Can Punctured Rate-1/2 Turbo Codes Achieve a Lower Error Floor than their Rate-1/3 Parent Codes?

In this paper we concentrate on rate-1/3 systematic parallel concatenated convolutional codes and their rate-1/2 punctured child codes. Assuming maximum-likelihood decoding over an additive white Gaussian channel, we demonstrate that a rate-1/2 non-systematic child code can exhibit a lower error floor than that of its rate-1/3 parent code, if a particular condition is met. However, assuming iterative decoding, convergence of the non-systematic code towards low bit-error rates is problematic. To alleviate this problem, we propose rate-1/2 partially-systematic codes that can still achieve a lower error floor than that of their rate-1/3 parent codes. Results obtained from extrinsic information transfer charts and simulations support our conclusion.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE Information Theory Workshop, Chengdu, China, October 22-26, 200

Sexual behaviour and HIV/sexually transmitted infection risk behaviours in the general population of Slovenia, a low HIV prevalence country in central Europe.

OBJECTIVES: To describe sexual and HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk behaviours in Slovenia. METHODS: A nationally representative cross-sectional survey of the general population aged 18-49 years in 1999-2001 was conducted. The data were collected by face-to-face interviews and anonymous self-administered questionnaires. Statistical methods for complex survey data were used. RESULTS: 849 men and 903 women were interviewed. In the past 5 years, both men and women reported a median of one heterosexual partner (means 3.2, 1.5, respectively), concurrent heterosexual partnerships were reported by 24.4% of men and 8.2% of women, heterosexual sex with non-Slovenian partners by 12.6% of men and 12.2% of women, forced sex by 4.8% of women, paid heterosexual sex by 2.6% of men, sex with another man by 0.6% of men and heterosexual sex with an injecting drug user by 1.2% of men and 1.3% of women. In the past year, 22.7% of men and 9.5% of women reported forming at least one new heterosexual partnership. The mean numbers of episodes of heterosexual sex in the previous 4 weeks were 6.1 for men and 6.0 for women. Consistent and inconsistent condom use was reported more frequently among men reporting multiple female partners and those not married or cohabiting. CONCLUSIONS: Recent patterns of reported sexual behaviour are consistent with a low risk of HIV and STI transmission in Slovenia. The results will inform Slovenian sexual health policies including HIV/STI prevention, and are particularly valuable because population-based data on HIV/STI risk behaviour have not previously been available in low HIV prevalence countries of central Europe

The runaway black hole GRO J1655-40

We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the motion in the sky and compute the galactocentric orbit of the black hole X-ray binary GRO J1655-40. The system moves with a runaway space velocity of $112\pm 18$ km s$^{-1}$ in a highly eccentric ($e = 0.34\pm 0.05$) orbit. The black hole was formed in the disk at a distance greater than 3 kpc from the Galactic centre and must have been shot to such an eccentric orbit by the explosion of the progenitor star. The runaway linear momentum and kinetic energy of this black hole binary are comparable to those of solitary neutron stars and millisecond pulsars. GRO J1655-40 is the first black hole for which there is evidence for a runaway motion imparted by a natal kick in a supernova explosion.Comment: Published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 5 pages, 2 color figures. Color figure and animation can be found at http://www.iafe.uba.ar/astronomia/mirabel/mirabel.html or ftp://ftp.cea.fr/incoming/y2k01/mirabe

The Quantum Algebraic Structure of the Twisted XXZ Chain

We consider the Quantum Inverse Scattering Method with a new R-matrix depending on two parameters $q$ and $t$. We find that the underlying algebraic structure is the two-parameter deformed algebra $SU_{q,t}(2)$ enlarged by introducing an element belonging to the centre. The corresponding Hamiltonian describes the spin-1/2 XXZ model with twisted periodic boundary conditions.Comment: LateX file, 9 pages, Minor changes (including authors` names in the hep-th heading

Kinematics of Black Hole X-ray Binary GRS 1915+105

The space velocity of a stellar black hole encodes the history of its formation and evolution. Here we measure the 3-dimensional motion of the microquasar GRS 1915+105, using a decade of astrometry with the NRAO Very Long Baseline Array, together with the published radial velocity. The velocity in the Galactic Plane deviates from circular rotation by 53-80 +_ 8 km/s, where the range covers any specific distance from 6-12 kpc. Perpendicular to the plane, the velocity is only 10 +_ 4 km/s. The peculiar velocity is minimized at a distance 9-10 kpc, and is then nearly in the radial direction towards the Galactic Center. We discuss mechanisms for the origin of the peculiar velocity, and conclude that it is most likely a consequence of Galactic velocity diffusion on this old binary, rather than the result of a supernova kick during the formation of the 14 Mo black hole. Finally, a brief comparison is made with 4 other BH binaries whose kinematics are well determined.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures. ApJ accepte

Alimentos funcionais : uma área estratégica para a BIOTEMPO

A BIOTEMPO – Consultoria em Biotecnologia, Lda. é uma empresa de base tecnológica que surgiu como resultado de um spin-off da Universidade do Minho. A sua actividade centra-se na prestação de serviços de consultoria e promoção de actividades de investigação e desenvolvimento. Actualmente, a BIOTEMPO participa em vários projectos de I&D, alguns dos quais são executados em parceria com empresas e universidades nacionais. No âmbito da sua Unidade de Biotecnologia Alimentar e Farmacêutica a BIOTEMPO tem-se dedicado ao desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias para a produção de ingredientes para alimentos funcionais, tendo elegido esta área como estratégica para o desenvolvimento da empresa

Variedade de milho melhora renda e segurança alimentar de agricultores familiares.

bitstream/item/67266/1/Vmilho0001.pdfPublicado em: Boletim Pecuário; Grupo Cultivar; Webartigos.com; Portal do Agronegócio

Gestão ambiental territorial do agroturismo e da agricultura orgânica.

Pela via da avaliação, adequação e gestão da qualidade ambiental na realização das atividades rurais pode-se promover a integração dos produtores, cuja organização pode culminar na gestão ambiental territorial. Conformar redes sociais de interesse, organizar agentes locais, firmar parcerias, amalgamar os anseios comunitários não são processos espontâneos, é necessária a existência de um objetivo comum, um projeto consensual para o qual convirjam os interesses desses agentes. No meio rural, as capacidades produtivas e as características dos recursos disponíveis oferecem as bases para o projeto de desenvolvimento sustentável. Tendose o objetivo acordado entre os agentes, faz-se mister elaborar um fio condutor que permita tecer a malha da rede social. O desempenho ambiental de atividades rurais oferece um tal fio condutor, averiguado, corrigido e gerido pela avaliação de impacto ambiental (AIA) em sentido amplo, integrando-se os aspectos sociais, culturais, econômicos e ecológicos. Um programa de avaliação ambiental e gestão territorial participativa foi desenvolvido para atividades de agroturismo e agricultura ecológica, respectivamente nas regiões de Itu (SP) e Venda Nova do Imigrante (ES), e Francisco Beltrão (PR) e Ibiúna (SP). Idealizou-se para esse estudo um Sistema de ?Avaliação Ponderada de Impacto Ambiental de atividades do Novo Rural? (APOIA-NovoRural), que consiste de 62 indicadores em uma plataforma de avaliação que fundamenta-se no envolvimento e no conhecimento do produtor rural quanto a seu estabelecimento, bem como em análises que indicam a situação de desempenho ambiental. Os resultados das avaliações mostraram que os indicadores da dimensão Ecologia da Paisagem são os que mais demandam intervenção para adequar a gestão dos estabelecimentos, nas atividades estudadas. O desempenho muito favorável da agricultura orgânica na dimensão Gestão e Administração foi o principal diferencial, que resultou em um desempenho melhor para essa atividade