SummarySalicylic acid (SA) is an essential hormone for plant defence and development. SA NPR1-related genotypes also confirm the pivotal role of NPR1 in SA perception, and suggest an active program of depletion of resources in the infected tissues.

This study analyses a novel technique for obtaining a voltage conversion ratio greater than one in a bidirectional seriesresonant DC/DC converter (SRC). The converter works in a discontinuous mode: it transfers energy in packets, but it also accumulates some packets in order to raise the output voltage. This study presents a comprehensive theoretical analysis for the two modes: the step-down mode (common mode) and the novel step-up mode. The converter transfers energy during fixed time intervals (called states), and it is also able to accumulate energy in a novel state called the accumulation state. With this, the circuit can achieve a voltage conversion ratio of up to two. In addition, a design methodology is presented, and it is validated in the design of a high-current bidirectional DC/DC converter for battery applications. The results of the voltage conversion ratio and efficiency measurement are presented along with a comparison with an resonant LLC converter. The converter reaches an efficiency rate of 91% and the voltage conversion ratio varies from 0.8 to 1.22 at maximum power. Using this novel technique, the SRC can now be used in a bidirectional DC/DC converter applied to energy storage devices, such as batteries or supercapacitors.

This study reviews the causes of power losses in a DC/DC converter, relates those losses with efficiency profiles, and details different strategies for maximising efficiency when several converters are placed in parallel. The research is focused on electric bus applications, where several converters are usually connected in parallel in order to fulfil the power requirements of the bus models. In a bus, the low-voltage DC link (28 V) resembles a microgrid that has some generators (DC/DC converters), an energy storage system (lead-acid batteries) and certain loads. To share the converters' output power, a droop control is proposed. Furthermore, traditional droop control is improved by adding a master-slave control. The proposed master-slave droop control improves efficiency by more than 3% at low power with no additional hardware. Experimental results show how two 5 kW converters work in parallel using the proposed control.

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The introduction of fully electric vehicles (FEVs) into the mainstream has raised concerns about the reliability of their electronic components such as IGBT. The great variability in IGBT failure times caused by the very different operating conditions experienced and the stochasticity of their degradation processes suggests the adoption of condition-based maintenance approaches. Thus, the development of methods for assessing their healthy state and predicting their remaining useful life (RUL) is of key importance. In this paper, we investigate the results of performing accelerated aging tests. Our objective is to discuss the design and the results of accelerated aging tests performed on three different IGBT types within the electrical powertrain health monitoring for increased safety (HEMIS) of FEVs European Community project. During the tests, several electric signals were measured in different operating conditions. The results show that the case temperature (TC), the collector current (IC), and the collector-emitter voltage (VCE) are the failure precursor parameters that can be used for the development of a prognostic and health monitoring (PHM) system for FEV IGBTs and other medium-power switching supplies