Bandwidth efficient CCSDS coding standard proposals

The basic concatenated coding system for the space telemetry channel consists of a Reed-Solomon (RS) outer code, a symbol interleaver/deinterleaver, and a bandwidth efficient trellis inner code. A block diagram of this configuration is shown. The system may operate with or without the outer code and interleaver. In this recommendation, the outer code remains the (255,223) RS code over GF(2 exp 8) with an error correcting capability of t = 16 eight bit symbols. This code's excellent performance and the existence of fast, cost effective, decoders justify its continued use. The purpose of the interleaver/deinterleaver is to distribute burst errors out of the inner decoder over multiple codewords of the outer code. This utilizes the error correcting capability of the outer code more efficiently and reduces the probability of an RS decoder failure. Since the space telemetry channel is not considered bursty, the required interleaving depth is primarily a function of the inner decoding method. A diagram of an interleaver with depth 4 that is compatible with the (255,223) RS code is shown. Specific interleaver requirements are discussed after the inner code recommendations

Phenotypic Plasticity in Juvenile Jellyfish Medusae Facilitates Effective Animal–Fluid Interaction

Locomotion and feeding in marine animals are intimately linked to the flow dynamics created by specialized body parts. This interaction is of particular importance during ontogeny, when changes in behaviour and scale challenge the organism with shifts in fluid regimes and altered functionality. Previous studies have indicated that Scyphozoan jellyfish ontogeny accommodates the changes in fluid dynamics associated with increasing body dimensions and velocities during development. However, in addition to scale and behaviour that—to a certain degree—underlie the control of the animal, flow dynamics are also dependent on external factors such as temperature. Here, we show phenotypic plasticity in juvenile Aurelia aurita medusae, where morphogenesis is adapted to altered fluid regimes imposed by changes in ambient temperature. In particular, differential proportional growth was found to compensate for temperature-dependent changes in viscous effects, enabling the animal to use adhering water boundary layers as ‘paddles’—and thus economize tissue—at low temperatures, while switching to tissue-dominated propulsion at higher temperatures where the boundary layer thickness is insufficient to serve for paddling. This effect was predicted by a model of animal–fluid interaction and confirmed empirically by flow-field visualization and assays of propulsion efficiency

Items of Importance to Patrons of Indian and Riverboat Casinos

The objectives were to identify similar characteristics for casino patrons and determine what factors were important to these individuals. Patrons from Indian and riverboat casinos were surveyed on demographic variables, casino experience, and importance of 25 items. Casino patrons scored intangible items such as security and service highly. Casino managers must constantly assess how the casino is performing by using data extracted from their clientele

Methods of Processing Meats

Newer methods of processing meats along with the development of new meat products will become more and more apparent as the meat industry adapts to the changing life-styles of Americans. The fast-food service industry as well as the hotel, restaurant and institutional trade will become an ever more important market for meat products. Electrical stimulation, massaging/tumbling, restructured steaks, hot-boning and retort pouch packaging represent more recent meat products and processing methods

Absolute photoionization cross section measurements of the Kr I-isoelectronic sequence

Photoionization spectra have been recorded in the 4s, 4p and 3d resonance regions for the Kr Iisoelectronic sequence using both the dual laser produced plasma technique (at DCU) to produce photoabsorption spectra, and the merged ion beam and synchrotron radiation technique (at ASTRID) to measure absolute photoionization cross sections. Profile parameters are compared for the 4s − np resonances of Rb+ and Sr2+. Many new 4p " ns, md transitions are identified with the aid of Hartree-Fock calculations, and consistent quantum defects are observed for the various ns and md Rydberg series. Absolute single and double photoionization cross sections recorded in the 3d region for Rb+ and Sr2+ ions show preferential decay via double photoionization. This is only the second report where both the DLP technique and the merged beam technique have been used simultaneously to record photoionization spectra, and the advantages of both techniques (i.e. better resolution in the case of DLP and values for absolute photoionization cross sections in the case of the merged beam technique) are highlighted

Supply Chain Transformation in Apc Ireland: Lean Thinking, Opposing Logics and Bricolage

This paper presents a number of observations and\ud findings from an ongoing study of supply chain\ud transformation in a subsidiary of American Power Conversion (APC) located in the West of Ireland.\ud The study is being carried out in a period of significant change within both the Irish economy and the\ud APC Corporation. The research addresses the question of how innovation can contribute to the sustainability and development of the Operations function in a time of transition. To begin with, a review is presented of\ud relevant research and theory in the areas\ud of lean supply, innovative culture and information systems bricolage. Then the context and composition of the lean transformation team involved in the case study are described together with the research design.\ud The work proposes to make a contribution in two areas.\ud Firstly by providing empirical evidence of the role of innovation in an organizational transformation and the challenge of incorporating bricolage in the course of\ud information systems design. Secondly to the building of theory by proposing that organizational innovation\ud can be viewed as a dynamic process of tuning\ud “opposing logics”. The paper concludes by suggesting\ud that the study has significance in the context of Ireland’s objectives of moving to an innovation economy and of strengthening academic-industrial collaboration

A simulation study of the performance of the NASA (2,1,6) convolutional code on RFI/burst channels

In an earlier report, the LINKABIT Corporation studied the performance of the (2,1,6) convolutional code on the radio frequency interference (RFI)/burst channel using analytical methods. Using an R(sub 0) analysis, the report concluded that channel interleaving was essential to achieving reliable performance. In this report, Monte Carlo simulation techniques are used to study the performance of the convolutional code on the RFI/burst channel in more depth. The basic system model under consideration is shown. The convolutional code is the NASA standard code with generators g(exp 1) = 1+D(exp 2)+D(exp 3)+D(exp 5)+D(exp 6) and g(exp 2) = 1+D+D(exp 2)+D(exp 3)+D(exp 6) and d(sub free) = 10. The channel interleaver is of the convolutional or periodic type. The binary output of the channel interleaver is transmitted across the channel using binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation. The transmitted symbols are corrupted by an RFI/burst channel consisting of a combination of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and RFI pulses. At the receiver, a soft-decision Viterbi decoder with no quantization and variable truncation length is used to decode the deinterleaved sequence

Predicting Beef Palatability

The search for factors influencing the palatability of beef continues. The relative importance of variables in the USDA quality grading system that currently predicts acceptability and palatability has been questioned. The effect of marbling on palatability is one of the more controversial aspects. Marbling is one of the prime factors in determining the quality grade of a beef carcass and researchers have shown that other variables may play an equal or more important role influencing the eating quality of beef. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of commonly-used predictors of palatability and to consider the possible influence of other carcass measures as predictors of palatability. Palatability, as defined in this study, was measured by the subjective taste panel scores for flavor, juiciness and tenderness. Tenderness mas measured objectively with the Warner-Bratzler shear instrument