A theoretical analysis of spatial/temporal modulation-based systems for prevention of illegal recordings in movie theaters

International audienc

A metamerism-based method to prevent camcorder movie piracy in digital theaters

International audienc

A risk-based method to prioritize cumulative impacts assessment on marine biodiversity and research policy for offshore wind farms in France

International audienceThis study developed the “ECUME” risk-based approach to identify and prioritize critical impact pathways to be considered in cumulative impact assessment of offshore windfarms, and for future research. The prioritization framework has been tested on two offshore windfarms projects located in the French part of the English Channel off the coast of Normandy, those of Fécamp and Courseulles-sur-Mer. The approach is based on a complete inventory of impact pathways, prioritizing those for which an impact assessment will be carried out. The aim was to avoid a “quantification bias” and elaborate a systemic vision. The novelty of the study is to apply a combination of expert judgement, consensus building, and a scoring system, to prioritize the pairs of pressures and receptors of the marine environment to work on. The scoring system is based on the ecological importance of receptors, the degree of knowledge on the effect of a pressure on a receptor and the sensitivity of each receptor to pressures. Priorities for research were also determined during the same process. Bringing together a large set of specialized marine environnement scientists, the initial challenge was to build a common vocabulary, and a shared understanding of the risk-based prioritization approach. This required significant time and effort but secured foundations for further work. This study confirms the increasingly shared view that adopting a risk-based approach considering adverse effects on receptors is an efficient way to assess cumulative impacts, to focus on critical impact pathways, and manage the scientific complexity and the significant uncertainties

Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19

BackgroundWe previously reported that impaired type I IFN activity, due to inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity or to autoantibodies against type I IFN, account for 15-20% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. Therefore, the determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 remain to be identified in similar to 80% of cases.MethodsWe report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and 1373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. Among the 928 patients tested for autoantibodies against type I IFN, a quarter (234) were positive and were excluded.ResultsNo gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants was TLR7, with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI 1.5-528.7, P=1.1x10(-4)) for biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR=3.70[95%CI 1.3-8.2], P=2.1x10(-4)). This enrichment was further strengthened by (1) adding the recently reported TYK2 and TLR7 COVID-19 loci, particularly under a recessive model (OR=19.65[95%CI 2.1-2635.4], P=3.4x10(-3)), and (2) considering as pLOF branchpoint variants with potentially strong impacts on splicing among the 15 loci (OR=4.40[9%CI 2.3-8.4], P=7.7x10(-8)). Finally, the patients with pLOF/bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD]=43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years; P=1.68x10(-5)).ConclusionsRare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60 years old