ZTBus: A Dataset of 1000+ Complete, Second-Resolved Driving Missions of Inner-City Transit Buses

This paper presents the Zurich Transit Bus (ZTBus) dataset, which consists of data recorded during driving missions of electric city buses in Zurich, Switzerland. The data was collected over several years on two trolley buses as part of multiple research projects. It involves more than a thousand missions across all seasons, each mission usually covering a full day of operation. The ZTBus dataset contains detailed information on the vehicle's power demand, propulsion system, odometry, global position, ambient temperature, door openings, number of passengers, dispatch patterns within the public transportation network, etc. All signals are synchronized in time and include an absolute timestamp in tabular form. The dataset can be used as a foundation for a variety of studies and analyses. For example, the data can serve as a basis for simulations to estimate the performance of different public transit vehicle types, or to evaluate and optimize control strategies of hybrid electric vehicles. Furthermore, numerous influencing factors on vehicle operation, such as traffic, passenger volume, etc., can be analyzed in detail.Comment: This work has been submitted to Scientific Data for possible publicatio

Energy Management Optimization for a Hybrid Tracked Vehicle Using the Radau Pseudospectral Method

AbstractThis study explored the feasibility of using the Radau pseudospectral method (RPM) to optimize the energy management strategy for a hybrid tracked vehicle. The engine–generator set and the battery pack of the serial hybrid tracked vehicle were modeled and validated through the bench test. A DC-DC converter was equipped between the battery pack and the DC bus in this hybrid powertrain, which increased the flexibility of energy distribution between the engine–generator set and the battery. The optimal control problem was formulated to minimize the fuel consumption through regulating the power distribution properly between the engine–generator set and battery pack during a typical driving schedule. The RPM was applied to transform the optimal control problem to a finite-dimensional constrained nonlinear programming problem. A comparison of the solutions from RPM and dynamic programming showed that the former offers the higher computation efficiency and better fuel economy

Modelling three-way catalytic converter oriented to engine cold-start conditions

This is the author¿s version of a work that was accepted for publication in International Journal of Engine Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published as https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087419853145[EN] This article introduces a physical model of a three-way catalytic converter oriented to engine cold-start conditions. Computational cost is an important factor, particularly when the modelling is oriented to the development of engine control strategies. That is why a one-dimensional one-channel real-time capable model is proposed. The present model accounts for two phases, gas and solid, respectively, considering not only the heat transfer by convection between both, but also the water vapour condensation and evaporation in the catalyst brick, which plays a key role during engine cold-start. Moreover, the model addresses the conductive heat flow, heat losses to the environment and exothermic reactions in the solid phase, as well as the convective heat flow in the gas phase. Regarding the chemical model, the oxidation of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide is considered by means of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. Three layers make up the model structure from a kinetic point of view, bulk gas, washcoat pores and noble metal in the catalyst surface. The model takes fuel-to-air ratio, exhaust gas mass flow, temperature, pressure and gas composition as inputs, providing the thermal distribution as well as the species concentration along the converter.Real, M.; Hedinger, R.; Pla Moreno, B.; Onder, C. (2021). Modelling three-way catalytic converter oriented to engine cold-start conditions. International Journal of Engine Research. 22(2):640-651. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087419853145S64065122

Variable smoothing of optimal diesel engine calibration for improved performance and drivability during transient operation

[EN] The model-based method to define the optimal calibration maps for important diesel engine parameters may involve three major steps. First, the engine speed and load domain - in which the engine is operated - are identified. Then, a global engine model is created, which can be used for offline simulations to estimate engine performance. Finally, optimal calibration maps are obtained by formulating and solving an optimisation problem, with the goal of minimising fuel consumption while meeting constraints on pollutant emissions. This last step in the calibration process usually involves smoothing of the maps in order to improve drivability. This article presents a method to trade off map smoothness, brake-specific fuel consumption and nitrogen oxide emissions. After calculating the optimal but potentially non-smooth calibration maps, a variation-based smoothing method is employed to obtain different levels of smoothness by adapting a single tuning parameter. The method was experimentally validated on a heavy-duty diesel engine, and the non-road transient cycle was used as a case study. The error between the reference and actual engine torque was used as a metric for drivability, and the error was found to decrease with increasing map smoothness. After having obtained this trade-off for various fixed levels of smoothness, a time-varying smoothness calibration was generated and tested. Experimental results showed that, with a time-varying smoothness strategy, nitrogen oxide emissions could be reduced by 4%, while achieving the same drivability and fuel consumption as in the case of a fixed smoothing strategy.The authors acknowledge the support of Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad through project TRA2016-78717-R, and this work was developed during the research stay of Varun Pandey at the ETH funded by the Programa de Movilidad para la Formacion de Personal Investigador del Vicerrectorado de Investigacion, Innovacion y Transferencia de la UPV.Pandey, V.; Van Dooren, S.; Ritzmann, J.; Pla Moreno, B.; Onder, C. (2021). Variable smoothing of optimal diesel engine calibration for improved performance and drivability during transient operation. International Journal of Engine Research. 22(6):1888-1895. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087420918801S1888189522

New interleukin-15 superagonist (IL-15SA) significantly enhances graft-versus-tumor activity.

Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a potent cytokine that increases CD8+ T and NK cell numbers and function in experimental models. However, obstacles remain in using IL-15 therapeutically, specifically its low potency and short in vivo half-life. To help overcome this, a new IL-15 superagonist complex comprised of an IL-15N72D mutation and IL-15RαSu/Fc fusion (IL-15SA, also known as ALT-803) was developed. IL-15SA exhibits a significantly longer serum half-life and increased in vivo activity against various tumors. Herein, we evaluated the effects of IL-15SA in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Weekly administration of IL-15SA to transplant recipients significantly increased the number of CD8+ T cells (specifically CD44+ memory/activated phenotype) and NK cells. Intracellular IFN-γ and TNF-α secretion by CD8+ T cells increased in the IL-15SA-treated group. IL-15SA also upregulated NKG2D expression on CD8+ T cells. Moreover, IL-15SA enhanced proliferation and cytokine secretion of adoptively transferred CFSE-labeled T cells in syngeneic and allogeneic models by specifically stimulating the slowly proliferative and nonproliferative cells into actively proliferating cells.We then evaluated IL-15SA\u27s effects on anti-tumor activity against murine mastocytoma (P815) and murine B cell lymphoma (A20). IL-15SA enhanced graft-versus-tumor (GVT) activity in these tumors following T cell infusion. Interestingly, IL-15 SA administration provided GVT activity against A20 lymphoma cells in the murine donor leukocyte infusion (DLI) model without increasing graft versus host disease. In conclusion, IL-15SA could be a highly potent T- cell lymphoid growth factor and novel immunotherapeutic agent to complement stem cell transplantation and adoptive immunotherapy

Highly Efficient Year-Round Energy and Comfort Optimization of HVAC Systems in Electric City Buses

In this paper, we present a novel approach to perform highly efficient numerical simulations of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system of an electric city bus. The models for this simulation are based on the assumption of a steady-state operation. We show two approaches to obtain the minimum energy requirement for a certain thermal comfort criterion under specific ambient conditions. Due to the computationally efficient approach developed, we can evaluate the model on a large dataset of 7500 scenarios in various ambient conditions to estimate the year-round performance of the system subject to different comfort requirements. Compared to a heating strategy based on positive temperature coefficient (PTC) elements, we can thus show that a heat pump (HP) can reduce the annual mean power consumption by up to 60%. Ceiling-mounted radiant heating elements complementing a PTC heating system can reduce the annual mean power consumption by up to 10%, while they cannot improve the energy efficiency when used in conjunction with a HP. Finally, a broad sensitivity study reveals the fact that improving the HP's heating-mode coefficient of performance (COP) manifests the largest leverage in terms of mean annual power consumption. Moreover, the annual energy expenditure for cooling are around eight times smaller than those for heating. The case study considered thus reveals that the advantages of improving the COP of the cooling mode are significantly lower.Comment: This work has been accepted to IFAC for publication under a Creative Commons Licence CC-BY-NC-N

Campaña de excavaciones 1995 [Material gráfico]

Detalle de los trabajos del levantamiento de materiales arqueológicos del Sector 84 Corte A/E-4/9INCLUIDAS EN EL ALBUM 1 DE CPG-95Copia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Subdirección General de Coordinación Bibliotecaria, 201

Engine knock margin control using in-cylinder pressure data: preliminary results

Knock is an undesired phenomenon occurring in spark ignited engines and is controlled acting on the spark timing. This paper presents a closed-loop architecture that makes possible to address the knock control problem with a standard model-based design approach. An engine knock margin estimate is feedback controlled through a PI regulator and its target value is computed starting from the desired knock probability. A black-box modelling approach is used to identify the dynamics between the spark timing and the knock margin and a traditional model-based controller synthesis is performed. Experimental results at the test bench show that, compared to a conventional strategy, the proposed approach allows for a better compromise between the controller speed and the variability of the spark timing. Moreover, another advantage w.r.t. the conventional strategies is that closed-loop performance prove to be constant for different reference probabilities, leading to a more regular engine behaviour

Double Haploidentical Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Results in Successful Engraftment of Bone Marrow from Both Donors without Graft-versus-Host or Graft-versus-Graft Effects

We established double-haploidentical (DH) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) murine models to explore competitive engraftment, graft-versus-graft effect and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). T cell–depleted (TCD) bone marrow (BM) cells from B6SJF1 (donor 1 [D1]) and B6D2F1 (donor 2 [D2]) mice achieved >90% donor engraftment when transplanted into B6CBAF1 mice. B6CBAF1 recipients survived without evidence of GVHD when undergoing HSCT with TCD-BM from 2 haploidentical donors, D1 and D2. DH-HSCT recipients had significantly higher leukocyte and neutrophil counts than single-haploidentical HSCT recipients from either D1 or D2. DH recipients consistently showed successful mixed chimerism in both BM and spleen. Two other DH-HSCT models, B6D2F1 + C3D2F1→B6C3F1 and B6CBAF1 + B6SJLF1→B6D2F1, showed similar engraftment patterns. Low-dose T cell infusion from both D1 and D2 increased the degree of early engraftment of the respective donors in BM and spleen; however, this early engraftment pattern did not determine long-term engraftment dominance. In the long term, minimally engrafted D1 BM recovered and comprised >50% of all donor- derived B, T, and natural killer cells. We conclude that early BM engraftment is determined by donor T cell immunodominance, but long-term engraftment is related to the engraftment potential of stem cells after DH-HSCT

B-cell Zone Reticular Cell Microenvironments Shape CXCL13 Gradient Formation

Through the formation of concentration gradients, morphogens drive graded responses to extracellular signals, thereby fine-tuning cell behaviors in complex tissues. Here we show that the chemokine CXCL13 forms both soluble and immobilized gradients. Specifically, CXCL13+ follicular reticular cells form a small-world network of guidance structures, with computer simulations and optimization analysis predicting that immobilized gradients created by this network promote B-cell trafficking. Consistent with this prediction, imaging analysis show that CXCL13 binds to extracellular matrix components in situ, constraining its diffusion. CXCL13 solubilization requires the protease cathepsin B that cleaves CXCL13 into a stable product. Mice lacking cathepsin B display aberrant follicular architecture, a phenotype associated with effective B cell homing to but not within lymph nodes. Our data thus suggest that reticular cells of the B cell zone generate microenvironments that shape both immobilized and soluble CXCL13 gradient