Categorical d-separation criterion simplifies probability graph analysis.
problem Detecting causal relationships in probability distributions.
method Introducing categorical definitions for causal models and d-separation.
result Abstract version of d-separation criterion applies to various probability theories.
The paper compares one-hot encoding to Naïve Bayes for categorical variables.
problem Incorrect one-hot encoding affects Naïve Bayes performance.
method Mathematical and experimental analysis of PoB vs. categorical Naïve Bayes.
result Posterior probabilities are usually greater in the PoB case, but agree on the maximum a posteriori class label.
This work assesses DNNs for estimating conditional probabilities.
problem Lack of uncertainty characterization in DNNs for probabilistic applications.
method Investigates DNNs' ability to estimate conditional probabilities using synthetic and real-world datasets.
result DNNs' precision in estimating conditional probabilities is influenced by probability density and inter-categorical sparsity.
A method for diffusion on probability simplex for generative models.
problem Tension between continuous and discrete data in diffusion models.
method Proposes using softmax function applied to Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process on probability simplex.
result Method extends to bounded image generation.
Efficient algorithm for Bayesian networks reduces marginal probability distribution computation.
problem Exact computation of marginal probability distribution is NP-hard for categorical variables in Bayesian networks.
method Divide-and-conquer approach exploiting graphical properties of Bayesian networks.
result Novel algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art methods in classification and cancer subtype identification.
A framework estimates categorical distributions under constraints, ensuring generality and uniqueness.
problem Estimating categorical distributions summarizing sample data under marginal constraints.
method Theoretical framework + Iterative Proportional Fitting (IPF) to estimate the distribution.
result A unique categorical distribution of Maximum Entropy under marginal constraints exists and is estimated.
ESRLCM clusters similar responses, more broadly than traditional models.
problem Clustering multivariate categorical data with common response patterns.
method Bayesian Equivalence Set Restricted Latent Class Model (ESRLCM).
result ESRLCM identifies clusters with similar item response probabilities.
Researchers study the normalizing constant of a continuous categorical distribution.
problem Understanding the normalizing constant of the continuous categorical distribution.
method Characterize numerical behavior and present theoretical and methodological advances.
result The normalizing constant can be written in closed form using elementary functions.
Paper examines trade/no trade patterns in illiquid stocks, highlighting effects of varying zero returns probabilities.
problem Detecting long-run trade/no trade effects in illiquid stocks with varying zero returns probabilities.
method Proposes a framework considering constant and time-varying zero returns probabilities, analyzing trade/no trade categorical sequences.
result Long-run trade/no trade effects may be spuriously detected in presence of non-constant zero returns probabilities.
A new gradient estimator for categorical distributions reduces bias and variance.
problem Intractability of gradients for categorical distributions in discrete latent variable models.
method CatLog-Derivative trick and IndeCateR gradient estimator.
result IndeCateR reduces bias and variance of gradients for categorical distributions.
A new method for categorical variational inference using discrete normalizing flows.
problem Challenges in optimizing variational approximations for discrete latent variables.
method Differentiable reparameterization using a mixture of discrete normalizing flows.
result Improves optimization of evidence lower bound and reduces sensitivity to hyperparameters.
The paper derives a formula for factorizing categorical data to improve Bayes classifiers.
problem Improving the accuracy of Bayes classifiers by effectively factoring multidimensional data.
method Derives an explicit formula for calculating the marginal likelihood of a factorized categorical dataset.
result The derived formula can be used to select the best factorization for constructing a Bayes classifier.
A method for representing and comparing categorical trajectories using multivariate functional principal components.
problem Statistical description and comparison of categorical trajectories.
method Transforming categorical trajectories into binary indicator functions and applying multivariate functional principal components analysis.
result Consistent estimators of mean trajectories and covariance functions are obtained under weak regularity assumptions.
AdOBEst-LDP improves privacy-preserving frequency estimation for categorical data.
problem Estimating categorical distributions online while preserving privacy.
method AdOBEst-LDP uses adaptive randomized response mechanism to enhance future data utility.
result AdOBEst-LDP selects optimal subset for LDP mechanism with high probability.
The problem of categorical data analysis in high dimensions is considered. A discussion of the fundamental difficulties of probability modeling is provided, and a solution to the derivation of high dimensional probability distributions based on Bayesian learning of clique tree decomposition is presented. The main contr…
The paper proposes a test to determine the number of latent classes in ordinal categorical data.
problem Determining the correct number of latent classes in latent class models with ordinal categorical data.
method The test statistic centers the largest singular value of a normalized residual matrix by a simple sample-size adjustment.
result The test statistic converges to zero under the null hypothesis and exceeds a fixed positive constant under an under-fitted alternative.
Unified CI test for categorical and ordinal data maintains power in high dimensions.
problem Rapid degradation of statistical power in existing CI tests for high-dimensional conditioning variables.
method Unified CI test for categorical and ordinal data, maintaining reasonable calibration and power in high dimensions.
result Our test outperforms existing baselines in model testing and structure learning for dense directed graphical models.
Bayesian approach improves neural network classification accuracy and uncertainty.
problem Overconfidence and lack of uncertainty in softmax for classification tasks.
method Model categorical probability using a random variable with a prior distribution.
result Consistent gains in generalization performance across multiple tasks.
We propose a new model for supervised learning to rank. In our model, the relevance labels are assumed to follow a categorical distribution whose probabilities are constructed based on a scoring function. We optimize the training objective with respect to the multivariate categorical variables with an unbiased and low-…
Developed R package for creating nomograms for any ML algorithms.
problem Creating nomograms for any machine learning algorithms.
method Formulated a function to transform ML prediction models into nomograms, requiring specific datasets.
result Created 5 types of nomograms for various ML algorithms and predictor types.
Applied Data Scientists throughout various industries are commonly faced with the challenging task of encoding high-cardinality categorical features into digestible inputs for machine learning algorithms. This paper describes a Bayesian encoding technique developed for WeWork's lead scoring engine which outputs the pro…
Neural framework for conditional OT maps learns from categorical and continuous variables.
problem Learning conditional optimal transport maps between complex distributions.
method Hypernetwork generates adaptive transport layer parameters based on conditioning variables.
result Our method outperforms simpler conditioning methods in comprehensive ablation studies.
SCOPE fuses categorical variable levels to estimate high-dimensional linear models.
problem Estimating high-dimensional linear models with nominal categorical data.
method SCOPE uses nonconvex concave penalties to fuse levels and achieve efficient computation.
result SCOPE achieves oracle least squares solution under certain conditions.
The Gumbel-max trick and its extensions simplify sampling from categorical distributions in machine learning.
problem Sampling from categorical distributions with unnormalized probabilities.
method Extensions of the Gumbel-max trick for various applications.
result Simplified and efficient methods for sampling and gradient estimation.
SFM matches flows on statistical manifolds for better discrete generation.
problem Discrete generation on statistical manifolds with strong prior assumptions.
method Statistical Flow Matching (SFM) on manifold of categorical distributions using Fisher information metric.
result SFM achieves higher sampling quality and likelihood than other models.
New method fits sparse Markov models to categorical time series using convex clustering.
problem Exponentially growing parameters in higher-order Markov chains.
method Convex clustering and regularization for parsimonious modeling.
result Theoretical consistency and finite sample performance demonstrated.
Adachi and Ryu introduced a category Prob of probability spaces whose objects are all probability spaces and whose arrows correspond to measurable functions satisfying an absolutely continuous requirement in [Adachi and Ryu, 2019]. In this paper, we develop a binomial asset pricing model based on Prob. We introduce gen…
The paper develops optimal confidence regions for categorical data.
problem Constructing tight confidence regions for categorical data.
method Develops new theory for minimum average volume confidence regions.
result Shows optimality of the regions for categorical data and its implications for machine learning.
A new method for Gaussian process regression with categorical inputs.
problem Challenges in building a predictive and computationally efficient Gaussian process with categorical inputs.
method Distributional encoding based on maximum mean discrepancy and Wasserstein distance.
result State-of-the-art predictive performance on various datasets.
The softmax representation of probabilities for categorical variables plays a prominent role in modern machine learning with numerous applications in areas such as large scale classification, neural language modeling and recommendation systems. However, softmax estimation is very expensive for large scale inference bec…
Earth observation embeddings can convert discrete biome maps into continuous representations that better capture ecological variation.
problem Biome maps impose categorical boundaries that compress continuous variation in biotic communities.
method Fit a linear classifier on Earth observation embeddings to predict biome labels.
result Continuous biome representation outperforms discrete biome labels for predicting species occurrence.
Automated method selects eye tracking variables for categorization tasks.
problem Limited duration of infant cooperation and biases in handpicked eye tracking variables.
method Automated selection of eye tracking variables using statistical techniques.
result Same eye tracking variables classify category learners from non-learners in adults and infants with high accuracy.
Unified discrete diffusion for categorical data simplifies training and sampling.
problem Training and sampling in discrete diffusion models for categorical data.
method Mathematical simplifications and elegant unification of discrete-time and continuous-time discrete diffusion.
result Unified Simplified Discrete Denoising Diffusion (USD3) outperforms SOTA baselines.
StructureBoost improves gradient boosting for complex categorical variables efficiently.
problem Efficiently handling complex categorical variables with known structure.
method Two methods to overcome computational obstacles in SCDT enumeration for structured categorical variables.
result StructureBoost outperforms existing packages on complex categorical problems.
Categorical bundles provide a natural framework for gauge theories involving multiple gauge groups. Unlike the case of traditional bundles there are distinct notions of triviality, and hence also of local triviality, for categorical bundles. We study categorical principal bundles that are product bundles in the categor…
Anomaly detection plays an important role in modern data-driven security applications, such as detecting suspicious access to a socket from a process. In many cases, such events can be described as a collection of categorical values that are considered as entities of different types, which we call heterogeneous categor…
Bayesian model improves categorization of explosions from sparse data.
problem Challenges in categorizing explosions from limited data.
method Bayesian update to Event Categorization Matrix model with Bayesian Decision Theory.
result Consistent gains in overall accuracy and lower false negative rates.
A new method generates mixed-type features in tabular data with improved realism and accuracy.
problem Generating mixed-type features combining discrete and continuous data is challenging.
method A cascaded approach: first generates low-resolution categorical and coarse numerical features, then uses these in a high-resolution flow matching model.
result The model significantly improves detection scores, generating more realistic samples and capturing distributional details.
New algorithms detect categorical structures in high-dimensional data.
problem Detecting categorical structures in high-dimensional data.
method Low coordinate degree functions (LCDF) applied to categorical and stochastic block models.
result Unified analysis of LCDF performance for various SBMs and tight lower bounds.
Study proposes learning optimal priors from data for better Bayesian inference.
problem Challenges the use of noninformative uniform priors in Bayesian inference.
method Machine learning approach to learn optimal priors from data using a target function.
result Study models consistently outperformed baseline models in Wikipedia category classification.
UNTIE learns representations of coupled categorical data.
problem Challenges in learning from unlabeled categorical data with complex couplings.
method UNTIE approach for unsupervised representation learning of heterogeneous couplings.
result UNTIE significantly improves categorical data representations on 25 diverse datasets.
Paper introduces Categorical Normalizing Flows for better handling of categorical data.
problem Limited application of normalizing flows on categorical data due to lack of intrinsic order.
method Categorical Normalizing Flows use continuous transformations to model latent relations in categorical data, optimizing both continuous representation and model likelihood.
result GraphCNF, a permutation-invariant generative model, outperforms state-of-the-art on molecule generation.
Personalized medicine aims at identifying best treatments for a patient with given characteristics. It has been shown in the literature that these methods can lead to great improvements in medicine compared to traditional methods prescribing the same treatment to all patients. Subgroup identification is a branch of per…
This paper proposes a method to reduce complexity in GLMs with categorical predictors.
problem Wasteful, hard-to-interpret, and prone to overfitting of traditional one-hot encoding for high-cardinality categorical predictors.
method Clustering categories of categorical predictors through a numerical method that preserves or improves accuracy while reducing the number of coefficients.
result Clustering categories of categorical predictors reduces complexity substantially without harming accuracy.
The paper shows how integrating categorical semantics can enhance unsupervised domain translation.
problem Improving unsupervised domain translation between perceptually different domains.
method Learning invariant categorical semantic features in an unsupervised manner and conditioning them on the style encoder.
result Conditioning the style encoder on learned categorical semantics improves translation and stylization.
New framework detects outliers in non-IID categorical data.
problem Existing outlier detection methods fail in non-IID data.
method Value-value graph-based representation and outlierness propagation.
result Significant improvement in AUC on complex data sets.
The output scores of a neural network classifier are converted to probabilities via normalizing over the scores of all competing categories. Computing this partition function, Z, is then linear in the number of categories, which is problematic as real-world problem sets continue to grow in categorical types, such as …
Categorical variables are a natural choice for representing discrete structure in the world. However, stochastic neural networks rarely use categorical latent variables due to the inability to backpropagate through samples. In this work, we present an efficient gradient estimator that replaces the non-differentiable sa…