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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>222-nm far UVC exposure results in DNA damage and transcriptional changes to mammalian cells.</strong> -
<div>
Ultraviolet (UV) germicidal tools have recently gained attention as a disinfection strategy against the COVID-19 pandemic but the safety profile arising from their exposure have been controversial and impeded larger scale implementation. We compare the emerging 222-nm far UVC and 277-nm UVC LED disinfection modules with the traditional UVC mercury lamp emitting at 254 nm to understand their effects on human retinal cell line ARPE-19 and HEK-A keratinocytes. Cells illuminated with 222-nm far UVC survived while those treated with 254-nm and 277-nm wavelengths underwent apoptosis via JNK/ATF2 pathway. However, cells exposed to 222-nm far UVC presented the highest degree of DNA damage as evidenced by yH2AX staining. Globally, these cells presented transcriptional changes in cell cycle and senescence pathways. Thus, the introduction of 222-nm far UVC lamps for disinfection purposes should be carefully considered and designed with the inherent dangers involved.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.22.481471v1" target="_blank">222-nm far UVC exposure results in DNA damage and transcriptional changes to mammalian cells.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Ivermectin does not protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Syrian hamster model</strong> -
<div>
Ivermectin, an FDA-approved antiparasitic drug, has been reported to have in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2. An increasing off-label use of Ivermectin for COVID-19 has been reported. We here assessed the effect of Ivermectin in Syrian hamsters infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Beta (B.1.351) variant. Infected animals received a clinically relevant dose of Ivermectin (0.4 mg/kg subcutaneously dosed) once daily for four consecutive days after which the effect was quantified. Ivermectin monotherapy did not reduce lung viral load and even significantly worsened the SARS-CoV-2-induced lung pathology. Additionally, it did not potentiate the activity of Molnupiravir (Lagevrio) when combined with this drug. This study contributes to the growing body of evidence that Ivermectin does not result in a beneficial effect in the treatment of COVID-19. These findings are important given the increasing, dangerous off-label use of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.22.481472v1" target="_blank">Ivermectin does not protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Syrian hamster model</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Molnupiravir (MK-4482) is efficacious against Omicron and other SARS-CoV-2 variants in the Syrian hamster COVID-19 model</strong> -
<div>
The recent emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern (VOC) containing a heavily mutated spike protein capable of escaping preexisting immunity, identifies a continued need for interventional measures. Molnupiravir (MK-4482), an orally administered nucleoside analog, has demonstrated efficacy against earlier SARS-CoV-2 lineages and was recently approved for SARS-CoV-2 infections in high-risk adults. Here we assessed the efficacy of MK-4482 against the earlier Alpha, Beta and Delta VOCs and Omicron in the Syrian hamster COVID-19 model. Omicron replication and associated lung disease in vehicle treated hamsters was reduced compared to the earlier VOCs. MK-4482 treatment inhibited virus replication in the lungs of Alpha, Beta and Delta VOC infected hamsters. Importantly, MK-4482 profoundly inhibited virus replication in the upper and lower respiratory tract of hamsters infected with the Omicron VOC. Consistent with its mutagenic mechanism, MK-4482 treatment had a more pronounced inhibitory effect on infectious virus titers compared to viral RNA genome load. Histopathologic analysis showed that MK-4482 treatment caused a concomitant reduction in the level of lung disease and viral antigen load in infected hamsters across all VOCs examined. Together, our data indicate the potential of MK-4482 as an effective antiviral against known SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, especially Omicron, and likely future SARS-CoV-2 variants.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.22.481491v1" target="_blank">Molnupiravir (MK-4482) is efficacious against Omicron and other SARS-CoV-2 variants in the Syrian hamster COVID-19 model</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 peptide vaccine elicits T-cell responses in mice but does not protect against infection or disease</strong> -
<div>
There is significant interest in T-cell mediated immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Both vaccination and infection have been observed to elicit durable T-cell responses against the virus. The classical role of CD4+ T-cell responses in coordinating humoral immunity is well understood but it is less clear to what degree, if any, T-cell responses play a direct protective role against infection In this study we vaccinated BALB/c mice with peptides derived from the SARS- CoV-2 proteome designed to either elicit T-cell responses or B-cell responses against linear epitopes. These peptides were administered in combination with either of two adjuvants, poly(I:C) and the STING agonist BI-1387466. Both adjuvants consistently elicited responses against the same peptides, preferentially from the group selected for predicted T-cell immunogenicity. The magnitude of T-cell responses was, however, significantly higher with BI-1387466 compared with poly(I:C). Neither adjuvant group, however, provided any protection against infection with the murine adapted virus SARS-CoV-2-MA10 or from disease following infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.22.481499v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 peptide vaccine elicits T-cell responses in mice but does not protect against infection or disease</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Discovery and functional interrogation of SARS-CoV-2 protein-RNA interactions</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The betacoronvirus has a positive sense RNA genome which encodes for several RNA binding proteins. Here, we use enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation to investigate SARS-CoV-2 protein interactions with viral and host RNAs in authentic virus-infected cells. SARS-CoV-2 proteins, NSP8, NSP12, and nucleocapsid display distinct preferences to specific regions in the RNA viral genome, providing evidence for their shared and separate roles in replication, transcription, and viral packaging. SARS-CoV-2 proteins expressed in human lung epithelial cells bind to 4773 unique host coding RNAs. Nine SARS-CoV-2 proteins upregulate target gene expression, including NSP12 and ORF9c, whose RNA substrates are associated with pathways in protein N-linked glycosylation ER processing and mitochondrial processes. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of host genes targeted by viral proteins in human lung organoid cells identify potential antiviral host targets across different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Conversely, NSP9 inhibits host gene expression by blocking mRNA export and dampens cytokine productions, including interleukin-1/{beta}. Our viral protein-RNA interactome provides a catalog of potential therapeutic targets and offers insight into the etiology of COVID-19 as a safeguard against future pandemics.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.21.481223v1" target="_blank">Discovery and functional interrogation of SARS-CoV-2 protein-RNA interactions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Characterization of various remdesivir-resistant mutations of SARS-CoV-2 by mathematical modeling and molecular dynamics simulation.</strong> -
<div>
Mutations continue to accumulate within the SARS-CoV-2 genome, and the ongoing epidemic has shown no signs of ending. It is critical to predict problematic mutations that may arise in clinical environments and assess their properties in advance to quickly implement countermeasures against future variant infections. In this study, we identified mutations resistant to remdesivir, which is widely administered to SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, and discuss the cause of resistance. First, we simultaneously constructed eight recombinant viruses carrying the mutations detected in in vitro serial passages of SARS-CoV-2 in the presence of remdesivir. Time course analyses of cellular virus infections showed significantly higher infectious titers and infection rates in mutant viruses than wild type virus under treatment with remdesivir. Next, we developed a mathematical model in consideration of the changing dynamic of cells infected with mutant viruses with distinct propagation properties and defined that mutations detected in in vitro passages canceled the antiviral activities of remdesivir without raising virus production capacity. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations of the NSP12 protein of SARS-CoV-2 revealed that the molecular vibration around the RNA-binding site was increased by the introduction of mutations on NSP12. Taken together, we identified multiple mutations that affected the flexibility of the RNA binding site and decreased the antiviral activity of remdesivir. Our new insights will contribute to developing further antiviral measures against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.22.481436v1" target="_blank">Characterization of various remdesivir-resistant mutations of SARS-CoV-2 by mathematical modeling and molecular dynamics simulation.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Don’t put all social network sites in one basket: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and their relations with well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.</strong> -
<div>
Prior studies indicated that actively using social network sites (SNSs) is positively associated with well-being by enhancing social support and feelings of connectedness. Conversely, passively using SNSs is negatively associated with well-being by fostering upward social comparison and envy. However, the majority of these studies has focused on Facebook. The present research examined the relationships between well-being—satisfaction with life, negative affect, positive affect—and using actively or passively various SNSs—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok—during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, two mediators were tested: social support and upward social comparison. One thousand four persons completed an online survey during the quarantine measures; the analyses employed structural equation modeling. Results showed that passive usage of Facebook is negatively related to well-being through upward social comparison, whereas active usage of Instagram is positively related to satisfaction with life and negative affect through social support. Furthermore, active usage of Twitter was positively related to satisfaction with life through social support; while passive usage was negatively related to upward social comparison, which, in turn, was associated with more negative affect. Finally, TikTok use was not associated with well-being. Results are discussed in line with SNSs’ architectures and users’ motivations. Future research is required to go beyond methodological and statistical limitations and allow generalization. This study concludes that SNSs must be differentiated to truly understand how they shape human interactions.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/82bgt/" target="_blank">Don’t put all social network sites in one basket: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and their relations with well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Cell-Mediated Immune Response after COVID 19 Vaccination in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Introduction Most patients with IBD mount an antibody response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, but few studies have evaluated the cell mediated immune response (CMIR). Methods We performed a prospective study (HERCULES) to evaluate CMIR among patients with IBD and healthy controls (HC) after completion of the primary series of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Results One hundred 158 patients with IBD and 20 HC were enrolled. The majority (89%) of IBD patients developed a CMIR which was not different than HC (94%, p=0.6667). There was no significant difference (p=0.5488) in CMIR response between those not immunosuppressed (median 255 Spike T cells/million PBMC, IQR 146, 958) and immunosuppressed (median 377, IQR 123, 1440). There was also no correlation between antibody responses and CMIR (p=0.5215) Discussion Most patients with IBD achieved CMIR to a COVID-19 vaccine. Future studies are needed evaluating sustained CMIR and clinical outcomes.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.21.22271234v1" target="_blank">Cell-Mediated Immune Response after COVID 19 Vaccination in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Using mobile phone data to estimate dynamic population changes and improve the understanding of a pandemic: A case study in Andorra</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Compartmental models are often used to understand and predict the progression of an infectious disease such as COVID-19. The most basic of these models consider the total population of a region to be closed. Many incorporate human mobility into their transmission dynamics, usually based on static and aggregated data. However, mobility can change dramatically during a global pandemic as seen with COVID-19, making static data unsuitable. Recently, large mobility datasets derived from mobile devices have been used, along with COVID-19 infections data, to better understand the relationship between mobility and COVID-19. However, studies to date have relied on data that represent only a fraction of their target populations, and the data from mobile devices have been used for measuring mobility within the study region, without considering changes to the population as people enter and leave the region. This work presents a unique case study in Andorra, with comprehensive datasets that include telecoms data covering 100% of mobile subscribers in the country, and results from a serology testing program that more than 90% of the population voluntarily participated in. We use the telecoms data to both measure mobility within the country and to provide a real-time census of people entering, leaving and remaining in the country. We develop multiple SEIR (compartmental) models parameterized on these metrics and show how dynamic population metrics can improve the models. We find that total daily trips did not have predictive value in the SEIR models while country entrances did. As a secondary contribution of this work, we show how Andorra9s serology testing program was likely impacted by people leaving the country. Overall, this case study suggests how using mobile phone data to measure dynamic population changes could improve studies that rely on more commonly used mobility metrics and the overall understanding of a pandemic.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.06.21265955v2" target="_blank">Using mobile phone data to estimate dynamic population changes and improve the understanding of a pandemic: A case study in Andorra</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Favourable vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 specific T cell response profile in patients undergoing immune-modifying therapies</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Patients undergoing immune-modifying therapies demonstrate a reduced humoral response after COVID-19 vaccination, but we lack a proper evaluation of the impact of such therapies on vaccine-induced T cell responses. Here, we longitudinally characterised humoral and Spike-specific T cell responses in IBD patients who are on antimetabolite therapy (azathioprine or methotrexate), TNF inhibitors and/or other biologic treatment (anti-integrin or anti-p40) after mRNA vaccination. We demonstrated that a Spike-specific T cell response is not only induced in treated IBD patients at levels similar to healthy individuals, but also sustained at higher magnitude, particularly in those treated with TNF inhibitor therapy. Furthermore, the Spike-specific T cell response in these patients is mainly preserved against mutations present in SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) and characterized by a Th1/IL-10 cytokine profile. Thus, despite the humoral response defects, the favourable profile of vaccine-induced T cell responses might still provide a layer of COVID-19 protection to patients under immune-modifying therapies.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html- link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.21.22271127v1" target="_blank">Favourable vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 specific T cell response profile in patients undergoing immune- modifying therapies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pausing methotrexate improves immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccination in elderly patients with rheumatic diseases</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objective: To study the effect of methotrexate (MTX) and its discontinuation on the humoral immune response after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRD). Methods: In this retrospective study, neutralising SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were measured after second vaccination in 64 rheumatic patients on methotrexate therapy, 31 of whom temporarily paused medication without a fixed regimen. The control group consisted of 21 AIRD patients without immunosuppressive medication. Results: MTX patients showed a significantly lower mean antibody response compared to AIRD patients without immunosuppressive therapy (71.8 % vs 92.4 %, p&lt;0.001). For patients taking MTX, age correlated negatively with immune response (r=-0.49; p&lt;0.001). All nine patients with antibody levels below the cut-off were older than 60 years. Patients who held MTX during at least one vaccination showed significantly higher mean neutralising antibody levels after second vaccination, compared to patients who continued MTX therapy during both vaccinations (83.1 % vs 61.2 %, p=0.001). This effect was particularly pronounced in patients older than 60 years (80.8 % vs 51.9 %, p=0.001). The impact of the time period after vaccination was greater than of the time before vaccination with the critical cut-off being 10 days. Conclusion: MTX reduces the immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in an age-dependent manner. Our data further suggest that holding MTX for at least 10 days after vaccination significantly improves the antibody response in patients over 60 years of age.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.17.21266441v3" target="_blank">Pausing methotrexate improves immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccination in elderly patients with rheumatic diseases</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Selfish genes or selfish memes: The effect of genetic relatedness versus value similarity on altruism</strong> -
<div>
Two preregistered quasi-experiments disentangled the effects of selfish genes and selfish memes on participants’ self-reported willingness to help in hypothetical everyday-favor and life-or-death situations. Memes were operationalized as the perceived level of similarity in important attitudes and values between the person participating in the study and a selected target person, assessed and reported by the participant. In Study 1 (N = 761), altruism was highest for siblings, and then for cousins and nonkin; greater memetic similarity was also associated with greater altruism; and the interaction between the factors was not significant. In Study 2 (N = 841), conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, altruism was highest for siblings, but the same for cousins and nonkin; the effect of memetic similarity was replicated; and the interaction term remained insignificant. Both studies controlled for a range of demographic and social relationship characteristics, suggesting a potentially relevant role of future contact probability and emotional closeness. We propose that, similarly to gene selfishness, meme selfishness can also bring about altruism: individuals would rather make a personal sacrifice to help memetically similar than dissimilar others because similar others have a higher chance of spreading the helper’s memes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article- html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/c4j92/" target="_blank">Selfish genes or selfish memes: The effect of genetic relatedness versus value similarity on altruism</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Crosstalk among COVID-19, STRA6, Retinol, and G protein-coupled receptor may explain the novel hypothesis of Retinol depletion and retinoid signaling disorder of COVID-19 pathogenesis</strong> -
<div>
More than two years have passed since the pandemic and despite all the efforts of researchers, the pathogenesis of COVID-19 has not yet been resolved. Multisystem involvement, neuroendocrine involvement, and pathophysiological changes caused by SARS-CoV-2 in peripheral organs have been shown in many studies. However, the molecular mechanism of these pathophysiological changes caused by COVID-19 has not been elucidated. The frequent mutations of SARS-CoV-2 and the change in the interaction of the virus with host cells have further complicated the pathogenetic mechanism in COVID-19. Unfortunately, the mechanism determined at the beginning of the pandemic and based on the single receptor tropism of ACE2 was insufficient to explain the pathogenesis of COVID-19. It is known that SARS-CoV-2 causes retinoid signaling defects and chemosensory receptor disorders and exerts its pathogenic effects through these mechanisms. Multisystem involvement and different clinical presentations in COVID-19 suggest that virus-host interaction develops through multiple receptors and signaling pathways. The previous mechanism described via ACE2, based on single-receptor tropism, was insufficient to elucidate the pathogenesis of COVID-19 due to the absence of ACE2 receptors in most of the affected organs. In addition, there is no satisfactory explanation for the mechanism by which ACE2-free organs are affected in COVID-19. In this regard, we think that ACE2 is not a true binding receptor for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. With our recent molecular docking studies, STRA6 and its GPCRs were identified as new binding receptors of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. These studies have brought a multi-receptor mechanism to the pathogenesis of COVID-19. The multi-receptor mechanism clearly illuminates the complex pathogenesis of retinoid signaling disorder, systemic organ involvement, neuroendocrine involvement, loss of smell and taste, and many other peripheral symptoms and signs, which are considered an enigma in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Therefore, we suggest retinoid signaling defect as the main pathogenetic disorder in COVID-19 and STRA6 and GPCRs as the main binding receptors of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This new mechanism also clarifies the changing symptoms and findings in COVID-19 with each new variant. Moreover, these studies have explained the novel hypothesis for COVID-19 pathogenesis: Retinol depletion and retinoid signaling disorder and have revealed new drug targets for the treatment and prophylaxis of COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html- link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/a6r3g/" target="_blank">Crosstalk among COVID-19, STRA6, Retinol, and G protein-coupled receptor may explain the novel hypothesis of Retinol depletion and retinoid signaling disorder of COVID-19 pathogenesis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Differential Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Social Vulnerability on COVID-19 Positivity, Hospitalization, and Death in the San Francisco Bay Area</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
BACKGROUND: Higher COVID-19 incidence and morbidity have been documented for US Black and Hispanic populations but not as clearly for other racial and ethnic groups. Efforts to elucidate the mechanisms underlying racial health disparities can be confounded by the relationship between race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. OBJECTIVE: Examine race/ethnicity and social vulnerability effects on COVID-19 out- comes in the San Francisco Bay Area, an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse region, using geocoded patient records from 2020 in the University of California, San Francisco Health system. KEY RESULTS: Higher social vulnerability, but not race/ethnicity, was associated with less frequent testing yet a higher likelihood of testing positive. Asian hospitalization rates (11.5%) were double that of White patients (5.4%) and exceeded the rates for Black (9.3%) and Hispanic patients (6.9%). A modest relationship between higher hospitalization rates and increasing social vulnerability was evident only for White patients. Hispanic patients had the highest years of expected life lost due to COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 outcomes were not consistently explained by greater social vulnerability. Asian individuals showed disproportionately high rates of hospitalization regardless of social vulnerability status. Study of the San Francisco Bay Area population not only provides valuable insights into the differential contributions of race/ethnicity and social determinants of health to COVID-19 outcomes but also emphasizes that all racial groups have experienced the toll of the pandemic, albeit in different ways and to varying degrees.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.04.22268760v3" target="_blank">Differential Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Social Vulnerability on COVID-19 Positivity, Hospitalization, and Death in the San Francisco Bay Area</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Comparison of Mental Health Symptom Changes from pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 by Sex or Gender: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Importance: Women and gender-diverse individuals have faced disproportionate socioeconomic burden during COVID-19. There have been reports that this has translated into greater negative changes in mental health, but this has been based on cross-sectional research that has not accounted for pre-COVID-19 differences. Objective: To compare mental health symptom changes since pre-COVID-19 by sex or gender. Data Sources: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, medRxiv, and Open Science Framework (December 31, 2019 to August 30, 2021). Study Selection: Eligible studies compared mental health symptom changes from pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 by sex or gender. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Data was extracted by a single reviewer with validation by a second reviewer. Adequacy of study methods and reporting was assessed using an adapted version of the Joanna Briggs Institute Checklist for Prevalence Studies. A restricted maximum-likelihood random-effects meta-analyses was conducted. Main Outcomes and Measures: Anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, general mental health, and stress measured continuously or dichotomously. Results: 12 studies (10 unique cohorts) were included. All compared females or women to males or men; none included gender-diverse individuals. Continuous symptom change differences were not statistically significant for depression (standardized mean difference [SMD]= 0.12, 95% CI -0.09 to 0.33; 4 studies, 4,475 participants; I2=69.0%) and stress (SMD= -0.10, 95% CI -0.21 to 0.01; 4 studies, 1,533 participants; I2=0.0%), but anxiety (SMD= 0.15, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.22; 4 studies, 4,344 participants; I2=3.0%) and general mental health (SMD= 0.15, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.18; 3 studies, 15,692 participants; I2=0.0%) worsened more among females or women than males or men during COVID-19. There were no significant differences in changes in proportion above a cut-off: anxiety (difference= -0.05, 95% CI -0.20 to 0.11; 1 study, 217 participants), depression (difference= 0.12, 95% CI -0.03 to 0.28; 1 study, 217 participants), general mental health (difference= -0.03, 95% CI -0.09 to 0.04; 3 studies, 18,985 participants; I2=94.0%), stress (difference= 0.04, 95% CI -0.10 to 0.17; 1 study, 217 participants). Conclusion and Relevance: Mental health outcomes did not differ or were worse by amounts below thresholds for clinical significance for women compared to men.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259384v2" target="_blank">Comparison of Mental Health Symptom Changes from pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 by Sex or Gender: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pulmonary Rehabilitation Implemented With Virtual Reality for Post-COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Procedure: Pulmonary rehabilitation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
The Opole University of Technology<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pulmonary Rehabilitation Implemented With VR for Post-COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Procedure: Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   The Opole University of Technology<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID19 Oral Vaccine Consisting of Bacillus Subtilis Spores</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Bacillus subtilis<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   DreamTec Research Limited;   Middle East Cell and Gene Therapy;   National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anti-inflammatory Drug Algorithm for COVID-19 Home Treatment</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Recommended treatment schedule;   Drug: Usual care<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research;   Family physicians<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase II Study of the Immunogenicity and Safety of SCTV01C in Population Aged ≥12 Years and Previously Vaccinated With Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV2 Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01C;   Biological: Comirnaty<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase II Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of SCTV01E in Population Aged ≥18 Years Previously Fully Vaccinated With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Sars-CoV-2 Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01E;   Biological: Comirnaty<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase II Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of SCTV01C and SCTV01E in Population Aged ≥12 Years Previously Fully Vaccinated With Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2 Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01C;   Biological: SCTV01E;   Biological: Sinopharm inactivated COVID-19 vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase II Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of SCTV01C in Population Aged ≥18 Years and Previously Fully Vaccinated With Either Inactivated or mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine or Previously Diagnosed With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2 Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCTV01C;   Biological: Sinopharm inactivated COVID-19 vaccine;   Biological: Comirnaty<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sinocelltech Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Transcranial Direct Stimulation for Persistent Fatigue Treatment Post-COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Device: Active tDCS;   Device: Sham tDCS<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Hospital San Carlos, Madrid<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity of COVI-VAC as a Booster Dose in Adults Previously Vaccinated Against COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: COVI-VAC<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Codagenix, Inc<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of Combined Use of Ivermectin and Colchicine in COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin + colchicine;   Drug: Colchicine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Ain Shams University<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vale+ Tu Salud: Corner-Based Randomized Trial to Test a Latino Day Laborer Program Adapted to Prevent COVID 19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: COVID-19 Group Problem Solving;   Behavioral: Control Group-standard of care<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston;   National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>BetaShield: A Phase II, Randomized Trial to Test the Effect of Povidone-iodine 0.5% as Mouthwash/Gargle on SARS- CoV-2 Load (COVID 19) as an Adjuvant Infection Control Measure in Dental Practice</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Mouth rinse<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:  <br/>
University of Pennsylvania;   Purdue Pharma LP<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase III, Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of TD0069 Capsule as a Combination Regimen With Standard Treatment for Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: TD0069 hard capsule;   Drug: TD0069 Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Sao Thai Duong Joint Stock Company;   Clinical Training Company<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study in Healthy Subjects and Symptomatic Covid-19 Positive Patients to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of the Novel Self-administered Intranasal CG- SpikeDown Antiviral Drug</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: CG-SpikeDown, intranasal formulation;   Drug: standard of care<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Caregen Co. Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Prospective Effect of Allopurinol on the Oxidative Stress Index and Endothelial Dysfunction in Covid-19</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 by the direct cytopathic effect or indirectly through the propagation of pro-inflammatory cytokines could cause endothelial dysfunction (ED) and oxidative stress (OS). It has been reported that OS is triggered by various types of viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2. Into the bargain, allopurinol is regarded as a potent antioxidant that acts through inhibition of xanthine oxidase (XO), which is an essential enzyme of purine metabolism. Herein, the present study aimed to find the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Robust neutralising antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in adolescents and young adults with childhood onset rheumatic diseases</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines were efficacious after the two-dose regimen in almost all AYA with cRD without serious adverse event. The rate of disease flare observed is 4.4% after the second mRNA vaccine dose.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Organoid technology and lung injury mouse models evaluating effects of hydroxychloroquine on lung epithelial regeneration</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) damages lung epithelial stem/progenitor cells. Ideal anti- SARS-CoV-2 drug candidates should be screened to prevent secondary injury to the lungs. Here, we propose that in vitro three-dimensional organoid and lung injury repair mouse models are powerful models for the screening antiviral drugs. Lung epithelial progenitor cells, including airway club cells and alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells, were co-cultured with supportive fibroblast cells…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is heparan sulfate a target for inhibition of RNA virus infection?</strong> - Heparan sulfate (HS) is a linear polysaccharide attached to a core protein, forming heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) that are ubiquitously expressed on the surface of almost all mammalian cells and the extracellular matrix. HS orchestrates the binding of various signal molecules to their receptors, thus, regulating many biological processes, including homeostasis, metabolism, and various pathological processes. Due to its wide distribution and negatively charged properties, HS is exploited…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Neuropilin-1-Mediated SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages Inhibits Osteoclast Differentiation</strong> - In humans, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause medical complications across various tissues and organs. Despite the advances to understanding the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2, its tissue tropism and interactions with host cells have not been fully understood. Existing clinical data have revealed disordered calcium and phosphorus metabolism in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, suggesting possible infection or damage in the human skeleton…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Role of peripheral myelin protein 22 in chronic exercise-induced interactions of muscle and bone in mice</strong> - Exercise is important for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia and osteoporosis. Although the interactions between skeletal muscles and bone have recently been reported, the myokines linking muscle to bone during exercise remain unknown. We previously revealed that chronic exercise using treadmill running blunts ovariectomy-induced osteopenia in mice. We herein performed an RNA sequence analysis of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of male mice with or without chronic exercise to…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A global lipid map reveals host dependency factors conserved across SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> - A comprehensive understanding of host dependency factors for SARS-CoV-2 remains elusive. We mapped alterations in host lipids following SARS-CoV-2 infection using nontargeted lipidomics. We found that SARS-CoV-2 rewires host lipid metabolism, altering 409 lipid species up to 64-fold relative to controls. We correlated these changes with viral protein activity by transfecting human cells with each viral protein and performing lipidomics. We found that lipid droplet plasticity is a key feature of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An In-silico Screening Strategy to the Prediction of New Inhibitors of COVID-19 M(pro) Protein</strong> - The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) was first recognized in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread worldwide. Between all proposed research guidelines, inhibition of the main protease (M^(pro)) protein of the virus will be one of the main strategies for COVID-19 treatment. The present work was aimed to perform a computational study on FDA-approved drugs, similar to piperine scaffold, to find possible M^(pro) inhibitors. Firstly, virtual screening studies were performed on a library of FDA-approved…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>In silico investigations of heparin binding to SARS-CoV-2 variants with a focus at the RBD/ACE2 interface</strong> - The increased infectivity and transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 new variants were contributed largely by increase binding of receptor binding domain (RBD) domain of the Spike (S) protein to its cellular receptor ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2). Several studies have indicated that heparin and its derivatives interact to SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and inhibits the binding of ACE2 which blocks the viral invasion. However, it is largely unclear how these SARS-CoV-2 variants affects ACE2 binding in the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Korean Red Ginseng, a regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome, in the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibits various symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to severe pneumonia or death. The major features of patients in severe COVID-19 are the dysregulation of cytokine secretion, pneumonia, and acute lung injury. Consequently, it leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation, multiple organ failure, and death. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative virus of COVID-19, influences…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Financing Constraints and Firm’s Productivity Under the COVID-19 Epidemic Shock: Evidence of A-Shared Chinese Companies</strong> - Focusing on the financing barriers to firm productivity improvement under the influence of external shocks, we empirically analyze the data of A-share listed companies from 2007-2018 to determine the impact of financing constraints on total factor productivity (TFP) in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and the paths of factor use efficiency and R&amp;D innovation efficiency on this impact using ordinary least-squares (OLS) method. We find that financing constraints are an important factor inhibiting…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SAR and QSAR of COVID-19 Main Protease-Inhibitor Interactions of Recently X-ray Crystalized Complexes</strong> - COVID-19 is still widespread worldwide and up to now there is no established antiviral able to control the disease. Main protease is responsible for the viral replication and transcription; thus, its inhibition is a promising route to control virus proliferation. The present study aims to examine detail interactions between main protease and recently reported ninety-seven inhibitors with available X-ray crystallography to define factors enhance inhibition activity; thirty-two of most potent…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Antiviral activities of 4H-chromen-4-one scaffold-containing flavonoids against SARS-CoV-2 using computational and in vitro approaches</strong> - The widespread outbreak of the novel coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused the main health challenge worldwide. This pandemic has attracted the attention of the research communities in various fields, prompting efforts to discover rapid drug molecules for the treatment of the life-threatening COVID-19 disease. This study is aimed at investigating 4H-chromen-4-one scaffold-containing flavonoids that combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus using…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Combination of antiviral drugs inhibits SARS-CoV-2 polymerase and exonuclease and demonstrates COVID-19 therapeutic potential in viral cell culture</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 has an exonuclease-based proofreader, which removes nucleotide inhibitors such as Remdesivir that are incorporated into the viral RNA during replication, reducing the efficacy of these drugs for treating COVID-19. Combinations of inhibitors of both the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and the exonuclease could overcome this deficiency. Here we report the identification of hepatitis C virus NS5A inhibitors Pibrentasvir and Ombitasvir as SARS- CoV-2 exonuclease inhibitors. In the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Adverse reactions and production of neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccination: A cross-sectional study in a single center</strong> - Adverse events following vaccination with the ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine may be associated with the titer of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 82 HCWs who received the ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine and did not have previous COVID-19 history were enrolled during March 2021. Blood samples were collected from HCWs 3 weeks after the first and second doses of vaccine, and NAbs were estimated using two types of commercially available kits, the cPass™…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SOCIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR MOBILE ROBOTS IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT TECHNOLOGY</strong> - The emergency department (ED) is a safety-critical environment in which healthcare workers (HCWs) are overburdened, overworked, and have limited resources, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. One way to address this problem is to explore the use of robots that can support clinical teams, e.g., to deliver materials or restock supplies. However, due to EDs being overcrowded, and the cognitive overload HCWs experience, robots need to understand various levels of patient acuity so they avoid disrupting care delivery. In this invention, we introduce the Safety-Critical Deep Q-Network (SafeDQN) system, a new acuity-aware navigation system for mobile robots. SafeDQN is based on two insights about care in EDs: high-acuity patients tend to have more HCWs in attendance and those HCWs tend to move more quickly. We compared SafeDQN to three classic navigation methods, and show that it generates the safest, quickest path for mobile robots when navigating in a simulated ED environment. We hope this work encourages future exploration of social robots that work in safety-critical, human-centered environments, and ultimately help to improve patient outcomes and save lives. Figure 1. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN349443355">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A SYSTEM BASED ON DEEP LEARNING FOR ANALYZING DELAYED ENHANCEMENT MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING TO IDENTIFY COVID 19 AND METHOD THEREOF</strong> - The present invention discloses a system based on deep learning for analyzing delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging to identify COVID 19 and method thereof. The method and system include, but not limited to, a processing unit adapted to process the data based on deep learning data modelling in the magnetic resonance imaging associated with the digital image scanning system for diagnosis COVID 19 with the spatial resolution that each frame is deposited is 256 * 256, and being creating that level and vertical resolution respectively are 256 pixels (pixel), the read/write address that the read/write address of each image element, which is controlled by processing unit and forms circuit and finishes; And the data that will be stored in memory are input to a real-time microcontroller, it is characterized in that: analyze and compare by the Multi-source Information Fusion analytical system by using the real-time microcontroller to deliver the D/A changer then, digital signal is become analogue signal output. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN348041194">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种特异性结合新型冠状病毒S蛋白的抗体及其应用</strong> - 本发明涉及一种特异性结合新型冠状病毒S蛋白的抗体及其应用，属于生物技术领域。本发明提供了一种抗原，所述抗原包括氨基酸序列如SEQ ID NO.1所示的多肽，氨基酸序列如SEQ ID NO.2所示的多肽，与SEQ ID NO.1所示氨基酸序列具有80%以上同源性，且具有诱发针对SARS‑CoV‑2 S蛋白免疫反应功能的衍生多肽，和/或，与SEQ ID NO.2所示氨基酸序列具有80%以上同源性，且具有诱发针对SARS‑CoV‑2 S蛋白免疫反应功能的衍生多肽；使用所述抗原对动物进行免疫可获得能够与SARS‑CoV‑2 S蛋白特异性结合的多克隆抗体。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN350478357">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>检测SARS-CoV-2变异株的组合物、试剂盒、方法及其用途</strong> - 本发明属于分子生物学检测领域；涉及SARS‑CoV‑2奥密克戎（Omicron）变异株的检测。本发明提供了包含所述组合物的试剂盒，所述组合物的用途，以及用于检测SARS‑CoV‑2变异株并分型的方法。通过检测SARS‑CoV‑2变异株S基因上的4个不同的特征功能变异位点，对奥密克戎变异株进行分型，从而在单管反应体系中同时实现SARS‑CoV‑2病毒及奥密克戎变异株分型的检测。本发明的组合物，结合荧光探针熔解曲线法，其成本低，通量高。并且操作简便，结果读取过程通过熔解峰Tm值即可以判定。检测全过程均在单管封闭条件下进行，避免了由于样本间交叉引起的假阳性和环境污染。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN350448167">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种用于检测病毒的试剂盒</strong> - 本发明提供了一种用于检测病毒的试剂盒，包括裂解病毒的试剂和病毒的免疫层析检测装置，通过在试纸条上设置连接标记区域和检测区域的缓冲过渡区域，以及在卡壳盖上设置三条压住试纸条的压条，减缓样本的流速，提高样本在试纸条上的层析和过滤效果，并搭配裂解病毒的试剂，暴露出更多的抗原或者抗原位点，从而大幅提高待测物的检测灵敏度，特别是针对新型冠状病毒的裂解，可以明显提高样本中的病毒抗原浓度，从而采用特定结构的免疫荧光测试条，提高检测的最低阀值，防止漏检。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN350448117">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种用于检测病毒的试剂和试剂盒</strong> - 本发明提供了一种用于检测病毒的试剂和试剂盒，包括裂解病毒的试剂和试纸条，通过在试纸条上设置连接标记区域和检测区域的缓冲过渡区域，减缓样本的流速，提高样本在试纸条上的层析和过滤效果，并搭配裂解病毒的试剂裂解病毒，暴露出更多的抗原或者抗原位点，从而提高检测的灵敏度。在样本中病毒量特别低的时候，希望能够获得阳性结果，就希望获得更多的抗原片段或者病毒片段，采用本发明提供的裂解液对样本进行裂解，可以明显提高样本中的病毒抗原浓度，从而采用免疫荧光测试条，提高检测的最低阀值，防止漏检，特别适用于针对新型冠状病毒的裂解。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN350448097">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种结合冠状病毒双特异性抗体的抗药抗体及其制备方法和应用</strong> - 本发明公开了一种结合冠状病毒双特异性抗体的抗药抗体及其制备方法和应用。所述抗药抗体包含重链可变区和轻链可变区，所述重链可变区包含HCDR1、HCDR2和HCDR3，所述轻链可变区包含LCDR1、LCDR2和LCDR3，其中各功能区的序列详见本发明。本发明筛选得到的抗药抗体具有较高的结合亲和力和特异性。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN350447815">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FOLDABLE KIDS NEST</strong> - The objective of the present invention is to provide a bird’s nest bag which allows a kid to sleep or sit inside. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the bird nest bag is used to isolate kids below 2 years, who are affected by COVID-19. The netted portion of the bag allows a clear visibility to check on the user by the medical assistants, during emergency situations. The children below two years of age can be isolated in the bags for a shorter duration. (Refer Fig. 1) - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN350377146">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IDENTIFICATION AND ALARM SYSTEM FOR FACIAL CORONA MASK USING CNN BASED IMAGE PROCESSING</strong> - tThe covid-19 epidemic is the world’s largest wake-up call for people to pay attention to their own and society’s health. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a segment of the population that has been exposed to the covid-19 virus and has generated antibodies without developing any significant illnesses and is continuing to be healthy. This indicates that a significant section of the population, even excluding the elderly, lacks the necessary bodily immunity to combat a Viral infection. As terrible as covid-19 is on a global scale, developing personal health standards and preventative measures for any pathogenic virus as a community would have spared many lives. In’this work, a camera is combined with an image processing system to recognise facial masks, which may be improved in a variety of ways. First and foremost, this method is meant to identify masks on a single person’s face. While this method is efficient in identifying someone has a mask, it does not ensure that they will wear it all of the time. The most effective update for this task is to install a camera with a wide field of view so that many individuals can be seen in the frame, and the faces of those who aren’t wearing markings can be identified, as well as the number of people and the timing. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN346889253">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种腺病毒载体重组新冠病毒B.1.429变异株疫苗及其应用</strong> - 本发明公开了一种以人5型复制缺陷型腺病毒为载体的新冠变异株疫苗。所述疫苗以E1、E3联合缺失的复制缺陷型人5型腺病毒为载体，基因组中整合有经优化设计的新型冠状病毒B.1.429变异株抗原基因（Ad5‑nCoV‑B.1.429）。该疫苗在宿主细胞中可以有效表达保护性抗原蛋白。使用该疫苗单次免疫即可激发针对新冠野生株以及B.1.351、B.1.617.2变异株的抗体反应。与2019野生型新型冠状病毒疫苗联用，疫苗加强免疫后可以激发强烈且广谱的新冠病毒变异株中和抗体反应。无论用作单独免疫，还是同新冠野生株疫苗联用作异型加强免疫时，该疫苗均能激发较为广谱的中和抗体反应，具有一定的应用优势，可作为疫苗候选株，用于应对持续蔓延的新冠变异株疫情。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN350447588">link</a></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Migrant Prison Officially Closes. But How Much Has Changed?</strong> - The order to shutter Al Mabani, a notorious jail set up in Libya to detain migrants bound for Europe, might be seen as progress. But it is also an indication of darker aspects of migrant detention. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-migrant-prison-officially-closes-but-how-much-has-changed">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Crushing Loss of Hope in Ukraine</strong> - Putin has declared that history is destiny, and that Ukraine will never get away from Russia. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-crushing-loss-of-hope-in-ukraine">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Putin Launches His Invasion of Ukraine</strong> - Biden imposes sanctions in response to what the U.S. calls the “greatest threat to Europe” since the Second World War. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/putin-launches-his-invasion-of-ukraine">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Odetta Revolutionized Folk Music</strong> - She animated the horror and emotional intensity in American labor songs by projecting them like a European opera singer. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-odetta-revolutionized-folk-music">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Dark Satire About Worker Exploitation in the Philippines</strong> - In Sonny Calvento’s short film “Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss,” magical realism meets a very unmagical reality. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/screening-room/a-dark-satire-about-worker-exploitation-in-the-philippines">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Why we love animals — and love to eat them</strong> -
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<img alt="A man holding a piglet in his lap." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CcITu56idn-
ebrprMBCPSpjW6DU=/0x0:3115x2336/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70544144/GettyImages_131967915.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
In a new book, <em>The Meat Paradox</em>, Rob Percival says humanity’s complicated relationship with animals is caused by cognitive dissonance brought about by our empathy for animals and desire to eat them. | Sara Miedema/Getty Images
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Humanity’s paradoxical relationship with meat, explained.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4PLNjb">
We human beings deeply love animals, but we also love to eat them. Almost <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/282779/nearly-one-four-cut-back-eating-
meat.aspx">one in four</a> American adults tells pollsters they’re cutting back on their meat intake — while the country sets new records for <a href="https://www.dailylivestockreport.com/documents/dlr%2002-23-21.pdf">per capita meat consumption</a>. We abhor the treatment of animals on factory farms, where <a href="https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/us-factory-farming-estimates">99 percent</a> of meat in the US is produced, yet we <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/2/18055532/vegans-vegetarian-research-uk">dislike vegans</a>. And even those of us who say we’re vegetarian or vegan are often <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-
perfect/22927412/eric-adams-fish-vegan-plant-based-new-york">stretching the truth</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mibbcx">
There’s a term for humanity’s fraught relationship with meat and the animals slaughtered to produce it: the meat paradox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XpEsFf">
Australian psychologists Steve Loughnan, Nick Haslam, and Brock Bastian <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666310003648?via%3Dihub">coined the term</a> in 2010, defining it as the “psychological conflict between people’s dietary preference for meat and their moral response to animal suffering.” We empathize with animals — after all, we are animals ourselves — but we’re also hardwired to seek <a href="https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/human-memory-high-calorie-foods-study">calorie-dense, energy-rich</a> foods. And for most of human history, that meant meat.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="31hlK3">
The push and pull between empathizing with animals while also eating them creates a <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/cognitive-dissonance">cognitive dissonance</a> that can cause us to ignore how they’re treated on industrial farms, or outright deny their sentience, intelligence, and capacity to suffer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t9m7L2">
The meat paradox is also the subject and title of a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Meat-
Paradox-Eating-Empathy-
Future/dp/1643138731/ref=asc_df_1643138731/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=564751416688&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=16992270581690179124&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9007767&amp;hvtargid=pla-1588771692398&amp;psc=1">new book</a> by Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, a UK-based nonprofit that advocates for organic farming practices, higher animal welfare, and lower meat consumption.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Exrqbl">
I wanted to speak to Percival because he is a walking embodiment of the meat paradox. He spends his days campaigning against industrialized animal agriculture while insisting animals should still play a role in our farming and food system, albeit a much smaller and more humane one.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Molxf1">
Percival is quite sympathetic to the vegan cause, going so far as to call animal slaughter “murder,” but isn’t a vegan himself and doesn’t hesitate to criticize the vegan movement’s <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bnpkwa/will-your-eyes-change-colour-on-a-raw-vegan-diet-or-is-it-all-
bullshit">eccentricities</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/25/16018658/what-the-health-
documentary-review-vegan-diet">exaggerations</a>. And he’s gravely worried about what will happen to the world if humanity can’t figure out how to resolve the meat paradox. The West’s meat-heavy diet is a major accelerant to the climate crisis that shows little sign of slowing, and that diet is already being <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production#meat-consumption-tends-to-rise-as-we-get-richer">exported to the rest of the world</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i02dNz">
So in an effort to unravel the meat paradox, Percival talked to farmers, anthropologists, psychologists, and activists to better understand humanity’s messy, complicated, and millennia-deep relationship to the animals we hunt and farm for food.
</p>
<h3 id="uGDNhU">
The meat paradox in ourselves
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5CCSPK">
Percival found that the meat paradox isn’t just a product of modern-day industrialized animal farming, but a psychological struggle that goes back to our earliest ancestors. Those <a href="https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/#:~:text=Lascaux%20is%20famous%20for%20its,once%20native%20to%20the%20region.">animal carvings and cave paintings</a> made tens of thousands of years ago? They may be more than mere caveman doodles.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JV05Z4">
“It’s partly speculative, but the case has been made by <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo19109026.html">various</a> <a href="https://library.nga.gov/discovery/fulldisplay/alma994035630704896/01NGA_INST:NGA">scholars</a> that these provide evidence of a <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/shamans-of-prehistory-trance-and-magic-in-the-painted-
caves/oclc/38976143">ritual response</a> to animal consumption which may well have been rooted in those dissonant emotions, that conflicted ethical sense,” Percival said. “There’s a profound moral dilemma posed by the killing and consumption of animal persons.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="av2460">
But the meat paradox has intensified in the modern age. One of the <a href="https://fewd.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/inst_ethik_wiss_dialog/Loughnan_2010_The_role_of_meat_consumption_.._denial_of_moral_status.pdf">founding studies</a> of the meat paradox literature, Percival told me, was the one published by Loughnan, Haslam, and Bastian in 2010. They gave questionnaires to two groups, and while the subjects filled in answers, one group was given cashews to snack on while the other group was given beef jerky. The surveys asked participants to rate the sentience and intelligence of cows and their moral concern for a variety of animals, such as dogs, chickens, and chimpanzees.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v9gomJ">
The participants who ate the beef jerky rated cows less sentient and less mindful — and extended their circle of moral concern to fewer animals — than the group that ate the cashews.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RumpLz">
“The act of thinking about a cow’s mental capabilities while eating a cow had created these dissonant emotions beneath the surface, which had skewed their perception in really important ways,” Percival said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wUn4r3">
Even exposure to strict vegetarians or vegans can elicit a “heightened commitment to pro-meat justifications,” Percival says about <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261608438_Efforts_to_Overcome_Vegetarian-
Induced_Dissonance_among_Meat_Eaters">one study</a>. This might explain why we see per capita meat consumption rise in tandem with rates of veganism and vegetarianism.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Nfpsj">
One of the funnier and more telling passages of the book details a meeting Percival had with Charles Way, the head of food quality assurance for KFC in the UK and Ireland. After Way tells Percival how proud he is of KFC’s animal welfare standards, Percival asks Way, “If you knew that you were going to be reborn as a chicken, would you really prefer to be born onto a farm in KFC’s supply chain, more than on any other farm in the UK?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="remdo8">
Way asserts the company’s standards are above the industry norm (<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chicken-tesco-sainsbury-sainsbury-kfc-lidl-aldi-
welfare-b1893070.html">which isn’t saying much</a>), but then says it wouldn’t make a difference, “so no.” Percival tries again: “If you knew that you were going to be reborn as a chicken, do you think you would eat less chicken?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g71Mqp">
By Percival’s telling, Way simply doesn’t reply.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ENU0kg">
When confronted with these dissonant emotions through reports on the <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21437054/chickens-factory-farming-animal-
cruelty-welfare">harsh reality of factory farming</a>, we try to deny them, dissociating the meat on our plate from the animal that produced it, and in doing so, denying animals of their sentience and intelligence.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XjG8Id">
We make myths to justify our relationship with animals, too. One of the more popular ones is the “ancient contract,” which goes something like this: Animals give us their meat, and in exchange, we give them domestication and thus an opportunity to evolutionarily succeed. This concept was <a href="http://www.criticalanimal.com/2015/11/the-species-
contract-and-speciescraft.html">coined</a> by science writer Stephen Budiansky in 1989 and has been touted by food writers Michael Pollan and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/05/402584436/tales-of-pig-intelligence-
factory-farming-and-humane-bacon">Barry Estabrook</a>, as well as iconic animal welfare scientist <a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1100l9NoX/pubref:Vox022322/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3D20yPDQAAQBAJ%26pg%3DPA235%26lpg%3DPA235%26dq%3DThe%2BAncient%2BContract%2Bbudiasky%2Bus%2Bnews%2Band%2Bworld%2Breport%23v%3Donepage%26q%3DThe%2520Ancient%2520Contract%2520budiasky%2520us%2520news%2520and%2520world%2520report%26f%3Dfalse">Temple Grandin</a>.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XQP945">
Pollan and Estabrook don’t condone modern-day industrial animal farming, and Estabrook says it’s a violation of this ancient contract. However, “there is a glaring deceit at the heart of our ancient contract,” Percival writes: “No individual animal has consented to the terms of the deal.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ugNQbo">
We also use language to obscure; <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666316302768?via%3Dihub">one study</a> found that replacing “slaughtering” or “killing” with “harvesting” reduced dissonance, and that replacing “beef” and “pork” on restaurant menus with “cow” and “pig” generated more empathy for animals. Adding a photo of an animal next to the dish further elevated empathy, while also making vegetarian dishes more appealing to study participants.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VJ84ic">
Percival says the meat paradox can be found across cultures and time periods, and that “there is no culture in which plant foods are problematic in the same way.”
</p>
<h3 id="365O0Z">
The meat paradox in our institutions
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CZ6UOl">
The meat paradox is just as active in our institutions as in ourselves.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NJWDgU">
Percival’s book opens with a tour of the Natural History Museum of London, where exhibits tell the story of animals’ habitat loss and the effects of climate change on wildlife. But then when you visit the museum’s restaurant, “you might be served food which directly contributed to all those crises,” Percival said. (Meat production is a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22287498/meat-wildlife-biodiversity-species-plantbased">leading cause of habitat loss</a>, as large swaths of forest are cleared to grow soy and other crops to feed farmed animals.)
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P15cGU">
Eventually, the museum changed up its menu — offering plant-based dishes, higher-welfare meat, and organic foods — after a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/19/top-uk-tourist-attractions-come-bottom-for-
healthy-childrens-meals?CMP=gu_com">pressure campaign</a> from Percival.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ou621j">
That story had a happy ending, but I worry the meat paradox will only harden in ourselves and in our institutions as meat becomes more grist for the culture war, as when some Republicans freaked out over a made-up story that the Green New Deal would result in a “<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/4/26/22403599/biden-red-meat-ban-burger-kudlow">burger ban</a>.” To overcome that, Percival argues, we need to stake out a middle ground in the meat debate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OaUu4o">
“We need progressive farmers and omnivores to be trying to defuse the tensions with vegans and animal activists, and we need the vegans who say, ‘Okay, step one is let’s phase out the industrial systems and focus on higher animal welfare,’” he told me. “And if you can get a large enough demographic to claim that middle ground, then we might see some progress.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pyW3R1">
The middle ground is a hard place to be in an increasingly polarized world. But there are signs of progress: Whenever voters are given the choice to ban cages for hens or pigs, they <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/5/10/18564455/washington-jay-inslee-hens-animal-cruelty">vote yes</a>, and plant-based meat has <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22876919/plant-based-food-pandemic-covid-vegan-
vegetarian-meat-milk-eggs">gone mainstream</a> in recent years.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BJT6V7">
And since more bold regulation, like a <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2020/07/06/red-meat-tax-carbon-emissions-climate-change/">meat tax</a>, would be politically toxic right now, the change has to start with us.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7vr2lW">
“I’m not of the view that individuals can fix all this on their own or that it’s the sole responsibility of consumers to fix the food system,” Percival said. “But at the same time, I am of the view that our own choices are influential. They help set social norms. And you need that sort of mass mobilization before political change becomes viable, before you can force businesses to change.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tOta45">
And to get there, we first need to reflect upon the meat paradox within ourselves, which would allow us, he said, to “see our sort of complicity and entanglements in all this and understand what it might mean to begin to disentangle ourselves.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VdlEmL">
Changing how we eat is one of the <a href="https://drawdown.org/news/insights/the-powerful-role-of-household-actions-in-solving-climate-change">most effective actions</a> we can take for the climate, but it’s also one of the most personal, as evidenced by the deep- seated influence of the meat paradox. But freeing ourselves from its dissonance really could help us claw our way out of some of the crises we find ourselves in — if we’re willing to confront it.
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Scientists are recruiting elephant seals to eavesdrop on whales</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Two elephant seals chest to chest, with the ocean behind them." src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/ai-Zsmx6lwWRFDVxl0vO4SrCsHo=/216x0:3672x2592/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70544084/GettyImages_93455065.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Male elephant seals in San Simeon, California. | Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Elephant seals will help scientists monitor secretive marine mammals in the deep ocean.
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1EHxrN">
Roughly a decade ago, a team of biologists glued audio recording devices onto the backs of a handful of elephant seals on the California coast. They wanted to know if the seals — identified as males by their cartoonish faces with trunk-like noses — make noises as they swim out to sea in search of food.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dZcOBI">
The recordings they brought back caught the researchers by surprise. There was no evidence of seals vocalizing while foraging, but the devices did pick up something else: the eerie, clicking <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0USXHVqJu64">calls of sperm whales</a>, which sound like someone walking up a creaky staircase. Some of the calls also seemed to get louder, leading the researchers to believe that the seals were swimming toward the whales, and maybe even eavesdropping on them to find food.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qXlRBo">
Nothing much came of that discovery, but it has inspired marine biologists to use seals as a tool to eavesdrop on other marine life. Elephant seals spend about nine months each year at sea and travel across far reaches of the Pacific that would otherwise be difficult for scientists to survey. And <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22901324/birds-migration-navigation-earth-magnetic-field">like migratory birds</a>, the seals return to the same spot year after year, so researchers can equip them with recording devices and retrieve them relatively easily.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JzY4SQ">
As soon as next week, marine biologists at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) will test out this slippery technique. They’ll attach acoustic monitors to a few northern elephant seals before the animals depart for a little over two months.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8RXLcz">
If all goes as planned, it will be the first time scientists use animals — rather than a network of underwater microphones — to spy on marine life in the deep ocean for longer than a few days. What they overhear could help scientists unlock the mysteries of elusive marine mammals, such as beaked whales, and understand how poorly known ecosystems are changing as the planet warms.
</p>
<h3 id="6fBhCS">
Why seals make such good spies
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="72Xd1Q">
Scientists have used audio recording devices to monitor marine life for decades. It’s a common way to survey species like the <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-
health/22798384/vaquita-extinction-fishing-conservation-mexico">rare vaquita porpoise</a>. What makes this project unique, however, is that these devices won’t be fixed in place or dangling from a boat — they’re attached to living, breathing, <em>moving </em>animals.
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Elephant seals might look clumsy on land, but they’re agile underwater creatures that make ideal marine sentinels. They spend months at a time foraging far offshore, not even returning home to sleep. The animals likely take naps while drifting a few hundred meters underwater, said Roxanne Beltran, an assistant professor at UCSC who’s co-leading the project.
</p>
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Elephant seals descend as much as a mile underwater when hunting for small fish, squid, and <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/northern-
elephant-seal">even sharks</a>, and that brings them within earshot of whales and other marine mammals. Conveniently enough, seals themselves don’t make much noise. “They’re not contaminating the data,” said Holger Klinck, an expert in bioacoustics at Cornell University who’s co-leading the project with Beltran. “They’re really only measuring what’s going on in their surroundings.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wVdfwy">
Perhaps most importantly, the seals return to the same beach each year, which reduces the risk of losing equipment. For the project at UCSC, each recording device is roughly the size of an old cellphone and costs about $5,000. It isn’t capable of beaming acoustic data back to shore, Beltran said, so if you lose the device, you lose everything.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/Jf7sTnQfMLHM7pG_haW-ITZCYnU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23264050/Calling_Pup_W_Mom.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of Dan Costa</cite></figure></li>
</ul>
<figcaption>
A mother and baby elephant seal at Año Nuevo, a beach in Northern California.
</figcaption>
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/4aYp7kjWhmLZU3at_AeeWH6ZxZ4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23264188/GettyImages_619675108.jpg"/> <cite>Getty Images/iStockphoto</cite></p>
<figcaption>
Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park in California.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TrxoKE">
Using an epoxy adhesive, Beltran and Allison Payne, a doctoral researcher at UCSC, will glue recording devices onto three female seals at Año Nuevo Reserve in Northern California. (Females have a much higher survival rate and reliably head out to sea right after weaning their pups.) Beltran is building on research led by UCSC’s <a href="https://costa.eeb.ucsc.edu/dan-costa/">Dan Costa</a>, who heads a project to monitor local seals that dates back to the 1960s.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WI0Pjk">
Then they’ll wait. The seals will make it about a quarter of the way to Japan before turning back, in a trip that takes roughly 75 days. The device will record about 40 days of audio before the batteries run out, while other tags measure things like location, depth, and water temperature, leaving the scientists with lots of clues to what’s happening in a largely unknown stretch of ocean.
</p>
<h3 id="YK50gm">
Uncovering mysteries of the deep
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ArJVJX">
When the animals return, scientists will meet them on the beach and retrieve the devices before sending the seals on their way. (The devices don’t harm the seals or change their behavior, Beltran said.) Then they’ll run the audio through computer algorithms that separate out the unique sounds made by each species. A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOkcvGPHsgk&amp;t=115s">humpback whale</a> can sound a bit like a whining puppy crossed with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQIwEZlOzp4">Chewbacca</a>, for example, while <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiuPwxO8neo">orcas</a> often sound like a metal detector gone haywire.
</p>
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Payne will be listening closely for the echolocating clicks of beaked whales. This group of toothy marine animals, often gray or black and white, have eluded scientists for decades. “We know almost nothing about them,” she told Vox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MvtBMV">
Beaked whales make up more than a quarter of living cetaceans (a group that includes dolphins, porpoises, and whales), but scientists don’t know where they go in the ocean or what they do, she said. They spend most of their time deep underwater and rarely surface for air, Payne added. There are more than 20 species of beaked whales, and much of what we know about them <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/international-
research-team-documents-potential-new-species-beaked-whale-mexico">comes from carcasses</a> that occasionally wash up on shore.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/wLPXXdFYJp0ePb3aNBg5MSvKarA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23264200/GettyImages_1218233622.jpg"/> <cite>Getty Images/iStockphoto</cite></p>
<figcaption>
A Cuvier’s beaked whale in the Bay of Biscay, in the northeast Atlantic Ocean.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yJHc3r">
It’s hard to protect a species you don’t understand, Payne said. For example, researchers think<em> </em>that<em> </em>noise from shipping traffic harms beaked whales, but scientists can’t say for sure — because they simply don’t know what these animals are doing.
</p>
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Researchers also hope to build an auditory archive of the ocean over years to understand how marine communities are changing, especially as the planet heats up. How, for example, is the giant patch of warm water in the Pacific Ocean, dubbed “<a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/theblob.htm">the blob</a>,” affecting marine communities? “The elephant seals can help us collect information where we have little to no data,” Klinck told Vox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wLJd7d">
For now, Beltran and her team are just trying to prove that it can work. If it does, she hopes to scale it up and start collecting sounds in all kinds of marine environments — not just far offshore, but near the coast and even under Arctic ice. Perhaps in the future, legions of elephant seals will unwittingly survey the ocean in the name of science.
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</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s4dTUV">
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Who wins and who loses when you gamble on sports</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Two patrons sit at a Long Island bar/restaurant that features several screens showing different
sports." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wlvYyVMVTwNrN8KBQ5r5YeSECy8=/304x0:5168x3648/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70544020/1370001310.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Patrons at The Main Event in Plainview, New York, on February 10th, 2022, just days ahead of the Super Bowl. | Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Image
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Inside the sports betting land grab, where everybody wins, except (probably) you.
</p>
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</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d0XeyE">
I’m not a huge sports person. I’m definitely not a gambler. And yet, on a Thursday night in mid-January, I found myself quite excited that my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlay_(gambling)">parlay</a> bet that the Milwaukee Bucks would win <em>and </em>Giannis Antetokounmpo would achieve a <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/triple-double">triple-double</a> had paid off. I’d turned $11 into $130 essentially at random — I had to ask a friend what a triple-double was — with a handful of taps on my phone. “Is sports betting actually good?” I wondered. More selfishly, I thought, “Am I a secret genius at it?”
</p>
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The answer to the latter question was absolutely not — my early luck wore out about a week later, when I started to lose money. The answer to the former question is tougher to assess. Sure, sports betting is fun. But is it good for society? Probably not so much. What is clear is that there’s an enormous amount of money being thrown at it, with <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/sportsbook-5217715">sportsbooks</a> — meaning companies that let you place bets on sports, like DraftKings — spending <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-
biggest-bet-in-sports-gambling-the-ad-push-to-grab-customers">billions of dollars</a> to suck people in. Leagues, media companies, and teams are recognizing the moneymaking opportunity, too. (Disclosure: The sports site SB Nation, which is owned by Vox’s parent company, Vox Media, has a <a href="https://www.voxmedia.com/about-vox-media/2019/9/5/20849938/sb-
nation-and-draftkings-launch-draftkings-nation">partnership</a> with DraftKings.)
</p>
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“You’re talking about an industry that is in land-rush mode, where there are more competitors than there will be winners,” said Chris Grove, CEO of American Affiliate, a company that recruits new customers for sportsbooks. “We are absolutely in a heightened marketing environment right now.”
</p>
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Sports betting is everywhere. It and crypto were <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22925225/super-bowl-ads-money-crypto-sports-betting">basically the themes</a> of this year’s Super Bowl commercials. In New York, where online sports betting <a href="https://www.newyorkcriminalattorneyblog.com/online-sports-betting-just-became-legal-in-new-york-here-is-what-you-
need-to-know/">became legal</a> on January 8, <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/everyone-in-new-york-is-
betting-on-sports.html">it feels inescapable</a> — the other weekend, I watched part of an hour-long DraftKings infomercial twice. Within the first 10 days of sports betting being allowed in the state, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-new-york-new-jersey-sports-betting-
db964407285109bf069a1952adab40a4">1.2 million new accounts were created</a>, most of them by people completely new to the space.
</p>
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New York <a href="https://elitesportsny.com/2022/01/28/new-york-online-sports-betting-
exceeds-1-1-billion-in-total-handle-in-16-days/">surpassed</a> $1 billion in total bets in just over two weeks, and <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-nearly-2-billion-wagers-over-first-30-days-mobile-
sports-wagering">the state’s reported total hit nearly $2 billion in wagers over the first 30 days</a>, generating $70 million in tax revenue. New York is hardly an anomaly. According to <a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/news/legal-
sports-betting-united-states-projections">the Action Network</a>, as of mid-February, full online and mobile sports betting is legal in 13 states, including Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, and in-person sportsbooks or limited mobile betting options are available in multiple more. A sports law expert told me he thinks it will basically become legal <a href="https://kutv.com/news/2news-investigates/with-no-legal-sports-betting-utah-may-be-losing-millions-in-tax-
revenue#:~:text=(KUTV)%20%E2%80%94%20Lawful%20sports%20betting,authorize%20any%20game%20of%20chance.%E2%80%9D">everywhere but Utah</a> at some point.
</p>
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang">
<aside id="Xbd7rc">
<q>“There is an ever- expanding universe of ways to spend money on uncertain outcomes”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CYSk8M">
The goal of sportsbooks and casinos, whatever marketers tell you, is to separate people from their money. The push coming from companies indicates they believe there’s a lot of cash to be had here, and that pulling out all the stops to acquire customers — including taking the risk of ultimately losing the turf war — is worth it. The more customers they get, the bigger they get, and the better they become at figuring out exactly who they need to be targeting and how. The goal is to get their hooks in and then have at it with more offers and options to keep extracting cash.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JyEDjk">
“Hovering over all of this is not what kind of value will I extract from customers from sports betting, it’s what am I going to be able to sell that user base three, five, 10 years down the road?” Grove said. “There is an ever- expanding universe of ways to spend money on uncertain outcomes, and the most bullish sportsbook operators believe that they’re going to be able to offer a buffet of those to customers at some point in the future.”
</p>
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You can imagine a world where a sportsbook also offers crypto trading, or sports stadiums that offer betting and online poker. Gambling, a longtime no-no in sports, is now driving the money train. With dollar signs in view, the moral calculus has changed.
</p>
<h3 id="JYJVKU">
Why sports betting ads are everywhere
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="93mFNp">
In recent years, the ground has shifted in the relationship in the US between gambling and sports. The rise of DraftKings and FanDuel has made <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/15/us/sports-betting-daily-fantasy-games-fanduel-
draftkings.html">daily fantasy sports</a>, where people assemble made-up teams of real players, more prevalent. Instead of people picking their fantasy teams at the start of a season, they’re able to keep at it all season long. While that doesn’t technically<em> </em>count as sports gambling (<a href="https://thefsga.org/distinguishing-fantasy-sports-from-
sports-betting/#:~:text=While%20this%20Federal%20law%20covers,are%20not%20classified%20as%20gambling.">it’s supposedly a game of skill</a>), it kind of is. Regardless, in 2018, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/23501236/supreme-court-strikes-federal-law-prohibiting-sports-
gambling">struck down</a> a federal law prohibiting sports gambling, opening the door for states to legalize it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MRqUWT">
Companies like FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, and MGM are spending a ton of money to establish themselves as leaders in the space. It could be a little questionable as a business venture, given profit margins. As Sahil Patel at the Information <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-biggest-bet-in-sports-gambling-the-ad-push-to-grab-
customers">notes</a>, betting services usually keep $6 for every $100 bet made, and after taxes and marketing, that can drop to as little as $1.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QzHnK4">
Apparently, though, these companies have made the calculation that the low margins are worth it, and this will all pay off down the line.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BlKMQr">
Take the example of Caesars, the casino and hotel company whose commercials for sports betting have become inescapable lately. I see actor J.B. Smoove’s face, <a href="https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/news/betting/meet-caesar-and-cleo-the-familiar-hollywood-faces-of-
caesars-sportsbook/">who plays Caesar in the company’s ads</a>, more than I see pretty much any of my family or friends. If I could choose an “I get it” option to get out of seeing the Caesars stuff at this point, I would. Caesars isn’t just spending money on marketing, it’s also giving out big bonuses that make at least dabbling in sports betting super appealing. For a while, it was matching deposits up to $3,000, and handing out a $300 bonus and other offers to get people to sign up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yf6eGm">
Eric Hession, co-president of Caesars Digital, told me the company hopes to differentiate itself through integration with its <a href="https://www.caesars.com/myrewards">rewards program</a> tied to its casino brands. Sports betting gives Caesars a new line to its existing customers, for example, getting a New Yorker who frequents its casinos when in Las Vegas to start betting with the app on NFL games. But it also serves as a pipeline to get new customers into its broader ecosystem — customers who are often a different demographic from the usual. Caesars’ current database tends to skew older and more female, with slots being among the most popular games. Sports bettors skew younger and male.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WNUlYB">
“One thing I know about this from people in the gambling industry is that everyone’s looking for a younger audience,” said Andrew Brandt, a former Green Bay Packers executive and the director of the Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova University. “Everyone wants to engage young people because these sports fans are skewing older, especially for a sport like baseball, and that casino engagement is skewing much older. So the best way to attract young fans is this new sports betting.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AMa2MU">
Caesars’ hope is that once people are into sports betting, they stay in, that they keep playing after the bonuses are dried up, and maybe start hitting up their casinos. While the bonusing may seem like a lot, casinos are deeply experienced with the mechanism of giving things away in order to make more later.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="56Wyve">
To be sure, not everyone’s going to do that. Once I bet through the $300 bonus on Caesars, I took the $400 or so in my account (thanks largely to that Giannis bet) and cashed out. Some people put in $3,000, got the match, and, once they bet through that, <a href="https://maxread.substack.com/p/i-made-3000-gambling-from-home">cashed out</a>, sometimes making a few thousand free dollars. When I raised that possibility to Hession, he acknowledged it wasn’t ideal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aMLQFK">
“We assume there’s a certain percentage of people who will do that, and it’s too bad that that’s the reality,” he said.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside id="tZfoBw">
<q>The goal of sportsbooks and casinos, whatever marketers tell you, is to separate people from their money</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yxwFTk">
It’s hard to feel too bad for Caesars. After all, it’s a business, and if they’re out to get people’s money, it’s only fair that people have the opportunity to try to get their money, too. Just as gamblers accept risk when they place a bet, Caesars is taking on a bit of a risk that its spending on sports betting will pay off — it <a href="https://frontofficesports.com/caesars-looks-to-sports-betting-to-bolster-casino-business/">thinks it will be profitable</a> in sports betting by 2023’s football season.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OjGVPS">
“Traditionally, sports betting has been more of an amenity within the casino, but now that it’s able to be mobile, it’s going to be a much bigger part of the company going forward,” Hession said. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, it was <a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/despite-a-head-start-of-decades-nevada-remains-in-sports-betting-dark-
ages">allowed in Nevada</a>, where both mobile and in-person sports betting were available, though everyone had to register in person at a casino first (it’s still the case there). Delaware <a href="https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/23561576/chalk-line-how-got-legalized-sports-betting">also offered</a> parlay betting on the NFL.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iSaw1m">
In the sports betting land grab, there are going to be losers and consolidation as some players inevitably win out. Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, said that within the gambling industry there is debate about whether the bonuses that companies are offering to get customers is excessive — hence why companies are being so aggressive at getting people in and getting them hooked.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hvDaJz">
“There’s a lot of marketing technology aimed at separating gamblers from their money,” he said. “The amount of data the industry collects and the way they utilize that is really underexplored.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XPnYns">
The more people who start sports betting, the more data the industry collects so that companies and marketers can better identify and target potential new customers as the sector expands. The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nj-state-wire-nv-state-wire-sports-betting-us-news-ap-top-
news-2fc27b7c558ceddd8669fb03acc15e3d">leagues are producing data, too</a>, as a way to make money and give sportsbooks more for customers to bet on. The ideal customer is someone who’s cheap to acquire, who’s sticky, and who’s likely to expand their wallet as sportsbooks offer them new products. When I took my money and ran after the bonus, maybe I helped Caesars avoid someone like me in the future.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a51sa1">
Matt Heiman, CEO of The Game Day, a sports betting online entertainment network that helps funnel customers to sportsbooks, said his company is getting better at figuring out what types of new bettors will really pay off — and that sports betting companies are willing to pay for it. Heyman says that with the number of customers they’re converting for sportsbooks operators, they’re starting to be able to suss out “what looks like a good customer versus a bad customer.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O6Ze2B">
Even if people do manage to get in and get out initially, they sometimes return. I recently found myself out with someone who’d lightly admonished me over my short-lived betting habit, warning me it was a bad idea. He claimed he’d gotten on and off the train (betting through a website in Anguilla) long ago and wasn’t about to start again. While at the bar, I noticed him checking scores on the ESPN app — turns out he’d placed some new bets. He knows infinitely more about sports than I do. I think he still lost.
</p>
<h3 id="SeJgtq">
Everybody wins, except maybe us
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CKxGNM">
Professional sports leagues spent a lot of time pushing back on sports betting but suddenly became mostly fine with it once it was legalized. The reason: It’s lucrative.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kdm75a">
“Up until 2018, they were saying betting on sports is a threat to the very foundation of the game. Now, they are actively partnered with the gambling companies. There’s a lot of money to be made,” Whyte said. Sports betting, like fantasy, is an incredible fan engagement tool. It gets people to watch games they might not otherwise be interested in, and watch to the end. “Why is a fan in New York going to care about a game between Seattle and Denver?” Whyte said. “The reason is almost 100 percent gambling.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X2DAzD">
Sports betting is a potential boon for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-us-sports-betting-is-changing-media-companies-partnerships-
ma-2021-12">media companies</a> and <a href="https://frontofficesports.com/football-ads-sports-betting-fanduel-
draftkings/">TV networks</a> trying to get a piece of the pie. As Rick Maese <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/01/14/legal-sports-betting-states-2022/">points out</a> in the Washington Post, Barstool Sports and Fox Bet have sportsbooks available in several states, and ESPN has <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/espn-explores-sports-betting-deal-worth-at-
least-3-billion-11630089962">reportedly</a> been looking at licensing deals that could total at least $3 billion. And the states legalizing sports betting? They’re on board, too. It’s tax revenue after all (part of which goes to funding gambling addiction treatment).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ATk2cg">
“You don’t see the state of New York saying, ‘Hey, buy another carton of cigarettes because we put a really high tax on that, too,’” Whyte said. “As far as I know, [gambling] is the only addictive activity that the state legalizes, monopolizes, and monetizes.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bp29CA">
Sports betting worsening gambling addiction is obviously an important concern. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, people who bet on sports and pay to play daily fantasy are two to three times likelier than other gamblers to report “problematic play,” and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/sports/football/super-bowl-sports-betting.html">an estimated 6 million Americans</a> struggle with a gambling addiction. Companies say they want people to bet responsibly and that they have guardrails in place to make sure people don’t get in over their heads, but the fact of the matter is, to keep the business going, they’ve got to get people hooked and keep them coming back. Bettors often come to believe that they’re especially skilled at their wagers, but most aren’t.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QEOWqq">
“If you’re an exceptionally talented sports bettor, you’re good 50 and a quarter percent of the time. There’s a reason the house always wins,” said Patrick Keane, CEO of the Action Network, a sports media company. But sports betting, like all gambling, is good business. “It’s recession-proof; it’s withstood the millennia of consumer activity and interest.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pqJk93">
Sports betting companies, media companies, and sports leagues appear to believe the sky is the limit on sports betting right now. Grove, from American Affiliate, says he’s keeping an eye out for sports stakeholders such as arenas and teams getting further into the game.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lDWXR9">
In Arizona, for example, many teams <a href="https://www.covers.com/industry/arizona-licenses-allocated-sports-betting-2021">have gotten licenses</a> in conjunction with sportsbooks, but they could start operating on their own, too, and expand more into other gambling operations. “The question of what happens when states move beyond sports betting and start authorizing online casinos as well, do sports stakeholders go along for that ride, too? Is this a path to convergence, where sports stakeholders are really now on track to become full-fledged gambling operators?” Grove said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AGLJPe">
There’s also likely to be a lot of consolidation in the industry as certain players win and lose and the field of sportsbooks is winnowed down. That means a lot of customers — and a lot of data — is going to be rolled up in the hands of just a few players eventually.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZZef1S">
I have a hard time figuring out exactly how to feel about sports betting. On the one hand, it can be a good time, and it <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/more-states-embrace-online-
sports-gambling-popularity-soars-n1285169">brings in revenue for states</a> to go toward spending that is, presumably, good. New York puts a whopping 51 percent tax on sports betting revenue. Plus, illegal sports betting was already happening, so it might be better to have it out in the open.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UCPzWx">
On the other hand, it’s hard not to wonder whether this is another vice that truly needs to be made legal. Being able to bet on sports essentially 24/7 from your phone is super easy to get sucked into. This is almost guaranteed to exacerbate gambling addiction. The ads from Caesars are essentially like, “Hey, emperor, don’t you want to put down $50 on the game later?” with the immediate follow-up: “Also, FYI, here’s a hotline for your gambling addiction.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a9Kqqa">
A new raft of stories <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/sports/football/super-bowl-sports-betting.html">warning about gambling addiction</a> are already starting to crop up. It’s hard not to worry about the people who are playing with money they can’t afford to lose, or wonder what it says about the state of our economy that so many people are willing to play in an arena where the odds are so obviously stacked against them, all in the hopes of hitting it big. Then again, aren’t the economic odds stacked against us always?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t0HOCD">
I didn’t entirely get got with sports betting — at least not yet. Although, I will say that since withdrawing the $428.53 from the app, I have missed it. I know, objectively, that in gambling, losing is only a question of time. I got out while I was ahead, but a lot of people won’t. And that’s exactly what the sports betting industry is placing very big bets on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SZCF9H">
<em>We live in a world that’s constantly trying to sucker us and trick us, where we’re always surrounded by scams big and small. It can feel impossible to navigate. Every two weeks, join Emily Stewart to look at all the little ways our economic systems control and manipulate the average person. Welcome to The Big Squeeze.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WHU8Gv">
<em>Have ideas for a future column? Email </em><a href="mailto:emily.stewart@vox.com"><em>emily.stewart@vox.com</em></a>.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Asian Games is Shameem’s target</strong> - The only referee from Telangana says the PVL is a challenging experience</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It was important that Harman got runs; bowlers took a while to get used to conditions: Mandhana</strong> - Harmanpreet scored her first half century in close to 12 months to help India chase down 251 comfortably.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ranji Trophy | Confident Tamil Nadu in quest of an outright victory</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Historian well-prepped to complete hat-trick</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hyderabad seals a semifinal spot</strong> - Ogbeche and Siverio strikes ensure full points against Blasters</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>(For In Focus) A 19th century ordeal at Suchindram</strong> - An accused would be told to dip his hands into boiling ghee to prove innocence</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tirupati celebrates its 892nd birthday</strong> - Saint Ramanuja laid stone for the temple city on February 24 in 1130</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>‘Misleading photo circulated in social media’</strong> - Youth Congress activist files complaint with police</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>For In focus: Captive arms of global giants in Chennai are headed by women</strong> - They are proud of their leadership role and hail the talent base in the city</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>3,000 to undergo training as part of Constitution literacy campaign</strong> - Sessions for ‘The Citizen’ in Kollam to begin March first week</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine conflict: Russian forces invade after Putin TV declaration</strong> - Explosions are heard near major Ukrainian cities after Russia launched its pre-dawn attack.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine crisis: UK ready to escalate Russian sanctions, says Truss</strong> - The foreign secretary defends measures imposed on Russia, describing them as “severe”.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cyber-attacks bring down many Ukraine websites</strong> - Multiple government and company websites go down in the largest cyber-attack since the crisis began.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Amsterdam Apple store: Man arrested over hostage standoff dies</strong> - A 27-year-old man who launched a hostage situation at an Apple store has died in hospital.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Duchess of Cambridge visits outdoor school on Denmark trip</strong> - The Duchess of Cambridge is on a two-day trip to learn about schemes fostering early years development.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Apple will add fifth US English Siri voice in iOS 15.4</strong> - “We work to make the experience feel as personalized as possible,” Apple said. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1836293">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>X-rays help unlock secrets of King Tut’s iron dagger, made from a meteorite</strong> - It was forged at low temperatures and may have been a wedding gift to Tut’s grandfather. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1835519">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Aaron Rodgers’ go-to cleanse could involve oily enemas, bloodletting, vomiting</strong> - Cleanse stems from ancient Indian medicine that has little proven benefit, links to poisonings. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1836231">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Musk says he wants to install Steam games in Tesla infotainment centers</strong> - Expansive gaming platform could be a good use for powerful cars’ AMD GPUs. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1836254">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pixel 7 leaks show Google finally has a consistent phone business</strong> - The Pixel 7 looks like the Pixel 6, and that shows maturation from Google Hardware. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1836149">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>A king had 10 wild dogs. He used them to torture and kill any minister that misguided him.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A king had 10 wild dogs. He used them to torture and kill any minister that misguided him.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A minister once gave an opinion which was wrong and which the king didn’t like at all… So he ordered that the minister to be thrown to the dogs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The minister said, "I served you loyally 10 years and you do this..?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The king was unrelenting.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Minister pleaded“Please give me 10 days before you throw me to the dogs” The king agreed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
In those 10 days the minister went to the keeper of the dogs and told him he wanted to serve the dogs for the next 10 days…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The guard was baffled… But he agreed. So the minister started feeding the dogs, caring for them, washing them, providing all sorts of comfort for them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
So when the 10 days were up…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The king ordered that the minister be thrown to the dogs as sentenced .
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When he was thrown in, everyone was amazed at what they saw.. The dogs were wagging their tails playing with the condemned minister..licking his feet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The king was baffled at what he saw. ” what happened to the dogs? !!!” He growled.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The minister then said;” I served the dogs for only 10 days and they didn’t forget my service… Yet I served you for 10 years and you forgot all at the first mistake!”…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The king realised his mistake
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
and
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Replaced the dogs with crocodiles !!
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/kshanil90"> /u/kshanil90 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/t01orn/a_king_had_10_wild_dogs_he_used_them_to_torture/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/t01orn/a_king_had_10_wild_dogs_he_used_them_to_torture/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>The Pope dies and stands in front of the gates of heaven.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
St. Peter looks at him confused:" Who are you? I don’t know you." The Pope says" I’m the Pope, the holy father“. Peter scrolls through his holy book” Pope, Pope, holy father….. nope, not in here“. Now the Pope is confused”But I’m God’s representative on earth." Peter says " Pease wait a minute" and rushes to God’s office. Out of breath he asks God " Xcuse me Boss, there is someone standig at the gates saying his name is Pope and he’s your representative on earth" God is puzzled and says" What in hell? I have a what on earth? JEEEEESUS, come over son!" Jesus comes over “Yes Dad, what’s up?” God asks him “Go to the gates and have a look at that guy saying he’s my representative” Jesus heads off and returns a few minutes later, laughing out loud. “Dad, you remember the small fishing club I founded about 2000 years ago? You won’t believe it, it still exists..”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Boing78"> /u/Boing78 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/szrv6i/the_pope_dies_and_stands_in_front_of_the_gates_of/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/szrv6i/the_pope_dies_and_stands_in_front_of_the_gates_of/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A Woman goes to buy a Parrot. The prices are $100, $200, and $15. She asks why the last one is so cheap?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Because he used to live in a brothel” says the shopkeeper. She pays $15.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When she gets home the parrot says: “Fuck me, a new brothel!” The woman laughs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When her daughters get home the parrot says: “Fuck me, 2 new prozzies!” The girls laughs too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When the dad gets home the parrot says: “Fuck me Pete, haven’t seen you for weeks!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/szkkkv/a_woman_goes_to_buy_a_parrot_the_prices_are_100/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/szkkkv/a_woman_goes_to_buy_a_parrot_the_prices_are_100/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>a woman runs into a man in the supermarket</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
she says: “i think you’re the father of one of my kids”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
he thinks about the only time he was unfaithful to his wife, and he says: “oh my god, are you the stripper that was at my bachelor party? the one i banged on the pool table while all my friends watched?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
she replies: “no i’m your son’s teacher”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/have-
yaseen-mycat"> /u/have-yaseen-mycat </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/t002x1/a_woman_runs_into_a_man_in_the_supermarket/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/t002x1/a_woman_runs_into_a_man_in_the_supermarket/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A husband notices that his wife’s hearing is deteriorating, and decides to visit her doctor for advice.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I can’t speak to my wife directly as she might find it offensive, given our old age” he says to the doc.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“There’s a simple trick you can try to determine her hearing” explains the doctor. “Simply ask her a question at a distance and if she doesn’t hear you, move slightly closer and ask again until she does”.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
That night, the husband arrives home and sees his wife in the kitchen cooking. He thinks to himself, “what a perfect opportunity to test her hearing”.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He stands in the doorway of the kitchen and promptly asks;
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“What’s for dinner honey?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
No answer. He moves closer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“What’s for dinner honey?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Still no answer. He moves even closer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“What’s for dinner honey?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Still his wife doesn’t answer. He now sees how serious her hearing problem is. At this point, he is stood right next to his wife.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“What’s for dinner honey?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“FOR THE FOURTH FUCKING TIME WE’RE HAVING CHICKEN”
</p>
</div>
<!--
SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ThatOnePogger"> /u/ThatOnePogger </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/szkprd/a_husband_notices_that_his_wifes_hearing_is/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/szkprd/a_husband_notices_that_his_wifes_hearing_is/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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