Results on Binary Linear Codes With Minimum Distance 8 and 10

All codes with minimum distance 8 and codimension up to 14 and all codes with minimum distance 10 and codimension up to 18 are classified. Nonexistence of codes with parameters [33,18,8] and [33,14,10] is proved. This leads to 8 new exact bounds for binary linear codes. Primarily two algorithms considering the dual codes are used, namely extension of dual codes with a proper coordinate, and a fast algorithm for finding a maximum clique in a graph, which is modified to find a maximum set of vectors with the right dependency structure.Comment: Submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, May 2010 To be presented at the ACCT 201

Computationally Efficient Time-Recursive IAA-Based Blood Velocity Estimation

High-resolution spectral Doppler is an important and pow- erful non-invasive tool for estimation of velocities in blood vessels using medical ultrasound scanners. Such estimates are typically formed using an averaged periodogram technique, resulting in well-known limitations in the resulting spectral resolution. Recently, we have proposed tech- niques to instead form high-resolution data-adaptive estimates exploiting measurements along both depth and emission. The resulting estimates gives noticeably superior velocity estimates as compared to the standard technique, but suffers from a high computational complexity, making it interesting to formulate computationally efficient implementations of the estimators. In this work, by exploiting the rich structure of the iterative adaptive approach (IAA) based estimator, we examine how these estimates can be efficiently implemented in a time-recursive manner using both exact and approximate formulations of the method. The resulting algorithms are shown to reduce the necessary computational load with several orders of magnitude without noticeable loss of performance

Overcoming the Nyquist Limit in Blood Flow Velocity Estimation

Spectral Doppler ultrasound imaging typically consists of a spectrogram, showing the velocity distribution of the blood, and a brightness (B-) mode image allowing the operator to navigate. It is desirable to have both high spectral and velocity resolution, so that details in the blood flow can be traced, as well as a high B-mode frame rate to allow for tracking of movements and to adjust the position of the transducer. The blood flow signal is often sampled 1) using alternating transmissions for blood flow estimation and for B-mode imaging, or, 2) by acquiring a full Doppler spectrum and then parts of the B-mode image. The former has the disadvantage that it halves the sampling rate, making it likely that aliasing will occur when imaging fast moving blood or deeply positioned vessels; the latter that gaps appears in the spectrogram, and that if the frame rate of the B-mode images is slow, it will be difficult to track movements. Adaptive methods have been implemented to circumvent such problems, but even so, to get an acceptable frame rate of the B- mode images, the number of transmissions for Doppler estimation will be limited, restricting the spectral resolution. Alternatively, one may use an irregularly spaced emission pattern, but existing work on the topic is limited and generally suffers from poor resolution and spurious velocity components resulting from the irregular sampling pattern. In this paper, we examine the BIAA algorithm, showing that this approach allows for an accurate velocity estimate even from irregularly sampled measurements. Using an irregular emission pattern, with half the emissions used to form the B-mode image, the remaining emissions are found to yield accurate velocity estimates without reducing the maximally measurable velocity and without the spurious velocity components. Moreover, we show that the approach will allow for the same maximal velocity without aliasing as if all emissions would have been used for the velocity estimation

An Iterative Adaptive Approach for Blood Velocity Estimation Using Ultrasound

Publication in the conference proceedings of EUSIPCO, Aalborg, Denmark, 201

The costs of investment in different types of grainhandling

Ett stort steg inom lantbruksbranschen är att bygga för att lagra spannmålen själv, istället för att skicka iväg direkt vid skörd. Detta gör det möjligt att vänta med att sälja sina varor och där av få ett bättre pris, samtidigt som det underlättar själva skördearbetet (Kasten & Dhuyvetter 1999). Under skördetid är varenda minut som går att tröska viktig, och man vill inte ha en flaskhals i form av att stå och vänta på spannmålsmottagningen. Därför har vi i detta arbete undersökt vilken typ av spannmålslagring som är billigast att bygga. Målet var att vi skulle få in offerter på olika system i ungefärlig samma lagringskapacitet för en bra jämförelse. Offerterna vi fick var dock varierande. Detta räknades sedan ut för att få fram en kostnad för lagring per kilo vara, utslaget på 15 år, se tabell 1. Planlager har fördelen att det passar bättre in i gårdsbilden, men nackdelen att man blir låst till att hantera spannmålen manuellt, vilket kräver en lastmaskin. Silosar blir mer låsta till sitt syfte, men möjligheten för en mer automatiserad hantering är större. Dessa faktorer är svåra att sätta pris på, och kommer därför benämnas som för- och nackdelar så att läsaren sedan enklare kan ta eget beslut vad som passar sin gårds förutsättningar. Värdena är beräknade inklusive de olika förarbeten och inkluderar även monteringskostnader och tillbehör för kompletta och fungerande system. Grundarbete är ej inkluderat i detta. Med den stora skillnaden på lagervolym blev priserna något missvisande. Med de offerterna vi fick in och de beräkningar som gjorts kom vi fram till att planlager med mobil tork ger den högsta investeringskostnaden och den lägsta lagringskostnaden per kg spannmål, vilket resulterar i att planlagret är den mest lönsamma lagringsmetoden i detta fall. Detta beror till stor del på grund av den stora skillnaden i lagringsvolym vi fick i våra offerter, som tyvärr gör resultatet missvisande. Med tanke på att torksilon bara låg ett par öre över planlagret så kan man börja fundera på vilken som hade varit den verkliga vinnaren om volymen hade varit den samma.A big milestone for farmers is to be able to store all the grain from the harvest themselves, instead of delivering it directly in the middle of harvest-season. This allows the farmers to hang on to the grain and sell as they wish when the prices go up, but it also eases during threshing-time (Kasten & Dhuyvetter 1999). During harvest every minute counts, and the last thing you need is a efficiency loss due to standing in line to empty your trailer at the delivery destination. This is why we’ve made this report about which type of grainstorage that would be cheapest to build, in similar size and capacity. The results are calculated with annuity, which later on are transferred to how much the cost of storage is per kilogram, see table 2. A big shed with concrete floor has the upside of looking more esthetic in the surrounding farmhouses, but it also means that you have to handle all the grain with a front-end loader. A silo is more limited of what you can store in them and use them as when they are no longer storing grain. A silo is more capable of doing automated handling of the grain. The pros and cons of different types of grainhandling are hard to set a price on, which is why we will only let the reader know about them, to later on make their own decision of what suits their farms prerequisites best. Prices of the different builds will include every step on the way to a complete grainhandling system, aswell as all the accessories needed. These prices include everything from the pouring of concrete to the final mounting and accessories for fully functioning and complete systems. Costs for the foundation only includes the concrete. Sadly, the huge different in volume between the storagetypes makes the prices misleading. With the pricing we got and the calculations we made, we came to the conclusion that the concrete storage shed is the most expensive one to build, but has the lowest cost of storage, which makes this system the most profitable in this instance. This is mostly because of the huge difference in storage-volume, and it makes the result misleading. Keep in mind that the drying silo was just a fraction more expensive, and if the storage-volume would have been the same the profitability probably would be different

Relationship between commuting and health outcomes in a cross-sectional population survey in southern Sweden

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The need for a mobile workforce inevitably means that the length of the total work day (working and traveling time) will increase, but the health effects of commuting have been surprisingly little studied apart from perceived stress and the benefits of physically active commuting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used data from two cross-sectional population-based public health surveys performed in 2004 and 2008 in Scania, Sweden (56% response rate). The final study population was 21, 088 persons aged 18-65, working > 30 h/week. Duration (one-way) and mode of commuting were reported. The outcomes studied were perceived poor sleep quality, everyday stress, low vitality, mental health, self-reported health, and absence from work due to sickness during the past 12 months. Covariates indicating socioeconomic status and family situation, overtime, job strain and urban/rural residency were included in multivariate analyses. Subjects walking or cycling to work < 30 min were used as a reference category.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Monotonous relations were found between duration of public transport commuting and the health outcomes. For the category commuting > 60 min odds ratios (ORs) ranged from 1.2 - 1.6 for the different outcomes. For car commuting, the relationships were concave downward or flat, with increasing subjective health complaints up to 30-60 min (ORs ranging from 1.2 - 1.4), and lower ORs in the > 60 min category. A similar concave downward relationship was observed for sickness absence, regardless of mode of transport.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this study are concordant with the few earlier studies in the field, in that associations were found between commutation and negative health outcomes. This further demonstrates the need to consider the negative side-effects of commuting when discussing policies aimed at increasing the mobility of the workforce. Studies identifying population groups with increased susceptibility are warranted.</p

Fatigue Damage Monitoring for Mining Vehicles using Data Driven Models

The life and condition of a mine truck frame are related to how the machine is used. Damage from stress cycles is accumulated over time, and measurements throughout the life of the machine are needed to monitor the condition. This results in high demands on the durability of sensors, especially in a harsh mining application. To make a monitoring system cheap and robust, sensors already available on the vehicles are preferred rather than additional strain gauges. The main question in this work is whether the existing on-board sensors can give the required information to estimate stress signals and calculate accumulated damage of the frame. Model complexity requirements and sensors selection are also considered. A final question is whether the accumulated damage can be used for prognostics and to increase reliability. The investigation is performed using a large data set from two vehicles operating in real mine applications. Coherence analysis, ARX-models, and rain flow counting are techniques used. The results show that a low number of available on-board sensors like load cells, damper cylinder positions, and angle transducers can give enough information to recreate some of the stress signals measured. The models are also used to show significant differences in usage by different operators, and its effect on the accumulated damage

Boldness in Zebrafish Larvae-Development and Differences between a Domesticated Lab Strain and Offspring of Wild-Caught Fish

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are becoming one of the most important model organisms in behavioural neuroscience. It has been shown repeatedly that different zebrafish strains show large behavioural differences. These divergent behavioural profiles may have a genetic basis, but environmental factors and previous experience are also known to greatly affect the behavioural phenotype of zebrafish. It could be expected that behavioural differences at the larval stage should be less affected by environmental factors and experience. In the present study, we screened larvae of zebrafish of the AB strain and offspring of wild-caught zebrafish for boldness, using an open field test. In order to follow the behavioural development, we studied larvae at the age of 5-, 7-, 12- and 30-days post fertilization (dpf). Behaviour, as well as behavioural development, clearly differed between the larvae of the different strains. Wild larvae showed larger total distance moved than AB larvae, both at light and dark conditions. These differences were already present at 12 dpf but became more pronounced with age. Wild larvae had a greater variance compared to AB larvae for most of the variables. We have previously shown that bold and shy adult zebrafish differ in the brain expression of dopamine and opioid receptors. The results of the current study show that wild larvae display significantly higher brain expression of drd2b than AB larvae at 30 dpf, a difference that could be related to differences in activity. We did not detect any differences in the expression of opioid receptors

Expression of 5-lipoxygenase and 15-lipoxygenase in rheumatoid arthritis synovium and effects of intraarticular glucocorticoids

The past years have witnessed tremendous progress in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic debilitating autoimmune disease mainly characterized by joint inflammation with progressive tissue destruction and loss of function. This condition affects 0.5-1% of the population, is associated with important co-morbidities and represents a heavy economical burden. New strategies, employing early and aggressive therapies with classical drugs or new agents, have resulted in impressive improvements in controlling disease activity. In some cases they even lead to clinical remission. Despite potent and efficient biological agents that specifically modulate distinct pathological pathways a large proportion of patients remain unresponsive to these therapies; drug-free remission is also difficult to achieve since attempting discontinuation of treatment usually results in disease flare. In rheumatoid arthritis joints there is a constant activation of complex networks of cytokines and factors mediating immune interactions and inflammation, in which prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) are important players and contributors to pathogenesis. Our research aimed to investigate the synovial expression of enzymes controlling prostaglandin E2 synthesis and degradation – cyclooxygenase (COX) 1 and 2, microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase 1 (MPGES1) and 15-prostaglandin dihydrogenase (15-PGDH) as well as enzymes involved in leukotriene synthesis, such as 5-lipoxygenase (LO) and 15-LO. In addition, we evaluated how traditional and new therapies influence these pathways, by analyzing enzyme expression before and after systemic treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists, rituximab or methotrexate, as well as before and after intra-articular treatment with glucocorticoids. We also evaluated the in vitro effects of TNF antagonists and glucocorticoids on synovial fluid cells and that of methotrexate on synovial fibroblasts. We demonstrated that synovial tissue from RA patients displayed an important expression of enzymes involved in the metabolism of PGE2, as well as 5-LO and 15-LO. MPGES1 and COX-2, the inflammation-inducible enzymes co-localized mainly in fibroblasts and macrophage-like cells and accounted for the local PGE2 production. Intra-articular glucocorticoids significantly reduced all enzymes involved in the PGE2 cascade – COX-1 and COX-2, MPGES1 and 15-PGDH, but also 5-LO, responsible for leukotriene formation. However, they did not influence the expression of 15-LO, an enzyme involved in the formation of both pro-and anti-inflammatory lipid mediators. Regarding the effects of TNF blockers, rituximab or methotrexate, they did not alter the expression profile of enzymes involved in PGE2 metabolism despite showing clinical efficiency in improving disease activity. Although anti-TNF agents reduced the in vitro expression of MPGES1 and COX-2 in synovial fluid cells, the lack of effect ex vivo in biopsies emphasized once again the differences between synovial compartments and possibly the difficulty in mimicking the micro-environment at the site of inflammation in vitro. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that potent anti-rheumatic drugs currently used in the clinic with good efficiency also leave inflammatory pathways un-affected, which may account for subclinical ongoing disease activity. Blocking the PGE2 pathway by using MPGES1 inhibitors as combination therapy may show benefit in dampening ongoing local inflammation

The effect of simulated unilateral hearing loss on horizontal sound localization accuracy and recognition of speech in spatially separate competing speech

Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) occurs in 25% of cases of congenital sensorineural hearing loss. Due to the unilaterally reduced audibility associated with UHL, everyday demanding listening situations may be disrupted despite normal hearing in one ear. The aim of this study was to quantify acute changes in recognition of speech in spatially separate competing speech and sound localization accuracy, and relate those changes to two levels of temporary induced UHL (UHL 30 and UHL 43 ; suffixes denote the average hearing threshold across 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) for 8 normal-hearing adults. A within-subject repeated-measures design was used (normal binaural conditions, UHL 30 and UHL 43 ). The main outcome measures were the threshold for 40% correct speech recognition and the overall variance in sound localization accuracy quantified by an Error Index (0 = perfect performance, 1.0 = random performance). Distinct and statistically significant deterioration in speech recognition (2.0 dB increase in threshold, p &lt; 0.01) and sound localization (Error Index increase of 0.16, p &lt; 0.001) occurred in the UHL 30 condition. Speech recognition did not significantly deteriorate further in the UHL 43 condition (1.0 dB increase in speech recognition threshold, p &gt; 0.05), while sound localization was additionally impaired (Error Index increase of 0.33, p &lt; 0.01) with an associated large increase in individual variability. Qualitative analyses on a subject-by-subject basis showed that high-frequency audibility was important for speech recognition, while low-frequency audibility was important for horizontal sound localization accuracy. While the data might not be entirely applicable to individuals with long-standing UHL, the results suggest a need for intervention for mild-to-moderate UHL