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The method of Fujiwara et. al. for efficiently computing the minimum distance of shortened Hamming codes via the weight distribution of their dual codes is extended to treat arbitrary shortened cyclic codes. Using this extended method implemented on a high-speed special-purpose processor, several classes of CRC codes with 24 and 32 parity bits have been investigated. The CRC codes of each class are known to have the same minimum distance d(sub min,L) in a certain range L of block lengths n, and within each class, that CRC code has been determined whose minimum distance exceeds d(sub min,L) up to the largest block length. The d(sub min) profiles of the resulting codes, i.e., the minimum distances d(sub min) as a function of the block length n, are presented and compared with the d(sub min) profiles of recent suggestions of Merkey and Posner, as well as with the d(sub min) profile of the widely used 32 parity-bit standard code recommended in IEEE-802. The optimization of the d(sub min) profile is warranted by the fact that given the number of p of parity bits and the block length n, it is the minimum distance that determines the order of magnitude of the probability P(sub ue) of undetectable errors on low-noise binary symmetric channels (BSC's). This is seen from plots of P(sub ue) versus n for our codes and for the IEEE-802 code on a low-noise BSC and on a fairly noisy BSC.

Health topics are omnipresent in the media. However, although both informational and entertainment formats can increase public understanding of health and illness, media representations of diseases involve challenges as well as opportunities. The entertainment-education (E-E) approach highlights the positive effects of incorporating health messages into entertainment media. The goal of influencing awareness, knowledge and attitudes is reached by transporting the audience into a narrative, which as such enhances persuasive effects and suppresses counterarguing. The NBC sitcom The Michael J. Fox Show (TMJFS) is an E-E format inspired by the actor's own experiences with Parkinson's disease (PD). Using TMJFS as an exemplar, we conducted a multimethodological study to understand both the challenges and the opportunities of E-E comedy formats. A content analysis focusing on the representation of PD in TMJFS showed a focus on motoric symptoms of PD. Subsequent recap analyses and qualitative interviews were conducted to better understand different readings of the show in terms of its informative and entertaining aspects. Additionally, we performed a standardized online survey and an experiment to measure attitudinal effects of TMJFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]