TabSeq: A Framework for Deep Learning on Tabular Data via Sequential Ordering

Effective analysis of tabular data still poses a significant problem in deep learning, mainly because features in tabular datasets are often heterogeneous and have different levels of relevance. This work introduces TabSeq, a novel framework for the sequential ordering of features, addressing the vital necessity to optimize the learning process. Features are not always equally informative, and for certain deep learning models, their random arrangement can hinder the model's learning capacity. Finding the optimum sequence order for such features could improve the deep learning models' learning process. The novel feature ordering technique we provide in this work is based on clustering and incorporates both local ordering and global ordering. It is designed to be used with a multi-head attention mechanism in a denoising autoencoder network. Our framework uses clustering to align comparable features and improve data organization. Multi-head attention focuses on essential characteristics, whereas the denoising autoencoder highlights important aspects by rebuilding from distorted inputs. This method improves the capability to learn from tabular data while lowering redundancy. Our research, demonstrating improved performance through appropriate feature sequence rearrangement using raw antibody microarray and two other real-world biomedical datasets, validates the impact of feature ordering. These results demonstrate that feature ordering can be a viable approach to improved deep learning of tabular data.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Prediction via Social Media

Researchers use Twitter and sentiment analysis to predict Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk. We developed a new dictionary of CVD-related keywords by analyzing emotions expressed in tweets. Tweets from eighteen US states, including the Appalachian region, were collected. Using the VADER model for sentiment analysis, users were classified as potentially at CVD risk. Machine Learning (ML) models were employed to classify individuals' CVD risk and applied to a CDC dataset with demographic information to make the comparison. Performance evaluation metrics such as Test Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1 score, Mathew's Correlation Coefficient (MCC), and Cohen's Kappa (CK) score were considered. Results demonstrated that analyzing tweets' emotions surpassed the predictive power of demographic data alone, enabling the identification of individuals at potential risk of developing CVD. This research highlights the potential of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and ML techniques in using tweets to identify individuals with CVD risks, providing an alternative approach to traditional demographic information for public health monitoring.