Estimating the incidence of equine viral arteritis and the sensitivity of its surveillance in the French breeding stock

Equine viral arteritis (EVA) may have serious economic impact on the equine industry. For this reason, it is monitored in many countries, especially in breeding stock, to avoid its spread during breeding activities. In France, surveillance is mainly based on serological tests, since mares are not vaccinated, but difficulties in interpreting certain series of results may impair the estimation of the number of outbreaks. In this study, we propose specific rules for identifying seroconversion in order to estimate the number of outbreaks that were detected by the breeding stock surveillance component (BSSC) in France between 2006 and 2013. A consensus among multidisciplinary experts was reached to consider seroconversion as a change in antibody titer from negative to at least 32, or as an eight-fold or greater increase in antibody level. Using these rules, 239 cases and 177 outbreaks were identified. Subsequently, we calculated the BSSC's sensitivity as the ratio of the number of detected outbreaks to the total number of outbreaks that occurred in breeding stock (including unreported outbreaks) estimated using a capture-recapture model. The total number of outbreaks was estimated at 215 (95% credible interval 195-249) and the surveillance sensitivity at 82% (CrI95% 71-91). Our results confirm EVA circulation in French breeding stock, show that neutralizing antibodies can persist up to eight years in naturally infected mares and suggest that certain mares have been reinfected. This study shows that the sensitivity of the BSSC is relatively high and supports its relevance to prevent the disease spreading through mating

Semilocal Convergence Analysis of an Iteration of Order Five Using Recurrence Relations in Banach Spaces

[EN] Semilocal convergence for an iteration of order five for solving nonlinear equations in Banach spaces is established under second-order Fr,chet derivative satisfying the Lipschitz condition. It is done by deriving a number of recurrence relations. A theorem for the existence-uniqueness along with the estimation of error bounds of the solution is established. Its R-order is shown to be equal to five. Both efficiency and computational efficiency indices are given. A variety of examples are worked out to show its applicability. In comparison to existing methods having similar R-orders, improved results in terms of computational efficiency index and error bounds are found using our methodology.The authors thank the referees for their valuable comments which have improved the presentation of the paper. The authors thankfully acknowledge the financial assistance provided by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India.Singh, S.; Gupta, D.; Martínez Molada, E.; Hueso Pagoaga, JL. (2016). Semilocal Convergence Analysis of an Iteration of Order Five Using Recurrence Relations in Banach Spaces. Mediterranean Journal of Mathematics. 13(6):4219-4235. doi:10.1007/s00009-016-0741-5S42194235136Cordero A., Hueso J.L., Martinez E., Torregrosa J.R.: Increasing the convergence order of an iterative method for nonlinear systems. Appl. Math. Lett. 25, 2369–2374 (2012)Chen, L., Gu, C., Ma Y.: Semilocal convergence for a fifth order Newton’s method using Recurrence relations in Banach spaces. J. Appl. Math. 2011, 1–15 (2011)Wang X., Kou J., Gu C.: Semilocal convergence of a sixth order Jarrat method in Banach spaces. Numer. Algorithms 57, 441–456 (2011)Zheng L., Gu C.: Semilocal convergence of a sixth order method in Banach spaces. Numer. Algorithms 61, 413–427 (2012)Zheng L., Gu C.: Recurrence relations for semilocal convergence of a fifth order method in Banach spaces. Numer. Algorithms 59, 623–638 (2012)Proinov P.D., Ivanov S.I.: On the convergence of Halley’s method for multiple polynomial zeros. Mediterr. J. Math. 12, 555–572 (2015)Ezquerro, J.A., Hernández-Verón M.A.: On the domain of starting points of Newton’s method under center lipschitz conditions. Mediterr. J. Math. (2015). doi: 10.1007/s00009-015-0596-1Cordero A., Hernández-Verón M.A., Romero N., Torregrosa J.R.: Semilocal convergence by using recurrence relations for a fifth-order method in Banach spaces. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 273, 205–213 (2015)Parida P.K., Gupta D.K.: Recurrence relations for a Newton-like method in Banach spaces. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 206, 873–887 (2007)Hueso J.L., Martínez E.: Semilocal convergence of a family of iterative methods in Banach spaces. Numer. Algorithms 67, 365–384 (2014)Argyros, I.K., Hilout S.: Numerical methods in nonlinear analysis. World Scientific Publ. Comp., New Jersey (2013)Argyros, I.K., Hilout, S., Tabatabai, M.A.: Mathematical modelling with applications in biosciences and engineering. Nova Publishers, New York (2011)Argyros I.K., Khattri S.K.: Local convergence for a family of third order methods in Banach spaces. J. Math. 46, 53–62 (2004)Argyros I.K., Hilout A.S.: On the local convergence of fast two-step Newton-like methods for solving nonlinear equations. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 245, 1–9 (2013)Kantorovich, L.V., Akilov G.P.: Functional analysis. Pergamon Press, Oxford (1982)Argyros I.K., George S., Magreñán A.A.: Local convergence for multi-point-parametric Chebyshev-Halley-type methods of higher convergence order. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 282, 215–224 (2015)Argyros I.K., Magreñán A.A.: A study on the local convergence and the dynamics of Chebyshev-Halley-type methods free from second derivative. Numer. Algorithms 71, 1–23 (2015)Amat S., Hernández M.A., Romero N.: A modified Chebyshev’s iterative method with at least sixth order of convergence. Appl. Math. Comput. 206, 164–174 (2008)Chun, C., St $${\breve{a}}$$ a ˘ nic $${\breve{a}}$$ a ˘ , P., Neta, B.: Third-order family of methods in Banach spaces. Comput. Math. Appl. 61, 1665–1675 (2011)Ostrowski, A.M.: Solution of equations in Euclidean and Banach spaces, 3rd edn. Academic Press, New-York (1977)Jaiswal J.P.: Semilocal convergence of an eighth-order method in Banach spaces and its computational efficiency. Numer. Algorithms 71, 933–951 (2015)Traub, J.F.: Iterative methods for the solution of equations. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1964

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

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Les pratiques agricoles face à l'exigence de qualité des paysages et des produits : l'AOC Saint Nectaire

National audienceIn France, since about fifteen years, the agricultural produces with stamp of quality and origin grow. In same time, the social demand for agricultural maintenance of landscape increases and conditions more and more the farming activities. To study the future alternative to answer to this double demand on farms products and landscapes quality, a methodological and analytical work on a french AOC cheese aims to identify and analyze the farming practices and systems supporting this double demand. It is interested in: a) the landscape elements presented to promote the product, b) the farming areas, systems and practices linked to these elements in the AOC zone. The work is based on cheese promoters and producers photographs. Farm's surveys and landscape observations are locally developed to locate the areas, the practices and the stockbreeders contributing to maintain emblematic landscape elements of the AOC product, making possible an answer to the double demand for product and landscape quality.Depuis une quinzaine d'années, les produits agricoles sous signe de qualité se développent. Dans le même temps, les demandes d'entretien de l'espace par l'agriculture augmentent et conditionnent de plus en plus cette activité. Pour étudier les modes de réponse à cette double exigence de qualité des produits et des paysages, un travail méthodologique et analytique sur le fromage AOC Saint Nectaire a pour objectif de permettre d'identifier les pratiques agricoles impliquées dans l'élaboration du produit et de ses paysages emblématiques. Il s'intéresse : aux éléments paysagers mis en avant pour promouvoir ce produit, aux lieux, exploitations agricoles et pratiques sur l'espace correspondant à ces éléments dans la zone AOC. Le travail est effectué à partir de photographies de promoteurs et de producteurs comportant des paysages considérés comme emblématiques du produit. Des enquêtes en exploitations et des relevés de terrain sont aussi effectués pour repérer les lieux, les pratiques et les éleveurs contribuant à maintenir des éléments paysagers emblématiques, permettant de répondre à une double exigence de qualité du produit et du paysage

Identification of levers for improving dead equine traceability: A survey of French equine owners’ perception of regulatory procedures following their animal’s death

International audienceThe core of the French equine traceability system is the census database (SIRE) managed by the French horse and riding institute (IFCE). Following the death of an equine, owners are legally obliged to take charge of cadaver removal by contacting a rendering company directly or after registration on the national ATM-équidés ANGEE association (ATM) website, which proposes negotiated prices for removal and recording of the death in the SIRE database. Despite these offers, ATM notes few users. Owners are also legally obliged to return the equine's passport to the IFCE, but only 30-40 % of owners comply with the regulation. Rendering companies register data on equine mortality in the fallen stock data interchange database (FSDI), but it is difficult to cross-reference these data with SIRE data. Consequently, the death of equines is not well registered in the SIRE database. The objective of the present study was to identify levers that could be used to improve dead equine traceability by i) investigating the level of satisfaction of equine owners with ATM and rendering company services; and ii) investigating the drawbacks of owners having to return the passport to the IFCE. An online survey was designed and distributed by email to the 5 158 owners who used ATM services between April 2017 and April 2018. The response rate was 16.4 %. Most owners were satisfied by ATM and rendering company services. The lack of simple and quick removal procedures and the lack of any connection between ATM and the rendering companies were among the main drawbacks identified. Regarding the return of the passport to the IFCE, most responding owners returned it through the rendering company (65 %) or directly (2 %). The passport was returned significantly more frequently when requested by the renderers. The main reason for not providing the passport was the owner wanted to keep it as a souvenir. These results suggest that ATM and the rendering companies are key players in dead equine traceability. ATM services should be developed through the establishment of a direct connection with rendering companies to accelerate the cadaver removal request and to allow the cross-referencing of data between the ATM, FSDI and SIRE databases for a better dead equine traceability. Rendering companies need regulatory support to help them ask owners for the equine's passport, formalizing their contribution to equine traceability. Finally, effective communication has to be established to inform owners about the removal procedures and the regulations