Assessment of the Presence of Hepatitis E Virus in Surface Water and Drinking Water in Portugal
MICROORGANISMS
Authors: Salvador, Daniel; Neto, Celia; Joao Benoliel, Maria; Filomena Caeiro, Maria
Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a non-enveloped single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus, belonging to the Hepeviridae family, resistant to environmental conditions, and transmitted by the consumption of contaminated water. This virus is responsible for both sporadic and epidemic outbreaks, leading to thousands of infections per year in several countries, and is thus considered an emerging disease in Europe and Asia. This study refers to a survey in Portugal during 2019, targeting the detection and eventual quantification of enteric viruses in samples from surface and drinking water. Samples positive for HEV RNA were recurrently found by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), in both types of matrix. The infectivity of these samples was evaluated in cultured Vero E6 cells and RNA from putative viruses produced in cultures evidencing cytopathic effects and was subjected to RT-qPCR targeting HEV genomic RNA. Our results evidenced the existence of samples positive either for HEV RNA (77.8% in surface water and 66.7% in drinking water) or for infectious HEV (23.0% in surface water and 27.7% in drinking water). These results highlight the need for effective virological control of water for human consumption and activities.
Structural Design and Analysis of a High Reliability Multi-Turn Wound-Rotor Resolver for Electric Vehicle
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY
Authors: Saneie, Hamid; Nasiri-Gheidari, Zahra; Tootoonchian, Farid
Abstract
Cost, durability and reliability are three critical issues in electrical/hybrid electrical vehicles (EV/HEV). In this regard, resolvers are often used as position and speed sensors in such applications. In this paper design and analysis of a novel multiturn resolver is discussed to address all the mentioned issues. The proposed resolver has got one stator core and one rotor core. Double sets of signal windings on the stator and a special excitation winding on the rotor are designed to achieve both absolute and multi-speed operations. Mathematical model of the proposed resolver is verified using time stepping finite element analysis and experimental measurements.