16,165 research outputs found
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\>.
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Robust EM algorithm for model-based curve clustering
Model-based clustering approaches concern the paradigm of exploratory data
analysis relying on the finite mixture model to automatically find a latent
structure governing observed data. They are one of the most popular and
successful approaches in cluster analysis. The mixture density estimation is
generally performed by maximizing the observed-data log-likelihood by using the
expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. However, it is well-known that the EM
algorithm initialization is crucial. In addition, the standard EM algorithm
requires the number of clusters to be known a priori. Some solutions have been
provided in [31, 12] for model-based clustering with Gaussian mixture models
for multivariate data. In this paper we focus on model-based curve clustering
approaches, when the data are curves rather than vectorial data, based on
regression mixtures. We propose a new robust EM algorithm for clustering
curves. We extend the model-based clustering approach presented in [31] for
Gaussian mixture models, to the case of curve clustering by regression
mixtures, including polynomial regression mixtures as well as spline or
B-spline regressions mixtures. Our approach both handles the problem of
initialization and the one of choosing the optimal number of clusters as the EM
learning proceeds, rather than in a two-fold scheme. This is achieved by
optimizing a penalized log-likelihood criterion. A simulation study confirms
the potential benefit of the proposed algorithm in terms of robustness
regarding initialization and funding the actual number of clusters.Comment: In Proceedings of the 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural
Networks (IJCNN), 2013, Dallas, TX, US
Model-based clustering via linear cluster-weighted models
A novel family of twelve mixture models with random covariates, nested in the
linear cluster-weighted model (CWM), is introduced for model-based
clustering. The linear CWM was recently presented as a robust alternative
to the better known linear Gaussian CWM. The proposed family of models provides
a unified framework that also includes the linear Gaussian CWM as a special
case. Maximum likelihood parameter estimation is carried out within the EM
framework, and both the BIC and the ICL are used for model selection. A simple
and effective hierarchical random initialization is also proposed for the EM
algorithm. The novel model-based clustering technique is illustrated in some
applications to real data. Finally, a simulation study for evaluating the
performance of the BIC and the ICL is presented
A system for learning statistical motion patterns
Analysis of motion patterns is an effective approach for anomaly detection and behavior prediction. Current approaches for the analysis of motion patterns depend on known scenes, where objects move in predefined ways. It is highly desirable to automatically construct object motion patterns which reflect the knowledge of the scene. In this paper, we present a system for automatically learning motion patterns for anomaly detection and behavior prediction based on a proposed algorithm for robustly tracking multiple objects. In the tracking algorithm, foreground pixels are clustered using a fast accurate fuzzy k-means algorithm. Growing and prediction of the cluster centroids of foreground pixels ensure that each cluster centroid is associated with a moving object in the scene. In the algorithm for learning motion patterns, trajectories are clustered hierarchically using spatial and temporal information and then each motion pattern is represented with a chain of Gaussian distributions. Based on the learned statistical motion patterns, statistical methods are used to detect anomalies and predict behaviors. Our system is tested using image sequences acquired, respectively, from a crowded real traffic scene and a model traffic scene. Experimental results show the robustness of the tracking algorithm, the efficiency of the algorithm for learning motion patterns, and the encouraging performance of algorithms for anomaly detection and behavior prediction
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