Quantification vectorielle en réseau de points D5 pour un codeur audio bas délai en sous-bandes

Une nouvelle méthode de codage des signaux audio génériques est présentée, à un débit de 64 kbit/s dans la bande de fréquence 20-15000 Hz, avec un faible délai. Cette méthode se base sur un codage en sous-bandes associé au LD-CELP ainsi qu'à des bancs de filtres cascadés. Des travaux initiaux [1] montrent que, lorsqu'un débit de 16 kbit/s est alloué à chaque sous-bande, la qualité audio n'est pas satisfaisante. Nous proposons un nouvel algorithme basé sur la quantification en réseau de points afin de pallier la complexité de la quantification vectorielle statistique. La souplesse du système permet d'effectuer une allocation binaire dynamique dans chaque sous-bande. Des résultats expérimentaux sont présentés et évaluent la validité de la méthode proposée

Multiplicity Results for the p

We investigate the singular Neumann problem involving the p(x)-Laplace operator: Pλ{-Δpxu+|u|px-2u  =1/uδx+fx,u, in  Ω;  u>0,  in  Ω;  ∇upx-2∂u/∂ν=λuqx,  on  ∂Ω}, where Ω⊂RNN≥2 is a bounded domain with C2 boundary, λ is a positive parameter, and px,qx,δx, and fx,u are assumed to satisfy assumptions (H0)–(H5) in the Introduction. Using some variational techniques, we show the existence of a number Λ∈0,∞ such that problem Pλ has two solutions for λ∈0,Λ, one solution for λ=Λ, and no solutions for λ>Λ

BENA435, a new cell-permeant photoactivated green fluorescent DNA probe

N′-(2,8-Dimethoxy-12-methyl-dibenzo [c,h] [1,5] naphthyridin-6-yl)-N,N-dimethyl-propane-1,3-diamine (BENA435) is a new cell-membrane permeant DNA dye with absorption/emission maxima in complex with DNA at 435 and 484 nm. This new reagent is unrelated to known DNA dyes, and shows a distinct preference to bind double-stranded DNA over RNA. Hydrodynamic studies suggest that BENA435 intercalates between the opposite DNA strands. BENA435 fluoresces much stronger when bound to dA/dT rather than dG/dC homopolymers. We evaluated 14 related dibenzonaphthyridine derivatives and found BENA435 to be superior in its in vivo DNA-binding properties. Molecular modelling was used to develop a model of BENA435 intercalation between base pairs of a DNA helix. BENA435 fluorescence in the nuclei of cells increases upon illumination, suggesting photoactivation. BENA435 represents thus the first known cell-permeant photoactivated DNA-binding dye

Effect of Phase Contrast and Geometrical Parameters on Bending Behavior of Sandwich Beams with FG Isotropic Face Sheets

Our work is to study the bending behavior of sandwich beams with functional gradient by constituting an isotropic material whose material properties vary smoothly in the z direction only (FGM), where the central layer presents purely a homogeneous and isotropic ceramic. The mechanical properties of FG sandwich beams are assumed to be progressive in thickness according to a power law (P-FGM). Generally, the principle of virtual works is used to obtain the equilibrium equations, and their solutions are obtained based on Navier's solution technique. The present model is based on a shear deformation theory of 2D and 3D beams which contains four unknowns to extract the equilibrium equations of FG sandwich beams. In addition, analytical solutions for bending are used and numerical models are presented to verify the accuracy of the present theory. All the results obtained show that the stiffness of the FG beam decreases as a function of the increase in the volume fraction index k, leading to an increase in the deflections. However, FG beams become flexible by increasing the proportion of the metal to the ceramic part. Furthermore, the influences of material volume fraction index, layer thickness ratio, side-to-height ratio, and the effect of the phase contrast, on the deflections, normal and shear stress of simply supported sandwich FG beams are taken into investigation and discussed in detail. Finally, all our results obtained are in agreement with other previous theoretical works

TAS Strategies for Incremental Cognitive MIMO Relaying: New Results and Accurate Comparison

In this paper, we thoroughly elaborate on the impact different transmit-antenna selection (TAS) strategies induce in terms of the outage performance of incremental cognitive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relaying systems employing receive maximum-ratio combining (MRC). Our setup consists of three multi-antenna secondary nodes: a transmitter, a receiver and a decode-and-forward (DF) relay node acting in a half-duplex incremental relaying mode whereas the primary transmitter and receiver are equipped with a single antenna. Only a statistical channel-state information (CSI) is acquired by the secondary system transmitting nodes to adapt their transmit power. In this context, our contribution is fourfold. First, we focus on two TAS strategies that are driven by maxim

Algorithme rapide de codage conjoint source-canal pour un canal de transmission non-stationnaire

Dans cet article, nous proposons l'algorithme RGSKAε qui permet de construire un dictionnaire qui est optimal dans le cas où il n'y a pas de bruit de transmission et qui est aussi robuste vis-à-vis des erreurs de transmission de tous niveaux. Cet algorithme stochastique ne nécessite aucune connaissance a priori du signal à quantifier et du canal de transmission. Il est indépendant du dictionnaire initial et il est capable de sortir de minima locaux. L'exigence de temps de construction est comparable avec celle de l'algorithme de la k-moyenne (KMA). La mise en oeuvre de l'algorithme RGSKAε est aussi simple que celle de l'algorithme KMA car tous ses paramètres sont fixés, ils ne dépendent pas du type ou de la taille des vecteurs à quantifier. L'algorithme RGSKAε possède des propriétés de convergence très avantageuses: il permet de construire un dictionnaire bien équilibré même si le nombre des vecteurs d'apprentissage est inférieur à la taille du dictionnaire

Health promoting potential of herbal teas and tinctures from Artemisia campestris subsp maritima: from traditional remedies to prospective products

This work explored the biotechnological potential of the medicinal halophyte Artemisia campestris subsp. maritima (dune wormwood) as a source of health promoting commodities. For that purpose, infusions, decoctions and tinctures were prepared from roots and aerial-organs and evaluated for in vitro antioxidant, anti-diabetic and tyrosinase-inhibitory potential, and also for polyphenolic and mineral contents and toxicity. The dune wormwood extracts had high polyphenolic content and several phenolics were identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-mass-spectrometry (UHPLC-PDA-MS). The main compounds were quinic, chlorogenic and caffeic acids, coumarin sulfates and dicaffeoylquinic acids; several of the identified phytoconstituents are here firstly reported in this A. campestris subspecies. Results obtained with this plant's extracts point to nutritional applications as mineral supplementary source, safe for human consumption, as suggested by the moderate to low toxicity of the extracts towards mammalian cell lines. The dune wormwood extracts had in general high antioxidant activity and also the capacity to inhibit a-glucosidase and tyrosinase. In summary, dune wormwood extracts are a significant source of polyphenolic and mineral constituents, antioxidants and a-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitors, and thus, relevant for different commercial segments like the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and/or food industries.FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology [CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013]; Portuguese National Budget; FCT [IF/00049/2012, SFRH/BD/94407/2013]; Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) [12M8315N]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Water Infiltration Characteristics for Artificial Lake in Bahr Al-Najaf

Al-Najaf is one of the important cities in Iraq due to its high spiritual and religious reputation that attracts Moslems from different parts of the world to visit the holy shrine of Al-Imam Ali (peace be upon him). The city of Al-Najaf and particularly Bahr Al-Najaf area, is expecting a number of large scale construction activities, among these development activities are the planning of a new tourist city called Sayf Thulfiqar city. Sayf Thulfiqar city is planned to be the largest tourist city in Iraq. The area of the proposed tourist city is about 63 hectares, consists of an artificial lake 1000m long surrounded by twelve towers and a number of small dwellings. This lake is considered as a big challenge in planning, construction, and sustainability. The challenging points primarily are the sources of water required to fill the lake, infiltration characteristics of the soil at site, weather conditions, etc.The present paper focuses on investigating the rate of water infiltration through the base and side walls of a pit with dimensions 3m by 3m and 0.5m in depth excavated and filled with water in the location of artificial lake. The process of filling was repeated several times with full observation and continuous field measurements. The results revealed some useful characteristics and correlations regarding the infiltration of water of artificial lake in Bahr Al-Najaf

Pre-transplant CD45RC expression on blood T cells differentiates patients with cancer and rejection after kidney transplantation

Background Biological biomarkers to stratify cancer risk before kidney transplantation are lacking. Several data support that tumor development and growth is associated with a tolerant immune profile. T cells expressing low levels of CD45RC preferentially secrete regulatory cytokines and contain regulatory T cell subset. In contrast, T cells expressing high levels of CD45RC have been shown to secrete proinflammatory cytokines, to drive alloreactivity and to predict acute rejection (AR) in kidney transplant patients. In the present work, we evaluated whether pre-transplant CD45RClow T cell subset was predictive of post-transplant cancer occurrence. Methods We performed an observational cohort study of 89 consecutive first time kidney transplant patients whose CD45RC T cell expression was determined by flow cytometry before transplantation. Post-transplant events including cancer, AR, and death were assessed retrospectively. Results After a mean follow-up of 11.1±4.1 years, cancer occurred in 25 patients (28.1%) and was associated with a decreased pre-transplant proportion of CD4+CD45RChigh T cells, with a frequency below 51.9% conferring a 3.7-fold increased risk of post-transplant malignancy (HR 3.71 [1.24–11.1], p = 0.019). The sensibility, specificity, negative predictive and positive predictive values of CD4+CD45RChigh<51.9% were 84.0, 54.7, 89.8 and 42.0% respectively. Confirming our previous results, frequency of CD8+CD45RChigh T cells above 52.1% was associated with AR, conferring a 20-fold increased risk (HR 21.7 [2.67–176.2], p = 0.0004). The sensibility, specificity, negative predictive and positive predictive values of CD8+CD45RChigh>52.1% were 94.5, 68.0, 34.7 and 98.6% respectively. Frequency of CD4+CD45RChigh T cells was positively correlated with those of CD8+CD45RChigh (p<0.0001), suggesting that recipients with high AR risk display a low cancer risk. Conclusion High frequency of CD45RChigh T cells was associated with AR, while low frequency was associated with cancer. Thus, CD45RC expression on T cells appears as a double-edged sword biomarker of promising interest to assess both cancer and AR risk before kidney transplantation

High-Capacity Conductive Nanocellulose Paper Sheets for Electrochemically Controlled Extraction of DNA Oligomers

Highly porous polypyrrole (PPy)-nanocellulose paper sheets have been evaluated as inexpensive and disposable electrochemically controlled three-dimensional solid phase extraction materials. The composites, which had a total anion exchange capacity of about 1.1 mol kg−1, were used for extraction and subsequent release of negatively charged fluorophore tagged DNA oligomers via galvanostatic oxidation and reduction of a 30–50 nm conformal PPy layer on the cellulose substrate. The ion exchange capacity, which was, at least, two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reached in electrochemically controlled extraction, originated from the high surface area (i.e. 80 m2 g−1) of the porous composites and the thin PPy layer which ensured excellent access to the ion exchange material. This enabled the extractions to be carried out faster and with better control of the PPy charge than with previously employed approaches. Experiments in equimolar mixtures of (dT)6, (dT)20, and (dT)40 DNA oligomers showed that all oligomers could be extracted, and that the smallest oligomer was preferentially released with an efficiency of up to 40% during the reduction of the PPy layer. These results indicate that the present material is very promising for the development of inexpensive and efficient electrochemically controlled ion-exchange membranes for batch-wise extraction of biomolecules