Development of a self-diagnostic system integrated into a cyber-physical system

CONTROLAR provides Bosch with an intelligent functional testing machine used to test the correct functioning of the car radios produced. During this process, the radios are submitted to several tests, raising the problem of how the machine detects errors in several radios consecutively, making it impossible to know if the device has a problem since it has no module to see if it works correctly. This article arises from the need to find a solution to solve this problem, which was to develop a self-diagnostic system that will ensure the reliability and integrity of the cyber-physical system, passing a detailed state of the art. The development of this system was based on the design of an architecture that combines the KDT methodology with a DSL to manage and configure the tests to integrate the self-diagnostic test system into a CPS. A total of 28 test cases were performed to cover all its functionalities. The results show that all test cases passed. Therefore, the system meets all the proposed objectives.This article is a result of the project POCI-01-0247-FEDER-040130, supported by Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Dynamical simulation and statistical analysis of velocity fluctuations of a turbulent flow behind a cube

A statistical approach for the treatment of turbulence data generated by computer simulations is presented. A model for compressible flows at large Reynolds numbers and low Mach numbers is used for simulating a backward-facing step airflow. A scaling analysis has justified the commonly used assumption that the internal energy transport due to turbulent velocity fluctuations and the work done by the pressure field are the only relevant mechanisms needed to model subgrid-scale flows. From the numerical simulations, the temporal series of velocities are collected for ten different positions in the flow domain, and are statistically treated. The statistical approach is based on probability averages of the flow quantities evaluated over several realizations of the simulated flow. We look at how long of a time average is necessary to obtain well-converged statistical results. For this end, we evaluate the mean-square difference between the time average and an ensemble average as the measure of convergence. This is an interesting question since the validity of the ergodic hypothesis is implicitly assumed in every turbulent flow simulation and its analysis. The ergodicity deviations from the numerical simulations are compared with theoretical predictions given by scaling arguments. A very good agreement is observed. Results for velocity fluctuations, normalized autocorrelation functions, power spectra, probability density distributions, as well as skewness and flatness coefficients are also presented

Morphological transition of Helicobacter pylori adapted to water

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www. futuremedicine.com /doi/full/10.2217/fmb-2016-0174.Aim: This study aims to investigate the morphological transition of Helicobacter pylori during adaptation to water. Materials \& methods: Different strains were adapted to water. Changes regarding cultivability and cellular morphology were recorded. Expression of 11 genes involved in H. pylori morphological changes was evaluated by real-time PCR. Results: H. pylori presented increased cultivability in water after adaptation. The permanent loss of the spiral shape was observed, but no transition into coccoid form has occurred. Expression levels of genes involved in peptidoglycan assembly of H. pylori 26695 have shown significant changes between adapted and nonadapted strains. Conclusion: Adaption to water favors the culturable phenotype and the morphological transition to the rod shape, into a process that implicates the peptidoglycan turnover.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the project ‘Heliwater’ (PTDC/BIA-MIC/108811/2008), the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Stimuli-sensitive self-assembled tubules based on lysine-derived surfactants as nanocarriers for proteins

Drug delivery vectors based on amphiphilic molecules present considerable advantages, namely versatility in physicochemical properties and sensitivity to stimuli. Amino acid-based surfactants, in particular, are rather promising amphiphiles for this purpose1 because of their enhanced biocompatibility compared to conventional surfactants. In addition to forming micelles and vesicles, they can self-organize into other complex supramolecular structures, such as fibers, twisted ribbons, helical tapes and nanotubes.2,3 Herein, we have studied a family of novel anionic double-chained lysine-based surfactants, with variable degree of chain length mismatch. Because of their peculiar structure, these compounds are able to form in water tubular structures with assorted morphologies, as evidenced by video-enhanced light microscopy (VELM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM and cryo-SEM), cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).3 The loading ability of the tubules towards lysozyme, under varying experimental conditions, has been investigated inter alia by differential scanning microcalorimetry, gel electrophoresis and UV/VIS spectroscopy, with the goal of assessing the efficiency of these aggregates as pH- and temperature-sensitive nanocarriers for a model biomolecule. Results on the stability of the native and loaded tubules when in contact with different fluids (serum, artificial saliva, artificial sweat, blood), and on their toxicity in human cells, are also presented and discussed.FCT is gratefully acknowledged for financial support through Ph.D. grant SFRH/BD/108629/2015. CIQUP acknowledges financial support from FEDER/COMPETE and FCT through grants UID/QUI/00081/2013, POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006980 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000028

A CFD study of a pMDI plume spray

Uncorrected proofAsthma is an inflammatory chronic disease characterized by airway obstructions disorders. The treatment is usually done by inhalation therapy, in which pressurized metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) are preferred devices. The objective of this paper is to characterize and simulate a pMDI spray plume by introducing realistic factors through a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study. Numerical simulations were performed with Fluent® software, by using a three-dimensional “testbox” for room environment representation. A salbutamol/HFA-134a formulation was used for characterization, whose properties taken as input for the CFD simulations. Spray droplets were considered to be composed by ethanol, salbutamol and HFA-134a. Propellant evaporation was taken into consideration, as well as, drag coefficient correction. Results showed an air temperature drop of 3.3 °C near the nozzle. Also, an increase in air velocity of 3.27 m/s was noticed. The CFD results seem to be in good agreement with Dunbar (1997) data on particle average velocity along the axial distance from the nozzle.National Funds-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under Strategic Project PEst-C/EME/UI4077/2011 and PEst-OE/EME/299UI0252/201