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New organic–inorganic hybrid assemblies based on copper(I) ion, bichelate-bridging ligand and Lindqvist-type polyoxometalate
Zhang, Mao-Mao; Hao, Xiu-Li; Xu, Li-Jie; Wang, Yong-Hui Wang, Xin; Li, Yang-Guang
Three new organic–inorganic hybrid compounds, namely [Cu{sup I}L{sub p}]{sub 2}[W{sub 6}O{sub 19}]·H{sub 2}O (1), [Cu{sup I}L{sub p}]{sub 3}[W{sub 6}O{sub 19}]Cl (2) and [Cu{sup I}L{sub p}]{sub 2}[W{sub 6}O{sub 19}]·2H{sub 2}O (3) (L{sub p}=α,α′-bis-[3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazol-1-yl]-1,4-dimethylbenzene) based on copper(I) ion, a neutral N-donor bichelate-bridging ligand (L{sub p}) and a Lindqvist-type polyoxometalate (POM) [W{sub 6}O{sub 19}]{sup 2−}, have been hydrothermally prepared under different synthetic conditions and structurally characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra, TG analyses, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Compounds 1 and 2 contain two different but topologically similar meso-helical chainlike coordination moieties. Compound 3 contains both left- and right-handed chiral "mobius strip" units. These cationic meso-helical chains and "mobius strip" units in compounds 1–3 are further combined with Lindqvist-type polyoxoanions to form 3-D supramolecular assemblies through extensive electrostatic forces and/or π–π interactions. The photo-luminescent properties of 1–3 have also been investigated, which are mainly attributed to the L{sub p} ligand-centered emission. - Graphical abstract: Three new hybrid compounds based on same Cu(I) ion, bichelate-bridging ligand and [W{sub 6}O{sub 19}]{sup 2−} building blocks were synthesized. Various structural features of three compounds were tuned by different synthetic conditions. - Highlights: • New compounds based on Cu(I), bichelate-bridging ligand and POM were prepared. • Compounds 1 and 2 contain two different but topologically similar meso-helical chains. • Compound 3 contains both left- and right-handed chiral "mobius strip" units. • Compounds 1–3 exhibit the ligand-centered luminescent property.
Inorganic-organic hybrid materials based on Co(III) tetra-aza-macrocyclic complexes and Lindqvist type poly-oxo anions: Synthesis, characterization and spectroscopy of [Co III(L)(NO 2) 2] 2[Mo 6O 19] and [Co III(L)(NCS) 2] 2[W 6O 19]·2CH 3CN (L = Transdiene)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sarma, Monima; Chatterjee, Tanmay; Das, Samar K.
This article describes the synthesis and characterization of two polyoxometalate based ion-pair compounds [Co III(L)(NO 2) 2] 2[Mo 6O 19] ( 1) and [Co III(L)(NCS) 2] 2[W 6O 19]·2CH 3CN ( 2) (L = 5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-4,11-diene). They have been isolated by anionic metathesis of the respective perchlorate and thiocyanate salts with the Lindqvist type isopolyanions. The detailed spectroscopic (IR, UV-visible and ESR) analyses have been performed on compounds 1 and 2 along with their unambiguous crystal structure determination. The polyoxometalate cluster anions not only serve as the counter anions but are also involved in extensive non-covalent interactions with the macrocyclic cationic complexes in their respective crystals. Phase homogeneity of the synthesized compounds in bulk has been established by the X-ray powder diffraction study. Thermal analysis has also been carried out on the title compounds.
Theoretical study on the rectifying performance of organoimido derivatives of hexamolybdates.
Wen, Shizheng; Yang, Guochun; Yan, Likai; Li, Haibin; Su, Zhongmin
We design a new type of molecular diode, based on the organoimido derivatives of hexamolybdates, by exploring the rectifying performances using density functional theory combined with the non-equilibrium Green's function. Asymmetric current-voltage characteristics were obtained for the models with an unexpected large rectification ratio. The rectifying behavior can be understood by the asymmetrical shift of the transmission peak observed under different polarities. It is interesting to find that the preferred electron-transport direction in our studied system is different from that of the organic D-bridge-A system. The results show that the studied organic-inorganic hybrid systems have an intrinsically robust rectifying ratio, which should be taken into consideration in the design of the molecular diodes. PMID:23303530
A Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane-Polyoxometalate Hybrid Shape Amphiphile: Facile Synthesis, Characterization and Crystal Structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liu, Hao; Wang, Jing; Yue, Kan; Jiang, Jing; Zhang, Wen-Bin; Cheng, Stephen
This study contains the synthesis and characterization of a novel shape amphiphile composed of two covalently conjugated inorganic nanoparticles, i.e. an isobutyl substituted polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (BPOSS) cage and a Lindqvist-type hexamolybdate ([Mo6O19]2-) cluster, and its crystal structure. The facile one-step coupling strategy was realized via the highly efficient palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira reaction between an alkyne-bearing POSS derivative (BPOSS-Alkyne) and an iodo-functionalized Lindqvist precursor (Lind-Iodide) in high yield. The precisely defined molecular structure was thoroughly characterized by combination of routine techniques, such as 1H and 13C NMR, FT-IR, and MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy. The persistent shape and chemical incompatibility of the two building blocks, as well as the rigid p-phenylene ethynylene linker, drive BPOSS-Lind to pack into a monoclinic lattice, which was confirmed by bright field transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). This work introduces a new dumbbell-shaped giant hybrid molecule (BPOSS-Lind) and shed light on the packing behavior of this shape amphiphile.
Label-free colorimetric detection of mercury via Hg2+ ions-accelerated structural transformation of nanoscale metal-oxo clusters
Chen, Kun; She, Shan; Zhang, Jiangwei; Bayaguud, Aruuhan; Wei, Yongge
Mercury and its compounds are known to be extremely toxic but widely distributed in environment. Although many works have been reported to efficiently detect mercury, development of simple and convenient sensors is still longed for quick analyzing mercury in water. In this work, a nanoscale metal-oxo cluster, (n-Bu4N)2[Mo5NaO13(OCH3)4(NO)], (MLPOM), organically-derivatized from monolacunary Lindqvist-type polyoxomolybdate, is found to specifically react with Hg2+ in methanol/water via structural transformation. The MLPOM methanol solution displays a color change from purple to brown within seconds after being mixed with an aqueous solution containing Hg2+. By comparing the structure of polyoxomolybdate before and after reaction, the color change is revealed to be the essentially structural transformation of MLPOM accelerated by Hg2+. Based on this discovery, MLPOM could be utilized as a colorimetric sensor to sense the existence of Hg2+, and a simple and label-free method is developed to selectively detect aqueous Hg2+. Furthermore, the colorimetric sensor has been applied to indicating mercury contamination in industrial sewage. PMID:26559602
Label-free colorimetric detection of mercury via Hg2+ ions-accelerated structural transformation of nanoscale metal-oxo clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Kun; She, Shan; Zhang, Jiangwei; Bayaguud, Aruuhan; Wei, Yongge
Mercury and its compounds are known to be extremely toxic but widely distributed in environment. Although many works have been reported to efficiently detect mercury, development of simple and convenient sensors is still longed for quick analyzing mercury in water. In this work, a nanoscale metal-oxo cluster, (n-Bu4N)2[Mo5NaO13(OCH3)4(NO)], (MLPOM), organically-derivatized from monolacunary Lindqvist-type polyoxomolybdate, is found to specifically react with Hg2+ in methanol/water via structural transformation. The MLPOM methanol solution displays a color change from purple to brown within seconds after being mixed with an aqueous solution containing Hg2+. By comparing the structure of polyoxomolybdate before and after reaction, the color change is revealed to be the essentially structural transformation of MLPOM accelerated by Hg2+. Based on this discovery, MLPOM could be utilized as a colorimetric sensor to sense the existence of Hg2+, and a simple and label-free method is developed to selectively detect aqueous Hg2+. Furthermore, the colorimetric sensor has been applied to indicating mercury contamination in industrial sewage.
Muetterties, Earl L.
Metal cluster chemistry is one of the most rapidly developing areas of inorganic and organometallic chemistry. Prior to 1960 only a few metal clusters were well characterized. However, shortly after the early development of boron cluster chemistry, the field of metal cluster chemistry began to grow at a very rapid rate and a structural and a qualitative theoretical understanding of clusters came quickly. Analyzed here is the chemistry and the general significance of clusters with particular emphasis on the cluster research within my group. The importance of coordinately unsaturated, very reactive metal clusters is the major subject of discussion.
Sanfilippo, Antonio P.; Calapristi, Augustin J.; Crow, Vernon L.; Hetzler, Elizabeth G.; Turner, Alan E.
We present an approach to the disambiguation of cluster labels that capitalizes on the notion of semantic similarity to assign WordNet senses to cluster labels. The approach provides interesting insights on how document clustering can provide the basis for developing a novel approach to word sense disambiguation.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Penetrating 25,000 light-years of obscuring dust and myriad stars, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided the clearest view yet of one of the largest young clusters of stars inside our Milky Way galaxy, located less than 100 light-years from the very center of the Galaxy. Having the equivalent mass greater than 10,000 stars like our sun, the monster cluster is ten times larger than typical young star clusters scattered throughout our Milky Way. It is destined to be ripped apart in just a few million years by gravitational tidal forces in the galaxy's core. But in its brief lifetime it shines more brightly than any other star cluster in the Galaxy. Quintuplet Cluster is 4 million years old. It has stars on the verge of blowing up as supernovae. It is the home of the brightest star seen in the galaxy, called the Pistol star. This image was taken in infrared light by Hubble's NICMOS camera in September 1997. The false colors correspond to infrared wavelengths. The galactic center stars are white, the red stars are enshrouded in dust or behind dust, and the blue stars are foreground stars between us and the Milky Way's center. The cluster is hidden from direct view behind black dust clouds in the constellation Sagittarius. If the cluster could be seen from earth it would appear to the naked eye as a 3rd magnitude star, 1/6th of a full moon's diameter apart.
Reversible proton-switchable fluorescence controlled by conjugation effect in an organically-functionalized polyoxometalate
Lv, Chunlin; Chen, Kun; Hu, Junjie; Zhang, Jin; Khan, Rao Naumaan Nasim; Wei, Yongge
A novel monosubstituted organoimido hexamolybdate containing 6-nitroquinoline moiety has been successfully synthesized. This organically-functionalized polyoxometalate exhibits proton-induced switchable fluorescence property in aqueous acetonitrile solution at room temperature. Experimental and theoretical investigations of this reversible "on" and "off" switching mechanism have been carried out, and it is found that the protonation and deprotonation at the heterocyclic nitrogen atom within quinoline fragment leads to the breaking and reformation of the conjugation through strong d-π interaction between the hexamolybdate anionic cluster and the quinoline moiety, resulting in "on" and "off" luminescence signal. PMID:27321576
Reversible proton-switchable fluorescence controlled by conjugation effect in an organically-functionalized polyoxometalate.
Lv, Chunlin; Chen, Kun; Hu, Junjie; Zhang, Jin; Khan, Rao Naumaan Nasim; Wei, Yongge
A novel monosubstituted organoimido hexamolybdate containing 6-nitroquinoline moiety has been successfully synthesized. This organically-functionalized polyoxometalate exhibits proton-induced switchable fluorescence property in aqueous acetonitrile solution at room temperature. Experimental and theoretical investigations of this reversible "on" and "off" switching mechanism have been carried out, and it is found that the protonation and deprotonation at the heterocyclic nitrogen atom within quinoline fragment leads to the breaking and reformation of the conjugation through strong d-π interaction between the hexamolybdate anionic cluster and the quinoline moiety, resulting in "on" and "off" luminescence signal. PMID:27321576
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Miller, Christopher J. Miller
There are many examples of clustering in astronomy. Stars in our own galaxy are often seen as being gravitationally bound into tight globular or open clusters. The Solar System's Trojan asteroids cluster at the gravitational Langrangian in front of Jupiter's orbit. On the largest of scales, we find gravitationally bound clusters of galaxies, the Virgo cluster (in the constellation of Virgo at a distance of ˜50 million light years) being a prime nearby example. The Virgo cluster subtends an angle of nearly 8◦ on the sky and is known to contain over a thousand member galaxies. Galaxy clusters play an important role in our understanding of theUniverse. Clusters exist at peaks in the three-dimensional large-scale matter density field. Their sky (2D) locations are easy to detect in astronomical imaging data and their mean galaxy redshifts (redshift is related to the third spatial dimension: distance) are often better (spectroscopically) and cheaper (photometrically) when compared with the entire galaxy population in large sky surveys. Photometric redshift (z) [Photometric techniques use the broad band filter magnitudes of a galaxy to estimate the redshift. Spectroscopic techniques use the galaxy spectra and emission/absorption line features to measure the redshift] determinations of galaxies within clusters are accurate to better than delta_z = 0.05 [7] and when studied as a cluster population, the central galaxies form a line in color-magnitude space (called the the E/S0 ridgeline and visible in Figure 16.3) that contains galaxies with similar stellar populations [15]. The shape of this E/S0 ridgeline enables astronomers to measure the cluster redshift to within delta_z = 0.01 [23]. The most accurate cluster redshift determinations come from spectroscopy of the member galaxies, where only a fraction of the members need to be spectroscopically observed [25,42] to get an accurate redshift to the whole system. If light traces mass in the Universe, then the locations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pottawattamie County School System, Council Bluffs, IA.
The 15 occupational clusters (transportation, fine arts and humanities, communications and media, personal service occupations, construction, hospitality and recreation, health occupations, marine science occupations, consumer and homemaking-related occupations, agribusiness and natural resources, environment, public service, business and office…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wagstaff, Kiri L.
On obtaining a new data set, the researcher is immediately faced with the challenge of obtaining a high-level understanding from the observations. What does a typical item look like? What are the dominant trends? How many distinct groups are included in the data set, and how is each one characterized? Which observable values are common, and which rarely occur? Which items stand out as anomalies or outliers from the rest of the data? This challenge is exacerbated by the steady growth in data set size [11] as new instruments push into new frontiers of parameter space, via improvements in temporal, spatial, and spectral resolution, or by the desire to "fuse" observations from different modalities and instruments into a larger-picture understanding of the same underlying phenomenon. Data clustering algorithms provide a variety of solutions for this task. They can generate summaries, locate outliers, compress data, identify dense or sparse regions of feature space, and build data models. It is useful to note up front that "clusters" in this context refer to groups of items within some descriptive feature space, not (necessarily) to "galaxy clusters" which are dense regions in physical space. The goal of this chapter is to survey a variety of data clustering methods, with an eye toward their applicability to astronomical data analysis. In addition to improving the individual researcher's understanding of a given data set, clustering has led directly to scientific advances, such as the discovery of new subclasses of stars [14] and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) [38]. All clustering algorithms seek to identify groups within a data set that reflect some observed, quantifiable structure. Clustering is traditionally an unsupervised approach to data analysis, in the sense that it operates without any direct guidance about which items should be assigned to which clusters. There has been a recent trend in the clustering literature toward supporting semisupervised or constrained
Donchev, Todor I.; Petrov, Ivan G.
Described herein is an apparatus and a method for producing atom clusters based on a gas discharge within a hollow cathode. The hollow cathode includes one or more walls. The one or more walls define a sputtering chamber within the hollow cathode and include a material to be sputtered. A hollow anode is positioned at an end of the sputtering chamber, and atom clusters are formed when a gas discharge is generated between the hollow anode and the hollow cathode.
Winters-Hilt, Stephen; Merat, Sam
Background Support Vector Machines (SVMs) provide a powerful method for classification (supervised learning). Use of SVMs for clustering (unsupervised learning) is now being considered in a number of different ways. Results An SVM-based clustering algorithm is introduced that clusters data with no a priori knowledge of input classes. The algorithm initializes by first running a binary SVM classifier against a data set with each vector in the set randomly labelled, this is repeated until an initial convergence occurs. Once this initialization step is complete, the SVM confidence parameters for classification on each of the training instances can be accessed. The lowest confidence data (e.g., the worst of the mislabelled data) then has its' labels switched to the other class label. The SVM is then re-run on the data set (with partly re-labelled data) and is guaranteed to converge in this situation since it converged previously, and now it has fewer data points to carry with mislabelling penalties. This approach appears to limit exposure to the local minima traps that can occur with other approaches. Thus, the algorithm then improves on its weakly convergent result by SVM re-training after each re-labeling on the worst of the misclassified vectors – i.e., those feature vectors with confidence factor values beyond some threshold. The repetition of the above process improves the accuracy, here a measure of separability, until there are no misclassifications. Variations on this type of clustering approach are shown. Conclusion Non-parametric SVM-based clustering methods may allow for much improved performance over parametric approaches, particularly if they can be designed to inherit the strengths of their supervised SVM counterparts. PMID:18047717
Lotz, Martin K.; Otsuki, Shuhei; Grogan, Shawn P.; Sah, Robert; Terkeltaub, Robert; D'Lima, Darryl
The formation of new cell clusters is a histological hallmark of arthritic cartilage but the biology of clusters and their role in disease are poorly understood. This is the first comprehensive review of clinical and experimental conditions associated with cluster formation. Genes and proteins that are expressed in cluster cells, the cellular origin of the clusters, mechanisms that lead to cluster formation and the role of cluster cells in pathogenesis are discussed. PMID:20506158
Echenique, P.M.; Manson, J.R.; Ritchie, R.H. )
We present a model for the cluster-impact-fusion experiments of Buehler, Friedlander, and Friedman, Calculated fusion rates as a function of bombarding energy for constant cluster size agree well with experiment. The dependence of the fusion rate on cluster size at fixed bombarding energy is explained qualitatively. The role of correlated, coherent collisions in enhanced energy loss by clusters is emphasized.
Foodservice Occupations Cluster Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oregon State Dept. of Education, Salem.
Intended to assist vocational teachers in developing and implementing a cluster program in food service occupations, this guide contains sections on cluster organization and implementation and instructional emphasis areas. The cluster organization and implementation section covers goal-based planning and includes a proposed cluster curriculum, a…
Survey on granularity clustering.
Ding, Shifei; Du, Mingjing; Zhu, Hong
With the rapid development of uncertain artificial intelligent and the arrival of big data era, conventional clustering analysis and granular computing fail to satisfy the requirements of intelligent information processing in this new case. There is the essential relationship between granular computing and clustering analysis, so some researchers try to combine granular computing with clustering analysis. In the idea of granularity, the researchers expand the researches in clustering analysis and look for the best clustering results with the help of the basic theories and methods of granular computing. Granularity clustering method which is proposed and studied has attracted more and more attention. This paper firstly summarizes the background of granularity clustering and the intrinsic connection between granular computing and clustering analysis, and then mainly reviews the research status and various methods of granularity clustering. Finally, we analyze existing problem and propose further research. PMID:26557926
Jacquez, Geoffrey M.
Most disease clustering methods assume specific shapes and do not evaluate statistical power using the applicable geography, at-risk population, and covariates. Cluster Morphology Analysis (CMA) conducts power analyses of alternative techniques assuming clusters of different relative risks and shapes. Results are ranked by statistical power and false positives, under the rationale that surveillance should (1) find true clusters while (2) avoiding false clusters. CMA then synthesizes results of the most powerful methods. CMA was evaluated in simulation studies and applied to pancreatic cancer mortality in Michigan, and finds clusters of flexible shape while routinely evaluating statistical power. PMID:20234799
Universal Cluster Deposition System
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qiang, You; Sun, Zhiguang; Sellmyer, David J.
We have developed a universal cluster deposition system (UCDS), which combines a new kind of sputtering-gas-aggregation (SGA) cluster beam source with two atom beams from magnetron sputtering. A highly intense, very stable beam of nanoclusters (like Co, Fe, Ni, Si, CoSm or CoPt) are produced. A quadrupole and/or a new high transmission infinite range mass selector have been designed for the cluster beam. The size distribution (Δd/d) is between 0.05+/-0.10, measured in situ by TOF. A range of mean cluster size is 2 to 10 nm. Usually the deposition rate is about 5 deg/s. The cluster concentration in the film is adjusted through the ratio of cluster and atomic beam deposition rates, as measured in situ with a rotatable quartz microbalance. The UCDS can be used to prepare coated clusters. After exiting from the cluster source, the clusters can be coated first with an atomic or molecular species in an evaporation chamber, and deposited alone or co-deposited with another material. This system is used to deposit simultaneously or alternately mesoscopic thin films or multilayers, and offers the possibility to control independently the incident cluster size and concentration, and thereby the interaction between clusters and cluster-matrix material which is of interest for fundamental research and industry applications. Magnetic properties of Co cluster-assembled materials will be discussed. * Research supported by NSF, DARPA through ARO, and CMRA
EINSTEIN Cluster Alignments Revisited
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chambers, S. W.; Melott, A. L.; Miller, C. J.
We have examined whether the major axes of rich galaxy clusters tend to point (in projection) toward their nearest neighboring cluster. We used the data of Ulmer, McMillan and Kowalski, who used x-ray morphology to define position angles. Our cluster samples, with well measured redshifts and updated positions, were taken from the MX Northern Abell Cluster Survey. The usual Kolmogorov-Smirnov test shows no significant alignment signal for nonrandom angles for all separations less than 100 Mpc/h. Refining the null hypothesis, however, with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test, reveals a high confidence signal for alignment. This confidence is highest when we restrict our sample to small nearest neighbor separations. We conclude that we have identified a more powerful tool for testing cluster-cluster alignments. Moreover, there is a strong signal in the data for alignment, consistent with a picture of hierarchical cluster formation in which matter falls into clusters along large scale filamentary structures.
Matlab Cluster Ensemble Toolbox
Sapio, Vincent De; Kegelmeyer, Philip
This is a Matlab toolbox for investigating the application of cluster ensembles to data classification, with the objective of improving the accuracy and/or speed of clustering. The toolbox divides the cluster ensemble problem into four areas, providing functionality for each. These include, (1) synthetic data generation, (2) clustering to generate individual data partitions and similarity matrices, (3) consensus function generation and final clustering to generate ensemble data partitioning, and (4) implementation of accuracy metrics. With regard to data generation, Gaussian data of arbitrary dimension can be generated. The kcenters algorithm can then be used to generate individual data partitions by either, (a) subsampling the data and clustering each subsample, or by (b) randomly initializing the algorithm and generating a clustering for each initialization. In either case an overall similarity matrix can be computed using a consensus function operating on the individual similarity matrices. A final clustering can be performed and performance metrics are provided for evaluation purposes.
[Pathophysiology of cluster headache].
Donnet, Anne
The aetiology of cluster headache is partially unknown. Three areas are involved in the pathogenesis of cluster headache: the trigeminal nociceptive pathways, the autonomic system and the hypothalamus. The cluster headache attack involves activation of the trigeminal autonomic reflex. A dysfunction located in posterior hypothalamic gray matter is probably pivotal in the process. There is a probable association between smoke exposure, a possible genetic predisposition and the development of cluster headache. PMID:26470883
The clustering of cases of a rare disease is considered. The number of events observed for each unit is assumed to have a Poisson distribution, the mean of which depends upon the population size and the cluster membership of that unit. Here a cluster consists of those units that ...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Feng, Jian-xin; Tang, Jia-fu; Wang, Guang-xing
On the basis of the analysis of clustering algorithm that had been proposed for MANET, a novel clustering strategy was proposed in this paper. With the trust defined by statistical hypothesis in probability theory and the cluster head selected by node trust and node mobility, this strategy can realize the function of the malicious nodes detection which was neglected by other clustering algorithms and overcome the deficiency of being incapable of implementing the relative mobility metric of corresponding nodes in the MOBIC algorithm caused by the fact that the receiving power of two consecutive HELLO packet cannot be measured. It's an effective solution to cluster MANET securely.
Unconventional methods for clustering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kotyrba, Martin
Cluster analysis or clustering is a task of grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense or another) to each other than to those in other groups (clusters). It is the main task of exploratory data mining and a common technique for statistical data analysis used in many fields, including machine learning, pattern recognition, image analysis, information retrieval, and bioinformatics. The topic of this paper is one of the modern methods of clustering namely SOM (Self Organising Map). The paper describes the theory needed to understand the principle of clustering and descriptions of algorithm used with clustering in our experiments.
Modeling Clustered Data with Very Few Clusters.
McNeish, Daniel; Stapleton, Laura M
Small-sample inference with clustered data has received increased attention recently in the methodological literature, with several simulation studies being presented on the small-sample behavior of many methods. However, nearly all previous studies focus on a single class of methods (e.g., only multilevel models, only corrections to sandwich estimators), and the differential performance of various methods that can be implemented to accommodate clustered data with very few clusters is largely unknown, potentially due to the rigid disciplinary preferences. Furthermore, a majority of these studies focus on scenarios with 15 or more clusters and feature unrealistically simple data-generation models with very few predictors. This article, motivated by an applied educational psychology cluster randomized trial, presents a simulation study that simultaneously addresses the extreme small sample and differential performance (estimation bias, Type I error rates, and relative power) of 12 methods to account for clustered data with a model that features a more realistic number of predictors. The motivating data are then modeled with each method, and results are compared. Results show that generalized estimating equations perform poorly; the choice of Bayesian prior distributions affects performance; and fixed effect models perform quite well. Limitations and implications for applications are also discussed. PMID:27269278
[Clustering of simple obesity].
Yoshida, K; Matsuda, H; Kurita, M; Umetada, Y
An attempt was made to classify persons with simple obesity from the viewpoint of health education. Subjects of the study were 1,278 male workers in a financing company who underwent health examination. At the time of health examinations, questionnaire survey concerning their life styles was carried out on all the subjects. The obese group consisted of 127 subjects whose obesity indices were over 15% and the control group consisted of 342 subjects whose obesity indices ranged from -5 to 5%. Subjects in the obese group were classified into four clusters based on cluster analysis using five life-style parameters; that is, frequency of taking breakfast, frequency of taking staple food, drinking habits, smoking habits, and frequency of exercise. The first cluster (N = 10) included inactive persons, the second cluster (N = 46) non smokers, the third cluster (N = 39) smokers and heavy drinkers, and the fourth cluster (N = 32) smokers and non-drinkers. Comparison of the four clusters of obese persons with the control group revealed the following findings: 1) All the four clusters had significantly high frequencies of abnormal values of triglyceride (TG) and fasting blood sugar (FBS). 2) The first cluster had significantly high frequencies of abnormal values of glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT). 3) The second cluster had significantly high frequencies of abnormal values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, TG, FBS, uric acid, GOT, GPT and gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:3172544
Electron: Cluster interactions
Scheidemann, A.A.; Kresin, V.V.; Knight, W.D.
Beam depletion spectroscopy has been used to measure absolute total inelastic electron-sodium cluster collision cross sections in the energy range from E {approximately} 0.1 to E {approximately} 6 eV. The investigation focused on the closed shell clusters Na{sub 8}, Na{sub 20}, Na{sub 40}. The measured cross sections show an increase for the lowest collision energies where electron attachment is the primary scattering channel. The electron attachment cross section can be understood in terms of Langevin scattering, connecting this measurement with the polarizability of the cluster. For energies above the dissociation energy the measured electron-cluster cross section is energy independent, thus defining an electron-cluster interaction range. This interaction range increases with the cluster size.
Slonim, Noam; Atwal, Gurinder Singh; Tkačik, Gašper; Bialek, William
In an age of increasingly large data sets, investigators in many different disciplines have turned to clustering as a tool for data analysis and exploration. Existing clustering methods, however, typically depend on several nontrivial assumptions about the structure of data. Here, we reformulate the clustering problem from an information theoretic perspective that avoids many of these assumptions. In particular, our formulation obviates the need for defining a cluster "prototype," does not require an a priori similarity metric, is invariant to changes in the representation of the data, and naturally captures nonlinear relations. We apply this approach to different domains and find that it consistently produces clusters that are more coherent than those extracted by existing algorithms. Finally, our approach provides a way of clustering based on collective notions of similarity rather than the traditional pairwise measures. PMID:16352721
Management of cluster headache.
Tfelt-Hansen, Peer C; Jensen, Rigmor H
The prevalence of cluster headache is 0.1% and cluster headache is often not diagnosed or misdiagnosed as migraine or sinusitis. In cluster headache there is often a considerable diagnostic delay - an average of 7 years in a population-based survey. Cluster headache is characterized by very severe or severe orbital or periorbital pain with a duration of 15-180 minutes. The cluster headache attacks are accompanied by characteristic associated unilateral symptoms such as tearing, nasal congestion and/or rhinorrhoea, eyelid oedema, miosis and/or ptosis. In addition, there is a sense of restlessness and agitation. Patients may have up to eight attacks per day. Episodic cluster headache (ECH) occurs in clusters of weeks to months duration, whereas chronic cluster headache (CCH) attacks occur for more than 1 year without remissions. Management of cluster headache is divided into acute attack treatment and prophylactic treatment. In ECH and CCH the attacks can be treated with oxygen (12 L/min) or subcutaneous sumatriptan 6 mg. For both oxygen and sumatriptan there are two randomized, placebo-controlled trials demonstrating efficacy. In both ECH and CCH, verapamil is the prophylactic drug of choice. Verapamil 360 mg/day was found to be superior to placebo in one clinical trial. In clinical practice, daily doses of 480-720 mg are mostly used. Thus, the dose of verapamil used in cluster headache treatment may be double the dose used in cardiology, and with the higher doses the PR interval should be checked with an ECG. At the start of a cluster, transitional preventive treatment such as corticosteroids or greater occipital nerve blockade can be given. In CCH and in long-standing clusters of ECH, lithium, methysergide, topiramate, valproic acid and ergotamine tartrate can be used as add-on prophylactic treatment. In drug-resistant CCH, neuromodulation with either occipital nerve stimulation or deep brain stimulation of the hypothalamus is an alternative treatment strategy
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chinellato, J. A.; Dobrigkeit, C.; Bellandifilho, J.; Lattes, C. M. G.; Menon, M. J.; Navia, C. E.; Pamilaju, A.; Sawayanagi, K.; Shibuya, E. H.; Turtelli, A., Jr.
Experimental results of mini-clusters observed in Chacaltaya emulsion chamber no.19 are summarized. The study was made on 54 single core shower upper and 91 shower clusters of E(gamma) 10 TeV from 30 families which are visible energy greater than 80 TeV and penetrate through both upper and lower detectors of the two-story chamber. The association of hadrons in mini-cluster is made clear from their penetrative nature and microscopic observation of shower continuation in lower chamber. Small P sub t (gamma) of hadrons in mini-clusters remained in puzzle.
The youngest globular clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Beck, Sara
It is likely that all stars are born in clusters, but most clusters are not bound and disperse. None of the many protoclusters in our Galaxy are likely to develop into long-lived bound clusters. The super star clusters (SSCs) seen in starburst galaxies are more massive and compact and have better chances of survival. The birth and early development of SSCs takes place deep in molecular clouds, and during this crucial stage the embedded clusters are invisible to optical or UV observations but are studied via the radio-infrared supernebulae (RISN) they excite. We review observations of embedded clusters and identify RISN within 10 Mpc whose exciting clusters have ≈ 106 M⊙ or more in volumes of a few pc3 and which are likely to not only survive as bound clusters, but to evolve into objects as massive and compact as Galactic globulars. These clusters are distinguished by very high star formation efficiency η, at least a factor of 10 higher than the few percent seen in the Galaxy, probably due to the violent disturbances their host galaxies have undergone. We review recent observations of the kinematics of the ionized gas in RISN showing outflows through low-density channels in the ambient molecular cloud; this may protect the cloud from feedback by the embedded H II region.
Clustering versus non-clustering phase synchronizations.
Liu, Shuai; Zhan, Meng
Clustering phase synchronization (CPS) is a common scenario to the global phase synchronization of coupled dynamical systems. In this work, a novel scenario, the non-clustering phase synchronization (NPS), is reported. It is found that coupled systems do not transit to the global synchronization until a certain sufficiently large coupling is attained, and there is no clustering prior to the global synchronization. To reveal the relationship between CPS and NPS, we further analyze the noise effect on coupled phase oscillators and find that the coupled oscillator system can change from CPS to NPS with the increase of noise intensity or system disorder. These findings are expected to shed light on the mechanism of various intriguing self-organized behaviors in coupled systems. PMID:24697366
Clustering versus non-clustering phase synchronizations
Liu, Shuai; Zhan, Meng
Clustering phase synchronization (CPS) is a common scenario to the global phase synchronization of coupled dynamical systems. In this work, a novel scenario, the non-clustering phase synchronization (NPS), is reported. It is found that coupled systems do not transit to the global synchronization until a certain sufficiently large coupling is attained, and there is no clustering prior to the global synchronization. To reveal the relationship between CPS and NPS, we further analyze the noise effect on coupled phase oscillators and find that the coupled oscillator system can change from CPS to NPS with the increase of noise intensity or system disorder. These findings are expected to shed light on the mechanism of various intriguing self-organized behaviors in coupled systems.
A nonparametric clustering technique which estimates the number of clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ramey, D. B.
In applications of cluster analysis, one usually needs to determine the number of clusters, K, and the assignment of observations to each cluster. A clustering technique based on recursive application of a multivariate test of bimodality which automatically estimates both K and the cluster assignments is presented.
Reactive accelerated cluster erosion (RACE) by ionized cluster beams
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gspann, Jürgen
Beams of ionized clusters accelerated up to about 120 keV kinetic energy per cluster are used for cluster impact lithography. Chemical reactions of clusters of CO 2, or of SF 6, respectively, are found to assist the physical erosion by hypervelocity cluster impacts in yielding volatile products. Natural diamond, silicon and Pyrex glass have been microstructured showing very smooth eroded surfaces.
Illinois' Career Cluster Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jankowski, Natasha A.; Kirby, Catherine L.; Bragg, Debra D.; Taylor, Jason L.; Oertle, Kathleen M.
This booklet provides information to multiple stakeholders on the implementation of career clusters in Illinois. The booklet is an extension of the previous edition titled "An Introduction to Illinois CTE Programs of Study" (2008), and provides a resource for partners to understand Illinois' Career Cluster Model as its own adaptation of the…
Matlab Cluster Ensemble Toolbox
Energy Science and Technology Software Center (ESTSC)
This is a Matlab toolbox for investigating the application of cluster ensembles to data classification, with the objective of improving the accuracy and/or speed of clustering. The toolbox divides the cluster ensemble problem into four areas, providing functionality for each. These include, (1) synthetic data generation, (2) clustering to generate individual data partitions and similarity matrices, (3) consensus function generation and final clustering to generate ensemble data partitioning, and (4) implementation of accuracy metrics. Withmore » regard to data generation, Gaussian data of arbitrary dimension can be generated. The kcenters algorithm can then be used to generate individual data partitions by either, (a) subsampling the data and clustering each subsample, or by (b) randomly initializing the algorithm and generating a clustering for each initialization. In either case an overall similarity matrix can be computed using a consensus function operating on the individual similarity matrices. A final clustering can be performed and performance metrics are provided for evaluation purposes.« less
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Huang, Yifen
Mixed-initiative clustering is a task where a user and a machine work collaboratively to analyze a large set of documents. We hypothesize that a user and a machine can both learn better clustering models through enriched communication and interactive learning from each other. The first contribution or this thesis is providing a framework of…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Portegies Zwart, Simon F.; McMillan, Stephen L. W.; Gieles, Mark
Young massive clusters (YMCs) are dense aggregates of young stars that form the fundamental building blocks of galaxies. Several examples exist in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Local Group, but they are particularly abundant in starburst and interacting galaxies. The few YMCs that are close enough to resolve are of prime interest for studying the stellar mass function and the ecological interplay between stellar evolution and stellar dynamics. The distant unresolved clusters may be effectively used to study the star-cluster mass function, and they provide excellent constraints on the formation mechanisms of young cluster populations. YMCs are expected to be the nurseries for many unusual objects, including a wide range of exotic stars and binaries. So far only a few such objects have been found in YMCs, although their older cousins, the globular clusters, are unusually rich in stellar exotica. In this review, we focus on star clusters younger than ˜100 Myr, more than a few current crossing times old, and more massive than ˜104M⊙; the size of the cluster and its environment are considered less relevant as distinguishing parameters. We describe the global properties of the currently known young massive star clusters in the Local Group and beyond, and discuss the state of the art in observations and dynamical modeling of these systems. In order to make this review readable by observers, theorists, and computational astrophysicists, we also review the cross-disciplinary terminology.
Blue emitting undecaplatinum clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chakraborty, Indranath; Bhuin, Radha Gobinda; Bhat, Shridevi; Pradeep, T.
A blue luminescent 11-atom platinum cluster showing step-like optical features and the absence of plasmon absorption was synthesized. The cluster was purified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) suggest a composition, Pt11(BBS)8, which was confirmed by a range of other experimental tools. The cluster is highly stable and compatible with many organic solvents.A blue luminescent 11-atom platinum cluster showing step-like optical features and the absence of plasmon absorption was synthesized. The cluster was purified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) suggest a composition, Pt11(BBS)8, which was confirmed by a range of other experimental tools. The cluster is highly stable and compatible with many organic solvents. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of experimental procedures, instrumentation, chromatogram of the crude cluster; SEM/EDAX, DLS, PXRD, TEM, FT-IR, and XPS of the isolated Pt11 cluster; UV/Vis, MALDI MS and SEM/EDAX of isolated 2 and 3; and 195Pt NMR of the K2PtCl6 standard. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr02778g
Hunter, S L
{lg_bullet} The Cluster Tool -is a set of linked vacuum chambers -can deposit multiple layers of metal and metal oxides {lg_bullet} Each layer can be deposited without breaking vacuum {lg_bullet} Shadow masks can give each layer a different pattern {lg_bullet} The Cluster Tool will be operational in April
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herzog, Douglas
The Cluster Interest Inventory is designed to familiarize students with representative occupations in 13 career clusters: (1) agribusiness and natural resources, (2) business marketing, and office occupations, (3) communications and media, (4) consumer and homemaker, (5) fine arts and humanities, (6) health, (7) manufacturing and processing, (8)…
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Atlas Image mosaic, covering 34' x 34' on the sky, of the Coma cluster, aka Abell 1656. This is a particularly rich cluster of individual galaxies (over 1000 members), most prominently the two giant ellipticals, NGC 4874 (right) and NGC 4889 (left). The remaining members are mostly smaller ellipticals, but spiral galaxies are also evident in the 2MASS image. The cluster is seen toward the constellation Coma Berenices, but is actually at a distance of about 100 Mpc (330 million light years, or a redshift of 0.023) from us. At this distance, the cluster is in what is known as the 'Hubble flow,' or the overall expansion of the Universe. As such, astronomers can measure the Hubble Constant, or the universal expansion rate, based on the distance to this cluster. Large, rich clusters, such as Coma, allow astronomers to measure the 'missing mass,' i.e., the matter in the cluster that we cannot see, since it gravitationally influences the motions of the member galaxies within the cluster. The near-infrared maps the overall luminous mass content of the member galaxies, since the light at these wavelengths is dominated by the more numerous older stellar populations. Galaxies, as seen by 2MASS, look fairly smooth and homogeneous, as can be seen from the Hubble 'tuning fork' diagram of near-infrared galaxy morphology. Image mosaic by S. Van Dyk (IPAC).
Probability and Cancer Clusters
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hamilton-Keene, Rachael; Lenard, Christoper T.; Mills, Terry M.
Recently there have been several news items about possible cancer clusters in the Australian media. The term "cancer cluster" is used when an unusually large number of people in one geographic area, often a workplace, are diagnosed with cancer in a short space of time. In this paper the authors explore this important health issue using probability…
Muster: Massively Scalable Clustering
Energy Science and Technology Software Center (ESTSC)
Muster is a framework for scalable cluster analysis. It includes implementations of classic K-Medoids partitioning algorithms, as well as infrastructure for making these algorithms run scalably on very large systems. In particular, Muster contains algorithms such as CAPEK (described in reference 1) that are capable of clustering highly distributed data sets in-place on a hundred thousand or more processes.
Marketing Occupations. Cluster Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oregon State Dept. of Education, Salem.
This cluster guide, which is designed to show teachers what specific knowledge and skills qualify high school students for entry-level employment (or postsecondary training) in marketing occupations, is organized into three sections: (1) cluster organization and implementation, (2) instructional emphasis areas, and (3) assessment. The first…
Brightest Cluster Galaxy Identification
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leisman, Luke; Haarsma, D. B.; Sebald, D. A.; ACCEPT Team
Brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) play an important role in several fields of astronomical research. The literature includes many different methods and criteria for identifying the BCG in the cluster, such as choosing the brightest galaxy, the galaxy nearest the X-ray peak, or the galaxy with the most extended profile. Here we examine a sample of 75 clusters from the Archive of Chandra Cluster Entropy Profile Tables (ACCEPT) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), measuring masked magnitudes and profiles for BCG candidates in each cluster. We first identified galaxies by hand; in 15% of clusters at least one team member selected a different galaxy than the others.We also applied 6 other identification methods to the ACCEPT sample; in 30% of clusters at least one of these methods selected a different galaxy than the other methods. We then developed an algorithm that weighs brightness, profile, and proximity to the X-ray peak and centroid. This algorithm incorporates the advantages of by-hand identification (weighing multiple properties) and automated selection (repeatable and consistent). The BCG population chosen by the algorithm is more uniform in its properties than populations selected by other methods, particularly in the relation between absolute magnitude (a proxy for galaxy mass) and average gas temperature (a proxy for cluster mass). This work supported by a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and a Sid Jansma Summer Research Fellowship.
Cosmology with galaxy clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sartoris, Barbara
Clusters of galaxies are powerful probes to constrain parameters that describe the cosmological models and to distinguish among different models. Since, the evolution of the cluster mass function and large-scale clustering contain the informations about the linear growth rate of perturbations and the expansion history of the Universe, clusters have played an important role in establishing the current cosmological paradigm. It is crucial to know how to determine the cluster mass from observational quantities when using clusters as cosmological tools. For this, numerical simulations are helpful to define and study robust cluster mass proxies that have minimal and well understood scatter across the mass and redshift ranges of interest. Additionally, the bias in cluster mass determination can be constrained via observations of the strong and weak lensing effect, X-ray emission, the Sunyaev- Zel'dovic effect, and the dynamics of galaxies.A major advantage of X-ray surveys is that the observable-mass relation is tight. Moreover, clusters can be easily identified in X-ray as continuous, extended sources. As of today, interesting cosmological constraints have been obtained from relatively small cluster samples (~102), X-ray selected by the ROSAT satellite over a wide redshift range (0
Cool Cluster Correctly Correlated
Sergey Aleksandrovich Varganov
Atomic clusters are unique objects, which occupy an intermediate position between atoms and condensed matter systems. For a long time it was thought that physical and chemical properties of atomic dusters monotonically change with increasing size of the cluster from a single atom to a condensed matter system. However, recently it has become clear that many properties of atomic clusters can change drastically with the size of the clusters. Because physical and chemical properties of clusters can be adjusted simply by changing the cluster's size, different applications of atomic clusters were proposed. One example is the catalytic activity of clusters of specific sizes in different chemical reactions. Another example is a potential application of atomic clusters in microelectronics, where their band gaps can be adjusted by simply changing cluster sizes. In recent years significant advances in experimental techniques allow one to synthesize and study atomic clusters of specified sizes. However, the interpretation of the results is often difficult. The theoretical methods are frequently used to help in interpretation of complex experimental data. Most of the theoretical approaches have been based on empirical or semiempirical methods. These methods allow one to study large and small dusters using the same approximations. However, since empirical and semiempirical methods rely on simple models with many parameters, it is often difficult to estimate the quantitative and even qualitative accuracy of the results. On the other hand, because of significant advances in quantum chemical methods and computer capabilities, it is now possible to do high quality ab-initio calculations not only on systems of few atoms but on clusters of practical interest as well. In addition to accurate results for specific clusters, such methods can be used for benchmarking of different empirical and semiempirical approaches. The atomic clusters studied in this work contain from a few atoms to
Hybridization schemes for clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wales, David J.
The concept of an optimum hybridization scheme for cluster compounds is developed with particular reference to electron counting. The prediction of electron counts for clusters and the interpretation of the bonding is shown to depend critically upon the presumed hybridization pattern of the cluster vertex atoms. This fact has not been properly appreciated in previous work, particularly in applications of Stone's tensor surface harmonic (TSH) theory, but is found to be a useful tool when dealt with directly. A quantitative definition is suggested for the optimum cluster hybridization pattern based directly upon the ease of interpretation of the molecular orbitals, and results are given for a range of species. The relationship of this scheme to the detailed cluster geometry is described using Löwdin's partitioned perturbation theory, and the success and range of application of TSH theory are discussed.
Document clustering methods, document cluster label disambiguation methods, document clustering apparatuses, and articles of manufacture
Sanfilippo, Antonio; Calapristi, Augustin J.; Crow, Vernon L.; Hetzler, Elizabeth G.; Turner, Alan E.
Document clustering methods, document cluster label disambiguation methods, document clustering apparatuses, and articles of manufacture are described. In one aspect, a document clustering method includes providing a document set comprising a plurality of documents, providing a cluster comprising a subset of the documents of the document set, using a plurality of terms of the documents, providing a cluster label indicative of subject matter content of the documents of the cluster, wherein the cluster label comprises a plurality of word senses, and selecting one of the word senses of the cluster label.
Statistical properties of convex clustering
Tan, Kean Ming; Witten, Daniela
In this manuscript, we study the statistical properties of convex clustering. We establish that convex clustering is closely related to single linkage hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering. In addition, we derive the range of the tuning parameter for convex clustering that yields a non-trivial solution. We also provide an unbiased estimator of the degrees of freedom, and provide a finite sample bound for the prediction error for convex clustering. We compare convex clustering to some traditional clustering methods in simulation studies.
Steinwand, Daniel R.; Maddox, Brian; Beckmann, Tim; Hamer, George
Beowulf clusters can provide a cost-effective way to compute numerical models and process large amounts of remote sensing image data. Usually a Beowulf cluster is designed to accomplish a specific set of processing goals, and processing is very efficient when the problem remains inside the constraints of the original design. There are cases, however, when one might wish to compute a problem that is beyond the capacity of the local Beowulf system. In these cases, spreading the problem to multiple clusters or to other machines on the network may provide a cost-effective solution.
Partially supervised speaker clustering.
Tang, Hao; Chu, Stephen Mingyu; Hasegawa-Johnson, Mark; Huang, Thomas S
Content-based multimedia indexing, retrieval, and processing as well as multimedia databases demand the structuring of the media content (image, audio, video, text, etc.), one significant goal being to associate the identity of the content to the individual segments of the signals. In this paper, we specifically address the problem of speaker clustering, the task of assigning every speech utterance in an audio stream to its speaker. We offer a complete treatment to the idea of partially supervised speaker clustering, which refers to the use of our prior knowledge of speakers in general to assist the unsupervised speaker clustering process. By means of an independent training data set, we encode the prior knowledge at the various stages of the speaker clustering pipeline via 1) learning a speaker-discriminative acoustic feature transformation, 2) learning a universal speaker prior model, and 3) learning a discriminative speaker subspace, or equivalently, a speaker-discriminative distance metric. We study the directional scattering property of the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) mean supervector representation of utterances in the high-dimensional space, and advocate exploiting this property by using the cosine distance metric instead of the euclidean distance metric for speaker clustering in the GMM mean supervector space. We propose to perform discriminant analysis based on the cosine distance metric, which leads to a novel distance metric learning algorithm—linear spherical discriminant analysis (LSDA). We show that the proposed LSDA formulation can be systematically solved within the elegant graph embedding general dimensionality reduction framework. Our speaker clustering experiments on the GALE database clearly indicate that 1) our speaker clustering methods based on the GMM mean supervector representation and vector-based distance metrics outperform traditional speaker clustering methods based on the "bag of acoustic features" representation and statistical
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
2007-01-01[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click on image for larger poster version This false-color mosaic of the central region of the Coma cluster combines infrared and visible-light images to reveal thousands of faint objects (green). Follow-up observations showed that many of these objects, which appear here as faint green smudges, are dwarf galaxies belonging to the cluster. Two large elliptical galaxies, NGC 4889 and NGC 4874, dominate the cluster's center. The mosaic combines visible-light data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (color coded blue) with long- and short-wavelength infrared views (red and green, respectively) from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lai, X. Y.; Gao, C. Y.; Xu, R. X.
The study of dense matter at ultrahigh density has a very long history, which is meaningful for us to understand not only cosmic events in extreme circumstances but also fundamental laws of physics. It is well known that the state of cold matter at supranuclear density depends on the non-perturbative nature of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and is essential for modelling pulsars. A so-called H-cluster matter is proposed in this paper as the nature of dense matter in reality. In compact stars at only a few nuclear densities but low temperature, quarks could be interacting strongly with each other there. That might render quarks grouped in clusters, although the hypothetical quark clusters in cold dense matter have not been confirmed due to the lack of both theoretical and experimental evidence. Motivated by recent lattice QCD simulations of the H-dibaryons (with structure uuddss), we therefore consider here a possible kind of quark clusters, H-clusters, that could emerge inside compact stars during their initial cooling as the dominant components inside (the degree of freedom could then be H-clusters there). Taking into account the in-medium stiffening effect, we find that at baryon densities of compact stars H-cluster matter could be more stable than nuclear matter. We also find that for the H-cluster matter with lattice structure, the equation of state could be so stiff that it would seem to be `superluminal' in the most dense region. However, the real sound speed for H-cluster matter is in fact difficult to calculate, so at this stage we do not put constraints on our model from the usual requirement of causality. We study the stars composed of H-clusters, i.e. H-cluster stars, and derive the dependence of their maximum mass on the in-medium stiffening effect, showing that the maximum mass could be well above 2 M⊙ as observed and that the resultant mass-radius relation fits the measurement of the rapid burster under reasonable parameters. Besides a general
Combining cluster number counts and galaxy clustering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lacasa, Fabien; Rosenfeld, Rogerio
The abundance of clusters and the clustering of galaxies are two of the important cosmological probes for current and future large scale surveys of galaxies, such as the Dark Energy Survey. In order to combine them one has to account for the fact that they are not independent quantities, since they probe the same density field. It is important to develop a good understanding of their correlation in order to extract parameter constraints. We present a detailed modelling of the joint covariance matrix between cluster number counts and the galaxy angular power spectrum. We employ the framework of the halo model complemented by a Halo Occupation Distribution model (HOD). We demonstrate the importance of accounting for non-Gaussianity to produce accurate covariance predictions. Indeed, we show that the non-Gaussian covariance becomes dominant at small scales, low redshifts or high cluster masses. We discuss in particular the case of the super-sample covariance (SSC), including the effects of galaxy shot-noise, halo second order bias and non-local bias. We demonstrate that the SSC obeys mathematical inequalities and positivity. Using the joint covariance matrix and a Fisher matrix methodology, we examine the prospects of combining these two probes to constrain cosmological and HOD parameters. We find that the combination indeed results in noticeably better constraints, with improvements of order 20% on cosmological parameters compared to the best single probe, and even greater improvement on HOD parameters, with reduction of error bars by a factor 1.4-4.8. This happens in particular because the cross-covariance introduces a synergy between the probes on small scales. We conclude that accounting for non-Gaussian effects is required for the joint analysis of these observables in galaxy surveys.
Cyclostomes Lack Clustered Protocadherins.
Ravi, Vydianathan; Yu, Wei-Ping; Pillai, Nisha E; Lian, Michelle M; Tay, Boon-Hui; Tohari, Sumanty; Brenner, Sydney; Venkatesh, Byrappa
The brain, comprising billions of neurons and intricate neural networks, is arguably the most complex organ in vertebrates. The diversity of individual neurons is fundamental to the neuronal network complexity and the overall function of the vertebrate brain. In jawed vertebrates, clustered protocadherins provide the molecular basis for this neuronal diversity, through stochastic and combinatorial expression of their various isoforms in individual neurons. Based on analyses of transcriptomes from the Japanese lamprey brain and sea lamprey embryos, genome assemblies of the two lampreys, and brain expressed sequence tags of the inshore hagfish, we show that extant jawless vertebrates (cyclostomes) lack the clustered protocadherins. Our findings indicate that the clustered protocadherins originated from a nonclustered protocadherin in the jawed vertebrate ancestor, after the two rounds of whole-genome duplication. In the absence of clustered protocadherins, cyclostomes might have evolved novel molecules or mechanisms for generating neuronal diversity which remains to be discovered. PMID:26545918
Energy Science and Technology Software Center (ESTSC)
The software is a modidication to the Mantis BT V1.5 open source application provided by the mantis BT group to support cluster web servers. It also provides various cosmetic modifications used a LLNL.
Fowler, Anna; Menon, Vilas; Heard, Nicholas A
Clusters of time series data may change location and memberships over time; in gene expression data, this occurs as groups of genes or samples respond differently to stimuli or experimental conditions at different times. In order to uncover this underlying temporal structure, we consider dynamic clusters with time-dependent parameters which split and merge over time, enabling cluster memberships to change. These interesting time-dependent structures are useful in understanding the development of organisms or complex organs, and could not be identified using traditional clustering methods. In cell cycle data, these time-dependent structure may provide links between genes and stages of the cell cycle, whilst in developmental data sets they may highlight key developmental transitions. PMID:24131050
[Cluster headache differential diagnosis].
Guégan-Massardier, Evelyne; Laubier, Cécile
Cluster headache is characterized by disabling stereotyped headache. Early diagnosis allows appropriate treatment, unfortunately diagnostic errors are frequent. The main differential diagnoses are other primary or essential headaches. Migraine, more frequent and whose diagnosis is carried by excess, trigeminal neuralgia or other trigemino-autonomic cephalgia. Vascular or tumoral underlying condition can mimic cluster headache, neck and brain imaging is recommended, ideally MRI. PMID:26549687
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
2005-01-01On April 7, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft's Impactor Target Sensor camera recorded this image of M11, the Wild Duck cluster, a galactic open cluster located 6 thousand light years away. The camera is located on the impactor spacecraft, which will image comet Tempel 1 beginning 22 hours before impact until about 2 seconds before impact. Impact with comet Tempel 1 is planned for July 4, 2005.
Cluster functional renormalization group
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Reuther, Johannes; Thomale, Ronny
Functional renormalization group (FRG) has become a diverse and powerful tool to derive effective low-energy scattering vertices of interacting many-body systems. Starting from a free expansion point of the action, the flow of the RG parameter Λ allows us to trace the evolution of the effective one- and two-particle vertices towards low energies by taking into account the vertex corrections between all parquet channels in an unbiased fashion. In this work, we generalize the expansion point at which the diagrammatic resummation procedure is initiated from a free UV limit to a cluster product state. We formulate a cluster FRG scheme where the noninteracting building blocks (i.e., decoupled spin clusters) are treated exactly, and the intercluster couplings are addressed via RG. As a benchmark study, we apply our cluster FRG scheme to the spin-1/2 bilayer Heisenberg model (BHM) on a square lattice where the neighboring sites in the two layers form the individual two-site clusters. Comparing with existing numerical evidence for the BHM, we obtain reasonable findings for the spin susceptibility, the spin-triplet excitation energy, and quasiparticle weight even in coupling regimes close to antiferromagnetic order. The concept of cluster FRG promises applications to a large class of interacting electron systems.
Communication: The cluster vapor to cluster solid transition
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sweatman, Martin B.; Lue, Leo
Until now, depletion induced transitions have been the hallmark of multicomponent systems only. Monte Carlo simulations reveal a depletion-induced phase transition from cluster vapor to cluster solid in a one-component fluid with competing short range and long range interactions. This confirms a prediction made by earlier theoretical work. Analysis of renormalized cluster-cluster and cluster-vapor interactions suggests that a cluster liquid is also expected within a very narrow range of model parameters. These insights could help identify the mechanisms of clustering in experiments and assist the design of colloidal structures through engineered self-assembly.
The Clustering of Young Stellar Cluster Populations in Nearby Galaxies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Grasha, Kathryn; Calzetti, Daniela
We present measurements of clustering among star clusters for several galaxies drawn from the Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS), in order to establish whether the clustering strength depends on properties of the cluster population. We use the two point autocorrelation function to study clustering as a function of spatial scale, age, concentration index (CI), and mass. We separate the clusters into different classes, defined by their (a)symmetry and number of peaks, comparing the trends of the autocorrelation functions between all the cluster classes. For one galaxy, NGC 628, we find that younger star clusters are more strongly clustered over small spatial scales and that the clustering disappears rapidly for ages as young as 40 Myr. We present here a similar analysis for the other galaxies. We also measure the power-law slope and amplitude of the autocorrelation functions and discuss the results.
Relation chain based clustering analysis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Cheng-ning; Zhao, Ming-yang; Luo, Hai-bo
Clustering analysis is currently one of well-developed branches in data mining technology which is supposed to find the hidden structures in the multidimensional space called feature or pattern space. A datum in the space usually possesses a vector form and the elements in the vector represent several specifically selected features. These features are often of efficiency to the problem oriented. Generally, clustering analysis goes into two divisions: one is based on the agglomerative clustering method, and the other one is based on divisive clustering method. The former refers to a bottom-up process which regards each datum as a singleton cluster while the latter refers to a top-down process which regards entire data as a cluster. As the collected literatures, it is noted that the divisive clustering is currently overwhelming both in application and research. Although some famous divisive clustering methods are designed and well developed, clustering problems are still far from being solved. The k - means algorithm is the original divisive clustering method which initially assigns some important index values, such as the clustering number and the initial clustering prototype positions, and that could not be reasonable in some certain occasions. More than the initial problem, the k - means algorithm may also falls into local optimum, clusters in a rigid way and is not available for non-Gaussian distribution. One can see that seeking for a good or natural clustering result, in fact, originates from the one's understanding of the concept of clustering. Thus, the confusion or misunderstanding of the definition of clustering always derives some unsatisfied clustering results. One should consider the definition deeply and seriously. This paper demonstrates the nature of clustering, gives the way of understanding clustering, discusses the methodology of designing a clustering algorithm, and proposes a new clustering method based on relation chains among 2D patterns. In
Bianchini, P.; Varri, A. L.; Bertin, G.; Zocchi, A.
Internal rotation is thought to play a major role in the dynamics of some globular clusters. However, in only a few cases has internal rotation been studied by the quantitative application of realistic and physically justified global models. Here, we present a dynamical analysis of the photometry and three-dimensional kinematics of {omega} Cen, 47 Tuc, and M15, by means of a recently introduced family of self-consistent axisymmetric rotating models. The three clusters, characterized by different relaxation conditions, show evidence of differential rotation and deviations from sphericity. The combination of line-of-sight velocities and proper motions allows us to determine their internal dynamics, predict their morphology, and estimate their dynamical distance. The well-relaxed cluster 47 Tuc is interpreted very well by our model; internal rotation is found to explain the observed morphology. For M15, we provide a global model in good agreement with the data, including the central behavior of the rotation profile and the shape of the ellipticity profile. For the partially relaxed cluster {omega} Cen, the selected model reproduces the complex three-dimensional kinematics; in particular, the observed anisotropy profile, characterized by a transition from isotropy to weakly radial anisotropy and then to tangential anisotropy in the outer parts. The discrepancy found for the steep central gradient in the observed line-of-sight velocity dispersion profile and for the ellipticity profile is ascribed to the condition of only partial relaxation of this cluster and the interplay between rotation and radial anisotropy.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Figueroa, Bernardo; Zenit, Roberto
We are conducting experiments to determine the amount of clustering that occurs when small gas bubbles ascend in clean water. In particular, we are interested in flows for which the liquid motion around the bubbles can be described, with a certain degree of accuracy, using potential flow theory. This model is applicable for the case of bubbly liquids in which the Reynolds number is large and the Weber number is small. To clearly observe the formation of bubble clusters we propose the use of a Hele-Shaw-type channel. In this thin channel the bubbles cannot overlap in the depth direction, therefore the identification of bubble clusters cannot be misinterpreted. Direct video image analysis is performed to calculate the velocity and size of the bubbles, as well as the formation of clusters. Although the walls do affect the motion of the bubbles, the clustering phenomena does occur and has the same qualitative behavior as in fully three-dimensional flows. A series of preliminary measurements are presented. A brief discussion of our plans to perform PIV measurements to obtain the liquid velocity fields is also presented.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Suzuki, Nao; Aldering, G.; Amanullah, R.; Barbary, K.; Barrientos, L.; Brodwin, M.; Connolly, N.; Dawson, K.; de Jong, R.; Dey, A.; Doi, M.; Donahue, M.; Eisenhardt, P.; Ellingson, E.; Faccioli, L.; Fadeyev, V.; Fakhouri, H.; Fruchter, A.; Gilbank, D.; Gladders, M.; Goldhaber, G.; Gonzalez, A.; Goobar, A.; Gude, A.; Hennawi, J.; Hoekstra, H.; Hsiao, E.; Huang, X.; Ihara, Y.; Jannuzi, B.; Jee, M. J.; Koester, B.; Kowalski, M.; Lidman, C.; Linder, E.; Lubin, L.; Morokuma, T.; Perlmutter, S.; Postman, M.; Rhodes, J.; Rosati, P.; Ripoche, P.; Rubin, D.; Schlegel, D.; Spadafora, A.; Stanford, A.; Stern, D.; Yasuda, N.; Yee, H.; Cosmology Project, Supernova
We report results from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cluster Supernova Survey with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) (PI: Perlmutter; see Dawson et al. AJ, 2009). We have introduced a novel approach to discover and follow Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa). With HST, we monitored 25 massive clusters (0.9 < z < 1.4) found by the RCS, XMM, IRAC, and RDCS surveys and conducted spectroscopic observations with the Keck, Subaru, and VLT telescopes. Sixteen SNe were discovered at 0.95 < z < 1.41, nine of which were in galaxy clusters (for a discussion of the rates, see K. Barbary, oral presentation at this meeting). The SNe in galaxy clusters are found primarily in early type galaxies in the cluster red-sequence that have been shown to be nearly dust-free and uniform populations (see poster presentation by Meyers et al.). The reduction and control of systematic error is an urgent task for the study of dark energy today (see Rubin et al. poster presentation), and we discuss how this unique SNe Ia data set reduces both statistical and more importantly systematic uncertainty at the highest redshifts. This work has been supported by the Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, through contract DE-AC02-05CH11231 and in part by NASA through grants associated with HST-GO-10496.
Vanadogermanate cluster anions.
Whitfield, T; Wang, X; Jacobson, A J
Three novel vanadogermanate cluster anions have been synthesized by hydrothermal reactions. The cluster anions are derived from the (V(18)O(42)) Keggin cluster shell by substitution of V=O(2+) "caps" by Ge(2)O(OH)(2)(4+) species. In Cs(8)[Ge(4)V(16)O(42)(OH)(4)].4.7H(2)O, 1, (monoclinic, space group C2/c (No. 15), Z = 8, a = 44.513(2) A, b = 12.7632(7) A, c = 22.923(1) A, beta = 101.376(1) degrees ) and (pipH(2))(4)(pipH)(4)[Ge(8)V(14)O(50).(H(2)O)] (pip = C(4)N(2)H(10)), 2 (tetragonal, space group P4(2)/nnm (No. 134), Z = 2, a = 14.9950(7) A, c = 18.408(1) A), two and four VO(2+) caps are replaced, respectively, and each cluster anion encapsulates a water molecule. In K(5)H(8)Ge(8)V(12)SO(52).10H(2)O, 3, (tetragonal, space group I4/m (No. 87), Z = 2, a = 15.573(1) A, c = 10.963(1) A), four VO(2+) caps are replaced by Ge(2)O(OH)(2)(4+) species, and an additional two are omitted. The cluster ion in 3 contains a sulfate anion disordered over two positions. The cluster anions are analogous to the vanadoarsenate anions [V(18)(-)(n)()As(2)(n)()O(42)(X)](m)(-) (X = SO(3), SO(4), Cl; n = 3, 4) previously reported. PMID:12793808
Hvelplund, P.; Andersen, J. U.; Hansen, K.
Anions of fullerenes and small metal clusters have been stored in the storage rings ASTRID and ELISA. Decays on a millisecond time scale are due to electron emission from metastable excited states. For the fullerenes the decay curves have been interpreted in terms of thermionic emission quenched by radiative cooling. The stored clusters were heated by a Nd:YAG laser resulting in increased emission rates. With an OPO laser this effect was used to study the wavelength dependence of the absorption of light in hot C{sub 60}{sup -} ion molecules.
Precision Photometric Redshifts Of Clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Holden, L.; Annis, J.
Clusters of galaxies provide a means to achieve more precise photometric redshifts than achievable using individual galaxies simply because of the numbers of galaxies available in clusters. Here we examine the expectation that one can achieve root-N improvement using the N galaxies in a cluster. We extracted from a maxBCG SDSS cluster catalog 28,000 clusters and used SDSS DR4 spectra to find spectroscopic redshifts for the cluster. We examined both using the brightest cluster galaxy redshift as the proxy for the cluster and using the mean of a collection of galaxies within a given angular diameter and redshift (about the cluster photo-z) range. We find that the BCG provides a better estimate of the cluster redshift, to be understood in the context of a handful of spectra in the neighborhood of the cluster. We find that the cluster photo-z has an approximate root-N scaling behavior with the normalization for maxBCG techniques being 0.07. We predict what ``afterburner photo-z'' techniques, which use individual galaxy photo-z's good to 0.03-0.05, can achieve for cluster catalogs and for cluster cosmology.
Clustering of Resting State Networks
Lee, Megan H.; Hacker, Carl D.; Snyder, Abraham Z.; Corbetta, Maurizio; Zhang, Dongyang; Leuthardt, Eric C.; Shimony, Joshua S.
Background The goal of the study was to demonstrate a hierarchical structure of resting state activity in the healthy brain using a data-driven clustering algorithm. Methodology/Principal Findings The fuzzy-c-means clustering algorithm was applied to resting state fMRI data in cortical and subcortical gray matter from two groups acquired separately, one of 17 healthy individuals and the second of 21 healthy individuals. Different numbers of clusters and different starting conditions were used. A cluster dispersion measure determined the optimal numbers of clusters. An inner product metric provided a measure of similarity between different clusters. The two cluster result found the task-negative and task-positive systems. The cluster dispersion measure was minimized with seven and eleven clusters. Each of the clusters in the seven and eleven cluster result was associated with either the task-negative or task-positive system. Applying the algorithm to find seven clusters recovered previously described resting state networks, including the default mode network, frontoparietal control network, ventral and dorsal attention networks, somatomotor, visual, and language networks. The language and ventral attention networks had significant subcortical involvement. This parcellation was consistently found in a large majority of algorithm runs under different conditions and was robust to different methods of initialization. Conclusions/Significance The clustering of resting state activity using different optimal numbers of clusters identified resting state networks comparable to previously obtained results. This work reinforces the observation that resting state networks are hierarchically organized. PMID:22792291
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nelson, Michael L.; Maly, Kurt; Shen, Stewart N. T.
In this paper we describe NCSTRL+, a unified, canonical digital library for scientific and technical information (STI). NCSTRL+ is based on the Networked Computer Science Technical Report Library (NCSTRL), a World Wide Web (WWW) accessible digital library (DL) that provides access to over 80 university departments and laboratories. NCSTRL+ implements two new technologies: cluster functionality and publishing "buckets." We have extended the Dienst protocol, the protocol underlying NCSTRL, to provide the ability to "cluster" independent collections into a logically centralized digital library based upon subject category classification, type of organization, and genres of material. The concept of "buckets" provides a mechanism for publishing and managing logically linked entities with multiple data formats. The NCSTRL+ prototype DL contains the holdings of NCSTRL and the NASA Technical Report Server (NTRS). The prototype demonstrates the feasibility of publishing into a multi-cluster DL, searching across clusters, and storing and presenting buckets of information. We show that the overhead for these additional capabilities is minimal to both the author and the user when compared to the equivalent process within NCSTRL.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brulles, Dina; Winebrenner, Susan
Schools need to address the needs of their students with high ability. Not only does this raise achievement levels schoolwide, it also attracts students from surrounding districts and recaptures advanced learners who left the school because their needs weren't being met. One practical intervention--cluster grouping--provides an inclusive…
Kamimura, Masayasu
Predictive power of theory needs good models and accurate calculation methods to solve the Schroedinger equations of the systems concerned. We present some examples of successful predictions based on the nuclear cluster models of light nuclei and hypernuclei and on the calculation methods that have been developed by Kyushu group.
Construction Cluster Skills Standards.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
DePaul Univ., Chicago, IL. Built Environment Partnership.
Twelve construction cluster skill standards and associated benchmarks were developed as part of a federally funded school-to-work initiative that included the following parties: the Chicago Public Schools; City Colleges of Chicago; and business, labor, and community organizations. The standards, which include core academic, generic workplace…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Laakso, H.; Perry, C. H.; Escoubet, C. P.; McCaffrey, S.; Herment, D.; Esson, S.; Bowen, H.; Buggy, O.; Taylor, M. G.
The four-satellite Cluster mission investigates small-scale structures (in three dimensions) of the Earth's plasma environment, such as those involved in the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetospheric plasma, in global magnetotail dynamics, in cross-tail currents, and in the formation and dynamics of the neutral line and of plasmoids. The Cluster Active Archive CAA (http://caa.estec.esa.int/) will contain the entire set of Cluster high resolution data and other allied products in a standard format and with a complete set of metadata in machine readable form. The data archived are (1) publicly accessible, (2) of the best quality achievable with the given resources, and (3) suitable for science use and publication by both the Cluster and broader scientific community. The CAA to provide user friendly services for searching and accessing these data, e.g. users can save and restore their selections speeding up similar requests. The CAA is continuing to extend and improve the online capabilities of the system, e.g., the CAA products can be downloaded either via a web interface or a machine accessible interface.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Walraven, Catherine; And Others
These instructional materials consist of a series of curriculum worksheets that cover tasks to be mastered by students in health occupations cluster programs. Covered in the curriculum worksheets are diagnostic procedures; observing/recording/reporting/planning; safety; nutrition/elimination; hygiene/personal care/comfort;…
Schultz, A.B.
A cluster of nuclear fuel rods and a tubular casing therefor through which a coolant flows in heat-exchange contact with the fuel rods is described. The fuel rcds are held in the casing by virtue of the compressive force exerted between longitudinal ribs of the fuel rcds and internal ribs of the casing or the internal surfaces thereof.
Clustering in Bubble Suspensions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zenit, Roberto
A monidisperse bubble suspension is studied experimentally for the limit in which the Weber number is small and the Reynolds number is large. For this regime the suspension can be modeled using potential flow theory to describe the dynamics of the interstitial fluid. Complete theoretical descriptions have been composed (Spelt and Sangani, 1998) to model the behavior of these suspensions. Bubble clustering is a natural instability that arises from the potential flow considerations, in which bubbles tend to align in horizontal rafts as they move upwards. The appearance of bubble clusters was recently corroborated experimentally by Zenit et al. (2000), who found that although clusters did appear, their strength was not as strong as the predictions. Experiments involving gravity driven shear flows are used to explain the nature of the clustering observed in these type of flows. Balances of the bubble phase pressure (in terms of a calculated diffusion coefficient) and the Maxwell pressure (from the potential flow description) are presented to predict the stability of the bubble suspension. The predictions are compared with experimental results.
Curriculum Guide Construction Cluster.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kline, Ken
As part of a model construction cluster curriculum development project, this guide was developed and implemented in the Beaverton (Oregon) School District. The curriculum guide contains 16 units covering the following topics: introduction to construction jobs; safety and first aid; blueprint readings; basic mathematics; site work; framing; roofing…
Detecting alternative graph clusterings.
Mandala, Supreet; Kumara, Soundar; Yao, Tao
The problem of graph clustering or community detection has enjoyed a lot of attention in complex networks literature. A quality function, modularity, quantifies the strength of clustering and on maximization yields sensible partitions. However, in most real world networks, there are an exponentially large number of near-optimal partitions with some being very different from each other. Therefore, picking an optimal clustering among the alternatives does not provide complete information about network topology. To tackle this problem, we propose a graph perturbation scheme which can be used to identify an ensemble of near-optimal and diverse clusterings. We establish analytical properties of modularity function under the perturbation which ensures diversity. Our approach is algorithm independent and therefore can leverage any of the existing modularity maximizing algorithms. We numerically show that our methodology can systematically identify very different partitions on several existing data sets. The knowledge of diverse partitions sheds more light into the topological organization and helps gain a more complete understanding of the underlying complex network. PMID:23005495
Detecting alternative graph clusterings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mandala, Supreet; Kumara, Soundar; Yao, Tao
The problem of graph clustering or community detection has enjoyed a lot of attention in complex networks literature. A quality function, modularity, quantifies the strength of clustering and on maximization yields sensible partitions. However, in most real world networks, there are an exponentially large number of near-optimal partitions with some being very different from each other. Therefore, picking an optimal clustering among the alternatives does not provide complete information about network topology. To tackle this problem, we propose a graph perturbation scheme which can be used to identify an ensemble of near-optimal and diverse clusterings. We establish analytical properties of modularity function under the perturbation which ensures diversity. Our approach is algorithm independent and therefore can leverage any of the existing modularity maximizing algorithms. We numerically show that our methodology can systematically identify very different partitions on several existing data sets. The knowledge of diverse partitions sheds more light into the topological organization and helps gain a more complete understanding of the underlying complex network.
Health Occupations Cluster Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oregon State Dept. of Education, Salem.
Intended to assist the vocational teacher in designing and implementing a cluster program in health occupations, this guide suggests ideas for teaching the specific knowledge and skills that qualify students for entry-level employment in the health occupations field. The knowledge and skills are applicable to 12 occupations: dental assistant;…
PDMS embedded Ag clusters: Coalescence and cluster-matrix interaction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Roese, S.; Engemann, D.; Hoffmann, S.; Latussek, K.; Sternemann, C.; Hövel, H.
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has proven to be a suitable embedding medium for silver clusters to prevent aggregation. In order to investigate the influence of the PDMS on the electronic and local atomic structure of the clusters the measurement of x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra for different coverages of silver clusters in PDMS and calculations of corresponding XANES spectra have been performed. The coalescence process and the cluster-PDMS interaction were investigated with XANES.
Femtosecond dynamics of cluster expansion
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gao, Xiaohui; Wang, Xiaoming; Shim, Bonggu; Arefiev, Alexey; Tushentsov, Mikhail; Breizman, Boris; Downer, Mike
Noble gas clusters irradiated by intense ultrafast laser expand quickly and become typical plasma in picosecond time scale. During the expansion, the clustered plasma demonstrates unique optical properties such as strong absorption and positive contribution to the refractive index. Here we studied cluster expansion dynamics by fs-time-resolved refractive index and absorption measurements in cluster gas jets after ionization and heating by an intense pump pulse. The refractive index measured by frequency domain interferometry (FDI) shows the transient positive peak of refractive index due to clustered plasma. By separating it from the negative contribution of the monomer plasma, we are able to determine the cluster fraction. The absorption measured by a delayed probe shows the contribution from clusters of various sizes. The plasma resonances in the cluster explain the enhancement of the absorption in our isothermal expanding cluster model. The cluster size distribution can be determined. A complete understanding of the femtosecond dynamics of cluster expansion is essential in the accurate interpretation and control of laser-cluster experiments such as phase-matched harmonic generation in cluster medium.
The Rotation of Galaxy Clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tovmassian, H. M.
The method for detection of the galaxy cluster rotation based on the study of distribution of member galaxies with velocities lower and higher than the cluster mean velocity over the cluster image is proposed. The search for rotation is made for flat clusters with a/b > 1.8 and BMI type clusters which are expected to be rotating. For comparison there were studied also round clusters and clusters of NBMI type, the second by brightness galaxy, which does not differ significantly from the cluster cD galaxy. Seventeen out of studied 65 clusters are found to be rotating. It was found that the detection rate is sufficiently high for flat clusters, over 60%, and clusters of BMI type with dominant cD galaxy, ≈ 35% . The obtained results show that clusters were formed from the huge primordial gas clouds and preserved the rotation of the primordial clouds, unless they did not experience mergings with other clusters and groups of galaxies, as a result of which the rotation was prevented.
Cluster Active Archive: Overview
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Laakso, H.; Perry, C.; McCaffrey, S.; Herment, D.; Allen, A. J.; Harvey, C. C.; Escoubet, C. P.; Gruenberger, C.; Taylor, M. G. G. T.; Turner, R.
The four-satellite Cluster mission investigates the small-scale structures and physical processes related to interaction between the solar wind and the magnetospheric plasma. The Cluster Active Archive (CAA) (URL: http://caa.estec.esa.int) will contain the entire set of Cluster high-resolution data and other allied products in a standard format and with a complete set of metadata in machine readable format. The total amount of the data files in compressed format is expected to exceed 50 TB. The data archive is publicly accessible and suitable for science use and publication by the world-wide scientific community. The CAA aims to provide user-friendly services for searching and accessing these data and ancillary products. The CAA became operational in February 2006 and as of Summer 2008 has data from most of the Cluster instruments for at least the first 5 years of operations (2001-2005). The coverage and range of products are being continually improved with more than 200 datasets available from each spacecraft, including high-resolution magnetic and electric DC fields and wave spectra; full three-dimensional electron and ion distribution functions from a few eV to hundreds of keV; and various ancillary and browse products to help with spacecraft and event location. The CAA is continuing to extend and improve the online capabilities of the system and the quality of the existing data. It will add new data files for years 2006-2009 and is preparing for the long-term archive with complete coverage after the completion of the Cluster mission.
Choosing the Number of Clusters in K-Means Clustering
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Steinley, Douglas; Brusco, Michael J.
Steinley (2007) provided a lower bound for the sum-of-squares error criterion function used in K-means clustering. In this article, on the basis of the lower bound, the authors propose a method to distinguish between 1 cluster (i.e., a single distribution) versus more than 1 cluster. Additionally, conditional on indicating there are multiple…
Animation of the Phoenix Cluster
This animation shows how large numbers of stars form in the Phoenix Cluster. It begins by showing several galaxies in the cluster and hot gas (in red). This hot gas contains more normal matter than...
The Assembly of Galaxy Clusters
Berrier, Joel C.; Stewart, Kyle R.; Bullock, James S.; Purcell, Chris W.; Barton, Elizabeth J.; Wechsler, Risa H.
We study the formation of fifty-three galaxy cluster-size dark matter halos (M = 10{sup 14.0-14.76} M{sub {circle_dot}}) formed within a pair of cosmological {Lambda}CDM N-body simulations, and track the accretion histories of cluster subhalos with masses large enough to host {approx} 0.1L{sub *} galaxies. By associating subhalos with cluster galaxies, we find the majority of galaxies in clusters experience no 'pre-processing' in the group environment prior to their accretion into the cluster. On average, {approx} 70% of cluster galaxies fall into the cluster potential directly from the field, with no luminous companions in their host halos at the time of accretion; and less than {approx} 12% are accreted as members of groups with five or more galaxies. Moreover, we find that cluster galaxies are significantly less likely to have experienced a merger in the recent past ({approx}< 6 Gyr) than a field halo of the same mass. These results suggest that local, cluster processes like ram-pressure stripping, galaxy harassment, or strangulation play the dominant role in explaining the difference between cluster and field populations at a fixed stellar mass; and that pre-evolution or past merging in the group environment is of secondary importance for setting cluster galaxy properties for most clusters. The accretion times for z = 0 cluster members are quite extended, with {approx} 20% incorporated into the cluster halo more than 7 Gyr ago and {approx} 20% within the last 2 Gyr. By comparing the observed morphological fractions in cluster and field populations, we estimate an approximate time-scale for late-type to early-type transformation within the cluster environment to be {approx} 6 Gyr.
[Cluster analysis in biomedical researches].
Akopov, A S; Moskovtsev, A A; Dolenko, S A; Savina, G D
Cluster analysis is one of the most popular methods for the analysis of multi-parameter data. The cluster analysis reveals the internal structure of the data, group the separate observations on the degree of their similarity. The review provides a definition of the basic concepts of cluster analysis, and discusses the most popular clustering algorithms: k-means, hierarchical algorithms, Kohonen networks algorithms. Examples are the use of these algorithms in biomedical research. PMID:24640781
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Panek, R. J.
Photography through filters which suppress nebular light reveal a clustering of faint red stars centered on the Trapezium, this evidences a distinct cluster within the larger OB1 association. Stars within about 20 ft of trapezium comprise the Orion Nebula star cluster are considered. Topics discussed re: (1) extinction by dust grains; (2) photometric peculiarities; (3) spectroscopic peculiarities; (4) young variables; (5) the distribution and motion of gas within the cluster.
Clustering signatures classify directed networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ahnert, S. E.; Fink, T. M. A.
We use a clustering signature, based on a recently introduced generalization of the clustering coefficient to directed networks, to analyze 16 directed real-world networks of five different types: social networks, genetic transcription networks, word adjacency networks, food webs, and electric circuits. We show that these five classes of networks are cleanly separated in the space of clustering signatures due to the statistical properties of their local neighborhoods, demonstrating the usefulness of clustering signatures as a classifier of directed networks.
Observations of Distant Clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Donahue, Megan
The is the proceedings and papers supported by the LTSA grant: Homer, D. J.\\& Donahue, M. 2003, in "The Emergence of Cosmic Structure": 13'h Astrophysics Conference Proceedings, Vol. 666,3 1 1-3 14, (AIP). Baumgartner, W. H., Loewenstein, M., Horner, D. J., Mushotzky, R. F. 2003, HEAD- AAS, 35.3503. Homer, D. J. , Donahue, M., Voit G. M. 2003, HEAD-AAS, 35.1309. Nowak, M. A., Smith, B., Donahue, M., Stocke, J. 2003, HEAD-AAS, 35.1316. Scott, D., Borys, C., Chapman, S. C., Donahue, M., Fahlman, G. G., Halpem, M. Newbury, P. 2002, AAS, 128.01. Jones, L. R. et al. 2002, A new era in cosmology, ASP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 283, p. 223 Donahue, M., Daly, R. A., Homer, D. J. 2003, ApJ, 584, 643, Constraints on the Cluster Environments and Hotspot magnetic field strengths for radio sources 3280 and 3254. Donahue, M., et al. 2003, ApJ, 598, 190. The mass, baryonic fraction, and x-ray temperature of the luminous, high-redshift cluster of galaxies MS045 1.6-0305 Perlman, E. S. et al. 2002, ApJS, 140, 256. Smith, B. J., Nowak, M., Donahue, M., Stocke, J. 2003, AJ, 126, 1763. Chandra Observations of the Interacting NGC44 10 Group of Galaxies. Postman, M., Lauer, T. R., Oegerle, W., Donahue, M. 2002, ApJ, 579, 93. The KPNO/deep-range cluster survey I. The catalog and space density of intermediate-redshift clusters. Molnar, S. M., Hughes, J. P., Donahue, M., Joy, M. 2002, ApJ, 573, L91, Chandra Observations of Unresolved X-Ray Sources around Two Clusters of Galaxies. Donahue, M., Mack, J., 2002 NewAR, 46, 155, HST NIcmos and WFPC2 observations of molecular hydrogen and dust around cooling flows. Koekemoer, A. M. et al. 2002 NewAR, 46, 149, Interactions between the A2597 central radio source and dense gas host galaxy. Donahue, M. et al. 2002 ApJ, 569,689, Distant cluster hunting II.
Derivatized gold clusters and antibody-gold cluster conjugates
Hainfeld, James F.; Furuya, Frederic R.
Antibody- or antibody fragment-gold cluster conjugates are shown wherein the conjugate size can be as small as 5.0 nm. Methods and reagents are disclosed in which antibodies, Fab' or F(ab').sub.2 fragments thereof are covalently bound to a stable cluster of gold atoms. The gold clusters may contain 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 55 or 67 gold atoms in their inner core. The clusters may also contain radioactive gold. The antibody-cluster conjugates are useful in electron microscopy applications as well as in clinical applications that include imaging, diagnosis and therapy.
Derivatized gold clusters and antibody-gold cluster conjugates
Hainfeld, J.F.; Furuya, F.R.
Antibody- or antibody fragment-gold cluster conjugates are shown wherein the conjugate size can be as small as 5.0 nm. Methods and reagents are disclosed in which antibodies, Fab' or F(ab')[sub 2] fragments are covalently bound to a stable cluster of gold atoms. The gold clusters may contain 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 55 or 67 gold atoms in their inner core. The clusters may also contain radioactive gold. The antibody-cluster conjugates are useful in electron microscopy applications as well as in clinical applications that include imaging, diagnosis and therapy. 7 figs.
Adaptive Clustering of Hypermedia Documents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Andrew; Fotouhi, Farshad
Discussion of hypermedia systems focuses on a comparison of two types of adaptive algorithm (genetic algorithm and neural network) in clustering hypermedia documents. These clusters allow the user to index into the nodes to find needed information more quickly, since clustering is "personalized" based on the user's paths rather than representing…
Connecting Remote Clusters with ATM
Hu, T.C.; Wyckoff, P.S.
Sandia's entry into utilizing clusters of networked workstations is called Computational Plant or CPlant for short. The design of CPlant uses Ethernet to boot the individual nodes, Myrinet to communicate within a node cluster, and ATM to connect between remote clusters. This SAND document covers the work done to enable the use of ATM on the CPlant nodes in the Fall of 1997.
Gas deficiency in cluster galaxies - A comparison of nine clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Giovanelli, R.; Haynes, M. P.
The available 21 cm line data in the literature for galaxies in nine clusters is combined with new high-sensitivity observations of 51 galaxies in five of the nine clusters in order to test for discriminating circumstances between those clusters which show H I deficiency among their spiral population and those which do not. An H I deficiency for the complete cluster sample is derived employing a comparison sample of galaxies chosen from the Catalog of Isolated Galaxies. The deficiency and its radial dependence is summarized for each cluster and a composite. A comparison of the environments in different clusters leads to the conclusion that the occurrence of H I deficiency is correlated with the presence of a hot X-ray intracluster medium, and that an ongoing interaction process is active through the cores of X-ray clusters.
Hydrated hydride anion clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Han Myoung; Kim, Dongwook; Singh, N. Jiten; Kołaski, Maciej; Kim, Kwang S.
On the basis of density functional theory (DFT) and high level ab initio theory, we report the structures, binding energies, thermodynamic quantities, IR spectra, and electronic properties of the hydride anion hydrated by up to six water molecules. Ground state DFT molecular dynamics simulations (based on the Born-Oppenheimer potential surface) show that as the temperature increases, the surface-bound hydride anion changes to the internally bound structure. Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations are also carried out for the spectral analysis of the monohydrated hydride. Excited-state ab initio molecular dynamics simulations show that the photoinduced charge-transfer-to-solvent phenomena are accompanied by the formation of the excess electron-water clusters and the detachment of the H radical from the clusters. The dynamics of the detachment process of a hydrogen radical upon the excitation is discussed.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Toth, L. Viktor; Marton, Gabor; Zahorecz, Sarolta
The all-sky Planck catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCC, Planck 2015 results XXVIII 2015) allows an almost unbiased study of the early phases of star-formation in our Galaxy. Several thousand of the clumps have also distance estimates allowing a mass, and density determination. The nature of Planck clumps varies from IRDCs to tiny nearby cold clouds with masses ranging from one to several tens of thousands solar masses. Some of the clumps are embedded in GMCs, others are isolated. Some are close or even very close to OB associations, while others lay far from any UV luminous objects.The small scale clustering of these objects was studied with the improved Minimum Spanning Tree method of Cartwright & Whitworth identifying groups in 3D space. As a result also massive cold cloud clusters were identified. We analyse the MST structures, and discuss their relation to ongoing and future massive star formation.
Fractal polyzirconosiloxane cluster coatings
Sugama, T.
Fractal polyzirconosiloxane (PZS) cluster films were prepared through the hydrolysis-polycondensation-pyrolysis synthesis of two-step HCl acid-NaOH base catalyzed sol precursors consisting of N-[3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl]-4,5-dihydroimidazole, Zr(OC{sub 3}H{sub 7}){sub 4}, methanol, and water. When amorphous PZSs were applied to aluminum as protective coatings against NaCl-induced corrosion, the effective film was that derived from the sol having a pH near the isoelectric point in the positive zeta potential region. The following four factors played an important role in assembling the protective PZS coating films: (1) a proper rate of condensation, (2) a moderate ratio of Si-O-Si to Si-O-Zr linkages formed in the PZS network, (3) hydrophobic characteristics, and (4) a specific microstructural geometry, in which large fractal clusters were linked together.
Fractal polyzirconosiloxane cluster coatings
Sugama, T.
Fractal polyzirconosiloxane (PZS) cluster films were prepared through the hydrolysis-polycondensation-pyrolysis synthesis of two-step HCl acid-NaOH base catalyzed sol precursors consisting of N-(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl)-4,5-dihydroimidazole, Zr(OC{sub 3}H{sub 7}){sub 4}, methanol, and water. When amorphous PZSs were applied to aluminum as protective coatings against NaCl-induced corrosion, the effective film was that derived from the sol having a pH near the isoelectric point in the positive zeta potential region. The following four factors played an important role in assembling the protective PZS coating films: (1) a proper rate of condensation, (2) a moderate ratio of Si-O-Si to Si-O-Zr linkages formed in the PZS network, (3) hydrophobic characteristics, and (4) a specific microstructural geometry, in which large fractal clusters were linked together.
Clusterization in Ternary Fission
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kamanin, D. V.; Pyatkov, Y. V.
This lecture notes are devoted to the new kind of ternary decay of low excited heavy nuclei called by us "collinear cluster tri-partition" (CCT) due to the features of the effect observed, namely, decay partners fly away almost collinearly and at least one of them has magic nucleon composition. At the early stage of our work the process of "true ternary fission" (fission of the nucleus into three fragments of comparable masses) was considered to be undiscovered for low excited heavy nuclei. Another possible prototype—three body cluster radioactivity—was also unknown. The most close to the CCT phenomenon, at least cinematically, stands so called "polar emission", but only very light ions (up to isotopes of Be) were observed so far.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-431, 24 July 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a cluster of old, small impact craters near 36.3oN, 281.9oW. The group of craters was probably formed by secondary impacts following a much larger impact that occurred some distance away; the material that created these craters would have been the ejecta from the larger crater, rather than meteoroids from outer space. The craters cluster is considered to be relatively old because none of the craters have ejecta blankets any more, and each was filled, or partially filled, with layered material that was later eroded to form the terraced mounds found in their floors. This picture is illuminated from the lower left.
Swirling granular solidlike clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Scherer, Michael A.; Kötter, Karsten; Markus, Mario; Goles, Eric; Rehberg, Ingo
Experiments and three-dimensional numerical simulations are presented to elucidate the dynamics of granular material in a cylindrical dish driven by a horizontal, periodic motion. The following phenomena are obtained both in the experiments and in the simulations: First, for large particle numbers N the particles describe hypocycloidal trajectories. In this state the particles are embedded in a solidlike cluster (``pancake'') which counter-rotates with respect to the external driving (reptation). Self-organization within the cluster occurs such that the probability distribution of the particles consists of concentric rings. Second, the system undergoes phase transitions. These can be identified by changes of the quantity dEkin/dN (Ekin is the mean kinetic energy) between zero (rotation), positive (reptation), and negative values (appearance of the totality of concentric rings).
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Weinmann, Simone M.; Kauffmann, Guinevere; von der Linden, Anja; De Lucia, Gabriella
We investigate how the specific star formation rates of galaxies of different masses depend on cluster-centric radius and on the central/satellite dichotomy in both field and cluster environments. Recent data from a variety of sources, including the cluster catalogue of von der Linden et al., are compared to the semi-analytic models of De Lucia & Blaizot. We find that these models predict too many passive satellite galaxies in clusters, too few passive central galaxies with low stellar masses and too many passive central galaxies with high masses. We then outline a series of modifications to the model necessary to solve these problems: (a) instead of instantaneous stripping of the external gas reservoir after a galaxy becomes a satellite, the gas supply is assumed to decrease at the same rate that the surrounding halo loses mass due to tidal stripping and (b) the active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback efficiency is lowered to bring the fraction of massive passive centrals in better agreement with the data. We also allow for radio mode AGN feedback in satellite galaxies. (c) We assume that satellite galaxies residing in host haloes with masses below 1012h-1Msolar do not undergo any stripping. We highlight the fact that in low-mass galaxies, the external reservoir is composed primarily of gas that has been expelled from the galactic disc by supernovae-driven winds. This gas must remain available as a future reservoir for star formation, even in satellite galaxies. Finally, we present a simple recipe for the stripping of gas and dark matter in satellites that can be used in models where subhalo evolution is not followed in detail.
Cosmology, Clusters and Calorimeters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Figueroa-Feliciano, Enectali
I will review the current state of Cosmology with Clusters and discuss the application of microcalorimeter arrays to this field. With the launch of Astro-E2 this summer and a slew of new missions being developed, microcalorimeters are the next big thing in x-ray astronomy. I will cover the basics and not-so-basic concepts of microcalorimeter designs and look at the future to see where this technology will go.
Embedded Clusters in Molecular Clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lada, Charles J.; Lada, Elizabeth A.
Stellar clusters are born embedded within giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and during their formation and early evolution are often only visible at infrared wavelengths, being heavily obscured by dust. Over the past 15 years advances in infrared detection capabilities have enabled the first systematic studies of embedded clusters in galactic molecular clouds. In this article we review the current state of empirical knowledge concerning these extremely young protocluster systems. From a survey of the literature we compile the first extensive catalog of galactic embedded clusters. We use the catalog to construct the mass function and estimate the birthrate for embedded clusters within 2 kpc of the sun. We find that the embedded cluster birthrate exceeds that of visible open clusters by an order of magnitude or more indicating a high infant mortality rate for protocluster systems. Less than 4-7% of embedded clusters survive emergence from molecular clouds to become bound clusters of Pleiades age. The vast majority (90%) of stars that form in embedded clusters form in rich clusters of 100 or more members with masses in excess of 50 M⊙. Moreover, observations of nearby cloud complexes indicate that embedded clusters account for a significant (70-90%) fraction of all stars formed in GMCs. We review the role of embedded clusters in investigating the nature of the initial mass function (IMF) that, in one nearby example, has been measured over the entire range of stellar and substellar mass, from OB stars to substellar objects near the deuterium burning limit. We also review the role embedded clusters play in the investigation of circumstellar disk evolution and the important constraints they provide for understanding the origin of planetary systems. Finally, we discuss current ideas concerning the origin and dynamical evolution of embedded clusters and the implications for the formation of bound open clusters.
Astrophysics of galaxy clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ettori, Stefano
As the nodes of the cosmic web, clusters of galaxies trace the large-scale distribution of matter in the Universe. They are thus privileged sites in which to investigate the complex physics of structure formation. However, the complete story of how these structures grow, and how they dissipate the gravitational and non-thermal components of their energy budget over cosmic time, is still beyond our grasp. Most of the baryons gravitationally bound to the cluster's halo is in the form of a diffuse, hot, metal-enriched plasma that radiates primarily in the X-ray band. X-ray observations of the evolving cluster population provide a unique opportunity to address such fundamental open questions as: How do hot diffuse baryons accrete and dynamically evolve in dark matter potentials? How and when was the energy that we observe in the ICM generated and distributed? Where and when are heavy elements produced and how are they circulated? We will present the ongoing activities to define the strategy on how an X-ray observatory with large collecting area and an unprecedented combination of high spectral and angular resolution, such as Athena, can address these questions.
Multiscale hierarchical support vector clustering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hansen, Michael Saas; Holm, David Alberg; Sjöstrand, Karl; Ley, Carsten Dan; Rowland, Ian John; Larsen, Rasmus
Clustering is the preferred choice of method in many applications, and support vector clustering (SVC) has proven efficient for clustering noisy and high-dimensional data sets. A method for multiscale support vector clustering is demonstrated, using the recently emerged method for fast calculation of the entire regularization path of the support vector domain description. The method is illustrated on artificially generated examples, and applied for detecting blood vessels from high resolution time series of magnetic resonance imaging data. The obtained results are robust while the need for parameter estimation is reduced, compared to support vector clustering.
Stormy weather in galaxy clusters
Recent x-ray, optical, and radio observations coupled with particle and gas dynamics numerical simulations reveal an unexpectedly complex environment within clusters of galaxies, driven by ongoing accretion of matter from large-scale supercluster filaments. Mergers between clusters and continuous infall of dark matter and baryons from the cluster periphery produce long-lived "stormy weather" within the gaseous cluster atmosphere-shocks, turbulence, and winds of more than 1000 kilometers per second. This weather may be responsible for shaping a rich variety of extended radio sources, which in turn act as "barometers" and "anemometers" of cluster weather. PMID:9545210
Cluster headache after orbital exenteration.
Evers, S; Sörös, P; Brilla, R; Gerding, H; Husstedt, I W
A 37-year-old man developed an ipsilateral headache which fulfilled the criteria for cluster headache after orbital extenteration because of a traumatic lesion of the bulb. The headache could be treated successfully by drugs usually applied in the therapy of cluster headache. Six similar cases of cluster headache after orbital exenteration could be identified in the literature suggesting that the eye itself is not necessarily part of the pathogenesis of cluster headache. We hypothesize that orbital exenteration can cause cluster headache by lesions of sympathetic structures. Possibly, these mechanisms are similar to those of sympathetic reflex dystrophy (Sudeck-Leriche syndrome) causing pain of the limbs. PMID:9350391
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
2005-01-01[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Figure 1 Stellar Snowflake Cluster Combined Image [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Figure 2 Infrared Array CameraFigure 3 Multiband Imaging Photometer Newborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the Christmas Tree cluster from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, created in joint effort between Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer instruments. The newly revealed infant stars appear as pink and red specks toward the center of the combined image (fig. 1). The stars appear to have formed in regularly spaced intervals along linear structures in a configuration that resembles the spokes of a wheel or the pattern of a snowflake. Hence, astronomers have nicknamed this the 'Snowflake' cluster. Star-forming clouds like this one are dynamic and evolving structures. Since the stars trace the straight line pattern of spokes of a wheel, scientists believe that these are newborn stars, or 'protostars.' At a mere 100,000 years old, these infant structures have yet to 'crawl' away from their location of birth. Over time, the natural drifting motions of each star will break this order, and the snowflake design will be no more. While most of the visible-light stars that give the Christmas Tree cluster its name and triangular shape do not shine brightly in Spitzer's infrared eyes, all of the stars forming from this dusty cloud are considered part of the cluster. Like a dusty cosmic finger pointing up to the newborn clusters, Spitzer also illuminates the optically dark and dense Cone nebula, the tip of which can be seen towards the bottom left corner of each image. This combined image shows the presence of organic molecules mixed with dust as wisps of green, which have been illuminated by nearby star formation. The larger yellowish dots neighboring the baby red stars in the Snowflake Cluster are massive stellar infants forming
Convex Clustering: An Attractive Alternative to Hierarchical Clustering
Chen, Gary K.; Chi, Eric C.; Ranola, John Michael O.; Lange, Kenneth
The primary goal in cluster analysis is to discover natural groupings of objects. The field of cluster analysis is crowded with diverse methods that make special assumptions about data and address different scientific aims. Despite its shortcomings in accuracy, hierarchical clustering is the dominant clustering method in bioinformatics. Biologists find the trees constructed by hierarchical clustering visually appealing and in tune with their evolutionary perspective. Hierarchical clustering operates on multiple scales simultaneously. This is essential, for instance, in transcriptome data, where one may be interested in making qualitative inferences about how lower-order relationships like gene modules lead to higher-order relationships like pathways or biological processes. The recently developed method of convex clustering preserves the visual appeal of hierarchical clustering while ameliorating its propensity to make false inferences in the presence of outliers and noise. The solution paths generated by convex clustering reveal relationships between clusters that are hidden by static methods such as k-means clustering. The current paper derives and tests a novel proximal distance algorithm for minimizing the objective function of convex clustering. The algorithm separates parameters, accommodates missing data, and supports prior information on relationships. Our program CONVEXCLUSTER incorporating the algorithm is implemented on ATI and nVidia graphics processing units (GPUs) for maximal speed. Several biological examples illustrate the strengths of convex clustering and the ability of the proximal distance algorithm to handle high-dimensional problems. CONVEXCLUSTER can be freely downloaded from the UCLA Human Genetics web site at http://www.genetics.ucla.edu/software/ PMID:25965340
Moreland, Blythe; /Michigan U. /SLAC
When is a dark matter halo 'relaxed'? In our efforts to understand the structure of the universe, dark matter simulations have provided essential grounds for theoretical predictions. These simulations provide a wealth of ways of parameterizing and measuring the features of astronomical objects. It is these measurements on which we base comparisons of our world and our attempts to re-create it. One of the essential questions dark matter simulations help address is how dark matter halos evolve. How does one characterize different states of that evolution? The focus of this project is identifying cluster relaxedness and how it relates to the internal structure of the halo. A dark matter simulation consists of an N-body simulation which takes an initial set of positions and velocities of the dark matter particles and evolves them under the influence of gravity [6]. Though scientists have so far not been able to detect dark matter particles, the information from these simulations is still valuable especially given the relationship between dark matter halos and galaxy clusters. Galaxies sit within dark matter halos and recent evidence points to filaments of dark matter forming the framework on which galaxy clusters grow [7]. A dark matter halo is a collapsed group of gravitationally bound dark matter particles. Subsets of bound particles form subhalos or substructures. The dark matter simulation is carried out over time - with decreasing redshift (z) or increasing scale factor (a = 1/1+z ). (Thus, z = 0 or a = 1.0 is present-day.) The merger history of a halo can be represented pictorally by a merger tree. A major merger event occurs when a structure joins the main halo with the mass ratio between it and the main halo being above a certain threshold. These events mark important points in the halo's evolution. And it is at these events that one hopes, and perhaps is more likely, to relate measures of relaxedness to this mass accretion. Cluster relaxedness is not a well
GPU-based Multilevel Clustering.
Chiosa, Iurie; Kolb, Andreas
The processing power of parallel co-processors like the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) are dramatically increasing. However, up until now only a few approaches have been presented to utilize this kind of hardware for mesh clustering purposes. In this paper we introduce a Multilevel clustering technique designed as a parallel algorithm and solely implemented on the GPU. Our formulation uses the spatial coherence present in the cluster optimization and hierarchical cluster merging to significantly reduce the number of comparisons in both parts . Our approach provides a fast, high quality and complete clustering analysis. Furthermore, based on the original concept we present a generalization of the method to data clustering. All advantages of the meshbased techniques smoothly carry over to the generalized clustering approach. Additionally, this approach solves the problem of the missing topological information inherent to general data clustering and leads to a Local Neighbors k-means algorithm. We evaluate both techniques by applying them to Centroidal Voronoi Diagram (CVD) based clustering. Compared to classical approaches, our techniques generate results with at least the same clustering quality. Our technique proves to scale very well, currently being limited only by the available amount of graphics memory. PMID:20421676
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McNamara, D. H.
We examine the luminosity levels of the main-sequence turnoffs, MTOv, and horizontal branches, Mv(HB), in 16 globular clusters. An entirely new approach of inferring the luminosity levels by utilizing high-amplitude δ Scuti variables (HADS) is introduced. When the MTOv values are compared with theoretical values inferred from models, we find all 16 clusters (metal-strong to metal-poor) are coeval with an average age of ~11.3 Gyr. A considerable scatter of Mv(HB) values of clusters at similar [Fe/H] values is found. A trend for clusters with blue horizontal branches to have brighter Mv(HB) than clusters with blue-red horizontal branches is suggested by the data. The Mv(HB) values appear to depend on another or other parameters in addition to the [Fe/H] values. In spite of this problem, we derive an equation relating Mv(HB) values of globular clusters to their [Fe/H] values. We also derive an equation relating the MTOv values of clusters to their [Fe/H] values. Both of these equations can be utilized to find cluster distances. The distance modulus of the LMC is found to be 18.66 from the VTO values of three LMC globular clusters; RR Lyrae stars in seven globular clusters yield 18.61, and RR Lyrae stars in the LMC bar yield 18.64.
Photoionization of argon clusters
Dehmer, Patricia M.; Pratt, Stephen T.
Argon clusters were produced in a free supersonic molecular beam expansion of pure argon at room temperature and the photoionization efficiency curves of the trimer through hexamer were measured in the wavelength regions from threshold to 700 Â. A study of the Ar⁺3 photoionization efficiency curve as a function of nozzle stagnation pressure shows that fragmentation of heavier clusters can dominate the spectrum, even near threshold, and even when the nozzle conditions are such that the Ar⁺4 intensity is only a small fraction of the Ar⁺3 intensity. The Ar⁺3 photoionization efficiency curve, obtained using nozzle stagnation conditions such that no heavier ions were detected, exhibits several broad peaks near threshold which show similarities to bands of the dimer. At high nozzle stagnation pressures, the photoionization efficiency curves for Ar⁺3 to Ar⁺6 are nearly identical due to the effects of fragmentation. These spectra exhibit two very broad features which are similar to features observed in the solid. The threshold regions for all the positive ions show extremely gradual onsets, making it difficult to determine the appearance potentials accurately. The appearance potentials for Ar⁺2 and Ar⁺3 are 855.0±1.5 and 865.0±1.5 Â, respectively, yielding a value of 0.18±0.05 eV for the dissociation energy of Ar⁺3. The appearance potentials for the heavier clusters Ar⁺4 through Ar⁺6 are all approximately 870±2 Â.
Velocity correlations of galaxy clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Cen, Renyue; Bahcall, Neta A.; Gramann, Mirt
We determine the velocity correlation function, pairwise peculiar velocity difference, and rms pairwise peculiar velocity dispersion of rich clusters of galaxies, as a function of pair separation, for three cosmological models: Omega = 1 and Omega = 0.3 cold dark matter (CDM), and Omega = 0.3 primeval baryonic isocurvature (PBI) models (all flat and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)-normalized). We find that close cluster pairs, with separation r is less than or equal to 10/h Mpc, exhibit strong attractive peculiar velocities in all models; the cluster pairwise velocities depend sensitively on the model. The mean pairwise attractive velocity of clusters on 5/h Mpc scale ranges from approximately 1700 km/s for Omega = 1 CDM to approximately 1000 km/s for PBI to approximately 700 km/s for Omega = 0.3 CDM. The small-scale pairwise velocities depend also on cluster mass: richer, more massive clusters exhibit stronger attractive velocities than less massive clusters. On large scales, from approximately 20 to 200/h Mpc, the cluster peculiar velocities are increasingly dominated by bulk and random motions; they are independent of cluster mass. The cluster velocity correlation function is negative on small scales for Omega = 1 and Omega = 0.3 CDM, indicating strong pairwise motion relative to bulk motion on small scales; PBI exhibits relatively larger bulk motions. The cluster velocity correlation function is positive on very large scales, from r approximately 10/h Mpc to r approximately 200/h Mpc, for all models. These positive correlations, which decrease monotonically with scale, indicate significant bulk motions of clusters up to approximately 200/h Mpc. The strong dependence of the cluster velocity functions on models, especially at small separations, makes them useful tools in constraining cosmological models when compared with observations.
Poxvirus Orthologous Clusters (POCs).
Ehlers, Angelika; Osborne, John; Slack, Stephanie; Roper, Rachel L; Upton, Chris
Poxvirus Orthologous Clusters (POCs) is a JAVA client-server application which accesses an updated database containing all complete poxvirus genomes; it automatically groups orthologous genes into families based on BLASTP scores for assessment by a human database curator. POCs has a user-friendly interface permitting complex SQL queries to retrieve interesting groups of DNA and protein sequences as well as gene families for subsequent interrogation by a variety of integrated tools: BLASTP, BLASTX, TBLASTN, Jalview (multiple alignment), Dotlet (Dotplot), Laj (local alignment), and NAP (nucleotide to amino acid alignment). PMID:12424130
Are Earthquake Magnitudes Clustered?
Davidsen, Joern; Green, Adam
The question of earthquake predictability is a long-standing and important challenge. Recent results [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 098501 (2007); ibid.100, 038501 (2008)] have suggested that earthquake magnitudes are clustered, thus indicating that they are not independent in contrast to what is typically assumed. Here, we present evidence that the observed magnitude correlations are to a large extent, if not entirely, an artifact due to the incompleteness of earthquake catalogs and the well-known modified Omori law. The latter leads to variations in the frequency-magnitude distribution if the distribution is constrained to those earthquakes that are close in space and time to the directly following event.
Properties of The Brightest Cluster Galaxy and Its Host Cluster
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Katayama, H.; Hayashida, K.; Takahara, F.
We investigate the relation between the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) and its host cluster. A BCG is a bright and massive elliptical galaxy in a cluster of galaxies. The luminosity of a BCG is 10 times larger than that of normal field galaxy and the mass of a BCG is about 1013Msolar which corresponds to that of galaxy group. In order to explain the origin of BCGs, the following three models are proposed: (1) star formation from cooling flow. In this model, intracluster gas gradually condenses at the center of the cluster and forms the BCG. (2) ``Galactic cannibalism'' or the accretion of smaller galaxies. In this model, dynamical friction accounts for the formation of the BCG. These two models predict the BCG evolves with the evolution of cluster. (3) Galaxy merging in the early history of the formation of the cluster. In this model, the property of BCGs is determined no later than cluster collapse. In any model, the formation of BCGs is related to the collapse and formation of its host cluster. The relation between the BCG and its host cluster was studied by Edge (1991). Edge (1991) found that the optical luminosity of the BCG is positively correlated with the X-ray luminosity and temperature of its host cluster. Edge (1991) concludes that these correlations indicate that the BCG responds to the overall cluster properties. In order to investigate the other relation between the BCG and its host cluster, we analyzed ROSAT archival data and compared the displacement between the X-ray peak and the BCG with the Z parameter of the fundamental relation found by Fujita and Takahara (1999). It is found that the displacement is larger with decreasing Z. Furthermore, the large Z clusters tend to have a regular X-ray profile, which implies a relaxed system. The fundamental parameter Z depends mainly on the virial density ρvir, and is considered to be related to the formation epoch of the cluster, i.e., large Z clusters are old clusters and small Z clusters are young
Modes of clustered star formation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pfalzner, S.; Kaczmarek, T.; Olczak, C.
Context. The recent realization that most stars form in clusters, immediately raises the question of whether star and planet formation are influenced by the cluster environment. The stellar density in the most prevalent clusters is the key factor here. Whether dominant modes of clustered star formation exist is a fundamental question. Using near-neighbour searches in young clusters, Bressert and collaborators claim this not to be the case. They conclude that - at least in the solar neighbourhood - star formation is continuous from isolated to densely clustered environments and that the environment plays a minor role in star and planet formation. Aims: We investigate under which conditions near-neighbour searches in young clusters can distinguish between different modes of clustered star formation. Methods: Model star clusters with different memberships and density distributions are set up and near-neighbour searches are performed. We investigate the influence of the combination of different cluster modes, observational biases, and types of diagnostic on the results. Results: We find that the specific cluster density profile, the relative sample sizes, the limitations of the observation, and the choice of diagnostic method decide, whether modelled modes of clustered star formation are detected by near-neighbour searches. For density distributions that are centrally concentrated but span a wide density range (for example, King profiles), separate cluster modes are only detectable under ideal conditions (sample selection, completeness) if the mean density of the individual clusters differs by at least a factor of ~65. Introducing a central cut-off can lead to an underestimate of the mean density by more than a factor of ten especially in high density regions. The environmental effect on star and planet formation is similarly underestimated for half of the population in dense systems. Conclusions: Local surface-density distributions are a very useful tool for single
Decaying neutrinos in galaxy clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Melott, Adrian L.; Splinter, Randall J.; Persic, Massimo; Salucci, Paolo
Davidsen et al. (1991) have argued that the failure to detect UV photons from the dark matter (DM) in cluster A665 excludes the decaying neutrino hypothesis. Sciama et al. (1993) argued that because of high central concentration the DM in that cluster must be baryonic. We study the DM profile in clusters of galaxies simulated using the Harrison-Zel'dovich spectrum of density fluctuations, and an amplitude previously derived from numerical simulations (Melott 1984b; Anninos et al. 1991) and in agreement with microwave background fluctuations (Smoot et al. 1992). We find that with this amplitude normalization cluster neutrino DM densities are comparable to observed cluster DM values. We conclude that given this normalization, the cluster DM should be at least largely composed of neutrinos. The constraint of Davidsen et al. can be somewhat weakened by the presence of baryonic DM; but it cannot be eliminated given our assumptions.
Textures and clusters. [of galaxies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bartlett, James G.; Gooding, Andrew K.; Spergel, David N.
We discuss the properties of galaxy clusters expected in a texture-seeded, CDM-dominated, Omega = 1 universe. Assuming that the textures are spherical, we use the spherical collapse model to compute the cluster velocity dispersion (or temperature) distribution function. For objects of mass 10 exp 11 to 10 exp 15 solar masses, we find v varies as M super gamma with gamma of about 0.25. An unbiased (b = 1) texture model predicts too many high-velocity dispersion clusters. A biased texture model appears to be compatible with cluster properties inferred from optical and X-ray observations. In the texture model, the cluster velocity distribution functio does not evolve rapidly; thus, the model predicts the existence of rich clusters at moderate redshift (about 1-2).
The SMART CLUSTER METHOD - adaptive earthquake cluster analysis and declustering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schaefer, Andreas; Daniell, James; Wenzel, Friedemann
Earthquake declustering is an essential part of almost any statistical analysis of spatial and temporal properties of seismic activity with usual applications comprising of probabilistic seismic hazard assessments (PSHAs) and earthquake prediction methods. The nature of earthquake clusters and subsequent declustering of earthquake catalogues plays a crucial role in determining the magnitude-dependent earthquake return period and its respective spatial variation. Various methods have been developed to address this issue from other researchers. These have differing ranges of complexity ranging from rather simple statistical window methods to complex epidemic models. This study introduces the smart cluster method (SCM), a new methodology to identify earthquake clusters, which uses an adaptive point process for spatio-temporal identification. Hereby, an adaptive search algorithm for data point clusters is adopted. It uses the earthquake density in the spatio-temporal neighbourhood of each event to adjust the search properties. The identified clusters are subsequently analysed to determine directional anisotropy, focussing on a strong correlation along the rupture plane and adjusts its search space with respect to directional properties. In the case of rapid subsequent ruptures like the 1992 Landers sequence or the 2010/2011 Darfield-Christchurch events, an adaptive classification procedure is applied to disassemble subsequent ruptures which may have been grouped into an individual cluster using near-field searches, support vector machines and temporal splitting. The steering parameters of the search behaviour are linked to local earthquake properties like magnitude of completeness, earthquake density and Gutenberg-Richter parameters. The method is capable of identifying and classifying earthquake clusters in space and time. It is tested and validated using earthquake data from California and New Zealand. As a result of the cluster identification process, each event in
Active matter clusters at interfaces.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Copenhagen, Katherine; Gopinathan, Ajay
Collective and directed motility or swarming is an emergent phenomenon displayed by many self-organized assemblies of active biological matter such as clusters of embryonic cells during tissue development, cancerous cells during tumor formation and metastasis, colonies of bacteria in a biofilm, or even flocks of birds and schools of fish at the macro-scale. Such clusters typically encounter very heterogeneous environments. What happens when a cluster encounters an interface between two different environments has implications for its function and fate. Here we study this problem by using a mathematical model of a cluster that treats it as a single cohesive unit that moves in two dimensions by exerting a force/torque per unit area whose magnitude depends on the nature of the local environment. We find that low speed (overdamped) clusters encountering an interface with a moderate difference in properties can lead to refraction or even total internal reflection of the cluster. For large speeds (underdamped), where inertia dominates, the clusters show more complex behaviors crossing the interface multiple times and deviating from the predictable refraction and reflection for the low velocity clusters. We then present an extreme limit of the model in the absence of rotational damping where clusters can become stuck spiraling along the interface or move in large circular trajectories after leaving the interface. Our results show a wide range of behaviors that occur when collectively moving active biological matter moves across interfaces and these insights can be used to control motion by patterning environments.
Digging Deep in Pandora's Cluster
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Blakeslee, John P.; Alamo-Martinez, Karla; Toloba, Elisa; Barro, Guillermo; Peng, Eric W.
Abell 2744, the first and nearest (z=0.31) of the Hubble Frontier Fields, is extraordinarily rich in the number and variety of galaxies it contains. Nicknamed "Pandora's Cluster," it exhibits multiple peaks in the dark matter, X-ray, and galaxy density distributions, suggesting an ongoing collision of several massive clusters. The exceptional depth of the Hubble Frontier Field imaging now makes it possible to throw open Pandora's cluster and peer deep inside. To do this, we first model and remove the stellar light of the cluster galaxies; underneath we find not only distant background galaxies, but (like the Hope that lay at the bottom of Pandora's box) a large population of globular star clusters and compact cluster members within Abell 2744 itself. Our earlier work on the massive lensing cluster Abell 1689 (Alamo-Martinez et al. 2013) revealed the largest known population of globular clusters, with a spatial profile intermediate between the galaxy light and the dark matter. Abell 2744 is similarly massive, but far less regular in its density distribution; we examine what implications this has for the copious globular clusters coursing through its multiple cores.
Lattice QCD clusters at Fermilab
Holmgren, D.; Mackenzie, Paul B.; Singh, Anitoj; Simone, Jim; /Fermilab
As part of the DOE SciDAC ''National Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Computing'' project, Fermilab builds and operates production clusters for lattice QCD simulations. This paper will describe these clusters. The design of lattice QCD clusters requires careful attention to balancing memory bandwidth, floating point throughput, and network performance. We will discuss our investigations of various commodity processors, including Pentium 4E, Xeon, Opteron, and PPC970. We will also discuss our early experiences with the emerging Infiniband and PCI Express architectures. Finally, we will present our predictions and plans for future clusters.
Constrained Clustering With Imperfect Oracles.
Zhu, Xiatian; Loy, Chen Change; Gong, Shaogang
While clustering is usually an unsupervised operation, there are circumstances where we have access to prior belief that pairs of samples should (or should not) be assigned with the same cluster. Constrained clustering aims to exploit this prior belief as constraint (or weak supervision) to influence the cluster formation so as to obtain a data structure more closely resembling human perception. Two important issues remain open: 1) how to exploit sparse constraints effectively and 2) how to handle ill-conditioned/noisy constraints generated by imperfect oracles. In this paper, we present a novel pairwise similarity measure framework to address the above issues. Specifically, in contrast to existing constrained clustering approaches that blindly rely on all features for constraint propagation, our approach searches for neighborhoods driven by discriminative feature selection for more effective constraint diffusion. Crucially, we formulate a novel approach to handling the noisy constraint problem, which has been unrealistically ignored in the constrained clustering literature. Extensive comparative results show that our method is superior to the state-of-the-art constrained clustering approaches and can generally benefit existing pairwise similarity-based data clustering algorithms, such as spectral clustering and affinity propagation. PMID:25622327
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Shepard, Kyle; Sager, Paul; Kusunoki, Sid; Porter, John; Campion, AL; Mouritzan, Gunnar; Glunt, George; Vegter, George; Koontz, Rob
Several topics are presented in viewgraph form which together encompass the preliminary assessment of nuclear thermal rocket engine clustering. The study objectives, schedule, flow, and groundrules are covered. This is followed by the NASA groundrules mission and our interpretation of the associated operational scenario. The NASA reference vehicle is illustrated, then the four propulsion system options are examined. Each propulsion system's preliminary design, fluid systems, operating characteristics, thrust structure, dimensions, and mass properties are detailed as well as the associated key propulsion system/vehicle interfaces. A brief series of systems analysis is also covered including: thrust vector control requirements, engine out possibilities, propulsion system failure modes, surviving system requirements, and technology requirements. An assessment of vehicle/propulsion system impacts due to the lessons learned are presented.
Ionized cluster beam deposition
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kirkpatrick, A. R.
Ionized Cluster Beam (ICB) deposition, a new technique originated by Takagi of Kyoto University in Japan, offers a number of unique capabilities for thin film metallization as well as for deposition of active semiconductor materials. ICB allows average energy per deposited atom to be controlled and involves impact kinetics which result in high diffusion energies of atoms on the growth surface. To a greater degree than in other techniques, ICB involves quantitative process parameters which can be utilized to strongly control the characteristics of films being deposited. In the ICB deposition process, material to be deposited is vaporized into a vacuum chamber from a confinement crucible at high temperature. Crucible nozzle configuration and operating temperature are such that emerging vapor undergoes supercondensation following adiabatic expansion through the nozzle.
Analyzing geographic clustered response
Merrill, D.W.; Selvin, S.; Mohr, M.S.
In the study of geographic disease clusters, an alternative to traditional methods based on rates is to analyze case locations on a transformed map in which population density is everywhere equal. Although the analyst's task is thereby simplified, the specification of the density equalizing map projection (DEMP) itself is not simple and continues to be the subject of considerable research. Here a new DEMP algorithm is described, which avoids some of the difficulties of earlier approaches. The new algorithm (a) avoids illegal overlapping of transformed polygons; (b) finds the unique solution that minimizes map distortion; (c) provides constant magnification over each map polygon; (d) defines a continuous transformation over the entire map domain; (e) defines an inverse transformation; (f) can accept optional constraints such as fixed boundaries; and (g) can use commercially supported minimization software. Work is continuing to improve computing efficiency and improve the algorithm. 21 refs., 15 figs., 2 tabs.
Biological Cluster Mass Spectrometry
Winograd, Nicholas; Garrison, Barbara J.
This article reviews the new physics and new applications of secondary ion mass spectrometry using cluster ion probes. These probes, particularly C60, exhibit enhanced molecular desorption with improved sensitivity owing to the unique nature of the energy-deposition process. In addition, these projectiles are capable of eroding molecular solids while retaining the molecular specificity of mass spectrometry. When the beams are microfocused to a spot on the sample, bioimaging experiments in two and three dimensions are feasible. We describe emerging theoretical models that allow the energy-deposition process to be understood on an atomic and molecular basis. Moreover, experiments on model systems are described that allow protocols for imaging on biological materials to be implemented. Finally, we present recent applications of imaging to biological tissue and single cells to illustrate the future directions of this methodology. PMID:20055679
Cross-Clustering: A Partial Clustering Algorithm with Automatic Estimation of the Number of Clusters
Tellaroli, Paola; Bazzi, Marco; Donato, Michele; Brazzale, Alessandra R.; Drăghici, Sorin
Four of the most common limitations of the many available clustering methods are: i) the lack of a proper strategy to deal with outliers; ii) the need for a good a priori estimate of the number of clusters to obtain reasonable results; iii) the lack of a method able to detect when partitioning of a specific data set is not appropriate; and iv) the dependence of the result on the initialization. Here we propose Cross-clustering (CC), a partial clustering algorithm that overcomes these four limitations by combining the principles of two well established hierarchical clustering algorithms: Ward's minimum variance and Complete-linkage. We validated CC by comparing it with a number of existing clustering methods, including Ward's and Complete-linkage. We show on both simulated and real datasets, that CC performs better than the other methods in terms of: the identification of the correct number of clusters, the identification of outliers, and the determination of real cluster memberships. We used CC to cluster samples in order to identify disease subtypes, and on gene profiles, in order to determine groups of genes with the same behavior. Results obtained on a non-biological dataset show that the method is general enough to be successfully used in such diverse applications. The algorithm has been implemented in the statistical language R and is freely available from the CRAN contributed packages repository. PMID:27015427
Information Clustering Based on Fuzzy Multisets.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miyamoto, Sadaaki
Proposes a fuzzy multiset model for information clustering with application to information retrieval on the World Wide Web. Highlights include search engines; term clustering; document clustering; algorithms for calculating cluster centers; theoretical properties concerning clustering algorithms; and examples to show how the algorithms work.…
Cluster highlights in magnetospheric physics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Escoubet, C. Philippe; Laakso, Harri; Taylor, Matthew; Goldstein, Mevlyn; Hapgood, Mike; Masson, Arnaud; Volpp, Juergen; Sieg, Detlef
The Cluster mission has been operated successfully for 14 years. As the first science mission comprising four identical spacecraft, Cluster has faced many challenges during its lifetime: its long selection process together with SOHO, the failure of the first Ariane V launch, its fast rebuilt, and the launch on two Soyuz rockets in 2000. The separation of the Cluster spacecraft was changed more than 25 times from a few kilometers up to 36000 km to address the various scientific objectives; the smallest distance achieved between two Cluster spacecraft was 4 km, about 50 times smaller than planned at the beginning of the mission. The main goal of the Cluster mission is to study in three dimensions small-scale plasma structures in key plasma regions of Earth's geospace environment: solar wind and bow shock, magnetopause, polar cusps, magnetotail, plasmasphere and auroral zone. We will present science highlights obtained such as ripples on the bow shock, 3D current measurements and Kelvin-Helmholtz waves at the magnetopause, bifurcated current sheet in the magnetotail, and first measurement of the electron pressure tensor near a site of magnetic reconnection. In addition, we highlight Cluster results on understanding the impact of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) on the Earth's environment. We will also present the distribution of data through the Cluster Science Data System (CSDS), and the Cluster Archive. Those systems were implemented to provide, for the first time for a plasma physics mission, a permanent and public archive of all the high resolution data from all instruments.
Multidimensional model of cluster radioactivity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Denisov, V. Yu.
The cluster decays 228Th→208Pb+20O, 232U→208Pb+24Ne, 236Pu→208Pb+28Mg, and 242Cm→208Pb+34Si are considered in the framework of the multidimensional cluster-preformation model. The macroscopic potential-energy surface related to the interaction between the cluster and the residue nucleus is evaluated in the framework of the nonlocal ℏ4 extended Thomas-Fermi approach with Skyrme and Coulomb forces. The shell correction to the macroscopic potential energy is also taken into account. The dynamical surface deformations of both the cluster and the residue nucleus are taken into consideration at the barrier penetration path. The heights of saddle points related to deformed nuclear shapes are lower than the barrier height between the spherical cluster and residue nuclei; therefore the dynamical deformations of nuclei increase the barrier penetrability and reduce the half-life of cluster decay. The shell-correction contribution into the potential energy between cluster and residue nucleus is important for both the potential landscape and the half-life evaluation. The experimental values of cluster-decay half-lives are well reproduced in the model.
Antibody-gold cluster conjugates
Hainfeld, J.F.
Antibody- or antibody fragment-gold cluster conjugates are shown wherein the conjugate size can be about 5.0 nm. Methods and reagents are disclosed in which antibodies or Fab' fragments thereof are covalently bound to a stable cluster of gold atoms. 2 figs.
Two generalizations of Kohonen clustering
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bezdek, James C.; Pal, Nikhil R.; Tsao, Eric C. K.
The relationship between the sequential hard c-means (SHCM), learning vector quantization (LVQ), and fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithms is discussed. LVQ and SHCM suffer from several major problems. For example, they depend heavily on initialization. If the initial values of the cluster centers are outside the convex hull of the input data, such algorithms, even if they terminate, may not produce meaningful results in terms of prototypes for cluster representation. This is due in part to the fact that they update only the winning prototype for every input vector. The impact and interaction of these two families with Kohonen's self-organizing feature mapping (SOFM), which is not a clustering method, but which often leads ideas to clustering algorithms is discussed. Then two generalizations of LVQ that are explicitly designed as clustering algorithms are presented; these algorithms are referred to as generalized LVQ = GLVQ; and fuzzy LVQ = FLVQ. Learning rules are derived to optimize an objective function whose goal is to produce 'good clusters'. GLVQ/FLVQ (may) update every node in the clustering net for each input vector. Neither GLVQ nor FLVQ depends upon a choice for the update neighborhood or learning rate distribution - these are taken care of automatically. Segmentation of a gray tone image is used as a typical application of these algorithms to illustrate the performance of GLVQ/FLVQ.
Active matter clusters at interfaces
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Copenhagen, Katherine; Gopinathan, Ajay
Collective and directed motility or swarming is an emergent phenomenon displayed by many self-organized assemblies of active biological matter such as clusters of embryonic cells during tissue development and flocks of birds. Such clusters typically encounter very heterogeneous environments. What happens when a cluster encounters an interface between two different environments has implications for its function and fate. Here we study this problem by using a mathematical model of a cluster that treats it as a single cohesive unit whose movement depends on the nature of the local environment. We find that low speed clusters which exert forces but no active torques, encountering an interface with a moderate difference in properties can lead to refraction or even total internal reflection of the cluster. For large speeds and clusters with active torques, they show more complex behaviors crossing the interface multiple times, becoming trapped at the interface and deviating from the predictable refraction and reflection of the low velocity clusters. Our results show a wide range of behaviors that occur when collectively moving active biological matter moves across interfaces and these insights can be used to control motion by patterning environments.
Theoretical Studies on Cluster Compounds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lin, Zhenyang
Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Requires signed TDF. The Thesis describes some theoretical studies on ligated and bare clusters. Chapter 1 gives a review of the two theoretical models, Tensor Surface Harmonic Theory (TSH) and Jellium Model, accounting for the electronic structures of ligated and bare clusters. The Polyhedral Skeletal Electron Pair Theory (PSEPT), which correlates the structures and electron counts (total number of valence electrons) of main group and transition metal ligated clusters, is briefly described. A structural jellium model is developed in Chapter 2 which accounts for the electronic structures of clusters using a crystal-field perturbation. The zero-order potential we derive is of central-field form, depends on the geometry of the cluster, and has a well-defined relationship to the full nuclear-electron potential. Qualitative arguments suggest that this potential produces different energy level orderings for clusters with a nucleus with large positive charge at the centre of the cluster. Analysis of the effects of the non-spherical perturbation on the spherical jellium shell structures leads to the conclusion that for a cluster with a closed shell electronic structure a high symmetry arrangement which is approximately or precisely close packed will be preferred. It also provides a basis for rationalising those structures of clusters with incomplete shell electronic configurations. In Chapter 3, the geometric conclusions derived in the structural jellium model are developed in more detail. The group theoretical consequences of the Tensor Surface Harmonic Theory are developed in Chapter 4 for (ML_2) _{rm n}, (ML_4) _{rm n} and (ML_5 ) _{rm n} clusters where either the xz and yz or x^2 -y^2 and xy components to L_sp{rm d}{pi } and L_sp{rm d} {delta} do not contribute equally to the bonding. The closed shell requirements for such clusters are defined and the orbital symmetry constraints pertaining to the
Single System Image Cluster Management
Energy Science and Technology Software Center (ESTSC)
Cluster computing has quickly proven itself to be a capable workhorse for a wide variety of production computing tasks; however, setting up and maintaining a cluster still requires significantly more effort than administrating just a single machine. As computing hardware descreases in price and cluster sizes grow, it is becoming increasingly important to manage clusters cleverly so that a system administration effort can "scale" as well. To ease the task of mananging many machines, administratorsmore » often deploy an environment that is homogeneous across all nodes of a cluster, and maintain a snapshot of the filesystem as a 'master image'. However due to operational, behavioral, and physical constraints, many nodes often require numerous deviations from the master image in order to operate as desired.« less
Decaying neutrinos in galaxy clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Melott, Adrian L.; Splinter, Randall J.; Persic, Massimo; Salucci, Paolo
The DM profile in clusters of galaxies was studied and simulated using the Harrison-Zel'dovich spectrum of density fluctuations, and an amplitude previously derived from numerical simulations and in agreement with microwave background fluctuations. Neutrino DM densities, with this amplitude normalization cluster, are comparable to observed cluster DM values. It was concluded that given this normalization, the cluster DM should be al least largely composed of neutrinos. The constraint of Davidson et al., who argued that the failure to detect uv photons from the dark matter (DM) in cluster A665 excludes the decaying neutrino hypothesis, could be somewhat weakened by the presence of baryonic DM; but it cannot be eliminated given our assumptions.
SACS: Spitzer Archival Cluster Survey
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stern, Daniel
Emerging from the cosmic web, galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound structures in the universe. Thought to have begun their assembly at z > 2, clusters provide insights into the growth of large-scale structure as well as the physics that drives galaxy evolution. Understanding how and when the most massive galaxies assemble their stellar mass, stop forming stars, and acquire their observed morphologies in these environments remain outstanding questions. The redshift range 1.3 < z < 2 is a key epoch in this respect: elliptical galaxies start to become the dominant population in cluster cores, and star formation in spiral galaxies is being quenched. Until recently, however, this redshift range was essentially unreachable with available instrumentation, with clusters at these redshifts exceedingly challenging to identify from either ground-based optical/nearinfrared imaging or from X-ray surveys. Mid-infrared (MIR) imaging with the IRAC camera on board of the Spitzer Space Telescope has changed the landscape. High-redshift clusters are easily identified in the MIR due to a combination of the unique colors of distant galaxies and a negative k-correction in the 3-5 μm range which makes such galaxies bright. Even 90-sec observations with Spitzer/IRAC, a depth which essentially all extragalactic observations in the archive achieve, is sufficient to robustly detect overdensities of L* galaxies out to z~2. Here we request funding to embark on a ambitious scientific program, the "SACS: Spitzer Archival Cluster Survey", a comprehensive search for the most distant galaxy clusters in all Spitzer/IRAC extragalactic pointings available in the archive. With the SACS we aim to discover ~2000 of 1.3 < z < 2.5 clusters, thus provide the ultimate catalog for high-redshift MIR selected clusters: a lasting legacy for Spitzer. The study we propose will increase by more than a factor of 10 the number of high-redshift clusters discovered by all previous surveys
Protonated water clusters in TPC's
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kaya, Yunus; Kalkan, Yalçın; Veenhof, Rob
Water vapour is added to the ALICE TPC gas to enhance its stability. These polar molecules create large protonated water clusters around a H+ core. In this context, the reactions H3O+(H2O)n-1 +H2 O →H3O+(H2O)n (n=1-9) were studied in the gas phase. Structures for these clusters are suggested and the most stable structures for each cluster size are shown. The thermodynamic parameters Δ Hn-1,n0,Δ Gn-1,n0,Δ Sn-1,n0 and equilibrium constants Kn-1,n for the reaction were calculated to determine the size of the water clusters. The results are close to experimental data found in the literature. Protonated water clusters at stp have a size of 6-9 which corresponds to a mass of 127.1 - 181.2 g / mole.
Cluster beam analysis via photoionization
Grover, J.R. ); Herron, W.J.; Coolbaugh, M.T.; Peifer, W.R.; Garvey, J.F. )
A photoionization method for quantitatively analyzing the neutral products of free jet expansions is described. The basic principle is to measure the yield of an ion characterization of each component cluster at a photon energy just below that at which production of the same ion from larger clusters can be detected. Since there is then no problem with fragmentation, the beam density of each neutral cluster can be measured in the presence of larger clusters. Although these measurements must be done in the test ions' onset regions where their yields are often quite small, the technique is made highly practicable by the large intensities of widely tunable vacuum-ultraviolet synchrotron light now available at electron storage rings. As an example, the method is applied to the analysis of cluster beams collimated from the free jet expansion of a 200:1 ammonia-chlorobenzene mixture.
Versatile cluster based photoelectron spectrometer
Knappenberger, K. L. Jr.; Jones, C. E. Jr.; Sobhy, M. A.; Castleman, A. W. Jr.
A recently constructed cluster based photoelectron spectrometer is described. This instrumentation is unique in that it enables the kinetic energy analysis of electrons ejected from both anions and neutral clusters. This capability permits the investigation of discrete electronic levels in all charge states (anionic, neutral, and cationic). A laser vaporization plasma reactor cluster source affixed with a sublimation cell is employed to produce a variety of metal clusters, and the resulting cluster distributions are analyzed with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The corresponding electronic structure is analyzed with a 'magnetic bottle' photoelectron spectrometer. Examples of instrument performance operating in both anion photodetachment and neutral multiphoton ionization (MPI) modes are provided. In the case of neutral MPI, the corresponding product distribution is collected with a Wiley-McLaren [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 26, 1150 (1955)] mass spectrometer mounted perpendicular to the magnetic bottle photoelectron spectrometer.
Seven poor clusters of galaxies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Beers, T. C.; Geller, M. J.; Huchra, J. P.; Latham, D. W.; Davis, R. J.
The measurement of 83 new redshifts from galaxies in the region of seven of the poor clusters of galaxies identified by Morgan et al (1975) and Albert et al (1977) has been followed by an estimation of cluster masses through the application of both the virial theorem and the projected mas method. For each system, these two estimates are consistent. For the two clusters with highest X-ray luminosities, the line-of-sight velocity dispersions are about 700 km/sec, while for the five other clusters, the dispersions are of the order of less than about 370 km/sec. The D or cD galaxy in each poor cluster is at the kinematic center of each system.
Clusterization and quadrupole deformation in nuclei
Cseh, J.; Algora, A.; Antonenko, N. V.; Jolos, R. V.; Scheid, W.; Darai, J.; Hess, P. O.
We study the interrelation of the clusterization and quadrupole deformation of atomic nuclei, by applying cluster models. Both the energetic stability and the exclusion principle is investigated. Special attention is paid to the relative orientations of deformed clusters.
Plug cluster module demonstration
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rousar, D. C.
The low pressure, film cooled rocket engine design concept developed during two previous ALRC programs was re-evaluated for application as a module for a plug cluster engine capable of performing space shuttle OTV missions. The nominal engine mixture ratio was 5.5 and the engine life requirements were 1200 thermal cycles and 10 hours total operating life. The program consisted of pretest analysis; engine tests, performed using residual components; and posttest analysis. The pretest analysis indicated that operation of the operation of the film cooled engine at O/F = 5.5 was feasible. During the engine tests, steady state wall temperature and performance measurement were obtained over a range of film cooling flow rates, and the durability of the engine was demonstrated by firing the test engine 1220 times at a nominal performance ranging from 430 - 432 seconds. The performance of the test engine was limited by film coolant sleeve damage which had occurred during previous testing. The post-test analyses indicated that the nominal performance level can be increased to 436 seconds.
Saxena, Vikrant; Avinash, K.; Sen, A.
A model for the dust cluster explosion where micron/sub-micron sized particles are accelerated at the expense of plasma thermal energy, in the afterglow phase of a complex plasma discharge is proposed. The model is tested by molecular dynamics simulations of dust particles in a confining potential. The nature of the explosion (caused by switching off the discharge) and the concomitant dust acceleration is found to depend critically on the pressure of the background neutral gas. At low gas pressure, the explosion is due to unshielded Coulomb repulsion between dust particles and yields maximum acceleration, while in the high pressure regime it is due to shielded Yukawa repulsion and yields much feebler acceleration. These results are in agreement with experimental findings. Our simulations also confirm a recently proposed electrostatic (ES) isothermal scaling relation, P{sub E}{proportional_to}V{sub d}{sup -2} (where P{sub E} is the ES pressure of the dust particles and V{sub d} is the confining volume).
Neuromodulation in cluster headache.
Fontaine, Denys; Vandersteen, Clair; Magis, Delphine; Lanteri-Minet, Michel
Medically refractory chronic cluster headache (CH) is a severely disabling headache condition for which several surgical procedures have been proposed as a prophylactic treatment. None of them have been evaluated in controlled conditions, only open studies and case series being available. Destructive procedures (radiofrequency lesioning, radiosurgery, section) and microvascular decompression of the trigeminal nerve or the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) have induced short-term improvement which did not maintain on long term in most of the patients. They carried a high risk of complications, including severe sensory loss and neuropathic pain, and consequently should not be proposed in first intention.Deep brain stimulation (DBS), targeting the presumed CH generator in the retro-hypothalamic region or fibers connecting it, decreased the attack frequency >50 in 60 % of the 52 patients reported. Complications were infrequent: gaze disturbances, autonomic disturbances, and intracranial hemorrhage (2).Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) was efficient (decrease of attack frequency >50 %) in about 70 % of the 60 patients reported, with a low risk of complications (essentially hardware related). Considering their respective risks, ONS should be proposed first and DBS only in case of ONS failure.New on-demand chronically implanted SPG stimulation seemed to be efficient to abort CH attacks in a pilot controlled trial, but its long-term safety needs to be further studied. PMID:25411142
Kato, Mariko; Hachisu, Izumi; Henze, Martin
We present the first light-curve analysis of Population II novae that appeared in M31 globular clusters. Our light-curve models, based on the optically thick wind theory, reproduce well both the X-ray turn-on and turnoff times with the white dwarf (WD) mass of about 1.2 M {sub ☉} for M31N 2007-06b in Bol 111 and about 1.37 M {sub ☉} for M31N 2010-10f in Bol 126. The transient supersoft X-ray source CXO J004345 in Bol 194 is highly likely a nova remnant of 1.2-1.3 M {sub ☉} WD. These WD masses are quite consistent with the temperatures deduced from X-ray spectra. We also present the dependence of nova light curves on the metallicity in the range from [Fe/H] = 0.4 to –2.7. Whereas strong optically thick winds are accelerated in Galactic disk novae owing to a large Fe opacity peak, only weak winds occur in Population II novae with low Fe abundance. Thus, nova light curves are systematically slow in low Fe environment. For an extremely low Fe abundance normal nova outbursts may not occur unless the WD is very massive. We encourage V or y filter observation rather than R as well as high cadence X-ray monitorings to open quantitative studies of extragalactic novae.
The Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kim, Suk; Rey, Soo-Chang; Jerjen, Helmut; Lisker, Thorsten; Sung, Eon-Chang; Lee, Youngdae; Chung, Jiwon; Pak, Mina; Yi, Wonhyeong; Lee, Woong
We present a new catalog of galaxies in the wider region of the Virgo cluster, based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7. The Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog (EVCC) covers an area of 725 deg2 or 60.1 Mpc2. It is 5.2 times larger than the footprint of the classical Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC) and reaches out to 3.5 times the virial radius of the Virgo cluster. We selected 1324 spectroscopically targeted galaxies with radial velocities less than 3000 km s-1. In addition, 265 galaxies that have been overlooked in the SDSS spectroscopic survey but have available redshifts in the NASA Extragalactic Database are also included. Our selection process secured a total of 1589 galaxies, 676 of which are not included in the VCC. The certain and possible cluster members are defined by means of redshift comparison with a cluster infall model. We employed two independent and complementary galaxy classification schemes: the traditional morphological classification based on the visual inspection of optical images and a characterization of galaxies from their spectroscopic features. SDSS u, g, r, i, and z passband photometry of all EVCC galaxies was performed using Source Extractor. We compare the EVCC galaxies with the VCC in terms of morphology, spatial distribution, and luminosity function. The EVCC defines a comprehensive galaxy sample covering a wider range in galaxy density that is significantly different from the inner region of the Virgo cluster. It will be the foundation for forthcoming galaxy evolution studies in the extended Virgo cluster region, complementing ongoing and planned Virgo cluster surveys at various wavelengths.
The Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rey, Soo-Chang
We present a new catalog of galaxies in the wider region of the Virgo cluster, based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7. The Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog (EVCC) covers an area of 725 deg2 or 60.1 Mpc2. It is 5.2 times larger than the footprint of the classical Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC) and reaches out to 3.5 times the virial radius of the Virgo cluster. We selected 1324 spectroscopically targeted galaxies with radial velocities less than 3000 km s-1. In addition, 265 galaxies that have been overlooked in the SDSS spectroscopic survey but have available redshifts in the NASA Extragalactic Database are also included. Our selection process secured a total of 1589 galaxies, 676 of which are not included in the VCC. The certain and possible cluster members are defined by means of redshift comparison with a cluster infall model. We employed two independent and complementary galaxy classification schemes: the traditional morphological classification based on the visual inspection of optical images and a characterization of galaxies from their spectroscopic features. SDSS u, g, r, i, and z passband photometry of all EVCC galaxies was performed using Source Extractor. We compare the EVCC galaxies with the VCC in terms of morphology, spatial distribution, and luminosity function. The EVCC defines a comprehensive galaxy sample covering a wider range in galaxy density that is significantly different from the inner region of the Virgo cluster. It will be the foundation for forthcoming galaxy evolution studies in the extended Virgo cluster region, complementing ongoing and planned Virgo cluster surveys at various wavelengths.
Kim, Suk; Rey, Soo-Chang; Lee, Youngdae; Chung, Jiwon; Pak, Mina; Yi, Wonhyeong; Lee, Woong; Jerjen, Helmut; Lisker, Thorsten; Sung, Eon-Chang
We present a new catalog of galaxies in the wider region of the Virgo cluster, based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7. The Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog (EVCC) covers an area of 725 deg{sup 2} or 60.1 Mpc{sup 2}. It is 5.2 times larger than the footprint of the classical Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC) and reaches out to 3.5 times the virial radius of the Virgo cluster. We selected 1324 spectroscopically targeted galaxies with radial velocities less than 3000 km s{sup –1}. In addition, 265 galaxies that have been overlooked in the SDSS spectroscopic survey but have available redshifts in the NASA Extragalactic Database are also included. Our selection process secured a total of 1589 galaxies, 676 of which are not included in the VCC. The certain and possible cluster members are defined by means of redshift comparison with a cluster infall model. We employed two independent and complementary galaxy classification schemes: the traditional morphological classification based on the visual inspection of optical images and a characterization of galaxies from their spectroscopic features. SDSS u, g, r, i, and z passband photometry of all EVCC galaxies was performed using Source Extractor. We compare the EVCC galaxies with the VCC in terms of morphology, spatial distribution, and luminosity function. The EVCC defines a comprehensive galaxy sample covering a wider range in galaxy density that is significantly different from the inner region of the Virgo cluster. It will be the foundation for forthcoming galaxy evolution studies in the extended Virgo cluster region, complementing ongoing and planned Virgo cluster surveys at various wavelengths.
Clustering Acoustic Segments Using Multi-Stage Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering
Agglomerative hierarchical clustering becomes infeasible when applied to large datasets due to its O(N2) storage requirements. We present a multi-stage agglomerative hierarchical clustering (MAHC) approach aimed at large datasets of speech segments. The algorithm is based on an iterative divide-and-conquer strategy. The data is first split into independent subsets, each of which is clustered separately. Thus reduces the storage required for sequential implementations, and allows concurrent computation on parallel computing hardware. The resultant clusters are merged and subsequently re-divided into subsets, which are passed to the following iteration. We show that MAHC can match and even surpass the performance of the exact implementation when applied to datasets of speech segments. PMID:26517376
The evolution of clusters of galaxies. I - Very rich clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Richstone, D. O.; Malumuth, E. M.
A multiple one-body Monte Carlo code is used to investigate the evolution of galaxies in a steady cluster potential under the influence of dynamical friction, two-body relaxation, tidal stripping, and galaxy mergers. The basic assumptions, estimated time scales, method and computer program, and effects of uncertainties in galaxy encounter physics are addressed. Numerical experiments in which the mass initially carried by galaxies and the mass function are varied are reported. It is shown that the formation of a very massive cluster galaxy depends critically on the number of galaxies, the initial division of cluster material between galaxies and a smooth intracluster medium, the mass spectrum of the galaxies, and chance. By the end of all simulations, less than half of the mass in the central regions of the cluster is bound to galaxies. It appears possible to produce any of the Bautz-Morgan classes from very similar initial conditions.
Haplotyping Problem, A Clustering Approach
Eslahchi, Changiz; Sadeghi, Mehdi; Pezeshk, Hamid; Kargar, Mehdi; Poormohammadi, Hadi
Construction of two haplotypes from a set of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) fragments is called haplotype reconstruction problem. One of the most popular computational model for this problem is Minimum Error Correction (MEC). Since MEC is an NP-hard problem, here we propose a novel heuristic algorithm based on clustering analysis in data mining for haplotype reconstruction problem. Based on hamming distance and similarity between two fragments, our iterative algorithm produces two clusters of fragments; then, in each iteration, the algorithm assigns a fragment to one of the clusters. Our results suggest that the algorithm has less reconstruction error rate in comparison with other algorithms.
Systolic architecture for heirarchical clustering
Ku, L.C.
Several hierarchical clustering methods (including single-linkage complete-linkage, centroid, and absolute overlap methods) are reviewed. The absolute overlap clustering method is selected for the design of systolic architecture mainly due to its simplicity. Two versions of systolic architectures for the absolute overlap hierarchical clustering algorithm are proposed: one-dimensional version that leads to the development of a two dimensional version which fully takes advantage of the underlying data structure of the problems. The two dimensional systolic architecture can achieve a time complexity of O(m + n) in comparison with the conventional computer implementation of a time complexity of O(m/sup 2*/n).
Spectral lineshapes of molecular clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Islampour, Reza; Mukamel, Shaul
The electronic spectral lineshape of an impurity molecule in a cluster is calculated. Both a rigid (solid-like) and a non-rigid (droplet-like) model for the cluster are considered and compared. The spectrum is calculated using the spectral density J(ω) which is related to the correlation function of the time-dependent enegy gap between the two electronic states. Our calculations demonstrate how the information regarding individual eigenstates is lost under the broadened lineshape envelope in large clusters.
Neurostimulation for chronic cluster headache
Kaube, Holger
Neurostimulation techniques for the treatment of primary headache syndromes, particularly of chronic cluster headache, have received much interest in recent years. Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) has yielded favourable clinical results and, despite the limited numbers of published cases, is becoming a routine treatment for refractory chronic cluster headache in specialized centres. Meanwhile, other promising techniques such as spinal cord stimulation (SCS) or sphenopalate ganglion stimulation have emerged. In this article the current state of clinical research for neurostimulation techniques for chronic cluster headache is reviewed. PMID:22590481
Properties of star clusters - II. Scaleheight evolution of clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Buckner, Anne S. M.; Froebrich, Dirk
Until now, it has been impossible to observationally measure how star cluster scaleheight evolves beyond 1 Gyr as only small samples have been available. Here, we establish a novel method to determine the scaleheight of a cluster sample using modelled distributions and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. This allows us to determine the scaleheight with a 25 per cent accuracy for samples of 38 clusters or more. We apply our method to investigate the temporal evolution of cluster scaleheight, using homogeneously selected sub-samples of Kharchenko et al. (MWSC), Dias et al. (DAML02), WEBDA, and Froebrich et al. (FSR). We identify a linear relationship between scaleheight and log(age/yr) of clusters, considerably different from field stars. The scaleheight increases from about 40 pc at 1 Myr to 75 pc at 1 Gyr, most likely due to internal evolution and external scattering events. After 1 Gyr, there is a marked change of the behaviour, with the scaleheight linearly increasing with log(age/yr) to about 550 pc at 3.5 Gyr. The most likely interpretation is that the surviving clusters are only observable because they have been scattered away from the mid-plane in their past. A detailed understanding of this observational evidence can only be achieved with numerical simulations of the evolution of cluster samples in the Galactic disc. Furthermore, we find a weak trend of an age-independent increase in scaleheight with Galactocentric distance. There are no significant temporal or spatial variations of the cluster distribution zero-point. We determine the Sun's vertical displacement from the Galactic plane as Z⊙ = 18.5 ± 1.2 pc.
AMOEBA clustering revisited. [cluster analysis, classification, and image display program
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bryant, Jack
A description of the clustering, classification, and image display program AMOEBA is presented. Using a difficult high resolution aircraft-acquired MSS image, the steps the program takes in forming clusters are traced. A number of new features are described here for the first time. Usage of the program is discussed. The theoretical foundation (the underlying mathematical model) is briefly presented. The program can handle images of any size and dimensionality.
Brightest cluster galaxies in the extended GMRT radio halo cluster sample. Radio properties and cluster dynamics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kale, R.; Venturi, T.; Cassano, R.; Giacintucci, S.; Bardelli, S.; Dallacasa, D.; Zucca, E.
Aims: First-ranked galaxies in clusters, usually referred to as brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), show exceptional properties over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. They are the most massive elliptical galaxies and show the highest probability to be radio loud. Moreover, their special location at the centres of galaxy clusters raises the question of the role of the environment in shaping their radio properties. In the attempt to separate the effect of the galaxy mass and of the environment on their statistical radio properties, we investigate the possible dependence of the occurrence of radio loudness and of the fractional radio luminosity function on the dynamical state of the hosting cluster. Methods: We studied the radio properties of the BCGs in the Extended GMRT Radio Halo Survey (EGRHS), which consists of 65 clusters in the redshift range 0.2-0.4, with X-ray luminosity LX ≥ 5 × 1044 erg s-1, and quantitative information on their dynamical state from high-quality Chandra imaging. We obtained a statistical sample of 59 BCGs, which we divided into two classes, depending on whether the dynamical state of the host cluster was merging (M) or relaxed (R). Results: Of the 59 BCGs, 28 are radio loud and 31 are radio quiet. The radio-loud sources are favourably located in relaxed clusters (71%), while the reverse is true for the radio-quiet BCGs, which are mostly located in merging systems (81%). The fractional radio luminosity function for the BCGs in merging and relaxed clusters is different, and it is considerably higher for BCGs in relaxed clusters, where the total fraction of radio loudness reaches almost 90%, to be compared to the ~30% in merging clusters. For relaxed clusters, we found a positive correlation between the radio power of the BCGs and the strength of the cool core, consistent with previous studies on local samples. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the radio loudness of the BCGs strongly depends on the cluster dynamics; their fraction is
Review of methods for handling confounding by cluster and informative cluster size in clustered data
Seaman, Shaun; Pavlou, Menelaos; Copas, Andrew
Clustered data are common in medical research. Typically, one is interested in a regression model for the association between an outcome and covariates. Two complications that can arise when analysing clustered data are informative cluster size (ICS) and confounding by cluster (CBC). ICS and CBC mean that the outcome of a member given its covariates is associated with, respectively, the number of members in the cluster and the covariate values of other members in the cluster. Standard generalised linear mixed models for cluster-specific inference and standard generalised estimating equations for population-average inference assume, in general, the absence of ICS and CBC. Modifications of these approaches have been proposed to account for CBC or ICS. This article is a review of these methods. We express their assumptions in a common format, thus providing greater clarity about the assumptions that methods proposed for handling CBC make about ICS and vice versa, and about when different methods can be used in practice. We report relative efficiencies of methods where available, describe how methods are related, identify a previously unreported equivalence between two key methods, and propose some simple additional methods. Unnecessarily using a method that allows for ICS/CBC has an efficiency cost when ICS and CBC are absent. We review tools for identifying ICS/CBC. A strategy for analysis when CBC and ICS are suspected is demonstrated by examining the association between socio-economic deprivation and preterm neonatal death in Scotland. PMID:25087978
Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Young, John; Chapman, Katie; Nixon, Jane; Patel, Anita; Holloway, Ivana; Mellish, Kirste; Anwar, Shamaila; Breen, Rachel; Knapp, Martin; Murray, Jenni; Farrin, Amanda
Background and Purpose— We developed a new postdischarge system of care comprising a structured assessment covering longer-term problems experienced by patients with stroke and their carers, linked to evidence-based treatment algorithms and reference guides (the longer-term stroke care system of care) to address the poor longer-term recovery experienced by many patients with stroke. Methods— A pragmatic, multicentre, cluster randomized controlled trial of this system of care. Eligible patients referred to community-based Stroke Care Coordinators were randomized to receive the new system of care or usual practice. The primary outcome was improved patient psychological well-being (General Health Questionnaire-12) at 6 months; secondary outcomes included functional outcomes for patients, carer outcomes, and cost-effectiveness. Follow-up was through self-completed postal questionnaires at 6 and 12 months. Results— Thirty-two stroke services were randomized (29 participated); 800 patients (399 control; 401 intervention) and 208 carers (100 control; 108 intervention) were recruited. In intention to treat analysis, the adjusted difference in patient General Health Questionnaire-12 mean scores at 6 months was −0.6 points (95% confidence interval, −1.8 to 0.7; P=0.394) indicating no evidence of statistically significant difference between the groups. Costs of Stroke Care Coordinator inputs, total health and social care costs, and quality-adjusted life year gains at 6 months, 12 months, and over the year were similar between the groups. Conclusions— This robust trial demonstrated no benefit in clinical or cost-effectiveness outcomes associated with the new system of care compared with usual Stroke Care Coordinator practice. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.controlled-trials.com. Unique identifier: ISRCTN 67932305. PMID:26152298
Winlaw, Manda; De Sterck, Hans; Sanders, Geoffrey
In very simple terms a network can be de ned as a collection of points joined together by lines. Thus, networks can be used to represent connections between entities in a wide variety of elds including engi- neering, science, medicine, and sociology. Many large real-world networks share a surprising number of properties, leading to a strong interest in model development research and techniques for building synthetic networks have been developed, that capture these similarities and replicate real-world graphs. Modeling these real-world networks serves two purposes. First, building models that mimic the patterns and prop- erties of real networks helps to understand the implications of these patterns and helps determine which patterns are important. If we develop a generative process to synthesize real networks we can also examine which growth processes are plausible and which are not. Secondly, high-quality, large-scale network data is often not available, because of economic, legal, technological, or other obstacles [7]. Thus, there are many instances where the systems of interest cannot be represented by a single exemplar network. As one example, consider the eld of cybersecurity, where systems require testing across diverse threat scenarios and validation across diverse network structures. In these cases, where there is no single exemplar network, the systems must instead be modeled as a collection of networks in which the variation among them may be just as important as their common features. By developing processes to build synthetic models, so-called graph generators, we can build synthetic networks that capture both the essential features of a system and realistic variability. Then we can use such synthetic graphs to perform tasks such as simulations, analysis, and decision making. We can also use synthetic graphs to performance test graph analysis algorithms, including clustering algorithms and anomaly detection algorithms.
Chemical evolution of star clusters.
van Loon, Jacco Th
I discuss the chemical evolution of star clusters, with emphasis on old Galactic globular clusters (GCs), in relation to their formation histories. GCs are clearly formed in a complex fashion, under markedly different conditions from any younger clusters presently known. Those special conditions must be linked to the early formation epoch of the Galaxy and must not have occurred since. While a link to the formation of GCs in dwarf galaxies has been suggested, present-day dwarf galaxies are not representative of the gravitational potential wells within which the GCs formed. Instead, a formation deep within the proto-Galaxy or within dark-matter mini-haloes might be favoured. Not all GCs may have formed and evolved similarly. In particular, we may need to distinguish Galactic Halo from Galactic Bulge clusters. PMID:20083507
Virtual Cluster Management with Xen
Bhatia, Nikhil; Vetter, Jeffrey S
Recently, virtualization of hardware resources to run multiple instances of independent virtual machines over physical hosts has gained popularity due to an industry-wide focus on the need to reduce the cost of operation of an enterprise computing infrastructure. Xen is an open source hypervisor that provides a virtual machine abstraction layer which is very similar to the underlying physical machine. Using multiple physical hosts, each hosting multiple virtual machines over a VMM like Xen, system administrators can setup a high-availability virtual cluster to meet the ever-increasing demands of their data centers. In such an environment, the Xen hypervisor enables live migration of individual virtual machine instances from one physical node to another without significantly affecting the performance of the applications running on a target virtual machine. This paper describes a scalable Virtual Cluster Manager that provides such application agnostic cluster management capabilities to the system administrators maintaining virtual clusters over Xen powered virtual nodes.
Galaxy and cluster redshift surveys
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Geller, Margaret J.; Huchra, John P.
The present evaluation of galaxy and cluster redshift surveys gives attention to the CfA redshift survey and a deep Abell cluster redshift survey. These data support a structure in which galaxies lie on thin sheets which nearly surround vast, low-density voids. Voids such as that in Bootes are a common feature of galaxy distribution, posing a serious challenge for models. The Huchra et al. (1988) deep-cluster survey exhibits a correlation function amplitude that is a factor of about 2 smaller than that of the earlier Bahcall and Soneira (1983) sample; the difference may not be significant, however, because the cluster samples are sufficiently small to be dominated by single systems.
Architecture of Eph receptor clusters
Himanen, Juha P.; Yermekbayeva, Laila; Janes, Peter W.; Walker, John R.; Xu, Kai; Atapattu, Lakmali; Rajashankar, Kanagalaghatta R.; Mensinga, Anneloes; Lackmann, Martin; Nikolov, Dimitar B.; Dhe-Paganon, Sirano
Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands regulate cell navigation during normal and oncogenic development. Signaling of Ephs is initiated in a multistep process leading to the assembly of higher-order signaling clusters that set off bidirectional signaling in interacting cells. However, the structural and mechanistic details of this assembly remained undefined. Here we present high-resolution structures of the complete EphA2 ectodomain and complexes with ephrin-A1 and A5 as the base unit of an Eph cluster. The structures reveal an elongated architecture with novel Eph/Eph interactions, both within and outside of the Eph ligand-binding domain, that suggest the molecular mechanism underlying Eph/ephrin clustering. Structure-function analysis, by using site-directed mutagenesis and cell-based signaling assays, confirms the importance of the identified oligomerization interfaces for Eph clustering.
Distant Massive Clusters and Cosmology
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Donahue, Megan
We present a status report of our X-ray study and analysis of a complete sample of distant (z=0.5-0.8), X-ray luminous clusters of galaxies. We have obtained ASCA and ROSAT observations of the five brightest Extended Medium Sensitivity (EMSS) clusters with z > 0.5. We have constructed an observed temperature function for these clusters, and measured iron abundances for all of these clusters. We have developed an analytic expression for the behavior of the mass-temperature relation in a low-density universe. We use this mass-temperature relation together with a Press-Schechter-based model to derive the expected temperature function for different values of Omega-M. We combine this analysis with the observed temperature functions at redshifts from 0 - 0.8 to derive maximum likelihood estimates for the value of Omega-M. We report preliminary results of this analysis.
Infrared spectroscopy of ionic clusters
Price, J.M. . Dept. of Chemistry Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA )
This thesis describes new experiments wherein the infrared vibrational predissociation spectra of a number of mass-selected ionic cluster systems have been obtained and analyzed in the 2600 to 4000 cm{sup {minus}1} region. The species studied include: the hydrated hydronium ions, H{sub 3}O{sup +} (H{sub 2}O){sub 3 {minus}10}, ammoniated ammonium ions, NH{sub 4}{sup +}(NH{sub 3}){sub 1 {minus}10} and cluster ions involving both water and ammonia around an ammonium ion core, (mixed clusters) NH{sub 4}{sup +}(NH{sub 3}){sub n}(H{sub 2}O){sub m} (n+m=4). In each case, the spectra reveal well resolved structures that can be assigned to transitions arising from the vibrational motions of both the ion core of the clusters and the surrounding neutral solvent molecules. 154 refs., 19 figs., 8 tabs.
Deep RGS Observations of Clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Smith, R.; Mushotzky, R.; Loewenstein, M.
This viewgraph presentation reviews the Reflection Grating Spectrometers (RGS) observations of clusters. It includes charts detailing the resolution difference between the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the RGS and a partial review of existing observations, in graphic format, and as a table. Other sources show up in the ROSAT observations. The presentation reviews possible results that could be achieved in the event that 300 ks of time were allocated for the observations of clusters.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kraft, Daniela
Controlling the geometry and yield of anisotropic colloidal particles remains a challenge for hierarchical self-assembly. I will discuss a synthetic strategy for fabricating colloidal clusters by creating order in randomly aggregated polymer spheres using surface tension and geometrical constraints. The technique can be extended to a variety of charge-stabilized polymer spheres and offers control over the cluster size distribution. VENI grant from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Holmgren, D. J.
In the last several years, tightly coupled PC clusters have become widely applied, cost effective resources for lattice gauge computations. This paper discusses the practice of building such clusters, in particular balanced design requirements. I review and quantify the improvements over time of key performance parameters and overall price to performance ratio. Applying these trends and technology forecasts given by computer equipment manufacturers, I predict the range of price to performance for lattice codes expected in the next several years.
Reactions and properties of clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Castleman, A. W., Jr.
The elucidation from a molecular point of view of the differences and similarities in the properties and reactivity of matter in the gaseous compared to the condensed state is a subject of considerable current interest. One of the promising approaches to this problem is to utilize mass spectrometry in conjunction with laser spectroscopy and fast-flow reaction devices to investigate the changing properties, structure and reactivity of clusters as a function of the degree of solvation under well-controlled conditions. In this regard, an investigation of molecular cluster ions has provided considerable new insight into the basic mechanisms of ion reactions within a cluster, and this paper reviews some of the recent advances in cluster production, the origin of magic numbers and relationship to cluster ion stabilities, and solvation effects on reactions. There have been some notable advances in the production of large cluster ions under thermal reaction conditions, enabling a systematic study of the influence of solvation on reactions to be carried out. These and other new studies of magic numbers have traced their origin to the thermochemical stability of cluster ions. There are several classes of reaction where solvation has a notable influence on reactivity. A particularly interesting example comes from recent studies of the reactions of the hydroxyl anion with CO2 and SO2, studied as a function of the degree of hydration of OH-. Both reactions are highly exothermic, yet the differences in reactivity are dramatic. In the case of SO2, the reaction occurs at near the collision rate. By contrast, CO2 reactivity plummets dramatically for clusters having more than four water molecules. The slow rate is in accord with observations in the liquid phase.
Collective thermoregulation in bee clusters
Ocko, Samuel A.; Mahadevan, L.
Swarming is an essential part of honeybee behaviour, wherein thousands of bees cling onto each other to form a dense cluster that may be exposed to the environment for several days. This cluster has the ability to maintain its core temperature actively without a central controller. We suggest that the swarm cluster is akin to an active porous structure whose functional requirement is to adjust to outside conditions by varying its porosity to control its core temperature. Using a continuum model that takes the form of a set of advection–diffusion equations for heat transfer in a mobile porous medium, we show that the equalization of an effective 'behavioural pressure', which propagates information about the ambient temperature through variations in density, leads to effective thermoregulation. Our model extends and generalizes previous models by focusing the question of mechanism on the form and role of the behavioural pressure, and allows us to explain the vertical asymmetry of the cluster (as a consequence of buoyancy-driven flows), the ability of the cluster to overpack at low ambient temperatures without breaking up at high ambient temperatures, and the relative insensitivity to large variations in the ambient temperature. Our theory also makes testable hypotheses for the response of the cluster to external temperature inhomogeneities and suggests strategies for biomimetic thermoregulation. PMID:24335563
Electrodynamic properties of fractal clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Maksimenko, V. V.; Zagaynov, V. A.; Agranovski, I. E.
An influence of interference on a character of light interaction both with individual fractal cluster (FC) consisting of nanoparticles and with agglomerates of such clusters is investigated. Using methods of the multiple scattering theory, effective dielectric permeability of a micron-size FC composed of non-absorbing nanoparticles is calculated. The cluster could be characterized by a set of effective dielectric permeabilities. Their number coincides with the number of particles, where space arrangement in the cluster is correlated. If the fractal dimension is less than some critical value and frequency corresponds to the frequency of the visible spectrum, then the absolute value of effective dielectric permeability becomes very large. This results in strong renormalization (decrease) of the incident radiation wavelength inside the cluster. The renormalized photons are cycled or trapped inside the system of multi-scaled cavities inside the cluster. A lifetime of a photon localized inside an agglomerate of FCs is a macroscopic value allowing to observe the stimulated emission of the localized light. The latter opens up a possibility for creation of lasers without inverse population of energy levels. Moreover, this allows to reconsider problems of optical cloaking of macroscopic objects. One more feature of fractal structures is a possibility of unimpeded propagation of light when any resistance associated with scattering disappears.
Identification of Urban Leprosy Clusters
Paschoal, José Antonio Armani; Paschoal, Vania Del'Arco; Nardi, Susilene Maria Tonelli; Rosa, Patrícia Sammarco; Ismael, Manuela Gallo y Sanches; Sichieri, Eduvaldo Paulo
Overpopulation of urban areas results from constant migrations that cause disordered urban growth, constituting clusters defined as sets of people or activities concentrated in relatively small physical spaces that often involve precarious conditions. Aim. Using residential grouping, the aim was to identify possible clusters of individuals in São José do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, who have or have had leprosy. Methods. A population-based, descriptive, ecological study using the MapInfo and CrimeStat techniques, geoprocessing, and space-time analysis evaluated the location of 425 people treated for leprosy between 1998 and 2010. Clusters were defined as concentrations of at least 8 people with leprosy; a distance of up to 300 meters between residences was adopted. Additionally, the year of starting treatment and the clinical forms of the disease were analyzed. Results. Ninety-eight (23.1%) of 425 geocoded cases were located within one of ten clusters identified in this study, and 129 cases (30.3%) were in the region of a second-order cluster, an area considered of high risk for the disease. Conclusion. This study identified ten clusters of leprosy cases in the city and identified an area of high risk for the appearance of new cases of the disease. PMID:24288467
Autophagy selectivity through receptor clustering
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rutenberg, Andrew; Brown, Aidan
Substrate selectivity in autophagy requires an all-or-none cellular response. We focus on peroxisomes, for which autophagy receptor proteins NBR1 and p62 are well characterized. Using computational models, we explore the hypothesis that physical clustering of autophagy receptor proteins on the peroxisome surface provides an appropriate all-or-none response. We find that larger peroxisomes nucleate NBR1 clusters first, and lose them due to competitive coarsening last, resulting in significant size-selectivity. We then consider a secondary hypothesis that p62 inhibits NBR1 cluster formation. We find that p62 inhibition enhances size-selectivity enough that, even if there is no change of the pexophagy rate, the volume of remaining peroxisomes can significantly decrease. We find that enhanced ubiquitin levels suppress size-selectivity, and that this effect is more pronounced for individual peroxisomes. Sufficient ubiquitin allows receptor clusters to form on even the smallest peroxisomes. We conclude that NBR1 cluster formation provides a viable physical mechanism for all-or-none substrate selectivity in pexophagy. We predict that cluster formation is associated with significant size-selectivity. Now at Simon Fraser University.
Collective thermoregulation in bee clusters.
Ocko, Samuel A; Mahadevan, L
Swarming is an essential part of honeybee behaviour, wherein thousands of bees cling onto each other to form a dense cluster that may be exposed to the environment for several days. This cluster has the ability to maintain its core temperature actively without a central controller. We suggest that the swarm cluster is akin to an active porous structure whose functional requirement is to adjust to outside conditions by varying its porosity to control its core temperature. Using a continuum model that takes the form of a set of advection-diffusion equations for heat transfer in a mobile porous medium, we show that the equalization of an effective 'behavioural pressure', which propagates information about the ambient temperature through variations in density, leads to effective thermoregulation. Our model extends and generalizes previous models by focusing the question of mechanism on the form and role of the behavioural pressure, and allows us to explain the vertical asymmetry of the cluster (as a consequence of buoyancy-driven flows), the ability of the cluster to overpack at low ambient temperatures without breaking up at high ambient temperatures, and the relative insensitivity to large variations in the ambient temperature. Our theory also makes testable hypotheses for the response of the cluster to external temperature inhomogeneities and suggests strategies for biomimetic thermoregulation. PMID:24335563
Understanding Galaxy Cluster MKW10
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sanders, Tim; Henry, Swain; Coble, Kimberly A.; Rosenberg, Jessica L.; Koopmann, Rebecca A.
As part of the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team (UAT), we are studying the galaxy cluster MKW 10 (RA = 175.454, Dec = 10.306, z ~ 0.02), a poor cluster with a compact core in which tidal interactions have occurred. This cluster has been observed in HI and Hα. We used SDSS and NED to search for optical counterparts. By comparing data at multiple wavelengths, we hope to understand the structure, environment, and star formation history of this cluster. Following the techniques of others involved in the groups project and using the program TOPCAT to manipulate the data, we explored both the spatial and velocity distributions to determine cluster membership. We have determined that this cluster consists of 11 galaxies, mostly spiral in shape. Chicago State University is new the UAT and we began our work after taking part in the winter workshop at Arecibo.This work was supported by: Undergraduate ALFALFA Team NSF Grant AST-1211005 and the Illinois Space Grant Consortium.
AMIC@: All MIcroarray Clusterings @ once
Geraci, Filippo; Pellegrini, Marco; Renda, M. Elena
The AMIC@ Web Server offers a light-weight multi-method clustering engine for microarray gene-expression data. AMIC@ is a highly interactive tool that stresses user-friendliness and robustness by adopting AJAX technology, thus allowing an effective interleaved execution of different clustering algorithms and inspection of results. Among the salient features AMIC@ offers, there are: (i) automatic file format detection, (ii) suggestions on the number of clusters using a variant of the stability-based method of Tibshirani et al. (iii) intuitive visual inspection of the data via heatmaps and (iv) measurements of the clustering quality using cluster homogeneity. Large data sets can be processed efficiently by selecting algorithms (such as FPF-SB and k-Boost), specifically designed for this purpose. In case of very large data sets, the user can opt for a batch-mode use of the system by means of the Clustering wizard that runs all algorithms at once and delivers the results via email. AMIC@ is freely available and open to all users with no login requirement at the following URL http://bioalgo.iit.cnr.it/amica. PMID:18477631
AMIC@: All MIcroarray Clusterings @ once.
Geraci, Filippo; Pellegrini, Marco; Renda, M Elena
The AMIC@ Web Server offers a light-weight multi-method clustering engine for microarray gene-expression data. AMIC@ is a highly interactive tool that stresses user-friendliness and robustness by adopting AJAX technology, thus allowing an effective interleaved execution of different clustering algorithms and inspection of results. Among the salient features AMIC@ offers, there are: (i) automatic file format detection, (ii) suggestions on the number of clusters using a variant of the stability-based method of Tibshirani et al. (iii) intuitive visual inspection of the data via heatmaps and (iv) measurements of the clustering quality using cluster homogeneity. Large data sets can be processed efficiently by selecting algorithms (such as FPF-SB and k-Boost), specifically designed for this purpose. In case of very large data sets, the user can opt for a batch-mode use of the system by means of the Clustering wizard that runs all algorithms at once and delivers the results via email. AMIC@ is freely available and open to all users with no login requirement at the following URL http://bioalgo.iit.cnr.it/amica. PMID:18477631
Calibrating AGN Feedback in Clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wise, M. W.
Whether caused by AGN jets, shocks, or mergers, the most definitive evidence for heating in cluster cores comes from X-ray spectroscopy. Unfortunately such spectra are essentially limited to studying the emission spectrum from the cluster as a whole. However since the same underlying emission measure distribution produces both the observed CCD and RGS spectra, X-ray imaging can still provide spatial information on the heating process. Using Chandra archival data for a sample of 9 clusters, we demonstrate how imaging data can be used to constrain departures from a canonical, isobaric cooling flow model as a function of position in a given cluster. The results of this analysis are also shown for the deep archival exposure of the Perseus cluster. Such ``heating maps'' can provide constraints on both the location and magnitude of the heating in the cores of clusters. When combined with detections and spectral index maps from low-frequency radio observations, these maps can be used to distinguish between different models for heating in these objects.
Eikvil, Line; Jenssen, Tor-Kristian; Holden, Marit
Document collections resulting from searches in the biomedical literature, for instance, in PubMed, are often so large that some organization of the returned information is necessary. Clustering is an efficient tool for organizing search results. To help the user to decide how to continue the search for relevant documents, the content of each cluster can be characterized by a set of representative keywords or cluster labels. As different users may have different interests, it can be desirable with solutions that make it possible to produce labels from a selection of different topical categories. We therefore introduce the concept of multi-focus cluster labeling to give users the possibility to get an overview of the contents through labels from multiple viewpoints. The concept for multi-focus cluster labeling has been established and has been demonstrated on three different document collections. We illustrate that multi-focus visualizations can give an overview of clusters along axes that general labels are not able to convey. The approach is generic and should be applicable to any biomedical (or other) domain with any selection of foci where appropriate focus vocabularies can be established. A user evaluation also indicates that such a multi-focus concept is useful. PMID:25869415
Spectral clustering of protein sequences
Paccanaro, Alberto; Casbon, James A.; Saqi, Mansoor A. S.
An important problem in genomics is automatically clustering homologous proteins when only sequence information is available. Most methods for clustering proteins are local, and are based on simply thresholding a measure related to sequence distance. We first show how locality limits the performance of such methods by analysing the distribution of distances between protein sequences. We then present a global method based on spectral clustering and provide theoretical justification of why it will have a remarkable improvement over local methods. We extensively tested our method and compared its performance with other local methods on several subsets of the SCOP (Structural Classification of Proteins) database, a gold standard for protein structure classification. We consistently observed that, the number of clusters that we obtain for a given set of proteins is close to the number of superfamilies in that set; there are fewer singletons; and the method correctly groups most remote homologs. In our experiments, the quality of the clusters as quantified by a measure that combines sensitivity and specificity was consistently better [on average, improvements were 84% over hierarchical clustering, 34% over Connected Component Analysis (CCA) (similar to GeneRAGE) and 72% over another global method, TribeMCL]. PMID:16547200
Seminars on Occupational Clusters. A Report.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC. Div. of Research and Demonstration.
The document on occupational clusters was developed from papers presented in staff seminars in the Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education and contains eight papers: Introduction to the World of Clustering, Sidney C. High; Cluster Curriculum Development, Elizabeth J. Simpson; the Cluster Concept, Development of Curricular Materials for the…
Bayesian Decision Theoretical Framework for Clustering
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chen, Mo
In this thesis, we establish a novel probabilistic framework for the data clustering problem from the perspective of Bayesian decision theory. The Bayesian decision theory view justifies the important questions: what is a cluster and what a clustering algorithm should optimize. We prove that the spectral clustering (to be specific, the…
Growth of atmospheric clusters involving cluster-cluster collisions: comparison of different growth rate methods
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kontkanen, Jenni; Olenius, Tinja; Lehtipalo, Katrianne; Vehkamäki, Hanna; Kulmala, Markku; Lehtinen, Kari E. J.
We simulated the time evolution of atmospheric cluster concentrations in a one-component system where not only do clusters grow by condensation of monomers, but cluster-cluster collisions also significantly contribute to the growth of the clusters. Our aim was to investigate the consistency of the growth rates of sub-3 nm clusters determined with different methods and the validity of the common approach to use them to estimate particle formation rates. We compared the growth rate corresponding to particle fluxes (FGR), the growth rate derived from the appearance times of clusters (AGR), and the growth rate calculated based on irreversible vapor condensation (CGR). We found that the relation between the different growth rates depends strongly on the external conditions and the properties of the model substance. The difference between the different growth rates was typically highest at the smallest, sub-2 nm sizes. FGR was generally lower than AGR and CGR; at the smallest sizes the difference was often very large, while at sizes larger than 2 nm the growth rates were closer to each other. AGR and CGR were in most cases close to each other at all sizes. The difference between the growth rates was generally lower in conditions where cluster concentrations were high, and evaporation and other losses were thus less significant. Furthermore, our results show that the conventional method used to determine particle formation rates from growth rates may give estimates far from the true values. Thus, care must be taken not only in how the growth rate is determined but also in how it is applied.
Nonlocalized clustering: a new concept in nuclear cluster structure physics.
Zhou, Bo; Funaki, Y; Horiuchi, H; Ren, Zhongzhou; Röpke, G; Schuck, P; Tohsaki, A; Xu, Chang; Yamada, T
We investigate the α+^{16}O cluster structure in the inversion-doublet band (Kπ=0(1)±}) states of 20Ne with an angular-momentum-projected version of the Tohsaki-Horiuchi-Schuck-Röpke (THSR) wave function, which was successful "in its original form" for the description of, e.g., the famous Hoyle state. In contrast with the traditional view on clusters as localized objects, especially in inversion doublets, we find that these single THSR wave functions, which are based on the concept of nonlocalized clustering, can well describe the Kπ=0(1)- band and the Kπ=0(1)+ band. For instance, they have 99.98% and 99.87% squared overlaps for 1- and 3- states (99.29%, 98.79%, and 97.75% for 0+, 2+, and 4+ states), respectively, with the corresponding exact solution of the α+16O resonating group method. These astounding results shed a completely new light on the physics of low energy nuclear cluster states in nuclei: The clusters are nonlocalized and move around in the whole nuclear volume, only avoiding mutual overlap due to the Pauli blocking effect. PMID:23848866
Intra-cluster correlation selection for cluster randomized trials.
Westgate, Philip M
In this paper, we give focus to cluster randomized trials, also known as group randomized trials, which randomize clusters, or groups, of subjects to different trial arms, such as intervention or control. Outcomes from subjects within the same cluster tend to exhibit an exchangeable correlation measured by the intra-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC). Our primary interest is to test if the intervention has an impact on the marginal mean of an outcome. Using recently developed methods, we propose how to select a working ICC structure with the goal of choosing the structure that results in the smallest standard errors for regression parameter estimates and thus the greatest power for this test. Specifically, we utilize small-sample corrections for the estimation of the covariance matrix of regression parameter estimates. This matrix is incorporated within correlation selection criteria proposed in the generalized estimating equations literature to choose one of multiple working ICC structures under consideration. We demonstrate the potential power and utility of this approach when used in cluster randomized trial settings via a simulation study and application example, and we discuss practical considerations for its use in practice. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:26924419
Theory of clustered-cavity gyroklystron
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nusinovich, G. S.; Antonsen, T. M.; Guo, H.; Granatstein, V. L.
An analytical theory of a new device configuration, a clustered-cavity gyroklystron, is developed. The device considered has two clusters of cavities: an input cluster and an output cluster. The results show that, by using a cluster cavity concept, the bandwidth of gyroklystrons can be enlarged significantly without sacrifice of gain or efficiency which may lead to the development of a new type of high power, moderate bandwidth millimeter-wave amplifier. The theory has also been used to analyze the effect of stagger tuning between cavity frequencies within a single cluster, as well as between different clusters on the bandwidth and gain of the device.
A Nonparametric Bayesian Model for Nested Clustering.
Lee, Juhee; Müller, Peter; Zhu, Yitan; Ji, Yuan
We propose a nonparametric Bayesian model for clustering where clusters of experimental units are determined by a shared pattern of clustering another set of experimental units. The proposed model is motivated by the analysis of protein activation data, where we cluster proteins such that all proteins in one cluster give rise to the same clustering of patients. That is, we define clusters of proteins by the way that patients group with respect to the corresponding protein activations. This is in contrast to (almost) all currently available models that use shared parameters in the sampling model to define clusters. This includes in particular model based clustering, Dirichlet process mixtures, product partition models, and more. We show results for two typical biostatistical inference problems that give rise to clustering. PMID:26519174
Morrison, Heather; Harding, Paul; Caldwell, Nelson; Schiavon, Ricardo P.; Athanassoula, E.
We analyze our accurate kinematical data for the old clusters in the inner regions of M31. These velocities are based on high signal-to-noise Hectospec data. The data are well suited for analysis of M31's inner regions because we took particular care to correct for contamination by unresolved field stars from the disk and bulge in the fibers. The metal-poor clusters show kinematics that are compatible with a pressure-supported spheroid. The kinematics of metal-rich clusters, however, argue for a disk population. In particular the innermost region (inside 2 kpc) shows the kinematics of the x{sub 2} family of bar periodic orbits, arguing for the existence of an inner Lindblad resonance in M31.
Internal gettering by metal alloy clusters
Buonassisi, Anthony; Heuer, Matthias; Istratov, Andrei A.; Pickett, Matthew D.; Marcus, Mathew A.; Weber, Eicke R.
The present invention relates to the internal gettering of impurities in semiconductors by metal alloy clusters. In particular, intermetallic clusters are formed within silicon, such clusters containing two or more transition metal species. Such clusters have melting temperatures below that of the host material and are shown to be particularly effective in gettering impurities within the silicon and collecting them into isolated, less harmful locations. Novel compositions for some of the metal alloy clusters are also described.
Quantum Monte Carlo methods and lithium cluster properties. [Atomic clusters
Owen, R.K.
Properties of small lithium clusters with sizes ranging from n = 1 to 5 atoms were investigated using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods. Cluster geometries were found from complete active space self consistent field (CASSCF) calculations. A detailed development of the QMC method leading to the variational QMC (V-QMC) and diffusion QMC (D-QMC) methods is shown. The many-body aspect of electron correlation is introduced into the QMC importance sampling electron-electron correlation functions by using density dependent parameters, and are shown to increase the amount of correlation energy obtained in V-QMC calculations. A detailed analysis of D-QMC time-step bias is made and is found to be at least linear with respect to the time-step. The D-QMC calculations determined the lithium cluster ionization potentials to be 0.1982(14) (0.1981), 0.1895(9) (0.1874(4)), 0.1530(34) (0.1599(73)), 0.1664(37) (0.1724(110)), 0.1613(43) (0.1675(110)) Hartrees for lithium clusters n = 1 through 5, respectively; in good agreement with experimental results shown in the brackets. Also, the binding energies per atom was computed to be 0.0177(8) (0.0203(12)), 0.0188(10) (0.0220(21)), 0.0247(8) (0.0310(12)), 0.0253(8) (0.0351(8)) Hartrees for lithium clusters n = 2 through 5, respectively. The lithium cluster one-electron density is shown to have charge concentrations corresponding to nonnuclear attractors. The overall shape of the electronic charge density also bears a remarkable similarity with the anisotropic harmonic oscillator model shape for the given number of valence electrons.
3D simulation of the Cluster-Cluster Aggregation model
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Chao; Xiong, Hailing
We write a program to implement the Cluster-Cluster Aggregation (CCA) model with java programming language. By using the simulation program, the fractal aggregation growth process can be displayed dynamically in the form of a three-dimensional (3D) figure. Meanwhile, the related kinetics data of aggregation simulation can be also recorded dynamically. Compared to the traditional programs, the program has better real-time performance and is more helpful to observe the fractal growth process, which contributes to the scientific study in fractal aggregation. Besides, because of adopting java programming language, the program has very good cross-platform performance.
IRAC imaging of GOGREEN clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McGee, Sean; Balogh, Michael; Cooper, Michael; Gilbank, David; Lidman, Chris; Muzzin, Adam; Old, Lyndsay; Rudnick, Greg; Wilson, Gillian; Yee, Howard
We propose deep IRAC imaging of three galaxy clusters drawn from the GOGREEN survey of 21 galaxy clusters in the redshift range 1 < z < 1.5. This imaging will enable the accurate measurement of unprecedentedly low stellar masses at this redshift, leveraging our deep spectroscopy. This will give a first look at environmental effects on galaxy evolution at a time when galaxies are growing in a fundamentally different way from today. With this data, we will perform accurate SED modeling in order to classify galaxies as passive or star-forming and measure stellar masses, as well as compute cluster membership using accurate photometric redshifts. These data will be augmented by approved VLT, Subaru, Magellan and CFHT imaging and by an ongoing Gemini Large Programme, with which we are obtaining deep spectroscopy of > 1000 member and > 600 field galaxies. With these data and our own lower-redshift descendant data, we will measure 1) the evolution of the quenched fraction and its dependence on distance from the cluster center and 2) the relation between stellar and halo mass and its evolution. This will provide unique constraints to our in-house theoretical models at an epoch where there are currently almost none available. The imaging that we propose will ensure all 21 GOGREEN clusters have deep IRAC data, ensuring the lasting legacy of this benchmark sample.
Central Dynamics of Globular Clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Noyola, Eva; Baumgardt, H.
Globular clusters have historically been classified into two groups due to their dynamical state. They are considered to be either pre-core-collapse or post-core-collapse systems. Clusters are considered as post-core-collapse when they show concentrated surface brightness profiles, with a steep central cusp; while pre-core collapse clusters are less concentrated and have flat central cores. Recent observational results show that some clusters have central surface brightness profiles with intermediate central slopes, showing shallow cusps. These observations could be explained by the presence of a single or a binary intermediate mass black hole in the center of the clusters. In this work, we create realistic synthetic images from the output of N-body models. The images attempt to mock the resolution and point spread function of the high resolution cameras on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The models are created with and without central black holes, where the no black hole models are allowed to reach core-collapse. We measure surface brightness profiles both from integrated light and from star counts. From the profiles, we obtain parameters such as central surface brightness slope, core radius, and half light radius. We also test how well a King model describes each profile. We find that the black hole models produce shallow cusps if the black hole is larger than a certain mass; while models without central black holes produce more concentrated profiles. This approach, allows to make a thorough comparison between observations and models.
Seven poor clusters of galaxies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Beers, T. C.; Geller, M. J.; Huchra, J. P.; Latham, D. W.; Davis, R. J.
The authors have measured 83 new redshifts for galaxies in the region of seven of the poor clusters of galaxies identified by Morgan, Kayser, and White and Albert, White, and Morgan. For three systems (MKW 1s, AWM 1, and AWM 7) complete redshift samples were obtained for galaxies brighter than mB(0) = 15.7 within 1° of the D or cD galaxy. The authors estimate masses for the clusters by applying both the virial theorem and the projected mass method. For the two clusters with the highest X-ray luminosities, the line-of-sight velocity dispersions are ≡700 km s-1, and mass-to-light ratios M/LB(0) ⪆ 400 M_sun;/L_sun;. For the five other clusters the velocity dispersions are ⪉370 km s-1, and four of the five have mass-to-light ratios ⪉250 M_sun;/L_sun;. The D or cD galaxy in each poor cluster is at the kinematic center of the system.
Color Distributions of 29 Galactic Globular Clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sohn, Young-Jong; Byun, Yong-Ik; Yim, Hong-Suh; Rhee, Myung-Hyun; Chun, Mun-Suk
U, B, and V CCD images are used to investigate the radial color gradients of twenty nine Galactic globular clusters - twenty two King type clusters and seven Post Core Collapse (PCC) clusters classified on their surface brightness distributions. For King type clusters, eight clusters show radial color gradients with redder center and seven clusters with bluer centers in (B-V). Seven King type clusters have redder centers in (U-B), and five King type clusters show radial color gradients with bluer center in the same color. Among seven PCC clusters, one cluster show a redder center and five clusters show bluer centers in (B-V). Two PCC clusters have redder centers in (U-B), four PCC clusters show radial color gradients with bluer centers in the same color. These results bring an evidence that the color gradient is not unique to PCC clusters with bluer center. >From the Pearson's correlation coefficient tests, we found the horizontal branch morphologies have weak correlations to the radial color gradients within globular clusters.
Amphoteric Aqueous Hafnium Cluster Chemistry.
Goberna-Ferrón, Sara; Park, Deok-Hie; Amador, Jenn M; Keszler, Douglas A; Nyman, May
Selective dissolution of hafnium-peroxo-sulfate films in aqueous tetramethylammonium hydroxide enables extreme UV lithographic patterning of sub-10 nm HfO2 structures. Hafnium speciation under these basic conditions (pH>10), however, is unknown, as studies of hafnium aqueous chemistry have been limited to acid. Here, we report synthesis, crystal growth, and structural characterization of the first polynuclear hydroxo hafnium cluster isolated from base, [TMA]6 [Hf6 (μ-O2 )6 (μ-OH)6 (OH)12 ]⋅38 H2 O. The solution behavior of the cluster, including supramolecular assembly via hydrogen bonding is detailed via small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The study opens a new chapter in the aqueous chemistry of hafnium, exemplifying the concept of amphoteric clusters and informing a critical process in single-digit-nm lithography. PMID:27094575
Transport on exploding percolation clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Andrade, José S., Jr.; Herrmann, Hans J.; Moreira, André A.; Oliveira, Cláudio L. N.
We propose a simple generalization of the explosive percolation process [Achlioptas , ScienceSCIEAS0036-807510.1126/science.1167782 323, 1453 (2009)], and investigate its structural and transport properties. In this model, at each step, a set of q unoccupied bonds is randomly chosen. Each of these bonds is then associated with a weight given by the product of the cluster sizes that they would potentially connect, and only that bond among the q set which has the smallest weight becomes occupied. Our results indicate that, at criticality, all finite-size scaling exponents for the spanning cluster, the conducting backbone, the cutting bonds, and the global conductance of the system, change continuously and significantly with q. Surprisingly, we also observe that systems with intermediate values of q display the worst conductive performance. This is explained by the strong inhibition of loops in the spanning cluster, resulting in a substantially smaller associated conducting backbone.
Cluster assembly of hierarchical nanostructures
Siegel, R.W.
In the past few years, atom clusters with diameters in the range of 2--20 nm of a variety of materials, including both metals and ceramics, have been synthesized by evaporation and condensation in high-purity gases and subsequently consolidated in situ under ultrahigh vacuum conditions to create nanophase materials. These new utlrafine-grained materials have properties that are often significantly different and considerably improved relative to those of their coarser-grained counterparts owing to both their small grain-size scale and the large percentage of their atoms in grain boundary environments. Since their properties can be engineered during the synthesis and processing steps, cluster-assembled materials appear to have significant potential for the introduction of a hierarchy of both structure and properties. Some of the recent research on nanophase materials related to properties and scale are reviewed and some of the possibilities for synthesizing hierarchical nanostructures via cluster assembly are considered.
Li, Jun; Li, Xi; Zhai, Hua Jin; Wang, Lai S.
Photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that a 20 atom gold cluster has an extremely large energy gap, which is even greater than that of C60, and an electron affinity comparable with that of C60. This observation suggests that the Au20 cluster must be extremely stable and chemically inert. Using relativistic density functional calculations, we found that Au20 possesses a remarkable tetrahedral structure, which is a fragment of the bulk face-centered cubic lattice of gold with a small structural relaxation. Au20 is thus a true cluster molecule, while at the same time it is exactly part of the bulk, but with very different properties. The tetrahedral Au20 may possess interesting catalytic properties and may be synthesized in bulk quantity or assembled on non-interacting surfaces.
The ARCHES Integrated Cluster Finder
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mints, A.; Schwope, A.
We are developing a tool to search for galaxy clusters associated with X-ray sources from the 3XMM catalog within the ARCHES project (Astronomical Resource cross-matching for High-Energy Studies). We make use of the new cross-matching tool developed for ARCHES to select galaxies in different catalogs around X-ray positions and then try to find clusters by searching for overdensities in the multi-color space. Colors are related to redshifts using spectroscopic data for passively evolving galaxies from the BOSS and VIPERS catalogs. So far we are making use of SDSS, UKIDSS, WISE, and CFHTLS photometric catalogs, but the method can easily be expanded to other data as well (e.g. Pan-STARRS and DES). We present test results of our tool performed on reference samples from the XMM/SDSS cluster survey (Takey et al 2012) and the NORAS/REFLEX surveys.
Cluster headache management and beyond.
Martelletti, Paolo
The therapeutic management of cluster headache is based on a very stable triad of drugs. Acute treatment has, in subcutaneous sumatriptan, its gold standard if compared to pure oxygen or indomethacin. Preventative treatment is based on verapamil at high doses (≥ 360 mg) and is a gold standard if compared to lithium carbonate or topiramate. Transitional treatments, based on the short-term use of corticosteroids with either systemic or local administration (GON), can be useful for the suppression of most resistant cluster periods, but with a well-known carry-over phenomenon related to the length of the cluster period itself. The role of invasive or noninvasive neuromodulation approaches must still be determined on a large scale; therefore, its use is not recommended as of yet. Lifestyle changes, including alcohol avoidance during the active phase of the disease, sleep hygiene and use of vasodilation drugs, should be carefully considered and the patients should be fully informed. PMID:26027515
Homotypic Regulatory Clusters in Drosophila
Lifanov, Alexander P.; Makeev, Vsevolod J.; Nazina, Anna G.; Papatsenko, Dmitri A.
Cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) are transcription regulatory DNA segments (∼1 Kb range) that control the expression of developmental genes in higher eukaryotes. We analyzed clustering of known binding motifs for transcription factors (TFs) in over 60 known CRMs from 20 Drosophila developmental genes, and we present evidence that each type of recognition motif forms significant clusters within the regulatory regions regulated by the corresponding TF. We demonstrate how a search with a single binding motif can be applied to explore gene regulatory networks and to discover coregulated genes in the genome. We also discuss the potential of the clustering method in interpreting the differential response of genes to various levels of transcriptional regulators. PMID:12670999
The KMOS Galaxy Clusters Project
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Davies, Roger L.; Beifiori, A.; Bender, R.; Cappellari, M.; Chan, J.; Houghton, R.; Mendel, T.; Saglia, R.; Sharples, R.; Stott, J.; Smith, R.; Wilman, D.
KMOS is a cryogenic infrared spectrograph fed by twentyfour deployable integral field units that patrol a 7.2 arcminute diameter field of view at the Nasmyth focus of the ESO VLT. It is well suited to the study of galaxy clusters at 1 < z < 2 where the well understood features in the restframe V-band are shifted into the KMOS spectral bands. Coupled with HST imagining, KMOS offers a window on the critical epoch for galaxy evolution, 7-10 Gyrs ago, when the key properties of cluster galaxies were established. We aim to investigate the size, mass, morphology and star formation history of galaxies in the clusters. Here we describe the instrument, discuss the status of the observations and report some preliminary results.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
The Enquiry Board started work on 13 June and will report by mid-July. The Launch Qualification Committee resumed its activities on 14 June. The ESA Director General and the CNES Chairman will have to rule on the Enquiry Board's recommendations and the Launch Qualification Committee's requirements. The ESA Executive will then be able to determine - with CNES - the technical and programmatic implications for the Ariane-5 development programme. The Enquiry Board's findings and recommendations and their implications will be made known to the press soon afterwards. The Ariane Launcher Programme Board (the ESA delegate body that supervises the programme) will meet on 12 August, when the ESA Executive will present the programmatic implications. On the payload side, the Cluster Science Working Team (SWT) met on 17 and 18 June to assess the situation after the loss of the Cluster mission and to explore ways in which its scientific objectives could be revived. The SWT proposed the following approach: a. integration of the Cluster structural model with flight spare subsystems (the Phoenix project) together with a rebuild of three spacecraft identical to the originals. This scenario offers alternative options: a1. integration and testing of the Cluster spare (Phoenix), storage and launch at a later date together with the three rebuilt satellites, and a2. integration and reflight of Phoenix as soon as possible and production and launch of the three rebuilt satellites at a later date. The SWT stressed that the case for an early launch of Phoenix was largely dependent on whether the follow-on programme was also approved. A further option would call for: b. use of the Cluster spare (Phoenix) as outlined above, augmented by three new "mini" satellites funded and produced by ESA Member States that would carry subsets of the Cluster instrumentation. This mission would thus fly one main spacecraft and three "companion" spacecraft, as described in an early proposal for Cluster. On 21
Collaborative Clustering for Sensor Networks
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wagstaff. Loro :/; Green Jillian; Lane, Terran
Traditionally, nodes in a sensor network simply collect data and then pass it on to a centralized node that archives, distributes, and possibly analyzes the data. However, analysis at the individual nodes could enable faster detection of anomalies or other interesting events, as well as faster responses such as sending out alerts or increasing the data collection rate. There is an additional opportunity for increased performance if individual nodes can communicate directly with their neighbors. Previously, a method was developed by which machine learning classification algorithms could collaborate to achieve high performance autonomously (without requiring human intervention). This method worked for supervised learning algorithms, in which labeled data is used to train models. The learners collaborated by exchanging labels describing the data. The new advance enables clustering algorithms, which do not use labeled data, to also collaborate. This is achieved by defining a new language for collaboration that uses pair-wise constraints to encode useful information for other learners. These constraints specify that two items must, or cannot, be placed into the same cluster. Previous work has shown that clustering with these constraints (in isolation) already improves performance. In the problem formulation, each learner resides at a different node in the sensor network and makes observations (collects data) independently of the other learners. Each learner clusters its data and then selects a pair of items about which it is uncertain and uses them to query its neighbors. The resulting feedback (a must and cannot constraint from each neighbor) is combined by the learner into a consensus constraint, and it then reclusters its data while incorporating the new constraint. A strategy was also proposed for cleaning the resulting constraint sets, which may contain conflicting constraints; this improves performance significantly. This approach has been applied to collaborative
Brightest Cluster Galaxies & Cooling Flows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Salomé, Philippe
In the absence of any form of feedback heating, the gas in the central regions of massive relaxed cluster should cool and initiate a cooling flow. The presence/efficiency of an additional heating and the ultimate fate of the cooling gas is the subject of an extensive debate. In the last decade, molecular and atomic gas have been found in many Brightest Cluster Galaxies. I will review these observational results and discuss their implication for galaxy formation/evolution, in the perspective of ALMA.
Hierarchical clustering using mutual information
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kraskov, A.; Stögbauer, H.; Andrzejak, R. G.; Grassberger, P.
We present a conceptually simple method for hierarchical clustering of data called mutual information clustering (MIC) algorithm. It uses mutual information (MI) as a similarity measure and exploits its grouping property: The MI between three objects X, Y, and Z is equal to the sum of the MI between X and Y, plus the MI between Z and the combined object (XY). We use this both in the Shannon (probabilistic) version of information theory and in the Kolmogorov (algorithmic) version. We apply our method to the construction of phylogenetic trees from mitochondrial DNA sequences and to the output of independent components analysis (ICA) as illustrated with the ECG of a pregnant woman.
Galaxy Cluster Smashes Distance Record
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
he most distant galaxy cluster yet has been discovered by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical and infrared telescopes. The cluster is located about 10.2 billion light years away, and is observed as it was when the Universe was only about a quarter of its present age. The galaxy cluster, known as JKCS041, beats the previous record holder by about a billion light years. Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound objects in the Universe. Finding such a large structure at this very early epoch can reveal important information about how the Universe evolved at this crucial stage. JKCS041 is found at the cusp of when scientists think galaxy clusters can exist in the early Universe based on how long it should take for them to assemble. Therefore, studying its characteristics - such as composition, mass, and temperature - will reveal more about how the Universe took shape. "This object is close to the distance limit expected for a galaxy cluster," said Stefano Andreon of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Milan, Italy. "We don't think gravity can work fast enough to make galaxy clusters much earlier." Distant galaxy clusters are often detected first with optical and infrared observations that reveal their component galaxies dominated by old, red stars. JKCS041 was originally detected in 2006 in a survey from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT). The distance to the cluster was then determined from optical and infrared observations from UKIRT, the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in Hawaii and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Infrared observations are important because the optical light from the galaxies at large distances is shifted into infrared wavelengths because of the expansion of the universe. The Chandra data were the final - but crucial - piece of evidence as they showed that JKCS041 was, indeed, a genuine galaxy cluster. The extended X-ray emission seen by Chandra shows that hot gas has been detected
Dynamic cluster scheduling for cluster-tree WSNs.
Severino, Ricardo; Pereira, Nuno; Tovar, Eduardo
While Cluster-Tree network topologies look promising for WSN applications with timeliness and energy-efficiency requirements, we are yet to witness its adoption in commercial and academic solutions. One of the arguments that hinder the use of these topologies concerns the lack of flexibility in adapting to changes in the network, such as in traffic flows. This paper presents a solution to enable these networks with the ability to self-adapt their clusters' duty-cycle and scheduling, to provide increased quality of service to multiple traffic flows. Importantly, our approach enables a network to change its cluster scheduling without requiring long inaccessibility times or the re-association of the nodes. We show how to apply our methodology to the case of IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee cluster-tree WSNs without significant changes to the protocol. Finally, we analyze and demonstrate the validity of our methodology through a comprehensive simulation and experimental validation using commercially available technology on a Structural Health Monitoring application scenario. PMID:25279288
Cluster compression algorithm: A joint clustering/data compression concept
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hilbert, E. E.
The Cluster Compression Algorithm (CCA), which was developed to reduce costs associated with transmitting, storing, distributing, and interpreting LANDSAT multispectral image data is described. The CCA is a preprocessing algorithm that uses feature extraction and data compression to more efficiently represent the information in the image data. The format of the preprocessed data enables simply a look-up table decoding and direct use of the extracted features to reduce user computation for either image reconstruction, or computer interpretation of the image data. Basically, the CCA uses spatially local clustering to extract features from the image data to describe spectral characteristics of the data set. In addition, the features may be used to form a sequence of scalar numbers that define each picture element in terms of the cluster features. This sequence, called the feature map, is then efficiently represented by using source encoding concepts. Various forms of the CCA are defined and experimental results are presented to show trade-offs and characteristics of the various implementations. Examples are provided that demonstrate the application of the cluster compression concept to multi-spectral images from LANDSAT and other sources.
Chaos theory perspective for industry clusters development
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yu, Haiying; Jiang, Minghui; Li, Chengzhang
Industry clusters have outperformed in economic development in most developing countries. The contributions of industrial clusters have been recognized as promotion of regional business and the alleviation of economic and social costs. It is no doubt globalization is rendering clusters in accelerating the competitiveness of economic activities. In accordance, many ideas and concepts involve in illustrating evolution tendency, stimulating the clusters development, meanwhile, avoiding industrial clusters recession. The term chaos theory is introduced to explain inherent relationship of features within industry clusters. A preferred life cycle approach is proposed for industrial cluster recessive theory analysis. Lyapunov exponents and Wolf model are presented for chaotic identification and examination. A case study of Tianjin, China has verified the model effectiveness. The investigations indicate that the approaches outperform in explaining chaos properties in industrial clusters, which demonstrates industrial clusters evolution, solves empirical issues and generates corresponding strategies.
The nature and nurture of star clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Elmegreen, Bruce G.
Star clusters have hierarchical patterns in space and time, suggesting formation processes in the densest regions of a turbulent interstellar medium. Clusters also have hierarchical substructure when they are young, which makes them all look like the inner mixed parts of a pervasive stellar hierarchy. Young field stars share this distribution, presumably because some of them came from dissolved clusters and others formed in a dispersed fashion in the same gas. The fraction of star formation that ends up in clusters is apparently not constant, but may increase with interstellar pressure. Hierarchical structure explains why stars form in clusters and why many of these clusters are self-bound. It also explains the cluster mass function. Halo globular clusters share many properties of disk clusters, including what appears to be an upper cluster cutoff mass. However, halo globulars are self-enriched and often connected with dwarf galaxy streams. The mass function of halo globulars could have initially been like the power-law mass function of disk clusters, but the halo globulars have lost their low-mass members. The reasons for this loss are not understood. It could have happened slowly over time as a result of cluster evaporation, or it could have happened early after cluster formation as a result of gas loss. The latter model explains best the observation that the globular cluster mass function has no radial gradient in galaxies.
Star formation and substructure in galaxy clusters
Cohen, Seth A.; Hickox, Ryan C.; Wegner, Gary A.; Einasto, Maret; Vennik, Jaan
We investigate the relationship between star formation (SF) and substructure in a sample of 107 nearby galaxy clusters using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Several past studies of individual galaxy clusters have suggested that cluster mergers enhance cluster SF, while others find no such relationship. The SF fraction in multi-component clusters (0.228 ± 0.007) is higher than that in single-component clusters (0.175 ± 0.016) for galaxies with M{sub r}{sup 0.1}<−20.5. In both single- and multi-component clusters, the fraction of star-forming galaxies increases with clustercentric distance and decreases with local galaxy number density, and multi-component clusters show a higher SF fraction than single-component clusters at almost all clustercentric distances and local densities. Comparing the SF fraction in individual clusters to several statistical measures of substructure, we find weak, but in most cases significant at greater than 2σ, correlations between substructure and SF fraction. These results could indicate that cluster mergers may cause weak but significant SF enhancement in clusters, or unrelaxed clusters exhibit slightly stronger SF due to their less evolved states relative to relaxed clusters.
Ionization of Water Clusters is Mediated by Exciton Energy Transfer from Argon Clusters
Golan, Amir; Ahmed, Musahid
The exciton energy deposited in an argon cluster, (Arn ,< n=20>) using VUV radiation is transferred to softly ionize doped water clusters, ((H2O)n, n=1-9) leading to the formation of non-fragmented clusters. Following the initial excitation, electronic energy is channeled to ionize the doped water cluster while evaporating the Ar shell, allowing identification of fragmented and complete water cluster ions. Examination of the photoionization efficiency curve shows that cluster evaporation from excitons located above 12.6 eV are not enough to cool the energized water cluster ion, and leads to their dissociation to (H2O)n-2H+ (protonated) clusters.
CLOC: Cluster Luminosity Order-Statistic Code
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Da Silva, Robert L.; Krumholz, Mark R.; Fumagalli, Michele; Fall, S. Michael
CLOC computes cluster order statistics, i.e. the luminosity distribution of the Nth most luminous cluster in a population. It is flexible and requires few assumptions, allowing for parametrized variations in the initial cluster mass function and its upper and lower cutoffs, variations in the cluster age distribution, stellar evolution and dust extinction, as well as observational uncertainties in both the properties of star clusters and their underlying host galaxies. It uses Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to search parameter space to find best-fitting values for the parameters describing cluster formation and disruption, and to obtain rigorous confidence intervals on the inferred values.
Field star diffusion in globular clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Peng, Wei; Weisheit, Jon C.
We investigate a new interaction of globular clusters with galactic field stars: the deceleration (by dynamical friction) of high-velocity field stars diffusing through individual globular clusters. This frictional interaction contributes to cluster heating and, in conjunction with disk shocking and other mechanisms, helps to regulate the evolution of globular clusters. Moreover, penetrating field stars of low relative velocity can even be captured by globular clusters. Our calculated rate of capture suggests that there is a modest population of stars having an origin external to the clusters in which they now reside. Intriguing candidates for this 'immigrant' population include some blue stragglers and short-period pulsars.
Stability of a deposited liquid cluster
Kashtanov, P. V.; Hippler, R.; Smirnov, B. M.; Bhattacharyya, S. R.
The fragmentation of silver liquid clusters deposited onto a silicon surface is observed after heating the clusters to 1073 K and subsequent annealing with the exposition time 3 min. This contradicts macroscopic models of a liquid drop deposited on a surface if we use critical parameters of bulk silver. Some versions are analyzed that are based on cluster properties and may explain the phenomenon of cluster fragmentation. An experiment is suggested for clarifying the nature of the cluster fragmentation phenomenon and cluster critical phenomena.
X-ray morphologies of Abell clusters
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mcmillan, S. L. W.; Kowalski, M. P.; Ulmer, M. P.
Results are presented for X-ray measurements made with the Einstein Observatory's IPC for a sample of 49 Abell clusters, which were used to determine quantitative measures of two morphological parameters of these clusters, the orientation and ellipticity. Consideration is given to the techniques used for estimating and removing background noise in the images and for determining the variation of these parameters with the flux level of a cluster. It was found that most clusters are clearly flattened; for 20 of these clusters, the orientation was unambiguously determined. A catalog of cluster properties is presented.
Cluster Analysis by Linear Contrasts.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shafto, Michael
The purpose of this paper is to suggest a technique of cluster analysis which is similar in aim to the Interactive Intercolumnar Correlation Analysis (IICA), though different in detail. Two methods are proposed for extracting a single bipolar factor (a "contrast compenent") directly from the initial similarities matrix. The advantages of this…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Grimes, Russell N.
Boron is the only element other than carbon that can build molecules of unlimited size by covalently boding to itself, a property known as catenation. In contrast to the chains and rings favored by carbon, boron arguably adopts a cluster motif that is reflected in the various forms of the pure element and in the huge area of polyhedral borane…
Insulin resistance: regression and clustering.
Yoon, Sangho; Assimes, Themistocles L; Quertermous, Thomas; Hsiao, Chin-Fu; Chuang, Lee-Ming; Hwu, Chii-Min; Rajaratnam, Bala; Olshen, Richard A
In this paper we try to define insulin resistance (IR) precisely for a group of Chinese women. Our definition deliberately does not depend upon body mass index (BMI) or age, although in other studies, with particular random effects models quite different from models used here, BMI accounts for a large part of the variability in IR. We accomplish our goal through application of Gauss mixture vector quantization (GMVQ), a technique for clustering that was developed for application to lossy data compression. Defining data come from measurements that play major roles in medical practice. A precise statement of what the data are is in Section 1. Their family structures are described in detail. They concern levels of lipids and the results of an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). We apply GMVQ to residuals obtained from regressions of outcomes of an OGTT and lipids on functions of age and BMI that are inferred from the data. A bootstrap procedure developed for our family data supplemented by insights from other approaches leads us to believe that two clusters are appropriate for defining IR precisely. One cluster consists of women who are IR, and the other of women who seem not to be. Genes and other features are used to predict cluster membership. We argue that prediction with "main effects" is not satisfactory, but prediction that includes interactions may be. PMID:24887437
Mental Health & the Career Clusters.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Welch, Marty
This supplement to ninth grade mental health units relates mental health to the following occupational clusters: agribusiness and natural resources, environment, health, marine science, communications and media, business and office, marketing and distribution, public service, transportation, personnel services, consumer and homemaking education,…
Cluster Analysis of Adolescent Blogs
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Liu, Eric Zhi-Feng; Lin, Chun-Hung; Chen, Feng-Yi; Peng, Ping-Chuan
Emerging web applications and networking systems such as blogs have become popular, and they offer unique opportunities and environments for learners, especially for adolescent learners. This study attempts to explore the writing styles and genres used by adolescents in their blogs by employing content, factor, and cluster analyses. Factor…
Industrial Mechanics Occupational Cluster Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bishop, Frank
This guide, developed by the Oregon Department of Education, is intended to assist the vocational teacher in designing and implementing a cluster program in industrial mechanics. It suggests teaching ideas and is aimed at high school students, as well as those wishing to enter community college, university, or apprenticeship programs. The guide is…
Construction Cluster Volume III [Plumbing].
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pennsylvania State Dept. of Justice, Harrisburg. Bureau of Correction.
The document is the third of a series, to be integrated with a G.E.D. program, containing instructional materials at the basic skills level for the construction cluster. The volume focuses on plumbing and consists of 20 instructional units which require a month of study. The units include: (1) importance of plumbing; (2) pipe and tubing…
Competency Index. [Health Technology Cluster.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center on Education and Training for Employment.
This competency index lists the competencies included in the 62 units of the Tech Prep Competency Profiles within the Health Technologies Cluster. The unit topics are as follows: employability skills; professionalism; teamwork; computer literacy; documentation; infection control and risk management; medical terminology; anatomy, physiology, and…
Cluster Inter-Spacecraft Communications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Cox, Brian
A document describes a radio communication system being developed for exchanging data and sharing data-processing capabilities among spacecraft flying in formation. The system would establish a high-speed, low-latency, deterministic loop communication path connecting all the spacecraft in a cluster. The system would be a wireless version of a ring bus that complies with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1393 (which pertains to a spaceborne fiber-optic data bus enhancement to the IEEE standard developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Every spacecraft in the cluster would be equipped with a ring-bus radio transceiver. The identity of a spacecraft would be established upon connection into the ring bus, and the spacecraft could be at any location in the ring communication sequence. In the event of failure of a spacecraft, the ring bus would reconfigure itself, bypassing a failed spacecraft. Similarly, the ring bus would reconfigure itself to accommodate a spacecraft newly added to the cluster or newly enabled or re-enabled. Thus, the ring bus would be scalable and robust. Reliability could be increased by launching, into the cluster, spare spacecraft to be activated in the event of failure of other spacecraft.
An Improved Cluster Richness Estimator
Rozo, Eduardo; Rykoff, Eli S.; Koester, Benjamin P.; McKay, Timothy; Hao, Jiangang; Evrard, August; Wechsler, Risa H.; Hansen, Sarah; Sheldon, Erin; Johnston, David; Becker, Matthew R.; Annis, James T.; Bleem, Lindsey; Scranton, Ryan; /Pittsburgh U.
Minimizing the scatter between cluster mass and accessible observables is an important goal for cluster cosmology. In this work, we introduce a new matched filter richness estimator, and test its performance using the maxBCG cluster catalog. Our new estimator significantly reduces the variance in the L{sub X}-richness relation, from {sigma}{sub lnL{sub X}}{sup 2} = (0.86 {+-} 0.02){sup 2} to {sigma}{sub lnL{sub X}}{sup 2} = (0.69 {+-} 0.02){sup 2}. Relative to the maxBCG richness estimate, it also removes the strong redshift dependence of the richness scaling relations, and is significantly more robust to photometric and redshift errors. These improvements are largely due to our more sophisticated treatment of galaxy color data. We also demonstrate the scatter in the L{sub X}-richness relation depends on the aperture used to estimate cluster richness, and introduce a novel approach for optimizing said aperture which can be easily generalized to other mass tracers.
Spectroscopic Studies of Abell Clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Way, Michael Joseph
The objectives of this work are to use spectroscopic techniques to accurately categorize galaxies as either HII region star forming galaxies or as Active Galactic Nuclei powered via a black hole, and to use radial velocities and projected positions of galaxies in clusters to obtain the total cluster mass and its distribution. The masses and distributions compare well to X-ray mass measurements. The commonly used Dressler, A., Thompson, I. & Shectman, S. 1985, ApJ, 288, 481 technique for discriminating between Active Galactic Nuclei and HII region galaxies uses the measurement of the equivalent width of the emission lines (OII) 3727 A, H/beta, and (OIII) 5007 A. High quality spectra from 42 galaxies were taken and it is shown that their method is not capable of distinguishing between Active Galactic Nuclei and HII region galaxies. The emission line flux from H/beta, (OIII) 5007 A, (OI) 6300 A, Hα, (NII) 6583 A, and (SII) 6716+6731 A in combination with the method of Veilleux, S. & Osterbrock, D. E. 1987, ApJS, 63, 295 must be used to accurately distinguish between Active Galactic Nuclei and HII region galaxies. Galaxy radial velocities from spectroscopic data and their projected 2-D positions in clusters are used to obtain robust estimates of the total mass and mass distribution in two clusters. The total mass is calculated using the Virial theorem after removing substructure. The mass distribution is estimated via several robust statistical tests for 1-D, 2-D and 3-D structure. It is shown that the derived mass estimates agree well with those found independently from hot X-ray gas emission in clusters.
Dynamically Evolving Models of Clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bode, Paul W.; Berrington, Robert C.; Cohn, Haldan N.; Lugger, Phyllis M.
An N-body method, with up to N=10(5) particles, is used to simulate the dynamical evolution of clusters of galaxies. Each galaxy is represented as an extended structure containing many particles, and the gravitational potential arises from the particles alone. The clusters initially contain 50 or 100 galaxies with masses distributed according to a Schechter function. Mass is apportioned between the galaxies and a smoothly distributed common group halo, or intra-cluster background. The fraction of the total cluster mass initially in this background is varied from 50% to 90%. The models begin in a virialized state. We will be presenting a videotape which contains animations of a number of these models. The animations show important physical processes, such as stripping, merging, and dynamical friction, as they take place, thus allowing one to observe the interplay of these processes in the global evolution of the system. When the galaxies have substantial dark halos (background mass fraction <=75%) a large, centrally located merger remnant is created. The galaxy number density profile around this dominant member becomes cusped, approaching an isothermal distribution. At the same time, the number of multiple nuclei increases. Comparing the 50-galaxy models to MKW/AWM clusters, the values of Delta M12 and the peculiar velocities of the first-ranked galaxies are best fit by a mix of model ages in the range 8--11 Gyr. The growth in luminosity of the first-ranked galaxy during this amount of time is consistent only with weak cannibalism.
Heterogeneous Clustering: Operational and User Impacts
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Salm, Saita Wood
Heterogeneous clustering can improve overall utilization of multiple hosts and can provide better turnaround to users by balancing workloads across hosts. Building a cluster requires both operational changes and revisions in user scripts.
The applicability and effectiveness of cluster analysis
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ingram, D. S.; Actkinson, A. L.
An insight into the characteristics which determine the performance of a clustering algorithm is presented. In order for the techniques which are examined to accurately cluster data, two conditions must be simultaneously satisfied. First the data must have a particular structure, and second the parameters chosen for the clustering algorithm must be correct. By examining the structure of the data from the Cl flight line, it is clear that no single set of parameters can be used to accurately cluster all the different crops. The effectiveness of either a noniterative or iterative clustering algorithm to accurately cluster data representative of the Cl flight line is questionable. Thus extensive a prior knowledge is required in order to use cluster analysis in its present form for applications like assisting in the definition of field boundaries and evaluating the homogeneity of a field. New or modified techniques are necessary for clustering to be a reliable tool.
Physics and chemistry of small clusters
Jena, P.; Rao, B.K.; Khanna, S.N.
This book contains papers on physical and chemical phenomena of solid clusters. The papers cover the atomic and electronic structure, dynamics, stability, fragmentation, optical properties, interaction with adsorbates, astrochemistry and van der Waals forces of clusters. (LSP)