Bayesian Non-Exhaustive Classification A Case Study: Online Name Disambiguation using Temporal Record Streams

The name entity disambiguation task aims to partition the records of multiple real-life persons so that each partition contains records pertaining to a unique person. Most of the existing solutions for this task operate in a batch mode, where all records to be disambiguated are initially available to the algorithm. However, more realistic settings require that the name disambiguation task be performed in an online fashion, in addition to, being able to identify records of new ambiguous entities having no preexisting records. In this work, we propose a Bayesian non-exhaustive classification framework for solving online name disambiguation task. Our proposed method uses a Dirichlet process prior with a Normal * Normal * Inverse Wishart data model which enables identification of new ambiguous entities who have no records in the training data. For online classification, we use one sweep Gibbs sampler which is very efficient and effective. As a case study we consider bibliographic data in a temporal stream format and disambiguate authors by partitioning their papers into homogeneous groups. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is better than existing methods for performing online name disambiguation task.Comment: to appear in CIKM 201

The European Academy laparoscopic “Suturing Training and Testing’’ (SUTT) significantly improves surgeons’ performance

The efficiency of suturing training and testing (SUTT) model by laparoscopy was evaluated, measuring the suturing skill acquisition of trainee gynecologists at the beginning and at the end of a teaching course. During a workshop organized by the European Academy of Gynecological Surgery (EAGS), 25 participants with three different experience levels in laparoscopy (minor, intermediate and major) performed the 4 exercises of the SUTT model (Ex 1: both hands stitching and continuous suturing, Ex 2: right hand stitching and intracorporeal knotting, Ex 3: left hand stitching and intracorporeal knotting, Ex 4: dominant hand stitching, tissue approximation and intracorporeal knotting). The time needed to perform the exercises is recorded for each trainee and group and statistical analysis used to note the differences. Overall, all trainees achieved significant improvement in suturing time (p < 0.005) as measured before and after completion of the training. Similar significantly improved suturing time differences (p < 0.005) were noted among the groups of trainees with different laparoscopic experience. In conclusion a short well-guided training course, using the SUTT model, improves significantly surgeon’s laparoscopic suturing ability, independently of the level of experience in laparoscopic surgery

The unfriendly ISM in the radio galaxy 4C12.50 (PKS 1345+12)

The radio source 4C12.50 has often been suggested to be a prime candidate for the link between ultraluminous infrared galaxies and young radio galaxies. A VLBI study of the neutral hydrogen in the nuclear regions of this object shows that most of the gas detected close to the systemic velocity is associated with an off-nuclear cloud (~50 to 100 pc from the radio core) with a column density of ~10^22 T_spin/100 K) cm^(-2) and an HI mass of a few times 10^5 to 10^6 M_sun. We consider a number of possibilities to explain the results. In particular, we discus the possibility that this cloud indicates the presence of a rich and clumpy interstellar medium in the centre, likely left over from the merger that triggered the activity and that this medium influences the growth of the radio source. The location of the cloud -- at the edge of the northern radio jet/lobe -- suggests that the radio jet might be interacting with a gas cloud. This interaction could be responsible for bending the young radio jet. The velocity profile of the gas is relatively broad (~150$ km/s) and we interpret this as kinematical evidence for interaction of the radio plasma with the cloud. We also consider the model where the cloud is part of a broader circumnuclear structure. Only a limited region of this structure would have sufficient background radio brightness and large enough column depth in neutral gas to obtain detectable HI absorption against the counterjet. The VLBI study of the neutral hydrogen in 4C12.50 suggests that HI detected near the systemic velocity (as it is often the case in radio galaxies) may not necessarily be connected with a circumnuclear disk or torus (as is very often assumed) but instead could be a tracer of the large-scale medium that surrounds the active nucleus and that may influence the growth of the young radio source.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Characterization of cookies formulated with rice and black bean extruded flours.

The aim of this work was to formulate cookies using extruded flour from by-products of rice and common beans industries, such as broken rice and split old bean grains, in order to make available foods with added nutritional value as other options to consumers. The market of ready to eat and high quality products is increasing in the world considering the new habits and life style of modern consumers. Different proportions of rice and black bean (whole ? WBF or peeled grain - PBF) pre-gelatinized flours were used to prepare the cookies by partially replacing the corn starch in the original recipe. The samples were characterized for physicochemical and sensory parameters. The final products showed an interesting nutritional composition. The increase of mixed flour on cookies formulation contributed to an increase of vitamin B content. There was no tannin content detected in the final products and the level of phytate was very low with no significant difference among samples. A significant difference between products was observed for some colour parameters. The sensory analyses showed that consumers ?liked lightly? the cookies with 15% and 30% PBF and 15% WBF. Cookies formulated with WBF had lower acceptance by consumers in terms of appearance and only those with 30% WBF had an intermediate score (?neither like, neither dislike?) for global acceptability. Regarding texture, when a higher amount of both flour (PBF and WBF) was applied it was observed an increase of cookie hardness and fracturability values. In conclusion it is viable to produce acceptable cookies using a rice and black bean extruded flour and then diversify the application of these by-products generated by their processing industries.Publicado também como artigo em periódico indexado em: Procedia Food Science, v. 1, p. 1645-1652, 2011

Near-Infrared Imaging of Early-Type Galaxies III. The Near-Infrared Fundamental Plane

Near-infrared imaging data on 251 early-type galaxies in clusters and groups are used to construct the near-infrared Fundamental Plane (FP) r_eff ~ sigma_0^1.53 _eff^-0.79. The slope of the FP therefore departs from the virial expectation of r_eff ~ sigma_0^2 _eff^-1 at all optical and near-infrared wavelengths, which could be a result of the variation of M/L along the elliptical galaxy sequence, or a systematic breakdown of homology among the family of elliptical galaxies. The slope of the near-infrared FP excludes metallicity variations as the sole cause of the slope of the FP. Age effects, dynamical deviations from a homology, or any combination of these (with or without metallicity), however, are not excluded. The scatter of both the near-infrared and optical FP are nearly identical and substantially larger than the observational uncertainties, demonstrating small but significant intrinsic cosmological scatter for the FP at all wavelengths. The lack of a correlation of the residuals of the near-infrared FP and the residuals from the Mg_2-sigma relation indicates that the thickness of these relations cannot be ascribed only to age or metallicity effects. Due to this metallicity independence, the small scatter of the near-infrared FP excludes a model in which age and metallicity effects ``conspire'' to keep the optical FP thin. All of these results suggest that the possible physical origins of the FP relations are complicated due to combined effects of variations of stellar populations and structural parameters among elliptical galaxies.Comment: to appear in The Astronomical Journal; 35 pages, including 13 Postscript figures and 1 table; uses AAS LaTeX style file