Parallel cascade identification and its application to protein family prediction

Parallel cascade identification is a method for modeling dynamic systems with possibly high order nonlinearities and lengthy memory, given only input/output data for the system gathered in an experiment. While the method was originally proposed for nonlinear system identification, two recent papers have illustrated its utility for protein family prediction. One strength of this approach is the capability of training effective parallel cascade classifiers from very little training data. Indeed, when the amount of training exemplars is limited, and when distinctions between a small number of categories suffice, parallel cascade identification can outperform some state-of-the-art techniques. Moreover, the unusual approach taken by this method enables it to be effectively combined with other techniques to significantly improve accuracy. In this paper, parallel cascade identification is first reviewed, and its use in a variety of different fields is surveyed. Then protein family prediction via this method is considered in detail, and some particularly useful applications are pointed out.