Non-Invasive Experimental Identification of a Single Particle Model for LiFePO4 Cells

The rapid spread of Lithium-ions batteries (LiBs) for electric vehicles calls for the development of accurate physical models for Battery Management Systems (BMSs). In this work, the electrochemical Single Particle Model (SPM) for a high-power LiFePO4 cell is experimentally identified through a set of non-invasive tests (based on voltage-current measurements only). The SPM is identified through a two-step procedure in which the equilibrium potentials and the kinetics parameters are characterized sequentially. The proposed identification procedure is specifically tuned for LiFePO4 chemistry, which is particularly challenging to model due to the non-linearity of its open circuit voltage (OCV) characteristic. The identified SPM is compared with a second-order Equivalent Circuit Model (ECM) with State of Charge dependency. Models performance is compared on dynamic current profiles. They exhibit similar performance when discharge currents peak up to 1C (RMSE between simulation and measures smaller than 20 mV) while, increasing the discharge peaks up to 3C, ECM's performance significantly deteriorates while SPM maintains acceptable RMSE (< 50 mV).Comment: Accepted for publication at the IFAC World Congress 202

An Add-on Model Predictive Control Strategy for the Energy Management of Hybrid Electric Tractors

The hybridization process has recently touched also the world of agricultural vehicles. Within this context, we develop an Energy Management Strategy (EMS) aiming at optimizing fuel consumption, while maintaining the battery state of charge. A typical feature of agricultural machines is that their internal combustion engine is speed controlled, tracking the reference requested by the driver. In view of avoiding any modification on this original control loop, an add-on EMS strategy is proposed. In particular, we employ a multi-objective Model Predictive Control (MPC), taking into account the fuel consumption minimization and the speed tracking requirement, including the engine speed controller in the predictive model. The proposed MPC is tested in an experimentally-validated simulation environment, representative of an orchard vineyard tractor.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technolog

Parkinson’s Disease in a Patient with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: The Relevance of Detecting Mosaicisms by Means of Cell-By-Cell Evaluation Techniques

We report the case of a male patient from an Ashkenazi Jewish ethnic group with a history of midline defects (congenital heart disease, high-arched palate and bifid uvula). At the age of 46 years, he came to our center complaining of resting tremor, and a neurological examination concluded Parkinson?s disease. As a part of his approach, genetic evaluation was performed. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed a mosaicism of a 22q deletion in 24% of the analyzed blood cells. Also, immunohistochemical studies were performed on samples from the minor salivary glands using a SNCA antibody. Intense SNCA immunoreactive profiles were obtained for cells from the salivary glands of the patient. This is, to our knowledge, the first description of the association of amosaicism of a 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome with Parkinson?s disease. Our findings suggest that, before excluding the involvement of the 22q11.2 deletion in the etiology of early-onset PD cases, the spectrum of evaluations should be extended to include more sensitive FISH analysis and immunohistochemical studies. The pathogenesis of early-onset PD in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome remains unknown but, if elucidated, it may contribute to understanding the etiology of PD and ultimately to preventionand treatment strategies.Fil: Perandones, Claudia. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud "Dr. C. G. Malbrán"; ArgentinaFil: Farini, Veronica Lujan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología. Centro de Estudios en Salud y Medio Ambiente; ArgentinaFil: Pellene, L. A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Sáenz Farret, Michel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Cuevas, S. M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Micheli, Federico. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Radrizzani Helguera, Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología. Centro de Estudios en Salud y Medio Ambiente; Argentin

Mosaicism of alpha-synuclein gene rearrangements: Report of two unrelated cases of early-onset parkinsonism

Dear Sir, In genetics, the term ‘mosaicism’ describes the situation in which groups of cells have a different genetic composition to other cells in an organism. Somatic gene rearrangements due to multiplication or deletion of genes (copy number variation) and/or sections of chromosomes can lead to mosaicism. The presence of multiple copies of the alpha-synuclein gene (SNCA) is known to be associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the severity of symptoms increases with the number of copies of the gene [1]. While the features of PD associated with duplication of SNCA are usually (but not always) typical of the condition [2–3], patients with triplicate copies have atypical features, including rapidly evolving symptoms, severe cognitive impairment, limited response to levodopa, more severe symptoms of dementia and more..

Different Conformations of Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog, Deleted on Chromosome 10 (PTEN) Protein within the Nucleus and Cytoplasm of Neurons

PTEN is a critical gene involved in the regulation of many cellular processes. The product of this gene has dual phosphatase activity and is able to dephosphorylate the 5′ end of the phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate. Within the cellular nucleus, this protein has been associated with regulation of the expression of many genes, although the mechanism of this regulation remains unclear. In this paper, two specific oligonucleotide aptamers were developed and selected, using the SELEX procedure, according to their ability to detect the PTEN protein in different subcellular compartments of neurons. While one aptamer was able to detect PTEN in the nucleus, the other recognized PTEN in the cytoplasm. The recognition pattern of PTEN by both aptamers was confirmed using antibodies in western blots of the proteins purified from mouse cerebellar homogenates and subcellular fractions. Additionally, we demonstrated that the two aptamers recognized different epitopes of the target peptide. The results presented here could not be fully explained by the canonical phosphatase structure of PTEN, suggesting the existence of different conformations of phosphatase in the nucleus and the cytoplasm

Hypothesis: Somatic Mosaicism and Parkinson Disease

Letter to the EditorFil: Perandones, Carlos Edgardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Pellene, L. A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Giugni, J. C.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Calvo, D. S.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Raina, G. B.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Cuevas, S. M.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Mata, I. F.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Zabetian, C. P.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Caputo, Mariela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Corach, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas; ArgentinaFil: Micheli, Federico. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas; ArgentinaFil: Radrizzani Helguera, Martin. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentin

Cpd-1 Null Mice Display a Subtle Neurological Phenotype

CPD1 (also known as ANP32-E) belongs to a family of evolutionarily conserved acidic proteins with leucine rich repeats implicated in a variety of cellular processes regulating gene expression, vesicular trafficking, intracellular signaling and apoptosis. Because of its spatiotemporal expression pattern, CPD1 has been proposed to play an important role in brain morphogenesis and synaptic development.We have generated CPD1 knock-out mice that we have subsequently characterized. These mice are viable and fertile. However, they display a subtle neurological clasping phenotype and mild motor deficits.CPD1 is not essential for normal development; however, it appears to play a role in the regulation of fine motor functions. The minimal phenotype suggests compensatory biological mechanisms