PLS regression

Other chemometrics methods to improve caUbration have been advanced. The method of partial least squares has been usehil in multicomponent cahbration (48—51). In this approach the concentrations are related to latent variables in the block of observed instmment responses. Thus PLS regression can solve the colinearity problem and provide all of the advantages discussed earlier. Principal components analysis coupled with multiple regression, often called Principal Component Regression (PCR), is another cahbration approach that has been compared and contrasted to PLS (52—54). Cahbration problems can also be approached using the Kalman filter as discussed (43). 

The purpose of Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression is to find a small number A of relevant factors that (i) are predictive for Y and (u) utilize X efficiently. The method effectively achieves a canonical decomposition of X in a set of orthogonal factors which are used for fitting Y. In this respect PLS is comparable with CCA, RRR and PCR, the difference being that the factors are chosen according to yet another criterion. 

We have seen that PLS regression (covariance criterion) forms a compromise between ordinary least squares regression (OLS, correlation criterion) and principal components regression (variance criterion). This has inspired Stone and Brooks [15] to devise a method in such a way that a continuum of models can be generated embracing OLS, PLS and PCR. To this end the PLS covariance criterion, cov(t,y) = s, s. r, is modified into a criterion T = r. (For... 

Principal covariates regression (PCovR) is a technique that recently has been put forward as a more flexible alternative to PLS regression [17]. Like CCA, RRR, PCR and PLS it extracts factors t from X that are used to estimate Y. These factors are chosen by a weighted least-squares criterion, viz. to fit both Y and X. By requiring the factors to be predictive not only for Y but also to represent X adequately, one introduces a preference towards the directions of the stable principal components of X. 

Fig. 36.10. Prediction error (RMSPE) as a function of model complexity (number of factors) obtained from leave-one-out cross-validation using PCR (o) and PLS ( ) regression.

In recent years there has been much activity to devise methods for multivariate calibration that take non-linearities into account. Artificial neural networks (Chapter 44) are well suited for modelling non-linear behaviour and they have been applied with success in the field of multivariate calibration [47,48]. A drawback of neural net models is that interpretation and visualization of the model is difficult. Several non-linear variants of PCR and PLS regression have been proposed. Conceptually, the simplest approach towards introducing non-linearity in the regression model is to augment the set of predictor variables (jt, X2, ) with their respective squared terms (xf,. ..) and, optionally, their possible cross-product... 

Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression (Section 35.7) is one of the more recent advances in QSAR which has led to the now widely accepted method of Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA). This method makes use of local physicochemical properties such as charge, potential and steric fields that can be determined on a three-dimensional grid that is laid over the chemical stmctures. The determination of steric conformation, by means of X-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy, and the quantum mechanical calculation of charge and potential fields are now performed routinely on medium-sized molecules [10]. Modem optimization and prediction techniques such as neural networks (Chapter 44) also have found their way into QSAR. 

The method of PCA can be used in QSAR as a preliminary step to Hansch analysis in order to determine the relevant parameters that must be entered into the equation. Principal components are by definition uncorrelated and, hence, do not pose the problem of multicollinearity. Instead of defining a Hansch model in terms of the original physicochemical parameters, it is often more appropriate to use principal components regression (PCR) which has been discussed in Section 35.6. An alternative approach is by means of partial least squares (PLS) regression, which will be more amply covered below (Section 37.4). 

As an illustration of PLS regression (PLSl) we reconsider the inhibitory potencies of oxidative phosphorylation of 11 doubly substituted salicylanilides [ 17] in Table 37.1. An extended Hansch model is defined by the linear free energy relation ... 

The most predictive PLS regression model for these data makes use of two PLS-components ... 

It has been shown that PLS regression fits better to the observed activities than principal components regression [53]. The method is non-iterative and, hence, is relatively fast, even in the case of very large matrices. 

Multisignal evaluation is carried out by means of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) or (Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. The fundamentals... 

Hoskuldsson A (1988) PLS regression methods. Chemom 2 211 Huber PJ (1981) Robust statistics. Wiley, New York... 

While I am no longer working in this field, and cannot easily do simulations, I think that a 2 factor PCR or PLS model would fully model the simulated spectra. At any wavelength in your simulation, a second degree power series applies, which is linear in coefficients, and the coefficients of a 2 factor PCR or PLS model will be a linear function of the coefficients of the power series. (This assumes an adequate number of calibration spectra, that is, at least as many spectra as factors and a sufficient number of wavelength, which the full spectrum method assures.) The PCR or PLS regression should find the linear combination of these PCR/PLS coefficients that is linear in concentration. 

If a weighted PCR or PLS regression is used, the expression for the Mahalanobis Distance becomes equation 74-7b. 

---