Insights into household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from a population-based serological survey

Understanding the risk of infection from household- and community-exposures and the transmissibility of asymptomatic infections is critical to SARS-CoV-2 control. Limited previous evidence is based primarily on virologic testing, which disproportionately misses mild and asymptomatic infections. Serologic measures are more likely to capture all previously infected individuals. We apply household transmission models to data from a cross-sectional, household-based population serosurvey of 4,534 people ≥5 years from 2,267 households enrolled April-June 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland. We found that the risk of infection from exposure to a single infected household member aged ≥5 years (17.3%,13.7-21.7) was more than three-times that of extra-household exposures over the first pandemic wave (5.1%,4.5-5.8). Young children had a lower risk of infection from household members. Working-age adults had the highest extra-household infection risk. Seropositive asymptomatic household members had 69.4% lower odds (95%CrI,31.8-88.8%) of infecting another household member compared to those reporting symptoms, accounting for 14.5% (95%CrI, 7.2-22.7%) of all household infections

Side information enhancement using an adaptive hash-based genetic algorithm in a Wyner-Ziv context

Side information construction in Wyner-Ziv video coding is a sensible task which strongly influences the final rate-distortion performance of the scheme. This side information is usually generated through an interpolation of the previous and next images. Some of the zones of a scene however, such as the occlusions, cannot be estimated with other frames. In this paper we propose to avoid this problem by sending some hash information for these unpredictable zones of the image. The resulting algorithm is described and tested here. The obtained results show the advantages of using localized hash information for the high error zones in distributed video coding. ©2010 IEEE

High-conductivity polymer nanocomposites obtained by tailoring the characteristics of carbon nanotube fillers

We present a detailed study of the influence of carbon nanotube (CNT) characteristics on the electrical conductivity of polystyrene nanocomposites produced using a latex-based approach. We processed both industrially-produced multi-wall CNT (MWCNT) powders and MWCNTs from vertically-aligned films made in-house, and demonstrate that while the raw CNTs are individualized and dispersed comparably within the polymer matrix, the electrical conductivity of the final nanocomposites differs significantly due to the intrinsic characteristics of the CNTs. Owing to their longer length after dispersion, the percolation threshold observed using MWCNTs from vertically-aligned films is five times lower than the value for industrially-produced MWCNT powders. Further, owing to the high structural quality of the CNTs from vertically-aligned films, the resulting composite films exhibit electrical conductivity of 103 S m-1 at 2 wt% CNTs. On the contrary, composites made using the industrially-produced CNTs exhibit conductivity of only tens of S m-1. To our knowledge, the measured electrical conductivity for CNT/PS composites using CNTs from vertically-aligned films is by far the highest value yet reported for CNT/PS nanocomposites at this loading

Am J Med Genet A

We report on a three-generation family affected with an osteochondrodysplasia transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait. The phenotype consists of short humerus, curved radius with accessory ossification centre at the proximal third of ulna, variable short stature and brachydactyly, and has not been reported to the best of our knowledge. The brachydactyly falls into the brachydactyly A1 category (especially short 2nd, 4th, and 5th middle phalanges). A unique feature in one family member is triphalangeal thumbs. Vertebrae are normal. Mental development is normal and deafness is seen in some of the family members. A mutation was excluded by sequencing the entire coding regions of the IHH gene encoding the Indian Hedgehog protein and the GDF5 gene. This condition is a novel chondrodyplasia phenotype or possibly one end of the spectrum of the brachydactyly A1

Réduire les émissions GES de nos déplacements professionnels : Une Démarche collaborative à l'IRISA/Inria

Ce rapport expose les travaux menés par le groupe de travail «~missions~» de l'IRISA et du centre Inria de l'Université de Rennes sur l'impact environnemental de nos activités de recherche, et en particulier des émissions de Gaz à Effet de Serre (GES) dues aux trajets en avions. Le groupe de travail, composé d'une quinzaine de membres des différentes tutelles, a abordé ces questions entre septembre 2022 et décembre 2023. Après une phase de réflexion préliminaire visant à dresser une cartographie des pratiques de voyage ainsi que des actions similaires menées en dehors du centre de recherche, le groupe a mis en place une phase d'action participative en trois actes~: I) réalisation du bilan de GES du centre pour l'année 2022; II) organisation d'un atelier participatif visant à questionner nos pratiques de voyages et à construire des mesures de réduction; III) consultation démocratique via une assemblée générale et un sondage en ligne, permettant d'estimer l'acceptabilité de ces différentes mesures de réduction et de les valider

Production of ready-to-use few-layer graphene in aqueous suspensions

Graphene has promising physical and chemical properties such as high strength and flexibility, coupled with high electrical and thermal conductivities. It is therefore being incorporated into polymer-based composites for use in electronics and photonics applications. A main constraint related to the graphene development is that, being of a strongly hydrophobic nature, almost all dispersions (usually required for its handling and processing toward the desired application) are prepared in poisonous organic solvents such as N-methyl pyrrolidone or N,N-dimethyl formamide. Here, we describe how to prepare exfoliated graphite using a ball mill. The graphene produced is three to four layers thick and 3c500 nm in diameter on average, as measured by electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy; can be stored in the form of light solid; and is easily dispersed in aqueous media. Our methodology consists of four main steps: (i) the mechanochemical intercalation of organic molecules (melamine) into graphite, followed by suspension in water; (ii) the washing of suspended graphene to eliminate most of the melamine; (iii) the isolation of stable graphene sheets; and (iv) freeze\u2013drying to obtain graphene powder. This process takes 6\u20137 or 9\u201310 d for aqueous suspensions and dry powders, respectively. The product has well-defined properties and can be used for many science and technology applications, including toxicology impact assessment and the production of innovative medical devices