Local feature weighting in nearest prototype classification

The distance metric is the corner stone of nearest neighbor (NN)-based methods, and therefore, of nearest prototype (NP) algorithms. That is because they classify depending on the similarity of the data. When the data is characterized by a set of features which may contribute to the classification task in different levels, feature weighting or selection is required, sometimes in a local sense. However, local weighting is typically restricted to NN approaches. In this paper, we introduce local feature weighting (LFW) in NP classification. LFW provides each prototype its own weight vector, opposite to typical global weighting methods found in the NP literature, where all the prototypes share the same one. Providing each prototype its own weight vector has a novel effect in the borders of the Voronoi regions generated: They become nonlinear. We have integrated LFW with a previously developed evolutionary nearest prototype classifier (ENPC). The experiments performed both in artificial and real data sets demonstrate that the resulting algorithm that we call LFW in nearest prototype classification (LFW-NPC) avoids overfitting on training data in domains where the features may have different contribution to the classification task in different areas of the feature space. This generalization capability is also reflected in automatically obtaining an accurate and reduced set of prototypes.Publicad

Multivariate Approaches to Classification in Extragalactic Astronomy

Clustering objects into synthetic groups is a natural activity of any science. Astrophysics is not an exception and is now facing a deluge of data. For galaxies, the one-century old Hubble classification and the Hubble tuning fork are still largely in use, together with numerous mono-or bivariate classifications most often made by eye. However, a classification must be driven by the data, and sophisticated multivariate statistical tools are used more and more often. In this paper we review these different approaches in order to situate them in the general context of unsupervised and supervised learning. We insist on the astrophysical outcomes of these studies to show that multivariate analyses provide an obvious path toward a renewal of our classification of galaxies and are invaluable tools to investigate the physics and evolution of galaxies.Comment: Open Access paper. http://www.frontiersin.org/milky\_way\_and\_galaxies/10.3389/fspas.2015.00003/abstract\>. \<10.3389/fspas.2015.00003 \&g

A first attempt on global evolutionary undersampling for imbalanced big data

The design of efficient big data learning models has become a common need in a great number of applications. The massive amounts of available data may hinder the use of traditional data mining techniques, especially when evolutionary algorithms are involved as a key step. Existing solutions typically follow a divide-and-conquer approach in which the data is split into several chunks that are addressed individually. Next, the partial knowledge acquired from every slice of data is aggregated in multiple ways to solve the entire problem. However, these approaches are missing a global view of the data as a whole, which may result in less accurate models. In this work we carry out a first attempt on the design of a global evolutionary undersampling model for imbalanced classification problems. These are characterised by having a highly skewed distribution of classes in which evolutionary models are being used to balance it by selecting only the most relevant data. Using Apache Spark as big data technology, we have introduced a number of variations to the well-known CHC algorithm to work very large chromosomes and reduce the costs associated to fitness evaluation. We discuss some preliminary results, showing the great potential of this new kind of evolutionary big data model