Turbo Decoder with early stopping criteria

The turbo code used in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution(LTE) standard have been chosen specifically to simplify parallel turbo decoding and thus achieving higher throughputs. The higher data rates however leads to an increased computational complexity and thus a higher power and energy consumption of the decoder. This report presents a turbo decoder for the LTE standard with a stopping crite- ria aimed to reduce the power and energy consumption of the turbo decoder. The decoder can be configured to use 1,2 ,4 ,8 or 16 MAP decoders in parallel achiev- ing a throughput of 110 Mb/s for 7 iterations when running at a clock frequency of 200 MHz. The decoder were synthesised with 65 nm low power libraries with an area of 1.6 mm 2 . The post-synthesis simulations shows that the stopping cri- teria can lead to a significant lower energy consumption with no performance loss.The cellular market are constantly growing with more users every day. Today the smart- phone and tablet are common commodities which are able to both stream music as well as high definition video. The increasing amount of user in combination with the increasing data rate requirements puts high demands on the mobile operators networks. However the frequency spectrum is crowded with dif- ferent competing technologies and thus the available bandwidth are scarce. Ensuring a reliable communication and efficient use of the available resources are thus vital

Hundens anpassing till tre ben

En vanlig orsak till amputation hos våra hundar idag är neoplasier och olika typer av sarkom. Behandlingen sker genom att amputera det drabbade benet i kombination med cytostatikabehandling. Det är ovanligt att man väljer att kapa endast delar av benet utan oftast amputeras hela benet, men troligtvis kommer alternativa lösningar bli fler i framtiden exempelvis användningen av specialutformade proteser. Det finns idag ett fåtal studier på hur hundar klarar sig på tre ben men de flesta är kortsiktiga och det skulle behövas fler för att se effekterna på längre sikt. I denna litteraturstudie vill jag utreda hur en amputation av ett bakben påverkar hunden fysiskt och vilka anpassningar som syns i muskler och leder för att väga detta för och emot studier kring livskvalitet hos hund. Är det ett etiskt försvarbart beslut att amputera ett ben och hur förändrar det hundens livskvalitet? Att amputera ett av bakbenen medför en ny viktfördelning där vikten fördelas lika mellan de tre resterande benen. Främst i det ipsilaterala frambenet och det kontralaterala bakbenet syns störst kompensatoriska förändringar. En vanlig oro hos ägare till amputerade hundar är att belastningen på resterande ben ska orsaka ortopediska skador på längre sikt. Studierna visar att ledernas vinklar ändras i samtliga leder men det är fortfarande oklart om eller hur det påverkar risken för ledproblem. Muskulärt syns mer anspänning i flertalet muskler i de resterande benen och framförallt i ryggen till följd av att djuret måste ändra sitt rörelsemönster för att funktionellt kunna röra sig. Studier poängterar rörlighet och avsaknad av smärta som några av de avgörande faktorerna till bra livskvalitet. Enkätstudier visar på ett mycket positivt resultat hos hundar efter amputation, subjektivt bedömt av djurägarna. Hundarna visar ett förändrat rörelsemönster men inte på ett sätt som hämmar förmågan att röra sig. En klar majoritet av djurägarna uppfattar sina hundar som välmående, men i samtliga studier visar ett fåtal av djuren symptom på fantomsmärtor. I denna litteraturstudie har jag också tittat på hur användningen av proteser skulle kunna vara ett alternativ till att kapa hela benet. En osseointegrerad protes eller en specialanpassad exoprotes kan hjälpa till att bibehålla den ursprungliga rörelseförmågan till viss del, vilket kan minska risken för följdproblem. Litteraturen visar dessutom på ett samband där rörelse och användande av stumpen leder till minskade fantomsmärtor. Efter att ha jämfört olika studier anser jag att amputation inte nödvändigtvis påverkar livskvaliteten negativt förutsatt att läkning och eftervård fungerar bra. Ägarens roll är mycket viktig i dessa situationer för djurets rehabilitering och anpassning. Majoriteten av hundarna i studierna anpassade sig mycket effektivt och med goda resultat. Fantomsmärtor påverkar uppenbart livskvaliteten negativt och är ett problem utan en bra lösning idag men vilket forskningen förhoppningsvis kan lösa i framtiden. I jämförelse med tidigare status hos flertalet hundar med smärta och minskad rörelse innan ingreppet kan amputation med risk för fantomsmärtor ändå vara en stor förbättring. Sammanfattningsvis skulle det behövas mer studier kring proteser och fantomsmärtor, men jag anser att amputation generellt sett är etiskt försvarbart.A common reason to amputation among our dogs today are different kinds of neoplasms and sarcoma. The usual treatment is to amputate the whole leg combined with cytostatics. To only amputate distal parts of the limb is not a very common choice, but the studies predict it to be an emerging decision, and to combine amputation with special made prosthetics. There are not enough studies today about how animals cope with three legs. In this literature review I want to learn how amputation of a hind leg affects the dog and how it adapts to tripedal movement. What adaptations are to be expected in the muscles and joints? Together with studies focussing on the quality of life of dogs I want to unravel whether the choice to amputate is an ethically accepted decision. Amputation of a hind leg leads to a change in the weight distribution where the bodyweight is now placed equally on the three remaining legs. The ipsilateral front leg and the contralateral hind leg are seen to compensate the most. The angles of the joints change in all joints, but the long term effect is not yet found. It is a common concern among owners that the change in weight distribution will cause orthopedic problems such as osteoarthritis in the remaining legs but the studies do not agree in that question. The muscular tension in the legs increased as a result of the changed walking pattern, also the muscles in the back showed increased tension especially M. longissimus dorsi. Studies on quality of life puts movement and freedom from pain as two main components in the assessment. Many of the studies where owners evaluated their dog’s adaptation and rehabilitation after amputation showed positive results. Although the dogs showed changed walking patterns it didn’t stop them from moving around. Despite the good results in walking and moving, in all studies a few of the dogs showed signs of phantom pain. In my review I have also included how the use of prosthetics potentially could replace the method of removing the whole limb. An osseointegrated prosthetic or a specialmade exoprosthetic would make it possible to maintain the usual walking pattern, although it would probably change a bit, and by that avoiding the risk of future orthopedic problems. Studies showed that the more the remaining limb is used the smaller is the risk of developing phantom pain. After comparing the literature I believe that amputating a limb doesn’t necessarily decrease the quality of life of our dogs, given that the aftercare and rehabilitation are working as they should. The role of the owner is very important to help the animal achieve the best adaptation after surgery. The majority of the studied dogs adapted very quickly. To sum up I believe that more studies are needed on this topic, concerning phantom pain and the benefits of using prosthetics. In general I believe that amputation, as the last option of treatment it is an ethically accepted decision

Social and ecological factors influencing offspring survival in wild macaques.

Premature loss of offspring decreases direct fitness of parents. In gregarious mammals, both ecological and social variables impact offspring survival and may interact with each other in this regard. Although a number of studies have investigated factors influencing offspring loss in mammals, we still know very little on how different factors interact with one another. We therefore investigated fetal and infant mortality in 3 large groups of wild crested macaques (Macaca nigra) over a period of up to 5 years by including potential social causes such as maternal dominance rank, male immigration, between group encounters, and ecological conditions such as rainfall in a multivariate survival analysis using Cox proportional hazards model. Infant but not fetal survival was most impaired after a recent takeover of the alpha-male position by an immigrant male. Furthermore, infant survival probability increased when there was an increase in number of group adult females and rainfall. Fetal survival probability also increased with an increase of these 2 factors, but more in high-ranking than low-ranking females. Fetal survival, unlike that of infants, was also improved by an increase of intergroup encounter rates. Our study thus stresses the importance of survival analyses using a multivariate approach and encompassing more than a single offspring stage to investigate the determinants of female direct fitness. We further provide evidence for fitness costs and benefits of group living, possibly deriving from high pressures of both within- and between-group competition, in a wild primate population

Informe sobre el Yacimiento de Tierras Arcillosas al Oeste de San Juan y su Aptitud para la Industria Cerámica

Fil: Ljunger, Erik. Ministerio de Agricultura. Dirección General de Minas, Geología e Hidrología; Argentina.Carpeta 51, inéditos SEGEMA

El carbón asfáltico de Las Romazas. Mina ¨La Valenciana¨. Malargüe, San Rafael, Mendoza.

Carpeta 25, inéditosFil: Ljunger, Erik. Ministerio de Agricultura. Dirección General de Minas, Geología e Hidrología; Argentina

Lipase catalyzed acylation of glucose

Octanoylglucose was synthesized from insoluble glucose and octanoic acid in acetonitrile, using lipase from Candida antarctica as catalyst. The initial concentration of octanoic acid was optimized to give complete conversion of glucose to monoester and avoid diester formation. The acylation occurred exclusively at the primary hydroxyl group on the glucose ring

Enzymatic synthesis of octyl-β-glucoside in octanol at controlled water activity

The use of β-glucosidase for synthesizing octyl-β-glucoside was studied. Almond β-glucosidase immobilized on XAD-4, glucose, and octanol were mixed at controlled water activity. A water activity of at least 0.67 was needed for synthesis of octyl-β-glucoside, and the reaction rate increased with increasing water activity. The final yield decreased with increasing water activity. The best results were therefore obtained using a high initial water activity which was decreased during the course of the reaction. With the conditions chosen it was possible to reuse the enzyme several times

Reactions catalyzed by peg-modified αchymotrypsin in organic solvents. Influence of water content and degree of modification

αChymotrypsin was modified with cyanuric chloride activated monomethoxypolyethylene glycol (MPEG) with molecular weights 1900 and 5000. Using the higher molecular weight MPEG a product that was soluble in benzene at moderate levels of modification was obtained, whereas with MPEG 1900 almost all the enzyme's amino groups had to be modified for dissolving the conjugate. The catalytic activity decreased with increasing degree of substitution. Apparent Vmax was considerably higher for the less modified enzyme preparation than for the more modified one, while Km,app stayed almost constant. The modified enzyme was used for peptide synthesis. The reaction was dependent on the content of dissolved water. Both Vmax,app and Km,app increased with increasing water content. It was possible to achieve a process with complete conversion of substrate to dipeptide