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Attribute Selection for Classification

Serendero Sáez, Santiago Patricio; Toro Bonilla, Miguel

Abstract

The selection of attributes used to construct a classification model is crucial in machine learning, in particular with instance similarity methods. We present a new algorithm to select and rank attributes based on weighing features according to their ability to help class prediction. The algorithm uses the same structure that holds training records for classification. Attribute values and their classes are projected into a one-dimensional space, to account for various degrees of the relationship between them. With the user deciding on the degree of this relation, any of several potential solutions can be used as criterion to determine attribute relevance. This low complexity algorithm increases classification predictive accuracy and also helps to reduce the feature dimension problem.

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469 ATTRIBUTE SELECTION FOR CLASSIFICATION Pa icio Se ende o Dep. o Elec onics & Compu e Science, U. o Alga e, Campus Gambelas, Fa o, Po ugal Miguel To o Dep. o Languages and In . Sys ems, U. o Se ille, A . Reina Me cedes s/n, Se ille, Spain ABSTRACT The selec ion o a ibu es used o cons uc a classi ica ion model is c ucial in machine lea ning, in pa icula wi h ins ance simila i y me hods. We p esen a new algo i hm o selec and ank a ibu es based on weighing ea u es acco ding o hei abili y o help class p edic ion. The algo i hm uses he same s uc u e ha holds aining eco ds o classi ica ion. A ibu e alues and hei classes a e p ojec ed in o a one-dimensional space, o accoun o a ious deg ees o he ela ionship be ween hem. Wi h he use deciding on he deg ee o his ela ion, any o se e al po en ial solu ions can be used as c i e ion o de e mine a ibu e ele ance. This low complexi y algo i hm inc eases classi ica ion p edic i e accu acy and also helps o educe he ea u e dimension p oblem. KEYWORDS Da a Mining, classi ica ion, a ibu e selec ion, ele an a ibu es, exclusi e a ibu es 1. INTRODUCTION Two well-known p oblems a ise when building classi ie s which use decision ee s uc u es and ins ance- based me hods. Fi s , he inpu o de o a ibu es de e mines hea ily he p edic ing skills o he algo i hm. Choosing he w ong o de o a ibu es (o ea u es) could mo e apa in he hype space, alues ha o he wise would be close . Secondly, some a ibu es con ibu e mo e han o he s in building he p edic ion hypo hesis [Aha, 1994]; a ibu es conside ed i ele an inc ease he compu a ional cos and can mislead dis ance me ics calcula ions [Indyk, 2000]. This is pa icula ly ue o nea es neighbou algo i hms, which ind he class o unknown ins ances using he geome ic concep o p oximi y o simila i y buil a ound he no ion o dis ance be ween poin s in an n-dimensional space. As he posi ion o any ins ance is de ined by he alue o i s a ibu es, i hese a e no ele an , hen he basic assump ion is iola ed. Based on hese, a ibu es a e classi ied as ele an o i ele an , in e ms o hei deg ee o con ibu ion o he classi ica ion model [Koha i e al., 1997; Lebowi z, 1985]1. Fea u e selec ion is used o his eason, and is de ined as he p ocess o iden i ying and emo ing as much i ele an and edundan in o ma ion as possible wi h he goal o imp o ing classi ica ion accu acy. Because we use a ee s uc u e o hold ins ances, ou me hod equi es i s se ing in he inpu o de , a ibu es wi h la ge disc imina o y powe wi h espec o classes, as done in some ule induc ion algo i hms [Quinlan, 1986; Co e e al., 1997]. The complexi y o ea u e selec ion algo i hms depends on he numbe and quali y o i s a ibu es. Sea ching ele an a ibu es canno be exhaus i e in many cases. The dimension o da ase s is exponen ial in he numbe o a ibu es. Hence, e i ying e e y possible combina ion o a ibu es is, in many cases, ou o he ques ion [Lesh e al., 1998]. Because o his, we de eloped a low compu a ional algo i hm wi h he ollowing goals: a) Es ablish a c i e ion o de e mine ele an a ibu es. b) Rank a ibu es a p ep ocessing ime based on his ele ance and c) Reduce he numbe o a ibu es. The o e all goal is o diminish he 1 These au ho s s ill iden i y edundan a ibu es, a si ua ion which we do no add ess he e. IADIS In e na ional Con e ence e-Socie y 2003 470 algo i hm's complexi y as well as o inc ease o a leas p ese e i s p edic i e skills. Ou esul s show a s eady imp o emen o ou classi ica ion algo i hm when o de ed ea u es a e used wi h his simple me hod. 2. DEFINITIONS 2.1 Basic de ini ions No a ion { ∈ R, c ∈ L|" exp( ) • exp1( )} s and o he se o alues o exp1 when and c ake alues in R and L, and exp is ue. I exp1( ) = hen he exp ession is educed o { ∈ R |" exp( )}. Le ’s assume he exis ence o a da a se R composed o a ini e se o N eco ds o ype: = < 1, 2,.., i,.., n, c >, i ∈ Ti, c ∈ L and i( ) = i . (1) Each eco d is o med by he Ca esian p oduc o a ini e sequen ial se o a ibu es Ai, belonging o se S ha ing i alues ∈ Ti. Each eco d is associa ed wi h one o m classes c1, c2,..,cm, belonging o se L. Each a ibu e’s domain is pa i ioned in o a ini e numbe o use -de ined in e als wi hin domain Ti. These in e als a e ep esen ed by in ege s wi h alues om 1 o si. We assume he exis ence o unc ion o di(), which con e s an a ibu e alue in o he co esponding in e al alue: pi = o di( i), i ä Ti . (2) Using unc ion o di in (2), e e y a ibu e alue i ∈ Ti is con e ed in o a pa e n elemen wi h alue pi.. E e y pi alue will i in o one o si pa i ions belonging o a ibu e Ai. Toge he , all pi elemen s o m a ec o called pa e n p con aining n elemen alues. We call P he se o all pa e ns p ob ained om R. p = <p1, p2,.., pi,.., pn>," p ä P," pi Î (1..si) whe e pi = o di( i( )) . (3) No ice ha he numbe o pa i ions si is no he same o all a ibu es2. We de ine unc ions pa ( ) and label( ) such ha : pa ( ) = p and label( ) = c i = < , c>, = < 1, 2,.., n> . (4) In e e y pa e n p om (3) we ind n sub-pa e ns qi, which co espond o i s p e ix: qi = <p1, p2,.., pi >, i =(1..n). So p= <qi, u> whe e u is he su ix po ion. (5) We de ine unc ion eq(p), which e u ns he numbe o eco ds exhibi ing pa e n p: eq (p) = # { ∈ R | pa ( ) = p} . (6) Func ion eq can be equally applied o a sub-pa e n qi: eq (qi) = # { ∈ R | pa ( ) =<qi,, u>} . (7) We de ine unc ion eq(), which is applied o he k h in e al om a ibu e Ai, gi ing he o al numbe o eco ds in k. A a ia ion o his unc ion includes es ic ing he numbe o objec s belonging o class c. 2 This is due o changes in he numbe o pa i ions o selec ed a ibu es as we show la e in sec ion 6. ATTRIBUTE SELECTION FOR CLASSIFICATION 471 eq(Ai, k) = #{ ä R | o di( i ( )) = k } eq(Ai, k, c) =#{ ä R | o di( i( )) = k ∧ label( ) = c } (8) Assuming ha pa i ion g anula i y is such ha allows all pa e ns o ha e a gi en label, we de ine unc ion labels(p), which e u n he se o labels associa ed wi h he subse o eco ds wi h pa e n p. labels(p) = { ∈ R, c∈ L | pa ( ) = p ∧ label( ) = c • c } . (9) The numbe o class labels a ached o a gi en pa e n p is: nlabels(p) = # labels(p) . (10) Using he Equa ion in (10) we de ine he s eng h o a pa e n as: s eng h(p) = # { i∈ (1..n) | nlabels(qi) = 1 } (11) 2.2 O he de ini ions De ini ion 1. A ibu e Ai is said o be semi-exclusi e o pa i ion k, i unc ion semk() is ue. Func ion semk() is de ined as: semk(Ai, k, j) =$ c∈ L • (( eq(Ai, k, c) / eq(Ai, k)) ³ j) (12) Pa ame e ϕ is a use -de ined alue ep esen ing he ac ion o eco ds in in e al k wi h class c. The special case when ϕ = 1, is e e ed o as an exclusi e in e al, meaning ha all Ai alues in his in e al belongs o he same class. A ibu es exhibi ing his ype o alue a e also desc ibed in he li e a u e as p ima y [Tu ney, 1996], [Koha i e al., 1997]. De ini ion 2. The deg ee o exclusi eness o a pa e n co esponds o he ac ion o pi elemen s wi hin pa e n p con o ming o he exclusi e alues p ope y. I is calcula ed wi h he ollowing unc ion: Semp(p, j) = # {i∈ (1..n) | semk(Ai, pi, j)} / n . (13) De ini ion 3. The deg ee o ele ance o a ibu e i deno ed wi h δ i, is he a io be ween he o al numbe o eco ds in semi-exclusi e pa i ions and N. La ge alues o d mean a mo e ele an a ibu e. δ i = # { ∈ R, k ∈ (1..si) | semk(Ai, k, j ∧ o di( i( )) = k • } / N . (14) The opposi e ep esen s i ele an a ibu es. De ini ion 4. The shape o a pa e n is de ined as: 21nn-1 shape(p)=(p-p),..,(p-p) (15) And he dis ance be ween wo pa e ns is: d(p, p’) = åi | pi – pi’| (16) Using equa ions om De ini ion 4 we can de ine he ollowing: IADIS In e na ional Con e ence e-Socie y 2003 472 De ini ion 5. The shape simila i y unc ion be ween shapes is de ined as: 1212 s (p,p)=d(shape(p), shape(p)) (17) In Figu e 1 we show semi-exclusi e in e als and he calcula ion o d o wo a ibu es, A1 and A2. An as e isk means mo e han one class o a gi en pa i ion; i.e. nlabels (pi) > 1. si 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 o al δ eq 77 32 62 49 79 20 12 23 11 43 408 A1 class * * * * * * * * 4 4 54 54/408=0.132 si 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 o al δ A2 eq 227 23 35 17 17 14 12 13 5 45 408 112/408=0.274 class * 2 * * 4 4 * 4 * 4 112 Figu e 1. A ibu e p ojec ion in one-dimensional space o a ibu es A1 and A2. 3. OVERVIEW OF THE CLASSIFICATION ALGORITHM We ha e p e iously de eloped a classi ica ion algo i hm o supe ised lea ning based on ins ances and he nea es neighbou pa adigm in [Se ende o e al., 2001]. Classi ica ion is done ex ac ing wo nea es pa e ns p+ and p- wi h espec o a que y pa e n px. The ex ac ion o p+ is done i s in a ecu si e way. Any sub- pa e n i q is o he o m i q =< 1 q i − , k>. S a ing wi h i = 1, assuming an emp y sub-pa e n q0+= <> and knowing elemen qi-1, he p oblem consis in inding he nex sub-pa e n by calcula ing some alue o k+, which sa is ies he ollowing p ope y: " kä K(qi-1) • (|k+ - kx| £ |k – kx|) . (18) The se K(q)is de ined by: K(q) = { k | <q, k>Î P} (19) Hence, k+ is he closes elemen o kx among he elemen s in K(qi-1). I wo alues o k+ e i ies Equa ion (18), hen we chose he one whe e eq(qi+) is a maximum. The algo i hm sea ches nex o pa e n p-. The sea ch mechanism is he same as o p+, bu wi h se K(q) using his ime pa e n p+ p e iously calcula ed: K(q) = {k |<q, k> ä P ∧ ((nlabels(<q, k>) > 1) ∨ ((labels(<q, k>) ∩ labels(qi+)) = ∅ )} (20) The new pa e n should ha e i s class dis inc om he p+ class. A inal s ep consis s in applying unc ion me i () o bo h selec ed pa e ns. The pa e n wi h he la ges me i (p) is he winne . This unc ion ep esen s an agg ega ion o se e al c i e ia, and is de ined as: ()() ii i me i pwp α=⋅ ∑ (21) E e y c i e ion in α i has weigh wi. These c i e ia α i (i = 1..6), numbe ed in no pa icula o de a e: • The deg ee o exclusi eness o a pa e n, calcula ed as α 1(p) = semp(p) om (13). • The s eng h o a pa e n, calcula ed om Equa ion (11). So α 2(p) = s eng h(p). ATTRIBUTE SELECTION FOR CLASSIFICATION 473 • The simila i y shape om De ini ion 5 and Equa ion (17) applied o a pa e n agains px o calcula e he mos simila shape: α 3(p) = s (px, p). • A numbe ela ed o he dis ance o px, calcula ed as α 4(p)= d(px, p) om Equa ion (16). • The equency o a pa e n, whe e a a la ge equency is a be e op ion, o he condi ions being equal. Func ion equency is calcula ed as α 5(p)= eq(p) using unc ion in (6). • Le be mc he majo i y class, he class wi h he la ges equency hen α 6(p) equals 1 i label(p) = mc and 0 o he wise. Weigh s a e ob ained p ep ocessing he aining da ase . The weigh o each c i e ion co esponds o i s deg ee o accu acy co ec ly classi ying pa e ns. Each c i e ion is es ed indi idually by se ing all o he weigh s o ze o. The goal is o op imise T, he deg ee o accu acy o each c i e ion. I is calcula ed as: T = Nº o eco ds co ec ly classi ied / N; and being he e o e = 1 -T (22) The applica ion o unc ion me i () a unning ime, allows selec ing he bes pa e n. I s class is assigned o px. A mo e de ailed explana ion o his p ocess is le o a nex a icle. In he algo i hm implemen a ion all aining pa e ns a e s o ed in o a ie [F edkin, 1960], including equencies and class in o ma ion a he sub-pa e n le el. These s uc u es ha e p o en o be e y as on sea ch p oblems [Be gman, 1994;Me e e al., 1996; Albe e al., 2001], which is one o he main p oblems in he nea neighbou pa adigm. The la ge s o age equi ed by ies is pa ially sol ed keeping he ile on disk. Also, se e al known comp ess ools a e a ailable o ies such as Pa icia ees [Gonne e al., 1991], X- ee [Be ch old e al., 1996] and Bu s ies [Heinz e al., 2002]. 4. ATTRIBUTE SELECTION 4.1 De e mining mos ele an a ibu es In gene al, ou me hod anks a ibu es by hei capaci y o p edic ing classes wi hou aking di ec ly in o conside a ion o he a ibu es om he o iginal sequence. We pos ula e ha his capaci y inc eases, when an a ibu e exhibi s a la ge deg ee o ele ance as s a ed in De ini ion 3. Fo ins ance, a ibu e Ai is ele an i some α pe cen age o i s ins ances wi h alue j is associa ed wi h class cl. In his sense, we so en he Boolean de ini ion ound in [Koha i e al., 1997]. Ou objec i e is o ind he mos disc imina i e a ibu es om he poin o iew o use ulness o he p edic o , wi h he pu pose o imp o ing i s p edic ion accu acy [Guyon, 2001]. This heu is ic c i e ion has been used success ully be o e [Liu e al., 2000]. A sub-pa e n q o size i can be a common p e ix o dis inc labels, i.e. when nlabels(qi) > 1, ep esen ing a eas o la ge en opy wi h espec o classes in he da a hype space, no allowing any conclusion on class membe ship. In e sely, sub-pa e ns whe e nlabels(qi) = 1, ep esen homogeneous egions, whe e smalle alues o i (sho e sub-pa e ns) ep esen la ge a eas. I a new ins ance o be classi ied alls in o one o hese a eas, i s chances o co ec classi ica ion inc ease. Mos o i s neighbou s will sha e he same label. Fo his eason, we a e in e es ed in looking a he en i e da a space om he iewpoin o a ibu es wi h la ge numbe o examples whe e classes a e “ isible” di ec ly om hem, hus a oiding endless combina ion o possibili ies as done in adi ional me hods [Koha i e al., 1997; Mille , 1990; B odley e al., 1995]. We conside hese a ibu es mo e ele an han o he s. Now, he sho es sub-pa e n con ains only one elemen q1 = <p1, c>, usually associa ed wi h se e al classes. We wan o ind which a ibu es pe o m be e han o he s in his si ua ion. To do his, all alues o an a ibu e a e p ojec ed in o a one-dimensional space p e iously pa i ioned in o equal in e al wid hs. In he ie s uc u e used o implemen a ion his co esponds o build he ee wi h a single le el. This esembles he 1R classi ica ion sys em [Hol e, 1993] al hough in his sys em he anking o ea u es is based di ec ly on e o a es. In ou case we a e in e es ed in he o al numbe o sub-pa e ns q1, ound in semi-exclusi e in e als ( om De ini ion 1), o a gi en a ibu e Ai and ϕ alues. A ibu es showing mo e indi idual pa e ns in hese in e als a e also mo e ele an (De ini ion 4). Based on his, ele ance can be se as a measu e o a ibu e compa ison as explained nex . IADIS In e na ional Con e ence e-Socie y 2003 474 4.2 Ranking A ibu es by hei ele ance Ranking a ibu es is done knowing which a ibu es a e compa a i ely mo e ele an han o he s. To do his we compu e each a ibu e’s ele ance om (14), and ank hem in dec easing o de acco ding wi h he alue o d, as he example shown in Fig. 1 o A1 whe e d = 0.132. This anking gi es as esul lis ß, which ep esen s all a ibu es o de ed by hei deg ee o ele ance: 12inii+1 ß = <, ,..,,...,>, | | || i(1.. n). δδδδδδ≥∈ (23) A ibu es whe e di = 0, a e o de ly pushed o he lis ’s end. The lis ep esen s he inpu o de o a ibu es used by he classi ica ion algo i hm. As shown in Sec ion 5 doing his imp o es he p edic i e accu acy o he classi ica ion algo i hm. 4.3 Reducing he numbe o a ibu es by hei deg ee o ele ance Reducing he numbe o i ele an a ibu es d as ically educes he unning ime o a lea ning algo i hm and yields a mo e gene al concep , easie o unde s and by he domain expe . This educ ion can be achie ed using he concep o a ibu e exclusi eness as de ined in Sec ion 3. This is done by elimina ing om lis ß in (23) all a ibu es whe e δ is small o ze o. This educ ion, hough, canno be done wi hou a cos . The ade-o is done a he expense o losing some p edic i e accu acy. Wi h his cons ain in mind, ou goal is o ind a minimum subse o a ibu es S’ such ha when he classi ica ion algo i hm is applied accep ing some e o e, we can ob ain a new p edic i e accu acy T´ as S’ ⊂ S, ha sa is ies T’ £ T + e . The new se S’ ob ained om lis ß in (24) includes only ele an a ibu es disca ding all o he s. The classi ica ion algo i hm ebuilds he ee using he new sequence in S’. A unning ime, and using some use -use -de ined e o o e he exis ing p edic ion alue T om (22), a new T’ alue is ob ained. E o e is a unc ion o cos and quali y [B odley, 1995]. I Equa ion (24) is sa is ied and (T’ – T) £ e, hen S’ is adop ed as he new se o a ibu es. O he wise, he h eshold alue o should be educed and lis ß ebuil . As a esul his will inc ease he numbe o a ibu es in subse S’ and hope ully will also inc ease p edic ion accu acy T’ diminishing he alue o e. 5. RESULTS We ha e es ed hese echniques on se en da ase s om he UCI eposi o y [Mu phy e al., 1994]. All eco ds wi h unknown a ibu e alues we e elimina ed. Ten– old c oss alida ion was used. Accu acy esul s we e a e aged. Table 1. New A ibu e O de using = 0.75 N. º Reco ds Nº Numbe A ib. Da ase T aining Tes New A ibu e O de Numbe ep esen s o iginal o dinal numbe (Bold ace = a ibu e is ele an ) Rele an A ibu es (%) 1 24 Hypo hy oid 1598 1063 18,23,21,1,20,22,7,5,13,24,19,17,16,15,14, 12,11,10,9,8,6,4,3 41.7 2 24 De ma ology 218 140 20,22,27,29,6,12,8,25,33,34,24,15,10,31,26, 30,14,23,7,32,28,21,19,18,17,16,13,11,9,5,4, 3,2,1 57.6 3 33 Adul 28468 15060 3,9,14,2,4,5,7,8,13,6,1,10,11,12 71.4 4 13 Diabe es 462 306 5,6,2,7,4,8,3,1 75.0 5 12 Fo es co e 15120 565892 1,10,5,6,4,12,8,7,9,3,11,2 83.3 6 12 Pendigi s 7494 3498 6,12,3,7,11,4,2,15,5,14,16,8,1,10,9,13 87.5 7 16 Cance –W. 407 273 7,2,1,8,3,9,4,6,5 100.0 The a e age dec ease in e o a e a e o de ing a ibu es o 4.3% in Table 2 is simila o esul s epo ed o di e en da ase s in a p e ious a icle whe e his echnique was applied [Se ende o e al., 2001]. This ATTRIBUTE SELECTION FOR CLASSIFICATION 475 con i ms ha he gain in p edic i e accu acy is signi ican and s eady when applied o di e en da a domains. I also con i ms he need o a ibu e o de ing when ee s uc u es and ins ance-based me hods a e Table 2. Va ia ion in p edic i e e o a e a e o de ing and educ ion in he numbe o a ibu es Classi ica ion: P edic i e E o Ra e (%) Va ia ion (%) due o: Nº Da ase s O iginal (A) O de ed (B) Reduced(C) O de (B-A) Reduc ion (C-B) 1 Fo es co e 28.2 20.5 23.9 -7.7 +3.4 2 De ma ology 10.2 4.5 6.5 -5.7 +2.0 3 Diabe es 27.8 22.2 22.5 -5.6 +0.3 4 Pendigi s 9.3 5.3 2.0 -4.0 -3.3 5 Cance –W. 5.5 2.2 1.8 -3.3 +0.4 6 Adul 18.9 16.0 10.6 -2.9 -5.4 7 Hypo hy oid 1.6 0.7 1.1 -0.9 -0.4 A e age -4.3 used, as is ou case. Al hough no conclusi e due o expe imen size, a ia ion in e o a es a e a ibu e educ ion (C-B) seems o be ela ed o he in ensi y o a ibu e “p uning” (Table 1). As expec ed, a la ge educ ion in he numbe o a ibu es esul s in g ea e e o a es. In 43% o cases educing he numbe o a ibu es inc eases p edic i e accu acy, meaning ha he anking me hod wo ks well. A ibu es a he lis ’s end a e indeed i ele an o p edic i e pu poses. Accu acy in he emaining da ase s shows a small loss no g ea e han 3.3% i compa ed wi h a 56% a e age educ ion on he numbe o a ibu es, and hence, in p oblem complexi y. In he ace o la ge da ase s wi h high dimensions whe e adi ional ea u e educ ion me hods ep esen e y high compu a ional cos s, his me hod can be a ai solu ion. Ou ea u e selec ion me hods in eg a ed in o he classi ica ion algo i hm helps o p oduce compe i i e esul s as shows i s compa ison wi h Quinlan’s landma k ool C4.5 (also known as See5) in Table 3. In gene al, ou classi ie shows be e pe o mance han C4.5 o da ase s wi h smalle numbe o classes and wo se when he opposi e is ue. This is explained by he ac ha in o de o speed up he sea ch p ocess, ou algo i hm only looks o wo close pa e ns accoun ing o only wo classes. Table 3. Compa ing classi ica ion accu acy agains he popula C4.5 E o in accu acy (%) Nº Da ase C4.5 Ou s 1 Adul (Census 94,USA) 14.6 10.6 ± 1.2 2 Fo es co e 29.1 20.5 ± 2.5 3 Cance -W 5.8 2.2 ± 0.2 4 Hypo hy oid 0.7 0.7 ± 0.3 5 De ma ology 3.9 4.5 ± 0.3 6 Pima Indian Diabe es 26.8 22.2 ± 1.4 7 Pendigi s 3.4 2.0 ± 0.5 Sou ce o C4.5 esul s: [Chou e al., 2000; Li e al., 2000; Mu phy e al., 1994; Chawla, e al., 2001]. 6. DISCUSSION In his a icle we p esen a simple and low-cos ea u e selec ion me hod, use ul o algo i hms using decision ees and ins ance-based me hods in supe ised lea ning. Resul s show on a e age a dec ease o o e 4% in classi ica ion p edic i e e o when a ibu es a e anked by hei deg ee o ele ance. This esul is consis en wi h p e ious esul s ob ained on di e en da ase s and o e s a simple solu ion o anking ea u es. Accu acy inc eases e en u he in 43% o cases a e a ibu e educ ion. This no only con i ms he co ec ness o his simple me hod o anking a ibu es, bu also he ac ha i wo ks as a good il e indica ion on he p edic i e skills o a ibu es. In he emaining 57% o cases a loss in p edic ion no g ea e han 3.3% did ep esen elimina ing an a e age o 56% o a ibu es o all da ase s conside ed. This is e y impo an o help educing algo i hm complexi y in high dimensional da ase s and he e o e he comp ehension o he domain expe in da a ela ions. IADIS In e na ional Con e ence e-Socie y 2003 476 Fu u e wo k includes modi ying sligh ly he algo i hm o ex ac as many pa e ns as classes exis in a da ase wi h he goal o inc easing p edic i e accu acy in da ase s wi h mo e han wo classes. This should no signi ican ly inc ease sea ch ime i we conside he excellence o ies wi h espec o sea ch pe o mance. REFERENCES Aha, D. W, Banke , R., 1994. Fea u e Selec ion o Case-Based Classi ica ion o Cloud Types: An Empi ical Compa ison. 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