A Low-Complexity Circuit for On-Sensor Concurrent A/D Conversion and Compression

A low-complexity circuit for on-sensor compression is presented. The proposed circuit achieves complexity savings by combining a single-slope analog-to-digital converter with a Golomb-Rice entropy encoder and by implementing a low-complexity adaptation rule. The adaptation rule monitors the output codewords and minimizes their length by incrementing or decrementing the value of the Golomb-Rice coding parameter k. Its hardware implementation is one order of magnitude lower than existing adaptive algorithms. The compression circuit has been fabricated using a 0.35 muM CMOS technology and occupies an area of 0.0918 . Test measurements confirm the validity of the design.     

Interlaboratory ring test of time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays for zeranol and alpha-zearalenol and comparison with zeranol test kits.

Many zeranol immunoassay test kits cross-react with toxins formed by naturally occurring Fusarium spp. fungi, leading to false-positive screening results. This paper describes the evaluation and application of recently published, dry reagent time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays (TR-FIA) for zeranol and the toxin alpha-zearalenol. A ring test of bovine urine fortified with zeranol and/or alpha-zearalenol in four European Union National Reference Laboratories demonstrated that the TR-FIA tests were accurate and robust. The alpha-zearalenol TR-FIA satisfactorily quantified alpha-zearalenol in urine fortified at 10-30 ng ml(-1). The specificity-enhanced zeranol TR-FIA accurately quantified zeranol in the range 2-5 ng ml(-1) and gave no false-positive results in blank urine, even in the presence of 30 ng ml(-1) alpha-zearalenol. Zeranol TR-FIA specificity was demonstrated further by analysing incurred zeranol-free urine samples containing natural Fusarium spp. toxins. The TR-FIA yielded no false-positive results in the presence of up to 22 ng ml(-1) toxins. The performance of four commercially available zeranol immunoassay test kits was more variable. Three kits produced many false-positive results. One kit produced only one potential false-positive using a protocol that was longer than that of the TR-FIA. These TR-FIAs will be valuable tools to develop inspection criteria to distinguish illegal zeranol abuse from contamination arising from in vivo metabolism of Fusarium spp. toxins.     

Working memory in mild Alzheimer's disease and early Parkinson's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) impair working memory (WM). It is unclear, however, whether the deficits seen early in the course of these diseases are similar. To address this issue, the authors compared the performance of 22 patients with mild AD, 20 patients with early PD and without dementia, and 112 control participants on tests of inhibition, short-term memory, and 2 commonly administered tests of WM. The results suggest that although mild AD and early PD both impair WM, the deficits may be related to the interruption of different processes that contribute to WM performance. Early PD disrupted inhibitory processes, whereas mild AD did not. The WM deficits seen in patients with AD may be secondary to deficits in other cognitive capacities, including semantic memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconstruction of radiation situation at Chernobyl NPP service area on the basis of γ-ray spectrometric analysis of soil samples and published data

Reconstruction of the radiation situation in areas subjected to nuclear accidents was done with an example of the Chernobyl accident (1986) on the basis of the radionuclidic composition of soil samples. The radionuclidic composition of γ-emitters was determined 19 years after the accident in a pulverescent sandstone sample collected in July 1986 at a distance of 1.5 km from the 4th block. Using reference data and data from original papers, reconstruction of the radionuclidic composition of the sample is done on the first ten days after the accident, and possible variations of the γ-radiation dose rate were determined within the framework of the thin film model. Based on the results obtained, variations of the absorbed dose of γ-radiation in 10 days are estimated, which is necessary for making urgent decisions in the initial period after the accident. The results are well consistent with the published data on the dose rates, validating the decision on evacuation of the people from Pripyat town and from the 30-km exclusion zone.     

Color Grouping in Space and Time: Evidence From Negative Color-Based Carryover Effects in Preview Search.

Five experiments addressed the role of color grouping in preview search (D. G. Watson & G. W. Humphreys, 1997). Experiment 1 used opposite color ratios of distractors in preview and second search displays, creating equal numbers of distractors in each color group in the final display. There was selective slowing for new targets carrying the majority color of the old items. This effect held when there was no bias in the preview and only the second search set had an uneven color ratio (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, participants had foreknowledge of the target color, and effects were shown over and above those due to color biases. Experiment 4 demonstrated negative color carryover even when previews changed color. Experiment 5 showed reduced color carryover effects when previews were presented more briefly. Collectively, the results provide evidence for inhibitory carryover effects in preview search based on feature grouping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big-Fish--Little-Pond effect on academic self-concept: A cross-cultural (26-country) test of the negative effects of academically selective schools.

Academically selective schools are intended to affect academic self-concept positively, but theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative. The big-fish--little-pond effect (BFLPE), an application of social comparison theory to educational settings, posits that a student will have a lower academic self-concept in an academically selective school than in a nonselective school. This study, the largest cross-cultural study of the BFLPE ever undertaken, tested theoretical predictions for nationally representative samples of approximately 4,000 15-year-olds from each of 26 countries (N=103,558) who completed the same self-concept instrument and achievement tests. Consistent with the BFLPE, the effects of school-average achievement were negative in all 26 countries (M beta=-.20, SD=.08), demonstrating the BFLPE's cross-cultural generalizability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Allocation of Scarce Water Resources Using Deficit Irrigation in Rotational Systems

On irrigation schemes with rotational irrigation systems in semiarid tropics, the existing rules for water allocation are based on applying a fixed depth of water with every irrigation irrespective of the crops, their growth stages, and soils on which these crops are grown. However, when water resources are scarce, it is necessary to allocate water optimally to different crops grown in the irrigation scheme taking account of different soils in the command area. Allocating water optimally may lead to applying less water to crops than is needed to obtain the maximum yield. In this paper, a three stage approach is proposed for allocating water from a reservoir optimally based on a deficit irrigation approach, using a simulation-optimization model. The allocation results with a deficit irrigation approach are compared for a single crop (wheat) in an irrigation scheme in India, first with full irrigation (irrigation to fill the root zone to field capacity) and second with the existing rule. The full irrigation with a small irrigation interval was equivalent to adequate irrigation (no stress to the crop). It is found that practicing deficit irrigation enables the irrigated area and the total crop production in the irrigation scheme used for the case study to be increased by about 30–45% and 20–40%, respectively, over the existing rule and by 50 and 45%, respectively, over the adequate irrigation. Allocation of resources also varied with soil types.