State-of-the-art in Power Line Communications: from the Applications to the Medium

In recent decades, power line communication has attracted considerable attention from the research community and industry, as well as from regulatory and standardization bodies. In this article we provide an overview of both narrowband and broadband systems, covering potential applications, regulatory and standardization efforts and recent research advancements in channel characterization, physical layer performance, medium access and higher layer specifications and evaluations. We also identify areas of current and further study that will enable the continued success of power line communication technology.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. Special Issue on Power Line Communications and its Integration with the Networking Ecosystem. 201

Relation of Hydrologic Processes to Groundwater and Surface-Water Levels and Flow Directions in a Dune-Beach Complex at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Beverly Shores, Indiana

The potential for high groundwater levels to cause wet basements (groundwater flooding) is of concern to residents of communities in northwestern Indiana. Changes in recharge from precipitation increases during 2006–9, water-level changes from restoration of nearby wetlands in the Great Marsh in 1998–2002, and changes in recharge due to the end of groundwater withdrawals for water supply since 2005 in a community at Beverly Shores, Ind., were suspected as factors in increased groundwater levels in an unconfined surficial aquifer beneath nearby parts of a dune-beach complex. Results of this study indicate that increased recharge from precipitation and snowmelt was the principal cause of raised water levels in the dune-beach complex from 2006 to 2009. Annual precipitation totals in 2006–9 ranged from 43.88 to 55.75 inches per year (in/yr) and were substantially greater than the median 1952–2009 precipitation of 36.35 in/yr. Recharge to groundwater from precipitation in 2006–9 ranged from 13.5 to 22 in/yr; it was higher than the typical 11 in/yr because of large precipitation events and precipitation amounts received during non-growing-season months. An estimated increase in net recharge from reduced groundwater use in Beverly Shores since 2005 ranged from 1.6 in/yr in 2006 to 1.9 in/yr in 2009. Surface-water levels in the wetland were as much as about 1.1 feet higher in 2007–9 (after the 1998–2002 wetland restoration) than during seasonally wet periods in 1979–89. Similar surface-water levels and ponded water were likely during winter and spring wet periods before and after wetland restoration. High water levels similar to those in 2009 were measured elsewhere in the dune-beach complex near a natural wetland during the spring months in 1991 and 1993 after receipt of near record precipitation. Recharge from similarly high precipitation amounts in 2008–9 was also a likely cause of high groundwater levels in other parts of the dune-beach complex, such as at Beverly Shores. Perennial mounding of the water table in the surficial aquifer indicates that the recharge that created the water-table mound originates within the dune-beach complex and not through flow from the adjacent hydrologic boundaries: the restored wetland, Lake Michigan, and Derby Ditch. Infiltrating precipitation causes most seasonal and episodic rises in groundwater levels beneath the dune-beach complex. Groundwater-level fluctuations lasting days to weeks in the dune-beach complex in 2008–9 were superimposed on a seasonal high water-table altitude that began with the recharge from snowmelt and rain in February 2009 and maintained through July 2009. Increases in water-table-mound altitude under the dune-beach complex recurred in 2008–9 in response to the largest rain events of 1 inch or more and to snowmelt. Smaller, shorter-term rises in water level after individual rain events persisted over hours to less than 1 week. Groundwater-level fluctuations varied over a relatively narrow range of about 2 to 3 feet, with no net fluctuations greater than 4 feet. Groundwater levels in or near low parts of the dune-beach complex were frequently within 0 to 6 feet of the land surface and indicate the potential for groundwater flooding. Groundwater-level gradients from the water-table mound to wells next to surface-water discharges increase after rainfall and snowmelt events and recede slowly as groundwater discharges from the aquifer. Evapotranspiration is responsible for part of the general pattern of decreasing water-table altitudes observed from May to August 2009. Rapid water-level rises in the restored wetland after precipitation do not likely have an effect on groundwater flooding elsewhere in the dune-beach complex. Surface-water-level fluctuations during this study generally varied over a narrower range, approximately from 1 to 1.5 feet, as compared with groundwater fluctuations, except after a very large, 10.77-inch rainfall. Time-delayed and smaller groundwater-level rises in wells near the restored wetland indicate a hydraulic delaying effect from the lower hydraulic conductivity of organic deposits in the subsurface near the marsh. Results of a simplified, steady-state cross-sectional model of groundwater flow also indicate that increased recharge from precipitation and snowmelt was the principal cause of raised water levels in the dune-beach complex from 2006 to 2009. Rises in the simulated water-table crest caused by increased recharge from precipitation in 2006–9 ranged from about 2 to 4 feet. A simulated addition of 1.9 in/yr of recharge from the water supply change raised the crest of the water-table mound by about 0.7 foot at about 900 feet from the restored wetland. The simulated groundwater-level change from a wetland water-level increase was generally smaller than that caused by precipitation and water-supply-derived recharge. The effect of a 1.1 foot simulated increase in water level in the restored marsh diminished to about a 0.75 foot groundwater level increase at about 900 feet from the marsh and to about a 0.55 foot groundwater level increase at about 1,500 feet from the marsh. Actual groundwater-level changes from wetland water-level increases would be smaller than simulated values because the organic sediments separating the wetland and the surficial aquifer tend to delay the response of groundwater levels to recharge and surface-water-level changes

Did domestic violence really increase in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic?:Results of an interview-based observational study

Objectives: The COVID-19 lockdown may lead to rising numbers of domestic violence (DV), especially among previously victimized individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the development and influential factors of DV during the early COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: In this telephone-based study, previous participants with (n = 34) and without (n = 33) DV completed questionnaires on DV, attachment and COVID-19 related stressors. Development of DV and influential factors were investigated with repeated measures ANOVAs and linear regression models. Results: Individuals with prior DV reported significantly higher DV than previously not affected individuals. However, a statistically significant decrease of DV was found in the group with prior DV. Past DV, childlessness and insecure attachment, but not COVID-19 related stressors predicted current DV. Conclusions: In light of an insecure attachment style lockdown measures may have led to a temporary relationship stabilization. However, a reassessment is necessary to evaluate whether this stabilization was a short-time trend only

Aphid Feeding Behavior: Relationship to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus Resistance in \u3ci\u3eAgropyron\u3c/i\u3e Species

The infectibility of various Agropyron species (wheatgrasses) was examined with respect to three isotates of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) by infesting them with appropriate vector aphids, followed by testing by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Feeding behavior of the vetors Rhopalosiphum padi and Sitobion avenae was also electronically monitored to determine their ability to inoculate phloem. The results indicated that resistance to BYDV infection occurs in several Agropyron species. For most species tested. resistance seemed due to failure in virus increase. but in some species a major constraint on infection \\\u27as the inability of vectors to locate phloem. Two potential approaches to breeding for reduced BYDV in wheat by crossing with Agropyron species may thus be: incorporating factors reducing or preventing virus production and incorporating factors reducing the ability of vectors to inoculate plants successfully

FHSU Students\u27 Economic Perceptions & Expectations

We surveyed FHSU students about their perceptions and expectations involving their degree and employment prospects after graduation The results show that most students have a positive outlook about their degree and finding a job However, the majority of students are negative about the overall economy and its direction over the next year These findings appear to be robust across different student demographics, with the exception of political view

Domestic violence victims in a hospital setting:prevalence, health impact and patients' preferences - results from a cross-sectional study

Background: Domestic violence (DV) is a widespread yet commonly underdetected problem with severe impact on physical and mental health. To date, only limited information is available on prevalence and detection-rates of victims of DV in hospital settings. Objective: The aim of this study was (a) to assess the prevalence and impact of DV on physical and mental health as well as risk-factors associated with it, (b) to determine how many patients had been asked directly about DV in the hospital and (c) to investigate patients' preferences about being asked about DV in a hospital setting. Methods: Adult inpatients and outpatients at seven somatic departments at the University Hospital Innsbruck (Austria) were included consecutively in this ad-hoc, cross-sectional paper-and-pencil questionnaire-based study. In total, n = 2,031 patients were assessed regarding their experiences with DV. They also reported on whether they had been asked about DV at the hospital and whether they would mind being asked about it. To evaluate the impact of DV on patients' self-reported physical and mental health, odds ratios were calculated using binary logistic regression. Results: DV was reported by 17.4% of patients, with 4.0% indicating current DV exposure. Lifetime DV exposure was associated with a significant risk for both physical and mental health-problems. Only 4.8% of patients with DV exposure had ever been asked about it by hospital staff. While patients with a history of DV were more open to being asked about DV than patients without DV (78.2% vs. 72.9%), overall acceptance was still high (74%). Conclusion: DV is a frequently overlooked problem with detrimental effects on physical and mental health. While high acceptance of DV assessment was found, only a small proportion of affected patients had indeed been assessed for DV. Screening for DV in hospitals may thus increase the number of identified patients

Functional characterization of the human mariner transposon Hsmar2

DNA transposons are mobile elements with the ability to mobilize and transport genetic information between different chromosomal loci. Unfortunately, most transposons copies are currently inactivated, little is known about mariner elements in humans despite their role in the evolution of the human genome, even though the Hsmar2 transposon is associated to hotspots for homologous recombination involved in human genetic disorders as Charcot-Marie-Tooth, Prader-Willi/Angelman, and Williams syndromes. This manuscript describes the functional characterization of the human HSMAR2 transposase generated from fossil sequences and shows that the native HSMAR2 is active in human cells, but also in bacteria, with an efficiency similar to other mariner elements. We observe that the sub-cellular localization of HSMAR2 is dependent on the host cell type, and is cytotoxic when overexpressed in HeLa cells. Finally, we also demonstrate that the binding of HSMAR2 to its own ITRs is specific, and that the excision reaction leaves non-canonical footprints both in bacteria and eukaryotic cells

The Grizzly, October 26, 1993

Colvin, Reynolds to Serve on Captains\u27 Council • Verdict Returned in Reginald Denny Trial • Ursinus Loses Friend and Supporter • Student Apathy Strikes Again • Ursinus Students to Perform in State Choral Festival • Gaijin-Eyes Exhibit to Open • Literary Society • Self-Realization in the Big Apple: Wiggly Blocks and The Piano • Bears Win Homecoming • Phillies Lose World Serieshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1322/thumbnail.jp