Saturday, June 15, 2024

Predictive healthcare modeling for early pandemic assessment leveraging deep auto regressor neural prophet

 “Predictive healthcare modeling for early pandemic assessment leveraging deep auto regressor neural prophet” presents a study on improving pandemic forecasting using an enhanced version of NeuralProphet (NP), a hybrid modular framework. The enhanced NP incorporates neural network modules, specifically auto-regressor (AR) and lagged-regressor (LR), to improve the accuracy of pandemic forecasting. Key points from the paper are summarized below:


Objectives:


1. Enhance Forecasting Performance: The paper aims to enhance the forecasting performance of pandemics by integrating AR and LR modules into NP, which improves the ability to handle complex patterns and irregularities in the data.

2. Model Validation: The enhanced NP model is validated using COVID-19 time-series datasets from five countries (India, Germany, Iran, Mexico, and Spain).

3. Component-wise Efficiency: The efficiency of the NP components is studied for long-term forecasts in India and other countries.

4. Optimization and Comparison: The NP model’s performance is optimized using AdamW and Huber loss functions and compared with the Prophet model.


Methodology:


Data Engineering: COVID-19 time series data from Johns Hopkins University was cleaned, smoothed using a 7-day moving average, normalized, and split into training (80%) and testing (20%) sets.

Model Building: The NP model includes six modules (trend, seasonality, event, future-regressor, auto-regressor, and lagged regressor), each contributing additively to the forecast.

Deep-AR-Net Model: An advanced AR-Net model, Deep-AR-Net, is used to implement AR and LR modules, allowing for better handling of non-linear relationships and complex dependencies in the data.

Hyperparameter Tuning: Hyperparameters were optimized using the Grid search algorithm to enhance the NP model’s forecasting accuracy.


Findings:


1. Component Analysis: The AR and LR components significantly improved the forecasting accuracy compared to Prophet, reducing the Mean Absolute Scaled Error (MASE) by substantial margins.

2. Training and Prediction Time: NP requires more time for training but significantly less time for prediction compared to Prophet, making it suitable for real-time applications.

3. Benchmark Results: The Deep-AR-Net enhanced NP model outperformed the Prophet model across all metrics (MASE, MAE, RMSE) for both short-term and long-term forecasting horizons.

4. Comparison of Forecasting Curves: The forecasting curves generated by the NP model were closer to actual case numbers and differed significantly from those generated by the Prophet model, indicating better accuracy.


Conclusion:


The enhanced NP model, integrating AR and LR modules, provides a significant improvement in pandemic forecasting accuracy over the Prophet model. This framework can handle complex patterns and irregularities in pandemic data, making it a valuable tool for real-time decision-making in healthcare. Future work may involve further optimization and testing of hybrid models combining RNN and Prophet to enhance training times and overall performance.


Key Contributions:


Development of an enhanced NP model with explainable components for better pandemic forecasting.

Significant improvements in forecasting accuracy demonstrated through empirical validation.

Provision of a scalable and interpretable forecasting framework suitable for healthcare applications.


Future Work:


Further optimization of training times and exploration of hybrid models combining RNN and Prophet.

Comparative studies using similar datasets to evaluate the efficiency and computational complexity of NeuralProphet compared to other models.


The paper provides a comprehensive analysis and validation of the enhanced NP model, demonstrating its effectiveness in improving pandemic forecasting accuracy


The model described in the paper is not a transformer model. Instead, it is an enhanced version of NeuralProphet (NP), which integrates neural network modules such as auto-regressor (AR) and lagged-regressor (LR) within a framework initially based on Facebook’s Prophet model.


Key Differences:


1. NeuralProphet (NP): The model leverages neural networks to enhance time series forecasting capabilities. It combines the components of the Prophet model (trend, seasonality, event) with neural network modules (AR and LR) to handle non-linearities and complex dependencies in the data.

2. Deep-AR-Net: The paper introduces an advanced auto-regressor neural network model, Deep-AR-Net, to implement the AR and LR modules. This model is particularly designed for handling time-series data and improving forecasting accuracy.


Characteristics of NeuralProphet:


Explainability: NP retains the explainability features of Prophet while adding neural network capabilities.

Hybrid Approach: Combines classical time series forecasting components with neural networks to capture complex patterns and irregularities.

Optimized Forecasting: Uses optimization techniques like AdamW and Huber loss functions to improve model performance.


Transformer Models:


Architecture: Transformer models, such as the ones used in BERT, GPT, and other state-of-the-art NLP models, rely on self-attention mechanisms to process input data in parallel, allowing them to capture long-range dependencies more effectively.

Use Cases: Primarily used for natural language processing tasks, but have also been adapted for time series forecasting and other domains due to their powerful sequence modeling capabilities.


In summary, while the NeuralProphet model incorporates neural networks for enhanced time series forecasting, it does not use the transformer architecture. Instead, it builds on the Prophet model with additional neural network modules tailored for time-series data.



The Prophet model, developed by Facebook, is a robust forecasting tool designed for time series data that is characterized by strong seasonal effects and historical data points. It is particularly suitable for making business forecasts in scenarios where there are clear patterns and trends over time. Here are the key aspects of the Prophet model:


Key Features of Prophet:


1. Additive Model: Prophet uses an additive model where the observed time series  y(t)  is decomposed into three main components:


y(t) = g(t) + s(t) + h(t) + \epsilon(t)


Trend ( g(t) ): Represents the non-periodic changes in the value of the time series.

Seasonality ( s(t) ): Captures the periodic changes (e.g., daily, weekly, yearly).

Holidays/Events ( h(t) ): Models the effects of holidays or significant events that can cause irregularities.

Error term ( \epsilon(t) ): Accounts for any noise in the observations.

2. Trend Component:

Piecewise Linear or Logistic Growth: The trend component can be modeled using a piecewise linear function or a logistic growth curve, which allows it to handle saturations in growth.

Changepoints: The model automatically detects changepoints where the trend changes direction or rate.

3. Seasonality Component:

Fourier Series: Seasonal effects are captured using Fourier series, which can model periodic patterns with flexible periodicities.

Multiple Seasonalities: Prophet can model multiple seasonal patterns (e.g., daily and yearly seasonality) simultaneously.

4. Holidays/Events Component:

Holiday Effects: Specific holiday effects can be included, allowing the model to account for the impact of holidays and special events.

5. Flexibility and Interpretability:

Parameter Tuning: Prophet allows for extensive parameter tuning, including the flexibility to specify changepoints, the number of seasonalities, and the impact of holidays.

Interpretability: The model is designed to be interpretable, with each component being separately modeled and visualizable.

6. Automatic Changepoint Detection:

Changepoint Prior: The model includes a prior distribution over the number and locations of changepoints, which helps in automatically identifying significant changes in the trend.



Advantages of Prophet:


Ease of Use: Prophet is designed to be easy to use and requires minimal data preprocessing.

Handling Missing Data: The model can handle missing data and outliers robustly.

Scalability: Suitable for large datasets and scalable for use in production environments.

Customizability: Allows for incorporating domain knowledge through custom seasonalities and holidays.


Example Workflow with Prophet:


1. Data Preparation:

Ensure the time series data is in a dataframe with columns ‘ds’ (date) and ‘y’ (value).

2. Model Initialization:




To combine Facebook's Prophet with neural network models to improve time series forecasting, you can use a hybrid approach where you first decompose the time series using Prophet and then use the residuals to train a neural network. Here is a step-by-step example of how to implement this in Python using Prophet and a simple neural network model built with Keras (TensorFlow).


### Step-by-Step Code Implementation


1. **Install Necessary Libraries**:

   Ensure you have the required libraries installed. You can install them using pip if you haven't already:

   ```bash

   pip install fbprophet

   pip install tensorflow

   pip install pandas

   pip install numpy

   ```


2. **Load and Prepare Data**:

   Load the time series data and prepare it for modeling.

   ```python

   import pandas as pd

   from fbprophet import Prophet

   import numpy as np


   # Load your dataset

   df = pd.read_csv('your_covid19_data.csv')


   # Prepare the data for Prophet

   df = df.rename(columns={'Date': 'ds', 'Confirmed': 'y'})

   ```


3. **Train Prophet Model**:

   Train the Prophet model on your time series data.

   ```python

   # Initialize and train the Prophet model

   prophet_model = Prophet()

   prophet_model.fit(df)


   # Make future dataframe

   future = prophet_model.make_future_dataframe(periods=185)  # Adjust periods as needed

   forecast = prophet_model.predict(future)


   # Extract the trend and seasonality components

   df['trend'] = forecast['trend']

   df['seasonal'] = forecast['yearly']  # Assuming yearly seasonality

   ```


4. **Compute Residuals**:

   Compute the residuals (observed values - trend - seasonality).

   ```python

   df['residuals'] = df['y'] - (df['trend'] + df['seasonal'])

   ```


5. **Train Neural Network on Residuals**:

   Use the residuals to train a neural network model.

   ```python

   import tensorflow as tf

   from tensorflow.keras.models import Sequential

   from tensorflow.keras.layers import Dense, LSTM


   # Prepare data for neural network

   def create_dataset(data, look_back=1):

       X, Y = [], []

       for i in range(len(data) - look_back):

           X.append(data[i:(i + look_back), 0])

           Y.append(data[i + look_back, 0])

       return np.array(X), np.array(Y)


   # Convert residuals to numpy array

   residuals = df['residuals'].values.reshape(-1, 1)

   look_back = 10  # Number of previous time steps to use as input

   X, Y = create_dataset(residuals, look_back)


   # Reshape input to be [samples, time steps, features]

   X = np.reshape(X, (X.shape[0], look_back, 1))


   # Define the neural network model

   model = Sequential()

   model.add(LSTM(50, input_shape=(look_back, 1)))

   model.add(Dense(1))

   model.compile(loss='mean_squared_error', optimizer='adam')


   # Train the model

   model.fit(X, Y, epochs=100, batch_size=1, verbose=2)

   ```


6. **Make Predictions**:

   Use the trained neural network to predict future residuals and combine with Prophet's trend and seasonality forecasts.

   ```python

   # Make future predictions with Prophet

   future_forecast = prophet_model.predict(future)


   # Predict residuals using the neural network

   future_residuals = model.predict(X[-185:])  # Adjust as needed for future residuals


   # Combine Prophet's forecast with neural network residuals

   future_forecast['yhat_combined'] = future_forecast['trend'] + future_forecast['yearly'] + future_residuals.flatten()


   # Plot the results

   import matplotlib.pyplot as plt


   plt.figure(figsize=(10, 6))

   plt.plot(df['ds'], df['y'], label='Actual')

   plt.plot(future_forecast['ds'], future_forecast['yhat'], label='Prophet Forecast')

   plt.plot(future_forecast['ds'], future_forecast['yhat_combined'], label='Hybrid Forecast')

   plt.xlabel('Date')

   plt.ylabel('Confirmed Cases')

   plt.legend()

   plt.show()

   ```


### Explanation:

1. **Prophet Model**: Fit the Prophet model to capture the trend and seasonality of the time series.

2. **Residuals**: Compute the residuals from the Prophet model, which represent the part of the time series not explained by the trend and seasonality.

3. **Neural Network**: Train a neural network (LSTM in this example) on the residuals to capture any remaining patterns.

4. **Hybrid Forecast**: Combine the trend and seasonality from Prophet with the neural network's predictions of the residuals to get the final forecast.


This approach leverages the strengths of both Prophet and neural networks, potentially improving the overall forecasting performance. Adjust the look-back period, neural network architecture, and training parameters as needed based on your specific dataset and requirements.

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