Performance Improvement of QPSK Signal Predetection EGC Diversity Receiver

This paper proposes a modification of quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal diversity reception with predetection equal gain combiner (EGC). The EGC combining is realized by using the constant modulus algorithm (CMA). Carrier synchronization is performed by the phase locked loop (PLL). Comparative analysis of the modified and ordinary diversity receiver in the presence of carrier frequency offset in the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, as well as in Rician fading channel is shown. The proposed diversity receiver allows significant frequency offset compared to the diversity receiver that uses only PLL, and the error probability of the proposed receiver is very close to the error probability of the receiver with only PLL and zero frequency offset. The functionality of the proposed diversity receiver, as well as its properties is experimentally verified on a system based on universal software radio peripheral (USRP) hardware. The performed comparison confirms the expected behavior of the system

Heavy-to-light ratios as a test of medium-induced energy loss at RHIC and the LHC

The ratio of nuclear modification factors of high-$p_T$ heavy-flavored mesons tolight-flavored hadrons (heavy-to-light ratio) is shown to be a sensitive tool to test medium-induced energy loss at RHIC and LHC energies. Heavy-to-light ratios of $D$ mesons at RHIC in the region $7<p_T<12$ GeV, and of $D$ and $B$ mesons at the LHC in the region $10<p_T<20$ GeV, are proposed for such a test. Finally, the different contributions to the nuclear modification factor for electrons at RHIC are analyzed. Preliminary PHENIX and STAR data are compatible with radiative energy loss provided the contribution of electrons from beauty decays is small compared to that from charm.Comment: 5 pages, latex, 4 eps figs included using graphicx; to appear in the proceedings of 18th International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions: Quark Matter 2005 (QM 2005), Budapest, Hungary, 4-9 Aug 200

Nutrition Specificities of Goat Kids in Suckling Period

In this paper the up to date methods and regulation of goat kids feeding as the new normatives and nutrient requirements are presented. In kids feeding remarkable attention has to be made on optimal needs concerning the accurate growth and progress. In order to make the best solution the updated normatives with large number of parameters have to be used. Growing goat kids require energy, protein, vitamins and minerals for optimum growth. Determining quantities of these nutrients needed will make possible to determine how much of grain mix and hay should be used to support maintenance and growth. The nutrient requirements of growing goats show a different trend than those of mature animals. The latest investigation results on protein level recommendation in kids feeding (NRC, 2007) have grown over 45%, while energy needs only infinitesimally more in regard to goat nutrient requirement needs considering the NRC recommendation from 1981. However, it must be remembered that energy requirements are based on minimal activity needed to secure feed and the actual requirement may very. Thus, the needs of energy for growing kids with a body mass of 20 kg is 5.69 MJ ME and 75.6 g in proteins. The first three days after birth are the most critical days in the life of a newborn kid. If the mother rejects the kids, colostrum of kids should be fed three times a day, a total of 2 to 3 pint per day. After three days, the kid diet is based on milk or milk replacer, which is given twice a day and does not exceed three liters per day. Feeding with milk or milk replacer may continue until 8-12 weeks or until the time the kids are weaned and able to consume 0.2 kg grain milk per day. At weaning, for feeding the 30 days old kids we used a mixture concentrate for early suckling kids. By own nutrient compounds this grain mixtures must have better quality than concentrate mixtures used in goat kids feeding. Provide a grain mix (kid starter) containing high levels of protein (16%) and high levels of fiber (11%) as well as good quality hay to encourage rumen development. After weaning up to 6 months, continue feeding with kid starter 0.2 to 0.4 kg/day and plenty of good quality forage and pasture. When the growing kids start to use large amounts of hay or green forage in feeding, they should be given a mixture of concentrate with something simpler composition. Do not feed silage and non-protein nitrogen at this age

Magnetic and electric contributions to the energy loss in a dynamical QCD medium

The computation of radiative energy loss in a finite size QCD medium with dynamical constituents is a key ingredient for obtaining reliable predictions for jet quenching in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. It was previously shown that energy loss in dynamical QCD medium is significantly higher compared to static QCD medium. To understand this difference, we here analyze magnetic and electric contributions to energy loss in dynamical QCD medium. We find that the significantly higher energy loss in the dynamical case is entirely due to appearance of magnetic contribution in the dynamical medium. While for asymptotically high energies, the energy loss in static and dynamical medium approach the same value, we find that the physical origin of the energy loss in these two cases is different.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Effects of Imperfect Reference Signal Recovery on Performance of SC and SSC Receivers over Generalized Fading Channels

This paper presents the study of the effects of imperfect reference signal recovery on the bit error rate (BER) performance of dual-branch switch-and-stay combining (SSC) and multibranch selection combining (SC) receivers in a generalized - fading channel. The average BER of binary and quaternary phase shift keying (BPSK and QPSK) is derived under the assumption that the reference carrier signal is extracted from the received modulated signal. For SSC receiver the optimal switching threshold (in a minimum BER sense) is numerically evaluated. Hereby we determine and discuss the simultaneous influence of the average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) per bit, fading severity, product phase-locked loop (PLL) bandwidthbit duration (B_LT_b), switching threshold of SSC and diversity order of SC on BER performance. The influence of B_LT_b in different channel conditions and modulation formats is pointed out. The numerical results are confirmed by computer simulations

Outage Probability Analysis of Mixed RF-FSO System Influenced by Fisher-Snedecor Fading and Gamma-Gamma Atmospheric Turbulence

In this paper, we investigate a dual-hop relaying system, composed of radio frequency (RF) and free-space optical (FSO) link. Decode-and-forward (DF) relay is employed to integrate the first RF link and the second line-of-sight FSO links. The RF channel is assumed to be subject to recently proposed Fisher-Snedecor fading model, which was shown to be convenient for modeling in realistic wireless communication scenarios. The FSO channel is affected by Gamma-Gamma distributed atmospheric turbulence. Expression for the outage probability is derived and utilized to present numerical results. Based on presented results, the effects of various RF and FSO channels parameters on the overall system performance are examined and discussed.Comment: Presented at 2018 26th Telecommunications Forum (TELFOR

Terminomics methodologies and the completeness of reductive dimethylation: A meta-analysis of publicly available datasets

© 2019 by the authors. Methods for analyzing the terminal sequences of proteins have been refined over the previous decade; however, few studies have evaluated the quality of the data that have been produced from those methodologies. While performing global N-terminal labelling on bacteria, we observed that the labelling was not complete and investigated whether this was a common occurrence. We assessed the completeness of labelling in a selection of existing, publicly available N-terminomics datasets and empirically determined that amine-based labelling chemistry does not achieve complete labelling and potentially has issues with labelling amine groups at sequence-specific residues. This finding led us to conduct a thorough review of the historical literature that showed that this is not an unexpected finding, with numerous publications reporting incomplete labelling. These findings have implications for the quantitation of N-terminal peptides and the biological interpretations of these data

Seasonal changes in selected physical and physiological variables in male handball players

© 2018 Ljubomir Pavlović et al., published by Sciendo 2018. Literature search shows that there is a shortage of studies that have investigated the relationships between the physical conditioning markers monitored over the course of a season and the quantitative assessments of training and competition in elite handball players. Thus, the aim of our work was to follow changes in speed, strength, power and endurance of elite male handball players during an entire season. The study was performed within a group of 14 elite male senior handball players who were tested four times during season (T1, T2, T3, T4). The testing consisted of the following procedures: 1) measuring anthropometric characteristics (body height, body weight, body fat, % of fatty tissue), 2) measuring motorical (physical) capabilities (maximal muscle force and power, speed, explosive strength), 3) measuring physiological characteristics (anaerobic capacity, cardiorespiratory endurance). Explosive strength decreased at the end of season compared to the first part of season (T1 vs T4: p = 0.00, T2 vs T4: p = 0.00), as well as the total work done on modified Wingate test (T1 vs T4: p = 0.01). In contrast, blood lactate levels after the third (T1 vs T2: p = 0.00, T1 vs T3: p = 0.02; T1 vs T4:p = 0.00) and fourth (T1 vs T3: p = 0.02) stage of endurance test were the highest at the beginning of the season. Our results suggest that anaerobic capabilities of players were the ones mostly affected by long season and inadequate training program, while on the other side, aerobic capabilities improved by the end of season. Explanation for such results may be found in insufficient strength training or interference of endurance training with strength development

Crystal structures of PI3K-C2α PX domain indicate conformational change associated with ligand binding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>PX domains have specialized protein structures involved in binding of phosphoinositides (PIs). Through binding to the various PIs PX domains provide site-specific membrane signals to modulate the intracellular localisation and biological activity of effector proteins. Several crystal structures of these domains are now available from a variety of proteins. All PX domains contain a canonical core structure with main differences exhibited within the loop regions forming the phosphoinositide binding pockets. It is within these areas that the molecular basis for ligand specificity originates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We now report two new structures of PI3K-C2α PX domain that crystallised in a P3₁21 space group. The two structures, refined to 2.1 Å and 2.5 Å, exhibit significantly different conformations of the phosphoinositide-binding loops. Unexpectedly, in one of the structures, we have detected a putative-ligand trapped in the binding site during the process of protein purification and crystallisation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The two structures reported here provide a more complete description of the phosphoinositide binding region compared to the previously reported 2.6 Å crystal structure of human PI3K-C2α PX where this region was highly disordered. The structures enabled us to further analyse PI specificity and to postulate that the observed conformational change could be related to ligand-binding.</p