Use of heterologous prime-boost COVID-19 vaccine schedules could facilitate mass COVID-19 immunisation. However, we have previously reported that heterologous schedules incorporating an adenoviral ...vectored vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, AstraZeneca; hereafter referred to as ChAd) and an mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2, Pfizer–BioNTech; hereafter referred to as BNT) at a 4-week interval are more reactogenic than homologous schedules. Here, we report the safety and immunogenicity of heterologous schedules with the ChAd and BNT vaccines.
Com-COV is a participant-blinded, randomised, non-inferiority trial evaluating vaccine safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity. Adults aged 50 years and older with no or well controlled comorbidities and no previous SARS-CoV-2 infection by laboratory confirmation were eligible and were recruited at eight sites across the UK. The majority of eligible participants were enrolled into the general cohort (28-day or 84-day prime-boost intervals), who were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1) to receive ChAd/ChAd, ChAd/BNT, BNT/BNT, or BNT/ChAd, administered at either 28-day or 84-day prime-boost intervals. A small subset of eligible participants (n=100) were enrolled into an immunology cohort, who had additional blood tests to evaluate immune responses; these participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to the four schedules (28-day interval only). Participants were masked to the vaccine received but not to the prime-boost interval. The primary endpoint was the geometric mean ratio (GMR) of serum SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG concentration (measured by ELISA) at 28 days after boost, when comparing ChAd/BNT with ChAd/ChAd, and BNT/ChAd with BNT/BNT. The heterologous schedules were considered non-inferior to the approved homologous schedules if the lower limit of the one-sided 97·5% CI of the GMR of these comparisons was greater than 0·63. The primary analysis was done in the per-protocol population, who were seronegative at baseline. Safety analyses were done among participants receiving at least one dose of a study vaccine. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 69254139.
Between Feb 11 and Feb 26, 2021, 830 participants were enrolled and randomised, including 463 participants with a 28-day prime-boost interval, for whom results are reported here. The mean age of participants was 57·8 years (SD 4·7), with 212 (46%) female participants and 117 (25%) from ethnic minorities. At day 28 post boost, the geometric mean concentration of SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG in ChAd/BNT recipients (12 906 ELU/mL) was non-inferior to that in ChAd/ChAd recipients (1392 ELU/mL), with a GMR of 9·2 (one-sided 97·5% CI 7·5 to ∞). In participants primed with BNT, we did not show non-inferiority of the heterologous schedule (BNT/ChAd, 7133 ELU/mL) against the homologous schedule (BNT/BNT, 14 080 ELU/mL), with a GMR of 0·51 (one-sided 97·5% CI 0·43 to ∞). Four serious adverse events occurred across all groups, none of which were considered to be related to immunisation.
Despite the BNT/ChAd regimen not meeting non-inferiority criteria, the SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG concentrations of both heterologous schedules were higher than that of a licensed vaccine schedule (ChAd/ChAd) with proven efficacy against COVID-19 disease and hospitalisation. Along with the higher immunogenicity of ChAd/BNT compared with ChAD/ChAd, these data support flexibility in the use of heterologous prime-boost vaccination using ChAd and BNT COVID-19 vaccines.
UK Vaccine Task Force and National Institute for Health Research.
This paper presents a near-field scanning microscope hardware embodiment using a high-speed, low-cost oscillator circuit, comprising of an RF amplifier with positive feedback. This is compared to a ...conventional configuration of a vector network analyser with both the measured frequency and constant frequency modes for height measurement of a metal surface. The constant frequency mode achieved similar results but with half the sampling time.
Advances in animal tracking technology allow for improvement in farm resource management, animal welfare and the possibility of an overall reduction in running costs. We describe a light-weight ...solar-powered position sensor tag for livestock and a corresponding base station. The livestock ear tag weighs less than 40g and utilises 868MHz SRD/ISM frequency band for telemetry. This provides configurable wireless connection for data retrieval triggered by a base station, reducing the overall power consumption of the tags. Data transmission range is 2.4km line of sight and 1km typical. Static testing of the position sensor yields a circular error probable of 6 ±2 metres.
This paper describes our initial investigation of an inertial power generation system, designed for use in small, low-power, long-endurance ocean exploration robots. The system recovers small amounts ...of power from the movements caused by ocean waves. The primary focus of the investigation to date has been the development of efficient power recovery system electronics that extract useful power from a wide range of ocean wave amplitudes and frequencies.
Key points
There is evidence that cooperatives provide greater resilience in times of crisis than conventional enterprises.
Cooperatives subscribe to seven values associated with economic and ...governance participation, as well as equality and concern for community.
We present two case studies, one well established (Crossref) and one new (the UK National Research Identifier Coordinating Committee), that have adopted some cooperative principles.
There is a strong push towards greater cooperation in the scholarly communications sector.
There is enough evidence from our own sector and the wider socio‐economic landscape to justify prioritizing cooperation and cooperative values in our common endeavours in coming years.
Abstract
We present detailed ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared light curves of the Type Ia supernova (SN) 2012fr, which exploded in the Fornax cluster member NGC 1365. These precise ...high-cadence light curves provide a dense coverage of the flux evolution from −12 to +140 days with respect to the epoch of
B
-band maximum (
t
B
max
). Supplementary imaging at the earliest epochs reveals an initial slow and nearly linear rise in luminosity with a duration of ∼2.5 days, followed by a faster rising phase that is well reproduced by an explosion model with a moderate amount of
56
Ni mixing in the ejecta. From our analysis of the light curves, we conclude that: (i) the explosion occurred <22 hr before the first detection of the supernova, (ii) the rise time to peak bolometric (
λ
> 1800 Å) luminosity was 16.5 ± 0.6 days, (iii) the supernova suffered little or no host-galaxy dust reddening, (iv) the peak luminosity in both the optical and near-infrared was consistent with the bright end of normal Type Ia diversity, and (v) 0.60 ± 0.15
M
⊙
of
56
Ni was synthesized in the explosion. Despite its normal luminosity, SN 2012fr displayed unusually prevalent high-velocity Ca
ii
and Si
ii
absorption features, and a nearly constant photospheric velocity of the Si
ii
λ
6355 line at ∼12,000
km
s
−
1
that began ∼5 days before
t
B
max
. We also highlight some of the other peculiarities in the early phase photometry and the spectral evolution. SN 2012fr also adds to a growing number of Type Ia supernovae that are hosted by galaxies with direct Cepheid distance measurements.
The Australian National Rabbit Database Roy-Dufresne, Emilie; Lurgi, Miguel; Brown, Stuart C. ...
Ecology (Durham),
07/2019, Volume:
100, Issue:
7
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
With ongoing introductions into Australia since the 1700s, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has become one of the most widely distributed and abundant vertebrate pests, adversely impacting ...Australia’s biodiversity and agroeconomy. To understand the population and range dynamics of the species and its impacts better, occurrence and abundance data have been collected by researchers and citizens from sites covering a broad spectrum of climatic and environmental conditions in Australia. The lack of a common and accessible repository for these data has, however, limited their use in determining important spatiotemporal drivers of the structure and dynamics of the geographical range of rabbits in Australia. To meet this need, we created the Australian National Rabbit Database, which combines more than 50 yr of historical and contemporary survey data collected from throughout the range of the species in Australia. The survey data, obtained from a suite of complementary monitoring methods, were combined with high-resolution weather, climate, and environmental information, and an assessment of data quality. The database provides records of rabbit occurrence (689,265 records) and abundance (51,241 records, >120 distinct sites) suitable for identifying the spatiotemporal drivers of the rabbit’s distribution and for determining spatial patterns of variation in its key life-history traits, including maximum rates of population growth. Because all data are georeferenced and date stamped, they can be coupled with information from other databases and spatial layers to explore the potential effects of rabbit occurrence and abundance on Australia’s native wildlife and agricultural production. The Australian National Rabbit Database is an important tool for understanding and managing the European rabbit in its invasive range and its effects on native biodiversity and agricultural production. It also provides a valuable resource for addressing questions related to the biology, success, and impacts of invasive species more generally. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set other than citation of this Data Paper.
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