Weak Ratio Rules: A Generalized Boolean Association Rules

This paper examines the problem of weak ratio rules between nonnegative real-valued data in a transactional database. The weak ratio rule is a weaker form than Flip Korn's ratio rule. After analyzing the mathematical model of weak ratio rules problem, the authors conclude that it is a generalization of Boolean association rules problem and every weak ratio rule is supported by a Boolean association rule. Following the properties of weak ratio rules, the authors propose an algorithm for mining an important subset of weak ratio rules and construct a weak ratio rule uncertainty reasoning method. An example is given to show how to apply weak ratio rules to reconstruct lost data, and forecast and detect outliers.