Effects of optical layer impairments on 2.5 Gb/s optical CDMA transmission.

PubMed

Feng, H; Mendez, A; Heritage, J; Lennon, W

2000-07-03

We conducted a computer simulation study to assess the effects of optical layer impairments on optical CDMA (O-CDMA) transmission of 8 asynchronous users at 2.5 Gb/s each user over a 214-km link. It was found that with group velocity dispersion compensation, two other residual effects, namely, the nonzero chromatic dispersion slope of the single mode fiber (which causes skew) and the non-uniform EDFA gain (which causes interference power level to exceed signal power level of some codes) degrade the signal to multi-access interference (MAI) ratio. In contrast, four wave mixing and modulation due to the Kerr and Raman contributions to the fiber nonlinear refractive index are less important. Current wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technologies, including dispersion management, EDFA gain flattening, and 3 rd order dispersion compensation, are sufficient to overcome the impairments to the O-CDMA transmission system that we considered.

Development of new two-dimensional spectral/spatial code based on dynamic cyclic shift code for OCDMA system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jellali, Nabiha; Najjar, Monia; Ferchichi, Moez; Rezig, Houria

2017-07-01

In this paper, a new two-dimensional spectral/spatial codes family, named two dimensional dynamic cyclic shift codes (2D-DCS) is introduced. The 2D-DCS codes are derived from the dynamic cyclic shift code for the spectral and spatial coding. The proposed system can fully eliminate the multiple access interference (MAI) by using the MAI cancellation property. The effect of shot noise, phase-induced intensity noise and thermal noise are used to analyze the code performance. In comparison with existing two dimensional (2D) codes, such as 2D perfect difference (2D-PD), 2D Extended Enhanced Double Weight (2D-Extended-EDW) and 2D hybrid (2D-FCC/MDW) codes, the numerical results show that our proposed codes have the best performance. By keeping the same code length and increasing the spatial code, the performance of our 2D-DCS system is enhanced: it provides higher data rates while using lower transmitted power and a smaller spectral width.

Towards Self-Clocked Gated OCDMA Receiver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idris, S.; Osadola, T.; Glesk, I.

2013-02-01

A novel incoherent OCDMA receiver with incorporated all-optical clock recovery for self-synchronization of a time gate for the multi access interferences (MAI) suppression and minimizing the effect of data time jitter in incoherent OCDMA system was successfully developed and demonstrated. The solution was implemented and tested in a multiuser environment in an out of the laboratory OCDMA testbed with two-dimensional wavelength-hopping time-spreading coding scheme and OC-48 (2.5 Gbp/s) data rate. The self-clocked all-optical time gate uses SOA-based fibre ring laser optical clock, recovered all-optically from the received OCDMA traffic to control its switching window for cleaning the autocorrelation peak from the surrounding MAI. A wider eye opening was achieved when the all-optically recovered clock from received data was used for synchronization if compared to a static approach with the RF clock being generated by a RF synthesizer. Clean eye diagram was also achieved when recovered clock is used to drive time gating.

Performance Analysis of a De-correlated Modified Code Tracking Loop for Synchronous DS-CDMA System under Multiuser Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Ya-Ting; Wong, Wai-Ki; Leung, Shu-Hung; Zhu, Yue-Sheng

This paper presents the performance analysis of a De-correlated Modified Code Tracking Loop (D-MCTL) for synchronous direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) systems under multiuser environment. Previous studies have shown that the imbalance of multiple access interference (MAI) in the time lead and time lag portions of the signal causes tracking bias or instability problem in the traditional correlating tracking loop like delay lock loop (DLL) or modified code tracking loop (MCTL). In this paper, we exploit the de-correlating technique to combat the MAI at the on-time code position of the MCTL. Unlike applying the same technique to DLL which requires an extensive search algorithm to compensate the noise imbalance which may introduce small tracking bias under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the proposed D-MCTL has much lower computational complexity and exhibits zero tracking bias for the whole range of SNR, regardless of the number of interfering users. Furthermore, performance analysis and simulations based on Gold codes show that the proposed scheme has better mean square tracking error, mean-time-to-lose-lock and near-far resistance than the other tracking schemes, including traditional DLL (T-DLL), traditional MCTL (T-MCTL) and modified de-correlated DLL (MD-DLL).

Wireless rake-receiver using adaptive filter with a family of partial update algorithms in noise cancellation applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fayadh, Rashid A.; Malek, F.; Fadhil, Hilal A.; Aldhaibani, Jaafar A.; Salman, M. K.; Abdullah, Farah Salwani

2015-05-01

For high data rate propagation in wireless ultra-wideband (UWB) communication systems, the inter-symbol interference (ISI), multiple-access interference (MAI), and multiple-users interference (MUI) are influencing the performance of the wireless systems. In this paper, the rake-receiver was presented with the spread signal by direct sequence spread spectrum (DS-SS) technique. The adaptive rake-receiver structure was shown with adjusting the receiver tap weights using least mean squares (LMS), normalized least mean squares (NLMS), and affine projection algorithms (APA) to support the weak signals by noise cancellation and mitigate the interferences. To minimize the data convergence speed and to reduce the computational complexity by the previous algorithms, a well-known approach of partial-updates (PU) adaptive filters were employed with algorithms, such as sequential-partial, periodic-partial, M-max-partial, and selective-partial updates (SPU) in the proposed system. The simulation results of bit error rate (BER) versus signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are illustrated to show the performance of partial-update algorithms that have nearly comparable performance with the full update adaptive filters. Furthermore, the SPU-partial has closed performance to the full-NLMS and full-APA while the M-max-partial has closed performance to the full-LMS updates algorithms.

Effect of Pointing Error on the BER Performance of an Optical CDMA FSO Link with SIK Receiver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazrul Islam, A. K. M.; Majumder, S. P.

2017-12-01

An analytical approach is presented for an optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) system over free space optical (FSO) channel considering the effect of pointing error between the transmitter and the receiver. Analysis is carried out with an optical sequence inverse keying (SIK) correlator receiver with intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) to find the bit error rate (BER) with pointing error. The results are evaluated numerically in terms of signal-to-noise plus multi-access interference (MAI) ratio, BER and power penalty due to pointing error. It is noticed that the OCDMA FSO system is highly affected by pointing error with significant power penalty at a BER of 10-6 and 10-9. For example, penalty at BER 10-9 is found to be 9 dB corresponding to normalized pointing error of 1.4 for 16 users with processing gain of 256 and is reduced to 6.9 dB when the processing gain is increased to 1,024.

Performance optimization of spectral amplitude coding OCDMA system using new enhanced multi diagonal code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imtiaz, Waqas A.; Ilyas, M.; Khan, Yousaf

2016-11-01

This paper propose a new code to optimize the performance of spectral amplitude coding-optical code division multiple access (SAC-OCDMA) system. The unique two-matrix structure of the proposed enhanced multi diagonal (EMD) code and effective correlation properties, between intended and interfering subscribers, significantly elevates the performance of SAC-OCDMA system by negating multiple access interference (MAI) and associated phase induce intensity noise (PIIN). Performance of SAC-OCDMA system based on the proposed code is thoroughly analyzed for two detection techniques through analytic and simulation analysis by referring to bit error rate (BER), signal to noise ratio (SNR) and eye patterns at the receiving end. It is shown that EMD code while using SDD technique provides high transmission capacity, reduces the receiver complexity, and provides better performance as compared to complementary subtraction detection (CSD) technique. Furthermore, analysis shows that, for a minimum acceptable BER of 10-9 , the proposed system supports 64 subscribers at data rates of up to 2 Gbps for both up-down link transmission.

Cardinality enhancement utilizing Sequential Algorithm (SeQ) code in OCDMA system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fazlina, C. A. S.; Rashidi, C. B. M.; Rahman, A. K.; Aljunid, S. A.

2017-11-01

Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) has been important with increasing demand for high capacity and speed for communication in optical networks because of OCDMA technique high efficiency that can be achieved, hence fibre bandwidth is fully used. In this paper we will focus on Sequential Algorithm (SeQ) code with AND detection technique using Optisystem design tool. The result revealed SeQ code capable to eliminate Multiple Access Interference (MAI) and improve Bit Error Rate (BER), Phase Induced Intensity Noise (PIIN) and orthogonally between users in the system. From the results, SeQ shows good performance of BER and capable to accommodate 190 numbers of simultaneous users contrast with existing code. Thus, SeQ code have enhanced the system about 36% and 111% of FCC and DCS code. In addition, SeQ have good BER performance 10-25 at 155 Mbps in comparison with 622 Mbps, 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps bit rate. From the plot graph, 155 Mbps bit rate is suitable enough speed for FTTH and LAN networks. Resolution can be made based on the superior performance of SeQ code. Thus, these codes will give an opportunity in OCDMA system for better quality of service in an optical access network for future generation's usage

Optimum Antenna Configuration for Maximizing Access Point Range of an IEEE 802.11 Wireless Mesh Network in Support of Multi-Mission Operations Relative to Hastily Formed Scalable Deployments

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

Configuration Consideration ...........................54 C. MAE NGAT DAM, CHIANG MAI , THAILAND, FIELD EXPERIMENT...2006 802.11 Network Topology Mae Ngat Dam, Chiang Mai , Thailand.......................39 Figure 31. View of COASTS 2006 802.11 Topology...Requirements (Background From Google Earth).....62 Figure 44. Mae Ngat Dam, Chiang Mai , Thailand (From Google Earth

A Space-Time Signal Decomposition Algorithm for Downlink MIMO DS-CDMA Receivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yung-Yi; Fang, Wen-Hsien; Chen, Jiunn-Tsair

We propose a dimension reduction algorithm for the receiver of the downlink of direct-sequence code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems in which both the transmitters and the receivers employ antenna arrays of multiple elements. To estimate the high order channel parameters, we develop a layered architecture using dimension-reduced parameter estimation algorithms to estimate the frequency-selective multipath channels. In the proposed architecture, to exploit the space-time geometric characteristics of multipath channels, spatial beamformers and constrained (or unconstrained) temporal filters are adopted for clustered-multipath grouping and path isolation. In conjunction with the multiple access interference (MAI) suppression techniques, the proposed architecture jointly estimates the direction of arrivals, propagation delays, and fading amplitudes of the downlink fading multipaths. With the outputs of the proposed architecture, the signals of interest can then be naturally detected by using path-wise maximum ratio combining. Compared to the traditional techniques, such as the Joint-Angle-and-Delay-Estimation (JADE) algorithm for DOA-delay joint estimation and the space-time minimum mean square error (ST-MMSE) algorithm for signal detection, computer simulations show that the proposed algorithm substantially mitigate the computational complexity at the expense of only slight performance degradation.

A Study of Dispersion Compensation of Polarization Multiplexing-Based OFDM-OCDMA for Radio-over-Fiber Transmissions

PubMed Central

Yen, Chih-Ta; Chen, Wen-Bin

2016-01-01

Chromatic dispersion from optical fiber is the most important problem that produces temporal skews and destroys the rectangular structure of code patterns in the spectra-amplitude-coding-based optical code-division multiple-access (SAC-OCDMA) system. Thus, the balance detection scheme does not work perfectly to cancel multiple access interference (MAI) and the system performance will be degraded. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is the fastest developing technology in the academic and industrial fields of wireless transmission. In this study, the radio-over-fiber system is realized by integrating OFDM and OCDMA via polarization multiplexing scheme. The electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) equalizer element of OFDM integrated with the dispersion compensation fiber (DCF) is used in the proposed radio-over-fiber (RoF) system, which can efficiently suppress the chromatic dispersion influence in long-haul transmitted distance. A set of length differences for 10 km-long single-mode fiber (SMF) and 4 km-long DCF is to verify the compensation scheme by relative equalizer algorithms and constellation diagrams. In the simulation result, the proposed dispersion mechanism successfully compensates the dispersion from SMF and the system performance with dispersion equalizer is highly improved. PMID:27618042

Mathematical modeling and statistical analysis of SPE-OCDMA systems utilizing second harmonic generation effect in thick crystal receivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matinfar, Mehdi D.; Salehi, Jawad A.

2009-11-01

In this paper we analytically study and evaluate the performance of a Spectral-Phase-Encoded Optical CDMA system for different parameters such as the user's code length and the number of users in the network. In this system an advanced receiver structure in which the Second Harmonic Generation effect imposed in a thick crystal is employed as the nonlinear pre-processor prior to the conventional low speed photodetector. We consider ASE noise of the optical amplifiers, effective in low power conditions, besides the multiple access interference (MAI) noise which is the dominant source of noise in any OCDMA communications system. We use the results of the previous work which we analyzed the statistical behavior of the thick crystals in an optically amplified digital lightwave communication system to evaluate the performance of the SPE-OCDMA system with thick crystals receiver structure. The error probability is evaluated using Saddle-Point approximation and the approximation is verified by Monte-Carlo simulation.

Several Families of Sequences with Low Correlation and Large Linear Span

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Fanxin; Zhang, Zhenyu

In DS-CDMA systems and DS-UWB radios, low correlation of spreading sequences can greatly help to minimize multiple access interference (MAI) and large linear span of spreading sequences can reduce their predictability. In this letter, new sequence sets with low correlation and large linear span are proposed. Based on the construction Trm1[Trnm(αbt+γiαdt)]r for generating p-ary sequences of period pn-1, where n=2m, d=upm±v, b=u±v, γi∈GF(pn), and p is an arbitrary prime number, several methods to choose the parameter d are provided. The obtained sequences with family size pn are of four-valued, five-valued, six-valued or seven-valued correlation and the maximum nontrivial correlation value is (u+v-1)pm-1. The simulation by a computer shows that the linear span of the new sequences is larger than that of the sequences with Niho-type and Welch-type decimations, and similar to that of [10].

Achievable Rate Estimation of IEEE 802.11ad Visual Big-Data Uplink Access in Cloud-Enabled Surveillance Applications.

PubMed

Kim, Joongheon; Kim, Jong-Kook

2016-01-01

This paper addresses the computation procedures for estimating the impact of interference in 60 GHz IEEE 802.11ad uplink access in order to construct visual big-data database from randomly deployed surveillance camera sensing devices. The acquired large-scale massive visual information from surveillance camera devices will be used for organizing big-data database, i.e., this estimation is essential for constructing centralized cloud-enabled surveillance database. This performance estimation study captures interference impacts on the target cloud access points from multiple interference components generated by the 60 GHz wireless transmissions from nearby surveillance camera devices to their associated cloud access points. With this uplink interference scenario, the interference impacts on the main wireless transmission from a target surveillance camera device to its associated target cloud access point with a number of settings are measured and estimated under the consideration of 60 GHz radiation characteristics and antenna radiation pattern models.

Machine Aided Indexing and the NASA Thesaurus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

vonOfenheim, Bill

2007-01-01

Machine Aided Indexing (MAI) is a Web-based application program for aiding the indexing of literature in the NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Database. MAI was designed to be a convenient, fully interactive tool for determining the subject matter of documents and identifying keywords. The heart of MAI is a natural-language processor that accepts, as input, any user-supplied text, including abstracts, full documents, and Web pages. Within seconds, the text is analyzed and a ranked list of terms is generated. The 17,800 terms of the NASA Thesaurus serve as the foundation of the knowledge base used by MAI. The NASA Thesaurus defines a standard vocabulary, the use of which enables MAI to assist in ensuring that STI documents are uniformly and consistently accessible. Of particular interest to traditional users of the NASA Thesaurus, MAI incorporates a fully searchable thesaurus display module that affords word-search and hierarchy- navigation capabilities that make it much easier and less time-consuming to look up terms and browse, relative to lookup and browsing in older print and Portable Document Format (PDF) digital versions of the Thesaurus. In addition, because MAI is centrally hosted, the Thesaurus data are always current.

Link Scheduling Algorithm with Interference Prediction for Multiple Mobile WBANs

PubMed Central

Le, Thien T. T.

2017-01-01

As wireless body area networks (WBANs) become a key element in electronic healthcare (e-healthcare) systems, the coexistence of multiple mobile WBANs is becoming an issue. The network performance is negatively affected by the unpredictable movement of the human body. In such an environment, inter-WBAN interference can be caused by the overlapping transmission range of nearby WBANs. We propose a link scheduling algorithm with interference prediction (LSIP) for multiple mobile WBANs, which allows multiple mobile WBANs to transmit at the same time without causing inter-WBAN interference. In the LSIP, a superframe includes the contention access phase using carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) and the scheduled phase using time division multiple access (TDMA) for non-interfering nodes and interfering nodes, respectively. For interference prediction, we define a parameter called interference duration as the duration during which disparate WBANs interfere with each other. The Bayesian model is used to estimate and classify the interference using a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) and the number of neighboring WBANs. The simulation results show that the proposed LSIP algorithm improves the packet delivery ratio and throughput significantly with acceptable delay. PMID:28956827

Adaptive receiver structures for asynchronous CDMA systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapajic, Predrag B.; Vucetic, Branka S.

1994-05-01

Adaptive linear and decision feedback receiver structures for coherent demodulation in asynchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) systems are considered. It is assumed that the adaptive receiver has no knowledge of the signature waveforms and timing of other users. The receiver is trained by a known training sequence prior to data transmission and continuously adjusted by an adaptive algorithm during data transmission. The proposed linear receiver is as simple as a standard single-user detector receiver consisting of a matched filter with constant coefficients, but achieves essential advantages with respect to timing recovery, multiple access interference elimination, near/far effect, narrowband and frequency-selective fading interference suppression, and user privacy. An adaptive centralized decision feedback receiver has the same advantages of the linear receiver but, in addition, achieves a further improvement in multiple access interference cancellation at the expense of higher complexity. The proposed receiver structures are tested by simulation over a channel with multipath propagation, multiple access interference, narrowband interference, and additive white Gaussian noise.

Intersystem Interference Reduction for Overlaid HAPS-Terrestrial CDMA System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jeng-Ji; Wang, Wei-Ting; Li, Mingfu; Shiung, David; Ferng, Huei-Wen

In this letter, we propose that directional antennas, combined with power management, be incorporated to reduce intersystem interference in a shared band overlaid high altitude platform station (HAPS)-terrestrial code division multiple access (CDMA) system. To eliminate the HAPS to terrestrial interference, the HAPS is accessed only via directional antennas under the proposed scheme. By doing so, the uplink power to the HAPS can accordingly be increased, so that the terrestrial to HAPS interference is also effectively suppressed.

"When I first saw a condom, I was frightened": A qualitative study of sexual behavior, love and life of young cross-border migrants in urban Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PubMed

Tangmunkongvorakul, Arunrat; Musumari, Patou Masika; Srithanaviboonchai, Kriengkrai; Manoyos, Veruree; Techasrivichien, Teeranee; Suguimoto, S Pilar; Ono-Kihara, Masako; Kihara, Masahiro; Chariyalertsak, Suwat

2017-01-01

Many young migrant workers move across the border to Chiang Mai, a major city in Northern Thailand, in search of work opportunities. This study describes their sexual behavior, lifestyles, relationships and experiences with youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. This is the qualitative arm of a mixed methods study using focus group discussions (FGDs) among young MWs aged 15-24 years in urban Chiang Mai. We conducted 6 FGDs with 84 participants (43 males, 41 females) organized in groups of 10-15 people, including 3 groups of males, 2 groups of females, and 1 group of both males and females. We found that the lack of parental control, pressure to assimilate into Thai society, access to social media and modern communication technologies, and limited knowledge and access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services interplayed to shape lifestyle and sexual behaviors, including low condom use among young migrants. The present study helped discern the vulnerability of young migrants to adverse SRH outcomes. This particular group of youth needs urgent intervention to improve their knowledge on SRH and access to a youth-friendly clinic to help them personalize risk of HIV and other adverse SRH outcomes.

Multi-Sensor Detection with Particle Swarm Optimization for Time-Frequency Coded Cooperative WSNs Based on MC-CDMA for Underground Coal Mines

PubMed Central

Xu, Jingjing; Yang, Wei; Zhang, Linyuan; Han, Ruisong; Shao, Xiaotao

2015-01-01

In this paper, a wireless sensor network (WSN) technology adapted to underground channel conditions is developed, which has important theoretical and practical value for safety monitoring in underground coal mines. According to the characteristics that the space, time and frequency resources of underground tunnel are open, it is proposed to constitute wireless sensor nodes based on multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) to make full use of these resources. To improve the wireless transmission performance of source sensor nodes, it is also proposed to utilize cooperative sensors with good channel conditions from the sink node to assist source sensors with poor channel conditions. Moreover, the total power of the source sensor and its cooperative sensors is allocated on the basis of their channel conditions to increase the energy efficiency of the WSN. To solve the problem that multiple access interference (MAI) arises when multiple source sensors transmit monitoring information simultaneously, a kind of multi-sensor detection (MSD) algorithm with particle swarm optimization (PSO), namely D-PSO, is proposed for the time-frequency coded cooperative MC-CDMA WSN. Simulation results show that the average bit error rate (BER) performance of the proposed WSN in an underground coal mine is improved significantly by using wireless sensor nodes based on MC-CDMA, adopting time-frequency coded cooperative transmission and D-PSO algorithm with particle swarm optimization. PMID:26343660

Multi-Sensor Detection with Particle Swarm Optimization for Time-Frequency Coded Cooperative WSNs Based on MC-CDMA for Underground Coal Mines.

PubMed

Xu, Jingjing; Yang, Wei; Zhang, Linyuan; Han, Ruisong; Shao, Xiaotao

2015-08-27

In this paper, a wireless sensor network (WSN) technology adapted to underground channel conditions is developed, which has important theoretical and practical value for safety monitoring in underground coal mines. According to the characteristics that the space, time and frequency resources of underground tunnel are open, it is proposed to constitute wireless sensor nodes based on multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) to make full use of these resources. To improve the wireless transmission performance of source sensor nodes, it is also proposed to utilize cooperative sensors with good channel conditions from the sink node to assist source sensors with poor channel conditions. Moreover, the total power of the source sensor and its cooperative sensors is allocated on the basis of their channel conditions to increase the energy efficiency of the WSN. To solve the problem that multiple access interference (MAI) arises when multiple source sensors transmit monitoring information simultaneously, a kind of multi-sensor detection (MSD) algorithm with particle swarm optimization (PSO), namely D-PSO, is proposed for the time-frequency coded cooperative MC-CDMA WSN. Simulation results show that the average bit error rate (BER) performance of the proposed WSN in an underground coal mine is improved significantly by using wireless sensor nodes based on MC-CDMA, adopting time-frequency coded cooperative transmission and D-PSO algorithm with particle swarm optimization.

A narrowband CDMA communications payload for little LEOS applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michalik, H.; Hävecker, W.; Ginati, A.

1996-09-01

In recent years Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) techniques have been investigated for application in Local Area Networks [J. A. Salehi, IEEE Trans. Commun. 37 (1989)]as well as in Mobile Communications [R. Kohno et al., IEEE Commun. Mag. Jan (1995)]. The main attraction of these techniques is due to potential higher throughput and capacity of such systems under certain conditions compared to conventional multi-access schemes like frequency and time division multiplexing. Mobile communication over a Satellite Link represents in some terms the "worst case" for operating a CDMA-system. Considering e.g. the uplink case from mobile to satellite, the imperfections due to different and time varying channel conditions will add to the well known effects of Multiple Access Interference (MAI) between the simultaneously active users at the satellite receiver. In addition, bandwidth constraints due to the non-availability of large bandwidth channels in the interesting frequency bands, exist for small systems. As a result, for a given service in terms of user data rates, the practical code sequence lengths are limited as well as the available number of codes within a code set. In this paper a communications payload for Small Satellite Applications with CDMA uplink and C/TDMA downlink under the constraint of bandwidth limitations is proposed. To optimise the performance under the above addressed imperfections the system provides ability for power control and synchronisation for the CDMA uplink. The major objectives of this project are studying, development and testing of such a system for educational purposes and technology development at Hochschule Bremen.

"When I first saw a condom, I was frightened": A qualitative study of sexual behavior, love and life of young cross-border migrants in urban Chiang Mai, Thailand

PubMed Central

Tangmunkongvorakul, Arunrat; Srithanaviboonchai, Kriengkrai; Manoyos, Veruree; Techasrivichien, Teeranee; Suguimoto, S. Pilar; Ono-Kihara, Masako; Kihara, Masahiro; Chariyalertsak, Suwat

2017-01-01

Background Many young migrant workers move across the border to Chiang Mai, a major city in Northern Thailand, in search of work opportunities. This study describes their sexual behavior, lifestyles, relationships and experiences with youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Methods This is the qualitative arm of a mixed methods study using focus group discussions (FGDs) among young MWs aged 15–24 years in urban Chiang Mai. We conducted 6 FGDs with 84 participants (43 males, 41 females) organized in groups of 10–15 people, including 3 groups of males, 2 groups of females, and 1 group of both males and females. Results We found that the lack of parental control, pressure to assimilate into Thai society, access to social media and modern communication technologies, and limited knowledge and access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services interplayed to shape lifestyle and sexual behaviors, including low condom use among young migrants. Conclusion The present study helped discern the vulnerability of young migrants to adverse SRH outcomes. This particular group of youth needs urgent intervention to improve their knowledge on SRH and access to a youth-friendly clinic to help them personalize risk of HIV and other adverse SRH outcomes. PMID:28809948

LiFi: transforming fibre into wireless

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Liang; Islim, Mohamed Sufyan; Haas, Harald

2017-01-01

Light-fidelity (LiFi) uses energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for high-speed wireless communication, and it has a great potential to be integrated with fibre communication for future gigabit networks. However, by making fibre communication wireless, multiuser interference arises. Traditional methods use orthogonal multiple access (OMA) for interference avoidance. In this paper, multiuser interference is exploited with the use of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) relying on successive interference cancellation (SIC). The residual interference due to imperfect SIC in practical scenarios is characterized with a proportional model. Results show that NOMA offers 5 -10 dB gain on the equivalent signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) over OMA. The bit error rate (BER) performance of direct current optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DCO-OFDM) is shown to be significantly improved when SIC is used.

Another look at retroactive and proactive interference: a quantitative analysis of conversion processes.

PubMed

Blank, Hartmut

2005-02-01

Traditionally, the causes of interference phenomena were sought in "real" or "hard" memory processes such as unlearning, response competition, or inhibition, which serve to reduce the accessibility of target items. I propose an alternative approach which does not deny the influence of such processes but highlights a second, equally important, source of interference-the conversion (Tulving, 1983) of accessible memory information into memory performance. Conversion is conceived as a problem-solving-like activity in which the rememberer tries to find solutions to a memory task. Conversion-based interference effects are traced to different conversion processes in the experimental and control conditions of interference designs. I present a simple theoretical model that quantitatively predicts the resulting amount of interference. In two paired-associate learning experiments using two different types of memory tests, these predictions were corroborated. Relations of the present approach to traditional accounts of interference phenomena and implications for eyewitness testimony are discussed.

10Gbps 2D MGC OCDMA Code over FSO Communication System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Professor Urmila Bhanja, Associate, Dr.; Khuntia, Arpita; Alamasety Swati, (Student

2017-08-01

Currently, wide bandwidth signal dissemination along with low latency is a leading requisite in various applications. Free space optical wireless communication has introduced as a realistic technology for bridging the gap in present high data transmission fiber connectivity and as a provisional backbone for rapidly deployable wireless communication infrastructure. The manuscript highlights on the implementation of 10Gbps SAC-OCDMA FSO communications using modified two dimensional Golomb code (2D MGC) that possesses better auto correlation, minimum cross correlation and high cardinality. A comparison based on pseudo orthogonal (PSO) matrix code and modified two dimensional Golomb code (2D MGC) is developed in the proposed SAC OCDMA-FSO communication module taking different parameters into account. The simulative outcome signifies that the communication radius is bounded by the multiple access interference (MAI). In this work, a comparison is made in terms of bit error rate (BER), and quality factor (Q) based on modified two dimensional Golomb code (2D MGC) and PSO matrix code. It is observed that the 2D MGC yields better results compared to the PSO matrix code. The simulation results are validated using optisystem version 14.

Cooperative Interference Alignment for the Multiple Access Channel

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-01

Communications. I. INTRODUCTION Conventional wireless networks were previously thought to be interference-limited, where interference is mainly caused by...interference-free capacity for any number of users K at high SNR. This fundamental result showed that wireless networks are not interference-limited as...decoding of the K users’ messages. This is applicable in uplink transmissions in cellular communications, where mobiles transmit independent messages

An Integrated Model of Cognitive Control in Task Switching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altmann, Erik M.; Gray, Wayne D.

2008-01-01

A model of cognitive control in task switching is developed in which controlled performance depends on the system maintaining access to a code in episodic memory representing the most recently cued task. The main constraint on access to the current task code is proactive interference from old task codes. This interference and the mechanisms that…

Beam Design and User Scheduling for Nonorthogonal Multiple Access With Multiple Antennas Based on Pareto Optimality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Junyeong; Sung, Youngchul

2018-06-01

In this paper, an efficient transmit beam design and user scheduling method is proposed for multi-user (MU) multiple-input single-output (MISO) non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) downlink, based on Pareto-optimality. The proposed beam design and user scheduling method groups simultaneously-served users into multiple clusters with practical two users in each cluster, and then applies spatical zeroforcing (ZF) across clusters to control inter-cluster interference (ICI) and Pareto-optimal beam design with successive interference cancellation (SIC) to two users in each cluster to remove interference to strong users and leverage signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SINRs) of interference-experiencing weak users. The proposed method has flexibility to control the rates of strong and weak users and numerical results show that the proposed method yields good performance.

75 FR 1622 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-12

... Part A MAI is to expand access to medical, health, and social support services for disproportionately... areas with substantial need for HIV/AIDS care and support services that are most severely affected by...

Spectral shaping of spreading sequences as a mean to address the trade-off between narrowband and multi-access interferences in UWB systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangia, Mauro; Pareschi, Fabio; Rovatti, Riccardo; Setti, Gianluca

This paper presents a way to cope with the need of simultaneously rejecting narrowband interference and multi-access interference in a UWB system based on direct-sequence CDMA. With this aim in mind, we rely on a closed-form expression of the system bit error probability in presence of both effects. By means of such a formula, we evaluate the effect of spectrum shaping techniques applied to the spreading sequences. The availability of a certain number of degrees of freedom in deciding the spectral profile allows us to cope with different configurations depending on the relative interfering power but also on the relative position of the signal center frequency and the narrowband interferer.

78 FR 17416 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-21

...). Since the purpose of the Part A MAI is to expand access to medical, health, and social support services... for HIV/AIDS care and support services that are most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic...

Access to antiretroviral therapy among HIV/AIDS patients in Chiang Mai province, Thailand.

PubMed

Himakalasa, Woraluck; Grisurapong, Siriwan; Phuangsaichai, Sasipen

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to investigate the access to antiretroviral treatment among human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. Access to antiretroviral treatment is defined in terms of availability, affordability, and acceptability. The data for the study were collected during the period of April 1, 2012-May 31, 2012 from a sample of 380 HIV/AIDS patients in eight hospitals who had received antiretroviral treatment for more than 6 months at the time of data collection. The results of the study show that for most patients, the average traveling time to access health care was acceptable, but the nearly half day waiting time caused them to be absent from their work. In particular, it took longer for patients in the rural and lower income groups to access the treatment than the other groups. Their travel times and food costs relating to the treatment were found to be relatively high and therefore these patients had a higher tendency to borrow or seek financial assistance from their relatives. However, due to improvements in the access to treatment, most patients were satisfied with the services they received. The results imply that policy should be implemented to raise the potential of subdistrict hospitals where access to antiretroviral treatment is available, with participating HIV/AIDS patients acting as volunteers in providing services and other forms of health promotion to new patients. Privacy issues could be reduced if the antiretroviral treatment was isolated from other health services. Additionally, efforts to educate HIV/AIDS patients and society at large should be made.

Frequency Hopping, Multiple Frequency-Shift Keying, Coding, and Optimal Partial-Band Jamming.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-08-01

receivers appropriate for these two strategies. Each receiver is noncoherent (a coherent receiver is generally impractical) and implements hard...Advances in Coding and Modulation for Noncoherent Channels Affected by Fading, Partial Band, and Multiple- . Access Interference, in A. J. Viterbi...Modulation for Noncoherent Channels Affected by Fading, Partial Band, and Multiple-Access interference, in A. J. Viterbi, ed., Advances in Coumunication

The Problem State: A Cognitive Bottleneck in Multitasking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borst, Jelmer P.; Taatgen, Niels A.; van Rijn, Hedderik

2010-01-01

The main challenge for theories of multitasking is to predict when and how tasks interfere. Here, we focus on interference related to the problem state, a directly accessible intermediate representation of the current state of a task. On the basis of Salvucci and Taatgen's (2008) threaded cognition theory, we predict interference if 2 or more…

"Without this program, women can lose their lives": migrant women's experiences with the Safe Abortion Referral Programme in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PubMed

Tousaw, Ellen; La, Ra Khin; Arnott, Grady; Chinthakanan, Orawee; Foster, Angel M

2017-11-01

For displaced and migrant women in northern Thailand, access to health care is often limited, unwanted pregnancy is common, and unsafe abortion is a major contributor to maternal death and disability. Based on a pilot project and situational analysis research, in 2015 a multinational team introduced the Safe Abortion Referral Programme (SARP) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to reduce the socio-linguistic, economic, documentation, and transportation barriers women from Burma face in accessing safe and legal abortion care in Thailand. Our qualitative study documented the experiences of women with unwanted pregnancies who accessed the SARP in order to inform programme improvement and expansion. We conducted 22 in-depth, in-person interviews and analysed them for content and themes using deductive and inductive techniques. Women were overwhelmingly positive about their experiences using the SARP. They reported lack of costs, friendly programme staff, accompaniment to and interpretation at the providing facility, and safety of services as key features. Financial and legal circumstances shaped access to the programme and women learned about the SARP through word-of-mouth and community workshops. After accessing the SARP and receiving support, women became community advocates for reproductive health. Efforts to expand the programme and raise awareness in migrant communities appear warranted. Our findings suggest that referral programmes for safe and legal abortion can be successful in settings with large displaced and migrant populations. Identifying ways to work within legal constraints to expand access to safe services has the potential to reduce harm from unsafe abortion even in humanitarian settings.

When Sufficiently Processed, Semantically Related Distractor Pictures Hamper Picture Naming.

PubMed

Matushanskaya, Asya; Mädebach, Andreas; Müller, Matthias M; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2016-11-01

Prominent speech production models view lexical access as a competitive process. According to these models, a semantically related distractor picture should interfere with target picture naming more strongly than an unrelated one. However, several studies failed to obtain such an effect. Here, we demonstrate that semantic interference is obtained, when the distractor picture is sufficiently processed. Participants named one of two pictures presented in close temporal succession, with color cueing the target. Experiment 1 induced the prediction that the target appears first. When this prediction was violated (distractor first), semantic interference was observed. Experiment 2 ruled out that the time available for distractor processing was the driving force. These results show that semantically related distractor pictures interfere with the naming response when they are sufficiently processed. The data thus provide further support for models viewing lexical access as a competitive process.

Access to antiretroviral therapy among HIV/AIDS patients in Chiang Mai province, Thailand

PubMed Central

Himakalasa, Woraluck; Grisurapong, Siriwan; Phuangsaichai, Sasipen

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to investigate the access to antiretroviral treatment among human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. Access to antiretroviral treatment is defined in terms of availability, affordability, and acceptability. The data for the study were collected during the period of April 1, 2012–May 31, 2012 from a sample of 380 HIV/AIDS patients in eight hospitals who had received antiretroviral treatment for more than 6 months at the time of data collection. The results of the study show that for most patients, the average traveling time to access health care was acceptable, but the nearly half day waiting time caused them to be absent from their work. In particular, it took longer for patients in the rural and lower income groups to access the treatment than the other groups. Their travel times and food costs relating to the treatment were found to be relatively high and therefore these patients had a higher tendency to borrow or seek financial assistance from their relatives. However, due to improvements in the access to treatment, most patients were satisfied with the services they received. The results imply that policy should be implemented to raise the potential of subdistrict hospitals where access to antiretroviral treatment is available, with participating HIV/AIDS patients acting as volunteers in providing services and other forms of health promotion to new patients. Privacy issues could be reduced if the antiretroviral treatment was isolated from other health services. Additionally, efforts to educate HIV/AIDS patients and society at large should be made. PMID:23986652

AFSC Standardization Conference, 1553, 1589, 1750, 1760, Ada, November 18-20, 1980, Dayton Convention Center, Dayton, Ohio, Volume II. Proceedings Standards,

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-11-01

4006 DMAE Direct Memory Access Enable: ’Ibis command enables direct memory access (DMA). 4007 I)MAi) Direct Memory Access Disable: This command...72 DLI 72 DLR 72 DM 111 DMAD 30 DMAE 30 DMR 111 ONEG 103 DR 117 DS 104 OSAR 53 141 373 ’., M1L-STD-1750A (USAF) 2 July 1980 OSBI 29 OSCR 54 OSIC 48...in 4.7.7, the connectors shall show no defects detrimental to the operation of the connectors and shall A-7 461 -meet the subsequent test requirements

(Networking + Integrating) * (Systems + Society). Proceedings of the Annual Canadian Conference of Information Science (12th, Toronto, Ontario, May 14-16, 1984) = (Reseaux + Integration) * (Systemes + Societe). Comptes rendus de la conference annuelle Canadienne des sciences de l'information (12th, Toronto, Ontario, 14-16 mai, 1984).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canadian Association for Information Science, Ottawa (Ontario).

Seventeen papers from the 1984 annual conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science (CAIS) are presented in four broad topic areas. The first group, which focuses on changing roles in information access, includes the keynote address by Charles Meadow, "Integrating Access to Information Utilities: Promises, Problems, and…

Calcium Supplements: Do They Interfere with Blood Pressure Drugs?

MedlinePlus

... www.micromedexsolutions.com. Accessed July 8, 2015. Calcium. Natural Medicines. https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/databases/food,-herbs-supplements/professional.aspx?productid=781#adverseEvents. Accessed ...

The Interference between Struts in Various Combinations

DTIC Science & Technology

1933-01-01

ABBOT. WtL.IAMI P. MAI CPAx KEN, J11. LYMAN J. BxueGos. CHAsRt.ES F. MxttAVrI. ARTHuR B. COOK. h1EN-R) C . PRATT. BENJAMIN D). Foimi(Cs. EDWA’.RD P...act approved *slIarch 2. 1104 tPubiei, No. !Mao, -.01h C ’oier’- of members who are aptootited by the President, all of whoms serve asý such u. ihout...of Standards, W~ash~ingtotn, I) C . Aru .o.. 1-fl Coui,,, Cajn.ait,, ZVied~ States Nao-N, Assistant Chief, Bureaui of Aerotsattties, Navy Departtentt

Worktime control access, need and use in relation to work-home interference, fatigue, and job motivation.

PubMed

Nijp, Hylco H; Beckers, Debby G J; Kompier, Michiel A J; van den Bossche, Seth N J; Geurts, Sabine A E

2015-07-01

Worktime control (WTC) has been suggested as a tool to reduce employees' work-home interference and fatigue and improve job motivation. The purpose of this study was twofold: (i) to examine the prevalence of employees' need for, access to, and use of WTC, as well as the incongruence between need for and access to WTC (ie, mismatch); and (ii) to examine the associations of this mismatch and the use of WTC with employees' work-home interference (WHI), fatigue and job motivation. Questionnaire data were collected among a large (N=2420) quasi-representative sample of Dutch employees. The prevalence of WTC need, access, use, and mismatch was assessed by means of descriptive statistics. Associations with employees' outcomes were assessed by analyses of covariance. The need for WTC was highly prevalent. For many employees, we observed a negative mismatch between access to and need for WTC (ie, access

Blind information-theoretic multiuser detection algorithms for DS-CDMA and WCDMA downlink systems.

PubMed

Waheed, Khuram; Salem, Fathi M

2005-07-01

Code division multiple access (CDMA) is based on the spread-spectrum technology and is a dominant air interface for 2.5G, 3G, and future wireless networks. For the CDMA downlink, the transmitted CDMA signals from the base station (BS) propagate through a noisy multipath fading communication channel before arriving at the receiver of the user equipment/mobile station (UE/MS). Classical CDMA single-user detection (SUD) algorithms implemented in the UE/MS receiver do not provide the required performance for modern high data-rate applications. In contrast, multi-user detection (MUD) approaches require a lot of a priori information not available to the UE/MS. In this paper, three promising adaptive Riemannian contra-variant (or natural) gradient based user detection approaches, capable of handling the highly dynamic wireless environments, are proposed. The first approach, blind multiuser detection (BMUD), is the process of simultaneously estimating multiple symbol sequences associated with all the users in the downlink of a CDMA communication system using only the received wireless data and without any knowledge of the user spreading codes. This approach is applicable to CDMA systems with relatively short spreading codes but becomes impractical for systems using long spreading codes. We also propose two other adaptive approaches, namely, RAKE -blind source recovery (RAKE-BSR) and RAKE-principal component analysis (RAKE-PCA) that fuse an adaptive stage into a standard RAKE receiver. This adaptation results in robust user detection algorithms with performance exceeding the linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) detectors for both Direct Sequence CDMA (DS-CDMA) and wide-band CDMA (WCDMA) systems under conditions of congestion, imprecise channel estimation and unmodeled multiple access interference (MAI).

IQ imbalance tolerable parallel-channel DMT transmission for coherent optical OFDMA access network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Sang-Min; Mun, Kyoung-Hak; Jung, Sun-Young; Han, Sang-Kook

2016-12-01

Phase diversity of coherent optical communication provides spectrally efficient higher-order modulation for optical communications. However, in-phase/quadrature (IQ) imbalance in coherent optical communication degrades transmission performance by introducing unwanted signal distortions. In a coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) passive optical network (PON), IQ imbalance-induced signal distortions degrade transmission performance by interferences of mirror subcarriers, inter-symbol interference (ISI), and inter-channel interference (ICI). We propose parallel-channel discrete multitone (DMT) transmission to mitigate transceiver IQ imbalance-induced signal distortions in coherent orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmissions. We experimentally demonstrate the effectiveness of parallel-channel DMT transmission compared with that of OFDM transmission in the presence of IQ imbalance.

Distractor Modality Can Turn Semantic Interference into Semantic Facilitation in the Picture-Word Interference Task: Implications for Theories of Lexical Access in Speech Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hantsch, Ansgar; Jescheniak, Jorg D.; Schriefers, Herbert

2009-01-01

A number of recent studies have questioned the idea that lexical selection during speech production is a competitive process. One type of evidence against selection by competition is the observation that in the picture-word interference task semantically related distractors may facilitate the naming of a picture, whereas the selection by…

The Dark Side of Incremental Learning: A Model of Cumulative Semantic Interference during Lexical Access in Speech Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oppenheim, Gary M.; Dell, Gary S.; Schwartz, Myrna F.

2010-01-01

Naming a picture of a dog primes the subsequent naming of a picture of a dog (repetition priming) and interferes with the subsequent naming of a picture of a cat (semantic interference). Behavioral studies suggest that these effects derive from persistent changes in the way that words are activated and selected for production, and some have…

The Use of ICP-MS and IC-ICP-MS in Environmental and Exposure Assesssment

EPA Science Inventory

OVERVIEW: Application of collision/reaction cell interference reduction technology for the minimization of polyatomic interferences in environmental matrices. Improved risk assessments through the use of arsenic speciation approaches that estimate the bio-accessibility asso...

Primary Salvage Survey of the Interference of Radiowaves Emitted by Smartphones on Medical Equipment.

PubMed

Takao, Hiroyuki; Yeh, Yu Chih; Arita, Hiroyuki; Obatake, Takumi; Sakano, Teppei; Kurihara, Minoru; Matsuki, Akira; Ishibashi, Toshihiro; Murayama, Yuichi

2016-10-01

Use of mobile phones has become a standard reality of everyday living for many people worldwide, including medical professionals, as data sharing has drastically helped to improve quality of care. This increase in the use of mobile phones within hospitals and medical facilities has raised concern regarding the influence of radio waves on medical equipment. Although comprehensive studies have examined the effects of electromagnetic interference from 2G wireless communication and personal digital cellular systems on medical equipment, similar studies on more recent wireless technologies such as Long Term Evolution, wideband code division multiple access, and high-speed uplink access have yet to be published. Numerous tests targeting current wireless technologies were conducted between December 2012 and March 2013 in an anechoic chamber, shielded from external radio signals, with a dipole antenna to assess the effects of smartphone interference on several types of medical equipment. The interference produced by electromagnetic waves across five frequency bands from four telecommunication standards was assessed on 49 components from 22 pieces of medical equipment. Of the 22 pieces of medical equipment tested, 13 experienced interference at maximum transmission power. In contrast, at minimum transmission power, the maximum interference distance varied from 2 to 5 cm for different wireless devices. Four machines were affected at the minimum transmission power, and the maximum interference distance at the maximum transmission power was 38 cm. Results show that the interference from smartphones on medical equipment is very controllable.

Suppression of AC railway power-line interference in ECG signals recorded by public access defibrillators

PubMed Central

Dotsinsky, Ivan

2005-01-01

Background Public access defibrillators (PADs) are now available for more efficient and rapid treatment of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. PADs are used normally by untrained people on the streets and in sports centers, airports, and other public areas. Therefore, automated detection of ventricular fibrillation, or its exclusion, is of high importance. A special case exists at railway stations, where electric power-line frequency interference is significant. Many countries, especially in Europe, use 16.7 Hz AC power, which introduces high level frequency-varying interference that may compromise fibrillation detection. Method Moving signal averaging is often used for 50/60 Hz interference suppression if its effect on the ECG spectrum has little importance (no morphological analysis is performed). This approach may be also applied to the railway situation, if the interference frequency is continuously detected so as to synchronize the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) for introducing variable inter-sample intervals. A better solution consists of rated ADC, software frequency measuring, internal irregular re-sampling according to the interference frequency, and a moving average over a constant sample number, followed by regular back re-sampling. Results The proposed method leads to a total railway interference cancellation, together with suppression of inherent noise, while the peak amplitudes of some sharp complexes are reduced. This reduction has negligible effect on accurate fibrillation detection. Conclusion The method is developed in the MATLAB environment and represents a useful tool for real time railway interference suppression. PMID:16309558

Suppression of AC railway power-line interference in ECG signals recorded by public access defibrillators.

PubMed

Dotsinsky, Ivan

2005-11-26

Public access defibrillators (PADs) are now available for more efficient and rapid treatment of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. PADs are used normally by untrained people on the streets and in sports centers, airports, and other public areas. Therefore, automated detection of ventricular fibrillation, or its exclusion, is of high importance. A special case exists at railway stations, where electric power-line frequency interference is significant. Many countries, especially in Europe, use 16.7 Hz AC power, which introduces high level frequency-varying interference that may compromise fibrillation detection. Moving signal averaging is often used for 50/60 Hz interference suppression if its effect on the ECG spectrum has little importance (no morphological analysis is performed). This approach may be also applied to the railway situation, if the interference frequency is continuously detected so as to synchronize the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) for introducing variable inter-sample intervals. A better solution consists of rated ADC, software frequency measuring, internal irregular re-sampling according to the interference frequency, and a moving average over a constant sample number, followed by regular back re-sampling. The proposed method leads to a total railway interference cancellation, together with suppression of inherent noise, while the peak amplitudes of some sharp complexes are reduced. This reduction has negligible effect on accurate fibrillation detection. The method is developed in the MATLAB environment and represents a useful tool for real time railway interference suppression.

76 FR 8802 - On Behalf of the Accessibility Committee of the Federal CIO Council (29 U.S.C. 794d); Listening...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-15

...) requires federal agencies to buy and use electronic and information technology (EIT) that is accessible. On... improving the acquisition and implementation of accessible technology. In order to better understand the... information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with...

Cellular telephone interference with medical equipment.

PubMed

Tri, Jeffrey L; Severson, Rodney P; Firl, Allen R; Hayes, David L; Abenstein, John P

2005-10-01

To assess the potential electromagnetic interference (EMI) effects that new or current-generation cellular telephones have on medical devices. For this study, performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, between March 9, 2004, and April 24, 2004, we tested 16 different medical devices with 6 cellular telephones to assess the potential for EMI. Two of the medical devices were tested with both new and old interface modules. The 6 cellular telephones chosen represent the different cellular technology protocols in use: Code Division Multiple Access (2 models), Global System for Mobile communications, Integrated Digital Enhanced Network, Time Division Multiple Access, and analog. The cellular telephones were tested when operating at or near their maximum power output. The medical devices, connected to clinical simulators during testing, were monitored by observing the device displays and alarms. Of 510 tests performed, the incidence of clinically important interference was 1.2%; EMI was Induced in 108 tests (21.2%). Interference occurred in 7 (44%) of the 16 devices tested. Cellular telephones can interfere with medical equipment. Technology changes in both cellular telephones and medical equipment may continue to mitigate or may worsen clinically relevant interference. Compared with cellular telephones tested in previous studies, those currently in use must be closer to medical devices before any interference is noticed. However, periodic testing of cellular telephones to determine their effects on medical equipment will be required.

75 FR 12545 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-16

.../AIDS care and support services that are most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including... Service (PHS) Act). Since the purpose of the Part A MAI is to expand access to medical, health, and social support services for disproportionately impacted racial/ ethnic minority populations living with HIV/AIDS...

47 CFR 15.711 - Interference avoidance methods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... channel availability for a TVBD is determined based on the geo-location and database access method described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. (a) Geo-location and database access. A TVBD shall rely on the geo-location and database access mechanism to identify available television channels...

47 CFR 15.711 - Interference avoidance methods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... channel availability for a TVBD is determined based on the geo-location and database access method described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. (a) Geo-location and database access. A TVBD shall rely on the geo-location and database access mechanism to identify available television channels...

47 CFR 15.711 - Interference avoidance methods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... channel availability for a TVBD is determined based on the geo-location and database access method described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. (a) Geo-location and database access. A TVBD shall rely on the geo-location and database access mechanism to identify available television channels...

47 CFR 15.711 - Interference avoidance methods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... channel availability for a TVBD is determined based on the geo-location and database access method described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. (a) Geo-location and database access. A TVBD shall rely on the geo-location and database access mechanism to identify available television channels...

Measurement-induced decoherence and information in double-slit interference.

PubMed

Kincaid, Joshua; McLelland, Kyle; Zwolak, Michael

2016-07-01

The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which "path" the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels.

Distinct loci of lexical and semantic access deficits in aphasia: Evidence from voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping and diffusion tensor imaging.

PubMed

Harvey, Denise Y; Schnur, Tatiana T

2015-06-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category negatively affects language production and comprehension. By most accounts, semantic interference arises when accessing lexical representations in naming (e.g., Damian, Vigliocco, & Levelt, 2001) and semantic representations in comprehension (e.g., Forde & Humphreys, 1997). Further, damage to the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), a region implicated in cognitive control, results in increasing semantic interference when items repeat across cycles in both language production and comprehension (Jefferies, Baker, Doran, & Lambon Ralph, 2007). This generates the prediction that the LIFG via white matter connections supports resolution of semantic interference arising from different loci (lexical vs semantic) in the temporal lobe. However, it remains unclear whether the cognitive and neural mechanisms that resolve semantic interference are the same across tasks. Thus, we examined which gray matter structures [using whole brain and region of interest (ROI) approaches] and white matter connections (using deterministic tractography) when damaged impact semantic interference and its increase across cycles when repeatedly producing and understanding words in 15 speakers with varying lexical-semantic deficits from left hemisphere stroke. We found that damage to distinct brain regions, the posterior versus anterior temporal lobe, was associated with semantic interference (collapsed across cycles) in naming and comprehension, respectively. Further, those with LIFG damage compared to those without exhibited marginally larger increases in semantic interference across cycles in naming but not comprehension. Lastly, the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, connecting the LIFG with posterior temporal lobe, related to semantic interference in naming, whereas the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), connecting posterior with anterior temporal regions related to semantic interference in comprehension. These neuroanatomical-behavioral findings have implications for models of the lexical-semantic language network by demonstrating that semantic interference in language production and comprehension involves different representations which differentially recruit a cognitive control mechanism for interference resolution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mobile communication devices causing interference in invasive and noninvasive ventilators.

PubMed

Dang, Bao P; Nel, Pierre R; Gjevre, John A

2007-06-01

The aim of this study was to assess if common mobile communication systems would cause significant interference on mechanical ventilation devices and at what distances would such interference occur. We tested all the invasive and noninvasive ventilatory devices used within our region. This consisted of 2 adult mechanical ventilators, 1 portable ventilator, 2 pediatric ventilators, and 2 noninvasive positive pressure ventilatory devices. We operated the mobile devices from the 2 cellular communication systems (digital) and 1 2-way radio system used in our province at varying distances from the ventilators and looked at any interference they created. We tested the 2-way radio system, which had a fixed operation power output of 3.0 watts, the Global Systems for Mobile Communication cellular system, which had a maximum power output of 2.0 watts and the Time Division Multiple Access cellular system, which had a maximum power output of 0.2 watts on our ventilators. The ventilators were ventilating a plastic lung at fixed settings. The mobile communication devices were tested at varying distances starting at zero meter from the ventilator and in all operation modes. The 2-way radio caused the most interference on some of the ventilators, but the maximum distance of interference was 1.0 m. The Global Systems for Mobile Communication system caused significant interference only at 0 m and minor interference at 0.5 m on only 1 ventilator. The Time Division Multiple Access system caused no interference at all. Significant interference consisted of a dramatic rise and fluctuation of the respiratory rate, pressure, and positive end-expiratory pressure of the ventilators with no normalization when the mobile device was removed. From our experiment on our ventilators with the communication systems used in our province, we conclude that mobile communication devices such as cellular phones and 2-way radios are safe and cause no interference unless operated at very close distances of less than 1 meter.

MAC Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks Using a Genetic Algorithm

PubMed Central

Elizarraras, Omar; Panduro, Marco; Méndez, Aldo L.

2014-01-01

The problem of obtaining the transmission rate in an ad hoc network consists in adjusting the power of each node to ensure the signal to interference ratio (SIR) and the energy required to transmit from one node to another is obtained at the same time. Therefore, an optimal transmission rate for each node in a medium access control (MAC) protocol based on CSMA-CDMA (carrier sense multiple access-code division multiple access) for ad hoc networks can be obtained using evolutionary optimization. This work proposes a genetic algorithm for the transmission rate election considering a perfect power control, and our proposition achieves improvement of 10% compared with the scheme that handles the handshaking phase to adjust the transmission rate. Furthermore, this paper proposes a genetic algorithm that solves the problem of power combining, interference, data rate, and energy ensuring the signal to interference ratio in an ad hoc network. The result of the proposed genetic algorithm has a better performance (15%) compared to the CSMA-CDMA protocol without optimizing. Therefore, we show by simulation the effectiveness of the proposed protocol in terms of the throughput. PMID:25140339

Optical beat interference noise reduction in OFDMA optical access link using self-homodyne balanced detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Sang-Min; Won, Yong-Yuk; Han, Sang-Kook

2013-12-01

A Novel technique for reducing the OBI noise in optical OFDMA-PON uplink is presented. OFDMA is a multipleaccess/ multiplexing scheme that can provide multiplexing operation of user data streams onto the downlink sub-channels and uplink multiple access by means of dividing OFDM subcarriers as sub-channels. The main issue of high-speed, single-wavelength upstream OFDMA-PON arises from optical beating interference noise. Because the sub-channels are allocated dynamically to multiple access users over same nominal wavelength, it generates the optical beating interference among upstream signals. In this paper, we proposed a novel scheme using self-homodyne balanced detection in the optical line terminal (OLT) to reduce OBI noise which is generated in the uplink transmission of OFDMA-PON system. When multiple OFDMA sub-channels over the same nominal wavelength are received at the same time in the proposed architecture, OBI noises can be removed using balanced detection. Using discrete multitone modulation (DMT) to generate real valued OFDM signals, the proposed technique is verified through experimental demonstration.

Measurement-induced decoherence and information in double-slit interference

PubMed Central

Kincaid, Joshua; McLelland, Kyle; Zwolak, Michael

2016-01-01

The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which “path” the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels. PMID:27807373

Proceedings of the Workshop on Future Directions in Computer Architecture and Software, Held in Charleston, South Carolina on 5-7 May 1986,

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-08-30

as write traffic begins to interfere with access sor, and a moderate performance bus, it is to each cache. (3) Directory methods (see, e.g. possible...less reliable because of the greater possibility of interference . Ease of programming is important. Mapping a complicated algorithm flow graph to a... interference . These features enable the use of fine granularity and recon- figurabilitv. Each intersection in a crossba, witch. Fig. 2a. ha, a switch

Non-Orthogonal Random Access in MIMO Cognitive Radio Networks: Beamforming, Power Allocation, and Opportunistic Transmission

PubMed Central

Lin, Huifa; Shin, Won-Yong

2017-01-01

We study secondary random access in multi-input multi-output cognitive radio networks, where a slotted ALOHA-type protocol and successive interference cancellation are used. We first introduce three types of transmit beamforming performed by secondary users, where multiple antennas are used to suppress the interference at the primary base station and/or to increase the received signal power at the secondary base station. Then, we show a simple decentralized power allocation along with the equivalent single-antenna conversion. To exploit the multiuser diversity gain, an opportunistic transmission protocol is proposed, where the secondary users generating less interference are opportunistically selected, resulting in a further reduction of the interference temperature. The proposed methods are validated via computer simulations. Numerical results show that increasing the number of transmit antennas can greatly reduce the interference temperature, while increasing the number of receive antennas leads to a reduction of the total transmit power. Optimal parameter values of the opportunistic transmission protocol are examined according to three types of beamforming and different antenna configurations, in terms of maximizing the cognitive transmission capacity. All the beamforming, decentralized power allocation, and opportunistic transmission protocol are performed by the secondary users in a decentralized manner, thus resulting in an easy implementation in practice. PMID:28076402

Non-Orthogonal Random Access in MIMO Cognitive Radio Networks: Beamforming, Power Allocation, and Opportunistic Transmission.

PubMed

Lin, Huifa; Shin, Won-Yong

2017-01-01

We study secondary random access in multi-input multi-output cognitive radio networks, where a slotted ALOHA-type protocol and successive interference cancellation are used. We first introduce three types of transmit beamforming performed by secondary users, where multiple antennas are used to suppress the interference at the primary base station and/or to increase the received signal power at the secondary base station. Then, we show a simple decentralized power allocation along with the equivalent single-antenna conversion. To exploit the multiuser diversity gain, an opportunistic transmission protocol is proposed, where the secondary users generating less interference are opportunistically selected, resulting in a further reduction of the interference temperature. The proposed methods are validated via computer simulations. Numerical results show that increasing the number of transmit antennas can greatly reduce the interference temperature, while increasing the number of receive antennas leads to a reduction of the total transmit power. Optimal parameter values of the opportunistic transmission protocol are examined according to three types of beamforming and different antenna configurations, in terms of maximizing the cognitive transmission capacity. All the beamforming, decentralized power allocation, and opportunistic transmission protocol are performed by the secondary users in a decentralized manner, thus resulting in an easy implementation in practice.

Influence of digital and analogue cellular telephones on implanted pacemakers.

PubMed

Altamura, G; Toscano, S; Gentilucci, G; Ammirati, F; Castro, A; Pandozi, C; Santini, M

1997-10-01

The aim of this study was to find out whether digital and analogue cellular 'phones affect patients with pacemakers. The study comprised continuous ECG monitoring of 200 pacemaker patients. During the monitoring certain conditions caused by interference created by the telephone were looked for: temporary or prolonged pacemaker inhibition; a shift to asynchronous mode caused by electromagnetic interference; an increase in ventricular pacing in dual chamber pacemakers, up to the programmed upper rate. The Global System for Mobile Communications system interfered with pacing 97 times in 43 patients (21.5%). During tests on Total Access of Communication System telephones, there were 60 cases of pacing interference in 35 patients (17.5%). There were 131 interference episodes during ringing vs 26 during the on/off phase; (P < 0.0001); 106 at maximum sensitivity level vs 51 at the 'base' value; P < 0.0001). Prolonged pacing inhibition (> 4 s) was seen at the pacemaker 'base' sensing value in six patients using the Global system but in only one patient using Total Access. Cellular 'phones may be dangerous for pacemaker patients. However, they can be used safely if patients do not carry the 'phone close to the pacemaker, which is the only place where high risk interference has been observed.

Analysis of OFDMA receiver with carrier frequency offset and common carrier frequency offset (CCFO)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauni, Sabitha; Kumar, R.

2013-01-01

The technique of Orthogonal frequency multiplexing (OFDM) is used to mitigate the multipath effects and to achieve better data rate. When these systems are extended to enable multiple access wireless multimedia communications they are more beneficial. The performance of the OFDM systems degrades with frequency offset and phase offset. The OFDM multiple access (OFDMA) technology allots groups of the OFDM subcarriers allocated to different users for transmission. In this paper we study the interference effects of the individual subcarriers with the neighbouring subcarriers which also plays a role in the system degradation is termed as Multiuser Interference (MUI). The effect of Carrier frequency offset (CFO) on these systems is also taken in account. There are conventional CFO compensation methods for OFDMA systems the CFOs are usually compensated by directly eliminating the intercarrier interference (ICI) caused by the residual CFOs for individual users.

Acoustic and semantic interference effects in words and pictures.

PubMed

Dhawan, M; Pellegrino, J W

1977-05-01

Interference effects for pictures and words were investigated using a probe-recall task. Word stimuli showed acoustic interference effects for items at the end of the list and semantic interference effects for items at the beginning of the list, similar to results of Kintsch and Buschke (1969). Picture stimuli showed large semantic interference effects at all list positions with smaller acoustic interference effects. The results were related to latency data on picture-word processing and interpreted in terms of the differential order, probability, and/or speed of access to acoustic and semantic levels of processing. A levels of processing explanation of picture-word retention differences was related to dual coding theory. Both theoretical positions converge on an explanation of picture-word retention differences as a function of the relative capacity for semantic or associative processing.

Obtaining tight bounds on higher-order interferences with a 5-path interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kauten, Thomas; Keil, Robert; Kaufmann, Thomas; Pressl, Benedikt; Brukner, Časlav; Weihs, Gregor

2017-03-01

Within the established theoretical framework of quantum mechanics, interference always occurs between pairs of paths through an interferometer. Higher order interferences with multiple constituents are excluded by Born’s rule and can only exist in generalized probabilistic theories. Thus, high-precision experiments searching for such higher order interferences are a powerful method to distinguish between quantum mechanics and more general theories. Here, we perform such a test in an optical multi-path interferometer, which avoids crucial systematic errors, has access to the entire phase space and is more stable than previous experiments. Our results are in accordance with quantum mechanics and rule out the existence of higher order interference terms in optical interferometry to an extent that is more than four orders of magnitude smaller than the expected pairwise interference, refining previous bounds by two orders of magnitude.

Recent Trends in Alcohol Outlet Density, Distances from Educational Institutions and Sales Campaigns in Chiang Mai Municipality (Metropolitan), Thailand: Should We Be Worried for Our Youths?

PubMed

Thaikla, Kanittha; Jiraporncharoen, Wichuda; Semmahasak, Sukho; Likhitsathian, Surinporn; Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri

2016-03-01

Since 2008, alcohol control policies in Thailand have been considered quite comprehensive. The study aimed to investigate the subsequent changes in alcohol outlet density and patterns of sales promotion, which may be useful for monitoring the effectiveness of policies and helpful for planning prevention strategies to reduce alcohol-related harms. All accessible routes in the Chiang Mai Municipality (Metropolitan: CMM) were surveyed in 2009, 2011 and 2014. During each round of survey, the geographical coordinates of alcohol outlets and educational institutions in the CMM were recorded using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). In addition, alcohol sales campaigns were documented. Three main trends emerged by 2014. The first was that alcohol outlet density had increased. Second, the average distances between alcohol outlets and educational institutions decreased with evidence of clustering near educational institutions. Lastly, increased advertising of alcohol promotions and new sales campaigns not previously seen in 2009 and 2011 promoted high volume drinking in Chiang Mai Municipality (CMM). Our study reflects the potential gaps between some of the intended consequences of alcohol control policies and the actural trends emerging in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Young people in CMM may be at a particularly high risk for alcohol-related problems due to high exposure to alcohol outlets and sales campaigns near their educational institution. © The Author 2015. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program: panorama of the scientific output.

PubMed

Kemper, Elisandréa Sguario; Mendonça, Ana Valeria Machado; Sousa, Maria Fátima de

2016-09-01

Despite the progress achieved by the Primary Health Care and Family Health Strategy in the Unified Health System (SUS) challenges still remain with regard to the universality of access and the quality of services, one of the factors being the unequal distribution of physicians. The Brazilian Government established the Mais Médicos Program (More Doctors Program), in order to move forward in the provision, placement and training of physicians in the SUS. This study consists of a review of the literature of the Mais Médicos Program, in order to map and assess the scientific production on the Program, as well as summarize the findings and present the results of the analysis. Fifty-four publications were selected, which evaluate the Program in terms of effectiveness, analysis of the implementation process, the media and the statements of the actors and assessment of the legal and constitutional precepts. The criticisms and limitations found were also systematically analyzed. With respect to the analysis, evaluations of the Program are overwhelmingly positive, showing important changes in the work processes in services and training. The studies that show the Program as being an important instrument for the effective implementation of the right to health are highlighted.

Object Interference in Children's Colour and Position Naming: Lexical Interference or Task-Set Competition?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Heij, Wido; Boelens, Harrie; Kuipers, Jan-Rouke

2010-01-01

Cascade models of word production assume that during lexical access all activated concepts activate their names. In line with this view, it has been shown that naming an object's colour is facilitated when colour name and object name are phonologically related (e.g., "blue" and "blouse"). Prevor and Diamond's (2005) recent observation that…

Zadoff-Chu sequence-based hitless ranging scheme for OFDMA-PON configured 5G fronthaul uplinks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reza, Ahmed Galib; Rhee, June-Koo Kevin

2017-05-01

A Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence-based low-complexity hitless upstream time synchronization scheme is proposed for an orthogonal frequency division multiple access passive optical network configured cloud radio access network fronthaul. The algorithm is based on gradual loading of the ZC sequences, where the phase discontinuity due to the cyclic prefix is alleviated by a frequency domain phase precoder, eliminating the requirements of guard bands to mitigate intersymbol interference and inter-carrier interference. Simulation results for uncontrolled-wavelength asynchronous transmissions from four concurrent transmitting optical network units are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for Ubiquitous Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Anwar, Asim; Seet, Boon-Chong; Ding, Zhiguo

2018-02-08

Ubiquitous wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) have become a critical technology for enabling smart cities and other ubiquitous monitoring applications. Their deployment, however, can be seriously hampered by the spectrum available to the sheer number of sensors for communication. To support the communication needs of UWSNs without requiring more spectrum resources, the power-domain non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique originally proposed for 5th Generation (5G) cellular networks is investigated for UWSNs for the first time in this paper. However, unlike 5G networks that operate in the licensed spectrum, UWSNs mostly operate in unlicensed spectrum where sensors also experience cross-technology interferences from other devices sharing the same spectrum. In this paper, we model the interferences from various sources at the sensors using stochastic geometry framework. To evaluate the performance, we derive a theorem and present new closed form expression for the outage probability of the sensors in a downlink scenario under interference limited environment. In addition, diversity analysis for the ordered NOMA users is performed. Based on the derived outage probability, we evaluate the average link throughput and energy consumption efficiency of NOMA against conventional orthogonal multiple access (OMA) technique in UWSNs. Further, the required computational complexity for the NOMA users is presented.

Spread-spectrum multiple access using wideband noncoherent MFSK

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ha, Tri T.; Pratt, Timothy; Maggenti, Mark A.

1987-01-01

Two spread-spectrum multiple access systems which use wideband M-ary frequency shift keying (FSK) (MFSK) as the primary modulation are presented. A bit error rate performance analysis is presented and system throughput is calculated for sample C band and Ku band satellite systems. Sample link analyses are included to illustrate power and adjacent satellite interference considerations in practical multiple access systems.

On Searching Available Channels with Asynchronous MAC-Layer Spectrum Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Chunxiao; Ma, Xin; Chen, Canfeng; Ma, Jian; Ren, Yong

Dynamic spectrum access has become a focal issue recently, in which identifying the available spectrum plays a rather important role. Lots of work has been done concerning secondary user (SU) synchronously accessing primary user's (PU's) network. However, on one hand, SU may have no idea about PU's communication protocols; on the other, it is possible that communications among PU are not based on synchronous scheme at all. In order to address such problems, this paper advances a strategy for SU to search available spectrums with asynchronous MAC-layer sensing. With this method, SUs need not know the communication mechanisms in PU's network when dynamically accessing. We will focus on four aspects: 1) strategy for searching available channels; 2) vacating strategy when PUs come back; 3) estimation of channel parameters; 4) impact of SUs' interference on PU's data rate. The simulations show that our search strategy not only can achieve nearly 50% less interference probability than equal allocation of total search time, but also well adapts to time-varying channels. Moreover, access by our strategies can attain 150% more access time than random access. The moment matching estimator shows good performance in estimating and tracing time-varying channels.

Recent Challenges Facing US Government Climate Science Access and Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldman, G. T.; Carter, J. M.; Licker, R.

2017-12-01

Climate scientists have long faced politicization of their work, especially those working within the US federal government. However, political interference in federal government climate change science has escalated in the current political era with efforts by political actors to undermine and disrupt infrastructure supporting climate science. This has included funding changes, decreased access to climate science information on federal agency websites, restrictions on media access to scientific experts within the government, and rolling back of science-based policies designed to incorporate and respond to climate science findings. What are the impacts of such changes for both the climate science community and the broader public? What can be done to ensure that access to and application of climate change-related research to policy decisions continues? We will summarize and analyze the state of climate change research and application in the US government. The impacts of political interference in climate change science as well as opportunities the scientific community has to support climate science in the US government, will be discussed.

Improved CDMA Performance Using Parallel Interference Cancellation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Marvin; Divsalar, Dariush

1995-01-01

This report considers a general parallel interference cancellation scheme that significantly reduces the degradation effect of user interference but with a lesser implementation complexity than the maximum-likelihood technique. The scheme operates on the fact that parallel processing simultaneously removes from each user the interference produced by the remaining users accessing the channel in an amount proportional to their reliability. The parallel processing can be done in multiple stages. The proposed scheme uses tentative decision devices with different optimum thresholds at the multiple stages to produce the most reliably received data for generation and cancellation of user interference. The 1-stage interference cancellation is analyzed for three types of tentative decision devices, namely, hard, null zone, and soft decision, and two types of user power distribution, namely, equal and unequal powers. Simulation results are given for a multitude of different situations, in particular, those cases for which the analysis is too complex.

On the Benefits of Creeping Wave Antennas in Reducing Interference Between Neighboring Wireless Body Area Networks.

PubMed

Tsouri, Gill R; Zambito, Stephanie R; Venkataraman, Jayanti

2017-02-01

We consider the on-body, off-body, and body-to-body channels in wireless body area networks utilizing creeping wave antennas. Experimental setups are used to gather measurements in the 2.4 GHz band with body area networks operating in an office environment. Data packets providing received signal strength indicators are used to assess the performance of the creeping wave antenna in reducing interference at a neighboring on-body access point while supporting reliable on-body communications. Results demonstrate that creeping wave antennas provide reliable on-body communications while significantly reducing inter-network interference; the inter-network interference is shown to be 10 dB weaker than the on-body signal. In addition, the inter-network interference when both networks utilize creeping wave antennas is shown to be 3 dB weaker than the interference when monopole antennas are used.

Saying the Right Word at the Right Time: Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Interference in Sentence Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dell, Gary S.; Oppenheim, Gary M.; Kittredge, Audrey K.

2008-01-01

Retrieving a word in a sentence requires speakers to overcome syntagmatic, as well as paradigmatic interference. When accessing "cat" in "The cat chased the string", not only are similar competitors such as "dog" and "cap" activated, but also other words in the planned sentence, such as "chase" and "string". We hypothesise that both types of…

Access to and use of high blood pressure medications in Brazil.

PubMed

Mengue, Sotero Serrate; Bertoldi, Andréa Dâmaso; Ramos, Luiz Roberto; Farias, Mareni Rocha; Oliveira, Maria Auxiliadora; Tavares, Noemia Urruth Leão; Arrais, Paulo Sergio Dourado; Luiza, Vera Lucia; Pizzol, Tatiane da Silva Dal

2016-12-01

To analyze the access to and use of medicines for high blood pressure among the Brazilian population according to social and demographic conditions. Analysis of data from Pesquisa Nacional Sobre Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos (PNAUM - National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines), a nationwide cross-sectional, population-based study, with probability sampling, carried out between September 2013 and February 2014 in urban households in the five Brazilian regions. The study evaluated the access and use of medicines to treat people with high blood pressure. The independent variables were gender, age, socioeconomic status and Brazilian region. The study also described the most commonly used drugs and the percentage of people treated with one, two, three or more drugs. Point estimations and confidence intervals were calculated considering the sample weights and sample complex plan. Prevalence of high blood pressure was 23.7% (95%CI 22.8-24.6). Regarding people with this condition, 93.8% (95%CI 92.8-94.8) had indication for drug therapy and, of those, 94.6% (95%CI 93.5-95.5) were using the medication at the time of interview. Full access to medicines was 97.9% (95%CI 97.3-98.4); partial access, 1.9% (95%CI 1.4-2.4); and no access, 0.2% (95%CI 0.1-0.4). The medication used to treat high blood pressure, 56.0% (95%CI 52.6-59.2) were obtained from SUS (Brazilian Unified Health System), 16.0% (95%CI 14.3-17.9) from Popular Pharmacy Program, 25.7% (95%CI 23.4-28.2) were paid for by the patients themselves and 2.3% (95%CI 1.8-2.9) were obtained from other locations. The five most commonly used drugs were, in descending order, hydrochlorothiazide, losartan, captopril, enalapril and atenolol. Of the total number of patients on treatment, 36.1% (95%CI 34.1-37.1) were using two medicines and 13.5% (95%CI 12.3-14.9) used three or more. Access to medicines for the treatment of high blood pressure may be considered high and many of them are available free of charge. The most commonly used drugs are among those recommended as first-line treatment for high blood pressure control. The percentage of people using more than one drug seems to follow the behavior observed in other countries. Analisar o acesso e a utilização de medicamentos para a hipertensão na população brasileira segundo condições sociais e demográficas. Análise dos dados da Pesquisa Nacional Sobre Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos, estudo nacional de delineamento transversal de base populacional, com amostra probabilística, realizado entre setembro de 2013 e fevereiro de 2014 em domicílios urbanos nas cinco regiões do Brasil. Avaliou-se o uso e acesso aos medicamentos para os cuidados com pessoas que apresentam hipertensão arterial. As variáveis independentes utilizadas foram sexo, idade, nível socioeconômico e região do País. Também foram descritos os fármacos mais utilizados e a proporção de pessoas tratadas com um, dois, três ou mais fármacos. As estimativas de ponto e os intervalos de confiança foram calculados considerando os pesos amostrais e o plano complexo da amostra. A prevalência de hipertensão arterial foi de 23,7% (IC95% 22,8-24,6). Das pessoas com a condição, 93,8% (IC95% 92,8-94,8) tinham indicação de tratamento com medicamentos e, destes, 94,6% (IC95% 93,5-95,5) estavam usando os medicamentos no momento da entrevista. O acesso total aos medicamentos foi de 97,9% (IC95% 97,3-98,4); o acesso parcial, de 1,9% (IC95% 1,4-2,4); e o acesso nulo, de 0,2% (IC95% 0,1-0,4). Dos medicamentos utilizados para tratar a hipertensão, 56,0% (IC95% 52,6-59,2) foram obtidos no SUS, 16,0% (IC95% 14,3-17,9), no Programa Farmácia Popular, 25,7% (IC95% 23,4-28,2) pago do próprio bolso e 2,3% (IC95% 1,8-2,9) em outros locais. Os cinco fármacos mais utilizados foram, em ordem descrente, hidroclorotiazida, losartana, captopril, enalapril e atenolol. Do total de tratados, 36,1% (IC95% 34,1-37,1) estavam usando dois fármacos e 13,5% (IC95% 12,3-14,9) utilizavam três ou mais fármacos. : O acesso aos medicamentos para tratamento da hipertensão pode ser considerado elevado e grande parte desses medicamentos é obtida gratuitamente. Os fármacos mais utilizados estão entre os preconizados como de primeira linha para o controle de hipertensão arterial. A proporção de pessoas utilizando mais de um fármaco parece seguir o comportamento observado em outros países.

Dual-balanced detection scheme with optical hard-limiters in an optical code division multiple access system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Maw-Yang; Hsu, Yi-Kai

2017-03-01

Three-arm dual-balanced detection scheme is studied in an optical code division multiple access system. As the MAI and beat noise are the main deleterious source of system performance, we utilize optical hard-limiters to alleviate such channel impairment. In addition, once the channel condition is improved effectively, the proposed two-dimensional error correction code can remarkably enhance the system performance. In our proposed scheme, the optimal thresholds of optical hard-limiters and decision circuitry are fixed, and they will not change with other system parameters. Our proposed scheme can accommodate a large number of users simultaneously and is suitable for burst traffic with asynchronous transmission. Therefore, it is highly recommended as the platform for broadband optical access network.

Interference-free SDMA for FBMC-OQAM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horlin, François; Fickers, Jessica; Deleu, Thibault; Louveaux, Jérome

2013-12-01

Filter-bank multi-carrier (FBMC) modulations have recently been considered for the emerging wireless communication systems as a means to improve the utilization of the physical resources and the robustness to channel time variations. FBMC divides the overall frequency channel in a set of subchannels of bandwidth proportionally decreasing with the number of subchannels. If the number of subchannels is high enough, the bandwidth of each subchannel is small enough to assume that it is approximately flat. On the other hand, space-division multiple access (SDMA) is a recognized technique to support multiple access in the downlink of a multi-user system. The user signals are precoded at the base station equipped with multiple antennas to separate the users in the spatial domain. The application of SDMA to FBMC is unfortunately difficult when the channel is too frequency selective (or when the number of subchannels to too small) to assume flat subchannels. In that case, the system suffers from inter-symbol and inter-subchannel interference, besides the multi-user interference inherent to SDMA. State-of-the art solutions simply neglect the inter-symbol/subchannel interference. This article proposes a new SDMA precoder for FBMC capable of mitigating the three sources of interference. It is constructed per subchannel in order to keep an acceptable complexity and has the structure of a filter applied on each subchannel and its neighbors at twice the symbol rate. Numerical results demonstrate that the precoder can get rid of all the interference present in the system and benefit therefore from the diversity and power gains achievable with multiple antenna systems.

Public access defibrillation: suppression of 16.7 Hz interference generated by the power supply of the railway systems.

PubMed

Christov, Ivaylo I; Iliev, Georgi L

2005-03-15

A specific problem using the public access defibrillators (PADs) arises at the railway stations. Some countries as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden are using AC railroad net power-supply system with rated 16.7 Hz frequency modulated from 15.69 Hz to 17.36 Hz. The power supply frequency contaminates the electrocardiogram (ECG). It is difficult to be suppressed or eliminated due to the fact that it considerably overlaps the frequency spectra of the ECG. The interference impedes the automated decision of the PADs whether a patient should be (or should not be) shocked. The aim of this study is the suppression of the 16.7 Hz interference generated by the power supply of the railway systems. Software solution using adaptive filtering method was proposed for 16.7 Hz interference suppression. The optimal performance of the filter is achieved, embedding a reference channel in the PADs to record the interference. The method was tested with ECGs from AHA database. The method was tested with patients of normal sinus rhythms, symptoms of tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Simulated interference with frequency modulation from 15.69 Hz to 17.36 Hz changing at a rate of 2% per second was added to the ECGs, and then processed by the suggested adaptive filtering. The method totally suppresses the noise with no visible distortions of the original signals. The proposed adaptive filter for noise suppression generated by the power supply of the railway systems has a simple structure requiring a low level of computational resources, but a good reference signal as well.

Practices of US health insurance companies concerning MS therapies interfere with shared decision-making and harm patients.

PubMed

Bourdette, Dennis N; Hartung, Daniel M; Whitham, Ruth H

2016-04-01

The US Food and Drug Administration has registered 13 multiple sclerosis (MS) disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). The medications are not interchangeable as they vary in route of administration, efficacy, and safety profile. Selecting the appropriate MS DMT for individual patients requires shared decision-making between patients and neurologists. To reduce costs, insurance companies acting through pharmacy benefit companies restrict access to MS DMTs through tiered coverage and other regulations. We discuss how policies established by insurance companies that limit access to MS DMTs interfere with the process of shared decision-making and harm patients. We present potential actions that neurologists can take to change how insurance companies manage MS DMTs.

Emergency supply of doctors by the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program and the quality of the structure of primary health care facilities.

PubMed

Giovanella, Ligia; Mendonça, Maria Helena Magalhães de; Fausto, Marcia Cristina Rodrigues; Almeida, Patty Fidelis de; Bousquat, Aylene; Lima, Juliana Gagno; Seidl, Helena; Franco, Cassiano Mendes; Fusaro, Edgard Rodrigues; Almeida, Sueli Zeferino Ferreira

2016-09-01

The health policy context in Brazil has featured a series of measures to improve primary health care (PHC), including a national access and quality improvement program (Programa Nacional de Melhoria do Acesso e Qualidade, PMAQ-AB) and the Mais Médicos Program (More Doctors, PMM) and upgrading PHC centers ('Requalifica UBS'). The paper examines the PMM's placement of doctors, by quality of PHC structure, in an endeavor to identify synergies among the three programs. It reports on a transverse study based on secondary data from PMAQ-AB Cycles 1 and 2, the PMM and 'Requalifica UBS'. The PHC facilities inventoried during PMAQ-AB Cycle 1 were classified, on pre-established typology, into five groups ranked from A (best) to E (failed). They were then compared in terms of PMM personnel allocated and Requalifica UBS proposals. The results point to convergences in investments by the three programs. Incentives targeted predominantly PHC facilities of types B and C, indicating a concentration of efforts on PHC facilities with potential for structural quality improvements. In addition to expanding access, the provision of doctors by the PMM, added to infrastructure upgrades and work process improvements, contributes to addressing high turnover and guaranteeing retention of doctors in PHC.

10.6% Certified Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells via Solvent-Polarity-Engineered Halide Passivation.

PubMed

Lan, Xinzheng; Voznyy, Oleksandr; García de Arquer, F Pelayo; Liu, Mengxia; Xu, Jixian; Proppe, Andrew H; Walters, Grant; Fan, Fengjia; Tan, Hairen; Liu, Min; Yang, Zhenyu; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H

2016-07-13

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells are solution-processed photovoltaics with broad spectral absorption tunability. Major advances in their efficiency have been made via improved CQD surface passivation and device architectures with enhanced charge carrier collection. Herein, we demonstrate a new strategy to improve further the passivation of CQDs starting from the solution phase. A cosolvent system is employed to tune the solvent polarity in order to achieve the solvation of methylammonium iodide (MAI) and the dispersion of hydrophobic PbS CQDs simultaneously in a homogeneous phase, otherwise not achieved in a single solvent. This process enables MAI to access the CQDs to confer improved passivation. This, in turn, allows for efficient charge extraction from a thicker photoactive layer device, leading to a certified solar cell power conversion efficiency of 10.6%, a new certified record in CQD photovoltaics.

Minimizing End-to-End Interference in I/O Stacks Spanning Shared Multi-Level Buffer Caches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patrick, Christina M.

2011-01-01

This thesis presents an end-to-end interference minimizing uniquely designed high performance I/O stack that spans multi-level shared buffer cache hierarchies accessing shared I/O servers to deliver a seamless high performance I/O stack. In this thesis, I show that I can build a superior I/O stack which minimizes the inter-application interference…

Long-term interference at the semantic level: Evidence from blocked-cyclic picture matching.

PubMed

Wei, Tao; Schnur, Tatiana T

2016-01-01

Processing semantically related stimuli creates interference across various domains of cognition, including language and memory. In this study, we identify the locus and mechanism of interference when retrieving meanings associated with words and pictures. Subjects matched a probe stimulus (e.g., cat) to its associated target picture (e.g., yarn) from an array of unrelated pictures. Across trials, probes were either semantically related or unrelated. To test the locus of interference, we presented probes as either words or pictures. If semantic interference occurs at the stage common to both tasks, that is, access to semantic representations, then interference should occur in both probe presentation modalities. Results showed clear semantic interference effects independent of presentation modality and lexical frequency, confirming a semantic locus of interference in comprehension. To test the mechanism of interference, we repeated trials across 4 presentation cycles and manipulated the number of unrelated intervening trials (zero vs. two). We found that semantic interference was additive across cycles and survived 2 intervening trials, demonstrating interference to be long-lasting as opposed to short-lived. However, interference was smaller with zero versus 2 intervening trials, which we interpret to suggest that short-lived facilitation counteracted the long-lived interference. We propose that retrieving meanings associated with words/pictures from the same semantic category yields both interference due to long-lasting changes in connection strength between semantic representations (i.e., incremental learning) and facilitation caused by short-lived residual activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-organizing feature maps for dynamic control of radio resources in CDMA microcellular networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hortos, William S.

1998-03-01

The application of artificial neural networks to the channel assignment problem for cellular code-division multiple access (CDMA) cellular networks has previously been investigated. CDMA takes advantage of voice activity and spatial isolation because its capacity is only interference limited, unlike time-division multiple access (TDMA) and frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) where capacities are bandwidth-limited. Any reduction in interference in CDMA translates linearly into increased capacity. To satisfy the high demands for new services and improved connectivity for mobile communications, microcellular and picocellular systems are being introduced. For these systems, there is a need to develop robust and efficient management procedures for the allocation of power and spectrum to maximize radio capacity. Topology-conserving mappings play an important role in the biological processing of sensory inputs. The same principles underlying Kohonen's self-organizing feature maps (SOFMs) are applied to the adaptive control of radio resources to minimize interference, hence, maximize capacity in direct-sequence (DS) CDMA networks. The approach based on SOFMs is applied to some published examples of both theoretical and empirical models of DS/CDMA microcellular networks in metropolitan areas. The results of the approach for these examples are informally compared to the performance of algorithms, based on Hopfield- Tank neural networks and on genetic algorithms, for the channel assignment problem.

Bilingual lexical access in context: evidence from eye movements during reading.

PubMed

Libben, Maya R; Titone, Debra A

2009-03-01

Current models of bilingualism (e.g., BIA+) posit that lexical access during reading is not language selective. However, much of this research is based on the comprehension of words in isolation. The authors investigated whether nonselective access occurs for words embedded in biased sentence contexts (e.g., A. I. Schwartz & J. F. Kroll, 2006). Eye movements were recorded as French-English bilinguals read English sentences containing cognates (e.g., piano), interlingual homographs (e.g., coin, meaning corner in French), or matched control words. Sentences provided a low or high semantic constraint for target-language meanings. Both early-stage comprehension measures (e.g., first fixation duration, gaze duration, and skipping) and late-stage comprehension measures (e.g., go-past time and total reading time) showed significant cognate facilitation and interlingual homograph interference for low-constraint sentences. For high-constraint sentences, however, only early-stage comprehension measures were consistent with nonselective access. There was no evidence of cognate facilitation or interlingual homograph interference for late-stage comprehension measures. Thus, nonselective bilingual lexical access at early stages of comprehension is rapidly resolved in semantically biased contexts at later stages of comprehension. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved

Power adaptive multi-filter carrierless amplitude and phase access scheme for visible light communication network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wei; Huang, Zhitong; Li, Haoyue; Ji, Yuefeng

2018-04-01

Visible light communication (VLC) is a promising candidate for short-range broadband access due to its integration of advantages for both optical communication and wireless communication, whereas multi-user access is a key problem because of the intra-cell and inter-cell interferences. In addition, the non-flat channel effect results in higher losses for users in high frequency bands, which leads to unfair qualities. To solve those issues, we propose a power adaptive multi-filter carrierless amplitude and phase access (PA-MF-CAPA) scheme, and in the first step of this scheme, the MF-CAPA scheme utilizing multiple filters as different CAP dimensions is used to realize multi-user access. The character of orthogonality among the filters in different dimensions can mitigate the effect of intra-cell and inter-cell interferences. Moreover, the MF-CAPA scheme provides different channels modulated on the same frequency bands, which further increases the transmission rate. Then, the power adaptive procedure based on MF-CAPA scheme is presented to realize quality fairness. As demonstrated in our experiments, the MF-CAPA scheme yields an improved throughput compared with multi-band CAP access scheme, and the PA-MF-CAPA scheme enhances the quality fairness and further improves the throughput compared with the MF-CAPA scheme.

Language Learning and Control in Monolinguals and Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Bartolotti, James; Marian, Viorica

2012-01-01

Parallel language activation in bilinguals leads to competition between languages. Experience managing this interference may aid novel language learning by improving the ability to suppress competition from known languages. To investigate the effect of bilingualism on the ability to control native-language interference, monolinguals and bilinguals were taught an artificial language designed to elicit between-language competition. Partial activation of interlingual competitors was assessed with eye-tracking and mouse-tracking during a word recognition task in the novel language. Eye-tracking results showed that monolinguals looked at competitors more than bilinguals, and for a longer duration of time. Mouse-tracking results showed that monolinguals’ mouse-movements were attracted to native-language competitors, while bilinguals overcame competitor interference by increasing activation of target items. Results suggest that bilinguals manage cross-linguistic interference more effectively than monolinguals. We conclude that language interference can affect lexical retrieval, but bilingualism may reduce this interference by facilitating access to a newly-learned language. PMID:22462514

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks.

PubMed

Harvey, Denise Y; Schnur, Tatiana T

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system - lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures.

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks

PubMed Central

Harvey, Denise Y.; Schnur, Tatiana T.

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system – lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures. PMID:27242621

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automatically is: The Internet Protocol (IP) address of the domain from which you access the Internet (i.e DUF6 Management and Uses DUF6 Conversion EIS Documents News FAQs Internet Resources Glossary Home  , to access, obtain, alter, damage, or destroy information, or otherwise to interfere with the system

Electromagnetic interference-aware transmission scheduling and power control for dynamic wireless access in hospital environments.

PubMed

Phunchongharn, Phond; Hossain, Ekram; Camorlinga, Sergio

2011-11-01

We study the multiple access problem for e-Health applications (referred to as secondary users) coexisting with medical devices (referred to as primary or protected users) in a hospital environment. In particular, we focus on transmission scheduling and power control of secondary users in multiple spatial reuse time-division multiple access (STDMA) networks. The objective is to maximize the spectrum utilization of secondary users and minimize their power consumption subject to the electromagnetic interference (EMI) constraints for active and passive medical devices and minimum throughput guarantee for secondary users. The multiple access problem is formulated as a dual objective optimization problem which is shown to be NP-complete. We propose a joint scheduling and power control algorithm based on a greedy approach to solve the problem with much lower computational complexity. To this end, an enhanced greedy algorithm is proposed to improve the performance of the greedy algorithm by finding the optimal sequence of secondary users for scheduling. Using extensive simulations, the tradeoff in performance in terms of spectrum utilization, energy consumption, and computational complexity is evaluated for both the algorithms.

Corrosion monitoring using high-frequency guided waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fromme, P.

2016-04-01

Corrosion can develop due to adverse environmental conditions during the life cycle of a range of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the reduction of the strength and thus degradation of the structural integrity. The monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along the structure from accessible areas. Using standard ultrasonic wedge transducers with single sided access to the structure, guided wave modes were selectively generated that penetrate through the complete thickness of the structure. The wave propagation and interference of the different guided wave modes depends on the thickness of the structure. Laboratory experiments were conducted for wall thickness reduction due to milling of the steel structure. From the measured signal changes due to the wave mode interference the reduced wall thickness was monitored. Good agreement with theoretical predictions was achieved. The high frequency guided waves have the potential for corrosion damage monitoring at critical and difficult to access locations from a stand-off distance.

Corrosion monitoring using high-frequency guided ultrasonic waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fromme, Paul

2014-02-01

Corrosion develops due to adverse environmental conditions during the life cycle of a range of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Both pitting corrosion and generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the degradation of the structural integrity. The nondestructive detection and monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along the structure from accessible areas. Using standard ultrasonic transducers with single sided access to the structure, guided wave modes were generated that penetrate through the complete thickness of the structure. The wave propagation and interference of the different guided wave modes depends on the thickness of the structure. Laboratory experiments were conducted and the wall thickness reduced by consecutive milling of the steel structure. Further measurements were conducted using accelerated corrosion in a salt water bath and the damage severity monitored. From the measured signal change due to the wave mode interference the wall thickness reduction was monitored. The high frequency guided waves have the potential for corrosion damage monitoring at critical and difficult to access locations from a stand-off distance.

Cue-dependent interference in comprehension

PubMed Central

Van Dyke, Julie A.

2011-01-01

The role of interference as a primary determinant of forgetting in memory has long been accepted, however its role as a contributor to poor comprehension is just beginning to be understood. The current paper reports two studies, in which speed-accuracy tradeoff and eye-tracking methodologies were used with the same materials to provide converging evidence for the role of syntactic and semantic cues as mediators of both proactive (PI) and retroactive interference (RI) during comprehension. Consistent with previous work (e.g., Van Dyke & Lewis, 2003), we found that syntactic constraints at the retrieval site are among the cues that drive retrieval in comprehension, and that these constraints effectively limit interference from potential distractors with semantic/pragmatic properties in common with the target constituent. The data are discussed in terms of a cue-overload account, in which interference both arises from and is mediated through a direct-access retrieval mechanism that utilizes a linear, weighted cue-combinatoric scheme. PMID:21927535

The Myth of Spatial Reuse with Directional Antennas in Indoor Wireless Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lakshmanan, Sriram; Sundaresan, Karthikeyan; Rangarajan, Sampath; Sivakumar, Raghupathy

Interference among co-channel users is a fundamental problem in wireless networks, which prevents nearby links from operating concurrently. Directional antennas allow the radiation patterns of wireless transmitters to be shaped to form directed beams. Conventionally, such beams are assumed to improve the spatial reuse (i.e. concurrency) in indoor wireless networks. In this paper, we use experiments in an indoor office setting of Wifi Access points equipped with directional antennas, to study their potential for interference mitigation and spatial reuse. In contrast to conventional wisdom, we observe that the interference mitigation benefits of directional antennas are minimal. On analyzing our experimental traces we observe that directional links do not reduce interference to nearby links due to the lack of signal confinement due to indoor multipath fading. We then use the insights derived from our study to develop an alternative approach that provides better interference reduction in indoor networks compared to directional links.

Respiratory viral diseases: access to RNA interference therapy

PubMed Central

Bitko, Vira; Barik, Sailen

2008-01-01

This review summarizes recent experimental achievements in the area of the development of new RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics for the treatment of viral respiratory diseases. Delivery of siRNA to their intended target tissue remains the biggest problem for most therapeutic applications of these compounds. Appropriate formulations and chemical modifications for improved stability will boost the probability of utilization of RNAi drugs in the clinical applications. PMID:19081824

Public access defibrillation: Suppression of 16.7 Hz interference generated by the power supply of the railway systems

PubMed Central

Christov, Ivaylo I; Iliev, Georgi L

2005-01-01

Background A specific problem using the public access defibrillators (PADs) arises at the railway stations. Some countries as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden are using AC railroad net power-supply system with rated 16.7 Hz frequency modulated from 15.69 Hz to 17.36 Hz. The power supply frequency contaminates the electrocardiogram (ECG). It is difficult to be suppressed or eliminated due to the fact that it considerably overlaps the frequency spectra of the ECG. The interference impedes the automated decision of the PADs whether a patient should be (or should not be) shocked. The aim of this study is the suppression of the 16.7 Hz interference generated by the power supply of the railway systems. Methods Software solution using adaptive filtering method was proposed for 16.7 Hz interference suppression. The optimal performance of the filter is achieved, embedding a reference channel in the PADs to record the interference. The method was tested with ECGs from AHA database. Results The method was tested with patients of normal sinus rhythms, symptoms of tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Simulated interference with frequency modulation from 15.69 Hz to 17.36 Hz changing at a rate of 2% per second was added to the ECGs, and then processed by the suggested adaptive filtering. The method totally suppresses the noise with no visible distortions of the original signals. Conclusion The proposed adaptive filter for noise suppression generated by the power supply of the railway systems has a simple structure requiring a low level of computational resources, but a good reference signal as well. PMID:15766390

Accession Medical Standards Analysis and Research Activity (AMSARA)

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

young adults with psychiatric disorders 15. SUBJECT TERMS Accession, medical, standards, attrition, waiver, discharge, hospitalization, disability...86 Research to Develop a Screening Test for Detection of Psychiatric Disorders in Young Adults ...secondary to organic or functional mental disorders that interfere with work or school after age 12 or current use of medication to improve or maintain

Opportunistic Access in Frequency Hopping Cognitive Radio Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

thresholding MA multiple access MFSK M-ary frequency shift keying MIMO multiple-input/multiple-output OFDM orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing x...adaptive BER performance as a function of ISR with orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing ( OFDM ) interference present. . . . . . . . . . 41 4.15 Non...adaptive BER performance as a function of EB/N0 with OFDM interfer- ence present

Interference-Assisted Techniques for Transmission and Multiple Access in Optical Communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Xun

Optical communications can be in wired or wireless form. Fiber optics communication (FOC) connects transmitters and receivers with optical fiber. Benefiting from its high bandwidth, low cost per volume and stability, it gains a significant market share in long-haul networks, access networks and data centers. Meanwhile, optical wireless communication (OWC) is also emerging as a crucial player in the communication market. In OWC, free-space optical communication (FSO) and visible light communication (VLC) are being studied and commercially deployed extensively. Interference is a common phenomenon in multi-user communication systems. In both FOC and OWC, interference has long been treated as a detrimental effect. However, it could also be beneficial to system applications. The effort of harnessing interference has spurred numerous innovations. Interesting examples are physical-layer network coding (PNC) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA). The first part of this thesis in on the topic of PNC. PNC was firstly proposed in wireless communication to improve the throughput of a two-way relay network (TWRN). As a variation of network coding (NC), PNC turns the common channel interference (CCI) as a natural network coding operation. In this thesis, PNC is introduced into optical communication. Three schemes are proposed in different scenarios. Firstly, PNC is applied to a coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) system so as to improve the throughput of the multicast network. The optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) penalty is quite low. Secondly, we investigate the application of PNC in an OFDM passive optical network (OFDM-PON) supporting heterogeneous services. It is found that only minor receiver power penalties are observed to realize PNC-based virtual private networks (VPN), both in the wired service part and the wireless service part in an OFDM-PON with heterogeneous services. Thirdly, we innovate relay-based visible light communication (VLC) by adopting PNC, with a newly proposed phase-aligning method. PNC could improve the throughput at the bottlenecking relay node in a VLC system, and the proposed phase aligning method can improve the BER performance. The second part of this thesis discusses another interference-assisted technology in communication, that is, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA). NOMA multiplexes signals from multiple users in another dimension: power domain, with a non-orthogonal multiplexing in other dimensions such as time, frequency and code. Three schemes are proposed in this part. The first and the second schemes both realize NOMA in VLC, with different multiuser detection (MUD) techniques and a proposed phase pre-distortion method. Although both can decrease the system BER compared to conventional NOMA, the scheme using joint detection (JD) outperforms the one using successive interference cancellation (SIC). The third scheme investigated in this part is a combination of NOMA and a multicarrier precoding (MP) technology based on an orthogonal circulant transform matrix (OCT). This combination can avoid the complicated adaptive bit loading or electronic equalization, making NOMA more attractive in a practical system.

Optimization of an optically implemented on-board FDMA demultiplexer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fargnoli, J.; Riddle, L.

1991-01-01

Performance of a 30 GHz frequency division multiple access (FDMA) uplink to a processing satellite is modelled for the case where the onboard demultiplexer is implemented optically. Included in the performance model are the effects of adjacent channel interference, intersymbol interference, and spurious signals associated with the optical implementation. Demultiplexer parameters are optimized to provide the minimum bit error probability at a given bandwidth efficiency when filtered QPSK modulation is employed.

A Reliable Data Transmission Model for IEEE 802.15.4e Enabled Wireless Sensor Network under WiFi Interference.

PubMed

Sahoo, Prasan Kumar; Pattanaik, Sudhir Ranjan; Wu, Shih-Lin

2017-06-07

The IEEE 802.15.4e standard proposes Medium Access Control (MAC) to support collision-free wireless channel access mechanisms for industrial, commercial and healthcare applications. However, unnecessary wastage of energy and bandwidth consumption occur due to inefficient backoff management and collisions. In this paper, a new channel access mechanism is designed for the buffer constraint sensor devices to reduce the packet drop rate, energy consumption and collisions. In order to avoid collision due to the hidden terminal problem, a new frame structure is designed for the data transmission. A new superframe structure is proposed to mitigate the problems due to WiFi and ZigBee interference. A modified superframe structure with a new retransmission opportunity for failure devices is proposed to reduce the collisions and retransmission delay with high reliability. Performance evaluation and validation of our scheme indicate that the packet drop rate, throughput, reliability, energy consumption and average delay of the nodes can be improved significantly.

A Reliable Data Transmission Model for IEEE 802.15.4e Enabled Wireless Sensor Network under WiFi Interference

PubMed Central

Sahoo, Prasan Kumar; Pattanaik, Sudhir Ranjan; Wu, Shih-Lin

2017-01-01

The IEEE 802.15.4e standard proposes Medium Access Control (MAC) to support collision-free wireless channel access mechanisms for industrial, commercial and healthcare applications. However, unnecessary wastage of energy and bandwidth consumption occur due to inefficient backoff management and collisions. In this paper, a new channel access mechanism is designed for the buffer constraint sensor devices to reduce the packet drop rate, energy consumption and collisions. In order to avoid collision due to the hidden terminal problem, a new frame structure is designed for the data transmission. A new superframe structure is proposed to mitigate the problems due to WiFi and ZigBee interference. A modified superframe structure with a new retransmission opportunity for failure devices is proposed to reduce the collisions and retransmission delay with high reliability. Performance evaluation and validation of our scheme indicate that the packet drop rate, throughput, reliability, energy consumption and average delay of the nodes can be improved significantly. PMID:28590434

Facilitation and interference in naming: A consequence of the same learning process?

PubMed

Hughes, Julie W; Schnur, Tatiana T

2017-08-01

Our success with naming depends on what we have named previously, a phenomenon thought to reflect learning processes. Repeatedly producing the same name facilitates language production (i.e., repetition priming), whereas producing semantically related names hinders subsequent performance (i.e., semantic interference). Semantic interference is found whether naming categorically related items once (continuous naming) or multiple times (blocked cyclic naming). A computational model suggests that the same learning mechanism responsible for facilitation in repetition creates semantic interference in categorical naming (Oppenheim, Dell, & Schwartz, 2010). Accordingly, we tested the predictions that variability in semantic interference is correlated across categorical naming tasks and is caused by learning, as measured by two repetition priming tasks (picture-picture repetition priming, Exp. 1; definition-picture repetition priming, Exp. 2, e.g., Wheeldon & Monsell, 1992). In Experiment 1 (77 subjects) semantic interference and repetition priming effects were robust, but the results revealed no relationship between semantic interference effects across contexts. Critically, learning (picture-picture repetition priming) did not predict semantic interference effects in either task. We replicated these results in Experiment 2 (81 subjects), finding no relationship between semantic interference effects across tasks or between semantic interference effects and learning (definition-picture repetition priming). We conclude that the changes underlying facilitatory and interfering effects inherent to lexical access are the result of distinct learning processes where multiple mechanisms contribute to semantic interference in naming. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Attention and memory protection: Interactions between retrospective attention cueing and interference.

PubMed

Makovski, Tal; Pertzov, Yoni

2015-01-01

Visual working memory (VWM) and attention have a number of features in common, but despite extensive research it is still unclear how the two interact. Can focused attention improve VWM precision? Can it protect VWM from interference? Here we used a partial-report, continuous-response orientation memory task to examine how attention and interference affect different aspects of VWM and how they interact with one another. Both attention and interference were orthogonally manipulated during the retention interval. Attention was manipulated by presenting informative retro-cues, whereas interference was manipulated by introducing a secondary interfering task. Mixture-model analyses revealed that retro-cues, compared to uninformative cues, improved all aspects of performance: Attention increased recall precision and decreased guessing rate and swap-errors (reporting a wrong item in memory). Similarly, performing a secondary task impaired all aspects of the VWM task. In particular, an interaction between retro-cue and secondary task interference was found primarily for swap-errors. Together these results suggest that both the quantity and quality of VWM representations are sensitive to attention cueing and interference modulations, and they highlight the role of attention in protecting the feature-location associations needed to access the correct items in memory.

RNAi-induced silencing of embryonic tryptophan oxygenase in the Pyralid moth, Plodia interpunctella

PubMed Central

Fabrick, Jeffrey A.; Kanost, Michael R.; Baker, James E.

2004-01-01

Gene silencing through the introduction of double-stranded RNA (RNA interference, RNAi) provides a powerful tool for the elucidation of gene function in many systems, including those where genomics and proteomics are incomplete. The use of RNAi technology for gene silencing in Lepidoptera has lacked significant attention compared to other systems. To demonstrate that RNAi can be utilized in the lepidopteran, Plodia interpunctella, we cloned a cDNA for tryptophan oxygenase, and showed that silencing of tryptophan oxygenase through RNAi during embryonic development resulted in loss of eye-color pigmentation. The complete amino acid sequence of Plodia tryptophan oxygenase can be accessed through NCBI Protein Database under NCBI Accession # AY427951. Abbreviation RNAi RNA interference PCR polymerase chain reaction RT-PCR reverse transcription-PCR PMID:15861231

Electromagnetic Emission from Electric Propulsions under Ground Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baranov, S. V.; Vazhenin, N. A.; Plokhikh, A. P.; Popov, G. A.

2017-12-01

Analysis and methodological generalization of available methods used for determining characteristics of intrinsic emission from electric propulsions (EP) in a radio-frequency range that can be the interference for the "Earth-spacecraft (SC)" channel of the space communication system are the subjects of this paper. Intrinsic emission from the electric propulsion in a radio-frequency range is examined in detail by the example of a measuring complex developed in RIAME MAI and the measurement results are presented. The electric field intensity distribution in a radio-frequency range for the vertical and horizontal polarizations of the received emission is considered as the main characteristics. Measurements performed for the EP intrinsic emission by using the developed complex and measurements performed in metal vacuum chambers are compared and comparative results are presented in the paper.

The focus of attention is similar to other memory systems rather than uniquely different

PubMed Central

Beaudry, Olivia; Neath, Ian; Surprenant, Aimée M.; Tehan, Gerald

2014-01-01

According to some current theories, the focus of attention (FOA), part of working memory, represents items in a privileged state that is more accessible than items stored in other memory systems. One line of evidence supporting the distinction between the FOA and other memory systems is the finding that items in the FOA are immune to proactive interference (when something learned earlier impairs the ability to remember something learned more recently). The FOA, then, is held to be unique: it is the only memory system that is not susceptible to proactive interference. We review the literature used to support this claim, and although there are many studies in which proactive interference was not observed, we found more studies in which it was observed. We conclude that the FOA is not immune to proactive interference: items in the FOA are susceptible to proactive interference just like items in every other memory system. And, just as in all other memory systems, it is how the items are represented and processed that plays a critical role in determining whether proactive interference will be observed. PMID:24574996

Distributional analyses in the picture-word interference paradigm: Exploring the semantic interference and the distractor frequency effects.

PubMed

Scaltritti, Michele; Navarrete, Eduardo; Peressotti, Francesca

2015-01-01

The present study explores the distributional features of two important effects within the picture-word interference paradigm: the semantic interference and the distractor frequency effects. These two effects display different and specific distributional profiles. Semantic interference appears greatly reduced in faster response times, while it reaches its full magnitude only in slower responses. This can be interpreted as a sign of fluctuant attentional efficiency in resolving response conflict. In contrast, the distractor frequency effect is mediated mainly by a distributional shift, with low-frequency distractors uniformly shifting reaction time distribution towards a slower range of latencies. This finding fits with the idea that distractor frequency exerts its effect by modulating the point in time in which operations required to discard the distractor can start. Taken together, these results are congruent with current theoretical accounts of both the semantic interference and distractor frequency effects. Critically, distributional analyses highlight and further describe the different cognitive dynamics underlying these two effects, suggesting that this analytical tool is able to offer important insights about lexical access during speech production.

Interference tables: a useful model for interference analysis in asynchronous multicarrier transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medjahdi, Yahia; Terré, Michel; Ruyet, Didier Le; Roviras, Daniel

2014-12-01

In this paper, we investigate the impact of timing asynchronism on the performance of multicarrier techniques in a spectrum coexistence context. Two multicarrier schemes are considered: cyclic prefix-based orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) with a rectangular pulse shape and filter bank-based multicarrier (FBMC) with physical layer for dynamic spectrum access and cognitive radio (PHYDYAS) and isotropic orthogonal transform algorithm (IOTA) waveforms. First, we present the general concept of the so-called power spectral density (PSD)-based interference tables which are commonly used for multicarrier interference characterization in spectrum sharing context. After highlighting the limits of this approach, we propose a new family of interference tables called `instantaneous interference tables'. The proposed tables give the interference power caused by a given interfering subcarrier on a victim one, not only as a function of the spectral distance separating both subcarriers but also with respect to the timing misalignment between the subcarrier holders. In contrast to the PSD-based interference tables, the accuracy of the proposed tables has been validated through different simulation results. Furthermore, due to the better frequency localization of both PHYDYAS and IOTA waveforms, FBMC technique is demonstrated to be more robust to timing asynchronism compared to OFDM one. Such a result makes FBMC a potential candidate for the physical layer of future cognitive radio systems.

Impact of the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program in reducing physician shortage in Brazilian Primary Healthcare.

PubMed

Girardi, Sábado Nicolau; Stralen, Ana Cristina de Sousa van; Cella, Joana Natalia; Wan Der Maas, Lucas; Carvalho, Cristiana Leite; Faria, Erick de Oliveira

2016-09-01

The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program (PMM) was put in place in Brazil aiming to reduce inequalities in access to Primary Healthcare. Based on diverse evidence that pointed to a scenario of profound shortage of doctors in the country, one of its central thrusts was emergency provision of these professionals in vulnerable areas, referred to as the Mais Médicos para o Brasil (More Doctors for Brazil) Project. The article analyses the impact of the PMM in reducing shortage of physicians in Brazilian municipalities. To do this, it uses the Primary Healthcare Physicians Shortage Index, which identifies and measures the shortage in the periods of March 2003 and September 2015, before and after implementation of the program. The results show that there was a substantial increase in the supply of physicians in primary healthcare in the period, which helped reduce the number of municipalities with shortage from 1,200 to 777. This impact also helped reduce inequalities between municipalities, but the inequities in distribution persisted. It was also found that there was a reduction in the regular supply of doctors made by municipalities, suggesting that these were being simply substituted by the supply coming from the program. Thus, an overall situation of insecurity in care persists, reflecting the dependence of municipalities on the physician supply from the federal government.

Daily Access to Sucrose Impairs Aspects of Spatial Memory Tasks Reliant on Pattern Separation and Neural Proliferation in Rats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reichelt, Amy C.; Morris, Margaret J.; Westbrook, Reginald Frederick

2016-01-01

High sugar diets reduce hippocampal neurogenesis, which is required for minimizing interference between memories, a process that involves "pattern separation." We provided rats with 2 h daily access to a sucrose solution for 28 d and assessed their performance on a spatial memory task. Sucrose consuming rats discriminated between objects…

Language Processing in Children with Cochlear Implants: A Preliminary Report on Lexical Access for Production and Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Richard G.; Steinman, Susan; Ying, Elizabeth; Mystal, Elana Ying; Houston, Derek M.

2013-01-01

In this plenary paper, we present a review of language research in children with cochlear implants along with an outline of a 5-year project designed to examine the lexical access for production and recognition. The project will use auditory priming, picture naming with auditory or visual interfering stimuli (Picture-Word Interference and…

Monitoring of corrosion damage using high-frequency guided ultrasonic waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chew, D.; Fromme, P.

2014-03-01

Due to adverse environmental conditions corrosion can develop during the life cycle of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Both pitting corrosion and generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the degradation of the integrity and load bearing capacity of the structure. Structural health monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can in principle be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along the structure from accessible areas. Using standard ultrasonic transducers with single sided access to the structure, high frequency guided wave modes were generated that penetrate through the complete thickness of the structure. Wall thickness reduction was induced using accelerated corrosion in a salt water bath. The corrosion damage was monitored based on the effect on the wave propagation and interference of the different modes. The change in the wave interference was quantified based on an analysis in the frequency domain (Fourier transform) and was found to match well with theoretical predictions for the wall thickness loss. High frequency guided waves have the potential for corrosion damage monitoring at critical and difficult to access locations from a stand-off distance.

Monitoring of corrosion damage using high-frequency guided ultrasonic waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chew, D.; Fromme, P.

2015-03-01

Due to adverse environmental conditions corrosion can develop during the life cycle of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Both pitting corrosion and generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the degradation of the integrity and load bearing capacity of the structure. Structural health monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can in principle be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along the structure from accessible areas. Using standard ultrasonic transducers with single sided access to the structure, high frequency guided wave modes were generated that penetrate through the complete thickness of the structure. Wall thickness reduction was induced using accelerated corrosion in a salt water bath. The corrosion damage was monitored based on the effect on the wave propagation and interference of the different modes. The change in the wave interference was quantified based on an analysis in the frequency domain (Fourier transform) and was found to match well with theoretical predictions for the wall thickness loss. High frequency guided waves have the potential for corrosion damage monitoring at critical and difficult to access locations from a stand-off distance.

A hybrid single-end-access MZI and Φ-OTDR vibration sensing system with high frequency response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yixin; Xia, Lan; Cao, Chunqi; Sun, Zhenhong; Li, Yanting; Zhang, Xuping

2017-01-01

A hybrid single-end-access Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and phase sensitive OTDR (Φ-OTDR) vibration sensing system is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. In our system, the narrow optical pulses and the continuous wave are injected into the fiber through the front end of the fiber at the same time. And at the rear end of the fiber, a frequency-shift-mirror (FSM) is designed to back propagate the continuous wave modulated by the external vibration. Thus the Rayleigh backscattering signals (RBS) and the back propagated continuous wave interfere with the reference light at the same end of the sensing fiber and a single-end-access configuration is achieved. The RBS can be successfully separated from the interference signal (IS) through digital signal process due to their different intermediate frequency based on frequency division multiplexing technique. There is no influence between these two schemes. The experimental results show 10 m spatial resolution and up to 1.2 MHz frequency response along a 6.35 km long fiber. This newly designed single-end-access setup can achieve vibration events locating and high frequency events response, which can be widely used in health monitoring for civil infrastructures and transportation.

[National system of protection against electromagnetic fields 0 Hz-300 GHz in the light of current legal regulations].

PubMed

Aniołczyk, Halina

2006-01-01

Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) occurs when man is exposed to the effect of electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields and contact currents different from those resulting from physiological processes in the organism or other natural phenomena. In Poland, the system of protection against EMF has been functioning for over 35 years. In 2001, when the Minister of Labor and Social Policy issued the regulation introducing the maximum admissible intensities (MAI) for electromagnetic fields and radiation within the range of 0 Hz-300 GHz, the system was directed mainly towards evaluation of exposure to EMF occurring in the occupational environment. The system is linked via MAI values with human protection in the natural environment. In this paper, the background, principles and the range of the national system of protection against EMF and its monitoring are presented. The project of implementation of EU directives, following Poland's accession to the European Union is also discussed.

The dark side of incremental learning: a model of cumulative semantic interference during lexical access in speech production.

PubMed

Oppenheim, Gary M; Dell, Gary S; Schwartz, Myrna F

2010-02-01

Naming a picture of a dog primes the subsequent naming of a picture of a dog (repetition priming) and interferes with the subsequent naming of a picture of a cat (semantic interference). Behavioral studies suggest that these effects derive from persistent changes in the way that words are activated and selected for production, and some have claimed that the findings are only understandable by positing a competitive mechanism for lexical selection. We present a simple model of lexical retrieval in speech production that applies error-driven learning to its lexical activation network. This model naturally produces repetition priming and semantic interference effects. It predicts the major findings from several published experiments, demonstrating that these effects may arise from incremental learning. Furthermore, analysis of the model suggests that competition during lexical selection is not necessary for semantic interference if the learning process is itself competitive. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

No Electromagnetic Interference Occurred in a Patient with a HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System and a Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator.

PubMed

Raman, Ajay Sundara; Shabari, Farshad Raissi; Kar, Biswajit; Loyalka, Pranav; Hariharan, Ramesh

2016-04-01

The use of subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillators is a novel option for preventing arrhythmia-mediated cardiac death in patients who are at risk of endovascular-device infection or in whom venous access is difficult. However, the potential for electromagnetic interference between subcutaneous defibrillators and left ventricular assist devices is largely unknown. We report the case of a 24-year-old man in whom we observed no electromagnetic interference between a subcutaneous implanted cardioverter-defibrillator and a HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System, at 3 different pump speeds. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such findings in this circumstance.

No Electromagnetic Interference Occurred in a Patient with a HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System and a Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator

PubMed Central

Raman, Ajay Sundara; Kar, Biswajit; Loyalka, Pranav; Hariharan, Ramesh

2016-01-01

The use of subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillators is a novel option for preventing arrhythmia-mediated cardiac death in patients who are at risk of endovascular-device infection or in whom venous access is difficult. However, the potential for electromagnetic interference between subcutaneous defibrillators and left ventricular assist devices is largely unknown. We report the case of a 24-year-old man in whom we observed no electromagnetic interference between a subcutaneous implanted cardioverter-defibrillator and a HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System, at 3 different pump speeds. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such findings in this circumstance. PMID:27127441

Advanced multiple access concepts in mobile satellite systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ananasso, Fulvio

1990-01-01

Some multiple access strategies for Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS) are discussed. These strategies were investigated in the context of three separate studies conducted for the International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Satellite-Switched Frequency Division Multiple Access (SS-FDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Frequency-Addressable Beam architectures are addressed, discussing both system and technology aspects and outlining advantages and drawbacks of either solution with associated relevant hardware issues. An attempt is made to compare the considered option from the standpoint of user terminal/space segment complexity, synchronization requirements, spectral efficiency, and interference rejection.

Coded DS-CDMA Systems with Iterative Channel Estimation and no Pilot Symbols

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

ar X iv :1 00 8. 31 96 v1 [ cs .I T ] 1 9 A ug 2 01 0 1 Coded DS - CDMA Systems with Iterative Channel Estimation and no Pilot Symbols Don...sequence code-division multiple-access ( DS - CDMA ) systems with quadriphase-shift keying in which channel estimation, coherent demodulation, and decoding...amplitude, phase, and the interference power spectral density (PSD) due to the combined interference and thermal noise is proposed for DS - CDMA systems

Tracing the time course of picture--word processing.

PubMed

Smith, M C; Magee, L E

1980-12-01

A number of independent lines of research have suggested that semantic and articulatory information become available differentially from pictures and words. The first of the experiments reported here sought to clarify the time course by which information about pictures and words becomes available by considering the pattern of interference generated when incongruent pictures and words are presented simultaneously in a Stroop-like situation. Previous investigators report that picture naming is easily disrupted by the presence of a distracting word but that word naming is relatively immune to interference from an incongruent picture. Under the assumption that information available from a completed process may disrupt an ongoing process, these results suggest that words access articulatory information more rapidly than do pictures. Experiment 1 extended this paradigm by requiring subjects to verify the category of the target stimulus. In accordance with the hypothesis that picture access the semantic code more rapidly than words, there was a reversal in the interference pattern: Word categorization suffered considerable disruption, whereas picture categorization was minimally affected by the presence of an incongruent word. Experiment 2 sought to further test the hypothesis that access to semantic and articulatory codes is different for pictures and words by examining memory for those items following naming or categorization. Categorized words were better recognized than named words, whereas the reverse was true for pictures, a result which suggests that picture naming involves more extensive processing than picture categorization. Experiment 3 replicated this result under conditions in which viewing time was held constant. The last experiment extended the investigation of memory differences to a situation in which subjects were required to generate the superordinate category name. Here, memory for categorized pictures was as good as memory for named pictures. Category generation also influenced memory for words, memory performance being superior to that following a yes--no verification of category membership. These experiments suggest a model of information access whereby pictures access semantic information were readily than name information, with the reverse being true for words. Memory for both pictures and words was a function of the amount of processing required to access a particular type of information as well as the extent of response differentiation necessitated by the task.

Interference Canceller Based on Cycle-and-Add Property for Single User Detection in DS-CDMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hettiarachchi, Ranga; Yokoyama, Mitsuo; Uehara, Hideyuki; Ohira, Takashi

In this paper, performance of a novel interference cancellation technique for the single user detection in a direct-sequence code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) system has been investigated. This new algorithm is based on the Cycle-and-Add property of PN (Pseudorandom Noise) sequences and can be applied for both synchronous and asynchronous systems. The proposed strategy provides a simple method that can delete interference signals one by one in spite of the power levels of interferences. Therefore, it is possible to overcome the near-far problem (NFP) in a successive manner without using transmit power control (TPC) techniques. The validity of the proposed procedure is corroborated by computer simulations in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and frequency-nonselective fading channels. Performance results indicate that the proposed receiver outperforms the conventional receiver and, in many cases, it does so with a considerable gain.

Analysis of interference of QPSK and QDPSK modulation signals by mathematical

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dairuo; Xu, Kai

2017-03-01

In today's society, with the rapid development and extensive application of the information technology of the network central station and the integrated information system technology, information plays an important role in the military communication, mastering the information right to the competition Important role, how to protect one's own security, smooth access to and transmission of information, and to maximize the elimination of interference has become an important issue at home and abroad. QPSK modulation and its improved QPSK modulation as the mainstream signal modulation, the most widely used. In this paper, the principle of QPSK and QDPSK modulation and demodulation are introduced in this paper. Then, how to interfere with QPSK modulation signal is analyzed, and the interference of QPSK modulation signal is simulated by Matlab scripting program, which can be used in the next step. And to study the next step of anti-jamming measures provided the basis and preparatory work.

Below-baseline suppression of competitors during interference resolution by younger but not older adults.

PubMed

Healey, M Karl; Ngo, K W Joan; Hasher, Lynn

2014-01-01

Resolving interference from competing memories is a critical factor in efficient memory retrieval, and several accounts of cognitive aging suggest that difficulty resolving interference may underlie memory deficits such as those seen in the elderly. Although many researchers have suggested that the ability to suppress competitors is a key factor in resolving interference, the evidence supporting this claim has been the subject of debate. Here, we present a new paradigm and results demonstrating that for younger adults, a single retrieval attempt is sufficient to suppress competitors to below-baseline levels of accessibility even though the competitors are never explicitly presented. The extent to which individual younger adults suppressed competitors predicted their performance on a memory span task. In a second experiment, older adults showed no evidence of suppression, which supports the theory that older adults' memory deficits are related to impaired suppression.

Microwave Photonic Filters for Interference Cancellation and Adaptive Beamforming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, John

Wireless communication has experienced an explosion of growth, especially in the past half- decade, due to the ubiquity of wireless devices, such as tablets, WiFi-enabled devices, and especially smartphones. Proliferation of smartphones with powerful processors and graphic chips have given an increasing amount of people the ability to access anything from anywhere. Unfortunately, this ease of access has greatly increased mobile wireless bandwidth and have begun to stress carrier networks and spectra. Wireless interference cancellation will play a big role alongside the popularity of wire- less communication. In this thesis, we will investigate optical signal processing methods for wireless interference cancellation methods. Optics provide the perfect backdrop for interference cancellation. Mobile wireless data is already aggregated and transported through fiber backhaul networks in practice. By sandwiching the signal processing stage between the receiver and the fiber backhaul, processing can easily be done locally in one location. Further, optics offers the advantages of being instantaneously broadband and size, weight, and power (SWAP). We are primarily concerned with two methods for interference cancellation, based on microwave photonic filters, in this thesis. The first application is for a co-channel situation, in which a transmitter and receiver are co-located and transmitting at the same frequency. A novel analog optical technique extended for multipath interference cancellation of broadband signals is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this thesis. The proposed architecture was able to achieve a maximum of 40 dB of cancellation over 200 MHz and 50 dB of cancellation over 10 MHz. The broadband nature of the cancellation, along with its depth, demonstrates both the precision of the optical components and the validity of the architecture. Next, we are interested in a scenario with dynamically changing interference, which requires an adaptive photonic beamformer. The solution is two-part. A novel highly-scalable photonic beamformer is first proposed and experimentally verified. A "blind" search algorithm called the guided accelerated random search (GARS) algorithm is then shown. A maximum cancellation of 37 dB is achieved within 50 iterations, a real-world time of 1-3 seconds, while the presence of a signal of interest (SOI) is maintained.

[Family access to Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Latin America: A reality to improve].

PubMed

Montes Bueno, María Teresa; Quiroga, Ana; Rodríguez, Susana; Sola, Augusto

2016-08-01

Family access to NICUs has benefits for the newborn (NB) and family, as the main way of humanised care. To determine the current state of parents and families access to NICUs in Latin America. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 15 countries using two questionnaires: 1) directed at head nurses with management and supervision activities, and 2) nurses with care tasks. The features and modes of functioning were examined; the use access guides, personal opinion on the rights to enter, risks, interference, or collaboration as regards the patient, and nursing role in decisions. Nursing leaders of each country identified contacts and obtained authorisation under the regulations of each country. The responses were analysed centrally with the participants remaining anonymous. Out of 640 questionnaires issued, responses were received by 226 (35%). Among 52 NICU, 63% have a place for mothers to stay (only 27% overnight), and in 31 (60%) there are notices with fixed schedules for visiting the NB. Unrestricted access exists in only 19 NICU (36%), but for siblings and grandparents it is more restricted (it is not possible in 29%). Among the 174 nurses that responded, 76% feel that mothers should always have access, but these percentages decrease for fathers, siblings and grandparents. A large majority (77%) believe that nursing staff would favour access, and 35% would make it difficult. In addition, 48% believed that access interferes with nursing care. care. A cultural change is needed in the NICUs in Latin America in order to respect the rights of newborns and their families during hospitalisation. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Impulsive interference in communication channels and its mitigation by SPART and other nonlinear filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikitin, Alexei V.; Epard, Marc; Lancaster, John B.; Lutes, Robert L.; Shumaker, Eric A.

2012-12-01

A strong digital communication transmitter in close physical proximity to a receiver of a weak signal can noticeably interfere with the latter even when the respective channels are tens or hundreds of megahertz apart. When time domain observations are made in the signal chain of the receiver between the first mixer and the baseband, this interference is likely to appear impulsive. The impulsive nature of this interference provides an opportunity to reduce its power by nonlinear filtering, improving the quality of the receiver channel. This article describes the mitigation, by a particular nonlinear filter, of the impulsive out-of-band (OOB) interference induced in High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) by WiFi transmissions, protocols which coexist in many 3G smartphones and mobile hotspots. Our measurements show a decrease in the maximum error-free bit rate of a 1.95 GHz HSDPA receiver caused by the impulsive interference from an OOB 2.4 GHz WiFi transmission, sometimes down to a small fraction of the rate observed in the absence of the interference. We apply a nonlinear SPART filter to recover a noticeable portion of the lost rate and maintain an error-free connection under much higher levels of the WiFi interference than a receiver that does not contain such a filter. These measurements support our wider investigation of OOB interference resulting from digital modulation, which appears impulsive in a receiver, and its mitigation by nonlinear filters.

Constrained Bayesian Active Learning of Interference Channels in Cognitive Radio Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsakmalis, Anestis; Chatzinotas, Symeon; Ottersten, Bjorn

2018-02-01

In this paper, a sequential probing method for interference constraint learning is proposed to allow a centralized Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) accessing the frequency band of a Primary User (PU) in an underlay cognitive scenario with a designed PU protection specification. The main idea is that the CRN probes the PU and subsequently eavesdrops the reverse PU link to acquire the binary ACK/NACK packet. This feedback indicates whether the probing-induced interference is harmful or not and can be used to learn the PU interference constraint. The cognitive part of this sequential probing process is the selection of the power levels of the Secondary Users (SUs) which aims to learn the PU interference constraint with a minimum number of probing attempts while setting a limit on the number of harmful probing-induced interference events or equivalently of NACK packet observations over a time window. This constrained design problem is studied within the Active Learning (AL) framework and an optimal solution is derived and implemented with a sophisticated, accurate and fast Bayesian Learning method, the Expectation Propagation (EP). The performance of this solution is also demonstrated through numerical simulations and compared with modified versions of AL techniques we developed in earlier work.

37 CFR 41.109 - Access to and copies of Office records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... accorded benefit under subpart E of this part. (c) Missing or incomplete copies. If a party does not... TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PRACTICE BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS AND INTERFERENCES...

New Sequences with Low Correlation and Large Family Size

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Fanxin

In direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) communication systems and direct-sequence ultra wideband (DS-UWB) radios, sequences with low correlation and large family size are important for reducing multiple access interference (MAI) and accepting more active users, respectively. In this paper, a new collection of families of sequences of length pn-1, which includes three constructions, is proposed. The maximum number of cyclically distinct families without GMW sequences in each construction is φ(pn-1)/n·φ(pm-1)/m, where p is a prime number, n is an even number, and n=2m, and these sequences can be binary or polyphase depending upon choice of the parameter p. In Construction I, there are pn distinct sequences within each family and the new sequences have at most d+2 nontrivial periodic correlation {-pm-1, -1, pm-1, 2pm-1,…,dpm-1}. In Construction II, the new sequences have large family size p2n and possibly take the nontrivial correlation values in {-pm-1, -1, pm-1, 2pm-1,…,(3d-4)pm-1}. In Construction III, the new sequences possess the largest family size p(d-1)n and have at most 2d correlation levels {-pm-1, -1,pm-1, 2pm-1,…,(2d-2)pm-1}. Three constructions are near-optimal with respect to the Welch bound because the values of their Welch-Ratios are moderate, WR_??_d, WR_??_3d-4 and WR_??_2d-2, respectively. Each family in Constructions I, II and III contains a GMW sequence. In addition, Helleseth sequences and Niho sequences are special cases in Constructions I and III, and their restriction conditions to the integers m and n, pm≠2 (mod 3) and n≅0 (mod 4), respectively, are removed in our sequences. Our sequences in Construction III include the sequences with Niho type decimation 3·2m-2, too. Finally, some open questions are pointed out and an example that illustrates the performance of these sequences is given.

Study of spread spectrum multiple access systems for satellite communications with overlay on current services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ha, Tri T.; Pratt, Timothy

1989-01-01

The feasibility of using spread spectrum techniques to provide a low-cost multiple access system for a very large number of low data terminals was investigated. Two applications of spread spectrum technology to very small aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite communication networks are presented. Two spread spectrum multiple access systems which use a form of noncoherent M-ary FSK (MFSK) as the primary modulation are described and the throughput analyzed. The analysis considers such factors as satellite power constraints and adjacent satellite interference. Also considered is the effect of on-board processing on the multiple access efficiency and the feasibility of overlaying low data rate spread spectrum signals on existing satellite traffic as a form of frequency reuse is investigated. The use of chirp is examined for spread spectrum communications. In a chirp communication system, each data bit is converted into one or more up or down sweeps of frequency, which spread the RF energy across a broad range of frequencies. Several different forms of chirp communication systems are considered, and a multiple-chirp coded system is proposed for overlay service. The mutual interference problem is examined in detail and a performance analysis undertaken for the case of a chirp data channel overlaid on a video channel.

Full-band TDM-OPDMA for OBI-reduced simultaneous multiple access in a single-wavelength optical access network.

PubMed

Jung, Sun-Young; Kim, Chang-Hun; Han, Sang-Kook

2018-05-14

Simultaneous multiple access (MA) within a single wavelength can increase the data rate and split ratio in a passive optical network while optical beat interference (OBI) becomes serious in the uplink. Previous techniques to reduce OBI were limited by their complexity and lack of extendibility; as well, bandwidth allocation among MA signals is needed for single photo diode (PD) detection. We proposed and experimentally demonstrated full-band optical pulse division multiplexing-based MA (OPDMA) in an optical access network, which can effectively reduce OBI with extendibility and fully utilize frequency resources of optical modulator without bandwidth allocation in a single-wavelength MA.

Optical Multiple Access Network (OMAN) for advanced processing satellite applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mendez, Antonio J.; Gagliardi, Robert M.; Park, Eugene; Ivancic, William D.; Sherman, Bradley D.

1991-01-01

An OMAN breadboard for exploring advanced processing satellite circuit switch applications is introduced. Network architecture, hardware trade offs, and multiple user interference issues are presented. The breadboard test set up and experimental results are discussed.

78 FR 29019 - Individual Requests for Access or Amendment of CID Reports of Investigation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-17

... Interference With Constitutionally Protected Property Rights) The Department of the Army has determined that Executive Order 12630 does not apply because the rule change does not impair private property rights. G...

Design of the optical system for FSO access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Xiaojing; Yuan, Xiuhua; Huang, Dexiu

2002-08-01

Free space optics (FSO) is attractive for the 'last mile' communication in recent years for many combining advantages of fiber communication and other wireless technologies. FSO can provide high data rate with low power consumption, high immunity to interference, convenient deployment and flexibility. Optical system is an important section in the FSO transceiver terminal. In this paper the design of optical system based on a single Galileo telescope for both transmit and receive is proposed, and a polarization beam splitter is adopted to apart the receiving light from transmitting light. The configuration can avoid interference from the retroreflecting light of the ocular effectively. Some factors that affect the performance of the optical system are analyzed, such as the geometrical spreading loss and the loss increment according to pointing error and telescope maladjustment. Power budget shows that the system can satisfy the need of access for 1km in the light fog, and 2km in the thin fog.

Suppression of optical beat interference-noise in orthogonal frequency division multiple access-passive optical network link using self-homodyne balanced detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Won, Yong-Yuk; Jung, Sang-Min; Han, Sang-Kook

2014-08-01

A new technique, which reduces optical beat interference (OBI) noise in orthogonal frequency division multiple access-passive optical network (OFDMA-PON) links, is proposed. A self-homodyne balanced detection, which uses a single laser for the optical line terminal (OLT) as well as for the optical network unit (ONU), reduces OBI noise and also improves the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the discrete multi-tone (DMT) signal. The proposed scheme is verified by transmitting quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK)-modulated DMT signal over a 20-km single mode fiber. The optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR), that is required for BER of 10-5, is reduced by 2 dB in the balanced detection compared with a single channel due to the cancellation of OBI noise in conjunction with the local laser.

Simulated Assessment of Interference Effects in Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) QPSK Receiver

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

bit error rate BPSK binary phase shift keying CDMA code division multiple access CSI comb spectrum interference CW continuous wave DPSK differential... CDMA ) and GPS systems which is a Gold code. This code is generated by a modulo-2 operation between two different preferred m-sequences. The preferred m...10 SNR Sim (dB) S N R O ut ( dB ) SNR RF SNR DS Figure 3.26: Comparison of input S NRS im and S NROut of the band-pass RF filter (S NRRF) and

High-efficiency perovskite solar cells prepared by using a sandwich structure MAI-PbI2-MAI precursor film.

PubMed

Zhang, Xuhui; Ye, Jiajiu; Zhu, Liangzheng; Zheng, Haiying; Liu, Guozhen; Liu, Xuepeng; Duan, Bin; Pan, Xu; Dai, Songyuan

2017-04-06

Two-step deposition has been widely used in the perovskite layer preparation for perovskite solar cells due to its attractive morphology controllability. However, the limited diffusivity of CH 3 NH 3 I (MAI) might cause some PbI 2 to remain in the perovskite film. The residual PbI 2 in the perovskite film would lead to inferior performance of devices, such as, low power conversion efficiency (PCE), poor reproducibility and weak air stability. In this work, we developed a sandwich structure MAI-PbI 2 -MAI precursor film to prepare a PbI 2 -free CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite film. In comparison to the two-step approach, the MAI-PbI 2 -MAI precursor film with a typical sandwich structure formed a uniform and pinhole-free perovskite film without any PbI 2 residue, which could significantly improve the performance of the devices. Moreover, the bottom MAI layer of the MAI-PbI 2 -MAI precursor film could improve the interfacial contact of the porous TiO 2 layer, leading to the promotion of the charge transfer and reduction of the recombination rate. Therefore, the devices fabricated from the sandwich structure MAI-PbI 2 -MAI precursor films showed dramatic improvements of open-circuit voltage (V oc ), short-circuit current density (J sc ), fill factor (FF) and PCE. As a result, a promising PCE of 17.8% with good long-term air stability was achieved for the MAI-PbI 2 -MAI precursor film based PSC, which is better than that prepared by a two-step approach.

Patterns of pain and interference in patients with painful bone metastases: a brief pain inventory validation study.

PubMed

Wu, Jackson S Y; Beaton, Dorcas; Smith, Peter M; Hagen, Neil A

2010-02-01

Bone metastases are prevalent, painful, and carry a poorer prognosis for pain control compared with other cancer pain syndromes. Standard tools to measure pain have not been validated in this patient population, and particular subgroups with more challenging symptoms have yet to be identified and studied. The objectives of this study were 1) to validate the psychometric properties of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and its Pain and Interference subscales in patients with clinically significant metastatic bone pain requiring palliative radiotherapy and 2) to examine differences in BPI subscales among predefined subgroups of bone metastases patients. A total of 258 patients evaluated and treated through a rapid access radiation therapy clinic between July 2002, and November 2006, were included in the analysis. High internal consistency of the BPI subscales of Pain, Activity interference, and Affect interference was demonstrated by Cronbach's alpha between 0.81 and 0.89. Removing sleep interference improved model fit in confirmatory factor analysis. The BPI revealed an alarming pattern in patients with lower body metastases, who reported substantial interference of activity even though pain levels were mild or moderate. Such patients may require prompt clinical attention to better meet their needs. Finally, the allocation of interference from sleep within the BPI framework, in our population of pain patients, requires further study. Copyright 2010 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Machine-aided indexing for NASA STI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, John

1987-01-01

One of the major components of the NASA/STI processing system is machine-aided indexing (MAI). MAI is a computer process that generates a set of indexing terms selected from NASA's thesaurus, is used for indexing technical reports, is based on text, and is reviewed by indexers. This paper summarizes the MAI objectives and discusses the NASA Lexical Dictionary, subject switching, and phrase matching or natural languages. The benefits of using MAI are mentioned, and MAI production improvement and the future of MAI are briefly addressed.

The Stroop effect in English-Japanese bilinguals: the effect of phonological similarity.

PubMed

Sumiya, Hiromi; Healy, Alice F

2008-01-01

English-Japanese bilinguals performed a Stroop color-word interference task with both English and Japanese stimuli and responded in both English and Japanese. The Japanese stimuli were either the traditional color terms (TCTs) written in Hiragana or loanwords (LWs) from English written in Katakana. Both within-language and between-language interference were found for all combinations of stimuli and responses. The between-language interference was larger for Katakana LWs (phonologically similar to English) than for Hiragana TCTs, especially with Japanese responses. The magnitude of this phonological effect increased with self-rated reading fluency in Japanese. Overall responding was slower and the Stroop effect larger with English than with Japanese stimuli. These results suggest that unintentional lexical access elicits automatic phonological processing even with intermediate-level reading proficiency.

Using a Recently Developed Self-Report Instrument to Assess Social Anxiety Life Interference in Individuals with Co-occurring Depression: A Known-Groups Analysis

PubMed Central

Garcia, Antonio F.; Acosta, Melina; Osman, Augustine

2017-01-01

Social anxiety is a common condition that often entails substantial adverse impacts on social, educational, and occupational functioning. Moreover, social anxiety often co-occurs with depression, making it difficult to distinguish the unique effects of each condition, which can pose a challenge to effective treatment planning and intervention. Until recently, clinicians have not had access to a validated psychometric instrument that measures the degree of life interference stemming from social anxiety, and that distinguishes life interference associated with social anxiety from that associated with depression. Fortunately, recent work has yielded a novel instrument that combines a measure of social anxiety life interference with a measure of depression life interference, providing a measure that can identify functional disruptions uniquely associated with social anxiety, and that may occur in the presence of comorbid depression. The present article reviews two studies describing the development and psychometric properties of the Social Anxiety and Depression Life Interference Inventory (SADLI-24) and adds to the existing literature by demonstrating the discriminative accuracy of the inventory using a “known-groups” methodology. The article concludes by providing recommendations for the practical application of the SADLI-24 and suggesting future directions for research with the instrument. PMID:28782057

Getting more from visual working memory: Retro-cues enhance retrieval and protect from visual interference.

PubMed

Souza, Alessandra S; Rerko, Laura; Oberauer, Klaus

2016-06-01

Visual working memory (VWM) has a limited capacity. This limitation can be mitigated by the use of focused attention: if attention is drawn to the relevant working memory content before test, performance improves (the so-called retro-cue benefit). This study tests 2 explanations of the retro-cue benefit: (a) Focused attention protects memory representations from interference by visual input at test, and (b) focusing attention enhances retrieval. Across 6 experiments using color recognition and color reproduction tasks, we varied the amount of color interference at test, and the delay between a retrieval cue (i.e., the retro-cue) and the memory test. Retro-cue benefits were larger when the memory test introduced interfering visual stimuli, showing that the retro-cue effect is in part because of protection from visual interference. However, when visual interference was held constant, retro-cue benefits were still obtained whenever the retro-cue enabled retrieval of an object from VWM but delayed response selection. Our results show that accessible information in VWM might be lost in the processes of testing memory because of visual interference and incomplete retrieval. This is not an inevitable state of affairs, though: Focused attention can be used to get the most out of VWM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Commissurotomy for improving access to the oral cavity of the wombat.

PubMed

Wilson, G J; Gillett, A

2010-07-01

Wombats are a grazing marsupial with a diet rich in silicates, which is highly abrasive and results in a higher rate of tooth attrition than in other grazing marsupials such as kangaroos. Any interference in the natural wear process, such as malocclusion or loss of teeth, causes overgrowth of teeth. The small mouth opening of the wombat makes access to the caudal mouth difficult and overgrowth of cheek teeth can be difficult to treat effectively. This case report describes a technique that greatly improves access to allow dental treatment of all overgrown teeth with minimal complications.

Adaptive beamforming in a CDMA mobile satellite communications system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munoz-Garcia, Samuel G.

1993-01-01

Code-Division Multiple-Access (CDMA) stands out as a strong contender for the choice of multiple access scheme in these future mobile communication systems. This is due to a variety of reasons such as the excellent performance in multipath environments, high scope for frequency reuse and graceful degradation near saturation. However, the capacity of CDMA is limited by the self-interference between the transmissions of the different users in the network. Moreover, the disparity between the received power levels gives rise to the near-far problem, this is, weak signals are severely degraded by the transmissions from other users. In this paper, the use of time-reference adaptive digital beamforming on board the satellite is proposed as a means to overcome the problems associated with CDMA. This technique enables a high number of independently steered beams to be generated from a single phased array antenna, which automatically track the desired user signal and null the unwanted interference sources. Since CDMA is interference limited, the interference protection provided by the antenna converts directly and linearly into an increase in capacity. Furthermore, the proposed concept allows the near-far effect to be mitigated without requiring a tight coordination of the users in terms of power control. A payload architecture will be presented that illustrates the practical implementation of this concept. This digital payload architecture shows that with the advent of high performance CMOS digital processing, the on-board implementation of complex DSP techniques -in particular digital beamforming- has become possible, being most attractive for Mobile Satellite Communications.

Safety aspects for public access defibrillation using automated external defibrillators near high-voltage power lines.

PubMed

Schlimp, C J; Breiteneder, M; Lederer, W

2004-05-01

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) must combine easy operability and high-quality diagnosis even under unfavorable conditions. This study determined the influence of electromagnetic interference caused by high-voltage power lines with 16.7-Hz alternating current on the quality of AEDs' rhythm analysis. Two AEDs frequently used in Austria were tested near high-voltage power lines (15 kV or 110 kV, alternating current with 16.7 Hz). The defibrillation electrodes were attached either to a proband with true sinus rhythm or to a resuscitation dummy with generated sinus rhythm, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia or asystole. Electromagnetic interference was much more prominent in a human's than in a dummy's electrocardiogram and depended on the position of the electrodes and cables in relation to the power line. Near high-voltage power lines the AEDs showed a significant operational fault. One AED interpreted the interference as a motion artifact, even when underlying rhythms were clearly detectable. The other AED interpreted 16.7-Hz oscillation as ventricular fibrillation with consequent shock advice when no underlying rhythm was detected. The tested AEDs neither filter nor recognize a technical interference of 16.7 Hz caused by 15-kV power lines above railway tracks or 110-kV overland power lines, as run by railway companies in Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. These failures in AEDs' algorithms for rhythm analysis may cause substantial harm to patients undergoing public access defibrillation. The proper function of AEDs needs to be reconsidered to guarantee patients' safety near high-voltage power lines.

Adaptive beamforming in a CDMA mobile satellite communications system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munoz-Garcia, Samuel G.

Code-Division Multiple-Access (CDMA) stands out as a strong contender for the choice of multiple access scheme in these future mobile communication systems. This is due to a variety of reasons such as the excellent performance in multipath environments, high scope for frequency reuse and graceful degradation near saturation. However, the capacity of CDMA is limited by the self-interference between the transmissions of the different users in the network. Moreover, the disparity between the received power levels gives rise to the near-far problem, this is, weak signals are severely degraded by the transmissions from other users. In this paper, the use of time-reference adaptive digital beamforming on board the satellite is proposed as a means to overcome the problems associated with CDMA. This technique enables a high number of independently steered beams to be generated from a single phased array antenna, which automatically track the desired user signal and null the unwanted interference sources. Since CDMA is interference limited, the interference protection provided by the antenna converts directly and linearly into an increase in capacity. Furthermore, the proposed concept allows the near-far effect to be mitigated without requiring a tight coordination of the users in terms of power control. A payload architecture will be presented that illustrates the practical implementation of this concept. This digital payload architecture shows that with the advent of high performance CMOS digital processing, the on-board implementation of complex DSP techniques -in particular digital beamforming- has become possible, being most attractive for Mobile Satellite Communications.

A Novel Multiple-Access Correlation-Delay-Shift-Keying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, J. Y.; Jiang, G. P.; Yang, H.

In Correlation-Delay-Shift-Keying (CDSK), the reference signal and the information-bearing signal are added together during a certain time delay. Because the reference signal is not strictly orthogonal to the information-bearing signal, the cross-correlation between the adjacent chaotic signal (Intra-signal Interference, ISI) will be introduced into the demodulation at the receiver. Therefore, the Bit-Error Ratio (BER) of CDSK is higher than that of Differential-Chaos-Shift-Keying (DCSK). To avoid the ISI component and enhance the BER performance of CDSK in multiuser scenario, Multiple-Access CDSK with No Intra-signal Interference (MA-CDSK-NII) is proposed. By constructing the repeated chaotic generator and applying the Walsh code sequence to modulate the reference signal, in MA-CDSK-NII, the ISI component will be eliminated during the demodulation. Gaussian approximation method is adopted here to obtain the exact performance analysis of MA-CDSK-NII over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel and Rayleigh multipath fading channels. Results show that, due to no ISI component and lower transmitting power, the BER performance of MA-CDSK-NII can be better than that of multiple-access CDSK and Code-Shifted Differential-Chaos-Shift-Keying (CS-DCSK).

Potential GPRS 900/180-MHz and WCDMA 1900-MHz interference to medical devices.

PubMed

Iskra, Steve; Thomas, Barry W; McKenzie, Ray; Rowley, Jack

2007-10-01

This study compared the potential for interference to medical devices from radio frequency (RF) fields radiated by GSM 900/1800-MHz, general packet radio service (GPRS) 900/1800-MHz, and wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) 1900-MHz handsets. The study used a balanced half-wave dipole antenna, which was energized with a signal at the standard power level for each technology, and then brought towards the medical device while noting the distance at which interference became apparent. Additional testing was performed with signals that comply with the requirements of the international immunity standard to RF fields, IEC 61000-4-3. The testing provides a sense of the overall interference impact that GPRS and WCDMA (frequency division duplex) may have, relative to current mobile technologies, and to the internationally recognized standard for radiated RF immunity. Ten medical devices were tested: two pulse oximeters, a blood pressure monitor, a patient monitor, a humidifier, three models of cardiac defibrillator, and two models of infusion pump. Our conclusion from this and a related study on consumer devices is that WCDMA handsets are unlikely to be a significant interference threat to medical electronics at typical separation distances.

Dialectics of a medical provision policy in priority areas in Brazil.

PubMed

Weber, César Augusto Trinta

2017-03-01

The people living in vulnerable areas that are difficult to access in Brazil represent a portion of the population that has proven very sensitive to lack of medical and health services. The government, seeking to solve the situation urgently, implemented the More Doctors Program [Programa Mais Médicos, in the Portuguese original] in 2013. To discuss the More Doctors Program, with the purpose of contributing to the debate on the provision of medical policies in Brazil. Study based on the review of official documents: Programa Mais Médicos - dois anos: mais saúde para os brasileiros, 2015 [More Doctors Program - two years: more health for Brazilians, 2015]; Operational Audit Report, TC Nº 005391/2014-8, the Court of Auditors of Brazil; and Medical Demography in Brazil 2015. The import of exchange physicians without diploma revalidation has cast a shadow on the technical quality of services offered to the population. In terms of infrastructure, the reduction of resources paralyzed works and made the care network maintenance projects impossible. The creation of new medical schools has created uncertainty about the possibility of quality education being offered, with minimum and sufficient structure including laboratories, clinics and teaching hospitals indispensable to medical training. The regional inequalities of concentration and dispersion of physicians, showed by studies on medical demography in Brazil, stem from several factors, including the lack of a career path and working conditions. There is no point in having physicians if they do not have safe and ethical conditions to establish the diagnosis and a treatment plan, as well as to monitor the rehabilitation of the patient.

Assessing matrix, interferences and comparability between the Abbott Diagnostics and the Beckman Coulter high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I assays.

PubMed

Kavsak, Peter A; Malinowski, Paul; Roy, Chantele; Clark, Lorna; Lamers, Shana

2018-03-13

Analytical evaluation of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) assays, with particular attention to imprecision, interferences and matrix effects, at normal cTn concentrations, is of utmost importance as many different clinical algorithms use concentration cutoffs <10 ng/L for decision-making. The objective for the present analytical study was to compare the new Beckman Coulter hs-cTnI assay (Access hsTnI) to Abbott's hs-cTnI assay in different matrices and for different interferences, with a focus on concentrations <10 ng/L. The limit of blank (LoB) and the limit of detection (LoD) were determined in different matrices for the Beckman hs-cTnI assay. Passing-Bablok regression and difference plots were determined for 200 matched lithium heparin and EDTA plasma samples for the Beckman assay and 200 lithium heparin samples for the Abbott assay. Both EDTA and heparin plasma samples were also evaluated for stability under refrigerated conditions, for endogenous alkaline phosphatase interference and for hemolysis and icterus. The Beckman hs-cTnI assay LoB was 0.5 ng/L with the following range of LoDs=0.8-1.2 ng/L, with EDTA plasma yielding lower concentrations as compared to lithium heparin plasma (mean difference=-14.9%; 95% CI=-16.9 to 12.9). Below 10 ng/L, lithium heparin cTnI results from the Beckman assay were on average 1.1 ng/L (95% CI=0.7 to 1.5) higher than the Abbott results, with no difference between the methods when using EDTA plasma (mean difference =-0.1 ng/L; 95% CI=-0.3 to 0.2). Low cTnI concentrations were less effected by interferences in EDTA plasma. The Access hsTnI method can reliably detect normal cTnI concentrations with both lithium heparin and EDTA plasma being suitable matrices.

45 CFR 155.120 - Non-interference with Federal law and non-discrimination standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...-discrimination standards. 155.120 Section 155.120 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS EXCHANGE ESTABLISHMENT STANDARDS AND OTHER RELATED STANDARDS UNDER..., disability, age, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. ...

45 CFR 155.120 - Non-interference with Federal law and non-discrimination standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...-discrimination standards. 155.120 Section 155.120 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS EXCHANGE ESTABLISHMENT STANDARDS AND OTHER RELATED STANDARDS UNDER..., disability, age, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. ...

Breaking Free with Wireless Networks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleischman, John

2002-01-01

Discusses wireless local area networks (LANs) which typically consist of laptop computers that connect to fixed access points via infrared or radio signals. Topics include wide area networks; personal area networks; problems, including limitations of available bandwidth, interference, and security concerns; use in education; interoperability;…

22 CFR 171.11 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Privacy Act, E.O. 12958, and the Ethics in Government Act; (e) Record means all information under the... compilation would significantly interfere with the operation of the Department's automated information systems... Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACCESS TO INFORMATION AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS TO THE PUBLIC...

HF Interference, Procedures and Tools (Interferences HF, procedures et outils)

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

Systems 3-2 3.1.2 Medium (MV) and Low Voltage (LV) Systems 3-4 3.1.3 Access Systems 3-5 3.1.4 In-House Systems 3-7 3.1.5 Technical Characteristics...Grounded Monopole Antenna Figure 2.3-3 Low Natural Noise Measured in Germany 2-15 Figure 2.3-4 Minimum Natural Noise Measured in Germany 1985 and in...arrows) Figure 3.1.1-2 Basic BPL System 3-3 Figure 3.1.2-1 Power Line TN-C-S Network 3-5 Figure 3.1.3-1 Usual Low Voltage Electricity Distribution

Minimum Interference Channel Assignment Algorithm for Multicast in a Wireless Mesh Network.

PubMed

Choi, Sangil; Park, Jong Hyuk

2016-12-02

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have been considered as one of the key technologies for the configuration of wireless machines since they emerged. In a WMN, wireless routers provide multi-hop wireless connectivity between hosts in the network and also allow them to access the Internet via gateway devices. Wireless routers are typically equipped with multiple radios operating on different channels to increase network throughput. Multicast is a form of communication that delivers data from a source to a set of destinations simultaneously. It is used in a number of applications, such as distributed games, distance education, and video conferencing. In this study, we address a channel assignment problem for multicast in multi-radio multi-channel WMNs. In a multi-radio multi-channel WMN, two nearby nodes will interfere with each other and cause a throughput decrease when they transmit on the same channel. Thus, an important goal for multicast channel assignment is to reduce the interference among networked devices. We have developed a minimum interference channel assignment (MICA) algorithm for multicast that accurately models the interference relationship between pairs of multicast tree nodes using the concept of the interference factor and assigns channels to tree nodes to minimize interference within the multicast tree. Simulation results show that MICA achieves higher throughput and lower end-to-end packet delay compared with an existing channel assignment algorithm named multi-channel multicast (MCM). In addition, MICA achieves much lower throughput variation among the destination nodes than MCM.

Minimum Interference Channel Assignment Algorithm for Multicast in a Wireless Mesh Network

PubMed Central

Choi, Sangil; Park, Jong Hyuk

2016-01-01

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have been considered as one of the key technologies for the configuration of wireless machines since they emerged. In a WMN, wireless routers provide multi-hop wireless connectivity between hosts in the network and also allow them to access the Internet via gateway devices. Wireless routers are typically equipped with multiple radios operating on different channels to increase network throughput. Multicast is a form of communication that delivers data from a source to a set of destinations simultaneously. It is used in a number of applications, such as distributed games, distance education, and video conferencing. In this study, we address a channel assignment problem for multicast in multi-radio multi-channel WMNs. In a multi-radio multi-channel WMN, two nearby nodes will interfere with each other and cause a throughput decrease when they transmit on the same channel. Thus, an important goal for multicast channel assignment is to reduce the interference among networked devices. We have developed a minimum interference channel assignment (MICA) algorithm for multicast that accurately models the interference relationship between pairs of multicast tree nodes using the concept of the interference factor and assigns channels to tree nodes to minimize interference within the multicast tree. Simulation results show that MICA achieves higher throughput and lower end-to-end packet delay compared with an existing channel assignment algorithm named multi-channel multicast (MCM). In addition, MICA achieves much lower throughput variation among the destination nodes than MCM. PMID:27918438

Coping with Radio Frequency Interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, B. M.

2009-01-01

The radio spectrum is a finite resource, on which humanity makes many demands. And pressure on it is ever increasing with the development of new technology and ideas for radio services. After all, we all benefit from wifi and cell phones. Radio astronomers have a small percentage of the spectrum allocated to them at octave intervals in the metre-centimetre bands, and at important frequencies, such as that of the 21cm line of HI. Signals from other services, as well as from our own poorly-engineered equipment, sometimes contaminate our bands: these signals constitute RFI. These may totally obliterate the astronomical signal, or, in the case of CLOUDSAT, may be capable of completely destroying a receiver, which introduces us to the new possibility of 'destructive interference'. A geo-stationary satellite can block access to a piece of sky from one site. Good equipment design eliminates self-inflicted interference, while physical separation often provides adequate practical mitigation at many frequencies. However, new observatories end up being located in the West Australian desert or Antarctica. In future they may be on the back side of the Moon. But there is no Earth-bound protection via physical separation against satellite signals. Some mitigation can be achieved by frequent data dumps and the excision of RFI, or by real-time detection and blanking of the receiver, or by more sophisticated algoriths. Astronomers of necessity aim to achieve mitigation via coordination, at the local level, and by participating in spectrum management at the national and international levels. This involves them spending a lot of time in Geneva at the International Telegraphic Union protecting their access to spectrum, and access to clean spectrum from the L3 point and the far side of the Moon.

Media Access Time-Rearrangement of Wireless LAN for a Multi-Radio Collocated Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Sang-Heon; Kim, Chul; Park, Sang Kyu

With the advent of new Radio Access Technologies (RATs), it is inevitable that several RATs will co-exist, especially in the license-exempt band. In this letter, we present an in-depth adaptation of the proactive time-rearrangement (PATRA) scheme for IEEE 802.11 WLAN. The PATRA is a time division approach for reducing interference from a multi-radio device. Because IEEE 802.11 is based on carrier sensing and contention mechanism, it is the most suitable candidate to adapt the PATRA.

iNET Preamble Detector Performance in the Presence of Multipath Interference

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-24

detection performance for a reduced complexity. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Preamble-Assisted Equalization for Aeronautical Telemtry ( PAQ ), Spectrum...Instrumentation (PEO STRI) under contract W900KK-13-C-0026 ( PAQ ). REFERENCES [1] integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) Radio Access Network Standards

21 CFR 558.355 - Monensin.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... articles containing monensin intended for use in chickens, turkeys, and quail shall bear the following statements: (i) Do not allow horses, other equines, mature turkeys, or guinea fowl access to feed containing...) Some strains of turkey coccidia may be monensin tolerant or resistant. Monensin may interfere with...

Engineering two-photon high-dimensional states through quantum interference

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yingwen; Roux, Filippus S.; Konrad, Thomas; Agnew, Megan; Leach, Jonathan; Forbes, Andrew

2016-01-01

Many protocols in quantum science, for example, linear optical quantum computing, require access to large-scale entangled quantum states. Such systems can be realized through many-particle qubits, but this approach often suffers from scalability problems. An alternative strategy is to consider a lesser number of particles that exist in high-dimensional states. The spatial modes of light are one such candidate that provides access to high-dimensional quantum states, and thus they increase the storage and processing potential of quantum information systems. We demonstrate the controlled engineering of two-photon high-dimensional states entangled in their orbital angular momentum through Hong-Ou-Mandel interference. We prepare a large range of high-dimensional entangled states and implement precise quantum state filtering. We characterize the full quantum state before and after the filter, and are thus able to determine that only the antisymmetric component of the initial state remains. This work paves the way for high-dimensional processing and communication of multiphoton quantum states, for example, in teleportation beyond qubits. PMID:26933685

RNAimmuno: A database of the nonspecific immunological effects of RNA interference and microRNA reagents

PubMed Central

Olejniczak, Marta; Galka-Marciniak, Paulina; Polak, Katarzyna; Fligier, Andrzej; Krzyzosiak, Wlodzimierz J.

2012-01-01

The RNAimmuno database was created to provide easy access to information regarding the nonspecific effects generated in cells by RNA interference triggers and microRNA regulators. Various RNAi and microRNA reagents, which differ in length and structure, often cause non-sequence-specific immune responses, in addition to triggering the intended sequence-specific effects. The activation of the cellular sensors of foreign RNA or DNA may lead to the induction of type I interferon and proinflammatory cytokine release. Subsequent changes in the cellular transcriptome and proteome may result in adverse effects, including cell death during therapeutic treatments or the misinterpretation of experimental results in research applications. The manually curated RNAimmuno database gathers the majority of the published data regarding the immunological side effects that are caused in investigated cell lines, tissues, and model organisms by different reagents. The database is accessible at http://rnaimmuno.ibch.poznan.pl and may be helpful in the further application and development of RNAi- and microRNA-based technologies. PMID:22411954

RNAimmuno: a database of the nonspecific immunological effects of RNA interference and microRNA reagents.

PubMed

Olejniczak, Marta; Galka-Marciniak, Paulina; Polak, Katarzyna; Fligier, Andrzej; Krzyzosiak, Wlodzimierz J

2012-05-01

The RNAimmuno database was created to provide easy access to information regarding the nonspecific effects generated in cells by RNA interference triggers and microRNA regulators. Various RNAi and microRNA reagents, which differ in length and structure, often cause non-sequence-specific immune responses, in addition to triggering the intended sequence-specific effects. The activation of the cellular sensors of foreign RNA or DNA may lead to the induction of type I interferon and proinflammatory cytokine release. Subsequent changes in the cellular transcriptome and proteome may result in adverse effects, including cell death during therapeutic treatments or the misinterpretation of experimental results in research applications. The manually curated RNAimmuno database gathers the majority of the published data regarding the immunological side effects that are caused in investigated cell lines, tissues, and model organisms by different reagents. The database is accessible at http://rnaimmuno.ibch.poznan.pl and may be helpful in the further application and development of RNAi- and microRNA-based technologies.

Dynamic spectrum management: an impact on EW systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gajewski, P.; Łopatka, J.; Suchanski, M.

2017-04-01

Rapid evolution of wireless systems caused an enormous growth of data streams transmitted through the networks and, as a consequence, an accompanying demand concerning spectrum resources (SR). An avoidance of advisable disturbances is one of the main demands in military communications. To solve the interference problems, dynamic spectrum management (DSM) techniques can be used. Two main techniques are possible: centralized Coordinated Dynamic Spectrum Access (CDSA) and distributed Opportunistic Spectrum Access (OSA). CDSA enables the wireless networks planning automation, and systems dynamic reaction to random changes of Radio Environment (RE). For OSA, cognitive radio (CR) is the most promising technology that enables avoidance of interference with the other spectrum users due to CR's transmission parameters adaptation to the current radio situation, according to predefined Radio Policies rules. If DSM techniques are used, the inherent changes in EW systems are also needed. On one hand, new techniques of jamming should be elaborated, on the other hand, the rules and protocols of cooperation between communication network and EW systems should be developed.

Memory Operations That Support Language Comprehension: Evidence From Verb-Phrase Ellipsis

PubMed Central

Martin, Andrea E.; McElree, Brian

2010-01-01

Comprehension of verb-phrase ellipsis (VPE) requires reevaluation of recently processed constituents, which often necessitates retrieval of information about the elided constituent from memory. A. E. Martin and B. McElree (2008) argued that representations formed during comprehension are content addressable and that VPE antecedents are retrieved from memory via a cue-dependent direct-access pointer rather than via a search process. This hypothesis was further tested by manipulating the location of interfering material—either before the onset of the antecedent (proactive interference; PI) or intervening between antecedent and ellipsis site (retroactive interference; RI). The speed–accuracy tradeoff procedure was used to measure the time course of VPE processing. The location of the interfering material affected VPE comprehension accuracy: RI conditions engendered lower accuracy than PI conditions. Crucially, location did not affect the speed of processing VPE, which is inconsistent with both forward and backward search mechanisms. The observed time-course profiles are consistent with the hypothesis that VPE antecedents are retrieved via a cue-dependent direct-access operation. PMID:19686017

Task-irrelevant distractors in the delay period interfere selectively with visual short-term memory for spatial locations.

PubMed

Marini, Francesco; Scott, Jerry; Aron, Adam R; Ester, Edward F

2017-07-01

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) enables the representation of information in a readily accessible state. VSTM is typically conceptualized as a form of "active" storage that is resistant to interference or disruption, yet several recent studies have shown that under some circumstances task-irrelevant distractors may indeed disrupt performance. Here, we investigated how task-irrelevant visual distractors affected VSTM by asking whether distractors induce a general loss of remembered information or selectively interfere with memory representations. In a VSTM task, participants recalled the spatial location of a target visual stimulus after a delay in which distractors were presented on 75% of trials. Notably, the distractor's eccentricity always matched the eccentricity of the target, while in the critical conditions the distractor's angular position was shifted either clockwise or counterclockwise relative to the target. We then computed estimates of recall error for both eccentricity and polar angle. A general interference model would predict an effect of distractors on both polar angle and eccentricity errors, while a selective interference model would predict effects of distractors on angle but not on eccentricity errors. Results showed that for stimulus angle there was an increase in the magnitude and variability of recall errors. However, distractors had no effect on estimates of stimulus eccentricity. Our results suggest that distractors selectively interfere with VSTM for spatial locations.

Interference control in working memory: comparing groups of children with atypical development.

PubMed

Palladino, Paola; Ferrari, Marcella

2013-01-01

The study aimed to test whether working memory deficits in children at risk of Learning Disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be attributed to deficits in interference control, thereby implicating prefrontal systems. Two groups of children known for showing poor working memory (i.e., children with poor comprehension and children with ADHD) were compared to a group of children with specific reading decoding problems (i.e., having severe problems in phonological rather than working memory) and to a control group. All children were tested with a verbal working memory task. Interference control of irrelevant items was examined by a lexical decision task presented immediately after the final recall in about half the trials, selected at random. The interference control measure was therefore directly related to working memory performance. Results confirmed deficient working memory performance in poor comprehenders and children at risk of ADHD + LD. More interestingly, this working memory deficit was associated with greater activation of irrelevant information than in the control group. Poor decoders showed more efficient interference control, in contrast to poor comprehenders and ADHD + LD children. These results indicated that interfering items were still highly accessible to working memory in children who fail the working memory task. In turn, these findings strengthen and clarify the role of interference control, one of the most critical prefrontal functions, in working memory.

Persistence of pollination mutualisms in the presence of ants.

PubMed

Wang, Yuanshi; Wang, Shikun

2015-01-01

This paper considers plant-pollinator-ant systems in which the plant-pollinator interaction is mutualistic but ants have both positive and negative effects on plants. The ants also interfere with pollinators by preventing them from accessing plants. While a Beddington-DeAngelis (BD) formula can describe the plant-pollinator interaction, the formula is extended in this paper to characterize the pollination mutualism under the ant interference. Then, a plant-pollinator-ant system with the extended BD functional response is discussed, and global dynamics of the model demonstrate the mechanisms by which pollination mutualism can persist in the presence of ants. When the ant interference is strong, it can result in extinction of pollinators. Moreover, if the ants depend on pollination mutualism for survival, the strong interference could drive pollinators into extinction, which consequently lead to extinction of the ants themselves. When the ant interference is weak, a cooperation between plant-ant and plant-pollinator mutualisms could occur, which promotes survival of both ants and pollinators, especially in the case that ants (respectively, pollinators) cannot survive in the absence of pollinators (respectively, ants). Even when the level of ant interference remains invariant, varying ants' negative effect on plants can result in survival/extinction of both ants and pollinators. Therefore, our results provide an explanation for the persistence of pollination mutualism when there exist ants.

Evaluation of RF Anechoic Chamber Fire Protection Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-01

Reflection - I Area Primary Reflection Area FIGURE 5. Re fle ct ions in Anechoic Chiamber. I Primary Reflection rce Areas ’ oil Receiver - FIGUE 6.Three...Uaa~a - a- oa -0 m ...- .m al -C . -.. -a a-id .a mCL aC r. 00 v~.a. m a. a’ c ~ a a Luv c C v ’aa C ൉.-a 0 IL a 0 ~ .. -0 - 00- Ckaa I m.-aI 1 :1...CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE (IWhen Data Entered) REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE READ INSTRUCTIONSBEFORE COMPLETING FORM I . REPORT NUMBER 2. GOVT ACCESSION NO, 3

A fast, robust algorithm for power line interference cancellation in neural recording.

PubMed

Keshtkaran, Mohammad Reza; Yang, Zhi

2014-04-01

Power line interference may severely corrupt neural recordings at 50/60 Hz and harmonic frequencies. The interference is usually non-stationary and can vary in frequency, amplitude and phase. To retrieve the gamma-band oscillations at the contaminated frequencies, it is desired to remove the interference without compromising the actual neural signals at the interference frequency bands. In this paper, we present a robust and computationally efficient algorithm for removing power line interference from neural recordings. The algorithm includes four steps. First, an adaptive notch filter is used to estimate the fundamental frequency of the interference. Subsequently, based on the estimated frequency, harmonics are generated by using discrete-time oscillators, and then the amplitude and phase of each harmonic are estimated by using a modified recursive least squares algorithm. Finally, the estimated interference is subtracted from the recorded data. The algorithm does not require any reference signal, and can track the frequency, phase and amplitude of each harmonic. When benchmarked with other popular approaches, our algorithm performs better in terms of noise immunity, convergence speed and output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). While minimally affecting the signal bands of interest, the algorithm consistently yields fast convergence (<100 ms) and substantial interference rejection (output SNR >30 dB) in different conditions of interference strengths (input SNR from -30 to 30 dB), power line frequencies (45-65 Hz) and phase and amplitude drifts. In addition, the algorithm features a straightforward parameter adjustment since the parameters are independent of the input SNR, input signal power and the sampling rate. A hardware prototype was fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS process and tested. Software implementation of the algorithm has been made available for open access at https://github.com/mrezak/removePLI. The proposed algorithm features a highly robust operation, fast adaptation to interference variations, significant SNR improvement, low computational complexity and memory requirement and straightforward parameter adjustment. These features render the algorithm suitable for wearable and implantable sensor applications, where reliable and real-time cancellation of the interference is desired.

A fast, robust algorithm for power line interference cancellation in neural recording

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keshtkaran, Mohammad Reza; Yang, Zhi

2014-04-01

Objective. Power line interference may severely corrupt neural recordings at 50/60 Hz and harmonic frequencies. The interference is usually non-stationary and can vary in frequency, amplitude and phase. To retrieve the gamma-band oscillations at the contaminated frequencies, it is desired to remove the interference without compromising the actual neural signals at the interference frequency bands. In this paper, we present a robust and computationally efficient algorithm for removing power line interference from neural recordings. Approach. The algorithm includes four steps. First, an adaptive notch filter is used to estimate the fundamental frequency of the interference. Subsequently, based on the estimated frequency, harmonics are generated by using discrete-time oscillators, and then the amplitude and phase of each harmonic are estimated by using a modified recursive least squares algorithm. Finally, the estimated interference is subtracted from the recorded data. Main results. The algorithm does not require any reference signal, and can track the frequency, phase and amplitude of each harmonic. When benchmarked with other popular approaches, our algorithm performs better in terms of noise immunity, convergence speed and output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). While minimally affecting the signal bands of interest, the algorithm consistently yields fast convergence (<100 ms) and substantial interference rejection (output SNR >30 dB) in different conditions of interference strengths (input SNR from -30 to 30 dB), power line frequencies (45-65 Hz) and phase and amplitude drifts. In addition, the algorithm features a straightforward parameter adjustment since the parameters are independent of the input SNR, input signal power and the sampling rate. A hardware prototype was fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS process and tested. Software implementation of the algorithm has been made available for open access at https://github.com/mrezak/removePLI. Significance. The proposed algorithm features a highly robust operation, fast adaptation to interference variations, significant SNR improvement, low computational complexity and memory requirement and straightforward parameter adjustment. These features render the algorithm suitable for wearable and implantable sensor applications, where reliable and real-time cancellation of the interference is desired.

Understanding decimal proportions: discrete representations, parallel access, and privileged processing of zero.

PubMed

Varma, Sashank; Karl, Stacy R

2013-05-01

Much of the research on mathematical cognition has focused on the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, with considerably less attention paid to more abstract number classes. The current research investigated how people understand decimal proportions--rational numbers between 0 and 1 expressed in the place-value symbol system. The results demonstrate that proportions are represented as discrete structures and processed in parallel. There was a semantic interference effect: When understanding a proportion expression (e.g., "0.29"), both the correct proportion referent (e.g., 0.29) and the incorrect natural number referent (e.g., 29) corresponding to the visually similar natural number expression (e.g., "29") are accessed in parallel, and when these referents lead to conflicting judgments, performance slows. There was also a syntactic interference effect, generalizing the unit-decade compatibility effect for natural numbers: When comparing two proportions, their tenths and hundredths components are processed in parallel, and when the different components lead to conflicting judgments, performance slows. The results also reveal that zero decimals--proportions ending in zero--serve multiple cognitive functions, including eliminating semantic interference and speeding processing. The current research also extends the distance, semantic congruence, and SNARC effects from natural numbers to decimal proportions. These findings inform how people understand the place-value symbol system, and the mental implementation of mathematical symbol systems more generally. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Displacement and HIV: Factors Influencing Antiretroviral Therapy Use by Ethnic Shan Migrants in Northern Thailand

PubMed Central

Murray, Jordan K.; DiStefano, Anthony S.; Yang, Joshua S.; Wood, Michele M.

2016-01-01

Migrant populations face increased HIV vulnerabilities, including limited access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Civil conflict in Myanmar has displaced thousands of people from the minority Shan ethnic group into northern Thailand, where they bear a disproportionate HIV burden. To identify barriers and facilitators of ART use in this population, we conducted a rapid ethnographic assessment and case study with a clinical sample of Shan migrants receiving treatment for HIV in a district hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Thai nurses providing their care, and health care administrators (n = 23). Barriers included fears of arrest and deportation, communication difficulties, perceived social marginalization, limited HIV knowledge, and lack of finances. Facilitating factors included hospital-based migrant registration services and community outreach efforts involving support group mobilization, referral practices, and radio broadcasts. These findings provided a contextualized account to inform policies, community interventions, and nursing practice to increase treatment access for minority migrant groups. PMID:27188762

Fiber-Optic Surface Temperature Sensor Based on Modal Interference.

PubMed

Musin, Frédéric; Mégret, Patrice; Wuilpart, Marc

2016-07-28

Spatially-integrated surface temperature sensing is highly useful when it comes to controlling processes, detecting hazardous conditions or monitoring the health and safety of equipment and people. Fiber-optic sensing based on modal interference has shown great sensitivity to temperature variation, by means of cost-effective image-processing of few-mode interference patterns. New developments in the field of sensor configuration, as described in this paper, include an innovative cooling and heating phase discrimination functionality and more precise measurements, based entirely on the image processing of interference patterns. The proposed technique was applied to the measurement of the integrated surface temperature of a hollow cylinder and compared with a conventional measurement system, consisting of an infrared camera and precision temperature probe. As a result, the optical technique is in line with the reference system. Compared with conventional surface temperature probes, the optical technique has the following advantages: low heat capacity temperature measurement errors, easier spatial deployment, and replacement of multiple angle infrared camera shooting and the continuous monitoring of surfaces that are not visually accessible.

The Intention Interference Effect: The Difficulty of Ignoring What You Intend to Do

PubMed Central

Cohen, Anna-Lisa; Kantner, Justin; Dixon, Roger A.; Lindsay, D. Stephen

2013-01-01

Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which colour-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do the Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore the Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an intention interference effect suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load. PMID:21592940

The role of outcome inhibition in interference between outcomes: a contingency-learning analogue of retrieval-induced forgetting.

PubMed

Vadillo, Miguel A; Orgaz, Cristina; Luque, David; Cobos, Pedro L; López, Francisco J; Matute, Helena

2013-05-01

Current associative theories of contingency learning assume that inhibitory learning plays a part in the interference between outcomes. However, it is unclear whether this inhibitory learning results in the inhibition of the outcome representation or whether it simply counteracts previous excitatory learning so that the outcome representation is neither activated nor inhibited. Additionally, these models tend to conceptualize inhibition as a relatively transient and cue-dependent state. However, research on retrieval-induced forgetting suggests that the inhibition of representations is a real process that can be relatively independent of the retrieval cue used to access the inhibited information. Consistent with this alternative view, we found that interference between outcomes reduces the retrievability of the target outcome even when the outcome is associated with a novel (non-inhibitory) cue. This result has important theoretical implications for associative models of interference and shows that the empirical facts and theories developed in studies of retrieval-induced forgetting might be relevant in contingency learning and vice versa. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

45 CFR 155.120 - Non-interference with Federal law and non-discrimination standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...-discrimination standards. 155.120 Section 155.120 Public Welfare Department of Health and Human Services REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS EXCHANGE ESTABLISHMENT STANDARDS AND OTHER RELATED STANDARDS UNDER... origin, disability, age, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions...

Wideband Channel Modeling in Real Atmospheric Environments with Experimental Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

5] D. F. Gingras and P. Gerstoft. 1997. “The Effect of Propagation on Wideband DS - CDMA Systems in the Suburban Environment,” The First IEEE...are commonly used in spread spectrum communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access ( CDMA ) systems. Narrowband interference mitigation

Effect of hearing loss on semantic access by auditory and audiovisual speech in children.

PubMed

Jerger, Susan; Tye-Murray, Nancy; Damian, Markus F; Abdi, Hervé

2013-01-01

This research studied whether the mode of input (auditory versus audiovisual) influenced semantic access by speech in children with sensorineural hearing impairment (HI). Participants, 31 children with HI and 62 children with normal hearing (NH), were tested with the authors' new multimodal picture word task. Children were instructed to name pictures displayed on a monitor and ignore auditory or audiovisual speech distractors. The semantic content of the distractors was varied to be related versus unrelated to the pictures (e.g., picture distractor of dog-bear versus dog-cheese, respectively). In children with NH, picture-naming times were slower in the presence of semantically related distractors. This slowing, called semantic interference, is attributed to the meaning-related picture-distractor entries competing for selection and control of the response (the lexical selection by competition hypothesis). Recently, a modification of the lexical selection by competition hypothesis, called the competition threshold (CT) hypothesis, proposed that (1) the competition between the picture-distractor entries is determined by a threshold, and (2) distractors with experimentally reduced fidelity cannot reach the CT. Thus, semantically related distractors with reduced fidelity do not produce the normal interference effect, but instead no effect or semantic facilitation (faster picture naming times for semantically related versus unrelated distractors). Facilitation occurs because the activation level of the semantically related distractor with reduced fidelity (1) is not sufficient to exceed the CT and produce interference but (2) is sufficient to activate its concept, which then strengthens the activation of the picture and facilitates naming. This research investigated whether the proposals of the CT hypothesis generalize to the auditory domain, to the natural degradation of speech due to HI, and to participants who are children. Our multimodal picture word task allowed us to (1) quantify picture naming results in the presence of auditory speech distractors and (2) probe whether the addition of visual speech enriched the fidelity of the auditory input sufficiently to influence results. In the HI group, the auditory distractors produced no effect or a facilitative effect, in agreement with proposals of the CT hypothesis. In contrast, the audiovisual distractors produced the normal semantic interference effect. Results in the HI versus NH groups differed significantly for the auditory mode, but not for the audiovisual mode. This research indicates that the lower fidelity auditory speech associated with HI affects the normalcy of semantic access by children. Further, adding visual speech enriches the lower fidelity auditory input sufficiently to produce the semantic interference effect typical of children with NH.

Characteristics of the distribution of doctors in the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program in the states of Brazil's Northeast.

PubMed

Nogueira, Priscila Tamar Alves; Bezerra, Adriana Falangola Benjamin; Leite, Antonio Flaudiano Bem; Carvalho, Islândia Maria de Sousa; Gonçalves, Rogério Fabiano; Brito-Silva, Keila Silene de

2016-09-01

Inequalities in access to health, reflecting shortages and inadequate geographical distribution of health professionals, have been indicated as a challenge for Brazil. This paper analyzes the geographical distribution of professionals of the Mais Médicos Program allocated in the Northeastern Region of Brazil, through a descriptive cross-sectional study. Secondary data provided by the Health Ministry were used, and thematic maps of distribution of doctors in the Region were prepared. Data on 4,716 doctors who became members of health teams in 1,294 municipalities in six Indigenous Health Districts in the years 2013 and 2014 were analyzed. The greater part of the municipalities of the Region received between one and five doctors. The municipalities most benefited had, at least, 20% of their population in extreme poverty. 99.9% of the doctors were allocated in a Health Center or Primary Healthcare Unit. The majority were women (57%), predominantly of the 45-49 age group (24%). In spite of the advances achieved by the Program - such as distribution of the doctors in locations with greater vulnerability - some States continue to have significant shortages of healthcare.

Near-field self-interference cancellation and quality of service multicast beamforming in full-duplex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Fei; Shao, Shihai; Tang, Youxi

2016-10-01

To enable simultaneous multicast downlink transmit and receive operations on the same frequency band, also known as full-duplex links between an access point and mobile users. The problem of minimizing the total power of multicast transmit beamforming is considered from the viewpoint of ensuring the suppression amount of near-field line-of-sight self-interference and guaranteeing prescribed minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SINR) at each receiver of the multicast groups. Based on earlier results for multicast groups beamforming, the joint problem is easily shown to be NP-hard. A semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique with linear program power adjust method is proposed to solve the NP-hard problem. Simulation shows that the proposed method is feasible even when the local receive antenna in nearfield and the mobile user in far-filed are in the same direction.

Coexistence Analysis of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Low Altitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yuzhe

2016-11-01

The requirement of unmanned aircraft systems in civil areas is growing. However, provisioning of flight efficiency and safety of unmanned aircraft has critical requirements on wireless communication spectrum resources. Current researches mainly focus on spectrum availability. In this paper, the unmanned aircraft system communication models, including the coverage model and data rate model, and two coexistence analysis procedures, i. e. the interference and noise ratio criterion and frequency-distance-direction criterion, are proposed to analyze spectrum requirements and interference results of the civil unmanned aircraft systems at low altitudes. In addition, explicit explanations are provided. The proposed coexistence analysis criteria are applied to assess unmanned aircraft systems' uplink and downlink interference performances and to support corresponding spectrum planning. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed assessments and analysis procedures satisfy requirements of flexible spectrum accessing and safe coexistence among multiple unmanned aircraft systems.

Emulating weak localization using a solid-state quantum circuit.

PubMed

Chen, Yu; Roushan, P; Sank, D; Neill, C; Lucero, Erik; Mariantoni, Matteo; Barends, R; Chiaro, B; Kelly, J; Megrant, A; Mutus, J Y; O'Malley, P J J; Vainsencher, A; Wenner, J; White, T C; Yin, Yi; Cleland, A N; Martinis, John M

2014-10-14

Quantum interference is one of the most fundamental physical effects found in nature. Recent advances in quantum computing now employ interference as a fundamental resource for computation and control. Quantum interference also lies at the heart of sophisticated condensed matter phenomena such as Anderson localization, phenomena that are difficult to reproduce in numerical simulations. Here, employing a multiple-element superconducting quantum circuit, with which we manipulate a single microwave photon, we demonstrate that we can emulate the basic effects of weak localization. By engineering the control sequence, we are able to reproduce the well-known negative magnetoresistance of weak localization as well as its temperature dependence. Furthermore, we can use our circuit to continuously tune the level of disorder, a parameter that is not readily accessible in mesoscopic systems. Demonstrating a high level of control, our experiment shows the potential for employing superconducting quantum circuits as emulators for complex quantum phenomena.

Zero-forcing pre-coding for MIMO WiMAX transceivers: Performance analysis and implementation issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cattoni, A. F.; Le Moullec, Y.; Sacchi, C.

Next generation wireless communication networks are expected to achieve ever increasing data rates. Multi-User Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) is a key technique to obtain the expected performance, because such a technique combines the high capacity achievable using MIMO channel with the benefits of space division multiple access. In MU-MIMO systems, the base stations transmit signals to two or more users over the same channel, for this reason every user can experience inter-user interference. This paper provides a capacity analysis of an online, interference-based pre-coding algorithm able to mitigate the multi-user interference of the MU-MIMO systems in the context of a realistic WiMAX application scenario. Simulation results show that pre-coding can significantly increase the channel capacity. Furthermore, the paper presents several feasibility considerations for implementation of the analyzed technique in a possible FPGA-based software defined radio.

Selective enhancement of Selényi rings induced by the cross-correlation between the interfaces of a two-dimensional randomly rough dielectric film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banon, J.-P.; Hetland, Ø. S.; Simonsen, I.

2018-02-01

By the use of both perturbative and non-perturbative solutions of the reduced Rayleigh equation, we present a detailed study of the scattering of light from two-dimensional weakly rough dielectric films. It is shown that for several rough film configurations, Selényi interference rings exist in the diffusely scattered light. For film systems supported by dielectric substrates where only one of the two interfaces of the film is weakly rough and the other planar, Selényi interference rings are observed at angular positions that can be determined from simple phase arguments. For such single-rough-interface films, we find and explain by a single scattering model that the contrast in the interference patterns is better when the top interface of the film (the interface facing the incident light) is rough than when the bottom interface is rough. When both film interfaces are rough, Selényi interference rings exist but a potential cross-correlation of the two rough interfaces of the film can be used to selectively enhance some of the interference rings while others are attenuated and might even disappear. This feature may in principle be used in determining the correlation properties of interfaces of films that otherwise would be difficult to access.

Electronic quenching of O({sup 1}D) by Xe: Oscillations in the product angular distribution and their dependence on collision energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garofalo, Lauren A.; Smith, Mica C.; Dagdigian, Paul J., E-mail: pjdagdigian@jhu.edu

2015-08-07

The dynamics of the O({sup 1}D) + Xe electronic quenching reaction was investigated in a crossed beam experiment at four collision energies. Marked large-scale oscillations in the differential cross sections were observed for the inelastic scattering products, O({sup 3}P) and Xe. The shape and relative phases of the oscillatory structure depend strongly on collision energy. Comparison of the experimental results with time-independent scattering calculations shows qualitatively that this behavior is caused by Stueckelberg interferences, for which the quantum phases of the multiple reaction pathways accessible during electronic quenching constructively and destructively interfere.

SecureCore Security Architecture: Authority Mode and Emergency Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-10-16

can shield first responders from social vultures (e.g., “ambulance chasers”) or malicious parties who could intentionally interfere with emergency...hierarchical design Communications Management: network communication Process Management...and Emergency Management 1 I. Introduction During many crises, first- responder access to sensitive, restricted emergency information is

Accessing High Spatial Resolution in Astronomy Using Interference Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carbonel, Cyril; Grasset, Sébastien; Maysonnave, Jean

2018-01-01

In astronomy, methods such as direct imaging or interferometry-based techniques (Michelson stellar interferometry for example) are used for observations. A particular advantage of interferometry is that it permits greater spatial resolution compared to direct imaging with a single telescope, which is limited by diffraction owing to the aperture of…

Childhood Psychological Disorders: Current Controversies. Making Sense of Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bursztyn, Alberto M., Ed.

2011-01-01

This accessible, informative book will help teachers, parents, and practitioners make sense of current issues and controversies surrounding childhood disabilities. Almost 12 percent of children in American schools have been identified as disabled in ways that interfere with their capacity to learn. Yet parents of children with disabilities often…

28 CFR 16.74 - Exemption of National Security Division Systems-limited access.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2), (k)(1), (2) and (5): Foreign Intelligence and... concerning him or her would hinder authorized United States intelligence activities by informing that...) Subsection (d)(1). Disclosure of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information would interfere...

28 CFR 16.74 - Exemption of National Security Division Systems-limited access.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2), (k)(1), (2) and (5): Foreign Intelligence and... concerning him or her would hinder authorized United States intelligence activities by informing that...) Subsection (d)(1). Disclosure of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information would interfere...

28 CFR 16.74 - Exemption of National Security Division Systems-limited access.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2), (k)(1), (2) and (5): Foreign Intelligence and... concerning him or her would hinder authorized United States intelligence activities by informing that...) Subsection (d)(1). Disclosure of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information would interfere...

28 CFR 16.74 - Exemption of National Security Division Systems-limited access.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2), (k)(1), (2) and (5): Foreign Intelligence and... concerning him or her would hinder authorized United States intelligence activities by informing that...) Subsection (d)(1). Disclosure of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information would interfere...

Socialization and Self- Determination in Different-Age Dyads of Students Who Are Deafblind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruce, Susan M.; Zatta, Mary C.; Gavin, Mary; Stelzer, Sharon

2016-01-01

Introduction: Deafblindness limits access to social cues and social feedback, thus restricting the development of social skills. Many children with CHARGE syndrome, a leading cause of deafblindness, experience challenges with emotional self-regulation and anxiety that may interfere with socialization. Learning about self-determination skills such…

Exploring Canadian Physicians' Experiences Providing Medical Assistance in Dying: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Khoshnood, Narges; Hopwood, Marie-Clare; Lokuge, Bhadra; Kurahashi, Allison; Tobin, Anastasia; Isenberg, Sarina; Husain, Amna

2018-05-15

MAiD allows a practitioner to administer or prescribe medication for the purpose of ending a patient's life. In 2016, Canada was the latest country, following several European countries and American states, to legalize physician-assisted death. Although some studies report on physician attitudes towards MAiD or describe patient characteristics, there are few that explore the professional challenges faced by physicians who provide MAiD. To explore the professional challenges faced by Canadian physicians who provide MAiD. Sixteen physicians from across Canada who provide MAiD completed in-depth, semi-structured telephone interviews. An inductive thematic analysis approach guided data collection and the iterative, interpretive analysis of interview transcripts. Three members of the research team systematically co-coded interview transcripts and the emerging themes were developed with the broader research team. NVivo was used to manage the coded data. Participants described three challenges associated with providing MAiD: 1) their relationships with other MAiD providers were enhanced and relationships with objecting colleagues were sometimes strained, 2) they received inadequate financial compensation for time, and, 3) they experienced increased workload, resulting in sacrifices to personal time. Although these providers did not intend to stop providing MAiD at the time of the interview, they indicated their concerns about whether they would be able to sustain this service over time. Physicians described relationship, financial, and workload challenges to providing MAiD. We provide several recommendations to address these challenges and help ensure the sustainability of MAiD in countries that provide this service. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

17 CFR 249.1310 - Form MA-I, for providing information regarding natural person municipal advisors, and for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 4 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Form MA-I, for providing... Regarding Certain Natural Persons § 249.1310 Form MA-I, for providing information regarding natural person... Register citations affecting Form MA-I, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding...

JPRS Report East Asia Southeast Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-17

Chiang Mai Military...Only god can tell you. Ordinary people can’t. I have monitored rice prices m Lamphun and Fang, from Lamphun to Chiang Mai . Fang is in Chiang Mai . Prices...6.9 14,222 8.9 19,315 13.2 21,118 12.1 23,796 12.3 21,223 9.3 101 THAILAND CHIANG MAI MILITARY DISTRICT COMMANDER PROFILED Bangkok DAILY

Isolation and characterization of bacterial isolates algicidal against a harmful bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa.

PubMed

Li, Yang; Hongyi, Wei; Komatsu, Masaharu; Ishibashi, Kenichi; Jinsan, Lin; Ito, Tatsuo; Yoshikawa, Takeshi; Maeda, Hiroto

2012-01-01

Algicidal bacteria MaI11-2, MaI11-5 and MaI11-10, which inhibited the growth of a harmful bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, were isolated from a sewage treatment plant. The isolate MaI11-5 was phylogenetically affiliated into the genus Pedobacter, while MaI11-2 and MaI11-10 were closely related to Bacillus aerophilus, Bacillus altitudinis and Bacillus stratosphericus with 100% identity based on 16S ribosomal RNA sequences. Co-cultivation of M. aeruginosa with the algicidal isolates showed their high algicidal activity. MaI11-5 showed the highest inhibitory effect on the cyanobacterial growth: the inhibitory effect exceeded 50% after 2 days, and reached to 75-85% after 10 days, regardless of the bacterial cell density. The cyanobacterial cells aggregated and produced mucilaginous, glycocalyx-like compounds when attacked by the algicidal bacteria. These results suggest that the algicidal bacteria isolated in the present study are potentially useful as biocontrol agents against M. aeruginosa bloom.

Crash characteristics and injury patterns of restrained front seat occupants in far-side impacts.

PubMed

Yoganandan, Narayan; Arun, Mike W J; Halloway, Dale E; Pintar, Frank A; Maiman, Dennis J; Szabo, Aniko; Rudd, Rodney W

2014-01-01

The study was conducted to determine the association between vehicle-, crash-, and demographic-related factors and injuries to front seat far-side occupants in modern environments. Field data were obtained from the NASS-CDS database for the years 2009-2012. Inclusion factors included the following: adult restrained front outboard-seated occupants, no ejection or rollovers, and vehicle model years less than 10 years old at the time of crash. Far-side crashes were determined by using collision deformation classification. Injuries were scored using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Injuries (MAIS 2+, MAIS 3+, M denotes maximum score) were examined based on demographics, change in velocity, vehicle type, direction of force, extent zone, collision partner, and presence of another occupant in the front seat. Only weighted data were used in the analysis. Injuries to the head and face, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and upper and lower extremity regions were studied. Odds ratios and upper and lower confidence intervals were estimated from multivariate analysis. Out of 519,195 far-side occupants, 17,715 were MAIS 2+ and 4,387 were MAIS 3+ level injured occupants. The mean age, stature, total body mass, and body mass index (BMI) were 40.7 years, 1.7 m, 77.2 kg, and 26.8 kg/m2, respectively. Of occupants with MAIS 2+ injuries, 51% had head and 19% had thorax injuries. Of occupants with MAIS 3+ injuries, 50% had head and 69% had thorax injuries. The cumulative distribution of changes in velocities at the 50th percentile for the struck vehicle for all occupants and occupants with MAIS 2+ and MAIS 3+ injuries were 19, 34, and 42 km/h, respectively. Furthermore, 73% of MAIS 2+ injuries and 86% of MAIS 3+ injuries occurred at a change in velocity of 24 km/h or greater. Odds of sustaining MAIS 2+ and MAIS 3+ injuries increased with each unit increase in change in velocity, stature, and age, with one exception. Odds of sustaining injuries were higher with the presence of an occupant in the front seat at the MAIS 3+ level, although it was reversed at the lower level. The extent zone of 3+ increased the odds compared to the extent zones of 1 to 2 at both MAIS 2+ and MAIS 3+ injuries. Odds ratios and confidence intervals are given. The findings are as follows: head and thorax are the more frequently injured body regions, and the prevalence of cranium injuries is similar at both injury severities; thoracic injuries are more prevalent at the MAIS 3+ level; the presence of another front seat occupant plays a role in MAIS 3+ trauma; injuries continue to occur at changes in velocity representative of side impact environments; and mean demographic factors are close to mid-size automotive anthropometry, indicating the need to pursue this line of study. Because data were gathered from only 4 years, it would be important to include additional NASS-CDS database years, rescore injuries from previous years, and analyze other international databases to reinforce these findings for advancing safety for far-side occupants.

Crash characteristics and injury patterns of restrained front seat occupants in far-side impacts

PubMed Central

Yoganandan, Narayan; Arun, Mike W. J.; Halloway, Dale E.; Pintar, Frank A.; Maiman, Dennis J.; Szabo, Aniko; Rudd, Rodney W.

2015-01-01

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT Objective The study was conducted to determine the association between vehicle-, crash- and demographic-related factors and injuries to front seat far-side occupants in modern environments. Methods Field data were obtained from the United States (US) National Automotive Sampling System – Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) database, for the years 2009–2012. Inclusion factors: adult restrained front outboard seated occupants, no ejection or rollovers, and vehicle model years less than 10 years old at the time of crash. Far-side crashes were determined by using collision deformation classification. Injuries were scored using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Injuries (MAIS2+, MAIS3+, M denotes maximum score) were examined based on demographics, change in velocity, vehicle type, direction of force, extent zone, collision partner and presence of another occupant in the front seat. Only weighted data were used in the analysis. Injuries to the head and face, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, upper extremity and lower extremity regions were studied. Odds ratios and upper and lower confidence intervals were estimated from multivariate analysis. Results Out of 519,195 far-side occupants, 17,715 were MAIS2+ and 4,387 were MAIS3+ level injured occupants. The mean age, stature, total body mass, and BMI were 40.7 years, 1.7 m, 77.2 kg, and 26.8 kg/m2, respectively. Of occupants with MAIS2+ injuries, 51% had head and 19% had thorax injuries. Of occupants with MAIS 3+ injuries, 50% had head and 69% had thorax injuries. The cumulative distribution of changes in velocities at the 50th percent level for the struck vehicle for all occupants and, MAIS2+ and MAIS3+ occupants were 19, 34 and 42 km/h, respectively. Furthermore, 73% of MAIS2+ injuries and 86% of MAIS3+ injuries occurred at a change in velocity of 24 km/h or greater. Odds of sustaining MAIS2+ and MAIS3+ injuries increased with unit increase in change in velocity, stature and age, with one exception. Odds of sustaining injuries were higher with the presence of an occupant in the front seat at the MAIS3+ level, although it was reversed at the lower level. The extent zone of 3+ increased the odds compared to the extent zones of 1 to 2 at both MAIS2+ and MAIS3+ injuries. Odds ratios and confidence interval are given. Conclusions Findings that head and thorax are more frequently injured body regions, prevalence of cranium injuries are similar at both injury severities; thoracic injuries are more prevalent at the MAIS3+ level; presence of another front seat occupant plays a role in MAIS3+ trauma; injuries continue to occur at change in velocities representative of side impact environments; mean demographic factors are close to mid-size automotive anthropometry, indicate the need to pursue this line of study. Because data were gathered from only four years, it would be important to include additional NASS-CDS database years, rescore injuries from previous years and/or analyze other international databases to reinforce these findings for advancing safety for far-side occupants. PMID:25307394

Performance evaluation of modulation and multiple access schemes in ultraviolet optical wireless connections for two atmosphere thickness cases.

PubMed

Raptis, Nikos; Pikasis, Evangelos; Syvridis, Dimitris

2016-08-01

The exploitation of optical wireless communication channels in a non-line-of-sight regime is studied for point-to-point and networking configurations considering the use of light-emitting diodes. Two environments with different scattering center densities are considered, assuming operation at 265 nm. The bit error rate performance of both pulsed and multicarrier modulation schemes is examined, using numerical approaches. In the networking scenario, a central node only receives data, one node transmits useful data, and the rest of them act as interferers. The performance of the desirable node's transmissions is evaluated. The access to the medium is controlled by a code division multiple access scheme.

Pulse patterning effect in optical pulse division multiplexing for flexible single wavelength multiple access optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Sun-Young; Kim, Chang-Hun; Han, Sang-Kook

2018-05-01

A demand for high spectral efficiency requires multiple access within a single wavelength, but the uplink signals are significantly degraded because of optical beat interference (OBI) in intensity modulation/direct detection system. An optical pulse division multiplexing (OPDM) technique was proposed that could effectively reduce the OBI via a simple method as long as near-orthogonality is satisfied, but the condition was strict, and thus, the number of multiplexing units was very limited. We propose pulse pattern enhanced OPDM (e-OPDM) to reduce the OBI and improve the flexibility in multiple access within a single wavelength. The performance of the e-OPDM and patterning effect are experimentally verified after 23-km single mode fiber transmission. By employing pulse patterning in OPDM, the tight requirement was relaxed by extending the optical delay dynamic range. This could support more number of access with reduced OBI, which could eventually enhance a multiple access function.

Worldwide Report Epidemiology No. 336.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-10-24

19 b - THAILAND Severe Outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis Reported (MATICHON, various dates) V 22 Chiang Mai Students Spreads Throughout...SEVERE OUTBREAK OF JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS REPORTED Chiang Mai Students Bangkok MATICHON in Thai 21 Jul 83 p 3 [Article: "Twenty-One Students In... Chiang Mai Die From Encephalitis"] [Text] There have been outbreaks of encephalitis in several areas in Chiang Mai . Twenty-one children have died

Distributing flight dynamics products via the World Wide Web

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodard, Mark; Matusow, David

1996-01-01

The NASA Flight Dynamics Products Center (FDPC), which make available selected operations products via the World Wide Web, is reported on. The FDPC can be accessed from any host machine connected to the Internet. It is a multi-mission service which provides Internet users with unrestricted access to the following standard products: antenna contact predictions; ground tracks; orbit ephemerides; mean and osculating orbital elements; earth sensor sun and moon interference predictions; space flight tracking data network summaries; and Shuttle transport system predictions. Several scientific data bases are available through the service.

Low-cost coherent receiver for long-reach optical access network using single-ended detection.

PubMed

Zhang, Xuebing; Li, Zhaohui; Li, Jianping; Yu, Changyuan; Lau, Alan Pak Tao; Lu, Chao

2014-09-15

A low-cost coherent receiver using two 2×3 optical hybrids and single-ended detection is proposed for long-reach optical access network. This structure can detect the two polarization components of polarization division multiplexing (PDM) signals. Polarization de-multiplexing and signal-to-signal beat interference (SSBI) cancellation are realized by using only three photodiodes. Simulation results for 40 Gb/s PDM-OFDM transmissions indicate that the low-cost coherent receiver has 3.2 dB optical signal-to-noise ratio difference compared with the theoretical value.

Seeking: Accurate Measurement Techniques for Deep-Bone Density and Structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sibonga, Jean

2009-01-01

We are seeking a clinically-useful technology with enough sensitivity to assess the microstructure of "spongy" bone that is found in the marrow cavities of whole bones. However, this technology must be for skeletal sites surrounded by layers of soft tissues, such as the spine and the hip. Soft tissue interferes with conventional imaging and using a more accessible area -- for example, the wrist or the ankle of limbs-- as a proxy for the less accessible skeletal regions, will not be accurate. A non-radioactive technology is strongly preferred.

Anthrax of the Gastrointestinal Tract

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-07-01

partial immunity. * Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai , Thailand; and †Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand T PERSPECTIVE...1982 in Chiang Mai , northern Thailand (25). A total of 52 cases of cutaneous anthrax and 24 cases of oropharyngeal anthrax were recognized in humans...was the case in the Chiang Mai outbreak (25). Only those who eat dishes that are raw or undercooked are exposed to infectious material. Disease is

Combing the Underworld: Identification of South East Asian Non-State Actor Proliferation Networks, Nodes, and Chokepoints

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-25

Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital (located in Chiang Mai ); Rajavithi Hospital; Siriraj Hospital; Tawatchai Chaiwatnarat Poshyanon; and Tawatchai Chaiwatnarat...gambling industry. The major tourist hubs that accommodate currency exchange are Bangkok, Chiang Mai , Chiang Rai, Pattaya, Pukhet, and Songkhla. The...greatest centers are located once again in the tourist areas of cities such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai , Chiang Rai, and Songkhla. Arms

Chiang Mai University Health Worker Study aiming toward a better understanding of noncommunicable disease development in Thailand: methods and description of study population

PubMed Central

Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri; Wisetborisut, Anawat; Jiraporncharoen, Wichuda; Likhitsathian, Surinporn; Uaphanthasath, Ronnaphob; Gomutbutra, Patama; Jiraniramai, Surin; Lerssrimonkol, Chawin; Aramrattanna, Apinun; Doyle, Pat; Nitsch, Dorothea

2014-01-01

Background Urbanization is considered to be one of the key drivers of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Thailand and other developing countries. These influences, in turn, may affect an individual’s behavior and risk of developing NCDs. The Chiang Mai University (CMU) Health Worker Study aims to provide evidence for a better understanding of the development of NCDs and ultimately to apply the evidence toward better prevention, risk modification, and improvement of clinical care for patients with NCDs and NCD-related conditions. Methods A cross-sectional survey of health care workers from CMU Hospital was conducted between January 2013 and June 2013. Questionnaires, interviews, and physical and laboratory examinations were used to assess urban exposure, occupational shift work, risk factors for NCDs, self-reported NCDs, and other NCD-related health conditions. Results From 5,364 eligible workers, 3,204 participated (59.7%). About 11.1% of the participants had high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg) and almost 30% were considered to be obese (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2). A total of 2.3% had a high fasting blood glucose level (≥126 mg/dL), and the most common abnormal lipid profile was high low-density lipoprotein (≥160 mg/dL), which was found in 19.2% of participants. Discussion The study of health workers offers three potential advantages. The first is that the study of migrants was possible. Socioenvironmental influence on NCD risk factors can be explored, as changes in environmental exposures can be documented. Second, it allows the investigators to control for access to care. Access to care is potentially a key confounder toward understanding the development of NCDs. Lastly, a study of health personnel allows easy access to laboratory investigations and potential for long-term follow-up. This enables ascertainment of a number of clinical outcomes and provides potential for future studies focusing on therapeutic and prognostic issues related to NCDs. PMID:25143754

Chiang Mai University Health Worker Study aiming toward a better understanding of noncommunicable disease development in Thailand: methods and description of study population.

PubMed

Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri; Wisetborisut, Anawat; Jiraporncharoen, Wichuda; Likhitsathian, Surinporn; Uaphanthasath, Ronnaphob; Gomutbutra, Patama; Jiraniramai, Surin; Lerssrimonkol, Chawin; Aramrattanna, Apinun; Doyle, Pat; Nitsch, Dorothea

2014-01-01

Urbanization is considered to be one of the key drivers of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Thailand and other developing countries. These influences, in turn, may affect an individual's behavior and risk of developing NCDs. The Chiang Mai University (CMU) Health Worker Study aims to provide evidence for a better understanding of the development of NCDs and ultimately to apply the evidence toward better prevention, risk modification, and improvement of clinical care for patients with NCDs and NCD-related conditions. A cross-sectional survey of health care workers from CMU Hospital was conducted between January 2013 and June 2013. Questionnaires, interviews, and physical and laboratory examinations were used to assess urban exposure, occupational shift work, risk factors for NCDs, self-reported NCDs, and other NCD-related health conditions. From 5,364 eligible workers, 3,204 participated (59.7%). About 11.1% of the participants had high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg) and almost 30% were considered to be obese (body mass index ≥25 kg/m(2)). A total of 2.3% had a high fasting blood glucose level (≥126 mg/dL), and the most common abnormal lipid profile was high low-density lipoprotein (≥160 mg/dL), which was found in 19.2% of participants. The study of health workers offers three potential advantages. The first is that the study of migrants was possible. Socioenvironmental influence on NCD risk factors can be explored, as changes in environmental exposures can be documented. Second, it allows the investigators to control for access to care. Access to care is potentially a key confounder toward understanding the development of NCDs. Lastly, a study of health personnel allows easy access to laboratory investigations and potential for long-term follow-up. This enables ascertainment of a number of clinical outcomes and provides potential for future studies focusing on therapeutic and prognostic issues related to NCDs.

Proactive AP Selection Method Considering the Radio Interference Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taenaka, Yuzo; Kashihara, Shigeru; Tsukamoto, Kazuya; Yamaguchi, Suguru; Oie, Yuji

In the near future, wireless local area networks (WLANs) will overlap to provide continuous coverage over a wide area. In such ubiquitous WLANs, a mobile node (MN) moving freely between multiple access points (APs) requires not only permanent access to the Internet but also continuous communication quality during handover. In order to satisfy these requirements, an MN needs to (1) select an AP with better performance and (2) execute a handover seamlessly. To satisfy requirement (2), we proposed a seamless handover method in a previous study. Moreover, in order to achieve (1), the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is usually employed to measure wireless link quality in a WLAN system. However, in a real environment, especially if APs are densely situated, it is difficult to always select an AP with better performance based on only the RSSI. This is because the RSSI alone cannot detect the degradation of communication quality due to radio interference. Moreover, it is important that AP selection is completed only on an MN, because we can assume that, in ubiquitous WLANs, various organizations or operators will manage APs. Hence, we cannot modify the APs for AP selection. To overcome these difficulties, in the present paper, we propose and implement a proactive AP selection method considering wireless link condition based on the number of frame retransmissions in addition to the RSSI. In the evaluation, we show that the proposed AP selection method can appropriately select an AP with good wireless link quality, i.e., high RSSI and low radio interference.

Proposal of ultra-compact NAND/NOR/XNOR all-optical logic gates based on a nonlinear 3x1 multimode interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajaldini, Mehdi; Mat Jafri, M. Z.

2014-05-01

We present a highly miniaturized multimode interference (MMI) coupler based on nonlinear modal propagation analysis (NMPA) method as a novel design method and potential application for optical NAND, NOR and XNOR logic gates for Boolean logic signal processing devices. Crystalline polydiacetylene is used to allow the appearances of nonlinear effects in low input intensities and ultra- short length to control the MMI coupler as an active device to access light switching due to its high nonlinear susceptibility. We consider a 10x33 μm2 MMI structure with three inputs and one output. Notably, the access facets are single-mode waveguides with sub-micron width. The center input contributes to control the induced light propagation in MMI by intensity variation whereas others could be launched by particular intensity when they are ON and 0 in OFF. Output intensity is analyzed in various sets of inputs to show the capability of Boolean logic gates, the contrast between ON and OFF is calculated on mentioned gates to present the efficiency. Good operation in low intensity and highly miniaturized MMI coupler is observed. Furthermore, nonlinear effects could be realized through the modal interferences. The issue of high insertion loss is addressed with a 3×3 upgraded coupler. Furthermore, the main significant aspect of this paper is simulating an MMI coupler that is launched by three nonlinear inputs, simultaneously, whereas last presents have never studied more than one input in nonlinear regimes.

Cell Phones and PDA's Hit K-6

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodds, Richard; Mason, Christine Y.

2005-01-01

Although cell phones keep kids in touch with families and personal digital assistants (PDA's) help organize assignments and give Internet access, when they are added to the school climate, educators must reassess policies so technology does not interfere with instruction time. This article discusses the several effects of cell phones to K-6…

Towards Mitigating Heterogeneous Wireless Interference in Spectrum Bands with Unlicensed Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nychis, George P.

2013-01-01

In the past two decades, we have seen an unprecedented rise in unlicensed wireless devices and applications of wireless technology. To meet various application constraints, we continually customize the radios and their protocols to the application domain which has led to significant diversity in spectrum use. Unfortunately, this diversity (coupled…

42 CFR 84.130 - Supplied-air respirators; description.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... material to protect the window(s) of facepieces, hoods, and helmets which do not unduly interfere with the wearer's vision and permit easy access to the external surface of such window(s) for cleaning. (c) Type..., glass, woven wire, sheet metal, or other suitable material to protect the window(s) of facepieces, hoods...

The Time Course of Recovery for Grammatical Category Information During Lexical Processing for Syntactic Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pechmann, Thomas; Garrett, Merrill; Zerbst, Dieter

2004-01-01

In the experiments outlined in this article, the authors investigate lexical access processes in language production. In their earlier work, T. Pechmann and D. Zerbst (2002) reported evidence for grammatical category constraints in a picture-word interference task. Although grammatical category information was not activated when subjects produced…

The Timing and Magnitude of Stroop Interference and Facilitation in Monolinguals and Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coderre, Emily L.; Van Heuven, Walter J. B.; Conklin, Kathy

2013-01-01

Executive control abilities and lexical access speed in Stroop performance were investigated in English monolinguals and two groups of bilinguals (English-Chinese and Chinese-English) in their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. Predictions were based on a bilingual cognitive advantage hypothesis, implicating cognitive control ability as the…

Differential Characteristics Based Iterative Multiuser Detection for Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Chen, Xiaoguang; Jiang, Xu; Wu, Zhilu; Zhuang, Shufeng

2017-01-01

High throughput, low latency and reliable communication has always been a hot topic for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in various applications. Multiuser detection is widely used to suppress the bad effect of multiple access interference in WSNs. In this paper, a novel multiuser detection method based on differential characteristics is proposed to suppress multiple access interference. The proposed iterative receive method consists of three stages. Firstly, a differential characteristics function is presented based on the optimal multiuser detection decision function; then on the basis of differential characteristics, a preliminary threshold detection is utilized to find the potential wrongly received bits; after that an error bit corrector is employed to correct the wrong bits. In order to further lower the bit error ratio (BER), the differential characteristics calculation, threshold detection and error bit correction process described above are iteratively executed. Simulation results show that after only a few iterations the proposed multiuser detection method can achieve satisfactory BER performance. Besides, BER and near far resistance performance are much better than traditional suboptimal multiuser detection methods. Furthermore, the proposed iterative multiuser detection method also has a large system capacity. PMID:28212328

Investigating MAI's Precision: Single Interferogram and Time Series Filtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bechor Ben Dov, N.; Herring, T.

2010-12-01

Multiple aperture InSAR (MAI) is a technique to obtain along-track displacements from InSAR phase data. Because InSAR measurements are insensitive to along-track displacements, it is only possible to retrieve them using none-interferometric approaches, either pixel-offset tracking or using data from different orbital configurations and assuming continuity/ displacement model. These approaches are limited by precision and data acquisition conflicts, respectively. MAI is promising in this respect as its precision is better than the former and its data is available whether additional acquisitions are there or not. Here we study the MAI noise and develop a filter to reduce it. We test the filtering with empirical noise and simulated signal data. Below we describe the filtered results single interferogram precision, and a Kalman filter approach for MAI time series. We use 14 interferograms taken over the larger Los Angeles/San Gabrial Mountains area in CA. The interferograms include a variety of decorrelation sources, both terrain-related (topographic variations, vegetation and agriculture), and imaging-related (spatial and temporal baselines of 200-500m and 1-12 months, respectively). Most of the pixels are in the low to average coherence range (below 0.7). The data were collected by ESA and made available by the WInSAR consortium. We assume the data contain “zero” along-track signal (less then the theoretical 4 cm for our coherence range), and use the images as 14 dependent realizations of the MAI noise. We find a wide distribution of phase values σ = 2-3 radians (wrapped). We superimpose a signal on our MAI noise interferograms using along-track displacement (-88 - 143 cm) calculated for the 1812 Wrightwood earthquake. To analyze single MAI interferograms, we design an iterative quantile-based filter and test it on the noise+signal MAI interferograms. The residuals reveal the following MAI noise characteristics: (1) a constant noise term, up to 90 cm (2) a displacement gradient term, up to 0.75cm/km (3) a coherence dependent root residuals sum of squares (RRSS), down to 5 cm at 0.8 coherence In the figure we present two measures of the MAI rmse. Prior to phase gradient correction the RRSS follows the circled line. With the correction, the RRSS follows the solid line. We next evaluate MAI's precision given a time series. We use a Kalman Filter to estimate the spatially and temporally correlated components of the MAI data. We reference the displacements to a given area in the interferograms, weight the data with coherence, and model the reminder terms of the spatially correlated noise as a quadratic phase gradient across the image. The results (not displayed) again vary with coherence. MAI single interferogram precision

Interference competition between an invasive parakeet and native bird species at feeding sites.

PubMed

Le Louarn, Marine; Couillens, Bertrand; Deschamps-Cottin, Magali; Clergeau, Philippe

2016-01-01

Interference competition has proved to be a factor of successful establishment of invasive species. This type of competition may have a stronger impact when native species have temporal niche overlap with the invasive species. The ring-necked parakeet Psittacula krameri has been successfully introduced in many countries and its interspecific agonistic behavior has already been reported. The purpose of this study is to analyze the territorial and preemptive interference competition between the ring-necked parakeet and native bird species in a recently colonized area. We used an empirical approach by recording video sequences in gardens equipped with bird feeders in winter. Our results showed that the ring-necked parakeet was the most frequent species at the feeders. Several native species showed temporal niche overlap with the ring-necked parakeet, the highest overlap being with the starling Sturnus vulgaris . The starling was also the species most impacted by interference competition with the parakeet. Our study suggests that, by being most frequently present at the feeders, by demonstrating the most agonistic behavior and by hindering access to food of the other species, the ring-necked parakeet is a superior competitor and may compete with native bird species.

Iterative Overlap FDE for Multicode DS-CDMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeda, Kazuaki; Tomeba, Hiromichi; Adachi, Fumiyuki

Recently, a new frequency-domain equalization (FDE) technique, called overlap FDE, that requires no GI insertion was proposed. However, the residual inter/intra-block interference (IBI) cannot completely be removed. In addition to this, for multicode direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA), the presence of residual interchip interference (ICI) after FDE distorts orthogonality among the spreading codes. In this paper, we propose an iterative overlap FDE for multicode DS-CDMA to suppress both the residual IBI and the residual ICI. In the iterative overlap FDE, joint minimum mean square error (MMSE)-FDE and ICI cancellation is repeated a sufficient number of times. The bit error rate (BER) performance with the iterative overlap FDE is evaluated by computer simulation.

[Scarless surgery: a vision becoming reality?].

PubMed

Lamm, Sebastian H; Zerz, Andreas; Steinemann, Daniel C

2016-04-13

As minimal invasive abdominal surgery became established in the last decades, further minimization of the surgical access is in the focus now. Although laparoscopic instruments and camera systems become diminished in size there is still a need for a minilaparotomy for extraction and anastomosis of organs. NOTES (Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery) aims to avoid this minilaparotomy. Consequently, laparoscopic-assisted procedures become pure laparoscopic surgery. The transvaginal access is the most common performed NOTES procedure. The acceptance in women is high. The feasibility of NOTES cholecystectomy is scientifically proofed. The procedure is associated with less pain than the common four-port laparoscopic surgery and does not interfere with the sexual well-being. There are no access-related infections; the abdominal wound infection and incisional hernia rate are low. In left sided colonic resection the transrectal access makes NOTES available for both genders.

Implementation and Operational Analysis of an Interactive Intensive Care Unit within a Smart Health Context.

PubMed

Lopez-Iturri, Peio; Aguirre, Erik; Trigo, Jesús Daniel; Astrain, José Javier; Azpilicueta, Leyre; Serrano, Luis; Villadangos, Jesús; Falcone, Francisco

2018-01-29

In the context of hospital management and operation, Intensive Care Units (ICU) are one of the most challenging in terms of time responsiveness and criticality, in which adequate resource management and signal processing play a key role in overall system performance. In this work, a context aware Intensive Care Unit is implemented and analyzed to provide scalable signal acquisition capabilities, as well as to provide tracking and access control. Wireless channel analysis is performed by means of hybrid optimized 3D Ray Launching deterministic simulation to assess potential interference impact as well as to provide required coverage/capacity thresholds for employed transceivers. Wireless system operation within the ICU scenario, considering conventional transceiver operation, is feasible in terms of quality of service for the complete scenario. Extensive measurements of overall interference levels have also been carried out, enabling subsequent adequate coverage/capacity estimations, for a set of Zigbee based nodes. Real system operation has been tested, with ad-hoc designed Zigbee wireless motes, employing lightweight communication protocols to minimize energy and bandwidth usage. An ICU information gathering application and software architecture for Visitor Access Control has been implemented, providing monitoring of the Boxes external doors and the identification of visitors via a RFID system. The results enable a solution to provide ICU access control and tracking capabilities previously not exploited, providing a step forward in the implementation of a Smart Health framework.

An association between pulmonary Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex infections and biomarkers of Th2-type inflammation.

PubMed

Pfeffer, Paul E; Hopkins, Susan; Cropley, Ian; Lowe, David M; Lipman, Marc

2017-05-15

The rising incidence of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAI) infection is unexplained but parallels the growing world-wide epidemic of allergic disease. We hypothesized an association between pulmonary MAI infection and Th2-type immune responses as seen in allergy. Biomarkers of patient Th2-type immune responses (peripheral blood eosinophil counts and serum IgE levels) were compared between patients with positive pulmonary samples for tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection. A further comparison of clinical characteristics, including respiratory co-morbidities, and biomarkers, was conducted between patients culturing MAI NTM and those culturing NTM other than MAI. Patients culturing NTM from pulmonary samples had significantly higher peripheral blood eosinophil levels than those culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Furthermore, patients culturing MAI compared to those culturing NTM other than MAI had higher eosinophil counts (mean 0.29x10 9 /L vs 0.15x10 9 /L, p = 0.010) and IgE levels (geometric mean 138kU/L vs 47kU/L, p = 0.021). However there was no significant difference in the frequency of asthma between the two NTM groups. There is an association between biomarkers of Th2-type immune responses and pulmonary MAI. Prospective and translational research could identify the direction of causation; and so determine whether our finding may be utilized within future management strategies for MAI.

Performance enhancement of optical code-division multiple-access systems using transposed modified Walsh code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sikder, Somali; Ghosh, Shila

2018-02-01

This paper presents the construction of unipolar transposed modified Walsh code (TMWC) and analysis of its performance in optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) systems. Specifically, the signal-to-noise ratio, bit error rate (BER), cardinality, and spectral efficiency were investigated. The theoretical analysis demonstrated that the wavelength-hopping time-spreading system using TMWC was robust against multiple-access interference and more spectrally efficient than systems using other existing OCDMA codes. In particular, the spectral efficiency was calculated to be 1.0370 when TMWC of weight 3 was employed. The BER and eye pattern for the designed TMWC were also successfully obtained using OptiSystem simulation software. The results indicate that the proposed code design is promising for enhancing network capacity.

Timely access to mental health care among women veterans.

PubMed

Brunner, Julian; Schweizer, C Amanda; Canelo, Ismelda A; Leung, Lucinda B; Strauss, Jennifer L; Yano, Elizabeth M

2018-04-05

Using survey data on (N = 419) patients at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinics we analyzed women veterans' reports of timely access to VA mental health care. We evaluated problems that patients might face in obtaining care, and examined subjective ratings of VA care as a function of timely access to mental health care. We found that 59% of participants reported "always" getting an appointment for mental health care as soon as needed. In adjusted analyses, two problems were negatively associated with timely access to mental health care: (a) medical appointments that interfere with other activities, and (b) difficulty getting questions answered between visits. Average subjective ratings of VA ranged from 8.2-8.6 out of 10, and 93% of participants would recommend VA care. Subjective ratings of VA were higher among women who reported timely access to mental health care. Findings suggest that overall experience of care is associated with timely access to mental health care, and that such access may be amenable to improvements related to clinic hours or mechanisms for answering patient questions between visits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

On the flexibility of grammatical advance planning during sentence production: Effects of cognitive load on multiple lexical access.

PubMed

Wagner, Valentin; Jescheniak, Jörg D; Schriefers, Herbert

2010-03-01

Three picture-word interference experiments addressed the question of whether the scope of grammatical advance planning in sentence production corresponds to some fixed unit or rather is flexible. Subjects produced sentences of different formats under varying amounts of cognitive load. When speakers described 2-object displays with simple sentences of the form "the frog is next to the mug," the 2 nouns were found to be lexically-semantically activated to similar degrees at speech onset, as indexed by similarly sized interference effects from semantic distractors related to either the first or the second noun. When speakers used more complex sentences (including prenominal color adjectives; e.g., "the blue frog is next to the blue mug") much larger interference effects were observed for the first than the second noun, suggesting that the second noun was lexically-semantically activated before speech onset on only a subset of trials. With increased cognitive load, introduced by an additional conceptual decision task and variable utterance formats, the interference effect for the first noun was increased and the interference effect for second noun disappeared, suggesting that the scope of advance planning had been narrowed. By contrast, if cognitive load was induced by a secondary working memory task to be performed during speech planning, the interference effect for both nouns was increased, suggesting that the scope of advance planning had not been affected. In all, the data suggest that the scope of advance planning during grammatical encoding in sentence production is flexible, rather than structurally fixed.

Microgravity Active Vibration Isolation System on Parabolic Flights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Wenbo; Pletser, Vladimir; Yang, Yang

2016-07-01

The Microgravity Active Vibration Isolation System (MAIS) aims at reducing on-orbit vibrations, providing a better controlled lower gravity environment for microgravity physical science experiments. The MAIS will be launched on Tianzhou-1, the first cargo ship of the China Manned Space Program. The principle of the MAIS is to suspend with electro-magnetic actuators a scientific payload, isolating it from the vibrating stator. The MAIS's vibration isolation capability is frequency-dependent and a decrease of vibration of about 40dB can be attained. The MAIS can accommodate 20kg of scientific payload or sample unit, and provide 30W of power and 1Mbps of data transmission. The MAIS is developed to support microgravity scientific experiments on manned platforms in low earth orbit, in order to meet the scientific requirements for fluid physics, materials science, and fundamental physics investigations, which usually need a very quiet environment, increasing their chances of success and their scientific outcomes. The results of scientific experiments and technology tests obtained with the MAIS will be used to improve future space based research. As the suspension force acting on the payload is very small, the MAIS can only be operative and tested in a weightless environment. The 'Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V.' (DLR, German Aerospace Centre) granted a flight opportunity to the MAIS experiment to be tested during its 27th parabolic flight campaign of September 2015 performed on the A310 ZERO-G aircraft managed by the French company Novespace, a subsidiary of the 'Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales' (CNES, French Space Agency). The experiment results confirmed that the 6 degrees of freedom motion control technique was effective, and that the vibration isolation performance fulfilled perfectly the expectations based on theoretical analyses and simulations. This paper will present the design of the MAIS and the experiment results obtained during the parabolic flight campaign.

Associations between damage location and five main body region injuries of MAIS 3-6 injured occupants.

PubMed

Tang, Youming; Cao, Libo; Kan, Steven

2014-05-08

To examine the damage location distribution of five main body region injuries of maximum abbreviated injury score (MAIS) 3-6 injured occupants for nearside struck vehicle in front-to-side impact crashes. MAIS 3-6 injured occupants information was extracted from the US-National Automotive Sampling System/Crashworthiness Data System in the year 2007; it included the head/face/neck, chest, pelvis, upper extremity and lower extremity. Struck vehicle collision damage was classified in a three-dimensional system according to the J224 Collision Deformation Classification of SAE Surface Vehicle Standard. Nearside occupants seated directly adjacent to the struck side of the vehicle with MAIS 3-6 injured, in light truck vehicles-passenger cars (LTV-PC) side impact crashes. Distribution of MAIS 3-6 injured occupants by body regions and specific location of damage (lateral direction, horizontal direction and vertical direction) were examined. Injury risk ratio was also assessed. The lateral crush zone contributed to MAIS 3-6 injured occupants (n=705) and 50th centile injury risks when extended into zone 3. When the crush extended to zone 4, the injury risk ratio of MAIS 3-6 injured occupants approached 81%. The horizontal crush zones contributing to the highest injury risk ratio of MAIS 3-6 occupants were zones 'D' and 'Y', and the injury risk ratios were 25.4% and 36.9%, respectively. In contrast, the lowest injury risk ratio was 5.67% caused by zone 'B'. The vertical crush zone which contributed to the highest injury risk ratio of MAIS 3-6 occupants was zone 'E', whose injury risk ratio was 58%. In contrast, the lowest injury risk ratio was 0.14% caused by zone 'G+M'. The highest injury risk ratio of MAIS 3-6 injured occupants caused by crush intrusion between 40 and 60 cm in LTV-PC nearside impact collisions and the damage region of the struck vehicle was in the zones 'E' and 'Y'.

Active elimination of radio frequency interference for improved signal-to-noise ratio for in-situ NMR experiments in strong magnetic field gradients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahim, M.; Pardi, C. I.; Brown, T. W. C.; McDonald, P. J.

2018-02-01

Improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) systems may be achieved either by increasing the signal amplitude or by decreasing the noise. The noise has multiple origins - not all of which are strictly "noise": incoherent thermal noise originating in the probe and pre-amplifiers, probe ring down or acoustic noise and coherent externally broadcast radio frequency transmissions. The last cannot always be shielded in open access experiments. In this paper, we show that pulsed, low radio-frequency data communications are a significant source of broadcast interference. We explore two signal processing methods of de-noising short T2∗ NMR experiments corrupted by these communications: Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) and the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). Results are shown for numerical simulations and experiments conducted under controlled conditions with pseudo radio frequency interference. We show that both the LPC and DWT methods have merit.

A power allocation method for 2 × 2 VLC-MIMO indoor communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Mingjun; Yuan, Jing; Feng, Renhai; Wang, Hui; Chen, Bin; Lin, Xiaohui

2016-08-01

Visible light communication (VLC) has been a promising field of optical communications which focuses on visible light spectrum that humans can see. Unlike existing studies which mainly discuss point-to-point communication, in this paper, we consider a VLC network, in particular a 2 × 2 system. Our focus is on dealing with interference in this network. The objective is to maximize the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of one receiver for a given SINR of another receiver. We formulate a power allocation optimization problem to deal with such interference, and introduce dichotomy to solve this optimization problem. Simulation results have twofold meaning: First, SINR_1 increases with the growth of SINR_2, which are the SINR of the two receivers, respectively. Second, our proposed scheme outperforms the classical time-division multiple access technique in terms of transmit powers of both light sources when the data rate for these two schemes are set to be identical for each user, respectively.

The intention interference effect.

PubMed

Cohen, Anna-Lisa; Kantner, Justin; Dixon, Roger A; Lindsay, D Stephen

2011-01-01

Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which color-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do-the-Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore-the-Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an IIE suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load.

A Dynamic Simulation Model of the Management Accounting Information Systems (MAIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konstantopoulos, Nikolaos; Bekiaris, Michail G.; Zounta, Stella

2007-12-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the factors which determine the problems and the advantages on the design of management accounting information systems (MAIS). A simulation is carried out with a dynamic model of the MAIS design.

Interspecific interference competition at the resource patch scale: do large herbivores spatially avoid elephants while accessing water?

PubMed

Ferry, Nicolas; Dray, Stéphane; Fritz, Hervé; Valeix, Marion

2016-11-01

Animals may anticipate and try to avoid, at some costs, physical encounters with other competitors. This may ultimately impact their foraging distribution and intake rates. Such cryptic interference competition is difficult to measure in the field, and extremely little is known at the interspecific level. We tested the hypothesis that smaller species avoid larger ones because of potential costs of interference competition and hence expected them to segregate from larger competitors at the scale of a resource patch. We assessed fine-scale spatial segregation patterns between three African herbivore species (zebra Equus quagga, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros and giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis) and a megaherbivore, the African elephant Loxodonta africana, at the scale of water resource patches in the semi-arid ecosystem of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Nine waterholes were monitored every two weeks during the dry season of a drought year, and observational scans of the spatial distribution of all herbivores were performed every 15 min. We developed a methodological approach to analyse such fine-scale spatial data. Elephants increasingly used waterholes as the dry season progressed, as did the probability of co-occurrence and agonistic interaction with elephants for the three study species. All three species segregated from elephants at the beginning of the dry season, suggesting a spatial avoidance of elephants and the existence of costs of being close to them. However, contrarily to our expectations, herbivores did not segregate from elephants the rest of the dry season but tended to increasingly aggregate with elephants as the dry season progressed. We discuss these surprising results and the existence of a trade-off between avoidance of interspecific interference competition and other potential factors such as access to quality water, which may have relative associated costs that change with the time of the year. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2016 British Ecological Society.

Should fertile people have access to in vitro fertilisation?

PubMed

Dawson, K; Singer, P

1990-01-20

Some existing laws and some proposed legislation regulating the practice of in vitro fertilization (IVF) limit its availability to infertile couples. Dawson and Singer question whether it is reasonable to so restrict access to IVF, and examine some of the medical and social circumstances in which IVF and the related procedures of embryo freezing, embryo biopsy, and embryo transfer might be used by the fertile. They argue that while society may object to some uses of IVF by the fertile, the principle of governmental non-interference with personal liberties except to prevent harm mitigate against legally restricting IVF to the infertile.

Vocabulary Teaching Strategies and Conceptual Representations of Words in L2 in Children: Evidence with Novice Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Comesana, Montserrat; Perea, Manuel; Pineiro, Ana; Fraga, Isabel

2009-01-01

A controversial issue in bilingual research is whether in the early stages of L2 learning, access to the conceptual system involves mediation of L1 lexical representations [Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations.…

Kindergarten Screening and Parent Engagement to Enhance Mental Health Service Utilization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Girio, Erin L.

2010-01-01

The majority of youth in need of mental health services do not receive intervention as many are not identified as having a problem or their families experience practical or attitudinal barriers that interfere with service utilization. The school environment provides a unique point of access to reach all children, yet this setting has been…

78 FR 41343 - Expanding Access to Broadband and Encouraging Innovation Through Establishment of an Air-Ground...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-10

... Space Research Service users in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, and to coordinate with the Radio Astronomy Service to avoid interference to radio astronomy observations. The Commission also proposes to license air... Administration's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Service and with radio astronomy observatories. Further, the...

On the Flexibility of Grammatical Advance Planning during Sentence Production: Effects of Cognitive Load on Multiple Lexical Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Valentin; Jescheniak, Jorg D.; Schriefers, Herbert

2010-01-01

Three picture-word interference experiments addressed the question of whether the scope of grammatical advance planning in sentence production corresponds to some fixed unit or rather is flexible. Subjects produced sentences of different formats under varying amounts of cognitive load. When speakers described 2-object displays with simple…

Excerpts on Vocational Education from the President's Statement on Combating Construction Inflation and Meeting Future Construction Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowler, Earl M., Comp.

America's $100 billion construction industry with its 3 million workers does not need harassment, unwarranted interference, or political denounciation; it does need better access to mortgage money, less costly materials at more stable prices, an end to archaic regulations that hamper productivity, more dynamic management, and--most of all--more…

Using Just-in-Time Information to Support Scientific Discovery Learning in a Computer-Based Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hulshof, Casper D.; de Jong, Ton

2006-01-01

Students encounter many obstacles during scientific discovery learning with computer-based simulations. It is hypothesized that an effective type of support, that does not interfere with the scientific discovery learning process, should be delivered on a "just-in-time" base. This study explores the effect of facilitating access to…

Smartphones in nursing education.

PubMed

Phillippi, Julia C; Wyatt, Tami H

2011-08-01

Smartphones are a new technology similar to PDAs but with expanded functions and greater Internet access. This article explores the potential uses and issues surrounding the use of smartphones in nursing education. While the functions of smartphones, such as sending text messages, viewing videos, and access to the Internet, may seem purely recreational, they can be used within the nursing curriculum to engage students and reinforce learning at any time or location. Smartphones can be used for quick access to educational materials and guidelines during clinical, class, or clinical conference. Students can review instructional videos prior to performing skills and readily reach their clinical instructor via text message. Downloadable applications, subscriptions, and reference materials expand the smartphone functions even further. Common concerns about requiring smartphones in nursing education include cost, disease transmission, and equipment interference; however, there are many ways to overcome these barriers and provide students with constant access to current clinical evidence.

Performance Analysis of Direct-Sequence Code-Division Multiple-Access Communications with Asymmetric Quadrature Phase-Shift-Keying Modulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, C.-W.; Stark, W.

2005-01-01

This article considers a quaternary direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) communication system with asymmetric quadrature phase-shift-keying (AQPSK) modulation for unequal error protection (UEP) capability. Both time synchronous and asynchronous cases are investigated. An expression for the probability distribution of the multiple-access interference is derived. The exact bit-error performance and the approximate performance using a Gaussian approximation and random signature sequences are evaluated by extending the techniques used for uniform quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) and binary phase-shift-keying (BPSK) DS-CDMA systems. Finally, a general system model with unequal user power and the near-far problem is considered and analyzed. The results show that, for a system with UEP capability, the less protected data bits are more sensitive to the near-far effect that occurs in a multiple-access environment than are the more protected bits.

Saying what’s on your mind: Working memory effects on sentence production

PubMed Central

Slevc, L. Robert

2011-01-01

The role of working memory (WM) in sentence comprehension has received considerable interest, but little work has investigated how sentence production relies on memory mechanisms. These three experiments investigated speakers’ tendency to produce syntactic structures that allow for early production of material that is accessible in memory. In Experiment 1, speakers produced accessible information early less often when under a verbal WM load than when under no load. Experiment 2 found the same pattern for given-new ordering, i.e., when accessibility was manipulated by making information given. Experiment 3 addressed the possibility that these effects do not reflect WM mechanisms but rather increased task difficulty by relying on the distinction between verbal and spatial WM: Speakers’ tendency to produce sentences respecting given-new ordering was reduced more by a verbal than by a spatial WM load. These patterns show that accessibility effects do in fact reflect accessibility in verbal WM, and that representations in sentence production are vulnerable to interference from other information in memory. PMID:21767058

Extraction of Shrimp Ponds Using Object Oriented Classification vis-a-vis Pixel Based Classification

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

302 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand B-3.6 Data Processing...Proceedings of the 25th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, Held in Chiang Mai , Thailand on 22-26 November 2004. Copyrighted; Government Purpose Rights... Chiang Mai , Thailand B-3.6 Data Processing

Theoretical Accuracy of Along-Track Displacement Measurements from Multiple-Aperture Interferometry (MAI)

PubMed Central

Jung, Hyung-Sup; Lee, Won-Jin; Zhang, Lei

2014-01-01

The measurement of precise along-track displacements has been made with the multiple-aperture interferometry (MAI). The empirical accuracies of the MAI measurements are about 6.3 and 3.57 cm for ERS and ALOS data, respectively. However, the estimated empirical accuracies cannot be generalized to any interferometric pair because they largely depend on the processing parameters and coherence of the used SAR data. A theoretical formula is given to calculate an expected MAI measurement accuracy according to the system and processing parameters and interferometric coherence. In this paper, we have investigated the expected MAI measurement accuracy on the basis of the theoretical formula for the existing X-, C- and L-band satellite SAR systems. The similarity between the expected and empirical MAI measurement accuracies has been tested as well. The expected accuracies of about 2–3 cm and 3–4 cm (γ = 0.8) are calculated for the X- and L-band SAR systems, respectively. For the C-band systems, the expected accuracy of Radarsat-2 ultra-fine is about 3–4 cm and that of Sentinel-1 IW is about 27 cm (γ = 0.8). The results indicate that the expected MAI measurement accuracy of a given interferometric pair can be easily calculated by using the theoretical formula. PMID:25251408

Memory Age Identity as a predictor of cognitive function in the elderly: A 2-year follow-up study.

PubMed

Chang, Ki Jung; Hong, Chang Hyung; Lee, Yun Hwan; Chung, Young Ki; Lim, Ki Young; Noh, Jai Sung; Kim, Jin-Ju; Kim, Haena; Kim, Hyun-Chung; Son, Sang Joon

2018-01-01

There is a growing interest in finding psychosocial predictors related to cognitive function. In our previous research, we conducted a cross-sectional study on memory age identity (MAI) and found that MAI might be associated with objective cognitive performance in non-cognitively impaired elderly. A longitudinal study was conducted to better understand the importance of MAI as a psychosocial predictor related to objective cognitive function. Data obtained from 1345 Korean subjects aged 60 years and above were analyzed. During the two-year follow-up, subjective memory age was assessed on three occasions using the following question: How old do you feel based on your memory? Discrepancy between subjective memory age and chronological age was then calculated. We defined this value as 'memory age identity (MAI)'. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) was then obtained to demonstrate the relationship between MAI and Korean version-Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) score over the 2 years of study. MAI was found to significantly (β=-0.03, p< 0.0001) predict objective cognitive performance in the non-cognitively impaired elderly. MAI may be a potential psychosocial predictor related to objective cognitive performance in the non-cognitively impaired elderly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Syn-Extensional Constrictional Folding of the Gwoira Rider Block, a Large Fault-Bounded Slice Atop the Mai'iu Low-Angle Normal Fault, Woodlark Rift.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, T. A.; Webber, S. M.; Norton, K. P.; Mizera, M.; Oesterle, J.; Ellis, S. M.

2016-12-01

The Mai'iu Fault is an active and corrugated low-angle normal fault (LANF) in Woodlark Rift, Eastern Papua New Guinea, which dips 21° NNE, accommodating rapid N-S extension. The Gwoira rider block is a large fault-bounded sedimentary slice comprising the Gwoira Conglomerate, located within a large synformal megamullion in the Mai'iu Fault surface. The Gwoira Conglomerate was originally deposited on the Mai'iu Fault hanging wall concurrent with extension, and has since been buried to a maximum depth of 1600-2100 m (evidenced by vitrinite reflectance data), back-tilted, and synformally folded. Both the Gwoira Conglomerate (former hanging wall) and mylonitic foliation (footwall) of the Mai'iu Fault have been shortened E-W, perpendicular to the extension direction. We show that E-W synformal folding of the Gwoira Conglomerate was concurrent with ongoing sedimentation and extension on the Mai'iu Fault. Structurally shallower Gwoira Conglomerate strata are folded less than deeper strata, indicating that folding was progressively accrued concurrent with N-S extension. We also show that abandonment of the inactive strand of the Mai'iu Fault in favor of the Gwoira Fault, which resulted in formation of the Gwoira rider block, occurred in response to progressive megamullion amplification and resultant misorientation of the inactive strand of the Mai'iu Fault. We attribute E-W folding to extension-perpendicular constriction. This is consistent with observations of outcrop-scale conjugate strike-slip faults that deform the footwall and hanging wall of the Mai'iu Fault, and accommodate E-W shortening. Constrictional folding remains active in the near-surface as evidenced by synformal tilting of inferred Late Quaternary fluvial terraces atop the Gwoira rider block. This sequence of progressive constrictional folding is dated using 26Al/10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide burial dating of the Gwoira Conglomerate. Finally, because rider block formation records abandonment of the uppermost part of a LANF, Coulomb fault mechanical analysis (after Choi and Buck, 2012) can be applied to field observations to provide an upper limit on LANF frictional strength (µf). Modelling constrains the µf for the Mai'iu Fault to ≤0.25, which suggests that the Mai'iu Fault is frictionally very weak.

Arbitrary-ratio power splitter based on nonlinear multimode interference coupler

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tajaldini, Mehdi; Young Researchers and Elite Club, Baft Branch, Islamic Azad University, Baft; Jafri, Mohd Zubir Mat

2015-04-24

We propose an ultra-compact multimode interference (MMI) power splitter based on nonlinear effects from simulations using nonlinear modal propagation analysis (NMPA) cooperation with finite difference Method (FDM) to access free choice of splitting ratio. Conventional multimode interference power splitter could only obtain a few discrete ratios. The power splitting ratio may be adjusted continuously while the input set power is varying by a tunable laser. In fact, using an ultra- compact MMI with a simple structure that is launched by a tunable nonlinear input fulfills the problem of arbitrary-ratio in integrated photonics circuits. Silicon on insulator (SOI) is used asmore » the offered material due to the high contrast refractive index and Centro symmetric properties. The high-resolution images at the end of the multimode waveguide in the simulated power splitter have a high power balance, whereas access to a free choice of splitting ratio is not possible under the linear regime in the proposed length range except changes in the dimension for any ratio. The compact dimensions and ideal performance of the device are established according to optimized parameters. The proposed regime can be extended to the design of M×N arbitrary power splitters ratio for programmable logic devices in all optical digital signal processing. The results of this study indicate that nonlinear modal propagation analysis solves the miniaturization problem for all-optical devices based on MMI couplers to achieve multiple functions in a compact planar integrated circuit and also overcomes the limitations of previously proposed methods for nonlinear MMI.« less

Separation of Allelopathy from Resource Competition Using Rice/Barnyardgrass Mixed-Cultures

PubMed Central

Fang, Chang Xun; Lin, Zhi Hua; Yu, Zheng Ming; Lin, Wen Xiong

2012-01-01

Plant-plant interference is the combined effect of allelopathy, resource competition, and many other factors. Separating allelopathy from resource competition is almost impossible in natural systems but it is important to evaluate the relative contribution of each of the two mechanisms on plant interference. Research on allelopathy in natural and cultivated plant communities has been hindered in the absence of a reliable method that can separate allelopathic effect from resource competition. In this paper, the interactions between allelopathic rice accession PI312777, non-allelopathic rice accession Lemont and barnyardgrass were explored respectively by using a target (rice)-neighbor (barnyardgrass) mixed-culture in hydroponic system. The relative competitive intensity (RCI), the relative neighbor effect (RNE) and the competitive ratio (CR) were used to quantify the intensity of competition between each of the two different potentially allelopathic rice accessions and barnyardgrass. Use of hydroponic culture system enabled us to exclude any uncontrolled factors that might operate in the soil and we were able to separate allelopathy from resource competition between each rice accession and barnyardgrass. The RCI and RNE values showed that the plant-plant interaction was positive (facilitation) for PI312777 but that was negative (competition) for Lemont and barnyardgrass in rice/barnyardgrass mixed-cultures. The CR values showed that one PI312777 plant was more competitive than 2 barnyardgrass plants. The allelopathic effects of PI312777 were much more intense than the resource competition in rice/barnyardgrass mixed cultures. The reverse was true for Lemont. These results demonstrate that the allelopathic effect of PI312777 was predominant in rice/barnyardgrass mixed-cultures. The most significant result of our study is the discovery of an experimental design, target-neighbor mixed-culture in combination with competition indices, can successfully separate allelopathic effects from competition. PMID:22590655

Testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating competing information.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N

2015-01-01

Testing initially learned information before presenting new information has been shown to counteract the deleterious effects of proactive interference by segregating competing sources of information. The present experiments were conducted to demonstrate that testing can also have its effects in part by integrating competing information. Variations of classic A-B, A-D paired-associate learning paradigms were employed that included two lists of word pairs and a cued-recall test. Repeated pairs appeared in both lists (A-B, A-B), control pairs appeared in List 2 only (A-B, C-D), and changed pairs appeared with the same cue in both lists but with different responses (A-B, A-D). The critical manipulation was whether pairs were tested or restudied in an interpolated phase that occurred between Lists 1 and 2. On a final cued-recall test, participants recalled List 2 responses and then indicated when they recollected that responses had earlier changed between lists. The change recollection measure indexed the extent to which competing responses were integrated during List 2. Change was recollected more often for tested than for restudied pairs. Proactive facilitation was obtained in cued recall when change was recollected, whereas proactive interference was obtained when change was not recollected. These results provide evidence that testing counteracted proactive interference in part by making List 1 responses more accessible during List 2, thus promoting integration and increasing later recollection of change. These results have theoretical implications because they show that testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating or segregating competing information.

Associations between damage location and five main body region injuries of MAIS 3–6 injured occupants

PubMed Central

Tang, Youming; Cao, Libo; Kan, Steven

2014-01-01

Objectives To examine the damage location distribution of five main body region injuries of maximum abbreviated injury score (MAIS) 3–6 injured occupants for nearside struck vehicle in front-to-side impact crashes. Design and setting MAIS 3–6 injured occupants information was extracted from the US-National Automotive Sampling System/Crashworthiness Data System in the year 2007; it included the head/face/neck, chest, pelvis, upper extremity and lower extremity. Struck vehicle collision damage was classified in a three-dimensional system according to the J224 Collision Deformation Classification of SAE Surface Vehicle Standard. Participants Nearside occupants seated directly adjacent to the struck side of the vehicle with MAIS 3–6 injured, in light truck vehicles–passenger cars (LTV–PC) side impact crashes. Outcome measures Distribution of MAIS 3–6 injured occupants by body regions and specific location of damage (lateral direction, horizontal direction and vertical direction) were examined. Injury risk ratio was also assessed. Results The lateral crush zone contributed to MAIS 3–6 injured occupants (n=705) and 50th centile injury risks when extended into zone 3. When the crush extended to zone 4, the injury risk ratio of MAIS 3–6 injured occupants approached 81%. The horizontal crush zones contributing to the highest injury risk ratio of MAIS 3–6 occupants were zones ‘D’ and ‘Y’, and the injury risk ratios were 25.4% and 36.9%, respectively. In contrast, the lowest injury risk ratio was 5.67% caused by zone ‘B’. The vertical crush zone which contributed to the highest injury risk ratio of MAIS 3–6 occupants was zone ‘E’, whose injury risk ratio was 58%. In contrast, the lowest injury risk ratio was 0.14% caused by zone ‘G+M’. Conclusions The highest injury risk ratio of MAIS 3–6 injured occupants caused by crush intrusion between 40 and 60 cm in LTV–PC nearside impact collisions and the damage region of the struck vehicle was in the zones ‘E’ and ‘Y’. PMID:24812190

Universal filtered multi-carrier system for asynchronous uplink transmission in optical access network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Soo-Min; Kim, Chang-Hun; Han, Sang-Kook

2016-02-01

In passive optical network (PON), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been studied actively due to its advantages such as high spectra efficiency (SE), dynamic resource allocation in time or frequency domain, and dispersion robustness. However, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-PON requires tight synchronization among multiple access signals. If not, frequency orthogonality could not be maintained. Also its sidelobe causes inter-channel interference (ICI) to adjacent channel. To prevent ICI caused by high sidelobes, guard band (GB) is usually used which degrades SE. Thus, OFDMA-PON is not suitable for asynchronous uplink transmission in optical access network. In this paper, we propose intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) based universal filtered multi-carrier (UFMC) PON for asynchronous multiple access. The UFMC uses subband filtering to subsets of subcarriers. Since it reduces sidelobe of each subband by applying subband filtering, it could achieve better performance compared to OFDM. For the experimental demonstration, different sample delay was applied to subbands to implement asynchronous transmission condition. As a result, time synchronization robustness of UFMC was verified in asynchronous multiple access system.

Can solar access rights be protected by a revival of the doctrine of ancient lights

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weiss, R.B.

A review of the history of solar access rights from their origin in 13th Century England's Doctrine of Ancient Lights to the present state of the law in both England and the US discusses how solar access law developed and possible solutions to the current US problem through the use of federal and state legislation. To compensate for the inadequacy of the Doctrine of Ancient Lights, the author offers model legislation which recognizes the right to receive sunlight for the purpose of providing energy as a property right, and which prohibits acts which deprive an individual of that right. Themore » model bill specifically prohibits construction which interferes with sunlight necessary for solar energy equipment. 71 references.« less

A satellite mobile communication system based on Band-Limited Quasi-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (BLQS-CDMA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Degaudenzi, R.; Elia, C.; Viola, R.

1990-01-01

Discussed here is a new approach to code division multiple access applied to a mobile system for voice (and data) services based on Band Limited Quasi Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (BLQS-CDMA). The system requires users to be chip synchronized to reduce the contribution of self-interference and to make use of voice activation in order to increase the satellite power efficiency. In order to achieve spectral efficiency, Nyquist chip pulse shaping is used with no detection performance impairment. The synchronization problems are solved in the forward link by distributing a master code, whereas carrier forced activation and closed loop control techniques have been adopted in the return link. System performance sensitivity to nonlinear amplification and timing/frequency synchronization errors are analyzed.

Grouping Influences Output Interference in Short-term Memory: A Mixture Modeling Study.

PubMed

Kang, Min-Suk; Oh, Byung-Il

2016-01-01

Output interference is a source of forgetting induced by recalling. We investigated how grouping influences output interference in short-term memory. In Experiment 1, the participants were asked to remember four colored items. Those items were grouped by temporal coincidence as well as spatial alignment: two items were presented in the first memory array and two were presented in the second, and the items in both arrays were either vertically or horizontally aligned as well. The participants then performed two recall tasks in sequence by selecting a color presented at a cued location from a color wheel. In the same-group condition, the participants reported both items from the same memory array; however, in the different-group condition, the participants reported one item from each memory array. We analyzed participant responses with a mixture model, which yielded two measures: guess rate and precision of recalled memories. The guess rate in the second recall was higher for the different-group condition than for the same-group condition; however, the memory precisions obtained for both conditions were similarly degraded in the second recall. In Experiment 2, we varied the probability of the same- and different-group conditions with a ratio of 3 to 7. We expected output interference to be higher in the same-group condition than in the different-group condition. This is because items of the other group are more likely to be probed in the second recall phase and, thus, protecting those items during the first recall phase leads to a better performance. Nevertheless, the same pattern of results was robustly reproduced, suggesting grouping shields the grouped items from output interference because of the secured accessibility. We discussed how grouping influences output interference.

Prevalence of self-medication in Brazil and associated factors.

PubMed

Arrais, Paulo Sérgio Dourado; Fernandes, Maria Eneida Porto; Pizzol, Tatiane da Silva Dal; Ramos, Luiz Roberto; Mengue, Sotero Serrate; Luiza, Vera Lucia; Tavares, Noemia Urruth Leão; Farias, Mareni Rocha; Oliveira, Maria Auxiliadora; Bertoldi, Andréa Dâmaso

2016-12-01

To analyze the prevalence and associated factors regarding the use of medicines by self-medication in Brazil. This cross-sectional population-based study was conducted using data from the PNAUM (National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines), collected between September 2013 and February 2014 by interviews at the homes of the respondents. All people who reported using any medicines not prescribed by a doctor or dentist were classified as self-medication practitioners. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (Poisson regression) and their respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated in order to investigate the factors associated with the use of self-medication by medicines. The independent variables were: sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions and access to and use of health services. In addition, the most commonly consumed medicines by self-medication were individually identified. The self-medication prevalence in Brazil was 16.1% (95%CI 15.0-17.5), with it being highest in the Northeast region (23.8%; 95%CI 21.6-26.2). Following the adjusted analysis, self-medication was observed to be associated with females, inhabitants from the North, Northeast and Midwest regions and individuals that have had one, or two or more chronic diseases. Analgesics and muscle relaxants were the therapeutic groups most used for self-medication, with dipyrone being the most consumed medicines. In general, most of the medicines used for self-medication were classified as non-prescriptive (65.5%). Self-medication is common practice in Brazil and mainly involves the use of non-prescription medicines; therefore, the users of such should be made aware of the possible risks. Analisar a prevalência e os fatores associados à utilização de medicamentos por automedicação no Brasil. Este estudo transversal de base populacional foi realizado com dados da Pesquisa Nacional de Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de medicamentos (PNAUM), coletados de setembro de 2013 a fevereiro de 2014, por meio de entrevistas em domicílio. Todas as pessoas que referiram usar qualquer medicamento sem prescrição por médico ou dentista foram classificadas como praticantes de automedicação. Foram calculadas razões de prevalência bruta e ajustada (regressão de Poisson) e seus respectivos intervalos de confiança de 95% na investigação dos fatores associados ao consumo de medicamentos por automedicação. As variáveis independentes foram: aspectos sociodemográficos, de condições de saúde e de acesso e utilização de serviços de saúde. Adicionalmente, foram identificados os medicamentos mais consumidos por automedicação. A prevalência da automedicação no Brasil foi de 16,1% (IC95% 15,0-17,5), sendo maior na região Nordeste (23,8%; IC95% 21,6-26,2). Após análise ajustada, automedicação mostrou-se associada a ser do sexo feminino, pertencer às faixas etárias 10-19 anos, 20-29 anos, 40-59 anos e 60 anos ou mais, residir na região Norte, Nordeste ou Centro-Oeste, e ter uma ou duas ou mais doenças crônicas. Os analgésicos e os relaxantes musculares foram os grupos terapêuticos mais utilizados por automedicação, sendo a dipirona o fármaco mais consumido. No geral, a maioria dos medicamentos usados por automedicação foram classificados como isentos de prescrição (65,5%). A automedicação é prática corrente no Brasil e envolve, principalmente, o uso de medicamentos isentos de prescrição, devendo os usuários ficarem atentos aos seus possíveis riscos.

Evaluating the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory Using Empirical Factor-Structure Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, George M.; Vallin, Lisa M.

2018-01-01

Many scholars agree on the general theoretical structure of metacognition, which is what informed the development of the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI). Although self-report instruments such as the MAI suffer many threats to validity, they continue to be used in research and practice because of their convenience. With the MAI, studies…

Chemical Compositions and Aroma Evaluation of Volatile Oil from the Industrial Cultivation Medium of Enterococcus faecalis.

PubMed

Ono, Toshirou; Usami, Atsushi; Nakaya, Satoshi; Maeba, Keisuke; Yonejima, Yasunori; Toyoda, Masanori; Ikeda, Atsushi; Miyazawa, Mitsuo

2015-01-01

Enterococcus faecalis is one of the major lactic acid bacterium (LAB) species colonizing the intestines of animals and humans. The characteristic odor of the volatile oils obtained from both the liquid medium after incubation (MAI) and liquid medium before incubation (MBI) in the cultivation process of E. faecalis was investigated to determine the utility of the liquid medium. In total, fifty-six and thirty-two compounds were detected in the volatile oils from the MAI (MAI oil) and MBI (MBI oil), respectively. The principle components of MAI oil were 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (19.3%), phenylacetaldehyde (19.3%), and phenylethyl alcohol (9.3%). The aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) method was performed using gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O). The total number of aroma-active compounds identified in the volatile oil from MBI and MAI was thirteen compounds; in particular, 5-methyl-2-furanmethanol, phenylacetaldehyde, and phenylethyl alcohol were the most primary aroma-active compounds in MAI oil. These results imply that the industrial cultivation medium after incubation of E. faecalis may be utilized as a source of volatile oils.

Interference Analysis for Highly Directional 60 GHz Mesh Networks: The Case for Rethinking Medium Access Control

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-24

Helmken, “Performance analysis of coherent DS - CDMA systems in a Nakagami fading channel with arbitrary parameters,” Vehicular Technology, IEEE...Transactions on, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 289–297, may 1997. [26] M. Sunay and P. McLane, “Calculating error probabilities for DS - CDMA systems: when not to use

Ocean Variability Effects on Underwater Acoustic Communications

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

schemes for accessing wide frequency bands. Compared with OFDM schemes, the multiband MIMO transmission combined with time reversal processing...systems, or multiple- input/multiple-output ( MIMO ) systems, decision feedback equalization and interference cancellation schemes have been integrated...unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 2 MIMO receiver also iterates channel estimation and symbol demodulation with

Nurturing Young Readers: How Digital Media Can Promote Literacy Instead of Undermining It

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guernsey, Lisa; Levine, Michael H.

2016-01-01

Young children today are gaining access to a dizzying array of apps, games, and videos. With all of this digital media at their fingertips, two urgent questions have emerged in preschools and elementary schools: Could technology interfere with the way children learn to read? Or could it help? While questions continue to arise about the challenges…

14 CFR 382.53 - What information must carriers give individuals with a vision or hearing impairment at airports?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... foreign airport, to the extent that this does not interfere with employees' safety and security duties as... individuals with a vision or hearing impairment at airports? 382.53 Section 382.53 Aeronautics and Space... NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Accessibility of Airport Facilities § 382.53 What...

14 CFR 382.53 - What information must carriers give individuals with a vision or hearing impairment at airports?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... foreign airport, to the extent that this does not interfere with employees' safety and security duties as... individuals with a vision or hearing impairment at airports? 382.53 Section 382.53 Aeronautics and Space... NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Accessibility of Airport Facilities § 382.53 What...

14 CFR 382.53 - What information must carriers give individuals with a vision or hearing impairment at airports?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... foreign airport, to the extent that this does not interfere with employees' safety and security duties as... individuals with a vision or hearing impairment at airports? 382.53 Section 382.53 Aeronautics and Space... NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Accessibility of Airport Facilities § 382.53 What...

Recognising the Ordinances of Heaven: The Role of Confucianism in Higher Education Management in the People's Republic of China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Onsman, Andrys

2012-01-01

As part of an ambitious 10-year programme to overhaul and improve its entire education structure, China is currently engaged in developing, reforming and opening up its higher education sector. The stated aims are to increase access, increase resourcing, improve outcomes and lessen direct official interference. Underpinning the programme are…

Bilingual Lexical Access during L1 Sentence Reading: The Effects of L2 Knowledge, Semantic Constraint, and L1-L2 Intermixing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Titone, Debra; Libben, Maya; Mercier, Julie; Whitford, Veronica; Pivneva, Irina

2011-01-01

Libben and Titone (2009) recently observed that cognate facilitation and interlingual homograph interference were attenuated by increased semantic constraint during bilingual second language (L2) reading, using eye movement measures. We now investigate whether cross-language activation also occurs during first language (L1) reading as a function…

The HMI Magnetic Activity Index for Local-Area Helioseismology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogart, Richard S.; Baldner, Charles

2017-08-01

In order to provide context for the mapping of sub-surface flows and thermal structure by local helioseismic techniques and the study of their relation to local magnetic activity, a local Magnetic Activity Index (MAI) was introduced. The MAI provides an appropriate index value corresponding precisely to the extent in space and time of each region analyzed. It is intended to be a measure of the total magnetic flux in the region. Hemispheric averages of the MAI are very well correlated with independent global measures of solar magnetic activity. Improvements in the determination of the MAI from Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) measurements have revealed statistical anomalies affecting a small but significant number of high-cadence (45-sec) magnetograms. We describe modifications to the MAI being explored, the identification and treatment of anomalous magnetic field values, and explore likely causes.

Difference in postural control between patients with functional and mechanical ankle instability.

PubMed

Chen, Henry; Li, Hong-Yun; Zhang, Jian; Hua, Ying-Hui; Chen, Shi-Yi

2014-10-01

Lateral ankle sprain is one of the most common injuries. Since the structural and pathological differences in mechanical ankle instability (MAI) and functional ankle instability (FAI) may not be the same, it may be better to treat these as separate groups. The purpose of this study was to compare the difference in postural sway between MAI and FAI in patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI). Twenty-six patients with CAI and 14 healthy control participants were included in the study. The CAI patients were subdivided into MAI (15 patients) and FAI (11 patients) groups. Patients who were diagnosed with lateral ankle ligaments rupture by magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasonography were assigned to the MAI group. All participants performed single-limb postural sway tests 3 times on each leg with eyes closed and open. The average distances from the mean center of pressure position in the mediolateral and anteroposterior directions were recorded and compared among the 3 groups. The unstable ankles in the MAI group showed significantly greater postural sway in the anterior, posterior, and medial directions compared with those in the control group with eyes closed. With eyes open, significantly greater postural sway was found in the anterior direction. In the FAI group, no difference was found in postural sway compared with those in the control group. The MAI group showed significantly greater postural sway in the anterior direction compared with the FAI group with eyes closed and open. No significant difference in postural sway was found between the unstable and stable ankles in the MAI or FAI groups, with or without vision. Patients with MAI have deficits in postural control, especially in anterior-posterior directions. However, no difference was found in postural sway in patients with FAI compared with healthy people. As MAI patients suffer from deficits in postural control, balance training should be applied in those patients. In addition, special training should also include the contralateral side after a unilateral ankle ligament injured. © The Author(s) 2014.

Implementation and Operational Analysis of an Interactive Intensive Care Unit within a Smart Health Context

PubMed Central

Aguirre, Erik

2018-01-01

In the context of hospital management and operation, Intensive Care Units (ICU) are one of the most challenging in terms of time responsiveness and criticality, in which adequate resource management and signal processing play a key role in overall system performance. In this work, a context aware Intensive Care Unit is implemented and analyzed to provide scalable signal acquisition capabilities, as well as to provide tracking and access control. Wireless channel analysis is performed by means of hybrid optimized 3D Ray Launching deterministic simulation to assess potential interference impact as well as to provide required coverage/capacity thresholds for employed transceivers. Wireless system operation within the ICU scenario, considering conventional transceiver operation, is feasible in terms of quality of service for the complete scenario. Extensive measurements of overall interference levels have also been carried out, enabling subsequent adequate coverage/capacity estimations, for a set of Zigbee based nodes. Real system operation has been tested, with ad-hoc designed Zigbee wireless motes, employing lightweight communication protocols to minimize energy and bandwidth usage. An ICU information gathering application and software architecture for Visitor Access Control has been implemented, providing monitoring of the Boxes external doors and the identification of visitors via a RFID system. The results enable a solution to provide ICU access control and tracking capabilities previously not exploited, providing a step forward in the implementation of a Smart Health framework. PMID:29382148

Medical Entomology Studies - XIII. The Myzomyia Series of Anopheles (Cellia) in Thailand, with Emphasis on Intra-Interspecific Variations (Diptera: Culicidae) (Contributions of the American Entomological Institute. Volume 17, Number 4, 1980)

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-01

pinpoint the collection site as Fang District, Chiang Mai Province in June 1952. However, no specimens confirming the record have been found in the...members of the Myzomyia Series in Thailand were in Barnes (1923a, b), who recorded aconitus from Bangkok and Chiang Mai , culicifacies from Chiang Mai , fluviatilis...as funestus Giles, = listoni Liston) from Bangkok and Chiang Mai and minimus from Bangkok. Barnes (1923b) also contained a key to the

Medical Entomology Studies - IX. The Subgenus Christophersiomyia of the Genus Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae) (Contributions of the American Entomological Institute. Volume 14, Number 2)

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-01-01

22-VI-1975, Peyton and Huang), 3d, 3$ terminalia. THAILAND. Chiang Mai . Chiang Mai (25-V-1952, D. C. and E. B. Thurman), Id, ld terminalia; Doi...the labels with pinned adults from Cambodia read “repos sous bois” and “cascade, for& ” Adults also have been taken at light traps in Chiang Mai , Thailand...Lahore District (1962, D. J. Gould), 17?. THAILAND. Chiang Mai . Hoad, Huay Mae Lon (8-X-1963, Neely, Oonruan and Sahem), 6d, 6d terminalia, 5?, 3

Inflight calibration of the modular airborne imaging spectrometer (MAIS) and its application to reflectance retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Min, Xiangjun; Zhu, Yonghao

1998-08-01

Inflight experiment of Modular Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (MAIS) and ground-based measurements using GER MARK-V spectroradiometer simultaneously with the MAIS overpass were performed during Autumn 1995 at the semiarid area of Inner Mongolia, China. Based on these measurements and MAIS image data, we designed a method for the radiometric calibration of MAIS sensor using 6S and LOWTRAN 7 codes. The results show that the uncertainty of MAIS calibration is about 8% in the visible and near infrared wavelengths (0.4 - 1.2 micrometer). To verify our calibration algorithm, the calibrated results of MAIS sensor was used to derive the ground reflectances. The accuracy of reflectance retrieval is about 8.5% in the spectral range of 0.4 to 1.2 micrometer, i.e., the uncertainty of derived near-nadir reflectances is within 0.01 - 0.05 in reflectance unit at ground reflectance between 3% and 50%. The distinguishing feature of the ground-based measurements, which will be paid special attention in this paper, is that obtaining simultaneously the reflectance factors of the calibration target, atmospheric optical depth, and water vapor abundance from the same one set of measurement data by only one suit of instruments. The analysis indicates that the method presented here is suitable to the quantitative analysis of imaging spectral data in China.

Anisotropic Diffusion Despeckling for High Resolution SAR Images

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

Chiang Mai , Thailand 323 Data Processing B-4.2 Anisotropic Diffusion Despeckling for High...18 324 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand B-4.2 Data Processing 2 NONLINEAR DIFFUSION FILTERING 2.1...edge-enhancing diffusion model is adopted. |)(|1 σϕ ug ∇= 2.02 =ϕ (4) 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand 325 Data

Defense Agencies Initiative Increment 2 (DAI Inc 2)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Defense Agencies Initiative Increment 2 (DAI Inc 2) Defense Acquisition Management...Automated Information System MAIS OE - MAIS Original Estimate MAR – MAIS Annual Report MDA - Milestone Decision Authority MDD - Materiel Development...management systems supporting diverse operational functions and the warfighter in decision making and financial reporting . These disparate, non

PubMed Central

MUZZI, E.; MARCHI, R.; FALZONE, C.; BATTELINO, S.; CICIRIELLO, E.

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Cochlear implantation (CI) is a viable option for providing access to auditory stimulation in severe-to-profound hearing loss/impairment of cochlear origin. It has been demonstrated that CI is safe and effective for deaf children. Younger age at activation after CI is linked with better outcomes. It is important to study variables and issues that can interfere with an early fitting and access to sound after CI. They range from patient characteristics, family compliance and support, to technical, medical or organisational problems. A SWOT analysis and a subsequent TOWS matrix was conducted to discuss issues and propose recommendations to be considered when operating an early switch on of the CI. PMID:27054390

The Effect of Lateral Ankle Ligament Repair in Muscle Reaction Time in Patients with Mechanical Ankle Instability.

PubMed

Li, H-Y; Zheng, J-J; Zhang, J; Hua, Y-H; Chen, S-Y

2015-11-01

Studies have shown that functional ankle instability can result in prolonged muscle reaction time. However, the deficit in muscle reaction time in patients with mechanical ankle instability (MAI) and the effect of lateral ankle ligament repair on muscle reaction time are unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify the deficit in muscle reaction time, and to evaluate the role of lateral ligament repair in improving muscle reaction time in MAI patients. Sixteen MAI patients diagnosed with lateral ankle ligament tears by ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging underwent arthroscopic debridement and open lateral ankle ligament repair with a modified Broström procedure. One day before the operation, reaction times of the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus muscles were recorded following sudden inversion perturbation while walking on a custom walkway, and anterior drawer test (ADT) and American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scale score were evaluated. Six months postoperatively, muscle reaction time, ADT and AOFAS scale score were reevaluated, and muscle reaction times in 15 healthy controls were also recorded. Preoperatively, the affected ankles in the MAI group had significantly delayed tibialis anterior and peroneus longus muscles reaction times compared with controls. Six months after the operation, median AOFAS scale scores were significantly greater than preoperatively, and ADT was negative in the MAI group. However, the affected ankles in the MAI group showed no difference in muscle reaction time compared with preoperative values. MAI patients had prolonged muscle reaction time. The modified Broström procedure produced satisfactory clinical outcomes in MAI patients, but did not shorten reaction times of the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus muscles. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Reduction of Growth Rate as the Major Process in the Miniaturization of the Sand Dollar Sinaechinocyamus mai.

PubMed

Chen, C P; Chao, C M

1997-08-01

Sinaechinocyamus mai is an extremely small sand dollar, the maximum size being 10.9 mm. It has been suggested that Sinaechinocyamus is a miniaturized progenetic sand dollar that closely resembles the juveniles of Scaphechinus. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms responsible for the miniaturization. Our analysis of population dynamics, maturity, and annual reproductive cycles suggests that the growth rates of S. mai are about 19% the growth rates of Scaphechinus mirabilis, which reaches a maximum size of 88 mm. The developmental stages of oral and aboral surfaces were defined on the basis of the number of discontinuous interambulacral plates and the number of tube-foot porepairs, pairs, respectively. The patterns of the oral and aboral surfaces of the two species were compared, both at original size and after the Scaphechinus mirabilis pattern had been reduced to a size proportional to that of S. mai (i.e., to 19% original). On the oral surface, the patterns were different at the original sizes, but similar when the proportional sizes were compared; this indicates that the development of the oral plates is age-dependent in S. mai. On the aboral surface, the patterns were similar at the original sizes, but different in the proportional comparison, indicating that the development of the aboral plates is size-dependent in S. mai. S. mai becomes sexually mature at the age of 2 years, and Scaphechinus mirabilis matures probably at about the same age. Our data suggest that the reduction of growth rate (neoteny) is a more important mechanism of miniaturization in S. mai than is precocious cessation (progenesis).

The analysis of reliability and validity of the IT-MAIS, MAIS and MUSS.

PubMed

Zhong, Yan; Xu, Tianqiu; Dong, Ruijuan; Lyu, Jing; Liu, Bo; Chen, Xueqing

2017-05-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Infant-toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS), Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS), and Meaningful Use of Speech Scale (MUSS). IT-MAIS, MAIS and MUSS were divided into 3 sub dimensions. 300 children with cochlear implants (CI) were included in the investigation. To assess test-retest reliability of these questionnaires, 30 children were selected randomly to be evaluated at a two-week interval indicated that there were no significant changes between test and retest. Furthermore random test analysis by different evaluators was also administered to 30 users. Reliability test: Test-retest reliability of the three scales was proved to be satisfactory. All domains had correlation coefficients that exceeded 0.750(P < 0.01). The Cronbach's α of the three scales and their three domains were greater than 0.700. Reliability between evaluators of the three scales were considered to be satisfactory. All domains had correlation coefficients that exceeded 0.750(P < 0.01). Validity test: The evaluation of content validity by expert review showed the questionnaire had good content validity; The correlation coefficients between the overall scores of the three scales and their three domains were 0.699-0.978(P < 0.01). There were correlations among the three sub-domains but the strength of the correlations was relatively low. There was certain construct validity. IT-MAIS, MAIS, MUSS scales have good reliability and validity, and can be used to measure the outcome for children with cochlear implants hearing and speech evaluation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Age differences in working memory updating: the role of interference, focus switching and substituting information.

PubMed

Lendínez, Cristina; Pelegrina, Santiago; Lechuga, M Teresa

2015-05-01

Working memory updating (WMU) tasks require different elements in working memory (WM) to be maintained simultaneously, accessing one of these elements, and substituting its content. This study examined possible developmental changes from childhood to adulthood both in focus switching and substituting information in WM. In addition, possible age-related changes in interference due to representational overlap between the different elements simultaneously held in these tasks were examined. Children (8- and 11-year-olds), adolescents (14-year-olds) and younger adults (mean age=22 years) were administered a numerical updating memory task, in which updating and focus switching were manipulated. As expected, response times decreased and recall performance increased with age. More importantly, the time needed for focus switching was longer in children than in adolescents and younger adults. On the other hand, substitution of information and interference due to representational overlap were not affected by age. These results suggest that age-related changes in focus switching might mediate developmental changes in WMU performance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

LIDAR Surveys for Road Design in Thailand

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

Chiang Mai , Thailand 167 New Generation of Sensors and Applications A-4.6 LIDAR SURVEYS FOR...Std Z39-18 168 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand A-4.6 New Generation of Sensors and Applications The...the same time on the same platform. 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand 169 New Generation of Sensors and Applications A-4.6

Redescription of Four Oriental Species of Culex (Culiciomyia) and the Description of a New Species from Thailand (Diptera: Culicidae)

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-01-01

Holotype d (05670-6) with associated pupal and larval skins and genitalia slide, rock pool, inside a cave; Chiang Dao, Chiang Mai , THAI- LAND, 11 December...from Chiang Mai , Thailand. Material examined. 104 16 d, 21 9, 45 L; 37 individual rearings (17 larval, 20 pupal). THAILAND. Chiang Mai : Chiang Dao

Characteristic odor components of volatile oil from the cultivation medium of Lactobacillus acidophilus.

PubMed

Ono, Toshirou; Yonejima, Yasunori; Ikeda, Atsushi; Kashima, Yusei; Nakaya, Satoshi; Miyazawa, Mitsuo

2014-01-01

Volatile oils obtained from both the liquid medium after incubation (MAI) and liquid medium before incubation (MBI) in the cultivation process of Lactobacillus acidophilus were isolated by hydrodistillation (HD) and analyzed to investigate the utility of the liquid waste. The composition of the volatile oils was analyzed by capillary gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In total, 46 and 19 compounds were detected in the volatile oils from MAI (MAI oil) and MBI (MBI oil), respectively. The principle components of MAI oil were fatty acids, including pentanoic acid (12.75%), heptanoic acid (14.05%), and nonanoic acid (14.04%). The important aroma-active compounds in the oils were detected by GC-MS/Olfactometry (GC-O), and their intensity of aroma were measured by aroma extraction dilution analysis (AEDA). Pyrazines were determined as key aroma components; in particular, 2-ethyl-5-methylpyrazine was the most primary aroma-active compound in MAI oil. In addition, as the characteristic aroma-active compounds, 3-(methylthio)-propanal, trimethylpyrazine, and pentanoic acid were also detected in MAI oil. These results imply that the waste medium after incubation of L. acidophilus may be utilized as a source of volatile oils.

A study on the co- and adjacent channel protection requirements for mobile satellite ACSSB modulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sydor, John T.

1988-01-01

Samples of speech modulated by narrowband frequency modulation (NBFM) (cellular) and amplitude companded single sideband (ACSSB) radios were subjected to simulated co- and adjacent channel interference environments typical of proposed frequency division multiple access (FDMA) mobile satellite systems. These samples were then listened to by a group of evaluators whose subjective responses to the samples were used to produce a series of graphs showing the relationship between subjective acceptability, carrier to noise density (C/No), carrier to interference ratio (C/I), and frequency offset. The results show that in a mobile satellite environment, ACSSB deteriorates more slowly than NBFM. The co- and adjacent channel protection ratios for both modulation techniques were roughly the same, even though the mechanism for signal deterioration is different.

Achieving nonlinear optical modulation via four-wave mixing in a four-level atomic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hai-Chao; Ge, Guo-Qin; Zubairy, M. Suhail

2018-05-01

We propose an accessible scheme for implementing tunable nonlinear optical amplification and attenuation via a synergetic mechanism of four-wave mixing (FWM) and optical interference in a four-level ladder-type atomic system. By constructing a cyclic atom-field interaction, we show that two reverse FWM processes can coexist via optical transitions in different branches. In the suitable input-field conditions, strong interference effects between the input fields and the generated FWM fields can be induced and result in large amplification and deep attenuation of the output fields. Moreover, such an optical modulation from enhancement to suppression can be controlled by tuning the relative phase. The quantum system can be served as a switchable optical modulator with potential applications in quantum nonlinear optics.

Performance of cellular frequency-hopped spread-spectrum radio networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gluck, Jeffrey W.; Geraniotis, Evaggelos

1989-10-01

Multiple access interference is characterized for cellular mobile networks, in which users are assumed to be Poisson-distributed in the plane and employ frequency-hopped spread-spectrum signaling with transmitter-oriented assignment of frequency-hopping patterns. Exact expressions for the bit error probabilities are derived for binary coherently demodulated systems without coding. Approximations for the packet error probability are derived for coherent and noncoherent systems and these approximations are applied when forward-error-control coding is employed. In all cases, the effects of varying interference power are accurately taken into account according to some propagation law. Numerical results are given in terms of bit error probability for the exact case and throughput for the approximate analyses. Comparisons are made with previously derived bounds and it is shown that these tend to be very pessimistic.

Double-slit experiment in momentum space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, I. P.; Seipt, D.; Surzhykov, A.; Fritzsche, S.

2016-08-01

Young's classic double-slit experiment demonstrates the reality of interference when waves and particles travel simultaneously along two different spatial paths. Here, we propose a double-slit experiment in momentum space, realized in the free-space elastic scattering of vortex electrons. We show that this process proceeds along two paths in momentum space, which are well localized and well separated from each other. For such vortex beams, the (plane-wave) amplitudes along the two paths acquire adjustable phase shifts and produce interference fringes in the final angular distribution. We argue that this experiment can be realized with the present-day technology. We show that it gives experimental access to the Coulomb phase, a quantity which plays an important role in all charged particle scattering but which usual scattering experiments are insensitive to.

Upholding the Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Quandary in Cyberspace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Joanne Elaine; McAloney, Kareena

2010-01-01

Put in place to protect the rights of the child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a set of non-negotiable standards. A core principle underpinning the Convention is the child's right to participate fully in social arenas and to access sources of social support without excessive interference. Juxtaposing this is the right of the child…

The roles of shared vs. distinctive conceptual features in lexical access

PubMed Central

Vieth, Harrison E.; McMahon, Katie L.; de Zubicaray, Greig I.

2014-01-01

Contemporary models of spoken word production assume conceptual feature sharing determines the speed with which objects are named in categorically-related contexts. However, statistical models of concept representation have also identified a role for feature distinctiveness, i.e., features that identify a single concept and serve to distinguish it quickly from other similar concepts. In three experiments we investigated whether distinctive features might explain reports of counter-intuitive semantic facilitation effects in the picture word interference (PWI) paradigm. In Experiment 1, categorically-related distractors matched in terms of semantic similarity ratings (e.g., zebra and pony) and manipulated with respect to feature distinctiveness (e.g., a zebra has stripes unlike other equine species) elicited interference effects of comparable magnitude. Experiments 2 and 3 investigated the role of feature distinctiveness with respect to reports of facilitated naming with part-whole distractor-target relations (e.g., a hump is a distinguishing part of a CAMEL, whereas knee is not, vs. an unrelated part such as plug). Related part distractors did not influence target picture naming latencies significantly when the part denoted by the related distractor was not visible in the target picture (whether distinctive or not; Experiment 2). When the part denoted by the related distractor was visible in the target picture, non-distinctive part distractors slowed target naming significantly at SOA of −150 ms (Experiment 3). Thus, our results show that semantic interference does occur for part-whole distractor-target relations in PWI, but only when distractors denote features shared with the target and other category exemplars. We discuss the implications of these results for some recently developed, novel accounts of lexical access in spoken word production. PMID:25278914

Testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating competing information

PubMed Central

Wahlheim, Christopher N.

2015-01-01

Testing initially learned information before presenting new information has been shown to counteract the deleterious effects of proactive interference by segregating competing sources of information. The present experiments were conducted to demonstrate that testing can also have its effects in part by integrating competing information. Variations of classic A–B, A–D paired-associate learning paradigms were employed that included two lists of word pairs and a cued-recall test. Repeated pairs appeared in both lists (A–B, A–B), control pairs appeared in List 2 only (A–B, C–D), and changed pairs appeared with the same cue in both lists but with different responses (A–B, A–D). The critical manipulation was whether pairs were tested or restudied in an interpolated phase that occurred between Lists 1 and 2. On a final cued-recall test, participants recalled List 2 responses and then indicated when they recollected that responses had earlier changed between lists. The change recollection measure indexed the extent to which competing responses were integrated during List 2. Change was recollected more often for tested than for restudied pairs. Proactive facilitation was obtained in cued recall when change was recollected, whereas proactive interference was obtained when change was not recollected. These results provide evidence that testing counteracted proactive interference in part by making List 1 responses more accessible during List 2, thus promoting integration and increasing later recollection of change. These results have theoretical implications because they show that testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating or segregating competing information. PMID:25120241

17 CFR 240.15Ba1-5 - Amendments to Form MA and Form MA-I.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 4 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Amendments to Form MA and Form MA-I. 240.15Ba1-5 Section 240.15Ba1-5 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... Amendments to Form MA and Form MA-I. (a) When amendment is required—Form MA. A registered municipal advisor...

An Object-Oriented Classification Method on High Resolution Satellite Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand 347 Data Processing B-4.6 AN OBJECT-ORIENTED CLASSIFICATION METHOD ON...unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Proceedings of the 25th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, Held in Chiang Mai , Thailand on 22-26 November 2004...panchromatic (left) and multispectral (right) 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand 349 Data Processing B-4.6 First of all, the

Long Period Seismological Research Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-10-31

in central Asia as observed at the high-gain long- period sites. Preliminary results from observations at Chiang Mai (CHG) show that the complexity...Preliminary results from observations at Chiang Mai (CHG) show that the complexity of the surface wave signals from many events in the Tadzhik-Kirgiz...and receivers. A number of Interesting features can be illustrated by examining portions of three selsmograms recorded at Chiang Mai (CHO

Long-Period Seismological Research Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-06-30

previously gain seismograph stations at Charters Towers, Australia Alaska (FbK), Eilat, Israel (EIL), Chiang Mai , Thailand burg. New Jersey (OGD...digital systems have been operational. On 26 December 1971, the digital technician from Townsville, Australia, was sent to Chiang Mai , Thailand, to work...combined inspection-maintenance trips to ions at Charters Towers, Australia (CTA); Chiang Mai , Thailand a, Hawaii (KIP); and Matsushiro, Japan (MAT). As a

Nonlinear Internal Waves in The South China Sea

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand New Generation of Sensors and Applications A-4.9 NONLINEAR INTERNAL...25th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, Held in Chiang Mai , Thailand on 22-26 November 2004. Copyrighted; Government Purpose Rights License. Published...unclassified c. THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand

JPRS Report, Epidemiology, Aids

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-06

12 Chiang Mai Expert Views AIDS Spread [Bangkok SIAM RAT, 11 Mar 91] .................................. 12 Education, Health Ministries To Cooperate...concern in Lampang Province. been counselled and sent home, was also found to be HIV-infected last month. So far, 11 foreign prostitutes Chiang Mai Expert...Faculty of Medicine at Chiang Mai University, talked about the AIDS situation. He said THAILAND that the actual number of people with AIDS is higher than

Comparison of neural network applications for channel assignment in cellular TDMA networks and dynamically sectored PCS networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hortos, William S.

1997-04-01

The use of artificial neural networks (NNs) to address the channel assignment problem (CAP) for cellular time-division multiple access and code-division multiple access networks has previously been investigated by this author and many others. The investigations to date have been based on a hexagonal cell structure established by omnidirectional antennas at the base stations. No account was taken of the use of spatial isolation enabled by directional antennas to reduce interference between mobiles. Any reduction in interference translates into increased capacity and consequently alters the performance of the NNs. Previous studies have sought to improve the performance of Hopfield- Tank network algorithms and self-organizing feature map algorithms applied primarily to static channel assignment (SCA) for cellular networks that handle uniformly distributed, stationary traffic in each cell for a single type of service. The resulting algorithms minimize energy functions representing interference constraint and ad hoc conditions that promote convergence to optimal solutions. While the structures of the derived neural network algorithms (NNAs) offer the potential advantages of inherent parallelism and adaptability to changing system conditions, this potential has yet to be fulfilled the CAP for emerging mobile networks. The next-generation communication infrastructures must accommodate dynamic operating conditions. Macrocell topologies are being refined to microcells and picocells that can be dynamically sectored by adaptively controlled, directional antennas and programmable transceivers. These networks must support the time-varying demands for personal communication services (PCS) that simultaneously carry voice, data and video and, thus, require new dynamic channel assignment (DCA) algorithms. This paper examines the impact of dynamic cell sectoring and geometric conditioning on NNAs developed for SCA in omnicell networks with stationary traffic to improve the metrics of convergence rate and call blocking. Genetic algorithms (GAs) are also considered in PCS networks as a means to overcome the known weakness of Hopfield NNAs in determining global minima. The resulting GAs for DCA in PCS networks are compared to improved DCA algorithms based on Hopfield NNs for stationary cellular networks. Algorithm performance is compared on the basis of rate of convergence, blocking probability, analytic complexity, and parametric sensitivity to transient traffic demands and channel interference.

Interference from related actions in spoken word production: Behavioural and fMRI evidence.

PubMed

de Zubicaray, Greig; Fraser, Douglas; Ramajoo, Kori; McMahon, Katie

2017-02-01

Few investigations of lexical access in spoken word production have investigated the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in action naming. These are likely to be more complex than the mechanisms involved in object naming, due to the ways in which conceptual features of action words are represented. The present study employed a blocked cyclic naming paradigm to examine whether related action contexts elicit a semantic interference effect akin to that observed with categorically related objects. Participants named pictures of intransitive actions to avoid a confound with object processing. In Experiment 1, body-part related actions (e.g., running, walking, skating, hopping) were named significantly slower compared to unrelated actions (e.g., laughing, running, waving, hiding). Experiment 2 employed perfusion functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural mechanisms involved in this semantic interference effect. Compared to unrelated actions, naming related actions elicited significant perfusion signal increases in frontotemporal cortex, including bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and hippocampus, and decreases in bilateral posterior temporal, occipital and parietal cortices, including intraparietal sulcus (IPS). The findings demonstrate a role for temporoparietal cortex in conceptual-lexical processing of intransitive action knowledge during spoken word production, and support the proposed involvement of interference resolution and incremental learning mechanisms in the blocked cyclic naming paradigm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modern wireless telecommunication technologies and their electromagnetic compatibility with life-supporting equipment.

PubMed

Wallin, Mats K E B; Marve, Therese; Hakansson, Peter K

2005-11-01

Hospitals rely on pagers and ordinary telephones to reach staff members in emergency situations. New telecommunication technologies such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), the third generation mobile phone system Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) might be able to replace hospital pagers if they are electromagnetically compatible with medical devices. In this study, we sought to determine if GPRS, UMTS (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access-Frequency Division Duplex [WCDMA FDD]), and WLAN (IEEE 802.11b) transmitted signals interfere with life-supporting equipment in the intensive care and operating room environment. According to United States standard, ANSI C63.18-1997, laboratory tests were performed on 76 medical devices. In addition, clinical tests during 11 operations and 100 h of intensive care were performed. UMTS and WLAN signals caused little interference. Devices using these technologies can be used safely in critical care areas and during operations, but direct contact between medical devices and wireless communication devices ought to be avoided. In the case of GPRS, at a distance of 50 cm, it caused an older infusion pump to alarm and stop infusing; the pump had to be reset. Also, 10 cases of interference with device displays occurred. GPRS can be used safely at a distance of 1 m. Terminals/cellular phones using these technologies should be allowed without restriction in public areas because the risk of interference is minimal.

Performance of advanced air bags based on data William Lehman Injury Research Center and new NASS PSUs.

PubMed

Augenstein, Jeffrey; Digges, Kennerly

2003-01-01

The Ryder Trauma Center is a Level I trauma center that treats only the most severely injured occupants of vehicle crashes as well as other severe cases of trauma. The center investigates these crashes through funding provided by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the U.S. Department of Transportation-sponsored Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) program. MAIS 3+ nonfatal and fatal injuries comprise approximately 2 percent of the total NASS/CDS cases. Among the Ryder trauma center cases, 50 percent are MAIS 3+ and 25 percent are fatal. If the MAIS 3+ fatal and nonfatal injuries were considered as "failures" and the remaining 98 percent with MAIS 2 or less as successes, this could be equated to the 75 percent failure rate (MAIS 3+ and fatal) in the trauma center cases for analysis purposes. The total database of frontal cases with no rollover consists of 147 drivers with first-generation airbags and 58 cases with second-generation airbags.

Assessment of contamination and misclassification biases in a randomized controlled trial of a social network peer education intervention to reduce HIV risk behaviors among drug users and risk partners in Philadelphia, PA and Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PubMed

Simmons, Nicole; Donnell, Deborah; Ou, San-San; Celentano, David D; Aramrattana, Apinun; Davis-Vogel, Annet; Metzger, David; Latkin, Carl

2015-10-01

Controlled trials of HIV prevention and care interventions are susceptible to contamination. In a randomized controlled trial of a social network peer education intervention among people who inject drugs and their risk partners in Philadelphia, PA and Chiang Mai, Thailand, we tested a contamination measure based on recall of intervention terms. We assessed the recall of test, negative and positive control terms among intervention and control arm participants and compared the relative odds of recall of test versus negative control terms between study arms. The contamination measures showed good discriminant ability among participants in Chiang Mai. In Philadelphia there was no evidence of contamination and little evidence of diffusion. In Chiang Mai there was strong evidence of diffusion and contamination. Network structure and peer education in Chiang Mai likely led to contamination. Recall of intervention materials can be a useful method to detect contamination in experimental interventions.

Factors in the Achievement of Below-Replacement Fertility in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Papers of the East-West Population Institute, Number 96, March 1986.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pardthaisong, Tieng

The study assesses the impact of family planning programs on the fertility of women in the Chiang Mai province of Thailand, where family planning programs were introduced early in 1963. The study documents and estimates the fertility trend of Chiang Mai's population from existing sources of data. A demographic survey, in which a random sample of…

VFM Discrimination Results from a Ten Station Network

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-01

Chiang Mai , Thailand (CHTO) from a presumed explosion in eastern Kazakhstan .................... 24 5. Seismogram written at Tatalina, Alaska, for the same...results for the station located at Chiang Mai , Thailand (CHTO) ... .......... . 55 15c. VFM results for the station located at Zongo Valley, Bolivia...seismogram written at the Seismic Research Observatory (SRO) in Chiang Mai , Thailand (CHTO) from a presumed explosion in eastern Kazakhstan. The top is the

Computer Supported Indexing: A History and Evaluation of NASA's MAI System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silvester, June P.

1997-01-01

Computer supported or machine aided indexing (MAI) can be categorized in multiple ways. The system used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) is described as semantic and computational. It's based on the co-occurrence of domain-specific terminology in parts of a sentence, and the probability that an indexer will assign a particular index term when a given word or phrase is encountered in text. The NASA CASI system is run on demand by the indexer and responds in 3 to 9 seconds with a list of suggested, authorized terms. The system was originally based on a syntactic system used in the late 1970's by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). The NASA mainframe-supported system consists of three components: two programs and a knowledge base (KB). The evolution of the system is described and flow charts illustrate the MAI procedures. Tests used to evaluate NASA's MAI system were limited to those that would not slow production. A very early test indicated that MAI saved about 3 minutes and provided several additional terms for each document indexed. It also was determined that time and other resources spent in careful construction of the KB pay off with high-quality output and indexer acceptance of MAI results.

Measurement of slow-moving along-track displacement from an efficient multiple-aperture SAR interferometry (MAI) stacking

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jo, Min-Jeong; Jung, Hyung-Sup; Won, Joong-Sun; Poland, Michael; Miklius, Asta; Lu, Zhong

2015-01-01

Multiple-aperture SAR interferometry (MAI) has demonstrated outstanding measurement accuracy of along-track displacement when compared to pixel-offset-tracking methods; however, measuring slow-moving (cm/year) surface displacement remains a challenge. Stacking of multi-temporal observations is a potential approach to reducing noise and increasing measurement accuracy, but it is difficult to achieve a significant improvement by applying traditional stacking methods to multi-temporal MAI interferograms. This paper proposes an efficient MAI stacking method, where multi-temporal forward- and backward-looking residual interferograms are individually stacked before the MAI interferogram is generated. We tested the performance of this method using ENVISAT data from Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, where displacement on the order of several centimeters per year is common. By comparing results from the proposed stacking methods with displacements from GPS data, we documented measurement accuracies of about 1.03 and 1.07 cm/year for the descending and ascending tracks, respectively—an improvement of about a factor of two when compared with that from the conventional stacking approach. Three-dimensional surface-displacement maps can be constructed by combining stacked InSAR and MAI observations, which will contribute to a better understanding of a variety of geological phenomena.

Assessing self-efficacy and college readiness level among new undergraduate students in computer science using metacognitive awareness inventory (MAI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Othman, Wan Nor Afiqah Wan; Abdullah, Aziman

2018-04-01

This preliminary study was conducted to address the issue of academic planning skills among new university student. Due to lack of proper measurement mechanism for awareness and readiness among students, this study proposes Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) to assess the connection between student self-efficacy and college readiness. Qualitative and quantitative approach were used by provide an online self-assessment for new student of Faculty of Computer Systems & Software Engineering (FSKKP) and analyse the data respectively. The possible relationships between MAI and College Readiness Item (CRI) in self-assessment has been evaluated. The sample size of 368 respondents from UMP are responding to the online self-assessment. The initial finding shows most student (71%) of the respondent lack of skills in planning. We manage to use Pearson Product-moment correlation coefficient to find the significant relationship between MAI and CRI. Thus, we found that College Readiness provide sufficient evidence that there is a significant correlation with most of MAI items. The findings also indicated not much difference was found between gender in terms of self-efficacy level. This paper suggests the MAI and CRI is a reliable and valid scale to respond the planning skills issues among new university students.

A three-dimensional muscle activity imaging technique for assessing pelvic muscle function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yingchun; Wang, Dan; Timm, Gerald W.

2010-11-01

A novel multi-channel surface electromyography (EMG)-based three-dimensional muscle activity imaging (MAI) technique has been developed by combining the bioelectrical source reconstruction approach and subject-specific finite element modeling approach. Internal muscle activities are modeled by a current density distribution and estimated from the intra-vaginal surface EMG signals with the aid of a weighted minimum norm estimation algorithm. The MAI technique was employed to minimally invasively reconstruct electrical activity in the pelvic floor muscles and urethral sphincter from multi-channel intra-vaginal surface EMG recordings. A series of computer simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of the present MAI technique. With appropriate numerical modeling and inverse estimation techniques, we have demonstrated the capability of the MAI technique to accurately reconstruct internal muscle activities from surface EMG recordings. This MAI technique combined with traditional EMG signal analysis techniques is being used to study etiologic factors associated with stress urinary incontinence in women by correlating functional status of muscles characterized from the intra-vaginal surface EMG measurements with the specific pelvic muscle groups that generated these signals. The developed MAI technique described herein holds promise for eliminating the need to place needle electrodes into muscles to obtain accurate EMG recordings in some clinical applications.

On the frontline of eastern Burma's chronic conflict--listening to the voices of local health workers.

PubMed

Footer, Katherine H A; Meyer, Sarah; Sherman, Susan G; Rubenstein, Leonard

2014-11-01

Globally, attacks on and interferences with health workers and healthcare delivery, including targeted violence towards providers, attacks on hospitals and delays and denial of health care, represent a serious humanitarian and human rights issue. However, gaps in research about these events persist, limiting the evidence base from which to understand and address the problem. This paper focuses on experiences of local health workers in eastern Burma's chronic conflict, including their strategies for addressing security and ensuring access to vulnerable ethnic communities in the region. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in June and August 2012 with 27 health workers from three health organizations that operate throughout eastern Burma, with their operational head quarters located in Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand. Qualitative analysis found that health workers in this setting experience violent and non-violent interferences with their work, and that the Burmese government's military activities in the region have severely impacted access to care, which remains restricted. Data show that innovative security strategies have emerged, including the important role of the community in ensuring securer access to health care. This study underscores health workers' concern for improved data collection to support the rights of health workers to provide health care, and the rights of community members to receive health care in conflict-affected settings. Findings will inform the development of an incident reporting form to improve systematic data collection and documentation of attacks on health in this setting. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electromagnetic malfunction of semiconductor-type electronic personal dosimeters caused by access control systems for radiation facilities.

PubMed

Deji, Shizuhiko; Ito, Shigeki; Ariga, Eiji; Mori, Kazuyuki; Hirota, Masahiro; Saze, Takuya; Nishizawa, Kunihide

2006-08-01

High frequency electromagnetic fields in the 120 kHz band emitted from card readers for access control systems in radiation control areas cause abnormally high and erroneous indicated dose readings on semiconductor-type electronic personal dosimeters (SEPDs). All SEPDs malfunctioned but recovered their normal performance by resetting after the exposure ceased. The minimum distances required to prevent electromagnetic interference varied from 5.0 to 38.0 cm. The electric and magnetic immunity levels ranged from 35.1 to 267.6 V m(-1) and from 1.0 to 16.6 A m(-1), respectively. Electromagnetic immunity levels of SEPDs should be strengthened from the standpoint of radiation protection.

Can a Horse Be a Donkey? Semantic and Form Interference Effects in Translation Recognition in Early and Late Proficient and Nonproficient Spanish-Catalan Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferre, Pilar; Sanchez-Casas, Rosa; Guasch, Marc

2006-01-01

The present study investigates the developmental aspect of the revised hierarchical model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994) concerning the access to the conceptual store from the second language (L2). We manipulated the level of proficiency and age of L2 acquisition. We tested Spanish-Catalan bilinguals (49 early proficient bilinguals, 28 late proficient…

Quadriphase DS-CDMA wireless communication systems employing the generalized detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuzlukov, Vyacheslav

2012-05-01

Probability of bit-error Per performance of asynchronous direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) wireless communication systems employing the generalized detector (GD) constructed based on the generalized approach to signal processing in noise is analyzed. The effects of pulse shaping, quadriphase or direct sequence quadriphase shift keying (DS-QPSK) spreading, aperiodic spreading sequences are considered in DS-CDMA based on GD and compared with the coherent Neyman-Pearson receiver. An exact Per expression and several approximations: one using the characterristic function method, a simplified expression for the improved Gaussian approximation (IGA) and the simplified improved Gaussian approximation are derived. Under conditions typically satisfied in practice and even with a small number of interferers, the standard Gaussian approximation (SGA) for the multiple-access interference component of the GD statistic and Per performance is shown to be accurate. Moreover, the IGA is shown to reduce to the SGA for pulses with zero excess bandwidth. Second, the GD Per performance of quadriphase DS-CDMA is shown to be superior to that of bi-phase DS-CDMA. Numerical examples by Monte Carlo simulation are presented to illustrate the GD Per performance for square-root raised-cosine pulses and spreading factors of moderate to large values. Also, a superiority of GD employment in CDMA systems over the Neyman-Pearson receiver is demonstrated

Are multiple visual short-term memory storages necessary to explain the retro-cue effect?

PubMed

Makovski, Tal

2012-06-01

Recent research has shown that change detection performance is enhanced when, during the retention interval, attention is cued to the location of the upcoming test item. This retro-cue advantage has led some researchers to suggest that visual short-term memory (VSTM) is divided into a durable, limited-capacity storage and a more fragile, high-capacity storage. Consequently, performance is poor on the no-cue trials because fragile VSTM is overwritten by the test display and only durable VSTM is accessible under these conditions. In contrast, performance is improved in the retro-cue condition because attention keeps fragile VSTM accessible. The aim of the present study was to test the assumptions underlying this two-storage account. Participants were asked to encode an array of colors for a change detection task involving no-cue and retro-cue trials. A retro-cue advantage was found even when the cue was presented after a visual (Experiment 1) or a central (Experiment 2) interference. Furthermore, the magnitude of the interference was comparable between the no-cue and retro-cue trials. These data undermine the main empirical support for the two-storage account and suggest that the presence of a retro-cue benefit cannot be used to differentiate between different VSTM storages.

RNA therapeutics: Beyond RNA interference and antisense oligonucleotides

PubMed Central

Kole, Ryszard; Krainer, Adrian R.; Altman, Sidney

2016-01-01

Here we discuss three RNA therapeutic technologies exploiting various oligonucleotides that bind RNA by base-pairing in a sequence-specific manner yet have different mechanisms of action and effects. RNA interference and antisense oligonucleotides downregulate gene expression by enzyme-dependent degradation of targeted mRNA. Steric blocking oligonucleotides block access of cellular machinery to pre-mRNA and mRNA without degrading the RNA. Through this mechanism, blocking oligonucleotides can redirect alternative splicing, repair defective RNA, restore protein production or also downregulate gene expression. Moreover, they can be extensively chemically modified, resulting in more drug-like properties. The ability of RNA blocking oligonucleotides to restore gene function makes them suited for treatment of genetic disorders. Positive results from clinical trials for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy show that this technology is close to realizing its clinical potential. PMID:22262036

Putting the RSTA O&O to the Test: Burma 2004

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-05-01

operations with three international airports (Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai), numerous shipping ports, and an efficient railway. However, there are...interaction with the indigenous population. The urban areas (see Appendix C – Urban Maps) in this AOR include: • Chiang Mai , the third largest city in...The eight bridges connecting the two halves are key terrain. Burmese insurgents have moved into the border areas west of Chiang Mai . In response

Statistical Analysis of Wireless Networks: Predicting Performance in Multiple Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

The demonstration planned for May 2006 is an air, ground, and water- based scenario, occurring just north of Chiang Mai , Thailand. The scenario...will be fused, displayed, and distributed in real-time to local ( Chiang Mai ), theater (Bangkok), and global (Alameda, California) command and control...COASTS 2006 TOPOLOGY The 2006 version of the COASTS project occurred just north of Chiang Mai , Thailand, at the Mae Ngat Dam. COTS systems were

Six New Species of the Culex (Lophoceraomyia) Mammilifer Group from Thailand (Diptera: Culicidae)

DTIC Science & Technology

1967-03-01

Distribution. Known only from the following Provinces in Thai- land: Tak, Nakhon Nayok, and Chiang Mai . Eleven individual c Fig. 2, Culer...Distribution. The authors have seen specimens from the following Provinces in Thailand: Trang, Chiang Mai , Sara Buri, Narathiwat, Phatthalung...male with terminalia and antennae slide mounted from Doi Sutep, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, 7. I. 53, D. C. and E. B. Thurman, deposited in the U

Implementing the Web-based 3D Coast Flood Disaster Simulation System

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

1086 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand D-2.9 GIS Implementing the Web based 3D Coast Flood Disaster...Proceedings of the 25th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, Held in Chiang Mai , Thailand on 22-26 November 2004. Copyrighted; Government Purpose Rights...b. ABSTRACT unclassified c. THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 25th ACRS 2004 Chiang Mai , Thailand

Beyond Lawrence: Ethnographic Intelligence for USSOCOM

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

consulate in Chiang Mai and almost 100 Peace Corps Volunteers throughout the country. The features Mali and Thailand have in common include some of the...Mopti, Timbuktu, and Sikasso; Thai citizens worry about the spread of Wahhabi mosques among the disenfranchised hill tribes north of Chiang Mai (Lintner...in the larger northern Thai cities along their trade routes in Chiang Mai , Chiang Rai, and Fang. Until the 1970s, northern Muslims of Chinese and

Current and Future Challenges for Asian Nonproliferation Export Controls: A Regional Response

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-10-01

degree of financial interdependence was evidenced by the 1997 financial crisis, which resulted in the Chiang Mai + 3 Initiative.ř Intra-company trade...financial crisis, the finance ministers of ASEAN+3 countries (China, Japan, and South Korea) reached agreement on the " Chiang Mai Initiative," which...stability. The Chiang Mai Initiative has contributed to improving exchange rate stability and in doing so may also have contributed to closer regional

Risk factors affecting injury severity determined by the MAIS score.

PubMed

Ferreira, Sara; Amorim, Marco; Couto, Antonio

2017-07-04

Traffic crashes result in a loss of life but also impact the quality of life and productivity of crash survivors. Given the importance of traffic crash outcomes, the issue has received attention from researchers and practitioners as well as government institutions, such as the European Commission (EC). Thus, to obtain detailed information on the injury type and severity of crash victims, hospital data have been proposed for use alongside police crash records. A new injury severity classification based on hospital data, called the maximum abbreviated injury scale (MAIS), was developed and recently adopted by the EC. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the factors that affect injury severity as classified by the MAIS score. In this study, the MAIS score was derived from the International Classification of Diseases. The European Union adopted an MAIS score equal to or greater than 3 as the definition for a serious traffic crash injury. Gains are expected from using both police and hospital data because the injury severities of the victims are detailed by medical staff and the characteristics of the crash and the site of its occurrence are also provided. The data were obtained by linking police and hospital data sets from the Porto metropolitan area of Portugal over a 6-year period (2006-2011). A mixed logit model was used to understand the factors that contribute to the injury severity of traffic victims and to explore the impact of these factors on injury severity. A random parameter approach offers methodological flexibility to capture individual-specific heterogeneity. Additionally, to understand the importance of using a reliable injury severity scale, we compared MAIS with length of hospital stay (LHS), a classification used by several countries, including Portugal, to officially report injury severity. To do so, the same statistical technique was applied using the same variables to analyze their impact on the injury severity classified according to LHS. This study showed the impact of variables, such as the presence of blood alcohol, the use of protection devices, the type of crash, and the site characteristics, on the injury severity classified according to the MAIS score. Additionally, the sex and age of the victims were analyzed as risk factors, showing that elderly and male road users are highly associated with MAIS 3+ injuries. The comparison between the marginal effects of the variables estimated by the MAIS and LHS models showed significant differences. In addition to the differences in the magnitude of impact of each variable, we found that the impact of the road environment variable was dependent on the injury severity classification. The differences in the effects of risk factors between the classifications highlight the importance of using a reliable classification of injury severity. Additionally, the relationship between LHS and MAIS levels is quite different among countries, supporting the previous conclusion that bias is expected in the assessment of risk factors if an injury severity classification other than MAIS is used.

In extremely preterm infants, do the Movement Assessment of Infants and the Alberta Infant Motor Scale predict 18-month outcomes using the Bayley-III?

PubMed

Lefebvre, Francine; Gagnon, Marie-Michèle; Luu, Thuy Mai; Lupien, Geneviève; Dorval, Véronique

2016-03-01

Extremely preterm infants are at high-risk for neurodevelopmental disabilities. The Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI) and the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) have been designed to predict outcome with modest accuracy with the Bayley-I or Bayley-II. To examine and compare the predictive validity of the MAI and AIMS in determining neurodevelopmental outcome with the Bayley-III. Retrospective cohort study of 160 infants born at ≤ 28 weeks gestation. At their corrected age, infants underwent the MAI at 4 months, the AIMS at 4 and 10-12 months, and the Bayley-III and neurological examination at 18 months. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Infants had a mean gestation of 26.3 ± 1.4 weeks and birth weight of 906 ± 207 g. A high-risk score (≥ 14) for adverse outcome was obtained by 57% of infants on the MAI. On the AIMS, a high-risk score (<5th percentile) was obtained by 56% at 4 months and 30% at 10-12 months. At 18 months, infants with low-risk scores on either the MAI or AIMS had higher cognitive, language, and motor Bayley-III scores than those with high-risk scores. They were less likely to have severe neurodevelopmental impairment. To predict Bayley-III scores <70, sensitivity and specificity were 91% and 49%, respectively, for the MAI and 78% and 48%, respectively, for the AIMS. Extremely preterm infants with low-risk MAI at 4 months or AIMS scores at 4 or 10-12 months had better outcomes than those with high-risk scores. However, both tests lack specificity to predict individual neurodevelopmental status at 18 months. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Test and Evaluation of a Prototyped Sensor-Camera Network for Persistent Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance in Support of Tactical Coalition Networking Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

scenarios. The demonstration planned for May 2006, in Chiang Mai , Thailand, will have a first-responder, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism and counter...to local ( Chiang Mai ), theater (Bangkok), and global (Alameda, California) command and control centers. This fusion of information validates using...network performance to be tested during moderate environmental conditions. The third and fourth scenarios were conducted in Chiang Mai , Thailand

Aedes (Finlaya) reinerti, a New Species from Northern Thailand Related to Aedes (Finlaya) formosensis Yamada (Diptera: Culicidae)

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-01

conducted mosquito taxonomic surveys on the tallest mountain in Thailand, Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai Province. During this trip specimens of an Aedes...previously described species that was currently considered a synonym of Ae. f ormosensis. An examination of specimens at AFRIMS collected in Chiang Mai in...Doi Inthanon, Amphoe (District) Chom Thong, Bang Yang, Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand. The type and paratype collections (07850, 07861 and

An Annotated Checklist of the Anopheles of Thailand (Diptera : Culicidae) (Thai National Scientific Papers, Fauna Series Number 2)

DTIC Science & Technology

1968-08-01

workers in 1958 on Doi Suthep mountain near Chiang Mai . Additional specimens in the SEATO collection were made by human biting collections, or...to be restricted to forested hills. The specimens taken in the human biting collections at Chiang Mai \\vere not permitted to engorge, and the biting...ditches, seepages, and sumps. Distribution in Thailand: Ayutthaya, Chanthaburi, Chiang Mai , Chon Buri, Phra Nakhon (Bangkok), Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon

Five Additional New Species of Uranotaenia from Southeast Asia (Diptera: Culicidae)

DTIC Science & Technology

1970-09-01

as holotype, C. Diraphat; 1 male, 2 females, 3 larval skins, 3 pupal skins ( CM133), Suan Mayao, Doi Sutep, Chiang Mai , THAILAND, 28 September 1963...SMRL; 3 females, 3 pupal skins, 3 larval skins, 4 larvae (05668), Doi Sutep, Chiang Mai , THAILAND, 10 December 1969, K. Mongkolpanya; 1 female...CM137), Huey Kheo, Doi Sutep, Chiang Mui, THAILAND, 1 October 1963, S. Esah; 2 larvae (05674)) Ban Tham, Chieng Dao, Chiang Mai , THAILAND, 11 December

Translations on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, Number 276

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-12-16

Text] According to a report by the Radio Thailand correspondent in Chiang Mai Province, at 1000 on 24 November 35 policemen from the Border Police...Patrol of Chiang Mai and of Ban Kiu Thap Yang, Chiang Rai Province, led by Pol Maj Gen Wichai Wichaithanaphat, Zone 3 Border Patrol Police... Chiang Mai on the same day. CSO: 5300 21 THAILAND BANGKOK POLICE ARREST MAJOR HEROIN PROCESSOR Bangkok DAILY TIME in Thai 19 Nov 76 pp 1, 16 BK

Extreme cognitions are associated with diminished ability to use disconfirming evidence.

PubMed

Haigh, Matthew; Dodd, Alyson L

2017-03-01

An Integrative Cognitive Model of mood swings and bipolar disorder proposes that cognitive styles characterized by extreme self-referent appraisals of internal states (e.g., 'If I have a bad night's sleep it means that I am about to have a breakdown') interfere with mood regulation. The aim of this study is to determine whether strong endorsement of such appraisals is predicted by a diminished ability to access disconfirming counterexamples. We examined whether the ability to access two different categories of counterexample (known as Disabling Conditions and Alternative Causes) would predict endorsement of extreme appraisals (measured by the Hypomanic Attitudes and Positive Predictions Inventory; HAPPI) and mania risk (measured by the Hypomanic Personality Scale; HPS). A non-clinical sample of 150 students completed the HAPPI, the HPS and a conditional reasoning task that indexed the ability to access Disabling Conditions and Alternative Causes. Current mood was controlled for using the Internal States Scale. The ability to make use of disabling counterexamples during the reasoning task was inversely related with scores on the HAPPI (r = -.19, p < .05); participants that were less able to make use of disabling counterexamples endorsed extreme self-referent appraisals to a greater extent. There was no association between the use of alternative cause counterexamples and the HAPPI, and no association between either measure of counterexample generation and the HPS. A diminished ability to use disconfirming evidence when reasoning about the world may reinforce problematic cognitive styles such as extreme, personalized appraisals of experience, which can interfere with mood regulation. Problematic cognitive styles such as extreme, personalized appraisals of experience may be reinforced by the inability to produce or access evidence that disconfirms these maladaptive beliefs. This reasoning bias may be associated with cognitive styles underlying psychopathology. There may be clinical utility in exploring the use of disabler generation in psychological interventions, to help disconfirm maladaptive beliefs. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Agroecosystem development of industrial fermentation waste -- characterization of aroma-active compounds from the cultivation medium of Lactobacillus brevis.

PubMed

Ono, Toshirou; Usami, Atsushi; Nakaya, Satoshi; Shinpuku, Hideto; Yonejima, Yasunori; Ikeda, Atsushi; Miyazawa, Mitsuo

2015-01-01

Volatile oils obtained from both the liquid medium after incubation (MAI) and liquid medium before incubation (MBI) during the cultivation process of Lactobacillus brevis were isolated by hydrodistillation (HD) and analyzed to determine the utility of the liquid waste. The composition of the volatile oils was analyzed by capillary gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In total, 55 and 36 compounds were detected in the volatile oils from MAI (MAI oil) and MBI (MBI oil), respectively. The principle components of MAI oil were N-containing compounds, including 2,3-dimethylpyrazine (16, 37.1 %), methylpyrazine (4, 17.1 %). The important aroma-active compounds in the oils were detected by GC-Olfactometry (GC-O), and their intensity of aroma were measured by aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). Expressly, pyrazine compounds were determined as key aroma components; in particular, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and 2,3-dimethylpyrazine were the most primary aroma-active compound in MAI oil. These results imply that the waste medium after incubation of L. brevis may be utilized as a source of volatile oils.

Histopathological diagnosis of eyelid tumors in Chiang Mai University Hospital.

PubMed

Nithithanaphat, Chanut; Ausayakhun, Sakarin; Wiwatwongwana, Damrong; Mahanupab, Pongsak

2014-10-01

To report the histopathological diagnosis ofeyelid tumors and to study the prevalence of eyelid tumors in Chiang Mai University Hospital Chiang Mai, Thailand. A retrospective review of medical and pathological records ofpatients diagnosed as eyelid tumor that underwent histopathological biopsy between January 2007 and December 2013 in Chiang Mai University Hospital was done. Three hundred sixteen cases of eyelid tumors were reviewed. The mean age at diagnosis was 54.2 +/- 19.6 years (range 1 month-99 years), women were 59.5% (n = 188) and men 40.5% (n = 128). The tumor sites were left lower eyelid (27.5%), right upper eyelid (24.4%), right lower eyelid (21.2%), and left upper eyelid (18.7%). There were 204 (64.6%) benign tumors and 112 (35.4%) malignant tumors. Nevi were the most common in benign group (16.4%) and basal cell carcinoma was the most common eyelid malignancy (18.0%). The most common histopathological diagnosis for benign eyelid tumor was nevus, while the most common malignant eyelid tumor was basal cell carcinoma at Chiang Mai University Hospital.

Assessment of contamination and misclassification biases in a randomized controlled trial of a social network peer education intervention to reduce HIV risk behaviors among drug users and risk partners in Philadelphia, PA and Chiang Mai, Thailand

PubMed Central

Simmons, Nicole; Donnell, Deborah; Ou, San-san; Celentano, David D.; Aramrattana, Apinun; Davis-Vogel, Annet; Metzger, David; Latkin, Carl

2015-01-01

Context Controlled trials of educational interventions are susceptible to contamination. Objectives To test a contamination measure based on recall of terms. Main study A randomized controlled trial of a social network peer education intervention among 1,123 injection drug users and risk partners in Philadelphia, PA and Chiang Mai, Thailand. Methods We assessed the recall of test, negative and positive control terms by intervention and control arm participants and compared the relative odds (OR) of recall of test vs. negative control terms between study arms. Results The contamination measure showed good discriminant ability only among participants from Chiang Mai. In Philadelphia there was no evidence of contamination and little evidence of diffusion. In Chiang Mai there was evidence of diffusion and contamination of 4 of 5 terms tested. Conclusions Network structure and peer education in Chiang Mai likely led to contamination. Recall of intervention materials can be a useful method to detect contamination in trials of educational interventions. PMID:25935214

Portable automated imaging in complex ceramics with a microwave interference scanning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goitia, Ryan M.; Schmidt, Karl F.; Little, Jack R.; Ellingson, William A.; Green, William; Franks, Lisa P.

2013-01-01

An improved portable microwave interferometry system has been automated to permit rapid examination of components with minimal operator attendance. Functionalities include stereo and multiplexed, frequency-modulated at multiple frequencies, producing layered volumetric images of complex ceramic structures. The technique has been used to image composite ceramic armor and ceramic matrix composite components, as well as other complex dielectric materials. The system utilizes Evisive Scan microwave interference scanning technique. Validation tests include artificial and in-service damage of ceramic armor, surrogates and ceramic matrix composite samples. Validation techniques include micro-focus x-ray and computed tomography imaging. The microwave interference scanning technique has demonstrated detection of cracks, interior laminar features and variations in material properties such as density. The image yields depth information through phase angle manipulation, and shows extent of feature and relative dielectric property information. It requires access to only one surface, and no coupling medium. Data are not affected by separation of layers of dielectric material, such as outer over-wrap. Test panels were provided by the US Army Research Laboratory, and the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), who with the US Air Force Research Laboratory have supported this work.

Centralized Routing and Scheduling Using Multi-Channel System Single Transceiver in 802.16d

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Hemyari, A.; Noordin, N. K.; Ng, Chee Kyun; Ismail, A.; Khatun, S.

This paper proposes a cross-layer optimized strategy that reduces the effect of interferences from neighboring nodes within a mesh networks. This cross-layer design relies on the routing information in network layer and the scheduling table in medium access control (MAC) layer. A proposed routing algorithm in network layer is exploited to find the best route for all subscriber stations (SS). Also, a proposed centralized scheduling algorithm in MAC layer is exploited to assign a time slot for each possible node transmission. The cross-layer optimized strategy is using multi-channel single transceiver and single channel single transceiver systems for WiMAX mesh networks (WMNs). Each node in WMN has a transceiver that can be tuned to any available channel for eliminating the secondary interference. Among the considered parameters in the performance analysis are interference from the neighboring nodes, hop count to the base station (BS), number of children per node, slot reuse, load balancing, quality of services (QoS), and node identifier (ID). Results show that the proposed algorithms significantly improve the system performance in terms of length of scheduling, channel utilization ratio (CUR), system throughput, and average end to end transmission delay.

INJURY TO THE ENERGY METABOLISM IN PLANTS EXPOSED TO GAMMA RAYS (in Russian)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Metlitskii, L.V.; Sal'kova, E.G.

1961-11-11

To establish whether radiation-induced damage in plants causes primarily a weakening of the oxidation processes or interference with the mechanism of storing energy in a form accessible for biochemical processes, the effect of radiation on the metabolism was examined. Previous tests indicated that irradiation of tubers results in an interference between the respiration and phosphorylase actions, as is the case with animals, microorganisms and certain plants. The problem was studied by exposing garlic bulbs to total gamma -ray doses of 500 and 10,000 r. It was found that the type of tissue had a great effect on the rate ofmore » oxidation of organic acids. The phosphorylase activity is generally reduced by radiation; at 500 r phosphorus is not absorbed but is precipitated in the medium. Complete stoppage of the phosphorylase action by 500 r is due to the fact that garlic does not germinate; this action is depressed to a greater extent by radiation than oxidative processes. It is concluded that one of the chief effects of radiation is interference between oxidation and phosphorylase processes in the tissue because the energy obtained by respiration cannot be utilized completely by the plant cells. (TTT)« less

Using Vegetation Barriers to Improving Wireless Network Isolation and Security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cuiñas, Iñigo; Gómez, Paula; Sánchez, Manuel García; Alejos, Ana Vázquez

The increasing number of wireless LANs using the same spectrum allocation could induce multiple interferences and it also could force the active LANs to continuously retransmit data in order to solve this problem: this solution overloads the spectrum bands as well as collapses the LAN transmission capacity. This upcoming problem can be mitigated by using different techniques, being site shielding one of them. If radio systems could be safeguarded against radiation from transmitters out of the specific network, the frequency reuse is improved and, as a consequence, the number of WLANs sharing the same area may increase maintaining the required quality standards. The proposal of this paper is the use of bushes as a hurdle to attenuate signals from other networks and, so that, to defend the own wireless system from outer interferences. A measurement campaign has been performed in order to test this application of vegetal elements. This campaign was focused on determining the attenuation induced by several specimens of seven different vegetal species. Then, the relation between the induced attenuation and the interference from adjacent networks has been computed in terms of separation between networks. The network protection against outer unauthorized access could be also improved by means of the proposed technique.

Retrieving the axial position of fluorescent light emitting spots by shearing interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schindler, Johannes; Schau, Philipp; Brodhag, Nicole; Frenner, Karsten; Osten, Wolfgang

2016-12-01

A method for the depth-resolved detection of fluorescent radiation based on imaging of an interference pattern of two intersecting beams and shearing interferometry is presented. The illumination setup provides the local addressing of the excitation of fluorescence and a coarse confinement of the excitation volume in axial and lateral directions. The reconstruction of the depth relies on the measurement of the phase of the fluorescent wave fronts. Their curvature is directly related to the distance of a source to the focus of the imaging system. Access to the phase information is enabled by a lateral shearing interferometer based on a Michelson setup. This allows the evaluation of interference signals even for spatially and temporally incoherent light such as emitted by fluorophors. An analytical signal model is presented and the relations for obtaining the depth information are derived. Measurements of reference samples with different concentrations and spatial distributions of fluorophors and scatterers prove the experimental feasibility of the method. In a setup optimized for flexibility and operating in the visible range, sufficiently large interference signals are recorded for scatterers placed in depths in the range of hundred micrometers below the surface in a material with scattering properties comparable to dental enamel.

Retrieving the axial position of fluorescent light emitting spots by shearing interferometry.

PubMed

Schindler, Johannes; Schau, Philipp; Brodhag, Nicole; Frenner, Karsten; Osten, Wolfgang

2016-12-01

A method for the depth-resolved detection of fluorescent radiation based on imaging of an interference pattern of two intersecting beams and shearing interferometry is presented. The illumination setup provides the local addressing of the excitation of fluorescence and a coarse confinement of the excitation volume in axial and lateral directions. The reconstruction of the depth relies on the measurement of the phase of the fluorescent wave fronts. Their curvature is directly related to the distance of a source to the focus of the imaging system. Access to the phase information is enabled by a lateral shearing interferometer based on a Michelson setup. This allows the evaluation of interference signals even for spatially and temporally incoherent light such as emitted by fluorophors. An analytical signal model is presented and the relations for obtaining the depth information are derived. Measurements of reference samples with different concentrations and spatial distributions of fluorophors and scatterers prove the experimental feasibility of the method. In a setup optimized for flexibility and operating in the visible range, sufficiently large interference signals are recorded for scatterers placed in depths in the range of hundred micrometers below the surface in a material with scattering properties comparable to dental enamel.

Fresh market to supermarket: nutrition transition insights from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PubMed

Isaacs, Bronwyn Alison; Dixon, Jane; Banwell, Cathy

2010-06-01

A preliminary investigation into different eating patterns among Thai consumers who shop at fresh markets as opposed to supermarkets in Chiang Mai. A short questionnaire adopted from a previous study was administered to the forty-four participants, who comprised supermarket users, fresh market users and people who consistently shopped at both supermarkets and fresh markets. Participants were recruited within four fresh markets and two food courts attached to supermarkets in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai residents who agreed to participate in the study. Equal numbers were regular fresh market and supermarket users. Initial results suggest an association between shopping at supermarkets and attributing bread with culinary value. Supermarkets may be potentially significant players in the 'nutrition transition', providing Thais more convenient shopping at some cost to their healthy food choices.

The Effects of False Physiological Feedback on Sexual Arousal in Sexually Dysfunctional and Functional Males

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-01

might increase their arousal or lead to orgasm , such as direct clitoral 10 stimulation . Poor sexual skills might also lead to frequent sexual failure and... orgasm . However, cessation of stimulation during the plateau or excitement phases results in eventual return to pre- stimulation levels. The orgasmic ...access to the physical and psychological stimulation that would normally produce heightened sexual arousal and "spontaneous" erection. This interference

Isolation of Cryptococcus gattii from a Castanopsis argyrophylla tree hollow (Mai-Kaw), Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PubMed

Khayhan, Kantarawee; Hagen, Ferry; Norkaew, Treepradab; Puengchan, Tanpalang; Boekhout, Teun; Sriburee, Pojana

2017-04-01

The pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus gattii was isolated from a tree hollow of a Castanopsis argyrophylla King ex Hook.f. (Fagaceae) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Molecular characterization with amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis and multi-locus sequence typing showed that this isolate belonged to genotype AFLP4/VGI representing C. gattii sensu stricto. Subsequent comparison of the environmental isolate with those from clinical samples from Thailand showed that they grouped closely together in a single cluster.

Atmospheric Effects on Signal Propagation in Adverse Environmental Conditions: A Validation of the Advanced Refractive Effects Prediction System

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

65 Figure 30. Chiang Mai , Thailand March Climatology AREPS M-unit graphic. ..............66 Figure 31. Standard Atmosphere AREPS M-unit...experiment as a precursor to the annual capstone field experiment (May and June) at the Mae Ngat Dam north of Chiang Mai , Thailand. COASTS R&D...Motorola 802.16 network components as discussed in Chapter II. Testing occurred approximately 40 km north of Chiang Mai , Thailand, at the Mae Ngat Dam

Contributions to the Mosquito Fauna of Southeast Asia. XV. Genus Aedes Meigen, Subgenus Ayurakitia Thurman

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-01-01

P, 17 L, 11 with asso- ciated skins (5 p, 6 1). All type material except 1 paratype was examined. THAILAND. Chiang Mai : Buak Ha; Doi Sutep Mountain...shaded areas located in secondary deciduous forests; sites were in valleys located in mountainous areas; and at an elevation of 3,920 feet in Chiang Mai Province...aenea Thurman. Adults were col- lected resting among vegetation along a stream in Chiang Mai Province by SEATO Laboratory personnel. Thurman (1954

Implementation of a Modular Fly away Kits (FLAK) for C4ISR in order to counter Asymmetric Threats in the Coalition Riverine and Maritime Theatres

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

integrated scenario tests of the completed FLAK in Chiang Mai , Thailand in May 2006. Measures of Effectiveness and Measures of Performance will be...Royal Thai Air Force Headquarters – Bangkok, Thailand Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center – Alameda, CA IIFC – Chiang Mai , Thailand Figure 22...to the Mae Ngat Dam, 60 kilometers north of Chiang Mai , Thailand was implemented. 2. Network Architecture The network that was designed for

Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. The Royal Thai Air Force

DTIC Science & Technology

1971-09-03

insurgency areas was in northern Thailand, east of Chiang Mai in the provinces of Chiang Rai and Nan. A United States Air Force (USAF) advisor with...Phanom, and U-Tapao. The other five could support conventional and light jet operations. These were: Koke Kathiem, Chiang Mai , Prachuab, Sattahip, and...It had four squadrons, three of which were deployed 11 Up-country 11 • The 11 Up-countri• squadrons were 221 at Chiang Mai , 222 at Ubon, and 223 at

Taxonomic Changes, Revised Occurrence Records and Notes on the Culicidae of Thailand and Neighboring Countries

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-01

Lindesayi Complex were made on the tallest mountain in Thailand, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province. Two of these collec- tions also contained members of...34Le, 28P and 389L) were examined. Chiang Mai , Chom Tong District, Doi Inthanon, collection 07892, 4 July 1978, seep- age bog, 2,540 m,just below...from the following provinces of Thailand: Chiang Mai , Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Narathiwat, Ranung and Trang. 199 5. Aedes (Fin.) jugraensis

Test and Evaluation of MeshDynamics 802.11 Multi-Radio Mesh Modules in Support of Coalition Riverine Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

scenario, occurring just north of Chiang Mai , Thailand at the Mae Ngat Dam. Figure 3 is a map of Thailand and some of its bordering countries...displayed, and distributed in real-time to local ( Chiang Mai ), theater (Bangkok), and global (Alameda and Monterey, CA) Command and Control (C2) 11...systems in support of tactical action scenarios. This year’s COASTS scenario took place at the Mae Ngat Dam, located just north of Chiang Mai , Thailand

Mixed Feelings: East Asia’s Debate about China’s Economic Growth and Regional Integration

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-12-01

to its large subscription and the weighted voting system. Instead of establishing an AMF, Japan and China took part in the multilateral Chiang Mai Initiative...and its damaging impact on trade. Therefore, it too has taken part in the Chiang Mai Initiative. Southeast Asia China remains a minor trade partner for...with the multilateral structure of the Chiang Mai Initiative to manage currency exchange rates than a Japan-dominated AMF. For this reason, they are

Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. COIN in Thailand, January 1969 - December 1970

DTIC Science & Technology

1971-07-01

6,000 Chinese troops were living in the areas where Burma, Laos, and Thailand meet, with an estimated 3,000 in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces of...Consequently, Thai parliament members from Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai complained to the govern- ment about the Chinese opium farming and urged the use...in September 1970 and, after several months of preparation, units were moved to staging areas in Chiang Mai province and later trucked to assembly

JPRS Report, East Asia, Southeast Asia.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-11-22

of 32 coaches and young athletes went to Chiang Mai in Thailand on 23 May 1988 to participate in the Friendship of Peace and the Thai-Lao and Lao...rented for us. We left Nongkhai at 6:45 pm on 23 May, and headed for Chiang Mai via Udorn, Loei, Phitsanulok and Lamphun. On the bus, Mr Nopphadon...introduced us to each other, then we enjoyed dinner on the bus. We arrived in Chiang Mai at 5:50 am the next morning, 24 May 1988. After breakfast

An investigation of interference coordination in heterogeneous network for LTE-Advanced systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasan, M. K.; Ismail, A. F.; H, Aisha-Hassan A.; Abdullah, Khaizuran; Ramli, H. A. M.

2013-12-01

The novel "femtocell" in Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) for LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) set-up will allow Malaysian wireless telecommunication operators (Maxis, Celcom, Digi, U-Mobile, P1, YTL and etc2.) to extend connectivity coverage where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable, particularly indoors of large building complexes. A femtocell is a small-sized cellular base station that encompasses all the functionality of a typical station. It therefore allows a simpler and self-contained deployment including private residences. For the Malaysian service providers, the main attractions of femtocell usage are the improvements to both coverage and capacity. The operators can provide a better service to end-users in turn reduce much of the agitations and complaints. There will be opportunity for new services at reduced cost. In addition, the operator not only benefits from the improved capacity and coverage but also can reduce both capital expenditure and operating expense i.e. alternative to brand new base station or macrocell installation. Interference is a key issue associated with femtocell development. There are a large number of issues associated with interference all of which need to be investigated, identified, quantified and solved. This is to ensure that the deployment of any femtocells will take place successfully. Among the most critical challenges in femtocell deployment is the interference between femtocell-to-macrocell and femtocell-to-femtocell in HetNets. In this paper, all proposed methods and algorithms will be investigated in the OFDMA femtocell system considering HetNet scenarios for LTE-A.

Optical add/drop filter for wavelength division multiplexed systems

DOEpatents

Deri, Robert J.; Strand, Oliver T.; Garrett, Henry E.

2002-01-01

An optical add/drop filter for wavelength division multiplexed systems and construction methods are disclosed. The add/drop filter includes a first ferrule having a first pre-formed opening for receiving a first optical fiber; an interference filter oriented to pass a first set of wavelengths along the first optical fiber and reflect a second set of wavelengths; and, a second ferrule having a second pre-formed opening for receiving the second optical fiber, and the reflected second set of wavelengths. A method for constructing the optical add/drop filter consists of the steps of forming a first set of openings in a first ferrule; inserting a first set of optical fibers into the first set of openings; forming a first set of guide pin openings in the first ferrule; dividing the first ferrule into a first ferrule portion and a second ferrule portion; forming an interference filter on the first ferrule portion; inserting guide pins through the first set of guide pin openings in the first ferrule portion and second ferrule portion to passively align the first set of optical fibers; removing material such that light reflected from the interference filter from the first set of optical fibers is accessible; forming a second set of openings in a second ferrule; inserting a second set of optical fibers into the second set of openings; and positioning the second ferrule with respect to the first ferrule such that the second set of optical fibers receive the light reflected from the interference filter.

Assessing communication accessibility in the university classroom: towards a goal of universal hearing accessibility.

PubMed

Cheesman, Margaret F; Jennings, Mary Beth; Klinger, Lisa

2013-01-01

Measures of accessibility typically focus on the physical environment and aspects relating to getting into and out of spaces. The transient sound environment is less well characterized in typical accessibility measures. Hearing accessibility measures can be based upon physical indices or functional assessment. The physical measures are indices that use signal-to-noise ratios to evaluate audibility while the functional assessment tool adopts universal design for hearing (UDH) principles derived from principles of universal design. The UDH principles include (1) Optimization of the hearing environment for all; (2) Optimization of interactions between persons and objects to promote better hearing in an environment; (3) Optimization of opportunities for people to have multiple choices of interactions with one another; (4) Optimization of opportunities for people to perform different activities in and across environments; (5) Optimization of opportunities for people to have safe, private, and secure use of the environment while minimizing distraction, interference, or cognitive loading; and (6) Optimization of opportunities for people to use the environment without extra steps for hearing access during preparatory, use and/or after use phases. This paper compares the two approaches using case examples from post-secondary classrooms in order to describe the potential advantages and limitations of each.

Role of the chromatin landscape and sequence in determining cell type-specific genomic glucocorticoid receptor binding and gene regulation

PubMed Central

Huska, Matthew R.; Jurk, Marcel; Schöpflin, Robert; Starick, Stephan R.; Schwahn, Kevin; Cooper, Samantha B.; Yamamoto, Keith R.; Thomas-Chollier, Morgane; Vingron, Martin

2017-01-01

Abstract The genomic loci bound by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a hormone-activated transcription factor, show little overlap between cell types. To study the role of chromatin and sequence in specifying where GR binds, we used Bayesian modeling within the universe of accessible chromatin. Taken together, our results uncovered that although GR preferentially binds accessible chromatin, its binding is biased against accessible chromatin located at promoter regions. This bias can only be explained partially by the presence of fewer GR recognition sequences, arguing for the existence of additional mechanisms that interfere with GR binding at promoters. Therefore, we tested the role of H3K9ac, the chromatin feature with the strongest negative association with GR binding, but found that this correlation does not reflect a causative link. Finally, we find a higher percentage of promoter–proximal GR binding for genes regulated by GR across cell types than for cell type-specific target genes. Given that GR almost exclusively binds accessible chromatin, we propose that cell type-specific regulation by GR preferentially occurs via distal enhancers, whose chromatin accessibility is typically cell type-specific, whereas ubiquitous target gene regulation is more likely to result from binding to promoter regions, which are often accessible regardless of cell type examined. PMID:27903902

FBMC receiver for multi-user asynchronous transmission on fragmented spectrum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doré, Jean-Baptiste; Berg, Vincent; Cassiau, Nicolas; Kténas, Dimitri

2014-12-01

Relaxed synchronization and access to fragmented spectrum are considered for future generations of wireless networks. Frequency division multiple access for filter bank multicarrier (FBMC) modulation provides promising performance without strict synchronization requirements contrary to conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). The architecture of a FBMC receiver suitable for this scenario is considered. Carrier frequency offset (CFO) compensation is combined with intercarrier interference (ICI) cancellation and performs well under very large frequency offsets. Channel estimation and interpolation had to be adapted and proved effective even for heavily fragmented spectrum usage. Channel equalization can sustain large delay spread. Because all the receiver baseband signal processing functionalities are proposed in the frequency domain, the overall architecture is suitable for multiuser asynchronous transmission on fragmented spectrum.

Determining River Ice Displacement Using the Differential Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (D-InSAR) technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, T.; Lindenschmidt, K. E.

2016-12-01

Monitoring river ice cover dynamics during the course of winter is necessary to comprehend possible negative effects of ice on anthropogenic systems and natural ecosystems to provide a basis to develop mitigation measures. Due to their large scale and limited accessibility to most places along river banks, especially in northern regions, remote sensing techniques are a suitable approach for monitoring river ice regimes. Additionally, determining the vertical displacements of ice covers due to changes in flow provides an indication of vulnerable areas to initial cracking and breakup of the ice cover. Such information is paramount when deciding on suitable locations for winter road crossing along rivers. A number of RADARSAT-2 (RS-2) beam modes (i.e. Wide Fine, Wide Ultra-Fine, Wide Fine Quad Polarization and Spotlight) and D-InSAR methods were examined in this research to characterize slant range and vertical displacement of ice covers along the Slave River in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Our results demonstrate that the RS-2 Spotlight beam mode, processed by the Multiple Aperture InSAR (MAI) method, outperformed other beam modes and conventional InSAR when characterizing spatio-temporal patterns of ice surface fluctuations. For example, the MAI based Spotlight differential interferogram derived from the January and February 2016 images of the Slave River Delta resulted in a slant range displacement of the ice surface between -3.3 and +3.6 cm (vertical displacement between -4.3 and +4.8 cm), due to the changes in river flow and river ice morphology between the two acquisition dates. It is difficult to monitor the ice movement in early and late winter periods due to the loss of phase coherence and error in phase unwrapping. These findings are consistent with our river ice hydraulic modelling and visual interpretation of the river ice processes under different hydrometeorological conditions and river ice morphology. An extension of this study is planned to incorporate the results of ice cover displacement (rise/drop) to locate areas of initial breakup in an ice jam forecasting system. Keywords: D-InSAR, Mutiple Aperture Radar InSAR (MAI), river ice displacement, RADARSAT-2

Post-abortion care: a women's health initiative to combat unsafe abortion.

PubMed

Greenslade, F C; Mckay, H; Wolf, M; Mclaurin, K

1994-01-01

Improving postabortion care can reduce the negative impact of unsafe abortion. Of the 53 million estimated induced abortions occurring annually about two out of five involve unsafe procedures. About one abortion occurs for every three births annually. 96% of abortions in Africa and 85% of abortions in Latin America are unsafe. About 100,000 to 200,000 women die every year from unsafe abortion, or 1 out of 400 women. Family planning is unavailable to over 120 million women in developing countries who desire contraception. Past moral and political controversies divert attention away from death and injury. The international community can take the opportunity to change affairs by adopting a women's health initiative globally. Improvements are needed in quality of care and accessibility of emergency treatment services. Emergency treatment services are usually only available at the tertiary level of care in urban areas. Poor transportation systems limit access. Access is also impaired by women's attitudes toward treatment centers. Availability of services needs to increased through decentralized centers. Clear protocols and comprehensive, systematic training must be accomplished in tandem with improvements in quality. Provision of technology such as manual vacuum aspiration is cost effective and an easy way to improve quality in primary care or outpatient settings. Unsafe abortion is a byproduct of the failure to provide adequate family planning for prevention of unwanted pregnancy. The obstacles, that interfere with provision of family planning to abortion users, should be removed. These obstacles include providers' lack of understanding of women's needs and motivations, separation between abortion and family planning services, misinformation about contraception following abortion, lack of acknowledgement about unsafe abortion, and women's low status. National and international policies also interfere with provision of contraception. Complete reproductive health care is a necessity for improvement in maternal health and mortality.

Design of a compact static Fourier transform spectrometer in integrated optics based on a leaky loop structure.

PubMed

Martin, Bruno; Morand, Alain; Benech, Pierre; Leblond, Gregory; Blaize, Sylvain; Lerondel, Gilles; Royer, Pascal; Kern, Pierre; Le Coarer, Etienne

2009-01-15

A compact static Fourier transform spectrometer for integrated optics is proposed. It is based on a plane leaky loop structure combined with a plane waveguide. The interference pattern produced in the loop structure leaks outside of it and is guided in the plane waveguide to the photodetector array. This configuration allows one to control the shape of the field pattern at the end of the plane waveguide. A large fringe pattern with a high interference fringe contrast is obtained. A two-dimensional model based on an aperiodic Fourier modal method is used to modelize the coupling between the bent and the plane waveguides, completed with the Helmholtz-Kirchhoff propagation. This concept gives access to plan and compact spectrometers requiring only a single low-cost realization process step. The simulation has been done to realize a spectrometer in glass integrated optics (Deltalambda=6.1 nm at 1500 nm).

Momentum signatures of the Anderson transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanjib, Ghosh

This thesis explores for possible signatures of Anderson localization and the Anderson metal-insulator transition (MIT) in momentum space. We find that an initial plane-wave propagating in a disordered medium exhibits a diffusive background and two interference peaks, the coherent backscattering (CBS) and the coherent forward scattering (CFS) peaks in the momentum distribution. We show, the signatures of Anderson localization and the Anderson transition are encoded in the dynamical properties of the two interference peaks, CBS and CFS. We develop finite-time scaling theory for the angular width of the CBS peak and in the height of the CFS peak. We demonstrate how to extract properties like critical exponent, the mobility edge and signatures of multifractality from this finite-time analysis. These momentum space signatures of the Anderson transition are novel and they promise to be experimental observables for wide range of systems, from cold atoms to classical waves or any wave systems where the momentum distribution is accessible.

Application of differential interference contrast with inverted microscopes to the in vitro perfused nephron.

PubMed

Horster, M; Gundlach, H

1979-12-01

The study of in vitro perfused individual nephron segments requires a microscope which provides: (1) easy access to the specimen for measurement of cellular solute flux and voltage; (2) an image with high resolution and contrast; (3) optical sectioning of the object at different levels; and (4) rapid recording of the morphological phenomena. This paper describes an example of commercially available apparatus meeting the above requirements, and illustrates its efficiency. The microscope is of the inverted type (Zeiss IM 35) equipped with differential-interference-contrast (DIC) with a long working distance, and an automatically controlled camera system. The microscopic image exhibits cellular and intercellular details in the unstained transporting mammalian nephron segments despite their tubular structure and great thickness and makes obvious function-structure correlations (e.g. cell volume changes); luminal and contraluminal cell borders are well resolved for controlled microelectrode impalement.

The role of suppression in figurative language comprehension✩

PubMed Central

Gemsbacher, Morton Ann; Robertson, Rachel R.W.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we describe the crucial role that suppression plays in many aspects of language comprehension. We define suppression as a general, cognitive mechanism, the purpose of which is to attenuate the interference caused by the activation of extraneous, unnecessary, or inappropriate information. We illustrate the crucial role that suppression plays in general comprehension by reviewing numerous experiments. These experiments demonstrate that suppression attenuates interference during lexical access (how word meanings are ‘accessed’), anaphoric reference (how referents for anaphors, like pronouns, are computed), cataphoric reference (how concepts that are marked by devices, such as spoken stress, gain a privileged status), syntactic parsing (how grammatical forms of sentences are decoded), and individual differences in (adult) language comprehension skill. We also review research that suggests that suppression plays a crucial role in the understanding of figurative language, in particular, metaphors, idioms, and proverbs. PMID:25520540

Infection dynamics and molecular identification of metacercariae in cyprinoids from Chiang Mai and Sakon Nakhon Provinces.

PubMed

Wongsawad, Pheravut; Wongsawad, Chalobol

2011-01-01

The infection dynamics of metacercariae were assessed in cyprinoid fish (cyprinoids) from Chiang Mai and Sakon Nakhon Provinces, Thailand, during October 2008 to September 2009. The samples were collected during 3 seasons from rivers and local markets. Metacercarial infection was determined by acid-pepsin digestion and confirmed using HAT-RAPD PCR method. Thirteen and 16 species of cyprinoids were collected from Chiang Mai and Sakon Nakhon with overall prevalences of metacercarial infection of 84.5 and 47.6%, respectively. Haplorchis taichui, Haplorchoides sp, and Centrocestus caninus were found in Chiang Mai and 4 species of metacercariae: H. taichui, Haplorchoides sp, O. viverrini and an unknown trematode species in Sakon Nakhon. H. taichui and Haplorchoides sp metacercariae in 3 species of cyprinoids (Henicorhynchus siamensis, Cyclocheilichthys armatus, Amblyrhynchichthy truncatus) had the highest prevalence (100%) in Chiang Mai, while the highest prevalence (100%) of metacercaria in Sakon Nakhon was Haplorchoides sp in 1 species of cyprinoids (Cyclocheilichthys armatus). The overall prevalence from Chiang Mai Province was highest in the rainy season (95.6%), lower in the hot-dry season (88.1%) and lowest in the cool season (72.5%). In Sakon Nakhon Province the highest prevalence was in the hot-dry season (52.7%), and lower in the rainy and cool season, 44.4% and 43.5%, respectively. The HAT-RAPD profiles confirmed the identity of metacercariae and adult stage of H. taichui, Haplorchoides sp, C. caninus and O. viverrini.

A diary after dinner: How the time of event recording influences later accessibility of diary events.

PubMed

Szőllősi, Ágnes; Keresztes, Attila; Conway, Martin A; Racsmány, Mihály

2015-01-01

Recording the events of a day in a diary may help improve their later accessibility. An interesting question is whether improvements in long-term accessibility will be greater if the diary is completed at the end of the day, or after a period of sleep, the following morning. We investigated this question using an internet-based diary method. On each of five days, participants (n = 109) recorded autobiographical memories for that day or for the previous day. Recording took place either in the morning or in the evening. Following a 30-day retention interval, the diary events were free recalled. We found that participants who recorded their memories in the evening before sleep had best memory performance. These results suggest that the time of reactivation and recording of recent autobiographical events has a significant effect on the later accessibility of those diary events. We discuss our results in the light of related findings that show a beneficial effect of reduced interference during sleep on memory consolidation and reconsolidation.

The impact of target site accessibility on the design of effective siRNAs.

PubMed

Tafer, Hakim; Ameres, Stefan L; Obernosterer, Gregor; Gebeshuber, Christoph A; Schroeder, Renée; Martinez, Javier; Hofacker, Ivo L

2008-05-01

Small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) assemble into RISC, the RNA-induced silencing complex, which cleaves complementary mRNAs. Despite their fluctuating efficacy, siRNAs are widely used to assess gene function. Although this limitation could be ascribed, in part, to variations in the assembly and activation of RISC, downstream events in the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, such as target site accessibility, have so far not been investigated extensively. In this study we present a comprehensive analysis of target RNA structure effects on RNAi by computing the accessibility of the target site for interaction with the siRNA. Based on our observations, we developed a novel siRNA design tool, RNAxs, by combining known siRNA functionality criteria with target site accessibility. We calibrated our method on two data sets comprising 573 siRNAs for 38 genes, and tested it on an independent set of 360 siRNAs targeting four additional genes. Overall, RNAxs proves to be a robust siRNA selection tool that substantially improves the prediction of highly efficient siRNAs.

High throughput parallel backside contacting and periodic texturing for high-efficiency solar cells

DOEpatents

Daniel, Claus; Blue, Craig A.; Ott, Ronald D.

2014-08-19

Disclosed are configurations of long-range ordered features of solar cell materials, and methods for forming same. Some features include electrical access openings through a backing layer to a photovoltaic material in the solar cell. Some features include textured features disposed adjacent a surface of a solar cell material. Typically the long-range ordered features are formed by ablating the solar cell material with a laser interference pattern from at least two laser beams.

Blind Demodulation of Pass Band OFDMA Signals and Jamming Battle Damage Assessment Utilizing Link Adaptation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

Access (OFDMA) signal so that jamming effectiveness can be assessed; referred to in this research as Battle Damage Assessment ( BDA ). The research extends...the 802.16 Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) OFDMA standard, and presents a novel method for performing BDA via observation of Sub Carrier (SC...interferer is also evaluated where the blind demodulator’s performance is degraded. BDA is achieved via observing SC LA modulation behavior of the

Uncoordinated MAC for Adaptive Multi-Beam Directional Networks: Analysis and Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-10

transmission times, hence traditional CSMA approaches are not appropriate. We first present our model of these multi-beamforming capa- bilities and the...resulting wireless interference. We then derive an upper bound on multi-access performance for an idealized version of this physical layer. We then present... transmissions and receptions in a mobile ad-hoc network has in practice led to very constrained topologies. As mentioned, one approach for system design is to de

Speech motor programming in apraxia of speech: evidence from a delayed picture-word interference task.

PubMed

Mailend, Marja-Liisa; Maas, Edwin

2013-05-01

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is considered a speech motor programming impairment, but the specific nature of the impairment remains a matter of debate. This study investigated 2 hypotheses about the underlying impairment in AOS framed within the Directions Into Velocities of Articulators (DIVA; Guenther, Ghosh, & Tourville, 2006) model: The retrieval hypothesis states that access to the motor programs is impaired, and the damaged programs hypothesis states that the motor programs themselves are damaged. The experiment used a delayed picture-word interference paradigm in which participants prepare their response and auditory distracters are presented with the go signal. The overlap between target and distracter words was manipulated (i.e., shared sounds or no shared sounds), and participants' reaction times (RTs) were measured. Participants included 5 speakers with AOS (4 with concomitant aphasia), 2 speakers with aphasia without AOS, and 9 age-matched control speakers. The control speakers showed no effects of distracter type or presence. The speakers with AOS had longer RTs in the distracter condition compared to the no-distracter condition. The speakers with aphasia without AOS were comparable to the control group in their overall RTs and RT pattern. Results provide preliminary support for the retrieval hypothesis, suggesting that access to motor programs may be impaired in speakers with AOS. However, the possibility that the motor programs may also be damaged cannot be ruled out.

Trieu Mai | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20-52409-1. Brinkman, G., P. Denholm, E. Drury, E. Ela, T. Mai, R. Margolis . Brinkman, E. Drury, M. Mowers, and C. Turchi. 2012. Potential Role of Concentrating Solar Power in Enabling

High Sensitivity Analysis of Nanoliter Volumes of Volatile and Nonvolatile Compounds using Matrix Assisted Ionization (MAI) Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoang, Khoa; Pophristic, Milan; Horan, Andrew J.; Johnston, Murray V.; McEwen, Charles N.

2016-10-01

First results are reported using a simple, fast, and reproducible matrix-assisted ionization (MAI) sample introduction method that provides substantial improvements relative to previously published MAI methods. The sensitivity of the new MAI methods, which requires no laser, high voltage, or nebulizing gas, is comparable to those reported for MALDI-TOF and n-ESI. High resolution full acquisition mass spectra having low chemical background are acquired from low nanoliters of solution using only a few femtomoles of analyte. The limit-of-detection for angiotensin II is less than 50 amol on an Orbitrap Exactive mass spectrometer. Analysis of peptides, including a bovine serum albumin digest, and drugs, including drugs in urine without a purification step, are reported using a 1 μL zero dead volume syringe in which only the analyte solution wetting the walls of the syringe needle is used in the analysis.

Mechanical instability destabilises the ankle joint directly in the ankle-sprain mechanism.

PubMed

Gehring, Dominic; Faschian, Katrin; Lauber, Benedikt; Lohrer, Heinz; Nauck, Tanja; Gollhofer, Albert

2014-03-01

Despite massive research efforts, it remains unclear how mechanical ankle instability (MAI) and functional ankle instability (FAI) affect joint control in the situation of ankle sprain. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether individuals with MAI have deficits in stabilising their ankle joint in a close-to-injury situation compared with those with FAI and healthy controls. Ankle-joint control was assessed by means of three-dimensional motion analysis and electromyography in participants with FAI and MAI (n=19), in participants with pure FAI (n=9) and in healthy controls (n=18). Close-to-injury situations were simulated during standing, walking and jumping by means of a custom-made tilt platform. Individuals with FAI and MAI displayed significantly greater maximum ankle inversion angles (+5°) and inversion velocities (+50°/s) in the walking and jumping conditions compared to those with pure FAI and controls. Furthermore, individuals in the FAI and MAI group showed a significantly decreased pre-activation of the peroneus longus muscle during jumping compared to those with FAI. No differences between groups were found for plantar flexion and internal rotation, or for muscle activities following tilting of the platform. The present study demonstrates that MAI is characterised by impairments of ankle-joint control in close-to-injury situations. This could make these individuals more prone to recurrent ankle sprains, and suggests the need for additional mechanical support such as braces or even surgery. In addition, the study highlights the fact that dynamic experimental test conditions in the acting participant are needed to further unravel the mystery of chronic ankle instability.

GROWTH FACTORS AND COX2 IN WOUND HEALING: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY WITH EHRLICH TUMORS.

PubMed

Salgado, Flávio L L; Artigiani-Neto, Ricardo; Lopes-Filho, Gaspar de Jesus

2016-01-01

Healing is an innate biological phenomenon, and carcinogenesis acquired, but with common humoral and cellular elements. Carcinogenesis interferes negatively in healing. To evaluate the histological changes in laparotomy scars of healthy Balb/c mice and with an Ehrlich tumor in its various forms of presentation. Fifty-four mice were divided into three groups of 18 animals. First group was the control; the second had Ehrlich tumor with ascites; and the third had the subcutaneous form of this tumor. Seven days after tumor inoculation, all 54 mice were submitted to laparotomy. All of the animals in the experiment were operated on again on 7th day after surgery, with resection of the scar and subsequent euthanasia of the animal. The scars were sent for histological assessment using immunohistochemical techniques to evaluate Cox-2 (cyclooxygenase 2), VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and FGF (fibroblast growth factor). Semi-quantitatively analysis was done in the laparotomy scars and in the abdominal walls far away from the site of the operation. Assessing the weight of the animals, the correct inoculation of the tumor and weight gain in the group with tumoral ascites was observed. The histological studies showed that groups with the tumor showed a statistically significant higher presence of Cox-2 compared to the control. In the Cox-2 analysis of the abdominal wall, the ascites group showed the most significant difference. VEGF did not present any significant differences between the three groups, regardless of the site. The FGF showed a significant increase in animals with the tumor. Histological findings in both laparotomy scar and the abdominal wall showed that with Ehrlich's neoplasia there was an exacerbated inflammatory response, translated by more intense expression of Cox-2 and greater fibroblast proliferation, translated by more intense expression of FGF, that is, it stimulated both the immediate inflammatory reactions, observed with Cox-2 reactions, and late scarring by fibroblasts and FGF. A cicatrização é fenômeno biológico inato, e a carcinogênese adquirido, mas com elementos humorais e celulares comuns. A carcinogênese interfere de forma negativa na cicatrização. Avaliar as modificações histológicas nas cicatrizes laparotômicas de camundongos Balb/c sadios como controles, e com a neoplasia de Ehrlich, em suas diferentes formas de apresentação. Foram utilizados 54 camundongos, divididos em três grupos de 18 animais cada um. O primeiro era controle; o segundo com a neoplasia de Ehrlich em sua forma ascítica; e o terceiro na forma subcutânea. Sete dias após a inoculação do tumor, todos os 54 camundongos foram submetidos à laparotomia e reoperados no sétimo dia de pós-operatório, com ressecção da cicatriz e posterior eutanásia. As cicatrizes foram encaminhadas para estudo histológico com técnicas imunoistoquímicas para avaliar Cox-2 (ciclo-oxigenase 2), VEGF (fator de crescimento do endotélio vascular) e FGF (fator de crescimento dos fibroblastos) e analisadas de forma semiquantitativana tanto na cicatriz laparotômica como na parede abdominal mais distante do local operado. Avaliando o peso, observou-se a correta inoculação do tumor e o aumento de peso no grupo com a neoplasia na modalidade ascítica. Os estudos histológicos mostraram que os grupos com a neoplasia apresentaram maior presença da Cox-2 em relação ao controle, estatisticamente significante. No estudo da Cox-2 da parede abdominal foi o local em que o grupo ascítico apresentou a diferença mais expressiva. O VEGF não apresentou diferenças significantes entre os três grupos, independentemente do local estudado. O FGF teve aumento significante nos animais com neoplasia. Os achados histológicos encontrados tanto na cicatriz das laparotomias quanto na parede abdominal mostraram que com a neoplasia de Ehrlich houve resposta inflamatória exacerbada, traduzida por expressão mais intensa da Cox-2 e maior proliferação fibroblástica, traduzida por expressão mais intensa do FGF, ou seja, estimulou tanto as reações inflamatórias imediatas, observadas nas reações da Cox-2, como nas cicatriciais tardias com os fibroblastos e o FGF.

Judging the morality of utilitarian actions: How poor utilitarian accessibility makes judges irrational.

PubMed

Kusev, Petko; van Schaik, Paul; Alzahrani, Shrooq; Lonigro, Samantha; Purser, Harry

2016-12-01

Is it acceptable and moral to sacrifice a few people's lives to save many others? Research on moral dilemmas in psychology, experimental philosophy, and neuropsychology has shown that respondents judge utilitarian personal moral actions (footbridge dilemma) as less appropriate than equivalent utilitarian impersonal moral actions (trolley dilemma). Accordingly, theorists (e.g., Greene et al., 2001) have argued that judgments of appropriateness in personal moral dilemmas are more emotionally salient and cognitively demanding (taking more time to be rational) than impersonal moral dilemmas. Our novel findings show an effect of psychological accessibility (driven by partial contextual information; Kahneman, 2003) on utilitarian moral behavior and response time for rational choices. Enhanced accessibility of utilitarian outcomes through comprehensive information about moral actions and consequences boosted utility maximization in moral choices, with rational choices taking less time. Moreover, our result suggests that previous results indicating emotional interference, with rational choices taking more time to make, may have been artifacts of presenting partial information.

Profunda Anchor Technique for Ipsilateral Antegrade Approach in Endovascular Treatment of Superficial Femoral Artery Ostial Occlusion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pua, Uei, E-mail: druei@yahoo.com

Endovascular treatment of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) is challenging in the presence of flush ostial occlusion. One of the main challenges is the availability of access sites for intervention. Contralateral retrograde femoral access followed by cross-over and antegrade intervention while commonly used, may not be feasible in cases of altered iliac anatomy (e.g. kissing iliac stents). Ipsilateral antegrade intervention using common femoral artery (CFA) access in these instances while possible is typically challenging due to inadequate working length of the CFA for interrogation of the SFA ostium, compounded by the lack of sheath stability. The “profunda anchor” technique usesmore » a buddy wire in the profunda femoris artery (PFA) to stabilize the sheath and allow catheter manipulation for antegrade intervention at the level of the SFA ostium. The PFA is further used as a conduit for deployment of closure device to avoid interference with the treated SFA.« less

Accessing the exceptional points of parity-time symmetric acoustics

PubMed Central

Shi, Chengzhi; Dubois, Marc; Chen, Yun; Cheng, Lei; Ramezani, Hamidreza; Wang, Yuan; Zhang, Xiang

2016-01-01

Parity-time (PT) symmetric systems experience phase transition between PT exact and broken phases at exceptional point. These PT phase transitions contribute significantly to the design of single mode lasers, coherent perfect absorbers, isolators, and diodes. However, such exceptional points are extremely difficult to access in practice because of the dispersive behaviour of most loss and gain materials required in PT symmetric systems. Here we introduce a method to systematically tame these exceptional points and control PT phases. Our experimental demonstration hinges on an active acoustic element that realizes a complex-valued potential and simultaneously controls the multiple interference in the structure. The manipulation of exceptional points offers new routes to broaden applications for PT symmetric physics in acoustics, optics, microwaves and electronics, which are essential for sensing, communication and imaging. PMID:27025443

Synthetic, structural mimetics of the β-hairpin flap of HIV-1 protease inhibit enzyme function.

PubMed

Chauhan, Jay; Chen, Shen-En; Fenstermacher, Katherine J; Naser-Tavakolian, Aurash; Reingewertz, Tali; Salmo, Rosene; Lee, Christian; Williams, Emori; Raje, Mithun; Sundberg, Eric; DeStefano, Jeffrey J; Freire, Ernesto; Fletcher, Steven

2015-11-01

Small-molecule mimetics of the β-hairpin flap of HIV-1 protease (HIV-1 PR) were designed based on a 1,4-benzodiazepine scaffold as a strategy to interfere with the flap-flap protein-protein interaction, which functions as a gated mechanism to control access to the active site. Michaelis-Menten kinetics suggested our small-molecules are competitive inhibitors, which indicates the mode of inhibition is through binding the active site or sterically blocking access to the active site and preventing flap closure, as designed. More generally, a new bioactive scaffold for HIV-1PR inhibition has been discovered, with the most potent compound inhibiting the protease with a modest K(i) of 11 μM. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tunable optical frequency comb enabled scalable and cost-effective multiuser orthogonal frequency-division multiple access passive optical network with source-free optical network units.

PubMed

Chen, Chen; Zhang, Chongfu; Liu, Deming; Qiu, Kun; Liu, Shuang

2012-10-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a multiuser orthogonal frequency-division multiple access passive optical network (OFDMA-PON) with source-free optical network units (ONUs), enabled by tunable optical frequency comb generation technology. By cascading a phase modulator (PM) and an intensity modulator and dynamically controlling the peak-to-peak voltage of a PM driven signal, a tunable optical frequency comb source can be generated. It is utilized to assist the configuration of a multiple source-free ONUs enhanced OFDMA-PON where simultaneous and interference-free multiuser upstream transmission over a single wavelength can be efficiently supported. The proposed multiuser OFDMA-PON is scalable and cost effective, and its feasibility is successfully verified by experiment.

Iterative MMSE Detection for MIMO/BLAST DS-CDMA Systems in Frequency Selective Fading Channels - Achieving High Performance in Fully Loaded Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, João Carlos; Souto, Nuno; Cercas, Francisco; Dinis, Rui

A MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error) DS-CDMA (Direct Sequence-Code Division Multiple Access) receiver coupled with a low-complexity iterative interference suppression algorithm was devised for a MIMO/BLAST (Multiple Input, Multiple Output / Bell Laboratories Layered Space Time) system in order to improve system performance, considering frequency selective fading channels. The scheme is compared against the simple MMSE receiver, for both QPSK and 16QAM modulations, under SISO (Single Input, Single Output) and MIMO systems, the latter with 2Tx by 2Rx and 4Tx by 4Rx (MIMO order 2 and 4 respectively) antennas. To assess its performance in an existing system, the uncoded UMTS HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) standard was considered.

Piloting a Text Message-based Social Support Intervention for Patients With Chronic Pain: Establishing Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy.

PubMed

Guillory, Jamie; Chang, Pamara; Henderson, Charles R; Shengelia, Rouzi; Lama, Sonam; Warmington, Marcus; Jowza, Maryam; Waldman, Seth; Gay, Geri; Reid, M Carrington

2015-06-01

To examine preliminarily the effectiveness of a short message service (SMS) text message-based social support intervention for reducing daily pain and pain interference levels, improving affect and perceptions of social support in patients with chronic noncancer pain, and exploring the feasibility of a novel mobile application to track perceptions of pain and pain interference. Participants (17 men, 51 women) from 2 pain clinics in New York City downloaded a pain tracking application (App) on their Smartphone and used it to record twice-daily pain, pain interference, and affect scores over the 4-week study period. Participants were randomly assigned to receive standard care (control) or standard care along with receipt of twice-daily supportive SMS text messages delivered during the second and third week of the study (intervention). Demographic and clinical data were obtained at baseline, and social support measures were administered at baseline and at 4 weeks. Statistical analysis was carried out using general linear mixed models, taking into account variances associated with time of assessments and with patients. The social support intervention reduced perceptions of pain and pain interference and improved positive affect for chronic noncancer pain patients assigned to the intervention condition in comparison with controls. Participants completed approximately 80% of the daily measurements requested. These findings establish the feasibility of collecting daily pain data using a mobile tracking App and provide significant implications and insight into a nuanced approach to reducing the daily experience of pain through mobile technology, especially because of its accessibility.

A Modular Artificial Intelligence Inference Engine System (MAIS) for support of on orbit experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hancock, Thomas M., III

1994-01-01

This paper describes a Modular Artificial Intelligence Inference Engine System (MAIS) support tool that would provide health and status monitoring, cognitive replanning, analysis and support of on-orbit Space Station, Spacelab experiments and systems.

Contributions to the Mosquito Fauna of Southeast Asia. XIV. The Subgenus Stegomyia of Aedes in Southeast Asia I - The Scutellaris Group of Species

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-01-01

2 1, 2 p . I THAILAND. Chiang Mai : Huey Keo (4-H-1953, D. C. Thurman Jr.) Id, Id terminalia. 107/s, REMARKS. There are 3 larval and pupal skin...part of Thailand. In Southeast Asia, it is known from only Chiang Mai , Thailand and is recorded here for the first time from this country. BIOLOGY...1923, Bar- raud), 5d, 59, 1.d terminalia; Punjab: Rawalpindi, Murree, W. Kimal (1922, Gill), Id, 19. THAILAND. Chiang Mai : (4-IV-1953, Thurman), 3d

Formation Dynamics of CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Following Two-Step Layer Deposition.

PubMed

Patel, Jay B; Milot, Rebecca L; Wright, Adam D; Herz, Laura M; Johnston, Michael B

2016-01-07

Hybrid metal-halide perovskites have emerged as a leading class of semiconductors for optoelectronic devices because of their desirable material properties and versatile fabrication methods. However, little is known about the chemical transformations that occur in the initial stages of perovskite crystal formation. Here we follow the real-time formation dynamics of MAPbI3 from a bilayer of lead iodide (PbI2) and methylammonium iodide (MAI) deposited through a two-step thermal evaporation process. By lowering the substrate temperature during deposition, we are able to initially inhibit intermixing of the two layers. We subsequently use infrared and visible light transmission, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence lifetime measurements to reveal the room-temperature transformations that occur in vacuum and ambient air, as MAI diffuses into the PbI2 lattice to form MAPbI3. In vacuum, the transformation to MAPbI3 is incomplete as unreacted MAI is retained in the film. However, exposure to moist air allows for conversion of the unreacted MAI to MAPbI3, demonstrating that moisture is essential in making MAI more mobile and thus aiding perovskite crystallization. These dynamic processes are reflected in the observed charge-carrier lifetimes, which strongly fluctuate during periods of large ion migration but steadily increase with improving crystallinity.

The use of the picture–word interference paradigm to examine naming abilities in aphasic individuals

PubMed Central

Hashimoto, Naomi; Thompson, Cynthia K.

2015-01-01

Background Although naming deficits are well documented in aphasia, on-line measures of naming processes have been little investigated. The use of on-line measures may offer further insight into the nature of aphasic naming deficits that would otherwise be difficult to interpret when using off-line measures. Aims The temporal activation of semantic and phonological processes was tracked in older normal control and aphasic individuals using a picture–word interference paradigm. The purpose of the study was to examine how word interference results can augment and/or corroborate standard language testing in the aphasic group, as well as to examine temporal patterns of activation in the aphasic group when compared to a normal control group. Methods & Procedures A total of 20 older normal individuals and 11 aphasic individuals participated. Detailed measures of each aphasic individual's language and naming skills were obtained. A visual picture–word interference paradigm was used in which the words bore either a semantic, phonological, or no relationship to 25 pictures. These competitor words were presented at stimulus onset asynchronies of −300 ms, +300 ms, and 0 ms. Outcomes & Results Analyses of naming RTs in both groups revealed significant early semantic interference effects, mid-semantic interference effects, and mid-phonological facilitation effects. A matched control-aphasic group comparison revealed no differences in the temporal activation of effects during the course of naming. Partial support for this RT pattern was found in the aphasic naming error pattern. The aphasic group also demonstrated greater SIEs and PFEs compared to the matched control group, which indicated disruptions of the phonological processing stage. Analyses of behavioural performances of the aphasic group corroborated this finding. Conclusions The aphasic naming RTs results were unexpected given the results from the priming literature, which has supported the idea of slowed or reduced patterns of activation in aphasic individuals. However, analyses of naming RTs also confirmed the behavioural finding of a disruption surrounding phonological processes; thus, the analyses of naming latencies offers another potential means of pinpointing breakdowns of lexical access in individuals with aphasia. PMID:26166927

Disorder-Enhanced Dielectric Response of Nanoscale and Mesoscopic Insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onoda, Shigeki; Chern, Chyh-Hong; Murakami, Shuichi; Ogimoto, Yasushi; Nagaosa, Naoto

2006-12-01

Enhancement of the dielectric response of insulators by disorder is theoretically proposed, where the quantum interference of electronic waves through the nanoscale or mesoscopic system and its change due to external perturbations control the polarization. In the disordered case with all the states being localized, the resonant tunneling, which is topologically protected, plays a crucial role, and enhances the dielectric response by a factor 30 40 compared with the pure case. The realization of this idea with accessible materials or structures is also discussed.

Sequential rhodium/palladium catalysis: enantioselective formation of dihydroquinolinones in the presence of achiral and chiral ligands.

PubMed

Zhang, Lei; Qureshi, Zafar; Sonaglia, Lorenzo; Lautens, Mark

2014-12-08

Compatible combinations of achiral and chiral ligands can be used in rhodium/palladium catalysis to achieve highly enantioselective domino reactions. The difference in rates of catalysis and minimal effects of ligand interference confer control in the domino sequence. The "all-in-one" 1,4-conjugate arylation and C-N cross-coupling through sequential Rh/Pd catalysis provides access to enantioenriched dihydroquinolinone building blocks. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Progress toward accurate high spatial resolution actinide analysis by EPMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jercinovic, M. J.; Allaz, J. M.; Williams, M. L.

2010-12-01

High precision, high spatial resolution EPMA of actinides is a significant issue for geochronology, resource geochemistry, and studies involving the nuclear fuel cycle. Particular interest focuses on understanding of the behavior of Th and U in the growth and breakdown reactions relevant to actinide-bearing phases (monazite, zircon, thorite, allanite, etc.), and geochemical fractionation processes involving Th and U in fluid interactions. Unfortunately, the measurement of minor and trace concentrations of U in the presence of major concentrations of Th and/or REEs is particularly problematic, especially in complexly zoned phases with large compositional variation on the micro or nanoscale - spatial resolutions now accessible with modern instruments. Sub-micron, high precision compositional analysis of minor components is feasible in very high Z phases where scattering is limited at lower kV (15kV or less) and where the beam diameter can be kept below 400nm at high current (e.g. 200-500nA). High collection efficiency spectrometers and high performance electron optics in EPMA now allow the use of lower overvoltage through an exceptional range in beam current, facilitating higher spatial resolution quantitative analysis. The U LIII edge at 17.2 kV precludes L-series analysis at low kV (high spatial resolution), requiring careful measurements of the actinide M series. Also, U-La detection (wavelength = 0.9A) requires the use of LiF (220) or (420), not generally available on most instruments. Strong peak overlaps of Th on U make highly accurate interference correction mandatory, with problems compounded by the ThMIV and ThMV absorption edges affecting peak, background, and interference calibration measurements (especially the interference of the Th M line family on UMb). Complex REE bearing phases such as monazite, zircon, and allanite have particularly complex interference issues due to multiple peak and background overlaps from elements present in the activation volume, as well as interferences from fluorescence at a distance from adjacent phases or distinct compositional domains in the same phase. Interference corrections for elements detected during boundary fluorescence are further complicated by X-ray focusing geometry considerations. Additional complications arise from the high current densities required for high spatial resolution and high count precision, such as fluctuations in internal charge distribution and peak shape changes as satellite production efficiency varies from calibration to analysis. No flawless method has yet emerged. Extreme care in interference corrections, especially where multiple and sometime mutual overlaps are present, and maximum care (and precision) in background characterization to account for interferences and curvature (e.g., WDS scan or multipoint regression), are crucial developments. Calibration curves from multiple peak and interference calibration measurements at different concentrations, and iterative software methodologies for incorporating absorption edge effects, and non-linearities in interference corrections due to peak shape changes and off-axis X-ray defocussing during boundary fluorescence at a distance, are directions with significant potential.

Role of the chromatin landscape and sequence in determining cell type-specific genomic glucocorticoid receptor binding and gene regulation.

PubMed

Love, Michael I; Huska, Matthew R; Jurk, Marcel; Schöpflin, Robert; Starick, Stephan R; Schwahn, Kevin; Cooper, Samantha B; Yamamoto, Keith R; Thomas-Chollier, Morgane; Vingron, Martin; Meijsing, Sebastiaan H

2017-02-28

The genomic loci bound by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a hormone-activated transcription factor, show little overlap between cell types. To study the role of chromatin and sequence in specifying where GR binds, we used Bayesian modeling within the universe of accessible chromatin. Taken together, our results uncovered that although GR preferentially binds accessible chromatin, its binding is biased against accessible chromatin located at promoter regions. This bias can only be explained partially by the presence of fewer GR recognition sequences, arguing for the existence of additional mechanisms that interfere with GR binding at promoters. Therefore, we tested the role of H3K9ac, the chromatin feature with the strongest negative association with GR binding, but found that this correlation does not reflect a causative link. Finally, we find a higher percentage of promoter-proximal GR binding for genes regulated by GR across cell types than for cell type-specific target genes. Given that GR almost exclusively binds accessible chromatin, we propose that cell type-specific regulation by GR preferentially occurs via distal enhancers, whose chromatin accessibility is typically cell type-specific, whereas ubiquitous target gene regulation is more likely to result from binding to promoter regions, which are often accessible regardless of cell type examined. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

LTE-advanced random access mechanism for M2M communication: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mustafa, Rashid; Sarowa, Sandeep; Jaglan, Reena Rathee; Khan, Mohammad Junaid; Agrawal, Sunil

2016-03-01

Machine Type Communications (MTC) enables one or more self-sufficient machines to communicate directly with one another without human interference. MTC applications include smart grid, security, e-Health and intelligent automation system. To support huge numbers of MTC devices, one of the challenging issues is to provide a competent way for numerous access in the network and to minimize network overload. In this article, the different control mechanisms for overload random access are reviewed to avoid congestion caused by random access channel (RACH) of MTC devices. However, past and present wireless technologies have been engineered for Human-to-Human (H2H) communications, in particular, for transmission of voice. Consequently the Long Term Evolution (LTE) -Advanced is expected to play a central role in communicating Machine to Machine (M2M) and are very optimistic about H2H communications. Distinct and unique characteristics of M2M communications create new challenges from those in H2H communications. In this article, we investigate the impact of massive M2M terminals attempting random access to LTE-Advanced all at once. We discuss and review the solutions to alleviate the overload problem by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). As a result, we evaluate and compare these solutions that can effectively eliminate the congestion on the random access channel for M2M communications without affecting H2H communications.

ROBOTIC ASSISTED SINGLE SITE FOR BILATERAL INGUINAL HERNIA REPAIR.

PubMed

Bosi, Henrique Rasia; Guimarães, José Ricardo; Cavazzola, Leandro Totti

2016-01-01

The inguinal hernia is one of the most frequent surgical diseases, being frequent procedure and surgeon´s everyday practice. To present technical details in making hernioplasty using robotic equipment on bilateral inguinal hernia repair with single port and preliminary results with the method. The bilateral inguinal hernia repair was performed by using the Single-Site(c) Da Vinci Surgical Access Platform to the abdominal cavity and the placement of clamps. This technique proved to be effective for inguinal hernia and have more aesthetic result when compared to other techniques. Inguinal hernia repair robot-assisted with single-trocar is feasible and effective. However, still has higher costs needing surgical team special training. A hérnia inguinal é uma das doenças cirúrgicas mais frequentes, tornando-a procedimento frequente e do cotidiano do cirurgião. Apresentar detalhes da técnica da hernioplastia inguinal bilateral robótica por single-site e resultados preliminares com o método. Foi realizada hernioplastia inguinal bilateral assistida por robô, utilizando-se da Vinci Single-Site(c) Surgical Platform para acesso a cavidade abdominal e colocação das pinças. Esta técnica demonstrou-se efetiva para correção da hérnia inguinal, além de apresentar melhor resultado estético quando comparado às outras técnicas. A hernioplastia inguinal assistida por robô com trocarte único é viável e eficaz. Contudo, ainda apresenta custos mais elevados e necessidade de treinamento especial por parte da equipe cirúrgica.

Burden of injury of serious road injuries in six EU countries.

PubMed

Weijermars, Wendy; Bos, Niels; Filtness, Ashleigh; Brown, Laurie; Bauer, Robert; Dupont, Emmanuelle; Martin, Jean Louis; Perez, Katherine; Thomas, Pete

2018-02-01

Information about the burden of (non-fatal) road traffic injury is very useful to further improve road safety policy. Previous studies calculated the burden of injury in individual countries. This paper estimates and compares the burden of non-fatal serious road traffic injuries in six EU countries/regions: Austria, Belgium, England, The Netherlands, the Rhône region in France and Spain. It is a cross-sectional study based on hospital discharge databases. of study are patients hospitalized with MAIS3+ due to road traffic injuries. The burden of injury (expressed in years lived with disability (YLD)) is calculated applying a method that is developed within the INTEGRIS study. The method assigns estimated disability information to the casualties using the EUROCOST injury classification. The average burden per MAIS3+ casualty varies between 2.4 YLD and 3.2 YLD per casualty. About 90% of the total burden of injury of MAIS3+ casualties is due to lifelong consequences that are experienced by 19% to 33% of the MAIS3+ casualties. Head injuries, spinal cord injuries and injuries to the lower extremities are responsible for more than 90% of the total burden of MAIS3+ road traffic injuries. Results per transport mode differ between the countries. Differences between countries are mainly due to differences in age distribution and in the distribution over EUROCOST injury groups of the casualties. The analyses presented in this paper can support further improvement of road safety policy. Countermeasures could for example be focused at reducing skull and brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and injuries to the lower extremities, as these injuries are responsible for more than 90% of the total burden of injury of MAIS3+ casualties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neoadjuvant Interdigitated Chemoradiotherapy Using Mesna, Doxorubicin, and Ifosfamide for Large, High-grade, Soft Tissue Sarcomas of the Extremity: Improved Efficacy and Reduced Toxicity.

PubMed

Chowdhary, Mudit; Sen, Neilayan; Jeans, Elizabeth B; Miller, Luke; Batus, Marta; Gitelis, Steven; Wang, Dian; Abrams, Ross A

2018-05-18

Patients with large, high-grade extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS) are at high risk for both local and distant recurrence. RTOG 95-14, using a regimen of neoadjuvant interdigitated chemoradiotherapy with mesna, doxorubicin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine followed by surgery and 3 cycles of adjuvant mesna, doxorubicin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine, demonstrated high rates of disease control at the cost of significant toxicity (83% grade 4, 5% grade 5). As such, this regimen has not been widely adopted. Herein, we report our institutional outcomes utilizing a modified interdigitated chemoradiotherapy regimen, without dacarbazine, and current radiotherapy planning and delivery techniques for high-risk STS. Adults with large (≥5 cm; median, 12.9 cm), grade 3 extremity STS who were prospectively treated as part of our institutional standard of care from 2008 to 2016 are included. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy consisted of 3 cycles of mesna, doxorubicin, and ifosfamide (MAI) and 44 Gy (22 Gy in 11 fractions between cycles of MAI) after which patients underwent surgical resection and received 3 additional cycles of MAI. Twenty-six patients received the MAI treatment protocol. At a median follow-up of 47.3 months, 23 (88.5%) patients are still alive. Three year locoregional recurrence-free survival, disease-free survival, and overall survival are 95.0%, 64.0%, and 95.0%, respectively. There have been no therapy-related deaths or secondary malignancies. The nonhematologic grade 4 toxicity rate was 7.7%. Neoadjuvant interdigitated MAI radiotherapy followed by resection and 3 cycles of adjuvant MAI has resulted in acceptable and manageable toxicity and highly favorable survival in patients at greatest risk for treatment failure.

Implementation of Medical Assistance in Dying: A Scoping Review of Health Care Providers' Perspectives.

PubMed

Fujioka, Jamie K; Mirza, Raza M; McDonald, P Lynn; Klinger, Christopher A

2018-06-01

With the growing interest in Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), understanding health care professionals' roles and experiences in handling requests is necessary to evaluate the quality, consistency, and efficacy of current practices. This scoping review sought to map the existing literature on health care providers' perspectives of their involvement in MAiD. A scoping review was conducted to address the following: 1) What are the roles of diverse health care professionals in the provision of MAiD? and 2) What professional challenges arise when confronted with MAiD requests? A literature search in electronic databases and gray literature sources was performed. Articles were screened, and a thematic content analysis synthesized key findings. After evaluating 1715 citations and 148 full-text papers, 33 articles were included. Perspectives of nurses (n = 10), physicians (n = 7), mental health providers (n = 7), pharmacists (n = 4), social workers (n = 3), and medical examiners (n = 1) were explored. Professional roles included consulting/supporting patients and/or other staff members with requests, assessing eligibility, administering/dispensing the lethal drugs, providing aftercare to bereaved relatives, and regulatory oversight. Challenges included lack of clear guidelines/protocols, role ambiguity, evaluating capacity/consent, conscientious objection, and lack of interprofessional collaboration. Evidence from various jurisdictions highlighted a need for clear guidelines and protocols that define each profession's role, scope of practice, and legal boundaries for MAiD. Comprehensive models of care that incorporate multidisciplinary teams alongside improved clinician education may be effective to support MAiD implementation. Little is known about health care providers' perspectives in handling requests, especially outside physician practice and nursing. Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Free access to medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases in Brazil.

PubMed

Tavares, Noemia Urruth Leão; Luiza, Vera Lucia; Oliveira, Maria Auxiliadora; Costa, Karen Sarmento; Mengue, Sotero Serrate; Arrais, Paulo Sergio Dourado; Ramos, Luiz Roberto; Farias, Mareni Rocha; Pizzol, Tatiane da Silva Dal; Bertoldi, Andréa Dâmaso

2016-12-01

To analyze the free access to medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases in the Brazilian population, according to demographic and socioeconomic factors. We also analyzed the most used pharmacological groups, according to funding source: free-of-charge or out-of-pocket paid. Analysis of data from the Pesquisa Nacional sobre Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos (PNAUM - National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines), a population-based household survey, of cross-sectional design, based on probabilistic sample of the Brazilian population. We analyzed as outcome the prevalence of free access (free-of-charge) to all medicines for treatment of the reported chronic diseases, in the last 30 days. We studied the following independent variables: sex, age group, education in complete years of school, economic class, health plan, and geographical region of residence. We estimated the prevalences and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) and applied the Pearson's Chi-squared test to assess the differences between the groups, considering a 5% significance level. About half of adults and older adults who have had full access to the treatment of chronic diseases in Brazil obtained all needed medicines for free (47.5%; 95%CI 45.1-50.0). The prevalences of free access were higher among men (51.4%; 95%CI 48.1-54.8), age group of 40-59 years (51.1%; 95%CI 48.1-54.2), and in the poorest social classes (53.9%; 95%CI 50.2-57.7). The majority of medicines that act on the cardiovascular system, such as diuretics (C03) (78.0%; 95%CI 75.2-80.5), beta-blockers (C07) (62.7%; 95%CI 59.4-65.8), and the agents that work in the renin-angiotensin system (C09) (73.4%; 95%CI 70.8-75.8), were obtained for free. Medicines that act on the respiratory system, such as agents against obstructive airway diseases (R03) (60.0%; 95%CI 52.7-66.9) were mostly paid with own resources. Free access to medicines for treatment of chronic diseases occurs to a considerable portion of the Brazilian population, especially for the poorest ones, indicating decreased socioeconomic inequalities, but with differences between regions and between some classes of medicines. Analisar o acesso gratuito ao tratamento medicamentoso para doenças crônicas na população brasileira, segundo fatores socioeconômicos e demográficos. Analisaram-se também os grupos farmacológicos mais utilizados, segundo fonte de financiamento: gratuito ou pago do próprio bolso. Análise de dados oriundos da Pesquisa Nacional sobre Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos (PNAUM), inquérito domiciliar de base populacional, de delineamento transversal, baseado em amostra probabilística da população brasileira. O desfecho analisado foi a prevalência de acesso gratuito (sem pagamento) a todos os medicamentos para tratamento das doenças crônicas referidas, nos últimos 30 dias. As variáveis independentes investigadas foram: sexo, faixa etária, escolaridade em anos completos de estudo, classe econômica, plano de saúde e região geográfica de residência. Foram estimadas as prevalências e calculados intervalos de 95% de confiança (IC95%) e aplicado o teste Qui-quadrado de Pearson para avaliação das diferenças entre os grupos, considerando nível de significância de 5%. Cerca de metade dos adultos e idosos que tiveram acesso total ao tratamento de doenças crônicas no Brasil obtiveram todos os medicamentos que necessitavam gratuitamente (47,5%; IC95% 45,1-50,0). As prevalências de acesso gratuito foram maiores entre os homens (51,4%; IC95% 48,1-54,8), na faixa etária de 40-59 anos (51,1%; IC95% 48,1-54,2) e nas classes sociais mais pobres (53,9%; IC95% 50,2-57,7). Grande parte dos medicamentos que atuam no sistema cardiovascular, como os diuréticos (C03) (78,0%; IC95% 75,2-80,5), betabloqueadores (C07) (62,7%; IC95% 59,4-65,8) e os agentes que atuam no sistema renina-angiotensina (C09) (73,4%; IC95% 70,8-75,8) foram obtidos de forma gratuita. Os medicamentos que atuam no sistema respiratório como os agentes contra doenças obstrutivas das vias aéreas (R03) (60,0%; IC95% 52,7-66,9) foram na sua maioria pagos do próprio bolso. O acesso gratuito aos medicamentos para tratamento das doenças crônicas ocorre para uma considerável parcela da população brasileira, principalmente para os mais pobres, indicando diminuição das desigualdades socioeconômicas, mas com diferenças regionais e entre algumas classes de medicamentos.

Beyond a mask and against the bottleneck: retroactive dual-task interference during working memory consolidation of a masked visual target.

PubMed

Nieuwenstein, Mark; Wyble, Brad

2014-06-01

While studies on visual memory commonly assume that the consolidation of a visual stimulus into working memory is interrupted by a trailing mask, studies on dual-task interference suggest that the consolidation of a stimulus can continue for several hundred milliseconds after a mask. As a result, estimates of the time course of working memory consolidation differ more than an order of magnitude. Here, we contrasted these opposing views by examining if and for how long the processing of a masked display of visual stimuli can be disturbed by a trailing 2-alternative forced choice task (2-AFC; a color discrimination task or a visual or auditory parity judgment task). The results showed that the presence of the 2-AFC task produced a pronounced retroactive interference effect that dissipated across stimulus onset asynchronies of 250-1,000 ms, indicating that the processing elicited by the 2-AFC task interfered with the gradual consolidation of the earlier shown stimuli. Furthermore, this interference effect occurred regardless of whether the to-be-remembered stimuli comprised a string of letters or an unfamiliar complex visual shape, and it occurred regardless of whether these stimuli were masked. Conversely, the interference effect was reduced when the memory load for the 1st task was reduced, or when the 2nd task was a color detection task that did not require decision making. Taken together, these findings show that the formation of a durable and consciously accessible working memory trace for a briefly shown visual stimulus can be disturbed by a trailing 2-AFC task for up to several hundred milliseconds after the stimulus has been masked. By implication, the current findings challenge the common view that working memory consolidation involves an immutable central processing bottleneck, and they also make clear that consolidation does not stop when a stimulus is masked. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Myelin Associated Inhibitors: A Link Between Injury-Induced and Experience-Dependent Plasticity

PubMed Central

Akbik, Feras; Cafferty, William B. J.; Strittmatter, Stephen M.

2011-01-01

SUMMARY In the adult, both neurologic recovery and anatomical growth after a CNS injury are limited. Two classes of growth inhibitors, myelin associated inhibitors (MAIs) and extracellular matrix associated inhibitors, limit both functional recovery and anatomical rearrangements in animal models of spinal cord injury. Here we focus on how MAIs limit a wide spectrum of growth that includes regeneration, sprouting, and plasticity in both the intact and lesioned CNS. Three classic myelin associated inhibitors, Nogo-A, MAG, and OMgp, signal through their common receptors, Nogo-66 Receptor-1 (NgR1) and Paired-Immunoglobulin-like-Receptor-1 (PirB), to regulate cytoskeletal dynamics and inhibit growth. Initially described as inhibitors of axonal regeneration, subsequent work has demonstrated that MAIs also limit activity and experience-dependent plasticity in the intact, adult CNS. MAIs therefore represent a point of convergence for plasticity that limits anatomical rearrangements regardless of the inciting stimulus, blurring the distinction between injury studies and more “basic” plasticity studies. PMID:21699896

Recent HIV Testing Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men in Bangkok and Chiang Mai: HIV Testing and Prevention Strategies Must Be Enhanced in Thailand.

PubMed

Johnston, Lisa G; Steinhaus, Mara C; Sass, Justine; Sirinirund, Petchsri; Lee, Catherine; Benjarattanaporn, Patchara; Gass, Robert

2016-09-01

HIV infection among men who have sex with men, particularly in Thai urban settings and among younger cohorts, is escalating. HIV testing and counseling (HTC) are important for prevention and obtaining treatment and care. We examine data from a 2013 survey of males, 15-24 years, reporting past-year sex with a male and living in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Almost three quarters of young MSM (YMSM) in Bangkok and only 27 % in Chiang Mai had an HIV test in the previous year. Associations for HIV testing varied between cities, although having employment increased the odds of HIV testing for both cities. In Bangkok, family knowledge of same sex attraction and talking to parents/guardians about HIV/AIDS had higher odds of HIV testing. Expanded HTC coverage is needed for YMSM in Chiang Mai. All health centers providing HTC, including those targeting MSM, need to address the specific needs of younger cohorts.

Solvent and Intermediate Phase as Boosters for the Perovskite Transformation and Solar Cell Performance

PubMed Central

Kim, Jinhyun; Hwang, Taehyun; Lee, Sangheon; Lee, Byungho; Kim, Jaewon; Jang, Gil Su; Nam, Seunghoon; Park, Byungwoo

2016-01-01

High power conversion efficiency and device stabilization are two major challenges for CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) perovskite solar cells to be commercialized. Herein, we demonstrate a diffusion-engineered perovskite synthesis method using MAI/ethanol dipping, and compared it to the conventional synthesis method from MAI/iso-propanol. Diffusion of MAI/C2H5OH into the PbCl2 film was observed to be more favorable than that of MAI/C3H7OH. Facile perovskite conversion from ethanol and highly-crystalline MAPbI3 with minimized impurities boosted the efficiency from 5.86% to 9.51%. Additionally, we further identified the intermediates and thereby the reaction mechanisms of PbCl2 converting into MAPbI3. Through straightforward engineering to enhance the surface morphology as well as the crystallinity of the perovskite with even faster conversion, an initial power conversion efficiency of 11.23% was obtained, in addition to superior stability after 30 days under an ambient condition. PMID:27156481

Managed care: rationing without justice, but not unjustly.

PubMed

Buchanan, A

1998-08-01

Three ethical criticisms of managed care are often voiced: (1) by "skimming the cream" of the patient population, managed care organizations fail to discharge their obligations to improve access, or at least, to not worsen it; (2) managed care organizations engage in rationing, thereby depriving patients of care to which they are entitled; and (3) by pressuring physicians to ration care, managed care organizations interfere with physicians' fulfillment of their fiduciary obligations to provide the best care for each patient. This article argues that each of these criticisms is misconceived. The first rests on the false assumption that the health care system includes a workable division of responsibility regarding access that assigns obligations concerning access to managed care organizations. The second and third criticisms wrongly assume that we in the United States have taken the first step toward assuring equitable access to care for all, articulating a standard for what counts as an "adequate level of care" to which all are entitled. These three misguided criticisms obscure the most fundamental ethical flaw of managed care: the fact that it operates in an institutional setting within which no connection can be made between the activity of rationing and the basic requirements of justice.

CK-MB mass test in ischemic myocardial injury. Comparison of two tests: BioMerieux Vidas and sanofi access immunoassays.

PubMed

Poirey, S; Polge, A; Bertinchant, J P; Bancel, E; Boyer, J C; Fabbro-Peray, P; de Bornier, B M; Ledermann, B; Bonnier, M; Bali, J P

2000-01-01

The analytical and clinical performances of the new fluorescent immunoassay (CK-MB mass Vidas-BioMerieux) were examined and compared to the chemiluminescent test (CK-MB mass Access-Sanofi-Pasteur). Assay precisions of the CK-MB Vidas test within-assay or between-assay were less than 5.4 and 5.3%, respectively. Linearity was tested up to 214 microg/L. The CK-MB Vidas test was free of interference with CK-BB, CK-MM, and macro-CK. One hundred nineteen blood samples from patients with ischemic myocardial injury (IMI): acute myocardial infarction (AMI), suspected myocardial contusion (SMC), and unstable angina pectoris (UA), were tested using both immunoassays. In AMI, a good correlation was found (Y [CK-MB Access] = 1.1372 x [CK-MB Vidas] - 6.3902; r(2) = 0.96). In UA and SMC, low values were observed and both methods were well correlated (Y [CK-MB Access] = 1.3662 x [CK-MB Vidas] + 0.0671; r(2) = 0.97). Clinical data were in good agreement with both immunoassays. ROC analysis performed in AMI demonstrated that the clinical performances of the two assays were similar. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Study of Ceratopogonidae of Medical Importance in Thailand.

DTIC Science & Technology

northern provinces; Chiang Mai , Chiang Rai and Phrae where the average rainfall is 1290 mm. Here collecting sites are near villages surrounded by rice...Culicoides species collected in Chiang Mai , Chiang Rai and Phrae were 22, 19 and 17 respectively with greater numbers of Culicoides homotomus, gemellus

The medication appropriateness index at 20: where it started, where it has been, and where it may be going.

PubMed

Hanlon, Joseph T; Schmader, Kenneth E

2013-11-01

Potentially inappropriate prescribing for older adults is a major public health concern. While there are multiple measures of potentially inappropriate prescribing, the medication appropriateness index (MAI) is one of the most common implicit approaches published in the scientific literature. The objective of this narrative review is to describe findings regarding the MAI's reliability, comparison of the MAI with other quality measures of potentially inappropriate prescribing, its predictive validity with important health outcomes, and its responsiveness to change within the framework of randomized controlled trials. A search restricted to English-language literature involving humans aged 65+ years from January 1992 to June 2013 was conducted using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases using the search term 'medication appropriateness index'. A manual search of the reference lists from identified articles and the authors' article files, book chapters, and recent reviews was conducted to identify additional articles. A total of 26 articles were identified for inclusion in this narrative review. The main findings were that the MAI has acceptable inter- and intra-rater reliability, it more frequently detects potentially inappropriate prescribing than a commonly used set of explicit criteria, it predicts adverse health outcomes, and it is able to demonstrate the positive impact of interventions to improve this public health problem. We conclude that the MAI may serve as a valuable tool for measuring potentially inappropriate prescribing in older adults.

An International Menopause Society study of vasomotor symptoms in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PubMed

Sriprasert, I; Pantasri, T; Piyamongkol, W; Suwan, A; Chaikittisilpa, S; Sturdee, D; Gupta, P; Hunter, M S

2017-04-01

To examine relationships between location, demographics, lifestyle, beliefs, and experience of hot flushes and night sweats (HFNS) amongst women living in two cities in Thailand. Cross-sectional study of peri- and postmenopausal women, aged 45-55 years, from Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Participants completed questionnaires (demographics, health, HFNS (prevalence, frequency and problem-rating) and beliefs about menopause). A sub-sample of women from each location was interviewed. A total of 632 women (320 Bangkok and 312 Chiang Mai) aged 50.88 (standard deviation 3.06) years, took part. The prevalence of HFNS was 65%, average HFNS frequency 8.7 (10.8) per week and problem rating 4.3/10. Women from Chiang Mai had significantly more problematic HFNS, but prevalence and frequency were similar in both sites. Poor general health predicted HFNS prevalence and frequency, while Chiang Mai location, HFNS frequency, age, diet and beliefs about menopause were associated with problematic HFNS. Location remained significant after controlling for education, occupation and age; location was partially explained by beliefs. Qualitative interview responses illustrated the differences in beliefs about menopause between locations. HFNS reports are prevalent with moderate frequency and problem-ratings in these urban centers in Thailand. The results will be included in the broader International Menopause Society study of Climate, Altitude and Temperature (IMS-CAT) of the impact of climate on HFNS.

Traditional beliefs about pregnancy and child birth among women from Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

PubMed

Liamputtong, Pranee; Yimyam, Susanha; Parisunyakul, Sukanya; Baosoung, Chavee; Sansiriphun, Nantaporn

2005-06-01

To examine women's embodied knowledge of pregnancy and birth, women's explanations of precautions during pregnancy and birth and preparations for easy birth and the role of a traditional midwife in a Thai birthing care. In-depth interviews relating to traditional and changed beliefs and practices of pregnancy and childbirth with Thai women in Northern Thailand. Chiang Mai city and Mae On sub-district in Chiang Mai province, Northern Thailand. 30 Thai women living in Chiang Mai in Thailand. The social meaning of childbirth in Thai culture is part of the larger social system, which involves the woman, her family, the community, society and the supernatural world. Traditional beliefs and practices in Thai culture clearly aim to preserve the life and well-being of a new mother and her baby. It seems that traditional childbirth practices have not totally disappeared in northern Thailand, but have gradually diminished. Women's social backgrounds influence traditional beliefs and practices. The traditions are followed by most rural and some urban poor women in Chiang Mai. The findings of this study may assist health professionals to better understand women from different cultures. It is important to recognise many factors discussed in this paper within the context of Thai lives and traditions. This will prevent misunderstanding and, consequently, encourage more sensitive pregnancy and birthing care for pregnant women.

Mapping site index and volume increment from forest inventory, Landsat, and ecological variables in Tahoe National Forest, California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Huang, Shengli; Ramirez, Carlos; Conway, Scott; Kennedy, Kama; Kohler, Tanya; Liu, Jinxun

2016-01-01

High-resolution site index (SI) and mean annual increment (MAI) maps are desired for local forest management. We integrated field inventory, Landsat, and ecological variables to produce 30 m SI and MAI maps for the Tahoe National Forest (TNF) where different tree species coexist. We converted species-specific SI using adjustment factors. Then, the SI map was produced by (i) intensifying plots to expand the training sets to more climatic, topographic, soil, and forest reflective classes, (ii) using results from a stepwise regression to enable a weighted imputation that minimized the effects of outlier plots within classes, and (iii) local interpolation and strata median filling to assign values to pixels without direct imputations. The SI (reference age is 50 years) map had an R2 of 0.7637, a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 3.60, and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 3.07 m. The MAI map was similarly produced with an R2 of 0.6882, an RMSE of 1.73, and a MAE of 1.20 m3·ha−1·year−1. Spatial patterns and trends of SI and MAI were analyzed to be related to elevation, aspect, slope, soil productivity, and forest type. The 30 m SI and MAI maps can be used to support decisions on fire, plantation, biodiversity, and carbon.

Temporal attention for visual food stimuli in restrained eaters.

PubMed

Neimeijer, Renate A M; de Jong, Peter J; Roefs, Anne

2013-05-01

Although restrained eaters try to limit their food intake, they often fail and indulge in exactly those foods that they want to avoid. A possible explanation is a temporal attentional bias for food cues. It could be that for these people food stimuli are processed relatively efficiently and require less attentional resources to enter awareness. Once a food stimulus has captured attention, it may be preferentially processed and granted prioritized access to limited cognitive resources. This might help explain why restrained eaters often fail in their attempts to restrict their food intake. A Rapid Serial Visual Presentation task consisting of dual and single target trials with food and neutral pictures as targets and/or distractors was administered to restrained (n=40) and unrestrained (n=40) eaters to study temporal attentional bias. Results indicated that (1) food cues did not diminish the attentional blink in restrained eaters when presented as second target; (2) specifically restrained eaters showed an interference effect of identifying food targets on the identification of preceding neutral targets; (3) for both restrained and unrestrained eaters, food cues enhanced the attentional blink; (4) specifically in restrained eaters, food distractors elicited an attention blink in the single target trials. In restrained eaters, food cues get prioritized access to limited cognitive resources, even if this processing priority interferes with their current goals. This temporal attentional bias for food stimuli might help explain why restrained eaters typically have difficulties maintaining their diet rules. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the Time Course of Accessing Meaning in a Second Language: An Electrophysiological and Behavioral Investigation of Translation Recognition

PubMed Central

Guo, Taomei; Misra, Maya; Tam, Joyce W.; Kroll, Judith F.

2012-01-01

In 2 experiments, relatively proficient Chinese–English bilinguals decided whether Chinese words were the correct translations of English words. Critical trials were those on which incorrect translations were related in lexical form or meaning to the correct translation. In Experiment 1, behavioral interference was revealed for both distractor types, but event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed a different time course for the 2 conditions. Semantic distractors elicited effects primarily on the N400 and late positive component (LPC), with a smaller N400 and a smaller LPC over the posterior scalp but a larger LPC over the anterior scalp relative to unrelated controls. In contrast, translation form distractors elicited a larger P200 and a larger LPC than did unrelated controls. To determine whether the translation form effects were enabled by the relatively long, 750-ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between words, a 2nd ERP experiment was conducted using a shorter, 300-ms, SOA. The behavioral results revealed interference for both types of distractors, but the ERPs again revealed different loci for the 2 effects. Taken together, the data suggest that proficient bilinguals activate 1st-language translations of words in the 2nd language after they have accessed the meaning of those words. The implications of this pattern for claims about the nature of cross-language activation when bilinguals read in 1 or both languages are discussed. PMID:22686844

A fast and high-sensitive dual-wavelength diffuse optical tomography system using digital lock-in photon-counting technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weiting; Yi, Xi; Zhao, Huijuan; Gao, Feng

2014-09-01

We presented a novel dual-wavelength diffuse optical imaging system which can perform 2-D or 3-D imaging fast and high-sensitively for monitoring the dynamic change of optical parameters. A newly proposed lock-in photon-counting detection method was adopted for week optical signal collection, which brought in excellent property as well as simplified geometry. Fundamental principles of the lock-in photon-counting detection were elaborately demonstrated, and the feasibility was strictly verified by the linearity experiment. Systemic performance of the prototype set up was experimentally accessed, including stray light rejection and inherent interference. Results showed that the system possessed superior anti-interference capability (under 0.58% in darkroom) compared with traditional photon-counting detection, and the crosstalk between two wavelengths was lower than 2.28%. For comprehensive assessment, 2-D phantom experiments towards relatively large dimension model (diameter of 4cm) were conducted. Different absorption targets were imaged to investigate detection sensitivity. Reconstruction image under all conditions was exciting, with a desirable SNR. Study on image quality v.s. integration time put forward a new method for accessing higher SNR with the sacrifice of measuring speed. In summary, the newly developed system showed great potential in promoting detection sensitivity as well as measuring speed. This will make substantial progress in dynamically tracking the blood concentration distribution in many clinical areas, such as small animal disease modeling, human brain activity research and thick tissues (for example, breast) diagnosis.

High-frequency guided ultrasonic waves to monitor corrosion thickness loss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fromme, Paul; Bernhard, Fabian; Masserey, Bernard

2017-02-01

Corrosion due to adverse environmental conditions can occur for a range of industrial structures, e.g., ships and offshore oil platforms. Pitting corrosion and generalized corrosion can lead to the reduction of the strength and thus degradation of the structural integrity. The nondestructive detection and monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can be achieved using high frequency guided ultrasonic waves propagating along the structure. Using standard ultrasonic transducers with single sided access to the structure, the two fundamental Lamb wave modes were selectively generated simultaneously, penetrating through the complete thickness of the structure. The wave propagation and interference of the guided wave modes depends on the thickness of the structure. Numerical simulations were performed using a 2D Finite Difference Method (FDM) algorithm in order to visualize the guided wave propagation and energy transfer across the plate thickness. Laboratory experiments were conducted and the wall thickness reduced initially uniformly by milling of the steel structure. Further measurements were conducted using accelerated corrosion in salt water. From the measured signal change due to the wave mode interference, the wall thickness reduction was monitored and good agreement with theoretical predictions was achieved. Corrosion can lead to non-uniform thickness reduction and the influence of this on the propagation of the high frequency guided ultrasonic waves was investigated. The wave propagation in a steel specimen with varying thickness was measured experimentally and the influence on the wave propagation characteristics quantified.

Towards a Cognitive Radar: Canada's Third-Generation High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) for Surveillance of the 200 Nautical Mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

PubMed

Ponsford, Anthony; McKerracher, Rick; Ding, Zhen; Moo, Peter; Yee, Derek

2017-07-07

Canada's third-generation HFSWR forms the foundation of a maritime domain awareness system that provides enforcement agencies with real-time persistent surveillance out to and beyond the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Cognitive sense-and-adapt technology and dynamic spectrum management ensures robust and resilient operation in the highly congested High Frequency (HF) band. Dynamic spectrum access enables the system to simultaneously operate on two frequencies on a non-interference and non-protected basis, without impacting other spectrum users. Sense-and-adapt technologies ensure that the system instantaneously switches to a new vacant channel on the detection of another user or unwanted jamming signal. Adaptive signal processing techniques mitigate against electrical noise, interference and clutter. Sense-and-adapt techniques applied at the detector and tracker stages maximize the probability of track initiation whilst minimizing the probability of false or otherwise erroneous track data.

Comparison of digital signal-signal beat interference compensation techniques in direct-detection subcarrier modulation systems.

PubMed

Li, Zhe; Erkilinc, M Sezer; Galdino, Lidia; Shi, Kai; Thomsen, Benn C; Bayvel, Polina; Killey, Robert I

2016-12-12

Single-polarization direct-detection transceivers may offer advantages compared to digital coherent technology for some metro, back-haul, access and inter-data center applications since they offer low-cost and complexity solutions. However, a direct-detection receiver introduces nonlinearity upon photo detection, since it is a square-law device, which results in signal distortion due to signal-signal beat interference (SSBI). Consequently, it is desirable to develop effective and low-cost SSBI compensation techniques to improve the performance of such transceivers. In this paper, we compare the performance of a number of recently proposed digital signal processing-based SSBI compensation schemes, including the use of single- and two-stage linearization filters, an iterative linearization filter and a SSBI estimation and cancellation technique. Their performance is assessed experimentally using a 7 × 25 Gb/s wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) single-sideband 16-QAM Nyquist-subcarrier modulation system operating at a net information spectral density of 2.3 (b/s)/Hz.

Accessing High Spatial Resolution in Astronomy Using Interference Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbonel, Cyril; Grasset, Sébastien; Maysonnave, Jean

2018-04-01

In astronomy, methods such as direct imaging or interferometry-based techniques (Michelson stellar interferometry for example) are used for observations. A particular advantage of interferometry is that it permits greater spatial resolution compared to direct imaging with a single telescope, which is limited by diffraction owing to the aperture of the instrument as shown by Rueckner et al. in a lecture demonstration. The focus of this paper, addressed to teachers and/or students in high schools and universities, is to easily underline both an application of interferometry in astronomy and stress its interest for resolution. To this end very simple optical experiments are presented to explain all the concepts. We show how an interference pattern resulting from the combined signals of two telescopes allows us to measure the distance between two stars with a resolution beyond the diffraction limit. Finally this work emphasizes the breathtaking resolution obtained in state-of-the-art instruments such as the VLTi (Very Large Telescope interferometer).

Solvable four-state Landau-Zener model of two interacting qubits with path interference

DOE PAGES

Sinitsyn, Nikolai A.

2015-11-30

In this paper, I identify a nontrivial four-state Landau-Zener model for which transition probabilities between any pair of diabatic states can be determined analytically and exactly. The model describes an experimentally accessible system of two interacting qubits, such as a localized state in a Dirac material with both valley and spin degrees of freedom or a singly charged quantum dot (QD) molecule with spin orbit coupling. Application of the linearly time-dependent magnetic field induces a sequence of quantum level crossings with possibility of interference of different trajectories in a semiclassical picture. I argue that this system satisfies the criteria ofmore » integrability in the multistate Landau-Zener theory, which allows one to derive explicit exact analytical expressions for the transition probability matrix. Finally, I also argue that this model is likely a special case of a larger class of solvable systems, and present a six-state generalization as an example.« less

Spin-orbit scattering visualized in quasiparticle interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohsaka, Y.; Machida, T.; Iwaya, K.; Kanou, M.; Hanaguri, T.; Sasagawa, T.

2017-03-01

In the presence of spin-orbit coupling, electron scattering off impurities depends on both spin and orbital angular momentum of electrons—spin-orbit scattering. Although some transport properties are subject to spin-orbit scattering, experimental techniques directly accessible to this effect are limited. Here we show that a signature of spin-orbit scattering manifests itself in quasiparticle interference (QPI) imaged by spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy. The experimental data of a polar semiconductor BiTeI are well reproduced by numerical simulations with the T -matrix formalism that include not only scalar scattering normally adopted but also spin-orbit scattering stronger than scalar scattering. To accelerate the simulations, we extend the standard efficient method of QPI calculation for momentum-independent scattering to be applicable even for spin-orbit scattering. We further identify a selection rule that makes spin-orbit scattering visible in the QPI pattern. These results demonstrate that spin-orbit scattering can exert predominant influence on QPI patterns and thus suggest that QPI measurement is available to detect spin-orbit scattering.

Spectrum Sharing in an ISM Band: Outage Performance of a Hybrid DS/FH Spread Spectrum System with Beamforming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hanyu; Syed, Mubashir; Yao, Yu-Dong; Kamakaris, Theodoros

2009-12-01

This paper investigates spectrum sharing issues in the unlicensed industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands. It presents a radio frequency measurement setup and measurement results in 2.4 GHz. It then develops an analytical model to characterize the coexistence interference in the ISM bands, based on radio frequency measurement results in the 2.4 GHz. Outage performance using the interference model is examined for a hybrid direct-sequence frequency-hopping spread spectrum system. The utilization of beamforming techniques in the system is also investigated, and a simplified beamforming model is proposed to analyze the system performance using beamforming. Numerical results show that beamforming significantly improves the system outage performance. The work presented in this paper provides a quantitative evaluation of signal outages in a spectrum sharing environment. It can be used as a tool in the development process for future dynamic spectrum access models as well as engineering designs for applications in unlicensed bands.

Towards a Cognitive Radar: Canada’s Third-Generation High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) for Surveillance of the 200 Nautical Mile Exclusive Economic Zone

PubMed Central

Ponsford, Anthony; McKerracher, Rick; Ding, Zhen; Moo, Peter; Yee, Derek

2017-01-01

Canada’s third-generation HFSWR forms the foundation of a maritime domain awareness system that provides enforcement agencies with real-time persistent surveillance out to and beyond the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Cognitive sense-and-adapt technology and dynamic spectrum management ensures robust and resilient operation in the highly congested High Frequency (HF) band. Dynamic spectrum access enables the system to simultaneously operate on two frequencies on a non-interference and non-protected basis, without impacting other spectrum users. Sense-and-adapt technologies ensure that the system instantaneously switches to a new vacant channel on the detection of another user or unwanted jamming signal. Adaptive signal processing techniques mitigate against electrical noise, interference and clutter. Sense-and-adapt techniques applied at the detector and tracker stages maximize the probability of track initiation whilst minimizing the probability of false or otherwise erroneous track data. PMID:28686198

Chiang Mai and Illinois: A Cooperative International Project, 1962-70

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doege, Theodore C.; And Others

1976-01-01

A relationship between the medical schools of Chiang Mai University and the University of Illinois, part of a national involvement in Thailand's socioeconomic development, is analyzed. Antecedents, activities, outcomes, and problems are reviewed with emphasis on need for sound training, energy, adaptability, and investment of years. (JT)

Culex (Thaiomyia) Dispectus, A New Subgenus and Species from Thailand (Diptera: Culicidae)

DTIC Science & Technology

1966-06-01

Province; and Doi Sutep, Chiang Mai Province. Biology. Larvae have been collected on four occasions from open bamboo internodes or bamboo stumps in a...primary rain forest en- vironment. The collection from Chiang Mai was from an artificial container. Collections from Tak Province were made at an

Thaksinomics: A New Asian Paradigm?

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-12-02

capacity to promote Chiang Mai as an alternative site to Bangkok for foreign trade and investment. • Also in January 2003 Thaksin unveiled a 100 billion...and Chris Baker, Thailand’s Crisis ( Chiang Mai : Silkworm Books, 2000). 13. See for example Joseph Stiglitz, "Dealing With Debt: How to Reform the

Optoelectronic Mounting Structure

DOEpatents

Anderson, Gene R.; Armendariz, Marcelino G.; Baca, Johnny R. F.; Bryan, Robert P.; Carson, Richard F.; Chu, Dahwey; Duckett, III, Edwin B.; McCormick, Frederick B.; Peterson, David W.; Peterson, Gary D.; Reber, Cathleen A.; Reysen, Bill H.

2004-10-05

An optoelectronic mounting structure is provided that may be used in conjunction with an optical transmitter, receiver or transceiver module. The mounting structure may be a flexible printed circuit board. Thermal vias or heat pipes in the head region may transmit heat from the mounting structure to the heat spreader. The heat spreader may provide mechanical rigidity or stiffness to the heat region. In another embodiment, an electrical contact and ground plane may pass along a surface of the head region so as to provide an electrical contact path to the optoelectronic devices and limit electromagnetic interference. In yet another embodiment, a window may be formed in the head region of the mounting structure so as to provide access to the heat spreader. Optoelectronic devices may be adapted to the heat spreader in such a manner that the devices are accessible through the window in the mounting structure.

The IBO germination quantitative trait locus encodes a phosphatase 2C-related variant with a nonsynonymous amino acid change that interferes with abscisic acid signaling.

PubMed

Amiguet-Vercher, Amélia; Santuari, Luca; Gonzalez-Guzman, Miguel; Depuydt, Stephen; Rodriguez, Pedro L; Hardtke, Christian S

2015-02-01

Natural genetic variation is crucial for adaptability of plants to different environments. Seed dormancy prevents precocious germination in unsuitable conditions and is an adaptation to a major macro-environmental parameter, the seasonal variation in temperature and day length. Here we report the isolation of IBO, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) that governs c. 30% of germination rate variance in an Arabidopsis recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the parental accessions Eilenburg-0 (Eil-0) and Loch Ness-0 (Lc-0). IBO encodes an uncharacterized phosphatase 2C-related protein, but neither the Eil-0 nor the Lc-0 variant, which differ in a single amino acid, have any appreciable phosphatase activity in in vitro assays. However, we found that the amino acid change in the Lc-0 variant of the IBO protein confers reduced germination rate. Moreover, unlike the Eil-0 variant of the protein, the Lc-0 variant can interfere with the activity of the phosphatase 2C ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 1 in vitro. This suggests that the Lc-0 variant possibly interferes with abscisic acid signaling, a notion that is supported by physiological assays. Thus, we isolated an example of a QTL allele with a nonsynonymous amino acid change that might mediate local adaptation of seed germination timing. © 2014 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2014 New Phytologist Trust.

The impact of interference on short-term memory for visual orientation.

PubMed

Rademaker, Rosanne L; Bloem, Ilona M; De Weerd, Peter; Sack, Alexander T

2015-12-01

Visual short-term memory serves as an efficient buffer for maintaining no longer directly accessible information. How robust are visual memories against interference? Memory for simple visual features has proven vulnerable to distractors containing conflicting information along the relevant stimulus dimension, leading to the idea that interacting feature-specific channels at an early stage of visual processing support memory for simple visual features. Here we showed that memory for a single randomly orientated grating was susceptible to interference from a to-be-ignored distractor grating presented midway through a 3-s delay period. Memory for the initially presented orientation became noisier when it differed from the distractor orientation, and response distributions were shifted toward the distractor orientation (by ∼3°). Interestingly, when the distractor was rendered task-relevant by making it a second memory target, memory for both retained orientations showed reduced reliability as a function of increased orientation differences between them. However, the degree to which responses to the first grating shifted toward the orientation of the task-relevant second grating was much reduced. Finally, using a dichoptic display, we demonstrated that these systematic biases caused by a consciously perceived distractor disappeared once the distractor was presented outside of participants' awareness. Together, our results show that visual short-term memory for orientation can be systematically biased by interfering information that is consciously perceived. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Identification of Small-Molecule Frequent Hitters of Glutathione S-Transferase-Glutathione Interaction.

PubMed

Brenke, Jara K; Salmina, Elena S; Ringelstetter, Larissa; Dornauer, Scarlett; Kuzikov, Maria; Rothenaigner, Ina; Schorpp, Kenji; Giehler, Fabian; Gopalakrishnan, Jay; Kieser, Arnd; Gul, Sheraz; Tetko, Igor V; Hadian, Kamyar

2016-07-01

In high-throughput screening (HTS) campaigns, the binding of glutathione S-transferase (GST) to glutathione (GSH) is used for detection of GST-tagged proteins in protein-protein interactions or enzyme assays. However, many false-positives, so-called frequent hitters (FH), arise that either prevent GST/GSH interaction or interfere with assay signal generation or detection. To identify GST-FH compounds, we analyzed the data of five independent AlphaScreen-based screening campaigns to classify compounds that inhibit the GST/GSH interaction. We identified 53 compounds affecting GST/GSH binding but not influencing His-tag/Ni(2+)-NTA interaction and general AlphaScreen signals. The structures of these 53 experimentally identified GST-FHs were analyzed in chemoinformatic studies to categorize substructural features that promote interference with GST/GSH binding. Here, we confirmed several existing chemoinformatic filters and more importantly extended them as well as added novel filters that specify compounds with anti-GST/GSH activity. Selected compounds were also tested using different antibody-based GST detection technologies and exhibited no interference clearly demonstrating specificity toward their GST/GSH interaction. Thus, these newly described GST-FH will further contribute to the identification of FH compounds containing promiscuous substructures. The developed filters were uploaded to the OCHEM website (http://ochem.eu) and are publicly accessible for analysis of future HTS results. © 2016 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Immunity to proactive interference is not a property of the focus of attention in working memory.

PubMed

Ralph, Alicia; Walters, Jade N; Stevens, Alison; Fitzgerald, Kirra J; Tehan, Gerald; Surprenant, Aimee M; Neath, Ian; Turcotte, Josée

2011-02-01

The Focus of Attention (FOA) is the latest incarnation of a limited capacity store in which a small number of items, in this case four, are deemed to be readily accessible and do not need to be retrieved. Thus a corollary of these ideas is that those items in the FOA are always immune to proactive interference. While there is empirical support for instances of immunity to PI in short-term retention tasks that involve memory for four-item lists, there are also many instances in which PI is observed with four-item lists as well as instances where PI and immunity to PI can be shown in the same experiment. In contrast to the FOA assumptions, an alternative cue-based account predicts both the presence of PI and immunity to PI as a function of the relation between the cues available and the particular test. Three experiments contrasted the FOA assumptions and the cue-based approach in a short-term cued recall task in which PI is manipulated by testing whether the presentation of previous, similar items would interfere with immediate recall of three list items. The results indicated that even with very short lists, both PI and immunity to PI could be observed. The PI effects observed in our experiment are at odds with the FOA approach and are more readily explained using the cueing account.

Activation of semantic information at the sublexical level during handwriting production: Evidence from inhibition effects of Chinese semantic radicals in the picture-word interference paradigm.

PubMed

Chen, Xuqian; Liao, Yuanlan; Chen, Xianzhe

2017-08-01

Using a non-alphabetic language (e.g., Chinese), the present study tested a novel view that semantic information at the sublexical level should be activated during handwriting production. Over 80% of Chinese characters are phonograms, in which semantic radicals represent category information (e.g., 'chair,' 'peach,' 'orange' are related to plants) while phonetic radicals represent phonetic information (e.g., 'wolf,' 'brightness,' 'male,' are all pronounced /lang/). Under different semantic category conditions at the lexical level (semantically related in Experiment 1; semantically unrelated in Experiment 2), the orthographic relatedness and semantic relatedness of semantic radicals in the picture name and its distractor were manipulated under different SOAs (i.e., stimulus onset asynchrony, the interval between the onset of the picture and the onset of the interference word). Two questions were addressed: (1) Is it possible that semantic information could be activated in the sublexical level conditions? (2) How are semantic and orthographic information dynamically accessed in word production? Results showed that both orthographic and semantic information were activated under the present picture-word interference paradigm, dynamically under different SOAs, which supported our view that discussions on semantic processes in the writing modality should be extended to the sublexical level. The current findings provide possibility for building new orthography-phonology-semantics models in writing. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Emotional task management: neural correlates of switching between affective and non-affective task-sets

PubMed Central

Reeck, Crystal

2015-01-01

Although task-switching has been investigated extensively, its interaction with emotionally salient task content remains unclear. Prioritized processing of affective stimulus content may enhance accessibility of affective task-sets and generate increased interference when switching between affective and non-affective task-sets. Previous research has demonstrated that more dominant task-sets experience greater switch costs, as they necessitate active inhibition during performance of less entrenched tasks. Extending this logic to the affective domain, the present experiment examined (a) whether affective task-sets are more dominant than non-affective ones, and (b) what neural mechanisms regulate affective task-sets, so that weaker, non-affective task-sets can be executed. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants categorized face stimuli according to either their gender (non-affective task) or their emotional expression (affective task). Behavioral results were consistent with the affective task dominance hypothesis: participants were slower to switch to the affective task, and cross-task interference was strongest when participants tried to switch from the affective to the non-affective task. These behavioral costs of controlling the affective task-set were mirrored in the activation of a right-lateralized frontostriatal network previously implicated in task-set updating and response inhibition. Connectivity between amygdala and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was especially pronounced during cross-task interference from affective features. PMID:25552571

Faster forgetting contributes to impaired spatial memory in the PDAPP mouse: Deficit in memory retrieval associated with increased sensitivity to interference?

PubMed Central

Daumas, Stephanie; Sandin, Johan; Chen, Karen S.; Kobayashi, Dione; Tulloch, Jane; Martin, Stephen J.; Games, Dora; Morris, Richard G.M.

2008-01-01

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the possibility of faster forgetting by PDAPP mice (a well-established model of Alzheimer’s disease as reported by Games and colleagues in an earlier paper). Experiment 1, using mice aged 13–16 mo, confirmed the presence of a deficit in a spatial reference memory task in the water maze by hemizygous PDAPP mice relative to littermate controls. However, after overtraining to a criterion of equivalent navigational performance, a series of memory retention tests revealed faster forgetting in the PDAPP group. Very limited retraining was sufficient to reinstate good memory in both groups, indicating that their faster forgetting may be due to retrieval failure rather than trace decay. In Experiment 2, 6-mo-old PDAPP and controls were required to learn each of a series of spatial locations to criterion with their memory assessed 10 min after learning each location. No memory deficit was apparent in the PDAPP mice initially, but a deficit built up through the series of locations suggestive of increased sensitivity to interference. Faster forgetting and increased interference may each reflect a difficulty in accessing memory traces. This interpretation of one aspect of the cognitive deficit in human mutant APP mice has parallels to deficits observed in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, further supporting the validity of transgenic models of the disease. PMID:18772249

From Ξb→Λbπ to Ξc→Λcπ

DOE PAGES

Gronau, Michael; Rosner, Jonathan L.

2016-04-11

Using a successful framework for describing S-wave hadronic decays of light hyperons induced by a subprocess s -> u((u) over bard), we presented recently a model-independent calculation of the amplitude and branching ratio for Xi(-)(b) -> Lambda(b)pi(-) in agreement with a LHCb measurement. The same quark process contributes to Xi(0)(c) -> Lambda(c)pi(-), while a second term from the subprocess cs -> cd has been related by Voloshin to differences among total decay rates of charmed baryons. We calculate this term and find it to have a magnitude approximately equal to the s -> u((u) over bard) term. We argue formore » a negligible relative phase between these two contributions, potentially due to final state interactions. However, we do not know whether they interfere destructively or constructively. For constructive interference one predicts B(Xi(0)(c) -> Lambda(c)pi(-)) = (1.94 +/- 0.70) x 10(-3) and B(Xi(+)(c) -> Lambda(c)pi(0)) = (3.86 +/- 1.35) x 10(-3). For destructive interference, the respective branching fractions are expected to be less than about 10(-4) and 2 x 10(-4). (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP(3).« less

From Ξb→Λbπ to Ξc→Λcπ

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gronau, Michael; Rosner, Jonathan L.

Using a successful framework for describing S-wave hadronic decays of light hyperons induced by a subprocess s -> u((u) over bard), we presented recently a model-independent calculation of the amplitude and branching ratio for Xi(-)(b) -> Lambda(b)pi(-) in agreement with a LHCb measurement. The same quark process contributes to Xi(0)(c) -> Lambda(c)pi(-), while a second term from the subprocess cs -> cd has been related by Voloshin to differences among total decay rates of charmed baryons. We calculate this term and find it to have a magnitude approximately equal to the s -> u((u) over bard) term. We argue formore » a negligible relative phase between these two contributions, potentially due to final state interactions. However, we do not know whether they interfere destructively or constructively. For constructive interference one predicts B(Xi(0)(c) -> Lambda(c)pi(-)) = (1.94 +/- 0.70) x 10(-3) and B(Xi(+)(c) -> Lambda(c)pi(0)) = (3.86 +/- 1.35) x 10(-3). For destructive interference, the respective branching fractions are expected to be less than about 10(-4) and 2 x 10(-4). (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP(3).« less

When masculinity interferes with women's treatment of HIV infection: a qualitative study about adherence to antiretroviral therapy in Zimbabwe.

PubMed

Skovdal, Morten; Campbell, Catherine; Nyamukapa, Constance; Gregson, Simon

2011-06-09

Social constructions of masculinity have been shown to serve as an obstacle to men's access and adherence to antiretroviral therapies (ART). In the light of women's relative lack of power in many aspects of interpersonal relationships with men in many African settings, our objective is to explore how male denial of HIV/AIDS impacts on their female partners' ability to access and adhere to ART. We conducted a qualitative case study involving thematic analysis of 37 individual interviews and five focus groups with a total of 53 male and female antiretroviral drug users and 25 healthcare providers in rural eastern Zimbabwe. Rooted in hegemonic notions of masculinity, men saw HIV/AIDS as a threat to their manhood and dignity and exhibited a profound fear of the disease. In the process of denying and avoiding their association with AIDS, many men undermine their wives' efforts to access and adhere to ART. Many women felt unable to disclose their HIV status to their husbands, forcing them to take their medication in secret, and act without a supportive treatment partner, which is widely accepted to be vitally important for adherence success. Some husbands, when discovering that their wives are on ART, deny them permission to take the drugs, or indeed steal the drugs for their own treatment. Men's avoidance of HIV also leaves many HIV-positive women feeling vulnerable to re-infection as their husbands, in an attempt to demonstrate their manhood, are believed to continue engaging in HIV-risky behaviours. Hegemonic notions of masculinity can interfere with women's adherence to ART. It is important that those concerned with promoting effective treatment services recognise the gender and household dynamics that may prevent some women from successfully adhering to ART, and explore ways to work with both women and men to identify couples-based strategies to increase adherence to ART.

When masculinity interferes with women's treatment of HIV infection: a qualitative study about adherence to antiretroviral therapy in Zimbabwe

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Social constructions of masculinity have been shown to serve as an obstacle to men's access and adherence to antiretroviral therapies (ART). In the light of women's relative lack of power in many aspects of interpersonal relationships with men in many African settings, our objective is to explore how male denial of HIV/AIDS impacts on their female partners' ability to access and adhere to ART. Methods We conducted a qualitative case study involving thematic analysis of 37 individual interviews and five focus groups with a total of 53 male and female antiretroviral drug users and 25 healthcare providers in rural eastern Zimbabwe. Results Rooted in hegemonic notions of masculinity, men saw HIV/AIDS as a threat to their manhood and dignity and exhibited a profound fear of the disease. In the process of denying and avoiding their association with AIDS, many men undermine their wives' efforts to access and adhere to ART. Many women felt unable to disclose their HIV status to their husbands, forcing them to take their medication in secret, and act without a supportive treatment partner, which is widely accepted to be vitally important for adherence success. Some husbands, when discovering that their wives are on ART, deny them permission to take the drugs, or indeed steal the drugs for their own treatment. Men's avoidance of HIV also leave many HIV-positive women feeling vulnerable to re-infection as their husbands, in an attempt to demonstrate their manhood, are believed to continue engaging in HIV-risky behaviours. Conclusions Hegemonic notions of masculinity can interfere with women's adherence to ART. It is important that those concerned with promoting effective treatment services recognise the gender and household dynamics that may prevent some women from successfully adhering to ART, and explore ways to work with both women and men to identify couples-based strategies to increase adherence to ART PMID:21658260

Design of an Efficient CAC for a Broadband DVB-S/DVB-RCS Satellite Access Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inzerilli, Tiziano; Montozzi, Simone

2003-07-01

This paper deals with efficient utilization of network resources in an advanced broadband satellite access system. It proposes a technique for admission control of IP streams with guaranteed QoS which does not interfere with the particular BoD (Bandwidth on Demand) algorithm that handles access to uplink bandwidth, an essential part of a DVB- RCS architecture. This feature of the admission control greatly simplify its integration in the satellite network. The purpose of this admission control algorithm in particular is to suitably and dynamically configure the overall traffic control parameters, in the access terminal of the user and service segment, with a simple approach which does not introduces limitations and/or constraints to the BoD algorithm. Performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated thorugh Opnet simulations using an ad-hoc platform modeling DVB-based satellite access.The results presented in this paper were obtained within SATIP6 project, which is sponsored within the 5th EU Research Programme, IST. The aims of the project are to evaluate and demonstrate key issues of the integration of satellite-based access networks into the Internet in order to support multimedia services over wide areas. The satellite link layer is based on DVB-S on the forward link and DVB-RCS on the return link. Adaptation and optimization of the DVB-RCS access standard in order to support QoS provision are central issues of the project. They are handled through an integration of Connection Admission Control (CAC), Traffic Shaping and Policing techniques.

Evaluation of Low-volume Sprayers Used in Asian Citrus Psyllid Control Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

control, p. 149–157. In: B. Aubert, S. Tontyaporn, and D. Buangsuwon (eds.). Proc. Asia Pacific Intl. Conf. Citriculture, Chiang Mai , Thailand, 4–10...planning and management, p. 77–82. In: B. Aubert, S. Tontyaporn, and D. Buangsuwon (eds.). Proc. Asia Pacific Intl. Conf. Citriculture, Chiang Mai , Thailand

Initial Validation of the Physical Education Marginalization and Isolation Survey (PE-MAIS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaudreault, Karen Lux; Richards, K. Andrew R.; Mays Woods, Amelia

2017-01-01

Qualitative research conducted through occupational socialization theory has documented that physical educators feel marginalized and isolated in schools. We sought to propose and provide initial evidence of validity and reliability for the Physical Education Marginalization and Isolation Survey (PE-MAIS). Physical educators (n = 420) completed an…

[Application of fingerprint chromatogram in quality control of Shen-Mai injection].

PubMed

Shi, Xian-zhe; Yang, Jun; Zhao, Chun-xia; Xiong, Jian-hui; Xu, Guo-wang

2002-07-01

The theory and practice of traditional Chinese medicine require some comprehensive methods to assess quality of the Chinese herbal medication. Fingerprint chromatogram is one of the feasible approaches to evaluate the quality of Chinese herbal medication. So the fingerprint chromatogram of Shen-Mai injection was established by using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. The chromatographic conditions were as follows: a Hypersil C18 column was used; the mobile phase was composed of water (A) and acetontrile (B) with linear gradient elution (0-50 min, 5%-95% B, volume fraction); the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min and the UV absorbance detection was set at 202 nm. The peak-area ratios of twenty-three fingerprint peaks and internal standard (diphenyl) were taken as the criteria for quality control. The quality differences in various batches and various manufacturers of Shen-Mai injections were investigated by projection discriminance based on principal component analysis. The results show the method developed is convenient, reliable and applicable for the quality control analysis of Shen-Mai injection.

Coherent forward scattering as a signature of Anderson metal-insulator transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Sanjib; Miniatura, Christian; Cherroret, Nicolas; Delande, Dominique

2017-04-01

We show that the coherent forward scattering (CFS) interference peak amplitude sharply jumps from zero to a finite value upon crossing a metal-insulator transition. Extensive numerical simulations reveal that the CFS peak contrast obeys the one-parameter scaling hypothesis and gives access to the critical exponents of the transition. We also discover that the critical CFS peak directly controls the spectral compressibility at the transition where eigenfunctions are multifractal, and we demonstrate the universality of this property with respect to various types of disorder.

Human Health Impact of Fluoride in Groundwater in the Chiang Mai Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsui, Y.; Takizawa, S.; Wattanachira, S.; Wongrueng, A.; Ibaraki, M.

2005-12-01

Chiang Mai Basin, in Northern Thailand, is known as a fluorotic area. Groundwater of the Chiang Mai Basin has been gradually replaced by contaminated surface water since the 1980's. People have been exposed to fluoride contaminated groundwater since that time. As a result, harmful health effects on dental and skeletal growth were observed in the 90's. These include dental and skeletal fluorosis. Dental fluorosis is characterized by yellow or white spots on teeth and pitting or mottled enamel, consequently causing the teeth to look unsightly. Skeletal fluorosis leads to changes in bone structure, making them extremely weak and brittle. The most severe form of this is known as ``crippling skeletal fluorosis,'' a condition that can cause immobility, muscle wasting, and neurological problems related to spinal cord compression. This study focuses on the problematic issue of the Chiang Mai Basin's groundwater from the viewpoint of fluoride occurrence and current health impacts. Chiang Mai and Lamphun Provinces comprise the Chiang Mai Basin. Fluoride rich granites or fluorite deposits are scattered across the mountainside of the Lamphun Province. Tropical savanna climate conditions with seasonal monsoons bring more than 1,000 mm of annual precipitation, which can prompt weathering of minerals containing fluoride. The Ping River dominates the Basin, and the main eastern tributary of the Ping River runs through the Lamphun Province. The Basin has geological units composed of lower semi-consolidated Tertiary fluvial and upper unconsolidated Quaternary alluvium deposits. The main aquifers are in the upper unconsolidated unit. High fluoride concentrations tend to be observed in the aquifer located in lower part of this unconsolidated unit. We have been investigating two areas in the Basin. These two locations are similar with respect to geological and hydrological settings. However, one area in which groundwater is Ca-bicarbonate dominant has a low fluoride occurrence. Groundwater of the other area contains a high fluoride concentration and is Na-bicarbonate dominant. We will present how naturally-occurring fluoride found in this groundwater has impacted the health of a large portion of residents in the Chiang Mai Basin, and we will explain the mechanism that differentiates Ca concentration, which controls fluoride concentration in groundwater, between different areas in the Basin.

Adaptive digital beamforming for a CDMA mobile communications payload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munoz-Garcia, Samuel G.; Ruiz, Javier Benedicto

1993-01-01

In recent years, Spread-Spectrum Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) has become a very popular access scheme for mobile communications due to a variety of reasons: excellent performance in multipath environments, high scope for frequency reuse, graceful degradation near saturation, etc. In this way, a CDMA system can support simultaneous digital communication among a large community of relatively uncoordinated users sharing a given frequency band. Nevertheless, there are also important problems associated with the use of CDMA. First, in a conventional CDMA scheme, the signature sequences of asynchronous users are not orthogonal and, as the number of active users increases, the self-noise generated by the mutual interference between users considerably degrades the performance, particularly in the return link. Furthermore, when there is a large disparity in received powers - due to differences in slant range or atmospheric attenuation - the non-zero cross-correlation between the signals gives rise to the so-called near-far problem. This leads to an inefficient utilization of the satellite resources and, consequently, to a drastic reduction in capacity. Several techniques were proposed to overcome this problem, such as Synchronized CDMA - in which the signature sequences of the different users are quasi-orthogonal - and power control. At the expense of increased network complexity and user coordination, these techniques enable the system capacity to be restored by equitably sharing the satellite resources among the users. An alternative solution is presented based upon the use of time-reference adaptive digital beamforming on board the satellite. This technique enables a high number of independently steered beams to be generated from a single phased array antenna, which automatically track the desired user signal and null the unwanted interference source. In order to use a time-reference adaptive antenna in a communications system, the main challenge is to obtain a reference signal highly correlated with the desired user signal and uncorrelated with the interferences. CDMA lends itself very easily to the generation of such a reference signal, thanks to the a priori knowledge of the user's signature sequence. First, the integration of an adaptive antenna in an asynchronous CDMA system is analyzed. The adaptive antenna system can provide increased interference rejection - much higher than that afforded by the code alone - and, since CDMA is mainly interference limited, any reduction in interference converts directly and linearly into an increase in capacity. Analyses and computer simulations are presented that show how an asynchronous CDMA system incorporating adaptive beamforming can provide at least as much capacity as a synchronous system. More importantly, the proposed concept allows the near-far effect to be mitigated without requiring a tight coordination of the users in terms of transmitted power control or network synchronization. The system is extremely robust to the near-far effect because the signals reaching the satellite from directions other than that of the desired user - which are likely to have different power levels - are adaptively canceled by the antenna. Finally, a payload architecture is presented that illustrates the practical implementation of this concept. This digital payload architecture demonstrates that with the advent of high performance CMOS digital processing, the on-board implementation of complex DSP techniques - in particular Digital Beamforming - has become possible, being most attractive for Mobile Satellite Communications.

Adaptive digital beamforming for a CDMA mobile communications payload

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munoz-Garcia, Samuel G.; Ruiz, Javier Benedicto

In recent years, Spread-Spectrum Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) has become a very popular access scheme for mobile communications due to a variety of reasons: excellent performance in multipath environments, high scope for frequency reuse, graceful degradation near saturation, etc. In this way, a CDMA system can support simultaneous digital communication among a large community of relatively uncoordinated users sharing a given frequency band. Nevertheless, there are also important problems associated with the use of CDMA. First, in a conventional CDMA scheme, the signature sequences of asynchronous users are not orthogonal and, as the number of active users increases, the self-noise generated by the mutual interference between users considerably degrades the performance, particularly in the return link. Furthermore, when there is a large disparity in received powers - due to differences in slant range or atmospheric attenuation - the non-zero cross-correlation between the signals gives rise to the so-called near-far problem. This leads to an inefficient utilization of the satellite resources and, consequently, to a drastic reduction in capacity. Several techniques were proposed to overcome this problem, such as Synchronized CDMA - in which the signature sequences of the different users are quasi-orthogonal - and power control. At the expense of increased network complexity and user coordination, these techniques enable the system capacity to be restored by equitably sharing the satellite resources among the users. An alternative solution is presented based upon the use of time-reference adaptive digital beamforming on board the satellite. This technique enables a high number of independently steered beams to be generated from a single phased array antenna, which automatically track the desired user signal and null the unwanted interference source. In order to use a time-reference adaptive antenna in a communications system, the main challenge is to obtain a reference signal highly correlated with the desired user signal and uncorrelated with the interferences. CDMA lends itself very easily to the generation of such a reference signal, thanks to the a priori knowledge of the user's signature sequence. First, the integration of an adaptive antenna in an asynchronous CDMA system is analyzed. The adaptive antenna system can provide increased interference rejection - much higher than that afforded by the code alone - and, since CDMA is mainly interference limited, any reduction in interference converts directly and linearly into an increase in capacity. Analyses and computer simulations are presented that show how an asynchronous CDMA system incorporating adaptive beamforming can provide at least as much capacity as a synchronous system. More importantly, the proposed concept allows the near-far effect to be mitigated without requiring a tight coordination of the users in terms of transmitted power control or network synchronization. The system is extremely robust to the near-far effect because the signals reaching the satellite from directions other than that of the desired user - which are likely to have different power levels - are adaptively canceled by the antenna. Finally, a payload architecture is presented that illustrates the practical implementation of this concept.

[Revised maximum admissible intensity (MAI) values for infrasonic noise in work environment].

PubMed

Pawlaczyk-Łuszczyńska, M; Augustyńska, D; Kaczmarska-Kozłowska, A; Sliwińska-Kowalska, M; Kameduła, M

2001-01-01

A short review of infrasound sources is presented. The measuring methods and occupational exposure limits for infrasonic noise (infrasound) are described. The amended Polish regulations on maximum admissible intensity (MAI) values for infrasonic noise in work environment and proposals of exposure limits for workers at particular risk (i.e. pregnant women and juveniles) are discussed.

The Effects of Morpheme and Prosody Instruction on Middle School Spelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dornay, Margaret A.

2017-01-01

A single case design was used to investigate the impact of two types of instruction on middle school students' spelling. Phase 1 emphasized morphology awareness instruction (MAI) and phase 2 employed the addition of prosody awareness instruction (PAI). In order to compare the effects of MAI and PAI, spelling scores were gathered from eight…

Observed Rayleigh Wave Group Velocities and Spectral Amplitudes for Some Eurasian Paths

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-02-28

group velocities. I-l ^m FFCT’ON II DATA AND METHOD OF ANALYSIS A. DATA USED Seismic recordings rom the VLPE stations at Chiang Mai , Thailard...20:08:31 mi 5.2 5.2 3.4 29 LPE STATION PARAMETERS AND EPICENTRAL DISTANCES VLPE Station Parameters Station Chiang Mai , Thailand Fairbanks

U.S.-Thailand Relations: Analysis of U.S. Military Support to the Kingdom of Thailand

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

Chen, 1. 7 David K. Wyatt, Thailand: A Short History ( Chiang Mai , Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2003),278. 8 Wyatt, 277. 9 U.S. Department of State...westhawk.blogspot.com/2008/02/marine-corps-expeditionary-plan-is.html Wyatt, David K. Thailand: A Short History. Chiang Mai , Thailand: Silkworm Books

Governance of National Research University in Southeast Asia: The Case of Chiang Mai University in Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rungfamai, Kreangchai

2018-01-01

This paper aims to deal with lingering governance issues of a prestigious university in a developing country of Southeast Asia. It provides a description of environments, changes, and university stakeholders' perceptions in terms of governance arrangements of Chiang Mai University (CMU), which was selected as a National Research University in…

Restricted Authentication and Encryption for Cyber-physical Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kirkpatrick, Michael S; Bertino, Elisa; Sheldon, Frederick T

2009-01-01

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are characterized by the close linkage of computational resources and physical devices. These systems can be deployed in a number of critical infrastructure settings. As a result, the security requirements of CPS are different than traditional computing architectures. For example, critical functions must be identified and isolated from interference by other functions. Similarly, lightweight schemes may be required, as CPS can include devices with limited computing power. One approach that offers promise for CPS security is the use of lightweight, hardware-based authentication. Specifically, we consider the use of Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) to bind an access requestmore » to specific hardware with device-specific keys. PUFs are implemented in hardware, such as SRAM, and can be used to uniquely identify the device. This technology could be used in CPS to ensure location-based access control and encryption, both of which would be desirable for CPS implementations.« less

A European mobile satellite system concept exploiting CDMA and OBP

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vernucci, A.; Craig, A. D.

1993-01-01

This paper describes a novel Land Mobile Satellite System (LMSS) concept applicable to networks allowing access to a large number of gateway stations ('Hubs'), utilizing low-cost Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT's). Efficient operation of the Forward-Link (FL) repeater can be achieved by adopting a synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technique, whereby inter-code interference (self-noise) is virtually eliminated by synchronizing orthogonal codes. However, with a transparent FL repeater, the requirements imposed by the highly decentralized ground segment can lead to significant efficiency losses. The adoption of a FL On-Board Processing (OBP) repeater is proposed as a means of largely recovering this efficiency impairment. The paper describes the network architecture, the system design and performance, the OBP functions and impact on implementation. The proposed concept, applicable to a future generation of the European LMSS, was developed in the context of a European Space Agency (ESA) study contract.

Detecting Signage and Doors for Blind Navigation and Wayfinding

PubMed Central

Wang, Shuihua; Yang, Xiaodong; Tian, Yingli

2013-01-01

Signage plays a very important role to find destinations in applications of navigation and wayfinding. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to detect doors and signage to help blind people accessing unfamiliar indoor environments. In order to eliminate the interference information and improve the accuracy of signage detection, we first extract the attended areas by using a saliency map. Then the signage is detected in the attended areas by using a bipartite graph matching. The proposed method can handle multiple signage detection. Furthermore, in order to provide more information for blind users to access the area associated with the detected signage, we develop a robust method to detect doors based on a geometric door frame model which is independent to door appearances. Experimental results on our collected datasets of indoor signage and doors demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method. PMID:23914345

Detecting Signage and Doors for Blind Navigation and Wayfinding.

PubMed

Wang, Shuihua; Yang, Xiaodong; Tian, Yingli

2013-07-01

Signage plays a very important role to find destinations in applications of navigation and wayfinding. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to detect doors and signage to help blind people accessing unfamiliar indoor environments. In order to eliminate the interference information and improve the accuracy of signage detection, we first extract the attended areas by using a saliency map. Then the signage is detected in the attended areas by using a bipartite graph matching. The proposed method can handle multiple signage detection. Furthermore, in order to provide more information for blind users to access the area associated with the detected signage, we develop a robust method to detect doors based on a geometric door frame model which is independent to door appearances. Experimental results on our collected datasets of indoor signage and doors demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method.

A Calculus for Boxes and Traits in a Java-Like Setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bettini, Lorenzo; Damiani, Ferruccio; de Luca, Marco; Geilmann, Kathrin; Schäfer, Jan

The box model is a component model for the object-oriented paradigm, that defines components (the boxes) with clear encapsulation boundaries. Having well-defined boundaries is crucial in component-based software development, because it enables to argue about the interference and interaction between a component and its context. In general, boxes contain several objects and inner boxes, of which some are local to the box and cannot be accessed from other boxes and some can be accessible by other boxes. A trait is a set of methods divorced from any class hierarchy. Traits can be composed together to form classes or other traits. We present a calculus for boxes and traits. Traits are units of fine-grained reuse, whereas boxes can be seen as units of coarse-grained reuse. The calculus is equipped with an ownership type system and allows us to combine coarse- and fine-grained reuse of code by maintaining encapsulation of components.

Investigation of Inter-Node B Macro Diversity for Single-Carrier Based Radio Access in Evolved UTRA Uplink

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawai, Hiroyuki; Morimoto, Akihito; Higuchi, Kenichi; Sawahashi, Mamoru

This paper investigates the gain of inter-Node B macro diversity for a scheduled-based shared channel using single-carrier FDMA radio access in the Evolved UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) uplink based on system-level simulations. More specifically, we clarify the gain of inter-Node B soft handover (SHO) with selection combining at the radio frame length level (=10msec) compared to that for hard handover (HHO) for a scheduled-based shared data channel, considering the gains of key packet-specific techniques including channel-dependent scheduling, adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) with packet combining, and slow transmission power control (TPC). Simulation results show that the inter-Node B SHO increases the user throughput at the cell edge by approximately 10% for a short cell radius such as 100-300m due to the diversity gain from a sudden change in other-cell interference, which is a feature specific to full scheduled-based packet access. However, it is also shown that the gain of inter-Node B SHO compared to that for HHO is small in a macrocell environment when the cell radius is longer than approximately 500m due to the gains from hybrid ARQ with packet combining, slow TPC, and proportional fairness based channel-dependent scheduling.

Harmonizing disease prevention and police practice in the implementation of HIV prevention programs: Up-stream strategies from Wilmington, Delaware

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Introduction Improving access to sterile injection equipment is a key component in community-based infectious disease prevention. Implementation of syringe access programs has sometimes been complicated by community opposition and police interference. Case description In 2006, the Delaware legislature authorized a pilot syringe exchange program (SEP). A program designed to prevent, monitor, and respond to possible policing and community barriers before they had a chance to effect program implementation and operation. A program designed to prevent, monitor, and respond to these barriers was planned and implemented by a multidisciplinary team of legal practitioners and public health professionals. Discussion We report on an integrated intervention to address structural barriers to syringe exchange program utilization. This intervention employs community, police and client education combined with systematic surveillance of and rapid response to police interference to preempt the kinds of structural barriers to implementation observed elsewhere. The intervention addresses community concerns and stresses the benefits of syringe exchange programs to officer occupational safety. Conclusions A cohesive effort combining collaboration with and educational outreach to police and community members based on the needs and concerns of these groups as well as SEP clients and potential clients helped establish a supportive street environment for the SEP. Police-driven structural barriers to implementation of public health programs targeting populations engaged in drug use and other illicit behavior can be addressed by up-stream planning, prevention, monitoring and intervention strategies. More research is needed to inform the tailoring of interventions to address police-driven barriers to HIV prevention services, especially among marginalized populations. PMID:22591836

Prevalence of dementia among population age over 45 years in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

PubMed

Wangtongkum, Suparus; Sucharitkul, Phongsakorn; Silprasert, Nutcharut; Inthrachak, Rudeethawinl

2008-11-01

To determine the prevalence of dementia in Thai people with age 45 years and above. This project used a cross sectional research design to study the prevalence of dementia in Chiang Mai. Door-to-door technique was assigned in condition with multi-stage probability random sampling to obtain subjects representing the population of Chiang Mai between Oct 2004 and Sep 2005. The researchers collected the data from the subjects aged 45 years and above. All subjects were located from every Amphurs of Chiang Mai. They were first screened with Thai Mini Mental State Examination (TMSE) and Thai Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The subjects whose TMSE was less than 24 were assessed and diagnosed by a neurologist. Subjects who were determined as having dementia might be laboratory analyzed and classified based on DSM-IV and NINDS-AIREN criteria. The authors enrolled 2,311 people and screened them with Batteries test. One thousand four hundred ninety two people qualified with 610 males and 882 females, whose mean age was 59.7 +/- 10.4 years. The authors found that among the 35 people with dementia, the mean age was 67.9 +/- 8.9 years (45-88 years). The prevalence of dementia among the study participants was 2.35%. In the present study, Alzheimer's disease was the most common type of dementia diagnosed (75.0%) and vascular dementia was the second most commonly diagnosed (12.5%). The prevalence of dementia in Chiang Mai was 2.35%, which does not differ from the previous study Alzheimer's disease was the most common type of dementia diagnosed.

Jeffrey Logan | NREL

Science.gov Websites

: Number 2. NREL/TP-6A50-64654. Logan, J., G. Heath, J. Macknick, E. Paranhos, W. Boyd, and K. Carlson . Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/BR-6A50-57702. Mai, T., J. Logan, N. Blair, P , J., A. Lopez, T. Mai, C. Davidson, M. Bazilian, and D. Arent. "Natural Gas Scenarios in the U.S

The Collapse of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: A Multilateral Approach to Northeast Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

Chiang Mai Initiative.12 A slow move toward regional economic integration has continued since; however, there have been very few broad multilateral...treaty was signed at the Presidio, and was shortly followed by the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty. 11 Ibid, 24. 12 Ibid, 32-34. The Chiang Mai agreement

Three New Species of the Genus Tripteroides, Subgenus Tripteroides Giles (Diptera: Culicidae)

DTIC Science & Technology

1968-12-01

termi- nalia and legs mounted; #NY 123-11 from Khaoyai. Five specimens came from Chiang Mai : #T-2195-10L and #T-2123-1P from Doi Sutep; #T-2413-lP...examined. The Thailand material contained 1 whole larva and 17 males with 9 associated larval and pupal skins from Chiang Mai ; 3 males, 2 with

Biological Observations on Aedes Seatoi Huang in Thailand with Notes on Rural Aedes Aegypti (L.) and Other Stegomyia Populations

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-03-15

distribution is herein extended by 6 provinces : Ang Thong, Chiang Mai , Lop Buri, Nakhon Sawan, Prachin Buri and Sara Buri (FIG. 1). These new...of Thailand : 1. Ang Thong. 2. Chiang Mai . 3. Chon Buri. 4. Kanchanaburi. 5. Lop Buri. 6. Nakhon Sawan. 7. Prachin Buri. 8. Sara Buri. Provinces

Prevalence of Haplorchis taichui and Haplorchoides sp. Metacercariae in Freshwater Fish from Water Reservoirs, Chiang Mai, Thailand

PubMed Central

Nithikathkul, Choosak

2008-01-01

A parasitological investigation on trematode metacercariae was made on 62 freshwater fishes of 13 species in northern Thailand; Cyclocheilichthys apogon, Puntioplites proctozysron, Labiobarbus siamensis, Barbodes gonionotus, Barbodes altus, Henicorhynchus siamensis, Osteochilus hasselti, Notopterus notopterus, Mystacoleucus marginatus, Anabas testudineus, Systomus orphoides, Morulius chrysophykadian, and Hampala macrolepidota. The fish were caught over the summer period (February-May 2007) from 2 Chiang Mai water reservoirs, i.e., the Mae Ngad (UTM 47Q E 503200, 47Q N 2119300) and the Mae Kuang Udomtara (UTM 47Q E 513000, 47Q N 2092600) Reservoirs in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The prevalence of heterophyid (Haplorchis taichui and Haplorchoides sp.) metacercariae in these fish was 83.9% and 74.2% in the Mae Ngad and Mae Kuang Udomtara Reservoirs, respectively. The highest intensity of heterophyid metacercariae in H. siamensis in the Mae Ngad was 120.4 and that in P. proctozysron in the Mae Kuang Udomtara was 180.0. The fish, A. testudineus, C. apogon, and M. chrysophykadian, were not found to be infected with H. taichui metacercariae. The results show that the freshwater fish in Chiang Mai water reservoirs are heavily infected with H. taichui and Haplorchoides sp. metacercariae. PMID:18552549

The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program, the infrastructure of Primary Health Units and the Municipal Human Development Index.

PubMed

Soares, Joaquim José; Machado, Maria Helena; Alves, Cecília Brito

2016-09-01

The main objective of this article was to examine the context in which professionals working within the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program operate. This study used the infrastructure scale of primary health units (PHUs), which was recently developed by Soares Neto and colleagues to provide more information regarding the relationship between the infrastructure of PHUs and the Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) of municipalities that received Mais Médicos Program doctors. Using exploratory and inferential statistics, the article shows that 65.2% of the PHUs that received Mais Médicos Program doctors had medium-quality infrastructure and only 5.8% of them had low-quality infrastructure. The correlation of 0.50 between the infrastructure indicator and the MHDI points to a moderate tendency for municipalities with low MHDIs to have more precarious PHUs. Using multiple linear regression analysis it can be inferred that the main factor that contributed to the increase in the infrastructure indicator of the PHUs was the average municipal income. On the other hand, the factor that negatively affected the infrastructure of the PHUs was being located in the north or northeast regions.

Mapping the distribution of mangrove species in the Core Zone of Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve, Hong Kong, using hyperspectral data and high-resolution data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Mingming; Zhang, Yuanzhi; Wang, Zongming; Song, Kaishan; Ren, Chunying

2014-12-01

Mangrove species compositions and distributions are essential for conservation and restoration efforts. In this study, hyperspectral data of EO-1 HYPERION sensor and high spatial resolution data of SPOT-5 sensor were used in Mai Po mangrove species mapping. Objected-oriented method was used in mangrove species classification processing. Firstly, mangrove objects were obtained via segmenting high spatial resolution data of SPOT-5. Then the objects were classified into different mangrove species based on the spectral differences of HYPERION image. The classification result showed that in the top canopy, Kandelia obovata and Avicennia marina dominated Mai Po Marshes Natural Reserve, with area of 196.8 ha and 110.8 ha, respectively, Acanthus ilicifolius and Aegiceras corniculatum were mixed together and living at the edge of channels with an area of 11.7 ha. Additionally, mangrove species shows clearly zonations and associations in the Mai Po Core Zone. The overall accuracy of our mangrove map was 88% and the Kappa confidence was 0.83, which indicated great potential of using hyperspectral and high-resolution data for distinguishing and mapping mangrove species.

Two dimension MDW OCDMA code cross-correlation for reduction of phase induced intensity noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Israa Sh.; Aljunid, Syed A.; Nordin, Junita M.; Dulaimi, Layth A. Khalil Al; Matem, Rima

2017-11-01

In this paper, we first review 2-D MDW code cross correlation equations and table to be improved significantly by using code correlation properties. These codes can be used in the synchronous optical CDMA systems for multi access interference cancellation and maximum suppress the phase induced intensity noise. Low Psr is due to the reduction of interference noise that is induced by the 2-D MDW code PIIN suppression. High data rate causes increases in BER, requires high effective power and severely deteriorates the system performance. The 2-D W/T MDW code has an excellent system performance where the value of PIIN is suppressed as low as possible at the optimum Psr with high data bit rate. The 2-D MDW code shows better tolerance to PIIN in comparison to others with enhanced system performance. We prove by numerical analysis that the PIIN maximally suppressed by MDW code through the minimizing property of cross correlation in comparison to 2-D PDC and 2-D MQC OCDMA code.scheme systems.

Cognitive demands of face monitoring: evidence for visuospatial overload.

PubMed

Doherty-Sneddon, G; Bonner, L; Bruce, V

2001-10-01

Young children perform difficult communication tasks better face to face than when they cannot see one another (e.g., Doherty-Sneddon & Kent, 1996). However, in recent studies, it was found that children aged 6 and 10 years, describing abstract shapes, showed evidence of face-to-face interference rather than facilitation. For some communication tasks, access to visual signals (such as facial expression and eye gaze) may hinder rather than help children's communication. In new research we have pursued this interference effect. Five studies are described with adults and 10- and 6-year-old participants. It was found that looking at a face interfered with children's abilities to listen to descriptions of abstract shapes. Children also performed visuospatial memory tasks worse when they looked at someone's face prior to responding than when they looked at a visuospatial pattern or at the floor. It was concluded that performance on certain tasks was hindered by monitoring another person's face. It is suggested that processing of visual communication signals shares certain processing resources with the processing of other visuospatial information.

A glimpse of gluons through deeply virtual compton scattering on the proton

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Defurne, Maxime; Jimenez-Arguello, A. Marti; Ahmed, Z.

The proton is composed of quarks and gluons, bound by the most elusive mechanism of strong interaction called confinement. In this work, the dynamics of quarks and gluons are investigated using deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS): produced by a multi-GeV electron, a highly virtual photon scatters off the proton which subsequently radiates a high energy photon. Similarly to holography, measuring not only the magnitude but also the phase of the DVCS amplitude allows to perform 3D images of the internal structure of the proton. The phase is made accessible through the quantum-mechanical interference of DVCS with the Bethe-Heitler (BH) process,more » in which the final photon is emitted by the electron rather than the proton. Here, we report herein the first full determination of the BH-DVCS interference by exploiting the distinct energy dependences of the DVCS and BH amplitudes. In the high energy regime where the scattering process is expected to occur off a single quark in the proton, these accurate measurements show an intriguing sensitivity to gluons, the carriers of the strong interaction.« less

Dirac electrons in quantum rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gioia, L.; Zülicke, U.; Governale, M.; Winkler, R.

2018-05-01

We consider quantum rings realized in materials where the dynamics of charge carriers mimics that of two-dimensional (2D) Dirac electrons. A general theoretical description of the ring-subband structure is developed that applies to a range of currently available 2D systems, including graphene, transition-metal dichalcogenides, and narrow-gap semiconductor quantum wells. We employ the scattering-matrix approach to calculate the electronic two-terminal conductance through the ring and investigate how it is affected by Dirac-electron interference. The interplay of pseudospin chirality and hard-wall confinement is found to distinctly affect the geometric phase that is experimentally accessible in mesoscopic-conductance measurements. We derive an effective Hamiltonian for the azimuthal motion of charge carriers in the ring that yields deeper insight into the physical origin of the observed transport effects, including the unique behavior exhibited by the lowest ring subband in the normal and topological (i.e., band-inverted) regimes. Our paper provides a unified approach to characterizing confined Dirac electrons, which can be used to explore the design of valley- and spintronic devices based on quantum interference and the confinement-tunable geometric phase.

A glimpse of gluons through deeply virtual compton scattering on the proton

DOE PAGES

Defurne, Maxime; Jimenez-Arguello, A. Marti; Ahmed, Z.; ...

2017-11-10

The proton is composed of quarks and gluons, bound by the most elusive mechanism of strong interaction called confinement. In this work, the dynamics of quarks and gluons are investigated using deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS): produced by a multi-GeV electron, a highly virtual photon scatters off the proton which subsequently radiates a high energy photon. Similarly to holography, measuring not only the magnitude but also the phase of the DVCS amplitude allows to perform 3D images of the internal structure of the proton. The phase is made accessible through the quantum-mechanical interference of DVCS with the Bethe-Heitler (BH) process,more » in which the final photon is emitted by the electron rather than the proton. Here, we report herein the first full determination of the BH-DVCS interference by exploiting the distinct energy dependences of the DVCS and BH amplitudes. In the high energy regime where the scattering process is expected to occur off a single quark in the proton, these accurate measurements show an intriguing sensitivity to gluons, the carriers of the strong interaction.« less

Hierarchical Equation of Motion Investigation of Decoherence and Relaxation Dynamics in Nonequilibrium Transport through Interacting Quantum Dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartle, Rainer; Cohen, Guy; Reichman, David R.; Millis, Andrew J.

2014-03-01

A recently developed hierarchical quantum master equation approach is used to investigate nonequilibrium electron transport through an interacting double quantum dot system in the regime where the inter-dot coupling is weaker than the coupling to the electrodes. The corresponding eigenstates provide tunneling paths that may interfere constructively or destructively, depending on the energy of the tunneling electrons. Electron-electron interactions are shown to quench these interference effects in bias-voltage dependent ways, leading, in particular, to negative differential resistance, population inversion and an enhanced broadening of resonances in the respective transport characteristics. Relaxation times are found to be very long, and to be correlated with very slow dynamics of the inter-dot coherences (off diagonal density matrix elements). The ability of the hierarchical quantum master equation approach to access very long time scales is crucial for the study of this physics. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF DMR-1006282 and NSF CHE-1213247), the Yad Hanadiv-Rothschild Foundation (via a Rothschild Fellowship for GC) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (via a Feodor Lynen fellowship for RH).

How phloem-feeding insects face the challenge of phloem-located defenses

PubMed Central

Will, Torsten; Furch, Alexandra C. U.; Zimmermann, Matthias R.

2013-01-01

Due to the high content of nutrient, sieve tubes are a primary target for pests, e.g., most phytophagous hemipteran. To protect the integrity of the sieve tubes as well as their content, plants possess diverse chemical and physical defense mechanisms. The latter mechanisms are important because they can potentially interfere with the food source accession of phloem-feeding insects. Physical defense mechanisms are based on callose as well as on proteins and often plug the sieve tube. Insects that feed from sieve tubes are potentially able to overwhelm these defense mechanisms using their saliva. Gel saliva forms a sheath in the apoplast around the stylet and is suggested to seal the stylet penetration site in the cell plasma membrane. In addition, watery saliva is secreted into penetrated cells including sieve elements; the presence of specific enzymes/effectors in this saliva is thought to interfere with plant defense responses. Here we detail several aspects of plant defense and discuss the interaction of plants and phloem-feeding insects. Recent agro-biotechnological phloem-located aphid control strategies are presented. PMID:24009620

Emotional task management: neural correlates of switching between affective and non-affective task-sets.

PubMed

Reeck, Crystal; Egner, Tobias

2015-08-01

Although task-switching has been investigated extensively, its interaction with emotionally salient task content remains unclear. Prioritized processing of affective stimulus content may enhance accessibility of affective task-sets and generate increased interference when switching between affective and non-affective task-sets. Previous research has demonstrated that more dominant task-sets experience greater switch costs, as they necessitate active inhibition during performance of less entrenched tasks. Extending this logic to the affective domain, the present experiment examined (a) whether affective task-sets are more dominant than non-affective ones, and (b) what neural mechanisms regulate affective task-sets, so that weaker, non-affective task-sets can be executed. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants categorized face stimuli according to either their gender (non-affective task) or their emotional expression (affective task). Behavioral results were consistent with the affective task dominance hypothesis: participants were slower to switch to the affective task, and cross-task interference was strongest when participants tried to switch from the affective to the non-affective task. These behavioral costs of controlling the affective task-set were mirrored in the activation of a right-lateralized frontostriatal network previously implicated in task-set updating and response inhibition. Connectivity between amygdala and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was especially pronounced during cross-task interference from affective features. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Learning new meanings for known words: Biphasic effects of prior knowledge.

PubMed

Fang, Xiaoping; Perfetti, Charles; Stafura, Joseph

2017-01-01

In acquiring word meanings, learners are often confronted by a single word form that is mapped to two or more meanings. For example, long after how to roller-"skate", one may learn that "skate" is also a kind of fish. Such learning of new meanings for familiar words involves two potentially contrasting processes, relative to new form-new meaning learning: 1) Form-based familiarity may facilitate learning a new meaning, and 2) meaning-based interference may inhibit learning a new meaning. We examined these two processes by having native English speakers learn new, unrelated meanings for familiar (high frequency) and less familiar (low frequency) English words, as well as for unfamiliar (novel or pseudo-) words. Tracking learning with cued-recall tasks at several points during learning revealed a biphasic pattern: higher learning rates and greater learning efficiency for familiar words relative to novel words early in learning and a reversal of this pattern later in learning. Following learning, interference from original meanings for familiar words was detected in a semantic relatedness judgment task. Additionally, lexical access to familiar words with new meanings became faster compared to their exposure controls, but no such effect occurred for less familiar words. Overall, the results suggest a biphasic pattern of facilitating and interfering processes: Familiar word forms facilitate learning earlier, while interference from original meanings becomes more influential later. This biphasic pattern reflects the co-activation of new and old meanings during learning, a process that may play a role in lexicalization of new meanings.

Energy-Efficient Optimal Power Allocation in Integrated Wireless Sensor and Cognitive Satellite Terrestrial Networks

PubMed Central

Li, Guangxia; An, Kang; Gao, Bin; Zheng, Gan

2017-01-01

This paper proposes novel satellite-based wireless sensor networks (WSNs), which integrate the WSN with the cognitive satellite terrestrial network. Having the ability to provide seamless network access and alleviate the spectrum scarcity, cognitive satellite terrestrial networks are considered as a promising candidate for future wireless networks with emerging requirements of ubiquitous broadband applications and increasing demand for spectral resources. With the emerging environmental and energy cost concerns in communication systems, explicit concerns on energy efficient resource allocation in satellite networks have also recently received considerable attention. In this regard, this paper proposes energy-efficient optimal power allocation schemes in the cognitive satellite terrestrial networks for non-real-time and real-time applications, respectively, which maximize the energy efficiency (EE) of the cognitive satellite user while guaranteeing the interference at the primary terrestrial user below an acceptable level. Specifically, average interference power (AIP) constraint is employed to protect the communication quality of the primary terrestrial user while average transmit power (ATP) or peak transmit power (PTP) constraint is adopted to regulate the transmit power of the satellite user. Since the energy-efficient power allocation optimization problem belongs to the nonlinear concave fractional programming problem, we solve it by combining Dinkelbach’s method with Lagrange duality method. Simulation results demonstrate that the fading severity of the terrestrial interference link is favorable to the satellite user who can achieve EE gain under the ATP constraint comparing to the PTP constraint. PMID:28869546

RSC-dependent constructive and destructive interference between opposing arrays of phased nucleosomes in yeast

PubMed Central

Ganguli, Dwaipayan; Chereji, Răzvan V.; Iben, James R.; Cole, Hope A.

2014-01-01

RSC and SWI/SNF are related ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling machines that move nucleosomes, regulating access to DNA. We addressed their roles in nucleosome phasing relative to transcription start sites in yeast. SWI/SNF has no effect on phasing at the global level. In contrast, RSC depletion results in global nucleosome repositioning: Both upstream and downstream nucleosomal arrays shift toward the nucleosome-depleted region (NDR), with no change in spacing, resulting in a narrower and partly filled NDR. The global picture of RSC-depleted chromatin represents the average of a range of chromatin structures, with most genes showing a shift of the +1 or the −1 nucleosome into the NDR. Using RSC ChIP data reported by others, we show that RSC occupancy is highest on the coding regions of heavily transcribed genes, though not at their NDRs. We propose that RSC has a role in restoring chromatin structure after transcription. Analysis of gene pairs in different orientations demonstrates that phasing patterns reflect competition between phasing signals emanating from neighboring NDRs. These signals may be in phase, resulting in constructive interference and a regular array, or out of phase, resulting in destructive interference and fuzzy positioning. We propose a modified barrier model, in which a stable complex located at the NDR acts as a bidirectional phasing barrier. In RSC-depleted cells, this barrier has a smaller footprint, resulting in narrower NDRs. Thus, RSC plays a critical role in organizing yeast chromatin. PMID:25015381

RSC-dependent constructive and destructive interference between opposing arrays of phased nucleosomes in yeast.

PubMed

Ganguli, Dwaipayan; Chereji, Răzvan V; Iben, James R; Cole, Hope A; Clark, David J

2014-10-01

RSC and SWI/SNF are related ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling machines that move nucleosomes, regulating access to DNA. We addressed their roles in nucleosome phasing relative to transcription start sites in yeast. SWI/SNF has no effect on phasing at the global level. In contrast, RSC depletion results in global nucleosome repositioning: Both upstream and downstream nucleosomal arrays shift toward the nucleosome-depleted region (NDR), with no change in spacing, resulting in a narrower and partly filled NDR. The global picture of RSC-depleted chromatin represents the average of a range of chromatin structures, with most genes showing a shift of the +1 or the -1 nucleosome into the NDR. Using RSC ChIP data reported by others, we show that RSC occupancy is highest on the coding regions of heavily transcribed genes, though not at their NDRs. We propose that RSC has a role in restoring chromatin structure after transcription. Analysis of gene pairs in different orientations demonstrates that phasing patterns reflect competition between phasing signals emanating from neighboring NDRs. These signals may be in phase, resulting in constructive interference and a regular array, or out of phase, resulting in destructive interference and fuzzy positioning. We propose a modified barrier model, in which a stable complex located at the NDR acts as a bidirectional phasing barrier. In RSC-depleted cells, this barrier has a smaller footprint, resulting in narrower NDRs. Thus, RSC plays a critical role in organizing yeast chromatin. Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.