First-described recently discovered non-toxic vegetal-derived furocoumarin preclinical efficacy against SARS-CoV-2: a promising antiviral herbal drug. -
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+Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the aetiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) pandemic. ICEP4 purified compound (ICEP4) is a recently discovered furocoumarin-related purified compound coming from roots and seeds of Angelica archangelica (herbal drug). ICEP4-related herbal preparations have been extensively used as active herbal ingredient in traditional medicine treatments in several European countries. Extraction method of patent pending ICEP4 (patent application no. GB2017123.7) has showed previously strong manufacturing robustness, long-lasting stability, and repeated chemical consistency. Here we show that ICEP4 presents a significant in vitro cytoprotective effect in highly virulent-SARS-CoV-2 challenged Vero E6 cellular cultures by using 34.5 and 69 M doses. No dose related ICEP4 toxicity was seen on Vero E6 cells, M0 macrophages, B, CD4+ T and CD8+ T lymphocytes, Natural Killer (NK) and Natural Killer T (NKT) cells. No dose related ICEP4 inflammatory response was observed in M0 macrophages quantified by IL6 and TNF release in cell supernatant. No survival rate decrease was observed neither on 24-hour acute nor 21-days chronic in vivo toxicity studies performed in C. elegans. Therefore, ICEP4 toxicological profile has demonstrated marked differences compared to others vegetal furocoumarins. Successful ICEP4 doses against SARS-CoV-2-challenged cells are within the maximum threshold of toxicity concern (TTC) of furocoumarins as herbal preparation, stated by European Medicines Agency (EMA). Characteristic ICEP4 chemical compounding and its safe TTC let us to assume that an antiviral first-observed natural compound has been discovered. Potential druggability of a new synthetic ICEP4-related compound remains to be elucidated. However, well-established historical use of ICEP4-related compounds as herbal preparations may point towards an already-safe widely extended remedy, which may be ready-to-go for large-scale clinical trials under EMA emergency regulatory pathway. To the best of authors’ knowledge, ICEP4-related herbal drug can be postulated as a promising therapeutic treatment for COVID19.
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Surgery & COVID-19: A rapid scoping review of the impact of COVID-19 on surgical services during public health emergencies -
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+Background: Healthcare systems globally have been challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating the reorganization of surgical services to free capacity within healthcare systems. Objectives: To understand how surgical services have been reorganized during and following public health emergencies, and the consequences of these changes for patients, healthcare providers and healthcare systems. Methods: This rapid scoping review searched academic databases and grey literature sources to identify studies examining surgical service delivery during public health emergencies including COVID-19, and the impact on patients, providers and healthcare systems. Recommendations and guidelines were excluded. Screening was completed in partial (title, abstract) or complete (full text) duplicate following pilot reviews of 50 articles to ensure reliable application of eligibility criteria. Results: One hundred and thirty-two studies were included in this review; 111 described reorganization of surgical services, 55 described the consequences of reorganizing surgical services and six reported actions taken to rebuild surgical capacity in public health emergencies. Reorganizations of surgical services were grouped under six domains: case selection/triage, PPE regulations and practice, workforce composition and deployment, outpatient and inpatient patient care, resident and fellow education, and the hospital or clinical environment. Service reorganizations led to large reductions in non-urgent surgical volumes, increases in surgical wait times, and impacted medical training (i.e., reduced case involvement) and patient outcomes (e.g., increases in pain). Strategies for rebuilding surgical capacity were scarce, but focused on the availability of staff, PPE, and patient readiness for surgery as key factors to consider before resuming services. Conclusions: Reorganization of surgical services in response to public health emergencies appears to be context-dependent and has far-reaching consequences that must be better understood in order to optimize future health system responses to public health emergencies.
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Spatial risk factors for Pillar 1 COVID-19 case counts and mortality in rural eastern England, UK -
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+Understanding is still developing about risk factors for COVID-19 infection or mortality. This is especially true with respect to identifying spatial risk factors and therefore identifying which geographic areas have populations who are at greatest risk of acquiring severe disease. This is a secondary analysis of patient records in a confined area of eastern England, covering persons who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 through end May 2020, including dates of death and residence area. For each residence area (local super output area), we obtained data on air quality, deprivation levels, care home bed capacity, age distribution, rurality, access to employment centres and population density. We considered these covariates as risk factors for excess cases and excess deaths in the 28 days after confirmation of positive covid status relative to the overall case load and death recorded for the study area as a whole. We used the conditional autoregressive Besag-York-Mollie model to investigate the spatial dependency of cases and deaths allowing for a Poisson error structure. Structural equation models were also applied to clarify relationships between predictors and outcomes. Excess case counts or excess deaths were both predicted by the percentage of population age 65 years, care home bed capacity and less rurality: older population and more urban areas saw excess cases. Greater deprivation did not correlate with excess case counts but was significantly linked to higher mortality rates after infection. Neither excess cases nor excess deaths were predicted by population density, travel time to local employment centres or air quality indicators. Only 66% of mortality could be explained by locally high case counts. The results show a clear link between greater deprivation and higher COVID-19 mortality that is separate from wider community prevalence and other spatial risk factors.
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How do the public interpret COVID-19 swab test results? Comparing the impact of official information about results and reliability used in the UK, US and New Zealand: a randomised, controlled trial -
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+Objectives: To assess the effects of different official information on public interpretation of a personal COVID-19 PCR (9swab9) test result. Design: A 5x2 factorial, randomised, between-subjects experiment, comparing four wordings of information about the test result and a control arm of no additional information; for both positive and negative test results. Setting: Online experiment using recruitment platform Respondi. Participants: UK participants (n=1,744, after a pilot of n=1,657) collected by quota sampling to be proportional to the UK national population on age and sex. Interventions: Participants were given a hypothetical COVID-19 swab test result for 9John9 who was presented as having a 50% chance of having COVID-19 based on symptoms alone. Participants were randomised to receive either a positive or negative result for 9John9, then randomised again to receive either no more information, or text information on the interpretation of COVID-19 test results copied from the public websites of the UK9s National Health Service, the US9s Centers for Disease Control, New Zealand9s Ministry of Health, or a modified version of the UK9s wording incorporating uncertainty. Information identifying the source of the wording was removed. Main outcome measures: Participants were asked “What is your best guess as to the percent chance that John actually had COVID-19 at the time of his test, given his result?”; questions about their feelings of trustworthiness in the result, their perceptions of the quality of the underlying evidence, and what action they felt 9John9 should take in the light of his result. Results: Of those presented with a positive COVID-19 test result for 9John9, the mean estimate of the probability that he had the virus was 73%; for those presented with a negative result, 38%. There was no main effect of information (wording) on these means. However, those participants given the official information on the UK website, which did not mention any uncertainty around the test result, were significantly more likely to give a categorical (100% or 0%) answer (for positive result, p < .001; negative, p = .006). When asked how much they agreed that 9John9 should self-isolate, those who were told his test was positive agreed to a greater extent (mean 86 on a 0-100 scale), but many of those who were told he had a negative result still agreed (mean 51). There was also an interaction between wording and test result (p < 0.001), with those seeing the New Zealand wording about the uncertainties of the test result significantly more likely to agree that he should continue to self-isolate after a negative test than those who saw the UK wording (p = .01), the experimental wording (p = .02) or no wording at all (p = .003). Participants rated positive test results more trustworthy and higher quality of evidence than negative results. Conclusions: The UK public perceive positive test results for COVID-19 as more reliable and trustworthy than negative results without being given any information about the reliability of the tests. When additionally given the UK9s current official wording about the interpretation of the test results, people became more likely to interpret the results as definitive. The public9s assessment of the face value of both the positive and negative test results was generally conservative. The proportion of participants who felt that a symptomatic individual who tests negative definitely should not self-isolate was highest among those reading the UK wording (17.4%) and lowest among those reading the New Zealand wording (3.8%) and US wording (5.1%). Pre-registration and data repository: pre-registration of pilot at osf.io/8n62f, pre-registration of main experiment at osf.io/7rcj4, data and code in https://osf.io/pvhba/.
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A cross-national study of factors associated with perinatal mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic -
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+Background. Pregnant and postpartum women face unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic that may put them at elevated risk of mental health problems. However, few large-scale and no cross-national studies have been conducted to date that investigate modifiable pandemic-related behavioral or cognitive factors that may influence mental health in this vulnerable group. This international study sought to identify and measure the associations between pandemic-related information seeking, worries, and prevention behaviors on perinatal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods and Findings. An anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey of pregnant and postpartum women was conducted in 64 countries between May 26 2020 and June 13 2020. The survey, available in twelve languages, was hosted on the Pregistry platform for COVID-19 studies (https://corona.pregistry.com), and advertised predominantly in social media channels and online parenting forums. Participants completed measures on demographic characteristics, COVID-19 exposure and worries, media exposure, COVID-19 prevention behaviors, and mental health symptoms including posttraumatic stress symptoms via the IES-6, anxiety/depression via the PHQ-4, and loneliness via the UCLA-3. Of the 6,894 participants, substantial proportions of women scored at or above the cut-offs for elevated posttraumatic stress (2,979 [43%]), anxiety/depression (2,138 [31%], and loneliness (3,691 [53%]). Information seeking from any source (e.g., social media, news, talking to others) five or more times per day was associated with more than twice the odds of elevated posttraumatic stress and anxiety/depression, in adjusted models. A large majority of women (86%) reported being somewhat or very worried about COVID-19. The most commonly reported worries were related to pregnancy and delivery, including family being unable to visit after delivery (59%), the baby contracting COVID-19 (59%), lack of a support person during delivery (55%), and COVID-19 causing changes to the delivery plan (41%). Greater worries related to children (i.e. inadequate childcare, their infection risk) and missing medical appointments were associated with significantly higher odds of posttraumatic stress, anxiety/depression and loneliness. Engaging in hygiene-related COVID-19 prevention behaviors (face mask-wearing, washing hands, disinfecting surfaces) were not related to mental health symptoms or loneliness. Conclusions. Clinically significant posttraumatic stress, anxiety/depression, and loneliness are highly prevalent in pregnant and postpartum women across 64 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Excessive information seeking and worries related to children and medical care are associated with clinically significant symptoms, whereas engaging in hygiene-related preventive measures were not. In addition to screening and monitoring mental health symptoms, reinforcing healthy information seeking, addressing worries about access to medical care and the well-being of their children, and strategies to target loneliness (e.g., online support groups) should be part of intervention efforts for perinatal women. Public and mental health interventions need to explicitly address the impact of COVID-19 on both physical and mental health in perinatal women, as prevention of viral exposure itself does not mitigate the mental health impact of the pandemic.
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Covid-19 Will Reduce US Life Expectancy at Birth by More Than One Year in 2020 -
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+On December 3rd, 2020, the cumulative number of U.S. Covid-19 deaths tallied by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) online dashboard reached 275,000, surpassing the number at which life table calculations show Covid-19 mortality will lower the U.S. life expectancy at birth (LEB) for 2020 by one full year. Such an impact on the U.S. LEB is unprecedented since the end of World War II. With additional deaths by the year end, the reduction in 2020 LEB induced by Covid-19 deaths will inexorably exceed one year. Factoring the expected continuation of secular gains against other causes of mortality, the U.S. LEB should still drop by more than a full year between 2019 and 2020. By comparison, the opioid-overdose crisis led to a decline in U.S. LEB averaging .1 year annually, from 78.9 years in 2014 to 78.6 years in 2017. At its peak, the HIV epidemic reduced the U.S. LEB by .3 year in a single year, from 75.8 years in 1992 to 75.5 years in 1993. As of now, the US LEB is expected to fall back to the level it first reached in 2010. In other words, the impact of Covid-19 on U.S. mortality can be expected to cancel a decade of gains against all other causes of mortality combined.
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A holistic approach for suppression of COVID-19 spread in workplaces and universities -
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+As society has moved past the initial phase of the COVID-19 crisis that relied on broad-spectrum shutdowns as a stopgap method, industries and institutions have faced the daunting question of how to return to a stabilized state of activities and more fully reopen the economy. A core problem is how to return people to their workplaces and educational institutions in a manner that is safe, ethical, grounded in science, and takes into account the unique factors and needs of each organization and community. In this paper, we introduce an epidemiological model (the “Community-Workplace” model) that accounts for SARS-CoV-2 transmission within the workplace, within the surrounding community, and between them. We use this multi-group deterministic compartmental model to consider various testing strategies that, together with symptom screening, exposure tracking, and nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) such as mask wearing and social distancing, aim to reduce disease spread in the workplace. Our framework is designed to be adaptable to a variety of specific workplace environments to support planning efforts as reopenings continue. Using this model, we consider a number of case studies, including an office workplace, a factory floor, and a university campus. Analysis of these cases illustrates that continuous testing can help a workplace avoid an outbreak by reducing undetected infectiousness even in high-contact environments. We find that a university setting, where individuals spend more time on campus and have a higher contact load, requires more testing to remain safe, compared to a factory or office setting. Under the modeling assumptions, we find that maintaining a prevalence below 3% can be achieved in an office setting by testing its workforce every two weeks, whereas achieving this same goal for a university could require as much as fourfold more testing (i.e., testing the entire campus population twice a week). Our model also simulates the dynamics of reduced spread that result from the introduction of mitigation measures when test results reveal the early stages of a workplace outbreak. We use this to show that a vigilant university that has the ability to quickly react to outbreaks can be justified in implementing testing at the same rate as a lower-risk office workplace. Finally, we quantify the devastating impact that an outbreak in a small-town college could have on the surrounding community, which supports the notion that communities can be better protected by supporting their local places of business in preventing onsite spread of disease.
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Novel Approach for Monte Carlo Simulation οf the new COVID-19 Spread Dynamics -
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+A Monte Carlo simulation in a novel approach is used for studying the problem of the outbreak and spread dynamics of the new virus COVID-19 pandemic in this work. In particular, our goal was to generate epidemic data based on the natural mechanism of the transmission of this disease assuming random interactions of a large-finite number of individuals in very short distance ranges. In the simulation we also take into account the stochastic character of the individuals in a finite population and given densities of people. On the other hand, we include in the simulation the appropriate statistical distributions for the parameters characterizing this disease. An important outcome of our work, apart of the produced epidemic curves, is the methodology of determination of the effective reproductive number during the main part of the new daily cases of the epidemic. Because this quantity constitutes a fundamental parameter of the SIR-based epidemic models, we also studied how it is affected by small variations of the incubation time and the crucial distance distributions, and furthermore, by the degree of quarantine measures. Moreover, we compare our qualitative results with that of selected real epidemic data from some world wide countries.
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Vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina: Do information sources and trust in information make a difference? -
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+Background: To control the COVID-19 pandemic, governments need to ensure a successful large-scale administration of COVID-19 vaccines when safe and efficacious vaccines become available. Vaccine acceptance could be a critical factor influencing vaccine uptake. Health information has been associated with vaccine acceptance. For college students who are embracing a digital era and being exposed to multimedia, the sources of COVID-19 vaccine information and their trust in these sources may play an important role in shaping their acceptance of vaccine uptake. Methods: In September 2020, we conducted an online survey among 1062 college students in South Carolina to understand their perceptions and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination. Descriptive analysis and linear regression analysis were used to investigate vaccine information sources among college students and examine how COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was associated with information source and trust level in each source. Results: The top three sources of COVID-19 vaccine information were health agencies (57.7%), mass media (49.5%), and personal social networks (40.5%). About 83.1% of the participants largely or always trusted scientists, 73.9% trusted healthcare providers, and 70.2% trusted health agencies. After controlling for key demographics, vaccine acceptance was positively associated with scientists as information sources but negatively associated with pharmaceutical companies as sources. Higher trust levels in mass media, health agencies, scientists, and pharmaceutical companies was significantly associated with higher COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. However, trust in social media was negatively associated with vaccine acceptance. Discussion: College students use multiple sources to learn about upcoming COVID-19 vaccines including health agencies, personal networks, and social media. The level of trust in these information sources play a critical role in predicting vaccine acceptance. Trust in health authorities and scientists rather than social media is related to higher level vaccine acceptance. Our findings echo the call for restoring trust in government, healthcare system, scientists, and pharmaceutical industries in the COVID-19 era and highlight the urgency to dispel misinformation in social media. Effective strategies are needed to disseminate accurate information about COVID-19 vaccine from health authorities and scientific research to improve vaccine communication to the public and promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
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Household factors and the risk of severe COVID-like illness early in the US pandemic -
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+Objective: To investigate the role of children in the home and household crowding as risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease. Methods: We used interview data from 6,831 U.S. adults screened for the Communities, Households and SARS/CoV-2 Epidemiology (CHASING) COVID Cohort Study in April 2020. Results: In logistic regression models, the adjusted odds ratio [aOR] of hospitalization due to COVID-19 for having (versus not having) children in the home was 10.5 (95% CI:5.7-19.1) among study participants living in multi-unit dwellings and 2.2 (95% CI:1.2-6.5) among those living in single unit dwellings. Among participants living in multi-unit dwellings, the aOR for COVID-19 hospitalization among participants with more than 4 persons in their household (versus 1 person) was 2.5 (95% CI:1.0- 6.1), and 0.8 (95% CI:0.15-4.1) among those living in single unit dwellings. Conclusion: Early in the US SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, certain household exposures likely increased the risk of both SARS-CoV-2 acquisition and the risk of severe COVID-19 disease.
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Supervised Image Classification Algorithm Using Representative Spatial Texture Features: Application to COVID-19 Diagnosis Using CT Images -
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+Although there is no universal definition for texture, the concept in various forms is nevertheless widely used and a key element of visual perception to analyze images in different fields. The present work9s main idea relies on the assumption that there exist representative samples, which we refer to as references as well, i.e., “good or bad” samples that represent a given dataset investigated in a particular data analysis problem. These representative samples need to be accounted for when designing predictive models with the aim of improving their performance. In particular, based on a selected subset of texture gray-level co-occurrence matrices (GLCMs) from the training cohort, we propose new representative spatial texture features, which we incorporate into a supervised image classification pipeline. The pipeline relies on the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm along with Bayesian optimization and the Wasserstein metric from optimal mass transport (OMT) theory. The selection of the best, ``good and bad," GLCM references is considered for each classification label and performed during the training phase of the SVM classifier using a Bayesian optimizer. We assume that sample fitness is defined based on closeness (in the sense of the Wasserstein metric) and high correlation (Spearman9s rank sense) with other samples in the same class. Moreover, the newly defined spatial texture features consist of the Wasserstein distance between the optimally selected references and the remaining samples. We assessed the performance of the proposed classification pipeline in diagnosing the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from computed tomographic (CT) images.
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OpenSAFELY: impact of national guidance on switching from warfarin to direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in early phase of COVID-19 pandemic in England -
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+Background Early in the COVID-19 pandemic the NHS recommended that appropriate patients anticoagulated with warfarin should be switched to direct acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs), requiring less frequent blood testing. Subsequently, a national safety alert was issued regarding patients being inappropriately co-prescribed two anticoagulants following a medication change, and associated monitoring. Objective To describe which people were switched from warfarin to DOACs; identify potentially unsafe co-prescribing of anticoagulants; and assess whether abnormal clotting results have become more frequent during the pandemic. Methods Working on behalf of NHS England we conducted a population cohort based study using routine clinical data from >17 million adults in England. Results 20,000 of 164,000 warfarin patients (12.2%) switched to DOACs between March and May 2020, most commonly to edoxaban and apixaban. Factors associated with switching included: older age, recent renal function test, higher number of recent INR tests recorded, atrial fibrillation diagnosis and care home residency. There was a sharp rise in co-prescribing of warfarin and DOACs from typically 50-100 per month to 246 in April 2020, 0.06% of all people receiving a DOAC or warfarin. INR testing fell by 14% to 506.8 patients tested per 1000 warfarin patients each month. We observed a very small increase in elevated INRs (n=470) during April compared with January (n=420). Conclusions Increased switching of anticoagulants from warfarin to DOACs was observed at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in England following national guidance. There was a small but substantial number of people co-prescribed warfarin and DOACs during this period. Despite a national safety alert on the issue, a widespread rise in elevated INR test results was not found. Primary care has responded rapidly to changes in patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Minimal information for Chemosensitivity assays (MICHA): A next-generation pipeline to enable the FAIRification of drug screening experiments -
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+Chemosensitivity assays are commonly used for preclinical drug discovery and clinical trial optimization. However, data from independent assays are often discordant, largely attributed to uncharacterized variation in the experimental materials and protocols. Spurred by the annotation of minimum information (MI) for ensuring data reproducibility, we report here the launching of MICHA (Minimal Information for Chemosensitivity Assays), accessed via https://micha-protocol.org. Distinguished from existing MI efforts that are often lack of support from data integration tools, MICHA can automatically extract publicly available information to facilitate the assay annotation including: 1) compounds, 2) samples, 3) reagents, and 4) data processing methods. For example, MICHA provides an integrative web server and database to obtain compound annotation including chemical structures, targets and disease indications. In addition, the annotation of cell line samples, assay protocols and literature references can be greatly eased by retrieving manually curated catalogues. Once the annotation is complete, MICHA can export a report that conforms to the FAIR principle (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) of drug screening studies. To consolidate the utility of MICHA, we provide FAIRified protocols from several major cancer drug screening studies, as well as recently conducted COVID-19 studies. With the integrative webserver and database, we envisage a wider adoption of the MICHA strategy to foster a community-driven effort to improve the open access of drug sensitivity assays.
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+Precision medicine, regarded as the future of healthcare, is gaining increasing attention these years. As an essential part of precision medicine, clinical omics have been successfully applied in disease diagnosis and prognosis using machine learning techniques. However, existing methods mainly make predictions based on gene-level individual features or their random combinations, none of the previous work has considered the activation of signaling pathways. Therefore, the model interpretability and accuracy are limited, and reasonable signaling pathways are yet to be discovered. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-level attention graph neural network (MLA-GNN), which applies weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) to format the omic data of each patient into graph-structured data, and then constructs multi-level graph features, and fuses them through a well-designed multi-level graph feature fully fusion (MGFFF) module to conduct multi-task prediction. Moreover, a novel full-gradient graph saliency mechanism is developed to make the MLA-GNN interpretable. MLA-GNN achieves state-of-the-art performance on transcriptomic data from TCGA-LGG/TCGA-GBM and proteomic data from COVID-19/non-COVID-19 patient sera. More importantly, the proposed model’s decision can be interpreted in the signaling pathway level and is consistent with the clinical understanding.
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Association between Participation in Government Subsidy Program for Domestic Travel and Symptoms Indicative of COVID-19 Infection -
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+Importance: As countermeasures against the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries have introduced or considering financial incentives for people to engage in economic activities such as travel and use restaurants. Japan has implemented a large-scale, nationwide government-funded program that subsidizes up to 50% of all travel expenses since July 2020 with the aim of reviving the travel industry. However, it remains unknown as to how such provision of government subsidies for travel impacted the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To investigate the association between participation in government subsidies for domestic travel in Japan and the incidence of COVID-19 infections. Design, Setting, and Participants: Using the data from a large internet survey conducted between August 25 and September 30, 2020, in Japan, we examined whether individuals who used subsidies experienced a higher likelihood of symptoms indicative of the COVID-19 infection. Exposure: Participation in the government subsidy program for domestic travel. Main Outcomes and Measures: Five symptoms indicative of the COVID-19 infection (high fever, throat pain, cough, headache, and smell and taste disorder) within the past one month of the survey. Results: Of the 25,482 respondents (50.3% [12,809] women; mean [SD] age, 48.4 [17.4] years), 3,289 (12.9%) participated in the subsidy program at the time of survey. After adjusting for potential confounders, we found that the participants of the subsidy program exhibited higher incidence of high fever (adjusted rate, 4.8% for participants vs. 3.7% for non-participants; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.90; 95%CI, 1.40-2.56; p<0.001), throat pain (20.0% vs. 11.3%; aOR, 2.13; 95%CI, 1.39-3.26; p=0.002), cough (19.2% vs. 11.2%; aOR 1.97; 95%CI, 1.28-3.03; p=0.004), headache (29.4% vs. 25.5%; aOR, 1.26; 95%CI, 1.09=1.46; p=0.005), and smell and taste disorder (2.6% vs. 1.7%; aOR 1.66; 95%CI; 1.16-3.49; p=0.01) compared with the non-participants. Conclusion and Relevance: The participants of government subsidies for domestic travel experienced a higher incidence of symptoms indicative of the COVID-19 infection.
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Convalescent Plasma for Treatment of COVID-19: An Open Randomised Controlled Trial - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma; Other: Standard of care Sponsors: Joakim Dillner; Karolinska Institutet; Danderyd Hospital; Falu Hospital Not yet recruiting
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Ivermectin for Severe COVID-19 Management - Condition: COVID-19 Intervention: Drug: Ivermectin Sponsors: Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University; NeuTec Pharma Completed
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IFN-beta 1b and Remdesivir for COVID19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Interferon beta-1b; Drug: Remdesivir Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong Recruiting
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COVID-19 And Geko Evaluation: The CAGE Study - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Device: geko T3 Sponsor: Lawson Health Research Institute Not yet recruiting
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A Phase Ⅱ Clinical Trial of Recombinant Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Vaccine (Sf9 Cells) - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Biological: Low-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (18-59 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: Low-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (18-59 years) & Three dose regimen; Biological: High-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (18-59 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: High-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (18-59 years) & Three dose regimen; Biological: Low-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (60-85 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: Low-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (60-85 years) & Three dose regimen; Biological: High-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (60-85 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: High-dose Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) (60-85 years) & Three dose regimen; Biological: Low-dose placebo (18-59 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: Low-dose placebo (18-59 years) & Three dose regimen; Biological: High-dose placebo (18-59 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: High-dose placebo (18-59 years) & Three dose regimen; Biological: Low-dose placebo (60-85 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: Low-dose placebo (60-85 years) & Three dose regimen; Biological: High-dose placebo (60-85 years) & Two dose regimen; Biological: High-dose placebo (60-85 years) & Three dose regimen Sponsors: Jiangsu Province Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; West China Hospital Recruiting
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Resolving Inflammatory Storm in COVID-19 Patients by Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids - - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: Omegaven®; Drug: Sodium chloride Sponsor: Karolinska University Hospital Recruiting
Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 4 (ACTT-4) - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Drug: Baricitinib; Drug: Dexamethasone; Other: Placebo; Drug: Remdesivir Sponsor: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Recruiting
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Vitamin D and Zinc Supplementation for Improving Treatment Outcomes Among COVID-19 Patients in India - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Dietary Supplement: Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol); Dietary Supplement: Zinc (zinc gluconate); Dietary Supplement: Zinc (zinc gluconate) & Vitamin D (cholecalciferol); Other: Placebo Sponsors: Harvard School of Public Health; Foundation for Medical Research; University Health Network, Toronto Not yet recruiting
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WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Trial for COVID-19 Treatments - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Remdesivir; Drug: Acalabrutinib; Drug: Interferon beta-1a; Other: Standard of Care Sponsor: The University of The West Indies Not yet recruiting
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COVID-19 Thrombosis Prevention Trials: Post-hospital Thromboprophylaxis - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Apixaban 2.5 MG; Drug: Placebo Sponsors: Thomas Ortel, M.D., Ph.D.; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Not yet recruiting
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Efficacy and Safety of Ovotransferrin in COVID-19 Patients - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Dietary Supplement: Ovotransferrin Sponsor: Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico Paolo Giaccone Palermo Not yet recruiting
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Using Travelan to Boost Immune Response in Vitro to COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Other: Travelan OTC Sponsor: Hadassah Medical Organization Active, not recruiting
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A Single-Arm Safety and Feasibility Study of Defibrotide for the Treatment of Severe COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Drug: Defibrotide Sponsors: Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Jazz Pharmaceuticals Not yet recruiting
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The Efficacy and Safety of SCTA01 in Hospitalized Patients With Severe COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: SCTA01; Other: Placebo Sponsor: Sinocelltech Ltd. Not yet recruiting
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From PubMed
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Evolutionary and structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 specific evasion of host immunity - The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading fast worldwide. There is a pressing need to understand how the virus counteracts host innate immune responses. Deleterious clinical manifestations of coronaviruses have been associated with virus-induced direct dysregulation of innate immune responses occurring via viral macrodomains located within nonstructural protein-3 (Nsp3). However, no substantial…
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Primidone blocks RIPK1-driven cell death and inflammation - The receptor-interacting serine/threonine protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) is a key mediator of regulated cell death and inflammation. Recent studies suggest that RIPK1 inhibition would fundamentally improve the therapy of RIPK1-dependent organ damage in stroke, myocardial infarction, kidney failure, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Additionally, it could ameliorate or prevent multi-organ failure induced by cytokine release in the context of hyperinflammation, as seen in COVID-19 patients….
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Non-Coding RNAs and SARS-Related Coronaviruses - The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in 2019 has caused a major health and economic crisis around the globe. Gaining knowledge about its attributes and interactions with human host cells is crucial. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are involved in the host cells’ innate antiviral immune response. In RNA interference, microRNAs (miRNAs) may bind to complementary sequences of the viral RNA strand, forming an miRNA-induced silencing complex, which destroys the viral RNA, thereby inhibiting viral protein expression….
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Effects of Nitrite and Far-red Light on Coagulation - Nitric oxide, NO, has been explored as a therapeutic agent to treat thrombosis. In particular, NO has potential in treating mechanical device-associated thrombosis due to its ability to reduce platelet activation and due to the central role of platelet activation and adhesion in device thrombosis. Nitrite is a unique NO donor that reduces platelet activation in that it’s activity requires the presence of red blood cells whereas NO activity of other NO donors is blunted by red blood cells….
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Investigation of beta-lactoglobulin derived bioactive peptides against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): in silico analysis - The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which started in late 2019 in Wuhan, China spread to the whole world in a short period of time, and thousands of people have died due to this epidemic. Although scientists have been searching for methods to manage SARS-CoV-2, there is no specific medication against COVID-19 as of yet. Two main approaches should be followed in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2; one of which is to…
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Anxiety responses to the unfolding COVID-19 crisis: Patterns of change in the experience of prolonged exposure to stressors - An immense amount of work has investigated how adverse situations affect anxiety using chronic (i.e., average) or episodic conceptualizations. However, less attention has been paid to circumstances that unfold continuously over time, inhibiting theoretical testing and leading to possible erroneous conclusions about how stressors are dynamically appraised across time. Because stressor novelty, predictability, and patterns are central components of appraisal theories, we use the COVID-19 crisis as…
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Opposing activities of IFITM proteins in SARS-CoV-2 infection - Interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) restrict infections by many viruses, but a subset of IFITMs enhance infections by specific coronaviruses through currently unknown mechanisms. We show that SARS-CoV-2 Spike-pseudotyped virus and genuine SARS-CoV-2 infections are generally restricted by human and mouse IFITM1, IFITM2, and IFITM3, using gain- and loss-of-function approaches. Mechanistically, SARS-CoV-2 restriction occurred independently of IFITM3 S-palmitoylation, indicating a…
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Could Artesunate Have a Positive Effect on the Neurological Complications Related to Infection When It Is Used in the Treatment of COVID-19? - Artesunate is a safe noncytotoxic drug with low side effects which is used in the treatment of chloroquine-resistant malaria. In addition to being an antimalarial drug, artesunate also has immunomodulatory, anticarcinogenic, and antiviral activity. There are in vivo and in vitro studies reporting that artesunate may have a positive effect on the treatment of COVID-19. Artesunate may be effective based on its effect on the anti-inflammatory activity, chloroquine-like endocytosis inhibition…
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A monoclonal antibody against staphylococcal enterotoxin B superantigen inhibits SARS-CoV-2 entry in vitro - We recently discovered a superantigen-like motif, similar to Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), near the S1/S2 cleavage site of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, which might explain the multisystem-inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) observed in children and cytokine storm in severe COVID-19 patients. We show here that an anti-SEB monoclonal antibody (mAb), 6D3, can bind this viral motif, and in particular its PRRA insert, to inhibit infection by blocking the access of host cell proteases, TMPRSS2 or furin,…
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A Neutralizing Antibody-Conjugated Photothermal Nanoparticle Captures and Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 - The outbreak of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has resulted in a global pandemic. Despite intensive research including several clinical trials, currently there are no completely safe or effective therapeutics to cure the disease. Here we report a strategy incorporating neutralizing antibodies conjugated on the surface of a photothermal nanoparticle to actively capture and inactivate SARS-CoV-2. The photothermal…
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Ipomoeassin-F inhibits the in vitro biogenesis of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its host cell membrane receptor - In order to produce proteins essential for their propagation, many pathogenic human viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 the causative agent of COVID-19 respiratory disease, commandeer host biosynthetic machineries and mechanisms. Three major structural proteins, the spike, envelope and membrane proteins, are amongst several SARS-CoV-2 components synthesised at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of infected human cells prior to the assembly of new viral particles. Hence, the inhibition of membrane protein…
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Research progress in nervous system damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a major outbreak in the world. SARS-CoV-2 infection can not only involve in the respiratory system, but also cause severe nervous system damage. Studies have shown that SRAS-CoV-2 can invade the nervous system through hematogenous and transneuronal pathways, and may cause nervous system damage in patients with COVID-19 by inhibiting cellular immunity, hypoxemia, inflammation,…
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The viral protein NSP1 acts as a ribosome gatekeeper for shutting down host translation and fostering SARS-CoV-2 translation - SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is responsible for Covid-19 pandemic. In the early phase of infection, the single-strand positive RNA genome is translated into non-structural proteins (NSP). One of the first proteins produced during viral infection, NSP1, binds to the host ribosome and blocks the mRNA entry channel. This triggers translation inhibition of cellular translation. In spite of the presence of NSP1 on the ribosome, viral translation proceeds however. The molecular mechanism of the so-called…
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Recovering coronavirus from large volumes of water - The need for monitoring tools to better control the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is extremely urgent and the contamination of water resources by excreted viral particles poses alarming questions to be answered. As a first step to overcome technical limitations in monitoring SARS-CoV-2 along the water cycle, we assessed the analytical performance of a dead end hollow fiber ultrafiltration coupled to different options for secondary concentrations to concentrate viral particles…
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Remdesivir (GS-5734) in COVID-19 Therapy: The Fourth Chance - CONCLUSION: In this mini-review, we provide an overview of remdesivir’s journey, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, used in patients with COVID-19 under compassionate use principle and clinical trials to understand the effect of remdesivir in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
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From Patent Search
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AN EFFICIENT METHODOLOGY TO MANAGE THE ADMISSIONS IN HOSPITALS DURING THE PANDEMICS SUCH AS COVID 19 -
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Antiinfektive Arzneiform zur Herstellung einer Nasenspülung gegen COVID-19 -
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Einzeldosierte, wasserlösliche oder wassermischbare Arzneiform, umfassend mindestens einen antiinfektiven Arzneistoff, zur Herstellung einer Nasenspülung und/oder zur Verwendung in der lokalen Behandlung des menschlichen Nasenraums.
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Antiinfektive Arzneiform zur Herstellung einer Nasenspülung gegen COVID-19 -
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Einzeldosierte, wasserlösliche oder wassermischbare Arzneiform, umfassend mindestens einen antiinfektiven Arzneistoff, zur Herstellung einer Nasenspülung und/oder zur Verwendung in der lokalen Behandlung des menschlichen Nasenraums.
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A medicine for treating coronavirus-2 infection - The invention discloses a medicine for treating coronavirus-2 infection. The invention finds that T cells in COVID-19 patients is reduced and depleted finally, indicating that cytokines such as IL-10, IL-6, TNF-a may directly mediate reduction of T cells. Therefore, ICU patients need new treatment measures, and may even high-risk patients with low T cells count require early preventive treatment.
SARS-CoV-2 예방을 위한 mRNA기반 항원보강제 혼합물 합성 방법 - 본 발명은 SARS-CoV-2(코로나 바이러스) 예방을 위한 mRNA 항원보강제에 관한 것으로 코로나 바이러스에 대한 백신으로서 상기의 항원에 대한 예방을 목적으로 하고 있다. 아이디어에는 보강제에 해당하는 완전프로인트항원보강제(CFA)와 불완전프로인트항원보강제(IFA), 번역과 안정성의 최적화가 된 mRNA, mRNA 운반체, 양이온성 지질 나노입자(lipid nanoparticles)로 구성되며 기존의 백신에 비해 효율성과 안정성의 측면에서 더 향상된 효과를 가지고 있다.
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A PRIMER COMBINATION FOR DETECTING 2019NCOV BY LOOP-MEDIATED ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFICATION - The invention provides a primer combination for detecting 2019nCoV by loop mediated isothermal amplification. The primer combination comprises a forward external primer NCP-F3-2 shown in SEQ ID NO.1, a reverse external primer NCP-B3 2 shown in SEQ ID NO.2, a forward inner primer NCP-FIP-2 shown in SEQ ID NO.3, a reverse inner primer NCP-BIP-2 shown in SEQ ID NO.4 and a loop primer NCP-LB 2 shown in SEQ ID No.5. The method has the advantages of short detection time, high sensitivity and strong specificity for 2019nCoV, and the detection result can be observed by naked eyes, thereby greatly improving the detection efficiency of 2019nCoV.
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Mittel zur Stärkung der Abwehrkräfte und Erhöhung der Immunität -
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Mittel zur Stärkung der Abwehrkräfte und Erhöhung der Immunität, insbesondere gegen eine Covid19-Infektion aufgrund des Sars-CoV-2-Virus, mit folgender Wirkstoffkombination:
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Plasma oder Serum, gewonnen aus dem Blut eines an Covid19 erkrankten und genesenen Menschens oder Tieres,
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zumindest einem zugelassenen Medikament oder einer Kombination von zugelassenen Medikamenten und
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zugelassenen Vitaminen und Mineralstoffe.
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Vorrichtung zum Reinigen und/oder Desinfizieren von Objekten -
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Vorrichtung (1) zum Desinfizieren von Objekten mit einer Basiseinheit (2), mit einem Aufnahmebehälter (4) für Wasser, welcher an der Basiseinheit (2) montierbar und von der Basiseinheit demontierbar ist, mit einer Objekthalterung (6) zum Halten und/oder Stützen der Objekte (10), wobei diese Objekthalterung (6) in dem Aufnahmebehälter montierbar ist und mit einer elektrisch betriebenen Reinigungseinrichtung (8), welche in dem Wasser befindliche Objekte zumindest mittelbar reinigt oder desinfiziert, wobei diese Reinigungseinrichtung in der Basiseinheit befindliche Erzeugungsmittel zum Erzeugen einer elektrischen Spannung aufweist sowie einen Plasmagenerator und/oder eine Ultraschallerzeugungseinheit.
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Methods for treating Arenaviridae and Coronaviridae virus infections - Provided are methods for treating Arenaviridae and Coronaviridae virus infections by administering nucleosides and prodrugs thereof, of Formula I:
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wherein the ’ position of the nucleoside sugar is substituted. The compounds, compositions, and methods provided are particularly useful for the treatment of Lassa virus and Junin virus infections.
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+ 05 December, 2020
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+Daily-Dose
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The President Is Acting Crazy, so Why Are We Shrugging It Off? - The dangerous “yeah, whatever” phase of Trump’s lame-duck Presidency. - link
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How the Fight Against COVID-19 Is Bringing About a Perilous Rise in Preventable Diseases in Poorer Nations - For many of the world’s poorest children, the death and devastation have only begun. - link
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How Joe Biden Could Help Internet Companies Moderate Harmful Content - Liberals and conservatives have found fault with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—but for very different reasons. - link
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Donald Trump, George Wallace, and the Influence of Losers - The outgoing President may find himself stunned by the speed at which former loyalists distance themselves. But his ideological imprint on the G.O.P. is likely to remain. - link
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Atul Gawande on Coronavirus Vaccines and Prospects for Ending the Pandemic - The New Yorker staff writer, now a member of President-elect Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, discusses when a vaccine might be ready for distribution, who should receive it, and whether eradicating the virus is possible. - link
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From Vox
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The EU’s biggest oil producer has taken a huge step: It’s ending oil production by 2050 -
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+The work of scrapping and recycling of the Tyra Field oil and gas platforms is underway at the port of Frederikshavn in Denmark, on September 15, 2020 | Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
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+Denmark’s significant move makes EU climate change targets actionable.
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+Denmark has just taken a significant step to lead the world on addressing climate change. The country announced that it will phase out all oil and gas exploration contracts in the North Sea by 2050. It’s the first major oil-producing country to take such a big step.
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+Following a December 3 vote, the Danish parliament has issued a near-total ban on companies receiving new licenses to hunt for and extract oil. The agreement will also cancel an eighth round of licensing that was set to occur. Licenses that were issued before the vote will be honored until 2050.
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+“We’re the European Union’s biggest oil producer and this decision will therefore resonate around the world,” Danish climate minister Dan Jorgensen said on Thursday.
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+The move to end oil and gas contracts by 2050 is not going to be cheap as it’s estimated to cost Denmark $2.1 billion, but the country appears ready to foot the bill. “It’s a tough decision, it’s an expensive decision, but it’s the right decision,” Jorgensen told the Washington Post.
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+Denmark has been extracting oil and gas from the North Sea since 1972. Tax revenue from oil and gas production has greatly benefited its economy, helping to build the Danish welfare state that takes care of its citizens across their lifetimes.
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+But ending oil and gas extraction and exploration, experts say, is the only way Denmark can meet the European Union’s climate pledge. In October, the European Union voted to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent from 1990s levels by 2030.
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+The decision, which passed overwhelmingly, increased the bloc’s pledge to the 2016 Paris Agreement, signaling Europe’s serious commitment to ending the climate emergency.
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+Denmark’s plans put the country in line with regional targets.
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+“It’s taking a measure that will probably ensure that Denmark can meet this goal within the EU of reducing emissions to the point where they can pursue carbon neutrality by 2050,” Wil Burns, professor and co-director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law & Policy at American University, told me. “And this is the only way they could effectuate that.”
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+ Ole Jensen/Getty Images
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+Climate demonstrators gather around Parliament during the opening day on October 6, 2020, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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+The vote also came due to increased pressure at home. Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, announced plans in late 2019 to become the first carbon-neutral capital in the world, achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2025.
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+And as Reuters reported in June, the Danish Council on Climate Change, an independent body that advises Denmark’s government, called for an end to oil and gas activities to salvage the credibility of Denmark as a leader in the fight against climate change.
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+“A Danish halt for further exploration in the North Sea could send a strong signal in international climate politics and may even encourage other countries to follow suit,” the council said at the time.
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+The international environmental activist organization Greenpeace expressed their support for the decision on Twitter, heralding the move as a “landmark decision.”
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+Historic WIN for climate & people power! In landmark decision, oil producer Denmark ends future licensing rounds for oil and gas exploration permits in the North Sea and sets existing production to expire no later than 2050. Now, more countries need to end oil! pic.twitter.com/NyUg4CtsCb
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+Ending oil production by 2050 has been welcomed — and criticized
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+The move was also hailed by EU government officials including Finnish Minister of the Environment and Climate Krista Mikkonen, who applauded the decision via Twitter saying that the world needs more leaders on climate change.
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+Some other environmental groups were also happy. “This is a huge victory for the climate movement,” Helene Hagel of Greenpeace Denmark said in a statement. She added that Denmark has “a moral obligation to end the search for new oil to send a clear signal that the world can and must act to meet the Paris Agreement and mitigate the climate crisis.”
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+Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was far less impressed, though, tweeting that the decision means Denmark will continue extracting oil and gas for another 30 years.
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+The real news here is that Denmark will apparently go on extracting fossil fuels for another 3 decades. To us children, this is not the “good news” that some people seem to think. We’re in a climate emergency. Act accordingly.https://t.co/3ywKQNQXA0
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+Denmark’s decision shows that Paris and regional and national commitments to reducing emissions are starting to have some real impact — and that’s good.
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+As the top oil producer in the European Union, Denmark’s move is significant, but other oil producing nations must take a similar pledge if there’s any hope of achieving the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
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+“You’re going to need a lot of other countries, especially major oil and gas producers, to step up,” Burns told me. “Norway and the UK both feel pressured to remain leaders on pursuing the climate agenda.”
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+While the UK and Norway are both major oil-producing countries and located outside the EU, the desire to lead on climate change could push the nations to make stronger commitments.
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+On December 3, the UK announced ambitious plans to cut emissions by 68 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2030. A report also calls on UK oil and gas firms to phase out production in the North Sea and make the transition to renewable energy sources. Peer pressure could also help further pave the way.
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+Neighboring Norway, Burns noted, is a much larger producer of fossil fuels, so a commitment to end oil and gas extraction would be a much more dramatic step for that country to take.
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+“If the US, this year or next year, starts to return as a positive force on climate, that along with measures like this one from Denmark might put pressure on other countries to do so,” Burns said.
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The controversy behind a star Google AI researcher’s departure -
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+Timnit Gebru, a former co-leader of Google’s Ethical AI team, is a leading researcher on biases baked into AI systems | Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
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+Timnit Gebru says she was pushed out of the company; now some are worried it will have a chilling effect on academics in tech.
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+Google’s workplace culture is yet again embroiled in controversy.
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+AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru — a well-respected pioneer in her field and one of the few Black women leaders in the industry — said earlier this week that Google fired her after blocking the publication of her research around bias in AI systems. Days before Gebru’s departure, she sent a scathing internal memo to her colleagues detailing how higher-ups at Google tried to squash her research. She also criticized her department for what she described as a continued lack of diversity among its staff.
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+In her widely read internal email, which was published by Platformer, Gebru said the company was “silencing in the most fundamental way possible” and claimed that “your life gets worse when you start advocating for underrepresented people” at Google.
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+After Gebru’s departure, Google’s head of AI research Jeff Dean sent a note to Gebru’s department on Thursday morning saying that, after internal review, her research paper did not meet the company’s standards for publishing. According to Gebru, the company also told her that her critical note to her coworkers was “inconsistent with the expectations of a Google manager.”
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+A representative for Google declined to comment. Gebru did not respond to a request for comment.
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+Gebru’s allegation of being pushed out of the powerful tech company under questionable circumstances is causing a stir in the tech and academic communities, with many prominent researchers, civil rights leaders, and Gebru’s Google AI colleagues speaking out publicly on Twitter in her defense. A petition to support her has already received signatures from more than 740 Google employees and over 1,000 academics, nonprofit leaders, and industry peers. Her departure is significant because it hits on broader tensions around racial diversity in Silicon Valley as well as whether or not academics have enough freedom to publish research, even if it’s controversial, while working at major companies that control the development of powerful technologies and have their own corporate interests to consider.
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+What led to Gebru’s departure
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+People are still trying to unravel exactly what led to Gebru’s departure from Google.
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+What we know is that Gebru and several of her colleagues were planning to present a research paper at a forthcoming academic conference about unintended consequences in natural language processing systems, which are the tools used in the field of computing to understand and automate the creation of written words and audio. Gebru and her colleagues’ research, according to the New York Times, “pinpointed flaws in a new breed of language technology, including a system built by Google that underpins the company’s search engine.” It also reportedly discussed the environmental consequences of large-scale computing systems used to power natural language processing programs.
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+As part of Google’s process, Gebru submitted the paper to Google for internal review before it was published more broadly. Google determined that the paper was not up to its standards because it “ignored too much relevant research,” according to the memo Dean sent on Thursday.
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+Dean also said in his memo that Google rejected Gebru’s paper for publication because she submitted it one day before its deadline for publication instead of the required two weeks.
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+Google told Gebru it couldn’t meet her conditions and the company was accepting her resignation immediately.
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+It’s a standard process for a company like Google to review the research of its employees before it’s published outside it. But former colleagues and outside industry researchers defending Gebru questioned whether or not Google was arbitrarily enforcing its rules more strictly in this scenario.
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+“It just seems odd that someone who has had books written about her, who is quoted and cited on a daily basis, would be let go because a paper wasn’t reviewed properly,” said Rumman Chowdhury, a data scientist who is the former head of Responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence and has now launched her own company called Parity. Chowdhury has no affiliation with Google.
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+The conflict and Gebru’s firing/resignation reflect a growing tension between researchers studying the ethics of AI and the major tech companies that employ them.
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+It’s also another example of deep, ongoing issues dividing parts of Google’s workforce. On Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint that said Google had spied on its workers and likely violated labor laws when it fired two employee activists last year.
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+After several years of turmoil in Google’s workforce over issues ranging from Google’s controversial plans to work with the US military to sexual harassment of its employees, the past several months had been relatively quiet. The company’s biggest public pressure came instead from antitrust legal scrutiny and Republican lawmakers’ unproven accusations that Google’s products display an anti-conservative bias. But Gebru’s case and the recent NLRB complaint show the company is still fighting internal battles.
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+“What Timnit did was present some hard but important evaluations of how the company’s efforts are going with diversity and inclusion initiatives and how to course-correct on that,” said Laurence Berland, a former Google engineer who was fired after organizing his colleagues around worker issues and one of the employees contesting his dismissal with the NLRB. “It was passionate, but it wasn’t just non-constructive,” he said.
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+Why Gebru’s departure matters
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+In the relatively new and developing field of ethical AI, Gebru is not only a foundational researcher but a role model to many young academics. She’s also a leader of key groups like Black in AI, which are fostering more diversity in the largely white, male-dominated field of AI in the US.
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+(While Google doesn’t break out its demographics specifically for its artificial intelligence research department, it does annually share its diversity numbers. Only 24.7 percent of its technical workforce are women, and 2.4 percent are Black, according to its 2020 Diversity & Inclusion report.)
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+“Timnit is a pioneer. She is one of the founders of responsible and ethical artificial intelligence,” said Chowdhury. “Computer scientists and engineers enter the field because of her.”
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+In 2018, Gebru and another researcher, Joy Buolamwini, published groundbreaking research showing facial recognition software identified darker-skinned people and women incorrectly at far higher rates than lighter-skinned people and men.
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+Her work has contributed to a broader reckoning in the tech industry about the unintended consequences of AI that is trained on data sets that can marginalize minorities and women, reinforcing existing societal inequalities.
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+Outside of Google, academics in the field of AI are concerned that Gebru’s firing could scare other researchers from publishing important research that may step on the toes of their employers.
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+“It’s not clear to researchers how they’re going to continue doing this work in the industry,” said UC Berkeley computer science professor Moritz Hardt, who specializes in machine learning and has studied fairness in AI. “It’s a chilling moment, I would say.”
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Why every state should adopt a mask mandate, in 4 charts -
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+Youyou Zhou for Vox
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+The latest research suggests mask mandates help control the spread of Covid-19.
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+Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, toured North Dakota this fall, as the state was overwhelmed by one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the country. While she commended the state’s testing efforts, she was distraught by the noticeable lack of face masks in public spaces. “This is the least use of masks that we have seen in retail establishments of any place we have been,” she said at an October 26 press conference.
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+North Dakota, which at the time didn’t require masks, had the lowest mask-wearing rate in the country in October, according to survey data.
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+North Dakota is not the only state that lagged in a mask policy in the throes of a major outbreak, however: Eight of the top 10 states that saw the highest new cases per capita in October did not have a widespread mask mandate, as the chart below shows. (Several of these Great Plains and Midwestern states were spared significant outbreaks of the virus until the fall.)
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+ Youyou Zhou for Vox
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+But the dramatic surge of Covid-19 across the country this fall and winter has forced some states to change course. On November 8, Utah implemented a mask mandate, as new daily Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the state and across the country. Several other states have implemented or tightened mandates since then, including Iowa and North Dakota. Thirty-seven states now have mandates, according to the AARP.
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+Over the course of the pandemic, America has been engaged in a massive and uncontrolled mask experiment: Some jurisdictions implemented and enforced mask mandates; others rejected them as public health guidance became politicized. President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned and even scorned the use of masks, and several Republican governors have followed his lead. President-elect Joe Biden, meanwhile, has called for a national mask mandate and for Americans to wear masks for the “first 100 days” he is in office, as vaccines roll out.
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+But the different state-level approaches mean researchers can now parse the results of a trial they never would have received approval to conduct. New research from Kansas and Tennessee suggests that not only do mask mandates prevent Covid-19 spread, they may also blunt the severity of illness and reduce the number of serious cases that require hospitalization. Other findings support the argument more and more public health experts are making: that masks remain among our cheapest most effective tools to control the pandemic — if worn consistently.
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+“If you’re not in the ICU, the only tools at our disposal that we know work are the tried-and-true public health measures, like social distancing, hand-washing, and masks,” says Vin Gupta, a critical care pulmonologist and affiliate assistant professor for the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. “We’re bearing the brunt of those things being implemented poorly.”
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+“You’re less likely to get Covid-19 if you’re wearing a mask,” says Donna Ginther, an economist and director of the Institute for Policy and Social Research at the University of Kansas. And “even if you do get sick while wearing a mask, you’re less likely to get deathly ill.”
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+Let’s walk through some of the latest research on mask mandates and what it means as we head into one of the most perilous seasons in the pandemic so far.
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+New evidence from Kansas and Tennessee that mask mandates control the spread of Covid-19
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+One intriguing piece of evidence of the effect of mask mandates on controlling the spread of the virus comes from Kansas. In July, Laura Kelly, the Democratic governor of Kansas, issued a mandate requiring everyone in public places to wear a mask where 6 feet of social distancing couldn’t be maintained. It prompted an immediate outcry from conservatives. Because of a state law passed in June that allowed counties to supersede the governor’s emergency powers, 81 counties out of 105 opted out of the mask mandate altogether, and only 21 counties decided to enforce it.
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+Two researchers from the University of Kansas analyzed what happened next.
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+ Youyou Zhou for Vox
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+Ginther, the economist working on this analysis, found that in the counties that enforced mask-wearing, new cases stayed roughly steady. But in the counties without mandates, even after controlling for how often people left their homes, they doubled. “We were stunned by the strength of the effect,” she says.
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+The public health officer of Johnson, the state’s largest county, was so impressed he asked Ginther to share her work with the Board of County Commissioners, even though it’s not yet peer-reviewed or even written up into a paper. She is currently working on publishing the results.
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+Ginther says it wasn’t until 12 weeks after the mandates took effect that the growth in cases began to slow. But she thinks her results are likely conservative. “A 50 percent reduction in cases is likely to be a lower-bound on the true effect of wearing a mask,” she says. “If you had 100 percent compliance, I would expect to see an even larger effect.”
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+Other researchers have made related findings. A nonprofit group called Prevent Epidemics recently published a report showing that, following mask mandates, coronavirus cases declined in Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. The CDC found that in Arizona, after a mask mandate was put in place, Covid-19 cases dropped 75 percent. Conversely, cases spiked 151 percent when stay-at-home orders were lifted, demonstrating that behavior has a significant impact on viral transmission.
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+In addition to slowing the spread of the virus, new evidence from Tennessee shows that mask mandates could reduce the severity of the virus. A paper by researchers at Vanderbilt found that at Tennessee hospitals where at least 75 percent of Covid-19 patients came from counties with mask requirements, coronavirus hospitalization rates are the same as they were in July. In hospitals where fewer than 25 percent of patients come from places with a mask mandate, hospitalizations are 200 percent higher. What’s more, the researchers wrote, hospitals in areas with mask requirements and other mitigation strategies “are in a much better position to serve the entire spectrum of community health needs, not just Covid-19 patients.”
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+Mask mandates lead to more people wearing masks
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+Even if they aren’t always followed, mask mandates appear to be an effective tool in encouraging behavior change. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington found in August that mask use increased 8 percentage points after mask mandates, and increased 15 points if those mandates were enforced.
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+Only around 65 percent of Americans currently regularly wear masks, according to IHME. But in Singapore, for instance, around 95 percent of people wear masks, and they have one of the world’s lowest coronavirus death rates. “We know that countries that wear masks are doing much better,” says Ali Mokdad, the chief strategy officer of public health at the University of Washington.
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+Thirty-three states and Washington, DC, implemented statewide mask mandates between April and August. During the same period, an increasing number of Americans began to wear masks regularly, according to a weekly survey started in mid-April by the data intelligence company Premise.
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+ Youyou Zhou for Vox
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+There is one caveat of all the analyses mentioned above: They simply observe behavior, which means that they can demonstrate associations — like case counts falling after mask mandates are put in place — but not causation. The gold standard to prove that would be a randomized controlled trial. But that’s a hard study to design in a pandemic because of ethical concerns.
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+Even without randomized trials, Rebekah Gee, a public health policy expert and secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, says the body of evidence “confirms what public health experts have known since early on in this pandemic, which is that masks work.”
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+Masks could save 130,000 lives by February, but more Americans would have to wear them consistently
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+In fact, a study published October 23 in Nature Medicine by IHME’s forecasting team modeled current public health interventions — projecting case numbers based on current behavior — and found that universal mask use could save as many as 130,000 lives by the end of February 2021.
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+Mokdad says that’s why it’s essential to have clear, consistent recommendations to wear masks. He adds, “We never debate seatbelts. Is it okay if only 80 percent of people wear them? We say everybody should.” But while he would prefer that 100 percent of people wear masks, Mokdad says at this point, any incremental increase in mask use “for me is a celebration.”
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+Unfortunately, in many parts of the US, mask use is actually decreasing. In Florida, for example, which grappled with a serious surge in cases this summer, Mokdad says 70 percent of people were wearing masks in August. Now, only 65 percent are. “Wearing masks has been a response to fear rather than a good, persistent behavior,” Mokdad says.
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+Vox analyzed the relationship between the frequency of wearing masks from the Premise survey data and the Covid-19 cases in states from April to October. As the charts below show, in states with mandates where cases surged in the spring, more people now wear masks. These states — where more people consistently wear masks — are now less likely to see another huge surge in cases.
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+ Youyou Zhou for Vox
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+Even though mask use has risen in many states, the nation as a whole is on a troubling trajectory, with new daily cases, hospitalizations, and deaths all on the rise. Mokdad says he’s very concerned about the holidays. “As we go be with our loved ones — our grandparents, our kids — do you want to go sit at a table and risk the people you care about most, or do you want to wear a mask?” IHME models predict that if some US states increased their mask use from now on, they could reduce the number of future Covid-19 deaths by about 50 percent.
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+The stakes for getting this right are high — not just for the holidays, but for the rest of the pandemic, however long that might be.
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+Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently echoed Biden’s call for a national mask mandate. “If you don’t want to shut down, at least do the fundamental, basic things,” Fauci told the editor-in-chief of JAMA, “the flagship of which is wearing a mask.”
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+Rather than thinking about a mask mandate as something that takes away a freedom, as anti-mask protestors have claimed, Leana Wen, a physician and the former Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore, says, “Mask-wearing allows you to do things.” If everyone wears a mask, it will keep transmission low, allowing businesses and schools to stay open.
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+“If you want a more normal life, we need to adjust our behavior, as opposed to locking ourselves away,” Ginther says. “Masks rise to the top as an approach we can take as a society to have a more open economy but not get everyone sick.”
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+Lois Parshley is a freelance investigative journalist. Follow her Covid-19 reporting on Twitter @loisparshley.
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+Editor’s note, November 7: Due to a data error, a previous version of the chart of increases in Covid-19 cases in October did not include Hawaii and miscategorized Louisiana as not having a mandate. In fact, Louisiana implemented a mandate in August. The chart has been updated to reflect these changes.
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From The Hindu: Sports
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PCB launches probe into players’ COVID cases in New Zealand - The interesting thing is the majority of the players belonged to two provincial teams.
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Napoli renames stadium in honour of Maradona - The Naples city council unanimously approved the change of name from Stadio San Paolo to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
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ISL | Chhetri seals it in BFC’s favour - Cashes in on a penalty to help his side beat Chennaiyin FC
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Under-fire Zidane refuses to give up - Reports link Pochettino and Raul as his likely replacements
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Olympics to cost extra $2.4 billion: organisers - The costs could rise further, with Tokyo 2020 saying it will release an additional $250 million in “contingency” funds to help cover the expenses.
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From The Hindu: National News
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Coronavirus | Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij tests positive - Vij on November 20 was administered a trial dose of Covaxin.
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Cyclone Burevi | Tamil Nadu government deputes three IAS officers to Cuddalore - They will camp in flood-affected areas and monitor relief operations
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Former Minister Kamatam Ram Reddy passes away - The 83-year old leader from Ranga Reddy district represented the Parigi constituency thrice.
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Pakistani Rangers open fire on forward posts, villages in J&K’s Kathua district - Pakistani Rangers opened fire on forward posts and villages along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, officials said on
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States with stressed groundwater trade most cereals, find study - Rice and wheat dominate cereal production and it’s also known that they are intensely water-consumptive crops.
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From BBC: Europe
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Post-Brexit trade talks paused amid ‘significant divergences’ - Boris Johnson and European Commission chief Ursula Von Der Leyen will seek to break deadlock on Saturday.
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Austria: Former finance minister Grasser jailed for corruption - The court said Karl-Heinz Grasser received kickbacks in return for information on property sales.
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Denmark set to end all new oil and gas exploration - The European Union’s largest oil producer plans to stop extracting fossil fuels by 2050.
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French Thalys train attacker ‘tried to kill me three times’ - American Spencer Stone tells a French court how he tackled the gunman on the Thalys train in 2015.
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Suarez case: Juventus director probed over footballer’s Italian exam - A senior official at the club is placed under investigation over the player’s citizenship bid.
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From Ars Technica
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Shadow Moon tries to escape his demigod destiny in American Gods S3 trailer - We have hopes for a less rocky S3 with new showrunner and several new cast members - link
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Feds logged website visitors in 2019, citing Patriot Act authority - Privacy-minded lawmakers want feds to have to get warrants for Web browsing data. - link
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Lidar startup goes public, makes founder a billionaire - Luminar used a special purpose acquisition company to avoid a traditional IPO. - link
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Rusty but intact: Nazi Enigma cipher machine found in Baltic Sea - Enigma device stymied Allied intelligence until Alan Turing cracked it. - link
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NASA is about to have double Dragons at its space station - Also, NASA has agreed to fly on a Falcon 9 that has already been used three times. - link
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From Jokes Subreddit
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NSFW What did the egg say to the boiling water? -
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+I just got laid and you expect me to be hard in3 minutes?!?
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I was standin next to this bloke in the changing room at my local gym yesterday when a mobile phone rings. -
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+He was getting dry so he puts it on loudspeaker. I thought straightaway wot a smug bastard!
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+MAN: “Hello”
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+WOMAN: “Honey, it’s me. Are you at the gym?”
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+MAN: “Yes”
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+WOMAN: "I am at the Metro Centre now and found this beautiful leather coat.
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+It’ s only £1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?"
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+MAN: “Sure, ..go ahead if you like it that much.”
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+WOMAN: “I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2021 models. I saw one I really liked.”
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+MAN: “How much?”
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+WOMAN: “£90,000”
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+MAN: “OK, but for that price I want it with all the options.”
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+WOMAN: “Great! Oh, and one more thing …. The house I wanted last year is back on the market. They’re asking £950,000”.
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+MAN: "Well, then go ahead and give them an offer of £900,000. They will probably take it. If not, we can go the extra 50 thousand.
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+WOMAN: “OK. I’ll see you later! I love you so much!!”
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+MAN: “Bye! I love you, too.”
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+The man hangs up. The other men in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment, mouths agape…..He smiles and asks: “Anyone know who this fuckin phone belongs to?”
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A Chinese doctor cant find a job in a hospital in America, so he opens a clinic and puts a sign outside that reads “GET TREATMENT FOR $20 - IF NOT CURED GET BACK $100.” -
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+An American lawyer thinks this is a great opportunity to earn $100 and goes to the clinic.
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+Lawyer: “I have lost my sense of taste.”
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+Chinese: “Nurse, bring medicine from box No. 14 and put 3 drops in patient’s mouth.”
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+Lawyer: “Ugh. this is kerosene.”
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+Chinese: “Congrats, your sense of taste is restored. Give me my $20.”
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+The annoyed lawyer goes back after a few days to try to recover his money.
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+Lawyer: “I have lost my memory. I can’t remember anything.”
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+Chinese: “Nurse, bring medicine from box no. 14 and put 3 drops in his mouth.”
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+Lawyer (annoyed): “This is kerosene. You gave this to me last time for restoring my taste.”
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+Chinese: “Congrats. You got your memory back. Give me $20.”
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+The fuming lawyer pays him, then comes back a week later determined to get back $100.
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+Lawyer: “My eyesight has become very weak I cannot see at all.”
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+Chinese: “Well, I don’t have any medicine for that, so take this $100.”
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+Lawyer (staring at the note): “But this is $20, not $100!”
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+Chinese: “Congrats, your eyesight is restored. Give me $20”
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+/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22146535/1228925188.jpg)
Ole Jensen/Getty Images
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+/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22019876/Chart2_States_FINAL.jpg)
Youyou Zhou for Vox
+/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22008841/Chart3_Kansas_Final.jpg)
Youyou Zhou for Vox
+/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22019881/Chart4_MaskWearNationalTrend_Final.jpg)
Youyou Zhou for Vox
+/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22019883/Chart5_MaskvsCases_Final.jpg)
Youyou Zhou for Vox
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