A Low Power Error Detection in the Syndrome Calculator Block for Reed-Solomon Codes: RS(204,188)

Reed-Solomon (RS) codes have been widely adopted in many modern communication systems. This paper describes a new method for error detection in the syndrome calculator block of RS decoders. The main feature of this method is to prove that it is possible to compute only a few syndrome coeffi-cients — less than half — to detect whether the codeword is correct. The theoretical estimate of the prob-ability that the new algorithm failed is shown to depend on the number of syndrome coefficients computed. The algo...     

A survey of expressed genes in Caenorhabditis elegans.

As an adjunct to the genomic sequencing of Caenorhabditis elegans, we have investigated a representative cDNA library of 1,517 clones. A single sequence read has been obtained from the 5' end of each clone, allowing its characterization with respect to the public databases, and the clones are being localized on the genome map. The result is the identification of about 1,200 of the estimated 15,000 genes of C. elegans. More than 30% of the inferred protein sequences have significant similarity to existing sequences in the databases, providing a route towards in vivo analysis of known genes in the nematode. These clones also provide material for assessing the accuracy of predicted exons and splicing patterns and will lead to a more accurate estimate of the total number of genes in the organism than has hitherto been available.     

A CLUSTERING ALGORITHM FOR MIXED NUMERIC AND CATEGORICAL DATA

Most of the earlier work on clustering mainly focused on numeric data whose inherent geometric properties can be exploited to naturally define distance functions between data points. However, data mining applications frequently involve many datasets that also consists of mixed numeric and categorical attributes. In this paper we present a clustering algorithm which is based on the k-means algorithm. The algorithm clusters objects with numeric and categorical attributes in a way similar to k-means. The object similarity measure is derived from both numeric and categorical attributes. When applied to numeric data, the algorithm is identical to the k-means. The main result of this paper is to provide a method to update the “cluster centers“ of clustering objects described by mixed numeric and categorical attributes in the clustering process to minimise the clustering cost function. The clustering performance of the algorithm is demonstrated with the two well known data sets, namely credit approval and abalone databases.     

喀斯特自然土壤中AM真菌对先锋植物根系的影响

【目的】研究丛枝菌根(Arbuscular mycorrhiza，AM)真菌在喀斯特自然土壤条件下对喀斯特先锋草本植物根系的影响。【方法】通过自然土接种AM真菌(N)、灭菌土接种AM真菌(M)及灭菌土壤对照(S)共3种土壤处理，种植喀斯特先锋植物狗尾草(Setaria viridis)、荩草(Arthraxon hispidus)、鬼针草(Bidens pilosa)及狼杷草(Bidens tripartita)，并测定它们的根系生物量、根长、根表面积、根体积、根平均直径、根尖数及根分枝数。【结果】荩草、鬼针草及狼杷草在N处理及M处理下具有较高的菌根侵染率，狗尾草的菌根侵染率较低。与S处理相比，M处理下AM真菌明显提高了荩草、鬼针草及狼杷草的根系生物量、根长、根表面积、根体积、根尖数、根分枝数及组织密度，降低了根平均直径、比根长、比根面积及比根体积；与M处理相比，N处理明显降低了荩草、鬼针草及狼杷草的根系生物量、根长、根表面积、根体积、根尖数、根分枝数及组织密度，提高了比根长、比根面积及比根体积，但对根平均直径无明显影响。【结论】荩草、鬼针草及狼杷草具有较高菌根侵染率，能与AM真菌共生获得更加发达的根系，而自然土壤削弱了AM真菌对荩草、鬼针草及狼杷草根系生长的促进作用。     

Chromosome-wide SNPs reveal an ancient origin for Plasmodium falciparum

The Malaria's Eve hypothesis, proposing a severe recent population bottleneck (about 3,000-5,000 years ago) of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, has prompted a debate about the origin and evolution of the parasite. The hypothesis implies that the parasite population is relatively homogeneous, favouring malaria control measures. Other studies, however, suggested an ancient origin and large effective population size. To test the hypothesis, we analysed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 204 genes on chromosome 3 of P. falciparum. We have identified 403 polymorphic sites, including 238 SNPs and 165 microsatellites, from five parasite clones, establishing chromosome-wide haplotypes and a dense map with one polymorphic marker per approximately 2.3 kilobases. On the basis of synonymous SNPs and non-coding SNPs, we estimate the time to the most recent common ancestor to be approximately 100,000-180,000 years, significantly older than the proposed bottleneck. Our estimated divergence time coincides approximately with the start of human population expansion, and is consistent with a genetically complex organism able to evade host immunity and other antimalarial efforts.     

Modeling the Knowledge Creation Process of Graduate Research

Graduate students who are beginning academic research want to learn how to create and verify new knowledge in their research. Their supervisors, on the other hand, are seeking appropriate research environments including effective research guidance methods. In order to meet these demands, this paper proposes a knowledge creation model that supports the objectives of both graduate students and their supervisors. This is an academic knowledge creation model for individuals supported by a group and its origin can be traced back to a famous organizational knowledge creation model. Since this type of model is constructed from empirical knowledge, it is not easy to prove its objective significance. But, this paper tries to show the effectiveness of the proposed model as an initial stage of model validation based on a questionnaire survey of students in a graduate school in China.