Cellular and Virtualization Technologies for UAVs: An Experimental Perspective.

The Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) ecosystem is exponentially growing in both recreational and professional fields to provide novel services and applications to consumers from multiple engineering fields. However, this technology has only scraped the surface of its potential, especially in those cases that require fast reaction times. Accordingly, the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project aims at efficiently managing the air traffic for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations, including those cases where UAVs might be remotely managed from a completely different geographical location. With these considerations in mind, this article presents a cellular-assisted UAVs testbed used to complete a mission managed beyond the radio line-of-sight (BRLoS), as well as introducing a virtualization platform for deploying services using containerization technology. In addition, the article conducts a communication performance evaluation in order to determine if the testbed equipment meets the requirements to carry out this BRLoS management. Finally, indoor flight operations are carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and proper operation of the testbed.

Insights on Zika virus envelope gene conservation in American outbreaks.

Phylogenetic studies with Zika virus (ZIKV) have been conducted in Brazil. In this study, we sequenced 8 new sequences of the ZIKV envelope (E) gene from strains of cases from the Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul states in 2016. A low phylogenetic signal was observed, with more than 40% of unresolved quartets, and the Maximum Likelihood Tree grouped all sequences in the Brazilian branches within the Asian genotype. In addition, a Shannon entropy analysis was conducted, showing a high stability in the E protein through the ZIKV polyprotein. Taken together, these results suggest a high degree of conservation in the ZIKV E gene from the recent American outbreaks.

Co-infection between Zika and different Dengue serotypes during DENV outbreak in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The recent introduction of new arboviruses in the Americas, as Zika virus (ZIKV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), increased the risk of outbreaks and arboviral co-infections. Herein, we report twelve cases of co-infection of ZIKV and different DENV serotypes in a city located in the northwest region of São Paulo State, Brazil, which is hyper-endemic to Dengue. METHODS: Between January and November 2016, 1254 suspected cases of arboviral infection were available by our surveillance program in São José do Rio Preto. All suspected patients were examined and, when they were arboviral disease-suspectd, had sera separated and viral RNA analyzed by PCR/qPCR assays to determine the diagnosis of DENV 1-4, ZIKV, or CHIKV in the same samples. After the molecular results, twelve patients with ZIKV-DENV coinfection were identified and their clinical and laboratory characteristics were described. RESULTS: The mean between symptoms onset and collected sample of 3 days. DENV-1 was identified in seven co-infected patients and DEN2 in other five. Two patients presented alarm signs of Dengue and no one was hospitalized. CONCLUSIONS: The constant presence of co-circulating arboviruses increases the chance of co-infection and demonstrates the importance of the differential diagnosis, especially during periods of arboviral outbreaks. The impact of this co-infection is known individual and collectively.