Advanced modulation technology development for earth station demodulator applications

The purpose of this contract was to develop a high rate (200 Mbps), bandwidth efficient, modulation format using low cost hardware, in 1990's technology. The modulation format chosen is 16-ary continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK). The implementation of the modulation format uses a unique combination of a limiter/discriminator followed by an accumulator to determine transmitted phase. An important feature of the modulation scheme is the way coding is applied to efficiently gain back the performance lost by the close spacing of the phase points

Opportunities and Challenges of Extracting Values in Autobiographical Narratives

We report three studies in which we applied a value dictionary to narratives. Our objective was to test a theory-driven value dictionary for extracting valuable information from autobiographical and narrative texts. In Studies 1 (N = 106) and 2 (N = 152), participants wrote short autobiographical narratives and in Study 3 (N = 150), participants wrote narratives based on ambiguous stimuli. Participants in all three studies also completed the Portrait Value Questionnaire as a self-report measure of values. Overall, our results demonstrate that it is possible to extract value-relevant information from these narratives. Extracted values from autobiographical narratives showed average correlations of 0.07 (Study 1) and 0.12 (Study 2) with self-reports compared to an average correlation of 0.01 for the extracted values from implicit motive tasks (Study 3). The correlations with self-reports were in line with previous validation studies. The most salient values in narratives diverged somewhat, with a stronger emphasis on achievement values compared to self-reports, probably due to the nature of salient episodes within one's life that require demonstrating success according to social standards. Benevolence values were consistently most important in both self-ratings and text-based scoring. The value structure emerging from narratives diverged from the theoretically predicted structure, yet broad personally vs. socially focused value dimensions were qualitatively discernible. We highlight opportunities and challenges for future value research using autobiographical stories

Cosmic-ray effects from solar flares and magnetic storms

Cosmic-ray data taken during the period of a solar flare and the magnetic storm that followed 26.5 hours later during July, 1946, are reported. The results following the flare agree with those of other investigators and, in addition, serve to establish the fact that the start of the cosmic-ray effect and the visual part of the solar flare were simultaneous. It is pointed out that increases of cosmic rays during solar flares suggest a mode of origin of the rays. The lack of effect of most solar flares on cosmic-ray intensity is noted and differences in intensity of the flares given as a possible reason. A high altitude balloon flight with an electroscope during the magnetic storm gave results in agreement with the current-sheet hypothesis of such storms but a serious objection to this hypothesis is given

Recent Studies of the Cosmic-Ray Latitude Effect at High Altitudes

With an improved Geiger counter telescope, having an angular aperture of about ±15° from its axis, a series of balloon flights was made in August and September, 1947, at seven stations extending from San Antonio, Texas, to Saskatoon, Canada. The axis of the telescope in all cases was oriented in a vertical direction. All sets of equipment were compared with a standard to reduce all results to a common basis. The standard sets, in turn, were compared with an accurately constructed telescope which had been used to make an absolute determination of cosmic-ray intensity at the vertical in Pasadena. Two flights were made from each of the seven stations. The agreement between flights made within a few hours of each other at a given station is very good. Results from two flights made at a given station several days apart are not in general as consistent. Likewise, no monotonic increase of the radiation with increase of latitude was observed. Evidence is presented for rather large fluctuations at high altitudes of the lower energy components of cosmic rays. Some of the reasons for these fluctuations are discussed

Note on the east-west effect

In a recent flight to Peru in a B-29, continuous measurements were made at 3.10 equivalent meters of water barometric pressure (approximately 30,000 feet) of the intensity of cosmic-ray particles at the zenith, 45° west and 45° east

Gender differences in lung cancer risk by smoking: a multicentre case-control study in Germany and Italy

Several studies in the past have shown appreciably higher lung cancer risk estimates associated with smoking exposure among men than among women, while more recent studies in the USA report just the opposite. To evaluate this topic in a European population we conducted a case-control study of lung cancer in three German and three Italian centres. Personal interviews and standardized questionnaires were used to obtain detailed life-long smoking and occupational histories from 3723 male and 900 female cases and 4075 male and 1094 female controls. Lung cancer risk comparing ever-smokers with never-smokers was higher among men (odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age and centre = 16.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 12.8-20.3) than among women (OR = 4.2, CI 3.5-5.1). Because the smoking habits of women were different from men, we conducted more detailed analyses using comparable levels of smoking exposure. After restriction to smokers and adjustment for other smoking variables, risk estimates did not differ appreciably between genders. The analysis of duration of smoking (0-19, 20-39, 40+ years) adjusted for cigarette consumption and time since quitting smoking revealed similar risk estimates in men (OR = 1.0, 3.3 [CI 2.6-4.2], 4.1 [CI 3.1-5.6]) and women (OR = 1.0, 2.7 [CI 1.7-4.1], 3.3 [CI 1.9-5.8]). The same was true of the analysis of average or cumulative smoking consumption, and also of analyses stratified by different histological types. We conclude that for comparable exposure to tobacco smoke, the risk of lung cancer is comparable in women and men

Production of the positron-emitting radionuclide 68Ga: the radiochemical scheme of radionuclide generator 68Ge → 68Ga

68Ga (T1/2 = 68 min) in complexes with peptides is used in positron emission tomography for diagnostics of neuroendocrine tumors. The most promising strategy for 68Ga production is usage of the radionuclide generator 68Ge → 68Ga. In this research, the sorption behavior of Ge(IV) and Ga (III) has been studied. The distribution coefficients (Kd) of Ge(IV) on the anion exchange (Dowex 1×8) and cation exchange (Dowex 50×8) resins in various ethanedioic and hydrochloric acid solutions were determined. For each ion exchange resin, four series of measurements were carried out, in which the concentration of oxalic acid was fixed (0.001 M, 0.003 M, 0.005 M, 0.01 M), and the concentrations of hydrochloric acid ranged from 0 to 3 M. Based on the distribution coefficients, the chemical scheme of the radionuclide generator 68Ge → 68Ga has been developed. The chemical system is based on the anion exchange resin Dowex 1×8 and mixture of 0.005 M C2H2O4 / 0.33 M HCl. Several types of the generators with direct and reverse mode of elution were tested and the optimal scheme was determined. Elution of the generators was performed once a day with 8 ml of 0.005 M C2H2O4 / 0.33 M HCl solution. The 68Ga yield and the 68Ge breakthrough are comparable for all the systems