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Objective: To investigate the effects of repeated vaccination with ancestral SARS-CoV-2 (Wuhan-hu-1)-based inactivated, recombinant protein subunit or vector-based vaccines on the neutralizing antibody response to Omicron subvariants. Methods: Individuals who received four-dose vaccinations with the Wuhan-hu-1 strain, individuals who were infected with the BA.5 variant alone without prior vaccination, and individuals who experienced a BA.5 breakthrough infection (BTI) following receiving 2-4 doses of the Wuhan-hu-1 vaccine were enrolled. Neutralizing antibodies against D614G, BA.5, XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 were detected using a pseudovirus-based neutralization assay. Antigenic cartography was used to analyze cross-reactivity patterns among D614G, BA.5, XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 and sera from individuals. Results: The highest neutralizing antibody titers against D614G were observed in individuals who only received four-dose vaccination and those who experienced BA.5 BTI, which was also significantly higher than the antibody titers against XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86. In contrast, only BA.5 infection elicited comparable neutralizing antibody titers against the tested variants. While neutralizing antibody titers against D614G or BA.5 were similar across the cohorts, the neutralizing capacity of antibodies against XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 was significantly reduced. BA.5 BTI following heterologous booster induced significantly higher neutralizing antibody titers against the variants, particularly against XBB.1.5 and EG.5.1, than uninfected vaccinated individuals, only BA.5 infected individuals, or those with BA.5 BTI after primary vaccination. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that repeated vaccination with the Wuhan-hu-1 strain imprinted a neutralizing antibody response toward the Wuhan-hu-1 strain with limited effects on the antibody response to the Omicron subvariants.

Summary: The ongoing emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants poses challenges to the immunity induced by infections and vaccination. We conduct a 6-month longitudinal evaluation of antibody binding and neutralization of sera from individuals with six different combinations of vaccination and infection against BA.5, XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86. We find that most individuals produce spike-binding IgG or neutralizing antibodies against BA.5, XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 2 months after infection or vaccination. However, compared to ancestral strain and BA.5 variant, XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 exhibit comparable but significant immune evasion. The spike-binding IgG and neutralizing antibody titers decrease in individuals without additional antigen exposure, and

In insects, vision is crucial in finding host plants, but its role in nocturnal insects is largely unknown. Vision involves responses to specific spectra of photon wavelengths and opsins plays an important role in this process. Long-wavelength sensitive opsin (LW opsin) and blue-sensitive opsin (BL opsin) are main visual opsin proteins and play important in behavior regulation.We used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to mutate the long-wavelength-sensitive and blue wavelength-sensitive genes and explored the role of vision in the nocturnal invasive pest Tuta absoluta. Light wave experiments revealed that LW2 (-/-) and BL (-/-) mutants showed abnormal wavelength tropism. Both LW2 and BL mutations affected the preference of T. absoluta for the green environment. Mutations in LW2 and BL are necessary to inhibit visual attraction. The elimination of LW2 and BL affected the preference of leaf moths for green plants, and mutations in both induced a preference in moths for white plants. Behavioral changes resulting from LW2 (-/-) and BL (-/-) mutants were not affected by sense of smell, further supporting the regulatory role of vision in insect behavior. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal that vision, not smell, plays an important role in the host-seeking behavior of nocturnal insects at night, of which LW2 and BL opsins are key regulatory factors. These study findings will drive the development of the "vision-ecology" theory., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

High levels of dissolved arsenic (As) have been reported in many rivers running though the Tibetan Plateau (TP), the "Water Tower of Asia". However, the source, spatiotemporal variations, and geochemical behavior of dissolved As in these rivers remain poorly understood. In this study, hot spring, river water, and suspended particulate material samples collected from the Yarlung Tsangpo River (YTR) (upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River) system in 2017 and 2018 were analyzed. Spatial results shown that the upper reaches of YTR (Zone I) have comparatively high levels of dissolved As ([As] dissolved : mean 31.7 μg/L; 4.7-81.6 μg/L; n = 16), while the tributaries of the lower reaches (Zone II) have relatively low levels (mean 0.54 μg/L; 0.11-1.3 μg/L; n = 7). Seasonal results shown that the high [As] dissolved (6.1-22.4 μg/L) were found in September to June and low [As] dissolved (1.4-3.7 μg/L) were observed in July to August. Geothermal water is suspected as the main source of the elevated As levels in YTR due to the extremely high [As] dissolved in hot springs (1.13-9.76 mg/L) and abundance of geothermal systems throughout TP. However, the seasonal results suggested that weathering of As-containing rocks and minerals is also a key factor affecting the [As] dissolved in the river water in July to August (wet-season). Natural attenuation of As in main channel is dominated by dilution process due to the lower As concentrations in tributaries, but mostly occurred by both dilution and adsorption (or co-precipitation) processes in tributaries. This work highlights that the weathering process may have an important contribution to the dissolved As in the river waters in wet-season, and the geochemical behavior of As is largely transported conservatively in the main channel and relative non-conservatively in the tributaries in YTR system., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this work, sixteen U.S. EPA priority PAH compounds in the dated sediment cores were detected from five lakes in western China. In most lakes, the concentrations of the total PAHs (ΣPAHs) increased from the deep layers to the surface sediments. Two source categories, i.e. vehicular emission and biomass & domestic coal combustion were identified by Unmix, a factor analysis receptor model to explore the source contributions of PAHs in the dated sediments. The source apportionment results showed that biomass & domestic coal combustion contributed larger proportion of PAHs in the five lakes. The toxicities of PAHs in the dated sediments, assessed by BaP equivalent (BaPE) values showed that the BaPE increased gradually from the deep layers to the surface sediments in most lakes. For the first effort, the contribution of each source to BaPE was apportioned by Unmix-BaPE method, and the result indicated that the vehicular emission posed the highest toxic risk. The percentage contribution of vehicular emission for PAHs and BaPE also increased from the deep layers to the surface sediments, while biomass & domestic coal combustion exhibited the opposite tendency., (© 2013.)

Four typical freshwater fish species in Lake Taihu (TH), China, were collected and analyzed for the residue levels of DDT and its metabolites DDD and DDE (sum of o,p'- and p,p'-DDT, DDD, and DDE is designated as DDTs). The DDTs concentrations ranged from 3.24 to 37.1 ng/g, and p,p'-DDE was the dominant isomer, followed by p,p'-DDD and o,p'-DDT. Source identification indicated that DDTs in TH was mostly stemmed from the historical usage of technical DDT mixture, but a new source of DDT, i.e., dicofol-type DDT, also occurred. The results from the present work, together with previously published data, clearly indicate that dicofol-type DDT was widespread and was an important continual source of DDTs in China., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)