This is a comprehensive introduction to Support Vector Machines, a generation learning system based on advances in statistical learning theory.

A comprehensive introduction to Support Vector Machines and related kernel methods. In the 1990s, a new type of learning algorithm was developed, based on results from statistical learning theory: the Support Vector Machine (SVM). This gave rise to a new class of theoretically elegant learning machines that use a central concept of SVMs—-kernels—for a number of learning tasks. Kernel machines provide a modular framework that can be adapted to different tasks and domains by the choice of the kernel function and the base algorithm. They are replacing neural networks in a variety of fields, including engineering, information retrieval, and bioinformatics. Learning with Kernels provides an introduction to SVMs and related kernel methods. Although the book begins with the basics, it also includes the latest research. It provides all of the concepts necessary to enable a reader equipped with some basic mathematical knowledge to enter the world of machine learning using theoretically well-founded yet easy-to-use kernel algorithms and to understand and apply the powerful algorithms that have been developed over the last few years.

Publisher Description

Every mathematical discipline goes through three periods of development: the naive, the formal, and the critical. David Hilbert The goal of this book is to explain the principles that made support vector machines (SVMs) a successful modeling and prediction tool for a variety of applications. We try to achieve this by presenting the basic ideas of SVMs together with the latest developments and current research questions in a uni?ed style. In a nutshell, we identify at least three reasons for the success of SVMs: their ability to learn well with only a very small number of free parameters, their robustness against several types of model violations and outliers, and last but not least their computational e?ciency compared with several other methods. Although there are several roots and precursors of SVMs, these methods gained particular momentum during the last 15 years since Vapnik (1995, 1998) published his well-known textbooks on statistical learning theory with aspecialemphasisonsupportvectormachines. Sincethen,the?eldofmachine learninghaswitnessedintenseactivityinthestudyofSVMs,whichhasspread moreandmoretootherdisciplinessuchasstatisticsandmathematics. Thusit seems fair to say that several communities are currently working on support vector machines and on related kernel-based methods. Although there are many interactions between these communities, we think that there is still roomforadditionalfruitfulinteractionandwouldbegladifthistextbookwere found helpful in stimulating further research. Many of the results presented in this book have previously been scattered in the journal literature or are still under review. As a consequence, these results have been accessible only to a relativelysmallnumberofspecialists,sometimesprobablyonlytopeoplefrom one community but not the others.

Support vector machines (SVMs) represent a breakthrough in the theory of learning systems. It is a new generation of learning algorithms based on recent advances in statistical learning theory. Designed for the undergraduate students of computer science and engineering, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the state-of-the-art algorithm and techniques in this field. It covers most of the well known algorithms supplemented with code and data. One Class, Multiclass and hierarchical SVMs are included which will help the students to solve any pattern classification problems with ease and that too in Excel. KEY FEATURES  Extensive coverage of Lagrangian duality and iterative methods for optimization  Separate chapters on kernel based spectral clustering, text mining, and other applications in computational linguistics and speech processing  A chapter on latest sequential minimization algorithms and its modifications to do online learning  Step-by-step method of solving the SVM based classification problem in Excel.  Kernel versions of PCA, CCA and ICA The CD accompanying the book includes animations on solving SVM training problem in Microsoft EXCEL and by using SVMLight software . In addition, Matlab codes are given for all the formulations of SVM along with the data sets mentioned in the exercise section of each chapter.

Support vector machines (SVMs) are one of the most active research areas in machine learning. SVMs have shown good performance in a number of applications, including text and image classification. However, the learning capability of SVMs comes at a cost – an inherent inability to explain in a comprehensible form, the process by which a learning result was reached. Hence, the situation is similar to neural networks, where the apparent lack of an explanation capability has led to various approaches aiming at extracting symbolic rules from neural networks. For SVMs to gain a wider degree of acceptance in fields such as medical diagnosis and security sensitive areas, it is desirable to offer an explanation capability. User explanation is often a legal requirement, because it is necessary to explain how a decision was reached or why it was made. This book provides an overview of the field and introduces a number of different approaches to extracting rules from support vector machines developed by key researchers. In addition, successful applications are outlined and future research opportunities are discussed. The book is an important reference for researchers and graduate students, and since it provides an introduction to the topic, it will be important in the classroom as well. Because of the significance of both SVMs and user explanation, the book is of relevance to data mining practitioners and data analysts.

Data fusion problems arise frequently in many different fields. This book provides a specific introduction to data fusion problems using support vector machines. In the first part, this book begins with a brief survey of additive models and Rayleigh quotient objectives in machine learning, and then introduces kernel fusion as the additive expansion of support vector machines in the dual problem. The second part presents several novel kernel fusion algorithms and some real applications in supervised and unsupervised learning. The last part of the book substantiates the value of the proposed theories and algorithms in MerKator, an open software to identify disease relevant genes based on the integration of heterogeneous genomic data sources in multiple species. The topics presented in this book are meant for researchers or students who use support vector machines. Several topics addressed in the book may also be interesting to computational biologists who want to tackle data fusion challenges in real applications. The background required of the reader is a good knowledge of data mining, machine learning and linear algebra.

The first book of its kind to review the current status and future direction of the exciting new branch of machine learning/data mining called imbalanced learning Imbalanced learning focuses on how an intelligent system can learn when it is provided with imbalanced data. Solving imbalanced learning problems is critical in numerous data-intensive networked systems, including surveillance, security, Internet, finance, biomedical, defense, and more. Due to the inherent complex characteristics of imbalanced data sets, learning from such data requires new understandings, principles, algorithms, and tools to transform vast amounts of raw data efficiently into information and knowledge representation. The first comprehensive look at this new branch of machine learning, this book offers a critical review of the problem of imbalanced learning, covering the state of the art in techniques, principles, and real-world applications. Featuring contributions from experts in both academia and industry, Imbalanced Learning: Foundations, Algorithms, and Applications provides chapter coverage on: Foundations of Imbalanced Learning Imbalanced Datasets: From Sampling to Classifiers Ensemble Methods for Class Imbalance Learning Class Imbalance Learning Methods for Support Vector Machines Class Imbalance and Active Learning Nonstationary Stream Data Learning with Imbalanced Class Distribution Assessment Metrics for Imbalanced Learning Imbalanced Learning: Foundations, Algorithms, and Applications will help scientists and engineers learn how to tackle the problem of learning from imbalanced datasets, and gain insight into current developments in the field as well as future research directions.

Offering a fundamental basis in kernel-based learning theory, this book covers both statistical and algebraic principles. It provides over 30 major theorems for kernel-based supervised and unsupervised learning models. The first of the theorems establishes a condition, arguably necessary and sufficient, for the kernelization of learning models. In addition, several other theorems are devoted to proving mathematical equivalence between seemingly unrelated models. With over 25 closed-form and iterative algorithms, the book provides a step-by-step guide to algorithmic procedures and analysing which factors to consider in tackling a given problem, enabling readers to improve specifically designed learning algorithms, build models for new applications and develop efficient techniques suitable for green machine learning technologies. Numerous real-world examples and over 200 problems, several of which are Matlab-based simulation exercises, make this an essential resource for graduate students and professionals in computer science, electrical and biomedical engineering. Solutions to problems are provided online for instructors.

A detailed overview of current research in kernel methods and their application to computational biology.