Upcoming Seminars

Title: Bayesian Modeling and Computation for Structural and Functional Neuroimaging
Seminar: Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing
Speaker: Andrew Brown of Clemson University
Contact: Deepanshu Verma and Julianne Chung, deepanshu.verma@emory.edu
Date: 2024-04-25 at 10:00AM
Venue: MSC W201
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Abstract:
Since its advent about 30 years ago, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized medical imaging due to its ability to produce high-contrast images non-invasively without the use of radiation or injection. In neuroimaging in particular, MRI has become a very popular and useful tool both in clinical settings (e.g., in vivo measurements of anatomical structures) as well as psychology (e.g., studying neuronal activations over time in response to an external stimulus). Despite the applicability and history of MR-based neuroimaging, however, considerable challenges remain in the analysis of the associated data. In this talk, I will discuss two recent projects in which collaborators and I use fully Bayesian statistical modeling to draw inference about both brain structure and brain function. The former work illustrates how prior information can be used to improve our ability to delineate the hippocampus in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The latter work discusses an approach that makes use of the full complex-valued data produced by an MR scanner to improve our ability to not only identify task-related activation in functional MRI, but to differentiate between types of activation that might carry different biological meaning. Along the way, I will mention some computational techniques we employ to facilitate Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms to approximate the posterior distributions of interest.
Title: Erdos-Rogers Functions
Seminar: Combinatorics
Speaker: Jacques Verstraete of University of California San Diego
Contact: Liana Yepremyan, liana.yepremyan@emory.edu
Date: 2024-04-26 at 4:00PM
Venue: MSC W201
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Abstract:
The Erdos-Rogers functions are generalizations of Ramsey numbers, introduced around fifty years ago. The general question given graphs $F$ and $H$ is to determine the maximum number of vertices $f(n,F,H)$ in an $F$-free induced subgraph of any $H$-free $n$-vertex graph. The case $F = K_2$ is equivalent to determining Ramsey numbers $r(H,t)$. The case $F$ and $H$ are cliques has received considerable attention. In this talk we give almost tight bounds, showing that for $s > 3$, $$ f(n,K_s,K_{s-1}) = \sqrt{n}(\log n)^{\Theta(1)} $$ where the exponent of the logarithm is between $1/2 - o(1)$ and $1 + o(1)$. We also give new bounds on Ramsey numbers $r(F,t)$. In part joint work with David Conlon, Sam Mattheus and Dhruv Mubayi.