Distributed Nonlinear AIMD Algorithms for Electric Bus Charging Plants

Recently, the introduction of electric vehicles has given rise to a new paradigm in the transportation field, spurring the public transport service in the direction of using completely electric bus fleets. In this context, one of the main challenges is that of guaranteeing an optimal scheduling of the charging process, while reducing the power supply requested from the main grid, and improving the efficiency of the resource allocation. Therefore, in this paper, a power allocation strategy is proposed in order to optimize the charging of electric bus fleets, while fulfilling the limitation imposed on the maximum available power, as well as ensuring limited charging times. Specifically, relying on real bus charging scenarios, a charging optimization algorithm based on a Nonlinear Additive Increase Multiplicative Decrease (NAIMD) strategy is proposed and discussed. This approach is designed on the basis of real charging power curves related to the batteries of the considered vehicles. Moreover, the adopted NAIMD algorithm allows us to minimize the sum of charging times in the presence of saturation constraints in a distributed way and with a small amount of aggregated data sent over the communication network. Finally, an extensive simulation campaign is illustrated, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach both in allocating the power resources and in sizing the maximum power capacity of charging plants in progress.

Porous Asphalt Modification using Different Types of Additives: A Review

Nowadays porous asphalt pavement increase usage other than the traditional type of asphalt pavement. In that sense porous asphalt specially use in the parking areas and walk ways for pedestrian. There are diverse ways that has been done in order to stick up to permanent degradation such as adding fibers and modifiers like polymers, chemical modifiers, expandars, oxidants and antioxidents, hydrocarbons and antistripping to enhance the fatigue and service life of the pavement. To use these type of additives in porous asphalt pavement some additive increase the mechanical performance of porous asphalt mixture and improve the serviceability of the pavement. Digital image processing use these type of pavement to reduce the air void of the asphalt mixture and increase the physical properties of the porous asphalt pavement. This review paper mainly discuss the overall performance and advantage of porous asphalt using different types of additives.

Flower Development in Cassava Is Feminized by Cytokinin, While Proliferation Is Stimulated by Anti-Ethylene and Pruning: Transcriptome Responses

Cassava, a tropical storage-root crop, is a major source of food security for millions in the tropics. Cassava breeding, however, is hindered by the poor development of flowers and a low ratio of female flowers to male flowers. To advance the understanding of the mechanistic factors regulating cassava flowering, combinations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and pruning treatments were examined for their effectiveness in improving flower production and fruit set in field conditions. Pruning the fork-type branches, which arise at the shoot apex immediately below newly formed inflorescences, stimulated inflorescence and floral development. The anti-ethylene PGR silver thiosulfate (STS) also increased flower abundance. Both pruning and STS increased flower numbers while having minimal influence on sex ratios. In contrast, the cytokinin benzyladenine (BA) feminized flowers without increasing flower abundance. Combining pruning and STS treatments led to an additive increase in flower abundance; with the addition of BA, over 80% of flowers were females. This three-way treatment combination of pruning+STS+BA also led to an increase in fruit number. Transcriptomic analysis of gene expression in tissues of the apical region and developing inflorescence revealed that the enhancement of flower development by STS+BA was accompanied by downregulation of several genes associated with repression of flowering, including homologs of TEMPRANILLO1 (TEM1), GA receptor GID1b, and ABA signaling genes ABI1 and PP2CA. We conclude that flower-enhancing treatments with pruning, STS, and BA create widespread changes in the network of hormone signaling and regulatory factors beyond ethylene and cytokinin.

SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERISTIC AND ACTIVITY OF NANOSIZED Cu–Me (Me–Co, Zn, Ni) OXIDE SYSTEMS IN CO OXIDATION IN THE PRESENCE OF H2

Nanooxides of Cu–Me composition (Me–Co, Zn, Ni) were synthesized by hydrothermal reduction of metal salts with subsequent calcination and the influence of their properties (size, morphology, structure) on catalytic activity of deep CO oxidation reaction in the presence of H2 was considered. The nanooxides have been characterized by XRD and SEM methods. It was revealed that particles of Cu–Co–O are nanoplates (30–35 nm), and Cu–Zn–O (12.5–20 nm) are nanorods. The SEM method revealed a higher structural organization of the Cu–Сo–O particles than Cu–Zn–O; the growth of nanocrystals is shown by varying the magnification of the scale grid of images. The highest activity of the Cu–Co–O system was found among the mentioned and corresponding individual oxides. The effect of metal (Cu/Co) ratio on the dispersibility and morphology of nanoparticles and their activity has been studied. The non-additive increase in activity is explained by the redox properties of cobalt oxides and the contribution of copper to electronic state of this element. The variation of composition, as well as high dispersibility (30–35 nm) make it possible to reduce the temperature of oxidation beginning (T50%) of CO to less than 1150C

Trustworthy Jammer Selection with Truth-Telling for Wireless Cooperative Systems

In this paper, we propose a trustworthy friendly jammer selection scheme with truth-telling for wireless cooperative systems. We first utilize the reverse auction scheme to enforce truth-telling as the dominant strategy for each candidate friendly jammer. Specifically, we consider two auction cases: (1) constant power (CP) case and (2) the utility of the BS maximization (UBM) case. In both cases, the reverse auction scheme enforces truth-telling as the dominant strategy. Next, we introduce the trust category and trust degree to evaluate the trustworthiness of each Helper transmitter (Helper-Tx). Specifically, an edge controller calculates the reputation value of each Helper-Tx periodically using an additive-increase multiplicative-decrease algorithm by observing its jamming behavior. With the historical reputation values, the edge controller (EC) classifies a Helper-Tx into one of four trust categories and calculates its trust degree. Then, the EC selects the best Helper-Tx based on the trust category and trust degree. Lastly, we present numerical results to demonstrate the performance of our proposed jammer selection scheme.

Sequential Submaximal Training in Elite Male Rowers Does Not Result in Amplified Increases in Interleukin-6 or Hepcidin

Previous research investigating single bouts of exercise have identified baseline iron status and circulating concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) as contributors to the magnitude of postexercise hepcidin increase. The current study examined the effects of repeated training bouts in close succession on IL-6 and hepcidin responses. In a randomized, crossover design, 16 elite male rowers completed two trials, a week apart, with either high (1,000 mg) or low (<50 mg) calcium pre-exercise meals. Each trial involved two, submaximal 90-min rowing ergometer sessions, 2.5 hr apart, with venous blood sampled at baseline; pre-exercise; and 0, 1, 2, and 2.5 hr after each session. Peak elevations in IL-6 (approximately 7.5-fold, p < .0001) and hepcidin (approximately threefold, p < .0001) concentrations relative to baseline were seen at 2 and 3 hr after the first session, respectively. Following the second session, concentrations of both IL-6 and hepcidin remained elevated above baseline, exhibiting a plateau rather than an additive increase (2 hr post first session vs. 2 hr post second session, p = 1.00). Pre-exercise calcium resulted in a slightly greater elevation in hepcidin across all time points compared with control (p = .0005); however, no effect on IL-6 was evident (p = .27). Performing multiple submaximal training sessions in close succession with adequate nutritional support does not result in an amplified increase in IL-6 or hepcidin concentrations following the second session in male elite rowers. Although effects of calcium intake require further investigation, athletes should continue to prioritize iron consumption around morning exercise prior to exercise-induced hepcidin elevations to maximize absorption.

Silver thiosulfate and Benzyladenine in combination with pruning additively feminizes cassava flowers and modulates transcriptome

Cassava, a tropical storage-root crop, is a major source of food security for millions in the tropics. Cassava breeding however is hindered by the poor development of flowers and female flowers in particular, since flower development is strongly skewed towards male flowers. Our objectives were to test plant growth regulator and pruning treatments for their effectiveness in field conditions in improving flower production and fruit set in cassava. Pruning the fork type branches that arise at the shoot apex immediately below newly formed inflorescences stimulated inflorescence and floral development. The anti-ethylene silver thiosulfate (STS) also increased flower abundance. Both pruning and STS increased flower numbers without influencing sex ratios. In contrast, the cytokinin benzyladenine (BA) feminized flowers without increasing flower abundance. Combining pruning and STS treatments led to an additive increase in flower abundance; with the addition of BA, over 80% of flowers were females. This three-way treatment combination of pruning+STS+BA also led to an increase in fruit development. Transcriptomic analysis of gene expression in tissues of the apical region and developing inflorescence revealed that the enhancement of female flower development by STS+BA was accompanied by the downregulation in of several genes associated with repression of flowering, including Tempranillo 1 (TEM1), GA receptor GID1b, and ABA signaling genes ABI1 and PP2CA. We conclude that treatments with pruning, STS and BA create widespread changes on the network of hormone signaling and regulatory factors beyond ethylene and cytokinin.

The effect of ammonium polyphosphate:melamine:pentaerythritol ratio on the efficiency of fire protection of reactive coatings

In order to optimize the formulation of fire protective coatings for metal constructions, the effect of the ratio of main components in an intumescent system "ammonium polyphosphate–melamine–pentaerythritol" on the thermal destruction of the coating under conditions of fire (200–8000C) has been investigated. Thermal transformations of coatings were studied both by thermogravimetry with stepwise determination of the expansion coefficient by temperature variation and by IR spectroscopy. It was established for the first time that the ratio of ammonium polyphosphate, melamine and pentaerythritol as well as their content in the intumescent system is a factor determining the limit of the fire resistance of steel constructions, which a fire protective coating can ensure. Intumescent coatings with an ammonium polyphosphate:melamine:pentaerythritol ratio of 2:1:1 were shown to be more effective ones to provide the fire resistance of a steel construction during 30 minutes (R30). In turn, the use of the above ratio of 3.5:1:1.5 can provide the limit of the fire resistance of steel construction during 60 minutes (R60). The mixture of melamine and dicyandiamide in the intumescent system causes a synergistic effect, which leads to a non-additive increase in the fire protective efficiency of the coating. The results of this study have been confirmed by full-scale fire tests; they may be used to develop effective means of fire protection of steel constructions.