Consider a 0-1 observation matrix M, where rows correspond to entities and columns correspond to signals; a value of 1 (or 0) in cell (i,j) of M indicates that signal j has been observed (or not observed) in entity i. Given such a matrix we study the problem of inferring the underlying directed links between entities (rows) and finding which entries in the matrix are initiators. We formally define this problem and propose an MCMC framework for estimating the links and the initiators given the matrix of observations M. We also show how this framework can be extended to incorporate a temporal aspect; instead of considering a single observation matrix M we consider a sequence of observation matrices M1,..., Mt over time. We show the connection between our problem and several problems studied in the field of social-network analysis. We apply our method to paleontological and ecological data and show that our algorithms work well in practice and give reasonable results.

We propose a novel method for approximate inference in Bayesian networks (BNs). The idea is to sample data from a BN, learn a latent tree model (LTM) from the data offline, and when online, make inference with the LTM instead of the original BN. Because LTMs are tree-structured, inference takes linear time. In the meantime, they can represent complex relationship among leaf nodes and hence the approximation accuracy is often good. Empirical evidence shows that our method can achieve good approximation accuracy at low online computational cost.

This paper proposes a novel uncertainty quantification framework for computationally demanding systems characterized by a large vector of non-Gaussian uncertainties. It combines state-of-the-art techniques in advanced Monte Carlo sampling with Bayesian formulations. The key departure from existing works is the use of inexpensive, approximate computational models in a rigorous manner. Such models can readily be derived by coarsening the discretization size in the solution of the governing PDEs, increasing the time step when integration of ODEs is performed, using fewer iterations if a non-linear solver is employed or making use of lower order models. It is shown that even in cases where the inexact models provide very poor approximations of the exact response, statistics of the latter can be quantified accurately with significant reductions in the computational effort. Multiple approximate models can be used and rigorous confidence bounds of the estimates produced are provided at all stages.

We describe a Groebner basis of relations among conditional probabilities in a discrete probability space, with any set of conditioned-upon events. They may be specialized to the partially-observed random variable case, the purely conditional case, and other special cases. We also investigate the connection to generalized permutohedra and describe a conditional probability simplex.

The Quick Medical Reference (QMR) is a compendium of statistical knowledge connecting diseases to findings (symptoms). The information in QMR can be represented as a Bayesian network. The inference problem (or, in more medical language, giving a diagnosis) for the QMR is to, given some findings, find the probability of each disease. Rejection sampling and likelihood weighted sampling (a.k.a. likelihood weighting) are two simple algorithms for making approximate inferences from an arbitrary Bayesian net (and from the QMR Bayesian net in particular). Heretofore, the samples for these two algorithms have been obtained with a conventional "classical computer". In this paper, we will show that two analogous algorithms exist for the QMR Bayesian net, where the samples are obtained with a quantum computer. We expect that these two algorithms, implemented on a quantum computer, can also be used to make inferences (and predictions) with other Bayesian nets.

This paper provides the reader with a very brief introduction to some of the theory and methods of text data mining. The intent of this article is to introduce the reader to some of the current methodologies that are employed within this discipline area while at the same time making the reader aware of some of the interesting challenges that remain to be solved within the area. Finally, the articles serves as a very rudimentary tutorial on some of techniques while also providing the reader with a list of references for additional study.

Bayesian model averaging, model selection and its approximations such as BIC are generally statistically consistent, but sometimes achieve slower rates og convergence than other methods such as AIC and leave-one-out cross-validation. On the other hand, these other methods can br inconsistent. We identify the "catch-up phenomenon" as a novel explanation for the slow convergence of Bayesian methods. Based on this analysis we define the switch distribution, a modification of the Bayesian marginal distribution. We show that, under broad conditions,model selection and prediction based on the switch distribution is both consistent and achieves optimal convergence rates, thereby resolving the AIC-BIC dilemma. The method is practical; we give an efficient implementation. The switch distribution has a data compression interpretation, and can thus be viewed as a "prequential" or MDL method; yet it is different from the MDL methods that are usually considered in the literature. We compare the switch distribution to Bayes factor model selection and leave-one-out cross-validation.

We present an efficient, principled, and interpretable technique for inferring module assignments and for identifying the optimal number of modules in a given network. We show how several existing methods for finding modules can be described as variant, special, or limiting cases of our work, and how the method overcomes the resolution limit problem, accurately recovering the true number of modules. Our approach is based on Bayesian methods for model selection which have been used with success for almost a century, implemented using a variational technique developed only in the past decade. We apply the technique to synthetic and real networks and outline how the method naturally allows selection among competing models.

Past research on probabilistic databases has studied the problem of answering queries on a static database. Application scenarios of probabilistic databases however often involve the conditioning of a database using additional information in the form of new evidence. The conditioning problem is thus to transform a probabilistic database of priors into a posterior probabilistic database which is materialized for subsequent query processing or further refinement. It turns out that the conditioning problem is closely related to the problem of computing exact tuple confidence values. It is known that exact confidence computation is an NP-hard problem. This has led researchers to consider approximation techniques for confidence computation. However, neither conditioning nor exact confidence computation can be solved using such techniques. In this paper we present efficient techniques for both problems. We study several problem decomposition methods and heuristics that are based on the most successful search techniques from constraint satisfaction, such as the Davis-Putnam algorithm. We complement this with a thorough experimental evaluation of the algorithms proposed. Our experiments show that our exact algorithms scale well to realistic database sizes and can in some scenarios compete with the most efficient previous approximation algorithms.

The way a rational agent changes her belief in certain propositions/hypotheses in the light of new evidence lies at the heart of Bayesian inference. The basic natural assumption, as summarized in van Fraassen's Reflection Principle ([1984]), would be that in the absence of new evidence the belief should not change. Yet, there are examples that are claimed to violate this assumption. The apparent paradox presented by such examples, if not settled, would demonstrate the inconsistency and/or incompleteness of the Bayesian approach and without eliminating this inconsistency, the approach cannot be regarded as scientific. The Sleeping Beauty Problem is just such an example. The existing attempts to solve the problem fall into three categories. The first two share the view that new evidence is absent, but differ about the conclusion of whether Sleeping Beauty should change her belief or not, and why. The third category is characterized by the view that, after all, new evidence (although hidden from the initial view) is involved. My solution is radically different and does not fall in either of these categories. I deflate the paradox by arguing that the two different degrees of belief presented in the Sleeping Beauty Problem are in fact beliefs in two different propositions, i.e. there is no need to explain the (un)change of belief.