Multivariate modality inference using Gaussian kernel

The number of modes (also known as modality) of a kernel density estimator (KDE) draws lots of interests and is important in practice. In this paper, we develop an inference framework on the modality of a KDE under multivariate setting using Gaussian kernel. We applied the modal clustering method proposed by [1] for mode hunting. A test statistic and its asymptotic distribution are derived to assess the significance of each mode. The inference procedure is applied on both simulated and real data sets

Challenges and Lessons Learned From Resurrecting a Legacy Research Flight Controller

Resurrecting the legacy Inner Loop Thrust Vectoring research flight controller to investigate the tail shock region brought unique challenges. This report documents these challenges and lessons learned from a stability and controls perspective. The flight test approach for flight envelope expansion and probing tests, as well as limited flight test results, are presented. Recent advances in sonic boom reduction technology have contributed to a resurgent interest in civilian supersonic cruise flight. These advances have focused only on fore body shaping, however, and little, if any, experimental flight data are available to develop and validate design tools for the tail shock region. In January of 2009, the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center completed research flights to investigate the tail shock region of a highly modified F-15 aircraft by probing the shock waves around it, using another F-15 aircraft. To adjust the lift distribution and plume shape, a decade-old research flight controller from the Inner Loop Thrust Vectoring project was required. To investigate the tail shock region, the lift distribution was changed by adjusting the canard position, and the plume shape was changed by adjusting the nozzle area and thrust vectoring

Non-detection in a Fermi/LAT observation of AXP 4U 0142+61: magnetars?

Significant research in compact stars is currently focused on two kinds of enigmatic sources: anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs). Although AXPs and SGRs are popularly thought to be magnetars, other models (e.g. the accretion model) to understand the observations can still not be ruled out. It is worth noting that a non-detection in a Fermi/LAT observation of AXP 4U 0142+61 has been reported recently by Sasmaz Mus & Gogus. We propose here that Fermi/LAT observations may distinguish between the magnetar model and the accretion model for AXPs and SGRs. We explain how this null observation of AXP 4U 0142+61 favors the accretion model. Future Fermi/LAT observations of AXP 1E 1547.0-5408 and AXP 1E 1048.1-5937 are highly recommended.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ(Letters

The Business Process Investigation in the Perspective of Customer Value

To identify the customer value provided from the business process and to seek additional opportunities to fortify a firm’s competitive advantages, we explore the value chain mentioned in (Porter, 1985) at a greater extent. The study results in a framework where an information-processing infrastructure is added to the value chain concept to provide a basis for the business process investigation. The essential concept of this framework is the process-wide information organism (PWIO) approach for describing and examining mechanisms of managing the information flow that contributes to customer value creation

A computational framework to emulate the human perspective in flow cytometric data analysis

Background: In recent years, intense research efforts have focused on developing methods for automated flow cytometric data analysis. However, while designing such applications, little or no attention has been paid to the human perspective that is absolutely central to the manual gating process of identifying and characterizing cell populations. In particular, the assumption of many common techniques that cell populations could be modeled reliably with pre-specified distributions may not hold true in real-life samples, which can have populations of arbitrary shapes and considerable inter-sample variation. <p/>Results: To address this, we developed a new framework flowScape for emulating certain key aspects of the human perspective in analyzing flow data, which we implemented in multiple steps. First, flowScape begins with creating a mathematically rigorous map of the high-dimensional flow data landscape based on dense and sparse regions defined by relative concentrations of events around modes. In the second step, these modal clusters are connected with a global hierarchical structure. This representation allows flowScape to perform ridgeline analysis for both traversing the landscape and isolating cell populations at different levels of resolution. Finally, we extended manual gating with a new capacity for constructing templates that can identify target populations in terms of their relative parameters, as opposed to the more commonly used absolute or physical parameters. This allows flowScape to apply such templates in batch mode for detecting the corresponding populations in a flexible, sample-specific manner. We also demonstrated different applications of our framework to flow data analysis and show its superiority over other analytical methods. <p/>Conclusions: The human perspective, built on top of intuition and experience, is a very important component of flow cytometric data analysis. By emulating some of its approaches and extending these with automation and rigor, flowScape provides a flexible and robust framework for computational cytomics

Evolution of electronic and magnetic properties of Sr2\mathbf{_2}IrO4\mathbf{_4} under strain

Motivated by properties-controlling potential of the strain, we investigate strain dependence of structure, electronic and magnetic properties of Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ using complementary theoretical tools: {\it ab-initio} calculations, analytical approaches (rigid octahedra picture, Slater-Koster integrals), and extended $t-{\mathcal{J}}$ model. We find that strain affects both Ir-Ir distance and Ir-O-Ir angle, and the rigid octahedra picture is not relevant. Second, we find fundamentally different behavior for compressive and tensile strain. One remarkable feature is the formation of two subsets of bond- and orbital- dependent carriers, a compass-like model, under compression. This originates from the strain-induced renormalization of the Ir-O-Ir superexchange and O on-site energy. We also show that under compressive (tensile) strain, Fermi surface becomes highly dispersive (relatively flat). Already at a tensile strain of $1.5\%$, we observe spectral weight redistribution, with the low-energy band acquiring almost purely singlet character. These results can be directly compared with future experiments.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures, includes Supplemental Informatio