基于免疫克隆特征选择和欠采样集成的垃圾网页检测

为解决垃圾网页检测过程中的“维数灾难”和不平衡分类问题,提出一种基于免疫克隆特征选择和欠采样（US）集成的二元分类器算法。首先,使用欠采样技术将训练样本集大类抽样成多个与小类样本数相近的样本集,再将其分别与小类样本合并构成多个平衡的子训练样本集;然后,设计一种免疫克隆算法遴选出多个最优的特征子集;基于最优特征子集对平衡的子样本集进行投影操作,生成平衡数据集的多个视图;最后,用随机森林（RF）分类器对测试样本进行分类,采用简单投票法确定测试样本的最终类别。在WEBSPAM UK-2006数据集上的实验结果表明,该集成分类器算法应用于垃圾网页检测：与随机森林算法及其Bagging和AdaBoost集成分类器算法相比,准确率、F1测度、AUC等指标均提高11%以上;与其他最优的研究结果相比,该集成分类器算法在F1测度上提高2%,在AUC上达到最优。     

A new ensemble feature selection and its application to pattern classification

Neural network ensemble based on rough sets reduct is proposed to decrease the computational complexity of conventional ensemble feature selection algorithm. First, a dynamic reduction technology combining genetic algorithm with resampling method is adopted to obtain reducts with good generalization ability. Second, Multiple BP neural networks based on different reducts are built as base classifiers. According to the idea of selective ensemble, the neural network ensemble with best generalization ability can be found by search strategies. Finally, classification based on neural network ensemble is implemented by combining the predictions of component networks with voting. The method has been verified in the experiment of remote sensing image and five UCI datasets classification. Compared with conventional ensemble feature selection algorithms, it costs less time and lower computing complexity, and the classification accuracy is satisfactory.     

Classifier ensemble generation and selection with multiple feature representations for classification applications in computer-aided detection and diagnosis on mammography

This paper presents a novel ensemble classifier framework for improved classification of mammographic lesions in Computer-aided Detection (CADe) and Diagnosis (CADx) systems. Compared to previously developed classification techniques in mammography, the main novelty of proposed method is twofold: (1) the “combined use” of different feature representations (of the same instance) and data resampling to generate more diverse and accurate base classifiers as ensemble members and (2) the incorporation of a novel “ensemble selection” mechanism to further maximize the overall classification performance. In addition, as opposed to conventional ensemble learning, our proposed ensemble framework has the advantage of working well with both weak and strong classifiers, extensively used in mammography CADe and/or CADx systems. Extensive experiments have been performed using benchmark mammogram dataset to test the proposed method on two classification applications: (1) false-positive (FP) reduction using classification between masses and normal tissues, and (2) diagnosis using classification between malignant and benign masses. Results showed promising results that the proposed method (area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.932 and 0.878, each obtained for the aforementioned two classification applications, respectively) impressively outperforms (by an order of magnitude) the most commonly used single neural network (AUC = 0.819 and AUC =0.754) and support vector machine (AUC = 0.849 and AUC = 0.773) based classification approaches. In addition, the feasibility of our method has been successfully demonstrated by comparing other state-of-the-art ensemble classification techniques such as Gentle AdaBoost and Random Forest learning algorithms.     

CAT-RFE:点击欺诈的集成检测框架

点击欺诈是近年来最常见的网络犯罪手段之一,互联网广告行业每年都会因点击欺诈而遭受巨大损失。为了能够在海量点击中有效地检测欺诈点击,构建了多种充分结合广告点击与时间属性关系的特征,并提出了一种点击欺诈检测的集成学习框架——CAT-RFE集成学习框架。CAT-RFE集成学习框架包含3个部分:基分类器、递归特征消除(RFE,recursive feature elimination)和voting集成学习。其中,将适用于类别特征的梯度提升模型——CatBoost(categorical boosting)作为基分类器;RFE是基于贪心策略的特征选择方法,可在多组特征中选出较好的特征组合;Voting集成学习是采用投票的方式将多个基分类器的结果进行组合的学习方法。该框架通过CatBoost和RFE在特征空间中获取多组较优的特征组合,再在这些特征组合下的训练结果通过voting进行集成,获得集成的点击欺诈检测结果。该框架采用了相同的基分类器和集成学习方法,不仅克服了差异较大的分类器相互制约而导致集成结果不理想的问题,也克服了RFE在选择特征时容易陷入局部最优解的问题,具备更好的检测能力。在实际互联网点击欺诈数据集上的性能评估和对比实验结果显示,CAT-RFE集成学习框架的点击欺诈检测能力超过了CatBoost模型、CatBoost和RFE组合的模型以及其他机器学习模型,证明该框架具备良好的竞争力。该框架为互联网广告点击欺诈检测提供一种可行的解决方案。     

Sequential approaches for learning datum-wise sparse representations

In supervised classification, data representation is usually considered at the dataset level: one looks for the ??best?? representation of data assuming it to be the same for all the data in the data space. We propose a different approach where the representations used for classification are tailored to each datum in the data space. One immediate goal is to obtain sparse datum-wise representations: our approach learns to build a representation specific to each datum that contains only a small subset of the features, thus allowing classification to be fast and efficient. This representation is obtained by way of a sequential decision process that sequentially chooses which features to acquire before classifying a particular point; this process is learned through algorithms based on Reinforcement Learning. The proposed method performs well on an ensemble of medium-sized sparse classification problems. It offers an alternative to global sparsity approaches, and is a natural framework for sequential classification problems. The method extends easily to a whole family of sparsity-related problem which would otherwise require developing specific solutions. This is the case in particular for cost-sensitive and limited-budget classification, where feature acquisition is costly and is often performed sequentially. Finally, our approach can handle non-differentiable loss functions or combinatorial optimization encountered in more complex feature selection problems.     

A new hybrid ensemble credit scoring model based on classifiers consensus system approach

During the last few years there has been marked attention towards hybrid and ensemble systems development, having proved their ability to be more accurate than single classifier models. However, among the hybrid and ensemble models developed in the literature there has been little consideration given to: 1) combining data filtering and feature selection methods 2) combining classifiers of different algorithms; and 3) exploring different classifier output combination techniques other than the traditional ones found in the literature. In this paper, the aim is to improve predictive performance by presenting a new hybrid ensemble credit scoring model through the combination of two data pre-processing methods based on Gabriel Neighbourhood Graph editing (GNG) and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) in the hybrid modelling phase. In addition, a new classifier combination rule based on the consensus approach (ConsA) of different classification algorithms during the ensemble modelling phase is proposed. Several comparisons will be carried out in this paper, as follows: 1) Comparison of individual base classifiers with the GNG and MARS methods applied separately and combined in order to choose the best results for the ensemble modelling phase; 2) Comparison of the proposed approach with all the base classifiers and ensemble classifiers with the traditional combination methods; and 3) Comparison of the proposed approach with recent related studies in the literature. Five of the well-known base classifiers are used, namely, neural networks (NN), support vector machines (SVM), random forests (RF), decision trees (DT), and naïve Bayes (NB). The experimental results, analysis and statistical tests prove the ability of the proposed approach to improve prediction performance against all the base classifiers, hybrid and the traditional combination methods in terms of average accuracy, the area under the curve (AUC) H-measure and the Brier Score. The model was validated over seven real world credit datasets.     

A novel hybrid credit scoring model based on ensemble feature selection and multilayer ensemble classification

Credit scoring focuses on the development of empirical models to support the financial decision‐making processes of financial institutions and credit industries. It makes use of applicants' historical data and statistical or machine learning techniques to assess the risk associated with an applicant. However, the historical data may consist of redundant and noisy features that affect the performance of credit scoring models. The main focus of this paper is to develop a hybrid model, combining feature selection and a multilayer ensemble classifier framework, to improve the predictive performance of credit scoring. The proposed hybrid credit scoring model is modeled in three phases. The initial phase constitutes preprocessing and assigns ranks and weights to classifiers. In the next phase, the ensemble feature selection approach is applied to the preprocessed dataset. Finally, in the last phase, the dataset with the selected features is used in a multilayer ensemble classifier framework. In addition, a classifier placement algorithm based on the Choquet integral value is designed, as the classifier placement affects the predictive performance of the ensemble framework. The proposed hybrid credit scoring model is validated on real‐world credit scoring datasets, namely, Australian, Japanese, German‐categorical, and German‐numerical datasets.     

Financial distress prediction using support vector machines: Ensemble vs. individual

Financial distress prediction (FDP) is of great importance to both inner and outside parts of companies. Though lots of literatures have given comprehensive analysis on single classifier FDP method, ensemble method for FDP just emerged in recent years and needs to be further studied. Support vector machine (SVM) shows promising performance in FDP when compared with other single classifier methods. The contribution of this paper is to propose a new FDP method based on SVM ensemble, whose candidate single classifiers are trained by SVM algorithms with different kernel functions on different feature subsets of one initial dataset. SVM kernels such as linear, polynomial, RBF and sigmoid, and the filter feature selection/extraction methods of stepwise multi discriminant analysis (MDA), stepwise logistic regression (logit), and principal component analysis (PCA) are applied. The algorithm for selecting SVM ensemble's base classifiers from candidate ones is designed by considering both individual performance and diversity analysis. Weighted majority voting based on base classifiers’ cross validation accuracy on training dataset is used as the combination mechanism. Experimental results indicate that SVM ensemble is significantly superior to individual SVM classifier when the number of base classifiers in SVM ensemble is properly set. Besides, it also shows that RBF SVM based on features selected by stepwise MDA is a good choice for FDP when individual SVM classifier is applied.     

Software defect prediction using ensemble learning on selected features

ContextSeveral issues hinder software defect data including redundancy, correlation, feature irrelevance and missing samples. It is also hard to ensure balanced distribution between data pertaining to defective and non-defective software. In most experimental cases, data related to the latter software class is dominantly present in the dataset.ObjectiveThe objectives of this paper are to demonstrate the positive effects of combining feature selection and ensemble learning on the performance of defect classification. Along with efficient feature selection, a new two-variant (with and without feature selection) ensemble learning algorithm is proposed to provide robustness to both data imbalance and feature redundancy.MethodWe carefully combine selected ensemble learning models with efficient feature selection to address these issues and mitigate their effects on the defect classification performance.ResultsForward selection showed that only few features contribute to high area under the receiver-operating curve (AUC). On the tested datasets, greedy forward selection (GFS) method outperformed other feature selection techniques such as Pearson’s correlation. This suggests that features are highly unstable. However, ensemble learners like random forests and the proposed algorithm, average probability ensemble (APE), are not as affected by poor features as in the case of weighted support vector machines (W-SVMs). Moreover, the APE model combined with greedy forward selection (enhanced APE) achieved AUC values of approximately 1.0 for the NASA datasets: PC2, PC4, and MC1.ConclusionThis paper shows that features of a software dataset must be carefully selected for accurate classification of defective components. Furthermore, tackling the software data issues, mentioned above, with the proposed combined learning model resulted in remarkable classification performance paving the way for successful quality control.     

采用半随机特征采样算法的中文书写纹识别研究

N-gram字符序列能有效捕捉文本中作者的个体风格信息,但其特征空间稀疏度高,且存在较多噪音特征。针对该问题,提出一种基于半随机特征采样的中文书写纹识别算法。该算法首先采用一种离散度准则为每个作者选取一定粒度的个体特征集,然后将个体特征集以一种半随机选择机制划分成多个等维度的特征子空间,并基于每个子空间训练相应的基分类器,最后采取多数投票法的融合策略构造集成分类模型。在中文真实数据集上与基于随机子空间和Bagging算法的集成分类器进行了对比试验,结果表明,该算法在正确率和差异度方面优于随机子空间和Baggrog算法,并且取得了比单分类模型更好的识别性能。     

An ensemble of filters and classifiers for microarray data classification

In this paper a new framework for feature selection consisting of an ensemble of filters and classifiers is described. Five filters, based on different metrics, were employed. Each filter selects a different subset of features which is used to train and to test a specific classifier. The outputs of these five classifiers are combined by simple voting. In this study three well-known classifiers were employed for the classification task: C4.5, naive-Bayes and IB1. The rationale of the ensemble is to reduce the variability of the features selected by filters in different classification domains. Its adequacy was demonstrated by employing 10 microarray data sets.     

动态自适应选择神经网络集成的方法研究

为了有效提高神经网络的集成性能，提出了基于局部分类精度估计的动态自适应选择集成的思想．根据贝叶斯理论．证明了在满足一定假设的条件下，动态自适应选择集成的分类性能可以逼近最优贝叶斯分类器．在此基础上，分别介绍了硬决策和软决策两种个体网络选择方法．选自UCI机器学习数据库的5个数据集的实验结果表明，动态自适应选择的分类性能明显优于常用的投票法和平均法，且集成分类性能对邻域的大小并不敏感；其中，软决策方法要优于硬决策方法．     

Democratic instance selection: A linear complexity instance selection algorithm based on classifier ensemble concepts

Instance selection is becoming increasingly relevant due to the huge amount of data that is constantly being produced in many fields of research. Although current algorithms are useful for fairly large datasets, scaling problems are found when the number of instances is in the hundreds of thousands or millions. When we face huge problems, scalability becomes an issue, and most algorithms are not applicable.Thus, paradoxically, instance selection algorithms are for the most part impracticable for the same problems that would benefit most from their use. This paper presents a way of avoiding this difficulty using several rounds of instance selection on subsets of the original dataset. These rounds are combined using a voting scheme to allow good performance in terms of testing error and storage reduction, while the execution time of the process is significantly reduced. The method is particularly efficient when we use instance selection algorithms that are high in computational cost. The proposed approach shares the philosophy underlying the construction of ensembles of classifiers. In an ensemble, several weak learners are combined to form a strong classifier; in our method several weak (in the sense that they are applied to subsets of the data) instance selection algorithms are combined to produce a strong and fast instance selection method.An extensive comparison of 30 medium and large datasets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository using 3 different classifiers shows the usefulness of our method. Additionally, the method is applied to 5 huge datasets (from three hundred thousand to more than a million instances) with good results and fast execution time.     

Ensemble feature selection in medical datasets: Combining filter,wrapper, and embedded feature selection results

Feature selection is a process aimed at filtering out unrepresentative features from a given dataset, usually allowing the later data mining and analysis steps to produce better results. However, different feature selection algorithms use different criteria to select representative features, making it difficult to find the best algorithm for different domain datasets. The limitations of single feature selection methods can be overcome by the application of ensemble methods, combining multiple feature selection results. In the literature, feature selection algorithms are classified as filter, wrapper, or embedded techniques. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no study focusing on combining these three types of techniques to produce ensemble feature selection. Therefore, the aim here is to answer the question as to which combination of different types of feature selection algorithms offers the best performance for different types of medical data including categorical, numerical, and mixed data types. The experimental results show that a combination of filter (i.e., principal component analysis) and wrapper (i.e., genetic algorithms) techniques by the union method is a better choice, providing relatively high classification accuracy and a reasonably good feature reduction rate.     

Applying tree-based ensemble algorithms to the classification of ecological zones using multi-temporal multi-source remote-sensing data

The decision tree method has grown fast in the past two decades and its performance in classification is promising. The tree-based ensemble algorithms have been used to improve the performance of an individual tree. In this study, we compared four basic ensemble methods, that is, bagging tree, random forest, AdaBoost tree and AdaBoost random tree in terms of the tree size, ensemble size, band selection (BS), random feature selection, classification accuracy and efficiency in ecological zone classification in Clark County, Nevada, through multi-temporal multi-source remote-sensing data. Furthermore, two BS schemes based on feature importance of the bagging tree and AdaBoost tree were also considered and compared. We conclude that random forest or AdaBoost random tree can achieve accuracies at least as high as bagging tree or AdaBoost tree with higher efficiency; and although bagging tree and random forest can be more efficient, AdaBoost tree and AdaBoost random tree can provide a significantly higher accuracy. All ensemble methods provided significantly higher accuracies than the single decision tree. Finally, our results showed that the classification accuracy could increase dramatically by combining multi-temporal and multi-source data set.     

基于粗糙集约简的神经网络集成及其遥感图像分类应用

为降低集成特征选择方法的计算复杂性,提出了一种基于粗糙集约简的神经网络集成分类方法。该方法首先通过结合遗传算法求约简和重采样技术的动态约简技术,获得稳定的、泛化能力较强的属性约简集;然后,基于不同约简设计BP网络作为待集成的基分类器,并依据选择性集成思想,通过一定的搜索策略,找到具有最佳泛化性能的集成网络;最后通过多数投票法实现神经网络集成分类。该方法在某地区Landsat 7波段遥感图像的分类实验中得到了验证,由于通过粗糙集约简,过滤掉了大量分类性能欠佳的特征子集,和传统的集成特征选择方法相比,该方法时     

集成特征选择的广义粗集方法与多分类器融合

为改善多分类器系统的分类性能, 提出了基于广义粗集的集成特征选择方法. 为在集成特征选择的同时获取各特征空间中的多类模式可分性信息, 研究并提出了关于多决策表的相对优势决策约简, 给出了关于集成特征选择的集成属性约简 (Ensemble attribute reduction,EAR) 方法, 结合基于知识发现的 KD-DWV 算法进行了高光谱遥感图像植被分类比较实验. 结果表明, EAR 方法与合适的多分类器融合算法结合可有效提高多分类器融合的推广性.     

优化的支持向量机集成分类器在非平衡数据集分类中的应用

传统的分类算法大都建立在平衡数据集的基础上,当样本数据不平衡时,这些学习算法的性能往往会明显下降.对于非平衡数据分类问题,提出了一种优化的支持向量机(SVM)集成分类器模型,采用KSMOTE和Bootstrap对非平衡数据进行预处理,生成相应的SVM模型并用复合形算法优化模型参数,最后利用优化的参数并行生成SVM集成分类器模型,采用投票机制得到分类结果.对5组UCI标准数据集进行实验,结果表明采用优化的SVM集成分类器模型较SVM模型、优化的SVM模型等分类精度有了明显的提升,同时验证了不同的bootNum取值对分类器性能效果的影响.     

基于粗糙集约简的神经网络集成及其遥感图像分类应用

为降低集成特征选择方法的计算复杂性,提出了一种基于粗糙集约简的神经网络集成分类方法。该方法首先通过结合遗传算法求约简和重采样技术的动态约简技术,获得稳定的、泛化能力较强的属性约简集;然后,基于不同约简设计BP网络作为待集成的基分类器,并依据选择性集成思想,通过一定的搜索策略,找到具有最佳泛化性能的集成网络;最后通过多数投票法实现神经网络集成分类。该方法在某地区Landsat 7波段遥感图像的分类实验中得到了验证,由于通过粗糙集约简,过滤掉了大量分类性能欠佳的特征子集,和传统的集成特征选择方法相比,该方法时间开销少,计算复杂性低,具有满意的分类性能。     

Effects of dataset characteristics on the performance of feature selection techniques

While extensive research in data mining has been devoted to developing better feature selection techniques, none of this research has examined the intrinsic relationship between dataset characteristics and a feature selection technique’s performance. Thus, our research examines experimentally how dataset characteristics affect both the accuracy and the time complexity of feature selection. To evaluate the performance of various feature selection techniques on datasets of different characteristics, extensive experiments with five feature selection techniques, three types of classification algorithms, seven types of dataset characterization methods and all possible combinations of dataset characteristics are conducted on 128 publicly available datasets. We apply the decision tree method to evaluate the interdependencies between dataset characteristics and performance. The results of the study reveal the intrinsic relationship between dataset characteristics and feature selection techniques’ performance. Additionally, our study contributes to research in data mining by providing a roadmap for future research on feature selection and a significantly wider framework for comparative analysis.