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Bordetella pertussis causes whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory disease that is reemerging in many world regions. The spread of antigen-deficient strains may threaten acellular vaccine efficacy. Dynamics of strain transmission are poorly defined because of shortcomings in current strain genotyping methods. Our objective was to develop a whole-genome genotyping strategy with sufficient resolution for local epidemiologic questions and sufficient reproducibility to enable international comparisons of clinical isolates. We defined a core genome multilocus sequence typing scheme comprising 2,038 loci and demonstrated its congruence with whole-genome single-nucleotide polymorphism variation. Most cases of intrafamilial groups of isolates or of multiple isolates recovered from the same patient were distinguished from temporally and geographically cocirculating isolates. However, epidemiologically unrelated isolates were sometimes nearly undistinguishable. We set up a publicly accessible core genome multilocus sequence typing database to enable global comparisons of B. pertussis isolates, opening the way for internationally coordinated surveillance.

This article uses “centrality” metrics reflecting position within Global Value Chains (GVCs) to identify central hubs and peripheral European economies and sectors. We find evidence of large changes in the structure of European production networks, with rising importance of Eastern European economies coinciding with the timing of their EU accession. Using cross-country firm-level data from ORBIS, we find that changing structure of GVCs can play a role in the catchup of firms, but the effects are heterogeneous across firms and countries. First, becoming more central is associated with faster productivity growth of firms in post-2004 EU members. Second, the average productivity (centrality weighted) of buyers/suppliers matters for the productivity of firms overall in other European economies, and particularly non-frontier (initially less productive) firms in both groups of countries. The results for post-2004 EU members suggest that policies to encourage integration into GVCs are particularly important for the productivity of emerging or less integrated economies, whereas for more advanced economies a more sophisticated policy is needed that encourages the formation of linkages with productive, frontier foreign firms and economies.

Introduction: Paediatric brain tumours in the sellar-suprasellar region are often associated with arginine vasopressin peptide deficiency (AVPD), either at diagnosis caused by the tumour itself or during follow-up as a consequence of treatments. The purpose of this research was to retrospectively describe the neuroradiological characteristics and the timing of AVPD development in a cohort of paediatric patients with craniopharyngioma (CP) or germ cell tumours (GCTs). Methods: We evaluated brain MRI at tumour diagnosis and at the onset of AVPD, as well as recorded clinical, endocrinological, and histopathological data, treatments, and outcome. Results: Seventy-two patients with AVPD were included: 46 CPs (M:F = 25:21) and 26 GCTs (M:F = 18:8). CPs were suprasellar (63%), sellar (4%), or both (33%). GCTs were suprasellar (65%), pineal (24%), or bifocal (11%). No statistically significant differences were noted in tumour size between CP and GCT. Posterior pituitary bright spot absence was reported at diagnosis or at follow-up (as surgery consequence) in all patients with AVPD, indicating that the absence of hyper-intensity is a cardinal feature of AVPD. When measurable, pituitary stalk was thickened in most GCT patients (61.5%). At AVPD diagnosis in GCT, the mean age was 11.9 years; 18 (69%) patients had AVPD at the time of tumour diagnosis, 5 (19.3%) before the diagnosis with a latency of 24.4 months (range 4–48), and 3 (11.5%) during follow-up (mean 24 months, range 4–60) due to tumour recurrence. GCT patients presented with severe endocrinological manifestations (18/26), headache and vomiting (10/26), visual impairment (5/26), and behavioural changes with fatigue (1/26). In CP, the mean age at AVPD diagnosis was 10.3 years; 7 (15.2%) patients had AVPD at time of tumour diagnosis, 37 (80.5%) developed it shortly after neurosurgery, and 2 patients (4.3%) after 2 and 4 months from surgery, respectively. Clinically, headache and visual abnormalities were the most frequent clinical symptoms at diagnosis of CP (39/46, 84.8%), with hydrocephalus (16/46, 35%) and displacement of optic chiasm (29/46, 63%) at the initial MRI. While the vast majority of CP patients (93%) received only surgery, all GCT patients received radiation therapy in addition to or instead of surgery. Conclusion: An early differential diagnosis in children with AVPD and brain tumours is supported by a good understanding of the clinical features and imaging findings. Expert follow-up is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial policy is back. After having been considered a taboo since the 1970s, “new industrial policies” are at the core of governments’ strategies to support countries during crises and enable the green and digital transitions. Virtually, every government has used and uses industrial policy, despite continued concerns related to anticompetitive effects, within and across countries, captured by vested interests and the opportunity cost of public funds, which economists have pointed out, based on previous unsuccessful experiences. In this paper, we contribute to the debate on industrial policy by presenting both a sound and simple framework to help design industrial policies and also data that allow the comparison of industrial strategies and their priorities across countries. First, this paper summarises our recent framework for industrial strategies, which is designed to offer practical policy advice and shed light on the complementarities between different policy instruments. Such a framework is particularly useful when designing complex mission-oriented industrial strategies promoting the green transition of the business sector. Second, this paper presents some salient results from the new “Quantifying Industrial Strategies” (QuIS) project, which gathers harmonised data on industrial policy expenditures, policy priorities, and policy instruments, thereby allowing the benchmarking of industrial strategies across countries. Based on the aforementioned conceptual framework, QuIS measures industrial policy expenditures across 9 OECD members, for the period 2019–2021. The data, now publicly available on the OECD website, show the importance of industrial policy expenditures, and the growing role of green industrial policies in countries industrial strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies reporting the long-term humoral response after receiving the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine are important to drive future vaccination strategies. Yet, available literature is scarce. Covidiagnostix is a multicenter study designed to assess the antibody response in >1000 healthcare professionals (HCPs) who received the BNT162b2 vaccine. Methods: Serum was tested at time-0 (T0), before the first dose, T1, T2, and T3, respectively, 21, 42, and 180 days after T0. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid-protein were measured to assess SARS-CoV-2 infections, whereas antibodies against the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein were measured to assess the vaccine response. Neutralization activity against the D614G, B.1.1.7, and B.1.351 variants were also analyzed. Results: Six months post-vaccination HCPs showed an antibody titer decrease of approximately 70%, yet, the titer was still one order of magnitude higher than that of seropositive individuals before vaccination. We identified 12 post-vaccination infected HCPs. None showed severe symptoms. Interestingly, most of them showed titers at T2 above the neutralization thresholds obtained from the neutralization activity experiments. Conclusion: Vaccination induces a humoral response which is well detectable even six months post-vaccination. Vaccination prevents severe COVID-19 cases, yet post-vaccination infection is possible even in the presence of a high anti-S serum antibody titer.