Azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus is an increasing worldwide problem with major clinical implications. Surveillance is warranted to guide clinicians to provide optimal treatment to patients. To investigate azole resistance in clinical Aspergillus isolates in our institution, a Belgian university hospital, we conducted a laboratory-based surveillance between June 2015 and October 2016. Two different approaches were used: a prospective culture-based surveillance using VIPcheck on unselected A. fumigatus (n ϭ 109 patients, including 19 patients with proven or probable invasive aspergillosis [IA]), followed by molecular detection of mutations conferring azole resistance, and a retrospective detection of azole-resistant A. fumigatus in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid using the commercially available AsperGenius PCR (n ϭ 100 patients, including 29 patients with proven or probable IA). By VIPcheck, 25 azole-resistant A. fumigatus specimens were isolated from 14 patients (12.8%). Of these 14 patients, only 2 had proven or probable IA (10.5%). Mutations at the cyp51A gene were observed in 23 of the 25 A. fumigatus isolates; TR 34 /L98H was the most prevalent mutation (46.7%), followed by TR 46 / Y121F/T289A (26.7%). Twenty-seven (27%) patients were positive for the presence of Aspergillus species by AsperGenius PCR. A. fumigatus was detected by AsperGenius in 20 patients, and 3 of these patients carried cyp51A mutations. Two patients had proven or probable IA and cyp51A mutation (11.7%). Our study has shown that the detection of azole-resistant A. fumigatus in clinical isolates was a frequent finding in our institution. Hence, a rapid method for resistance detection may be useful to improve patient management. Centers that care for immunocompromised patients should perform routine surveillance to determine their local epidemiology.KEYWORDS VIPcheck, AsperGenius, cyp51A, cyp51B, hapE A zole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus is an emerging problem worldwide, with major epidemiological and clinical implications (1-6). Mold active triazoles are commonly used as first line treatment and prophylaxis of invasive aspergillosis (IA) (7). Mutations in the cyp51A gene, which encodes the target of azoles, the lanosterol 14␣-demethylase, represent the most commonly reported mechanism conferring azole resistance and consequently treatment failure in A. fumigatus (8-10). The most prevalent mutation (TR 34 /L98H) involves the insertion of a 34-bp tandem repeat (TR 34 ) in the promoter region of the cyp51A gene and a point mutation within the gene leading to an amino acid substitution (L98H). More recently, an additional cyp51A-mediated resistant genotype (TR 46 /Y121F/T289A) has been reported: a 46-bp tandem repeat (TR 46 ) in the promoter of cyp51A gene and two point mutations within the gene

Among other CubeSat subsystems, Antenna is one of the most important CubeSat components as its design determines all the telecommunication subsystems’ performances. This paper presents a coplanar wave-guide (CPW)-fed equilateral triangular slot antenna constructed and analyzed for CubeSat communications at S-band. The proposed antenna alone presents high gain and ultra-wide band while its radiation pattern is bidirectional at an unlicensed frequency of 2450 MHz. The objective is to use the CubeSat chassis as a reflector for reducing the back-lobe radiation and hence minimizing interferences with electronic devices inside the CubeSat. This leads to a high gain of 8.20 dBi and a unidirectional radiation pattern at an industrial, scientific and mdical (ISM) band operating frequency of 2450 MHz. In addition to that, the presented antenna is low-profile and exhibits high return loss, ultra-wide impedance bandwidth, and good impedance matching at 2450 MHz.

With the introduction of electronic form of data, the need for an automatic system of security to protect the integrity of data while being transferred from one place to another is required. This is especially the case for a network in which the systems are accessed over a public network or internet. Security mechanisms involve the use of more than one algorithm. They further require that the participants should possess a secret key, which raises issues about creation, distribution and proper usage of these keys. The most effective technique used in provisioning security is Message Authentication Code (MAC) which helps in preserving integrity. MAC involves the use of secret key along with a hash algorithm. In this paper, we present an implementation of MAC using a secret key created by Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and random output sequence of Linear Congruential Generator (LCG). The hash algorithm used is made more robust by adding complexity to the traditional SHA-160. The presented scheme RMAC (Robust Message Authentication Code) is tested on National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) test suite for random numbers, avalanche criteria and resistance towards network attacks. The results reveal that the scheme is efficient and is applicable for a variety of security demanding environments.

This paper investigates non-data-aided (NDA) SNR estimation for QAM transmission over additive white Gaussian noise channels. It proposes a novel class of moment-based SNR estimators. This class is found to be a generalization of the well-known moment-based M 2 M 4 SNR estimation method for PSK modulation. The performance of the proposed estimators is evaluated for M-PSK and rectangular 16-QAM modulation.

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