Given samples from two non-negative random variables, we propose a family of tests for the null hypothesis that one random variable stochastically dominates the other at the second order. Test statistics are obtained as functionals of the difference between the identity and the Lorenz P-P plot, defined as the composition between the inverse unscaled Lorenz curve of one distribution and the unscaled Lorenz curve of the other. We determine upper bounds for such test statistics under the null hypothesis and derive their limit distribution, to be approximated via bootstrap procedures. We then establish the asymptotic validity of the tests under relatively mild conditions and investigate finite sample properties through simulations. The results show that our testing approach can be a valid alternative to classic methods based on the difference of the integrals of the cumulative distribution functions, which require bounded support and struggle to detect departures from the null in some cases.
Model sparsification in deep learning promotes simpler, more interpretable models with fewer parameters. This not only reduces the model's memory footprint and computational needs but also shortens inference time. This work focuses on creating sparse models optimized for multiple tasks with fewer parameters. These parsimonious models also possess the potential to match or outperform dense models in terms of performance. In this work, we introduce channel-wise l1/l2 group sparsity in the shared convolutional layers parameters (or weights) of the multi-task learning model. This approach facilitates the removal of extraneous groups i.e., channels (due to l1 regularization) and also imposes a penalty on the weights, further enhancing the learning efficiency for all tasks (due to l2 regularization). We analyzed the results of group sparsity in both single-task and multi-task settings on two widely-used Multi-Task Learning (MTL) datasets: NYU-v2 and CelebAMask-HQ. On both datasets, which consist of three different computer vision tasks each, multi-task models with approximately 70% sparsity outperform their dense equivalents. We also investigate how changing the degree of sparsification influences the model's performance, the overall sparsity percentage, the patterns of sparsity, and the inference time.
High-dimensional variable selection, with many more covariates than observations, is widely documented in standard regression models, but there are still few tools to address it in non-linear mixed-effects models where data are collected repeatedly on several individuals. In this work, variable selection is approached from a Bayesian perspective and a selection procedure is proposed, combining the use of a spike-and-slab prior and the Stochastic Approximation version of the Expectation Maximisation (SAEM) algorithm. Similarly to Lasso regression, the set of relevant covariates is selected by exploring a grid of values for the penalisation parameter. The SAEM approach is much faster than a classical MCMC (Markov chain Monte Carlo) algorithm and our method shows very good selection performances on simulated data. Its flexibility is demonstrated by implementing it for a variety of nonlinear mixed effects models. The usefulness of the proposed method is illustrated on a problem of genetic markers identification, relevant for genomic-assisted selection in plant breeding.
Parameter identification problems in partial differential equations (PDEs) consist in determining one or more unknown functional parameters in a PDE. Here, the Bayesian nonparametric approach to such problems is considered. Focusing on the representative example of inferring the diffusivity function in an elliptic PDE from noisy observations of the PDE solution, the performance of Bayesian procedures based on Gaussian process priors is investigated. Recent asymptotic theoretical guarantees establishing posterior consistency and convergence rates are reviewed and expanded upon. An implementation of the associated posterior-based inference is provided, and illustrated via a numerical simulation study where two different discretisation strategies are devised. The reproducible code is available at: //github.com/MattGiord.
In inverse scattering problems, a model that allows for the simultaneous recovery of both the domain shape and an impedance boundary condition covers a wide range of problems with impenetrable domains, including recovering the shape of sound-hard and sound-soft obstacles and obstacles with thin coatings. This work develops an optimization framework for recovering the shape and material parameters of a penetrable, dissipative obstacle in the multifrequency setting, using a constrained class of curvature-dependent impedance function models proposed by Antoine, Barucq, and Vernhet. We find that this constrained model improves the robustness of the recovery problem, compared to more general models, and provides meaningfully better obstacle recovery than simpler models. We explore the effectiveness of the model for varying levels of dissipation, for noise-corrupted data, and for limited aperture data in the numerical examples.
We study the replica symmetry breaking (rsb) concepts on a generic level through the prism of recently introduced interpolating/comparison mechanisms for bilinearly indexed (bli) random processes. In particular, \cite{Stojnicnflgscompyx23} introduced a \emph{fully lifted} (fl) interpolating mechanism and \cite{Stojnicsflgscompyx23} developed its a \emph{stationarized fully lifted} (sfl) variant. Here, we present a sfl \emph{matching} mechanism that shows that the results obtained in \cite{Stojnicnflgscompyx23,Stojnicsflgscompyx23} completely correspond to the ones obtained by a statistical physics replica tool with the replica symmetry breaking (rsb) form suggested by Parisi in \cite{Par79,Parisi80,Par80}. The results are very generic as they allow to handle pretty much all bilinear models at once. Moreover, given that the results of \cite{Stojnicnflgscompyx23,Stojnicsflgscompyx23} are extendable to many other forms, the concepts presented here automatically extend to any such forms as well.
We study the numerical approximation of multidimensional stochastic differential equations (SDEs) with distributional drift, driven by a fractional Brownian motion. We work under the Catellier-Gubinelli condition for strong well-posedness, which assumes that the regularity of the drift is strictly greater than $1-1/(2H)$, where $H$ is the Hurst parameter of the noise. The focus here is on the case $H<1/2$, allowing the drift $b$ to be a distribution. We compare the solution $X$ of the SDE with drift $b$ and its tamed Euler scheme with mollified drift $b^n$, to obtain an explicit rate of convergence for the strong error. This extends previous results where $b$ was assumed to be a bounded measurable function. In addition, we investigate the limit case when the regularity of the drift is equal to $1-1/(2H)$, and obtain a non-explicit rate of convergence. As a byproduct of this convergence, there exists a strong solution that is pathwise unique in a class of H\"older continuous solutions. The proofs rely on stochastic sewing techniques, especially to deduce new regularising properties of the discrete-time fractional Brownian motion. In the limit case, we introduce a critical Gr\"onwall-type lemma to quantify the error. We also present several examples and numerical simulations that illustrate our results.
We consider the numerical approximation of different ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and partial differential equations (PDEs) with periodic boundary conditions involving a one-dimensional random parameter, comparing the intrusive and non-intrusive polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) method. We demonstrate how to modify two schemes for intrusive PCE (iPCE) which are highly efficient in solving nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations: A second-order exponential time differencing scheme (ETD-RDP-IF) as well as a spectral exponential time differencing fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme (ETDRK4). In numerical experiments, we show that these schemes show superior accuracy to simpler schemes such as the EE scheme for a range of model equations and we investigate whether they are competitive with non-intrusive PCE (niPCE) methods. We observe that the iPCE schemes are competitive with niPCE for some model equations, but that iPCE breaks down for complex pattern formation models such as the Gray-Scott system.
Current AI-based methods do not provide comprehensible physical interpretations of the utilized data, extracted features, and predictions/inference operations. As a result, deep learning models trained using high-resolution satellite imagery lack transparency and explainability and can be merely seen as a black box, which limits their wide-level adoption. Experts need help understanding the complex behavior of AI models and the underlying decision-making process. The explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) field is an emerging field providing means for robust, practical, and trustworthy deployment of AI models. Several XAI techniques have been proposed for image classification tasks, whereas the interpretation of image segmentation remains largely unexplored. This paper offers to bridge this gap by adapting the recent XAI classification algorithms and making them usable for muti-class image segmentation, where we mainly focus on buildings' segmentation from high-resolution satellite images. To benchmark and compare the performance of the proposed approaches, we introduce a new XAI evaluation methodology and metric based on "Entropy" to measure the model uncertainty. Conventional XAI evaluation methods rely mainly on feeding area-of-interest regions from the image back to the pre-trained (utility) model and then calculating the average change in the probability of the target class. Those evaluation metrics lack the needed robustness, and we show that using Entropy to monitor the model uncertainty in segmenting the pixels within the target class is more suitable. We hope this work will pave the way for additional XAI research for image segmentation and applications in the remote sensing discipline.
Modern high-throughput sequencing assays efficiently capture not only gene expression and different levels of gene regulation but also a multitude of genome variants. Focused analysis of alternative alleles of variable sites at homologous chromosomes of the human genome reveals allele-specific gene expression and allele-specific gene regulation by assessing allelic imbalance of read counts at individual sites. Here we formally describe an advanced statistical framework for detecting the allelic imbalance in allelic read counts at single-nucleotide variants detected in diverse omics studies (ChIP-Seq, ATAC-Seq, DNase-Seq, CAGE-Seq, and others). MIXALIME accounts for copy-number variants and aneuploidy, reference read mapping bias, and provides several scoring models to balance between sensitivity and specificity when scoring data with varying levels of experimental noise-caused overdispersion.
Linear regression and classification methods with repeated functional data are considered. For each statistical unit in the sample, a real-valued parameter is observed over time under different conditions. Two regression methods based on fusion penalties are presented. The first one is a generalization of the variable fusion methodology based on the 1-nearest neighbor. The second one, called group fusion lasso, assumes some grouping structure of conditions and allows for homogeneity among the regression coefficient functions within groups. A finite sample numerical simulation and an application on EEG data are presented.