Development of Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation System for Hybrid Electric Vehicle Study

The development of embedded control systems for a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is a challenging task due to the multidisciplinary nature of HEV powertrain and its complex structures. Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulation provides an open and convenient environment for the modeling, prototyping, testing and analyzing HEV control systems. This thesis focuses on the development of such a HIL system for the hybrid electric vehicle study. The hardware architecture of the HIL system, including dSPACE eDrive HIL simulator, MicroAutoBox II and MotoTron Engine Control Module (ECM), is introduced. Software used in the system includes dSPACE Real-Time Interface (RTI) blockset, Automotive Simulation Models (ASM), Matlab/Simulink/Stateflow, Real-time Workshop, ControlDesk Next Generation, ModelDesk and MotoHawk/MotoTune. A case study of the development of control systems for a single shaft parallel hybrid electric vehicle is presented to summarize the functionality of this HIL system.

Asymmetric Effects of Loss and Gain of a Floral Trait on Pollinator Preference

Shifts in pollination syndromes involve coordinated changes in multiple floral traits. This raises the question of how plants can cope with rapid changes in pollinator availability by the slow process of accumulation of mutations in multiple genes. Here we study the transition from bee to hawkmoth pollination in the genus Petunia. Interspecific crosses followed by single locus introgressions were used to recreate putative intermediate evolutionary stages in the evolution of moth pollination. The effect of the loss/gain of petal color was asymmetric: it had no influence on the established pollinator but enhanced visitation by the new pollinator. Therefore, shifts in pollination syndromes may proceed through intermediate stages of reduced specialization and consequently enhanced reproductive assurance. The loss of petal color in moth-pollinated Petunia involves null mutations in a single regulatory gene, An2. Such simple genetic changes may be sufficiently rapid and frequent to ensure survival during pollinator failure.

Tight Genetic Linkage of Prezygotic Barrier Loci Creates a Multifunctional Speciation Island in Petunia

Most flowering plants depend on animal vectors for pollination and seed dispersal. Differential pollinator preferences lead to premating isolation and thus reduced gene flow between interbreeding plant populations [1, 2, 3 and 4]. Sets of floral traits, adapted to attract specific pollinator guilds, are called pollination syndromes [5]. Shifts in pollination syndromes have occurred surprisingly frequently [6], considering that they must involve coordinated changes in multiple genes affecting multiple floral traits. Although the identification of individual genes specifying single pollination syndrome traits is in progress in many species, little is known about the genetic architecture of coadapted pollination syndrome traits and how they are embedded within the genome [7]. Here we describe the tight genetic linkage of loci specifying five major pollination syndrome traits in the genus Petunia: visible color, UV absorption, floral scent production, pistil length, and stamen length. Comparison with other Solanaceae indicates that, in P. exserta and P. axillaris, loci specifying these floral traits have specifically become clustered into a multifunctional “speciation island” [ 8 and 9]. Such an arrangement promotes linkage disequilibrium and avoids the dissolution of pollination syndromes by recombination. We suggest that tight genetic linkage provides a mechanism for rapid switches between distinct pollination syndromes in response to changes in pollinator availabilities.

Color and Scent: How Single Genes Influence Pollinator Attraction

A major function of angiosperm flowers is the recruitment of animal pollinators that serve to transfer pollen among conspecific plants. Distinct sets of floral characteristics, called pollination syndromes, are correlated with visitation by specific groups of pollinators. Switches among pollination syndromes have occurred in many plant families. Such switches must have involved coordinated changes in multiple traits and multiple genes. Two well-studied floral traits affecting pollinator attraction are petal color and scent production. We review current knowledge about the biosynthetic pathways for floral color and scent production and their interaction at the genetic and biochemical levels. A key question in the field concerns the genes that underlie natural variation in color and scent and how such genes affect pollinator preference, reproductive isolation, and ultimately speciation.

Medetomidine continuous rate intravenous infusion in horses in which surgical anaesthesia is maintained with isoflurane and intravenous infusions of lidocaine and ketamine

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate medetomidine as a continuous rate infusion (CRI) in horses in which anaesthesia is maintained with isoflurane and CRIs of ketamine and lidocaine. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, blinded clinical trial. ANIMALS: Forty horses undergoing elective surgery. METHODS: After sedation and induction, anaesthesia was maintained with isoflurane. Mechanical ventilation was employed. All horses received lidocaine (1.5 mg kg(-1) initially, then 2 mg kg(-1) hour(-1)) and ketamine (2 mg kg(-1) hour(-1)), both CRIs reducing to 1.5 mg kg(-1) hour(-1) after 50 minutes. Horses in group MILK received a medetomidine CRI of 3.6 mug kg(-1) hour(-1), reducing after 50 minutes to 2.75 mug kg(-1) hour(-1), and horses in group ILK an equal volume of saline. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was maintained above 70 mmHg using dobutamine. End-tidal concentration of isoflurane (FE'ISO) was adjusted as necessary to maintain surgical anaesthesia. Group ILK received medetomidine (3 mug kg(-1) ) at the end of the procedure. Recovery was evaluated. Differences between groups were analysed using Mann-Whitney, Chi-Square and anova tests as relevant. Significance was taken as p < 0.05. RESULTS: FE'ISO required to maintain surgical anaesthesia in group MILK decreased with time, becoming significantly less than that in group ILK by 45 minutes. After 60 minutes, median (IQR) FE'ISO in MILK was 0.65 (0.4-1.0) %, and in ILK was 1 (0.62-1.2) %. Physiological parameters did not differ between groups, but group MILK required less dobutamine to support MAP. Total recovery times were similar and recovery quality good in both groups. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A CRI of medetomidine given to horses which were also receiving CRIs of lidocaine and ketamine reduced the concentration of isoflurane necessary to maintain satisfactory anaesthesia for surgery, and reduced the dobutamine required to maintain MAP. No further sedation was required to provide a calm recovery.

Diversification in the South American Pampas: the genetic and morphological variation of the widespread Petunia axillaris complex (Solanaceae)

Understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of genetic variation and the ways in which this distribution is connected to the ecological context of natural populations is fundamental for understanding the nature and mode of intraspecific and, ultimately, interspecific differentiation. The Petunia axillaris complex is endemic to the grasslands of southern South America and includes three subspecies: P.a.axillaris, P.a.parodii and P.a.subandina. These subspecies are traditionally delimited based on both geography and floral morphology, although the latter is highly variable. Here, we determined the patterns of genetic (nuclear and cpDNA), morphological and ecological (bioclimatic) variation of a large number of P.axillaris populations and found that they are mostly coincident with subspecies delimitation. The nuclear data suggest that the subspecies are likely independent evolutionary units, and their morphological differences may be associated with local adaptations to diverse climatic and/or edaphic conditions and population isolation. The demographic dynamics over time estimated by skyline plot analyses showed different patterns for each subspecies in the last 100000years, which is compatible with a divergence time between 35000 and 107000years ago between P.a.axillaris and P.a.parodii, as estimated with the IMa program. Coalescent simulation tests using Approximate Bayesian Computation do not support previous suggestions of extensive gene flow between P.a.axillaris and P.a.parodii in their contact zone.