The Shigella genus has historically been separated into four species, based on biochemical assays. The classification within each species relies on serotyping. Recently, genome sequencing and DNA assays, in particular the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) approach, greatly improved the current knowledge of the origin and phylogenetic evolution of Shigella spp. The Shigella and Escherichia genera are now considered to belong to a unique genomospecies. Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) provides valuable polymorphic markers for genotyping and performing phylogenetic analyses of highly homogeneous bacterial pathogens. Here, we assess the capability of MLVA for Shigella typing. Thirty-two potentially polymorphic VNTRs were selected by analyzing in silico five Shigella genomic sequences and subsequently evaluated. Eventually, a panel of 15 VNTRs was selected (i.e., MLVA15 analysis). MLVA15 analysis of 78 strains or genome sequences of Shigella spp. and 11 strains or genome sequences of Escherichia coli distinguished 83 genotypes. Shigella population cluster analysis gave consistent results compared to MLST. MLVA15 analysis showed capabilities for E. coli typing, providing classification among pathogenic and nonpathogenic E. coli strains included in the study. The resulting data can be queried on our genotyping webpage (http://mlva .u-psud.fr). The MLVA15 assay is rapid, highly discriminatory, and reproducible for Shigella and Escherichia strains, suggesting that it could significantly contribute to epidemiological trace-back analysis of Shigella infections and pathogenic Escherichia outbreaks. Typing was performed on strains obtained mostly from collections. Further studies should include strains of much more diverse origins, including all pathogenic E. coli types.

The aim of this paper is to describe the different uses of English phraseology and plain language within pilot-controller (or air-ground) communications via a comparative study between two collections of texts (corpora): one representing the prescribed norm and made up of examples of English from two phraseology manuals; the other consisting of the orthographic transcription of recordings of real air-ground communications. The comparative study is conducted at a lexical level. It focuses on the discrepancies observed in the distribution of the corpora lexicon. Our preliminary results indicate that, in real air-ground communications, pilots and controllers tend to use more “subjectivity” markers (pronouns, courtesy expressions) than prescribed by the linguistic norm. This observation reflects their needs to use the language in its social role. A description of the different markers introducing subjectivity in air-ground communication can help understand the use of a more natural language in radiotelephony. In the long run, the results from the comparative study can be used to improve English radiotelephony teaching.

A semiconductor wafer fab requires a significant amount of energy to maintain its daily operations. Solar photovoltaics (PV) is a clean and renewable technology that can be potentially used to power large wafer fabs. There exist some critical factors slowing the proliferation of facilities powered by PVs, including high capital costs and power output intermittency. This study investigates the reliability and the costs of operating a PV-based distributed generation (DG) system to generate renewable energy for wafer fabs. In addition to PVs, the DG system also features storage devices and a net metering function. We developed a simulation model to mimic the PV generation and load variability. The goal is to design a reliable and cost-effective PV-based DG system to mitigate carbon emissions. Two case studies are presented in this paper to demonstrate the performance of the proposed DG system for fabs located in Austin Texas, USA, and Dresden, Germany.

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