Chelidonura normani Ornelas-Gatdula & Dupont & Valdés 2011, SP. NOV.

CHELIDONURA NORMANI SP. NOV. <p>(FIGS 1C, 1H, 1S, 3N–O, 4H–J, 6)</p> <p> <i>Material examined:</i> Holotype: Sand Dollar Beach, Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas (23°30′86″N, 75°44′56″W), 1–2 m depth, Dec 26, 2003, 8 mm long, leg. Anne DuPont (LACM 3125).</p> <p>Paratypes: Sand Dollar Beach, Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas (23°30′86″N, 75°44′56″W), 1–2 m depth, 7.i.2004, two specimens 7 mm long, leg. Anne DuPont (LACM 3126). Sand Dollar Beach, Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas (23°30′86″N, 75°44′56″W), 1–2 m depth, 25.i.2006, two specimens 6 and 7 mm long, leg. Anne DuPont (LACM 3127). Monument Beach, Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas (23°31′49″N, 75°46′01″W), 1–2 m depth, 9.iii.2005, one specimen 4 mm long, leg. Anne DuPont (LACM 3128).</p> <p> <i>External morphology:</i> Body narrow, elongate (Fig. 6). Cephalic shield occupying the anterior half of the body length; visceral hump occupying the posterior half. Posterior end of the cephalic shield narrower and thicker, covering the anterior end of the visceral hump. Foot wide, forming two small lateral expansions that protrude on either side of the anterior end of the cephalic shield. Towards the middle of the body, the foot forms two short parapodia that can partially cover portions of the cephalic shield and the visceral hump. At the end of the visceral hump, the foot becomes covered by the two posterior expansions of the body, or ‘tails’. Posterior end of the visceral hump forming an arch that expands into two posterior expansions or ‘tails’. Left ‘tail’ long, triangular, occupying at least three-quarters of the width of the posterior end of the visceral hump. The right ‘tail’ is often a minute expansion, narrower than the left ‘tail’, almost invisible in some specimens. The shape and length of the ‘tails’ varies with the state of contraction of the animal.</p> <p>Background colour variable, from pale brown to dark brown or black. Anterior end of the cephalic shield translucent grey, with the eye spots visible as two dark dots. Some specimens with thick yellow lines on the margins of the parapodia, the posterior arch of the visceral hump, the posterior end of the cephalic shield and near the anterior end of the cephalic shield. These lines can be completely absent in some specimens. Some specimens with bright yellow spots on the external surface of the parapodia near or in contact with the marginal yellow line. Some specimens with irregular opaque white or yellow dots and patches irregularly distributed over the dorsal surface of the cephalic shield and visceral hump as well as on the external surface of the parapodia and posterior ‘tails’. White or yellow dots and patches often more concentrated on the posterior end of the cephalic shield.</p> <p> <i>Anatomy:</i> Penis shorter than the prostate, with a simple, non-bilobed apex (Fig. 3N–O). Shell internal, covering the posterior end of the viscera, calcified but extremely fragile and brittle. Shell apex with the protoconch attached. Protoconch about 290 Mm in maximum diameter, with a total of one and a quarter whorls (Fig. 4H–J). Nucleus with an irregular pattern of holes and ridges; the rest of the protoconch with a consistent growth pattern of irregular lines, all about the same width and depth.</p> <p> <i>Etymology:</i> This species is dedicated to Norman DuPont, husband of Anne DuPont, for his help and support during the fieldwork in the Bahamas that produced the type material of this species.</p> <p> <i>Biology:</i> This species is found only in the Bahamas. Specimens are found crawling on sandy bottoms during the day.</p> <p> <i>Remarks: Chelidonura normani</i> can be characterized based on both morphological and molecular apomorphies. As discussed above, for all three genes, H 3, 16S, and COI, the Bahamas animals form a distinctive group with several unique substitutions. In all cases, specimens carrying those substitutions also have unique morphological traits, including the shape of the penis, the size and shape of the protoconch, and the morphology of the posterior ‘tails’ (all discussed in the Results section above). However, the external coloration of <i>C. normani</i> is highly variable and this variability is well within the range of <i>C. berolina</i> and these two species cannot be distinguished on the basis of their colour.</p>Published as part of <i>Ornelas-Gatdula, Elysse, Dupont, Anne & Valdés, Ángel, 2011, The tail tells the tale: taxonomy and biogeography of some Atlantic Chelidonura (Gastropoda: Cephalaspidea: Aglajidae) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial gene data, pp. 1077-1095 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163 (4)</i> on pages 1090-1091, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00749.x, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5442373">http://zenodo.org/record/5442373</a&gt

Outpatient COVID-19 convalescent plasma recipient antibody thresholds correlated to reduced hospitalizations within a randomized trial.

BACKGROUNDCOVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) virus-specific antibody levels that translate into recipient posttransfusion antibody levels sufficient to prevent disease progression are not defined.METHODSThis secondary analysis correlated donor and recipient antibody levels to hospitalization risk among unvaccinated, seronegative CCP recipients within the outpatient, double-blind, randomized clinical trial that compared CCP to control plasma. The majority of COVID-19 CCP arm hospitalizations (15/17, 88%) occurred in this unvaccinated, seronegative subgroup. A functional cutoff to delineate recipient high versus low posttransfusion antibody levels was established by 2 methods: (i) analyzing virus neutralization-equivalent anti-Spike receptor-binding domain immunoglobulin G (anti-S-RBD IgG) responses in donors or (ii) receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.RESULTSSARS-CoV-2 anti-S-RBD IgG antibody was volume diluted 21.3-fold into posttransfusion seronegative recipients from matched donor units. Virus-specific antibody delivered was approximately 1.2 mg. The high-antibody recipients transfused early (symptom onset within 5 days) had no hospitalizations. A CCP-recipient analysis for antibody thresholds correlated to reduced hospitalizations found a statistical significant association between early transfusion and high antibodies versus all other CCP recipients (or control plasma), with antibody cutoffs established by both methods-donor-based virus neutralization cutoffs in posttransfusion recipients (0/85 [0%] versus 15/276 [5.6%]; P = 0.03) or ROC-based cutoff (0/94 [0%] versus 15/267 [5.4%]; P = 0.01).CONCLUSIONIn unvaccinated, seronegative CCP recipients, early transfusion of plasma units in the upper 30% of study donors antibody levels reduced outpatient hospitalizations. High antibody level plasma units, given early, should be reserved for therapeutic use.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicalTrials.gov NCT04373460.FUNDINGDepartment of Defense (W911QY2090012); Defense Health Agency; Bloomberg Philanthropies; the State of Maryland; NIH (3R01AI152078-01S1, U24TR001609-S3, 1K23HL151826NIH); the Mental Wellness Foundation; the Moriah Fund; Octapharma; the Healthnetwork Foundation; the Shear Family Foundation; the NorthShore Research Institute; and the Rice Foundation

Outpatient COVID-19 convalescent plasma recipient antibody thresholds correlated to reduced hospitalizations within a randomized trial

BACKGROUND COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) viral specific antibody levels that translate into recipient post-transfusion antibody levels sufficient to prevent disease progression is not defined.METHODS This secondary analysis correlated donor and recipient antibody levels to hospitalization risk among unvaccinated, seronegative CCP recipients within the outpatient, double blind, randomized clinical trial that compared CCP to control plasma. The majority of COVID-19 CCP arm hospitalizations (15/17, 88%) occurred in this unvaccinated, seronegative subgroup. A functional cutoff to delineate recipient high versus low post-transfusion antibody levels was established by two methods: 1) analyzing virus neutralization-equivalent anti-Spike-receptor-binding-domain immunoglobulin G (anti-S-RBD IgG) responses in donors or 2) receiver operated curve (ROC) analysis.RESULTS SARS-CoV-2 anti-S-RBD IgG antibody was volume diluted 21.3 fold into post-transfusion seronegative recipients from matched donor units. Viral specific antibody delivered approximated 1.2 mg. The high antibody recipients transfused early (symptom onset within 5 days) had no hospitalizations. A CCP recipient analysis for antibody thresholds correlated to reduced hospitalizations found a statistical significant association between early transfusion and high antibodies versus all other CCP recipients (or control plasma) with antibody cutoffs established by both methods-donor-based virus neutralization cutoff in post-transfusion recipients: (0/85; 0% versus 15/276; 5.6%) p=0.03 or ROC based cutoff: (0/94; 0% versus 15/267; 5.4%) p=0.01.CONCLUSION In unvaccinated, seronegative CCP recipients, early transfusion of plasma units in the upper 30% of study donors antibody levels reduced outpatient hospitalizations. High antibody level plasma units, given early, should be reserved for therapeutic use. Trial registration: NCT04373460 FUNDING Defense Health Agency and others