Advanced Network and Services (United States)

Weed flowers constitute important resources for many insects. In that regard, vineyards represent an interesting agroecosystem, due to the wide spacing between rows, which allows the development of spontaneous vegetation. Their floral potential depend

Інноваційно орієнтовані галузі є на сьогодні ключовими рушіями економічного зростання. Ефективність їхнього розвитку значною мірою залежить від наявності й структури механізмів фінансової та кредитної підтримки в країні, а також від рівня розвитку інфраструктури цифрового ринку. Мета цього дослідження – оцінити вплив фінансових і кредитних механізмів на інноваційно орієнтовані підприємства шляхом аналізу ключових фінансових і кредитних інструментів із використанням економічного та математичного моделювання. У дослідженні застосовані кореляційний і регресійний аналізи, а також ANOVA-тестування. Результати кореляційного аналізу показують, що впровадження інновацій підприємствами демонструє лише слабку залежність від фінансових і кредитних інструментів. Натомість експорт високих технологій і кількість дослідників, зайнятих у науково-дослідній діяльності, демонструють більш сильний зв'язок із доступом до фінансових ресурсів, інвестиційною діяльністю та функціонуванням цифрової ринкової інфраструктури. Регресійний аналіз показує, що сукупний ефект грантів, банківського кредитування та інвестиційної діяльності значно підвищує здатність компаній розвивати експорт високих технологій. Ба більше, цей інтегрований фінансовий і кредитний механізм сприяє формуванню людського капіталу в галузі досліджень і розробок. Дослідження також показує, що різні фінансові та кредитні механізми по-різному впливають на показники інновацій. Зокрема, внутрішні джерела фінансування та державна підтримка стимулюють упровадження інновацій, а банківське кредитування та інвестиційна діяльність переважно сприяють експортові високих технологій і зростанню кількості дослідників у галузі НДДКР. Загалом, досліджені механізми пояснюють 22% варіації експорту високих технологій і 40% варіації кількості дослідників у царині досліджень і розробок. Отримані результати є основою для розробки фінансової та кредитної політики, спрямованої на стимулювання інноваційної діяльності, розширення експорту високих технологій і зміцнення науково-дослідницького потенціалу.

Satellite-aided low-altitude UAV networks utilize satellites to support low-flying drones with communication and navigation for tasks like sensing, surveillance, and delivery. A critical challenge is offloading UAV communication traffic and migrate services to satellites during network congestion. The decentralized structure, changing link conditions, and limited local visibility make it hard to coordinate service migration and request routing in such dynamic environments. To address these challenges, we propose a semantic graph-based multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) framework for satellite-aided UAV networks. We formulate service migration and routing as a semantic graph optimization problem, with the objectives of reducing communication delay and increasing network throughput. The framework incorporates two key components: a cyclic message-passing model that enables nodes to infer global network states from limited local observations, and a discrete denoising diffusion model that generates realistic, and dynamic topologies. Our framework leverages semantic feature extraction to further enhance decision-making in routing and service placement. Extensive simulations show that our approach achieves significant reductions in average transmission delay and improvements in the network throughput.

Abstract Ticks occupy diverse habitats, increasing the risk of human exposure. Assessing the public health threat posed by ticks requires rigorous monitoring of their distribution and of the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens. In France since 2017, the citizen science program CiTIQUE monitors human tick bites through multiple complementary approaches. Citizens can report bites and submit biting ticks to a national tick bank for research and surveillance. This study aimed to investigate human exposure to tick-borne microorganisms including pathogens across France, using ticks submitted through the CiTIQUE program. In total, 2,009 ticks were selected from the CiTIQUE tick bank, identified, and screened for microorganisms using a real-time microfluidic PCR method. Most bites involved Ixodes ricinus nymphs except in Mediterranean regions where Dermacentor and Rhipicephalus ticks were more common. Twenty-six microorganisms were detected, eighteen of which are potentially pathogenic to humans. These pathogens were widely distributed across the country. Borrelia spp. were the most frequently detected pathogens with spatial variation among regions. Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection rates varied from region to region. Neoehrlichia mikurensis was found in seven out of twelve French regions. Rickettsia species diversity was highest in the southeast, associated with a greater diversity of vectors. Five percent of ticks were infected with more than one pathogen. Although spatial heterogeneity was observed, no region was free of infected ticks. This study demonstrates the power of citizen science for nationwide surveillance of tick-borne pathogens, providing a large-scale overview of pathogen diversity and distribution across France from crowdsourced tick data.

Since 2021, the panzootic of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) represents an increasing threat to wild vertebrate populations. In this context, recent vaccines developed for poultry could provide tools for the conservation of wild endangered birds populations. The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), a long-lived seabird breeding in dense colonies with an extended chick-rearing period, was identified as a possible surrogate species for a vaccination trial in a sub-Antarctic natural setting. We investigate here the immune response of king penguin chicks to a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine against a H5 HPAI clade 2.3.4.4b protein. Thirty chicks were vaccinated (primo- and boost-injections), 20 were kept as controls. Along 250 days of monitoring, vaccinated chicks showed a high and persistent immune response, granting a strong seroneutralisation capacity against the virus, up to fledging. No adverse effects were observed. The screening for antibodies against unspecific avian influenza viruses suggested that no natural infection occurred over the entire trial. The emergence of HPAI in the Southern Indian Ocean in October 2024 highlights the timeliness of such experimental tests. Our results show the vaccine could provide a powerful tool for mitigation and emphasises the need for studies considering ethical and practical issues of vaccination for wildlife conservation.

Abstract Creep tests were conducted on weld joints under welding conditions that have high creep performance. The creep performance of weld joints is governed by the stress distribution in the fine-grained heat affected zone (HAZ) during welding, which is governed by the HAZ shape. In this study, we demonstrated that creep performance can be controlled by welding conditions. The welding condition is obtained by the tandem Bayesian model that combines welding conditions and creep life via HAZ shape factors. This framework is a probabilistic combination of two surrogate models: Gaussian process which predicts the HAZ shape from welding parameters, and Bayesian linear regression which estimates the rupture life. The search targets are the number of layers, layer thickness, and heat input. Long-life conditions that were 1.8 times longer than the maximum life of the initial train data were searched. Two other conditions were selected: standard welding conditions, short-life welding conditions. Welding and creep tests were performed, and the results of the creep tests were long > standard > short. The HAZ shapes reflected the differences in life, as expected from the welding conditions. In conclusion, it is possible to control the creep life by adjusting the welding conditions was proved.

Abstract Background This study focuses on genetic resistance to infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN), a highly contagious disease caused by an aquatic birnavirus (IPNV) which especially affects salmonids worldwide. The objectives were to estimate the heritability of IPN resistance and to fine map quantitative trait loci (QTL) using a Bayesian Sparse Linear Mixed Model to identify candidate genes possibly linked to IPN resistance in two successive generations from a French commercial strain of rainbow trout. For each generation, 2,000 fish were experimentally exposed by bath to IPNV and mortalities were monitored daily during 5 weeks. All fish were genotyped using a medium-density 57K SNP chip and imputed to high-density genotypes (665K SNP). Results The mean survival rate was 70% after 37 days, with a higher survival rate in the second generation compared to the first one (78% versus 61%). Heritability was moderate (∼0.20). Approximately 74% of the genetic variance of IPN resistance was explained by a few tens of SNP. In total, 25 QTL were mapped on 10 chromosomes. Among them, 7 were detected with very strong evidence on chromosomes 1, 14, 16 and 28. The most interesting QTL were associated to top SNP with mean survival rate differences over 20% between the beneficial and detrimental homozygous genotypes. Those SNP were all located within promising functional candidate genes on chromosome 1 ( uts2d , rc3h1 , ga45b ) and chromosome 16 ( irf2bp , eif2ak2) , all these genes being associated to the regulation of inflammatory pathways. A key factor of the genetic differences in susceptibility to IPNV among fish is PKR, the dsRNA-dependent serine/threonine-protein kinase encoded by the eif2ak2 gene. Conclusions All genes associated to the most significant QTL on chromosomes 1 and 16 are involved in the regulation of inflammatory pathways, strongly suggesting a central role of inflammation in the IPN resistance in rainbow trout. These findings offer the possibility of marker-assisted selection for rapid dissemination of genetic improvement for IPN resistance.

ABSTRACTBacillus cereus sensu lato(Bcsl) is a group of closely related bacterial species known for their resistant spores, enabling them to persist in a dormant state and thereby colonize and adapt across diverse environments.Bcslis known for its harmful impact on human health, producing toxins that cause emetic and diarrheal syndromes or provoking opportunistic infections in hospitals. Importantly,Bcslis the most frequent confirmed or presumptive causative agent associated with foodborne outbreaks (FBOs) in France. In our study, we assessed the population structure of a large collection ofBcslisolated during FBOs investigation in France between 2004 and 2023, focusing on the association between distinct populations and food categories. Using 294 genomes from 183 FBOs, we applied genomic clustering and phylogenomic analysis to accurately identify predominantBcslpopulations:B. cereus sensu stricto(17.0%),B. paranthracis(16.1%), andB. thuringiensissubsp.kurstaki(7.6%), which were positively associated with composite dishes, cereals, and vegetable-based salads, respectively. Some strains were phylogenetically closely related to clinical isolates, highlighting the need to assess the antibiotic susceptibility ofBcsl. Notably, oneBcslclade,B. cytotoxicus, lacking beta-lactamase-encoding genes showed a greatly increased sensitivity to ampicillin than otherBcslconsidered to be naturally resistant to beta-lactams. Additionally, some strains showed reduced susceptibility to macrolides and cyclins. Finally, we identified several signatures of recombination and horizontal transfer, suggesting the ability ofBcslto share fitness-enhancing alleles and acquire virulence and antibiotic resistance genes by non-pathogenic strains. These findings would be valuable for improving the surveillance ofBcsl.HIGHLIGHTSBcslassociated with French food poisonings consist of 14 clusters.Bcss,the most frequent clade, is mainly found in composite dishes.Bcsltoxin genes are present in various clades, suggesting horizontal gene transfer.SomeBcsllinked to food poisonings or septicemia belong to the same populations.B. cytotoxicus,lackingblagenes, showed increased sensitivity to ampicillin.

Summary Background Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) are tick-borne zoonoses of public health importance, transmitted in Western Europe by the same tick vector Ixodes ricinus . Roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) is a widespread feeding host for I. ricinus stages. Here, we explored the spatial extent of both pathogens in the wild in Northern France by assessing serological status in roe deer. Methods We collected 3,147 blood samples (2019-2022), and searched antibodies against both pathogens using ELISA tests. We fitted logistic models to investigate exposure to both or either pathogens, and explored spatial patterns using Kulldorf clustering scan tests. Results The overall ELISA IgG prevalence was 23.24% (95%CI [21.77-34.72]) for Borrelia and 8.64% (95%CI [7.45-9.86]) for TBEV. The median Borrelia seroprevalence varied from 4% to 42% between departments, with two high-risk clusters of exposure identified. TBEV seroprevalence did not show any spatial pattern, and positives by seroneutralisation tests were reported in eight departments. Discussion Our findings suggest the presence of both pathogens over large areas. Wider spatial sampling including areas at lower risk and improved serological methods would be beneficial to further validate those estimates.