• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.115-127
• /
• 2023

Multinomial probit model is a popular model for multiclass classification and choice model. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is widely used for estimating multinomial probit model, but its computational cost is high. However, it is well known that variational Bayesian approximation is more computationally efficient than MCMC, because it uses subsets of samples. In this study, we describe multinomial probit model with Gaussian process classification and how to employ variational Bayesian approximation on the model. This study also compares the results of variational Bayesian multinomial probit model to the results of naive Bayes, K-nearest neighbors and support vector machine for the UCI mice protein expression level data.

• IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing and Computing
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.202-208
• /
• 2015

In this study, we propose a new inference algorithm for a multiclass Gaussian process classification model using a variational EM framework and the Laplace approximation (LA) technique. This is performed in two steps, called expectation and maximization. First, in the expectation step (E-step), using Bayes' theorem and the LA technique, we derive the approximate posterior distribution of the latent function, indicating the possibility that each observation belongs to a certain class in the Gaussian process classification model. In the maximization step, we compute the maximum likelihood estimators for hyper-parameters of a covariance matrix necessary to define the prior distribution of the latent function by using the posterior distribution derived in the E-step. These steps iteratively repeat until a convergence condition is satisfied. Moreover, we conducted the experiments by using synthetic data and Iris data in order to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm. Experimental results reveal that the proposed algorithm shows good performance on these datasets.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.486-491
• /
• 2004

Purpose: factor analysis and independent component analysis (ICA) has been used for handling dynamic image sequences. Theoretical advantages of a newly suggested ICA method, ensemble ICA, leaded us to consider applying this method to the analysis of dynamic myocardial $H_2^{15}O$ PET data. In this study, we quantified patients' blood flow using the ensemble ICA method. Materials and Methods: Twenty subjects underwent $H_2^{15}O$ PET scans using ECAT EXACT 47 scanner and myocardial perfusion SPECT using Vertex scanner. After transmission scanning, dynamic emission scans were initiated simultaneously with the injection of $555{\sim}740$ MBq $H_2^{15}O$. Hidden independent components can be extracted from the observed mixed data (PET image) by means of ICA algorithms. Ensemble learning is a variational Bayesian method that provides an analytical approximation to the parameter posterior using a tractable distribution. Variational approximation forms a lower bound on the ensemble likelihood and the maximization of the lower bound is achieved through minimizing the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the true posterior and the variational posterior. In this study, posterior pdf was approximated by a rectified Gaussian distribution to incorporate non-negativity constraint, which is suitable to dynamic images in nuclear medicine. Blood flow was measured in 9 regions - apex, four areas in mid wall, and four areas in base wall. Myocardial perfusion SPECT score and angiography results were compared with the regional blood flow. Results: Major cardiac components were separated successfully by the ensemble ICA method and blood flow could be estimated in 15 among 20 patients. Mean myocardial blood flow was $1.2{\pm}0.40$ ml/min/g in rest, $1.85{\pm}1.12$ ml/min/g in stress state. Blood flow values obtained by an operator in two different occasion were highly correlated (r=0.99). In myocardium component image, the image contrast between left ventricle and myocardium was 1:2.7 in average. Perfusion reserve was significantly different between the regions with and without stenosis detected by the coronary angiography (P<0.01). In 66 segment with stenosis confirmed by angiography, the segments with reversible perfusion decrease in perfusion SPECT showed lower perfusion reserve values in $H_2^{15}O$ PET. Conclusions: Myocardial blood flow could be estimated using an ICA method with ensemble learning. We suggest that the ensemble ICA incorporating non-negative constraint is a feasible method to handle dynamic image sequence obtained by the nuclear medicine techniques.