To model electromagnetic wave propagation for coherent communications without polarization dependent losses, the unitary 2 ×2 Jones transfer matrix formalism is typically used. In this study, we ...propose an alternative formalism to describe such transformations based on rotations in four-dimensional (4d) Euclidean space. This formalism is usually more attractive from a communication theoretical perspective, since decisions and symbol errors can be related to geometric concepts such as Euclidean distances between points and decision boundaries. Since 4d rotations is a richer description than the conventional Jones calculus, having six rather than four degrees of freedom (DOF), we propose an extension of the Jones calculus to handle all six DOF. In addition, we show that the two extra DOF in the 4d description represents transformations that are nonphysical for propagating photons, since they does not obey the fundamental quantum mechanical boson commutation relations. Finally, we exemplify on how the nonphysical rotations can change the polarization-phase degeneracy of well-known constellations such as single-polarization QPSK, polarization-multiplexed (PM-)QPSK and polarization-switched (PS-) QPSK. For example, we show how PM-QPSK, which is well known to consist of four polarization states each having four-fold phase degeneracy, can be represented as eight states of polarizations, each with binary phase degeneracy.
The implementation difficulties of combining distribution matching (DM) and dematching (invDM) for probabilistic shaping (PS) with soft-decision forward error correction (FEC) coding can be relaxed ...by reverse concatenation, for which the FEC coding and decoding lies inside the shaping algorithms. PS can seemingly achieve performance close to the Shannon limit, although there are practical implementation challenges that need to be carefully addressed. We propose a hierarchical DM (HiDM) scheme, having fully parallelized input-output interfaces and a pipelined architecture that can efficiently perform the DM/invDM without the complex operations of previously proposed methods such as constant composition DM. Furthermore, HiDM can operate at a significantly larger post-FEC bit error rate (BER) for the same post-invDM BER performance, which facilitates simulations. These benefits come at the cost of a slightly larger rate loss and required signal-to-noise ratio at a given post-FEC BER.
SEE PDF There was similar and low sACE2 in both sexes up to age 12. sACE2 increased more in boys with growth, so men from age 15 had higher sACE2 than women (Fig. 1). ...sACE2 is low in children and ...increases more in boys than girls, resulting in sex differences in adolescence/young adulthood. High mACE2 and/or high ADAM-17 activity may therefore be risk factors for severe COVID-19 1, 2. Since high sACE2 could indicate high mACE2 and/or high ADAM-17 activity, sACE2 may be a marker of both susceptibility and severity of COVID-19. ...this study shows that subjects with higher risk for severe COVID-19 4 had higher sACE2 (adults>children and men>women).
By exploiting the electromagnetic wave's four-dimensional signal space, we find that for the additive white Gaussian noise channel, the modulation format with best sensitivity to be an 8-level format ...with 1.76 dB asymptotic gain over BPSK, for uncoded optical transmission with coherent detection. Low-complexity modulators are presented for the format, as well as an interpretation in terms of quantum-limited sensitivity.
The osteoblast‐derived protein osteocalcin has recently been shown to affect adiposity and glucose homeostasis in mice, suggesting that the skeleton influences energy metabolism through an endocrine ...mechanism. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between plasma osteocalcin and parameters reflecting fat mass and glucose homeostasis in humans. Fasting levels of plasma osteocalcin, plasma glucose, serum insulin, and lipids were analyzed in elderly men (75.3 ± 3.2 yr of age) in the Gothenburg part (all subjects, n = 1010; nondiabetic, n = 857; diabetic, n = 153) of the MrOS Sweden study. Fat mass and lean mass were analyzed using DXA. Diabetic subjects had lower plasma osteocalcin (−21.7%, p < 0.001) than nondiabetic subjects. For both all subjects and nondiabetic subjects, plasma osteocalcin was clearly inversely related to body mass index (BMI), fat mass, and plasma glucose (p < 0.001), whereas it was not associated with height or lean mass. Plasma osteocalcin explained a substantial part (6.3%) of the variance in plasma glucose, whereas it associated moderately with serum insulin. Multiple linear regression models adjusting for serum insulin and fat mass showed that plasma osteocalcin was an independent negative predictor of plasma glucose (p < 0.001). We herein, for the first time in humans, show that plasma osteocalcin is inversely related to fat mass and plasma glucose. Although one should be cautious with mechanistic interpretations of cross‐sectional association studies, our human data support recently published experimental studies, showing endocrine functions of osteoblast‐derived osteocalcin on glucose and fat homeostasis.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
We discuss an analytical model that predicts the impact of the Kerr nonlinearity in optical communication systems when the signal spectrum is wide and the accumulated dispersion during propagation is ...large. A detailed derivation of this model is given for a generalized system by means of a perturbation analysis of the Manakov equation with attenuation, gain, and third order dispersion included. As in the case with previous studies, three simplifying assumptions are necessary. These are that (i) the nonlinearity is weak, (ii) the input signal is of a given specific form, and (iii) the signal-noise interaction can be neglected. Under these assumptions, the result is found exactly. We also discuss the accuracy of the analytical result and show that third order dispersion has a small impact in practice.
A distal forearm fracture is a very common injury causing both suffering and substantial health care costs. The incidence of this fracture type seemed to increase worldwide until the middle 1980's, ...but thereafter most reports have shown stable or decreasing rates. As few large studies have been presented lately we aimed to describe recent epidemiology and time trends of distal forearm fractures in adults. We paid special attention to fractures in working ages as they present challenges in terms of treatment and costs for sick-leave, and have not previously been thoroughly investigated.
By use of population data from Statistics Sweden and official in- and out-patient register data of men and women (≥17 years) in Sweden (Skåne region), we ascertained distal forearm fractures and estimated age- and sex-specific rates and time-trends from year 1999 to 2010 (11.2 million person-years (py)).
The total incidence rate was 278 per 100,000 py (31,233 fractures) with 23% higher annual numbers 2010 compared with 1999. An increase in the annual age standardized incidence was found in men, +0.7% per annum (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1, 1.4), and women, +0.9% (95% CI 0.5, 1.3), driven mainly by an increasing incidence in working ages (17-64 years). Also, expected demographic changes including a 25% population increase may result in 38% more fractures until 2050, compared to 2017.
The incidence of distal forearm fractures in adults in southern Sweden is increasing, mainly driven by an increase in working ages. In combination with expected demographic changes these findings may present substantial challenges for the future.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Although several research studies have adopted specific energy consumption (SEC) as an indicator of the progress of improved energy efficiency, publications are scarce on critical assessments when ...using SEC. Given the increasing importance of monitoring improved industrial energy efficiency and the rising popularity of SEC as an energy key performance indicator (e-KPI), an in-depth analysis and problematization on the pros and cons of using SEC would appear to be needed. The aim of this article is to analyse SEC critically in relation to industrial energy efficiency. By using SEC in the pulp and paper industry as an example, the results of this exploratory study show that although SEC is often used as an e-KPI in industry, the comparison is not always straightforward. Challenges emanate from a lack of information about how SEC is calculated. It is likely that SEC is an optimal e-KPI within the same study, when all deployed SECs are calculated in the same way, and with the same underlying assumptions. However, before comparing SEC with other studies, it is recommended that the assumptions on which calculations are based should be scrutinized in order to ensure the validity of the comparisons. The paper remains an important contribution in addition to the available handbooks.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Because of superior soft tissue contrast, the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a complement to computed tomography (CT) in the target definition procedure for radiotherapy is increasing. To ...keep the workflow simple and cost effective and to reduce patient dose, it is natural to strive for a treatment planning procedure based entirely on MRI. In the present study, we investigate the dose calculation accuracy for different treatment regions when using bulk density assignments on MRI data and compare it to treatment planning that uses CT data.
MR and CT data were collected retrospectively for 40 patients with prostate, lung, head and neck, or brain cancers. Comparisons were made between calculations on CT data with and without inhomogeneity corrections and on MRI or CT data with bulk density assignments. The bulk densities were assigned using manual segmentation of tissue, bone, lung, and air cavities.
The deviations between calculations on CT data with inhomogeneity correction and on bulk density assigned MR data were small. The maximum difference in the number of monitor units required to reach the prescribed dose was 1.6%. This result also includes effects of possible geometrical distortions.
The dose calculation accuracy at the investigated treatment sites is not significantly compromised when using MRI data when adequate bulk density assignments are made. With respect to treatment planning, MRI can replace CT in all steps of the treatment workflow, reducing the radiation exposure to the patient, removing any systematic registration errors that may occur when combining MR and CT, and decreasing time and cost for the extra CT investigation.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
This paper demonstrates with simulations two polarization independent wavelength division multiplexing receiver platforms based on thin silicon nitride waveguides for optical interconnects at 1 μm. ...The chosen waveguide base geometry (width = 900 nm × height = 160 nm) is a good tradeoff between mode confinement and propagation loss. We first propose a design using a polarization splitter with an 1×4 demultiplexer based on an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). This receiver has a reduced size and requires only one etching step. We later propose another simplified receiver design using a polarization splitter-rotator with two identical 1×4 demultiplexers based on cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers. The rotator is based on a thicker waveguide (width = 500 nm × height = 400 nm) and is partially etched to rotate the electric field by 90°. Thus, it requires the use of mode size converters at the in/output ports. To keep the fabrication complexity as low as possible for the second design, we limited ourselves to only two etching steps. Therefore, the thickness of the slab of the mode converters and of the rotator is the same as for the main 900 nm (wide) × 160 nm (thick) waveguide. The simulated extinction ratio of the polarization splitter at 1035 nm is 18 dB and the calculated TM-TE and TE-TM polarization conversion efficiency of the polarization rotator at 1035 nm is 99.9%.
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