Preliminary Safety Assessment of PEM Fuel Cell Systems for Electrified Propulsion Systems in Commercial Aviation

This paper analyses polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell systems (PEMFCSs) as main energy provider for electrified aircraft propulsion, identifies potential weaknesses as well as safety challenges and presents potential solutions. The general design, operating principles and main characteristics of hydrogen-fuelled low temperature PEMFCSs are described. The safety assessment process in aviation according to Aerospace Recommended Practices ARP4754A and selected methods according to ARP4761 are introduced. The functions of fuel cell systems in electrified aircraft powertrains are analysed and visualised in functional structure trees on aircraft, powertrain and fuel cell system level. By means of a Functional Hazard Analysis (FHA), potential malfunctions and their effects are investigated and their severity is evaluated. Critical failure modes are identified and requirements for acceptable failure probabilities are stipulated. Within the scope of a Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), the components of a fuel cell system are assigned to the identified functional structure trees and potential causes of critical failure modes are examined. The results of the mentioned analyses reveal design challenges associated with the application of fuel cell systems in electrified aircraft propulsion, for instance concerning functional independence as well as solutions for cold start conditions, heat transfer and lightweight design

Load Flow Analysis of Hybrid AC-DC Power Systems for the Application in Electrified Aircraft Propulsion

To reduce the emissions of aviation the electrification of aircraft propulsion is of particular research inter- est. Here, the power provided to the electric propulsors is distributed within the powertrain either in form of direct or alternating current. Therefore, an implementation of power flow simulation is presented, which can be used in aircraft powertrain sizing. The methodology enables bidirectional power flow and adds the possibility to change the voltage level between buses within the system. Furthermore, the proposed methodology accounts for functional dependencies of system parameters, like the converter efficiency on the power flow. The methodology is validated and exemplary applied on an electrified propulsion system topology

Patients with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis exhibit reduced production of Th17-associated cytokines IL-17 and IL-22

Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) constitutes a selective inability to clear infection with the yeast Candida, resulting in persistent debilitating inflammation of skin, nails, and mucous membranes. The underlying defect is unknown. Only recently, IL-17-producing T cells have been reported to be involved in clearing Candida infections. In order to characterize T cellular immune response to Candida, we analyzed T-cell cytokine secretion to Candida antigen and mitogenic stimuli in CMC patients, immunocompetent patients suffering from acute Candida infection, and healthy volunteers. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from CMC patients produced significantly lower amounts of IL-17 and IL-22 mRNA and protein when stimulated with Candida albicans or mitogen in vitro compared with that in matched healthy individuals. Additionally, PBMCs from immunocompetent Candida-infected patients secreted more IL-17 and IL-22 than those of both CMC patients and healthy, non-infected controls. Flow cytometry revealed a decreased number of CCR6+ IL-17-producing T cells in CMC patients, whereas the amount of CCR6+/CCR4+ cells was not altered. Levels of differentiating cytokines for human Th17 cells, IL-1β and IL-6, tended to be higher in CMC patients. The inability to clear C. albicans in CMC patients could be due to a defect in the immune response of IL-17-producing T cells

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data