On-board processing satellite network architecture and control study

The market for telecommunications services needs to be segmented into user classes having similar transmission requirements and hence similar network architectures. Use of the following transmission architecture was considered: satellite switched TDMA; TDMA up, TDM down; scanning (hopping) beam TDMA; FDMA up, TDM down; satellite switched MF/TDMA; and switching Hub earth stations with double hop transmission. A candidate network architecture will be selected that: comprises multiple access subnetworks optimized for each user; interconnects the subnetworks by means of a baseband processor; and optimizes the marriage of interconnection and access techniques. An overall network control architecture will be provided that will serve the needs of the baseband and satellite switched RF interconnected subnetworks. The results of the studies shall be used to identify elements of network architecture and control that require the greatest degree of technology development to realize an operational system. This will be specified in terms of: requirements of the enabling technology; difference from the current available technology; and estimate of the development requirements needed to achieve an operational system. The results obtained for each of these tasks are presented

Relation between socioeconomic deprivation and death from a first myocardial infarction in Scotland: population based analysis

No abstract available

Short-term and long-term outcomes in 133 429 emergency patients admitted with angina or myocardial infarction in Scotland, 1990-2000: population-based cohort study

Objective: To analyse short- and long-term outcomes and prognostic factors in a large population-based cohort of unselected patients with a first emergency admission for suspected acute coronary syndrome between 1990 and 2000 in Scotland. Methods: All first emergency admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and all first emergency admissions for angina (the proxy for unstable angina) between 1990 and 2000 in Scotland (population 5.1 million) were identified. Survival to five years was examined by Cox multivariate modelling to examine the independent prognostic effects of diagnosis, age, sex, year of admission, socioeconomic deprivation and co-morbidity. Results: In Scotland between 1990 and 2000, 133 429 individual patients had a first emergency admission for suspected acute coronary syndrome: 96 026 with AMI and 37 403 with angina. After exclusion of deaths within 30 days, crude five-year case fatality was similarly poor for patients with angina and those with AMI (23.9% v 21.6% in men and 23.5% v 26.0% in women). The longer-term risk of a subsequent fatal or non-fatal event in the five years after first hospital admission was high: 54% in men after AMI (53% in women) and 56% after angina (49% in women). Event rates increased threefold with increasing age and 20–60% with different co-morbidities, but were 11–34% lower in women. Conclusions: Longer-term case fatality was similarly high in patients with angina and in survivors of AMI, about 5% a year. Furthermore, half the patients experienced a fatal or non-fatal event within five years. These data may strengthen the case for aggressive secondary prevention in all patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome

High single-mode power conversion efficiency vertical-cavity top-surface-emitting lasers

Includes bibliographical references.We report advances in the power conversion (wall-plug) efficiency of vertical-cavity top-surface-emitting lasers. The devices were fabricated from molecular beam epitaxial layers using deep proton implants to define gain-guided lasers. The epitaxial structure included low resistance, piecewise linearly graded n-type and p-type mirrors, a triple In0.2Ga0.8As quantum-well active region, and a delta-doped contact layer. Power conversion efficiencies as high as 12.7% for continuous-wave single-mode operation were measured after several hours of device operation.This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-76DP00789

Aspirated capacitor measurements of air conductivity and ion mobility spectra

Measurements of ions in atmospheric air are used to investigate atmospheric electricity and particulate pollution. Commonly studied ion parameters are (1) air conductivity, related to the total ion number concentration, and (2) the ion mobility spectrum, which varies with atmospheric composition. The physical principles of air ion instrumentation are long-established. A recent development is the computerised aspirated capacitor, which measures ions from (a) the current of charged particles at a sensing electrode, and (b) the rate of charge exchange with an electrode at a known initial potential, relaxing to a lower potential. As the voltage decays, only ions of higher and higher mobility are collected by the central electrode and contribute to the further decay of the voltage. This enables extension of the classical theory to calculate ion mobility spectra by inverting voltage decay time series. In indoor air, ion mobility spectra determined from both the novel voltage decay inversion, and an established voltage switching technique, were compared and shown to be of similar shape. Air conductivities calculated by integration were: 5.3 +- 2.5 fS/m and 2.7 +- 1.1 fS/m respectively, with conductivity determined to be 3 fS/m by direct measurement at a constant voltage. Applications of the new Relaxation Potential Inversion Method (RPIM) include air ion mobility spectrum retrieval from historical data, and computation of ion mobility spectra in planetary atmospheres.Comment: To be published in Review of Scientific Instrument

The Intermediate Coupling Regime in the AdS/CFT Correspondence

The correspondence between the 't Hooft limit of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory and tree-level IIB superstring theory on AdS(5)xS(5) in a Ramond-Ramond background at values of lambda=g^2 N ranging from infinity to zero is examined in the context of unitarity. A squaring relation for the imaginary part of the holographic scattering of identical string fields in the two-particle channels is found, and a mismatch between weak and strong 't Hooft coupling is pointed out within the correspondence. Several interpretations and implications are proposed.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, reference adde

National survey of the prevalence, incidence, primary care burden, and treatment of heart failure in Scotland

Objective: To examine the epidemiology, primary care burden, and treatment of heart failure in Scotland, UK. Design: Cross sectional data from primary care practices participating in the Scottish continuous morbidity recording scheme between 1 April 1999 and 31 March 2000. Setting: 53 primary care practices (307 741 patients). Subjects: 2186 adult patients with heart failure. Results: The prevalence of heart failure in Scotland was 7.1 in 1000, increasing with age to 90.1 in 1000 among patients 85 years. The incidence of heart failure was 2.0 in 1000, increasing with age to 22.4 in 1000 among patients 85 years. For older patients, consultation rates for heart failure equalled or exceeded those for angina and hypertension. Respiratory tract infection was the most common co-morbidity leading to consultation. Among men, 23% were prescribed a ß blocker, 11% spironolactone, and 46% an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. The corresponding figures for women were 20% (p = 0.29 versus men), 7% (p = 0.02), and 34% (p < 0.001). Among patients < 75 years 26% were prescribed a β blocker, 11% spironolactone, and 50% an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. The corresponding figures for patients 75 years were 19% (p = 0.04 versus patients < 75), 7% (p = 0.04), and 33% (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Heart failure is a common condition, especially with advancing age. In the elderly, the community burden of heart failure is at least as great as that of angina or hypertension. The high rate of concomitant respiratory tract infection emphasises the need for strategies to immunise patients with heart failure against influenza and pneumococcal infection. Drugs proven to improve survival in heart failure are used less frequently for elderly patients and women

Exact low-energy effective actions for hypermultiplets in four dimensions

We consider the general hypermultiplet Low-Energy Effective Action (LEEA) that may appear in quantized, four-dimensional, N=2 supersymmetric, gauge theories, e.g. in the Coulomb and Higgs branches. Our main purpose is a description of the exact LEEA of n magnetically charged hypermultiplets. The hypermultiplet LEEA is given by the N=2 supersymmetric Non-Linear Sigma-Model (NLSM) with a 4n-dimensional hyper-K"ahler metric, subject to non-anomalous symmetries. Harmonic Superspace (HSS) and the NLSM isometries are very useful to constrain the hyper-K"ahler geometry of the LEEA. We use N=2 supersymmetric projections of HSS superfields to N=2 linear (tensor) O(2) and O(4) multiplets in N=2 Projective Superspace (PSS) to deduce the explicit form of the LEEA in some particular cases. As the by-product, a simple new classification of all multi-monopole moduli space metrics having su(2)_R symmetry is proposed in terms of real quartic polynomials of 2n variables, modulo Sp(n) transformations. The 4d hypermultiplet LEEA for n=2 can be encoded in terms of an elliptic curve.Comment: 60 pages, LaTeX, macros included, references adde

Simplifying Algebra in Feynman Graphs, Part III: Massive Vectors

A T-dualized selfdual inspired formulation of massive vector fields coupled to arbitrary matter is generated; subsequently its perturbative series modeling a spontaneously broken gauge theory is analyzed. The new Feynman rules and external line factors are chirally minimized in the sense that only one type of spin index occurs in the rules. Several processes are examined in detail and the cross-sections formulated in this approach. A double line formulation of the Lorentz algebra for Feynman diagrams is produced in this formalism, similar to color ordering, which follows from a spin ordering of the Feynman rules. The new double line formalism leads to further minimization of gauge invariant scattering in perturbation theory. The dualized electroweak model is also generated.Comment: 39 pages, LaTeX, 8 figure

Associations of inflammatory and hemostatic variables with the risk of recurrent stroke

<p><b>Background and Purpose:</b> Several prospective studies have shown significant associations between plasma fibrinogen, viscosity, C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrin D-dimer, or tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen and the risk of primary cardiovascular events. Little has been published on the associations of these variables with recurrent stroke. We studied such associations in a nested case-control study derived from the Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study (PROGRESS).</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> Nested case-control study of ischemic (n=472) and hemorrhagic (n=83) strokes occurring during a randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter trial of perindopril-based therapy in 6105 patients with a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack. Controls were matched for age, treatment group, sex, region, and most recent qualifying event at entry to the parent trial.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Fibrinogen and CRP were associated with an increased risk of recurrent ischemic stroke after accounting for the matching variables and adjusting for systolic blood pressure, smoking, peripheral vascular disease, and statin and antiplatelet therapy. The odds ratio for the last compared with the first third of fibrinogen was 1.34 (95% CI, 1.01 to 1.78) and for CRP was 1.39 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.85). After additional adjustment for each other, these 2 odds ratios stayed virtually unchanged. Plasma viscosity, tPA, and D-dimer showed no relationship with recurrent ischemic stroke, although tPA was significant for lacunar and large artery subtypes. Although each of these variables showed a negative relationship with recurrent hemorrhagic stroke, none of these relationships achieved statistical significance.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> Fibrinogen and CRP are risk predictors for ischemic but not hemorrhagic stroke, independent of potential confounders.</p&gt