Finding patterns in student and medical office data using rough sets

Data have been obtained from King Khaled General Hospital in Saudi Arabia. In this project, I am trying to discover patterns in these data by using implemented algorithms in an experimental tool, called Rough Set Graphic User Interface (RSGUI). Several algorithms are available in RSGUI, each of which is based in Rough Set theory. My objective is to find short meaningful predictive rules. First, we need to find a minimum set of attributes that fully characterize the data. Some of the rules generated from this minimum set will be obvious, and therefore uninteresting. Others will be surprising, and therefore interesting. Usual measures of strength of a rule, such as length of the rule, certainty and coverage were considered. In addition, a measure of interestingness of the rules has been developed based on questionnaires administered to human subjects. There were bugs in the RSGUI java codes and one algorithm in particular, Inductive Learning Algorithm (ILA) missed some cases that were subsequently resolved in ILA2 but not updated in RSGUI. I solved the ILA issue on RSGUI. So now ILA on RSGUI is running well and gives good results for all cases encountered in the hospital administration and student records data.Master's These

Knowledge structure, knowledge granulation and knowledge distance in a knowledge base

AbstractOne of the strengths of rough set theory is the fact that an unknown target concept can be approximately characterized by existing knowledge structures in a knowledge base. Knowledge structures in knowledge bases have two categories: complete and incomplete. In this paper, through uniformly expressing these two kinds of knowledge structures, we first address four operators on a knowledge base, which are adequate for generating new knowledge structures through using known knowledge structures. Then, an axiom definition of knowledge granulation in knowledge bases is presented, under which some existing knowledge granulations become its special forms. Finally, we introduce the concept of a knowledge distance for calculating the difference between two knowledge structures in the same knowledge base. Noting that the knowledge distance satisfies the three properties of a distance space on all knowledge structures induced by a given universe. These results will be very helpful for knowledge discovery from knowledge bases and significant for establishing a framework of granular computing in knowledge bases

Data mining in soft computing framework: a survey

The present article provides a survey of the available literature on data mining using soft computing. A categorization has been provided based on the different soft computing tools and their hybridizations used, the data mining function implemented, and the preference criterion selected by the model. The utility of the different soft computing methodologies is highlighted. Generally fuzzy sets are suitable for handling the issues related to understandability of patterns, incomplete/noisy data, mixed media information and human interaction, and can provide approximate solutions faster. Neural networks are nonparametric, robust, and exhibit good learning and generalization capabilities in data-rich environments. Genetic algorithms provide efficient search algorithms to select a model, from mixed media data, based on some preference criterion/objective function. Rough sets are suitable for handling different types of uncertainty in data. Some challenges to data mining and the application of soft computing methodologies are indicated. An extensive bibliography is also included

NIS-Apriori-based rule generation with three-way decisions and its application system in SQL

In the study, non-deterministic information systems-Apriori-based (NIS-Apriori-based) rule generation from table data sets with incomplete information, SQL implementation, and the unique characteristics of the new framework are presented. Additionally, a few unsolved new research topics are proposed based on the framework. We follow the framework of NISs and propose certain rules and possible rules based on possible world semantics. Although each rule τ depends on a large number of possible tables, we prove that each rule τ is determined by examining only two τ -dependent possible tables. The NIS-Apriori algorithm is an adjusted Apriori algorithm that can handle such tables. Furthermore, it is logically sound and complete with regard to the rules. Subsequently, the implementation of the NIS-Apriori algorithm in SQL is described and a few new topics induced by effects of NIS-Apriori-based rule generation are confirmed. One of the topics that are considered is the possibility of estimating missing values via the obtained certain rules. The proposed methodology and the environment yielded by NIS-Apriori-based rule generation in SQL are useful for table data analysis with three-way decisions

An explainable prediction method based on Fuzzy Rough Sets, TOPSIS and hexagons of opposition: Applications to the analysis of Information Disorder

This paper presents a novel approach for predicting and explaining instances of Information Disorder. The paper reports two significant findings: i) the use of structures of opposition to describe relationships between instances of Information Disorder, and ii) the development of an explainable prediction method that combines Fuzzy Rough Sets and TOPSIS with these structures. The findings have the potential to assist analysts and decision-makers in gaining a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of Information Disorder. The results are based on real data and demonstrate promising applications for future research

Understanding the Novice Decision-Making Process in Forensic Footwear Examinations: Accuracy and Decision Rules

The reproducibility of experienced-based forensic pattern interpretation is founded on the notion that domain-specific knowledge can be successfully distributed and applied among experts within a group. This assumption persists, even when the examination is complicated by variations in case circumstances, such as impression clarity and totality, as well as media, substrate, collection mechanism and enhancement. While it is further theorized that many of these factors (as well as additional confounding factors) are at play during an examination, the manner and extent to which these sources of variability affect the examination of footwear evidence remain unclear. In order to explore this hypothesis, a data mining technique called dominance-based rough set approach (DRSA) was applied to characterize the novice examiners’ decision-making process, due to its ability to capture useful information from a set of hybrid data with latent preference orders and discover knowledge in the form of decision rules. Through this approach, two objectives were addressed: the identification of factors that affect footwear examination and conclusions within the novice group, and the evaluation of decision rule quality as a function of support, strength, certainty and lift factors. The results of the study showed that in general, novice examiners’ case assessments were found to be outside the acceptable conclusion range more than 50\% of the time, with general tendencies to assign ambiguous conclusions, such as ``limited association of class characteristics and ``lacks sufficient detail, rather than more definitive ones such as ``identification or ``exclusion. When assessments were further explored using DRSA, 23 decision rules were induced (13 \textit{certain} and 10 \textit{possible}). Of the 13 \textit{certain} rules, 75\% of the induced rules were dominated by the examiner’s background, rather than case attributes, and 50\% of the \textit{possible} rules indicated that media type was a prevalent factor in the examiners’ determination of similarity/dissimilarity, as they attempted to interpret media-substrate interaction and reconcile this interpretation with SWGTREAD conclusion guidelines. Only when examiner attributes were excluded from the analysis, forcing the induction of rules based on case attributes only, did case-based features become prominent, but only with very low rule-support. In the second phase of work related to this project, the nature and type of rules induced based on expert assessments will be examined and compared to those generated from this novice set in order to compare and interpret the manner in which domain-specific knowledge dominates induced rules

Investigation related to multispectral imaging systems

A summary of technical progress made during a five year research program directed toward the development of operational information systems based on multispectral sensing and the use of these systems in earth-resource survey applications is presented. Efforts were undertaken during this program to: (1) improve the basic understanding of the many facets of multispectral remote sensing, (2) develop methods for improving the accuracy of information generated by remote sensing systems, (3) improve the efficiency of data processing and information extraction techniques to enhance the cost-effectiveness of remote sensing systems, (4) investigate additional problems having potential remote sensing solutions, and (5) apply the existing and developing technology for specific users and document and transfer that technology to the remote sensing community

Subsethood Measures of Spatial Granules

Subsethood, which is to measure the degree of set inclusion relation, is predominant in fuzzy set theory. This paper introduces some basic concepts of spatial granules, coarse-fine relation, and operations like meet, join, quotient meet and quotient join. All the atomic granules can be hierarchized by set-inclusion relation and all the granules can be hierarchized by coarse-fine relation. Viewing an information system from the micro and the macro perspectives, we can get a micro knowledge space and a micro knowledge space, from which a rough set model and a spatial rough granule model are respectively obtained. The classical rough set model is the special case of the rough set model induced from the micro knowledge space, while the spatial rough granule model will be play a pivotal role in the problem-solving of structures. We discuss twelve axioms of monotone increasing subsethood and twelve corresponding axioms of monotone decreasing supsethood, and generalize subsethood and supsethood to conditional granularity and conditional fineness respectively. We develop five conditional granularity measures and five conditional fineness measures and prove that each conditional granularity or fineness measure satisfies its corresponding twelve axioms although its subsethood or supsethood measure only hold one of the two boundary conditions. We further define five conditional granularity entropies and five conditional fineness entropies respectively, and each entropy only satisfies part of the boundary conditions but all the ten monotone conditions