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The Tien Mai

Publications and source records attributed to The Tien Mai.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Mixture-of-experts Wishart model for covariance matrices with an application to Cancer drug screening

Covariance matrices arise naturally in different scientific fields, including finance, genomics, and neuroscience, where they encode dependence structures and reveal essential features of complex multivariate systems. In this work, we introduce a comprehensive Bayesian framework for analyzing heterogeneous covariance data through both classical mixture models and a novel mixture-of-experts Wishart (MoE-Wishart) model. The proposed MoE-Wishart model extends standard Wishart mixtures by allowing mixture weights to depend on predictors through a multinomial logistic gating network. This formulation enables the model to capture complex, nonlinear heterogeneity in covariance structures and to adapt subpopulation membership probabilities to covariate-dependent patterns. To perform inference, we develop an efficient Gibbs-within-Metropolis-Hastings sampling algorithm tailored to the geometry of the Wishart likelihood and the gating network. We additionally derive an Expectation-Maximization algorithm for maximum likelihood estimation in the mixture-of-experts setting. Extensive simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed Bayesian and maximum likelihood estimators achieve accurate subpopulation recovery and estimation under a range of heterogeneous covariance scenarios. Finally, we present an innovative application of our methodology to a challenging dataset: cancer drug sensitivity profiles, illustrating the ability of the MoE-Wishart model to leverage covariance across drug dosages and replicate measurements. Our methods are implemented in the \texttt{R} package \texttt{moewishart} available at https://github.com/zhizuio/moewishart .

stat.ME↗

Robust low-rank estimation with multiple binary responses using pairwise AUC loss

Multiple binary responses arise in many modern data-analytic problems. Although fitting separate logistic regressions for each response is computationally attractive, it ignores shared structure and can be statistically inefficient, especially in high-dimensional and class-imbalanced regimes. Low-rank models offer a natural way to encode latent dependence across tasks, but existing methods for binary data are largely likelihood-based and focus on pointwise classification rather than ranking performance. In this work, we propose a unified framework for learning with multiple binary responses that directly targets discrimination by minimizing a surrogate loss for the area under the ROC curve (AUC). The method aggregates pairwise AUC surrogate losses across responses while imposing a low-rank constraint on the coefficient matrix to exploit shared structure. We develop a scalable projected gradient descent algorithm based on truncated singular value decomposition. Exploiting the fact that the pairwise loss depends only on differences of linear predictors, we simplify computation and analysis. We establish non-asymptotic convergence guarantees, showing that under suitable regularity conditions, leading to linear convergence up to the minimax-optimal statistical precision. Extensive simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed method is robust in challenging settings such as label switching and data contamination and consistently outperforms likelihood-based approaches.

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Censored Graphical Horseshoe: Bayesian sparse precision matrix estimation with censored and missing data

Gaussian graphical models provide a powerful framework for studying conditional dependencies in multivariate data, with widespread applications spanning biomedical, environmental sciences, and other data-rich scientific domains. While the Graphical Horseshoe (GHS) method has emerged as a state-of-the-art Bayesian method for sparse precision matrix estimation, existing approaches assume fully observed data and thus fail in the presence of censoring or missingness, which are pervasive in real-world studies. In this paper, we develop the Censored Graphical Horseshoe (CGHS), a novel Bayesian framework that extends the GHS to censored and arbitrarily missing Gaussian data. By introducing a latent-variable representation, CGHS accommodates incomplete observations while retaining the adaptive global-local shrinkage properties of the Horseshoe prior. We derive efficient Gibbs samplers for posterior computation and establish new theoretical results on posterior behavior under censoring and missingness, filling a gap not addressed by frequentist Lasso-based methods. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that CGHS consistently improves estimation accuracy compared to penalized likelihood approaches. Our methods are implemented in the package GHScenmis available on Github: https://github.com/tienmt/ghscenmis .

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Sparse classification with positive-confidence data in high dimensions

High-dimensional learning problems, where the number of features exceeds the sample size, often require sparse regularization for effective prediction and variable selection. While established for fully supervised data, these techniques remain underexplored in weak-supervision settings such as Positive-Confidence (Pconf) classification. Pconf learning utilizes only positive samples equipped with confidence scores, thereby avoiding the need for negative data. However, existing Pconf methods are ill-suited for high-dimensional regimes. This paper proposes a novel sparse-penalization framework for high-dimensional Pconf classification. We introduce estimators using convex (Lasso) and non-convex (SCAD, MCP) penalties to address shrinkage bias and improve feature recovery. Theoretically, we establish estimation and prediction error bounds for the L1-regularized Pconf estimator, proving it achieves near minimax-optimal sparse recovery rates under Restricted Strong Convexity condition. To solve the resulting composite objective, we develop an efficient proximal gradient algorithm. Extensive simulations demonstrate that our proposed methods achieve predictive performance and variable selection accuracy comparable to fully supervised approaches, effectively bridging the gap between weak supervision and high-dimensional statistics.

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Robust reduced rank regression under heavy-tailed noise and missing data via non-convex penalization

Reduced rank regression (RRR) is a fundamental tool for modeling multiple responses through low-dimensional latent structures, offering both interpretability and strong predictive performance in high-dimensional settings. Classical RRR methods, however, typically rely on squared loss and Gaussian noise assumptions, rendering them sensitive to heavy-tailed errors, outliers, and data contamination. Moreover, the presence of missing data--common in modern applications--further complicates reliable low-rank estimation. In this paper, we propose a robust reduced rank regression framework that simultaneously addresses heavy-tailed noise, outliers, and missing data. Our approach combines a robust Huber loss with nonconvex spectral regularization, specifically the minimax concave penalty (MCP) and smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD). Unlike convex nuclear-norm regularization, the proposed nonconvex penalties alleviate excessive shrinkage and enable more accurate recovery of the underlying low-rank structure. The method also accommodates missing data in the response matrix without requiring imputation. We develop an efficient proximal gradient algorithm based on alternating updates and tailored spectral thresholding. Extensive simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed methods substantially outperform nuclear-norm-based and non-robust alternatives under heavy-tailed noise and contamination. An application to cancer cell line data set further illustrates the practical advantages of the proposed robust RRR framework. Our method is implemented in the R package rrpackrobust available at https://github.com/tienmt/rrpackrobust.

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Exponential Lasso: robust sparse penalization under heavy-tailed noise and outliers with exponential-type loss

In high-dimensional statistics, the Lasso is a cornerstone method for simultaneous variable selection and parameter estimation. However, its reliance on the squared loss function renders it highly sensitive to outliers and heavy-tailed noise, potentially leading to unreliable model selection and biased estimates. To address this limitation, we introduce the Exponential Lasso, a novel robust method that integrates an exponential-type loss function within the Lasso framework. This loss function is designed to achieve a smooth trade-off between statistical efficiency under Gaussian noise and robustness against data contamination. Unlike other methods that cap the influence of large residuals, the exponential loss smoothly redescends, effectively downweighting the impact of extreme outliers while preserving near-quadratic behavior for small errors. We establish theoretical guarantees showing that the Exponential Lasso achieves strong statistical convergence rates, matching the classical Lasso under ideal conditions while maintaining its robustness in the presence of heavy-tailed contamination. Computationally, the estimator is optimized efficiently via a Majorization-Minimization (MM) algorithm that iteratively solves a series of weighted Lasso subproblems. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method is highly competitive, outperforming the classical Lasso in contaminated settings and maintaining strong performance even under Gaussian noise. Our method is implemented in the \texttt{R} package \texttt{heavylasso} available on Github: https://github.com/tienmt/heavylasso

stat.ML↗

Bayesian Pliable Lasso with Horseshoe Prior for Interaction Effects in GLMs with Missing Responses

Sparse regression problems, where the goal is to identify a small set of relevant predictors, often require modeling not only main effects but also meaningful interactions through other variables. While the pliable lasso has emerged as a powerful frequentist tool for modeling such interactions under strong heredity constraints, it lacks a natural framework for uncertainty quantification and incorporation of prior knowledge. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian pliable lasso that extends this approach by placing sparsity-inducing priors, such as the horseshoe, on both main and interaction effects. The hierarchical prior structure enforces heredity constraints while adaptively shrinking irrelevant coefficients and allowing important effects to persist. We extend this framework to Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) and develop a tailored approach to handle missing responses. To facilitate posterior inference, we develop an efficient Gibbs sampling algorithm based on a reparameterization of the horseshoe prior. Our Bayesian framework yields sparse, interpretable interaction structures, and principled measures of uncertainty. Through simulations and real-data studies, we demonstrate its advantages over existing methods in recovering complex interaction patterns under both complete and incomplete data. Our method is implemented in the package \texttt{hspliable} available on Github.

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Heavy Lasso: sparse penalized regression under heavy-tailed noise via data-augmented soft-thresholding

High-dimensional linear regression is a fundamental tool in modern statistics, particularly when the number of predictors exceeds the sample size. The classical Lasso, which relies on the squared loss, performs well under Gaussian noise assumptions but often deteriorates in the presence of heavy-tailed errors or outliers commonly encountered in real data applications such as genomics, finance, and signal processing. To address these challenges, we propose a novel robust regression method, termed Heavy Lasso, which incorporates a loss function inspired by the Student's t-distribution within a Lasso penalization framework. This loss retains the desirable quadratic behavior for small residuals while adaptively downweighting large deviations, thus enhancing robustness to heavy-tailed noise and outliers. Heavy Lasso enjoys computationally efficient by leveraging a data augmentation scheme and a soft-thresholding algorithm, which integrate seamlessly with classical Lasso solvers. Theoretically, we establish non-asymptotic bounds under both $\ell_1$ and $\ell_2 $ norms, by employing the framework of localized convexity, showing that the Heavy Lasso estimator achieves rates comparable to those of the Huber loss. Extensive numerical studies demonstrate Heavy Lasso's superior performance over classical Lasso and other robust variants, highlighting its effectiveness in challenging noisy settings. Our method is implemented in the R package heavylasso available on Github.

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Handling bounded response in high dimensions: a Horseshoe prior Bayesian Beta regression approach

Bounded continuous responses -- such as proportions -- arise frequently in diverse scientific fields including climatology, biostatistics, and finance. Beta regression is a widely adopted framework for modeling such data, due to the flexibility of the Beta distribution over the unit interval. While Bayesian extensions of Beta regression have shown promise, existing methods are limited to low-dimensional settings and lack theoretical guarantees. In this work, we propose a novel Bayesian approach for high-dimensional sparse Beta regression framework that employs a tempered posterior. Our method incorporates the Horseshoe prior for effective shrinkage and variable selection. Most notable, we propose a novel Gibbs sampling algorithm using Pólya-Gamma augmentation for efficient inference in Beta regression model. We also provide the first theoretical results establishing posterior consistency and convergence rates for Bayesian Beta regression. Through extensive simulation studies in both low- and high-dimensional scenarios, we demonstrate that our approach outperforms existing alternatives, offering improved estimation accuracy and model interpretability. Our method is implemented in the R package ``betaregbayes" available on Github.

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High-dimensional Bayesian Tobit regression for censored response with Horseshoe prior

Censored response variables--where outcomes are only partially observed due to known bounds--arise in numerous scientific domains and present serious challenges for regression analysis. The Tobit model, a classical solution for handling left-censoring, has been widely used in economics and beyond. However, with the increasing prevalence of high-dimensional data, where the number of covariates exceeds the sample size, traditional Tobit methods become inadequate. While frequentist approaches for high-dimensional Tobit regression have recently been developed, notably through Lasso-based estimators, the Bayesian literature remains sparse and lacks theoretical guarantees. In this work, we propose a novel Bayesian framework for high-dimensional Tobit regression that addresses both censoring and sparsity. Our method leverages the Horseshoe prior to induce shrinkage and employs a data augmentation strategy to facilitate efficient posterior computation via Gibbs sampling. We establish posterior consistency and derive concentration rates under sparsity, providing the first theoretical results for Bayesian Tobit models in high dimensions. Numerical experiments show that our approach outperforms favorably with the recent Lasso-Tobit method. Our method is implemented in the R package tobitbayes, which can be found on Github.

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PAC-Bayesian risk bounds for fully connected deep neural network with Gaussian priors

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have emerged as a powerful methodology with significant practical successes in fields such as computer vision and natural language processing. Recent works have demonstrated that sparsely connected DNNs with carefully designed architectures can achieve minimax estimation rates under classical smoothness assumptions. However, subsequent studies revealed that simple fully connected DNNs can achieve comparable convergence rates, challenging the necessity of sparsity. Theoretical advances in Bayesian neural networks (BNNs) have been more fragmented. Much of those work has concentrated on sparse networks, leaving the theoretical properties of fully connected BNNs underexplored. In this paper, we address this gap by investigating fully connected Bayesian DNNs with Gaussian prior using PAC-Bayes bounds. We establish upper bounds on the prediction risk for a probabilistic deep neural network method, showing that these bounds match (up to logarithmic factors) the minimax-optimal rates in Besov space, for both nonparametric regression and binary classification with logistic loss. Importantly, our results hold for a broad class of practical activation functions that are Lipschitz continuous.

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Kullback-Leibler excess risk bounds for exponential weighted aggregation in Generalized linear models

Aggregation methods have emerged as a powerful and flexible framework in statistical learning, providing unified solutions across diverse problems such as regression, classification, and density estimation. In the context of generalized linear models (GLMs), where responses follow exponential family distributions, aggregation offers an attractive alternative to classical parametric modeling. This paper investigates the problem of sparse aggregation in GLMs, aiming to approximate the true parameter vector by a sparse linear combination of predictors. We prove that an exponential weighted aggregation scheme yields a sharp oracle inequality for the Kullback-Leibler risk with leading constant equal to one, while also attaining the minimax-optimal rate of aggregation. These results are further enhanced by establishing high-probability bounds on the excess risk.

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Optimal sparse phase retrieval via a quasi-Bayesian approach

This paper addresses the problem of sparse phase retrieval, a fundamental inverse problem in applied mathematics, physics, and engineering, where a signal need to be reconstructed using only the magnitude of its transformation while phase information remains inaccessible. Leveraging the inherent sparsity of many real-world signals, we introduce a novel sparse quasi-Bayesian approach and provide the first theoretical guarantees for such an approach. Specifically, we employ a scaled Student distribution as a continuous shrinkage prior to enforce sparsity and analyze the method using the PAC-Bayesian inequality framework. Our results establish that the proposed Bayesian estimator achieves minimax-optimal convergence rates under sub-exponential noise, matching those of state-of-the-art frequentist methods. To ensure computational feasibility, we develop an efficient Langevin Monte Carlo sampling algorithm. Through numerical experiments, we demonstrate that our method performs comparably to existing frequentist techniques, highlighting its potential as a principled alternative for sparse phase retrieval in noisy settings.

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High-dimensional prediction for count response via sparse exponential weights

Count data is prevalent in various fields like ecology, medical research, and genomics. In high-dimensional settings, where the number of features exceeds the sample size, feature selection becomes essential. While frequentist methods like Lasso have advanced in handling high-dimensional count data, Bayesian approaches remain under-explored with no theoretical results on prediction performance. This paper introduces a novel probabilistic machine learning framework for high-dimensional count data prediction. We propose a pseudo-Bayesian method that integrates a scaled Student prior to promote sparsity and uses an exponential weight aggregation procedure. A key contribution is a novel risk measure tailored to count data prediction, with theoretical guarantees for prediction risk using PAC-Bayesian bounds. Our results include non-asymptotic oracle inequalities, demonstrating rate-optimal prediction error without prior knowledge of sparsity. We implement this approach efficiently using Langevin Monte Carlo method. Simulations and a real data application highlight the strong performance of our method compared to the Lasso in various settings.

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Concentration of a sparse Bayesian model with Horseshoe prior in estimating high-dimensional precision matrix

Precision matrices are crucial in many fields such as social networks, neuroscience, and economics, representing the edge structure of Gaussian graphical models (GGMs), where a zero in an off-diagonal position of the precision matrix indicates conditional independence between nodes. In high-dimensional settings where the dimension of the precision matrix \( p \) exceeds the sample size \( n \) and the matrix is sparse, methods like graphical Lasso, graphical SCAD, and CLIME are popular for estimating GGMs. While frequentist methods are well-studied, Bayesian approaches for (unstructured) sparse precision matrices are less explored. The graphical horseshoe estimate by \cite{li2019graphical}, applying the global-local horseshoe prior, shows superior empirical performance, but theoretical work for sparse precision matrix estimations using shrinkage priors is limited. This paper addresses these gaps by providing concentration results for the tempered posterior with the fully specified horseshoe prior in high-dimensional settings. Moreover, we also provide novel theoretical results for model misspecification, offering a general oracle inequality for the posterior. A concise set of simulations is performed to validate our theoretical findings.

math.ST↗

A sparse PAC-Bayesian approach for high-dimensional quantile prediction

Quantile regression, a robust method for estimating conditional quantiles, has advanced significantly in fields such as econometrics, statistics, and machine learning. In high-dimensional settings, where the number of covariates exceeds sample size, penalized methods like lasso have been developed to address sparsity challenges. Bayesian methods, initially connected to quantile regression via the asymmetric Laplace likelihood, have also evolved, though issues with posterior variance have led to new approaches, including pseudo/score likelihoods. This paper presents a novel probabilistic machine learning approach for high-dimensional quantile prediction. It uses a pseudo-Bayesian framework with a scaled Student-t prior and Langevin Monte Carlo for efficient computation. The method demonstrates strong theoretical guarantees, through PAC-Bayes bounds, that establish non-asymptotic oracle inequalities, showing minimax-optimal prediction error and adaptability to unknown sparsity. Its effectiveness is validated through simulations and real-world data, where it performs competitively against established frequentist and Bayesian techniques.

stat.ML↗

Misclassification excess risk bounds for PAC-Bayesian classification via convexified loss

PAC-Bayesian bounds have proven to be a valuable tool for deriving generalization bounds and for designing new learning algorithms in machine learning. However, it typically focus on providing generalization bounds with respect to a chosen loss function. In classification tasks, due to the non-convex nature of the 0-1 loss, a convex surrogate loss is often used, and thus current PAC-Bayesian bounds are primarily specified for this convex surrogate. This work shifts its focus to providing misclassification excess risk bounds for PAC-Bayesian classification when using a convex surrogate loss. Our key ingredient here is to leverage PAC-Bayesian relative bounds in expectation rather than relying on PAC-Bayesian bounds in probability. We demonstrate our approach in several important applications.

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Adaptive posterior concentration rates for sparse high-dimensional linear regression with random design and unknown error variance

This paper investigates sparse high-dimensional linear regression, particularly examining the properties of the posterior under conditions of random design and unknown error variance. We provide consistency results for the posterior and analyze its concentration rates, demonstrating adaptiveness to the unknown sparsity level of the regression coefficient vector. Furthermore, we extend our investigation to establish concentration outcomes for parameter estimation using specific distance measures. These findings are in line with recent discoveries in frequentist studies. Additionally, by employing techniques to address model misspecification through a fractional posterior, we broaden our analysis through oracle inequalities to encompass the critical aspect of model misspecification for the regular posterior. Our novel findings are demonstrated using two different types of sparsity priors: a shrinkage prior and a spike-and-slab prior.

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