Contactless power line communications at 2.45GHz

Abstract: In this paper it is shown how a power line can be used to conductively carry and re-radiate 2.45GHz Wi-Fi signals over a distance. This can be useful when a conventional RF links’ line-of-sight operation at 2.45GHz is obscured for example in multiple story buildings where Wi-Fi has difficulty penetrating. Commercial Wi-Fi modems were used to transfer data on a power line for up to 65m (non-energised) and up to 20m in a typical industrial energised situation. One modem was coupled to the power line, the line used as a travelling wave antenna and the second modem used in normal RF mode. This was compared to a direct RF link - where both modems were used in RF mode. Although a RF link performs better at long distances, with line of sight or few obstacles, the contactless power line configuration compared well in performance for a distance of up to 40m

The effect of coupling circuits on impulsive noise in power line communication

Abstract: Most researchers in the Power Line Communications (PLC) field have adopted the practice of using idealized impulse noise models directly at the input of the demodulator, as is widely done in simulations. The effect of the coupling circuit on the impulse noise tend to be ignored. However, coupling circuits produce transients. This paper focuses on investigating the effect of the coupling circuit on the impulse noise. Experimental measurements are used to determine the effect of the coupling circuit. An equivalent circuit of the coupling circuit is developed and further simulations are conducted to gain in-depth knowledge on how the impulse noise is affected by the coupling circuit. A literature survey suggests that this topic has not been studied yet

Sexual selection, automata and ethics in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss and Olive Schreiner's Undine and From Man to Man

This paper brings together two related areas of debate in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The first concerns how the courtship plot of the nineteenth-century novel responded to, and helped to shape, scientific ideas of sexual competition and selection. In The Mill on the Floss (1860), George Eliot strikingly prefigures Darwin's later work on sexual selection, drawing from her own extensive knowledge of the wider debates within which evolutionary theory developed. Maggie Tulliver's characterisation allows Eliot to explore the ethical complexities raised by an increasingly powerful scientific naturalism, where biology is seen to be embedded within morality in newly specific ways. The second strand of the paper examines the extension of scientific method to human mind and motivation which constituted the new psychology. It argues that there are crucial continuities of long-established ethical and religious ideas within this increasingly naturalistic view of human mind and motivation. The contention that such ideas persist and are transformed, rather than simply jettisoned, is illustrated through the example of Thomas Henry Huxley's 1874 essay on automata. Turning finally to focus on Olive Schreiner's Undine (1929) and From Man to Man (1926), the paper explores the importance of these persistent ethical and religious ideas in two novels which remained unpublished during her lifetime. It argues that they produce both difficulty and opportunity for imagining love plots within the context of increasingly assertive biological and naturalistic accounts of human beings

Influence of cable selection on channel frequency response for low voltage indoor cables

Abstract: The Channel Frequency Response (CFR) is an important parameter in the specification of Power Line Communications (PLC) equipment. In this paper, low voltage indoor power cables are investigated and their suitability for PLC operation are determined. This is done in terms of their Channel Frequency Response (CFR). Cable parameters such as inductance, capacitance, resistance, length and termination are investigated up to 100MHz. This work shows cable length and load impedance are the primary factors affecting CFR behavior. Long cables (in the 100’s of meters) and low load impedances - lower that the cable characteristic impedance (few Ω) can dramatically limit the bandwidth of the CFR. Variances in geometry, dielectric and resistance are only secondary effects and do not affect CFR as drastically as length and load impedance

Channel frequency response for a low voltage indoor cable up to 1GHz

Abstract: The Channel Frequency Response (CFR) is essential in the understanding and specification of Power Line Communications (PLC) equipment. In this paper a 10m indoor low voltage Flat Twin and Earth power cable is characterized up to 1GHz. This is higher in frequency than existing PLC specifications. This is done because the effect of frequencies in the upper VHF and lower UHF bands on PLC is largely unknown. Measurements and simulation are used to show that at higher frequencies, the traditional transmission line models of wave propagation on a power line are no longer valid. Classic attenuation models do not predict the correct CFR above typically 250MHz for a 10m cable. This effect is explained in terms of electromagnetic radiation from the cable. After 500MHz it is speculated that the line becomes a waveguide. These transmission modes have important implications for UHF PLC, either directly (connected cable) or when used in contactless mode where the power line is used as antenna

SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids

Kidney failure is frequently observed during and after COVID-19, but it remains elusive whether this is a direct effect of the virus. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 directly infects kidney cells and is associated with increased tubule-interstitial kidney fibrosis in patient autopsy samples. To study direct effects of the virus on the kidney independent of systemic effects of COVID-19, we infected human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney organoids with SARS-CoV-2. Single cell RNA-sequencing indicated injury and dedifferentiation of infected cells with activation of pro-fibrotic signaling pathways. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 infection also led to increased collagen 1 protein expression in organoids. A SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor was able to ameliorate the infection of kidney cells by SARS-CoV-2. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect kidney cells and induce cell injury with subsequent fibrosis. These data could explain both acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and the development of chronic kidney disease in Long-COVID

Identification and Functional Characterization of G6PC2 Coding Variants Influencing Glycemic Traits Define an Effector Transcript at the G6PC2-ABCB11 Locus

Genome wide association studies (GWAS) for fasting glucose (FG) and insulin (FI) have identified common variant signals which explain 4.8% and 1.2% of trait variance, respectively. It is hypothesized that low-frequency and rare variants could contribute substantially to unexplained genetic variance. To test this, we analyzed exome-array data from up to 33,231 non-diabetic individuals of European ancestry. We found exome-wide significant (P<5×10-7) evidence for two loci not previously highlighted by common variant GWAS: GLP1R (p.Ala316Thr, minor allele frequency (MAF)=1.5%) influencing FG levels, and URB2 (p.Glu594Val, MAF = 0.1%) influencing FI levels. Coding variant associations can highlight potential effector genes at (non-coding) GWAS signals. At the G6PC2/ABCB11 locus, we identified multiple coding variants in G6PC2 (p.Val219Leu, p.His177Tyr, and p.Tyr207Ser) influencing FG levels, conditionally independent of each other and the non-coding GWAS signal. In vitro assays demonstrate that these associated coding alleles result in reduced protein abundance via proteasomal degradation, establishing G6PC2 as an effector gene at this locus. Reconciliation of single-variant associations and functional effects was only possible when haplotype phase was considered. In contrast to earlier reports suggesting that, paradoxically, glucose-raising alleles at this locus are protective against type 2 diabetes (T2D), the p.Val219Leu G6PC2 variant displayed a modest but directionally consistent association with T2D risk. Coding variant associations for glycemic traits in GWAS signals highlight PCSK1, RREB1, and ZHX3 as likely effector transcripts. These coding variant association signals do not have a major impact on the trait variance explained, but they do provide valuable biological insights

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives