The Role of MSMEs in the Restitution and Development of the Indonesian Economy -
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+In this Covid-19 era, many companies are required to run new business platforms, but many of these companies are not able to keep up with the growing business trends. Of course, in anticipating changes in the competitive climate in the digital era, companies can carry out transformation programs and also implement good corporate governance values to avoid the dangers and risks of failure. This research uses a case study that focuses on efforts to foster Medium, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that contribute to improving the Indonesian economy.
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Is my cough a cold or covid? A qualitative study of COVID-19 symptom recognition and attitudes towards testing in the UK -
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+Objective Key to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the UK is increased use of the NHS Test and Trace (NHSTT) system. This study explored one of the main issues that determine whether people engage with NHSTT, how people understand symptoms that may indicate the presence of COVID-19 and that should trigger a request for a test. Methods In this qualitative study, a series of semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 40 people (21 members of the general population, 19 students). There was nearly an equal split between male and female participants in both populations. Data were collected between 30 November and 11 December 2020 and explored using thematic analysis. There was substantial similarity in responses for both populations so we combined our results and highlighted where differences were present. Results Participants generally had good knowledge of the main symptoms of COVID-19 (high temperature, new, persistent cough, anosmia) but had low confidence in their ability to differentiate them from symptoms of other illnesses. Attribution of symptoms to COVID-19 was most likely where the symptoms were severe, many symptoms were present, symptoms had lasted for some time and when perceived risk of exposure to infection was high due to previous contact with others. Participants felt encouraged to engage in testing where symptoms were present and had persisted for several days, though many had concerns about the safety of testing centres and the accuracy of test results. Students had mixed feelings about mass asymptomatic testing, seeing it as a way to access a more normal student experience, but also a potential waste of resources. Conclusions This study offers novel insights into how people attribute symptoms to COVID-19 and barriers and facilitators to engaging with testing. Participants had positive views of testing, but there is a need to improve not just recognition of each main symptom, but also understanding that even single, mild symptoms may necessitate a test rather than a wait and see approach, and to address concerns around test accuracy to increase testing uptake.
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A Systematic Review of COVID - 19 Induced Myocarditis - Symptomatology, Prognosis, and Clinical Findings -
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+Objective: With the advent of a novel coronavirus in December 2019, several case studies have reported its adversity on cardiac cells. We conducted a systematic review that describes the symptomatology, prognosis, and clinical findings of patients with COVID-19-related myocarditis. Methods: Search engines including PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Central, and Web of Science were queried for SARS-CoV-2 or COVID 19 and myocarditis. PRISMA guidelines were employed, and peer-reviewed journals in English related to COVID-19 were included. Results: This systematic review included 22 studies and 37 patients. Eight patients (36%) were confirmed myocarditis, while the rest were possible myocarditis. Most patients had elevated cardiac biomarkers, including troponin, CRP, CK, CK-MB, and NT-pro BNP. Electrocardiogram results noted tachycardia (47%), left ventricular hypertrophy (50%), ST-segment alterations (41%), and T wave inversion (18%). Echocardiography presented reduced LVEF (77%), left ventricle abnormalities (34%), right ventricle aberrations (12%), and pericardial effusion (71%). Further, CMR showed reduced myocardial edema (75%), non-ischemic patterns (50%), and hypokinesis (26%). The mortality was significant at 25%. Conclusions: Mortality associated with COVID-19 myocarditis appears significant but underestimated. Further studies are warranted to evaluate and quantify patients actual prognosis and outcomes with COVID-19 myocarditis.
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Confirmed COVID-19 cases per economic activity during Autumn wave in Belgium -
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+Objective: To assess the COVID19 incidence per economic activity during the Autumn wave 2020 in Belgium. Methods: The 14-day incidence of confirmed COVID19 cases per NACEBEL code is described in the periods immediately preceding the Belgian more strict measures of October 19, 2020, and is evaluated longitudinally by a GaussianGaussian modelling twostage approach. Additionally, the number of high risk contacts in working segments and regions is described. Results: The peak of COVID19 14day incidence in most NACEBEL sectors is reached in the period October 20 November 2, 2020 and was considerably higher than average in human health activities, residential care activities, fitness facilities, human resource provision, hairdressing and other beauty treatment and some public service activities. Human health activities, residential care activities, food and beverage service activities, hotels, arts, food retail activities, and human resources provision have high pre-lockdown incidences. The frequency of index cases that report more than two high risk contacts is increasing over time in all sectors. Conclusion: Despite the restrictive protocols present in many sectors before the Autumn wave, employees in activities where close contact with others is high, show increased risk of COVID19 infection. Especially sports activities are among the highest risk activities. Finally, the increasing amount of high risk contacts by COVID19 confirmed cases is compatible with the decreasing motivation over time to adhere to the measures.
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The impact of three progressively introduced interventions on second wave daily COVID-19 case numbers in Melbourne, Australia -
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+Background The city of Melbourne, Australia experienced two waves of the COVID-19 epidemic peaking in March and July 2020. During the second wave, a series of control measure were progressively introduced that initially slowed the growth of the epidemic then resulted in decreasing cases until there was no detectable local transmission. Methods To determine the relative efficacy of the progressively introduced intervention measures, we modelled this second wave as a series of exponential growth and decay curves. We used a linear regression of the log of daily cases vs time, using a four-segment linear spline model corresponding to implementation of the three successive major public health measures. The primary model used all reported cases between 14 June and 15 September then compared the projection of the model with observed cases predict future case trajectory up until the 31 October to assess the use of exponential models in projecting the future course and planning future interventions. The main outcome measures were the exponential daily growth constants, analysis of residuals and estimates of the 95% confidence intervals for the expected case distributions, comparison of predicted daily cases. Results: The exponential growth/decay constants in the primary analysis were: 0.122 (s.e. 0.004), 0.035 (s.e. 0.005), -0.037 (s.e. 0.011 ), and -0.069 (s.e. 0.003) for the initial growth rate, Stage 3, stage 3 + compulsory masks and Stage 4, respectively. Extrapolation of the regression model from the 14 September to the 31 October matched the decline in observed cases over this period. Conclusions: The four-segment exponential model provided an excellent fit of the observed reported case data and predicted the day-to-day range of expected cases. The extrapolated regression accurately predicted the decline leading to epidemic control in Melbourne.
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Risk perception as a double-edged sword in policy compliance in COVID-19 pandemic? A two-phase evaluation from Hong Kong -
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+The emphasis of risk has been recognized as a crucial component to effective and successful policy compliance amidst crisis. Yet, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the dreadfulness of the risk may fluctuate with the severity of the prolonged pandemic, and the nature of public health policy is not confined purely to public health concerns, perceived risk may not always lead to policy compliance. Two surveys (during almost zero case period and during the biggest outbreak) were conducted to examine the dichotomous role of perceived risk and perceived susceptibility in influencing policy compliance in Hong Kong. Although policy compliance increases with the scale of the outbreak, results from path analysis showed that perceived susceptibility and perceived severity have an indirect role in policy complying behaviour when the objective risk is low. Risk variables, such as attitude, knowledge, benefit and trust, have directly shaped policy compliance. More importantly, perceived severity of COVID-19 boosts policy compliance but perceived susceptibility was associated with disobedience to public health policy. Meanwhile, Hong Kong citizens have a selective and conscious preference in regard to the stringency of public health policy: they welcome more law and order, with increasing magnitude of penalty, but reject lockdown measures such as curfew. Regression results implied that demography had a mild contribution to public health policy stringency, with only the female gender being statistically related to higher policy acceptance. This study calls for further reflection on the role of risk, especially perceived susceptibility, in mobilizing policy compliance to COVID-19 related measures.
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Epidemiological profile study of COVID-19 in West African countries: Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde and Mali -
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+Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic was first reported in West Africa on 27 February 2020 in Nigeria. It subsequently spread to other countries in the region. The objective of this study is to analyze the epidemiological profile of COVID-19 in West Africa from the first reported case to 31 January 2021. Method: We publicly used available data from reliable sources and from the COVID-19R package. We used epidemic curves to describe the trends in the daily evolution of confirmed cases and deaths of COVID-19 in West Africa and specifically in the five countries. The reproduction rate and evolution rates were calculated from these trends. Results: As of 31 January 2021, West Africa had 342,938 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 4,496 deaths. Nigeria had 131,242 cases with 1,586 deaths. Senegal had 26,523 cases with 628 deaths. The case-fatality rate in Mali was 4.08% and the attack rate in Cape Verde was 2587 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritania and Mali, the epidemic curves supported by the evolution rates showed an increase in confirmed cases and deaths of COVID-19 during December 2020 and January 2021 compared to the last two months. The effective reproduction rates (Re) inferred a slowdown in virus transmission (Re < 1) in these countries except for Senegal. Conclusion: The results showed that COVID-19 was still circulating in some West African countries in late 2020 and early 2021. By improving the health system and with context-specific public health interventions and vaccination, these countries should effectively control COVID-19. Keywords: Epidemiology, COVID-19, West Africa, Countries
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Structural basis for cell-type specific evolution of viral fitness by SARS-CoV-2 -
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+As the global burden of SARS-CoV-2 infections escalates, so does the evolution of viral variants which is of particular concern due to their potential for increased transmissibility and pathology. In addition to this entrenched variant diversity in circulation, RNA viruses can also display genetic diversity within single infected hosts with co-existing viral variants evolving differently in distinct cell types. The BriS{Delta} variant, originally identified as a viral subpopulation by passaging SARS-CoV-2 isolate hCoV-19/England/02/2020, comprises in the spike glycoprotein an eight amino-acid deletion encompassing the furin recognition motif and S1/S2 cleavage site. Here, we elucidate the structure, function and molecular dynamics of this variant spike, providing mechanistic insight into how the deletion correlates to viral cell tropism, ACE2 receptor binding and infectivity of this SARS-CoV-2 variant, enabling the virus to evolve viral fitness by probing diverse trajectories in distinct cell types in a single infected host.
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Stopping the misinformation: BNT16b2 COVID-19 vaccine has no negative effect on women’s fertility -
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+Objective: To investigate the possible impact of Pfizer-BioNTech9s mRNA BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine on women9s fertility. Methods: A retrospective single-center study examining women9s IVF treatment parameters and pregnancies before and after their vaccination between February and May 2021. Each woman served as a self-control before and after vaccination. Additionally, in order to neutralize the effect of the sperm on fertilization, only Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) patients who were currently being treated with an ICSI cycle and had an earlier ICSI cycle available were included in the study. The study outcomes compared between the PRE and POST vaccination groups and consisted of: the IVF cycle outcomes, including the number of oocytes retrieved; the number of matured oocytes; the fertilization rate; and the number and quality of embryos at day 3. Clinical pregnancy was based on the first hCG value reported if the data were available for both cycles. Results: A final total of 47 women were eligible for inclusion with a mean interval of 362 +/- 368 days between the two ovum pick ups. The characteristics of their ICSI cycles before and after the vaccination were similar for all the parameters. Additionally, the number and percentage of clinical pregnancies did not significantly differ between the PRE and POST vaccination groups (n=15). Conclusion: This study is the first to evaluate the impact of the BNT162b2 vaccine on women9s fertility. From our findings, the vaccine appears to have no impact on women9s fertility. This study is the first step in abolishing the misinformation derived from unreliable sources and reassuring patients in order to improve compliance and promote COVID-19 eradication.
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Genomic epidemiology and associated clinical outcomes of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a general adult hospital in Quebec -
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+The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Quebec, Canada, occurred at Verdun Hospital on February 25, 2020. A month later, a localized outbreak was observed at this hospital. We performed tiled amplicon whole genome nanopore sequencing on nasopharyngeal swabs from all SARS-CoV-2 positive samples from 31 March to 17 April 2020 in 2 local hospitals to assess the viral diversity of the outbreak. We report 264 viral genomes from 242 individuals (both staff and patients) with associated clinical features and outcomes, as well as longitudinal samples, technical replicates and the first publicly disseminated SARS-CoV-2 genomes in Quebec. Viral lineage assessment identified multiple subclades in both hospitals, with a predominant subclade in the Verdun outbreak, indicative of hospital-acquired transmission. Dimensionality reduction identified two subclades that evaded supervised lineage assignment methods, including Pangolin, and identified certain symptoms (headache, myalgia and sore throat) that are significantly associated with favorable patient outcomes. We also address certain limitations of standard SARS-CoV-2 bioinformatics procedures, notably when presented with multiple viral haplotypes.
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Mechanistic modeling of SARS-CoV-2 immune memory, variants, and vaccines -
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+Early waves of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic were driven by importation events and subsequent policy responses. However, epidemic dynamics in 2021 are largely driven by the spread of more transmissible and/or immune-evading variants, which in turn are countered by vaccination programs. Here we describe updates to the methodology of Covasim (COVID-19 Agent-based Simulator) to account for immune trajectories over time, correlates of protection, co-circulation of different variants and the roll-out of multiple vaccines. We have extended recent work on neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) as a correlate of protection to account for protection against infection, symptomatic COVID-19, and severe disease using a joint estimation approach. We find that NAbs are strongly correlated with infection blocking and that natural infection provides stronger protection than vaccination for the same level of NAbs, though vaccines typically produce higher NAbs. We find only relatively weak correlations between NAbs and the probability of developing symptoms given a breakthrough infection, or the probability of severe disease given symptoms. A more refined understanding of breakthrough infections in individuals with natural and vaccine-derived immunity will have implications for timing of booster vaccines, the impact of emerging variants of concern on critical vaccination thresholds, and the need for ongoing non-pharmaceutical interventions.
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Acute kidney injury in hospitalized patients due to COVID-19 -
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+The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is variable, being associated with worse outcomes. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the incidence, risk factors and impact of AKI in subjects hospitalized for COVID-19 in two third- level hospitals in Córdoba, Argentina. A retrospective cohort study was conducted. 448 adults who were consecutively hospitalized for COVID-19 between March and the end of October 2020 at Hospital Privado Universitario de Córdoba and Hospital Raúl Angel Ferreyra were included. The incidence of AKI was 19% (n=85). 50.6% presented AKI stage 1 (n=43), 20% stage 2 (n=17) and 29.4% stage 3 (n=25, of which 18 required renal replacement therapy). In the multivariate analysis, the variables that were independently associated with AKI were: age (adjusted Odd ratio -aOR- =1.30, 95%CI=1.04-1.63, p=0.022), history of chronic kidney disease (aOR=9.92, 95%CI=4.52-21.77, p<0.001), blood neutrophil count at admission (aOR=1.09, 95%CI=1.01-1.18, p=0.037) and requirement for mechanical ventilation (MV) (aOR=6.69, 95%CI=2.24-19.9, p=0.001). AKI was associated with longer hospitalization, greater admission and length of stay in the intensive care unit, a positive association with bacterial superinfection, sepsis, respiratory distress syndrome, MV requirement and mortality (mortality with AKI=47.1% vs without AKI=12.4%, p<0.001). AKI was independently associated with higher mortality (aOR=3.32, 95%CI=1.6-6.9, p=0.001). In conclusion, the incidence of AKI in adults hospitalized for COVID-19 was 19% and had a clear impact on morbidity and mortality. Local predisposing factors for AKI were identified.
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Clarity Plus™ digital PCR: A novel platform for absolute quantification of SARS-CoV-2 -
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+In recent years, the usage of digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) for various clinical applications has increased exponentially. Considering the growing demand for improved dPCR technology, the Clarity Plus™ dPCR system which features enhanced multiplexing capability and a wider dynamic range for nucleic acid analysis was recently launched. In this study, a dPCR assay optimized for use on Clarity Plus™ was evaluated for the absolute quantification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent responsible for the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. The assay demonstrated good inter- and intra- assay precision, accuracy, as well as excellent linearity across a range of over 6 orders of magnitude for target gene quantification. In addition, comparison of the assay on both dPCR and qPCR platforms revealed that dPCR exhibited a slightly higher sensitivity compared to its qPCR counterpart when quantifying SARS-CoV-2 at a lower concentration. Overall, the results showed that the dPCR assay is a reliable and effective approach for the absolute quantification of SARS-CoV-2 and can potentially be adopted as a molecular tool in applications such as detecting low viral loads in patients as well as in wastewater surveillance of COVID-19.
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Reliability of wastewater analysis for monitoring COVID-19 incidence revealed by a long-term follow-up study -
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+Background: Wastewater-based epidemiology has been used for monitoring human activities and waterborne pathogens. Although wastewaters can also be used for tracking SARS-CoV-2 at the population level, the reliability of this approach remains to be established, especially for early warning of outbreaks. Methods: We collected 377 samples from different treatment plants processing wastewaters of >1 million inhabitants in Valencia, Spain, between April 2020 and March 2021. Samples were cleaned, concentrated, and subjected to RT-qPCR to determine SARS-CoV-2 concentrations. These data were compared with cumulative disease notification rates over 7 and 14 day periods. Results: We amplified SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 75% of the RT-qPCRs, with an estimated detection limit of 100 viral genome copies per liter (gc/L). SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration correlated strongly with disease notification rates over 14-day periods (Pearson r = 0.962, P < 0.001). A concentration >1000 gc/L showed >95% sensitivity and specificity as an indicator of more than 25 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Albeit with slightly higher uncertainty, these figures were reproduced using a 7-day period. Time series were similar for wastewaters data and declared cases, but wastewater RNA concentrations exhibited transient peaks that were not observed in declared cases and preceded major outbreaks by several weeks. Interpretation: Wastewater analysis provides a reliable tool for monitoring COVID-19, particularly at low incidence values, and is not biased by asymptomatic cases. Moreover, this approach might reveal previously unrecognized features of COVID-19 transmission.
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Covid-19: Comparisons by Country and Implications for Future Pandemics -
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+Background. We set out in this paper to compare Covid-19 results by country to better understand the factors leading to the differing results found internationally. Methods. We used publicly available large datasets to explore differences by the country for Covid-19 mortality statistics. We continuously challenged our projections with reality and numbers from countries around the world, allowing us to refine our models and better understand the progression of the epidemic. All our predictions and findings were discussed and validated from a clinical viewpoint. Results. While no lockdown resulted in higher mortality, the difference between strict lock-down and a lax lockdown was not terribly different and favored lax lockdown. Only one of the top 44 countries had long and strict restrictions. Strict restrictions were more common in the worst-performing countries in terms of Covid mortality. The United States had the largest economic growth coupled with the largest rate of mortality. Those who did well economically had lower mortality and less pressure on their population. Yet they had less mortality than average and less than their neighbors. Conclusions. Countries with the least restrictions fared best economically. Some of them fared well in terms of mortality, even better than neighboring countries with similar social structures and more severe restrictions. The mortality rates in the USA, however, appeared to suffer from very high obesity rates. Norway and the northern European countries have less strict restrictions from the rest of Europe and had lower mortality rates. COVID-19 mortality was associated with vitamin D status.
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Study of Allogeneic Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Treatment of COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: COVI-MSC; Drug: Placebo Sponsor: Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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Study to Evaluate a Single Intranasal Dose of STI-2099 (COVI-DROPS™) in Outpatient Adults With COVID-19 (US) - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: COVI-DROPS; Drug: Placebo Sponsor: Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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Study to Evaluate a Single Intranasal Dose of STI-2099 (COVI-DROPS™) in Outpatient Adults With COVID-19 (UK) - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Biological: COVI-DROPS; Drug: Placebo Sponsor: Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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Low-Dose Radiation Therapy to Lungs in Moderate COVID-19 Pneumonitis: A Case-Control Pilot Study - Condition: COVID-19 Pneumonia Intervention: Radiation: Low dose radiotherapy Sponsor: Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences Not yet recruiting
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Using Text Messages to Improve COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Behavioral: Text message content Sponsors: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Central London CCG; Imperial College Health Partners; Institute for Global Health Innovations; The Behavioural Insights Team Not yet recruiting
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Prophylaxis for COVID-19: Ivermectin in Close Contacts of COVID-19 Cases (IVERNEX-TUC) - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Ivermectin; Other: Placebo Sponsor: Ministry of Public Health, Argentina Recruiting
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Mix and Match of the Second COVID-19 Vaccine Dose for Safety and Immunogenicity - Condition: COVID-19 Interventions: Biological: mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine; Biological: BNT162b2; Biological: ChAdOx1-S [recombinant]; Other: 0, 28 day schedule; Other: 0, 112 day schedule Sponsors: Canadian Immunization Research Network; Canadian Center for Vaccinology; BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute; Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba; CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; Northern Alberta Clinical Trials + Research Centre; Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion; University of Toronto; Massachusetts General Hospital Not yet recruiting
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CISCO-21 Prevent and Treat Long COVID-19. - Condition: Covid19 Intervention: Other: Resistance Exercise Sponsors: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; University of Glasgow; Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Not yet recruiting
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Amantadine for COVID-19 - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Drug: Amantadine; Drug: Lactose monohydrate Sponsors: Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre; University of Copenhagen Not yet recruiting
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Leronlimab in Moderatelly Ill Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia - Condition: COVID-19 Pneumonia Interventions: Drug: Leronlimab; Drug: Placebo Sponsors: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein; CytoDyn, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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Leronlimab in Critically Ill Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) With Need for Mechanical Ventilation or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation - Condition: COVID-19 Pneumonia Interventions: Drug: Leronlimab; Drug: Placebo Sponsors: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein; CytoDyn, Inc. Not yet recruiting
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A Proof of Concept Study for the DNA Repair Driven by the Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Critical COVID-19 Patients - Condition: COVID-19 Pneumonia Intervention: Biological: Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transplantation Sponsors: SBÜ Dr. Sadi Konuk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi; Istinye University; Liv Hospital (Ulus) Completed
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3R Rehabilitation Management of COVID-19 Survivors - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Other: Cardiopulmonary exercise (centre-based); Other: Cardiopulmonary exercise (online-based) Sponsors: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Hong Kong; Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong; Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong; Tuen Mun Hospital Hong Kong Recruiting
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Evaluation of the INDICAID™ COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Device: Rapid antigen testing and offsite PCR testing; Device: Rapid antigen testing and onsite PCR testing Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles Completed
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SARS-CoV-2 CTLS for Mild to Moderate COVID-19 Disease - Condition: Covid19 Interventions: Other: Standard of Care; Biological: SARS-CoV2-CTLS Sponsors: New York Medical College; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Medical College of Wisconsin; Nationwide Children’s Hospital Not yet recruiting
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From PubMed
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Chemical system biology approach to identify multi-targeting FDA inhibitors for treating COVID-19 and associated health complications - In view of many European countries and the USA leading to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, winter season, the evolution of new mutations in the spike protein, and no registered drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 treatment, the discovery of effective and novel therapeutic agents is urgently required. The degrees and frequencies of COVID-19 clinical complications are related to uncontrolled immune responses, secondary bacterial infections, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and…
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Poly-L-lysine Glycoconjugates Inhibit DC-SIGN-mediated Attachment of Pandemic Viruses - The C-type lectin receptor DC-SIGN mediates interactions with envelope glycoproteins of many viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, ebola, and HIV and contributes to virus internalization and dissemination. In the context of the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, involvement of DC-SIGN has been linked to severe cases of COVID-19. Inhibition of the interaction between DC-SIGN and viral glycoproteins has the potential to generate broad spectrum antiviral agents. Here, we demonstrate that mannose-functionalized…
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Inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2 infection of neferine by blocking Ca(2+) -dependent membrane fusion - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has focused attention on the need to develop effective therapeutics against the causative pathogen, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and also against other pathogenic coronaviruses. In this study, we reported a kind of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid, neferine, as pan-coronavirus entry inhibitor. Neferine effectively protected HEK293/hACE2 and HuH7 cell lines from infection by different coronaviruses pseudovirus…
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Histone deficiency and accelerated replication stress in T cell aging - With increasing age, individuals are more vulnerable to viral infections such as with influenza or the SARS-CoV-2 virus. One age-associated defect in human T cells is the reduced expression of miR-181a. miR-181ab1 deficiency in peripheral murine T cells causes delayed viral clearance after infection, resembling human immune aging. Here we show that naive T cells from older individuals as well as miR-181ab1-deficient murine T cells develop excessive replication stress after activation, due to…
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Molecular modeling of potent novel sulfonamide derivatives as non-peptide small molecule anti-COVID 19 agents - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent for the COVID-19. The Sulfonamides groups have been widely introduced in several drugs, especially for their antibacterial activities and generally prescribed for respiratory infections. On the other hand, imidazole groups have the multipotency to act as drugs, including antiviral activity. We have used a structure-based drug design approach to design some imidazole derivatives of sulfonamide, which can…
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Formulation of a Composite Nasal Spray Enabling Enhanced Surface Coverage and Prophylaxis of SARS-COV-2 - Airborne pathogens pose high risks in terms of both contraction and transmission within the respiratory pathways, particularly the nasal region. However, there is little in the way of adequate intervention that can protect an individual or prevent further spread. This study reports on a nasal formulation with the capacity to combat such challenges, focusing on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Formulation of a polysaccharide-based spray, known for its mucoadhesive…
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Fludarabine inhibits type I interferon-induced expression of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 - No abstract
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Quercetin for COVID-19 and DENGUE co-infection: a potential therapeutic strategy of targeting critical host signal pathways triggered by SARS-CoV-2 and DENV - CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to reveal quercetin as a pharmacological drug for COVID-19 and DENGUE co-infection. COVID-19 and DENGUE co-infection remain a potential threat to the world’s public health system. Therefore, we need innovative thinking to provide admissible evidence for quercetin as a potential molecule drug for the treatment of COVID-19 and DENGUE, but the findings have not been verified in actual patients, so further clinical drug trials are needed.
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TLR7 Ligation Inhibits TLR8 Responsiveness in IL-27-Primed Human THP-1 Monocytes and Macrophages - Regulation of proinflammatory cytokine expression is critical in the face of single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) virus infections. Many viruses, including coronavirus and influenza virus, wreak havoc on the control of cytokine expression, leading to the formation of detrimental cytokine storms. Understanding the regulation and interplay between inflammatory cytokines is critical to the identification of targets involved in controlling the induction of cytokine expression. In this study, we focused on…
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Computational and experimental studies on the inhibitory mechanism of hydroxychloroquine on hERG - Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was noted to produce severe cardiac arrhythmia, an adverse effect as its use against severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus 2 (SAES-CoV-2). HCQ is an antimalarial drug with quinoline structure. Some other quinoline compounds, such as fluoroquinolone antibiotics (FQs), also lead to arrhythmias characterized by QT prolongation. QT prolongation is usually related to the human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) potassium channel inhibitory activity of most…
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Structure-based design and characterization of novel fusion-inhibitory lipopeptides against SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants - The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has severely impacted the global public health and socio-economic stability, calling for effective vaccines and therapeutics. In this study, we continued our efforts to develop more efficient SARS-CoV-2 fusion inhibitors and achieved significant findings. First, we found that the membrane-proximal external region (MPER) sequence of SARS-CoV-2 spike fusion protein plays a critical role in viral infectivity and can serve as an ideal template…
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Pulmonary stromal expansion and intra-alveolar coagulation are primary causes of COVID-19 death - Most COVID-19 victims are old and die from unrelated causes. Here we present twelve complete autopsies, including two rapid autopsies of young patients where the cause of death was COVID-19 ARDS. The main virus induced pathology was in the lung parenchyma and not in the airways. Most coagulation events occurred in the intra-alveolar and not in the intra-vascular space and the few thrombi were mainly composed of aggregated thrombocytes. The dominant inflammatory response was the massive…
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Accommodating receptor flexibility and free energy calculation to reduce false positive binders in the discovery of natural products blockers of SARS-COV-2 spike RBD-ACE2 interface - The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), which causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has caused more than 2 million deaths around the globe. The high transmissibility rate of the disease is related to the strong interaction between the virus spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as documented in several reports. In this study, using state-of-the-art computational methods, natural products were screened…
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Synthetic Siglec-9 Agonists Inhibit Neutrophil Activation Associated with COVID-19 - Severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2, are characterized by a hyperinflammatory immune response that leads to numerous complications. Production of proinflammatory neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) has been suggested to be a key factor in inducing a hyperinflammatory signaling cascade, allegedly causing both pulmonary tissue damage and peripheral inflammation. Accordingly, therapeutic blockage of neutrophil activation and NETosis, the cell…
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The First Insight Into the Supramolecular System of D,L-α-Difluoromethylornithine: A New Antiviral Perspective - Targeting the polyamine biosynthetic pathway by inhibiting ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is a powerful approach in the fight against diverse viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO, eflornithine) is the best-known inhibitor of ODC and a broad-spectrum, unique therapeutical agent. Nevertheless, its pharmacokinetic profile is not perfect, especially when large doses are required in antiviral treatment. This article presents a holistic study focusing on the molecular and…
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From Patent Search
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COST EFFECTIVE PORTABLE OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR FOR COVID-19 - - link
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METHOD OF IDENTIFYING SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONA VIRUS 2 (SARS-COV-2) RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA) - - link
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IMPROVEMENTS RELATED TO PARTICLE, INCLUDING SARS-CoV-2, DETECTION AND METHODS THEREFOR - - link
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DEEP LEARNING BASED SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF COVID-19 DISEASE OF PATIENT AT INFECTION RISK - The present invention relates to Deep learning based system for detection of covid-19 disease of patient at infection risk. The objective of the present invention is to solve the problems in the prior art related to technologies of detection of covid-19 disease using CT scan image processing. - link
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A COMPREHENSIVE DISINFECTION SYSTEM DURING PANDEMIC FOR PERSONAL ITEMS AND PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) TO SAFEGUARD PEOPLE - The current Covid-19 pandemic has led to an enormous demand for gadgets / objects for personal protection. To prevent the spread of virus, it is important to disinfect commonly touched objects. One of the ways suggested is to use a personal UV-C disinfecting box that is “efficient and effective in deactivating the COVID-19 virus. The present model has implemented the use of a UV transparent material (fused silica quartz glass tubes) as the medium of support for the objects to be disinfected to increase the effectiveness of disinfection without compromising the load bearing capacity. Aluminum foil, a UV reflecting material, was used as the inner lining of the box for effective utilization of the UVC light emitted by the UVC lamps. Care has been taken to prevent leakage of UVC radiation out of the system. COVID-19 virus can be inactivated in 5 minutes by UVC irradiation in this disinfection box - link
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UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING SYSTEM FOR MENTAL HEALTH MONITORING OF PERSON DURING THE PANDEMIC OF COVID-19 - - link
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一种预判重症新冠肺炎（COVID-19）的标志物及其产品和用途 - 本发明提供了一种预判重症疾病的标志物，所述的预判重症疾病的标志物为S100A12，序列为SEQ ID NO.1，所述的重症疾病为重症新冠肺炎、重症感染中的一种。S100A12基因作为标志物，在预判重症疾病时对全血中的S100A12基因的表达水平进行检测即可，无需对白细胞进行分离，简化检测流程。S100A12的表达水平可以指导感染类疾病包括新冠肺炎重症的预判，从而及早施治，降低病死率，具有很好的临床应用前景。 - link
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INDICATING SYSTEM - A visual indicating system for use with a hospital bed, the hospital bed comprising a bed frame extending between a head end and a foot end of the bed frame, the visual indicating system comprising: an indicating member adapted to be coupled with the bed frame wherein the indicating member comprises an indicia for indicating one of a plurality of pre-determined health conditions.
USE OF IMINOSUGAR COMPOUND IN PREPARATION OF ANTI-SARS-COV-2 VIRUS DRUG - - link
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一种高灵敏SARS-CoV-2中和抗体的检测方法、检测试剂盒 - 本发明公开了一种高灵敏SARS‑CoV‑2中和抗体的检测方法、检测试剂盒，属于生物医学检测技术领域，本发明试剂盒包括层析试纸、卡壳和样本稀释液，所述层析试纸包括底板、样品垫、结合垫、NC膜和吸水垫，所述NC膜上依次设置有捕获线、检测线和质控线，所述捕获线包被有ACE2蛋白，所述检测线包被有RBD蛋白，所述结合垫设置有RBD蛋白标记物；本发明采用阻断法加夹心法原理提高检测中和抗体的灵敏度，通过添加捕获线的方式，将靶向RBD的非中和抗体提前捕获，保证后续通过夹心法检测中和抗体的特异性。 - link
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The Women Who Preserved the Story of the Tulsa Race Massacre - Two pioneering Black writers have not received the recognition they deserve for chronicling one of the country’s gravest crimes. - link
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Naomi Osaka Takes a Complicated Stand - Her withdrawal from the French Open has already shifted an ongoing debate about athletes, mental health, and the press. - link
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The Republican Party, Racial Hypocrisy, and the 1619 Project - As the G.O.P. seeks to deny Americans knowledge of their own history, Nikole Hannah-Jones is denied tenure. - link
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Martha Nussbaum on #MeToo - The philosopher discusses anger, pride, and justice after sexual assault. - link
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La lucha por mejorar las tasas de vacunación entre los latinos en Nueva York - Enormes disparidades persisten en los niveles de inmunización entre las comunidades de la ciudad. - link
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From Vox
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The perpetual discourse over LGBTQ Pride, explained -
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+Some people do not want to see butts at Pride! | Michael Nagle/Getty Images
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+The fights over Pride are really about whether Pride is even political anymore.
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+Every big American holiday is accompanied by unspoken, terrible traditions that make us feel like we’re celebrating them right. Thanksgiving will almost always involve a dry turkey. Memorial Day, the first “summer” holiday, is almost always accompanied by bad weather. New Year’s Eve sucks, and if yours is great, you’ve done something terribly wrong.
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+And June, a.k.a. LGBTQ Pride Month, like clockwork, will always be preceded by a fight over who comes to Pride, and what they look like.
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+Fighting is ingrained in the DNA of Pride, which refers to both the month of June, when the US celebrates LGBTQ rights, and to a series of events in specific cities. Pride began as a commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City — after being subjected to relentless police brutality, arrests, and raids on gay bars, nightclubs, and bathhouses, LGBTQ people stood up and fought back. The first Pride march was held the next year and became a symbol of resistance as well as a demand for LGBTQ lives to be recognized as equal.
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+Now, 51 years later, the fight looks a lot different. This year, the most vocal fight isn’t so much about the government’s role in justice or equality, but a debate about harnesses, leather suits, ball gags, and furries. People are fighting over whether kink and fetish have a place at Pride marches.
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+While fighting about the merit of nipple clamps on parade can seem facetious, especially compared with more serious issues facing LGBTQ communities, it’s actually part of an older and ongoing tension that revolves around sexual identity and mainstream acceptance.
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+The fight for LGBTQ people to be recognized as equal by mainstream society has often been stylized as a fight about what’s “normal” (e.g., loving someone regardless of your and their gender is a normal thing and should be accepted). But that equation has historically turned into an incremental fight over respectability, with LGBTQ people compromising certain aspects of their lives for baseline recognition. At the same time, there’s been an increased debate over police presence at Pride.
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+But while fights over kink and the cops at Pride seem disparate, they both center a question about the importance and relevance of Pride and Pride Month celebrations, about who exactly gets to be visible, and how. They bring into focus an existential crisis for Pride itself: Is there any political clout left in what’s considered an important celebration of LGBTQ rights? Is this fighting all for naught?
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+For corporations, celebrating Pride has become as ubiquitous as major holidays. Cities, politicians, banks, media companies, clothing brands, big-box retail shops, and every entity in between celebrates and recognizes Pride Month; many have merchandise or swag to go with it. At marches and parades with TD Bank floats and Mastercard banners, is kink even out on display? And is something as corporate as Pride itself really about queer politics and queer issues at all?
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+The “Kink at Pride” debate is about respectability politics
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+ Wiktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Getty Images
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+Marching in leather during summer is no easy feat.
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+One of the things that LGBTQ people quickly learn when they come out is that the “sex and respectability at Pride” discourse is like the villain in a horror movie who is never, ever truly defeated, even if you burn the bones.
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+In 2018, the Advocate reminded us, listicle style, that Pride has always been about sex; in 2019, parents debated openly about kink and whether it was suitable for children; and in 2020, it was written that the debate will never go away. The debate over whether men in chaps should be allowed at Pride goes back to at least 2013, when Barack Obama was president. Though her remarks were not exclusively about sex and kink, gay liberation activist Sylvia Rivera famously lit into the New York City Pride crowd in a 1973 speech about how the predominantly white middle-class people at the gathering were ignoring sex workers, transgender people, and incarcerated queer people. She was booed.
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+The current fight over kink at Pride was foisted upon the LGBTQ community like many other fights: through social media. It’s virtually impossible to get across depth or nuance in a 280-character tweet or 35-second, front-facing TikTok, let alone one complaining about sexual indecency at Pride.
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+Of the myriad tweets and TikToks seemingly designed in a lab to challenge my fortitude, the debate against kink and Pride was crystallized in a series of tweets by left-wing YouTuber Vaush. He weighed on May 24, asserting his “no kink” position because kink is not family-friendly:
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+Pride should be a cool, queer-friendly block party you can attend to meet with organizers and get cute shirts. Everyone should be able to attend. It should be safe and uncontroversial. Dismissing accessibility as “sanitization” is a really underhanded and disgusting strategy
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+On the surface, this looks like a lot like arguments of the past. Historically, the idea was that you can’t have kink and fetish on display because children might see. No doubt, tiny young humans seeing things that their parents don’t want is a concern that transcends sexuality and gender.
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+But what’s different in this 2021 iteration is the usage of “accessibility,” and its connection to the idea of consent. The idea is that, hypothetically speaking, a person — not just unsuspecting children with their parents — who shows up to Pride and sees an exposed piece of flesh or a glimmer of genitalia did not consent to it and could possibly be harmed by it, thus limiting their access to Pride. The solution, ergo, would be to have a non-sexual Pride that everyone could attend (but don’t accuse the solution of being “sanitized”).
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+Vaush’s solution for a place where people feel safe isn’t invalid. There are big parties and celebrations — comic book conventions come to mind — where consent rules have to be printed out and said aloud because of complaints about people crossing said boundaries.
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+But in the context of Pride, it’s complicated. Queer history is often about resistance to norms and embracing radical existence, so engaging in respectability politics — the idea that marginalized groups need to behave or act in a certain way to validate the compassion shown toward them — flies in the face of those goals.
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+“Respectability politics is the wedging weapon that conservatives have always used against the queer community — getting us to turn against each other by always trying to live up to their ideas of what a human should be,” said Robin Dembroff, a professor at Yale who specializes in LGBTQ philosophy.
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+Dembroff explained to me that the respectability game is slippery. If you’re willing to exclude people based on their bedroom fetishes and kink, the worry is that then you’ll exclude already-marginalized LGTBQ members like sex workers, incarcerated people, and substance users.
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+Instead of broadening mainstream culture to accommodate the humanity of the LGBTQ community as a whole, respectability politics asks a community to change itself for mainstream sympathy. It’s not hard to see why many LGTBQ people, regardless of kink tastes, take issue with installing exclusion or policing behavior at Pride celebrations. Queerness, at its core, is a rejection of that respectability.
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+“Queerness isn’t just about who you want to fuck, you know? Being queer is still fundamentally rooted in having a political resistance to hegemonic ideas of how humans ought to be.” Dembroff said. “And it’s about whether or not you’re an acceptable human.”
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+Can Pride be radically political if it’s so corporate?
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+ Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
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+Chase is proud to celebrate Pride!
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+Last month, Heritage of Pride, which organizes New York City’s celebrations, announced that it would ban the NYPD from marching because of concern from activists about police presence and how police have treated Black, Latino, and transgender communities. The decision also calls to mind how the very existence of Pride and gay rights was a response to policing and police brutality in New York City. Cities like San Francisco, Denver, and San Diego have instituted a similar ban on uniformed officers at Pride.
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+The debate over police presence at Pride, not unlike the debate over kink or queer representation at Pride, seems to indicate that many still see the politics within the Pride celebration. But all these arguments over who and what Pride should be about hinge on the subjective individual interpretations of Pride as a symbol of LGTBQ politics.
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+In recent years and especially in major cities and metropolitan areas, Pride has become a very popular corporate opportunity.
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+Big-box retailers like Target and Walmart have designated Pride collections where you can buy T-shirts that say “Born This Way,” or a “gender inclusive” T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Ally.” Skittles, in a marketing campaign, removed the rainbow coloring on its candies to make a point about “only one rainbow matters” during Pride. And TD Bank, Mastercard, and Goldman Sachs are among the companies that are very happy to celebrate — and remind you they celebrate — Pride through floats, giveaways, special deals, and dedicated “Pride” sections of their websites.
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+It’s easier to list the national companies that don’t celebrate Pride than the countless ones that do. And, to be clear, these companies supporting LGBTQ rights is infinitely better than going against them. But the wholesale corporate sponsorship of Pride raises the question of Pride’s political relevance if it’s become so entrenched with capitalism.
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+“This is all just about selling shit, right?” Greta LaFleur, a professor at Yale who specializes in the American history of sexuality and queer and trans studies, told me.
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+The corporatization of Pride has been a disappointment for many queer people, including LaFleur and, frankly, myself. As she explains, it’s more about selling a product and asking consumers to purchase their way to some idea of equality than it is about wrestling with the issues — health care for trans people, incarceration, homelessness, sex work, and substance abuse, etc. — that face the LGTBQ community.
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+If Pride has become so corporate, then at what point does Pride become a product itself? Does all this corporate gesturing rob Pride of measurable political impact?
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+“This is a bummer of an argument. There’s a part of me that’s like, ‘Why even fight about it? Because Pride is useless to fight about — because Pride itself has no political purchase anymore,’” said LaFleur.
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+The worry over sanitizing the politics of Pride, respectability politics, and even New York City’s current debate over a police presence at Pride then seem like moot political points if big banks and retailers have already commodified the commemoration. How radically inclusive can queerness be if it’s sponsored by corporate entities?
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+Maybe Pride is now less of a political symbol and more of a corporate fundraiser that handsomely benefits big companies. And what people are fighting for may be more about the spirit of Pride than the actual product.
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+LaFleur posits that organizations working for LGBTQ rights did an efficient enough job at styling and marketing the fight for equality in extremely specific ways, including respectability politics.
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+For example, same-sex marriage becomes the signature win of the last decade, while health care for trans youth is hardly spoken about. Pride in this context, then, becomes the one month of the year, a container of sorts, where LGTBQ activism is expected but comes in the form of facile financial support to mainstream causes.
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+“Gay rights then becomes this easy thing for people to sign on to, and what’s an easier version to sign on to than Pride,” LaFleur told me, explaining that the challenge is to look beyond Pride and the once-a-year fight about leather-flanked glutes, and think about LGBTQ issues every day.
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+“You’re not writing letters to incarcerated people, you’re not getting phone calls from the prison system that are charging fucking $5 a minute to talk to someone who’s been locked up for 20 years. You know what I mean? Like, all they’re just asking for you to do is put on a fucking Target rainbow shirt, go to a parade on a really hot day, and, like, watch all these gay people get drunk,” she said.
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+While you could argue that’s a terribly bleak outlook of LGBTQ rights and Pride, it feels like the natural endpoint to that 1973 scene in which an audience booed Sylvia Rivera while she chastised them for not caring about trans people and incarcerated people who don’t fit with what Pride “should” look like. The wholesale corporatization of Pride would be carved from her nightmares.
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+“You tell me to go and hide my tail between my legs. I will not put up with this shit. I have been beaten. I have had my nose broken. I have been thrown into jail. I have lost my job. I have lost my apartment for gay liberation and you all treat me this way?” Rivera told the 1973 crowd. “What the fuck’s wrong with you all? Think about that!”
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+I can’t imagine what she’d say about the fights we’re having now.
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One year after #BlackoutTuesday, what have companies really done for racial justice? -
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+Protesters march after George Floyd’s death, in June 2020, in Colorado. | Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
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+Checking in on black square-posting brands, from Starbucks to Glossier.
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+On May 25, 2020, footage of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis set the internet ablaze, igniting a fervor for justice among the attentive and then-quarantined online masses. In the now widely circulated video, George Floyd can be heard pleading, “I can’t breathe” — the same three words Eric Garner had yelled not six years prior — 28 times before he became unconscious and later died. What followed was nothing short of a wildfire.
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+Compounded by the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery — and, later, the killing of activist Oluwatoyin Salau and the shooting of Jacob Blake — Floyd’s murder prompted an international wave of protests and a global dialogue surrounding anti-Blackness and racial injustice in the months following his death. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, by far the largest of its kind, would receive more than $90 million in donations while organizing over 7,750 demonstrations in the US alone between May and August 2020. Online, social media users were quick to take advantage of their digital platforms, informing followers about racial injustice through the sharing of infographics and what artist and educator Mandy Harris Williams aptly titled “critical caption essays.”
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+Evidently, the posts were impactful, with 23 percent of adult social media users in the US saying they changed their views about a political or social issue in 2020 due to something they saw on those platforms, up from 15 percent in 2018. Corporate commitment to racial advocacy became a necessity rather than a consideration once social media users began to take aim at specific instances of racism and unfair treatment at many companies. Hundreds of businesses rushed to release pledges committing to upholding racial justice within their organization. But did any of these companies do more than commodify a movement? A year later, have any of these companies transformed themselves for the better?
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+Beginning on June 2, 2020, Blackout Tuesday would merge these growing trends in online activism and calls for corporate accountability on social media. The online protest involved posting a single image of a black square to Instagram feeds, intended to quite literally black out users’ feeds and interrupt regular posting as a show of solidarity to Black victims of police violence. By the end of the day, the number of Instagram posts tagged with #BlackoutTuesday was in the tens of millions — and more than 950 brands, including ViacomCBS and Apple, had participated in some way. However, the social media protest quickly proved to do more harm than good.
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+What originally began as a hashtag (#TheShowMustBePaused) created by music executives Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas to disrupt “the long-standing racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard” within the music industry, quickly became appropriated by users, divorced from its original creators and intentions, and made shallow and performative. As #BlackOutTuesday grew in popularity, critiques of the initiative noted how the posting of mostly wordless black squares drowned out Black voices central to movements and obscured valuable information and updates, such as video evidence of police brutality, protest details, and donation links —a far cry from the racial uplift the posts set out to achieve. Instead, a majority of Blackout Tuesday posts were effectively one-off statements functioning as a form of virtue signaling, a public expression of an opinion or backing of an idea intended to demonstrate one’s moral or political correctness, often without much substantive action.
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+Prior to the end of May 2020, racial advocacy and anti-racism were not a priority for “socially responsible” companies, with consumers struggling to identify businesses seen as “good allies to the Black Lives Matter movement.” However, as the discussion of racial injustice and discrimination solidified the importance of anti-racism in corporate social responsibility, consumers expect more from where they shop — they want donations. In a survey conducted by public relations firm Edelman in 2020, 60 percent of American respondents said brands needed to use their marketing dollars to advocate for racial equality. The same percentage also said they would buy or boycott a brand based on its response to the ongoing protests. How companies reacted to the BLM movement became a litmus test for how consumers would interact with them in the months to come.
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+Nike is no stranger to making political statements through its advertising campaigns, especially when it comes to Black Lives Matter. The multinational corporation has a long history of navigating issues pertaining to diversity and inclusion through both its sponsorship of Black athletes and its executive management: In 2018, the Wall Street Journal chronicled Nike’s “boys-club culture” and the executive exits that followed a company-wide probe. Following a 2018 partnership with ousted American football player and activist Colin Kaepernick for the 30th anniversary of its “Just Do It” ad campaign, Nike’s response to the growing unrest was heavily awaited.
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+On May 29, 2020, prior to Blackout Tuesday, Nike released a video statement on the Black Lives Matter movement in which it called on audiences to pay attention to the unrest unfolding before them. It was met with widespread support and acceptance, with many seeing the statement as a model for corporate social responsibility. Since then, Nike has continued to restructure its executive leadership team under the stewardship of CEO John Donahoe, promoting Felicia Mayo, a Black woman executive, to the role of diversity chief in July 2020. And as part of the company’s internal goals, or Purpose 2025 Targets, Nike, with Converse, Jordan Brand, and Michael Jordan, committed a combined $140 million over 10 years in support of local and national organizations dedicated to addressing racial inequality for Black Americans, an initiative known as the Black Community Commitment. Though not a gold standard, Nike’s promise of holistic social responsibility has been matched by few companies.
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+Millennial-pink beauty brand Glossier’s rather diverse word-of-mouth marketing strategy has helped maintain the company’s reputation as one of the industry’s more inclusive and progressive companies. On May 30, 2020, Glossier similarly posted a statement on Instagram pledging to stand in solidarity with the Black community and the Black Lives Matter movement. It also committed to donating a total of $1 million to Black-owned beauty businesses and organizations addressing racial injustice through an inaugural grant initiative. A year later, Glossier announced it would renew the grant program for 2021 “as part of a broader $10 million commitment to bolster equity, inclusion, and representation in the beauty industry over the next five years.”
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+Despite this, Outta The Gloss, a collective of former retail employees of the company, shared on Instagram an open letter to Glossier in August 2020. The letter detailed a sometimes racist and inequitable working environment and included a list of demands, such as “standardized anti-racist training for management” and the hiring of an “on site HR Liaison working solely with retail.” Later, the group launched a boycott of Glossier at the urging of its followers. Other than an August blog post from Glossier CEO and founder Emily Weiss, Outta The Gloss maintains that its demands have yet to be meaningfully acknowledged by the company, leaving consumers to question Glossier’s commitment to anti-racism within its own workplace.
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+In contrast, beauty company Sephora set to make right a history of racist discrimination in its retail stores. On May 30, 2020, Sephora CEO Jean-André Rougeot issued a statement committing to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement; a few days later, it published its own #BlackoutTuesday post and closed its retail stores for a two-hour company-wide training on racial bias. The company’s US business also became the first major retailer to sign the 15 Percent Pledge, a campaign founded by fashion designer Aurora James asking retailers to dedicate at least 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. (Retailers and brands such as Vogue, Bloomingdales, and Old Navy — among others — have since signed on, too.)
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+Sephora has also pledged to do the following in 2021: increase the seven Black-owned brands it carries to 16, focus on supporting BIPOC founders in beauty through its Sephora Accelerate program, and continue providing new training modules for in-store employees while reducing the presence of third-party security officers.
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+Meanwhile, the department store Nordstrom was quick to involve itself in the Black Lives Matter movement, despite the company’s more conservative customer base. It published a #BlackoutTuesday post, and later released a statement committing to “increase representation of Black and Latinx populations” in management roles and “[deliver] $500M in retail sales from brands owned by, operated by, or designed by Black and/or Latinx individuals,” both by the end of 2025. It also promised to ensure that its training resources for customer-facing employees “include anti-racism and bias content.”
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+Both Sephora and Nordstrom have acknowledged that in their commitment to addressing anti-racism, the work begins internally.
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+Other retail companies have failed to make any substantial long-term commitments.
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+E-commerce retailer Fashion Nova was criticized by users and influencers alike for failing to acknowledge or respond to the Black Lives Matter movement prior to June 1, 2020, despite its large consumer base of Black women. The fast-fashion retailer — which has been called out a number of times for stealing designs from small businesses and Black designers and for underpaying garment workers in its Los Angeles factory — ultimately posted a black square with no caption on June 2. It issued a statement the following day in which it remarked, “Our actions speak louder than our words,” and pledged to donate $1 million to various “community resources and activism, awareness campaigns, and other initiatives to help in the fight for racial equality and opportunity.”
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+Fashion Nova has not made any other statements pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement since then, though it continues to partner with celebrities such as Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion in its philanthropic initiative, Fashion Nova CARES, which has provided financial support to the Breonna Taylor Foundation and emerging Black designer Tia Adeola, among others. Despite the company’s ubiquity in the Black community and its reliance on Black celebrity and culture for relevance, its Instagram page, which functions as its main form of advertising, is devoid of any mentions of anti-Black racism beyond donations, and lacks representation of Black models.
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+Starbucks, which also has a fraught history navigating race, pledged to stand in solidarity with its “Black partners, customers, and communities,” and to donate $1 million to organizations promoting racial equity — while simultaneously banning employees and baristas from wearing any pro-Black Lives Matter clothing or accessories. Ultimately, the company revised its decision on the dress code, making 250,000 pro-BLM T-shirts for employees in an attempt to show support for the movement, and continue to offer their elective online anti-bias classes. And in October, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson announced that the company would tie executive pay to the meeting of racial diversity targets set to boost diversity in Starbucks’ workforce — by 2025, the company aims to have “people of color represented in at least 30% of roles in corporate operations and 40% of retail and manufacturing roles,” though the company declined to share details of how exactly these goals would be tied to executive pay. Since then, the company has reached a voluntary agreement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in light of 2007 allegations of racial bias in its promotions, and has also started a $100 million Community Resilience Fund that will “support small business growth and community development projects in BIPOC neighborhoods.”
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+In the music tech industry, companies such as SiriusXM, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music also made respective Blackout Tuesday posts. On June 2, Spotify shared a number of in-app features intended as a show of solidarity with Black creators and users, though artists were quick to criticize the lack of money being donated. This initial offering included a rather out-of-touch 8-minute, 46-second track of silence meant to memorialize the length of time that George Floyd was suffocated by Derek Chauvin, a Black History Is Now hub, and a selection of Black Lives Matter playlists. Later that week, the company committed to contributing up to $10 million in an employee match allocated to organizations addressing anti-racism and racial justice, donating an additional $1 million in advertising inventory to social justice groups (though $345,000 worth of this advertising budget was used to promote the company’s own Black History Is Now hub).
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+Now, the question remains; have these companies’ pledges led to any real impact or change in the year since a national racial reckoning? Among the groups that received money from the aforementioned companies — including national organizations such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and the Equal Justice Initiative — was the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). In a statement, LDF president Sherrilyn Ifill shared that “the most valuable gift over the past year has been the increase in pro bono support” which enabled them to “litigate and advocate with greater intensity, and to increase the pace of our work,” increasing the fund’s capacity to support Black communities.
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+Still, if anything is to be learned from how these companies have approached corporate accountability it is that it pays to take a stand, even if performative. As millennial and Gen Z consumers increasingly expect brands to be actively involved in social justice movements, publicly choosing a stance has rewarded companies with consumer loyalty.
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+Following Nike’s BLM statement video, the company moved up 22 places on Social Chain Data’s social media leaderboard in May 2020, into the No. 31 spot. The ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s saw its social media reach grow by 35 percent on Twitter and 27 percent on Facebook, after declaring, “We must dismantle white supremacy” last June. However, #HasBenAndJerrysTweetedYet, a hashtag started by Twitter user @telushk, has been gaining traction this month in light of the company’s refusal to acknowledge its own investments in Israel’s illegal settlements. If these predominantly white and men-owned companies ultimately reap the benefits of committing to anti-racism and the fight against white supremacy, is this change really a transformation? And is it substantively supporting Black Americans who confront the burden of racism and racial injustice in their everyday lives?
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+The range of company pledges, commitments, and statements we’ve seen indicate an ever-present truth: that no matter how impactful or effective corporate activism is, it will also always be inherently performative. Companies cannot be entrusted to be the leaders of the people’s social justice movements.
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Michael Flynn’s coup comments show how QAnon is evolving in the Biden era -
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+Michael Flynn over the weekend appeared to endorse the idea that a coup should happen in the US. He later backtracked his comments. | Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images
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+Some QAnon followers think a military coup like the one in Myanmar should also happen in the US.
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+While speaking at a Dallas conference aimed at QAnon adherents on Sunday, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn appeared to endorse the idea of a military coup to reinstate Donald Trump as president. A member of the audience asked about the possibility of a Myanmar-style coup in the US, and Flynn said there was “no reason” something similar couldn’t happen in America. He added, “I mean, it should happen here.”
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+After public backlash, Flynn subsequently declared on the encrypted chat app Telegram that the media had manipulated his words, insisting he actually said there was “no reason it (a coup) should happen here (in America).” Still, experts who follow QAnon say Flynn was parroting a Myanmar talking point that’s been building for months within the QAnon conspiracy theory’s online communities.
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+Flynn’s comments and the resulting backlash show that messages and conspiracy theories associated with QAnon are still getting some traction, including the false idea that Trump will somehow become president again before the 2024 election. Influencers who continue to promote false QAnon theories related to both the election and Trump’s imminent return to the White House seem to be doing well on Telegram, despite being booted from other social media platforms.
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+Trump has been telling a number of people he’s in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August (no that isn’t how it works but simply sharing the information). https://t.co/kaXSXKnpF0
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+“They are still 100 percent in support of Biden being removed and Trump returning to office, whether it’s a coup [or] whether it’s some reinstatement which doesn’t exist,” Mike Rothschild, a researcher who has tracked the QAnon conspiracy for several years and author of the book The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything, told Recode. “The prophecy of QAnon is now that Trump will be restored to office, and whether that’s through violence or through magic, that’s just what they want to happen.”
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+Since the January 6 insurrection, QAnon chatter on traditional and social media alike appears to have declined. A recent study from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab found that after major platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube took action against the conspiracy theory, content and language about QAnon has “all but evaporated from the mainstream internet.”
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+At the same time, however, QAnon adherents have found a way to flourish on alternative apps such as Telegram, where some QAnon influencers have tens of thousands of followers. That this latest strain of the QAnon conspiracy theory invoking the coup in Myanmar was both previously spread on Telegram and subsequently walked back by Michael Flynn on Telegram demonstrates how the platform has taken on a new importance within the fringe movement.
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+Discussion of this branch of the conspiracy theory has occurred as part of a broader trend of QAnon followers moving to Telegram. After January 6, extremism researchers noticed the growth of Telegram channels catering to QAnon audiences. Even after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, QAnon activity continued in Telegram groups. Throughout 2021, adherents to the conspiracy theory have used the platform to promote the idea that Covid-19 vaccines are a tool of population control and otherwise dangerous, and some QAnon influencers have used the platform to boost explicitly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
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+“It’s really all happening on Telegram right now,” Rothschild told Recode. “What they’re able to do with Telegram is just sort ofblast these messages out on their own private channels and get tens of thousands of views on them right away and get thousands of comments on them. But the discussion is really one-way, so it’s really changing the way QAnon promoters interact with their followers.”
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+The conference where Flynn made his conspiratorial comments was called the “For God & Country Patriot Roundup” and held at the Omni Dallas Hotel. While the event was largely branded to focus on “patriotism,” it made clear references to the QAnon conspiracy theory, and the event’s logo explicitly invoked the QAnon catchphrase, “Where we go one, we go all.” Other well-known promoters of the QAnon theory also attended, as did Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell, who at one point during the conference said that Trump could “simply be reinstated” and a new inauguration date could be set before the actual next election.
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+“Flynn’s appearance at this event was not in a vacuum. He has cultivated QAnon support for a while now,” Alex Kaplan, a senior researcher at Media Matters, told Recode. Last year, Flynn posted a video online of himself sharing QAnon slogans, and has formed relationships with influencers in the QAnon movement.
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+QAnon conspiracy theorists have long believed the November 3, 2020 election was fake, and they’ve circulated the idea that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, including through voting fraud, Kaplan explained. Since the inauguration, supporters of QAnon have continued to look for ways to support the idea that Trump is coming back as president. For a while, some adherents thought that Trump would be reinstated on March 4, a belief that has obviously been proven false. Following the February military coup in Myanmar, some QAnon supporters looked to the events as inspiration for what could happen in the US.
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+“The Burmese military has arrested the country’s leaders after credible evidence of widespread voter fraud became impossible to ignore … sounds like the controlled media and Biden admin are scared this might happen here,” predicted one account on the Telegram app, according to a Rolling Stone report from February. “We will see this headline here soon.”
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+Some QAnon supporters have even tried to make connections between voting technology companies that were drawn into conspiracy theories about the US election, and the events in Myanmar. Similar claims have also been made on apps like Rumble and Gab.
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+Right now, it’s not clear what will happen next with QAnon, or where its supporters will go. A recent survey from the Public Religion Research Institute found that while a large majority of the country disagree with the idea that the government, media, and finance is “controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation” — a core belief of the QAnon conspiracy theory — about 15 percent of Americans agree with that idea. Other scholars have questioned the idea that QAnon’s following is actually so widespread.
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+Regardless, Flynn’s comments and the response to them are a reminder that the future of the QAnon conspiracy theory is more complicated than the content moderation decisions of mainstream social media platforms. While people believed similarconspiracy theories before QAnon arrived, QAnon has managed to repackage many of those beliefs, and they’ve endured and evolved, despite crackdowns.
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From The Hindu: Sports
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We were broken to pieces, mental health assistance is important: Veda Krishnamurthy recalls COVID trauma in family - Nine members of Krishnamurthy’s family battled the disease and her mother and sister passed away within two weeks of each other last month in Karnataka
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Daunting task ahead for India in WC qualifying round football match against mighty Qatar - “Qatar are one of the top teams in Asia,” Chhetri said.
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Debut for senior team at Olympics will be a fairytale, says defender Manpreet Kaur - After gaining useful experience and exposure representing the junior team around the world, Manpreet Kaur earned her maiden call-up for the senior group in January last year.
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No better preparation for Ashes than clean sweep against India, New Zealand: Joe Root - Before heading to Australia for the Ashes in the winter, England play seven Tests at home against New Zealand and India this summer
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Grand Slam leaders pledge to address Naomi Osaka’s concerns - The pledge came in a statement signed by the same four tennis administrators who threatened the possibility of disqualification or suspension for Osaka on Sunday if she continued to skip news conferences.
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From The Hindu: National News
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KSMSL promises medicine supply to Yadgir district - Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KSMSL) has promised Deputy Commissioner of Yadgir R. Ragapriya that necessary medicine for COVID
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Pandemic brings times of uncertainty for NRIs - Thousands of expatriates waiting to return to their host countries
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Decision on board exams of standard XII soon, says Maharashtra Minister - We have sought the approval from disaster management authority to cancel them, she says
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Amidst COVID-19, Kodagu gears up for monsoon - Officials visiting flood-prone areas and supervising preventive measures that are being put in place
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Smart City projects resume amidst lockdown - Work on multi-level parking lot in Thampanoor and renovation of Connemara market have already begun
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From BBC: Europe
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Belgium gang rape: Five arrested over assault on teenager - The 14-year-old girl took her life days after images of the alleged attack were shared online.
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Italy cable car: Video suggests emergency brake disabled years before - Expert alleges an emergency brake was deactivated seven years before last month’s Italian disaster.
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Nato must stand together against eastern threats - PM - Boris Johnson meets the head of Nato at No 10 amid calls for allies to work together against threats.
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Covid-19: Hospitality reopens in Republic of Ireland - The reopening of hotels is another important step for the country, says Ireland’s tourism minister.
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Wetherspoons boss denies facing shortage of EU workers - Pro-Leave boss Tim Martin says reports he wants a more “liberal” visa scheme for EU workers taken out of context.
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From Ars Technica
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Review: Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti is a powerhouse—but good luck finding it at $1,199 MSRP - $1,199 MSRP is arguably worth it—in a universe where MSRP means anything, at least. - link
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AMD triples Zen 3 CPU cache using 3D stacking technology - Not a pipe dream—CEO Lisa Su demonstrated a working 3D-stacked 5900X prototype. - link
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What the physics of skipping stones can tell us about aircraft water landings - A combination of gyro effect and Magnus effect influences the deflection of trajectory - link
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Months from the release of Dune 2021, the 1984 version gets a 4K release - Lynch, who disowned the film, won’t be recording a commentary track. - link
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Shortages loom as ransomware hamstrings the world’s biggest meat producer - Add meat to the list of critical supply chains disrupted by the malware scourge. - link
It’s Friday night and a young woman gets chatting with a handsome army sergeant in a bar. -
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+After a couple of drinks she asks: “So when was the last time you slept with a real woman then?”
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+A little taken aback, the sergeant replies “Let’s see…that would have been about 2015”.
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+With that, the woman takes him home for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Afterwards she exclaims: “Well sergeant…for somebody who hasn’t had sex since 2015 you certainly haven’t forgotten anything!”.
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+The man looks at his watch and says: “I should hope not, it’s only 2230!”
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Wiktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Getty Images
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