Hybrid ACO and SVM algorithm for pattern classification

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a metaheuristic algorithm that can be used to solve a variety of combinatorial optimization problems. A new direction for ACO is to optimize continuous and mixed (discrete and continuous) variables. Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a pattern classification approach originated from statistical approaches. However, SVM suffers two main problems which include feature subset selection and parameter tuning. Most approaches related to tuning SVM parameters discretize the continuous value of the parameters which will give a negative effect on the classification performance. This study presents four algorithms for tuning the SVM parameters and selecting feature subset which improved SVM classification accuracy with smaller size of feature subset. This is achieved by performing the SVM parameters’ tuning and feature subset selection processes simultaneously. Hybridization algorithms between ACO and SVM techniques were proposed. The first two algorithms, ACOR-SVM and IACOR-SVM, tune the SVM parameters while the second two algorithms, ACOMV-R-SVM and IACOMV-R-SVM, tune the SVM parameters and select the feature subset simultaneously. Ten benchmark datasets from University of California, Irvine, were used in the experiments to validate the performance of the proposed algorithms. Experimental results obtained from the proposed algorithms are better when compared with other approaches in terms of classification accuracy and size of the feature subset. The average classification accuracies for the ACOR-SVM, IACOR-SVM, ACOMV-R and IACOMV-R algorithms are 94.73%, 95.86%, 97.37% and 98.1% respectively. The average size of feature subset is eight for the ACOR-SVM and IACOR-SVM algorithms and four for the ACOMV-R and IACOMV-R algorithms. This study contributes to a new direction for ACO that can deal with continuous and mixed-variable ACO

Optimizing support vector machine parameters using continuous ant colony optimization

Support Vector Machines are considered to be excellent patterns classification techniques.The process of classifying a pattern with high classification accuracy counts mainly on tuning Support Vector Machine parameters which are the generalization error parameter and the kernel function parameter.Tuning these parameters is a complex process and may be done experimentally through time consuming human experience.To overcome this difficulty, an approach such as Ant Colony Optimization can tune Support Vector Machine parameters.Ant Colony Optimization originally deals with discrete optimization problems. Hence, in applying Ant Colony Optimization for optimizing Support Vector Machine parameters, which are continuous parameters, there is a need to discretize the continuous value into a discrete value.This discretization process results in loss of some information and, hence, affects the classification accuracy and seek time.This study proposes an algorithm to optimize Support Vector Machine parameters using continuous Ant Colony Optimization without the need to discretize continuous values for Support Vector Machine parameters.Seven datasets from UCI were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed hybrid algorithm.The proposed algorithm demonstrates the credibility in terms of classification accuracy when compared to grid search techniques.Experimental results of the proposed algorithm also show promising performance in terms of computational speed

Solving Support Vector Machine Model Selection Problem Using Continuous Ant Colony Optimization

Ant Colony Optimization has been used to solve Support Vector Machine model selection problem.Ant Colony Optimization originally deals with discrete optimization problem.In applying Ant Colony Optimization for optimizing Support Vector Machine parameters which are continuous variables, there is a need to discretize the continuously value into discrete value.This discretize process would result in loss of some information and hence affect the classification accuracy and seeking time.This study proposes an algorithm that can optimize Support Vector Machine parameters using Continuous Ant Colony Optimization without the need to discretize continuous value for Support Vector Machine parameters.Eight datasets from UCI were used to evaluate the credibility of the proposed hybrid algorithm in terms of classification accuracy and size of features subset.Promising results were obtained when compared to grid search technique, GA with feature chromosome-SVM, PSO-SVM, and GA-SVM

Intelligent instance selection techniques for support vector machine speed optimization with application to e-fraud detection.

Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2017.Decision-making is a very important aspect of many businesses. There are grievous penalties involved in wrong decisions, including financial loss, damage of company reputation and reduction in company productivity. Hence, it is of dire importance that managers make the right decisions. Machine Learning (ML) simplifies the process of decision making: it helps to discover useful patterns from historical data, which can be used for meaningful decision-making. The ability to make strategic and meaningful decisions is dependent on the reliability of data. Currently, many organizations are overwhelmed with vast amounts of data, and unfortunately, ML algorithms cannot effectively handle large datasets. This thesis therefore proposes seven filter-based and five wrapper-based intelligent instance selection techniques for optimizing the speed and predictive accuracy of ML algorithms, with a particular focus on Support Vector Machine (SVM). Also, this thesis proposes a novel fitness function for instance selection. The primary difference between the filter-based and wrapper-based technique is in their method of selection. The filter-based techniques utilizes the proposed fitness function for selection, while the wrapper-based technique utilizes SVM algorithm for selection. The proposed techniques are obtained by fusing SVM algorithm with the following Nature Inspired algorithms: flower pollination algorithm, social spider algorithm, firefly algorithm, cuckoo search algorithm and bat algorithm. Also, two of the filter-based techniques are boundary detection algorithms, inspired by edge detection in image processing and edge selection in ant colony optimization. Two different sets of experiments were performed in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed techniques (wrapper-based and filter-based). All experiments were performed on four datasets containing three popular e-fraud types: credit card fraud, email spam and phishing email. In addition, experiments were performed on 20 datasets provided by the well-known UCI data repository. The results show that the proposed filter-based techniques excellently improved SVM training speed in 100% (24 out of 24) of the datasets used for evaluation, without significantly affecting SVM classification quality. Moreover, experimental results also show that the wrapper-based techniques consistently improved SVM predictive accuracy in 78% (18 out of 23) of the datasets used for evaluation and simultaneously improved SVM training speed in all cases. Furthermore, two different statistical tests were conducted to further validate the credibility of the results: Freidman’s test and Holm’s post-hoc test. The statistical test results reveal that the proposed filter-based and wrapper-based techniques are significantly faster, compared to standard SVM and some existing instance selection techniques, in all cases. Moreover, statistical test results also reveal that Cuckoo Search Instance Selection Algorithm outperform all the proposed techniques, in terms of speed. Overall, the proposed techniques have proven to be fast and accurate ML-based e-fraud detection techniques, with improved training speed, predictive accuracy and storage reduction. In real life application, such as video surveillance and intrusion detection systems, that require a classifier to be trained very quickly for speedy classification of new target concepts, the filter-based techniques provide the best solutions; while the wrapper-based techniques are better suited for applications, such as email filters, that are very sensitive to slight changes in predictive accuracy

A comprehensive review of crop yield prediction using machine learning approaches with special emphasis on palm oil yield prediction

An early and reliable estimation of crop yield is essential in quantitative and financial evaluation at the field level for determining strategic plans in agricultural commodities for import-export policies and doubling farmer’s incomes. Crop yield predictions are carried out to estimate higher crop yield through the use of machine learning algorithms which are one of the challenging issues in the agricultural sector. Due to this developing significance of crop yield prediction, this article provides an exhaustive review on the use of machine learning algorithms to predict crop yield with special emphasis on palm oil yield prediction. Initially, the current status of palm oil yield around the world is presented, along with a brief discussion on the overview of widely used features and prediction algorithms. Then, the critical evaluation of the state-of-the-art machine learning-based crop yield prediction, machine learning application in the palm oil industry and comparative analysis of related studies are presented. Consequently, a detailed study of the advantages and difficulties related to machine learning-based crop yield prediction and proper identification of current and future challenges to the agricultural industry is presented. The potential solutions are additionally prescribed in order to alleviate existing problems in crop yield prediction. Since one of the major objectives of this study is to explore the future perspectives of machine learning-based palm oil yield prediction, the areas including application of remote sensing, plant’s growth and disease recognition, mapping and tree counting, optimum features and algorithms have been broadly discussed. Finally, a prospective architecture of machine learning-based palm oil yield prediction has been proposed based on the critical evaluation of existing related studies. This technology will fulfill its promise by performing new research challenges in the analysis of crop yield prediction and the development

Localization and classification of paddy field pests using a saliency map and deep convolutional neural network

We present a pipeline for the visual localization and classification of agricultural pest insects by computing a saliency map and applying deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) learning. First, we used a global contrast region-based approach to compute a saliency map for localizing pest insect objects. Bounding squares containing targets were then extracted, resized to a fixed size and used to construct a large standard database called Pest ID. This database was then utilized for self-learning of local image features which were, in turn, used for classification by DCNN. DCNN learning optimized the critical parameters, including size, number and convolutional stride of local receptive fields, dropout ratio and the final loss function. To demonstrate the practical utility of using DCNN, we explored different architectures by shrinking depth and width and found effective sizes that can act as alternatives for practical applications. On the test set of paddy field images, our architectures achieved a mean Accuracy Precision (mAP) of 0.951, a significant improvement over previous methods

Computational Optimizations for Machine Learning

The present book contains the 10 articles finally accepted for publication in the Special Issue “Computational Optimizations for Machine Learning” of the MDPI journal Mathematics, which cover a wide range of topics connected to the theory and applications of machine learning, neural networks and artificial intelligence. These topics include, among others, various types of machine learning classes, such as supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, deep neural networks, convolutional neural networks, GANs, decision trees, linear regression, SVM, K-means clustering, Q-learning, temporal difference, deep adversarial networks and more. It is hoped that the book will be interesting and useful to those developing mathematical algorithms and applications in the domain of artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as for those having the appropriate mathematical background and willing to become familiar with recent advances of machine learning computational optimization mathematics, which has nowadays permeated into almost all sectors of human life and activity

Predictive and prescriptive modeling for the clinical management of dengue: a case study in Colombia

En esta investigación, abordamos el problema del manejo clínico del dengue, que se compone del diagnóstico y el tratamiento de la enfermedad. El dengue es una enfermedad tropical transmitida por vectores que está ampliamente distribuida en todo el mundo. El desarrollo de enfoques que ayuden a la toma de decisiones en enfermedades de interés para la salud pública –como el dengue– es necesario para reducir las tasas de morbilidad y mortalidad. A pesar de la existencia de guías para el manejo clínico, el diagnóstico y el tratamiento del dengue siguen siendo un reto. Para abordar este problema, nuestro objetivo fue desarrollar metodologías, modelos y enfoques para apoyar la toma de decisiones en relación con el manejo clínico de esta infección. Nosotros desarrollamos varios artículos de investigación para cumplir los objetivos propuestos de esta tesis. El primer articulo revisó las últimas tendencias del modelamiento de dengue usando técnicas de aprendizaje automático. El segundo artículo propuso un sistema de apoyo a la decisión para el diagnóstico del dengue utilizando mapas cognitivos difusos. El tercer artículo propuso un ciclo autónomo de tareas de análisis de datos para apoyar tanto el diagnóstico como el tratamiento de la enfermedad. El cuarto artículo presentó una metodología basada en mapas cognitivos difusos y algoritmos de optimización para generar modelos prescriptivos en entornos clínicos. El quinto artículo puso a prueba la metodología anteriormente mencionada en otros dominios de la ciencia como, por ejemplo, los negocios y la educación. Finalmente, el último artículo propuso tres enfoques de aprendizaje federado para garantizar la seguridad y privacidad de los datos relacionados con el manejo clínico del dengue. En cada artículo evaluamos dichas estrategias utilizando diversos conjuntos de datos con signos, síntomas, pruebas de laboratorio e información relacionada con el tratamiento de la enfermedad. Los resultados mostraron la capacidad de las metodologías y modelos desarrollados para predecir la enfermedad, clasificar a los pacientes según su severidad, evaluar el comportamiento de las variables relacionadas con la severidad y recomendar tratamientos basados en las directrices de la Organización Mundial de la Salud.In this research, we address the problem of clinical management of dengue, which is composed of diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Dengue is a vector-borne tropical disease that is widely distributed worldwide. The development of approaches to aid in decision-making for diseases of public health concern –such as dengue– are necessary to reduce morbidity and mortality rates. Despite the existence of clinical management guidelines, the diagnosis and treatment of dengue remains a challenge. To address this problem, our objective was to develop methodologies, models, and approaches to support decision-making regarding the clinical management of this infection. We developed several research articles to meet the proposed objectives of this thesis. The first article reviewed the latest trends in dengue modeling using machine learning (ML) techniques. The second article proposed a decision support system for the diagnosis of dengue using fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs). The third article proposed an autonomous cycle of data analysis tasks to support both diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The fourth article presented a methodology based on FCMs and optimization algorithms to generate prescriptive models in clinical settings. The fifth article tested the previously mentioned methodology in other science domains such as, business and education. Finally, the last article proposed three federated learning approaches to guarantee the security and privacy of data related to the clinical management of dengue. In each article, we evaluated such strategies using diverse datasets with signs, symptoms, laboratory tests, and information related to the treatment of the disease. The results showed the ability of the developed methodologies and models to predict disease, classify patients according to severity, evaluate the behavior of severity-related variables, and recommend treatments based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines