PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New machine learning model could remove bias from social network connections

2021-03-12
(Press-News.org) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Did you ever wonder how social networking applications like Facebook and LinkedIn make recommendations on the people you should friend or pages you should follow?

Behind the scenes are machine learning models that classify nodes based on the data they contain about users -- for example, their level of education, location or political affiliation. The models then use these classifications to recommend people and pages to each user. But there is significant bias in the recommendations made by these models -- known as graph neural networks (GNNs) -- as they rely on user features that are highly related to sensitive attributes such as gender or skin color.

Recognizing that the majority of users are reluctant to publicize their sensitive attributes, researchers at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology have developed a novel framework which estimates sensitive attributes to help GNNs make fair recommendations.

The team found that their model, called FairGNN, maintains high performance on node classification using limited, user-supplied sensitive information, while at the same time reducing bias.

"It has been widely reported that people tend to build relationships with those sharing the same sensitive attributes such as ages and regions," said Enyan Dai, doctoral candidate in informatics and lead author on the research paper. "There are some existing machine learning models that aim to eliminate bias, but they require people's sensitive attributes to make them fair and accurate. We are proposing to apply another model based on the very few sensitive attributes that we have (and instead look at other provided information) which could provide us very good insight to give fair predictions toward sensitive attributes such as your gender and skin color."

The researchers trained their model with two real-world datasets: user profiles on Pokec, a popular social network in Slovakia, similar to Facebook and Twitter; and a dataset of approximately 400 NBA basketball players. In the Pokec dataset, they treated the region in which each user was from as the sensitive attribute, and set the classification task to predict the working field of the users. In the NBA data, they identified players as those in the U.S. and those overseas, using location as the sensitive attribute with the classification task to predict whether the salary of each player is over the median.

They then used the same datasets to test their model with other state-of-the-art methods for fair classification. First, they evaluated FairGNN in terms of fairness and classification performance. Then, they performed "ablation studies" -- which remove certain components of the model to test the significance of each component to the overall system -- to further strengthen the model. They then tested whether FairGNN is effective when different amounts of sensitive attributes are provided in the training set.

"Our experiment shows that the classification performance doesn't decrease," said Suhang Wang, assistant professor of information sciences and technology and principal investigator on the project. "But in terms of fairness, we can make the model much more fair."

According to the researchers, their framework could make an impact for other real-world use cases.

"Our findings could be useful in applications, such as job applicant rankings, crime detection or in financial loan applications," said Wang. "But those are domains where we don't want to introduce bias. So we want to give accurate predictions while maintaining fairness."

Added Dai, "[If] this fair machine learning model could be introduced in these applications, we will have more fair data and this problem would be gradually dissolved."

INFORMATION:

Dai and Wang presented their work this week at the virtual ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining, with support from the National Science Foundation and the Global Research Outreach program of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study finds adolescents with autism may engage neural control systems differently

2021-03-12
A new study by UC Davis MIND Institute researchers suggests that executive control differences in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be the result of a unique approach, rather than an impairment. Executive control difficulties are common in individuals with autism and are associated with challenges completing tasks and managing time. The study, published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, sought to tease out whether these difficulties represent a disruption in proactive executive control (engaged and maintained before a ...

Use of perovskite will be a key feature of the next generation of electronic appliances

Use of perovskite will be a key feature of the next generation of electronic appliances
2021-03-12
Quantum dots are manmade nanoparticles of semiconducting material comprising only a few thousand atoms. Because of the small number of atoms, a quantum dot's properties lie between those of single atoms or molecules and bulk material with a huge number of atoms. By changing the nanoparticles' size and shape, it is possible to fine-tune their electronic and optical properties - how electrons bond and move through the material, and how light is absorbed and emitted by it. Thanks to increasingly refined control of the nanoparticles' size and shape, the number ...

Artificial intelligence calculates suicide attempt risk

Artificial intelligence calculates suicide attempt risk
2021-03-12
A machine learning algorithm that predicts suicide attempt recently underwent a prospective trial at the institution where it was developed, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Over the 11 consecutive months concluding in April 2020, predictions ran silently in the background as adult patients were seen at VUMC. The algorithm, dubbed the Vanderbilt Suicide Attempt and Ideation Likelihood (VSAIL) model, uses routine information from electronic health records (EHRs) to calculate 30-day risk of return visits for suicide attempt, and, by extension, suicidal ideation. Suicide has been on the rise in the U.S. for a generation ...

Association of acute symptoms of COVID-19, symptoms of depression in adults

2021-03-12
What The Study Did: Researchers investigated whether acute COVID-19 symptoms are associated with the probability of subsequent depressive symptoms. Authors: Roy H. Perlis, M.D., M.Sc., of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study:  Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.3223) Editor's Note: Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, ...

Well-child visits with out-of-pocket costs before, after ACA

2021-03-12
What The Study Did: National claims data were used to look at changes in well-child care visits with out-of-pocket costs before and after passage of the Affordable Care Act. Authors: Paul R. Shafer, Ph.D., of Boston University, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.1248) Editor's Note: Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding ...

Association between preterm birth, psychotropic drug use in adolescence, young adulthood

2021-03-12
What The Study Did: Researchers compared rates of psychotropic drug prescriptions during adolescence and young adulthood between individuals born preterm and at term. Authors: Christine S. Bachmann, M.D., of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.1420) Editor's Note: Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

Poor survival after heart attack linked to excess levels of signaling protein in heart

2021-03-12
(Philadelphia, PA) - About 6.2 million Americans suffer from heart failure, an incurable disease with a staggering mortality rate - some 40 percent of patients die within five years of diagnosis. Heart failure is one form of heart disease, for which new therapies are desperately needed. Now, in new work, scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (LKSOM) at Temple University identify a path to a promising novel therapeutic strategy, taking aim at a molecule in the heart known as G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 (GRK5). In a study published online in the journal Cardiovascular Research, the scientists show in mice that reducing GRK5 levels can significantly improve survival ...

Astronomers detect a black hole on the move

Astronomers detect a black hole on the move
2021-03-12
Scientists have long theorized that supermassive black holes can wander through space--but catching them in the act has proven difficult. Now, researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have identified the clearest case to date of a supermassive black hole in motion. Their results are published today in the Astrophysical Journal. "We don't expect the majority of supermassive black holes to be moving; they're usually content to just sit around," says Dominic Pesce, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics who led the study. "They're just so heavy that it's tough to get them going. Consider how much more ...

Study uncovers clues to COVID-19 using imaging

Study uncovers clues to COVID-19 using imaging
2021-03-12
Since the pandemic hit, researchers have been uncovering ways COVID-19 impacts other parts of the body, besides the lungs. Now, for the first time, a visual correlation has been found between the severity of the disease in the lungs using CT scans and the severity of effects on patient's brains, using MRI scans. This research is published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. It will be presented at the 59th annual meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) and has also been selected as a semifinalist for that organization's Cornelius Dyke Award. The results show that by looking at lung CT scans of patients diagnosed with COVID-19, physicians may be able to predict just how badly they'll experience other ...

Yeast epigenome map reveals details of gene regulation

2021-03-12
ITHACA, N.Y. - A new Penn State and Cornell study describes an effort to produce the most comprehensive and high-resolution map yet of chromosome architecture and gene regulation in yeast, a major step toward improving understanding of development, evolution and environmental responses in higher organisms. Specifically, the study mapped precise binding sites of more than 400 different chromosomal proteins in the yeast genome, most of which regulate the expression of genes. Yeast cells provide a simple model system with 6,000 genes, most of which are found in other organisms, including humans, making them excellent candidates for studying fundamental genetics and complex biological pathways. The paper, "A High-Resolution Protein Architecture of the Budding Yeast ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

Adults with autism show similar brain mapping of body parts as typically developing adults

Uncovering behavioral clues to childhood maltreatment

Premenstrual symptoms linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Newly discovered remains of ancient river landscapes control ice flow in East Antarctica

Newly discovered interstellar object 'may be oldest comet ever seen'

Animal-inspired AI robot learns to navigate unfamiliar terrain

Underserved youth less likely to visit emergency department for concussion in Ontario, study finds

‘Molecular shield’ placed in the nose may soon treat common hay fever trigger

Beetles under climate stress lay larger male eggs: Wolbachia infection drives adaptive reproduction strategy in response to rising temperature and CO₂

Groundbreaking quantum study puts wave-particle duality to work

Weekly injection could be life changing for Parkinson’s patients

Toxic metals linked to impaired growth in infants in Guatemala

Being consistently physically active in adulthood linked to 30–40% lower risk of death

Nerve pain drug gabapentin linked to increased dementia, cognitive impairment risks

Children’s social care involvement common to nearly third of UK mums who died during perinatal period

‘Support, not judgement’: Study explores links between children’s social care involvement and maternal deaths

Ethnic minority and poorer children more likely to die in intensive care

Major progress in fertility preservation after treatment for cancer of the lymphatic system

Fewer complications after additional ultrasound in pregnant women who feel less fetal movement

Environmental impact of common pesticides seriously underestimated

The Milky Way could be teeming with more satellite galaxies than previously thought

New study reveals surprising reproductive secrets of a cricket-hunting parasitoid fly

Media Tip Sheet: Symposia at ESA2025

NSF CAREER Award will power UVA engineer’s research to improve drug purification

Tiny parasitoid flies show how early-life competition shapes adult success

New coating for glass promises energy-saving windows

[Press-News.org] New machine learning model could remove bias from social network connections