Sample records for divisive gain modulation

  1. Deconstructing Interocular Suppression: Attention and Divisive Normalization

    PubMed Central

    Li, Hsin-Hung; Carrasco, Marisa; Heeger, David J.

    2015-01-01

    In interocular suppression, a suprathreshold monocular target can be rendered invisible by a salient competitor stimulus presented in the other eye. Despite decades of research on interocular suppression and related phenomena (e.g., binocular rivalry, flash suppression, continuous flash suppression), the neural processing underlying interocular suppression is still unknown. We developed and tested a computational model of interocular suppression. The model included two processes that contributed to the strength of interocular suppression: divisive normalization and attentional modulation. According to the model, the salient competitor induced a stimulus-driven attentional modulation selective for the location and orientation of the competitor, thereby increasing the gain of neural responses to the competitor and reducing the gain of neural responses to the target. Additional suppression was induced by divisive normalization in the model, similar to other forms of visual masking. To test the model, we conducted psychophysics experiments in which both the size and the eye-of-origin of the competitor were manipulated. For small and medium competitors, behavioral performance was consonant with a change in the response gain of neurons that responded to the target. But large competitors induced a contrast-gain change, even when the competitor was split between the two eyes. The model correctly predicted these results and outperformed an alternative model in which the attentional modulation was eye specific. We conclude that both stimulus-driven attention (selective for location and feature) and divisive normalization contribute to interocular suppression. PMID:26517321

  2. Deconstructing Interocular Suppression: Attention and Divisive Normalization.

    PubMed

    Li, Hsin-Hung; Carrasco, Marisa; Heeger, David J

    2015-10-01

    In interocular suppression, a suprathreshold monocular target can be rendered invisible by a salient competitor stimulus presented in the other eye. Despite decades of research on interocular suppression and related phenomena (e.g., binocular rivalry, flash suppression, continuous flash suppression), the neural processing underlying interocular suppression is still unknown. We developed and tested a computational model of interocular suppression. The model included two processes that contributed to the strength of interocular suppression: divisive normalization and attentional modulation. According to the model, the salient competitor induced a stimulus-driven attentional modulation selective for the location and orientation of the competitor, thereby increasing the gain of neural responses to the competitor and reducing the gain of neural responses to the target. Additional suppression was induced by divisive normalization in the model, similar to other forms of visual masking. To test the model, we conducted psychophysics experiments in which both the size and the eye-of-origin of the competitor were manipulated. For small and medium competitors, behavioral performance was consonant with a change in the response gain of neurons that responded to the target. But large competitors induced a contrast-gain change, even when the competitor was split between the two eyes. The model correctly predicted these results and outperformed an alternative model in which the attentional modulation was eye specific. We conclude that both stimulus-driven attention (selective for location and feature) and divisive normalization contribute to interocular suppression.

  3. Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays.

    PubMed

    Mejias, Jorge F; Payeur, Alexandre; Selin, Erik; Maler, Leonard; Longtin, André

    2014-01-01

    The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry-also known as "open-loop feedback"-, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves) via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain.

  4. Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays

    PubMed Central

    Mejias, Jorge F.; Payeur, Alexandre; Selin, Erik; Maler, Leonard; Longtin, André

    2014-01-01

    The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry—also known as “open-loop feedback”—, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves) via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain. PMID:24616694

  5. Pilot-Assisted Channel Estimation for Orthogonal Multi-Carrier DS-CDMA with Frequency-Domain Equalization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shima, Tomoyuki; Tomeba, Hiromichi; Adachi, Fumiyuki

    Orthogonal multi-carrier direct sequence code division multiple access (orthogonal MC DS-CDMA) is a combination of time-domain spreading and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). In orthogonal MC DS-CDMA, the frequency diversity gain can be obtained by applying frequency-domain equalization (FDE) based on minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion to a block of OFDM symbols and can improve the bit error rate (BER) performance in a severe frequency-selective fading channel. FDE requires an accurate estimate of the channel gain. The channel gain can be estimated by removing the pilot modulation in the frequency domain. In this paper, we propose a pilot-assisted channel estimation suitable for orthogonal MC DS-CDMA with FDE and evaluate, by computer simulation, the BER performance in a frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channel.

  6. Gain control through divisive inhibition prevents abrupt transition to chaos in a neural mass model.

    PubMed

    Papasavvas, Christoforos A; Wang, Yujiang; Trevelyan, Andrew J; Kaiser, Marcus

    2015-09-01

    Experimental results suggest that there are two distinct mechanisms of inhibition in cortical neuronal networks: subtractive and divisive inhibition. They modulate the input-output function of their target neurons either by increasing the input that is needed to reach maximum output or by reducing the gain and the value of maximum output itself, respectively. However, the role of these mechanisms on the dynamics of the network is poorly understood. We introduce a novel population model and numerically investigate the influence of divisive inhibition on network dynamics. Specifically, we focus on the transitions from a state of regular oscillations to a state of chaotic dynamics via period-doubling bifurcations. The model with divisive inhibition exhibits a universal transition rate to chaos (Feigenbaum behavior). In contrast, in an equivalent model without divisive inhibition, transition rates to chaos are not bounded by the universal constant (non-Feigenbaum behavior). This non-Feigenbaum behavior, when only subtractive inhibition is present, is linked to the interaction of bifurcation curves in the parameter space. Indeed, searching the parameter space showed that such interactions are impossible when divisive inhibition is included. Therefore, divisive inhibition prevents non-Feigenbaum behavior and, consequently, any abrupt transition to chaos. The results suggest that the divisive inhibition in neuronal networks could play a crucial role in keeping the states of order and chaos well separated and in preventing the onset of pathological neural dynamics.

  7. Practice makes pretty good: assessment of primary literature reading abilities across multiple large-enrollment biology laboratory courses.

    PubMed

    Sato, Brian K; Kadandale, Pavan; He, Wenliang; Murata, Paige M N; Latif, Yama; Warschauer, Mark

    2014-01-01

    Primary literature is essential for scientific communication and is commonly utilized in undergraduate biology education. Despite this, there is often little time spent training our students how to critically analyze a paper. To address this, we introduced a primary literature module in multiple upper-division laboratory courses. In this module, instructors conduct classroom discussions that dissect a paper as researchers do. While previous work has identified classroom interventions that improve primary literature comprehension within a single course, our goal was to determine whether including a scientific paper module in our classes could produce long-term benefits. On the basis of performance in an assessment exam, we found that our module resulted in longitudinal gains, including increased comprehension and critical-thinking abilities in subsequent lab courses. These learning gains were specific to courses utilizing our module, as no longitudinal gains were seen in students who had taken other upper-division labs that lacked extensive primary literature discussion. In addition, we assessed whether performance on our assessment correlated with a variety of factors, including grade point average, course performance, research background, and self-reported confidence in understanding of the article. Furthermore, all of the study conclusions are independent of biology disciplines, as we observe similar trends within each course. © 2014 B. K. Sato et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  8. Rate adaptive multilevel coded modulation with high coding gain in intensity modulation direct detection optical communication

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xiao, Fei; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Lijia; Xin, Xiangjun; Zhang, Qi; Tian, Qinghua; Tian, Feng; Wang, Yongjun; Rao, Lan; Ullah, Rahat; Zhao, Feng; Li, Deng'ao

    2018-02-01

    A rate-adaptive multilevel coded modulation (RA-MLC) scheme based on fixed code length and a corresponding decoding scheme is proposed. RA-MLC scheme combines the multilevel coded and modulation technology with the binary linear block code at the transmitter. Bits division, coding, optional interleaving, and modulation are carried out by the preset rule, then transmitted through standard single mode fiber span equal to 100 km. The receiver improves the accuracy of decoding by means of soft information passing through different layers, which enhances the performance. Simulations are carried out in an intensity modulation-direct detection optical communication system using MATLAB®. Results show that the RA-MLC scheme can achieve bit error rate of 1E-5 when optical signal-to-noise ratio is 20.7 dB. It also reduced the number of decoders by 72% and realized 22 rate adaptation without significantly increasing the computing time. The coding gain is increased by 7.3 dB at BER=1E-3.

  9. Advanced optical fiber communication systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kazovsky, Leonid G.

    1994-03-01

    Our research is focused on three major aspects of advanced optical fiber communication systems: dynamic wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks, fiber nonlinearities, and high dynamic range coherent analog optical links. In the area of WDM networks, we have designed and implemented two high-speed interface boards and measured their throughput and latency. Furthermore, we designed and constructed an experimental PSK/ASK transceiver that simultaneously transmits packet-switched ASK data and circuit-switched PSK data on the same optical carrier. In the area of fiber nonlinearities, we investigated the theoretical impact of modulation frequency on cross-phase modulation (XPM) in dispersive fibers. In the area of high dynamic range coherent analog optical links, we developed theoretical expressions for the RF power transfer ratio (or RF power gain) and the noise figure (NF) of angle-modulated links. We then compared the RF power gains and noise figures of these links to that of an intensity modulated direct detection (DD) link.

  10. Gain control through divisive inhibition prevents abrupt transition to chaos in a neural mass model

    PubMed Central

    Papasavvas, Christoforos A.; Wang, Yujiang; Trevelyan, Andrew J.; Kaiser, Marcus

    2016-01-01

    Experimental results suggest that there are two distinct mechanisms of inhibition in cortical neuronal networks: subtractive and divisive inhibition. They modulate the input-output function of their target neurons either by increasing the input that is needed to reach maximum output or by reducing the gain and the value of maximum output itself, respectively. However, the role of these mechanisms on the dynamics of the network is poorly understood. We introduce a novel population model and numerically investigate the influence of divisive inhibition on network dynamics. Specifically, we focus on the transitions from a state of regular oscillations to a state of chaotic dynamics via period-doubling bifurcations. The model with divisive inhibition exhibits a universal transition rate to chaos (Feigenbaum behavior). In contrast, in an equivalent model without divisive inhibition, transition rates to chaos are not bounded by the universal constant (non-Feigenbaum behavior). This non-Feigenbaum behavior, when only subtractive inhibition is present, is linked to the interaction of bifurcation curves in the parameter space. Indeed, searching the parameter space showed that such interactions are impossible when divisive inhibition is included. Therefore, divisive inhibition prevents non-Feigenbaum behavior and, consequently, any abrupt transition to chaos. The results suggest that the divisive inhibition in neuronal networks could play a crucial role in keeping the states of order and chaos well separated and in preventing the onset of pathological neural dynamics. PMID:26465514

  11. Marginalization in neural circuits with divisive normalization

    PubMed Central

    Beck, J.M.; Latham, P.E.; Pouget, A.

    2011-01-01

    A wide range of computations performed by the nervous system involves a type of probabilistic inference known as marginalization. This computation comes up in seemingly unrelated tasks, including causal reasoning, odor recognition, motor control, visual tracking, coordinate transformations, visual search, decision making, and object recognition, to name just a few. The question we address here is: how could neural circuits implement such marginalizations? We show that when spike trains exhibit a particular type of statistics – associated with constant Fano factors and gain-invariant tuning curves, as is often reported in vivo – some of the more common marginalizations can be achieved with networks that implement a quadratic nonlinearity and divisive normalization, the latter being a type of nonlinear lateral inhibition that has been widely reported in neural circuits. Previous studies have implicated divisive normalization in contrast gain control and attentional modulation. Our results raise the possibility that it is involved in yet another, highly critical, computation: near optimal marginalization in a remarkably wide range of tasks. PMID:22031877

  12. Reward value-based gain control: divisive normalization in parietal cortex.

    PubMed

    Louie, Kenway; Grattan, Lauren E; Glimcher, Paul W

    2011-07-20

    The representation of value is a critical component of decision making. Rational choice theory assumes that options are assigned absolute values, independent of the value or existence of other alternatives. However, context-dependent choice behavior in both animals and humans violates this assumption, suggesting that biological decision processes rely on comparative evaluation. Here we show that neurons in the monkey lateral intraparietal cortex encode a relative form of saccadic value, explicitly dependent on the values of the other available alternatives. Analogous to extra-classical receptive field effects in visual cortex, this relative representation incorporates target values outside the response field and is observed in both stimulus-driven activity and baseline firing rates. This context-dependent modulation is precisely described by divisive normalization, indicating that this standard form of sensory gain control may be a general mechanism of cortical computation. Such normalization in decision circuits effectively implements an adaptive gain control for value coding and provides a possible mechanistic basis for behavioral context-dependent violations of rationality.

  13. A novel compensation method for the anode gain non-uniformity of multi-anode photomultiplier tubes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Chan Mi; Kwon, Sun Il; Ko, Guen Bae; Ito, Mikiko; Yoon, Hyun Suk; Lee, Dong Soo; Jong Hong, Seong; Lee, Jae Sung

    2012-01-01

    The position-sensitive multi-anode photomultiplier tube (MA-PMT) is widely used in high-resolution scintillation detectors. However, the anode gain non-uniformity of this device is a limiting factor that degrades the intrinsic performance of the detector module. The aim of this work was to develop a gain compensation method for the MA-PMT and evaluate the resulting enhancement in the performance of the detector. The method employs a circuit that is composed only of resistors and is placed between the MA-PMT and a resistive charge division network (RCN) used for position encoding. The goal of the circuit is to divide the output current from each anode, so the same current flows into the RCN regardless of the anode gain. The current division is controlled by the combination of a fixed-value series resistor with an output impedance that is much larger than the input impedance of the RCN, and a parallel resistor, which detours part of the current to ground. PSpice simulations of the compensation circuit and the RCN were performed to determine optimal values for the compensation resistors when used with Hamamatsu H8500 MA-PMTs. The intrinsic characteristics of a detector module consisting of this MA-PMT and a lutetium-gadolinium-oxyorthosilicate (LGSO) crystal array were tested with and without the gain compensation method. In simulation, the average coefficient of variation and max/min ratio decreased from 15.7% to 2.7% and 2.0 to 1.2, respectively. In the flood map of the LGSO-H8500 detector, the uniformity of the photopeak position for individual crystals and the energy resolution were much improved. The feasibility of the method was shown by applying it to an octagonal prototype positron emission tomography scanner.

  14. Optical back propagation for fiber optic networks with hybrid EDFA Raman amplification.

    PubMed

    Liang, Xiaojun; Kumar, Shiva

    2017-03-06

    We have investigated an optical back propagation (OBP) method to compensate for propagation impairments in fiber optic networks with lumped Erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and/or distributed Raman amplification. An OBP module consists of an optical phase conjugator (OPC), optical amplifiers and dispersion varying fibers (DVFs). We derived a semi-analytical expression that calculates the dispersion profile of DVF. The OBP module acts as a nonlinear filter that fully compensates for the nonlinear distortions due to signal propagation in a transmission fiber, and is applicable for fiber optic networks with reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs). We studied a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network with 3000 km transmission distance and 64-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation. OBP brings 5.8 dB, 5.9 dB and 6.1 dB Q-factor gains over linear compensation for systems with full EDFA amplification, hybrid EDFA/Raman amplification, and full Raman amplification, respectively. In contrast, digital back propagation (DBP) or OPC-only systems provide only 0.8 ~ 1.5 dB Q-factor gains.

  15. On the performance of joint iterative detection and decoding in coherent optical channels with laser frequency fluctuations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Castrillón, Mario A.; Morero, Damián A.; Agazzi, Oscar E.; Hueda, Mario R.

    2015-08-01

    The joint iterative detection and decoding (JIDD) technique has been proposed by Barbieri et al. (2007) with the objective of compensating the time-varying phase noise and constant frequency offset experienced in satellite communication systems. The application of JIDD to optical coherent receivers in the presence of laser frequency fluctuations has not been reported in prior literature. Laser frequency fluctuations are caused by mechanical vibrations, power supply noise, and other mechanisms. They significantly degrade the performance of the carrier phase estimator in high-speed intradyne coherent optical receivers. This work investigates the performance of the JIDD algorithm in multi-gigabit optical coherent receivers. We present simulation results of bit error rate (BER) for non-differential polarization division multiplexing (PDM)-16QAM modulation in a 200 Gb/s coherent optical system that includes an LDPC code with 20% overhead and net coding gain of 11.3 dB at BER = 10-15. Our study shows that JIDD with a pilot rate ⩽ 5 % compensates for both laser phase noise and laser frequency fluctuation. Furthermore, since JIDD is used with non-differential modulation formats, we find that gains in excess of 1 dB can be achieved over existing solutions based on an explicit carrier phase estimator with differential modulation. The impact of the fiber nonlinearities in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems is also investigated. Our results demonstrate that JIDD is an excellent candidate for application in next generation high-speed optical coherent receivers.

  16. Concept and implementation of the Globalstar mobile satellite system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schindall, Joel

    1995-01-01

    Globalstar is a satellite-based mobile communications system which provides quality wireless communications (voice and/or data) anywhere in the world except the polar regions. The Globalstar system concept is based upon technological advancements in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology and in cellular telephone technology, including the commercial application of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technologies. The Globalstar system uses elements of CDMA and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), combined with satellite Multiple Beam Antenna (MBA) technology and advanced variable-rate vocoder technology to arrive at one of the most efficient modulation and multiple access systems ever proposed for a satellite communications system. The technology used in Globalstar includes the following techniques in obtaining high spectral efficiency and affordable cost per channel: (1) CDMA modulation with efficient power control; (2) high efficiency vocoder with voice activity factor; (3) spot beam antenna for increased gain and frequency reuse; (4) weighted satellite antenna gain for broad geographic coverage; (5) multisatellite user links (diversity) to enhance communications reliability; and (6) soft hand-off between beams and satellites. Initial launch is scheduled in 1997 and the system is scheduled to be operational in 1998. The Globalstar system utilizes frequencies in L-, S- and C-bands which have the potential to offer worldwide availability with authorization by the appropriate regulatory agencies.

  17. Development of Low Noise-Broadband Raman Amplification Systems Based on Photonic Crystal Fibers for High Capacity DWDM Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elgamri, Abdelghafor

    The increased demand from IP traffic, video application and cell backhaul has placed fiber routes under severe stains. The high demands for large bandwidth from enormous numbers from cell sites on a network made the capacity of yesterday's networks not adequate for today's bandwidth demand. Carries considered Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) network to overcome this issue. Recently, there has been growing interest in fiber Raman amplifiers due to their capability to upgrade the wavelength-division-multiplexing bandwidth, arbitrary gain bandwidth. In addition, photonic crystal fibers have been widely modeled, studied, and fabricated due to their peculiar properties that cannot be achieved with conventional fibers. The focus of this thesis is to develop a low-noise broadband Raman amplification system based on photonic crystal Fiber that can be implemented in high capacity DWDM network successfully. The design a module of photonic crystal fiber Raman amplifier is based on the knowledge of the fiber cross-sectional characteristics i.e. the geometric parameters and the Germania concentration in the dope area. The module allows to study different air-hole dimension and disposition, with or without a central doped area. In addition the design integrates distributed Raman amplifier and nonlinear optical loop mirror to improve the signal to noise ratio and overall gain in large capacity DWDM networks.

  18. Neural basis of increased costly norm enforcement under adversity.

    PubMed

    Wu, Yan; Yu, Hongbo; Shen, Bo; Yu, Rongjun; Zhou, Zhiheng; Zhang, Guoping; Jiang, Yushi; Zhou, Xiaolin

    2014-12-01

    Humans are willing to punish norm violations even at a substantial personal cost. Using fMRI and a variant of the ultimatum game and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated how the brain differentially responds to fairness in loss and gain domains. Participants (responders) received offers from anonymous partners indicating a division of an amount of monetary gain or loss. If they accept, both get their shares according to the division; if they reject, both get nothing or lose the entire stake. We used a computational model to derive perceived fairness of offers and participant-specific inequity aversion. Behaviorally, participants were more likely to reject unfair offers in the loss (vs gain) domain. Neurally, the positive correlation between fairness and activation in ventral striatum was reduced, whereas the negative correlations between fairness and activations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were enhanced in the loss domain. Moreover, rejection-related dorsal striatum activation was higher in the loss domain. Furthermore, the gain-loss domain modulates costly punishment only when unfair behavior was directed toward the participants and not when it was directed toward others. These findings provide neural and computational accounts of increased costly norm enforcement under adversity and advanced our understanding of the context-dependent nature of fairness preference. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. A TDM link with channel coding and digital voice.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jones, M. W.; Tu, K.; Harton, P. L.

    1972-01-01

    The features of a TDM (time-division multiplexed) link model are described. A PCM telemetry sequence was coded for error correction and multiplexed with a digitized voice channel. An all-digital implementation of a variable-slope delta modulation algorithm was used to digitize the voice channel. The results of extensive testing are reported. The measured coding gain and the system performance over a Gaussian channel are compared with theoretical predictions and computer simulations. Word intelligibility scores are reported as a measure of voice channel performance.

  20. Interaural Level Difference Dependent Gain Control and Synaptic Scaling Underlying Binaural Computation

    PubMed Central

    Xiong, Xiaorui R.; Liang, Feixue; Li, Haifu; Mesik, Lukas; Zhang, Ke K.; Polley, Daniel B.; Tao, Huizhong W.; Xiao, Zhongju; Zhang, Li I.

    2013-01-01

    Binaural integration in the central nucleus of inferior colliculus (ICC) plays a critical role in sound localization. However, its arithmetic nature and underlying synaptic mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we showed in mouse ICC neurons that the contralateral dominance is created by a “push-pull”-like mechanism, with contralaterally dominant excitation and more bilaterally balanced inhibition. Importantly, binaural spiking response is generated apparently from an ipsilaterally-mediated scaling of contralateral response, leaving frequency tuning unchanged. This scaling effect is attributed to a divisive attenuation of contralaterally-evoked synaptic excitation onto ICC neurons with their inhibition largely unaffected. Thus, a gain control mediates the linear transformation from monaural to binaural spike responses. The gain value is modulated by interaural level difference (ILD) primarily through scaling excitation to different levels. The ILD-dependent synaptic scaling and gain adjustment allow ICC neurons to dynamically encode interaural sound localization cues while maintaining an invariant representation of other independent sound attributes. PMID:23972599

  1. Multiple access techniques and spectrum utilization of the GLOBALSTAR mobile satellite system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Louie, Ming; Cohen, Michel; Rouffet, Denis; Gilhousen, Klein S.

    The GLOBALSTAR System is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-based mobile communications system that is interoperable with the current and future Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). The GLOBALSTAR System concept is based upon technological advancement in two key areas: (1) the advancement in LEO satellite technology; (2) the advancement in cellular telephone technology, including the commercial applications of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technologies, and of the most recent progress in Time Division Multiple Access technologies. The GLOBALSTAR System uses elements of CDMA, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology, combining with satellite Multiple Beam Antenna (MBA) technology, to arrive at one of the most efficient modulation and multiple access system ever proposed for a satellite communications system. The technology used in GLOBALSTAR exploits the following techniques in obtaining high spectral efficiency and affordable cost per channel, with minimum coordination among different systems: power control, in open and closed loops, voice activation, spot beam satellite antenna for frequency reuse, weighted satellite antenna gain, multiple satellite coverage, and handoff between satellites. The GLOBALSTAR system design will use the following frequency bands: 1610-1626.5 MHz for up-link and 2483.5-2500 MHz for down-link.

  2. Pregnancy and Healthy Weight

    MedlinePlus

    ... Division (HMD) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released updated guidelines for weight gain ... Division (HMD) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the ...

  3. Multicarrier orthogonal spread-spectrum (MOSS) data communications

    DOEpatents

    Smith, Stephen F [London, TN; Dress, William B [Camas, WA

    2008-01-01

    Systems and methods are described for multicarrier orthogonal spread-spectrum (MOSS) data communication. A method includes individually spread-spectrum modulating at least two of a set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed carriers, wherein the resulting individually spread-spectrum modulated at least two of a set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed carriers are substantially mutually orthogonal with respect to both frequency division multiplexing and spread-spectrum modulation.

  4. Design of high-speed optical transmission module with an integrated Ti:Er:LiNbO3 waveguide laser/ LiNbO3 electro-optic modulator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bai, Yang; Chen, Shufen; Fu, Li; Fang, Wei; Lu, Junjun

    2005-01-01

    A high bit rate more than 10Gbit/s optical pulse generation device is the key to achieving high-speed and broadband optical fiber communication network system .Now, we propose a novel high-speed optical transmission module(TM) consisting of a Ti:Er:LiNbO3 waveguide laser and a Mach-Zehnder-type encoding modulator on the same Er-doped substrate. According to the standard of ITU-T, we design the 10Gbit/ s transmission module at 1.53μm on the Z cut Y propagation LiNbO3 slice. A dynamic model and the corresponding numerical code are used to analyze the waveguide laser while the electrooptic effect to design the modulator. Meanwhile, the working principle, key technology, typical characteristic parameters of the module are given. The transmission module has a high extinction ratio and a low driving voltage, which supplies the efficient, miniaturized light source for wavelength division multiplexing(WDM) system. In additional, the relation of the laser gain with the cavity parameter, as well as the relation of the bandwidth of the electrooptic modulator with some key factors are discussed .The designed module structure is simulated by BPM software and HFSS software.

  5. Prospects of the development of the laser medical machinery for ensuring of progress of medical technologies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Litvin, Grigory D.; Vibornov, S. I.; Jakimenko, A. P.

    1990-09-01

    Medicine, arid surry in prticu1r, ha'vE rather visib1e and fixed objects and tasks On the hc1e they incILId diagnosis of thE? patological process, division of the tissues, control of tissue mtabo1ism. Each component of mdica1 practice contains in different aspects these general basic Itments EvEn now Iasr technology gives physicians thee opportunity to gain some benefit, in recognizing and measuring living obJects, modulation of metabol ism coagulation and vapor-ation of tissue water

  6. All-optical gain-clamped wideband serial EDFA with ring-shaped laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, Yung-Hsin; Chi, Sien

    2004-01-01

    We experimentally investigate the static and dynamic properties of all-optical gain-clamped wideband (1530-1600 nm) serial erbium-doped fiber amplifier with a single ring-shaped laser, which consists of a circulator and a fiber Bragg grating at the output end. The lasing light passing through the second stage is intentionally blocked at the output end by a C/L-band wavelength division multiplexer owning the huge insertion loss, and thus, the copropagating ring-laser light is formed by the first stage. This design can simultaneously clamp the gains of 1547 and 1584 nm probes near 14 dB and shows the same dynamic range of input power up to -4 dBm for conventional band and long-wavelength band. Furthermore, the transient responses of 1551 and 1596 nm surviving channels exhibit small power excursions (<0.54 dB) as the total saturating tone with -2 dBm is modulated on and off at 270 Hz.

  7. A Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal-Based Dynamic Gain Equalizer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barge, M.; Battarel, D.; de Bougrenet de La Tocnaye, J. L.

    2005-08-01

    This paper presents results obtained with a spatial light modulator (SLM) using a polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal (LC) material to provide dynamic gain equalization (DGE) for wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks. We show the benefit of using a nonchannelized approach to adjust some physical parameters such as the ripple and the maximum obtainable attenuation slope for the spectra to be equalized. Particular attention is paid here to polarization dependence that can result from parasitic anisotropic multiple path interferences as well as induced anisotropy due to a planar transverse field when using a free-space SLM structure. In this frame, we demonstrate an original approach using a depolarizing prism that is only appropriate to such choice of material and that mitigates these effects. Finally, material engineering to widen the operating temperature range is also shortly presented in this paper.

  8. A New Subcarrier Allocation Strategy for MIMO-OFDMA Multicellular Networks Based on Cooperative Interference Mitigation

    PubMed Central

    Gkonis, Panagiotis K.; Seimeni, Maria A.; Asimakis, Nikolaos P.; Kaklamani, Dimitra I.; Venieris, Iakovos S.

    2014-01-01

    The goal of the study presented in this paper is to investigate the performance of a new subcarrier allocation strategy for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) multicellular networks which employ Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) architecture. For this reason, a hybrid system-link level simulator has been developed executing independent Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in parallel. Up to two tiers of cells around the central cell are taken into consideration and increased loading per cell. The derived results indicate that this strategy can provide up to 12% capacity gain for 16-QAM modulation and two tiers of cells around the central cell in a symmetric 2 × 2 MIMO configuration. This gain is derived when comparing the proposed strategy to the traditional approach of allocating subcarriers that maximize only the desired user's signal. PMID:24683351

  9. Evolution of functional specialization and division of labor.

    PubMed

    Rueffler, Claus; Hermisson, Joachim; Wagner, Günter P

    2012-02-07

    Division of labor among functionally specialized modules occurs at all levels of biological organization in both animals and plants. Well-known examples include the evolution of specialized enzymes after gene duplication, the evolution of specialized cell types, limb diversification in arthropods, and the evolution of specialized colony members in many taxa of marine invertebrates and social insects. Here, we identify conditions favoring the evolution of division of labor by means of a general mathematical model. Our starting point is the assumption that modules contribute to two different biological tasks and that the potential of modules to contribute to these tasks is traded off. Our results are phrased in terms of properties of performance functions that map the phenotype of modules to measures of performance. We show that division of labor is favored by three factors: positional effects that predispose modules for one of the tasks, accelerating performance functions, and synergistic interactions between modules. If modules can be lost or damaged, selection for robustness can counteract selection for functional specialization. To illustrate our theory we apply it to the evolution of specialized enzymes coded by duplicated genes.

  10. Fiber Raman laser and amplifier pumped by Nd3+:YVO4 solid state laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Deming; Zhang, Minming; Liu, Shuang; Nie, Mingju; Wang, Ying

    2005-04-01

    Pumping source is the key technology of fiber Raman amplifiers (FRA) which are important for ultra long haul and high bit rate dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. In this paper the research work of the project, "Fiber Raman Laser and Amplifier pumped by Nd3+:YVO4 Solid State Laser", supported by the National High-tech Program (863-program) of China is introduced, in which a novel 14xx nm pump module with fine characteristics of high efficiency, simplicity, compactness and low cost is researched and developed. A compact 1342 nm Nd3+:YVO4 diode pumped solid state laser (DPSSL) module is developed with the total laser power of 655mW and the slope efficiency of 42.6% pumped by a 2W 808nm laser diode (LD). A special C-lens fiber collimator is designed to couple the 1342nm laser beam into a piece of single mode fiber (SMF) and the coupling efficiency of 80% is reached. The specific 14xx nm output laser is generated from a single stage Raman resonator which includes a pair of fiber Bragg gratings and a piece of Germanic-silicate or Phospho-silicate fiber pumped by such DPSSL module. The slope efficiency for conversion from 1342 to 14xx nm radiation is 75% and the laser power is more than 300mW each. Finally, Raman gain experiments are carried out with 100km SMF. 100 nm bandwidth with 10dB on-off Raman gain and 1.1dB gain flatness is achieved by pumped at 1425, 1438, 1455 and 1490nm.

  11. Wavelength-Agile External-Cavity Diode Laser for DWDM

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pilgrim, Jeffrey S.; Bomse, David S.

    2006-01-01

    A prototype external-cavity diode laser (ECDL) has been developed for communication systems utilizing dense wavelength- division multiplexing (DWDM). This ECDL is an updated version of the ECDL reported in Wavelength-Agile External- Cavity Diode Laser (LEW-17090), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 11 (November 2001), page 14a. To recapitulate: The wavelength-agile ECDL combines the stability of an external-cavity laser with the wavelength agility of a diode laser. Wavelength is modulated by modulating the injection current of the diode-laser gain element. The external cavity is a Littman-Metcalf resonator, in which the zeroth-order output from a diffraction grating is used as the laser output and the first-order-diffracted light is retro-reflected by a cavity feedback mirror, which establishes one end of the resonator. The other end of the resonator is the output surface of a Fabry-Perot resonator that constitutes the diode-laser gain element. Wavelength is selected by choosing the angle of the diffracted return beam, as determined by position of the feedback mirror. The present wavelength-agile ECDL is distinguished by design details that enable coverage of all 60 channels, separated by 100-GHz frequency intervals, that are specified in DWDM standards.

  12. 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.

  13. Code division multiple access signaling for modulated reflector technology

    DOEpatents

    Briles, Scott D [Los Alamos, NM

    2012-05-01

    A method and apparatus for utilizing code division multiple access in modulated reflectance transmissions comprises the steps of generating a phase-modulated reflectance data bit stream; modifying the modulated reflectance data bit stream; providing the modified modulated reflectance data bit stream to a switch that connects an antenna to an infinite impedance in the event a "+1" is to be sent, or connects the antenna to ground in the event a "0" or a "-1" is to be sent.

  14. Dynamic Divisive Normalization Predicts Time-Varying Value Coding in Decision-Related Circuits

    PubMed Central

    LoFaro, Thomas; Webb, Ryan; Glimcher, Paul W.

    2014-01-01

    Normalization is a widespread neural computation, mediating divisive gain control in sensory processing and implementing a context-dependent value code in decision-related frontal and parietal cortices. Although decision-making is a dynamic process with complex temporal characteristics, most models of normalization are time-independent and little is known about the dynamic interaction of normalization and choice. Here, we show that a simple differential equation model of normalization explains the characteristic phasic-sustained pattern of cortical decision activity and predicts specific normalization dynamics: value coding during initial transients, time-varying value modulation, and delayed onset of contextual information. Empirically, we observe these predicted dynamics in saccade-related neurons in monkey lateral intraparietal cortex. Furthermore, such models naturally incorporate a time-weighted average of past activity, implementing an intrinsic reference-dependence in value coding. These results suggest that a single network mechanism can explain both transient and sustained decision activity, emphasizing the importance of a dynamic view of normalization in neural coding. PMID:25429145

  15. Symmetric 40-Gb/s TWDM-PON with 51-dB loss budget by using a single SOA as preamplifier, booster and format converter in ONU.

    PubMed

    Li, Zhengxuan; Yi, Lilin; Hu, Weisheng

    2014-10-06

    In this paper, we propose to use a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in the optical network unit (ONU) to improve the loss budget in time and wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network (TWDM-PON) systems. The SOA boosts the upstream signal to increase the output power of the electro-absorption modulated laser (EML) and simultaneously pre-amplifies the downstream signal for sensitivity improvement. The penalty caused by cross gain modulation (XGM) effect is negligible due to the low extinction ratio (ER) of upstream signal and the large wavelength difference between upstream and downstream links. In order to achieve a higher output power, the SOA is driven into its saturation region, where the self-phase modulation (SPM) effect converts the intensity into phase information and realizes on-off-keying (OOK) to phase-shifted-keying (PSK) format conversion. In this way, the pattern effect is eliminated, which releases the requirement of gain-clamping on SOA. To further improve the loss budget of upstream link, an Erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is used in the optical line terminal (OLT) to pre-amplify the received signal. For the downstream direction, directly modulated laser (DML) is used as the laser source. Taking advantage of its carrier-less characteristic, directly modulated signal shows high tolerance to fiber nonlinearity, which could support a downstream launch power as high as + 16 dBm per channel. In addition, the signal is pre-amplified by the SOA in ONU before being detected, so the sensitivity limitation for downstream link is also removed. As a result, a truly passive symmetric 40-Gb/s TWDM-PON was demonstrated, achieving a link loss budget of 51 dB.

  16. Methods of using viral replicase polynucleotides and polypeptides

    DOEpatents

    Gordon-Kamm, William J.; Lowe, Keith S.; Bailey, Matthew A.; Gregory, Carolyn A.; Hoerster, George J.; Larkins, Brian A.; Dilkes, Brian R.; Burnett, Ronald; Woo, Young Min

    2007-12-18

    The invention provides novel methods of using viral replicase polypeptides and polynucleotides. Included are methods for increasing transformation frequencies, increasing crop yield, providing a positive growth advantage, modulating cell division, transiently modulating cell division, and for providing a means of positive selection.

  17. Excavation of attractor modules for nasopharyngeal carcinoma via integrating systemic module inference with attract method.

    PubMed

    Jiang, T; Jiang, C-Y; Shu, J-H; Xu, Y-J

    2017-07-10

    The molecular mechanism of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is poorly understood and effective therapeutic approaches are needed. This research aimed to excavate the attractor modules involved in the progression of NPC and provide further understanding of the underlying mechanism of NPC. Based on the gene expression data of NPC, two specific protein-protein interaction networks for NPC and control conditions were re-weighted using Pearson correlation coefficient. Then, a systematic tracking of candidate modules was conducted on the re-weighted networks via cliques algorithm, and a total of 19 and 38 modules were separately identified from NPC and control networks, respectively. Among them, 8 pairs of modules with similar gene composition were selected, and 2 attractor modules were identified via the attract method. Functional analysis indicated that these two attractor modules participate in one common bioprocess of cell division. Based on the strategy of integrating systemic module inference with the attract method, we successfully identified 2 attractor modules. These attractor modules might play important roles in the molecular pathogenesis of NPC via affecting the bioprocess of cell division in a conjunct way. Further research is needed to explore the correlations between cell division and NPC.

  18. Fundamental concepts of integrated and fiber optic sensors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tuma, Margaret L.

    1995-01-01

    This chapter discusses fiber optic and integrated optic sensor concepts. Unfortunately, there is no standard method to categorize these sensor concepts. Here, fiber optic and integrated optic sensor concepts will be categorized by the primary modulation technique. These modulation techniques have been classified as: intensity, phase, wavelength, polarization, and time/frequency modulation. All modulate the output light with respect to changes in the physical or chemical property to be measured. Each primary modulation technique is then divided into fiber optic and integrated optic sections which are treated independently. For each sensor concept, possible sensor applications are discussed. The sensors and references discussed are not exhaustive, but sufficient to give the reader an overview of sensor concepts developed to date. Sensor multiplexing techniques such as wavelength division, time division, and frequency division will not be discussed as they are beyond the scope of this report.

  19. Information rates of probabilistically shaped coded modulation for a multi-span fiber-optic communication system with 64QAM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fehenberger, Tobias

    2018-02-01

    This paper studies probabilistic shaping in a multi-span wavelength-division multiplexing optical fiber system with 64-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) input. In split-step fiber simulations and via an enhanced Gaussian noise model, three figures of merit are investigated, which are signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), achievable information rate (AIR) for capacity-achieving forward error correction (FEC) with bit-metric decoding, and the information rate achieved with low-density parity-check (LDPC) FEC. For the considered system parameters and different shaped input distributions, shaping is found to decrease the SNR by 0.3 dB yet simultaneously increases the AIR by up to 0.4 bit per 4D-symbol. The information rates of LDPC-coded modulation with shaped 64QAM input are improved by up to 0.74 bit per 4D-symbol, which is larger than the shaping gain when considering AIRs. This increase is attributed to the reduced coding gap of the higher-rate code that is used for decoding the nonuniform QAM input.

  20. All-optical, ultra-wideband microwave I/Q mixer and image-reject frequency down-converter.

    PubMed

    Gao, Yongsheng; Wen, Aijun; Chen, Wei; Li, Xiaoyan

    2017-03-15

    An all-optical and ultra-wideband microwave in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) mixer, based on a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator and a wavelength division multiplexer, is proposed. Due to the simultaneous frequency down-conversion and 360-deg tunable phase shifting in the optical domain, the proposed I/Q mixer has the advantages of high conversion gain and excellent quadrature phase balance (<±1.3 deg⁡) with a wide operating frequency from 10 to 40 GHz. Assisted by an analog or digital intermediate-frequency quadrature coupler, an image-reject frequency down-converter is then implemented, with an image rejection exceeding 50 dB over the working band.

  1. Single-shot distributed Brillouin optical time domain analyzer.

    PubMed

    Fang, Jian; Xu, Pengbai; Dong, Yongkang; Shieh, William

    2017-06-26

    We demonstrate a novel single-shot distributed Brillouin optical time domain analyzer (SS-BOTDA). In our method, dual-polarization probe with orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation is used to acquire the distributed Brillouin gain spectra, and coherent detection is used to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) drastically. Distributed temperature sensing is demonstrated over a 1.08 km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) with 20.48 m spatial resolution and 0.59 °C temperature accuracy. Neither frequency scanning, nor polarization scrambling, nor averaging is required in our scheme. All the data are obtained through only one-shot measurement, indicating that the sensing speed is only limited by the length of fiber.

  2. Custom instruction set NIOS-based OFDM processor for FPGAs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meyer-Bäse, Uwe; Sunkara, Divya; Castillo, Encarnacion; Garcia, Antonio

    2006-05-01

    Orthogonal Frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) spread spectrum technique, sometimes also called multi-carrier or discrete multi-tone modulation, are used in bandwidth-efficient communication systems in the presence of channel distortion. The benefits of OFDM are high spectral efficiency, resiliency to RF interference, and lower multi-path distortion. OFDM is the basis for the European digital audio broadcasting (DAB) standard, the global asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) standard, in the IEEE 802.11 5.8 GHz band standard, and ongoing development in wireless local area networks. The modulator and demodulator in an OFDM system can be implemented by use of a parallel bank of filters based on the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), in case the number of subchannels is large (e.g. K > 25), the OFDM system are efficiently implemented by use of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) to compute the DFT. We have developed a custom FPGA-based Altera NIOS system to increase the performance, programmability, and low power in mobil wireless systems. The overall gain observed for a 1024-point FFT ranges depending on the multiplier used by the NIOS processor between a factor of 3 and 16. A careful optimization described in the appendix yield a performance gain of up to 77% when compared with our preliminary results.

  3. Advanced Code-Division Multiplexers for Superconducting Detector Arrays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Irwin, K. D.; Cho, H. M.; Doriese, W. B.; Fowler, J. W.; Hilton, G. C.; Niemack, M. D.; Reintsema, C. D.; Schmidt, D. R.; Ullom, J. N.; Vale, L. R.

    2012-06-01

    Multiplexers based on the modulation of superconducting quantum interference devices are now regularly used in multi-kilopixel arrays of superconducting detectors for astrophysics, cosmology, and materials analysis. Over the next decade, much larger arrays will be needed. These larger arrays require new modulation techniques and compact multiplexer elements that fit within each pixel. We present a new in-focal-plane code-division multiplexer that provides multiplexing elements with the required scalability. This code-division multiplexer uses compact lithographic modulation elements that simultaneously multiplex both signal outputs and superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) detector bias voltages. It eliminates the shunt resistor used to voltage bias TES detectors, greatly reduces power dissipation, allows different dc bias voltages for each TES, and makes all elements sufficiently compact to fit inside the detector pixel area. These in-focal plane code-division multiplexers can be combined with multi-GHz readout based on superconducting microresonators to scale to even larger arrays.

  4. [Right extremities pain caused by a malacia lesion in the left putamen:a resting functional magnetic resonance imaging of the marginal division of the human brain].

    PubMed

    Chen, Zhi-Ye; Ma, Lin

    2014-04-01

    To explore the role of marginal division of the human brain in the pain modulation. Resting functional magnetic resonance imaging was applied in a patient with right extremities pain caused by a malacia lesion in the left putamen and in 8 healthy volunteers. Marginal division was defined using manual drawing on structure images, and was applied to the computation of fuctional connectivity maps. The functional connectivities in the left marginal division showed an evident decrease in the patient when compared with healthy controls. These connectivities were mainly located in the bilateral head of caudate nucleus, putamen, and left globus pallidus. The marginal division may be involved in the pain modulation.

  5. 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.

  6. Parallel optoelectronic trinary signed-digit division

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alam, Mohammad S.

    1999-03-01

    The trinary signed-digit (TSD) number system has been found to be very useful for parallel addition and subtraction of any arbitrary length operands in constant time. Using the TSD addition and multiplication modules as the basic building blocks, we develop an efficient algorithm for performing parallel TSD division in constant time. The proposed division technique uses one TSD subtraction and two TSD multiplication steps. An optoelectronic correlator based architecture is suggested for implementation of the proposed TSD division algorithm, which fully exploits the parallelism and high processing speed of optics. An efficient spatial encoding scheme is used to ensure better utilization of space bandwidth product of the spatial light modulators used in the optoelectronic implementation.

  7. Dynamic divisive normalization predicts time-varying value coding in decision-related circuits.

    PubMed

    Louie, Kenway; LoFaro, Thomas; Webb, Ryan; Glimcher, Paul W

    2014-11-26

    Normalization is a widespread neural computation, mediating divisive gain control in sensory processing and implementing a context-dependent value code in decision-related frontal and parietal cortices. Although decision-making is a dynamic process with complex temporal characteristics, most models of normalization are time-independent and little is known about the dynamic interaction of normalization and choice. Here, we show that a simple differential equation model of normalization explains the characteristic phasic-sustained pattern of cortical decision activity and predicts specific normalization dynamics: value coding during initial transients, time-varying value modulation, and delayed onset of contextual information. Empirically, we observe these predicted dynamics in saccade-related neurons in monkey lateral intraparietal cortex. Furthermore, such models naturally incorporate a time-weighted average of past activity, implementing an intrinsic reference-dependence in value coding. These results suggest that a single network mechanism can explain both transient and sustained decision activity, emphasizing the importance of a dynamic view of normalization in neural coding. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3416046-12$15.00/0.

  8. Conduct of Operations. MAS-121. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This learning module, which is part of a management and supervisor training program for managers and supervisors employed at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Division, is designed to teach trainees to apply conduct of operations principles to their area(s) of responsibility. The following topics are covered in the module's individual…

  9. Organizing. MAS-108. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This module is part of a set of management and supervisor training (MAST) materials developed by the Department of Energy for the Waste Isolation Division. Its stated purpose is to enable trainees to organize work activities efficiently and effectively. The first section of the module is an introduction that includes a terminal objective and…

  10. Industrial Safety. MAS-123. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This learning module, which is part of a management and supervisor training program for managers and supervisors employed at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Division, is designed to prepare trainees to promote and monitor the industrial safety program at their plant. The following topics are covered in the module's individual sections:…

  11. Purchasing and Accounting. MAS-116. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This learning module, which is part of a management and supervisor training program for managers and supervisors employed at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Division, is designed to prepare trainees to perform purchasing and accounting tasks efficiently and effectively. The first section is an introduction to the module. The next three…

  12. Orthogonal Multi-Carrier DS-CDMA with Frequency-Domain Equalization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tanaka, Ken; Tomeba, Hiromichi; Adachi, Fumiyuki

    Orthogonal multi-carrier direct sequence code division multiple access (orthogonal MC DS-CDMA) is a combination of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and time-domain spreading, while multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) is a combination of OFDM and frequency-domain spreading. In MC-CDMA, a good bit error rate (BER) performance can be achieved by using frequency-domain equalization (FDE), since the frequency diversity gain is obtained. On the other hand, the conventional orthogonal MC DS-CDMA fails to achieve any frequency diversity gain. In this paper, we propose a new orthogonal MC DS-CDMA that can obtain the frequency diversity gain by applying FDE. The conditional BER analysis is presented. The theoretical average BER performance in a frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channel is evaluated by the Monte-Carlo numerical computation method using the derived conditional BER and is confirmed by computer simulation of the orthogonal MC DS-CDMA signal transmission.

  13. Design and analysis of coherent OCDM en/decoder based on photonic crystal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Chongfu; Qiu, Kun

    2008-08-01

    The design and performance analysis of a new coherent optical en/decoder based on photonic crystal (PhC) for optical code -division -multiple (OCDM) are presented in this paper. In this scheme, the optical pulse phase and time delay can be flexibly controlled by photonic crystal phase shifter and time delayer by using the appropriate design of fabrication. According to the PhC transmission matrix theorem, combination calculation of the impurity and normal period layers is applied, and performances of the PhC-based optical en/decoder are also analyzed. The reflection, transmission, time delay characteristic and optical spectrum of pulse en/decoded are studied for the waves tuned in the photonic band-gap by numerical calculation. Theoretical analysis and numerical results indicate that the optical pulse is achieved to properly phase modulation and time delay, and an auto-correlation of about 8 dB ration and cross-correlation is gained, which demonstrates the applicability of true pulse phase modulation in a number of applications.

  14. Digital services using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) over CATV analog DWDM system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yeh, JengRong; Selker, Mark D.; Trail, J.; Piehler, David; Levi, Israel

    2000-04-01

    Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) has recently gained great popularity as it provides a cost effective way to increase the transmission capacity of the existing fiber cable plant. For a long time, Dense WDM was exclusively used for baseband digital applications, predominantly in terrestrial long haul networks and in some cases in metropolitan and enterprise networks. Recently, the performance of DWDM components and frequency-stabilized lasers has substantially improved while the costs have down significantly. This makes a variety of new optical network architectures economically viable. The first commercial 8- wavelength DWDM system designed for Hybrid Fiber Coax networks was reported in 1998. This type of DWDM system utilizes Sub-Carrier Multiplexing (SCM) of Quadrature Amplitude Modulated (QAM) signals to transport IP data digital video broadcast and Video on Demand on ITU grid lightwave carriers. The ability of DWDM to provide scalable transmission capacity in the optical layer with SCM granularity is now considered by many to be the most promising technology for future transport and distribution of broadband multimedia services.

  15. Prestimulus neural oscillations inhibit visual perception via modulation of response gain.

    PubMed

    Chaumon, Maximilien; Busch, Niko A

    2014-11-01

    The ongoing state of the brain radically affects how it processes sensory information. How does this ongoing brain activity interact with the processing of external stimuli? Spontaneous oscillations in the alpha range are thought to inhibit sensory processing, but little is known about the psychophysical mechanisms of this inhibition. We recorded ongoing brain activity with EEG while human observers performed a visual detection task with stimuli of different contrast intensities. To move beyond qualitative description, we formally compared psychometric functions obtained under different levels of ongoing alpha power and evaluated the inhibitory effect of ongoing alpha oscillations in terms of contrast or response gain models. This procedure opens the way to understanding the actual functional mechanisms by which ongoing brain activity affects visual performance. We found that strong prestimulus occipital alpha oscillations-but not more anterior mu oscillations-reduce performance most strongly for stimuli of the highest intensities tested. This inhibitory effect is best explained by a divisive reduction of response gain. Ongoing occipital alpha oscillations thus reflect changes in the visual system's input/output transformation that are independent of the sensory input to the system. They selectively scale the system's response, rather than change its sensitivity to sensory information.

  16. Four-fold increase in users of time-wavelength division multiplexing (TWDM) passive optical network (PON) by delayed optical amplitude modulation (AM) upstream

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kachhatiya, Vivek; Prince, Shanthi

    2016-12-01

    In this paper, we have proposed and simulated optical time division multiplexed passive optical network (TDM-PON) using delayed optical amplitude modulation (AM). Eight upstream wavelengths are demonstrated to show optical time wavelength division multiplexed (TWDM) by combining optical network units (ONU) users data at the remote node (RN). Each ONU generates 2.5 Gb/s user data, and it is modulated using novel return to zero (RZ) delayed AM. Optical TDM aggregates 10 Gb/s data per wavelength from four 2.5 Gb/s upstream user data, which facilitates four different ONU data on the same wavelength as 10 Gb/s per upstream wavelength and, simplify the laser requirements (2.5 Gb/s) at each optical network unit (ONU) transmitter. Upstream optical TWDM-PON is investigated for eight wavelengths with wavelength spacing of 100 GHz. Novel optical TDM for upstream increased the number of the simultaneous user to fourfold from conventional TWDM-PON using delayed AM with a high-quality-factor of received signal. Despite performance degradation due to different fiber reach and dispersion compensation technique, Optical TWDM link shows significant improvement regarding receiver sensitivity when compared with common TWDM link. Hence, it offers optimistic thinking to show optical TDM at this phase as one of the future direction, where complex digital signal processing (DSP) and coherent optical communication are frequently demonstrated to serve the access network. Downstream side conventional TWDM eight wavelengths are multiplexed at the OLT and sent downstream to serve distributed tunable ONU receivers through an optical distribution network (ODN). Each downstream wavelengths are modulated at the peak rate of 10 Gb/s using non-return to zero external modulation (NRZ-EM). The proposed architecture is cost efficient and supports high data rates as well as ;pay as you grow; network for both service providers and the users perspectives. Users are classified into two categories viz home-user and business-user, with an option for easy up-gradation. Proposed architecture operates on next generation passive optical network stage 2 (NG-PON2) wavelength plan, with symmetrical data rate. Downstream performance is investigated by comparing, high power laser source with a conventional laser source and the L-band Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) of gain 10 dB and 20 dB. Downstream eight wavelengths perform error-free up to 40 Km fiber reach and 1024 splitting points. Power budget of the proposed architecture incorporates the N1, N2, E1 and E2 optical path loss class.

  17. Liquid-crystal WDM power equalizer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chiao, Jung-Chih; Huang, Tizhi

    2002-06-01

    In this work, we demonstrated a liquid-crystal WDM (wavelength-division-multiplexing) power equalizer. It provides functionality of optical power equalization and tilting using liquid-crystal modulators and harmonic synthesis approach. The demonstrations show fast gain equalization with a flatness of +/- 0.3dB for several EDFA profiles in C or L bands. The equalization for WDM discrete-channel cases also reached flatness within +/- 0.3dB. The measured polarization dependent losses are less than 0.15dB and 0.1dB for flattened and through-state profiles, respectively. The measured polarization mode dispersions are less than 0.15ps under the through, flattened and 10-dB attenuation states. The measured chromatic dispersion is less than degree(s)7ps/nm.

  18. A Chaos MIMO-OFDM Scheme for Mobile Communication with Physical-Layer Security

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Okamoto, Eiji

    Chaos communications enable a physical-layer security, which can enhance the transmission security in combining with upper-layer encryption techniques, or can omit the upper-layer secure protocol and enlarges the transmission efficiency. However, the chaos communication usually degrades the error rate performance compared to unencrypted digital modulations. To achieve both physical-layer security and channel coding gain, we have proposed a chaos multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) scheme in which a rate-one chaos convolution is applied to MIMO multiplexing. However, in the conventional study only flat fading is considered. To apply this scheme to practical mobile environments, i.e., multipath fading channels, we propose a chaos MIMO-orthogonal frequency division multi-plexing (OFDM) scheme and show its effectiveness through computer simulations.

  19. Comparison of DFT-S-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and single-carrier in a radio-over-fiber system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Kaihui; Li, Xinying; Yu, Jianjun

    2017-09-01

    DFT-S-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and single-carrier (SC) modulation are two typical modulation formats in radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems. They may have respective advantages and disadvantages in different scenarios. Therefore, bit error ratio comparison results of these two modulation formats will be useful for designing and optimizing the practical RoF system. We experimentally compare these two modulation formats in a long wireless distance RoF system at W-band. It can be concluded that DFT-S-OFDM and SC modulation have similar performances in a RoF system with transmission distance over 80-km fiber and 224-m wireless link.

  20. Plant and Industry Experience. MAS-122. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This learning module, which is part of a management and supervisor training program for managers and supervisors employed at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Division, is designed to prepare trainees to use plant and industry experience to improve plant safety and reliability. The following topics are covered in the module's individual…

  1. Communications. MAS-106. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This module is part of a set of management and supervisor training (MAST) materials developed by the Department of Energy for the Waste Isolation Division. Its stated purpose is to enable trainees to communicate effectively in the workplace. The first section of the module is an introduction that includes a terminal objective and opening remarks…

  2. Introduction to the MAST Program. MAS-100. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This module is part of a set of management and supervisor training (MAST) materials developed by the Department of Energy for the Waste Isolation Division. Its stated purpose is to provide participants with knowledge and skills necessary to take full advantage of the MAST learning experience. The module contains program guidelines, sample…

  3. Erbium/ytterbium co-doped double clad fiber amplifier, its applications and effects in fiber optic communication systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dua, Puneit

    Increased demand for larger bandwidth and longer inter-amplifiers distances translates to higher power budgets for fiber optic communication systems in order to overcome large splitting losses and achieve acceptable signal-to-noise ratios. Due to their unique design ytterbium sensitized erbium doped, double clad fiber amplifiers; offer significant increase in the output powers that can be obtained. In this thesis we investigate, a one-stage, high power erbium and ytterbium co-doped double clad fiber amplifier (DCFA) with output power of 1.4W, designed and built in our lab. Experimental demonstration and numerical simulation techniques have been used to systematically study the applications of such an amplifier and the effects of incorporating it in various fiber optic communication systems. Amplitude modulated subcarrier multiplexed (AM-SCM) CATV distribution experiment has been performed to verify the feasibility of using this amplifier in an analog/digital communication system. The applications of the amplifier as a Fabry-Perot and ring fiber laser with an all-fiber cavity, a broadband supercontinuum source and for generation of high power, short pulses at 5GHz have been experimentally demonstrated. A variety of observable nonlinear effects occur due to the high intensity of the optical powers confined in micron-sized cores of the fibers, this thesis explores in detail some of these effects caused by using the high power Er/Yb double clad fiber amplifier. A fiber optic based analog/digital CATV system experiences composite second order (CSO) distortion due to the interaction between the gain tilt---the variation of gain with wavelength, of the doped fiber amplifier and the wavelength chirp of the directly modulated semiconductor laser. Gain tilt of the Er/Yb co-doped fiber amplifier has been experimentally measured and its contribution to the CSO of the system calculated. Theoretical analysis of a wavelength division multiplexed system with closely spaced channels has been carried out to show that crosstalk can occur due to the four-wave mixing products generated inside the high power Er/Yb DCFA. A model for parametric amplification due to four-wave mixing has been developed and used to analyze its application for short pulse generation and high speed optical time division multiplexing.

  4. Specific innovative semi-transparent solar cell for indoor and outdoor LiFi applications.

    PubMed

    Bialic, Emilie; Maret, Luc; Kténas, Dimitri

    2015-09-20

    Research in light-fidelity (LiFi), also called visible light communication (VLC), has gained huge interest. In such a communication system, an optical sensor translates the received luminous modulation flux into an electrical signal which is decoded. To consider LiFi as an alternative solution for wireless communication, the receiver must be operational in indoor and outdoor configurations. Photovoltaic modules could appear as a solution to this issue. In this paper, we present signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) response in the frequency of two different kinds of photovoltaic modules. We characterize in detail the SNR by using an experimental setup which connects a software-based direct current optical (DCO)-orthogonal frequency division multiiplexing emitter and receiver to hardware optical front ends. We analyze LiFi performances under different lighting conditions. We prove that the available bandwidth depends drastically on ambient lighting configurations. Under specific lighting conditions, a bandwidth around 4 MHz corresponding a data rate around 8 Mbit/s could be achieved. We present the lighting saturation effects and we prove that the semi-transparent solar cell under study improves their performances (both bandwidth and data rate) in high ambient lighting environments.

  5. Problem Solving and Decision Making. MAS-105. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This module is part of a set of management and supervisor training (MAST) materials developed by the Department of Energy for the Waste Isolation Division. Its stated purpose is to enable trainees to solve problems and make decisions in an efficient and effective manner. The first section of the module is an introduction that includes a terminal…

  6. Improved Gain Microstrip Patch Antenna

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-08-06

    08-2015 Publication Improved Gain Microstrip Patch Antenna David A. Tonn Naval Under Warfare Center Division, Newport 1176 Howell St., Code 00L...GAIN MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST [0001] The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the...patch antenna having increased gain, and an apparatus for increasing the gain and bandwidth of an existing microstrip patch antenna . (2) Description

  7. Automated Sneak Circuit Analysis Technique

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-06-01

    the OrCAD/SDT module Port facility. 2. The terminals of all in- circuit voltage sources (e , batteries) must be labeled using the OrCAD/SDT module port...ELECTE 1 MAY 2 01994 _- AUTOMATED SNEAK CIRCUIT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUEIt~ w I wtA who RADC 94-14062 Systems Reliability & Engineering Division Rome...Air Develpment Center Best Avai~lable copy AUTOMATED SNEAK CIRCUIT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE RADC June 1990 Systems Reliability & Engineering Division Rome Air

  8. Leucine Modulation of the mTOR Pathway for Cognition Modulation: Kinetic and In Vitro Studies and Model Development

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-30

    isoleucine non-polar L1 131 Aromatic side chain phenylalanine non-polar L1 165 tyrosine polar L1 181 tryptophan slightly...Human Performance Wing Human Effectiveness Directorate Bioeffects Division Molecular Bioeffects Branch Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-5707 NOTICE...IV, DAF Chief, Bioeffects Division Human Effectiveness Directorate 711th Human Performance Wing Air Force Research Laboratory This report is

  9. Neural substrates underlying the tendency to accept anger-infused ultimatum offers during dynamic social interactions.

    PubMed

    Gilam, Gadi; Lin, Tamar; Raz, Gal; Azrielant, Shir; Fruchter, Eyal; Ariely, Dan; Hendler, Talma

    2015-10-15

    In managing our way through interpersonal conflict, anger might be crucial in determining whether the dispute escalates to aggressive behaviors or resolves cooperatively. The Ultimatum Game (UG) is a social decision-making paradigm that provides a framework for studying interpersonal conflict over division of monetary resources. Unfair monetary UG-offers elicit anger and while accepting them engages regulatory processes, rejecting them is regarded as an aggressive retribution. Ventro-medial prefrontal-cortex (vmPFC) activity has been shown to relate to idiosyncratic tendencies in accepting unfair offers possibly through its role in emotion regulation. Nevertheless, standard UG paradigms lack fundamental aspects of real-life social interactions in which one reacts to other people in a response contingent fashion. To uncover the neural substrates underlying the tendency to accept anger-infused ultimatum offers during dynamic social interactions, we incorporated on-line verbal negotiations with an obnoxious partner in a repeated-UG during fMRI scanning. We hypothesized that vmPFC activity will differentiate between individuals with high or low monetary gains accumulated throughout the game and reflect a divergence in the associated emotional experience. We found that as individuals gained more money, they reported less anger but also more positive feelings and had slower sympathetic response. In addition, high-gain individuals had increased vmPFC activity, but also decreased brainstem activity, which possibly reflected the locus coeruleus. During the more angering unfair offers, these individuals had increased dorsal-posterior Insula (dpI) activity which functionally coupled to the medial-thalamus (mT). Finally, both vmPFC activity and dpI-mT connectivity contributed to increased gain, possibly by modulating the ongoing subjective emotional experience. These ecologically valid findings point towards a neural mechanism that might nurture pro-social interactions by modulating an individual's dynamic emotional experience. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Effect of gain contouring in erbium-doped fiber amplifiers on bit error rate performance of wavelength-division multiplexing-based radio over fiber links

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jose, Tony; Narayanan, Vijayakumar

    2018-03-01

    Radio over fiber (RoF) systems use a large number of base stations (BSs) and a number of central stations (CSs), which are interlinked together to form the network. RoF systems use multiple wavelengths for communication between CSs or between CSs and BSs to facilitate the huge amount of data traffic due to the multiple services for a large number of users. When erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are used as amplifiers in such wavelength-division multiplexed systems, the nonuniform gain spectrum of EDFAs causes instability to some of the channels while providing faithful amplification to other channels. To avoid this inconsistency, the gain spectrum of the amplifier needs to be uniform along the whole usable range of wavelengths. A gain contouring technique is proposed to provide uniform gain to all channels irrespective of wavelength. Optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs) and different lengths of erbium-doped fibers are used to create such a gain contouring mechanism in the optical domain itself. The effect of a cascade of nonuniform gain amplifiers is studied, and the proposed system mitigates the adverse effects caused due to nonuniform gain-induced channel instability effectively.

  11. Dynamic Excitatory and Inhibitory Gain Modulation Can Produce Flexible, Robust and Optimal Decision-making

    PubMed Central

    Niyogi, Ritwik K.; Wong-Lin, KongFatt

    2013-01-01

    Behavioural and neurophysiological studies in primates have increasingly shown the involvement of urgency signals during the temporal integration of sensory evidence in perceptual decision-making. Neuronal correlates of such signals have been found in the parietal cortex, and in separate studies, demonstrated attention-induced gain modulation of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Although previous computational models of decision-making have incorporated gain modulation, their abstract forms do not permit an understanding of the contribution of inhibitory gain modulation. Thus, the effects of co-modulating both excitatory and inhibitory neuronal gains on decision-making dynamics and behavioural performance remain unclear. In this work, we incorporate time-dependent co-modulation of the gains of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons into our previous biologically based decision circuit model. We base our computational study in the context of two classic motion-discrimination tasks performed in animals. Our model shows that by simultaneously increasing the gains of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons, a variety of the observed dynamic neuronal firing activities can be replicated. In particular, the model can exhibit winner-take-all decision-making behaviour with higher firing rates and within a significantly more robust model parameter range. It also exhibits short-tailed reaction time distributions even when operating near a dynamical bifurcation point. The model further shows that neuronal gain modulation can compensate for weaker recurrent excitation in a decision neural circuit, and support decision formation and storage. Higher neuronal gain is also suggested in the more cognitively demanding reaction time than in the fixed delay version of the task. Using the exact temporal delays from the animal experiments, fast recruitment of gain co-modulation is shown to maximize reward rate, with a timescale that is surprisingly near the experimentally fitted value. Our work provides insights into the simultaneous and rapid modulation of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal gains, which enables flexible, robust, and optimal decision-making. PMID:23825935

  12. A Versatile Multichannel Digital Signal Processing Module for Microcalorimeter Arrays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tan, H.; Collins, J. W.; Walby, M.; Hennig, W.; Warburton, W. K.; Grudberg, P.

    2012-06-01

    Different techniques have been developed for reading out microcalorimeter sensor arrays: individual outputs for small arrays, and time-division or frequency-division or code-division multiplexing for large arrays. Typically, raw waveform data are first read out from the arrays using one of these techniques and then stored on computer hard drives for offline optimum filtering, leading not only to requirements for large storage space but also limitations on achievable count rate. Thus, a read-out module that is capable of processing microcalorimeter signals in real time will be highly desirable. We have developed multichannel digital signal processing electronics that are capable of on-board, real time processing of microcalorimeter sensor signals from multiplexed or individual pixel arrays. It is a 3U PXI module consisting of a standardized core processor board and a set of daughter boards. Each daughter board is designed to interface a specific type of microcalorimeter array to the core processor. The combination of the standardized core plus this set of easily designed and modified daughter boards results in a versatile data acquisition module that not only can easily expand to future detector systems, but is also low cost. In this paper, we first present the core processor/daughter board architecture, and then report the performance of an 8-channel daughter board, which digitizes individual pixel outputs at 1 MSPS with 16-bit precision. We will also introduce a time-division multiplexing type daughter board, which takes in time-division multiplexing signals through fiber-optic cables and then processes the digital signals to generate energy spectra in real time.

  13. Using near-real-time monitoring data from Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent at Kīlauea Volcano for training and educational purposes

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Teasdale, Rachel; Kraft, Katrien van der Hoeven; Poland, Michael P.

    2015-01-01

    Training non-scientists in the use of volcano-monitoring data is critical preparation in advance of a volcanic crisis, but it is currently unclear which methods are most effective for improving the content-knowledge of non-scientists to help bridge communications between volcano experts and non-experts. We measured knowledge gains for beginning-(introductory-level students) and novice-level learners (students with a basic understanding of geologic concepts) engaged in the Volcanoes Exploration Program: Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (VEPP) “Monday Morning Meeting at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory” classroom activity that incorporates authentic Global Positioning System (GPS), tilt, seismic, and webcam data from the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruptive vent on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i (NAGT website, 2010), as a means of exploring methods for effectively advancing non-expert understanding of volcano monitoring. Learner groups consisted of students in introductory and upper-division college geology courses at two different institutions. Changes in their content knowledge and confidence in the use of data were assessed before and after the activity using multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Learning assessments demonstrated that students who took part in the exercise increased their understanding of volcano-monitoring practices and implications, with beginners reaching a novice stage, and novices reaching an advanced level (akin to students who have completed an upper-division university volcanology class). Additionally, participants gained stronger confidence in their ability to understand the data. These findings indicate that training modules like the VEPP: Monday Morning Meeting classroom activity that are designed to prepare non-experts for responding to volcanic activity and interacting with volcano scientists should introduce real monitoring data prior to proceeding with role-paying scenarios that are commonly used in such courses. The learning gains from the combined approach will help improve effective communications between volcano experts and non-experts during times of crisis, thereby reducing the potential for confusion and misinterpretation of data.

  14. Demonstration of 4×100 Gbps discrete multitone transmission using electric absorption modulated laser at 1550-nm for dense wavelength division multiplexing intradata center connect

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Yuming; Yu, Jianjun; Li, Xinying

    2017-03-01

    We experimentally demonstrate 4 lanes up to 400 Gbps discrete multitone transmission using an electric absorption modulated laser (EML) at 1550-nm for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) intradata center connects. This is the first demonstration of 4×100 Gb/s transmission using EML at 1550-nm, and it is compatible with the DWDM system at C-band.

  15. Corticocortical feedback increases the spatial extent of normalization.

    PubMed

    Nassi, Jonathan J; Gómez-Laberge, Camille; Kreiman, Gabriel; Born, Richard T

    2014-01-01

    Normalization has been proposed as a canonical computation operating across different brain regions, sensory modalities, and species. It provides a good phenomenological description of non-linear response properties in primary visual cortex (V1), including the contrast response function and surround suppression. Despite its widespread application throughout the visual system, the underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unknown. We recently observed that corticocortical feedback contributes to surround suppression in V1, raising the possibility that feedback acts through normalization. To test this idea, we characterized area summation and contrast response properties in V1 with and without feedback from V2 and V3 in alert macaques and applied a standard normalization model to the data. Area summation properties were well explained by a form of divisive normalization, which computes the ratio between a neuron's driving input and the spatially integrated activity of a "normalization pool." Feedback inactivation reduced surround suppression by shrinking the spatial extent of the normalization pool. This effect was independent of the gain modulation thought to mediate the influence of contrast on area summation, which remained intact during feedback inactivation. Contrast sensitivity within the receptive field center was also unaffected by feedback inactivation, providing further evidence that feedback participates in normalization independent of the circuit mechanisms involved in modulating contrast gain and saturation. These results suggest that corticocortical feedback contributes to surround suppression by increasing the visuotopic extent of normalization and, via this mechanism, feedback can play a critical role in contextual information processing.

  16. Corticocortical feedback increases the spatial extent of normalization

    PubMed Central

    Nassi, Jonathan J.; Gómez-Laberge, Camille; Kreiman, Gabriel; Born, Richard T.

    2014-01-01

    Normalization has been proposed as a canonical computation operating across different brain regions, sensory modalities, and species. It provides a good phenomenological description of non-linear response properties in primary visual cortex (V1), including the contrast response function and surround suppression. Despite its widespread application throughout the visual system, the underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unknown. We recently observed that corticocortical feedback contributes to surround suppression in V1, raising the possibility that feedback acts through normalization. To test this idea, we characterized area summation and contrast response properties in V1 with and without feedback from V2 and V3 in alert macaques and applied a standard normalization model to the data. Area summation properties were well explained by a form of divisive normalization, which computes the ratio between a neuron's driving input and the spatially integrated activity of a “normalization pool.” Feedback inactivation reduced surround suppression by shrinking the spatial extent of the normalization pool. This effect was independent of the gain modulation thought to mediate the influence of contrast on area summation, which remained intact during feedback inactivation. Contrast sensitivity within the receptive field center was also unaffected by feedback inactivation, providing further evidence that feedback participates in normalization independent of the circuit mechanisms involved in modulating contrast gain and saturation. These results suggest that corticocortical feedback contributes to surround suppression by increasing the visuotopic extent of normalization and, via this mechanism, feedback can play a critical role in contextual information processing. PMID:24910596

  17. Modules in Agricultural Education for Forestry.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the seven curriculum modules in this packet for forestry instruction contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major divisions or units, the overall objectives, objectives by unit, content outline and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. Module titles are Forest Fire…

  18. Effects of Modulation Techniques (Manchester Code, NRZ or RZ) on the Operation of Hybrid WDM/TDM Passive Optical Networks

    PubMed Central

    Nyachionjeka, Kumbirayi

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, the performance and feasibility of a hybrid wavelength division multiplexing/time division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM/TDM PON) system with 128 optical network units (ONUs) is analysed. In this system, triple play services (video, voice and data) are successfully communicated through a distance of up to 28 km. Moreover, we analysed and compared the performance of various modulation formats for different distances in the proposed hybrid WDM/TDM PON. NRZ rectangular emerged as the most appropriate modulation format for triple play transmission in the proposed hybrid PON. PMID:27382633

  19. Bamboo shoot fiber prevents obesity in mice by modulating the gut microbiota

    PubMed Central

    Li, Xiufen; Guo, Juan; Ji, Kailong; Zhang, Ping

    2016-01-01

    Dietary fiber has been shown to prevent high-fat diet induced obesity through modulating the gut microbiota; however, quality difference in fiber type is largely unknown. We performed a 6 week study on C57BL/6J mice fed a macronutrient matched high-fat diet with different fiber types including cellulose (HFC), bamboo shoot fiber (HFBS) and several other commonly consumed fibers. Our results showed that the HFBS group exhibited the lowest weight gain among all diet groups and had improved lipid profiles and glycemic control compared with the HFC group. As revealed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, loss of diversity in the gut microbiota induced by the HFC diet was largely prevented by the HFBS diet. Moreover, compared with the HFC diet, the HFBS diet resulted in markedly increased relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and strong inhibition of Verrucomicrobia, two divisions strongly correlated with body weight. In conclusion, the present study provides evidence of a quality difference among different types of dietary fibers and shows that bamboo shoot fiber is the most effective in suppressing high-fat diet induced obesity. Our findings indicate that bamboo shoot fiber is a potential prebiotic fiber which modulates the gut microbiota and improves host metabolism. PMID:27599699

  20. PAM4 silicon photonic microring resonator-based transceiver circuits

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Palermo, Samuel; Yu, Kunzhi; Roshan-Zamir, Ashkan; Wang, Binhao; Li, Cheng; Seyedi, M. Ashkan; Fiorentino, Marco; Beausoleil, Raymond

    2017-02-01

    Increased data rates have motivated the investigation of advanced modulation schemes, such as four-level pulseamplitude modulation (PAM4), in optical interconnect systems in order to enable longer transmission distances and operation with reduced circuit bandwidth relative to non-return-to-zero (NRZ) modulation. Employing this modulation scheme in interconnect architectures based on high-Q silicon photonic microring resonator devices, which occupy small area and allow for inherent wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), offers a promising solution to address the dramatic increase in datacenter and high-performance computing system I/O bandwidth demands. Two ring modulator device structures are proposed for PAM4 modulation, including a single phase shifter segment device driven with a multi-level PAM4 transmitter and a two-segment device driven by two simple NRZ (MSB/LSB) transmitters. Transmitter circuits which utilize segmented pulsed-cascode high swing output stages are presented for both device structures. Output stage segmentation is utilized in the single-segment device design for PAM4 voltage level control, while in the two-segment design it is used for both independent MSB/LSB voltage levels and impedance control for output eye skew compensation. The 65nm CMOS transmitters supply a 4.4Vppd output swing for 40Gb/s operation when driving depletion-mode microring modulators implemented in a 130nm SOI process, with the single- and two-segment designs achieving 3.04 and 4.38mW/Gb/s, respectively. A PAM4 optical receiver front-end is also described which employs a large input-stage feedback resistor transimpedance amplifier (TIA) cascaded with an adaptively-tuned continuous-time linear equalizer (CTLE) for improved sensitivity. Receiver linearity, critical in PAM4 systems, is achieved with a peak-detector-based automatic gain control (AGC) loop.

  1. Negotiation Support Systems for Facilitating International Water Conflicts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mirchi, A.; Madani, K.; Rouhani, O. M.

    2011-12-01

    Two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Caspian Sea -the largest inland body of water on earth- continues to be the subject of one of the world's most insurmountable disputes, involving Iran, Russia, and the new sovereign states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. The conflict is over the legal status of this multinational water body, which supplies almost all of the world's black caviar, and holds about 10% and 4% of the world's oil and gas reserves, respectively. Typically, proposed division methods for sharing the Caspian Sea and its valuable resources focus either on the areal shares or on the oil and gas shares of the parties. As such, total gains of littoral states under different division methods have remained unclear. In this study, we have developed the Caspian Sea Negotiation Support System (NSS) to delineate optimal boundaries for sharing the sea. The Caspian Sea NSS facilitates simultaneous consideration of the countries' areal and resource shares from the sea under different sharing methods. The developed model is run under different division scenarios to provide insights into the sensitivity of the countries' gains and locations of nautical boundaries to the proposed division rules and the economic values of the Caspian Sea resources. The results are highly sensitive to the proposed division rules, and there is an indirect relationship between the allocated area and resource shares. The main policy implication of the study is that explicit quantification of the countries' resource and areal gains under any suggested legal regime for governing the Caspian Sea is a precursor the success of the negotiations.

  2. The New Face of College Sports

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Robin; Wolverton, Brad

    2008-01-01

    For decades, college coaches in many sports have been recruiting internationally to stock their teams with the best players they can find. American universities in the NCAA's Division I gain competitive advantages with gifted young athletes from overseas, and the proportion of foreign players in many Division I sports has doubled since the…

  3. Gain Modulation in the Central Nervous System: Where Behavior, Neurophysiology, and Computation Meet

    PubMed Central

    SALINAS, EMILIO; SEJNOWSKI, TERRENCE J.

    2010-01-01

    Gain modulation is a nonlinear way in which neurons combine information from two (or more) sources, which may be of sensory, motor, or cognitive origin. Gain modulation is revealed when one input, the modulatory one, affects the gain or the sensitivity of the neuron to the other input, without modifying its selectivity or receptive field properties. This type of modulatory interaction is important for two reasons. First, it is an extremely widespread integration mechanism; it is found in a plethora of cortical areas and in some subcortical structures as well, and as a consequence it seems to play an important role in a striking variety of functions, including eye and limb movements, navigation, spatial perception, attentional processing, and object recognition. Second, there is a theoretical foundation indicating that gain-modulated neurons may serve as a basis for a general class of computations, namely, coordinate transformations and the generation of invariant responses, which indeed may underlie all the brain functions just mentioned. This article describes the relationships between computational models, the physiological properties of a variety of gain-modulated neurons, and some of the behavioral consequences of damage to gain-modulated neural representations. PMID:11597102

  4. Bandwidth efficient coding for satellite communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, Shu; Costello, Daniel J., Jr.; Miller, Warner H.; Morakis, James C.; Poland, William B., Jr.

    1992-01-01

    An error control coding scheme was devised to achieve large coding gain and high reliability by using coded modulation with reduced decoding complexity. To achieve a 3 to 5 dB coding gain and moderate reliability, the decoding complexity is quite modest. In fact, to achieve a 3 dB coding gain, the decoding complexity is quite simple, no matter whether trellis coded modulation or block coded modulation is used. However, to achieve coding gains exceeding 5 dB, the decoding complexity increases drastically, and the implementation of the decoder becomes very expensive and unpractical. The use is proposed of coded modulation in conjunction with concatenated (or cascaded) coding. A good short bandwidth efficient modulation code is used as the inner code and relatively powerful Reed-Solomon code is used as the outer code. With properly chosen inner and outer codes, a concatenated coded modulation scheme not only can achieve large coding gains and high reliability with good bandwidth efficiency but also can be practically implemented. This combination of coded modulation and concatenated coding really offers a way of achieving the best of three worlds, reliability and coding gain, bandwidth efficiency, and decoding complexity.

  5. A novel wavelength reused bidirectional RoF-WDM-PON architecture to mitigate reflection and Rayleigh backscattered noise in multi-Gb/s m-QAM OFDM SSB upstream and downstream transmission over a single fiber

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Patel, Dhananjay; Dalal, U. D.

    2017-05-01

    A novel m-QAM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Single Sideband (SSB) architecture is proposed for centralized light source (CLS) bidirectional Radio over Fiber (RoF) - Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) - Passive Optical Network (PON). In bidirectional transmission with carrier reuse over the single fiber, the Rayleigh Backscattering (RB) noise and reflection (RE) interferences from optical components can seriously deteriorate the transmission performance of the fiber optic systems. These interferometric noises can be mitigated by utilizing the optical modulation schemes at the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and Optical Network Unit (ONU) such that the spectral overlap between the optical data spectrum and the RB and RE noise is minimum. A mathematical model is developed for the proposed architecture to accurately measure the performance of the transmission system and also to analyze the effect of interferometric noise caused by the RB and RE. The model takes into the account the different modulation schemes employed at the OLT and the ONU using a Mach Zehnder Modulator (MZM), the optical launch power and the bit-rates of the downstream and upstream signals, the gain of the amplifiers at the OLT and the ONU, the RB-RE noise, chromatic dispersion of the single mode fiber and optical filter responses. In addition, the model analyzes all the components of the RB-RE noise such as carrier RB, signal RB, carrier RE and signal RE, thus providing the complete representation of all the physical phenomena involved. An optical m-QAM OFDM SSB signal acts as a test signal to validate the model which provides excellent agreement with simulation results. The SSB modulation technique using the MZM at the OLT and the ONU differs in the data transmission technique that takes place through the first-order higher and the lower optical sideband respectively. This spectral gap between the downstream and upstream signals reduces the effect of Rayleigh backscattering and discrete reflections.

  6. 21 CFR 1311.08 - Incorporation by reference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... of Standards and Technology, Computer Security Division, Information Technology Laboratory, National... standards are available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Computer Security Division... 140-2, Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules, May 25, 2001, as amended by Change Notices 2...

  7. Modeling Human Serum Albumin Tertiary Structure to Teach Upper-Division Chemistry Students Bioinformatics and Homology Modeling Basics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Petrovic, Dus?an; Zlatovic´, Mario

    2015-01-01

    A homology modeling laboratory experiment has been developed for an introductory molecular modeling course for upper-division undergraduate chemistry students. With this experiment, students gain practical experience in homology model preparation and assessment as well as in protein visualization using the educational version of PyMOL…

  8. A novel parallel pipeline structure of VP9 decoder

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qin, Huabiao; Chen, Wu; Yi, Sijun; Tan, Yunfei; Yi, Huan

    2018-04-01

    To improve the efficiency of VP9 decoder, a novel parallel pipeline structure of VP9 decoder is presented in this paper. According to the decoding workflow, VP9 decoder can be divided into sub-modules which include entropy decoding, inverse quantization, inverse transform, intra prediction, inter prediction, deblocking and pixel adaptive compensation. By analyzing the computing time of each module, hotspot modules are located and the causes of low efficiency of VP9 decoder can be found. Then, a novel pipeline decoder structure is designed by using mixed parallel decoding methods of data division and function division. The experimental results show that this structure can greatly improve the decoding efficiency of VP9.

  9. 76 FR 11513 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Existing Collection; Comments Requested

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-02

    ... Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS... Information Services Division, National Instant Criminal Background Check System Section, Module A-3, 1000... Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of...

  10. 76 FR 16446 - Delphi Corporation Electronics And Safety Division Including On-Site Leased Workers From Acro...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-23

    ...: Heating, ventilating, air-conditioning systems (HVAC), amplifiers, mainboards, gas control modules, hybrid airmeter electronics, hybrid ignition electronics, pressure sensors, transmission control modules, crash...

  11. Average Likelihood Methods of Classification of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-01

    case of cognitive radio applications. Modulation classification is part of a broader problem known as blind or uncooperative demodulation the goal of...Introduction 2 2.1 Modulation Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2.2 Research Objectives...6 3 Modulation Classification Methods 7 3.0.1 Ad Hoc

  12. 47 CFR 74.535 - Emission and bandwidth.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... transmitter power (PMEAN) in accordance with the following schedule: (1) When using frequency modulation: (i... employed when digital modulation occupies 50 percent or more of the total peak frequency deviation of a... deviation produced by the digital modulation signal and the deviation produced by any frequency division...

  13. School of Advanced Military Studies Research Catalog AY 1983 - 1984 through 1991 - 1992

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-01-01

    Battalion Night Attack- Command and Con- trol System, Strengths and Weaknesses, ADA Pierce, Kerry K ., Major, EN, E-Force: How 179 280 Agile Is It?, ADA 179...Sturgeon, Douglas E., Major, MI, Gaining an Pierce, Kerry K ., Major, EN, Kursk: A Study Operational Advantage: The Interdiction of in Operational Art...Synchronization Ability of Division? try Division METL and are the Divisions ADA 225 464 Training to Accomplish Them? ADA 225 483 Major James K . Greer, The

  14. NASA. Lewis Research Center Advanced Modulation and Coding Project: Introduction and overview

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Budinger, James M.

    1992-01-01

    The Advanced Modulation and Coding Project at LeRC is sponsored by the Office of Space Science and Applications, Communications Division, Code EC, at NASA Headquarters and conducted by the Digital Systems Technology Branch of the Space Electronics Division. Advanced Modulation and Coding is one of three focused technology development projects within the branch's overall Processing and Switching Program. The program consists of industry contracts for developing proof-of-concept (POC) and demonstration model hardware, university grants for analyzing advanced techniques, and in-house integration and testing of performance verification and systems evaluation. The Advanced Modulation and Coding Project is broken into five elements: (1) bandwidth- and power-efficient modems; (2) high-speed codecs; (3) digital modems; (4) multichannel demodulators; and (5) very high-data-rate modems. At least one contract and one grant were awarded for each element.

  15. System level comparison of FDMA vs. CDMA (under conference guideline constraint)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Renshaw, Ken

    1989-01-01

    The margin that is required to mitigate the near-far problem in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile satellite system is determined by the radio-propagation model selected, the distribution of the users in clear and shadowed environments, and implementation techniques. The use of revenue potential as a means of evaluating the relative merits of CDMA and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems is a convenient way to rationalize the performance of systems using high-gain and low-gain antennas. The revenue potential of CDMA is much greater than the revenue potential for FDMA for a particular satellite design considered.

  16. Stochastic loss and gain of symmetric divisions in the C. elegans epidermis perturbs robustness of stem cell number

    PubMed Central

    Katsanos, Dimitris; Koneru, Sneha L.; Mestek Boukhibar, Lamia; Gritti, Nicola; Ghose, Ritobrata; Appleford, Peter J.; Doitsidou, Maria; Woollard, Alison; van Zon, Jeroen S.; Poole, Richard J.

    2017-01-01

    Biological systems are subject to inherent stochasticity. Nevertheless, development is remarkably robust, ensuring the consistency of key phenotypic traits such as correct cell numbers in a certain tissue. It is currently unclear which genes modulate phenotypic variability, what their relationship is to core components of developmental gene networks, and what is the developmental basis of variable phenotypes. Here, we start addressing these questions using the robust number of Caenorhabditis elegans epidermal stem cells, known as seam cells, as a readout. We employ genetics, cell lineage tracing, and single molecule imaging to show that mutations in lin-22, a Hes-related basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, increase seam cell number variability. We show that the increase in phenotypic variability is due to stochastic conversion of normally symmetric cell divisions to asymmetric and vice versa during development, which affect the terminal seam cell number in opposing directions. We demonstrate that LIN-22 acts within the epidermal gene network to antagonise the Wnt signalling pathway. However, lin-22 mutants exhibit cell-to-cell variability in Wnt pathway activation, which correlates with and may drive phenotypic variability. Our study demonstrates the feasibility to study phenotypic trait variance in tractable model organisms using unbiased mutagenesis screens. PMID:29108019

  17. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Resources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 31 curriculum modules in this packet for agricultural resources instruction contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major division or units, the overall objective, objectives by units, content outline and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A list of resource…

  18. VLSI Design Techniques for Floating-Point Computation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-11-18

    J. C. Gibson, The Gibson Mix, IBM Systems Development Division Tech. Report(June 1970). [Heni83] A. Heninger, The Zilog Z8070 Floating-Point...Broadcast Oock Gen. ’ itp Divide Module Module byN Module Oock Communication l I T Oock Communication Bus Figure 7.2. Clock Distribution between

  19. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Mechanics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 38 curriculum modules in this packet for agricultural mechanics instruction contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major divisions or units, the overall objectives, objectives by unit, content outline and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A listing of…

  20. Enhanced 2/3 four-ary modulation code using soft-decision Viterbi decoding for four-level holographic data storage systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kong, Gyuyeol; Choi, Sooyong

    2017-09-01

    An enhanced 2/3 four-ary modulation code using soft-decision Viterbi decoding is proposed for four-level holographic data storage systems. While the previous four-ary modulation codes focus on preventing maximum two-dimensional intersymbol interference patterns, the proposed four-ary modulation code aims at maximizing the coding gains for better bit error rate performances. For achieving significant coding gains from the four-ary modulation codes, we design a new 2/3 four-ary modulation code in order to enlarge the free distance on the trellis through extensive simulation. The free distance of the proposed four-ary modulation code is extended from 1.21 to 2.04 compared with that of the conventional four-ary modulation code. The simulation result shows that the proposed four-ary modulation code has more than 1 dB gains compared with the conventional four-ary modulation code.

  1. Decision Making in NCAA Athletics: Factors Associated with Adding Sports to Division I Institutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milstein, Sloane

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the decision-making factors, priorities and process used when adding sports to NCAA Division I institutions. The media often focuses on gender equity and financial parameters when discussing athletic decision-making, but this study seeks to go beyond speculation and add to intercollegiate…

  2. 28 CFR 16.90 - Exemption of Civil Rights Division Systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ....S.C. 552a (j) and (k): Central Civil Rights Division Index File and Associated Records (JUSTICE/CRT... pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (j)(2), (k)(1) and (k)(2). (b) Exemptions from the particular subsections are... or civil violation to gain valuable information concerning the nature and scope of the investigation...

  3. 28 CFR 16.90 - Exemption of Civil Rights Division Systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ....S.C. 552a (j) and (k): Central Civil Rights Division Index File and Associated Records (JUSTICE/CRT... pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (j)(2), (k)(1) and (k)(2). (b) Exemptions from the particular subsections are... or civil violation to gain valuable information concerning the nature and scope of the investigation...

  4. 28 CFR 16.90 - Exemption of Civil Rights Division Systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ....S.C. 552a (j) and (k): Central Civil Rights Division Index File and Associated Records (JUSTICE/CRT... pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (j)(2), (k)(1) and (k)(2). (b) Exemptions from the particular subsections are... or civil violation to gain valuable information concerning the nature and scope of the investigation...

  5. 28 CFR 16.90 - Exemption of Civil Rights Division Systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ....S.C. 552a (j) and (k): Central Civil Rights Division Index File and Associated Records (JUSTICE/CRT... pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (j)(2), (k)(1) and (k)(2). (b) Exemptions from the particular subsections are... or civil violation to gain valuable information concerning the nature and scope of the investigation...

  6. 28 CFR 16.90 - Exemption of Civil Rights Division Systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ....S.C. 552a (j) and (k): Central Civil Rights Division Index File and Associated Records (JUSTICE/CRT... pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (j)(2), (k)(1) and (k)(2). (b) Exemptions from the particular subsections are... or civil violation to gain valuable information concerning the nature and scope of the investigation...

  7. 77 FR 15396 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Monthly Return...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110--NEW] Agency Information... Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) will be.... Scarbro, Unit Chief, Federal Bureau of Investigation, CJIS Division, Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road...

  8. 77 FR 1511 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Monthly Return...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-01-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-NEW] Agency Information... Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) will... directed to Mr. Gregory E. Scarbro, Unit Chief, Federal Bureau of Investigation, CJIS Division, Module E-3...

  9. Colorless ONU implementation for WDM-PON using direct-detection optical OFDM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feng, Min; Luo, Qing-long; Bai, Cheng-lin

    2013-03-01

    A novel architecture for the colorless optical network unit (ONU) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with direct-detection optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DDO-OFDM). In this architecture, polarization-division multiplexing is used to reduce the cost at ONU. In optical line terminal (OLT), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) intensity-modulated OFDM signal with x-polarization at 10 Gbit/s is transmitted as downstream. At each ONU, the optical OFDM signal is demodulated with direct detection, and γ-polarization signal is modulated for upstream on-off keying (OOK) data at 5 Gbit/s. Simulation results show that the power penalty is negligible for both optical OFDM downstream and the on-off keying upstream signals after over 50 km single-mode fiber (SMF) transmission.

  10. Modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation with higher-order dispersions and cubic-quintic nonlinearities in metamaterials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Chuanxi; Xue, Yan Ling; Liu, Ying

    2014-07-01

    Based on the dispersive Drude model in metamaterials (MMs), coupled nonlinear Schodinger equations are derived for two co-propagating optical waves with higher-order dispersions and cubic-quintic nonlinearities. And modulation instabilities induced by the cross -phase modulation (XMI) are studied. The impact of 3rd-, 4th-order of dispersion and quintic nonlinearity on the gain spectra of XMI is analyzed. It is shown that the 3rd-order dispersion has no effect on XMI and its gain spectra. With the increment of 4th-order dispersion, the gain spectra appear in higher frequency region (2nd spectrum region) and gain peaks become smaller.

  11. Width-tunable pulse laser via optical injection induced gain modulation of semiconductor optical amplifiers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pan, Honggang; Zhang, Ailing; Tong, Zhengrong; Zhang, Yue; Song, Hongyun; Yao, Yuan

    2018-03-01

    A width-tunable pulse laser via an optical injection induced gain modulation of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is demonstrated. When the pump current of the SOA is 330 mA or 400 mA and a continuous wave is injected into the laser cavity with different powers, bright or dark pulses with different pulse widths and frequency repetition rates are obtained. The bright and dark pulses are formed by the effect of gain dispersion and cross-gain modulation of the SOA.

  12. Equity, Emotion, and Household Division of Labor Response

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lively, Kathryn J.; Steelman, Lala Carr; Powell, Brian

    2010-01-01

    Building upon insights generated by social psychological scholarship on equity, emotions, and identity, we use the General Social Survey (1996) Modules on Emotion and Gender and the National Survey of Family and Households (1992-1994) to investigate the relationship between perceived inequity in the household division of labor and emotion. These…

  13. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Production.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 61 modules in this packet contains a brief description of the module contents, a list of the major division of units, the overall objectives, objectives by units, content outline, and suggested teaching method, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A list of resource materials is also included for each. Some of the…

  14. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Supplies and Services.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 22 curriculum modules in this packet for instruction in agricultural supplies and services contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major division or units, the overall objectives, objectives by units, content outline, and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A…

  15. Water Resources Division training catalog

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hotchkiss, W.R.; Foxhoven, L.A.

    1984-01-01

    The National Training Center provides technical and management sessions nesessary for the conductance of the U.S. Geological Survey 's training programs. This catalog describes the facilities and staff at the Lakewood Training Center and describes Water Resources Division training courses available through the center. In addition, the catalog describes the procedures for gaining admission, formulas for calculating fees, and discussion of course evaluations. (USGS)

  16. Statistical physics inspired energy-efficient coded-modulation for optical communications.

    PubMed

    Djordjevic, Ivan B; Xu, Lei; Wang, Ting

    2012-04-15

    Because Shannon's entropy can be obtained by Stirling's approximation of thermodynamics entropy, the statistical physics energy minimization methods are directly applicable to the signal constellation design. We demonstrate that statistical physics inspired energy-efficient (EE) signal constellation designs, in combination with large-girth low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, significantly outperform conventional LDPC-coded polarization-division multiplexed quadrature amplitude modulation schemes. We also describe an EE signal constellation design algorithm. Finally, we propose the discrete-time implementation of D-dimensional transceiver and corresponding EE polarization-division multiplexed system. © 2012 Optical Society of America

  17. Effect of cross-phase-modulation-induced polarization scattering on optical polarization mode dispersion compensation in wavelength-division-multiplexed systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xie, Chongjin; Möller, Lothar; Kilper, Daniel C.; Mollenauer, Linn F.

    2003-12-01

    Interchannel cross-phase-modulation-induced polarization scattering (XPMIPS) and its effect on the performance of optical polarization mode dispersion (PMD) compensation in wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) systems are studied. The level of XPMIPS in long-haul WDM transmission systems is theoretically quantified, and its effect on optical PMD compensation is evaluated with numerical simulations. We show that in 10-Gbit/s ultra-long-haul dense WDM systems XPMIPS could reduce the PMD compensation efficiency by 50%, whereas for 40-Gbit/s systems the effect of XPMIPS is smaller.

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

    Lave, Matthew Samuel; Stein, Joshua S.; Burnham, Laurie

    A 9.6 kW test array of Prism bifacial modules and reference monofacial modules installed in February 2016 at the New Mexico Regional Test Center has produced six months of performance data. The data reveal that the Prism modules are out-performing the monofacial modules, with bifacial gains in energy over the six-month period ranging from 18% to 136%, depending on the orientation and ground albedo. These measured bifacial gains were found to be in good agreement with modeled bifacial gains using equations previously published by Prism. The most dramatic increase in performance was seen among the vertically tilted, west-facing modules, wheremore » the bifacial modules produced more than double the energy of monofacial modules and more energy than monofacial modules at any orientation. Because peak energy generation (mid-morning and mid-afternoon) for these bifacial modules may best match load on the electric grid, the west-facing orientation may be more economically desirable than traditional south-facing module orientations (which peak at solar noon).« less

  19. Multiple Access Schemes for Lunar Missions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Deutsch, Leslie; Hamkins, Jon; Stocklin, Frank J.

    2010-01-01

    Two years ago, the NASA Coding, Modulation, and Link Protocol (CMLP) study was completed. The study, led by the authors of this paper, recommended codes, modulation schemes, and desired attributes of link protocols for all space communication links in NASA's future space architecture. Portions of the NASA CMLP team were reassembled to resolve one open issue: the use of multiple access (MA) communication from the lunar surface. The CMLP-MA team analyzed and simulated two candidate multiple access schemes that were identified in the original CMLP study: Code Division MA (CDMA) and Frequency Division MA (FDMA) based on a bandwidth-efficient Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM) with a superimposed Pseudo-Noise (PN) ranging signal (CPM/PN). This paper summarizes the results of the analysis and simulation of the CMLP-MA study and describes the final recommendations.

  20. Women's Teams in NCAA's Division I See Gains in Participation and Budgets.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Naughton, Jim

    1998-01-01

    The proportion of women in top collegiate sports programs, 38%, and women's share of athletics budgets increased slightly in 1996-1997. Men still received almost twice as much money as women for operating expenses, recruiting, and athletically related financial aid. Advocates for women's athletics find the gains too small. College football…

  1. Gain-phase modulation in chirped-pulse amplification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shen, Yijie; Gao, Gan; Meng, Yuan; Fu, Xing; Gong, Mali

    2017-10-01

    The cross-modulation between the gain and chirped phase in chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated. We propose a gain-phase coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation (GPC-NLSE) for solving chirped-pulse propagation in a nonlinear gain medium involved in the gain-phase modulation (GPM) process. With the GPC-NLSE, the space-time-frequency-dependent gain, chirped phase, pulse, and spectrum evolutions can be precisely calculated. Moreover, a short-length high-gain Yb-doped fiber CPA experiment is presented in which a self-steepening distortion of the seed pulse is automatically compensated after amplification. This phenomenon can be explained by the GPM theory whereas conventional models cannot. The experimental results for the temporal and spectral intensities show excellent agreement with our theory. Our GPM theory paves the way for further investigations of the finer structures of the pulse and spectrum in CPA systems.

  2. Energy efficient flexible hybrid wavelength division multiplexing-time division multiplexing passive optical network with pay as you grow deployment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garg, Amit Kumar; Madavi, Amresh Ashok; Janyani, Vijay

    2017-02-01

    A flexible hybrid wavelength division multiplexing-time division multiplexing passive optical network architecture that allows dual rate signals to be sent at 1 and 10 Gbps to each optical networking unit depending upon the traffic load is proposed. The proposed design allows dynamic wavelength allocation with pay-as-you-grow deployment capability. This architecture is capable of providing up to 40 Gbps of equal data rates to all optical distribution networks (ODNs) and up to 70 Gbps of a asymmetrical data rate to the specific ODN. The proposed design handles broadcasting capability with simultaneous point-to-point transmission, which further reduces energy consumption. In this architecture, each module sends a wavelength to each ODN, thus making the architecture fully flexible; this flexibility allows network providers to use only required OLT components and switch off others. The design is also reliable to any module or TRx failure and provides services without any service disruption. Dynamic wavelength allocation and pay-as-you-grow deployment support network extensibility and bandwidth scalability to handle future generation access networks.

  3. Modulation limit of semiconductor lasers by some parametric modulation schemes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iga, K.

    1985-07-01

    Using the simple rate equations and small signal analysis, the modulation speed limit of semiconductor lasers with modulation schemes such as gain switching, modulation of nonradiative recombination lifetime of minority carriers, and cavity Q modulation, is calculated and compared with the injection modulation scheme of Ikegami and Suematsu (1968). It is found that the maximum modulation frequency for the gain and Q modulation can exceed the resonance-like frequency by a factor equal to the coefficient of the time derivative of the modulation parameter, though the nonradiative lifetime modulation is not shown to be different from the injection modulation. A solution for the carrier lifetime modulation of LED is obtained, and the possibility of wideband modulation in this scheme is demonstrated.

  4. Development of a three-dimensional core dynamics analysis program for commercial boiling water reactors

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

    Bessho, Yasunori; Yokomizo, Osamu; Yoshimoto, Yuichiro

    1997-03-01

    Development and qualification results are described for a three-dimensional, time-domain core dynamics analysis program for commercial boiling water reactors (BWRs). The program allows analysis of the reactor core with a detailed mesh division, which eliminates calculational ambiguity in the nuclear-thermal-hydraulic stability analysis caused by reactor core regional division. During development, emphasis was placed on high calculational speed and large memory size as attained by the latest supercomputer technology. The program consists of six major modules, namely a core neutronics module, a fuel heat conduction/transfer module, a fuel channel thermal-hydraulic module, an upper plenum/separator module, a feedwater/recirculation flow module, and amore » control system module. Its core neutronics module is based on the modified one-group neutron kinetics equation with the prompt jump approximation and with six delayed neutron precursor groups. The module is used to analyze one fuel bundle of the reactor core with one mesh (region). The fuel heat conduction/transfer module solves the one-dimensional heat conduction equation in the radial direction with ten nodes in the fuel pin. The fuel channel thermal-hydraulic module is based on separated three-equation, two-phase flow equations with the drift flux correlation, and it analyzes one fuel bundle of the reactor core with one channel to evaluate flow redistribution between channels precisely. Thermal margin is evaluated by using the GEXL correlation, for example, in the module.« less

  5. CbtA toxin of Escherichia coli inhibits cell division and cell elongation via direct and independent interactions with FtsZ and MreB.

    PubMed

    Heller, Danielle M; Tavag, Mrinalini; Hochschild, Ann

    2017-09-01

    The toxin components of toxin-antitoxin modules, found in bacterial plasmids, phages, and chromosomes, typically target a single macromolecule to interfere with an essential cellular process. An apparent exception is the chromosomally encoded toxin component of the E. coli CbtA/CbeA toxin-antitoxin module, which can inhibit both cell division and cell elongation. A small protein of only 124 amino acids, CbtA, was previously proposed to interact with both FtsZ, a tubulin homolog that is essential for cell division, and MreB, an actin homolog that is essential for cell elongation. However, whether or not the toxic effects of CbtA are due to direct interactions with these predicted targets is not known. Here, we genetically separate the effects of CbtA on cell elongation and cell division, showing that CbtA interacts directly and independently with FtsZ and MreB. Using complementary genetic approaches, we identify the functionally relevant target surfaces on FtsZ and MreB, revealing that in both cases, CbtA binds to surfaces involved in essential cytoskeletal filament architecture. We show further that each interaction contributes independently to CbtA-mediated toxicity and that disruption of both interactions is required to alleviate the observed toxicity. Although several other protein modulators are known to target FtsZ, the CbtA-interacting surface we identify represents a novel inhibitory target. Our findings establish CbtA as a dual function toxin that inhibits both cell division and cell elongation via direct and independent interactions with FtsZ and MreB.

  6. CbtA toxin of Escherichia coli inhibits cell division and cell elongation via direct and independent interactions with FtsZ and MreB

    PubMed Central

    Heller, Danielle M.; Tavag, Mrinalini

    2017-01-01

    The toxin components of toxin-antitoxin modules, found in bacterial plasmids, phages, and chromosomes, typically target a single macromolecule to interfere with an essential cellular process. An apparent exception is the chromosomally encoded toxin component of the E. coli CbtA/CbeA toxin-antitoxin module, which can inhibit both cell division and cell elongation. A small protein of only 124 amino acids, CbtA, was previously proposed to interact with both FtsZ, a tubulin homolog that is essential for cell division, and MreB, an actin homolog that is essential for cell elongation. However, whether or not the toxic effects of CbtA are due to direct interactions with these predicted targets is not known. Here, we genetically separate the effects of CbtA on cell elongation and cell division, showing that CbtA interacts directly and independently with FtsZ and MreB. Using complementary genetic approaches, we identify the functionally relevant target surfaces on FtsZ and MreB, revealing that in both cases, CbtA binds to surfaces involved in essential cytoskeletal filament architecture. We show further that each interaction contributes independently to CbtA-mediated toxicity and that disruption of both interactions is required to alleviate the observed toxicity. Although several other protein modulators are known to target FtsZ, the CbtA-interacting surface we identify represents a novel inhibitory target. Our findings establish CbtA as a dual function toxin that inhibits both cell division and cell elongation via direct and independent interactions with FtsZ and MreB. PMID:28931012

  7. Gain compression and its dependence on output power in quantum dot lasers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhukov, A. E.; Maximov, M. V.; Savelyev, A. V.; Shernyakov, Yu. M.; Zubov, F. I.; Korenev, V. V.; Martinez, A.; Ramdane, A.; Provost, J.-G.; Livshits, D. A.

    2013-06-01

    The gain compression coefficient was evaluated by applying the frequency modulation/amplitude modulation technique in a distributed feedback InAs/InGaAs quantum dot laser. A strong dependence of the gain compression coefficient on the output power was found. Our analysis of the gain compression within the frame of the modified well-barrier hole burning model reveals that the gain compression coefficient decreases beyond the lasing threshold, which is in a good agreement with the experimental observations.

  8. Efficient image projection by Fourier electroholography.

    PubMed

    Makowski, Michał; Ducin, Izabela; Kakarenko, Karol; Kolodziejczyk, Andrzej; Siemion, Agnieszka; Siemion, Andrzej; Suszek, Jaroslaw; Sypek, Maciej; Wojnowski, Dariusz

    2011-08-15

    An improved efficient projection of color images is presented. It uses a phase spatial light modulator with three iteratively optimized Fourier holograms displayed simultaneously--each for one primary color. This spatial division instead of time division provides stable images. A pixelated structure of the modulator and fluctuations of liquid crystal molecules cause a zeroth-order peak, eliminated by additional wavelength-dependent phase factors shifting it before the image plane, where it is blocked with a matched filter. Speckles are suppressed by time integration of variable speckle patterns generated by additional randomizations of an initial phase and minor changes of the signal. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  9. Regulatory Organizations and Their Requirements. MAS-113. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

    This learning module, which is part of a management and supervisor training program for managers and supervisors employed at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Division, is designed to enable trainees to identify regulatory organizations and oversight groups and monitor and provide guidance in the implementation of the requirements of…

  10. Enhanced subcarrier-index modulation-based asymmetrically clipped optical OFDM using even subcarriers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guan, Rui; Xu, Wei; Yang, Zhaohui; Huang, Nuo; Wang, Jin-Yuan; Chen, Ming

    2017-11-01

    In this paper, we propose a subcarrier-index modulation-based asymmetrically clipped optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (SACO-OFDM) scheme for optical wireless communication (OWC) systems, which benefits from the subcarrier-index modulation (SIM) and asymmetrically clipped optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ACO-OFDM) techniques. SACO-OFDM conveys additional information via the subcarrier indexing, and the error rate of the bit transmitted by the subcarrier indexing is much lower than that of the conventional M-ary modulation scheme. On the other hand, as the signal constellation in M-ary modulation is relieved, SACO-OFDM has simple transceiver structure and low detection complexity. Moreover, considering the spectral, an enhanced SACO-OFDM (ESACO-OFDM) using even subcarriers is proposed. In this technique, the odd subcarriers are activated for SACO-OFDM, and the imaginary part of even subcarriers are activated for pulse-amplitude-modulated discrete multitone (PAM-DMT). Clearly, ESACO-OFDM achieves better spectral efficiency than the conventional optical OFDM, since all subcarriers are used for data transmission. Simulation results verify the significant bit error rate (BER) and peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) improvement by the proposed ESACO-OFDM, especially for the medium-to-high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime.

  11. A Survey on Next-Generation Mixed Line Rate (MLR) and Energy-Driven Wavelength-Division Multiplexed (WDM) Optical Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iyer, Sridhar

    2015-06-01

    With the ever-increasing traffic demands, infrastructure of the current 10 Gbps optical network needs to be enhanced. Further, since the energy crisis is gaining increasing concerns, new research topics need to be devised and technological solutions for energy conservation need to be investigated. In all-optical mixed line rate (MLR) network, feasibility of a lightpath is determined by the physical layer impairment (PLI) accumulation. Contrary to PLI-aware routing and wavelength assignment (PLIA-RWA) algorithm applicable for a 10 Gbps wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) network, a new Routing, Wavelength, Modulation format assignment (RWMFA) algorithm is required for the MLR optical network. With the rapid growth of energy consumption in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), recently, lot of attention is being devoted toward "green" ICT solutions. This article presents a review of different RWMFA (PLIA-RWA) algorithms for MLR networks, and surveys the most relevant research activities aimed at minimizing energy consumption in optical networks. In essence, this article presents a comprehensive and timely survey on a growing field of research, as it covers most aspects of MLR and energy-driven optical networks. Hence, the author aims at providing a comprehensive reference for the growing base of researchers who will work on MLR and energy-driven optical networks in the upcoming years. Finally, the article also identifies several open problems for future research.

  12. Ornamental Horticulture.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 32 curriculum modules in this packet for ornamental horticulture instruction contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major division or units, the overall objectives, objectives by units, content outline and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A listing of…

  13. Bidirectional optical subassembly-shaped 20-Gbit/s compact single-mode four-channel wavelength-division multiplexing optical modules for optical multimedia interfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lim, Kwon-Seob; Yu, Hong-Yeon; Park, Hyoung-Jun; Kang, Hyun Seo; Jang, Jae-Hyung

    2016-06-01

    Low-cost single-mode four-channel optical transmitter and receiver modules using the wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) method have been developed for long-reach fiber optic applications. The single-mode four-channel WDM optical transmitter and receiver modules consist of two dual-wavelength optical transmitter and receiver submodules, respectively. The integration of two channels in a glass-sealed transistor outline-can package is an effective way to reduce cost and size and to extend the number of channels. The clear eye diagrams with more than about 6 dB of the extinction ratio and the minimum receiver sensitivity of lower than -16 dBm at a bit error rate of 10-12 have been obtained for the transmitter and receiver modules, respectively, at 5 Gbps/channel. The 4K ultrahigh definition contents have been transmitted over a 1-km-long single-mode fiber using a pair of proposed four-channel transmitter optical subassembly and receiver optical subassembly.

  14. Frequency non-degenerate phase-sensitive optical parametric amplification based on four-wave-mixing in width-modulated silicon waveguides.

    PubMed

    Wang, Zhaolu; Liu, Hongjun; Sun, Qibing; Huang, Nan; Li, Xuefeng

    2014-12-15

    A width-modulated silicon waveguide is proposed to realize non-degenerate phase sensitive optical parametric amplification. It is found that the relative phase at the input of the phase sensitive amplifier (PSA) θIn-PSA can be tuned by tailoring the width and length of the second segment of the width-modulated silicon waveguide, which will influence the gain in the parametric amplification process. The maximum gain of PSA is larger by 9 dB compared with the phase insensitive amplifier (PIA) gain, and the gain bandwidth of PSA is larger by 35 nm compared with the gain bandwidth of PIA. Our on-chip PSA can find important potential applications in highly integrated optical circuits for optical chip-to-chip communication and computers.

  15. Experimental Evaluation of Time Diversity Effect in Hybrid ARQ Considering Space and Path Diversity for Downlink OFDM-Based Broadband Radio Access

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miki, Nobuhiko; Atarashi, Hiroyuki; Higuchi, Kenichi; Sawahashi, Mamoru; Nakagawa, Masao

    This paper presents experimental evaluations of the effect of time diversity obtained by hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) with soft combining in space and path diversity schemes on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based packet radio access in a downlink broadband multipath fading channel. The effect of HARQ is analyzed through laboratory experiments employing fading simulators and field experiments conducted in downtown Yokosuka near Tokyo. After confirming the validity of experimental results based on numerical analysis of the time diversity gain in HARQ, we show by the experimental results that, for a fixed modulation and channel coding scheme (MCS), time diversity obtained by HARQ is effective in reducing the required received signal-to-interference plus noise power ratio (SINR) according to an increase in the number of transmissions, K, up to 10, even when the diversity effects are obtained through two-branch antenna diversity reception and path diversity using a number of multipaths greater than 12 observed in a real fading channel. Meanwhile, in combined use with the adaptive modulation and channel coding (AMC) scheme associated with space and path diversity, we clarify that the gain obtained by time diversity is almost saturated at the maximum number of transmissions in HARQ, K' = 4 in Chase combining and K' = 2 in Incremental redundancy, since the improvement in the residual packet error rate (PER) obtained through time diversity becomes small owing to the low PER in the initial packet transmission arising from appropriately selecting the optimum MCS in AMC. However, the experimental results elucidate that the time diversity in HARQ with soft combining associated with antenna diversity reception is effective in improving the throughput even in a broadband multipath channel with sufficient path diversity.

  16. One Year Performance Results for the Prism Solar Installation at the New Mexico Regional Test Center: Field Data from February 15 2016 - February 14 2017.

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

    Stein, Joshua; Burnham, Laurie; Lave, Matthew Samuel

    A 9.6 kW test array of Prism bifacial modules and reference monofacial modules installed in February 2016 at the New Mexico Regional Test Center has produced one year of performance data. The data reveal that the Prism modules are out-performing the monofacial modules, with bifacial gains in energy over the twelve-month period ranging from 17% to 132%, depending on the orientation and ground albedo. These measured bifacial gains were found to be in good agreement with modeled bifacial gains using equations previously published by Prism Solar. The most dramatic increase in performance was seen among the vertically mounted, west-facing modules,more » where the bifacial modules produced more than double the energy of monofacial modules in the same orientation. Because peak energy generation (mid- morning and mid-afternoon) for these bifacial modules may best match load on the electric grid, the west-facing orientation may be more economically desirable than traditional south-facing module orientations (which peak at solar noon).« less

  17. Module theoretic zero structures for system matrices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wyman, Bostwick F.; Sain, Michael K.

    1987-01-01

    The coordinate-free module-theoretic treatment of transmission zeros for MIMO transfer functions developed by Wyman and Sain (1981) is generalized to include noncontrollable and nonobservable linear dynamical systems. Rational, finitely-generated-modular, and torsion-divisible interpretations of the Rosenbrock system matrix are presented; Gamma-zero and Omega-zero modules are defined and shown to contain the output-decoupling and input-decoupling zero modules, respectively, as submodules; and the cases of left and right invertible transfer functions are considered.

  18. Automatic Modulation Classification of Common Communication and Pulse Compression Radar Waveforms using Cyclic Features

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-03-01

    intermediate frequency LFM linear frequency modulation MAP maximum a posteriori MATLAB® matrix laboratory ML maximun likelihood OFDM orthogonal frequency...spectrum, frequency hopping, and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ( OFDM ) modulations. Feature analysis would be a good research thrust to...determine feature relevance and decide if removing any features improves performance. Also, extending the system for simulations using a MIMO receiver or

  19. Blind Equalization and Fading Channel Signal Recovery of OFDM Modulation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-03-01

    Square LTI Linear Time Invariant MIMO Multiple-Input Multiple-Output OFDM Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing QPSK Quadrature Phase-Shift...AND FADING CHANNEL SIGNAL RECOVERY OF OFDM MODULATION by Anthony G. Stranges March 2011 Thesis Co-Advisors: Roberto Cristi Frank Kragh...Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Blind Equalization and Fading Channel Signal Recovery of OFDM Modulation 6. AUTHOR(S) Anthony G. Stranges

  20. Systemic control of cell division and endoreduplication by NAA and BAP by modulating CDKs in root tip cells of Allium cepa.

    PubMed

    Tank, Jigna G; Thaker, Vrinda S

    2014-01-01

    Molecular mechanism regulated by auxin and cytokinin during endoreduplication, cell division, and elongation process is studied by using Allium cepa roots as a model system. The activity of CDK genes modulated by auxin and cytokinin during cell division, elongation, and endoreduplication process is explained in this research work. To study the significance of auxin and cytokinin in the management of cell division and endoreduplication process in plant meristematic cells at molecular level endoreduplication was developed in root tips of Allium cepa by giving colchicine treatment. There were inhibition of vegetative growth, formation of c-tumor at root tip, and development of endoreduplicated cells after colchicine treatment. This c-tumor was further treated with NAA and BAP to reinitiate vegetative growth in roots. BAP gave positive response in reinitiation of vegetative growth of roots from center of c-tumor. However, NAA gave negative response in reinitiation of vegetative growth of roots from c-tumor. Further, CDKs gene expression analysis from normal, endoreduplicated, and phytohormone (NAA or BAP) treated root tip was done and remarkable changes in transcription level of CDK genes in normal, endoreduplicated, and phytohormones treated cells were observed.

  1. Systemic Control of Cell Division and Endoreduplication by NAA and BAP by Modulating CDKs in Root Tip Cells of Allium cepa

    PubMed Central

    Tank, Jigna G.; Thaker, Vrinda S.

    2014-01-01

    Molecular mechanism regulated by auxin and cytokinin during endoreduplication, cell division, and elongation process is studied by using Allium cepa roots as a model system. The activity of CDK genes modulated by auxin and cytokinin during cell division, elongation, and endoreduplication process is explained in this research work. To study the significance of auxin and cytokinin in the management of cell division and endoreduplication process in plant meristematic cells at molecular level endoreduplication was developed in root tips of Allium cepa by giving colchicine treatment. There were inhibition of vegetative growth, formation of c-tumor at root tip, and development of endoreduplicated cells after colchicine treatment. This c-tumor was further treated with NAA and BAP to reinitiate vegetative growth in roots. BAP gave positive response in reinitiation of vegetative growth of roots from center of c-tumor. However, NAA gave negative response in reinitiation of vegetative growth of roots from c-tumor. Further, CDKs gene expression analysis from normal, endoreduplicated, and phytohormone (NAA or BAP) treated root tip was done and remarkable changes in transcription level of CDK genes in normal, endoreduplicated, and phytohormones treated cells were observed. PMID:24955358

  2. Real-time time-division color electroholography using a single GPU and a USB module for synchronizing reference light.

    PubMed

    Araki, Hiromitsu; Takada, Naoki; Niwase, Hiroaki; Ikawa, Shohei; Fujiwara, Masato; Nakayama, Hirotaka; Kakue, Takashi; Shimobaba, Tomoyoshi; Ito, Tomoyoshi

    2015-12-01

    We propose real-time time-division color electroholography using a single graphics processing unit (GPU) and a simple synchronization system of reference light. To facilitate real-time time-division color electroholography, we developed a light emitting diode (LED) controller with a universal serial bus (USB) module and the drive circuit for reference light. A one-chip RGB LED connected to a personal computer via an LED controller was used as the reference light. A single GPU calculates three computer-generated holograms (CGHs) suitable for red, green, and blue colors in each frame of a three-dimensional (3D) movie. After CGH calculation using a single GPU, the CPU can synchronize the CGH display with the color switching of the one-chip RGB LED via the LED controller. Consequently, we succeeded in real-time time-division color electroholography for a 3D object consisting of around 1000 points per color when an NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN was used as the GPU. Furthermore, we implemented the proposed method in various GPUs. The experimental results showed that the proposed method was effective for various GPUs.

  3. The 30-GHz monolithic receive module

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauhahn, P.; Geddes, J.; Sokolov, V.; Contolatis, T.

    1988-01-01

    The fourth year progress is described on a program to develop a 27.5 to 30 GHz GaAs monolithic receive module for spaceborne-communication antenna feed array applications, and to deliver submodules for experimental evaluation. Program goals include an overall receive module noise figure of 5 dB, a 30 dB RF to IF gain with six levels of intermediate gain control, a five bit phase shifter, and a maximum power consumption of 250 mW. Submicron gate length single and dual gate FETs are described and applied in the development of monolithic gain control amplifiers and low noise amplifiers. A two-stage monolithic gain control amplifier based on ion implanted dual gate MESFETs was designed and fabricated. The gain control amplifier has a gain of 12 dB at 29 GHz with a gain control range of over 13 dB. A two-stage monolithic low noise amplifier based on ion implanted MESFETs which provides 7 dB gain with 6.2 dB noise figure at 29 GHz was also developed. An interconnected receive module containing LNA, gain control, and phase shifter submodules was built using the LNA and gain control ICs as well as a monolithic phase shifter developed previously under this program. The design, fabrication, and evaluation of this interconnected receiver is presented. Progress in the development of an RF/IF submodule containing a unique ion implanted diode mixer diode and a broadband balanced mixer monolithic IC with on-chip IF amplifier and the initial design of circuits for the RF portion of a two submodule receiver are also discussed.

  4. A Survivability Assessment of the Transformable Craft in an Operational Environment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-06-01

    Red Home 1 and 3 contain patrol boats. Red Home 2 contains semi-submersibles. 2. Regional conflict The Kalimantan (KA) Republic became an...separatists movement to help KA in the coming fight for economic equality. Two Kalimantan army divisions 23 began using air and amphibious forces to...gain footholds in Malaysia. The First Kalimantan Division (KD) landed near Kuching and began driving west through Malaysian territory. The Third KD

  5. Menkes Disease

    MedlinePlus

    ... OLPP) Office of Science Policy, Reporting, and Program Analysis (OSPRA) Division of Extramural Research (DER) Extramural Scientific ... the body. It is characterized by sparse, kinky hair; failure to gain weight and grow at the ...

  6. Trade Electricity. Lighting--Level 2. Standardized Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Office of Occupational and Career Education.

    This curriculum guide consists of nine modules on lighting, one of the three divisions of the standardized trade electricity curriculum in high schools in New York City. The nine modules cover the following subjects: armored cable, rigid conduit, electrical metallic tubing, services and meters, fluorescent lighting, metal molding, wiremold, Romex,…

  7. Trade Electricity. Signal Wiring--Level 1. Standardized Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Office of Occupational and Career Education.

    This curriculum guide consists of nine modules on signal wiring, one of the three divisions of the standardized trade electricity curriculum in high schools in New York City. The modules cover the following subjects: bells, double contact pushbuttons, annunciator circuits, open circuit burglar alarms, closed circuit burglar alarms, fire alarms,…

  8. A co-designed equalization, modulation, and coding scheme

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Peile, Robert E.

    1992-01-01

    The commercial impact and technical success of Trellis Coded Modulation seems to illustrate that, if Shannon's capacity is going to be neared, the modulation and coding of an analogue signal ought to be viewed as an integrated process. More recent work has focused on going beyond the gains obtained for Average White Gaussian Noise and has tried to combine the coding/modulation with adaptive equalization. The motive is to gain similar advances on less perfect or idealized channels.

  9. Security analysis of orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing-based continuous-variable quantum key distribution with imperfect modulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Hang; Mao, Yu; Huang, Duan; Li, Jiawei; Zhang, Ling; Guo, Ying

    2018-05-01

    We introduce a reliable scheme for continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). As a spectrally efficient multiplexing technique, OFDM allows a large number of closely spaced orthogonal subcarrier signals used to carry data on several parallel data streams or channels. We place emphasis on modulator impairments which would inevitably arise in the OFDM system and analyze how these impairments affect the OFDM-based CV-QKD system. Moreover, we also evaluate the security in the asymptotic limit and the Pirandola-Laurenza-Ottaviani-Banchi upper bound. Results indicate that although the emergence of imperfect modulation would bring about a slight decrease in the secret key bit rate of each subcarrier, the multiplexing technique combined with CV-QKD results in a desirable improvement on the total secret key bit rate which can raise the numerical value about an order of magnitude.

  10. Dual quantum cascade laser-based sensor for simultaneous NO and NO2 detection using a wavelength modulation-division multiplexing technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Yajun; Sanchez, Nancy P.; Yi, Fan; Zheng, Chuantao; Ye, Weilin; Wu, Hongpeng; Griffin, Robert J.; Tittel, Frank K.

    2017-05-01

    A sensor system capable of simultaneous measurements of NO and NO2 was developed using a wavelength modulation-division multiplexing (WMDM) scheme and multi-pass absorption spectroscopy. A continuous wave (CW), distributed-feedback (DFB) quantum cascade laser (QCL) and a CW external-cavity (EC) QCL were employed for targeting a NO absorption doublet at 1900.075 cm-1 and a NO2 absorption line at 1630.33 cm-1, respectively. Simultaneous detection was realized by modulating both QCLs independently at different frequencies and demodulating the detector signals with LabView-programmed lock-in amplifiers. The sensor operated at a reduced pressure of 40 Torr and a data sampling rate of 1 Hz. An Allan-Werle deviation analysis indicated that the minimum detection limits of NO and NO2 can reach sub-ppbv concentration levels with averaging times of 100 and 200 s, respectively.

  11. Investigating effects of communications modulation technique on targeting performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blasch, Erik; Eusebio, Gerald; Huling, Edward

    2006-05-01

    One of the key challenges facing the global war on terrorism (GWOT) and urban operations is the increased need for rapid and diverse information from distributed sources. For users to get adequate information on target types and movements, they would need reliable data. In order to facilitate reliable computational intelligence, we seek to explore the communication modulation tradeoffs affecting information distribution and accumulation. In this analysis, we explore the modulation techniques of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS), and statistical time-division multiple access (TDMA) as a function of the bit error rate and jitter that affect targeting performance. In the analysis, we simulate a Link 16 with a simple bandpass frequency shift keying (PSK) technique using different Signal-to-Noise ratios. The communications transfer delay and accuracy tradeoffs are assessed as to the effects incurred in targeting performance.

  12. Contrast gain control in first- and second-order motion perception.

    PubMed

    Lu, Z L; Sperling, G

    1996-12-01

    A novel pedestal-plus-test paradigm is used to determine the nonlinear gain-control properties of the first-order (luminance) and the second-order (texture-contrast) motion systems, that is, how these systems' responses to motion stimuli are reduced by pedestals and other masking stimuli. Motion-direction thresholds were measured for test stimuli consisting of drifting luminance and texture-contrast-modulation stimuli superimposed on pedestals of various amplitudes. (A pedestal is a static sine-wave grating of the same type and same spatial frequency as the moving test grating.) It was found that first-order motion-direction thresholds are unaffected by small pedestals, but at pedestal contrasts above 1-2% (5-10 x pedestal threshold), motion thresholds increase proportionally to pedestal amplitude (a Weber law). For first-order stimuli, pedestal masking is specific to the spatial frequency of the test. On the other hand, motion-direction thresholds for texture-contrast stimuli are independent of pedestal amplitude (no gain control whatever) throughout the accessible pedestal amplitude range (from 0 to 40%). However, when baseline carrier contrast increases (with constant pedestal modulation amplitude), motion thresholds increase, showing that gain control in second-order motion is determined not by the modulator (as in first-order motion) but by the carrier. Note that baseline contrast of the carrier is inherently independent of spatial frequency of the modulator. The drastically different gain-control properties of the two motion systems and prior observations of motion masking and motion saturation are all encompassed in a functional theory. The stimulus inputs to both first- and second-order motion process are normalized by feedforward, shunting gain control. The different properties arise because the modulator is used to control the first-order gain and the carrier is used to control the second-order gain.

  13. Transceivers and receivers for quantum key distribution and methods pertaining thereto

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

    DeRose, Christopher; Sarovar, Mohan; Soh, Daniel B.S.

    Various technologies for performing continuous-variable (CV) and discrete-variable (DV) quantum key distribution (QKD) with integrated electro-optical circuits are described herein. An integrated DV-QKD system uses Mach-Zehnder modulators to modulate a polarization of photons at a transmitter and select a photon polarization measurement basis at a receiver. An integrated CV-QKD system uses wavelength division multiplexing to send and receive amplitude-modulated and phase-modulated optical signals with a local oscillator signal while maintaining phase coherence between the modulated signals and the local oscillator signal.

  14. Optimization of coherent optical OFDM transmitter using DP-IQ modulator with nonlinear response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, Sun Hyok; Kang, Hun-Sik; Moon, Sang-Rok; Lee, Joon Ki

    2016-07-01

    In this paper, we investigate the performance of dual polarization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DP-OFDM) signal generation when the signal is generated by a DP-IQ optical modulator. The DP-IQ optical modulator is made of four parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) which have nonlinear responses and limited extinction ratios. We analyze the effects of the MZM in the DP-OFDM signal generation by numerical simulation. The operating conditions of the DP-IQ modulator are optimized to have the best performance of the DP-OFDM signal.

  15. 622-Mbps Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Digital Modem Implemented

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kifle, Muli; Bizon, Thomas P.; Nguyen, Nam T.; Tran, Quang K.; Mortensen, Dale J.

    2002-01-01

    Future generation space communications systems feature significantly higher data rates and relatively smaller frequency spectrum allocations than systems currently deployed. This requires the application of bandwidth- and power-efficient signal transmission techniques. There are a number of approaches to implementing such techniques, including analog, digital, mixed-signal, single-channel, or multichannel systems. In general, the digital implementations offer more advantages; however, a fully digital implementation is very difficult because of the very high clock speeds required. Multichannel techniques are used to reduce the sampling rate. One such technique, multicarrier modulation, divides the data into a number of low-rate channels that are stacked in frequency. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), a form of multicarrier modulation, is being proposed for numerous systems, including mobile wireless and digital subscriber link communication systems. In response to this challenge, NASA Glenn Research Center's Communication Technology Division has developed an OFDM digital modem (modulator and demodulator) with an aggregate information throughput of 622 Mbps. The basic OFDM waveform is constructed by dividing an incoming data stream into four channels, each using either 16- ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) or 8-phase shift keying (8-PSK). An efficient implementation for an OFDM architecture is being achieved using the combination of a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) at the transmitter to digitally stack the individual carriers, inverse DFT at the receiver to perform the frequency translations, and a polyphase filter to facilitate the pulse shaping.

  16. The Biochemistry of Mitosis

    PubMed Central

    Wieser, Samuel; Pines, Jonathon

    2015-01-01

    In this article, we will discuss the biochemistry of mitosis in eukaryotic cells. We will focus on conserved principles that, importantly, are adapted to the biology of the organism. It is vital to bear in mind that the structural requirements for division in a rapidly dividing syncytial Drosophila embryo, for example, are markedly different from those in a unicellular yeast cell. Nevertheless, division in both systems is driven by conserved modules of antagonistic protein kinases and phosphatases, underpinned by ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, which create molecular switches to drive each stage of division forward. These conserved control modules combine with the self-organizing properties of the subcellular architecture to meet the specific needs of the cell. Our discussion will draw on discoveries in several model systems that have been important in the long history of research on mitosis, and we will try to point out those principles that appear to apply to all cells, compared with those in which the biochemistry has been specifically adapted in a particular organism. PMID:25663668

  17. Astronaut Vance Brand practices operating Docking Module hatch for ASTP

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1975-01-01

    Astronaut Vance D. Brand, command module pilot of the American Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) prime crew, practices operating a Docking Module hatch during ASTP pre-flight training at JSC. The Docking Module is designed to link the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft during their docking in Earth orbit mission. Gary L. Doerre of JSC's Crew Training and Procedures Division is working with Brand. Doerre is wearing a face mask to help prevent possible exposure to Brand of disease prior to the ASTP launch.

  18. Low Earth orbit communications satellite

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Moroney, D.; Lashbrook, D.; Mckibben, B.; Gardener, N.; Rivers, T.; Nottingham, G.; Golden, B.; Barfield, B.; Bruening, J.; Wood, D.

    1992-01-01

    A current thrust in satellite communication systems considers a low-Earth orbiting constellations of satellites for continuous global coverage. Conceptual design studies have been done at the time of this design project by LORAL Aerospace Corporation under the program name GLOBALSTAR and by Motorola under their IRIDIUM program. This design project concentrates on the spacecraft design of the GLOBALSTAR low-Earth orbiting communication system. Overview information on the program was gained through the Federal Communications Commission licensing request. The GLOBALSTAR system consists of 48 operational satellites positioned in a Walker Delta pattern providing global coverage and redundancy. The operational orbit is 1389 km (750 nmi) altitude with eight planes of six satellites each. The orbital planes are spaced 45 deg., and the spacecraft are separated by 60 deg. within the plane. A Delta 2 launch vehicle is used to carry six spacecraft for orbit establishment. Once in orbit, the spacecraft will utilize code-division multiple access (spread spectrum modulation) for digital relay, voice, and radio determination satellite services (RDSS) yielding position determination with accuracy up to 200 meters.

  19. Critical roles for anterior insula and dorsal striatum in punishment-based avoidance learning.

    PubMed

    Palminteri, Stefano; Justo, Damian; Jauffret, Céline; Pavlicek, Beth; Dauta, Aurélie; Delmaire, Christine; Czernecki, Virginie; Karachi, Carine; Capelle, Laurent; Durr, Alexandra; Pessiglione, Mathias

    2012-12-06

    The division of human learning systems into reward and punishment opponent modules is still a debated issue. While the implication of ventral prefrontostriatal circuits in reward-based learning is well established, the neural underpinnings of punishment-based learning remain unclear. To elucidate the causal implication of brain regions that were related to punishment learning in a previous functional neuroimaging study, we tested the effects of brain damage on behavioral performance, using the same task contrasting monetary gains and losses. Cortical and subcortical candidate regions, the anterior insula and dorsal striatum, were assessed in patients presenting brain tumor and Huntington disease, respectively. Both groups exhibited selective impairment of punishment-based learning. Computational modeling suggested complementary roles for these structures: the anterior insula might be involved in learning the negative value of loss-predicting cues, whereas the dorsal striatum might be involved in choosing between those cues so as to avoid the worst. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Piloting an outcome-based programme evaluation tool in undergraduate medical education.

    PubMed

    Raupach, Tobias; Schiekirka, Sarah; Münscher, Christian; Beißbarth, Tim; Himmel, Wolfgang; Burckhardt, Gerhard; Pukrop, Tobias

    2012-01-01

    Different approaches to performance-oriented allocation of resources according to teaching quality are currently being discussed within German medical schools. The implementation of these programmes is impeded by a lack of valid criteria to measure teaching quality. An assessment of teaching quality should include structural and procedural aspects but focus on learning outcome itself. The aim of this study was to implement a novel, outcome-based evaluation tool within the clinical phase of a medical curriculum and address differences between the novel tool and traditional evaluation methods. Student self-assessments before and after completion of a teaching module were used to compute performance gains for specific learning objectives. Mean performance gains in each module were compared to student expectations before the module and data derived from a traditional evaluation tool using overall course ratings at the end of the module. A ranking of the 21 modules according to computed performance gains yielded entirely different results than module rankings based on overall course ratings. There was no significant correlation between performance gain and overall ratings. However, the latter were significantly correlated to student expectations before entering the module as well as structural and procedural parameters (Pearson's r 0.7-0.9). Performance gain computed from comparative self-assessments adds an important new dimension to course evaluation in medical education. In contrast to overall course ratings, the novel tool is less heavily confounded by construct-irrelevant factors. Thus, it appears to be more appropriate than overall course ratings in determining teaching quality and developing algorithms to guide performance-oriented resource allocation in medical education.

  1. Bandwidth tunable microwave photonic filter based on digital and analog modulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Qi; Zhang, Jie; Li, Qiang; Wang, Yubing; Sun, Xian; Dong, Wei; Zhang, Xindong

    2018-05-01

    A bandwidth tunable microwave photonic filter based on digital and analog modulation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The digital modulation is used to broaden the effective gain spectrum and the analog modulation is to get optical lines. By changing the symbol rate of data pattern, the bandwidth is tunable from 50 MHz to 700 MHz. The interval of optical lines is set according to the bandwidth of gain spectrum which is related to the symbol rate. Several times of bandwidth increase are achieved compared to a single analog modulation and the selectivity of the response is increased by 3.7 dB compared to a single digital modulation.

  2. High speed cross-amplitude modulation in concatenated SOA-EAM-SOA.

    PubMed

    Cleary, Ciaran S; Manning, Robert J

    2012-06-18

    We observe a near-ideal high speed amplitude impulse response in an SOA-EAM-SOA configuration under optimum conditions. Full amplitude recovery times as low as 10 ps with modulation depths of 70% were observed in pump-probe measurements. System behavior could be controlled by the choice of signal wavelength, SOA current biases and EAM reverse bias voltages. Experimental data and impulse response modelling indicated that the slow tail in the gain response of first SOA was negated by a combination of cross-absorption modulation between pump and modulated CW probe, and self-gain modulation of the modulated CW probe in both the EAM and second SOA.

  3. Labeled line drawing of Magellan spacecraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1988-01-01

    Labeled line drawing identifies Magellan spacecraft components including forward equipment module, star scanner, propulsion module, rocket engine module, thermal control louvers, solar panel drive and cable wrap, solar panel, bus, altimeter antenna, low-gain antenna, and high gain antenna. Magellan, named for the 16th century Portuguese explorer, will be deployed from the payload bay (PLB) of Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, during mission STS-30.

  4. Biosciences | Argonne National Laboratory

    Science.gov Websites

    understanding of the fundamental molecular mechanisms of life. Our goal is to enable important advances in processes at the molecular level. As a division, our goals include gaining predictive understanding of

  5. Generation of 21.3 Gbaud 8PSK signal using an SOA-based all-optical phase modulator.

    PubMed

    Dailey, J M; Webb, R P; Manning, R J

    2011-12-12

    We describe a novel SOA-based all-optical pure-phase modulator, and show how deleterious cross-gain modulation from the SOAs can be suppressed by utilizing an integrated interferometer structure. We experimentally demonstrate the use of the optical gate as a π/4 phase modulator producing 21.3 Gbaud 8PSK from 21.3 Gbit/s OOK and 21.3 Gbaud QPSK inputs. The modulator produces 3 dB of gain and coherent detection-based bit error rate measurements indicate a 2.4 dB excess penalty. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  6. Trade Electricity. Motors & Controls--Level 3. Standardized Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Office of Occupational and Career Education.

    This curriculum guide consists of seven modules on motors and controls, one of the three divisions of the standardized trade electricity curriculum in high schools in New York City. The seven modules cover the following subjects: energy conservation wiring, direct current (DC) motor repair and rewinding, DC motor controls, alternating current (AC)…

  7. Demonstration of hybrid orbital angular momentum multiplexing and time-division multiplexing passive optical network.

    PubMed

    Wang, Andong; Zhu, Long; Liu, Jun; Du, Cheng; Mo, Qi; Wang, Jian

    2015-11-16

    Mode-division multiplexing passive optical network (MDM-PON) is a promising scheme for next-generation access networks to further increase fiber transmission capacity. In this paper, we demonstrate the proof-of-concept experiment of hybrid mode-division multiplexing (MDM) and time-division multiplexing (TDM) PON architecture by exploiting orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes. Bidirectional transmissions with 2.5-Gbaud 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) downstream and 2-Gbaud on-off keying (OOK) upstream are demonstrated in the experiment. The observed optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalties for downstream and upstream transmissions at a bit-error rate (BER) of 2 × 10(-3) are less than 2.0 dB and 3.0 dB, respectively.

  8. Ring modulator small-signal response analysis based on pole-zero representation.

    PubMed

    Karimelahi, Samira; Sheikholeslami, Ali

    2016-04-04

    We present a closed-form expression for the small-signal response of a depletion-mode ring modulator and verify it by measurement results. Both electrical and optical behavior of micro-ring modulator as well as the loss variation due to the index modulation is considered in the derivation. This expression suggests that a ring modulator is a third-order system with one real pole, one zero and a pair of complex-conjugate poles. The exact positions of the poles/zero are given and shown to be dependent upon parameters such as electrical bandwidth, coupling condition, optical loss, and sign/value of laser detunings. We show that the location of zero is different for positive and negative detuning, and therefore, the ring modulator frequency response is asymmetric. We use the gain-bandwidth product as a figure of merit and calculate it for various pole/zero locations. We show that gain-bandwidth for the over-coupled ring modulator is superior compared to other coupling conditions. Also, we show that the gain-bandwidth product can be increased to a limit by increasing the electrical bandwidth.

  9. Mechanisms of Gain Control by Voltage-Gated Channels in Intrinsically-Firing Neurons

    PubMed Central

    Patel, Ameera X.; Burdakov, Denis

    2015-01-01

    Gain modulation is a key feature of neural information processing, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In single neurons, gain can be measured as the slope of the current-frequency (input-output) relationship over any given range of inputs. While much work has focused on the control of basal firing rates and spike rate adaptation, gain control has been relatively unstudied. Of the limited studies on gain control, some have examined the roles of synaptic noise and passive somatic currents, but the roles of voltage-gated channels present ubiquitously in neurons have been less explored. Here, we systematically examined the relationship between gain and voltage-gated ion channels in a conductance-based, tonically-active, model neuron. Changes in expression (conductance density) of voltage-gated channels increased (Ca2+ channel), reduced (K+ channels), or produced little effect (h-type channel) on gain. We found that the gain-controlling ability of channels increased exponentially with the steepness of their activation within the dynamic voltage window (voltage range associated with firing). For depolarization-activated channels, this produced a greater channel current per action potential at higher firing rates. This allowed these channels to modulate gain by contributing to firing preferentially at states of higher excitation. A finer analysis of the current-voltage relationship during tonic firing identified narrow voltage windows at which the gain-modulating channels exerted their effects. As a proof of concept, we show that h-type channels can be tuned to modulate gain by changing the steepness of their activation within the dynamic voltage window. These results show how the impact of an ion channel on gain can be predicted from the relationship between channel kinetics and the membrane potential during firing. This is potentially relevant to understanding input-output scaling in a wide class of neurons found throughout the brain and other nervous systems. PMID:25816008

  10. National Research Program of the Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, fiscal year 1987

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Friedman, Linda C.; Donato, Christine N.

    1988-01-01

    The National Research Program (NRP) of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division (WRD) had its beginnings in the late 1950's when "core research" was added as a line item to the Congressional budget. Since that time, the NRP has grown to encompass a broad spectrum of scientific investigations. The sciences of hydrology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and engineering are used to gain a fundamental understanding of the processes that affect the availability, movement, and quality of the Nation's water resources. The knowledge gained and methods developed have great value to WRD's operational program. Results of the investigations conducted by the NRP are applicable not only to the solution of current water problems, but also to future issues, anticipated or unanticipated, that may affect the Nation's water resources.

  11. National Research Program of the Water Resources Division, U. S. Geological Survey, Fiscal Year 1989

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Eggers, JoAnn; Friedman, Linda C.

    1989-01-01

    The National Research Program (NRP) of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division (WRD) had its beginnings in the late 1950's when "core research" was added as a line item to the Congressional budget. Since that time, the NRP has grown to encompass a broad spectrum of scientific investigations. The sciences of hydrology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, ecology, biology, geology, and engineering are used to gain a fundamental understanding of the processes that affect the availability, movement, and quality of the Nation's water resources. The knowledge gained and methods developed have great value to WRD's operational program. Results of the investigations conducted by the NRP are applicable not only to the solution of current water problems but also to future issues, anticipated or unanticipated, that may affect the Nation's water resources.

  12. Advanced Technology Direction and Control Communications Systems

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1979-07-16

    Leupert amesD./Morrell ~I~ Frederick . euprJae DCPAaol-78-C-1 259] ,. IERFORMlk6 ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS %a. P ROGRAM ELEMiENT. PROJIECT. TASK AREA...without the change in communicatios LCciniLlucs b•;i,,g aipiarci-IL. A JTIDS net is organized on the principle of time division. Various elements are...sideband (DSB-AI) "* Amplitude modulation, vestigial sideband (VSB-AM) * Frequency sI Shift modulation (FSK) "* Phase shift modulation (PSK) Ti DSB

  13. Fiber-Bragg-Grating-Based Optical Code-Division Multiple Access Passive Optical Network Using Dual-Baseband Modulation Scheme

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Wen-Piao; Wu, He-Long

    2005-08-01

    We propose a fiber-Bragg-grating (FBG)-based optical code-division multiple access passive optical network (OCDMA-PON) using a dual-baseband modulation scheme. A mathematical model is developed to study the performance of this scheme. According to the analyzed results, this scheme can allow a tolerance of the spectral power distortion (SPD) ratio of 25% with a bit error rate (BER) of 10-9 when the modified pseudorandom noise (PN) code length is 16. Moreover, we set up a simulated system to evaluate the baseband and radio frequency (RF) band transmission characteristics. The simulation results demonstrate that our proposed OCDMA-PON can provide a cost-effective and scalable fiber-to-the-home solution.

  14. Design of CMOS compatible and compact, thermally-compensated electro-optic modulator based on off-axis microring resonator for dense wavelength division multiplexing applications.

    PubMed

    Haldar, Raktim; Banik, Abhik D; Varshney, Shailendra K

    2014-09-22

    In this work, we propose and demonstrate the performance of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) off-axis microring resonator (MRR) as electro-optic modulator (EOM). Adding an extra off-axis inner-ring in conventional microring structure provides control to compensate thermal effects on EOM. It is shown that dynamically controlled bias-voltage applied to the outer ring has the potency to quell the thermal effects over a wide range of temperature. Thus, besides the appositely biased conventional microring, off-axis inner microring with pre-emphasized electrical input message signal enables our proposed structure suitable for high data-rate dense wavelength division multiplexing scheme of optical communication within a very compact device size.

  15. Reconfigurable WDM-PON empowered by a low-cost 8-channel directly modulated laser module

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Yi-ming; Liu, Yu; Zhang, Zhi-ke; Zhao, Ze-ping; Tian, Ye; Zhu, Ning-hua

    2017-11-01

    A 10 Gbit/s 16-km-long reconfigurable wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) is presented empowered by a low-cost multi-channel directly modulated laser (DML) module. Compared with the case using discrete devices in conventional scheme, the proposed DML module provides a cost-effective solution with reduced complexity. The clear eye diagram and the bit error rate ( BER) of less than 2×10-7 with a sensitivity of -7 dBm are obtained. Due to the special packaging design, the crosstalk between channels under condition of simultaneous operation can be negligible.

  16. Fiber-optic beam control systems using microelectromechanical systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sumriddetchkajorn, Sarun

    This dissertation, for the first time, proposes, studies, and experimentally demonstrated novel fiber-optic beam control systems based on the use of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology in which the miniaturized versions of mechanical systems can be obtained. Beam control modules include optical add/drop filters, optical switches, variable photonic delay lines (VPDLs), and variable optical attenuators (VOAs). The optical add/drop filter functions as a multiwavelength optical switch that offers the ability to drop and add a certain number of desired wavelengths at an intermediate location where access to all the propagating optical channels is not required between transmission terminals. The VOA can also be used in networks where stocking and tracking of fixed attenuators is difficult. Other specific applications of the VOA are optical gain equalization and polarization dependent loss and gain compensation required in high data-rate wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) lightwave systems. A VPDL can be used to adjust timing amongst multiwavelength optical signals in order to reduce timing jitter and burst traffic in photonic packet switching and parallel signal processing systems. In this dissertation, a small tilt micromirror device is proposed for the implementation of all fiber-optic beam control modules. In particular, the macro-pixel approach where several micromirrors are used to manipulate the desired optical beam is introduced to realize high speed and fault tolerant beam control modules. To eliminate the need of careful optical alignment, an all fiber-connectorized multiwavelength optical switch structure is presented and experimentally demonstrated by using a fiber-loop mirror concept with polarization control. In addition, liquid crystal (LC) devices are studied and are used to implement a compact retro- reflective 2 x 2 fiber-optic switch. Compared to MEMS- based mirror technology, the LC technology is more sensitive to temperature, thereby inappropriate to deploy in a harsh environment. With the benefit provided by WDM systems, wavelength sensitive fiber-optic beam controllers are proposed, offering wavelength sensitive time delay and amplitude controls that can be applied in several applications ranging from optical communications to high speed parallel signal processing. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

  17. The 30-GHz monolithic receive module

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sokolov, V.; Geddes, J.; Bauhahn, P.

    1983-01-01

    Key requirements for a 30 GHz GaAs monolithic receive module for spaceborne communication antenna feed array applications include an overall receive module noise figure of 5 dB, a 30 dB RF to IF gain with six levels of intermediate gain control, a five-bit phase shifter, and a maximum power consumption of 250 mW. The RF designs for each of the four submodules (low noise amplifier, some gain control, phase shifter, and RF to IF sub-module) are presented. Except for the phase shifter, high frequency, low noise FETs with sub-half micron gate lengths are employed in the submodules. For the gain control, a two stage dual gate FET amplifier is used. The phase shifter is of the passive switched line type and consists of 5-bits. It uses relatively large gate width FETs (with zero drain to source bias) as the switching elements. A 20 GHz local oscillator buffer amplifier, a FET compatible balanced mixer, and a 5-8 GHz IF amplifier constitute the RF/IF sub-module. Phase shifter fabrication using ion implantation and a self-aligned gate technique is described. Preliminary RF results obtained on such phase shifters are included.

  18. Effects of nanomaterial saturable absorption on gain-guide soliton in a positive group-dispersion fiber laser: Simulations and experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Du, Tuanjie; Wan, Xiaojiao; Yang, Runhua; Li, Weiwei; Ruan, Qiujun; Chen, Nan; Luo, Zhengqian

    2018-01-01

    In recent years, several kinds of nanomaterials have been discovered, and successfully used as saturable absorbers (SAs) for passively mode-locked fiber lasers. However, it is found that most of nanomaterials-based SAs cannot stably generate gain-guide solitons in positive group-dispersion fiber lasers, which is urgently expected to fully understand the inherent reasons. In this paper, we numerically and experimentally investigate the effects of nanomaterial saturable absorption (e.g. modulation depth and saturation optical power) on gain-guide soliton in positive group-dispersion Er3+-doped fiber laser (PGD-EDFL). By numerically solving the Ginzburg-Landau equation, the evolutions of both the mode-locked optical spectrum and pulse duration as a function of modulation depth and saturation optical power are analyzed, respectively. In experiment, we firstly prepare five nanomaterial SAs with the similar insertion loss, which have the different modulation depth from 1.80% to 23.36%, and the different saturation optical power from 8.8 to 536 W. We then perform the experimental comparison by incorporating the five SAs in a same PGD-EDFL cavity, respectively. The experimental results are in good agreement with the numerical ones. Our result reveals that: (1) a low modulation depth cannot support the formation of gain-guide soliton, (2) as the modulation depth increases, the spectral bandwidth of gain-guide soliton increases, the pulse duration decreases and the pulse chirp becomes large, (3) the saturation optical power has the weak influences on the gain-guide soliton performances.

  19. Virtual Reality Simulations and Animations in a Web-Based Interactive Manufacturing Engineering Module

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ong, S. K.; Mannan, M. A.

    2004-01-01

    This paper presents a web-based interactive teaching package that provides a comprehensive and conducive yet dynamic and interactive environment for a module on automated machine tools in the Manufacturing Division at the National University of Singapore. The use of Internet technologies in this teaching tool makes it possible to conjure…

  20. Into Adolescence: Becoming a Health-Wise Consumer. A Curriculum for Grades 5-8. Contemporary Health Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hisgen, Jon W.

    The "Contemporary Health Series" covers critical health and family life topics in a sequence of modules with two curricular divisions: "Into Adolescence" for middle school teachers and "Entering Adulthood" for high school teachers. This module presents middle school students with the information they need to become knowledgeable, concerned…

  1. Power budget of direct-detection ultra-dense WDM-Nyquist-SCM PON with low-complexity SSBI mitigation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soeiro, Ricardo O. J.; Alves, Tiago M. F.; Cartaxo, Adolfo V. T.

    2017-07-01

    The power budget (PB) of a direct-detection ultra-dense wavelength division/subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) passive optical network (PON) is assessed numerically for downstream, when a low-complexity iterative signal-to-signal beat interference (SSBI) mitigation technique is employed. Each SCM signal, inserted in a 12.5 GHz width optical channel, is comprised of two or three electrically generated and multiplexed 16-quadrature-amplitude-modulation (QAM) or 32-QAM Nyquist pulse-shaped subcarriers, each with a 7% forward error correction bit rate of 10.7 Gbit/s. The PB and maximum number of optical network units (ONUs) served by each optical line terminal (OLT) are compared with and without SSBI mitigation. When SSBI mitigation is realized, PB gains up to 4.5 dB are attained relative to the PB in the absence of SSBI mitigation. The PB gain enabled by the SSBI mitigation technique proposed in this work increases the number of ONUs served per OLT at least by a factor of 2, for the cases of higher spectral efficiency. In particular, for a SCM signal comprised of three subcarriers, the maximum number of ONUs served per OLT is between 2 and 32, and between 8 and 64, in the absence of SSBI mitigation, and when SSBI mitigation is employed, respectively, depending on the fiber length (up to 50 km) and order of QAM.

  2. Dual-wavelength single-frequency laser emission in asymmetric coupled microdisks

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Haotian; Liu, Sheng; Chen, Lin; Shen, Deyuan; Wu, Xiang

    2016-01-01

    The gain and loss in a microcavity laser play an important role for the modulation of laser spectrum. We show that dual-wavelength single mode lasing can be achieved in an asymmetric coupled system consisted of two size-mismatched microdisks. The amount of eigenmodes in this coupled-microdisk system is reduced relying on the Vernier effect. Then a single mode is selected to lase by controlling the gain branching in the supermodes. The supermodes are formed by the coupling between different transverse whispering-gallery modes (WGMs). When the gain/loss status between the two mirodisks is changed through selectively pumping process, the modulated gain branching for various supermodes leads to the switchable single-frequency laser emission. The results obtained in this work will provide the further understand for the spectral modulation mechanism in the coupled microcavity laser system. PMID:27905506

  3. A specific role for the ZipA protein in cell division: stabilization of the FtsZ protein.

    PubMed

    Pazos, Manuel; Natale, Paolo; Vicente, Miguel

    2013-02-01

    In Escherichia coli, the cell division protein FtsZ is anchored to the cytoplasmic membrane by the action of the bitopic membrane protein ZipA and the cytoplasmic protein FtsA. Although the presence of both ZipA and FtsA is strictly indispensable for cell division, an FtsA gain-of-function mutant FtsA* (R286W) can bypass the ZipA requirement for cell division. This observation casts doubts on the role of ZipA and its need for cell division. Maxicells are nucleoid-free bacterial cells used as a whole cell in vitro system to probe protein-protein interactions without the need of protein purification. We show that ZipA protects FtsZ from the ClpXP-directed degradation observed in E. coli maxicells and that ZipA-stabilized FtsZ forms membrane-attached spiral-like structures in the bacterial cytoplasm. The overproduction of the FtsZ-binding ZipA domain is sufficient to protect FtsZ from degradation, whereas other C-terminal ZipA partial deletions lacking it are not. Individual overproduction of the proto-ring component FtsA or its gain-of-function mutant FtsA* does not result in FtsZ protection. Overproduction of FtsA or FtsA* together with ZipA does not interfere with the FtsZ protection. Moreover, neither FtsA nor FtsA* protects FtsZ when overproduced together with ZipA mutants lacking the FZB domain. We propose that ZipA protects FtsZ from degradation by ClpP by making the FtsZ site of interaction unavailable to the ClpX moiety of the ClpXP protease. This role cannot be replaced by either FtsA or FtsA*, suggesting a unique function for ZipA in proto-ring stability.

  4. Cell division and endoreduplication: doubtful engines of vegetative growth.

    PubMed

    John, Peter C L; Qi, Ruhu

    2008-03-01

    Currently, there is little information to indicate whether plant cell division and development is the collective effect of individual cell programming (cell-based) or is determined by organ-wide growth (organismal). Modulation of cell division does not confirm cell autonomous programming of cell expansion; instead, final cell size seems to be determined by the balance between cells formed and subsequent tissue growth. Control of growth in regions of the plant therefore has great importance in determining cell, organ and plant development. Here, we question the view that formation of new cells and their programmed expansion is the driving force of growth. We believe there is evidence that division does not drive, but requires, cell growth and a similar requirement for growth is detected in the modified cycle termed endoreduplication.

  5. Upgrade of an optical network unit in a 40 Gb/s time and wavelength-division multiplexed passive optical network using an upstream tunable colorless laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bindhaiq, Salem; Supa'at, Abu Sahmah M.; Zulkifli, Nadiatulhuda; Shaddad, Redhwan Q.; Mataria, Abdallah

    2014-07-01

    A high data transmission rate is the main requirement for next-generation telecommunication networks. A design for a 40 Gb/s time and wavelength-division multiplexed passive optical network (TWDM-PON) for next-generation passive optical network stage 2 is presented. The use of a modulated grating Y-branch (MG-Y) laser is proposed as an upstream tunable colorless laser source to upgrade the optical network unit. The electronically tuned MG-Y externally modulated laser with a 10 Gb/s modulation rate is applied to a TWDM-PON and presented across a 3.2-nm tuning range. The performance of the proposed laser is analyzed in terms of bit error rate, eye diagram, and optical signal-to-noise ratio. The proposed TWDM-PON achieved an aggregated data rate of 40 Gb/s along 40 km of bidirectional fiber at a 1:128 splitting ratio without amplification and dispersion compensation.

  6. Low-peak-to-average power ratio and low-complexity asymmetrically clipped optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing uplink transmission scheme for long-reach passive optical network.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Ji; Qiao, Yaojun

    2015-09-01

    In this Letter, we propose a discrete Hartley transform (DHT)-spread asymmetrically clipped optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (DHT-S-ACO-OFDM) uplink transmission scheme in which the multiplexing/demultiplexing process also uses the DHT algorithm. By designing a simple encoding structure, the computational complexity of the transmitter can be reduced from O(Nlog(2)(N)) to O(N). At the probability of 10(-3), the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of 2-ary pulse amplitude modulation (2-PAM)-modulated DHT-S-ACO-OFDM is approximately 9.7 dB lower than that of 2-PAM-modulated conventional ACO-OFDM. To verify the feasibility of the proposed scheme, a 4-Gbit/s DHT-S-ACO-OFDM uplink transmission scheme with a 1∶64 way split has been experimentally implemented using 100-km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) for a long-reach passive optical network (LR-PON).

  7. Fiber optical parametric amplifiers in optical communication systems

    PubMed Central

    Marhic (†), Michel E; Andrekson, Peter A; Petropoulos, Periklis; Radic, Stojan; Peucheret, Christophe; Jazayerifar, Mahmoud

    2015-01-01

    The prospects for using fiber optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) in optical communication systems are reviewed. Phase-insensitive amplifiers (PIAs) and phase-sensitive amplifiers (PSAs) are considered. Low-penalty amplification at/or near 1 Tb/s has been achieved, for both wavelength- and time-division multiplexed formats. High-quality mid-span spectral inversion has been demonstrated at 0.64 Tb/s, avoiding electronic dispersion compensation. All-optical amplitude regeneration of amplitude-modulated signals has been performed, while PSAs have been used to demonstrate phase regeneration of phase-modulated signals. A PSA with 1.1-dB noise figure has been demonstrated, and preliminary wavelength-division multiplexing experiments have been performed with PSAs. 512 Gb/s have been transmitted over 6,000 km by periodic phase conjugation. Simulations indicate that PIAs could reach data rate x reach products in excess of 14,000 Tb/s × km in realistic wavelength-division multiplexed long-haul networks. Technical challenges remaining to be addressed in order for fiber OPAs to become useful for long-haul communication networks are discussed. PMID:25866588

  8. Spatially Modulated Gain Waveguide Electro-Optic Laser

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-08-09

    1997, pp 1223-1226. 5. Y. Li, S. M. Goldwasser, P. Herczfeld, L.M. Narducci, "Dynamics of an electro-optically tunable microchip laser ", IEEE...TYPE Final 3. DATES COVERED (From 7/2/2010-5-10-2013 To) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Spatially modulated gain waveguide electro-optic laser 5a...optical waveguides laser on LiNb03 substrate. The main goal of this work is to implement an active LiNb03 waveguide with the desired spatially modulated

  9. Gain and power optimization of the wireless optical system with multilevel modulation.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xian

    2008-06-01

    When used in an outdoor environment to expedite networking access, the performance of wireless optical communication systems is affected by transmitter sway. In the design of such systems, much attention has been paid to developing power-efficient schemes. However, the bandwidth efficiency is also an important issue. One of the most natural approaches to promote bandwidth efficiency is to use multilevel modulation. This leads to multilevel pulse amplitude modulation in the context of intensity modulation and direct detection. We develop a model based on the four-level pulse amplitude modulation. We show that the model can be formulated as an optimization problem in terms of the transmitter power, bit error probability, transmitter gain, and receiver gain. The technical challenges raised by modeling and solving the problem include the analytical and numerical treatments for the improper integrals of the Gaussian functions coupled with the erfc function. The results demonstrate that, at the optimal points, the power penalty paid to the doubled bandwidth efficiency is around 3 dB.

  10. Amphibious Landing Operations in World War II: Personal Experience in Applying and Developing Doctrine

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-05-21

    the forefront of the Army’s effort to gain experience planning and conducting amphibious landings was Lucian K . Truscott, Jr, a Cavalry officer by...Landing Operations, Lucian K . Truscott, Jr., Operation Torch, Operation Husky, 3rd Infantry Division, World War II 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17...gain experience planning and conducting amphibious landings was Lucian K . Truscott, Jr., a Cavalry officer by training. Following his assignment to

  11. On Performance of Linear Multiuser Detectors for Wireless Multimedia Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Agarwal, Rekha; Reddy, B. V. R.; Bindu, E.; Nayak, Pinki

    In this paper, performance of different multi-rate schemes in DS-CDMA system is evaluated. The analysis of multirate linear multiuser detectors with multiprocessing gain is analyzed for synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems. Variable data rate is achieved by varying the processing gain. Our conclusion is that bit error rate for multirate and single rate systems can be made same with a tradeoff with number of users in linear multiuser detectors.

  12. A novel coherent optical en/decoder for optical label processing of OCDM-based optical packets switching networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Chongfu; Qiu, Kun

    2007-11-01

    A coherent optical en/decoder based on photonic crystal (PhC) for optical code-division-multiple (OCDM)-based optical label (OCDM-OL) optical packets switching (OPS) networks is proposed in this paper. In this scheme, the optical pulse phase and time delay can be flexibly controlled by the photonic crystal phase shifter and delayer using the appropriate design of fabrication. In this design, the combination calculation of the impurity and normal period layers is applied, according to the PhC transmission matrix theorem. The design and theoretical analysis of the PhC-based optical coherent en/decoder is mainly focused. In addition, the performances of the PhC-based optical en/decoders are analyzed in detail. The reflection, the transmission, delay characteristic and the optical spectrum of pulse en/decoded are studied for the waves tuned in the photonic band-gap by the numerical calculation, taking into account 1-Dimension (1D) PhC. Theoretical analysis and numerical results show that optical pulse is achieved to properly phase modulation and time delay by the proposed scheme, optical label based on OCDM is rewrote successfully by new code for OCDM-based OPS (OCDM-OPS), and an over 8.5 dB ration of auto- and cross-correlation is gained, which demonstrates the applicability of true pulse phase modulation in a number of applications.

  13. 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.

  14. Code-division multiple-access multiuser demodulator by using quantum fluctuations.

    PubMed

    Otsubo, Yosuke; Inoue, Jun-Ichi; Nagata, Kenji; Okada, Masato

    2014-07-01

    We examine the average-case performance of a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) multiuser demodulator in which quantum fluctuations are utilized to demodulate the original message within the context of Bayesian inference. The quantum fluctuations are built into the system as a transverse field in the infinite-range Ising spin glass model. We evaluate the performance measurements by using statistical mechanics. We confirm that the CDMA multiuser modulator using quantum fluctuations achieve roughly the same performance as the conventional CDMA multiuser modulator through thermal fluctuations on average. We also find that the relationship between the quality of the original information retrieval and the amplitude of the transverse field is somehow a "universal feature" in typical probabilistic information processing, viz., in image restoration, error-correcting codes, and CDMA multiuser demodulation.

  15. Code-division multiple-access multiuser demodulator by using quantum fluctuations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Otsubo, Yosuke; Inoue, Jun-ichi; Nagata, Kenji; Okada, Masato

    2014-07-01

    We examine the average-case performance of a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) multiuser demodulator in which quantum fluctuations are utilized to demodulate the original message within the context of Bayesian inference. The quantum fluctuations are built into the system as a transverse field in the infinite-range Ising spin glass model. We evaluate the performance measurements by using statistical mechanics. We confirm that the CDMA multiuser modulator using quantum fluctuations achieve roughly the same performance as the conventional CDMA multiuser modulator through thermal fluctuations on average. We also find that the relationship between the quality of the original information retrieval and the amplitude of the transverse field is somehow a "universal feature" in typical probabilistic information processing, viz., in image restoration, error-correcting codes, and CDMA multiuser demodulation.

  16. Coding and decoding for code division multiple user communication systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Healy, T. J.

    1985-01-01

    A new algorithm is introduced which decodes code division multiple user communication signals. The algorithm makes use of the distinctive form or pattern of each signal to separate it from the composite signal created by the multiple users. Although the algorithm is presented in terms of frequency-hopped signals, the actual transmitter modulator can use any of the existing digital modulation techniques. The algorithm is applicable to error-free codes or to codes where controlled interference is permitted. It can be used when block synchronization is assumed, and in some cases when it is not. The paper also discusses briefly some of the codes which can be used in connection with the algorithm, and relates the algorithm to past studies which use other approaches to the same problem.

  17. Carrier-envelope offset stabilization of a GHz repetition rate femtosecond laser using opto-optical modulation of a SESAM.

    PubMed

    Hakobyan, Sargis; Wittwer, Valentin J; Gürel, Kutan; Mayer, Aline S; Schilt, Stéphane; Südmeyer, Thomas

    2017-11-15

    We demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge, the first carrier-envelope offset (CEO) frequency stabilization of a GHz femtosecond laser based on opto-optical modulation (OOM) of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The 1.05-GHz laser is based on a Yb:CALGO gain crystal and emits sub-100-fs pulses with 2.1-W average power at a center wavelength of 1055 nm. The SESAM plays two key roles: it starts and stabilizes the mode-locking operation and is simultaneously used as an actuator to control the CEO frequency. This second functionality is implemented by pumping the SESAM with a continuous-wave 980-nm laser diode in order to slightly modify its nonlinear reflectivity. We use the standard f-to-2f method for detection of the CEO frequency, which is stabilized by applying a feedback signal to the current of the SESAM pump diode. We compare the SESAM-OOM stabilization with the traditional method of gain modulation via control of the pump power of the Yb:CALGO gain crystal. While the bandwidth for gain modulation is intrinsically limited to ∼250  kHz by the laser cavity dynamics, we show that the OOM provides a feedback bandwidth above 500 kHz. Hence, we were able to obtain a residual integrated phase noise of 430 mrad for the stabilized CEO beat, which represents an improvement of more than 30% compared to gain modulation stabilization.

  18. LDPC-coded orbital angular momentum (OAM) modulation for free-space optical communication.

    PubMed

    Djordjevic, Ivan B; Arabaci, Murat

    2010-11-22

    An orbital angular momentum (OAM) based LDPC-coded modulation scheme suitable for use in FSO communication is proposed. We demonstrate that the proposed scheme can operate under strong atmospheric turbulence regime and enable 100 Gb/s optical transmission while employing 10 Gb/s components. Both binary and nonbinary LDPC-coded OAM modulations are studied. In addition to providing better BER performance, the nonbinary LDPC-coded modulation reduces overall decoder complexity and latency. The nonbinary LDPC-coded OAM modulation provides a net coding gain of 9.3 dB at the BER of 10(-8). The maximum-ratio combining scheme outperforms the corresponding equal-gain combining scheme by almost 2.5 dB.

  19. Simulation and analysis of OOK-to-BPSK format conversion based on gain-transparent SOA used as optical phase-modulator.

    PubMed

    Hong, Wei; Huang, Dexiu; Zhang, Xinliang; Zhu, Guangxi

    2007-12-24

    All-optical on-off keying (OOK) to binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulation format conversion based on gain-transparent semiconductor optical amplifier (GT-SOA) is simulated and analyzed, where GT-SOA is used as an all-optical phase-modulator (PM). Numerical simulation of the phase modulation effect of GT-SOA is performed using a wideband dynamic model of GT-SOA and the quality of the BPSK signal is evaluated using the differential-phase-Q factor. Performance improvement by holding light injection is analyzed and non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ) modulation formats of the OOK signal are considered.

  20. Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules photographed from Lunar Module

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1969-01-01

    The Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules photographed from the Lunar Module, 'Spider', on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 earth-orbital mission. Docking mechanism is visible in nose of the Command Module, 'Gumdrop'. Object jutting out from the Service Module aft bulkhead is the high-gain S-Band antenna.

  1. Temporally evolving gain mechanisms of attention in macaque area V4.

    PubMed

    Sani, Ilaria; Santandrea, Elisa; Morrone, Maria Concetta; Chelazzi, Leonardo

    2017-08-01

    Cognitive attention and perceptual saliency jointly govern our interaction with the environment. Yet, we still lack a universally accepted account of the interplay between attention and luminance contrast, a fundamental dimension of saliency. We measured the attentional modulation of V4 neurons' contrast response functions (CRFs) in awake, behaving macaque monkeys and applied a new approach that emphasizes the temporal dynamics of cell responses. We found that attention modulates CRFs via different gain mechanisms during subsequent epochs of visually driven activity: an early contrast-gain, strongly dependent on prestimulus activity changes (baseline shift); a time-limited stimulus-dependent multiplicative modulation, reaching its maximal expression around 150 ms after stimulus onset; and a late resurgence of contrast-gain modulation. Attention produced comparable time-dependent attentional gain changes on cells heterogeneously coding contrast, supporting the notion that the same circuits mediate attention mechanisms in V4 regardless of the form of contrast selectivity expressed by the given neuron. Surprisingly, attention was also sometimes capable of inducing radical transformations in the shape of CRFs. These findings offer important insights into the mechanisms that underlie contrast coding and attention in primate visual cortex and a new perspective on their interplay, one in which time becomes a fundamental factor. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We offer an innovative perspective on the interplay between attention and luminance contrast in macaque area V4, one in which time becomes a fundamental factor. We place emphasis on the temporal dynamics of attentional effects, pioneering the notion that attention modulates contrast response functions of V4 neurons via the sequential engagement of distinct gain mechanisms. These findings advance understanding of attentional influences on visual processing and help reconcile divergent results in the literature. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  2. Serotonin Affects Movement Gain Control in the Spinal Cord

    PubMed Central

    Glaser, Joshua I.; Deng, Linna; Thompson, Christopher K.; Stevenson, Ian H.; Wang, Qining; Hornby, Thomas George; Heckman, Charles J.; Kording, Konrad P.

    2014-01-01

    A fundamental challenge for the nervous system is to encode signals spanning many orders of magnitude with neurons of limited bandwidth. To meet this challenge, perceptual systems use gain control. However, whether the motor system uses an analogous mechanism is essentially unknown. Neuromodulators, such as serotonin, are prime candidates for gain control signals during force production. Serotonergic neurons project diffusely to motor pools, and, therefore, force production by one muscle should change the gain of others. Here we present behavioral and pharmaceutical evidence that serotonin modulates the input–output gain of motoneurons in humans. By selectively changing the efficacy of serotonin with drugs, we systematically modulated the amplitude of spinal reflexes. More importantly, force production in different limbs interacts systematically, as predicted by a spinal gain control mechanism. Psychophysics and pharmacology suggest that the motor system adopts gain control mechanisms, and serotonin is a primary driver for their implementation in force production. PMID:25232107

  3. Assessment of Spreadsheet-based Modules in a Physical Geology Course with Emphasis on the Effectiveness of the use of Excel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lehto, H.; Vacher, H. L.

    2013-12-01

    Educators have used spreadsheets to teach math concepts for years. However, when spreadsheet-based modules began to be used to teach math and geology concepts at USF students found them difficult to use. Most often students expressed frustration that learning how to use Excel took precedence over learning the concepts presented in the modules. Was the Excel was getting in the way? To investigate this question, we placed students in Physical Geology courses into two groups: one group was given a set of modules that instructed them to use Excel for their calculations, while the modules given to the other group simple instructed them to do the calculations but they were not told what method to use. Our expectation was that students in the Non-Excel group would be less frustrated and thus attain a higher level of learning of the concepts presented in the modules. However, our results show that students had high gains for both the math and geology concepts presented in the modules whether Excel was used or not. We also tested the students' attitudes about the modules and the knowledge they gained and found that overall students were comfortable with the math and geology concepts presented in the modules, and most felt that the modules were worth their time; however they did not wish to complete any more modules. The only observed difference in gains was that students in the course led by the author of the modules had larger gains in knowledge versus those in the course led by another instructor. This difference may have been the result of differences in teaching style, such as the module author's mention and linking of the modules with lecture materials throughout the course. We believe that spreadsheet-based modules are a good tool for teaching math and geology concepts, as overall the students were confident in their new knowledge. We also found that the use of Excel within the module did not affect the learning outcomes. The one downside of this study was that after completing the modules the students did not wish to do any more, which may have to do with a strong tendency towards math avoidance.

  4. Use of the 5-mm Endoscopic Stapler for Ligation of Fistula in Laparoscopic-Assisted Repair of Anorectal Malformation.

    PubMed

    Slater, Bethany J; Kay, Saundra; Rothenberg, Steven S

    2018-02-15

    Laparoscopic anorectoplasty (LARRP) for the treatment of select anorectal malformations has gained popularity due to enhanced visualization of the fistula and the ability to place the rectum within the sphincter complex while minimizing division of muscles and the perineal incision. However, given the technical challenges and reported complications of ligation, a number of techniques have been described, including using clips, suture ligation, endoloops, or division without closure. We aimed to evaluate fistula closure and division for high imperforate anus using a 5-mm stapler (JustRight Surgical, Boulder, CO). A retrospective chart review was performed on patients who underwent LAARP for imperforate anus between March 2015 and December 2016. Four patients underwent LAARP with division of the fistula using the 5-mm stapler. The average age was 3.2 months and average weight was 4.5 kg. The location of the fistula was rectoprostatic in 3 cases and rectobladder neck in 1 case. There were no complications. Division of a fistula at or above the level of the prostate can safely and effectively be performed with the 5-mm stapler. The stapler allows for division flush with the urethra or bladder ergonomically and quickly.

  5. W-band Heterodyne Receiver Module with 27 K Noise Temperature

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gawande, R.; Reeves, R.; Cleary, K.; Readhead, A. C.; Gaier, T.; Kangaslahti, P.; Samoska, L.; Church, S.; Sieth, M.; Voll, P.; hide

    2012-01-01

    We present noise temperature and gain measurements of a W-band heterodyne module populated with MMIC LNAs designed and fabricated using 35nm InP HEMT process. The module has a WR-10 waveguide input. GPPO connectors are used for the LO input and the I and and Q IF outputs. The module is tested at both ambient (300 K) and cryogenic (25 K) temperatures. At 25 K physical temperature, the module has a noise temperature in the range of 27-45 K over the frequency band of 75-111 GHz. The module gain varies between 15 dB and 27 dB. The band-averaged module noise temperature of 350 K and 33 K were measured over 80-110 GHz for the physical temperature of 300 K and 25 K, respectively. The resulting cooling factor is 10.6.

  6. Electro-optic architecture (EOA) for sensors and actuators in aircraft propulsion systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Glomb, W. L., Jr.

    1989-01-01

    Results of a study to design an optimal architecture for electro-optical sensing and control in advanced aircraft and space systems are described. The propulsion full authority digital Electronic Engine Control (EEC) was the focus for the study. The recommended architecture is an on-engine EEC which contains electro-optic interface circuits for fiber-optic sensors on the engine. Size and weight are reduced by multiplexing arrays of functionally similar sensors on a pair of optical fibers to common electro-optical interfaces. The architecture contains common, multiplex interfaces to seven sensor groups: (1) self luminous sensors; (2) high temperatures; (3) low temperatures; (4) speeds and flows; (5) vibration; (6) pressures; and (7) mechanical positions. Nine distinct fiber-optic sensor types were found to provide these sensing functions: (1) continuous wave (CW) intensity modulators; (2) time division multiplexing (TDM) digital optic codeplates; (3) time division multiplexing (TDM) analog self-referenced sensors; (4) wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) digital optic code plates; (5) wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) analog self-referenced intensity modulators; (6) analog optical spectral shifters; (7) self-luminous bodies; (8) coherent optical interferometers; and (9) remote electrical sensors. The report includes the results of a trade study including engine sensor requirements, environment, the basic sensor types, and relevant evaluation criteria. These figures of merit for the candidate interface types were calculated from the data supplied by leading manufacturers of fiber-optic sensors.

  7. Novel design of inherently gain-flattened discrete highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber Raman amplifier and dispersion compensation using a single pump in C-band.

    PubMed

    Varshney, Shailendra; Fujisawa, Takeshi; Saitoh, Kunimasa; Koshiba, Masanori

    2005-11-14

    In this paper, we report, for the first time, an inherently gain-flattened discrete highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (HNPCF) Raman amplifier (HNPCF-RA) design which shows 13.7 dB of net gain (with +/-0.85-dB gain ripple) over 28-nm bandwidth. The wavelength dependent leakage loss property of HNPCF is used to flatten the Raman gain of the amplifier module. The PCF structural design is based on W-shaped refractive index profile where the fiber parameters are well optimized by homely developed genetic algorithm optimization tool integrated with an efficient vectorial finite element method (V-FEM). The proposed fiber design has a high Raman gain efficiency of 4.88 W(-1) . km(-1) at a frequency shift of 13.1 THz, which is precisely evaluated through V-FEM. Additionally, the designed module, which shows ultra-wide single mode operation, has a slowly varying negative dispersion coefficient (-107.5 ps/nm/km at 1550 nm) over the operating range of wavelengths. Therefore, our proposed HNPCF-RA module acts as a composite amplifier with dispersion compensator functionality in a single component using a single pump.

  8. Physics Notes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    School Science Review, 1976

    1976-01-01

    Described are 13 physics experiments/demonstrations applicable to introductory physics courses. Activities include: improved current balance, division circuits, liquid pressure, convection, siphons, oscillators and modulation, electrical resistance, soap films, Helmholtz coils, radioactive decay, and springs. (SL)

  9. Highly Automated Module Production Incorporating Advanced Light Management

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

    Perelli-Minetti, Michael; Roof, Kyle

    2015-08-11

    The objective was to enable a high volume, cost effective solution for increasing the amount of light captured by PV modules through utilization of an advanced Light Re-directing Film and to follow a phased approach to develop and implement this new technology in order to achieve an expected power gain of up to 12 watts per module. Full size PV modules were manufactured using a new Light Redirecting Film (LRF) material applied to two different areas of PV modules in order to increase the amount of light captured by the modules. One configuration involved applying thin strips of LRF filmmore » over the tabbing ribbon on the cells in order to redirect the light that is normally absorbed by the tabbing ribbon to the active areas of the cells. A second configuration involved applying thin strips of LRF film over the white spaces between cells within a module in order to capture some of the light that is normally reflected from the white areas back through the front glass of the modules. Significant power increases of 1.4% (3.9 watts) and 1.0% (3.2 watts), respectively, compared to standard PV modules were measured under standard test conditions. The performance of PV modules with LRF applied to the tabbing ribbon was modeled. The results showed that the power increase provided by LRF depended greatly on the angle of incident light with the optimum performance only occurring when the light was within a narrow range of being perpendicular to the solar module. The modeling showed that most of the performance gain would be lost when the angle of incident light was greater than 28 degrees off axis. This effect made the orientation of modules with LRF applied to tabbing ribbons very important as modules mounted in “portrait” mode were predicted to provide little to no power gain from LRF under real world conditions. Based on these results, modules with LRF on tabbing ribbons would have to be mounted in “landscape” mode to realize a performance advantage. In addition, modeling showed that under diffuse lighting conditions such as when the sky is overcast, there would be no significant performance advantage for modules with LRF. Modules were sent to an outside contractor to measure the power performance under different angles of incident light in order to validate the modeling results. The measured data agreed very well with the modeling predictions and showed that the power gain for modules with LRF applied to tabbing ribbons was completely lost at an angle of 25 degrees off of perpendicular. At even larger angles, the power was lower than standard modules. From 35 degrees to 55 degrees off axis, the power loss was about 1.4% or equal to the power gain at the optimum condition of perfectly on-axis light.« less

  10. Contrast gain control: a bilinear model for chromatic selectivity.

    PubMed

    Singer, B; D'Zmura, M

    1995-04-01

    We report the results of psychophysical experiments on color contrast induction. In earlier work [Vision Res. 34, 3111 (1994)], we showed that modulating the spatial contrast of an annulus in time induces an apparent modulation of the contrast of a central disk, at isoluminance. Here we vary the chromatic properties of disk and annulus systematically in a study of the interactions among the luminance and the color-opponent channels. Results show that induced contrast depends linearly on both disk and annulus contrast, at low and moderate contrast levels. This dependence leads us to propose a bilinear model for color contrast gain control. The model predicts the magnitude and the chromatic properties of induced contrast. In agreement with experimental results, the model displays chromatic selectivity in contrast gain control and a negligible effect of contrast modulation at isoluminance on the appearance of achromatic contrast. We show that the bilinear model for chromatic selectivity may be realized as a feed-forward multiplicative gain control. Data collected at high contrast levels are fit by embellishing the model with saturating nonlinearities in the contrast gain control of each color channel.

  11. Demonstration of an 8 × 25-Gb/s optical time-division multiplexing system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Dong; Huo, Li; Li, Yunbo; Wang, Lei; Li, Han; Jiang, Xiangyu; Chen, Xin; Lou, Caiyun

    2017-11-01

    An 8 × 25-Gb/s optical time-division multiplexing (OTDM) system is demonstrated experimentally. The optical pulse source is based on optical frequency comb (OFC) generation and pulse shaping, which can generate nearly chirp-free 25-GHz 1.6-ps optical Gaussian pulse. The eightfold optical time-division demultiplexer consists of a single-driven dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) and a Mamyshev reshaper. Error-free demultiplexing of 8 × 25-Gb/s back-to-back (B2B) signal with a power penalty of 4.1 dB to 4.4 dB at a bit error rate (BER) of 10-9 is achieved to confirm the performance of the proposed system.

  12. Efficient “Communication through Coherence” Requires Oscillations Structured to Minimize Interference between Signals

    PubMed Central

    Akam, Thomas E.; Kullmann, Dimitri M.

    2012-01-01

    The ‘communication through coherence’ (CTC) hypothesis proposes that selective communication among neural networks is achieved by coherence between firing rate oscillation in a sending region and gain modulation in a receiving region. Although this hypothesis has stimulated extensive work, it remains unclear whether the mechanism can in principle allow reliable and selective information transfer. Here we use a simple mathematical model to investigate how accurately coherent gain modulation can filter a population-coded target signal from task-irrelevant distracting inputs. We show that selective communication can indeed be achieved, although the structure of oscillatory activity in the target and distracting networks must satisfy certain previously unrecognized constraints. Firstly, the target input must be differentiated from distractors by the amplitude, phase or frequency of its oscillatory modulation. When distracting inputs oscillate incoherently in the same frequency band as the target, communication accuracy is severely degraded because of varying overlap between the firing rate oscillations of distracting inputs and the gain modulation in the receiving region. Secondly, the oscillatory modulation of the target input must be strong in order to achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio relative to stochastic spiking of individual neurons. Thus, whilst providing a quantitative demonstration of the power of coherent oscillatory gain modulation to flexibly control information flow, our results identify constraints imposed by the need to avoid interference between signals, and reveal a likely organizing principle for the structure of neural oscillations in the brain. PMID:23144603

  13. An online learning module focused on smoking education and prevention for college students: implications for college health instructors and allied health professionals.

    PubMed

    D'Abundo, Michelle Lee; Marinaro, Laura Marie; Fiala, Kelly Ann

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to pilot-test the effectiveness of an online learning module focused on smoking for an undergraduate general education fitness and wellness course. Students enrolled in a required fitness and wellness course were given the opportunity to participate. Participants (n = 510) completed a brief demographic questionnaire and a 10-question pretest about the effects of smoking before viewing a 15-minute presentation about the effects of smoking and completing the same 10 questions as a post-test. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to evaluate knowledge gains. An overall time effect was observed (pretest score 4.9 +/- 1.3, post-test score 7.2 +/- 2.1). Significantly greater knowledge gains were found in nonsmokers (2.1 +/- 2.2) than in smokers (1.1 +/- 2.2). Females (2.3 +/- 2.3) had significantly greater knowledge gains than males (1.5 +/- 2.2). Evidence supporting the effectiveness of the online learning module included significant knowledge gains for both smokers and nonsmokers, and the participants who smoked agreed the online learning module encouraged them to quit. In this research, students were also grouped by major (health-related majors vs non-health-related). There were 118 health-related majors in the sample, with 110 of those students completing the entire learning module. In this research, a learning module for college students was developed, but practical applications are provided not only for college health instructors but also for allied health professionals.

  14. Diabetic Eye Disease

    MedlinePlus

    ... Units Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications eyeGENE Research Directors Office Office of the Scientific Director Sheldon S. ... friends about diabetic eye disease. This module includes descriptive audio and captioning. Diabetic eye disease has no ...

  15. Optical sensors and multiplexing for aircraft engine control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berkcan, Ertugrul

    1993-02-01

    Time division multiplexing of spectral modulation fiber optic sensors for aircraft engine control is presented. The paper addresses the architectural properties, the accuracy, the benefits and problems of different type of sources, the spectral stability and update times using these sources, the size, weight, and power issues, and finally the technology needs regarding FADEC mountability. The fiber optic sensors include temperature, pressure, and position spectral modulation sensors.

  16. Sensory Gain Outperforms Efficient Readout Mechanisms in Predicting Attention-Related Improvements in Behavior

    PubMed Central

    Ester, Edward F.; Deering, Sean

    2014-01-01

    Spatial attention has been postulated to facilitate perceptual processing via several different mechanisms. For instance, attention can amplify neural responses in sensory areas (sensory gain), mediate neural variability (noise modulation), or alter the manner in which sensory signals are selectively read out by postsensory decision mechanisms (efficient readout). Even in the context of simple behavioral tasks, it is unclear how well each of these mechanisms can account for the relationship between attention-modulated changes in behavior and neural activity because few studies have systematically mapped changes between stimulus intensity, attentional focus, neural activity, and behavioral performance. Here, we used a combination of psychophysics, event-related potentials (ERPs), and quantitative modeling to explicitly link attention-related changes in perceptual sensitivity with changes in the ERP amplitudes recorded from human observers. Spatial attention led to a multiplicative increase in the amplitude of an early sensory ERP component (the P1, peaking ∼80–130 ms poststimulus) and in the amplitude of the late positive deflection component (peaking ∼230–330 ms poststimulus). A simple model based on signal detection theory demonstrates that these multiplicative gain changes were sufficient to account for attention-related improvements in perceptual sensitivity, without a need to invoke noise modulation. Moreover, combining the observed multiplicative gain with a postsensory readout mechanism resulted in a significantly poorer description of the observed behavioral data. We conclude that, at least in the context of relatively simple visual discrimination tasks, spatial attention modulates perceptual sensitivity primarily by modulating the gain of neural responses during early sensory processing PMID:25274817

  17. Re-modulated technology of WDM-PON employing different DQPSK downstream signals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gao, Chao; Xin, Xiang-jun; Yu, Chong-xiu

    2012-11-01

    This paper proposes a kind of modulation architecture for wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDMPON) employing optical differential quadrature phase shift keying (DQPSK) downstream signals and two different modulation formats of re-modulated upstream signals. At the optical line terminal (OLT), 10 Gbit/s signal is modulated with DQPSK. At the optical network unit (ONU), part of the downstream signal is re-modulated with on-off keying (OOK) or inverse-return-to-zero (IRZ). Simulation results show the impact on the system employing NRZ, RZ and carrier-suppressed return-to-zero (CSRZ). The analyses also reflect that the architecture can restrain chromatic dispersion and channel crosstalk, which makes it the best architecture of access network in the future.

  18. Operational evaluation of a DGPS / SATCOM VTS : final report

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1996-09-01

    Satellite communications (SATCOM) using code division multiple access(CDMA) modulation and burst messaging, provided a new dimension to communication channel capacity, operating dependability, and area of coverage. This technology, together with diff...

  19. Rapid, Time-Division Multiplexed, Direct Absorption- and Wavelength Modulation-Spectroscopy

    PubMed Central

    Klein, Alexander; Witzel, Oliver; Ebert, Volker

    2014-01-01

    We present a tunable diode laser spectrometer with a novel, rapid time multiplexed direct absorption- and wavelength modulation-spectroscopy operation mode. The new technique allows enhancing the precision and dynamic range of a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer without sacrificing accuracy. The spectroscopic technique combines the benefits of absolute concentration measurements using calibration-free direct tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (dTDLAS) with the enhanced noise rejection of wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). In this work we demonstrate for the first time a 125 Hz time division multiplexed (TDM-dTDLAS-WMS) spectroscopic scheme by alternating the modulation of a DFB-laser between a triangle-ramp (dTDLAS) and an additional 20 kHz sinusoidal modulation (WMS). The absolute concentration measurement via the dTDLAS-technique allows one to simultaneously calibrate the normalized 2f/1f-signal of the WMS-technique. A dTDLAS/WMS-spectrometer at 1.37 μm for H2O detection was built for experimental validation of the multiplexing scheme over a concentration range from 50 to 3000 ppmV (0.1 MPa, 293 K). A precision of 190 ppbV was achieved with an absorption length of 12.7 cm and an averaging time of two seconds. Our results show a five-fold improvement in precision over the entire concentration range and a significantly decreased averaging time of the spectrometer. PMID:25405508

  20. All-optical regenerator of multi-channel signals.

    PubMed

    Li, Lu; Patki, Pallavi G; Kwon, Young B; Stelmakh, Veronika; Campbell, Brandon D; Annamalai, Muthiah; Lakoba, Taras I; Vasilyev, Michael

    2017-10-12

    One of the main reasons why nonlinear-optical signal processing (regeneration, logic, etc.) has not yet become a practical alternative to electronic processing is that the all-optical elements with nonlinear input-output relationship have remained inherently single-channel devices (just like their electronic counterparts) and, hence, cannot fully utilise the parallel processing potential of optical fibres and amplifiers. The nonlinear input-output transfer function requires strong optical nonlinearity, e.g. self-phase modulation, which, for fundamental reasons, is always accompanied by cross-phase modulation and four-wave mixing. In processing multiple wavelength-division-multiplexing channels, large cross-phase modulation and four-wave mixing crosstalks among the channels destroy signal quality. Here we describe a solution to this problem: an optical signal processor employing a group-delay-managed nonlinear medium where strong self-phase modulation is achieved without such nonlinear crosstalk. We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, simultaneous all-optical regeneration of up to 16 wavelength-division-multiplexing channels by one device. This multi-channel concept can be extended to other nonlinear-optical processing schemes.Nonlinear optical processing devices are not yet fully practical as they are single channel. Here the authors demonstrate all-optical regeneration of up to 16 channels by one device, employing a group-delay-managed nonlinear medium where strong self-phase modulation is achieved without nonlinear inter-channel crosstalk.

  1. Pulsed laser-based optical frequency comb generator for high capacity wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network supporting 1.2 Tbps

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullah, Rahat; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Qi; Saad Khan, Muhammad; Ahmad, Ibrar; Ali, Amjad; Khan, Razaullah; Tian, Qinghua; Yan, Cheng; Xin, Xiangjun

    2016-09-01

    An architecture for flattened and broad spectrum multicarriers is presented by generating 60 comb lines from pulsed laser driven by user-defined bit stream in cascade with three modulators. The proposed scheme is a cost-effective architecture for optical line terminal (OLT) in wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) system. The optical frequency comb generator consists of a pulsed laser in cascade with a phase modulator and two Mach-Zehnder modulators driven by an RF source incorporating no phase shifter, filter, or electrical amplifier. Optical frequency comb generation is deployed in the simulation environment at OLT in WDM-PON system supports 1.2-Tbps data rate. With 10-GHz frequency spacing, each frequency tone carries data signal of 20 Gbps-based differential quadrature phase shift keying (DQPSK) in downlink transmission. We adopt DQPSK-based modulation technique in the downlink transmission because it supports 2 bits per symbol, which increases the data rate in WDM-PON system. Furthermore, DQPSK format is tolerant to different types of dispersions and has a high spectral efficiency with less complex configurations. Part of the downlink power is utilized in the uplink transmission; the uplink transmission is based on intensity modulated on-off keying. Minimum power penalties have been observed with excellent eye diagrams and other transmission performances at specified bit error rates.

  2. Divisive normalization and neuronal oscillations in a single hierarchical framework of selective visual attention.

    PubMed

    Montijn, Jorrit Steven; Klink, P Christaan; van Wezel, Richard J A

    2012-01-01

    Divisive normalization models of covert attention commonly use spike rate modulations as indicators of the effect of top-down attention. In addition, an increasing number of studies have shown that top-down attention increases the synchronization of neuronal oscillations as well, particularly in gamma-band frequencies (25-100 Hz). Although modulations of spike rate and synchronous oscillations are not mutually exclusive as mechanisms of attention, there has thus far been little effort to integrate these concepts into a single framework of attention. Here, we aim to provide such a unified framework by expanding the normalization model of attention with a multi-level hierarchical structure and a time dimension; allowing the simulation of a recently reported backward progression of attentional effects along the visual cortical hierarchy. A simple cascade of normalization models simulating different cortical areas is shown to cause signal degradation and a loss of stimulus discriminability over time. To negate this degradation and ensure stable neuronal stimulus representations, we incorporate a kind of oscillatory phase entrainment into our model that has previously been proposed as the "communication-through-coherence" (CTC) hypothesis. Our analysis shows that divisive normalization and oscillation models can complement each other in a unified account of the neural mechanisms of selective visual attention. The resulting hierarchical normalization and oscillation (HNO) model reproduces several additional spatial and temporal aspects of attentional modulation and predicts a latency effect on neuronal responses as a result of cued attention.

  3. Divisive Normalization and Neuronal Oscillations in a Single Hierarchical Framework of Selective Visual Attention

    PubMed Central

    Montijn, Jorrit Steven; Klink, P. Christaan; van Wezel, Richard J. A.

    2012-01-01

    Divisive normalization models of covert attention commonly use spike rate modulations as indicators of the effect of top-down attention. In addition, an increasing number of studies have shown that top-down attention increases the synchronization of neuronal oscillations as well, particularly in gamma-band frequencies (25–100 Hz). Although modulations of spike rate and synchronous oscillations are not mutually exclusive as mechanisms of attention, there has thus far been little effort to integrate these concepts into a single framework of attention. Here, we aim to provide such a unified framework by expanding the normalization model of attention with a multi-level hierarchical structure and a time dimension; allowing the simulation of a recently reported backward progression of attentional effects along the visual cortical hierarchy. A simple cascade of normalization models simulating different cortical areas is shown to cause signal degradation and a loss of stimulus discriminability over time. To negate this degradation and ensure stable neuronal stimulus representations, we incorporate a kind of oscillatory phase entrainment into our model that has previously been proposed as the “communication-through-coherence” (CTC) hypothesis. Our analysis shows that divisive normalization and oscillation models can complement each other in a unified account of the neural mechanisms of selective visual attention. The resulting hierarchical normalization and oscillation (HNO) model reproduces several additional spatial and temporal aspects of attentional modulation and predicts a latency effect on neuronal responses as a result of cued attention. PMID:22586372

  4. Pathway modulations and epigenetic alterations in ovarian tumorbiogenesis

    PubMed Central

    Saldanha, Sabita N.; Tollefsbol, Trygve O.

    2013-01-01

    Cellular pathways are numerous and are highly integrated in function in the control of cellular systems. They collectively regulate cell division, proliferation, survival and apoptosis of cells and mutagenesis of key genes that control these pathways can initiate neoplastic transformations. Understanding these pathways is crucial to future therapeutic and preventive strategies of the disease. Ovarian cancers are of three major types; epithelial, germ-cell and stromal. However, ovarian cancers of epithelial origin, arising from the mesothelium, are the predominant form. Of the subtypes of ovarian cancer, the high-grade serous tumors are fatal, with low survival rate due to late detection and poor response to treatments. Close examination of preserved ovarian tissues and in vitro studies have provided insights into the mechanistic changes occurring in cells mediated by a few key genes. This review will focus on pathways and key genes of the pathways that are mutated or have aberrant functions in the pathology of ovarian cancer. Non-genetic mechanisms that are gaining prominence in the pathology of ovarian cancer, miRNAs and epigenetics, will also be discussed in the review. PMID:24105793

  5. Hybrid optical CDMA-FSO communications network under spatially correlated gamma-gamma scintillation.

    PubMed

    Jurado-Navas, Antonio; Raddo, Thiago R; Garrido-Balsells, José María; Borges, Ben-Hur V; Olmos, Juan José Vegas; Monroy, Idelfonso Tafur

    2016-07-25

    In this paper, we propose a new hybrid network solution based on asynchronous optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) and free-space optical (FSO) technologies for last-mile access networks, where fiber deployment is impractical. The architecture of the proposed hybrid OCDMA-FSO network is thoroughly described. The users access the network in a fully asynchronous manner by means of assigned fast frequency hopping (FFH)-based codes. In the FSO receiver, an equal gain-combining technique is employed along with intensity modulation and direct detection. New analytical formalisms for evaluating the average bit error rate (ABER) performance are also proposed. These formalisms, based on the spatially correlated gamma-gamma statistical model, are derived considering three distinct scenarios, namely, uncorrelated, totally correlated, and partially correlated channels. Numerical results show that users can successfully achieve error-free ABER levels for the three scenarios considered as long as forward error correction (FEC) algorithms are employed. Therefore, OCDMA-FSO networks can be a prospective alternative to deliver high-speed communication services to access networks with deficient fiber infrastructure.

  6. A Parametric Oscillator Experiment for Undergraduates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huff, Alison; Thompson, Johnathon; Pate, Jacob; Kim, Hannah; Chiao, Raymond; Sharping, Jay

    We describe an upper-division undergraduate-level analytic mechanics experiment or classroom demonstration of a weakly-damped pendulum driven into parametric resonance. Students can derive the equations of motion from first principles and extract key oscillator features, such as quality factor and parametric gain, from experimental data. The apparatus is compact, portable and easily constructed from inexpensive components. Motion control and data acquisition are accomplished using an Arduino micro-controller incorporating a servo motor, laser sensor, and data logger. We record the passage time of the pendulum through its equilibrium position and obtain the maximum speed per oscillation as a function of time. As examples of the interesting physics which the experiment reveals, we present contour plots depicting the energy of the system as functions of driven frequency and modulation depth. We observe the transition to steady state oscillation and compare the experimental oscillation threshold with theoretical expectations. A thorough understanding of this hands-on laboratory exercise provides a foundation for current research in quantum information and opto-mechanics, where damped harmonic motion, quality factor, and parametric amplification are central.

  7. An AWG-based 10 Gbit/s colorless WDM-PON system using a chirp-managed directly modulated laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Latif, Abdul; Yu, Chong-xiu; Xin, Xiang-jun; Husain, Aftab; Hussain, Ashiq; Munir, Abid; Khan, Yousaf

    2012-09-01

    We propose an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG)-based 10 Gbit/s per channel full duplex wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON). A chirp managed directly modulated laser with return-to-zero (RZ) differential phase shift keying (DPSK) modulation technique is utilized for downlink (DL) direction, and then the downlink signal is re-modulated for the uplink (UL) direction using intensity modulation technique with the data rate of 10 Gbit/s per channel. A successful WDM-PON transmission operation with the data rate of 10 Gbit/s per channel over a distance of 25 km without any optical amplification or dispersion compensation is demonstrated with low power penalty.

  8. Considerations of digital phase modulation for narrowband satellite mobile communication

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grythe, Knut

    1990-01-01

    The Inmarsat-M system for mobile satellite communication is specified as a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) system, applying Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) for transmitting 8 kbit/sec in 10 kHz user channel bandwidth. We consider Digital Phase Modulation (DPM) as an alternative modulation format for INMARSAT-M. DPM is similar to Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM) except that DPM has a finite memory in the premodular filter with a continuous varying modulation index. It is shown that DPM with 64 states in the VA obtains a lower bit error rate (BER). Results for a 5 kHz system, with the same 8 kbit/sec transmitted bitstream, is also presented.

  9. A normalization model suggests that attention changes the weighting of inputs between visual areas

    PubMed Central

    Cohen, Marlene R.

    2017-01-01

    Models of divisive normalization can explain the trial-averaged responses of neurons in sensory, association, and motor areas under a wide range of conditions, including how visual attention changes the gains of neurons in visual cortex. Attention, like other modulatory processes, is also associated with changes in the extent to which pairs of neurons share trial-to-trial variability. We showed recently that in addition to decreasing correlations between similarly tuned neurons within the same visual area, attention increases correlations between neurons in primary visual cortex (V1) and the middle temporal area (MT) and that an extension of a classic normalization model can account for this correlation increase. One of the benefits of having a descriptive model that can account for many physiological observations is that it can be used to probe the mechanisms underlying processes such as attention. Here, we use electrical microstimulation in V1 paired with recording in MT to provide causal evidence that the relationship between V1 and MT activity is nonlinear and is well described by divisive normalization. We then use the normalization model and recording and microstimulation experiments to show that the attention dependence of V1–MT correlations is better explained by a mechanism in which attention changes the weights of connections between V1 and MT than by a mechanism that modulates responses in either area. Our study shows that normalization can explain interactions between neurons in different areas and provides a framework for using multiarea recording and stimulation to probe the neural mechanisms underlying neuronal computations. PMID:28461501

  10. A normalization model suggests that attention changes the weighting of inputs between visual areas.

    PubMed

    Ruff, Douglas A; Cohen, Marlene R

    2017-05-16

    Models of divisive normalization can explain the trial-averaged responses of neurons in sensory, association, and motor areas under a wide range of conditions, including how visual attention changes the gains of neurons in visual cortex. Attention, like other modulatory processes, is also associated with changes in the extent to which pairs of neurons share trial-to-trial variability. We showed recently that in addition to decreasing correlations between similarly tuned neurons within the same visual area, attention increases correlations between neurons in primary visual cortex (V1) and the middle temporal area (MT) and that an extension of a classic normalization model can account for this correlation increase. One of the benefits of having a descriptive model that can account for many physiological observations is that it can be used to probe the mechanisms underlying processes such as attention. Here, we use electrical microstimulation in V1 paired with recording in MT to provide causal evidence that the relationship between V1 and MT activity is nonlinear and is well described by divisive normalization. We then use the normalization model and recording and microstimulation experiments to show that the attention dependence of V1-MT correlations is better explained by a mechanism in which attention changes the weights of connections between V1 and MT than by a mechanism that modulates responses in either area. Our study shows that normalization can explain interactions between neurons in different areas and provides a framework for using multiarea recording and stimulation to probe the neural mechanisms underlying neuronal computations.

  11. LDPC coded OFDM over the atmospheric turbulence channel.

    PubMed

    Djordjevic, Ivan B; Vasic, Bane; Neifeld, Mark A

    2007-05-14

    Low-density parity-check (LDPC) coded optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is shown to significantly outperform LDPC coded on-off keying (OOK) over the atmospheric turbulence channel in terms of both coding gain and spectral efficiency. In the regime of strong turbulence at a bit-error rate of 10(-5), the coding gain improvement of the LDPC coded single-side band unclipped-OFDM system with 64 sub-carriers is larger than the coding gain of the LDPC coded OOK system by 20.2 dB for quadrature-phase-shift keying (QPSK) and by 23.4 dB for binary-phase-shift keying (BPSK).

  12. Digital, phase-sensitive detection for in situ diode-laser spectroscopy under rapidly changing transmission conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fernholz, T.; Teichert, H.; Ebert, V.

    A new harmonic detection scheme for fully digital, fast-scanning wavelength-modulation spectroscopy (DFS-WMS) is presented. DFS-WMS is specially suited for in situ absorption measurements in combustion environments under fast fluctuating transmission conditions and is demonstrated for the first time by open-path monitoring of ambient oxygen using a distributed-feedback diode laser, which is doubly modulated with a fast linear 1 kHz-scan and a sinusoidal 300 kHz-modulation. After an analog high-pass filter, the detector signal is digitized with a 5 megasample/s 12-bit AD-converter card plugged into a PC and subsequently - unlike standard lock-ins - filtered further by co-adding 100 scans, to generate a narrowband comb filter. All further filtering and the demodulation are performed completely digitally on a PC with the help of discrete Fourier transforms (DFT). Both 1f- and 2f-signals, are simultaneously extracted from the detector signal using one ADC input channel. For the 2f-signal, a linearity of 2% and a minimum detectable absorption of 10-4 could be verified experimentally, with the sensitivity to date being limited only by insufficient gain on the 2f-frequency channel. Using the offset in the 1f signal as a transmission `probe', we could show that the 2f-signal can be transmission-corrected by a simple division by the 1f-background, proving that DFS-WMS provides the possibility of compensating for transmission fluctuations. With the inherent suppression of additive noise, DFS-WMS seems well suited for quantitative in situ absorption spectroscopy in large combustion systems. This assumption is supported by the first measurements of oxygen in a high-pressure combustor at 12 bar.

  13. Results of Formal Evaluation of a Data and Modeling Driven Hydrology Learning Module

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruddell, B. L.; Sanchez, C. A.; Schiesser, R.; Merwade, V.

    2014-12-01

    New hydrologists should not only develop a well-defined knowledgebase of basic hydrological concepts, but also synthesize this factual learning with more authentic 'real-world' knowledge gained from the interpretation and analysis of data from hydrological models (Merwade and Ruddell, 2012, Wagener et al., 2007). However, hydrological instruction is often implemented using a traditional teacher-centered approach (e.g., lectures) (Wagener, 2007). The emergence of rich and dynamic computer simulation techniques which allow students the opportunity for more authentic application of knowledge (Merwade & Ruddell, 2012). This study evaluates the efficacy of using such data-driven simulations to increase the understanding of the field of hydrology in the lower-division undergraduate geoscience classroom. In this study, 88 students at a local community college who were enrolled in an Introductory Earth Science class were evaluated on their learning performance in a unit on applying the Rational Method to estimate hydrographs and flooding for urban areas. Students were either presented with a data and visualization rich computer module (n=52), or with paper and pencil calculation activities (n=36). All conceptual material presented in lecture was consistent across these two conditions. Students were evaluated for not only changes in their knowledge and application of the concepts within the unit (e.g., effects of urbanization and impervious cover, discharge rates), but also for their broad "T-shaped" profile of professional knowledge and skills. While results showed significant (p<.05) increases from pre to post assessments in all learning areas for both groups, there is a significantly larger benefit for the data module group when it came to (1) understanding the effects of urbanization and impervious cover on flooding, (2) applying consistent vocabulary appropriately within context, and (3) explaining the roles and responsibilities of hydrologists and flood managers.

  14. High-speed real-time OFDM transmission based on FPGA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xiao, Xin; Li, Fan; Yu, Jianjun

    2016-02-01

    In this paper, we review our recent research progresses on real-time orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission based on FPGA. We successfully demonstrated four-channel wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) 256.51Gb/s 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM)-OFDM signal transmission system for short-reach optical amplifier free inter-connection with real-time reception. Four optical carriers are modulated by four different 16QAM-OFDM signals via 10G-class direct modulation lasers (DMLs). We achieved highest capacity real-time reception optical OFDM signal transmission over 2.4-km SMF with the bit-error ratio (BER) under soft-decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) limitation of 2.4×10-2. In order to achieve higher spectrum efficiency (SE), we demonstrate 4-channel high level QAM-OFDM transmission over 20-km SMF-28 with real-time reception. 58.72-Gb/s 256QAM-OFDM and 56.4-Gb/s 128QAM-OFDM signal transmission within 25-GHz grid is achieved with the BER under 2.4×10-2 and real-time reception.

  15. Lipid Cell Biology: A Focus on Lipids in Cell Division.

    PubMed

    Storck, Elisabeth M; Özbalci, Cagakan; Eggert, Ulrike S

    2018-06-20

    Cells depend on hugely diverse lipidomes for many functions. The actions and structural integrity of the plasma membrane and most organelles also critically depend on membranes and their lipid components. Despite the biological importance of lipids, our understanding of lipid engagement, especially the roles of lipid hydrophobic alkyl side chains, in key cellular processes is still developing. Emerging research has begun to dissect the importance of lipids in intricate events such as cell division. This review discusses how these structurally diverse biomolecules are spatially and temporally regulated during cell division, with a focus on cytokinesis. We analyze how lipids facilitate changes in cellular morphology during division and how they participate in key signaling events. We identify which cytokinesis proteins are associated with membranes, suggesting lipid interactions. More broadly, we highlight key unaddressed questions in lipid cell biology and techniques, including mass spectrometry, advanced imaging, and chemical biology, which will help us gain insights into the functional roles of lipids.

  16. Training - Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) - JSC

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1975-07-12

    S75-28485 (12 July 1975) --- Astronaut Vance D. Brand, command module pilot of the American ASTP prime crew, practices operating a Docking Module hatch during Apollo-Soyuz Test Project preflight training at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The Docking Module is designed to link the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft during their docking mission in Earth orbit. Gary L. Doerre of JSC?s Crew Training and Procedures Division is working with Brand. Doerre is wearing a face mask to help prevent possible exposure to Brand of disease prior to the ASTP launch.

  17. A W-band integrated power module using MMIC MESFET power amplifiers and varactor doublers

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

    Ho, T.C.; Chen, Seng Woon; Pande, K.

    1993-12-01

    A high-performance integrated power module using U-band MMIC MESFET power amplifiers in conjunction with W-band MMIC high efficiency varactor doublers has been developed for millimeter-wave system applications. This paper presents the design, fabrication, and performance of this W-band integrated power module. Measured results of the complete integrated power module show an output power of 90 mW with an overall associated gain of 29.5 dB at 94 GHz. A saturated power of over 95 mW was also achieved. These results represent the highest reported power and gain at W-band using MESFET and varactor frequency doubling technologies. This integrated power module ismore » suitable for the future 94 GHz missile seeker applications.« less

  18. Hybrid Silicon Photonic Integration using Quantum Well Intermixing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jain, Siddharth R.

    With the push for faster data transfer across all domains of telecommunication, optical interconnects are transitioning into shorter range applications such as in data centers and personal computing. Silicon photonics, with its economic advantages of leveraging well-established silicon manufacturing facilities, is considered the most promising approach to further scale down the cost and size of optical interconnects for chip-to-chip communication. Intrinsic properties of silicon however limit its ability to generate and modulate light, both of which are key to realizing on-chip optical data transfer. The hybrid silicon approach directly addresses this problem by using molecularly bonded III-V epitaxial layers on silicon for optical gain and absorption. This technology includes direct transfer of III-V wafer to a pre-patterned silicon-on-insulator wafer. Several discrete devices for light generation, modulation, amplification and detection have already been demonstrated on this platform. As in the case of electronics, multiple photonic elements can be integrated on a single chip to improve performance and functionality. However, scalable photonic integration requires the ability to control the bandgap for individual devices along with design changes to simplify fabrication. In the research presented here, quantum well intermixing is used as a technique to define multiple bandgaps for integration on the hybrid silicon platform. Implantation enhanced disordering is used to generate four bandgaps spread over 120+ nm. By combining these selectively intermixed III-V layers with pre-defined gratings and waveguides on silicon, we fabricate distributed feedback, distributed Bragg reflector, Fabry-Perot and mode-locked lasers along with photodetectors, electro-absorption modulators and other test structures, all on a single chip. We demonstrate a broadband laser source with continuous-wave operational lasers over a 200 nm bandwidth. Some of these lasers are integrated with modulators with a 3-dB bandwidth above 25 GHz, thus demonstrating coarse wavelength division multiplexing transmitter on silicon.

  19. The Background, Philosophy and Purposes of Team Teaching. Module I.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    York, L. Jean

    This is the first of seven modules designed to help teachers gain the knowledge and skills needed for successful team teaching. The user may choose one, several or all of the modules, in any sequence, with module 1 recommended as a prerequisite to all the others, and module 5 as a prerequisite to module 6. The pattern of each module is: 1) study…

  20. Apollo 7 crew arrives aboard recovery ship, U.S.S. Essex

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1968-10-15

    S68-49744 (22 Oct. 1968) --- The Apollo 7 crew is welcomed aboard the USS Essex, the prime recovery ship for the mission. Left to right, are astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr., commander; Donn F. Eisele, command module pilot; and Walter Cunningham, lunar module pilot. In left background is Dr. Donald E. Stullken, NASA Recovery Team Leader from the Manned Spacecraft Center's (MSC) Landing and Recovery Division.

  1. Apollo 7 crew post-flight

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1968-10-28

    S68-52542 (22 Oct. 1968) --- The Apollo 7 crew arrives aboard the USS Essex, the prime recovery ship for the mission. Left to right, are astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr., commander; Donn F. Eisele, command module pilot; Walter Cunningham, lunar module pilot; and Dr. Donald E. Stullken, NASA Recovery Team Leader from the Manned Spacecraft Center's (MSC) Landing and Recovery Division. The crew is pausing in the doorway of the recovery helicopter.

  2. An intelligent advisor for the design manager

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rogers, James L.; Padula, Sharon L.

    1989-01-01

    A design problem is viewed as a complex system divisible into modules. Before the design of a complex system can begin, much time and money are spent in determining the couplings among modules and the presence of iterative loops. This is important because the design manager must know how to group the modules into substems and how to assign subsystems to design teams so that changes in one subsystem will have predictable effects on other subsystems. Determining these subsystems is not an easy, straightforward process and often important couplings are overlooked. Moreover, the planning task must be repeated as new information becomes available or as the design specifications change. The purchase of this research effort is to develop a knowledge-based tool to act as an intelligent advisor for the design manager. This tool identifies the subsystems of a complex design problem, orders them into a well-structured format, and marks the couplings among the subsystems to facilitate the use of multilevel tools. The tool was tested in the decomposition of the COFS (Control of Flexible Structures) mast design which has about 50 modules. This test indicated that this type of approach could lead to a substantial savings by organizing and displaying a complex problem as a sequence of subsystems easily divisible among design teams.

  3. Performance evaluations of hybrid modulation with different optical labels over PDQ in high bit-rate OLS network systems.

    PubMed

    Xu, M; Li, Y; Kang, T Z; Zhang, T S; Ji, J H; Yang, S W

    2016-11-14

    Two orthogonal modulation optical label switching(OLS) schemes, which are based on payload of polarization multiplexing-differential quadrature phase shift keying(POLMUX-DQPSK or PDQ) modulated with identifications of duobinary (DB) label and pulse position modulation(PPM) label, are researched in high bit-rate OLS network. The BER performance of hybrid modulation with payload and label signals are discussed and evaluated in theory and simulation. The theoretical BER expressions of PDQ, PDQ-DB and PDQ-PPM are given with analysis method of hybrid modulation encoding in different the bit-rate ratios of payload and label. Theoretical derivation results are shown that the payload of hybrid modulation has a certain gain of receiver sensitivity than payload without label. The sizes of payload BER gain obtained from hybrid modulation are related to the different types of label. The simulation results are consistent with that of theoretical conclusions. The extinction ratio (ER) conflicting between hybrid encoding of intensity and phase types can be compromised and optimized in OLS system of hybrid modulation. The BER analysis method of hybrid modulation encoding in OLS system can be applied to other n-ary hybrid modulation or combination modulation systems.

  4. Climate Change: A "Green" Approach to Teaching Contemporary Germany

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Melin, Charlotte

    2013-01-01

    This article describes a newly designed upper division German language course, "Contemporary Germany: Food, Energy Politics," and two sampling methods of assessment for measuring parallel gains in German skills and sustainable development (SD) thinking. Second Language Acquisition (SLA) informed course design, key assignments, and…

  5. The early Earth Observing System reference handbook: Earth Science and Applications Division missions, 1990-1997

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    Prior to the launch of the Earth Observing System (EOS) series, NASA will launch and operate a wide variety of new earth science satellites and instruments, as well as undertake several efforts collecting and using the data from existing and planned satellites from other agencies and nations. These initiatives will augment the knowledge base gained from ongoing Earth Science and Applications Division (ESAD) programs. This volume describes three sets of ESAD activities -- ongoing exploitation of operational satellite data, research missions with upcoming launches between now and the first launch of EOS, and candidate earth probes.

  6. Multifunction audio digitizer for communications systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Monford, L. G., Jr.

    1971-01-01

    Digitizer accomplishes both N bit pulse code modulation /PCM/ and delta modulation, and provides modulation indicating variable signal gain and variable sidetone. Other features include - low package count, variable clock rate to optimize bandwidth, and easily expanded PCM output.

  7. Engineered TAL Effector modulators for the large-scale gain-of-function screening

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Hanshuo; Li, Juan; Hou, Sha; Wang, Gancheng; Jiang, Mingjun; Sun, Changhong; Hu, Xiongbing; Zhuang, Fengfeng; Dai, Zhifei; Dai, Junbiao; Xi, Jianzhong Jeff

    2014-01-01

    Recent effective use of TAL Effectors (TALEs) has provided an important approach to the design and synthesis of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins. However, it is still a challenging task to design and manufacture effective TALE modulators because of the limited knowledge of TALE–DNA interactions. Here we synthesized more than 200 TALE modulators and identified two determining factors of transcription activity in vivo: chromatin accessibility and the distance from the transcription start site. The implementation of these modulators in a gain-of-function screen was successfully demonstrated for four cell lines in migration/invasion assays and thus has broad relevance in this field. Furthermore, a novel TALE–TALE modulator was developed to transcriptionally inhibit target genes. Together, these findings underscore the huge potential of these TALE modulators in the study of gene function, reprogramming of cellular behaviors, and even clinical investigation. PMID:24939900

  8. Interference Resilient Sigma Delta-Based Pulse Oximeter.

    PubMed

    Shokouhian, Mohsen; Morling, Richard; Kale, Izzet

    2016-06-01

    Ambient light and optical interference can severely affect the performance of pulse oximeters. The deployment of a robust modulation technique to drive the pulse oximeter LEDs can reduce these unwanted effects and increases the resilient of the pulse oximeter against artificial ambient light. The time division modulation technique used in conventional pulse oximeters can not remove the effect of modulated light coming from surrounding environment and this may cause huge measurement error in pulse oximeter readings. This paper presents a novel cross-coupled sigma delta modulator which ensures that measurement accuracy will be more robust in comparison with conventional fixed-frequency oximeter modulation technique especially in the presence of pulsed artificial ambient light. Moreover, this novel modulator gives an extra control over the pulse oximeter power consumption leading to improved power management.

  9. 76 FR 6827 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-08

    ... Services Division (CJIS), Biometric Services Section, Support Services Unit, Module E-1, 1000 Custer Hollow... collection is needed to report completion of an arrest record. Acceptable data is stored as part of the...

  10. The effect of structural design parameters on FPGA-based feed-forward space-time trellis coding-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing channel encoders

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Passas, Georgios; Freear, Steven; Fawcett, Darren

    2010-08-01

    Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based feed-forward space-time trellis code (FFSTTC) encoders can be synthesised as very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL) designs. Evaluation of their FPGA implementation can lead to conclusions that help a designer to decide the optimum implementation, given the encoder structural parameters. VLSI architectures based on 1-bit multipliers and look-up tables (LUTs) are compared in terms of FPGA slices and block RAMs (area), as well as in terms of minimum clock period (speed). Area and speed graphs versus encoder memory order are provided for quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and 8 phase shift keying (8-PSK) modulation and two transmit antennas, revealing best implementation under these conditions. The effect of number of modulation bits and transmit antennas on the encoder implementation complexity is also investigated.

  11. 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.

  12. Single SOA based simultaneous amplitude regeneration for WDM-PDM RZ-PSK signals.

    PubMed

    Wu, Wenhan; Yu, Yu; Zou, Bingrong; Yang, Weili; Zhang, Xinliang

    2013-03-25

    We propose and demonstrate all-optical amplitude regeneration for the wavelength division multiplexing and polarization division multiplexing (WDM-PDM) return-to-zero phase shift keying (RZ-PSK) signals using a single semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and subsequent filtering. The regeneration is based on the cross phase modulation (XPM) effect in the saturated SOA and the subsequent narrow filtering. The spectrum of the distorted signal can be broadened due to the phase modulation induced by the synchronous optical clock signal. A narrow band pass filter is utilized to extract part of the broadened spectrum and remove the amplitude noise, while preserving the phase information. The working principle for multi-channel and polarization orthogonality preserving is analyzed. 4-channel dual polarization signals can be simultaneously amplitude regenerated without introducing wavelength and polarization demultiplexing. An average power penalty improvement of 1.75dB can be achieved for the WDM-PDM signals.

  13. Gain-switching characteristics and fast transient response of three-terminal size-effect modulation laser

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

    Suemune, I.; Takeoka, T.; Yamanashi, M.

    1986-09-01

    Gain-switching characteristics of the proposed size-effect modulation light sources are investigated. For realizing the laser operation, the consideration of the screening effect on the applied electric fields due to the high concentration of carriers is indispensable. In this respect, the authors propose a separate-confinement-hereto-multiple-quantum-well (SCH-MQW) structure as the most suitable one for gain switching. The key point of the structure is the sufficiently high heterobarriers at the clad-barrier interfaces to prevent carrier leakage. The examinations of the transient response clarify that they are principally photon-lifetime limited. Employing the three-terminal character of the proposed laser, the fast pulse modulation up tomore » 12 Gbits/s, which is almost free from the relaxation oscillations and the pattern effects, is predicted.« less

  14. Photonic ultra-wideband pulse generation, hybrid modulation and dispersion-compensation-free transmission in multi-access communication systems.

    PubMed

    Tan, Kang; Shao, Jing; Sun, Junqiang; Wang, Jian

    2012-01-16

    We propose and demonstrate a scheme for optical ultrawideband (UWB) pulse generation by exploiting a half-carrier-suppressed Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) and a delay-interferometer- and wavelength-division-multiplexer-based, reconfigurable and multi-channel differentiator (DWRMD). Multi-wavelength, polarity- and shape-switchable UWB pulses of monocycle, doublet, triplet, and quadruplet are experimentally generated simply by tuning two bias voltages to modify the carrier-suppression ratio of MZM and the differential order of DWRMD respectively. The pulse position modulation, pulse shape modulation, pulse amplitude modulation and binary phase-shift keying modulation of UWB pulses can also be conveniently realized with the same scheme structure, which indicates that the hybrid modulation of those four formats can be achieved. Consequently, the proposed approach has potential applications in multi-shape, multi-modulation and multi-access UWB-over-fiber communication systems.

  15. Studio optics: Adapting interactive engagement pedagogy to upper-division physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sorensen, Christopher M.; McBride, Dyan L.; Rebello, N. Sanjay

    2011-03-01

    The use of interactive engagement strategies to improve learning in introductory physics is not new, but have not been used as often for upper-division physics courses. We describe the development and implementation of a Studio Optics course for upper-division physics majors at Kansas State University. The course adapts a three-stage Karplus learning cycle and other elements to foster an environment that promotes learning through an integration of lecture, laboratories, and problem solving. Some of the instructional materials are described. We discuss the evaluation of the course using data collected from student interviews, a conceptual survey, an attitudinal survey, and the instructor's reflections. Overall, students responded positively to the new format and showed modest gains in learning. The instructor's experiences compared favorably with the traditional course that he had taught in the past.

  16. Rapid phylogenetic dissection of prokaryotic community structure in tidal flat using pyrosequencing.

    PubMed

    Kim, Bong-Soo; Kim, Byung Kwon; Lee, Jae-Hak; Kim, Myungjin; Lim, Young Woon; Chun, Jongsik

    2008-08-01

    Dissection of prokaryotic community structure is prerequisite to understand their ecological roles. Various methods are available for such a purpose which amplification and sequencing of 16S rRNA genes gained its popularity. However, conventional methods based on Sanger sequencing technique require cloning process prior to sequencing, and are expensive and labor-intensive. We investigated prokaryotic community structure in tidal flat sediments, Korea, using pyrosequencing and a subsequent automated bioinformatic pipeline for the rapid and accurate taxonomic assignment of each amplicon. The combination of pyrosequencing and bioinformatic analysis showed that bacterial and archaeal communities were more diverse than previously reported in clone library studies. Pyrosequencing analysis revealed 21 bacterial divisions and 37 candidate divisions. Proteobacteria was the most abundant division in the bacterial community, of which Gamma-and Delta-Proteobacteria were the most abundant. Similarly, 4 archaeal divisions were found in tidal flat sediments. Euryarchaeota was the most abundant division in the archaeal sequences, which were further divided into 8 classes and 11 unclassified euryarchaeota groups. The system developed here provides a simple, in-depth and automated way of dissecting a prokaryotic community structure without extensive pretreatment such as cloning.

  17. Correlation, necessity, and sufficiency: Common errors in the scientific reasoning of undergraduate students for interpreting experiments.

    PubMed

    Coleman, Aaron B; Lam, Diane P; Soowal, Lara N

    2015-01-01

    Gaining an understanding of how science works is central to an undergraduate education in biology and biochemistry. The reasoning required to design or interpret experiments that ask specific questions does not come naturally, and is an essential part of the science process skills that must be learned for an understanding of how scientists conduct research. Gaps in these reasoning skills make it difficult for students to become proficient in reading primary scientific literature. In this study, we assessed the ability of students in an upper-division biochemistry laboratory class to use the concepts of correlation, necessity, and sufficiency in interpreting experiments presented in a format and context that is similar to what they would encounter when reading a journal article. The students were assessed before and after completion of a laboratory module where necessary vs. sufficient reasoning was used to design and interpret experiments. The assessment identified two types of errors that were commonly committed by students when interpreting experimental data. When presented with an experiment that only establishes a correlation between a potential intermediate and a known effect, students frequently interpreted the intermediate as being sufficient (causative) for the effect. Also, when presented with an experiment that tests only necessity for an intermediate, they frequently made unsupported conclusions about sufficiency, and vice versa. Completion of the laboratory module and instruction in necessary vs. sufficient reasoning showed some promise for addressing these common errors. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  18. Gain Modulation as a Mechanism for Coding Depth from Motion Parallax in Macaque Area MT

    PubMed Central

    Kim, HyungGoo R.; Angelaki, Dora E.

    2017-01-01

    Observer translation produces differential image motion between objects that are located at different distances from the observer's point of fixation [motion parallax (MP)]. However, MP can be ambiguous with respect to depth sign (near vs far), and this ambiguity can be resolved by combining retinal image motion with signals regarding eye movement relative to the scene. We have previously demonstrated that both extra-retinal and visual signals related to smooth eye movements can modulate the responses of neurons in area MT of macaque monkeys, and that these modulations generate neural selectivity for depth sign. However, the neural mechanisms that govern this selectivity have remained unclear. In this study, we analyze responses of MT neurons as a function of both retinal velocity and direction of eye movement, and we show that smooth eye movements modulate MT responses in a systematic, temporally precise, and directionally specific manner to generate depth-sign selectivity. We demonstrate that depth-sign selectivity is primarily generated by multiplicative modulations of the response gain of MT neurons. Through simulations, we further demonstrate that depth can be estimated reasonably well by a linear decoding of a population of MT neurons with response gains that depend on eye velocity. Together, our findings provide the first mechanistic description of how visual cortical neurons signal depth from MP. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Motion parallax is a monocular cue to depth that commonly arises during observer translation. To compute from motion parallax whether an object appears nearer or farther than the point of fixation requires combining retinal image motion with signals related to eye rotation, but the neurobiological mechanisms have remained unclear. This study provides the first mechanistic account of how this interaction takes place in the responses of cortical neurons. Specifically, we show that smooth eye movements modulate the gain of responses of neurons in area MT in a directionally specific manner to generate selectivity for depth sign from motion parallax. We also show, through simulations, that depth could be estimated from a population of such gain-modulated neurons. PMID:28739582

  19. A parity-time symmetric coherent plasmonic absorber-amplifier

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

    Baum, Brian, E-mail: bbaum@stanford.edu; Dionne, Jennifer, E-mail: jdionne@stanford.edu; Alaeian, Hadiseh

    Non-Hermitian parity-time (PT)-symmetric optical potentials have led to a new class of unidirectional photonic components based on the spatially symmetric and balanced inclusion of loss and gain. While most proposed and implemented PT-symmetric optical devices have wavelength-scale dimensions, no physical constraints preclude development of subwavelength PT-symmetric components. We theoretically demonstrate a nanoscale PT-symmetric, all-optical plasmonic modulator capable of phase-controlled amplification and directional absorption. The modulator consists of two deeply subwavelength channels composed of either gain or loss dielectric material, embedded in a metallic cladding. When illuminating on-resonance by two counter-propagating plane waves, the aperture's total output can be modulated bymore » changing the phase offset between the two waves. Modulation depths are greater than 10 dB, with output power varying from less than one half of the incident power to more than six times amplification. Off-resonance, the aperture possesses strong phase-controlled directionality with the output from one side varying from perfect absorption to strong scattering and transmission. The device design provides a platform for nanoscale all-optical modulators with gain while potentially enabling coherent perfect absorption and lasing in a single, compact structure.« less

  20. Pattern Adaptation and Normalization Reweighting.

    PubMed

    Westrick, Zachary M; Heeger, David J; Landy, Michael S

    2016-09-21

    Adaptation to an oriented stimulus changes both the gain and preferred orientation of neural responses in V1. Neurons tuned near the adapted orientation are suppressed, and their preferred orientations shift away from the adapter. We propose a model in which weights of divisive normalization are dynamically adjusted to homeostatically maintain response products between pairs of neurons. We demonstrate that this adjustment can be performed by a very simple learning rule. Simulations of this model closely match existing data from visual adaptation experiments. We consider several alternative models, including variants based on homeostatic maintenance of response correlations or covariance, as well as feedforward gain-control models with multiple layers, and we demonstrate that homeostatic maintenance of response products provides the best account of the physiological data. Adaptation is a phenomenon throughout the nervous system in which neural tuning properties change in response to changes in environmental statistics. We developed a model of adaptation that combines normalization (in which a neuron's gain is reduced by the summed responses of its neighbors) and Hebbian learning (in which synaptic strength, in this case divisive normalization, is increased by correlated firing). The model is shown to account for several properties of adaptation in primary visual cortex in response to changes in the statistics of contour orientation. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/369805-12$15.00/0.

  1. Levamisole: A Positive Allosteric Modulator for the α3β4 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Prevents Weight Gain in the CD-1 Mice on a High Fat Diet.

    PubMed

    Lewis, Jeanne A; Yakel, Jerrel L; Pandya, Anshul A

    2017-01-01

    Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) regulate the function of multiple neurotransmitter pathways throughout the central nervous system. This includes nAChRs found on the proopiomelanocortin neurons in the hypothalamus. Activation of these nAChRs by nicotine causes a decrease in the consumption of food in rodents. This study tested the effect of subtype selective allosteric modulators for nAChRs on the body weight of CD-1 mice. Levamisole, an allosteric modulator for the α3β4 subtype of nAChRs, prevented weight gain in mice that were fed a high fat diet. PNU-120596 and desformylflustrabromine were observed to be selective PAMs for the α7 and α4β2 nAChR, respectively. Both of these compounds failed to prevent weight gain in the CD-1 mice. These results suggest that the modulation of hypothalamic α3β4 nAChRs is an important factor in regulating food intake, and the PAMs for these receptors need further investigation as potential therapeutic agents for controlling weight gain. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  2. Random Photon Absorption Model Elucidates How Early Gain Control in Fly Photoreceptors Arises from Quantal Sampling

    PubMed Central

    Song, Zhuoyi; Zhou, Yu; Juusola, Mikko

    2016-01-01

    Many diurnal photoreceptors encode vast real-world light changes effectively, but how this performance originates from photon sampling is unclear. A 4-module biophysically-realistic fly photoreceptor model, in which information capture is limited by the number of its sampling units (microvilli) and their photon-hit recovery time (refractoriness), can accurately simulate real recordings and their information content. However, sublinear summation in quantum bump production (quantum-gain-nonlinearity) may also cause adaptation by reducing the bump/photon gain when multiple photons hit the same microvillus simultaneously. Here, we use a Random Photon Absorption Model (RandPAM), which is the 1st module of the 4-module fly photoreceptor model, to quantify the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation. We show how quantum-gain-nonlinearity already results from photon sampling alone. In the extreme case, when two or more simultaneous photon-hits reduce to a single sublinear value, quantum-gain-nonlinearity is preset before the phototransduction reactions adapt the quantum bump waveform. However, the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation depends upon the likelihood of multi-photon-hits, which is strictly determined by the number of microvilli and light intensity. Specifically, its contribution to light-adaptation is marginal (≤ 1%) in fly photoreceptors with many thousands of microvilli, because the probability of simultaneous multi-photon-hits on any one microvillus is low even during daylight conditions. However, in cells with fewer sampling units, the impact of quantum-gain-nonlinearity increases with brightening light. PMID:27445779

  3. 17 CFR 240.16a-1 - Definition of terms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ..., investment adviser, investment manager, trustee or person or entity performing a similar function; provided... when payable, is calculated based upon net capital gains and/or net capital appreciation generated from... issuer in charge of a principal business unit, division or function (such as sales, administration or...

  4. 17 CFR 240.16a-1 - Definition of terms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ..., investment adviser, investment manager, trustee or person or entity performing a similar function; provided... when payable, is calculated based upon net capital gains and/or net capital appreciation generated from... issuer in charge of a principal business unit, division or function (such as sales, administration or...

  5. Teaching More by Lecturing Less

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knight, Jennifer K.; Wood, William B.

    2005-01-01

    We carried out an experiment to determine whether student learning gains in a large, traditionally taught, upper-division lecture course in developmental biology could be increased by partially changing to a more interactive classroom format. In two successive semesters, we presented the same course syllabus using different teaching styles: in…

  6. Incorporating Aquatic Interspecies Toxicity Estimates into Large Databases: Model Evaluations and Data Gains

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Chemical Aquatic Fate and Effects (CAFE) database, developed by NOAA’s Emergency Response Division (ERD), is a centralized data repository that allows for unrestricted access to fate and effects data. While this database was originally designed to help support decisions...

  7. Creating a Learning Organization: A Case Study of Outcomes and Lessons Learned.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bierema, Laura L.; Berdish, David M.

    1999-01-01

    Discusses how organizations are gaining a competitive edge in a global business environment through learning and highlights a learning organization implementation case study of a division of Ford Motor Company. Examines the strategic initiative; performance improvement results; individual learning, including interpersonal development and…

  8. Impedance modulation and feedback corrections in tracking targets of variable size and frequency.

    PubMed

    Selen, Luc P J; van Dieën, Jaap H; Beek, Peter J

    2006-11-01

    Humans are able to adjust the accuracy of their movements to the demands posed by the task at hand. The variability in task execution caused by the inherent noisiness of the neuromuscular system can be tuned to task demands by both feedforward (e.g., impedance modulation) and feedback mechanisms. In this experiment, we studied both mechanisms, using mechanical perturbations to estimate stiffness and damping as indices of impedance modulation and submovement scaling as an index of feedback driven corrections. Eight subjects tracked three differently sized targets (0.0135, 0.0270, and 0.0405 rad) moving at three different frequencies (0.20, 0.25, and 0.33 Hz). Movement variability decreased with both decreasing target size and movement frequency, whereas stiffness and damping increased with decreasing target size, independent of movement frequency. These results are consistent with the theory that mechanical impedance acts as a filter of noisy neuromuscular signals but challenge stochastic theories of motor control that do not account for impedance modulation and only partially for feedback control. Submovements during unperturbed cycles were quantified in terms of their gain, i.e., the slope between their duration and amplitude in the speed profile. Submovement gain decreased with decreasing movement frequency and increasing target size. The results were interpreted to imply that submovement gain is related to observed tracking errors and that those tracking errors are expressed in units of target size. We conclude that impedance and submovement gain modulation contribute additively to tracking accuracy.

  9. Experimental demonstration of PAM-DWMT for passive optical network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Bangjiang; Zhang, Kaiwei; Tang, Xuan; Ghassemlooy, Zabih; Lin, Chun; Zhou, Zhenlei

    2018-07-01

    We experimentally demonstrate a discrete wavelet multitone (DWMT) modulation scheme based on pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) for next generation passive optical network (PON), which offers high tolerance against chromatic dispersion, high spectral efficiency, low peak to average power ratio (PAPR) and low side lobes. The experimental results show the chromatic dispersion induced power penalties are negligible after 20km fiber transmission. Compared with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), DWMT offers a better receiver sensitivity.

  10. USAF Summer Research Program - 1993 Graduate Student Research Program Final Reports, Volume 6, AEDC, FJSRL and WHMC

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-12-01

    Mechanical Engineering Associate, PhD Laboratory: PL/VT Division Engineering University of Texas, San Anton Vol-Page No: 3-26 San Antonio, TX 7824-9065...parameters. The modules can be primitive or compound. Primitive modules represent the elementary computation units and define their interfaces. The... linear under varying conditions for the range of processor numbers. Discussion Performance: Our evaluation of the performance measurement results is the

  11. Comparison of FDMA and CDMA for second generation land-mobile satellite communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yongacoglu, A.; Lyons, R. G.; Mazur, B. A.

    1990-01-01

    Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) (both analog and digital) systems capacities are compared on the basis of identical link availabilities and physical propagation models. Parameters are optimized for a bandwidth limited, multibeam environment. For CDMA, the benefits of voice activated carriers, antenna discrimination, polarization reuse, return link power control and multipath suppression are included in the analysis. For FDMA, the advantages of bandwidth efficient modulation/coding combinations, voice activated carriers, polarization reuse, beam placement, and frequency staggering were taken into account.

  12. Probabilistic model of nonlinear penalties due to collision-induced timing jitter for calculation of the bit error ratio in wavelength-division-multiplexed return-to-zero systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sinkin, Oleg V.; Grigoryan, Vladimir S.; Menyuk, Curtis R.

    2006-12-01

    We introduce a fully deterministic, computationally efficient method for characterizing the effect of nonlinearity in optical fiber transmission systems that utilize wavelength-division multiplexing and return-to-zero modulation. The method accurately accounts for bit-pattern-dependent nonlinear distortion due to collision-induced timing jitter and for amplifier noise. We apply this method to calculate the error probability as a function of channel spacing in a prototypical multichannel return-to-zero undersea system.

  13. Animated software training via the internet: lessons learned

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scott, C. J.

    2000-01-01

    The Mission Execution and Automation Section, Information Technologies and Software Systems Division at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, recently delivered an animated software training module for the TMOD UPLINK Consolidation Task for operator training at the Deep Space Network.

  14. A Feedback Model of Attention Explains the Diverse Effects of Attention on Neural Firing Rates and Receptive Field Structure.

    PubMed

    Miconi, Thomas; VanRullen, Rufin

    2016-02-01

    Visual attention has many effects on neural responses, producing complex changes in firing rates, as well as modifying the structure and size of receptive fields, both in topological and feature space. Several existing models of attention suggest that these effects arise from selective modulation of neural inputs. However, anatomical and physiological observations suggest that attentional modulation targets higher levels of the visual system (such as V4 or MT) rather than input areas (such as V1). Here we propose a simple mechanism that explains how a top-down attentional modulation, falling on higher visual areas, can produce the observed effects of attention on neural responses. Our model requires only the existence of modulatory feedback connections between areas, and short-range lateral inhibition within each area. Feedback connections redistribute the top-down modulation to lower areas, which in turn alters the inputs of other higher-area cells, including those that did not receive the initial modulation. This produces firing rate modulations and receptive field shifts. Simultaneously, short-range lateral inhibition between neighboring cells produce competitive effects that are automatically scaled to receptive field size in any given area. Our model reproduces the observed attentional effects on response rates (response gain, input gain, biased competition automatically scaled to receptive field size) and receptive field structure (shifts and resizing of receptive fields both spatially and in complex feature space), without modifying model parameters. Our model also makes the novel prediction that attentional effects on response curves should shift from response gain to contrast gain as the spatial focus of attention drifts away from the studied cell.

  15. Development of contextual teaching and learning based science module for junior high school for increasing creativity of students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kurniasari, H.; Sukarmin; Sarwanto

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this research are to analyze the the properness of contextual teaching and learning (CTL)-based science module for Junior High School for increasing students’ creativity and using CTL-based science module to increase students’ learning creativity. Development of CTL-based science module for Junior High School is Research and Development (R&D) using 4D Model consist of 4 steps: define, design, develop, and disseminate. Module is validated by 3 expert validators (Material, media, and language experts), 2 reviewer and 1 peer reviewer. . Based on the results of data analysis, it can be concluded that: the results of the validation, the average score of CTL-based science module is 88.28%, the value exceeded the value of the cut off score of 87.5%, so the media declared eligible for the study. Research shows that the gain creativity class that uses CTL-based science module has a gain of 0.72. Based on the results of the study showed that CTL-based science module effectively promotes creativity of students

  16. A new electronic scanner of pressure designed for installation in wind-tunnel models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Coe, C. T.; Parra, G. T.; Kauffman, R. C.

    1981-01-01

    A new electronic scanner of pressure (ESOP) has been developed by NASA Ames Research Center for installation in wind-tunnel models. An ESOP system includes up to 20 pressure modules, each with 48 pressure transducers, an A/D converter, a microprocessor, a data controller, a monitor unit, and a heater controller. The system is sized so that the pressure modules and A/D converter module can be installed within an average-size model tested in the Ames Aerodynamics Division wind tunnels. This paper describes the ESOP system, emphasizing the main element of the system - the pressure module. The measured performance of the overall system is also presented.

  17. A reconfigurable multicarrier demodulator architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kwatra, S. C.; Jamali, M. M.

    1991-01-01

    An architecture based on parallel and pipline design approaches has been developed for the Frequency Division Multiple Access/Time Domain Multiplexed (FDMA/TDM) conversion system. The architecture has two main modules namely the transmultiplexer and the demodulator. The transmultiplexer has two pipelined modules. These are the shared multiplexed polyphase filter and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The demodulator consists of carrier, clock, and data recovery modules which are interactive. Progress on the design of the MultiCarrier Demodulator (MCD) using commercially available chips and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) and simulation studies using Viewlogic software will be presented at the conference.

  18. Design of a ZVS PWM inverter for a brushless DC motor in an EMA application

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bell, J. Brett; Nelms, R. M.; Shepherd, Michael T.

    1993-01-01

    The Component Development Division of the Propulsion Laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is currently investigating the use of electromechanical actuators for use in space transportation applications such as Thrust Vector Control (TVC). These high power servomechanisms will require rugged, reliable, and compact power electronic modules capable of modulating several hundred amperes of current at up to 270 Vdc. This paper will discuss the design and implementation of a zero-voltage-switched PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) inverter which operates from a 270 Vdc source at currents up to 100 A.

  19. On the interrelation of multiplication and division in secondary school children.

    PubMed

    Huber, Stefan; Fischer, Ursula; Moeller, Korbinian; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph

    2013-01-01

    Each division problem can be transformed into as a multiplication problem and vice versa. Recent research has indicated strong developmental parallels between multiplication and division in primary school children. In this study, we were interested in (i) whether these developmental parallels persist into secondary school, (ii) whether similar developmental parallels can be observed for simple and complex problems, (iii) whether skill level modulates this relationship, and (iv) whether the correlations are specific and not driven by general cognitive or arithmetic abilities. Therefore, we assessed performance of 5th and 6th graders attending two secondary school types of the German educational system in simple and complex multiplication as well as division while controlling for non-verbal intelligence, short-term memory, and other arithmetic abilities. Accordingly, we collected data from students differing in skills levels due to either age (5th < 6th grade) or school type (general < intermediate secondary school). We observed moderate to strong bivariate and partial correlations between multiplication and division with correlations being higher for simple tasks but nevertheless reliable for complex tasks. Moreover, the association between simple multiplication and division depended on students' skill levels as reflected by school types, but not by age. Partial correlations were higher for intermediate than for general secondary school children. In sum, these findings emphasize the importance of the inverse relationship between multiplication and division which persists into later developmental stages. However, evidence for skill-related differences in the relationship between multiplication and division was restricted to the differences for school types.

  20. On the suitability of fibre optical parametric amplifiers for use in all-optical agile photonic networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gryspolakis, Nikolaos

    The objective of this thesis is to investigate the suitability of fibre optical parametric amplifiers (FOPAs) for use in multi-channel, dynamic networks. First, we investigate their quasi-static behaviour in such an environment. We study the behaviour of a FOPA under realistic conditions and we examine the impact on the gain spectrum of channel addition for several different operating conditions and regimes. In particular, we examine the impact of surviving channel(s) position, input power and channel spacing. We see how these parameters affect the gain tilt as well as its dynamic characteristics, namely the generation of under or over-shoots at the transition point, possible dependence of rise and fall times on any of the aforementioned parameters and how the gain excursions depend on those parameters. For these studies we assume continuous wave operation for all signals. We observe that the gain spectrum changes are a function of the position and the spacing of the channels. We also find that the gain excursion can reach several dBs (up to 5 dB) in the case of channel add/drop and are heavily dependent on the position of the surviving channels. The channels located in the middle of the transmission band are more prone to channel add/drop-induced gain changes. Moreover, we investigate for the first time the FOPA dynamic behaviour in a packet switching scenario. This part of the study assumes that all but one channels normally vary in a packet-switched fashion. The remaining channel (probe channel) is expected to undergo gain variations due to the perturbation of the system experienced by the other channels. Furthermore, we consider several different scenarios for which the channels spacing, per channel input power (PCIP), variance of the power fluctuation and position of the probe channel will change. We find that when the FOPA operates near saturation the target gain is not achieved more than 50% of the time while the peak-to-peak gain excursions can exceed 1 dB. Next, we introduce modulated channels to the amplifier in order to compare their effect on the Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. We consider the impact on FOPAs when employing different modulation formats, such as RZ, NRZ and RZ-DPSK. Carefully selected modulation formats can improve BER performance and reduce the effects of cross-phase modulation, four wave mixing (FWM) products generation or dispersion (non-linear and linear inter-channel interference). Especially for the case of FOPAs, because of the ultra-fast interaction times of the FWM phenomenon, cross gain modulation can be a great deterrent for using FOPAs. We use RZ-DPSK in order to suppress the WDM signal crosstalk. Only by using RZ-DPSK, we obtain an improved receiver sensitivity of 5 dB when operating at 40 Gb/s. Finally, we investigate ways to mitigate such effects as the ones described above (gain excursions, gain tilt, etc.). We demonstrate that by using a ring configuration with optical feedback for the first time in FOPAs, we can achieve all-optical gain clamping (AOGC), mitigating gain excursions and attaining gain, independent of channel input power for a large range of PCIP. For example, with the use of AOGC, we reduce the add/drop-induced gain excursions from 4 dB to 0.6 dB. Also, by the combined use of AOGC and RZ-DPSK, we mitigate most of the aforementioned hindrances described above.

  1. On the interrelation of multiplication and division in secondary school children

    PubMed Central

    Huber, Stefan; Fischer, Ursula; Moeller, Korbinian; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph

    2013-01-01

    Multiplication and division are conceptually inversely related: Each division problem can be transformed into as a multiplication problem and vice versa. Recent research has indicated strong developmental parallels between multiplication and division in primary school children. In this study, we were interested in (i) whether these developmental parallels persist into secondary school, (ii) whether similar developmental parallels can be observed for simple and complex problems, (iii) whether skill level modulates this relationship, and (iv) whether the correlations are specific and not driven by general cognitive or arithmetic abilities. Therefore, we assessed performance of 5th and 6th graders attending two secondary school types of the German educational system in simple and complex multiplication as well as division while controlling for non-verbal intelligence, short-term memory, and other arithmetic abilities. Accordingly, we collected data from students differing in skills levels due to either age (5th < 6th grade) or school type (general < intermediate secondary school). We observed moderate to strong bivariate and partial correlations between multiplication and division with correlations being higher for simple tasks but nevertheless reliable for complex tasks. Moreover, the association between simple multiplication and division depended on students' skill levels as reflected by school types, but not by age. Partial correlations were higher for intermediate than for general secondary school children. In sum, these findings emphasize the importance of the inverse relationship between multiplication and division which persists into later developmental stages. However, evidence for skill-related differences in the relationship between multiplication and division was restricted to the differences for school types. PMID:24133476

  2. Design of a robust thin-film interference filter for erbium-doped fiber amplifier gain equalization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verly, Pierre G.

    2002-06-01

    Gain-flattening filters (GFFs) are key wavelength division multiplexing components in fiber-optics telecommunications. Challenging issues in the design of thin-film GFFs were recently the subject of a contest organized at the 2001 Conference on Optical Interference Coatings. The interest and main difficulty of the proposed problem was to minimize the sensitivity of a GFF to simulated fabrication errors. A high-yield solution and its design philosophy are described. The approach used to control the filter robustness is explained and illustrated by numerical results.

  3. Design of a robust thin-film interference filter for erbium-doped fiber amplifier gain equalization.

    PubMed

    Verly, Pierre G

    2002-06-01

    Gain-flattening filters (GFFs) are key wavelength division multiplexing components in fiber-optics telecommunications. Challenging issues in the design of thin-film GFFs were recently the subject of a contest organized at the 2001 Conference on Optical Interference Coatings. The interest and main difficulty of the proposed problem was to minimize the sensitivity of a GFF to simulated fabrication errors. A high-yield solution and its design philosophy are described. The approach used to control the filter robustness is explained and illustrated by numerical results.

  4. Floating-point scaling technique for sources separation automatic gain control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fermas, A.; Belouchrani, A.; Ait-Mohamed, O.

    2012-07-01

    Based on the floating-point representation and taking advantage of scaling factor indetermination in blind source separation (BSS) processing, we propose a scaling technique applied to the separation matrix, to avoid the saturation or the weakness in the recovered source signals. This technique performs an automatic gain control in an on-line BSS environment. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by using the implementation of a division-free BSS algorithm with two inputs, two outputs. The proposed technique is computationally cheaper and efficient for a hardware implementation compared to the Euclidean normalisation.

  5. Student Employee Development in Student Affairs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Athas, Christina; Oaks, D'Arcy John; Kennedy-Phillips, Lance

    2013-01-01

    Employment within student affairs divisions offers environments in which students can apply the knowledge they have gained, as well as acquire new competencies, helping them to build solid foundations for their futures. Researchers used an online survey to assess the outcomes associated with part-time student employment within the student affairs…

  6. Performance evaluation and optimization of multiband phase-modulated radio over IsOWC link with balanced coherent homodyne detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zong, Kang; Zhu, Jiang

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, we present a multiband phase-modulated (PM) radio over intersatellite optical wireless communication (IsOWC) link with balanced coherent homodyne detection. The proposed system can provide the transparent transport of multiband radio frequency (RF) signals with higher linearity and better receiver sensitivity than intensity modulated with direct detection (IM/DD) system. The expressions of RF gain, noise figure (NF) and third-order spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) are derived considering the third-order intermodulation product and amplifier spontaneous emission (ASE) noise. The optimal power of local oscillator (LO) optical signal is also derived theoretically. Numerical results for RF gain, NF and third-order SFDR are given for demonstration. Results indicate that the gain of the optical preamplifier and the power of LO optical signal should be optimized to obtain the satisfactory performance.

  7. Active mode-locking of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers with short gain recovery time.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yongrui; Belyanin, Alexey

    2015-02-23

    We investigate the dynamics of actively modulated mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) using space- and time-domain simulations of coupled density matrix and Maxwell equations with resonant tunneling current taken into account. We show that it is possible to achieve active mode locking and stable generation of picosecond pulses in high performance QCLs with a vertical laser transition and a short gain recovery time by bias modulation of a short section of a monolithic Fabry-Perot cavity. In fact, active mode locking in QCLs with a short gain recovery time turns out to be more robust to the variation of parameters as compared to previously studied lasers with a long gain recovery time. We investigate the effects of spatial hole burning and phase locking on the laser output.

  8. Electrical modulation of the complex refractive index in mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers.

    PubMed

    Teissier, J; Laurent, S; Manquest, C; Sirtori, C; Bousseksou, A; Coudevylle, J R; Colombelli, R; Beaudoin, G; Sagnes, I

    2012-01-16

    We have demonstrated an integrated three terminal device for the modulation of the complex refractive index of a distributed feedback quantum cascade laser (QCL). The device comprises an active region to produce optical gain vertically stacked with a control region made of asymmetric coupled quantum wells (ACQW). The optical mode, centered on the gain region, has a small overlap also with the control region. Owing to the three terminals an electrical bias can be applied independently on both regions: on the laser for producing optical gain and on the ACQW for tuning the energy of the intersubband transition. This allows the control of the optical losses at the laser frequency as the absorption peak associated to the intersubband transition can be electrically brought in and out the laser transition. By using this function a laser modulation depth of about 400 mW can be achieved by injecting less than 1 mW in the control region. This is four orders of magnitude less than the electrical power needed using direct current modulation and set the basis for the realisation of electrical to optical transducers.

  9. Computing Across the Physics and Astrophysics Curriculum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeGioia Eastwood, Kathy; James, M.; Dolle, E.

    2012-01-01

    Computational skills are essential in today's marketplace. Bachelors entering the STEM workforce report that their undergraduate education does not adequately prepare them to use scientific software and to write programs. Computation can also increase student learning; not only are the students actively engaged, but computational problems allow them to explore physical problems that are more realistic than the few that can be solved analytically. We have received a grant from the NSF CCLI Phase I program to integrate computing into our upper division curriculum. Our language of choice is Matlab; this language had already been chosen for our required sophomore course in Computational Physics because of its prevalence in industry. For two summers we have held faculty workshops to help our professors develop the needed expertise, and we are now in the implementation and evaluation stage. The end product will be a set of learning materials in the form of computational modules that we will make freely available. These modules will include the assignment, pedagogical goals, Matlab code, samples of student work, and instructor comments. At this meeting we present an overview of the project as well as modules written for a course in upper division stellar astrophysics. We acknowledge the support of the NSF through DUE-0837368.

  10. Long-reach transmission experiment of a wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical networks transmitter based on reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jeon, Sie-Wook; Kim, Youngbok; Park, Chang-Soo

    2012-01-01

    We propose and demonstrate a long-reach wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical networks (WDM-PON) based on reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) with easy maintenance of the optical source. Unlike previous studies the proposed WDM-PON uses two RSOAs: one for wavelength-selected light generation to provide a constant seed light to the second RSOA, the other for active external modulation. This method is free from intensity-fluctuated power penalties inherent to directly modulated single-RSOA sources, making long-reach transmission possible. Also, the wavelength of the modulated signal can easily be changed for the same RSOA by replacing the external feedback reflector, such as a fiber Bragg grating, or via thermal tuning. The seed light has a high-side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of 45 dB, and the bit error rate (BER) curve reveals that the upstream 1.25-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) signal with a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) of length of 215-1 has power penalties of 0.22 and 0.69 dB at BERs of 10-9 after 55-km and 110-km transmission due to fiber dispersion, respectively.

  11. Red blood cells promote survival and cell cycle progression of human peripheral blood T cells independently of CD58/LFA-3 and heme compounds.

    PubMed

    Fonseca, Ana Mafalda; Pereira, Carlos Filipe; Porto, Graça; Arosa, Fernando A

    2003-07-01

    Red blood cells (RBC) are known to modulate T cell proliferation and function possibly through downregulation of oxidative stress. By examining parameters of activation, division, and cell death in vitro, we show evidence that the increase in survival afforded by RBC is due to the maintenance of the proliferative capacity of the activated T cells. We also show that the CD3+CD8+ T cell subset was preferentially expanded and rescued from apoptosis both in bulk peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures and with highly purified CD8+ T cells. The ability of RBC to induce survival of dividing T cells was not affected by blocking the CD58/CD2 interaction. Moreover, addition of hemoglobin, heme or protoporphyrin IX to cultures of activated T cells did not reproduce the effect of intact RBC. Considering that RBC circulate throughout the body, they could play a biological role in the modulation of T cell differentiation and survival in places of active cell division. Neither CD58 nor the heme compounds studied seem to play a direct relevant role in the modulation of T cell survival.

  12. CWDM for very-short-reach and optical-backplane interconnections

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Laha, Michael J.

    2002-06-01

    Course Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) provides access to next generation optical interconnect data rates by utilizing conventional electro-optical components that are widely available in the market today. This is achieved through the use of CWDM multiplexers and demultiplexers that integrate commodity type active components, lasers and photodiodes, into small optical subassemblies. In contrast to dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), in which multiple serial data streams are combined to create aggregate data pipes perhaps 100s of gigabits wide, CWDM uses multiple laser sources contained in one module to create a serial equivalent data stream. For example, four 2.5 Gb/s lasers are multiplexed to create a 10 Gb/s data pipe. The advantages of CWDM over traditional serial optical interconnects include lower module power consumption, smaller packaging, and a superior electrical interface. This discussion will detail the concept of CWDM and design parameters that are considered when productizing a CWDM module into an industry standard optical interconnect. Additionally, a scalable parallel CWDM hybrid architecture will be described that allows the transport of large amounts of data from rack to rack in an economical fashion. This particular solution is targeted at solving optical backplane bottleneck problems predicted for the next generation terabit and petabit routers.

  13. A metro-access integrated network with all-optical virtual private network function using DPSK/ASK modulation format

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tian, Yue; Leng, Lufeng; Su, Yikai

    2008-11-01

    All-optical virtual private network (VPN), which offers dedicated optical channels to connect users within a VPN group, is considered a promising approach to efficient internetworking with low latency and enhanced security implemented in the physical layer. On the other hand, time-division multiplexed (TDM) / wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) network architecture based on a feeder-ring with access-tree topology, is considered a pragmatic migration scenario from current TDM-PONs to future WDM-PONs and a potential convergence scheme for access and metropolitan networks, due to its efficiently shared hardware and bandwidth resources. All-optical VPN internetworking in such a metro-access integrated structure is expected to cover a wider service area and therefore is highly desirable. In this paper, we present a TDM/WDM metro-access integrated network supporting all-optical VPN internetworking among ONUs in different sub- PONs based on orthogonal differential-phase-shift keying (DPSK) / amplitude-shift keying (ASK) modulation format. In each ONU, no laser but a single Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) is needed for the upstream and VPN signal generation, which is cost-effective. Experiments and simulations are performed to verify its feasibility as a potential solution to the future access service.

  14. Concatenated Coding Using Trellis-Coded Modulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thompson, Michael W.

    1997-01-01

    In the late seventies and early eighties a technique known as Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM) was developed for providing spectrally efficient error correction coding. Instead of adding redundant information in the form of parity bits, redundancy is added at the modulation stage thereby increasing bandwidth efficiency. A digital communications system can be designed to use bandwidth-efficient multilevel/phase modulation such as Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), Phase Shift Keying (PSK), Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). Performance gain can be achieved by increasing the number of signals over the corresponding uncoded system to compensate for the redundancy introduced by the code. A considerable amount of research and development has been devoted toward developing good TCM codes for severely bandlimited applications. More recently, the use of TCM for satellite and deep space communications applications has received increased attention. This report describes the general approach of using a concatenated coding scheme that features TCM and RS coding. Results have indicated that substantial (6-10 dB) performance gains can be achieved with this approach with comparatively little bandwidth expansion. Since all of the bandwidth expansion is due to the RS code we see that TCM based concatenated coding results in roughly 10-50% bandwidth expansion compared to 70-150% expansion for similar concatenated scheme which use convolution code. We stress that combined coding and modulation optimization is important for achieving performance gains while maintaining spectral efficiency.

  15. Σ-Δ modulator for a programmable gain, low-power, high-linearity automotive sensor interface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de la Rosa, Jose M.; Medeiro, Fernando; Perez-Verdu, Belen; del Rio, Rocio; Rodriguez-Vazquez, Angel

    2003-04-01

    Smart sensors play a critical role in modern automotive electronic systems, covering a wide range of data capturing functions and operating under adverse environmental conditions - temperature range of [-40¦C,175¦C]. In such sensors, the signal provided by transducers is composed of an offset voltage, which depends on the manufacturing process, and a low-frequency signal carrying the information. In practice, the offset voltage is subject to temperature variations, thus causing a shifting of the signal range to be measured. Therefore, the measuring circuit driving the sensor, normally formed by a low-noise preamplifier and an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), must accommodate the complete range of possible offsets and real signals. In this scenario, the use of ADCs based on Sigma-Delta Modulators (SDMs) is convenient for several reasons. On the one hand, the noise-shaping performed by SDMs allows to achieve high resolution (16-17bits), in the band of interest (10-20kHz), with less power consumption than full Nyquist ADCs. On the other hand, the action of feedback renders SDMs very linear, and high-linearity is a must for automotive applications. Last but not least, the robustness of SDMs with respect to circuit imperfections make them suitable to include programmable gain without significant performance degradation. This feature allows to accommodate the complete range of possible offsets and information signals in a sensor interface with relaxed specifications for the preamplifier circuitry. This paper describes the design and implementation of a third-order cascade (2-1) SDM with programmable gain in a 0.35mm CMOS technology - the type of technology commonly employed for automotive applications (deep submicron is mostly employed for telecom). It is capable of handling signals up to 20-kHz bandwidth with 17-bit resolution. The programmable gain is implemented by a capacitor array whose unitary capacitors are connected or disconnected depending on the value of the selected gain. In order to relax the amplifier dynamics requirements as the modulator gain varies, switchable capacitor arrays have been used for all the capacitors in the first integrator. The design of the modulator building blocks is based upon a top-down CAD methodology which combines simulation and statistical optimization at different levels of the modulator hierarchy. As a result, a dynamic range equal to 105 dB is obtained for all cases of the modulator gain, which corresponds to 17 bit resolution.

  16. Day-night cycles and the sleep-promoting factor, Sleepless, affect stem cell activity in the Drosophila testis.

    PubMed

    Tulina, Natalia M; Chen, Wen-Feng; Chen, Jung Hsuan; Sowcik, Mallory; Sehgal, Amita

    2014-02-25

    Adult stem cells maintain tissue integrity and function by renewing cellular content of the organism through regulated mitotic divisions. Previous studies showed that stem cell activity is affected by local, systemic, and environmental cues. Here, we explore a role of environmental day-night cycles in modulating cell cycle progression in populations of adult stem cells. Using a classic stem cell system, the Drosophila spermatogonial stem cell niche, we reveal daily rhythms in division frequencies of germ-line and somatic stem cells that act cooperatively to produce male gametes. We also examine whether behavioral sleep-wake cycles, which are driven by the environmental day-night cycles, regulate stem cell function. We find that flies lacking the sleep-promoting factor Sleepless, which maintains normal sleep in Drosophila, have increased germ-line stem cell (GSC) division rates, and this effect is mediated, in part, through a GABAergic signaling pathway. We suggest that alterations in sleep can influence the daily dynamics of GSC divisions.

  17. Full duplex dense-wavelength-division-multiplexing radio-over-fiber system transmission of 75-GHz W-band frequency multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing signals with 3×12 Gbps downstream and 6 Gbps upstream

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fang, Wei Jin; Huang, Xu Guang; Yang, Kai; Zhang, Xiao Min

    2012-09-01

    We propose and demonstrate a full duplex dense-wavelength-division-multiplexing radio-over-fiber (DWDM-ROF) system for transmitting 75-GHz W-band frequency multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) signals with 12 Gbps downstream and 6 Gbps upstream. The downstream transmitting terminal is based on a three-channels sextupling-frequency scheme using an external modulation of a distributed feedback laser diode (DFB-LD) and dual drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (DD-MZM) for carrying downstream signals. MIMO-OFDM algorithms effectively compensate for impairments in the wireless link. Without using costly W-band components in the transmitter, a 12 Gbps downstream transmission system operation at 75 GHz is experimentally validated. For the downstream transmission, a power penalty of less than 3 dB was observed after a 50 km single mode fiber (SMF) and 4 m wireless transmission at a bit error rate (BER) of 3.8×10-3. For the upstream transmission, we use a commercially available 1.5 GHz bandwidth reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) to achieve 6 Gbps upstream traffic for 16 QAM-OFDM signals. A power penalty of 3 dB was observed after a 50 km SMF transmission at a BER of 3.8×10-3. The frequency of the local oscillator is reduced due to the frequency sextupling scheme. The cost of the proposed system is largely reduced.

  18. Aging and Strategic Learning: The Impact of Spousal Incentives on Financial Literacy

    PubMed Central

    Hsu, Joanne W.

    2017-01-01

    Women tend to be less financially literate than men, consistent with a division of labor where husbands manage finances. However, women tend to outlive their husbands. I find that older women acquire financial literacy as they approach widowhood — 80 percent would catch up with their husbands by the expected onset of widowhood. These gains are not attributable to husbands’ cognitive decline, as captured by cognition tests. The results are consistent with a model in which the division of labor collapses when a spouse dies: women have incentives to delay acquiring financial human capital, but also to begin learning before widowhood. PMID:28148971

  19. Aging and Strategic Learning: The Impact of Spousal Incentives on Financial Literacy.

    PubMed

    Hsu, Joanne W

    2016-01-01

    Women tend to be less financially literate than men, consistent with a division of labor where husbands manage finances. However, women tend to outlive their husbands. I find that older women acquire financial literacy as they approach widowhood - 80 percent would catch up with their husbands by the expected onset of widowhood. These gains are not attributable to husbands' cognitive decline, as captured by cognition tests. The results are consistent with a model in which the division of labor collapses when a spouse dies: women have incentives to delay acquiring financial human capital, but also to begin learning before widowhood.

  20. The Application of Fiber Optic Wavelength Division Multiplexing in RF Avionics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ngo, Duc; Nguyen, Hung; Atiquzzaman, Mohammed; Sluss, James J., Jr.; Refai, Hakki H.

    2004-01-01

    This paper demonstrates a successful application of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) to the avionics environment to support analog RF signal transmission. We investigate the simultaneous transmission of four RF signals (channels) over a single optical fiber. These four analog channels are sequentially multiplexed and demultiplexed at different points along a fiber optic backbone to more closely emulate the conditions found onboard aircraft. We present data from measurements of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), transmission response (loss and gain), group delay that defines phase distortion, and dynamic range that defines nonlinear distortion. The data indicate that WDM is well-suited for avionics applications.

  1. Electronic polarization-division demultiplexing based on digital signal processing in intensity-modulation direct-detection optical communication systems.

    PubMed

    Kikuchi, Kazuro

    2014-01-27

    We propose a novel configuration of optical receivers for intensity-modulation direct-detection (IM · DD) systems, which can cope with dual-polarization (DP) optical signals electrically. Using a Stokes analyzer and a newly-developed digital signal-processing (DSP) algorithm, we can achieve polarization tracking and demultiplexing in the digital domain after direct detection. Simulation results show that the power penalty stemming from digital polarization manipulations is negligibly small.

  2. SPM and XPM crosstalk in WDM systems with DRA: Channel spacing and attenuation effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morsy, Emadeldeen; Fayed, Heba A.; Abd El Aziz, Ahmed; Aly, Moustafa H.

    2018-06-01

    This paper presents a theoretical analysis of a closed formula for nonlinear crosstalk due to self-phase modulation (SPM) and cross phase modulation (XPM) in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems. The influence of channel spacing and attenuation on the system behavior is modeled and investigated. The system under consideration is a standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) with a single-span distributed Raman amplifier (DRA) and is operating at 100 Gbps.

  3. A ROF transport system using phase & polarization modulation based on OFDM technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mallick, Khaleda; Patra, Ardhendu Sekhar

    2018-05-01

    A radio-over-fiber (ROF) transport system using phase and polarization modulator based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique has been proposed and demonstrated, to transmit 2.5 Gbps at 7.5 GHz over 40 km single mode fiber (SMF). The transmission performance is observed by proper bit error rate and clear eye diagram. Our proposed system become a prominent alternative, as it has advantages of communication link for greater bandwidth and data rates.

  4. Method and system for modulation of gain suppression in high average power laser systems

    DOEpatents

    Bayramian, Andrew James [Manteca, CA

    2012-07-31

    A high average power laser system with modulated gain suppression includes an input aperture associated with a first laser beam extraction path and an output aperture associated with the first laser beam extraction path. The system also includes a pinhole creation laser having an optical output directed along a pinhole creation path and an absorbing material positioned along both the first laser beam extraction path and the pinhole creation path. The system further includes a mechanism operable to translate the absorbing material in a direction crossing the first laser beam extraction laser path and a controller operable to modulate the second laser beam.

  5. Mentoring for population health in general practice divisions.

    PubMed

    Moss, John R; Mickan, Sharon M; Fuller, Jeffrey D; Procter, Nicholas G; Waters, Barb A; O'Rourke, Peter K

    2006-02-01

    This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a three-way model of service development mentoring. This population health mentoring program was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to enable staff from eight Divisions of General Practice in South Australia to gain a sound understanding of population health concepts relevant to their workplace. The distinguishing features of service development mentoring were that the learning was grounded within an individual's work setting and experience; there was an identified population health problem or issue confronting the Division of General Practice; and there was an expectation of enhanced organisational performance. A formal evaluation found a consensus among all learners that mentoring was a positive and worthwhile experience, where they had achieved what they had set out to do. Mentors found the model of learning agreeable and effective. Division executive officers recognised enhanced skills among their "learner" colleagues, and commented positively on the benefits to their organisations through the development of well researched and relevant projects, with the potential to improve the efficiency of their population health activities.

  6. Parallel transmit beamforming using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing applied to harmonic imaging--a feasibility study.

    PubMed

    Demi, Libertario; Verweij, Martin D; Van Dongen, Koen W A

    2012-11-01

    Real-time 2-D or 3-D ultrasound imaging systems are currently used for medical diagnosis. To achieve the required data acquisition rate, these systems rely on parallel beamforming, i.e., a single wide-angled beam is used for transmission and several narrow parallel beams are used for reception. When applied to harmonic imaging, the demand for high-amplitude pressure wave fields, necessary to generate the harmonic components, conflicts with the use of a wide-angled beam in transmission because this results in a large spatial decay of the acoustic pressure. To enhance the amplitude of the harmonics, it is preferable to do the reverse: transmit several narrow parallel beams and use a wide-angled beam in reception. Here, this concept is investigated to determine whether it can be used for harmonic imaging. The method proposed in this paper relies on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which is used to create distinctive parallel beams in transmission. To test the proposed method, a numerical study has been performed, in which the transmit, receive, and combined beam profiles generated by a linear array have been simulated for the second-harmonic component. Compared with standard parallel beamforming, application of the proposed technique results in a gain of 12 dB for the main beam and in a reduction of the side lobes. Experimental verification in water has also been performed. Measurements obtained with a single-element emitting transducer and a hydrophone receiver confirm the possibility of exciting a practical ultrasound transducer with multiple Gaussian modulated pulses, each having a different center frequency, and the capability to generate distinguishable second-harmonic components.

  7. Error control techniques for satellite and space communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Costello, Daniel J., Jr.

    1989-01-01

    Two aspects of the work for NASA are examined: the construction of multi-dimensional phase modulation trellis codes and a performance analysis of these codes. A complete list is contained of all the best trellis codes for use with phase modulation. LxMPSK signal constellations are included for M = 4, 8, and 16 and L = 1, 2, 3, and 4. Spectral efficiencies range from 1 bit/channel symbol (equivalent to rate 1/2 coded QPSK) to 3.75 bits/channel symbol (equivalent to 15/16 coded 16-PSK). The parity check polynomials, rotational invariance properties, free distance, path multiplicities, and coding gains are given for all codes. These codes are considered to be the best candidates for implementation of a high speed decoder for satellite transmission. The design of a hardware decoder for one of these codes, viz., the 16-state 3x8-PSK code with free distance 4.0 and coding gain 3.75 dB is discussed. An exhaustive simulation study of the multi-dimensional phase modulation trellis codes is contained. This study was motivated by the fact that coding gains quoted for almost all codes found in literature are in fact only asymptotic coding gains, i.e., the coding gain at very high signal to noise ratios (SNRs) or very low BER. These asymptotic coding gains can be obtained directly from a knowledge of the free distance of the code. On the other hand, real coding gains at BERs in the range of 10(exp -2) to 10(exp -6), where these codes are most likely to operate in a concatenated system, must be done by simulation.

  8. 75 FR 33332 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comments Requested

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-11

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-0015] Agency Information... Report. The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services... Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS), Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road...

  9. Simple and efficient L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers for WDM networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choi, H. B.; Oh, J. M.; Lee, D.; Ahn, S. J.; Park, B. S.; Lee, S. B.

    2002-11-01

    The performance of L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) of a simple structure with a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) was investigated. The injected C-band ASE by the FBG offers low-cost amplification and greatly improves the efficiency of the EDFA. There are 9 and 4 dB improvements with the FBG at 1587 nm, at low and high input, respectively. The flat gain of 18 dB, up to a total input of -5 dBm at 150 mW of 980 nm pump, is obtained over 30 nm with less than ±0.5 dB gain variations without any gain equalizer. The proposed EDFA provides a cost-effective solution for wavelength division multiplexing systems.

  10. Physalis floridana Cell Number Regulator1 encodes a cell membrane-anchored modulator of cell cycle and negatively controls fruit size

    PubMed Central

    Li, Zhichao; He, Chaoying

    2015-01-01

    Physalis species show a significant variation in berry size; however, the underlying molecular basis is unknown. In this work, we showed that cell division difference in the ovaries might contribute to the ultimate berry size variation within Physalis species, and that mRNA abundance of Physalis floridana Cell Number Regulator1 (PfCNR1), the putative orthologue of the tomato fruit weight 2.2 (FW2.2), was negatively correlated with cell division in the ovaries. Moreover, heterochronic expression variation of the PfCNR1 genes in the ovaries concomitantly correlated with berry weight variation within Physalis species. In transgenic Physalis, multiple organ sizes could be negatively controlled by altering PfCNR1 levels, and cell division instead of cell expansion was primarily affected. PfCNR1 was shown to be anchored in the plasma membrane and to interact with PfAG2 (an AGAMOUS-like protein determining ovary identity). The expression of PfCYCD2;1, a putative orthologue of the mitosis-specific gene CyclinD2;1 in the cell cycle was negatively correlated with the PfCNR1 mRNA levels. PfAG2 was found to selectively bind to the CArG-box in the PfCYCD2;1 promoter and to repress PfCYCD2;1 expression, thus suggesting a PfAG2-mediated pathway for PfCNR1 to regulate cell division. The interaction of PfCNR1 with PfAG2 enhanced the repression of PfCYCD2;1 expression. The nuclear import of PfAG2 was essential in the proposed pathway. Our data provide new insights into the developmental pathways of a cell membrane-anchored protein that modulates cell division and governs organ size determination. This study also sheds light on the link between organ identity and organ growth in plants. PMID:25305759

  11. Multidimensional modulation for next-generation transmission systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Millar, David S.; Koike-Akino, Toshiaki; Kojima, Keisuke; Parsons, Kieran

    2017-01-01

    Recent research in multidimensional modulation has shown great promise in long reach applications. In this work, we will investigate the origins of this gain, the different approaches to multidimensional constellation design, and different performance metrics for coded modulation. We will also discuss the reason that such coded modulation schemes seem to have limited application at shorter distances, and the potential for other coded modulation schemes in future transmission systems.

  12. Analysis of secured Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gill, Harsimranjit Singh; Bhatia, Kamaljit Singh; Gill, Sandeep Singh

    2017-05-01

    In this paper, security issues for optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) systems are emphasized. The encryption has been done on the data of coded OFDM symbols using data encryption standard (DES) algorithm before transmitting through the fiber. The results obtained justify that the DES provides better security to the input data without further bandwidth requirement. The data is transmitted to a distance of 1,000 km in a single-mode fiber with 16-quadrature amplitude modulation. The peak-to-average power ratio and optical signal-to-noise ratio of secure coded OFDM signal is fairly better than the conventional OFDM signal.

  13. Distinct Patterns of Neural Inputs and Outputs of the Juxtaparaventricular and Suprafornical Regions of the Lateral Hypothalamic Area in the Male Rat

    PubMed Central

    Hahn, Joel D.; Swanson, Larry W.

    2010-01-01

    We have analyzed at high resolution the neuroanatomical connections of the juxtaparaventricular region of the lateral hypothalamic area (LHAjp); as a control and comparison to this we also performed a preliminary analysis of a nearby LHA region that is dorsal to the fornix, namely the LHA suprafornical region (LHAs). The connections of these LHA regions were revealed with a coinjection tract-tracing technique involving a retrograde (cholera toxin B subunit) and anterograde (Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin) tracer. The LHAjp and LHAs together connect with almost every major division of the cerebrum and cerebrospinal trunk, but their connection profiles are markedly different and distinct. In simple terms the connections of the LHAjp indicate a possible primary role in the modulation of defensive behavior; for the LHAs a role in the modulation of ingestive behavior is suggested. However, the relation of the LHAjp and LHAs to potential modulation of these behaviors, as indicated by their neuroanatomical connections, appears to be highly integrative as it includes each of the major functional divisions of the nervous system that together determine behavior, i.e., cognitive, state, sensory, and motor. Furthermore, although a primary role is indicated for each region with respect to a particular mode of behavior, inter-mode modulation of behavior is also indicated. In summary, the extrinsic connections of the LHAjp and LHAs (so far as we have described them) suggest that these regions have a profoundly integrative role in which they may participate in the orchestrated modulation of elaborate behavioral repertoires. PMID:20170674

  14. ASTRONOMY.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Louisiana Arts and Science Center, Baton Rouge.

    THIS TEACHER'S GUIDE FOR A UNIT ON ASTRONOMY ESTABLISHES (1) UNDERSTANDINGS AND ATTITUDES, (2) SKILLS, AND (3) CONCEPTS TO BE GAINED IN THE STUDY. THE OVERVIEW EXPLAINS THE ORGANIZATION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIT. TOPICAL DIVISIONS ARE (1) THE EARTH, (2) THE MOON, (3) THE SUN, (4) THE SOLAR SYSTEM, (5) THE STARS, (6) THE UNIVERSE, AND (7) SPACE…

  15. Berkeley Lab - Materials Sciences Division

    Science.gov Websites

    demonstrated a way to make it work. New Discovery Could Improve Organic Solar Cell Performance MSD's Center for lead to gains in efficiency for organic solar cells Rob Ritchie featured in Nature Communications Discover Material Ideal for Smart Photovoltaic Windows ▲ New Discovery Could Improve Organic Solar Cell

  16. CPFP Summer Curriculum: Principles and Practices of Cancer Prevention and Control Course | Division of Cancer Prevention

    Cancer.gov

    This Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program four-week summer course provides specialized instruction in the principles and practice of cancer prevention and control. Participants will gain a broad-based perspective on concepts, issues, and applications related to this field. The course typically covers the following topics: |

  17. The Suffolk County Department of Social Services Performance Study. A Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Spottheim, David; Wilson, George R.

    The Suffolk County (New York) Department of Social Services sponsored a performance study to gain insight into the department's operations. Management science techniques were used to portray operations of the Client Benefit (CBA) and Community Service (CSA) Divisions. The CBA administers public assistance programs, and the CSA provides social…

  18. EXTENSION ADMINISTRATION AND STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS--A CASE STUDY OF THE 71ST MISSOURI GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    KYD, STIRLING

    TO GAIN UNDERSTANDING OF MISSOURI'S LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AND AID ADMINISTRATORS OF THE EXTENSION DIVISION, THE AUTHOR INVESTIGATED THE 71ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY. HE READ PUBLICATIONS, INTERVIEWED LOBBYISTS, AND CONDUCTED OPEN ENDED DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH LEGISLATORS SELECTED TO COMPRISE THE LEADERSHIP OF THE ASSEMBLY. HIS DISSERTATION PRESENTS THE…

  19. Model-Based Reasoning in the Physics Laboratory: Framework and Initial Results

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zwickl, Benjamin M.; Hu, Dehui; Finkelstein, Noah; Lewandowski, H. J.

    2015-01-01

    We review and extend existing frameworks on modeling to develop a new framework that describes model-based reasoning in introductory and upper-division physics laboratories. Constructing and using models are core scientific practices that have gained significant attention within K-12 and higher education. Although modeling is a broadly applicable…

  20. Comments on Brandow's "Ideology, Myth, and Reality: Sex Equity in Israel."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bar-Yosef, Rivka W.; Lieblich, Amia

    1983-01-01

    Criticizes Brandow's article on sex equality in Israel, discussing occupational status of women, women's education, women in the military, duality of religious and secular values and legislation, and role division between husbands and wives. Concludes that Israel's equality of the sexes is marked by gains in societal balance. (AOS)

  1. The Development of Occupations in Health Technology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Carol Anderson

    The study examined the general question of how the place of an occupation in the economic division of labor becomes shaped and defined. The shaping was seen as basically a political process, a utilization of power in various forms by interested parties acting with the conscious intention of gaining control over the economic activity of themselves…

  2. Integrated optic vector-matrix multiplier

    DOEpatents

    Watts, Michael R [Albuquerque, NM

    2011-09-27

    A vector-matrix multiplier is disclosed which uses N different wavelengths of light that are modulated with amplitudes representing elements of an N.times.1 vector and combined to form an input wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) light stream. The input WDM light stream is split into N streamlets from which each wavelength of the light is individually coupled out and modulated for a second time using an input signal representing elements of an M.times.N matrix, and is then coupled into an output waveguide for each streamlet to form an output WDM light stream which is detected to generate a product of the vector and matrix. The vector-matrix multiplier can be formed as an integrated optical circuit using either waveguide amplitude modulators or ring resonator amplitude modulators.

  3. A comparison of radioisotope Brayton and Stirling system for lunar surface mobile power

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harty, Richard B.

    1991-01-01

    A study was performed by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell 2.5-kWe modular dynamic isotope power system (DIPS) using a Stirling power conversion system. The results of this study were compared with similar results performed under the DIPS program using a Brayton power conversion system. The study indicated that the Stirling power module has 20% lower mass and 40% lower radiator area than the Brayton module. However, the study also revealed that because the Stirling power module requires a complex heat pipe arrangment to transport heat from the isotope to the Stirling heater head and a pumped NaK heat rejection loop, the Stirling module is much more difficult to integrate with the isotope heat source and heat rejection system.

  4. Hardware Architecture Study for NASA's Space Software Defined Radios

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Reinhart, Richard C.; Scardelletti, Maximilian C.; Mortensen, Dale J.; Kacpura, Thomas J.; Andro, Monty; Smith, Carl; Liebetreu, John

    2008-01-01

    This study defines a hardware architecture approach for software defined radios to enable commonality among NASA space missions. The architecture accommodates a range of reconfigurable processing technologies including general purpose processors, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) in addition to flexible and tunable radio frequency (RF) front-ends to satisfy varying mission requirements. The hardware architecture consists of modules, radio functions, and and interfaces. The modules are a logical division of common radio functions that comprise a typical communication radio. This paper describes the architecture details, module definitions, and the typical functions on each module as well as the module interfaces. Trade-offs between component-based, custom architecture and a functional-based, open architecture are described. The architecture does not specify the internal physical implementation within each module, nor does the architecture mandate the standards or ratings of the hardware used to construct the radios.

  5. Space Telecommunications Radio Systems (STRS) Hardware Architecture Standard: Release 1.0 Hardware Section

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Reinhart, Richard C.; Kacpura, Thomas J.; Smith, Carl R.; Liebetreu, John; Hill, Gary; Mortensen, Dale J.; Andro, Monty; Scardelletti, Maximilian C.; Farrington, Allen

    2008-01-01

    This report defines a hardware architecture approach for software-defined radios to enable commonality among NASA space missions. The architecture accommodates a range of reconfigurable processing technologies including general-purpose processors, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays, and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) in addition to flexible and tunable radiofrequency front ends to satisfy varying mission requirements. The hardware architecture consists of modules, radio functions, and interfaces. The modules are a logical division of common radio functions that compose a typical communication radio. This report describes the architecture details, the module definitions, the typical functions on each module, and the module interfaces. Tradeoffs between component-based, custom architecture and a functional-based, open architecture are described. The architecture does not specify a physical implementation internally on each module, nor does the architecture mandate the standards or ratings of the hardware used to construct the radios.

  6. PHF13 is a molecular reader and transcriptional co-regulator of H3K4me2/3

    PubMed Central

    Chung, Ho-Ryun; Xu, Chao; Fuchs, Alisa; Mund, Andreas; Lange, Martin; Staege, Hannah; Schubert, Tobias; Bian, Chuanbing; Dunkel, Ilona; Eberharter, Anton; Regnard, Catherine; Klinker, Henrike; Meierhofer, David; Cozzuto, Luca; Winterpacht, Andreas; Di Croce, Luciano; Min, Jinrong; Will, Hans; Kinkley, Sarah

    2016-01-01

    PHF13 is a chromatin affiliated protein with a functional role in differentiation, cell division, DNA damage response and higher chromatin order. To gain insight into PHF13's ability to modulate these processes, we elucidate the mechanisms targeting PHF13 to chromatin, its genome wide localization and its molecular chromatin context. Size exclusion chromatography, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography and ChIP sequencing demonstrate that PHF13 binds chromatin in a multivalent fashion via direct interactions with H3K4me2/3 and DNA, and indirectly via interactions with PRC2 and RNA PolII. Furthermore, PHF13 depletion disrupted the interactions between PRC2, RNA PolII S5P, H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 and resulted in the up and down regulation of genes functionally enriched in transcriptional regulation, DNA binding, cell cycle, differentiation and chromatin organization. Together our findings argue that PHF13 is an H3K4me2/3 molecular reader and transcriptional co-regulator, affording it the ability to impact different chromatin processes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10607.001 PMID:27223324

  7. Design of an Integrated Division-Level Battle Simulation for Research, Development, and Training. Volume 2. Detailed Design Notes

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1979-08-01

    frag orders for tactical considerations. Frag orders issued by simulated modules will be " edited " by the same procedure as that used with populated...record and distributed as required. Queries transmitted from any staff module will be reviewed and edited at event time for technical accuracy. If an...of this kind will have to be carefully edited and interpreted by the control- ler(s) and/or computer before the chanqe is instituted in the real world

  8. Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) encoder handbook for Aydin Vector MMP-900 series system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Raphael, David

    1995-01-01

    This handbook explicates the hardware and software properties of a time division multiplex system. This system is used to sample analog and digital data. The data is then merged with frame synchronization information to produce a serial pulse coded modulation (PCM) bit stream. Information in this handbook is required by users to design congruous interface and attest effective utilization of this encoder system. Aydin Vector provides all of the components for these systems to Goddard Space Flight Center/Wallops Flight Facility.

  9. Apollo experience report: Lunar module instrumentation subsystem

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Obrien, D. E., III; Woodfill, J. R., IV

    1972-01-01

    The design concepts and philosophies of the lunar module instrumentation subsystem are discussed along with manufacturing and systems integration. The experience gained from the program is discussed, and recommendations are made for making the subsystem more compatible and flexible in system usage. Characteristics of lunar module caution and warning circuits are presented.

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

    Anderson, David E.

    The JEMA modulator was originally developed for the European Spallation Source (ESS) when Spain was under consideration as a location for the ESS facility. Discussions ensued and the Spallation Neutron Source Research Accelerator Division agreed to form a collaboration with ESS-Bilbao (ESS-B) consortium to provide services for specifying the requirements for a version of the modulator capable of operating twelve 550 kW klystrons, monitoring the technical progress on the contract with JEMA, installing and commissioning the modulator at SNS, and performing a 30 day full power test. This work was recently completed, and this report discusses those activities with primarymore » emphasis on the installation and testing activities.« less

  11. CedA is a novel Escherichia coli protein that activates the cell division inhibited by chromosomal DNA over-replication.

    PubMed

    Katayama, T; Takata, M; Sekimizu, K

    1997-11-01

    We isolated and characterized a new gene related to the control of cell division regulation in Escherichia coli. At 30 degrees C, the dnaAcos mutant causes over-replication of the chromosome, and colony formation is inhibited. We found that, at this temperature, the dnaAcos cells form filaments; therefore, septum formation is inhibited. This inhibition was independent of SfiA, an inhibitor of the septum-forming protein, FtsZ. To identify factors involved in this pathway of inhibition, we isolated seven multicopy suppressors for the cold-sensitive phenotype of the dnaAcos mutant. One of these proved to be a previously unknown gene, which we named cedA. This gene encoded a 12 kDa protein and resided at 38.9min on the E. coli genome map. A multicopy supply of the cedA gene to the dnaAcos cells did not repress over-replication of the chromosome but did stimulate cell division of the host, the result being growth of cells with an abnormally elevated chromosomal copy number. Therefore, the expression level of the cedA gene seems to be important for inhibiting cell division of the dnaAcos mutant at 30 degrees C. We propose that over-replication of the chromosome activates a pathway for inhibiting cell division and that the cedA gene modulates this division control. In the dnaA+ background, cedA also seems to affect cell division.

  12. Modeling lateral geniculate nucleus response with contrast gain control. Part 2: Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Cope, Davis; Blakeslee, Barbara; McCourt, Mark E.

    2014-01-01

    Cope, Blakeslee and McCourt (2013) proposed a class of models for LGN ON-cell behavior consisting of a linear response with divisive normalization by local stimulus contrast. Here we analyze a specific model with the linear response defined by a difference-of-Gaussians filter and a circular Gaussian for the gain pool weighting function. For sinusoidal grating stimuli, the parameter region for band-pass behavior of the linear response is determined, the gain control response is shown to act as a switch (changing from “off” to “on” with increasing spatial frequency), and it is shown that large gain pools stabilize the optimal spatial frequency of the total nonlinear response at a fixed value independent of contrast and stimulus magnitude. Under- and super-saturation as well as contrast saturation occur as typical effects of stimulus magnitude. For circular spot stimuli, it is shown that large gain pools stabilize the spot size that yields the maximum response. PMID:24562034

  13. A Modular Approach to Arithmetic and Logic Unit Design on a Reconfigurable Hardware Platform for Educational Purpose

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oztekin, Halit; Temurtas, Feyzullah; Gulbag, Ali

    The Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) design is one of the important topics in Computer Architecture and Organization course in Computer and Electrical Engineering departments. There are ALU designs that have non-modular nature to be used as an educational tool. As the programmable logic technology has developed rapidly, it is feasible that ALU design based on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is implemented in this course. In this paper, we have adopted the modular approach to ALU design based on FPGA. All the modules in the ALU design are realized using schematic structure on Altera's Cyclone II Development board. Under this model, the ALU content is divided into four distinct modules. These are arithmetic unit except for multiplication and division operations, logic unit, multiplication unit and division unit. User can easily design any size of ALU unit since this approach has the modular nature. Then, this approach was applied to microcomputer architecture design named BZK.SAU.FPGA10.0 instead of the current ALU unit.

  14. Coherent ultra dense wavelength division multiplexing passive optical networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shahpari, Ali; Ferreira, Ricardo; Ribeiro, Vitor; Sousa, Artur; Ziaie, Somayeh; Tavares, Ana; Vujicic, Zoran; Guiomar, Fernando P.; Reis, Jacklyn D.; Pinto, Armando N.; Teixeira, António

    2015-12-01

    In this paper, we firstly review the progress in ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (UDWDM-PON), by making use of the key attributes of this technology in the context of optical access and metro networks. Besides the inherit properties of coherent technology, we explore different modulation formats and pulse shaping. The performance is experimentally demonstrated through a 12 × 10 Gb/s bidirectional UDWDM-PON over hybrid 80 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) and optical wireless link. High density, 6.25 GHz grid, Nyquist shaped 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) and digital frequency shifting are some of the properties exploited together in the tests. Also, bidirectional transmission in fiber, relevant in the context, is analyzed in terms of nonlinear and back-reflection effects on receiver sensitivity. In addition, as a basis for the discussion on market readiness, we experimentally demonstrate real-time detection of a Nyquist-shaped quaternary phase-shift keying (QPSK) signal using simple 8-bit digital signal processing (DSP) on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

  15. Improving performance of channel equalization in RSOA-based WDM-PON by QR decomposition.

    PubMed

    Li, Xiang; Zhong, Wen-De; Alphones, Arokiaswami; Yu, Changyuan; Xu, Zhaowen

    2015-10-19

    In reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)-based wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON), the bit rate is limited by low modulation bandwidth of RSOAs. To overcome the limitation, we apply QR decomposition in channel equalizer (QR-CE) to achieve successive interference cancellation (SIC) for discrete Fourier transform spreading orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S OFDM) signal. Using an RSOA with a 3-dB modulation bandwidth of only ~800 MHz, we experimentally demonstrate a 15.5-Gb/s over 20-km SSMF DFT-S OFDM transmission with QR-CE. The experimental results show that DFTS-OFDM with QR-CE attains much better BER performance than DFTS-OFDM and OFDM with conventional channel equalizers. The impacts of several parameters on QR-CE are investigated. It is found that 2 sub-bands in one OFDM symbol and 1 pilot in each sub-band are sufficient to achieve optimal performance and maintain the high spectral efficiency.

  16. Electroacoustic verification of frequency modulation systems in cochlear implant users.

    PubMed

    Fidêncio, Vanessa Luisa Destro; Jacob, Regina Tangerino de Souza; Tanamati, Liége Franzini; Bucuvic, Érika Cristina; Moret, Adriane Lima Mortari

    2017-12-26

    The frequency modulation system is a device that helps to improve speech perception in noise and is considered the most beneficial approach to improve speech recognition in noise in cochlear implant users. According to guidelines, there is a need to perform a check before fitting the frequency modulation system. Although there are recommendations regarding the behavioral tests that should be performed at the fitting of the frequency modulation system to cochlear implant users, there are no published recommendations regarding the electroacoustic test that should be performed. Perform and determine the validity of an electroacoustic verification test for frequency modulation systems coupled to different cochlear implant speech processors. The sample included 40 participants between 5 and 18 year's users of four different models of speech processors. For the electroacoustic evaluation, we used the Audioscan Verifit device with the HA-1 coupler and the listening check devices corresponding to each speech processor model. In cases where the transparency was not achieved, a modification was made in the frequency modulation gain adjustment and we used the Brazilian version of the "Phrases in Noise Test" to evaluate the speech perception in competitive noise. It was observed that there was transparency between the frequency modulation system and the cochlear implant in 85% of the participants evaluated. After adjusting the gain of the frequency modulation receiver in the other participants, the devices showed transparency when the electroacoustic verification test was repeated. It was also observed that patients demonstrated better performance in speech perception in noise after a new adjustment, that is, in these cases; the electroacoustic transparency caused behavioral transparency. The electroacoustic evaluation protocol suggested was effective in evaluation of transparency between the frequency modulation system and the cochlear implant. Performing the adjustment of the speech processor and the frequency modulation system gain are essential when fitting this device. Copyright © 2017 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  17. PyEEG: an open source Python module for EEG/MEG feature extraction.

    PubMed

    Bao, Forrest Sheng; Liu, Xin; Zhang, Christina

    2011-01-01

    Computer-aided diagnosis of neural diseases from EEG signals (or other physiological signals that can be treated as time series, e.g., MEG) is an emerging field that has gained much attention in past years. Extracting features is a key component in the analysis of EEG signals. In our previous works, we have implemented many EEG feature extraction functions in the Python programming language. As Python is gaining more ground in scientific computing, an open source Python module for extracting EEG features has the potential to save much time for computational neuroscientists. In this paper, we introduce PyEEG, an open source Python module for EEG feature extraction.

  18. Methods and devices based on brillouin selective sideband amplification

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yao, X. Steve (Inventor)

    2003-01-01

    Opto-electronic devices and techniques using Brillouin scattering to select a sideband in a modulated optical carrier signal for amplification. Two lasers respectively provide a carrier signal beam and a Brillouin pump beam which are fed into an Brillouin optical medium in opposite directions. The relative frequency separation between the lasers is adjusted to align the frequency of the backscattered Brillouin signal with a desired sideband in the carrier signal to effect a Brillouin gain on the sideband. This effect can be used to implement photonic RF signal mixing and conversion with gain, conversion from phase modulation to amplitude modulation, photonic RF frequency multiplication, optical and RF pulse generation and manipulation, and frequency-locking of lasers.

  19. PyEEG: An Open Source Python Module for EEG/MEG Feature Extraction

    PubMed Central

    Bao, Forrest Sheng; Liu, Xin; Zhang, Christina

    2011-01-01

    Computer-aided diagnosis of neural diseases from EEG signals (or other physiological signals that can be treated as time series, e.g., MEG) is an emerging field that has gained much attention in past years. Extracting features is a key component in the analysis of EEG signals. In our previous works, we have implemented many EEG feature extraction functions in the Python programming language. As Python is gaining more ground in scientific computing, an open source Python module for extracting EEG features has the potential to save much time for computational neuroscientists. In this paper, we introduce PyEEG, an open source Python module for EEG feature extraction. PMID:21512582

  20. Does the Flipped Classroom Improve Learning in Graduate Medical Education?

    PubMed

    Riddell, Jeff; Jhun, Paul; Fung, Cha-Chi; Comes, James; Sawtelle, Stacy; Tabatabai, Ramin; Joseph, Daniel; Shoenberger, Jan; Chen, Esther; Fee, Christopher; Swadron, Stuart P

    2017-08-01

    The flipped classroom model for didactic education has recently gained popularity in medical education; however, there is a paucity of performance data showing its effectiveness for knowledge gain in graduate medical education. We assessed whether a flipped classroom module improves knowledge gain compared with a standard lecture. We conducted a randomized crossover study in 3 emergency medicine residency programs. Participants were randomized to receive a 50-minute lecture from an expert educator on one subject and a flipped classroom module on the other. The flipped classroom included a 20-minute at-home video and 30 minutes of in-class case discussion. The 2 subjects addressed were headache and acute low back pain. A pretest, immediate posttest, and 90-day retention test were given for each subject. Of 82 eligible residents, 73 completed both modules. For the low back pain module, mean test scores were not significantly different between the lecture and flipped classroom formats. For the headache module, there were significant differences in performance for a given test date between the flipped classroom and the lecture format. However, differences between groups were less than 1 of 10 examination items, making it difficult to assign educational importance to the differences. In this crossover study comparing a single flipped classroom module with a standard lecture, we found mixed statistical results for performance measured by multiple-choice questions. As the differences were small, the flipped classroom and lecture were essentially equivalent.

  1. Investigation of SIS Up-Converters for Use in Multi-pixel Receivers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Uzawa, Yoshinori; Kojima, Takafumi; Shan, Wenlei; Gonzalez, Alvaro; Kroug, Matthias

    2018-02-01

    We propose the use of SIS junctions as a frequency up-converter based on quasiparticle mixing in frequency division multiplexing circuits for multi-pixel heterodyne receivers. Our theoretical calculation showed that SIS junctions have the potential to achieve positive gain and low-noise characteristics in the frequency up-conversion process at local oscillator (LO) frequencies larger than the voltage scale of the dc nonlinearity of the SIS junction. We experimentally observed up-conversion gain in a mixer with four-series Nb-based SIS junctions at the LO frequency of 105 GHz for the first time.

  2. Bringing Grand Canyon to the College Campus: Assessment of Student Learning in the Geosciences Through Virtual Field Trip Games for Mobile Smart-Devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bursztyn, N.; Walker, A.; Shelton, B.; Pederson, J. L.

    2015-12-01

    Geoscience educators have long considered field trips to be the most effective way of attracting students into the discipline. A solution for bringing student-driven, engaging, kinesthetic field experiences to a broader audience lies in ongoing advances in mobile-communication technology. This NSF-TUES funded project developed three virtual field trip experiences for smartphones and tablets (on geologic time, geologic structures, and hydrologic processes), and then tested their performance in terms of student interest in geoscience as well as gains in learning. The virtual field trips utilize the GPS capabilities of smartphones and tablets, requiring the students to navigate outdoors in the real world while following a map on their smart device. This research, involving 873 students at five different college campuses, used analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and multiple regression for statistical methods. Gains in learning across all participants are minor, and not statistically different between intervention and control groups. Predictors of gains in content comprehension for all three modules are the students' initial interest in the subject and their base level knowledge. For the Geologic Time and Structures modules, being a STEM major is an important predictor of student success. Most pertinent for this research, for Geologic Time and Hydrologic Processes, gains in student learning can be predicted by having completed those particular virtual field trips. Gender and race had no statistical impact, indicating that the virtual field trip modules have broad reach across student demographics. In related research, these modules have been shown to increase student interest in the geosciences more definitively than the learning gains here. Thus, future work should focus on improving the educational impact of mobile-device field trips, as their eventual incorporation into curricula is inevitable.

  3. Monolithically integrated quantum dot optical gain modulator with semiconductor optical amplifier for 10-Gb/s photonic transmission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yamamoto, Naokatsu; Akahane, Kouichi; Umezawa, Toshimasa; Kawanishi, Tetsuya

    2015-03-01

    Short-range interconnection and/or data center networks require high capacity and a large number of channels in order to support numerous connections. Solutions employed to meet these requirements involve the use of alternative wavebands to increase the usable optical frequency range. We recently proposed the use of the T- and O-bands (Thousand band: 1000-1260 nm, Original band: 1260-1360 nm) as alternative wavebands because large optical frequency resources (>60 THz) can be easily employed. In addition, a simple and compact Gb/s-order high-speed optical modulator is a critical photonic device for short-range communications. Therefore, to develop an optical modulator that acts as a highfunctional photonic device, we focused on the use of self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) as a three-dimensional (3D) confined structure because QD structures are highly suitable for realizing broadband optical gain media in the T+O bands. In this study, we use the high-quality broadband QD optical gain to develop a monolithically integrated QD optical gain modulator (QD-OGM) device that has a semiconductor optical amplifier (QD-SOA) for Gb/s-order highspeed optical data generation in the 1.3-μm waveband. The insertion loss of the device can be compensated through the SOA, and we obtained an optical gain change of up to ~7 dB in the OGM section. Further, we successfully demonstrate a 10-Gb/s clear eye opening using the QD-OGM/SOA device with a clock-data recovery sequence at the receiver end. These results suggest that the monolithic QD-EOM/SOA is suitable for increasing the number of wavelength channels for smart short-range communications.

  4. Pseudorandom dynamics of frequency combs in free-running quantum cascade lasers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Henry, Nathan; Burghoff, David; Yang, Yang; Hu, Qing; Khurgin, Jacob B.

    2018-01-01

    Recent research has shown that free-running quantum cascade lasers are capable of producing frequency combs in midinfrared and THz regions of the spectrum. Unlike familiar frequency combs originating from mode-locked lasers, these do not require any additional optical elements inside the cavity and have temporal characteristics that are dramatically different from the periodic pulse train of conventional combs. Frequency combs from quantum cascade lasers are characterized by the absence of sharp pulses and strong frequency modulation, periodic with the cavity round trip time but lacking any periodicity within that period. To explicate for this seemingly perplexing behavior, we develop a model of the gain medium using optical Bloch equations that account for hole burning in spectral, spatial, and temporal domains. With this model, we confirm that the most efficient mode of operation of a free-running quantum cascade laser is indeed a pseudorandom frequency-modulated field with nearly constant intensity. We show that the optimum modulation period is commensurate with the gain recovery time of the laser medium and the optimum modulation amplitude is comparable to the gain bandwidth, behavior that has been observed in the experiments.

  5. Brain Network Modularity Predicts Exercise-Related Executive Function Gains in Older Adults

    PubMed Central

    Baniqued, Pauline L.; Gallen, Courtney L.; Voss, Michelle W.; Burzynska, Agnieszka Z.; Wong, Chelsea N.; Cooke, Gillian E.; Duffy, Kristin; Fanning, Jason; Ehlers, Diane K.; Salerno, Elizabeth A.; Aguiñaga, Susan; McAuley, Edward; Kramer, Arthur F.; D'Esposito, Mark

    2018-01-01

    Recent work suggests that the brain can be conceptualized as a network comprised of groups of sub-networks or modules. The extent of segregation between modules can be quantified with a modularity metric, where networks with high modularity have dense connections within modules and sparser connections between modules. Previous work has shown that higher modularity predicts greater improvements after cognitive training in patients with traumatic brain injury and in healthy older and young adults. It is not known, however, whether modularity can also predict cognitive gains after a physical exercise intervention. Here, we quantified modularity in older adults (N = 128, mean age = 64.74) who underwent one of the following interventions for 6 months (NCT01472744 on ClinicalTrials.gov): (1) aerobic exercise in the form of brisk walking (Walk), (2) aerobic exercise in the form of brisk walking plus nutritional supplement (Walk+), (3) stretching, strengthening and stability (SSS), or (4) dance instruction. After the intervention, the Walk, Walk+ and SSS groups showed gains in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), with larger effects in both walking groups compared to the SSS and Dance groups. The Walk, Walk+ and SSS groups also improved in executive function (EF) as measured by reasoning, working memory, and task-switching tests. In the Walk, Walk+, and SSS groups that improved in EF, higher baseline modularity was positively related to EF gains, even after controlling for age, in-scanner motion and baseline EF. No relationship between modularity and EF gains was observed in the Dance group, which did not show training-related gains in CRF or EF control. These results are consistent with previous studies demonstrating that individuals with a more modular brain network organization are more responsive to cognitive training. These findings suggest that the predictive power of modularity may be generalizable across interventions aimed to enhance aspects of cognition and that, especially in low-performing individuals, global network properties can capture individual differences in neuroplasticity. PMID:29354050

  6. Apollo 9 Mission image - Command Module

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1969-03-03

    The Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules photographed from the Lunar Module,"Spider",on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 earth-orbital mission. Docking mechanism is visible in nose of the Command Module,"Gumdrop". Object jutting out from the Service Module aft bulkhead is the high-gain S-Band antenna. Film magazine was F, film type was SO-368 Ektachrome with 0.460 - 0.710 micrometers film / filter transmittance response and haze filter,80mm lens.

  7. FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Background The increasing availability of genome data motivates massive research studies in personalized treatment and precision medicine. Public cloud services provide a flexible way to mitigate the storage and computation burden in conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, data privacy has been widely concerned when sharing the sensitive information in a cloud environment. Methods We presented a novel framework (FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption) to fully outsource GWAS (i.e., chi-square statistic computation) using homomorphic encryption. The proposed framework enables secure divisions over encrypted data. We introduced two division protocols (i.e., secure errorless division and secure approximation division) with a trade-off between complexity and accuracy in computing chi-square statistics. Results The proposed framework was evaluated for the task of chi-square statistic computation with two case-control datasets from the 2015 iDASH genome privacy protection challenge. Experimental results show that the performance of FORESEE can be significantly improved through algorithmic optimization and parallel computation. Remarkably, the secure approximation division provides significant performance gain, but without missing any significance SNPs in the chi-square association test using the aforementioned datasets. Conclusions Unlike many existing HME based studies, in which final results need to be computed by the data owner due to the lack of the secure division operation, the proposed FORESEE framework support complete outsourcing to the cloud and output the final encrypted chi-square statistics. PMID:26733391

  8. The Professional Socialization of Certified Athletic Trainers in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Context

    PubMed Central

    Pitney, William A.; Ilsley, Paul; Rintala, Jan

    2002-01-01

    Objective: To describe the professional socialization process of certified athletic trainers (ATCs) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I to guide athletic training education and professional development. Design and Setting: We conducted a qualitative study to explore the experiences related to how participants were socialized into their professional roles in Division I. Subjects: A total of 16 interviews were conducted with 11 male (68.75%) and 5 female (31.25%) participants who were either currently or formerly affiliated with an NCAA Division I athletic program. Data Analysis: The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed inductively using a modified grounded theory approach. Trustworthiness was obtained by peer review, data source triangulation, and member checks. Results: We identified a discernible pattern of socialization experiences and perceptions among the participants. The professional socialization processes of Division I collegiate ATCs is explained as a 5-phase developmental sequence: (1) envisioning the role, (2) formal preparation, (3) organizational entry, (4) role evolution, and (5) gaining stability. Conclusions: Examining the professional socialization process provides insights into the experiences of Division I collegiate ATCs as they prepare for their job responsibilities and develop professionally. Appropriate socialization tactics, such as the use of a structured mentoring experience, formal orientation, and staff development programming, can be implemented to promote effective professional development. Additionally, undergraduate students may be well served if they are educated to better use informal learning situations during their initial socializing events. PMID:12937446

  9. FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yuchen; Dai, Wenrui; Jiang, Xiaoqian; Xiong, Hongkai; Wang, Shuang

    2015-01-01

    The increasing availability of genome data motivates massive research studies in personalized treatment and precision medicine. Public cloud services provide a flexible way to mitigate the storage and computation burden in conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, data privacy has been widely concerned when sharing the sensitive information in a cloud environment. We presented a novel framework (FORESEE: Fully Outsourced secuRe gEnome Study basEd on homomorphic Encryption) to fully outsource GWAS (i.e., chi-square statistic computation) using homomorphic encryption. The proposed framework enables secure divisions over encrypted data. We introduced two division protocols (i.e., secure errorless division and secure approximation division) with a trade-off between complexity and accuracy in computing chi-square statistics. The proposed framework was evaluated for the task of chi-square statistic computation with two case-control datasets from the 2015 iDASH genome privacy protection challenge. Experimental results show that the performance of FORESEE can be significantly improved through algorithmic optimization and parallel computation. Remarkably, the secure approximation division provides significant performance gain, but without missing any significance SNPs in the chi-square association test using the aforementioned datasets. Unlike many existing HME based studies, in which final results need to be computed by the data owner due to the lack of the secure division operation, the proposed FORESEE framework support complete outsourcing to the cloud and output the final encrypted chi-square statistics.

  10. Stimulus competition mediates the joint effects of spatial and feature-based attention

    PubMed Central

    White, Alex L.; Rolfs, Martin; Carrasco, Marisa

    2015-01-01

    Distinct attentional mechanisms enhance the sensory processing of visual stimuli that appear at task-relevant locations and have task-relevant features. We used a combination of psychophysics and computational modeling to investigate how these two types of attention—spatial and feature based—interact to modulate sensitivity when combined in one task. Observers monitored overlapping groups of dots for a target change in color saturation, which they had to localize as being in the upper or lower visual hemifield. Pre-cues indicated the target's most likely location (left/right), color (red/green), or both location and color. We measured sensitivity (d′) for every combination of the location cue and the color cue, each of which could be valid, neutral, or invalid. When three competing saturation changes occurred simultaneously with the target change, there was a clear interaction: The spatial cueing effect was strongest for the cued color, and the color cueing effect was strongest at the cued location. In a second experiment, only the target dot group changed saturation, such that stimulus competition was low. The resulting cueing effects were statistically independent and additive: The color cueing effect was equally strong at attended and unattended locations. We account for these data with a computational model in which spatial and feature-based attention independently modulate the gain of sensory responses, consistent with measurements of cortical activity. Multiple responses then compete via divisive normalization. Sufficient competition creates interactions between the two cueing effects, although the attentional systems are themselves independent. This model helps reconcile seemingly disparate behavioral and physiological findings. PMID:26473316

  11. Performance evaluation of non-line-of-sight optical communication system operating in the solar-blind ultraviolet spectrum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raptis, Nikos; Pikasis, Evangelos; Syvridis, Dimitris

    2016-10-01

    For several years, it has been examined if the attributes of the wavelengths in C band of the Ultraviolet (UV) spectrum that lie between 200 and 280 nm can be exploited in order to set up short range covert links of low rate in a Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) regime. In the present work, it is experimentally investigated and verified that using this band, short range and low rate NLOS links using the same transmitter/receiver pair under different atmospheric conditions without applying extreme power levels can be implemented rather effectively. The transmitter was composed of four Light Emitting Diodes. At the receiving side, an optical filter was followed by a Photo-Multiplier Tube. Initially, we measured the power losses of the channels with and without fog (artificially generated) for ranges up to 20 meters and several transmitters/receiver configurations. Secondly, the performance of Fourth-order Pulse Position Modulation (4-PPM) and Flip Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (Flip-OFDM) was evaluated for such channels and 10 Kbit/s rate. Applying emissions at 265 nm, NLOS links can operate efficiently especially in harsh environments, as the power losses were lowered when fog appeared. In terms of the modulation formats, 4-PPM performed better in most cases. Better results were obtained for both schemes when the medium became thicker due to the presence of fog. Finally, some initial measurements were realized with a Silicon Carbide PiN photodiode for the same rate but low elevation angles. The performance was exactly the opposite compared to a receiver with inherent gain when the atmosphere thickened.

  12. Revealing the Hidden Relationship by Sparse Modules in Complex Networks with a Large-Scale Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Jiao, Qing-Ju; Huang, Yan; Liu, Wei; Wang, Xiao-Fan; Chen, Xiao-Shuang; Shen, Hong-Bin

    2013-01-01

    One of the remarkable features of networks is module that can provide useful insights into not only network organizations but also functional behaviors between their components. Comprehensive efforts have been devoted to investigating cohesive modules in the past decade. However, it is still not clear whether there are important structural characteristics of the nodes that do not belong to any cohesive module. In order to answer this question, we performed a large-scale analysis on 25 complex networks with different types and scales using our recently developed BTS (bintree seeking) algorithm, which is able to detect both cohesive and sparse modules in the network. Our results reveal that the sparse modules composed by the cohesively isolated nodes widely co-exist with the cohesive modules. Detailed analysis shows that both types of modules provide better characterization for the division of a network into functional units than merely cohesive modules, because the sparse modules possibly re-organize the nodes in the so-called cohesive modules, which lack obvious modular significance, into meaningful groups. Compared with cohesive modules, the sizes of sparse ones are generally smaller. Sparse modules are also found to have preferences in social and biological networks than others. PMID:23762457

  13. The Cdk4-E2f1 pathway regulates early pancreas development by targeting Pdx1+ progenitors and Ngn3+ endocrine precursors

    PubMed Central

    Kim, So Yoon; Rane, Sushil G.

    2011-01-01

    Cell division and cell differentiation are intricately regulated processes vital to organ development. Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are master regulators of the cell cycle that orchestrate the cell division and differentiation programs. Cdk1 is essential to drive cell division and is required for the first embryonic divisions, whereas Cdks 2, 4 and 6 are dispensable for organogenesis but vital for tissue-specific cell development. Here, we illustrate an important role for Cdk4 in regulating early pancreas development. Pancreatic development involves extensive morphogenesis, proliferation and differentiation of the epithelium to give rise to the distinct cell lineages of the adult pancreas. The cell cycle molecules that specify lineage commitment within the early pancreas are unknown. We show that Cdk4 and its downstream transcription factor E2f1 regulate mouse pancreas development prior to and during the secondary transition. Cdk4 deficiency reduces embryonic pancreas size owing to impaired mesenchyme development and fewer Pdx1+ pancreatic progenitor cells. Expression of activated Cdk4R24C kinase leads to increased Nkx2.2+ and Nkx6.1+ cells and a rise in the number and proliferation of Ngn3+ endocrine precursors, resulting in expansion of the β cell lineage. We show that E2f1 binds and activates the Ngn3 promoter to modulate Ngn3 expression levels in the embryonic pancreas in a Cdk4-dependent manner. These results suggest that Cdk4 promotes β cell development by directing E2f1-mediated activation of Ngn3 and increasing the pool of endocrine precursors, and identify Cdk4 as an important regulator of early pancreas development that modulates the proliferation potential of pancreatic progenitors and endocrine precursors. PMID:21490060

  14. Conceptual assessment tool for advanced undergraduate electrodynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baily, Charles; Ryan, Qing X.; Astolfi, Cecilia; Pollock, Steven J.

    2017-12-01

    As part of ongoing investigations into student learning in advanced undergraduate courses, we have developed a conceptual assessment tool for upper-division electrodynamics (E&M II): the Colorado UppeR-division ElectrodyNamics Test (CURrENT). This is a free response, postinstruction diagnostic with 6 multipart questions, an optional 3-question preinstruction test, and accompanying grading rubrics. The instrument's development was guided by faculty-consensus learning goals and research into common student difficulties. It can be used to gauge the effectiveness of transformed pedagogy, and to gain insights into student thinking in the covered topic areas. We present baseline data representing 500 students across 9 institutions, along with validity, reliability, and discrimination measures of the instrument and scoring rubric.

  15. Improved slow-light performance of 10 Gb/s NRZ, PSBT and DPSK signals in fiber broadband SBS.

    PubMed

    Yi, Lilin; Jaouen, Yves; Hu, Weisheng; Su, Yikai; Bigo, Sébastien

    2007-12-10

    We have demonstrated error-free operations of slow-light via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical fiber for 10-Gb/s signals with different modulation formats, including non-return-to-zero (NRZ), phase-shaped binary transmission (PSBT) and differential phase-shiftkeying (DPSK). The SBS gain bandwidth is broadened by using current noise modulation of the pump laser diode. The gain shape is simply controlled by the noise density function. Super-Gaussian noise modulation of the Brillouin pump allows a flat-top and sharp-edge SBS gain spectrum, which can reduce slow-light induced distortion in case of 10-Gb/s NRZ signal. The corresponding maximal delay-time with error-free operation is 35 ps. Then we propose the PSBT format to minimize distortions resulting from SBS filtering effect and dispersion accompanied with slow light because of its high spectral efficiency and strong dispersion tolerance. The sensitivity of the 10-Gb/s PSBT signal is 5.2 dB better than the NRZ case with a same 35-ps delay. The maximal delay of 51 ps with error-free operation has been achieved. Futhermore, the DPSK format is directly demodulated through a Gaussian-shaped SBS gain, which is achieved using Gaussian-noise modulation of the Brillouin pump. The maximal error-free time delay after demodulation of a 10-Gb/s DPSK signal is as high as 81.5 ps, which is the best demonstrated result for 10-Gb/s slow-light.

  16. A 16-channel cassette tape recorder system for clinical EEGs.

    PubMed

    Barlow, J S

    1975-02-01

    A 16-channel EEG tape recorder system having a frequency response of DC-100 Hz for each channel is described. The system utilized standard commercially available highfidelity audio tape decks in conjunction with specially designed circuits for time-division multiplexing a balanced amplitude modulation

  17. Involuntary Commitment Application: An Online Training Module

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whitfield, Kimberly Y.

    2012-01-01

    The use of Web-based technology has enabled many government and corporate training divisions to reach more learners than ever before. Institutions are restructuring their budgets, obtaining funding from governments and foundations to fund resources needed to increase online learning offerings. While online learning is increasing, questions arise…

  18. 77 FR 4833 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection, Comments Requested: Extension of a...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-01-31

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-0004] Agency Information... Collection Under Review. The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice... Bureau of Investigation, CJIS Division, Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, West Virginia...

  19. 76 FR 71607 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Extension of a...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-18

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-0008] Agency Information... Under Review. The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information... Investigation, CJIS Division, Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306; facsimile...

  20. 76 FR 72977 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Extension of a...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-28

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-0004] Agency Information... collection under review. The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice... Bureau of Investigation, CJIS Division, Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, West Virginia...

  1. Cognitive Style and Mobile E-Learning in Emergent Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Disorders for Millennial Undergraduate Medical Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

    PubMed Central

    Chao, Yi-Ping; Huang, Chung-Guei; Fang, Ji-Tseng; Wang, Shu-Ling; Chuang, Cheng-Keng; Kang, Chung-Jan; Hsin, Li-Jen; Lin, Wan-Ni; Fang, Tuan-Jen; Li, Hsueh-Yu

    2018-01-01

    Background Electronic learning (e-learning) through mobile technology represents a novel way to teach emergent otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery (ORL-HNS) disorders to undergraduate medical students. Whether a cognitive style of education combined with learning modules can impact learning outcomes and satisfaction in millennial medical students is unknown. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the impact of cognitive styles and learning modules using mobile e-learning on knowledge gain, competence gain, and satisfaction for emergent ORL-HNS disorders. Methods This randomized controlled trial included 60 undergraduate medical students who were novices in ORL-HNS at an academic teaching hospital. The cognitive style of the participants was assessed using the group embedded figures test. The students were randomly assigned (1:1) to a novel interactive multimedia (IM) group and conventional Microsoft PowerPoint show (PPS) group matched by age, sex, and cognitive style. The content for the gamified IM module was derived from and corresponded to the textbook-based learning material of the PPS module (video lectures). The participants were unblinded and used fully automated courseware containing the IM or PPS module on a 7-inch tablet for 100 min. Knowledge and competence were assessed using multiple-choice questions and multimedia situation tests, respectively. Each participant also rated their global satisfaction. Results All of the participants (median age 23 years, range 22-26 years; 36 males and 24 females) received the intended intervention after randomization. Overall, the participants had significant gains in knowledge (median 50%, interquartile range [IQR]=17%-80%, P<.001) and competence (median 13%, IQR=0%-33%, P=.006). There were no significant differences in knowledge gain (40%, IQR=13%-76% vs 60%, IQR=20%-100%, P=.42) and competence gain (0%, IQR= −21% to 38% vs 25%, IQR=0%-33%, P=.16) between the IM and PPS groups. However, the IM group had a higher satisfaction score (8, IQR=6-9 vs 6, IQR=4-7, P=.01) compared with the PPS group. Using Friedman’s two-way nonparametric analysis of variance, cognitive styles (field-independent, field-intermediate, or field-dependent classification) and learning modules (IM or PPS) had significant effects on both knowledge gain (both adjusted P<.001) and satisfaction (both adjusted P<.001). Conclusions Mobile e-learning is an effective modality to improve knowledge of emergent ORL-HNS in millennial undergraduate medical students. Our findings suggest the necessity of developing various modules for undergraduate medical students with different cognitive styles. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02971735; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02971735 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6waoOpCEV) PMID:29439943

  2. Optical communication in free space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Plotkin, H. H.; Mcavoy, N.; Fitzmaurice, M. W.

    1974-01-01

    Two classes of laser communication systems for handling very high data rates across inter-satellite distances are considered that provide for high antenna gains, wide modulation bandwidths, and optical receiver sensitivities. System design considerations are based upon the carbon dioxide laser modulation to accommodate digital or analog information, and the neodymium doped YAG laser pulse for digital modulation.

  3. Design, fabrication, test, qualification and price analysis of third generation design solar cell modules. Part 1: Intermediate load module

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bottenberg, W. R.

    1981-01-01

    The updated program plan and narrative reflects the design and development work done and progress made in establishing a viable design for these modules. Design alterations from the preproduction plan are discussed based on experience gained during the preproduction phase of the program.

  4. Design and evaluation of a digital module with guided peer feedback for student learning biotechnology and molecular life sciences, attitudinal change, and satisfaction.

    PubMed

    Noroozi, Omid; Mulder, Martin

    2017-01-02

    This study aims to investigate the impacts of a digital learning module with guided peer feedback on students' domain-specific knowledge gain and their attitudinal change in the field of biotechnology and molecular life sciences. The extent to which the use of this module is appreciated by students is studied as well. A pre-test, post-test design was used with 203 students who were randomly assigned to groups of three. They were asked to work on the digital module with the aim of exploring various perspectives, and the "pros and cons" on the topic of "Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)." The results suggest that the module can be used to foster students' domain-specific knowledge gain and their attitudinal change. Furthermore, the module was evaluated positively in terms of students' motivation and satisfaction with the learning experiences. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(1):31-39, 2017. © 2016 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  5. Using Next-Generation Sequencing to Explore Genetics and Race in the High School Classroom

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Xinmiao; Hartman, Mark R.; Harrington, Kristin T.; Etson, Candice M.; Fierman, Matthew B.; Slonim, Donna K.; Walt, David R.

    2017-01-01

    With the development of new sequencing and bioinformatics technologies, concepts relating to personal genomics play an increasingly important role in our society. To promote interest and understanding of sequencing and bioinformatics in the high school classroom, we developed and implemented a laboratory-based teaching module called “The Genetics of Race.” This module uses the topic of race to engage students with sequencing and genetics. In the experimental portion of this module, students isolate their own mitochondrial DNA using standard biotechnology techniques and collect next-generation sequencing data to determine which of their classmates are most and least genetically similar to themselves. We evaluated the efficacy of this module by administering a pretest/posttest evaluation to measure student knowledge related to sequencing and bioinformatics, and we also conducted a survey at the conclusion of the module to assess student attitudes. Upon completion of our Genetics of Race module, students demonstrated significant learning gains, with lower-performing students obtaining the highest gains, and developed more positive attitudes toward scientific research. PMID:28408407

  6. Frequency-specific attentional modulation in human primary auditory cortex and midbrain.

    PubMed

    Riecke, Lars; Peters, Judith C; Valente, Giancarlo; Poser, Benedikt A; Kemper, Valentin G; Formisano, Elia; Sorger, Bettina

    2018-07-01

    Paying selective attention to an audio frequency selectively enhances activity within primary auditory cortex (PAC) at the tonotopic site (frequency channel) representing that frequency. Animal PAC neurons achieve this 'frequency-specific attentional spotlight' by adapting their frequency tuning, yet comparable evidence in humans is scarce. Moreover, whether the spotlight operates in human midbrain is unknown. To address these issues, we studied the spectral tuning of frequency channels in human PAC and inferior colliculus (IC), using 7-T functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and frequency mapping, while participants focused on different frequency-specific sounds. We found that shifts in frequency-specific attention alter the response gain, but not tuning profile, of PAC frequency channels. The gain modulation was strongest in low-frequency channels and varied near-monotonically across the tonotopic axis, giving rise to the attentional spotlight. We observed less prominent, non-tonotopic spatial patterns of attentional modulation in IC. These results indicate that the frequency-specific attentional spotlight in human PAC as measured with FMRI arises primarily from tonotopic gain modulation, rather than adapted frequency tuning. Moreover, frequency-specific attentional modulation of afferent sound processing in human IC seems to be considerably weaker, suggesting that the spotlight diminishes toward this lower-order processing stage. Our study sheds light on how the human auditory pathway adapts to the different demands of selective hearing. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Enhanced noise tolerance for 10 Gb/s Bi-directional cross-wavelength reuse colorless WDM-PON by using spectrally shaped OFDM signals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choudhury, Pallab K.

    2018-05-01

    Spectrally shaped orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal for symmetric 10 Gb/s cross-wavelength reuse reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) based colorless wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) is proposed and further analyzed to support broadband services of next generation high speed optical access networks. The generated OFDM signal has subcarriers in separate frequency ranges for downstream and upstream, such that the re-modulation noise can be effectively minimized in upstream data receiver. Moreover, the cross wavelength reuse approach improves the tolerance against Rayleigh backscattering noise due to the propagation of different wavelengths in the same feeder fiber. The proposed WDM-PON is successfully demonstrated for 25 km fiber with 16-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) OFDM signal having bandwidth of 2.5 GHz for 10 Gb/s operation and subcarrier frequencies in 3-5.5 GHz and DC-2.5 GHz for downstream (DS) and upstream (US) transmission respectively. The result shows that the proposed scheme maintains a good bit error rate (BER) performance below the forward error correction (FEC) limit of 3.8 × 10-3 at acceptable receiver sensitivity and provides a high resilience against re-modulation and Rayleigh backscattering noises as well as chromatic dispersion.

  8. Analog Signal Pre-Processing For The Fermilab Main Injector BPM Upgrade

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

    Saewert, A. L.; Rapisarda, S. M.; Wendt, M.

    2006-11-20

    An analog signal pre-processing scheme was developed, in the framework of the Fermilab Main Injector Beam Position Monitor (BPM) Upgrade, to interface BPM pickup signals to the new digital receiver based read-out system. A key component is the 8-channel electronics module, which uses separate frequency-selective gain stages to acquire 53 MHz bunched proton and 2.5 MHz antiproton signals. Related hardware includes a filter and combiner box to sum pickup electrode signals in the tunnel. A controller module allows local/remote control of gain settings and activation of gain stages and supplies test signals. Theory of operation, system overview, and some designmore » details are presented, as well as first beam measurements of the prototype hardware.« less

  9. Legitimate Peripheral Participation of Pre-Service Science Teachers: Collaborative Reflections in an Online Community of Practice, Twitter

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Minkee; Cavas, Bulent

    2013-01-01

    As a key to decide a success or risk of a community of practice, legitimacy of a participant has been conceptually discussed in abundant theoretical literature. Achieving legitimacy is interpreted as gaining credibility from peers, enlarging divisions of labor in a social environment, collecting reinforcement from colleague teachers in the…

  10. Implementation of a Three-Semester Concurrent Engineering Design Sequence for Lower-Division Engineering Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bertozzi, N.; Hebert, C.; Rought, J.; Staniunas, C.

    2007-01-01

    Over the past decade the software products available for solid modeling, dynamic, stress, thermal, and flow analysis, and computer-aiding manufacturing (CAM) have become more powerful, affordable, and easier to use. At the same time it has become increasingly important for students to gain concurrent engineering design and systems integration…

  11. Claiming Access to Elite Curriculum: Identification and Division at the Harvard Annex

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Enoch, Jessica

    2012-01-01

    This article analyses the rhetorical practices deployed by the Society for the Collegiate Instruction for Women (SCIW) that sought to gain and maintain curricular access to Harvard University in the late 19th century Using Kenneth Burke's theory of identification as an analytical framework, the article considers how the SCIW composed Burkean…

  12. The Effects of Spatial Diversity and Imperfect Channel Estimation on Wideband MC-DS-CDMA and MC-CDMA

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-10-01

    In our previous work, we compared the theoretical bit error rates of multi-carrier direct sequence code division multiple access (MC- DS - CDMA ) and...consider only those cases where MC- CDMA has higher frequency diversity than MC- DS - CDMA . Since increases in diversity yield diminishing gains, we conclude

  13. Serving the Needs of Performing Arts Students: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mayer, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    The intent of this case study was to gain insight into the information needs and research behaviors of upper-division performing arts students, and how to best address those needs. This article presents findings from focus group interviews of thirty music, dance, and theater majors at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. The data revealed several…

  14. The Mattis Way of War: An Examination of Operational Art in Task Force 58 and 1st Marine Division

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-12-12

    Research Questions Did his innovations work? Are they worthy of repeating? Did his style evolve as he increased in responsibility? What role did current...staff was born both out of necessity, lack of physical space, and personal style . Efficiencies gained from a small staff generate speed in orders...

  15. ZapE Is a Novel Cell Division Protein Interacting with FtsZ and Modulating the Z-Ring Dynamics

    PubMed Central

    Marteyn, Benoit S.; Karimova, Gouzel; Fenton, Andrew K.; Gazi, Anastasia D.; West, Nicholas; Touqui, Lhousseine; Prevost, Marie-Christine; Betton, Jean-Michel; Poyraz, Oemer; Ladant, Daniel; Gerdes, Kenn; Sansonetti, Philippe J.; Tang, Christoph M.

    2014-01-01

    ABSTRACT Bacterial cell division requires the formation of a mature divisome complex positioned at the midcell. The localization of the divisome complex is determined by the correct positioning, assembly, and constriction of the FtsZ ring (Z-ring). Z-ring constriction control remains poorly understood and (to some extent) controversial, probably due to the fact that this phenomenon is transient and controlled by numerous factors. Here, we characterize ZapE, a novel ATPase found in Gram-negative bacteria, which is required for growth under conditions of low oxygen, while loss of zapE results in temperature-dependent elongation of cell shape. We found that ZapE is recruited to the Z-ring during late stages of the cell division process and correlates with constriction of the Z-ring. Overexpression or inactivation of zapE leads to elongation of Escherichia coli and affects the dynamics of the Z-ring during division. In vitro, ZapE destabilizes FtsZ polymers in an ATP-dependent manner. PMID:24595368

  16. GLABROUS INFLORESCENCE STEMS regulates trichome branching by genetically interacting with SIM in Arabidopsis.

    PubMed

    Sun, Li-Li; Zhou, Zhong-Jing; An, Li-Jun; An, Yan; Zhao, Yong-Qin; Meng, Xiao-Fang; Steele-King, Clare; Gan, Yin-Bo

    2013-07-01

    Arabidopsis trichomes are large branched single cells that protrude from the epidermis. The first morphological indication of trichome development is an increase in nuclear content resulting from an initial cycle of endoreduplication. Our previous study has shown that the C2H2 zinc finger protein GLABROUS INFLORESCENCE STEMS (GIS) is required for trichome initiation in the inflorescence organ and for trichome branching in response to gibberellic acid signaling, although GIS gene does not play a direct role in regulating trichome cell division. Here, we describe a novel role of GIS, controlling trichome cell division indirectly by interacting genetically with a key endoreduplication regulator SIAMESE (SIM). Our molecular and genetic studies have shown that GIS might indireclty control cell division and trichome branching by acting downstream of SIM. A loss of function mutation of SIM signficantly reduced the expression of GIS. Futhermore, the overexpression of GIS rescued the trichome cluster cell phenotypes of sim mutant. The gain or loss of function of GIS had no significant effect on the expression of SIM. These results suggest that GIS may play an indirect role in regulating trichome cell division by genetically interacting with SIM.

  17. 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.

  18. Model documentation report: Residential sector demand module of the national energy modeling system

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

    NONE

    This report documents the objectives, analytical approach, and development of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) Residential Sector Demand Module. The report catalogues and describes the model assumptions, computational methodology, parameter estimation techniques, and FORTRAN source code. This reference document provides a detailed description for energy analysts, other users, and the public. The NEMS Residential Sector Demand Module is currently used for mid-term forecasting purposes and energy policy analysis over the forecast horizon of 1993 through 2020. The model generates forecasts of energy demand for the residential sector by service, fuel, and Census Division. Policy impacts resulting from new technologies,more » market incentives, and regulatory changes can be estimated using the module. 26 refs., 6 figs., 5 tabs.« less

  19. Small-signal modulation characteristics of a polariton laser

    PubMed Central

    Zunaid Baten, Md; Frost, Thomas; Iorsh, Ivan; Deshpande, Saniya; Kavokin, Alexey; Bhattacharya, Pallab

    2015-01-01

    Use of large bandgap materials together with electrical injection makes the polariton laser an attractive low-power coherent light source for medical and biomedical applications or short distance plastic fiber communication at short wavelengths (violet and ultra-violet), where a conventional laser is difficult to realize. The dynamic properties of a polariton laser have not been investigated experimentally. We have measured, for the first time, the small signal modulation characteristics of a GaN-based electrically pumped polariton laser operating at room temperature. A maximum −3 dB modulation bandwidth of 1.18 GHz is measured. The experimental results have been analyzed with a theoretical model based on the Boltzmann kinetic equations and the agreement is very good. We have also investigated frequency chirping during such modulation. Gain compression phenomenon in a polariton laser is interpreted and a value is obtained for the gain compression factor. PMID:26154681

  20. Astronaut Eugene Cernan drives the Lunar Roving Vehicle during first EVA

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1972-12-10

    AS17-147-22526 (11 Dec. 1972) --- Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander, makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. This view of the "stripped down" LRV is prior to loading up. Equipment later loaded onto the LRV included the ground-controlled television assembly, the lunar communications relay unit, hi-gain antenna, low-gain antenna, aft tool pallet, lunar tools and scientific gear. This photograph was taken by scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot. The mountain in the right background is the east end of South Massif. While astronauts Cernan and Schmitt descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Challenger" to explore the moon, astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "America" in lunar orbit.

  1. Wavefront division digital holography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Wenhui; Cao, Liangcai; Li, Rujia; Zhang, Hua; Zhang, Hao; Jiang, Qiang; Jin, Guofan

    2018-05-01

    Digital holography (DH), mostly Mach-Zehnder configuration based, belongs to non-common path amplitude splitting interference imaging whose stability and fringe contrast are environmental sensitive. This paper presents a wavefront division DH configuration with both high stability and high-contrast fringes benefitting from quasi common path wavefront-splitting interference. In our proposal, two spherical waves with similar curvature coming from the same wavefront are used, which makes full use of the physical sampling capacity of the detectors. The interference fringe spacing can be adjusted flexibly for both in-line and off-axis mode due to the independent modulation to these two waves. Only a few optical elements, including the mirror-beam splitter interference component, are used without strict alignments, which makes it robust and easy-to-implement. The proposed wavefront division DH promotes interference imaging physics into the practical and miniaturized a step forward. The feasibility of this method is proved by the imaging of a resolution target and a water flea.

  2. Surface Warfare Officers Initial Training For Future Success

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2018-03-01

    updating and creating learning modules and Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) staffing as well as weaknesses in the methodologies used for...and Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) staffing as well as weaknesses in the methodologies used for training. We conclude that the Basic Division... METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................9 1. Staff Interviews

  3. Identification and Analysis of Bioactive Components of Fruit and Vegetable Products

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mann, Francis M.

    2015-01-01

    Many small-molecule antioxidants found in whole fruits and vegetables are analyzed and identified in this laboratory module for upper-division biochemistry courses. During this experiment, students develop their knowledge of the bioactivity of fruit and vegetable products while learning techniques to identify vitamins and nutritionally derived…

  4. A Study of the Feasibility of Vocational Modules.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Platero, Dillon; And Others

    Educational consultants, town residents, Navajo tribal chapters and councils, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Navajo Division of Education, and local public school districts in Navajo, New Mexico, worked together to design an effective vocational program for an unskilled labor force sparsely settled within a large geographic area. The concept of…

  5. 21 CFR 1311.08 - Incorporation by reference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Computer Security Division, Information Technology... Publication (FIPS PUB) 140-2, Change Notices (12-03-2002), Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules... §§ 1311.30(b), 1311.55(b), 1311.115(b), 1311.120(b), 1311.205(b). (i) Annex A: Approved Security Functions...

  6. EMC Enhanced Constant ’Z’ Modulator.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-06-01

    TUTHILL, Colonel, USAF Chief, Relilability & Compatibility Division FOR THE COMMANDER: JOHN A. RITZ Acting Chief, Plans Office 0 * - If your address...supply bypasses. 3.2.6 System Testing Breadboard system tests resulted in the replacement of the HP5082-3340 shunt mounted PIN diodes due to a carrer life

  7. 76 FR 57081 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection, Comments Requested; Extension of a...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Federal Bureau of Investigation [OMB Number 1110-0008] Agency Information... Under Review. The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information... Investigation, CJIS Division, Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306, or facsimile...

  8. Power-efficient method for IM-DD optical transmission of multiple OFDM signals.

    PubMed

    Effenberger, Frank; Liu, Xiang

    2015-05-18

    We propose a power-efficient method for transmitting multiple frequency-division multiplexed (FDM) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signals in intensity-modulation direct-detection (IM-DD) optical systems. This method is based on quadratic soft clipping in combination with odd-only channel mapping. We show, both analytically and experimentally, that the proposed approach is capable of improving the power efficiency by about 3 dB as compared to conventional FDM OFDM signals under practical bias conditions, making it a viable solution in applications such as optical fiber-wireless integrated systems where both IM-DD optical transmission and OFDM signaling are important.

  9. High Speed Inter-Satellite Communication System by Incorporating Hybrid Polarization-Wavelength Division Multiplexing Scheme

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chaudhary, Sushank; Chaudhary, Neha; Sharma, Saurabh; Choudhary, BC

    2017-12-01

    Inter-Satellite communication is one of remarkable technologies that can be used to communicate between satellites. This work is focused to carry out the investigations of polarization scheme by incorporating dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) scheme in inter-satellite communication system. A 20×6 Gbps data are transported over inter-satellite optical link having span of 5,000 km to realize the total data transmission of 120 Gbps. Moreover, results are also reported with the effect of RZ and NRZ modulation schemes. The performance of proposed inter-satellite communication link is measured in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, received power and eye diagrams.

  10. VCSEL Scaling, Laser Integration on Silicon, and Bit Energy

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-03-01

    need of high efficiency with high temperature operation eliminates essentially all laser diode technologies except VCSELs. Therefore scaling of the...CW laser diode and separate modulator. Lower diagram circuitry shows the case for a DML VCSEL. The small gain volume and high speed modulation...speed of the modulator. However the CW laser that is needed for the modulator appears to create a technological roadblock for laser diode platforms

  11. Unidirectional complex grating assisted couplers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Greenberg, Maxim; Orenstein, Meir

    2004-08-01

    We present a novel concept which enables the realization of unidirectional and irreversible grating assisted couplers by using gain-loss modulated medium to eliminate the reversibility. Employing a matched periodic modulation of both refractive index and loss (gain) we achieve a unidirectional energy transfer between the modes of the coupler which translates to light transmission from one waveguide to another while disabling the inverse transmission. The importance of self coupling coefficients is explored as well and a feasible implementation, where the real and imaginary perturbations are implemented in different waveguides is presented.

  12. Modular approach to achieving the next-generation X-ray light source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Biedron, S. G.; Milton, S. V.; Freund, H. P.

    2001-12-01

    A modular approach to the next-generation light source is described. The "modules" include photocathode, radio-frequency, electron guns and their associated drive-laser systems, linear accelerators, bunch-compression systems, seed laser systems, planar undulators, two-undulator harmonic generation schemes, high-gain harmonic generation systems, nonlinear higher harmonics, and wavelength shifting. These modules will be helpful in distributing the next-generation light source to many more laboratories than the current single-pass, high-gain free-electron laser designs permit, due to both monetary and/or physical space constraints.

  13. Systems, Methods and Apparatus for Position Sensor Digital Conditioning Electronics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Howard, David E. (Inventor); Alhorn, Dean C. (Inventor); Smith, Dennis A. (Inventor); Dutton, Kenneth R. (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some implementations determine the amplitude of an amplitude modulated signal, modulated by the position of an object being sensed. In some aspects, the apparatus accepts an excitation signal and the amplitude modulated signal and divides the amplitude modulated by the excitation signal to produce an output signal that is proportional to the position of the object being sensed. In other aspects, the division is performed only when the excitation signal is non-zero, such as close to the peaks in the excitation signal. In other aspects, the excitation signal and amplitude modulated signal are degraded due to an air gap and the degraded signals are used to correct for amplitude fluctuations due to the air gap, and produce an output signal, tolerant of the air gaps, that is proportional to the position of the object being sensed.

  14. User needs for propagation data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sullivan, Thomas M.

    1993-01-01

    New and refined models of radio signal propagation phenomena are needed to support studies of evolving satellite services and systems. Taking an engineering perspective, applications for propagation measurements and models in the context of various types of analyses that are of ongoing interest are reviewed. Problems that were encountered in the signal propagation aspects of these analyses are reviewed, and potential solutions to these problems are discussed. The focus is on propagation measurements and models needed to support design and performance analyses of systems in the Mobile-Satellite Service (MSS) operating in the 1-3 GHz range. These systems may use geostationary or non-geostationary satellites and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access Digital (TDMA), or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) techniques. Many of the propagation issues raised in relation to MSS are also pertinent to other services such as broadcasting-satellite (sound) at 2310-2360 MHz. In particular, services involving mobile terminals or terminals with low gain antennas are of concern.

  15. Constrained coding for the deep-spaced optical channel

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Moision, B.; Hamkins, J.

    2002-01-01

    In this paper, we demonstrate a class of low-complexity modulation codes satisfying the (d,k) constraint that offer throughput gains over M-PPM on the order of 10-15%, which translate into SNR gains of .4 - .6 dB.

  16. High-speed clock recovery with phase-locked-loop-based on LiNbO3 modulators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Guanghao; Chen, Hongmin; Wang, Qiang; Dutta, Niloy K.

    2003-08-01

    In this paper, we present a scheme for recovering 10 GHz clock from 40 Gb/s and 80 Gb/s time division multiplexed (TDM) return to zero (RZ) data stream. The proposed clock recovery is successfully demonstrated using an electrical phase locked loop (PLL). The jitter of the recovered clock is estimated to be around 50 fs. The key part in the proposed clock recovery circuit is a LiNbO3 Mach-Zehnder modulator which is shown to be highly effective in optical to electrical down conversion.

  17. Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) encoder handbook for Aydin Vector MMP-600 series system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Currier, S. F.; Powell, W. R.

    1986-01-01

    The hardware and software characteristics of a time division multiplex system are described. The system is used to sample analog and digital data. The data is merged with synchronization information to produce a serial pulse coded modulation (PCM) bit stream. Information presented herein is required by users to design compatible interfaces and assure effective utilization of this encoder system. GSFC/Wallops Flight Facility has flown approximately 50 of these systems through 1984 on sounding rockets with no inflight failures. Aydin Vector manufactures all of the components for these systems.

  18. Technical implementation of an Internet address database with online maintenance module.

    PubMed

    Mischke, K L; Bollmann, F; Ehmer, U

    2002-01-01

    The article describes the technical implementation and management of the Internet address database of the center for ZMK (University of Münster, Dental School) Münster, which is integrated in the "ZMK-Web" website. The editorially maintained system guarantees its topicality primarily due to the electronically organized division of work with the aid of an online maintenance module programmed in JavaScript/PHP, as well as a database-related feedback function for the visitor to the website through configuration-independent direct mail windows programmed in JavaScript/PHP.

  19. Gain dynamics of clad-pumped Yb-fiber amplifier and intensity noise control.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Jian; Guiraud, Germain; Floissat, Florian; Gouhier, Benoit; Rota-Rodrigo, Sergio; Traynor, Nicholas; Santarelli, Giorgio

    2017-01-09

    Gain dynamics study provides an attractive method to understand the intensity noise behavior in fiber amplifiers. Here, the gain dynamics of a medium power (5 W) clad-pumped Yb-fiber amplifier is experimentally evaluated by measuring the frequency domain transfer functions for the input seed and pump lasers from 10 Hz to 1 MHz. We study gain dynamic behavior of the fiber amplifier in the presence of significant residual pump power (compared to the seed power), showing that the seed transfer function is strongly saturated at low Fourier frequencies while the pump power modulation transfer function is nearly unaffected. The characterization of relative intensity noise (RIN) of the fiber amplifier is well explained by the gain dynamics analysis. Finally, a 600 kHz bandwidth feedback loop using an acoustic-optical modulator (AOM) controlling the seed intensity is successfully demonstrated to suppress the broadband laser intensity noise. A maximum noise reduction of about 30 dB is achieved leading to a RIN of -152 dBc/Hz (~1 kHz-10 MHz) at 2.5 W output power.

  20. An integrative approach to inferring biologically meaningful gene modules.

    PubMed

    Cho, Ji-Hoon; Wang, Kai; Galas, David J

    2011-07-26

    The ability to construct biologically meaningful gene networks and modules is critical for contemporary systems biology. Though recent studies have demonstrated the power of using gene modules to shed light on the functioning of complex biological systems, most modules in these networks have shown little association with meaningful biological function. We have devised a method which directly incorporates gene ontology (GO) annotation in construction of gene modules in order to gain better functional association. We have devised a method, Semantic Similarity-Integrated approach for Modularization (SSIM) that integrates various gene-gene pairwise similarity values, including information obtained from gene expression, protein-protein interactions and GO annotations, in the construction of modules using affinity propagation clustering. We demonstrated the performance of the proposed method using data from two complex biological responses: 1. the osmotic shock response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and 2. the prion-induced pathogenic mouse model. In comparison with two previously reported algorithms, modules identified by SSIM showed significantly stronger association with biological functions. The incorporation of semantic similarity based on GO annotation with gene expression and protein-protein interaction data can greatly enhance the functional relevance of inferred gene modules. In addition, the SSIM approach can also reveal the hierarchical structure of gene modules to gain a broader functional view of the biological system. Hence, the proposed method can facilitate comprehensive and in-depth analysis of high throughput experimental data at the gene network level.

  1. Input-dependent modulation of MEG gamma oscillations reflects gain control in the visual cortex.

    PubMed

    Orekhova, Elena V; Sysoeva, Olga V; Schneiderman, Justin F; Lundström, Sebastian; Galuta, Ilia A; Goiaeva, Dzerasa E; Prokofyev, Andrey O; Riaz, Bushra; Keeler, Courtney; Hadjikhani, Nouchine; Gillberg, Christopher; Stroganova, Tatiana A

    2018-05-31

    Gamma-band oscillations arise from the interplay between neural excitation (E) and inhibition (I) and may provide a non-invasive window into the state of cortical circuitry. A bell-shaped modulation of gamma response power by increasing the intensity of sensory input was observed in animals and is thought to reflect neural gain control. Here we sought to find a similar input-output relationship in humans with MEG via modulating the intensity of a visual stimulation by changing the velocity/temporal-frequency of visual motion. In the first experiment, adult participants observed static and moving gratings. The frequency of the MEG gamma response monotonically increased with motion velocity whereas power followed a bell-shape. In the second experiment, on a large group of children and adults, we found that despite drastic developmental changes in frequency and power of gamma oscillations, the relative suppression at high motion velocities was scaled to the same range of values across the life-span. In light of animal and modeling studies, the modulation of gamma power and frequency at high stimulation intensities characterizes the capacity of inhibitory neurons to counterbalance increasing excitation in visual networks. Gamma suppression may thus provide a non-invasive measure of inhibitory-based gain control in the healthy and diseased brain.

  2. Analog signal pre-processing for the Fermilab Main Injector BPM upgrade

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

    Saewert, A.L.; Rapisarda, S.M.; Wendt, M.

    2006-05-01

    An analog signal pre-processing scheme was developed, in the framework of the Fermilab Main Injector Beam Position Monitor (BPM) Upgrade, to interface BPM pickup signals to the new digital receiver based read-out system. A key component is the 8-channel electronics module, which uses separate frequency selective gain stages to acquire 53 MHz bunched proton, and 2.5 MHz anti-proton signals. Related hardware includes a filter and combiner box to sum pickup electrode signals in the tunnel. A controller module allows local/remote control of gain settings and activation of gain stages, and supplies test signals. Theory of operation, system overview, and somemore » design details are presented, as well as first beam measurements of the prototype hardware.« less

  3. Development of a front-end analog circuit for multi-channel SiPM readout and performance verification for various PET detector designs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ko, Guen Bae; Yoon, Hyun Suk; Kwon, Sun Il; Lee, Chan Mi; Ito, Mikiko; Hong, Seong Jong; Lee, Dong Soo; Lee, Jae Sung

    2013-03-01

    Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are outstanding photosensors for the development of compact imaging devices and hybrid imaging systems such as positron emission tomography (PET)/ magnetic resonance (MR) scanners because of their small size and MR compatibility. The wide use of this sensor for various types of scintillation detector modules is being accelerated by recent developments in tileable multichannel SiPM arrays. In this work, we present the development of a front-end readout module for multi-channel SiPMs. This readout module is easily extendable to yield a wider detection area by the use of a resistive charge division network (RCN). We applied this readout module to various PET detectors designed for use in small animal PET/MR, optical fiber PET/MR, and double layer depth of interaction (DOI) PET. The basic characteristics of these detector modules were also investigated. The results demonstrate that the PET block detectors developed using the readout module and tileable multi-channel SiPMs had reasonable performance.

  4. Prescribed burning cost recovery analysis on nonindustrial private forestland in North Carolina

    Treesearch

    Ronald J. Myers; William Powell; Mark Megalos

    2012-01-01

    A statewide internal analysis of prescribed burning costs was conducted by the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources (NCDFR) in 2008 to examine the regional differences of site preparation and silvicultural burning costs, and to determine which components were most responsible for losses or gains. This study analyzed actual costs for 90 site preparation (2,559...

  5. Additional and Realistic Dimensions for Adult Basic Education - ABE for Real?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patten, W. George

    Adult basic education (ABE) programs are not adequate to prepare the unemployed and undereducated to gain entry into the labor market and conceivably higher education. Some indications of the scope of the problem can be seen in a recent Division of Adult Education, U.S. Office of Education, report which indicated that more than fifty-one million…

  6. Quantitative Investigations of Biodiesel Fuel Using Infrared Spectroscopy: An Instrumental Analysis Experiment for Undergraduate Chemistry Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ault, Andrew P.; Pomeroy, Robert

    2012-01-01

    Biodiesel has gained attention in recent years as a renewable fuel source due to its reduced greenhouse gas and particulate emissions, and it can be produced within the United States. A laboratory experiment designed for students in an upper-division undergraduate laboratory is described to study biodiesel production and biodiesel mixing with…

  7. A journey into school health promotion: district implementation of the health promoting schools approach.

    PubMed

    Gleddie, Doug

    2012-03-01

    The health-promoting schools approach has gained momentum in the last decade with many jurisdictions providing guidelines and frameworks for general implementation. Although general agreement exists as to the broad strokes needed for effectiveness, less apparent are local implementation designs and models. The Battle River Project was designed to explore one such local implementation strategy for a provincial (Alberta, Canada) health promoting schools program. Located in the Battle River School Division, the project featured a partnership between Ever Active Schools, the school division and the local health authority. Case study was used to come to a greater understanding of how the health promoting schools approach worked in this particular school authority and model. Three themes emerged: participation, coordination and, integration.

  8. Occupational Clothing Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fraser, Annette J.

    Designed to provide individualized, hands-on experience for secondary or postsecondary students in gainful homemaking programs, this occupational clothing curriculum contains eight learning modules. The following topics are covered in the modules: plant production for the needle trades (needle trade structure and operation, terminology, history,…

  9. Losses as Modulators of Attention: Review and Analysis of the Unique Effects of Losses over Gains

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yechiam, Eldad; Hochman, Guy

    2013-01-01

    It has been shown that in certain situations losses exert a stronger effect on behavior than respective gains, and this has been commonly explained by the argument that losses are given more weight in people's decisions than respective gains. However, although much is understood about the effect of losses on cognitive processes and behavior, 2…

  10. Input-Specific Gain Modulation by Local Sensory Context Shapes Cortical and Thalamic Responses to Complex Sounds.

    PubMed

    Williamson, Ross S; Ahrens, Misha B; Linden, Jennifer F; Sahani, Maneesh

    2016-07-20

    Sensory neurons are customarily characterized by one or more linearly weighted receptive fields describing sensitivity in sensory space and time. We show that in auditory cortical and thalamic neurons, the weight of each receptive field element depends on the pattern of sound falling within a local neighborhood surrounding it in time and frequency. Accounting for this change in effective receptive field with spectrotemporal context improves predictions of both cortical and thalamic responses to stationary complex sounds. Although context dependence varies among neurons and across brain areas, there are strong shared qualitative characteristics. In a spectrotemporally rich soundscape, sound elements modulate neuronal responsiveness more effectively when they coincide with sounds at other frequencies, and less effectively when they are preceded by sounds at similar frequencies. This local-context-driven lability in the representation of complex sounds-a modulation of "input-specific gain" rather than "output gain"-may be a widespread motif in sensory processing. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Gains in Factual and Applied Knowledge: College Students Using IRIS Modules Assigned as Homework or in Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    IRIS Center, 2017

    2017-01-01

    During the 2005-2006 academic year, the impact of IRIS Modules on student learning was conducted to examine how factors related to instructor application of the principles of the How People Learn theory (HPL) affect student learning. The module's content pertained to teaching self-regulation strategies to students. In an introductory class at a…

  12. Ultrafast Pulse Generation in an Organic Nanoparticle-Array Laser.

    PubMed

    Daskalakis, Konstantinos S; Väkeväinen, Aaro I; Martikainen, Jani-Petri; Hakala, Tommi K; Törmä, Päivi

    2018-04-11

    Nanoscale coherent light sources offer potentially ultrafast modulation speeds, which could be utilized for novel sensors and optical switches. Plasmonic periodic structures combined with organic gain materials have emerged as promising candidates for such nanolasers. Their plasmonic component provides high intensity and ultrafast nanoscale-confined electric fields, while organic gain materials offer fabrication flexibility and a low acquisition cost. Despite reports on lasing in plasmonic arrays, lasing dynamics in these structures have not been experimentally studied yet. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, an organic dye nanoparticle-array laser with more than a 100 GHz modulation bandwidth. We show that the lasing modulation speed can be tuned by the array parameters. Accelerated dynamics is observed for plasmonic lasing modes at the blue side of the dye emission.

  13. Development of components for an S-band phased array antenna subsystem

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1975-01-01

    The system requirements, module test data, and S-band phased array subsystem test data are discussed. Of the two approaches to achieving antenna gain (mechanically steered reflector or electronically steered phased array), the phased array approach offers the greatest simplicity and lowest cost (size, weight, power, and dollars) for this medium gain. A competitive system design is described as well as hardware evaluation which will lead to timely availability of this technology for implementing such a system. The objectives of the study were: to fabricate and test six engineering model transmit/receive microelectronics modules; to design, fabricate, and test one dc and logic multilayer manifold; and to integrate and test an S-band phased array antenna subsystem composed of antenna elements, seven T/R modules, RF manifolds and dc manifold.

  14. The GMT/MATLAB Toolbox

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wessel, Paul; Luis, Joaquim F.

    2017-02-01

    The GMT/MATLAB toolbox is a basic interface between MATLAB® (or Octave) and GMT, the Generic Mapping Tools, which allows MATLAB users full access to all GMT modules. Data may be passed between the two programs using intermediate MATLAB structures that organize the metadata needed; these are produced when GMT modules are run. In addition, standard MATLAB matrix data can be used directly as input to GMT modules. The toolbox improves interoperability between two widely used tools in the geosciences and extends the capability of both tools: GMT gains access to the powerful computational capabilities of MATLAB while the latter gains the ability to access specialized gridding algorithms and can produce publication-quality PostScript-based illustrations. The toolbox is available on all platforms and may be downloaded from the GMT website.

  15. Spatial Lattice Modulation for MIMO Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choi, Jiwook; Nam, Yunseo; Lee, Namyoon

    2018-06-01

    This paper proposes spatial lattice modulation (SLM), a spatial modulation method for multipleinput-multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The key idea of SLM is to jointly exploit spatial, in-phase, and quadrature dimensions to modulate information bits into a multi-dimensional signal set that consists oflattice points. One major finding is that SLM achieves a higher spectral efficiency than the existing spatial modulation and spatial multiplexing methods for the MIMO channel under the constraint ofM-ary pulseamplitude-modulation (PAM) input signaling per dimension. In particular, it is shown that when the SLM signal set is constructed by using dense lattices, a significant signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) gain, i.e., a nominal coding gain, is attainable compared to the existing methods. In addition, closed-form expressions for both the average mutual information and average symbol-vector-error-probability (ASVEP) of generic SLM are derived under Rayleigh-fading environments. To reduce detection complexity, a low-complexity detection method for SLM, which is referred to as lattice sphere decoding, is developed by exploiting lattice theory. Simulation results verify the accuracy of the conducted analysis and demonstrate that the proposed SLM techniques achieve higher average mutual information and lower ASVEP than do existing methods.

  16. Transverse Mode Dynamics of VCSELs Undergoing Current Modulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goorjian, Peter M.; Ning, C. Z.; Agrawal, Govind

    2000-01-01

    Transverse mode dynamics of a 20-micron-diameter vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) undergoing gain switching by deep current modulation is studied numerically. The direct current (dc) level is set slightly below threshold and is modulated by a large alternating current (ac). The resulting optical pulse train and transverse-mode patterns are obtained numerically. The ac frequency is varied from 2.5 GHz to 10 GHz, and the ac amplitude is varied from one-half to four times that of the dc level. At high modulation frequencies, a regular pulse train is not generated unless the ac amplitude is large enough. At all modulation frequencies, the transverse spatial profile switches from single-mode to multiple-mode pattern as the ac pumping level is increased. Optical pulse widths vary in the range 5-30 ps. with the pulse width decreasing when either the frequency is increased or the ac amplitude is decreased. The numerical modeling uses an approximation form of the semiconductor Maxwell-Bloch equations. Temporal evolution of the spatial profiles of the laser (and of carrier density) is determined without any assumptions about the type or number of modes. Keywords: VCSELs, current modulation, gain switching, transverse mode dynamics, computational modeling

  17. 1.25-3.125 Gb/s per user PON with RSOA as phase modulator for statistical wavelength ONU

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chu, Guang Yong; Polo, Victor; Lerín, Adolfo; Tabares, Jeison; Cano, Iván N.; Prat, Josep

    2015-12-01

    We report a new scheme to support, cost efficiently, ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexing (UDWDM) for optical access networks. As validating experiment, we apply phase modulation of a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) at the ONU with a single DFB, and simplified coherent receiver at OLT for upstream. We extend the limited 3-dB modulation bandwidth of available uncooled To-can packaged RSOA (~400 MHz) and operate it at 3.125 Gb/s with the optimal performance for phase modulation using small and large signal measurement characteristics. The optimal condition is selected at input power of 0 dBm, with 70 mA bias condition. The sensitivities at 3.125 Gb/s (at BER=10-3) for heterodyne and intradyne detection reach -34.3 dBm and -38.8 dBm, respectively.

  18. Cognitive Style and Mobile E-Learning in Emergent Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Disorders for Millennial Undergraduate Medical Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.

    PubMed

    Lee, Li-Ang; Chao, Yi-Ping; Huang, Chung-Guei; Fang, Ji-Tseng; Wang, Shu-Ling; Chuang, Cheng-Keng; Kang, Chung-Jan; Hsin, Li-Jen; Lin, Wan-Ni; Fang, Tuan-Jen; Li, Hsueh-Yu

    2018-02-13

    Electronic learning (e-learning) through mobile technology represents a novel way to teach emergent otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery (ORL-HNS) disorders to undergraduate medical students. Whether a cognitive style of education combined with learning modules can impact learning outcomes and satisfaction in millennial medical students is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of cognitive styles and learning modules using mobile e-learning on knowledge gain, competence gain, and satisfaction for emergent ORL-HNS disorders. This randomized controlled trial included 60 undergraduate medical students who were novices in ORL-HNS at an academic teaching hospital. The cognitive style of the participants was assessed using the group embedded figures test. The students were randomly assigned (1:1) to a novel interactive multimedia (IM) group and conventional Microsoft PowerPoint show (PPS) group matched by age, sex, and cognitive style. The content for the gamified IM module was derived from and corresponded to the textbook-based learning material of the PPS module (video lectures). The participants were unblinded and used fully automated courseware containing the IM or PPS module on a 7-inch tablet for 100 min. Knowledge and competence were assessed using multiple-choice questions and multimedia situation tests, respectively. Each participant also rated their global satisfaction. All of the participants (median age 23 years, range 22-26 years; 36 males and 24 females) received the intended intervention after randomization. Overall, the participants had significant gains in knowledge (median 50%, interquartile range [IQR]=17%-80%, P<.001) and competence (median 13%, IQR=0%-33%, P=.006). There were no significant differences in knowledge gain (40%, IQR=13%-76% vs 60%, IQR=20%-100%, P=.42) and competence gain (0%, IQR= -21% to 38% vs 25%, IQR=0%-33%, P=.16) between the IM and PPS groups. However, the IM group had a higher satisfaction score (8, IQR=6-9 vs 6, IQR=4-7, P=.01) compared with the PPS group. Using Friedman's two-way nonparametric analysis of variance, cognitive styles (field-independent, field-intermediate, or field-dependent classification) and learning modules (IM or PPS) had significant effects on both knowledge gain (both adjusted P<.001) and satisfaction (both adjusted P<.001). Mobile e-learning is an effective modality to improve knowledge of emergent ORL-HNS in millennial undergraduate medical students. Our findings suggest the necessity of developing various modules for undergraduate medical students with different cognitive styles. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02971735; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02971735 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6waoOpCEV). ©Li-Ang Lee, Yi-Ping Chao, Chung-Guei Huang, Ji-Tseng Fang, Shu-Ling Wang, Cheng-Keng Chuang, Chung-Jan Kang, Li-Jen Hsin, Wan-Ni Lin, Tuan-Jen Fang, Hsueh-Yu Li. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 13.02.2018.

  19. Gain control by layer six in cortical circuits of vision.

    PubMed

    Olsen, Shawn R; Bortone, Dante S; Adesnik, Hillel; Scanziani, Massimo

    2012-02-22

    After entering the cerebral cortex, sensory information spreads through six different horizontal neuronal layers that are interconnected by vertical axonal projections. It is believed that through these projections layers can influence each other's response to sensory stimuli, but the specific role that each layer has in cortical processing is still poorly understood. Here we show that layer six in the primary visual cortex of the mouse has a crucial role in controlling the gain of visually evoked activity in neurons of the upper layers without changing their tuning to orientation. This gain modulation results from the coordinated action of layer six intracortical projections to superficial layers and deep projections to the thalamus, with a substantial role of the intracortical circuit. This study establishes layer six as a major mediator of cortical gain modulation and suggests that it could be a node through which convergent inputs from several brain areas can regulate the earliest steps of cortical visual processing.

  20. Cell-specific gain modulation by synaptically released zinc in cortical circuits of audition.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Charles T; Kumar, Manoj; Xiong, Shanshan; Tzounopoulos, Thanos

    2017-09-09

    In many excitatory synapses, mobile zinc is found within glutamatergic vesicles and is coreleased with glutamate. Ex vivo studies established that synaptically released (synaptic) zinc inhibits excitatory neurotransmission at lower frequencies of synaptic activity but enhances steady state synaptic responses during higher frequencies of activity. However, it remains unknown how synaptic zinc affects neuronal processing in vivo. Here, we imaged the sound-evoked neuronal activity of the primary auditory cortex in awake mice. We discovered that synaptic zinc enhanced the gain of sound-evoked responses in CaMKII-expressing principal neurons, but it reduced the gain of parvalbumin- and somatostatin-expressing interneurons. This modulation was sound intensity-dependent and, in part, NMDA receptor-independent. By establishing a previously unknown link between synaptic zinc and gain control of auditory cortical processing, our findings advance understanding about cortical synaptic mechanisms and create a new framework for approaching and interpreting the role of the auditory cortex in sound processing.

  1. EPA RESPONSE PROTOCOL TOOLBOX TO HELP EVALUATION OF CONTAMINATION THREATS & RESPONDING TO THREATS: MODULE 1-WATER UTILITY PLANNING GUIDE

    EPA Science Inventory

    EPA's Office of Research and Development and Office of Water/Water Security Division have jointly developed a Response Protocol Toolbox (RPTB) to address the complex, multi-faceted challenges of a water utility's planning and response to intentional contamination of drinking wate...

  2. About the Nutritional Science Research Group | Division of Cancer Prevention

    Cancer.gov

    The Nutritional Science Research Group (NSRG) promotes and supports studies establishing a comprehensive understanding of the precise role of diet and food components in modulating cancer risk and tumor cell behavior. This focus includes approaches to characterize molecular targets and variability in individual responses to nutrients and dietary patterns. |

  3. Identification and Classification of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) Signals Used in Next Generation Wireless Systems

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-01

    advanced antenna systems AMC adaptive modulation and coding AWGN additive white Gaussian noise BPSK binary phase shift keying BS base station BTC ...QAM-16, and QAM-64, and coding types include convolutional coding (CC), convolutional turbo coding (CTC), block turbo coding ( BTC ), zero-terminating

  4. Online Series presents Cancer Prevention Through Immunomodulation. Does Diet Play a Role? | Division of Cancer Prevention

    Cancer.gov

    Scientists are increasingly harnessing the power of the immune system to prevent cancer. Nutrition provides an opportunity for a generalized immune activation and reduction of cancer risk in certain populations. Research on several foods and bioactive food components as immunologic modulators is showing promising results. |

  5. Hybrid WDM/OCDMA for next generation access network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Xu; Wada, Naoya; Miyazaki, T.; Cincotti, G.; Kitayama, Ken-ichi

    2007-11-01

    Hybrid wavelength division multiplexing/optical code division multiple access (WDM/OCDMA) passive optical network (PON), where asynchronous OCDMA traffic transmits over WDM network, can be one potential candidate for gigabit-symmetric fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services. In a cost-effective WDM/OCDMA network, a large scale multi-port encoder/decoder can be employed in the central office, and a low cost encoder/decoder will be used in optical network unit (ONU). The WDM/OCDMA system could be one promising solution to the symmetric high capacity access network with high spectral efficiency, cost effective, good flexibility and enhanced security. Asynchronous WDM/OCDMA systems have been experimentally demonstrated using superstructured fiber Bragg gratings (SSFBG) and muti-port OCDMA en/decoders. The total throughput has reached above Tera-bit/s with spectral efficiency of about 0.41. The key enabling techniques include ultra-long SSFBG, multi-port E/D with high power contrast ratio, optical thresholding, differential phase shift keying modulation with balanced detection, forward error correction, and etc. Using multi-level modulation formats to carry multi-bit information with single pulse, the total capacity and spectral efficiency could be further enhanced.

  6. Control of the mitotic exit network during meiosis

    PubMed Central

    Attner, Michelle A.; Amon, Angelika

    2012-01-01

    The mitotic exit network (MEN) is an essential GTPase signaling pathway that triggers exit from mitosis in budding yeast. We show here that during meiosis, the MEN is dispensable for exit from meiosis I but contributes to the timely exit from meiosis II. Consistent with a role for the MEN during meiosis II, we find that the signaling pathway is active only during meiosis II. Our analysis further shows that MEN signaling is modulated during meiosis in several key ways. Whereas binding of MEN components to spindle pole bodies (SPBs) is necessary for MEN signaling during mitosis, during meiosis MEN signaling occurs off SPBs and does not require the SPB recruitment factor Nud1. Furthermore, unlike during mitosis, MEN signaling is controlled through the regulated interaction between the MEN kinase Dbf20 and its activating subunit Mob1. Our data lead to the conclusion that a pathway essential for vegetative growth is largely dispensable for the specialized meiotic divisions and provide insights into how cell cycle regulatory pathways are modulated to accommodate different modes of cell division. PMID:22718910

  7. The OsSPL16-GW7 regulatory module determines grain shape and simultaneously improves rice yield and grain quality.

    PubMed

    Wang, Shaokui; Li, Shan; Liu, Qian; Wu, Kun; Zhang, Jianqing; Wang, Shuansuo; Wang, Yi; Chen, Xiangbin; Zhang, Yi; Gao, Caixia; Wang, Feng; Huang, Haixiang; Fu, Xiangdong

    2015-08-01

    The deployment of heterosis in the form of hybrid rice varieties has boosted grain yield, but grain quality improvement still remains a challenge. Here we show that a quantitative trait locus for rice grain quality, qGW7, reflects allelic variation of GW7, a gene encoding a TONNEAU1-recruiting motif protein with similarity to C-terminal motifs of the human centrosomal protein CAP350. Upregulation of GW7 expression was correlated with the production of more slender grains, as a result of increased cell division in the longitudinal direction and decreased cell division in the transverse direction. OsSPL16 (GW8), an SBP-domain transcription factor that regulates grain width, bound directly to the GW7 promoter and repressed its expression. The presence of a semidominant GW7(TFA) allele from tropical japonica rice was associated with higher grain quality without the yield penalty imposed by the Basmati gw8 allele. Manipulation of the OsSPL16-GW7 module thus represents a new strategy to simultaneously improve rice yield and grain quality.

  8. Frequency division multiplexed radio-over-fiber transmission using an optically injected laser diode

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chan, Sze-Chun

    2008-04-01

    Nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor lasers have recently attracted much attention in the area of microwave photonics. By invoking the nonlinear dynamics of an optically injected laser diode, high-speed microwave oscillation can be generated using the period-one oscillation state. The oscillation is harnessed for application as a photonic microwave source in radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems. It is advantageous over conventional direct current modulation because it alleviates the modulation bandwidth limitation and naturally generates single sideband signals. The method is thus applicable to wireless communication systems even when the subcarrier frequency increases to 60 GHz. Because RoF is usually incorporated with standard wireless schemes that involve frequency division multiplexing (FDM), we investigate the performance of the optical injection system under simultaneous current injection of multiple data streams. Frequency mixings and competition for locking among subcarriers result in intermodulation distortion (IMD). The relative weightings of different channels should be optimized to ensure acceptable signal qualities. The results illustrate the feasibility of applying the optical injection system for FDM RoF transmission at high subcarrier frequencies.

  9. Multi-stage decoding for multi-level block modulation codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, Shu; Kasami, Tadao

    1991-01-01

    Various types of multistage decoding for multilevel block modulation codes, in which the decoding of a component code at each stage can be either soft decision or hard decision, maximum likelihood or bounded distance are discussed. Error performance for codes is analyzed for a memoryless additive channel based on various types of multi-stage decoding, and upper bounds on the probability of an incorrect decoding are derived. It was found that, if component codes of a multi-level modulation code and types of decoding at various stages are chosen properly, high spectral efficiency and large coding gain can be achieved with reduced decoding complexity. It was found that the difference in performance between the suboptimum multi-stage soft decision maximum likelihood decoding of a modulation code and the single stage optimum decoding of the overall code is very small, only a fraction of dB loss in SNR at the probability of an incorrect decoding for a block of 10(exp -6). Multi-stage decoding of multi-level modulation codes really offers a way to achieve the best of three worlds, bandwidth efficiency, coding gain, and decoding complexity.

  10. On decoding of multi-level MPSK modulation codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, Shu; Gupta, Alok Kumar

    1990-01-01

    The decoding problem of multi-level block modulation codes is investigated. The hardware design of soft-decision Viterbi decoder for some short length 8-PSK block modulation codes is presented. An effective way to reduce the hardware complexity of the decoder by reducing the branch metric and path metric, using a non-uniform floating-point to integer mapping scheme, is proposed and discussed. The simulation results of the design are presented. The multi-stage decoding (MSD) of multi-level modulation codes is also investigated. The cases of soft-decision and hard-decision MSD are considered and their performance are evaluated for several codes of different lengths and different minimum squared Euclidean distances. It is shown that the soft-decision MSD reduces the decoding complexity drastically and it is suboptimum. The hard-decision MSD further simplifies the decoding while still maintaining a reasonable coding gain over the uncoded system, if the component codes are chosen properly. Finally, some basic 3-level 8-PSK modulation codes using BCH codes as component codes are constructed and their coding gains are found for hard decision multistage decoding.

  11. Seed Embryo Development Is Regulated via an AN3-MINI3 Gene Cascade

    PubMed Central

    Meng, Lai-Sheng; Wang, Yi-Bo; Loake, Gary J.; Jiang, Ji-Hong

    2016-01-01

    In agriculture, seed mass is one of the most important components related to seed yield. MINISEED3 (MINI3) which encodes the transcriptional activator WRKY10, is thought to be a pivotal regulator of seed mass. In Arabidopsis SHORT HYPOCOTYL UNDER BLUE1 (SHB1) associates with the promoter of MINI3, regulating embryo cell proliferation (both cell division and elongation), which, in turn, modulates seed mass. Furthermore, the recruitment of SHB1 via MINI3 to both its cognate promoter and that of IKU2 implies a two-step amplification for countering the low expression level of IKU2, which is thought to function as a molecular switch for seed cavity enlargement. However, it is largely unknown how embryo cell proliferation, which encompasses both cell division and elongation, is regulated by SHB1 and MINI3 function. Here, we show that a loss of function mutation within the transcriptional coactivator ANGUSTIFOLIA3 (AN3), increases seed mass. Further, AN3 associates with the MINI3 promoter in vivo. Genetic evidence indicates that the absence of MINI3 function suppresses the decrease of cell number observed in an3-4 mutants by regulating cell division and in turn inhibits increased cell size of the an3-4 line by controlling cell elongation. Thus, seed embryo development is modulated via an AN3-MINI3 gene cascade. This regulatory model provides a deeper understanding of seed mass regulation, which may in turn lead to increased crop yields. PMID:27857719

  12. Performance of a High-Concentration Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier with 100 nm Amplification Bandwidth

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

    Hajireza, P.; Shahabuddin, N. S.; Abbasi-Zargaleh, S.

    2010-07-07

    Increasing demand for higher bandwidth has driven the need for higher Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) channels. One of the requirements to achieve this is a broadband amplifier. This paper reports the performance of a broadband, compact, high-concentration and silica-based erbium-doped fiber amplifier. The amplifier optimized to a 2.15 m long erbium-doped fiber with erbium ion concentration of 2000 ppm. The gain spectrum of the amplifier has a measured amplification bandwidth of 100 nm using a 980 nm laser diode with power of 150 mW. This silica-based EDFA shows lower noise figure, higher gain and wider bandwidth in shorter wavelengths comparedmore » to Bismuth-based EDFA with higher erbium ion concentration of 3250 ppm at equivalent EDF length. The silica-based EDF shows peak gain at 22 dB and amplification bandwidth between 1520 nm and 1620 nm. The lowest noise figure is 5 dB. The gain is further improved with the implementation of enhanced EDFA configurations.« less

  13. Dynamic properties of quantum dot distributed feedback lasers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Su, Hui

    Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are nano-structures with three-dimensional spatial confinement of electrons and holes, representing the ultimate case of the application of the size quantization concept to semiconductor hetero-structures. The knowledge about the dynamic properties of QD semiconductor diode lasers is essential to improve the device performance and understand the physics of the QDs. In this dissertation, the dynamic properties of QD distributed feedback lasers (DFBs) are studied. The response function of QD DFBs under external modulation is characterized and the gain compression with photon density is identified to be the limiting factor of the modulation bandwidth. The enhancement of the gain compression by the gain saturation with the carrier density in QDs is analyzed for the first time with suggestions to improve the high speed performance of the devices by increasing the maximum gain of the QD medium. The linewidth of the QD DFBs are found to be more than one order of magnitude narrower than that of conventional quantum well (QW) DFBs at comparable output powers. The figure of merit for the narrow linewidth is identified by the comparison between different semiconductor materials, including bulk, QWs and QDs. Linewidth rebroadening and the effects of gain offset are also investigated. The effects of external feedback on the QD DFBs are compared to QW DFBs. Higher external feedback resistance is found in QD DFBs with an 8-dB improvement in terms of the coherence collapse of the devices and 20-dB improvement in terms of the degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio under 2.5 Gbps modulation. This result enables the isolator-free operation of the QD DFBs in real communication systems based on the IEEE 802.3ae Ethernet standard. Finally, the chirp of QD DFBs is studied by time-resolved-chirp measurements. The wavelength chirping of the QD DFBs under 2.5 Gbps modulation is characterized. The above-threshold behavior of the linewidth enhancement factor in QDs is studied, in contrast to the below-threshold ones in most of the published data to-date. The strong dependence of the linewidth enhancement factor on the photon density is explained by the enhancement of gain compression by the gain saturation with the carrier density, which is related to the inhomogeneous broadening and spectral hole burning in QDs.

  14. Optimisation of SOA-REAMs for hybrid DWDM-TDMA PON applications.

    PubMed

    Naughton, Alan; Antony, Cleitus; Ossieur, Peter; Porto, Stefano; Talli, Giuseppe; Townsend, Paul D

    2011-12-12

    We demonstrate how loss-optimised, gain-saturated SOA-REAM based reflective modulators can reduce the burst to burst power variations due to differential access loss in the upstream path in carrier distributed passive optical networks by 18 dB compared to fixed linear gain modulators. We also show that the loss optimised device has a high tolerance to input power variations and can operate in deep saturation with minimal patterning penalties. Finally, we demonstrate that an optimised device can operate across the C-Band and also over a transmission distance of 80 km. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  15. Coherent frequency combs produced by self frequency modulation in quantum cascade lasers

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

    Khurgin, J. B.; Dikmelik, Y.; Hugi, A.

    2014-02-24

    One salient characteristic of Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) is its very short τ ∼ 1 ps gain recovery time that so far thwarted the attempts to achieve self-mode locking of the device into a train of single pulses. We show theoretically that four wave mixing, combined with the short gain recovery time causes QCL to operate in the self-frequency-modulated regime characterized by a constant power in time domain and stable coherent comb in the frequency domain. Coherent frequency comb may enable many potential applications of QCL's in sensing and measurement.

  16. Tracking the Reorganization of Module Structure in Time-Varying Weighted Brain Functional Connectivity Networks.

    PubMed

    Schmidt, Christoph; Piper, Diana; Pester, Britta; Mierau, Andreas; Witte, Herbert

    2018-05-01

    Identification of module structure in brain functional networks is a promising way to obtain novel insights into neural information processing, as modules correspond to delineated brain regions in which interactions are strongly increased. Tracking of network modules in time-varying brain functional networks is not yet commonly considered in neuroscience despite its potential for gaining an understanding of the time evolution of functional interaction patterns and associated changing degrees of functional segregation and integration. We introduce a general computational framework for extracting consensus partitions from defined time windows in sequences of weighted directed edge-complete networks and show how the temporal reorganization of the module structure can be tracked and visualized. Part of the framework is a new approach for computing edge weight thresholds for individual networks based on multiobjective optimization of module structure quality criteria as well as an approach for matching modules across time steps. By testing our framework using synthetic network sequences and applying it to brain functional networks computed from electroencephalographic recordings of healthy subjects that were exposed to a major balance perturbation, we demonstrate the framework's potential for gaining meaningful insights into dynamic brain function in the form of evolving network modules. The precise chronology of the neural processing inferred with our framework and its interpretation helps to improve the currently incomplete understanding of the cortical contribution for the compensation of such balance perturbations.

  17. Development and application of computer assisted optimal method for treatment of femoral neck fracture.

    PubMed

    Wang, Monan; Zhang, Kai; Yang, Ning

    2018-04-09

    To help doctors decide their treatment from the aspect of mechanical analysis, the work built a computer assisted optimal system for treatment of femoral neck fracture oriented to clinical application. The whole system encompassed the following three parts: Preprocessing module, finite element mechanical analysis module, post processing module. Preprocessing module included parametric modeling of bone, parametric modeling of fracture face, parametric modeling of fixed screw and fixed position and input and transmission of model parameters. Finite element mechanical analysis module included grid division, element type setting, material property setting, contact setting, constraint and load setting, analysis method setting and batch processing operation. Post processing module included extraction and display of batch processing operation results, image generation of batch processing operation, optimal program operation and optimal result display. The system implemented the whole operations from input of fracture parameters to output of the optimal fixed plan according to specific patient real fracture parameter and optimal rules, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the system. Meanwhile, the system had a friendly interface, simple operation and could improve the system function quickly through modifying single module.

  18. Comparison of Modules of Wild Type and Mutant Huntingtin and TP53 Protein Interaction Networks: Implications in Biological Processes and Functions

    PubMed Central

    Basu, Mahashweta; Bhattacharyya, Nitai P.; Mohanty, Pradeep K.

    2013-01-01

    Disease-causing mutations usually change the interacting partners of mutant proteins. In this article, we propose that the biological consequences of mutation are directly related to the alteration of corresponding protein protein interaction networks (PPIN). Mutation of Huntingtin (HTT) which causes Huntington's disease (HD) and mutations to TP53 which is associated with different cancers are studied as two example cases. We construct the PPIN of wild type and mutant proteins separately and identify the structural modules of each of the networks. The functional role of these modules are then assessed by Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis for biological processes (BPs). We find that a large number of significantly enriched () GO terms in mutant PPIN were absent in the wild type PPIN indicating the gain of BPs due to mutation. Similarly some of the GO terms enriched in wild type PPIN cease to exist in the modules of mutant PPIN, representing the loss. GO terms common in modules of mutant and wild type networks indicate both loss and gain of BPs. We further assign relevant biological function(s) to each module by classifying the enriched GO terms associated with it. It turns out that most of these biological functions in HTT networks are already known to be altered in HD and those of TP53 networks are altered in cancers. We argue that gain of BPs, and the corresponding biological functions, are due to new interacting partners acquired by mutant proteins. The methodology we adopt here could be applied to genetic diseases where mutations alter the ability of the protein to interact with other proteins. PMID:23741403

  19. The temporal representation of the delay of dynamic iterated rippled noise with positive and negative gain by single units in the ventral cochlear nucleus.

    PubMed

    Sayles, Mark; Winter, Ian Michael

    2007-09-26

    Spike trains were recorded from single units in the ventral cochlear nucleus of the anaesthetised guinea-pig in response to dynamic iterated rippled noise with positive and negative gain. The short-term running waveform autocorrelation functions of these stimuli show peaks at integer multiples of the time-varying delay when the gain is +1, and troughs at odd-integer multiples and peaks at even-integer multiples of the time-varying delay when the gain is -1. In contrast, the short-term autocorrelation of the Hilbert envelope shows peaks at integer multiples of the time-varying delay for both positive and negative gain stimuli. A running short-term all-order interspike interval analysis demonstrates the ability of single units to represent the modulated pitch contour in their short-term interval statistics. For units with low best frequency (approximate < or = 1.1 kHz) the temporal discharge pattern reflected the waveform fine structure regardless of unit classification (Primary-like, Chopper). For higher best frequency units the pattern of response varied according to unit type. Chopper units with best frequency approximate > or = 1.1 kHz responded to envelope modulation; showing no difference between their response to stimuli with positive and negative gain. Primary-like units with best frequencies in the range 1-3 kHz were still able to represent the difference in the temporal fine structure between dynamic rippled noise with positive and negative gain. No unit with a best frequency above 3 kHz showed a response to the temporal fine structure. Chopper units in this high frequency group showed significantly greater representation of envelope modulation relative to primary-like units with the same range of best frequencies. These results show that at the level of the cochlear nucleus there exists sufficient information in the time domain to represent the time-varying pitch associated with dynamic iterated rippled noise.

  20. Optical frequency comb generation with high tone-to-noise ratio for large-capacity wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullah, Rahat; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Qi; Tian, Qinghua; Tian, Feng; Qu, Zhaowei; Yan, Cheng; Khan, Muhammad Saad; Ahmad, Ibrar; Xin, Xiangjun

    2015-11-01

    We propose a technique for the generation of optical frequency comb from a single source, which reduces the costs of optical access networks. Two Mach-Zehnder modulators are cascaded with one phase modulator driven by radiofrequency signals. With 10-GHz frequency spacing, the generated 40 optical multicarriers have good tone-to-noise ratio with least excursions in their comb lines. The laser array at the optical line terminal of the conventional wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) system has been replaced with optical frequency comb generator (OFCG), which may result in cost-effective optical line terminal (OLT) supporting a large-capacity WDM-PON system. Of 40 carriers generated, each carrier carries 10 Gbps data based on differential phase-shift keying. Four hundred Gbps multiplexed data from all channels are successfully transmitted through a fiber span of 25 km with negligible power penalties. Part of the downlink signal is used in uplink transmission at optical network unit where intensity-modulated on-off keying is deployed for remodulation. Theoretical analysis of the proposed WDM-PON system based on OFCG are in good agreement with simulation results. The metrics considered for the analysis of the proposed OFCG in a WDM-PON system are power penalties of the full-duplex transmission, eye diagrams, and bit error rate.

  1. DeMAID: A Design Manager's Aide for Intelligent Decomposition user's guide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rogers, James L.

    1989-01-01

    A design problem is viewed as a complex system divisible into modules. Before the design of a complex system can begin, the couplings among modules and the presence of iterative loops is determined. This is important because the design manager must know how to group the modules into subsystems and how to assign subsystems to design teams so that changes in one subsystem will have predictable effects on other subsystems. Determining these subsystems is not an easy, straightforward process and often important couplings are overlooked. Moreover, the planning task must be repeated as new information become available or as the design specifications change. The purpose of this research is to develop a knowledge-based tool called the Design Manager's Aide for Intelligent Decomposition (DeMAID) to act as an intelligent advisor for the design manager. DeMaid identifies the subsystems of a complex design problem, orders them into a well-structured format, and marks the couplings among the subsystems to facilitate the use of multilevel tools. DeMAID also provides the design manager with the capability of examining the trade-offs between sequential and parallel processing. This type of approach could lead to a substantial savings or organizing and displaying a complex problem as a sequence of subsystems easily divisible among design teams. This report serves as a User's Guide for the program.

  2. Demonstration of flexible and reconfigurable WDM multicast scheme supporting downstream emergency multicast communication for WDM optical access network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Ze; Zhang, Min; Wang, Danshi; Cui, Yue

    2017-09-01

    We propose a flexible and reconfigurable wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) multicast scheme supporting downstream emergency multicast communication for WDM optical access network (WDM-OAN) via a multicast module (MM) based on four-wave mixing (FWM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier. It serves as an emergency measure to dispose of the burst, large bandwidth, and real-time multicast service with fast service provisioning and high resource efficiency. It also plays the role of physical backup in cases of big data migration or network disaster caused by invalid lasers or modulator failures. It provides convenient and reliable multicast service and emergency protection for WDM-OAN without modifying WDM-OAN structure. The strategies of an MM setting at the optical line terminal and remote node are discussed to apply this scheme to passive optical networks and active optical networks, respectively. Utilizing the proposed scheme, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept experiment in which one-to-six/eight 10-Gbps nonreturn-to-zero-differential phase-shift keying WDM multicasts in both strategies are successfully transmitted over single-mode fiber of 20.2 km. One-to-many reconfigurable WDM multicasts dealing with higher data rate and other modulation formats of multicast service are possible through the proposed scheme. It can be applied to different WDM access technologies, e.g., time-wavelength-division multiplexing-OAN and coherent WDM-OAN, and upgraded smoothly.

  3. Monolithically mode division multiplexing photonic integrated circuit for large-capacity optical interconnection.

    PubMed

    Chen, Guanyu; Yu, Yu; Zhang, Xinliang

    2016-08-01

    We propose and fabricate an on-chip mode division multiplexed (MDM) photonic interconnection system. Such a monolithically photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is composed of a grating coupler, two micro-ring modulators, mode multiplexer/demultiplexer, and two germanium photodetectors. The signals' generation, multiplexing, transmission, demultiplexing, and detection are successfully demonstrated on the same chip. Twenty Gb/s MDM signals are successfully processed with clear and open eye diagrams, validating the feasibility of the proposed circuit. The measured power penalties show a good performance of the MDM link. The proposed on-chip MDM system can be potentially used for large-capacity optical interconnection in future high-performance computers and big data centers.

  4. How online learning modules can improve the representational fluency and conceptual understanding of university physics students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hill, M.; Sharma, M. D.; Johnston, H.

    2015-07-01

    The use of online learning resources as core components of university science courses is increasing. Learning resources range from summaries, videos, and simulations, to question banks. Our study set out to develop, implement, and evaluate research-based online learning resources in the form of pre-lecture online learning modules (OLMs). The aim of this paper is to share our experiences with those using, or considering implementing, online learning resources. Our first task was to identify student learning issues in physics to base the learning resources on. One issue with substantial research is conceptual understanding, the other with comparatively less research is scientific representations (graphs, words, equations, and diagrams). We developed learning resources on both these issues and measured their impact. We created weekly OLMs which were delivered to first year physics students at The University of Sydney prior to their first lecture of the week. Students were randomly allocated to either a concepts stream or a representations stream of online modules. The programme was first implemented in 2013 to trial module content, gain experience and process logistical matters and repeated in 2014 with approximately 400 students. Two validated surveys, the Force and Motion Concept Evaluation (FMCE) and the Representational Fluency Survey (RFS) were used as pre-tests and post-tests to measure learning gains while surveys and interviews provided further insights. While both streams of OLMs produced similar positive learning gains on the FMCE, the representations-focussed OLMs produced higher gains on the RFS. Conclusions were triangulated with student responses which indicated that they have recognized the benefit of the OLMs for their learning of physics. Our study shows that carefully designed online resources used as pre-instruction can make a difference in students’ conceptual understanding and representational fluency in physics, as well as make them more aware of their learning processes. In particular, the representations-focussed modules offer more advantages.

  5. Apollo 9 Mission image - Command Module

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1969-03-03

    High Oblique photograph (taken over New Mexico) of the Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules taken from the Lunar Module,"Spider",on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 earth-orbital mission. Docking mechanism is visible in nose of the Command Module,"Gumdrop". Object jutting out from the Service Module aft bulkhead is the high-gain S-Band antenna. Film magazine was F, film type was SO-368 Ektachrome with 0.460 - 0.710 micrometers film / filter transmittance response and haze filter,80mm lens. Cloud cover over the Earth is 70%.

  6. Advanced modulation technology development for earth station demodulator applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davis, R. C.; Wernlund, J. V.; Gann, J. A.; Roesch, J. F.; Wright, T.; Crowley, R. D.

    1989-01-01

    The purpose of this contract was to develop a high rate (200 Mbps), bandwidth efficient, modulation format using low cost hardware, in 1990's technology. The modulation format chosen is 16-ary continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK). The implementation of the modulation format uses a unique combination of a limiter/discriminator followed by an accumulator to determine transmitted phase. An important feature of the modulation scheme is the way coding is applied to efficiently gain back the performance lost by the close spacing of the phase points.

  7. Purely wavelength- and amplitude-modulated quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Patimisco, Pietro; Sampaolo, Angelo; Bidaux, Yves; Bismuto, Alfredo; Scott, Marshall; Jiang, James; Muller, Antoine; Faist, Jerome; Tittel, Frank K; Spagnolo, Vincenzo

    2016-11-14

    We report here on a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic (QEPAS) sensor employing a quantum cascade laser (QCL) structure capable of operating in a pure amplitude or wavelength modulation configuration. The QCL structure is composed of three electrically independent sections: Gain, Phase (PS) and Master Oscillator (MO). Selective current pumping of these three sections allows obtaining laser wavelength tuning without changes in the optical power, and power modulation without emission wavelength shifts. A pure QEPAS amplitude modulation condition is obtained by modulating the PS current, while pure wavelength modulation is achieved by modulating simultaneously the MO and PS QCL sections and slowly scanning the DC current level injected in the PS section.

  8. Punish the Perpetrator or Compensate the Victim? Gain vs. Loss Context Modulate Third-Party Altruistic Behaviors.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yingjie; Li, Lin; Zheng, Li; Guo, Xiuyan

    2017-01-01

    Third-party punishment and third-party compensation are primary responses to observed norms violations. Previous studies mostly investigated these behaviors in gain rather than loss context, and few study made direct comparison between these two behaviors. We conducted three experiments to investigate third-party punishment and third-party compensation in the gain and loss context. Participants observed two persons playing Dictator Game to share an amount of gain or loss, and the proposer would propose unfair distribution sometimes. In Study 1A, participants should decide whether they wanted to punish proposer. In Study 1B, participants decided to compensate the recipient or to do nothing. This two experiments explored how gain and loss contexts might affect the willingness to altruistically punish a perpetrator, or to compensate a victim of unfairness. Results suggested that both third-party punishment and compensation were stronger in the loss context. Study 2 directly compare third-party punishment and third-party compensation in the both contexts, by allowing participants choosing between punishment, compensation and keeping. Participants chose compensation more often than punishment in the loss context, and chose more punishments in the gain context. Empathic concern partly explained between-context differences of altruistic compensation and punishment. Our findings provide insights on modulating effect of context on third-party altruistic decisions.

  9. A macrochip interconnection network enabled by silicon nanophotonic devices.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Xuezhe; Cunningham, John E; Koka, Pranay; Schwetman, Herb; Lexau, Jon; Ho, Ron; Shubin, Ivan; Krishnamoorthy, Ashok V; Yao, Jin; Mekis, Attila; Pinguet, Thierry

    2010-03-01

    We present an advanced wavelength-division multiplexing point-to-point network enabled by silicon nanophotonic devices. This network offers strictly non-blocking all-to-all connectivity while maximizing bisection bandwidth, making it ideal for multi-core and multi-processor interconnections. We introduce one of the key components, the nanophotonic grating coupler, and discuss, for the first time, how this device can be useful for practical implementations of the wavelength-division multiplexing network using optical proximity communications. Finite difference time-domain simulation of the nanophotonic grating coupler device indicates that it can be made compact (20 microm x 50 microm), low loss (3.8 dB), and broadband (100 nm). These couplers require subwavelength material modulation at the nanoscale to achieve the desired functionality. We show that optical proximity communication provides unmatched optical I/O bandwidth density to electrical chips, which enables the application of wavelength-division multiplexing point-to-point network in macrochip with unprecedented bandwidth-density. The envisioned physical implementation is discussed. The benefits of such an interconnect network include a 5-6x improvement in latency when compared to a purely electronic implementation. Performance analysis shows that the wavelength-division multiplexing point-to-point network offers better overall performance over other optical network architectures.

  10. Brillouin Amplification--A Powerful New Scheme for Microwave Photonic Communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yao, S.; Maleki, L.

    1997-01-01

    We introduce the Brillouin selective sideband amplification technique and demonstrate many important applications of this technique in photonic microwave systems, including efficient phase modulation to amplitude modulation conversion, photonic frequency multiplication, photonic signal mixing with gain, and frequency multiplied signal up conversion.

  11. Optical signal processing techniques and applications of optical phase modulation in high-speed communication systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deng, Ning

    In recent years, optical phase modulation has attracted much research attention in the field of fiber optic communications. Compared with the traditional optical intensity-modulated signal, one of the main merits of the optical phase-modulated signal is the better transmission performance. For optical phase modulation, in spite of the comprehensive study of its transmission performance, only a little research has been carried out in terms of its functions, applications and signal processing for future optical networks. These issues are systematically investigated in this thesis. The research findings suggest that optical phase modulation and its signal processing can greatly facilitate flexible network functions and high bandwidth which can be enjoyed by end users. In the thesis, the most important physical-layer technology, signal processing and multiplexing, are investigated with optical phase-modulated signals. Novel and advantageous signal processing and multiplexing approaches are proposed and studied. Experimental investigations are also reported and discussed in the thesis. Optical time-division multiplexing and demultiplexing. With the ever-increasing demand on communication bandwidth, optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) is an effective approach to upgrade the capacity of each wavelength channel in current optical systems. OTDM multiplexing can be simply realized, however, the demultiplexing requires relatively complicated signal processing and stringent timing control, and thus hinders its practicability. To tackle this problem, in this thesis a new OTDM scheme with hybrid DPSK and OOK signals is proposed. Experimental investigation shows this scheme can greatly enhance the demultiplexing timing misalignment and improve the demultiplexing performance, and thus make OTDM more practical and cost effective. All-optical signal processing. In current and future optical communication systems and networks, the data rate per wavelength has been approaching the speed limitation of electronics. Thus, all-optical signal processing techniques are highly desirable to support the necessary optical switching functionalities in future ultrahigh-speed optical packet-switching networks. To cope with the wide use of optical phase-modulated signals, in the thesis, an all-optical logic for DPSK or PSK input signals is developed, for the first time. Based on four-wave mixing in semiconductor optical amplifier, the structure of the logic gate is simple, compact, and capable of supporting ultrafast operation. In addition to the general logic processing, a simple label recognition scheme, as a specific signal processing function, is proposed for phase-modulated label signals. The proposed scheme can recognize any incoming label pattern according to the local pattern, and is potentially capable of handling variable-length label patterns. Optical access network with multicast overlay and centralized light sources. In the arena of optical access networks, wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) is a promising technology to deliver high-speed data traffic. However, most of proposed WDM-PONs only support conventional point-to-point service, and cannot meet the requirement of increasing demand on broadcast and multicast service. In this thesis, a simple network upgrade is proposed based on the traditional PON architecture to support both point-to-point and multicast service. In addition, the two service signals are modulated on the same lightwave carrier. The upstream signal is also remodulated on the same carrier at the optical network unit, which can significantly relax the requirement on wavelength management at the network unit.

  12. Neural division of labor in reading is constrained by culture: A training study of reading Chinese characters

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, Jingjing; Wang, Xiaoyi; Frost, Stephen J.; Sun, Wan; Fang, Shin-Yi; Mencl, W. Einar; Pugh, Kenneth R.; Shu, Hua; Rueckl, Jay G.

    2014-01-01

    Word reading in alphabetic language involves a cortical system with multiple components whose division of labor depends on the transparency of the writing system. To gain insight about the division of labor between phonology and semantics subserving word reading in Chinese, a deep non-alphabetic writing system, fMRI was used to investigate the effects of phonological and semantic training on the cortical circuitry for oral naming of Chinese characters. In a training study, we examined whether a training task that differentially focused readers' attention on the phonological or semantic properties of a Chinese character changes the patterns of cortical activation that was evoked by that character in a subsequent naming task. Our imaging results corroborate that the cortical regions underlying reading in Chinese largely overlaps the left-hemisphere reading system responsible for reading in alphabetic languages, with some cortical regions in the left-hemisphere uniquely recruited for reading in Chinese. However, in contrast to findings from studies of English word naming, we observed considerable overlap in the neural activation patterns associated with phonological and semantic training on naming Chinese characters, which we suggest may reflect a balanced neural division of labor between phonology and semantics in Chinese character reading. The equitable division of labor for Chinese reading might be driven by the special statistical structure of the writing system, which includes equally systematic mappings in the correspondences between written forms and their pronunciations and meanings. PMID:24607883

  13. Time domain reshuffling for OFDM based indoor visible light communication systems.

    PubMed

    You, Xiaodi; Chen, Jian; Yu, Changyuan; Zheng, Huanhuan

    2017-05-15

    For orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based indoor visible light communication (VLC) systems, partial non-ideal transmission conditions such as insufficient guard intervals and a dispersive channel can result in severe inter-symbol crosstalk (ISC). By deriving from the inverse Fourier transform, we present a novel time domain reshuffling (TDR) concept for both DC-biased optical (DCO-) and asymmetrically clipped optical (ACO-) OFDM VLC systems. By using only simple operations in the frequency domain, potential high peaks can be relocated within each OFDM symbol to alleviate ISC. To simplify the system, we also propose an effective unified design of the TDR schemes for both DCO- and ACO-OFDM. Based on Monte-Carlo simulations, we demonstrate the statistical distribution of the signal high peak values and the complementary cumulative distribution function of the peak-to-average power ratio under different cases for comparison. Simulation results indicate improved bit error rate (BER) performance by adopting TDR to counteract ISC deterioration. For example, for binary phase shift keying at a BER of 10 -3 , the signal to noise ratio gains are ~1.6 dB and ~6.6 dB for DCO- and ACO-OFDM, respectively, with ISC of 1/64. We also show a reliable transmission by adopting TDR for rectangle 8-quadrature amplitude modulation with ISC of < 1/64.

  14. All-optical and broadband microwave fundamental/sub-harmonic I/Q down-converters.

    PubMed

    Gao, Yongsheng; Wen, Aijun; Jiang, Wei; Fan, Yangyu; He, You

    2018-03-19

    Microwave I/Q down-converters are frequently used in image-reject super heterodyne receivers, zero intermediate frequency (zero-IF) receivers, and phase/frequency discriminators. However, due to the electronic bottleneck, conventional microwave I/Q mixers face a serious bandwidth limitation, I/Q imbalance, and even-order distortion. In this paper, photonic microwave fundamental and sub-harmonic I/Q down-converters are presented using a polarization division multiplexing dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (PDM-DPMZM). Thanks to all-optical manipulation, the proposed system features an ultra-wide operating band (7-40 GHz in the fundamental I/Q down-converter, and 10-40 GHz in the sub-harmonic I/Q down-converter) and an excellent I/Q balance (maximum 0.7 dB power imbalance and 1 degree phase imbalance). The conversion gain, noise figure (NF), even-order distortion, and spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) are also improved by LO power optimization and balanced detection. Using the proposed system, a high image rejection ratio is demonstrated for a super heterodyne receiver, and good EVMs over a wide RF power range is demonstrated for a zero-IF receiver. The proposed broadband photonic microwave fundamental and sub-harmonic I/Q down-converters may find potential applications in multi-band satellite, ultra-wideband radar and frequency-agile electronic warfare systems.

  15. Power-Amplifier Module for 145 to 165 GHz

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Samoska, Lorene; Peralta, Alejandro

    2007-01-01

    A power-amplifier module that operates in the frequency range of 145 to 165 GHz has been designed and constructed as a combination of (1) a previously developed monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier and (2) a waveguide module. The amplifier chip was needed for driving a high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) frequency doubler. While it was feasible to connect the amplifier and frequency-doubler chips by use of wire bonds, it was found to be much more convenient to test the amplifier and doubler chips separately. To facilitate separate testing, it was decided to package the amplifier and doubler chips in separate waveguide modules. Figure 1 shows the resulting amplifier module. The amplifier chip was described in "MMIC HEMT Power Amplifier for 140 to 170 GHz" (NPO-30127), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 27, No. 11, (November 2003), page 49. To recapitulate: This is a three-stage MMIC power amplifier that utilizes HEMTs as gain elements. The amplifier was originally designed to operate in the frequency range of 140 to 170 GHz. The waveguide module is based on a previously developed lower frequency module, redesigned to support operation in the frequency range of 140 to 220 GHz. Figure 2 presents results of one of several tests of the amplifier module - measurements of output power and gain as functions of input power at an output frequency of 150 GHz. Such an amplifier module has many applications to test equipment for power sources above 100 GHz.

  16. An integrative approach to inferring biologically meaningful gene modules

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background The ability to construct biologically meaningful gene networks and modules is critical for contemporary systems biology. Though recent studies have demonstrated the power of using gene modules to shed light on the functioning of complex biological systems, most modules in these networks have shown little association with meaningful biological function. We have devised a method which directly incorporates gene ontology (GO) annotation in construction of gene modules in order to gain better functional association. Results We have devised a method, Semantic Similarity-Integrated approach for Modularization (SSIM) that integrates various gene-gene pairwise similarity values, including information obtained from gene expression, protein-protein interactions and GO annotations, in the construction of modules using affinity propagation clustering. We demonstrated the performance of the proposed method using data from two complex biological responses: 1. the osmotic shock response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and 2. the prion-induced pathogenic mouse model. In comparison with two previously reported algorithms, modules identified by SSIM showed significantly stronger association with biological functions. Conclusions The incorporation of semantic similarity based on GO annotation with gene expression and protein-protein interaction data can greatly enhance the functional relevance of inferred gene modules. In addition, the SSIM approach can also reveal the hierarchical structure of gene modules to gain a broader functional view of the biological system. Hence, the proposed method can facilitate comprehensive and in-depth analysis of high throughput experimental data at the gene network level. PMID:21791051

  17. Facilitator's Guide to Staff Training for the Rural America Series. Module VIII: Placement. Research and Development Series No. 149I.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Altschuld, James W.; And Others

    The eighth module of the Rural America staff training series is designed to help individuals gain a better understanding of the placement process. The module begins with a brief introduction to placement in terms of definitions and the current status of placement in the participants' schools, addressing questions of who provides leadership for…

  18. Online versus Live Delivery of Education to Pharmacists in a Large Multicentre Health Region: A Non-inferiority Assessment of Learning Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Taylor, Robert; Jung, Joanne; Loewen, Peter; Spencer, Carrie; Dossa, Anar; de Lemos, Jane

    2013-07-01

    The prevalence of online modules for continuing education in the health professions has been increasing in recent years. However, the effectiveness of online modules for pharmacist learning has not been thoroughly studied. The primary aim of this study was to determine if providing education to pharmacists through a self-paced enhanced online module was non-inferior to a face-to-face learning module with respect to knowledge application on the topic of postoperative insulin dosing. Secondary aims were to determine pharmacists' knowledge gain and retention, as well as their satisfaction with the modules. The participants in this prospective, randomized, parallel-group non-inferiority trial were pharmacists in a large multicentre health region. Outcomes were measured by comparing scores obtained on pre- and post-module knowledge-assessment questionnaires. A between-group difference in change on knowledge application scores of less than 25 percentage points was the predetermined non-inferiority margin. A total of 74 pharmacists consented to participate, 38 randomly assigned to use the enhanced online module and 36 to attend the face-to-face learning session. For questions examining knowledge application, the mean improvement achieved by the online learning group was 26 percentage points greater than that achieved by the face-to-face learning group (95% confidence interval [CI] 25 to 27; p < 0.001). For questions testing knowledge gain, the improvement achieved by the online learning group was 7 percentage points less than that achieved by the face-to-face learning group (95% CI 2 to 12; p = 0.008). Therefore, the enhanced online module was deemed to be non-inferior to the face-to-face learning session in terms of knowledge application and knowledge gain. Insufficient data were available to analyze the secondary outcome of knowledge retention over time. Participant satisfaction was similar for the 2 groups (p = 0.62). The self-paced enhanced online module was non-inferior to facilitated face-to-face learning in terms of improving application and knowledge of insulin dosing. Pharmacists had similar levels of satisfaction with the 2 modes of learning.

  19. ApoA-II directs morphogenetic movements of zebrafish embryo by preventing chromosome fusion during nuclear division in yolk syncytial layer.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Ting; Yao, Shaohua; Wang, Ping; Yin, Chaoran; Xiao, Chun; Qian, Meilin; Liu, Donghui; Zheng, Lemin; Meng, Wentong; Zhu, Hongyan; Liu, Jin; Xu, Hong; Mo, Xianming

    2011-03-18

    The high density lipoprotein (HDL) represents a class of lipid- and protein-containing particles and consists of two major apolipoproteins apoA-I and apoA-II. ApoA-II has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, adiposity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. In embryo, apoa2 mRNAs are abundant in the liver, brain, lung, placenta, and in fish yolk syncytial layer (YSL), suggesting that apoa2 may perform a function during embryonic development. Here we find out that apoa2 modulates zebrafish embryonic development by regulating the organization of YSL. Disruption of apoa2 function in zebrafish caused chromosome fusing, which strongly blocked YSL nuclear division, inducing disorders in YSL organization and finally disturbing the embryonic epiboly. Purified native human apoA-II was able specifically to rescue the defects and induced nuclear division in zebrafish embryos and in human HeLa cells. The C terminus of apoA-II was required for the proper chromosome separation during nuclear division of YSL in zebrafish embryos and in human HeLa cells. Our data indicate that organization of YSL is required for blastoderm patterning and morphogenesis and suggest that apolipoprotein apoA-II is a novel factor of nuclear division in YSL involved in the regulation of early zebrafish embryonic morphogenesis and in mammalian cells for proliferation.

  20. ApoA-II Directs Morphogenetic Movements of Zebrafish Embryo by Preventing Chromosome Fusion during Nuclear Division in Yolk Syncytial Layer*

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Ting; Yao, Shaohua; Wang, Ping; Yin, Chaoran; Xiao, Chun; Qian, Meilin; Liu, Donghui; Zheng, Lemin; Meng, Wentong; Zhu, Hongyan; Liu, Jin; Xu, Hong; Mo, Xianming

    2011-01-01

    The high density lipoprotein (HDL) represents a class of lipid- and protein-containing particles and consists of two major apolipoproteins apoA-I and apoA-II. ApoA-II has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, adiposity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. In embryo, apoa2 mRNAs are abundant in the liver, brain, lung, placenta, and in fish yolk syncytial layer (YSL), suggesting that apoa2 may perform a function during embryonic development. Here we find out that apoa2 modulates zebrafish embryonic development by regulating the organization of YSL. Disruption of apoa2 function in zebrafish caused chromosome fusing, which strongly blocked YSL nuclear division, inducing disorders in YSL organization and finally disturbing the embryonic epiboly. Purified native human apoA-II was able specifically to rescue the defects and induced nuclear division in zebrafish embryos and in human HeLa cells. The C terminus of apoA-II was required for the proper chromosome separation during nuclear division of YSL in zebrafish embryos and in human HeLa cells. Our data indicate that organization of YSL is required for blastoderm patterning and morphogenesis and suggest that apolipoprotein apoA-II is a novel factor of nuclear division in YSL involved in the regulation of early zebrafish embryonic morphogenesis and in mammalian cells for proliferation. PMID:21212265

  1. Leadership-It’s More than Flesh and Blood

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-06-28

    Management Development Program" (L&MDP) for Branch Heads and Division Heads would devote significant part of the program to leadership . A significant... LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT -- FUNCTIONS & ACTIONS .... 22 PROFESSIONAL FOLLOWERSHIP ......................................................... 30 GOOD LEADER... managing one’s leadership stylelS, 16 and seminars are presented on "The Science of Leadership and Art of Gaining Followers.17 But, what sets leaders apart

  2. Genetically-Encoded Reporters of Signal Transduction

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-07-17

    modification patterns during the process of mammalian cell division. An increase in FRET was observed in an H3 phosphorylation reporter localized to the...Hayashi (MIT) and Alaa EI-Husseini (UBC) to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of glutamate receptor and neuroligin trafficking in the processes ...trafficking and their roles in important processes such as synaptic plasticity (crucial in learning and memory), new synapse formation, and nutrient uptake

  3. A Survey of Industrial Organic Chemists: Understanding the Chemical Industry's Needs of Current Bachelor-Level Graduates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fair, Justin D.; Kleist, Elyse M.; Stoy, Dylan M.

    2014-01-01

    A survey was conducted of companies from the chemical industry with an emphasis on the organic division. The data include results from 377 respondents from more than 100 different companies. More than half of all undergraduates gain fulltime work in the chemical industry or government after graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry.…

  4. All-optical encryption based on interleaved waveband switching modulation for optical network security.

    PubMed

    Fok, Mable P; Prucnal, Paul R

    2009-05-01

    All-optical encryption for optical code-division multiple-access systems with interleaved waveband-switching modulation is experimentally demonstrated. The scheme explores dual-pump four-wave mixing in a 35 cm highly nonlinear bismuth oxide fiber to achieve XOR operation of the plaintext and the encryption key. Bit 0 and bit 1 of the encrypted data are represented by two different wavebands. Unlike on-off keying encryption methods, the encrypted data in this approach has the same intensity for both bit 0 and bit 1. Thus no plaintext or ciphertext signatures are observed.

  5. A new LDPC decoding scheme for PDM-8QAM BICM coherent optical communication system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Yi; Zhang, Wen-bo; Xi, Li-xia; Tang, Xian-feng; Zhang, Xiao-guang

    2015-11-01

    A new log-likelihood ratio (LLR) message estimation method is proposed for polarization-division multiplexing eight quadrature amplitude modulation (PDM-8QAM) bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) optical communication system. The formulation of the posterior probability is theoretically analyzed, and the way to reduce the pre-decoding bit error rate ( BER) of the low density parity check (LDPC) decoder for PDM-8QAM constellations is presented. Simulation results show that it outperforms the traditional scheme, i.e., the new post-decoding BER is decreased down to 50% of that of the traditional post-decoding algorithm.

  6. Optimized OFDM Transmission of Encrypted Image Over Fading Channel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eldin, Salwa M. Serag

    2014-11-01

    This paper compares the quality of diffusion-based and permutation-based encrypted image transmission using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) over wireless fading channel. Sensitivity to carrier frequency offsets (CFOs) is one of the limitations in OFDM transmission that was compensated here. Different OFDM diffusions are investigated to study encrypted image transmission optimization. Peak signal-to-noise ratio between the original image and the decrypted image is used to evaluate the received image quality. Chaotic encrypted image modulated with CFOs compensated FFT-OFDM was found to give outstanding performance against other encryption and modulation techniques.

  7. Decision support for clinical laboratory capacity planning.

    PubMed

    van Merode, G G; Hasman, A; Derks, J; Goldschmidt, H M; Schoenmaker, B; Oosten, M

    1995-01-01

    The design of a decision support system for capacity planning in clinical laboratories is discussed. The DSS supports decisions concerning the following questions: how should the laboratory be divided into job shops (departments/sections), how should staff be assigned to workstations and how should samples be assigned to workstations for testing. The decision support system contains modules for supporting decisions at the overall laboratory level (concerning the division of the laboratory into job shops) and for supporting decisions at the job shop level (assignment of staff to workstations and sample scheduling). Experiments with these modules are described showing both the functionality and the validity.

  8. The 20 GHz GaAs monolithic power amplifier module development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1984-01-01

    The development of a 20 GHz GaAs FET monlithic power amplifier module for advanced communication applications is described. Four-way power combing of four 0.6 W amplifier modules is used as the baseline approach. For this purpose, a monolithic four-way traveling-wave power divider/combiner was developed. Over a 20 GHz bandwidth (10 to 30 GHz), an insertion loss of no more than 1.2 dB was measured for a pair of back-to-back connected divider/combiners. Isolation between output ports is better than 20 dB, and VSWRs are better than 21:1. A distributed amplifier with six 300 micron gate width FETs and gate and drain transmission line tapers has been designed, fabricated, and evaluated for use as an 0.6 W module. This amplifier has achieved state-of-the-art results of 0.5 W output power with at least 4 dB gain across the entire 2 to 21 GHz frequency range. An output power of 2 W was achieved at a measurement frequency of 18 GHz when four distributed amplifiers were power-combined using a pair of traveling-wave divider/combiners. Another approach is the direct common-source cascading of three power FET stages. An output power of up to 2W with 12 dB gain and 20% power-added efficiency has been achieved with this approach (at 17 GHz). The linear gain was 14 dB at 1 W output. The first two stages of the three-stage amplifier have achieved an output power of 1.6 W with 9 dB gain and 26% power-added efficiency at 16 GHz.

  9. CEO stabilization of a femtosecond laser using a SESAM as fast opto-optical modulator.

    PubMed

    Hoffmann, Martin; Schilt, Stéphane; Südmeyer, Thomas

    2013-12-02

    We present a new method for intra-cavity control of the carrier-envelope offset (CEO) frequency of ultrafast lasers that combines high feedback bandwidth with low loss, low nonlinearity, and low dispersion. A semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror (SESAM) inside a modelocked laser is optically pumped with a continuous-wave (cw) laser. In this way, the SESAM acts as intra-cavity opto-optical modulator (OOM): the optical power of the cw-laser corresponds to a high-bandwidth modulation channel for CEO frequency control. We experimentally verified this method for a femtosecond Er:Yb:glass oscillator (ERGO), in which one SESAM is in parallel used for modelocking and as intra-cavity OOM for achieving a tight CEO lock. This laser can also be CEO-stabilized in the usual scheme, in which the laser pump current is modulated, i.e., the gain element acts as intra-cavity OOM. We compare the performance with gain and SESAM OOM measuring CEO transfer function, frequency noise power spectral density (PSD), and Allan deviation for integration times up to 1000 s. In the case of the gain OOM, the millisecond upper-state lifetime of the Er:Yb:glass limits the achievable CEO-control bandwidth to <10 kHz. The feedback bandwidth of the SESAM OOM was more than a factor of 10 higher than the gain OOM bandwidth and was mainly limited by the used current driver. The residual integrated phase noise (1 Hz - 100 kHz) of the ~20-MHz CEO beat was improved by more than an order of magnitude (from 720 mrad to less than 65 mrad), and the fractional frequency stability by a factor of 4 (from 1∙10

  10. Convolutional coding combined with continuous phase modulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pizzi, S. V.; Wilson, S. G.

    1985-01-01

    Background theory and specific coding designs for combined coding/modulation schemes utilizing convolutional codes and continuous-phase modulation (CPM) are presented. In this paper the case of r = 1/2 coding onto a 4-ary CPM is emphasized, with short-constraint length codes presented for continuous-phase FSK, double-raised-cosine, and triple-raised-cosine modulation. Coding buys several decibels of coding gain over the Gaussian channel, with an attendant increase of bandwidth. Performance comparisons in the power-bandwidth tradeoff with other approaches are made.

  11. Estimating division and death rates from CFSE data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Boer, Rob J.; Perelson, Alan S.

    2005-12-01

    The division tracking dye, carboxyfluorescin diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) is currently the most informative labeling technique for characterizing the division history of cells in the immune system. Gett and Hodgkin (Nat. Immunol. 1 (2000) 239-244) have proposed to normalize CFSE data by the 2-fold expansion that is associated with each division, and have argued that the mean of the normalized data increases linearly with time, t, with a slope reflecting the division rate p. We develop a number of mathematical models for the clonal expansion of quiescent cells after stimulation and show, within the context of these models, under which conditions this approach is valid. We compare three means of the distribution of cells over the CFSE profile at time t: the mean, [mu](t), the mean of the normalized distribution, [mu]2(t), and the mean of the normalized distribution excluding nondivided cells, .In the simplest models, which deal with homogeneous populations of cells with constant division and death rates, the normalized frequency distribution of the cells over the respective division numbers is a Poisson distribution with mean [mu]2(t)=pt, where p is the division rate. The fact that in the data these distributions seem Gaussian is therefore insufficient to establish that the times at which cells are recruited into the first division have a Gaussian variation because the Poisson distribution approaches the Gaussian distribution for large pt. Excluding nondivided cells complicates the data analysis because , and only approaches a slope p after an initial transient.In models where the first division of the quiescent cells takes longer than later divisions, all three means have an initial transient before they approach an asymptotic regime, which is the expected [mu](t)=2pt and . Such a transient markedly complicates the data analysis. After the same initial transients, the normalized cell numbers tend to decrease at a rate e-dt, where d is the death rate.Nonlinear parameter fitting of CFSE data obtained from Gett and Hodgkin to ordinary differential equation (ODE) models with first-order terms for cell proliferation and death gave poor fits to the data. The Smith-Martin model with an explicit time delay for the deterministic phase of the cell cycle performed much better. Nevertheless, the insights gained from analysis of the ODEs proved useful as we showed by generating virtual CFSE data with a simulation model, where cell cycle times were drawn from various distributions, and then computing the various mean division numbers.

  12. On the Structure of Neuronal Population Activity under Fluctuations in Attentional State

    PubMed Central

    Denfield, George H.; Bethge, Matthias; Tolias, Andreas S.

    2016-01-01

    Attention is commonly thought to improve behavioral performance by increasing response gain and suppressing shared variability in neuronal populations. However, both the focus and the strength of attention are likely to vary from one experimental trial to the next, thereby inducing response variability unknown to the experimenter. Here we study analytically how fluctuations in attentional state affect the structure of population responses in a simple model of spatial and feature attention. In our model, attention acts on the neural response exclusively by modulating each neuron's gain. Neurons are conditionally independent given the stimulus and the attentional gain, and correlated activity arises only from trial-to-trial fluctuations of the attentional state, which are unknown to the experimenter. We find that this simple model can readily explain many aspects of neural response modulation under attention, such as increased response gain, reduced individual and shared variability, increased correlations with firing rates, limited range correlations, and differential correlations. We therefore suggest that attention may act primarily by increasing response gain of individual neurons without affecting their correlation structure. The experimentally observed reduction in correlations may instead result from reduced variability of the attentional gain when a stimulus is attended. Moreover, we show that attentional gain fluctuations, even if unknown to a downstream readout, do not impair the readout accuracy despite inducing limited-range correlations, whereas fluctuations of the attended feature can in principle limit behavioral performance. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Covert attention is one of the most widely studied examples of top-down modulation of neural activity in the visual system. Recent studies argue that attention improves behavioral performance by shaping of the noise distribution to suppress shared variability rather than by increasing response gain. Our work shows, however, that latent, trial-to-trial fluctuations of the focus and strength of attention lead to shared variability that is highly consistent with known experimental observations. Interestingly, fluctuations in the strength of attention do not affect coding performance. As a consequence, the experimentally observed changes in response variability may not be a mechanism of attention, but rather a side effect of attentional allocation strategies in different behavioral contexts. PMID:26843656

  13. Empowering Student Leadership Beliefs: An Exploratory Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marcketti, Sara B.; Kadolph, Sara J.

    2010-01-01

    Leadership beliefs contribute to behaviors and attitudes. The purposes for conducting this study were 1) to gain an understanding of undergraduate students' leadership beliefs, 2) to implement three distinct leadership modules into an introductory textiles and clothing course, and 3) to assess the modules' effectiveness in promoting empowering…

  14. Mathematics Prerequisites for Introductory Geoscience Courses: Using Technology to Help Solve the Problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Burn, H. E.; Wenner, J. M.; Baer, E. M.

    2011-12-01

    The quantitative components of introductory geoscience courses can pose significant barriers to students. Many academic departments respond by stripping courses of their quantitative components or by attaching prerequisite mathematics courses [PMC]. PMCs cause students to incur additional costs and credits and may deter enrollment in introductory courses; yet, stripping quantitative content from geoscience courses masks the data-rich, quantitative nature of geoscience. Furthermore, the diversity of math skills required in geoscience and students' difficulty with transferring mathematical knowledge across domains suggest that PMCs may be ineffective. Instead, this study explores an alternative strategy -- to remediate students' mathematical skills using online modules that provide students with opportunities to build contextual quantitative reasoning skills. The Math You Need, When You Need It [TMYN] is a set of modular online student resources that address mathematical concepts in the context of the geosciences. TMYN modules are online resources that employ a "just-in-time" approach - giving students access to skills and then immediately providing opportunities to apply them. Each module places the mathematical concept in multiple geoscience contexts. Such an approach illustrates the immediate application of a principle and provides repeated exposure to a mathematical skill, enhancing long-term retention. At the same time, placing mathematics directly in several geoscience contexts better promotes transfer of learning by using similar discourse (words, tools, representations) and context that students will encounter when applying mathematics in the future. This study uses quantitative and qualitative data to explore the effectiveness of TMYN modules in remediating students' mathematical skills. Quantitative data derive from ten geoscience courses that used TMYN modules during the fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters; none of the courses had a PMC. In all courses, students completed a pretest, the assigned modules, and a posttest. Success in remediation was measured using normalized gain scores, which measures the change in score divided by the maximum possible increase: (posttest-pretest)/(1-pretest). To compare across courses, normalized gain scores were standardized. Additional analysis included disaggregating normalized gain scores by quartiles based on pretest scores. The results were supplemented by qualitative data from faculty interviews and information provided by faculty on a web form upon completion of the course. Results suggest TMYN modules remediate mathematical skills effectively, and that normalized gains tend to be higher for students in the lower quartiles on the pretest. Students indicate finding the modules helpful, though sometimes difficult. Faculty interview data triangulate these findings and provide further evidence that online, modularized remediation is an effective alternative to assigning prerequisite mathematical courses to remediate mathematical skills.

  15. The Direct Digital Modulation of Traveling Wave Tubes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Radhamohan, Ranjan S.

    2004-01-01

    Traveling wave tube (TWT) technology, first described by Rudolf Kompfner in the early 1940s, has been a key component of space missions from the earliest communication satellites in the 1960s to the Cassini probe today. TWTs are essentially signal amplifiers that have the special capability of operating at microwave frequencies. The microwave frequency range, which spans from approximately 500 MHz to 300 GHz, is shared by many technologies including cellular phones, satellite television, space communication, and radar. TWT devices are superior in reliability, weight, and efficiency to solid-state amplifiers at the high power and frequency levels required for most space missions. TWTs have three main components -an electron gun, slow wave structure, and collector. The electron gun generates an electron beam that moves along the length of the tube axis, inside of the slow wave circuit. At the same time, the inputted signal is slowed by its travel through the coils of the helical slow wave circuit. The interaction of the electron beam and this slowed signal produces a transfer of kinetic energy to the signal, and in turn, amplification. At the end of its travel, the spent electron beam moves into the collector where its remaining energy is dissipated as heat or harnessed for reuse. TWTs can easily produce gains in the tens of decibels, numbers that are suitable for space missions. To date, however, TWTs have typically operated at fixed levels of gain. This gain is determined by various, unchanging, physical factors of the tube. Traditionally, to achieve varying gain, an input signal s amplitude has had to first be modulated by a separate device before being fed into the TWT. This is not always desirable, as significant distortion can occur in certain situations. My mentor, Mr. Dale Force, has proposed an innovative solution to this problem called direct digital modulation . The testing and implementation of this solution is the focus of my summer internship. The direct digital modulation of a TWT removes the need for a separate amplitude modulation device. Instead, different levels of gain are achieved by varying the electron beam current. The lower the current, the less kinetic energy is available to be transferred to the signal. To vary the current, a grid is placed in-between the electron gun and the slow wave circuit. By changing the voltage across the grid, the electron beam current can be controlled. Grid technology has mostly been used in pulse applications such as radar, where only two voltage states are necessary. For direct digital modulation, however, a continuous range of voltages is required.

  16. Real-time tracking of cell cycle progression during CD8+ effector and memory T-cell differentiation

    PubMed Central

    Kinjyo, Ichiko; Qin, Jim; Tan, Sioh-Yang; Wellard, Cameron J.; Mrass, Paulus; Ritchie, William; Doi, Atsushi; Cavanagh, Lois L.; Tomura, Michio; Sakaue-Sawano, Asako; Kanagawa, Osami; Miyawaki, Atsushi; Hodgkin, Philip D.; Weninger, Wolfgang

    2015-01-01

    The precise pathways of memory T-cell differentiation are incompletely understood. Here we exploit transgenic mice expressing fluorescent cell cycle indicators to longitudinally track the division dynamics of individual CD8+ T cells. During influenza virus infection in vivo, naive T cells enter a CD62Lintermediate state of fast proliferation, which continues for at least nine generations. At the peak of the anti-viral immune response, a subpopulation of these cells markedly reduces their cycling speed and acquires a CD62Lhi central memory cell phenotype. Construction of T-cell family division trees in vitro reveals two patterns of proliferation dynamics. While cells initially divide rapidly with moderate stochastic variations of cycling times after each generation, a slow-cycling subpopulation displaying a CD62Lhi memory phenotype appears after eight divisions. Phenotype and cell cycle duration are inherited by the progeny of slow cyclers. We propose that memory precursors cell-intrinsically modulate their proliferative activity to diversify differentiation pathways. PMID:25709008

  17. Real-time tracking of cell cycle progression during CD8+ effector and memory T-cell differentiation.

    PubMed

    Kinjyo, Ichiko; Qin, Jim; Tan, Sioh-Yang; Wellard, Cameron J; Mrass, Paulus; Ritchie, William; Doi, Atsushi; Cavanagh, Lois L; Tomura, Michio; Sakaue-Sawano, Asako; Kanagawa, Osami; Miyawaki, Atsushi; Hodgkin, Philip D; Weninger, Wolfgang

    2015-02-24

    The precise pathways of memory T-cell differentiation are incompletely understood. Here we exploit transgenic mice expressing fluorescent cell cycle indicators to longitudinally track the division dynamics of individual CD8(+) T cells. During influenza virus infection in vivo, naive T cells enter a CD62L(intermediate) state of fast proliferation, which continues for at least nine generations. At the peak of the anti-viral immune response, a subpopulation of these cells markedly reduces their cycling speed and acquires a CD62L(hi) central memory cell phenotype. Construction of T-cell family division trees in vitro reveals two patterns of proliferation dynamics. While cells initially divide rapidly with moderate stochastic variations of cycling times after each generation, a slow-cycling subpopulation displaying a CD62L(hi) memory phenotype appears after eight divisions. Phenotype and cell cycle duration are inherited by the progeny of slow cyclers. We propose that memory precursors cell-intrinsically modulate their proliferative activity to diversify differentiation pathways.

  18. Shugoshins function as a guardian for chromosomal stability in nuclear division.

    PubMed

    Yao, Yixin; Dai, Wei

    2012-07-15

    Accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis is regulated and secured by several distinctly different yet intricately connected regulatory mechanisms. As chromosomal instability is a hallmark of a majority of tumors as well as a cause of infertility for germ cells, extensive research in the past has focused on the identification and characterization of molecular components that are crucial for faithful chromosome segregation during cell division. Shugoshins, including Sgo1 and Sgo2, are evolutionarily conserved proteins that function to protect sister chromatid cohesion, thus ensuring chromosomal stability during mitosis and meiosis in eukaryotes. Recent studies reveal that Shugoshins in higher animals play an essential role not only in protecting centromeric cohesion of sister chromatids and assisting bi-orientation attachment at the kinetochores, but also in safeguarding centriole cohesion/engagement during early mitosis. Many molecular components have been identified that play essential roles in modulating/mediating Sgo functions. This review primarily summarizes recent advances on the mechanisms of action of Shugoshins in suppressing chromosomal instability during nuclear division in eukaryotic organisms.

  19. PASTA repeats of the protein kinase StkP interconnect cell constriction and separation of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

    PubMed

    Zucchini, Laure; Mercy, Chryslène; Garcia, Pierre Simon; Cluzel, Caroline; Gueguen-Chaignon, Virginie; Galisson, Frédéric; Freton, Céline; Guiral, Sébastien; Brochier-Armanet, Céline; Gouet, Patrice; Grangeasse, Christophe

    2018-02-01

    Eukaryotic-like serine/threonine kinases (eSTKs) with extracellular PASTA repeats are key membrane regulators of bacterial cell division. How PASTA repeats govern eSTK activation and function remains elusive. Using evolution- and structural-guided approaches combined with cell imaging, we disentangle the role of each PASTA repeat of the eSTK StkP from Streptococcus pneumoniae. While the three membrane-proximal PASTA repeats behave as interchangeable modules required for the activation of StkP independently of cell wall binding, they also control the septal cell wall thickness. In contrast, the fourth and membrane-distal PASTA repeat directs StkP localization at the division septum and encompasses a specific motif that is critical for final cell separation through interaction with the cell wall hydrolase LytB. We propose a model in which the extracellular four-PASTA domain of StkP plays a dual function in interconnecting the phosphorylation of StkP endogenous targets along with septal cell wall remodelling to allow cell division of the pneumococcus.

  20. Gain and losses in THz quantum cascade laser with metal-metal waveguide.

    PubMed

    Martl, Michael; Darmo, Juraj; Deutsch, Christoph; Brandstetter, Martin; Andrews, Aaron Maxwell; Klang, Pavel; Strasser, Gottfried; Unterrainer, Karl

    2011-01-17

    Coupling of broadband terahertz pulses into metal-metal terahertz quantum cascade lasers is presented. Mode matched terahertz transients are generated on the quantum cascade laser facet of subwavelength dimension. This method provides a full overlap of optical mode and active laser medium. A longitudinal optical-phonon depletion based active region design is investigated in a coupled cavity configuration. Modulation experiments reveal spectral gain and (broadband) losses. The observed gain shows high dynamic behavior when switching from loss to gain around threshold and is clamped at total laser losses.

  1. An electronic scanner of pressure for wind tunnel models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kauffman, Ronald C.; Coe, Charles F.

    1986-01-01

    An electronic scanner of pressure (ESOP) has been developed by NASA Ames Research Center for installation in wind tunnel models. An ESOP system consists of up to 20 pressure modules (PMs), each with 48 pressure transducers and a heater, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter module, a microprocessor, a data controller, a monitor unit, a control and processing unit, and a heater controller. The PMs and the A/D converter module are sized to be installed in the models tested in the Ames Aerodynamics Division wind tunnels. A unique feature of the pressure module is the lack of moving parts such as a pneumatic switch used in other systems for in situ calibrations. This paper describes the ESOP system and the results of the initial testing of the system. The initial results indicate the system meets the original design goal of 0.15 percent accuracy.

  2. A full-duplex optical access system with hybrid 64/16/4QAM-OFDM downlink

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Chao; Tan, Ze-fu; Shao, Yu-feng; Cai, Li; Pu, He-sheng; Zhu, Yun-le; Huang, Si-si; Liu, Yu

    2016-09-01

    A full-duplex optical passive access scheme is proposed and verified by simulation, in which hybrid 64/16/4-quadrature amplitude modulation (64/16/4QAM) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) optical signal is for downstream transmission and non-return-to-zero (NRZ) optical signal is for upstream transmission. In view of the transmitting and receiving process for downlink optical signal, in-phase/quadrature-phase (I/Q) modulation based on Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) and homodyne coherent detection technology are employed, respectively. The simulation results show that the bit error ratio ( BER) less than hardware decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) threshold is successfully obtained over transmission path with 20-km-long standard single mode fiber (SSMF) for hybrid downlink modulation OFDM optical signal. In addition, by dividing the system bandwidth into several subchannels consisting of some continuous subcarriers, it is convenient for users to select different channels depending on requirements of communication.

  3. A comparison of radioisotope Brayton and Stirling systems for lunar surface mobile power

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harty, Richard B.

    A study was performed by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International on a 2.5-kWe modular dynamic isotope power system (DIPS) using a Stirling power conversion system. The results of this study were compared with similar results performed under the DIPS program using a Brayton power conversion system. The application considered was for lunar mobile power sources in the power range of 2.5 kWe to 15 kWe. The study indicated that the Stirling power module has 20 percent lower mass and 40 percent lower radiator area than the Brayton module. However, the study also revealed that because the Stirling power module requires a complex heat pipe arrangement to transport heat from the isotope to the Stirling heater head and a pumped NaK heat rejection loop, the Stirling module is much more difficult to integrate with the isotope heat source and heat rejection system.

  4. A WDM-PON with DPSK modulated downstream and OOK modulated upstream signals based on symmetric 10 Gbit/s wavelength reused bidirectional reflective SOA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    El-Nahal, Fady I.

    2017-01-01

    We investigate a wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) with centralized lightwave and direct detection. The system is demonstrated for symmetric 10 Gbit/s differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) downstream signals and on-off keying (OOK) upstream signals, respectively. A wavelength reused scheme is employed to carry the upstream data by using a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) as an intensity modulator at the optical network unit (ONU). The constant-intensity property of the DPSK modulation format can keep high extinction ratio ( ER) of downstream signal and reduce the crosstalk to the upstream signal. The bit error rate ( BER) performance of our scheme shows that the proposed 10 Gbit/s symmetric WDM-PON can achieve error free transmission over 25-km-long fiber transmission with low power penalty.

  5. Ultrahigh capacity 2 × 2 MIMO RoF system at 60  GHz employing single-sideband single-carrier modulation.

    PubMed

    Lin, Chun-Ting; Ho, Chun-Hung; Huang, Hou-Tzu; Cheng, Yu-Hsuan

    2014-03-15

    This article proposes and experimentally demonstrates a radio-over-fiber system employing single-sideband single-carrier (SSB-SC) modulation at 60 GHz. SSB-SC modulation has a lower peak-to-average-power ratio than orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) modulation; therefore, the SSB-SC signals provide superior nonlinear tolerance, compared to OFDM signals. Moreover, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology was used extensively to enhance spectral efficiency. A least-mean-square-based equalizer was implemented, including MIMO channel estimation, frequency response equalization, and I/Q imbalance compensation to recover the MIMO signals. Thus, using 2×2 MIMO technology and 64-QAM SSB-SC signals, we achieved the highest data rate of 84 Gbps with 12  bit/s/Hz spectral efficiency using the 7-GHz license-free band at 60 GHz.

  6. Utilization of multi-band OFDM modulation to increase traffic rate of phosphor-LED wireless VLC.

    PubMed

    Yeh, Chien-Hung; Chen, Hsing-Yu; Chow, Chi-Wai; Liu, Yen-Liang

    2015-01-26

    To increase the traffic rate in phosphor-LED visible light communication (VLC), a multi-band orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) modulation is first proposed and demonstrated. In the measurement, we do not utilize optical blue filter to increase modulation bandwidth of phosphor-LED in the VLC system. In this proposed scheme, different bands of OFDM signals are applied to different LED chips in a LED lamp, this can avoid the power fading and nonlinearity issue by applying the same OFDM signal to all the LED chips in a LED lamp. Here, the maximum increase percentages of traffic rates are 41.1%, 17.8% and 17.8% under received illuminations of 200, 500 and 1000 Lux, respectively, when the proposed three-band OFDM modulation is used in the VLC system. In addition, the analysis and verification by experiments are also performed.

  7. Military Energy Alternatives Conference

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-08

    Power Generation and Alternative Energy Branch US Army RDECOM CERDEC CP&ID Power Division Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD...Co-generation Applications •Tactical Mobile Power •Vehicle-mounted Auxiliary Power and Environmental Control •Energy Security for Base...Mobile Power (PM MEP / PM CP) Vehicle Power (PM Tactical Vehicle / PM HTV) Portable Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Modules and Mobile Hybrid PV Power Sources

  8. Reduction of Spectral Interferences in Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry by Selective Spectral-Line Modulation.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1982-05-13

    11/03 laboratory mini- computer (Maynard, MA) Boxcar Amplifier: Model 162 Boxcar averager with model 164 input gates (Princeton Applied Research Corp...nn! Office Attn: Der A. B. Amster, Attn: Dv. I. P. Peebles Chemitry Division .%,!l3I1rg 1;4, Section D China Lake, California 93555 666 Summer

  9. Measures of Autonomic Nervous System

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-04-01

    activation encompass non-invasive tools, which measure cardiac, skin conductance, respiratory , and vascular activity. Choice of tools is dependent upon...digestion, excretion, and cardiac and respiratory activity. The ANS consists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions and acts through a... respiratory cycles. Generally, these two systems should be seen as permanently modulating vital functions to achieve homeostasis. Since both systems are

  10. Practice Makes Pretty Good: Assessment of Primary Literature Reading Abilities across Multiple Large-Enrollment Biology Laboratory Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sato, Brian K.; Kadandale, Pavan; He, Wenliang; Murata, Paige M. N.; Latif, Yama; Warschauer, Mark

    2014-01-01

    Primary literature is essential for scientific communication and is commonly utilized in undergraduate biology education. Despite this, there is often little time spent "training" our students how to critically analyze a paper. To address this, we introduced a primary literature module in multiple upper-division laboratory courses. In…

  11. Mathematics. Unit 6: A Core Curriculum of Related Instruction for Apprentices.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    The mathematics unit is presented to assist apprentices to acquire a general knowledge of mathematic skills. The unit consists of nine modules: (1) basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; (2) conventional linear measure; (3) using the metric system, (4) steps to take in solving problems, (5) how to calculate areas and volumes,…

  12. Optimum Adaptive Modulation and Channel Coding Scheme for Frequency Domain Channel-Dependent Scheduling in OFDM Based Evolved UTRA Downlink

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miki, Nobuhiko; Kishiyama, Yoshihisa; Higuchi, Kenichi; Sawahashi, Mamoru; Nakagawa, Masao

    In the Evolved UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) downlink, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) based radio access was adopted because of its inherent immunity to multipath interference and flexible accommodation of different spectrum arrangements. This paper presents the optimum adaptive modulation and channel coding (AMC) scheme when resource blocks (RBs) is simultaneously assigned to the same user when frequency and time domain channel-dependent scheduling is assumed in the downlink OFDMA radio access with single-antenna transmission. We start by presenting selection methods for the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) employing mutual information both for RB-common and RB-dependent modulation schemes. Simulation results show that, irrespective of the application of power adaptation to RB-dependent modulation, the improvement in the achievable throughput of the RB-dependent modulation scheme compared to that for the RB-common modulation scheme is slight, i.e., 4 to 5%. In addition, the number of required control signaling bits in the RB-dependent modulation scheme becomes greater than that for the RB-common modulation scheme. Therefore, we conclude that the RB-common modulation and channel coding rate scheme is preferred, when multiple RBs of the same coded stream are assigned to one user in the case of single-antenna transmission.

  13. Epithelial stratification and placode invagination are separable functions in early morphogenesis of the molar tooth

    PubMed Central

    Li, Jingjing; Chatzeli, Lemonia; Panousopoulou, Eleni; Tucker, Abigail S.; Green, Jeremy B. A.

    2016-01-01

    Ectodermal organs, which include teeth, hair follicles, mammary ducts, and glands such as sweat, mucous and sebaceous glands, are initiated in development as placodes, which are epithelial thickenings that invaginate and bud into the underlying mesenchyme. These placodes are stratified into a basal and several suprabasal layers of cells. The mechanisms driving stratification and invagination are poorly understood. Using the mouse molar tooth as a model for ectodermal organ morphogenesis, we show here that vertical, stratifying cell divisions are enriched in the forming placode and that stratification is cell division dependent. Using inhibitor and gain-of-function experiments, we show that FGF signalling is necessary and sufficient for stratification but not invagination as such. We show that, instead, Shh signalling is necessary for, and promotes, invagination once suprabasal tissue is generated. Shh-dependent suprabasal cell shape suggests convergent migration and intercalation, potentially accounting for post-stratification placode invagination to bud stage. We present a model in which FGF generates suprabasal tissue by asymmetric cell division, while Shh triggers cell rearrangement in this tissue to drive invagination all the way to bud formation. PMID:26755699

  14. Resources for startup and growing businesses in the science and engineering sectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sabol, Joseph

    2013-03-01

    The American Chemical Society provides resources for members involved in forming startup and growing small businesses in the chemical and related sectors. In particular, the ACS Division of Small Chemical Businesses SCHB provides member benefits, informative programming at national and regional meetings, and networking opportunities for entrepreneurs. SCHB member benefits include listing in a directory of members' products and services, discounted expo booth rental at ACS national meetings, sponsorship to attend ACS leadership development courses, volunteer opportunities to shape and direct SCHB's operations, multiple social networking platforms, and professional networking opportunities with like-minded and similarly situated small business principals. SCHB's mission is ``To aid in the formation, development and growth of small chemical businesses.'' SCHB collaborates with other units in ACS, including local sections, the Chemical Entrepreneurship Council, the Division of Business Development & Management, Entrepreneurial Initiative, and Career Services. SCHB helps chemists gain skills to translate research into commercially successful products; build strong, growing companies that create jobs; and collaborate with professionals outside the chemical community. American Chemical Society, Division of Small Chemical Businesses

  15. Apollo 16 lunar module 'Orion' photographed from distance during EVA

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1972-01-01

    The Apollo 16 Lunar Module 'Orion' is photographed from a distance by Astronaut Chares M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, aboard the moving Lunar Roving Vehicle. Astronauts Duke and John W. Young, commander, were returing from the third Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-2). The RCA color television camera mounted on the LRV is in the foreground. A portion of the LRV's high-gain antenna is at top left.

  16. Low-Energy Tunable Self-Modulated Nanolasers (1.1 SHORT-TERM INNOVATIVE RESEARCH (STIR) PROGRAM)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-09-28

    Optoelectronics: Low -Energy Tunable Self- Modulated Nanolasers (1.1 SHORT-TERM INNOVATIVE RESEARCH (STIR) PROGRAM) Our goal was to exploit Quantum...reviewed journals: Final Report: Optoelectronics: Low -Energy Tunable Self-Modulated Nanolasers (1.1 SHORT-TERM INNOVATIVE RESEARCH (STIR) PROGRAM...metal layer. By optimizing the thickness of the low index shield between the metal and semiconductor, the gain threshold of the laser can be

  17. Art Concepts - Apollo VIII

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1968-12-02

    S68-51306 (December 1968) --- North American Rockwell artist's concept illustrating a phase of the scheduled Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. Here, the Apollo 8 spacecraft lunar module adapter (SLA) panels, which have supported the Command and Service Modules, are jettisoned. This is done by astronauts firing the service module reaction control engines. A signal simultaneously deploys and jettisons the panels, separating the spacecraft from the SLA and deploying the high gain (deep space) antenna.

  18. Optical mixing of microwave signals in a nonlinear semiconductor laser amplifier modulator.

    PubMed

    Capmany, José; Sales, Salvador; Pastor, Daniel; Ortega, Beatriz

    2002-02-11

    In this paper we propose and evaluate the optical mixing of RF signals by means of exploiting the nonlinearity of a SLA modulator. The results show the potential for devices with low conversion losses (and even gain) and polarization insensitivity and reduced insertion losses.

  19. Information transfer with rate-modulated Poisson processes: a simple model for nonstationary stochastic resonance.

    PubMed

    Goychuk, I

    2001-08-01

    Stochastic resonance in a simple model of information transfer is studied for sensory neurons and ensembles of ion channels. An exact expression for the information gain is obtained for the Poisson process with the signal-modulated spiking rate. This result allows one to generalize the conventional stochastic resonance (SR) problem (with periodic input signal) to the arbitrary signals of finite duration (nonstationary SR). Moreover, in the case of a periodic signal, the rate of information gain is compared with the conventional signal-to-noise ratio. The paper establishes the general nonequivalence between both measures notwithstanding their apparent similarity in the limit of weak signals.

  20. 30/20 GHz spacecraft GaAs FET solid state transmitter for trunking and customer-premise-service application

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Saunier, P.; Nelson, S.

    1983-01-01

    Sixteen 30 dB 0.5 W amplifier modules were combined to satisfy the requirement for a graceful degradation. If one module fails, the output power drops by only 0.43 dB. Also, by incorporating all the gain stages within the combiner the overall combining efficiency is maximized. A 16 way waveguide divider combiner was developed to minimize the insertion loss associated with such a large corporate feed structure. Tests showed that the 16 way insertion loss was less than 0.5 dB. To minimize loss, a direct transition from waveguide to microstrip, using a finline on duroid substrate, was developed. The FETs fabricated on MBE grown material, demonstrated superior performances. For example, a 600 micrometer device was capable of 320 mW output power with 5 dB gain and 26.6% efficiency at 21 GHz. The 16 module amplifier gave 8.95 W saturated output power with 30 dB gain. The overall efficiency was 9%. The 3 dB bandwidth was 2.5 GHz. At 17.7 GHz the amplifier had 5 W output power and at 20.2 GHz it still had 4.4 W.

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