Date Available

3-23-2015

Year of Publication

2015

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Public Health

Department/School/Program

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Advisor

Dr. Richard Charnigo

Co-Director of Graduate Studies

Dr. Bin Huang

Abstract

Raman spectroscopy has been successfully employed in the classification of breast pathologies involving basis spectra for chemical constituents of breast tissue and resulted in high sensitivity (94%) and specificity (96%) (Haka et al, 2005). Motivated by recent developments in nonparametric regression, in this work, we adapt stacking, boosting, and dynamic ensemble learning into a nonparametric regression framework with application to Raman spectroscopy analysis for breast cancer diagnosis. In Chapter 2, we apply compound estimation (Charnigo and Srinivasan, 2011) in Raman spectra analysis to classify normal, benign, and malignant breast tissue. We explore both the spectra profiles and their derivatives to differentiate different types of breast tissue. In Chapters 3-5 of this dissertation, we develop a novel paradigm for incorporating ensemble learning classification methodology into a nonparametric regression framework. Specifically, in Chapter 3 we set up modified stacking framework and combine different classifiers together to make better predictions in nonparametric regression settings. In Chapter 4 we develop a method by incorporating a modified AdaBoost algorithm in nonparametric regression settings to improve classification accuracy. In Chapter 5 we propose a dynamic ensemble integration based on multiple meta-learning strategies for nonparametric regression based classification. In Chapter 6, we revisit the Raman spectroscopy data in Chapter 2, and make improvements based on the developments of the methods from Chapter 3 to Chapter 4. Finally we summarize the major findings and contributions of this work as well as identify opportunities for future research and their public health implications.

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