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IntroductionThe third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is especially necessary in people over 65 years of age due to their lower immune response.MethodsWe designed a multicentre, prospective observational study including 98 people ≤65 years old who lived in two nursing homes in Valladolid, Spain. One of the groups had previous experience with SARS-CoV-2 (n=68;69.4%) and the other was naïve (n=30;30.6%). We evaluated the response to the three doses of the Comirnaty vaccine and the dynamics of antibodies during 5 consecutive serum samplings: 2 after the first two doses of vaccination, one three months after the first dose, another at 6 months and the last one month after the third dose. IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 S1, RBD and N antigens were analysed.ResultsBoth groups increased the level of Abs against S1 and RBD, but the experienced group showed a 130-fold higher humoral response due to hybrid immunisation (infection+vaccination). The response to vaccination with Comirnaty against COVID-19 was higher in those ≤65 years with previous experience than those who were naïve. However, the amount of antibodies against S1 and RBD equalised at 6 months. After the third dose, both groups raised the amount of antibodies to a similar level. The reinfections suggested by the analysis of antibodies against N were frequent in both groups.DiscussionThe third dose showed a clear benefit for elderly people, with the reinforcement of the antibody levels after the decline suffered after six months of the first two doses.

IntroductionExternal Quality Assessment (EQA) schemes are designed to provide a snapshot of laboratory proficiency, identifying issues and providing feedback to improve laboratory performance and inter-laboratory agreement in testing. Currently there are no international EQA schemes for seasonal influenza serology testing. Here we present a feasibility study for conducting an EQA scheme for influenza serology methods.MethodsWe invited participant laboratories from industry, contract research organizations (CROs), academia and public health institutions who regularly conduct hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) and microneutralization (MN) assays and have an interest in serology standardization. In total 16 laboratories returned data including 19 data sets for HAI assays and 9 data sets for MN assays.ResultsWithin run analysis demonstrated good laboratory performance for HAI, with intrinsically higher levels of intra-assay variation for MN assays. Between run analysis showed laboratory and strain specific issues, particularly with B strains for HAI, whilst MN testing was consistently good across labs and strains. Inter-laboratory variability was higher for MN assays than HAI, however both assays showed a significant reduction in inter-laboratory variation when a human sera pool is used as a standard for normalization.DiscussionThis study has received positive feedback from participants, highlighting the benefit such an EQA scheme would have on improving laboratory performance, reducing inter laboratory variation and raising awareness of both harmonized protocol use and the benefit of biological standards for seasonal influenza serology testing.

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Core reduction provides insight into the technical actions involved in knapping sequences, one of the central elements in technological analysis. By examining reduction phases, cognitive and operational aspects of the management of lithic resources can be explored, and the technical behaviours of human groups reconstructed.This paper presents a technological and morphometric analysis of cores from the Magdalenian sequence of the Cova Gran de Santa Linya (SE Pyrenees), which ranges from 23 to 16 k cal BP. The knapping strategies suggest two types of lithic exploitation: one on nodules using semi-circumferential methods and the other on thick flakes using burin-core methods. Five knapping modalities were identified through the study of reduction sequences and the analysis of technical attributes, which highlights the technical diversity of lithic production systems.The data collected are supported by statistical analysis and reveal significant differences at the diachronic level and among the lithic assemblages. This study aims to suggest a reference model with which to characterise Magdalenian cores in technological terms. This model can broaden our understanding of the diversity of technical behaviours that appear from the beginning of LGM-b to the end of MIS 2 in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula.

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Given a continuum X and p ∈ X, we will consider the hyperspace C(p, X) of all subcontinua of X containing p. Given a family of continua C, a continuum X ∈ C and p ∈ X, we say that (X, p) has unique hyperspace C(p, X) relative to C if for each Y ∈ C and q ∈ Y such that C(p, X) and C(q, Y ) are homeomorphic, then there is an homeomorphism between X and Y sending p to q. In this paper we show that (X, p) has unique hyperspace C(p, X) relative to the classes of dendrites if and only if X is a tree, we present also some classes of continua without unique hyperspace C(p, X); this answer some questions posed in [2].