Analysis of the factorization method for a general class of boundary conditions

SubmittedInternational audienceWe analyze the factorization method (introduced by Kirsch in 1998 to solve inverse scattering problems at fixed frequency from the farfield operator) for a general class of boundary conditions that generalizes impedance boundary conditions. For instance, when the surface impedance operator is of pseudo-differential type, our main result stipulates that the factorization method works if the order of this operator is different from one and the operator is Fredholm of index zero with non negative imaginary part. We also provide some validating numerical examples for boundary operators of second order with discussion on the choice of the testing function

A flexible VHF-band aeronautical datalink receiver based on software defined radio

In this paper, we show how software defined radio can be used to decode aeronautical datalink communication such as VHF-band aircraft communication addressing and reporting system (ACARS). An academic analysis of the physical and medium access layers enables the specification of a complete discrete-time oriented receiver. The latter receiver is implemented with the help of GNU Radio and released as a free software. A flexible software architecture makes the project suitable for various applications such as teaching, integration testing, safety and security assessment

Optimal Predictive Eco-Driving Cycles for Conventional, Electric, and Hybrid Electric Cars

International audienceIn this paper, the computation of eco-driving cycles for electric, conventional and hybrid vehicles using receding horizon and optimal control is studied. The problem is formulated as consecutive-optimization problems aiming at minimizing the vehicle energy consumption under traffic and speed constraints. The impact of the look-ahead distance and the optimization frequency on the optimal speed computation is studied to find a trade-off between the optimality and the computation time of the algorithm. For the three architectures considered, simulation results show that in urban driving conditions, a look-ahead distance of 300m to 500m leads to a sub-optimality less than 1% in the energy consumption compared to the global solution. For highway driving conditions, a look-ahead distance of 1km to 1.5km leads to a sub-optimality less than 2% compared to the global solution

Nods, Nalps and Naip: intracellular regulators of bacterial-induced inflammation

The innate immune system is the most ancestral and ubiquitous system of defence against microbial infection. The microbial sensing proteins involved in innate immunity recognize conserved and often structural components of microorganisms. One class of these pattern-recognition molecules, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), are involved in detection of microbes in the extracellular compartment whereas a newly discovered family of proteins, the NBS-LRR proteins (for nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeat), are involved in intracellular recognition of microbes and their products. NBS-LRR proteins are characterized by three structural domains: a C-terminal leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain able to sense a microbial motif, an intermediary nucleotide binding site (NBS) essential for the oligomerization of the molecule that is necessary for the signal transduction induced by different N-terminal effector motifs, such as a pyrin domain (PYD), a caspase-activating and recruitment domain (CARD) or a baculovirus inhibitor of apoptosis protein repeat (BIR) domain. Two of these family members, Nod1 and Nod2, play a role in the regulation of pro-inflammatory pathways through NF-κB induced by bacterial ligands. Recently, it was shown that Nod2 recognizes a specific peptidoglycan motif from bacteria, muramyl dipeptide (MDP). A surprising number of human genetic disorders have been linked to NBS-LRR proteins. For example, mutations in Nod2, which render the molecule insensitive to MDP and unable to induce NF-κB activation when stimulated, are associated with susceptibility to a chronic intestinal inflammatory disorder, Crohn's disease. Conversely, mutations in the NBS region of Nod2 induce a constitutive activation of NF-κB and are responsible for Blau syndrome, another auto-inflammatory disease. Nalp3, which is an NBS-LRR protein with an N-terminal Pyrin domain, is also implicated in rare auto-inflammatory disorders. In conclusion, NBS-LRR molecules appear as a new family of intracellular receptors of innate immunity able to detect specific bacterial compounds and induce inflammatory response; the dysregulation of these processes due to mutations in the genes encoding these proteins is involved in numerous auto-inflammatory disorders.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75732/1/j.1462-5822.2003.00304.x.pd

Convective Heat Transfer in a Pneumatic Hybrid Engine

International audienceSeveral previous studies have proven that pneumatic hybridization of an internal combustion engine is a technically viable and cost-efficient alternative to electric hybridization. Because the heat transfer process remains a first order factor while the engine operates in a motored or pneumatic mode without combustion, an accurate instantaneous heat transfer model is required in order to predict the in-cylinder pressure. This study shows that the original Woschni model is not suitable for describing the shape of the measured instantaneous heat flux versus crank angle while the engine operates in a motored pneumatic mode, because of the extinction of tumble motion near Top Dead Center (TDC). A modified form of the Woschni model is therefore proposed here that better describes the instantaneous heat flux during compression and expansion strokes, applicable to pneumatic and motored with fuel cut-off modes. First, the new constant parameter model is identified from experimental measurements performed in various motored mode conditions. Next, the pneumatic supercharged mode without combustion (ignition not performed) is investigated with the new model using the same identification values as for the motored mode. This study shows that the modified model remains fully applicable to the supercharged mode, despite of a certainly modified in-cylinder aerodynamic structure created by the opening of the charging valve under a high pressure rati

Nod-Like Receptors: Cytosolic Watchdogs for Immunity against Pathogens

In mammals, tissue-specific sets of pattern-recognition molecules, including Nod-like receptors (NLR), enable concomitant and sequential detection of microbial-associated molecular patterns from both the extracellular and intracellular microenvironment. Repressing and de-repressing the cytosolic surveillance machinery contributes to vital immune homeostasis and protective responses within specific tissues. Conversely, defective biology of NLR drives the development of recurrent infectious, autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases by failing to mount barrier functions against pathogens, to tolerate commensals, and/or to instruct the adaptive immune response against microbes. Better decoding microbial strategies that are evolved to circumvent NLR sensing will provide clues for the development of rational therapies aimed at curing and/or preventing common and emerging immunopathologies

Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of the Air Path of a Turbocharged Gasoline Engine Using Laguerre Functions

International audienceObjectives in terms of pollutant emissions and fuel consumption reduction have led car manufacturers to enhance the technical definitions of combustion engines. The latter should now be considered as multiple-input multiple-output nonlinear systems with saturated actuators. This considerably increases the challenge regarding the development of optimal control laws under the constraints of constant cost reductions in the automotive industry. In the present paper, the use of a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) scheme is studied for the air path control of a turbocharged gasoline engine. Specifically, a zero dimension physics-based model is combined with parameterization of the future control trajectory. The use of Laguerre polynomials is shown to increase flexibility for the future control trajectory at no cost in computational requirements. This increase in flexibility leads to an improvement of the transient response of the closed-loop with respect to traditional approaches. This practical application shows that this approach makes it easier to fine-tune the NMPC scheme when dealing with engine air path control

Explicit-Ready Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Turbocharged Spark-Ignited Engine

International audienceThe trend to reduce the engine size in automotive industry is motivated by more restrictive pollutant emissions standards. That is why engine technical definitions have become more and more complicated. The control challenge has also grown since engines are now considered as highly nonlinear multi-input multi-output systems with saturated actuators. In this context, the need for model-based control laws is bigger than ever. In this study we propose a nonlinear model predictive control strategy based on a physical engine model. Moreover, we also underline the benefit of using a thermodynamic engine term in the objective function. Finally, the design and calibration choices consciously fulfill the criterions of the use of an explicit approach for the real time implementation

Determining vehicle acceleration from noisy non-uniformly sampled speed data for control purposes

International audienceVehicle acceleration is an important variable for many automotive control applications. In this paper, we present an approach to estimate vehicle acceleration from vehicle speed data coming from the CAN (Controller Area Network) bus. The proposed method, which can be seen as an extension of the Savitzky-Golay filter to non-uniformly sampled signals, re-samples them to a constant period while filtering noise coming from different sources and also provides a proper estimation of vehicle acceleration. We also consider the frequency response of the filtering effect of the method. Finally, some practical considerations for efficient implementation of the algorithm are given