: AVERT Project (Adaptation of Vehicle Environmental performance by Remote sensing and Telematics ) a FORESIGHT Vehicle Programme

Implementing measures that can maintain, as well as improve air quality is a constant challenge faced by local authorities, especially in metropolitan cities. The AVERT, EPSRC/DTI link project, led by Samuel and Morrey of Oxford Brookes University, were tasked at identifying and proposing a new strategy to limit the amount of pollutants from vehicles dynamically using remote sensing and telematics. Firstly, it established the magnitude of real-world emission levels from modern passenger vehicles using a newly developed drive-cycle. Secondly, it demonstrated a broad framework and limitations for using existing on-board computer diagnostic systems (OBD) and remote sensing schemes for the identification of gross polluting vehicles. Finally, it provided a strategy for controlling the vehicle to meet air pollution requirements. The outcomes had direct impact on Government policy on “Cars of the Future”, roadside emission monitoring, and the business strategies for both the Go-Ahead Group and Oxonica Ltd

A comparison of one and two-sided Krylov-Arnoldi projection methods for fully coupled, damped structural-acoustic analysis

The two-sided second-order Arnoldi algorithm is used to generate a reduced order model of two test cases of fully coupled, acoustic interior cavities, backed by flexible structural systems with damping. The reduced order model is obtained by applying a Galerkin-Petrov projection of the coupled system matrices, from a higher dimensional subspace to a lower dimensional subspace, whilst preserving the low frequency moments of the coupled system. The basis vectors for projection are computed efficiently using a two-sided second-order Arnoldi algorithm, which generates an orthogonal basis for the second-order Krylov subspace containing moments of the original higher dimensional system. The first model is an ABAQUS benchmark problem: a 2D, point loaded, water filled cavity. The second model is a cylindrical air-filled cavity, with clamped ends and a load normal to its curved surface. The computational efficiency, error and convergence are analyzed, and the two-sided second-order Arnoldi method shows better efficiency and performance than the one-sided Arnoldi technique, whilst also preserving the second-order structure of the original problem

Ghost points in inverse scattering constructions of stationary Einstein metrics

We prove a removable singularities theorem for stationary Einstein equations, with useful implications for constructions of stationary solutions using soliton methods

Respiratory Insufficiency Correlated Strongly with Mortality of Rodents Infected with West Nile Virus

West Nile virus (WNV) disease can be fatal for high-risk patients. Since WNV or its antigens have been identified in multiple anatomical locations of the central nervous system of persons or rodent models, one cannot know where to investigate the actual mechanism of mortality without careful studies in animal models. In this study, depressed respiratory functions measured by plethysmography correlated strongly with mortality. This respiratory distress, as well as reduced oxygen saturation, occurred beginning as early as 4 days before mortality. Affected medullary respiratory control cells may have contributed to the animals' respiratory insufficiency, because WNV antigen staining was present in neurons located in the ventrolateral medulla. Starvation or dehydration would be irrelevant in people, but could cause death in rodents due to lethargy or loss of appetite. Animal experiments were performed to exclude this possibility. Plasma ketones were increased in moribund infected hamsters, but late-stage starvation markers were not apparent. Moreover, daily subcutaneous administration of 5% dextrose in physiological saline solution did not improve survival or other disease signs. Therefore, infected hamsters did not die from starvation or dehydration. No cerebral edema was apparent in WNV- or sham-infected hamsters as determined by comparing wet-to-total weight ratios of brains, or by evaluating blood-brain-barrier permeability using Evans blue dye penetration into brains. Limited vasculitis was present in the right atrium of the heart of infected hamsters, but abnormal electrocardiograms for several days leading up to mortality did not occur. Since respiratory insufficiency was strongly correlated with mortality more than any other pathological parameter, it is the likely cause of death in rodents. These animal data and a poor prognosis for persons with respiratory insufficiency support the hypothesis that neurological lesions affecting respiratory function may be the primary cause of human WNV-induced death

Analytic structure of solutions to multiconfiguration equations

We study the regularity at the positions of the (fixed) nuclei of solutions to (non-relativistic) multiconfiguration equations (including Hartree--Fock) of Coulomb systems. We prove the following: Let {phi_1,...,phi_M} be any solution to the rank--M multiconfiguration equations for a molecule with L fixed nuclei at R_1,...,R_L in R^3. Then, for any j in {1,...,M} and k in {1,...,L}, there exists a neighbourhood U_{j,k} in R^3 of R_k, and functions phi^{(1)}_{j,k}, phi^{(2)}_{j,k}, real analytic in U_{j,k}, such that phi_j(x) = phi^{(1)}_{j,k}(x) + |x - R_k| phi^{(2)}_{j,k}(x), x in U_{j,k} A similar result holds for the corresponding electron density. The proof uses the Kustaanheimo--Stiefel transformation, as applied earlier by the authors to the study of the eigenfunctions of the Schr"odinger operator of atoms and molecules near two-particle coalescence points.Comment: 15 page

Regularity of solutions to higher-order integrals of the calculus of variations

We obtain new regularity conditions for problems of calculus of variations with higher-order derivatives. As a corollary, we get non-occurrence of the Lavrentiev phenomenon. Our main regularity result asserts that autonomous integral functionals with a Lagrangian having coercive partial derivatives with respect to the higher-order derivatives admit only minimizers with essentially bounded derivatives

Deriving on-road spatial vehicle emission profiles from chassis dynamometer experiments

A method has been derived for the identification of spatial emission hot-spots on vehicle road routes using chassis dynamometer data. The work presented here uses tailpipe-out carbon monoxide (CO) levels to demonstrate the application of the method. The approach is used to analyse critically methods used by legislators that derive road-side emission levels from the vehicle emission inventory and legislative emission levels. The work presented in this paper demonstrates that the generic approach using vehicle speed, gear change patterns, spatial geographical data, and route geometric information is sufficient for the identification of the location of emission hot-spots in any journey route of interest

Real-world performance of catalytic converters

This paper investigates experimentally the performance of a three-way catalytic (TWC) converter for real-world passenger car driving in the United Kingdom. A systematic approach is followed for the analysis using a Euro-IV vehicle coupled with a TWC converter. The analysis shows that the real-world performance of TWC converters is significantly different from the performance established on legislative test cycles. It is identified that a light-duty passenger vehicle certified for Euro-IV emissions reaches the gross polluting threshold limits during real-world driving conditions. This result is shown to have implications for overall emission levels and the use of remote emissions sensing and on-board diagnostics (OBD) systems

Topological and geometrical restrictions, free-boundary problems and self-gravitating fluids

Let (P1) be certain elliptic free-boundary problem on a Riemannian manifold (M,g). In this paper we study the restrictions on the topology and geometry of the fibres (the level sets) of the solutions f to (P1). We give a technique based on certain remarkable property of the fibres (the analytic representation property) for going from the initial PDE to a global analytical characterization of the fibres (the equilibrium partition condition). We study this analytical characterization and obtain several topological and geometrical properties that the fibres of the solutions must possess, depending on the topology of M and the metric tensor g. We apply these results to the classical problem in physics of classifying the equilibrium shapes of both Newtonian and relativistic static self-gravitating fluids. We also suggest a relationship with the isometries of a Riemannian manifold.Comment: 36 pages. In this new version the analytic representation hypothesis is proved. Please address all correspondence to D. Peralta-Sala

Construction of Lp\mathcal L^p-strong Feller Processes via Dirichlet Forms and Applications to Elliptic Diffusions

We provide a general construction scheme for $\mathcal L^p$-strong Feller processes on locally compact separable metric spaces. Starting from a regular Dirichlet form and specified regularity assumptions, we construct an associated semigroup and resolvents of kernels having the $\mathcal L^p$-strong Feller property. They allow us to construct a process which solves the corresponding martingale problem for all starting points from a known set, namely the set where the regularity assumptions hold. We apply this result to construct elliptic diffusions having locally Lipschitz matrix coefficients and singular drifts on general open sets with absorption at the boundary. In this application elliptic regularity results imply the desired regularity assumptions