Monte-Carlo tree search with uncertainty propagation via optimal transport

This paper introduces a novel backup strategy for Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) designed for highly stochastic and partially observable Markov decision processes. We adopt a probabilistic approach, modeling both value and action-value nodes as Gaussian distributions. We introduce a novel backup operator that computes value nodes as the Wasserstein barycenter of their action-value children nodes; thus, propagating the uncertainty of the estimate across the tree to the root node. We study our novel backup operator when using a novel combination of $L^1$-Wasserstein barycenter with $\alpha$-divergence, by drawing a notable connection to the generalized mean backup operator. We complement our probabilistic backup operator with two sampling strategies, based on optimistic selection and Thompson sampling, obtaining our Wasserstein MCTS algorithm. We provide theoretical guarantees of asymptotic convergence to the optimal policy, and an empirical evaluation on several stochastic and partially observable environments, where our approach outperforms well-known related baselines

Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser

BACKGROUND: To facilitate efficient selection and the prioritization of candidate complex disease susceptibility genes for association analysis, increasingly comprehensive annotation tools are essential to integrate, visualize and analyze vast quantities of disparate data generated by genomic screens, public human genome sequence annotation and ancillary biological databases. We have developed a plug-in package for Ensembl called "Statistical Viewer" that facilitates the analysis of genomic features and annotation in the regions of interest defined by linkage analysis. RESULTS: Statistical Viewer is an add-on package to the open-source Ensembl Genome Browser and Annotation System that displays disease study-specific linkage and/or association data as 2 dimensional plots in new panels in the context of Ensembl's Contig View and Cyto View pages. An enhanced upload server facilitates the upload of statistical data, as well as additional feature annotation to be displayed in DAS tracts, in the form of Excel Files. The Statistical View panel, drawn directly under the ideogram, illustrates lod score values for markers from a study of interest that are plotted against their position in base pairs. A module called "Get Map" easily converts the genetic locations of markers to genomic coordinates. The graph is placed under the corresponding ideogram features a synchronized vertical sliding selection box that is seamlessly integrated into Ensembl's Contig- and Cyto- View pages to choose the region to be displayed in Ensembl's "Overview" and "Detailed View" panels. To resolve Association and Fine mapping data plots, a "Detailed Statistic View" plot corresponding to the "Detailed View" may be displayed underneath. CONCLUSION: Features mapping to regions of linkage are accentuated when Statistic View is used in conjunction with the Distributed Annotation System (DAS) to display supplemental laboratory information such as differentially expressed disease genes in private data tracks. Statistic View is a novel and powerful visual feature that enhances Ensembl's utility as valuable resource for integrative genomic-based approaches to the identification of candidate disease susceptibility genes. At present there are no other tools that provide for the visualization of 2-dimensional plots of quantitative data scores against genomic coordinates in the context of a primary public genome annotation browser

Diagnostic performance of serial serum total tryptase measurement to differentiate positive from negative allergy testing among patients with suspected perioperative hypersensitivity

International audienc

Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser-0

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser"</p><p>BMC Bioinformatics 2005;6():95-95.</p><p>Published online 12 Apr 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1087836.</p><p>Copyright © 2005 Stenger et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.</p>aptured using SnagIt 7.0. The figure illustrates the appearance of the Statistic View panel and some of its features in the context of Contig View. It also demonstrates how the selection of a peak can enable the researcher to easily see where linkage data and other features such as potentially unstable tri-nucleotide repeats and gene expression data converge to suggest priority gene for association and sequence analysis

Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser-3

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser"</p><p>BMC Bioinformatics 2005;6():95-95.</p><p>Published online 12 Apr 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1087836.</p><p>Copyright © 2005 Stenger et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.</p

Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser-2

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser"</p><p>BMC Bioinformatics 2005;6():95-95.</p><p>Published online 12 Apr 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1087836.</p><p>Copyright © 2005 Stenger et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.</p> (part B) of three data records that define plot coordinates along with other attributes. User databases are created to allow restricted access for uploading data

Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser-1

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Statistical Viewer: a tool to upload and integrate linkage and association data as plots displayed within the Ensembl genome browser"</p><p>BMC Bioinformatics 2005;6():95-95.</p><p>Published online 12 Apr 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1087836.</p><p>Copyright © 2005 Stenger et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.</p>age