Search

Abstract Purpose The aim of the study was to identify settings associated with SARS-CoV-2 transmission throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in France. Methods Cases with recent SARS-CoV-2 infection were matched with controls (4:1 ratio) on age, sex, region, population size, and calendar week. Odds ratios for SARS-CoV-2 infection were estimated for nine periods in models adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, health status, COVID-19 vaccine, and past infection. Results Between October 27, 2020 and October 2, 2022, 175,688 cases were matched with 43,922 controls. An increased risk of infection was documented throughout the study for open-space offices compared to offices without open space (OR range across the nine periods: 1.12 to 1.57) and long-distance trains (1.25 to 1.88), and during most of the study for convenience stores (OR range in the periods with increased risk: 1.15 to 1.44), take-away delivery (1.07 to 1.28), car-pooling with relatives (1.09 to 1.68), taxis (1.08 to 1.89), airplanes (1.20 to 1.78), concerts (1.31 to 2.09) and night-clubs (1.45 to 2.95). No increase in transmission was associated with short-distance shared transport, car-pooling booked over platforms, markets, supermarkets and malls, hairdressers, museums, movie theatres, outdoor sports, and swimming pools. The increased risk of infection in bars and restaurants was no longer present in restaurants after reopening in June 2021. It persisted in bars only among those aged under 40 years. Conclusion Closed settings in which people are less likely to wear masks were most affected by SARS-CoV-2 transmission and should be the focus of air quality improvement. ClinicalTrials.gov (03/09/2022) NCT04607941.

Abstract Background We aimed to study the source of infection for recently SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals from October 2020 to August 2022 in France. Methods Participants from the nationwide ComCor case–control study who reported recent SARS-CoV-2 infection were asked to document the source and circumstances of their infection through an online questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with not identifying any source of infection. Results Among 584,846 adults with a recent SARS-CoV-2 infection in France, 46.9% identified the source of infection and an additional 22.6% suspected an event during which they might have become infected. Known and suspected sources of infection were household members (30.8%), extended family (15.6%), work colleagues (15.0%), friends (11.0%), and possibly multiple/other sources (27.6%). When the source of infection was known, was not a household member, and involved a unique contact (n = 69,788), characteristics associated with transmission events were indoors settings (91.6%), prolonged (> 15 min) encounters (50.5%), symptomatic source case (64.9%), and neither the source of infection nor the participant wearing a mask (82.2%). Male gender, older age, lower education, living alone, using public transportation, attending places of public recreation (bars, restaurants, nightclubs), public gatherings, and cultural events, and practicing indoor sports were all independently associated with not knowing the source of infection. Conclusion Two-thirds of infections were attributed to interactions with close relatives, friends, or work colleagues. Extra-household indoor encounters without masks were commonly reported and represented avoidable circumstances of infection. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT04607941.

Abstract The widespread use of disposable facemasks during the COVID‐19 pandemic has led to environmental concern due to microplastic pollution. Biodegradable disposable facemasks are a first step to reducing the environmental impact of pandemics. Here, high‐performance facemask components based on novel poly(ester amide)s (PEA) grades synthesized from biosourced materials and processed into nonwoven facemask components are presented. PEA‐based polymers present an excellent compromise between mechanical performance and biodegradability. Importantly, the properties of the PEA can easily be tuned by changing the ratio of ester and amide, or by varying diol and diacid parts. Seven polymers are synthesized which are optimized for biodegradability and processability. Among them, two grades combines 1) electrospinning process compatibility with 2) full degradation within 35 days, using a normalized biodegradation test. The ultra‐thin filters thus developed are evaluated for performance on a custom‐made characterization bench. The filters achieve microparticle capture efficiency and air permeability comparable to commercial filters. Another PEA grade is optimized to reach optimal viscothermal properties that made it compatible with solvent‐free melt‐spinning process as demonstrated with continuous fiber production. Overall, this environmentally friendly solution paves the way for the fabrication of high‐performance fibers with excellent biodegradability for the next‐generation facemasks.

Abstract Purpose Our objective was to describe circumstances of SARS-CoV-2 household transmission and to identify factors associated with a lower risk of transmission in a nationwide case–control study in France. Methods In a descriptive analysis, we analysed cases reporting transmission from someone in the household (source case). Index cases could invite a non-infected household member to participate as a related control. In such situations, we compared the exposures of the index case and related control to the source case by conditional logistic regression matched for household, restricted to households in which the source case was a child, and the index case and related control were the infected child’s parents. Results From October 27, 2020 to May 16, 2022, we included 104 373 cases for the descriptive analysis with a documented infection from another household member. The source case was mostly the index case’s child (46.9%) or partner (45.7%). In total, 1026 index cases invited a related control to participate in the study. In the case–control analysis, we included 611 parental pairs of cases and controls exposed to the same infected child. COVID-19 vaccination with 3 + doses versus no vaccination (OR 0.1, 95%CI: 0.04–0.4), isolation from the source case (OR 0.6, 95%CI: 0.4–0.97) and the ventilation of indoor areas (OR 0.6, 95%CI: 0.4–0.9) were associated with lower risk of infection. Conclusion Household transmission was common during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in France. Mitigation strategies, including isolation and ventilation, decreased the risk of secondary transmission within the household. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT04607941.

Microheaters are used in several applications, including medical diagnostics, synthesis, environmental monitoring, and actuation. Conventional microheaters rely on thin-film electrodes microfabricated in a clean-room environment. However, low-cost alternatives based on conductive paste electrodes fabricated using printing techniques have started to emerge over the years. Here, we report a surprising effect that leads to significant electrode performance improvement as confirmed by the thorough characterization of bulk, processed, and conditioned samples. Mixing silver ink and PVA results in the solubilization of performance-hindering organic compounds. These compounds evaporate during heating cycles. The new electrodes, which reach a temperature of 80 °C within 5 min using a current of 7.0 A, display an overall 42% and 35% improvement in the mechanical (hardness) and electrical (resistivity) properties compared to pristine silver ink electrodes. To validate our results, we use the composite heater to amplify and detect parasite DNA from Trypanosoma brucei, associated with African sleeping sickness. Our LAMP test compares well with commercially available systems, confirming the excellent performance of our nanocomposite heaters. Since their fabrication relies on well-established techniques, we anticipate they will find use in a range of applications.

Heavy oxygen isotopic species of HCO ^+ are important optically thin astrophysical tracers. The ground-state rotational spectrum of HC ^18 O ^+ , DC ^18 O ^+ , HC ^17 O ^+ , and DC ^17 O ^+ has been recorded in the laboratory in the frequency range from 85 GHz to 1.3 THz. The ions have been produced in the negative column of a glow-discharge plasma, and their spectrum has been recorded in absorption using a frequency-modulation submillimeter-wave spectrometer. Various sources of systematic error have been carefully accounted for in order to obtain highly accurate line-position measurements. Theoretical estimates of the molecular parameters and of the collision effects on the line shape have been obtained by high-level ab initio calculations. The analysis yielded much improved rotational and centrifugal distortion constants, thus bringing the spectroscopic characterization of these rare isotopic variants to the same level of the parent species. Also, the first experimental rotational data for DC ^17 O ^+ have been provided. These results allow for the calculation of an updated set of rest frequencies to support current and future astrophysical studies. The derived data set for the widely used HC ^18 O ^+ tracer reaches an accuracy of a few parts in 10 ^9 up to 1.5 THz. Such accuracy is important for the analysis of astrophysical objects targeted by Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations at the submillimeter regime.

This work presents X-ray computed tomography (XCT) as a dimensional quality assurance technique for micro-injection moulded polymeric test objects for the establishment of predictive quality models and quantifying soft-tool deformation. The results are compared against an industry standard laser-scanning-confocal microscope (LSCM) for the evaluation of XCT’s capability. The work demonstrates; (i) the exploitation of a XCT equipment for dimensional characterisation of micro-injection moulded products made out of polymers with adequate acquisition times, (ii) that acquired XCT data from the 3D visualisation of the micromouldings perform on par with a laser-scanning-confocal microscope in a quality prediction model, (iii) that the deformation occurring in an additively manufactured soft-tool can be quantified using XCT. The technique was particularly superior in volumetric data acquisition compared to LSCM in the filling prediction of the micromouldings. Better accuracy and repeatability in predicting the quality of the mouldings up to 92% achieved with XCT, in conjunction with an in-line collected soft-tool surface temperature data as an indirect quality assurance method. Given the capability of the XCT for the 3D data acquisition of polymeric miniature components, the approach described here has great potential in high-value micro-manufacturing process quality modelling for in-line quality assessment of miniature and added value products in data-rich contexts.Rendered 3D animation of the X-ray CT data: https://youtu.be/KwZty_yoDfs.

Using mobile devices to browse the Internet has become increasingly popular over the years. However, the risk of being exposed to malicious content, such as online scams or malware installations, has also increased significantly. In this study, we collected smartphone data from volunteer users by monitoring their use of the Web and the applications they install on their devices. However, the collected data is sometimes incomplete due to the technical limitations of mobile devices. Thus, we propose a data repair scheme to restore incomplete data by inferring missing attributes. Here, the restored data represent the browsing history of a mobile user, which can be used to determine if and how the user has been the victim of web or mobile-specific attacks to compromise their sensitive data. The accuracy of the proposed data repair scheme was evaluated using a machine learning algorithm, and the results demonstrate that the proposed scheme properly reconstructed a user’s browsing history data with an accuracy of 95%. The usability of the repaired data is demonstrated by a practical use case. The user’s browsing history was correlated with other types of data, such as received SMSs and the applications installed by the user. The results demonstrate that a user can fall victim to SMS-based phishing (SMShing) attacks, where the attacker sends an SMS message to a user to trick them install a malicious application. We also present a case of a social engineering attack, where the victim was manipulated to provide their Amazon credentials and credit card details.

Summary: Background: We aimed to assess the settings and activities associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the context of B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant circulation in France, as well as the protection against symptomatic Delta infection. Methods: In this nationwide case-control study, cases were SARS-CoV-2 infected adults recruited between 23 May and 13 August 2021. Controls were non-infected adults from a national representative panel matched to cases by age, sex, region, population density and calendar week. Participants completed an online questionnaire and multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and recent activity-related exposures, past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and COVID-19 vaccination. Findings: We did not find any differences in the settings and activities associated with Delta versus non-Delta infections and grouped them for subsequent analyses. In multivariable analysis involving 12634 cases (8644 Delta and 3990 non-Delta) and 5560 controls, we found individuals under 40 years and attending bars (aOR:1.9; 95%CI:1.6-2.2) or parties (aOR:3.4; 95%CI:2.8-4.2) to be at increased risk of infection. In those aged 40 years and older, having children attend daycare (aOR:1.9; 95%CI:1.1-3.3), kindergarten (aOR:1.6; 95%CI:1.2-2.1), primary school (aOR:1.4; 95%CI:1.2-1.6) or middle school (aOR:1.3; 95%CI:1.2-1.6) were associated with increased risk of infection. We found strong protection against symptomatic Delta infection for those with prior infection whether it was recent (2-6 months) (95%; 95%CI:90-97) or associated with one dose (85%; 95%CI:78-90) or two doses of mRNA vaccine (96%; 95%CI:87-99). For those without past infection, protection was lower with two doses of mRNA vaccine (67%; 95%CI:63-71). Interpretation: In line with other observational studies, we find reduced vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic Delta infections. The settings and activities at increased risk of infection indicate where efforts to reinforce individual and public health measures need to be concentrated.

Background: We aimed to assess the effectiveness of two doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines against COVID-19 with the original virus and other lineages circulating in France. Methods: In this nationwide case-control study, cases were SARS-CoV-2 infected adults with onset of symptoms between 14 February and 3 May 2021. Controls were non-infected adults from a national representative panel matched to cases by age, sex, region, population density and calendar week. Participants completed an online questionnaire on recent activity-related exposures and vaccination history. Information about the infecting virus was based on a screening RT-PCR for either B.1.1.7 or B.1.351/P.1 variants. Findings: Included in our analysis were 7 288 adults infected with the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, 31 313 with the B.1.1.7 lineage, 2 550 with B.1.351/P1 lineages, and 3 644 controls. In multivariable analysis, the vaccine effectiveness (95% confidence interval) seven days after the second dose of mRNA vaccine was estimated at 88% (81-92), 86% (81-90) and 77% (63-86) against COVID-19 with the original virus, the B.1.1.7 lineage, and the B.1.351/P.1 lineages, respectively. Recent (2 to 6 months) history of virologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was found to be 83% (76-88), 88% (85-91) and 83% (71-90) protective against COVID-19 with the original virus, the B.1.1.7 lineage, and the B.1.351/P.1 lineages, respectively; and more distant (> 6 months) infections were 76% (54-87), 84% (75-90), and 74% (41-89) protective against COVID-19 with the original virus, the B.1.1.7 lineage, and the B.1.351/P.1 lineages, respectively. Interpretation: In real-life settings, two doses of mRNA vaccines proved to be effective against COVID-19 with the original virus, B.1.1.7 lineage and B.1.351/P.1 lineages. Funding: Institut Pasteur, Research & Action Emerging Infectious Diseases (REACTing), Fondation de France (Alliance “Tous unis contre le virus”).

Wheat occupies a special role in global food security since, in addition to providing 20% of our carbohydrates and protein, almost 25% of the global production is traded internationally. The importance of wheat for food security was recognised by the Chief Agricultural Scientists of the G20 group of countries when they endorsed the establishment of the Wheat Initiative in 2011. The Wheat Initiative was tasked with supporting the wheat research community by facilitating collaboration, information and resource sharing and helping to build the capacity to address challenges facing production in an increasingly variable environment. Many countries invest in wheat research. Innovations in wheat breeding and agronomy have delivered enormous gains over the past few decades, with the average global yield increasing from just over 1 tonne per hectare in the early 1960s to around 3.5 tonnes in the past decade. These gains are threatened by climate change, the rapidly rising financial and environmental costs of fertilizer, and pesticides, combined with declines in water availability for irrigation in many regions. The international wheat research community has worked to identify major opportunities to help ensure that global wheat production can meet demand. The outcomes of these discussions are presented in this paper.

Summary: Background: We aimed to assess the role of different setting and activities in acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: In this nationwide case-control study, cases were SARS-CoV-2 infected adults recruited between 27 October and 30 November 2020. Controls were individuals from the Ipsos market research database matched to cases by age, sex, region, population density and time period. Participants completed an online questionnaire on recent activity-related exposures. Findings: Among 3426 cases and 1713 controls, in multivariable analysis, we found an increased risk of infection associated with any additional person living in the household (adjusted-OR: 1•16; 95%CI: 1•11-1•21); having children attending day-care (aOR: 1•31; 95%CI: 1•02-1•62), kindergarten (aOR: 1•27; 95%CI: 1•09-1•45), middle school (aOR: 1•30; 95%CI: 1•15-1•47), or high school (aOR: 1•18; 95%CI: 1•05-1•34); with attending professional (aOR: 1•15; 95%CI: 1•04-1•26) or private gatherings (aOR: 1•57; 95%CI: 1•45-1•71); and with having frequented bars and restaurants (aOR: 1•95; 95%CI: 1•76-2•15), or having practiced indoor sports activities (aOR: 1•36; 95%CI: 1•15-1•62). We found no increase in risk associated with frequenting shops, cultural or religious gatherings, or with transportation, except for carpooling (aOR: 1•47; 95%CI: 1•28-1•69). Teleworking was associated with decreased risk of infection (aOR: 0•65; 95%CI: 0•56-0•75). Interpretation: Places and activities during which infection prevention and control measures may be difficult to fully enforce were those with increased risk of infection. Children attending day-care, kindergarten, middle and high schools, but not primary schools, were potential sources of infection for the household. Funding: Institut Pasteur, Research & Action Emerging Infectious Diseases (REACTing), Fondation de France (Alliance” Tous unis contre le virus”).

We report on the fabrication and characterisation of graphene field-effect transistor (GFET) biosensors for the detection of Clusterin, a prominent protein biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The GFET sensors were fabricated on Si/SiO2 substrate using photolithographic patterning and metal lift-off techniques with evaporated chromium and sputtered gold contacts. Raman Spectroscopy was performed on the devices to determine the quality of the graphene. The GFETs were annealed to improve their performance before the channels were functionalized by immobilising the graphene surface with linker molecules and anti-Clusterin antibodies. Concentration of linker molecules was also independently verified by absorption spectroscopy using the highly collimated micro-beam light of Diamond B23 beamline. The detection was achieved through the binding reaction between the antibody and varying concentrations of Clusterin antigen from 1 to 100 pg/mL, as well as specificity tests using human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a glycoprotein risk biomarker of certain cancers. The GFETs were characterized using direct current (DC) 4-probe electrical resistance (4-PER) measurements, which demonstrated a limit of detection of the biosensors to be ∼ 300 fg/mL (4 fM). Comparison with back-gated Dirac voltage shifts with varying concentration of Clusterin show 4-PER measurements to be more accurate, at present, and point to a requirement for further optimisation of the fabrication processes for our next generation of GFET sensors. Thus, we have successfully fabricated a promising set of GFET biosensors for the detection of Clusterin protein biomarker. The developed GFET biosensors are entirely generic and also have the potential to be applied to a variety of other disease detection applications such as Parkinson’s, cancer, and cardiovascular.

We developed an integrated R library called BWGS to enable easy computation of Genomic Estimates of Breeding values (GEBV) for genomic selection. BWGS, for BreedWheat Genomic selection, was developed in the framework of a cooperative private-public partnership project called Breedwheat (https://breedwheat.fr) and relies on existing R-libraries, all freely available from CRAN servers. The two main functions enable to run 1) replicated random cross validations within a training set of genotyped and phenotyped lines and 2) GEBV prediction, for a set of genotyped-only lines. Options are available for 1) missing data imputation, 2) markers and training set selection and 3) genomic prediction with 15 different methods, either parametric or semi-parametric. The usefulness and efficiency of BWGS are illustrated using a population of wheat lines from a real breeding programme. Adjusted yield data from historical trials (highly unbalanced design) were used for testing the options of BWGS. On the whole, 760 candidate lines with adjusted phenotypes and genotypes for 47 839 robust SNP were used. With a simple desktop computer, we obtained results which compared with previously published results on wheat genomic selection. As predicted by the theory, factors that are most influencing predictive ability, for a given trait of moderate heritability, are the size of the training population and a minimum number of markers for capturing every QTL information. Missing data up to 40%, if randomly distributed, do not degrade predictive ability once imputed, and up to 80% randomly distributed missing data are still acceptable once imputed with Expectation-Maximization method of package rrBLUP. It is worth noticing that selecting markers that are most associated to the trait do improve predictive ability, compared with the whole set of markers, but only when marker selection is made on the whole population. When marker selection is made only on the sampled training set, this advantage nearly disappeared, since it was clearly due to overfitting. Few differences are observed between the 15 prediction models with this dataset. Although non-parametric methods that are supposed to capture non-additive effects have slightly better predictive accuracy, differences remain small. Finally, the GEBV from the 15 prediction models are all highly correlated to each other. These results are encouraging for an efficient use of genomic selection in applied breeding programmes and BWGS is a simple and powerful toolbox to apply in breeding programmes or training activities.

Dietary fibre (DF) has multiple health benefits and wheat grains are major sources of DF for human health. However, DF is depleted in white wheat flour which is more widely consumed than wholegrain. The major DF component in white flour is the cell wall polysaccharide arabinoxylan (AX). We have identified the Chinese wheat cultivar Yumai 34 as having unusually high contents of AX in both water-soluble and insoluble forms. We have therefore used populations generated from crosses between Yumai 34 and four other wheat cultivars, three with average contents of AX (Ukrainka, Altigo and Claire) and one also having unusually high AX (Valoris), in order to map QTLs for soluble AX (determined as relative viscosity of aqueous extracts of wholemeal flours) and total AX (determined by enzyme fingerprinting of white flour). A number of QTL were mapped, but most were only detected in one or two crosses. However, all four crosses showed strong QTLs for high RV/total AX on chromosome 1B, with Yumai 34 being the increasing parent, and a KASP marker for the Yumai 34 high AX allele was validated by analysis of high AX lines derived from Yumai 34 but selected by biochemical analysis. A QTL for RV was also mapped on chromosome 6B in Yumai 34 x Valoris, with Valoris being the increasing allele, which is consistent with the observation of transgressive segregation for this population. Association studies in an independent germplasm panel identified marker trait associations for relative viscosity in these same locations while direct selection for fibre content in breeding resulted in high levels of enrichment for the Yumai 34 1B allele. The data therefore indicate that marker-assisted breeding can be used to develop wheat with high AX fibre in white flour.

There is currently a strong societal demand for sustainability, quality, and safety in bread wheat production. To address these challenges, new and innovative knowledge, resources, tools, and methods to facilitate breeding are needed. This starts with the development of high throughput genomic tools including single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays, high density molecular marker maps, and full genome sequences. Such powerful tools are essential to perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS), to implement genomic and phenomic selection, and to characterize the worldwide diversity. This is also useful to breeders to broaden the genetic basis of elite varieties through the introduction of novel sources of genetic diversity. Improvement in varieties particularly relies on the detection of genomic regions involved in agronomical traits including tolerance to biotic (diseases and pests) and abiotic (drought, nutrient deficiency, high temperature) stresses. When enough resolution is achieved, this can result in the identification of candidate genes that could further be characterized to identify relevant alleles. Breeding must also now be approached through in silico modeling to simulate plant development, investigate genotype × environment interactions, and introduce marker–trait linkage information in the models to better implement genomic selection. Breeders must be aware of new developments and the information must be made available to the world wheat community to develop new high-yielding varieties that can meet the challenge of higher wheat production in a sustainable and fluctuating agricultural context. In this review, we compiled all knowledge and tools produced during the BREEDWHEAT project to show how they may contribute to face this challenge in the coming years.

In the last decade, halogenated ethenes have seen an increasing interest for different applications; in particular, in refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pumping. At the same time, their adverse effects as atmospheric pollutants require environmental monitoring, especially by remote sensing spectroscopic techniques. For this purpose, an accurate characterization of the spectroscopic fingerprint—in particular, those of relevance for rotational–vibrational spectroscopy—of the target molecules is strongly needed. This work provides an integrated computational–theoretical investigation on R1122 (2-Chloro-1,1-difluoro-ethylene, ClHC=CF2), a compound widely employed as a key intermediate in different chemical processes. State-of-the-art quantum chemical calculations relying on CCSD(T)-based composite schemes and hybrid CCSD(T)/DFT approaches are used to obtain an accurate prediction of the structural, rotational and vibrational spectroscopic properties. In addition, the equilibrium geometry is obtained by exploiting the semi-experimental method. The theoretical predictions are used to guide the analysis of the experimentally recorded gas-phase infrared spectrum, which is assigned in the 400–6500 cm−1 region. Furthermore, absorption cross sections are accurately determined over the same spectral range. Finally, by using the obtained spectroscopic data, a first estimate of the global warming potential of R1122 vibrational spectra is obtained.

Manual sample deposition on a substrate can introduce artifacts in quantitative AFM measurements. Here the authors present a microfluidic spray device for reliable deposition of subpicoliter droplets which dry out in milliseconds after landing on the surface, thereby avoiding protein self-assembly.

Abstract Background Patients with type 1 diabetes are more at risk of coronary artery disease than the general population. Although evidence points to a genetic risk there have been no study investigating genetic risk factors of coronary artery disease specific to individuals with type 1 diabetes. To identify low frequency and common genetic variations associated with coronary artery disease in populations of individuals with type 1 diabetes. Methods A two-stage genome wide association study was conducted. The discovery phase involved the meta-analysis of three genome-wide association cohorts totaling 434 patients with type 1 diabetes and coronary artery disease (cases) and 3123 T1D individuals with no evidence of coronary artery disease (controls). Replication of the top association signals (p

In France, apparently healthy dogs and cats that bite humans must undergo an observation period of 15 days with three veterinary visits to ascertain that they remain healthy, indicating that no zoonotic transmission of rabies virus occurred via salivary presymptomatic excretion. This surveillance protocol is mandatory for all pets that have bitten humans, despite France’s rabies-free status in non-flying mammals (i.e., a very low rabies risk). In this context, we aimed to perform a benefit–risk assessment of the existing regulatory surveillance protocol of apparently healthy biting animals, as well as alternative surveillance protocols. A scenario-tree modelling approach was used to consider the possible successions of events between a dog or cat bite and a human death attributed to either rabies or to lethal harm associated with the surveillance protocol (e.g., lethal traffic accidents when traveling to veterinary clinics or anti-rabies centers). The results demonstrated that the current French surveillance protocol was not beneficial, as more deaths were generated (traffic accidents) than avoided (by prompt post-exposure prophylaxis administration). We showed here that less stringent risk-based surveillance could prove more appropriate in a French context. The results in this study could allow policy-makers to update and optimize rabies management legislation.

Microsystems are key enabling technologies, with applications found in almost every industrial field, including in vitro diagnostic, energy harvesting, automotive, telecommunication, drug screening, etc. Microsystems, such as microsensors and actuators, are typically made up of components below 1000 microns in size that can be manufactured at low unit cost through mass-production. Yet, their development for commercial or educational purposes has typically been limited to specialized laboratories in upper-income countries due to the initial investment costs associated with the microfabrication equipment and processes. However, recent technological advances have enabled the development of low-cost microfabrication tools. In this paper, we describe a range of low-cost approaches and equipment (below £1000), developed or adapted and implemented in our laboratories. We describe processes including photolithography, micromilling, 3D printing, xurography and screen-printing used for the microfabrication of structural and functional materials. The processes that can be used to shape a range of materials with sub-millimetre feature sizes are demonstrated here in the context of lab-on-chips, but they can be adapted for other applications. We anticipate that this paper, which will enable researchers to build a low-cost microfabrication toolbox in a wide range of settings, will spark a new interest in microsystems.

With the expected development of thousands of molecular markers in most crops, the marker-assisted selection theory has recently shifted from the use of a few markers targeted in QTL regions (or derived from candidate or validated genes) to the use of many more markers covering the whole genome. These genome-wide markers are already used for association analysis between polymorphisms for anonymous markers and qualitative or quantitative traits. The condition for success is that a sufficient level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) exists between the adjacent markers used for genotyping and the true genes or QTLs. This LD is known to vary among species and type of genetic material. In selfing species, particularly among breeding lines, LD has been reported to range up to 1 cM or more. In such conditions, uncharacterized markers can be used to predict the breeding value of a trait without referring to actual QTLs. We present an example applying DArT markers to the INRA wheat breeding material in an attempt to implement whole genome selection as an alternative to phenotypic selection. This study assesses different models (GBLUP, Ridge Regression BLUP, Bayesian Ridge Regression and Lasso) and their ability to predict the yields of genotypes evaluated in a multi-site network from 2000 to 2009 in a highly unbalanced design. The prediction coefficients obtained by cross-validation techniques are encouraging, given the small size of the training population.