A study of factors affecting the utility of implicit relevance feedback

Implicit relevance feedback (IRF) is the process by which a search system unobtrusively gathers evidence on searcher interests from their interaction with the system. IRF is a new method of gathering information on user interest and, if IRF is to be used in operational IR systems, it is important to establish when it performs well and when it performs poorly. In this paper we investigate how the use and effectiveness of IRF is affected by three factors: search task complexity, the search experience of the user and the stage in the search. Our findings suggest that all three of these factors contribute to the utility of IRF

The Density Matrix Renormalization Group Method applied to Interaction Round a Face Hamiltonians

Given a Hamiltonian with a continuous symmetry one can generally factorize that symmetry and consider the dynamics on invariant Hilbert Spaces. In Statistical Mechanics this procedure is known as the vertex-IRF map, and in certain cases, like rotational invariant Hamiltonians, can be implemented via group theoretical techniques. Using this map we translate the DMRG method, which applies to 1d vertex Hamiltonians, into a formulation adequate to study IRF Hamiltonians. The advantage of the IRF formulation of the DMRG method ( we name it IRF-DMRG), is that the dimensions of the Hilbert Spaces involved in numerical computations are smaller than in the vertex-DMRG, since the degeneracy due to the symmetry has been eliminated. The IRF-DMRG admits a natural and geometric formulation in terms of the paths or string algebras used in Exactly Integrable Systems and Conformal Field Theory. We illustrate the IRF-DMRG method with the study of the SOS model which corresponds to the spin 1/2 Heisenberg chain and the RSOS models with Coxeter diagram of type A, which correspond to the quantum group invariant XXZ chain.Comment: 22 pages, Latex, 18 figures in Postscript file

Vertex--IRF correspondence and factorized L-operators for an elliptic R-operator

As for an elliptic $R$-operator which satisfies the Yang--Baxter equation, the incoming and outgoing intertwining vectors are constructed, and the vertex--IRF correspondence for the elliptic $R$-operator is obtained. The vertex--IRF correspondence implies that the Boltzmann weights of the IRF model satisfy the star--triangle relation. By means of these intertwining vectors, the factorized L-operators for the elliptic $R$-operator are also constructed. The vertex--IRF correspondence and the factorized L-operators for Belavin's $R$-matrix are reproduced from those of the elliptic $R$-operator.Comment: 25 pages, amslatex, no figure

Iterative Residual Fitting for Spherical Harmonic Transform of Band-Limited Signals on the Sphere: Generalization and Analysis

We present the generalized iterative residual fitting (IRF) for the computation of the spherical harmonic transform (SHT) of band-limited signals on the sphere. The proposed method is based on the partitioning of the subspace of band-limited signals into orthogonal subspaces. There exist sampling schemes on the sphere which support accurate computation of SHT. However, there are applications where samples~(or measurements) are not taken over the predefined grid due to nature of the signal and/or acquisition set-up. To support such applications, the proposed IRF method enables accurate computation of SHTs of signals with randomly distributed sufficient number of samples. In order to improve the accuracy of the computation of the SHT, we also present the so-called multi-pass IRF which adds multiple iterative passes to the IRF. We analyse the multi-pass IRF for different sampling schemes and for different size partitions. Furthermore, we conduct numerical experiments to illustrate that the multi-pass IRF allows sufficiently accurate computation of SHTs.Comment: 5 Pages, 7 Figure

Interferon regulatory factor 8-deficiency determines massive neutrophil recruitment but T cell defect in fast growing granulomas during tuberculosis

Following Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, immune cell recruitment in lungs is pivotal in establishing protective immunity through granuloma formation and neogenesis of lymphoid structures (LS). Interferon regulatory factor-8 (IRF-8) plays an important role in host defense against Mtb, although the mechanisms driving anti-mycobacterial immunity remain unclear. In this study, IRF-8 deficient mice (IRF-8−/−) were aerogenously infected with a low-dose Mtb Erdman virulent strain and the course of infection was compared with that induced in wild-type (WT-B6) counterparts. Tuberculosis (TB) progression was examined in both groups using pathological, microbiological and immunological parameters. Following Mtb exposure, the bacterial load in lungs and spleens progressed comparably in the two groups for two weeks, after which IRF-8−/− mice developed a fatal acute TB whereas in WT-B6 the disease reached a chronic stage. In lungs of IRF-8−/−, uncontrolled growth of pulmonary granulomas and impaired development of LS were observed, associated with unbalanced homeostatic chemokines, progressive loss of infiltrating T lymphocytes and massive prevalence of neutrophils at late infection stages. Our data define IRF-8 as an essential factor for the maintenance of proper immune cell recruitment in granulomas and LS required to restrain Mtb infection. Moreover, IRF-8−/− mice, relying on a common human and mouse genetic mutation linked to susceptibility/severity of mycobacterial diseases, represent a valuable model of acute TB for comparative studies with chronically-infected congenic WT-B6 for dissecting protective and pathological immune reactions