2,980 research outputs found
An assessment of the impact of possible CAP reform scenarios on Romanian agriculture
No full textUsing a simplified model, with key-variable the prices of two different possible scenarios of CAP reform after 2013 (moderate and radical), this paper present a comparison between the price effects of implementation of each reform scenario at 2015 horizon on Romanian agriculture. This short analysis shows that, under the presented hypotheses, the net welfare effect, due to the price changes, for the selected products, is positive in both reform scenarios, yet greater in the case of the radical reform. Integrated in the large context of Romanian development, it seems that the influence of CAP reform upon agriculture and rural areas will be most likely a gradual one: an interpenetration between the two scenarios is foreseeable, starting with the moderate reform that will dominate the period around 2013, the reform measures acquiring a more radical character afterwards.CAP reform, Romania, welfare effects, Agricultural and Food Policy,
Rich, Sturmian, and trapezoidal words
No full textIn this paper we explore various interconnections between rich words, Sturmian words, and trapezoidal words. Rich words, first introduced by the second and third authors together with J. Justin and S. Widmer, constitute a new class of finite and infinite words characterized by having the maximal number of palindromic factors. Every finite Sturmian word is rich, but not conversely. Trapezoidal words were first introduced by the first author in studying the behavior of the subword complexity of finite Sturmian words. Unfortunately this property does not characterize finite Sturmian words. In this note we show that the only trapezoidal palindromes are Sturmian. More generally we show that Sturmian palindromes can be characterized either in terms of their subword complexity (the trapezoidal property) or in terms of their palindromic complexity. We also obtain a similar characterization of rich palindromes in terms of a relation between palindromic complexity and subword complexity
The high-resolution infrared spectrum of DC4H from 450 to 1100 cm−1: overtone, combination and hot bands.
No full textThe high-resolution infrared spectrum of monodeuterated diacetylene has been recorded in the 450–
1100 cm−1 spectral region by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Seven new bands have been
identified: the ν3 fundamental (C–C stretch), and the ν8 + ν9, ν7 + ν8, 2ν7, 2ν8, ν8 + ν9 − ν9, and
ν6 + ν9 − ν9 combination, overtone, and hot bands. The assigned transitions, together with those
previously reported for the fundamental bands [F. Tamassia, L. Bizzocchi, C. Degli Esposti, L. Dore,
M. Di Lauro, L. Fusina, M. Villa, and E. Canè, Astron. Astrophys. 549, A38 (2013)], form a comprehensive
data set which comprises more than 2500 ro-vibrational transitions, and involves all singly
and most doubly excited vibrational states of DC4H lying below 1000 cm−1. Rotational and vibrational
l-type resonance effects among the sub-levels of excited bending states were considered in the
analysis, which also included a careful treatment of the various anharmonic interactions coupling
many vibrational states lying above 600 cm−1. Reliable and unambiguous spectroscopic parameters
were obtained for each investigated state, including the rotational and centrifugal distortion constants
Bv and Dv, the l-type doubling parameter qt, the anharmonicity constants xL(89), xL(69), and the vibrational
l-type terms r89, r69 for the v8 = v9 = 1 and v6 = v9 = 1 bend-bend combination states
Characterization Results for the Poset Based Representation of Topological Relations - I: Introduction and Models
No full text@article{DBLP:journals/informaticaSI/ForlizziN99,
author = {Luca Forlizzi and
Enrico Nardelli},
title = {Characterization Results for the Poset Based Representation
of Topological Relations - I: Introduction and Models.},
journal = {Informatica (Slovenia)},
volume = {23},
number = {2},
year = {1999},
bibsource = {DBLP, http://dblp.uni-trier.de}
Characterization Results for the Poset Based Representation of Topological Relations - II: Intersection and Union
No full text@article{DBLP:journals/informaticaSI/ForlizziN00,
author = {Luca Forlizzi and
Enrico Nardelli},
title = {Characterization Results for the Poset Based Representation
of Topological Relations - II: Intersection and Union.},
journal = {Informatica (Slovenia)},
volume = {24},
number = {1},
year = {2000},
bibsource = {DBLP, http://dblp.uni-trier.de}
System-on-chip Computing and Interconnection Architectures for Telecommunications and Signal Processing
No full textThis dissertation proposes novel architectures and design techniques targeting SoC building blocks for telecommunications and signal processing applications.
Hardware implementation of Low-Density Parity-Check decoders is approached at both the algorithmic and the architecture level. Low-Density Parity-Check codes are a promising coding scheme for future communication standards due to their outstanding error correction performance.
This work proposes a methodology for analyzing effects of finite precision arithmetic on error correction performance and hardware complexity. The methodology is throughout employed for co-designing the decoder. First, a low-complexity check node based on the P-output decoding principle is designed and characterized on a CMOS standard-cells library. Results demonstrate implementation loss below 0.2 dB down to BER of 10^{-8} and a saving in complexity up to 59% with respect to other works in recent literature. High-throughput and low-latency issues are addressed with modified single-phase decoding schedules. A new "memory-aware" schedule is proposed requiring down to 20% of memory with respect to the traditional two-phase flooding decoding. Additionally, throughput is doubled and logic complexity reduced of 12%. These advantages are traded-off with error correction performance, thus making the solution attractive only for long codes, as those adopted in the DVB-S2 standard. The "layered decoding" principle is extended to those codes not specifically conceived for this technique. Proposed architectures exhibit complexity savings in the order of 40% for both area and power consumption figures, while implementation loss is smaller than 0.05 dB.
Most modern communication standards employ Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing as part of their physical layer. The core of OFDM is the Fast Fourier Transform and its inverse in charge of symbols (de)modulation. Requirements on throughput and energy efficiency call for FFT hardware implementation, while ubiquity of FFT suggests the design of parametric, re-configurable and re-usable IP hardware macrocells. In this context, this thesis describes an FFT/IFFT core compiler particularly suited for implementation of OFDM communication systems. The tool employs an accuracy-driven configuration engine which automatically profiles the internal arithmetic and generates a core with minimum operands bit-width and thus minimum circuit complexity. The engine performs a closed-loop optimization over three different internal arithmetic models (fixed-point, block floating-point and convergent block floating-point) using the numerical accuracy budget given by the user as a reference point. The flexibility and re-usability of the proposed macrocell are illustrated through several case studies which encompass all current state-of-the-art OFDM communications standards (WLAN, WMAN, xDSL, DVB-T/H, DAB and UWB). Implementations results are presented for two deep sub-micron standard-cells libraries (65 and 90 nm) and commercially available FPGA devices. Compared with other FFT core compilers, the proposed environment produces macrocells with lower circuit complexity and same system level performance (throughput, transform size and numerical accuracy).
The final part of this dissertation focuses on the Network-on-Chip design paradigm whose goal is building scalable communication infrastructures connecting hundreds of core. A low-complexity link architecture for mesochronous on-chip communication is discussed. The link enables skew constraint looseness in the clock tree synthesis, frequency speed-up, power consumption reduction and faster back-end turnarounds. The proposed architecture reaches a maximum clock frequency of 1 GHz on 65 nm low-leakage CMOS standard-cells library. In a complex test case with a full-blown NoC infrastructure, the link overhead is only 3% of chip area and 0.5% of leakage power consumption.
Finally, a new methodology, named metacoding, is proposed. Metacoding generates correct-by-construction technology independent RTL codebases for NoC building blocks. The RTL coding phase is abstracted and modeled with an Object Oriented framework, integrated within a commercial tool for IP packaging (Synopsys CoreTools suite). Compared with traditional coding styles based on pre-processor directives, metacoding produces 65% smaller codebases and reduces the configurations to verify up to three orders of magnitude
High-sensitivity detection of the rotation spectrum of HCl in the v = 1 state by tunable FIR spectroscopy
No full textInvestigation of dropwise condensation of water at atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressure through an individual-based model
No full textSteam condensation at sub-atmospheric pressure is a crucial process in a broad range of industrial applications and energy systems, such as in Rankine cycles and sorption desalination plants. Increasing the effectiveness of heat exchangers is fundamental to improve the efficiency of the whole system and a passive solution is offered by promoting dropwise condensation (DWC) instead of filmwise condensation. The few studies on DWC at sub-atmospheric pressures indicate a reduction of the condensation heat transfer coefficient (HTC) when lowering the saturation pressure. However, the extent of this reduction remains unclear, and the effect of critical parameters, such as surface wettability, coating thermal resistance, and nucleation sites density requires further clarification. This lack of knowledge is here addressed by employing an individual-based model (IBM) that exploits parallel computing to investigate the effect of sub-atmospheric saturation pressure on steam DWC. Firstly, the model is validated against measurements from the literature referring to sub-atmospheric conditions. Then, simulations are performed on a 3 × 3 mm2 computational domain, varying saturation pressures (in the range 4.2–143.3 kPa) and nucleation sites densities (Ns) from 109 m−2 to 1011 m−2. A decrease in HTC of 35 % is found when decreasing saturation temperature from 110 °C to 30 °C, regardless of Ns. Such penalization is associated with an increase of the droplet liquid–vapor interfacial (+ 1400 %) and conduction (+ 60 %) thermal resistances. Finally, a parametric study is conducted to unveil the influence of advancing contact angle (from 50° to 130°), contact angle hysteresis (from 5° to 25°), and coating thermal resistance (in the range 0.5–8 K m2 MW−1) on the DWC heat transfer at sub-atmospheric pressure
Comparison of Slides and Video Clips as Different Methods for Inducing Emotions: An Electroencephalographic Alpha Modulation Study
No full textFilms, compared with emotional static pictures, represent true-to-life dynamic stimuli that are both ecological and effective in inducing an emotional response given the involvement of multimodal stimulation (i.e., visual and auditory systems). We hypothesized that a direct comparison between the two methods would have shown greater efficacy of movies, compared to standardized slides, in eliciting emotions at both subjective and neurophysiological levels. To this end, we compared these two methods of emotional stimulation in a group of 40 young adults (20 females). Electroencephalographic (EEG) Alpha rhythm (8–12 Hz) was recorded from 64 scalp sites while participants watched (in counterbalanced order across participants) two separate blocks of 45 slides and 45 clips. Each block included three groups of 15 validated stimuli classified as Erotic, Neutral and Fear content. Greater self-perceived arousal was found after the presentation of Fear and Erotic video clips compared with the same slide categories. sLORETA analysis showed a different lateralization pattern: slides induced decreased Alpha power (greater activation) in the left secondary visual area (Brodmann Area, BA, 18) to Erotic and Fear compared with the Neutral stimuli. Instead, video clips elicited reduced Alpha in the homologous right secondary visual area (BA 18) again to both Erotic and Fear contents compared with Neutral ones. Comparison of emotional stimuli showed smaller Alpha power to Erotic than to Fear stimuli in the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (BA 7/31) for the slide condition, and in the left superior parietal lobule (BA 7) for the clip condition. This result matched the parallel analysis of the overlapped Mu rhythm (corresponding to the upper Alpha band) and can be interpreted as Mu/Alpha EEG suppression elicited by greater motor action tendency to Erotic (approach motivation) compared to Fear (withdrawal motivation) stimuli. Correlation analysis found lower Alpha in the left middle temporal gyrus (BA 21) associated with greater pleasantness to Erotic slides (r(38) = –0.62, p = 0.009), whereas lower Alpha in the right supramarginal/angular gyrus (BA 40/39) was associated with greater pleasantness to Neutral clips (r(38) = –0.69, p = 0.012). Results point to stronger emotion elicitation of movies vs. slides, but also to a specific involvement of the two hemispheres during emotional processing of slides vs. video clips, with a shift from the left to the right associative visual areas
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