Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

Social Psychology and the Stimulation of Recycling Behaviors: The Block Leader Approach

Recycling has been touted as an important part of the solution to solid waste problems, yet most citizens still do not recycle, even when recycling is made easy by curbside pickups. This field experiment was designed to increase participation in a city-sponsored curbside recycling program. Citizens who consistently recycled with the city program were approached and asked to be recycling block leaders. Those who agreed were instructed to give approximately 10 nonrecycling neighbors a persuasive communication advocating recycling and special recycling bags. A second treatment group (of nonrecycling households) had bags and the communication left at their door. Results indicated that the curbside recycling of the two experimental groups differed significantly from one another (with the block leader group recycling more), and both differed significantly from a control group receiving no treatment. A discussion of past recycling intervention research and its feasibility for community application is included