Influence of surface location within depth of field on measuring by a conoscopic holography sensor integrated in a machining centre

Estudio de la influencia de la posición en el campo de trabajo sobre los resultados de medición de un sensor de holografía conoscópica integrado en un centro de mecanizado.In this work, a Conoscopic Holography (CH) sensor integrated in a Machining Centre (MC) was used for analysing how the measurements taken are influenced by the location of the digitized surface within depth of field (DOF). With this aim, two different digitizing strategies were conducted on a stepped specimen with flat surfaces. In the first strategy each step of the specimen was located at different positions within DOF whereas the CH sensor was kept at a constant height along the scanning of all steps. In the second strategy the sensor height was adapted so that each step was scanned at the same distance within DOF. The comparison between both strategies was performed by calculating the discrepancies between measurements taken by the CH sensor and those obtained by a touch probe (TP) also installed in the MC. Finally, the study provides a series of recommendations for practical application of the sensor.This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER (DPI2012-30987), the Regional Ministry of Economy and Employment of the Principality of Asturias (Spain) (SV-PA-13-ECOEMP-15) and the Government of the Principality of Asturias through the Programme “Severo Ochoa” 2014 of PhD grants for research and teaching (BP14-049)

Carnivore abundance near motorways related to prey and roadkills

"This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Aimara Planillo, Cristina Mata, Andrea Manica y Juan E. Malo, Carnivore abundance near motorways related to prey and roadkills, The Journal of Wildlife Management 82.2 (2018):319-327 , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21384. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions"Landscape disturbance by roads may increase abundance of prey in verges (i.e., strips of terrain adjacent to roadways) or create other features that can attract carnivores and expose them to a higher risk of mortality by vehicle collision. We studied a system that included European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and their predators in central Spain near 3 motorways during 2011 and 2012. We analyzed carnivore and rabbit abundance and the potential effect of prey populations on carnivore roadkill. We estimated rabbit and carnivore abundance index by surveying scats in 1-km transects in the landscape, and calculated a roadkill index in motorway stretches parallel to the transects from roadkill data obtained in a roadkill monitoring survey from 2007 to 2011. We analyzed carnivore response for the entire carnivore community and for 2 groups of species: the red fox, which is the most synanthropic carnivore in our study area, and the other carnivores. Fox abundance was higher near motorways compared to control sites, whereas the abundance of other species was related only to rabbit abundance. Furthermore, motorway stretches with higher carnivore abundance presented higher values of carnivore roadkills. Thus, motorways are a source of mortality for carnivores that should be managed carefully. The potential cascading effect of food resources near roads on carnivore mortality should be considered in management and food abundance near roads should be minimized in areas inhabited by carnivores of conservation concernA. P. was supported by a Ph.D. grant of the Basque Government (BFI09.362). This study forms part of the CENIT-OASIS Project funded by a consortium of companies supported by the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico e Industrial of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CENIT-2008 1016). The Comunidad de Madrid, together with the European Social Fund, supports the TEG research group through the REMEDINAL-3 Research Network (S2013/MAE-2719

SARS-CoV-2 antibody dynamics in blood donors and COVID-19 epidemiology in eight Brazilian state capitals: A serial cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 situation in Brazil is complex due to large differences in the shape and size of regional epidemics. Understanding these patterns is crucial to understand future outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 or other respiratory pathogens in the country. METHODS: We tested 97,950 blood donation samples for IgG antibodies from March 2020 to March 2021 in 8 of Brazil's most populous cities. Residential postal codes were used to obtain representative samples. Weekly age- and sex-specific seroprevalence were estimated by correcting the crude seroprevalence by test sensitivity, specificity, and antibody waning. RESULTS: The inferred attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 in December 2020, before the Gamma variant of concern (VOC) was dominant, ranged from 19.3% (95% credible interval [CrI] 17.5-21.2%) in Curitiba to 75.0% (95% CrI 70.8-80.3%) in Manaus. Seroprevalence was consistently smaller in women and donors older than 55 years. The age-specific infection fatality rate (IFR) differed between cities and consistently increased with age. The infection hospitalisation rate increased significantly during the Gamma-dominated second wave in Manaus, suggesting increased morbidity of the Gamma VOC compared to previous variants circulating in Manaus. The higher disease penetrance associated with the health system's collapse increased the overall IFR by a minimum factor of 2.91 (95% CrI 2.43-3.53). CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the utility of blood donor serosurveillance to track epidemic maturity and demonstrate demographic and spatial heterogeneity in SARS-CoV-2 spread. FUNDING: This work was supported by Itaú Unibanco 'Todos pela Saude' program; FAPESP (grants 18/14389-0, 2019/21585-0); Wellcome Trust and Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship 204311/Z/16/Z; the Gates Foundation (INV- 034540 and INV-034652); REDS-IV-P (grant HHSN268201100007I); the UK Medical Research Council (MR/S0195/1, MR/V038109/1); CAPES; CNPq (304714/2018-6); Fundação Faculdade de Medicina; Programa Inova Fiocruz-CE/Funcap - Edital 01/2020 Number: FIO-0167-00065.01.00/20 SPU N°06531047/2020; JBS - Fazer o bem faz bem

Predicting SARS-CoV-2 variant spread in a completely seropositive population using semi-quantitative antibody measurements in blood donors

SARS-CoV-2 serologic surveys estimate the proportion of the population with antibodies against historical variants, which nears 100% in many settings. New approaches are required to fully exploit serosurvey data. Using a SARS-CoV-2 anti-Spike (S) protein chemiluminescent microparticle assay, we attained a semi-quantitative measurement of population IgG titers in serial cross-sectional monthly samples of blood donations across seven Brazilian state capitals (March 2021–November 2021). Using an ecological analysis, we assessed the contributions of prior attack rate and vaccination to antibody titer. We compared anti-S titer across the seven cities during the growth phase of the Delta variant and used this to predict the resulting age-standardized incidence of severe COVID-19 cases. We tested ~780 samples per month, per location. Seroprevalence rose to >95% across all seven capitals by November 2021. Driven by vaccination, mean antibody titer increased 16-fold over the study, with the greatest increases occurring in cities with the highest prior attack rates. Mean anti-S IgG was strongly correlated (adjusted R2 = 0.89) with the number of severe cases caused by Delta. Semi-quantitative anti-S antibody titers are informative about prior exposure and vaccination coverage and may also indicate the potential impact of future SARS-CoV-2 variants

Measurement and Correction of the Slope Angle of Flat Surfaces Digitized by a Conoscopic Holography System

Conoscopic Holography (CH) is a non-contact interferometric technique used in surface digitizing. Sim- ilarly to other laser techniques it is influenced by the optical behaviour of the part surface and the conditions during scanning (geometry, strategy, etc.). In this work, a CH system and a touch probe (TP) integrated in a CMM were used to analyse the CH behaviour for measuring the slope angle of flat sur- faces in inspection tasks. For this purpose, several digitizing tests were performed with both sensors on a square specimen under different slope angles. The tests were performed for two different orientations of the laser spot as well as at three different positions within the sensor depth of field (DOF). The specimen angles determined by each sensor were compared to each other and the difference (slope deviation) was used as an indicator of the CH behaviour. Considering the results, some recommendations were provided for digitizing sloped flat surfaces with the CH sensor and it was also developed a model to predict and compensate the measurement deviations of this sensor with regard to the TP.This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER (DPI2012-30987), the Regional Ministry of Economy and Employment of the Principality of Asturias (Spain) (SV-PA-13-ECOEMP-15) and the Government of the Princi- pality of Asturias through the Programme “Severo Ochoa” 2014 of PhD grants for research and teaching (BP14-049)