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This article aims to examine, in the case of Arabic, the neutralization of gender for realities that are not necessarily gender-neutral from a grammatical point of view. It will show that some so-called "masculine" forms are in fact gender-neutral, functionally rendering the grammatical "masculine" a «neutral by default». This reminds us that there is no one-to-one relationship between grammatical gender on the one hand and gender identity on the other. To do this, several examples are taken which illustrate gender-neutralized uses, as well as particular forms of neutralization where the original masculine has been amputated of its masculine marker. Such forms suggest the existence of intrinsically neutral forms. The article shows through the example of demonstratives of distance (ḏālika ,...) and deictics "there" (hunāka) and "over there" (hunālika), all of which are formed by the addition of the kāf al-ḫiṭāb and originally had a flexion (ḏāliki, hunākumā, hunālikum, etc.), that what we see at work is the fixation of the original kāf al-ḫiṭāb as -ka. This fixation is not an erasure of the feminine and the non-singular in favour of the only masculine singular, but the result of a neutralized use, by resorting to the least marked form of the system, in order to avoid gender and number flexion according to the now «neutered» addressee of speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Hybrid SARS-CoV-2 immunity may provide longer duration protection against severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalisation than purely vaccine-derived immunity. Older adults represent a high-risk group for severe disease, yet available data is skewed towards younger adults. Methods A prospective longitudinal study at a large London long-term care facility (LTCF) was conducted from March 2020 to April 2022 to assess the effect of hybrid versus vaccine-only immunity on SARS-CoV-2 infection in older adults during Omicron variant dominance. Hybrid immunity was assessed by a combination of SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction testing weekly (asymptomatic screening) and as required (symptomatic testing), as well as serial SARS-CoV-2 serology. Results 280 participants (median age 82 yrs, IQR 76–88 yrs; 95.4% male) were followed up. 168/280 (60%) had evidence of hybrid immunity prior to the Omicron variant wave. Participants with hybrid immunity had substantially lower odds of acquiring COVID-19 infection during the Omicron wave compared to those with vaccine-only immunity (unadjusted odds ratio 0.26, 95% CI 0.14–0.47, chi-squared P  < .0001). Participants with hybrid immunity had an odds ratio of 0.40 (0.19–0.79) for asymptomatic infection and 0.15 (0.06–0.34) for symptomatic infection (Likelihood ratio test, P  < .0001). Discussion Our data highlight potential opportunities to target ongoing booster vaccination campaigns for those most at risk of severe infection. Reporting of data in older adults will be of particular value to examine the effect of hybrid immunity as new variants continue to emerge and vaccination strategies evolve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organophosphates (OPs) have been utilised as pesticides in agricultural contexts for many years. Nevertheless, due to their high levels of toxicity, these substances are also illicitly produced into hazardous chemical weapons, posing a threat to both humans and the environment. As a result of its impact on public safety and overall welfare, this subject has gained international attention. Improper handling or intentional self-harm can result in the penetration of toxic compounds through the skin, leading to acute toxicity that can potentially progress to fatality. Therefore, in such critical situations, implementing a rapid and effective method of decontamination for these compounds is to reduce the risk of intoxication. There are a number of methods for decontaminating OPs, including physical, chemical and biological methods. However, no single method is universally effective, and there are still challenges in developing effective decontaminating agents against OPs. Therefore, given the availability of various decontamination agents, this paper will discuss on recent advances in the development of decontaminating agents for OPs and their effectiveness on OP compounds with highlights of future strategies to develop decontaminating agents that are safe, reliable and efficient to be used under various circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium gluconate (SG) is a widely utilised organic salt within the construction sector, mainly employed as a cement additive and metal chelate. Using holocellulose-rich biomass such as oil palm frond (OPF) enables the sustainable production of SG. The present investigation was undertaken as an initial study into the independent neutralisation and separation of SG from other impurities utilising low-pressure nanofiltration. The experimental conditions for the neutralisation study involved varying the reaction temperature and the molar ratio of NaOH to Gluconic Acid (GA) to assess the quantity of SG produced. Subsequently, a separation experiment was conducted employing low-pressure nanofiltration, wherein the variables of membrane type, inlet gas pressure, and filtration time were systematically varied. The evaluation of nanofiltration performance in the separation of SG under the parameters mentioned earlier was conducted. According to the neutralisation investigations, the reaction temperature and excess NaOH had no significant effect on the accumulated mass of SG. The maximum quantity of SG generated across all GA: NaOH ratios was 281.270 mg due to the presence of other organic acids produced during the fermentation. The NF245 membrane exhibited higher rejection and recovery rates, indicating a superior selectivity towards SG compared to the NF270 membrane. Increased pressure led to higher flux, concentration, and rejection while reducing the SG recovery. A 90-min filtration of OPF hydrolyzate fermentation broth (OPFHFB) using an NF270 membrane at 9 bar led to a recovery of 97.35 %. Additionally, this process resulted in a 16 % (w/w) increase in the SG content.

The article presents the current problems of protecting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, current threats to its security and the need to organise proper counteraction under martial law. Threats to critical infrastructure include factors that can actually or potentially harm the stability of its operation, functionality, integrity, resilience or lead to its destruction. The purpose of the article is to create an up-to-date threat model that formalises the likely impacts on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, which will improve the effectiveness of its protection. The scientific novelty of the article is that it examines the actual needs and problematic issues of forming a modern model of threats to critical infrastructure, primarily in the context of the ongoing full-scale military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine. Creating a threat model is defined for critical infrastructure as a necessity to ensure effective protection of its facilities. The formation of a basic threat model for critical infrastructure facilities, which should include related models of the facility, situation and intruder, is currently an important element of the algorithm for solving this problem. The basic model of threats to critical infrastructure is the framework on which the state determines who and what it needs to protect itself from at the national level. However, Ukrainian legislation currently does not provide for the need to develop a model of threats to the national critical infrastructure, which negatively affects the state of its security and resilience. The perspective measures that will contribute to both the stable functioning of critical infrastructure facilities and ensure their proper protection are outlined: enshrining in Ukrainian legislation the need to develop a model of threats to critical infrastructure, adopting regulations on standardisation of risk management processes for critical infrastructure in order to prevent threats, and more.

Summary: Background: Continued phenotyping and ongoing molecular epidemiology are important in current and future monitoring of emerging SARS-CoV-2 lineages. Herein we developed pragmatic strategies to track the emergence, spread and phenotype of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Australia in an era of decreasing diagnostic PCR testing and focused cohort-based studies. This was aligned to longitudinal studies that span 4 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Throughout 2023, we partnered with diagnostic pathology providers and pathogen genomics teams to identify relevant emerging or circulating variants in the New South Wales (NSW) community. We monitored emerging variants through viral culture, growth algorithms, neutralisation responses and changing entry requirements defined by ACE2 and TMPRSS2 receptor use. To frame this in the context of the pandemic stage, we continued to longitudinally track neutralisation responses at the population level using pooled Intravenous Immunoglobulins (IVIG) derived from in excess of 700,000 donations. Findings: In antibodies derived from recent individual donations and thousands of donations pooled in IVIGs, we observed continued neutralisation across prior and emerging variants with EG.5.1, HV.1, XCT and JN.1 ranked as the most evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants. Changes in the type I antibody site at Spike positions 452, 455 and 456 were associated with lowered neutralisation responses in XBB lineages. In longitudinal tracking of population immunity spanning three years, we observed continued maturation of neutralisation breadth to all SARS-CoV-2 variants over time. Whilst neutralisation responses initially displayed high levels of imprinting towards Ancestral and early pre-Omicron lineages, this was slowly countered by increased cross reactive breadth to all variants. We predicted JN.1 to have a marked transmission advantage in late 2023 and this eventuated globally at the start of 2024. We could not attribute this advantage to neutralisation resistance but rather propose that this growth advantage arises from the preferential utilisation of ACE2 pools that cannot engage TMPRSS2 at its Collectrin-Like Domain (CLD). Interpretation: The emergence of many SARS-CoV-2 lineages documented at the end of 2023 was found to be initially associated with lowered neutralisation responses. This continued to be countered by the gradual maturation of cross-reactive neutralisation responses over time. The later appearance and dominance of the divergent JN.1 lineage cannot be attributed to a lack of neutralisation responses alone, and our data supports that its dominance is a culmination of both lowered neutralisation and changes in ACE2/TMPRSS2 entry preferences. Funding: This work was primarily supported by Australian Medical Foundation research grants MRF2005760 (ST, GM & WDR), MRF2001684 (ADK and ST) and Medical Research Future Fund Antiviral Development Call grant (WDR), Medical Research Future Fund COVID-19 grant (MRFF2001684, ADK & SGT) and the New South Wales Health COVID-19 Research Grants Round 2 (SGT).

The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the emergence of numerous variants of concern (VOCs), marked by changes in the viral spike glycoprotein, the primary target for neutralising antibody (nAb) responses. Emerging VOCs, particularly omicron sub-lineages, show resistance to nAbs induced by prior infection or vaccination. The precise spike protein changes contributing to this resistance remain unclear in infectious cell culture systems. In the present study, a large panel of infectious SARS-CoV-2 mutant viruses, each with spike protein changes found in VOCs, including omicron JN.1 and its derivatives KP.2 and KP.3, was generated using a reverse genetic system. The susceptibility of these viruses to antibody neutralisation was measured using plasma from convalescent and vaccinated individuals. Synergistic roles of combined substitutions in the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) were observed in neutralisation resistance. However, recombinant viruses with the entire spike protein from a specific VOC showed enhanced resistance, indicating that changes outside the RBD are also significant. In silico analyses of spike antibody epitopes suggested that changes in neutralisation could be due to altered antibody binding affinities. Assessing ACE2 usage for entry through anti-ACE2 antibody blocking and ACE2 siRNA revealed that omicron BA.2.86 and JN.1 mutant viruses were less dependent on ACE2 for entry. However, surface plasmon resonance analysis showed increased affinity for ACE2 for both BA.2.86 and JN.1 compared to the ancestral spike. This detailed analysis of specific changes in the SARS-CoV-2 spike enhances understanding of coronavirus evolution, particularly regarding neutralising antibody evasion and ACE2 entry receptor dependence.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa are facing challenges relating to poor governance. This provides the management with an incentive to legitimise the SOEs existence by changing how information is disclosed using impression management techniques. This article outlines the critical issues that emerged in the study that sought to investigate whether key reports in the integrated reports of South African SOEs contain impression management techniques relating to sentiment, time orientation, type of data, internal and external attribution, and neutralisation. Information was gathered by way of content analysis. The reports selected were of the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO) reports, and the performance report. The findings indicate that SOEs employ impression management techniques in their integrated reports. The findings add to the growing debate on accountability and transparency by those charged with the governance of SOEs when disclosing information to stakeholders. Further, stakeholders are aware of the possible influences that management uses when disclosing information and could incorporate this in their decision-making process, allowing more useful decisions to be taken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) Major Outer Membrane Protein (MOMP) holds a neutralising epitope in the Variable Domain 4 (VD4), and this region’s immune dominance during infection is well known. This study aimed to assess the antibody response induced after infection and compare it for specificity and functionality to the response following vaccination with the vaccine CTH522, which contains VD4’s from serovars D, E, F, and G. Methods: We assessed the antibody epitopes in MOMP by a high density peptide array. Furthermore, the role of the VD4 epitope in neutralisation was explored by competitive inhibition experiments with a fusion protein holding the neutralising VD4 linear epitope. This was done in two independent groups: 1) MOMP seropositive individuals infected with CT (n = 10, from case–control study) and 2) CTH522/CAF®01-vaccinated females (n = 14) from the CHLM-01 clinical trial. Findings: We identified the major antigenic regions in MOMP as VD4 and the conserved region just before VD3 in individuals infected with CT. The same regions, with the addition of VD1, were identified in vaccine recipients. Overall, the VD4 peptide responses were uniform in vaccinated individuals and led to inhibition of infection in vitro in all tested samples, whereas the VD4 responses were more heterogenous in individuals infected with CT, and only 2 out of 10 samples had VD4-mediated neutralising antibody responses. Interpretation: These data provide insights into the role of antibodies against MOMP VD4 induced after infection and vaccination, and show that their functionality differs. The induction of functional VD4-specific antibodies in vaccine recipients mimics previous results from animal models. Funding: This work was supported by the European Commission through contract FP7-HEALTH-2011.1.4-4-280873 (ADITEC) and Fonden til Lægevidenskabens Fremme.

Phosphogypsum is an industrial waste considered as naturally occurring radioactive material. Stack disposal and exposure to the environmental condition involve the production of acid leachates with high potential pollutant loads as heavy metals and radionuclides. In this study, a sequential neutralisation process was applied for cleaning the generated releases, and the two obtained residues were characterised from the physical-chemical and radiological point of view before their valorisation. The cleaning process was made up of two steps: the first one using calcium carbonate until pH = 3.5, and the second one using calcium hydroxide until pH = 12. The residue obtained in the first step was mostly calcium fluoride, while in the second step most phosphates were precipitated, mainly as hydroxyapatite. The final liquid was treated to reduce pH lower than 9, which is the limit included in the current directive for discharges of liquid effluents into coastal waters. The main conclusion was that the solids from the first step could be valorised as an additive in the manufacture of commercial Portland cements and ceramics, while the solids from the second step could be used as raw material for the phosphoric acid manufacture.

Background: The virus neutralization assay is a principal method to assess the efficacy of antibodies in blocking viral entry. Due to biosafety handling requirements of viruses classified as hazard group 3 or 4, pseudotyped viruses can be used as a safer alternative. However, it is often queried how well the results derived from pseudotyped viruses correlate with authentic virus. This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to comprehensively evaluate the correlation between the two assays. Methods: Using PubMed and Google Scholar, reports that incorporated neutralisation assays with both pseudotyped virus, authentic virus, and the application of a mathematical formula to assess the relationship between the results, were selected for review. Our searches identified 67 reports, of which 22 underwent a three-level meta-analysis. Results: The three-level meta-analysis revealed a high level of correlation between pseudotyped viruses and authentic viruses when used in an neutralisation assay. Reports that were not included in the meta-analysis also showed a high degree of correlation, with the exception of lentiviral-based pseudotyped Ebola viruses. Conclusion: Pseudotyped viruses identified in this report can be used as a surrogate for authentic virus, though care must be taken in considering which pseudotype core to use when generating new uncharacterised pseudotyped viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of crude and processed oil extracted from Snake tomato (Trichosanthes cucumerina) seeds were carried out to establish the effect of processing on identity and quality characteristics of the oils. The crude oil was subjected to refining processes: Degumming, Neutralization and bleaching. There was no remarkable difference in the specific gravity, refractive index and moisture content of the crude and processed oils. However, there exists slight increase in Smoke point (℃): (82.00±0.01 - 87.00±0.33), Flash point (℃): (236.00±1.01 - 245.00±1.30), Fire point (℃): (285.00±2.41 - 296.00±1.58) and Iodine value (g/100g): (83.26±2.01 - 89.30±2.50) of the oil samples. The qualities of the oils improved by showing gradual decrease in Colour (Lovibond unit): (10.00 - 4.00), Free fatty acid (% Linolenic): (1.21±0.01 - 0.64±0.01), Acid value (mgKOH/g): (2.43±0.04 - 1.26±0.21), Peroxide value (meq peroxide/Kg) :(2.08±0.10 - 0.61±0.01), Saponification value (mgKOH/g Oil): (281.27±2.18 - 277.98±1.90) and increase in the values of Linoleic acid (38.10 - 41.98%), Oleic acid (35.74 - 37.50%), Palmitic (11.68 - 12.80%) and Stearic acid(3.79 - 4.66%) as the crude oil was processed to bleached oil. The oil's high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, high iodine value, and low free fatty acid content are all attributes that qualify the oil to be safe for consumption. The oil's quality will be further enhanced if it is processed to the deodorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionAs the COVID-19 pandemic moves towards endemic status, testing strategies are being de-escalated. A rapid and effective point of care test (POCT) assessment of SARS-CoV-2 immune responses can inform clinical decision-making and epidemiological monitoring of the disease. This cross-sectional seroprevalence study of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Irish healthcare workers assessed how rapid anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing can be compared to a standard laboratory assay, discusses its effectiveness in neutralisation assessment and its uses into the future of the pandemic.MethodsA point of care lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike (S)-receptor binding domain (RBD) neutralising antibodies (Healgen SARS-CoV-2 neutralising Antibody Rapid Test Cassette) was compared to the Roche Elecsys/-S anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays and an in vitro surrogate neutralisation assay. A correlation between anti-spike (S), anti-nucleocapsid (N) titres, and in vitro neutralisation was also assessed.Results1,777 serology samples were tested using Roche Elecsys/-S anti-SARS-CoV-2 assays to detect total anti-N/S antibodies. 1,562 samples were tested using the POC LFA (including 50 negative controls), and 90 samples were tested using an in vitro ACE2-RBD binding inhibition surrogate neutralisation assay. The POCT demonstrated 97.7% sensitivity, 100% specificity, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 100%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 61% in comparison to the commercial assay. Anti-S antibody titres determined by the Roche assay stratified by the POC LFA result groups demonstrated statistically significant differences between the “Positive” and “Negative” LFA groups (p < 0.0001) and the “Weak Positive” and “Positive” LFA groups (p < 0.0001). No statistically significant difference in ACE2-RBD binding inhibition was demonstrated when stratified by the LFA POC results. A positive, statistically significant correlation was demonstrated between the in vitro pseudo-neutralisation assay results and anti-S antibody titres (rho 0.423, p < 0.001) and anti-N antibody titres (rho = 0.55, p < 0.0001).ConclusionHigh sensitivity, specificity, and PPV were demonstrated for the POC LFA for the detection of anti-S-RBD antibodies in comparison to the commercial assay. The LFA was not a reliable determinant of the neutralisation capacity of identified antibodies. POC LFA are useful tools in sero-epidemiology settings, pandemic preparedness and may act as supportive tools in treatment decisions through the rapid identification of anti-Spike antibodies.

BackgroundThe virus neutralization assay is a principal method to assess the efficacy of antibodies in blocking viral entry. Due to biosafety handling requirements of viruses classified as hazard group 3 or 4, pseudotyped viruses can be used as a safer alternative. However, it is often queried how well the results derived from pseudotyped viruses correlate with authentic virus. This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to comprehensively evaluate the correlation between the two assays.MethodsUsing PubMed and Google Scholar, reports that incorporated neutralisation assays with both pseudotyped virus, authentic virus, and the application of a mathematical formula to assess the relationship between the results, were selected for review. Our searches identified 67 reports, of which 22 underwent a three-level meta-analysis.ResultsThe three-level meta-analysis revealed a high level of correlation between pseudotyped viruses and authentic viruses when used in an neutralisation assay. Reports that were not included in the meta-analysis also showed a high degree of correlation, with the exception of lentiviral-based pseudotyped Ebola viruses.ConclusionPseudotyped viruses identified in this report can be used as a surrogate for authentic virus, though care must be taken in considering which pseudotype core to use when generating new uncharacterised pseudotyped viruses.

(1) Background: Many vaccines require higher, additional doses or adjuvants to provide adequate protection for people living with HIV (PLWH). Despite their potential risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019, immunological data remain sparse, and a clear consensus for the best booster strategy is lacking. (2) Methods: Using the data obtained from our previous study assessing prospective T-cell and humoral immune responses before and after administration of a third dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, we assessed the correlations between immune parameters reflecting humoral and cellular immune responses. We further aimed at identifying distinct clusters of patients with similar patterns of immune response evolution to determine how these relate to demographic and clinical factors. (3) Results: Among 80 PLWH and 51 healthcare workers (HCWs) enrolled in the study, cluster analysis identified four distinct patterns of evolution characterised by specific immune patterns and clinical factors. We observed that immune responses appeared to be less robust in cluster A, whose individuals were mostly PLWH who had never been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Cluster C, whose individuals showed a particularly drastic increase in markers of humoral immune response following the third dose of vaccine, was mainly composed of female participants who experienced SARS-CoV-2. Regarding the correlation study, although we observed a strong positive correlation between markers mirroring humoral immune response, markers of T-cell response following vaccination correlated only in a lesser extent with markers of humoral immunity. This suggests that neutralising antibody titers alone are not always a reliable reflection of the magnitude of the whole immune response. (4) Conclusions: Our findings show heterogeneity in immune responses among SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated PLWH. Specific subgroups could therefore benefit from distinct immunization strategies. Prior or breakthrough natural infection enhances the activity of vaccines and must be taken into account for informing global vaccine strategies among PLWH, even those with a viro-immunologically controlled infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In economics, there is just one argument legitimising import tariffs - the infant industry argument -, but it ceases to be valid as the required learning time ends. This note offers a second argument: the neutralisation of the Dutch disease argument. If the country faces this competitive disadvantage, import tariffs and export subsidies may be a way of circumventing the problem. Many countries that industrialised were only successful because they pragmatically neutralised the disease with import tariffs.

Criticising the use of the generic masculine, feminist and gender linguists have proposed different alternatives. In the Czech context, the following three types of alternatives can be distinguished: (1) feminisation, (2) neutralisation and paraphrases, and (3) making non-binary persons linguistically more visible. Empirical studies on the usage frequency of these alternatives, however, are lacking. This paper addresses this issue by analysing agentive nouns and the feminisation of surnames in selected Czech newspapers. The results show that in references to individual women almost exclusive use is made of feminine expressions. Mixed-gender groups are still largely referred to using the generic masculine. In only a minority of occurrences are neutralising strategies used to refer to persons. What is more common, however, is to find neutralising strategies being used where the intention of expressing gender fairness was probably not the reason for their use, as referring to persons is not their primary function. Neither pair forms nor graphic symbols for non-binary reference are used. The surnames of female foreign nationals are almost always feminised, even though this is not necessary and the texts provide other linguistic means of identifying the persons as women. Based on an analysis of the distribution of generically-intended masculine expressions in the analysed texts, I propose dividing them into two types according to whether or not there is an obvious inclusion of females and non-binary persons.

• Reionisation of keV range He studied from in-depth ion scattering signal. • Systematic comparison of neutralisation and reionisation for large set of targets. • Neutralisation follows published trend vs. column in periodic table. • Reionisation strength NOT similar to neutralisation, as previously assumed. • Apparent trend in reionisation explained by ion scattering reference data. This work compares the charge exchange properties of a large set of pure elemental solid targets by studying the neutralisation and reionisation in low-energy ion scattering (LEIS) experiments with He+ as incident ion. Neutralisation is extracted from the characteristic velocity in inverse velocity plots, while reionisation of neutralised He scattered on sub-surface atoms is studied through the threshold energy and intensity of so-called tails in LEIS spectra. Our work qualitatively reproduces the previously reported systematic dependence of neutralisation probability versus group (column) in the periodic table. However, such a trend is not observed for the reionisation probability, which is in contradiction to previously published results on neutral He backscattering. The results are discussed in terms of the electronic structure of transitions metals and charge exchange in close collision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic enables the analysis of immune responses induced against a novel coronavirus infecting immunologically naïve individuals. This provides an opportunity for analysis of immune responses and associations with age, sex and disease severity. Here we measured an array of solid-phase binding antibody and viral neutralising Ab (nAb) responses in participants (n=337) of the ISARIC4C cohort and characterised their correlation with peak disease severity during acute infection and early convalescence. Overall, the responses in a Double Antigen Binding Assay (DABA) for antibody to the receptor binding domain (anti-RBD) correlated well with IgM as well as IgG responses against viral spike, S1 and nucleocapsid protein (NP) antigens. DABA reactivity also correlated with nAb. As we and others reported previously, there is greater risk of severe disease and death in older men, whilst the sex ratio was found to be equal within each severity grouping in younger people. In older males with severe disease (mean age 68 years), peak antibody levels were found to be delayed by one to two weeks compared with women, and nAb responses were delayed further. Additionally, we demonstrated that solid-phase binding antibody responses reached higher levels in males as measured via DABA and IgM binding against Spike, NP and S1 antigens. In contrast, this was not observed for nAb responses. When measuring SARS-CoV-2 RNA transcripts (as a surrogate for viral shedding) in nasal swabs at recruitment, we saw no significant differences by sex or disease severity status. However, we have shown higher antibody levels associated with low nasal viral RNA indicating a role of antibody responses in controlling viral replication and shedding in the upper airway. In this study, we have shown discernible differences in the humoral immune responses between males and females and these differences associate with age as well as with resultant disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles (VLPs) successfully assembled in plants. • VLPs based on a SARS-CoV-2 Beta (B.1.351) variant of concern (VOC) • Beta VLPs elicit robust antibodies which cross-neutralise Delta and Omicron VOCs. • The potential of local vaccine development capability demonstrated. • VLP vaccine based on VOCs relevant to the African continent. The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic heightened the pace of vaccine development with various vaccines being approved for human use in a span of 24 months. The SARS-CoV-2 trimeric spike (S) surface glycoprotein, which mediates viral entry by binding to ACE2, is a key target for vaccines and therapeutic antibodies. Plant biopharming is recognized for its scalability, speed, versatility, and low production costs and is an increasingly promising molecular pharming vaccine platform for human health. We developed Nicotiana benthamiana -produced SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine candidates displaying the S-protein of the Beta (B.1.351) variant of concern (VOC), which triggered cross-reactive neutralising antibodies against Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529) VOCs. In this study, immunogenicity of the VLPs (5 µg per dose) adjuvanted with three independent adjuvants i.e. oil-in-water based adjuvants SEPIVAC SWETM (Seppic, France) and "AS IS" (Afrigen, South Africa) as well as a slow-release synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) adjuvant designated NADA (Disease Control Africa, South Africa) were evaluated in New Zealand white rabbits and resulted in robust neutralising antibody responses after booster vaccination, ranging from 1:5341 to as high as 1:18204. Serum neutralising antibodies elicited by the Beta variant VLP vaccine also showed cross-neutralisation against the Delta and Omicron variants with neutralising titres ranging from 1:1702 and 1:971, respectively. Collectively, these data provide support for the development of a plant-produced VLP based candidate vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 based on circulating variants of concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dermatologie Pro Praxi is the property of SOLEN sro and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

If territory is part of the problem in the quest for peaceful relations, it should also be part of the solution. This is the core argument in the present text, where the work of international lawyer Louis Sohn during the Cold War and efforts towards territorial disarmament across time and space are used as starting points for the exploration of possibilities today, including in the global commons and other territories beyond the jurisdiction of individual states. I explore a range of experiences of territorial disarmament already in operation alongside the opportunities currently offered in the nexus between protection of the environment and armed conflicts. Finally, the recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework and the UN Principles on protection of the environment in armed conflict developed by the International Law Commission are looked at as opportunities for the successive protection of territories through various forms of disarmament and neutralisation.

Given the high prevalence of intestinal disease in humans and animals, there is a strong need for clinically relevant models recapitulating gastrointestinal systems, ideally replacing in vivo models in accordance with the principles of the 3R. We established a canine organoid system and analysed the neutralising effects of recombinant versus natural antibodies on Clostridioides difficile toxins A and B in this in vitro system. Sulforhodamine B cytotoxicity assays in 2D and FITC-dextran barrier integrity assays on basal-out and apical-out organoids revealed that recombinant, but not natural antibodies, effectively neutralised C. difficile toxins. Our findings emphasise that canine intestinal organoids can be used to test different components and suggest that they can be further refined to also mirror complex interactions between the intestinal epithelium and other cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In economics, there is just one argument legitimising import tariffs - the infant industry argument -, but it ceases to be valid as the required learning time ends. This note offers a second argument: the neutralisation of the Dutch disease argument. If the country faces this competitive disadvantage, import tariffs and export subsidies may be a way of circumventing the problem. Many countries that industrialised were only successful because they pragmatically neutralised the disease with import tariffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article's authors analysed the most perspective and widely known methods of neutralising the acidic condensate, which is a by-product of natural gas combustion. Among them, the hydrodynamic cavitation method was the most effective. In this regard, it was proposed to improve this method by using the method of discrete-pulsed energy input, which involves neutralisation due to the degassing process. Based on the mathematical model of the bubble ensemble dynamics, a numerical simulation of the formation and growth of vapour-gas bubbles in the process of cavitation boiling of condensate was carried out. Also, an analytical study of the evolution of the vapour-gas bubble population and changes in the current vapour content of the condensate during its boiling was investigated under different values of the initial size of gas micronuclei. The results of the experimental study also confirmed the effectiveness of this method and showed that almost complete removal of carbonic acid from condensate occurs during the first two minutes of processing. That is evidenced by the increased pH values of condensate, which corresponds to the range of permissible pH values of distilled water. Therefore, the carbonic acid in the condensate is absent. Using this method will significantly reduce the environmental effect and the amount of harmful emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronaviruses infections, culminating in the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic beginning in 2019, have highlighted the importance of effective vaccines to induce an antibody response with cross-neutralizing activity. COVID-19 vaccines have been rapidly developed to reduce the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infections and disease severity. Cross-protection from seasonal human coronaviruses (hCoVs) infections has been hypothesized but is still controversial. Here, we investigated the neutralizing activity against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and the variants of concern (VOCs) in individuals vaccinated with two doses of either BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, or AZD1222, with or without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Antibody neutralizing activity to SARS-CoV-2 and the VOCs was higher in BNT162b2-vaccinated subjects who were previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 and conferred broad-spectrum protection. The Omicron BA.1 variant was the most resistant among the VOCs. COVID-19 vaccination did not confer protection against hCoV-HKU1. Conversely, antibodies induced by mRNA-1273 vaccination displayed a boosting in their neutralizing activity against hCoV-NL63, whereas AZD1222 vaccination increased antibody neutralization against hCoV-229E, suggesting potential differences in antigenicity and immunogenicity of the different spike constructs used between various vaccination platforms. These data would suggest that there may be shared epitopes between the HCoVs and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabies is a neglected tropical disease. The prototype virus, the rabies virus, still causes tens of thousands of human fatalities annually. Rabies is one member of the genus Lyssavirus. The burden of other lyssaviruses is unclear. The continued emergence of novel lyssaviruses means that assessment of vaccine efficacy against these viruses is critical, as standard rabies vaccines are not efficacious against all lyssaviruses. Taiwan bat lyssavirus (TWBLV) was first reported in 2018 following isolation from Japanese house bats. Since the initial detection and genetic characterisation, no attempts have been made to antigenically define this virus. Due to the inaccessibility of the wildtype isolate, the successful generation of a live recombinant virus, cSN-TWBLV, is described, where the full-length genome clone of the RABV vaccine strain, SAD-B19, was constructed with the glycoprotein of TWBLV. In vitro and in vivo characterization of cSN-TWBLV was undertaken and demonstrated evidence for cross-neutralisation of cSN-TWBLV with phylogroup I -specific sera and rabies virus standard sera. For neutralisation equivalent to 0.5 IU/mL of WHO and World Organisation of Animal Health (WOAH) sera against CVS, 0.5 IU/mL of WOAH sera and 2.5 IU/mL of WHO sera were required to neutralise cSN-TWBLV. In addition, specific sera for ARAV and EBLV-1 exhibited the highest neutralising antibody titres against cSN-TWBLV, compared to other phylogroup I-specific sera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• People living with HIV show similar humoral immune responses towards the third dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine compared to HIV-negative individuals. • People living with HIV with no prior SARS-CoV-2 infection show reduced T-cell response towards the third dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine compared to HIV-negative individuals. • Hybrid immunity induces similar T-cell responses between people living with HIV and HIV-negative individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Plasma neutralisers can significantly improve the global efficiency of a negative ion based neutral beam injector, which is a requirement for an injector to be used on a fusion reactor. A beam driven plasma neutraliser has many advantages over a neutraliser using alternative methods to create the plasma in the neutraliser. However, due to the recombination of electrons and molecular ions, an acceptable plasma density may not be achieved with D 2 as the target gas in the neutraliser, and it has been suggested that the use of argon as the target gas should be considered. The advantages and inconveniences of using argon are discussed. • The equations governing the species change in a high energy H- beam traversing an argon plasma are identified and solved. • A careful evaluation of the cross sections needed to calculate the change in beam species and the resulting neutralisation efficiency of an argon plasma neutraliser has been carried out, and the cross sections given as a function of the incident beam energy over the appropriate energy range. Where no measurements have been found of some of the required cross sections, assumed values are used and the effect of different assumed values evaluated. • Calculated neutralisation efficiencies are given as a function of the ionisation fraction in the neutraliser as well as the necessary line densities. • The used of a beam driven argon plasma neutraliser as an upgrade of the ITER diagnostic neutral beam injector is discussed. A beam driven plasma neutraliser (BDPN) has been proposed [ 1 ] as a relatively simple way to increase the efficiency of neutral beam injectors based on the acceleration and neutralisation of H- or D-. Initial calculations showed that sufficient levels of ionisation could be achieved with H 2 or D 2 as the initial gas target in the neutraliser if a plasma confinement time of the plasma in the neutraliser is >0.5 ms could be achieved. However, later calculations [ 2 , 3 ] show that the afore-mentioned results were very optimistic as the calculations did not take into account the recombination of molecular ions with electrons. Hence, it has been suggested [ 4 ] to use an argon (Ar) plasma as the molecular ion content in such a plasma will be negligible. The use of an Ar plasma neutraliser has been suggested previously [ 5–7 ], but few details have been given of the obtainable neutralisation efficiency, the necessary line density for that neutralisation efficiency, or of the calculations and cross sections used to deduce those quantities. This paper briefly discusses why Ar could be a good choice for a plasma neutraliser, then the reactions occurring between the H-/D- beam and the particles in the Ar plasma, and the available cross section data for those reactions. Subsequently, the differential equations for the change of the species in the beam as it traverses an Ar plasma are deduced and solved, and the solutions used to calculate the achievable neutralisation efficiency as a function of the line density in the neutraliser etc. Results are given of the neutralisation efficiency as a function of the degree of ionisation in the neutraliser, the required line density, and the species changes in the beam for accelerated H- beams with 100, 500 and 870 keV energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundThe PRECISE Study, a multi-phase cross-sectional seroprevalence study of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Irish healthcare workers (HCW) investigated: (1) risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity, (2) the durability of antibody responses in a highly vaccinated HCW cohort, and (3) the neutralisation capacity of detected antibodies, prior to booster COVID-19 vaccination.Materials and methodsSerology samples were collected across two hospital sites in November 2021 and analysed using the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2/Elecsys-S Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assays to detect anti-nucleocapsid (N) and anti-spike (S) antibodies respectively. Paired serology results from prior study phases were used to analyse changes in individual HCW serostatus over time. Risk-factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection were assessed for demographic and work-related factors. Antibody neutralisation capacity was assessed in a subset of samples via an in vitro ACE2 binding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results2,344 HCW samples were analysed. Median age was 43 years (IQR 33–50) with 80.5% (n = 1,886) female participants. Irish (78.9%, n = 1,850) and Asian (12.3%, n = 288) were the most commonly reported ethnicities. Nursing/midwifery (39.3%, n = 922) was the most common job role. 97.7% of participants were fully vaccinated, with Pfizer (81.1%, n = 1,902) and AstraZeneca (16.1%, n = 377) the most common vaccines received. Seroprevalence for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies indicating prior infection was 23.4%, of these 33.6% represented previously undiagnosed infections. All vaccinated participants demonstrated positive anti-S antibodies and in those with paired serology, no individual demonstrated loss of previously positive anti-S status below assay threshold for positivity. Interval loss of anti-N antibody positivity was demonstrated in 8.8% of previously positive participants with paired results. Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity suggestive of previous infection included age 18–29 years (aRR 1.50, 95% CI 1.19–1.90, p < 0.001), India as country of birth (aRR 1.35, 95% CI 1.01–1.73, p = 0.036), lower education level (aRR 1.35, 95% CI 1.11–1.66, p = 0.004) and HCA job role (aRR 2.12, 95% CI 1.51–2.95, p < 0.001). Antibody neutralisation varied significantly by anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody status, with highest levels noted in those anti-N positive, in particular those with vaccination plus previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.ConclusionAll vaccinated HCWs maintained anti-S positivity prior to COVID-19 booster vaccination, however anti-N positivity was more dynamic over time. Antibody neutralisation capacity was highest in participants with COVID-19 vaccination plus prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objectives: Following infection with SARS‐CoV‐2, virus‐specific antibodies are generated, which can both neutralise virions and clear infection via Fc effector functions. The importance of IgG antibodies for protection and control of SARS‐CoV‐2 has been extensively reported. By comparison, other antibody isotypes including IgA have been poorly characterised. Methods: Here, we characterised plasma IgA from 41 early convalescent COVID‐19 subjects for neutralisation and Fc effector functions. Results: Convalescent plasma IgA from > 60% of the cohort had the capacity to inhibit the interaction between wild‐type RBD and ACE2. Furthermore, a third of the cohort induced stronger IgA‐mediated ACE2 inhibition than matched IgG when tested at equivalent concentrations. Plasma IgA and IgG from this cohort broadly recognised similar RBD epitopes and had similar capacities to inhibit ACE2 from binding to 22 of the 23 prevalent RBD mutations assessed. However, plasma IgA was largely incapable of mediating antibody‐dependent phagocytosis in comparison with plasma IgG. Conclusion: Overall, convalescent plasma IgA contributed to the neutralising antibody response of wild‐type SARS‐CoV‐2 RBD and various RBD mutations. However, this response displayed large heterogeneity and was less potent than IgG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article builds a novel argument for the unification of the two Korean states by way of a dual neutralisation process. After reviewing the neutralisation concept and the history of neutrality ideas for the peninsula, the authors introduce two historical models that would fit the security needs of both Koreas and their respective security partners. Using a realist framework, it is argued that the "Finlandisation" of the DPRK on the one hand; and the "Austriasation" of the ROK on the other, would not change the de facto security relationships with their patrons, but would create the structural underpinning for future foreign policy compatibility. Assuming other factors remain equal and a solution to internal political division could be brokered, the article proposes a security framework for both states aimed at separately creating the structures for a future unified neutral Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus is a human and animal pathogen as well as a commensal bacterium. It can be a causative agent of severe, life-threatening infections with high mortality, e.g., toxic shock syndrome, septic shock, and multi-organ failure. S. aureus strains secrete a number of toxins. Exotoxins/enterotoxins are considered important in the pathogenesis of the above-mentioned conditions. Exotoxins, e.g., superantigen toxins, cause uncontrolled and polyclonal T cell activation and unregulated activation of inflammatory cytokines. Here we show the importance of genomic analysis of infectious strains in order to identify disease-causing exotoxins. Further, we show through functional analysis of superantigenic properties of staphylococcal exotoxins that even very small amounts of a putative superantigenic contaminant can have a significant mitogenic effect. The results show expression and production of two distinct staphylococcal exotoxins, SEC and SEL, in several strains from clinical isolates. Antibodies against both toxins are required to neutralise the superantigenic activity of staphylococcal supernatants and purified staphylococcal toxins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Continued phenotyping and ongoing molecular epidemiology are important in current and future monitoring of emerging SARS-CoV-2 lineages. Herein we developed pragmatic strategies to track the emergence, spread and phenotype of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Australia in an era of decreasing diagnostic PCR testing and focused cohort-based studies. This was aligned to longitudinal studies that span 4 years of the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: Throughout 2023, we partnered with diagnostic pathology providers and pathogen genomics teams to identify relevant emerging or circulating variants in the New South Wales (NSW) community. We monitored emerging variants through viral culture, growth algorithms, neutralisation responses and changing entry requirements defined by ACE2 and TMPRSS2 receptor use. To frame this in the context of the pandemic stage, we continued to longitudinally track neutralisation responses at the population level using pooled Intravenous Immunoglobulins (IVIG) derived from in excess of 700,000 donations., Findings: In antibodies derived from recent individual donations and thousands of donations pooled in IVIGs, we observed continued neutralisation across prior and emerging variants with EG.5.1, HV.1, XCT and JN.1 ranked as the most evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants. Changes in the type I antibody site at Spike positions 452, 455 and 456 were associated with lowered neutralisation responses in XBB lineages. In longitudinal tracking of population immunity spanning three years, we observed continued maturation of neutralisation breadth to all SARS-CoV-2 variants over time. Whilst neutralisation responses initially displayed high levels of imprinting towards Ancestral and early pre-Omicron lineages, this was slowly countered by increased cross reactive breadth to all variants. We predicted JN.1 to have a marked transmission advantage in late 2023 and this eventuated globally at the start of 2024. We could not attribute this advantage to neutralisation resistance but rather propose that this growth advantage arises from the preferential utilisation of ACE2 pools that cannot engage TMPRSS2 at its Collectrin-Like Domain (CLD)., Interpretation: The emergence of many SARS-CoV-2 lineages documented at the end of 2023 was found to be initially associated with lowered neutralisation responses. This continued to be countered by the gradual maturation of cross-reactive neutralisation responses over time. The later appearance and dominance of the divergent JN.1 lineage cannot be attributed to a lack of neutralisation responses alone, and our data supports that its dominance is a culmination of both lowered neutralisation and changes in ACE2/TMPRSS2 entry preferences., Funding: This work was primarily supported by Australian Medical Foundation research grants MRF2005760 (ST, GM & WDR), MRF2001684 (ADK and ST) and Medical Research Future Fund Antiviral Development Call grant (WDR), Medical Research Future Fund COVID-19 grant (MRFF2001684, ADK & SGT) and the New South Wales Health COVID-19 Research Grants Round 2 (SGT)., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests Funding bodies did not contribute to study design, data collection, data analysis or writing of the manuscript. Study design, data collection, data analysis and data interpretation were performed by the listed authors. Writing and review was performed by the listed authors. JW has funding contracts from NSW Health for COVID-19 modelling (2021-23), was an investigator on Investigator on Australian government contracts for COVID-19 modelling (2021-22), Principal investigator on a NHMRC Partnership grant (2023-28) on respiratory virus modelling, forecasting and surveillance and a Voting member of Australian Technical Advisory Committee (on Immunisation (ATAGI) 2020-present. FB has funding from NSW Health for development of Covid serology and viral isolation platforms, is on the International Society for neuroimmunology: international advisory board (unpaid position). ADK has Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, Medical Future Fund and National Institutes of Health funding for research investigating SARS-CoV-2 immunological responses and SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics. Was the prior chair of the ASOT DSMB 2020–2022 and is the current Director of Scientia Clinical Research at UNSW. GM has active grants with ViiV and Janssen, has received travel support and honorariums through Gilead and is on Data Safety Monitoring Board at ViiV. N. Roth and T. Boss hold stock options in CSL Behring., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. From its initial appearance in Wuhan, China in 2019, it developed rapidly into a global pandemic. In addition to vaccines, therapeutic antibodies play an important role in immediately treating susceptible individuals to lessen severity of the disease. In this study, phage display technology was utilised to isolate human scFv antibody fragments that bind the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan-Hu-1 spike protein. Of eight RBD-binding scFvs isolated, two inhibited interaction of RBD with ACE2 protein on VeroE6 cells. Both scFvs also exhibited binding to SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant spike protein but not to Omicron variant spike protein in a Raman spectroscopy immunotest. The study demonstrates the potential of recombinant antibody approaches to rapidly isolate antibody moieties with virus neutralisation potential.

Criticising the use of the generic masculine, feminist and gender linguists have proposed different alternatives. In the Czech context, the following three types of alternatives can be distinguished: (1) feminisation, (2) neutralisation and paraphrases, and (3) making nonbinary persons linguistically more visible. Empirical studies on the usage frequency of these alternatives, however, are lacking. This paper addresses this issue by analysing agentive nouns and the feminisation of surnames in selected Czech newspapers. The results show that in references to individual women almost exclusive use is made of feminine expressions. Mixed-gender groups are still largely referred to using the generic masculine. In only a minority of occurrences are neutralising strategies used to refer to persons. What is more common, however, is to find neutralising strategies being used where the intention of expressing gender fairness was probably not the reason for their use, as referring to persons is not their primary function. Neither pair forms nor graphic symbols for non-binary reference are used. The surnames of female foreign nationals are almost always feminised, even though this is not necessary and the texts provide other linguistic means of identifying the persons as women. Based on an analysis of the distribution of generically-intended masculine expressions in the analysed texts, I propose dividing them into two types according to whether or not there is an obvious inclusion of females and non-binary persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to discuss the phenomenon called linguistic sexism, i.e. a lack of symmetry between the sexes in a language. The focus lies on comparing Norwegian and Polish, which with regard to feminist language reform follow two different strategies for a more inclusive use of language. While Norwegian speakers aim at replacing gender-marked forms with gender-neutral ones, in Polish there is a clear tendency to differentiate between nouns referring to men and women in order to increase the visibility of the latter. The article outlines how the lack of symmetry between the sexes in both languages is manifested in various areas, such as generic use of masculine forms, word formation of gender-related nouns, lexical gaps in the case of women together with titles and address forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: The CombiVacS study was designed to assess immunogenicity and reactogenicity of the heterologous ChAdOx1-S/BNT162b2 combination, and 14-day results showed a strong immune response. The present secondary analysis addresses the evolution of humoral and cellular response up to day 180. Methods: Between April 24 and 30, 2021, 676 adults primed with ChAdOx1-S were enrolled in five hospitals in Spain, and randomised to receive BNT162b2 as second dose (interventional group [IG]) or no vaccine (control group [CG]). Individuals from CG received BNT162b2 as second dose and also on day 28, as planned based on favourable results on day 14. Humoral immunogenicity, measured by immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD), antibody functionality using pseudovirus neutralisation assays for the reference (G614), Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants, as well as cellular immune response using interferon-γ and IL-2 immunoassays were assessed at day 28 after BNT162b2 in both groups, at day 90 (planned only in the interventional group) and at day 180 (laboratory data cut-off on Nov 19, 2021). This study was registered with EudraCT (2021-001978-37) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04860739). Findings: In this secondary analysis, 664 individuals (441 from IG and 223 from CG) were included. At day 28 post vaccine, geometric mean titres (GMT) of RBD antibodies were 5616·91 BAU/mL (95% CI 5296·49–5956·71) in the IG and 7298·22 BAU/mL (6739·41–7903·37) in the CG (p 1:100 at day 180 (19% and 22%, respectively). Interpretation: Titres of RBD antibodies decay over time, similar to homologous regimes. Our findings suggested that delaying administration of the second dose did not have a detrimental effect after vaccination and may have improved the response obtained. Lower neutralisation was observed against Omicron and Beta variants at day 180. Funding: Funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII).