ABSTRACT
Background: Response to COVID-19 vaccination is significantly impaired in kidney transplant recipients (KTR) even after three doses of an mRNA vaccine. Adaptive immunization strategies are urgently needed to ultimately protect these patients from COVID-19. Method(s): We determined the effect of an additional mRNA-1273 vaccine dose in 76 non-responder KTR with at least 3 previous vaccine doses. In 43 KTR with triple immunosuppressive therapy including a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI), mycophenolic acid (MPA), and corticosteroids (CS), MPA was withdrawn to investigate the effect of short-term MPA withdrawal on COVID-19 vaccine immunogenicity. Seroconversion was determined four weeks after vaccination. In addition, neutralization of the delta and omicron variants was determined using a live-virus assay. In patients with temporary MPA withdrawal, donor-specific antibodies (DSA) and donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) were monitored before MPA withdrawal and at follow-up. Result(s): After vaccination, 24/69 (35%) KTR showed anti-spike S1 IgG antibodies above the predefined cut-off, excluding 7 breakthrough infections that occurred during follow-up. SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies were significantly higher in patients where MPA was withdrawn (Figure 1A). Neutralization of the delta variant was significantly better compared to neutralization of the omicron variant (Figure 1B). Higher SARSCoV-2-specific antibodies were associated with better in-vitro neutralization of the delta and omicron variants (Figure 1C). In KTR with MPA withdrawal, no significant changes in S-creatinine, proteinuria or dd-cfDNA were observed. No acute rejection episode occurred during short-term follow-up. However, resurgence of pre-existing DSA was observed in 7 patients and the development of de novo DSA in one patient. Conclusion(s): MPA withdrawal seems reasonable to increase immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. For safety reasons, this may only be offered to patients without current or previous DSA.
ABSTRACT
As a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic, a shift in teaching and learning from face-to-face to video-based online instructional settings has occurred in higher education. For online teaching, strategies are required to allow collaboration and interaction between learners, similar to face-to-face teaching. Therefore, it is essential to identify how students perceive group work in online classes in order to be able to draw relevant conclusions for the design of online classes. This paper examines the learning climate and the perceived key features of collaborative learning in two different computer science courses with (N = 9) pre-service teachers in computer science and (N = 7) computer science majors, which took place in the virtual gathering space gather.town. We choose this platform to provide a wide opportunity for interaction, especially during collaborative group work. Even though we can draw no conclusions that the possibility of interaction in gather.town platform had an impact on the learning climate, results indicate that the learning atmosphere was perceived as similar to that of in faceto-face courses. Furthermore, the results based on the qualitative content analysis indicate that students perceived a high activation as working better in online collaboration than in face-to-face settings.
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic has been transforming economic, political and social realities into a so-called “new normalcy”. Learning to cope with this contingency requires (re)construction of people’s identity. In this study, we critically analyze the narratives of change and the consumption practices of Brazilians interviewed during the period of social distancing. We follow a critical social-psychological approach based on the works of Fromm, Rosa and Kühn. Our results show that the pandemic encourages people to reflect responsibly on their consumption, but also highlight how consumption contributes to the reproduction of social inequality, leading to polarizations within society. © 2020, Universidade de Brasilia. All rights reserved.