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<title>02 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>COVID-related anthropause highlights the impact of marine traffic on breeding little penguins</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic and its lock-down measures have resulted in periods of reduced human activity, known as anthropause. While this period was expected to be favorable for the marine ecosystem, due to a probable reduction of pollution, shipping traffic, industrial activity and fishing pressure, negative counterparts such as the increased use of disposable plastic and reduced fisheries surveillance and enforcement could counterbalance these positive effects. Simultaneously, on-land pressure due to human disturbance and tourism should have drastically decreased, potentially benefiting land-based marine breeders such as seabirds. Thus, long-term datasets became crucial to differentiate between historical trends and any evident changes resulting from the anthropause. We analyzed 11 years of data on several biological parameters of little penguins (Eudyptula minor) from the Penguin Parade (R), a popular tourist attraction at Phillip Island, Australia. We investigated the impact of anthropogenic activities on penguin behavior during the breeding season measured by (1) distribution at sea, (2) colony attendance, (3) isotopic niche (4) chick meal mass, and (5) offspring investment against shipping traffic and number of tourists. The 2020 lock-downs resulted in a near absence of tourists visiting the Penguin Parade (R), which was otherwise visited by 800,000+ visitors on average per year. However, our long-term analysis showed no effect of the presence of visitors on little penguins' activities. Surprisingly, the anthropause did not triggered any changes in maritime traffic intensity and distribution in the region. While we found significant inter- and intra-annual variations for most parameters, we detected a negative effect of marine traffic on the foraging efficiency. Our results suggest that environmental variations have a greater influence on the breeding behavior of little penguins compared to short-term anthropause events. Our long-term dataset was key to test whether changes in anthropogenic activities affected the wildlife during the COVID-19 pandemic.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.30.547199v1" target="_blank">COVID-related anthropause highlights the impact of marine traffic on breeding little penguins</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Preclinical and Human Phase 1 Studies of Aerosolized Hydroxychloroquine: Implications for Antiviral COVID-19 Therapy</strong> -
<div>
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Based on early reports of the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQS) to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 viral replication in vitro, and since severe pulmonary involvement is the major cause of COVID-19 mortality, we assessed the safety and efficacy of aerosolized HCQS (aHCQS) therapy in animals and humans. In a Phase 1 study of aHCQS in healthy volunteers, doses up to 50 mg were well tolerated and estimated epithelial lining fluid concentrations immediately after inhalation (&gt;2,000 uM) exceeded the in vitro concentrations needed for suppression of viral replication (&gt;=119 uM). A study in rats comparing HCQS solution administered orally (13.3 mg/kg) and by intratracheal installation (IT 0.18 mg/kg, &lt;5% of oral dose) demonstrated that at 2 minutes, IT administration was associated with 5X higher mean hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) concentrations in the lung (IT: 49.5 +/- 6.5 ug HCQ/g tissue, oral: 9.9 +/- 3.4; p&lt;0.01). A subsequent study of IT and intranasal HCQS in the Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, however, failed to show clinical benefit. We conclude that aHCQS alone is unlikely to be effective for COVID-19, but based on our aHCQS pharmacokinetics and current viral entry data, adding oral HCQS to aHCQS, along with a transmembrane protease inhibitor, may improve efficacy.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.22.23291702v1" target="_blank">Preclinical and Human Phase 1 Studies of Aerosolized Hydroxychloroquine: Implications for Antiviral COVID-19 Therapy</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Community Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients with COVID-19 Across Three Pandemic Waves: A Population-Based Cohort Study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Reported changes in antibiotic prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic have focused on hospital prescribing or community population trends. Community antibiotic prescribing for individuals with COVID-19 are less well described. Methods: Data covering a complete geographic population (~800,000) were utilized. SARS-CoV-2 virus test results from February 1, 2020- March 31, 2022 were included. Anonymized data were linked to prescription data +/-28 days of the test, GP data for high-risk comorbidities, and demographic data. Multivariate binary logistic regression examined associations between patient factors and the odds of antibiotic prescription. Results: Data included 768,206 tests for 184,954 individuals, identifying 16,240 COVID-19 episodes involving 16,025 individuals. There were 3,263 antibiotic prescriptions +/-28 days for 2,385 patients. 35.6% of patients had a prescription only before the test date, 52.5% patients after, and 11.9% before and after. Antibiotic prescribing reduced over time: 20.4% of episodes in wave one, 17.7% in wave two, and 12.0% in wave three. In multivariate logistic regression, being female (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.19,1.45), older (OR 3.02, 95% CI 2.50, 3.68 75+ vs &lt;25 years), having a high-risk comorbidity (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.31, 1.61), a hospital admission +/-28 days of an episode (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.42, 1.77), and health board region (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.03, 1.25, board B versus A) increased the odds of receiving an antibiotic. Conclusion: Community antibiotic prescriptions in COVID-19 episodes were uncommon in this population and likelihood was associated with patient factors. The reduction over pandemic waves may represent increased knowledge regarding COVID-19 treatment and/or evolving symptomatology.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.23291797v1" target="_blank">Community Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients with COVID-19 Across Three Pandemic Waves: A Population-Based Cohort Study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Polymerized type I collagen down-regulates STAT-1 phosphorylation through engagement to LAIR-1 in M1-macrophages avoiding long COVID</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: The polymerized type I collagen (PTIC) is a g-irradiated mixture of pepsinized porcine type I collagen and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). It has immunomodulatory properties. However, the receptor and signaling pathway through which it exerts its therapeutic effects has not yet been identified. Aim: To evaluate LAIR-1 as a potential receptor for PTIC and the signaling pathway evoked by ligand-receptor binding. Methods: LAIR-1 binding assay was performed by incubating various concentrations of recombinant human LAIR-1 with native type I collagen or PTIC. Macrophages M1-derived from THP-1 cells were cultured with 2-10% PTIC for 24 h. Cell lysates from THP-1, monocytes-like cells (MLCs), M1, M1+IFN-γ, M1+LPS, and 2 or 10% PTIC treated M1 were analyzed by western blot for the transcription factors NF-κB (p65), p38, STAT-1, and pSTAT-1. Cytokines, Th1 cells, and M1/M2 macrophages were analyzed by luminometry and flow cytometry from blood samples of symptomatic COVID-19 outpatients on treatment with intramuscular administration of PTIC. Results: PTIC binds LAIR-1 with a similar affinity to native collagen. This binding decreases STAT-1 signaling IFN-γ-induced and IL-1β expression in M1 macrophages by down-regulating STAT-1 phosphorylation. Moreover, intramuscular PTIC treatment of symptomatic COVID-19 outpatients decreased at statistically significant levels the percentage of M1 macrophages and cytokines (IP-10, MIF, eotaxin, IL-8, IL-1RA, and M-CSF) associated with STAT-1 transcription factor and increased M2 macrophages and Th1 cells. The downregulation of inflammatory mediators was related to better oxygen saturation and decreased dyspnea, chest pain, cough, and chronic fatigue syndrome in the acute phase of infection and the long term. Conclusion: PTIC is an agonist of LAIR-1 and down-regulates STAT-1 phosphorylation. PTIC could be relevant for treating STAT-1-mediated inflammatory diseases, including COVID-19 and long COVID.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.01.23292108v1" target="_blank">Polymerized type I collagen down-regulates STAT-1 phosphorylation through engagement to LAIR-1 in M1-macrophages avoiding long COVID</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Genome-wide Association Study of Long COVID</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Infections can lead to persistent or long-term symptoms and diseases such as shingles after varicella zoster, cancers after human papillomavirus, or rheumatic fever after streptococcal infections(1,2). Similarly, infection by SARS-CoV-2 can result in Long COVID, a condition characterized by symptoms of fatigue and pulmonary and cognitive dysfunction(3-5). The biological mechanisms that contribute to the development of Long COVID remain to be clarified. We leveraged the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative(6,7) to perform a genome-wide association study for Long COVID including up to 6,450 Long COVID cases and 1,093,995 population controls from 24 studies across 16 countries. We identified the first genome-wide significant association for Long COVID at the FOXP4 locus. FOXP4 has been previously associated with COVID-19 severity(6), lung function(8), and cancers(9), suggesting a broader role for lung function in the pathophysiology of Long COVID. While we identify COVID-19 severity as a causal risk factor for Long COVID, the impact of the genetic risk factor located in the FOXP4 locus could not be solely explained by its association to severe COVID-19. Our findings further support the role of pulmonary dysfunction and COVID-19 severity in the development of Long COVID.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.23292056v1" target="_blank">Genome-wide Association Study of Long COVID</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Benin and Senegal: a structural equation modelling (SEM)</strong> -
<div>
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Vaccination is considered one of the solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a small proportion of the population was fully vaccinated in Benin (20.9%) and Senegal (7.6%) by December 2022. This study explores the determinants of intent to vaccinate. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study of 865 Beninese and 607 Senegalese aged 18 years and older. Marginal quota sampling by age, gender and region was adopted. Data collection, using a survey instrument based on the Random Digit Dialing (RDD) method, was conducted from December 24, 2020, to January 16, 2021, in Senegal and from March 29 to May 14, 2021, in Benin. The questionnaire used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Belief Model (HBM). The influence of factors was tested using a structural equation model. All analyses were conducted in R.        Results show that a good perception of the benefits of vaccination ( =0.33<strong><em>; =0.12</em></strong>), a positive attitude (=0.22<strong><em>; =0.20</em></strong>), and sensitivity to subjective norms ( =0.19<strong><em>; =0.32</em></strong>) positively influence the intention to vaccinate. Low trust in health care providers (=-0.40<strong><em>; =-0.36</em></strong>) amplifies the perceived risk of vaccination (=-0.14<strong><em>; =-0.25</em></strong>), which negatively impacts intention to vaccinate. Perceived vaccine efficacy was affected by perceived risk (=-0.12<strong><em>; =-0.05</em></strong>) of the disease and improved by good apprehension of the benefits of vaccination (=0.60<strong><em>; =0.13</em></strong>). Aspects related to behavioral control, vaccine information seeking, efficacy, or fairness did not appear as correlates of vaccine intention (P&gt;0.05).       Beninese and Senegalese public health authorities could develop additional intervention strategies to improve immunization coverage by considering these influencing factors, the basis of which could be better understood through subsequent qualitative studies.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.23292061v1" target="_blank">Intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Benin and Senegal: a structural equation modelling (SEM)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pre-pandemic activity on a myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome support forum is highly associated with later activity on a long COVID support forum for a variety of reasons: a mixed methods study.</strong> -
<div>
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Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID share some clinical and social characteristics. We predicted that this would lead to an increased interaction between pre-pandemic members of a ME/CFS online support community and a long COVID community. We performed a mixed-methods retrospective observational study of the Reddit activity of 7,544 users active on Reddit9s long COVID forum. From among 1600 forums, pre-pandemic activity specifically on a ME/CFS forum is the top predictor of later participation on the long COVID forum versus an acute COVID support forum. In the qualitative portion, motives for this co-participation included seeking mutual support and dual identification with both conditions. Some of this effect may be explained by pre-existing ME/CFS possibly being a risk factor for long COVID and/or SARS-CoV-2 infection being a cause of ME/CFS relapse. The high rate of ME/CFS patients seeking mutual support on a long COVID forum speaks to the long-suffering experience of these patients not feeling heard or respected, and the hope of some ME/CFS patients to gain legitimacy through the public9s growing recognition of long COVID.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.30.23292087v1" target="_blank">Pre-pandemic activity on a myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome support forum is highly associated with later activity on a long COVID support forum for a variety of reasons: a mixed methods study.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Patterns in Repeat Reinfections: Pre and Post Omicron Emergence</strong> -
<div>
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Our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection patterns remains limited. We conducted a longitudinal study using Qatar national SARS-CoV-2 data from February 28, 2020 to June 11, 2023 to investigate incidence of reinfections both prior to and after omicron emergence. The latter analysis excluded individuals with pre-omicron infections. Before omicron introduction, the proportion of incident infections classified as reinfections gradually increased but remained minimal, reaching 1.8% just before omicron emerged. During the first omicron wave, this proportion reached 9.0%, a 5-fold increase. After the conclusion of the first omicron wave, the proportion of incident infections identified as reinfections rapidly increased, reaching 43.3% towards the end of the study. In the pre-omicron era, a total of 3,131 reinfections were documented, of which 99.6% were first reinfections and 0.4% were second reinfections. Meanwhile, a total of 20,962 reinfections were documented after an omicron primary infection of which 99.0% were first reinfections, 1.0% were second reinfections, and 0.01% were third reinfections. Reinfections were rare before omicron9s emergence but became widespread during the omicron era, including among individuals previously infected with omicron. Our findings may indicate accelerated viral evolution in the omicron era aimed at evading population immunity, but with minimal impact on COVID-19 severity, or potentially suggest immune imprinting effects that require further investigation.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.23292041v1" target="_blank">Patterns in Repeat Reinfections: Pre and Post Omicron Emergence</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Distinct and overlapping immunological responses to SARS-CoV-2 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis identified by single-cell RNA-seq of co-infected whole blood</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Introduction: COVID-19 and tuberculosis (TB) exhibit similar symptomatic presentation and clinical parameters. Common underlying immunological mechanisms also highlight potential routes of immunopathogenic interaction between these diseases during co-infection. To explore immunological similarities, differences and interactions, single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) was performed on whole blood infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), SARS-CoV-2, or both pathogens. Methods: Whole blood from four healthy adults, were subjected to ex vivo infection with Mtb and/or SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain, or were maintained in an uninfected state, for 24 or 96 hours. At each timepoint, for each condition, the four biological replicates were captured, fixed and cryopreserved to be processed for scRNA-seq as a single batch. Following quality control filtering, genotype-based demultiplexing was performed to obtain data from each biological replicate for pseudobulk differential expression analysis. Results: Thirteen distinct clusters of cells were identified based on marker gene expression. Profound differences in the proportions of monocytes, T cells and neutrophils were observed between infection conditions and timepoints. The greatest divergence between pathogen responses occurred within myeloid cells at early timepoints of infection. Co-infection had the greatest synergistic effect 24 hours post-infection with 238 immunological pathways uniquely enriched, including IFN-γ and TNF production, whilst by 96 hours post-infection there was a large overlap of 182 shared pathways between Mtb, SARS-CoV-2 and co-infection. SARS-CoV-2-only infection resulted in widespread cell death by 96 hours post-infection, while Mtb-only and co-infected samples remained enriched for monocyte, T cell and NK cell signatures, sharing negative regulation of extrinsic apoptotic signalling. Distinct from Mtb, SARS-Co-V-2 had unique regulating of αβ T cell activation and differentiation at both time points. Conclusion: These data provide a high-resolution characterisation of distinct and overlapping immunological responses generated by SARS-CoV-2 and Mtb when a single infection or co-infection occurs. This sheds light on the potential effects of novel or existing host-directed therapies that target these pathways, which is particularly crucial for settings where dual presentation is common.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.24.23290499v2" target="_blank">Distinct and overlapping immunological responses to SARS-CoV-2 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis identified by single-cell RNA-seq of co-infected whole blood</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Reverse engineering of a pathogenic antibody reveals the molecular mechanism of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia</strong> -
<div>
The massive COVID-19 vaccine roll-out campaign illuminated a range of rare side effects, the most dangerous of which - vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) - is caused by adenoviral (Ad)-vectored vaccines. VITT occurrence had been linked to production of pathogenic antibodies that recognize an endogenous chemokine, platelet factor 4 (PF4). Mass spectrometry (MS)-based evaluation of the ensemble of anti-PF4 antibodies obtained from a VITT patient's blood indicates that its major component is a monoclonal antibody. Structural characterization of this antibody reveals several unusual characteristics, such as the presence of an N-glycan in the Fab segment and high density of acidic amino acid residues in the CDR regions. A recombinant version of this antibody (RVT1) was generated by transient expression in mammalian cells based on the newly determined sequence. It captures the key properties of VITT antibodies, such as their ability to activate platelets in a PF4-dependent fashion. Homology modeling of the Fab segment reveals a well-defined polyanionic paratope, and the docking studies indicate that the polycationic segment of PF4 readily accommodates two Fab segments, cross-linking the antibodies to yield polymerized immune complexes. Their existence was verified with native MS by detecting assemblies as large as (RVT1)3(PF4)2, pointing out at FcGammaRIIa-mediated platelet activation as the molecular mechanism underlying VITT clinical manifestations. In addition to high PF4 affinity, RVT1 readily binds other polycationic targets, indicating a polyreactive nature of this antibody. This surprising polyspecificity not only sheds light on VITT etiology, but also opens up a range of opportunities to manage this pathology.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.30.547300v1" target="_blank">Reverse engineering of a pathogenic antibody reveals the molecular mechanism of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia</a>
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<li><strong>Use of antimicrobials during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study among stakeholders in Nepal</strong> -
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Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic was a major public health threat and posed tremendous pressure to develop a cure for it. Apart from ongoing efforts in developing vaccines, a lot of empirical treatments were recommended, that may have expedited the use of antimicrobials. The main objective of this study was to explore if and how the pandemic posed pressure on antimicrobials in Nepal using semi-structured interviews (SSIs) among patients, clinicians and drug dispensers. Methods A total of 30 stakeholders (10 each among clinicians, dispensers and COVID-19 patients) were identified purposively and were approached for SSIs. Clinicians and dispensers working in three tertiary hospitals in Kathmandu were first approached and were asked for their support to reach out to COVID-19 patients who were on follow-up at their out-patient department. SSIs were audio recorded, translated and transcribed into English, and were analyzed for thematic synthesis. Results Over-the-counter (OTC) uses of antibiotics was widespread during the pandemic, and were mostly rooted to patients attempts to halt the potential severity due to respiratory like illnesses, and the fear of being identified as a COVID-19 patients. Being identified as a COVID-19 patient was feared because of the stigmatization and social isolation. Patients who visited the drug shops and physicians were reported to make demands on specific medicines including antibiotics that may have added pressure among physicians and dispensers. Clinicians reported a degree of uncertainty related to treatment and that may have added pressure to prescribe antimicrobials. All stakeholders, although mostly patients and dispensers with limited understanding of what constitutes antimicrobials and the mechanisms underpinning it reported that the pressure during the pandemic may have added to the adversities such as antimicrobials resistance. Conclusions COVID-19 added a pressure to prescribe, dispense and overuse antimicrobials and may have accentuated the pre-existing OTC use of antimicrobials. Future pandemics including infectious disease outbreaks are major public health incidents that warrant a special caution on inappropriate pressure on antimicrobials. Strict policies related to the use of antimicrobials are urgent to redress their use during normal and pandemic situations.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.23.23291835v2" target="_blank">Use of antimicrobials during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study among stakeholders in Nepal</a>
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<li><strong>Interaction between host G3BP and viral nucleocapsid protein regulates SARS-CoV-2 replication</strong> -
<div>
G3BP1/2 are paralogous proteins that promote stress granule formation in response to cellular stresses, including viral infection. G3BP1/2 are prominent interactors of the nucleocapsid (N) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, the functional consequences of the G3BP1-N interaction in the context of viral infection remain unclear. Here we used structural and biochemical analyses to define the residues required for G3BP1-N interaction, followed by structure-guided mutagenesis of G3BP1 and N to selectively and reciprocally disrupt their interaction. We found that mutation of F17 within the N protein led to selective loss of interaction with G3BP1 and consequent failure of the N protein to disrupt stress granule assembly. Introduction of SARS-CoV-2 bearing an F17A mutation resulted in a significant decrease in viral replication and pathogenesis in vivo, indicating that the G3BP1-N interaction promotes infection by suppressing the ability of G3BP1 to form stress granules.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.546885v1" target="_blank">Interaction between host G3BP and viral nucleocapsid protein regulates SARS-CoV-2 replication</a>
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<li><strong>In vivo characterization of the optical and hemodynamic properties of the human sternocleidomastoid muscle through ultrasound-guided hybrid near-infrared spectroscopies.</strong> -
<div>
The non-invasive monitoring of the hemodynamics and metabolism of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) during respiration became a topic of increased interest partially due to the increased use of mechanical ventilation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Near-infrared diffuse optical spectroscopies were proposed as potential practical monitors of increased recruitment of SCM during respiratory distress. They can provide clinically relevant information on the degree of the patient's respiratory effort that is needed to maintain an optimal minute ventilation, with potential clinical application ranging from evaluating chronic pulmonary diseases to more acute settings, such as acute respiratory failure, or to determine the readiness to wean from invasive mechanical ventilation. In this paper, we present a detailed characterization of the optical properties (wavelength dependent absorption and reduced scattering coefficients) and hemodynamic properties (oxy-, deoxy- and total hemoglobin concentrations, blood flow, blood oxygen saturation and metabolic rate of oxygen extraction) of the human SCM, obtained by measuring sixty-five subjects through ultrasound-guided near-infrared time-resolved and diffuse correlation spectroscopies. We provide detailed tables of the results related to SCM baseline (i.e. muscle at rest) properties, and reveal significant differences on the measured parameters due to variables such as side of the neck, sex, age, body mass index and thickness of the overlaying tissues, allowing future clinical studies to take into account such dependencies.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.30.544760v1" target="_blank">In vivo characterization of the optical and hemodynamic properties of the human sternocleidomastoid muscle through ultrasound-guided hybrid near-infrared spectroscopies.</a>
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<li><strong>Identification of side effects of COVID-19 drug candidates on embryogenesis using an integrated zebrafish screening platform</strong> -
<div>
Drug repurposing is an important strategy in COVID-19 treatment, but many clinically approved compounds have not been extensively studied in the context of embryogenesis, thus limiting their administration during pregnancy. Here we used the zebrafish embryo model organism to test the effects of 162 marketed drugs on cardiovascular development. Among the compounds used in the clinic for COVD-19 treatment, we found that Remdesivir led to reduced body size and heart functionality at clinically relevant doses. Ritonavir and Baricitinib showed reduced heart functionality and Molnupiravir and Baricitinib showed effects on embryo activity. Sabizabulin was highly toxic at concentrations only 5 times higher than Cmax and led to a mean mortality of 20% at Cmax. Furthermore, we tested if zebrafish could be used as a model to study inflammatory response in response to spike protein treatment and found that Remdesivir, Ritonavir, Molnupiravir, Baricitinib as well as Sabizabulin counteracted the inflammatory response related gene expression upon SARS-CoV-2 spike protein treatment. Our results show that the zebrafish allows to study immune-modulating properties of COVID-19 compounds and highlights the need to rule out secondary defects of compound treatment on embryogenesis. All results are available on a user friendly web-interface https://share.streamlit.io/alernst/covasc_dataapp/main/Co asc_DataApp.py that provides a comprehensive overview of all observed phenotypic effects and allows personalized search on specific compounds or group of compounds. Furthermore, the presented platform can be expanded for rapid detection of developmental side effects of new compounds for treatment of COVID-19 and further viral infectious diseases.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.547094v1" target="_blank">Identification of side effects of COVID-19 drug candidates on embryogenesis using an integrated zebrafish screening platform</a>
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<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 spike glycosylation affects function and neutralization sensitivity</strong> -
<div>
The glycosylation of viral envelope proteins can play important roles in virus biology and immune evasion. The spike (S) glycoprotein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) includes 22 N-linked glycosylation sequons and 17 O-linked glycosites. Here, we investigated the effect of individual glycosylation sites on SARS-CoV-2 S function in pseudotyped virus infection assays and on sensitivity to monoclonal and polyclonal neutralizing antibodies. In most cases, removal of individual glycosylation sites decreased the infectiousness of the pseudotyped virus. For glycosylation mutants in the N-terminal domain (NTD) and the receptor binding domain (RBD), reduction in pseudotype infectivity was predicted by a commensurate reduction in the level of virion-incorporated spike protein. Notably, the presence of a glycan at position N343 within the RBD had diverse effects on neutralization by RBD-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) cloned from convalescent individuals. The N343 glycan reduced overall sensitivity to polyclonal antibodies in plasma from COVID-19 convalescent individuals, suggesting a role for SARS-CoV-2 spike glycosylation in immune evasion. However, vaccination of convalescent individuals produced neutralizing activity that was resilient to the inhibitory effect of the N343 glycan.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.30.547241v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 spike glycosylation affects function and neutralization sensitivity</a>
</div></li>
</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>Probiotic and Colchicine in COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Colchicine 0.5 MG;   Dietary Supplement: Probiotic Formula;   Other: Standard protocol<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>Study Evaluating SHEN26 Capsule in Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: SHEN26 capsule;   Drug: SHEN26 placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Shenzhen Kexing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.<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>A Clinical Trial of Recombinant COVID-19 Bivalent (XBB+Prototype) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) in Booster Vaccination</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 Bivalent (XBB+Prototype) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) (WSK-V101C);   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine(Sf9 Cell) (WSK-V101)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   WestVac Biopharma Co., 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>A Phase Ⅲ Clinical Trial of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) in Booster Vaccination</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: High dose of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell);   Biological: Low dose of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell);   Biological: control group;   Biological: Placebo group<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   WestVac Biopharma Co., 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>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>Impact Of Sensory Re-Education Paradigm On Sensation And Quality Of Life In Patients Post-Covid 19 Polyneuropathy</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: sensory re-education training;   Other: traditional treatment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<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>Comprehensive Imaging Exam of Convalesced COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   COVID Long-Haul<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Magnetic Resonance Imaging;   Other: Ultra-High Resolution Computed Tomography (CT) Scan<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Johns Hopkins University;   Canon Medical Systems, USA<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</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>UNAIR Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine as Heterologue Booster (Immunobridging Study)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19 Pandemic;   COVID-19 Vaccines<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Vaksin Merah Putih - UA SARS-CoV-2 (Vero Cell Inactivated) 5 µg;   Biological: CoronaVac Biofarma COVID-1 9 Vaccine 3 µg<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Dr. Soetomo General Hospital;   Indonesia-MoH;   Universitas Airlangga;   Biotis Pharmaceuticals, Indonesia<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>A Study to Investigate the Safety, Immunogenicity of Bivalent mRNA Vaccine RQ3027 and RQ3025 as a Booster Dose in Healthy Adults</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: RQ3013;   Biological: RQ3025;   Biological: RQ3027<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University;   Yunnan University;   Kunming Medical University<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>Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of Different Booster Dose Levels of Monovalent and Bivalent SARS-CoV-2 rS Vaccines in Adults ≥ 50 Years</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: NVX-CoV2540 (5, 10, 25 μg);   Biological: NVX-CoV2373 (5 μg);   Biological: Bivalent BA.4/5 Omicron subvariant<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>Evaluating the Efficacy of Remdesivir for Long COVID Following a Confirmed COVID-19 Infection.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   SARS-CoV-2 Infection;   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Derby;   University of Exeter;   Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit;   University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust<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 Effect of Smart Sensor Combined With APP for Individualized Precise Exercise Training in Long Covid-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Coronavirus Disease;   COVID-19;   Long Covid-19;   Telerehabilitation<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Device: KNEESUP smart knee assistive device + KNEESUP care APP;   Device: KNEESUP care APP;   Behavioral: Healthy consulation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Shang-Lin Chiang<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>Open Label Extension of Efgartigimod in Adults With Post-COVID-19 POTS</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post-COVID Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Efgartigimod<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   argenx;   Iqvia Pty Ltd<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>Digital Interventions to Understand and Mitigate Stress Response</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Distress, Emotional;   Stress Response Among Nursing Professionals During the COVID-19;   Stress Reaction; Acute<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Digital Intervention Group<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Unity Health Toronto;   Toronto Metropolitan University;   University of Toronto;   University of Ontario Institute of Technology;   Boston University;   University of Ottawa;   Western University, Canada;   Centre for Addiction and Mental Health<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>PREPARE-iVAC Trial</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19 Vaccines;   Varicella Zoster Vaccine;   Vaccine Response;   Immunosuppression<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: COVID-19 vaccination<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University Medical Center Groningen;   Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA);   Radboud University Medical Center;   Erasmus Medical Center;   UMC Utrecht;   Leiden University Medical Center;   Maastricht University Medical Center;   ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development<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>Polyvalent Nano-Lectin Potently Neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 by Targeting Glycans on the Viral Spike Protein</strong> - Mutations in spike (S) protein epitopes allow SARS-CoV-2 variants to evade antibody responses induced by infection and/or vaccination. In contrast, mutations in glycosylation sites across SARS-CoV-2 variants are very rare, making glycans a potential robust target for developing antivirals. However, this target has not been adequately exploited for SARS-CoV-2, mostly due to intrinsically weak monovalent protein-glycan interactions. We hypothesize that polyvalent nano-lectins with flexibly linked…</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>Fatal outcome of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) and severe and critical COVID-19 is associated with the hyperproduction of IL-10 and IL-6 and the low production of TGF-β</strong> - Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can cause the hyperproduction of inflammatory cytokines, which have pathological effects in patient including severe or fatal cytokine storms. To characterize the effect of SFTSV and SARS-CoV-2 infection on the production of cytokines in severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) and COVID-19 patients, we performed an analysis of cytokines in SFTS and COVID-19…</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>Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Dexamethasone in COVID-19 Patients: Translational Population PK/PD Modeling and Simulation</strong> - Dexamethasone (DEX) given at a dose of 6 mg once-daily for 10 days is a recommended dosing regimen in patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen therapy. We developed a population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (popPK/PD) model of DEX anti-inflammatory effects in COVID-19 and provide simulations comparing the expected efficacy of four dosing regimens of DEX. Nonlinear mixed-effects modeling and simulations were performed using Monolix Suite version 2021R1 (Lixoft, France). Published data for…</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 ribosome-inactivating proteins MAP30 and Momordin inhibit SARS-CoV-2</strong> - The continuing emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has highlighted the need to identify additional points for viral inhibition. Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs), such as MAP30 and Momordin which are derived from bitter melon (Momordica charantia), have been found to inhibit a broad range of viruses. MAP30 has been shown to potently inhibit HIV-1 with minimal cytotoxicity. Here we show that MAP30 and Momordin potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in A549 human lung cells (IC50 ~ 0.2 μM) with…</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>Dynamical Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations Identify Allosteric Sites and Positions Associated with Drug Resistance in the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease</strong> - The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^(pro)) plays an essential role in the coronavirus lifecycle by catalyzing hydrolysis of the viral polyproteins at specific sites. M^(pro) is the target of drugs, such as nirmatrelvir, though resistant mutants have emerged that threaten drug efficacy. Despite its importance, questions remain on the mechanism of how M^(pro) binds its substrates. Here, we apply dynamical nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (D-NEMD) simulations to evaluate structural and dynamical…</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>Restriction of SARS-CoV-2 replication by receptor transporter protein 4 (RTP4)</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is subject to restriction by several interferon-inducible host proteins. To identify novel factors that limit replication of the virus, we tested a panel of genes that we found were induced by interferon treatment of primary human monocytes by RNA sequencing. Further analysis showed that one of the several candidates genes tested, receptor transporter protein 4 (RTP4), that had previously been shown to restrict flavivirus replication,…</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>Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 humoral immune response in a subject with unique sampling: A case report</strong> - CONCLUSION: The findings here provide novel insights into humoral immune response characteristics associated with SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections.</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>Novel Tissue Factor Inhibition for Thromboprophylaxis in COVID-19: Primary Results of the ASPEN-COVID-19 Trial</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: rNAPc2 treatment in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was well tolerated without excess bleeding or serious adverse events but did not significantly reduce D-dimer more than heparin at day 8.</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>Endotyping of IgE-mediated polyethylene glycol and/or polysorbate 80 allergy</strong> - CONCLUSION: PEG and PS80 cross-reactivity is determined by IgE recognizing short PEG motifs, whilst PS80 mono-allergy is PEG-independent. PS80 skin test positivity in PEG allergics was associated with a severe and persistent phenotype, higher serum PEG-specific IgE levels and enhanced BAT reactivity. Spherical PEG-exposure via LNP enhances BAT sensitivity through increased avidity. All PEG and/or PS80 excipient allergic patients can safely receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.</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>Hindered visibility improvement despite marked reduction in anthropogenic emissions in a megacity of southwestern China: An interplay between enhanced secondary inorganics formation and hygroscopic growth at prevailing high RH conditions</strong> - The PM(2.5)-bound visibility improvement remains challenging in China despite vigorous control on anthropogenic emissions in recent years. One critical issue could exist in the distinct physicochemical properties especially of secondary aerosol components. Taken the COVID-19 lockdown as an extreme case, we focus on the relationship between visibility, emission cuts, and secondary formation of inorganics with changing optical and hygroscopic behaviors in Chongqing, a representative city…</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>Anthracyclines inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - Vaccines and drugs are two effective medical interventions to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 infection. Three SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors, remdesivir, paxlovid, and molnupiravir, have been approved for treating COVID-19 patients, but more are needed, because each drug has its limitation of usage and SARS-CoV-2 constantly develops drug resistance mutations. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 drugs have the potential to be repurposed to inhibit new human coronaviruses, thus help to prepare for future coronavirus outbreaks….</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>Statins: Beneficial Effects in Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - The recent viral disease COVID-19 has attracted much attention. The disease is caused by SARS-CoV-19 virus which has different variants and mutations. The mortality rate of SARS-CoV-19 is high and efforts to establish proper therapeutic solutions are still ongoing. Inflammation plays a substantial part in the pathogenesis of this disease causing mainly lung tissue destruction and eventually death. Therefore, anti-inflammatory drugs or treatments that can inhibit inflammation are important…</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>mLST8 is essential for coronavirus replication and regulates its replication through the mTORC1 pathway</strong> - Coronaviruses (CoVs), which pose a serious threat to human and animal health worldwide, need to hijack host factors to complete their replicative cycles. However, the current study of host factors involved in CoV replication remains unknown. Here, we identified a novel host factor, mammalian lethal with sec-13 protein 8 (mLST8), which is a common subunit of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2), and is critical for CoV replication. Inhibitor and knockout (KO) experiments revealed…</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>Validity of Rapid Antibody Testing for COVID-19 Vaccine in Homeless People</strong> - (1) Background: There is a paucity of data regarding the validity of rapid antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine response in homeless people worldwide. The objective of this study was to evaluate a rapid SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG antibody detection kit as a qualitative screen for vaccination in homeless people. (2) Methods: This study included 430 homeless people and 120 facility workers who had received one of BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, AZD1222/ChAdOx1, or JNJ-78436735/AD26.COV2.5 vaccines. They were…</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>Correlation between Clinical Characteristics and Antibody Levels in COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Donor Candidates</strong> - COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) with high neutralizing antibodies has been suggested in preventing disease progression in COVID-19. In this study, we investigated the relationship between clinical donor characteristics and neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in CCP donors. COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors were included into the study. Clinical parameters were recorded and anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels (Spike Trimer, Receptor Binding Domain (RBD), S1, S2 and nucleocapsid protein) as…</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>What Does California’s Homeless Population Actually Look Like?</strong> - Politicians and commentators spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about a small subset of the homeless population. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/what-does-californias-homeless-population-actually-look-like">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Next Targets in the Fight Against Affirmative Action</strong> - It won’t be admissions offices at selective schools but institutions and programs that use race as a plus factor in making decisions about who gets contracts, jobs, scholarships, and awards. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-next-targets-in-the-fight-against-affirmative-action">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Titan Submersible Implosion Was “an Accident Waiting to Happen”</strong> - Interviews and e-mails with expedition leaders and employees reveal how OceanGate ignored desperate warnings from inside and outside the company. “It’s a lemon,” one wrote. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/a-reporter-at-large/the-titan-submersible-was-an-accident-waiting-to-happen">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Could Putin Lose Power?</strong> - Regime stability is a funny thing. One day it’s there; the next day, poof—it’s gone. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-weekend-essay/could-putin-lose-power">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why the Champions of Affirmative Action Had to Leave Asian Americans Behind</strong> - The original concept in pursuit of diversity was vital and righteous. The way it was practiced was hard to defend. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-the-champions-of-affirmative-action-had-to-leave-asian-americans-behind">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>4 tips to help you cope with climate anxiety</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A watercolor painting of a human figure holding a small model of the Earth standing on top of the world. The background is a watercolor gradient of blue and green." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X5_vZUFs511KM7Q9HDNlgZ66-3g=/0x4:4592x3448/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72420387/GettyImages_1034409146.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Getty Images/iStockphoto
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</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Help your mind — and the earth — manage the uncertainty of climate change.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PnXgtG">
The effects of <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a> are visceral and distressing: images of thick <a href="https://www.vox.com/air-quality">wildfire smoke</a> blanketing cities, reports of deadly heat waves and record flooding. Over 1 billion people globally could be displaced by events brought on by climate change, such as food and water shortages and increased exposure to <a href="https://www.vox.com/natural-disaster">natural disasters</a>, by 2050, according to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/climate-crisis-could-displace-12bn-people-by-2050-report-warns">report from the Institute for Economics and Peace</a>. More recently, the ongoing threat of climate change is having a negative impact on <a href="https://www.vox.com/mental-health">mental health</a>.
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The impacts of a warming planet are contributing to outsize stress, grief, and despair. According to a <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-december-2022/toc/5/">survey conducted</a> by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, one in 10 Americans reports experiencing anxiety because of global warming. Climate concerns are even greater among young people. Over half of respondents between the ages of 16 and 25 in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext">an international study</a> reported feeling very or extremely worried about climate change. This new form of worry has been dubbed climate anxiety or eco-anxiety. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8499625/">Defined as</a> a “heightened emotional, mental or somatic distress in response to dangerous changes in the climate system,” <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/eco-anxiety#symptoms">climate anxiety can present</a> as a sense of hopelessness, grief, anger, guilt, and existential dread.
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The difference between climate anxiety and other forms of anxiety is the scale of the stressor, says <a href="http://northseattletherapy.com/about-us/andrew-bryant">Andrew Bryant</a>, a clinical social worker specializing in climate-aware therapy. Social anxiety, for instance, can be managed with continued exposure to social situations with the help of a mental health professional, Bryant says. Climate change, however, can feel like an insurmountable threat. “Because of the largeness of the scope,” Bryant says, “it’s really difficult to find an action step that’s going to assure people that the fear, the existential threat, is going to dissipate.”
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Managing your fears about climate change involves confronting your emotions to let them fuel positive action. Even in the darkest of times, it’s crucial to maintain a little bit of hope for the future.
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Face your emotions about climate change
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Whether you’ve read scientific reports about the dangers of carbon emissions or were witness to the destruction of a wildfire, it’s realistic to respond with feelings of anguish, guilt, or anxiety, Bryant says. These emotions may inspire you to immediately seek action, like donating to a climate change action fund or installing <a href="https://www.vox.com/solar-energy">solar panels</a> on your home, but it’s important to first sit with your feelings, Bryant continues.
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The spectrum of reactions may include guilt that your children won’t have the life you imagined for them, grief over the loss of natural areas like rainforests and species of plants and animals, and hopelessness that society will take action in time. You may even feel excited about a potential future in which countries work in unison to control climate change. It can be helpful to share these feelings with friends and family, a support group, like a <a href="https://www.climate.cafe/">climate cafe</a> — community-led forums to discuss climate change — or a therapist who specializes in climate anxiety.
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During this process, however, you don’t want to allow your emotions to escalate into a paralyzing panic. There are <a href="https://www.vox.com/23152123/climate-actions-individuals-can-take">many steps you can take</a> to make an impact, which can be empowering. Collective actions, such as pushing for more public transit and clean power in your community, can have wide-reaching effects.
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Try to recognize the triggers of your anxiety — constant consumption of news, a natural disaster — and attempt to deescalate, says <a href="https://twitter.com/drbufka?lang=en">Lynn Bufka</a>, associate chief of practice transformation at the <a href="https://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a>. That might look like taking a 15-minute break from a distressing conversation, only reading the news at designated times, or getting some fresh air if you can.
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Take action in ways that support the planet and your mental health
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Although anxiety can be debilitating, it can also inspire action, Bufka says. “As a clinician,” she says, “part of what we often are thinking about is how we hope to harness that anxiety in ways that can move toward aims that will be beneficial for the planet.”
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Consider your values, interests, and circumstances when determining how to give back. Start locally and <a href="https://www.vox.com/23152123/climate-actions-individuals-can-take">find a group that has goals you’re passionate about</a> — say, preventing the development of open space in your town. If you lack time but not financial resources, donating to a local organization that lobbies for green legislation in your state might be the best option. Should you want to lend a hand, volunteer to restore local habitats or with a group that runs cooling stations for vulnerable populations in heat waves. You could even commit to a lifestyle change and <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/4/22/23036010/eat-less-meat-vegetarian-effects-climate-emissions-animal-welfare-factory-farms">eat less meat</a>.
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When it comes to preparing for big disasters, <a href="https://msp.edu/about/meet-our-faculty/derrick-sebree-jr-psyd/">Derrick Sebree Jr</a>., a clinical psychologist specializing in ecopsychology and multicultural identity counseling, suggests creating a plan with your family ahead of time. Knowing where you store nonperishable food items or what route you will take to evacuate will help you avoid making panicked decisions in the midst of a stressful situation. However, constantly running through your disaster preparedness plan may be anxiety-inducing. Bufka recommends having enough information to plan for the next day or your next step instead of inundating yourself with minute details.
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Sometimes the most effective course of action is staying connected to the earth. Whether you live in a city and rarely see any signs of plant life or are a regular camper, spend time outside in a natural environment to not only reap the <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature">benefits of being outdoors</a> — including lower stress and improved mood — but to remind yourself of why you care about the dangers of climate change in the first place. “This is what I want to connect to,” Sebree says. “This is what I want to protect.”
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Limit your time online
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While there are countless resources and ways to communicate with others online, be wary of spending too much time consuming news that may only worsen your anxiety. Give yourself a set schedule for when you will read the news — perhaps for 10 minutes at a time in the morning, afternoon, and evening — in order to get enough information to make informed decisions for yourself and your family. “In the world that we’re in, it is highly unlikely that something extreme is going to happen and you’re not going to know about it until the next day,” Bufka says, “and not knowing about it wouldn’t dramatically change the course of your life.”
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Consuming constant coverage of disasters, such as a fire or earthquake, can also be stressful, says Anne Reim, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/public-health">public health</a> adviser of disaster behavioral health at the <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/">Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration</a>. “Repetition of stories about traumatic events can really make some people relive the event over and over and anticipate it,” she says. Again, only read or watch enough to get a general idea of what happened and how to move forward, whether that’s aiding others or determining <a href="https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual">how to receive assistance after a natural disaster</a>.
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Be careful not to fall into a social media trap, where engaging with other similarly concerned people can feel “pseudo-fulfilling,” Bryant says, but doesn’t inspire concrete action. “I encourage everybody,” he says, “to really look at how they spend their time, where they put their energy and attention, and consider what’s going to feel most fulfilling.”
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Focus only on today
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The future is always uncertain, but with the threat of climate change, that future can seem unknowable and uncontrollable. It can be difficult to cope when continued — and more severe — climate disasters loom. Some people even <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/12/02/climate-kids/">grapple with the existential question of whether to have children</a> because of the human toll on the planet’s resources.
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The solution is not to put your head in the sand and pretend the effects of climate change won’t affect you because you won’t be around to see it, Bryant says. Instead, focus on the present, Sebree says: This is where we are now; we can’t change what happened, but we can impact what will happen.
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“I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring,” Sebree says, “but what can I do today and right now to feel good about myself and what are the steps that I’m taking right now?”
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<li><strong>What your doctor wants you to know about Ozempic</strong> -
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<img alt="A photo of a box of Ozempic." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0rh2i6R8ES1u6EJViVd2mC5vGgo=/837x0:7557x5040/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72420335/GettyImages_1251943649.0.jpg"/>
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Obesity doctors say patients need to know Ozempic and Wegovy are not short-term fixes and they may not be covered by health insurance. | Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images
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The myths and questions doctors are hearing from patients about Ozempic.
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We’re at the very beginning of <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23584679/ozempic-wegovy-semaglutide-weight-loss-obesity">a new era in weight loss drugs</a> that promise extraordinary results. But ultimately, their impact depends on a few things: how well they work, how much they cost, and whether doctors are willing to prescribe them.
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So far, these treatments seem to work extraordinarily well. Patients on <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2023/3/14/23638717/ozempic-wegovy-weight-loss-semaglutide-hormones-glp1">Ozempic</a> and Wegovy lose on average about <a href="https://www.uchealth.org/today/wegovy-vs-ozempic-the-truth-about-new-weight-loss-drugs/">12 percent of their body mass</a> and even more effective drugs are <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2023/04/27/eli-lillys-mounjaro-succeeds-in-second-weight-loss-study-paving-way-for-fda-review/">coming through the pipeline</a>. But the cost can be high because <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/5/26/23734216/weight-loss-wegovy-ozempic-prescription-cost">health insurers are reluctant to pay for these drugs</a>, putting strict conditions on prescriptions if they are willing to cover them at all.
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That has left doctors caught in the middle. Many of them are hopeful about the potential these new treatments hold while also trying to manage expectations with patients and convince health plans that the investment is worth it.
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The ubiquitous ads for Ozempic and Wegovy, like all prescription drug ads, tell patients to talk to their doctor if they’re interested in the medication. So, how are those conversations going so far?
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“Right now, I can tell you, if you’re a primary care provider, it’s probably overwhelming to think about starting to do what they need to do to prescribe these agents,” said Caroline Apovian, co-director at the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
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The drugs also have arrived amid <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23584679/ozempic-wegovy-semaglutide-weight-loss-obesity">a long-overdue social and cultural paradigm shift around obesity in medicine</a>. Doctors are increasingly treating obesity not as a failure of character or willpower but as a physiological disease in its own right. Some doctors are still themselves in the process of learning how to think about obesity that way, rather than focusing on the conditions that are often its consequences, such as hypertension or heart disease.
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It is a fraught moment. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/public-health">public health</a> opportunity these drugs present is significant, but the US health system was not prepared to seize it. Too few primary care doctors are well-versed in obesity medicine. Health insurers are not incentivized to cover a costly medication that may take years to properly pay off — even if that payoff proves real. Patients risk being <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/medications-containing-semaglutide-marketed-type-2-diabetes-or-weight-loss">exploited by shady operators</a> trying to take advantage of the hype and confusion around the new era of obesity treatment.
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But the demand is real: A new STAT-Harris poll <a href="https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2023/06/26/obesity-drugs-weight-loss-ozempic-wegovy-cost/">found</a> half of Americans said they would spend up to $100 per month out of pocket in order to take them.
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I spoke with three leading obesity medicine experts about the misconceptions they are often hearing from patients, the information they want patients to know when having these discussions, and what questions people should be asking their doctors when considering whether or not to try them.
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">These weight-loss drugs are not a short-term fix
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Different patients will have different considerations before deciding to take one of these new treatments. For people with extreme obesity, bariatric surgery is an option. Others may want to exhaust attempts at diet and exercise. But once they have decided to try a weight-loss drug, obesity doctors say it is critical that patients grasp what is happening biologically with their bodies.
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Marcio Griebeler, director of the Obesity Center at the Cleveland Clinic’s Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism Institute, told me he starts these conversations by making sure his patients understand the physiological roots of their obesity and how these drugs treat that — and why that means, despite <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/actors/weight-loss-ozempic-semaglutide-hollywood-1235361465/">media stories about celebrities</a> using them as a kind of crash diet, they can’t just take Wegovy or whatever for a few months to slim down and then stop.
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In brief and in general (each individual is unique), it becomes more difficult for a person to lose weight as they become more obese. They experience what is called metabolic adaptation; their body begins to change, and they start to see a decrease in the hormones that signal they are full and should stop eating.
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These new drugs stimulate those hormones. Ozempic and Wegovy target a single hormone, called GLP-1. The so-called <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2023/06/26/eli-lilly-retatrutide-new-weight-loss-drug/">“triple-G”</a> drugs coming soon that appear more effective target multiple hormones. The effect is that people feel more full more quickly, which makes it easier for them to eat less.
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“You have more control of the hunger, so patients can continue to make the right decision,” Grieleber said.
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But take away those hormones and the body starts to work in reverse.
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Grieleber said “95 percent” of his patients will ask if they could take the drugs for a few months and then stop. The answer, he tells them, is no. Patients must be prepared for the reality that they would need to take some kind of medication for the rest of their life if they intend to keep the weight off.
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This is an especially big hurdle for parents. “That’s a big pill to swallow: My kid may potentially be on this medication for life,” said Claudia Fox, co-director of the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. “Probably not the same medication that we start today, but they will likely need some sort of treatment for life. We’re not curing it. We’re treating it. We’re managing it.”
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">Your health insurer might not want to cover these treatments
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Without health insurance, these are expensive drugs. Ozempic costs about <a href="https://ro.co/weight-loss/ozempic-cost-without-insurance/">$900 a month without insurance</a>, and Wegovy costs <a href="https://ro.co/weight-loss/wegovy-cost/">about $1,350</a>. But health insurers are reluctant to cover them — and that has led to cost coming up very early in these conversations between doctors and their patients.
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All of the doctors I spoke to said they bring up insurance coverage almost immediately. “We have to make sure your insurer covers it,” Apovian said.
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For patients on Medicare and Medicaid, those government programs generally will not cover weight-loss drugs, a longstanding statutory prohibition that physicians believe must be revisited if the US is to take advantage of these treatments. For private insurers, the picture is more mixed, but <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-want-ozempic-for-weight-loss-few-employers-want-to-pay-for-it-215fb5c1">most commercial health plans</a> also do not cover weight-loss drugs.
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Even if they technically do, securing coverage can still be an administrative hassle. Apovian said her specialized practice has one employee managing prior authorizations and other paperwork for their eight practitioners and described the workload as “overwhelming.” That burden is going to be only greater for an independent physician practicing on their own.
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In Minnesota, the Medicaid program does actually cover weight-loss drugs, but the conditions placed on prescriptions can still be cumbersome, Fox said. She recounted the story of one patient, a teenager who meets the eligibility criteria based on age and BMI. The state program also wanted to require the patient to eat a low-calorie diet, to meet regularly with a dietician, and to be enrolled in an exercise program.
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Fox wrote an appeal letter, affirming that the patient was in gym class in school and also playing basketball outside of school. The Medicaid program wrote back: Not good enough. After several volleys with the plan, Fox sought the intervention of an independent arbiter who oversees the program.
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“The challenge is how they implement those approvals. The stipulations are often not based on any scientific recommendation,” she said. “We face these delay tactics, even though this should be covered upfront.”
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There are alternatives for patients who can’t get insurance to cover the drugs and can’t afford the $1,300 out-of-pocket price. Saxenda and phentermine were some of the options these doctors consider. But they come with the catch that they are not as effective as these new treatments attracting so much attention.
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">Your own experience with these drugs can vary significantly
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Another thing patients should be aware of, obesity doctors say, is that their individual experience may not match the hype.
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The headline numbers that patients may have seen showing people losing 10 to 20 percent of their body weight are only averages. Some people may lose 35 percent. Some people may lose only 10 percent. A small number of people may not lose any at all. At this point, obesity science does not fully understand how different patients are going to respond. There is still a lot of trial and error, Apovian told me.
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“There are always gonna be patients who don’t lose a lot of weight with these drugs,” she said. “Patients need to know there’s a small chance that you’re not going to respond.”
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Griebeler said he is also warning patients that it is normal to experience a plateau in weight loss after six to 12 months, as your metabolism begins to adjust.
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That doesn’t mean a patient can stop taking the medication, for the reasons we covered. But a plateau can still be frustrating for somebody expecting extraordinary returns.
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Then there are the side effects. Most people will experience some nausea, Apovian said. Some people experience such significant nausea that they end up in the ER. She has also had a small number of patients experience very severe constipation that had to be treated in the hospital.
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The unpleasantness of side effects or the risks of more serious complications of the medications may be worth it for the potential benefits, in the view of an individual and the doctor. But it is important that physicians and patients confront them and prepare for them.
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">You need a holistic plan for weight loss and management
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All of the doctors I spoke with lastly emphasized that patients need a comprehensive plan for weight management, including for their diet and to make sure they are getting exercise.
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That’s not because weight loss is as simple as eating right and working out; all of these physicians wanted to break that misconception. But these drugs “are gonna work best in patients who also do diet and exercise,” Apovian said. “You can’t just prescribe these meds.”
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Exercise has well-documented health benefits, particularly for the conditions associated with obesity, such as hypertension and diabetes. Building muscle makes it slightly easier for your body to burn calories. And being sedentary, even at a lower weight, brings health risks of its own. People may also start to notice a change in their palate after taking these medications, and so finding a diet that is satisfying and helps them manage their appetite in conjunction with the drugs is beneficial as well.
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Strategies for achieving <a href="https://www.vox.com/sleep">better sleep</a> and managing stress can also help patients get the most out of these drugs and manage the other conditions that they may be contending with. Doctors and patients need to be thinking about how to treat the whole person, rather than count on the new treatments, promising though they may be, to act as miracle drugs.
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“Obesity treatment is an ongoing treatment … You can’t prescribe this once and not have a follow-up,” Grieleber said. “We have to use this medicine as a tool.”
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<li><strong>Florida’s new immigration law previews a DeSantis presidency</strong> -
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<img alt="A protester walking with a group along a Florida road carries a sign that reads, “The immigrants came here to make America great.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PAA83Q_MHszhjlxcaIrvtycCGbQ=/570x0:6117x4160/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72420285/1259618554.0.jpg"/>
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Protesters against a new immigration law march along Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers, Florida, on June 28, 2023. | Joseph Agcaoili/AFP via Getty Images
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The law that takes effect this weekend has already sparked fear — and could carry human and financial costs.
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In the first few weeks of May, Yesica Ramirez’s phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yBX74B">
Florida’s state legislature had just approved SB 1718, a wide-ranging <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/5/17/23725952/ron-desantis-immigration-law-florida">anti-immigrant law</a> that requires businesses to verify the citizenship status of their employees and increases penalties for transporting undocumented immigrants across Florida’s border, among other restrictions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XKwCbx">
Her Orlando-area farmworker organizing group was suddenly fielding what felt like an overwhelming number of calls and texts from concerned neighbors, confused farmworkers, and fearful families. Rumors of immigration raids, of an increased police presence on highways and roads, and hypothetical worst-case scenarios were spreading through chat text chains, word of mouth, and social media.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fRtnPu">
“There aren’t even words to describe the fear the community had,” Ramirez told me recently. “There was one week where we had an extreme volume of phone calls of people warning that they had seen [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers at very specific spots, at a specific store, for example.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ltVlFF">
Ramirez, who works with the Farmworkers Association of Florida, a labor and immigrant rights organization, and her team of about 20 volunteers jumped into action. Their rapid-response group spent much of late May and June individually checking out various reports of immigration officers at different locations around central Florida and talking to fearful folks who had flagged those sightings.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h2h9CP">
Those reports ended up being false — but for Ramirez, they demonstrated just how anxious and scared the immigrant and mixed-status communities she works with were, and continue to be, as this law takes effect over the weekend.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2eGhuQ">
The mood has steadied since that initial panic. Families, lawyers, and advocates are now in a wait-and-see mode — unsure of what the implementation of this law will look like, how seriously police and other state agencies will enforce new guidelines, and whether businesses will be punished.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eKOySc">
“A lot of people, who haven’t already left, are now telling us they are waiting until after July 1 to see what exactly happens, how this law unfolds, and then decide whether to leave the state of Florida,” Ramirez said. “Communities are much calmer now. It’s not back to normal — there’s still a lot of uncertainty … and we don’t know what to expect.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eP1Y06">
SB 1718 goes into effect on Saturday, a little under two months after <a href="https://www.vox.com/ron-desantis">Gov. Ron DeSantis</a> signed it. In that time, videos of empty agricultural fields and <a href="https://www.news4jax.com/video/morning-show/2023/06/30/immigration-law-trucker-boycott/">protesting</a> truck drivers have filled social media; anecdotal stories of immigrant and mixed-status families leaving the state have spread across news media; and demonstrations and town halls have been held to call attention to the impact this law is having and will continue to have on the state’s agricultural, construction, hospitality, retail, and various administrative industries. Together, those economies contribute about a quarter of the state’s gross domestic product and depend on almost 400,000 undocumented workers to function, according to a<a href="https://www.floridapolicy.org/posts/florida-hb-1617-sb-1718-potential-economic-and-fiscal-impact"> report from the Florida Policy Institute</a>.
</p>
<div id="gu5P48">
<blockquote cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@flowerinspanish/video/7233542750778707246" class="tiktok-embed">
<section>
<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@flowerinspanish?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="@flowerinspanish"><span class="citation" data-cites="flowerinspanish">@flowerinspanish</span></a>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Acres and acres, tons and tons, of rotting food in Florida fields. FARM WORKERS ARE NO LONGER SHOWING UP TO WORK. LET’S STAND IN SOLIDARITY AND BOYCOTT FLORIDA, BOYCOTT FLORIDA’S ORANGE JUICES AND PRODUCE!! <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/florida?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="florida">#Florida</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/boycottflorida?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="boycottflorida">#boycottflorida</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/floridastate?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="floridastate">#floridastate</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/farmworkers?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="farmworkers">#farmworkers</a>
</p>
<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Immigrants-We-Get-The-Job-Done-6704981390384957442?refer=embed" target="_blank" title="♬ Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) - K'naan &amp; Snow Tha Product &amp; Riz MC &amp; Residente">♬ Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) - K’naan &amp; Snow Tha Product &amp; Riz MC &amp; Residente</a>
</section>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hswcHP">
DeSantis was the primary sponsor of the legislation, which in its most extreme, preliminary form proposed much more aggressive punishments for those who housed undocumented immigrants, transported them around the state, and employed them. It builds on DeSantis’s growing anti-immigrant persona and policy platform to show what the Republican Party’s ideal <a href="https://www.vox.com/immigration">immigration policy</a> might look like in practice.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LxtaIw">
Even now, in the pared-back version of the law that will go into effect this weekend, with its new requirements for business owners and vague efforts to deter undocumented immigrants from living in or entering the state, you can see a vision of the kind of society DeSantis, who is vying for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, might want to implement for immigrants across the country. Should he make it to the White House, it’s easy to see an administration and country that is inhospitable, hostile, and actively persecuting undocumented immigrants, and by extension, deterring both American citizens and migrants with permission to be here from interacting with those immigrants here without authorization.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AhQ7ed">
Even some Republican state lawmakers — who<a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/173247/florida-republicans-admit-made-big-mistake-anti-immigrant-law"> in early June</a> appeared to try to backpedal on voting for the legislation — have admitted that a main point of the law is to spark panic. At a meeting hosted by Hispanic pastors in Hialeah, state Rep. Alina Garcia (R) told an assembly that “this is a bill basically to scare people from coming to the state of Florida, and I think it’s done its purpose.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EkKuRJ">
It’s absolutely achieved its purpose. But it may have further-reaching effects on its state.
</p>
<h3 id="gJG4kl">
What SB 1718, the new Florida immigration law, does
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hisomj">
The version of SB 1718 that became law is still pretty wide-ranging. The bulk of it deals with how employers with 25 or more employees use e-Verify to hire new workers. E-Verify, a federal system used to confirm whether employees are permitted to work in the US, has been around for a while, but its use isn’t enforced. The law imposes financial penalties for employers: Business owners would be fined $1,000 per day for each undocumented person hired when not permitted, and the state could suspend an employer’s business license if they are caught.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ofpyOb">
But the law also extends beyond the workplace into other parts of daily life. The law <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1718/BillText/er/PDF">enhances</a> human trafficking and smuggling penalties to make them second-degree felonies, punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison for any person, including a US citizen, to <a href="https://m.flsenate.gov/session/bill/2023/1718/analyses/2023s01718.pre.fp.pdf">transport five or more undocumented people</a> or a minor into the state of Florida. That extends to relatives, friends, and coworkers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kaE6kh">
And it invalidates drivers licenses issued to undocumented immigrants by other states (19 states and DC offer these kinds of licenses or IDs) and cuts funding to in-state organizations, jurisdictions, or groups that issue their own forms of ID to undocumented immigrants (many places use these kinds of community ID to make life easier for people who lack legal status, are experiencing homelessness, or were recently incarcerated).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oCWqGA">
SB 1718 also contains new provisions for Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid to collect the legal status of patients, calculate the cost of health care for people lacking legal status, and report those totals to the state. That provision has sparked particular concern among immigrant communities, Ramirez and other activists and advocates told me, since it caused some to think they could no longer seek medical care.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TE1tsO">
Ramirez’s rapid response group has spent plenty of time over the last month talking directly to farm and construction workers, shooting down rumors of what exactly the law does and doesn’t do, and dispelling some of the catastrophizing and misinformation that has been circulating since the law was signed. She said that outright panic has now given way to uncertainty, caution, and slow contingency planning.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rb47Az">
“There were rumors that if you were undocumented and tried to withdraw money from the bank that you wouldn’t be able to anymore. We heard from some people who were worried that they’d be deported if they went to hospitals. All of that was false,” Ramirez said. “But we are urging people, if they go to a hospital and are asked a question about their citizenship on a form, not to answer it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o9z2Vj">
DeSantis’s office told Vox that the law is “within [the governor’s] authority” to act to defend the country’s borders “when the Biden Administration fails or refuses to do so.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EnGbiL">
“We are grateful that the legislature got SB 1718 to the governor’s desk for his signature. SB 1718 counteracts the effects of <em>illegal</em> immigration on Florida, a problem willfully enabled by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure our nation’s southern border,” press secretary Jeremy Redfern said in a statement. “The media has been deliberately inaccurate about this distinction between legal and illegal immigration to create this very sort of outrage based on a false premise. Any business that exploits this crisis by employing illegal aliens instead of Floridians will be held accountable.”
</p>
<h3 id="fF5qoq">
Florida is already feeling the law’s human and financial costs
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3fyV8e">
Though there aren’t definitive numbers yet, anecdotal evidence abounds to show how Florida is already changing as a result of this law — even before it goes into effect.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jyK1GP">
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/florida-immigrants-leave-state-desantis-immigration-law-rcna90839">Various</a><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/21/florida-immigration-law-business-owners-fear-exodus-of-workers-construction-landscaping/70341632007/"> news</a><a href="https://www.wftv.com/news/local/families-leaving-florida-amid-new-immigration-laws-florida/4YXME7NACJC77OPFSKVJ3WM2OM/"> reports</a> have already documented worker and family exoduses since the signing of the bill. Martha Gabriel, an organizer with the immigrant workers group We Count in Homestead, Florida, told me that she herself knows of mixed-status families in South Florida that are “getting ready to leave within the day of the law going into effect. Others have already just left this last weekend.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EN4yBt">
Since the law was signed and its specifics became more widely known, some truck drivers have boycotted the state and protests have disrupted its agricultural and construction industries. A<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/work-stoppages-rallies-support-day-immigrants-protest-desantis-law-rcna87328"> June 1 national immigrant protest</a> also served as a statewide anti-DeSantis protest, and calls are circulating to repeat those protests on July 1.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dpfk2X">
The goal of these movements is similar: to show the financial effects the new law will have on the state’s economy, something Republican state lawmakers have also picked up on. At the same Hialeah meeting in which state Rep. Garcia talked about the “purpose” of the law, another lawmaker remarked on his own concerns with how the law is being interpreted.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NFjogl">
“This bill is 100 percent supposed to scare you,” state Rep. Rick Roth (R) is<a href="https://twitter.com/tomaskenn/status/1665727928167014403?s=20"> recorded on video saying</a>. “I’m a farmer, and I’m mad as hell. We are losing employees. They’re already starting to move to Georgia and other states. It’s urgent that you talk to all your people and convince them that you have resources in their state representatives and other people that can explain the bill to you.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B0dlQs">
Gabriel finds that position bewildering. If legislators make the state inhospitable to the kind of labor they need to keep the economy afloat, why complain when those workers leave?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WsE6G4">
“If our people leave, who’s going to work?,” she said. “Who’s going to build? Who’s going to harvest the fields? Who is going to work hard picking fruits and vegetables? It’s farmworkers, immigrants, who do all that work because no one else wants to do it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0WwpeY">
Business groups in Florida have been sounding this alarm since the legislature began to consider the law. Groups like the American Business Immigration Coalition have warned of the adverse effects a squeeze on labor supply could have on the state and country, with the business group’s Florida state director, Samuel Vilchez Santiago, saying in a recent media briefing that “what that will lead to is Florida consumers seeing the prices of food go up.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sKFRwV">
Ramirez has also found herself fielding requests from Florida’s business community. “It’s not only affecting our immigrant communities. It’s hurting our businesses, regular citizens, people who rely on immigrant labor,” she told me. “Employers at nurseries, farms, have come to our offices and asked us, ‘Please go and talk to our employees because they’re scared and want to leave the state of Florida and we don’t want them to go.’ Even before the law, they were short on labor. ‘If they go, I don’t know what I’m going to do.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qSVxKH">
Though legislators complained about the law being misconstrued or its enforcement mechanisms exaggerated, they miss the bigger picture. Like many <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/3/15/22976868/dont-say-gay-florida-unconstitutional-ron-desantis-supreme-court-first-amendment-schools-parents">recent legislative moves</a> during the DeSantis governorship, the ambiguity is the point: Fear spreads from the threat the law poses, and its goal is to create as toxic, fearful, and insecure an environment as possible — not just for undocumented immigrants, but for those who share in their communities: neighbors, friends, and family members who have legal status or are citizens.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="24h98P">
Ramirez told me she’s already seeing some of these effects, which are damaging the psyche of young people. “We’ve seen children, teenagers, with anxiety and fear and depression because they’re scared of the law — they’re worried about being separated from their parents … [or of a family member who is undocumented] making plans to move to another state, work from there, and send money back to their families.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aqAYM9">
Ramirez, Gabriel, and others also see a political side effect to this new age in Florida. Many of those fearful mixed-status families have been in Florida for up to 20 or 30 years — enough time for American-born children to have reached voting age. “I get that our community might not have the impulse to always want to turn out,” Ramirez said. “But I think that people will understand that if we don’t change political leadership, those in power are going to continue to treat us like this. They will continue to use us for their own ends.”
</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>Esha Singh upbeat about her Asian Games debut</strong> - HYDERABAD</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>Hockey India announces financial assistance for State and district member units</strong> - Hockey India has disbursed a grant of ₹2 lakh each to all of its State member units</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>West Indies decline has been gradual and even before this current batch started playing, says Ian Bishop</strong> - Bishop believes that it will be wrong to point fingers at the current crop of West Indies players for this deterioration started way back.</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>Cummins told me not to bat with injured calf but I had to support my teammates: Lyon</strong> - Lyon was the last man out for four runs, his cameo finishing Australia’s second innings on 279</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>Morning Digest | SC stays Gujarat HC order directing Teesta Setalvad to surrender immediately, European telescope launched to hunt for clues to universe’s darkest secrets, and more</strong> - Here’s a select list of stories to read before you start your day</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>Raja Lakhamgouda Law College organises special lecture in Belagavi</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>TMC worker killed, several others injured in rural poll violence in Bengal</strong> - A TMC worker, identified as 52-year-old Jiyarul Molla, was shot dead in Phulmalancha area in Basanti in South 24 Parganas district late on Saturday night while he was returning home, a police officer said</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>Monsoon covers entire country six days early: IMD</strong> - The long period average (LPA) of rainfall over the country during July based on the data of 1971-2020 is about 280.4 mm.</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>President Droupadi Murmu to visit Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra from July 3 to 7</strong> - She will attend a civic reception at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai, to be hosted in her honour by the government of Maharashtra, the statement added</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>Call centre fraud: ED arrests three for allegedly cheating foreign nationals</strong> - The agency seizes ₹90.37 lakh in cash after searches in locations linked to the accused in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh</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>France shooting: Calmer night despite protests over Nahel M’s murder, minister says</strong> - A total of 719 people were arrested as disturbances gripped Marseille and other cities with Paris quieter.</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>Wagner: Russians reflect on group’s advance towards Moscow</strong> - Russians have told the BBC they feared Wagner could unleash the violent tactics it uses in Ukraine on them.</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 corrosive for Vladimir Putin - CIA boss</strong> - William J Burns says dissatisfaction with the conflict in Russia is a valuable recruiting tool.</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 finds British WW2 Hurricane planes outside Kyiv</strong> - London sent the Hawker Hurricanes to the Soviet Union to help them fight against Nazi Germany.</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>Shell still trading Russian gas despite pledge to stop</strong> - The firm is still shipping gas from Siberia despite its promise to withdraw from the Russian energy market.</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>SpaceX launches groundbreaking European dark energy mission</strong> - SpaceX is filling in for ESA as European rockets face delays. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1951456">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Clever DNA tricks</strong> - As cells divide, they must copy all of their chromosomes only once or chaos will ensue. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1951322">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Saturn’s rings steal the show in new image from Webb telescope</strong> - Webb turned its gold-coated mirror toward Saturn this week. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1951436">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Death toll rises to 7 in fungal meningitis outbreak; cases at 34, 161 at risk</strong> - Anyone exposed should get medical care and testing immediately, even without symptoms. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1951425">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Asus Zenfone 10 is a tiny 5.9-inch phone with flagship specs</strong> - Asus invites small phone lovers to put their money where their mouth is. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1951351">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>Forging A Return To Productive Conversation: An Open Letter to Reddit</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
To All Whom It May Concern,
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
For fifteen years, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes">/r/Jokes</a> has been one of Reddit’s most-popular communities. That time hasn’t been without its difficulties, but for the most part, we’ve all gotten along (with each other and with administrators). Members of our team fondly remember Moderator Roadshows, visits to Reddit’s headquarters, Reddit Secret Santa, April Fools’ Day events, regional meetups, and many more uplifting moments. We’ve watched this platform grow by leaps and bounds, and although we haven’t been completely happy about every change that we’ve witnessed, we’ve always done our best to work with Reddit at finding ways to adapt, compromise, and move forward.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
This process has occasionally been preceded by some exceptionally public debate, however.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
On June 12th, 2023, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes">/r/Jokes</a> joined thousands of other subreddits in protesting the planned changes to Reddit’s API; changes which – despite being immediately evident to only a minority of Redditors – threatened to worsen the site for everyone. By June 16th, 2023, that demonstration had evolved to represent a wider (and growing) array of concerns, many of which arose in response to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/16/reddit-ceo-blackout-moderators-steve-huffman/">Reddit’s statements to journalists</a>. Today (June 26th, 2023), we are hopeful that users and administrators alike can make a return to the productive dialogue that has served us in the past.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We acknowledge that Reddit has placed itself in a situation that makes adjusting its current API roadmap impossible.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
However, we have the following requests:
</p>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Commit to exploring ways by which third-party applications can make an affordable return.
</li>
<li>
Commit to providing moderation tools and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/14ds81l/rblinds_meetings_with_reddit_and_the_current/">accessibility options</a> (on Old Reddit, New Reddit, and mobile platforms) which match or exceed the functionality and utility of third-party applications.
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Commit to prioritizing a significant reduction in spam, misinformation, bigotry, and illegal content on Reddit.
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Guarantee that any future developments which may impact moderators, contributors, or stakeholders will be announced no less than one fiscal quarter before they are scheduled to go into effect.
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Work together with longstanding moderators to establish a reasonable roadmap and deadline for accomplishing all of the above.
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Affirm that efforts meant to keep Reddit accountable to its commitments and deadlines will hereafter not be met with insults, threats, removals, or hostility.
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Publicly affirm all of the above by way of updating Reddit’s User Agreement and Reddit’s Moderator Code of Conduct to include reasonable expectations and requirements for administrators’ behavior.
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Implement and fill a senior-level role (with decision-making and policy-shaping power) of “Moderator Advocate” at Reddit, with a required qualification for the position being robust experience as a volunteer Reddit moderator.
</li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Reddit is unique amongst social-media sites in that its lifeblood – its multitude of moderators and contributors – consists entirely of volunteers. We populate and curate the platform’s many communities, thereby providing a welcoming and engaging environment for all of its visitors. We receive little in the way of thanks for these efforts, but we frequently endure abuse, threats, attacks, and exposure to truly reprehensible media. Historically, we have trusted that Reddit’s administrators have the best interests of the platform and its users (be they moderators, contributors, participants, or lurkers) at heart; that while Reddit may be a for-profit company, it nonetheless recognizes and appreciates the value that Redditors provide.
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That trust has been all but entirely eroded… but we hope that together, we can begin to rebuild it.
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In simplest terms, Reddit, we implore you: <strong>Remember the human</strong>.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We look forward to your response by Thursday, June 29th, 2023.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
There’s also just <a href="https://i.imgur.com/xLmTxcR.jpg">one other thing</a>.
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JokeSentinel"> /u/JokeSentinel </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14jn9rg/forging_a_return_to_productive_conversation_an/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14jn9rg/forging_a_return_to_productive_conversation_an/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>They finally did it, Reddit has made impossible for blind people to moderate their sub with the api changes. This is their last statement from r/blind</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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“H dhei osndhsjbw siso is koqp odjd jsoa JD djs sis ikksbs”
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(I am sorry for this horrible joke and I really hope things may work out for you)
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/yourteam"> /u/yourteam </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14of0iw/they_finally_did_it_reddit_has_made_impossible/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14of0iw/they_finally_did_it_reddit_has_made_impossible/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Little Johnny was doing his maths homework.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He says out loud, “One plus six, that son of a bitch is seven. Four plus four, that son of a bitch is eight.” His mum overhears this and is shocked! she says to him, “What are you doing Johnny?” Johnny replies, “I am just doing my maths homework.” " And is this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asks. “Yes,” Johnny replies. The mother is now angry and immediately phones Johnny’s teacher, “What on earth are you teaching my son in class?” she asks. The teacher replies, “Right now, we are learning mathematical addition.” The mother asks, “And are you teaching them to say one plus six, that son of a bitch is seven?” After the teacher stopped laughing hysterically, she answers, “What I taught them to say was, one plus six, the sum of which is seven.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Loyalsupporter"> /u/Loyalsupporter </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14o78pv/little_johnny_was_doing_his_maths_homework/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14o78pv/little_johnny_was_doing_his_maths_homework/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>One day my dad pulled up a chair, sat me on his knee and said, "Son,…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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… someday we’ll have two chairs."
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Jackytar"> /u/Jackytar </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14obgu9/one_day_my_dad_pulled_up_a_chair_sat_me_on_his/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14obgu9/one_day_my_dad_pulled_up_a_chair_sat_me_on_his/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A guy was walking through the woods, and finds a lamp on the ground, he picks it up and rubs it and a genie comes out.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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The dude goes “Whoa! A Genie!” And the genie looking really bored is like, “Alright go ahead, you got 2 wishes..” The dudes like, “Only 2? I thought everyone gets 3? What kind of bullshit genie are you?” And the genie says, “Look in your pants.” And the guy does and says “Holy crap! My dick is huge!” And the genie says,“Yeah, I’ve been doing this a loooooooong time.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/GingerSpaceJesus"> /u/GingerSpaceJesus </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14o9fzc/a_guy_was_walking_through_the_woods_and_finds_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14o9fzc/a_guy_was_walking_through_the_woods_and_finds_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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