Coding for reliable satellite communications

This research project was set up to study various kinds of coding techniques for error control in satellite and space communications for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. During the project period, researchers investigated the following areas: (1) decoding of Reed-Solomon codes in terms of dual basis; (2) concatenated and cascaded error control coding schemes for satellite and space communications; (3) use of hybrid coding schemes (error correction and detection incorporated with retransmission) to improve system reliability and throughput in satellite communications; (4) good codes for simultaneous error correction and error detection, and (5) error control techniques for ring and star networks

Can population characteristics account for the variation in health impacts of air pollution? A meta-analysis of PM10-mortality studies

In this paper a regression analysis is undertaken using the largest sample of air pollution mortality studies to date, from both developing and developed countries, in an attempt to further the understanding of the relationship between suspended particles and mortality. Applying Empirical Bayes meta-analysis, it is estimated that mortality rates on average increase by 6 per cent per 100-mg/m3 increase in Particulate Matter (PM10) concentrations, with greater effects in countries with high income inequality. We further find evidence that education and income have an influence on the effects of PM pollution

California\u27s Foreign Relations

Globalization has significantly increased the number of stakeholders in transnational issues in recent decades. The typical list of the new players in global affairs often includes non-state actors like non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and international organizations. Sub-national governments, however, have been given relatively little attention even though they, too, have a significant interest and ability to shape the increasing flow of capital, goods, services, people, and ideas that has so profoundly influenced the global political economy in recent decades. California, arguably the most significant among sub-national governments – its economy would be seventh or eighth in the world at $2.2 trillion annually, it engages in over$570 billion in merchandise trade, and has a population of nearly 40 million, out of which over 10 million are immigrants – is also one of the most active in transnational issues. The state government has opened and closed dozens trade offices abroad since the 1960s. It set up a multi-billion dollar carbon cap-and-trade system jointly with the Canadian provinces of Québec and Ontario under Assembly Bill 32, one of the most significant pieces of climate change legislation to date. California’s educational, technological, and media hubs – its public and private universities, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood – draw some of the best and brightest from around the world. California also has a long history of involvement in transnational issues. State efforts to undermine growing Chinese then Japanese “menace” immigrant populations from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries influenced United States foreign policy. This thesis first takes a look at the federalism and international relations issues faced by California as it plays a greater role in transnational issues. Then, it examines the main actors and institutions, and the issues at play. The states have some leeway under the Constitution and contemporary political order to use their domestic powers to influence global issues, whether through climate legislation, public pension divestment, or non-binding “Memoranda of Understanding” with foreign governments. Such behavior, while less significant than national policy, can fill gaps in national policy, promote policy change, and deepen global ties, promoting a more complex interdependence among nations. California can also exert a moral, soft power influence in leading by example. The structures promoting California’s growing role in transnational issues are poorly organized. If the Golden State is to better leverage its political, economic, and moral authority internationally, it would do well to more explicitly develop a unified vision for its role in the world

Journey to Zero NG-related HAPI\u27s

From October 2015 to April 2016, there were five Stage II or higher inner nares hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) caused by nasogastric (NG) tubes, with one being unstageable. These occurred despite previously implemented evidence- based prevention strategies, which included: • Two-person skin assessments on admission and return from surgery • Two-person skin assessment upon transfer from unit to unit • Daily skin assessments including under devices • Access to the Wound Ostomy Continence (WOC) teamhttps://digitalcommons.centracare.com/nursing_posters/1119/thumbnail.jp

Another Shot at Rectifying the District of Columbia v. Heller Ambiguities: The Constitutional Right to Arms, the Nonconstitutional Right to Arms, and the Commerce Clause

In an article for The New Yorker titled Active Shooter, David Sedaris quipped that, in preparing for the potential that a psychopath might break into his home, he would just as soon have a back door as a gun. Sedaris wrote the article after visiting a shooting range in North Carolina. Before, during, and after the writing of the article, Sedaris lived in the United Kingdom and noted that in the United Kingdom, it is nearly impossible to acquire a handgun let alone fire a handgun for sport. Conversely, in the United States, a citizen has a right to a handgun. Proponents of the right defend it atavistically, leaning on tradition and history and asserting—if not explicitly, then implicitly—that the right to bear arms defines their identity as Americans. Those opposed to the right to own an arm, a handgun, point to the United States’ problems with gun violence. Consequently, the debate over gun control and gun ownership has created a political chasm. This Comment aims to set aside politics and engage in legal analysis. At times it may seem that this Comment leans to the left of the aforementioned chasm, but it does so on the backing not of statistics and rhetoric but on legal fact and interpretation. Hopefully, this Comment can narrow, and not amplify, the chasm

Trends, Developments, and Potentials for Growth: South Dakota\u27s Beef Industry

Beef is South Dakota\u27s most important agricultural product. The state ranked 6th in the nation in the number of beef cows, and 11th in the number of cattle on feed on January 1, 1971. About half of all South Dakota cash receipts from farm marketings come from the sale of cattle and calves. This report provides an assessment of past trends and of problems and potentials for beef production in South Dakota

Squaring the Circle and Doubling the Cube in Space-Time

Squaring the Circle is a famous geometry problem going all the way back to the ancient Greeks. It is the great quest of constructing a square with the same area as a circle using a compass and straightedge in a finite number of steps. Since it was proven that ⇡ was a transcendental number in 1882, the task of Squaring the Circle has been considered impossible. Here, we will show it is possible to Square the Circle in space-time. It is not possible to Square the Circle in Euclidean space alone, but it is fully possible in space-time, and after all we live in a world with not only space, but also time. By drawing the circle from one reference frame and drawing the square from another reference frame, we can indeed Square the Circle. By taking into account space-time rather than just space, the impossible becomes possible! However, it is not enough simply to understand math in order to Square the Circle, one must understand some “basic” space-time physics as well. As a bonus, we have added a solution to the impossibility of Doubling the Cube. As a double bonus, we have also Boxed the Sphere! As we will see, one could claim that we have simply bent the rules and moved the problem from one place to another. One of the essential points of this paper, however, is that we can move challenging space problems out from space and into time, and vice versa

Extraction of the Planck Length From Cosmological Redshift Without Knowledge of G or h

We demonstrate how one can extract the Planck length from cosmological redshift without any knowledge of Newton’s gravitational constant G or the Planck constant h. This result strongly suggests that there is a direct link between the cosmic scale and the Planck scale. We will also shortly discuss why this outcome will probably bring us closer to a unified quantum gravity theory that is closely linked to quantum cosmology. We have good reasons to think our findings are significant and should be of great interest to anyone trying to unify gravity and cosmology with the Planck scale.Extraction of the Planck Length From Cosmological Redshift Without Knowledge of G or hacceptedVersio

Measurements of the Planck Length from a Ball Clock without Knowledge of Newton’s Gravitational Constant G or the Planck Constant

We demonstrate how one can extract the Planck length from a ball with a built-in stopwatch, without knowledge of the Newtonian gravitational constant or the Planck constant. This could be of great importance since, until recently, it has been assumed the Planck length cannot be found without knowledge of Newton’s gravitational constant. This method of measuring the Planck length should also be of great interest not only to physics researchers but also to physics teachers and students, as it conveniently demonstrates that the Plank length is directly linked to gravitational phenomena, not only theoretically but practically. To demonstrate that this is more than a theory, we report 100 measurements of the Planck length using this simple approach. We will claim that, despite the mathematical and experimental simplicity, our findings could be of great importance in better understanding the Planck scale and quantum gravity, as our findings strongly support the idea that to detect gravity is to detect the effects from the Planck scale indirectly.publishedVersio