Large Families of Ternary Sequences with Aperiodic Zero Correlation Zone Sequences for a Multi-Carrier DS-CDMA System

A new method for generating families of ternary spreading sequences is presented. The sequences have aperiodic zero correlation zones and large families are created for a specific sequence length. The sequences are proposed as spreading sequences to provide high capacity and cancel multipath and multiple access interference (MAI) in a single carrier (SC) or multi-carrier (MC) direct-spread code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) system. A Multi-carrier DS-CDMA system is simulated that employs the new sequences as spreading sequences in a multipath channel. Bit error rates (BER) and frame error rates (FER) for a range of Eb/No values are presented and it is demonstrated that the proposed sequences improve the BER and FER performance when used in place of masked Walsh Codes for the frequency selective fading channel evaluated, when a single correlator receiver is used on each sub-carrier

The analysis of user behaviour of a network management training tool using a neural network

A novel method for the analysis and interpretation of data that describes the interaction between trainee network managers and a network management training tool is presented. A simulation based approach is currently being used to train network managers, through the use of a simulated network. The motivation is to provide a tool for exposing trainees to a life like situation without disrupting a live network. The data logged by this system describes the detailed interaction between trainee network manager and simulated network. The work presented here provides an analysis of this interaction data that enables an assessment of the capabilities of the trainee network manager as well as an understanding of how the network management tasks are being approached. A neural network architecture is implemented in order to perform an exploratory data analysis of the interaction data. The neural network employs a novel form of continuous self-organisation to discover key features in the data and thus provide new insights into the learning and teaching strategies employed

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SUMMARY We isolated step-to-step transitions from other contributors to walking mechanics using a cyclical rocking task and then examined the contribution of individual joints to the total work required to redirect the velocity of the center of mass (COM). Nine participants were instructed to rock backward and forward in the sagittal plane, eliminating the need to swing the legs and progress forward. To systematically increase the required work, we increased step length from 60 to 100% of leg length, keeping rocking frequency constant. The individual limbs method quantified the COM work and the joint power method apportioned the COM work among its various sources. As predicted by a physics-based model, we found that work in rocking was performed mainly during the step-to-step transitions and increased strongly with step length. We also found that increases in the average COM work rate exacted a proportional metabolic cost. The similar patterns of COM work and COM work rate during rocking and walking support the use of rocking to isolate the mechanics of step-to-step transitions. We found that the ankle was the main joint contributing to the positive work required to redirect the COM velocity during forward rocking. At the longest length, it accounted for 88% of the work performed by the trailing leg joints. Interestingly, the summed contribution of ankle, knee and hip joint work accounted for only 39% of the front leg negative COM work during the forward transition, suggesting that most of the collision work is performed by passive tissue

Modification of Turbulence at the Air-Sea Interface Due to the Presence of Surfactants and Implications for Gas Exchange. Part I: Laboratory Experiment

The air-sea gas transfer of gases like CO2 is substantiallydetermined bythe properties of the aqueous diffusion sublayer and free-surface turbulent boundarylayer. Little is known about the effect of surfactants on turbulence in the near-surface layer of the ocean. In order to investigate the effect of surfactants on turbulent exchanges below the air-sea interface, we have conducted a series of laboratoryexperiments at the UM RSMAS Air-Sea Interaction Saltwater Tank (ASIST) facility. Results from these experiments demonstrate that the surfactant monolayer suppresses turbulence and reduces drag below the water surface and increases the surface drift velocity. This effect is important for parameterization of the interfacial component of gas exchange under low wind speed conditions. From the theoretical standpoint, the mechanism of the turbulence reduction can be explained bythe modification of the “streaks” in the buffer zone near the interface byvisco-elastic properties of the water surface when surfactants are present. These findings are consistent with results from high-resolution non-hydrostatic numerical simulations presented in a companion paper.https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facbooks/1051/thumbnail.jp

Development of a biomechanical energy harvester

© 2009 Li et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

General Variability Leads to Specific Adaptation Toward Energy Optimal Policies

Our nervous systems can learn optimal control policies in response to changes to our bodies, tasks, and movement contexts. For example, humans can learn to adapt their control policy in walking contexts where the energy-optimal policy is shifted along variables such as step frequency or step width. However, it is unclear how the nervous system determines which ways to adapt its control policy. Here, we asked how human participants explore through variations in their control policy to identify more optimal policies in new contexts. We created new contexts using exoskeletons that apply assistive torques to each ankle at each walking step. We analyzed four variables that spanned the levels of the whole movement, the joint, and the muscle: step frequency, ankle angle range, total soleus activity, and total medial gastrocnemius activity. We found that, across all of these analyzed variables, variability increased upon initial exposure to new contexts and then decreased with experience. This led to adaptive changes in the magnitude of specific variables, and these changes were correlated with reduced energetic cost. The timescales by which adaptive changes progressed and variability decreased were faster for some variables than others, suggesting a reduced search space within which the nervous system continues to optimize its policy. These collective findings support the principle that exploration through general variability leads to specific adaptation toward optimal movement policies

Wave modelling - the state of the art

This paper is the product of the wave modelling community and it tries to make a picture of the present situation in this branch of science, exploring the previous and the most recent results and looking ahead towards the solution of the problems we presently face. Both theory and applications are considered. The many faces of the subject imply separate discussions. This is reflected into the single sections, seven of them, each dealing with a specific topic, the whole providing a broad and solid overview of the present state of the art. After an introduction framing the problem and the approach we followed, we deal in sequence with the following subjects: (Section) 2, generation by wind; 3, nonlinear interactions in deep water; 4, white-capping dissipation; 5, nonlinear interactions in shallow water; 6, dissipation at the sea bottom; 7, wave propagation; 8, numerics. The two final sections, 9 and 10, summarize the present situation from a general point of view and try to look at the future developments

Asymmetry of wind waves studied in a laboratory tank

International audienceAsymmetry of wind waves was studied in laboratory tank tinder varied wind and fetch conditions using both bispectral analysis of wave records and third-order statistics of the surface elevation. It is found skewness S (the normalized third-order moment of surface elevation describing the horizontal asymmetry waves) varies only slightly with the inverse wave u*/Cm (where u* is the air friction velocity and Cm is phase speed of the dominant waves). At the same time asymmetry A, which is determined from the Hilbert transform of the wave record and characterizes the skewness of the rate of change of surface elevation, increase consistently in magnitude with the ratio u*/Cm. This suggests that nonlinear distortion of the wave profile determined by the degree of wind forcing and is a sensitive indicator of wind-wave interaction processes. It is shown that the asymmetric profile of waves can described within the frameworks of the nonlinear nonspectral concept (Plate, 1972; Lake and Yuen, 197 according to which the wind-wave field can be represented as a coherent bound-wave system consisting mainly of dominant component w. and its harmonics propagating with the same speed C. , as observed by Ramamonjiaris and Coantic (1976). The phase shift between o). harmonics is found and shown to increase with the asymmetry of the waves

Microwave Gaseous Discharges

Contains reports on three research projects

Observations of turbulence in the ocean surface boundary layer : energetics and transport

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 39 (2009): 1077–1096, doi:10.1175/2008JPO4044.1.Observations of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dynamics in the ocean surface boundary layer are presented here and compared with results from previous observational, numerical, and analytic studies. As in previous studies, the dissipation rate of TKE is found to be higher in the wavy ocean surface boundary layer than it would be in a flow past a rigid boundary with similar stress and buoyancy forcing. Estimates of the terms in the turbulent kinetic energy equation indicate that, unlike in a flow past a rigid boundary, the dissipation rates cannot be balanced by local production terms, suggesting that the transport of TKE is important in the ocean surface boundary layer. A simple analytic model containing parameterizations of production, dissipation, and transport reproduces key features of the vertical profile of TKE, including enhancement near the surface. The effective turbulent diffusion coefficient for heat is larger than would be expected in a rigid-boundary boundary layer. This diffusion coefficient is predicted reasonably well by a model that contains the effects of shear production, buoyancy forcing, and transport of TKE (thought to be related to wave breaking). Neglect of buoyancy forcing or wave breaking in the parameterization results in poor predictions of turbulent diffusivity. Langmuir turbulence was detected concurrently with a fraction of the turbulence quantities reported here, but these times did not stand out as having significant differences from observations when Langmuir turbulence was not detected.The Office of Naval Research funded this work as a part of CBLAST-Low