Wavelength-tunable 40-GHz picosecond harmonically mode-locked fiber laser source

We demonstrate a novel 40-GHz mode-locked fiber laser that utilizes a single active device to provide both gain and mode-locking. The laser produces pulses as short as 2.2 ps, is tunable over a 27-nm band centered at 1553 nm, and exhibits long-term stability without cavity-length feedback control. The pulse train at 1556 nm was used in a 40-Gb/s transmission experiment over 45 km with a low 0.4-dB power penalty.     

Estimating signal strengths in the design of an indoor wireless network

One issue in the design and implementation of a wireless local area network is the selection of access point (AP) locations. Proper AP placement is necessary to provide adequate signal coverage and also to minimize cochannel coverage overlap. The impact of incorrect placement of APs is significant. Placing APs too far apart can lead to gaps in coverage. On the other hand, placing the units too close together leads to excessive cochannel coverage overlap, degrading system performance. Currently, AP placement involves a "trial and error" technique. When a technician tests the effect of moving an AP from one location to another, it is necessary to spend considerable time manually measuring signal strengths in order to determine how this move affects the AP's coverage area. In this letter, we describe a procedure for estimating the coverage areas of relocated APs. The procedure can be used as part of a manual design process or as part of an automated design tool.     

Anthocyanin composition of the red wine Babić affected by maceration treatment

Identification of anthocyanins in the wine made of the Croatian autochthonous grape variety of Babić (Vitis vinifera L.) was carried out and their profile was determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometric detection. Dependence of anthocyanins content and profile on maceration treatment conditions was investigated. Statistically significant differences of anthocyanins concentration in wines Babić produced by various maceration treatments were confirmed by the use of multivariate analysis of variances. The investigation results indicated that the maceration temperature exerts higher influence on anthocyanins concentration than the duration of maceration. In addition, on the basis of anthocyanin composition and using different multivariate statistical analyses, differentiation of wines Babić according to maceration treatments was procured.     

Modification of ASM3 for the determination of biomass adsorption/storage capacity in bulking sludge control.

The selector activated sludge (SAS) systems are known to prevent excessive growth of filamentous microorganisms responsible for bulking sludge, but these systems were hardly ever modelled. This study aimed to develop a model capable of predicting rapid substrate removal in the SAS systems. For this purpose, the Activated Sludge Model No. 3 (ASM3) was extended with three processes (adsorption, direct growth on the adsorbed substrate under aerobic or anoxic conditions). The modified ASM3 was tested against the results of batch experiments with the biomass originating from two full-scale SAS systems in Germany. The endogenous biomass was mixed with various readily biodegradable substrates (acetate, peptone, glucose and wastewater) and the utilisation of substrate (expresses as COD) and oxygen uptake rates (OURs) were measured during the experiments. In general, model predictions fitted to the experimental data, but a considerable number of kinetic (5) and stoichiometric (2) parameters needed to be adjusted during model calibration. The simulation results revealed that storage was generally a dominating process compared to direct growth in terms of the adsorbed substrate utilisation. The contribution of storage ranged from 65-71% (Plant A) and 69-92% (Plant B).     

Robust decoding of variable-length encoded Markov sources using a three-dimensional trellis

In this letter, we present an improved index-based a-posteriori probability (APP) decoding approach for the error-resilient transmission of packetized variable-length encoded Markov sources. The proposed algorithm is based on a novel two-dimensional (2D) state representation which leads to a three-dimensional trellis with unique state transitions. APP decoding on this trellis is realized by employing a 2D version of the BCJR algorithm where all available source statistics can be fully exploited in the source decoder. For an additional use of channel codes the proposed approach leads to an increased error-correction performance compared to a one-dimensional state representation.     

Night and Day: Are Siblings as Different in Temperament as Parents Say They Are?

Twin studies suggest that parent ratings of temperament exaggerate differences between twins. The present study examined whether such contrast effects also operate for nontwin siblings. The activity level (AL) and shyness of 95 nontwin sibling pairs (ages 3 to 8 years) were assessed via parent ratings and objective measures (actigraph and observer ratings). Siblings showed no resemblance in either parent-rated AL or shyness; however, sibling resemblance for actigraph AL and observer-rated shyness was substantial. Thus, parents do contrast their nontwin siblings when rating these 2 temperament dimensions. Moreover, the importance of sibling differences in temperament to the sibling relationship and differential maternal treatment varied across the different measures of AL and shyness, suggesting that parent perceptions may play a role in these associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multilayer power printed structures suitable for controlling EMI noises generated in power converters

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) noises generated in power converters are diffused on the surface of conductors. This means influences occur from radiated EMI noises emitted from power transmission lines as well as conducted EMI noises transmitted from them. EMI noises diffusing on the surface of conductors are generally difficult to control using conventional concentrated constant theory. Thus, a new approach based on distributed constant circuit theory is needed in order to control EMI noises. A power converter structure to control EMI noises using multilayer power printed circuit technology is studied in this paper. A structure which can control EMI noises should simultaneously satisfy two conditions, i.e., one to shut down and one to attenuate EMI noises. The structure satisfying these conditions is studied through simulations using the Transmission-Line Modeling Method. The simulations show that the diffusion of EMI noises is controlled by dividing the flow of currents produced by EMI noises into the horizontal and perpendicular directions. That is, the horizontal current flow is controlled inside using the differences in the resistance produced from differences between inner and outer diameter of power transmission lines and the perpendicular current flow can be controlled by properly designing the thickness of the dielectric layer sandwiched between P-and N-power transmission lines with the symmetrical structure. Moreover, it is confirmed by simulations and experiments that the attenuation of EMI noises is affected by the width of the power transmission lines. It is expected that the results obtained in this paper can provide important rules when designing power converters with EMI noise control functions which use the multilayer power printed circuit technology.     

Analogue switch for very low-voltage applications

A new analogue switch suitable for operation at very low-voltage supply in a standard CMOS technology is presented. The proposed switch is based on 'quasi-floating-gate' transistors and has a simple and compact structure. For illustrative purposes, two sample-and-hold circuits operating from a single supply voltage close to the threshold voltage of a transistor, and using the proposed technique, are presented. Experimental results obtained from prototypes in a 1.5 /spl mu/m CMOS technology are provided.