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Qun Song

Publications and source records attributed to Qun Song.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

TWNFI--a transductive neuro-fuzzy inference system with weighted data normalization for personalized modeling.

This paper introduces a novel transductive neuro-fuzzy inference model with weighted data normalization (TWNFI). In transductive systems a local model is developed for every new input vector, based on a certain number of data that are selected from the training data set and the closest to this vector. The weighted data normalization method (WDN) optimizes the data normalization ranges of the input variables for the model. A steepest descent algorithm is used for training the TWNFI models. The TWNFI is compared with some other widely used connectionist systems on two case study problems: Mackey-Glass time series prediction and a real medical decision support problem of estimating the level of renal function of a patient. The TWNFI method not only results in a "personalized" model with a better accuracy of prediction for a single new sample, but also depicts the most significant input variables (features) for the model that may be used for a personalized medicine.

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Integrating regression formulas and kernel functions into locally adaptive knowledge-based neural networks: a case study on renal function evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: In many medical areas, there exist different regression formulas to predict/evaluate a medical outcome on the same problem, each of them being efficient only in a particular sub-space of the problem space. The paper aims at the development of a generic, incremental learning model that includes all available regression formulas for a particular prediction problem to define local areas of the problem space with their best performing formula along with useful explanation rules. Another objective of the paper is to develop a specific model for renal function evaluation using nine existing formulas. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We have used a connectionist neuro-fuzzy approach and have developed a knowledge-based neural network model (KBNN) which incorporates and adapts incrementally several existing regression formulas and kernel functions. The model incorporates different non-linear regression functions as neurons in its hidden layer and adapts these functions through incremental learning from data in particular local areas of the space. More specifically, each hidden neural node has a pair of functions associated with it--one regression formula, that represents existing knowledge and one Gaussian kernel function, that defines the sub-space of the whole problem space, in which the formula is locally adapted to new data. All these functions are aggregated and changed through incremental learning. The proposed KBNN model is illustrated using a medical dataset of observed patient glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measurements for renal function evaluation. In this case study, the regression function for each cluster is selected by the model from nine formulas commonly used by medical practitioners to predict GFR. 441 GFR data vectors from 141 patients taken from 12 sites in Australia and New Zealand have been used as a case study experimental data set. RESULTS: The proposed GFR prediction model, based on the proposed generic KBNN model, outperforms at least by 10% accuracy any of the individual regression formulas or a standard neural network model. Furthermore, we have derived locally adapted regression formulas to perform best on local clusters of data along with useful explanatory rules. CONCLUSION: The proposed KBNN model manifests better accuracy then existing regression formulas or neural network models for renal function evaluation and extracts modified formulas that perform well in local areas of the problem space.

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Evolving connectionist system versus algebraic formulas for prediction of renal function from serum creatinine.

BACKGROUND: In clinical trials, equation 7 from the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) Study is the most accurate formula for the prediction of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) from serum creatinine. An alternative approach has been developed using evolving connectionist systems (ECOS), which are novel computing structures that can be trained to generate accurate output from a given set of input variables. This study aims to compare the prediction errors associated with each method, using data that reproduce routine clinical practice as opposed to the artificial setting of clinical trials. METHODS: The methods were compared using 441 radioisotope measurements of GFR in 178 chronic kidney disease patients from 12 centers in Australia and New Zealand. All clinical and laboratory measurements were obtained from the patients' center rather than central laboratories, as would be the case in routine clinical practice. Both the MDRD formula and ECOS used the same predictive variables, and both were optimized to the study cohort by stepwise regression and training, respectively. RESULTS: Mean measured GFR in the cohort was 22.6 mL/min/1.73 m(2). The bias and precision of the MDRD formula were -3.5 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and 34.5%, respectively, improving to -1.2 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and 31.1% after maximal optimization of the formula to study data. The bias and precision of the ECOS were 0.7 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and 32.6%, respectively, improving to -0.1 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and 16.6% after maximal optimization of the system to study data. The prediction of GFR using ECOS was improved by accounting for the center from where clinical and laboratory measurements originated within the connectionist model. CONCLUSION: Algebraic formulas will be associated with greater prediction error in routine clinical practice than in the original trials, and machine intelligence is more likely to predict GFR accurately in this setting.

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