Monitoring population protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants is critical for risk assessment. We hypothesize that Hong Kong's explosive Omicron BA.2 outbreak in early 2022 could be explained by low herd immunity. Our seroprevalence study using sera collected from January to December 2021 shows a very low prevalence of neutralizing antibodies (NAb) against ancestral virus among older adults. The age group-specific prevalence of NAb generally correlates with the vaccination uptake rate, but older adults have a much lower NAb seropositive rate than vaccination uptake rate. For all age groups, the seroprevalence of NAb against Omicron variant is much lower than that against the ancestral virus. Our study suggests that this BA.2 outbreak and the exceptionally high case-fatality rate in the ≥80 year-old age group (9.2%) could be attributed to the lack of protective immunity in the population, especially among the vulnerable older adults, and that ongoing sero-surveillance is essential.

This was a single-arm, multicenter phase 2 clinical trial (ChiCTR1900021726) involving advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sq-NSCLC) patients undergoing 2 cycles of nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin and sintilimab (anti-PD-1), followed by sintilimab maintenance therapy. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 11.4 months (95% CI: 6.7-18.1), which met the pre-specified primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints included objective response rate reaching 70.5% and a disease control rate of 93.2%, with a median duration of response of 13.6 months [95% CI: 7.0-not evaluable (NE)]. The median overall survival was 27.2 months (95% CI: 20.2-NE) with treatment-related adverse events grades ≥3 occurring in 10.9% of patients. Predefined exploratory endpoints comprised relationships between biomarkers and treatment efficacy, and the association between circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) dynamics and PFS. Biomarker analysis revealed that the breast cancer gene 2, BMP/Retinoic Acid Inducible Neural Specific 3, F-box/WD repeat-containing protein 7, tyrosine-protein kinase KIT and retinoblastoma 1 abnormalities led to shorter PFS, while ctDNA negative at baseline or clearance at 2 cycles of treatment was associated with longer PFS (18.1 vs. 4.3 months). Taken together, sintilimab in combination with 2 cycles of nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin treatment produced encouraging PFS and better tolerability as first-line treatment for advanced sq-NSCLC.

Potato is the third most important staple food crop. To address challenges associated with global food security, a hybrid potato breeding system, aimed at converting potato from a tuber-propagated tetraploid crop into a seed-propagated diploid crop through crossing inbred lines, is under development. However, given that most diploid potatoes are self-incompatible, this represents a major obstacle which needs to be addressed in order to develop inbred lines. Here, we report on a self-compatible diploid potato, RH89-039-16 (RH), which can efficiently induce a mating transition from self-incompatibility to self-compatibility, when crossed to self-incompatible lines. We identify the S-locusinhibitor (Sli) gene in RH, capable of interacting with multiple allelic variants of the pistil-specific S-ribonucleases (S-RNases). Further, Sli gene functions like a general S-RNase inhibitor, to impart SC to RH and other self-incompatible potatoes. Discovery of Sli now offers a path forward for the diploid hybrid breeding program.

The parasubthalamic nucleus (PSTN) is considered to be involved in motivation, feeding and hunting, all of which are highly depending on wakefulness. However, the roles and underlying neural circuits of the PSTN in wakefulness remain unclear. Neurons expressing calretinin (CR) account for the majority of PSTN neurons. In this study in male mice, fiber photometry recordings showed that the activity of PSTNCR neurons increased at the transitions from non-rapid eye movement (non-REM, NREM) sleep to either wakefulness or REM sleep, as well as exploratory behavior. Chemogenetic and optogenetic experiments demonstrated that PSTNCR neurons were necessary for initiating and/or maintaining arousal associated with exploration. Photoactivation of projections of PSTNCR neurons revealed that they regulated exploration-related wakefulness by innervating the ventral tegmental area. Collectively, our findings indicate that PSTNCR circuitry is essential for the induction and maintenance of the awake state associated with exploration.