Automotive Battery Charging based on Efficient Capacitive Power Transfer

Isolated power converters find application in different fields of electric mobility, such as battery charging, where galvanic insulation between on-board storage system and electrical grid is required. Conventional isolated systems are based on the use of transformers, which have the drawback to be bulky and expensive. Nevertheless, insulation implemented by capacitances can be attractive due to the recent technological advances, contributing to increasingly compact, cheap and efficient converters. In this paper, an isolated power converter based on capactive power transfer (CPT), along with the switched capacitor concept, is proposed. GaN FETs are employed as switching power devices in order to handle high operation frequencies with limited power losses. In this work a 500 kHz switching frequency has been selected, with notable benefits brought to the overall power converter in terms of compactness. The developed prototype has been experimentally tested according to a target power level of 3 kW, to prove the proper operation of the proposed converter. The experimental tests have demonstrated a power transfer efficiency as high as 95%

Design and realization of a bidirectional full bridge converter with improved modulation strategies

In this paper a Full-Bridge Converter (FBC) for bidirectional power transfer is presented. The proposed FBC is an isolated DC-DC bidirectional converter, connected to a double voltage source—a voltage bus on one side and a Stack of Super-Capacitors (SOSC) on the other side. The control law aims at the regulation either of the bus current (when the load requires power) or of the SOSC current (when the stack requires a recharge). Analysis and design of the proposed FBC are discussed. A Phase Shift Modulation (PSM) scheme is proposed, along with an improved modulation variant for the efficiency optimization, through a proper reduction of the transformer power losses. The realized prototype, compliant with automotive applications, is presented and experimental results are highlighted. The target power level is 2 kW

Characterization and Testing of the Passive Magnetic Attitude Control System for the 3U AstroBio CubeSat

AstroBio CubeSat is a mission funded by the Italian Space Agency aimed at validating novel lab-on-chip technology, that would enable the use of micro- and nanosatellites as autonomous orbiting laboratories for research in astrobiology. This 3U CubeSat is equipped with a passive magnetic attitude control system (PMACS), including permanent magnets and hysteresis strips, which allows for stabilizing the spacecraft with the longitudinal axis in the direction of the geomagnetic field vector. This work presents the process followed for the experimental characterization of the system, performed on the engineering unit of the satellite by using a Helmholtz cage facility and a spherical air-bearing to recreate environmental conditions similar to the ones experienced during the orbital motion. The hysteresis strips are characterized starting from the determination of the hysteresis loop, from which the energy dissipation per cycle and the apparent magnetic permeability are extracted. Tests performed by using the Helmholtz cage and the air-bearing facility allows for further investigating the damping torque produced by the PMACS and validating the abovementioned parameters. Numerical analysis is then used to select the number of permanent magnets which allows for achieving a pointing accuracy within an error of 10° within 24 h from the deployment. The analysis of the flight data supports the results obtained from the experimental test campaigns, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed methods and of the PMACS design

Neurotoxic effect of Doxorubicin treatment on cardiac sympathetic neurons

Doxorubicin (DOXO) remains amongst the most commonly used anti-cancer agents for the treatment of solid tumors, lymphomas, and leukemias. However, its clinical use is hampered by cardiotoxicity, characterized by heart failure and arrhythmias, which may require chemotherapy interruption, with devastating consequences on patient survival and quality of life. Although the adverse cardiac effects of DOXO are consolidated, the underlying mechanisms are still incompletely understood. It was previously shown that DOXO leads to proteotoxic cardiomyocyte (CM) death and myocardial fibrosis, both mechanisms leading to mechanical and electrical dysfunction. While several works focused on CMs as the culprits of DOXO-induced arrhythmias and heart failure, recent studies suggest that DOXO may also affect cardiac sympathetic neurons (cSNs), which would thus represent additional cells targeted in DOXO-cardiotoxicity. Confocal immunofluorescence and morphometric analyses revealed alterations in SN innervation density and topology in hearts from DOXO-treated mice, which was consistent with the reduced cardiotropic effect of adrenergic neurons in vivo. Ex vivo analyses suggested that DOXO-induced denervation may be linked to reduced neurotrophic input, which we have shown to rely on nerve growth factor, released from innervated CMs. Notably, similar alterations were observed in explanted hearts from DOXO-treated patients. Our data demonstrate that chemotherapy cardiotoxicity includes alterations in cardiac innervation, unveiling a previously unrecognized effect of DOXO on cardiac autonomic regulation, which is involved in both cardiac physiology and pathology, including heart failure and arrhythmias

Phase II Study of Dehydroepiandrosterone in Androgen Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer.

LESSONS LEARNED: The androgen receptor (AR) is present in most breast cancers (BC), but its exploitation as a therapeutic target has been limited.This study explored the activity of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a precursor being transformed into androgens within BC cells, in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (to block DHEA conversion into estrogens), in a two-stage phase II study in patients with AR-positive/estrogen receptor-positive/human epidermal growth receptor 2-negative metastatic BC.Although well tolerated, only 1 of 12 patients obtained a prolonged clinical benefit, and the study was closed after its first stage for poor activity. BACKGROUND: Androgen receptors (AR) are expressed in most breast cancers, and AR-agonists have some activity in these neoplasms. We investigated the safety and activity of the androgen precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) in patients with AR-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC). METHODS: A two-stage phase II study was conducted in two patient cohorts, one with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (resistant to AIs) and the other with triple-negative MBC. DHEA 100 mg/day was administered orally. The combination with an AI aimed to prevent the conversion of DHEA into estrogens. The main endpoint was the clinical benefit rate. The triple-negative cohort was closed early. RESULTS: Twelve patients with ER-positive MBC were enrolled. DHEA-related adverse events, reported in four patients, included grade 2 fatigue, erythema, and transaminitis, and grade 1 drowsiness and musculoskeletal pain. Clinical benefit was observed in one patient with ER-positive disease whose tumor had AR gene amplification. There was wide inter- and intra-patient variation in serum levels of DHEA and its metabolites. CONCLUSION: DHEA showed excellent safety but poor activity in MBC. Although dose and patient selection could be improved, high serum level variability may hamper further DHEA development in this setting

Nine weeks versus 1 year adjuvant trastuzumab in combination with chemotherapy: Final results of the phase III randomized Short-HER study

open32noBackground: Chemotherapy plus 1-year trastuzumab is the standard adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. The efficacy of less extended trastuzumab exposure is under investigation. The short-HER study was aimed to assess the non-inferiority of 9 weeks versus 1 year of adjuvant trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy. Patients and methods: HER2-positive breast cancer patients with node-positive or, if node negative, with at least one risk factor (pT>2 cm, G3, lympho-vascular invasion, Ki-67 > 20%, age 35 years, or hormone receptor negativity) were randomly assigned to receive sequential anthracycline-taxane combinations plus 1-year trastuzumab (arm A, long) or plus 9 weeks trastuzumab (arm B, short). This study was designed as a non-inferiority trial with disease-free survival (DFS) as primary end point. A DFS hazard ratio (HR) <1.29 was chosen as the non-inferiority margin. Analyses according to the frequentist and Bayesian approach were planned. Secondary end points included 2-year failure rate and cardiac safety. Results: A total of 1254 patients from 82 centers were randomized (arm A, long: n ¼ 627; arm B, short: n ¼ 626). Five-year DFS is 88% in the long and 85% in the short arm. The HR is 1.13 (90% CI 0.89-1.42), with the upper limit of the CI crossing the non-inferiority margin. According to the Bayesian analysis, the probability that the short arm is non-inferior to the long one is 80%. The 5-year overall survival (OS) is 95.2% in the long and 95.0% in the short arm (HR 1.07, 90% CI 0.74-1.56). Cardiac events are significantly lower in the short arm (risk-ratio 0.33, 95% CI 0.22-0.50, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: This study failed to show the non-inferiority of a shorter trastuzumab administration. One-year trastuzumab remains the standard. However, a 9-week administration decreases the risk of severe cardiac toxicity and can be an option for patients with cardiac events during treatment and for those with a low risk of relapse. Trial Registration: EUDRACT number: 2007-004326-25; NCI ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT00629278.openConte P.; Frassoldati A.; Bisagni G.; Brandes A.A.; Donadio M.; Garrone O.; Piacentini F.; Cavanna L.; Giotta F.; Aieta M.; Gebbia V.; Molino A.; Musolino A.; Ferro A.; Maltoni R.; Danese S.; Zamagni C.; Rimanti A.; Cagossi K.; Russo A.; Pronzato P.; Giovanardi F.; Moretti G.; Lombardo L.; Schirone A.; Beano A.; Amaducci L.; Bajardi E.A.; Vicini R.; Balduzzi S.; D'Amico R.; Guarneri V.Conte, P.; Frassoldati, A.; Bisagni, G.; Brandes, A. A.; Donadio, M.; Garrone, O.; Piacentini, F.; Cavanna, L.; Giotta, F.; Aieta, M.; Gebbia, V.; Molino, A.; Musolino, A.; Ferro, A.; Maltoni, R.; Danese, S.; Zamagni, C.; Rimanti, A.; Cagossi, K.; Russo, A.; Pronzato, P.; Giovanardi, F.; Moretti, G.; Lombardo, L.; Schirone, A.; Beano, A.; Amaducci, L.; Bajardi, E. A.; Vicini, R.; Balduzzi, S.; D'Amico, R.; Guarneri, V

Two Loop Scalar Self-Mass during Inflation

We work in the locally de Sitter background of an inflating universe and consider a massless, minimally coupled scalar with a quartic self-interaction. We use dimensional regularization to compute the fully renormalized scalar self-mass-squared at one and two loop order for a state which is released in Bunch-Davies vacuum at t=0. Although the field strength and coupling constant renormalizations are identical to those of lfat space, the geometry induces a non-zero mass renormalization. The finite part also shows a sort of growing mass that competes with the classical force in eventually turning off this system's super-acceleration.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figures, revtex4, revised for publication with extended list of reference

Everolimus (EVE) and exemestane (EXE) in patients with advanced breast cancer aged 65 65 years: New lessons for clinical practice from the EVA study

BACKGROUND: The present analysis focuses on real-world data of Everolimus-Exemestane in advanced HR+ve, HER2-ve elderly breast cancer patients (aged 65 years) included in the EVA study, with unique findings in those aged 70 years. METHODS: Data are collected from clinical records and analysed according to age cut-off (< 65 years; 65 - 69 years and {greater than or equal to} 70 years). Relationship of analyzed variables with response were tested by mean of a Mantel-Haenszel chi square test. Time to event analysis was described by Kaplan Meier approach and association with baseline characteristics was analysed by stratified log-rank test and proportional hazard model. RESULTS: From July 2013 to December 2015, the EVA study enrolled overall 404 pts. 154 patients out of 404 (38,1%) were aged {greater than or equal to} 65 years, of whom 87 were {greater than or equal to} 70 years. Median duration of EVE treatment was 28.5 weeks (95% CI 19.0 - 33.8) in patients aged 65-69 years and 24,4 weeks (95% CI 19,2 - 33,2) in those aged {greater than or equal to} 70 years. Fewer patients aged 65 years received the highest EVE Dose-Intensity (>7.5 mg/day) in comparison to younger patients (49,6% vs. 66,8%). Grade 3-4 toxicities occurred to 55 patients (35,7%), mainly stomatitis (10,9%), rash (5,8%) and non-infectious pneumonitis (NIP) (3,6%). Some toxicities, such as weight loss and anaemia were peculiarly observed in patients aged {greater than or equal to} 70 years. Five treatment-related deaths were collected (3,2%). CONCLUSIONS: EVE-EXE combination remains one of the potential treatments in HR+ patients also for elderly ones

Biomechanics and the thermotolerance of development

Successful completion of development requires coordination of patterning events with morphogenetic movements. Environmental variability challenges this coordination. For example, developing organisms encounter varying environmental temperatures that can strongly influence developmental rates. We hypothesized that the mechanics of morphogenesis would have to be finely adjusted to allow for normal morphogenesis across a wide range of developmental rates. We formulated our hypothesis as a simple model incorporating time-dependent application of force to a viscoelastic tissue. This model suggested that the capacity to maintain normal morphogenesis across a range of temperatures would depend on how both tissue viscoelasticity and the forces that drive deformation vary with temperature. To test this model we investigated how the mechanical behavior of embryonic tissue (Xenopus laevis) changed with temperature; we used a combination of micropipette aspiration to measure viscoelasticity, electrically induced contractions to measure cellular force generation, and confocal microscopy to measure endogenous contractility. Contrary to expectations, the viscoelasticity of the tissues and peak contractile tension proved invariant with temperature even as rates of force generation and gastrulation movements varied three-fold. Furthermore, the relative rates of different gastrulation movements varied with temperature: the speed of blastopore closure increased more slowly with temperature than the speed of the dorsal-to-ventral progression of involution. The changes in the relative rates of different tissue movements can be explained by the viscoelastic deformation model given observed viscoelastic properties, but only if morphogenetic forces increase slowly rather than all at once. © 2014 von Dassow et al