Hybrid Transceiver Optimization for Multi-Hop Communications

Multi-hop communication with the aid of large-scale antenna arrays will play a vital role in future emergence communication systems. In this paper, we investigate amplify-and-forward based and multiple-input multiple-output assisted multi-hop communication, in which all nodes employ hybrid transceivers. Moreover, channel errors are taken into account in our hybrid transceiver design. Based on the matrix-monotonic optimization framework, the optimal structures of the robust hybrid transceivers are derived. By utilizing these optimal structures, the optimizations of analog transceivers and digital transceivers can be separated without loss of optimality. This fact greatly simplifies the joint optimization of analog and digital transceivers. Since the optimization of analog transceivers under unit-modulus constraints is non-convex, a projection type algorithm is proposed for analog transceiver optimization to overcome this difficulty. Based on the derived analog transceivers, the optimal digital transceivers can then be derived using matrix-monotonic optimization. Numeral results obtained demonstrate the performance advantages of the proposed hybrid transceiver designs over other existing solutions.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures. This manuscript has been submitted to IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (special issue on Multiple Antenna Technologies for Beyond 5G

Robust multi-clue face tracking system

In this paper we present a multi-clue face tracking system, based on the combination of a face detector and two independent trackers. The detector, a variant of the Viola-Jones algorithm, is set to generate very low false positive error rate. It initiates the tracking system and updates its state. The trackers, based on 3DRS and optical flow respectively, have been chosen to complement each other in different conditions. The main focus of this work is the integration of the two trackers and the design of a closed loop detector-tracker system, aiming at achieving superior robustness at real-time operation on a PC platform. Tests were carried out to assess the actual performance of the system. With an average of about 95% correct face location rate and no significant false positives, the proposed approach appears to be particularly robust to complex backgrounds, ambient light variation, face orientation and scale changes, partial occlusions, different\ud facial expressions and presence of other unwanted faces

Rates of Return to University Education: the Regression Discontinuity Design

Estimating the rate of return to a university degree has always been difficult due to the problem of omitted variable biases. Benefiting from a special feature of the University Admission system in China, which has clear cutoffs for university entry, combined with a unique data set with information on individual National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) scores, we estimate the Local Average Treatment Effects (LATE) of university education based on a Regression Discontinuity design. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to use RD design to estimate the causal effect of a university education on earnings. Our results show that the rates of return to 4-year university education relative to 3-year college education are 40 and 60 per cent for the compliers in the male and female samples, respectively, which are much larger than the simple OLS estimations revealed in previous literature. Since in our sample a large proportion of individuals are compliers (45 per cent for males and 48 per cent for females), the LATEs estimated in this paper have a relatively general implication. In addition, we find that the LATEs are likely to be larger than ATEs, suggesting that the inference drawn from average treatment effects might understate the true effects of the university expansion program introduced in China in 1999 and thereafter.Rate of return to education, Regression Discontinuity Design, China

Rates of Return to University Education: The Regression Discontinuity Design

Estimating the rate of return to a university degree has always been difficult due to the problem of omitted variable biases. Benefiting from a special feature of the University Admission system in China, which has clear cutoffs for university entry, combined with a unique data set with information on individual National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) scores, we estimate the Local Average Treatment Effects (LATE) of university education based on a Regression Discontinuity design. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to use RD design to estimate the causal effect of a university education on earnings. Our results show that the rates of return to 4-year university education relative to 3-year college education are 40 and 60 per cent for the compliers in the male and female samples, respectively, which are much larger than the simple OLS estimations revealed in previous literature. Since in our sample a large proportion of individuals are compliers (45 per cent for males and 48 per cent for females), the LATEs estimated in this paper have a relatively general implication. In addition, we find that the LATEs are likely to be larger than ATEs, suggesting that the inference drawn from average treatment effects might understate the true effects of the university expansion program introduced in China in 1999 and thereafter.rate of return to education, regression discontinuity design, China

Characterizing Manure and Litter Properties and Their Carbon Dioxide Production in an Aviary Laying-Hen Housing System

Contribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) production from manure or litter can be significant relative to animal metabolic CO2 production in housing systems with less frequent excretion removal. Such CO2 contribution should be accounted for in order to improve the accuracy of estimating building ventilation rate (VR) and animal bioenergetics based on CO2 mass balance. The objective of this study was to investigate the thermal conditions (temperature and relative humidity, or RH), production, moisture content (MC), and CO2 production of laying-hen manure on collection belts and on litter in an aviary house. Hens spent about 15.25 h day-1 in the aviary colony where their manure was deposited on the belts, and the remaining 8.75 h day-1 on the litter floor where manure was deposited on belt or litter. Manure belts were operated 1/3 of their length each day. Results show that temperature and RH were, respectively, 1.8 ± 9.3˚C (mean ± standard deviation) and 79 ± 14% for ambient air, 18.5 ± 1.7˚C and 76 ± 16% for air near manure on belt, and 19.8 ± 1.5˚C and 80 ± 17% for air near the litter. The overall daily manure production was 35.8 ± 1.4 g hen-1 day-1 on dry basis, with 90.9% deposited on manure belt and 9.1% on litter floor. MC of manure on belt was 66.4 ± 5.8%, which was significantly higher than 14.6 ± 2.4% for the litter. The combined moisture production from manure on belt and litter was estimated to be 22.6 g day-1 hen-1. The CO2 production from as-is manure was 0.10 ± 0.06 ml s-1 kg-1 (or 0.32 ± 0. 20 ml s-1 kg-1 on dry basis), whereas CO2 production from as-is litter was much lower, 0.02 ± 0.02 ml s-1 kg-1 (or 0.03 ± 0.02 ml s-1 kg-1 on dry basis). Without litter removal, CO2 production from manure and litter could amount to as high as 8.1% of the hen’s respiration CO2 at 60 week of age. This potentially significant contribution should be considered when estimating VR or animal bioenergetics using CO2 mass balance method in aviary housing systems

Numerical Simulation of Compressible Reactive Flows

Numerical simulation has been widely employed to investigate the compressible flows since it is difficult to carry out the experimental measurements, especially in the reactive flows. The shock-wave capturing scheme will be necessary for resolving the compressible flows, and moreover the careful treatments of chemical reaction should be considered for proceeding numerical simulation stable and fast. Recently, the present authors have tried to establish a high-resolution numerical solver for computing the compressible reactive flows. This chapter presents the numerical procedures acquired in this solver for computing the fluxes using weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme, dealing with chemical stiffness problems, and tracing droplets and their interaction with the compressible fluids. As examples, the Taylor-Green vortex (TGV) problem considering the passive scalar mixing, the spatially developing reactive mixing layer flows taken gas-phase hydrogen, and liquid n-decane as fuel are simulated, respectively. Many important characteristics of flow, flame, and ignition are analyzed under the supersonic condition

Clinical Features and Genetic Analysis of 20 Chinese Patients with X-Linked Hyper-IgM Syndrome

X-linked hyper-IgM syndrome (XHIGM) is one type of primary immunodeficiency diseases, resulting from defects in the CD40 ligand/CD40 signaling pathways. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and molecular features of 20 Chinese patients diagnosed and followed up in hospitals affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from 1999 to 2013. The median onset age of these patients was 8.5 months (range: 20 days–21 months). Half of them had positive family histories, with a shorter diagnosis lag. The most common symptoms were recurrent sinopulmonary infections (18 patients, 90%), neutropenia (14 patients, 70%), oral ulcer (13 patients, 65%), and protracted diarrhea (13 patients, 65%). Six patients had BCGitis. Six patients received hematopoietic stem cell transplantations and four of them had immune reconstructions and clinical remissions. Eighteen unique mutations in CD40L gene were identified in these 20 patients from 19 unrelated families, with 12 novel mutations. We compared with reported mutation results and used bioinformatics software to predict the effects of mutations on the target protein. These mutations reflected the heterogeneity of CD40L gene and expanded our understanding of XHIGM