Performance Evaluation of Wavelet-Coded OFDM on a 4.9 Gbps W-Band Radio-over-Fiber Link

Future generation mobile communications running on mm-wave frequencies will require great robustness against frequency selective channels. In this paper, we evaluate the transmission performance of 4.9 Gb/s wavelet-coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals on a 10 km fiber plus 58 m wireless radio-over-fiber link using a mm-wave radio frequency carrier. The results show that a 2 × 128 wavelet-coded OFDM system achieves a bit-error rate of 1e-4 with nearly 2.5 dB less signal-to-noise ratio than a convolutional coded OFDM system with equivalent spectral efficiency for 8 GHz-wide signals with 512 subcarriers on a carrier frequency of 86 GHz. Our findings confirm the Tzannes’ theory that wavelet coding enables high diversity gains with a low complexity receiver and, most notably, without compromising the system’s spectral efficiency

Self-gravitating domain walls and the thin-wall limit

We analyse the distributional thin wall limit of self gravitating scalar field configurations representing thick domain wall geometries. We show that thick wall solutions can be generated by appropiate scaling of the thin wall ones, and obtain an exact solution for a domain wall that interpolates between AdS_4 asymptotic vacua and has a well-defined thin wall limit.Solutions representing scalar field configurations obtained via the same scaling but that do not have a thin wall limit are also presented.Comment: 10 pages, revte

Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation

The degree of closure of the governmental arena is a central aspect of the stabilization of party systems, and yet little systematic effort has been devoted to its operationalization. The article proposes a new index, examines its reliability and validity, and reports the ranking of 60 party systems. By redefining the units of measurement we suggest new indicators that are uniform and transparent in their logic of construction, can be applied both to specific government-changes and to time periods, and are sensitive to the degree of change. The article finds a hierarchy among the components of party system closure, dominated by coalition formula. While new and established democracies can both produced closed patterns, the analysis of inter-war European party systems shows that closed systems are less prone to authoritarian takeover. The article demonstrates the power of inertia: the completely closed configurations stand out as the most durable ones

Human skeletal muscle drug transporters determine local exposure and toxicity of statins

Rationale: The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, or statins, are important drugs used in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Although statins are well tolerated, many patients develop myopathy manifesting as muscle aches and pain. Rhabdomyolysis is a rare but severe toxicity of statins. Interindividual differences in the activities of hepatic membrane drug transporters and metabolic enzymes are known to influence statin plasma pharmacokinetics and risk for myopathy. Interestingly, little is known regarding the molecular determinants of statin distribution into skeletal muscle and its relevance to toxicity. Objective: We sought to identify statin transporters in human skeletal muscle and determine their impact on statin toxicity in vitro. Methods and Results: We demonstrate that the uptake transporter OATP2B1 (human organic anion transporting polypeptide 2B1) and the efflux transporters, multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP)1, MRP4, and MRP5 are expressed on the sarcolemmal membrane of human skeletal muscle fibers and that atorvastatin and rosuvastatin are substrates of these transporters when assessed using a heterologous expression system. In an in vitro model of differentiated, primary human skeletal muscle myoblast cells, we demonstrate basal membrane expression and drug efflux activity of MRP1, which contributes to reducing intracellular statin accumulation. Furthermore, we show that expression of human OATP2B1 in human skeletal muscle myoblast cells by adenoviral vectors increases intracellular accumulation and toxicity of statins and such effects were abrogated when cells overexpressed MRP1. Conclusions: These results identify key membrane transporters as modulators of skeletal muscle statin exposure and toxicity. © 2010 American Heart Association, Inc

Quadratic electronic response of a two-dimensional electron gas

The electronic response of a two-dimensional (2D) electron system represents a key quantity in discussing one-electron properties of electrons in semiconductor heterojunctions, on the surface of liquid helium and in copper-oxide planes of high-temperature superconductors. We here report an evaluation of the wave-vector and frequency dependent dynamical quadratic density-response function of a 2D electron gas (2DEG), within a self-consistent field approximation. We use this result to find the $Z_1^3$ correction to the stopping power of a 2DEG for charged particles moving at a fixed distance from the plane of the 2D sheet, $Z_1$ being the projectile charge. We reproduce, in the high-density limit, previous full nonlinear calculations of the stopping power of a 2DEG for slow antiprotons, and we go further to calculate the $Z_1^3$ correction to the stopping power of a 2DEG for a wide range of projectile velocities. Our results indicate that linear response calculations are, for all projectile velocities, less reliable in two dimensions than in three dimensions.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Constraints on (2060) Chiron's size, shape, and surrounding material from the November 2018 and September 2019 stellar occultations

After the discovery of rings around the largest known Centaur object, (10199) Chariklo, we carried out observation campaigns of stellar occultations produced by the second-largest known Centaur object, (2060) Chiron, to better characterize its physical properties and presence of material on its surroundings. We predicted and successfully observed two stellar occultations by Chiron. These observations were used to constrain its size and shape by fitting elliptical limbs with equivalent surface radii in agreement with radiometric measurements. Constraints on the (2060) Chiron shape are reported for the first time. Assuming an equivalent radius of R$_{equiv}$ = 105$^{+6}_{-7}$ km, we obtained a semi-major axis of a = 126 $\pm$ 22 km. Considering Chiron's true rotational light curve amplitude and assuming it has a Jacobi equilibrium shape, we were able to derive a 3D shape with a semi-axis of a = 126 $\pm$ 22 km, b = 109 $\pm$ 19 km, and c = 68 $\pm$ 13 km, implying in a volume-equivalent radius of R$_{vol}$ = 98 $\pm$ 17 km, implying a density of 1119 $\pm$ 4 kg m$^{-3}$. We determined the physical properties of the 2011 secondary events around Chiron, which may then be directly compared with those of Chariklo rings, as the same method was used. Data obtained from SAAO in 2018 do not show unambiguous evidence of the proposed rings, mainly due to the large sampling time. Meanwhile, we discarded the possible presence of a permanent ring similar to (10199) Chariklo's C1R in optical depth and extension. Using the first multi-chord stellar occultation by (2060) Chiron and considering it to have a Jacobi equilibrium shape, we derived its 3D shape. New observations of a stellar occultation by (2060) Chiron are needed to further investigate the material's properties around Chiron, such as the occultation predicted for September 10, 2023

The Trans-Neptunian Object (84922) 2003 VS2 through Stellar Occultations

We present results from three world-wide campaigns that resulted in the detections of two single-chord and one multi-chord stellar occultations by the plutino object (84922) 2003 VS2. From the single-chord occultations in 2013 and 2014 we obtained accurate astrometric positions for the object, while from the multi-chord occultation on 2014 November 7, we obtained the parameters of the best-fitting ellipse to the limb of the body at the time of occultation. We also obtained short-term photometry data for the body in order to derive its rotational phase during the occultation. The rotational light curve present a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.141 ± 0.009 mag. This allows us to reconstruct the 3D shape of the body, with principal semi-axes of a = 313.8 ± 7.1 km, = - + b 265.5 9.8 8.8 km, and = - + c 247.3 43.6 26.6 km, which is not consistent with a Jacobi triaxial equilibrium figure. The derived spherical volume equivalent diameter of - + 548.3 44.6 29.5 km is about 5% larger than the radiometric diameter of 2003 VS2 derived from Herschel data of 523 ± 35 km, but still compatible with it within error bars. From those results we can also derive the geometric albedo ( - + 0.123 0.014 0.015) and, under the assumption that the object is a Maclaurin spheroid, the density r = - + 1400 300 1000 for the plutino. The disappearances and reappearances of the star during the occultations do not show any compelling evidence for a global atmosphere considering a pressure upper limit of about 1 microbar for a pure nitrogen atmosphere, nor secondary features (e.g., rings or satellite) around the main body.Fil: Benedetti Rossi, Gustavo. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasil. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; Francia. Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia; BrasilFil: Santos Sanz, P.. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; EspañaFil: Ortiz, J. L.. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; EspañaFil: Assafin, M.. Observatório do Valongo; BrasilFil: Sicardy, B.. Sorbonne University; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; FranciaFil: Morales, N.. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; EspañaFil: Vieira Martins, R.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasil. Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia; Brasil. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; FranciaFil: Duffard, R.. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; EspañaFil: Braga Ribas, F.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasil. Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia; Brasil. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; Francia. Universidade Tecnologia Federal do Parana; BrasilFil: Rommel, F. L.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasil. Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia; BrasilFil: Camargo, J. I. B.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; Brasil. Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia; BrasilFil: Desmars, J.. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; EspañaFil: Colas, A. F.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; FranciaFil: Vachier, F.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; FranciaFil: Alvarez Candal, A.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; BrasilFil: Fernández Valenzuela, E.. University of Central Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Almenares, L.. Universidad de la Republica; UruguayFil: Artola, R.. Estación Astrofísica de Bosque Alegre; ArgentinaFil: Baum, T. P.. Observatoire Astronomique des Makes; FranciaFil: Behrend, R.. Observatoire de Genève; ItaliaFil: Bérard, D.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Observatoire de Paris; FranciaFil: Bianco, F. B.. University of Delaware; Estados Unidos. University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Brosch, N.. Universitat Tel Aviv; IsraelFil: Ceretta, A.. Observatorio Astronómico Los Molinos; UruguayFil: Colazo, C. A.. Estación Astrofísica de Bosque Alegre; ArgentinaFil: Gomes Junior, A. R.. Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia; Brasil. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho. Faculdade de Engenharia; BrasilFil: Ivanov, V. D.. Observatorio Europeo del Sur; AlemaniaFil: Jehin, E.. Université de Liège; BélgicaFil: Kaspi, S.. Universitat Tel Aviv; IsraelFil: Gil Hutton, Ricardo Alfredo. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Geofísica y Astronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito"; Argentin

The role of attachment in body weight gain and weight loss in bariatric patients

Purpose: To explore the role of attachment styles in obesity. Material and methods: The present study explored differences in insecure attachment styles between an obese sample waiting for bariatric surgery (n=195) and an age, sex and height matched normal weight control group (n=195). It then explored the role of attachment styles in predicting change in BMI one year post bariatric surgery (n=143). Results: The bariatric group reported significantly higher levels of anxious attachment and lower levels of avoidant attachment than the control non obese group. Baseline attachment styles did not, however, predict change in BMI post-surgery. Conclusion: Attachment style is different in those that are already obese from those who are not. Attachment was not related to weight loss post-surgery