, whose smooth leaf
floats upon the bayous and lakes in this region; its esculent root, after being
baked under heated stones is a favorite food with the native tribes. There is
a settlement upon this last named stream commenced in eighteen hundred
and sixteen, which then was the most northern white settlement of Illinois.
The population of the State four years after, in eighteen hundred and twenty,
was fifty-five thousand two hundred and eleven, and now, eighteen hundred
and forty, it is four hundred and twenty three thousand nine hundred and
thirty four, a great increase in twenty years. We have now upon each hand,
the two last counties which border the Illinois. Green, on the east, contains
excellent land, well settled by eastern families, many from Vermont. It is
one of the richest portions of land in the State, traversed by fine water
courses and bounded by two large rivers,—containing beautiful prairies,
and excellent timber. In the cliffs which border the Mississippi on this
county, bituminous coal is found among the sandstone and limestone strata,
and crystal springs flow from their sides. Calhoun county on our right is the
southern point of the triangle containing the military bounty lands. The
point where the Mississippi and Illinois meet is low prairie subjected to
inundation and consequently unhealthy; coal has been found here, and the
large trees are famous for their honey. As we were near the mouth of the
river, and my little fellow voyager, Maria, had not yet landed, I asked her
how far we were from her brother’s residence. She said she had been
looking out for it, but every place had a different name from that of her
brother. I recommended her to ask the captain; he sent her word we had
passed it twenty miles back. Poor Maria seemed overwhelmed with
consternation. The town, we found upon enquiry, was in the interior, the
passengers landing at an old tree upon the shore and we all now
remembered a plain country-man, upon the bank who made numerous signs
to the steamboat, flourishing his arms frantically. Maria with the rest
supposed he was in jest, or a madman, but now remembered he was like her
brother, who must have seen her and motioned her to stop. Maria had
expected a town, and did not imagine that her stopping place. As our boat
was so uncertain in its movements the poor man must have spent the day
upon the shore, and was now doubtless very anxious about his young sister.
There was nothing for her to do now but stop in the steamboat at St. Louis
until its return trip. I felt sorry for the poor girl, only fifteen, and thus left to
the tender mercy of the world. We spoke to the captain and chambermaid,
who both promised to take charge of her and land her at her brothers when
he returned next week. The afternoon is beautiful; we are peeping up the
forest glades, as the channel runs near the shore, or inhaling the rich
perfume which the summer breeze shakes out from the trees. Suddenly the
forest is passed and we gaze over the low prairie which lies between the
two rivers, bounded by a line of round green hills which range across the
country. ‘The bluffs of the Mississippi!’ exclaimed my companion, ‘and we
soon shall see its famous waters.’ We hastened up to the hurricane deck,
and placed ourselves in a good situation for beholding the scenery; a little
excited at the thought of looking upon the grand and celebrated stream. The
Illinois flowed as straight and still as a canal, about four hundred yards
wide, we glided over its waters and soon found ourselves in a broad
majestic stream which came rolling down between a range of bluffs; here, a
mile broad, upon whose bosom some lonely islands stretched across from
the mouth of the Illinois. The view was delightful upon each side; the fair
plains of Missouri at our right, and upon the Illinois side, bold beautiful
cliffs, or green cone like hills, covered with a soft carpet of verdure, sinking
down upon the east side into lovely green dells. This style of hill is called
by the French, Mamelle. In one of these pretty nooks, nestled at the foot of
a bluff, is the town of Grafton, from whose balconies the inhabitants obtain
a fine view up the Mississippi. This town is only a few years old, but
expects soon to rival Alton, as most of the travelling from the interior to the
Missouri towns opposite, is through it. It has already laid out upon paper a
railroad to Springfield, the capitol. The rapid tide of the ‘father of waters,’
presented a great contrast to the languid Illinois. The color is brown, but of
a different tint from the Illinois, being a dark coffee brown, but clear and
sparkling. We looked a last farewell to the fair Illinois, upon whose banks,
or on whose water we had travelled for four days and four nights, a distance
of nearly four hundred and fifty miles, if we include the Des Plaines. The
loveliness of the scenery all this distance merits the encomiums made upon
it by the early French writers. This was a favorite river with the French, and
La Salle, Charlevoix, and Marquette, describe the beauty of its shores in
glowing terms.
The bluffs upon the Illinois shore, as we descend the Mississippi,
become more bare and precipitous, and have a waterworn appearance as if
the water had once flowed along their summits. The regular stratification of
the sandstone and limestone of these cliffs, present the appearance of mason
work, crowning the heights with castellated resemblances, so that we might
imagine we were passing beneath some mountain fastness, with its
frowning walls, dungeon keep, and warder’s tower. Occasionally masses of
white limestone are strewed along the shore, or grouped upon the green
sloping bank, as if some large city had there arisen upon the river’s side.
Turning a sharp angle of one of those bluffs we found ourselves before a
large imposing looking town, built upon the bank of the river, which came
sloping down from the bluffs behind. This we learned was Alton. While our
crew were mooring our boat upon the steep bank, we gazed with great
curiosity and interest upon this place, larger than any we had seen since
leaving Detroit fourteen hundred miles behind. To the left the rocks were
crowned by a large solid looking building which we were told was the
penitentiary. In front was a row of high ware-houses made of limestone,
filled with goods and men; while a mass of houses and steeples at our right
were brightly reflecting the rays of the sinking sun. The shore presented a
busy scene; men and carts and horses were transporting goods or luggage,
or busily employed Macadamizing the bank—a great improvement upon
the wharves we had passed. A large brick building at our right hand, with a
white porch and steps, bearing the sign of ‘Alton House,’ being our place of
destination, we directed our course towards it. The keeper of the house
being absent, and it being no one’s business to take care of us, we spent
some time wandering about the well furnished parlors, and staring at the
waiters who were washing up the tea things in the dining-room, ere we
could find any one to listen to our wants. We had left behind us the land
where a living is only to be obtained by effort, and where the landlord and
porters are on the alert in order to catch the stranger and take him in. Here,
the cool American manner obtains; and although to the hungry, tired
traveller rather annoying, yet, when we reflect upon the peace, and
independence, and plenty, which produces this indifference, he will do as
we did, throw himself upon a sofa, keep cool, and quietly await the arrival
of somebody.
While amusing ourselves looking around at the furniture, we observed a
portrait of, as we afterwards learned, the master of the house. As much as
we had heard of the wild independence, the devil-me-care manners of our
western brethren, we were here taken by surprise. He was without his coat
—actually painted in his shirt sleeves—having upon his head an old straw
hat! It was probably a warm day, or he was in too much of a hurry to put on
his coat when he went to sit; and besides, it was nobody’s business but his
own how he was dressed, or if he were dressed at all, and I suppose we may
be thankful he retained his white robe ‘any way.’ Luxury, refinement, and
conventual forms may be carried to excess; but I am not prepared to say the
other extreme is better. A boarder in the house happening to stray in, we
told our wants, and he kindly sent a waiter for the master of the house. He
came instantly and with the greatest alacrity and wish to oblige, took us up
stairs. All the rooms proving full or engaged, except one too small, we were
directed to another house, which, after a short moonlight walk, we reached.
The Eagle tavern, a favorite name for hotels, I think, in our country, was a
comfortable house, although not pretending to the style and fashion of the
Alton House. And now having finished these last few lines, while our
supper was preparing, I hasten to bid you good-night.
 LETTER VIII.
Alton, July 11th.
My dear E.—Harassed by no compunctious visitings for the enormous
package which I dismissed to you this morning through the Alton post-
office, I have seated myself deliberately before my little desk to prepare you
another. We have spent a delightful day among our friends here, and are
very much pleased with the towns of Alton, for there are two of them. We
are now, four o’clock, waiting for the steamboat to take us to St. Louis, and
I employ the time in making a few sketches of the place for you. Alton is
built as I told you, upon a sloping bank. This ground is very uneven, and
upon some of the elevated portions are the public buildings. The churches
here are well built and numerous, I think seven or eight; the streets wide
and airy; places reserved for public squares, and several handsome private
dwellings. The town has arisen rapidly, and from a small town in 1832, it
has now fine streets, and houses, two hundred being built last year;
merchants who transact business to the amount of several hundred thousand
dollars, and even half a million in some instances. Eight or ten steamboats
are owned here, and two railroads in contemplation, and the great national
road it is thought will be conducted through this place. There are several
religious societies here, each having houses of worship; among them the
baptist church is spoken of as being nicely fitted up in the interior; it is built
of stone. Every convenience and comfort of life is at hand; coal in profusion
in the vicinity of the town, which is sold very cheap; limestone, freestone,
and water lime, besides other mineral productions abound. The markets are
stored with wild game—deer, partridges, prairie hen, and water-fowl; fruits
both wild and cultivated; various sorts of fish; corn, beef, pork, and
vegetables of the finest order. Madison county, in which it stands, is one of
the richest in the State, being most of it upon the American bottom. It
contains seven hundred and ninety square miles, and the value of its
productions, exclusive of capital invested, and cost of buildings, amounts to
two millions three hundred and sixty-nine thousand one hundred and fifty-
one dollars and eighty cents. Of bushels of wheat, they have raised one
hundred and sixty-five thousand five hundred and twenty. Corn one million
three hundred and four thousand three hundred and thirty-five bushels.
Tobacco, eleven thousand two hundred and eighty pounds. Capital invested
in manufactures, two hundred and ten thousand four hundred and thirty-five
dollars. But I suppose you do not care for these details. If I should come
here again in a few years, I expect to see Alton three times its size, for
although it may not rival St. Louis, as the inhabitants imagine, it must be
the most considerable place after it, west of Cincinnati. The Illinois brings
to it the produce of the northern lakes and States—the Mississippi waft to
its doors the exports of the west, and takes it over to the Ohio, and to the
gulf of Mexico, from which last it is only four or five days distant. The
interests of religion and education employ the benevolent inhabitants to a
remarkable degree and many thousands are expended every year for the
furtherance of these objects. Among these are Shurtliff College, Alton
Theological Seminary, Alton Female Seminary. But enough of statistics,
you will say, and I hasten to our own personal adventures. We ordered a
carriage to-day to take us to Upper Alton, to visit our friends there, and
were quite pleased to see as nice a coach and pair of horses as we could see
in our own Broadway. After leaving the town we drove through some rich
prairie land, interspersed with trees, through which we obtained fine views
of the swift rolling Mississippi, and across it the verdant plains of Missouri,
with green swelling hills beyond. A drive of two miles brought us to Upper
Alton, a pretty small looking village, with spires and neat dwellings peeping
through the trees. This place is very pleasantly situated upon an elevated
plateau of ground about two miles from the lower town. Families here enjoy
great advantages, in regard to the education of their children, as colleges
and schools abound in its neighborhood. The society of this place is very
superior, and its situation healthy.
We found our friends in a large picturesque house in the cottage style,
surrounded by piazzas, whose pillars were wreathed with the clustering
Michigan rose, and shaded by the graceful cotton wood, and pretty red bud
and locust. Here indeed was a western paradise! upon the Mississippi banks
we found realized, those visions so many have sighed after, a lodge in the
vast wilderness, a secluded retreat from the haunts of men, where the
confusions and follies of the world are only remembered as a troubled
dream. A charming young family, and a well selected library, render this
retirement most delightful. A seminary upon a new plan had been lately
erected near their abode, and with a view of showing us every thing of
interest around them, our friends drove us in their carriage through a
pleasant road in an oak forest, to the Monticello Female Seminary. The
building is of limestone of that region, four stories in height. It stands
within a lawn ornamented with groups of trees, and a fine garden is laid out
in the rear. This extensive establishment was founded by Benjamin
Godfrey, Esq., a gentleman of Alton, who, to this benevolent purpose
devoted a large share of his property. While a resident of the west, many
examples had come before his eyes, of the miseries arising from the
imperfect education of the young women who settle here. The dearth of
servants rendered it necessary for the young wives around him to
superintend, if not assist in household labor, and he saw how much better it
was they should come prepared for these duties, and quite able to perform
them, instead of wearing themselves out, and pining away over tasks,
which, by being new, appear much more arduous than they are in reality. As
the evil lay in a defective system of education, this generous individual at
once saw how great a desideratum an institution would be, uniting useful
with ornamental accomplishments. With a public spirit to be much
applauded, Mr. Godfrey erected this spacious building, for educating ‘wives
for the west.’ Eighty young ladies is the limited number, all to be over
fourteen years of age. With the course of scientific study usual in female
seminaries, the pupils are taught music, instructed in religion, and in
various household duties. Among other lessons, they are taught to set a
table, arrange their rooms, even sweep and scrub them; wash, starch and
iron all their clothes. Some young ladies, who had been bred in idleness, or
who had come from the indulgent homes of Alton, or luxurious mansions of
St. Louis, where slaves await their nod, were very reluctant at first to
undertake these menial employments; but the advantage which so good a
school presented in its other departments, rendered their mothers deaf to
their complaints. They were soon, however, broken in, and sing as merrily
over their wash tubs, as the other pupils. As gain is not the object of its
generous founder, the price of admission is placed low, still there are some,
whose means are too straightened for even this, and these are allowed to
pay for their instruction, by labor in the house. The eagerness to get
admittance for young persons, is very great, and many thus receive
instruction who are of high respectability, and are enabled to attend to the
younger branches of the family, or even, if required, teach others. Some of
these young persons are beneficiaries of a benevolent society, called the
‘Ladies’ Association for Educating Females.’ The object of this society is to
‘encourage and assist young females to qualify themselves for teaching, and
to aid in supporting teachers in those places where they cannot otherwise be
sustained.’ Young females of all ages are selected from poor families and
placed in schools, where they are watched over by these benevolent ladies,
their tuition paid, and to each, every year, is addressed a circular letter of
advice, with the donation of an appropriate, instructive book. When
prepared, they are placed in situations where they can support themselves.
Several have become missionaries, and at this school are two of the
Cherokee tribe who are preparing to be teachers among their people. The
great amount of good performed by these ladies entitle them to the hearty
wishes of the benevolent and patriotic. The Rev. J. Spalding, in his address
before the seventh annual meeting at Jacksonville, says: ‘Since its
commencement it has aided one hundred and forty-seven young ladies in
their preparation for usefulness and heaven, thirty-one of whom are
professed followers of the Lamb.’ Now that I have thoroughly described the
institution, we will leave the carriage and enter the house. We were shown
into a neatly furnished parlor, where we were soon joined by the principal
of Monticello, the Rev. Theron Baldwin, a gentleman of great information
and piety. He kindly explained to us the principle upon which the seminary
was conducted, and then offered to show us the house. Every thing was
arranged with the greatest order and neatness. The dining, school, and
recitation rooms, were large, clean and airy, and the bed rooms
commodious. Upon the ground floor was a chapel fitted up with the
beautiful black walnut of their woods; here divine service is performed, by
the Rev. Mr. Baldwin, to the school and people of the neighborhood, who
assemble there every Sunday. You see the Illinois people are determined
their people shall enjoy the blessings of education; and when we reflect
how much the destiny of our nation depends upon the next generation, we
cannot devote our time or our money to a better purpose, than furthering
such institutions. We left the seminary, pleased with its arrangements, and
wishing all success to the generous individual who originated the
establishment. It is delightful to see wealth so well employed, to behold the
‘just steward’ thus ably disposing of his master’s property. Such
disinterestedness shone out in bold relief from the selfish and reckless waste
of fortune which we had beheld in our pilgrimage, like one of his own ‘oak
islands,’ upon a sunny and treeless prairie.
 Once more we experienced the pains of parting, and were forced to leave
our friends that afternoon. We returned to our hotel where we are awaiting
the arrival of our steamboat which is to take us to St. Louis. When I look
around in this interesting country, and upon such towns as Alton, I wonder
why our Atlantic cities are so full of people. How many young men do I
know there, and indeed, whole families, who are struggling for a living, and
denying themselves every comfort that their spare income may suffice, to
give them a showy appearance in public; crammed into crowded boarding
houses, narrow, hot, dusty streets, when there is here in this wide beautiful
land, room, fresh air, fine scenery, employment, everything to be enjoyed, at
half the expense they are forced to lay out among so many discomforts. The
steamboat bell warns me to put up my note book, and I will resume when
aboard.
We found ourselves in a small steam-boat, which makes regular trips
between this town and St. Louis, twenty-five miles. Alton looked very
pretty when we turned to bid a sorrowful adieu, and we regretted our time
would not allow us to remain in this interesting place. We are now all
eagerly looking out, for the giant Missouri, whose junction with the
Mississippi is but two miles below Alton. At length the point is in view, all
gather upon the guards, and bend our eyes towards the right shore,—we are
now before the mouth and behold an extraordinary scene. The Missouri
does not, as travellers tell us, come rushing, and bounding, and dashing
along, striking the Mississippi with such a concussion that volumes of mist
arise in the air,—we beheld nothing so wonderful—a broad stream rolled
down between its verdant banks, rapidly, and very like a torrent, but in quite
a decent and proper manner. Its color—alas, for our pellucid lakes—is a tint
not often recognized by artists, but generally called gruel or soap-suds hue.
It holds in solution such an extraordinary quantity of clay, that one wonders
how the steamboat can force its way through it. Its rapid current is
distinguished by the curls and little whirlpools among the mud. Where it
meets the Mississippi is a small ridge of clay, and thick masses push
themselves under the clear brown water, coloring it more and more with its
impurity, until at last, the unhappy Mississippi, after struggling for some
time, is completely lost in the clayey stream, as some pure young heart,
striving against temptation, but lost at last. The streams continue separate
for some miles below St. Louis, and there the river takes the Missouri
character. I looked up the vista of this grand stream, as we passed its mouth,
with sentiments of awe. A mighty mass of water—it came rolling down
nearly four thousand miles from its source in the wild recesses of the Rocky
Mountains, bearing upon its bosom, not a fleet of Argosies, but materials
for their construction in whole forests of gigantic trees.
Such an admirer of water as you know I am, you may be sure I regretted
the soiling of my bright brunette Mississippi. To watch the foam of our
vessel had been a favorite pastime, but alas, what a change from the
diamond and emerald of our lakes, the topaz of the Illinois, the Zircon of
the Mississippi to the soapsuds of the Missouri. I have called the
Mississippi coffee color; it is now coffee-au-lait, and indignant must the
father of waters be under so great an oppression. Several green islands
adorn the stream, and the shores are spotted with a few houses, and now
chimney, and roof, and tower, piled up against each other, proclaim a city,
and we are soon in sight of the city of St. Louis. An old castellated Spanish
mansion is the first relic we have seen of that brave Castilian race which
once reigned over these broad lands. It is, I think, their ultima thula, their
most northern point. The appearance of St. Louis, from the water, is very
much like Albany, as it is built upon rising ground, consisting of two
plateaus of land, the last elevated several feet above the other, but its water
craft gave it quite a different character. We are used in our cities to behold
the water front, bristling with masts, but here we saw steamboats alone,
there being about seventy moored at the wharves, which gave a novel and
western appearance, to the scene. The flat boat, is fast disappearing, and
steamboats, are the only style of boat, with few exceptions, which we see;
of these, five hundred and eighty-eight have been built upon the western
waters.[21] The city of St. Louis stretches a mile along the elevated shore,
and nearly the same distance back. We almost fancied ourselves in New
York again, so great was the stir upon the wharf. The ware-houses, of brick
or limestone, made of the rock upon which they stand, appeared filled with
goods and customers, boxes and bales, carts and barrows were floating
about, and every one seemed active except the negro slaves who were
plodding about their work with the usual nonchalant gait of this merry but
indolent nation. We missed our good wharves at home, and even the paved
bank of Alton, for a shower had rendered the shore muddy. Surely some
Yankee might contrive a more commodious landing; something that might
rise and fall with the river, or a long pier. We drove to the Missouri House,
where we arrived in time for tea, and at night were lulled to sleep by a
Spanish guitar, and chattering of French voices from the shops and cafes in
our neighborhood.
 LETTER IX.
St. Louis, July 12.
My dear E.—The days we have spent here, we have been very busy,
except Sunday, in examining every thing in and about this place. It is a very
nice city, and one of much importance, has increased much lately, and will
continue to increase. Its population is twenty-four thousand five hundred
and fifty-five. In 1825 it was only six thousand. There are several good
churches here, some of which, we attended to-day, it being Sunday. There is
a pretty episcopal of the Gothic form, a baptist church, of brick, having a
neat white porch in front—an unitarian, of plaster—a methodist, and a large
cathedral belonging to the catholics. This is an odd picturesque building,
and is one hundred and thirty-six feet by eighty-four broad, built of grey
stone. You enter by a porch supported by four Doric columns. The body of
the church is divided by columns, lighted by elegant chandaliers; the
sacristy and altar are very handsome; the windows of painted glass; and
there is in the church a fine painting of St. Louis, presented by Louis XVIII.
The bells are from Normandy. We had penetrated two thousand miles in the
wilderness of the west, and were glad to find we had not yet ‘travelled
beyond the Sabbath.’
What nice resting spells these Sabbaths are! When whirled upon the
stream of life, our attention occupied in avoiding the snags and sawyers and
cross currents in our channel, how refreshing, how necessary is it for us to
anchor for a little while, and look about, and consider our future course.
The Sabbath is a precious anchor to the soul, giving it time to meditate upon
its future career, and consult those charts which a kind heaven has sent to
direct its route. The Sabbath is necessary to man, and was given in mercy.
Physicians tell us rest is required for the machinery of man; that the brain
and nerves, while forever upon the stretch will decay much sooner than if
sometimes relaxed. It was the opinion of the great Wilberforce, that the
suicide of Lord Londonderry and that of Sir Samuel Romilly was owing to
their neglect of this day of rest. Speaking of the death of the former he says,
‘he was certainly deranged—the effect probably of continued wear and tear
of the mind. But the strong impression of my mind is, that it is the effect of
the non-observance of the Sabbath, both as abstracting from politics, from
the continual recurrence of the same reflections, and as correcting the false
views of worldly things, and bringing them down to their own
indistinctness. He really was the last man in the world who appeared likely
to be carried away into the commission of such an act, so cool, so self
possessed! It is very curious to hear the newspapers speaking of incessant
application to business, forgetting that by a weekly admission of a day of
rest, which our Maker has graciously enjoined, our faculties would be
preserved from the effects of this constant strain. I am strongly impressed
with the recollection of your endeavors to prevail upon the lawyers to give
up Sunday consultations in which poor Romilly would not concur. If he had
suffered his mind to enjoy such occasional relaxations it is highly probable
the strings would never have snapped, as they did, from over extension.’

July 13th.—This morning we took a coach and drove about to every

thing worth seeing in the city. In the French part of the town, the streets are
narrow and present quite a foreign and antique appearance. Here are several
neat, white-washed steep roofed dwellings surrounded by piazzas, and
occupied by the French part of the community. Main street, which
corresponds with our Pearl street, runs parallel with the river, about a mile.
It appears a very busy street and here one may obtain goods from all
quarters of the world brought up from New Orleans,—and domestic wares
from the country around. As you ascend from the river the streets are wider
and better built, and the upper end of the city is laid out in wide streets fast
filling up with handsome buildings, public and private, some of these last,
surrounded by courts and adorned by trees. Here many eastern people
dwell. A gentleman of the place, told us there had been nine hundred houses
put up in the city this year, and from appearances I should think this a true
estimate. There is a medical college in progress, and a large hotel nearly
finished, which is said to be the largest hotel in the States. It is of red brick
ornamented with white marble, and is altogether a handsome building. It is
to be called the ‘St. Louis House.’ Several institutions are conducted by
catholics, as the Convent of the Sacred Heart, and the University of St.
Louis. In the library of the latter are nearly seven thousand volumes. The
court house is of brick, with a circular portico supported by white columns.