Near maximum likelihood soft-decision decoding of a particular class of rate-1/2 systematic linear block codes

International audiencePresented is a soft-decision decoding algorithm for a particular class of rate-1/2 systematic linear block codes. The proposed algorithm performs successive re-encoding of both the data and parity bits, to produce a list of codewords among which the most likely candidate is chosen. Simulation results show that close to optimal performance can be obtained at reasonable complexity. They validate the potential of the proposed algorithm as a practical approach for soft-decision decoding

A highly parallel Turbo Product Code decoder without interleaving resource

International audienceThis article presents an innovative turbo product code (TPC) decoder architecture without any interleaving resource. This architecture includes a full-parallel SISO decoder able to process n symbols in one clock period. Syntheses show the better efficiency of such an architecture compared with existing previous solutions. Considering a 6-iteration turbo decoder of a (32,26)2 BCH product code, synthetized in a 90 nm CMOS technology, the resulting information throughput is 2.5 Gb/s with an area of 233 Kgates. Finally a second architecture enhancing parallelism rate is described. The information throughput is 33.7 Gb/s while an area estimation gives A=10 mum2

Towards a Naturalistic Animal Model of Depression? A Study on Horses

International audienceBACKGROUND: Recent reviews question current animal models of depression and emphasise the need for ethological models of mood disorders based on animals living under natural conditions. Domestic horses encounter chronic stress, including potential stress at work, which can induce behavioural disorders (e.g. "apathy"). Our pioneering study evaluated the potential of domestic horses in their usual environment to become an ethological model of depression by testing this models' face validity (i.e. behavioural similarity with descriptions of human depressive states).METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We observed the spontaneous behaviour of 59 working horses in their home environment, focusing on immobility bouts of apparent unresponsiveness when horses displayed an atypical posture (termed withdrawn hereafter), evaluated their responsiveness to their environment and their anxiety levels, and analysed cortisol levels. Twenty-four percent of the horses presented the withdrawn posture, also characterized by gaze, head and ears fixity, a profile that suggests a spontaneous expression of "behavioural despair". When compared with control "non-withdrawn" horses from the same stable, withdrawn horses appeared more indifferent to environmental stimuli in their home environment but reacted more emotionally in more challenging situations. They exhibited lower plasma cortisol levels. Withdrawn horses all belonged to the same breed and females were over-represented.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Horse might be a useful potential candidate for an animal model of depression. Face validity of this model appeared good, and potential genetic input and high prevalence of these disorders in females add to the convergence. At a time when current animal models of depression are questioned and the need for novel models is expressed, this study suggests that novel models and biomarkers could emerge from ethological approaches in home environments

Reed-Solomon turbo product codes for optical communications: from code optimization to decoder design

International audienceTurbo product codes (TPCs) are an attractive solution to improve link budgets and reduce systems costs by relaxing the requirements on expensive optical devices in high capacity optical transport systems. In this paper, we investigate the use of Reed-Solomon (RS) turbo product codes for 40 Gbps transmission over optical transport networks and 10 Gbps transmission over passive optical networks. An algorithmic study is first performed in order to design RS TPCs that are compatible with the performance requirements imposed by the two applications. Then, a novel ultrahigh-speed parallel architecture for turbo decoding of product codes is described. A comparison with binary Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) TPCs is performed. The results show that high-rate RS TPCs offer a better complexity/performance tradeoff than BCH TPCs for low-cost Gbps fiber optic communications

Design and implementation of a soft-decision decoder for Cortex codes

International audienceCortex codes are a family of rate-1/2 self-dual systematic linear block codes with good distance properties. This paper investigates the challenging issue of designing an efficient soft-decision decoder for Cortex codes. A dedicated algorithm is introduced that takes advantage of the particular structure of the code to simplify the decoding. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm achieves an excellent trade-off between performance and complexity for short Cortex codes. A decoder architecture for the (32,16,8) Cortex code based on the (4,2,2) Hadamard code has been successfully designed and implemented on FPGA device. To our knowledge, this is the first efficient digital implementation of a soft-decision Cortex decoder

Effect of shear on the rheology and crystallization of palm oil

International audienceThis article reports on the impact of shear on crystallization upon cooling of palm oil. Samples were cooled down under shear from 70 to 10 degrees C, then kept at this temperature, while performing rheological measurements using a controlled shear rate rheometer and rheo-optical observations using optical microscopy and small-angle light scattering. Shear rates between 1 and 300 s(-1) were investigated. Two crystallization steps were observed, characterized by associated viscosity increases. The effect of shear on these 2 crystallization processes was investigated. Shear was shown to influence almost all of the steps of the structuring process of the crystallizing palm oil. The spherulite size and growth rate during the 1st crystallization are affected by shear. The onset time of the 2nd crystallization process strongly depends on the extent of shear. The steady state structures after the 1st and 2nd crystallization processes constituted of a suspension of aggregates of spherulites are controlled by the applied shear rate. Practical Application: The texture of crystallized vegetal fats and subsequent end product properties depend on the structure developed during the crystallization process. This structuring process is strongly influenced by the thermo-mechanical history applied to the product (cooling rate, degree of undercooling, annealing time, application of flow). This article shows how the shear rate as well as extent of shear affects the different steps of the crystallization and aggregation processes in the case of palm oil after the 1st crystallization

Plasma cortisol and faecal cortisol metabolites concentrations in stereotypic and non-stereotypic horses:do stereotypic horses cope better with poor environmental conditions?

BACKGROUND: Stereotypic behaviours, i.e. repetitive behaviours induced by frustration, repeated attempts to cope and/or brain dysfunction, are intriguing as they occur in a variety of domestic and captive species without any clear adaptive function. Among the different hypotheses, the coping hypothesis predicts that stereotypic behaviours provide a way for animals in unfavourable environmental conditions to adjust. As such, they are expected to have a lower physiological stress level (glucocorticoids) than non-stereotypic animals. Attempts to link stereotypic behaviours with glucocorticoids however have yielded contradictory results. Here we investigated correlates of oral and motor stereotypic behaviours and glucocorticoid levels in two large samples of domestic horses (N(Study1) = 55, N(Study2) = 58), kept in sub-optimal conditions (e.g. confinement, social isolation), and already known to experience poor welfare states. Each horse was observed in its box using focal sampling (study 1) and instantaneous scan sampling (study 2). Plasma samples (collected in study 1) but also non-invasive faecal samples (collected in both studies) were retrieved in order to assess cortisol levels. RESULTS: Results showed that 1) plasma cortisol and faecal cortisol metabolites concentrations did not differ between horses displaying stereotypic behaviours and non-stereotypic horses and 2) both oral and motor stereotypic behaviour levels did not predict plasma cortisol or faecal cortisol metabolites concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Cortisol measures, collected in two large samples of horses using both plasma sampling as well as faecal sampling (the latter method minimizing bias due to a non-invasive sampling procedure), therefore do not indicate that stereotypic horses cope better, at least in terms of adrenocortical activity

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Row-column parallel turbo decoding of product codes

International audienceA row-column parallel architecture of a turbo decoder dedicated to product codes is presented. This architecture enables simultaneous decoding of the row and the column of a block. The performance of the proposed row-column parallel turbo decoder is similar to that of a conventional turbo decoder. However, this new architecture reduces the decoding latency by a factor of two. Moreover, the memory necessary for the block reconstruction between row decoding and column decoding is removed

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RENNES1-BU Santé (352382103) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF