Optimization of modular wiring harnesses by means of regression models for temperature prediction of wire bundles

Automotive wiring harnesses have become heavier and more complex due to their increasing number of electrical components. It is now desired to reduce their mass of copper. For this purpose, experimentation can be partially replaced by simulation, but it is still impossible to exhaustively simulate all of the combinations of modular wiring harness. This proposed approach consists of carrying out simulations using the FEM method and using their results to create regression models. Polynomial formulae can give the same information as simulations within a clearly reduced time and satisfying accuracy. An optimization algorithm introduced in this study will use them to assign new cable cross-sections of harnesses considering their currents and the ambient temperature.Postprint (author's final draft

Custom integer optimization method for wire bundle dimensioning

Automotive wiring harnesses have gained weight and complexity through the last decades due to the increasing number of electrical components, which has raised the interest on its weight optimization. For this purpose, it is essential to know at least the maximum amount of steady current that either single wires or bundles can carry. However, the large amount of combinations of the customer-speci¿c wire harnesses makes it impossible to exhaustively simulate all of the combinations that would allow for a reliable analysis and optimization of the network. The proposed approach consists of achieving accurate predictions of the wire thermal behaviour using fast on-line polynomial functions, which have been created as regression models using data from off-line worst-case ¿nite element sim- ulations. These regression models provide good accuracy for the critical dimensions of wire bundles in a much shorter time than simulations, so that they can be used on-line in optimiza- tion algorithms. Two different approaches of optimization are presented here in order to assign discrete values of available wire cross-section to the wire bundles: The ¿rst one uses integer linear programming, and the second one consists of a recently created custom algorithm whose objective is to reduce the computation time of the integer linear programming approach. This latter objective is satisfactorily accomplished. Results of both optimization approaches are validated by means of ¿nal ¿nite element simulations, and they promisingly ful¿ll the objectives of this study.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Cytochrome c signalosome in mitochondria

Cytochrome c delicately tilts the balance between cell life (respiration) and cell death (apoptosis). Whereas cell life is governed by transient electron transfer interactions of cytochrome c inside the mitochondria, the cytoplasmic adducts of cytochrome c that lead to cell death are amazingly stable. Interestingly, the contacts of cytochrome c with its counterparts shift from the area surrounding the heme crevice for the redox complexes to the opposite molecule side when the electron flow is not necessary. The cytochrome c signalosome shows a higher level of regulation by post-translational modifications—nitration and phosphorylation—of the hemeprotein. Understanding protein interfaces, as well as protein modifications, would puzzle the mitochondrial cytochrome c-controlled pathways out and enable the design of novel drugs to silence the action of pro-survival and pro-apoptotic partners of cytochrome c.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation BFU2009-07190Andalusian Government BIO198 P08-CVI-387

Involvement of PGE2 and cyclic AMP signaling pathway in the up-regulation of COX-2and mPGES-1 expression in LPS -activated macrophages

The final version of record is available at /http://www.biochemj.org/bj

Hypercube algorithms on mesh connected multicomputers

A new methodology named CALMANT (CC-cube Algorithms on Meshes and Tori) for mapping a type of algorithm that we call CC-cube algorithm onto multicomputers with hypercube, mesh, or torus interconnection topology is proposed. This methodology is suitable when the initial problem can be expressed as a set of processes that communicate through a hypercube topology (a CC-cube algorithm). There are many important algorithms that fit into the CC-cube type. CALMANT is based on three different techniques: (a) the standard embedding to assign the processes of the algorithm to the nodes of the mesh multicomputer; (b) the communication pipelining technique to increase the level of communication parallelism inherent in the CC-cube algorithms; and (c) optimal message-scheduling algorithms proposed in this work in order to avoid conflicts and minimizing in this way the communication time. Although CALMANT is proposed for multicomputers with different interconnection network topologies, the paper only focuses on the particular case of meshes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A study of the communication cost of the FFT on torus multicomputers

The computation of a one-dimensional FFT on a c-dimensional torus multicomputer is analyzed. Different approaches are proposed which differ in the way they use the interconnection network. The first approach is based on the multidimensional index mapping technique for the FFT computation. The second approach starts from a hypercube algorithm and then embeds the hypercube onto the torus. The third approach reduces the communication cost of the hypercube algorithm by pipelining the communication operations. A novel methodology to pipeline the communication operations on a torus is proposed. Analytical models are presented to compare the different approaches. This comparison study shows that the best approach depends on the number of dimensions of the torus and the communication start-up and transfer times. The analytical models allow us to select the most efficient approach for the available machine.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Nutritional Functional Value and Therapeutic Utilization of Amaranth

Amaranthus is a dicotyledonous pseudocereal and one of the New World’s oldest crops, having originated in Mesoamerica, and was a major food crop of the Aztecs who named it Huautli or Xtes. Popularity in the cultivation and consumption of Amaranthus seed in the modern era began in the mid-1970s with the rediscovery and promotion of amaranth due to its superior nutritional attributes as compared to cereal grains. Today, amaranth is still included in the human diet because of its nutraceutical relevance. Amaranth is considered as a “superfood” because it contains high nutraceutical values such as a high-quality protein, unsaturated oils, squalene, dietary fiber, tocopherols, tocotrienols, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, vitamins, and minerals. Compared to other grains, amaranth has a higher amount of protein, dietary fiber, calcium, iron, and magnesium; therefore although it is an ancient crop nowadays, it is considered a millennium crop or superfood with relevant nutraceutical values and its agronomic versatility. This comprehensive chapter is focused on amaranth composition and antioxidant properties and provides several potential medical benefits of its valuable components