Choice between fixed and variable delays with different reward amounts.

Choice between a variable and a fixed food source was studied in pigeons. The variable source yielded different durations of access to food (changed across experimental conditions) uniquely associated with equiprobable delays of either 20 sec or 60 sec, timed from the choice point. A comparison, elapsing alternative (time-left procedure [J. Gibbon and R. M. Church; see PA, Vol 67:2812]), was associated with fixed access to feeder after a 60-sec delay, timed from the beginning of the trial. Preference was best characterized as reflecting an average of the 2 local rates of reinforcement in the variable alternative (the average of the ratio of each standard amount and its associated delay). The averaging rule characterized initial choice link data well, but terminal link responding showed that Ss also remembered the 2 delay–amount combinations separately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristic magnetic resonance imaging entheseal changes of knee synovitis in spondylarthropathy

Although studies generally support a positive association between alcohol consumption and lung-cancer risk, the relationship between specific alcoholic beverages and lung-cancer risk has been inconsistent. We examined recent and past alcoholic beverage intake among 261 incident cases and 615 population controls enrolled in a lung-cancer case-control study of African Americans and Caucasians in Los Angeles County between 1991 and 1994. An in-person interview elicited information about past alcohol intake from ages 30 to 40 y, smoking, other lung-cancer risk factors, as well as recent intake of alcohol, and recent dietary intake. An association was observed between recent hard-liquor consumption and lung-cancer risk. The odds ratio (OR) for 1 or more drinks (1.5 oz or 0.051 mL) per day of hard liquor compared with infrequent liquor drinking (0-3 drinks per month), adjusted for smoking, the matching factors, saturated fat and other alcoholic beverages was 1.87 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-3.42]. No appreciable association was observed for total alcohol, whereas small inverse associations were observed for beer and wine, although confidence intervals were wide. An elevated lung-cancer risk was also observed for past liquor consumption (between ages 30 and 40 y). The adjusted OR for 1 or more drinks per day of liquor compared with infrequent drinkers was 1.83 (95% CI = 1. 06-3.15). Confounding of the association between alcohol and lung cancer by smoking was apparent. Although we devoted considerable efforts to adjusting for smoking in our analyses, residual confounding is still possible because smoking and alcohol are closely associated. In addition, case-control studies including this study should be viewed with caution because of possible selection bias. An increased risk of lung cancer might occur with moderate drinking of hard liquor but confirmation is required in larger studies.     

The use of network delay estimation for multimedia data retrieval

Multimedia data have specific temporal presentation requirements. For example in video conferencing applications the voice and images of the participants must be delivered and presented synchronously. These requirements can be achieved by scheduling or managing system resources. We present a technique called limited a priori scheduling (LAP) to manage the delivery channel from source to destination for digital multimedia data. By using delay estimation a LAP scheduler can retrieve stored digital media spanning arbitrary networks with unspecified delays. The use of delay estimation also facilitates selective degradation of service in bandwidth and buffer limited situations. Such degradation enables the continuous real-time playout and synchronization of various media arriving from different sources. The performance of the LAP scheduler is described based on implementation and experimentation using Ethernet     

Corrosion resistance enhancement of marine alloys by rapid solidification

Copper-nickel alloys used in marine applications, are known for their anti-fouling properties. However, they are generally of low strength and are moderately susceptible to corrosion when used in a marine environment. Attempts at adding iron to Copper-nickel alloys by conventional ingot metallurgy, to improve their mechanical and corrosion resistant properties, have met with limited success. In this work, rapid solidification technology was employed to produce rapidly solidified (RS) Cu-10Ni and Cu-10Ni-8Fe. It was found that both the RS Cu-10Ni and Cu-10Ni-8Fe exhibited superior mechanical and corrosion resistant properties, compared with their sand-cast counterparts. Furthermore, the addition of iron to Cu-10Ni alloy, produced by RS, increased the corrosion resistance of the alloy, whereas the addition of iron to Cu-10Ni alloy produced by conventional means, had an adverse effect.     

How Roebling did it: Building the world's first wire-rope suspension aqueduct in 1840s Pittsburgh

The noted bridge designed John Roebling introduced his wire-rope suspension concept in Pittsburgh on a wooden aqueduct. His design was later implemented in bridges in Pittsburgh and elsewhere, including New York's Brooklyn Bridge. This article describes Roebling's work based on reviews of his notes and other historical documents. Editor's Note: In the interest of consistency with historical documents, all units of measure are presented in U.S. rather than metric units. A hypertext-enhanced version of this article is available on-line at www.trns.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0605/Gibbon-0605.html.     

On the shape and dimension of the Lorenz attractor

It is shown how the global attractor of the Lorenz equations is contained in a volume bounded by a sphere, a cylinder, the volume between two parabolic sheets, an ellipsoid and a cone. The first four are absorbing volumes while the interior of the cone is expelling. By a numerical search over these volumes, it is found that the origin is the most unstable point on the attractor and that an upper bound for the attractor's Lyapunov dimension is 2.401 when b = 8/3, r = 28 and a = 10.     

Multicast-enabled high-speed VCSEL technology for flexible data center networks

We experimentally demonstrate the multiple signal modulation on a single class 10 G vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) carrier at 1 310 nm for next generation multicast-enabled data center networks. A 10 Gbit/s data signal is directly modulated onto a single mode VCSEL carrier. To maximize carrier spectral efficiency, a 2 GHz reference frequency (RF) clock tone is simultaneously modulated on the VCSEL phase attribute. The inherent VCSEL orthogonal polarization bistability with changing bias current is further exploited in transmission of a polarization based pulse per second (PPS) timing clock signal. Therefore, we simultaneously transmit a 10 Gbit/s directly modulated data, 2 GHz phase modulated RF and a polarization-based PPS clock signals using a single mode 10 GHz bandwidth VCSEL carrier. It is the first time that a single class 10 G VCSEL carrier is reported to transmit a directly modulated data, phase modulated RF clock and polarization based PPS timing signal simultaneously in a single wavelength. A of G.652 single mode fibre (SMF) transmission over 3.21 km is experimentally attained. A receiver sensitivity of ?15.60 dBm is experimentally obtained for the directly modulated 10 Gbit/s data signal. A 3.21-km-long SMF transmission introduces a penalty of 0.23 dB to the data signal. The contribution of a 2 GHz phase modulated RF and a polarization-based PPS clock signal to this penalty is found to be 0.03 dB. An RF single-side band (SSB) phase noise values of ?82.36 dBc/Hz and ?77.97 dBc/Hz are attained without and with simultaneous directly modulated data and polarization-based PPS clock signals respectively for a 3.21-km-long SMF transmission. This work provides an alternative efficient and cost effective technique for simultaneous high-speed multiple information transmission to different network nodes within a data center network through shared network infrastructure.     

Time and reference frequency transfer over 850 nm VCSEL for digital telecommunication network synchronization

Accurate time transfer and synchronization between different network nodes is a key functional requirement in digital communication. Developments in optical fiber-based frequency dissemination techniques have improved optical frequency stability over time to much lower levels. In this work, we experimentally present the reference frequency transfer employing 850 nm vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) over 100.3 m OM3 multimode fiber for synchronization of clocks on networked devices such as servers and racks/pod at different data center network nodes. A low-cost power-efficient multimode VCSEL with central wavelength at 844.26 nm is directly modulated with a 2 GHz reference frequency (RF) clock signal, and transferred over 100.3 m of OM3 multimode fiber. The single side band (SSB) phase noise of ?104.62 dBc/Hz and ?100.70 dBc/Hz is experimentally measured at back-to-back (B2B) and 100.3 m OM3 multimode fiber transmission respectively at a 1 kHz frequency offset. The jitter stability of 0.14 ps and 0.15 ps is experimentally achieved at B2B and 100.3 m fiber transmission, respectively. This work provides an alternative viable approach for the development of time keeping devices in high-speed short-reach optical communication systems.     

VCSEL wavelength reuse for intrinsically bidirectional data traffics in next generation GPONs

An all-optical wavelength reuse technique employing cost effective power efficient vertical surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is proposed to address uplink data streaming from end-users by exploiting the same wavelength assigned to them. A saturated optical erbium-doped optical fiber amplifier (EDFA) is adopted to erase a directly modulated 10 Gbit/s data from an incoming downstream wavelength. We show that with EDFA saturation, the extinction ration of the incoming wavelength is reduced to less than 1 dBm, therefore allowing for wavelength re-modulation. A receiver sensitivity of ?19.65 dBm and ?17.86 dBm is attained for downstream and upstream data signals respectively. A total of 24.7 km single mode fibre transmission is attained experimentally. This technique opens new perspectives towards development of efficient spectrum utilization for application in wavelength flexible optical networks with non-static flex-spectrum grids.     

A high capacity data centre network: simultaneous 4-PAM data at 20 Gbps and 2 GHz phase modulated RF clock signal over a single VCSEL carrier

Optical fibre communication technologies are playing important roles in data centre networks (DCNs). Techniques for increasing capacity and flexibility for the inter-rack/pod communications in data centres have drawn remarkable attention in recent years. In this work, we propose a low complexity, reliable, alternative technique for increasing DCN capacity and flexibility through multi-signal modulation onto a single mode VCSEL carrier. A 20 Gbps 4-PAM data signal is directly modulated on a single mode 10 GHz bandwidth VCSEL carrier at 1310 nm, therefore, doubling the network bit rate. Carrier spectral efficiency is further maximized by modulating its phase attribute with a 2 GHz reference frequency (RF) clock signal. We, therefore, simultaneously transmit a 20 Gbps 4-PAM data signal and a phase modulated 2 GHz RF signal using a single mode 10 GHz bandwidth VCSEL carrier. It is the first time a single mode 10 GHz bandwidth VCSEL carrier is reported to simultaneously transmit a directly modulated 4-PAM data signal and a phase modulated RF clock signal. A receiver sensitivity of ?10. 52 dBm was attained for a 20 Gbps 4-PAM VCSEL transmission. The 2 GHz phase modulated RF clock signal introduced a power budget penalty of 0.21 dB. Simultaneous distribution of both data and timing signals over shared infrastructure significantly increases the aggregated data rate at different optical network units within the DCN, without expensive optics investment. We further demonstrate on the design of a software-defined digital signal processing assisted receiver to efficiently recover the transmitted signal without employing costly receiver hardware.