# `fused_sparse_pls` — Fused-sparse PLS
_Group_: **Sparse** · _Registry tolerance_: `0.05`
· _Parity reference_: **paper-only** (Yengo, L., Jacques, J., Biernacki, C. & Canouil, M. (2016). Variable clustering in high-dimensional linear regression: The R package `clere`. R Journal 8(1), 92-106. (Fused-sparse PLS variants have no widely installable R / Python port.))
## Description
Fused sparse PLS (§7)
From the `pls4all.sklearn.FusedSparsePLSRegression` docstring:
> Fused-sparse PLS — L1 + adjacent-coef smoothing.
### Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Notes |
|------|------|---------|-------|
| `n_components` | `int` | `2` | Number of latent components extracted (k). |
| `l1_lambda` | `float` | `0.05` | L1 sparsity penalty for fused-sparse PLS. |
| `fusion_lambda` | `float` | `0.05` | Fused-lasso penalty enforcing smoothness between adjacent coefficients. |
## Explanations
### Bibliographic source
Tibshirani, R., Saunders, M., Rosset, S., Zhu, J. & Knight, K. (2005). *Sparsity and smoothness via the fused lasso*. JRSS B 67(1), 91–108. — generalised to PLS loadings.
### Mathematical principle
The fused lasso penalty combines L1 sparsity with an L1 penalty on first differences of neighbouring coefficients: $\mathcal{P}(\mathbf{w}) = \lambda_1 \|\mathbf{w}\|_1 + \lambda_2 \sum_{j=1}^{p-1}|w_{j+1} - w_j|$. For spectroscopic data this is uniquely useful: the second term *encourages neighbouring wavelengths to share a coefficient*, which produces piecewise-constant loadings reflecting the underlying band structure of the spectrum rather than the choppy sample-noise pattern that plain L1 alone produces.
Tuning two penalties simultaneously is non-trivial: $\lambda_1$ controls overall sparsity, $\lambda_2$ controls within-band smoothness. Plotting the selected wavelength bands as a function of $\lambda_2$ at fixed sparsity is a common diagnostic.
Computationally the fused-lasso step is a 1-D total variation denoising problem with a closed-form taut-string solution in $O(p)$; pls4all uses Condat's algorithm.
### Implementation
`n4m_estimators_fused_sparse_pls_fit`. No widely installable reference library — `sgPLS` covers group-sparse but not fused-sparse. Documented as `paper_only` in the registry.
R roxygen note (`methods_extra.R::fused_sparse_pls_fit`):
> Fused-sparse PLS (L1 + adjacent-coef smoothing).
> @param n_components Integer. Number of latent components.
> @param l1_lambda Method-specific parameter. See the underlying `*_fit()` function for the exact semantics.
> @param fusion_lambda Method-specific parameter. See the underlying `*_fit()` function for the exact semantics.
> @param X Numeric matrix of predictors (rows = samples, cols = features).
> @param Y Numeric matrix or vector of responses, with one row per sample.
> @export
MATLAB header (`bindings/matlab/+pls4all/fused_sparse_pls.m`):
```text
pls4all.fused_sparse_pls Fused-sparse PLS (L1 + adjacent-coef smoothing).
```
### Usage
Every pls4all binding tab dispatches into the same C kernel; the external libraries listed at the bottom of the page are the parity references registered in `benchmarks.parity_timing.registry`. Switch tabs to read the same fit in your language. The R package now ships drop-in-compatible facades for the CRAN `pls` package (`plsr`, `pcr`, `mvr`) and for the `mdatools::pls(x, y, ...)` matrix idiom — those tabs appear only on the methods that have a meaningful equivalence.
**pls4all bindings**
::::{tab-set}
:class: pls4all-bindings
:::{tab-item} C ABI · libn4m
:sync: c
:class-label: lang-c
```c
/* C ABI — libn4m */
n4m_context_t* ctx = n4m_context_create();
n4m_config_t* cfg = n4m_config_create();
n4m_method_result_t* res = NULL;
n4m_estimators_fused_sparse_pls_fit(ctx, cfg, &x_view, &y_view, /* hyperparams */, &res);
/* … read coefficients / mask / scores via */
/* n4m_method_result_get_double_matrix / vector / scalar … */
n4m_method_result_destroy(res);
n4m_config_destroy(cfg);
n4m_context_destroy(ctx);
```
:::
:::{tab-item} Python · pls4all (raw)
:sync: python-raw
:class-label: lang-python
```python
import pls4all
from pls4all._methods import fused_sparse_pls_fit
with pls4all.Context() as ctx, pls4all.Config() as cfg:
res = fused_sparse_pls_fit(ctx, cfg, X, y, n_components=4)
# then: res.matrix("predictions"), res.matrix("coefficients"),
# res.vector("mask"), res.scalar("intercept"), …
```
:::
:::{tab-item} Python · pls4all.sklearn
:sync: python-sklearn
:class-label: lang-python
```python
from pls4all.sklearn import FusedSparsePLSRegression
mdl = FusedSparsePLSRegression(n_components=2, l1_lambda=0.05, fusion_lambda=0.05)
mdl.fit(X, y)
y_hat = mdl.predict(X_test)
```
:::
:::{tab-item} R · pls4all_method()
:sync: r-dispatcher
:class-label: lang-r
```r
library(pls4all)
# Unified low-level dispatcher (May 2026 R cleanup):
res <- pls4all_method("fused_sparse_pls", X, y,
n_components = 4L, params = list(l1_lambda = 0.05, fusion_lambda = 0.1))
# res is a named list with MethodResult arrays/scalars.
# selected_indices / top_k_intervals are 1-based.
```
:::
:::{tab-item} R · pls4all (raw fn)
:sync: r-raw
:class-label: lang-r
```r
library(pls4all)
res <- fused_sparse_pls_fit(X, Y, n_components,
l1_lambda = 0.05, fusion_lambda = 0.05)
yhat <- pls4all_predict(res, X_test)
```
:::
:::{tab-item} MATLAB · pls4all (MEX)
:sync: matlab-mex
:class-label: lang-matlab
```matlab
res = pls4all.fused_sparse_pls(X, y, 4);
% see header of bindings/matlab/+pls4all/fused_sparse_pls.m for full
% parameter surface:
% res = fused_sparse_pls(X, Y, n_components, l1_lambda, fusion_lambda)
yhat = predict(res, Xtest);
```
:::
:::{tab-item} MATLAB · pls4all (classdef)
:sync: matlab-classdef
:class-label: lang-matlab
_No idiomatic classdef wrapper — invoke `pls4all.fit("fused_sparse_pls", X, y, …)` directly from the unified MEX factory._
:::
::::
**Registry parity references** 📐
:::{card}
:class-card: external-refs
- 📜 **Paper-only** — no executable parity reference; the `pls4all` implementation is verified by a smoke fit only. Canonical citation: Yengo, L., Jacques, J., Biernacki, C. & Canouil, M. (2016). Variable clustering in high-dimensional linear regression: The R package `clere`. R Journal 8(1), 92-106. (Fused-sparse PLS variants have no widely installable R / Python port.)
:::
### Benchmarks
Adaptive wall-clock per cell measured against [`full_matrix.csv`](../benchmarks/overview.md). Only backends that implement this method are listed; libraries without the method are omitted.
**Verdict** · ✓ ref / ≈ ref / ~ shape mark a reference-gate pass at strict / relaxed / qualitative tolerance · ✓ bind = pls4all binding agrees with the C++ baseline · ⇄ cross-check = documented by-design selector/RNG/model, noncanonical API/facade convention, or secondary oracle · ✗ divergent · ⚠ error · — not run. The fastest backend per column is marked 🏆.
::::{tab-set}
:class: parity-tabs
:::{tab-item} 1 thread
:sync: threads-1
| Backend | Parity | 200×50 (ms) |
| Python · pls4all |
pls4all.python | ✓ bind | 1.95 ms🏆 |
pls4all.sklearn | ✓ bind | 2.13 ms |
| R · pls4all |
pls4all.R | ✓ bind | 6.13 ms |
pls4all.R.formula | ✓ bind | 7.70 ms |
pls4all.R.mdatools | ✓ bind | 7.55 ms |
pls4all.R.pls | ✓ bind | 7.80 ms |
:::
:::{tab-item} 3 threads
:sync: threads-3
| Backend | Parity | 200×50 (ms) |
| Python · pls4all |
pls4all.python | ✓ bind | 1.88 ms🏆 |
pls4all.sklearn | ✓ bind | 2.09 ms |
| R · pls4all |
pls4all.R | ✓ bind | 6.14 ms |
pls4all.R.formula | ✓ bind | 7.73 ms |
pls4all.R.mdatools | ✓ bind | 8.04 ms |
pls4all.R.pls | ✓ bind | 7.53 ms |
:::
:::{tab-item} 10 threads
:sync: threads-10
| Backend | Parity | 200×50 (ms) |
| Python · pls4all |
pls4all.python | ✓ bind | 1.97 ms🏆 |
pls4all.sklearn | ✓ bind | 2.02 ms |
| R · pls4all |
pls4all.R | ✓ bind | 6.56 ms |
pls4all.R.formula | ✓ bind | 8.64 ms |
pls4all.R.mdatools | ✓ bind | 8.07 ms |
pls4all.R.pls | ✓ bind | 8.65 ms |
:::
::::
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_See also_: [benchmark overview](../benchmarks/overview.md) · [methods index](index.md) · [interactive dashboard](../landing/dashboard.md)