ARA type protograph codes

An apparatus and method for encoding low-density parity check codes. Together with a repeater, an interleaver and an accumulator, the apparatus comprises a precoder, thus forming accumulate-repeat-accumulate (ARA codes). Protographs representing various types of ARA codes, including AR3A, AR4A and ARJA codes, are described. High performance is obtained when compared to the performance of current repeat-accumulate (RA) or irregular-repeat-accumulate (IRA) codes

Encoders for block-circulant LDPC codes

Methods and apparatus to encode message input symbols in accordance with an accumulate-repeat-accumulate code with repetition three or four are disclosed. Block circulant matrices are used. A first method and apparatus make use of the block-circulant structure of the parity check matrix. A second method and apparatus use block-circulant generator matrices

Building a Field: The Future of Astronomy with Gravitational Waves

Harnessing the sheer discovery potential of GW Astronomy will require bold, deliberate,and sustained efforts to train and develop the requisite workforce. The next decaderequires a strategic plan to build - from the ground up - a robust, open, andwell-connected GW Astronomy community with deep participation from traditionalastronomers, physicists, data scientists, and instrumentalists. This basic infrastructure issorely needed as an enabling foundation for research. We outline a set ofrecommendations for funding agencies, universities, and professional societies to helpbuild a thriving, diverse, and inclusive new field

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Space Based Gravitational Wave Astronomy Beyond LISA

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will open three decades of gravitational wave(GW) spectrum between 0.1 and 100 mHz, the mHz band [1]. This band is expected to be the richest part of the GW spectrum, in types of sources, numbers of sources, signal-to-noise ratios and discovery potential. When LISA opens the low-frequency window of the gravitational wave spectrum,around 2034, the surge of gravitational-wave astronomy will strongly compel a subsequent mission to further explore the frequency bands of the GW spectrum that can only be accessed from space. The 2020's is the time to start developing technology and studying mission concepts for a large-scale mission to be launched in the 2040's. The mission concept would then be proposed to Astro2030. Only space-based missions can access the GW spectrum between 108 and 1 Hz because of the Earth's seismic noise. This white paper surveys the science in this band and mission concepts that could accomplish that science. The proposed small scale activity is a technology development program that would support a range of concepts and a mission concept study to choose a specific mission concept for Astro2030. In this white paper, we will refer to a generic GW mission beyond LISA as bLISA

Asymmetric synthesis of primary amines catalyzed by thermotolerant fungal reductive aminases

Chiral primary amines are important intermediates in the synthesis of pharmaceutical compounds. Fungal reductive aminases (RedAms) are NADPH-dependent dehydrogenases that catalyse reductive amination of a range of ketones with short-chain primary amines supplied in an equimolar ratio to give corresponding secondary amines. Herein we describe structural and biochemical characterisation as well as synthetic applications of two RedAms from Neosartorya spp. (NfRedAm and NfisRedAm) that display a distinctive activity amongst fungal RedAms, namely a superior ability to use ammonia as the amine partner. Using these enzymes, we demonstrate the synthesis of a broad range of primary amines, with conversions up to >97% and excellent enantiomeric excess. Temperature dependent studies showed that these homologues also possess greater thermal stability compared to other enzymes within this family. Their synthetic applicability is further demonstrated by the production of several primary and secondary amines with turnover numbers (TN) up to 14 000 as well as continous flow reactions, obtaining chiral amines such as (R)-2-aminohexane in space time yields up to 8.1 g L−1 h−1. The remarkable features of NfRedAm and NfisRedAm highlight their potential for wider synthetic application as well as expanding the biocatalytic toolbox available for chiral amine synthesis

Ethnic and racial differences in children and young people with respiratory and neurological post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2: an electronic health record-based cohort study from the RECOVER Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Children from racial and ethnic minority groups are at greater risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but it is unclear whether they have increased risk for post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). Our objectives were to assess whether the risk of respiratory and neurologic PASC differs by race/ethnicity and social drivers of health. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of individuals <21 years seeking care at 24 health systems across the U.S, using electronic health record (EHR) data. Our cohort included those with a positive SARS-CoV-2 molecular, serology or antigen test, or with a COVID-19, multisystem inflammatory disease in children, or PASC diagnosis from February 29, 2020 to August 1, 2022. We identified children/youth with at least 2 codes associated with respiratory and neurologic PASC. We measured associations between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and respiratory and neurologic PASC using odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals estimated from multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for other sociodemographic characteristics, social vulnerability index or area deprivation index, time period of cohort entry, presence and complexity of chronic respiratory (respectively, neurologic) condition and healthcare utilization. FINDINGS: Among 771,725 children in the cohort, 203,365 (26.3%) had SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among children with documented infection, 3217 children had respiratory PASC and 2009 children/youth had neurologic PASC. In logistic regression models, children <5 years (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.78, 95% CI 1.62-1.97), and of Hispanic White descent (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.05-1.35) had higher odds of having respiratory PASC. Children/youth living in regions with higher area deprivation indices (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.10-1.420 for 60-79th percentile) and with chronic complex respiratory conditions (OR 3.28, 95% CI 2.91-3.70) also had higher odds of respiratory PASC. In contrast, older (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.40-1.77 for those aged 12-17 years), non-Hispanic White individuals and those with chronic pre-existing neurologic conditions (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.78-2.35) were more likely to have a neurologic PASC diagnosis. INTERPRETATION: Racial and ethnic differences in healthcare utilization for neurologic and respiratory PASC may reflect social drivers of health and inequities in access to care. FUNDING: National Institutes of Health

Re-evaluating syndicalist opposition to the First World War

It has been argued that support for the First World War by the important French syndicalist organisation, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) has tended to obscure the fact that other national syndicalist organisations remained faithful to their professed workers’ internationalism: on this basis syndicalists beyond France, more than any other ideological persuasion within the organised trade union movement in immediate pre-war and wartime Europe, can be seen to have constituted an authentic movement of opposition to the war in their refusal to subordinate class interests to those of the state, to endorse policies of ‘defencism’ of the ‘national interest’ and to abandon the rhetoric of class conflict. This article, which attempts to contribute to a much neglected comparative historiography of the international syndicalist movement, re-evaluates the syndicalist response across a broad geographical field of canvas (embracing France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Britain and America) to reveal a rather more nuanced, ambiguous and uneven picture. While it highlights the distinctive nature of the syndicalist response compared with other labour movement trends, it also explores the important strategic and tactical limitations involved, including the dilemma of attempting to translate formal syndicalist ideological commitments against the war into practical measures of intervention, and the consequences of the syndicalists’ subordination of the political question of the war to the industrial struggle