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<title>13 July, 2023</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Evaluating Twitter’s COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation Removal Policy</strong> -
<div>
Objectives. To assess the efficacy of Twitter’s March 1, 2021 COVID-19 vaccine misinformation removal policy. Methods. We collected over 400 million English-language tweets related to COVID-19 using more than 100 pertinent keywords from February 6, 2020, to December 15, 2022, comparing vaccine-related tweets and corresponding accounts before vs. after the implementation of Twitter’s interventions. We used a comparative interrupted time series analytic approach to compared the content of misinformative (&gt;10% of tweets contain links to misinformative websites) to non-misinformative accounts. Results. We identified 7,084 misinformative accounts and 6,706,999 non-misinformative accounts. Misinformative accounts were 1.43 times more likely to persist (RR=1.43; 95% CI:1.41-1.45; P&lt;0.001) and 30.16 times more likely to become more misinformative (RR=30.16; 95% CI: 28.48 - 31.95; P&lt;0.001) compared to non-misinformative accounts. We did not detect a significant decrease in content from misinformative accounts (RR=0.03; 95% CI: 0.00 - 3.93; P=0.16) compared to pre-policy data; however, we did detect a significant decrease in content from non-misinformative accounts (RR=0.02; 95% CI: 0.00 - 0.32; P=0.005). We did not detect a significant difference between these two groups (RR=1.48; 95% CI: 0.01 - 398.61; P=0.89). Conclusion. Twitter’s vaccine misinformation removal policies do not appear to have been associated with a detectable reduction in content from misinformative, compared to non- misinformative, users or in more misinformative compared to less misinformative tweets. Public Health Implications. Our study highlights the necessity for external evaluations to ascertain the sufficiency of platforms’ self-regulatory measures to safeguard public health.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/cxg6y/" target="_blank">Evaluating Twitter’s COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation Removal Policy</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Endocytosis Inhibitors Block SARS-CoV-2 Pseudoparticle Infection of Mink Lung Epithelium</strong> -
<div>
Both spill over and spill back of SARS-CoV-2 virus have been reported on mink farms in Europe and the United States. Zoonosis is a public health concern as dangerous mutated forms of the virus could be introduced into the human population through spillback. The purpose of our study was to determine the SARS-CoV-2 entry mechanism using mink lung epithelial cell line (Mv1Lu) and to block entry with drug inhibitors. Mv1Lu cells were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 viral pseudoparticle infection, validating them as a suitable disease model for COVID-19. Inhibitors of TMPRSS2 and of endocytosis, two pathways of viral entry, were tested to identify those that blocked infection. Dyngo4a, a small molecule endocytosis inhibitor, significantly reduced infection, while TMPRSS2 inhibitors had minimal impact, supporting the conclusion that the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into Mv1Lu cells occurs primarily through endocytosis. The small molecule inhibitors that were effective in this study could potentially be used therapeutically to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in mink populations. This study will facilitate the development of therapeutics to prevent zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 variants to other animals, including humans.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.12.548725v1" target="_blank">Endocytosis Inhibitors Block SARS-CoV-2 Pseudoparticle Infection of Mink Lung Epithelium</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The recency and geographical origins of the bat viruses ancestral to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
The emergence of SARS-CoV in 2002 and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019 has led to increased sampling of related sarbecoviruses circulating primarily in horseshoe bats. These viruses undergo frequent recombination and exhibit spatial structuring across Asia. Employing recombination-aware phylogenetic inference on bat sarbecoviruses, we find that the closest-inferred bat virus ancestors of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 existed just ~1-3 years prior to their emergence in humans. Phylogeographic analyses examining the movement of related sarbecoviruses demonstrate that they traveled at similar rates to their horseshoe bat hosts and have been circulating for thousands of years in Asia. The closest-inferred bat virus ancestor of SARS-CoV likely circulated in western China, and that of SARS-CoV-2 likely circulated in a region comprising southwest China and northern Laos, both a substantial distance from where they emerged. This distance and recency indicate that the direct ancestors of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 could not have reached their respective sites of emergence via the bat reservoir alone. Our recombination-aware dating and phylogeographic analyses reveal a more accurate inference of evolutionary history than performing only whole-genome or single gene analyses. These results can guide future sampling efforts and demonstrate that viral genomic fragments extremely closely related to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 were circulating in horseshoe bats, confirming their importance as the reservoir species for SARS viruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.12.548617v1" target="_blank">The recency and geographical origins of the bat viruses ancestral to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 Case and Mortality Surveillance using Daily SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater Samples adjusting for Meteorological Conditions and Sample pH</strong> -
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Background Wastewater monitoring is increasingly used for community surveillance of infectious diseases, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic as the genomic footprints of pathogens shed by infected individuals can be traced in the environment. However, detection and concentration of pathogens in the environmental samples and their efficacy in predicting infectious diseases can be influenced by meteorological conditions and quality of samples. Objectives This research examines whether meteorological conditions and sample pH affect SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in wastewater samples, and whether the association of SARS-CoV-2 with COVID-19 cases and mortality improves when adjusted for meteorological conditions and sample pH value in Miami-Dade County, FL. Methods Daily wastewater samples were collected from Miami-Dade Wastewater Treatment Plant in Key Biscayne, Florida from August 2021 to August 2022. The samples were analyzed for pH and spiked with OC43. RNA was extracted from the concentrated wastewater sample and SARS-CoV-2 was quantified using qPCR. COVID-19 and mortality data were acquired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and meteorological data from the National Climatic Data Center. COVID-19 case and mortality rates were modelled with respect to time-lagged wastewater SARS-CoV-2 adjusting for meteorological conditions, and sample pH value and OC43 recovery. Results Temperature, dew point, pH values and OC43 recovery showed significant associations with wastewater SARS-CoV-2. Time-lagged wastewater SARS-CoV-2 showed significant associations with COVID-19 case and mortality incidence rates. This association improved when wastewater SARS-CoV-2 levels were adjusted for (or instrumented on) meteorological conditions, OC43 recovery, and sample pH. A 0.47% change in COVID-19 case incidence rate was associated with 1% change in wastewater SARS-CoV-2 (β ~ 0.47; 95% CI = 0.29 - 0.64; p &lt; 0.001). A 0.12 % change in COVID-19 mortality rate was associated with 1 % change in SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater 44 days prior. A 0.07% decline in COVID-19 mortality rate was associated with a unit increase in ambient temperature 28 days prior. Discussion Time lagged wastewater SARS-CoV-2 (and its adjustment for sample pH and RNA recovery) and meteorological conditions can be used for the surveillance of COVID-19 case and mortality. These findings can be extrapolated to improve the surveillance of other infectious diseases by proactive measurements of infectious agent(s) in the wastewater samples, adjusting for meteorological conditions and sample pH value.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.12.23292570v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 Case and Mortality Surveillance using Daily SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater Samples adjusting for Meteorological Conditions and Sample pH</a>
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<li><strong>Risk Factors for Admission into COVID-19 General Wards, Sub-Intensive and Intensive Care Units among SARS-CoV-2 Positive Subjects in the Municipality of Bologna, Italy</strong> -
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This is a retrospective cohort study aimed at identifying the risk factors for the hospitalization of patients with COVID-19 in the municipality of Bologna. A total of 32500 patients that tested positive for COVID-19 from February 28/2020 to October 13/2021 in the municipality of Bologna were included. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate changes during time of ICU hospitalization for all patients as well as stratifying subjects by sex. A multi-state Cox9s proportional hazard model was fitted to investigate predictors of ICU and non-ICU hospitalization. Age, sex, calendar period of diagnosis, comorbidities and vaccination status of patients at the time of diagnosis were considered as candidate predictors. In general, male sex and advanced age resulted to be poor prognostic factors of COVID-19 outcomes. An exception was found for the over 80 age group which showed a decrease in the risk of ICU hospitalization compared to 70-79 (HR 0.57 95% CI 0.36 - 0.90 for DIAG-&gt;ICU; HR 0.40 95% CI 0.28 - 0.58 for HOSP-&gt;ICU). Having contracted the disease during the first wave was associated with a significant greater risk of hospitalization than during the second wave, while no difference in the risk of ICU admission was found between the second and third waves. Fully immunized patients showed a significant decrease in the risk of ICU and non-ICU hospitalization compared to the unvaccinated patients (HR 0.23 95% CI 0.16 - 0.31 for DIAG-&gt;HOSP; HR 0.10 95% CI 0.01 - 0.73 for DIAG-&gt;ICU). Chronic kidney failure and asthma were risk factors for non-ICU hospitalization. Diabetes and embolism were risk factors for both direct ICU and non-ICU hospitalization. The study of factors associated with a negative course of the COVID-19 disease allows to prevent fatal outcomes, establish priorities in the treatment of the disease and improve the management of hospital resources and the pandemic itself.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.12.23292559v1" target="_blank">Risk Factors for Admission into COVID-19 General Wards, Sub-Intensive and Intensive Care Units among SARS-CoV-2 Positive Subjects in the Municipality of Bologna, Italy</a>
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<li><strong>Marburg Virus Disease outbreaks, mathematical models, and disease parameters: a Systematic Review</strong> -
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Recent Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania highlighted the importance of better understanding this highly lethal infectious pathogen. Past epidemics of Ebola, COVID-19, and other pathogens have re-emphasised the usefulness of mathematical models in guiding public health responses during outbreaks. We conducted a systematic review, registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023393345) and reported according to PRISMA guidelines, of peer-reviewed papers reporting historical outbreaks, modelling studies and epidemiological parameters focused on MVD, including contextual information. We searched PubMed and Web of Science until 31st March 2023. Two reviewers evaluated all titles and abstracts, with consensus-based decision-making. To ensure agreement, 31% (13/42) of studies were double-extracted and a custom-designed quality assessment questionnaire was used to assess the risk of bias. We present detailed outbreak, model, and parameter information on 970 reported cases and 818 deaths from MVD until 31 March 2023. Analysis of historical outbreaks and seroprevalence estimates suggests the possibility of undetected MVD outbreaks, asymptomatic transmission and/or cross-reactivity with other pathogens. Only one study presented a mathematical model of MVD transmission. We estimate an unadjusted, pooled total random effect case fatality ratio for MVD of 61.9% (95% CI: 38.8-80.6%, I^2=93%). We identify key epidemiological parameters relating to transmission and natural history for which there are few estimates. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the epidemiology of MVD, identifying key knowledge gaps about this pathogen. The extensive collection of knowledge gathered here will be crucial in developing mathematical models for use in the early stages of future outbreaks of MVD. All data are published alongside this article with functionality to easily update the database as new data become available.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.10.23292424v1" target="_blank">Marburg Virus Disease outbreaks, mathematical models, and disease parameters: a Systematic Review</a>
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<li><strong>Investigating the ‘Bolsonaro effect’ on the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic: an empirical analysis of observational data in Brazil</strong> -
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Brazil counts among the countries the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. A great deal has been said about the negative role played by President Bolsonaro9s denialism, but relatively few studies have attempted to measure precisely what impact it actually had on the pandemic. Our paper conducts econometric estimates based on observational data at municipal level to quantitatively assess the ‘Bolsonaro effect’ over time from March 2020 to December 2022. To our knowledge, this paper presents the most comprehensive investigation of Bolsonaro’s influence in the spread of the pandemic from two angles: considering Covid-19 mortality and two key transmission mitigation channels (social distancing and vaccination); and exploring the full pandemic cycle (2020-2022) and its dynamics over time. Controlling for a rich set of relevant variables, our results find a strong and persistent ‘Bolsonaro effect’ on the death rate: municipalities that were more pro-Bolsonaro recorded significantly more fatalities. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the president’s attitude and decisions negatively influenced the population’s behaviour. Firstly, pro-Bolsonaro municipalities presented a lower level of compliance with social distancing measures. Secondly, vaccination was relatively less widespread in places more in favour of the former president. Finally, our analysis points to longer-lasting and damaging repercussions. Regression results are consistent with the hypothesis that the ‘Bolsonaro effect’ impacted not only on Covid-19 vaccination, but has affected vaccination campaigns in general thereby jeopardizing the historical success of the National Immunization Program in Brazil.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.07.23292354v1" target="_blank">Investigating the ‘Bolsonaro effect’ on the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic: an empirical analysis of observational data in Brazil</a>
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<li><strong>Understanding Health Service Utilisation Patterns for Care Home Residents During the COVID-19 Pandemic using Routinely Collected Healthcare Data</strong> -
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Background Healthcare in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic required a balance, providing treatment while minimising exposure risk. Policy for how residents should receive care changed rapidly throughout the pandemic. A lack of accessible data on care home residents over this time meant policy decisions were difficult to make and verify. This study investigates common patterns of healthcare utilisation for care home residents in relation to COVID-19 testing events, and associations between utilisation patterns and resident characteristics. Methods Linked datasets including secondary care, community care and a care home telehealth app are used to define daily healthcare utilisation sequences for care home residents. We derive four 10-day sets of sequences related to Pillar 1 COVID-19 testing; before [1] and after [2] a resident9s first positive test and before [3] and after [4] a resident9s first test. These sequences are clustered, grouping residents with similar healthcare patterns in each set. Association of individual characteristics (e.g. health conditions such as diabetes and dementia) with healthcare patterns are investigated. Results We demonstrate how routinely collected health data can be used to produce longitudinal descriptions of patient care. Clustered sequences [1,2,3,4] are produced for 3,471 care home residents tested between 01/03/2020-01/09/2021. Clusters characterised by higher levels of utilisation were significantly associated with higher prevalence of diabetes. Dementia is associated with higher levels of care after a testing event, and appears to be correlated with a hospital discharge after a first test. Residents discharged from inpatient care within 10 days of their first test had the same mortality rate as those who stayed in hospital. Conclusion We provide longitudinal, resident-level data on care home resident healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that vulnerable residents were associated with higher levels of healthcare usage despite the additional risks. Implications of findings are limited by the challenges of routinely collected data. However, this study demonstrates the potential for further research into healthcare pathways using linked, routinely collected datasets.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.11.23292499v1" target="_blank">Understanding Health Service Utilisation Patterns for Care Home Residents During the COVID-19 Pandemic using Routinely Collected Healthcare Data</a>
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<li><strong>Estimating the instantaneous reproduction number (R_t) by using particle filter</strong> -
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Background Monitoring the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requires accurate estimation of the effective reproduction number (R_t). However, existing methods for calculating R_t may yield biased estimates if important real-world factors, such as delays in confirmation, pre-symptomatic transmissions, or imperfect data observation, are not considered. Method To include real-world factors, we expanded the susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) model by incorporating pre-symptomatic (P) and asymptomatic (A) states, creating the SEPIAR model. By utilizing both stochastic and deterministic versions of the model, and incorporating predetermined time series of R_t, we generated simulated datasets that simulate real-world challenges in estimating R_t. We then compared the performance of our proposed particle filtering method for estimating R_t with the existing EpiEstim approach based on renewal equations. Results The particle filtering method accurately estimated R_t even in the presence of data with delays, pre-symptomatic transmission, and imperfect observation. When evaluating via the root mean square error (RMSE) metric, the performance of the particle filtering method was better in general and was comparable to the EpiEstim approach if perfectly deconvolved infection time series were provided, and substantially better when R_t exhibited short-term fluctuations and the data was right truncated. Conclusions The SEPIAR model, in conjunction with the particle filtering method, offers a reliable tool for predicting the transmission trend of COVID-19 and assessing the impact of intervention strategies. This approach enables enhanced monitoring of COVID-19 transmission and can inform public health policies aimed at controlling the spread of the disease.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.09.23292422v1" target="_blank">Estimating the instantaneous reproduction number (R_t) by using particle filter</a>
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<li><strong>Impact of COVID-19 on the cascade of care for tuberculosis: A systematic review</strong> -
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Abstract Objectives To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the TB care cascade. Methods In this systematic review, the Cochrane library, Scopus, CINAHL, Ebscohost, and PubMed databases were comprehensively searched from the onset of the pandemic, till May 5th, 2022. Eligible studies were those reporting on changes in the TB cascade of care one year before and one year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the expected differences in the contexts of the included studies, a narrative synthesis was conducted. Results Twenty-seven studies, from Asia, North America, Africa, South America, and Europe were included. TB screening decreased by between 1% - 50%, and multidrug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB) screening decreased by between 15%-17%. Diagnostic delay increased by between 35 - 45 days, contact tracing decreased by up to 36.1%, and case notification decreased by between 3%-63%. TB treatment enrolment decreased by between 16%-35.0%, treatment completion decreased by around 8.0% and treatment success decreased by up to 17.0%. Conclusion COVID-19 had a detrimental impact on the TB care cascade and these findings suggest a need for policies to protect healthcare systems for TB and other communicable diseases in future health emergencies.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.09.23292326v1" target="_blank">Impact of COVID-19 on the cascade of care for tuberculosis: A systematic review</a>
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<li><strong>Incorrect Versus Correct Mask Utilization in Public Places</strong> -
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Mask usage was mandated by public health authorities globally to decrease the spread of COVID-19. These recommendations were based on data showing that N95 masks and possibly surgical masks, when worn tight against the face, help slow the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, cloth and loose-fitting surgical masks are greatly inferior. Methods: Mask use by a random observation of 100 people in public indoor facilities was recorded and statistically analyzed. Results: Out of 100 people wearing a mask, 37 wore a cloth mask. Another 36 people wore a loosely applied surgical mask. Only 27 people wore a surgical mask that covered the nose and mouth and was applied firmly against the face at its margins. There were no people seen wearing an N95 mask. Overall, people were about 70% more likely to wear a surgical mask than a cloth mask (63 vs 37, p &lt; 0.05). Of those wearing a surgical mask, more people wore it loosely than properly (36 to 27, p=0.17). Overall, people were more likely to wear a cloth mask or improperly applied surgical mask than a properly fitted one (73 vs 27, p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: In public settings, using cloth or loose-fitting surgical masks was almost 3 times more common than adequately using a tight-fitting surgical mask. Out of the 100 people observed, none wore an N95 respirator mask.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.10.23292470v1" target="_blank">Incorrect Versus Correct Mask Utilization in Public Places</a>
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<li><strong>How do perceptions of Covid-19 risk impact pregnancy-related health decisions? A convergent parallel mixed-methods study protocol.</strong> -
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Introduction: Pregnant people have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease. They have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 infection control policies, which exacerbated conditions resulting in intimate partner violence, healthcare access, and mental health distress. This project examines the impact of accumulated individual health decisions and describes how perinatal care and health outcomes changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives:     Quantitative strand: Describe differences between 2019, 2021, and 2022 birth groups related to maternal vaccination, perinatal care, and mental health care. Examine the differential impacts on racialized and low-income pregnant people. Qualitative strand: Understand how pregnant people’s perceptions of COVID-19 risk influenced their decision-making about vaccination, perinatal care, social support, and mental health.     Methods and analysis: This is a Canadian convergent parallel mixed-methods study. The quantitative strand uses a retrospective cohort design to assess birth group differences in rates of Tdap and COVID-19 vaccination, gestational diabetes screening, length of post-partum hospital stay, and onset of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder, using administrative data from ICES, formerly the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (Ontario) and PopulationData BC (PopData) (British Columbia). Differences by socioeconomic and ethnocultural status will also be examined. The qualitative strand employs qualitative description to interview people who gave birth between May 2020- December 2021 about their COVID-19 risk perception and health decision-making process. Data integration will occur during design and interpretation. Ethics and dissemination: This study received ethical approval from McMaster University and the University of British Columbia. Findings will be disseminated via manuscripts, presentations, and patient-facing infographics.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.10.23292463v1" target="_blank">How do perceptions of Covid-19 risk impact pregnancy-related health decisions? A convergent parallel mixed-methods study protocol.</a>
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<li><strong>Risk-based prediction for optimal timing of booster vaccination for COVID-19 to prevent severe disease</strong> -
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While waning protection from vaccination and natural infection against SARS-CoV-2 infection is well-documented, recent analyses have also found waning of protection against severe COVID-19. This highlights a broader need to understand the optimal timing of COVID-19 booster vaccines specific to an individual to mitigate the risk of severe COVID-19, while accounting for waning of protection and differential risk by age group and immune status. Here we show that more frequent COVID-19 booster vaccination (every 6-12 months) in older age groups and the immunocompromised population would effectively mitigate the burden of severe COVID-19, while frequent boosters in the younger population may only provide modest benefit. Analyzing United States COVID-19 surveillance and seroprevalence data in a microsimulation model, we estimated that in persons 75+ years, annual and semiannual bivalent boosters would reduce annual absolute risk of severe COVID-19 by 311 (277-369) and 578 (494-671) cases, respectively, compared to a one-time bivalent booster dose. In contrast, for persons 18-49 years, the model estimated that annual and semiannual bivalent boosters would reduce annual absolute risk of severe COVID-19 by 20 (13-26) and 37 (24-50) cases per 100,000 persons, respectively, compared to a one-time bivalent booster dose. Persons with prior infection had a much lower benefit of more frequent boosting, while immunocompromised persons had larger benefit. This study underscores the benefit of customizing timing of COVID-19 booster vaccines based on individual risk.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.10.23292473v1" target="_blank">Risk-based prediction for optimal timing of booster vaccination for COVID-19 to prevent severe disease</a>
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<li><strong>Disruption of outdoor activities caused by wildfire smoke shapes circulation of respiratory pathogens</strong> -
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The consequences of wildfires on public health extend beyond injury. Smoke can traverse vast distances, compromising air quality in unaffected areas and exacerbating chronic respiratory conditions. But smoke may affect the circulation and burden of communicable diseases, too. The disruption in air quality and adherence to safety guidelines can impact the time people spend indoors, and this in turns may increase exposure to airborne pathogens like influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV. However, the quantification of such disruptions and their implications for the transmission of respiratory diseases remain unclear. Here we study the effects of smoke generated by severe wildfires in the U.S. states of California, Oregon, Washington in September 2020. We assess the impact on human behavior and the potential consequences for the emergence of respiratory diseases. Our findings reveal a significant shift towards indoor activities in counties within Oregon and Washington during wildfires. However, a discernible change in mobility patterns is not evident in California. This discrepancy may arise from the familiarity of Californian residents with wildfires and air quality index alerts, which have become integrated into their daily routines. Consequently, their mobility patterns may be less affected during such incidents compared to individuals in other regions. We then use a deterministic compartmental model of epidemic spread to quantify the impact of the describe behavioral changes on epidemic circulation. We found that counties with disrupted air exhibited higher cumulated and peak incidence of cases compared to unaffected counties, with the exception of California. Additionally, we found that flu-like epidemics –~low reproduction ratio and short generation time~– are most affected by the behavioral changes under study. Our findings may help improve public health response in a context of larger, more frequent wildfires triggered by climate change.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.09.23292078v1" target="_blank">Disruption of outdoor activities caused by wildfire smoke shapes circulation of respiratory pathogens</a>
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<li><strong>Structural, Social, and Contextual factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A qualitative methods study among Healthcare Workers and Older People in Uganda.</strong> -
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Background The COVID-19 vaccine rollout program in Uganda was launched in March 2021 with Healthcare Workers (HCWs), older persons (50 years and above), and persons with chronic conditions as priority groups for vaccination. To inform the vaccine rollout efforts, we set out to explore the social and structural factors that influenced the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among HCWs and older people in Uganda. Methods Between September and October 2021, we conducted 33 in-depth interviews with 25 HCWs aged 21 to 63 years from three hospitals from two districts in the central region of Uganda and eight older people from communities in Wakiso district. Selection was purposive based on sex, occupation, education, cadre of HCWs (doctors, nurses, laboratory technologist, hospital support staff, administrator) and vaccination status. We explored participants knowledge, beliefs, personal experiences, barriers, and facilitators to vaccine uptake and suggestions for future COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Interviews were audio-recorded, data was transcribed and translated from the local language, coded, and analysed by themes. Results Twenty-two of the 25 (88%) HCWs and 3 of the 8 (38%) older people had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the time of interview. The structural facilitating factors to vaccine uptake included access to correct information, fear of a risky work environment, and mandatory vaccination requirements especially for frontline HCWs. Old age, chronic health conditions, and the fear of death are contextual facilitating factors, while influence from leaders was the main social facilitating factor. Myths and misconceptions about COVID-19 vaccines and the fear of side effects were common social barriers to vaccine uptake among HCWs and older people. Long distances to vaccination centres, vaccine stock-outs, and long queues at the vaccination centres were specific barriers to vaccine uptake for older people. The prerequisite of signing a consent form was a specific structural barrier for the HCWs. Transport challenges linked to long distances to the vaccination centres, for older people, and having underlying chronic health conditions, for both older people and HCWs, were the reported contextual factors. Conclusion Future roll out of new vaccines should have a comprehensive information dissemination strategy about the vaccines. Improved access to vaccines through community outreaches, reliable vaccine supply and addressing vaccine misinformation, may enhance COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Uganda and other future mass vaccination campaigns.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.10.23292213v1" target="_blank">Structural, Social, and Contextual factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A qualitative methods study among Healthcare Workers and Older People in Uganda.</a>
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</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Homologous Booster Study of COVID-19 Protein Subunit Recombinant Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: SARS-CoV-2 Subunit Recombinant Protein Vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   PT Bio Farma<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Role of Ivermectin and Colchicine in Treatment of COVID-19: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin Tablets;   Drug: Colchicine 0.5 MG;   Drug: Standared managment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Ain Shams University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of A Recombinant Protein COVID-19 Vaccine as Booster Vaccines</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2 Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01E-2;   Biological: SCTV01E<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Counseling Intervention for Pharmacists</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Standard implementation webinar and online training;   Behavioral: Virtual facilitation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;   University of Arkansas;   University of South Carolina;   National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Developing an Effective Intervention to Address Post-Corona-Virus-Disease-2019 Balance Disorders, Weakness and Muscle Fatigue in Individuals Aged 65+</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Device: Resistance Training<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>LUSZ Treatment Efficacy in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Lopinavir / Ritonavir;   Drug: Remdesivir (RDV);   Drug: Tocilizumab;   Other: Corticosteroid Therapy-enhanced Standard Care (CTSC)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Lebanese University;   Hospital Saydet Zgharta University Medical Center<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Multimodal Long Covid19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Long COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Multimodal intervention in Long Covid19<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Universidad de Magallanes;   Teaching Assistance and Research Center of the University of Magallanes CADI-UMAG;   Clinical Hospital Dr. Lautaro Navarro Avaria<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase 1/2 Safety and Immunogenicity Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine COVIVAC (Phase 2)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: COVIVAC vaccine<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals, Vietnam;   National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), Vietnam;   Center for Disease Control of Thai Binh Province, Vietnam<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Immunogenicity and Safety Study of SCB-2023 Vaccine as a Booster in Adults</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCB-2023 vaccine (trivalent), a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 trimeric S-protein subunit vaccine for COVID-19; intramuscular injection;   Biological: SCB-2019 (monovalent), a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 trimeric S-protein subunit vaccine for COVID-19; intramuscular injection<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Clover Biopharmaceuticals AUS Pty Ltd<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Safety and Immunogenicity Following a Heterologous Booster Dose of Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine LYB002</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: LYB002V14;   Biological: LYB002V14A;   Biological: LYB002CA<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Guangzhou Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.;   Yantai Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.;   Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase 2/3 Heterologous Boosting Study With Different Dose Levels of Monovalent SARS-CoV-2 rS Vaccines</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: NVX-CoV2373 (5μg);   Biological: NVX-CoV2601 (5μg);   Biological: NVX-CoV2601(5μg);   Biological: NVX-CoV2601 (35μg);   Biological: NVX-CoV2601(35μg);   Biological: NVX-CoV2601(50μg);   Biological: Bivalent BA.4/5<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Novavax<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficiency and Safety of Paxlovid for COVID-19 Patients With Severe Chronic Kidney Disease</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Renal Insufficiency, Chronic<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Chinese PLA General Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Immunogenicity and Safety Following a Heterologous Booster Dose of Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine LYB001</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Vaccine Reaction<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: LYB001;   Biological: CoronaVac<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Guangzhou Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.;   Yantai Patronus Biotech Co., Ltd.;   Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of the Therapy With BRAINMAX® Using fMRI for the Treatment of Patients With Asthenia After COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Asthenia;   COVID-19;   Functional MRI;   Cognitive Impairment<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Structural and functional MRI;   Drug: Ethyl methyl hydroxypyridine succinate + Meldonium;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Promomed, LLC<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Efficacy of Anakinra Treatment for Patients With Post Acute Covid Syndrome</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Placebo;   Drug: Anakinra 149 MG/ML Prefilled Syringe [Kineret]<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Hellenic Institute for the Study of Sepsis<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of DMARDs on the immunogenicity of vaccines</strong> - Vaccines are important for protecting individuals at increased risk of severe infections, including patients undergoing DMARD therapy. However, DMARD therapy can also compromise the immune system, leading to impaired responses to vaccination. This Review focuses on the impact of DMARDs on influenza and SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations, as such vaccines have been investigated most thoroughly. Various data suggest that B cell depletion therapy, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclophosphamide, azathioprine and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Characteristics of VOCs and Assessment of Emission Reduction Effect During the Epidemic Lockdown Period in Shenzhen Urban Area</strong> - To prevent disease spreading during the COVID-19 epidemic, Shenzhen adopted lockdown measures in March of 2022. This provided an opportunity to study the response of changes in anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) in Shenzhen to emission reduction and to evaluate the effectiveness of current emission reduction measures. This study analyzed the variety of AVOCs before, during, and after the epidemic lockdown based on the online observation data of pollutants at Lianhua Station in…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluating Z-FA-FMK, a host cathepsin L protease inhibitor, as a potent and broad-spectrum antiviral therapy against SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses</strong> - Even though the World Health Organization announced the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global public health emergency on May 5, 2023, SARS-CoV-2 continues to pose a significant health threat worldwide, resulting in substantial numbers of infections and fatalities. This study investigated the antiviral potential of Z-FA-FMK (FMK), a novel host cathepsin L protease inhibitor, against SARS-CoV-2 infection using both in vitro and in vivo models. In vitro assessments of FMK against a diverse set…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Isolation and characterization of Rhodococcus sp. GG1 for metabolic degradation of chloroxylenol</strong> - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly increased the demand of disinfectant use. Chloroxylenol (para-chloro-meta-xylenol, PCMX) as the major antimicrobial ingredient of disinfectant has been widely detected in water environments, with identified toxicity and potential risk. The assessment of PCMX in domestic wastewater of Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) showed a positive correlation between PCMX concentration and population density. An indigenous PCMX…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Neutralizing activity of Usnic acid and β-cyclodextrins complex against SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus</strong> - The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its infection severity require an urgent development of antiviral agents. In this respect, Usnic acid (UA), a natural dibenzofuran derivative, exerts antiviral activity against several viruses, though presenting very low solubility and high cytotoxicity. Here, UA was complexed with β-cyclodextrins (β-CDs), a pharmaceutical excipient used to improve drug solubility. The cytotoxic activity, tested on Vero E6 cells, revealed no effect for β-CDs alone whereas…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Structure-based discovery of thiosemicarbazones as SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors</strong> - Aim: Discovery of novel SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^(pro)) inhibitors using a structure-based drug discovery strategy. Materials &amp; methods: Virtual screening employing covalent and noncovalent docking was performed to discover M^(pro) inhibitors, which were subsequently evaluated in biochemical and cellular assays. Results: 91 virtual hits were selected for biochemical assays, and four were confirmed as reversible inhibitors of SARS CoV-2 M^(pro) with IC(50) values of 0.4-3 μM. They were also…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of sulphonamide-tethered <em>N</em>-((triazol-4-yl)methyl)isatin derivatives as inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the end of 2019 led to profound consequences on global health and economy. Till producing successful vaccination strategies, the healthcare sectors suffered from the lack of effective therapeutic agents that could control the spread of infection. Thus, academia and the pharmaceutical sector prioritise SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drug discovery. Here, we exploited previous reports highlighting the anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities of isatin-based molecules to develop novel…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inhibition of phosphodiesterase 12 results in antiviral activity against several RNA viruses including SARS-CoV-2</strong> - The 2’,5’- oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) - ribonuclease L (RNAseL) - phosphodiesterase 12 (PDE12) pathway is an essential interferon-induced effector mechanism against RNA virus infection. Inhibition of PDE12 leads to selective amplification of RNAseL activity in infected cells. We aimed to investigate PDE12 as a potential pan-RNA virus antiviral drug target and develop PDE12 inhibitors that elicit antiviral activity against a range of viruses. A library of 18 000 small molecules was screened…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mitochondria of lung venular capillaries mediate lung-liver crosstalk in pneumonia</strong> - Failure of the lung’s endothelial barrier underlies lung injury, which causes the high mortality Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Multiple organ failure predisposes to the mortality, but mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we show that mitochondrial Uncoupling Protein 2 (UCP2), a component of the mitochondrial inner membrane, plays a role in the barrier failure. Subsequent lung-liver crosstalk mediated by neutrophil activation causes liver congestion. We intranasally instilled…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cereals as a Source of Bioactive Compounds with Anti-Hypertensive Activity and Their Intake in Times of COVID-19</strong> - Cereals have phytochemical compounds that can diminish the incidence of chronic diseases such as hypertension. The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) participates in the modulation of blood pressure and is the principal receptor of the virus SARS-CoV-2. The inhibitors of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and the block receptors of angiotensin II regulate the expression of ACE2; thus, they could be useful in the treatment of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The inferior peptides from…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Recent advances in cholinergic mechanisms as reactions to toxicity, stress, and neuroimmune insults</strong> - This review presents recent studies of the chemical and molecular regulators of acetylcholine (ACh) signaling and the complexity of the small molecule and RNA regulators of those mechanisms that control cholinergic functioning in health and disease. The underlying structural, neurochemical, and transcriptomic concepts, including basic and translational research and clinical studies, shed new light on how these processes inter-change under acute states, age, sex, and COVID-19 infection; all of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of alpha-linolenic acid as a broad-spectrum antiviral against zika, dengue, herpes simplex, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - Zika virus (ZIKV) has garnered global attention due to its association with severe congenital defects including microcephaly. However, there are no licensed vaccines or drugs against ZIKV infection. Pregnant women have the greatest need for treatment, making drug safety crucial. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a polyunsaturated ω-3 fatty acid, has been used as a health-care product and dietary supplement due to its potential medicinal properties. Here, we demonstrated that ALA inhibits ZIKV…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mechanism of the Covalent Inhibition of Human Transmembrane Protease Serine 2 as an Original Antiviral Strategy</strong> - The Transmembrane Protease Serine 2 (TMPRSS2) is a human enzyme which is involved in the maturation and post-translation of different proteins. In addition to being overexpressed in cancer cells, TMPRSS2 plays a further fundamental role in favoring viral infections by allowing the fusion of the virus envelope with the cellular membrane, notably in SARS-CoV-2. In this contribution, we resort to multiscale molecular modeling to unravel the structural and dynamical features of TMPRSS2 and its…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Smoke and Spike: Benzo[a]pyrene Enhances SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Boosting NR4A2-Induced ACE2 and TMPRSS2 Expression</strong> - Cigarette smoke aggravates severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, they show that benzo[a]pyrene in cigarette smoke extract facilitates SARS-CoV-2 infection via upregulating angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2). Benzo[a]pyrene trans-activates the promoters of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 by upregulating nuclear receptor subfamily 4 A number 2 (NR4A2) and promoting its…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Garbage in, garbage out: how reliable training data improved a virtual screening approach against SARS-CoV-2 MPro</strong> - Introduction: The identification of chemical compounds that interfere with SARS-CoV-2 replication continues to be a priority in several academic and pharmaceutical laboratories. Computational tools and approaches have the power to integrate, process and analyze multiple data in a short time. However, these initiatives may yield unrealistic results if the applied models are not inferred from reliable data and the resulting predictions are not confirmed by experimental evidence. Methods: We…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is It Hot Enough Yet for Politicians to Take Real Action?</strong> - The latest record temperatures are driving, again precisely as scientists have predicted, a cascading series of disasters around the world. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/is-it-hot-enough-yet-for-politicians-to-take-real-action">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sotol and the Making of the Next Big Drink</strong> - The Mexican spirit has been called the next mezcal. But its newfound popularity has brought problems, too. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-southwest/sotol-and-the-making-of-the-next-big-drink">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What to Do with Climate Emotions</strong> - If the goal is to insure that the planet remains habitable, what is the right degree of panic, and how do you bear it? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/what-to-do-with-climate-emotions">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Instant Pot and the Miracle Kitchen Devices of Yesteryear</strong> - Preparing meals is a Sisyphean task, and anything that promises to make it faster, or easier, or better, or healthier, or more fun, is irresistible. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/afterword/the-instant-pot-and-the-miracle-kitchen-devices-of-yesteryear">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vermont’s Catastrophic Floods and the Spread of Unnatural Disasters</strong> - In parts of the Northeast, two months of rain fell in two days. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/vermonts-catastrophic-floods-and-the-spread-of-unnatural-disasters">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Why brands are blowing up your phone</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A figure is annoyed while looking at their phone and a graphic of dollar signs and coins is overlayed." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nakaoHpX7yH2N9jVR0EHx3F5Jls=/86x0:1835x1312/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72448599/TextMarketing_TheBigSqueeze.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Marketers would like a word with you (via text). | Paige Vickers/Vox/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
What you give and what you get when a company has your phone number.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OTRI57">
I have a new text bestie, and it’s the brands.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xp2Xja">
Scrolling through my phone recently, I was surprised to see just how many of my incoming messages were not from friends or family but instead from companies. The package update from UPS made sense, as did the alert on the restaurant reservation I’d made over the weekend. But why did I have an offer from a swimming-pool-sharing service I’ve never used and an alert about a sale on items from Tory Burch, a brand I’ve never purchased? And what about the Pride party invite from a beauty loyalty program named Allē?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZPHLaa">
The situation made me feel a little sad and uncool — I’d rather a friend ask me to a party than an <a href="https://alle.com/about">app made by the pharma giant that makes Botox</a>. It’s also just a reality of being a consumer today, albeit a reality that snuck up on us. Reaching consumers via SMS, meaning text messages, has become increasingly popular among marketers. If you feel like the brands are texting you a lot more than they used to, it’s because they are.
</p>
<aside id="I4lGlK">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XsFmFb">
“Getting someone’s phone number is incredibly valuable for marketers,” said Erin Blake, vice president director of connections strategy at Digitas, a digital marketing agency. “There’s a reason why a lot of brands care about SMS as a channel for marketing and why you’re seeing so much of it right now.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t50lsf">
It’s not that hard to see why. I voluntarily gave my phone number to all the companies currently texting me except for one (I think), and I’ve considered engaging with those messages much more than I would any other advertisement. If I’m being honest here, if I’d taken a closer look at the party invite, maybe I would have gone.
</p>
<h3 id="bcDNMN">
You open your texts a lot more than you do your emails
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GWUEov">
There are multiple reasons marketers are turning to text to reach consumers, the main one being that it works.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1cyrQg">
Text message open rates are astronomically high, having a <a href="https://on.emarketer.com/rs/867-SLG-901/images/eMarketer%20SMS%20Marketing%202021%20Report.pdf">97 percent read rate</a> within 15 minutes of being delivered, according to Insider Intelligence. That’s well above open rates for emails, which <a href="https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/knowledge-base/what-are-good-email-metrics/">estimates</a> place at around 20 percent. Consumers <a href="https://www.attentive.com/blog/texting-statistics">click through on SMS</a> at higher rates than they do <a href="https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/">emails</a>, too.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="9CGRGo">
<q>“Texts are acted on in near real-time, we’re talking minutes”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bL20IS">
“Texts are acted on in near real-time, we’re talking minutes, as opposed to email, which is going to have a low response rate in a couple of days,” Blake said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3d9t5O">
Text has served as a fresh channel as other, more traditional formats have become difficult to navigate, explained Sara Varni, chief marketing officer at Attentive, an SMS marketing platform. “There’s been a lot of changes around privacy and regulation when it comes to how people can retarget customers, and so channels that used to be tried and true, whether that was a retargeting program with <a href="https://www.vox.com/google">Google</a> or an email, some of those channels have declined over time,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tQRSKz">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/5/17199754/what-is-gdpr-europe-data-privacy-facebook">The GDPR</a>, Europe’s privacy law that went into effect in 2018, has made it a little harder for companies to track you and <a href="https://www.vox.com/open-sourced/2020/2/3/21116801/ads-internet-sites-cookies">chase you around the internet</a> with ads for that rug you decided not to buy. (It’s why you’re asked to accept <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/10/18656519/what-are-cookies-website-tracking-gdpr-privacy">cookie</a> trackers on all the websites now.) <a href="https://www.vox.com/apple">Apple</a>’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/7/22522994/apple-ios15-privacy-icloud">moves to up privacy protections</a> for its users <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/10/how-apples-email-privacy-update-will-change-whats-in-your-inbox-.html">have caused headaches</a> for email marketers, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cAQGT5">
Many people’s inboxes are inundated with messages from dozens upon dozens of companies they’ve interacted with a handful of times, if at all. Even if you wanted to jump on that sale from American Airlines, you have to sift through 30 other offers you have no interest in. People’s text messages, at least for the time being, are less cluttered — in part because it’s more expensive for brands to text people than it is to email them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JQ97a2">
“In general, most users’ text message feed is a lot less spammy than their email feed. It’s harder to get permission, but once you get permission, it works better,” said Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at advertising firm Publicis.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DPlVN1">
Unlike email, text doesn’t have a separate folder for junk or for spam, or, in the case of a service like Gmail, a different section for promotions you never even have to look at if you don’t want to. “There’s none of that filtering on your SMS messenger client,” Goldberg said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p1i60M">
All of our text messages are mashed together, putting brand texts together with messages from your mom. It’s a solid deal for marketers, though maybe not so much for you.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jraAg1">
“Your text message inbox is incredibly personal, that’s where a lot of people are having most of their interpersonal communications on a day-to-day basis,” Blake said. “I would caution brands to really think through how they can be good stewards of that trust and build that relationship, because if you break it, that’s a lot harder to get back.”
</p>
<h3 id="mu78XA">
The good, the spam, and the ugly
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3HD49t">
What people in the industry say about marketing via text message is that it’s one of a number of avenues brands can use to reach consumers and that the good actors involved are very smart about how often to message and with what. They say that SMS marketing is more conversational, not just a constant attempt at a hard sell, and note that consumers can often respond to messages to really interact. It’s actually somewhat true.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dyw3nY">
There are plenty of examples where you can see text messaging from brands working. There are moments when SMS is really clutch, like when a flight moves gates, or a shipment is delayed. Chatbots on websites and in text messages are notoriously bad for solving anything beyond basic problems, but in a world where <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/3/15/23640640/gpt-4-chatgpt-openai-generative-ai">artificial intelligence and ChatGPT</a> do really make them better, you could see that adding some value to SMS, too. “Maybe now because of Chat GPT, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/robots">robots</a> will make people more happy than humans, so SMS could grow along with all of the other text-based services,” Goldberg said. (To be sure, the hype machine around AI right now basically has it either fixing everything under the sun or ruining the world, hard to say.)
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="1oQ3Qd">
<q>“We don’t want to turn SMS into the next version of email, which becomes a graveyard of brands and promotions in your inbox”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oPBlw2">
Varni said that text message marketing can be a solid medium for giving consumers a curated experience, for sending loyal customers special deals, for educating people, or for alerting them when an item becomes available they wanted. Her company works with its clients to try to make sure it doesn’t go overboard. “We don’t want to turn SMS into the next version of email, which becomes a graveyard of brands and promotions in your inbox,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="31Rrth">
In many cases when it comes to legitimate companies and brands, people are signing up to receive text messages, often in exchange for a discount or free shipping or some sort of gift. A <a href="https://www.attentive.com/2023-consumer-trends-report">survey from Attentive</a> found that 91 percent of consumers globally have signed up for an SMS program or are interested in doing so.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O196Nb">
Still, it doesn’t take much for people to start to feel annoyed and overwhelmed by all the texts. A <a href="https://www.validity.com/resource-center/the-state-of-sms-marketing-in-2023/">report</a> from data company Validity found that 93 percent of survey respondents have felt annoyed at least occasionally by marketing text messages, 84 percent have gotten a text message from a company they didn’t remember signing up for, and 70 percent have worried brand texts pose a <a href="https://www.vox.com/privacy">data security</a> risk.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qrp35x">
According to data shared with Vox by Robokiller, a spam text and call blocker, 70 percent of the spam messages identified on its platform were related to brand marketing messages in May and June of 2023. Even if the texts aren’t technically spam, that’s how many consumers see them, said Patrick Falzon, the general manager at Teltech, the app maker behind Robokiller. “Those are messages that are coming from what you’d think of as legitimate companies offering some degree of promotional discount, sales offer, trying to pull people back into some web funnel or experience,” he said, meaning guiding people from an entry point toward some goal or action, like a sale. He acknowledged that the high open rates can be enticing for marketers, but they can also create tension for brands over time. “You’re likely going to see increasing consumer fatigue,” he said, “and with that, consumer pushback.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0gbTNk">
The good news for consumers is that if they want to stop getting marketing texts from brands, in many cases, they can just respond “stop” to the messages, and that’s that. Phone providers tend to take the issue quite seriously, too, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/17/tech/fcc-spam-text-crackdown/index.html">in part at the government’s urging</a>, blocking robotexts and making sure that once people say they want to opt out, they can. Still, the system is imperfect. Not every marketer is going to heed a consumer’s “stop” wishes or refrain from passing your phone number onto someone else. “There are more gaps in the regulatory frameworks on the text side of things vs. calls,” Falzon said.
</p>
<h3 id="iN4QHJ">
Between the brands and the politicians, maybe just throw your phone into the sea (I kid, kind of)
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xZDdJC">
Much of our personal data is already all over the internet and in the hands of actors good and bad. That landscape makes it a little difficult, from a distance, to decipher just how to think about text message marketing. On the one hand, it’s not ideal that companies that <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23031858/data-breach-data-loss-personal-consequences">are pretty bad at protecting their data</a> get their hands on yet another piece of information. On the other hand, a text from a company with a sale isn’t the worst thing in the world. Like, oh, yet another brand has my phone number? At least I got a 20 percent discount for handing it over.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="N23LJN">
<q>“We, as consumers, have become kind of numb to giving out our information online”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WbFgYf">
“It’s just way more common to see, in funnels, brands asking for your phone number,” Falzon said. “We, as consumers, have become kind of numb to giving out our information online.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kJL6gN">
The tipping point here really hinges on whether people become so inundated with messages that their phones wind up looking like their email inboxes — a space where there’s so much of everything that it’s next to impossible to find anything. And again, we don’t really have much ability right now to filter our text messages like we do our emails right now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NmWUfH">
The brands, hopefully, aren’t going to blow up our phones to the level of email in the near future, but we should prepare for some text-heavy months ahead. Marketers generally jump on the holiday season to send an extra number of texts, meaning you should expect more messages in October, November, and December. Then there’s election season and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/15-billion-political-text-messages-sent-2022-rcna64017">the raft of political texts that come along with it</a>. And then there’s the next holiday season after that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sAG7Ww">
“Political campaigns are really leaning into SMS as well, so it’s not restricted to commercial brands,” Falzon said. “Politicians are using it a lot. I think, unfortunately, it’s going to be a pretty rough next 12 to 18 to 24 months for consumers.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cFoM2m">
So look forward to texts from Starbucks and Old Navy and <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/bernie-sanders">Bernie Sanders</a> from here until eternity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5G5qzT">
<em>We live in a world that’s constantly trying to sucker us and trick us, where we’re always surrounded by scams big and small. It can feel impossible to navigate. Every two weeks, join Emily Stewart to look at all the little ways our economic systems control and manipulate the average person. Welcome to </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/the-big-squeeze"><em>The Big Squeeze</em></a><em>.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NF25sR">
<a href="http://vox.com/big-squeeze-newsletter"><em>Sign up to get this column in your inbox</em></a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fEmYHz">
<em>Have ideas for a future column or thoughts on this one? Email </em><a href="mailto:emily.stewart@vox.com"><em>emily.stewart@vox.com</em></a>.
</p></li>
<li><strong>There’s no such thing as a disaster-resistant place anymore</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Two children stand on the roof of a building in Montpelier, Vermont. The streets below are flooded with brown water." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ufYHdIfWp93B-Xad_ic_Yx-DX2U=/376x0:6396x4515/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72448565/1526471262.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Flooding in downtown Montpelier, Vermont, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. | John Tully/The Washington Post via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Climate risks are becoming increasingly expensive. Not just locally, but globally.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R3vyN6">
An estimated <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/live-blog/live-updates-14-million-flash-flood-alerts-deadly-flooding-new-york-rcna93383">11 million people</a> across the northeastern US are under flood risks or warnings this week after historic levels of rainfall — <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/10/weather/vermont-flooding-high-risk-new-york/index.html">1-in-1,000-year events</a> — swept through New England, with rivers in Vermont and New York’s Hudson Valley <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/07/11/us/flooding-vermont-ny-new-england">overflowing</a> and turning town streets into waterways.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mk6MTR">
Flash flooding <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rare-flash-flood-warning-issued-new-york-woman-dies-trying-evacuate-rcna93346">killed</a> at least one person in New York, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed several more people are <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/10/1186708761/u-s-issues-flash-flood-alert-for-northeast-after-woman-in-new-york-drowns">missing</a>. On Tuesday, President Biden declared a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/vermont-northeast-flooding-rain-emergency/story?id=101059054">state of emergency</a> in Vermont, where, according to Gov. Phil Scott, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/12/us/vermont-flooding-rain-forecast.html">thousands of residents</a> have lost their homes and businesses.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DE7MSo">
The Winooski River, which runs through Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/07/11/us/flooding-vermont-ny-new-england">rose</a> above its <a href="https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?gage=MONV1&amp;wfo=btv">normal </a>level of below 11 feet to a height of about 20 feet. This is the second-highest height on record for the river, only falling behind Vermont’s “greatest <a href="https://www.vox.com/natural-disaster">natural disaster</a>,” a <a href="https://www.weather.gov/media/btv/events/1927Flood.pdf">1927 flood</a> that killed 84 people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3zcBfS">
Vermont and New York last experienced such dire circumstances in 2011 and 2012 respectively, when <a href="https://www.weather.gov/mhx/Aug272011EventReview">Hurricane Irene</a> and then <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/cdbgdr/about/About%20Hurricane%20Sandy.page">Hurricane Sandy</a> charged across the country, bringing catastrophic flooding.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zkO6nS">
Hurricane Sandy <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL182012_Sandy.pdf">killed 72 people</a> across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, including <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/cdbgdr/about/About%20Hurricane%20Sandy.page">44 New York City residents</a>. While residents in Vermont lost power during Sandy, it was the hurricane the year prior, Irene, which devastated the state, <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL092011_Irene.pdf">destroying</a> 2,400 roads, 800 homes and businesses, and 300 bridges.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WalF8F">
Learning from Irene over a decade ago, Vermont knew it did not have the resources alone to handle its current flash floods, and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/10/1186873107/vermont-new-york-storm-flooding">called in aid</a> from North Carolina, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Connecticut before the storm struck. The region’s lack of preparedness for these extreme events also makes sense when taking into consideration the area’s history with natural disasters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ZGEQx">
Vermont was once considered one of the most <a href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_Report.cfm?dirEntryId=350154&amp;Lab=CEMM">natural disaster resistant</a> states in the country, and a local Vermont news station reported people were <a href="https://www.wcax.com/2022/09/12/no-one-tracking-why-climate-migrators-are-moving-vermont/">moving to the state</a> for the purpose of avoiding worsening wildfires, droughts, and floods elsewhere in the US. “Vermont is one of the few places in the world that is likely to get more habitable,” Chris Koliba, a professor of community development and applied economics at the University of Vermont, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/04/21/climate-change-vermont-migration-population-influx">told Boston’s NPR News Station</a>, WBUR, in 2021.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h86awX">
Climate change isn’t just making natural disasters worse, it’s making them occur more frequently in places they rarely did before; for example, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/6/7/23752290/air-quality-levels-wildfire-smoke-clear-canada-ny-causes-aqi-health-symptoms">wildfire smoke</a> engulfed the East Coast and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/us/canada-wildfire-smoke-great-lakes/index.html">many parts of the Midwest</a> earlier this summer, and Winter Storm Uri left <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/texas-winter-storm-uri/">4.5 million Texans</a> without power and killed <a href="https://www.kvue.com/article/weather/winter-storm/here-is-why-death-totals-from-winter-storm-uri-may-vary/269-f2bf277f-74d9-443b-ab2e-ff89f336f3ec#:~:text=The%20Texas%20Department%20of%20State,the%20way%20deaths%20were%20counted.&amp;text=The%20State's%20report%20shows%20how%20it%20measured%20the%20amount.">246 people in 2021</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CGN12d">
While the electric grid and homes in the Lone Star State were designed to withstand extreme heat, they have virtually no resilience to cold weather (and even heat events have <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-06-20/texas-power-grid-asks-customers-to-cut-electricity-use-as-heat-wave-scorches-southern-us">begun to put pressure on the Texas grid</a> in recent years). Upgrading this system would <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/03/texas-ice-storm-emergency-preparedness/">cost billions</a>, but it may be necessary given that researchers believe storms like Uri could be <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/digest/scientists-see-link-between-climate-change-and-the-texas-cold-snap">linked to rapid global warming</a> in the Arctic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lgQPmx">
Scenarios like Winter Storm Uri and this week’s flooding in the Northeast will become more and more common. Places with a history of natural disasters have the community knowledge and infrastructure to weather these events, but those that have never or rarely handled them before will need to upgrade and build new infrastructure quickly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SEfRN2">
“It’s getting harder and harder to adapt to these changing conditions,” Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/climate/climate-change-floods-preparedness.html">told The New York Times</a> this week. “It’s just everywhere, all the time.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7zMB5B">
The risk of natural disasters is everywhere (even in the most resilient places). People will no longer just have to prepare for intensified versions of the natural disasters they know, but they will also have to consider the possibility of new types of disasters — floods, storms, heat waves, droughts, and fires — impacting their community. And since most US insurance companies are backed by international reinsurance companies that cover other parts of the world, homeowners everywhere will pay the price for climate change’s global effects.
</p>
<h2 id="ncn60H">
<strong>Disasters everywhere </strong>
</h2>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8fLuCJ">
The northeastern US wasn’t the only region experiencing extreme rainfall and flooding this week.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="The streets of Montpelier, Vermont are covered in brown flood water. Three people in red and yellow kayaks paddle past partially submerged cars." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h_m1fW_CHJq0MWv8MVhly0zNacY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24784258/1526471549.jpg"/> <cite>John Tully/The Washington Post via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Flooding in downtown Montpelier, Vermont, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TyiWHZ">
In Japan, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66163535">floods and mudslides</a> killed at least three people in the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-weather-flood-mudslides-d721eb645f0a3575fd3ac2d6cdea5313">Chūgoku region of Honshū </a>and on the island of Kyushu. Over the weekend, the Japan Meteorological Agency <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/10/thousands-told-to-evacuate-as-mudslides-floods-kill-one-injapan">issued an emergency warning</a> and urged more than 1.7 million residents to take shelter. In northern India, <a href="https://weather.com/en-IN/india/monsoon/news/2023-07-12-death-toll-91-flooding-heavy-rains-torment-north-india">landslides and flash floods</a> caused by a monsoon killed another 91 people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bXFwFG">
At the same time, a heat wave is wreaking havoc across the southern and southeastern parts of China. The current forecast puts temperatures at <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3227078/china-alert-crop-and-power-grid-damage-heat-and-flood-risks-rise">95 degrees Fahrenheit</a> for the next week, with some regions reaching temperatures as high as 104 degrees. Cities across China <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-extreme-heat-shelters-deaths-8770afb38c09dbd8613a599fb5e36c96">opened</a> their air raid shelters over the weekend to provide relief to residents suffering from extreme temperatures.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8HALj9">
This summer, these types of high temperatures are the norm nearly everywhere. July 4 was the <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/7/5/23784587/hottest-day-heat-wave-recorded-temperature-climate-change">hottest day</a> on Earth on record, with the global average temperature reaching 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yMChcW">
Unfortunately, heat at this level also creates the perfect conditions for another type of natural disaster: <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/6/7/23752290/air-quality-levels-wildfire-smoke-clear-canada-ny-causes-aqi-health-symptoms">wildfires</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="96QOPM">
In Canada, over 23 million acres of land have burned this year thus far, exceeding the previous record by more than 6 million acres even with months of fire season yet to come, the <a href="https://ciffc.net/statistics">Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre</a> reports. Altogether, more than 100,000 people have been <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65816466">evacuated</a> from their homes in response to the nearly 500 blazes tearing across the country.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lZELCv">
“Heat extremes are getting more frequent, more severe; precipitation extremes are getting more frequent, more severe,” Kai Kornhuber, a lecturer and research scientist at Columbia University, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-extreme-weather-events-climate-change-169250036362">told the AP</a> in March. “Fire weather, which is linked to wildfires, is getting more frequent, more severe, more areas that didn’t see these conditions before.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ow5BAT">
Some of these regions are equipped with the knowledge and infrastructure to deal with historic levels of natural disasters, but as the range and intensity of these disasters spread, regions unfamiliar with their effects will need to adapt quickly. Not doing so could cost lives.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5f1roH">
“When we talk about disaster response, we’re often thinking about what happens right after a disaster,” Rebecca Rice, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who researches emergency communications, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/2/13/23594222/turkey-syria-earthquake-disaster-infrastructure-income-chile-haiti">previously told Vox</a>. “But it’s not just how you respond right away. It’s how you build a stronger community, where people have the social resources and the capital they need.”
</p>
<h2 id="xgG0Ea">
<strong>Global risk means higher insurance prices (for everyone) </strong>
</h2>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hrlACo">
As the global risk of extreme events, and therefore extreme destruction, rises, so do <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/realestate/home-insurance-climate-change.html">insurance costs</a>. Earthquakes in Turkey, monsoons in India, and heat waves in China actually affect the cost of insurance for <a href="https://www.vox.com/22686124/climate-change-insurance-flood-wildfire-hurricane-risk">everyone</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="People wade through brown flood water, pushing wooden wheelbarrows and bicycles laden with belongings." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_eU-GVO_KWgE6K9r8nQ4Rn7oDj4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24784260/1527213369.jpg"/> <cite>Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
People with their belongings wade through the flooded waters of Yamuna River after heavy monsoon rains in New Delhi on July 12, 2023.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="orO81S">
These disasters are also why insurance companies are increasingly relying on reinsurance companies. Reinsurance companies are “insurance for insurance companies,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23746045/state-farm-california-climate-change-insurance-wildfire-florida-flood">as Vox’s Umair Irfan has reported previously</a>; essentially, when a massive disaster occurs, these companies help cover claims. “Reinsurance providers act as a backstop and help front-line insurers cover claims when a massive disaster strikes,” he <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23746045/state-farm-california-climate-change-insurance-wildfire-florida-flood">wrote</a>. “As a result, international reinsurers like Swiss Re keep a close eye on global systemic risks branching from rising average temperatures.” (Swiss Re is a Swiss-based reinsurance company.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rwLHU5">
When an insurance company puts together a plan and decides on a policyholder’s premium, they assess the risk of the area the policyholder lives in, Jason Thistlethwaite, a professor for the <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/school-environment-enterprise-development/">School of Environment, Enterprise and Development</a> at the University of Waterloo, told Vox. If you live on a floodplain, on a low-lying coastline, or against a wildfire zone, that increases the risk, he added.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7g6npp">
Still, the amount an insurance company collects in premiums may not add up to the total cost of damage if the area is completely decimated by an extreme event. Therefore the company purchases additional coverage from the reinsurer, Thistlethwaite said. Purchasing this reinsurance raises costs for policyholders.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M2YfYv">
In recent years, reinsurers have dealt with mounting losses globally, and therefore are <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-property-catastrophe-reinsurance-rates-rise-up-50-july-1-report-2023-07-03/#:~:text=Reinsurers%20insure%20insurance%20companies%2C%20and,insurers%20charge%20to%20their%20customers.">raising their prices</a>. “[The reinsurer] is going to pass those costs on to primary insurance and then the primary insurers are going to pass those costs onto their policyholders,” Thistlethwaite said. “There is some truth that a tranche of your premium is going to be reflective of the international risk environment generally.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9aLR2W">
Increasing natural disasters aren’t just making insurance unaffordable, however: They’re also making it unavailable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hCwzgz">
Earlier this year, one of the largest insurers in the country, State Farm, <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23746045/state-farm-california-climate-change-insurance-wildfire-florida-flood">announced</a> it would stop accepting applications for business and personal policies in the fire-prone state of California. The company, which is worth $131 billion as of 2022, is the largest single provider of bundle home insurance policies in California. Other insurers in the state, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23746045/state-farm-california-climate-change-insurance-wildfire-florida-flood">Allstate</a>, also halted accepting new clients.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xVsOZt">
And on July 11, Farmers Insurance <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/farmers-insurance-pulling-out-of-florida-affecting-100000-people/">announced</a> they will no longer provide existing or new coverage in the hurricane-prone state of Florida, where they currently serve <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/business/farmers-insurance-florida/index.html">100,000 policyholders</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="raLZma">
Thistlethwaite says there are a number of interconnected elements driving insurers’ decisions to pull out of markets like Florida and California, including inadequately designed infrastructure, the increasing number of people living in high-risk areas, and the soaring costs of reconstruction.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aLQ2v9">
But the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters is uncontestedly a problem: “It really is a combination of four factors, with climate change being one of the core drivers,” Thistlethwaite said. “It’s really that and it’s those three other big reasons why availability of coverage is eroding.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t9DQA6">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sHzWWh">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eEKNtE">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gnuJub">
</p></li>
<li><strong>How Hollywood appeases China, explained by the Barbie movie</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="a line of men and one blonde woman on a pink, sparkly set" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wFkT1AXp_bmhYlxEHPEFtXiWGEg=/235x0:1923x1266/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72448549/Screen_Shot_2023_07_11_at_6.02.37_PM.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
Barbie and Kens in Barbieland. | Warner Bros.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Vietnam banned Barbie over a map featuring the nine-dash line. Here’s why that matters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MDZ6Sb">
This surely wasn’t the kind of publicity that Greta Gerwig’s <em>Barbie</em> was hoping for. The long-awaited film adaptation of the Mattel doll made headlines when, two weeks before its July 21 theatrical debut, it was banned in, of all places, Vietnam. And not because of any explicit violence or plastic nudity, but for violating the country’s territorial sovereignty.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PbrWRZ">
The controversy concerns a map of the “real world” that appears when Margot Robbie’s Barbie is told she must leave Barbieland and enter the real world after her perfectly arched feet have inexplicably turned flat. Shown for only a split second, the map looks as if it were drawn by a child — one who likes bright colors and has failed geography class. Among a mess of shapes and scribbles, one oddly specific detail stood out to reviewers from Vietnam’s National Film Evaluation Council: a dotted, U-shaped trail crossing into the ocean from what’s supposed to be <a href="https://www.vox.com/china">China</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rNWkhI">
As far as the council is concerned, this is no ordinary doodle, but a clear and deliberate representation of the <a href="https://time.com/4412191/nine-dash-line-9-south-china-sea/">so-called nine-dash line</a>: a maritime boundary demarcating Beijing’s contested ownership of the South China Sea. The line has been featured on Chinese maps since the 1940s and, despite being rejected by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2016, is still used today to justify the expansion of China’s naval presence in the region, its construction of artificial islands, and its intimidation of foreign fishermen.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Barbie (Margot Robbie) in front of a map including the Nine-dash line." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PlKNsEDbYaYC7BcTEvmrWVt1o_o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24783177/F0X4_BpWYA4Jvdw.jpeg"/> <cite>Warner Bros.</cite>
<figcaption>
Barbie (Margot Robbie) in front of a map including the nine-dash line.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zvzn66">
“To the Chinese, the nine-dash line signifies their legitimate claims to the South China Sea,” Peter Zinoman, a professor of history and Southeast Asian studies at UC Berkeley and author of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pnzd2"><em>The Colonial Bastille: A History of Imprisonment in Vietnam, 1862-1940</em></a>, tells Vox. “To the Vietnamese, it symbolizes a brazen act of imperialist bullying that elevates Chinese national interest over an older shared set of interests of socialist brotherhood.” For this reason, <em>Barbie</em> will not be screening in Vietnamese theaters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gsOhZD">
To some extent, however, the damage has already been done. “As if the balancing act of stoking and restraining domestic nationalism wasn’t hard enough,” NYU professor and historian of modern Vietnam Kevin Li tells Vox, “pressure from an outside voice actively calling the government’s legitimacy into question on territorial grounds complicates things further. The Republic of Vietnam had, after all, fought the Chinese for [the South China Sea] during the last years of the Vietnam War. In my view, banning [<em>Barbie</em>] was a no-brainer.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M44wPe">
The film<em> </em>has also raised security concerns in Washington, where politicians doubt the Warner Bros. Film Group’s <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/barbie-map-meaning-why-banned-1235662437/">assertion</a> that the map’s resemblance to the nine-dash line was purely accidental. “While it may just be a Barbie map in a Barbie world,” Mike Gallagher, a Republican representative of Wisconsin leading the House’s China committee, told <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/07/gop-declares-war-on-barbie-00105154">Politico</a>, “the fact that a cartoonish, crayon-scribbled map seems to go out of its way to depict the PRC’s unlawful territorial claims illustrates the pressure that Hollywood is under to please CCP censors.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iYEg2o">
It’s no secret that <a href="https://www.vox.com/23196838/china-hollywood-red-carpet-schwartzel">American studios cater to </a>China and its $4.6 billion film industry — they have been doing so for over two decades, at times to great success. However, the nature of their partnership is changing. The way it used to work, Wall Street Journal<em> </em>reporter Erich Schwartzel tells Vox, “Hollywood producers would bend over backward to appeal to Chinese audiences. If they thought casting a Chinese actor in a small role or filming certain scenes in China would help sell tickets there, they would do that.” Think <a href="https://www.vox.com/disney">Disney</a> adding a panda character to the Chinese release of <em>Zootopia</em>, or <em>Transformers 4: Age of Extinction </em>being partially set in Hong Kong and starring Li Bingbing and Han Geng in addition to a host of extras selected through a Chinese <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-actors-cast-in-transformers-4-through-reality-show-competition-2013-4">reality show</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FjbJti">
“That kind of reverse engineering has died down,” adds Schwartzel, who wrote a book on the subject titled <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2022-02-22/red-carpet-hollywood-china-and-global-battle-cultural-supremacy"><em>Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy</em></a>. “Now, it’s more about not including anything in your movie that risks angering the state.” This explains why <em>Doctor Strange </em>changed the ethnicity of the Ancient One, a spiritual leader living in a mountainous monastery, from Tibetan to Caucasian, why <em>Bohemian Rhapsody </em>removed all references to Freddie Mercury being gay, and why <em>Top Gun: Maverick</em> originally removed the Taiwanese flag from Pete Mitchell’s flight jacket. (It reappeared after protests from fans and the departure of investor Tencent; as a result, the film never played in China.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D42Jxk">
Still, there is an important difference between, say, turning a film’s antagonist from Chinese to North Korean, as was done in the 2012 <em>Red Dawn </em>remake, and displaying a map that recognizes Beijing’s highly disputed control over the vast majority of the South China Sea. As the theatrical world shrinks, the CCP’s control over Chinese society tightens, and the cooling of US-China relationship complicates international business relations, we might soon end up in a reality where — in addition to removing content that offends Beijing —Hollywood will “go out of its way,” as Gallagher had put it, to <em>insert</em> content affirming the party’s worldview.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="F3QKok">
<q> “Aiming for the PRC market, they are ready to accept the PRC’s view of geography. Disinformation works by repetition.”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b3WUmv">
This, many believe, was the case for <em>Barbie</em>. “The producers of the movie clearly hope it will be a blockbuster,” Hue-Tam Ho Tai, professor of Sino-Vietnamese history at Harvard University, tells Vox. “Aiming for the PRC market, they are ready to accept the PRC’s view of geography. Disinformation works by repetition.” It’s worth noting <em>Barbie </em>has already been <a href="https://www.kron4.com/news/national/philippines-consider-banning-barbie-movie-over-south-china-sea-map">approved</a> to screen in China, and that manufacturer Mattel has a vested interest in selling its dolls there.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UiTQXy">
Of course, affirming the CCP worldview comes at a cost. <em>Barbie </em>isn’t the first film to reference the nine-dash line, nor is it the first to be banned in Southeast Asia for doing so. Before surfacing in Barbieland, the line could be discovered in scenes from DreamWorks’ animated family film <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50093028"><em>Abominable</em></a>, Sony’s live-action adaptation of the video game series <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3175674/south-china-sea-philippines-pulls-hollywood-action-film"><em>Uncharted</em> </a>starring Tom Holland, and an Australian spy drama streaming on <a href="https://www.vox.com/netflix">Netflix</a> called <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3vz9v/south-china-sea-netflix"><em>Pine Gap</em></a>. Earlier this year, Vietnam even blacklisted <em>John Wick: Chapter 4 </em>for starring Donnie Yen, who is a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/09/china/donnie-yen-oscars-petition-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html">vocal supporter</a> of CCP <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy">policies</a>. (<em>John Wick </em>was briefly available in China but has since been pulled from its platforms alongside other <a href="https://www.vox.com/movies">movies</a> with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/8/16/20694479/keanu-reeves-revival-memes-history-explained">Keanu Reeves</a> after the actor attended a Tibet-related concert.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="puSG8y">
Soon, Hollywood will also be facing resistance from the US government, which up until this point has remained largely offscreen. Alarmed by Beijing’s influence over American entertainment, the Pentagon recently announced in a Defense Department <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/pentagon-backs-boycott-of-film-studios-that-bow-to-chinese-censors/">document</a> that it will no longer share its bases, ships, and equipment with productions that allow Beijing “to censor the content of the project in a material manner to advance the national interest of the People’s Republic of China.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VBD6fF">
Schwartzel suggests it is economic incentive, not political pressure, that could ultimately push Hollywood out of China altogether. As time goes by, breaking into the country’s film market has only gotten more difficult. This is partly due to censorship, but also because of cultural barriers. “Chinese audiences were always much savvier than Hollywood believed them to be,” he says. “A panda in <em>Zootopia</em> is nice, but it is not the real reason people are going to see it.” The same applies to casting Chinese actors in small, forgettable roles, which in China are <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/mixed-reviews-in-china-for-hollywoods-flower-vases/news-story/28e52358ad329b68802238f764ef2c65">mockingly referred</a> to as “flower vases.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f667Q6">
Then there’s competition from Chinese cinema, which has grown incredibly sophisticated over the past decade or so. In 2011, <em>Transformers: Dark of the Moon</em> was the highest-grossing film in China. Ten years later, in 2021, it was <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2021/?area=CN"><em>The Battle at Lake Changjin</em></a>, a historical action epic about the People’s Volunteer Army’s unlikely victory over the US Armed Forces in a major battle during the Korean War. Commissioned by the PRC’s Central Propaganda Department, it brought in an estimated <s></s>$903 million against an impressive $200 million budget — numbers Hollywood can only dream of at the moment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fkJR8s">
While the past and present prevalence of Chinese propaganda in American entertainment poses a significant danger for Americans, who may not always recognize it when it’s in front of them, the situation is even worse for countries not powerful enough to confront China head-on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CEDp61">
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Synthesis, Destroyer, Klimt, King Of War, Time and Waikiki please</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bangladesh women vs India women, 3rd T20 | Indian batters flop again as hosts pull off consolation win</strong> - India produced another underwhelming batting performance to end up with 102 for nine after opting to bat; Bangladesh won by 4-wickets</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>World Weightlifting Championship: Mirabai Chanu to spearhead Indian campaign in Riyadh from September 4</strong> - Apart from Chanu (49kg), Bindyarani Devi (55kg) and Achinta Sheuli (73kg), Shubham Todkar (61kg) and Narayana Ajith (73kg) will also compete in the world event.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vyasarpadi’s very own Messi: How footballer Nandhakumar made it to the top</strong> - The journey of footballer S Nandhakumar, the only player from Tamil Nadu to represent India at the recent Intercontinental Cup, started on a playground in a neglected Chennai neighbourhood</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ashwin takes 5 wickets as India rolls the West Indies for 150, reaches 80-0 in 1st test</strong> - Ravichandran Ashwin claimed his 33rd five-wicket haul in tests and a piece of history as India bowled out the West Indies for 150 on the first day of the first cricket test</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Update and strengthen teaching skills with new technologies, Governor tells teachers</strong> - India’s economy has been strengthened to stand fifth in the world and attempts are being made to take the country to the third place and it will be possible with the help, cooperation and participation of all people, according to Thaawarchand Gehlot</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cooperative NCCF to sell tomatoes via mobile vans in Delhi-NCR at ₹90/kg: Govt officials</strong> - The cooperative will start sales in other cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur and Jaipur during the weekend.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Data | Uneven progress in Karnataka: Bengaluru, Mysuru regions way ahead of Kalaburagi and Belagavi</strong> - While Karnataka’s GDP has grown, it has not translated into better outcomes in education and health</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>High Court allows minor rape survivor to terminate pregnancy</strong> - The Allahabad High Court has allowed a 12-year-old survivor of rape rape victim to terminate her foetus, saying after considering that the continuation of pregnancy poses a greater risk to her physical and mental health</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Here are the big stories from Karnataka today</strong> - Welcome to the Karnataka Today newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories to follow today. Curated and written by Nalme Nachiyar.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cerberus heatwave: Hot weather sweeps across southern Europe</strong> - The heatwave could potentially lead to record-breaking temperatures, forecasters say.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>In pictures: Cerberus heatwave hits parts of Europe</strong> - People in countries including Italy and Spain are struggling to cope with soaring temperatures.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Greek coastguard ‘pressured’ disaster survivors to blame Egyptian men</strong> - New evidence further challenges the official version of last month’s deadly sinking.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Russian general fired after criticising army leaders</strong> - Gen Ivan Popov says he refused to keep quiet over issues at the front line in Ukraine.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: More than 20 drones shot down in latest attack</strong> - A third consecutive night of strikes on Kyiv comes hours after the Nato summit.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pixel Fold review: The first foldable that actually feels like a tablet</strong> - Google takes foldable software to the next level, and it makes a big difference. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1949235">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It’s Amazon Prime Day: The best deals to everything awesome we could find</strong> - We’ll be adding deals throughout the day, so check back when you can! - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1949667">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rover sampling finds organic molecules in water-altered rocks on Mars</strong> - No clear implications for life, but some samples could be brought back to Earth. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1953490">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Linux could be 3% of global desktops. What happened to Windows?</strong> - Linux gains (or loses), Windows slumps, macOS jumps—it’s been quite a year. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1953373">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chinese company wins race for first methane-fueled rocket to orbit</strong> - LandSpace says its test flight lays the foundation for a reusable rocket. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1953453">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Masturbation is perfectly normal and healthy. It releases dopamine and reduces stress. Improves prostate gland and cardiovascular health..</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Still got thrown off the bus.
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HelpingHandsUs"> /u/HelpingHandsUs </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yhuav/masturbation_is_perfectly_normal_and_healthy_it/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yhuav/masturbation_is_perfectly_normal_and_healthy_it/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chuck Norris parks his car in a no parking zone to buy some groceries. When he returns to his car, he sees a cop standing there. „Is that your car?“, he asks.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
„Yes, what‘s the problem?“, asks Chuck.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The cop points at the big no-parking sign and says: „Sorry Sir, it looks like we put that sign in the wrong place.“
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HBNTrader"> /u/HBNTrader </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yen13/chuck_norris_parks_his_car_in_a_no_parking_zone/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yen13/chuck_norris_parks_his_car_in_a_no_parking_zone/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What’s a vagina’s favorite music genre?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Cuntry
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit: bro wtf these comments are way better than mine
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/yoyomaster230"> /u/yoyomaster230 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14y0sv7/whats_a_vaginas_favorite_music_genre/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14y0sv7/whats_a_vaginas_favorite_music_genre/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My wife ran off with my best friend Mike yesterday</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Friend asks “Since when has Mike been your best friend?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Since yesterday.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/evilholographlincoln"> /u/evilholographlincoln </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yc8ji/my_wife_ran_off_with_my_best_friend_mike_yesterday/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yc8ji/my_wife_ran_off_with_my_best_friend_mike_yesterday/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What did the Pokemon say after sleeping with Charmander?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Vulvasore.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Cicerello"> /u/Cicerello </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yafhl/what_did_the_pokemon_say_after_sleeping_with/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14yafhl/what_did_the_pokemon_say_after_sleeping_with/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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