668 research outputs found
Trapping Set Enumerators for Repeat Multiple Accumulate Code Ensembles
The serial concatenation of a repetition code with two or more accumulators
has the advantage of a simple encoder structure. Furthermore, the resulting
ensemble is asymptotically good and exhibits minimum distance growing linearly
with block length. However, in practice these codes cannot be decoded by a
maximum likelihood decoder, and iterative decoding schemes must be employed.
For low-density parity-check codes, the notion of trapping sets has been
introduced to estimate the performance of these codes under iterative message
passing decoding. In this paper, we present a closed form finite length
ensemble trapping set enumerator for repeat multiple accumulate codes by
creating a trellis representation of trapping sets. We also obtain the
asymptotic expressions when the block length tends to infinity and evaluate
them numerically.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in proc. IEEE ISIT, June 200
Analysis and Design of Tuned Turbo Codes
It has been widely observed that there exists a fundamental trade-off between
the minimum (Hamming) distance properties and the iterative decoding
convergence behavior of turbo-like codes. While capacity achieving code
ensembles typically are asymptotically bad in the sense that their minimum
distance does not grow linearly with block length, and they therefore exhibit
an error floor at moderate-to-high signal to noise ratios, asymptotically good
codes usually converge further away from channel capacity. In this paper, we
introduce the concept of tuned turbo codes, a family of asymptotically good
hybrid concatenated code ensembles, where asymptotic minimum distance growth
rates, convergence thresholds, and code rates can be traded-off using two
tuning parameters, {\lambda} and {\mu}. By decreasing {\lambda}, the asymptotic
minimum distance growth rate is reduced in exchange for improved iterative
decoding convergence behavior, while increasing {\lambda} raises the asymptotic
minimum distance growth rate at the expense of worse convergence behavior, and
thus the code performance can be tuned to fit the desired application. By
decreasing {\mu}, a similar tuning behavior can be achieved for higher rate
code ensembles.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor
Statistical mechanical aspects of joint source-channel coding
An MN-Gallager Code over Galois fields, , based on the Dynamical Block
Posterior probabilities (DBP) for messages with a given set of autocorrelations
is presented with the following main results: (a) for a binary symmetric
channel the threshold, , is extrapolated for infinite messages using the
scaling relation for the median convergence time, ;
(b) a degradation in the threshold is observed as the correlations are
enhanced; (c) for a given set of autocorrelations the performance is enhanced
as is increased; (d) the efficiency of the DBP joint source-channel coding
is slightly better than the standard gzip compression method; (e) for a given
entropy, the performance of the DBP algorithm is a function of the decay of the
correlation function over large distances.Comment: 6 page
Quantifying the impact of dissimilar HPV vaccination uptake among Manitoban school girls by ethnicity using a transmission dynamic model
BACKGROUND: Gardasil, a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, began among grade 6 girls in Manitoba, Canada in 2008. In Manitoba, there is evidence that First Nations, Metis, and Inuit women (FNMI) have higher HPV prevalence, lower invasive cervical cancer (ICC) screening, and higher ICC incidence than all other Manitoban (AOM) women. We developed a mathematical model to assess the plausible impact of unequal vaccination coverage among school girls on future cervical cancer incidence. METHODS: We fit model estimated HPV prevalence and ICC incidence to corresponding empirical estimates. We used the fitted model to evaluate the impact of varying levels of vaccination uptake by FNMI status on future ICC incidence, assuming cervical screening uptake among FNMI and AOM women remained unchanged. RESULTS: Depending on vaccination coverage, estimated ICC incidence by 2059 ranged from 15% to 68% lower than if there were no vaccination. The level of cross-ethnic sexual mixing influenced the impact that vaccination rates among FNMI has on ICC incidence among AOM, and vice versa. The same level of AOM vaccination could result in ICC incidence that differs by up to 10%, depending on the level of FNMI vaccination. Similarly, the same level of FNMI vaccination could result in ICC incidence that differs by almost 40%, depending on the level of AOM vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: If we are unable to equalize vaccination uptake among all school girls, policy makers should prepare for higher levels of cervical cancer than would occur under equal vaccination uptak
Interaction of the Electromagnetic p-Waves with Thin Metal Films
For the first time it is shown that for thin metallic films thickness of
which not exceed thickness of skin-layer, the problem allows analytical
solution for arbitrary boundary value problems. The analysis of dependence of
coefficients of transmission, reflection and absorbtion on angle incidence,
thickness of films and coefficient of specular reflection is carried out.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Electromagnetic field correlations near a surface with a nonlocal optical response
The coherence length of the thermal electromagnetic field near a planar
surface has a minimum value related to the nonlocal dielectric response of the
material. We perform two model calculations of the electric energy density and
the field's degree of spatial coherence. Above a polar crystal, the lattice
constant gives the minimum coherence length. It also gives the upper limit to
the near field energy density, cutting off its divergence. Near an
electron plasma described by the semiclassical Lindhard dielectric function,
the corresponding length scale is fixed by plasma screening to the Thomas-Fermi
length. The electron mean free path, however, sets a larger scale where
significant deviations from the local description are visible.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure files (.eps), \documentclass[global]{svjour},
accepted in special issue "Optics on the Nanoscale" (Applied Physics B, eds.
V. Shalaev and F. Tr\"ager
Intensidades da poda seca e do desbaste de cacho na composição da uva Cabernet Sauvignon.
A pesquisa foi realizada durante quatro anos, num vinhedo de Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera L.), em Bento Gonçalves-RS. O objetivo foi determinar o efeito das intensidades da poda seca e do desbaste de cacho em variáveis relacionadas aos componentes de produção da videira e à composição do mosto de uva. Os tratamentos consistiram em dois níveis de poda seca - curta e longa - e quatro de desbaste de cacho (%) - 0; 25; 50 e 75 -; com cinco repetições. O delineamento experimental foi o em blocos casualizados, com os tratamentos em parcelas subdivididas. Os resultados mostram que a poda seca e o desbaste de cacho tiveram efeito altamente significativo na produtividade do vinhedo que, na média dos quatro anos, variou de 10.971 kg/ha ? poda curta, 75% de desbaste ? a 32.819 kg/ha ? poda longa, 0% de desbaste. Houve, também, efeito significativo na produtividade por gema, peso de ramos podados por gema e por hectare, área foliar/peso fresco do fruto e produtividade/peso de ramos podados. Entretanto, o efeito nas variáveis relacionadas a açúcar e acidez do mosto da uva foi pouco expressivo. O componente 1 da análise de componentes principais discriminou o tratamento poda curta a 75% de desbaste de cacho dos tratamentos poda longa-0% de desbaste e poda longa-25% de desbaste
Nuclear receptors in vascular biology
Nuclear receptors sense a wide range of steroids and hormones (estrogens, progesterone, androgens, glucocorticoid, and mineralocorticoid), vitamins (A and D), lipid metabolites, carbohydrates, and xenobiotics. In response to these diverse but critically important mediators, nuclear receptors regulate the homeostatic control of lipids, carbohydrate, cholesterol, and xenobiotic drug metabolism, inflammation, cell differentiation and development, including vascular development. The nuclear receptor family is one of the most important groups of signaling molecules in the body and as such represent some of the most important established and emerging clinical and therapeutic targets. This review will highlight some of the recent trends in nuclear receptor biology related to vascular biology
A Transplantable Phosphorylation Probe for Direct Assessment of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Activation
The newly developed multireceptor somatostatin analogs pasireotide (SOM230), octreotide and somatoprim (DG3173) have primarily been characterized according to their binding profiles. However, their ability to activate individual somatostatin receptor subtypes (sst) has not been directly assessed so far. Here, we transplanted the carboxyl-terminal phosphorylation motif of the sst2 receptor to other somatostatin receptors and assessed receptor activation using a set of three phosphosite-specific antibodies. Our comparative analysis revealed unexpected efficacy profiles for pasireotide, octreotide and somatoprim. Pasireotide was able to activate sst3 and sst5 receptors but was only a partial agonist at the sst2 receptor. Octreotide exhibited potent agonistic properties at the sst2 receptor but produced very little sst5 receptor activation. Like octreotide, somatoprim was a full agonist at the sst2 receptor. Unlike octreotide, somatoprim was also a potent agonist at the sst5 receptor. Together, we propose the application of a phosphorylation probe for direct assessment of G protein-coupled receptor activation and demonstrate its utility in the pharmacological characterization of novel somatostatin analogs
Theory of inelastic lifetimes of surface-state electrons and holes at metal surfaces
After the early suggestion by John Pendry to probe unoccupied bands at
surfaces through the time reversal of the photoemission process, the
inverse-photoemission technique yielded the first conclusive experimental
evidence for the existence of image-potential bound states at metal surfaces
and has led over the last two decades to an active area of research in
condensed-matter and surface physics. Here we describe the current status of
the many-body theory of inelastic lifetimes of these image-potential states and
also the Shockley surface states that exist near the Fermi level in the
projected bulk band gap of simple and noble metals. New calculations of the
self-energy and lifetime of surface states on Au surfaces are presented as
well, by using the approximation of many-body theory.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, to appear in J Phys-Condens Ma
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