navan
/
Daily-Dose
mirror of https://github.com/navanchauhan/Daily-Dose.git
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Projects Releases Wiki Activity

Added daily report

This commit is contained in:
Navan Chauhan 2022-04-02 12:49:32 +00:00
parent bdadbf452d
commit 3c6f0b8e42
3 changed files with 953 additions and 2 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

217
archive-covid-19/02 April, 2022.html Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
<title>02 April, 2022</title>
<style type="text/css">
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
</style>
<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
<body>
<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>Long-term psychological consequences of long Covid: a propensity score matching analysis comparing trajectories of depression and anxiety symptoms before and after contracting long Covid vs short Covid</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: There is a growing global awareness of the psychological consequences of long Covid, supported by emerging empirical evidence. However, the mergence and long-term trajectories of psychological symptoms following the infection are still unclear. Aims: To examine when psychological symptoms first emerge following the infection with SARS-CoV-2, and the long-term trajectories of psychological symptoms comparing long and short Covid groups. Methods: We analysed longitudinal data from the UCL Covid-19 Social Study (March 2020-November 2021). We included data from adults living in England who reported contracting SARS-CoV-2 by November 2021 (N=3,115). Of these, 15.9% reported having had long Covid (N=495). They were matched to participants who had short Covid using propensity score matching on a variety of demographic, socioeconomic and health covariates (N=962, n=13,325) and data were further analysed using growth curve modelling. Results: Depressive and anxiety symptoms increased immediately following the onset of infection in both long and short Covid groups. But the long Covid group had substantially greater initial increases in depressive symptoms and heightened levels over 22 months follow-up. Initial increases in anxiety were not significantly different between groups, but only the short Covid group experienced an improvement in anxiety over follow-up, leading to widening differences between groups. Conclusions: The findings shed light on the psychobiological pathways involved in the development of psychological symptoms relating to long Covid. The results highlight the need for monitoring of mental health and provision of adequate support to be interwoven with diagnosis and treatment of the physical consequences of long Covid.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273305v1" target="_blank">Long-term psychological consequences of long Covid: a propensity score matching analysis comparing trajectories of depression and anxiety symptoms before and after contracting long Covid vs short Covid</a>
</div></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of vaccination rates on the prevalence and mortality of COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
By looking at trends in global epidemic data, we evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines on the incidence and mortality from the delta variant of COVID-19. By comparing countries of varying vaccination levels, we find that more vaccinated countries have lower deaths while not having lower cases. This cannot be explained by testing rates or restrictions, but can be partly explained by the most susceptible countries also being the highest vaccinated countries. We also find that during the period when many countries have high vaccination rates, cases and deaths are both increasing in time. This seems to be caused by the waning of the protection vaccines grant against infection.
</p>
</div></li>
</ul>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.31.22273274v1" target="_blank">Effect of vaccination rates on the prevalence and mortality of COVID-19</a>
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Effectiveness of an Inactivated Covid-19 Vaccine with Homologous and Heterologous Boosters against the Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background Large outbreaks of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant have occurred in countries with high coverage of inactivated Covid-19 vaccines, raising urgent questions about effectiveness of these vaccines against disease and hospitalization with Omicron. Methods We conducted a nationwide, test-negative, case-control study of adults who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We evaluated vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19 and severe Covid-19 (hospital admission or deaths) for the primary series of CoronaVac and homologous and heterologous (BNT162b2) booster doses. Findings Between September 6, 2021, and March 10, 2022, a total of 1,339,986 cases were matched to 1,339,986 test-negative controls. In the period of Omicron predominance, vaccine effectiveness ≥180 days after the second CoronaVac dose was 8.1% (95% CI, 7.0 to 9.1) and 57.0% (95% CI, 53.5 to 60.2) against symptomatic and severe Covid-19, respectively. Vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease was 15.0% (95% CI, 12.0 to 18.0) and 56.8% (95% CI, 56.3 to 57.4) in the period 8-59 days after receiving a homologous and heterologous booster, respectively. During the same interval, vaccine effectiveness against severe Covid-19 was 71.3% (95% CI, 60.3 to 79.2) and 85.5% (95% CI, 83.3 to 87.0) after receiving a homologous and heterologous booster, respectively. Whereas waning of vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19 was observed ≥90 days after a homologous and heterologous booster, waning against severe Covid-19 was only observed after a homologous booster. Interpretation A homologous CoronaVac booster dose provided limited additional protection, while a BNT162b2 booster dose afforded sustained protection against severe disease for at least three months.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.30.22273193v1" target="_blank">Effectiveness of an Inactivated Covid-19 Vaccine with Homologous and Heterologous Boosters against the Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>If you build it, will they use it? Use of a Digital Assistant for Self-Reporting of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Results during Large Nationwide Community Testing Initiative</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Abstract Importance: Wide-spread distribution of rapid-antigen tests is integral to the United States9 strategy to address COVID-19; however, it is estimated that few rapid-antigen test results are reported to local departments of health. Objective: To characterize how often individuals in six communities throughout the United States used a digital assistant to log rapid-antigen test results and report them to their local Department of Health. Design: This prospective cohort study is based on anonymously collected data from the beneficiaries of The Say Yes! Covid Test program, which distributed 3,000,000 rapid antigen tests at no cost to residents of six communities between April and October 2021. We provide a descriptive evaluation of beneficiaries9 use of digital assistant for logging and reporting their rapid antigen test results. Main Outcome and Measures: Number and proportion of tests logged and reported to the Department of Health through the digital assistant Results: A total of 178,785 test kits were ordered by the digital assistant, and 14,398 households used the digital assistant to log 41,465 test results. Overall, a small proportion of beneficiaries used the digital assistant (8%), but over 75% of those who used it reported their rapid antigen test results to their state public health department. The reporting behavior varied between communities and was significantly different for communities that were incentivized for reporting test results (p &lt; 0.001). In all communities, positive tests were less reported than negative tests (60.4% vs 75.5%; p&lt;0.001). Conclusions and Relevance: These results indicate that app-based reporting with incentives may be an effective way to increase reporting of rapid tests for COVID-19; however, increasing the adoption of the digital assistant is a critical first step.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.31.22273242v1" target="_blank">If you build it, will they use it? Use of a Digital Assistant for Self-Reporting of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Results during Large Nationwide Community Testing Initiative</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Metabolic alkalosis and mortality in COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background As a new infectious disease affecting the world, COVID-19 has caused a huge impact on countries around the world. At present, its specific pathophysiological mechanism has not been fully clarified. We found in the analysis of the arterial blood gas data of critically ill patients that the incidence of metabolic alkalosis in such patients is high. Method We retrospectively analyzed the arterial blood gas analysis results of a total of 16 critically ill patients in the intensive ICU area of Xiaogan Central Hospital and 42 severe patients in the intensive isolation ward, and analyzed metabolic acidosis and respiratory acidosis. Metabolic alkalosis and respiratory alkalosis, and the relationship between metabolic alkalosis and death. Result Among the 16 critically ill patients, the incidence of metabolic alkalosis was 100%, while the incidence of metabolic alkalosis in severe patients was 50%; the mortality rate in critically ill patients was 81.3%, and 21.4% in severe patients ; The mortality of all patients with metabolic alkalosis is 95.5%,and 4.5% in without metabolic alkalosis. Conclusion The incidence of metabolic alkalosis in critically ill COVID-19 patients is high, and it is associated with high mortality.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273291v1" target="_blank">Metabolic alkalosis and mortality in COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among pregnant women: a systematic review and meta-analysis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Mass vaccination against the COVID-19 is essential to control the pandemic. COVID-19 vaccines are recommended now during pregnancy to prevent adverse outcomes. Objective: To evaluate the evidence from the literature regarding the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant women. Methods: We conducted a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. We searched PubMed, Medline, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science, CINAHL, and a pre-print service (medRxiv) from inception to March 23, 2022. We included quantitative studies reporting COVID-19 vaccination uptake among pregnant women, studies that examine predictors of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and studies that examine reasons for decline of vaccination. We performed meta-analysis to estimate the overall proportion of vaccinated pregnant women against the COVID-19. Results: We found 11 studies including 703,004 pregnant women. The overall proportion of vaccinated pregnant women against the COVID-19 was 27.5% (95% CI: 18.8-37.0%). The pooled proportion for studies that were conducted in Israel was higher than the proportion for studies that were conducted in USA and other countries. Predictors of COVID-19 vaccination uptake were older age, ethnicity, race, trust in COVID-19 vaccines, and fear of COVID-19 during pregnancy. On the other hand, mistrust in the government, diagnosis with COVID-19 during pregnancy, and worry about the safety and the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines were reasons for decline of vaccination. Conclusions: The global COVID-19 vaccination prevalence in pregnant women is low. Τhere is a large gap in the literature on the factors influencing the decision of pregnant women to be vaccinated against the COVID-19. Targeted information campaigns are essential to improve trust and build vaccine literacy among pregnant women. Given the ongoing high case rates and the known increased risks of COVID-19 in pregnant women, our findings could help policy makers to improve the acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant women especially in vulnerable subgroups.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273296v1" target="_blank">Uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among pregnant women: a systematic review and meta-analysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 in people with neurofibromatosis 1, neurofibromatosis 2, or schwannomatosis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Purpose: People with pre-existing conditions may be more susceptible to severe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) when infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus- 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The relative risk and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in people with rare diseases like neurofibromatosis (NF) type 1 (NF1), neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), or schwannomatosis (SWN) is unknown. Methods: We investigated the proportions of SARS- CoV-2 positive or COVID-19 patients in people with NF1, NF2, or SWN in the National COVID Collaborative Cohort (N3C) electronic health record dataset. Results: The cohort sizes in N3C were 2,501 (NF1), 665 (NF2), and 762 (SWN). We compared these to N3C cohorts of other rare disease patients (98 - 9844 individuals) and the general non-NF population of 5.6 million. The site- and age-adjusted proportion of people with NF1, NF2, or SWN who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 or were COVID-19 patients (collectively termed positive cases) was not significantly higher than in individuals without NF or other selected rare diseases. There were no severe outcomes reported in the NF2 or SWN cohorts. The proportion of patients experiencing severe outcomes was no greater for people with NF1 than in cohorts with other rare diseases or the general population. Conclusion: Having NF1, NF2, or SWN does not appear to increase the risk of being SARS-CoV-2 positive or of being a COVID-19 patient, or of developing severe complications from SARS-CoV-2.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.31.22273208v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 in people with neurofibromatosis 1, neurofibromatosis 2, or schwannomatosis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 2 Study of Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of Pirfenidone in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Interstitial Lung Disease</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a known complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a lifetime risk in any individual of 7.7%. The TRAIL1 trial was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study of safety, tolerability, and efficacy of pirfenidone for the treatment of patients with RA-ILD. Methods The TRAIL1 was a phase 2 trial intended to enroll 270 adult patients (18 to 85 years) with established RA-ILD at 33 sites in 4 countries. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to 2,403 mg oral pirfenidone or placebo daily. The primary endpoint was the incidence of the composite endpoint of decline from baseline in percent predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%) of 10% or greater or death during the 52-week treatment period. Key secondary endpoints included change in absolute and FVC% over 52 weeks. Findings. The trial was stopped early due to slow recruitment and soon after the shutdown of clinical trials as a consequence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Data from 123 patients enrolled were analyzed. The primary endpoint was met by 11.1% on pirfenidone vs. 15% on placebo [OR=0.67 (0.22, 2.03), p=0.48]. Subjects receiving pirfenidone had a slower rate of decline in lung function as measured by estimated annual change in FVC(ml) (-66 vs. -146, p=0.0082) and FVC(%) (-1.02 vs. -3.21, p=0.0028). This effect on decline was also seen when analyzed within participants with baseline usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern on HRCT (FVC(ml) (-43 vs. -169, p=0.0014) and FVC% (-0.2 vs. -3.81, p=0.0002)). There was no significant difference in the rate of treatment- emergent serious adverse events. Interpretation Due to early termination of the study, results should be interpreted with caution. Despite being underpowered to evaluate the primary endpoint, pirfenidone slowed the rate of decline of FVC over time in subjects with RA-ILD. Safety in patients with RA-ILD was similar to that seen in other pirfenidone trials.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273270v1" target="_blank">A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 2 Study of Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of Pirfenidone in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Interstitial Lung Disease</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Antibody evolution to SARS-CoV-2 after single-dose Ad26.COV2.S vaccine</strong> -
<div>
The single dose Ad.26.COV.2 (Janssen) vaccine elicits lower levels of neutralizing antibodies and shows more limited efficacy in protection against infection than either of the available mRNA vaccines. In addition, the Ad.26.COV.2 has been less effective in protection against severe disease during the Omicron surge. Here, we examined the memory B cell response to single dose Ad.26.COV.2 vaccination. Compared to mRNA vaccines, Ad.26.COV.2 recipients had significantly lower numbers of RBD-specific memory B cells 1.5 or 6 months after vaccination. Memory antibodies elicited by both vaccine types show comparable neutralizing potency against SARS-CoV-2 and Delta. However, the number of memory cells producing Omicron neutralizing antibodies was somewhat lower after Ad.26.COV.2 than mRNA vaccination. The data help explain why boosting Ad.26.COV.2 vaccine recipients with mRNA vaccines is effective, and why the Janssen vaccine appears to have been less protective against severe disease during the Omicron surge than the mRNA vaccine.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.31.486548v1" target="_blank">Antibody evolution to SARS-CoV-2 after single-dose Ad26.COV2.S vaccine</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Consistent Pattern of Epidemic Slowing Across Many Geographies Led to Longer, Flatter Initial Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
To define appropriate planning scenarios for future pandemics of respiratory pathogens, it is important to understand the initial transmission dynamics of COVID-19 during 2020. Here, we fit an age-stratified compartmental model with a flexible underlying transmission term to daily COVID-19 death data from states in the contiguous U.S. and to national and sub-national data from around the world. The daily death data of the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic was categorized into one of four main types: “spring single-peak profile”, “summer single-peak profile”, “spring/summer two-peak profile” and “broad with shoulder profile”. We estimated a reproduction number R as a function of calendar time tc and as a function of time since the first death reported in that population (local pandemic time, tp). Contrary to the multiple categories and range of magnitudes in death incidence profiles, the R(tp) profiles were much more homogeneous. We find that in both the contiguous U.S. and globally, the initial value of both R(tc) and R(tp) was substantial: at or above two. However, during the early months, pandemic time R(tp) decreased exponentially to a value that hovered around one. This decrease was accompanied by a reduction in the variance of R(tp). For calendar time R(tc), the decrease in magnitude was slower and non-exponential, with a smaller reduction in variance. Intriguingly, similar trends of exponential decrease and reduced variance were not observed in raw death data. Our findings suggest that the combination of specific government responses and spontaneous changes in behaviour ensured that transmissibility dropped, rather than remaining constant, during the initial phases of a pandemic. Future pandemic planning scenarios should be based on models that assume similar decreases in transmissibility, which lead to longer epidemics with lower peaks when compared with models based on constant transmissibility.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.31.22273267v1" target="_blank">Consistent Pattern of Epidemic Slowing Across Many Geographies Led to Longer, Flatter Initial Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on influenza surveillance: a systematic review and meta-analysis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Influenza activity was reported to be below the seasonal levels during the COVID-19 pandemic globally. However, during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, the routine real-time surveillance of influenza like illness (ILI) and acute respiratory infection (ARI) was adversely affected due to the changes in priorities, economic constraints, repurposing of hospitals for COVID care and closure of outpatient services. A systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out to assess the pooled proportion of symptomatic cases tested for influenza virus before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and during the pandemic in 2020/2021. The study was designed based on PRISMA guidelines and the meta-analysis was performed to synthesise the pooled proportion of patients sampled for influenza surveillance before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and during the pandemic in 2020/21 with 95% confidence interval (CI). The overall pooled proportion of symptomatic cases undergone influenza surveillance before and during the pandemic was 2.38% (95% CI 2.08%-2.67%) and 4.18% (95% CI 3.8%-4.52%) respectively. However, the pooled proportion of samples tested for influenza before the pandemic was 0.69% (95% CI 0.45-0.92%) and during the pandemic was 0.48% (95% CI 0.28-0.68%) when studies from Canada were excluded. The meta-analysis concludes that globally there was a decline in influenza surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic except in Canada.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.31.22273236v1" target="_blank">The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on influenza surveillance: a systematic review and meta-analysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron and Delta hospitalisation: test negative case-control study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background The omicron (B.1.1.529) variant has been associated with reduced vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection and mild disease with rapid waning, even after a third dose, nevertheless omicron has also been associated with milder disease than previous variants. With previous variants protection against severe disease has been substantially higher than protection against infection. Methods We used a test–negative case–control design to estimate VE against hospitalisation with the omicron and delta variants using community and in hospital testing linked to hospital records. As a milder disease, there may be an increasing proportion of hospitalised individuals with Omicron as an incidental finding. We therefore investigated the impact of using more specific and more severe hospitalisation indicators on VE. Results Among 18 to 64 year olds using all Covid-19 cases admitted via emergency care VE after a booster peaked at 82.4% and dropped to 53.6% by 15+ weeks after the booster; using all admissions for &gt;= 2 days stay with a respiratory code in the primary diagnostic field VE ranged from 90.9% down to 67.4%; further restricting to those on oxygen/ventilated/on intensive care VE ranged from 97.1% down to 75.9%. Among 65+ year olds the equivalent VE estimates were 92.4% down to 76.9%; 91.3% down to 85.3% and 95.8% down to 86.8%. Conclusions With generally milder disease seen with Omicron, in particular in younger adults, contamination of hospitalisations with incidental cases is likely to reduce VE estimates against hospitalisation. VE estimates improve and waning and waning is more limited when definitions of hospitalisation that are more specific to severe respiratory disease are used.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273281v1" target="_blank">Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron and Delta hospitalisation: test negative case-control study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>What factors converged to create a COVID-19 hot-spot? Lessons from the South Asian community in Ontario.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: South Asians represent the largest non-white ethnic group in Canada. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), home to a high proportion of South Asians, emerged as a COVID-19 hot spot. Early in the pandemic, the South Asian community was identified as having risk factors for exposure and specific barriers to accessing testing and reliable health information, rendering them uniquely vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Objectives: To investigate the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection among South Asians in the GTA, and to determine which demographic characteristics were most closely aligned with seropositivity, in this cross-sectional analysis of a prospective cohort study. Methods: Participants from the GTA were enrolled between April and July 2021. Seropositivity for anti-spike and anti-nucleocapsid antibodies was determined from dried blood spots, and age and sex standardized to the Ontario South Asian population. Demographics, risk perceptions, and sources of COVID-19 information were collected via questionnaire in a subset. Results: Among the 916 South Asians enrolled, mean age 41 years, the age and sex standardized seropositivity was 23.6% (95% CI: 20.8%-26.4%). Approximately one-third identified as essential workers, and 19% reported living in a multi- generational household. Over half perceived high COVID-19 risk due to their geographic location, and 36% due to their type of employment. The top three most trusted sources of COVID-related information included healthcare providers/public health, traditional media sources, and social media. Conclusion: By the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately one-quarter of a sample of South Asians in Ontario had serologic evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Insight into factors that render certain populations at risk can help future pandemic planning and disease control efforts.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273252v1" target="_blank">What factors converged to create a COVID-19 hot-spot? Lessons from the South Asian community in Ontario.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Internet and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the UK</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet has become a key player in the daily lives of most people. We investigate the relationship between mental health and internet use frequency and purpose six months after the first lockdown in the UK, September 2020. Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire and the Internet use module, and controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and personality traits, we find that older individuals (aged 59 or above) have a lower internet use frequency (twice a day or less). Younger women use the Internet for social purposes more than men do, while younger men use the Internet for leisure-and-learning purposes more than women and older men do. Both high frequency internet use and use for social purposes appear to be a protective factor for social dysfunction. Interestingly, high internet use is a protective factor for social dysfunction among younger women, but a risk factor for psychological distress among younger men. Finally, while leisure-and- learning purpose is a protective factor for social dysfunction among younger women, it is a risk factor for social dysfunction among younger men.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273299v1" target="_blank">Internet and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the UK</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Interpretation of non-responders to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines using WHO International Standard</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic with more than 485 millions infected. Questions about non-responders to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines remain unaddressed. Here, we report data from people after administering the complete dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines using the World Health Organization International Standard for anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin. Our study showed that immune cells such as CD4 cells, CD8 cells, and B cells and anti-spike immunoglobulin G levels were significantly reduced in the elderly. There were 7.5% non-responders among the 18-59 yr group and 11.7% in the ≥60 yr group. A titer of anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike immunoglobulin G is blew 50 BAU/mL to be considered as non-responders at intervals of 30 to 90 days after the last vaccine dose. Booster vaccination may be recommended for non-responders to reduce the disease severity and mortality.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.31.22273272v1" target="_blank">Interpretation of non-responders to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines using WHO International Standard</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>A Clinical Trial on Sequential Immunization of Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (CHO Cell, NVSI-06-09) and Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (CHO cell，NVSI-06-09);   Biological: Inactivated COVID-19 vaccine (Vero cells)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:  <br/>
National Vaccine and Serum Institute, China;   China National Biotec Group Company Limited;   Lanzhou Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd;   Beijing Insitute of Biological Products Co., Ltd<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Aerobic Exercise in People With Post-COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Conventional rehabilitation;   Other: Aerobic exercise<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA<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>Acupressure and Qigong in Chronic Fatigue Post COVID-19.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: self- applied acupressure plus Qigong course plus advice literature;   Behavioral: advice literature with naturopathy<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:  <br/>
Charite University, Berlin, Germany;   Karl and Veronica Carstens Foundation<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>COVID-19 Treatment Cascade Optimization Study</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Navigation Services;   Behavioral: Brief Counseling;   Behavioral: Critical Dialogue;   Behavioral: Referral and Digital Brochure<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   Comprehensive Behavioral Health Center;   North Jersey Community Research Initiative;   University of Michigan<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>Phase 1/2 Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Inhaled IBIO123 in Participants With Mild to Moderate COVID-19 Illness</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: IBIO123;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Immune Biosolutions Inc<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>Compass Course: COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Compass Course<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Allina Health System<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>Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Black and Latino Youth</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Culturally-Tailored COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Intervention;   Behavioral: Standard Care<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Nemours Children’s Health System;   National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS);   University of Delaware;   ChristianaCare<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase 1&amp;2 Study to Evaluate the Safety &amp; Efficacy of Inhaled IBIO123 in Severe COVID-19 Illness</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: IBIO123;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Immune Biosolutions Inc<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>Clinical Evaluation of Rapid Antibody Test for Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: Livzon Rapid Antibody Test for COVID-19<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of Southampton;   West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust<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>ApTOLL for the Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: ApTOLL;   Other: Saline<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:  <br/>
Macarena Hernández Jiménez;   Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial<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>Platform Trial to Compare Homologous Boost of Authorized COVID-19 Vaccines and Heterologous Boost With UB-612 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Vaccines<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: UB-612;   Biological: BNT162b2 vaccine;   Biological: ChAdOx1-S vaccine;   Biological: Sinopharm BIBP<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Vaxxinity, Inc.;   Syneos Health<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Ivermectin in COVID-19 Prevention</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin Tablets;   Drug: Matching placebo tablets<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   MedinCell S.A<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>Nitrate-based Nutritional Formula for Oxygen Saturation and Patient-reported Outcomes in Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Dietary Supplement: NITRATE;   Dietary Supplement: PLACEBO<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education<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>COVID-19 Variant Immunologic Landscape Trial (COVAIL Trial)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: mRNA-1273;   Biological: mRNA-1273.351;   Other: Sodium Chloride, 0.9%<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)<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>Tele-Rehabilitation in Individuals With Covid-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Individuals With Covid-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Exercise<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:  <br/>
Hacettepe University<br/><b>Completed</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>Expression of Toll-like receptors 3, 7, 9 and cytokines in feline infectious peritonitis virus-infected CRFK cells and feline peripheral monocytes</strong> - CONCLUSION: TLR7 may be the key TLR involved in evading the innate response against inhibiting TNF-α production. Distinct TLR expression profiles between FCoV-seronegative and FCoV-seropositive cats were observed. The associated TLR that plays a role in the induction of IFN-β needs to be explored further.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Potential mechanisms underlying lithium treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19</strong> - Disruption of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis plays an important role as an upstream pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and correction of Ca2+ dysregulation has been increasingly proposed as a target of future effective disease- modified drugs for treating AD. Calcium dysregulation is also an upstream pathology for the COVID-19 virus SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication, leading to host cell damage. Clinically available drugs that can inhibit the disturbed intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis have…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Targeting natural products against SARS-CoV-2</strong> - The human coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by a novel coronavirus; the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Natural products, secondary metabolites show positive leads with antiviral and immunotherapy treatments using genomic studies in silico docking. In addition, it includes the action of a mechanism targeting the SARS-CoV-2. In this literature, we aimed to evaluate the antiviral movement of the NT-VRL-1 unique terpene definition to Human coronavirus…</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 COVID-19 vaccine candidate composed of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD dimer and Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane vesicles</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 infection is mediated by the interaction of the spike glycoprotein trimer via its receptor-binding domain (RBD) with the host’s cellular receptor. Vaccines seek to block this interaction by eliciting neutralizing antibodies, most of which are directed toward the RBD. Many protein subunit vaccines require powerful adjuvants to generate a potent antibody response. Here, we report on the use of a SARS-CoV-2 dimeric recombinant RBD combined with Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Targeting the Interaction Between Spike Protein and Nucleocapsid Protein for Suppression and Detection of Human Coronavirus OC43</strong> - Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is the coronavirus most associated with “common colds”, infections of the upper respiratory tract. Previously, we reported that direct interactions of nucleocapsid (N) protein and C-terminal domain of Spike protein (Spike CD) are essential for replication of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV. Thus, we developed a novel ELISA- based strategy targeting these specific interactions to detect SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV. Here, we investigated whether the same principles apply 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>Computational Repurposing of Drugs and Natural Products Against SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease (M(pro)) as Potential COVID-19 Therapies</strong> - We urgently need to identify drugs to treat patients suffering from COVID-19 infection. Drugs rarely act at single molecular targets. Off-target effects are responsible for undesirable side effects and beneficial synergy between targets for specific illnesses. They have provided blockbuster drugs, e.g., Viagra for erectile dysfunction and Minoxidil for male pattern baldness. Existing drugs, those in clinical trials, and approved natural products constitute a rich resource of therapeutic agents…</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>Can pulmonary RNA delivery improve our pandemic preparedness?</strong> - The coronavirus pandemic has changed our perception of RNA medicines, and RNA vaccines have revolutionized our pandemic preparedness. But are we indeed prepared for the next variant or the next emerging virus? How can we prepare? And what does the role of inhaled antiviral RNA play in this regard? When the pandemic started, I rerouted much of the ongoing inhaled RNA delivery research in my group towards the inhibition and treatment of respiratory viral infections. Two years later, I have taken…</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>Molnupiravir; molecular and functional descriptors of mitochondrial safety</strong> - Molnupiravir is an orally active nucleoside analog antiviral drug that recently was approved by the U.S. FDA for emergency treatment of adult patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus and at risk for severe progression. The active form of the drug, N-hydroxycytidine (NHC) triphosphate competes for incorporation by RNA-dependent RNA- polymerase (RdRp) into the replicating viral genome resulting in mutations and arrest of the replicating virus. Historically, some nucleoside analog…</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>Vaccine based on folded RBD-PreS fusion protein with potential to induce sterilizing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> - CONCLUSION: The PreS-RBD vaccine has the potential to serve as a combination vaccine for inducing sterilizing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and HBV by stopping viral replication through the inhibition of cellular virus entry.</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>Target Specific Inhibition of Protein Tyrosine Kinase in Conjunction With Cancer and SARS-COV-2 by Olive Nutraceuticals</strong> - The fact that viruses cause human cancer dates back to the early 1980s. By reprogramming cellular signaling pathways, viruses encoded protein that can regulate altered control of cell cycle events. Viruses can interact with a superfamily of membrane bound protein, receptor tyrosine kinase to modulate their activity in order to increase virus entrance into cells and promotion of viral replication within the host. Therefore, our study aimed at screening of inhibitors of tyrosine kinase 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>A scalable serology solution for profiling humoral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Measuring antibodies to three viral antigens and identify neutralising antibodies capable of disrupting spike-ACE2 interactions in high-throughput enables large-scale analyses of humoral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. The reagents are available to enable scaling up of standardised serological assays, permitting inter-laboratory data comparison and aggregation.</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>Rational design of thioamide peptides as selective inhibitors of cysteine protease cathepsin L</strong> - Aberrant levels of cathepsin L (Cts L), a ubiquitously expressed endosomal cysteine protease, have been implicated in many diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Significantly, Cts L has been identified as a potential target for the treatment of COVID-19 due to its recently unveiled critical role in SARS-CoV-2 entry into the host cells. However, there are currently no clinically approved specific inhibitors of Cts L, as it is often challenging to obtain specificity against the many highly…</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>Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation: As a Supportive Therapy in the Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - During the infection and treatment of the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, age and comorbidities play a major role in the successful management of COVID-19. The nutritional status changes which occur in the body vary with the age and underlying conditions and has a vital role in the functioning of the immune system and cellular membrane integrity, thus minimizing the vulnerability to the infection. Considering the data already published by eminent researchers, a few micronutrients have shown…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The naturally-derived alkaloids as a potential treatment for COVID-19: A scoping review</strong> - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has a high mortality rate and transmissibility. In this context, medicinal plants have attracted attention due to the wide availability and variety of therapeutic compounds, such as alkaloids, a vast class with several proven pharmacological effects, like the antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to summarize the current knowledge of 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>NETosis and SARS-COV-2 infection related thrombosis: a narrative review</strong> - CONCLUSION: Because of NETosis can induce intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation cascade activation through the production of TF, activation of FXII, and inhibition of TFPI and fibrinolysis and induce immunothrombosis, targeting NETosis may diminish thrombus formation related to NETs in COVID-19 patients.</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>MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUE TO ANALYZE THE WORK PRESSURE OF PARAMEDICAL STAFF DURING COVID 19</strong> - Machine learning technique to analyse the work pressure of paramedical staff during covid 19 is the proposed invention that focuses on identifying the stress levels of paramedical staff. The invention focuses on analysing the level of stress that is induced on the paramedical staff especially during pandemic. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN353347401">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>CBD Covid 19 Protection</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU353359094">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>沼泽红假单胞菌5-氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体及应用</strong> - 本发明公开了沼泽红假单胞菌5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体及应用，所述沼泽红假单胞菌5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体的氨基酸序列如SEQ ID NO.1所示。本发明的沼泽红假单胞菌5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体不仅相较于未突变的5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶提高了酶活性，而且还提高了解调较高浓度血红素反馈抑制的能力，这使得本发明的宿主细胞生产5‑ALA的能力得到显著提升，约提升了40%。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN355482196">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>荚膜红细菌5-氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体及应用</strong> - 本发明提供了一种荚膜红细菌5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体及应用，荚膜红细菌5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体的氨基酸序列如SEQ ID NO.1所示。本发明的荚膜红细菌5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶突变体与野生型的荚膜红细菌5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶相比，在宿主细胞中对5‑氨基乙酰丙酸产量提升约22%；在20μM血红素存在下，突变型5‑氨基乙酰丙酸合成酶C201A能够保持较高的相对酶活。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN355482165">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING IMPROVED GENERALIZED FUZZY PEER GROUP WITH MODIFIED TRILATERAL FILTER TO REMOVE MIXED IMPULSE AND ADAPTIVE WHITE GAUSSIAN NOISE FROM COLOR IMAGES</strong> - ABSTRACTMETHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING IMPROVED GENERALIZED FUZZY PEER GROUP WITH MODIFIED TRILATERAL FILTER TO REMOVE MIXED IMPULSE AND ADAPTIVE WHITE GAUSSIAN NOISE FROM COLOR IMAGESThe present invention provides a new approach is proposed that includes fuzzy-based approach and similarity function for filtering the mixed noise. In a peer group, the similarity function was adaptive to edge information and local noise level, which was utilized for detecting the similarity among pixels. In addition, a new filtering method Modified Trilateral Filter (MTF) with Improved Generalized Fuzzy Peer Group (IGFPG) is proposed to remove mixed impulse and Adaptive White Gaussian Noise from Color Images. The modified trilateral filter includes Kikuchi algorithm and loopy belief propagation to solve the inference issues on the basis of passing local message. In this research work, the images were collected from KODAK dataset and a few real time multimedia images like Lena were also used for testing the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN351884428">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种病毒核酸提取无醇裂解液、试剂盒及提取方法</strong> - 本发明公开了一种病毒核酸提取无醇裂解液、试剂盒及提取方法。本发明病毒核酸提取无醇裂解液由胍盐、无机盐、表面活性剂和缓冲液组成；所述胍盐为异硫氰酸胍和盐酸胍中的任一种或两种；所述无机盐为氯化钠和氯化钾中的任一种或两种；所述表面活性剂为聚乙二醇和吐温20；所述缓冲液的pH值为7.5~8.5。本发明可有效避免传统核酸提取裂解液中醇类挥发或刺激性气味对人体造成伤害；配制方法简单，无有毒化学试剂，安全无污染，既可手工操作提取，也可用于自动化平台；与有醇裂解液相比，病毒核酸检测的灵敏度相当，准确度一致，线性范围相当。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN355413628">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>用于预防SARS-CoV-2奥密克戎株的腺病毒载体疫苗</strong> - 本发明涉及用于预防SARS‑CoV‑2奥密克戎株的腺病毒载体疫苗。本发明采用密码子偏好性进行优化得到新的S基因序列，其能高效在人源细胞内高效表达，免疫机体后可高效表达S抗原，产生针对奥密克戎株SARS‑CoV‑2的中和抗体，可以有效保护机体免受奥密克戎株的侵染。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN355022285">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>表达SARS-CoV-2奥密克戎突变株病毒抗原肽的核酸序列及其应用</strong> - 本发明提供表达SARS‑CoV‑2奥密克戎突变株病毒抗原肽的核酸序列及其应用。奥密克戎株原始的S基因序列蛋白不能有效在细胞内高效表达；本发明采用密码子偏好性进行优化得到新的S基因序，使其能高效在人源细胞内高效表达，产生相应的多肽，诱导产生相应的免疫保护反应，为SARS‑CoV‑2奥密克戎株的疫苗的研发提供基础。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN355022274">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A STUDY ON MENTAL HEALTH, STRESS AND ANXIETY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS DURING COVID-19</strong> - SARS-Cov-2 virus causes an infectious disease coronavirus(COVID-19).The Students life is made harder by COVID-19.The human reaction that happens normally to everyone through physical or emotional tension is stress. Feeling of angry, nervous and frustration caused through any thought or events leads to stress. As college closures and cancelled events, students are missing out on some of the biggest moments of their young lives as well as everyday moments like chatting with friend, participating in class and cultural programme. For students facing life changes due to the outbreak are feeling anxious, isolated and disappointed which lead them to feel all alone. We like to take the help of expert adolescent psychologist to find out the techniques to practice self-care and look after their mental health. We would like to find out whether techniques used reduce the anxiety and stress among Engineering Students. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN351884923">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A METHOD FOR THE TREATMENT OF COVID-19 INFECTIONS WITH PALMITOYLETHANOLAMIDE</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU351870997">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>

734
archive-daily-dose/02 April, 2022.html Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,734 @@
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
<title>02 April, 2022</title>
<style type="text/css">
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
</style>
<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
<body>
<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>Legal Scholars Are Shocked By Ginni Thomas’s “Stop the Steal” Texts</strong> - Several experts say that Thomas’s husband, the Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, must recuse himself from any case related to the 2020 election. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/legal-scholars-are-shocked-by-ginni-thomass-stop-the-steal-texts">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Day Foreign Journalists Felt Forced to Leave Moscow</strong> - After a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry, dozens of outlets moved their reporters out of the country. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/the-day-foreign-journalists-felt-forced-to-leave-%20moscow">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Biden Official Who Pierced Putin’s “Sanction-Proof” Economy</strong> - In the run-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Daleep Singh, a national-security adviser, searched for areas where “our strengths intersect with Russian vulnerability.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-biden-official-who-pierced-putins-sanction-proof-economy">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Much Do Things Really Cost?</strong> - True Price, a Dutch nonprofit, aims to help us grasp the real costs of consumption. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/how-much-do-things-really-cost">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Mysteries of a “Knit Club” in Small-Town Mississippi</strong> - “There are people in town who call it a coven,” one of Carolyn Drake’s subjects says. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-mysteries-of-a-knit-club-in-small-town-mississippi">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Biden administration is ending a controversial border policy</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/ZBx_hIxPO42CAXAdnEctbcMN-3Y=/507x0:5872x4024/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70701824/1232932340.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A migrant family waits to be processed after being apprehended near the border between Mexico and the United States in Del Rio, Texas, on May 16,</figcaption></figure></li>
</ul>
<ol start="2021" type="1">
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">| Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images
<pre><code>&lt;/figure&gt;</code></pre></li>
</ol>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A former White House immigration official weighs the challenges ahead as the administration prepares for a spike in migrant arrivals.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gdwRWU">
The Biden administration announced Friday that it’s lifting controversial pandemic-related border restrictions under which the US has expelled thousands of migrants without giving them access to their legal right to apply for asylum.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NbpqhL">
The so-called Title 42 policy, first enacted by the Trump administration in March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic, will end on May 23. It has allowed the US to expel migrants without a hearing before an immigration judge more than <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters">1.7 million times</a>, with many being caught trying to cross the border multiple times. The policy has been a source of internal strife at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where scientists initially <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-officials-
objected-to-order-turning-away-migrants-at-border-11601733601">opposed its implementation</a>; it even spurred a senior State Department official, Harold Koh, to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/04/top-state-adviser-leaves-
post-title-42-515029">rebuke the administration</a> as he left his job.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jNcUic">
The CDC says in its <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cdcresponse/Final-CDC-Order-Prohibiting-Introduction-of-
Persons.pdf">Friday order </a>that preventing migrants from entering the US is “no longer necessary to protect the public health,” though public health experts outside the agency have long argued that it was <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/node/76271">never necessary</a>. It’s a seismic change in US policy for migrants who have been stranded in northern Mexico for years, where they have been <a href="https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/shameful-record-biden-administration-s-use-trump-policies-endangers-
people-seeking-asylum">targets of violence and extortion</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YZoA32">
It also brings challenges for Biden administration officials, who face the enormous task of safely and humanely processing what will likely be a sharp increase in the number of migrants arriving on the southern border in the coming months. The administration is preparing for a worst-case scenario of <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-bracing-influx-migrants-southern-border-
title-42/story?id=83751437">as many as 18,000 migrants</a> arriving daily after Title 42 is lifted, up from an average of <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-bracing-influx-migrants-southern-border-title-42/story?id=83751437">about 5,900 </a>in February. Meanwhile, officials will also have to fend off inevitable attacks from Republicans eager to falsely depict President Joe Biden as an “<a href="https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/biden-wants-blank-check-fund-
open-borders-immigration-priorities">open borders</a>” Democrat ahead of the midterm elections.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uTfsB1">
I discussed some of those challenges with Tyler Moran, a senior adviser for migration to Biden who stepped down from her post at the end of January. She previously served as the executive director of the immigrant advocacy group Immigration Hub. Moran is now working as an independent consultant. Our conversation is edited for length and clarity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CYTKgK">
<strong>How do you anticipate this policy change impacting the number of migrants arriving on the southern border?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gd02jZ">
First and foremost, people will have the right to ask for asylum. We don’t know what the numbers are going to look like and there is a lot of uncertainty. That is why the administration is planning and gaming out different scenarios at the border and what resources will be needed for each one.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IxxP3w">
The determination by the CDC that there is no longer a public health justification to expel migrants doesn’t mean that the borders are open. Not everyone is going to seek asylum, and not everyone is going to qualify for asylum. Some people will be processed into the country to await their court date and others will be deported because they either don’t request asylum or don’t qualify for it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ql6grN">
The number of repeat encounters at the border increased significantly due to Title 42, so we should anticipate that those encounters will decrease. On the other hand, cartels and smuggling networks are highly sophisticated and will misrepresent any change in US policy to recruit people. Human trafficking is part of their business model. So there is no doubt that they would use any shift in Title 42 to message that everyone should come.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yaiuRx">
That’s why the administration has an interagency plan to address any increase in migration. In addition to being prepared now to process people in an orderly way, the administration is also implementing strategies that were put in motion last year, including addressing the push factors that force people to leave their homes, creating more legal channels for people to migrate and working with countries in the region to go after smugglers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NzLFnW">
<strong>What will need to happen before Title 42 is lifted in order to ensure that immigrants are processed at the border safely and humanely?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7h1KXl">
There has already been a lot of planning and also lessons learned from last year. The plan includes surging personnel and resources to the border — and having the capacity to decompress a sector to avoid overcrowding in Border Patrol stations and ensure that there can be orderly processing. That means moving people to other sectors of the border and working with other agencies for transportation, health care, sanitation, and other resources.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LGfJHC">
DHS recently announced a <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/03/30/fact-sheet-dhs-preparations-potential-increase-migration">Southwest Border Coordination Center</a> to coordinate planning, operations, and interagency support. Having DHS physically in the room with other agencies makes a huge difference. It allows for real-time troubleshooting. And you can’t underestimate the ways in which the federal government can be siloed without deliberative coordination.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="00wkWC">
<strong>Do you think the administration is giving itself enough time to implement those systems with a May deadline?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VOLZ60">
I do, because they’ve been planning for months, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t going to be messy. The White House is very involved in running an interagency process to ensure that it is all hands on deck.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CMHKON">
<strong>Why do you think this decision to lift Title 42 is coming at this particular moment? </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j2dmPJ">
We knew it was going to come at some point. The CDC assesses the order every two months. The president indicated in the State of the Union that, because of the progress made on combating COVID, we are moving back to a more normal routine. That includes taking down mask mandates, people going back to school and work, and that also means that the immigration system returns to normal. The administration is also standing up a vaccination regime for people who will be processed into the country.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="71XL1a">
<strong>There are a lot of public health experts outside the CDC who said that there was never a legitimate public health rationale for Title 42. What do you make of those statements?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G1J8FY">
That they are speaking from a place of knowledge and have a right to share their medical opinion.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dDiRTK">
<strong>Republicans are already gearing up to make this an electoral issue heading into the midterms, regardless of how things shake out once the policy is lifted. How should Democrats anticipate and respond to those GOP criticisms?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7haEFo">
Republicans were screaming open borders when Title 42 was in place and a million people were expelled. So their posturing isn’t based on facts; it’s just an electoral strategy. I will note that in the 2018 midterms, many Republicans ran on a “caravan” of migrants coming to the border and lost their races.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TwZnnZ">
It is important for Democrats to articulate to the American public where they stand, which is for a well-managed border and a fair, orderly system. Most of the public supports this approach. If Democrats don’t say anything, it puts them at a disadvantage because Republicans are able to fill the void.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dATfdZ">
The administration can do a lot to fix the immigration system but there is a need for legislative action to update immigration laws, to fund [US Citizenship and Immigration Services] to be able to adjudicate asylum claims efficiently and fairly and to create an earned path to citizenship for those that are here. But Republicans have blocked those efforts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cE1MD8">
<strong>Looking ahead, migration at the southern border has typically subsided during the hot summer months in previous years. But do you think that migration patterns have changed?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fu256I">
If you just look at last year, seasonal trends are a thing of the past. There has been a very significant shift in migration, both in sending countries and the composition of people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JdFQ2X">
In 2014, it was largely people from the Northern Triangle of Central America who were fleeing because of violence. Now, we have massive movement across the Western Hemisphere attributed to corruption and instability, but also because of Covid economies and climate change.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="crTZtT">
The administration’s approach acknowledges that these challenges cannot be solved through border policy alone — or even US policy. We have to work with partners in the region to develop a hemispheric strategy. That means other countries taking in refugees, bolstering their asylum systems, creating more legal channels for people to be able to work or be reunited with family, and targeting cartels and smugglers who are preying on people’s hope.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3j7uav">
While the US must have a robust asylum policy, we also need to acknowledge that not everyone coming to our border is seeking asylum and we need better solutions to address the other reasons that forced them to migrate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tz817q">
<strong>What’s your assessment of the progress that the administration has been making on its regional approach to migration?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JyF6By">
There is a strong commitment to creating new legal channels, protection in the region, and expanding refugee numbers, but this is all going to take time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9xWInv">
I’ll give you one example. The administration reinstated the Central American Minors (CAM), which provides unaccompanied children with a safer, legal pathway to migrate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="708GH0">
The Trump administration shut the program down and it took time to put systems back in place; the program depends on the same refugee resettlement system that the former administration also gutted and that was working to resettle Afghan allies; and Covid forced embassies to work at reduced capacity. So the current administration had to start from scratch in a pandemic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WuJttX">
Now that the infrastructure has been rebuilt, we should see many more children processed under the CAM program this year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k0gL71">
<strong>You come from the immigrant advocacy world, but you also served in the administration, which has at times been at odds with immigrant advocates on border policy. How do you reconcile the interests on both sides? </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="obLIsx">
None of these challenges are easy. I think there’s common ground on figuring out the future of asylum processing. Our asylum system simply wasn’t built for the number of people who are seeking protection and there is a need for legal services to help people navigate the system. There also needs to be collective thinking about solutions for the people who are migrating for economic reasons and/or climate change.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MU7B5d">
There is alignment on the legislative changes that are desperately needed. There just aren’t enough visas — or the right kind of visas — to meet the demand for employment or family reunification, but Congress has not updated immigration law in 30 years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WElDN6">
Republicans who are complaining about the border have a responsibility to do their job so employers have the workers that they need and it doesn’t take 20 years to reunite with a family member. They also need to ensure that [US Citizenship and Immigration Services] has enough funding to clear the backlog, process visas, and adjudicate asylum claims. Without this, the administration is working with one hand behind its back.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="naGLcq">
The administration can do a lot, but they can’t fix the immigration system on their own.
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Republican judges are waging a bizarre war against the First Amendment right to protest</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="The 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards – Show" src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/GtoQ2YsiVsUEx6miiQ8pPbfdP-c=/261x0:4410x3112/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70701788/1200243168.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson accepts the Best Political Podcast award for <em>Pod Save The People</em> at the 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. | Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Doe v. Mckesson<em> </em>is a simply astonishing attack on the First Amendment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AGir5m">
Last week, a deeply chilling case concerning Americans’ First Amendment right to organize protests gained new life. A three-year-old, clearly erroneous decision threatens to bankrupt protest organizers across the political spectrum. But multiple courts keep passing the case among themselves like a hot potato, rather than correcting an obvious error.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tCOccJ">
At the center of this years-long saga is a conservative federal appeals court’s 2019 decision in <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/5977762/4-24-19-5th-Circuit-Doe-v-McKesson.pdf"><em>Doe v. Mckesson</em></a>. If it is allowed to stand — or worse, if it is embraced by the Supreme Court — it could potentially chill all public protest in the United States by subjecting the organizers of protests to crippling liability.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dcna4J">
That 2019 decision, moreover, is merely the most alarming chapter in a case involving a tragically injured police officer, a prominent civil rights activist, a Trump judge who <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/19/21026415/trump-judge-mckesson-doe-fifth-circuit-first-amendment-don-
willett">publicly recanted his own effort to restrict First Amendment rights</a>, and at least four different courts — including the Supreme Court of the United States.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tb5sdZ">
The most recent development is a <a href="https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-mckesson-7">March decision by the Louisiana Supreme Court</a> that effectively breathes life back into the <em>Mckesson </em>litigation after a US Supreme Court decision <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1108_8n5a.pdf">gave the state supreme court an opportunity to shut it down</a>. The likely result of that Louisiana decision is months or even years more of litigation — all of which could end in a crippling blow to all political protest in the United States.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DrTSLb">
The facts of <em>Mckesson</em> are straightforward. DeRay Mckesson is a prominent civil rights activist and a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2016, he helped lead a protest near the Baton Rouge Police Department building in response to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12105380/alton-sterling-police-shooting-baton-rouge-louisiana">fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5dessH">
During that protest, an unknown assailant — who is not DeRay Mckesson — threw a piece of concrete or similar object at a police officer, who is identified in legal documents by the pseudonym “Officer John Doe.” Tragically, Doe appears to have been very seriously injured by this assault. According to the Louisiana Supreme Court, the officer was struck in the face, and experienced “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-mckesson-7">injuries to his teeth, jaw, brain, and head</a>, along with other compensable losses.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pj4mV5">
But given that the assailant is still unknown, there is no one to pay those “compensable” damages.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7IQ0xN">
Which brings us to the Fifth Circuit’s decision in this case. The conservative court held that Mckesson may be sued as the organizer of the protest. This decision isn’t just wrong, it is obviously wrong and there is a Supreme Court case that explicitly protects protest leaders from these sorts of lawsuits.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FddUAD">
The Court held in <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-
court/458/886.html"><em>NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware</em></a> (1982) that, barring unusual circumstances that are not in play here, “civil liability may not be imposed merely because an individual belonged to a group, some members of which committed acts of violence.” When a group of people gather together in protest, each individual member of the group is responsible for their own actions. But the First Amendment neither permits the group as a whole, or the group’s leaders, to be held liable for one individual’s illegal behavior, unless the group or leader directly incited the illegal acts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nl02Ce">
The reason why should be obvious. If protest leaders can be hauled into court — and potentially forced to pay out of their own pockets — for the actions of a single protest attendee, then no sensible person will organize a protest. The personal financial risk is simply too great. And thus the First Amendment right to protest with wither away.
</p>
<h3 id="0rZxe3">
The Fifth Circuit’s decision is dead wrong
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wsVjxf">
Most likely because the person who is actually legally responsible for Doe’s injuries remains unidentified, Doe’s lawyers appear to be casting about for a defendant — any defendant — who could be sued to compensate Doe.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A8LUju">
Their original complaint named Mckesson and “<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.lamd.50392.1.0.pdf">Black Lives Matter</a>” as defendants. To be clear, it did not name any particular organization whose name includes the words “Black Lives Matter,” but instead appeared to target the entire Black Lives Matter movement as a whole — which is a bit like if someone injured at the January 6 attack on the Capitol had sued “Make America Great Again.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qQny2F">
Then, at a later stage in the litigation, Doe’s lawyers <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.lamd.50392/gov.uscourts.lamd.50392.52.4.pdf">tried to add a Twitter hashtag</a>, #Blacklivesmatter, as an additional defendant.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jFy8rN">
With respect to Mckesson, the facts of <em>Claiborne</em> are, in many material respects, identical to the facts of this case. And the <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/458/886.html"><em>Claiborne</em> decision</a> precludes holding Mckesson liable for the actions of an unknown person who attended the Baton Rouge protest.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FinQFE">
<em>Claiborne</em> involved a boycott of white businesses led by a Mississippi chapter of the NAACP. During the course of this boycott, according to the Mississippi Supreme Court, some individuals “engaged in acts of physical force and violence against the persons and property of certain customers and prospective customers” of these white businesses.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HcyS3o">
But the Supreme Court rejected the argument that either the NAACP or specific NAACP leaders who helped organize this boycott could be held liable for the violent actions of people who participated in the boycott.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lzRTLH">
<em>Claiborne </em>did lay out three circumstances when leaders of a protest may be held responsible for the actions of individual protesters. One is if a protest leader’s “public speeches were likely to incite lawless action,” but Doe’s lawyers do not point to any statements by Mckesson that incited anyone to throw rocks at cops. Similarly, Mckesson could be liable if he gave someone “specific instructions to carry out violent acts or threats,” but Doe does not point to any such instructions from Mckesson.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q5dLxq">
Mckesson could also be held liable for the rock-thrower’s actions if he “authorized, directed, or ratified” this illegal act. But the Fifth Circuit <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/5977762/4-24-19-5th-Circuit-Doe-v-McKesson.pdf">admitted in its opinion</a> that Doe “has not pled facts that would allow a jury to conclude that Mckesson colluded with the unknown assailant to attack Doe, knew of the attack and ratified it, or agreed with other named persons that attacking the police was one of the goals of the demonstration.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IDEwmJ">
In short, had the Fifth Circuit followed the Supreme Court’s binding precedent in <em>Claiborne</em>, it would have dismissed the case against Mckesson.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jQHIij">
Instead, the court invented a new exception to the First Amendment. To sue Mckesson, Judge E. Grady Jolly wrote, Doe was merely required to “plausibly allege that his injuries were one of the ‘consequences’ of ‘tortious activity,’ which itself was ‘authorized, directed, or ratified’ by Mckesson in violation of his duty of care.” That is, if Mckesson led protesters to commit <em>any</em> illegal act, he risks being stripped of his First Amendment rights and held liable for subsequent illegal activity that results.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FlFEyR">
In this case, Doe claims that Mckesson “directed the demonstrators to engage in the criminal act of occupying the public highway.” And that was enough, according to the Fifth Circuit, to strip Mckesson of his constitutional rights.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9q9NNW">
Occupying public streets is, of course, a common protest tactic used by many celebrated political movements — including the civil rights marches of the 1950s and 1960s.
</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/Zb4QW37E2D6_muqMf1lIG9mH1ls=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19536789/3325760.jpg.jpg"/> <cite>William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images</cite></p>
<figcaption>
A line of policemen on duty during a Black voting rights march in Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1965. Martin Luther King Jr. led the march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery.
</figcaption>
</figure></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XqPINM">
The Fifth Circuit’s opinion, moreover, is so broadly worded that it could potentially strip any leader of any major protest of their First Amendment rights.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JHHwun">
Recall that, under the Fifth Circuit’s opinion, a protest leader is potentially stripped of their constitutional rights if they authorize, direct, or ratify any illegal activity by protesters. This could be illegal activity central to an act of civil disobedience — say, protesters who oppose mask mandates enter a government building maskless, in defiance of a local ordinance — or it could potentially be something only tangentially related. A protest leader could potentially lose their First Amendment rights if they advise a bus carrying protesters to <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/gop-judges-bizarre-case-black-lives-matter-deray-
mckesson-c5f05ea377ca/">drive slightly above the speed limit</a> in order to make it to the protest on time. Or if they advise a protester to park their car in a no-parking zone.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gHqUeY">
Indeed, under the traditional common law rule, someone who sets foot on another person’s land without their permission has typically <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/trespass#:~:text=In%20tort%20law%2C%20trespass%20is,another%20person's%20legal%20property%20rights.">committed the tort of trespass</a>. So a protest leader could potentially lose their First Amendment rights if they encourage protesters to walk in a wide formation where a few of them occasionally spill over from the streets onto private property.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h1PrBQ">
To be clear, a protest leader is still responsible for their own actions. Someone who defies a mask mandate could potentially be prosecuted for refusing to wear a mask, for example. But, under <em>Claiborne, </em>a protest organizer’s decision to violate one law does not normally permit them to be held liable for someone else’s decision to violate a completely different law.
</p>
<h3 id="m1axlC">
The courts keep treating this case like a hot potato that needs to be passed to someone else
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e5Y9dZ">
After the Fifth Circuit’s 2019 decision, at least three different courts have had the opportunity to correct this error and restore Mckesson’s constitutional rights. But most of the judges who’ve touched this case refuse to take responsibility for it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RiZrWT">
One notable exception is Judge Don Willett, a Trump-appointed judge on the Fifth Circuit, who initially joined Jolly’s opinion inventing a new limit on the First Amendment. Months after the Fifth Circuit’s original decision in <em>Mckesson</em>, Willett published a rare and belated dissent <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/19/21026415/trump-judge-mckesson-doe-fifth-circuit-first-amendment-don-
willett">admitting that his initial vote in this case was wrong</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KBxz19">
“I disagree with the suggestion that directing any tort would strip a protest organizer of First Amendment protection,” Willett wrote in his <a href="http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV1.pdf#page=25">new dissent</a>. He added that, had the Fifth Circuit’s rule been in effect in the 1960s, one of its victims would have been Martin Luther King, Jr.
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ayRJhP">
Dr. King’s last protest march was in March 1968, in support of striking Memphis sanitation workers. … Dr. King’s hallmark was nonviolent protest, but as he led marchers down Beale Street, some young men began breaking storefront windows. The police moved in, and violence erupted, harming peaceful demonstrators and youthful looters alike. Had Dr. King been sued, either by injured police or injured protestors, I cannot fathom that the Constitution he praised as “magnificent” — “a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir” — would countenance his personal liability.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2TF7Wi">
But neither Jolly nor the third judge on the panel, Judge Jennifer Elrod, joined Willett in acknowledging their error. Instead, they issued a longer opinion explaining why they would still <a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV1.pdf">strip Mckesson of his First Amendment rights</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kORXlX">
Mckesson’s lawyers asked the full Fifth Circuit to hear the case, and effectively toss out Jolly’s decision — using a process known as “en banc<em>”</em> rehearing. But a majority of the court’s active judges must agree to take a case en banc, and the court <a href="https://www.aclu.org/legal-
document/order-denying-rehearing-en-banc">split 8-8 on whether to do so</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SXkrpc">
The case then made its way to the Supreme Court, which did hand down a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1108_8n5a.pdf">brief decision vacating Jolly’s opinion</a>. But rather than putting the case to bed for good, the Supreme Court merely ordered the Fifth Circuit to seek the Louisiana Supreme Court’s input on whether Louisiana law permits a suit against Mckesson. The Supreme Court avoided the question of whether Mckesson is protected by the First Amendment altogether.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kLIqMD">
In late March, Louisiana’s justices finally weighed in, with all but one of them concluding that state law does permit the suit against Mckesson to move forward. Justice Piper Griffin, the only Democrat on Louisiana’s highest court, dissented, writing that the majority’s decision “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-mckesson-7">will have a chilling effect on political protests in general</a> as nothing prevents a bad actor from attending an otherwise peaceful protest and committing acts of violence.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TpWzCb">
And so, because no court wants to take responsibility for correcting Jolly’s error, Mckesson’s rights remain trapped in limbo. He and his lawyers can look forward to more months or even years of litigation before this case is resolved.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YRyE4P">
This long, torturous process is unfair to Mckesson. It is unfair to Doe, who deserves to know that his lawsuit cannot prevail under the Constitution. And it is unfair to anyone who exercises their constitutional right to protest.
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>How a bunch of Starbucks baristas built a labor movement</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="People in matching T-shirts representing their union jump and wave their arms in the air in
celebration." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xE2yYFSdW0xfFE5WyYkZzXsT3ZM=/182x0:3382x2400/1310x983/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70701655/AP21343833067408.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Starbucks employees and supporters react as votes are read during a viewing of their union election on December. 9, 2021, in Buffalo, New York. The vote to unionize was a first for the 50-year-old coffee retailer in the US, and the latest sign that the labor movement is stirring after decades of decline. | Joshua Bessex/AP
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Inside Starbucks’s successful 21st-century union drive.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aBfSf5">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B67END">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dJoTal">
For Reese Mercado, the decision to unionize came after they watched a customer physically assault a former coworker over enforcing vaccine requirements at their Starbucks store. For Hayleigh Fagan, it was when she got a company-wide letter from the Starbucks Vice President telling employees not to unionize. For Hope Liepe, it was the hypocrisy of calling employees “partners” but not treating them that way.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f6eyrl">
Since the first corporate <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22825850/starbucks-union-first-organizing-vote-nlrb">Starbucks location voted to unionize</a> late last year, 10 others have voted. Only one store has voted against unionizing. The <a href="https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited/status/1510037854306590726?s=20&amp;t=TJnTy1rkBXXJDinw2NLYpQ">latest and largest Starbucks to unionize</a> is the company’s flagship store in Manhattan, which voted 46-36 on Friday to unionize. One of just three Starbucks roasteries in the country, this location is an important milestone for the Starbucks union since it has many more employees than a typical Starbucks (nearly 100) and shows that the Starbucks union can be successful in the company’s manufacturing arm as well. Even more notable, they’ve voted yes in the notoriously difficult-to-unionize food services industry, where high rates of turnover and a more easily replaceable workforce make union organizing extremely difficult.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iMjBLA">
Starbucks employees around the country say they’re seeing successful union votes at other locations and thinking they could improve conditions at their own stores by doing the same. Some 160 other locations in 28 states are slated to vote in the coming weeks and months.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JkoF3A">
They’re hoping to use collective bargaining to get a number of improvements, including higher pay, more hours, and better safety protections, a more necessary change since the erstwhile latte makers became front-line workers during the pandemic. They want more say in what their working lives are like, and they want to hold a company that talks of progressive values accountable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DazllN">
As Liepe, an 18-year-old barista in Ithaca, New York, put it, “We want to be able to sit down with Starbucks, with the higher-up executives, and make a plan so that we, as employees, feel as valued as they say that we are.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yUZaUR">
Starbucks said in a statement, “We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ubnm6T">
While the unionizing Starbucks stores so far only represent a small portion of the chain’s roughly 9,000 company-run locations, its number belies its importance. It’s a spark of optimism in a union movement that has been in decline for decades. And as unions have become <a href="https://go.epi.org/GkZ">less prevalent in the American workforce</a>, so have the worker benefits and protections unions afforded, including health care, pensions, and paid time off. Along with several other <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/01/25/business/unions-amazon-starbucks.html">high-profile union efforts</a> at a range of companies, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23005336/amazon-union-new-york-
warehouse">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/business/john-deere-strike-uaw-union-
contract.html">John Deere</a>, and the New York Times, Starbucks workers could help stanch or even reverse that decline.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Starbucks workers stand in the
street holding signs that read, “Union yes,” “Union busting is disgusting,” and “Coffee’s the game, union strong’s the
name.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/l8iKqg5vKq8o5qY6wOj0YPU4dwU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23353196/IMG_0167.jpeg"/> <cite>CMRJB Workers United</cite></figure></div></li>
</ul>
<figcaption>
Starbucks workers rally in Missouri.
</figcaption>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oP7Wgs">
Ileen DeVault, professor of Labor History at Cornell University, said it’s unprecedented for a national chain of small food and beverage stores to unionize, and that Starbucks’s efforts could have knock-on effects.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CYgP6L">
“It’s pretty amazing that a company that large and that present in American consciousness — everybody knows what Starbucks is — is unionizing,” DeVault told Recode.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XFXybE">
While unionization is popular and gaining a lot of attention, it’s still incredibly difficult. That means high-profile failures as well. Just last week, an Amazon warehouse in Alabama voted against unionizing. This was union organizers’ second try — the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said the e-commerce giant had <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/29/22565851/amazon-bessemer-union-vote-nlrb-appeal-
overturned-second-election">violated labor law</a> by giving the impression it was monitoring which workers voted, so ordered a re-vote. But workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island just <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23005336/amazon-union-new-york-warehouse">became part of the first Amazon union in the country</a> — and they did so with a worker-led union much like the one at Starbucks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lzovaL">
For now, the actions at Starbucks provide a case study for how other Americans might try to organize and where the union movement might go from here.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TFrk0i">
“The scale, the energy, the pace,” said Richard Minter, vice president of the Workers United union. “There’s nothing like it in labor history.”
</p>
<h3 id="JKycVk">
What it takes to unionize a Starbucks
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8G27g9">
Workers at the Genesee Street Starbucks in Buffalo were murmuring about starting a union back in 2019. But it wasn’t until the spring of 2021, after the pandemic had laid bare the treacherous situation of food service workers and the Great Resignation had given employees more leverage, that they started getting serious. They reached out to the local chapter of Workers United, a union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), for guidance and formed a committee of workers from area Buffalo stores.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float- hang">
<aside id="w31LhC">
<q>“It’s not a difference between generations, it’s just a difference between what you’ve been given and the tools that we can use to make the change”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dy1x2k">
Feeling that they had strong support among their colleagues and fearing that corporate had gotten wind of their plan, Starbucks workers at three Buffalo stores went public with their plan to organize in August and filed a petition with the NLRB to unionize under Starbucks Workers United. The company immediately pushed back, flooding the stores with support managers who tried to convince the workers they’d be better off without a union. Despite Starbucks’s efforts to stop it, the NLRB approved the union’s request to be able to organize on a store-by-store basis. Since it’s easier to maintain support among smaller groups of people who know one another, this approach was much more feasible than trying to win a regional or national campaign.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iZI0hM">
On December 9, the Elmwood Buffalo location became the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22825850/starbucks-union-first-organizing-vote-nlrb">first company-run Starbucks store to form a union</a>, winning the vote 19 to 8. It was quickly followed by the Genesee location, while a third location voted against unionizing. The Elmwood bargaining committee, which includes workers from subsequent Starbucks unions around the country, began negotiations at the end of January, and they’re still ongoing. So far, they’ve presented Starbucks with several proposals, including instituting a “just cause” clause so that management would have to have a fair reason to fire someone, and allowing employees to collect credit card tips (there’s no option to tip by credit card now). They plan to ask for better pay and benefits as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0yH7Ps">
As each additional store organizes, it inspires more to do so. Most of the workers we spoke to mentioned getting inbound inquiries from workers at other locations near and far after they went public with their intent to unionize.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/Uu6azr5VLX72k3j6OqEtnVayWuw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23361148/AP22081730267673.jpg"/> <cite>Joshua Bessex/AP</cite></p>
<figcaption>
Pro-union pins and literature sit on a table during a watch party for Starbucks employees’ union election in Buffalo, New York, on December 9, 2021.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IHEDq2">
“It seems like every time we win another one, we get tremendous outreach from markets all across the country,” Minter said. He added that after <a href="https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited/status/1506367276768968708">the first Starbucks in Washington, the company’s home state, voted to unionize</a>, Workers United received 30 new contacts from other stores that night.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wlHN7A">
Each store’s organizing effort is an asset to the next. From these other stores, new organizers learn what works and what doesn’t, not to mention what to expect from corporate and how to respond. They know the company might make misleading claims about the price of unions. They also know the company will hold meetings during their shifts to convince them not to join the union. These are called captive audience meetings, which many workers find intimidating.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ibj2Cp">
“When you connect with [other workers across the country] you get to share your experiences with them and they get to share theirs and guide you through the process,” said Caro Gonzalez, a Starbucks shift supervisor in Austin who’s majoring in advertising at the University of Texas. “That support is really huge.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u8EUEg">
Communicating with other stores made employees realize that they have more similarities than differences. It has built an immense feeling of solidarity, so that these small shops, each with roughly 20-30 workers, feel like they’re part of something much bigger.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CtUsiQ">
“Before winning in Buffalo, we didn’t know if it was possible,” Michelle Eisen, 39, a barista at that first unionized Starbucks, told Recode. “I think these stores have that kind of optimism to know that it can be done.”
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt="Members of Socialist Alternative NYC gather for a group photo around a car in a parking lot while holding signs in
support of unions and workers." src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/T2A376MTAsOdmO7Qsrp0DJrVSaQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23361242/Reese.jpeg"/> <cite>Socialist Alternative NYC</cite></p>
<figcaption>
Members of Socialist Alternative NYC came to support Starbucks workers in Brooklyn after a captive audience meeting.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VQhnYx">
But that doesn’t mean their route will be easier. Eisen added, “These newer stores that are coming on board almost need more courage than we did because they know what they’re about to get involved in, they know what the company is capable of, and they’re still choosing to do this.”
</p>
<h3 id="Iiv0mO">
Why unionizing is working at Starbucks
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EWXTBZ">
What’s made the Starbucks efforts so successful is what Rebecca Givan, associate professor of labor studies at Rutgers University, calls a “perfect storm” of circumstances, in addition to strategic decisions like organizing by store and communicating with other stores. Those particulars can help guide what will and won’t work elsewhere.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gF8rhG">
To begin with, Starbucks is a company that espouses progressive values, from single-origin coffee beans to LGBTQ rights. But when those values come up short — claiming that Black Lives Matter while <a href="https://theoutline.com/post/4192/starbucks-racism-timeline">calling the cops on Black customers</a>, offering gender-affirming medical treatment that’s <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/laurenstrapagiel/starbucks-transgender-employees">hard to access in practice</a>, and advertising fertility treatment that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/starbucks-workers-
forgo-paychecks-access-ivf-treatments-rcna16381">can cost more than people’s paychecks</a> — it can work against the company.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bLojd5">
“Starbucks is quote-unquote ‘progressive,’ ‘woke,’ whatever. They give us decent benefits,” Fagan, a 22-year-old shift supervisor in Rochester, said. “But we’re literally selling our lives and time and bodies to this corporation. Tell me why I don’t deserve a living wage.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside id="0RFTmH">
<q>“We’re literally selling our lives and time and bodies to this corporation. Tell me why I don’t deserve a living wage.”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zgurgx">
Fagan, who has worked at Starbucks for five years, makes $22 an hour but, like many employees, said she’s had her hours cut back, making the $20-$50 cab ride (she doesn’t drive) to and from work for a six-hour shift unsustainable. Ahead of the first Buffalo union vote, Starbucks <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2021/starbucks-makes-historic-investments-in-its-partners/">announced</a> it would be raising its average wage to nearly $17 an hour by this summer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oR5fVT">
But while that pay is much higher than the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353023.htm">industry average</a> of about $12 an hour, many of the workers we talked to said it wasn’t enough, especially as they said their hours have been cut back. These cutbacks could jeopardize employees’ access to Starbucks’s health insurance — a rarity in the food service world — since employees need to work at least 20 hours a week to be eligible for those benefits. Others see the cuts in hours as a way to drive out existing employees in order to <a href="https://www.law360.com/employment-
authority/articles/1473633/union-says-starbucks-is-cutting-hours-to-cool-organizing">tamp down union organizing</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3FbcfK">
Starbucks denied that it’s cutting back hours.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wfbjrd">
“We always schedule to what we believe the store needs based on customer behaviors,” spokesperson Reggie Borges told Recode. “That may mean a change in the hours available, but to say we are cutting hours wouldn’t be accurate.” The company added that eligibility to health care was measured just twice a year by average hours worked, rather than on a weekly basis, so a short-term cut in hours wouldn’t affect health care eligibility.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="36zcCt">
In any case, Starbucks’s perceived progressive values often attract young workers who share those values.<strong> </strong>Many of the Starbucks workers trying to unionize are in their early 20s. They’ve become adults amid huge social justice movements like Black Lives Matter and Me Too. They are comfortable with empathy and technology, making them star candidates for a resurgent union movement. In addition to talking to other Starbucks workers across the country on Zoom and social media, they hash out their store strategies over Discord while sharing viral videos about unions on TikTok. On a press call following her Mesa, Arizona, store’s vote to unionize in March, barista Haley Smith called Twitter “the rising star of our campaign.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside id="BMqtk2">
<q>Starbucks executives rolled back Covid-19 restrictions “a little too soon and a little too brazenly, considering they were still working at home,” says a New York City employee</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oXvTE2">
Whether on video calls, chat rooms, or social media, these workers seem to land on a common theme: They’re all facing the same inequalities in work and life. The immense unfairness of the world we live in was top of mind for the young people who spoke to Recode. They’ve come into adulthood at a time of heightened inequality in everything from access to broadband to income.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vhEhrz">
“We’ve been forced into this world where we can’t afford anything, where we can’t afford to live,” said Mercado, 22, who works at a Starbucks in Brooklyn while pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science. “It’s not a difference between generations, it’s just a difference between what you’ve been given and the tools that we can use to make the change.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5X1qh5">
For many Starbucks workers and others, the shine has worn off their companies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x5Qpgo">
“We realized during the pandemic that they <a href="https://twitter.com/ranimolla/status/1508418595784728596">didn’t care about us</a>,” said a former Starbucks employee in Rochester who worked for the company for five years and was a main union organizer at his store. He was recently fired for clocking in four minutes before a coworker, meaning he was in the store by himself — an offense he said would have never resulted in firing prior to the union effort. The employee asked to remain anonymous lest this firing jeopardize future employment. (Recode contacted Starbucks about why this was a fireable offense, but the company did not respond in time for publication.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HFtq6B">
Working through the pandemic made the situation and worker safety especially acute.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MxpyX6">
“They’ll call me a partner all they want, but corporate will allow me to die on the floor if it made them money,” said Brandi Alduk, a 22-year-old employee at a Queens Starbucks store, noting that she was exaggerating but with some truth. She said company executives rolled back Covid-19 restrictions “a little too soon and a little too brazenly, considering they were still working at home when they started loosening some of the restrictions.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AFDWLV">
One positive aspect of working during the pandemic, many Starbucks employees said, is that they became incredibly close with their coworkers. That’s partly to do with the physical locations Starbucks occupies. Starbucks stores are tight spaces, where workers bump into and talk to each other constantly — valuable circumstances when trying to unionize. (Situations like this are also less likely at workplaces like giant Amazon warehouses.)
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt="Starbucks
workers and organizers in Queens stand on the sidewalk and hug in congratulations." src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/eeZpqrvWPKF55QHgrFSl_lCDxV4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23353149/IMG_6960.JPG"/> <cite>Oriana Shulevitz Rosaso</cite></p>
<figcaption>
Brandi Alduk (center right) and her coworkers share an embrace along with City Council member Tiffany Cabán and Assembly member Zohran Mamdani after the workers filed a petition to unionize.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xtRiBK">
In general, the Starbucks union efforts have been very grassroots, driven by the front-line workers themselves. Starbucks employees at unionized locations are the ones bargaining for a contract with company lawyers — not a union rep. While union members typically work with their representatives to decide what they want in their contract, the negotiations themselves are usually left to the union and their lawyers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TDJIlu">
“There’s nobody top- down making a decision about which stores should organize or go public. It depends on the workers in each store,” Givan, the Rutgers professor, said. “I think that’s crucial.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HKQbuR">
This grassroots movement has even drawn support from Starbucks’s shareholders. Recently, investors representing $3.4 trillion in assets under management <a href="https://www.trilliuminvest.com/documents/sbux-investor-letter-march-15-2022-public">asked the company to remain neutral</a> and “swiftly reach fair and timely collective bargains,” should more Starbucks stores vote to unionize.
</p>
<h3 id="CPNJSg">
The challenges ahead
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Aty7z">
Unionizing in America today is not easy — that’s part of what makes the Starbucks workers’ success so impressive. But experts aren’t sure the extent to which that success could be replicated at other food and beverage chains or in other industries. Despite organizing in new industries like food service and digital media in recent years, union membership overall is <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm">still in decline</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fvIEw9">
Givan said the easiest way forward for the labor movement might be through other progressive brands — especially ones where workers feel the company hasn’t lived up to that progressive ethos. For example, workers at a Manhattan REI store, an outdoor equipment retailer that puts “purpose before profits,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/business/rei-union-new-
york.html">voted to unionize</a> in March, saying the company failed to prioritize their safety. REI employees <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/rei-stop-union-busting">accused the company of union busting</a>, by spreading misinformation about the unions, holding captive audience meetings, and withholding promotions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Yx4LN">
The road might be tougher at more iron-fisted companies like Amazon. Ahead of the first union vote at an Alabama warehouse, the company had mailboxes installed on its grounds, giving workers the impression that the company was monitoring its union votes. In Staten Island, the company <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23005336/amazon-union-new-
york-warehouse">fired</a> a warehouse supervisor named Chris Smalls the same day he participated in a protest about unsafe conditions during the pandemic. (Smalls went on to create the Amazon Labor Union which led the successful union drive at the Staten Island warehouse.)
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A
young Black man in sunglasses and a baseball cap speaks into news outlets’ microphones, backed by supporters with signs
reading, “Union rights for all Amazon workers.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ovx90MVZqcf-
fXob9-1RteQB5_k=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23361108/GettyImages_1239668154.jpg"/> <cite>Andrea Renault/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Union organizer Christian Smalls speaks following the April 1 vote for the unionization of the Amazon Staten Island warehouse in New York.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4gcxbK">
Starbucks has also been aggressively fighting the union. The company’s resistance is very apparent to its workers who are organizing. A number of workers told us that they’d been fired or had their hours severely cut back over their association with the union. Workers United has filed nearly 70 unfair labor practices against Starbucks. The NLRB recently dinged the company over more aggressive tactics like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/business/economy/starbucks-union-nlrb-
arizona.html">illegally penalizing organizers</a>, by suspending an employee and denying another’s scheduling preferences, over their union support. Starbucks <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/02/09/starbucks-
memphis-union-employees-fired/">fired seven unionizing workers</a> in Memphis after hosting a TV interview about them organizing at the store, but said they were let go for reasons outside the union. Starbucks called any allegations of union busting or firing people over unionizing “categorically false.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AqwsWy">
“From the beginning, we’ve been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed,” Starbucks said in a statement to Recode.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3txqaJ">
Union organizing is also difficult for reasons beyond pushback from management, including a long and arduous process and labor policy that doesn’t favor workers. And faced with those hurdles, plenty of workers decide to advocate for themselves in other ways, without formally organizing, according to <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__newheightscommunications-2Ddot-2Dyamm-2Dtrack.appspot.com_Redirect-3Fukey-3D1MQzcIg9LUt9MWBKS9DTJ5XYOJVsSTp2HAVVYLrLKdAU-2D1047086917-26key-3DYAMMID-2D1642783562782-26link-3Dhttps-3A__www.jwj.org_staff-2Dmembers_erica-2Dsmiley&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=7MSjEE-
cVgLCRHxk1P5PWg&amp;r=ZIQCh6Le3o1SYA0lj17C2IlHXhmT6shztLfSBcVGbyo&amp;m=eb5hqERhXqr_S4g6_Okw1Z6wNgbrnJTomBdzWswHyjnHX34SQ2RbNcdSu4ky5ABf&amp;s=SaqA1RB2zuPinBh_7bCQZ2YiWsxlccKZC9_fzZaQNrA&amp;e=">Erica Smiley</a> and <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__newheightscommunications-2Ddot-2Dyamm-2Dtrack.appspot.com_Redirect-3Fukey-3D1MQzcIg9LUt9MWBKS9DTJ5XYOJVsSTp2HAVVYLrLKdAU-2D1047086917-26key-3DYAMMID-2D1642783562782-26link-3Dhttps-3A__www.fordfoundation.org_about_people_sarita-2Dgupta_&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=7MSjEE-
cVgLCRHxk1P5PWg&amp;r=ZIQCh6Le3o1SYA0lj17C2IlHXhmT6shztLfSBcVGbyo&amp;m=eb5hqERhXqr_S4g6_Okw1Z6wNgbrnJTomBdzWswHyjnHX34SQ2RbNcdSu4ky5ABf&amp;s=2TZKmdiXR2NwpcrUnX3UyNavac_EBhZAveTBHZhwNxA&amp;e=">Sarita Gupta</a>, authors<em> </em>of <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501764820/the-future-we-
need/"><em>The Future We Need: Organizing for a Better Democracy in the Twenty-First Century</em></a><em>.</em> According to Smiley and Gupta<strong>,</strong> there’s also been an increase in so-called worker standards boards, in which groups of workers take part in decisions and rule-making alongside politicians and employers in a non-union setting. <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/worker-boards-across-the-country-are-empowering-workers-and-
implementing-workforce-standards-across-industries/">State and local governments have formed standards boards</a> in the past few years to guide everything from compensation to <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2021/11/30/414399/harris-county-leaders-create-a-new-
government-board-for-low-wage-frontline-workers/">safety</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ReFzyu">
<a href="https://fightfor15.org/">Fight for $15 and a Union</a>, which is a broader advocacy movement rather than a union, has helped gain benefits and raise the minimum wage for millions of workers in cities and states around the country. Angelica Hernandez, a McDonald’s worker in California who has been working with Fight for $15, <a href="https://la.eater.com/2020/4/10/21215222/mcdonalds-employees-protest-coronavirus-los-angeles-california-fast-food-
strike">went on strike early in March</a> 2020 to protest the unsafe working conditions at her job. She’s not part of a union, but simply walked off the job with a couple of colleagues, and it worked. Thanks to this walkout, she got PPE, sanitizer, and temperature checks at work for her and her colleagues.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><img alt="Protesters outside a McDonald’s wear shirts that read “Unions for all, fight for $15”
and carry signs that read, “McDonald’s: Sexual harassment is unacceptable” and “McDonald’s: Meet with
survivors&amp;gt;”" src="https://cdn.vox-
cdn.com/thumbor/FUiwfUDuRxYF3ySmzOwoNDRZZMQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23361453/20200310_115731.jpeg"/> <cite>Fight for $15 and a Union</cite></p>
<figcaption>
Angelica Hernandez protests for better working conditions outside her McDonald’s in California.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aq76Aq">
Going on strike is risky, and many people can’t afford to lose that pay. That’s why Hernandez is hoping California passes <a href="https://sf.eater.com/2022/2/1/22912729/california-fast-food-workers-law-
standardize-wages">AB 257</a>. The first-of-its-kind bill would standardize wages, hours, and conditions for all fast food workers and cover half a million employees at places like Starbucks and McDonald’s, not just unionized ones.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GRw9i8">
“We’re all suffering across the board with things like sexual abuse and labor abuse,” Hernandez told Recode through a Fight for $15 translator. “That’s why it’s important for us that it’s not just one or two restaurants, but that all fast food workers have protections.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z3NquF">
The increased propensity for workers to quit and find new jobs in the current tight labor market is another way employees are improving their situation outside unions. Smiley considers the Great Resignation to be a form of worker action, like a strike. “You can’t deny the implications it’s had on the labor force and on labor economics,” she said, referring to how, among other benefits, increased rates of quitting have driven up wages, especially in the lowest-paying sectors.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mm2N1H">
On a national level, Democrats have put forth a labor bill known as the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22307891/democrats-
unions-pro-act-policy-feedback">PRO Act</a> that would make it easier for workers to organize, but it has stalled in the Senate. Perhaps a more promising route is through the NLRB. Jennifer Abruzzo, who was confirmed by the senate as the NLRB’s general counsel last year, <a href="https://perfectunion.us/nrlb-jennifer-abruzzo-interview/">told More Perfect Union</a> that she wants to make it harder for employers to intimidate workers who want to unionize. She’s asking the organization to reconsider the Joy Silk Doctrine, which would mean that employers would have to recognize a union based on simple majority support.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1yfBbY">
All things considered, it’s remarkable that a growing number of Starbucks workers are unionizing right now. And because more locations start their own drives after each new union victory, it’s not hard to imagine as many as 50 unionized Starbucks stores by this summer.
</p>
<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>IPL 2022 | Buttler ton powers RR to 193/8 against MI</strong> - Buttler hit a whirlwind 100 off 68 balls with 11 boundaries and five sixes</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>CSK eye improved show against Punjab Kings</strong> - The toss is already playing a significant role in the outcome of the games</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>Paris Olympics | Boxing events for male reduced, changes also in weightlifting and shooting</strong> - While the preceding Tokyo Games had eight events for men and five for women, in Paris there will be seven events for the male pugilists and six for the female</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>FIFA World Cup 2022 | France gets a comfortable draw; Spain, Germany in same group</strong> - Messi’s Argentina draws Lewandowski’s Poland and Mexico; Ronaldo’s Portugal has to contend with Uruguay, South Korea</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>Indian Premier League 2022 | Awesome feeling as I knew what I could do in that position: Russell</strong> - Russell scored an unbeaten 70 off 31 balls against Punjab Kings</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>Beach clean-up drive in Kannur on Monday</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>FACT records ₹4,100-crore turnover</strong> - 27% rise compared to previous financial year</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>CAG report reveals lapses in West Bengal’s flood management</strong> - Issues in planning, monitoring, non-utilisation of funds, and even quality of materials used flagged by performance audit</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>Opponents spreading misinformation on SilverLine social impact survey: V.K. Ramachandran</strong> - Kerala State Planning Board vice chairman says it is not always possible to reconcile the costs incurred by the families impacted by the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project with the collective benefits</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>India sees warmest March in 122 years, lowest rainfall since 1908</strong> - Unusual heat is attributed to the lack of rainfall due to the absence of active western disturbances over north India.</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>War in Ukraine: Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking oil depot</strong> - Russia claims a Ukrainian helicopter raid set fuel tanks ablaze in Belgorod, a Russian 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>Russia’s war ignites Orban’s tightest election challenge in Hungary</strong> - For the first time since 2010, Hungary’s prime minister faces a real fight for election victory.</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 round-up: Possible war crimes and an attack on Russia</strong> - Day 37 saw Russia accuse Ukraine of bombing an oil facility on its territory, and the BBC witnessed possible evidence of war crimes.</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>Why Russia is trying to encircle Ukraine’s east</strong> - Russia has shifted most of the focus of its war to eastern Ukraine, aiming to “liberate” the region.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia says it won’t cut off gas supplies yet in rouble payment row</strong> - The Kremlin says it won’t cut gas supplies to European customers until mid-April at the earliest.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The punch that changed Mortal Kombat history</strong> - A punch-filled excerpt from upcoming history book <em>Long Live Mortal Kombat</em>. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1845299">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A fresh take on why Octavian won the war against Antony and Cleopatra</strong> - Ars chats with historian Barry Strauss about his book, <em>The War that Made the Roman Empire</em>. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843800">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Explaining Spring4Shell: The Internet security disaster that wasn’t</strong> - Vulnerability in the Spring Java Framework is important, but it’s no Log4Shell. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1845362">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>NIH begins trial of COVID boosters to fight future variants</strong> - The complex trial will test six booster regimens to broaden protection. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1845343">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Someone made an Android phone with a Lightning port for some reason</strong> - It’s an April Fool’s joke, yes, but it’s also real. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1845126">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>There were two white Christian men, John and Mike, whose plane crashed into a desert.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Luckily they survived unharmed. As they traveled through the hot desert looking for food and water, they gave up and sat down, thinking of what to do.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
As the dust in the air settled, they suddenly could view a mosque ahead. They became very hopeful. But then John said ‘’Muslims are there. They might help us if we say we are Muslim.’’ Then Mike said ‘’No way, I won’t say I’m Muslim, I’m gonna be honest’’.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
So John and Mike went to the Mosque ahead and were greeted by an Arab Muslim, who asked what their names were.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
John thought of a Muslim name and said, ‘My name is Muhammad’. And Mike said ‘My name is Mike’.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Arab man said ‘Hello Mike.’ And told these other men to take Mike and give him food and drink.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Then he turned to John and said, ’Salaam Muhammad. Ramadan Mubarak! (Hello Muhammad, Happy Ramadan)
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MudakMudakov"> /u/MudakMudakov </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tu7pcn/there_were_two_white_christian_men_john_and_mike/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tu7pcn/there_were_two_white_christian_men_john_and_mike/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A man is buying a banana, an apple and two eggs. The female cashier says: “You must be single.” The man answers: “Wow, how did you know that?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Cashier: “Because you’re ugly.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/the_houser"> /u/the_houser </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tud95c/a_man_is_buying_a_banana_an_apple_and_two_eggs/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tud95c/a_man_is_buying_a_banana_an_apple_and_two_eggs/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A wife is having a gangbang with three men, one of them is deaf</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Her husband walks in, so one hides in the closet, the second under the bed and the deaf man hides in the balcony.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The husband opened the closet, and yells who the hell are you, the man says I’m the handyman, I’m fixing your closet, you owe me 100 bucks. He gives him his money and send him on his way.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The husband then looks under the bed and yells who the fuck are you, the second one says I’m also a handyman and I was fixing your bed, so the husband gives him another $100 and let him leave.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The deaf man then storms into the room, and yells, I fucked her too, that’ll be a $100.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/B-L-O-C-K-S"> /u/B-L-O-C-K-S </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tu0xpf/a_wife_is_having_a_gangbang_with_three_men_one_of/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tu0xpf/a_wife_is_having_a_gangbang_with_three_men_one_of/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless man who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I took out my wallet, extracted twenty dollars and asked,“If I give you this money, will you buy some beer with it instead of dinner?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“No, I had to stop drinking years ago,” the homeless man replied.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Will you use it to go fishing instead of buying food?” I asked.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“No, I don’t waste time fishing,” the homeless man said..“I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Will you spend this on hunting equipment?” I asked.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Are you Nuts!” replied the homeless man. “I haven’t gone hunting in 20 years!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well,” I said, “I’m not going to give you money. Instead, I’m going to take you home for a shower and a terrific dinner cooked by my wife.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The homeless man was astounded. "Won’t your wife be furious with you for doing that?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I replied, “Don’t worry about that. It’s important for her to see what a man looks like after he has given up drinking, fishing and hunting.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DennySmith62"> /u/DennySmith62 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tu8zuf/i_was_walking_down_the_street_when_i_was_accosted/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tu8zuf/i_was_walking_down_the_street_when_i_was_accosted/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>blonde tried to sell her old car… She was having a lot of problems selling it because the car had 250 000 miles. One day she told her problem to a friend she worked with. The friend told her,</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“OK,” said the friend. “Here’s the address of a friend of mine. He owns a car repair shop. Tell him I sent you and he will turn the counter in your car back to 50,000 miles. Then it shouldn’t be a problem selling your car.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The following weekend, the blonde made the trip to the mechanic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
About one month after that, the friend asked the blonde,
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Did you sell your car?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“No,” replied the blonde, “Why should I? It only has 50,000 miles on it.”
</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/tua0jj/blonde_tried_to_sell_her_old_car_she_was_having_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tua0jj/blonde_tried_to_sell_her_old_car_she_was_having_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>

4
index.html
View File

File diff suppressed because one or more lines are too long