Incorporating Side Information in Probabilistic Matrix Factorization with Gaussian Processes

Probabilistic matrix factorization (PMF) is a powerful method for modeling data associated with pairwise relationships, finding use in collaborative filtering, computational biology, and document analysis, among other areas. In many domains, there is additional information that can assist in prediction. For example, when modeling movie ratings, we might know when the rating occurred, where the user lives, or what actors appear in the movie. It is difficult, however, to incorporate this side information into the PMF model. We propose a framework for incorporating side information by coupling together multiple PMF problems via Gaussian process priors. We replace scalar latent features with functions that vary over the space of side information. The GP priors on these functions require them to vary smoothly and share information. We successfully use this new method to predict the scores of professional basketball games, where side information about the venue and date of the game are relevant for the outcome.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to UAI 201

A geometrical approach to the motion planning problem for a submerged rigid body

The main focus of this paper is the motion planning problem for a deeply submerged rigid body. The equations of motion are formulated and presented by use of the framework of differential geometry and these equations incorporate external dissipative and restoring forces. We consider a kinematic reduction of the affine connection control system for the rigid body submerged in an ideal fluid, and present an extension of this reduction to the forced affine connection control system for the rigid body submerged in a viscous fluid. The motion planning strategy is based on kinematic motions; the integral curves of rank one kinematic reductions. This method is of particular interest to autonomous underwater vehicles which can not directly control all six degrees of freedom (such as torpedo shaped AUVs) or in case of actuator failure (i.e., under-actuated scenario). A practical example is included to illustrate our technique

Resource‐based learning strategies: Implications for students and institutions

This paper reports some findings from a project in implementing resource‐based learning in economics, and identifies some implications for students and institutions. These include student responses to a mid‐semester evaluation and the views of the project team. The latter have been informed by action research which sought to recognize students’ individual differences, employ active learning methods and, above all, integrate IT into the curriculum. While innovative strategies are clearly welcomed, students show strong attachment to some traditional methods. Most of those who suggested changes to the range of activities asked for reinstatement of at least some lectures, generally as additions to existing activities. Implications include the need for students and staff to acquire a wide range of new skills, for large‐scale curriculum review if new learning technologies are to be fully integrated, and the need to acknowledge that, given student and staff perceptions of change, the process may be long and costly

Training Restricted Boltzmann Machines on Word Observations

The restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) is a flexible tool for modeling complex data, however there have been significant computational difficulties in using RBMs to model high-dimensional multinomial observations. In natural language processing applications, words are naturally modeled by K-ary discrete distributions, where K is determined by the vocabulary size and can easily be in the hundreds of thousands. The conventional approach to training RBMs on word observations is limited because it requires sampling the states of K-way softmax visible units during block Gibbs updates, an operation that takes time linear in K. In this work, we address this issue by employing a more general class of Markov chain Monte Carlo operators on the visible units, yielding updates with computational complexity independent of K. We demonstrate the success of our approach by training RBMs on hundreds of millions of word n-grams using larger vocabularies than previously feasible and using the learned features to improve performance on chunking and sentiment classification tasks, achieving state-of-the-art results on the latter

The Bruce Report and Social Welfare Leadership in the Politics of Toronto’s “Slums”, 1934–1939

Slum clearance and rebuilding first became a serious political project in Toronto during the 1930s. Following the release of a systematic housing survey known as the Bruce Report (1934), a set of actors distinguished by their planning authority with respect to social agencies, influence over social work education, coordination of social research, and role as spokespersons of religious bodies inaugurated a political struggle over state power. While the campaign failed, it called forth a reaction from established authorities and reconfigured the local political field as it related to low-income housing. This article gives an account of these processes by drawing upon correspondence and minutes of meetings of city officials and the campaign’s organizers, newspaper clippings, and published materials. L’élimination des taudis et la reconstruction furent pour la première fois un projet politique sérieux à Toronto dans les années 1930. Après la diffusion des résultats d’une enquête systématique sur les logements connue sous le nom de rapport Bruce (1934), un ensemble d’acteurs se démarquant par leur pouvoir de planification des organismes sociaux, leur influence sur la formation en travail social, leur coordination de la recherche sociale et leur rôle de porte-parole des organismes religieux s’affrontèrent sur la question du pouvoir de l’État. Bien qu’elle fut un échec, la campagne fit réagir les autorités en place et modifia l’échiquier politique local dans le domaine des logements pour personnes à faible revenu. Cet article relate ces processus en puisant pour ce faire dans la correspondance et les procès-verbaux des réunions des fonctionnaires municipaux et des organisateurs de la campagne ainsi que dans les coupures de journal et les écrits publiés

Information Flow to Support Front End Planning

Previous research has demonstrated the value of front end planning as it impacts project performance. This dissertation summarizes the findings of a research project which examined ways to improve information flow through the front end planning process. The front end planning process was carefully diagrammed as consisting of 33 distinct information flow activities, each with its own information flow entities and interactions. Fifty-one questionnaire survey forms were analyzed to obtain data for the 33 information flow activities that included activity duration, resources expended, and other supplemental insights such as the extent of information availability. The 51 projects were then grouped into successful and less successful categories based on several criteria to determine if the two groups had any significant differences in how they executed front end planning. An analysis of the data concluded that successful projects often spent more time and utilized more resources on the front end planning process. An additional product of the research provided the information requirements for each activity. Information flow tables were also created for each activity. This dissertation provides general recommendations and insights for stimulating proactive actions during the front end planning process, each designed to improve the flow of information and increase the likelihood of project success

A study of 27 boys ordered to report to the Citizenship Training Group by the Boston Juvenile Court

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University, 1947. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive