Conformative Filtering for Implicit Feedback Data

Implicit feedback is the simplest form of user feedback that can be used for item recommendation. It is easy to collect and is domain independent. However, there is a lack of negative examples. Previous work tackles this problem by assuming that users are not interested or not as much interested in the unconsumed items. Those assumptions are often severely violated since non-consumption can be due to factors like unawareness or lack of resources. Therefore, non-consumption by a user does not always mean disinterest or irrelevance. In this paper, we propose a novel method called Conformative Filtering (CoF) to address the issue. The motivating observation is that if there is a large group of users who share the same taste and none of them have consumed an item before, then it is likely that the item is not of interest to the group. We perform multidimensional clustering on implicit feedback data using hierarchical latent tree analysis (HLTA) to identify user `tastes' groups and make recommendations for a user based on her memberships in the groups and on the past behavior of the groups. Experiments on two real-world datasets from different domains show that CoF has superior performance compared to several common baselines

The prognostic significance of CA 125 in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Objective: To assess the association of serum CA 125 in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) with prognostic parameters of the disease, response to treatment, and survival. Patients and methods: Sixty-eight patients [38 males, median age 56 (range 17-82) yr] with NHL were evaluated. CA 125 was measured by an enzyme immunoradiometric assay at diagnosis and at the end of firstline treatment. Results: Median overall CA 125 was 49 (1-963) U mL(-1), whereas 49 patients had initially abnormal (> 35 U mL) CA 125 levels. High CA 125 was found to correlate with failure of treatment (P = 0.001) and relapse (P = 0.01), and to be independently associated with bulky disease, effusions, LDH, and the International Prognostic Index (IPI) score (P < 0.01 for each of these four variables). An initially abnormal CA 125 value was associated with poorer 5-yr survival [median survival of patients with CA 125> 35 U mL(-1) 33 (18-72) months compared to 58 (20-77) months for those with CA 125 = 35 U mL(-1), P = 0.012]. Moreover, CA 125> 35 U mL(-1) (among stage III/IV and LDH> 460 mU mL(-1)) emerged as an independent predictor of death within 5 yr from diagnosis (Relative Risk (RR) 3.1, 95% CI 1.5-12.8, P = 0.02). Conclusion: Measurement of serum CA 125 is useful for staging, monitoring, and estimating prognosis in patients with NHL

Developing a Measure of Community Well-Being Based on Perceptions of Impact in Various Life Domains

Measure of community well-being, Measure of community quality of life, Measure of perceived quality of community life, Subjective indicators of community well-being, Subjective indicators of quality of community life,