  High-throughput data analyses are becoming common in biology, communications,
economics and sociology. The vast amounts of data are usually represented in
the form of matrices and can be considered as knowledge networks. Spectra-based
approaches have proved useful in extracting hidden information within such
networks and for estimating missing data, but these methods are based
essentially on linear assumptions. The physical models of matching, when
applicable, often suggest non-linear mechanisms, that may sometimes be
identified as noise. The use of non-linear models in data analysis, however,
may require the introduction of many parameters, which lowers the statistical
weight of the model. According to the quality of data, a simpler linear
analysis may be more convenient than more complex approaches.
  In this paper, we show how a simple non-parametric Bayesian model may be used
to explore the role of non-linearities and noise in synthetic and experimental
data sets.
