Panasonic (United Kingdom)

Plant polyploid complexes provide useful model systems for distinguishing between adaptive and nonadaptive causes of parapatric distributions in closely related lineages. Polyploidy often gives rise to morphological and physiological changes, which may be adaptive to different environments, but separate distributions may also be maintained by reproductive interference caused by postzygotic reproductive isolation. Here, we test the hypothesis that diploid and descendent polyploid races of the wind-pollinated herb Mercurialis annua, which are found in parapatry over an environmental gradient in northeast Spain, are differentiated in their ecophysiology and life history. We also ask whether any such differences represent adaptations to their different natural environments. On the basis of a series of reciprocal transplant experiments in the field, and experiments under controlled conditions, we found that diploid and polyploid populations of M. annua are ecologically differentiated, but that they do not show local adaptation; rather, the diploids have higher fitness than the polyploids across both diploid- and polyploid-occupied regions. In fact, diploids are currently displacing polyploids by advancing south on two separate fronts in Spain, and previous work has shown that this displacement is being driven to a large extent by asymmetrical pollen swamping. Our results here suggest that ecophysiological superiority of the diploids may also be contributing to their expansion.

We have experimentally studied the photoluminescent (PL) properties of Si clusters in fused silica matrices. Si clusters in the ${\mathrm{SiO}}_{2}$ matrices were fabricated by ${\mathrm{Si}}^{+}$-ion implantation (200 keV, 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{17}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2}$) into silica and then thermally annealed in forming gas. A broad PL peak is observed in the visible spectral region at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the luminescent spectrum and the PL decay dynamics are controlled by nonradiative recombination processes due to phonon-assisted tunneling between localized radiative and nonradiative centers. Resonantly excited PL spectra indicate that the strong coupling of excitons and stretching vibrations of the Si-O bonds cause fine structures in the luminescent spectra. It is concluded that the interaction between electronic and vibrational excitations control the luminescent emission and the observed dynamics. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

ZnO is an attractive active semiconducting material for thin-film transistor (TFT) applications due to its high band gap, high mobility, ease of forming Ohmic contacts, and low toxicity. Here we present a process for solution fabrication of ZnO TFTs based on a simple, double-layer spin-coating process during which a dense layer of in-plane zinc oxide nanorods is deposited first, followed by coating of a chemical precursor solution and low-temperature annealing. First, a lower ZnO nanorod concentration can lead to the self-assembly of nanorods along the in-plane direction to form a relatively dense semiconductor layer. Then the chemical precursor solution sinters the nanorods and improves the contact between them. The n-channel TFTs exhibit high ON/OFF ratio of 105−106, mobilities of ∼1.2 cm2 V-1 s-1 and low threshold voltages of about −4 V with low hysteresis. We show that the quality of the semiconductor film and the minimum annealing temperature depends sensitively on the thickness and composition of the two layers.

Phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies suggest that a majority of asexual organisms are evolutionarily recent offshoots of extant sexual taxa and that old clonal lineages tend to be isolated from their sexual and younger asexual counterparts. These observations have often been interpreted as support for the long-term disadvantages of asexuality resulting from the mechanisms of clonal decay. Although clonal decay is likely to be an important mechanism that limits the temporal and spatial distribution of asexual lineages, we argue here that contemporary phylogenetic analyses, which are mostly restricted to simple comparisons of "recent" and "ancient" clones, need to be tested against an appropriate null model of neutrality. We use computer simulations to show that many empirical observations of the distribution of asexuality do not in fact reject a null model of the neutral turnover of clones spawned by sexual relatives. In particular, neutral clonal turnover results in qualitatively similar pattern of clonal spatial distribution and age structure, as does a process that includes clonal decay. Although there are important quantitative differences between predictions made by the two models, we show that published empirical data are still inadequate to distinguish between them. Further work on sexual-asexual complexes is therefore required before clonal turnover can be rejected as a parsimonious explanation of the spatial distribution and age structure of asexual lineages.

A new approach to image retrieval is presented in the domain of museum and gallery image collections. Specialist algorithms, developed to address specific retrieval tasks, are combined with more conventional content and metadata retrieval approaches, and implemented within a distributed architecture to provide cross-collection searching and navigation in a seamless way. External systems can access the different collections using interoperability protocols and open standards, which were extended to accommodate content based as well as text based retrieval paradigms. After a brief overview of the complete system, we describe the novel design and evaluation of some of the specialist image analysis algorithms including a method for image retrieval based on sub-image queries, retrievals based on very low quality images and retrieval using canvas crack patterns. We show how effective retrieval results can be achieved by real end-users consisting of major museums and galleries, accessing the distributed but integrated digital collections.

This paper proposes an integrated mobile IP and SIP handoff management architecture that exploits the complementary capabilities of mobile IP and SIP and thus extends the mobility functionality that is beyond either of them if applied solely. Furthermore, the integrated approach reduces the functionality redundancies that a simple hybrid approach tends to exhibit. The design of handoff polices for different scenarios are described. In particular, we expound our design philosophies with the example of macro terminal handoff management and perform an initial evaluation using three metrics: handoff delay, handoff reliability and handoff signalling load.

In this paper, we investigate the performance of adaptive loading orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) under Rayleigh fading with maximal ratio-combining (MRC) diversity at the receiver. We assume that channel-state information is available at both the transmitter and the receiver. Closed-form expressions for the lower bound on the average capacity of OFDM transmission under Rayleigh fading are provided for ideal MRC diversity. Simple approximate expressions for the average capacity of the Rayleigh-fading channel are also provided for the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) case. In the second part of this paper, a maximum-rate adaptive-loading strategy is derived for uncoded quadrature-amplitude-modulation modulated OFDM. Simple lower bound expressions and high-SNR approximations are provided for the average spectral efficiency of the maximum-rate adaptive-loaded uncoded OFDM under Rayleigh-fading channel conditions. According to the results, the performance of the uncoded adaptive-loading OFDM is about 8.5 dB inferior to the capacity bound at 10/sup -5/ symbol error probability under frequency-selective Rayleigh fading.

Patients with multiple traumas associated with cardiopulmonary failure have a high mortality rate; however, such patients can be temporarily stabilized using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), providing a bridge to rescue therapy. Using a retrospective study design, we aimed to clarify the prognostic factors of post-traumatic ECMO support.From March 2006 to July 2016, 43 adult patients (mean age, 37.3 ± 15.2 years; 7 females [16.3%]) underwent ECMO because of post-traumatic cardiopulmonary failure. Pre-ECMO demographics, peri-ECMO events, and post-ECMO recoveries were compared between survivors and nonsurvivors.The most common traumatic insult was traffic collision (n = 30, 69.8%), and involved injury areas included the chest (n = 33, 76.7%), head (n = 14, 32.6%), abdomen (n = 21, 48.8%), and fractures (n = 21, 48.8%). Fifteen patients (34.9%) underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation and 22 (51.2%) received rescue interventions before ECMO deployment. The mean time interval between trauma and ECMO was 90.6 ± 130.1 hours, and the mode of support was venovenous in 26 patients (60.5%). A total of 26 patients (60.5%) were weaned off of ECMO and 22 (51.6%) survived to discharge, with an overall mean support time of 162.9 ± 182.7 hours. A multivariate regression analysis identified 2 significant predictors for in-hospital mortality: an injury severity score (ISS) >30 (odds ratio [OR], 9.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-18.47; P = 0.042), and the requirement of renal replacement therapy (RRT) during ECMO (OR, 8.64; 95% CI, 1.73-26.09; P = 0.020). These two factors were also significant for the 1-year survival (ISS >30: 12.5%; ISS ≤30, 48.1%, P = 0.001) (RRT required, 15.0%; RRT not required, 52.2%, P = 0.006).Using ECMO in selected traumatized patients with cardiopulmonary failure can be a salvage therapy. Prompt intervention before shock-impaired systemic organ perfusion and acute renal failure, especially in high ISS patients, is crucial for both hospital and one-year survival.

Hybridization and polyploidy are widely believed to be important sources of evolutionary novelty in plant evolution. Both can lead to novel gene combinations and/or novel patterns of gene expression, which in turn provide the variation on which natural selection can act. Here, we use nuclear and plastid gene trees, in conjunction with morphological data and genome size measurements, to show that both processes have been important in shaping the evolution of the angiosperm genus Mercurialis, particularly a clade of annual lineages that shows exceptional variation in the sexual system. Our results indicate that hexaploid populations of M. annua, in which the rare sexual system androdioecy is common (the occurrence of males and hermaphrodites) is of allopolyploid origin involving hybridization between an autotetraploid lineage of M. annua and the related diploid species M. huetii. We discuss the possibility that androdioecy may have evolved as a result of hybridization between dioecious M. huetii and monoecious tetraploid M. annua, an event that brought together the genes for specialist males with those for hermaphrodites.

This is the second of a two-part series on communications over the European 240 V domestic power line, in the frequencies identified by the CENELEC European mains signaling standard, suitable for low-cost equipment in applications requiring data rates of no more than hundreds of bits per second. To minimize costs narrowband modulation techniques are considered. The series of two papers identifies the key impairments introduced by the channel, proposes a novel model structure to simulate them, and describes modulation techniques. Part one describes the principal linear impairments; cyclic noise power variation and linear signal attenuation. Part two, the present paper, describes nonlinear multiplicative signal fading and shows how orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) can be used to overcome these impairments.

High-level generative models provide elegant descriptions of videos and are commonly used as the inference framework in many unsupervised motion segmentation schemes. However, approximate inference in these models often require ad-hoc initialization to avoid local minima issues. Low-level cues, obtained independently from the high-level model, can constrain the search space and reduce the chance of inference algorithms falling into a local minima. This paper introduces a novel principled fusion framework where, local hierarchical superpixels segmentation of images are used to capture local motion. The low-level cues such as local motion, on their own, not adequate to obtain full motion segmentation as occlusion needs to be handled globally. We fuse the low-level motion cues with the high-level model in a principled manner to surmount the shortcomings of using only the high-level model or low-level cues to perform motion segmentation. The fused model contains both continuous and discrete variables which forms a number of Markov Random fields. Variational approximation or belief propagation algorithms cannot be applied due to the complex interactions between the variables. Hence, approximate inference is performed using expectation propagation (EP) algorithm. The scheme is demonstrated by performing motion segmentation in two video sequences.

In this paper, we present the application of an adaptive deconvolution filter to suppress noise within the bandwidth of the desired signal with the particular aim to improve the accuracy of dynamic weighing. The obtained results showed a significant improvement in both the accuracy, but also the throughput rate of a dynamic checkweigher.

In this study, we propose a list single-wrong turn (SWT) convolutional decoding algorithm that is computationally less complex than the serial list Viterbi algorithm (SLVA). We present the simulation results for the performance of the proposed algorithm for Gaussian and Rayleigh fading channels using one of the channel encoding schemes adopted in GSM narrowband adaptive multi-rate (AMR) speech application. It has been observed that the performance of the proposed algorithm is very close to that of the list Viterbi algorithm, when the number of searches is limited to best 3 sequences. Moreover, the complexity of the proposed algorithm is considerably less than list VA. Therefore, we believe that the proposed scheme is an attractive alternative to the list VA algorithm.

In this paper, we present the application of the Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controller to improve the performance of weighcell based checkweighing system. The LQG controller was designed and its characteristics presented. The method was also compared with the results of previous work.

Expressions are presented for the computation of mutual admittance between rectangular apertures of different size, in a finite planar array. The equations allow any orientation for any of the apertures, with any number of transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) waveguide modes. Furthermore, the expressions also include the effect of dielectric covering of these apertures. A versatile software package, useful for the design and analysis of finite phased arrays, is produced incorporating these features, and its extensive validation is provided.

Over the past few years, facsimile has become the most popular form of business text communication. The paper gives a brief outline of the way in which a facsimile terminal operates and explains the various scanning and printing technologies in use today. The use of facsimile on the integrated services digital network (ISDN) is considered also.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Beamforming Adaptive Beamforming Summary and Conclusions

Purpose The purpose of this article is to explain how different solutions for developing staff within Panasonic have been implemented. The article aims to move away from just the traditional classroom only options, to using different approaches which suit different learning styles. In particular the article proposes looking at the three areas of e‐learning, coaching and how to increase managers' involvement. Design/methodology/approach The article explains briefly why it has looked at different options and then explains the three areas in more detail. For e‐learning three main solutions are offered so these are outlined in more detail; for coaching the article also offers three solutions and so these are also explained in more detail. Lastly the importance of manager's involvement to any development initiative that is set up is explained, and a look at how to try to gain this involvement and keep the managers' as key players. Findings Results so far have been very positive with both participants and the company benefiting. Originality/value This article will be of interest to anyone involved in training and development of staff – giving new ideas for positive development options to anyone struggling with how to best develop, motivate and retain staff.

In this paper, we present the application of adaptive network based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to improve the measurement accuracy and the throughput rate of dynamic weighing. The overall performance of the dynamic weighing was significantly enhanced.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction UMTS FDD versus TDD Terrestrial Radio Access UTRA TDD/CDMA System Interference Scenario in TDD CDMA Simulation Results Loosely Synchronized Spreading Code Aided Network Performance of UTRA-like TDD/CDMA Systems