Switching to Directional Antennas with Constant Increase in Radius and Hop Distance

For any angle α<2π, we show that any connected communication graph that is induced by a set P of n transceivers using omni-directional antennas of radius 1, can be replaced by a strongly connected communication graph, in which each transceiver in P is equipped with a directional antenna of angle α and radius r _dir, for some constant r _dir=r _dir(α). Moreover, the new communication graph is a c-spanner of the original graph, for some constant c=c(α), with respect to number of hops.     

Half-of-the-sites reactivity of F235C {lambda}-repressor: implications for the structure of the whole repressor

A site-directed mutation, F235C, was created at the penultimateresidue of the -repressor. Measurement of dimer–monomerdissociation constant suggested that dimer–monomer dissociationof the mutant repressor is similar to that of the wild-type.Affinity towards a single operator O_R1 is also similar to thatof the wild-type repressor. The mutant repressor gene in a multi-copyplasmid confers immunity towards infection by a cI^- lambda phage,suggesting preservation of functional integrity. Far-UV circulardichroism spectra show no major change in the secondary structure.Fluorescence quenching experiments, however, suggest increasedexposure of some tryptophan residues. The urea denaturationprofile indicates decreased stability of a part of the C-terminaldomain. Under non-denaturing conditions, cysteine-235 showshalf-of-the-sites reactivity, i.e. on average only one out oftwo cysteine-235 residues in the dimer shows reactivity towardssulfhydryl reagents. Fluorescence energy transfer between randomlylabeled donor and acceptor fluorescent probes indicates thatonly one sulfhydryl per dimer is reactive, suggesting true half-of-the-sitesreactivity. The structural role of the C-terminal tail in thewhole repressor dimer is discussed.     

Bootstrapping a weighted linear estimator of the ARCH parameters

Abstract.  A standard assumption while deriving the asymptotic distribution of the quasi maximum likelihood estimator in ARCH models is that all ARCH parameters must be strictly positive. This assumption is also crucial in deriving the limit distribution of appropriate linear estimators (LE). We propose a weighted linear estimator (WLE) of the ARCH parameters in the classical ARCH model and show that its limit distribution is multivariate normal even when some of the ARCH coefficients are zero. The asymptotic dispersion matrix involves unknown quantities. We consider appropriate bootstrapped version of this WLE and prove that it is asymptotically valid in the sense that the bootstrapped distribution (given the data) is a consistent estimate (in probability) of the distribution of the WLE. Although we do not show theoretically that the bootstrap outperforms the normal approximation, our simulations demonstrate that it yields better approximations than the limiting normal.     

A high-performance inverter-fed drive system of an interiorpermanent magnet synchronous machine

A high-performance, fully operational four-quadrant control scheme for the interior permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machine is described. The machine operates smoothly with full performance in the constant-torque region as well as in the flux-weakening constant-power region in both directions of motion. The transition between the constant-torque region and the constant-power region is very smooth at all conditions of operation. Control in the constant-torque region is based on the vector stator flux, while constant-power region control is implemented through the feedforward vector rotator. The control system is digitally implemented using a distributed microcomputer system, and all of the essential feedback signals such as torque, flux, etc. are estimated with precision. A 70 hp drive system using a neodymium-iron-boron (NeFeB) PM machine and transistor pulse width modulation inverter was designed and extensively tested in the laboratory on a dynamometer, and performance was found to be excellent     

High-frequency, depressing inhibition facilitates synchronization in globally inhibitory networks

Motivated by the study of sharp wave-associated ripples, high-frequency (approximately 200 Hz) extracellular field oscillations observed in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampus during slow-wave sleep and periods of behavioural immobility, we consider a single inhibitory neuron synapsing onto a network of uncoupled, excitatory neurons. The inhibitory synapse is depressing and has a small synaptic delay. Each excitatory cell provides instantaneous, positive feedback to the inhibitory cell. We show that the interneuron can rapidly synchronize the action potentials of the pyramidal cells if the frequency of inhibitory input is increased in a ramp-like manner as occurs during the ripple. We show that the basin of attraction of the synchronous solution is larger when the inhibition frequency is gradually increased as opposed to remaining constant.     

Neural network design using Voronoi diagrams

A novel approach is proposed which determines the number of layers, the number of neurons in each layer, and their connection weights for a particular implementation of a neural network, with the multilayer feedforward topology, designed to classify patterns in the multidimensional feature space. The approach is based on construction of a Voronoi diagram over the set of points representing patterns in feature space and this finds added usefulness in deriving alternate neural network structures for realizing the desired pattern classification.     

Performance analysis and its impact on design

Methods for designing new computer systems have changed rapidly. Consider general purpose microprocessors: gone are the days when one or two expert architects would use hunches, experience, and rules of thumb to determine a processor's features. Marketplace competition has long since forced companies to replace this ad hoc process with a targeted and highly systematic process that focuses new designs on specific workloads. Although the process differs from company to company, there are common elements. The main advantage of a systematic process is that it produces a finely tuned design targeted at a particular market. At its core are models of the processor's performance and its workloads. Developing and verifying these models is the domain now called performance analysis. We cover some of the advances in dealing with modern problems in performance analysis. Our focus is on architectural performance, typically measured in cycles per instruction     

Layered Working-Set Trees

The working-set bound [Sleator and Tarjan in J. ACM 32(3), 652–686, 1985] roughly states that searching for an element is fast if the element was accessed recently. Binary search trees, such as splay trees, can achieve this property in the amortized sense, while data structures that are not binary search trees are known to have this property in the worst case. We close this gap and present a binary search tree called a layered working-set tree that guarantees the working-set property in the worst case. The unified bound [B?doiu et al. in Theor. Comput. Sci. 382(2), 86–96, 2007] roughly states that searching for an element is fast if it is near (in terms of rank distance) to a recently accessed element. We show how layered working-set trees can be used to achieve the unified bound to within a small additive term in the amortized sense while maintaining in the worst case an access time that is both logarithmic and within a small multiplicative factor of the working-set bound.