A variant of Rotation Forest for constructing ensemble classifiers

Rotation Forest, an effective ensemble classifier generation technique, works by using principal component analysis (PCA) to rotate the original feature axes so that different training sets for learning base classifiers can be formed. This paper presents a variant of Rotation Forest, which can be viewed as a combination of Bagging and Rotation Forest. Bagging is used here to inject more randomness into Rotation Forest in order to increase the diversity among the ensemble membership. The experiments conducted with 33 benchmark classification data sets available from the UCI repository, among which a classification tree is adopted as the base learning algorithm, demonstrate that the proposed method generally produces ensemble classifiers with lower error than Bagging, AdaBoost and Rotation Forest. The bias–variance analysis of error performance shows that the proposed method improves the prediction error of a single classifier by reducing much more variance term than the other considered ensemble procedures. Furthermore, the results computed on the data sets with artificial classification noise indicate that the new method is more robust to noise and kappa-error diagrams are employed to investigate the diversity–accuracy patterns of the ensemble classifiers.     

An empirical evaluation of rotation-based ensemble classifiers for customer churn prediction

Several studies have demonstrated the superior performance of ensemble classification algorithms, whereby multiple member classifiers are combined into one aggregated and powerful classification model, over single models. In this paper, two rotation-based ensemble classifiers are proposed as modeling techniques for customer churn prediction. In Rotation Forests, feature extraction is applied to feature subsets in order to rotate the input data for training base classifiers, while RotBoost combines Rotation Forest with AdaBoost. In an experimental validation based on data sets from four real-life customer churn prediction projects, Rotation Forest and RotBoost are compared to a set of well-known benchmark classifiers. Moreover, variations of Rotation Forest and RotBoost are compared, implementing three alternative feature extraction algorithms: principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA) and sparse random projections (SRP). The performance of rotation-based ensemble classifier is found to depend upon: (i) the performance criterion used to measure classification performance, and (ii) the implemented feature extraction algorithm. In terms of accuracy, RotBoost outperforms Rotation Forest, but none of the considered variations offers a clear advantage over the benchmark algorithms. However, in terms of AUC and top-decile lift, results clearly demonstrate the competitive performance of Rotation Forests compared to the benchmark algorithms. Moreover, ICA-based Rotation Forests outperform all other considered classifiers and are therefore recommended as a well-suited alternative classification technique for the prediction of customer churn that allows for improved marketing decision making.     

A self-trained ensemble with semisupervised SVM: An application to pixel classification of remote sensing imagery

In this article, we present a semisupervised support vector machine that uses self-training approach. We then construct an ensemble of semisupervised SVM classifiers to address the problem of pixel classification of remote sensing images. Semisupervised support vector machines (S³VMs) are based on applying the margin maximization principle to both labeled and unlabeled samples. The ensemble of SVM classifiers recognizes the conceptual similarity between component classifiers from the same data source. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is first demonstrated for two numeric remote sensing data described in terms of feature vectors and then identifying different land cover regions in remote sensing imagery. Experimental results on these datasets show that employing this learning scheme can increase the accuracy level. The performance of the ensemble is compared with one of its component classifier and conventional SVM in terms of accuracy and quantitative cluster validity indices.     

结合Rotation Forest和MultiBoost的SVM集成方法

针对如何提高集成学习的性能,提出一种结合Rotation Forest和Multil3oost的集成学习方法—利用Rotation Forest中旋转变换的思想对原始数据集进行变换,旨在增加分类器间的差异度;利用Mu1tiI3oost在变换后的数据集上训练基分类器,旨在提高基分类器的准确度。最后用简单的多数投票法融合各基分类器的决策结果,将其作为集成分类器的输出。为了验证该方法的有效性,在公共数据集UCI上进行了实验,结果显示,该方法可获得较高的分类精度。     

Rotation forest: A new classifier ensemble method

We propose a method for generating classifier ensembles based on feature extraction. To create the training data for a base classifier, the feature set is randomly split into K subsets (K is a parameter of the algorithm) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied to each subset. All principal components are retained in order to preserve the variability information in the data. Thus, K axis rotations take place to form the new features for a base classifier. The idea of the rotation approach is to encourage simultaneously individual accuracy and diversity within the ensemble. Diversity is promoted through the feature extraction for each base classifier. Decision trees were chosen here because they are sensitive to rotation of the feature axes, hence the name "forest.” Accuracy is sought by keeping all principal components and also using the whole data set to train each base classifier. Using WEKA, we examined the Rotation Forest ensemble on a random selection of 33 benchmark data sets from the UCI repository and compared it with Bagging, AdaBoost, and Random Forest. The results were favorable to Rotation Forest and prompted an investigation into diversity-accuracy landscape of the ensemble models. Diversity-error diagrams revealed that Rotation Forest ensembles construct individual classifiers which are more accurate than these in AdaBoost and Random Forest, and more diverse than these in Bagging, sometimes more accurate as well.     

Rotation Forest for Big Data

The Rotation Forest classifier is a successful ensemble method for a wide variety of data mining applications. However, the way in which Rotation Forest transforms the feature space through PCA, although powerful, penalizes training and prediction times, making it unfeasible for Big Data. In this paper, a MapReduce Rotation Forest and its implementation under the Spark framework are presented. The proposed MapReduce Rotation Forest behaves in the same way as the standard Rotation Forest, training the base classifiers on a rotated space, but using a functional implementation of the rotation that enables its execution in Big Data frameworks. Experimental results are obtained using different cloud-based cluster configurations. Bayesian tests are used to validate the method against two ensembles for Big Data: Random Forest and PCARDE classifiers. Our proposal incorporates the parallelization of both the PCA calculation and the tree training, providing a scalable solution that retains the performance of the original Rotation Forest and achieves a competitive execution time (in average, at training, more than 3 times faster than other PCA-based alternatives). In addition, extensive experimentation shows that by setting some parameters of the classifier (i.e., bootstrap sample size, number of trees, and number of rotations), the execution time is reduced with no significant loss of performance using a small ensemble.     

基于聚类与排序修剪的分类器集成方法*

为了提高分类器集成性能,提出了一种基于聚类算法与排序修剪结合的分类器集成方法。首先将混淆矩阵作为量化基分类器间差异度的工具,通过聚类将分类器划分为若干子集;然后提出一种排序修剪算法,以距离聚类中心最近的分类器为起点,根据分类器的距离对差异度矩阵动态加权,以加权差异度作为排序标准对子集中的分类器进行按比例修剪;最后使用投票法对选出的基分类器进行集成。同时与多种集成方法在UCI数据库中的10组数据集上进行对比与分析,实验结果表明基于聚类与排序修剪的分类器选择方法有效提升了集成系统的分类能力。     

A novel ensemble decision tree based on under-sampling and clonal selection for web spam detection

Currently, web spamming is a serious problem for search engines. It not only degrades the quality of search results by intentionally boosting undesirable web pages to users, but also causes the search engine to waste a significant amount of computational and storage resources in manipulating useless information. In this paper, we present a novel ensemble classifier for web spam detection which combines the clonal selection algorithm for feature selection and under-sampling for data balancing. This web spam detection system is called USCS. The USCS ensemble classifiers can automatically sample and select sub-classifiers. First, the system will convert the imbalanced training dataset into several balanced datasets using the under-sampling method. Second, the system will automatically select several optimal feature subsets for each sub-classifier using a customized clonal selection algorithm. Third, the system will build several C4.5 decision tree sub-classifiers from these balanced datasets based on its specified features. Finally, these sub-classifiers will be used to construct an ensemble decision tree classifier which will be applied to classify the examples in the testing data. Experiments on WEBSPAM-UK2006 dataset on the web spam problem show that our proposed approach, the USCS ensemble web spam classifier, contributes significant classification performance compared to several baseline systems and state-of-the-art approaches.     

Classifier ensemble construction with rotation forest to improve medical diagnosis performance of machine learning algorithms

Improving accuracies of machine learning algorithms is vital in designing high performance computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) systems. Researches have shown that a base classifier performance might be enhanced by ensemble classification strategies. In this study, we construct rotation forest (RF) ensemble classifiers of 30 machine learning algorithms to evaluate their classification performances using Parkinson's, diabetes and heart diseases from literature.While making experiments, first the feature dimension of three datasets is reduced using correlation based feature selection (CFS) algorithm. Second, classification performances of 30 machine learning algorithms are calculated for three datasets. Third, 30 classifier ensembles are constructed based on RF algorithm to assess performances of respective classifiers with the same disease data. All the experiments are carried out with leave-one-out validation strategy and the performances of the 60 algorithms are evaluated using three metrics; classification accuracy (ACC), kappa error (KE) and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC).Base classifiers succeeded 72.15%, 77.52% and 84.43% average accuracies for diabetes, heart and Parkinson's datasets, respectively. As for RF classifier ensembles, they produced average accuracies of 74.47%, 80.49% and 87.13% for respective diseases.RF, a newly proposed classifier ensemble algorithm, might be used to improve accuracy of miscellaneous machine learning algorithms to design advanced CADx systems.     

Classifier ensembles: Select real-world applications

Broad classes of statistical classification algorithms have been developed and applied successfully to a wide range of real-world domains. In general, ensuring that the particular classification algorithm matches the properties of the data is crucial in providing results that meet the needs of the particular application domain. One way in which the impact of this algorithm/application match can be alleviated is by using ensembles of classifiers, where a variety of classifiers (either different types of classifiers or different instantiations of the same classifier) are pooled before a final classification decision is made. Intuitively, classifier ensembles allow the different needs of a difficult problem to be handled by classifiers suited to those particular needs. Mathematically, classifier ensembles provide an extra degree of freedom in the classical bias/variance tradeoff, allowing solutions that would be difficult (if not impossible) to reach with only a single classifier. Because of these advantages, classifier ensembles have been applied to many difficult real-world problems. In this paper, we survey select applications of ensemble methods to problems that have historically been most representative of the difficulties in classification. In particular, we survey applications of ensemble methods to remote sensing, person recognition, one vs. all recognition, and medicine.     

A comparison of multiple classifier combinations using different voting-weights for remote sensing image classification

Remote sensing image classification is a common application of remote sensing images. In order to improve the performance of Remote sensing image classification, multiple classifier combinations are used to classify the Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (Landsat-8 OLI) images. Some techniques and classifier combination algorithms are investigated. The classifier ensemble consisting of five member classifiers is constructed. The results of every member classifier are evaluated. The voting strategy is experimented to combine the classification results of the member classifier. The results show that all the classifiers have different performances and the multiple classifier combination provides better performance than a single classifier, and achieves higher overall accuracy of classification. The experiment shows that the multiple classifier combination using producer’s accuracy as voting-weight (MCC_mod2 and MCC_mod3) present higher classification accuracy than the algorithm using overall accuracy as voting-weight (MCC_mod1).And the multiple classifier combinations using different voting-weights affected the classification result in different land-cover types. The multiple classifier combination algorithm presented in this article using voting-weight based on the accuracy of multiple classifier may have stability problems, which need to be addressed in future studies.     

应用于地物识别的改进轮转森林算法

针对数量激增、数据类型复杂的遥感影像,准确和具有普适性的分类是亟待解决的问题。提出一种轮转径向基函数神经网络模型应用于遥感影像的处理方法。通过对输入数据的特征变换,使特征总集变为多个子特征集,依据PCA(主成分分析)变换处理这些新的子特征集,将得到的系数用于改变训练样本,增加基分类器之间的差异度,提高分类精度。以扎龙湿地为研究对象将该算法与其他方法比较,结果显示本文方法能得到更准确的分类结果,而且具有较高的泛化精度以及较小的过学习现象。     

一种基于旋转森林的集成协同训练算法

集成协同训练算法（ensemble co-training）是将集成学习（ensemble learning）和协同训练算法（co-training）相结合的半监督学习方法,旋转森林（rotation forest）是利用特征提取来构造基分类器差异性的集成学习方法,在对现有的集成协同训练算法研究基础上,提出了基于旋转森林的协同训练算法——ROFCO,该方法重在利用未标记数据提高基分类器之间的差异性和特征提取效果,使基分类器的泛化误差保持不变或下降的同时,能保持甚至提高基分类器之间的差异性,提高集成效果。实验结果表明该方法能取得较好效果。     

P-AnDT:平均n依赖决策树的正例未标注学习算法

为了在仅有正例和未标注样本的训练数据集下进行机器学习(PU学习,Positive Unlabeled Learning),提出一种可用于PU学习的平均n依赖决策树(P-AnDT)分类算法。首先在构造决策树时,选取样本的n个属性作为依赖属性,在每个分裂属性上,计算依赖属性和类别属性的共同影响;然后分别选用不同的输入属性作为依赖属性,建立多个有差异的分类器并对结果求平均值,构造集成分类算法。最终通过估计正例在数据集中的比例参数p,使该算法能够在PU学习场景下进行分类。在多组UCI数据集上的实验结果表明,与基于贝叶斯假设的PU学习算法(PNB、PTAN等算法)相比,P-AnDT算法有更好更稳定的分类准确率。     

基于准确率爬坡的动态加权集成分类算法

传统集成分类算法中,一般将集成数目设置为固定值,这可能会导致较低分类准确率。针对这一问题,提出了准确率爬坡集成分类算法（C-ECA）。首先,该算法不再用一些基分类器去替换相同数量的表现最差的基分类器,而是基于准确率对基分类器进行更新,然后确定最佳集成数目。其次,在C-ECA的基础上提出了基于爬坡的动态加权集成分类算法（C-DWECA）。该算法提出了一个加权函数,其在具有不同特征的数据流上训练基分类器时,可以获得基分类器的最佳权值,从而提升集成分类器的性能。最后,为了能更早地检测到概念漂移并提高最终精度,采用了快速霍夫丁漂移检测方法（FHDDM）。实验结果表明C-DWECA的准确率最高可达到97.44%,并且该算法的平均准确率比自适应多样性的在线增强（ADOB）算法提升了40%左右,也优于杠杆装袋（LevBag）、自适应随机森林（ARF）等其他对比算法。     

基于差分进化的ELM加权集成分类

集成分类通过将若干个弱分类器依据某种规则进行组合,能有效改善分类性能。在组合过程中,各个弱分类器对分类结果的重要程度往往不一样。极限学习机是最近提出的一个新的训练单隐层前馈神经网络的学习算法。以极限学习机为基分类器,提出了一个基于差分进化的极限学习机加权集成方法。提出的方法通过差分进化算法来优化集成方法中各个基分类器的权值。实验结果表明,该方法与基于简单投票集成方法和基于Adaboost集成方法相比,具有较高的分类准确性和较好的泛化能力。     

遥感影像的分类自校正方法研究

遥感图像分类是遥感图像研究的主要内容之一,分类精度高低直接关系到遥感数据的可靠性和实用性。多分类器系统可以提高单分类器分类的精度,但往往要求组成的子分类器分类误差相互独立,子分类器选择困难。支持向量机是新发展起来的一种非参数分类器,其分类原理和传统的基于统计的分类方法不同,表现出一定的独立性。为此本文尝试基于支持向量机和目前使用最广泛的最大似然法,构建一个性能高效且组合方式简单的复合分类器(称为遥感影像分类自校正方法)。同时,为了验证该分类器的性能,在北京市2006年4月27日的SPOT2图像上选择了一个研究区,分别利用最大似然法、支持向量机法和分类自校正方法进行分类对比试验。结果显示分类自校正方法的总体分类精度最高,比最大似然法和支持向量机法分别提高了4.35%和6.6%,而且各种地物类型的分类精度相对最大似然和支持向量机法都有提高。本文提出的分类自校正方法是一种性能高效且操作简单的分类方法。     

Ensemble classification based on generalized additive models

Generalized additive models (GAMs) are a generalization of generalized linear models (GLMs) and constitute a powerful technique which has successfully proven its ability to capture nonlinear relationships between explanatory variables and a response variable in many domains. In this paper, GAMs are proposed as base classifiers for ensemble learning. Three alternative ensemble strategies for binary classification using GAMs as base classifiers are proposed: (i) GAMbag based on Bagging, (ii) GAMrsm based on the Random Subspace Method (RSM), and (iii) GAMens as a combination of both. In an experimental validation performed on 12 data sets from the UCI repository, the proposed algorithms are benchmarked to a single GAM and to decision tree based ensemble classifiers (i.e. RSM, Bagging, Random Forest, and the recently proposed Rotation Forest). From the results a number of conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, the use of an ensemble of GAMs instead of a single GAM always leads to improved prediction performance. Secondly, GAMrsm and GAMens perform comparably, while both versions outperform GAMbag. Finally, the value of using GAMs as base classifiers in an ensemble instead of standard decision trees is demonstrated. GAMbag demonstrates performance comparable to ordinary Bagging. Moreover, GAMrsm and GAMens outperform RSM and Bagging, while these two GAM ensemble variations perform comparably to Random Forest and Rotation Forest. Sensitivity analyses are included for the number of member classifiers in the ensemble, the number of variables included in a random feature subspace and the number of degrees of freedom for GAM spline estimation.     

一种新的基于多样性赋权证据推理的集成学习方法

在集成学习中使用平均法、投票法作为结合策略无法充分利用基分类器的有效信息,且根据波动性设置基分类器的权重不精确、不恰当。以上问题会降低集成学习的效果,为了进一步提高集成学习的性能,提出将证据推理(evidence reasoning, ER)规则作为结合策略,并使用多样性赋权法设置基分类器的权重。首先,由多个深度学习模型作为基分类器、ER规则作为结合策略,构建集成学习的基本结构;然后,通过多样性度量方法计算每个基分类器相对于其他基分类器的差异性;最后,将差异性归一化实现基分类器的权重设置。通过多个图像数据集的分类实验,结果表明提出的方法较实验选取的其他方法准确率更高且更稳定,证明了该方法可以充分利用基分类器的有效信息,且多样性赋权法更精确。     

Linear classifier design under heteroscedasticity in Linear Discriminant Analysis

Under normality and homoscedasticity assumptions, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) is known to be optimal in terms of minimising the Bayes error for binary classification. In the heteroscedastic case, LDA is not guaranteed to minimise this error. Assuming heteroscedasticity, we derive a linear classifier, the Gaussian Linear Discriminant (GLD), that directly minimises the Bayes error for binary classification. In addition, we also propose a local neighbourhood search (LNS) algorithm to obtain a more robust classifier if the data is known to have a non-normal distribution. We evaluate the proposed classifiers on two artificial and ten real-world datasets that cut across a wide range of application areas including handwriting recognition, medical diagnosis and remote sensing, and then compare our algorithm against existing LDA approaches and other linear classifiers. The GLD is shown to outperform the original LDA procedure in terms of the classification accuracy under heteroscedasticity. While it compares favourably with other existing heteroscedastic LDA approaches, the GLD requires as much as 60 times lower training time on some datasets. Our comparison with the support vector machine (SVM) also shows that, the GLD, together with the LNS, requires as much as 150 times lower training time to achieve an equivalent classification accuracy on some of the datasets. Thus, our algorithms can provide a cheap and reliable option for classification in a lot of expert systems.