Blind synchronisation for OFDM

A blind synchronisation method or an OFDM system operating over a wireless frequency selective channel is presented. There are two restrictions (i) the constellation on each subcarrier must have points equally spaced in phase and (ii) the length of the guard interval must be chosen from a subset of allowed values. The frequency offset acquisition range is ~±1/8 of the total OFDM symbol bandwidth     

Low-power digital radio as a ubiquitous subscriber loop

The recent growth in the use of digital radio is reviewed. The technology used to implement low-power digital radio in the local exchange loop plant is discussed. The integration of digital radio subscriber loops withnetwork intelligence is explored. The relationship between low-power digital radio loops and broadband fiber loops is briefly examined, and standards and frequency allocation activities are summarized     

Mechanistic investigation into the electrolytic formation of iron from iron(III) oxide in molten sodium hydroxide

Iron(III) oxide tablets were electrolytically reduced to iron in molten sodium hydroxide at 530 °C and recovered to produce iron with 2 wt.% oxygen suitable for re-melting. The cell was operated at 1.7 V and an inert nickel anode was used. The thermodynamics and mechanism of the process was also investigated. By controlling the activity of sodium oxide in the melt, the cell could be operated below the decomposition voltage of the electrolyte with the net sequence of events being the ionization of oxygen, its subsequent transport to the anode and discharge leaving behind iron at the cathode. A reduction time of 1 h was achieved for a 1 g oxide tablet (close to the theoretical reduction time predicted by Faraday’s laws) at a current density of 520 mA cm⁻² with iron phase yields of ∼90 wt.%. The energy consumption was 2.8 kWh kg⁻¹.     

New Product Development and Product Supply within a Network Setting: The Chilled Ready-meal Industry in the UK

This paper analyses inter-organizational networks that link together firms operating in the food processing and distribution industry in the UK. In doing so, the paper draws on insights recently developed by Mark Casson that treat inter-firm networks as an institutional response to the changing costs and opportunities of information management. Detailed analysis of product innovation and supply-chain management issues within the industry, exemplified by the growth of chilled ready-meals, leads to the identification of two distinct but complementary inter-firm networks: a network of control and a network of innovation. In each case, the study finds that the critical information is derived from the retailers' interface with consumers and thus that these information-based networks are effectively controlled by the leading supermarket chains. The study's conclusions are considered in relation to the recent findings of the UK Competition Commission following its investigation into grocery retailing in Britain.     

Some applications of ultraviolet spectrophotometry in drying oil research

Conclusions An alkaline-solution technique has been developed permitting the study of the drying and aging process of an oil film using the ultraviolet spectrophotometer. This technique has been found to be a valuable tool for investigating some of the chemical changes which occur as a vegetable oil film dries and ages. The drying or autoxidation of an oil film has been shown to proceed along the general lines of a three-stage reaction with the short initial stage being characterized by an accumulation of conjugated diene and triene structures which reaches a maximum at the time the film has set up or becomes continuous. The second or curing stage was characterized by a slow decrease in the measurable conjugated diene and triene structures. The third or deterioration stage was not investigated; however, this method should be readily adaptable to studies involving film breakdown as represented by phenomena such as after-yellowing since the development of absorption peaks characteristic of linolenic ketones, for example, would permit an early prediction of yellowing long before the concentration of the chromophore groups became great enough for visual observation. During the initial stage of drying there was also evidence for an increase in the alpha-keto structures capable of enolizing in alkali to give absorption maxima characteristic of triene and tetraene conjugated systems. These enolizable structures also decreased in amount during the film curing period and are not characterizable on the basis of observed absorption maxima and published information. The method of obtaining a spectral solution of a dry, infusible oil film through the medium of alcoholic KOH was applied to investigations on the relationship existing between the light absorption of the film solution and the durability or weather resistance of the straight oil film. The results obtained verified the principle previously reported that the quantity of light absorbed by an oil film in the region of 320–400 mμ was indicative of the durability of the film upon exposure to accelerated weathering conditions.     

Biology and pathology of Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum infections in several strains of nude mice

Schistosoma mansoni and S. japonicum infections in nude mice (nu/nu) were compared with infections in nu/+ heterozygotes or intact mice. Seven to 12 weeks after exposure to S. mansoni, the responses of Swiss NCR, C3H, BALB/c and C57B1/6 nude mice did not differ substantially. Nude mice of all these strains showed minute granulomas around eggs in the liver and minimal hepatic fibrosis. Microvesicular and necrotizing changes in hepatocytes were similar in all mouse strains, and S. mansoni infections were frequently lethal to nude, but not to intact mice between the seventh and ninth weeks of infection. Nude mice that survived the ninth week of infection generally lived until the 12th week. The number of eggs per mature worm pair in the tissues of S. mansoni-infected nude mice was similar to the number in intact mice, but nude mice passed fewer eggs in the feces. Nude mice that received serum from infected intact mice excreted eggs in the stool in numbers equivalent to intact mice, but continued to form minute granulomas around S. mansoni eggs. Reconstitution with fetal thymus or with splenocytes from normal or S. mansoni-infected mice partially or completely restored hepatic granuloma size, granuloma eosinophils, hepatic fibrosis, and excretion of eggs in the feces. In contrast to S. mansoni infection, S. japonicum infections in nude mice did not cause necrosis of hepatocytes or excessive mortality, and S. japonicum eggs were passed in the feces in numbers equivalent to those passed by infected intact mice.     

Fuzzy fundamentals

An orderly design procedure that can save time and help prevent problems in the development of fuzzy logic systems is presented. The nature of fuzzy logic is examined, and the design of fuzzy control systems is discussed. The architecture of a simple fuzzy controller for a steam turbine is used as an example, to show how fuzzy control models work. A four-step methodology for fuzzy system design is described