One-year breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection and correlates of protection in fully vaccinated hematological patients

The long-term clinical efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines according to antibody response in immunosuppressed patients such as hematological patients has been little explored. A prospective multicenter registry-based cohort study conducted from December 2020 to July 2022 by the Spanish Transplant and Cell Therapy group, was used to analyze the relationship of antibody response over time after full vaccination (at 3-6 weeks, 3, 6 and 12 months) (2 doses) and of booster doses with breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection in 1551 patients with hematological disorders. At a median follow-up of 388 days after complete immunization, 266 out of 1551 (17%) developed breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection at median of 86 days (range 7-391) after full vaccination. The cumulative incidence was 18% [95% confidence interval (C.I.), 16-20%]. Multivariate analysis identified higher incidence in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients (29%) and with the use of corticosteroids (24.5%), whereas female sex (15.5%) and more than 1 year after last therapy (14%) were associated with a lower incidence (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). Median antibody titers at different time points were significantly lower in breakthrough cases than in non-cases. A serological titer cut-off of 250 BAU/mL was predictive of breakthrough infection and its severity. SARS-CoV-2 infection-related mortality was encouragingly low (1.9%) in our series. Our study describes the incidence of and risk factors for COVID-19 breakthrough infections during the initial vaccination and booster doses in the 2021 to mid-2022 period. The level of antibody titers at any time after 2-dose vaccination is strongly linked with protection against both breakthrough infection and severe disease, even with the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant

SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibody detection after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients: Prospective survey from the Spanish Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapy Group

This is a multicenter prospective observational study that included a large cohort (n = 397) of allogeneic (allo-HSCT; (n = 311) and autologous (ASCT) hematopoietic stem cell transplant (n = 86) recipients who were monitored for antibody detection within 3–6 weeks after complete severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination from February 1, 2021, to July 20, 2021. Most patients (n = 387, 97.4%) received mRNA-based vaccines. Most of the recipients (93%) were vaccinated more than 1 year after transplant. Detectable SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibodies were observed in 242 (78%) of allo-HSCT and in 73 (85%) of ASCT recipients. Multivariate analysis in allo-HSCT recipients identified lymphopenia < 1 × 109/ml (odds ratio [OR] 0.33, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.16–0.69, p = .003), active graft versus host disease (GvHD; OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.27–0.98, p = .04) and vaccination within the first year of transplant (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.15–0.9, p = .04) associated with lower antibody detection whereas. In ASCT, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL; OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.02–0.44, p = .003) and active corticosteroid therapy (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.02–0.87, p = .03) were associated with lower detection rate. We report an encouraging rate of SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibodies detection in these severe immunocompromised patients. Lymphopenia, GvHD, the timing of vaccine, and NHL and corticosteroids therapy should be considered in allo-HSCT and ASCT, respectively, to identify candidates for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies monitoring.Peer reviewe

Applicability of probabilistic graphical models for early detection of SARS-CoV-2 reactive antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in hematological patients

Prior studies of antibody response after full SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in hematological patients have confirmed lower antibody levels compared to the general population. Serological response in hematological patients varies widely according to the disease type and its status, and the treatment given and its timing with respect to vaccination. Through probabilistic machine learning graphical models, we estimated the conditional probabilities of having detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at 3–6 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in a large cohort of patients with several hematological diseases (n= 1166). Most patients received mRNA-based vaccines (97%), mainly Moderna® mRNA-1273 (74%) followed by Pfizer-BioNTech® BNT162b2 (23%). The overall antibody detection rate at 3 to 6 weeks after full vaccination for the entire cohort was 79%. Variables such as type of disease, timing of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy, age, corticosteroids therapy, vaccine type, disease status, or prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 are among the most relevant conditions influencing SARS-CoV-2-IgG-reactive antibody detection. A lower probability of having detectable antibodies was observed in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies within 6 months before vaccination (29.32%), whereas the highest probability was observed in younger patients with chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (99.53%). The Moderna® mRNA-1273 compound provided higher probabilities of antibody detection in all scenarios. This study depicts conditional probabilities of having detectable antibodies in the whole cohort and in specific scenarios such as B cell NHL, CLL, MM, and cMPN that may impact humoral responses. These results could be useful to focus on additional preventive and/or monitoring interventions in these highly immunosuppressed hematological patients.REDCap is developed and supported by Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. We thank the Spanish Society of Hematology (SEHH) for its support on the study. We sincerely want to thanks the invaluable aid of microbiology services for their commitment in SARS-CoV-2-reactive IgG antibody monitoring in these highly immunosuppressed patients from all participating centers. Finally, we also want to thank the patients, nurses, and study coordinators for their foremost contributions in this study.Peer reviewe

MCM-41 Porosity: Are Surface Corrugations Micropores?

Since the discovery of MCM-41, the interpretation of its structure and porous texture has evolved from a simple model of straight parallel mesopores to a much more complex model with a rough surface. The physisorption of nitrogen at 77.3 K and 87.5 K and of carbon dioxide at 273 K was carried out on both MCM-41 and a precipitated silica (PSIL). This silica was prepared for comparison purposes under identical conditions to those for MCM-41 but without the use of the surfactant. The adsorption characteristics of both materials for both adsorptives were indistinguishable at low adsorption pressures independent of the adsorption temperature employed, suggesting similarities in parts of their porosity (i.e. excluding mesoporosity). We propose that, in addition to its well-acknowledged mesoporosity, MCM-41 includes considerable surface roughness and/or heterogeneities similar to that shown by microporous silica. This surface structure appears to have adsorption characteristics indistinguishable from classical microporosity, and may also be an important feature of this material which is very often not taken into consideration in most of its applications

Zeolite LTA/Carbon membranes for air separation

Zeolite LTA membranes with few defects have been successfully synthesized on a carbon support by the secondary growth method, in which hydrothermal synthesis is preceded by the seeding of the carbon support with colloidal LTA zeolite crystals (about 100 nm) by means of the ElectroPhoretic Deposition (EPD) method. The effect of different synthesis parameters, such as pre-treatments of the carbon support, and different synthesis times and temperatures, on the quality of the zeolite LTA/carbon composite, were analysed by means of XRD, SEM, EDS, and TG–DTA–MS. In addition, in order to analyse the permeation characteristics of the composite materials, they were mounted in a permeation cell, and single gas components or binary mixtures of N2/O2 (in a ratio of 79:21) were fed to the zeolite side. The best zeolite LTA/carbon membrane was obtained using a pre-oxidised and EPD seeded support which then underwent hydrothermal treatment at 373 K for 4.5 h. This final composite, upon reaching the steady state, separates air with a high permeance (about 2.7 x 10-7 mol s-1 Pa-1 m-2) and possesses a good separation factor (about 2.7).Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Project CTQ2006-08958/PPQ) and the EU (FEDER program)

Applications for CO2-Activated Carbon Monoliths: II. EDLC Electrodes

This paper belongs to the Special Issue: Ceramic Processing Science and Products Development.The use of high-density carbon monoliths (CM) for preparing supercapacitor electrodes is analyzed. The starting CMs, produced by ATMI Co, were treated as follows: (1) under a N flow at 1073 K to modify the carbon surface chemistry and (2) activated with CO at the same temperature, using different activation times, to increase their porosity. Electrochemical measurements were performed on disks of 1-2 mm thickness which are suitable for direct use in practical devices. Two- and three-electrode cells were used with 2 M HSO solution as electrolyte. The contents of surface oxygen groups were measured by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The porosity of the starting monolith is increased by physical activation with CO, the BET surface area increasing from 957 to 1684 m/g. Upon heat treatments, both, the high density (1.2 g/cm), as well as the high amount of surface oxygen groups (2411 μmol CO/g) of the starting monolith are reduced; however, the densities of the treated monoliths remain higher than values reported for other porous carbon monoliths. The performance of the CMs as supercapacitor electrodes show as follows: (1) high specific and exceptionally high volumetric capacitances (up to 292 F/g and 342 F/cm, respectively) due to their appropriate structure, porosity, and density, (2) a long and stable cyclability, (3) a decrease of power density with disk thickness, and (4) a decrease of pseudocapacitance with activation time

Comité organizador de la Carbon 2003

Peer reviewe