Intranasal Boosting with Spike Fc-RBD of Wild-Type SARS-CoV-2 Induces Neutralizing Antibodies against Omicron Subvariants and Reduces Viral Load in the Nasal Turbinate of Mice.

The emergence of new immune-evasive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants and subvariants outpaces the development of vaccines specific against the dominant circulating strains. In terms of the only accepted immune correlate of protection, the inactivated whole-virion vaccine using wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike induces a much lower serum neutralizing antibody titre against the Omicron subvariants. Since the inactivated vaccine given intramuscularly is one of the most commonly used coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in developing regions, we tested the hypothesis that intranasal boosting after intramuscular priming would provide a broader level of protection. Here, we showed that one or two intranasal boosts with the Fc-linked trimeric spike receptor-binding domain from wild-type SARS-CoV-2 can induce significantly higher serum neutralizing antibodies against wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron subvariants, including BA.5.2 and XBB.1, with a lower titre in the bronchoalveolar lavage of vaccinated Balb/c mice than vaccination with four intramuscular doses of inactivated whole virion vaccine. The intranasally vaccinated K18-hACE2-transgenic mice also had a significantly lower nasal turbinate viral load, suggesting a better protection of the upper airway, which is the predilected site of infection by Omicron subvariants. This intramuscular priming and intranasal boosting approach that achieves broader cross-protection against Omicron variants and subvariants may lengthen the interval required for changing the vaccine immunogen from months to years.

Building sustainability education for green recovery in the energy resource sector: A cross country analysis

In this paper, the critical success factors of sustainable education on the recovery of green energy resources in three countries, China, Japan, and India, were studied using a survey, hierarchical analysis, and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods. The research findings showed that in China, the most crucial success factors of sustainable education to have green energy recovery are green culture in society, international cooperation in teaching sustainable courses, and learner's attitude. In Japan, the success factors of sustainable education are different. According to experts, the learner's attitude, the presence of green culture in the society, and the support of government institutions related to the environment for this education are three essential success factors for sustainable development education. In India, the presence of green culture in the society, the support of government institutions related to the environment, and the teacher's attitude are the most critical success factors of sustainable education policy. The primary practical policies recommended by this research are promoting international cooperation, using electronic education capacities, and increasing green awareness through the media and social networks.

Effect of vaccine booster, vaccine type, and hybrid immunity on humoral and cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain and Omicron variant sublineages BA.2 and BA.5 among older adults with comorbidities: a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Vaccination reduces COVID-19-related hospitalization among older adults. However, how SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccine regimens affect vaccine-elicited immunity remain unclear. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study recruiting adults aged ≥70 years with comorbidities in Hong Kong. Demographic and clinical information were collected using a questionnaire. Neutralizing antibody (nAb) titers (against ancestral and Omicron strains) and SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response were analyzed according to infection and vaccination status. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to assess the associations of BNT162b2 and booster doses with higher nAb titers, with adjustment for comorbidities. FINDINGS: In July 2022, 101 patients were recruited, of whom 25 (24%) had previous infection. Overall, the geometric mean titer (GMT) of BA.5 nAb was 2.8-fold lower than that against BA.2 (P < 0.0001). The ancestral strain and BA.2 titers were higher for the 3-4-dose-BNT162 group than the 2-dose-BNT162b2 group. Non-infected individuals in the 3-4-dose-CoronaVac group had a more robust T cell response than the 2-dose-CoronaVac group (P = 0.0181), but there was no significant difference between the 2-dose-BNT162b2 and 3-4-dose-BNT162b groups. Patients who had heterologous CoronaVac-BNT162b2 prime-boost regimen had 3.22-fold higher BA.5 nAb titers than those who were primed/boosted with CoronaVac (P = 0.0207). Patients with hybrid immunity had higher Omicron nAb titers than those with vaccine-only immunity. Multivariable analysis showed that BNT162b2 and booster doses were independently associated with higher ancestral strain nAb titers. INTERPRETATION: Our data support the use of booster doses for older adults with or without prior infection. Non-infected individuals primed with CoronaVac will benefit from heterologous mRNA vaccine booster. FUNDING: Richard and Carol Yu, May Tam Mak Mei Yin, The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong, Michael Tong, Marina Lee, Government Consultancy Service (See acknowledgements for full list).

SARS-CoV-2 IgG seropositivity after the severe Omicron wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong.

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has led to a major wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong between January and May 2022. Here, we used seroprevalence to estimate the combined incidence of vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection, including subclinical infection which were not diagnosed at the acute stage. The overall seropositive rate of IgG against receptor binding domain (anti-RBD IgG) increased from 52.2% in December 2021 to 89.3% in May 2022. The level of anti-RBD IgG was lowest in the 0-9 and ≥80 year-old age groups in May 2022. The seropositive rate of antibody against ORF8, which reflects the rate of prior infection, was 23.4% in May 2022. Our data suggest that although most individuals were either vaccinated or infected after the fifth wave, children and older adults remain most vulnerable. Public health measures should target these age groups in order to ameliorate the healthcare consequences of upcoming waves.

Contribution of low population immunity to the severe Omicron BA.2 outbreak in Hong Kong.

Monitoring population protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants is critical for risk assessment. We hypothesize that Hong Kong's explosive Omicron BA.2 outbreak in early 2022 could be explained by low herd immunity. Our seroprevalence study using sera collected from January to December 2021 shows a very low prevalence of neutralizing antibodies (NAb) against ancestral virus among older adults. The age group-specific prevalence of NAb generally correlates with the vaccination uptake rate, but older adults have a much lower NAb seropositive rate than vaccination uptake rate. For all age groups, the seroprevalence of NAb against Omicron variant is much lower than that against the ancestral virus. Our study suggests that this BA.2 outbreak and the exceptionally high case-fatality rate in the ≥80 year-old age group (9.2%) could be attributed to the lack of protective immunity in the population, especially among the vulnerable older adults, and that ongoing sero-surveillance is essential.

Insights into the significant increase in ozone during COVID-19 in a typical urban city of China

The outbreak of COVID-19 promoted strict restrictions to human activities in China, which led to a dramatic decrease in most air pollutant concentrations (e.g., PM2.5, PM10, NOx, SO2 and CO). However, an obvious increase in ozone (O3) concentrations was found during the lockdown period in most urban areas of China. In this study, we conducted field measurements targeting ozone and its key precursors by utilizing a novel proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) in Changzhou, which is representative of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) city cluster of China. We further applied the integrated methodology including machine learning, an observation-based model (OBM) and sensitivity analysis to obtain insights into the reasons causing the obvious increase in ozone. Major findings include the following: (1) by deweathered calculation, we found changes in precursor emissions contributed 1.46 ppbv to the increase in the observed O3 during the full-lockdown period in 2020, while meteorology constrained 3.0 ppbv of O3 in the full-lockdown period of 2019. (2) By using an OBM, we found that although a significant reduction in O3 precursors was observed during the full-lockdown period, the photochemical formation of O3 was stronger than that during the pre-lockdown period. (3) The NOx/VOC ratio dropped dramatically from 1.84 during the pre-lockdown to 0.79 in the full-lockdown period, which switched O3 formation from a VOC-limited regime to the boundary of a NOx- and VOC-limited regime. Additionally, box model results suggested that the decrease in the NOx/VOC ratio during the full-lockdown period could increase the mean O3 by 2.4 ppbv. Results of this study give insights into the relationship between O3 and its precursors in urban area and demonstrate reasons for the obvious increase in O3 in most urban areas of China during the COVID-19 lockdown period. This study also underlines the necessity of controlling anthropogenic oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs), alkenes and aromatics in the sustained campaign of reducing O3 pollution in China.

Boosting of serum neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant among recovered COVID-19 patients by BNT162b2 and CoronaVac vaccines.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant evades immunity from past infection or vaccination and is associated with a greater risk of reinfection among recovered COVID-19 patients. We assessed the serum neutralizing antibody (NAb) activity against Omicron variant (Omicron NAb) among recovered COVID-19 patients with or without vaccination. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study with 135 recovered COVID-19 patients, we determined the serum NAb titers against ancestral virus or variants using a live virus NAb assay. We used the receiver operating characteristic analysis to determine the optimal cutoff for a commercially-available surrogate NAb assay. FINDINGS: Among recovered COVID-19 patients, the serum live virus geometric mean Omicron NAb titer was statistically significantly higher among BNT162b2 recipients compared to non-vaccinated individuals (85.4 vs 5.6,P < 0.0001). The Omicron seropositive rates in live virus NAb test (NAb titer ≥10) were statistically significantly higher among BNT162b2 (90.6% [29/32];P < 0.0001) or CoronaVac (36.7% [11/30]; P = 0.0115) recipients when compared with non-vaccinated individuals (12.3% [9/73]). Subgroup analysis of CoronaVac recipients showed that the Omicron seropositive rates were higher among individuals with two doses than those with one dose (85.7% vs 21.7%; P = 0.0045). For the surrogate NAb assay, a cutoff of 109.1 AU/ml, which is 7.3-fold higher than the manufacturer's recommended cutoff, could achieve a sensitivity and specificity of 89.5% and 89.8%, respectively, in detecting Omicron NAb. INTERPRETATION: Among individuals with prior COVID-19, one dose of BNT162b2 or two doses of CoronaVac could induce detectable serum Omicron NAb. Our result would be particularly important for guiding vaccine policies in countries with COVID-19 vaccine shortage. FUNDING: Health and Medical Research Fund, Richard and Carol Yu, Michael Tong (see acknowledgments for full list).

Library Services during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Bibliometric Analysis and knowledge Mapping

The increased usage of libraries during the Covid-19 pandemic has been well known to science communicators, but scientific communication has not evaluated the distributions of its published findings. Thus, this study intends to identify and map library services in international publishing, particularly the Scopus database during the pandemic. Sixty-four publications in the Scopus database were assessed using the bibliometric approach and fifty-seven documents are considered. To find documents from January 2020-June 2021, the author utilized keywords such as library services AND covid-19. Microsoft excels and VOSviewer software was used to analyze the result and visualize the knowledge map. The results showed that most of the papers are dealt with favorable and adoptive library services techniques, implementation of different users demands during the pandemic. The study found the most prolific authors. Rafiq, M., Batool, S. H., Ali, A. F., & Ullah, M. received a maximum of 20 citations from a single document and Michalak R., Ortiz-Díaz E.M., Pacheco-Mendoza J., Rysavy M.D.T., Saavedra-Alamillas C. published 2 documents each. The United States of America is ranked top to publish the scholarly publication on the Library Services during the COVID-19 related documents with 21 documents. India is in the 2nd rank with eight papers, followed by Pakistan, China, Nigeria, Peru, and South Korea. As a result, publications concerning this topic have a high likelihood of emerging. The most frequent terms used by authors are COVID-19(22.90%), library services (7.01%), academic libraries (5.61%). The shift towards advanced virtual and digital services offers more than just boosting librarians and library patrons;it serves as a move to keep the library relevant in a tech-centered society.

Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Variant-Associated Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) Mutations on the Susceptibility to Serum Antibodies Elicited by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Infection or Vaccination.

BACKGROUND: Several severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineages with mutations at the spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) have reduced susceptibility to antibody neutralization, and have been classified as variants of concern (VOCs) or variants of interest (VOIs). Here we systematically compared the neutralization susceptibility and RBD binding of different VOCs/VOIs, including B.1.617.1 (kappa variant) and P.3 (theta variant), which were first detected in India and the Philippines, respectively. METHODS: The neutralization susceptibility of the VOCs/VOIs (B.1.351, B.1.617.1, and P.3) and a non-VOC/VOI without RBD mutations (B.1.36.27) to convalescent sera from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients or BNT162b2 vaccinees was determined using a live virus microneutralization (MN) assay. Serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding to wild-type and mutant RBDs were determined using an enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: The geometric mean neutralization titers (GMT) of B.1.351, P.3, and B.1.617.1 were significantly lower than that of B.1.36.27 for COVID-19 patients infected with non-VOCs/VOIs (3.4- to 5.7-fold lower) or individuals who have received 2 doses of BNT162b2 vaccine (4.4- to 7.3-fold lower). The GMT of B.1.351 or P.3 were lower than that of B.1.617.1. For the 4 patients infected with B.1.351 or B.1.617.1, the MN titer was highest for their respective lineage. RBD with E484K or E484Q mutation, either alone or in combination with other mutations, showed greatest reduction in serum IgG binding. CONCLUSIONS: P.3 and B.1.617.1 escape serum neutralization induced by natural infection or vaccine. Infection with 1 variant does not confer cross-protection for heterologous lineages. Immunogenicity testing for second generation COVID-19 vaccines should include multiple variant and "nonvariant" strains.

The pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 in hACE2 transgenic mice.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has become a public health emergency of international concern1. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the cell-entry receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)2. Here we infected transgenic mice that express human ACE2 (hereafter, hACE2 mice) with SARS-CoV-2 and studied the pathogenicity of the virus. We observed weight loss as well as virus replication in the lungs of hACE2 mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. The typical histopathology was interstitial pneumonia with infiltration of considerable numbers of macrophages and lymphocytes into the alveolar interstitium, and the accumulation of macrophages in alveolar cavities. We observed viral antigens in bronchial epithelial cells, macrophages and alveolar epithelia. These phenomena were not found in wild-type mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. Notably, we have confirmed the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 in hACE2 mice. This mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection will be valuable for evaluating antiviral therapeutic agents and vaccines, as well as understanding the pathogenesis of COVID-19.