The primary objective of the research is to develop and validate the approach and algorithms for efficiently learning a complex web of relations from a combination of prior knowledge, published literature, and high-dimensional data. Algorithms for inferring the structure of Bayesian networks (BNs) from data have become an increasingly popular method for uncovering the direct and indirect influences among variables in complex systems. A Bayesian model averaging method, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), is typically applied for BN structural learning from data. However, existing state-of-the-art MCMC-based learning algorithms are rather slow in mixing and convergence in high-dimensional domains. To address these challenges, we first developed and tested intelligent strategies for prioritizing the structural search space using prior information. Second, we present a novel Markov blanket resampling (MBR) scheme that intermittently reconstructs the entire Markov blanket of nodes, thus allowing the sampler to more effectively traverse low-probability regions between local maxima. Experiments across a range of network sizes show that the MBR scheme outperforms other state-of-the-art algorithms, both in terms of learning performance and convergence rate. In particular, MBR achieves better learning performance when the number of observations is relatively small and faster convergence when the number of variables in the network is large. It is anticipated that our methodology will be especially useful for deciphering how genes and the environment interact to determine cancer risk by allowing BNs to be extended to a genome-wide scale.

This book provides a thorough introduction to the formal foundations and practical applications of Bayesian networks. It provides an extensive discussion of techniques for building Bayesian networks that model real-world situations, including techniques for synthesizing models from design, learning models from data, and debugging models using sensitivity analysis. It also treats exact and approximate inference algorithms at both theoretical and practical levels. The author assumes very little background on the covered subjects, supplying in-depth discussions for theoretically inclined readers and enough practical details to provide an algorithmic cookbook for the system developer.

This publication offers and investigates efficient Monte Carlo simulation methods in order to realize a Bayesian approach to approximate learning of Bayesian networks from both complete and incomplete data. For large amounts of incomplete data when Monte Carlo methods are inefficient, approximations are implemented, such that learning remains feasible, albeit non-Bayesian. The topics discussed are: basic concepts about probabilities, graph theory and conditional independence; Bayesian network learning from data; Monte Carlo simulation techniques; and, the concept of incomplete data. In order t.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the joint conference on Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery in Databases: ECML PKDD 2010, held in Barcelona, Spain, in September 2010. The 120 revised full papers presented in three volumes, together with 12 demos (out of 24 submitted demos), were carefully reviewed and selected from 658 paper submissions. In addition, 7 ML and 7 DM papers were distinguished by the program chairs on the basis of their exceptional scientific quality and high impact on the field. The conference intends to provide an international forum for the discussion of the latest high quality research results in all areas related to machine learning and knowledge discovery in databases. A topic widely explored from both ML and DM perspectives was graphs, with motivations ranging from molecular chemistry to social networks.

In this first edition book, methods are discussed for doing inference in Bayesian networks and inference diagrams. Hundreds of examples and problems allow readers to grasp the information. Some of the topics discussed include Pearl's message passing algorithm, Parameter Learning: 2 Alternatives, Parameter Learning r Alternatives, Bayesian Structure Learning, and Constraint-Based Learning. For expert systems developers and decision theorists.

Bayesian networks are a very general and powerful tool that can be used for a large number of problems involving uncertainty: reasoning, learning, planning and perception. They provide a language that supports efficient algorithms for the automatic construction of expert systems in several different contexts. The range of applications of Bayesian networks currently extends over almost all fields including engineering, biology and medicine, information and communication technologies and finance. This book is a collection of original contributions to the methodology and applications of Bayesian networks. It contains recent developments in the field and illustrates, on a sample of applications, the power of Bayesian networks in dealing the modeling of complex systems. Readers that are not familiar with this tool, but have some technical background, will find in this book all necessary theoretical and practical information on how to use and implement Bayesian networks in their own work. There is no doubt that this book constitutes a valuable resource for engineers, researchers, students and all those who are interested in discovering and experiencing the potential of this major tool of the century.