Impact of different driving cycles and operating conditions on CO2 emissions and energy management strategies of a Euro-6 hybrid electric vehicle

Although Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) represent one of the key technologies to reduce CO2 emissions, their effective potential in real world driving conditions strongly depends on the performance of their Energy Management System (EMS) and on its capability to maximize the efficiency of the powertrain in real life as well as during Type Approval (TA) tests. Attempting to close the gap between TA and real world CO2 emissions, the European Commission has decided to introduce from September 2017 theWorldwide Harmonized Light duty Test Procedure (WLTP), replacing the previous procedure based on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). The aim of this work is the analysis of the impact of different driving cycles and operating conditions on CO2 emissions and on energy management strategies of a Euro-6 HEV through the limited number of information available from the chassis dyno tests. The vehicle was tested considering different initial battery State of Charge (SOC), ranging from 40% to 65%, and engine coolant temperatures, from 7 C to 70 C. The change of test conditions from NEDC to WLTP was shown to lead to a significant reduction of the electric drive and to about a 30% increase of CO2 emissions. However, since the specific energy demand of WLTP is about 50% higher than that of NEDC, these results demonstrate that the EMS strategies of the tested vehicle can achieve, in test conditions closer to real life, even higher efficiency levels than those that are currently evaluated on the NEDC, and prove the effectiveness of HEV technology to reduce CO2 emissions

Science with the ASTRI mini-array for the Cherenkov Telescope Array: Blazars and fundamental physics

ASTRI ("Astronomia a Specchi con Tecnologia Replicante Italiana") is a flagship project of the Italian Ministry of Research (MIUR), devoted to the realization, operation and scientific validation of an end-to-end prototype for the Small Size Telescope (SST) envisaged to become part of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The ASTRI SST-2M telescope prototype is characterized by a dual mirror, Schwarzschild-Couder optical design and a compact camera based on silicon photo-multipliers. It will be sensitive to multi-TeV very high energy (VHE) gamma rays up to 100 TeV, with a PSF ∼ 6′ and a wide (9.6°) unaberrated optical field of view. Right after validation of the design in single-dish observations at the Serra La Nave site (Sicily, Italy) during 2015, the ASTRI collaboration will be able to start deployment, at the final CTA southern site, of the ASTRI mini-array, proposed to constitute the very first CTA precursor. Counting 9 ASTRI SST-2M telescopes, the ASTRI mini-array will overtake current IACT systems in differential sensitivity above 5 TeV, thus allowing unprecedented observations of known and predicted bright TeV emitters in this band, including some extragalactic sources such as extreme high-peaked BL Lacs with hard spectra. We exploited the ASTRI scientific simulator ASTRIsim in order to understand the feasibility of observations tackling blazar and cosmic ray physics, including discrimination of hadronic and leptonic scenarios for the VHE emission from BL Lac relativistic jets and indirect measurements of the intergalactic magnetic field and of the extragalactic background light. We selected favorable targets, outlining observation modes, exposure times, multi-wavelength coverage needed and the results expected. Moreover, the perspectives for observation of effects due to the existence of axion-like particles or to Lorentz invariance violations have been investigated

Management of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, occurring in 1-2% of overall population, involving more than 6 millions of European people. It is associated to a reduced quality of life and an increased morbidity and mortality. The Framingham study showed the link between angina and AF. The same risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity promote both AF and coronary artery disease (CAD). About 1/4 of AF patients develop a CAD and, in this setting, about 1/5 undergoes a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In patients with both AF and CAD, the optimal medical strategy is challenging and it is still debated in cardiological community, since patients treated by dual (two antiplatelets drugs ore one antiplatelets drug and an oral anticoagulant drug) or triple therapy (two antiplatelets drugs and an oral anticoagulant drug) are exposed to divergent risk of bleeding or thromboembolic and ischemic complications. Aim of this paper is to focus the attention on the different problems arising from the presence of AF in patients undergoing PCI, such as the risk of stroke, bleeding and stent thrombosis

Emprendedores y Viajeros de Turismo Rural: Su relación con las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación

Este trabajo se enmarca en el Proyecto UBACyT (2010/12) denominado TICs y Turismo Rural. Utilización de nuevas tecnologías en ámbitos rurales vinculados a la prestación de servicios turísticos circundantes a la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (20020090200485). Con el fin de generar información empírica, que permita un mejor desenvolvimiento e interpretación de resultados en etapas posteriores del proyecto, se encuestó al contingente de emprendedores y viajeros de turismo rural que forman parte de redes sociales específicas. Los resultados más sobresalientes fueron las coincidencias entre emprendedores y viajeros en relación a los sitios web, el correo electrónico y las redes sociales como los medios más importantes para promocionar lugares y organizar viajes. También existieron desacuerdos acerca de la forma en que se administran las reservas y lo que desean los consumidores, ya que la mayor parte las gestionan en forma directa con el turista, en tanto que estos últimos las demandan a través de centrales de reserva en línea.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

The ASTRI mini-array software system (MASS) implementation: a proposal for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The ASTRI mini-array, composed of nine small-size dual mirror (SST-2M) telescopes, has been proposed to be installed at the southern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), as a set of preproduction units of the CTA observatory. The ASTRI mini-array is a collaborative and international effort carried out by Italy, Brazil and South Africa and led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. We present the main features of the current implementation of the Mini-Array Software System (MASS) now in use for the activities of the ASTRI SST-2M telescope prototype located at the INAF observing station on Mt. Etna, Italy and the characteristics that make it a prototype for the CTA control software system. CTA Data Management (CTADATA) and CTA Array Control and Data Acquisition (CTA-ACTL) requirements and guidelines as well as the ASTRI use cases were considered in the MASS design, most of its features are derived from the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array Control software. The MASS will provide a set of tools to manage all onsite operations of the ASTRI mini-array in order to perform the observations specified in the short term schedule (including monitoring and controlling all the hardware components of each telescope and calibration device), to analyze the acquired data online and to store/retrieve all the data products to/from the onsite repository