Transforming Development? The Role of Philanthropic Foundations in International Development Cooperation

This study by an independent think tank in Germany takes a look at the role of philanthropic foundations on the international development scene

A Scalable VLSI Architecture for Soft-Input Soft-Output Depth-First Sphere Decoding

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless transmission imposes huge challenges on the design of efficient hardware architectures for iterative receivers. A major challenge is soft-input soft-output (SISO) MIMO demapping, often approached by sphere decoding (SD). In this paper, we introduce the - to our best knowledge - first VLSI architecture for SISO SD applying a single tree-search approach. Compared with a soft-output-only base architecture similar to the one proposed by Studer et al. in IEEE J-SAC 2008, the architectural modifications for soft input still allow a one-node-per-cycle execution. For a 4x4 16-QAM system, the area increases by 57% and the operating frequency degrades by 34% only.Comment: Accepted for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II Express Briefs, May 2010. This draft from April 2010 will not be updated any more. Please refer to IEEE Xplore for the final version. *) The final publication will appear with the modified title "A Scalable VLSI Architecture for Soft-Input Soft-Output Single Tree-Search Sphere Decoding

APPLICATION OF THE BRG.LIFEMOD FOR SIMULATIONS OF STEP-MOVEMENTS AND KICKS AND ESTIMATION OF JOINT STRESS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a multi body system (BRG.LifeMod) in regard to the application for several simple movements: step-up, kicking movements, step movements. Results of other authors maintain the simulation results. The presented models help to estimate the stress in joints of the lower extremitie

ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC RESEARCHES OF GYAKU-ZUKIIN KARATE KUMITE

The purpose of this study is the presentation of electromyographic analyses of GyakuZuki. Dependent on the degree of the karteka different levels of intermuscular coordination could be observed. On the basis of the adaptive AA model spectral parameters of the EMG signals were determined. These different EMG parameters prove that during the pushing arm extension under equal conditions several frequency bands appear

BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF FIST PUNCH GYAKU-ZUKI IN KARATE

The purpose of this study was to characterise the most used fist punch in karate, the so called Gyaku-Zuki. Having a look at current publications, most of them describe the Gyaku-Zuki in a verbal form or they concentrate on analyses about physical parameters. In order to understand and even improve the movement, it is necessary to describe the punch by using biomechanical parameters. Recording the performance of three different karatekas with a VICON system, this study only focuses on the basis-version of Gyaku- Zuki. After giving the movement a structure, first results can be presented e. g. the total time of movement and maximum velocity of fist. For performing a punch all three athletes require less than 400ms and reach a maximum of fist velocity of about 8m/s. So this study will help to understand the Gyaku-Zuki and will pave the way for further analyses

CHANGES IN THE COORDINATION OF WALKING MOVEMENTS UNDER CONDITIONS OF CONSTANT AND VARIABLE SPEED

INTRODUCTION: A great number of scientific studies on the biomechanics of walking are available. In addition to the analysis of the time course of kinematic and dynamic quantities, increased efforts were made for the estimation of the muscle activities. It is common to use an average of the muscle activity patterns of several steps (Zwick (1993); Konrad/Tyry (1996)). This procedure presupposes constant external constraints, similar biomechanical curves and equal muscle activity patterns. Here arises the problem: How stable or variable is the movement coordination of single steps if a) the walking speed is constant and b) the walking speed is changed? METHODS: The investigations were carried out with three male sports students on a treadmill. As an example, the results of one subject (SR) will be represented in this presentation. Three walking speeds were selected which the subjects could realize as comfortable and below the point where running begins. The speeds for SR were 1.0 m/s (SR1), 2.0 m/s (SR2) and 2.2 m/s (SR3). The subjects walked for four minutes at each speed level. The breaks between the speed levels were used for relaxation. Muscle fatigue was thus minimized. By means of the SIMI-Motion movement analysis system and EMG-Telemetry system of Noraxon-Neurodata, two dimensional video analysis (50 s-1 and 200 s- 1) of the left side was carried out and the EMG signals of five muscles (m. biceps femoris, m. vastus medialis, m. rectus femoris, m. gastrocnemius, m. tibialis) were recorded synchronously. The cycles were divided in two phases (support and swing) on the basis of characteristics of the time courses of relative ankle velocity in relation to the hip. Due to high-speed video limitations, five cycles for SR1 and eight cycles for SR2 and SR3 could be analyzed. We applied the adaptive estimation of the momentary power of the EMG-signals for timedependent analysis of muscle activities (Grießbach, Schack et al., 1994)

ACCELERATION COURSE OF FIST PUSH OF GYAKU-ZUKI

The purpose of this study is the presentation of a biomechanical pilot study researching Gyaku-Zuki in karate. Particularly, the influence of the acceleration of the fist to the pushing time were analysed. On the basis of the results of five karateka having different levels of performance, the effect of the acceleration can be determined as an individual characteristic

Chemo- and Regioselective Oxidation of Secondary Alcohols in Vicinal Diols

Oxidation of secondary hydroxyl groups in vicinal diols enables the straightforward functionalization of biomolecules and biomaterials. The resulting hydroxy ketone can for example be used to form derivatives, such as the epimeric alcohol and imines, and it may be employed for chemical probe synthesis. Regioselectivity becomes an essential factor when this strategy is applied to compounds containing multiple hydroxyl groups, such as carbohydrates. Large advances have been made in this field in the past decade, which has led to the development of novel methodologies that enable selective oxidation of secondary hydroxyl groups of 1,2-diols in complex molecules which have complementary regioselectivities. We here discuss these recent advances as well as some of the limitations. Future research should focus on addressing these issues, which will eventually lead to methods for the chemo- and regioselective oxidation of complex oligosaccharides.</p