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The genus Aspergillus harbors human infection-causing pathogens and is involved in the complex one-health challenge of antifungal resistance. Here, a 6-year retrospective study was conducted with Aspergillus spp. isolated from patients with invasive, chronic, and clinically suspected aspergillosis in a tertiary teaching hospital. A total of 64 Aspergillus spp. clinical isolates were investigated regarding molecular identification, biofilm, virulence in Galleria mellonella, antifungal susceptibility, and resistance to amphotericin B and azoles. Aspergillus section Fumigati (A. fumigatus sensu stricto, 62.5%) and section Flavi (A. flavus, 20.3%; A. parasiticus, 14%; and A. tamarii, 3.1%) have been identified. Aspergillus section Flavi clinical isolates were more virulent than section Fumigati clinical isolates. Furthermore, scant evidence supports a link between biofilm formation and virulence. The susceptibility of the Aspergillus spp. clinical isolates to itraconazole, posaconazole, voriconazole, and amphotericin B was evaluated. Most Aspergillus spp. clinical isolates (67.2%) had an AMB MIC value equal to or above 2 µg/mL, warning of a higher probability of therapeutic failure in the region under study. In general, the triazoles presented MIC values above the epidemiological cutoff value. The high triazole MIC values of A. fumigatus s.s. clinical isolates were investigated by sequencing the promoter region and cyp51A locus. The Cyp51A amino acid substitutions F46Y, M172V, N248T, N248K, D255E, and E427K were globally detected in 47.5% of A. fumigatus s.s. clinical isolates, and most of them are associated with high triazole MICs. Even so, the findings support voriconazole or itraconazole as the first therapeutic choice for treating Aspergillus infections. This study emphasizes the significance of continued surveillance of Aspergillus spp. infections to help overcome the gap in knowledge of the global fungal burden of infections and antifungal resistance, supporting public health initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The generation of a virtual, personal, auditory space to obtain a high-quality sound experience when using headphones is of great significance. Normally this experience is improved using personalized head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) that depend on a large degree of personal anthropometric information on pinnae. Most of the studies focus their personal auditory optimization analysis on the study of amplitude versus frequency on HRTFs, mainly in the search for significant elevation cues of frequency maps. Therefore, knowing the HRTFs of each individual is of considerable help to improve sound quality. The following work proposes a methodology to model HRTFs according to the individual structure of pinnae using multilayer perceptron and linear regression techniques. It is proposed to generate several models that allow knowing HRTFs amplitude for each frequency based on the personal anthropometric data on pinnae, the azimuth angle, and the elevation of the sound source, thus predicting frequency magnitudes. Experiments show that the prediction of new personal HRTF generates low errors, thus this model can be applied to new heads with different pinnae characteristics with high confidence. Improving the results obtained with the standard KEMAR pinna, usually used in cases where there is a lack of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic guidance vehicles (AGV) are industrial vehicles that play an important role in the development of smart manufacturing systems and Industry 4.0. To provide these autonomous systems with the flexibility that is required today in these industrial workspaces, AGV computational models are necessary in order to analyze their performance and design efficient planning and control strategies. To address these issues, in this work, the mathematical model and the algorithm that implement a computational control-oriented simulation model of a hybrid tricycle-differential AGV with multi-trailers have been developed. Physical factors, such as wheel-ground interaction and the effect of vertical and lateral loads on its dynamics, have been incorporated into the model. The model has been tested in simulation with two different controllers and three trajectories: a circumference, a square, and an s-shaped curve. Furthermore, it has been used to analyze extreme situations of slipping and capsizing and the influence of the number of trailers on the tracking error and the control effort. This way, the minimum lateral friction coefficient to avoid slipping and the minimum ratio between the lateral and height displacement of the center of gravity to avoid capsizing have been obtained. In addition, the effect of a change in the friction coefficient has also been simulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the quality performance and the capabilities of altimetry derived wind speed (WS) retrievals from the altimeters on-board Copernicus satellites Sentinel-3A/B (S3A/B) for the spatial assessment of WS outputs from the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model over the complex area of the Gulf of Cádiz (GoC), Spain. In order to assess the applicability of the altimetry data for this purpose, comparisons between three different WS data sources over the area were evaluated: in situ measurements, S3A/B 20 Hz altimetry data, and WRF model outputs. Sentinel-3A/B WS data were compared against two different moored buoys to guarantee the quality of the data over the GoC, resulting in satisfying scores (average results: RMSE = 1.21 m/s, r = 0.93 for S3A and RMSE = 1.36 m/s, r = 0.89 for S3B). Second, the WRF model was validated with in situ data from four different stations to ensure the correct performance over the area. Finally, the spatial variability of the WS derived from the WRF model was compared with the along-track altimetry-derived WS. The analysis was carried out under different wind synoptic conditions. Qualitative and quantitative results (average RMSE < 1.0 m/s) show agreement between both data sets under low/high wind regimes, proving that the spatial coverage of satellite altimetry enables the spatial assessment of high-resolution numerical weather prediction models in complex water-covered zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the evaluation of a single output, online, and time domain modal parameters identification technique based on differential algebra and operational calculus. In addition, an analysis of the frequency response function (FRF) of the system is conducted in a specific set up, emulating its nominal or operational conditions to determine the influence of the non-linearities over the dynamic behavior of the system in those particular magnitudes of deformations; thus, this influence is quantified by a numerical index. This methodology is applied to a wind turbine blade submitted to wind tunnel experiments. The natural frequencies and modal damping ratios of six bending modes associated with the blade are estimated using real-time velocity measurements from one single point of the blade. A comparison with the usual impact hammer modal testing is performed to evaluate and establish the proposed approach's main contributions. The developed modal parameter identification algorithms are implemented to run into a standard personal computer (PC) where the data acquisition system's measurements are conditioned and processed. The results show the performance and the fast parametric estimation of the proposed algebraic identification approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis complex and P. lutzii are the etiological agents of paracoccidioidomycosis. The geographic distribution of these species in South America is still poorly comprehended. Fifty samples of Paracoccidioides spp. were genotyped, with 46 clinical isolates predominantly isolated in the geographic area of Ribeirão Preto, SP, and four environmental isolates collected in Ibiá, MG, southeastern Brazil. These isolates were evaluated by PCR-RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) of the tub1 gene and the sequencing of the gp43 exon 2 loci. The species P. lutzii was confirmed by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA. P. brasiliensis sensu stricto S1b (n = 42) and S1a (n = 5), P. americana (n = 1), P. restrepiensis (n = 1), and P. lutzii (n = 1) were identified among the clinical isolates. All the environmental isolates were characterized as P. brasiliensis sensu stricto S1b. The patient infection by P. lutzii, P. americana (PS2), and one isolate of P. brasiliensis sensu stricto S1b most likely occurred in a geographic area far from the fungal isolation site. No association was found between the infecting genotype and the disease form. These results expand the knowledge of the Paracoccidioides species distribution and emphasize that human migration must also be considered to pinpoint the genotypes in the endemic area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper focuses on the architectural and constructional features required to ensure that building envelope renovation are safe, functional, and adaptable to the building stock, with particular focus on "plug and play" modular facade construction systems. It presents the design of one such system and how it addresses these issues. The outcome of early-stage functional test with a full-scale mock-up system, as well as its applicability to a real construction project is presented. It is found crucial to obtain high quality information about the status of the existing façade with the use of modern technologies such as topographic surveys or 3D scans and point cloud. Detailed design processes are required to ensure the compatibility of manufacture and installation tolerances, along with anchor systems that deliver flexibility for adjustment, and construction processes adapting standard installation methods to the architectural particularities of each case that may hinder its use or require some modification in each situation. This prefabricated plug and play modular system has been tested by reproducing the holistic methodology and new technologies in the market by means of real demonstrators. When compared to more conventional construction methods, this system achieves savings in a real case of 50% (time), 30% (materials) and 25% (waste), thus achieving significant economic savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desert aquatic systems are widely separated, lack hydrologic connections, and are subject to drought. However, they provide unique settings to investigate distributional patterns of micrometazoans, including rotifers. Thus, to understand rotifer biodiversity we sampled 236 sites across an array of habitats including rock pools, springs, tanks, flowing waters, playas, lakes, and reservoirs in the Chihuahuan Desert of the USA (n = 202) and Mexico (n = 34) over a period of >20 years. This allowed us to calculate diversity indices and examine geographic patterns in rotifer community composition. Of ~1850 recognized rotifer species, we recorded 246 taxa (~13%), with greatest diversity in springs (n = 175), lakes (n = 112), and rock pools (n = 72). Sampling effort was positively related to observed richness in springs, lakes, rivers, and tanks. Nestedness analyses indicated that rotifers in these sites, and most subsets thereof, were highly nested (support from 4 null models). Distance was positively correlated with species composition dissimilarity on small spatial scales. We predicted species richness for unsampled locations using empirical Bayesian kriging. These findings provide a better understanding of regional rotifer diversity in aridlands and provide information on potential biodiversity hotspots for aquatic scientists and resource managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) The overall energy requirement of a building may be impacted by the building design, the selection of materials, the construction methods, and lifecycle management. To achieve an optimum energy-efficiency level when dealing with a new building or renovation project, it is important to improve the entire construction process as it is not enough to merely focus on the operational phase. If conventional construction practices do not evolve, compromise, or adapt to necessary changes, then it becomes challenging to deliver an ultimate low energy building. (2) This paper demonstrates the trend of off-site prefabrication and its production principles and the notions of open-building design and Design for X, as well as offering an overview of the development of automation in construction, which provides both insights and evaluations based on the context of the research. (3) Three European Union Horizon 2020 research projects were evaluated, and the outcome of the projects served as the backbone for the research and inspired the design of the proposed integrated façade system. Two design scenarios were proposed to demonstrate the potential improvements that could be achieved in a new build as well as in renovation projects. (4) The research lays a foundation for establishing a larger cross-disciplinary collaboration in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), phenotypic and molecular methods for the identification of Fusarium species complexes isolated from clinical cases in the State of Sao Paulo (Brazil) between the years 2001 and 2017. Sequencing of ITS region of ribosomal DNA and elongation factor 1 alpha gene (ET1α) were used as reference method in the analysis of a total of 108 Fusarium spp. clinical strains isolated from human hosts with superficial and systemic infections. Agreement between MALDI-TOF-MS and molecular data was observed for 97 out of 108 clinical isolates (89.8%), whereas five (4.6%) and six (5.5%) clinical isolates were misidentified and were not identified by MALDI-TOF MS, respectively. ITS region sequences and MALDI-TOF MS mass spectra identified and grouped correctly most of Fusarium clinical isolates at species complex level. This investigation highlights the potential of MALDI-TOF MS technique as a fast and cost-efficient alternative for clinical Fusarium identification. However, MALDI-TOF MS requires a more accurate and larger database. This work is the first comprehensive report for Fusarium population, based on phenotypic analyses, proteomic profile by MALDI-TOF and phylogenetic analyses of Fusarium species complexes isolated from clinical cases in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-chain amyloidosis (AL) is the most common systemic amyloidosis and is caused by the deposition of mainly insoluble immunoglobulin light chain amyloid fibrils in multiple organs, causing organ failure and eventually death. The germ-line λ6a has been implicated in AL, where a single point mutant at amino acid 24 (6aJL2-R24G) has been observed in around 25% of patient samples. Structural analysis has shown only subtle differences between both proteins; nevertheless, 6aJL2-R24G is more prone to form amyloid fibrils. To improve our understanding of the role of protein flexibility in amyloid fibril formation, we have used a combination of solution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations to complement the structural insight with dynamic knowledge. Fast timescale dynamics (ps–ns) were equivalent for both proteins, but suggested exchange events for some residues. Even though most of the intermediate dynamics (μs–ms) occurred at a similar region for both proteins, the specific characteristics are very different. A minor population detected in the dispersion experiments could be associated with the formation of an off-pathway intermediate that protects from fiber formation more efficiently in the germ-line protein. Moreover, we found that the hydrogen bond patterns for both proteins are similar, but the lifetime for the mutant is significantly reduced; as a consequence, there is a decrease in the stability of the tertiary structure that extends throughout the protein and leads to an increase in the propensity to form amyloid fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) on the wear behavior of different tool steels have been widely reported in the scientific literature with uneven results. Some tool steels show a significant improvement in their wear resistance when they have been cryogenically treated while others exhibit no relevant amelioration or even a reduction in their wear resistance. In this study, the influence of DCT was investigated for a grade that has been barely studied in the scientific literature, the AISI A8 air-hardening medium-alloy cold work tool steel. Several aspects were analyzed in the present work: the wear resistance of the alloy, the internal residual stress, and finally the secondary carbide precipitation in terms of lengths and occupied area and its distribution into the microstructure. The results revealed a reduction in the wear rate of about 14% when the AISI A8 was cryogenically treated before tempering. The number of carbides that precipitated into the microstructure was 6% higher for the cryogenically treated samples, increasing from 0.68% to 0.73% of the total area they covered. Furthermore, the distribution of the carbides into the microstructure was more homogenous for the cryogenically treated samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To ensure realistic results when modeling welded joints using the finite element method (FEM), it is essential to appropriately characterize the thermo-mechanical behavior of the elastic-plastic Finite Element (FE) models. This task is complex. Any small differences between the actual welded joints and the welded joints based on FEM can be amplified enormously in the presence of nonlinearities. Due to the intense concentration of heat on a small area to create such joints, the regions near the weld line undergo severe thermal cycles. These generate significant angular distortion due mainly to the residual stresses. This paper proposes a method to determine the parameters that are most appropriate for modeling the Butt joint single V-groove welded joint FE models’ thermo-mechanical behavior that were created by the one-pass Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW). The method is based on experimental data, as well as genetic algorithms (GA) with multi-objective functions. As a practical example, the proposed methodology is validated with three different welded joints specimens that are manufactured by different voltages and currents (26 volts and 140 amps, 28 volts and 210 amps, and 35 volts and 260 amps). The electrode orientation, shielding gas flow rate, distance between nozzle and plate, and welding speed were considered to be constant for all of the specimens that were studied, and their values were 80°, 20.0 L/min, 4.0 mm, and 6 mm/s, respectively. The base material was EN 235JR low carbon steel, whereas the weld bead was ER70S-6 for the three specimens that were welded. An agreement between the temperature field and the angular distortion that was obtained by the adjusted FE models and those that were obtained experimentally demonstrates that the proposed methodology may be valid for automatically determining the most appropriate parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]