Nabil Belacel

Y-means: a clustering method for intrusion detection

As the Internet spreads to each comer of the world, computers are exposed to miscellaneous intrusions from the World Wide Web. We need effective intrusion detection systems to protect our computers from these unauthorized or malicious actions. Traditional instance-based learning methods for intrusion detection can only detect known intrusions since these methods classify instances based on what they have learned. They rarely detect the intrusions that they have not learned before. In this paper, we present a clustering heuristic for intrusion detection, called Y-means. This proposed heuristic is based on the K-means algorithm and other related clustering algorithms. It overcomes two shortcomings of K-means: number of clusters dependency and degeneracy. The result of simulations run on the KDD-99 data set shows that Y-means is an effective method for partitioning large data space. A detection rate of 89.89% and a false alarm rate of 1.00% are achieved with Y-means.

Fuzzy J-Means and VNS methods for clustering genes from microarray data

MOTIVATION In the interpretation of gene expression data from a group of microarray experiments that include samples from either different patients or conditions, special consideration must be given to the pleiotropic and epistatic roles of genes, as observed in the variation of gene coexpression patterns. Crisp clustering methods assign each gene to one cluster, thereby omitting information about the multiple roles of genes. RESULTS Here, we present the application of a local search heuristic, Fuzzy J-Means, embedded into the variable neighborhood search metaheuristic for the clustering of microarray gene expression data. We show that for all the datasets studied this algorithm outperforms the standard Fuzzy C-Means heuristic. Different methods for the utilization of cluster membership information in determining gene coregulation are presented. The clustering and data analyses were performed on simulated datasets as well as experimental cDNA microarray data for breast cancer and human blood from the Stanford Microarray Database. AVAILABILITY The source code of the clustering software (C programming language) is freely available from Nabil.Belacel@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Learning multicriteria fuzzy classification method PROAFTN from data

In this paper, we present a new methodology for learning parameters of multiple criteria classification method PROAFTN from data. There are numerous representations and techniques available for data mining, for example decision trees, rule bases, artificial neural networks, density estimation, regression and clustering. The PROAFTN method constitutes another approach for data mining. It belongs to the class of supervised learning algorithms and assigns membership degree of the alternatives to the classes. The PROAFTN method requires the elicitation of its parameters for the purpose of classification. Therefore, we need an automatic method that helps us to establish these parameters from the given data with minimum classification errors. Here, we propose variable neighborhood search metaheuristic for getting these parameters. The performances of the newly proposed method were evaluated using 10 cross validation technique. The results are compared with those obtained by other classification methods previously reported on the same data. It appears that the solutions of substantially better quality are obtained with proposed method than with these former ones.

Multicriteria fuzzy classification procedure PROCFTN : methodology and medical application

In this paper, we introduce a new classification procedure for assigning objects to predefined classes, named PROCFTN. This procedure is based on a fuzzy scoring function for choosing a subset of prototypes, which represent the closest resemblance with an object to be assigned. It then applies the majority-voting rule to assign an object to a class. We also present a medical application of this procedure as an aid to assist the diagnosis of central nervous system tumours. The results are compared with those obtained by other classification methods, reported on the same data set, including decision tree, production rules, neural network, k nearest neighbor, multilayer perceptron and logistic regression. Our results are very encouraging and show that the multicriteria decision analysis approach can be successfully used to help medical diagnosis.

Determination of tumour marker genes from gene expression data.

Cancer classification has traditionally been based on the morphological study of tumours. However, tumours with similar histological appearances can exhibit different responses to therapy, indicating differences in tumour characteristics on the molecular level. Thus, development of a novel, reliable and precise method for classification of tumours is essential for more successful diagnosis and treatment. The high-throughput gene expression data obtained using microarray technology are currently being investigated for diagnostic applications. However, these large datasets introduce a range of challenges, making data analysis a major part of every experiment for any application, including cancer classification and diagnosis. One of the major concerns in the application of microarrays to tumour diagnostics is the fact that the expression levels of many genes are not measurably affected by carcinogenic changes in the cells. Thus, a crucial step in the application of microarrays to cancer diagnostics is the selection of diagnostic marker genes from the gene expression profiles. These molecular markers give valuable additional information for tumour diagnosis, prognosis and therapy development.

Fuzzy Clustering with Improved Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm

This paper applies the artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) to fuzzy clustering. An improved AFSA with adaptive Visual and adaptive step is proposed. AFSA enhances the performance of the fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm. A computational experiment shows that AFSA improved FCM out performs both the conventional FCM algorithm and the Genetic Algorithm (GA) improved FCM.

NMR metabolic analysis of samples using fuzzy K-means clustering

The global analysis of metabolites can be used to define the phenotypes of cells, tissues or organisms. Classifying groups of samples based on their metabolic profile is one of the main topics of metabolomics research. Crisp clustering methods assign each feature to one cluster, thereby omitting information about the multiplicity of sample subtypes. Here, we present the application of fuzzy K‐means clustering method for the classification of samples based on metabolomics 1D 1H NMR fingerprints. The sample classification was performed on NMR spectra of cancer cell line extracts and of urine samples of type 2 diabetes patients and animal models. The cell line dataset included NMR spectra of lipophilic cell extracts for two normal and three cancer cell lines with cancer cell lines including two invasive and one non‐invasive cancers. The second dataset included previously published NMR spectra of urine samples of human type 2 diabetics and healthy controls, mouse wild type and diabetes model and rat obese and lean phenotypes. The fuzzy K‐means clustering method allowed more accurate sample classification in both datasets relative to the other tested methods including principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering (HCL) and K‐means clustering. In the cell line samples, fuzzy clustering provided a clear separation of individual cell lines, groups of cancer and normal cell lines as well as non‐invasive and invasive tumour cell lines. In the diabetes dataset, clear separation of healthy controls and diabetics in all three models was possible only by using the fuzzy clustering method. Copyright

Differential Evolution for learning the classification method PROAFTN

This paper introduces a new learning technique for the multicriteria classification method PROAFTN. This new technique, called DEPRO, utilizes a Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm for learning and optimizing the output of the classification method PROAFTN. The limitation of the PROAFTN method is largely due to the set of parameters (e.g., intervals and weights) required to be obtained to perform the classification procedure. Therefore, a learning method is needed to induce and extract these parameters from data. DE is an efficient metaheuristic optimization algorithm based on a simple mathematical structure to mimic a complex process of evolution. Some of the advantages of DE over other global optimization methods are that it often converges faster and with more certainty than many other methods and it uses fewer control parameters. In this work, the DE algorithm is proposed to inductively obtain PROAFTNs parameters from data to achieve a high classification accuracy. Based on results generated from 12 public datasets, DEPRO provides excellent results, outperforming the most common classification algorithms.

An evolutionary framework using particle swarm optimization for classification method PROAFTN

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to introduce a methodology based on the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to train the Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) method PROAFTN. PSO is an efficient evolutionary optimization algorithm using the social behavior of living organisms to explore the search space. It is a relatively new population-based metaheuristic that can be used to find approximate solutions to difficult optimization problems. Furthermore, it is easy to code and robust to control parameters. To apply PROAFTN, the values of several parameters need to be determined prior to classification, such as boundaries of intervals and weights. In this study, the proposed technique is named PSOPRO, which utilizes PSO to elicit the PROAFTN parameters from examples during the learning process. To test the effectiveness of the methodology and the quality of the obtained models, PSOPRO is evaluated on 12 public-domain datasets and compared with the previous work applied on PROAFTN. The computational results demonstrate that PSOPRO is very competitive with respect to the most common classification algorithms.

Graph theory based model for learning path recommendation

Abstract Learning design, the activity of designing a learning path, can be a complex task, especially for learners. A learning design recommendation system would help self-learners find appropriate learning objects and build efficient learning paths during their learning journey. Educational Data Mining (EDM) has provided an impressive amount of novelties related to learning object recommendation systems. However, most of the solutions proposed thus far do not take into account eventual competency dependencies among learning objects and/or are not designed for large repositories of interdependent learning objects. We propose a model to build a learning design recommendation system based on graph theory. From this model, we propose, implement and test an approach using the concept of cliques to recommend learning paths.