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We determined the spatial distribution pattern, source, risk level and influencing factor of heavy metal pollution in a typical high-tech industrial development zone of Changsha, China. A total of 123 topsoil samples were excavated from 11 different land-uses. Quite strong pollution (Nemerow) occurred in the whole zone. The Igeo pollution levels were from slight to strong for these elements. Four primary components were extracted from PCA with 79.36% of total variance explained. It could be deduced from the primary components that Cu, Co, Ni normally resulted from electronic industry; As and Cr were affected by both industrial and natural source; Pb and Zn were originated from traffic activities; and Cd was correlated with the activities of General equipment manufacturing industry and pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The concentrations of Pb and Zn decreased from densely populated areas to suburbs, while the high concentrations of the other six elements were mainly found in the industrial lands. Heavy metal concentration was in weak relationship with green cover ratio (GCR) and built time, inferring that increase of GCR might not be contributed to improvement of the heavy metal pollution. While a reasonable spatial planning of land use had positive effects on controlling heavy metal pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous emergence of new variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), enhanced transmissibility, significant immune escape, and waning immunity call for booster vaccination. We evaluated the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of heterologous booster with a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine SYS6006 versus an active control vaccine in a randomized, open-label, active-controlled phase 3 trial in healthy adults aged 18 years or more who had received two or three doses of SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine in China. The trial started in December 2022 and lasted for 6 months. The participants were randomized (overall ratio: 3:1) to receive one dose of SYS6006 ( N  = 2999) or an ancestral receptor binding region-based, alum-adjuvanted recombinant protein SARS-CoV-2 vaccine ( N  = 1000), including 520 participants in an immunogenicity subgroup. SYS6006 boosting showed good safety profiles with most AEs being grade 1 or 2, and induced robust wild-type and Omicron BA.5 neutralizing antibody response on Days 14 and 28, demonstrating immunogenicity superiority versus the control vaccine and meeting the primary objective. The relative vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 of any severity was 51.6% (95% CI, 35.5-63.7) for any variant, 66.8% (48.6-78.5) for BA.5, and 37.7% (2.4-60.3) for XBB, from Day 7 through Month 6. In the vaccinated and infected hybrid immune participants, the relative vaccine efficacy was 68.4% (31.1-85.5) against COVID-19 of any severity caused by a second infection. All COVID-19 cases were mild. SYS6006 heterologous boosting demonstrated good safety, superior immunogenicity and high efficacy against BA.5-associated COVID-19, and protected against XBB-associated COVID-19, particularly in the hybrid immune population. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2200066941.

The genus Hiroshiinoueana Kawabe, 1978 is recorded from China for the first time. Two new species, H. wuzhishanica sp. nov. and H. inequivalva sp. nov., are described and illustrated. A key to the species of Hiroshiinoueana is provided. Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of the new species are deposited in GenBank.