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<title>17 June, 2023</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
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<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Remains Viable in Environmental Biofilms found in Meat Packaging Plants</strong> -
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To determine why SARS-CoV-2 appears to thrive specifically well in meat packaging plants, we used SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and meat packaging plant drain samples to develop mixed-species biofilms on materials commonly found within meat packaging plants (stainless steel (SS), PVC, and ceramic tile). Our data provides evidence that SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant remained viable on all the surfaces tested with and without an environmental biofilm. We observed that SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant was able to remain infectious with each of the environmental biofilms, however, we detected a significant reduction in viability post-exposure to Plant B biofilm on SS, PVC, and on ceramic tile chips, and to Plant C biofilm on SS and PVC chips. The numbers of viable SARS-CoV-2 Delta viral particles was 1.81 - 4.57-fold high than the viral inoculum incubated with the Plant B and Plant C environmental biofilm on SS, and PVC chips. We did not detect a significant difference in viability when SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant was incubated with the biofilm obtained from Plant A on any of the materials tested and SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant had higher plaque numbers when inoculated with Plant C biofilm on tile chips, with a 2.75-fold difference compared to SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant on tile chips by itself. These results indicate a complex virus-environmental biofilm interaction which correlates to the different bacteria found in each biofilm. Our results also indicate that there is the potential for biofilms to protect SARS-CoV-2 from disinfecting agents and remaining prevalent in meat packaging plants.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.15.545172v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Remains Viable in Environmental Biofilms found in Meat Packaging Plants</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>High-confidence placement of difficult-to-fit fragments into electron density by using anomalous signals - a case study using hits targeting SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 1</strong> -
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The identification of multiple simultaneous orientations of small molecule inhibitors binding to a protein target is a common challenge. It has recently been reported that the conformational heterogeneity of ligands is widely underreported in the Protein Data Bank, which is likely to impede optimal exploitation to improve affinity of these ligands. Significantly less is even known about multiple binding orientations for fragments (< 300 Da) although this information would be essential for subsequent fragment optimisation using growing, linking or merging and rational structure-based design. Here we use recently reported fragment hits for the SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 1 (nsp1) N-terminal domain to propose a general procedure for unambiguously identifying binding orientations of 2-dimensional fragments containing either sulphur or chloro substituents within the wavelength range of most tunable beamlines. By measuring datasets at two energies, using a tuneable beamline operating in vacuum and optimised for data collection at very low X-ray energies, we show that the anomalous signal can be used to identify multiple orientations in small fragments containing sulphur and/or chloro substituents or to verify recently reported conformations. Although in this specific case we identified the positions of sulphur and chlorine in fragments bound to their protein target, we are confident that this work can be further expanded to additional atoms or ions which often occur in fragments. Finally, our improvements in the understanding of binding orientations will also serve to improve the rational optimisation of SARS-CoV-2 nsp1 targeting fragment hits.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.16.545251v1" target="_blank">High-confidence placement of difficult-to-fit fragments into electron density by using anomalous signals - a case study using hits targeting SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 1</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Evaluation of 3-D printed swabs for respiratory sampling and testing for SARS-CoV-2 during the early pandemic period</strong> -
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Appropriate collection of respiratory samples is essential for accurate diagnostic testing of respiratory pathogens such as, SARS-CoV-2. Early in the pandemic, there was a shortage of nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs and difficulty in sampling suspected cases. Therefore, we developed a 3D printed nasal swab for anterior nares, paired with in-house viral transport medium (VTM). The utility of this 3D swab kit was investigated in comparison with the standard NP commercial swab and VTM, in 200 individuals between August and September 2021. Subjects were those presenting for diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 using the RT- PCR (cobas Roche assay) assay. NP samples were taken from each subject using the standard NP and 3D swabs followed by RT-PCR on paired specimens. CT values for amplification of gene targets were evaluated to determine assay parameters based on viral load cut offs of ≤ CT 35 or, ≤ CT 37. For high to medium viral loads, 3D swab based PCR testing had a sensitivity of 93%, specificity of 99%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 98.5% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 96.2% respectively. For low viral loads, 3D swab testing had a sensitivity of 88%, specificity of 99%, with a PPV of 98.5% and NPV of 93.2%.%. 3D swab sampling of anterior nares was comparable with NP sampling using standard swabs for SARS-CoV-2 specimens with a medium to high viral load. Therefore, 3D swab based sampling is a reliable and convenient local solution for collecting respiratory samples for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.14.23291367v1" target="_blank">Evaluation of 3-D printed swabs for respiratory sampling and testing for SARS-CoV-2 during the early pandemic period</a>
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<li><strong>Determinants of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome among hospitalized severe COVID-19 patients: a 2-year follow-up study</strong> -
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Abstract Background: Coronavirus disease–19 (COVID–19), emerged as a public health threat in December 2019. The number of COVID–19 cases worldwide is now more than 765 million with more than 6.9 million dead. During follow–up visits following discharge, a large percentage of patients were discovered to still be suffering from health issues that lower their quality of life and ability to return to work. This study assessed the prevalence and associated risk factors of post-acute COVID–19 syndrome (PACS) among severe COVID–19 patients who were discharged from Millennium COVID–19 care center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross–sectional study using data collected from patient charts and a follow–up telephone interview after two years of discharge. Systematic random sampling was used to select a total of 400 patients. A structured questionnaire developed from the case report form for PACS of WHO was used. Frequency and cross–tabulation were used for descriptive statistics. Predictor variables with a p–value <0.25 in bivariate analyses were included in the logistic regression. Result: Out of the 400 patients, 20 patients were dead, 14 patients refused to give consent, and 26 patients could not be reached because their phone was not working. Finally, 340 were included in the study. The majority (68.5%) were males and the mean age was 53.9 (±13.3 SD) years. Most of the patients (60%) has one or more comorbidity. The most common symptom at presentation was cough (93.5%), followed by shortness of breath (82.1%) and fatigue (69.7%). The mean duration of hospital admission was 12.3 (±6.5 SD) days. More than a third (38.1%) of the patients reported the persistence of at least one symptom after hospital discharge. The most common symptoms were fatigue (27.5%) and Cough (15.3%). older age (AOR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02 – 1.07), female sex (AOR 1.82, 95% CI 1.00 – 3.29), presence of comorbidity (AOR 2.38, 95% CI 1.35 – 4.19), alcohol use (AOR 3.05, 95% CI 1.49 – 6.26), fatigue at presentation (AOR 2.18, 95% CI 1.21 – 3.95), and longer hospital stay (AOR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02 – 1.10) were foundto increase the odds of developing post–acute COVID-19 syndrome. Higher hemoglobin level was found to decrease the risk of subsequent post–acute COVID–19 syndrome (AOR 0.84, 95% CI 0.71 – 0.99). Conclusion: establishing a dedicated PACS followup clinic, especially for those with a higher risk can help to provide comprehensive care for the patients and improve their quality of life. Keywords: Post –acute COVID –19 syndrome, Long COVID, Chronic COVID –19
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.13.23290674v1" target="_blank">Determinants of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome among hospitalized severe COVID-19 patients: a 2-year follow-up study</a>
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<li><strong>Omicron vs. the Rest: Assessing the Competitive Dynamics and Coinfection Scenarios of COVID-19 Strains on a Social Network</strong> -
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The rapid spread and evolving nature of COVID-19 variants have raised concerns regarding their competitive dynamics and coinfection scenarios. In this study, we assess the competitive interactions between the Omicron variant and other prominent variants (Alpha, Beta, and Delta) on a social network, considering both single infection and coinfection states. Using the SIRS model, we simulate the progression of these variants and analyze their impact on infection rates, mortality, and overall disease burden. Our findings demonstrate that the Alpha and Beta strains exhibit comparable contagion levels, with the Alpha strain displaying higher infection and mortality rates. Moreover, the Delta strain emerges as the most prevalent and virulent strain, surpassing the other variants. When introduced alongside the less virulent Omicron strain, the Delta strain results in higher infection and mortality rates. However, the Omicron strain9s dominance leads to an overall increase in disease statistics. Remarkably, our study highlights the efficacy of the Omicron variant in supplanting more virulent strains and its potential role in mitigating the spread of infectious diseases. The Omicron strain demonstrates a competitive advantage over the other variants, suggesting its potential to reduce the severity of the disease and alleviate the burden on healthcare systems. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring and understanding the dynamics of COVID-19 variants, as they can inform effective prevention and mitigation strategies, particularly with the emergence of variants that possess a relative advantage in controlling disease transmission.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.13.23291332v1" target="_blank">Omicron vs. the Rest: Assessing the Competitive Dynamics and Coinfection Scenarios of COVID-19 Strains on a Social Network</a>
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<li><strong>The relative effectiveness of a high-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine vs standard-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccines in older adults in France: a retrospective cohort study during the 2021-22 influenza season</strong> -
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<b>Background:</b> High-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine (HD-QIV) was introduced during the 2021/22 influenza season in France for adults aged ≥65 years as an alternative to standard-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccines (SD-QIV). This is the first study to estimate the relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) of HD-QIV versus SD-QIV against influenza-related hospitalizations in France. <b>Methods:</b> Community-dwelling individuals aged ≥65 years with reimbursed influenza vaccine claims during the 2021/22 influenza season were included from the French national health insurance database. Individuals were followed up from vaccination day to 30 June 2022, nursing home admission or death date. Baseline socio-demographic and health characteristics were identified from medical records over the 5 previous years. Hospitalizations due to influenza and other causes were recorded from 14 days after vaccination to end of follow-up. HD-QIV and SD-QIV vaccinees were matched using 1:4 propensity score matching with an exact constraint on age group, sex, week of vaccination and region. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were estimated using zero-inflated Poisson or zero-inflated negative binomial regression models. <b>Results:</b> We matched 405,385 (99.9%) HD-QIV to 1,621,540 SD-QIV vaccinees. HD-QIV was associated with a 23.3% (95%CI: 8.4–35.8) lower rate of influenza hospitalizations compared to SD-QIV. Post-matching, we observed higher rates in the HD-QIV group for hospitalizations non-specific to influenza and for negative control outcomes, suggesting residual confounding by indication. <b>Conclusions:</b> HD-QIV was associated with lower influenza-related hospitalization rates versus SD-QIV, consistent with existing evidence, in the context of high SARS-CoV-2 circulation in France and likely prioritization of HD-QIV for older/more comorbid individuals.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.15.23291345v1" target="_blank">The relative effectiveness of a high-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine vs standard-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccines in older adults in France: a retrospective cohort study during the 2021-22 influenza season</a>
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<li><strong>Tracking SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in rural communities using blood-fed mosquitoes</strong> -
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The spread of SARS-CoV-2 cannot be well monitored and understood in areas without capacity for effective disease surveillance. Countries with a young population will have disproportionately large numbers of asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic infections, further hindering detection of infection in the population. Sero-surveillance on a country-wide scale by trained medical professionals may be limited in scope in resource limited setting such as Mali. Novel ways of broadly sampling the human population in a non-invasive method would allow for large-scale surveillance at a reduced cost. Here we evaluate the collection of naturally bloodfed mosquitoes to test for human anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the laboratory and at five field locations in Mali. Immunoglobulin-G antibodies were found to be readily detectable within the mosquito bloodmeals by a bead-based immunoassay at least through 10 hours post-feeding with high sensitivity (0.900 STD=0.059) and specificity (0.924 STD=0.080), respectively, indicating that most blood-fed mosquitoes collected indoors during early morning hours (and thus, have likely fed the previous night) are viable samples for analysis. We find that reactivity to four SARS-CoV-2 antigens rose during the pandemic from pre-pandemic levels. Consistent with other sero-surveillance studies in Mali, crude seropositivity of blood sampled via mosquitoes was 6.3% in October/November 2020 over all sites, and increased to 25.1% overall, with the town closest to Bamako reaching 46.7% in February of 2021. Mosquito bloodmeals a viable target for conventional immunoassays, and therefore country-wide sero-surveillance of human diseases (both vector-borne and non-vector-borne) is attainable in areas where human-biting mosquitoes are common, and is an informative, cost-effective, non-invasive sampling option.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.13.23291267v1" target="_blank">Tracking SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in rural communities using blood-fed mosquitoes</a>
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<li><strong>(PREPRINT PAPER) A Moderated Mediation Model of Self-Construal, Social Trust, and Compliance on Covid-19 Public Health Regulation: A Cross-country Analysis</strong> -
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To address the global Covid-19 pandemic, governments around the world require on the collective cooperation of their citizens to comply with public health regulation. Earlier studies examined the extent to which self-construal has an impact on individual compliance to law. However, existing literature has paid little significant attention to behavioural outcome of self-construal in the pandemic context across countries and cultures. The aim of this study was; 1) to determine whether interdependent self-construal predicts compliance of Covid-19 public health regulation, 2) to examine if the association was mediated by individual social trust, and 3) to test whether these associations were moderated by respondent’s country of residence (US x Indonesia). General adult respondents from US (N=231) and Indonesia (N=440) were voluntary participated in a survey measuring their trust to the government, interdependent self-construal orientation and compliance toward Covid-19 public health regulation. While our moderated mediation model involving respondent’s country residence did not support the hypothesis, the mediation analysis demonstrated significant association between interdependent self-construal and compliance via social trust. Our additional simple moderation analysis on direct effect of interdependent self-construal and compliance showed significant findings. Further, theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed in the following paper.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/hjz6n/" target="_blank">(PREPRINT PAPER) A Moderated Mediation Model of Self-Construal, Social Trust, and Compliance on Covid-19 Public Health Regulation: A Cross-country Analysis</a>
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<li><strong>M3NetFlow: a novel multi-scale multi-hop modular graph AI model for multi-omics data integration and signaling network inference</strong> -
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The integration and interpretation of multi-omics data play a crucial role in systems biology for prioritizing key molecular targets and deciphering core signaling pathways of complex diseases, such as cancer, covid-19 and Alzheimer's disease. However, it remains a challenge that has not been adequately addressed. Graph neural networks (GNN) have been emerged as powerful artificial intelligence models for analyzing data with a graphical structure. Nevertheless, GNN models have not been sufficiently designed for integrative and interpretable analysis of multi-omics data. In this study, we propose a novel multi-scale multi-hop modular GNN model, M3NetFlow, to integrate and interpret multi-omics data to rank key targets and infer core signaling pathways. Specifically, we applied the M3NetFlow model to infer cell-line specific core signaling networks explaining drug combination response. The evaluation and comparison results on drug combination prediction showed that the M3NetFlow model achieved significantly higher prediction accuracy than existing GNN models. Furthermore, M3NetFlow can predict key targets and infer essential signaling networks regulating drug combination response. It is critical for investigating mechanisms of synergy, and guiding the development of personalized precision medicine for patients with drug resistance. This model can be applied to general multi-omics data-driven research.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.15.545130v1" target="_blank">M3NetFlow: a novel multi-scale multi-hop modular graph AI model for multi-omics data integration and signaling network inference</a>
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<li><strong>Mapping SARS-CoV-2 antigenic relationships and serological responses</strong> -
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During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, multiple variants escaping pre-existing immunity emerged, causing concerns about continued protection. Here, we use antigenic cartography to analyze patterns of cross-reactivity among a panel of 21 variants and 15 groups of human sera obtained following primary infection with 10 different variants or after mRNA-1273 or mRNA-1273.351 vaccination. We find antigenic differences among pre-Omicron variants caused by substitutions at spike protein positions 417, 452, 484, and 501. Quantifying changes in response breadth over time and with additional vaccine doses, our results show the largest increase between 4 weeks and >3 months post-2nd dose. We find changes in immunodominance of different spike regions depending on the variant an individual was first exposed to, with implications for variant risk assessment and vaccine strain selection.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.28.477987v3" target="_blank">Mapping SARS-CoV-2 antigenic relationships and serological responses</a>
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<li><strong>Perceptions Matter: Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Spain’s New Minimum Income on Households’ Financial Wellbeing</strong> -
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This paper examines how minimum income schemes (MISs) affect households’ financial wellbeing and whether this effect differs across objective material conditions and households’ perceptions. Two reasons motivate this study. First, while the Covid-19 pandemic, the ecological transition and the cost-of-living crisis have all prompted a renewed interest in MISs, no consensus exists on how effective these schemes are in improving households’ financial wellbeing. Second, when evaluating MISs, the literature focuses on objective measures of financial wellbeing, namely monetary poverty. Yet, peoples’ perceptions of their own situation can be instrumental in affecting their health, productivity and decision-making and can reveal important information about adaptation mechanisms or spillovers to non-recipients. This paper examines the case study of Spain, a country that introduced a new MIS in 2020. The study uses Eurostat survey data for the 2010-2022 period in a Synthetic Control Method analysis. The results show that, while the policy had no significant effect on objective financial wellbeing measures (i.e. the poverty rate, the poverty gap and mean income) for its first year and a half of existence, it did considerably improve subjective financial wellbeing after two years and a half, as it helped households feel less pessimistic about the evolution of their finances during the Covid-19 and cost-of-living crises. The paper discusses several mechanisms explaining this differentiated impact of the policy, such as its lagged rollout, the improvements made to the benefit from 2022 as well as anticipation, placebo and positive spillover effects of the MIS. The findings highlight the importance for practitioners to consider subjective measures when assessing income support schemes.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/wv7xt/" target="_blank">Perceptions Matter: Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Spain’s New Minimum Income on Households’ Financial Wellbeing</a>
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<li><strong>Measuring short-term mobility patterns in North America using Facebook Advertising data, with an application to adjusting Covid-19 mortality rates</strong> -
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Patterns and trends in short-term mobility are important to understand, but data required to measure such movements are often not available from traditional sources. We collected daily data from Facebook’s Advertising Platform to measure short-term mobility across all states and provinces in the United States and Canada. We show that rates of short-term travel vary substantially over geographic area, but also by age and sex, with the highest rates of travel generally for males. Strong seasonal patterns are apparent in travel to many areas, with different regions experiencing either increased travel or decreased travel over winter, depending on climate. Further, some areas appear to show marked changes in mobility patterns since the onset of the pandemic. We used the traveler rates constructed from Facebook to adjust Covid-19 mortality rates over the period July 2020 to July 2021, and showed that accounting for travelers leads to on average a 3 per cent difference in implied mortality rates, with substantial variation across demographic groups and regions.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/bev4p/" target="_blank">Measuring short-term mobility patterns in North America using Facebook Advertising data, with an application to adjusting Covid-19 mortality rates</a>
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<li><strong>Are patterns of discounting choices stable over time?</strong> -
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Few studies have examined the stability of discounting responses over time. We examined delay and probabilistic discounting of losses at two time points, 13-16 months apart. We found that people do change over time in the frequency with which they select immediate and certain losses. These changes in discounting steepness for delayed and probabilistic losses were predicted by different profiles of state-dependent factors (i.e., local numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, anxiety, and depression). We also identified subgroups of individuals with different loss response patterns, and although the tendency to switch between subgroups over time was below chance, it was not negligible, particularly for delay discounting. Further, subgroup changes for delay, but not probabilistic, discounting were influenced by age as well as instability of income and intolerance of uncertainty. Together, these findings indicate the importance of considering temporal stability and the role of state-dependent factors in discounting research.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/4d7ny/" target="_blank">Are patterns of discounting choices stable over time?</a>
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<li><strong>Repurposing Remdesivir for COVID-19: Computational Drug Design Targeting SARS-CoV-2 RNA Polymerase and Main Protease using Molecular Dynamics Approach</strong> -
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<div>
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The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious respiratory illness that has become a global health crisis with new variants, an unprecedented number of infections, and deaths and demands urgent manufacturing of potent therapeutics. Despite the success of vaccination campaigns around the globe, there is no particular therapeutics approved to date for efficiently treating infected individuals. Repositioning or repurposing previously effective antivirals against RNA viruses to treat COVID-19 patients is a feasible option. Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licenses for treating COVID-19 patients who are critically ill patients. Remdesivir's low efficacy, which has been shown in some clinical trials, possible adverse effects, and dose-related toxicities are issues with its use in clinical use. Our study aimed to design potent derivatives of remdesivir through the functional group modification of the parent drug targeting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and main protease (MPro) of SARS-CoV-2. The efficacy and stability of the proposed derivatives were assessed by molecular docking and extended molecular dynamics simulation analyses. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic activity was measured to ensure the safety and drug potential of the designed derivatives. The derivatives were non-carcinogenic, chemically reactive, highly interactive, and stable with the target proteins. D-CF3 is one of the designed derivatives that finally showed stronger interaction than the parent drug, according to the docking and dynamics simulation analyses, with both target proteins. However, in vitro and in vivo investigations are guaranteed to validate the findings in the future. Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp); Main protease (MPro); Remdesivir; Modified derivatives; Molecular docking; Molecular dynamics simulation.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.15.545129v1" target="_blank">Repurposing Remdesivir for COVID-19: Computational Drug Design Targeting SARS-CoV-2 RNA Polymerase and Main Protease using Molecular Dynamics Approach</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Inclusion of glycopeptides in hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike ectodomain provides increased sequence coverage</strong> -
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<div>
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Hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) can provide precise analysis of a protein's conformational dynamics across varied states, such as heat-denatured vs. native protein structures, localizing regions that are specifically affected by such conditional changes. Maximizing protein sequence coverage provides high confidence that regions of interest were located by HDX-MS, but one challenge for complete sequence coverage is N-glycosylation sites. The deuteration of glycopeptides has not always been identified in previous reports of HDX-MS analyses, causing significant sequence coverage gaps in heavily glycosylated proteins and uncertainty in structural dynamics in many regions throughout a glycoprotein. We report HDX-MS analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein ectodomain in its trimeric pre-fusion form, which has 22 predicted N-glycosylation sites per monomer, with and without heat treatment. We identified glycopeptides and calculated their isotopic mass shifts from deuteration. Inclusion of the deuterated glycopeptides increased sequence coverage of spike ectodomain from 76% to 84%, demonstrated that glycopeptides had been deuterated, and improved confidence in results localizing structural re-arrangements. Inclusion of deuterated glycopeptides improves the analysis of the conformational dynamics of glycoproteins such as viral surface antigens and cellular receptors.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.14.544985v1" target="_blank">Inclusion of glycopeptides in hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike ectodomain provides increased sequence coverage</a>
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</div></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Community-engaged Optimization of COVID-19 Rapid Evaluation And TEsting Experiences</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; COVID-19 Pandemic<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: COVID-19 walk-up, on-site testing strategy; Behavioral: Community Health Worker (CHW) leading testing navigation and general preventive care reminders; Behavioral: No-cost self-testing kit vending machines<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of California, San Diego; San Ysidro Health Center<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Influence of Manual Diaphragm Release on Pulmonary Functions in Women With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: manual therapy; Other: breathing exercise and prone position alone<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Cairo University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm F (Montelukast)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Placebo; Drug: Montelukast<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Susanna Naggie, MD; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm B (Fluvoxamine)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Fluvoxamine; Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Susanna Naggie, MD; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm D (Ivermectin 600)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Ivermectin; Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Susanna Naggie, MD; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm E (Fluvoxamine 100)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Fluvoxamine; Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Susanna Naggie, MD; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety Study of COVID19 Vaccine on the Market</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Biological: Recombinant new coronavirus vaccine (CHO cell)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co., Ltd.; Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Guizhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Hainan Center for Disease Control & Prevention<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pycnogenol® in Post-COVID-19 Condition</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post COVID-19 Condition; Long COVID<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Pycnogenol®; Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: University of Zurich<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<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 Bailing Capsule on Pulmonary Fibrosis After COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Pulmonary Fibrosis; COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: Bailing capsule<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<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 COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP) Transfusion to Prevent COVID-19 in Adult Recipients Following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Biological: COVID Convalescent Plasma<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluating Emetine for Viral Outbreaks (EVOLVE)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Emetine Hydrochloride; Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Johns Hopkins University; Nepal Health Research Council; Bharatpur Hospital Chitwan; Stony Brook University; Rutgers University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cupping Therapy on Immune System in Post Covid -19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid-19 Patients<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Combination Product: Cupping therapy with convential medical treatment; Drug: Convential medical treatment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Cairo University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<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 the Immunogenicity and Safety of Sequential Booster Immunization of Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (CHO Cells) for SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Biological: Recombinant Novel Coronavirus vaccine (CHO Cells)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>LIAISON NES Flu A/B & COVID-19 Clinical Agreement</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Influenza A; Influenza Type B; Coronavirus Disease 2019<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Diagnostic Test: LIAISON NES FLU A/B & COVID-19<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: DiaSorin Molecular LLC<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Immunogenicity and Safety Study of SARS-CoV-2 DNA Vaccine (ICCOV)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Biological: SARS-CoV-2 DNA Vaccine (ICCOV)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Immuno Cure 3 Limited; The University of Hong Kong<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hybrid immunity in older adults is associated with reduced SARS-CoV-2 infections following BNT162b2 COVID-19 immunisation</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Hybrid immunity in older adults was associated with considerably higher antibody titres, neutralisation and inhibition capacity. Instances of high anti-RBD titre with lower inhibition suggests antibody quantity and quality as independent potential correlates of protection, highlighting added value of measuring inhibition over antibody titre alone to inform vaccine strategy.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Multivalent bicyclic peptides are an effective antiviral modality that can potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2</strong> - COVID-19 has stimulated the rapid development of new antibody and small molecule therapeutics to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we describe a third antiviral modality that combines the drug-like advantages of both. Bicycles are entropically constrained peptides stabilized by a central chemical scaffold into a bi-cyclic structure. Rapid screening of diverse bacteriophage libraries against SARS-CoV-2 Spike yielded unique Bicycle binders across the entire protein. Exploiting Bicycles’ inherent…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tocilizumab for the treatment of COVID-19</strong> - INTRODUCTION: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the repurposing of medicines has been pursued to find interventions effective in preventing fatal outcome of the disease. One of these drugs was tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 inhibiting monoclonal antibody, previously used to treat several immune-related disorders.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Preventative and therapeutic potential of animal milk components against COVID-19: A comprehensive review</strong> - The global pandemic of COVID-19 is considered one of the most catastrophic events on earth. During the pandemic, food ingredients may play crucial roles in preventing infectious diseases and sustaining people’s general health and well-being. Animal milk acts as a super food since it has the capacity to minimize the occurrence of viral infections due to inherent antiviral properties of its ingredients. SARS-CoV-2 virus infection can be prevented by immune-enhancing and antiviral properties of…</p></li>
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<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 PCR: frequency of internal control inhibition in clinical practice</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a low percentage of inhibition using RNase P as an internal control in COVID-19 PCRs using the CDC protocol, thus proving the effectiveness of this protocol for identification of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples. Re-extraction was efficacious for samples that showed little or no fluorescence for the RNase P gene.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A suitable drug structure for interaction with SARS-CoV-2 main protease between boceprevir, masitinib and rupintrivir; a molecular dynamics study</strong> - In recent years, more than 200 countries of the world have faced a health crisis due to the epidemiological disease of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It had a huge impact on the world economy and the global health sector. Researchers are studying the design and discovery of drugs that can inhibit SARS-CoV-2. The main protease of SARS-CoV-2 is an attractive target for the study of antiviral drugs against coronavirus diseases. According to the docking results, binding energy for…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Combining virtual screening with cis-/trans-cleavage enzymatic assays effectively reveals broad-spectrum inhibitors that target the main proteases of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV</strong> - The main protease (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 is essential for viral replication, which suggests that the M^(pro) is a critical target in the development of small molecules to treat COVID-19. This study used an in-silico prediction approach to investigate the complex structure of SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro) in compounds from the United States National Cancer Institute (NCI) database, then validate potential inhibitory compounds against the SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro) in cis- and trans-cleavage proteolytic assays….</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Structure-Based Drug Design of RdRp Inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2</strong> - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a worldwide pandemic since 2019, spreading rapidly and posing a significant threat to human health and life. With over 6 billion confirmed cases of the virus, the need for effective therapeutic drugs has become more urgent than ever before. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is crucial in viral replication and transcription, catalysing viral RNA synthesis and serving as a promising therapeutic target for developing…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An allosteric inhibitor of sirtuin 2 deacetylase activity exhibits broad-spectrum antiviral activity</strong> - Most drugs used to treat viral disease target a virus-coded product. They inhibit a single virus or virus family, and the pathogen can readily evolve resistance. Host-targeted antivirals can overcome these limitations. The broad-spectrum activity achieved by host targeting can be especially useful in combating emerging viruses and for treatment of diseases caused by multiple viral pathogens, such as opportunistic agents in immunosuppressed patients. We have developed a family of compounds that…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Recent advances in RNA sample preparation techniques for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva and gargle</strong> - Molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 in gargle and saliva complements the standard analysis of nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) specimens. Although gargle and saliva specimens can be readily obtained non-invasively, appropriate collection and processing of gargle and saliva specimens are critical to the accuracy and sensitivity of the overall analytical method. This review highlights challenges and recent advances in the treatment of gargle and saliva samples for subsequent analysis using reverse…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An efflux pump in genomic island GI-M202a mediates the transfer of polymyxin B resistance in Pandoraea pnomenusa M202</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that GI-M202a along with the MFS transporter FKQ53_RS21695 in P. pnomenusa M202 could mediate the transmission of polymyxin B resistance.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dimethyl fumarate and 4-octyl itaconate are anticoagulants that suppress Tissue Factor in macrophages via inhibition of Type I Interferon</strong> - Excessive inflammation-associated coagulation is a feature of infectious diseases, occurring in such conditions as bacterial sepsis and COVID-19. It can lead to disseminated intravascular coagulation, one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Recently, type I interferon (IFN) signaling has been shown to be required for tissue factor (TF; gene name F3) release from macrophages, a critical initiator of coagulation, providing an important mechanistic link between innate immunity and…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Verbenalin alleviates acute lung injury induced by sepsis and IgG immune complex through GPR18 receptor</strong> - Acute lung injury is significantly associated with the aberrant activation and pyroptosis of alveolar macrophages. Targeting the GPR18 receptor presents a potential therapeutic approach to mitigate inflammation. Verbenalin, a prominent component of Verbena in Xuanfeibaidu (XFBD) granules, is recommended for treating COVID-19. In this study, we demonstrate the therapeutic effect of verbenalin on lung injury through direct binding to the GPR18 receptor. Verbenalin inhibits the activation of…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Synthesis, Characterization, and Antibacterial Activity of New Isatin Derivatives</strong> - 1H-indol-2,3-dione (isatin) class of biologically active compounds have analgesic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tubercular, anti-proliferative properties, and is also useful for the treatment of SARS-CoV. Schiff bases containing isatin moiety are known to have broad spectrum of biological activities like anti-viral, anti-tubercular, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial. In this work, several Schiff base derivatives have been synthesized using two methods (synthetic and microwave) by…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mercapto-pyrimidines are reversible covalent inhibitors of the papain-like protease (PLpro) and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV-2) replication</strong> - The papain-like protease (PLpro) plays a critical role in SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV-2) pathogenesis and is essential for viral replication and for allowing the virus to evade the host immune response. Inhibitors of PLpro have great therapeutic potential, however, developing them has been challenging due to PLpro’s restricted substrate binding pocket. In this report, we screened a 115 000-compound library for PLpro inhibitors and identified a new pharmacophore, based on a mercapto-pyrimidine fragment that…</p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“I Am the Only One”: Trump’s Messianic 2024 Message</strong> - Under threat of prison, the master of fear and anger takes another dark political turn. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/i-am-the-only-one-trumps-messianic-2024-message">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine’s Counter-Offensive, and What Comes After</strong> - Zelensky has mounted a major effort to take back territory seized by the Russians. But he’ll have to do more than prevail on the battlefield. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/ukraines-counter-offensive-and-what-comes-after">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is Donald Trump Scared?</strong> - At the former President’s arraignment in Miami on Tuesday, it was impossible to say whether his fate was more likely to be a return to the White House—or prison. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/is-donald-trump-scared">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Trump Compares with Presidents Who Burned Their Papers</strong> - The Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore sees historic parallels—as well as willful and unprecedented behavior by the freshly indicted ex-President. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-trump-compares-with-presidents-who-burned-their-papers">link</a></p></li>
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||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Post-Racial Vision of “Across the Spider-verse”</strong> - The movie treats its fantastical multiethnic team of superheroes and their forays into cultural determinism with Obama-like breeziness and tact. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-post-racial-vision-of-across-the-spider-verse">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>How to tell when you’re getting good advice</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="A collage-type image of a blue megaphone projecting an array of colorful triangles." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gwQIJ8Bu2vP7iN51podjhRSqTPs=/0x243:6653x5233/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72378996/GettyImages_1348357293.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Overwhelmed by too much guidance from all directions? This should help.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2IS9NO">
|
||||||
|
Few people’s job description includes doling out wisdom to strangers on the internet. John Paul Brammer’s does. His column, <a href="https://holapapi.substack.com/"><em>¡Hola Papi!</em></a>, is billed as “What if Dear Abby was a gay Mexican man on Grindr?” Readers have sought Brammer’s guidance on matters of the heart (like whether to <a href="https://holapapi.substack.com/p/im-leaving-a-decent-thing">let go</a> of a decent, if not thrilling, relationship) and platonic issues alike (such as <a href="https://holapapi.substack.com/p/i-hate-my-writing-group">whether to ghost</a> an exhausting writing group). Recently, a reader sent a letter to Brammer asking for advice on how to ask out a crush. Brammer’s <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/hola-papi-how-do-i-ask-him-out.html">suggestions were measured and actionable:</a> “Express interest. Avoid desperation.” Every once in a while, Brammer will receive an update from one of those inquiring minds.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jj5wCb">
|
||||||
|
“He sent me a letter back saying, ‘Hey, so I did ask that guy out and we went on a date, and even though it didn’t really go anywhere, I felt more confident I can do that again now,’” Brammer says.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I1Lnun">
|
||||||
|
Humankind has long sought crowd-sourced answers to problems. From the <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2017/6/14/15782712/advice-columns-dear-abby-history">300-year history of the advice column</a> to the plethora of advisers at our employ — spiritual, political, financial, emotional, professional, legal — people are inclined to make better choices when those actions have <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2022-78026-001">been guided by another</a>. “We all have biases,” says <a href="https://commarts.wisc.edu/staff/van-swol-lyn/">Lyn Van Swol</a>, a professor of communication science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “and if you can meld your perspective with another good source of information, you’re starting to cancel out some of your biases.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||||||
|
<div id="Td2k2m">
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d6Wgta">
|
||||||
|
Advice is ubiquitous and virtually no topic is off-limits. People seek counsel about the mundane — what TV show to watch, where to go to dinner — to the consequential — how to invest money, where to send kids to school. Those whom we typically seek advice from are people we know and who are <a href="https://oxfordre.com/communication/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-178">easily accessible, people we like, and people we believe to be experts</a>, says <a href="https://cas.la.psu.edu/people/erina-farrell/">Erina Farrell</a>, a professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State University.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bJoVwK">
|
||||||
|
But not all advice is welcome. Well-meaning loved ones or clueless outsiders offer their unsolicited guidance in <a href="https://www.vox.com/instagram-news">Instagram</a> comments and the grocery store check-out line alike; in the age of <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/lifehack">TikTok life hacks</a>, no one is immune to passive consumption of advice. The sheer volume of advice available can make it difficult to discern valuable intel from bogus verbal snake oil.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="McEH2n">
|
||||||
|
When advice is everywhere — from the therapy room to our phones — how can we parse the reasonable from the absurd? What we consider effective counsel has more to do with our own preferences than it does with the quality of the information provided by our advisers (though that definitely matters, too). Here are some alternative ways of distilling and implementing advice.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="DNFJx7">
|
||||||
|
Do you actually want advice?
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T3kb9P">
|
||||||
|
Most often, advice is sought and utilized when we haven’t <a href="https://oxfordre.com/communication/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-178">thought through solutions on our own</a>. In these moments adrift, it can be tempting to get swept up in the deluge of guidance, both online and off. Friends and family are inclined to fix our problems by offering advice when, perhaps in reality, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/avoid-fight-ask-partner-comfort-solutions_l_602ae37fc5b6591becdadf3d">all we want is to vent</a>. The myriad tips that populate our social feeds may influence us to make changes we never considered before. We’re notoriously bad at taking advice, even if we’ve solicited it ourselves, Van Swol says, but the more we’re exposed to certain messages — for example, TikTok tips about how to wake up earlier — the more we start to consider the suggestion.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8f3FPa">
|
||||||
|
To determine whether advice is what we’re after, we need to consider whether the subject matter at hand is something we’ve previously thought about independently, and not because a friend or a piece of content on the internet brought it to our attention. Because we usually solicit advice with a specific goal in mind — like improving a relationship or making more money — absorbing ambient advice requires us to think about what we actually want, instead of what outsiders say we should want, says <a href="https://faculty.smu.edu.sg/profile/michael-schaerer-1331">Michael Schaerer</a>, an associate professor of organizational behavior and human resources at Singapore Management University. “Maybe your goal is not to get up at 6 am and start running around like a crazy person. But instead, maybe your goal is to have a more healthy sleep cycle and be able to stay in bed a bit longer and to reduce your stress from the previous day,” he says. “When you get bombarded with advice, you should always try and filter it through these criteria to figure out [if] this is actually something that concerns me and [if] it will be helpful to me.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="7xOTgo">
|
||||||
|
Does the advice align with your life?
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NoLNQy">
|
||||||
|
People take advice when the suggestion addresses a problem or concern, is feasible to achieve, and doesn’t have any major consequences or “side effects,” Farrell says. A friend might propose you buy a car to solve your issues of <a href="https://www.vox.com/transportation">transportation</a>, but maybe the cost of the purchase makes the advice unfeasible — and carries the added consequence of going into debt.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3GzNIc">
|
||||||
|
Alternatively, some advice is too generic and superficial, Schaerer says, and therefore provides no realistic roadmap toward implementation. Platitudes like “stop worrying” and “follow your heart” don’t concretely apply to anyone’s life.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WxBONq">
|
||||||
|
When weighing advice, think about the realities of your life and your preferences. Taking an online stranger’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23700540/parenting-advice-endless-recycling-dr-spock-gentle-parenting">advice to limit kids’ screen time</a> may not be sage wisdom if plopping your toddler in front of an iPad allows you time to tend to chores and help your older child with homework. “If the advice just does not gel with your lifestyle, if it’s not practical, it can be good advice for someone but not for you,” Brammer says. What works for one person and their lifestyle may not be as effective for another.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="bkHHX8">
|
||||||
|
Who is giving the advice?
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m2LrTP">
|
||||||
|
The source of advice is as important as the content of the advice. Trustworthy advisers have some amount of expertise in the specific domain they’re discussing, like a lawyer giving legal advice or a person who is married doling out marriage lessons. However, someone who’s experienced a challenge or who is still in the “messy middle” may provide alternative viewpoints. “When you fail, or something doesn’t work out for you, you actually think about it much more deeply than when everything’s going smoothly,” says <a href="https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/eskreis-winkler_lauren.aspx">Lauren Eskreis-Winkler</a>, an assistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. This may prove helpful when considering advice.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="usGQWC">
|
||||||
|
Just because someone has experienced something (successfully or not) does not make them the definitive source of wisdom. We tend to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37104799/">favor advisers</a> who are <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-art-of-giving-and-receiving-advice">more confident</a>, but their guidance may not always be accurate.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UVgORa">
|
||||||
|
Differing and diverse points of view can help us make better decisions because the advice is “coming from someone who has had different experiences,” Van Swol says. “Their advice is going to be able to account for some blind spots you might have.” The more open-minded we are to advisers who differ from us, the greater number of alternative options we can weigh before making a decision. The more people we solicit advice from also leads to better decisions overall, Van Swol says, since we can meld together aspects of all of the advice or one course of action stands out as the most recommended from the panel of advisers.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xVwmrk">
|
||||||
|
When it comes to online advice, take time to consider the source. Does the person have expertise in the subject matter or are they just a person on the internet? Are they impartial or are they being paid to offer a specific view? Are they looking to stoke controversy by peddling potentially dangerous advice? Is the person doling out advice actually taking their own advice? “You have to ask yourself why you trust them,” says money coach <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@nobudgetbabe">Nicole Victoria</a>, who shares financial wisdom with an audience of over 1.6 million followers on TikTok. “Do you trust them because you have information that will lead you to know that they are a trustworthy source? … Because anybody can create content. And it’s not always good.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="1C0yWX">
|
||||||
|
What emotional reaction does the advice garner?
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nvMfeP">
|
||||||
|
Emotions can be a good barometer for whether we should take advice — but they’re not the only metric. We may initially bristle at a therapist’s suggestion to <a href="https://www.vox.com/even-better/23317604/side-hustle-burnout-work">ditch a time-suck of a side hustle</a>, but after further reflection, come to realize how much life would improve without the extra responsibility. Good advice can also come in a terrible package: sage life lessons delivered condescendingly from a parent, for instance. “That doesn’t always necessarily mean the advice, that the thing that’s being advised, is a bad thing to do,” Farrell says. “It’s your gut reaction to being told what to do.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LdAAP7">
|
||||||
|
Pause and examine the emotional reaction to the advice, Farrell says, and reflect on whether the guidance is actually incompatible <a href="https://www.vox.com/life">with your life</a> and circumstances or if it’s simply uncomfortable to hear, is difficult — but not impossible — to achieve, or a different message than expected.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kErEQn">
|
||||||
|
For Brammer’s letter-writer, asking someone out on a date was anxiety-inducing and put them in a position to be rejected — but it was the right advice.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y6lSHu">
|
||||||
|
“Good advice tells you what that change looks like,” Brammer says, “and reminds you that there is something waiting for you on the other side.”
|
||||||
|
</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>The savage bug-eating plants of New Jersey</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/g9RpZw6Kwj8uEWH1HulVtHWVKVg=/0x0:2423x1817/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72378940/B88A7771.0.jpeg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A carnivorous sundew plant in New Jersey’s pine barrens. | Benji Jones/Vox
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Carnivorous plants are thriving in the most unlikely place.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lGmdye">
|
||||||
|
For small aquatic critters like mosquito larvae and water fleas, a plant called the bladderwort is a nightmare. Like the Venus flytrap, it’s carnivorous; it eats bugs.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p8R11z">
|
||||||
|
On the water’s surface, bladderworts don’t look menacing. They have long and slender stems topped with small, colorful flowers. Yet underwater, they have a web of leaves covered in insect-ensnaring “bladders.” If a small invertebrate gets too close to those bladders (which look a bit like lentils), the structures will open, suck the animal inside, and then seal tightly. The plant then secretes digestive chemicals to consume its catch.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sL1ceE">
|
||||||
|
The whole entrapment process — shown in the GIF below — takes <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/video-worlds-fastest-moving-carnivorous-plant#:~:text=Catching%20this%20on%20film%20for,plant%2C%20including%20the%20Venus%20Flytrap.">less than a millisecond</a>, making bladderworts the fastest known carnivorous plant in the world.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nWNZNx_fu6TbQJq-WvagR-HRVE0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24714169/giphy__13_.gif"/>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="47AbzR">
|
||||||
|
I always imagined carnivorous plants like this lived far away in tropical jungles — the Amazon, the Congo Basin, and other famous forests that harbor enormous amounts of biodiversity and unique species.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qCoxfa">
|
||||||
|
Then I learned that carnivorous plants are abundant in, of all places, New Jersey. That’s right: urban, temperate New Jersey.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-wide-block">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bJY4sGlugKCzsUOLawdlRzAKFu4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24713979/B88A7795_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A bladderwort in the water. The things that look like watermelon seeds are the bladders.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T8lwUy">
|
||||||
|
A vast ecosystem in New Jersey called the pine barrens has abundant populations of not only bladderworts but also pitcher plants and sundews, two other kinds of carnivorous plants with their own ingenious ways of trapping invertebrates. The barrens are also home to roughly <a href="https://pinelandsalliance.org/learn-about-the-pinelands/ecosystem/pinelands-plants-overview/plants-of-the-pine-barrens/">30 species</a> of orchids and dozens of species of rare and threatened wildlife, including a particularly cute amphibian called the pine barrens tree frog.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="68aCbR">
|
||||||
|
Even more surprising is that the barrens are, as a whole, healthy and largely intact. The ecosystem is thriving as if it’s in some remote part of, I don’t know, Alaska, yet it’s in the most densely populated state in the country. How have the barrens — unlike so many other suburban ecosystems — survived? The answers, I learned, hold lessons for conserving the nation’s last remaining natural areas.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="O8PDKa">
|
||||||
|
A carnivorous plant paradise
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hezVH4">
|
||||||
|
On a hot Friday morning<strong> </strong>in June, a couple of coworkers and I drove from Brooklyn to the barrens, where we met Jason Howell. Upbeat and tan, Howell is a public lands advocate with a local environmental group called the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qeXgno">
|
||||||
|
Howell drove us along sandy roads in a large truck filled with kayaks and a canoe. Our path was flanked, as if in an elvish fairytale, by pink mountain laurel, wild blueberry bushes, and acres upon acres of fragrant pine trees.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SZE4io_mr79nTue-HD88csL8Lb4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24722426/GettyImages_182874101.jpg"/> <cite>Getty Images/iStockPhoto</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A young opossum hangs from a pine tree in the pine barrens.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w27OFC">
|
||||||
|
Encompassing more than a million acres of pine forest and wetland in southern New Jersey, the pine barrens comprise the largest stretch of natural area along the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Like a mini Amazon rainforest, the barrens are home to a truly remarkable diversity of life, including <a href="https://pinelandsalliance.org/learn-about-the-pinelands/ecosystem/pinelands-plants-overview/plants-of-the-pine-barrens/">more than 1,000 species of plants</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lN5frp">
|
||||||
|
Ironically, what makes this ecosystem so special is what it lacks: nutrients. The barrens are covered in a thick layer of sand — deposited during past glacial cycles when this region was underwater — and sand can’t hold on to nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous that plants need to grow. The soil and water are also highly acidic. Because the ground can’t support most crops, the pine forests here were dubbed the pine barrens.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C09HVG">
|
||||||
|
But they’re not so much barren as they are filled with plants and animals uniquely adapted to life under harsh conditions. Carnivorous plants, for example, thrive in nutrient-poor soil. Their whole shtick is that they catch insects to supplement their diet of nutrients that their roots pull out of the soil. (Bladderworts don’t have roots at all.)
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-wide-block">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WKeMzFcsORlhOdshx-xwgbDt01o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24714015/B88A7858_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A group of pitcher plants.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ug7uBP">
|
||||||
|
That afternoon, we visited a bog near a small town with Russell Juelg, a botanist and senior land steward at an environmental group called the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. The water was shallow and clear and dotted with cartoonish lily pads.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yNbCY8">
|
||||||
|
The carnivorous plants were impossible to miss. As we paddled through the water, we saw hundreds, maybe even thousands, of pitcher plants, blooming bladderworts, and shimmering sundews around the water’s edge.<strong> </strong>It was a place where bugs go to die.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mBq2dlsdXJQ-NzWBAdxLSjJBgT0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24724348/B88A7897.jpeg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Pitchers are lined with downward-facing hairs that prevent insects from escaping.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AvmpQO">
|
||||||
|
Pitcher plants specialize in drowning insects. They grow leaves in the shape of a pitcher that collect rainwater. Those pitchers attract insects by <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/05/nectar-nurtures-pitcher-plants-eating-habits/#:~:text=The%20sweet%20nectar%20is%20produced,from%20escaping%20the%20water%20below.">producing nectar</a> (<a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/april/pitcher-plants-might-be-luring-prey-specialised-scents.html">and possibly smells</a>), and when those critters approach the lid, they easily slip and fall into the water. Downward-facing hairs on the pitcher walls, and the walls’ slippery texture, prevent insects from escaping. So they perish. Digestive enzymes in the pitcher help the plant absorb nutrients from the insects’ bodies. Yum!
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZRrbNt">
|
||||||
|
Sundews, meanwhile, are just living sticky traps. Their leaves are covered in hair-like stalks that are topped with beads of nectar. Those glistening beads lure in small invertebrates, which easily get stuck in the sticky liquid, like flies in honey. The stalks then begin to slowly close around the victim, which the plant digests.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="p-fullbleed-block">
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-image-grid">
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C57TcoEsXJpMNvOFvxDoVPuqBCc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24722209/B88A7877.jpeg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A spatulate-leaf sundew.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt="A close-up shot of a spatulate sundew." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QbYJW1jGdwr5JwSZmUy1IguIIik=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24722276/B88A7926__1_.jpeg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Sundews are incredibly common in parts of the pine barrens.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KOdn3P">
|
||||||
|
Throughout the day, we visited a handful of spots in the barrens including sand dunes in the middle of a forest and wildflower-filled meadows. Each was full of life (and surprisingly not <em>that</em> full of ticks).
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f8HmO5">
|
||||||
|
Close to sunset, we stood by a narrow creek in a park called Franklin Parker Preserve listening to birds with Emile DeVito, a skilled birder who leads science and stewardship at New Jersey Conservation Foundation. As the birds sang, he called out their names one by one, in a charming Jersey accent. Blue-gray gnatcatcher. Common yellowthroat. Eastern kingbird. He clocked at least a dozen species.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qjphAh">
|
||||||
|
Then DeVito imitated the call of a barred owl. “Hoo hoo hoo-hoooo.” At first, I thought it was a joke, but after about 15 minutes, a real barred owl started calling back. It was as if they were having an interspecies conversation. Eventually, we saw it — a mottled brown and white bird landed on a pine tree some 50 feet in front of us before flying away without a sound.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt="A barred owl in flight." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HBRLLcwTTNhqFfFIbSpQfiMZtuI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24722294/GettyImages_1133736091.jpg"/> <cite>Scott Suriano/Getty Images</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A barred owl in Baltimore.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="X6xZ7b">
|
||||||
|
Why the barrens haven’t been destroyed
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RxltM4">
|
||||||
|
New Jersey may be called the Garden State, but it’s known by many for its industrial cities, and it has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/census-2020-8ea2822132a47e70a57f6cd2dce24257'">more people</a> per square mile than any other state in the country. Nonetheless, the pine barrens — which make up more than 20 percent of the state — have been relatively well conserved.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Eo5dzT">
|
||||||
|
There are a few key reasons for that, Howell said, including the lack of nutrients. Sandy, nutrient-poor soils are not easy to farm, so when farmers were transforming natural vegetation along the Eastern Seaboard over the past few hundred years, they mostly left the pine barrens alone, he said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iMfqy1">
|
||||||
|
Barren soil comes with another perk, Howell said: It makes the region largely inhospitable to invasive species and dangerous pathogens that decimate wildlife elsewhere, including the frog-killing Chytrid fungus.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt="A view of a wetland on a cloudy day in the pine barrens." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GDBHdnvk4rph7AtDJViykb5C6tI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24722352/GettyImages_184295468.jpg"/> <cite>Sheldon Kralstein/Getty Images</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Summertime in the New Jersey pine barrens.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fy7ZCS">
|
||||||
|
Since the late ’70s, the pine barrens have also been conserved by a <a href="https://www.nps.gov/pine/index.htm">large reserve</a> and formally governed by a state agency called the Pinelands Commission. These efforts only worked to safeguard the barrens, Howell said, because they had buy-in from private landowners, who own a lot of property within the reserve. (Landowners in certain regions designated for preservation are essentially compensated for conserving the natural habitat.)
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yCCdjf">
|
||||||
|
“The reason that it succeeded is because it didn’t simply squash all the private interest,” Howell said of these efforts to protect the barrens. “There had to be a recognition and compensation for what otherwise would have been a taking of land for conservation.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lb42d7">
|
||||||
|
There’s a lesson here for protecting nature anywhere, Howell said: Without getting buy-in from the broader (human) community, environmental protections don’t work.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="Um2x9R">
|
||||||
|
A simple way to keep threatened ecosystems protected
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<div class="p-fullbleed-block">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KbG0x5RoK9fmhZOH8YPhj06kHmA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24724333/B88A7848.jpeg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A collection of flowering pitcher plants in a bog in the pine barrens.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D705PN">
|
||||||
|
Despite these protections, however, the barrens are under <a href="https://pinelandsalliance.org/issues-facing-the-pinelands/">threat today</a>, Howell said, largely from the expansion of human infrastructure, such as shops and office buildings, <a href="https://pinelandsalliance.org/off-road-vehicle-damage/">offroad vehicles</a>, and poaching of rare plants and animals. In some cases, developers are leveling forests that fall outside of areas designated for preservation. Environmental advocates are also concerned that existing designations — which determine where certain environmental impacts are restricted — could soon change.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QEDgim">
|
||||||
|
“There’s always a threat of losing what we have,” Howell said. “We’re witnessing the development of what is essentially a gigantic megacity that stretches from Boston well into Virginia,” he said, referring to how the footprints of major East Coast cities are starting to bleed into each other.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="20xTI8">
|
||||||
|
What’s especially concerning, Howell and DeVito said, is that interest in conserving ecosystems in rural areas is waning, in New Jersey and elsewhere, even as efforts to fight climate change have become more mainstream. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who is responsible for nominating some officials to the Pinelands Commission, supports the expansion of clean energy, but he doesn’t pay much attention to the barrens, DeVito said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0fZAGo">
|
||||||
|
Bailey Lawrence, a spokesperson for the governor, said Murphy has been committed to supporting the preservation of New Jersey’s pinelands since he stepped into office in 2018. He supports the state’s plan to restore 10,000 acres of rare Atlantic white cedar forests in the pinelands, Lawrence said. He’s also appropriated millions in state funds for the Pinelands Commission. Susan Grogan, executive director of the commission, said Murphy has been “an invaluable part of our mission to preserve, protect, and enhance this special part of New Jersey.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FnxOQmTydsf8-I6WTEuR5MhPdeQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24714035/B88A7862_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A bladderwort in bloom.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xg6LyB">
|
||||||
|
Moving forward, Howell said, the only way to truly protect the barrens — and countless other natural areas — is to show people what’s here, what’s worth conserving. It’s not just the plants and animals but the clean water that ecosystems produce. It’s the carbon dioxide the pine trees absorb. It’s the experience of being here, of relaxing.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TBI1JF">
|
||||||
|
The state<strong> </strong>should make it easier to visit the barrens, Howell said, for instance by providing more public transportation to the region and offering free tours. “If people have no opportunities to go to nature or to understand and recognize the importance of having open space, then forget about it; the developers will win,” Howell said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u8A0eo">
|
||||||
|
It’s a basic, yet important, point: To conserve an area, the public first needs to understand what value it provides. And there’s no better way<strong> </strong>to recognize an ecosystem’s value than to experience it oneself.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ddefhv">
|
||||||
|
At nightfall in the barrens, the amphibian chorus begins. It’s comically loud. The toads sound like someone screaming; the carpenter frogs make generic construction noises; the pine barren tree frogs sound like a sped-up fire alarm (but slightly less grating).
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div id="vRzZrN">
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T0hLsx">
|
||||||
|
As we walked on a trail through the forest, a small snake slithered by, seemingly fixated on catching its next meal. We dodged thick clouds of buzzing flies.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="c-wide-block">
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y1FwGDZqGgytvDENMxLdd14eYlE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24713925/IMG_2940.jpg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
A pine barren tree frog.
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DcAu2B">
|
||||||
|
Here we were, just two hours from the largest US city, standing<strong> </strong>in the center of a fully functional ecosystem — the likes of which I often write about but rarely see. That, to me, is worth saving.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JXbuaf">
|
||||||
|
<em>Byrd Pinkerton contributed reporting.</em>
|
||||||
|
</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>The “anti-intellectual attack” on higher ed will take years to undo</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="Protesters hold signs that read “We believe in educational freedom” and “We stand with faculty, staff, admin.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0L61qRobCCIAgHJ7ggX5-cy_ME8=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72378911/1246703175.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Demonstrators protest as Gov. Ron DeSantis appoints the New College of Florida board. | Octavio Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Here’s what’s really behind the right-wing campaign on academic freedom.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pzgqh8">
|
||||||
|
Republican lawmakers around the country are moving quickly<strong> </strong>to remake higher education in their conservative vision.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bJ8A8A">
|
||||||
|
Bills in states including <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/6/2/23742508/ron-desantis-florida-higher-education-ideological-war">Florida</a>, Texas, and Ohio have alarmed proponents of academic freedom, who say that the efforts to limit or mandate certain courses or the teaching of certain topics, restrict or end faculty tenure, and defund and ban diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs will damage higher education.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hb6Xre">
|
||||||
|
In Florida, a state that’s received a lot of attention for <a href="https://www.vox.com/ron-desantis">Gov. Ron DeSantis</a>’s takeover of the New College of Florida or laws that ban the teaching of concepts like critical race theory or <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination">intersectionality</a>, the laws have already been signed and take effect in July. In other states, such as Montana and North Dakota, efforts have stalled due to pushback from students and faculty. According to the <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/here-are-the-states-where-lawmakers-are-seeking-to-ban-colleges-dei-efforts">Chronicle of Higher Education</a>, legislators in 20 states have introduced more than 30 bills targeting DEI programs.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="en8rm6">
|
||||||
|
Public opinion on the matter has become divided. A 2022 Pew Research <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/11/17/anti-corporate-sentiment-in-u-s-is-now-widespread-in-both-parties/">survey</a> found that 76 percent of Democrats believe colleges and universities have a positive effect on the country, while less than a third of Republicans did. About 76 percent of conservative Republicans said colleges affect the country negatively.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pA8Bw4">
|
||||||
|
Ultimately, these bills threaten democracy, said Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the organization that has long promoted the benefits of faculty tenure and intellectual freedom. By the AAUP’s count, there have been more than 50 such bills in 23 states.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9eLgAi">
|
||||||
|
“The bills have produced a chilling effect on academic freedom,” Mulvey said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NCvqts">
|
||||||
|
She talked to me about what’s behind these bills and why all academics, even those in blue states and even those with tenure, are under attack. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="m8vfhx">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rEa96N">
|
||||||
|
How has your job changed this year since these bills have been introduced?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="B4lQ25">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GaZxTj">
|
||||||
|
My job this year, when I’m serving as president in my first year of retirement, feels about 100 times harder than when I was doing the job while I was a full-time faculty member. This year is incredible because the bills keep coming up all over the country in different states. It’s like playing whack-a-mole to try and address them. Every day brings some new fresh outrage.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fnNjpX">
|
||||||
|
In the past, it was that an individual’s academic freedom has been violated at a certain institution. We would look into that, issue a statement, and have some people talk about it. Now in red states, attacks from the state legislature, the governors — people elected to serve our country — are damaging higher education and its role as a public good in a democracy. These bills are being turned out at a fever pitch and they are very damaging, not only to higher ed, but to democracy. Education in a democracy is essential. You have to educate voters; you have to have experts who can criticize the government or expose corruption.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="xyqYlR">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y4VXGL">
|
||||||
|
Who or what is behind these bills?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="mnbbP3">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FDnKDx">
|
||||||
|
The bills are being drafted in right-wing think tanks funded by dark money. It’s a well-funded, well-orchestrated, <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2023/05/09/launch-long-game">decades-long campaign</a>. It’s not just springing up out of nowhere since the language in the bills is very similar.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="USs4WB">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6BV5WX">
|
||||||
|
It feels like Florida’s legislation is getting the most attention. Why is that?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="zqqgLc">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KpExQw">
|
||||||
|
Florida’s getting a lot of attention because the governor’s running for president and doing all he can to get the most press and generate the most clickbait and sound bites. But the bills, like the ones out of Texas and Ohio, for example, are equally as bad. Florida is leading the race to the bottom for sure.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="CoqUwN">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="my2pTd">
|
||||||
|
What elements of the bill stand out to you as damaging?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="RU3csj">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="22Woig">
|
||||||
|
In all the bills, they’re attacking key elements of higher education; they’re attacking academic freedom and they’re attacking governance. They’re attacking tenure, either limiting tenure or outright getting rid of tenure. Tenure exists to protect academic freedom, which is essential to democracy. If you don’t have academic freedom, you end up in an authoritarian state where the government gets to tell you what is true and what you can and can’t learn. In an authoritarian state, the public is in the dark.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="Nv3VWx">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DobXLO">
|
||||||
|
What do you say to academics who may already have tenure and live in states where these threats aren’t present? Or academics who work at private institutions and believe these threats won’t affect them?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="Omc8Zj">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qk1uw0">
|
||||||
|
It’s a very selfish point of view to think this can’t affect a certain kind of academic. The majority of faculty in higher education do not have tenure, are not eligible for tenure, and will not ever see a tenure decision because they are contingent faculty. This has been going on for about four decades where that’s an attack on academic freedom. These contingent faculty members do not have academic freedom. It’s up to the faculty who have tenure to speak up on behalf of the profession. Our colleagues who do not have tenure are not able to speak up.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3L4S0A">
|
||||||
|
For example, if there’s someone doing work on <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a>, and a Board of Governors member who has made their wealth in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> industry says, “Get rid of that guy. I don’t like where his research is going,” he’s gone. The person who has to speak up against that is the tenured faculty because those people do not have the protections, the power, nor do they have the voice. Tenure is not for the individual; tenure protects academic freedom. And the academic freedom it protects is not for the individual, it’s for the work. The work, the research, and the teaching have to be allowed to go wherever they lead without interference from politicians, board members, governors, or state legislators. It’s up to all of us in the profession to protect our colleagues who do not have the protections of academic freedom that are necessary in a democracy.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="osA2ZL">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2OIrgV">
|
||||||
|
Take me back to 1915, when AAUP was founded. What similarities exist between then and today?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="peONV0">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XKDhzc">
|
||||||
|
The current moment is an exact parallel to our origin story. In 1915, the American Association of University Professors was founded because, at the time, the people in charge of universities were railroad magnates and people who had made their money in various industries. They were insisting that anyone doing research that was critical of the industry they made their wealth in be fired.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1LXWDr">
|
||||||
|
It was inappropriate interference from the people who had the power that led to our founding. And then our founding principle is that higher education is different from businesses in the sense that you hire these faculty members for their expertise and then you allow them to teach and conduct their research with the full academic freedom required so that we learn what is true. One of our founding documents points out that faculty are like judges in the sense that they are appointed to their job by the Board of Trustees. But once they’re appointed, they are not beholden to the Board of Trustees. They’re only beholden to academic freedom, to their scholarship and to education as a public good.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wZ3zGe">
|
||||||
|
If their research or teaching is found to be unfavorable to the person that appointed them so be it. If the research in the work or the teaching are evaluated positively by the scholars who are experts at the cutting edge of this field, then that’s where we are. So this is our origin story and it’s our entire 108-year history. We have been fighting off inappropriate interference in higher education, whether it’s from a board of governors, whether it’s from wealthy donors, like in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/business/media/nikole-hannah-jones-unc.html">Nikole Hannah Jones case at the University of North Carolina</a>, or from governors or state legislators.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="2zydov">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aXs4KN">
|
||||||
|
There are also specific parts of the bills that ban diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. What are the immediate and long-term consequences of this?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="c8MqQz">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QqQfgV">
|
||||||
|
It’s absolutely devastating. I’ve testified in Texas and Florida and have listened to students who say they are benefiting from DEI programs. And I’ve listened to people who are 20 or 30 years out of college, who are testifying to the benefits of these DEI programs, that they wouldn’t be where they are without these programs. For faculty of color and students of color, it’s demoralizing in an existential way. These states have completely mischaracterized DEI programs that are there to make our campus communities welcoming to all. Anti-DEI efforts make the campuses unwelcoming.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EyFMjp">
|
||||||
|
It’s also going to have a devastating effect on recruitment and retention of faculty in Florida. Everybody’s looking at their options. The academic chatter right now is that one person after another is leaving Florida. It’s very difficult for faculty to move and pick up their families. The attack on DEI efforts is truly a dog whistle to people who want to revive the prejudices of the past. This is an effort to halt, thwart, and undo the real but limited progress we have made toward a multiracial democracy. It feels like a last-ditch effort to revive the prejudices of the past and it saddens me deeply.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="GCtcF3">
|
||||||
|
Fabiola Cineas
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uWGcu0">
|
||||||
|
So what else is at the heart of all this? Why are red states doing this now?
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h4 id="pvlRms">
|
||||||
|
Irene Mulvey
|
||||||
|
</h4>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gxLGCR">
|
||||||
|
What they’re identifying are not problems in higher education or things that need to be fixed.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ircYkk">
|
||||||
|
A lot of it is made up. There are real problems in higher education to fix, like decades of underfunding. There is the problem of contingent faculty that have no academic freedom. So to argue that this is indoctrination in higher education is completely made up. There’s no evidence that’s happening. The rationales for these bills are a completely made-up mischaracterization of what’s happening in order to drag higher education into the culture wars, to make higher education a political talking point for voters who may not be paying attention to what’s really going on.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o5Zw68">
|
||||||
|
They want higher education to become a football like [critical race theory] or <a href="https://www.vox.com/abortion">abortion</a>. They’re dragging higher education into the culture wars to serve a political agenda. The damage it will do to higher education is the real story. They may be doing this just to get some votes, but the damage to public higher education will take decades to undo. The damage to higher education is essentially a domino and democracy itself is at the end of this line of dominoes.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WMjEgo">
|
||||||
|
</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>What does the future hold for Karolina Muchova?</strong> - The 26-year-old Czech, when injury-free, can bewilder the best tennis players in the world — as she proved during a memorable fortnight on Parisian clay. She can now look forward to the season’s second half on faster courts, which will suit her dynamic, all-around game even better</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>Defender, drag-flicker, leader: Harmanpreet inhabits the best of all worlds</strong> - The Indian hockey captain has grown into a talismanic figure. He marshals the last line, scores from penalty-corners and exerts a calming influence in even the most tense of situations</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bangladesh trounces Afghanistan by 546 runs for its biggest-ever test victory</strong> - Bangladesh’s biggest previous win was by 226 runs against Zimbabwe in 2005</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Morning Digest | Gujarat grapples with destruction caused by cyclone Biparjoy; 73 academics defend efforts to ‘update’ NCERT textbooks, and more</strong> - Here’s a select list of stories to read before you start your day</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>Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy top odds board after U.S. Open Round 1</strong> - The second-shortest odds, meanwhile, belong not to co-leader Rickie Fowler but Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland</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>Heavy rainfall lashes Meghalaya; deaths, landslides reported</strong> - Indian Meterological Department (IMD) has asked all districts to be on alert for heavy rainfall.</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>Decision to hold Plus One improvement in March for students’ benefit: Minister</strong> - Plus Two students will get additional 15 working days if improvement examinations are not held in September</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>Centre reviews preparedness for flood management ahead of monsoon season in Assam</strong> - Health Minister chairs meeting with Central and State agencies, highlights the need for strong coordination</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>PM Modi‘s State Visit to U.S. will have significant outcomes, says Jaishankar</strong> - External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also said that it would be the first time that an Indian Prime Minister addressed the U.S. Congress twice</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>‘UAPA misused to file cases against activists,’ claim rights activists and people’s organisations</strong> - Under the banner of Forum Against Repression- Telangana, led by its convenor Prof. G. Haragopal, a round table conference was held here on June 17 in which representatives from several organisations participated and expressed their opinions</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>Ukraine war: Putin confirms first nuclear weapons moved to Belarus</strong> - Russia’s leader says the move is to remind anyone “thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us”.</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>Greece boat disaster: People smugglers ‘brainwashed’ my son</strong> - Shehryar Sultan was told he would only be at sea for two to three days, before the boat he was in sank.</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>Cameroon’s Ngonnso: ’My fight to bring our sacred stolen statue home</strong> - The Ngonnso statue was looted from Cameroon in 1902 and has been on display in a Berlin museum.</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>Dazzling ancient bronze sword found in Germany</strong> - German archaeologists find a Bronze Age sword so new-looking it “almost shines”.</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The women baring all in Smoke Sauna Sisterhood film</strong> - A group of women strip off for a session of sweating and soul-bearing in this candid documentary.</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>The US Navy, NATO, and NASA are using a shady Chinese company’s encryption chips</strong> - US government warns encryption chipmaker Hualan has suspicious ties to China’s military. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948695">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Weirdly, a NASA official says fixed-price contracts do the agency “no good”</strong> - “What really makes me worried is that I think it shows where the heart of the agency is.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948558">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Valve gives Steam its biggest update and redesign in years</strong> - It’s a night-and-day difference for macOS and Linux users. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948635">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FCC chair to investigate exactly how much everyone hates data caps</strong> - ISPs clearly have technical ability to offer unlimited data, chair’s office says. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948619">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Deadly fungal meningitis cases nearly double as CDC rushes to find exposed</strong> - The source and fungus are both elusive; officials are aggressively treating exposed. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948611">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reddit is killing third-party applications (and itself). Read more in the comments.</strong> - submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JokeSentinel"> /u/JokeSentinel </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://i.redd.it/1j5nee06kx5b1.png">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1490rmv/reddit_is_killing_thirdparty_applications_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>When I was 13, I hoped that one day I would have a girlfriend with big tits..</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
When I was 16, I got a girlfriend with big tits, but there was no passion, so I decided I needed a passionate girl with zest for life.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
In college I dated a passionate girl, but she was too emotional. Everything was an emergency; she was a drama queen, cried all the time and threatened suicide. So I decided I needed a girl with stability.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
When I was 25, I found a very stable girl but she was boring. She was totally predictable and never got excited about anything. Life became so dull that I decided I needed a girl with some excitement.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
When I was 28, I found an exciting girl, but I couldn’t keep up with her. She rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything. She did mad impetuous things and made me miserable as often as happy. She was great fun initially and very energetic, but directionless. So I decided to find a girl with some real ambition.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
When I turned 30, I found a smart ambitious girl with her feet planted firmly on the ground, so I married her. She was so ambitious that she divorced me and took everything I owned.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
I am older and wiser now, and I am looking for a girl with big tits.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HelpingHandsUs"> /u/HelpingHandsUs </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14b1jfp/when_i_was_13_i_hoped_that_one_day_i_would_have_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14b1jfp/when_i_was_13_i_hoped_that_one_day_i_would_have_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two young boys walk into a pharmacy store to buy tampons</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
The pharmacist at the counter asked the older boy, ‘Son, how old are you?’
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
‘Eight’, the boy replied.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
The man continued, ‘Do you know what these are used for?’
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
The boy replied, ’Not exactly, but they aren’t for me. They’re for him. He’s my brother. He’s four."
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Oh, really?” the pharmacist replied with a grin.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Yes.” the boy said. “We saw on TV that if you use these, you would be able to swim, play tennis and ride a bike. Right now, he can’t do none of those.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/wordswithmagic"> /u/wordswithmagic </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14blw9e/two_young_boys_walk_into_a_pharmacy_store_to_buy/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14blw9e/two_young_boys_walk_into_a_pharmacy_store_to_buy/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My Chinese waiter thinks all white people look alike and gave my food to the wrong customer..</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Wait. Never mind. That wasn’t my waiter.
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HelpingHandsUs"> /u/HelpingHandsUs </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14b83lk/my_chinese_waiter_thinks_all_white_people_look/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14b83lk/my_chinese_waiter_thinks_all_white_people_look/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A young woman visits a florist to get some flowers for her mother.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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As she’s perusing, she notices the most gorgeous rose she’s ever seen sitting next to the cashier, and asks for its price.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Oh, sorry,” the cashier replies. “That one’s not for sale. I got that as a gift from a fellow florist for hooking him up with a woman I met yesterday.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Yesterday?!” she gasps. “How did they hit it off so quickly?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Well, he’s a handsome man and a wonderful lover, for one. He’s a really nice guy, of course. And to top it off,” he says, leaning into a whisper, “he’s got a <em>10-inch cock!”</em>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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She giggles, blushing. “Sounds like a catch! Where can I find him?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“He’s just a block over. But fair warning…he’s also a little…<em>kooky.</em> He’s only interested in women named after flowers. So if I ever meet a woman with a flowery name, I send her his way.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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He points at the rose. “Then, he sends me the flower as a thank you. Yesterday was Rose. A week ago, I recommended Violet to him,” he says, indicating a slightly wilted violet in a vase behind him.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The woman thanks him and leaves, bitterly cursing her own name. Nevertheless, she visits the well-endowed florist’s shop. Stepping up to the counter, she pointedly says, “I heard you are particularly…<em>skilled</em>… in certain areas?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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He smirks. “So I have been told. And who might you be?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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She grins. “I was referred by your friend down the street. Perhaps you can…assist me?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Perhaps,” he says, “but tell me…what is your name?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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She hesitates. Then, pouting slightly, she replies “Kristen, but everyone calls me Kris.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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His smile falters, and his head sinks as he shakes his head. Kris’s heart drops, knowing she’s blown her chance.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Well then…if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like some flowers for my mother.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Of course, what kind of….” Suddenly, he brightens up again. Without another word, he locks the shop door, swoops upon her, and takes her into his arms.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Three hours of mind-altering orgasms later, she bids him goodbye with a kiss as he presents a complimentary bouquet for her mother.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“And please,” he says, “tell your sweet mama she is welcome to as many flowers from my shop as she would like.”
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|
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Flustered with ecstasy, she promises to convey the message, and calls her mother that night to tell her everything.
|
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|
</p>
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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|
The next day, Kris feels incredible, and stops by the original florist’s shop.
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|
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“I just wanted to thank you for telling me about that dashing gentleman! He was AMAZING!”
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|
</p>
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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|
He smiles sheepishly. “I suppose I should thank you too. I just got another beautiful flower for recommending you to him.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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|
“Really? What flower could he have possibly sent that was named after me?”
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|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The florist sighs. “Chrysanthemum.”
|
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|
</p>
|
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|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/KairuSmairukon"> /u/KairuSmairukon </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14bfcmy/a_young_woman_visits_a_florist_to_get_some/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14bfcmy/a_young_woman_visits_a_florist_to_get_some/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>
|
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Reference in New Issue