Simplified Metrics Calculation for Soft Bit Detection in DVB-T2

The constellation rotation and cyclic quadrature component delay (RQD) technique has been adopted in the second generation terrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB-T2) standard. It improves the system performance under severe propagation conditions, but introduces serious complexity problems in the hardware implementation of the detection process. In this paper, we present a simplified scheme that greatly reduces the complexity of the demapper by simplifying the soft bit metrics computation having a negligible overall system performance loss

Effects of Superdispersant-25 on the sorption dynamics of naphthalene and phenanthrene in marine sediments

Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the assistance of Mike Mcgibbon in analysing carbon content, the crews of the MRV Scotia and MRV Temora for sample collection. Dr. Hedda Weitz and Prof. Graeme Patton are thanked for facilitating access to laboratory space and equipment. Funding information: LJP was funded through MarCRF funds for a PhD project designed by UW, JA and AG and awarded to LJP.Peer reviewedPostprin

Characterisation of microbial communities of drill cuttings piles from offshore oil and gas installations

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Maxwell computer cluster funded by the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Axel Aigle is acknowledged for guidance and assistance in molecular analysis. Hedda Weitz and Heather Richmond are thanked for technical support. This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [NE/L00982X/1 to UW, JA and EG]. CGR was supported by a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society [UF150571]. DC samples, environmental analysis and all geochemical datasets were kindly provided by Marathon Oil UK LLC (referred to as Marathon Oil).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The effect of chemical dispersant concentration on hydrocarbon mobility through permeable North-East Scotland sands

The authors acknowledge Paul Hallett and Annette Raffan for granting access to and training on the tensiometer, respectively. Cruickshank Analytical Lab staff are acknowledged for assistance in carbon content analysis. The Marine Collaboration Research Forum is acknowledged for funding LJP's PhD project. BP are acknowledged for providing Schiehallion crude oil.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Effect of spatial origin and hydrocarbon composition on bacterial consortia community structure and hydrocarbon biodegradation rates

This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [NE/L00982X/1 to UW, JA and EG]. CGR was supported by a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society [UF150571].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Chronic environmental perturbation influences microbial community assembly patterns

Acknowledgements Next-generation sequencing and library construction was performed by NCIMB Ltd., Aberdeen and CGEBM, Aberdeen. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Maxwell computer cluster funded by the University of Aberdeen. Dr Axel Aigle is acknowledged for assistance in molecular analysis. This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [NE/L00982X/1] with financial support from BP UK Ltd and Intertek Group PLC. CGR was supported by a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society [UF150571]Peer reviewedPostprin

Bacterial Community Response in Deep Faroe-Shetland Channel Sediments Following Hydrocarbon Entrainment With and Without Dispersant Addition

The authors acknowledge Dr. Alan McCue for assistance with GC-FID, the MRV Scotia scientists and crew for assistance with sample collection and Cruikshank Analytical Lab for Carbon content analysis. Amy Bode and Val Johnston are thanked for their assistance with experimental setup and sampling. Dr. Sophie Shaw (CGEBM) is acknowledged for her advice and guidance with molecular analysis. Funding LJP and hydrocarbon analytics were funded through MarCRF funds for a Ph.D. project designed by UW, JA, and AG and awarded to LJP. LDP and microbiological investigations were funded through NERC award no NE/L00982X/1 to UW, JA, and EG. CG-R is funded by a University Research Fellowship.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far