Architecture for the heterogeneous federation of future internet experimentation facilities

International audienceInternet systems are currently too complex to be entirely designed in advance and therefore must be thoroughly evaluated in realistic environments. Experimentally driven research is at the heart of Future Internet Research and Experiment (FIRE) facilities, which target various experimenter profiles, ranging from core Internet communities and sensor networks to clouds and web services. Such facilities exist in relative isolation to the detriment of innovative research ideas that could arise from the mixture of their diverse technologies and resources, and their combined power. Internet research communities can benefit from gaining access to a larger number and variety of resources through a federation of these facilities. To this end, we present an architecture to support such a federation of Future Internet experimentation facilities, based on use cases and requirements from infrastructure owners, as well as services and first line support communities

Cloud and Network facilities federation in BonFIRE

International audienceIn recent years we have seen how Cloud Computing is changing the way of doing businesses and how services are delivered over the Internet. This disruption is a major challenge for Service Providers and Independent Software Vendors when creating new services and software applications for the Cloud. BonFIRE offers a federated, multi-site cloud testbed to support large-scale testing of applications, services and systems. This is achieved by federating geographically distributed, heterogeneous clouds testbeds where each exposes unique configuration and/or features while giving to the experimenters (users) an homogeneous way to interact with the facility. All those testbeds are controlled by a central set of services commonly denominated “Broker”. Additionally, BonFIRE is federated with different network facilities like the Virtual Wall, FEDERICA and AutoBAHN to provide high-level interfaces to network control functionality, in order to simulate diverse network QoS scenarios, enabling vertical federatio

BonFIRE: the clouds and services testbed

International audienceBonFIRE is a multi-site test bed that supports testing of Cloud-based and distributed applications. BonFIRE breaks the mould of commercial Cloud offerings by providing unique functionality in terms of observability, control, advanced Cloud features and ease of use for experimentation. A number of successful use cases have been executed on BonFIRE, involving industrial and academic users and delivering impact in diverse areas, such as media, e-health, environment and manufacturing. The BonFIRE user-base is expanding through its free, Open Access scheme, daily carrying out important research, while the consortium is working to sustain the facility beyond 2014

Subcutaneous anti-COVID-19 hyperimmune immunoglobulin for prevention of disease in asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trialResearch in context

Summary: Background: Anti-COVID-19 hyperimmune immunoglobulin (hIG) can provide standardized and controlled antibody content. Data from controlled clinical trials using hIG for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 outpatients have not been reported. We assessed the safety and efficacy of subcutaneous anti-COVID-19 hyperimmune immunoglobulin 20% (C19-IG20%) compared to placebo in preventing development of symptomatic COVID-19 in asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: We did a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, in asymptomatic unvaccinated adults (≥18 years of age) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection within 5 days between April 28 and December 27, 2021. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive a blinded subcutaneous infusion of 10 mL with 1 g or 2 g of C19-IG20%, or an equivalent volume of saline as placebo. The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants who remained asymptomatic through day 14 after infusion. Secondary endpoints included the proportion of individuals who required oxygen supplementation, any medically attended visit, hospitalisation, or ICU, and viral load reduction and viral clearance in nasopharyngeal swabs. Safety was assessed as the proportion of patients with adverse events. The trial was terminated early due to a lack of potential benefit in the target population in a planned interim analysis conducted in December 2021. ClinicalTrials.gov registry: NCT04847141. Findings: 461 individuals (mean age 39.6 years [SD 12.8]) were randomized and received the intervention within a mean of 3.1 (SD 1.27) days from a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. In the prespecified modified intention-to-treat analysis that included only participants who received a subcutaneous infusion, the primary outcome occurred in 59.9% (91/152) of participants receiving 1 g C19-IG20%, 64.7% (99/153) receiving 2 g, and 63.5% (99/156) receiving placebo (difference in proportions 1 g C19-IG20% vs. placebo, −3.6%; 95% CI -14.6% to 7.3%, p = 0.53; 2 g C19-IG20% vs placebo, 1.1%; −9.6% to 11.9%, p = 0.85). None of the secondary clinical efficacy endpoints or virological endpoints were significantly different between study groups. Adverse event rate was similar between groups, and no severe or life-threatening adverse events related to investigational product infusion were reported. Interpretation: Our findings suggested that administration of subcutaneous human hyperimmune immunoglobulin C19-IG20% to asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection was safe but did not prevent development of symptomatic COVID-19. Funding: Grifols