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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 data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Social influence matters: We follow pandemic guidelines most when our close circle does</strong> -
<div>
Why do we adopt new rules, such as social distancing? Although human sciences research stresses the key role of social influence in behaviour change, most COVID-19 campaigns emphasise the disease’s medical threat. In a global dataset (n= 6675), we investigated how social influences predict people’s adherence to distancing rules during the pandemic. Bayesian regression analyses controlling for stringency of local measures showed that people distanced most when they thought their close social circle did. Such social influence mattered more than people thinking distancing was the right thing to do. People’s adherence also aligned with their fellow citizens’, but only if they felt deeply bonded with their country. Self-vulnerability to the disease predicted distancing more for people with larger social circles. Collective efficacy and collectivism also significantly predicted distancing. To achieve behavioural change during crises, policymakers must emphasise shared values and harness the social influence of close friends and family.
</div></li>
</ul>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/u74wc/" target="_blank">Social influence matters: We follow pandemic guidelines most when our close circle does</a>
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Examining Saudi EFL University Students’ Readiness for Online Learning at the Onset of Covid-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Nowadays, especially after the COVID-19 crisis lockdown, the heavy reliance on technology and online platforms led to a greater expectation of more learning autonomy among English learners in EFL contexts such as Saudi Arabia. The sudden shift to online learning requires an investigation into students’ readiness and willingness for such a mode of learning. This can provide educators with many prospects about learning outcomes achievement and assessment, test performance, and interaction during classes. Therefore, the current study seeks to contribute to the well-known area of learner autonomy research, which is still lacking in the context of the study, by exploring the readiness of Saudi first-year undergraduate English learners towards online education. Participants’ level of readiness is identified according to their autonomous behaviors and activities. The study will also assess the investigated concept considering the influence of gender and field of study of the participants on their autonomy levels. A total of 802 students participated in this study. It was found that Saudi first-year university students are moderately autonomous, that both males and females have similar levels of aptitude and readiness for taking responsibility for their learning, and that English-major and non-English-major groups showed comparatively similar levels across different learning autonomy dimensions. Yet interestingly, English-major participants displayed a relatively lower autonomy level than students of other majors.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/9gf48/" target="_blank">Examining Saudi EFL University Students’ Readiness for Online Learning at the Onset of Covid-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Saudi EFL Students’ Use and Perceptions of Blackboard before and during Online Learning Amid COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
Online learning becomes the means of education during COVID-19. Blackboard is one of the learning management systems that has been widely used before and during the pandemic. This study focuses on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ use and perceptions of Blackboard. It explores and compares EFL students’ use and perceptions of Blackboard considering three phases: before COVID-19 in 2019, during online learning in 2020, and during online learning in 2021. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. A total of 381 Saudi EFL students participated in the study. The results show that there are statistically significant differences in EFL students’ use of Blackboard between the three phases. EFL students’ use of Blackboard increased during online learning in 2020 compared to 2019, especially concerning the frequency of visiting Blackboard and the time students spent using it. Further, EFL students’ use of Blackboard increased significantly during online learning in 2021 compared to 2019 with regard to visit frequencies, time spent, and Blackboard tools used. Considering perceptions, the results indicate that there are statistically significant differences in students’ perceptions of Blackboard in terms of easiness and usefulness between the three phases. Interestingly, students had more positive perceptions of Blackboard before COVID-19 in 2019 and during online learning in 2021. The technical problems that students faced while using Blackboard during 2020 might have affected their perceptions. The study results of students’ use and perceptions of Blackboard are discussed in light of institutional policies and support.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/25qpv/" target="_blank">Saudi EFL Students’ Use and Perceptions of Blackboard before and during Online Learning Amid COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>XAV-19, a swine glyco-humanized polyclonal antibody against SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor-binding domain, targets multiple epitopes and broadly neutralizes variants.</strong> -
<div>
Amino acid substitutions and deletions in Spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants can reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In contrast, heterologous polyclonal antibodies raised against S protein, through the recognition of multiple target epitopes, have the potential to maintain neutralization capacities. XAV-19 is a swine glyco-humanized polyclonal neutralizing antibody raised against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the Wuhan-Hu-1 Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. XAV-19 target epitopes were found distributed all over the RBD and particularly cover the receptor binding motives (RBM), in direct contact sites with the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2). Therefore, in Spike/ACE2 interaction assays, XAV-19 showed potent neutralization capacities of the original Wuhan Spike and of the United Kingdom (Alpha/B.1.1.7) and South African (Beta/B.1.351) variants. These results were confirmed by cytopathogenic assays using Vero E6 and live virus variants including the Brazil (Gamma/P.1) and the Indian (Delta/B.1.617.2) variants. In a selective pressure study with the Beta strain on Vero E6 cells conducted over 1 month, no mutation was associated with addition of increasing doses XAV-19. The potential to reduce viral load in lungs was confirmed in a human ACE2 transduced mouse model. XAV-19 is currently evaluated in patients hospitalized for COVID-19-induced moderate pneumonia in a phase 2a-2b (NCT04453384) where safety was already demonstrated and in an ongoing 2/3 trial (NCT04928430) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of XAV-19 in patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19. Owing to its polyclonal nature and its glyco-humanization, XAV-19 may provide a novel safe and effective therapeutic tool to mitigate the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) including the different variants of concern identified so far.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.02.437747v2" target="_blank">XAV-19, a swine glyco-humanized polyclonal antibody against SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor-binding domain, targets multiple epitopes and broadly neutralizes variants.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Modeling Coronavirus Spike Protein Dynamics: Implications for Immunogenicity and Immune Escape</strong> -
<div>
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health emergency requiring urgent development of efficacious vaccines. While concentrated research efforts are underway to develop antibody-based vaccines that would neutralize SARS-CoV-2, and several first-generation vaccine candidates are currently in Phase III clinical trials or have received emergency use authorization, it is forecasted that COVID-19 will become an endemic disease requiring second-generation vaccines. The SARS-CoV-2 surface Spike (S) glycoprotein represents a prime target for vaccine development because antibodies that block viral attachment and entry, i.e. neutralizing antibodies, bind almost exclusively to the receptor binding domain (RBD). Here, we develop computational models for a large subset of S proteins associated with SARS-CoV-2, implemented through coarse-grained elastic network models and normal mode analysis. We then analyze local protein domain dynamics of the S protein systems and their thermal stability to characterize structural and dynamical variability among them. These results are compared against existing experimental data, and used to elucidate the impact and mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 S protein mutations and their associated antibody binding behavior. We construct a SARS- CoV-2 antigenic map and offer predictions about the neutralization capabilities of antibody and S mutant combinations based on protein dynamic signatures. We then compare SARS-CoV-2 S protein dynamics to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV S proteins to investigate differing antibody binding and cellular fusion mechanisms that may explain the high transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2. The outbreaks associated with SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 over the last two decades suggest that the threat presented by coronaviruses is ever-changing and long-term. Our results provide insights into the dynamics-driven mechanisms of immunogenicity associated with coronavirus S proteins, and present a new approach to characterize and screen potential mutant candidates for immunogen design, as well as to characterize emerging natural variants that may escape vaccine-induced antibody responses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.19.456973v1" target="_blank">Modeling Coronavirus Spike Protein Dynamics: Implications for Immunogenicity and Immune Escape</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Effects of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin on iPSC-derived Cardiomyocytes: Considerations for the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients</strong> -
<div>
Despite known adverse effects of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZM) on cardiac function, HCQ and AZM have been used as combination therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Recent clinical data indicate higher complication rates with HCQ/AZM combination treatment in comparison to monotherapy. Here, we used human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) to systematically investigate the effects of HCQ and AZM individually and in combination. The clinically observed QT prolongation caused by treatment with HCQ could be recapitulated in iPSC-CMs based on prolonged field potential duration (FPDc). Interestingly, HCQ-induced FPDc prolongation was strongly enhanced by combined treatment with AZM, although AZM alone slightly shortened FPDc in iPSC- CMs. Furthermore, combined treatment with AZM and HCQ leads to higher cardiotoxicity, more severe structural disarrangement, and more pronounced contractile and electrophysiological dysfunctions, compared to respective mono- treatments. First mechanistic insights underlying the synergistic effects of AZM and HCQ on iPSC-CM functionality are provided based on increased Cx43- and Nav1.5-protein levels. Taken together, our results highlight that combined treatment with HCQ and AZM strongly enhances the adverse effects on cardiomyocytes, providing mechanistic evidence for the high mortality in patients receiving HCQ/AZM combination treatment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html- link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.19.456950v1" target="_blank">Effects of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin on iPSC-derived Cardiomyocytes: Considerations for the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pandemic, epidemic, endemic: B cell repertoire analysis reveals unique anti-viral responses to SARS-CoV-2, Ebola and Respiratory Syncytial Virus</strong> -
<div>
Immunoglobulin gene heterogeneity reflects the diversity and focus of the humoral immune response towards different infections, enabling inference of B cell development processes. Detailed compositional and lineage analysis of long read IGH repertoire sequencing, combining examples of pandemic, epidemic and endemic viral infections with control and vaccination samples, demonstrates general responses including increased use of IGHV4-39 in both EBOV and COVID-19 infection cohorts. We also show unique characteristics absent in RSV infection or yellow fever vaccine samples: EBOV survivors show unprecedented high levels of class switching events while COVID-19 repertoires from acute disease appear underdeveloped. Despite the high levels of clonal expansion in COVID-19 IgG1 repertoires there is a striking lack of evidence of germinal centre mutation and selection. Given the differences in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality with age, it is also pertinent that we find significant differences in repertoire characteristics between young and old patients. Our data supports the hypothesis that a primary viral challenge can result in a strong but immature humoral response where failures in selection of the repertoire risks off-target effects.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html- link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.19.456951v1" target="_blank">Pandemic, epidemic, endemic: B cell repertoire analysis reveals unique anti-viral responses to SARS-CoV-2, Ebola and Respiratory Syncytial Virus</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Algorithm for the Quantitation of Variants of Concern for Rationally Designed Vaccines Based on the Isolation of SARS-CoV-2 Hawaii Lineage B.1.243</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 worldwide emergence and evolution has resulted in variants containing mutations resulting in immune evasive epitopes that decrease vaccine efficacy. We acquired clinical samples, analyzed SARS-CoV-2 genomes, used the most worldwide emerged spike mutations from Variants of Concern/Interest, and developed an algorithm for monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine platform. The algorithm partitions logarithmic-transformed prevalence data monthly and Pearson’s correlation determines exponential emergence. The SARS-CoV-2 genome evaluation indicated 49 mutations. Nine of the ten most worldwide prevalent (&gt;70%) spike protein changes have r-values &gt;0.9. The tenth, D614G, has a prevalence &gt;99% and r-value of 0.67. The resulting algorithm is based on the patterns these ten substitutions elucidated. The strong positive correlation of the emerged spike protein changes and algorithmic predictive value can be harnessed in designing vaccines with relevant immunogenic epitopes. SARS-CoV-2 is predicted to remain endemic and continues to evolve, so must SARS-CoV-2 monitoring and next-generation vaccine design.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html- link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.18.455536v1" target="_blank">Algorithm for the Quantitation of Variants of Concern for Rationally Designed Vaccines Based on the Isolation of SARS-CoV-2 Hawaii Lineage B.1.243</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Neutralising antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant induced by Alhydroxyquim-II-adjuvanted trimeric spike antigens</strong> -
<div>
Global control of COVID-19 will require the deployment of vaccines capable of inducing long-term protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants. In this report, we describe an adjuvanted subunit candidate vaccine that affords elevated, sustained and cross-variant SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies (NAbs) in multiple animal models. Alhydroxiquim-II is a TLR7/8 small-molecule agonist chemisorbed on aluminium hydroxide. Vaccination with Alhydroxiquim- II combined with a stabilized, trimeric form of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (termed CoVac-II) resulted in high-titre NAbs in mice, with no decay in responses over an 8-month period. NAbs from sera of CoVac-II-immunized mice, horses and rabbits were broadly neutralising against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Boosting long-term CoVac-II-immunized mice with adjuvanted spike protein from the Beta variant markedly increased levels of NAb titres against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants; notably high titres against the Delta variant were observed. These data strongly support the clinical assessment of Alhydroxiquim-II-adjuvanted spike proteins to protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.18.456891v1" target="_blank">Neutralising antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant induced by Alhydroxyquim-II-adjuvanted trimeric spike antigens</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Development of an in vitro model for animal species susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 replication based on expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in avian cells</strong> -
<div>
The SARS-CoV-2 (SC2) virus has caused a worldwide pandemic because of the virus’s ability to transmit efficiently human-to-human. A key determinant of infection is the attachment of the viral spike protein to the host receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Because of the presumed zoonotic origin of SC2, there is no practical way to assess every species susceptibility to SC2 by direct challenge studies. In an effort to have a better predictive model of animal host susceptibility to SC2, we expressed the ACE2 and/or transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) genes from humans and other animal species in the avian fibroblast cell line, DF1, that is not permissive to infection. We demonstrated that expression of both human ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes is necessary to support SC2 infection and replication in DF1 and a non-permissive sub-lineage of MDCK cells. Titers of SC2 in these cell lines were comparable to those observed in control Vero cells. To further test the model, we developed seven additional transgenic cell lines expressing the ACE2 and TMPRSS2 derived from Felis (cat), Equus (horse), Sus (pig), Capra (goat), Mesocricetus (Golden hamster), Myotis lucifugus (Little Brown bat) and Hipposideros armiger (Great Roundleaf bat) in DF1 cells. Results demonstrate permissive replication of SC2 in cat, Golden hamster, and goat species, but not pig or horse, which correlated with the results of reported challenge studies. The development of this cell culture model allows for more efficient testing of the potential susceptibility of many different animal species for SC2 and emerging variant viruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.18.456916v1" target="_blank">Development of an in vitro model for animal species susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 replication based on expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in avian cells</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Longitudinal immune dynamics of mild COVID-19 define signatures of recovery and persistence</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 200 million and caused more than 4 million deaths to date. Most individuals (&gt;80%) have mild symptoms and recover in the outpatient setting, but detailed studies of immune responses have focused primarily on moderate to severe COVID-19. We deeply profiled the longitudinal immune response in individuals with mild COVID-19 beginning with early time points post-infection (1-15 days) and proceeding through convalescence to &gt;100 days after symptom onset. We correlated data from single cell analyses of peripheral blood cells, serum proteomics, virus-specific cellular and humoral immune responses, and clinical metadata. Acute infection was characterized by vigorous coordinated innate and adaptive immune activation that differed in character by age (young vs. old). We then characterized signals associated with recovery and convalescence to define and validate a new signature of inflammatory cytokines, gene expression, and chromatin accessibility that persists in individuals with post-acute sequelae of SARS- CoV-2 infection (PASC).
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.26.442666v3" target="_blank">Longitudinal immune dynamics of mild COVID-19 define signatures of recovery and persistence</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>ACE2-Targeting Monoclonal Antibody as Potent and Broad-Spectrum Coronavirus Blocker</strong> -
<div>
The evolution of coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, makes broad-spectrum coronavirus preventional or therapeutical strategies highly sought after. Here we report a human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-targeting monoclonal antibody, 3E8, blocked the S1-subunits and pseudo-typed virus constructs from multiple coronaviruses including SARS- CoV-2, SARS-CoV-2 mutant variants (SARS-CoV-2-D614G, B.1.1.7, B.1.351, B.1.617.1 and P.1), SARS-CoV and HCoV-NL63, without markedly affecting the physiological activities of ACE2 or causing severe toxicity in ACE2 knock-in mice. 3E8 also blocked live SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in a prophylactic mouse model of COVID-19. Cryo-EM and alanine walk studies revealed the key binding residues on ACE2 interacting with the CDR3 domain of 3E8 heavy chain. Although full evaluation of safety in non-human primates is necessary before clinical development of 3E8, we provided a potentially potent and broad-spectrum management strategy against all coronaviruses that utilize ACE2 as entry receptors and disclosed an anti-coronavirus epitope on human ACE2.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.11.375972v2" target="_blank">ACE2-Targeting Monoclonal Antibody as Potent and Broad-Spectrum Coronavirus Blocker</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Antibody Responses 3-5 Months Post-Vaccination with mRNA-1273 or BNT163b2 in Nursing Home Residents</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Nursing home residents often fail to mount robust responses to vaccinations and recent reports of breakthrough infections, particularly from variants of concern, raise questions about whether vaccination regimens elicit a sufficient humoral immune response or if booster doses are warranted. We examined SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels and neutralizing capacity in nursing home residents 3-5 months after 2 doses of mRNA-1273 or BNT163b2 vaccination as per recommended schedules. Nursing home residents were recruited from eight long-term care homes in Ontario, Canada, between March and July 2021. Antibody levels and neutralization capacity from a previously published convalescent cohort were used as a comparator. Serum SARS-CoV-2 IgA/G/M against spike (S) protein and its receptor-binding domain (RBD) were measured by validated ELISA, with assay cut-off at the mean and 3 standard deviations of a pre-COVID-19 population from the same geographic region. Antibody neutralization was measured against the wild-type strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the beta variant of concern (B.1.351). No neutralizing antibodies were detected in ~20% of residents to the wild-type virus (30/155; 19%) or beta variant (27/134; 20%). Residents that received BNT163b2 had a ~4-fold reduction in neutralization to the wild-type strain, and a ~2-fold reduction in neutralization to the beta variant relative to those who received mRNA-1273. Current mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine regimens may not have equivalent efficacy in nursing home residents. Our findings imply that differences in the humoral immune response may contribute to breakthrough infections, and suggest that consideration of the type of vaccine administered to older adults will have a positive impact on the generation of protective immunity.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.17.21262152v2" target="_blank">Antibody Responses 3-5 Months Post- Vaccination with mRNA-1273 or BNT163b2 in Nursing Home Residents</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>App-based COVID-19 surveillance and prediction: The COVID Symptom Study Sweden</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background The app-based COVID Symptom Study was launched in Sweden to disseminate real-time estimates of disease spread and to collect prospective data for research. The aim of this study was to describe the project, develop models for estimation of COVID-19 prevalence and to evaluate it for prediction of hospital admissions for COVID-19. Methods We enrolled 143 531 study participants (≥18 years) throughout Sweden, who contributed 10.6 million daily symptom reports between April 29, 2020 and February 10, 2021. Data from 19 161 self-reported PCR tests were used to create a symptom-based algorithm to estimate daily prevalence of symptomatic COVID-19. The prediction model was validated using external datasets and used to forecast subsequent new hospital admissions. Results A prediction model for symptomatic COVID-19 based on 17 symptoms, age, and sex yielded an area under the ROC curve of 0.78 (95% CI 0.74-0.83) in an external validation dataset. App-based surveillance proved particularly useful for predicting hospital trends in times of insufficient testing capacity and registration delays. During the first wave, our prediction model estimates demonstrated a lower mean error (0.38 average new daily hospitalizations per 100 000 inhabitants per week (95% CI 0.32, 0.45)) for subsequent hospitalizations in the ten most populated counties, than a model based on confirmed case data (0.72 (0.64, 0.81)). Conclusions The experience of the COVID Symptom Study highlights the important role citizens can play in real-time monitoring of infectious diseases, and how app-based data collection may be used for data-driven rapid responses to public health challenges.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.16.21258691v2" target="_blank">App-based COVID-19 surveillance and prediction: The COVID Symptom Study Sweden</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Repeated Testing Necessary: Assessing Negative Predictive Value of SARS-CoV-2 qPCR in a Population of Young Adults</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Determining when individuals should be released from quarantine is critical for successfully managing a COVID-19 outbreak and local protocols frequently call for testing during the quarantine period, generally after a reasonable incubation period, which raises a question about the interpretation of test results during the quarantine period. We report the negative predictive value of SARS-CoV-2 qPCR tests based on a retrospective longitudinal analysis of 5349 qPCR tests collected from 1227 US service members infected with COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) aircraft carrier. In our retrospective evaluation of recovering qPCR-positive quarantined crew members undergoing repeated testing, the negative predictive value is 80% for tests occurring as late as seven weeks following an initial positive qPCR test result. Repeated qPCR testing is necessary to ensure that a once-infected person is no longer shedding viral RNA. When deciding the stringency of exit criteria, we recommend considering local operational and community risk factors.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.10.21253292v2" target="_blank">Repeated Testing Necessary: Assessing Negative Predictive Value of SARS-CoV-2 qPCR in a Population of Young Adults</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>Pulmonary Rehabilitation Post-COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Exercise program (virtual/remote)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Manitoba;   Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Manitoba;   Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba<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>To Evaluate Efficacy &amp; Safety of Proxalutamide in Hospitalized Covid-19 Subjects</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: GT0918;   Drug: Standard of care;   Drug: Matching placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Suzhou Kintor Pharmaceutical Inc,;   IQVIA Biotech<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 Study of PF-07321332/Ritonavir in Non-hospitalized Low-Risk Adult Participants With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: PF-07321332;   Drug: Ritonavir;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Pfizer<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>Mix and Match Heterologous Prime-Boost Study Using Approved COVID-19 Vaccines in Mozambique</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: BBIBP-CorV - Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (Vero cell);   Biological: AZD1222 (replication-deficient Ad type 5 vector expressing full-length spike protein)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   International Vaccine Institute;   The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI);   Instituto Nacional de Saúde (INS), Mozambique;   University of Antananarivo;   International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh;   Harvard University;   Heidelberg 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>Targeting de Novo Pyrimidine Biosynthesis by Leflunomide for the Treatment of COVID-19 Virus Disease</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: leflunomide<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Double Blind Randomized Clinical Trial of Use of Colchicine Added to Standard Treatment in Hospitalized With Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Colchcine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Asociacion Instituto Biodonostia<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 Methylene Blue Antiviral Treatment</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Methylene Blue;   Drug: Saline nasal spray<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Irkutsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences;   Irkutsk State 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>Phase I/II Study of COVID-19 DNA Vaccine (AG0302-COVID19 High-dose)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Lower Respiratory Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: AG0302-COVID19 for Intramuscular Injection;   Biological: AG0302-COVID19 for Intradermal Injection<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   AnGes, Inc.;   Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development<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>Relaxation Exercise in Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Relaxation technique<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Beni- Suef 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>Trial of Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector, Ad5-nCoV) in Adults Living With HIV</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) (Ad5-nCoV)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Fundación Huésped;   Canadian Center for Vaccinology;   CanSino Biologics Inc.;   Hospital Fernandez<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>Evaluation of the Effects of Bradykinin Antagonists on Pulmonary Manifestations of COVID-19 Infections (AntagoBrad- Cov Study).</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: C1 Inhibitor Human;   Drug: Icatibant Injection;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   GCS Ramsay Santé pour l’Enseignement et la Recherche<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>Combination of Dietary Supplements Curcumin, Quercetin and Vitamin D for Early Symptoms of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Standard of care;   Dietary Supplement: combination of curcumin, quercetin and Vitamin D<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Ayub Teaching Hospital<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>Clinical Trial to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Inhaled AQ001S in the Management of Acute COVID-19 Symptoms</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Drug, inhalation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Aquilon Pharmaceuticals S.A.<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 Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Artemisinin- a Herbal Supplement on COVID-19 Subjects</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Dietary Supplement: Artemisinin;   Drug: Dexamethasone<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Mateon Therapeutics;   Windlas Biotech Private Limited<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>Efficacy of PJS-539 for Adult Patients With SARS-Cov-2.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Covid19;   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: PJS-539 Dose 1;   Drug: PJS-539 Dose 2;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Hospital do Coracao;   Covicept<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>Morphological cell profiling of SARS-CoV-2 infection identifies drug repurposing candidates for COVID-19</strong> - The global spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the associated disease COVID-19, requires therapeutic interventions that can be rapidly identified and translated to clinical care. Traditional drug discovery methods have a &gt;90% failure rate and can take 10 to 15 y from target identification to clinical use. In contrast, drug repurposing can significantly accelerate translation. We developed a quantitative high-throughput screen to identify efficacious…</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>An overview of the preclinical discovery and development of remdesivir for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)</strong> - INTRODUCTION: Remdesivir (RDV) is an inhibitor of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases that are active in some RNA viruses, including the Ebola virus and zoonotic coronaviruses. When severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the etiologic agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), several investigations have assessed the potential activity of RDV in inhibiting viral replication, giving rise to hope for an effective treatment.</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>Efficient inactivation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in human apheresis platelet concentrates with amotosalen and ultraviolet A light</strong> - CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 was efficiently inactivated in platelet concentrates by amotosalen/UVA treatment. These results are in line with previous inactivation data for SARS-CoV-2 in plasma as well as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-1 in platelets and plasma, demonstrating efficient inactivation of human coronaviruses.</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>Osteopathic interventions via telehealth in a pediatric population: a retrospective case series</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: In our small retrospective case series, osteopathic interventions via telehealth resulted in decreased average pain scores following treatment while minimizing risk of viral exposure and transmission. Further study is needed to determine if such treatment methods could be effective on a larger scale when distance or illness preclude an in-person OMT visit.</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>Deconstructing the Treatment Effect of Remdesivir in the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial-1: Implications for Critical Care Resource Utilization</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Remdesivir speeds time to recovery by preventing worsening to clinical states that would extend the course of hospitalization and increase intensive respiratory support, thereby reducing the overall demand for hospital care.</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>Optimization of Triarylpyridinone Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 to Low-Nanomolar Antiviral Potency</strong> - Non-covalent inhibitors of the main protease (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 having a pyridinone core were previously reported with IC(50) values as low as 0.018 μM for inhibition of enzymatic activity and EC(50) values as low as 0.8 μM for inhibition of viral replication in Vero E6 cells. The series has now been further advanced by consideration of placement of substituted five-membered-ring heterocycles in the S4 pocket of M^(pro) and N-methylation of a uracil ring. Free energy perturbation…</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>Long Noncoding RNAs as Emerging Regulators of COVID-19</strong> - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has high incidence rates with rapid rate of transmission, is a pandemic that spread across the world, resulting in more than 3,000,000 deaths globally. Currently, several drugs have been used for the clinical treatment of COVID-19, such as antivirals (radecivir, baritinib), monoclonal antibodies (tocilizumab), and glucocorticoids (dexamethasone). Accumulating evidence indicates that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are essential regulators of virus…</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>Auricular Neuromodulation for Mass Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Insights From SOS COVID-19 a Multicentric, Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind French Pilot Study</strong> - Importance: An exacerbated inflammatory response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is believed to be one of the major causes of the morbidity and mortality of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Neuromodulation therapy, based on vagus nerve stimulation, was recently hypothesized to control both the SARS-CoV-2 replication and the ensuing inflammation likely through the inhibition of the nuclear factor kappa-light- chain-enhancer of activated B cells…</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>Potential of diterpene compounds as antivirals, a review</strong> - Viruses cause widely transmitted diseases resulting in pandemic conditions. Currently, the world is being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the SAR-CoV-2 infection. Countries in the world are competing to develop antivirals to overcome this problem. Diterpene compounds derived from natural ingredients (plants, corals, algae, fungi, sponges) and synthesized products have potential as antivirals. This article summarizes the different types of diterpenes such as daphnane, tiglilane, kaurane,…</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>Synergistic block of SARS-CoV-2 infection by combined drug inhibition of the host entry factors PIKfyve kinase and TMPRSS2 protease</strong> - Repurposing FDA-approved inhibitors able to prevent infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2) could provide a rapid path to establish new therapeutic options to mitigate the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Proteolytic cleavages of the spike S protein of SARS-CoV-2, mediated by the host cell proteases cathepsin and TMPRSS2, alone or in combination, are key early activation steps required for efficient infection. The PIKfyve kinase inhibitor apilimod…</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>Diabetes in the COVID-19 pandemic era</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes mellitus is related to the increased severity and complications of COVID-19. The association between diabetes and COVID-19 creates a devastating double pandemic, as it worsens the prognosis of 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>Molecular dynamics simulation, 3D-pharmacophore and scaffold hopping analysis in the design of multi-target drugs to inhibit potential targets of COVID-19</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 has posed serious threat to the health and has inflicted huge costs in the world. Discovering potent compounds is a critical step to inhibit coronavirus. 3CL^(pro) and RdRp are the most conserved targets associated with COVID-19. In this study, three-dimensional pharmacophore modeling, scaffold hopping, molecular docking, structure-based virtual screening, QSAR-based ADMET predictions and molecular dynamics analysis were used to identify inhibitors for these targets. Binding free…</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>Antiviral nanoparticles for sanitizing surfaces: a roadmap to self-sterilizing against COVID-19</strong> - Nanoparticles open new opportunities in merging therapeutics and new materials, with current research efforts just beginning to scratch the surface of their diverse benefits and potential applications. One such application, the use of inorganic nanoparticles in antiseptic coatings to prevent pathogen transmission and infection, has seen promising developments. Notably, the high reactive surface area to volume ratio and unique chemical properties of metal-based nanoparticles enables their potent…</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>Inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro by suppressing its receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, via aryl- hydrocarbon receptor signal</strong> - Since understanding molecular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection is extremely important for developing effective therapies against COVID-19, we focused on the internalization mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 via ACE2. Although cigarette smoke is generally believed to be harmful to the pathogenesis of COVID-19, cigarette smoke extract (CSE) treatments were surprisingly found to suppress the expression of ACE2 in HepG2 cells. We thus tried to clarify the mechanism of CSE effects on expression of ACE2 in…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Computational screening of 645 antiviral peptides against the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein in SARS- CoV-2</strong> - The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein plays a vital role in binding and internalization through the alpha-helix (AH) of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Thus, it is a potential target for designing and developing antiviral agents. Inhibition of RBD activity of the S protein may be achieved by blocking RBD interaction with hACE2. In this context, inhibitors with large contact surface area are preferable as they can form a potentially stable complex with…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-COV-2 BINDING PROTEINS</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333402004">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>자외선살균등</strong> - 본 발명은 사람의 의복이나 사용한 마스크 등에 부착하여 있다 호흡기로 유입되어 감염을 유발할 수 있는 COVID-19와 같은 유해균류를 간편하게 살균하기 위한 휴대용 자와선살균등에 관한 것이다. 반감기가 길고 인체에 유해한 오존을 발생하지 않으면서 탁월한 살균능력이 있는 250~265nm(최적은 253.7nm) 파장의 자외선을 발광하는 자외선램프를 본 발명의 막대형의 자외선살균등 광원으로 사용하고 비광원부를 손으로 잡고 의복이나 사용한 마스크 등 유해균류가 부착되었을 것으로 의심되는 곳에 자외선을 조사하여 간편하게 유해균류를 살균하므로써 감염을 예방하기 위한 휴대용 자외선살균등에 관함 것이다. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=KR332958765">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Protein chip and kit for detecting SARS-CoV-2 N protein and its preparation method</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333400881">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Protein chip and kit for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 S antigen</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU333400883">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cabina de desinfección de doble carga exterior</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES331945699">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Novel Method COVID -19 infection using Deep Learning Based System</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU331907400">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>EMPUNADURA DE RAQUETA O PALA PARA JUEGO DE PELOTA CON DISPENSADOR LIQUIDO POR CAPILARIDAD INSERTADO</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES331563132">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COVID- 19 DIAGNOSIS USING DETECTION RESULTS FROM CHEST X- RAY IMAGES</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU330927328">link</a></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>System zum computergestützten Nachverfolgen einer von einer Person durchzuführenden Prozedur</strong> -
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ein System (2000) zum computergestützten Nachverfolgen einer von einer Person (1) durchzuführenden Testprozedur, insbesondere für einen Virusnachweistest, bevorzugt zur Durchführung eines SARS-CoV-2 Tests, wobei das System (2000) umfasst:</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Identifizierungseinheit eines Endgeräts (30), die eingerichtet ist zum Identifizieren (201) der Person</li>
</ul>
<ol type="1">
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">unmittelbar vor einem Durchführen der Testprozedur durch die Person (1);</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">wobei die Identifizierungseinheit des Endgeräts (30) weiter eingerichtet ist zum Identifizieren (202) zumindest eines Testobjekts (20), bevorzugt einer Testkassette, insbesondere für einen SARS-CoV-2 Test, mehr bevorzugt eines Teststreifens, weiter bevorzugt ein Reagenz in einem Behälter, weiter bevorzugt eines Testsensors, unmittelbar vor der Durchführung der Testprozedur, die Identifizierungseinheit aufweisend:</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Kamera (31) des Endgeräts (30), eingerichtet zum Erfassen (2021) eines Objektidentifizierungsdatensatzes (21) als maschinenlesbaren Datensatz; und</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Auswerteeinheit (33) des Endgeräts (30), eingerichtet zum Vergleichen (2022) des erfassten Objektidentifizierungsdatensatzes (21) mit einem Objektdatensatz</li>
</ul>
<ol start="420" type="1">
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eines Hintergrundsystems (40);</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">eine Nachverfolgungseinheit des Endgeräts (30), die eingerichtet ist zum Nachverfolgen (203) einer oder mehrerer Positionen der Person (1) während der Durchführung der Testprozedur mittels Methoden computergestützter Gesten- und/oder Muster- und/oder Bilderkennung mittels eines Prüfens, ob beide Hände (12) der Person (1) während der gesamten Durchführung der Testprozedur in einem vordefinierten Bereich oder einem von der Kamera (31a) des Endgeräts (30) erfassbaren Bereich sind;</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">die Nachverfolgungseinheit des Endgeräts (30), zudem eingerichtet zum Nachverfolgen (203) von einer oder mehreren Positionen des zumindest einen Testobjekts (20) anhand der Form des Objekts während der Durchführung der Testprozedur mittels Methoden computergestützter Gesten- und/oder Muster- und/oder Bilderkennung; und</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">einer Anzeigeeinheit (34) des Endgeräts, eingerichtet zum Anleiten (204) der Person (1) zum Durchführen der Testprozedur während der Durchführung der Testprozedur.</li>
</ul>
<img alt="embedded image" id="EMI-D00000"/>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=DE333370869">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mascarilla impermeable</strong> - Mascarilla impermeable, que comprende un cuerpo de cubrición de la nariz y boca, así como medios de fijación a la cabeza del usuario, se caracteriza por que los medios de cubrición de la zona de la nariz y boca se constituyen a partir de dos cuerpos de distinta naturaleza; una superficie (1) tridimensional superior que cubre la zona de la nariz y la boca, de naturaleza impermeable, que se remata inferiormente en unos medios de filtración (3) interiores, debidamente protegidos superiormente de la humedad a través de la superficie (1). - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=ES329916792">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
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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>Trying—and Failing—to Save the Family of the Afghan Who Saved Me</strong> - Twelve years ago, Tahir Luddin helped us both escape after we were kidnapped by the Taliban. Now I am struggling to get his family out of Kabul. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trying-and-failing-to-save-the-family-of-the-afghan-who-saved-me">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pumpers, Dumpers, and Shills: The Skycoin Saga</strong> - The cryptocurrency promised to change the world and make its users rich in the process. Then it began to fall apart. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/pumpers-dumpers-and-shills-the-skycoin-saga">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Will the Next American War Be with China?</strong> - Elbridge Colby is leading a conservative effort to prepare Americans for a military conflict in Taiwan. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/will-the-next-american-war-be-with-china">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>David Petraeus on American Mistakes in Afghanistan</strong> - The former general defends Afghan troops and blames the speed of the withdrawal for the government’s collapse. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/david-petraeus-on-american-mistakes-in-afghanistan">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Urgency of Assisting Afghan Partners</strong> - “There are tens of thousands of lives that we must and can still save,” Representative Jason Crow said. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-urgency-of-assisting-afghan-partners">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>What a weird summer it’s been at the movies!</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A man and a woman lean in for a kiss." src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/uI619Q2AqJA2mqAIP_mAmTR3fR8=/224x0:1909x1264/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69752260/annette1.0.jpeg"/>
<figcaption>
Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in <em>Annette.</em> | Amazon Studios
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The new movie-musical Annette caps off a summer of strange films.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MTWFO2">
Have you noticed how <em>weird</em> the movies are this summer?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X0vvvi">
I don’t mean the moviegoing experience, though if you’ve been inside a theater you know it’s unusual; I mean the movies themselves.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8toI5z">
In <em>Pig</em>, for instance, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22570234/nic-cage-
pig-movie-memes-nicolas">Nicolas Cage</a> plays a truffle hunter who goes after his stolen pig in what many expected would be a revenge thriller, but it turns out to be a quiet meditation on memory, loss, and … fine dining in Portland? <a href="https://www.vox.com/22585318/green-knight-explained-ending-spoilers-girdle-winifred-temptation"><em>The Green Knight</em></a> has been <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl4222779905/">surprisingly successful</a> despite releasing only in theaters during a pandemic — and despite being deeply, almost off-puttingly <a href="https://www.vox.com/22585318/green-knight-explained-ending-spoilers-girdle-winifred-temptation">strange</a>. <a href="https://www.vox.com/22588761/old-shyamalan-review"><em>Old</em></a>, a peculiar family drama set on a <a href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/old/old-beach-tweets/">beach that makes you old</a>, has sold enough tickets to <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2097710593/?ref_=bo_yld_table_14">triple its $18 million budget</a>. Even the standard big-budget blockbusters — <a href="https://www.vox.com/22536684/f9-review-fast-furious-
spoilers"><em>F9</em></a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22555357/black-widow-review-marvel-natasha-romanoff-too-late-
disney-plus"><em>Black Widow</em></a>, <em>Jungle Cruise, </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/22617231/free-guy-review-
reynolds-truman-show"><em>Free Guy</em></a> — have had an air of oddness about them, with <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2021/06/fast-furious-9-space-car-astronaut-interview.html">flying space cars</a> and <a href="https://www.polygon.com/movies/22559604/florence-pugh-black-widow-involuntary-hysterectomy-red-room">discussions of ovaries</a> and <a href="https://www.theringer.com/movies/2021/7/30/22600412/jungle-cruise-review-dwayne-johnson-
disney">CGI depictions of the food chain</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22617231/free-guy-review-reynolds-truman-
show">video game characters gone rogue</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Q8cMd">
As the summer careens to a close, cinema’s freaky vibes are palpable. And the freakiest of them all might be emanating from <em>Annette</em>, Leos Carax’s new musical about … uh. Well. It’s about a doomed romance, but it’s also about a lot of other stuff: art, opera, death, stand-up comedy, the danger of taking a small craft on the high seas, the many things a puppet can do surprisingly well, fatherhood, and the whole concept of watching a movie in a theater.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt="Actors, singers,
composers, and directors kneel in the Los Angeles street and sing." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6y5Ks-
olFoHBRVdLDLlqJdtghlg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22792198/annette3.jpg"/></p>
<cite>Amazon Studios</cite>
<figcaption>
<em>Annette</em>’s cast and filmmakers sing to us at the beginning of the film.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M02tW0">
Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, both bona fide movie stars, sing and wail and have some sex (sometimes all at the same time) in this aggressively non-accessible movie — which, depending on how you feel about that, is either a blast or a nightmare. It begins with the cast and filmmakers singing to the audience about how we’re about to start watching a movie. At the end, they sing to us about how the movie has ended and they hope you enjoyed it, and please tell your friends.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eDTW9d">
Driver plays Henry McHenry, a wildly popular and wildly confrontational stand-up comedian who bills himself “the ape of God” and openly mocks his audience from the stage. He has fallen in love with the waifish, wondrous opera singer Ann Defrasnoux, whose gut- wrenching performances draw staggering crowds. (In the world of <em>Annette</em>, opera singers are as beloved and tabloid-worthy as rockstars.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lv9AIT">
The pair live in Los Angeles, and they are madly in love, and they sing about it a lot in a recurring number entitled “We Love Each Other So Much.” <em>Annette</em>’s songs — penned by Ron and Russell Mael, a.k.a. the pop duo Sparks — are mostly very literal, with characters often describing what they are doing or what they are about to do or what they think they might do.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hdc5mT">
<em>Annette</em>’s entire vibe is much more opera than musical; honestly, it might be best to go into the film with that expectation. (Much of the music is more <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/recitative">recitative</a> than pop ballad.) Do you love the bluster, pretension, and glorious goofiness of opera? The improbable stories and over-the-top madness? The songs that often repeat themselves, over and over, morphing into different keys as the mood of the story changes from delirious romance to devastating tragedy? The moments when key characters inform the audience of what’s going on by singing directly to them? The morally shaky but oddly compelling protagonists? If you don’t care for any of that, <em>Annette</em> will most likely be baffling. If you do, <em>Annette</em> is for you.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<pre><code> &lt;img alt="Adam Driver lays on stone, looking at the figure of a young girl, who is singing up at a full moon. </code></pre>
It’s very dramatically lit." src=“https://cdn.vox- cdn.com/thumbor/9YqQXBHqJ4ivP3c3kxAp13yOao0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox- cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22792199/annette2.jpeg” /&gt; <cite>Amazon Studios</cite>
<figcaption></figcaption></figure></li>
</ul>
<em>Annette</em>: Much more opera than musical.
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ThFaKD">
Henry and Ann’s romance leads them on a tragic journey, made more tragic by the presence of Ann’s lovelorn accompanist (played, perhaps improbably, by <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/15/18623229/big-bang-theory-series-finale-explained-review-recap"><em>The Big Bang Theory</em></a>’s Simon Helberg). Henry and Ann have a baby, named Annette, portrayed in the film by a puppet. She can sing. One scene is set at the Super Bowl. It’s a strange film.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gb6PAF">
<em>Annette</em> was the opening night film at the Cannes Film Festival in July, where it fit right in with the festival’s often bellicose offerings. After a modest two-week stopover in theaters, it’s now hitting Amazon Prime. So a lot of people have access to it, and it’s easy to imagine the confused reaction of audiences who hit play on the film because they’re excited to watch <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylo_Ren">Kylo Ren</a> sing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xF5fHR">
For some, that unexpected turn may lead to disappointment — or it may lead to the kind of frustration that some Nic Cage fans may have felt upon seeing <em>Pig</em> or that some Dev Patel fans may have felt upon seeing <em>The Green Knight</em>. Whatever your expectations are, <em>Annette</em> and other summer offerings are something else.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xxhDFW">
In our risk-averse movie industry — heavily reliant on franchise fare, sequels, reboots, and Netflix “originals” that feel very much like some other movie you saw not that long ago — this streak of oddball storytelling, this trend toward breaking convention, is refreshing. The truth is that the American film business hums along mainly by not rocking the boat, by not upsetting audiences, by trying to fulfill expectations but rarely challenge them. At best, that’s how you give people something that’s comforting and fun. More darkly, it’s how you rake in advance ticket sales and drum up free advertising, also known as fan buzz, and ensure your continued survival. Today, it’s often perilous to release a movie that people might find uncomfortable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RtK3Cx">
The truth remains that we live in the world <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_industry">the culture industry created</a>, where selling an entertainment product — that is “content” — is the priority, and taking a chance is rare. But a silver lining to this strange summer, in which some of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2021/07/25/black-widow-struggles-space-jam-
tumbles-weekend-box-
office/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20Black%20Widow%20is%20absolutely,a%20not%2Dguaranteed%20China%20release.">biggest films flopped</a> or <a href="https://variety.com/2021/film/news/suicide-squad-box-office-delta-variant-
covid-1235037074/">failed to generate buzz</a>, has been the opportunity to have robust conversations about films that don’t pander to their audience.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cnDOyw">
My own mental measuring stick for a film’s greatness is the response it provokes. If audiences leave the theater (or turn off the TV) with an array of strong reactions — some love it, some despise it, some think it has merit but will vigorously argue over their reservations — then the movie they just watched was worth the investment of time and talent. It’s doing what art should do. If a film receives a “pretty good!” reaction across the board, I’m much less interested.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9pIz5o">
Sure, the latter variety <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/31/16107948/rotten-tomatoes-score-get-their-ratings-top-critics-certified-
fresh-aggregate-mean">will wind up with a higher Rotten Tomatoes score</a> than the former. Yet the one that makes me argue with friends and resists attempts to cram it into a box is the movie I want to watch. That this summer has served up more of those kinds of films than usual — <em>Annette</em> being only the latest example — is probably a fluke. It’s also a gift; for those of us who take movies seriously, it’s what we hope for all year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MrfVBP">
Annette <em>opened in theaters on August 6. It begins streaming on Amazon Prime on August 20.</em>
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>What we actually know about the vaccines and the delta variant</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/lfcxnu-3AK0hwxehn1OdGJUTr8U=/0x0:2667x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69752137/GettyImages_1331527424_copy.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
We are finally starting to get some concrete answers about the Covid-19 vaccines and the delta variant. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Covid-19 vaccines still are effective in preventing hospitalization. But vaccinated people are now more likely to get sick than before.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N6aCob">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">The Covid-19 pandemic</a> has changed, and with it, so has the effectiveness of <a href="https://www.vox.com/covid-19-coronavirus-treatment-prevention-cure-vaccines">the vaccines</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EvC8OL">
The bottom line remains the same: The mRNA vaccines from <a href="https://www.vox.com/22167841/fda-vaccine-approval-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-eua-coronavirus">Pfizer</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/12/18/22188715/moderna-vaccine-covid-19-fda-emergency-use-authorization-
coronavirus">Moderna</a> that are most prevalent in the US are still quite effective in preventing any illness from the novel coronavirus, and extremely effective in preventing the kind of severe illness that leads to hospitalization and death. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed those basic facts with its <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7034e1.htm?s_cid=mm7034e1_w">most robust data yet</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B3e6HJ">
But the statistics that were widely publicized when those vaccines were first approved in December — the ones that showed vaccines were 95 percent effective in preventing all illness and 100 percent effective in stopping hospitalization or death — are now thoroughly out of date. The risk that a vaccinated person would experience symptoms if they contract Covid-19 is higher than it was back then, even if it is still significantly lower than if the person were unvaccinated. The now-dominant <a href="https://www.vox.com/22547537/delta-coronavirus-variant-covid-19-vaccines-
masks-lockdown">delta variant</a> is likely to blame.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QhKiyW">
So exactly how effective are the vaccines against this new, more dangerous iteration of the virus? And how long does immunity provided by the vaccines actually last?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qYmxTt">
We are finally starting to get some concrete answers to these questions. The vaccines did appear to lose some of their effectiveness in preventing any kind of illness as the delta variant became dominant, especially for people who are at highest risk from Covid-19. But the protection against severe illness held steady, according to the three CDC studies published this week.
</p>
<aside id="sHpDu6">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FAnY5M">
The number of breakthrough infections is “increasing as the delta wave proceeds,” Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told me. “But still, protection versus hospitalizations and deaths is very solid.”
</p></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ttrULd">
With this new evidence of waning vaccine efficacy, the Biden administration <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/08/19/1028594715/covid-booster-shots-are-coming-heres-what-you-
need-to-know">announced plans this week</a> to immediately make immunocompromised patients eligible for a booster shot and recommended that all vaccinated people get a third shot eight months after their second dose.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Fqkr8">
The new data and new guidance reflect this new chapter in the pandemic. Vaccinated people should still feel confident that they are protected against the worst outcomes from Covid-19. But the large number of unvaccinated Americans, and the delta variant’s potency, has contributed to surges in infections.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hevoSx">
Some caution — continuing to wear masks and avoiding large indoor gatherings, for example — can help protect against the high level of spread currently in the US, experts said. Even with the powerful protection of vaccines, it’s possible to get sick after a coronavirus exposure.
</p>
<h3 id="Ppy2Cr">
We now know more than ever about Covid-19 vaccines and the delta variant
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QKj1d3">
The Covid-19 vaccines were initially tested against the “alpha” variant of the coronavirus, and they performed incredibly well. But delta has proven somewhat more capable of evading the vaccines and may cause more severe illness than its predecessors, based on <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01358-1/fulltext">early research out of the United Kingdom</a>, one of the first places where delta took hold. The new CDC data is a big step forward because it brings our understanding of the vaccines closer to the present.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2Q9Fef">
One of this week’s CDC studies tracked new cases and hospitalizations from early May to late July in New York. The study period covers the transition from alpha to delta, which became dominant by the start of July, but only includes part of the recent surge in reported cases.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wlX6gO">
The vaccines grew less effective in preventing all illness as the delta variant took over, CDC researchers found. In May, vaccines had an estimated 90 percent effectiveness at preventing new cases. By mid-July, the estimated effectiveness had dropped to just under 80 percent. By that point, vaccinated people were more likely to get infected and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/11/22611272/what-breakthrough-covid-19-feels-like">actually feel sick</a>. Breakthrough infections became more common.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VipEa6">
But the vaccines have remained resilient against severe symptoms, with the estimated effectiveness against hospitalization holding steady around 95 percent from the start to the end of the study period.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside id="WXN7sK">
<q>Vaccinated people should still feel confident that they are protected against the worst outcomes from Covid-19</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r0dwbw">
“There was a reduction in vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection, but not against hospitalization,” Dr. Celine Gounder, clinical assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the <a href="https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/celine-r-gounder">NYU School of Medicine</a>, told me. “The vaccines remain highly protective against hospitalization in all age groups.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fVXdEi">
It’s important to remember that “severe” illness is a clinical term that might not align with the common parlance. A vaccinated person who becomes ill with Covid-19 might still feel very sick.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yl8rck">
“Severe disease isn’t that you feel sick like a dog and are laid up in bed,” Gounder said. “Severe disease means your lungs are failing, your oxygen levels are dropping, and you need to be in the hospital.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UVP7v4">
In other words, the vaccines have gotten less effective at stopping Covid-19 in its tracks but are still extremely good at protecting people from the kind of severe cases that need hospital beds or ventilators. Many patients with breakthrough infections can recover at home.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z57DyX">
How the vaccines affect long Covid remains an open question. Preliminary evidence <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/08/long-covid-breakthrough-infection-vaccinated.html">seems to suggest</a> that they help alleviate (but not always eliminate) those long-term symptoms.
</p>
<h3 id="DI5rYv">
Why are vaccines somewhat less effective against infection than before?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2gM49D">
The CDC researchers were careful to say the reasons for diminishing vaccine effectiveness are uncertain, but there are some things they’re confident about. The delta variant causes a substantially higher viral load than its predecessors — there is more of the virus when a person gets infected — and the sheer amount of the virus a person contracts may play a role. At the same time, people are now taking fewer precautions against Covid-19 than they were last fall and winter, the researchers said, making it more likely that they’ll be exposed to a high viral load.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SBPYc2">
Or to think of it another way: The rapid spread of delta in the unvaccinated population means vaccinated people are getting exposed to the virus more often, and being exposed to more of it than they were before.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Om0Hu2">
<a href="https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1428346743846887425">Data from other countries</a> shows a wide range of vaccine effectiveness against infection with the delta variant, but studies have generally found the protection is less robust than it was against the alpha variant. Still, in all cases, the vaccines available in the US continue to impress in their ability to prevent the worst outcomes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cri3Qm">
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7034e2.htm?s_cid=mm7034e2_w">A second CDC study</a> examined national data to determine whether the vaccines are becoming less effective at stopping severe illness over time. Like the New York study, it found that vaccines are extremely effective — about 90 percent at preventing hospitalization due to Covid-19.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/vPzJ52IlyC8k2wBJ6_w2oLMq8lA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22793271/GettyImages_1234738106_copy.jpg"/> <cite>SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A mobile vaccination site in Orlando. With this new evidence of waning vaccine efficacy, the Biden administration announced plans this week to immediately make immunocompromised patients eligible for a booster shot.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Stt3VW">
Reassuringly, there was not a meaningful difference in the vaccine’s ability to stop hospitalization as time wore on. The researchers estimated the vaccine’s effectiveness against hospitalization in two time periods: two to 12 weeks after patients received a second dose, and 13 to 24 weeks after that second dose.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HQPWIG">
They did not find a meaningful decline almost six months after patients received a second dose of the vaccine — which is very good news.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rSyBqv">
“There was no reduction in vaccine effectiveness over time,” Gounder said, “which demonstrates that protection against hospitalization did not drop over time or after the emergence of the delta variant.”
</p>
<h3 id="F7a7xw">
The best protection for the most vulnerable is everybody getting vaccinated
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cg1FMa">
While the vaccines have generally held up well against the delta variant, some of the people most vulnerable to Covid-19 do not receive the same level of protection.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="utA7pa">
For people with compromised immune systems, the CDC researchers found that the vaccines were less effective at preventing hospitalization. That finding supported <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/covid-booster-shots-fda-
permits-third-dose-for-the-immune-deficient.html">the Biden administration’s plan</a> to make those people immediately eligible for a third booster shot, experts said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qxfg7q">
For immunocompromised individuals, it’s also possible that immunity may wane more over time — but that didn’t happen, according to this research. Their level of protection appeared to be constant during the six-month period covered by the study.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside id="S9c2Sh">
<q>Vaccines have gotten less effective at stopping Covid-19 in its tracks but are still extremely good at protecting people</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BKRX6V">
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7034e3.htm?s_cid=mm7034e3_w">The third CDC study</a> evaluated vaccine effectiveness for nursing home residents, a population particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 and one of the first groups to get vaccinated at the beginning of this year. That study did find declining effectiveness over time against any illness for those Americans, from 75 percent pre-delta to about 50 percent post-delta.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KE3Kfz">
That drop-off may partly reflect the nature of this population. Older people’s immune systems are not as strong as younger people’s; older adults already experienced a lower baseline vaccine effectiveness rate than the general population before delta took over (75 percent versus 90 percent). The decline also probably reflects the basic fact that the delta variant is better at evading the vaccines than the alpha variant was.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b1RIq8">
“It makes sense to give an extra dose of vaccine to vaccinated nursing home residents,” Gounder said. “But what will have an even bigger impact on protecting those nursing home residents is to vaccinate their caregivers.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IaKM3E">
As of late July, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-government-and-politics-coronavirus-
pandemic-3f4435167823b02812adfb668ae32bb0">about 60 percent of nursing home workers</a> had been vaccinated, substantially lower than the 80 percent rate among residents. The Biden administration <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1428065924737818625">announced</a> on Wednesday that it would require nursing homes to mandate all their workers be vaccinated if the facilities want to receive federal health care funding.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="akemjY">
Over the long run, so long as a substantial portion of the US population remains unvaccinated, there will be risks to everybody. Currently, 72 percent of the 18-and-over population and 60 percent of the entire US population are vaccinated, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">the New York Times tracker</a>. That leaves millions of people without protection against the virus. Some of them are children not yet eligible for the vaccine, but millions of people who are currently eligible and could receive the vaccine for free still haven’t done so.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZHE8GE">
“Your risk depends on your vaccination status <em>and </em>what’s happening in your community,” Gounder told me. “Vaccines aren’t an immunity on/off switch for individuals. Vaccines work additively and synergistically across populations.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qvLyCU">
Gounder deployed some hypothetical math to explain how risk works under different vaccination scenarios. If a country has a baseline of 1 million “units” of risk for each person, because the virus is very widespread, a 95 percent effective vaccine would reduce that risk to 50,000.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n6kqOt">
But if the baseline risk is 100, because the country contains the virus through vaccinations and mitigation measures, the vaccinated person faces just 5 units of risk. That huge difference in risk depends on how rampantly the virus is spreading in the overall population.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="madvW2">
“This isn’t about individualism, individual rights, individual responsibility, and individual protection,” Gounder said. “This is about community immunity.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1b5dJF">
</p>
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</p>
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</p>
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</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FB9yeE">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SK4IL9">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8zYiZS">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CcwCc3">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="luqeO2">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2VKK52">
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>School boards are in open revolt against Ron DeSantis’s anti-mask crusade</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Governor DeSantis Holds Press Briefing" src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/ua48cCRnlBAqcxJnU1nj2AUqgaw=/340x0:5780x4080/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69752004/1234749243.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) | Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Some of Florida’s most populous counties don’t want their children to get Covid-19.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9BgmXg">
On Wednesday, three Florida county school boards voted to require nearly all of their students to wear masks at school. Now at least five school boards, some in the state’s most populous areas, have mask mandates that openly defy an <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2021/07/30/governor-desantis-issues-an-executive-order-
ensuring-parents-freedom-to-choose/">order from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis</a> seeking to make masks optional in schools.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MCVeqp">
“<a href="https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/08/18/miami-dade-school-issue-mask-mandate-defy-
desantis-order/">If the consequence is ultimately my job</a>, my salary, I’m willing to accept that, but I’m not willing to bend on my conviction,” Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said about prioritizing students’ health over DeSantis’s order.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wy3LZP">
It’s not yet clear how far the governor and his allies will go in retaliating against pro-mask officials like Carvalho, but pro-mask counties like Miami-Dade also have a powerful ally on their side: President Joe Biden.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qTigtt">
After state-level officials threatened to withhold funding from counties with masking requirements — in a particularly snarky move, state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran suggested withholding an amount of funding <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/miami-dade-votes-to-mandate-masks-in-
schools-setting-up-fight-with-desantis-11629332377">equal to the salaries of the county superintendent and its school board members</a> — the White House announced that <a href="https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/08/10/white-house-says-covid-19-relief-funds-will-cover-florida-
schools-punished-by-gov-ron-desantis-over-mask-mandates">federal funds could be used to make school districts whole</a> if they are punished for requiring masks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OT2LAk">
“Our priority must be the safety of students, families, educators, and staff in our school communities,” Biden said in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-
room/presidential-actions/2021/08/18/ensuring-a-safe-return-to-in-person-school-for-the-nations-children/">memo to the Department of Education</a>, which directs Secretary Miguel Cardona to “assess all available tools” that can prevent governors from interfering with student health.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FxAMV2">
Because children under 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination, masks are one of the most effective tools that can slow the spread of Covid in schools. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, multi-layer cloth masks can <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html">block up to 50-70 percent</a> of fine droplets known to spread the virus.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nObh5D">
It’s a high-stakes fight concerning who gets to decide whether to protect children’s health. As the Atlantic’s Ron Brownstein notes, the fight between DeSantis and several of Florida’s urban counties is a fight about “<a href="https://twitter.com/RonBrownstein/status/1428114648130232325">red state preemption</a>” — a common practice in which Republican-led states invalidate progressive policies in cities and other localities led by Democrats. And this fight is all the more complicated because the federal government is willing to spend its own funds to undermine DeSantis’s attack on public health.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FLYHsO">
If the pro-mask counties prevail, moreover, that’s likely to embolden school boards in other states that forbid mask mandates. At least <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/18/biden-education-governors-state-mask-bans-506070">seven other states</a> — Texas, Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah — have state-level policies forbidding masking requirements in schools. School districts in at least some of these states have started to resist anti-masking policies as well — a district in Texas, for example, attempted to require masks by <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/back-to-
school-live-updates/2021/08/18/1028760318/paris-texas-school-district-mandate-masks-dress-code-gov-abbott-ban">making them part of a dress code</a>. (On Thursday, Texas temporarily dropped enforcement of its ban on mask mandates, after a state supreme court ruling.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GcwSOt">
This is a fight with very high stakes — the health and lives of children. Although severe cases are uncommon among children, they are not unheard of. And a very small percentage of children infected with Covid-19 <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-
covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/">die from the disease</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="5ragqU">
How did Florida get to this point?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rTmFCF">
Ron DeSantis is a frequent guest on Fox News, and a close ally of former President Donald Trump. DeSantis is also widely perceived to have presidential ambitions, garnering a national profile, and far-right support, as an <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/13/22622168/ron-desantis-florida-covid-
response-failures">outspoken opponent of many public health measures</a> intended to slow the spread of Covid-19.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g9j6ZZ">
His resistance to public health measures has been disastrous for the state of Florida, however. Florida currently has the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">second-highest per capita rate of Covid infections</a> in the United States, falling just behind Mississippi. Over 16,000 people in Florida are hospitalized with Covid, as of Wednesday. The state is close to running out of hospital beds. One Florida paramedic told BuzzFeed News that “<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/florida-covid-delta-variant-
surge">we’re stacking patients in the hallways, stacking patients in the waiting room.</a>”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y05dSZ">
DeSantis, meanwhile, has largely framed his opposition to school mask mandates as an issue of parental rights. In late June, DeSantis signed a <a href="https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0241er.docx&amp;DocumentType=Bill&amp;BillNumber=0241&amp;Session=2021">“Parents’ Bill of Rights”</a> into law, which limits state and local governments’ power to “infringe on the fundamental rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of his or her minor child.” A month later, DeSantis cited that law in an <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2021/07/30/governor-desantis-issues-an-executive-order-
ensuring-parents-freedom-to-choose/">executive order</a> purporting to ensure “parents’ freedom to choose” whether their child should wear a mask at school.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fCzeMn">
Although DeSantis’s July 30 order does not forbid children from wearing masks, it instructs the Florida Health and Education Departments to impose rules preventing school districts from “violat[ing] parents’ right under Florida law to make health care decisions for their minor children” — such as the decision to not wear a mask.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SSwumI">
Additionally, the order instructs Education Commissioner Corcoran to withhold “state funds from noncompliant school boards.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4uSQbZ">
These policies are unpopular. According to an early August poll of likely Florida voters, 62 percent believe that “<a href="https://floridapolitics.com/wp-
content/uploads/2021/08/StPetePolls_2021_State_August3_P7F9W.pdf">masks should be required for all children</a>.” Less than a third of voters agreed with DeSantis that masks should not be mandated.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V9YWjj">
DeSantis’s order also had predictable results. Before Hillsborough County implemented its mask requirement, more than <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/08/17/florida-students-covid-quarantine-hillsborough/">8,000 of its students</a> were in quarantine or isolation due to possible exposure to Covid (although some of these exposures occurred off campus). At the school board meeting instituting the mask mandate in Hillsborough, health providers warned that a mandate is needed because emergency rooms are “<a href="https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-
hillsborough/hillsborough-county-school-board-holding-emergency-meeting-wednesday-as-covid-cases-soar">drowning in patients</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d6TGYW">
Though some parents at the Hillsborough meeting echoed DeSantis’s rhetoric about parental rights — one anti-mask parent claimed that they “know what’s best for my children” — others demanded that the school board protect their children.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HxlwQn">
“I was in a hospital room,” said one mother who had lost a child to a disease other than Covid, and who didn’t want other children to die. “I had doctors tell me we did everything we can. <a href="https://tampa.cbslocal.com/2021/08/18/hillsborough-county-school-board-passes-stricter-mask-mandate-
with-opt-out-option-1/">I’ve been with a dead child before</a>. We can save these children.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VALeyy">
Even before students started returning to school, moreover, Florida had some of the <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/article253250073.html">highest rates of child Covid infections in the country</a>. As of Thursday morning, <a href="https://www.broward.org/CoronaVirus/Documents/hospital-report--latest.pdf">only two pediatric ICU beds are available</a> in all of Broward County.
</p>
<h3 id="0GZaAW">
Can DeSantis be stopped?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0KKBMo">
The federal government recently suggested that it may take legal action against states that block mask requirements in schools. In a <a href="https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/08/21-006970-Letter-from-Secretary-Cardona-
Arizona-final-signed.pdf">letter</a> sent to several state governors, US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona argued that school districts that accepted certain federal funds are legally obligated to require masks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w64jk8">
“The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” Cardona writes, requires all school districts that received federal pandemic aid under that act “to adopt a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YBLS2S">
The federal Education Department’s policies clarify that these plans must “maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff” and include “a description of any such policies, on” each of several safety requirements laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of those safety requirements is “<a href="https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/08/21-006970-Letter-from-Secretary-Cardona-Arizona-final-signed.pdf">universal and correct wearing of masks</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O2W3dg">
It is well established that the federal government may <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/483/203">impose conditions on state and local governments</a> that accept federal funding — although there are some constitutional limits on this authority and any lawsuit seeking to enforce such conditions would be heard by a federal judiciary dominated by conservatives. States may also be able to evade such conditions by returning the relevant funding that they received under the American Rescue Plan.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rgw0GG">
The bottom line is that, while the Biden administration is hinting at legal action against states with anti- masking policies, it<strong> </strong>could face a long and uncertain legal fight if it wants to ensure that children throughout the country wear masks to school. Meanwhile, the delta variant will continue to spread throughout the nation — potentially infecting thousands of schoolchildren.
</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>Kohli, BCCI brass ‘informally’ chat over roadmap for T20 World Cup</strong> - With India playing the Test series till September 14 and then the players being busy with their respective IPL franchises, time is of the essence</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>Striking Distance, Royal Symphony and Regal Kid work well</strong> - Striking Distance, Royal Symphony and Regal Kid worked well when the horses were exercised here on Friday (Aug.  20).Inner sand:600m: Treasure Delight</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>Anju’s protege Shaili Singh tops qualification, makes long jump final in U-20 World Championships</strong> - Shaili Singh is the current U-18 World No. 2 and U-20 national record holder</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>Nadal out of US Open, ends 2021 season to heal injured foot</strong> - The 35-year-old Spanish star added that he is “completely motivated and prepared to do what it takes to get back in the best form possible”</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>With technology and improved athletic physique, has the value of pro sports diminished?</strong> - It is the unpredictability of success or failure that is instantly gratifying to spectators</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>Congress expels senior leader in Alappuzha</strong> - Former municipal chairperson ‘tried to defeat UDF nominee in Assembly polls’</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>Maharashtra government’s Rajiv Gandhi IT award to be given to companies in five categories</strong> - Maharashtra Minister of State for IT Satej Patil made the announcement.</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>2 female elephants electrocuted in Assam</strong> - Third case of death due to illegal electrical fencing this year</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>Union Minister offers job, land to family of soldier he thought was martyred</strong> - He reportedly took local BJP leaders to task for providing wrong information</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>CBI seeks details of murder, rape cases reported during 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal</strong> - The agency sought the details of such cases from the DGP in line with a Calcutta High Court Thursday order directing the CBI to take over cases related to post-poll violence against women.</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>Spain migrants: Sole survivor rescued in dinghy in Atlantic</strong> - The woman, who was spotted clinging to an upturned boat, says at least 52 other people died.</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>Belgium stabbing suspect won’t be charged over unborn baby’s death</strong> - A man in Belgium is charged with allegedly stabbing his partner, but not her unborn baby’s death.</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>Russia names Golos monitor as ‘foreign agent’ ahead of election</strong> - Golos has vowed to continue its work ahead of parliamentary elections in a month’s time.</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>Trabzonspor 1-2 Roma: Jose Mourinho reign starts with European win</strong> - Jose Mourinho’s spell as Roma boss starts with a win at Turkish side Trabzonspor in the Europa Conference League play- off.</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>Irish government to evacuate 36 citizens from Afghanistan</strong> - Three Irish citizens have been evacuated from the country so far, Ireland’s foreign minister says.</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>Point-to-point Wi-Fi bridging between buildings—the cheap and easy way</strong> - It cost us ~$100 to wirelessly connect two buildings across a small wooded area. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787619">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rocket Report: Firefly completes static fire, Blue Origin gets HLS stay</strong> - “This requirement is in alignment with our US government customer.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1788654">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Intel provides more details on its Arc GPUs, which will be made by TSMC</strong> - Still light on details, but the Arc GPUs will be a big step up from integrated. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1788686">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Quake “enhanced” re-release out before it’s announced (with Quake 64, too)</strong> - Rumored last week, an updated version of <em>Quake</em> appeared on PC and console stores today. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1788552">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Stunning official trailer for Foundation whets the appetite for more</strong> - “We can murder the man, but what about the movement?” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1788601">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
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<li><strong>OnlyFans just announced that they will be getting rid of all porn on their platform on October 1st…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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On October 2nd they will announce that they’ll be changing their name to “NoMore Fans”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Yeetaway987"> /u/Yeetaway987 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7q5fk/onlyfans_just_announced_that_they_will_be_getting/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7q5fk/onlyfans_just_announced_that_they_will_be_getting/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead are all friends</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Naturally, their mothers are blonde, brunette, and redheaded as well, and the ladies are chatting while their teenage daughters are hanging out in the other room.
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The brunette says with a devilish grin, “Hey, let’s look through the girls’ purses and see what they’re hiding from us.” She grabs her daughter’s purse, rifles through it for a moment, and pulls out a lighter. “Wow,” she says. “Looks like my Beth has been smoking cigarettes behind my back.”
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Her curiosity piqued, the redhead pulls her daughter’s purse onto her lap, digs through the items and reveals a bottle opener. “For crying out loud,” she blurts, disappointed. “Sue has been drinking, just like her good for nothing daddy!”
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The blonde mother, feeling obliged to follow suit, picks up her daughter’s purse, thrusts her hand in and fishes out a box of condoms. “Oh my God,” she utters with a blank expression followed by a breathless pause. “Debbie has a penis!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/motsanciens"> /u/motsanciens </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7tpl7/a_blonde_a_brunette_and_a_redhead_are_all_friends/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7tpl7/a_blonde_a_brunette_and_a_redhead_are_all_friends/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A man’s walking home late at night when he sees a woman in the shadows. “Twenty bucks,” she says. He’s never been with a prostitute before, but he decides what the hell.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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They are going at it for a minute when all of a sudden a light flashes on them—it’s a policeman.
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“What’s going on here, people?” asks the officer.
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“I’m making love to my wife,” the man answers indignantly.
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“Oh, I’m sorry,” says the cop, “I didn’t know.”
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“Well,” said the man, “to tell the truth neither did I until you flashed that light on her face.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/mgs_123"> /u/mgs_123 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p82cmw/a_mans_walking_home_late_at_night_when_he_sees_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p82cmw/a_mans_walking_home_late_at_night_when_he_sees_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>OnlyFans has just announced that it is removing all pornography on october 1st.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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I suggested they change their name to LonelyFans, but i dunno
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/finleyappp07"> /u/finleyappp07 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7ryj1/onlyfans_has_just_announced_that_it_is_removing/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7ryj1/onlyfans_has_just_announced_that_it_is_removing/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Spelling bee judge: “Your word is ‘seaward’.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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Contestant: “C-U-N…”
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Judge: “DEAR GOD PLEASE STOP.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JoeFas"> /u/JoeFas </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7i9v8/spelling_bee_judge_your_word_is_seaward/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p7i9v8/spelling_bee_judge_your_word_is_seaward/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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