The Impact of Political Talk Radio Exposure on Attributions About the Outcome of the 1996 U.S. Presidential Election

This study investigates the media's potential to affect audiences' interpretations of news events. It compares perceptions of the causes of the 1996 presidential election outcome across four media consumption groups: listeners to the program of Rush Limbaugh, listeners to other political talk radio, consumers of mainstream news media, and nonconsumers of news media. Limbaugh listeners were more likely to discount substantive election explanations than were consumers of other types of political talk radio, consumers of mainstream news media, and nonconsumers of news media. These differences in interpretation parallel differences between the content of his program and that of other media.     

LTE uplink MIMO receiver with low complexity interference cancellation

In LTE/LTE-A uplink receiver, frequency domain equalizers (FDE) are adopted to achieve good performance. However, in multi-tap channels, the residual inter-symbol and inter-antenna interference still exist after FDE and degrade the performance. Conventional interference cancellation schemes can minimize this interference by using frequency domain interference cancellation. However, those schemes have high complexity and large feedback latency, especially when adopting a large number of iterations. These result in low throughput and require a large amount of resource in software defined radio implementation. In this paper, we propose a novel low complexity interference cancellation scheme to minimize the residual interference in LTE/LTE-A uplink. Our proposed scheme can bring about 2 dB gains in different channels, but only adds up to 7.2 % complexity to the receiver. The scheme is further implemented on Xilinx FPGA. Compared to other conventional interference cancellation schemes, our scheme has less complexity, less data to store, and shorter feedback latency.     

Value‐centric framework and pareto optimality for design and acquisition of communication satellites

Investments in space systems are substantial, indivisible, and irreversible, characteristics of high‐risk investments. Traditional approaches to system design, acquisition, and risk mitigation are derived from a cost‐centric mindset, and as such they incorporate little information about the value of the spacecraft to its stakeholders. These traditional approaches are appropriate in stable environments. However, the current technical and economic conditions are distinctly uncertain and rapidly changing. Consequently, these traditional approaches have to be revisited and adapted to the current context. We propose that in uncertain environments, decision‐making with respect to design and acquisition choices should be value‐based. We develop a value‐centric framework, analytical tools, and an illustrative numerical example for communication satellites. Our two proposed metrics for decision‐making are the system's expected value and value uncertainty. Expected value is calculated as the expected NPV of the satellite. The cash inflow is calculated as a function of the satellite loading, its transponder pricing, and market demand. The cash outflows are the various costs for owning and operating the satellite. Value uncertainty emerges due to uncertainties in the various cash flow streams, in particular because of market conditions. We propagate market uncertainty through Monte Carlo simulation, and translate it into value uncertainty for the satellite. The end result is a portfolio of Pareto‐optimal satellite design alternatives. By using value and value uncertainty as decision metrics in the down‐selection process, decision‐makers draw on more information about the system in its environment, and in making value‐based design and acquisition choices, they ultimately make more informed and better choices. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Markov-Based Channel Model Algorithm for Wireless Networks

Techniques for modeling and simulating channel conditions play an essential role in understanding network protocol and application behavior. In [11], we demonstrated that inaccurate modeling using a traditional analytical model yielded suboptimal error control protocol parameters choices. In this paper, we demonstrate that time-varying effects on wireless channels result in wireless traces which exhibit non-stationary behavior over small window sizes. We then present an algorithm that extracts stationary components from a collected trace in order to provide analytical channel models that, relative to traditional approaches, more accurately represent characteristics such as burstiness, statistical distribution of errors, and packet loss processes. Our algorithm also generates artificial traces with the same statistical characteristics as actual collected network traces. For validation, we develop a channel model for the circuit-switched data service in GSM and show that it: (1) more closely approximates GSM channel characteristics than traditional Markov models and (2) generates artificial traces that closely match collected traces' statistics. Using these traces in a simulator environment enables future protocol and application testing under different controlled and repeatable conditions.     

Surface Chemistry of Vitamin: Pyridoxal 5′‐Phosphate (Vitamin B6) as a Multifunctional Compound for Surface Functionalization

Vitamins are non‐toxic compounds that perform a variety of biological functions and also available in a large quantity. Other than the usage as food supplements, few attempts have been made to use them as functional materials. In this study, we report that vitamin B6, pyridoxal 5′‐phosphate (PLP), is a multi‐functional molecule for oxide surface chemistry. PLP‐immobilized surfaces exhibit superhydrophilicity and even hemophilicity, enhancing proliferation, migration, and differentiation of mammalian cells. Unlike existing molecules used so far in surface modification, PLP has an intrinsic chemical reactivity toward biomacromolecules due to the presence of the aldehyde group. In fact, RGD peptide is covalently tethered onto PLP surfaces directly in one step without any chemical activation. Furthermore, PLP‐functionalized implant device showed rapid bone healing. As vitamin B6 is a FDA approved molecule for human usage, the surface chemistry of vitamin B6 potentially allows a fast route for surface functionalized medical devices into clinic.     

Pectic Galactan Polysaccharide-Based Gene Delivery System for Targeting Neuroinflammation

Treating neuroinflammation-related injuries and disorders through manipulation of neuroinflammation functions is being heralded as a new therapeutic strategy. In this study, a novel pectic galactan (PG) polysaccharide based gene therapy approach is developed for targeting reactive gliosis in neuroinflammation. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a cell protein with a high affinity to β-galactoside sugars and is highly expressed in reactive gliosis. Since PG carries galactans, it can target reactive gliosis via specific carbohydrate interaction between galactan and Gal-3 on the cell membrane, and therefore can be utilized as a carrier for delivering genes to these cells. The carrier is synthesized by modifying quaternary ammonium groups on the PG. The resulting quaternized PG (QPG) is found to form complexes with plasmid DNA with a mean diameter of 100 nm and have the characteristics required for targeted gene therapy. The complexes efficiently condense large amounts of plasmid per particle and successfully bind to Gal-3. The in vivo study shows that the complexes are biocompatible and safe for administration and can selectively transfect reactive glial cells of an induced cortical lesion. The results confirm that this PG-based delivery system is a promising platform for targeting Gal-3 overexpressing neuroinflammation cells for treating neuroinflammation-related injuries and neurodegenerative diseases.     

A new algorithm to compute the discrete inverse radon transform

The aim of this paper is to compute the discrete inverse Radon transform over ⁿ . The Radon transform is a function with domainS ^n–1×. It is shown that under different measure this function can be defined with domain ⁿ . In this case one can compute the discrete inverse Radon transform in the Cartesian coordinate system without interpolating from polar to Cartesian coordinates or using the backprojection operator.     

3-state BTL closed-loop PWM Class D amplifiers

One of the shortcomings of a number of Class D amplifiers (CDAs) designs is their susceptibility to supply noise, quantified by Power Supply Rejection Ratio (PSRR). Reported investigations thereto to-date remain incomplete/over-simplified, particularly the assumption that the AC ground is noise-less and a simplified fully-differential integrator model. In this paper, the effect of supply noise in the AC ground to PSRR is analytically investigated, and the associated analytical expressions derived. Of specific interest, the analysis is applied to the ubiquitous 3-state Bridge-tied-load (BTL) closed-loop PWM CDA, taking into consideration not only the effect of the non-ideal AC ground, but also the effect of the resistor and capacitor mismatch based on a realistic fully-differential integrator model. Further, the PSRR analysis of 3-state BTL closed-loop CDAs has to date been limited to the single-feedback topology and in this paper, extended to the double-feedback topology. These analyses and derived equations herein are useful as they provide valuable insights to CDA designers into the PSRR mechanisms—for example, the counter-intuitive observation that the CDA with 1st-order integrators provides similar or better PSRR than the CDA with 2nd-order integrators if both CDAs are designed to the same carrier attenuation—including the effect of various circuit parameters, and ensuing trade-offs. The derived analytical expressions are verified by means of HSPICE simulations and on the basis of practical measurements on discretely-realized CDAs.     

Hidden state models for noncontact measurements of the carotid pulse using a laser Doppler vibrometer

The method of laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) is used to sense movements of the skin overlying the carotid artery. When pointed at the skin overlying the carotid artery, the mechanical movements of the skin disclose physiological activity relating to the blood pressure pulse over the cardiac cycle. In this paper, signal modeling is addressed, with close attention to the underlying physiology. Segments of the LDV signal corresponding to single heartbeats, called LDV pulses, are extracted. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are used to capture the dynamics of the LDV pulses from beat to beat based on pulse morphology; under resting conditions these dynamics are primarily due to respiration-related effects. LDV pulses are classified according to state, by computing the optimal state path through the data using trained HMMs. HMM state dynamics are examined within the context of respiratory effort using strain gauges placed around the abdomen. This study presented here provides a graphical model approach to modeling the dependence of the LDV pulse on latent states.     

Orthorhombic Materials and Perfect Lenses

The potential of orthorhombic materials for perfect lenses is theoretically examined.