Reducing the complexity of distance measurement methods for circular turbo codes that use structured interleavers

The knowledge of turbo code's minimum Hamming distance (d_min) and its corresponding codeword multiplicity (A_min) is of a great importance because the error correction capability of a code is strongly tied to the values of d_min and A_min. Unfortunately, the computational complexity associated with the search for d_min and A_min can be very high, especially for a turbo code that has high d_min value. This paper introduces some useful properties of turbo codes that use structured interleavers together with circular encoding. These properties allow for a significant reduction of search space and thus reduce significantly the computational complexity associated with the determination of d_min and A_min values. © 2014 The Authors. International Journal of Communication Systems published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In vitro studies on the use of clay, clay minerals and charcoal to adsorb bovine rotavirus and bovine coronavirus

Rotaviruses are the leading cause and coronaviruses are the major contributors of acute gastroenteritis in the young of various mammalian and avian species. Despite numerous trials and decades of research, vaccines have limited efficacy particularly for calves. As an alternative method of controlling infection, we have investigated broad spectrum antiviral agents that are not discriminatory among various viruses. This report involves testing a variety of adsorbent agents including charcoal, clay, and clay minerals to adsorb rotavirus and coronavirus in vitro. Results revealed that all the adsorbent agents had good to excellent capability of adsorbing rotavirus and excellent capability of adsorbing coronavirus. Percent adsorptions ranged from 78.74% to 99.89% for rotavirus and 99.99% for coronavirus; while sand (negative control) was < 0.01%. A high affinity binding was present as determined by a low percent desorption (0.06-3.09%). However, the adsorbent bound virus complex retained, and may have actually enhanced, infectivity.     

Effects of irradiation in combination with waxing on the essential oils in orange peel

The study evaluated the effects of waxing, irradiation dose and post‐irradiation storage time on the essential oils in orange peel. Mature oranges (Maroc late) waxed or unwaxed were treated with 1 or 2 kGy radiation and stored for 9 weeks at 20 °C and 40–50% RH. Essential oils from the peel were extracted and analysed by GC. Results showed that D ‐limonene was significantly lower in waxed oranges; levels in samples treated with 2 kGy were higher than those in non‐irradiated or treated with 1 kGy. Linalool, methyl anthranilate and 3,7‐dimethyl‐2,6‐octadienal decreased as the dose increased. Levels of linalool increased with storage time but D ‐limonene was unaffected. These results may aid in guaranteeing the quality of orange essential oils during storage time. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of thermal boundary conditions on natural convection in a square enclosure partially heated from below

Natural convection in air-filled 2D square enclosure heated with a constant source from below and cooled from above is studied numerically for a variety of thermal boundary conditions at the top and sidewalls. Simulations are performed for two kinds of lengths of the heated source, i.e., a small and a large source corresponding to 20% and 80% of the total length of the bottom wall, respectively. The Rayleigh number varied from 10³ to 10⁷. Results are presented in the form of streamline and isotherm plots as well as the variation of the Nusselt number and maximum temperature at the heat source surface. Comparisons among the different thermal configurations considered are reported.     

Kinetics of non-congruent dissolution of E-glass fiber in saturated calcium hydroxide solution

The kinetics of non-congruent dissolution of long E-glass fiber in saturated calcium hydroxide solution has been investigated at 25°C in a closed reactor adopting the rotating disc method for the sample holder. The fiber dissolution rate (), measured from the relative loss weight of the fiber after selective dissolution of the attack layer in acetic acid, is a linear function of time, what implies an interfacial dissolution process. However, the kinetics does not stay regular for a long time due to local detachment of the attack layer. The comparison between = f (t) and ′ = f (t) curves, where ′ is the formation rate of the attack layer, shows that the formation of the layer does not only imply the deposit of a bad-crystalline hydrated calcium silicate but the nucleation and growth of solid calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate resulting from the transfert, to the interface, of ions coming from the liquid phase. This phenomenon was precedently observed by some other authors in the case of glass-fiber reinforced cement matrix.     

First-order indicators for the estimation of discrete fractures in porous media

Faults and geological barriers can drastically affect the flow patterns in porous media. Such fractures can be modelled as interfaces that interact with the surrounding matrix. We propose a new technique for the estimation of the location and hydrogeological properties of a small number of large fractures in a porous medium from given distributed pressure or flow data. At each iteration, the algorithm builds a short list of candidates by comparing fracture indicators. These indicators quantify at the first order the decrease of a data misfit function; they are cheap to compute. Then, the best candidate is picked up by minimization of the objective function for each candidate. Optimally driven by the fit to the data, the approach has the great advantage of not requiring remeshing, nor shape derivation. The stability of the algorithm is shown on a series of numerical examples representative of typical situations.     

Mining frequent conjunctive queries in relational databases through dependency discovery

We present an approach for mining frequent conjunctive in arbitrary relational databases. Our pattern class is the simple, but appealing subclass of simple conjunctive queries. Our algorithm, called Conqueror $^+$ , is capable of detecting previously unknown functional and inclusion dependencies that hold on the database relations as well as on joins of relations. These newly detected dependencies are then used to prune redundant queries. We propose an efficient database-oriented implementation of our algorithm using SQL and provide several promising experimental results.     

Maternal Fructose Intake Causes Developmental Reprogramming of Hepatic Mitochondrial Catalytic Activity and Lipid Metabolism in Weanling and Young Adult Offspring

Excess dietary fructose is a major public health concern, yet little is known about its influence on offspring development and later-life disease when consumed in excess during pregnancy. To determine whether increased maternal fructose intake could have long-term consequences on offspring health, we investigated the effects of 10% w/v fructose water intake during preconception and pregnancy in guinea pigs. Female Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs were fed a control diet (CD) or fructose diet (FD; providing 16% of total daily caloric intake) ad libitum 60 days prior to mating and throughout gestation. Dietary interventions ceased at day of delivery. Offspring were culled at day 21 (D21) (weaning) and at 4 months (4 M) (young adult). Fetal exposure to excess maternal fructose intake significantly increased male and female triglycerides at D21 and 4 M and circulating palmitoleic acid and total omega-7 through day 0 (D0) to 4 M. Proteomic and functional analysis of significantly differentially expressed proteins revealed that FD offspring (D21 and 4 M) had significantly increased mitochondrial metabolic activities of β-oxidation, electron transport chain (ETC) and oxidative phosphorylation and reactive oxygen species production compared to the CD offspring. Western blotting analysis of both FD offspring validated the increased protein abundances of mitochondrial ETC complex II and IV, SREBP-1c and FAS, whereas VDAC1 expression was higher at D21 but lower at 4 M. We provide evidence demonstrating offspring programmed hepatic mitochondrial metabolism and de novo lipogenesis following excess maternal fructose exposure. These underlying asymptomatic programmed pathways may lead to a predisposition to metabolic dysfunction later in life.